Random Scribble

Every act of life, however small, has its bearing for good or for evil. Faithfulness or neglect in what are apparently the smallest duties may open the door for life’s richest blessings or its greatest calamities. It is little things that test the character. It is the unpretending acts of daily self-denial, performed with a cheerful, willing heart, that God smiles upon. We are not to live for self, but for others. And it is only by self-forgetfulness, by cherishing a loving, helpful spirit, that we can make our life a blessing. The little attentions, the small, simple courtesies, go far to make up the sum of life’s happiness, and the neglect of these constitutes no small share of human wretchedness. {PP 158.2}

A couple weeks ago, it was warm enough to wear shorts and flip-flops…now the temps are just below freezing and it’s snowing! Snowing! You’ve got to be kidding me! This freak weather caught me off guard and without my winter coat. Had to detour around the first slippery road-related accident I’ve seen this season.

After last year’s hard winter, I was really hoping that we’d be spared this year. No such luck! My husband is waving the snow brush in disgust and starting to think he should take that corporate transfer offer a little more seriously.

I’m inside where it’s toasty warm - looking past the little bit of snow accumulation to our SoCal winter getaway. I can’t wait to hold my newest niece and watch the cousins at play. I’m also looking forward to spending some downtime with my sis and the family.

I am the proud Aunt of another beautiful princess! After much anticipation, Chloe Inez arrived at 11:36 am PST today. She arrived weighing in at 6 lbs., 1.4 oz. and was 19 inches long. I received the “She’s Here!” photo message and came *this* close to becoming an emotional mess in the local Wal-Mart. I can’t be more happy for my sister, brother-in-law and Big Sister Mia who is apparently owning her new role with every bit of her little Type A personality!

My sister is totally Wonder Woman and seems to have bounced back rather effortlessly from the scheduled c-section. I still marvel. No doubt, she’ll be heading to the mall for a pedi/mani and scouring the Nordstrom Columbus Day sales without the crutch of a Tylenol 3.

The best part about Chloe’s arrival is really much about sisterhood. I’m excited that Mia, my firstborn niece, will have a chance at experiencing the gift of being the “older sister". And my new niece Chloe will have the gift of being the “baby sister". Most importantly, they’ll have each other.

I truly hope that one day Mia and Chloe will have the same kind of relationship that my sister and I share. The kind of relationship that no matter what happens in life or how far apart in physical distance they are from one another, they will always be close and will always look to each other for support, friendship and love. I hope that in each other they will find someone to enjoy late night giggles underneath the blankets, a default playmate and tea-party guest, someone to share secrets with, someone who will give nothing but the “unabashed, sometimes painfully honest, straight goods advice” on boys, girlfriends, outfit and life choices, someone who will pray with her and for her and someone who will love her unconditionally. There is magic in the friendship between two sisters and blessings that can be found nowhere else.

Welcome my sweet princess Chloe and congratulations to my beautiful Big Sis Mia! I love you both and wish you a lifetime of happy sister moments! Can’t wait to see you!

I was up before the crack of dawn to give my Mom a ride to the airport. Everyone was still asleep by the time I got back home. Ahhh, the sound of silence is a beautiful thing! I took advantage of the situation and curled up on the living room sofa with a cup of coffee and a book that I’ve been rather unsuccessfully trying to get through. I must have fallen asleep and was awakened by the sound of hushed voices and pattering feet on the hardwood floor. The kids were awake and obviously didn’t notice that I was lying on the sofa in the living room.

I overheard my 9-year old daughter tell her little brother that “Mommy is taking Grandma to the airport, but when she gets home she’ll make us breakfast". I giggled inwardly wondering if I should let on that I was home. A few minutes later she asked him what he wanted for breakfast. And then the sounds of cupboards opening and closing as she navigated around the kitchen. Then the sounds of his favourite Wonder Pets DVD. I gathered they were having waffles and juice (and maybe a chocolate-chip cookie…or two).

It was just too delicious to listen to their exchange and truth be told, I was really enjoying the few extra moments under my cozy throw. A few minutes later, my daughter discovered me “asleep” in the living room. In a loud whisper, she told her brother to “be quiet, Mom is home, but she’s still sleeping. Ssshhhh!” He seemed to be content enough to go back to singing along with his Wonder Pets movie.

Then I heard Justin call out for me, “Mom, pee-pee, pee-pee!” I almost jumped out from underneath my comfortable perch on the sofa, before I heard my daughter sternly tell him again “Sssshh, Mom’s sleeping! Uh-oh, you’re all wet! Let’s go upstairs and I’ll change you!” God bless her!

I sank back into the sofa and fell back into a light slumber before the kids came bounding down the stairs again. This time Justin noticed the heap of blanket on the sofa and he trudged over to wake me up…and it was just fine with me. I was just thankful to have been given a little extra time to myself - thanks to my little 9-year old stepping up to the plate. She had gotten him out of his crib, entertained him, given him breakfast *and* gotten him out of his soaking wet Pull-Up and pyjamas. So cute! I was so proud of her because I know she loves her brother so much…and he loves her right back!

Thanks my Honey for holding down the fort! I love you!

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.