Sporting the Mr's Fedora. Lot's of good times had in this hat.
It's not THAT bad, but it honestly should not look like I'm still pregnant. So, we're gonna work on that.
1. What color is your front door? Cream, off-white...take your pick.
2. We discussed our folks in previous TT so now tell me about your siblings. If you are an only child, tell me whether or not you wanted siblings, older, younger etc. I always wanted siblings, and managed to get some aunts/uncles close to my own age so they could possibly have been my siblings and they were enough.
3. What color/type butterfly is your favorite? I like monarch's with the orange & black...but blue ones are pretty too!
4. Will you be celebrating Cinco De Mayo? Nope. Is there a special way to do it?
5. Oprah- love her, hate her, or don't care? Love her, but rarely watch her.
6. Are you worried about the spread of swine flu? Not really.
7. Hard or soft pillows? Hard
8. How many trees are in your neighbor's yard? I don't know where his property line is exactly, so it could be anywhere's from 4-10
9. What was the color of the last car you saw? Dark Blue. The last car I saw was mine. :oD
10. When does your driver's license expire? 2010
11. Look at the clock on your computer and type the numbers backwards. 83:01
12. When you put your pants on, what leg do you put in first? My right.
13. How would you respond to this letter if you were an advice columnist.
I am an ugly woman. I was an ugly baby and child even! It is a fact. I am 36 now and I have never had a boyfriend, and I am still a virgin.
Due to me not having men in my life, I have poured everything I have in to education and my career. At 36 I am the youngest (and first female CEO) at a big, successful, tech company. I have over 200 personal patents and millions of pounds in investments.
I have everything: huge house, holiday villa in Spain, 3 cars, power boat, a race horse, etc. but as much I try to talk myself into everything being “great” I cannot help but to miss that special someone to share it all with.
Most of my friends are married with kids and I feel like I am gradually drifting away from them also.
Where can I find someone to marry an ugly woman?
First of all, stop working for yourself, and get yourself out of the office and into the world. As CEO it must've taken some effort & time to get there. Remind yourself what's great about YOU and stop worrying about trying to find a way to identify yourself with someone else. Do some charity work, involve yourself in organizations with the kind of folks who need your help. Eventually you will find what you're seeking, all good things come to those who wait.
It's the end of April. Already.
So this past week's FFI, had me stating that I am going to be doing something about my weight struggle.
Starting on Friday (new month and all) I'll be doing my darndest to shear what weight I can off of my body.
I weigh 178 pounds. That's heavier than I was either time I had my babies. I'm disgusted with what I see there, and am thoroughly disappointed in myself for letting it get as bad as it is. I have a small frame, it just was not built to hold a whole lot of weight.
So being fed up with what I'm seeing in the mirror (or NOT, as I avoid them at times), noticing that last year's spring/summer clothes don't fit me, and the knowledge that I'll be returning to my hometown soon, have helped me to decide to take some action.
My first step?
Cut down on the portions that I'm eating. Seriously...I could eat a full 3-4 servings of a meal in one sitting, and be hungry about an hour later.
So I get to start measuring out the portions before I eat them, just so I get to know what they look like, cause right now I over-estimate.
I'll also be shearing off how much I eat by limiting the amount of meals I eat in a day. In the course of a regular day I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a late evening meal, not long before bed. So, we'll be taking away that last meal, adding in two small snack times, and eliminating food after 8pm.
My second step is to drink more water. I go through phases where I drink more-than-enough, just-right, and not-enough. I'm in a not-enough phase right now. As the weather heats up, I'll be shoving that into the more-than-enough range.
My third step is to get my butt in gear and find some of that energy that I seem to have lost.
My dream goal would be to work back down to the 130-140lbs range, but I know that's going to take me a while, so for the time being I'd be happy just to squeeze into last year's clothes comfortably without too much hangin over the edge, and the ability to breathe.
I plan to keep myself focused with regular updates on here...that's right, you'll be my jury! Starting with tomorrow's HNT picture (I'll do two, one for this series, and one for the regular).
I've been asked what I think about my body after my series of photo therapy pictures. I can see the beauty in parts of it now. The lean shape or my legs, the smooth texture of my skin, the coloration of my birthmarks, the way my hair falls, eyes blink, lips curl. I've noticed plenty about my body that I didn't know or think other's noticed before. It's liberating.
I like my body in it's parts. I hate my body as a whole.
I'm a rectangle that jiggles when something bumps it. When I wave the shit under my arms waves back and starts a tidal wave that travels (snickering? I am). Bodies aren't supposed to do that. I'm never going to have a smaller than a size 8 frame. My ribs are wide, my torso short...I'm never going to have one of those lovely long & lean frames. Now, that doesn't mean I can't make mine worth drooling over, it's just me expressing my disappointment out loud.
If I could just get rid of the jiggle...I'd be happy at any size.
This song always helps me pick myself up when I'm feeling blah & un-energized. It never fails to make me want to dance. She puts on an amazing concert, BTW.
