Sunday Night Chit Chat: Odds & Ends

Hey Humble Readers...

Well, where did that week go?  Hmmm....

AF has been and gone, and kicked my ass in the process.  The old witch brought a particularly nasty IBS flare along with her that made going for my walks, or anywhere else for that matter, fairly impossible.  Even with AF around, and only being able to get half of my usual walks in, I still managed to lose a couple more pounds this week.  Woohoo!  (Take that jackass who hollered 'hey fatty!' at me today in the mall parking lot)

Summer is most certainly here on the flatland.  Once the rains stopped last week we started hitting the crazy hot summer temps (30C, feels like 36C.  That's hot for us anyway) that make the hobbit-hole more than a little uncomfortable.  I do love this time of year though for one reason... it's daylight from five in the morning until ten at night.  The joys of living this far north!  The only down side to having this much daylight means that the fireworks for Canada Day tomorrow don't get started until 11:30 at night.  Rather prohibitive given that we have two wee-lings and my Beloved has to work the next day. 

I'm hesitant to say this just yet, but my black thumb may be turning the teensiest bit green.  I planted two basil plants, three thyme, two lavender, and one gerbera daisy in pots out on the balcony and so far about half of them are doing pretty good.  The basil (my nemesis) is doing really well, as is the thyme.  The lavender is fading, but I honestly think I got a couple of bum plants to start with.  I had thought the gerbera was a goner, but it seems to be perking up.  Overall, 50% is a marked improvement.  Last year when I planted basil, it completely died within two weeks of potting it, and I won't even remind you about my tomato harvest of last year.  

I finished watching the first season of Game of Thrones.  Loved it!!  I'm not sure that I'll read the books, as my to-read list is immense right now, but I won't rule it out sometime down the road.  I'm a little bummed right now though, because I'm 25th on the hold list for season 2 from the library.  They have two copies, with another on order, but it will be a while yet before I get to watch it. 

And because I'm a royalist, I feel I need to put this out there.  My predictions for the Duchess of Cambridge's wee-ling:  The baby will be born on July 15th, will be a relatively little baby (7lbs-ish), will be a girl, and she will be named Victoria (with the names Diana, Elizabeth, and some form of Carol as middle names).  IF by chance it's a boy, his name will be Arthur (with Phillip, Charles, and George as middle names).  What are your predictions?

Anywho, on to this week's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading...  Still reading Paris by Rutherfurd.  Loving it!  Just taking a while to get through because I've been so tired this past week.  After  I'm done with Paris, I'll be moving on to the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada (can't remember what it's called just now).  My to-read list is getting a little out control, so I have to get moving.

Watching...  Nothing at the moment, but tonight my Beloved and I will be watching "The Great Escape" (an old war movie... Beloved got it for Father's Day).  I'll be recording a couple of regular Sunday night shows (Food Network Star and Whodunit) for later in the week. 

Listening to... my Beloved reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Ginny. 

Cooking/Baking... Oh Humble Readers!  The hobbit hole smells divine!  Tonight we are having BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw.  I've got the pork doing it's thing in the slow cooker (the oven will not be getting turned on this week at all!) and it's all I can do to not dive into it right now.  It smells sooooooooo good!

Happy I accomplished this week...  Purged the wee-lings' dressers and closet, and sold $18 worth of it to the local kids consignment store (donated the rest to a thrift store).  Got the wee-lings swim suits.  Found some sugar-free, lactose-free chocolate ice cream bars that are only 5 grams of carbs each and they taste good!  Put together the list of to do's for the hobbit hole in preparation for listing it (hopefully next summer?  maybe?). 

Looking forward to next week...  Taking the wee-lings to the splash park tomorrow.  Going through my hoarder-esque stack of magazines. 

Thankful for this week... That we have fans that work hard to cool the hobbit-hole.  That I get the privilege to live in this beautiful country.  Even with it's flaws, I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else. 

***Bonus Question*** What was your very *first* real job?  Other than babysitting, which I hated, my first job was at a small town pizza restaurant as a dishwasher and as the restaurant's costumed mascot.  Yup, I dressed up in a bear costume and did kids' birthday parties and stood out on the corner sweltering in the summer sun waving at the passing cars.  I was even in a couple of parades.  And it was supposed to be a big secret about who was in the bear costume, so I could never tell my friends what I was doing.  I worked there when I was 12-13.  I made pretty good money for a preteen in the 80s.  $10/hour when I was the bear, $5/hour when I was dishwashing. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Click on over and see what the others are chatting about tonight. 

Not For Love or Money

Hey Humble Readers...

There is someone who I would not wish to be for all the money in the world, nor for all the tea in China. 

That person is Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.

I have to back up a little here.  I am a life long royalist.  I love that the Queen is my country's figurehead, and that the actual head of our government isn't the Prime Minister, but the Governor General who serves as the Queen's representative in Canada.  (I am not at all saying that I wish to go back to a time before democracy or our right to exist as a sovereign nation.)  I love the history and the larger global connection that we have to the royal family and to the Commonwealth.  I'm proud of the fact that our country began as a Dominion rather than a Republic. 

Princess Kate is, undeniably, one of the world's most famous women, and married to a man who for many years was considered the world's most eligible bachelor.  Heck, when I was younger (even though I'm several years older than the Prince) I confess to succumbing to a few daydreams about what it would be like to be married to William.  And like millions of others around the world, I stayed up all night to watch their fairytale wedding.  I drank tea, ate scones with marmalade, and Cadbury chocolate to commemorate the occasion.

And besides her impeccable and budget-conscious fashion sense, the one thing about Kate that seems to pop up in headlines is whether or not she's pregnant.  Did she avoid the fish course at last night's state dinner because of morning sickness?  Is that the beginnings of a baby bump? 

And most recently, a member of the British Parliament was quoted as saying she thinks that 'Kate is pregnant -- and that would be good for the economy.'

Excuse me? 

Talk about ridiculous, nosy, and not to mention the pressure that puts on Kate.  Could you imagine being told that your pregnancy would be good for the economy???  Isn't it enough that her child will be someday be a monarch?

As someone who dealt with years of questions, even before I was married, about when I would begin having children, I take offence on the Duchess' behalf.  She has only been married for a year and a bit, and she's still adjusting to her new role within the royal family.  Cut the woman some slack!

Later in the article I linked to above, a 'royal insider' claims that Will and Kate plan to conceive by the end of next summer.  If that is the case, I certainly wish them well and pray that they are able to do so 'the old fashioned way'. 

But what if they can't? 

What if Kate and William have to deal with some form of infertility?  What if they have to resort to ART in order to build their family? 

With parliamentarians already sticking their noses into Will and Kate's reproductive future, what will happen, God forbid, if they have to go through IVF?  How will the government deal with the creation of multiple embryos?  As some would see it, of multiple heirs to the throne?  And what if they choose to freeze some viable embryos?  What if they have frozen embryos left over after they are done with their family building?  How will the government deal? 

Of course, I have my own opinion.  As I'm sure you do.  The government shouldn't have any input whatsoever into what happens with regard to their family building, and decisions about remaining embryos should be, obviously, Will and Kate's.

What I'm pondering tonight is how would this be handled in light of the Rule of Succession.  Given that any child of the royal couple could potentially end up on the throne (particularly now that the British government and the Commonwealth are on the road to making changes to the Rule of Succession so that a first-born daughter would be heir over any sons who come after), just imagine the potential hub-bub!

Honestly, I have no clue about the laws around assisted reproduction in the UK or how they might or might not pertain to the royal family, but these are the things that were going through my head today as I watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in London, and reading Yahoo headlines. 

What are your thoughts on this crazy hypothetical?