Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I can't say I'm crazy

about this "New Normal" we've got going on here.

I'm not digging it at all. Everything is so backwards and upside down that's it's got me a little off track lately. It's not so much that New Normal is horrible....it's just well.....NEW.....and taking some getting used to.

In Old Normal, Al was the morning person in this house & I was the night person. My happy zone was 2am when everyone was asleep and the house was quiet and I could putter or be creative or just sit and watch tv without interuption. I would sleep through any alarm and wake only when the noise from the chaos of kids scrambling to get ready for the bus would jolt me from my sleep. Coffee would be ready and my entire responsibility was to intervene and difuse sibling tension and supervise last minute efforts to get out the door by 8:10 for the bus.

In New Normal, with Al working 4-midnight (or 2am on weekends) things have changed. After sleeping in at least 4 times in the last couple weeks and missing the school bus, my brain has clued into the fact that it's now up to "us" to hear that alarm and get up.

At 7am. Ack!

Suddenly I'm in charge of making lunches, making sure (almost) everyone eats breakfast, brushes their teeth and keeping the siblings from lashing out at each other and.......I have to make my own coffee. For the most part, mornings have been fairly calm and they haven't been late for school in two whole days but that doesn't mean I'm digging this new morning routine....especially since I'm still not going to bed till almost 1am at which point I'm so darn exhausted I'm asleep before I hit the pillow.

It's also taking some getting used to the New Normal where most evenings I'm on my own with the kids. Not that it's a terrible thing but there is no 3rd party to provide assistance when the siblings are being siblings or someone needs to be taken to/picked up from afterschool activities or to provide backup when my demands to help with dishes/take a shower/go to bed are being ignored......and I have to make my own coffee! This also goes the other way too because while I'm solo with the kids alot, their dad doesn't see them as much as he would like. For a couple days at a time he's at work when the kids get home from school, they are asleep when he gets home from work and still sleeping when they leave for school the next morning.

My days are also all backwards and upside down because I'm NEVER alone! Ever. Al's home during the day when I'm used to having at least a couple days of having the house to myself during the week. I work best when I'm alone with my own thoughts and I can do what I need to do without interuption. In Old Normal, even when he wasn't 'at work' there were still small jobs or errands he'd be out doing during the day. Not in New Normal. I need to find him a hobby. Do you think I could convince him he likes playing golf ? and by golf I mean real golf.....not Tiger Woods on PS2 golf.

On the upside of him being home during the day he was able to attend our son's choral speaking performance at the Festival of the Arts this week and he has plans to go to watch our daughter's orff performance tomorrow......and I'm sending him to the school assembly this afternoon where our son will receive a certificate for being kind and generous at school. These are things he's always missed out on in Old Normal so New Normal does have it's good points. Plus.......when he's home during the day I don't have to make my own coffee.


~K

Monday, April 27, 2009

Silver! Gold! Gold! Gold!

The kids brought home the hardware this weekend!


I'm so proud of them for dancing with all their heart and determination....medals are just icing.



They ROCKED!





It's great that they are rewarded for a job well done with high marks, praise and medals of any colour from the adjudicators --- but as their instructor says if you're happy with your performance and you had fun that is all that matters.


My reward is seeing them on stage where I know they love to be. I will also admit I love listening to the people around me when they comment about the kids on stage when they just happen to be mine....or ones that I know.


Big proud moments this weekend watching all our kids ROCK IT!




Other highlights of the weekend included me loosing my mind Friday morning before leaving the house....not a proud moment but it happens occasionally. Feeding the kids donuts for supper on Saturday night....again not a mom-o-the-year moment but they didn't seem to mind. Some of the better moments were getting to play with the kids in the pool and taking pics of the kids playing in the pool on Friday night and then managing to squeeze in one more hour of awesome pool time for them Saturday afternoon......and since Owen was miraculously comfortable in this particular pool, we were able to sit on the deck and watch them play....together....without fighting....all 4 of them. Awesome! A rare occasion where teens and young'uns all got along. It lasted all of an hour but I'll take it where I get it.


The weekend wasn't insanely rush-rush which was nice and the hotel being right across the street from the competition site was perfect. We ended up staying the 2nd night afterall and popping over to Al's cousins' hotel so the kids could swim and play together (and I could accidently drink a bottle of wine) and relax. Unfortunately I found out when we checked out that the quoted price for our hotel room wasn't the actual price and we ended up paying more than expected but without having the actual email with the quoted price on it with me what could I do. It was an expensive weekend so that extra $50 doesn't make that much difference...and the huge (and I do mean huge) room and the location made it worth it.

