Supermom's Life

The Rat Race

2010-02-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

It seems like people always have the best parenting advice BEFORE they become parents. Myself included. I remember all those years I said "Oh we will never be one of those families that over schedules their kids...how unfair". Right...I say this on a Saturday morning as we get ready for dance. The boy has Hip Hop, and the girl has Ballet and Hip Hop. During the week we have Taekwon Do Tuesday and Thursday, both big kids at different times, so we are at the Do Jang from 3:30ish until 6 o'clock-ish then Sunday morning consists of Swimming Lessons. The boy has also asked to play soccer which will consume one more evening a week and another hour on Saturday. How does one avoid the Rat Race while still allowing their children the opportunity to do the things they really want to do? Swimming and Taekwon Do are not negotiable. They have to do these, dance and soccer are activities that they choose. I feel like we have to allow them the choice activities so they don't resent us later for forcing them to take martial arts and swimming.

Gotta Run....my girl needs her Ballet Bun

Happiness

2010-01-28T08:05:00.001-08:00

You know. I'm remarkably happy with my life and where it has taken me. I've been blessed with someone who is the love of my life (most days) and I have three wonderful children. This last year has offered me a lot of insight into what makes me happy, and what makes my family tick. We unexpectedly added a third child to our family (we were home free with the youngest starting Kindergarten) and as scary as it was, it's been the greatest thing that has ever happened.

Of course I was thrilled when my first two children were born, but we had decided that two was it. Five years later it's like I have been given a do-over, a chance to do all of the things I wished I had done with my first two. I definitely feel a different kind of connection with the baby than I did and do with my older children. Perhaps it is because he is a baby...maybe it's because he is THE baby, or maybe it is because I feel like he was a gift just for me, but some days my heart is so big with love for him I want to burst into tears. It's not just me though. Everyone who comes into contact with The Baby feels the same way. Family and friends adore him, my older children are amazing with him and have not had one millisecond of jealousy towards him. I know he is here for a purpose, is it to teach us something? I'm not sure, but he is sure teaching me to revel and savour every moment I can with him. The Baby is so incredibly loved, he has no idea at this age how many people love him so so much. He has allowed me to finally be at peace with being a Mommy, he has allowed me to really...be okay with it all.

He is 6 months old....isn't he cute? God I love this kid!!

FOOD

2010-01-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

One thing I do that a lot of Moms in my generation don't do is I cook almost every day, and I bake all of the bread that my family consumes. I get such a sense of gratification in knowing that when my little ones open their lunch kit at school that they are eating a sandwich made from bread that I baked for them. Nothing says "I Love You" like fresh home made bread. Today I tried a new recipe. The Boy helped me today, he was an integral part of what came out of the oven this afternoon. Our very first load of Dark Russian Rye Bread. And it was Ohhhhh, so good!!

Here is the dough, resting, just before it is shaped and let to rise

Here is the finished product. Yes it tastes just as good as it looks!!

Oh 2010 What Will You Bring Me

2010-01-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

Well, 2009 was filled with lots of changes and fun for our family. Best of all was the arrival of our newest little bundle of joy, and what a bundle he has been. I always wanted a big family, and although we're stopping here, I'm happy.

We capped off 2009 with a family vacation to Mexico, it was fantastic. The first time in 7 years that we have gone away on a real vacation. Shane and I were lucky enough to travel a lot in the years before we were married, but the last seven years have been so filled with just keeping our heads above water in life, that we haven't managed to rally up the troops and spend real relaxing time together. We've managed a ton of small "staycations" but nothing like this. The kids loved it, it was truly an amazing week. We have vowed to do this again soon. Like hopefully in February and to make an annual December tradition of spending a week in Mexico.

Here are my big boys strolling on the beach. Sigh, how I love them so.

Me and the baby in our shady spot by the pool.

And here is my silly girl.

So what are we looking forward to in 2010? Well, hopefully more time together as a family and crazy as I am I have joined Wardrobe Refashion. I've committed myself for six months. Six months of no new clothes for me. I'm going to try to stick to it for the kids too. Good thing I did a good amount of Boxing Day Shopping and hopefully have all the need for new out of my system. The not buying new part shouldn't be too hard, I try to stick to second hand for the kids and I as it is anyway, I can get top brand clothing in like new condition if I buy second hand and the frugal part of me reminds me that this is a good thing for our budget and the environment. What I am really looking forward to in the challenge is the refashioning of old clothing. Something I've always wanted to try but have never actually done it. Stay tuned because I will definitely be posting the good, the bad, and the ugly while doing this challenge.

My final goal is to start and complete Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred...I hear the Peanut Gallery laughing as I type this. I know....I'm going to do it though....for reals. Oh and one last thing. I need to set up a sub-section for this one and get a full length mirror but I want to do a daily photo pictoral of my frugal fashion. I think I tend to stay pretty hip with my attire (when I'm not in flannel PJs) so I thought I would share my Diva On A Dime esque lifestyle with you all, posting my outfits and where I bought each piece and the price if I can remember it. Not sure that this one is going to happen or will be consistent, but I'm going to try.

OK, so that's about it for now. Happy 2010 to all and much love, health, and happiness in the new year.

Are You Kidding Me?

2009-10-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

It seems that whenever I have a baby, I lose my brain. Actual studies have been done showing that a woman's IQ increases when she is pregnant. What the study fails to mention however, is that it comes at the expense of common sense. I feel like for the past 11-ish weeks I have been walking around in a foggy stupor. Last week I was making a left into a parking stall at Wal-Mart and I hit the cart return....you know, the big shed that you put the carts back in when you leave? Yeah, I hit it...hard...pulled part of my front bumper off. Thankfully the world's greatest husband fixed it and didn't even yell at me. Fast forward 10 days. Today I hit the curb and flattened my front tire.

I really think I am having depth perception problems. Just after the second baby was born we bought a gorgeous 8 place setting of dishes. We picked them up on the way home from the hospital. Within a month almost half of them were broken, and now 5 years later I have about one quarter of the set left and am back to using my old dishes. I've broken maybe 5 dishes in my life before we bought this set, now it's like I have a permanent case of butter fingers. What's up with that?

Aaaaannnnnd We're Back

2009-10-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

So I thought I would move....that was over a year ago....so I did, and then I quit blogging. Maybe just staying here is the better idea. I'll just do it all on this blog. Lots happening right now. As always. We've added another baby to our lives....because you know....we weren't quite busy enough and with E starting kindergarten I needed an excuse to stay home from work for another six years. Yeah...that's right.

I'm working on some fun little projects around the house right now. I hope to share them with you all. The big one is our "Family Message Center". We have this one spot in our kitchen that was sort of an unusable wall so I decided to transform it. It's been a slow process...you know with all that extra spare time I have. I've painted 5 coats of magnetic paint on the wall (I thought it would only take two, but it didn't, and it still needs more) then I will cover it with chalkboard paint...which might change if I can't find roll on paint. The spray kind will not work for me I don't thing. Then the kids chore charts, our family calender and anything else important will all go in that one area. It is such a great idea. I'm photographing the process and will share the whole thing once it is finally finished.

I think that's it for today :o)

So, I'm Kinda Moving

2008-09-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't abandoned all of you here. I've just moved, sort of. I don't have the time, nor do I have enough clever banter to be able to maintain two blogs, so the bulk of my posting has been over on my company blog www.hipmelonbabywear.blogspot.com.If you want to see what's going on in my life, and how things are going on my fantastically amazing and oh so fun business adventure, then come on over and subscribe over there. I've also just posted a great solution to the yearly "Holiday Card" crisis/problem!! Thanks so much everyone, can't wait to see you over at the HipMelon blog or feel free to come visit us at the Website as well.

Overhaulin'

2008-07-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

It's done. The thorn in my side, the bane of my existence. My Sewing Room is officially THE sewing room I have always wanted. I am beyond thrilled with the way it has turned out. There are still a few finishing touches. The one wall that has the two shelves under the window still needs a worktable under it, but it is fine for now. The shelves that hold the bolts of fabric also need dividers placed strategically along the shelf to prevent the bolts from leaning and falling over. So without further adieu, here it is.

My husband is officially my HERO!!

Before pics are on the top, After is on the bottom.

Coming Along

2008-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

So, the studio is coming along, we are putting in Bernese (or is it Burmese?) Mahogany wood floors down. I want it to be finished now though.

I went away for the weekend. To Calgary. Alone. First time ever (going away on my own that is). I must say I enjoyed it immensely and missed my kids less than I thought I would. I also managed to shop to my hearts content. No thanks to Cathy, my enabler. I bought fabric, and lots of it. I bought clothes for my kids, Old Navy was having a KILLER Sale, so was H&M. I conformed to the masses, yes people, I broke down and bought some stuff at Lululemon. I did it just to get the cool reusable bag. Really. I had dinner with two amazing women. I can't wait to go back and see both of you again. I took thirteen hours to drive home, I stopped in Banff and Jasper and just wandered around, alone. It was wonderful, and peaceful.

Something else happened this weekend as well. The trip to Calgary had a purpose. I had to being THIS home. It's my new baby and I am thrilled to take on the challenge. There's nowhere to go but UP with this one.

Well, I need to go unpack my car. I've been home almost three days and I have not unpacked a single thing from my car. I was waiting for the floors to go in so I could take everything from my car right to my studio, but today I need my car so I have to unpack it.

Living Out Of A Suitcase

2008-06-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

So for the next two weeks I am pretty much living out of my suitcase. During a short discussion with Hubbs today we did a quick assessment of what the next couple of months was going to being us and it turns out that there was one task that needed to get done sooner rather than later. There was a small business matter pertaining to Hubbs' company that we have been putting off and it turns out that it either needed to get done this week or the next opportunity for me to get it done wouldn't be until August sometime. Since there are other parts of our lives that depend on this getting taken care of, they too would have to be put off until after August. Not wanting to have to put our life on hold, I decided today at about 1pm that I would get this looked after, so I packed up the kids and made the four hour drive to my Mom's house where I will spend the next four days up to my eyeballs in work.

Here I will stay until Friday when I will rush back home and host a birthday party on Saturday afternoon for Girl who turned 5 today. Then on Tuesday Girl and I have to make another trip to see the Paediatric Dental Surgeon in a neighbouring town. This will require and overnight stay as she has to have oral surgery sometime on Wednesday. I'm hoping that she pulls through this okay because we need to get back home Wednesday night so I can unload my car and then re-pack only to head out on another road trip sometime on Thursday, this one completely alone, which will see me gone until the end of the month. Phew. So between now and the end of the July Long Weekend I will sleep a total of 5 nights in my own bed. I really just wanted to postpone the Birthday Party until after the July long weekend, but Hubbs informed me that it would be in bad taste to do this, especially since I have already sent out invitations. Really....it is THAT big of a deal. We sent out three invites and two of them went to sisters. I'm sure they would understand, but then again, what do I tell Girl? It would have made things a lot easier, since the dentist is between home and where I am now, but instead I will go home on Friday and then backtrack to the dentist next week. Oh the things we do for our families.

I guess it isn't too bad. The crappy part is all the driving I will be doing. 800km by the end of this week, another 1000km next week and then another 800 the week after. It's been a long time since I put that many highway km's on in that short of a period of time, although I have to say I AM looking forward to driving almost 1600kms with no one else in my car with me. This will be my FIRST ever trip away from home without my children. Girl, my oldest child, turned 5 today and between her and Boy, I have never gone away from home and not brought them with me. Hubbs has taken them camping two times without me for a total of four days, but this will be my first time doing anything away from home without one of my mini me's with me. I look forward to the peace it will bring, but at the same time I expect I will miss them terribly.

THE Craft Room

2008-06-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

So every now and then you hear me mention THE Craft Room that I have in my house. Yes, it really IS all that and a bag of chips. Not only is it the single largest room in my house (which really isn't saying a lot because my house isn't that big) but it used to by Hubb's MAN Room. After our second child was born and I pointed out to him that the only thing that the Pool Table had been used for in the past 2 years was a dumping spot for clean laundry, he reluctantly relented and let me sell the Pool Table and set up shop in "His" room.

So now after 3 years the room is in need of an overhaul. I've always just made do with what I have with the plans on making it better sometime down the road. Well "Sometime Down The Road" happens to be now. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of having MY craft room done MY way. This means wood floors.....no more stalling the motor on the beater bar on the Vacuum when it gets wound tight with threads....YAY. I had also planned on cupboards and counter tops running the perimeter, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen just yet....I had upper and lower cabinets lined up, but they fell through. In the meantime I am switching out the shelving in my room for the two large closed door cabinets that sit pretty much empty in the laundry room. That should allow me a good amount of the storage space I am in need of.

Anyway, instead of going into TOO much detail, hows about I just post some before pictures. I've cleaned out a great deal of it already so it is pretty empty and you aren't seeing it at it's worst. I would never show that, it was CRAZY embarrassing. In total the room is a little over 300 square feet.

First is a photo from the entrance. The door to the right is the bathroom. Yes I have my very own bathroom in my Studio.

Here I am standing in the bathroom doorway

Standing on the first corner

Second corner. Would you believe it if I told you that behind all those stacked colored baskets there is another sewing machine? There are two more in cases on the floor that aren't visible in the photo.

Third corner....yes, that is the top of my dining table sitting on top of Hubb's Fooseball table. Remeber where I said I "make do with what I have"? This was my makeshift cutting table, but it is coming out of there never to return. The shelving with all of the totes on it is what is going into the laundry room in exchange for two large white cupboards. On the right hand side there used to be two bookshelves, I put one in the kids playroom and now I'm starting to think maybe I shouldn't have done that. I think I am going to need more open shelving than I had initially thought I would need.

