another lisa

I found this quiz over at Atypical Life:

100 Years by Five for Fighting

"Every day's a new day... 15 there's still time for you Time to buy and time to choose Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this When you only got 100 years to live" 2004 was about thinking and reflecting - but isn't every year?

thinking about it...

It looks like we have three choices for New Year's Eve:

1) stay home, relax...

2) go to my sister Melanie's (where there would be about 10 adults, 4 teens and 4 children under 7) - drinking, talking...

3) go to our friend's (J & N) (where there would be about 5 adults, 2 teens and 4 children under 7) - dinner, playing games...

If we go anywhere there are transportation issues, as we can only fit 5 in our car (6 if Owen sits on someone)... the bussing from J & N would be reasonable... and busses are free that night... so maybe that is the best choice.

decisions...decisions...

Over at Crazed Parent I saw this entry about "manic parenting"... which seems to be about over-involved, enmeshed parents who don't have a life of their own. What I tried to say in my comment was that now that we have so many teens (6 between 13-21), I have met many of these types of parents... often their teens hit a huge rebellion around age 14-15 ... they are likely to hide things from their parents, like their smoking, drinking, sexual experimentation, etc... and may even run away from home if the pressure from their parents get too great. I know this because at least 4 of them have ended up sleeping at my place for days, weeks or months... It is really sad... because it isn't that they don't love their parents, they JUST CAN'T STAND THEM....

I saw this great article:

'Parental protectionism may reach its most comic excesses in college, but it doesn't begin there. Primary schools and high schools are arguably just as guilty of grade inflation. But if you're searching for someone to blame, consider Dr. Seuss. "Parents have told their kids from day one that there's no end to what they are capable of doing," says Virginia's Portmann.

"They read them the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You'll Go! and create bumper stickers telling the world their child is an honor student. American parents today expect their children to be perfect--the smartest, fastest, most charming people in the universe. And if they can't get the children to prove it on their own, they'll turn to doctors to make their kids into the people that parents want to believe their kids are."'

It continues:

"And subjecting them to intense scrutiny. "I wish my parents had some hobby other than me," one young patient told David Anderegg, a child psychologist in Lenox, Massachusetts, and professor of psychology at Bennington College. Anderegg finds that anxious parents are hyperattentive to their kids, reactive to every blip of their child's day, eager to solve every problem for their child--and believe that's good parenting.

"If you have an infant and the baby has gas, burping the baby is being a good parent. But when you have a 10-year-old who has metaphoric gas, you don't have to burp him. You have to let him sit with it, try to figure out what to do about it. He then learns to tolerate moderate amounts of difficulty, and it's not the end of the world."

One step towards keeping away from hyperconcerned parenting is to get a life. It is important for all of us parents (especially SAHMs) to have their own interests and activities which do not include their children or their partners. Join a book club, go swimming, walking or to the library... Go to the pub! Take a course! Work part-time either paid or as a volunteer! Anything where you will develop yourself as an individual. This way you can be a great role-model to your children and it will help you let them go as they grow up and establish their own independence.

I got Eric season 1 & 2 of the series "24" - we watched the first 4 shows last nite... we are hooked! It is a great show... full of suspense, great storyline, action and of course, Kiefer Sutherland. Definitely worth watching. The website is amazing, but you shouldn't look at it if you haven't seen the episodes, as there is lots of info about the past two seasons. Apparently season 3 starts on Jan. 7th.

Lisa & Darby

Darby, her husband, her mother in law, and her two children came for dinner last night. My dad was there too. We had chicken quesadillas with sour cream and fruit salsa. It was delicious!

Fruit Salsa:

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for over an hour in the refrigerator before serving. (all ingredients chopped fine - about 1/4 inch bits) This made one large bowl of salsa which was enough for 8-10 adults. This is a good recipe for those allergic to tomatos (like my daughter Dorothy).

1 cup peeled cucumber
1 large red onion
2 large cans peach halves
3 bell peppers (1 yellow, 1 green, 1 red)
3/4 cup cilantro
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Dorothy putting reindeer antlers on Suki for Christmas... she just had too much fun! 

Poor Suki was sick all night after a day of everyone giving her "just a tidbit" of turkey, stuffing, broccoli, potatos, strawberries, waffles... etc. She had the runs and pooped all over the house (which I personally stepped in twice in my bedroom in the middle of the night) She usually sleeps with us... but after this I put her in her crate - and then she pooped there too. She just couldn't help it.

Although I am technically on "holidays"... I have to get some work done this week... plus there are tons of things I have been procrastinating around here... I guess I need a list of things to do...

- do work stuff
- study for accounting exam in January
- have Darby and her family over for dinner (tomorrow!)
- pick up Melanie from airport on Tuesday night
- go to OWL mtg. Tuesday night
- have lunch with Jane - Wed
- see Kate
- decide New Year's plans
- try to load printer software again on my laptop
- print pictures
- get groceries
- pay bills (yikes)
- figure out budget for building bedroom in rec room
- call distant relatives
- relax!