Competition weekend is over for another year. Where will we go next year? Brandon again? Yorkton? Next up - Spring Concert in a couple weeks.....and then we are done till September.

Off to finish up the last of the weekend laundry. Have a good afternoon.


~K

Friday, April 24, 2009

I'm out

of my mind. Completely.

Not quite yet out of my house.

There's still some last minute packing to do.....but not before I have my morning coffee and blog fix. All work and no play makes me.......cranky and nobody wants a cranky me on a 3 hour road-trip.

We're a little off schedule this morning. A snarky teen....who spent the last 24 hours insisting she was NOT coming with us helped achieve this. Her attitude has been adjusted.

But, since we don't really have to be there till 8am tomorrow morning I guess our schedule is flexible.

That is of course unless the wavepool/waterslide that has been the object of much anticipation has really crappy hours and we'd thought it might be possible to arrive there intime to make use of the 11:30am - 1pm Family swim time this morning. Since that would have required leaving the house over an hour ago that is most definately NOT going to happen so now my children, who have been looking forward to pool time (and our hotel does not have one of it's own....but is directly across the street from said public pool for all the good that does us) will have a wonderful 2 hours all weekend to swim - from 7-9pm tonight. Oh boy!

Saturday's 'pool hours' do not coordinate with out schedule at all as the only public times available are from 1:30-7 and we will be dancing between those times.....so 2 hours is all they get. At least we are lucky enough to not have dances between 7 and 9 tonight....unlike some families. Talk about disapointment.

Anyway, the reason we are going is for the dancing and there will be plenty of that to watch.

Have a great weekend. I'll be back late Saturday night or sometime Sunday - we haven't decided yet if that 2nd night in the hotel at $111 a night is do-able. Either way....I will be back with plenty of pictures to share.

Oh darn. Forgot to empty the card in my camera. Better go do that and pack the extra batteries too.


~K

Thursday, April 23, 2009

This is a Public Service Announcement of the Murphey's Law Weather System

Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm packing up all the kids winter coats, snowpants & boots.....well except Owen's because he's still wearing his. It's the only thing he has that fits him and I can't find a pair of shoes in his size anywhere in this town.

It's been quite a few weeks since they've needed snowpants and a week or so that they have been in their spring jackets and sweaters and the ground seems to be drying up fairly well so I'm going to take the chance and pack the winter stuff away. Just don't blame me when 3 ft of snow falls. It's not my fault!

A year ago this weekend the temps soared to almost 30 degrees....you remember....those first few days of the three weeks of Summer we had last year. I don't think we are quite to that point yet but the weather has been fairly decent recently so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

On second thought, I just looked at the Weather Network and they are calling for rain/snow showers and light flurries on Monday/Tuesday next week. Maybe I should wait a little longer before I pack this stuff away. I dunno. What do you think?

~K

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

At the top of my list today....

is laundry.


Well it's at the top of most of my lists anyday but today is laundry of a different sort.


Dance costume laundry.


Oh the stress. Do you know how scarey it is to put dance costumes in the washing machine?


VERY SCAREY!


Because what happens if the washing machine eats them (don't laugh...it's happened)


But before I could even get the dance laundry into the washer I had to switch the load that was in the washer into the dryer and before I could do that I had to turn the dryer back on to fluff up and unwrinkle what was sitting in there from yesterday.....because that's just how I roll with laundry. It's one of my quirks. I hate wrinkles...... in my clothes. Not particularly fond of the ones around my eyes either but I don't think tossing myself in the dryer will even those out.


I push the button.



Huh.



Nothing happened.



Huh.



I push the button again.



Again nothing.



Huh.



Well doesn't that just plain suck.

Breaker's fine. Dryer's not.




Huh.



Just so happens, when friends of ours moved last fall they dropped their old dryer off at our place (because my backyard is a graveyard of old appliances....hope the price of metal goes up soon because now that all the snow is gone it's just plain ugly out there).


Next thing I know Al's hauling said old dryer into the house and I'm thinking....Really? You expect a dryer that's been sitting outside for nine months to actually work?


But you know what.


It does......and I'm so damn happy.


I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am.

Earth Day or not I am just not the kind of person who can live with drying clothes on a laundry line because even if I dry them on the line, they still have to go into the dryer for a few minutes after they come off the line. Another quirk.


So after having visions of line drying pre-road trip laundry.....or more than likely hauling a couple loads to town and either tossing a couple bucks into one of the jumbo dryers at the laundry-mat or using my mom's dryer - crisis averted. Whooo hoo!