1. He makes you popcorn, and lets you watch your favorite program as kid free as possible.
2. He lets you trap the kids upstairs with him so you can finish blogging in peace.
3. He's really patient & calm with the kids even though they're trying their hardest to frustrate him.
4. He returns a credit card he found in the bank machine to it's rightful owner(after a number of phone calls to find them), without taking money out while it was opportune, or asking for a reward.
5. He's putting a careful amount of thought into the next vehicle purchase.
6. He's taking steps to affiliate himself with a more mature and responsible population.
7. He teaches himself to ice a cake artfully.
8. He worries about you when you take the kids out for a walk.
9. He comes to look for you & the kids at the park, just because he doesn't want to miss out on that family time.
10. He takes the kids out to give you some alone time, and it was his idea.
I had a good week, all because this is what summed it up. I love my Mr.
It's a beautiful day out today.
In fact, it's hot enough for me to turn on my A/C. Crazy, considering it was snowing at the beginning of this month...
1. If you could sky write anything you wanted, what would it be? Don't Worry Be happy (though my first response was a bit more graphic so I opted for the family friendly one...)
9. For the parents - what cartoon/children show did your child 
watch obsessively? (Hey, if you aren't a parent, maybe a niece or nephew...) My oldest loved Toopy & Binoo for a TV show and he cycled through the latest Disney/Pixar films. My youngest is in love with Kipper the Dog
I was playing with my make up this week...busted out the rare stuff that I hardly ever used, and had some fun. I discovered how much I love my lips.So, I'll to continue with my post about how my kids were driving me nuts last week...
We needed groceries, and decided to do a family shop (which I don't recommend to ANYone!) at Wal Mart, as lots of things needed to be accomplished at once, which would take one person an entire afternoon to do, rather than an hour as a family.
So, we loaded up, and hopped over to Wally World, and split up. The Mr with D, and H with me. I was doing the groceries, the Mr was getting a new set of keys cut for himself, and some paint, as he had lost his about 3 weeks ago, and we were using just my lonely set. He efficiently locked himself out one day, by separating the car key from the house key, and I put my foot down, telling him to get a new one cut.
About three aisles into my shop, H says he needs to go potty. I run to the back restroom, and I can literally see just how hard he's trying to hold it for me. We get into the sanctuary of the restroom, and there's a lineup. H had an accident waiting in line...poor little guy (My fault cause I didn't take him before we started). Of course, I had been too lazy to carry in the "spare" bag from the truck with us, so I had to drag both he, and my purse/cart to the nearest counter (fabric department, at least it wasn't busy) and have them page the Mr. Waiting...waiting...waiting, before I finally peek around the end of the aisle to see him casually checking out DVD's with D. He hadn't heard the page. I hollered at him to go to the truck for the "spare" bag, and made D wait with me & H.
Keep in mind, H is soggy all the way down to his ankles, and standing in the middle of the fabric department, and when he walks he's doing the bowlegged cowboy stalk. The boys content themselves looking at patterns and prints on the fabrics, before H says "I poopied".
I reply with "No you didn't, you're just soppy. Don't worry, Daddy will be back in a minute and we'll take care of it."
He says "I check!"
Can you guess what happened next??
Like any curious kid, he whips down both his pants & underwear, and bends down so his head is between his feet, and peers up at himself. "I no poopie!"
I wish I were that flexible.
By this time D & I are rushing towards him, one stands behind, one in front to cover him while I yard his wet garments back on.
Finally get my hands on the bag (ever notice how when you're waiting it seems to take for-ev-er but when you don't mind, it goes quickly?), and got him changed. I decided to snag both boys so Mr can finish his business in the boring department.
From there until we got up to the register, D was swinging from the cart, and from me. The kind like he's twirling around a pole...yarding on whatever he was holding on to. Each time it was the cart, I'd swerve into something, be it an end-cap, a shelf, or a few times I nearly hit people. It was embaressing, and despite my protests, he refused to stop. Each time we ended up too close to a shelf H would reach out of the seat of the cart and snag something from said shelf, and insist I buy it for him. He whined each time I said no.
Do you see what I mean about tag teaming? I'm worried there's some sort of telepathy at work here that only goes between my two boys.
Needless to say I felt a little frazzled by the time we reached the check-out and the Mr caught up with us. I managed to load the conveyor belt with the groceries, seperating them accordingly, and as I pulled the cart forward to do the bagging (I have reusable bags, which normal employees have no idea how to load, so I do it myself cause I'm quicker & more effecient), D was snagging candy off the shelf and pestering me, and H was pushing the buttons on the Card Slide Machine...
That was when I asked Mr to take them to the game room.
I don't shop with the entire family often, cause this is a regular occurence when that happens. When they team up on us it's difficult to do anything to control the situation, and most times we're left with the only option...to seperate them. Most times someone will yard one child out to the truck, and strap them in, to wait for the others who were left in the store. Fortunately, I keep a toy bin in the truck, so they're usually not that bored while they wait (though I should make it more so, cause it's actually supposed to be a punishment, a loss of a privelige).
