My Name is Melissa and I use disposible diapers

Yes, I've said it. I've declared it to world. It is now on the internet so it must be true! I have been a faithful cloth diaperer since Asha was born and I am now going to the dark side.

Why the public confessional? Well, it's a hard thing for me to admit. Partly because I feel really guilty but mostly because I liked being the kind of person who uses cloth diapers. I AM the kind of person who uses cloth diapers. Can I be the type of person who uses cloth diapers without actually using them?

When I first sat down to write this post it became a multi-page diatribe about how, despite my best efforts, our cloth diapers have started to leak and I have tried everything to save them. I also went on endlessly about how much laundry I do. It was a stream of excuses why I was ditching the cloth. But guess what? No one cares! You don't care how much laundry I do and you don't care what type of diapers I use.

I have told Asha many times that other people don't think about her nearly as much as she does. I just need to take my own advice. You will all still love me even if I'm sending extra pounds of waste to the landfill, right?

So my question is, why are we so hard on ourselves? Why do we judge ourselves so harshly? Why was it so hard for me to make this confession?

I was recently at a parenting workshop (I go to parenting workshops.... that makes up for the potentially harmful chemicals leaching out of the diapers onto my baby, right?) and I was sitting beside two women who each had a two year old. We were discussing childcare and one of the moms made her own confession.

"I still breastfeed my son," she whispered, visibly recoiling in anticipation of our reaction.

Why was she so scared to tell us this? The other mom then proclaimed that she was still nursing her 2-year old too! A lively discussion ensued about how judged we often are (or at least think we are). Mom #1 remembered that when she was pregnant she was told that she absolutely must breastfeed. Two years later, heaven forbid she should still be doing it! It's as though one must breastfeed for exactly one year. Any less and you hate your baby and any more and you love him too much.

So I suppose I just want to say to us all... let's lighten up! Let's stop being so hard on ourselves and others. Next time you see me I will be using disposable diapers. But I do so much laundry!! Nope, no excuses. As I write this there are not one, but two laundry baskets of clothes sitting within 10 feet of me with laundry waiting to be put away. But I'm writing this instead and that's OK.

                                               See the two laundry baskets beyond
                                               the computer? At least the laundry in
                                               them is clean!

I will end with one quick laundry story because I think it's funny. A friend of mine who has 4 kids (and uses cloth diapers!) was once confronted by her frantic son as he was trying to get ready for school.

"I have no clean clothes, Mom!" Jasper cried.

"What?" his mom replied, "I just did 4 loads of laundry last night!"

"The baskets are empty!" he said.

It hadn't occurred to him to actually look in his drawers because the clean clothes so seldom made it there.

So we're all just juggling and trying to keep the balls in the air. Nia just looked at the picture above and said "That's our house! I can tell because of all of the toys!". Well at least she didn't say "all of the laundry!". Alright, I'll go put away my laundry now. Oh, and pay attention to my kid...

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

When we moved into our house there was a decal on the wall with the following little nugget of advice: "Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening". We've all heard this advice before. I couldn't decide if it was poignant or ridiculous. My friend, Jeanette promptly made fun of it and steered me toward ridiculous.

                                                               Deep, right?

I sort of like it because I think we tend to stifle our inner music sometimes and we learn, all too young, that we should be too embarrassed to let it all hang out. Children help us realize this because they aren't afraid to express themselves. I often feel as though I am living in a musical. A day, or even an hour rarely goes by without someone in my household breaking into song or dance. My friend, Geoff commented just yesterday that he loved how everything Nia was saying was said in a sing-song voice. I hadn't even noticed. Nia even sings when she's eating. She does this sort of humming thing as she chews. I was only alerted to the fact that she does this because she told us recently that the teachers at her daycare "don't like her song".I didn't know what she was talking about!

Asha takes the above mentioned advice to a new level. When she got to that delightful stage of reading fluency when kids read every single thing they see, she noticed for the first time that there was writing on the wall. She was completely perplexed. "Why would you sing like no one was listening?" she asked. We automatically assume that a person would dance or sing with less gusto if there was an audience but to Asha the opposite is true. Don't all other people exist in order to be her audience?

This was also illustrated when Asha went to her dad's work recently. They went down a staircase that had a light shining down at the base of the stairs. She insisted on stopping for a brief performance. The light was a spotlight of course, just waiting for a performer to shine on! She had to let the light fulfill its spotlight destiny!

Asha sings and dances like EVERYONE'S watching on a regular basis. If there is no one around she watches herself in a mirror. Even her reflection in a window will suffice.

