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About four months ago, I was walking through a mall downtown and they were having a book sale in the atrium. I was on my way to a meeting, and didn’t have a lot of time to browse, but I saw a paperback copy of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, re-issued with a section of glossy pictures from the movie in the centre of the book.

It was only $2.99, and so I picked it up. I clearly remember reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when I was somewhere between seven and nine years old. I had borrowed it from the school library. I remember lying on the black vinyl couch, and on the orange shag carpet, trying to imagine what it would be like to make a single chocolate bar last a whole year. The idea of Charlie’s father, Mr Bucket, working in a factory screwing on toothpaste-tube caps stayed with me my whole life, for some reason.

I thought Tristan would be a little bit too young for it, but around the same time Marla had been talking about reading Charlotte’s Web to Josephine, and Josie’s quite a bit younger than Tristan, so I thought I’d give it a try. One afternoon we read a few pages, but he squirmed and wriggled and asked non-sequiter questions as I was reading, and I figured we’d save ourselves the stress and pick it up in a few years.

A couple of weeks ago, Beloved – who is usually in charge of Tristan’s bedtime reading – was teaching late and I was putting Tristan to bed. I saw that they had started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and were a few chapters in, and I was delighted to continue.

At first, I thought he wasn’t paying attention. He was looking around the room, lifting his legs up the side of the wall and playing with the covers. There isn’t an illustration on every page, and I suppose a page full of text that he can’t yet read isn’t much of a focal point. But every time I turned a fresh page he would to tell me the number of the chapter on that page, so he is watching, and when I asked him about what was happening, it was clear he was following the story.

I’m so excited to have entered a new world of books that we can share. Beloved has been great about finding interesting picture books from the library, and I’ve loved reading a lot of them. But now that we can start reading simple chapter books, I have a whole childhood of memories pressed carefully between dusty pages of an old novel that I just can’t wait to share. Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, Beezus and Ramona, Superfudge… I’m excited just thinking about these old friends.

Beloved said last night that once they finish the book, he’d like to rent the Johnny Depp version of the movie for Tristan to watch, but I disagreed. He’s just barely discovered the joy of a book that can be savoured over the course of a couple of weeks, versus one consumed in a single sitting, and I’m reluctant to replace the pictures in his head with the ones conjured up by the Hollywood special-effects crews. Beloved thinks I’m a little weird on this point.

So now that we’re standing on the threshold of a brave new world of chapter books, I need ideas. Which books do you remember from your childhood, and which ones have your kids loved?

(Whoops! Edited to add: this post was partly inspired by a writing prompt over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas. I’ve been a member of the ring since I started blogging a year and a half ago, but lately they’ve really been doing a lot of work to build a nice blogging mama community. Check them out!)

I had no idea.

According to Sue of Inner Dorothy, my iPod needs a name. Her iPod is named Surely.

I’m ashamed to admit that when iTunes asked me to name my iPod, I labelled it with the incredibly lame and pedestrian “Dani’s iPod”. Now that I’ve been enlightened by Sue, I’m all over the idea of christening my iPod like stink on a diaper.

But what name is worthy of my little electronic bundle of joy? Something clever, something original, something snazzy? Well, at least something that’s not going to get my poor little iPod mocked on the playground by all the other cool iPods, at least.

And that’s where you, dear friends, come in. You’ve proven time and again that you are more witty than me by half, and twice as clever. Welcome to the “Name that iPod” summer contest. I’ll take your suggestions through the end of the week, and on Friday, I’ll put up a poll and you can vote for the best name. If you can’t make the comment box work, and a couple of you have mentioned that you can’t, send me an e-mail.

Did I mention there will be prizes? Prizes! I’m still feeling inspired by the sugar rush of the great candy swap of 2006, so the clever person who suggests the winning name will have not only the prestige of knowing you christened my beloved new iPod, but I’ll send you a gift pack of personally selected candy as well.

It’s like Rockstar Supernova and Big Brother and Canadian Idol, all wrapped up into one bloggy contest, isn’t it? Not so much? Oh well, at least you get the chance for some free candy.

So get on it. What’s my iPod’s new name?

Did you see this bit about the NHL coming out with pink hockey jerseys? The NHL, which is more concerned with improving profits than improving hockey, is targeting what they estimate are the 40 per cent of hockey fans who are women. Apparently there are a lot of women out there who are coveting a pink (or baby blue) hockey jersey with their team logo on it.

Not so much.

I can totally see the idea of marketing a smaller, tailored version of the jersey (shall we call it a hersey? Lookit that, witticism via typo!) made to fit an ordinary person not encumbered by 20 pounds of hockey gear – in the team’s colours. But what on earth made the NHL marketing gurus think we needed them in girley pastel colours?