And now, the shirts, blouses and slips for dancing are in the washing machine and I'm a nervous wreck.

I did find all the pieces for the new blouse I'd started to make Emily last year and never got a chance to finish. The trim is all attached and the body is together and the sleeves are ready to attach. All it needs is the neck piece pinned on and if I had three functioning brain cells I could probably whip up a finished blouse in about an hour (give or take four) but something tells me, if I haven't finished the damn thing in over a year, I'm not going to get it done in the next day.....so she will wear her old one, that's a touch on the small side, and has a slight tear in one shoulder (where the washing machine tried to eat it).

I also found the shirt I have for Owen that just needs trim....but I don't have any 'boy' trim in the house and I don't think I could get away with 'girl' trim so I guess he will wear Garrett's shirt again this weekend. Eventually though we are going to have to return it because one day this little guy is going be big enough to fit his daddy's old dance shirt.



Time to go check on the items in the washing machine. Oh please let them all be in one piece. I can't take anymore laundry chaos today.


Or any chaos.

When the kids get home they have to try everything on before I pack it up. I sure hope everything fits......but I have a feeling Owen's sash is going to be ifffy.


Note to self.....self.....don't forget to pick up a pack of safety pins.....I think we are going to need them.




~K

*I Wonder Why?* Wednesday

Here's an *I Wonder Why?* from last Wednesday. I think I was so stunned that I just couldn't put it into words at the time.


I wonder why......






my almost 17year old daughter is standing behind me




in the grocery store




when she should be on the school bus




on her way home.




Actually, I wonder why wasn't really my first thought.



It was more of a What the hell are you doing here?!?! kind of moment


followed by a What the hell was the bus driver thinking?!?! kind of moment.



I was literally speechless, probably because my jaw was on the floor, and it took a few moments before I'd regained my ability to speak and then ohhhh baby did she get an ear full.....and then her father took her to the van and she continued to get an ear full while I finished picking up a few groceries.

From what I was able to piece together, one of the girls on her bus works at the grocery store and the bus driver was dropping her off at the store. My daughter, convinced that she saw our van in the parking lot and that we were in the store shopping, decided she was going to get off the bus too. Now technically, since she found us in the store, she wasn't wrong in her assumption that we were there BUT considering there are at least 3 steel blue/grey Uplander vans in town (I know because I've almost climbed into at least one of them by mistake) it could have easily not been our van she'd seen in the parking lot.

Her quick thinking brother, armed with his new cell phone sent me a text message asking where I was and I assured him that I was indeed at the store and in the company of his sister and that I was NOT happy with his sister OR the bus driver and thanked him for checking in with me about the situation. At least he realized there was a problem with the whole deal. The bus driver sure as heck didn't.

I was and actually still am quite floored.

Whatever possessed the bus driver to allow our daughter, our 17yr old with the critical thinking skills of a 6 yr old to get off the bus. I'm not one for labels and such but come on! The term "Special Needs Child" has to count for something and in my world it means at all times someone responsible must be watching out for my daughter because she is in many ways incapable of being responsible for herself. And the bus driver KNOWS this! She's 'pulled the wool over his eyes' once before when he first became our driver like two years ago. He knows not to believe her.....and yet he let her get off that bus.

When she was asked what she would have done if we hadn't been at the store she didn't have a clue. What-If questions are way too abstract. She eventually came up with a couple not completely wrong answers but definately not the correct response in that situation. Her ideas involved walking about a mile either in one direction or another to either of her grandparents' houses on the off chance that someone would be home and in all likelihood she would have either become lost along the way or more believable she would have been sidetracked and become totally lost. Never did she consider asking to use the telephone at the store or asking any of the dozen or more people that she knows who work there for help.

AND......she is completely oblivious to the fact that she did anything wrong.


And a week later......I'm still floored!



~K

Monday, April 20, 2009

Income less expenses equals

one huge headache.

Is there room in my budget for a super-size bottle of Advil?

Help me. I'm so confused.

I'm determined I will fit luxuries like cell phones and satelite for the tv into my budget if it kills me. You'll notice internet isn't considered a 'luxury'. That's right up there with food darlings. You can't get rid of my rambling that easily. haha

Anyway. Last night I went on a quest to lower the cost of keeping the kids busy so I can blog ummm watching Amazing Race having satelite service.

I'm so CONFUSED! What the heck is the difference between digital and HD and don't I need an HD tv for HD service and what exactly am I paying for and do I really need all 900 freaking channels when all we watch are about 12 of them?

