Crafty Computing

I am just way way too in love with this not to tell you about it.  So get over it.  hahaha

You MAY or may not know about me, I'm a scrapbooker.  I know, I know. Sports and kin and phys-ed, it all SCREAMS crafty, but there you go. (I also make jewellery. Do not judge. Or label....I'm allowed to be a crafty tom boy - there are still giant holes in the knees of the man-pants I stole from Mr. Man's drawer this morning, and I wear them with great comfort and pride!)

Okay, but, with my fantastically disgustingly disorganized house you can imagine how much space I have to do this. AND that when I DO bust out the papers, inks, stamps, and photos the ginormous MESS that lingers until I get around to putting it all back "away"....  Yeah, really, just the finished paper-crafted product is pretty.  The rest is not.

So with so many stupendous deterrants in my life lately I NEVER scrapbook. Which is kinda' bad 'cause, oh yeah, I'm actually supposed to be selling the stuff - I'm so into it I'm a consultant for Close To My Heart, and MAYBE I'm biased, but hot dang this is an FANTABULOUS company. Just sayin'! And yes, I went to a scrapbooking convention in Washington DC last July. It was absolutely FAB.

Anyway, what? Oh yeah!  Through a series of whatever events I found myself sitting at my computer saying to myself, okay, I HAVE GOT TO GET ONLINE and try out this online-studio-scrapbooking thing we've got, because I hear it's amazing, SEE it's amazing, and though I have time to blog, tweet, stay current on Facebook and all whatever, I haven't ventured into the faster, simpler, easier, LESS MESSY way to scrapbook.

Holy crap.

I. Am. In. LOVE.

You just login, upload your pictures, pick your "paper", pick your layout, drag and drop, boom bang baby, and you've a fantastic 2-page 12x12 layout to sneak into your "classic" scrapbook. Friggin' brilliant.

I've done OODLES more (I did 6 two-page layouts yesterday. And of OLD pictures, too, that have just been sitting on the computer for YEARS waiting for me to do SOMETHING with them) and am totally addicted. Today I've been chipping away at our 400+ wedding photos which I've always WANTED to put in a pretty album but never gotten around to. Yes, it's been 7.5 years. (Do you need to go back and see my house pictures again? I'm not always uber motivated...)

You do them, you add them to your cart, you click buy.... and after buying 7 layouts yesterday I got an e-mail that they were shipped today.  SO my fantastic purolator guy is on his way to bring me COMPLETED SCRAPBOOK PAGES!

Yeah, really, I can't tell you how ridiculously giddy this makes me.  It's kinda' sad....

(You can check it out here for free - you don't have to pay for anything unless you want to buy the layout - BUT I'll warn you now, it IS my CTMH website sooooo any purchasing or whatever is absolutely supporting [one of] my little side-business[es].  Sorry for the shameless plug, I'm just, GAH, SO excited about it!  hahaha)

Thanks for letting me nerd-out for a minute.  I have wedding pictures to "scrapbook" now... (and a kitchen to clean? What?)

Where's the Romance?

Today the Jedi and I got in an argument. WHICH is absolutely normal for us - our very strange friendship THRIVES on arguing. Goodness, if we didn't argue...what would we do? hahaha We argue about EVERYTHING!

Anyway, today's argument was about romance. I don't even remember how it started - Jedi! How the heck did we get ON this discussion? OH, I remember! And I won't tell you the details but we were talking about using poetry as a romantic tool.

The Jedi thinks it's a great idea and very romantic.....

...and I laughed him under the table. hahaha

I've always HATED poetry when it comes to being romantic. I think it's one of the most cheesy, ridiculous, romantic-comedy-type prescribed things you can do. I dated a guy once when I was a teenager who loved to write me poems and I would just DIE when he would read them to me. I couldn't look him in the face, I was so embarrassed FOR him!

I think my possibly twisted view on poetry is one of the many reasons why I am and forever shall be absolutely taken with Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet:
Elizabeth Bennet: And that put paid to it. I wonder who first discovered the power of poetry in driving away love?
Mr. Darcy: I thought that poetry was the food of love.
Elizabeth Bennet: Of a fine stout love, it may. But if it is only a vague inclination I'm convinced one poor sonnet will kill it stone dead.
Yeah. I REALLY can't say it any better than that.

So then the conversation with the Jedi turns to like, romance in general, how important it is, and I FELT like I was being accused of not having any in me or in my relationship with Mr. Man. Which isn't what was going on, but you know when you're in a situation and you're not being attacked but you feel attacked??

The Jedi asks me when is the last time Mr. Man bought me flowers.

Mr. Man, I'm sorry. I HONESTLY don't remember. Part is DEFINITELY because it's been SO long and part because apparently, as ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL a gesture as it is...that's not the be all and end all of romance for me soooooo...

YES I love a bouquet of flowers. I love it more when it's a bouquet of Gerber Daisies.


YES I love jewelry. I love it most when it's something unique, different, not overly glitzy so I can wear it on a regular basis.

But why are flowers, jewelry, poetry, and boxes of chocolate all "romantic"? I mean, that's so....cliche! It's like that movie (and book? I haven't read it...) "He's Just Not That Into You" (LOVE this movie! LOVE LOVE it!) where girls all WISH they were "the exception" but in reality we're all "the rule." Sure, ABSOLUTELY, yes. In a relationship, YES!

But I'm IN my relationship. We're happy. We're done with the dating drama and all the garbage about reading signs and figuring the other person out.... I'd challenge anyone to say they know me better that Mr. Man...I mean, there's a good chance my Mom might beat him BUT he's for the most part been very much with me and a huge part of my life for the past 7 years (holy cow - can you believe we've been married 6.5 years? Me either! CRAZY!). He's seen every which side of me and THEN some! (The poor guy! hahaha!)

So in MY relationship I want to be the exception. I don't WANT to be the flowers-poetry-and-chocolates rule of romance. I want REAL romance.

I want help with the dishes.

I want help with the laundry.

I want to not have to ask for the garbage to get taken out.

I want to never feel the need to clean the toilet because it's always already done.

Occasionally I want a night away from my house, with an evening fully planned for me, even if it is the cop-out-date of dinner and a movie, because I LOVE chatting over dinner and I LOVE LOVE going to the movies.

