As my hubby was checking out hybrid car leases online, I asked him if he would consider a Toyota after all of the trouble they were having last year, with recalls and mechanical problems. He said he might, and then I remembered this SNL commercial parody. It's super funny, check it out.
If you are not in the US and can't watch this video (like me), you can also watch it here. The audio is a little off but the video quality is good. Enjoy : )
Having children means that you have to do a lot of cleaning. I mean A LOT! Actually, CONSTANT is a better word. Because if you want your house to be as clean as those pre-kid days, you'd have to be cleaning day and night. Or maybe it's just me. I clean up a room and it's like the children have clean room radar. I can almost hear the little dee-dee-dee-dee sound of said radar going off in their heads. "Room is clean... Room is clean... Must rectify" *said in a robot voice, of course* and they immediately go right behind me and mess it up again. So sometimes I ask myself (about specific cleaning tasks), how many times will I have to do this in my life?
It first started out with questions like:
- How many times will I have to clean baby poop (or pee) off of the carpet, my clothes, the car seats or any place where poop can leak, squirt, or ooze onto?
- How many times will I have to clean spit up, or barf, or drool off of those same things?
Then it became:
- How many times will I have to clean up spilled or thrown baby foods off the floors and walls?
- How many times will I have to clean mushed up bananas, avocado, carrots, peas, pasta, etc. out of this d@mn high chair (because it had so many weird, little crevices that made it so hard to get clean)?
Mind you, I didn't mind cleaning up this cute face of course, it was just the darned high chair that bugged me.
And a little later it was (and still is):
- How many times will I have to vacuum up crushed crackers and cookies from the backseat of our car?
- How many times will I have to get on my freakin' hands and knees and clean up spilled juice (that you have to go over a bunch of times, otherwise it's sticky for days)?
And now it's:
- How many times will I have to put back the couch cushions, and pillows, and blankets after the monkeys have made forts, or beds for their stuffies, or have just decided to throw everything everywhere just for the fun of it?
- How many times will I sweep up crumbs that get tracked to every corner of the house, because my kids do not understand the meaning of "please eat that at the table, don't walk around the house eating food!"?
- How many times in my life will I have to pick up little game pieces, or Polly Pocket doll clothes, or other teeny tiny toy parts (that toy companies seem to love to include in toys these days), that are scattered all over the house? Does every little girl toy for ages 3-8 have to include beads, or sequins, or tiny shoes, or tiny combs and brushes, or small elastics, or teensy barrettes? Why so many freakin' accessories? Does my daughter really need all of this kind of crap?
Anyways, I am not trying to whine over here, I just want to legitimately know, how many times? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand? Inquiring minds want to know. Then maybe I can steel myself for that number and say every once in a while, only fifty more times to go, and I'll never have to do this again. Though I'm betting that when that day happens I'll be crying about how my kids are all grown up, and where did the time go, and oh they grow up so fast! Because really I don't want to speed up time and I don't want them to grow up yet. I guess I just wish had a magic wand or that special nose twitch from Bewitched, to magically make it all clean. That would be just perfect.
Which kid messes are you tired of cleaning up? Do you wonder any of these very same questions? Or do you have different ones, perhaps?
Oh, and here is one mess I never thought I'd have to clean up. Thankfully, I only ever had to deal with it once. My son had gotten a hold of a crayon and decided to chew on it and turn it into a crayon paste while I was making dinner. He wasn't even two at the time. I didn't know crayon could be turned into a paste, but now I know. It can!
I just watched last night's SNL episode with hubby, tonight. I had to DVR it because he was out of town yesterday and we wanted to watch it together. That's sometimes the only thing we get to do together as a couple in a week, so I made sure to make it happen. I was excited for this particular episode because, one, I'm a closet Justin Timberlake fan (I even forced my husband to dance our first song at our wedding, last year, to his song, My Love. I shocked all of my friends, but I digress) and two, it was the season finale. But not only am I a Justin fan, I am also a Justin SNL Host fan. I swear he is one of the best hosts they have on the show these days (not to discount Walkin, Baldwin or Martin, some of my other favs), every time he hosts, the show is golden. And this was no exception. I pretty much laughed my butt off at every skit. So here is the best one of the night, hands down. A warning, these are not appropriate for kids.