Anyhow...after the kids & Mr left me there, the check out gal said "I like the way you talk to them, it's strict, but not mean or frazzled."
That made me happy, cause it meant she couldn't see how I actually felt, and that I had kept it together quite nicely, despite the chaos they had brought on.
I glided home on air after that...thanks lady who works at Wal Mart, you made that trip bearable!
Osbasso tagged me in his list to play along, so here we go!
Here's the rules--mention the person that tagged you. Complete the lists of 8's. Tag 8 of your wonderful blogger friends. Go tell them you tagged them!
8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Moving back home (I really mean my hometown/province)
2. The end of the school year
3. my Mr going back to work (so we can get back to a normal schedule)
4. A nice, warm, pepsi (unless it's fountain, of course)
5. making a cake for the BSA Cake Auction Thursday
6. This week's HNT
7. Packing (weird, I know...)
8. Making my own family reunion this summer.
8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept...on the couch, with H on my lap
2. Cooked (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
3. Played Super Mario Galaxy for Wii
4. Blogged
5. Discussed our move with MIL & Mr
6. Talked with my mom on the phone
7. Cleaned the house
8. Did the dishes multiple times
8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Live financially free (I'm terrified of my financial obligations that will swallow us when we move back to BC)
2. Grow a garden (though I try, I just don't have that green thumb I keep hearing about)
3. Travel Europe
4. Get myself a college degree
5. Knit
6. Write a book (I wonder if I got my blog printed and bound, if that would count?)
7. Become a legal Indian
8. Clean my family's hometown of D'Arcy
8 Shows I Watch:
The only one on this list that gets a weekly regular is the 1st, the rest are just if I happen to be bored and plop down in front of the TV.
1. Ghost Hunters/Ghost Hunters International
2. Top Gear (only occasionally)
3. Live with Regis & Kelly
4. Intervention
5. Man VS Food
6. 30 Minute Meals
7. Ace of Cakes
8. I Survived
8 People I Tag:
1. 4streegrrl @ i pity the rhino
2. ceecee @ I want to touch you you're just made for love
3. The Girl in Stiletto @ musings of the corybantic painted nails
4. only a movie
5. my mom!
6. my MIL!
7. kitten @ The Bookkitten
8. Diamond @ My Pretty Pink Blogette
Some of you have already played, my memory isn't serving me properly right now, so I can't recall.
<------ Last week was one of those weeks...you know, the kind where the kids nearly drive you nuts? H taught himself to climb up on the counter, all in the name of a Nintendo DS (no, I didn't do the dishes that day). I had told him he couldn't have it cause it needed to be charged, and when I passed back through the kitchen, this is what I found.
Yesterday, we were relaxing, playing video games...and while I was cooking dinner, this is what the boys got up to: ---------->
They tried their hardest to scare the jeepers out of me. They accomplished the first time cause I had NO idea where they had gone, until they popped out at me, nearly taking out my legs with the cupboard door. Yep, they're creative!
I haven't felt like this in a long time.
I have that pit in my stomach, a cold sweat, clammy hands, and I feel like I'm gonna puke at any given second. I'm disappointed, but I'm relieved.
We've decided on our moving date, for July, instead of June when I first thought. That's a lot for me to swallow, but I have a sense of relief that we have a clearer idea of what we'll be doing.
There are perks to our decisions, such as the ability to set a clearer date, and route that we'll be taking, and a clearer plan of action as to how we'll make everything work. It's always been an issue for us to set a clear goal, or plan, because most times whenever we set a plan in motion, something goes wrong and we have to change it. At least this time we know (I hope) what we're doing.
Another perk, is that my family has agreed to meeting any blogger friends that I request to meet along the way.
So, to those friends who read my blog regularly...this goes out to you. In July, we'll be taking this route:
We'll be passing through Northern Indiana, Northern Illinois, right through the middle of Iowa, Southern South Dakota, Northern Wyoming, Western Montana, Northern Idaho & Central Washington.
Anyone wanna take a jaunt to meet for a coffee? Granted, we won't be able to stray from our course, as I'm not really in charge of driving (I'm not allowed to drive in the USA, legally), and it won't be my vehicle...but anyone willing to meet us (yes, that means my entire family) on our course, would be welcome. SO LONG AS YOU AREN'T A Phsycho or murderer ;oD, feel free to email me (pantherpaw18 AT hotmail DOT com) to count you in! If I can meet even one of you, I'll console myself to the new plan, LOL
This feeling will pass, once I get over the dates, and stare brightly at the sunnier side of things (cause there are plenty). I'm still getting what I asked for, just in a different time frame. All will be well.
Chance was playing Super Mario Galaxy last night. Have I ever mentioned that he always says that ANY Mario game that he plays cheats, cause they usually kicks his butt. SO, I was watching a movie on TV when H comes downstairs and tells me this...
It was movie night with D tonight.