Our service providers website is enough to make you wanna pull your hair out. I think their site runs sooooo slow on dial-up in an attempt to make me click the link to see what their internet service would cost. I think it would have been faster to call and sit on hold waiting for a customer service rep.

Two frusterating hours later - it turns out that my 'grandfathered-in' old package provides me with more service than what I would get for the exact same amount of money if I switched to their absolute lowest priced package and got 10 of the 12 channels we watch and to get those other 2 channels would cost me about $5 bucks more each month......so I guess what I'm saying here is I either suck it up and keep what I have or have absolutely nothing.

Darn!

You know what else I've learned with this little 'lets trim expenses' field trip into just what everything is costing me. The sneaky buggers are well.....sneaky. Sure they don't raise the rates of things - they just add on system access fees. For example - my home phone, which is solely for the purpose of providing my dial-up internet a way to well.....dial up. It seems that even though I have not made any long distance phone calls on my home phone in the last month I still have long distance charges. Apparently I don't read my bills closely enough - actually, I find not reading them at all helps me sleep at night but I digress, apparently even though I don't make long distance phone calls I get to pay for the priviledge of having the ability of making them by paying a long distance network charge of $2.95. Hadn't noticed that little gem earlier. Oh but they were kind enough to not charge me for putting a long distance restriction on my phone because it was past due.

I also noticed the phone company has petitioned the government to allow a .98 increase to basic service. I wonder if they would be open to the suggestion of taking that extra $11.98 they will get from me over the course of the next year and come out and put $2 worth of rodent bait in seal up the junction box so the mice don't fill the darn thing with 2lbs of soya beans this fall and disrupt my service....again.

I'm off to see where else I can possibly trim some fat.

The kids like mac n cheese and hotdogs.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

For Sale

A few days ago Al bought a couple For Sale signs to put in the trucks. These signs resulted in a few interesting conversations.



Emily: What are the signs for?

Mom: You kids. We are selling you all.

Emily: Not me! I'm the good one. The smart one. The cute one. The funny one.

Mom: The modest one too......and the biggest sign is for you. You're the one we figure we can get the most money for.

She gave me one of her 'whatever' looks and walked away unconcerned.

Darn. I was hoping to get a couple hours of room cleaning and chores out of them if they believed me even just a little bit.




************





Owen: Dad, what's this big sign for?

Dad: The trucks.

Owen: The little truck right? .....right?

Dad: No. The big sign is for the big truck kiddo.

Owen: MY big truck?

You should have seen his face. I thought he was going to cry.

He took the sign and ran, calling back .....I'm going to hide it and then you can't sell my big truck!

Ouch!



That's going to be a tough day that I'm not looking forward too. Unfortunately it's not up for debate. The trucks have to sell.....and soon. The lease company isn't going to be very happy when I put a stop-payment on their money at the end of the month. Anyone want to buy a truck? Just a truck. The kids aren't really for sale. I've been told I can get into a whole mess of trouble if I put them on ebay.


People have said we shouldn't discuss money or how bad things are infront of the kids but they aren't stupid. They see what's going on. I cry at the drop of a hat these days so it's easier for them to know why then to hide the reality of what's happening. Besides, it's kind of obvious when the businesses that has been run out of their home for their entire lives suddenly stops and their dad goes and gets a new job that something's going on. I'm certainly not about to lie to them about why we picked up a food hamper from the local foodbank last week or why there is no money to get new shoes even though they need them or why there is a good chance they won't have tv next month.....because believe me....there would be no hiding that tidbit of news.


Reality sucks but I'm not about to hide it from my kids and no matter what, they know we are somehow going to come out of this okay.


Somedays I even believe that myself.


~K

Saturday, April 18, 2009

It's a good thing he's cute


Owen: Dad why did you marry Mom?

Dad: Because I thought she was cute.

Owen: I think I'm going to puke.


End of conversation.


I'm speechless.


It's a good thing he's cute.


Friday, April 17, 2009

Is it over yet?

Friday already. I don't think I've ever been more ready for a week to be over. TGIF!

I can't really say what it was about this week in particular that made it so rough but it just seems to have dragged me down and every time I thought I was feeling a little better, something kicked me again.

I spent quite a bit of time this week down by the creek, camera in hand, watching the amazing forces of nature in the forms of ice jams and massive volumes of violently rushing water.


April 14th - late morning before the heat of the sun broke the ice up completely.