The Digital Short was awesome too, but much too risque for me to post here. If you are up for it, watch it here. It is, of course, hilarious, as the Justin and Andy ones always are. Also, as a tribute to my hubby, because he always loves the Barry Gibb Talk Show ones so much, I'll post that one as well. I love it when they bring Jimmy Fallon on the show, he's one of my favorites too (and man is he adorable, I miss his hot/cuteness on the show).
Please Note, I had to change these videos because the originals that I posted from YouTube are no longer available. I these found other versions but the Barry Gibb's one is only watchable in the US. If you are outside the US (like in Canada, where I am) you can watch it here.
Also, "Really, With Seth Meyers" was absolutely hilarious. Watch a shaky, but available in Canada, version here. And the last one I'll put in here, is "Herb Welch," the old news broadcaster who hits everyone with his mic, which was super funny too. Watch that one here.
I didn't plan on listing almost all of the sketches, but I couldn't help myself. Honestly it was one of the best episodes in years. If you have a chance to watch the whole thing, I suggest you do because it is well worth it. Enjoy!
Here is a funny SNL skit, it originally aired in March, but they played it again on last night's show. I love how Bobby Moynihan plays the big kid in the end, he's hilarious.
You can watch the original version of this commercial here. I guess the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) was trying to re-brand high fructose corn syrup and pass it off as healthy in moderation. I'm not so sure about healthy, I'd much rather have my kids have real juice instead (no sugar or any sweetener added), but that's just me.
Last night a few girlfriends and I went out for a night on the town (in Vancouver), to celebrate my friend Brighter Scribe's birthday. It was a bit of a gong show, but in a good way. There was a lot of typical girl stuff, like taking too long to leave, (it's hard for four mom's to get ready to go out, because we all have our kids to deal with at the same time) and forgetting things and having to go back for them. I alone forgot the gift for the birthday girl, my bus pass and my earrings, and Brighter forgot her rings. And then getting to the restaurant, we didn't realize the hockey game was on, so we had to wait for half an hour to be seated because the place was so packed. Once we got seated though dinner was perfect, there was delicious food, yummy drinks (I had 2 Belinnis, my favorite!) and great conversation. And we were all so excited to go dancing. Being moms who barely ever go dancing, the anticipation had us a bit giddy (and of course the drinks helped too).
Once we were done dinner we headed for the club, Library Square, for 80s night (with some 90s thrown in there too). Weird name I know, it doesn't entice a picture of a dance club atmosphere, but it's actually just perfect. Except for the line ups. Last time I went there I waited for an hour and a half to get in. So I said, this time lets go early, and we did, but we still had to wait. We waited almost an hour outside, but luckily it wasn't raining and the night wasn't too cold. I felt bad that we had to wait, because the place was my idea and I didn't want everyone to be irritated with me, and give up and go home early. But we were troopers. Being the moms that we are, I guess we have all developed a great amount of patience. And once we got in, it was well worth the wait! I danced for over 4 hours straight and I loved every minute of it. The music was awesome!
This was the first song we heard last night, that really got us to start dancing (there were a few when we first got in, that weren't so good, but after this one played they just got better and better from there). And it ended up feeling like a bit of a theme song for me. I was playing it in my head when I woke up this morning and thought that it was just so fitting for my night.
At about 2 am, two of the ladies wanted to go home, they were done (and I can understand why, it was a long/but awesome night). But Brighter wanted to stay until close, she was like "it's my birthday and I am staying until the lights turn on." And so I gladly stayed with her, I used to (back in the day) stay out all night long and go to after parties and all night breakfast places and not get home until 8 in the morning sometimes. Even though I haven't done anything like that in years, my adventurous side will gladly have me stay until the bitter end of a fun night; I don't want to miss out on anything and I want to live the night to the fullest.
During the night my friend Brighter, got chummy with one of the DJs, and he was really great. He settled a bet of ours and he played all of our requests; he even rescued her from an overly gropey dance partner. At the end of the night he played two of my favorites for me, Deee-Lite's "Groove Is In The Heart" and ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and left me feeling very grateful. It's amazing how one night out can rejuvenate you, and dancing can make you feel young again. Not that I am old, it's just that I don't always feel young. I know they say "you're as young as you feel," but being a parent and a responsible adult, doesn't always give the allure or feeling of youthfulness. So thank you Patrick the DJ (and thank you to my girls too!), last night was awesome and exactly what I needed!!!