Dorothy helped make Christmas possible this year... thanks Dorothy! 

Lorelai Gilmore: You are Lorelai Gilmore from
Gilmore Girls. A traditional mama you aren't,
but that doesn't mean you don't love your kids
or aren't great in this role. You like to put a
modern twist on things no need to become your
mother, after all although sometimes you might
wonder if that wouldn't be all bad.

You probably believe in being friends with your
child, and you try your best to be open and
honest about your choices, good or bad, past or
present. You like being known as the cool mom
in the neighborhood that your kids' friends can
come to if they need an ear to listen or a
shoulder to cry on. Sometimes your children may
wish they had a mom that acted like everyone
else's or at least one who didn't raid their
closets and acted her age. But most of the
time, they think you're pretty cool. And that's
fine by you, because the feeling is mutual


Which TV Mom are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 

Everyone got movies for Christmas... here is a list of some of them:

Eric - Big Fish, Van Helsing, I Robot
Lisa - Boys Don't Cry, Cold Mountain, Mulan, 4 weddings and a funeral
Dorothy - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Amelie, The Meaning of Life
Sarah - Kill Bill 2
Amelia - School of Rock, Akira
Zoe - Colour Purple, Bend it Like Beckham, Now and Then, Spider Man 2
Owen - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hook, Aladdin.

Tonight we watched Seven Brides, a classic from the 50's - my girls thought it would be dumb, but I think they ended up enjoying it...

Here are a few of the pictures we took yesterday and today...

Me and Griffin 

Griffin and Grandpa 

Jennifer, Griffin and Dad on boxing day visit. 

Zoe - not wanting to have her picture taken! 

This one shows a bit of dorothy and owen in front... then from left, amelia, tom, james and eric... 

I tried lightening this picture so you can see people... starting from left... sarah on sofa, dorothy and owen on floor, and elizabeth's face can be seen at the back right... 

Owen, Oliver, Dorothy (front from left)...Lisa, Dad and Zoe (back, from left) 

Our tree Christmas morning...there were over 200 presents, stacked 6 deep...(we had to get a small tree this year to fit into this corner!) 

So... we all survived the past 24 hours... last nite went pretty well... we got to relax most of the time (watching "It's a Wonderful Life", playing Settlers of Catan and listening to music, including Tom's Metallica cd) Later, around midnight, we had a burst of energy and got the potatos and turnip peeled and chopped up into the pot, the turkey stuffed and into the oven, and around 2 am, I let everyone open their stockings... heck, it was Christmas morning after all!

Then we said good night, but of course, by 4 am, when Eric walked around the house to check on things, almost everyone was still up. His kids, Amelia, Elizabeth and Oliver (ages 17, 21 and 13) were having a little reunion in the basement playing video games and cuddling. They hadn't been together since the summer when Oliver was visiting from BC. We see Elizabeth about three times a year (birthday, summer, and Christmas). Amelia lives with us.

Sarah and her boyfriend James were wide awake as they had slept earlier in the evening when they were watching a movie. Sarah is 19. This is the first time I have let her have a boyfriend "sleep" over. .. Meanwhile while all was quiet from Dorothy's room (age 21), she apparently couldn't sleep and so was sewing and reading most of the night. My youngest brother Tom (age 17) was online all night talking to his girlfriend (who is really not his girlfriend, he claims). And my dad might have gotten some sleep, but he had the tv on at 4 am... so we aren't sure if he just fell asleep with it on. Oh well... I got some sleep on and off until 10 am!

Then I got up and started making belgian waffles (from scratch) with strawberries, icecream and whipped cream... which is our tradition for Christmas breakfast. By the time everyone had eaten, Zoe (14) and Owen (7) had arrived from their dads... and so we finally got to open the presents. That seemed to go well.

Later, we (or our guests Ruth, Dennis and Annie) made: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, turnip, carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, peas, perogies, ham, home made bread, pickles, cranberry sauce, gravy, plus: several desserts which we never really got to... This is a fairly typical Canadian Christmas dinner (except my friend Ruth brought the ham and perogies which she said was her typical Polish Christmas fare).

My sister Dana lives down near San Francisco and she says that the Americans there usually do not have turkey for Christmas - (they have it at thanksgiving) - and so she makes a "Canadian Christmas dinner" each year for them.

It was really neat to walk around and see what the kids were doing this afternoon - several of them were enjoying the art supplies they got for gifts from us... I gave 4 of the girls art stuff, including: an ink set with special pens and paper, an acrylic paint set, a watercolour set and a pastel set (with canvas and/or paper for each). We like to encourage artistic endeavours here.
My dad, Zoe and I played scrabble this afternoon for a while.