I don’t own any Senators clothing, not because I have been waiting for a pastel version but because the Senators logo is so hideously ugly. And also, I’m allergic to polyester. Make me a nice cotton jersey, or maybe even a silk-lycra blend, in the teams colours with a subtle little logo on the sleeve, and put it at a price point that’s considered a fun splurge and not a major investment (I have blazers that cost less than $70) and I’d be all over it. Or rather, it would be all over me.

That’s all I have today. We’re leaving in an hour to spend the morning here, and then driving through Algonquin Park to spend the weekend with the in-laws on the other side of the province. I’m only half packed, have nothing organized for the four-hour drive, and am more than a little nervous about keeping my wee beasties out of trouble at the un-child-proofed house of my in-laws, tucked on an acre of forested land about 15 km away from the nearest outpost of civilization. Eek!

It doesn’t get any better than backyard vacation blogging, does it?

Oh wait, yes it does: summer evening vacation blogging, when you are blaring your brand-spanking-new, six-days-early birthday present iPod Nano – and blogging.

Love the iPod Nano. Love it, LOVE IT!!!! Really, I’m hearing new things in songs I’ve listened to a hundred times or more. Changes by David Bowie and Closer to Fine by Indigo Girls and Ahead by a Century by the Tragically Hip and the Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays– the music has never sounded so clear, so crisp, and all this through dollar-store headphones, no less. The only problem is I’m alone in the house and although I want to blare the music, I’m afraid I won’t hear the boys and their endless bedtime requests for another story and a glass of water and biscuits for the dog.

Hey, wait a minute… who said that’s a bad thing? Did I mention I totally heart my new iPod???

You never know what’s going to show up in the blog mail these days!

First, I received a note from Deirdre, a fellow doughnut-lover from Winston Salem. She wrote:

I just read your “Ode to Doughnuts” and absolutely loved it. I am in the process of writing a happy little (short) book about doughnuts and would like to include a snippet of it. May I do so? I shall credit you and site the source (url). Just let me know.

It never fails to amaze me what catches people’s fancy. I’m sure a good ten per cent of my hits have to do with doughnuts in one form or another, mostly about Tim Horton’s and Weight Watchers points. Oh well, it’s not the worst imaginable internet legacy. And of course I told Deirdre that I’d be honoured if she quoted my post, and that I was grateful that she asked me first, rather than just lifting the text. And I told her I’d be happy to review a book about doughnuts on blog, since it seems to be a theme around here.

Back in February, I blogged that I was thrilled to be offered my first book to review, but that I coveted some of the other cool things bloggers had been offered to review, like DVDs and even trips. Offering free stuff to people who are considered opinion leaders among their peers is a new spin on the age-old word of mouth marketing technique, but this time around they call it buzz marketing. Get a few people who are respected opinion leaders to start talking about your product, and the buzz it generates can be more valuable (and way cheaper) than all the traditional media ad space you can buy.

A couple of days ago, I got an e-mail from a buzz marketing firm in Toronto called Matchstick. The e-mail said that if I met a few criteria, I might be eligible for a free multimedia smart phone – all I had to do was blog about and with it. Apparently we’ve found my price, and it’s free. Free!! I’m all about the free stuff.

I had to stretch and wiggle a little bit to meet some of their criteria – I get about half the daily hits they were looking for, and am a week short of two years older than the age group they were targetting, but I blog daily and with enthusiam, and can be bought for the price of a single multimedia smart phone, so I guess that made up for my shortfalls.

They put the phone in the mail yesterday, so I’ll keep you updated when it arrives. I feel a little disingenuous, because they think they’re getting a respected opinion leader who is tech savvy enough to exploit the phone’s many features, and they’re getting a mediocre blog junkie and recovering luddite who is more than a little intimidated by a phone that does anything other than ring and dial out.

Not only is it a phone, but it’s a digital camera (still and video!), it received e-mail and has an internet interface, and it’s equipped with Bluetooth technology, which seems to engender appreciative nods and sighs from my tech-savvier friends.

Our existing cell phone (‘our’ because we don’t even each have our own) is about four years old – not even a flip-phone – and the account is a bare-bones one grandfathered from an old employee plan back in 1998, so I’m curious as to whether it will support this fancy-ass new smart phone. (Being an existing Rogers wireless customer was one of the criteria.) Whether I’ll be able to figure out how to even turn it on, let alone answer a call or take a photo or blog from it remains to be seen. But in the spirit of free, I’m more than willing to try!

And, as a post-script, in doing a little bit of research for this post and my previous one, I found this link to a blogger in Italy who is willing to give his 60G iPod Video to a random blogger who links to him before August 4.