The Animal Farm

2008-06-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if Hubbs REALLY knew what he was getting himself into, not only when he married me, but when he presented me with a home on five acres. I am a bit of an animal lover. Almost in a crazy cat lady sort of way. There was a point in time when it seemed like ALL of our friends felt that they could drop off their no longer wanted pets at our house and we'd take care of them. The boldest move were the friends from out of town who asked us to look after their dog while they flew to another province. They also parked their van at our house. When they got back we happened to not be home, so they picked up the van and left the dog. Oy oy oy. Hubbs had to put his foot down when we ended up with five dogs. I ended up finding great homes for all of them except two. One of which had been ours all along, and another one that came to live with us when he was five weeks old and he'd had such a rough start in life I just couldn't bear to let him go to yet another home. From those two, we have just one left, the other crossed the rainbow bridge in 2005 at nine years old. He was a majestic, and very large Purebred German Shepherd. A breed both Hubbs and I have a soft spot for.

In the meantime we have added a cat, and a small mixed breed dog to the family as well as we have seen a handful of fish die in our care....I can't seem to keep fish alive longer than a few months. We are hoping to add a Purebred Shepherd to the family before the end of summer and then another one next spring. I've also been hinting to Hubbs that I might be ready for a couple horses. He began marking out a fence this week, so I figure once the yard is nicely contained that he can begin working on fencing a nice large area towards the back of our property where I could nicely contain a two (or perhaps more) horses at some point.

Last but not least, are the newest additions to our happy little family. I would like to introduce Carolyn, and Brown. Not Brownie......just BROWN. They are five month old female Guinea Pigs. At the request of my children I caved and got them rodents. I have to say however, these little critters are quite interesting. One little tidbit of info though, before you run out and get your kids a Guinea Pig. The buggers live like 10 years. Seriously, no one told me this. I was thinking we were in for a two.....three years TOPS commitment. But no......there is a possibility that my kids will have their drivers licenses before these things die.

Anywho.....without further adieu, here are the cute little piggies. Ah heck, I might as well show pictures of the entire menagerie. I love animals, and Hubbs, after almost 13 years with me, is now realizing that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Pinky Pie, the 18 month old Orange Tabby

Titus, the 7 year old Mutt and the Piggies

Willie, the one year old Maltese/Poodle checking out the Pigges

and the SWEET little Piggies themselves. Carolyn on the left, Brown on the right

Reflections

2008-06-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old photos. I came across these ones that represent one of the worse days I have had as a mother. It was EVERYWHERE. It was such a rough afternoon and I was thanking the powers that be that I had had the good sense to buy leather furniture and install wood floors in my house.

For your viewing pleasure. It was an ENTIRE 2lb jar of Peanut Butter and it was a brand new jar. It took hours to clean up. HOURS. Girl was a few months shy of turning 3 and Boy was about 18 months old.

Would You Rather............

2008-05-31T18:07:00.001-07:00

Would you rather have a large wooden playground set up smack in the middle of your front yard, or have light to moderate damage to your lawn in order to put it in the back?

The reason I ask is that we are moving our children's playground from it's current spot. We are setting up a squared off area filled with playground gravel and putting the playground on top of it. I want this at the very back of the yard, but this means Hubbs has to drive his dump truck across one entire side of our yard which will leave probably 6 inch deep tire marks in the lawn which will subsequently need to be filled and seeded. The distance would be about 100 feet. Hubbs solution is to put the playground smack in the front yard. Once you add the regulatory 6ft of empty space on each side of the playground it literally takes up the ENTIRE front part of the yard.....including some of the sidewalk. I stomped, I freaked and pretty much had a good ole 5 year old hissy fit about it being in the front. ABSOLUTELY NOT was my response, to which Hubbs kindly suggested I return to my project of laying paving stone. IE...no comments from the peanut gallery are necessary. After I pointed out that the section that Hubbs had outlined was not nearly large enough, I got the wonderful eyeroll. Not long after that he took out the measuring tape again and began measuring the playground.....hmmm, maybe she was wright after all. Another trip to the lumber yard for cedar landscape ties and we should be set. HOWEVER instead of being directly in front of the house, Hubbs has moved it slightly off to the side.

My response to my first question........I would rather have to fix 100ft long 6 inch deep dump truck ruts in my yard than have a playground right out front. Seriously people, we have FIVE acres and he wants to put the damn playground in the front yard. WHO DOES THAT? Oh wait.....I know. My husband.

*insert eyeroll* I really ~~want to strangle~~ love my husband

The Job That Pays....Sort Of

2008-05-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

So I really enjoy my job. Yeah yeah, I know, it's nothing special, after all I do just make coffee and deliver it with a smile, but there is something gratifying about having the ability to make someone smile with a cup o joe.

That said, I never thought my life could be so crazy, and forget the fact that there is only one person in my place of work who is older than I am.......everyone else, well.....MUCH younger.....by much younger I mean most of them were still in diapers when I finished highschool. Yep. Some days.....many days, I feel like I can't relate to them. I mean the job is a blast, the job is super fun, but I just don't know if I am cut out for this whole work outside the home thing. Couple that with the fact that I am going through NINETY dollars worth of gas every 4-5 days driving only when absolutely necessary and really, and it's only going to get worse......I'm paying to go to work. Seems silly to me.

Will I remain the ever faithful employee? You want the honest truth? It really is unlikely. The creative side of me is really itching again, thankfully soon to be getting a big 'ole scratch, and I've never really been one to "play well with others" In other words working in a group environment really has never been my cup of tea...or coffee as the case may be. I had my last job (before joining the ranks of mommy) for 7 or 8 years, and that was because I worked alone 90% of the time and the other 10% it was me and the boss. If someone screwed up it had to be me or her, pretty easy to narrow it down and avoid the cattiness and finger pointing that many group work environments foster.

Realistically I will probably continue at my current capacity of about 20 hours per week until the end of summer, if I can manage it with all the vacation time I'm taking. At that point I'll most likely take it down a notch. One, maybe 2-4 hour shifts a week. Just enough to get my free pound of coffee a week. At $17 a pound who can resist that.

Oooh, one thing I am doing right now is pretty much gutting my sewing studio. I'll share pictures soon. I'm so excited to set it up the way I want it, and pull my old faithful brother machine out of it's case and maybe use it a bit. I'm also on the hunt for an industrial machine. I've been wanting one for a few years now, but the price scares the living daylights out of me, so I'll wait until I go to Vancouver to visit my friend Shay, hopefully one of these days soon and get one on the cheap there....Like I need another machine. LOL

No More Options.....

2008-05-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

So I am the kind of girl who prefers to "keep her options open". As you know, I've been talking/thinking about homeschooling. Been kind of sitting on the fence, teetering on the edge if you may. Because Kindergarten registration is at the beginning of February, and a lot can happen between February and September I did register Girl for Kindie just in case. You know, just in case I go crazy and end up in the loonie bin, just in case my husband meets some hot 25 year old and leaves me, just in case our house is invaded by space creatures and the time just isn't right. You know, Just in case.

Well last week we got the notice in the mail, the one that invites the parent and child for a one on one meeting with the Kindie teacher. All of a sudden it hit me, it's do or die time. I've been fighting with this decision for the last 3 months....should I, shouldn't I, should I, shouldn't I. Deep in my heart I KNOW homeschooling is where I want to be, I just know it. I LIKE my children. I LIKE being with them. It's one thing to love your kids......we have to love them, but I genuinely LIKE mine. At this point I can't imagine sending one or both of them off to school to spend full days without me. I just can't. 5 years old is pretty young to be away all day if you ask me. In many countries kids do not start school at the age of 5, but they wait till 7 or 8. To me that seems just so much more reasonable.

Anyway, so the short of it is that now since I have that letter, and there is only three weeks left of school, I HAVE to make the choice. Home school or Montessori school. This morning when I picked up my children from Pre-school (which just so happens to be at the elementary school) I popped into the school office and UN-registered Girl.

I am OFFICIALLY a Homeschooling mom of 2.

Yay me. It sounds weird. I'm a homeschooler. We're Homeschoolers. Our kids don't go to school.

My plan is to do it till the kids are in grades 3 and 2. Ages 8 and 7, I think that is fair enough. If at that time they are not interested in trying out "school" then I won't push them to go, we can continue on at home. Not that they will be in a mainstream school anyway, since I would have them in the Montessori program again anyway despite the 50 minute round trip drive. From there we'll just play it by ear.

It's late. I'm tired. Nite

Things Are Still Busy

2008-05-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm such a failure, there is no other way to put it. I've failed at keeping up with regular blog postings. Perhaps my life just isn't interesting enough. Perhaps it is an by the time I get home at the end of the day all of the good stuff is gone out of my brain. I'll never know. Between school, soccer, TKD and work, my days are pretty much spent. I've got other things on the go too, but it's another story for another day. I will write about it soon, I'm just not at liberty to share at this time.

Spring has FINALLY sprung, my yard is *somewhat* dry and the dandelions are growing wild. The sun has been shining for the past few days....yay. I am beginning to believe that winter really is over.

OK, so about this whole *work* thing. Seriously, who am I to think I can hold down a job. I'm doing it, so far so good, but as summer approaches I keep thinking to myself *self, what are you thinking?* I mean, this will be the first summer in roughly 7 years that I've had a job. See over the winter work looks pretty good, but with summer rapidly approaching so is the desire to pack up and just escape reality. The desire really is overwhelming. I've cut my hours back to, well, 20 at the most. Maybe even less. If it means my benefits lapse then it will just have to be that way. I really feel like my family is more important that work, and rightfully so. So who knows what the summer will bring us......maybe I will go back to being a SAHM/WAHM like I have been for the past few years. I'm beginning to get the sewing itch again. A full year away from the machine has really done me well and I am finding myself shopping for fabric and looking at patterns again just for the heck of it. I'm also in the middle of a major overhaul of my sewing studio. When I'm feeling brave I will post some before and after pictures. The before pictures will actually be AFTER it's cleaned up, but before the new shelving and cabinets are installed. Which reminds me, I need to contact the guy about the cabinets again. I got a set off of Freecycle, or at least I'm supposed to be getting a set off of Freecycle. Here's to hoping because I REALLY need them.

What else have I been upto lately? Well......shopping. Yes. Shopping. I've decided to curtail the spending on kids clothing and focus on MOI for a little while. I haven't bought any new clothes yet this year so I decided it's my turn, and my kids, well they really do have enough clothes to last them the summer (and the fall and the winter.......) I've bought a few really cute things this past week. I'm really in the mood to fight boring. LOL.

Anyway, I have 1hr and 40min before we need to leave the house and I need to clean up the kitchen from lunch, make the bed, put away laundry and feed the kids again. So that's it for today.

Have a great one!! If anyone is still listening...........

Getting Away....Or Coming Back

2008-04-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel as though life is just getting away from me. There is so much going on right now, I barely have a moment to breathe, let alone sit and blog or even take a moment for myself. So I decided that this Friday morning I would specifically put aside time to blog a bit.

Life just seems so hectic. I am working 25-30 hours a week right now. All in the evenings or weekends after my husband comes home from work. during the day I still have to take the kids to their morning pre-school classes 4 days a week, Mon-Wed we have Tae Kwon Do in the afternoons and Tues-Thurs we have Swimming lessons in the afternoon. Many days I am home for under 3 hours in a day and I still have to do all the Mom/Wife things at home. Some days......many days, I just feel like it is all too much to do. I am looking forward to the end of the school year, the end of swimming lessons, the end of soccer (which hasn't even started yet). TKD runs all year though I think. We can handle. At home I have meals to cook a house to clean, bread to bake and animals and humans to tend to.

I hate to complain because I do feel like I have a blessed life. We have a roof over our head, 2 cars in the driveway, and 90% of the time we are certain that the money is there to pay the bills. We even get to take the odd nice vacation as a family.

I have been doing some fun things lately though. My BFF Amanda got married recently and I had the pleasure of baking all of her cupcakes for her as her wedding cake....144 cupcakes. Wanna see???? I knew you would. LOL. Be patient, there are lots of pictures.

I love to bake and to cook, there is something deeply satisfying about preparing a good meal or special treat for a number of people.

So that's all for today. I bid you farewell for today with some fun yummy photos. There are lots, but it is just as much about the cupcakes as it is about me having fun taking pictures of them. I love taking pictures just as much as I love baking and cooking.

I'll Be Back Soon

2008-04-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy month around the house. I will be back soon. In the meantime, if you can get over the fact that this GORGEOUS girl is not properly secured in her car seat (grrrrrr, but that is another post for another day), this is worth a watch!!

...

2008-03-12T11:36:00.001-07:00

Stupidshittylife

2008-03-09T10:40:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here right now, clearly at the end of my rope and I am not sure where to go. 2 weeks ago my husband bought a new snowmobile without talking to me about it first. We had discussed in the fall that he would ride out this year with his current sled and buy a new one either in the fall or next spring as we will no longer have a truck payment or school tuition at that time. He completely ignored me and bought it anyway......$10,000.00. It pisses me off, I mean I realize he's never had to ride the same sled for 5 years before.......OMG FIVE YEARS. *insert eye roll* but really he doesn't have to have the best and coolest sled on the hill.

Then we move onto this week. I'm just pulling out of the slump of the sled purchase and Monday is Hubbs 41st birthday. I, the good loving wife that I am, buy him a card (we don't really do gifts between each other and I am fine with that) I make him a Black Forest Cake (his favourite) and I set the kids up to make fabulous (as can be for a 3 and 4 year old). When he comes in the door from work the kids run up to him and sing Happy Birthday, hug him and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY really loud. Then I take everyone out for dinner.