I got some neat stuff: mostly books and a few movies. My two older daughters gave me a great gift certificate to go and buy clothes at a nicer women's store in town. That was pretty cool.

Tomorrow my brother Dan and his wife Jennifer and their baby Griffin are coming for the afternoon. Christmas isn't ending around here for a while yet.

Hope you had a great day with family and friends!

We are ready! We have hundreds of gifts under our tree... yes HUNDREDS... (not that we have counted them)... but with 12 people here for Christmas and each person getting one or two gifts from each other person... well it adds up.

As of midnight, we will have...
Me, Eric, Dorothy, Amelia, Elizabeth, Oliver, Sarah, James (her boyfriend), Tom and my dad. In the morning, Zoe and Owen join us, and later, Ruth, her dad Dennis and her mom will join us for dinner. (15 in all!)

I am hoping to make the turkey tonite so there is less work tomorrow... and we are having huge negotiations to decide if we will let the "kids" (all age 17-21, except Oliver who is 13) open their stockings after midnight so we can sleep in in the morning... and then wait to open the other gifts at noon when the other kids come back from their dads.

We may go to church tonite for the 11 pm service - where there will be lots of carol singing.

Happy holidays to all!

The great ending... 

Original Poster for Movie in 1946 

I love this movie. Did you know there is a webring for IAWL? If you love this movie too, check it out.

This site has a nice description of winter solstice.

"Religious folk worldwide observe many seasonal days of celebration during the month of
December. Most are religious holy days, and are linked in some way to the winter solstice.
On that day, the daytime hours are at a minimum in the Northern hemisphere, and night
time is at a maximum."

It goes on to compare many different religions and the way they have worked in the winter solstice into their traditions.

winter solstice picture...

Record low temperatures this week in Ottawa at -26 celsius yesterday (-23 today)...brrrr... 

1. It is currently -23 degrees (which is damn cold whether it is celsius or fahrenheit)
2. It is too cold to walk the dog.
3. You can't go to the beach.
4. My garden is dead.
5. There are no outdoor concerts.
6. You have to plug in the car to get it to start.
7. Waiting for the bus is hell.
8. Outdoor cafes are closed.
9. The smokers are huddling at the doorways which means you have to walk through them.
10. Snow shovelling.

Yesterday Eric and I attacked the living room and cleaned it all out... it had gotten pretty bad over the past few months. Our main objective was to empty out one corner so we could set up a tree. This meant carrying out an old desk, two broken computers, toys, papers, vacuuming the birdseed & feathers and moving the printer to another station we set up. Today, my dad and I went out to look for a tree, and ended up with a reasonably nice, somewhat small one. Tonight, after it had melted, Dorothy put on the lights, and we started to decorate. Tomorrow night, we will finish it up.

Suki in her Plum Fairy outfit... she has recently learned how to dance. 

These are some gyroscopes that are about 3 inches in diameter... We picked up two of these last night at Lee Valley which is located here in Ottawa for gifts for the boys.

My favorite musical...incredible music. 

I love musicals! I have been lucky enough to see quite a few musicals live whether it is in local theatre or big productions. In Canada, we usually have to go to Toronto to see anything big, but occasionally we get some here in Ottawa. In 2001, I took my two daughters, Dorothy and Sarah to NYC and we got to see several shows there. I hope to go back in the next year or two with my youngest daughter Zoe. Some bigger shows I have seen:

Toronto...
Sweeney Todd, Aida, Lion King, Mousetrap

Ottawa...
A Chorus Line, Evita, Miss Saigon, Rent

NYC...
Kiss Me Kate, Hair, Les Miserables, Aida

My daughters also saw Seussical and Beauty and the Beast in NYC!

Knitted breasts... 

Finally! A picture of Sarah... the dramatic one...

Kim over at Relaxed Homeschool has created the 12 Links of Christmas... still bored? Here are a few more to add to your list of places to visit:

Black Dog Christmas Activities
(some great activities here, including a countdown to Christmas)

Christmas Song Lyrics
(all the words to the songs that we forget)

Ugly Christmas Lights
(this site is hilarious)

Department of Defense tracking Santa on Christmas Eve
(Canadian CF-18's track Santa's sleigh and send images to NORAD site)

Finding Neverland 

We recently went to see Finding Neverland, the story of how J. M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan... wow! We loved it.... Here are some of my favorite movies... what are yours?

1. Finding Neverland
2. Ella Enchanted
3. Hidalgo
4. Fried Green Tomatoes
5. Chocolat
6. Gone with the Wind
7. Beyond Borders
8. Sixth Sense
9. 12 Monkeys
10. Life of Brian

Favorite Holiday Movies
1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. One Magic Christmas
3. Miracle on 34th Street (both versions)
4. A Christmas Carol (Alastair Sims)
5. White Christmas

one of my favorite movies...