Atropa Belladonna~ Raven (a.k.a. Nightshade)'s Weblog ~
These are the ARCHIVES of Nov 2005. For more archives, visit the Archives page. For the current Weblog entries, check the Main page.
Atropa Belladonna| Sun, Dec 25, 2005 (4:55pm) I'm Dreaming of a Grey Christmas... It's raining. Or it was - the streets are wet, the skies are grey, and there's barely a flake of fluffy white stuff to be seen. I like it. I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas (or seasonal holiday of their choice) as much as we are here. Yesterday I took the kids for sleigh rides with Auntie Jodi and Uncle Damon, and they absolutely loved it. Connor even drank Hot Chocolate from a cup! Hot Chocolate is actually on the verboten list for him, beause it contains milk products, but he asked for it with words and then drank it from a cup. He still drinks most of his fluids from a sippy-cup (which is going to have to change eventually because I just can't see him going to high school with a suppy-cup, ya know) but every now and then he'll be motivated enough to drink out of a real cup. I like to encourage this wherever possible. After the sleigh rides there was Church, and then the Christmas Eve gift opening at our house. The kids all stayed up way too late, and I'm surprised at how well they tolerated it. Connor was completely overstimulated by the end of it, but still tolerating the company and trying to play with new toys. When he began to break down in tears at every bump and noise, Daddy took him to bed, and he cried. I stepped into his room to see if I could help settle my whimpering toddler, and he burst into a new round of screaming. So I asked "Do you want some hugs, Connor, or should I just get out?" and he shrieked, "OUT! OUT! OOOOOOOOOUUUUT!!!" at the top of his lungs. He screamed at me to get out!!! I realize the concept won't be so novel and cool by the time my kids are teenagers and constantly screaming at me to get out of their rooms, but this is quite the achievement for him: He was able to comunicate his desires despite severe over-stimulation and fatigue. And once I'd left the room, he quieted down and was asleep within 10 minutes. Today, Connor has been utterly cute, as have the other kids. Jase is adorable playing with his new toys, and Kalen has been prancing around modelling her new Rainbow Dress from Grandma. We had a late breakfast this morning, skipped church entirely, and let the kids play and watch videos and play some more. Lunch was Sysadmin buns. Snack has been Christmas candy and cookies and (in Connor's case) chips. Tonight promises a delicious dinner cooked by my Mom, and then tucking the kids off to bed in their new Christmas PJ's. I wish you peace, and joy, and that any screaming you encounter is a labour of love. |
| Fri, Dec 16, 2005 (1:45pm) High Tech vs. Low Tech - an Update Last month I posted about the problem of watching for Connor's bus, and I had several helpful (and some less so) suggestions and comments on the matter. Thank you very much to those people who emailed me with info about prices & sales on various electronic monitoring equipment. I lost several hours of my life blissfully following links on the 'Net and learning how I, too, could be a Russian Spy. I learned useful stuff, too, and I think that with some of the local sales brought to my attention, I could have gone the HighTech road much cheaper than I thought. On the Low Tech end, we had a very cool suggestion from Other: Using a parascope-like arrangement to see from the back of the house, around the corner of the house, through the 'alley' between our house and the neighbours, up to where the bus waits. Mid-Tech, we had a suggestion to use a gas-station "ding" cord running across the street in front of our house. Although this sounded really cool (and would have run only $40 or so) it is, alas, against numerous bylaws to run cords across public sidewalks and roads. Pity. No-tech solutions offered included having the kids play up front for half an hour while watching for the bus (in this weather, not so pleasant a thought. Plus, the front of our house is just a driveway. No fun.) and bribing a spy-Kalen with better candy and/or threats. Although, I'd like to point out that an electroshock collar does, in fact, count as 'tech'. So, what did we go with? A version of the parascope idea. The fish-eye mirror I'd bought to use up front didn't work so good there, but when mounted at the rear of the house, just outside our tiny dining room window, it give an excellent view of the alley between the houses. It gives a less better view of the street, but just enough that we can tell if a bus is waiting there or not. Adding the spy-Kalen into the equation, I get her to sit on a dining room chair, and watch the mirror. When she sees the bus, she gets a small candy. And I can keep an eye on her from the kitchen to make sure she's actually watching for the bus, instead of sneaking off to make mischief. No electroshock collars needed. |
| Wed, Dec 14, 2005 (10:50am) Random blathering... Wandering around in Future Shop last night, I found a DVD I'd been looking for since we first got a DVD player: Clue. It's an old movie, I know, but one of my favorites. I remember going to 3 or 4 video outlets trying to order it, but after several tries, it became apparent that it wasn't out on DVD yet - at least not in America (One place thought they could get me an overseas copy, if I could find someplace to translate it for me, and it would cost a couple hundred dollars. Bah.) But last night I got it as part of a 2-for-$15 deal. Yay! Found some other good stuff too, but that's a matter for after Christmas. One thing I did not find was the CD 'Til We Have Faces by The Fates. I've been meaning to pick it up since it came out last year, but can't seem to find a place which carries it. So, Shades, if you're reading this... it would be particularly nice to find a CD like that in my stocking on Christmas morning. You must know where to find discs of stuff-that-only-CKUA-plays, right? Our Christmas shopping is almost done, now. Most of this year's gifts will be in the form of Charitible Donations. That's what we've been asking for, too. We've got pretty much everything we want, and certainly everything we need. So do friends and family. I think it's a good thing and very much in the spirit of Christmas to buy things for people who actually need them, instead of cluttering our lives up with more consumerist junk. At our Friday Night Gamers gathering