Random Scribble

Today also happens to be Jay’s birthday…for another 3 minutes. Happy Birthday, hon! The bad news is that he’s been buried under a major deadline and has been burning both ends of the wick lately. I postponed the birthday celebration until he can finally surface for air.

In other news, my sister is officially on early maternity leave. I am so thrilled for her. She’s got her work cut out for her with all the reorganizing and redecorating that has to happen before the newest member of our family arrives. But being pregnant means she’ll be the Project Manager by default.

I’m praying that all will continue to go smoothly as we await the arrival of this precious baby.

Summer vacation is officially over. After a whirlwind of summer activity - PowerLab Vacation Bible School, Golf Camp, a short *kid-free* get-away to San Francisco for Jay and I, day trips to the Toronto Zoo and Canada’s Wonderland, lazy days spent at the neighbourhood splash pad and park and time spent at Grandma’s house - today was Jessica’s first day in Grade 4. She’s been getting her new school supplies together, organizing and reorganizing her backpack and wondering what to wear the first day of school (so a girl!).

As customary, we all got up early to take Jessica to school today. Even little Justin seemed to understand what the buzz was all about this morning. I think he sensed that his big sister would be gone all day and made sure to hold her hand in the car on the ride to school. Aww! She made it a point to make a big production out of saying good-bye to him - kissing his cheek as she scrambled out of the back seat to find her friends and to face a new adventure.

I love the *new-ness* this time of year brings. I’m still fascinated by new school supplies - shiny new pens, fun pencils and erasers, squeaky new markers and glossy folders. Self-confessed Sharpie junkie here! Who doesn’t love the back-to-school aisle at Target…wish we had it here!

I’m happy that we can now get back into a normal routine. Little Justin isn’t sure what to do with himself with his big sis away. If I’m lucky, he’ll go down for a nap so I can accomplish a few items on my long to-do list. At least I have him all to myself for another 2 years…before he’s off to kindergarten.

This was a week for reconnecting an old friendship. Just when I thought it was heading towards a hopeless cause, my prayers were answered. I feel so blessed…and incredibly excited! So today I thank God for strong friendships that can withstand the challenges of time and distance. The kind that makes it so easy to pick up exactly where we left off. It’s good to be back!

I still can’t believe that another schoolyear is over. My daughter finished Grade 3 and received the Award for Academic Excellence in front of the entire student body, staff and parents at the final school assembly. I am so incredibly proud of her.

The school supply list for Grade 4 came home along with the final report card. My daughter is now in the Junior Division. It seems like just yesterday we were settling back into the Toronto area and registering her for SK.

The last day of Grade 3 was really just a day to say goodbye to the teachers and friends. Jess and her best friend had lunch and a playdate to kick off the summer.

I love you my boo! Congratulations on your Grade 3 achievements! Keep striving for excellence!

My post on our Bali trip is lost somewhere in the black abyss otherwise known as “Drafts". But it was an amazing trip!

Summer vacation is less than two weeks away.

I’m looking forward to another busy summer. I’ve been dying to landscape the front of our house, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’m certainly not the green thumb in this family, but I’ll get to it. Of course, there’ll be VBS again this summer and then after that my daughter is off to Golf Camp for a week. She wants to be able to play with the big boys! We’re hoping that a trip to Northern and Southern CA is in the cards this summer too.

Our little guy will be 2-years old next month! Where has the time gone! He’s an endless bundle of energy with a rapidly growing vocabulary - iced tea, Poopoo juice (long story on that one), “nandy” for candy, “woo-woo” for dog. As far as he’s concerned, rabbits say “hoppity-hoppity". He’s definitely inherited his Auntie Cindy’s obsessive-compulsive cleanliness. Ha! He hates when his hands are sticky or when his blanket is not completely smooth on the floor. He has to have a papertowel beside his plate at every meal (if there’s isn’t , he’ll totally call me on it). Oh man!

I’m going to be an Aunt again soon to another precious little girl! I’m so excited!

I’m a techie-in-training.

Blackberries and honey-coated pecans are awesome in a spring mix salad.