We move through the rest of the week reasonably well. Friday comes, I pick up a shift at work. Hubbs acts put out that he might have to cut his 'working on the sled' time short in order to pick up the kids from the sitter (a friend who kindly offered to watch them). He also acts miffed that I work Sunday ("AGAIN" in his words) as it also cuts into his precious snowmobiling time. This is the same person who was miffed when I DIDN'T work. I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Saturday happens to be MY birthday. 5 days after Hubbs' birthday. Saturday am he gets up early and is gone snowmobiling before I even wake up. I wake up, upset that he is gone, but I manage to pull it together sort of. Do some laundry, clean the house up, get the kids rooms cleaned up and do some more laundry. All I asked of the kids was that they clean up their playroom......afterall they are 3 and 4 (almost 5) and completely capable of cleaning it up on their own. At about 5:15pm Hubbs comes home, asks the kids if they said happy birthday to me (of course they didn't, how are they supposed to know it is my birthday) they turned, said it, but of course they are much more excited to see their Daddy who's been gone all day than me, who's been encouraging them to clean the playroom all day. I mention to him that I told the kids they couldn't have anything until they made at least some progress in the playroom......then it all goes south, he goes off, afterall the kids are 3 and 4 (almost 5) and can't be expected to clean up after themselves....... Probably the worst fight we've had in 12 years. Basically feels that because he works more than I do, he is entitled to do whatever he likes and absolutely is not doing anything around the house......EVER. He absolutely does not have to ever clean up after supper, I can do that when I get home from work at midnight. He can make any kind of mess he wants, and it is my responsibility to clean it up, and if I don't I am lazy, and I don't do anything around the house. So basically the result of our conversation, if you could even call it that, was that I suck and I ended up in bed crying so hard I was dry heaving. So there you have it......no birthday card, no dinner out, no cake, no Happy Birthday kisses from my kids, and no Happy Birthday from my husband. Happy Fucking Birthday to me.

My husband SUCKS. Right now I can't stand him. I have a killer headache and it feels like my eyes have toenails in them. Our kids are ABSOLUTELY old enough to clean up after themselves.

Happy Fucking Birthday to me, a failure as a wife, a failure as a mother. Nice.

Kiss The Rain

2008-02-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't written this week. It has been a long and busy one and to be quite honest I've been in a foul mood all week. Today I finally had a chance to relax. I'll just share an old fave with you all!!

On The Road

2008-02-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

So today I am writing you from my mom's house. A last minute decision on Thursday found me packing my SUV and making phone calls to cover my shifts at work this weekend, and making the 4 hour drive to Smithers to see family. I'm sitting at the kitchen table while the kids play randomly around the house. the drive was great, however I did get upclose and personal with a deer about 20 minutes outside Smithers. I literally missed it by no more than an inch. It was the first time I'd had a call that close. I saw it long ahead of time so I was just waiting for it to dart in front of me, and when he made his move I slammed the brakes on hard and thankfully they worked great. then the stupid thing stopped right in front of me...mere inches from the hood of my SUV, and looked me in the eyes. Clearly these are not the smartest animals on the planet.

Oh....while I am thinking about it, thanks for all the warm thoughts for Logan, she had surgery last night and pulled through with flying colors. A very risky surgery that could have seen her heart stop beating when they had to puncture her spinal cord, but she made it through and within a couple of hours of waking up, when most people are still on the ventilator Logan had managed to convince the nurses to mostly disconnect her and she was sitting up and eating popsicles and soup and saying she already is feeling better. What a trooper she is!!

Heros.......

2008-02-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Do you have a hero? Most of us do. A Parent, a special teacher, a friend who has never let you down?

I have a hero. I've known her her entire life. She is the most amazing person I've ever known. She is 10 years old and her name is Logan. She has taught me about life, about love and about compassion. She has taught me strength, relentlesness, happiness, sadness, fear and what it means to face it all head on. She was my flower girl when I got married almost 6 years ago. Back then she was a bubbly, active 5 year old who could tire out any adult in one afternoon. Today she is closing in on 11 years old, and for nearly 3 years she has been battling cancer in her brain stem. Not the kind of cancer you can easily treat with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. It's the nasty kind. The kind that you just wait on and pray that the treatment slows it's growth and in the meantime that a miracle happens and someone comes up with a cure or the tumor shrinks on it's own or with the treatment they can give, even though they've been told it's not likely. Not only has Logan been a pilar of strength in the past 3 years, her parents have had to change their entire lives. A world that used to revolve around one self, and one family now spends countless days, night and weeks in a hospital room, with other parents and children going through this same situation. Unfortunately not all are lucky, not all beat it in the end.

The reason I am writing today, about MY hero, is that things aren't going well for her. After nearly 3 years of chemo and radiation on a tumor that has thus far been inoperable, it seems that it is now becoming stronger than the treatment. Spending the past couple of weeks in and out of the hospital, they are hoping for some answers this coming week, some kind of direction, some kind of answer. It's crunch time now.

If you pray, if you are spiritual, I ask that you please, please keep this family in your thoughts. They really need it. This sweet sweet girl deserves a chance to grow up, she deserves a chance to have the childhood that she has so missed over the past 3 years, she deserves a shot at her future. If you want to know a little bit more about Logan you can see her group where all of her friends and family have rallied around her. Logan Is Our Angel

What Am I Thinking???

2008-02-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

Remember that entry awhile back? The one where I go on about how I am going to homeschool? The one where I weigh all of the options? The one that by the end I had decided that homeschooling is definitely the right thing for OUR family? Yeah.....that one.

Here's the thing....who the heck am I to think I can teach my kids. I had to do some SIMPLE long division today.....by simple I mean I should have been able to do it in my head, but everytime I thought about it I kept coming up empty...something happens between 2nd grade long division and the mid thirties and apparently all has been lost. So then I got a pencil and a piece of paper and thought I would do it the old fashiond way....the long division way.....the broblem looked something like this 3/80. I needed to divide 80 three ways. I tried to figure out how many time 3 went into 8.....well everyone knows it goes in 3 times...at least I know that much. Then I try to figure out the next line.....3x3 is 9.....wait....that would mean 3 does not go into 8, 3 times....so then how many times does it go? OK....skip count by 3's.....3-6-9.....ok....so three twice is 6....so 3 must go into 8 2 times with 2 remainders......OK.....so 8-6 is 2, bring down the zero...that makes 20.....3 goes into 20, 15 times....wait....that is not right, where am I getting 15?? 3-6-9-12-15-......there....15....wait.....not 15 times....crap, how many times is that....5....but now I have too many remainders.....6, that must be it......OH forget it, where's the damn calculator.

Seriously.....that is exactly what went on in my brain. A monkey could have figured out in it's head that it was 26 and change, but nope......not me. How am I supposed to teach my kids anything, when I can't solve a simple math problem on my own.

A Little Music Trivia

2008-02-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

So....I like lots of music. I like old music, new music, dance music, rock music. I like classical Music and hip hop. I love Country and 80's. Big band and Oldies....like REAL oldies. I like Kanye West (although I didn't like his grammy speech last night, I mean, WHO IS that rude?) and I like John Tesh.....yes.....John Tesh. I like anything that has an appealing melody, or a nice beat....or better yet.....both. Anything I can tap a foot to, and anything that gets stuck in my head.....ok, actually usually the ones that get stuck in my head are like one line of a song(s) that I don't really like. LOL.

I am also often full of useless information. No really, I am. Here's today's useless tidbit for you to enjoy.

When MTV Debuted On august 1st, 1981 at 12:10am, what was the first music video that they played? On February 27th, 2000 this song was also the one millionth song played on MTV.

The group was a one hit wonder, but I know you, me.....and everyone else on the planet has danced to this song by the Buggles. A classic, and yes.....one of my favourite songs.

Counting My Blessings

2008-02-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

So every once in awhile I get a little down on myself. I mean, I am in general a really positive person.....I see the silver lining, the cup is half full, in fact I would say I am an eternal optomost. Still.....sometimes I wish for more. A bigger house, a nicer, newer car. I wish I had a larger disposable income to spend on the things that I love.....the jeans, the boots, the handbags. The days I wish for more are usually the days my kids are making me crazy, my husband is emitting one of his "acts of random inconvenience", the laundry has piled up, and I am deperately trying to find another crevice to stuff with more crap because we outgrew our house the day we moved into it 9 years ago. This is also the time that I have to make a consious effort to stop for a minute. Stop and take stock of my life. I have a (mostly) great husband. My kids are fantastic and I adore them more than life itself (I'm not just saying that, you should meet them, they really are something else). Our house, although somewhat small, is bigger then the house either myself or my husband grew up in. We, as a family don't want for anything......we don't have a lot of excess money, but we don't have to worry about how the bills will be paid, whether we will have money for food, or gas. Sure my kids drive me up the wall sometimes, but you know what.....they are 3 and 4, and they are acting like 3 and 4 year olds act. I can hardly expect them to act like adults.

This week has kind of been one of those weeks. Among other things, my car need a new fuel pump, the bill was huge and it kind of made me cranky. I just thought I needed to take a few minutes to reflect. To remind myself that my worst days are still better than a lot of people's best days. In the big picture of life, I really have so little to worry about. I am fortunate....fortunate for everything I have. Fortunate that the good things in my life have always been plentiful and the not so good things have been few. So, if you're having one of those days, just remember that so many people would do anything to trade places with you and have YOUR bad day. I mean, sure my fuel pump went and cost as much to fix as our monthly mortgage, but at least it didn't break our month. It was inconvenient, but there wasn't the issue of fixing the car or paying the bills.

In life I really have SO much to be thankful for. I'm sure that you do to!

Girls and Their Toys

2008-02-08T13:58:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago I ordered a new Dell Laptop........it came today and it is SO purty!!!!! My reward for cleaning the house today is that I get to play with it. I took it out of the box and now it sits till the house is clean.

Sweet Victory

2008-02-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been absent for a few days. My dad was in town visiting and that only happens a couple times a year so I try to make the best of it. Unfortunately for my dad he didn't have the greatest visit. After running a red light, hitting another vehicle, getting a ticket for unsafe driving, and not to mention the damage done to his own BRAND NEW truck, he decided to cut the trip short. He was supposed to head down into the Okanagan but after some thought, he decided it was best to just head back up north. He ended up getting a speeding ticket. One word......S-H-I-T-T-Y. I felt bad for him. When I say his truck is brand new that's not an understatement, he bought it in October and it has like 8000km on it......half those miles were put on coming to visit me. It is a super pretty Dodge 4 door Deisel pickup. Poor Daddy. The kicker, and this one's a real doozy......my dad moved from BC to Alberta......BC has beautiful options for auto insurance......we have ICBC a publicly owned company that rewards you for safe driving. My had has been 25+ years without an accident so he was what we call a "roadstar" part of the reward is that you get a free accident without losing your claims rated discount. Unfortunately........not so much with the company he is with in Alberta......they don't recognize the 25 years of safe driving he'd had as a BC driver so inevitably his insurance premiums are going to go up.......THAT people is the crappiest part of all. No one was hurt, the other person in the accident is being really good about the whole thing and again......no one was hurt.

On the upside, I have claimed sweet victory......my search for an affordable and decent espresso machine is over. I hit Liquidation world for what seemed like the 10th time this month and yes, they had some espresso machines this time. I picked up a Krups Espremio for about $70. I am sipping the reward of this great little machine. I mostly wanted it for the steam wand.....and occasional pull of espresso......but mostly the steam wand. My kids LOVE steamed apple juice with a little Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce syrup. They also love steamed milk or Soy with a shot of flavour syrup in it too. My kitchen looks like a little mini Starbucks bar now with all my syrups lined up equipped with pumps on them and the whole nine yards. This was the third machine I have bought. The other 2 I kept for less than 24 hours. Tried them out and hated them. I think this one's a keeper.

Cheers to you.....I'm drinking a double cinnamon dolce soy latte. Stop by and I'll make one for you too!!

Dance Floor Anthem

2008-02-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

I am TOTALLY rocking out to this song these days!!! I'm now a fan of Good Charlotte and I am LOVING this song called Dance Floor Anthem.

This One's For You

2008-01-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourite songs ever. It is on our current cafe mix CD at work. It played last night and it made me think of you A. Not sure if it is all fitting, but I still love the song, and it still made me think of you.

Here's another I love by the same artist

Love you girl!!

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

2008-01-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

One bite at a time.

I need to de-clutter my house. I say this every month or so, and I recently told my husband that we need to pretend we are putting our house on the market and just clean it out top to bottom. I just need to do it and do it one room, one closet, one cupboard at a time.

About 6 months ago, and then again about 3 months ago, I decided that I was not going to worry about re-selling my kids clothing when they outgrew it. Up until now, selling the kids gently worn clothing has been a major funder of the new clothing they get, but now with me being back to work I have neither the time nor the desire to resell their clothing. I'm going to hand a ton of it down to a little girl who's brother is in Girl's TKD class, anything that is either too big or too small for her will go to consignment along with all of the boys clothing that is too small for my son. I bought a bunch of brand new stuff in October for resale too but again.....no time, so I know a girl who is having a baby boy in April and I am sending ALL of it to her.......probably close to $500 retail value in 0-6 mo boys clothing. Anything that doesn't fit into the above mentioned categories is getting donated, along with everything in my garage that has been waiting for a "garage sale" that is never going to happen because I just can't be bothered.

I have this closet in my kitchen that I lovingly refer to as "no man's land" seriously, things enter and are never seen again. It too really needs to be cleaned out again. Then the next BAD spot is my sewing studio. The 4 100 liter totes that house the stuff in the above mentioned paragraph are blocking the entrance to my studio. I need to get it all cleaned out. There are also the numerous totes in the laundry room that have been home to all of my esthetics equipment that I bought after I took the esthetics course......11 years ago. Forget that I have not worked as and esthetician a day in my life. It's sad really.

I just need to free myself from the clutter. Most of it is organized and out of the way, but it still exists and haunts my existence. I just need to deal with it.........One bite at a time.

Moral support please!!

In The Spirit of Birthday Cakes

2008-01-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

My girl Shay has been sharing, over the fast week or so, her youngest daughter's birthday.....Quite a celebration for one child I must say. It got me thinking that I would share the cakes I've made my kids.

