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Friday, January 29, 2010

FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 13-19, 2009

WHAT I’M READING: The Sedona Method, which is all about releasing feelings so you don’t have to carry around so much angst. Not that I carry around a lot of angst or anything…not me. Oh no. Never. Excuse me while I go release those lies.

WHAT ELSIE’S READING: A brand new book that I picked out myself. It’s about Olivia the Mouse, and extremely sweet. I got really tired of all the teachy-county-learny books. Just give me a fucking story. A fucking story for fuck sake. Yeah, I am vulgar today. What the heck is with my potty mouth? I’m still releasing toxins from my week long cleanse is what.

WHAT I’M WATCHING: The beginning of 50 Dead Men Walking, a movie my dad brought home about the Irish Protestant/Catholic conflict. He didn’t think it would be too intense. Um. Dad, that was the most intense movie I’ve ever seen. My heritage is messed up.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: The new Norah Jones: The Fall. It’s quite lovely. More exciting: Elsie loves it too, which means we have been Wiggles free in the car for one week. That is nothing short of fucking miraculous! Sorry…more toxins.

WHAT I’M WEARING: Layers. That way when I tell Simon that I’m cold, he can’t say with disdain, “Is it because you’re not wearing enough clothes? Like, for example, SOCKS?” I certainly am wearing SOCKS today, husband! And a long sleeved thermal kind of shirtish thingy. Like if I wanted to go skiing, I would be sweating from the ‘chaleur’ of this ensemble.

WHAT I’M EATING:: Solid food. Texture is such a lovely thing. Drink juice for week and you will be all over anything with crunch. More specifically I am eating raw hummus. So can you if you:
Soak raw sunflower seeds over night. Grind them up, along with one zucchini cut into chunks and 3 cloves garlic. Add 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp tahini (ground sesame seeds), 2 tbsp lemon, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp sea salt. Approximately. Enjoy. Spread on nori and make your own ’sushi’ or just eat with celery sticks.

WHAT I’M ENJOYING: Elsie’s dancing. She side shuffles in a circle and it’s delightful. To every kind of music. Including the heavy metal kind.

WHAT I’M SNIFFING: This awesome hand cream which Simon got me for Christmas. It’s called ‘ULTIMATE STRENGTH HAND SALVE’ by KIEHL’S. It’s kind of medicinal smelling in a natural way, if you can imagine such a smell. I apply it at least 25 times a day.

p.s. Hey look, my friend Steve found the TVO ad:
makes you think-tvo ad

Okay, now go enjoy your Friday. Tonight Simon and I are having date night at a communal table with 20 other people. Sounds romantic don’t you think?


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out, out, damn toxins

Thursday, January 21, 2010

I’m on day four of a cleanse right now. I won’t get into all the specifics. But suffice it to say my sugar binge over Christmas caught up with me. So for the last four days I have been eating raw veggies and a little fruit and juicing extraordinary concoctions (and when I say extraordinary I don’t mean ‘fabulous’) of kale, spinach, garlic, wheatgrass and the like. It helps if I think of the brew as cold soup instead of juice. Further, I haven’t had a coffee in three days. (I cheated on day one with an espresso. Simon made me do it.) So all in all there’s not much to live for. All of my enjoyable and inspiring routines have been disturbed. As such, I no longer have anything to say. My mind is vacuous. I know that lots of people are creative, and I’m certain that at one point creativity also abided in me, but in my current state I can’t fathom HOW. Or WHAT.

Frankly, I’m scared.

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my enlarged face

Monday, January 18, 2010

Here’s a TVO print ad I did a while back, which people keep sending me random messages about. I saw your face at Union station…I saw you on the Go train—your face. One of my friends apparently went up to the large picture of my face and started having a little chat with me. People thought she was crazy. I also think that sounds a wee bit crazy, but mostly just fun and unselfconscious and definitely subject matter for a monologue or an entire play. Kind of like the woman who comes into a bakery my dad frequents with her rabbit…in a stroller. She’s practicing motherhood? I agree, Rabbit Woman. Hands-on learning is the only way.

p.s. If you’re the next person to see my face, can you send me a photo of the ad in its entirety? Merci et merci.

TVO Ad

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1st fantabulous of 2010. i know.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 10-16, 2010

WHAT I’M READING: Chapters of The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. A very nice combination of easy to absorb brain science and light but not too light romance.

WHAT ELSIE’S READING: She’s really into MY FIRST BOOK OF WORDS. That may or may not be the title. Regardless, she points, I speak: “That’s a giraffe. And that’s a zebra. And that’s a giraffe. And that’s a giraffe. And once again, that’s the giraffe.”