I’m shameless, aren’t I? I’d be embarrassed, but I’m too busy being gleeful over the free multimedia smart phone.

I’m either really late for last Halloween, or really early for the next one. But, despite that, is he not the most adorable pirate ever?

Johnny Depp’s got nothing on Tristan the Pirate!!

Tristan was invited to a costume birthday party yesterday, and I was in a bit of a panic as to what costume he could possibly use for a party in July. All our Halloween costumes have been carefully chosen for blustery October evenings with a decent chance of snow – the more fur, the better!

I’m rather proud of this costume, because although I fancy myself on the creative side, I’m not good with imagination stuff like this. The T-shirt is from his drawer, and the track pants were about to be sacraficed to the god of torn out knees anyway. The inflatable sword came from a Happy Meal box, as did the eyepatch not showing in this picture. The only thing I bought was a 97 cent bandana and 89 cents worth of red satin fabric, both courtesy of WalMart. Add a curlicue of moustache thanks to Clinique bonus leftovers and his own rubber boots. Voila – instant pirate!

More important than anything, though, was the fact that he loved it. He was the proudest pirate you ever would meet, and we practised his “Aarghh!” the whole 30 minute drive to the party and back again.

Posting may get a little sporadic, not to mention lightweight, over the next two weeks. I’m on vacation! Hooray! Turns out my vacation perfectly coincides with the two week wait, through no actually planning on my part – I couldn’t have made it work out better if I tried.

Are we there yet?

We were at my parents’ house on the weekend. Tristan was sitting in Granny’s lap and she was reading him a book. Simon was elsewhere, and made some sort of appealing noise that attracted Tristan’s attention. He hopped down from Granny’s lap, on his way to investigate what Simon was up to, and Granny protested.

Granny: Where are you going, Tristan? We’re in the middle of a book.

Tristan: I’ll be right back, Granny. Just pause the book.

It’s my birthday next week, and my family has been asking me what I would like. I have absolutely no idea. Well, there is one thing I would especially like, but no amount of money will alter nature’s plan for that.

Beloved suggested my family combine forces to get me a 1G iPod Nano, and I’m seriously considering it. As you may remember, Beloved and the boys got me a generic brand MP3 player for Mother’s Day last year. I agonized for months on what music to load, and then it took me an embarrassingly long time to get around to actually put the music on the MP3 player, which was in and of itself an entirely frustrating experience. Despite carefully crafted sets and links between song groups, the laptop and MP3 player conspired to jumble the playlist, but the player itself doesn’t have a scramble feature. And then when I used it at the gym, my primary reason for wanting one in the first place, I found the volume wouldn’t crank loud enough to motivate me.

Will an iPod solve any of these problems? Probably not. But I want one anyway. I’m embarrassed about what this says about my not-so-latent consumeristic streak.

Do you have an iPod? Which one, and would you recommend it? If not an iPod, what else do I need for my birthday?

Patience may be a virtue, but it’s not one of my personal strengths. Turns out some things are worth waiting for, though. Who knew?

No, I’m not talking about that other thing that’s happening today, I’m talking about the arrival of my package this week for the great candyswap of 2006! Bethany not only came through for me, but she must have felt awfully guilty for being a little bit late (as if I’m ever on time for anything) because WOW! what a lot of great candy. But I’m getting ahead of the story…

I completely forgot to check the mail on Monday, so the poor package might have been stuck in the community mailbox in the blazing sun and 43C-with-humidity temperatures all day Monday. I was on my way home to a house full of in-laws when I picked finally retrieved the package on Tuesday afternoon, but couldn’t justify putting off saying hello to them in order to tear into my package. (I tell ya, this being a grown up thing calls for a lot more restraint than I ever would have anticipated.)

In the bustle of our very-short overnight visit from the in-laws, I never did get the chance to open the package, but it didn’t escape Beloved’s eagle eye for candy. (I could paint the living room turquoise and puce with magenta accents, or come home shaved bald, and he might not notice. But a seven inch cubic square box of candy inside my messenger bag inside a closet he manages to ferret out. Go figure.)

He called me at work.

Beloved: “Can I open this package?”

Me: “Back off, Jack. That’s my candy! You had your chance and you decided not to participate in the candy swap. Get yer paws off my box!”

Beloved: “But I shook it three times now, and it sounds like it’s got some great stuff in it!”

Me: “Step away from the box. Don’t mess with me on this one, I’m ovulating.”

Beloved: *careful silence*

In the end, he managed to restrain himself. As he was leaving to teach his class after dinner tonight, he impelled me to open the box tonight, so he could inspect the bounty within. “It’s full of American candy,” he said reverently, his eyes glittering with expectation. “They have all kinds of candy down there that we don’t have.”