I really am a slacker in the cake department. Between 2 kids we've had 7 birthdays and I have only made 3 cakes. BAD MOMMY. OH WAIT....no....well.....I did cupcakes for Girl's first birthday and let all the kids decorate them on their own, so I guess that doesn't count does it, besides I was 6 months pregnant with Boy at the time and had just gone back to work full-time. I'm really kinds of a K.I.S.S. kinda person when it comes to cakes though.

SO, here they are.

This is when Girl turned 2....click on the image to see it better.

Here is when she turned 4. I got lazy this year......and apparently last year as well since I don't even remember what we did for Girl's 3rd birthday.

I had a good save though with the killer goodie bags. I'm pretty anti crappy goodie bags, so candy is minimal as are the cheap toys that break in 5 min. We did Lip Smackers, pencils and erasers, a lolly pop, a neat keychain and hair clippies that I made myself all in a fabric baggie that I made myself. All the kids loved them, furthermore, so did the parents.

Then there was Boy's cake this year. He turned 3 and we've never had a party for him. I felt kinda guilty so we had a little family shin-dig this year and he got himself a real cake. It was touch and go on this one for a bit. I wans't sure the icing would turn red, I thought we might have a pink fire truck. Bit Wilton Cake Dye pulled through and in the end it turned an awesome shade of red. Dont' pay attention to the fact that it's kinda leaning to one side a bit. The important thing was that Boy loved it!!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2008-01-24T00:27:00.001-08:00

Yes, I love to shop. I love STUFF. To me it isn't so much about the amount of money I spend as it is about the entire process of exchanging goods. I give you something of mine (money) and in return I get something better (the goods). Really, "the goods" can be a .99 cent tube of Chapstick or a $500 purse. Even more than the act of exchanging money for goods, I love exchanging little money for big goods. Yes, I am a bargain shopper. My kids.....if I might say so myself are pretty darn well dressed little kids, and you know what. I only buy about 20% of their clothing new. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is because of where we live. We live in ~~the middle of nowhere~~ a lovely city nestled in north central BC. Unfortunately we do not have fun stores like GAP, Old Navy, Gymboree, TCP and H&M. And forget about getting Naartjie without having to have it shipped. Here our options are, Please Mum (Gymboree prices, NOT Gymboree quality), Sears, Zellers (like Target) and Walmart. We do travel to "the city" 2-4 times a year, and then I get to stock up on new clothes for the kids, but really, here in Podunk the only place I can get the brand names I love at affordable prices is to shop the VV Boutique. VV Boutique, that's my way of making Value Village sound all fancy. Oh and sometimes I venture into ~~The Stupidstore~~ The Superstore and pick up Joe Fresh Style which I absolutely ADORE, their new spring stuff is out now too, a MUST see. ADORABLE. The stuff is durable too. My dad gave me some $$ in the fall and I bought a bunch of stuff there for both kids, and I am impressed at how well it has worn and washed. I give Joe Fresh two thumbs up..... *Useless information alert* The designer for Joe Fresh used to be the lead man for Club Monaco

Anyway.....today.....back to today. Today wasn't about shopping for the kids, although I did find a few great things for them.....today was about ME. I dropped Girl off at preschool this morning.....Boy should have gone too, but he is having a hard time with me working so many late nights that he has been a little resistant to leaving me lately, and I have been giving in, he is after all my baby, my Momma's boy. So I drop Girl off and after a stop at Starbucks for a Double tall, Soy, Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte for me, and a Vanilla steamed Soy for Boy, we are off to the VV Boutique. Upon entering, I walk down to housewares, I'm looking for an espresso machine. I really just want the steam want, my kids love steamed soy/milk and apple juice in the evenings, it is comforting. They don't have an espresso machine, but they do have THIS

Yay for me, it was only $9.99. Double yay for my Mom, now she doesn't have to feel guilty every time she looks at HER pasta roller. The one I have been begging for for 2 years. The one that I don't think she has used in more than 2 years. I mostly want one for doing perogie dough. Mmmmm homemade perogies. At $9.99 I couldn't say no.

Then I still had a few minutes to spare before heading back to the school to pick up Girl, so I thought I would take a quick stop at Sally Ann to see what they might have. THEY had an espresso maker but priced at $60 I'm thinking they must be smoking something good. It was nothing special, in fact it was probably only $65 new. But oh my I did find this.

This my friends is Carnival Glass. To be more precise, the punch set is Indiana Glass, Harvest Grape pattern and this style was done in the 70's and is considered to be modern Carnival glass. You see, through my entire life I remember 2 collections in our house. My mother collected Carnival Glass, and Pinwheel Crystal. Over the years I have amassed myself a nice collection of Pinwheel, and am ever so slowly working on the carnival glass, hey I'm only 31, I have a lot of collecting left ahead of me. Here's the best part. The bowl and 12 mugs plus the ladle in pristine condition cost me $12.50. Now it's current value is probably in the $50 - $75 range, so not a huge deal if I were planning to sell it, but to add to my collection that is a screaming deal. I saw it on the shelf, and could hardly contain myself. It took everything in me not to squeal with glee as I slowly walked it up to the register and said "I'll be taking this, but I am going to look around some more" after finding a few more bargains, and ringing in a total of $15 and change, I walked to my car mumbling under my breath "START THE CAR......STAAAARRRRTTTT THE CARRRRRRRR"

Music

2008-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

OK, originally I was going to put a different song here today. One by Sarah Mclachlan. She is one of my favourite artists. I think she is amazing. Instead, I'm feeling a bit quirky today, so I am going to share a song that is a tribute to my Child of the 80's, teenager of the 90's life!! I hope you enjoy it. Although I rarely listent o "Hair Bands" anymore, who can resist a little 90's Glam Metal!!

The Second Love of My Life

2008-01-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

Aside from my husband and children, I have another love in my life. I LOVE to sew and craft....well, I love to sew, and I love crafts that involve sewing. After the birth of my second child, I sold Hubb's Pool table and Air Hockey table, and moved into what happens to be the largest room in our house. This is my escape, my sanctuary, the room that no one but I am allowed to enter. It is what I refer to as my STUDIO......it's really just a room in the basement but it is great. Hubbs removed the dim overhead hanging lamps that were used for playing pool, and installed a couple of great bright fluorescent lights, all the better to see with :o).

Here is my baby

From there the addiction grew, and grew and grew. I have sewn on and off for most of my adult life and even a bit in my childhood. After my daughter was born, I got a sewing machine for Christmas, that was when the bug bit me hard. Moving into the big room downstairs made it even worse. Since the sewing machine, there has been the purchase of a serger, another BETTER sewing machine, and an embroidery machine (which I've had over a year now and haven't really had the chance to use yet). Not to mention the thousands, yes you are reading that correct, thousands of meters of fabric that I have accumulated in the past few years. It is a sad addiction I tell you.

I haven't really been sewing for the past 8 months....OK, I haven't been sewing at all, and I hate it. With the kids starting mornings at school this year it really cut into my sewing time. I used to sew late at night while everyone was asleep, but now we have to be up super early for school, so my sanity can't afford those late nights. I also went back to work in November after being home for almost 5 years, that too cuts into my sewing time. But that's okay. I am eagerly looking forward to summer break so I can sew again, as well as the decision to home school my kids will allow me to sew again too. Plus Girl is almost old enough to start sewing too, I am so looking forward to teaching her how to do something I love so much.

I've made about 150 unique outfits in the past 3 years, here are just a few of my favourites.

It Was Only A Matter Of Time...

2008-01-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

I knew this was going to happen. This is precicely the reason I did not want to go back to work. I am furious. Hubbs goes hunting this weekend again, leaving me home to work and care for the kids alone (I know millions of single parents do it, but I am NOT a single parent) Here's the catch though. He arranged for a sitter (his mom god bless her) for Saturday and Sunday, but neglected to think about Monday (when his mom is unavailable). I work from 1:30 - 9:30 on Monday and he knew this.....He FREAKING KNEW THIS. So now, here I am, scrambling for a sitter.

I have more to say, but I don't know who reads my blog so I don't want to say too much and then end up in the shit house.

You ever feel really taken advantage of? Like a free ride for someone when they need it, but when you are in a real bind, they totally fucking bail on you? That is my life. I can count on 2 people in my life. Myself and 999 times in 1000 my husband. FUCK

TOYS

2008-01-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

For the love of my sanity people.......STOP BUYING MY CHILDREN TOYS.

I cleaned and sorted the toy bins in the playroom today. That's enough to send the most sane person over the edge. Forget about those of us who are already "tweaked"

Have a great weekend. I'm off to seek a double tall, Crown and Diet with a twist of lime. Wine ain't gonna cut it tonight, I need the good stuff.

Manamana

2008-01-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

I can't help but smile when I see this, so here's your smile for the day, and may this song penetrate your head and drive you crazy for the next week!!!!

Hugs and smiles to all of you.

More Oddities???

2008-01-14T00:13:00.000-08:00

I know....who'd have thunk it right? LOL

1) The DISHWASHER. My dishwasher must be loaded a specific way, everything belongs in a specific place. It is a science, and by my system I can get at least double the dishes in. I've been known to unload and reload other people's dishwashers too. In fact I have one family member who doesn't even bother to load the dishwasher when I come to visit becuase she knows I'm going to take everything out and reload it anyway.

1b) I'm giving this one a subcategory because I think it is common enough that it isn't strange at all. TP must go over and yes, I WILL flip it at someone elses house if the TP is going under. I think this is why Hubbs just leaves the TP on the counter.

2) Now this one is real strange. When I buy a magazine, newspaper or pick up anything off of a pile or stack, I never take the top or front copy. Usually I won't take the second copy back either. I usually go about 5 or 6 down the pile and take one of those papers. I don't really know when I started doing it, but I do know it was subconcious at first, and now it is habitual

3) Buttering bread. When I butter a slice of bread I have to take the butter right out to the crust, it must cover the entire slice of bread. Mustard can only go on the buttered side of the sandwich and mayo on the unbuttered side. Mayo and mustard must also cover the entire slice. I always do mayo first then mustard because I can't stand if there is mustard in on the mayo side of the bread and vice versa. I am like this when I make PB&J sammies for the kids too, which makes it even more strange since I end up putting the 2 pieces together and the PB&J get totally mixed together anyway. Cheese must go on the mustard side of the sandwich not the mayo side. Strangely Hubbs is the exact opposite on the cheese thing. He likes his on the Mayo side, he claims the mustard is acidic and makes the cheese go soggy. LOL.

There, now that you've had your laugh for the morning. I'm off. Toodles.

My Kids

2008-01-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

I really think I got lucky with my kids. I have two incredibly fantastic, enjoyable, polite, well behaved, well mannered children and I can't stand being away from them for long.

I am consistently reminded of this when we are out in public. Yesterday Hubbs and I took the kids to McDonalds. There is one here that has a great play center....clean, NOT stinky and it is huge. It was pretty quiet, but man some people's kids. I am always amazed at what some parents consider acceptable behavior. One family had a boy, 4 years old and he was bullying both of my children. Hubbs firmly told the boy to stop his behavior. The kids mother was watching and doing nothing, so my husband asked the boy to stop. Finally he did after being asked firmly by my husband 3 times while the child's mother looked on. The second time he was not letting my daughter on the play equipment, every time she would try another entrance he would run and block her. The other parents found this amusing, I found it disturbing. My husband once again firmly told the boy to let her (our daughter) go by. Again it took 3 times of asking while this time BOTH parents watched their son's behavior. Suddenly the boys father told my husband to stop disciplining their child (at the same time the wife suddenly pipes up, now that her husband is back in the room, while she just watched the behavior previously), then Hubbs goes on to say if they would teach their child appropriate behavior or deal with their son themselves he wouldn't have to speak to him. Then they go on to use the excuse "he's only 4" I flipping HATE when people say that. Oh....johnny is only 4, he doesn't know better, it is right about this time that I am envisioning a bar style brawl between dad's at the McDonald's Playplace....oy oy oy. My children are 3 and 4 and they DO know better. They might try to pull this kind of behavior and that is fine, but when they are told to stop it they need be asked one time and they listen. Little Johnny might only be 4 today but what happens when he is 11 and still pulling this crap. Not cool in my books. Kids like this are part of what makes me want to homeschool.

Shortly after that my daughter comes running out of the play area to tattle on her brother "mommy....."Brother" said SHOT, like he shot us" well, I HATE shooting games. I don't let my kids pretend to shoot and kill each other, it makes my skin crawl. So I talk to Boy. Reaffirm to him that this kind of game and manner of speech is inappropriate, he says sorry and that is the end of it. Game over not to be heard again. Then little Johhny's sister comes running out to tattle on her 4 year old brother......"mommy, daddy, Johnny said the "F" word". Oy Oy Oy. Now I makes no claims that I am a saint, I can swear like a trucker, but, BUT, I don't swear in front of my kids. In fact about the worst thing I might say is "son of a dill pickle sandwich" (okay, maybe they have heard "crap" from me before, cause Girl said it the other day, as in our dog smelled like crap) So I am not sure what disturbed me more, that Johnny said the "F" word, that Johnny knew what the "F" word was, or that Johnny hears the "F" word often enough to symbolically CALL it the "F" word. KWIM? If you asked my kids what the "F" word was they would either say "I dunno" or just choose any word beginning with F....Frog, Friday, French Fry, whatever. They certainly do not know what THE "F" word is.

Sometimes I think my kids can be rotten little heathens, then I just remember that my idea of acceptable behavior is so much different than what many parents deem to be acceptable behavior. It seems that a lot of other parents let so much more slide than I ever would, my children really ARE good kids and such a delight to be around most of the time. I wouldn't trade them for the world, even on their bad days.

Help Me Please

2008-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

So, in my quest to be a great blogger, I feel like something is missing. I need a cool awesome header. Heck, I need a great template too, but at this point I'll just settle for a fun header. I'm super creative......just not digitally creative. Would anyone like to make a header for me? Something fun that reflects my personality? Please?? I am begging.

