As Luck Would Have It...

Milk it for what it's worth

2010-03-03T15:10:00.003-06:00

So last night, with the "patch job" on her tooth, we were keeping the girl to soft foods so that she didn't run the risk of damaging the tooth further. She bemoaned the fact that she couldn't have any of her "favorite" foods... And three is not too young to lean a little towards melodrama as far as she's concerned either.

"I can't EAT mommy cause the food is too hard and it will hurt my broken tooth"

Don't worry I reassured her, I was making mashed potatoes with supper so she could eat some.

"But they're still too hard! I need to eat something softer"

Oh really? Her answer when I asked her what she had in mind?

"ummm... marshmallows? Or pudding, or jello... jello is softer"

I chuckled at that. She looked SO sincere... riding that "injured cuteness" factor as far as she could take it.

Gotta give her credit... Even if she only scored a yogurt tube ;)

Adventures in Emergency Dentistry

2010-03-02T18:42:00.005-06:00

So we had a bang up day here.... literally.

I got a phone call from the daycare around 11:15 this morning. One of the phone calls you never want to get: Our little girl had been hit in the face with a sled while tobogganing with her friends on the small hill in their play yard. Her tooth was chipped. I could hear her still sobbing in the background when they called.... I don't think anything can make you feel as helpless as being so far away from your child when they're hurt.

I'm lucky that our dentist is just down the hall from my own office - I raced down to ask them what to do and they said they could see her as fast as I could get back with her. So by 12:30 she was sitting in the dentist's chair. Not exactly how I pictured her first visit with Dr. K.

He examined the damage and after looking at the X-ray, we could see that the tooth wasn't just chipped, it was cracked right down to below the gum line. Because he had no way of knowing if the root would be exposed if the chipped part was removed (and not wanting to traumatize his newest little patient), he immediately phoned a pediatric oral surgeon, Dr. C, and arranged for us to be seen right away.

So from one dentist's chair to another. My poor little peanut fell asleep on the trip across town but didn't get to finish much of a nap on the waiting room couch before we were seen. After looking at the tooth Dr. C had me hold her (restrain would be a better word) while he removed the broken half of her tooth.

The root was exposed. So he cleaned and sealed it (temporary fix) while we discussed options. The tooth needs to be capped... which totally sucks because it's one of her eye teeth and the rest of the smiles in her young childhood pictures are now going to have a flash of silver in them. My only choice was how we wanted to do it. He could do it immediately but it would have to be done "against her will" ... because the little adventure of just examining and then patching the break had shown us just how well she'd put up with a more invasive procedure (one that involved needles to boot!). OR, we could wait until first thing tomorrow and put her under general anesthesia and get it done without her remembering a thing.

That's a no brainer for me. I don't know if I could stand forcibly restraining my shrieking, panic-stricken baby while a 'stranger' man-handled her face and gave her a life-long fear of dentists. We had our younger son put under when he needed some extensive dental work done at age 4 and he has no memory of it and more importantly, no fear of dentists. I don't like the idea of putting her under... she so tiny and I know there are risks.... but it's just so much better than the alternative.

The only catch with opting for the general anesthesia route is that she'd need to be cleared by a doctor before they would put her under. It was already 2:30 in the afternoon. Still, I booked her in for 9:00am tomorrow and left with the paperwork... and her broken tooth. Before we left the nurse came rushing out and gave her a tiny pink treasure chest with the piece of her tooth in it.

I tried her pediatrician right away but he was out of town this week... and his back-up had been called out of the office this afternoon. Perfect. So plan B: I stopped by my husband's work on my way towards home. He had an appointment with his own doctor at the end of the day and I was hoping he could make a phone call and maybe take her along (saving me an afternoon at a walk-in clinic). But no such luck.

So we went home and I changed out of my work clothes before heading up to the walk-in clinic at the top of our street. We got there around 3:30 and put our names down to see our 3rd medical professional in 3 hours. It wasn't too bad. There was actually only one person in front of us so we only had time for one book in the waiting room before going in. By 4:00 her pre-op check was done and we were on our way.

Now we wait. She's a little fussy this evening... no doubt exhausted from an emotional and scary day, but she ate well and doesn't seem to be in any pain right now with the patch-job.

I think she'll sleep better than I will.... At least she has a visit from the tooth fairy to look forward to!

(just a couple of years sooner than I was expecting)

Never gonna happen

2010-02-20T21:28:00.003-06:00

My daughter is obsessed with the idea of being a big sister.

I'm sure it's directly related to always being the littlest and wanting to be bigger than somebody... anybody. She wants to be bigger so bad.

Her biggest complaint in life is that she's going to be little 'For-Ever'

So I'm really not surprised with how fascinated she is that my sister-in-law is going to have a baby in May. She talks about her baby cousin daily. That's impressive considering she's only seen her auntie's belly 2-3 times in past few months.

Today, when I broke the news to her yet again that she would never be a BIG sister... because she doesn't have any brothers or sisters younger than her, she defiantly informed me that she WAS going to be a big sister... as soon as her baby cousin is born!

I didn't bother correcting her... it's as close as she's going to get. We're obviously just going to have to start spending alot more time with my brother and his lovely wife :)

A Light Went Out

2010-02-11T21:30:00.002-06:00

The world lost one of its genuinely beautiful people today... and the lives of several of those close to mine will be much the poorer for it.

N was a woman who walked through this world with a grace that few manage. I'm sure she never crossed paths with anyone who didn't instantly like her. She and her husband H, a man I've had a special affection for since the first time we met, were just on the verge of finally having the time to enjoy life and each other.... something they deserved and had worked lifetimes toward.

But her time ran out. In a matter of months.... weeks that flew by all too fast, she's gone.

And my heart is breaking for him.

It's just so wrong... so unfair that her thread was cut so early - way too young. I'll never be able to understand the injustices of life that allow someone like her... someone so beautiful, to be taken like that.

She's gone and he's alone. When they should be planning vacations and dining with friends. Relaxing together and travelling, enjoying the fruits of a life well spent.

H and N were, are, good friends with my parents. We were friendly, but a generation removed from being good friends ourselves. Still, there was something about them.... something in H that reminded me of the best qualities in my Dad... something that made me like him the minute we were introduced six years ago. He and his wife, N, were perfect together. She was warm and welcoming and kind - and everyone loved her.

I can't help comparing them, and where they were in their lives, to my own parents. Maybe that's why this is hitting me so hard.

I'm grieving. For myself, for my parents who've lost a dear friend.... but mostly for H, the man left behind when her light went out so unexpectedly.

She spent her final days planning her own funeral... never once complaining about her own fate - just worried about how her passing would hurt him.

Why does it always seem like the brightest lights are the ones that burn out too soon?

My head hurts with it all... but not nearly as much as my heart.

Rink Rat

2010-01-27T14:29:00.007-06:00

With two big brothers in hockey... each with 3-4 ice times per week, my girl has little choice but to spend a majority of her time kicking around hockey arenas and community centres with us all winter long.

She has fun. There are usually other siblings of players on the loose for her to play with - and she looks up to those big brothers of hers... she loves hockey... she gets very upset when we try to get out the door without taking her along (which is so much easier for us - but totally not fair in her books).

So I confess no surprise at the demands that started a while back:

Where's my hockey bag? (rolling Disney Princess duffle bag - check!)

Where's my hockey stick? (the boys' first stick, pink hockey tape from Santa - check!)

I wanna play hockey! (mom with stick & puck to pass back & forth at "practice" - check!)

Daddy, I need a jersey! (littlest jersey in the boys' old collection - check!)

The smile says it all, doesn't it? (go ahead - click on the picture... it's worth seeing full size).

I guess all I have to look forward to now is the joy of chauffering THREE kids to hockey next year. I'm trying not to think about that... 2 parents, 2 vehicles, 3 kids, 3 different directions. I'm not sure the math works - but I could stare at her grin all day long!

(Team Canada Women's Hockey 2026 Olympics? I'll let you know ;)

Stolen...

2009-12-14T15:28:00.002-06:00

My thoughts often wander when I'm admiring or thinking about my youngest son. I have so many conflicting thoughts and feelings.

Sometimes I'm angry when I think about the things he struggles with that come so easy to most others. All the time I'm protective and want to shelter him from the ugliness in this world... that he most often doesn't see. And too many times to count, I'm so touched by his innocence and honestly that I start to cry. The love I feel for him is so fierce that catches me off guard... much like he does with his comments out of left field.

I rarely know how to put all of this into words though... which is why I was so moved by another mother's post that I decided to steal it and post it here to share with anyone who happens by... she had a wonderful way of capturing how I feel:

A Little Piece Of God
Posted by Anonymous.

I have an autistic son who is truly a bit of God broken off and fallen to this earth. I am fortunate in a million ways that he is oh... let's say autism-lite. He has none of the most challenging behavioral and cognitive elements of the disorder and his therapy is moving faster than anyone could have imagined.

I am in no way brave about this, and his diagnosis did very nearly turn me to dust, but recently someone asked that I write a letter to her friend, a stranger, who is struggling with her daughter's recent diagnosis. So I gave it my best shot.

This diagnosis is a pointing finger and nothing more. And now it’s my turn to whisper the important words - words that flicker just brightly enough to keep you from falling the whole hard way down: Your beautiful child remains your beautiful child, regardless of where a finger points. Mothers of auties pass those words down to new mothers of auties like some families pass down silver, and it may well be that this one act and these few words are the single speck of autism that we mothers hold in common. Autism is so many things, so many different ways of being.

People will ask you “what is autism?”. Believe me, they’ll ask you all sorts of things, but when they ask this particular question, they may as well ask, “what is skin?” How do you answer? How can you? But since no mother begins this trip with answers and since you cannot give what you don’t yet have, leave it, just leave it. . . Also, it’s very important right now that you pack lightly, so you must leave other people’s stuff behind. This is your trip and that pointing finger is where you start. Take this road through whatever terrain you must - anger, grief, frustration - and know that you will come out the other side a changed and stronger mother.

Go ahead and take the long road with all the hills and muddy spots. Stop where you feel the need, think a lot about turning around, and understand that you will always bitch about why you have to do all the damned driving. But you will drive and drive. And then drive some more. You will keep moving forward, I promise. Claim your place now among like-minded mothers and know that we are tough. We will stand with you shoulder-to-shoulder, stretch mark- to-stretch mark because we have all done the drive, in our own way, at our own speed with our own stretch of muddy spots.

My autie is a million kinds of magic to me. Just as he had no words for the first five-ish years of his life, nor do I have words to explain our bond. His everyday obstacles show up on time every day, but they loom only as large as we allow. So often, too often, we show off those obstacles —we set them apart and make absolutely certain that we can say, “That’s my kid there, and wow, will you just look at the size of his obstacles ? They are RIGHT THERE and THEY ARE HUGE.”

Let me be very clear now, that those same obstacles have no power over the magic, not the least little bit. Say that outloud to yourself right now. Good. This child sits closest to my heart and I can tell you that even in his worst moments, I can see tiny bits of my best self. He is unbridled joy. He has a lightness that comes in quite handy during the darks. And while my chaos is just boring mommy chaos, his chaos is—well, he’s often quite glorious in his chaos. My own road is occasionally strewn with his gifts of glory wrapped in sticky chaos.

Now, understand that these gifts are rare and precious, mostly unexpected and sometimes quite sticky. Some days you will have to look long and hard to find even the dullest one. Some days you’ll give up looking altogether. Again, please know that giving up on today can never, ever forfeit the gifts scheduled for tomorrow. Keep looking. You’ll see. My son’s diagnosis shattered me like a rock hitting glass - a big ugly hard thing hitting a not very sturdy at all thing. We sat in that tiny room with the tiny chairs and filled out those very not-tiny-at-all pages of parent questionnaires and I cried. The whole time. Long pages. Lots of crying. Not a good day, to be sure, but one that you’ve now survived.

You remember the tiny room with those tiny chairs, and you surely recall filling out the stack of parent questionnaires. You might also recall that your answers were often limited to three choices: Often, Sometimes and Not At All. So do you bend your beautiful child to fit those tight little circles? Oh, you know that answer already. And when you worry that your child's diagnosis might change how you see them, who they are, and who they might become, that answer fits quite nicely into one of those circles:

That answer is Not At All.

Apparently penis-envy is real...

2009-12-04T12:11:00.004-06:00

Our drive to school this morning was made to the sound of my sons' uncontrollable fits of laughter. They couldn't stop giggling and squealing after their 3 year old sister announced (among her Christmas wish list items):

"I want a penis!"

(I think that's a little outside of Santa's scope honey!)

But look! She's not the only one:

http://www.tressugar.com/854010

Owned.

2009-12-01T14:44:00.005-06:00

I get phone calls from the school.

Sometimes from teachers, often from the principal.... but always about #1 son.

You know those calls?

So yesterday, when the principal phoned me, I immediately starting thinking "lovely, what's he done now?"

I was a little surprised to find out she was calling about #2 this time.

Funny how we presume.

The call wasn't the end of the world... just something minor to talk with him about when we got home.

But I couldn't resist the temptation to see if I could make #1 squirm when he got in the van. I was SURE he'd have the same reaction I had when the principal called me earlier.

As soon as he'd hopped in the van and done up his seat belt, I turned to him and said:

"I got a call from Ms. L today"

I was waiting for him to squirm but just about died laughing when he replied:

"Not Ms. L - you mean Ms. M!"

(Ms. M teaches him french and science....this was way too good to pass up!)

"Sorry.... so you know what Ms. M was calling about?"

"I just blurted out a word in class... it wasn't even a bad word! She just said my "timing" was inappropriate!"

Then I was laughing.

"Son, Ms. M didn't call me today, you didn't let me finish; Ms. L called me today about your brother.... but thanks for letting me know about french class - you just copped to something your mom didn't know about!"

The look on his face was priceless. Realizing he'd just told on himself...

And then he was laughing along with me. We were laughing at him for thinking the same thing I had: He hears that the principal called his mom and immediately starts trying to think of what he did that day.

It was great. I owned that boy yesterday ;)

(I may have to try this again some day... who knows what this kid is getting away with?)

I'm so proud

2009-11-21T19:22:00.001-06:00

Really.

The Coolest Room in the House!

2009-11-12T22:37:00.006-06:00

The beaming smile says it all... He love Love LOVES his new bed and new room.

Isn't this the coolest bed ever?? Our neighbors sold it to us for a song after they bought it for their daughter and she was too scared to sleep up there. SCORE!

He's sleeping in there already - apparently he was moving favorite toys into drawers before Dad was even finished setting everything up.

We haven't even got his blind hung on the window yet but he couldn't wait.

I love putting that kind of smile on this little boy's face.

And I'm proud of his big brother (who's got to be at least a tiny bit jealous) because he's being a really great sport. Mind you, he does have a room all to himself now too. He'll be pretty pleased with himself when we get that, formerly shared, room sorted out and set up for him alone.

Great end to the day.

His RED Room

2009-11-11T21:08:00.009-06:00

When we asked him what color he wanted he wanted his new room to be, my 8 year old said "RED!".

So red it is!

We just finished laying the carpet and putting on the baseboards tonight... and he was absolutely thrilled when we showed it to him. The boys have been sharing a room for 3 years now. It's been fine, but they're getting older and this is going to be a wonderful change for them... and they're both looking forward to being able to kick the other out whenever they want to!

This room used to be my husband's shop... although, to be fair, for at least the last year it's sole function has been a collection place for any all items in our home with no other place to go. Basically a junk storage room with alot of tools buried in there somewhere. It had the bare cement floor, the old pull-chord light, exposed frames from the inside of the walls facing out of the room... plumbing and duct work exposed... and the underside of our front entrance way. It was alot to "hide" and a ton of work to finish.