PS. Happy Mother's Day to all of you lovely mommies out there. I hope your day was a special one!!!
Here is a little midweek humor. I've been super busy and extremely exhausted, not to mention down right sad about yesterday's results in the Canadian federal election. So I needed to post something funny to lift my spirits. I really hope this SNL skit doesn't offend anyone, but if it does then I guess we just have a different taste in humor. This is probably my all-time favorite SNL Digital Short (this and "D**k in a Box" are tied for first place, actually), I think it's extremely hilarious and it definitely comes with a warning that it's not appropriate for kids or for people who are offended easily. Enjoy!
PS. Anyone catch "The Voice" tonight and last week? I think I like it. I used to watch American Idol, way back, years ago, but got bored of the same old, same old. The Voice was fresh and I liked that it had all good singers. I also liked that the coaches couldn't see the contestants before they picked them. Anyways I'll keep watching, it's definitely piqued my curiosity.
I wrote a post earlier, where I talked about toxic chemicals in beauty products. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because though I changed all of my products to more organic and less toxic ones, I've come to realize that some of them may not be what they say they are. Just because something is labelled as organic or natural, doesn't mean that it actually is in the beauty industry. You really have to go over the ingredients with a fine tooth comb and if you don't know what to look for, you can easily overlook toxic ingredients. When I look at a beauty product's ingredients, I check them against the David Suzuki Foundation's list of the "Dirty Dozen Cosmetic Chemicals To Avoid." This is a great list to go by. But when you are at the health food store and you are looking at all of the products there that are "classified" as organic, it's easy to believe all of the hype on the labels and forget about checking the list. Just because it's at the health food store, doesn't mean it doesn't have toxic ingredients in it. I just found out today, thanks to my friend Mina at DeTox ... the devil in the details..., that my favorite face wash may not be as good as I thought it was. It's still a lot better than what I was using before, that's for sure, but it does have some questionable ingredients in it.
So here is a great video that talks about what's really going on in the beauty industry and how we need change from the government to stop toxic chemicals from being put into our personal care products. The products we use do not have to have toxic ingredients in them, there are better alternative ingredients out there that are not toxic or carcinogenic. We just need the government to put the proper regulations in place that force the industry to make a change for the better.
Here is a wonderful message from my favorite Earth activist, David Suzuki. I remember seeing him speak when I was a teenager. Our school's Environmental Club went on a field trip to Vancouver for an environmental conference. It was so great to leave my small little town and go on an outing to the big city. I was really moved hearing him talk about environmental issues and things that we could do to help our planet. And even though that was probably about twenty years ago, and I don't really remember it that well, I was left with a lasting impression of who he was and how I could be a part of something bigger. He inspired me to get involved and really care about what is going on around me. At the time, I didn't know that I would later go on to complete the Environment Studies Program in college and become passionate about environmental issues. I remember thinking that it was just going to be a fun day out, with my school. I didn't realize how hearing him speak would spark a whole lifestyle change and influence me to be a better person, but he did and I am so grateful. I don't know if you've ever seen his show, "The Nature of Things," but every time I watch it I am reminded of how knowledgeable he is and how much he's done to change our world for the better. If there weren't people like him around to inspire us, then I think the planet would be in an even worse state, than it is right now. So thank you, David Suzuki, for everything you've done for this precious planet we live on, and may many more people heed your brilliant words and implement the change we need to save our Earth.
Yesterday, I responded to a friend's post on Facebook. She was talking about a rough patch she is dealing with right now, so I posted this on her wall.
And since then I can't stop thinking about this song, and it's lyrics. "Keep pushin' on, things are gonna get better, it won't take long, keep on pushin' to the top." Not only is it a great song to dance to (every time I hear it I want to jump up and start dancing), but it is also inspiring. I think I need a little of that inspiration right now, myself. Things have been difficult for us lately too. My family and I are going through a rough patch of our own (financially), and it's taking it's toll. One of the hardest parts of dealing with times like these, is that it can put a strain on your marriage. I know my marriage isn't in any trouble, and I know I am a very lucky lady, but having that kind of tension in the house can effect your kids and other family members and is just down right depressing. So with a small glimmer of good news today and a little bit of hope, I am going to "keep pushin' on" and pray that "things are gonna get better." And hopefully soon we will get through this rough patch. Wish me luck, and enjoy the song, it's a good one : )
I need to post something fun again, I've been feeling very weighed down by all of the messed up stuff happening in the world right now. Since I joined Twitter a few weeks ago, it seems like all I've read and tweeted about is horrible things happening to animals, people and the planet. It's making me feel very overwhelmed. So, I just need to let off some steam and have a little fun. I think that this may be the beginning of Fun Fridays. I am going to try and post funny videos every Friday and see how that works out. We all need a little laughter in our lives, right?