I need to do some serious damage in the Shoe Dept. at Bloomingdales.

I miss the CA family.

I’m going to bed. Good night!

Dearest Mia,

Happy 2nd Birthday, my beautiful Ming! Wow, you’re growing up so incredibly fast! You are such a shining star in my life! I love my role as an aunt because you make it so much fun!

I love everything about you, but there are some special little things about you that I find particularly endearing! I love how inquisitive you are; pulling items out of my luggage and asking “What’s this?” as I scramble to do last minute packing to catch a flight. I love how smart you are; your vocabulary is bigger than your body -soy sauce, “Hi Dustin!", “Jessss, Jessss!", “Please, lollypop!". I love how excited you get when I come to visit. And I really don’t mind that you steal my bag of Pirate’s Booty… and then don’t want to share!

I hope you know how special you are to everyone around you! You are wished a million blessings today…and everyday! Even though I can’t be right there today to splash around in your kiddie pool and jump on your bouncer with you, I am celebrating you in my heart and in my thoughts! But save me a piece of Red Ribbon Hello Kitty mango cake, will ya!

I hope you’ll always find the simple joys in bubbles and pink envelopes! Happy, Happy Birthday, Butterfly! I love you!

Hugs & Kisses,
Auntie Judy

My daughter did not inherit her Dad’s 20/20 vision. A recent trip to the optometrist showed that she is near-sighted and has astigmatism, just like her Mom. Thanks to the Dario genes, my girl has been sporting her brand new black and purple funky frames for almost 2 weeks, but 3 if you count the week her backpack wore them more than she did.

Her teacher at school pulled out a great positive-reinforcement trick out of her arsenal when she saw Jessica sheepishly pulling out her new specs for the first time in class. She asked Jessica to come to the front of the class and asked her to share her new glasses with everyone. She put them on and this awesome teacher gushed at how cool they looked and the class beamed their approval.

After school, as Jessica and her friends spilled out into the schoolyard, the girls were begging their waiting Mom’s to buy them glasses “just like Jessica’s"! The coolness factor zoomed way up and I didn’t have to remind my little girl to wear her glasses after that day! And after an email from her favourite San Franciscan, “Emaneen", who told her that “only cool girls have near-sightedness and astigmatism", she was thoroughly convinced.

Now my four-eyed daughter is hoping to get the same frames in the eggplant/green or pink! You know, cause a girl’s glasses gotta match the outfit!

Lately, I’ve been feeling fatigued and uninspired. Chalk it up to a seemingly endless winter, a general lack of sunshine and zero cardio. Granted, I got healthy doses of Vitamin D during our holiday vacation in California and short get-away to Bali…and the weather is beginning to slowly warm up finally! But still…

The harsh reality is that I’m quickly approaching another milestone birthday. My darling son will be 2-years old in July and well, I’m just tired of looking like I just had him. Ugh! I must get back into my pre-pregnancy Sevens…soon, very soon!

After a long hiatus from Pilates classes and any other form of *regular* exercise, I’m back with a mission in Advanced Pilates. I’m happy to say that I hung in with the Lululemon-clad girls and worked my core so hard in Monday’s class that I’m still sore today. Thank goodness I learned how to get through the Abs 100 move long ago, but I realize I have a lot of work to do to get things back to where they once were. Ha!

My little girl is 9!

Uh-oh, that’s just one year away from being catapulted into a double-digit age bracket and tween category.

No elaborate birthday party this year, just a quiet, family dinner. With the way our schedules have been looking lately a birthday party would have been way out in May.

In a pre-birthday girly night, Jessica and I went to see the hotseller Hannah Montana Concert Movie 3D. Being a highly-publicized limited engagement movie event of the year, it was next to impossible to get prime tickets and had to settle for late show tickets on a school night. It was a sold-out showing of a bunch of screaming pre-teens. Admittedly, Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus is quite the performer and actually fun to watch. Justin was diggin’ the 3D glasses he found lying around the next morning.