I'm thrilled just to be DONE!!

I've decided that I hate home renovating. Unless we paid someone else to come in and do it... I think I could live with that. But doing it yourself just takes so long... when all the time you have to devote to the project is the bits and pieces of your evenings & weekends that aren't already consumed by two boys in hockey.

Still... there is a sense of pride in a job well done... I'm just happy right now.

(even though I was so excited to take pictures of the "finished" product that I forgot to put the switch-plate back on!)

Tomorrow we'll bring in the new bed we bought for him. Did I say he was thrilled with his new bedroom? He ain't seen nothing yet!

SPOOKY!

2009-11-01T10:21:00.007-06:00

It's got to be their favorite night of the year... except for maybe Christmas Eve?

Probably a toss-up... they definitely don't get this much candy at Christmas!

My oldest got all excited yesterday and went all out... digging through boxes that haven't seen the light of day in who knows how long - adding to the meager Halloween decorations I'd put up. His excitement was contagious... I even got motivated enough to pull out the window faces we haven't put up the past few years. Those things have held up well! They're just black felt and tissue paper... and probably close to 10 years old already. Still fun though... and in one piece!

My Grandmother was thrilled with our before trick-or-treating visit this year... usually we try to cram it in after the kids are done for the evening (and already tired-out from their travels) but with Halloween being on a Saturday, we were ready way too early to start going door-to-door - so off to Great-Grandma's we went.

Last year, at two, my girl enjoyed trick-or-treating and getting candy in her bag from our neighbors, but this year, at three, the pure thrill of Halloween really kicked in for her. She was awesome to watch: "Trick or TREAT!!" she'd yell at the top her lungs at each door (or usually as she was racing up their walks). She'd chatter at everyone who came to a door and most laughed at how adorable she was. "Tank-you! Happy Halloween" was her standard as she was turning to JUMP off their steps in her hurry to keep up with her big brother in the race to the next house.

I love trick-or-treating with the kids when they're little. Is there anything cuter?

My 10 year old struck out on his own this year for the first time... too cool for his little siblings now, I guess - and anxious to hook up with some friends so they could really cruise. The kid scored more than a full pillowcase of loot... I could barely lift it!

All in all, a perfect night... no snow on the ground, not too cold... and more candy in the house than I can possibly think of what to do with.

Happy Halloween!

Zero to Sixty...

2009-10-26T09:44:00.003-05:00

We just had a weekend, right?

I missed that somehow.

Have you ever felt like you were so busy there just wasn't time to do anything.... but then something happens, like someone flicking a switch, and you realize you had no clue was busy even was??

That's how I feel right now.

Hockey season has come. My husband is coaching one son's team and I am managing another.

I haven't found my bed on the near side of midnight in over a week (not that I was particularly great at finding it before that... but before I was "wasting" time, not "spending" it)

I'm hanging tight to the knowledge that this frantic time at the start of the season... when teams are forming and everything has to be done right now, will only last for a brief time.

Pretty soon we'll be into our standard winter routine and I won't feel so pressed... I just hope we reach that point while I still have hair... or at least some left that's not grey yet.

Word to my husband: I will help you with whatever you need for your team, but if you think hockey is an excuse to abandon our son's partially finished bedroom, you're mistaken! (you don't need sleep either...so buck up!) Sincerely, your loving, but tired wife.

Filling Thier Needs

2009-10-22T16:29:00.004-05:00

My oldest son has the most awesome teacher this year. It's the first time he's been taught by a male teacher and I was looking forward to a firmer hand in taming my oldest's ... ummm... energy, shall we say.

And as the year progresses I couldn't be happier... this teacher, Mr. N. has succeeded in gaining the kids respect and maintaining order - mostly through his creative and innovative discipline style. At the beginning of the year, Mr. N. gave parents notice that he would regularly hold kids back for 15 minutes at the end of the day if there were any difficulties during class time that needed extra attention... and asked us if we preferred to be contacted by phone or email if our child would be staying on any particular day.

When he does keep them, those 15 minutes are put to good use. The imaginative punishments doled out during his detention periods have us parents laughing almost every day.

My son's best friend NR was getting in the habit of being really slow getting his morning routine accomplished and getting to his desk during the allotted time in the mornings... yesterday was particularly bad - so he earned an extra 15 minutes at the end of his day.

15 minutes to practice his morning routine.

When his Mom got there to pick him up she got to watch him: He put his coat on, walked to the door... then turned, proceeded back to his hook, hung up his jacket, changed his shoes, sat down at his desk, turned and said "Good morning Mr. N.!". To which Mr. N. replied "Good morning NR!".

Then he did it again. He got in several rounds during the 15 minutes... and by the third "Good morning Mr. N!" it was pretty hard to keep a straight face....

Today was my son's turn.

I guess he was disrupting class with air guitar renditions.... so when I got to the school to pick him up I was informed that he was still in Mr. N's room: Doing "air guitar".

Huh?? I had no idea what they were talking about so I wandered over to his classroom and sure enough, he was standing in there doing a mad air guitar - complete with sound effects... providing background entertainment to all the parents and kids as they were leaving. And any time he quieted or slowed down, Mr. N. would encourage him to pick up the volume or pace.

He told me that my son obviously had a need to play air guitar and he's all about filling the kids' needs. I couldn't help laughing - what a perfectly appropriate punishment!

The guitar was sounding a little tired by the end of 15 minutes.... I don't suppose it's as much fun when you have to do it ;)

I love this teacher.

We made it One Whole Week.

2009-10-17T01:32:00.003-05:00

One week to the day of NOT having to visit Children's hospital!

Only this time I got to see areas of the new Children's Emergency that I've never visited before.

After all the trips I made last week to take my youngest son in for his IV antibiotic treatments, several of the staff were familiar - and a couple recognized me... even though I was there with his older brother this time.

First time in ten years that I've ever taken a child in for a suspected fracture. We've gone for cuts (how proud am I? Every one of my three kids has a scar already!) and illnesses... and most recently major infections... But never for a broken bone.

My boy was playing "Manhunt" with his buddies after school today ( it's some version of tag they're mad about right now). He was racing around the new play structure in his schoolyard... darting to avoid a tag, when he lost his footing in the wood chips and skidded, shin-first, into one of the large, metal support columns.

I thought it was just a bad bump... you know how much really whacking your shin hurts! But a few hours later, the swelling and bruising were impressive enough to warrant a drive for pictures.

So this was the first time I've ever been sent to X-ray with my child. And I have to say, the X-ray department waiting room is so cool - the ceiling tiles are painted dark blue like a night sky and have dozens and dozens of mini-lights embedded... in the shape of the constellations even! It seems like no matter where you go in this new facility, the decorating and playful decor just make being in a hospital as fun as possible. It's awesome.

But even better is having my son's X-rays showing that there is no hairline or compression fractures hiding under the bruise. He may be limping for a day or two... and he'll be watching his first team practice from the sidelines tomorrow, but at least he won't be missing the first half of hockey season or anything.

Here's looking forward to more than a week before my next visit to the hospital!!

Our Cabin in the Woods!

2009-10-11T11:17:00.010-05:00

Picture proof of how far we've gotten!

Two weeks ago (or was it three?)... before our boy got sick, my children stayed a day with their aunt and cousins so that we could spend one last fall day working on the cottage before we closed it down for the winter. I've been meaning to post some pictures ever since but have never made the time to do it... between the start of hockey, construction on our son's soon-to-be new bedroom in the basement... and spending the majority of the past week either in, or driving to and from Children's hospital, it hit the back burner. But better late than never!

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

After two seasons of solid work (along with plenty of non-work time enjoying the place as we progressed!), our cottage is *almost* done! There's plenty of finishing left to do inside, and a deck to add to the front next summer, but we finished the siding on the shed... and my Mom & I even made the time to cut a cute little moon in the outhouse door! (painting still to come).

I've talked before about how much my family has fallen in love with the cottage community that we've built in. The kids love the time we spend up here... as do we, and I look forward to years of time spent at the cottage, building summer memories. We have power now, but just like my years growing up at our "old" family cottage, I don't intend for TV or electronic entertainment to invade our "getting away from it all" time. Right now our time is filled with the outdoors... swimming, boating, walking, bike riding and playing in the woods. In the evenings, or on rainy days, family board games, puzzles, cards and coloring fill our time. We all have so much fun together - and no one ever has the time to be board or miss what we left behind in the city.

It's perfect. And we built it all... it's an amazing sense of accomplishment: from the weekends spent clearing brush, to the early days of the building... all the way to where we are today - I have pictures of it all... including the fun we had... and everyone who worked so hard - or helped along the way: My Dad and husband, my Mom & me... my uncle and aunt and brothers - even the kids! When we're finally all-the-way finished, I plan to document it all in a scrapbook that will have a place somewhere up there... so that my children, future nieces and nephews... and their children, will be able to look back at the roots of this family cottage.

Our own little cabin in the woods.

Wishful Thinking!

2009-10-10T19:33:00.002-05:00

(He actually asked if he could ride to his friend's house!)

Home Free!

2009-10-10T19:15:00.002-05:00

Well we're finally home - to stay I hope! My boy received his 7th round of IV antibiotics Friday night and Doctors finally decided that we've seen enough improvement to switch to oral antibiotics instead! So they pulled his line and let us go... I'm so glad it's over.

He was so excited to have the use of both hands again... on the way home I over-heard him play-acting a conversation between the two:

"Partner! I'm so glad to see you! (picture the two hands "talking" to each other) Oh partner I've missed you so much... I never want to be away from you again. When we get home we can play with our toys and even the PS2"

Funny little man. But I get his relief at finally being set free... it must've been such a frustrating week for him trying to do everything single handed. And I'm thrilled that we didn't have to head out for the hospital for the first morning in 4 days. Thank God.

Now it's just a regular 10 day prescription of antibiotics and we should be able to put this whole thing behind us. He'll probably have a scar on the back of his leg where the infection broke through, but other than that, he'll be none the worse for wear.

4 days, $51 and a tank of gas...

2009-10-08T23:07:00.006-05:00

So we're into day four of our twice daily trips to Children's hospital ER for IV antibiotic treatments. And my boy's been such a trooper.

I suppose it helps that the nurses and doctors there are so wonderful... after 8 shifts, there's usually a few that recognize him when we come in - and he's charmed them all just like he does everyone who spends more than 5 minutes talking to him. I don't know what it is about him that makes everyone around him just want to take care of him... but they're all so sweet and gentle with everything they do, they've made this entire week as easy as it could be.

He's comfortable. He actually likes the ER... he plays for a few minutes each time we come in... gets mesmerized by whichever movie they have playing on the big flat screen - it's such an amazing hospital. Our city is so privileged to have a facility like this here. Every part of it is designed to make being sick easier on kids (and parents). The only thing we're missing is some free parking!

But this is getting old. He cried tonight for the first time during his treatment... he was saying that it hurt and was hot - like burning as it was going in. They stopped it for a minute to give him a break, flushed his IV with some saline and then turned it back on slower... which he still didn't like, but at least tolerated better. Nothing was different tonight than any of his previous treatments... all they could figure was that because he's had the IV in for so long now, his poor little vein is probably just getting tender and irritated.

And he's so over having his hand bound. He was frustrated today at having to do everything one handed... and not being able to play with his toys, or his video games... the poor kid can't even pull up his own pants when he needs to use the washroom. He's eight and he needs someone to zip his jacket and buckle his seat belt. I'd be frustrated too. I'm surprised he went two full days before complaining about it.

I wish it could be done with. I really thought he'd only need one or two treatments before we could switch to oral... maybe three at the most.

Tonight was #5... and tomorrow morning will be his 6th. Because yeah, we've been condemned to another day...

I was disappointed to see no change when we went in this morning... but tonight? When they took off the bandage I was thrilled - excited! The redness had finally receded and was smaller than the last borders drawn... the color was down, there was less heat and the wounds looked like they were finally drying. It's a long way from healed, but the tide has turned I think!

I was totally expecting the Dr to come in and say it was time to pull the line and let him go to oral meds instead. But I respect his prudence in the decision to continue the course another day in light of this first sign of improvement first.

I'm just not looking forward to tomorrow morning's treatment after how much trouble he had with tonight's. I'll just cross my fingers that it improves as much overnight as it did over today so the Dr will decide to cut us loose after the morning dose....

At least I can sleep better tonight now that I can SEE my boy getting better. It's been a rough week...

Not so squeaky wheels

2009-10-07T21:12:00.003-05:00

I have two kids who will scream blue murder about the tiniest little thing... aches, pains, upset tummies... you name it, it's worth getting some attention over. And then there's my youngest boy. He rarely complains. And if he does cry, you KNOW he's hurt bad.

He's the tough one I guess. I guarantee he has a higher pain threshold than I do...

Only sometimes that old saying about the squeaky wheel getting the grease is all too true... and being tough isn't a good thing.

I have one very sick little boy on my hands.

And I feel terrible because it took me so long to even realize it. I know that if it were either of my other two, I would have known and taken them in at least 24 hours sooner....

Guilt sucks. Parental guilt sucks even worse.

When I picked him up from school on Monday, he was complaining about an itchy leg... "an itchy wet leg". The "wet" thing made me stop right there and pull up his shorts leg to look... and what I saw was a small wound (like a scab that had been scratched off, or maybe a bug bite?) that had obviously been scratched at for a while. He'd made it bleed. It was gross but I'd seen much worse... no biggie.

So when we got home I took a minute to clean it up with disinfectant, put some polysporin on it and cover it with a bandaid. I even rubbed some after-bite on the area around the bandaid to calm down the itching so he wouldn't get after it any more. Then we moved on to the chaos of our evening and I never gave it another thought.

That evening, at hockey, he told his Dad that his leg was hurting. I only got this message yesterday when we were putting it all together....

Then the next morning (Tuesday, yesterday) he told me he wasn't feeling good - his stomach hurt. He seemed fine otherwise: no fever, good appetite, no other complaints... and normally I wouldn't instantly keep a kid home just because of some indefinable "sore tummy" on a school day (you know, one of those), but this is my boy who NEVER complains about anything. So I took him at his word and kept him home.

He laid on the couch watching movies, seemingly perfectly fine (no more complaints) for the rest of the morning. I decided, since he didn't really seem sick at all, I wouldn't waste the day and he could tag along with me while I ran some errands. But when he got up to get his shoes and jacket, he was limping. I asked him why and he said "I don't know, my leg is funny".

That didn't make much sense - but I just thought maybe it had fallen asleep or something from laying around for a few hours or whatever... and off we went.

I really should know better. This is my boy on the autism spectrum... he says the most bizarre things sometimes and his descriptive word choices can be totally off the wall. Like saying he has a "nervous throat" to describe that tightening you get when you're upset, etc.

I should have looked at "funny".

Instead, I drug this poor child along with me while I traipsed through the mall stopping at three stores I needed to hit... limping the whole time. But not complaining! He was just thrilled when we stopped for a few minutes at the pet store to check out the animals... and the popcorn I bought him from Kernals more than made up for the boredom of his having to wait while I shopped a bit.

It wasn't until we were back home, at 3:00 in the afternoon, that I noticed how gingerly he was sliding out of the van. It was a full 24 hours since his "itching" complaint before I asked him how bad his leg hurt and even thought to take a look at it again.

I didn't even connect the two issues: small scratched open scab + sore leg... until I looked at the red, swollen, baseball-sized area around my bandaid patch job. We left for Children's right then.

