I have been holding off on buying a Kindle (or any kind of e-reader) for months. I understand the appeal - takes up less space, download books instantly - but holding a book, smelling it, feeling the pages, is just part of the experience of reading that I love. Same goes for magazines and newspapers. I could subscribe to my favourite magazines on my iPod or read the news online, but it's just not as much fun if you can't cut out articles, sniff perfume ads or get newsprint all over your fingers. You can curl up in bed on a stormy evening with an electronic device instead of a book, but for me it's just not the same. I can't imagine reading The Night Before Christmas with Eli on an e-reader.

In some cases, I looove the new-fangled versions of things. Online banking, buying movie tickets, ordering clothes, Google Maps - all lifesavers. Other times, I like doing stuff the old-fashioned way.

I don't like Keurigs. I understand why people like them...in theory. Hundreds of yummy flavoured coffees that are ready to drink instantly. What's not to like? I'm by no means a coffee snob or purist. I will drink Maxwell House out of the giant can if that's what's available. But a Keurig is essentially just hot water poured through a plastic cup. It doesn't really brew. We had one at a previous workplace and I didn't like it at all. The coffee never seemed HOT and there was no happy little caffeine buzz. We have a Cuisinart coffee maker and it takes a few minutes for the pot to brew, but it's worth the wait.

I don't like electronic calendars. Google Calendar, iCal...don't like 'em. Don't trust 'em. Seeing my calendar with back-to-back meetings for a week in advance gives me the willies and it wouldn't matter if it were an emailed meeting request to go shopping with Kate Middleton, I HATE clicking "accept". I will always have a day planner and I will always write my appointments in it, same as I will forever and ever write my daily to-do lists in blue ink and cross things off with red.

I have a love-hate relationship with online recipes. When I cook or bake something I've usually found it here or here or here or through a random Google search that generates a gazillion recipes that all look amazing. I lug my dying laptop into the kitchen, set it up on the counter, and get to work. As a result, my computer is a shitshow. There's batter splatters all over the monitor and between the keys. I'm pretty sure cookie dough and cake batter has fallen into my keyboard and baked in there. Cookbooks and handwritten recipes are the way to go and I'm trying to amass a collection of tried-and-true favourite recipes on my trusty little 4x6" cards.

E-invitations give me the willies a little. Remember when you were small and your friends would give you invitations to their birthday parties? Or you'd receive an invitation to a wedding shower or a housewarming party? That never happens anymore thanks to Evite and Facebook Events. Which, again, I get it. It's convenient, it's free, it's the easiest way to get in touch with people (sadly) and it makes it effortless for even the slackerest of slackers to RSVP. I kind of miss getting formal invitations to things and sending them out as well. This leads me to birthday wishes in general. Getting 200 Facebook "happy birthday" wall posts from people you don't hear from 364 days of the year isn't as nice as getting just one birthday card, phone call, or face-to-face wish from a friend.

What about you - any old-fashioned things you can't bear to part with?

When you get married, people want to know when you're going to start having kids. You finally have one and you think, now people will STFU about our reproductive status. They do. For five minutes.

Eli was a whopping three months old when we started to hear it.

"Are you going to have another one soon?"

"It's easier to have them close together, you know...get everything out of the way at once!" 

"When are you going to have another?" 

"You want them to grow up together."

"You're 31 now, so really you have a few years left...you have time for one or two more, maybe even three!" 

It's amazing how EVERYONE ELSE knows what's best for you, isn't it? How casual acquaintances, random strangers and family members you haven't seen in years start offering advice on when your ute should be occupied and how many times. And I know as Eli gets bigger, it's only going to get worse. After all, each week that ticks by is another week Eli and his Phantom Future Sibling aren't going to GROW UP TOGETHER!

The truth? "Family planning" is just a hilariously-named drugstore aisle to us. We don't have a so-called plan for our family. Peter and I have never sat down and said, "OK, We're going to have X number of kids at Y intervals". We don't know if we're having more kids, period. Maybe we'll have three or four. Maybe Eli will be enough. Maybe we'll add another kid to our family and then call it quits. There is no "plan". We have been blessed with a beautiful, healthy, happy little boy - he's plenty for us. If we're blessed with another baby, great; if not, wonderful. We're having fun and we're happy.

As a friend put it recently, "there's nothing wrong with stopping at one." So, so true. However, the idea of an "only child" seems to be a foreign concept for many people. "But...but...he'd be so lonely without any brothers or sisters? Who would he play with?" horrified people ask. Ooooh...we never thought of that. We were just planning on keeping him penned up in the linen closet for the first two decades of his life. WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE FINALLY SET HIM FREE?

Will Little E be an only child? Or will he be the oldest in a baseball team-sized brood? We don't know.

Until you see me with an epidural stuck in my back, just assume there are no siblings on the way. And don't worry about it.

[+] Eli is super mobile now. He's getting to be really speedy at crawling, especially when he's heading for something he's not supposed to have. He's like a magnet when it comes to the dog's toys, the laptop cord, the water cooler, anything electronic, you name it, so sadly, baby gates are on the must-buy list for this weekend. Also, when I pick him up, his little front has dog fur stuck all over it no matter how much I Swiffer, so I feel like a dirtball. He just gets this wild look in his eyes and heads for the closest thing that he shouldn't be touching. You know how in interviews they ask celebrity moms how they stay fit, and the broad always gives some stupid response like "It's just from chasing after my kid", and you want to shake her and shout WHATEVER DJ TANNER? Maybe she's not lying after all. In the time it took me to write this paragraph I have had to run after Eli three times.

[+] Big Brother is good this season. Lots of drama already and it's only been a week. Staying up for Thursday's episode is a challenge because it doesn't end until 11:00 and that is waaaay past my bedtime. Anything in the double digits is pushing it for me. But can we talk about the use of "y'all" for a second? I get that it's a thing people say but last night Willie said "y'all" FIVE TIMES in one sentence. Is this normal? Wee bit excessive?

[+] I read The Marriage Plot last week and now I'm reading Then Came You. Anyone else read The Marriage Plot? Thoughts? I only liked one of the characters so that made it a little hard to get into.

[+] I went on a wild goose chase yesterday to get Tory Burch flats at a consignment store in town for $40. I missed them by 10 minutes :( But I've also been spending money like a Kardashian lately so I need to get that in check.

[+] Speaking of spending money, but only a little bit, Second Cup has Italian sodas for $1 until July 29. I had the lime the other day and it was like drinking a 7Up only way fancier and prettier. #treatyoself

[+] I haven't really talked about running since the Blue Nose. It's still a thing that happens. Last night I did 10K for the first time since running the half. My IT band feels a lot better as long as I keep foam rolling, doing stretches for my quads, and watching my stride. I'm all done at physiotherapy and now I'm just starting to work up to longer runs again. The weather has been hot which makes anything longer than four or five miles a challenge for me, but last night was perfect for running.

[+] Plans for this weekend include Friday night pizza party, going to the gym, babyproofing, Tall Ships festival and figuring out what to do with the container of raspberries in the fridge.

Happy Friday!