Smart Peppy (look-a-like)

The Good Daughter

That would be me.

I love my mom and my dad. AND I did a good deed today.

Never Break A Promise

We promised the kiddos we would take them to CN Tower by end of July 2012. And we did. And here are the photos to prove it, even if it's 2 months later than the fact.

Moved by Words

I always had an affinity for words and good writing.

Thanks to this post, I came across the wouldhavesaid.com site and I just died when I read this. Sometimes it's so hard to be a parent. And it's also hard being a child.

Broken Pieces

Momma,

Do you remember,

when I was breaking inside, 

and when I was breaking bowls and plates and glasses 

because I didn’t know how to tell you 

that I wasn’t as put-together as you thought?

When I finally realized 

that being quiet and stumbling through without causing problems 

was just-good-enough for you, 

good enough to keep you from being mad at me, 

but not good enough to get attention? 

When I finally realized that

by being good and letting you focus on my three brothers and their problems 

and never asking for anything 

was just going to end with me not having anything 

and you not caring 

and not understanding when I finally asked for something? 

Do you remember, 

when I finally told you I broke the plate, 

and instead of asking why, 

or what was wrong, 

you said:

“That behavior is unacceptable.”

Did you stop to wonder what behaviors I had skipped for you? 

Did you think about all the girls my age with kids, 

with addictions and bad attitudes and no respect, 

who didn’t even bother coming home at night? 

Did you think about what I would feel, 

knowing my behavior was ‘unacceptable’, 

knowing I was ‘unacceptable’ 

and that nothing I could do would change that? 

Did you realize it was going to make me curl up in bed 

and hate for so long 

and realize I’d hated the whole time, 

and now, 

weeks and months and years later, 

when I know better, 

I still hate, 

and I’ll never be able to stop?

Do you remember, 

when I was breaking inside, 

and when I was trying to break down and tell you, 

do you remember leaving me behind 

with all the tiny bits of shattered Me, 

and telling me the best thing to do 

was to build a cage with the pieces? 

I don’t think you do.

Allyssa, Your Good Kid, age 18

Fear and Loathing

Salvador Dali: Down the Rabbit Hole

I had a very weird dream last night and I can recall it vividly. I don't usually remember my dreams, they are more fuzzy memories than anything.

I know my dream last night is one of my biggest fears about rabbit.

I hope it's just a dream.

I Survived Christmas 2011

Source:davidrodger.wordpress.com

I did not think that I was going to be able to pull it together for Christmas this year given the situation. Instead, I found myself having a very low key, drama free Christmas break with Greggy. This is what we ended up doing:

Day of Christmas Eve 

- I slept in and felt great. No waking up at 4:30 AM to run on the track this day.

- My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think I watched movies all day and acted very sloth-like

- Wearing my house clothes with unmade hair and make-up free face, Greggy and I went to watch a very nice Christmas movie called The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, a remake of the Swedish movie bearing the same name, only this time directed by my absolute all-time favourite Director David Fincher.

- Had a very festive Big Mac Meal

Christmas Day

- I slept in again, this time waking up at 8:00 AM

- Went for a 6K run

- Cooked breakfast for me and Greggy. Blueberry pancakes, eggs over hard with cheese. French vanilla cappuccino rocks.

- Opened gifts. Greggy and I bought our own gifts which we would want to receive for ourselves. Very non-traditional. He got a chrome Jeep gas cap installed, and I bought a pair of New Balance 1260s and arch supports.

- Greggy cheated and also got me a desktop humidifier for the office (damn you recurring nose bleeds!) and a blender, since my 5-year old one is starting to give out.

- We got Peppy some gifts too. Her favourite mousies (4 packs), a laser pointer, and a robot mouse. She likes the mousies the best. Although, I've bought this for her in the past and continue to do so. She plays with them, then hides them. I cannot find the 20 or so mousies I've given her over last few months. I wonder where she hides them.

- Then we watched The Hangover 2. Not as a good as the first one, but we welcomed the much-needed humour.

- For dinner, I roasted some boneless skinless chicken thighs (marinated using my secret recipe of garlic, vinegar, salt, pepper, chili flakes and onion powder) and made a big Caesar salad.

- Christmas is not the same for us without watching the Jason Bourne series, so we did.

So there you go. 

In writing this post, I had to get links for Jason Bourne series. I just found out there is a new Jason Bourne movie called The Bourne Legacy (to be released August 2012), but Matt Damon won't be in it. No offence people, but his blows big time.

I Am The Best Wife

Recall - Greggy treated me to a nice romantic weekend on Friday 04-Nov-11.

That weekend was centered around me... very soft, girlish, romantic, Pretty Woman-like, ticks all the right boxes.

This is the montage of this past weekend's events - my turn to treat him. He said I didn't have to, but I love him and I know that I would enjoy it too. Really I just did it all for me... just kidding... although I'm not known to plan anything that I wouldn't love to do too, regardless of the occasion.

Le Germain Hotel Maple Leaf Square

The Shore Club

We went here to watch the Fight.

Manny Pacquiao won, although it was a really close fight.

A Good Husband Is Hard To Find

Remember my post about a picture being worth a thousand words?

Greggy is the bestest and this is what he did for our fifth wedding anniversary on Friday November 4, 2011.

Hello Kitty

Hi, my name is Pepper. But my real name is Mitzy. My mom is showering right now and my dad is watching TV, so I snuck in the office (I'm not allowed in here!) to hack her blog because I have a few things to get off my chest.

I'm feeling cranky that she is using my real name and my other name in this blog. She didn't ask me for permission.

But it's hard to stay mad at her because she loves me and always gives me treats.... even when my dad (I think she calls him Greggy) says I've had enough and I'm just being a pig.

I don't understand why he would say that, because I'm pretty sure I'm a cat.

Also, on weekends my mom lets me nap with her on the ottoman beside the couch. She has a hard time taking a nap, but I don't, so I take advantage of that and I just look at her and make these meow meow meow noises so she can rub my belly and play with my nose and I can just relax. It works like a charm all the time.

I don't like getting picked up and my mom tells me that I have to purr a bit louder, but I don't think I can change. I don't know why I don't purr loud enough. And why I don't like to be picked up. But I like it when she talks to me and when she and my dad let me sleep on their laps.

Anyway it's really hard to use this keyboard thing with my paws and I think she just finished showering. I'm going back to sleep. Don't tell her I hacked her account!

Summer Vacation '11 in Fair Haven, New York

I'm all blogged out for today.

Here is a montage of our summer vacation. I mentioned before that a picture is worth a thousand words, so this should do the trick.

In addition to spending time at the cottage, we also visited Skaneateles (pronounced like "Minneapolis") for some sightseeing and Syracuse for a little retail therapy at the Carousel Centre.