playdate

Christmas Dinners

Christmas was awesome. I love spending time with my husband’s (my) family, and I could have easily extended our 5-day stay with them. There are many things I admire about my mother-in-law, and her ability to plan and execute 15 meals for a houseful of people without getting stressed is definitely one of them. Since I can barely plan one meal for 4 (ish) mouths without feeling stretched creatively, emotionally and nutritionally, I spent a good deal of time at my mother-in-law’s side last week, hoping to eat the rumballs before they were devoured by the rest of the household some of her experience would wear off on me. 

Tidings of Great Joy

May your Christmas be as exciting as this...

xoxo Mama Drama

last last minute ideas

It's December 23rd. Your egg nog is nogging, your cards are trekked off to the post office (or swept into a drawer *whistling* not that I'd know anything about that) the tree is shining, the presents are wrapped and ....oh, crap.

You've forgotten someone. Or maybe thought of someone you'd like to gift, like your mail person. Or that nice couple that just moved in down the hall.

But do you really have to brave the shops again? Or can you make something?

Ladies and Gentlemen, you can. Really. And in time for Christmas, too!

My Oral Obsession

I never used to give my teeth a second thought.

Oh sure, I've always been aware that they could be straighter, whiter...bigger even. (Yes, in a bizarre twist of fate, despite being a notorious big mouth, the actual physical size of my mouth is rather small.)

But back to my teeth.

I've been a little obsessed with my teeth ever since my last trip to the dentist. While pointing out the worst areas where tarter collects, she casually stated as fact something that has been haunting me day and night ever since.

I have a receding gum line.

An Actor Prepares

At long last, rehearsals for my show are finally underway.  Do you remember that I auditioned back in June?  Holy Moley that seems like a long time ago!  For one thing, we weren't covered in a mountain of snow.  [Public Service Announcement:  Shovel your @#$% sidewalks!  You know who you are.  Don't make me come after you with this big chip on my shoulder.  But I digress...]

I've had a lot of people ask me in amazed tones just how I do it - get up on stage in front of so many people, memorize all those lines, produce tears, etc.  These questions always kind of take me aback, because I don't see it as any special talent - it's just what I do.  I have always maintained that acting is 5% talent and 95% hard work.

Get Your Festive On

We had our family Hanukkah party this weekend, and it was really, really lovely. In previous years, we have gathered at my mum’s apartment and gorged ourselves on latkes and chocolate, and passed around usually homemade gifts. (Hanukkah does not really come with a gift-giving precedent like Christmas, so for us, it was always hand-kinit slippers, some chocolate raisins and a box of our favourite tea.)

However, things have been getting a bit fancier ‘round the holidays, and while latkes, chocolate and fresh-knit goods still take centre stage, we have definitely kicked it up a notch.

National Treasure: Phoebe Gilman

First in a random series on great Canadian authors.

Phoebe Gilman did not start out as Canadian, nor did she start out as an author. In fact, she was born in New York, and traveled to a few different countries before settling in Toronto to teach at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD) while she tried to get her first book published. Fifteen years after she started out, she found success, and The Balloon Tree has become something of a modern Canadian classic.

home wrecked christmas

It is at this point when everything I've worked on starts to look a little lop-sided and clownish.

I've planned to give out some home-made things this year. Well, I was. Until I woke up this morning and had a long hard look at exactly how many more days there are before Christmas, (because let's be honest - Christmas comes whether you're ready or not...) and calculated out how many free hours (answer: 3.5729) I have left, and figured I was going to have to either work in fast-forward or go out to the shops and join the throngs.

The Holy Grail

Hey there - looked at the calendar lately?  December 11th.  We are marching inexorably towards the 25th, and in Mama Drama Land that means that Christmas shopping is ON.  No more messing about.  I don't like to shop before December because I can't bear to keep a secret that long, and I break out in hives if I'm still shopping after the 21st, so that gives me twenty-ish days to find the perfect gift.

The Perfect Gift.

Does anyone else share my special brand of crazy?  I grind my shoes into the ground (or my fingers into the keyboard) trying to ensure that I get people on my list not only a great gift, but a perfect one:  the toy that is played with more than others, the shirt they never want to take off, the gadget that they never knew they wanted but now cannot imagine life without it.  It's exhausting.

Get 'Em While They're Young

I was a totally picky eater when I was a kid. As in, no rhyme or reason to it, give-my-mother-an-ulcer kind of picky. I think that after exhausting her efforts, she would have been ok dealing with a situation where I would only eat hamburgers or plain pasta, but even there I would not offer some (stress) relief. I just found something to hate about everything that was put in front of me, and it took a looooong time for me to get over those issues.

Today, as a mother, I am fully prepared to deal with whatever karmic diet retribution the universe wants to throw at me, but I am also doing my damndest to ensure that that my own kids do not turn out to be the little brat that I was.