I would rather Mr. Man come home with some money in an envelope labelled "new running bra" than a bouquet of flowers. I really would. I should go out and get one but it feels like an extravagance and so I keep putting it off. I want my Mr. to KNOW that about me and when he can afford it to not waste our hard-earned money on some flowers that are going to wilt.

I'd prefer getting GLEE on DVD to a bouquet of flowers, a limerick about my eye colour, or a candlelight dinner for two (though if I didn't have to cook the dinner that would definitely be welcomed!)

I'd love to come home one day and have all the Christmas lights down from the front of the house.

I'd rather some free time away from being the main caregiver for Little Miss so I can go for a nice long run.

YES flowers can be romantic. And Jedi, I'm sorry to say it but for me, poetry NEVER is. That doesn't mean it isn't, it's just REALLY not for me. AND there are many many many many things I would prefer to a bouquet of flowers, even the Gerber daisies.

What things do you find romantic?

A Thank-You

So my friend posted this thank you note to Canada from Brian Williams... I think Canadians swell with pride about our amazing country often, but I know we're all feeling a little extra-inflated at the moment after such a wonderful showing at the Olympics.

And so I steal this letter to us, and post it for your reading pleasure, JUST in case you haven't seen it yet somewhere else. :D


After tonight's broadcast and after looting our hotel mini-bars, we're going to try to brave the blizzard and fly east to home and hearth, and to do laundry well into next week. Before we leave this thoroughly polite country, the polite thing to do is leave behind a thank-you note.

Thank you, Canada: For being such good hosts. For your unfailing courtesy. For your (mostly) beautiful weather. For scheduling no more than 60 percent of your float plane departures at the exact moment when I was trying to say something on television. For not seeming to mind the occasional (or constant) good-natured mimicry of your accents. For your unique TV commercials -- for companies like Tim Hortons -- which made us laugh and cry. For securing this massive event without choking security, and without publicly displaying a single automatic weapon. For having the best garment design and logo-wear of the games -- you've made wearing your name a cool thing to do. For the sportsmanship we saw most of your athletes display. For not honking your horns. I didn't hear one car horn in 15 days -- which also means none of my fellow New Yorkers rented cars while visiting. For making us aware of how many of you have been watching NBC all these years. For having the good taste to have an anchorman named Brian Williams on your CTV network, who turns out to be such a nice guy. For the body scans at the airport which make pat-downs and cavity searches unnecessary. For designing those really cool LED Olympic rings in the harbor, which turned to gold when your athletes won one. For always saying nice things about the United States...when you know we're listening. For sharing Joannie Rochette with us. For reminding some of us we used to be a more civil society. Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting friends with all of us.

Pride

300

So, back at the beginning of December I started this post.... think, since I did the workout today, it's about time to finish it, eh?

You've read a couple of times now my mention of The Jedi - my bud at school who gets me through LONG days of class, arduous group assignments, and kicks my BUTT at the gym.

Hello, Jedi! (Totally stole your Facebook profile pic, I know. Good thing you heart me so much! HA!)

So, he's a little bit, well...many things. hahaha He's my bud, he's hilarious, he's intense as all get out (yeah, don't cross him. Or, don't do anything that'll make him THINK you crossed him even if you didn't.... OY!) And DON'T worry - he and Mr. Man get along GREAT and everything's on the up and up. :P Goofs.

You may notice...the Jedi has had some success in the gym. hahaha (Hey, he picked his profile picture for a REASON, right? I mean, don't we all??)

You may have also noticed over time on my little blog here, how seldom I mention resistance training in between my running, occasional love affairs with Yogilates, and keeping up with life. So, naturally, being buds with a weight-room aficionado I volunteered myself as a workout buddy and the Jedi AGREED to whip me into shape.

Part way through the semester he brought me"The 300 Workout"

300. As in Gerard Butler. Remember that movie? I mean, I didn't even see the movie and I know all about the insane exercise and training those men went through to get ripped like that. Oy oy OY!!!

(swoon Oh Mr. Butler, whatever else I may think of you I will always love your accent, your singing, and those ridiculous abs...)

Okay, so before you go WHOA I want MY abs to look like that and google "300 WORKOUT" (which I totally did, by the way) STOP! hahaha I DID that already. (Whoa...is there such a thing as a writing-echo? Holy redundancy, Batman?) 'Cause I'll admit, when the Jedi showed up with this cue card with a list of exercises and reps and said "this is the 300 workout, you know from the movie" I was skeptical. 'Cause I'd SEEN clips of these guys exercising and some of the insane off-kilter things they were doing with medicine balls and obstacles... I almost puked FOR them just watching! So I found this 300 disclaimer article very interesting and informative. So READ THAT, okay?? Do NOT kill yourselves because I brought it up. (Am I now safe from litigation by anyone? Please? I hope so. hahaha DON'T KILL YOURSELVES DOING THIS STUFF)

Okay, THEN I found this super-cool, quick youtube clip of a guy from Men's Health demonstrating the workout! WOOHOO! (If you want to adopt the workout WATCH IT CAREFULLY and take note of FORM, okay? It's SO important to do it RIGHT)


But here it is. (I have to refer back to this list a lot when I'm in the middle of it 'cause I'm a little focused on remembering to BREATHE and not what-comes-next hahaha)
* 25 pull-ups
* 50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
* 50 push-ups
* 50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
* 50 "floor wipers" (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 pounds)
* 50 "clean and press" at 36 pounds (a weight-lifting exercise)
* 25 more pull-ups -- for a total of 300 reps

And BEFORE you freak out...I can't really do all that. I mean, I can, and do, do all 300 reps. BUT...my pullups are either on those magic gravitron machines that negate some of your body weight OR (thanks to some awesome Christmas presents - THANKS everyone!) at home I put my feet on a chair slightly in front of the doorway my bar's in and let my legs help (seriously, 25 pull ups is a lot in a row.... and I'm a GIRL with SCRAWNY SCRAWNY arms!).... where it says 135lbs I currently use 45 - the Jedi can do it with 135, but the deadlifts he literally has to strap the weight to his hands or his grip gives out - 50 is a ridiculous number. hahaha AND...today for the clean and press I only used 10lbs - I can't remember what I was using before Christmas, but it should have been more than 10lbs 'cause that was too easy.