Justin and I visited Jessica’s classroom on the morning of her birthday with bags full of sugary treats for everyone. Jessica didn’t seem to mind that Justin stole her thunder for the first 15 minutes while her classmates made a fuss over “little brother". Wow, Grade 3 girls notice every little detail and couldn’t stop marveling at Justin’s little boots. The teacher asked Jessica to introduce her brother to the class and she was very proud to have the opportunity.

After school, our little family had a nice dinner at Richtree and finished off with a delicious strawberry-chocolate crepe. Yum!

After a very thorough search of every Nintendo retailer throughout most of the GTA, several American cities and one desperate Facebook plea, our little gadget girl was lucky enough to get Wii a few weeks before her birthday. Thanks to one relentless Dad who sprinted from a meeting, with Blackberry in ear with the sales staff of a local Gamestop in downtown San Francisco, requesting them to hold onto the last unit for 2 minutes!

Now several weeks post-birthday, Miss Gadget Monster is about to unwrap a brand new Nintendo DS Lite (in pink of course). It’s not a surprise so I can blog about it. She’s been on the phone with her Aunt almost daily for the past several weeks (and now the goods are safely nestled in my carry-on luggage). So since apparently she’s taking phone orders, maybe I can put in one for a MacBook Air.

Now that February seems to have crept up on me…Happy New Year everyone! And by everyone I mean my sister…and maybe my husband, because they might still read my blog from time to time. Apparently, I don’t even read, or update my own blog anymore.

On yet another back-blogging note, the holidays were awesome! It was nice to spend Christmas and New Year’s with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and the entire Cardona clan. The last time we spent Christmas all together was 7 years ago. It was a huge relief to escape the snow (although barely, many flights were cancelled due to inclement weather shortly after ours departed).

To sum up an awesome 2 1/2 week vacation:

Couples Night Out to celebrate Cindy, Sherrie, Eva’s birthday and Joyce and Eric’s 5th wedding anniversary with pre-show dinner at Off Vine and Wicked at Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA

Quality time with my niece, a super-adorable, super-scrumptious, smart-as-a-whip toddler!

Shopping and a mad scramble for last minute Christmas gifts and gift-wrapping marathons

Dinner at the home of the Dela Roca’s (whoa - the old school CRX is still alive and that’s one hardcore Thomas collection)

Christmas Church Service at La Sierra University Church and lunch with the Cardona and Bunoan family

Inland Pacific Ballet The Nutcracker with after-show cast autograph signing at Bridges Auditorium with Jessica, my sister and Mom

Pre-Christmas Party at Joyce & Eric’s home (great food & drinks, crazy karaoke, good laughs and awesome company)

Christmas Eve Party at the home of the Bunoan’s (more great food, crazy karaoke, good laughs and awesome company)

Christmas Day Party at the home of the Digdigan’s (more great food, a round of Guesstures, good laughs with the Cardona cousins)

Golf Days for the guys (3 rounds of 18-hole to be exact)

Spa Afternoon with my sister at Spa Balinesia (ahhhh!)

More shopping

Cardona Girl Cousin Dinner at Melting Pot (do you fondue?)

Road trip to Vegas for New Year’s

Explored The Strip - Bellagio, MGM Grand, Circus Circus and Wynn (Wynn is spectacular and it has an in-house Louis Vuitton, yum!)

Gluttony at Bellagio Buffet

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Day Salo Salo take-out with Uncle Rick and Auntie Norma, post-Christmas deal hunting at Target Greatland

Late evening roadtrip back to SoCal (post-holiday traffic stress on 15 Freeway averted)

Packing and hanging out before catching our flight home. The day was gorgeous enough for the kids to go “swimming” in the hot tub

LAX - YYZ (First Class is definitely the way to go!)

Can’t wait to do it all again! Christmas in SoCal must become a tradition!

Sapphire waters gently lap upon unspoiled beaches, a gentle breeze threads its way through lush vegetation, while palm trees sway at the foot of a dramatic hilltop…and the sound of your laughter drifts through the warm night air as you look upon your own small piece of heaven.

It is not uncommon to compare Bali to a pristine painting: rice paddies seem to compete for attention along the many hilltops, as clouds skim over volcanoes and deep forests beckon.