And when we got there it was relatively quiet... I told them I thought some kind of allergic reaction or infection was spreading on my son's leg. They took a look and got us into a room about 20 minutes later. And when the nurse removed my bandaid to reveal not one small wound, but a now large HOLE and a second opening both oozing puss, I think we effectively settled on infection pretty quick.

They took a sample to culture and decided, based on the extent and it's quick progression, to start him on IV antibiotics. Even though we don't really know which bacteria is involved, they've started him on something to kill both strep & staph (the most likely culprits). He has a pill he needs to take a 1/2 hour before the course of antibiotics (supposed to boost their effectiveness?)... so he got that then we had to wait. Then the actual IV takes half an hour. Then the flushing of the IV & wrapping....

They drew a line around the large red area surrounding the wounds with a pen. I remember my mother (or maybe my grandmother?) telling me never to write on myself within ink when I was a kid (after I colored myself some pall-point tattoos?) because I could get blood poisoning or something... I'm not quite sure - I just know that I've always thought it was a really bad thing to do. However, I'm going to assume that it was just another one of those old wives tales because really, these are medical doctors - so I'm not going to question them on their choice in instruments when coloring on my child. They should know, right?

The line was to mark the area so that we could see, at the time of his next IV course, how the borders of the infection area had changed. Then they dressed the wound, disconnected and carefully wrapped the IV port on his hand, and sent us on our way. We were there for about 4 hours, all told.

2-3 years ago, they started doing IV antibiotics on an out-patient basis in the ERs. I think it's a great idea. I mean, what's the point in corralling an otherwise-well child in a hospital room for days just because they need a half hour of medical care every 12 hours? My boy would have been completely stir crazy (like every other kid out there, I'm sure) within hours. But this way, he could be in the comfort of his own home until it was time to come back for another course of the IV antibiotics. And they told me that when they could see that it was working (ie: the affected area was getting smaller) they would switch him to oral antibiotics instead.

I'm still waiting for that.

My boy was so sick on the way home from the hospital after that first treatment last night. We live 20 minutes from Children's hospital - and I had to stop 3 times because he was going to be sick. He didn't actually puke until we made it to our own front yard... but it was awful seeing him feeling so bad. At our second stop he walked out from the van onto the grass area I'd stopped beside and just fell to his hands and knees.... then he put his forehead on the ground, and then lay right down on the cold damp grass. My poor baby. I picked him up and helped him back to the vehicle - I just wanted to get him home! I was so worried. I've never seen him this sick. He looked like the walking wounded... what with the limp and the hunch and now the pale "I'm-going-to-heave-any-second" look on his face.

He slept good though. And this morning when I woke him bright and early to go get dose #2, he was walking better. We had to leave at 6:30 to get there ahead of our 7:00 designated time. Every 12 hours... I guess I should just be thankful right now that he didn't get his first course at 3 in the afternoon or something awful like that! Can you imagine?? 7:00 (am/pm) I can do....

This morning we were in and out in a hour. There wasn't a single person in the waiting room (first time I've ever seen that!). It was too soon for any results from his culture... and I was sad to see that the area hadn't shrunk at all - in fact it was spread a tiny bit past the ball point border from the night before. But we were really early in the course of treatment and he was feeling so much better that everything seemed really positive. He's walking better and says it doesn't hurt much anymore... and he's his usual happy self...

We spent a pretty quiet day at home. He didn't get sick after the second treatment (thank GOD)... but he was a little more tired than usual. To be expected I guess.

We were back there tonight for course #3. And we walked in to a line-up... and a very busy waiting room. I was prepared to wait. They'd warned me that they would try to get us in as soon as possible... but emergencies, understandably, have to come first... and if there just aren't any treatment rooms open... well, you might wait. Evenings are always their busiest times... and It's OK... my kid isn't suffering (now) and I would rather see a baby in respiratory distress or a toddler bleeding profusely from a head wound go first (I've been THAT Mom before too!). But there must not have been any real emergencies... because we were in and out in about an hour & 20 minutes this time. With a Popsicle to boot.

Only tonight, when they removed the wrapping, the angry red borders of the wound have almost doubled in size. Again. In 24 hours, again. And I'm thinking they should already be shrinking if the antibiotics are working? I really thought that tonight would be our last trip... that he would be switching to oral meds because he's feeling better and everything's looking good. But that's not what's happening. I'm trying not to panic as news stories of flesh eating disease flash through my head... and I'm trying to believe the Dr's reassurances that it's expected that it will "spread a little". But double in size?? Really?

So I'm clinging to the fact that my boy tells me he's feeling better... and it's obvious that the pain is down. Neither of those would be happening if something wasn't working, right?

So tomorrow morning, bright and early once again, I will take my son to Children's for course #4 of these antibiotics. And there's a hope that the culture might be showing something... and I'm just praying that the infection is finally getting smaller. They drew a new border tonight... it takes up the entire inside and some of the back of his thigh now...

I'm ready for this to be over already. It's so ugly and awful... I took a picture of it yesterday to show my husband - and made the mistake of letting my son see what the abscesses on his leg looked like. He freaked (my bad)... and I'm thinking it's a really good thing it's in a place that he really can't see well himself... if yesterday upset him, the way it looks today would really send him over the edge.

My poor child. What a lesson this is. I have to watch, and really pay attention, to this little man so much more than his "squeaky-wheel" siblings. I have no doubts that I'll always know when something's bothering them before it's too late... but this one? This is an awful way to learn the lesson of how something so small, when overlooked for just a short time, can so quickly blow up.

Such a girl...

2009-10-01T15:53:00.003-05:00

My daughter, at 3, has more interest in her clothes than both of my boys put together. She has the need to try on several outfits in a day... which is frustrating from a laundry point of view.

I hate the laundry that I HAVE to do... I despise additional laundry accumulating for "fun".

But apparently I just didn't understand this little mini-me of mine....

Yesterday, when I tried to tell her she didn't NEED new clothes after daycare every day, she got really upset... it took me a few minutes to understand why...

All this time I thought it was just her being "such a girl" and wanting new outfits (dress-up is already a favorite pastime).

But it's actually her wanting to be just like me: Every day when I come home I change out of my "working clothes" and into my "playing clothes". And she notices what I'm wearing (which I doubt my boys do even now at ages 8 & 10!).... on days when I don't change right away I'm invariably faced with the question "Mommy, why you still have working clothes?"

So she's picked up my habit: Every day when we come home now, she wants to change out of her "daycare clothes" into her "playing clothes".

It's a ritual... and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

She's so darn cute, I've decided the laundry is worth it ;)

Keeping Promises

2009-09-30T11:50:00.003-05:00

Open letter to my husband:

We first met in 1992. I didn't know what to think of you then - you were a little wild, a little crazy and really different than anyone else I'd ever met. I had just graduated from high school and had followed my love of horses to the race track... where you'd been for years. One of the few things I did know was that I liked the way you looked in those chaps...

In 1994 we started dating. I lied to my mother when she caught a glimpse of you and asked me how old you were (I swore you were only 24!)... and I convinced you to shave off that awful mustache before I introduced you to them face-to-face (I swear it took years off your looks!). And I know you haven't forgotten the introduction... it must've been shell-shocking for you to walk into a house full of 75 party guests - but trust me, it was much better meeting them when they didn't have time to grill you... I don't know why I was so sure they wouldn't give you a chance (I know they're more open-minded than that) but we were from such different worlds.

Dating you was wild and fun... and all over the place. Not just geography... not just the traipsing across provinces on a whim, but the ups & downs of figuring out whether we really wanted to be together. We were on, we were off... and then we got back "on" and didn't look back. We lived wherever we landed and just fell comfortably into being us... jumping out of planes, riding over frozen rivers... galloping over snow-covered fields. We always landed on our feet... and it didn't matter if we fell through the ice here or there, or hit furloughs hidden beneath the snow and came tumbling down off our mounts.. because all was right with the world, we were falling in love and being together was FUN.

In 1997 we married. We didn't stop playing or living life like the adventure it was to us at the time. Looking back I cringe a little at the risks we took and they way we took everything as it came. We ran off to live in another country with only $200 to our names... and the belief that everything would work out. And it did. And those two years were wonderful and carefree (for the most part) and a perfect time for us. We never had to work at being a couple did we? It just happened when we weren't looking. We trusted and we jumped... and I'm glad we did.

In 1999 we became a family and it was good. We had to make some changes but there was new fun to be had with our little man. It was harder, but really, not much changed with us... 5 years we'd been together and now we had this tiny human depending on us to do things right - which didn't seem so hard... until we found out we'd be adding another. We made some hard choices then. We walked away, for good, from the only life we'd known together... and struggled to find our footing in the "real" world.

In 2001 we bought our house and welcomed our second son. Those were both great things... but I think this was the toughest year for us. Maybe it was the famed "7 year itch" that destroys so many relationships. Maybe it was because money was so tight... or the stress of two little ones and your schedule working nights... or any number of reasons. But we just couldn't seem to find it in ourselves to play nice. This year and maybe into the one following were the hardest times in our marriage. More than once I believed "this is it, it's over". But we didn't let go. We could have walked away and we both would have felt justified... and it just would have been another marriage that didn't work, oh well. But we stayed... and we stuck it out... and we kept that promise that we'd made to each other 4 years earlier.

We made it through "the worse" ... and thank God we did, because if we hadn't, we'd never have survived to enjoy, or truly appreciate, "the better" that was to follow.

We found ourselves again. We weren't the same people that we'd been before, our life had a steadier, calmer rhythm to it. We'd both changed but we grew together... because we chose to... when we could have walked away.

And in 2006, we completed our little family with that beautiful baby girl I never thought we'd have. From where I'm sitting, these past few years have been the happiest and best we've ever had.

You joke all the time when we recall how long it's been and fast time has flown by... "I can't believe you've stuck it out this long" or "put up with me this long". And I always want to toss back "Me Neither!" (with a grin)... but you've got to know it's not true....

There are things about you that annoy the hell out of me and make me want to scream or tear my hair out in frustration. Just like a I know there are things I do or say that make you feel like throwing something... but that what keeps our marriage from being boring. We have passion... and I don't just mean the reason we've added 3 to world's population... we light sparks off each other sometimes without even trying. Aries & Sagittarius.... Horse & Tiger.... we definitely belong... but it'll never be boring. We're different in so many ways... but our cores still ring in harmony. It's solid.

And I look forward to the sparks the next 12 years will bring.

Happy Anniversary Love.

Isn't it always the way?

2009-09-29T21:55:00.004-05:00

I lost my keys yesterday.

Well I suppose I technically lost them sometime over the weekend... this past weekend when I didn't use them because I didn't leave my house for two whole days. I find that hard to believe too... no shopping, no errands, no driving of any kids to and fro... my husband and his car ventured out for task number 3 there a couple of times - but we were so busy purging and reorganizing that I actually didn't leave the house for two whole days.

So of course it was Monday morning... when I had all three kids ready and at the door just in the nick of time to not be late for my first appointment of the day before I realized I had no keys.

No van key, no house key, no office key. I wasn't going anywhere.

Had to be a Monday.

I raced around frantically - trying not to completely lose it, but no matter how many reasonable or unlikely places I searched, nothing but the spare van key could be found.

At least I could drive... I couldn't lock my house or get into my office - but I could take the kids to school and daycare, which I did. Then I returned to the house for a more thorough search.

I was so pissed.... not just that I was on my way to being late for a client meeting and not just because my assistant was on her way downtown to a branch meeting so wouldn't even be at the office to let me (and the client!) in for our appointment.... and not even because I remembered, only after several unsuccessful attempts to reach him by phone, that the only other person who *might* have a key to my office and could possibly get there in time to help me was out of the country for one more day still.

No I was pissed at myself. Because I remember, at some point during the weekend that I saw my keys somewhere they shouldn't be. And I remembered thinking to myself at the time that "I should grab those because I'll never remember they're there". But I didn't. And for the life of me I couldn't remember where I'd seen them. And how stupid of me for not putting them where they belonged when I saw them!

Looking for my missing keys was an exercise in futility... because no matter how many places or pockets or surfaces I checked I KNEW there was no hope of finding them - I knew that they were in some random and completely obscure place... and my brain WOULD NOT spit out where that was!

So I ended up calling my assistant... she was almost downtown, but turned around and we ended up getting back to the office at around the same time. The client was early and waiting in the hall. (Great). But we had a chuckle over a Monday morning from hell and moved right along...

I went and got additional keys cut for the office... resigned to the fact that it could be a long while before I saw my keys again. I'd planned to cut additional keys for the house too... who knows how long it would be before someone in our home just happened upon my elusive set of keys.

And what a set of keys to lose! I can cover the basics (office/house keys) but that missing set included a special security key for the exterior of the building that houses my office. A key with a $125 replacement cost. And my funky-ass van key - one of those new ones that're a key/remote combo unit (it doesn't even have a metal shaft that goes into a keyhole anymore... just a plastic stub with a microchip in it that meets up with a slot in the van's console to start it!) would probably cost even more than that to replace. And then we got a new alarm system just last week that comes with a Handy little key chain remote... also on my missing keys - and $80 to replace.

Ugg. I chose not to think about it. I mean I KNEW they were in my house somewhere... at some point, in the next decade at least I would surely find them again....

Only I didn't have to wait that long. Because this morning I decided, at the last minute, to wear a different pair of shoes to work today... and when I went to step into them, my foot found those missing keys hiding - completely out of sight, in the toe of my shoe!

The shoes were sitting on the step directly below the hooks we hang our keys on.

And then I remembered!! (my brain will work... just a day or so later than I need it to!)

I was coming in the front door... balancing several items, hands completely full... when I reached up to hang my keys and they missed the hook, landed on my shoe and slid down into the toe. I watched them go... unable to reach down and grab them because of whatever I had my arms full with. And I thought to myself "I need to come right back and grab those because I'll never remember they fell in there".

But of course we all know that didn't happen. Who knows why... I probably set my stuff down and was instantly distracted by one of the three short people that live in this house. Maybe someone was bleeding... or about to - who knows. But I promptly forgot about the keys and went on with our weekend.

And if I hadn't hated my choice of outfit this morning and decided to change (meaning I needed different footwear too), I probably wouldn't have found them for days to come.

I suppose there's a lesson here about listening to myself... or being more organized... or even just being tidier and not leaving things where they lay when I know they belong somewhere else.

But I'm big enough to be honest with myself. I've "lost" so may things, in so many different (and yet familiar) ways, It's just a matter of time before I lose them again....

Next time I'm just checking the shoes first!

Apparently there is someone out there who would want that...

2009-09-27T17:22:00.004-05:00

The scavengers have been out driving non-stop all weekend.

And we've been busy purging this house. Every time we find something new to discard and set out on the boulevard it disappears within the hour. I can't believe it... I keep on thinking that there's not much time left and most of the people are probably finished their treasure hunting by now... but by the time I think to look out the window for it, whatever we've set out there has again disappeared.

This has to be one of the best ideas our city has ever gone ahead with. It's saved us a seriously loaded trailer load of trash to the landfill... and given us the boot in the ass to actually get rid of a bunch of junk NOW (as opposed to later... which we're really good at).