So there you have it. I LOVE this workout. It's SO hard and SO intense, and apparently wasn't even meant as a workout as much as a fitness test....but let me tell ya' WHAT a difference it made last semester. Unfortunately I went a little hog-wild with my Christmas celebrating, but I'm right back on that horse today!!

DO NOT KILL YOURSELVES and really MOST of you I'd say DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.... and almost NEVER by yourself. Okay? Okay.

"Pearls"

Okay. So Mr. Man and I chatted. My kitchen's still a disaster, but we're good. We're a work in progress, what can I say??

I LOVED posting Josh so much the other day, I figured I'd do it again. hahaha

Days like yesterday...I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song of his. It's one of my absolute FAVOURITES (and this LIVE version is the BEST BEST BEST). This is definitely one of my all-time-favourite I'm-in-a-funk songs. Very cathartic, or something along those lines. ;) hahaha I put it on, CRANK it, and then BELT it out. Love it. (The song's only like, 4.5 minutes - there's a couple minutes of chatting aftewards wherein my darling Josh hugs...someone else sigh, which is actually on the CD, so there ya' go - don't let the length freak you out).



Okay, and NOW we're heading out to someone's house who's taken pity on us for dinner!! HOORAY for charity! hahaha

Happy Sunday!

I am loved!

So you may have noticed that while I'm still managing, I'm having a difficult time at the moment. People keep saying to me they don't know how I can do school AND raise a two-year-old and my flip response is usually that I can't.... Some days that's truer than others.

Today, Little Miss has done an EXCELLENT job of amusing herself while I've worked on my two assignments and two group presentations still looming.... Then off to 'daycare' for a few hours while I went to school for biomechanics.

I just got home.

And there was a message flashing on my computer screen waiting for me from my bud, Steph: "Figured you need a little pick me up after these strenuous weeks. Hopefully he helps." With a link to the following



You were right - I've been blasting Josh for a few days now in the car between home and school. But this was special; thanks Steph. :)

The first illness of the schoolyear and...lots of other stuff!

So I got sick. It's actually been a good while, hasn't it?? I mean, I've had under-the-weather days, of course, but relative to my usual sick-for-two-weeks-every-five-or-six-weeks it has been FOREVER since I had a cold!!

Until now, of course.

My throat was giving signs of not-feeling-goodness last Wednesday night, but nothing too concerning. My darling mother gave me some Oil of Oreganol to choke back when I feel the I'm-getting-sick tickle (it is HORRID HORRID HORRID stuff - UGH! BUT the latest scientific data presented by my mom - so-and-so said to take this - suggests it is THE latest anti-cold miracle non-drug.....hahaha I take the relatively harmless ones JUST IN CASE one of these days so-and-so gets it right!) and at the first onset of throat-tickle I DIDN'T TAKE IT!!! THAT was my problem. Thursday morning I woke up with definite throat's-off-ed-ness, but nothing too big. I TOOK the Oreganol Oil, went to school went to the gym with the Jedi (ohmigosh - we did lunges, jump-lunges, single-leg knee curls and extensions, more lunges, calf raises, abductors & adductors [top outside and inside of thighs] and THEN he made me JUMP up on this bench repeatedly, after my legs were beyond gelatinous and no longer working I had to JUMP on a weight bench.....aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrghhhhhh..... Whoa, was that a tangent???) and then.......(remember, we were at school working out with The Jedi)....I DIED. I was done. I felt like DEATH. Friday I was like a walking germ factory. But I TRIED to keep my potentially-H1N1 to myself, soooo here's hoping no one dies because of my I-will-never-cut-class-ed-ness.

Anyway, since then I've been just chillaxin'. Well, doing my homework, writing tests, starting a new business (don't worry - DEFINITELY more on THAT coming!), playing with the kiddo, playing with friends, working my butt off on Christmas cards to sell at an upcoming craft sale (I have 18 done and am hoping for at least 100....hahahaha)...... Yeah, even the sick me is probably a little too busy.

BUT I haven't run - my head's been too fuzzy or achy or swimming-in-gunk, and I only went to the gym with the Jedi once this week.

I ALSO haven't been eating sugar, again. It was delicious and wonderful at my birthday, but we're done again. Sugar and I are breaking up.

Until my MOM'S birthday. ;)

She's supposed to do it with me. We decided that birthdays and things are TOO much fun and we LOVE a REALLY REALLY good birthday cake (none of the homemade kinds - I don't like homemade or box-made cake. But the super-dee-duper amazing bakery cakes that cost too much money and are slathered in sickeningly sweet butter cream icing) with some good vanilla ice cream on the side....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... SO for NOW we're going birthday-to-birthday. My birthday was in September, Mom's is in October. So going about a month sugar-less. Then we'll go from Mom's in October to Bravo's in December - a little MORE than a month... see, we even get to WORK UP our sugar-fast goals as we go! Cool, eh?? Anyway, that's enough of that. I broke up with sugar. We just acknowledge that we may (will) occasionally hook up for some serious NCMO in the future. But our dependent relationship is FINISHED.

The OTHER thing that's been going on, that I am WAY WAY too excited about, is that Mr. Man and I have gone into business together! Hooray!! Too much fun.

So it's a bit of a long story but a sister-in-law of a good friend contacted me about this new company/product she'd heard about to get my opinion, 'cause apparently I'm a genius or something. hahaha We talked LOTS and did LOTS of research and talked lots and lots to each other (Mr. Man and I) and we FINALLY came to the conclusion to be:

YOLI DISTRIBUTORS!

We are TOO TOO excited about this.

Yoli is a fantastic, in our humble opinion, NEW network-marketing company that we think is going to give QUITE the shake-up to the beverage industry, specifically health/energy beverages. They've developed this great technology, called "blast caps" where all of the ingredients to their delicious juice formulations are FREEZE-DRIED at the peak of ripeness to immediately and indefinitely LOCK IN the nutrients. This process completely eliminates the need for hot-fill/pasteurization (which kills OODLES and OODLES of vitamins and minerals in our regular fruit drinks), chemical preservatives (ever look at exactly what sodium benzoayte actually IS?? Read the WHOLE THING if you click on it...) AND it's TOTALLY natural - no SUGAR (hello, obesity epidemic?), no artificial colours or flavours, LOW glycemic index (diabetes, anyone?)...I could go on and on and on.