Idiosyncrasies , Quirks Plain Old Oddness

2008-01-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

Funny that my friend Shay tagged me today. I was planning on doing a post about this anyway. In accordance to the rules of the game I am supposed to share 7 weird things about myself and then tag 7 friends. For the record it is unlikely that I will stop at just seven.

So here it goes...... I really think I am a pretty normal person..... I mean, what IS "Normal"? We all have our quirks, our idiosyncrasies and things that we are borderline obsessive over. I think that deep down everyone is OCD in some way. The difference is that some people do a better job of covering it up than others do. For instance.....

1) I am a counter. I count everything whether it is relevant to the situation or not. If I am cutting veggies, or hot dogs. Running up a flight of steps, laying in the dentists chair starring at ceiling tiles.....I count. I also instantly forget the number I counted to.

2) I am strange about pens. I like medium point stick pens WITH A LID. I hate click pens no matter what the point. Ink flow is very important too. I don't care what the pen itself looks like as long as it meets the criteria above and I can put the cap on the end and it has great smooth inkflow.

3) I NEVER step out of the shower wet. I always have to dry the lower part of my body, especially my feet before stepping onto the bath mat. There is nothing worse than a wet bathmat. It makes me absolutely nutty.

4) I eat my burgers upside down. Bottom bun on the top, top bun on the bottom. I don't make them this way, but when I pick them up to eat them they get flipped. I've tried to eat them the other way around and it feels funny. Can't do it.

5) I like my kitchen sink to be shiney. I will wash, dry and then spray it lightly with oil. It looks so pretty and I hate it when someone gets it wet.

6) I am one of those who hates their food to touch. Only I also eat only one thing at a time. For instance, I will eat the veggies, then the potatoes, then the meat. I will never take one bite of veggies, then a bite of meat etc... etc... Heaven forbid my corn accidentally get mixed with the mashed potatoes. Then I won't eat them at all. I must admit I have gotten better about this one since having kids. I realized that if I wanted to get at least half a meal down and have any sort of variety, that I had to bend on this one. Otherwise I would get as far as my veggies and that would be it. I still don't like my foods getting mixed together though.

7) I won't get into and unmade bed. I don't always make my bed as soon as I get up (but I do most of the time), but I will strip it right down to the sheets and re-make it before I will sleep in it. If it doesn't get done in the morning or afternoon (a rarity) I will do it right before going to bed.

8) I too am a coffee snob. I refuse to drink coffee at a restaurant and H.E.L.L. will have to be frozen before I would buy coffee from a gas station. I'd have to be REALLY desperate.

9) I LOVE making lists. I make lists for everything. I also love buying new notebooks. I rarely get completely through one before I start using a new one. There is nothing better than a fresh new notebook to start a new list in.

10) I like things in lines. My closet hangs in a color gradient from short sleeves to long inside of each color family.

There really are SO many more. But I can't think of them off of the top of my head. Really, that's a lot of pressure, but I'll be sure to share them as I remember. Plus I have laundry to fold and I have to get ready for work.

Oh, but before I forget, here are the people I am tagging.

Heather we went to highschool together. Her blog is FANTASTIC, you have to read it. I just found it a few days ago.

Amanda a BFF who at this point, could probably use to take a few minutes to humor herself these days.

Daria I just love Daria. And as if she isn't busy enough, I have to go and tag her.

Sorry I don't have anymore. I'm pretty new to blogging and I don't read too many blogs and don't want to tag people who I don't really know well.

As Seen On a Magnet

2008-01-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

My family is one big circus.....without the tent.

Hmm, that is strange, I don't ever remember having magnets printed.

I am a list making, chart using freak of nature

2008-01-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

In my quest to learn more about Homeschooling, I came across this website. I think I might have died and gone to heaven. Check it out!!!!

Chart Jungle

School's starting, which way to the classroom?

2008-01-08T11:33:00.001-08:00

My oldest child....Girl, starts kindergarten this fall. Hubbs and I are very torn when it comes to choosing which direction we will go when it comes to schooling for our children. When I was pregnant with Girl, I expressed to my husband my interest in homeschooling, he pretty much shot me down mid sentence and from there on it was brought up only a couple more times and very casually.

Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about mainstream public schools......they are great for so many people but I just don't feel like they will be a good fit for MY family. I'm positive that many amazing people have come out of the public school system. Heck I went to public school. I just think I have so much to offer my children, and I want to teach them.

I currently have my children in the Montessori program and although the school is a public school it is not mainstream. Far from it in fact. At the time that I enrolled them it was the happy medium between mainstream public school and home school. Granted my kids are only in pre-school at this time, we still wanted to give it a try. I can't say enough good things about this program. It fosters a child's natural desire to learn and both Girl and Boy have gained so much from participating in this program.

This spring during a weekend trip to Edmonton Hubbs and I were discussing school. He made a comment about one of the guys that used to work at his shop. How his wife is a homeschooler and how much their children have benefited from this. Also that the amount of time actually spent on school work each day is so much less than in a public school. See this is what I have been trying to tell Hubbs for nearly 5 years now. He finally gets what I am trying to say and understands that it is a viable option. One of my biggest gripes about the school system is that children spend a large amount of their time either waiting for help, or waiting for the rest of the class to settle so that the teacher can give a lesson. This is wasted time. Time that could be spent much more constructively in my opinion. This is not the fault of the school or the system, I really think that they try to do the best that they can. I also think that this problem is what squelches the child's natural desire to learn and makes kids lose their desire to go to school, and it takes the enjoyment out of school.

So come the last week of February of this year we have a decision to make. There are 3 options for us. 1) The public school that is in our Catchment area......the kids can take the bus I can work mornings and be home by the time they get off the bus in the afternoon. 2) Continue with the Montessori program and keep them in the school that they are already in.......I have to drive them 25-30min each way every day and would not be able to work during the day most of the time, so I would have to continue working evenings and would not see my kids much at all. and Finally option number 3) Homeschool.......I can continue to work evenings as we won't need to have a hard and fast time to be out of bed and ready for the day.....this will be flexible. I can spend the days with my kids and teach them MY way.

Option #1 is pretty much eliminated, so really it is just between option 2 and 3. The MAIN reason that I hesitate to homeschool is the local homeschool network. It is extremely faith based. I'm talking Militant jumper wearing mothers with 7 jumper wearing kids. Okay Okay, there is nothing wrong with being faith based. I could use more of it and I am the first to say it. My kids have never been inside a church and it embarrasses me to admit it. The last time I set foot in a church was to attend a wedding, before that it was for my own wedding. Before that..........more years than I can count. So as much as I want to do this......I know I'm going to be REALLLLLLY out of place with this group. I have a friend/acquaintance who is homeschooling this year so that she can travel with her 4 girls, and she said it was a bit awkward attending the bi-weekly (or is it monthly, I can't remember) She once asked the question "how will I know that my children are learning what they need to learn" she was of course expecting an answer based on logistics that could be referenced back to something. The response she recieved was "god will guide you" and while I think that is all fine and dandy, it didn't really answer her question.

I think my saving grace, if I choose to take the homeschool path, will be that I have a few online friends who homeschool who are like me. Or more like me than like the wonderful (and I mean that honestly) mothers that I speak of in the above paragraph. Also another one of the mom's at Kid's preschool is considering homeschooling as well, and she is friends with the mom who is homeschooling due to travel this year. Maybe we can form our own little group???

Anyway. Words of advice anyone? I'm really torn about which way to go. Okay, I'm not really TORN, just scared to do what I want to do and what I feel like is the best choice for my family. When I bring it up to friends I get all kinds of comments. "Why would you do that to your kids", "but you're not one of THOSE kinds of people", "think about the social repercussions", I also get the odd "that is so great", but those really are few and far between. As for the social repercussions......I just tell people that they are non-existent. My kids have an active social life and are involved in other programs where they get to be around other children. They have Tae Kwondo, Swimming lessons, there will be lacrosse and soccer. Brownies, scouts, etc... They will have many opportunities to socialize and connect with other children. About the only thing that does worry me is that they may miss out on the chance to connect and make a "best friend"

I could go on for ever about this, but I will stop here for now. Thanks for listening.

Random Inconvenience...............

2008-01-03T00:41:00.000-08:00

I will preface this with I LOVE my husband, I really really really do. 12 years in and I still want to be around him, I still miss him when he is away, and I still look forward to growing old with him... ok, well the last part is sort of a lie since he will grow old much earlier than I will (we're 9 years apart). But I love him like crazy. I started this post just after Christmas, becuase I really wanted to share this topic at a later date and I didn't want to forget about it.

My husband has this habit, I like to call it "Random Inconvenience" He chooses to do the most obscure things at the most inconvenient times. We'll be due to have 30 guests over for a BBQ in a half hour and he will decide it is now time to clean the kitchen pantry closet. You know, the one you keep the doors closed on and try to forget about? And by "clean" I mean take everything out and make a nice pile, and expect ME to figure out what to do with it, without it back in the closet it was removed from.

Most recently was just before Christmas. On Dec 23rd I had to work an opening shift. That means I am out of bed shortly after 4am to be at work for 5:30am. Thankfully I am off at noon, so I come home, thinking I could grab a few hours of sleep before we have to go to a Christmas gathering in the evening. As I am laying in bed, my bedroom door open, I hear my husband start clamoring around in my son's bedroom. Knowing that whatever it is, it can't be good, I keep my head buried in the blankets for as long as possible. Eventually however, I must face the inevitable, I open my eyes and peek out, to see him cleaning out the closet in the Boy's bedroom. Why this was necessary at 1:30pm on Dec 23rd I will never know. What I do know, is that Act's of Random Inconvenience always mean more work for me. I roll over trying to ignore the entire situation, but of course, now I can't sleep becuase all I can think about is the growing mound of stuff that was doing just fine in the closet is now sitting in the hallway....... The mound that I will have to clean up. WHY??? WHY??? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??? I simply do not understand it. Boy only uses a small portion of the closet, the rest of it was storing items that had no other home. They weren't hurting anyone by being in there so I'm not sure why it was important that it be cleaned at that very moment. I'm sure I will never know.

Then on Dec 24th, a day that DH typically has off from work, he ended up having to go to work. He got home at 2:00pm and said that he had a few last minute things to do, and didn't want to take the kids. I responded that it was fine, but I also had a few things to do and didn't want to drag the kids with me, so could he make it quick so I would have time to go as well, as there is only 3 hours left before the stores close. By the time 3:30pm rolled around I just couldn't wait any longer and decided that things had to get done, and I would have to take the kids with me. Hubbs didn't take his cell phone so I couldn't call him and nag him to get home (smart man). So I packed up my 3 and 4 year old and dragged them to the mall on what has to be my least favourite shopping day of the year. In their defense they were absolutely perfect and so tolerant of my rushing them and carting them from store to store. I love my children. Anyway, I get home at about 4:45 to see Hubbs arrived a mere couple of moments ahead of me (WTF, he knew I had shopping to do and he gets home less than 20 min before the stores close) I get out of my car, unload the kids and see that Hubbs is unloading his truck........ his truck is full of GROCERIES. First of all...... Hubbs doesn't do the grocery shopping, I do, second of all, what is ABSOLUTELY necessary to spend $600 on groceries on Christmas Eve when we;d be eating out of the house for the next night, and Hubbs was leaving on a 3-4 day hunting trip on Boxing day? Could it NOT have waited for a few days? So here I was, at 5pm on Christmas Eve, separating Costco packs of Chicken legs and thighs, pork chops and steaks. Vacuum Sealing them for freshness and re-organizing my already full deep freeze to try and find room for all this crap. Not to mention he bought a whole bunch of stuff that I was nowhere near needing again (20lbs of flour, 20lbs of sugar which I had just bought 2 weeks prior) and bought nothing I did need...... fabric softener, dishwasher detergent. I also shop with a list and don't stray at all. Hubbs, well, there is a reason I don't send him shopping. He'll come home with a case of Pogo Dogs, a bag of chicken wings, 4lbs of cheese, a case of corn and a bag of Tater Tots and expect me to cook for a month. He just has no clue. So yeah, the freezer, although it is nicely stocked with a variety of meat, also has a case of Pogo Dogs, 2 bags of Honey Garlic Wings, a Case of Mini Pizzas, and random Hungry Man dinners. Oh and Chicken Nuggets...... Really, what ARE chicken nuggets. I know the answer, but still have to ask the question.

Santa Was Good.....Very Good

2007-12-28T00:28:00.002-08:00

So I usually have a tough time with Christmas.

Partly becuase I hate all the crap my kids get. I hate all the little toys I end up stepping on and breaking.

Partly becuase since we've been married Hubbs and I haven't exchanged gifts,

But mostly becuase the part of me I dislike most rears it's ugly head.....the selfish me. When I shop for people, I tend to take the time to make a gift personal. I really like to think about what the recipient would like to receive. I'm not really a rush out and grab just anything kind of person and sometimes I feel like I get the shaft in return while everyone else gets spoiled. I watch everyone else open great gifts, EXPENSIVE gifts, and the same people that bought others the GREAT gifts (and the same people I bought great gifts FOR), get me something that is absolutely NOT me becuase they had to get me the "token gift" Really, I'm not hard to buy for. a small GC to Starbucks or Fabricland....even just $10 is better than some ugly fleece vest that is just going to get donated in a week, or half used bottle of perfume and chipped thrift store Santa & Mrs Clause mug set.

