february thirteen :: friday the 13th

Today Mack had his first music class with his friends that I organized. I got together a few moms from his playgroup, as well as a few moms from my various swim classes, and voila - a fun music class for Mack & his friends on Fridays. We have something every other day of the week, and I like to keep busy, so I decided I just had to organize something on the one day we had nothing. Plus, this way it got to bring people together that don't know each other, but that have kids the same age.

The music teacher/girl is a mom of one of Sean's friends that he took classes with at the Y when he was just a little older than Mack. Sean actually took at a class last spring with her when I was very pregnant with Mack. We both enjoyed that class. Well, now Mack's enjoying that class.

At least Mack's best friend is in the class with him. Jordan's a month and a half older than him, and I can't wait until they can actually "play" together. Mack's actually taller than Jordan, we measured them today standing next to one another. I was curious, because Jordan's just under the 50th percentile for his age (9 months old as of Feb 1st) and Mack's in the 75th percentile at 7.5 months old last week when we went to the doctor. (He'll be 8 months old on Tuesday).

I found out that playgroup on Monday is now "officially" one of the girls' first birthday parties for the playgroup girl, and it's at that girl's house. I had no idea I was required to bring a birthday gift. Wow. Required. And if I don't, I'll look bad, because other moms chipped in and bought a gift, and others are bringing as well. I didn't realize that we were doing individual birthdays, as originally we said since almost all of them are summer babies (except for 2-3 of them) that we'd just do a birthday gift exchange, instead of all of us buying each kid an individual gift. (Argh). There's about 12 of us in playgroup. That's insane! And expensive. Well, now, this weekend, I need to figure something out. I hate doing things last minute. I wish I had more time to prepare. Maybe I'll knit her a Meathead Hat and get her something to go along with it. I believe I still have some leftover yarn from this Meathead Hat, which should be enough to knit another one. Those hats take only about 2 hours from start to finish, and I should have some time once Jamie goes to hockey tomorrow night after the kids are in bed.

This afternoon I got a call from my sister that my grandmother's boyfriend passed away. So I hung up with her and called my Bubbie right away, in Florida. A neighbor found him in his bathroom this morning, which mean, it happened today, and he didn't pass away in his sleep, since he was up for the day already, in the bathroom. He was sick, but nothing that was serious. Just old age stuff. But I guess his body couldn't take it anymore, and he just gave out, unfortunately. I asked my grandmother when the last time she saw him was, and she mentioned that she saw him Tuesday night, but when she asked him to get together last night, he said he didn't want to get dressed as it was starting to become too hard to get himself together to go out. It's too bad she didn't get to see him last night. The freakiest part of this is that today is Friday the 13th, and tomorrow, Valentine's Day, marks the 20th Anniversary of my late grandfather's passing. What an upsetting weekend for my grandmother. As my sister wrote in her today's blog post - I just wish I could go over and hug my Bubbie. But that would require a flight to her Condo in Florida, as she doesn't get back until end of March back to Montreal. We don't know where he'll be burried yet, as he's from Montreal, but his kids for the most part are from Toronto, (I don't know if he has anyone living in Montreal anymore). I doubt he'll be buried in Florida, as there is no family that lives there. Anyhow, I'm waiting to hear the details. It's just shocking, as it was unexpected.

Sean had his Valentine's Day party at daycare. This morning I sent him along with 16 Valetines for his classmates (including one for him from us) and 4 teacher ones. They each had a heart shaped lollypop attached to it, that I picked up for the kids. (He has 2 teachers, 1 sub that I love and 1 for the coordinator of the daycare, she's been super sweet to us). We had been sent a letter over a week ago with the exact spelling of each kids names, and the teacher's name spelling too. Anyhow, I was saddened to see that Sean only got 8 cards back, including 1 from us. I don't get it. Did the other parents just not care? I know they're only 2, but I was planning on keeping them all from his classmates in his memory box. But now there's no point, so I'm only keeping 1 - from Shayna - his girlfriend. (Well, and the one that I wrote Sean too for school) The others, they don't really matter, as it's not from his full class so there's no point in keeping the others. The one from Shayna was handmade, and it's super cute. Shayna wasn't even there today for the party, as she attends a class at the Y on Fridays with her mom. She wasn't even there and she made cards for her classmates. What a disappointment from the other kids parents. Really!

This evening I made some nice Salmon for dinner, (we've been eating a lot of fish around here lately) and steamed veggies (green beans and cauliflower) and salad. I've been eating properly lately, and I am officially down 9.4 lbs, since returning from my trip from Florida in January. I have a goal, and I should be able to reach it by the end of May. Totally do-able. I'll keep you posted on my progress, but I'm almost 10 lbs down and I'm loving how great I'm feeling. I also think I need to buy a new digital scale, so I'm shopping around. I can get on my scale 3 times in a row and each time it'll tell me a different weight. Seriously. (It's the scale at the nutritionists office that is very accurate and that tells me that I'm 9.4 lbs down). I learned a lot of things from the nutritionist about food and eating and portions and what is good and what is bad for the body. Some things were just common sense, but some stuff I just really had no idea!

Jamie went out tonight to watch the Habs game with some friends, and I did some work for my shop while watching some TV. It was nice and relaxing and I definitely enjoyed the peace & quiet, let me tell you!