this past week, someone brought up another interesting way to help people in need: Third World Micro Loans. Unlike charitable donations, these are loans made to people in developing countries with the intent of being paid back. Unlike traditional loans, you don't get any interest back on principle, and if the borrower defaults, then the loan effectively becomes a donation - but organizations like Kiva say that the repayment rate is over 97%. So I checked out Kiva's web page with the intent of possibly making a loan in someone's name. Alas, they are currently out of loan applications to fill. Apparently a lot of people like the idea of lending to someone in need. But that's a good thing, right? I'll check back later and see if anything becomes available. Kids are being cute, here. Jasen doesn't talk much, but he has a remarkably good comprehensive vocabulary. Yesterday, I asked if any kids wanted a sip of my coffee, and at the sound of the word, he jumped up and ran over from across the room, mouth wide open. Mmmm, caffeine junkies from a young age. Could a parent be more proud of their spawn? Wally came over last night and we geeked. Good geekery, too - like watching QuickTime video of fluid dynamics in a Zero-G environment, and reading scans of very questionable Japanese literature, and mucking with permissions on my web page. Speaking of which, the permissions have been fixed so my directory index is browse-able again. Meaning that if you wanted to view the contents of the hidden directory and look at corset pictures, you can do so. I had to endure an electronic /cuff in my attempt to fix the problem (yes, you may look smug now for sending that .htaccess file) but in doing so, I was able to figure out not only how to allow access to any indices I wanted, but also how to disallow it in specific ones, if so desired. I will keep this in mind for future photoshoots. |
| Tues, Dec 13, 2005 (10:35am) A Snippet: Kalen (in an ominous voice): Greeeetings. Excellent - my daughter has started on her downward path already. We should be able to make an excellent Sith out of her by the time she's in high school. |
| Thurs, Dec 8, 2005 (10:30am) Yesterday, Connor turned 4 yrs old! He had a great birthday (we celebrated with a quiet party on Sunday evening) and we're looking forward to another year of surprises and (hopefully) lots of new words. I've fallen behind with my Connor- reports, but I'll try to post something soon. Tomorrow, Marijke (one of our Friday Night Gamers crowd) will be doing a Christmas concert with her choir. I won't be able to attend 'cuz I'm working, but for anyone one who does want to go, here's the info: What: Old Strathcona Christmas Concert Rumor has it that there may be a photoshoot at our place later in the evening. I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor, but if people wanted to bring pretty clothes or costumes just in case, that's up to them. |
| Fri, Dec 2, 2005 (1:30pm) Still haven't gotten my permissions thing fixed, which is a pity 'cuz I've got pics from California, and an SCA feast, and the recent Sunfall LARP to post. Still working on it, but I may have to break down and ask my friendly neighbourhood computer guru for help... if he can get time away from his construction job. (C'mon! It's freezing out! Who wants to work in this weather, dude? Drop by and hang out with fabulous babes instead. Or, if not fabulous babes, at least a nice high-speed internet connection, and a warm fireplace.) Speaking of the cold, I've been having an amusing time walking Kalen to school. Getting there isn't too much of a problem (although getting Kale to put on her boots, coat, mittens, scarf, backback, etc. in a timely fashion is a pain) but it's tough walking home once I've dropped her off. Apparently, several of the Kindergarten Moms are aghast that I have to walk in this weather. "Oh, isn't it dreadful out? And you walk to school in this awful weather?" I shrug. "No big deal, really. This is Canada. It gets cold. Kale and I have warm jackets, and it's not a long walk." "But you must be freezing! I'm sure we can find someone who's able to give the two of you a ride." Taking a deep breath, and trying not to explode on some well-meaning yuppie, I explain, "We don't live far at all. It's just as quick to walk as it is to drive. We're fine, thanks." "Come on - it's not any trouble! You'd rather be in a warm van than stamping through the snow in those shoes. So'n'so has a brand new van. I'm sure she'd be happy to give you a ride." I look at my shoes. They've... ah... seen better days. So has the overcoat which I'm wearing, tossed over my leather jacket. I'm good with layers, though. And I have a nice BioWare touque which keeps my head perfectly warm. I'm perfectly fine. Ms. Prada, on the other hand, doesn't look like she'd ever wear a touque over her salon-styled hair. Which reminds me... I need a haircut. I bet she thinks that someone who has hair as messy as mine must not be able to afford a haircut, and therefore couldn't possibly afford a second vehicle. "No, really, I'm fine." I repeat. "I do have a perfectly functional vehicle, I just choose to walk." She looks at me, shocked. "You like walking in this weather?" "I like walking. This weather... I'm not so crazy about. But I'm young and healthy and there's no reason not to walk. Besides, it's a great way to keep in shape." She suddenly nods in agreement. "Oh, yes - I understand completely." And she gives me a half-pitying expression, which reads to me as, "Poor thing. Can't afford a gym membership either, hm?" I smile politely, and head off. Two more people ask me if I'll be okay before I even reach the door. A third stops her car on the way out of the parking lot and offers me a ride home. I suppose I should be thankful I live in a neighbourhood where people are trying to help, and look out for eachother. But really, folks, I live just down the street! Seriously - across the street and three houses down from the school. I spend more time walking across the school property (because the Kindergarten door is at the far end) than actually walking to the schoolyard itself. But I guess no sane person walks when they could drive, hm? Honestly, most of the Kindergarten Moms are okay. It's not like we're the poorest (or even poorest-looking) family there. But there is a distinct "rich-kid" feel to the school, and those Moms who don't send their kids to school dressed in the latest Osh-Kosh/Gap/brand name fashions are in the minority. |