April 16th early afternoon - the water is higher than yesterday and rushing much faster. The sky was cloudy and it was drizzling a bit but no actual rain thankfully. The water is usually on this side of all those trees and the trees are on the far bank. Now the water just flows straight across and barely follows the natural curve of the creek.
Beautiful. Ugly. Terrifying. Amazing.

How can something be all those things at once.

While our creek is technically flooded and looks nothing like the tiny trickle we can normally step across in mid summer but more like a rushing river and in places a small lake, we are in no danger of flooding to our home or actual property unlike some local areas or like the massive destruction and loss in other areas of the province.

In a way I feel bad that I am marveling at the natural disaster that has torn through our backyard but for some reason this week, down by the creek is one of the few places I feel at peace. I can relax there and get away from all the little things that have kicked at me all week.


Maybe it's because being down by the creek, seeing all that water, I know that in a few months it will look completely different. That the water will eventually slow down and things will return to normal and even if it looks a little different than it did last year, it will be okay. Maybe being down by the creek gives me hope that in a few months, even though our lives may be a little different, eventually the chaos will pass and everything will be okay.




June 7, 2008 - after a week of heavy rainfall. This is summer flooding of the creek.



October 23, 2008 This is normal creek levels. Even after a summer of rain there isn't much flow to the creek by late October. No beaver dam this summer to keep water in the far south end of the creek like in the past couple years. Maybe this year though. I caught a couple quick pictures of a beaver (So Cool!) while taking pictures of the flooding on Tuesday evening on the bank of the creek (the bank wasn't visible by Thursday) just to the left of the fallen tree in the top left of the picture.



This is the same tree (photo taken October 23, 2008) as seen in the middle of the 'river' in the 2nd picture. From the looks of things it won't be quite the same once the water receeds.


~K

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Well lookie that - I lost a week

A whole week without a post. It's like I dropped off the planet. Oh how I wish!

I didn't though. I'm still here.

Still here in body -although I did loose myself amongst the clutter of this house for a brief period of time....thanks for sending a search party!

Still here in mind too ........ but not by much.

I noticed I started a couple posts on the weekend but apparently I didn't finish any of them. I just reread one of them and maybe that's a good thing. One should not blog while under the influence of Benadryl All-In-One Cold and Flu....nighttime edition (I skipped the daytime version and went straight for the hard stuff). That post was a bit over the top rambling-wise even for me.

When asked why I hadn't written a new post lately I thought, I don't have much to say.

But really.

I'm not lacking for material to blog about.

How can I be.

So much is going on right now....what with things SUCKING so bad lately. I could surely ramble on about that. Or how badly I'm doing with this whole quitting smoking thing. Then there is the sudden arrival of spring complete with flooding like I've never seen. My camera has been in overdrive the past 3 days as I take picture after picture of the normally tiny creek in my back yard turning into an angry rushing river. The frusterating antics of the teen drama queen who has done some way stupid things the past couple days that made my head spin round would make for good blogging as would the wonderful spring ritual of parent/teacher conferences at school last night.

Oh ya. I do not lack for material. Just the brain power. Evil head cold!

~K

Thursday, April 09, 2009

whew...what a day

I got slightly sidetracked earlier ( surprised? didn't think so)

then got to work. Ugh! Too much math. I couldn't think straight and my books weren't adding up. Took all afternoon but found the errors.

and I had one way huge panic attack (slightly due to lack of having a smoke to smoke but not completely)

and a couple minor meltdowns (complete with tears)

but I made it through my day and finished the government paperwork I had to finish and I made it all the way through all that math without a smoke. My frazzled nerves couldn't take it anymore though and I begged Al to bring me a pack of which he is now in charge of so I won't be able to smoke em cuz I got em.

I'm happy I found where the 'missing' money was.....unfortunately it wasn't in the place I'd hoped it would be (like the other column!) and I underpaid the government a few times over the year and geesh, where am I gonna find that $168.36.

There were a few moments when I thought of putting all the financial stuff through the paper shredder and mailing it all to the Governor General in lieu of a cheque and telling the government where they could stick it all.

It's very hard emotionally and mentally, doing all this stuff for a business that doesn't exist anymore.

Next week........ we do the GST !

I can't freakin wait!

Would u believe me if I said...I was confused?

Really.

I am.

I could have swore I wrote a new post (or at least started one) for today only I can't find it. Maybe I just imagined I wrote it....but I'm sure I really did. I wonder what it said.....because I can't for the life of me remember now. That's actually why I blog - because I can't remember what I did or thought on any given day and I love writing things down but paper just doesn't work for me.