The mind-blowing list of things someone actually wanted:

- an old worn-out play kitchen that is missing parts, filthy and been outside in out back yard exposed the weather for over a year
- 3 old VCRs... one even had a remote
- OLD speakers for a surround sound system (surround sound system not included)
- huge twin mirrors in a wooden frame that used to be attached to the back of a dresser
- an old rusty travel BBQ
- an old wooden desk with the top veneer separating from the plywood underneath (and chipped to boot)
- an old, used (and replaced for cosmetic reasons) cook top for a kitchen
- an old, cracked baby sled with no pull rope
- an old plastic push-em, ride-on trike that my dog chewed the handles on when she was a puppy
- a big & clunky old wooden kitchen chair with plush red seat (yes - it was VERY ugly)
- a bicycle with the chain hanging off... the part the chain attaches to on the back wheel had snapped off and was hung up in that rusted chain
- an old lawn mower with a seized engine
- a lexmark printer whose copy function never worked... and I couldn't find the software to go with it
- and I can't remember what else but it must've been worse than these since they're so forgettable.

Now I have 8 bags and several boxes for CD to pick up on Tuesday... and 4 boxes and 2 large toys to take to the consignment store as well. We are clearing space!

My husband has been working like a dog all weekend. He's relocated alot of our "shed" items into the secondary "lean-to" shed we built beside it and transformed the shed (with the addition of shelves etc) into a new "work-shed" for all the tools and construction paraphernalia we have. This was necessary because he's losing his work room in the house.

That's right, construction on our middle child's bedroom has finally begun! I only wish I'd thought to take a "before" picture of the workroom with all it accumulated clutter and crap before we started. After two days of solid work, the room has almost been cleared right out. It's amazing how much bigger it looks now. And the shed is going to work really well now that it's properly set up to store everything we need it to.

By the time this winter is upon us, my family will be comfortably settled in our now 5 bedroom home. I'm tired, but feel great about how much we got done around here this weekend.

Freecycling

2009-09-26T10:29:00.002-05:00

My city is one giant garage sale today... a garage sale where no money changes hands. The city announced a few months ago that they were going to have this city-wide "free-cycling" weekend. So basically any junk you want to get rid of can be set out by the curb with a "free" sign on it... and everyone is welcome to drive around and pick up whatever they want.

People started putting things out last night... and it was barely dark before the first scavengers were out snapping up other people's give-aways.

A perfect example of "one man's junk is another man's treasure".

We've got CD coming for a pick-up of clothing and house-hold items here on Monday... so we've been busy bagging and boxing up old items for them. With this free-cycling day also hitting this weekend, it's the perfect opportunity for a major purge of our domicile.

We put out numerous items on the boulevard last night... and by this morning when we woke up, only an old wooden desk was left! So we filled the boulevard up again. Strangers have hauled away 12 items of what was trash to us so far... and only 6 things remain.

This has saved us hauling more than one huge trailer-load of crap to the landfill... all at no cost!

I'll be taking a few boxes and some nicer large toys to the consignment shop this week, a few bags will loiter around waiting for garbage day on Wednesday... and when CD shows up and takes away their windfall from us tomorrow, we will have disposed of more than a full, floor-to-ceiling-stacked room's worth of unused items from our house!

Amazing. I'm such a pack-rat by nature... I never realized purging could feel so good!

Now you bring us summer?

2009-09-03T12:11:00.002-05:00

So mother nature has finally decided to grace us with more than 2 days of beautiful, warm summer weather in a row.

NOW.

Now, when school is ready to start and time for going to the cottage has grown short.

What was she thinking?

All summer it's been blistering hot during the week.... only to dissolve into days of rain and thundershowers in time for the weekend.

It's been cool and it's been wet - and it's not been a summer for enjoying time at the lake.

But maybe we should just be grateful and say "better late than never".

We still have this one, last long weekend.... with a forecast worthy of journey up to the cottage and all the effort that requires.

Wish us luck!

The Lady in the Muumuu

2009-08-29T10:34:00.003-05:00

I was watching a really great comedian on the comedy channel a while back... wish I could remember his name, he was an absolute riot.

I love watching comedians... and the best ones always use universal truths as the basis of their routines and jokes - that's what makes them so funny I guess: What they're joking about resonates with the audience because, underneath, you know it's true. We laugh because we recognize it.

He was doing a bit on Tornadoes... commenting on the fact that they always seem to hit trailer parks - or at least, when you see reports on the devastation left behind, a trailer park always seems to be the hardest hit. It wasn't a trailer park getting blown away that he was making fun of, but the fact that the TV news reporters always seemed to find the most backwards, hill-billy-ish person to interview for the report: most likely a woman in a muumuu, missing a tooth or two, to exclaim about how it all went down - and which red-neck activity of hers was interrupted in the process... or how many of their "yard" cars were tossed.

It was hilarious... because everyone's seen a report like that, no?

Probably not so funny to anyone actually IN the community being reported on though... the ones staring at the television screen thinking "seriously? you picked THEM to represent us all? Oh my God... the whole world is going to think we're all like that!"

(And we know they're not, right? We must know that not everyone who lives in a trailer park is a redneck... or wears muumuus and has multiple broken-down vehicles littering their yard... but there's still an impression out there when THAT lady gets interviewed)

Unfortunately, every community has one of THOSE folks... and invariably, they end up in front of the camera - leaving their impression of how all of us must be. And when it's YOUR community, you sit there staring at your screen thinking "NO - don't listen! It's the lady in the muumuu!"

But too late... the impression is there.

Here, in Canada, we have our very own "lady in the muumuu" ... it's Quebec. My saying that will probably piss off a bunch of people... but I don't care - my blog, my opinion. Quebec is NOT representative of the "rest of us". They have their own rules, their own laws, their own taxes, their own daycare, school and health care systems. They march to the beat of their own drum. Whenever we have rules for something, it's always "this is how it is in Canada... with the exception of Quebec who will do it their way".

Every few years, Quebec has another referendum - a mass vote on whether or not to remain a part of Canada or to separate and become their own country. And it's always close: 51% chose to stay part of Canada last time? The vote has nothing to do with the rest of the country... we just sit back and watch the proceedings - and argue amongst ourselves about what the best outcome would be. There are huge numbers in the "just let them go!" camp... butting heads with the "OMG, NO... we can't let our country be split" camp. But it's really up to Quebec.

I've been on the fence. I don't want to see my country broken apart... and there's a bit of pride that would be lost if they left too: Canada would no longer be the biggest country in the world (since the fall of the soviet union), Canada would no longer share the longest undefended border in the world with the United States, Canada would no longer stretch "from sea to shining sea" (we might have to change our national anthem!).

But it's kind of insulting to have one member of the group constantly saying "we don't want to play with you any more" And it's kind of frustrating to have that one dissenting member be the one constantly caught on camera... with their thick accents and broken English, representing the rest of us to the world. They've been individual, "unique" (their battle cry) and doing their own thing forever... they've been talking about leaving for decades already.

So I think, the next time they want to leave, we should stop bending over backwards and kissing ass to keep them part of Canada. Let them go already... North America is big enough to handle 4 countries - and if we could come up with a new theme song to Hockey Night In Canada after all these years, coming up with a new national anthem should be a piece of cake.

At least when Quebec officially becomes their own country, the lady in the muumuu will no longer be placed front and centre, representing all that's out-of-wack in "this" country.

Come again??

2009-08-27T13:29:00.004-05:00

8 year old: "Mom! Mom!! My tooth is almost falling out!!"

Mom: "Cool buddy! That's so awesome... I guess that means the Tooth Fairy will be coming to visit you again!"

3 year old (not to be outdone): "Mom! Mom!! My chin is almost falling off!"

Mom: "???" (seriously... I had nothing... other than laughing my ass off. I guess it made as much sense to her as a tooth falling out?)

One Decade Down

2009-08-27T12:48:00.012-05:00

We survived another year... and another birthday party - barely. My oldest turned 10 years old on Tuesday. We were going to take him and his friends to the corn maze and let them run wild for a few hours.... but the incessant rain this summer forced a change in our plans. I suppose we could have taken them - the puddles on the mud paths throughout the maze were only ankle deep.... but I just don't think my van could have handled 6 (my vehicle's share) suped-up-on-sugar, mud-covered 10 year old boys on the drive home.

So a last minute change in plans: I took Tuesday off and prepared for an at-home party.

Which turned out to be way too much work.

My three years as a camp counsellor has left me capable (even if not completely enthused by the idea) of entertaining a group this age... which can be really challenging because, well, they're TEN - so just getting to be a little jaded... and a little less willing to be silly for the sake of having fun (even though they secretly still want to). But I was a teenager when I spent my time coming up with fun activities.... and had so much more energy for keeping them going. It took me the entire day to set up activities and build props and organize games. I was a little more than half-way through running the kids through them when I really started questioning my sanity (which I would never have admitted to out-loud because my husband was calling me crazy enough... minor points to him for at least helping though) - I was just exhausted.

We did a "10th birthday challenge" with 10 games... 5 team and 5 individual... where they collected points - for the team and for themselves. At the end there were prizes. There were winners and there were losers... which is good for them at this age, right? Because kids don't lose enough these days... it's character-building. There was a prize for everyone... but WHICH prize they eventually walked home with depended on the final standings.

I didn't get a prize. And I worked harder than any of them.... just saying. (minor over-sight on my part).

I did spend less on the prizes than I would have on taking the group to the corn maze, which is good. But man this party was way more work than I envisioned it being when I came up with the idea.... I don't know what I was thinking. My husband, he just thinks I'm crazy and tells me I've gone overboard... which I suppose I did a little bit.... but really? The eye-rolling doesn't help. Just because he never had a birthday party as a child, doesn't mean our kids shouldn't have them - or that the kids shouldn't have the time of their lives on this one day of the year meant just for them. He'll have to get over it.

And the kids did have a blast. My son was thrilled with his birthday and his friends were well-entertained for a few hours. Unfortunately, I was so run off my feet that I didn't get a single picture of the event. No pictures of my son's only 10th birthday party (that would be zero mom-points to me)... it was an hour or so after the party ended... and I was already wishing I could be in bed, when I remembered that. Damn it. Not that I actually had time to take any pictures... just sucks that no one else in the house thought of it either. I should have assigned one of his aunts to camera duty...

It was a good day - and I'd say *almost* worth all my time & effort. I'm glad it went over well and I'm pleased that my boy is happy.... but next year? We're going to find a much easier way to put a smile on his face. I think this was his last "big" (or at least parental-labour-intensive) birthday party. Maybe next year we'll take them to a movie.

To make up for missing the pictures, I had the bakery re-create his cake from the party... to take to our smaller family-gathering the following night. I took some pictures there.

And I'm happy to report, that along with what he'd already saved, my boy collected enough birthday money to buy the Wii he's wanted for so long... we're going to get it tonight. I'm telling myself that THAT will be worth the 10 hours of my life (and conveniently ignoring the fact that he still would have collected that birthday money even if I had done something much simpler).

Anyway, that one decade down for offspring #1. And I don't feel old enough to have a 10 year old yet. This one keeps me on my toes... which, I suppose, is his job - being the oldest. Almost everything with him is something new... something I've never had to deal with as a parent before... something I'm never quite sure I'm handling right. But he's a good egg... and I think I'll be able to handle 10. Just starting to get a little nervous of those rapidly-approaching teen years now that we're counting in double-digits!

Was it intentional?

2009-08-18T15:59:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Mastercard Inc. is based in the town of Purchase, New York?

Just struck me as funny....

Grindstone Days Racing

2009-08-16T15:33:00.010-05:00

We actually found the beach where they do the kids races and hot dog lunch this year! (last year, although we KNEW there was racing/activities for the kids, we were too new to the area to figure out WHERE they were being held.... we actually showed up at the wrong, and very empty beach so the whole family missed out. Clever, no?)

But not this year! We found the right, and VERY busy beach - with plenty of time to spare before the start of the activites. The kids had a blast.... there were rounds and rounds of various types of races.... and plenty of prizes (and freezies and ice cream!) for the participants to go around. They lined 'em up in their various age groups and the crowd cheered all the kids on. My girl, in her 3 & under category, did great for her first competitive showing! (see her in the middle in her purple shirt & jeans?)

** After scrolling back through these pictures, my daughter felt it necessary to point out that I didn't post any pictures of them eating their freezies. Sorry for the slip... there WERE freezies.... many many freezies.

Backwards!

2009-08-16T15:28:00.006-05:00

And two out of three actually managed to stay upright! Although we can't blame the nephew for coming down half-way through.... it's hard not to trip over other fallen bodies when you're not looking where you're going!

Remember these?

2009-08-16T15:20:00.005-05:00

Yes, apparently someone still makes giant potatoe sacks.... and there are those of us who still punish our children by making them attempt to race in them!

(this one ended up with a turned ankle - but no lasting damage ;)

These rarely end well - but at least I stayed dry!

2009-08-16T15:05:00.014-05:00

Against my better judgement (and fear of being soaked!), I partnered with my oldest for the water-balloon toss.... because "I really want to win a prize in this one Mom!" (ummm... and you're picking ME kid? Good luck with that!). My little man partnered with his cousin. My son & I actually made it down to the final 5 teams....which was only one round past the other two boys. Perhaps my oldest should have chosen his cousin as a partner after all... it was my little man & I who were responsible for both balloon bursts!

Shoe Scramble!

2009-08-16T14:58:00.008-05:00

This was a funny race.... I've seen them before, but don't remember if I ever did one as a child? Somehow or other my oldest ended up winning a prize during this one... despite the fact that both his brother & cousin actually crossed the line before him?

Ah well, it's all in fun.... and I think he honestly believes he was 3rd? Not going to spoil it for him ;)

A little hard on a girl...

2009-08-16T14:41:00.008-05:00

So all the races were divided into age groups... only not ALL age groups were included in each category - there were only a couple that were for "3 and Under".... and the shoe scramble wasn't one of them.

Now not having the little ones doing all the activities might work for some 3 year olds... but not ones like mine, who really believe they're just very short 8 year olds. She wants.... expects actually, to do everything her big brothers and cousins are doing.

So we let her line up with the 4 & 5 year old shoe scramble.... she raced up to the line at the very last minute and I quickly put her shoes out right where she could see them. She didn't have a hope of getting them on as quick as the other kids.... but at least she could be part of the action.

The first pic is her determined little face as she zeros-in and makes a beeline for her shoes (front and centre in the pic).... and the second pic is her collapsed in grief as the nasty/mean/heartless/warden-like organizer of the race saw the paired set of shoes and jumped ahead of her to toss one away.

Nice. Like my 3 year old needed an additional handicap against the "big" kids. I wonder if it made her proud to make a toddler cry?

(since I figured it would be really out of line to slap her or anything else I was thinking of at the time, I just collected my girl off the grass and helped her get the shoes on. But I still think the lady was an over-zealous b**ch... they're little KIDS for crying out loud! Ah well, my girl forgot about it within a few minutes... and it was only a *small* black mark on an otherwise great afternoon)

These kids are NUTS!

2009-08-16T14:17:00.008-05:00

They're like maniacs.... little mini sugar-addicts maybe - scrambling over each other, hats in hand (the better to collect their bounty) - desperate for a fix.... ruthless! (but fun to watch ;)

Aren't candy scrambles fun??

Monkey see, monkey do...

2009-08-16T14:08:00.004-05:00

In the cool of the evening, when my girl's big cousin snagged her mother's jacket to wear, my little copy cat couldn't resist the urge to wear mine too... and drag it along through the wet sand, of course. Shorty.

The Main Event

2009-08-16T13:57:00.006-05:00

August long weekend is "Grindstone Days" up in our cottage community. All sorts of activities for the families to enjoy, but the main event.... what my boys have looked forward to and practiced for all year, is the talent show. The evening starts with the kids showcasing their talents, then the evening belongs to the adults. It's alot of fun - and we have a surprising amount of talented folks up there!

The Huz is always up for singing and playing for a crowd - I spent many a night during our dating years sitting around bars watching him up on stage.... and it looks like the kids have picked up his performance gene. They both took a turn at the mic belting out a song for the crowd.