As one of the eighteen thousand islands in the world’s most expansive archipelago, Bali represents one of the largest in Indonesia. This tropical haven has a unique blend of modern tourist facilities combined with a rich past and heritage.

Not to be outdone, the island also provides a heavenly experience for shoppers: casual and tailored clothing, locally made jewelry, handicrafts, artifacts and antiques all await you…at very affordable prices.

This popular tourist destination truly offers something for everyone: traditional villages, ancient temples, striking music and dance, breathtaking scenery and the genuine warmth and sincerity of the Balinese people.

It is said that God dropped down a little bit of heaven when he created the island of Bali – why not come and find out for yourself?

Time is a companion that goes with us on every journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

I’ve been so absent. I was talking to an old friend last night and she asked me if everything was alright, because you know, my last post was in September. Things are fine, just crazy busy between more SuperMom stints, an active 16-month old toddler, Grade 3 homework and last minute Adventurer requirements to name just a few. That and lack of motivation to write, lack of time, lack of inspiration…and spending a better part of my online time on Facebook. It’s evil!

Here we are just around the corner from another holiday season. I’m looking forward to spending it with the Southern California family this year. It’s been 7 years since my sister and I spent Christmas together. I’m eagerly anticipating some girl time and playing with my very active, mischevious niece…and the boys are scheming tee times (which translates into spa time for us).

Today I’m home with the little munchkin who caught his sister’s cold this past week. He was running a slight fever last night and slept fitfully. I didn’t get much sleep either so here we are missing out on Children’s Ministry Sabbath. Good news is that I’m certain he’s feeling a lot better because he’s in the pantry trying to get into the chocolate as I type.

Better run it’s a little too quiet over there…which can only mean he’s up to no good!

Bank of America sucks!

How does a cheque get lost between the bank branch and the cheque clearing center?! When will they finally own up and just admit that someone screwed up…big, really big!

Here I am back-blogging again…

I’m totally in denial that summer is over. Technically it’s still summer for another couple days and the weather has been amazing (outside of the weird cold snap we got last weekend). I’ll take whatever sunshine I can get. I’m not quite ready to retire the flip-flops for another season. Summer vacation went by too quickly.

Jessica is now into the tail end of her third week of Grade 3. With the Board policy changes this year, classroom sizes are smaller which means more split classes. Jessica is 1 of 20 third grade students in class this year. She loves her teacher and is thrilled that she and her best friends from last year are back together again. But unfortunately, there will be some classroom shifts come Monday so the girls aren’t too thrilled. I’m hoping for the best.

The last few weeks of summer were crazy. Jay was out-of-town so I did another stint of Super-Mom. It was a mad rush to get our camping gear together for the Adventurer Camping weekend - by “get” I mean sit in 2-hour delays at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge to get to Buffalo to buy all our gear. We’re not big campers so we didn’t already have the stuff on hand. But we’re now equipped with a 4-man tent, sleeping bags and even a Coleman stove…not bad for someone who hates tent camping huh!

It was madness trying to get all the food and bags packed to get an excited 8-year old and an active 13-month old ready for a camping trip. We camped two nights at Rattlesnake Point in Halton Hills. Just far enough from home to be in beautiful Escarpment Country, but near enough to drive home in case of a total fall-out. It was Justin’s 1st tent camping experience and he was quite fascinated by it all. The nights were cold…cold enough to drive Justin and myself to sleep in the truck on the second night. Jessica had a fantastic time. I have to admit it was a good weekend, but I was glad to have my own ensuite and bed back after two nights away.

After unpacking the camping bags, I had to repack luggage for a road trip to New York City and New Jersey to attend Mark and Rowena’s wedding, visit family and spend time with friends. For a toddler that’s flown several times already in his young life, this was Justin’s 1st major road trip and I knew it would be a long haul. I usually make it to Watchung, New Jersey in 8 hours, but this time it took almost 11 hours to get there (thanks to more border and construction delays, more frequent, longer pitstops).