                                               In case you can't read lips allow me to

                                                              help. Asha is saying "ro-o-o-o-o-o-oar".

                                                              I'm not a huge Katy Perry fan but that

                                                              song is a great way to start the day.

Well unfortunately I do sing more passionately when no one is around. I am not afraid to sing in public but it's not with quite the fervor as when I'm on my own. You know those people in traffic who are singing at the top of their lungs alone in their car? That's me. If you turn up Glee loud enough you can imagine that you actually sound as good as Rachel Berry.

I had one of those "ah, what my life has become" moments the other day. I was driving back to my parents' house after a Strollercise class. (Do we all know what Strollercise is? Yes? Yet another thing that is either awesome or embarrassing, I'm not sure which. Moms do lunges and squats while pushing their babies in strollers. The babies stare at us in bewilderment as if to say "what the hell are you doing, Mom?")

Anyway, my parents babysit Asha and Nia while I go to Strollercise with Ezra. The drive back to their house is one of the rare times when I can listen to whatever I want without complaints or uncomfortable questions from children. I decided to take this opportunity to listen to some old school Cypress Hill (is there any other kind?). This is a throwback to my high school days when my rap-music-loving boyfriend introduced me to the genre. I don't care what anybody says, the rap music of the 90's was friggin awesome. Luckily, Ezra is still too young to ask questions such as "what's 'chronic', Mommy?" and "why does this man want the pigs to stay away from his crops?".

So there I was, the sun roof open on my SUV, head bobbing, singing "Insane in the Membrane" at the top of my lungs while I drove through suburbia. I had a brief moment when I was embarrassed for myself and then I decided "screw it"! I'm going to sing like nobody's listening, specifically a certain 7 year old who asks too many damn questions.

I haven't taken off the wall decal yet. Unfortunately we decided to put our piano right under it which makes it that much cheesier. I also put up a couple of pictures with equally poignant words of wisdom and David now calls it "the bossy corner".

                                                      The Bossy Corner

I think I'll keep the decal. It may be ridiculous but it gives me permission to crank Snoop Dogg and use the "n" word, at least when my children aren't around.

I'm baaaack!

Hello! So it's been over 2 years since we moved back to Canada. Every now and then someone says "hey, whatever happened to your blog?" and I think about starting it up again but I never did. Until now! I had two people ask me this last week and decided to take the plunge!

Why the hesitation? Well it felt sort of self-centred but the thing about blogs is that they are inherently self-centred. In this world full of selfies and Twitter, do we need yet another person talking endlessly about herself?!

I guess I felt that when we were having our adventure in California I was interesting enough to warrant a blog but now that I'm just a regular old Canadian mom it seems self indulgent. I don't think this about anyone else who writes a blog, in fact I think when they do it it's quite brave.

That being said, over the last 2 years I have often thought "that would make a great blog post". I have decided that I want to write down all of the thoughts that swim around in my head if for no other reason but to get the thoughts in my head straight! Another reason why starting up the blog again was daunting was that I didn't want it to become a burden where I felt like I had to blog with a certain frequency in order to keep people's interest. Heaven forbid I should disappoint my readership! Ha ha!

So here's the deal. I'm going to write about whatever I feel like and if no one reads it, that's fine. If nothing else, it can be like a diary that I look back at in years to come (a diary that 8 billion people can read). If I go a few weeks without writing, that's fine. I need to remember that no one cares about me and my thoughts as much as I do so I'm sure your lives will go on without a post from me for a few weeks!

So Basking Canadian shall rise again! I still bask! I'm still a Canadian! To be continued... (oh, Jian Ghomeshi already took that tag line. I'll have to find my own)

See You On the Flip Side!

So my time here is up and we're heading home. Thanks to all of you for your interest in my blog and your comments. I've realized that I really enjoy writing and I think I would like to pursue it further in some capacity.

My blogging days are over for now. If any of you are just dying to fill the blog-sized hole that will be left behind, you should check out my friend Kirstie's blog at http://kirstie-seizetheday.blogspot.ca/.  If you think my blog was at any time a little bit funny you'll think that Kirstie's is HILARIOUS. Her blog is also based on a really great project that she's doing and it's got a lot of heart behind it. But most of all it's super funny.

So thanks for sharing a little bit of your time with me and I'll see you all soon!

Love,
Melissa.

The Top 10... 12... 16 Things I've Done While Living in L.A.

Well it's 3 days and counting until we return to the Great White North. Thank goodness it won't actually be white because I don't think I could handle it. I need to be eased into winter gradually. Luckily that happens with a little something called autumn.