Yes, I really received the latter 2 items once, ironically the mug set has become the butt of the yearly family gift exchange. I received it as part of an office gift exchange in which I gave my giftee an amazing plate of homebaked goodies on a gorgeous tray. In return I got a half used bottle of Lilly of the Valley perfume (I know you know what perfume I am talking about, every grandmother bathed in it) and 2 chipped, half painted Santa and Mrs Clause Mugs. My neighbours, whom I consider family, run the facility in which the "office party" was held that year. After the party I went into the back room with my gift and b*tched to my neighbour about how tacky it was and how peeved I was that I put so much into the gift I gave only to get this tacky tasteless (not to mention cheap) gift in return. I tossed the entire lot in the trash. Fast Forward to Christmas Eve. We spend it at the Neighbour's house every year. We do a Pollyann's style gift exchange....you know the kind where you can steal the gift of someone if you want, or choose and unwrapped gift from the pile. Well unbeknownst to me, friendly neighbour fished the mugs out of the trash and wrapped them and put them in the gift exchange. The part that made the night better was that I actually CHOSE the mugs out of the pile of gifts. It couldn't have gone any better (for the neighbour) if they chose and handed me the gift themselves. So their I am, in front of 30+ people and I unwrap these STUPID horrible mugs...ha ha, jokes on me. At least at the end of the game they had the decency to add a nice GC to the package. The following year I re-wrapped the mugs and put them back in the gift exchange, and again, at the end of the exchange the person who ended up with the mugs got a nice GC to somewhere. Now for the past 8 years whomever ends up with the mugs, brings them back the following year with a GC given to the mug holder at the end of the game. It is the best part of the gift exchange and has become a true "family tradition".

Anyway, I digress. This year was fantastic. One of the best years ever. For as long as I can remember I have been asking for a piece of jewelery by this First Nations Carver. He is the cousin of my SIL. I had asked for so many years and never received, so a few years ago I just stopped asking. Since we've been married Hubbs and I really haven't exchanged gifts. We have bought each other something that was needed and would have to be purchased anyway regardless of the fact that it was Christmas. This year was different though and it was great. All I had asked for was Ugg Boots so I really had no idea what I was getting, as Uggs are pretty hard to come by around here, so I wasn't surprised when I didn't get them under the tree. One store has them but not in the color I wanted. So on Christmas morning I begin to open presents and the first gift I opened was the most beautiful ring carved by the artist above. It is an eagle and just SO beautiful. I'll share a picture one day soon. Then each of my kids got me a nice Columbia Fleece hoodie which is awesome becuase I can wear out a good fleece fairly quickly, they are a staple in the "Soccer Mom" fall/winter wardrobe. My son also chose a pair of Crocs Mammoths which are TO DIE FOR comfy, unfortunately they need to be exchanged for the correct size, and my daughter chose a pink knitted touque for me. How sweet. The nice topper was a Christmas Card from my husband....first one ever....but this one was stuffed with casholla, the best gift ever and a note to have fun shopping on Boxing Day. (Boxing Day shopping in the stores was a complete bust, but I did order my Uggs online and ended up with a new iPod Nano as well. So that was a nice thing). When we got to my MIL's house, there was an awesome new Camera bag, thank goodness now I can retire my old one which is held together with Duct Tape (SO unprofessional looking on a session), and my MIL got me an awesome pair of Shearling Slippers and TWO pair of flannel PJ's from LaSenza. Gosh I sure felt like a lucky girl on Christmas Day. I also received a Magic Bullet. It looks pretty neat.....but it has a lot of pieces. It got put on a shelf in the closet and will remain in the box for now. I'm sure we'll use it at some point, cause it DOES look pretty cool. I just don't have much use for it right now.

So anyway. That's it for today. It was all about ME today. I hope that's okay.

In The Spirit of Boxing Day Shopping

2007-12-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

This is only like THE BEST commercial EVER.

Merry HO HO

2007-12-24T15:16:00.001-08:00

Have a great Christmas everyone. Hug your kids just a little bit tighter tonight, and watch them as they revel in all the glory that is Christmas tomorrow.

I'll be back with a new entry soon. I have one brewing in my mind as I type this.

Do You Listen?

2007-12-21T16:07:00.001-08:00

So I'm posting all this music.....I love music. Do y'all even listen or do you just skip over it in search of a blog with more substance.

I think that a lot of the time when I am not sure what to post, I choose a song that describes how I am feeling or what kind of mood I am in that day. I guess I don't really care if you listen to it, but it's a good way to "get to know me" if you want.

I see the hit counter over there <------ going up, so I know you are coming here, I just don't know if you're staying :o)

So here is today's song. I love Avril Lavigne, I have since she first showed up on the scene. I like her teeny bopper pop stuff, but I really LOVE listening to her A Capella and unplugged. This following song is mostly unplugged. She has such a melodic voice and I think it gets hidden in her pop-py stuff. I like this song.

Drinks and Appies and Good Friends part II

2007-12-20T22:49:00.001-08:00

*preface.....I sound kinda like a cheeseball here*

I had a great night tonight. I went out for a few bevvies and yummy appies with a great friend and listened to her while she dumped her shitty life on me. Really, it's okay, I call it Therapy, and it always helps, and no matter how shitty things are for her, I know she'd do the same for me in a heartbeat.....at least I think she would ;o) No, I know she would.

She's one of those people who ALWAYS has something going on in her life. ALWAYS. No matter what. We've been friends a couple of years now and seriously....never a dull moment. Not always in a good way either...sorry, I wish it wasn't true.

It's one of those friendships that's really easy. We clicked the first time we met and we are so much alike you would think we were sisters.....no word of a lie. We have worked at the same places at different times, taken the same courses and when we were 10ish we were at the same Bon Jovi Concert at BC Place, but we'd never met. don't feel it necessary to call before I go over, I can just do the "pop in" and she doesn't hate me for it (probably because her house is always perfect) god help me if someone does the pop in on me I want to throw up. My house isn't gross or anything, but there is usually stuff everywhere. It's clean under the stuff though.

We also know a lot of the same people so it was funny that we didn't meet sooner.......anyway. I just gotta say.....if I ever had a sister I'd wish she was it. I think we'll be friends forever. LOL.

You just gotta remember.......at least your day wasn't this bad. Oh wait.....no.....D cleaned that mess up.

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v82/113/113/695225539/n695225539_192952_4940.jpg

Good Riddance???

2007-12-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

Most people don't know this song is actually titled Good Riddance, not The Time of Your Life. It is a breakup song. Billie Joe Armstrong wrote this song about a girlfriend who was moving away. He said "You try to be objective, but I couldn't completely, so that's why I named it Good Riddance"

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. It easily is in my top five favourite songs ever. Every single time I hear it it makes me think of Hubbs. To say he lives life on the edge would be an understatement. Everything he does is extreme. He never expected to live until he was 40 and here we are. He loves snowmobiling, it is his passion, it is the blood that runs through his veins. He likes to take chances and live on the edge. No one would ever say that Hubbs doesn't get the most out of life. He truly lives with no regrets. This song represents him perfectly

For those who don't know the lyrics, here they are.

"Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)"

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Never Enough Time

2007-12-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

Seriously......I either need to constantly suffice on 2.5 hours of sleep, add 6 hours to the day or clone myself. Take your pick. I don't care what choice is made, but I need more time to get sh!t done. This 24 hours in a day carp is B.S.

I suck at multitasking in my personal life at the best of times (at work...no problem), forget about it altogether at the times when it is absolutely necessary......just can't do it.

Can you get a caffeine drip??

Not Much Sleep and a Busy Weekend

2007-12-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a crazy weekend. I worked all weekend, and my kids stayed up WAY past their bedtimes...WAY past. We skipped school today, after such a busy weekend I didn't have the heart to wake them for school this morning. Instead I let them sleep and catch up on all that they missed over the weekend.

Pet Peeves. Do you have pet peeves? Yesterday I had to run into Save On to grab ONE thing. Yes one single item. I get to the checkouts, they are jam packed. I see an express checkout with a short line so I run up to it. The sign on the checkout CLEARLY says 15 items or less, and the lady in front of me is unloading what CLEARLY appears to be about $400 worth of groceries. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? That's enough to ruin my day to be honest. Why do people do that? Do they think they are above waiting in the regular checkout line like all the other people with over 15 items? Now if you had 16 or even 17 items, I can see sneaking into the express lane, but this lady had a heaping freaking cart of groceries.

OH, and here's another. So our Walmart is open 24 hours right now, so I thought that I would take advantage of that and after work on Saturday night I would go in and pretty much get my Christmas Shopping finished. All is good, I like Walmart being open all night. By the time I get my shopping done and get to the checkout, there is a little line, no biggie (but why they only have one cashier on is beyond me as it was pretty busy) anyway, it is 2:30am when I get to the checkout, in the line in front of me was a woman and her sister? and her 2 KIDS. Kids at Walmart at 2:30am, that is not right. I'm not talking about teenagers, or babies.....babies I could understand, toss them in the carseat and they sleep anywhere, these were probably 5 and 7 year old kids. Boys and absolutely NO manners. Rude Rude Rude and the mother couldn't care less. Then by the time I checked out and was walking out to my car another woman was walking in at about 2:45am WITH A KID probably about 6 years old. What is wrong with these people? Kids that age should have been in bed HOURS ago, I can't believe it!! Not to mention when I got to Walmart at about 12:30am there were badly behaved children everywhere. I could steryotype here but I won't. All of these kids appeared to be of the same nationality......which for the record does happen to be the same nationality as my own husband and children, but certain groups these people seem to not care about bedtimes, or boundaries with their children and it makes me so mad, the kids are the ones who will pay for it in the end by ending up just like their parents.

There, I ranted and it felt good.

And Another Song

2007-12-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

I love music. This was mine and Hubbs first dance song at our wedding. It's been "our song" since about 10 months after we started dating. I had moved to Penticton, he was still living in Smithers. On the Labour Day weekend I was working at my store (I was a retail manager at the time). I was doing some paperwork and felt the need to look up and there was Hubbs standing in the entrance of the store. I screamed like only a 20 year old can scream and ran up to him. He had driven 12 hours just to spend a couple of days with me. That night we had supper at Salty's......if you are ever in Penticton Salty's is THE BOMB. It's right on Lakeshore Drive. After dinner we were cruising in his Corvette with the T-roof off and this song blasting on the kick ass stereo. Ever since then it has been "Our Song"

Don't pay too much attention to the video part, there weren't many options for this song on You Tube.

I am now a Coffee Snob

2007-12-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

It's official, working at Starbucks has turned me into a coffee snob.

When you first start you hear stories about Partners' orders (they call us partners not employees becuase we all own shares in the company). I have become one of those. Well, my order isn't TOO bad. Today it was a Triple Tall, 4 pump Vanilla, Extra Hot, Latte. The snobby part is that now I can tell the difference between fresh poured espresso shots and ones that have sat for over 10 seconds. Once a shot of espresso has been poured it is only good for 10 seconds. Seriously.....who'd have thought. And just in case you don't believe it, part of the Barista training entails that you taste fresh poured espresso and also a shot that has sat for over 10 seconds. HUGE difference. Espresso that has expired is really gross.

Anyway, back on topic. Today I ordered my drink and I watched the Barista prepare it and I knew that she had let the shots sit too long, and when she handed it off to me and I tasted it HOLYFREAKINGCRAP was it gross. It was my first bad latte. yuck yuck yuck. I had to ask her to re-make it for me.

On the upside, the second one she made was really good.

OK, now that I am hopped up on Espresso, I have to clean house.

Now, About Those Keys

2007-12-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

I went out tonight (more about that tomorrow). While I was gone DH was kind enough to break into my car to get the spare key out.....only to find it was in the vase on the speaker by the front door.

Ooops.....my bad. Is it wrong that I laughed when he bitterly told me? I only laughed when I walked away from him.

I must explain. My husband is the kind of guy that would accidentally take my keys, and when I call to ask if he has them, he would say no....then realize he did, but instead of call and tell me he would throw them in the garbage and let me be miserable, in turn making HIM miserable. Strange logic.

He deserved everything he got.

Stuck At Home

2007-12-13T08:33:00.001-08:00

We're stuck at home today, not by choice. It has totally been "one of those weeks" but that's a whole 'nother post for another lifetime.

I'm tired, haven't slept nearly enough this week, and of course today, for once, my kids got up easily and in great moods at 7:20am. We get dressed, ready to go to school, and I can't find my keys. I've torn the house apart looking, looking, looking. Even went as far as to call Hubbs at work to see if he mistakenly grabbed them on his way out the door this morning. I mean, c'mon, I got home from work at 1:30am, dropped my crap on the kitchen table and went to bed. How far can a set of keys go in 6 hours when everyone is sleeping? After 35 minutes of my search yielding no results, I surrendered, told the kids to take off their mits, hats, boots, coats and snowpants becuase we're skipping school today.

It's now 8:36am and I have a fresh pot of Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee brewing. mmmmmmmm.

On the upside, looks like my septic is fixed......well we hope anyway. Secretly I don't think it is, but we'll find out in a few days if our tanks are full again. Hubbs told me to use lots of water today so we can see if it is running freely. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of our water problems for the winter yet, but whatever. Let it slide right? If I got worked up about everything stressful in my life I'd be a basket case.

Coffee's done brewing, kids crawled back into bed and I'm going to crab a nice warm cup of coffee and veg in front of the TV for a bit. This working till midnight stuff is kicking the crap out of me. Kids, meet your babysitter for the morning......The Treehouse Channel.

Oh.....before I forget though, we do have something to be proud of this week. My daughter, S 4 years old, got a green stripe on her white belt in Tae Kwon Do yesterday. SO Cute, and she is SO proud......and so am I. She is so precious! I don't think that there is "oficially" a green striped white belt, but they do it for the kids to give them a visual measure of their progress. It's great!!

Still No Water

2007-12-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is getting to be a bit much. I'm showering at my mother in law's house and that's a royal PITA. Hopefully tonight Hubbs will be able to find the problem. He couldn't get in there last night becuase I worked and he had no one to watch the kids. Tonight I work again, but he has some kid free time to get in there and see what's going on. I think that it is a blockage between the tanks and the lagoon. The crummy part will be finding it, and I just have to hope it is less than 50ft from the house, as the snake is only 50ft long.