Kicked the Mr & H outta the house (it's UFC fight night, after all) and got down to business. Picked out a movie, only to realize the site would take an eternity to buffer. Bummer. got a quarter of the way through it before I just said, OK, we'll let it buffer overnight, and finish watching it tomorrow.
It made me happy when he came downstairs to join me in getting ready (he was in charge of pillows & blankets, as we'd be on the floor in front of the computer) while I made the snacks. He got a hold of the remote for the TV and changed the channel to a music channel. Much to my delight he first chose a top 20 channel with a good beat, and boogied his little heart out to a song that he said was groovy. Let me tell you, there ain't nothin cuter than a lil 7 y/o trying to shake his bum in your general direction. Then after it ended and we were both bopping up a storm (me while I was washing dishes, him while transferring pillows & blankets) he switched it to some sort of classical/showtunes kinda station and pretended to be a ballerina/opera singer. He had me rolling, I was giggling so hard.
He insisted I make him a special "scientist" concoction for a portion of his snack. He had me mix baby goldfish crackers, with pickle slices, and whipped cream (from the can). I tried to tell him it would make him sick, but he insisted. He ate one bite and left it alone.
I'm making popcorn at the stove and he was walking by. He stopped to watch, and decided to play punch my thigh. He did it again, and then again before finally saying..."You jiggle!" "Just like your tummy!"
Oh god...let me die now.
We're laying on our comfy pile of blankets & pillows, and I sling my arm up under my head...he's looking over at me. I turn to look at him, and he says "You have hairy armpits!" "Don't worry everyone has hairy armpits. Well, everyone except kids & babies." How do you respond to that??
During spring break we were all bumming around the house and he was browsing the movie channels and actually chose Hairspray to watch with me. He dragged me to the couch, plunked me down and snuggled up...did I mention he booted dad out for it?
I love my boy...and I would definitely love to have more moments like these...
I'm a slacker, and am so humbled right now!
I've been awarded many times over, and have been putting off doing the post, my bad.
We'll start with the Vespa Award, given to me by The Girl in Stiletto @ .musings of the corybantic painted nails. She's got a great sense of humor, and is working her way through med school. Los of fun to read :o)
There don't seem to be a set of rules for this one, just receive & pass it on, Yay!
I pass the Vespa Award on to:
1. Jodi @ Moody Blue - cause she love Elvis, and ya can't go wrong with that!
2. Deb @ Through Thick N Thin - Cause she likes Smirnoff as much as I do :o)
3. Sue @ Coffee Slut - Like I said the first time I passed an award on to her, I admire her for being a slut for coffee!
4. Kimber @ Life In A Zoo - Cause you have to admire her ability to home-school her older kids and manage her younger ones at the same time!
5. Berleen @ A Straight Jacket & A Padded Room - I love that she calls her kids Demons.
My next one is the Premios Dardos Award, given to me by Jack @ silghtly off-center. This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.
If you like it, take it!
My next award is the Sexy Blogger Award given to me by Carina @ a Blogette. The award requires you to list 5 sexy things about yourself. Sounds good to me...
And Finally I have the Sisterhood Award taken from Kitten @ The Bookkitten. She writes some truly in-depth reviews of the books she reads. I admire her choice of books, and the choices she makes for herself in life.
Daydreaming while I was doing the dishes. How cool would it be for me to visit my blog friends on my way across the country? Nothing special, just a pit-stop for coffee, and a quick hello. Ahhh, how accomplished I feel. LOL
1. Recently Berleen and I discovered the allure of the Twilight series. Have you ever been sucked in to the latest "thing"? (Like Harry Potter, the movie Titanic, social networking, etc. etc. etc.)
I've followed lots of fads...from music fads while I was growing up, to computers fads now. I followed Ace of Bass, the Macarena, chatting, dial up TIMED internet, my own html-based webpage (I can't believe I'm sharing that with you), and ICQ (I still remember my number 4716653), Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, social networking sites Bebo, MySpace, Facebook
2. What software do you use for your email? Am I supposed to know the answer to this question? I use MSN hotmail
3. Are you comfortable being nude? Extremely. If the world were a nudist colony life would be good...but then everywhere would need to be tropical cause I could take an eye out with a cold nipple.
4. What is something you plan on doing this summer? Going to my family's hometown and having a family reunion of my own
5. Do you have a favorite movie/book quote? If so, what is it? I have lots...but since I love quoting Arnie I'll settle for "I'll be back"
6. How many email addresses do you have? Technically two. You have to have a yahoo account to sign up for Flickr, but I don't use it. I've used the same hotmail account since I was 16.
7. Is the sky falling? Not today, it rained all week but this is the first morning in a while that it hasn't been raining.
8. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? No, but when we move we'll be visiting Mt. Rushmore & Yellowstone National Park on our way.
9. When was the last time you mailed a hand written letter? Last month I believe. I regularly send out birthday cards, and little notes to family members along with my monthly letters to keep them updated on our family, cause not everyone has internet access.