They had a blast.... and I couldn't be prouder.

*This was two weeks ago already.... they're already trying to decide on which songs to do next year ;)

Because I'm clever like that

2009-08-11T10:25:00.003-05:00

So I've been in a bit of a pissing match with my former Internet/phone service provider. It started with an issue at my office: I took over the existing service in the space we lease when I took over the office from the company who was here before me.

(it was my mother's company.... so there's a relationship there - but that's beside the point).

She was on a 3 year contract with them.... which was up in September of last year. I had my company's name put on the bills at some point last year and stayed with them long after her contract term had expired. But this spring, I decided to switch providers to save money.

Long story short is that the old company (MTS) wasn't happy about my leaving and taking the business to their main competitor, Shaw.

They sent me a bill for over $4,700.00.... it seems they'd taken it upon themselves to lock my company into a new 3 year contract without any consent or signatures from me. Yay.

The customer service rep I managed to get on the phone when I called MTS about their "error" was atrocious. We butted heads from the word go. I've worked in customer service before... still very much do - and one thing I know about dealing with frustrated clients is that you DON'T ANTAGONIZE THEM FURTHER. Her attitude and comments pissed me right off. Right there on the spot they lost my personal business as well.

At some point during the call I managed to get transferred to a gentleman another department.... where I insisted on filing a complaint about the person I'd been subjected to. HE handled my call beautifully - and was even pleasant while taking my service complaint.... mentioning that he could see who'd I'd been speaking with in SALES and would make sure the complaint was addressed.

She was in SALES. I about fell off my chair. I think my exact words to the guy were: "Sales?? You've got to be kidding me! SALES? I hope she's not trying to support a family with it because she SUCKS at it!"

Any hoo.... off topic. (I'm not talking to them about THAT situation any more - my lawyer's handling the correspondence)

I called the same day from home to cancel my phone/Internet and television services. When the rep on the phone tried to offer me a deal to stay, I just told them they were wasting their time... based on the dealings with my company and the rep I'd suffered with earlier, there was no keeping me as a customer.

Now I had electronics at both locations that belonged to MTS... I was warned that I would be charged for them if they weren't returned. Mad as I was, I told them to come pick them up any time.... but that was just my temper talking.... and my back up at her snooty attitude. (Even if I was pissy about having to do anything further in the situation, I knew it was my responsibility to take the stuff back.)

But, major procrastinator that I am, I neglected to return the stuff in a timely fashion.

So more money was added to my business bill.... and I got one at home for over $700.00. Shit.

Week before last, I finally got around to collecting everything that belonged to them and made plans to return it (and get those excess charges removed).

It took me a dog's age but I finally managed to disconnect the little box at the office (modem maybe?)..... stupid thing was plugged in behind (and before) a built-in counter top/cupboard unit and was way more of a challenge then I was expecting). Then I made the drive home to pick up the TV box and remotes.... which, of course, I hadn't been clever enough to actually bring with me in the morning!

I hate dealing with electronics... but I finally managed to sort out the maze of wires behind the TV and disengage the box - along with all it's cords. I even found all four remotes with little to no difficulty.

I drove down to their closest retail location with my bag full of stuff and waited in line from my turn with a rep. The paperwork is painstakingly long... and they had to do two sets: 1 for the company and 1 for me personally.

We returned the business thingy, then the remotes.... but when he got to the cable box he had trouble with the serial number. I guess there wasn't one? After scratching his head for a bit, he finally called another guy over who looked at the box and said "that's not one of ours - that's a SHAW box"

Talk about feeling like an idiot (and nothing worse than BEING an idiot when you're in the middle of a pissing match). I'd finally gotten around to taking all this crap back (so I could finally tell them to shove it all!) and I brought the wrong box??

Did I mention that I HATE dealing with electronics??

What I'd done was carefully un-install what the Shaw guy had carefully attached to our TV and brought it down to the MTS store.... instead of their $700 unit (which who the hell knew where IT was then). Grrrrrrrr.

Not a shining moment.

So I took the box home and tried to hook it back up to the TV exactly like I remembered taking it off.... but knew I did something wrong when the kids complained "MOM! The TV's not working!!" a couple of minutes after arriving home.

Perfect.

We eventually got it sorted out.... and I finally found and returned the MTS box yesterday. But jeez what a process.... just another example of how clever I can be I guess.

From OUR point of view

2009-08-08T13:52:00.011-05:00

To entertain himself while we waited for the main event to start, my oldest asked if he could have a turn with the camera to take some pictures.

And he decided to take a picture of us.

Only, he was missing from a great family shot.... so our little man decided to solve the problem by having a turn to snap a shot with his brother IN it. Only.... You know where this goes, right?

So we all took turns taking pictures with everyone else in the family (amidst the giggles).... until some nice neighbor took pity on us and offered to take a shot with the WHOLE family in it ;)

What did families do for amusement before digital cameras?

And it was fun scrolling back through the pictures now and knowing who took which ones by who was missing in the shot (well, with the exception of the pictures my girl took - those you just knew who took them, know what I mean?) And now I have a collection of us... the way we look from each of our points of view :)

Cute, But still needs work

2009-08-08T13:38:00.009-05:00

Practice, practice, practice.

Of course, when everyone in the family is taking turns, taking our picture, the girl must have a shot at it too.

I think she'll need to get her hands on the camera a few more times before we'll be able to tell if she's a budding photographer or not. My friend's three year old has access to a camera and takes some really great pictures already.... I've gotten a few chuckles from seeing the world from her perspective - but my girl? Still needs work, lol...

First I showed her how to line the people up in the screen (we practiced on Daddy & her brothers)... then hold it steady... then push the button & see the picture.

Then I turned her loose and took my place on the other side of table with Dad & the boys. We got several interesting shots to choose from. The two I posted above even have a piece of us in them!

Not quite there yet, lol...

"Bad Boys, Drive BAD Toys"

2009-08-08T11:10:00.007-05:00

Ummm, yeah.... I don't think so dude.

(you'd think if you're going to proclaim yourself a "bad boy", you'd only put the sticker on something that *might* qualify as a "bad toy". Rusted-out, 20 year old minivans just don't cut it.)

Full Circle

2009-08-08T10:15:00.002-05:00

I remember going for bike rides with my mother when I was a little girl. Really little.... riding in one of those toddler bike seats on the bike behind her. I've seen pictures of my Dad with me in the bike seat but I have no memories of that.... but riding with my Mom? I remember....

I don't remember where we went or what we saw along the way... just my view of the situation: Her back. I remember her lower back in front of me, exposed from her shirt riding up... and I remember how tempting that little patch of bare skin was for my fingers. I used to "draw pictures" on her back.... trailing my fingers around in little circles creating pictures that only I could see.

It makes me smile to remember.

I've asked her about those memories.... asked if she remembers me doing that - and she totally does.... although she just remembers me constantly tickling her back when we'd ride around.

Guess she didn't realize I was creating works of art at the time ;)

Well now I have my own little girl, riding around in a bike seat behind me. We spend a fair bit of time on the bikes up at the cottage.... riding to the store, riding to beach, riding around. She quite enjoys it.

And this past weekend, it brought a smile to my face to feel little fingers tracing circles on MY lower back. I couldn't help chuckling... talk about coming full circle (and you're right Mom... it's insanely ticklish!)

Perhaps I have my own little budding artist on my hands?

Thank you Taz...

2009-07-27T14:07:00.005-05:00

I live in the city with the biggest annual mosquito-fighting budget in the country. I know, I know... something to be envious of, no?? And five years ago, we hired a new entomologist, Taz Stuart, to lead our annual battle to kill the little buggers before they kill our summer. It was quite the score to get him here - we snatched him right out from under the nose of the capital city of our neighboring province, in fact.

And regardless of those who can't live if they're not complaining, I'd have to say he's done a stand up job. Sitting in our back yard, despite the odd surviving pest, it's easy to forget that our ancestors settled on a flood plain... a flood plain with extensive marshlands scattered around to boot.

You really have to leave the city once in a while to truly appreciate what Taz does.

I got my chance this past weekend at the cottage. While it IS possible to marinate in enough mosquito spray to survive relatively unscathed, the number of mosquitoes in the "pristine" wilderness areas of the province are mind-blowing.

My husband and I were sitting down on the beach Saturday - watching the tail end of the sunset across the smooth surface of the water. It was a beautiful and serene moment, enjoying a little casual conversation, soaking up the end of the day.... kids already settled in the cabin.

Until we stopped talking. And in the silence that should have been, we heard a low, vibrating hum from the forest at our backs.

And realized, that if you sat still enough, you could actually FEEL the buzz of the millions of mosquitoes all around us.

Whoah.

So back in the city last night, in the back yard with the dog - sans mosquito spray even! All I could think was "Thank you Taz!"

(and I wonder how many mosquito-eaters we could fill per hour at the cottage.... do you think there's a Guinness record for that yet?)

Spreading his Wings

2009-07-27T13:20:00.007-05:00

Since taking the leap and finally mastering TWO wheels on our recent vacation, my youngest boy has been itching to join his big brother... to have the freedom, and trust, to be able to ride to school (well, daycare right now) in the mornings.

And his grin says it all - he's THRILLED.

And I know you can't see my face.... if you could, you'd know I'm every bit as terrified as he is excited!

But how could I say no? We've told him all along that the only reason he can't ride to school (and his brother can) was that he hadn't ditched the training wheels yet. Now I'm wishing we'd said it was because he wasn't 10 yet or something....

He's my baby boy.... and, to me, so much younger than the 17 months separating him from his older brother. My oldest has been riding to school, as often as weather permits, since the snow melted away for good. I'm his mom too... so yeah, I have a little fear inside me for him as well.... that inner maternal voice that whispers of all the scary things (like maniac drivers) that could harm our babies when they're out of our protective sight - but I trust him to be aware of his surroundings at least and make the journey across a couple of larger streets, safely.

My little man though? No so aware.

He's always been really good at focusing on what's got his attention.... but it's also always been an all-consuming thing for him. He focuses on things to exclusion of all else around him.

I remember him as a toddler.... enthralled by something on the television.... and my husband and I, and my parents, yelling and stomping and TRYING to get his attention to move to us - even for a second.

We couldn't.

It was so bad that we actually took him to have his hearing tested because we were afraid he might be deaf! (They insist he isn't deaf....apparently his ABILITY to hear is perfect - he just doesn't see or hear when he's focused on something else!).

That's just a mildly frustrating thing for us and his teachers to deal with on a daily basis.... but it could be a very dangerous thing for him if he's concentrating on staying upright or focusing on the feel of riding and doesn't see or hear an approaching vehicle.... or notice an upcoming cross street in time to stop and look before cruising across.

So it scares me. But I couldn't break his heart - so, under the protection of his big brother, I let him go. TOGETHER (only together).

And he's beyond thrilled with his taste of finally being "big enough".

(I just need to control my urge to follow along behind in the van - it would kinda squelch the joy for him, no? Bad enough I can't help but drive the route 20 minutes behind them and pass the school just to see the two bikes safely locked in place!)

Spruce Woods, Spirit Sands

2009-07-20T12:57:00.006-05:00

So here it is: A snap-shot of our vacation.

When I actually sat down to go through the pictures, I found that I'd only taken 146. One hundred & forty-six?? That's a good 300 or so less than Mexico... and only half of what I took on the way to Marineland. I can't believe all the things I have NO pictures of.... like pictures of our campsite - we had such a great site and set-up.... and it shows up in hardly a picture.

I AT LEAST should have taken photographic evidence of the raccoons' night time raids to our dining tent... how will the charges ever hold up when the rangers finally catch up to them with no photographic evidence?? Let's see.... 3 bananas, 6 apples, 6 ears of corn.... and the oranges - well they didn't actually EAT the oranges but they rolled them around like bowling balls and bruised them all up. We should charge them with the bag of marshmallows.... but since my husband caught them red-handed during a DAYTIME raid... dragging them away from our site into the bush.... and actually managed to take back the bag from one very annoyed raccoon, I suppose no harm no foul.... but still - no pictures?

I didn't get any of us bike-riding.... and we did a TON of riding around the campground - my youngest boy FINALLY mastered a two-wheeler during the trip! Way to go my boy!! And I have none of the kids on the camp play-ground, or us mini-golfing or canoeing (I'd MEANT to take pictures of canoeing... our camera was safely tucked in a plastic bag to come along... but stayed on the seat of the van where I forgot it when we left). And the water park!! I didn't get a single picture of the water park??

I'll call the missing photos a direct testament to how much fun I was having.... too involved to stop and take pictures. That sounds so much better than I forgot the camera in the tent - or was reading a book.... or taking a nap and didn't bother ;)

But you know what the most glaringly obvious omission is among the pictures I DID take?? Me. There's not a single picture of ME. I'm the ghost behind the camera... missing from my family's vacation memories. As much as I HATE having my picture taken, I NEED to hand off the camera once in a while so that I can be IN the memories too... I don't want to be missing from my children's scrap-books when they're older because I never bothered to make sure I was on the other side of the lens once in a while! And I forget who I was reading the other day... but they made a comment (on the subject of hating having their picture taken) to the tune of "if I'd known what I would look like now, I would have treasured more having my pictures taken when I was 40!". So really, if it's only going to get worse as the calendar advances, I should LOVE having my picture taken now - right??

Any how, enjoy the pictures - I'll try to be "present" next time!

Life's a Beach

2009-07-20T12:35:00.013-05:00

Our camp ground had such a great beach for kids.... the water was cool, but shallow enough to pick up heat from the sun during the day - and the most beautiful sandy bottom! I've never been to an ox-bow lake before.... those old river bottoms are great!

We spent time there pretty much every day... it was great to do a day trip (or sweaty hike) in the morning, and then cool off and chill at the beach in the afternoons.

For the boys, it was all about the swimming, the water guns and the water wars they could get into with other like-minded kids..... we could watch them - but they wouldn't come out for hours at a time.

And for my girl, it was all about making "mud puddles" on the beach to jump in. She liked building sand castles with Daddy... and said she liked swimming with Mommy - but she'd turn into a Popsicle less than 5 minutes after hitting the water - so my job was pretty easy... 5 minutes of "swimming" and then she'd beg to be wrapped up in a towel (which would end up being all 5 of our towels) so she could lay in the sun, on the grassy area where we set up, to get warm. Once "warming" in the sun, she'd fall asleep for her 2+ hours of afternoon nap, and then it was time to enjoy a book on the beach... or, if you're my husband, fall asleep right beside her. She was so easy.... cute when she was awake enjoying it all - but a lovely break for us when she slept!

We loved our regular "beach time" too ;)

How to Hike in Style... toddler edition.

2009-07-20T11:43:00.016-05:00

We saved our actual hike through the desert for our second last day. It was a gruelling 3 kms of trail (on the path we chose) that worked out to (or felt like!) at least 5 due to the deep sand and huge hills & dips along the route.

Shwooo! We took along a dozen bottles of water and finished our last drops as we were coming back out.... exhausted.... and with enough sand in our shoes to open our own beach. I remember my little man moaning at me during the last 1/2 km: "Mom, I have 2 things to say to you; first, what is your problem? and second, why are you trying to KILL me?!?".

The only one not completely DEAD by the end of it was the girl. I guess life's alot easier when you're the baby and you only weigh 30-odd pounds. Without the benefits of a REAL back-pack for kids (like the ones Backpacking Dad & others sport)... and knowing there was no way we could piggy-back her all the way through, we emptied out our sturdy, framed and padded day-pack and made it available to her. She could snuggle-down right inside it easily, but turns out she loved the view from standing in it and hanging on to the loops of the shoulder straps much better. Daddy became her very own pack-mule for the day! Although she wanted out for the "fun" parts, she did precious little walking of her own.