I hate having to pack my stuff up and shower at someone else's house. Not to mention I can't do laundry at home, nor cook because I can't do dishes. My house is DISGUSTING right now. I need my insanely neat freak best gal pal Amanda to come clean my house with me. wink wink. Wouldja?? J/K. I'd almost be willing to trade a shiny new treadmill for the help.....OK not quite. I still enjoy looking at the treadmill all nice and shiny and hardly used.

I'm sure that last bit makes no sense unless you are Amanda. LOL. Sorry 'bout that.

Well, I'm off to the Mother in Law's for a shower.....see y'all tomorrow. I won't be home till after midnight.

More Water Woes

2007-12-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Septic guy will be here to pump our tanks in a bit. I'm not sure if Hubbs has figured out what the problem is, or is we are pumping the tanks and then seeing what the prob is. Either way, the tanks are being emptied today. So that will bring us salvation for at least a short period of time.

I would hate to be a Septic Tank Pumper outer......what a shitty....literally....job.

On the upside, I can have a shower tonight.

A Wedding

2007-12-10T12:27:00.001-08:00

When my husband proposed to me I knew I never wanted a large wedding. MY idea of the perfect wedding was something very small.....just he and I on a beach somewhere hot. Afterall it's about the marriage, not the wedding. Unfortunately my husband, being from the large family that he is, wanted, in his own words, "a huge shaker". Now I would never think of a wedding as merely a shaker, but whatever. We ended up having a moderate sized wedding, about 150 in attendance. It was perfect in my eyes. I wouldn't say I poured my heard into it though. I had 1 flower girl, our 5 year old German Shepherd was our ring bearer (yes they let him in the church), I had 3 bridesmaids and I chose the worlds LONGEST song for my processional. The church was awesome and allowed us to use non-secular music, which was a bonus as I am not a fan of the traditional wedding music.

Before the ceremony in the church we had Enya, Only Time and Sarah Brightman playing in the lobby. For our signing and recessional we used Garth Brooks, Wrapped Up In You and Faith Hill, The Way You Love Me. So back to the processional. I chose the song I love more than any song in the world. All I Ask Of You, sung by Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton, my favourite combination for this song. It is from Phantom of the Opera. I saw Phantom at Q.E theater when I was 17 and have been fascinated with it ever since. Sarah Brightman is so gifted.

Here's the song. I felt bad for the guests at our wedding, it must have been agony for them to sit through such a long processional song, especially since I didn't come out until close to the end, and even after I came I wanted the song to finish playing becuase I love the ending I didn't want them to cut the song short. My cue was at about 2:56 in the song.

Mommy, Please Don't Cry....

2007-12-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

I was at Value Village on Saturday. I had a rare day where I had a little bit of time to myself in the afternoon. My kids were baking cookies with Gramma.

I enjoy going to Value Village. On this particular visit I finished up my shopping and headed to the checkout. There was a Mennonite woman and her mother in front of me. She was holding a few books in her hand, I could see the titles, they were favourites of mine when I was a child. This made me leave the lineup and head to the book section to see if I could find any interesting books in the juvenile section. I thought I would love to read some of these books again, and then read them to my children and eventually they can read them themselves and hopefully have the same love for reading as I had growing up.

As I was searching through the juvenile books, a thin hardbound book with a purple cover caught my eye. I ignored it for a moment, then glanced down. The title read Mommy, Please Don't Cry. This instantly made me think of the blog of my friend "C" whom I spoke about a few days ago. I thought of the entry in which she describes finding out that Callum had no heart beat, in the background she could hear her 4 year old daughter saying "Mommy, Please stop crying". I picked up the book and opened it to see that it is a story about a mother's loss of her child, from the perspective of that child. The story is so beautiful, I have to share it.

Mommy, please don't cry... A beautiful angel carried me here!
I met Jesus today, Mommy!
He cradled me in his big, strong arms.
He made me feel so happy inside.

Mommy, Please don't cry... Heaven is wonderful!
Did you know the streets are made of gold? Real gold!
I have lots of friends, Mommy.
We run and play, we giggle and laugh
I can't wait to show you my secret hideouts!

Mommy, please don't cry... When I fall it doesn't hurt!
There are no tears in Heaven.
I've met a man named Noah.
He told me about his big boat, all the animals, and the very first rainbow.
Have you heard of Noah, Mommy?

Mommy, please don't cry...
We have lots of parties here; with streamers and hats,
and the best chocolate cake ever!
when it's time to rest, angels tuck us in.
I never get scared Mommy, there is no darkness here!
Jesus is the light of Heaven.

Mommy, please don't cry...
The angels are always singing.
I love to sing with the angels!
You'd be proud of me, I have a pretty good voice.
I must have gotten it from you.
There is a river, Mommy, in the most beautiful garden you could ever imagine...
and a huge tree with yummy fruit.
The angels call it the tree of life.
Mommy, it's so wonderful to be alive in Heaven!

Mommy, please don't cry...
Sometimes I just like to be by myself.
That's when I think of you.
Someday, Mommy, we will hold each other tight!
Then you will cradle me in your arms, and stroke my hair...
And once again, our hearts will beat together.

Mommy, please don't cry...
I'll wait right here for you.

Here is the preface to the book, written by the author, Linda DeYamaz

"From the moment of conception, we are mothers. From the instant pregnancy is confirmed, we make plans and our dreams unfold. There is the nursery to design and wallpaper to hang; the rocker, the cradle, and the high chair to buy. We spend countless hours looking for just the right name or searching the mall for the perfect baby book. We choose the first outfit, the first toy and teddy bear. And of course, we watch in delight and amazement as our babies and our waistlines increase!

Then, in a moment's time, our world shatters like fine china. And the darkness comes.

For some, it was a phone call from the doctor. Still others were all alone. Perhaps you found your baby lifeless in the crib, a heartbeat suddenly stopped. Or manybe, like me, it was in a cold dark room that you felt life slip away as you watched a black, silent ultrasound.

Our stories are all different, the our pain is the same. We are mothers who will forever grieve the loss of our children, And yet, there is hope for our troubled souls.

It's my prayer that this simple book will satisfy your innermost longing to know that you child is wonderfully alive in Heaven. Each thought and illustration has been carefully prepared to help you feel that joy. My desire is that these words and pictures will bring a smile to your face, tears to your eyes, and great healing to your broken heart.

I will always carry a deep sorrow in the loss of my little girl. Yet in spite of this tragedy, I believe with all my heart that God sent Ali Grace to enrich my life, and to give both you and me a small glimpse of eterity.

With love,
Lina

Water

2007-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yes water. They call it the first necessity of life and that's great.

Let me preface this entry by saying how much I LOVE my house. It is small but we live in the country on 5 acres and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have always said I would rather live in a shack and have property than have a huge house in the city.

What does that have to do with water? Funny you should ask. Here's the not so great part of living in the country. No city water, no city sewer. Our water comes from awell, our "sewer system" consists of 2 large septic tanks and a huge lagoon. When you live in the country it is not a matter of IF you will have water and.or sewer problems, but a matter of WHEN. That's right people, if you live in the country it's a horrible fact of life. We had our tanks pumped in the summer of 2006. They were full and we hadn't had them pumped since we bought the house in 1999, it was high time it got done. Ever since then we seem to have had very minor issues with the water, nothing really crazy, just little annoyances now and then. I voiced my concerns regarding these small issues to my husband (whom I love dearly, I just have to keep repeating that) apparently these concerns fell on deaf ears. This past month we've been having more issues.....or the same issues just more often. Hubbs was in the laundry room the other day and hollered up to me......"HEY......did you know ALL the water is going into the sump drain?" It was at that moment I realized that Hubbs really DOES tune me out. I'd been telling him since July that periodically the water was overflowing into the sump drain....this usually happens when the tanks are close to full. I had also been telling him over the past couple of weeks it had been happening more and more often. He just doesn't listen to me. So on Friday he went and got a snake, and snaked our pipes Friday night and again Saturday. He snaked inside the house, which makes little sense to me becuase if the blockage was inside the house it would be backing up through the toilet or the tub/sink drains, not into the sump drain, but snaking inside wasn't all in vain, apparently someone flushed a shit load (no pun intended) of baby wipes so he fished those out.

After snaking inside with little improvement, he went to look at the tanks outside. Oh and did I ever mention that shortly after we bought the house we built a low deck in the back.......right over the tanks so getting to them is NOT fun. We learned this when we had to pump the tanks in 2006. So anyway, he goes outside to check the tanks.......in coveralls, in minus 30 degree weather. Poor Hubbs. Hubbs is also a big guy.....not big as in fat, but big as in stocky/solid. So he can only get his head and shoulders under the deck far enough to see what's up. Plus minus 30 = frozen ground so he can't even shovel room for himself like last time. I wasn't home, but that was when we discovered that both holding tanks are again full. Something isn't right becuase they shouldn't fill this fast. It could be one of many things, the pipe could be blocked, but snaking from the house to the lagoon would be challenging to say the least. All I can think of when I consider the possibilities is my yars (which is HUGE and beautiful) being dug up in the middle of winter. Not only does that suck royally, all I see is $$$$$$$ and it makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

Due to this current water issue we are on strict water conservation. Strict like 5 min showers. I've resorted to washing my hair in the sink, then having a quick quick quick shower. I can't do laundry at home, so I have to haul it all to the laundry mat. To be honest, I secretly like the laundrymat becuase I can get all my laundry done in one shot. I keep begging Hubbs for a second washer and dryer. He doesn't see the point. I don't expect him too though, I am not sure when the last time he did a load of laundry was. I'm also not sure what to do about dishes. I could hand wash them, but let's face it, I hate washing dishes, that's why I have a dishwasher. I am going to try the energy efficient setting and hope it uses less water.

Well, anyway.......I have to work in a couple hours and I still need to shower. Toodles for now. PS I tried to find a photo from the summer that accurately represents the size of my yard, but I couldn't find a good one. Maybe another day!!

Singing to my Babies

2007-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

I love to sing. I'm not that great, though I have been told I have a nice voice, but I still love to sing. I especially love singing to my kids and I have as long as they have been alive. I have this awesome love of music. I love everything......and I mean it for the most part. You will find me listing to R&B to folk and Indie and everything inbetween.

This is one of my favourite songs to sing to my kids.....my daughter especially loves this song. The song is called Snails and it is by Indie duo, The Format. Aside from a beautiful melody, the words tell a story. And if you are wondering who Nico is, he is the artist's dog and he ran away while making this album.

Watch the clip below......it's worth it.

Thought Pondering

2007-12-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

This song by Pink Feat. Indigo Girls really is thought provoking. I have heard it many times, but last night on my drive to work I REALLY took a moment to listen to the words. I am Canadian, but I can feel the depth of this song. This song, although picked up by a few radio stations (and subsequently pulled after less than a month on air), was never released in the USA (and I assume Canada). I first heard it on a local radio station, but it was not mentioned that this was Pink, it was said to be only the Indigo Girls. I did not realize until I went looking on You Tube that this was actually Pink with the Indigo Girls as backup, I can clearly hear now that it IS her.

I keep editing this post to add stuff. I just have to say how much I love PInk's voice, it is SO effortless. Beautiful.

OK, so last edit. I just have to say. I hate war. My dad and his parents and brothers and sister came to Canada in the early 1950's as refugees or war, my dad is the youngest of 4 boys and has 1 younger sister. They left everything in behind...family, friends, homes, and literally came with whatever fit in their pockets. They came on a ship.

My dad was born in East Germany, under the Rule of Hitler in 1941, During WWII. They built a life for themselves in Canada and literally started with nothing. Everything my dad's family had came by way of hard work. I feel like my dad and his family embody the "Canadian Dream" They came here on dreams and built a life on dreams and hard work.

I love sitting with my dad and listening to him tell stories from what he remembers about living in Germany. He tells some great stories, and some that scare me to the bone. I love to hear them, they are part of my history. I also love to hear the stories of the first years they were in Canada, when they really had nothing. These are stories of survival.

More About Me

2007-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

14) I am a Make-up Artist / Esthetician. 10 Years later and $10,000 dollars poorer I have never worked a day in my life as an Esthetician. What a waste of money.

Things You May or May Not Know About Me

2007-12-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

1) I am an only child.....well I was raised and only child. My dad has 3 other children from his first marriage but they are 10, 12 & 13 years older than I am, and never really lived with us. Growing up, life was pretty quiet.

2) I married into a large family (My Hubbs is one of 11 kids) and it is CRAZY but I love it.

3) I talk lots. Well, some say I talk lots, but I think people just really need to hear what I have to say, and I happen to have a lot to say.

4) I'm full of lots of useless information. Don't ask. I grew up reading and still love to read anything I can get my hands on. I guess it goes without saying that I've picked up some pretty obscure information over the years. Do you want to know how chocolate milk is made?? Trust me, you don't. LOL.

5) For my 5th birthday I received a full set of encyclopedias and a set of Jacques Coutsteau books. I couldn't have been happier.....I know.....SUCH a nerd. I also subscribed to Ranger Rick for more years than I can remember.

6) I was a brownie AND a Girl Guide, I completed guides and would have gone on but we lived in a REALLLLYYYYY small town (pop. 600) and Pathfinders wasn't an option.

7) I've had a paying job since I was 11 years old.....ok, so I took 4 years off and had kids, so I was gainfully employed from the time I was 11 until I was 27 years old, and I am once again gainfully employed.

8) I sew, I crochet, I bake, I cook.

9) I am an ETERNAL optimist. I have a hard time seeing anything in a negative light.

10) My mom was a librarian, so while my friends were reading Clifford the Big Red Dog, I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia, Danny The Champion of the World, and The Neverending Story.....did I mention I'm a closet nerd?

11) I take pictures and love it.

12) I had BOY SHORT hair when I was a kid......for this I have NEVER forgiven my mother (sorry mom...LOL) I now live vicariously through my own daughter who is NEVER allowed to cut her hair and I alwasy make her wear it in ponytails and french braids.