AND if you understand at all how network marketing works you know WHAT a fantastic opportunity it is to have a shot at the TOP - Yoli isn't even IN Canada yet and we're already in!! We're SOOOOOOOOO excited. WE are the people telling all the other people about it! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (If THAT sounds interesting to you, in ANY country, visit our website and let us know!! Or leave me a comment with your e-mail address and we'll send you some info).

Okay, so THAT is what's going on with us lately. I'm sick, but hopefully almost over it, I broke up with sugar (in my drinks, too!) AND I'm in LOVE with YOLI! hahaha

What's new with you??

The End of the War, Week of 27, and phbthhhh.....

So you may recall about a month ago I posted that I had joined a 'weightloss war' with some friends on Facebook. I would FINALLY like to report the END of the war, and though I did not WIN, I was THIS CLOSE! hahaha I lost 4.1% of my starting weight and the winner lost 4.38% - it was REALLY close. We divulged our actual numbers to each other later - I lost by .7 of a pound. Seriously - if I'd eaten a LITTLE less for dinner the night before the weigh-in I may have won. (Which, of course, takes us RIGHT back to my loathing of WEIGHT as a measure for....'health' or 'body-good-looking-ness' or whatever the heck it is we're all trying to accomplish - a little of column A, a little of column B?) ANYWAY, I am happy with my results - I lost 7.1lbs during the war.

So THEN it was my birthday. Well, actually, the day before the war ended was my birthday. But my birthday was mostly spent at school (UGH!) soooo....didn't really celebrate anything.

Okay, so let me just tell you a little about me and a little about how I feel about birthdays.

I am RIDICULOUS about my birthday. I think everyone should be. Birthdays are AWESOME. It's YOUR day. JUST you. Like, any other day of the year you get to celebrate or whatever, you SHARE with someone, or half the planet - I share my anniversary with Mr. Man; Christmas, while fun, is REALLY about God and EVERYONE gets a piece; Valentine's day, every couple on the planet; Mother's Day, I get a present and give a few presents. My BIRTHDAY?? I am the ONLY one that anyone in my immediate circle is or has any reason to celebrate on that particular calendar day. I LOVE my birthday. I FREAK OUT for my birthday. Birthdays are the coolest thing.

Now, I have a couple things about this year's birthday I need to talk about. Actually, a few. Facebook & my repentance, how much I loathe growing up, and my awesome Mr. Man.

Facebook
I don't know when or why it happened, but I fell ridiculously out of love with Facebook's who's-birthday-is-it-today list (ever notice how much bigger your September lists are than every other month of the year?? HELLO HOLIDAYS!!). I think it just started bugging me - some people I don't need facebook to remind me it's their birthday and then I'd go to post something fantabulous on their walls and oh, wait, I'm like the eighty-thousandth person to do so and it's RUINED, while OTHER people I DON'T know their birthday's without facebook and so never felt right about leaving a 'happy birthday' because I felt it was taking credit for remembering their birthday which I absolutely did NOT do. (How was THAT for a run-on sentence? Eh? I TOLD you I'm good at those suckers!!)

I have repented. Oh facebook birthday-lister, I will never think negatively of you again.

I spent most of my birthday (literally) at school....which sucked. EXCEPT that while I sat in class my e-mail kept popping up....Freddy has posted something on your wall...Suzy has posted something on your wall....Joe-Blow has posted something on your wall.....

I have NEVER felt so darned POPULAR in my LIFE! hahahaha And I KNOW it's ridiculous - loads of the happy-birthdays were from people who have not contacted me (nor I them) since LAST year on my birthday, but STILL!! I couldn't HELP but GRIN at the absolutely insane number of Happy-Birthday wall posts, messages, etc. that I got. It was TOO much fun.

I will from now and forever more be a Happy-Birthday wall poster. LOVED it. To those who I missed...my sincerest apologies. I have seen the light.

Growing Up
Growing up SUCKS. That's it. It SUCKS. And I'm not even all that grown-up; I'm still in SCHOOL for goodness' sake!! This year I felt like I had the world's most boring uneventful GAH-this-can't-really-be-IT birthday, spending the ENTIRE DAY at school, without my family, my Little Miss... And I even managed, ACCIDENTALLY to ruin the FANTASTIC GIFT that Mr. Man got me (more on that later - this will be the longest blog post EVER when/if I ever finish it....) by stumbling upon it in the glove-box of his car looking for our 407 transponder.... siiiiiiiiiiigh

And I DO NOT mean to sound ungrateful, AT ALL. And I'm really really trying hard NOT to be, though I may be failing slightly....and of COURSE it's my own fault because I'm the one who makes such a big stinkin' deal about my birthday. But MAN!! I spent 7.5 hours at school, my mom had knee surgery the day before, Mr. Man was at work, Little Miss was at daycare, my brother didn't call me, my dad went golfing..... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

And because it was such a busy week we planned to celebrate my birthday on Saturday with my parents and brother, EVEN THOUGH Little Miss and I went up to help around the house on Wednesday after Mom's surgery.

(May I interject, that BECAUSE she knew I was going to have a busy day a girfriend of mine came over to my house before I got home and made my requested dinner for me so that Little Miss and I could eat something DECENT and DELICIOUS instead of instant for a change - it was SUCH a treat and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!)

Well, SATURDAY! It's like the fact I was BORN 27 years ago was the BIGGEST imposition I could have EVER put on those men (Dad & brother, NOT Mr. Man - though he did fight over a poopy diaper with me that eventually my just-had-knee-surgery Mom finally changed...hahaha). Mom and I were having a merry old time pretending it was my birthday and then the repeated chorus of it's-not-your-birthday-it-was-on-Tuesday over and over and over..... LIGHTEN UP and have some FUN people! Boy oh boy, talk about making a girl feel loved.

I did enjoy myself, overall, and am THRILLED with my new cookie sheets (even though I'm back off sugar - HA!) and new clothes (plus a new version of Trivial Pursuit from my MIL that came on Sunday - looks like fun!) but this will definitely NOT be remembered among the best-birthdays-ever filed away, and I definitely had my feelings hurt numerous times. C'est la vie, I guess. And = hating growing up.