How silly.
Once again, our hard drive has crashed. I'm at MIL's today, surfing via laptop, fulfilling my blogging and FB addiction.
Thankfully, tech savvy MIL's - S/O has put together a new Hard Drive for us that's ready to go today, so all we need to do is cart it back to our place and hook-er-up.
Along with this tidbit, Mr had an appt yesterday eve with his podiatrist who recommended he stay off his feet (and off from work) for another two weeks. I'm hoping we can utilitize the time to start our packing & inventory for the Month long Yard Sale we'll be having next month. I figure we can gather boxes and toss stuff in, and I can bring them to him to inventory for me. Something to keep him busy, and hopefully boost his spirits, the poor guy really needs it.
We had our PTO meeting lastnight, and am now starting to realize just how much I'm going to miss this particular group of parents. I have, after all, spent a whole lot of my time with them since D started school here. Meetings upon meetings, and I feel like I'm actually a part of a respected community of thinkers & movers who have no issues listening to what I have to say and resisting the urge to cackle at me. (I paint such vivid pictured don't I?) I've spent a lot of time investing myself in this community, and I'm really going to miss it.
Having to start that all over again after such a long commitment is rather daunting, and I'm really curious what I'll come up with to invest myself in once we get back home. I know I'll always be one of those folks who is constantly at my kids' schools, and will be on a first name basis with teachers & other school employees, and I can garuntee that all the students who'll attend with my kids will know me as well.
I'm trying so hard not to think of this move in a negative light, but it's extremely difficult to consider a large change without anxiety when you have an idea of what's coming at you. There's gonna be a world of No headed our way when we get there and I'm hoping to high heaven that it doesn't keep us down like it has previously.
Please tell me I've matured enough to be able to grasp what we're doing. Grant me ingenuity to guide us through that maze of No, and the connections to be able to help us when we can't find out way.
When will it be our turn to rest & relax & have a good year? Is there such a thing as an entire good year, or is it just random memories that make it so, with the bad stuff long forgotten? Am I just holding on too tightly here? I dunno.
I just really do think that it may be high time for a re-evaluation while I'm gearing up...now could very well be the perfect time for change within myself, before the geographical change takes place.
"You two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin' at you from a never ending parade of stupid" - Queen Latifah as MotorMouth Maybelle in Hairspray
That dreary, April feeling.
I'll be headed to bed after this...it's bee a long day.
H had a dentist appointment today. There aren't enough words to describe just how traumatic it was for me. I can only hope H won't remember it.
I don't think I can write it all out completely right this moment, but suffice to say that it required myself, and another assistant to hold him down to get the last filling done. I felt an immense amount of satisfaction (more than any human probably should) when the clamp that they used to keep his mouth open slipped, and he chomped the Dentist's finger real good. Did I mention the dentist refused to use sedation? Yeah, H is 2 1/2 and he didn't want to use sedation. That should've been my first clue.
I feel immensely guilty that I didn't put a stop to it. I really should have after the first two in the back were done...but me being the useless fucking sheep that I am I just let him continue, and by the time I was absolutely certain I didn't want him working on my little H anymore it was too late to stop because he had already drilled his teeth and I couldn't remove him from the chair with open wounds, right?
He was red faced, sweating, and halfway out of his pants & undies by the time they finally finished.
I made it to the waiting room with him in my arms, passed him off to my MIL & broke down into the chair in a heap of sobs.
It took me about an hour to find a new Dentist for him once I got home...the dumbest people on the planet were manning the phones at each place that I contacted to see if they could work with a child under three, and use sedation.
So. Incredibly. Frustrating.
The minute I mentioned Medicaid they told me they couldn't work on him (even though I mentioned that if they didn't take it I could pay myself).
Why can't I have a bigger backbone? WTF is wrong with me? I'm his mother, you'd think I'd have the god-damned nerve to say get the fuck away from my child you raving lunatic with a license. I do believe I won the Bad Mom award today, if there ever was one.
I'm pooped.
We headed north to go to FIL's for the night on Saturday. Wow, stayed up late visiting and hob knobbing. Woke up early Sunday morning to play with D, have a quiet Easter morning, and then everyone knocked themselves outta bed. The older boys went fishing first thing, while I cooked breakfast (Blackberry pancakes, sausage & eggs YUM!) Washed dishes, showered, played outside with kids. Romped in the yard, played inside for a bit. Went for another romp round the pond, came in for dinner (round 3pm). Ham, mashed potatoes,
veggies...yum. Had our Egg Hunt, then the boys then headed to a Wal Mart (the closest one to where we were) in Greenville Pen. I made them leave me at FIL's with other ladyfolk by myself, kid-free.
I sat in their hot tub for about an hour, maybe 80 min's (it was only set to 98F). Was nice...chatting, relaxing. Got out, did dishes, tidied up...got dressed and played outside with kids.
Got to watch a couple of movies we 
hadn't seen in a while, and listen to some great Vinyl. Don't get any better than that.