I have a love hate relationship with paper.

My whole house is cluttered with the stuff. Everything from pretty (neglected) scrapbook papers and notebooks and post-it-notes, kids art projects and stories and song lyrics (oh boy are there pages and pages of half written song lyrics EVERYWHERE!) and bills and accounting files and more bills and junk mail and more bills. The purpose of blogging was to have a place to write, sans paper clutter, where I wouldn't loose things.....and now I've gone and lost a half written blog post.

How ironic.

I'm pretty sure the missing blog post had something to do with money. I have a love hate relationship with that stuff too. I'd love to have some and hate that I don't. Simple as that.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Missing blog post.

It might have had something to do with Al's first paycheque from his new job which was direct deposited overnight and is now sitting in my bank account - briefly....this months van payment will take care of a good chunk of it. Maybe it was about that. I don't really remember....I should write these things down.

Maybe it was about my not smoking.....but probably not because that's not going so well. But I'm working on it.

Doubt it's about my getting a job because as I said before....nobody's beating down my door to hire me ---- although 2 hours after I said that the first time, I did get a call about a possible job that might be available in the next few weeks. I'm not sure I really want the job but if the store I put an application into doesn't pan out in the next 3 weeks (I called yesterday to check on the situation and was told it would be at least 3 weeks before they are hiring) or so and I do get offered this other job I might just have to suck it up and take it.

Whatever it was about. It's gone now - so this one will have to take it's place. I might even come back later and write an afternoon post. But for now, my time is up and I must go. I've got the whole house to myself today and I'm going to make the best of it and tackle my To Do list I-Think-I-Might list.

~K

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

*I Wonder Why?* Wednesday

I wonder why........



it's Wednesday already.


Where does the time go?

And believe me I know all about Mickey's big hand and Mickey's little hand and how time works.....so there is no need to leave me a comment on the concept of the passage of hours, minutes & seconds....although you could if you wanted to. It'll give me something to read later.

My sis posted on her blog yesterday about all the things she thought about doing. She's either wanting to do nothing or wanting to do a million things all at once and feels like she's on an ever spinning wheel.

Oh boy... I can relate to that!

I can think of a million things I want to do and I want to do them all right now but first I have to do a half a million other things before I can get to the ones I want to do. Most days I barely get through the things I have to do (like grocery shopping yesterday ---- it took FOREVER!) and never get to the want part of the list. An extra twist to my spinning wheel is that I get sidetracked....easily....while doing something (like looking for a picture of a Mickey Mouse Watch to add to this post) and end up doing something else (like reading a couple pages of a quirky little blog I came across while looking for said picture).

Focus Woman or you'll never get half of your million and a half things on your I thought of doing list done.

Reading over what I've written so far, I thought of adding a little pic of a calendar to this post too but I'll never get anything done if I try looking for a cool image for that thought. So.....this post shall remain picture-less unless you want to see more cute baby pictures...because I could seriously look at those all day. They make me happy......and sidetracked.

Best to just go get to work on my list.


Have a *Wonder*ful Wednesday everyone!

~K

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

It was a different kind of Monday

It was so weird not to have to go to work Monday morning and I realize now I didn't get that tense, anxious 'grrrr...I have so much other stuff to do and don't want to work tomorrow' feeling on Sunday night like I usually do. There was a brief moment when I pulled back into the yard after taking the kids to school (because it was the first day back after a week off and nobody was quite capable of pulling themselves together enough first thing in the morning to be ready for the bus) that I looked at the two trucks parked in my driveway and felt a slight pang. They looked so lonely and forgotten - those two trucks - sitting there - with no place to go and nothing to do. We left them sitting there in their parking spots while we went for breakfast without them.


Breakfast was weird too. Weird to not be sitting there in layers of work clothes (the waitress even commented that we looked so different this morning). Weird not to have a table full of chatter while we ate. Weird not to have to eat and run. After we'd been there over our usual hour and I got fidgety - we don't should be gone already. Weird driving around after breakfast watching someone else do our work but it was slightly enjoyable knowing how much they had left to do yet and how far 'behind' they were.

Al did much better with his first monday off than I thought he would. He didn't pace at all and didn't really stress about it like I thought he would. I'm liking this 'New Al'. He's much more easy-going lately and I like it. I like that he's enjoying going into work at his new job and I'm loving all the hours he's been getting - although a few more would be nice and it would make my budget a little less tight.