We met so many other people at view points and along the trails.... and there were more than a few chuckles from them over-hearing her "cheering him on" (especially up steep embankments). "Go Daddy! You're almost there Daddy.... up, up! Daddy! You DID it! Good Job Daddy!" (OMG, she was a riot to listen to.... as he was panting and sweating to make it to the top of yet another rise.)

Still, despite the effort, the views were absolutely worth it. I had no idea we had a place like this so close to "home". Amazing. No wonder the natives held these "Spirit Sands" as a sacred place.

Magic Fire

2009-07-20T11:34:00.006-05:00

Camping wouldn't be complete without campfires... and thanks to my hard-working husband we had one going almost constantly during our trip. We cooked over it regularly (which was precipitated by the untimely death of our travel BBQ, sure.... but worked out just fine and turned out to be a pretty cool way to go) and roasted marshmallows on it more nights than not, but the coolest thing we came across on our trip were these little packets of "magic fire" that were sold at the camp store.

For $2.50 you could have at least 45 min of super-cool magic flames! They came up in green, blue, purple, white and pink... as well as the standard orange & yellow fare. The kids got such a kick out of it (us too)! And as relaxing as it is to just drop your tired body into a chair and stare at the dancing flames of a camp fire at the end of a day, the pretty colors add a real element of fun to it.

Good times!

Meet Bruce

2009-07-20T11:20:00.007-05:00

Another day trip had us travelling to the provincial fossil museum.... "Bruce" is the largest and most complete Mosasaur skeleton found and is pretty impressive. This trip was right up my oldest's alley.... he loved all the displays*. And it was cool to see a pre-history exhibit that focused on OUR home.... we were under-water around here at the time of the dinosaurs, so all the local fossil beds are full of marine life - including some pretty scary "swimming sharp-tooths".

Since we figured an actual trip out to some live digs and a chance to do some excavating would be a bit much for our youngest, we topped of this day with a pic-nic lunch at another park along the way and spent the afternoon at a local water-park instead. No complaints from any of the kids on that one.

*(I KNOW how excited my boy was to be here... and I'm trying to reconcile that with the expression on his face in the picture with Bruce. WHY do kids think they're only "cool" if they're looking grumpy in a picture? Or maybe that's his attempt at serious/cool? Sheesh...)

Saddle up!

2009-07-20T11:07:00.008-05:00

Here we go again on the horse-back riding.... since it's a favorite activity for 4 of 5 us (my oldest can take it or leave it - preferably leave it), a family vacation in a scenic local wouldn't be complete without it.

The outfitters closest to our campground were an awesome choice.... although kids under 10 weren't allowed out on the trails, they were happy to keep the kids and give them pony rides around the extensive yard while the parents went out riding. How cool is that? Free childcare while you get away and go riding?? Umm, heck ya! We had a great time - and they had a blast.

And talk about a small world.... My SIL's sister worked at the campground where we were staying - we got a morning visit from her each day on her rounds.... and when we returned to the yard from our horse-back ride, she was there chatting with our kiddos - turns out the lady who owns the ranch is a close friend of hers. Love those little surprises.... small, small world.

I'm annoyed with myself that I only brought home a few pictures of the kids riding.... trying to figure out why I bothered to ride for an hour with a camera in my back pocket if I wasn't going to bother to pull it out and use it! Ah well, we'll chalk it up to being too busy enjoying myself to remember to capture it....

Devil's Punchbowl

2009-07-20T10:44:00.011-05:00

On one of our earlier days, we took a covered wagon ride out into the protected habitat along the edge of the Spirit Sands desert. It was a much more comfortable way to finally catch a glimpse of the REAL DESERT we'd assured the kids REALLY WAS next door to our campground. The guide (driver) was awesome and very informative about all the local flora, fauna and environment. The tour included a stop with fairly easy access to climb up and over-look the dunes, and also a stop at the "Devil's Punchbowl" ... which is a really weird-colored pocket of water that was formed by some strange geological circumstance to do with a river running through a desert.... or something.... I was on vacation and didn't pay attention.

Horsing Around

2009-07-20T10:33:00.009-05:00

With no real agenda and plenty of time to spend, we took the opportunity to stop at playgrounds that the kids spotted along the way. It was a real treat for them to have us say "SURE!" instead of "no, we can't right now" every time they spotted a playground out the window (like we have to do at home on a regular basis).

I didn't get pictures from every place we stopped, but this one had some cool little features.... like this 3-seater gliding horse (that my 10 year old may, or may not, forgive me for making him pose on with his younger siblings, lol).

It was just nice to stop and play... and let everyone get some "hang time" ;)

Swingin' It!

2009-07-20T10:23:00.007-05:00

Visiting the Swinging Bridge in Souris was pretty cool.... I had no idea that the longest historic swinging bridge in Canada was in our own backyard! The kids got such a kick out of it.... they kept asking if we could go back and see it again in the following days.

It was kind of scary if you ask me! The thing totally bounces with every step you take and sways with the breeze a little above the river below. The bouncing and swaying are compounded by jerk husbands who run across and encourage their children to jump up and down and try to scare the hell out of Mom*.

*avoid bringing if at all possible (the jerk husband I mean)

**someone remind me later that I still owe him for this.

Rock Hounding

2009-07-20T10:10:00.009-05:00

One of our day trips took us to a rock quarry just south of a nearby town. The rock shop associated with it had quite the display of unusual and semi-precious stones that could be found there.... including fossils.

My kids managed to find alot of ROCKS. Well, maybe one that *could* be a plant fossil... and my husband scored a piece of fossilized wood.... but mostly it was just a fun day climbing a huge pile of stones and collecting 30 lbs of new rocks to add to the kids' collections. Yay.

Nice way to spend a cloudy day though.... kept everyone busy for a while and the kids loved thinking they were finding priceless treasures!

Kudos to ME!

2009-07-17T09:56:00.002-05:00

Well, having decided to skip the summer fair pictures (because really, how exciting is it for you all to see mundane pics of other people's kids riding standard carnival rides anyway?), I've now posted updates from this acutal month that I'm in.

Granted, they're Canada Day posts.... which are probably already relegated to page 3 on the blogs of my fellow Canuks who actually POST on a regular basis - but what the heck, at least I'm in July now!

Points for me, right?

(although I know I won't have my mother off my back until the vacation posts are up!)

Canada Day at the Races

2009-07-16T15:15:00.005-05:00

My Grandmother joined us for Canada Day.... something for her to do and an extra pair of eyes for us as we invariably end up losing at least one kid, at least for part of the time, as they race off on their own agendas - typically in 3 completely different directions.

She's sitting, appropriately, in one of our Canada chairs... watching my kids go nuts in the bouncers that they had set up for a family fun day at the local horse racing track.

This is her - but that's not her hat. Just in case you think my Grandma's always stylin' like that (I though I'd let you know - she'd appreciate it!). That's my daughter's hat.... the hat she didn't need on her own head because she was too busy inside the bouncers.

Family Fun days at the races ROCK. They set up bouncers, pony rides, a petting zoo and face painting.... plus the structure and play ground that are always there - and it's all FREE!! You can't get a more fun afternoon on that dime!

*You'll see by the stunning number of pictures involving actual race horses, that we spent quite a bit of time watching the actual races.... and not tied up indefinitely in play area.

Bouncin' Good Times

2009-07-16T15:04:00.010-05:00

We LOVE family fun days at the races.... and the fact that they were holding one on our National Holiday was a no-brainer for our family to attend.

My kids love all the activities (as much as their parents love the FREE aspect!)... especially the bouncers.

They could stay in there all day.

I don't blame them ;)

Heaven is a Pony Ride

2009-07-16T14:49:00.008-05:00

At least as far as my children are concerened..... there's not much better than finding a pony or a horse that they're allowed to ride on! (at least for 2 of my 3)

Just makes sense for children of mine & my husband's - no?

I wonder if there'll be horses in our future again... or if either of them will rival their Dad's skill in the saddle? The passion's there already for sure!

Inflatable Fun

2009-07-16T14:35:00.009-05:00

There weren't near enough inflatables when I was growing up - if there were any? How did we survive without regular access to giant slides and bouncers?

I'm jealous of my own kids. I used to be jealous of my little brothers.... because at least by the time THEY were little, there were indoor play-places with ball pits and such. I remember going into a big ball pit ONCE - at some major amusement park or another..... it was awesome.

We had swings (still good).... and teeter-totters that your friends could attempt to cripple you on (rare finds now).... and metal slides capable of third degree burns if you didn't pay attention to how long the sun had been shining directly on them before your bare legs connected (definitely going the way of the dinosaur).

Ah well, lucky kids - it added something fun to their Canada Day.

All The Little Animals

2009-07-16T14:26:00.007-05:00

I think the one in the dress was especially cute ;)

My girl just loves the petting zoo when we go to the races.... she's just fascinated with all critters, great & small.

Except spiders.... she gets that from me.

And 'askeetos.... but who doesn't hate mosquitoes?

Well, maybe it's most bugs she doesn't really like... that's her bedtime excuse of choice right now: "I can't go asleep - dere's a BUG in my woom!"

Work with me here....

2009-07-16T12:48:00.003-05:00

We're all just going to pretend that it's late on 13th of June.... the kids have finally crashed from their sugar highs after the day's indulgences and I, good mother that I am, have chained myself to my computer after putting the kids to bed instead of falling asleep on the couch in exhaustion*

It's my daughter's birthday! No way I could stop for the day (or month?) without posting pictures and commentary to immortalize forever (with date & time recorded) her special day. I've got plenty of energy left after setting up, surviving the chaos, then trying to restore order to the house in the aftermath of the party!

Sound good? All right then, here we go!

(*may or may not depict actual events of the day)

p.s. anyone know how to alter the date/time on a blog post? for some stupid reason, this thing keeps saying it's July??

Lazy-Mom's Party Entertainment of Choice

2009-07-16T12:41:00.005-05:00

Roll it out, flip a switch, sit back and let them entertain themselves!

(and the kids think it's all for them!)

Oh Yes She Got Her Rainbow!

2009-07-16T12:35:00.004-05:00

All my girl wanted.... what she couldn't stop asking for or talking about in the time leading up to her birthday.... was a Rainbow Cake.

Done! :)

Presents

2009-07-16T12:25:00.006-05:00

A party wouldn't be complete without some paper to shred and surprises to be torn out of the gift bags hiding them!

And because I know what a great memory she has, I made sure to use those 5 gift bags that she carried up the stairs nearly two months prior to her much anticipated birthday (especially the snowman one!). She was tickled pink with the whole affair.....

The Poor Caterpillar they Masacred

2009-07-16T12:16:00.007-05:00

One minute you're hanging around with some balloon-friends, happily swaying in the breeze and enjoying the warm sun...... the next minute, a bunch of hooligans are batting at you with sticks trying to part you from your treasure!

(but, he was built to take a beating and give his life for the party.... so I suppose there was really no harm done!)

Just wish I'd been on the ball enough to get some pictures of the melee that followed her big brothers, cousins and Daddy finally busting him open!

Summer Vacation?

2009-07-16T12:01:00.002-05:00

A month & a half?? Really?

Wow, I know we all get busy come summer, but I never intended to take THIS long a break from blogging! All of June and half of July...... wowza.

And what a time they've been! Chronology demands, that if I'm going to catch up on everything that's gone by, I'm going to have to start at the beginning.... hope you're ready.... and prepared to scroll back through pages!

This "missing" start to our summer has seen us spending time up at the cottage, visiting the local summer fairs, celebrating our daughter's third birthday, enjoying our Country's birthday and embarking on our family's summer vacation..... that's alot of catching up for one small blog!

Better get started......

Not a good Monday

2009-06-02T09:41:00.002-05:00

Well MY Monday wasn't bad.... but I can't say the same for the neighbors down the street! This makes a great case for having house insurance!!

Canoe Trip!

2009-05-31T22:14:00.005-05:00

What do you get when you combine 8 Cub Scouts, 3 leaders, 4 canoes and 1 local creek running through the neighborhood? Why the recipe for an outdoor adventure just a hop skip and jump from your door!

They launched their canoes just inside the perimeter highway about a mile east of this little creek's source. It was quite the adventure getting started where the creek barely seemed wide enough to hold a canoe! Then they followed it as it slowly wound through our neighborhood on it's way to empty into the nearby river. In their 5 km of travels they had to go under 5 different bridges - and two of those were pretty tight squeezes!

I'm trying to decide who had more fun... them in the canoes, or me chasing them from bridge to bridge snapping pictures of the journey!

There will be portages

2009-05-31T22:10:00.003-05:00

8 times along the way they actually had to get out of their canoes and "portage" over rocks and low spots in the creek. But they were quickly on their way again each time!

A day to remember

2009-05-31T21:52:00.014-05:00

I'm sure my boys have walked away with a new and entirely different view of the the creek that runs so close to our home. It's a small, over-looked tributary that we ride the bike paths along-side and drive over, around or past every day. But never before has it been a place to explore or adventure or experience.

This whole trip took place within city limits. I had 5 different bridges to catch them from just in the 5 km stretch that they travelled... but it was as serene as being anywhere out in the country from where they were sitting!

Grant's Old Mill

2009-05-31T21:46:00.005-05:00

This was the destination. Grant's old mill. I can't remember how old it is but it predates every building and road around it.... the water-wheel on the outside is turned by the current... and it, in turn, rotates the huge grinding stone inside that turns wheat into flour. They still open the place and operate it as a historic site and let you buy small bags of stone-ground flour.

Beautiful place to end this home-grown day of adventure!

A job well done!

2009-05-31T21:37:00.005-05:00

This was definitely the high light of the weekend.

"AWESOME" was all they had to say when I asked them how it was :)

Once upon a time there were ponies

2009-05-31T21:33:00.003-05:00

Well actually the carousel HAD ponies too.... but with the assortment of wild animals available, they were like second hand citizens as far as the kids were concerned!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Riding the Dragon

2009-05-31T21:28:00.004-05:00

My girl was game to try anything with her big brother beside her.... but THIS ride.... the Dragon roller-coaster? She loved it SO much she ended up riding it 5 times.... even when he was busy elsewhere.... brave enough to fly solo when she's having this much fun!

GIANT slide

2009-05-31T21:19:00.007-05:00

I think she was a little horrified coming down... but at the bottom finally decided that it WAS actually fun.... BIG and a little scary, but fun! My poor boy.... he takes his "big brother" responsibility so seriously... he didn't mean to slide down without her.... the hands on his head are his "Oh, MAN" expression ;)

Remember when THIS was still a thrill??

2009-05-31T21:18:00.002-05:00

Good times :)

Yeah, he looks like he's having fun!

2009-05-31T21:15:00.002-05:00

You see that weeee little speck in the rainbow colored jacket? The one waaaaaay up there (hidden behind the netting) trying to hide and duck under the rail to escape the horror of this ride he insisted on going on with his buddy? Yep, that's my brave son!

Buffalo BBQ 2009

2009-05-31T21:07:00.007-05:00

Pass the trophy, would you?

2009-05-26T13:17:00.007-05:00

Yes, I'm in the running for mother of the year again....

My youngest son is the funniest little man around. There's no emotion that he feels by halves.... everything he feels he expresses 110%.

Which is challenging when he's angry or hurt or upset.... but incredibly endearing when he's happy or loving or grateful.

He is so genuinely thrilled with any gift he receives.... or a new pair of shoes, or any new clothes I bring home for him - you can't help but smile.

