I've been an on-and-off listener of CHUM-FM since way-back-when. It was the young people's station when I moved to Toronto back in 1970 and over the years it's mellowed somewhat -- and the Morning Show has always been a favourite. Since the additon of Darren to the team, mornings always have at least one good laugh! That guy has a real King-kind of humour...Anywho, since Murphy the Dog has come into my life, the timing of their early morning contests usually happen right as I'm preparing to take him out for his morning walk so if I'm near the phone, I start dialing. I particularly like the BEAT THE BANK contest and over the past few years that they've been running it, I've made it through about 3 times but always before being the 25th caller. But this past Tuesday, my luck changed. I knew right when the call was answered that I was Caller Number 25, but when she asked me "And why are you calling?", all I could think of was "Santa and money"..."You mean, BEAT THE BANK?" Thanks goodness they're not too sticky on contestants knowing the exact contest name! The bank vaults started at $300, then $400, then $600, then $900 and I was prepared to go all the way to $50,000 until Roger commented that the previous day's caller had stopped at $900 and it had gone all the way to $50,000. It was then that I knew the gig was up -- No way would it go "all the way" two days in a row...so I gave it one more try and $1000 was mine if I wanted it: "I'm going to take the money and run!" Fortunately the bells rang after $1,300 so I was totally jazzed with my winnings. What a great way to start the Christmas season!!! Mind you, the money's already tagged for spending, but it was totally fun to finally make it through the phone lines to win. As far as I know, niece Wendy is the only who knew it was me on the radio. She commented that she was getting ready to go out for her morning coffee when she heard BEAT THE BANK start and didn't even give it a nod when she heard the name Mary, but then she said she heard me laugh and stopped in her tracks...she knew that laugh. And then I mentioned I lived in Huttonville, and she said "that's my Aunt Mary!!!"
Winning won't stop me from dialing in, but I'll leave it for this round of the contest. It feels kind of greedy to keep trying. Could have driven down into Toronto today to pick up the cheque, but I'm thinking this being Grey Cup weekend is no time to be venturing into the Big City. It can wait until Monday. It will feel good to have the winnings in hand...
Merry Christmas!
The Lucky Mom
Friday 23 November 2012
Monday 19 November 2012
Move Over, it's my Turn
Today I had a good friend look after Lucienne and Audree while I took Amelia to the dentist (more on that in a bit). Lucienne has really started showing recognition of people she knows lately. At church, if she sees this friend she will run up to her with a huge grin and ask to be picked up, often not wanting to come to my arms (which is okay because it means I get to snuggle with her 5 month old...good deal!).
So today I left her and she barely blinked as I walked out the door without her. When I returned my friend said she was completely fine until her little baby got up from her nap and needed to nurse. I assumed that it was because Lucienne then looked around for me, wanting to breastfeed herself but it turns out she spent the feed trying to get the baby off so she could have a snack herself. Good to know I'm so easily replaced!
When I told Rene he asked if I would ever nurse someone else's baby. I would, if they asked. Lots of communities enjoy communal mothering, and wet nurses were the norm not too long ago. I remember reading a story about a mother who died during childbirth in the US and knowing how important breastfeeding was to her, the father asked for help from lactating mothers. Her friends rallied around this mourning family and took shifts nursing the little baby.
Now for Amelia at the dentist. She's had this molar that started to reabsorb itself the past few months. The dentist just said to keep an eye on it and come in if it starts to bother her. Erica mentioned that on her last cleaning she thought it looked like it was time to pull it out. I made an appointment and the next day Amelia complained that it was hurting her. Nice timing! So we went in and the dentist said it was holding on by about 20%. I said pull it (Amelia wasn't as gung ho but eventually consented). So out it came, quite easily. When I went to pay the bill I was floored...$178 to pull the tooth. I could have bought a few fancy pliers to the job myself at that price! Thank goodness for insurance.
So today I left her and she barely blinked as I walked out the door without her. When I returned my friend said she was completely fine until her little baby got up from her nap and needed to nurse. I assumed that it was because Lucienne then looked around for me, wanting to breastfeed herself but it turns out she spent the feed trying to get the baby off so she could have a snack herself. Good to know I'm so easily replaced!
When I told Rene he asked if I would ever nurse someone else's baby. I would, if they asked. Lots of communities enjoy communal mothering, and wet nurses were the norm not too long ago. I remember reading a story about a mother who died during childbirth in the US and knowing how important breastfeeding was to her, the father asked for help from lactating mothers. Her friends rallied around this mourning family and took shifts nursing the little baby.
Now for Amelia at the dentist. She's had this molar that started to reabsorb itself the past few months. The dentist just said to keep an eye on it and come in if it starts to bother her. Erica mentioned that on her last cleaning she thought it looked like it was time to pull it out. I made an appointment and the next day Amelia complained that it was hurting her. Nice timing! So we went in and the dentist said it was holding on by about 20%. I said pull it (Amelia wasn't as gung ho but eventually consented). So out it came, quite easily. When I went to pay the bill I was floored...$178 to pull the tooth. I could have bought a few fancy pliers to the job myself at that price! Thank goodness for insurance.
Saturday 17 November 2012
The Santa Claus Parade Fiasco of 2012
The Orangeville Santa Clause Parade was today. For the past three years our ward has put together a float. Or rather, Rene and few other guys have built a float. Last year we were Mary and Joseph with Lucienne as baby Jesus. This year I was a shephard, Amelia was a goat, and Evelyn, Audree and Lucienne were time travellers from the 21st century. In other words, they refused to wear costumes. I figured smiling children was more important that period costumes so I didn't push it too hard.