All in all the day was good - except for the not smoking part....which isn't going terribly well but not horrible either. I finished off my last pack early in the day and put on a patch and only had a couple anxious moments. I did pick up another pack and admit I had one or two throughout the evening but I didn't have an urge to scratch anyone's eyes out ---- much.

Today hasn't been quite as good. I am a stress smoker and there's definately a little bit of stress round these parts but I'm doing better than I thought I would. Blog posts will probably be fewer this week just because sitting at the computer is when I find I want a smoke the most so I'm avoiding sitting here very much. I have some other projects to occupy my time, including installing the flooring we picked up last night.

~K

Monday, April 06, 2009

Monday Afternoon Comic Strip

Last Monday afternoon I shared a link to a comic strip that hit close to home for us.

I find quite often that I can relate to the idea presented in various comics I read and here is another one that made me chuckle.....and then I cut it out of the paper and it is sitting on my desk beside the computer.....and then I got an email with this exact comic attached to it.

Click to see Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse strip from last weekend.

Oh how I can relate!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

I am IN LOVE

and you would be too if you spent the whole afternoon cuddling this adorable bundle of sweetness.

Sarah is now 7 weeks old and I'd only held her once prior to today. Today I cuddled with her lots....and I really needed some baby cuddles today. It's been a rough week and my spirits were low and cuddles are the best therapy ever. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together because they are leaving in a few days and going back to BC for a couple months. I hope their house there sells quickly and they are back in a few weeks. If not it could be late June before they are back. June! That's like forever away.



Thankfully the low-battery warning on my camera gave me a break and I was able to sneak away with the little darling for a quick photo shoot. Oh my what a great time that was. Usually a sleepy little girl, she perked up quickly and was 'talking' to me and making the sweetest faces. I loved every minute of it. I'm hoping I can squeeze in another quick round of pictures of her and her big brother Luke before they leave.






And you have to admit it......you went awwwwwww when you saw that cute little smile didn't you. I could seriously take pictures like these all day long. Pure Sweetness!

~K

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Second guessing my brilliance

Moving the kids to the 2nd floor seemed like a brilliant idea and in the long run it probably will be because when they are up there.....they aren't down here and that makes for a more peaceful down here.


BUT

I didn't take into consideration that being up there means that they now need to bounce back and forth between up there and down here

and up there and down here

and up there and down here

and up there and down here

and down here and up there.

All I've heard all day are feet up and down the stairs.

But when they aren't down here, they are up there - so it's working for me.

And with all that up and down I'm hoping they are exhausted by bedtime....I know I will be.


~K

Anyone seen the dust pan?

Who's idea was this whole 'lets rearrange the house' thing anyway?

Oh wait.....that would be me.

Silly me.

Yet again, not one of my more well thought out plans. Well thought of because I've been planning this for months now but well thought out - not so much.

There are boxes of kids toys and personal effects in what is now my bedroom including a closet full of their clothes and all of our clothes and stuff are still in what is now temporarily a bedroom to be shared by 3 children upstairs.

A friend recently offered me packages of those large foam puzzle pieces that are used as flooring so until I can go retrieve them this project is at a hault since I'm not moving the beds upstairs until the flooring is installed - which will be Monday at the earliest. In the mean time there are pieces of furniture stacked up in my dining room that are definately not of the dining room variety including mates beds - heavy, large, bulky mates beds and all the drawers that go underneath them. Cluttered doesn't even come close to describing the house right now.

Plus I have a house full of kids today with the addition of two cousins who are here for a sleepover. Where exactly everyone is going to sleep is a mystery. I think I'll try and convince Emily to rebuild her blanket fort in what little space is left in the dining room and at least a couple kids can sleep on the floor in there.

I think all this work might be worth it though. There are 2 - 8yr olds and 2 - 6yr olds in the house and you'd never know it. They are all upstairs in their 'new room' and the main floor of my house is quiet......but for the poor old dog who's pacing back and forth trying to find an empty patch of floor on which to have a nap.

I can put up with mislocated furniture for this kind of peace any day.... now if I could just find that sneaky dustpan. It seems to have gotten lost in the clutter somewhere.

~K

Friday, April 03, 2009

A Little Friday Fun

My blog posts this week have been a little on the cranky side.


Heavy on the tears some days, a wee bit of complaining others (stupid house), a tiny bit of stress with the whole employment, crazy-busy-life & quitting smoking stuff so today I'm going in a different direction.


With a little bit of fun.


I've been tagged by my friend Kat who has instructed me to complete the following task.

Go to the photos folder on your computer.
Go to the seventh folder of photos.
Go to the seventh photo.
Put the seventh photo on your blog along with a description.
Invite seven friends to join.