Best. Husband. Ever.
So, you may remember me posting my friend's blog and website a while back with a picture of a BEAUTIFUL bracelet she made. Well, in ADDITION to the awesome new netbook Mr. Man bought me late-summer in prep for my last year at school AND as a birthday present, he got me my bracelet. And I LOVE it. I was worried I'd feel I couldn't pull it off or whatever, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I wear it every day. It's SO much prettier in person and ON and I LOVE it.

AND Mr. Man is so cool and he knew I'd have a busy "grown-up" day on my birthday so we stayed up 'till 12 the night before so I could open my present. (WHICH I had found in his car, by accident, but it was inside a box, so I KNEW he'd bought me SOMETHING from ACJD but I didn't know WHAT - whoops!!).

Okay, that's enough of that ridiculously hodge-podged ;oa\ofhn\;frihna;efrij-ness! I wonder how many people read all the way to the end.... ;) TROOPERS if you did!!

Little Miss Turns 2

I know, I know. I'm a few days late. AND I'm missing probably the best pictures - my dad acted as 'official' photographer for the festivities as I was running around, helping my mom, keeping tabs on child and children, gathering gifts....You know, mommy-of-the-two-year-old type stuff.

BUT we survived. Little Miss is 2. She's ADORABLE, perfect, and I couldn't love her more.

A working-too-hard Mimi pausing to pose with the birthday girl! (THANKS for 'help' throwing the party, Mimi! As usual, couldn't have done it without you!)


We ate a collection of Little Miss's favourite foods - hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, cucumber, just to name a few of the oddly-matched foods on the menu!



Eating cake and waiting to open presents with the crew!


Papa, the official photographer!! Now I just have to track down and steal his SD card....


Auntie & It3 (Get it? COUSIN It? Three cousins, 1, 2, 3, It3! HA! I'm HILARIOUS!) Apparently It3 is a BIG party gal....


Two gorgeous grandmas!


Daddy in his special parent-of-the-important-kid (i.e. the one who's birthday it is - the others are obviously important, too!! It would have been easier for me to come up with something else to say instead of the whole explanation/disclaimer, eh? GAH!)


Aaaaand...this is how we dissect a cupcake:

STEP ONE - dig fingers deeply into icing and pull off completely.


STEP TWO - insert entire icing used-to-be-topper into mouth which has been opened as wide (and tongue out-ed) as possible. NOTE: Important that eyes be shut for this step as it allows for more accurate sensory input that icing has been received by the taste buds.


STEP 3 - ENSURE FULL removal of all icing from fingers on BOTH hand before proceeding - this is VERY important work and must be given the utmost uninterrupted attention.


STEP 4 - Ponder meaning of universe....

T - 1 sleep 'till vaycay

So TOMORROW we're going on vacation. We're a little excited. It's about time for another break. I'm tired of working to organize my house, then ripping it all apart again fighting fleas, and now trying to put it all back together. We're going to run away from it all for a few days - hooray!!

BEFORE we head out, though, I a) wanted to say "hello!" to the blogging world because I KNOW you'll miss me while I'm gone and b) wanted to share some really cool things I don't know if you'll discover on your own. NOT because you're at all an idiot or anything, but because they may be slightly less-known or whatever.

The FIRST is my girlfriend's new blog which is about her BEAUTIFUL handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry. Seriously, check her out. Her website is www.ACJD.ca and I PROMISE it's worth a look. I can't believe I know the girl that makes this stuff. It looks too....NICE to be hand made! hahaha And each and every piece is different - she never ever makes the same thing twice. Beautiful and UNIQUE every time. (She ALSO has a site listed on ETSY)

This is one of my absolute favourites she has listed at the moment - my birthday's coming up, so cross your fingers for me! hahaha


The SECOND, my hairstylist(s). WHO was my friend first - I sometimes think she's as amazing with me and my hair as she is because she knows me so well but then I'll refer a friend she doesn't know and ohmiGOSH she gets it right and perfect EVERY TIME. She's AMAZING and I am convinced, the ABSOLUTE BEST out there. Check HER out at her new website www.hairmovements.com They did my hair and makeup (as well as my wedding party and mom) way back ;) for my wedding, and I think I looked DANG good! hahaha



Okay, so I KNOW that's shameless plugging, but I'm ONLY giving you the best of the best!! They are both dear friends of mine and INCREDIBLY talented. AND the whole world needs to know, soooo I'm doing my part! hahaha

I'm hoping to run while away at the cottage, but the forecast is calling for 2-3 days of rain sooooo WHO knows?? I'll update the run-tracker when we get back!!

Good day, anyone?

HOORAY! FINALLY the new layout! Do you love it? I LOVE it. Obviously, we still have some kinks to work out (i.e. we need to make the blog title smaller so it FITS over there on the left and you can see that it says "Confessions" and not "Confession"...I confess to fitness-wrongdoing too often for this to be a single confession!!) BUT you should get the idea of the awesomeness. Next week Mr. Man will be back to working what are regular work-hours for HIM so we'll finally be back to some "normalcy" around here and we might see each other on occasion!!

THAT and the kitchen is FINALLY starting to shape up nicely - hooray!! Mom came over yesterday afternoon and just went wild helping me. Today Little Miss "helped" some more, and hopefully by the end of tomorrow we'll have it ALL done. Now to just finish that bookcase in the basement....

AND Mr. Man bought me...an early back-to-school/birthday present:

WHICH I'm currently typing on. Or at least TRYING to type on....if this post gets published with oodles of extra typos tonight...SORRY! I think I'm catching them all, though (yeah, right) because typing on this teeny keyboard with shift and enter in such weird spots (relative to my previous, and comparatively enormous, Gateway relic) blocked by / and \ respectively.... and when I reach for 'backspace' I keep hitting '='.... ANYWAY, he ordered it YESTERDAY (from TigerDirect.ca - GREAT website for geeks and those of us who love 'em!!) paid $4 for super-slow regular delivery, and it arrived today. CRAZY, eh? He thought we'd be lucky to have it by September, and now I have all this time to get used to it before I have to use it for note-taking! TOO cool! And it's SO FRIGGIN SMALL I can literally put it in my purse. 'Course, it helps that I don't have the daintiest purse on the planet, but still!! OH and I almost forgot - mine's way COOLER than in the picture - it's red. [drool]

ALSO tonight, I got Little Miss to be with little struggle for a change - she just needed some Mommy-snuggles which I am only oh-too-happy to give her, and then went for a run on Optimus Prime - BOOM baby there's the week's 10K!! HaHA!! Honestly, I didn't think I'd get it done. Even when I started to run tonight I was like, there's no WAY I can run that long!! BUT knowing there are a few people keeping tabs on me...I didn't want to disappoint!!