Leading up to the float was a mass of miscommunication and mayhem. People weren't where they were suppose to be, there was confusion on what time the parade actually started (it was an hour earlier this year) and keys to the chapel were forgotten. The float was built, it had no lights, costumes were forgotten but once remembered were locked in the attic of the chapel with no key holders in town. We walked the staging ground of the floats for an hour, met up with other members but our float was not there and the parade was due to start within 1/2 an hour. When the float finally arrived (which also meant we were near the back of the parade making the night even longer for all the kids...waiting to start) there were still no costumes. Rene decided to go back to the chapel to try his locksmithing skills. That left me with the four girls and our dog (yes, we brought Paris). Popular items on a float are babies and dogs so we thought we'd play the crowds this year with both. 5 minutes after he left a couple of the guys came back with costumes in hand (I guess he's not the only one able to break in). This is one of the few times I've wished we were more of a cell phone family.
I got a little antsy as the parade started and no Rene. I guess it was lucky we were near the end so it would give him more time but I couldn't figure out how I was going to hold Lucienne and walk the dog and keep Audree happy. Just as it was about our turn Rene shows up on rollerblades. He figured out that the costumes had been found but then had to figure out how to get to the staging area on time. Turns out rollerblades are crowd pleasers too so we were covering lots of bases.
In true style, Audree was asleep about 5 minutes into the parade (she's done that every year). Lucienne decided she'd rather walk so spent 80% of the parade crying and trying to get out of my arms. We had mini candy canes for the kids in the crowds but I spent the time I wasn't wrestling Luci unwrapping the candy for the 10 kids on the float. I toyed with the idea of getting off half way and heading home (the route is about a 5 minutes walk from home at one point) but couldn't get my roller-blading-wise-man-husband's attention to get his keys so I carried on.
The end is always the hardest. The parade doesn't end where it started so the positioning of the car is key. If you park at the beginning then you've got to hike over there at the end of the parade and if you park at the finish you've got to give yourself enough time to get to the start. The latter was our plan this year until costumes were MIA and everything was running late. I'm always left sitting with cold, tired, hungry children, waiting for Rene to fetch the van. Early in the day I had made an off-hand comment that in the time it took to sort out the car I could just walk home. Turns out this year he took that to heart and had parked the car at home and rollerbladed to the starting line. However, I hadn't included details like if we were going that route I'd make sure to have a stroller for the sleeping 3-year-old and cranky 1-year-old not to mention the fact the other two would be cold, tired and hungry. So once again, we waited in the cold while Rene rollarbladed home to get the van. At least this year it wasn't raining. I remember last year huddling under some soffits of a garage to keep out of the cold, slushy rain, singing Christmas carols to the girls trying to keep them from crying with a 6 month old baby trying to nurse. Fun times.
There has to be a better way. I hope at least we're creating warm, Christmas memories for the girls.
Leading up to the float was a mass of miscommunication and mayhem. People weren't where they were suppose to be, there was confusion on what time the parade actually started (it was an hour earlier this year) and keys to the chapel were forgotten. The float was built, it had no lights, costumes were forgotten but once remembered were locked in the attic of the chapel with no key holders in town. We walked the staging ground of the floats for an hour, met up with other members but our float was not there and the parade was due to start within 1/2 an hour. When the float finally arrived (which also meant we were near the back of the parade making the night even longer for all the kids...waiting to start) there were still no costumes. Rene decided to go back to the chapel to try his locksmithing skills. That left me with the four girls and our dog (yes, we brought Paris). Popular items on a float are babies and dogs so we thought we'd play the crowds this year with both. 5 minutes after he left a couple of the guys came back with costumes in hand (I guess he's not the only one able to break in). This is one of the few times I've wished we were more of a cell phone family.
I got a little antsy as the parade started and no Rene. I guess it was lucky we were near the end so it would give him more time but I couldn't figure out how I was going to hold Lucienne and walk the dog and keep Audree happy. Just as it was about our turn Rene shows up on rollerblades. He figured out that the costumes had been found but then had to figure out how to get to the staging area on time. Turns out rollerblades are crowd pleasers too so we were covering lots of bases.
In true style, Audree was asleep about 5 minutes into the parade (she's done that every year). Lucienne decided she'd rather walk so spent 80% of the parade crying and trying to get out of my arms. We had mini candy canes for the kids in the crowds but I spent the time I wasn't wrestling Luci unwrapping the candy for the 10 kids on the float. I toyed with the idea of getting off half way and heading home (the route is about a 5 minutes walk from home at one point) but couldn't get my roller-blading-wise-man-husband's attention to get his keys so I carried on.
The end is always the hardest. The parade doesn't end where it started so the positioning of the car is key. If you park at the beginning then you've got to hike over there at the end of the parade and if you park at the finish you've got to give yourself enough time to get to the start. The latter was our plan this year until costumes were MIA and everything was running late. I'm always left sitting with cold, tired, hungry children, waiting for Rene to fetch the van. Early in the day I had made an off-hand comment that in the time it took to sort out the car I could just walk home. Turns out this year he took that to heart and had parked the car at home and rollerbladed to the starting line. However, I hadn't included details like if we were going that route I'd make sure to have a stroller for the sleeping 3-year-old and cranky 1-year-old not to mention the fact the other two would be cold, tired and hungry. So once again, we waited in the cold while Rene rollarbladed home to get the van. At least this year it wasn't raining. I remember last year huddling under some soffits of a garage to keep out of the cold, slushy rain, singing Christmas carols to the girls trying to keep them from crying with a 6 month old baby trying to nurse. Fun times.
There has to be a better way. I hope at least we're creating warm, Christmas memories for the girls.
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