Loulou's views

When I was 19, my cousin Loukia came to visit me from Greece in January. She was fascinated by the snow and winter. I looked at her like she was crazy, because clearly, she was. Maybe she'd spent too many hours in the sun in beautiful Greece, and was suffering from some sort of prolonged sun stroke? Tomorrow I'm going on a much needed vacation with my family to my favourite place on earth, south Florida, where we'll stay at one of my favourite resorts, like we do most years. I'm excited to be getting away from the things that make me moan and groan in the winter, like: Stepping in snow. Wet socks. Salt stains on pants. Boots that get destroyed. Freezing rain. Never-ending snow. Beyond cold temperatures. Scraping ice off of my car. Sick people sneezing everywhere. Dark skies and massive depression. Blinding snowstorms. Snow squalls. Minus 40 degrees. People who LOVE winter. Slush. Dressing my children in snowpants, jackets, mitts, scarves, hats. (F

January is almost over. This is a very amazing thing, because it means the end of winter is near. Well, maybe not so close I can almost touch it close, but close enough to know that the worst is (almost?) over. I am in a funk, as is most often the case during these cold, dark, winter months. However, despite the fact that I've got a case of SAD and cry over every single commercial I see on TV right now, even if it's about getting an oil change, I'm happy. I'm happy because my baby boy just turned four, and he had a wonderful birthday party with all the important people in his life there to celebrate with him. He even had a custom-made Home Alone 2: Lost in New York cake, since it's his most favourite movie, ever. I'm happy because I'm reading The Hunger Games right now, and I can't put it down. I'm happy because there are two more books to read in the trilogy so I am not going through " I'm almost finished this book, oh no!" anxiety.

I read once that time is like a circus, always packing up and moving away. How true this is. Time passes, things change. Children grow. Too quickly, if you ask me. And sometimes, I want nothing more than to just pause time, because I want to hold on to the now forever. How quickly does time pass? In the blink of an eye. Today, my baby boy, who I could swear was just born yesterday, is four years old. FOUR. YEARS! OLD. As I snuggle beside him, breathing in his delicious smelling hair, looking at his precious baby face, I can't quite grasp the fact that it's been four years since we brought him home from the hospital. I was a way more relaxed mom, the second time around. Sure, I sat in the back seat on that drive home, but I was able to sleep easier, and nurse easier, and basically, just go with the flow easier. My baby boy makes me smile. I don't care that my boys have a late bedtime and I don't care that I'm still sleeping beside my four year old, every single night

Life changes dramatically once you become a mom. It's an incredibly amazing change, and yet, there are things about motherhood that we complain about. Like the fact that we don't get to sleep anymore. And the fact that we are constantly picking up after our children. And the fact we live in a state of constant worry and never-ending fear. And the fact that we're doing never-ending loads of laundry, while helping the children with homework, cooking dinner, preparing lunches for the next day, organizing birthday parties, making beds, hosting playdates, cheering on our children on the soccer field or in the swimming pool, making child-care arrangements, reading, playing, singing, stepping on LEGO, rushing to work, baking cupcakes at midnight, and wiping behinds... all... day... long . And there are also days we have to put together certain toys that make us want to rip our hair out. Ah, motherhood. Yes, it's tiring, and not always glamorous. Sometimes, the best night of t

It's the beginning of January. Which means one thing: it is so cold that every time I step outside my tears of sadness turn into ice and stay frozen to my face, and I'm not even kidding you. It is pretty miserable out there right now. Waking up and scraping ice off my car every morning on my drive to work only to hear on the radio: "It's currently minus 30 degrees celsius, and there is a frostbite warning in effect" makes me just weepy, and makes me question why my grandparents didn't get off the boat a little more... south, somewhere. January also means many of us are making New Year's Resolutions! I don't like to make resolutions because I know that by March I'll forget all about them and then I'll get mad at myself for not following through with my resolutions. However, this hasn't stopped me, and once again, I'm starting off the year the same way I always do: (aw, tradition...) I'm on a diet! And I'm hitting the gym EVERY

Bloggers are awesome because we admit almost everything about ourselves for the entire world to read, no matter how embarrassing it is. We love to share information about ourselves because we're all a little vain and we're all a little geeky. (I figured out I was sort of a geek at BlogHer 2010. Admitting you're attending a blogging conference out loud sort of confirms this fact.) Blogging allows us to connect to one another on a different level, making us feel not so alone after reading a post about depression, or a post about how tiring it is to be a new mom. Blogging is free, awesome therapy. Blogging allows us to share pictures of ourselves that are really embarrassing and blogging allows us to admit things that hardly anyone else knows about us. Things that now make us cringe. Like childhood celebrity crushes. As weird as they may be. I asked people on Twitter who their crushes were, and I got a lot of Shaun Cassidy, (hi, Megan ! hi, Sharon ! hi, Kathy !) John Stamos,