Minute to win it

Sorry it's been radio silencio - it's been a real corker of a week. Preparing for being away for two weeks at a cottage with a bambino, and planning the street party, and an adjustment to the Boobla's bedtime routine, and the - heat! - resulted in me on Friday just out of sorts. I had a headache, my joints hurt from going too buck swimming laps, I was definitely dealing with a bit of sleep deprivation and basically ended up forcing the Dotytron to skip softball to look after me while I moaned and groaned and worried myself into a fit about having fibromyalgia or lupus.

Good news: I don't have fibromyalgia or lupus. What I DO have is a need to take things easy and not spend the hottest day in recent history schlepping around town to visit with my friend M and her baby, the Rev. Al Sharpton:

I also baked up a storm for the street party AND chose Friday as the day when I had to can my chipotle BBQ sauce in order to make room for all the cottage stuff I was going to be buying at Costco. My house was a sweatlodge. No matter - what made me feel infinitely better was Friday Night Lights, watched in bed on the netbook. Guys, this show is THE BOMB. The running joke is how the one pilot episode we watched was (is) a billion times better than the sum of EVERY Mad Men episode we've ever watched (endured). Mad Men is the BORINGEST SHOW IN ALL OF CHRISTENDOM. AND THEY DON'T EVEN GIVE US BOOBS. Worst. Friday Night Lights is the best. Seriously, the best. The characters, the writing, the depiction of small town America. So good. Such top notch TV. It's all I want to do now.

Saturday we hauled our butts up to North York to visit with my dad's sister and brother who are visiting from HK - my cousin hosted that side of the family:

After calling in advance to make sure my dad wasn't going to be there - we had a really fun time and it was great - considering this will be the most time I've spent with this side of the family since I was under 5. It did make me sad for what a dips**t my dad is - but I was glad to still feel a part of this family. We felt really welcomed and it was quite sweet.

Then the street party happened:

I was running "Minute to Win It" challenges for the older kids at the square table on the left. For everyone who pooh-poohed my Minute to Win It aspirations (*cough* The Dotytron *cough*) - let all you naysayers be informed: the kids went APES**T and mad hilarity ensued. I make a natural Gamekeeper (Hunger Games reference, what!) - mostly because I really, really, really ENJOYED being in control of the distribution of prizes and denying kids I find annoying whenever they got all whiny on me.

This is a photo of the Big Yam sporting his "loot bag" item (all the kidlets got a little loot bag). Isn't it the best? Dollarama coming through.

We had a lovely, long bike ride on the Leslie Spit this morning. I couldn't love the Spit more - it's seriously a marvel of urban conservation - it's basically a dump that's been turned into a conservation area and is now home to a bird sanctuary and foxes and coyotes and other urban wildlife awesomeness.

Now it's dinner with the outlaws and then hopefully the T&T Night market.

Fin.