Anyway, I'm feeling a little bit weird as we pack up and I see people for the last time. Mostly I'm excited to go home though. I'll miss the weather but I feel as though I've done most of the things that I wanted to do here. Here's a list of what some of those things were (in no particular order):

1. Went to a watermelon farm
It actually had way more than just watermelons but we got to take home our own little watermelon at the end of the tour

                                           Here we are having a picnic, Alberta-style in the
                                           back of Ol' Blue (may he rest in peace)

2. Participated in a flash mob
This was such a great experience and everyone should do it at some point in their lives! It was part of a wedding proposal on the Santa Monica Pier. It was one of those things that I didn't know if I would have the guts to do it but it was super fun.

I don't know if this link will work for you but you can try to watch the video:
http://youtu.be/6JVIXk1X3XM


3. Auditioned for and sang with 2 new choirs
I've sung with the same choir for 16 years and I didn't ever really audition for it so it was another thing I didn't think I would have the guts to do. The two choirs I sang with were wildly different but both great experiences. This leads me to the next item on the list...


4. Sang the Mahler 8 with the L.A. Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel
So I didn't know who Dudamel was before either but he's pretty much the most famous conductor in the world. He's a musical genius and all around phenomenal person. I had to do a separate audition in order to participate but it was totally worth it. I got to sing with 600 other singers and 400 musicians. The music was reverberating through my whole body.


5. Did a beach bootcamp class
The class itself was nothing special but it was so cool exercising on the sand. When I didn't have one or both of my kids with me (which was most of the time. Thanks, David!) I would also go down by the water and stretch and meditate for a few minutes. Sweet!


6. Watched the Disneyland fireworks with Asha and my nephew Tyler
These were the best fireworks I've ever seen and the kids' reactions to them were so wonderful. Asha said, and I quote, "it's like there's no tomorrow!!".


7. Moved into a much smaller house 
I realized that a smaller house is cozier, easier to keep clean, and a much more efficient use of space and money. I also put my girls in a bedroom together which I never would have done if I hadn't been forced to. Even if we live in a 3 bedroom house in the future I will still have them in a room together.


8. Saw the sequoias
Have I mentioned the sequoias yet? Ha ha! Should I post some more pictures to illustrate just how big and beautiful they are?


9. Went to the Coachella Music Festival
It was the music festival to beat all music festivals. The lineup was AMAZING and the quality of the concerts was better than any I've ever been to. It was ridiculously hot out in the desert but completely worth it. I mean, I got to see the hologram of Tupac Shakur. Are you kidding me?!!

                                           I like to call this picture "label the body part".
                                           The people in front of us decided to hoist eachother
                                           up right before I took this picture. I have no idea
                                           what body parts these are. But anyway, see Tupac
                                           in between the mystery body parts?

10. Tried having only one vehicle for our family
Note the word "tried". It was not very successful. I would like to blame this on the embarrassingly horrible public transit system in Los Angeles. That was a factor but I didn't really try that hard. I just couldn't get myself to haul two kids to the bus stop then wait for the bus and then sit on the bus listening to teenagers swear in front of my kids. Maybe I'll try again when I live somewhere where there is a subway system that is actually adequate. Or maybe I won't...

11. Subscribed to a CSA box
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. When you subscribe to a CSA you get a bundle of produce from local farms every week (or every second week in our case). It's a great way to get super fresh produce, support local farms, and try new things. I hadn't heard of many of the fruits and veggies that we got (pomelos? joi choi?) and there were lots that I knew of but hadn't really tried (mustard greens, blood oranges, artichokes).

                                           Each time we picked up our bundle we would
                                           ceremoniously take it out, lay it on the table and
                                           take a picture if it was particularly colourful

The have CSA's in Canada too but I'm pretty sure it's not the same as in California!


12. Oilers game in a different city
I already wrote a whole post about this but it had to go on my list

13. Kids' yoga class
Asha joined a kids' yoga class which was fantastic. Her teacher is phenomenal and the class was really fun. At the end of each class they have a minute of quiet meditation. At first Asha would spend the whole time telling on kids whose eyes were open (obviously missing the irony that in order to see them she must have her eyes open). Well now she can actually sit quietly for 1 whole minute! This is amazing since she literally is only silent when she is sleeping, and even then she often talks in her sleep.