We said our goodbye's, hit a McD's and headed for home. We literally all dredged in the door...I collapsed on the couch with H in hand, and Chance put D up in his bed. It was too bright for my liking, so I pulled my hat down, and fell asleep...with H on my lap, right there on the couch. I blame all that hot tub time.
I woke up sometime after midnigh, looked around anf figured the Mr had headed to bed cause there weren't any lights ont...checked my email, and went to bed. Rustled with H a bit to get him to sleep, but eventually I fell off the edge of the earth until my alarm went off this morning. I'm gonna nap hard at some point in time today, I can feel it. I'd say it was a pretty successful visit.
I've been busy, I just don't feel like it.
Had a Dr's appt yesterday for the boys. Just a check up, no illnesses. Got a few things cleared up, a new fluoride RX and a few questions answered. H was incredibly ornary during, and it took everything I had just to keep him in the exam room long enough for the Dr to do his check-up before chasing him into the lobby to play with our Taxi Driver. Not sure how I feel about some of the things he said, will have to give it some thought.
Dyed some Eggs with H for the first time Thursday night. What an interesting tradition that is. I was raised a cross between Atheist and J/W. We just didn't do Easter, outside the Cadbury Creme Eggs of course. I've taken D to a couple of Egg Hunts at public places, but we've never celebrated it. I'm learning more and more about it as I go, and I just find it fascinating both in what it represents, and what it's been turned into. Anyhow, we had fun. I thought the eggs were supposed to be emptied out by poking a hole in them or
something (seems I recall someone telling me that ages ago), but my Mr instructed me to boil them instead...which I did. Don't ask me how many got broken once I got H up to the counter...I thought I was safe cause they were hard boiled, right? Wrong. So, we got our containers of food coloring & vinegar & water, and got to work. I think they turned out pretty good considering I was going by the seat of my pants and had no idea what it was that I was doing (but how hard could it be?).
I've been sewing in between. Working on smaller projects that I can finish in an hour or so, keeping them small so I don't distract myself from the kids. Am thinking I'm just gonna sew as much as I can before we start our moving sales and see if i can't sell a few things int he midst.
I'm sick of TV. Spring break, having Mr home for the last month...I'm sick of it. I'm going to officially unplug it, and instruct my family they aren't allowed to watch it. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of hearing the commercials, I'm tired of my family being turned into brainless zombies with bloodshot eyes. Enough is enough and I'm putting my foot down.
I made & ate Hummus for the first time last night. I rather enjoyed it. It was bland, and not made by the book, but with what I had on hand. I hope this is the beginning of a garbanzo bean love affair.
Started watching Relative Strangers? Anyone seen it, funny as snot, the first half that I watched.
I'm trying to get everything prepared for tomorrow's venture to FIL's. Got some plastic eggs to go with the ones we dyed for an Egg hunt. Debating on what to bring food-wise. They said they don't need anything, but I feel nearly obligated to bring something. I think I may just make up some bread rolls & leave it at that, though I wouldn't mind making some cookies as well.
Been feeling rather restless of late. I know I'm procrastinating. I should be getting boxes from the local stores to start packing stuff in. Gotta start packing away what I want to take, and making a list of what were selling. A list that can be easily read so that we can keep track of what we're making when the days come for the sales. Did I mention we're aiming for 5 weekends straight of Moving Sales from our place?? We don't do anything just normally, everything we do is over-the-top. I just hope it can go smoothly. So, all of May, and the first weekend in June, and anything left over will be donated after that. God I hope I can survive until we leave.
Anyhow, off to go distract the kids from harming each other....
1. What was the last thing you ate? Popcorn...it's still late (as opposed to me usually doing this meme first thing in the morning), I was watching Ghost Hunters...really the only time I eat popcorn anymore.
2. I say the color purple.. what do you think of? Darius. It's his favorite color. I was happy this eve when I asked him which color Band Aid he wanted and out of the colors that's the one he chose. Reminds me of when he was little.
3. Lamps or ceiling lights? Lamps...lots of them. I have bad eye-sight so I like ot be able to have good light with whatever I'm doing. It also helps when you have a toddler fall asleep on you quicker if you can dim the light wherever you are, and still be able to see.
4. What color rabbit is your favorite? The smooth coffee&creme color of brown. No, I've never eaten Rabbit, even if they do look good enough for a nom.
5. Your car breaks down on a deserted road and your cell phone has no signal - what do you do? Check my emergency kit for the needed items, and start hiking.
6. What is one thing most of your friends do online that you just can't understand the fascination and do not participate in? Twitter. I stated once that I think if people need to know what you're doing on a moment to moment basis they're stalking you.