It was nice to see the NYC family. Liz was thrilled to finally meet Justin. He took to her instantly! Or was he just fascinated by her Sidekick. Ha! We got to stroll around the 3rd Avenue Street Fair, have some New York style pizza and grab a Jamba Juice in SoHo. We also got to hang out with Jane, Paul and the kids at a gathering for Tita Nenita’s birthday. Good times seeing everyone so soon after our July visit. There was some major power shopping at Bridgewater (I’m still amazed at the deals I find when I’m under the clock) and stop in on our former neighbors in the old hood on the way back to Toronto. Noticed a new Maggiano’s in Bridgewater, but didn’t have time to sit down for dinner.

With the loonie at par with the greenback, we’re looking forward to many more power shopping trips south of the border! And longer lists for Jay to run around with whenever he’s away. He is afraid, very afraid!

In other news, Justin is walking! His little drunken shuffle is getting more and more steady as the days go by. Give me strength!

Just a couple weeks shy of his 14-month birthday, Justin took his first independent steps towards me today. He was dancing…then all of a sudden he took 3 steps towards me before his little bottom hit the carpet. We cheered him on and he was really quite proud of himself. He did it several more times before deciding he was too pooped to continue performing for the parentals. I’m bracing myself for the day he discovers what havoc he can wreak with his new found skill. Perhaps I’ll be trading in his Pedipeds for some hardcore Nike’s soon.

So here it is - my “used to be daily, but is now working out to be a monthly post", at best! Even Dan Rochman is posting more often that I am these days.

Justin is 13 months old today which means his 1st Birthday party was a month ago and I’m realizing that I haven’t had time to blog about it…or anything else for that matter. Facebook is the new internet addiction and even that is getting a little boring these days.

To sum up the birthday celebration news, it was a busy, busy weekend with plenty of family and friends in town to share the milestone with us. My sister, brother-in-law and niece, the family from NYC and Paul, Jane and the kids, along with Jane’s parents and brother joined us for Justin’s Dedication and 1st Birthday. It was great to see everyone.

I’m a mother to an active toddler now. Justin is totally giving me a run for my money. He’s cruising and beginning to let go to stand independently before he realizes he’s doing a “Look Mom, no hands!” He’s discovered our stairs so I can’t take my eyes off him for a second. I think he’ll be walking in no time.

It’s been a busy summer and school starts again in just a little less than a month. But we have to pack in a day at Wonderland, a camping trip, a roadtrip to New York City/New Jersey and have some friends over for dinner before summer is over. I’m trying not to blink so I don’t miss the rest of this month.

Hope you’re having a fantastic summer out there!

Happy 1st Birthday and Dedication Day to my little prince, Justin! A year ago today you came into our lives. I remember life before you, but can no longer imagine what life would be like without you! I love you. We love you!

Well, I guess our trip to China is now very old news! But needless to say, our May 19-24, 2007 trip to Beijing, China was awesome! I think we truly would have regretted missing out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if we had let this invitation get past us. This trip probably wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for my sister, brother-in-law and parents who helped us out with the kids. Thankfully, my sister was able to rearrange her work schedule so she could have some days off to help out with Justin during the time we were away. Even my sister’s in-laws and my aunt and uncle joined in on the childcare duty. We were so grateful to have their help!

With each of our kids in different parts of the continent - Jessica here at home and Justin in California - Jay and I caught a flight from LAX to SFO to Beijing the morning of Friday, May 19. It was a long journey and I was restless for the last 2 hours of the flight. Half a book, 4 in-flight movies, several cat naps, a magazine, 2 meals and several snacks later and we still weren’t there yet! Finally, we touched down in Beijing, went through customs without any problems, picked up our luggage and followed the guides holding the company placards directing us to the coaches that were waiting to take us to the Grand Hyatt Beijing.

As tired as we were, I couldn’t sleep because I was anxious to take in all that was Beijing on the drive to the hotel. Beijing is a fascinating city where ancient history remains wonderfully intact amongst the modern construction. The city streets are immaculate. They’re cleaning up the city in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. But the air quality is horrendous.