14. Saw wild dolphins in the ocean
This wasn't one of those resort, quasi-natural swim with the dolphins situations. We were just down at the beach and we saw dolphins playing out in the waves. It was so cool! We've seen seals a few times too. When I was waiting to do the aforementioned flash mob on the Santa Monica Pier it was SO cold. It was super windy and rainy and the only time in California that I've been genuinely freezing cold. Then I looked over the edge of the pier at the huge waves and saw 3 seals having a blast playing in the waves. It made me stop feeling sorry for myself!

15. Hosted visitors
We had so many visitors it was difficult to schedule them in sometimes! We also had a few repeaters. My mom wins the prize for a total of 3 visits! One of my favourite things to do was greet arriving visitors. The people arriving from Canada always come down a specific escalator in LAX so I would stand at the bottom of it to wait for them. It was so fun because most people on a flight between Edmonton and L.A. don't have people meeting them!

16. Got the opportunity to really choose where we wanted to live
Most of the time the place where we live is determined by external factors (where we're born, where we go to school or get a job). That has been the case for me for my whole life so far. We had some choice in where we went for David to go to school but there were only so many Real Estate Development programs and the one in USC is one of the best. Well now that David's program is done we could pretty much go anywhere we wanted. We could stay in L.A., move to another U.S. city, or move anywhere else in the world for that matter! Well we're as shocked as anyone to discover that where we want to be is Edmonton. That is ultimately the place we call home.

Walking Amongst Giants (and Junk)

Oh my goodness, it's almost been a month since I last wrote a blog post. I'm officially not a very good blogger. Well if there's anyone out there left reading this, I apologize! I sort of wait until a post forms itself in my mind and then write it and that just hasn't happened lately. That is, until last week.

So, when you think of California, what comes to mind? Seriously, I'm curious what sorts of words pop into your heads. Maybe warm weather and beaches? Celebrities and beautiful, shallow people? Horrendous traffic? Well how about breath-taking scenery and natural phenomena? Did you know that California is the home of the following: the oldest living tree, the tallest tree species, and the biggest tree in the world?

Well I saw the General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world last week. We went on a road trip to Sequoia National Park. Words seriously can not describe how amazing the sequoias are. David keeps making fun of me because I'm obsessed with these trees. It's not just that they're so big but that they're really, truly beautiful.

                                          I mean, are you kidding me?! They look like two
                                          giant dinosaur feet! P.S. I finally figured out how
                                          to insert pictures! Yay!

The main reason that the sequoias are so big is that they are pretty much immune to the things that kill other types of trees. Guess what the top killer of sequoia trees is? Bugs? Nope. Fungus? Uh uh. Forest fires? We saw a cross section of a tree with 80 fire scars! Nope, the number one killer, and really the only thing that kills these trees is... toppling over. They get so friggin' big that they can't hold themselves up anymore. And one of the things that makes them so beautiful is also what protects them. They have excessive amounts of tannin in their bark which gives them their beautiful red colour but also makes them unpalatable to insects and fungus.

General Sherman, the biggest sequoia of them all is not actually the tallest or the widest but it has the most volume because it tapers very little toward the top. It's volume increases by the equivalent of another very large tree every year. As we walked toward the grove of sequoias and they came into sight my mouth was literally hanging open. I was like a cartoon character who sees a beautiful girl with my eyes bugging out and my tongue lolling. I felt like I was suddenly thrust into world 4 of Super Mario 3, minus the giant fish trying to eat me, of course.

     Sorry that this picture is so annoyingly big but I'm trying to give you a sense of the scale here.
     Can you see the people standing in front of the tree in the middle?

There was one tree that had fallen down and was completely hollowed out so you could walk down the length of it. This tree had been used as a shelter, a saloon, and a horse corral. The trees were once logged but now they're protected. We saw one stump of a tree that took 13 days to cut down.

These trees are also incredibly old. General Sherman is about 3,000 years old. So it was a pretty old tree already when the bible was being written.

So anyway, I'll stop obsessing about the sequoias now. All I will say is that every single person should see these trees at some point in his or her life. The shocking thing is that not a single person that I have talked to in L.A. about our trip has seen the sequoias. The world's biggest tree is less than 4 hours away and they haven't even seen it?!!

Another cool thing we did on our trip is a cave tour. We were there during the off-peak season so we got our own private tour (which was good because she was able to answer ALL of Asha's many questions). The cave is in a mountain made of solid marble. The formations inside are formed by water making its way through the mountain and leaving behind calcite deposits. The formations were truly breath-taking. Asha liked them because they were all named after food (stack of pancakes, popcorn, lasagne noodles). Nia was completely mesmerized and kept pointing all over. I wonder if later in life she'll have crazy dreams about wierd, wavy rocks and gigantic trees!

