Ew! Gross!

I received the following email from my mom, one day after I received some other similar disgusting news at a conference. 1st the disgusting conference information: A conference presenter once brought his hotel bedspread down to share with his audience...why? think about it. You know that the sheets and pillowcases are clean, but the bedspread? When was the last time that was washed. So he took some CSI spray and spayed his bedspread. He then turned out the lights and showed all the crap that was on his hotel bedspread. Everything including fecal contamination was there! YUCK! Interestingly enough he sprayed the bedspread with essential oils and it all disappeared. The moral of the story! Travel with essential oils! I am!
Here the other disgusting news:

PURSES
I never gave it a thought. Who'd a thunk? Have you ever noticed gals who sit their purses on public restroom floors - then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot! It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress. Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"! Read on...
Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their purses down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that purses are really dirty, because of where they have been. Smart Momma!!!
It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Shauna Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse. Women carry purses everywhere; from the office to public restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day?
"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, and in restrooms."
"I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls while changing a diaper," says another woman "and of course in my home which should be clean."
We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test the average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said at home they usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty.
It turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked. Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the purses tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or possibly vomit" says Amy.
So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does has the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop. Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your purse on the countertops" - your purse has gone where individuals before you have sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you? The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.

Things that bug me

Today Elijah and I were coming out of the Tim's drive-thru and heard a fire truck coming down the main road. As we watched it coming, the car in front of it caught my attention. It refused to move over for the fire truck. Seriously! Where are you going that is more important than the fire truck?!!! As the fire truck honked and tried to get by, the driver actually frowned and shook his head with a disgusted look on his face. I couldn't believe it. How selfish can one person be?! Fortunately, the other cars on the road were all pulling over and the fire truck managed to find a path through.
Other things that bug me these days:
-People that don't signal!
-Jaywalkers! Kings Square is especially bad for this. Saint Johners would not survive Vancouver streets!
-That a 2 year old's favorite word is "no"...does it corelate to age? a 2 letter word for a 2 year old...do I have hope that when he's 3 his favorite word will be "yes"? :o)
-that the stove burner liners are never where I think they should be at the grocery store (btw they are kept by the disposable baking pans in the baking aisle...not in the cleaning aisle and not by the aluminum foil)
-spam email that gets through yahoo's spamguard
-that ATV moved Dancing with the Stars to Saturday night instead of Tuesday/Wednesday...I know, I know...but I like my brainless TV mid-week (and please don't say I could just watch it in ABC...we don't subscribe to cable)
-Oh and I'd like CSI NY and the Law and Order shows to air one hour later too

Like Mother, Like Son?

Or maybe just all kids like to do this...here's a snap of laundry day at our house:

Duplo

Jonathan and I are clearly having the time of our lives. The real reason to have a toddler around? Yes, he's loving and wonderful all by himself and we couldn't imagine life without him...but he has great toys! Do you remember that day long ago when you realised that your friends weren't playing with toys anymore (or if they were, it wasn't cool to admit it). You had to put your cars and dolls into a box that your mom put into storage (and you hoped against hope that they wouldn't end up in a garage sale someday). You had to learn new ways to call up your friends. Say things like "Do you want to hang out?" instead of "Do you want to come over to play?". The grand healing solution to that melancholy time happens years later. You have a kid...they have toys. In fact the best toys that they have are the ones you remember. (Hint to people who are not yet parents, or new parents just getting into the toy thing: if it was around when you were a kid, there is a reason they are still marketing it, kids actually love to play with it again and again). So in our house right now, we have puzzles and toy cars, stuffed animals, Little People, and best of all Duplo! (No worries, we'll get the real Lego when Elijah is 6...choking hazard you know!). Jonathan and I are having a great time! Here are some of our recent creations.


Colisseum Bowl by Kristen














Airplane by Jonathan













ELIJAH by Jonathan














Jonathan/Robot/Monster by Kristen

What do want to be remembered for?