My body clock was so out of whack because of the time difference. The minute my head hit the pillow mid-afternoon local time I was out. I thought I would just close my eyes for half an hour or so, but it was 10:30 pm before I woke up again. Jay and I were starving so we headed down for a bite to eat at one of the hotel restaurants. We bumped into Jay’s colleage and his wife (coincidentally they also happen to live down the street from us) so they joined us for a late night dinner.

Since the event didn’t officially start until the following evening, most of Sunday was a free day. We met up with our neighbours again for breakfast and then decided to take a cab to Pearl Market to do some shopping. The guys whipped out their sales negotation skills (haggling is a must if not purely for the entertainment) and we walked away with some sweet deals. Most of the vendors spoke very limited English so the calculator was the tool for communication. We would ask “How much?” and they would plug in a figure (an extremely ridiculous amount in their currency RMB) to indicate the price of an item. Someone gave us a tip that we should haggle the price down by at least 75% to avoid getting ripped off and to politely walk away if the vendor didn’t budge on her price. Most of the time they ran after us, grab an arm, and in broken English ask us to give them “a no-joking price” (they would feign horror at the price we offered, but usually they remained in the game). It was fun to watch but emotionally taxing because it took an hour to deal with some of the vendors.

Sunday, May 20 - The Welcome Dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt kicked off a string of back-to-back activites for the short time we were there.

Monday, May 21 - Was an early day packing in walking tours of The Forbidden City and Tianamen Square before making the trip to The Great Wall of China for a tour and dinner atop the Wall.

Dinner on The Great Wall was definitely the highlight of the trip. The hike was no easy feat, but definitely worth it for the spectacular views and the photo ops. Unfortunately, my little 4.0 megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera just didn’t do the splendour of The Great Wall justice (I’m dreaming of a sweet digital SLR).

The company even arranged for its own manned port-a-potties for lack of proper westernized restroom facilities. We were welcomed with a Dragon Dance at a special Cocktail Reception and Dinner atop The Great Wall. Apparently, this is only usually reserved for dignitaries, but someone called in favour to make this happen. After an amazing dinner and a gorgeous sunset The Wall was lit up just after nightfall. The moment was surreal and I’ll never forget it!

Tuesday, May 22 - Another early day to catch a 7 am flight to Xi’an for a full day excursion to see the Terracotta Warriors. Another spectacular sight. Flight back to Beijing was delayed for several hours - not cool!

Wednesday, May 23 - A day of leisure and more shopping. Took a taxi to Silk Market for more haggling and last minute gifts for family back home. Quick shower and change for Cocktail Reception at The Rostrum and Gala Dinner at The Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square. Learned that these two venues are also usually only reserved for dignitaries. Locals were staring wondering what kind of celebrities were on the 8 coaches with police escorts.

Thursday, May 24 - Last minute packing and a quick dash to the private breakfast, goodbyes all around and a mad dash to catch our flight to SFO then LAX. Missed the kids and couldn’t wait to see them! Missed our connector to LAX, managed to get on the next flight out, but our checked baggage didn’t which meant waiting around once we arrived at LAX. I was dead tired, just wanted to get back to see my baby. I had no desire to see another ounce of Chinese food, just a burger with the works would have been great! Picked one up at Carl’s Jr. Got back to my sister’s home and played with Justin and Mia, talked about our trip, tried to catch a nap. Met up with friends for dinner…for Chinese food at P.F. Chang’s.

The invitation reads:

Thanks to your exceptional performance in 2006, you and a guest are invited to join us in Beijing, China for five memorable days where we’ll explore China’s unique history, architecture, culture, scenic beauty (and, of course, shopping). Beijing is a city of extremes; its past is a rich tapestry of history and culture spanning tens of thousands of years, while its future holds the honor of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.

While in Beijing, you will have the opportunity to wander through historic Tiananmen Square (the largest central square in the world) and the Forbidden City (largest and best-preserved imperial palace complex in the world). Explore quaint parks and neighborhoods, wander through the alleyways and shop to your heart’s content. You’ll also journey outside of Beijing to hike on the Great Wall and view, firsthand, the ancient Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an.

So much to the relief of a few people who thought we were on crack to turn this opportunity down (long story), we accepted the invitation (worked out the childcare issues) and we’re totally psyched!