My computer is just about as full of chaos and confusion as my life is so there are photos in various places but this is what I came up with. I'm terrible at following directions too and really didn't want to post this picture because it's so aweful but then I thought - what the heck, it has a story behind it so post it anyway.



Judging by the other photos in the folder, I'm assuming this picture was taken sometime during the Canada Day long weekend in '07. We'd gone to watch the fireworks from the hill by the harbour and afterwards, as we were walking back to the van the kids stopped to climb on the Viking Statue. I'm guessing the batteries in my camera were coming to the end of their life and add to that the cool weather and a pretty good chance I had the camera on the wrong 'setting' and you get really poor picture quality.

I'd tag 7 friends but I don't have 7 friends (that blog) so I'm going to tag Carrie and because I just found out my sis has a brand new blog I'm tagging Yo and then anyone else who wants to play along...consider yourself tagged too.

And that's my fun post for this beautiful Friday morning.
Have a great Friday. I'm off to clean the house and torture children by making them help....because isn't that what all children want to do on their spring break?


~K

Thursday, April 02, 2009

I quit - NOT

There are a bunch of us who planned to quit smoking on the 1st of April.

I wonder how everyone else is doing because I totally quit quitting before I even started.

What was I thinking? Quitting smoking the week the kids are on spring break. That's got to be the stupid idea ever thought of.

Seriously didn't think that one through AT ALL.

For everyone's safety I decided I wasn't even going to make the attempt until they went back to school next week. I'm fairly certain at least 1 if not more of them wouldn't make it out of here alive.

I'd love to pay $200 and go through a laser treatment / detox program. A friend of mine did it 8 weeks ago and said it was a great way to do it and worth every penny. Unfortunately I will be once again trying the patch. I've had a box for a couple weeks already and I was planning on April 1st as my quit day but they will sit in the cupboard for a few more days and on Monday morning I will slap on a patch and I will quit! I will do it!

The last time I tried this, I went about 6 days before I lost my mind couldn't take it anymore. My hubby did way better than I did and he hasn't smoked since the 3rd of October '07. I'm so jealous. I want to quit so bad and yet part of me is hanging onto this one thing in my life that keeps me sane in all this insanity.

But it's time.

And I WILL DO IT THIS TIME!

I will.

I have to.

I can.

But I'm scared!



~K

I need to go buy a new calendar....mine's broken!

Wow - talk about a reality check.

I received an email from one of my *not really a sister but the closest thing I've got* sisters last night. She invited me into the city for a 'sleep-over so we can catch up' night and I said to myself..... "Self. That sounds like damn good idea."

So I checked the calendar

and I discovered that the calendar hanging in my kitchen is obviously broken because there doesn't seem to be a single day

except maybe one

that might work

if I really try hard

in the next two weeks and the two after that don't hold much promise either.

Geesh! This working around two guys working different shifts at different gas stations and only having one vehicle is way tricky. Add to that various bowling and dancing committments and a weekend dance competition and then a weekend crop and my month is booked SOLID.

I don't have time to get a job.

Unfortunately that's not an option (not that people are beating down my door to hire me or anthing) but when the heck am I gonna squeeze a job into my crazy-busy life.

Besides.

I have all this blogging to do.


Seriously though....my calendar. It's broken. I think I need to go get me one of those really big wall size calendars because it's going to be insane trying to keep track of who needs to be where and when on the one I've got now.

And the kids wanted to sign up for soccer and baseball this spring. Snort. Ya....like I have the room on my calendar to write all that down, let alone the cash to pay for it. I think we'll pass on that for this year. Sorry guys.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

*I Wonder Why?* Wednesday







I wonder why.......









I hear water running?









My first thought was that someone....probably a child of mine, left a tap on in the bathroom but upon inspection I found the taps securely in their off position.






But I can still hear water running.






I follow the sound.






It's coming from the basement.






I don't go into the basement....it's icky!






But I figure I should check it out so I venture down the stairs.






The sound is getting louder.






I have visions of a leaking pipe or hose in my head.






I turn on the light.






Well look at that. Not a pipe or hose at all.........







Just all the melting snow outside leaking into the basement.


And not just seeping in through the cracks....no, it's an actual stream of water in places.




Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaa!






Why does this house torment me so? Why?






What's even better is all that snow that melted last week and made it's way inside my basement will soon be joined by even more because we woke up to another yard full of snow this morning. Oh goodie!


I really believe Mike Holmes would have a heart attack if he ever saw my house. I don't think even Mike could
~K