So shortly after we cleared away the dinner dishes and sent Beloved on his drooling way, notions of exotic American candy dancing in his head, my ‘helpers’ and I set about opening the package.

Inside, there was not only candy, but this really funky rainbow striped box. Is this a coincidence, Bethany, or did you know I have a container fixation?

And it was full – bountifully, blissfully FULL of snack-sized Twix Bars (mmmm), and sour Altoids, and sour Jelly Bellies, and Sour Patch Kids (my mouth is puckering just thinking about it) and a box of assorted flavours of Pop Rocks – remember pop rocks? I haven’t seen them since grade school! I can’t wait to freak the kids out by feeding them some. Watch for that excellence-in-parenting video to debut here soon! And last, but far from least, the biggest honkin’ box of Willy Wonka Everlasting Gobstoppers I have ever seen. Bethany, you ROCK!!!!

And you know what? I know the perfect time to start making a dent in this most excellent stash of candy – this afternoon at the movie theatre. Heck, let’s give that little embryo a sugar rush right out of the gate, shall we?

Thanks, Bethany, for the cornucopia of great candy!! And thanks to Andrea, too, for conceptualizing and creating the great candy swap of 2006… what a great idea!

I was going to post a really big whine this morning. I’m starting to get a little impatient with the whole daily bloodletting thing (no updates because there’s nothing to post, just a lot of holes in the inside of my arm and the back of my hand), and this morning on the way into the clinic I managed to spill most of my coffee all over my white cotton blouse. Three days in a row, I went from the clinic back home or to the gym – it figures that I douse myself in coffee the day I’m heading to work. In white.

And I was going to whine that my in-laws are stopping by for a last-minute overnight visit tonight. I’m pretty lucky in the in-law department, but this is not exactly the best week for a visit. Oh well, aside from the fact they sleep in my bed when they visit, they’re pretty low maintenance and I enjoy their company – just not on a weekday, when I’m working and in the middle of a flippin’ fertility cycle!

And then there is Sassy, my parents’ gorgeous and goodnatured but absolutely dumb as a post malamute husky, who is vacationing with us this week. She has a tendency to use the rug as a toilet, and no amount of walking has encouraged her to use the outside facilities. My dad walks her three to five kilometers morning and night, but sadly, I just don’t have that kind of time just now. I’m hoping she deigns to use the back yard sooner rather than too late.

All in all, I was in a pretty crappy mood when I arrived at the office this morning, and then I saw that Nadine from heathifica.ca had extended my plea for information to her own health-related blog – wasn’t that nice? And then I opened my e-mail, and Jojo the commenter (and godmother to my boys) who really should write her own blog sent me the link to a wonderful blog called The Shape of a Mother. It’s one of the best new blogs I’ve seen – I love it!

In other words, I’ve got nothing today, but do go check out The Shape of a Mother. One of these days I might post my own saggy self over there, too!

I’m a little bit worried about Simon.

(Warning: there will be talk of barfing ahead. Consider yourself warned.)

He’s always been a great eater, but he’s been a little off his food lately. And maybe five or six times in the last couple of weeks, he’s finished most of his dinner, started to whimper, and barfed it all right back up again. Each time it has happened, it’s been a fairly hot day, and up until last week I was attributing it to the heat.

Last week, he was sick three times, but showed no other symptoms. And once he finishes yakking, he’s fine – energetic, playful, in good humour.

So Beloved took him to the ped on Friday, and the ped weighed him. He’s actually gained weight since his well-baby appointment six months ago, so that’s a good sign. The ped told us to simply keep an eye on him, and let him know if other symptoms (food avoidance, ill temper, etc) manifest. He also gave us a prescription for Prevacid, the same reflux medication both boys were on around four to six months of age. Even though he’s now two and a half, the administration of the medication is the same – with applesauce.

Just wondering if, in the beautiful symmetry of the Internet, any of you have any experience with random barfing (looks pointedly at Nancy) and any advice? Thanks to Tristan, I know from fevers, but barfing is new (not to mention messy) territory for me.

And now, as a reward for tolerating a post about my two year old’s tummy troubles, a bonus conversation and non-sequiter:

We are at my parents’ house for dinner. Tristan is downstairs watching TV and Simon is playing in the kitchen while my folks and Beloved and I are finishing our dinner. Tristan comes upstairs and asks for some crackers, which I give to him with the admonition to be very careful and not make a mess with the crumbs. At no time does Simon go anywhere near the basement family room.

Tristan is downstairs all of two minutes at most, and comes upstairs with a comically worried look on his face.

“Someone made a mess with some crackers downstairs,” he confides with wide blue eyes, “and I think it was Simon!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.