That's the first time I've run 10km since school ended. (Oh, Mi - how my training [and I!!] misses you!). Took 69:12. Yup, that's right. I'm a speed-daemon.

Well, this turned into a nice braggy, boring post - hahaha - so thanks for sticking it out to the end!! I'll try to come up with something fascinating or hilarious again soon, I promise! :)

Time Flies

I can't believe it's July 2nd. Where has my summer off GONE??? I have to register for classes in 4 days.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHH

I feel like I haven't got anything done I meant to. And summer's thankfully not over, but ohmigosh what have I been DOING??? I guess some days I'm ridiculously productive, but others less so. And what have the productive days yielded?? My house is still, most days, a disaster zone. Like, you know when someone says their house is messy and not to come over or if you surprise someone and catch them with a 'dirty' house and they're all embarrassed 'cause it's such a mess??? My house is worse, I guarantee it. Even when it's in we-have-company-coming mode it's horrendous. I work and work and work at it and never find any space or clean any surfaces.....I throw out bag after bag after BAG of old clothes, junk, ohmigosh COMPUTER stuff EVERYwhere (Mr. Man - OY).

SO....bllaaaaaaaaahhhhh....

ALL that said, work has been going well this summer, which, being self-employed, is great. :) And we've done some fun things, even, too, which is additionally great. AND I only have a year left. LESS than that. This time next year I'll have already even gone to my super-boring graduation ceremony, walked across the stage dressed like an idiot, smiled for pictures..... I can't WAIT.

There was supposed to be a point to this post...what was it?? Oh yes!! I don't think I've ever told you, but I subscribe to and LOVE Canadian Running. And you're all aware I'm not even all that serious a runner. I find every issue I get just packed with fascinating articles about incredible elite athletes and tonnes of tidbits and information for the less-than-serious runner, and even beginner! It's GREAT.

Anyway, the current issue is probably my all-time favourite - the whole magazine is devoted to running as a means of weight-loss. Yes this is sometimes touched on in other issues, but this issue is written like, specifically for ME. And off the weight-loss topic specifically there's a fantastic review of running/sports bras and men's singlets for those of us who have no idea what the heck we're looking for when we wander into the running section of a sport store... aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (the contented sigh of the newly-all-knowing).

My FAVOURITE article this issue is entitled "Training with Weight" and just cracked me up. Read the whole article HERE but here's my favourite part:

"He handed me a pair of pants and ushered me into the change room. I pulled them on and glanced in the mirror, horrified. The “loose” pants were tight, revealed all and left me looking vaguely like a sausage being squeezed out of its casing. The pants were size XL, which, to me only meant one thing: I was not thin enough to be in a running store. I was not a real runner."

If you've EVER had that or a similar experience, take a minute to read the article (even if not, it is pretty good). It addresses the dressing-for-running problem we all have and gives tips on how to deal with them. AND some great tips on how to get equipped and keep motivated for beginners. LOVE it.

Also...playing with the layout a bit - so please excuse me as I'm under construction. ;) hahaha I'll settle on something sooner or later, I promise!

Something Different

I think you know by now that one of my "secret" loves is scrapbooking, or really paper-crafting in general. I always feel so accomplished when I finish a layout or card and I can't ever get over flipping through my finished work. It's like I have to show it off over and over and over again just to myself. hahaha Weird, I know.

Anyway, recently I FINALLY got down to business working on a book for Little Miss, and I had SO much fun writing to her I thought I'd share. As incredibly off-topic as it may be. ;)

(ON topic, I did yogilates today and have soccer tonight where I'm expecting based on last week's reports we will be short players and I will be on the field for the ENTIRE hour and a half. Oy.)

Hiya, my darling girl!! Oh I LOVE you. I can't tell you how excited I am to be working on this book for you. But maybe I'm a little bit ahead of myself – let me back up for a minute.

I am your MOM (you poor thing!) BUT you're still alive at 21 months so I figure I can't be as horrid a mother as I feel some days – lucky you! I don't want to steal the spotlight here (though your Uncle Jon would argue with that) BUT I just wanted to make sure you know who you're talking to. Or reading from. Or...well, whatever.

AND before you get TOO into your book I wanted to put a little bit of a disclaimer at the very beginning – I did not mean to become a scrapbooker – HA! Crazy, eh? Before you were around I had a vague sort of inclination to do a little bit of what I liked to call 'photo-journalling' – those books could be around somewhere. ANYway, I'd take a few pictures, paste them into a book, and write about the pictures.

THEN when you showed up, I though, hey now. She's special. I want to do something a little bit more special. But I did NOT want to scrapbook – it takes FOREVER and is such a waste of TIME and MONEY. So I bought some cheap stuff at the store and slapped together a few pages about your first few moments in life and thought I was pretty cool. I mean, I'm making a book of memories for my kiddo who won't remember this stuff for herself, right??

THEN through all whatever I ended up becoming a scrapbooking consultant. Now, when I tell you I have to go to work I'm going out to teach people how to scrapbook and sell them stuff to make beautiful books for their kiddos. Crazy, eh?? I NEVER thought I was this much of a girlie-nerd, but there ya' go.

SO....SOME of this book for you, is going to ROCK – knock your socks off. And then SOME.....not so pretty. Like, the page opposite this – 'you are my sunshine' – I LOVE LOVE those photos. I don't know what I was thinking when I put them there like THAT, but there you go.

THAT is the disclaimer.

NOW, let me tell you about YOU! I LOVE you. You are hilarious. You are wonderful. You are BEAUTIFUL. Daddy and I should have called some sort of media agent the moment you were born – we would have made OODLES of money letting people take your pictures for baby-food labels, or you could be a Baby Gap model..... Seriously, people tell us all the time you're WAY cuter than the Gerber Baby. So, kudos to you! We like to think it's because you have good genes....