Have you ever wondered why children’s books are so replete with animals they never see? Perplexing isn’t it. Like how many of our city born and bred children have much contact with cows…pigs…giraffes? Why don’t we teach them about banks and concrete? Everyone ponder.

WHAT I’M WATCHING: Well I think we covered that in my first post-Christmas post. Basically lots of movies. Now that Christmas season is done, I’m doing nothing but work. Oh, so much work. Just working myself to the bone. Workaholic is me. On sooooooo many exciting projects (I’m pumping myself up right now). Except I did manage to catch ten minutes of the new Kids In The Hall. Not immediately funny to me. But I would like to meet the people who find it hilarious. Maybe my friend Tim? Tim? Are you in the cyberspace? What say you Tim? Teach me to laugh.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Jian Ghomeshi. I really enjoy you, Jian. I’m sorry for saying you had no balls a couple months back. Would you like to have me on your show? Just wondering? We could talk about…my unidentified exciting projects. And maybe you could be awestruck by me. That’s all. It would do wonders for my self-esteem. Okay. Check in later.

WHAT I’M WEARING: I got a really great grey and white plaid shirt for Christmas which I like to wear. As often as possible. It’s called ‘THE SHIRT.’ Seriously. That’s what it’s called. In fact, they wanted it called that so bad, they sewed a huge ass label that says ‘THE SHIRT’ to the bottom of the shirt so everyone knows what they’re looking at? I decided to remove the eyesore in an obsessive moment without getting the proper equipment. Now I have a huge ass label dangling (instead of firmly attached) and a huge ass hole. Bollocks. Where is Simon when I need him? Why is he not at home taking care of all of our, and more importantly, my domestic needs? ‘Cause let me tell you, the man sews.

WHAT I’M EATING: Proteins with veggies and carbs with veggies. Apparently those combinations are easier on the digestive system. That means no eggs and toast, which is sad. Because you know how much I like toast, and then eggs and toast, well that’s just lovely.

So here’s a carbs and veggies recipe that you might enjoy:

In a soup pot sauté onion, garlic and fresh ginger with coconut oil. The coconut oil is key to a delicious flavour. Add a whole bunch of cabbage. Continue your sauté-ing. Then add water and a couple bouillon cubes (depending on the amount of water). I like organic veggie bouillon cubes if you were wondering. And probably if you’re bothering to read this wordy recipe, you care. Finally add a whole bunch of cooked quinoa.

It’s a very delicate but flavourful soup. And you will feel full.

WHAT I’M ENJOYING: Elsie crying herself into a frenzy because she’s over tired. NOT!!! It’s opposite day. And I’m channeling my grade four self. Not. Not. Not.

WHAT I’M SNIFFING: Elsie’s head which has a faint whiff of her grandma’s perfume. It’s nice. So much better than the smell of Frannie’s shit or bus fumes or moldy beans. I’m just sayin’.


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word up

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A couple of things to look out for as you watch this video:

1) The German soother which now fits Elsie’s face. You might remember when it didn’t. Exhibit A. Perhaps you’re wondering if we have any intentions of ever removing the large-German-soother-which-now-fits-admirably from her daily routine? Excellent query. To which I have no reply. I think about it from time to time, particularly when a rash emerges on her chin from too much German soother loving. But then my mind wanders giving Elsie just enough time to sleuth my German soother hiding spots. And then we both need a snack break. Basically my German resolve is very low.

2) The throat gurgle, which she uses as a water call. I think it’s fairly brilliant, or at the very least, extremely interesting. We should all try it. Get our loved ones to meet our needs through non-verbal, compelling throat commands. Elsie for one finds it yields 100% return.

3) The videos which come up afterward which you might care to watch. They include: an interview with our quirky midwife…and yes, she does have a very large flower in her hair…and no, she wasn’t on her way to a wedding; a video of Simon and me talking about onions for our enableyourhealth.com site which is eternally under construction. You can visit the construction site at enableyrhealth.com if you have loads of time to waste this Monday. Suggestions? Time you would like to donate to the cause? I have lots of supplements I could trade ya.

Toddler Feats from Rebecca on Vimeo.

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zesty living

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Kind of ironic that I’m posting this picture considering this one is lying (or probably standing) in her crib right now crying her eyes out. Because…I’m insisting on a nap. What can I say, she’s zesty in every respect. A strength she inherits from her mama. So I discovered on this website through Chevron. The website offers all sorts of interesting personality tests based in what’s called ‘Positive Psychology.’ The survey Simon and I have done is the VIA survey of Character Strengths. It’s a free questionnaire, but takes a good fifteen minutes because there are 240 questions. I’m warning you now. But the results are interesting. Both Simon’s and my top strength is Curiosity About The World. Aren’t we just a match made in heaven? Which doesn’t mean we have secure jobs or a clean apartment or a clean car for that matter (apologies to all those of have ridden in my car as a passenger in the last month and exited the vehicle disturbed.) But damn are we are curious. Freggin’ freakin’ curious.