Here's one I watched last weekend and it had me cracking up, I love Kirsten Wig, she's hilarious.
I love stories with a happy ending. 59 year old Anne, the last British circus elephant, has been released to a better home. Her story was a harrowing tale. One with horrible beatings by a circus worker. She was kicked and hit and beaten with a pitchfork and other implements. Luckily it was caught on film byAnimal Defenders International (ADI) who secretly filmed the abuse from January 21st to February 15th of this year.
After the video footage was released to the public, the Romanian worker was fired from the Bobby Roberts Super Circus, but that did not stop the a huge and justified public outcry. Anne's owners, Bobby and Moira Roberts, then decided to do the right thing and finally let Anne be moved to a more suitable home.
Activists had been fighting for years to have her moved, because over half a century of working for a circus and being kept in a small metal compound or in tiny transport containers, have left her muscles weak and her body riddled with arthritis. She is an elderly elephant that deserves to retire.
Finally, she has her much deserved retirement. On Sunday, April 3rd Anne was moved to the 900 acreLongleat Safari Park in Wiltshire. Right now she has a 13 acre enclosure, that will later have central heating, a wading area and swimming pool, and proper fencing built for her and other rescued elephants.
Here are some pictures of her happy and playing in her new enclosure.
Longleat staff say she is settling in and seems to be adjusting well. Watch this video of Anne in her new home.
It makes me so happy to see justice brought to this poor animal. She deserves to live in the right kind of environment, where she can be cared for properly and just be an elephant. Now she doesn't have to work the rest of her life away. To find out more info about Anne's plight see the Daily Mail's stories here and here. And visit Longleat's website for further updates.
Also, here is some other good news, which was brought about by this story. Britain is planning to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. See the full story here.
Vancouver is such a beautiful city when is stops raining. And boy has it rained a lot, but here comes the sun. We've had a few gorgeous days and it makes me sooooo happy. Spring is finally here and it will just get warmer and warmer and better and better. I can't wait for picnics in the park and beach days and sprinklers and swimming outside. I also can't wait for outdoor festivals and spending whole entire days outside and camping. I feel very lucky to live here, in this gorgeous place with the mountains and the ocean, and I really could never imagine living anywhere else.
So I am going to try something a little different with this post. I am going to put up some of my own pictures and show a little taste of Vancouver, and if I am happy with it all, maybe I'll do it again sometime. You are welcome to let me know what you think, and if I can pull this kind of blogging off, or if I should stick to talking about issues and such. Here I go.
Spring comes to my backyard.
Look at those mountains! A view from downtown, at the waterfront, on our way to...
On Wednesday we went to our first outdoor festival of the year and it was tons of fun. I took the kids on the bus and we headed downtown to Vancouver's 125th Birthday Celebration. There was a special ceremony and lots of live music and stilt walkers and 3 huge birthday cakes, made to feed thousands of people. My kids loved it! It made us all feel great about living in Vancouver.
My sister in-law took these two pictures of the crowd, it really was a great turn out.
This was the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, drum roll please, Ta-Da!
And here are my monkeys having a blast.
I'll leave you with this little piece of cuteness, a clip of my daughter rockin' out to some live music, isn't she awesome!!! One day she's gonna be a Dancing Queen just like her mama, I can tell already : )
Tony the tiger is a Siberian/Bengal tiger held in captivity, for ten years, by a cruel owner and showed on display at Louisiana truck stop. This is such a sad story. People have been fighting for years to have this tiger moved to the Big Cat Rescue, a big cat sanctuary, in Tampa, Florida. The owner has also fought hard, to keep his tiger living in horrible conditions and to keep making money off of him. The tiger's main living area is an outdoor concrete cage, visible to the public and people driving by on the freeway, where he is breathing in toxic car fumes and surrounded by loud traffic noise. He has no room to run or swim and leads a stressful, unhappy life. The poor creature is being exploited by it's owner, Michael Sandlin, as a roadside attraction for people to come and shop at his truck stop. It's sickening the way this beautiful animal is being treated, like as if he is a commodity to be capitalized on and not a living creature that needs to be protected and cared for properly. Tigers need space and freedom to roam. It is cruel and abusive to keep this magnificent animal locked up in a small cage. Watch this video by Big Cat Rescue. For more information visit Free Tony the Tiger.