You were born ON YOUR DUE DATE of all days, on September 7th, 2007. Now, I HAVE to tell you, I was REALLY hoping you would be born in August because MY birthday is in September, too, and I knew if yours was mine would be oh-so-NOT a big deal ever again. But, alas, you came, and took over. It started on September 6th when I went into labour (by the way, you TOTALLY owe me for that – not pretty! We had a doula who did up a labour-book all about your birth, which is WAY too cool, and kinda' gross....) and then you arrived at 5:56am on the 7th.

And you were here, and perfect, and TINY! Your head was so perfectly round which at the time I didn't realize was weird, but I guess getting squeezed through such a tiny space often makes baby's heads kinda'...well, cone-shaped. But you were perfect. Round head, DARLING button nose. The Red* scowl, right from the beginning – only us true-Red*s can do that scowl. Mimi tries to mimic us but it'll never happen. It's quite the scary look you've inherited from your Papa.

Mimi and Daddy were in the delivery room because I wanted all the back-up I could get! Going from pregnant to a mommy is a SCARY thing and I didn't know if I could do it! But after I met you, we found our groove.

The Ultimate Motivation

SHOPPING

That's right, ladies! Do I have your attention yet?? hahaha

On Thursday last week after my morning run and post Mr. Man and I had some time to ourselves. We had originally planned to hit a matinee movie buuuuuuuuut turned out the online listing was incorrect and the movie was playing three hours later than we needed it to - boo on that. SO, being at the mall and having TONNES of disposable income (ha ha haaaaaaaaa... OY!) we went SHOPPING!

There are many 'girl' things in life I really really do not enjoy.

I LOVE shopping. I LOVE new things. I LOVE finding a sale. I LOVE how awesome I feel in my brand-new stuff. It's shallow, it's superficial, it's ridiculous, but I LOVE IT.

Mr. Man bought some time for an online game and we wandered. I had hoped to buy a new pair of shoes and/or flip flops for the summer - my nice leather flip flops from a few years back finally died last year leaving me stumped every time I go to leave the house in the nice weather this year - what DO I wear on my feet??? BUT we wandered in and out of shoe stores and I just did NOT find that pair, you know? I found lots of okay pairs, and some I really liked, but we really DON'T have any money so I was being super-dee-duper picky for a change. Kudos to me.

THEN I said, oh heck, let's go to the sport store and just drool over running clothes. I do only have the one pair of super-sexy Saucony capris Mom gave me for Christmas (which I LOVE, by the way, except I'm sure it's cruelty for me to appear outside of the home in them....SORRY all you bystanders! hahaha) and a technical tee I got free for registering early for the 5K run I did last month. Which makes.....ONE complete running 'outfit'. And I'm a sweater. Like, ew. SO by the end of one run I've completely soaked through my gear and that's only one of seven days down in the week.

Good thing I don't try to run every day. ;) HAhaha!! There's a REASON for laziness!!

ANYWAY, fortune of good fortunes, or....not..... we wander into the store, and SURPRISE! There's a SALE!! A SALE!! Oh, did I mention how much I LOVE sales?!?! I LOVE sales!! 25% off short-sleeved and sleeveless athletic shirts and 25% off SHORTS!! I couldn't believe it!!! I mean, 'proper' workout gear is EXPENSIVE, so 25% translates to a good chunk of change!! I wasn't thrilled about the 'shorts' sale, but figured I'd take a peak just in case, but definitely planned to grab another shirt or two.

Holy CRAP it was fantastic. UNDER ARMOUR - hello, have you ever seen or heard of THAT being on sale?!?! - was included in the sale and is FANTASTIC!!! I even found SHORTS that I LOVE LOVE LOVE and can't believe I've lived this long in my life without them. I ended up with two pairs of FANTASTIC, NOT-freakishly-weird-looking running shorts and two feels-like-cotton-works-like-UA-tees that fit and feel AWESOME.

I've never been so stoked to run in my life, I don't think. I LOVE my new clothes. I got a run in Friday before getting down to the grindstone and working and found an excuse, though no time for a run, to wear one of my new tees to an amusement park yesterday - why be hot in all that sunshine???

I'm looking forward to at least three runs this coming week - a different CLEAN outfit for each run! hahaha

For all the shopaholics out there looking for some motivation to exercise - go splurge on some GREAT gear. None of the fancy oh-I-look-hot-in-this garbage - the functional, comfortable, FANTASTIC stuff you're never going to want to take off. You'll workout JUST to have an excuse to wear it!!

Oy, Oy, Oy.

Huh. I wonder if it's 'cause I'm not in school right now so my life isn't completely taken over by my whole kin-major-ness. But OY!! Where has the time GONE?!?!

Okay, let me catch you up:

5-factor, though awesome, is just NOT conducive to...well, whatever it is that I'm trying to accomplish right now. I think with Little Miss around, running the business, and trying to have some SUMMER in my summer it's just TOO structured. I think that was my main complaint when I tried it last time after she was born. BeFORE we had Little Miss, I was preaching 5-factor everywhere - it was SO EASY to fit it in - seriously, 25 minutes 5 times a week - PIECE of cake!! BUT I could do it ANY TIME before. NOW I only have my Little-Miss-Free time to exercise, aaaaaaaaand there's a LOT of time with Little Miss.

SO, we're back to running. It's relatively quick, it's simple, I LOVE Optimus Prime (I found the VOLUME buttons on the console yesterday so I can actually HEAR "The Office" instead of having to read the subtitles while I watch! WOOHOO!), and it's FLEXIBLE. I can take my shoes with me anywhere, and if I miss a day, I miss a day.

I DO want to try to supplement it with Yogilates - I LOVE yogilates. All the benefits of yoga with some of the core strength of Pilates. I even worked up a sweat tonight, which doesn't always happen, so apparently I was working hard! :)

Okay, got it?? Running + Yogilates = NEW ME. We hope. I haven't successfully yet kept BOTH going for any length of time (drove me nuts tonight doing the yoga poses - I WOULD have been so much further along if I'd not STOPPED part way through the semester - gah!!) but the regime is very flexible. Hopefully I can do one or the other every day, with Sundays off, of course, but if I miss a day, NOT a problem!!

