Girls Who Park in Cars

[Push play to see the video, as long as you have an updated Flash]

Oh, Wally! I lost count of how many times this video made me laugh out loud. If only I had seen it in high school. It would have saved me from all kinds of social missteps! Especially all those dreadful times that I forgot to do my hair and nails!!! It's nice to see, also, that my habit of making brownies every five seconds is a good one. I just hope that the boys I offer brownies to don't get the wrong idea. I only park in cars with one specific boy!

Okay, so, back in Montreal now! Everything is grand, and it's fantastic to be back on this magic island - though I have a rumbly in my tumbly (like Winnie), and it's called "I MISS THE HOLIDAYS". I miss being in Waterloo with Bronwyn and Adam and Mom - and a full wine rack. I miss baking at 186 Oxford. I miss spilling drinks at Jen & Mark's apartment. I miss toasting my rear section at the woodstove in Ian and Ingrid's house! And I miss waking up with a dog, a cat, and a kid in my bed! And losing at "Streik" (a game played with dice and math skills). Seriously, 9-year-old Linnea is scary-good at a game that, to the rest of us, is almost all luck. In all fairness, it's hard to compete when Linnea's around, because she is a champion. Observe her game face! Total intimidation.


I learned countless things from enjoying concentrated Linnea time over the holidays, and there aren't enough hours left in the day to relay them all - from how to build a Webkinbz empire to how to properly break ice blocks over your head to how to have fun even though it's 7am - she's got it all down. Most of all, though, I learned the importance of wardrobe. Not in an obsessive, fashionista kind of way. More in a "how to dress for the occasion" kind of way. Example? Check this out:

See those pants she's wearing? Those aren't just any pants. Those are ALADDIN pants. They puff out from the waist and are perfect for riding imaginary magic carpets. Why is she wearing them at that precise moment? Because the Aladdin stage adaptation was playing on TV that night, naturally. See what I mean? It's amazing. At another moment in the week Ian and Ingrid were flying about the house, attempting (with the sort of frantic energy that anyone in charge of organizing a family for a timely departure will understand) to leave for a family to-do in another town - and there stood Linnea, perfectly calm, wondering aloud to the dog whether or not there would be snow where they were going, and consequently whether or not she should bring her snowsuit. I think we could all learn something from the serenity and sensibility of Linnea's measured consideration amidst the chaos. It could even be interpreted as an extended metaphor about life: always ask yourself if there will be snow where you're going, and dress appropriately!

Other Ontario fun-ness, in no particular order...

Homemade poutine and mini-burgers!

Homemade love(liness)!

A man and his kitteh:

Also over the holidays: December 27th, 2007, was the official "Negaversary" for Jen & Mark - exactly a year from that date they will marry, and those of us lucky enough to be there will crowd an open bar in their honour. To celebrate the Negaversary, the two wedding parties got together and, in 9(?)-year-old Talon's words, "deposed a toast" to the beauties. Some of the evening, in pictoral form:

Observe Jen's hotness! But don't get any ideas... she's practically married.


Trying to have a moment with Jen, while she tries to have a moment with her camera.


Michael steals the wooly sweater which I stole from Bronwyn... oh no! when will the thieving end!
Bridesmaid bonding:


We hope that if Mark ever has children, he will know which end is up...

I will be back soon. In the meantime, here is what Tycho looked like within an hour of our arrival "home" in Montreal (dude had been waiting for weeks to get his basket chair back):