2011 - Page 8 of 14 - Forever In Mom Genes

C is For Cookie and Also Catastrophe

Jun 08 2011

“I don’t bake, I bakery.” This is a line I use often and for good reason. My cookies crumble, my loaves are listless, my cakes are lopsided and my pies…well, I gave up on them ages ago. I “bakery” them. Thank you Costco for your behemoth pies that serve 24 people, if you indeed decide to share. *coughs and wipes pie crumbs from chin* It’s also more expensive to buy ready-made. Plus who knows what preservatives and lardy bits are hidden in store bought goodies? So, in an attempt to be more budget conscious and increasingly healthful-ish I’ve been baking. Are you laughing? You’re totally laughing. And you SHOULD be because watching me work a sifter or rolling pin is laughable. Picture flour everywhere, sink piled high with greased up cookie sheets, dough on the floor and on the dog, swearing, lots of swearing and sometimes, smoke. However, I’m proud to say I have mastered the art of oatmeal cookies. In fact, my last batch was not merely edible, it was downright tasty. How amusing that my son was beyond excited to offer a cookie to his friend. “My mom made these,” he announced with pride. And then there’s my[…]

Jun 01 2011

Yesterday it was a sweltering 40 °C, so after school the kids were excited to come home and cool off. I made them virgin strawberry daiquiris with swizzle sticks and paper umbrellas and we clinked our glasses and toasted to the summer ahead. Then my sweaty children put on their swim suits, lubed up with SPF and took their slippery selves for a dip in our brand new pool!!! Exciting, I know. You were probably super jealous just reading that. You may also have been thinking, “Wow, how can they even afford this aquatic luxury on their stupidly tight budget??” Ok fine, this isn’t our pool. I don’t know these people. But I want to… THIS is our new swimming pool. You are welcome to come take a dip with us any time, Hilly Billy style! But here’s thing, kids don’t CARE about luxury or keeping up with the Jones’. Give them a bucket, some water and a hose and they’re coolio. So move over kids, mama’s comin’ in! Cannon ball!

May 31 2011

I walked in Toronto’s “Weekend To End Women’s Cancers” and met so many people touched by breast cancer. Too many. Concerned for my own health, I asked my doctor if I should have a mammogram. She explained that Canadian women are advised to be screened at the age of fifty, unless there is a history of breast cancer in the family, in which case the recommended age in forty. I asked if I should wait until fifty? She told me it was up to me. Then I asked the question I ask all doctors… “What would you tell your daughter?” She said, “I would tell her to do it. Now.” She explained that breast cancer affects women (and men) of all ages, but it’s aggressive and develops quickly in younger women. By the time it’s detected, it may be too late. I made my appointment. Mammograms can be scary. Especially your first. I tried to make the idea less daunting by pronouncing “mammogram” like you would if you were announcing a candygram (like in the old SNL shark candygram skit). It helped. But only a little. Sporting a tie-in-the-back gown, a friendly female technician showed me into a dimly lit exam room. She[…]

May 31 2011

We don’t have cable T.V. anymore. We got rid of it in 2006. I wrote about the hows, and the why would anyone do thats here. We do have a five disc DVD player however which I assure you gets quite a workout most days. I don’t use it to babysit my children though I *may* use the occasional movie to keep a certain busy little blonde girl occupied more often than I care to admit. I swore up and down and sideways I would never plop a child of mine down in front of the Boob Tube, but sometimes a mama just needs a minute (or sixty) to catch her breath. So when our DVD player, the only source of digital entertainment at the time, went belly up I panicked. It simply whirred away emitting a most disturbing and painful screeching sound. How was I supposed to unload the dishwasher, make dinner and send an important email while under siege by an over-tired child begging for a little Dora action? In desperation I pried off the lid and not only did I locate the source of the problem, I also discovered the mystery behind the dog’s new[…]

May 28 2011

It seems all we talk about around here these days is cutting costs. Clearly we talk about it TOO much (and TOO openly) since yesterday our eight year old asked, “Are we poor??” Oh holy hell. How am I supposed to answer that? Sigh. Naturally we told him we were anything but poor and all was well. I mean, we’re not technically “poor” at least not in the way he was thinking *think all of us sleeping in one bed in a shack down by the river.* However, we ARE a one income family, living in a two income home in an affluent neighbourhood, during tough economic times….wait a minute. Oh my god, we ARE poor! So either I need to go back to work (more to come on that tearful discussion) or we have to start sticking to our budget. Like glue. No impulse buys, no dinners out, no stuff. Just essentials. Writing that made my stomach cramp. We’ve always had a sensible budget, all pretty in an excel spreadsheet – colour coded, highlighted and bolded. HAVING a budget isn’t the problem. It’s actually sticking to it that’s well, sticky. Anyway, I can guarantee there will be a few[…]

Archive - 2011

C is For Cookie and Also Catastrophe

Take A Dip In Our (Cess) Pool

What You Should Know Before Your First Mammogram

DVDisasters

Budget Clipping