What are you? Go do some self-discovery. Go, go. Be curious.

Life is sooooo good.

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the peeler blog and other challenges

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Okay. So there were a few low moments during the holidays. But let me just zero in on the major cause of my holiday discomfort. Not that there weren’t other down moments. I mean there were definitely other moments. I would hate to leave you with the impression that everything is peaches and roses and a sprinkling of jasmine pot-pourri at the Daveys. Like, for example, when my sister called me sobbing with: “Dr. Lee fucked up!” on the 23rd to recount how Dr. Lee had removed a stitch too early and her wound had zigzagged open—that was a down moment. My sister, who is as much drama queen as me, was spinning the tale so vivid, I could vision the innards of her hand oozing out on to Dr. Lee’s white coat while navigating my car through the confines of Sherway mall.

Yeah, so bascially that sucked.

Other things that troubled: Elsie had a fever for two days before Christmas causing us to fear the very worst—namely swine flu leading to death. That most definitely troubled.

Oh yeah, and then there was Boxing Day (the 26th for all you Americans) at which point Simon, Elsie and I decided to venture outside for a quick outing. Because I insisted on coffee (not that I have anything resembling an addiction) and none of our coffee spots were open, we ended up at Chapters. I suggested Elsie might like to play with the train in the kids section while Simon and I shared our Grande beverage (we are economical when we want to be—just putting that out there). We wandered back to the kids section and nudged Elsie toward the train set. Go, daughter. Play, play with the strange children. Daddy and I will be over here on these child-sized neon chairs enjoying the festive day and perusing the self-help rack. No sooner did we sit down did a girl, age 10 (at least), approach the train set and start ramming her train around the tracks amidst four other little aggressive boys. The girl was too old to be at the train set which disturbed the little boys. She also had a pretty large head which seemed to jar them as well. And they kept telling her to get lost. Fortunately she was blissfully unaware of her status among them, and just kept driving her train around the track. Forcing it through any blockade. Including Elsie. Elsie also blissfully unaware stood agog sucking the Thomas bridge, standing back on occasion for this force of a girl to pass.

It was uncomfortable.

Simon finally turned to be and said, “The train is really fun. Can we go now?”

At which point we pulled Elsie back in our direction and left the store. So fun that Boxing Day outing with the nice children spreading holiday cheer.

But all of this is just a lead up to the real self-afflicted bummer.

Let’s call this the peeler blog from her on in, ’cause that’s what I did over the holidays. An intensive facial peel. If you’re not familiar with peels, this might not seem like such a big deal. A little exfoliation can only be a good thing, right? Yes. Sometimes. But I didn’t do a little exfoliation. I did supreme exfoliation that takes like two weeks before life—aka your face—returns to normal. Christmas was the time to do it because I wasn’t working. But I forgot about wanting to live a usual life during the holidays and enjoy fun outings in the public. All to say the progression from seriously bad tan to flaking ogre was…trying. Not wanting to leave the house and thus house-bound for ten days including New Years…also trying. And then feeling like I had to explain when I did see people, once again…trying and actually kind of awkward. Yikes.

Thankfully Elsie didn’t care what I looked like, so we were best buddies. And like I said yesterday, I am the apple of her eye, which is simultaneously flattering and frustrating. Elsie, in one minute I am going to walk five paces to the left. I’m just warning you. Okay, it’s time now. Sure you can come. Elsie, I am going to go to the bathroom now. Would you like to come with me or stay with Daddy and eat handfuls of sugar? You want to come with me? I suspected this might be the case.

Come along.