7. What do you need right now? My husband.
8. And your most serious injury you've had was....? I cut my arm once when I was about 7 years old (I guess, I can't really recall) We were at my gramma's friends
house in Little Fort, and we were collecting eggs. We ran out of egg cartons so I ran back to the house to grab some, and since my hands were full I kicked the screen door open, only I missed the aluminum part at the bottom that I was aiming for and hit the glass instead. It shattered, I slipped & fell, and my foot got jammed under the door. Once I got myself free I felt horribly guilty that I broke the window on the door, and I remember walking away from it (maybe to look for something to clean it up with?) and I felt something tickling my arm. When I looked down I realized that I had sliced my arm open so that a flap was hanging and the tickle was my skin making contact with my skin. The Dr's office was about 35-45 minutes away (depending on how fast the ferry across the river traveled) and I remember panicking and being held on someone's lap while they held a towel around my arm. I held the record at that Dr's office for a long time for the most amount of stitches...the exact number escapes me now.
9. What is the most evil thing you've ever done? I cheated on my first husband to end the relationship.
10. Give us some random fact about you. I'm afraid of the dark.
I got a Redbook magazine in the mail yesterday...can't recall where from, but I know it's a free issue from something online. Cool. I'm reading my way through it when I come to their Going Green Article (pg 122) and found it be an interesting read. At the very end of the article (pg 128) there's a column that talking about Earthshaking Moms. I read through and found myself thinking, wow, I could do that! It was about something called EcoMom Alliance. I'll letcha know more once I've finished my research on the subject. Just the name sounds like me huh?
Seriously blushing right now...Cruising Castanet for something to do, when I came across this story (scroll to the very bottom to read original):
Brad Pitt spotted in Kelowna
I've wasted my day away drinking caffeinated tea (I truly didn't realize it until I noticed a bit of shaking in my hands), blogging and being indecisive about what I wanted to make.
I settled on this hat. I like it, I think I'll make more, in different colors, as this was just my tester. When I started with the pattern and was cutting out the sizes, I was wondering how do I know if I'm a small, medium, or large??
Really, is it general knowledge that people have about the size of their melons? I was confused, and sat there pondering my problem...then the light bulb flashed. I checked my pattern envelope, and there it was...a small head is a 21" circumference, medium is 22", and a large is 23". I'm a large...I have a 23 inch melon. Yay me.
Anyhow, got it cut out, did the appropriate steps, and wound up with this. I love it. 
Music has always played a significant role in my life. I can measure my life by it, I can listen to a song and remember something clearly from my childhood. I can identify so strongly with a song my moods change with it...crying one moment, angry the next and wistful when the song changes.
Pondering this today as I'm by myself, here's a few songs running through my head along with this line of thought & what's on my stereo:
Hey Jude - The Beatles - I remember being in Salmon Arm, we're visiting my great aunt M, and I'm in the car. It's playing on the radio, it's dark out. I'm tired. When we arrive at her house we go inside and it's playing on their radio too. I found comfort in listening to the song, and the clinking of coffee mugs, along with the smell of tobacco smoke as I head to bed.
I Have A Dream - ABBA - I remember clearly when listening to any ABBA songs the basement suite we lived in in North Glenmore in Kelowna when I was 10 years old. I shared a room with my mom, separated by dressers. We had a record player in our room and I used to rifle through her albums a lot. I used to put this album on when I was going to sleep, or when I was just relaxing in the room by myself. I used to think about the words, and picture my mom singing them.
Stand By Me - Ben E. King - We drove across Canada to this movie soundtrack. I can still picture us four kids (My youngest Uncle, my two aunts & myself) sitting in the back with the wind blowing in our hair singing along to it, and the rest of the songs on this sound track.
Purple People Eater - Another song from our cross country travels that we listened to on 8-track. It was a funny songs tape that also included Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.
Part of Your World - Disney's Ariel - I remember loving The Little Mermaid. As a child I fantasized about escaping to another place where I would be untouchable by my abuser. It was such a strong fantasy that I would sing this song when I played by myself (which was often) and pretend I had left my family and gone far away to someone who loved me and would never hurt me.
Anything by Dwight Yokam - My grandmother was an avid fan of Country music. I recall only hearing this played when they were partying, but it could've been more often. That's what I think of when I hear his voice...a big party where us kids were shooed out of the room to watch movies, or play video games. We ran a risk of listening to the drunk talk if we entered the kitchen for anything...you know, the one about "Do you know how much I love you?"
Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus - I bought this tape when it came out, and I loved it. My gramma copied it and each time I hear this song I remember being in her kitchen in Chu Chua looking at her plants on the windowsill, and playing with all of her containers of glass beads.
Keep Talking - Pink Floyd - The summer between 6th grade and 7th grade I went to the coast (Vancouver) for the summer...my 2 aunts & 1 uncle & myself split up, two at one relatives, two at another. The first relative had this album (The Division Bell), and I fell in love with it because of how mellow it was. When I hear it I can still remember his apartment, walking to the store with my aunt, and playing Final Fantasy (insert appropriate # here).
One - U2 - I'm visiting my Gramma's in Chu Chua again, and my aunt K is listening to this album, and I'm mesmerized by this song, and Mysterious Ways. The words had a profound effect on my young brain, and brings into mind the world and how we function as a race.