I collected thanks for his new runners over a period of two weeks... and now, almost two months later, they're still his "favorite NEW runners!"

I bought him a hoodie jacket from Old Navy in the fall. He was so excited he slept with it.... and even now, months later, he's crushed when said hoodie jacket is unavailable due to laundry.

Cute, charming, funny little man *smile*

**********

Well, we've been up to the cottage these past two weekends... and to say I'm a little behind on laundry is an understatement.

Yesterday, when getting dressed in the morning, my boy called upstairs to me - frantic because there was no clean underwear in his drawer....

He HAD clean underwear.... still buried in a basket somewhere.... but in the effort to speed my morning along (to NOT have to stop and go through clean laundry while battling the tangles out his toddler sister's hair) - I just yelled down to him to grab a pair out his brother's drawer!

(I had just bought a few dozen new pairs for my oldest son.... there was still a stack, never yet worn, piled in there.... and they're only 17 mths apart.... they'd fit)

I never heard from him again and he came up dressed, so I assumed this solution worked for him.

And it did.

What I didn't realize, however, was how much this solution thrilled him.

I didn't notice anything different about this new brand of boxer briefs I'd picked up for my oldest.... they were just a different brand, a good price. But, unbeknownst to me, they were also sewn a little differently, a slightly different style.... with a more pronounced "pouch" (I guess that's what you'd call it?) for supporting the.... ummm..... goods, so to speak.

My little man was tickled pink to snag a pair of his brother's "big boy" underwear.

Of course I had no clue. He didn't say anything to me.... in fact, by the time we walked out the door I'd completely forgotten about the exchange - or who's what he was wearing.

Until his teacher called me in the late afternoon. (you know what's coming, don't you? )

After pleasantries, she started off with "apparently C didn't have any clean underwear this morning?" (and I'm thinking: REALLY?? Your teacher needed to know this WHY my man??.... I still have to look this woman in the face....)

She moved along to "and I guess you told him to wear a pair of D's" (OMG.... my cheeks were burning.... this conversation could only get worse)

"Well, he was really excited about having "big boy" underwear - so he decided to show Hope at recess"

(how do you respond to that?)

All I could come up with was "Oh My God.... I am so sorry" .... as I tried to stammer out how he HAD clean underwear.... and the underwear he was wearing was new.... and it wasn't really any different than HIS underwear..... and Oh how embarrassing!

Then she explained how they'd handled it and really, it was fine.... but she just had to let me know....

But it was horribly embarrassing.... getting the call from the teacher.... and all because I can't keep up with the laundry.... and now the teachers know it! Uggg.

Mother of the year trophy over here please!

And then last night the Huz and I had quite the chuckle over it (but not in front of the boy) ..... because really, that's just so like our little man .... and really to him, no different that showing off his new hoodie jacket or new runners.

Now I just have to worry about looking Hope's parents in the eye!

Catching a glimpse...

2009-05-25T15:17:00.005-05:00

We spent this past weekend up at the new cottage.

I wonder at what point I will stop think of it as the "new" cottage and it will just be THE cottage.

Maybe it's closer to that point then I realize...

We have put so much effort into this place... so much time.

My father and the huz did most of work of building it from the ground up - I helped as I was able.... as did my mother, my brothers, my aunt and my uncle in turn. It was a group effort... but mostly those two.... and amazing that we did it all from ground up. From tramping through bush and surveying by boat to pick the lot with a GPS.... to clearing trees and brush, to laying the foundation blocks - right up to the shingles and siding! What a sense of accomplishment.

And I took responsibility for documenting the transformation of this patch of Canadian wilderness - this thick, dense bush bordered by a cut-line and a lake, into a "cottage" for our family.... and my brothers' families - when they reach the point of wanted to spend time here too! The pictures will make a fine scrap-book one day.... providing I get around to making it ;)

We've actually built a cottage! It's certainly not DONE, but it's built.... built enough to spend time in and built enough to enjoy.

Enjoy like we did this past weekend. Which was spectacular... and a bit of an epiphany when I caught a glimpse of what this is going to be like.

All this time we've been focused on the building, I've failed to notice that we're building more than a roof and four walls... and this past weekend really opened my eyes. We're actually building a home away from home, a place to step away from all the distractions and BE a family... join an extended community of like-minded souls and a cultivate a future for our family that's going to have a huge hand in shaping who our kids grow to be.

It's so SO awesome.

Maybe a little part in the back of mind has, all along, been nervous of a new place - a new cottage after so many years of only knowing our original family cottage. It's always hard to branch into the unknown, isn't it? I liked our old cottage.... I liked the familiar. I don't know that I ever thought this would compare.

But we dove in anyway.

And now that we're IN the new, I've come to realize that it's set up to be even better - and I'm thrilled with the "familiar" that this place is going to be for my children. "Adventuring" in the woods next door and along the shore, swimming and throwing stones along our stretch of pebble beach, family walks to the long sand beach down the road.... bikes rides to the store for ice cream on hot summer days.... and lots of other kids their age to play with.

I think I smiled most of the weekend. This is going to be the first of many awesome summers.

Is this thing ON?

2009-05-19T21:35:00.004-05:00

tap tap tap.... hello?

Testing, testing....1,2,3.... yep, still seems to be functioning - I just seem to have been MIA for what - two weeks now?

Ooops.

I have neglected to blog for the first half of May.

What have we missed?

We've gone to work, the kids have gone to school and daycare, we've come home, cooked dinner, tried to stay on top of house work.... same old same old.

We had snow.... I'd rather just forget about that.

We made it up to open the cottage and built an outhouse..... thank God. Because we spent every available hour last year slogging away at getting the cottage finished on the exterior to meet the two-year-to-lock-down requirement for the property and we never got around to getting it done last summer.

There was NO way I was starting another year with no bathroom facilities.... even if they are the bare minimum. I'm so over peeing in the bush at my age.... and driving to the public beach facilities are just not in my recipe for a fun weekend at the lake.

So yay - an outhouse!

We farmed off the kids so we could get the job done.... so it was just me and huz.... in a slightly finished cottage on a surprisingly bitter cold night in May. While it was nice to "get away" and work on a project together, any romantic intentions we might have been able to take advantage of were thwarted by mother nature's quirky little throw-back to winter. By the time we were ready to hit the sack, we could see our breath in the cabin. We each wore no less than 3 layers before climbing into our sleeping bags zipped together for the extra warmth.

But surprisingly, we slept amazing.... uninterrupted and plenty warm.... neither of us even stirred or noticed when the extra blanket we'd thrown over us slid off during the night. It was fine....

And then we returned to the city where we kicked off the "summer" season with our local May-long tradition: the annual Buffalo BBQ and Carnival... the kids had a blast with that. I managed to get some decent pics to share.... once I actually get around to uploading them.

Here's hoping normal weather patterns return and we can start spending some time up at the cottage.... there's still so much to get done - and fun to be had!

Be back soon!

What you never wanted to try

2009-04-28T10:49:00.003-05:00

My oldest son is a funny child.

Not in an “I’m a class clown, I’m going to make you all laugh” kind of way (although he has as much of that in him as I can handle too)… but in a quirky “Sometimes I just gotta shake my head and chuckle” kind of way.

He’s so head-strong. Really, he’s just me re-incarnated. He knows EVERYTHING already. You know how your mother always warned you, when you were being really obstinate as a child, that ONE DAY the Gods would get even and you would have a child JUST LIKE YOU??

Yeah, well that’s him.

He can be challenging to parent because he’s always pushing his boundaries. And he’s got a stubborn streak a mile wide. He knows what he likes (whatever he’s familiar with or passionate about) and he KNOWS what he doesn’t like (basically anything he’s never tried). It’s a constant dance to stay a step ahead – and a constant battle to push him beyond… to get him to expand and try new things. Sounds like a contradiction when I put that down – but there it is.

So he’s a contradiction… and also a great eye-opener as to what my mother really had to put up with all those years with me. Apparently she has a well-spring of patience that runs even deeper than I realized.

(By the way, thanks Mom, for not smacking me like I know you must’ve wanted to… or locking me in my room sometimes – which probably would’ve been much easier for you!)

I think I’ve rambled a little off track here. All I really wanted to do was announce that he has finally learned to ride a bike. I wanted to muse on the transformation that I’m seeing in this boy of mine as he grows and matures and branches out. The friendships consuming his time, the preteen dances he wants to attend now… and the wings he seems to be growing as he becomes himself.

Bike riding is a big part of that. The freedom that it brings – the ability to travel to friends and with friends… to explore our little corner of the world a little.

Learning to ride a bike is such a mundane achievement… I mean, everybody does it at some point, right? But it’s also such a huge step in childhood because, in my mind and memory at least, it opens up their world so much.

The reason this is such a huge achievement for my boy, however, (and the reason for the ramble above) is because he was never going to do it.

The kid flat-out refused to try and learn to ride. He didn’t like bike-riding. He wasn’t good at bike riding. He didn’t care if his friends were going to be bike riding. He really likes roller-blading. Not everybody ever has to learn to ride a bike.

Stubborn. Stubborn. Stubborn.

We tried to tell him how great it was – about the freedom and about hanging with friends and about how much he was going to want to… but he had a reason or a comeback or an argument for every pitch we made.

We even reminded him about how he never ever wanted to try chocolate milkshakes the first time we showed him one and offered a taste (I’m serious about this kid’s aversion to all things new!)… how he recoiled at the brown “stuff” on the spoon and wouldn’t let us get it anywhere near his mouth for a taste… how we had to cajole and convince and then he finally tried it and - Oh My God – it was awesome… his favourite.

And how many other examples along the way during his relatively short time on Earth? How many things he absolutely DID NOT LIKE that, once tried, became favourites or all-consuming passions for him?

We told him that bike-riding would be no different. But he would not budge.

Then, over a two-day period last fall, his older cousin taught him how to ride a little. It was right at the end of fall, so there was no time to really get into it before winter – but he did learn.

And now this spring, it’s as if a light has been switched.

He can RIDE!!

And he loves it. Loves it with the all-consuming passion he assumes for everything new he focuses on. He wants to ride his bike to school every day… he wants to ride his bike to his friend’s house to go riding every evening... He wants to ride with his friends all weekend long.

He's so cool and he’s so fast and bike riding is SO awesome.

We just have to shake our heads and chuckle.

Unbelievable this son of ours.

Birthday Fever

2009-04-27T10:34:00.005-05:00

My almost 3 year old is obsessed with the idea of HER birthday.

Hardly a day goes by when she doesn't ask when her birthday is, tell us what kind of cake she wants for her birthday or tell us she thinks it's time for her birthday NOW.

Each birthday that we celebrate prior to hers is a source of frustration, anticipation and excitement for her.

I just never expected to see her, at this age, so consumed by the idea of an upcoming birthday.... shouldn't she still be a little more .... unaware??

So far this year she's watched her brother, 2 cousins, her father and last night, an uncle, blow out the candles on their cakes. She's also witnessed her brothers on their way to attend the birthday celebrations of several friends - with their wrapped presents in tow.

And each time someone else's special day comes, she gets a hopeful light in her eye as she asks "Is it MY birthday??"

And each time I have to tell her "No, but yours is coming soon honey" .... and I try to tell her whose birthday's are still left to come before hers... to countdown, so to speak, the snail's paced passage of time (in her mind) to that special day of hers.

We're almost there.... she should only have to witness the candles being blown out for her Grandmother prior to her own.... and in our house, hers IS the next birthday.

We still have over 6 weeks to go until the day, but time will fly.

This morning, as I was drinking my morning coffee, she came up the stairs after raiding my gift wrapping supplies with her arms filled with 5 carefully selected gift bags..... for her *chuckle*

"Here Mommy, I dot presents for my birthday.... I dot one wit a 'noman on it (Christmas bag)... I yike 'nomen.... an a pink one.... an boons (balloons). You have to doe topping mommy... an fill dem - fill dem awl up!"

Apparently she thinks this whole "waiting for her birthday" business is taking way too long - she's taking matters into her own hands to speed up and facilitate the process.

I guess all I have to do is go shopping to fill all her present bags and presto - it's her birthday. Well that and come up with this "rainbow" cake she's been talking about since Christmas :)

Have wheels, will travel.

2009-04-25T14:16:00.012-05:00

She's growing so fast.

3 years this June... and always in such a hurry to keep up with those boys.

I do believe we've just skipped right over the tricycle stage?? I have a really cute, colorful little trike that we were saving for this summer. A trike that will evidently never see it's day in the sun.

Because the boys - HER boys.... they don't have trikes, they have BIKES. With two wheels.

So we caught the question: "Where's MY bike??"

And now there she goes.... in all her two-wheeled glory!

Maybe THIS Year??

2009-04-25T13:58:00.002-05:00

This is the bridge 3 blocks from my home. It's one of 3 bridges that service my area of the city to cross Sturgeon Creek, and one I cross at least once a day. As of last week 2 of those 3 bridges were closed because of this.

You might think from the picture that we had exceptional flooding this year. Which is true, but only partially the problem. This particular bridge gets washed out every other year - or perhaps only every third year if we're lucky. It doesn't take "exceptional" flooding to strand our neighborhood.

Every time it floods, the road is closed for a couple weeks and traffic congestion on the other routes becomes a nightmare.

I wonder at what point in time the city will finally decide to rebuild so we have a bridge that can be used ALL year round. I've been watching this bride flood for 30 years now.

Maybe THIS will be the year they decide enough is enough??

Face Value

2009-04-24T20:23:00.002-05:00

There's always an opportunity to laugh in a house with kids... especially toddlers. Sweet, hilariously literal toddlers.

Actual conversation with our girl the other morning:

she was declaring her love for our "whole" family... even though only her, daddy & I were cuddling...

Me: So who's missing baby?

Her: Dooooo (bro #1)

Daddy: And who else?

Her: Taaaaaam (bro #2)

Daddy: And who else is in our family?

Her: Cousin Twent!! (cousin Trent moved back to his small town in SK)

Her: Oh! Where is he? I need to kiss him!

Daddy: He's back in Duck Lake honey

Her: Oh! He getting wet then!

cue round of laughter.

Not proud of myself... but really?

2009-04-22T21:15:00.002-05:00

I picked a fight with a complete stranger today.

Kind of.

I'm really REALLY pissed at my office's ISP... we were down for our 3rd day in two weeks. When I have no Internet I can't do my job. So my frustration level is going up and my fuse is getting shorter with each incident.

This morning I asked my assistant for their phone number just because I needed to yell at someone.... I was just itching to vent... (although I didn't actually yell).

***********

Have you ever worked in an inbound call center?

I have. It's not easy.... and it takes a lot of skill to "handle" angry callers.

I don't think it's something you can really teach or learn though.... you either CAN talk angry people through their issues, or you can't.

I think I was good at it. I always ended up taking the angriest callers... or escalated calls... or callers I'd dealt with before who asked for me. I actually had two different callers phone back of their own accord and leave a compliment with my superiors (virtually unheard of... if you ever get great service from someone and really want to make their day, try doing this! ) and I even had a guy from another city offer me a job... seriously tried to talk me out of my position to come work for him just based on how I handled his call. Talk about flattering. He wasn't even dissuaded when I told him where I was located - just switched the offer to a position in the local location instead. It was tempting.... and if I hadn't already given my two weeks notice to take on the role I have now, I would've gone I think (I actually kept his contact info on the fridge for several months "just in case" - like he suggested)....

So maybe I'm arrogant (at least I admit it!), but I know I don't have patience for BAD phone people.

Call Centers are a hellish place to work - I spent a year and half in one.... and looking back, I'm always surprised I lasted that long before I pulled out my last hairs.