As we were walking through the cave a drop of water landed on my head, what is called a "cave kiss". The tour guide told us that it takes between 500 and 800 years for the water to make its way through the mountain into the cave. So the water that fell on my head had rained at least 500 years before!! Isn't that amazing!?

 

Well now I'm just going crazy with the pictures!

The cave formations are hard to capture on film

but here you go!

At the end of our trip we decided to head out west so we could drive back down the coast. Most people visit the Cambria area to see Hearst Castle. It has been dubbed "America's castle" and was build by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing bagillionaire. It's supposedly very extravagant and opulent. A couple of people told David we shouldn't miss it. Well, it's not really our style so we skipped it.

We did, however, go to a place called Nit Wit Ridge. It's a house that was built by a guy named Art Beal. He bought the land for $500 and built the entire house out of repurposed items (also known as junk). He did all the stonework, plumbing, and wiring himself. He was the town garbage man and rumour has it he didn't actually take anything to the dump but kept ALL of it. He has picture frames made out of toilet seats. The handrails are functioning pipes that water runs through. 

                                                                       Nit Wit Ridge

The guy was a total nutcase but it was pretty amazing how industrious he was and how he found beauty in unusual items. He has integrated into the stonework hundreds of abalone shells that he got from the plant where they removed the meat and threw out the shells.

The residents of the town are divided between folks who think the house is a heritage site that should be preserved and people who think it's an eyesore that should be torn down. Our family was also divided. I thought it was fascinating and a testament to what can be done with stuff people throw away, some ingenuity, and a whole lotta time. David found the entire tour uncomfortable and couldn't get past the glaring building code violations. I suppose it's like if there was a person who didn't know how to fix speech and language problems but they got a bunch of kids and tried to give them speech therapy. Then someone put on tours so people could look at all the screwed up little kids!

So, that's our little road trip in a nutshell. We successfully logged many hours in a car, minus a DVD player I might add! After 4 days we were more than ready to go home. Once again, the term "home" was confusing because we alternately called our hotel room, Los Angeles, and Edmonton "home". I have a new obsession with sequoia trees and renewed sense of awe for nature. 

Now for the super fun job of packing up our house!

Apple Pie For Breakfast

No, this is not an homage to my father-in-law who actually eats apple pie for breakfast. I don't really have anything interesting to write so I thought I would send out a recipe that I invented. I am not a person who typically invents a recipe. I am a person who follows recipes exactly and never sways from doing exactly what it tells you to do. My mom is a person who, when you ask how she made the fabulous dinner you just ate replies "I don't know. I just threw it together". She makes these fabulous portabello mushrooms. She says she just sautees them in olive oil and garlic. It sounds easy enough but when I make them they end up looking (and tasting) like a dog's dinner. Is that genetic do you suppose? This ability to throw things together and make a fabulous meal? Will I ever possess that ability?

Well I've gotten a tiny step closer with this recipe. It's nothing groundbreaking but it tastes damn good. I actually did just throw it together without measuring so the measurements are approximate. You might need to adjust accordingly.

Here it is:

Apple Pie for Breakfast
1/2 cup of quick oats
1 tsp. ground flax seed (optional but highly recommended because it's so good for you!)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 dashes cinnamon
handful chopped walnuts or pecans

Put the oats, flax seed, and almond milk in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 45 seconds. Stir in applesauce and cinnamon and sprinkle nuts on top.

You could probably make it with regular milk but I think it tastes better with the almond milk. Almond milk also has as much or more of the good stuff (calcium, iron) and as much or less of the bad stuff (fat, sugar, animal cruelty) than regular milk. You can also cook it on the stovetop if you want but it's way quicker in the microwave.

So there you go! It seriously tastes like apple pie with no added sugar (just what's in the almond milk and naturally occurs in the applesauce) and it has lots or iron, vitamin C, and protein to start your day!

Here's another recipe courtesy of Asha. It's called Puddling Poo. Now I thought it sounded like what would result if you ate too many Christmas oranges but apparently it's delicious. I'm told it looks like poo but tastes like chocolate. I've tasted it and I beg to differ...

Puddling Poo
Sand
Sea water
Seashells (optional)

Fill a bucket 3/4 full with dry sand. Get a very small container and ask your mom to go scoop some sea water out of the ocean for you repeatedly. Continue until she says she's had enough of going back and forth and the mixture has a mud-like consistency. Season with seashells to taste. This is particularly delicious if you take it home and let it sit for several days (if you can convince your mom to let you take it home. Mine wouldn't let me.)

Hmm... Maybe the ability to throw ingredients together skips a generation??