I guess it is man's need for eternity that wants him to leave his stamp on the world. We seem to want recognition either by being published, or, prizewinner, or, having our moment on film. We want to be remembered as having walked this planet after we are gone. How will you be remembered? My attention was caught today by a new product created by a company called Eternal Image. They have announced that sports fans can have their ashes held in an urn declaring them a lifelong fan of their favorite Major League Baseball Team. Eventually all 30 teams will be represented. If you aren't a baseball fan, no need to despair. The company is also in talks with the NFL, NBA and NHL.
For me, I would like to be remembered as a good wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Most of all I would like to be remembered as someone who walked with Christ. I would like to be remembered by the one I hope to be with for eternity. I put my trust in Him almost 7 years ago and I can honestly say that my life has never been so good. Where I was lost before, I now find purpose. I know why I'm here and I know the direction I am going. The truth that I've discovered is that for years I lived without God in my life. I always felt there was something more to life, but I didn't know what it was. Once I met Jesus I began to develop a relationship with Him, my life began to make sense. It was no longer directed with me at the centre. It was directed with Him at the centre. He, who created each and every one of us desires to be with us. God is a gentleman, He will not impose Himself onto us. He desires a relationship with us, but a relationship works 2 ways. We have to want Him too. If you feel that your life is missing something...if you feel that you would like to find purpose...if you would like to know Jesus, then I ask you to consider praying this simple prayer (prayer is not a big mystery, it is just talking to God): "Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be." Where do you go from there? Or maybe you just aren't ready to take that step? Or maybe you are just a little bit interested in what I have to say today?Then I encourage you to check out one or more of the following.
1) look into taking an Alpha course...http://www.alphacanada.org/
2) read this and think about it: http://www.godlovestheworld.com/
3)or read this and think about it: http://www.fathersloveletter.com/

I don't know if this is still a secret but...

OOOh, do I have you all in suspense? Are you the least bit curious as to what my secret is? Okay there are a bunch of you out there who have known this secret for a while and are going to be like..."Hello Kris, tell us something we don't know"...and some will just be glad that it is all out in the open...Now do I have your attention?
Okay my not so secret secret is...and I can't believe some of you haven't figured this out already...Jonathan and I are expecting our 2nd baby in March! So there is the reason that all of a sudden my shirts are a little longer and baggier and that I take a nap every day. I actually thought this was pretty obvious by now, but apparently not. The due date for those wanting to know is March 7th (which makes me 19 weeks along). I had my second ultrasound this week and everything looks good. So please keep us in your prayers that everything continues to go well.

Seventh Graders

There shoud be a prize for successfully surviving a) going through 7th grade and b) teaching a class of 7th grade. Only in 7th grade would you hear something like this:
(I, the teacher, had just gotten my haircut)
"Hey, Mrs. S., you did something to your hair...did you get highlights?" Student A
"No, stupid, she got it cut, didn't you Mrs. S?" Student B
"Oh, yeah, it looks good Mrs. S.?" Student A
"Yes, I got my haircut, let's move on to the lesson" Me
"Did you get layers or something?" Student C
"Yeah, she did, didn't you Mrs. S.?" Student B
"Moving on with the lesson..." Me
"Layers, what are layers, do you have layers Mrs. S.?" Student A
"Hello, Music people!"
"But Mrs. S. it's kinda like music because your hair has layers and music has layers" Student B
"no, music doesn't have layers" Student A
"Yes, yes it does, doesn't it Mrs. S" Student B
"Actually, music does have layers, and we'll talk about that another class" Me
"See stupid, I told you" Student B to student A
(and yes, I did have to discipline student B for the continuous use of the word stupid)

Fonts

What makes people choose the fonts that they do? I like this one for the blog because it seems friendly (and there are only 8 font choices anyway). For work I usually choose Comic Sans MS because it is one of the only fonts to use an "a" without the curly top, the way most people print. I chose Allegro font for my Daybook because I teach music and Allegro is a music word. When running my first girls group I used girly fonts like Curlz...to be girly. Do people really think this much about fonts, or am I just really tired today?

Random Musings

Is it just me or is the can of Pam spray getting smaller?

Why do people say "as quiet as a mouse?" These are people who have never lived in an apartment full of mice. Mice are the noisiest things I've ever heard. They are loud running around in the walls, and they squeek loud when they are caught.

