We are not going to get sick, we are not going to get sick.....

I refuse to spend another winter sniffing, coughing, hacking, wiping a snotty, runny nose. And I'm just referring to myself. Shel usually doesn't get sick (instead he does things like break his clavicle). But a couple of winters ago he did develop a cough which he couldn't shake, so on the advice of my friend, Shauna, I started giving him Respir-Actin.

I don't work for this company, I don't get paid by them, so this is entirely my opinion. He hasn't had a cold or cough since he started taking it. I give him 2 capfuls every morning and he loves it. Kids love the taste. You can get it at a healthfood store or online (it is a Canadian company), it's all natural. Now, do I say it's a mirable formula? Not yet. We are going to see how we get through this winter before I make any recommendations. Actually, I am going to go out and get the huge family size bottle and start taking it myself. Last year I was sick pretty much all winter.

And now, I'm off to pick up the wee man from school to start Halloween preparations. As you know, Halloween is BIG in our house. Happy Halloween All!

little white lies

I'll admit it. Sometimes I tell little white lies. Usually not for malicious intent, but to make things run smoother. I used to hate it when I caught my mother telling me a little white lie. Such as "That's not cod fish you're eating, I swear it's halibut." But I always knew. I know a cod fish when I taste one. I'm sure in her mind her little white lie about the little white fish was ok because it was good for me.

I swore that I would not do many things that my mother did when I became a parent. But it turns out she was right about a lot of things. And I have told the occasional little white lie (besides the big one about santa, but I think that Jewish Studies at school is taking care of that one).

Anyway, when Shel was younger and one of his "chores" was washing himself in the bath, I wasn't sure that he was getting in all the body parts. So to make sure that everything got washed, I told him that if he didn't wash his penis well it would fall off. Of course he has started questioning my reasoning and asked me repeatedly if this is true. But to admit the truth would be admitting that I told a little white lie. I can't let my son think that I would lie to him. That's breaking the faith.

While I'm at it I'm going to come clean about another little white lie I told many years ago and I'm not sure how to rectify. When I was in high school I had my mother knit a pair of wool socks for a friend. Somehow he ended up believing that I made the socks and I never corrected his belief (I mean, how cool is it to be able to make a pair of wool socks?). So years later he moves to the wilds of British Columbia and I get a letter saying that he went boating and lost the socks.

Being that I chreish this friend, I immediately called my mother and asked her to make him another pair of socks. Fully intending to come clean and admit the whole history of the socks. Then I get a letter saying that he cried when he opened my package and how touched he was that I made him another pair of socks.

Well, hello, what am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to come clean at this point and admit that I never made the damn socks? Again, here I am breaking the faith.

I am fully convinced that little white lies do nothing but cause trouble. So, if my friend reads this, I am making amends and finally coming clean. I should have told you the truth years ago, but I was really touched that you thought I was capable of making something like that.

Halloween Purists

I've always considered myself to be a Halloween purist, but I think that I have met my match in my son.

Like me, Halloween is his absolute favorite "holiday." It is sacred above all other holidays, one that is planned well in advance, and with great care and detail. Shel has always been like this. Up until he was 3 we had to convince him to go see what was under the Christmas tree (this has long been cured), but Halloween was always a different story. The scarier the better.

He nods in sympathy every time I recount my sad story of going out one Halloween when I was a child wearing the most glorious witch costume. My face was covered with green Vasaline, my mother had made a gorgeous costume with many layers, but the piece de resistance was the hat. Three feet tall with a wide brim and a point so sharp you could prick your finger. However, it was very cold that year and my mother insisted that I wear a cap under my witch hat. I reluctantly gave in and the only cap I could find was a little pink knitted number that was more Little Bo Beep than Wicked Witch of the West (or East in my case).

I had been out trick or treating for about an hour when I started getting comments on my "cute" costume. My spider sense was tingling. Witches aren't cute. What had changed? Oh no. I slowly put my hand on my head. MY WITCH HAT WAS GONE!!! Some how in all the excitement of getting more candy than my sister I had lost my fabulous witch hat. I immediately wanted to return home, but my father refused to take me home as my sister wanted to get more candy. I was humiliated.

So being that it is a couple of weeks from Halloween, and considering that Shel has started begging to decorate, yesterday we were at the Atwater Market where I saw the cutest bunches of corn husks that I thought would look great on the side of the house with little, sparkly orange lights to decorate for Halloween.

It is with pride that I can report that Shel would have nothing to do with this. He is emphatic that Halloween has to be scary, not cute.

Even though we will have skeletons coming up through the front lawn, and headstones, and a big scary ball with a talking head, I may still try to sneak in some corn husks with little orange, sparkly lights.

Being a mom means never going to the bathroom alone again

We spent our Thanksgiving day biking along the Solanges Canal (this is a picture from along the canal). It was an incredible day. Sunny, crisp, the smell of a wood fire in the air, leaves turning brillant colors of red and yellow. It was a great day. Even though the trail was really straight, no hills, my legs were a little stiff when we got home so I decided to go for a relaxing bath before dinner. Steam was rising from the water, Dr. Hauschka lemon oil was filling the air, latest Vogue in hand. I wasn't in the bath more than 2 minutes when Shel came in to go.

Shel: Mom, can I get in with you?

Me: No.

Shel: I have a very important question.

Me: Can't it wait?

Shel: No, it's really important.

Me: Ok, what it is?

Shel: Mom, if we are upside down and blood rushes to our head, how come when bats are upside down blood doesn't rush to their head?

Ok, now I'm a relatively intelligent person. I have 3 university degrees, one of which is graduate level. I'm stumped. But by that time, the water was no longer steaming, the air didn't smell like lemon any more, and Vogue held less interest than bats (not too difficult). We haven't looked up the answer yet on Wikipedia. My child, in addition to being absolutely delicious, is brillant.

Happy Turkey Weekend

You know that fall is here when Thanksgiving hits. And it means a long weekend. Yee haw! I need a 3 days weekend. So much I need to accomplish. Personally and creatively. Although I find that I put so much pressure on myself to accomplish things on long weekends:

• paint Shel's room
• finish painting the desk that I got at the garage sale
• make 10 screens and make more designs
• knit mitts for my Etsy store
• phone Mona
• email Zoe
• spend time with the husband
• show Shel how to put leaves in wax paper and iron them to make "stained glass."

Not to mention all the other stuff that gets ignored during the week like cleaning and ironing. Although, I have expanded my repetoire and added cards and invitations to my Etsy store. I really love this one. Stay tuned for more designs to come really soon. Maybe even some Christmas stuff. I LOVE card making. Almost as much as t-shirts. Let me know what you think. My next one will be the skull and crossbones birthday invitations and thank you notes.