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8 holiday highlights

Monday, January 4, 2010

  1. Decadent movie watching. Don’t get any ideas. When I say decadent, I’m talking about the amount of movies and not the content (As if you would expect anything less from me, particularly first time readers who may or may not be confused by the title of this blog, which in my opinion evokes only images of one kneeling in prayer. Confusing digression over.) Sooooooo. Yes. We watched movies. Often. Movies, movies, movies. I said, “Maybe we should all go be productive?” Vacant stares. “Never mind,” I said. “And please pass the Swedish Berries.” So movies: Star Trek (which turned out to be one of my favourites—surprising because up until this Christmas I have always opted to read real life tales of oh, the Pioneers versus watching make believe adventures in the Intergalactic. But now that it’s 2010 I’m different and willing to explore the unknown. If you need to take a risk, you know who to call.) More movies: Death at a Funeral, In the Loop (both British and supremely funny); The Taking of Pelham 123 (not great unless you really enjoy John Travolta in the role of disturbed alpha male, which I do); The Brothers Bloom (and I quote “You’re constipated in your fucking soul!”). And so many more. Movies, wine, chocolate. A heavenly triad.
  2. That chocolate bark from William Sanoma. Have you had it? You should have it. I should have more. Actually we should all have a delicious treat after every meal from now on. That’s a rule.
  3. Coffee à la Simon. My husband takes his coffee seriously (and so do I because we are one) and makes a mean brew. We took our coffee habit to the next level this Christmas by springing for a vacuum sealer. Yes, internet. Now after hand grinding our beans, pouring the coarse grinds into a French Press, setting the microwave timer for 4 minutes and 3 seconds, we put the leftover beans in a plastic container and vacuum out all the air. Why? So our expensive beans will last longer. Obviously. Is that not the smartest thing we’ve ever done? Not at all coffee obsessive, weird, verging on creepy, any of those words. Thank you for acknowledging our brain power.

    4. Coffee starts here.

  4. Watching Elsie get to know her other family. We live with my parents so Ama and Ampa (aka Grandma and Grandpa) are known entities, almost as good as Mama herself. (Did I mention she’s going through a Mama phase? I pretty much rule. Thankfully Simon is not an insecure Dad or he would be taking a lot of sitting down showers. Am I the only one who takes sitting down showers and wastes a lot of water during times of depression and insecurity? I thought it was a thing. People. Did.) Anyhoo. This post-PhD-Christmas-season afforded us more time to visit with Simon’s family so Elsie got to know another fat cat named Abbey, her other Aunties, and of course, her Papa Alfred. She really digs his wall to wall green shag.

    5. The Alfreds

  5. Home made tortière (Thank you, MaryEllen). Croissants on Christmas morning (Thank you, Ma Maison). Organic turkey (Thank you, Mom and everyone else in the organic turkey chain). Chocolate. So many delicious kinds (Thank you, Chocolate Makers and Chocolate Growers of the world). Basically, a big thank you to all who provided me with digestible things that lulled me to holiday tasty heaven—said in that order. I wasted nothing.
  6. A new wallet courtesy of Simon. A decade of looking through a microscope has really refined his perception for quality. The correlation between molecular plant life and a turquoise leather wallet from Italy is clear to everyone on this end. And everyone on this end controls the key board.

    7. Nice wallet, eh?

  7. Watching my dad become a blogger. Yes, readers. My father has started a blog. Well, I started him a blog as a birthday present. He had no choice. To ignore the present I gifted would have been rude. As such, he has obliged me with interesting and ’slantwise’ bits about faith. Read his blog for inspiration and a leading toward introspection.
  8. Elsie sharing her blueberries halves (halved inside her mouth with her growing collection of front teeth) with me in front of the Christmas tree; Elsie falling in love with kitties in front of the Christmas tree, namely Himalayan ones of cousins thrice removed with very little life force (the Himalayan kitties I mean), and as such offering very little resistance for fondling and eyeball touching; Elsie singing karaoke in front of the Christmas tree. So basically Elsie doing cute things in front of various Christmas trees. How could that be anything but special?

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the holiday low lights, starting with my intensive face peel.

p.s. Not a good idea to do a thorough face sloughing during party season. A smarter person might have assessed that herself.

p.p.s. What were your holiday highlights? Do tell. Feel free to be equally long winded. I encourage long winded-ness on my blog.

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merry merry days ahead

Monday, December 21, 2009

Everybody, listen up!

Everybody, listen up. Elsie would like you to pay attention to what I have to say. (Thank you, Elsie Pants. You are so good at getting everybody’s attention—you have a knack for turning heads. Now, what did I want all that attention for again? Oh right.)

Everybody, please share in our moment.

The Girl kisses The Doctor. Yeah.

Thank you for sharing in our celebratory moment. Me, The Girl, and Simon, The Doctor are very relieved to have something to kiss about. Thank you, PhD for finding your end. This will be a blessed Christmas in the Davey Alfred household as we revel in some moments of calm and lots of play. Posting will be light (Okay, it has already been feathery. Apologies!), but I shall return in the new year with fresh vigor and fresh ideas.

Thank you, my readers for returning again and again.

May you have a blessed holiday season.

Rebecca

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blog block

Thursday, December 17, 2009

I’m at a blog stand still. Writer’s block. I have nothing to say. This is when I should go to my writing books to be reminded of those adorable exercises where you write about your childhood lunches or dress up as a pirate before sitting down to write, disturbing everything that is regular and thus jolting you into a creative flow. I’m gonna go do that now.

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