Also, why do people say "sleeping like a baby"? Sure, babies sleep a lot, but only for short periods of time and not soundly at all. When Elijah was an infant (and even now in toddlerhood), I would have murderous thoughts about people who rang the doorbell or called during nap time. Don't wake the boy! What are you thinking?!

I am not a great gardener

I love the idea of gardening! When we first moved into this house I was so excited because I would finally get to try my hand at gardening. (We've lived in apartments for 4 years). The house that we are in has beautiful gardens. Gardens, plural, as in 7 garden spaces. I started off with the best of intentions. I went to Home Depot and purchased my first ever gardening tools. We went home and I takled the first (and smallest garden space). I had a great time, weeding and turning over the dirt. Later in the week I set out to tackle the another one of the smaller gardening spaces, this time I weeded about half the space before going in for the night. I did finish the space sometime in the next week. The third space I went after was the largest space. I finished the 1st third of it (with the perenials) in a few days, and the looked at the larger weed filled space, which I'm guessing traditionally has grown vegetables. Vegetables! Hmmm, I could plant vegetables. Back to home depot I went, imagining a fall filled with my own home grown squash, maybe some fresh herbs and tomatoes too, grown in the greenhouse. That weekend I started turning the dirt and ripping out the weeds. As the sun rose and my arms started to hurt, I began to think...this is a lot of work, how can I do this any easier...I still haven't figured that one out, and I must admit, although I did get most of the dirt turned, my seeds never got planted (so the squash we feasted on this weekend came from the Superstore, not my garden). Over the course of the rest of the summer, my interest in plants and weeding waxed and waned. I got excited about it again when something new and pretty bloomed. I was happy when David took me on a tour of my gardens and told me what plants I had (and what were weeds). But most of my interests went elsewhere. I decided that I have too much garden. Our neighbour informed us that the previous owners of the house loved to garden "all day, every day"...great for retired them, but not so great for mother of busy toddler me!
Fall is here now and my interest in gardening has once again risen. I've been very good about going in and weeding the patches. Pruning plants back for the winter...I'm still working on what is and is not a weed and hoping I haven't killed some of my plants in the pruning process.
I'm imagining a fresh begining to the garden of '07. One where my vegetables and herbs will get planted. One where I will put in sunflowers because I think they are pretty. One where I will dedicate at least one night a week to weeding and pruning. And one where my tulip and daffodil bulbs will come up. Elijah and I planted those this weekend. We've put them to bed for the winter, dreaming of a spring where I will be a real gardener at last!

blogger update

He's caved...Jonathan is now a member of the blogger community...see the link to the side. He, like me, was a member of spaces and decided to move here...are more people reading my bl0g because I'm here now, or do I just notice it more because blogger is a friendlier place to leave a comment? Does anyone know how I can trick blogger into letting me post more than 2 pictures on a post? And so far I'm not able to put video on here without really messing up my blog? I don't know why and I don't know how to fix it! But overall, I'm a happier blogger here.

I've been looking forward to this

Every parent has things that they dream about doing with their child. Jonathan couldn't wait until Elijah was old enough to build with Legos and old enough to play wrestle. Well, they currently build monsters and houses and towers and all sorts of things with Duplo (Lego will come when he's 6) and Elijah loves to climb all over Jonathan. So that dream is being realised. My own dream was to bake with my child. I have memories of making little pies and cookies with my mom, so this week I thought, let's see if Elijah is ready to bake with me.
Of course once you mention something to a 2 year old, there is no forgetting. I was inspired to ask Elijah if he wanted to make cookies, to distract him as Jonathan was heading out the door for a meeting (stop a fit mid-cry). So we washed the dishes (okay he played with the water in the sink as I washed the dishes) and then set out to make cookies.
Problem #1 - we have no eggs
Solution - I found a "Kids bake'em" cookie recipe, no eggs required
Problem #2 - the recipe calls for chocolate chips, we have no chocolate chips
Solution - use raisins and add a little bit of cinnimon
Elijah had so much fun with this...the reason I know is because he was still telling Jonathan about it 2 nights later at Tuck Tuck time.
He dumped all the ingredients in the bowl and mixed the dry ingredients (didn't want to stop mixing them) wanted nothing to do with mixing the wet ingredients - that mixer is too loud. He also attempted to form his own cookies on the baking sheet with his spoon (okay, I reformed them so it would make a whole cookie, but not bad for a 2 year old!). And then of course he ate them...spitting out the raisins of course ("no like raisins mommy"). I had no idea he didn't like raisins, especially considering he ate a 1/4 cup full of them while the cookies were baking and then asked for more...to be 2!