Just a glimpse, this list could go on forever, and I may just need to make a series of them. I can judge my life by music, or by significant events during a time frame. How do you do it?
I'm diggin on my first Incubus love today...Make Yourself. This album came out when I was suffering from my Dissolution from my first husband. This got me through a lot. It's been so long since I've listened to it I forgot how cool it was.
I spent my day yesterday lazing a bout with little H...mainly due to the fact that I was literally woken up every hour the night before. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Guess that comes with the territory of bed training. I was a walking zombie, completely useless to the human race, other than to serve food, and lay on the floor to play cars.
Anyhow, there was a Ziploc bag of carrots sitting on my counter, as I couldn't fit them into D's lunch box with his food. So, each time I was in the kitchen I snagged myself a couple of carrots and munched away. Then I got a reminder of why I hardly ever eat such big chunks of carrots. I'm chewing away and H says something to me, and when I respond...a chunk of carrot gets lodged in my nasal passage. Yup, the nasal opening in the back of my throat was plugged with, what I'm sure was a tiny piece of carrot, but a piece that felt entirely too big to get lodged anywhere. I spent nearly my entire day snort and sniffling and swallowing, trying to dislodge it, to no avail. My throat was raging by the time D was in bed for the night, and I was sucking on Halls & drinking tea with honey cause I just figured if was going to come out I wasn't going to have anything to do with it by then. Sure enough, when I went to put H to bed, and was laying down, it came out on it's own. Grossed out? Yeah, so was I. Guess I must've needed the extra protein.
When I woke up this morning and caught a glimpse of the outdoors, I spied that we have more than an inch of snow accumulation. This is April Mother Nature, WTF?
I'm alone in the house today, and am debating on heading back to bed (cure that zombie syndrome), getting creative (what should I make?), or cleaning (nothing like getting ready to move. A bit early, yes, but still needs to be done). I'll probably do a mix of all three when I get going...I think I'd like some coffee...
"You'd better not blink or breath
Cause consequence is a bigger word
Than you think
It's bigger than you or me"
Incubus - Consequence
Still have a few to go before I can safely tuck my machine away.
We've been discussing our moving options of late, and it took me by surprise that we'll be moving out of this home at the end of May. That's when our lease ends. We'll only be moving to MIL's until we're ready to hit the road (which shouldn't be more than two weeks I hope), but we'll still be moving. Really, really shocked me when it was put into that perspective. It's time to start boxing up what I want to take, and setting it aside so I can be sure it doesn't get lost. It's time to start getting stuff we don't want anymore, and a clear inventory ready for the moving sale that will hopefully raise some decent funds to help us cross the country yet again. I'm ambitiously aiming to have one suitcase of clothing for each of us to take. I'm assuming I can allow for one box each of winter apparel. I do know we won't be able to take a whole lot as we're obviously restricted to the amount of room available in the moving truck we'll be renting.
ANYhow...this past weekend's project was for the boys. I kept saying I was gonna make them bed curtains, because H likes to sleep in later than his brother, and because the bright light has a tendency to wake him up a bit too early. Nevermind the fact that the blankets & sheets kept getting dirtied because they would steal them from the closet and make forts that would then be under attack by something strange. So, I finally finished them.
Last year around this time I had gotten some turtle fabric for the front, and some yellow flannel for a backing. I had originally bought it to make curtains for our old place, but never got around to it (cause I was too busy home schooling & such), so the stuff came with us in our move here. I did make curtains with it for their room, but it was a while before we finally got that bunk bed.
I had been pondering for a while how I was going to get them to stay up across the long, open part, but then the answer came to me while I was cleaning 
MIL's basement. There was a fabulous shower tension rod that was mine for the taking...so, I took it. It works wonderfully, made my job a bit easier, and is just the right size.
Now, even though there is only two open sides available I made three curtains. The light comes in a the head of the bed because it's right next to the window, so I covered it up. It makes it sufficiently dark in there for him to fall asleep in the middle of the day, AND I can turn on the bedroom light in the morning and not worry about waking him up when I knock big brother out of bed.
Yes, the boys' room is a bit of a mess. When I sew I abandon all other ventures, ignore what other things need to be done...and go with it. Sure, it makes for a bit of a backlog in house-work, but I'm willing to do it if I can create something in the time available.
Moving on. It's not been an entire week of potty training, and H has done both deeds on the throne. He knows fully what it's for, and has given us enough time to make it to one when we're out with him. We've been sleeping the past three nights with just the training pants, and though I was a bit hard put to find something to go on the mattress in case of accidents (I ended up going with a clear sheet of vinyl that I had gotten to make a stroller shield out of) I found something and the coast was wonderfully clear. H hasn't had any accidents. I'm wondering if he ever will. I'm now working on trying to get him to sleep in his bed all night, with a combo of weaning. Dangerous territory, but I figured if we're gonna start some change we might as well go for the whole she-bang. I hope it goes as smoothly as the potty training.