On Dec. 14, 2010 Michael Sandlin's yearly permit to keep Tony was yet again approved by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. But the fight is not over. To find ways to help, click here.
To do my part I am going to send a letter to Avaaz to ask for their help in petitioning the American government to free Tony. They are an organization that gets millions of people all over the world, to sign petitions for important causes. Let's hope we can get their help on this one too.
*Correction I have just sent this letter to Avaaz:
"To whom it may concern,
I am writing on behalf of Tony, a Siberian/Bengal tiger, held in captivity at a truck stop in Louisiana for the past 10 years. His living conditions are deplorable and he is inhumanely being exploited by his owner as an exhibit to make money. He is on public display, in a small concrete cage, beside a freeway where he breathes in toxic truck exhaust and hears loud traffic noise 24/7. He needs your help to raise awareness and have a petition made to fight for him. The Big Cat Rescue in Tampa Florida has offered to take him and provide him with a good home where he can run and live in proper living conditions and be treated with the respect he deserves. But his owner refuses to do the right thing. For more information about his plight visit http://freetonythetiger.wordpress.com/tonys-story/ . Also I have just posted on my blog about this and have said that I am going to ask for your help in this matter http://enviromommy.blogspot.com/ . I have signed many of your petitions and I believe that you are the one organization that can really help Tony, because thus far nothing anyone else has done has worked. This needs a global campaign. Please help."
Here is another fun favorites list. It's not my all time favorites, because that would be too hard, but it's the 10 songs that I am really loving right now and can't stop listening to. Feel free to leave me a comment of your faves, I love hearing about new music or thinking about songs I haven't thought of in awhile. Here it goes, in no particular order.
Esthero - Black Mermaid
Adele - Someone Like You
Lightning Dust - Highway
Emiliana Torrini - Sunny Road
Spree Wilson - Don't Pass Me By, Featuring Esthero
Lightning Dust - Never Seen
Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Adele - Rolling In The Deep
Kate Earl - Nobody
Adele - Tired
PS - Earth Hour was great last night, we turned off all of the lights and lit candles and made up ghost stories. It was my hubby, my kids, my niece and nephew, my mom in law and myself and it was a blast. It was so cute 'cause each kid took turns making up their own ghost stories and all the stories were great. We also played games and just hung out as a family, with no TV or computer or video game distractions, and they loved it. It made me think that we should do this kind of thing more often. Maybe we should do our own family Earth Hour once a month, just for the fun of it.
Okay, I've been reading a lot of enviro and political stuff lately and sometimes it really gets me down (on a side note - I was told when I took Enviromental Studies in college that sometimes you can start to feel depressed when faced with all of the horrible stuff happening to the planet, and it's true. I think that's why many people choose to ignore the issues and stay ignorant, so that they don't have to know and feel bad about what is going on around them). So I've decided to write about something fun. I have a friend who does a lot of movie reviews and she has inspired me to write a little movie review of my own. Or, not really a review, more like a favorite scene list. So here it goes, in no particular order:
Join the cause to fight climate change. Last year over a billion people, in 128 countries, around the world took part and it was the largest voluntary action ever witnessed. This year lets make it even bigger. On Saturday March 26 at 8:30pm (your local time) turn off your lights for one hour. Have a nice candle lit dinner or play board games or tell stories or play hide and go seek with your kids. There are lots of fun things to do in the dark. Participate in Earth Hour and show your support for our planet. Let your voice be heard, stand up and take action on climate change.
Wow this is so fascinating and beautiful! Polar Bears filmed by super high tech spy cameras. Check out these videos from the BBC movie, Polar Bear: Spy On The Ice, by filmmaker John Downer.
For more info about the movie and how it was filmed check out John Downer's website.