Family

The Dog Park

The Dog Park is a new concept in Saint John...okay it's only been open for about 2 weeks. We took Keziah on opening day (for the free stuff) and let her have a run and play with the other dogs. People are so funny. They are more aware of what their dogs are doing than a lot of parents I meet at the playground with their kids. They hover and make sure that their dog isn't being the bully dog of the pack. I have no problem with Keziah deciding that she is the lead dog of the small dogs. She's quite happy to run and jump and lead the chase. One afternoon we were there and the other dog in the small dogs area was a teacup chihauhua. The little thing was all over Keziah and you could see her, yeah, I'll put up with you expression...until the chihauhua went a step to far...all Keziah had to do was bark once at her and the chihauhua meekly backed away and acknowledged that yes, Keziah was queen of all. Of course she's not always the queen. We've also let her in the big dog area, where she gets along fine, but definately knows her place, backing down from the springer spaniels of the world. Smart girl.

Keziah

For those of you who have never met our little dog here she is.

the Radio Man

Yes, I admit it, I've turned our son into a country music fan. Not only is he a fan, but he has his own separate taste in music from me. One day, when Jonathan and Elijah were driving, Jonathan turned it to the classic rock station when Elijah said "no like it Daddy, like country". The biggest issue with listening to the radio with Elijah is now that he really likes some songs, we have to explain the concept of the radio to him. Once a song he likes finishes, he says "again", so we've had to tell him about the Radio Man, and how it is up to him which song he plays. Fortunately for us, Yahoo Music exists where we can watch music videos on demand. Here's Elijah's top requests:

Brand New Girlfriend by Steve Holy aka "Kissy, Kissy, Foosie, Foosie" in Elijahland
I'm a Roadhammer by the Roadhammers
Give it Away by George Strait
Truck Got Stuck by Corb Lund

He now recognises these songs much soon than I ever would. Fortuanately, his taste is not limited to these songs alone. He quite enjoys it when I put the DixieChicks on (but not Uncle Kracker, as I've found out). His taste is not completely limited to country, he loves Ray Charles ("Play Jack Mommy!"), old big band swing, especially Benny Goodman, and surprisingly enough, soft techno, think back to your early 90's high school dances. Apparenly, he recently discovered the B-52's Love Shack on an old tape I made, and has had Jonathan play it for him at nauseum while driving (you're making your Mama proud boy!, that was one of my grade11 theme songs!)

Where's Max?

Surfing online with a two year old is incresingly interesting...from comments like: "no typing Mommy" to website requests: "Max Mommy!", who knew? For those of you interested in Elijah's top sites to visit here you go:

nickjr.com : accesses to Max and Ruby (particularily the game "Where's Max", Elijah giggles in sheer delight when he finds Max in this hide and seek game.)
Also accesses to Blue's Clues although our choices there are more limited as Elijah refuses to accept anything to do with Joe, he only wants games with Steve in them. Elijah's favorite is Instrument Sound Matching (known as "piano") where he constantly surprises me at how many he gets right.

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/elmosworld/ Elijah's favorite Elmo games are Chicken Dance Elmo, Zoe's Silly Seasons, and helping Mr. Noodles walk the dogs.

Yahoo! Music...he loves watching music videos and the best way to play the songs he likes...more to follow on this.

newnuma.com and the original numanuma dance...he's one of Gary Brolsma's biggest fans

bobthebuilder.com He likes the building Lego game and the feature where you meet Bob and the gang.

www.hitentertainment.com/thomasthetankengine Thomas the Train