13) I love my friends. You know who you are :o)

There is so much more, but that's about it for today.

Expectations

2007-12-05T14:37:00.001-08:00

I hate expectations. I hate that it just assumed that I will do everything.

Friendship

2007-12-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

OK, so there has been something weighing on my mind a lot lately. It has to do with the friends I have as an adult. I've never really been someone who has had a lot of friends. I mean, I know a lot of people and have a lot of acquaintances but I don't have a lot of GREAT friends. I have also find it interesting how some of the people I care the most about are people I haven't met face to face, or have met only a time or two.

For instance, someone who is important to me is currently going through the most horrific journeys of her life as a mother. She lost her son at 34 weeks gestation and delivered him still. A perfect, beautiful, wonderful baby boy . As a mother myself her journey has weighed heavily on my heart. I have cried for her and her family daily, I feel this need to reach out in any way that I can no matter how big or small. I have not met "C" in real life ever, but we have chatted briefly on the phone and exchanged hundreds of emails over the past 3 years. I consider her to be a lot like me in many ways. I have been fortunate enough to watch her business grow from a mere idea into the creative wonderful thing it is today . I try to comment on her blog daily, just so she knows I am reading. Sometimes I just don't know what to say though, she is surrounded by a community of women who have walked a mile in her shoes, and I just feel so inadequate commenting at times. I hope she knows I care and that I am reading daily.....and sometimes re-reading. I can only imagine the pain that she is enduring and I know that whatever I am imagining it is, it is infinitely worse.

I have more to say on friendship, but I will save it because I just feel that it wouldn't be appropriate to post anything else to this entry.

Hugs "C" I hope you know how much you are loved and how many arms are surrounding you through this time.

Progress

2007-12-05T01:18:00.000-08:00

I got home from work this morning at 12:30am. The supper dishes were in the sink. My serving of supper was tossed in the rice pot and put in the fridge. Some wives may be peeved. I call it progress.

I just remembered....I left my Passion Tea Lemonade in the truck. If I don't get it, it will be frozen by the time I leave to take the kids to school in 5ish hours.

Supermom???

2007-12-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

My house is screaming "CLEAN ME"

The laundry is screaming "WASH ME" (and dry me and fold me)

My kids are screaming "FEED ME"

I have no desire to respond.

Way to be a Supermom.

You know, I used to wonder how June Cleaver & Harriett Nelson did it all. As I get older I realize that they probably had a 26er of Vodka stashed behind a cookbook and would just have a pull off it when no one was looking. Either that or a mighty nice stash of percoset.

I used to wonder how a mother could pack up and leave her kids.........now that I have kids of my own, I understand how someone who might not have been all that stable to begin with could be tweaked just ever so slightly and completely lose it. Thankfully I'm not (quite) there........LOL.

But I do need to find my cookbook.......

UGH......Snow and Other Complaints.

2007-12-03T11:58:00.001-08:00

OK.....so as much as I like the sunny and cold winter days, I despise the snowy cold. Today it is minus 30 something (with wind) and snowing like crazy. I hate snow. I could live without it. It makes roads difficult to navigate and it seems that every bad driver in the city decides they need to drive before the roads are plowed and they take up 3 lanes blocking all other traffic while driving no faster than 15km/hr. If you are that scared to drive in the snow......stay home or take a cab.

That felt good to get off my chest. So work is going awesome. I love it. Starbucks is so much fun. I work the late shift, so I don't get home until about midnight and that's okay. What isn't okay is my dear husbands complete inability to clean up the mess that occurs in the 6 hours I am out of the house. I come home to supper dishes all over the counter and a huge mess in the living room that is the result of tree trimming by a 3 and a 4 year old. Not to mention, when I walked into the main washroom it was very evident that the kids had a bath before going to bed. So what do I do.......I have to clean it all up before I can go to bed, who wants to wake up to a house that you can't navigate? Not me. This drives me crazy.........Sweet Hubbs is going to have to pick it up a notch at home I think, I am NOT coming home at midnight or later only to have to clean a house that was reasonably clean when I left just hours before. I mean, I make no claims that I am a superstar housekeeper, cause I'm not. My house is clean under the clutter, but there is definitely clutter around. I claim that it is due to the size of our house (small). Anyway, back on topic. When I leave for work I make sure there are no dishes in the sink, counters are cleared off, dishwasher is empty, living room picked up, bathroom(s) cleaned, front entry tidy....etc....you know the drill. All I am asking is that they maintain the level of tidiness so that I don't have to spend the wee hours of the morning re tidying. It is making me go bonkers.

Am I the only one with this problem? I sure hope not. I have some deeper thoughts to share too, but I'll need to save them for another day. No need to bore anyone for any longer than need be.

Procrastination

2007-11-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned I am the worlds best procrastinator? I love to put things off. So I didn't get any of my listings done yesterday, nor did I get any photos taken. I DID however get some edited that I had taken last week. I have SO much stuff around here though I need to get it organized and listed. Done and outta here.

This is going to be short today. I'm going to make a pot of coffee.....decaf since I grabbed the wrong bag for my markout at work this week *insert curse word*. Then I will drag the kids out of bed, feed them and we have a few errands to do. We're making home made pizza for supper tonight, then I have to go to work. SEE YA!!

A Room With a View

2007-11-29T13:36:00.002-08:00

See, now THIS is what I love about where I live. Today it is -17 degrees out and it is absolutely gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky. Here is the view from where I sit at my computer. Hmmmmm......photobucket and blogger don't get along well. I need to find a different way to post a picture. LOL.

Today I am not doing much. I stopped in to Value Village yesterday while the kids were at school. I wanted to kill some time. I found this Chico's shirt and debated on whether or not to get it. I know some Chico's sells well on eaby. I decided to leave it until I had a chance to research it a bit. I came home, looked it up and found 2 completed listings for the shirt. Both looked pretty promising, one ending just under $30 and one just under $50. I went back in the afternoon and bought the shirt. It was $6 and I will be happy if it sells for either of the prices that the other one did or anywhere in between.

This afternoon I need to get some pictures taken and some more stuff listed. I will do 10 day listings as it seems that Sunday evening endings work out the best for me. Recently I tried a couple different days of the week and wasn't overly pleased with any of them. I'll stick to what works, no need to ruin a good system.

Well, I have $300 worth of groceries sitting on the counter waiting to be put away and a mountain of laundry to wash/dry/fold. I'd better get at'er.

Me.......a Blogger???

2007-11-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm blogging. This is my third.....maybe fourth attempt at blogging, I have decided however that this time I will stick with it. I've been blog reading much more these days so I thought since I have to sign in to comment, I might as well get a bit more consistent about writing myself. So I deleted all of my half started, forgotten about blogs....except for one because I can't remember the username or password. LOL, and started up this one. It's fun, I like it, and even more I like being able to keep up with the lives of some of my girlfriends. Some I've met in real life, some not. They're still all great friends.

Do you ever have a day where all you want to do is pack a bag and leave........alone? Yeah, that was me today. I worked until midnight last night, came home, had to clean up the kitchen and fold laundry. Who knows what time the kids REALLY went to bed. When S is putting the kids to bed 8 o'clock bedtime can really mean anything, though he will never admit it. So after a reasonably good morning routine we get to school, get picked up from school and then it starts. I'm thinking it must have been something they ate at school becuase they were monsters today. I just don't get it.......80% of the time they are polite, well mannered, great children. Then once in awhile something happens and they hit, push, and bite each other and feel that they need to do the exact opposite of everything I say. We went to Starbucks for a hot chocolate today and I specifically said do not touch anything........what do they do? They walk up to something, put a finger on it and loudly say "TOUCH". How am I supposed to react to that? You can't spank your kids, all I can do is say "don't touch" to that they just repeat their previous actions except speak a little louder this time. It got so bad that we skipped Tae Kwon Do today. The girl was just being way too bad, I couldn't subject her class to her stellar behaviour. So we came home, the kids ate, and went to bed promptly at 8pm without a fuss.

I'm thinking tonight wine isn't strong enough. I need a Rye Diet Tall with a twist of Lime. Make it a double, that should take the edge off.

Oh, and I almost forgot, yes, I AM working at Starbucks. I have now become the butt of all of my friend's jokes (I am sure that isn't grammatically correct, but that's the beauty of a blog). You see, I always get teased by my friends that I spend way too much time (and money) at Starbucks. When my friends found out I got a job they all joked "now you'll have more money to spend at Starbucks.......or is that where you're working" Looks like the joke is on them. I'm working at Starbucks. That's okay. It is great, I love it, it is fast paced and the shifts go by quickly and they pump you full of all the free caffeine you could possibly ever want. Who needs sleep? Apparently not me.

The Calm Before The Storm

2007-11-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Mornings are my favourite time of day. That time between the sun rising and everyone else in the house rising. That time where I get to sit peacefully and read a book, write or browse Ebay uninterrupted. I love mornings. I told my training coaches at work that I would absolutely live and die for the opening shift. They looked at me like I have horns growing out of my head. The morning shift starts at 5am, which for me would mean being up at about 4am or maybe even a bit earlier if I wanted to do something to my hair....I got it cut a couple months ago and can't pull it into a ponytail right now, so that means I have to spend time "doing it" every day or I have some funky bead head.

My Brother in law stopped by this morning, he brought me a Double Double. Not sure what the motivation behind it was, maybe he forgot I am now working for a competitor. It was 8am though, and unfortunately I am all out of coffee and haven't bought any becuase I am waiting to get my weekly mark out of a pound of coffee from work, so I guess beggars can't be choosers, I'm sitting here blogging while drinking a Dbl Dbl. LOL.

It's nice and sunny today. These are my favourite kinds of days, actually January days are my favourite but this morning is mimicking a January day. The days when it is very cold, there is snow covering the trees and the sun is shining. About the only time you can be sure the sun is going to shine in Prince George is in January, it is the coldest month......too cold for clouds, too cold for precipitation, to cold to do anything, but it is absolutely beautiful. The sun makes the snow sparkle. I love being outside on these days even if it is minus 20. I'm kind of odd like that, I like 5am mornings, and I would rather it be minus 20 and sunny than minus 5 and snowing. You see, snow you have to shovel, drive in and it's really just a pain in the butt. When it is super cold, you just put on a couple more layers.

Anyway, I'm going to go watch TV for awhile. Today is Sunday, family day hopefully before I have to go to work this evening.

To Work, or Not to Work, That is the Question

2007-11-25T01:17:00.001-08:00

So for probably about a year now my husband has been gently encouraging me to get a job. So finally I did. I am kind of excited about it and scared at the same time. It has been almost 5 years since I have been anything besides a mom. I've started my training and let's just say it is a little more intense than I thought it would be. It's all good, except today at my training seminar there were 16 people. I was the second oldest there. This includes the coaching staff......they are all younger than I am by a fair bit. 10ish years younger than me. I feel so old.

The best part of going back to work is that my husband will get to have a bit of a taste as to what MY day feels like. I am hoping that he bucks up and actually helps out around the house, I am not sure though if it will happen. The last few nights I have worked I have come home to supper still out on the stove and dishes on the counter. There is nothing worse than getting home at 10pm and having to clean up from supper that was cooked 6 or more hours ago. I hope this doesn't continue once I am done training and will regularly be working until midnight.

My daughter said the cutest thing to me the other day. She is 4 and a half......that "and a half" is SO important at this age. Anyway, I was talking with her and telling her how I was going to get a job and I would be going to work just like Daddy does every day. She asked me where I was working......so I told her. "Mommy got a job at Starbucks" to which she responded "Ooooh, can I be your little ansistent? I will hand out cookies to all the little kids that come in, but only after I ask their Mommy or Daddy if it is okay, and if they say no then I won't give them any cookies" How cute is that. Then when I left for my first training session both my children stuffed my pockets with cookie cutters......they think that we actually make the cookies we sell. How cute is that. Today she asked me to bring her a Ginger Molasses cookie made from the cookie cutters she sent with me to work the other day. I think I am going to have to buy some cookies and just use the cutters to cut them into shapes. They will never know and I will eat the left overs. Ginger Molasses cookies are my kids' favourite. Actually I think they think it is the only cookie Sbux sells, because it is the only kind I ever get for them.

I am actually a Starbucks junkie, so this job is really fitting for me. Plus they offer an extremely comprehensive benefit package and you only need 20 hours per week to qualify. Honestly, me going back to work has so much more to do with benefits than it does with the hourly rate of pay. I mean we aren't rich, but we aren't hurting for money either, but since hubby is self employed we have no extended benefits for medical, dental or vision. I suspect we will have 2 kids with braces and eyeglasses if family history is any indication of what the future holds.

So everytime I start blogging I say to myself "self....this time you will follow through with it" The only difference THIS time, is that this time I REALLY am going to follow through. I love reading my friend's blogs and I have so much to say, so there is no reason I can't keep this up. Who cares if no one reads it. LOL.

This is my day

2007-11-25T01:15:00.000-08:00

I wrote this earlier, but am just now getting time to post it. It's 1:16am on Sunday morning and am just NOW getting the time to sit down. That's a day in the life of a Supermom.

Well, as I sit here and blog this entry, my daughter and my son are fighting over the Play Doh. Fabulous. This is just a normal moment in my day. As my daughter yells at my son "YOU'RE BAD" my son screams back "NO YOU'RE BAD". They finally come to an agreement.....though momentary, over the ownership of the play-doh .

Being a Supermom is a lot of work. It is my job to keep the house in tip top shape, the kids clean and presentable, look fabulous myself, and do it all with a smile on my face. It's a tough job but someone has to do it :o) I am 100% convinced that without me the house would fall apart.

Anyway, before they beat each other to a pulp I had better go mediate. I like to try to have them work things out on their own, but when you are dealing with people under 3 ft tall it isn't always possible.

Toodles