After a week devoid of exercise, I finally got out this morning for a run along snowy sidewalks (my first snow-run of the year) and managed to avoid slipping or skidding on the numerous icy patches along my route. Clearly I don't do this all that often (snow-running), but when I do I can't help but think of Russia; when we lived there (in 2009 - see here) I'd gingerly run laps around the snowy park close to our our house with layers and layers of clothing on and my pink and grey toque (knit by my friend Kelly) - my only alternatives for exercise were walks and 45-minute swims at the pool (where I met my friend Margaret). It's fun to take trips down memory lane, and Steve and I both think the years and times we spent abroad often (maybe even daily!). We've incorporated little bits of Italian and Greek (and Indonesian and sometimes French) into our everyday language - the kids know what tidak apa apa means ("no problem" in Indonesian), and Hai capito? ("do you understand?" - Italian), Signome (syngnómi - "excuse me!" in Greek) and more. I still remember a few words in Russian (our address, please, thank you) as well as the standout memories: getting beat by birch branches in the traditional spa-fashion (yes, really), meeting Margaret and visiting her school; playing kopeeks (a drinking game), eating pizza and sushi, taking the bus downtown, going grocery shopping and being followed by security guards in the grocery store due to my suspicious and very unladylike (unRUSSIANladylike) attire (Sorels, loose jeans and a down coat - alert!) - and of course there's more.
So the big game-changing news around here is that Jordan is on the move. Ak! He's going after cords and bits of paper and chapter books from the library - we need a big rearrange and more talk (more action, really) about picking up after ourselves and no bits or bobs (my mom says this I think 💓) left lying about. We'll probably pick up some gates this weekend and until that moment the kid will be in the backpack or exersaucer if we're not prepared to monitor every moment of his activity.
We have home games this weekend - we beat Trent tonight in three and face a strong Toronto team tomorrow night, so hopefully we manage to put a good game together. I suppose I should also say something about Valentine's Day other than the fact that I took zero pictures of the kids and the pile of cards that they MADE (they spent quite a bit of time on them) for all of their classmates; I also failed to take pictures of the mini-scavenger hunt we sent them on to find their Valentine's Day treats. Hendrik can be a bit of a know-it-all sometimes - when he came down on Tuesday morning and saw the heart tin on the table he said sullenly "I KNOW I already KNOW what's in the tin it's CANDY." Oh well don't you just know it all there little mister - ha HA! You don't. They loved reading the clues and hunting around for the next heart and the next heart-clue and then finally finding a goodie bag full of chocolate and sugar (YUM).
The night before last was a good night with all three kids sleeping all night long BUT... last night saw multiple wake-ups from multiple children so I'm tired and need to go to bed. I think I should also make a February resolution to take more pictures with the camera; not everything I snap needs to migrate to Instagram! I can take pictures for the blog and for the wall(s), I can I can I can. Oh, last thing - I read Melissa Sweet's biography (for children) of E.B. White and it was great; quick and interesting and with a good bibliography (LOVE a good bibliography) it was well worth my time. Over and out!
No comments:
Post a Comment