I'm getting tired and embarrassed continually posting that-failed-let's-try-this each week soooooooo let's do this!!

"Girlie Wisdom"

I got another silly e-mail from the mommy the other day, that made me smile. :) This one I've weeded through and am posting the 'on-topic' little laughs.

Enjoy!

- One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

- The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

- I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.

- Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

- Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' .....Now I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

- I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

I love moleskin

Before I get into today's actual post I just have to acknowledge and THANK everyone for the concern over my poor poor feet and the ginormous blisters I've developed! I had Steph look it up in a book, my mother-in-law find and forward how-to-treat-and-prevent websites (this one, and this one) - ALL of which information I will admit I found helpful. APPARENTLY you get blisters if your shoes are too tight - who knew?! I figured if I was getting blisters it meant my shoes weren't tied tight ENOUGH because there'd be extra room to slide around....yeah, that means after getting the first set of blisters LAST week I've been tying my laces like vice-grips.

"...here's your sign...."

*sigh*

ALSO - I thought if I maybe taped 'em up I'd be able to run some more this week instead of sitting on my tookus (read: butt) waiting for them to get better BUT when I was out erranding with Little Miss yesterday I FORGOT to go to the drugstore! I know, I know. I'm all about winning prizes for schmarts this week. BUT my darling dearest Mr. Man stopped off on his way home from work, talked to the pharmacist, and I've now been introduced to the BEST thing EVER - moleskin!

OH how I love moleskin!! It's just this sticky-soft thing you stick to you - I put it right over my (popped) blisters (it DOES suggest on the packaging you not adhere it directly over top of blisters JUST so you know), put on my socks, and laced my shoes like a NORMAL person instead of akin to a clamp - NO PAIN! I didn't even FEEL my blisters! BOOM BAM baby! Oh, it was great. I mean, as great as running 5K on a treadmill in the school gym can be.... ;) hahaha

I don't know how fast I went, though, 'cause part way through my hand slipped and I hit the 'STOP' button which...yeah. Helps with my whole being SMRT this week. hahaha OH well.

OH, and my leg's been bugging me lately, so I did yogilates last night - how long has THAT been, eh? I do still love it and look forward to making more time for it...later. hahaha After finals, maybe.

I forget if I wanted to write about anything else today - great, eh? GEEZE!! I think the moleskin being amazing was the main thing...and thanks for the concern and help!! :)

Speaking of concern and help - aren't mommies WONDERFUL?? I love mine. :) *sigh*

Teddy Bear

This is, I think, my all-time favourite poem. Which isn't saying much, I guess, 'cause I generally dislike poetry; I haven't the patience for it.

Anyway, it's one of the many reasons I LOVE Winnie-the-Pooh. If you don't know what I'm talking about...go read the book, people!! It's FANTASTIC and should be required reading for every person on the planet at multiple stages of life. ;)


TEDDY BEAR

A bear, however hard he tries,
Grows tubby without exercise.
Our Teddy Bear is short and fat
Which is not to be wondered at;
He gets what exercise he can
By falling off the ottoman,
But generally seems to lack
The energy to clamber back.

Now tubbiness is just the thing
Which gets a fellow wondering;
And Teddy worried lots about
The fact that he was rather stout.
He thought: "If only I were thin!
But how does anyone begin?"
He thought: "It really isn't fair
To grudge me exercise and air."

For many weeks he pressed in vain
His nose against the window-pane,
And envied those who walked about
Reducing their unwanted stout.
None of the people he could see
"Is quite" (he said) "as fat as me!"
Then, with a still more moving sigh,
"I mean" (he said) "as fat as I!"

Now Teddy, as was only right,
Slept in the ottoman at night,
And with him crowded in as well
More animals than I can tell;
Not only these, but books and things,
Such as a kind relation brings -
Old tales of "Once upon a time,"
And history retold in rhyme.

One night it happened that he took
A peep at an old picture book,
Wherein he came across by chance
The picture of a King of France
(A stoutish man) and, down below,
These words: "King Louis So and So,
Nicknamed 'The Handsome,'" There he sat,
And (think of it!) the man was fat!

Our bear rejoiced like anything
To read about this famous King,
Nicknamed "The Handsome." There he sat,
And certainly the man was fat.
Nicknamed "The Handsome." Not a doubt
The man was definitely stout.
Why then, a bear (for all his tub)
Might yet be named "The Handsome Cub!"

"Might yet be named." Or did he mean
That years ago he "might have been"?
For now he felt a slight misgiving:
"Is Louis So and So still living?
Fashions in beauty have a way
Of altering from day to day.
Is 'Handsome Louis' with us yet?
Unfortunately I forget."

Next morning (nose to window-pane)
The doubt occurred to him again.
One question hammered in his head:
"Is he alive or is he dead?"
Thus, nose to pane, he pondered; but
The lattice window, lossely shut,
Swung open. With one startled "Oh!"
Our Teddy disappeared below.

There happened to be passing by
A plump man with a twinkling eye,
Who, seeing Teddy in the street,
Raised him politely to his feet,
And murmured kindly in his ear
Soft words of comfort and of cheer:
"Well, well!" "Allow me!" "Not at all."
"Tut-tut! A very nasty fall."

Our Teddy answered not a word;
It's doubtful if he even heard.
Our bear could only look and look:
The stout man in the picture-book!
That "handsome" King - could this be he,
This man of adiposity?
"Impossible," he thought. "But still,
No harm in asking. Yes I will!"

"Are you," he said, "by any chance
His majesty the King of France?"
The other answered, "I am that,"
Bowed stiffly, and removed his hat;
Then said, "Excuse me," with an air
"But is it Mr. Edward Bear?"
And Teddy, bending very low,
Replied politely, "Even so!"

They stood beneath the window there,
The King and Mr. Edward Bear,
And, handsome, if a trifle fat,
Talked carelessly of this and that...
Then said His Majesty, "Well, well,
I must get on," and rang the bell.
"Your bear, I think," he smiled. "Good-day!"
And turned, and went upon his way.

A bear, however hard he tries,
Grows tubby without exercise.
Our Teddy Bear is short and fat,
Which is not to be wondered at.
But do you think it worries him
To know that he is far from slim?
No, just the other way about -
He's proud of being short and stout.
________
A.A. Milne