I have a lot of respect (or is the better word sympathy?) for people stuck on the other end of the phone - but at the same time, I just can't help messing with them a bit.

Do you ever play with telemarketers that call you?

I do... they're just so damn predictable, hehe... especially if you're familiar with what they're hocking and can stump them with questions they're not equipped to answer.

It's my evil streak. What can I say. At least I'm not RUDE to them ;)

My Mom is worse.... she used to train people to work on the phones.... so she'll actually critique and coach telemarketers when they call her (as she's turning them down) - how's that for a slap? *chuckle*

***********

Any how, I was ANGRY this morning when I called my ISP.... I was frustrated and mad and calling to cancel my service.

I was angry.... but I was still manageable depending on the person at the other end of the line.

Only the person I got sucked. She made it way too easy to lose my cool.... not once did she apologize, offer to help or even ask what my issue was.... she was just difficult and condescending and rude.

If they hadn't already lost me before that chick picked up the phone, they definitely would have lost me after.

The really amazing guy in the tech department that she brushed me off to was *almost* good enough to make me change my mind.... but not really. I did lodge a complaint with him regarding the first chick I spoke with though - he was helpful enough to handle that for me.

He told me she was in the "sales" department.

I told him that she sucked at it.

Really.... I hope this girl isn't trying to support a family on the job because she does not have what it takes to make it in sales to save her life. They really shouldn't let her near a phone.

But still, I feel the teeniest bit of guilt at getting mad, calling into a call centre, trouncing the idiot who answered the phone, and then lodging a complaint about her.

Maybe I wasn't entirely fair.

But no, she really was awful.

Only she reminded me a bit of this one girl I sat a few stations down from on the floor in that old call centre a few times.... she always had trouble with clients.... never could handle irate callers and often ended up defensive or raising her voice - or handing off calls. I felt sorry for her because the job is just too stressful when complaints are rolling in.

She belonged in a different job too.

Hopefully the girl I complained about today finds something she better suited to as well :)

Easter Over-board

2009-04-14T10:00:00.002-05:00

The hunt was oh-so-fun.... but no child needs this much chocolate!

Welcome to Holland

2009-04-11T00:55:00.002-05:00

by Emily Perl Kingsley

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this.... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. Michelangelo's David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland"

"Holland!?!" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland"

This, oh so perfect, analogy just speaks to me. My youngest boy, while often making me feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark with this parenting thing, is the sweetest, loveliest child. He's beautiful and innocent and charms every person he touches. I love having the honor of being his mom.

Embrace the detours.

Easter Dinner Out of the Blue

2009-04-10T11:33:00.004-05:00

I love long weekends. It's just so nice, when after spending a hard day of work ON the house, that you actually have a weekend left to enjoy! Way too often, by the time we catch up on all the house work that accumulates in a double working-parent household each week, there's no time left to enjoy - the weekend is over and it's time to start the cycle all over again.

It should be mandatory to have a long weekend in every month of the year!

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

My family will be gathering to share our Easter dinner today, Good Friday. This was planned early in the week as it was the only day all three of us kids could get up to my Mom's house at the same time this weekend.

I expected that to be it - one family dinner, one day to relax (hopefully take the kids to the museum or some other family activity that we never make time for) and then a visit from the Easter Bunny to put the kids into a sugar high for the last day of this blissfully long weekend.

But I got a surprise (shock really!) yesterday: My father invited our family to his house for Easter dinner on Friday.

I can't believe it.

I'm trying to remember the last time my kids were at his house.... I *think* we popped over for an hour or so sometime in mid-December before we left the province for Christmas (or did we? I know he bought a present for the boys, under duress, but he just sent them home with me - there was no desire to wrap the gifts or watch the boys open them... nor did he think to give anything to the girl - probably thinks she's still an infant and wouldn't notice).... but prior to that? It has to have been at least a year.

My Dad has never been the "Grandfather" type. He doesn't acknowledge birthdays (or Christmas!) unless someone reminds or pressures him.... which I've no desire to do. He doesn't ask after them or make any effort to see them - so I'm really at a loss as to the dinner invitation.

But we'll go. He's always good to them when we're actually there... and they do deserve the opportunity to know who their Grandfather is.

If he's willing to make any sort of effort, I'm willing to give him every opportunity to have a relationship with them and us.

I'm just over making the effort. I won't push, I won't remind, and I won't ask anymore.

Still... I can't help but be pleased with the invitation, out of the blue.

The working Mom and the single Dad

2009-04-07T17:19:00.003-05:00

I've been working a few evenings a week lately. It's something I need to be doing and the pay-off is worth it (and necessary!) - but still.... working evenings is something I've avoided as much as possible for a couple of years now.

And at first I hated it because I felt, deeply, the responsibility to be at home with the kids in the evening. Like maybe the universe, as it applies to our home, would unravel without my presence?

And, like everyone else I'm sure, after working all day I just want to go home and relax at the end of the day... or at least what passes for "relax" in my household (it's really not all that relaxing hearing "mommy, mommy, mommy!" every 3 minutes - or having a toddler climbing over you with the next book in the line-up every 5...)

But now that I've been working evenings semi-regularly for a while, I'm finding that I really don't mind all that much.

Maybe I should feel more guilt than I do over finding work to be a welcome break from the chaos that is a house with three kids.

But there it is: I enjoy the break.

As much as I love my children and enjoy the time I have with them, sometimes it is just nice to not have to cook dinner, clean up after, break up squabbles, have every moment of my time and all of my personal space usurped... sometimes it's nice just to extend the adult time in my day.

(now we know why I'm not a stay-at-home-Mom... kudos to all those who can do well!)

I just have to put the image of my poor, out-numbered husband out of my mind while I'm at it.

(and for the record, I DO try very hard to show the appropriate amount of remorse and sympathy for my husband who gets stuck playing single Dad while I'm out ;)

Cadbury Easter Cream Eggs are EVIL

2009-04-07T17:17:00.001-05:00

'nuff said.

A Perfect Storm

2009-03-26T22:45:00.000-05:00

I haven't shared my hideous night before last.... mostly because, as much as I wanted to vent it, I was thinking that it was just too gross to immortalize on my blog - I'd rather forget it.

But I gotta get it out.... so my apologies in advance.

We've been under a storm watch since the weekend.... freezing rain, blowing snow, blizzard conditions. (I wish Colorado would just keep their "lows" to themselves already!)

So it wasn't a huge surprise when my late night blog-hopping was cut short when the power went out at 11pm Tuesday night. I saw the power come back on across the street about a 1/2 hour later, so assumed ours would be back shortly too and just went to bed.

It didn't come back on again until 6:30 Wednesday morning.

I DID take the time to check in on the kids and toss an extra blanket over them in case it was a while before the heat kicked back on again.... thank Goodness.... and all I can say is I'm glad it was only - 8 outside and NOT - 30! The house got down to 16 degrees by morning (which is surprisingly warm considering no heat for 7+ hours.... sorry, I don't have the energy to convert to F - it's not as cold as it sounds.... we normally keep the house at 20 or 21).

I wasn't in bed long before I was roused by the sound of my oldest getting sick in our main bathroom upstairs.... I guess he woke up feeling like he was going to puke but, with no power, their bathroom downstairs was too dark and he made the mad dash upstairs to ours. Our main floor bath has a much larger window - and a comfortable amount of light comes in.... between the city glow and snow reflecting it back, it never gets truly dark at night in the winter - even in the middle of the night. It's still not enough light to really SEE stuff though.

So I rubbed his back, helped him wipe his nose and rinse his mouth when he was finished and got him comfortable under a quilt on the couch upstairs. That was just shortly after midnight.

Back to Bed.

Only to be roused an hour later by my poor boy getting sick again. Repeating the routine, stumbling around in the dark.... feeling like a zombie....uggg.

He wasn't settled from that stint but minutes before the girl woke up screaming - "Momeeeee! Momeeeee! My room's too dark! My room's too dark! (damn power was out still... her night light was gone). So I opened her window to let some light in but by that point she was wide awake and needed to go pee. And I led her to the bathroom where she went to step up on her stool... and slipped in a puddle of puke!

Apparently my little man had missed the bowl during his first race to get up here and, of course, I couldn't see it in the dark! Eeeewwwwww.....So I had to fumble in the dark to wash her feet, AND the stool and give the front of the seat a quick wipe just in case (still can't see a damn thing), and she did her business and I just wanted to get back into my damn bed..... And then she was too scared to sleep alone. And I was too exhausted to argue, so into our bed she came.

Only now I had to go before I could get back to sleep.... so I headed back to the bathroom and took a seat.... only to feel the wet and squish on my skin.... OMG!!

Apparently the boy had missed a little worse than I thought.... I guess, what I couldn't SEE in the dark (but could unfortunately FEEL) was that the back of the toilet seat was covered too. Talk about a complete gross-out!!

I know I shrieked... I won't cop to the words that came out of my mouth, but I was NOT happy. (I think I even questioned my decision to be a mom at that moment). Nothing like having to spray off to wake you right up in the wee hours. And the FREAKING power was still OUT. GRRRRRRRRR....

I eventually got back to bed, but not really to sleep again.... having the girl tossing around in the bed makes that next to impossible.

So I finally resigned myself to get out of bed sometime around 6am. My husband left to go buy coffee.... because no power means we couldn't make any and neither of us was capable of going without after that night.

While he was gone, the power came back on... and went off again shortly after... and then finally came back to stay.

And when I went back to the bathroom, with the lights shining bright, I kinda wished we were still in the dark..... it looked like something had been massacred in there! I have no idea why my son's spew had dried to a dark red color but it was all over the toilet, back of the toilet, floor around it, the stool in front AND splattered on the wall to one side and the side of the counter to the other.... along with a couple of cute footprints from my daughter's middle of the night escapade through the whole mess.

Apparently it had been projectile..... and to say he didn't quite make the bowl was an understatement.

So my helatious morning began with me scrubbing the toilet and walls and floor. Never a good way to start a day.

And then we got the call that the girl's daycare was being closed for the day because their power was still not back on.... and with our boy sick anyway (he might have been able to go to my Grandmother's so neither of us would have to miss work, but she couldn't handle the girl too), my husband had to miss a day of work and stay home with those two.

I was actually a little jealous... at least he'd have a chance to nap after our sleepless night. I have no idea how I didn't fall asleep at my desk yesterday.

I just hate the "perfect storms" of parenting that we all get slammed with at some point or another..... when everything that can go wrong does - and all at the same time.

Still, I lived.... and had power and got sleep last night, so I guess I can be over it now.

Venting is good.

"Friendly Manitoba"

2009-03-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

That's the handle on our licence plates.... and we get ribbed for it alot of times because when you're driving down the road and get cut off by some maniac driver and catch a flash of that message on the plate, "friendly" is the last thing you think of!

So alot of people question our label of choice - but this morning, I think I gained a little insight.

Nothing like a blizzard and a bunch of stuck vehicles to bring out the "friendly" in people.

This morning my husband got stuck, not once but twice, getting ready to leave for work. For some reason, he decided to leave his vehicle parked on the road.... and as the snow continued to blow and drift, and the ice-covered streets slowly became buried under a fresh foot of snow, his car was marooned.

He went out to start it, pull it into the driveway and let it warm up before heading out - only when he actually attempted to pull into the drive, his little car became hopelessly stuck.... completely blocking the road.

My day began with him rousing me out of bed to put on my boots and get outside in the tail end of this storm to help push him out. (Brrrrr... definitely not my wake-up call of choice!)

And there was not much that he & I alone could do - but no problem! In the space of less than 5 minutes, two vehicles stopped and their drivers lent a hand.... the car was quickly moved off the road under the group effort.

(Now mind you, the drivers didn't have a lot of choice here.... if they decided NOT to help, they wouldn't have been going anywhere regardless - the car was completely blocking their path!)

Then again, 20 minutes later, when he was actually ready to leave for work, he backed out onto the road, turned to drive off - and found his tires hopelessly spinning down the glare ice under the snow. Once more it was only a matter of minutes before two more drivers stopped to lend a hand... one older lady (who we nominated "driver" for the purpose of getting my husband's vehicle moving) and one younger.

He never phoned me after finally getting on his way, so I'm going to assume that he got to work without further incidents.

When it was my turn to venture out with the kids, I passed more than one scene like ours earlier that morning: people helping others to continue on their way when help was needed. And after dropping off the kids at daycare, I myself stopped to help an elderly gentleman with two passengers who'd skidded off the road and into a snowbank.

And after resuming my commute, I started to think about all the people helping - about how it's a universal kind of understanding around here that if you need help, someone will stop to assist.... and if you see someone who needs help, you feel compelled to lend a hand.

We ARE friendly.... maybe because we have to be (like not being able to continue on YOUR way without moving someone in need whose blocking your path), but mostly because we're united here in our communal battle against what mother nature so often throws our way.

Whether it's the people with snow-blowers helping neighbors without, or stopping for the group pushing/shovelling/lifting of vehicles embedded in snow.... or even joining in on sand-bagging efforts to survive the floods that these spring blizzards lead to (even when your home is not one in jeopardy).

Everyone pitches in, usually with a smile on their face, so that we can all continue on our way.

There's a community spirit that's not often found in a city of 700,000 people.

Just one thing I love about living in "Friendly Manitoba".

Will we ever get it?

2009-03-25T14:37:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to wrap my head around the ageism in our society.

I just don't get it. Why on Earth do so many people, especially their own children (my parents' generation!) behave as if every elderly person is losing their marbles?

I've come the conclusion that this belief; that all those older than us are inferior intellects, is just an ingrained trait in humans. We ALL delude ourselves.

C'mon, admit it.... when you were young (when did it start... pre-teen, teen?) you thought your parents were completely out of it. They didn't GET it, they couldn't understand.... they were just too old.

And now that we're the parents, realization dawns: We are, in fact, not less capable just because we've aged into adulthood. Our intellects have not diminished with each grey hair that sprouts on our head - and we certainly are not "out of it". It may take us a little more time to fully grasp and begin to take advantage of new technologies.... things we've never encountered before, but we're still as smart as we ever were (smarter, in fact, because we have some life experience to go along with our smart-alec selves).

It may be slightly embarrassing that our own children, weaned on micro-chips it seems, can grasp new products with a speed and facility greater even than ours, but it certainly doesn't make us stupid!

Even when the rolling of our own kids' eyes is now telling us that they believe differently.

So, for a while I guess, we commiserate with our parents, maybe even apologize.... and they laugh their assess off as they watch us dealing with these younger versions of ourselves.

Only, at some point, we must forget that lesson. I think the cycle starts all over again.... and people start to talk down to their parents again as they age - behave in a condescending manor towards the seniors in their lives, even if they're unaware that they're doing it.

It's maddening. People have to stop. We just have to recognize that it's normal to be over-whelmed by technology never before experienced in your lifetime - whatever age you might be when faced with it.... we humans are not as quick to adapt to change as we like to profess.

Just as it does not make us idiots that we don't instantly grasp every feature on our new iphone the day we get it, neither does it make an elderly person stupid or senile because they can't grasp the intricacies of something new to them, (that we pass off as simplistic): like Internet banking.

And just like we want to wipe that know-it-all look off our kid's face when the eyes are rolling in our direction, I can't believe more elderly people aren't slapping us for the condescending tones they have to put up with on a daily basis from most middle-aged people! (maybe they secretly want to, but are constrained by the manners of an earlier generation too!)

Maybe having my 84 year old mother-in-law living with me for a while, or taking my Grandmother out more often recently has sensitized me to the issue.... but I just shake my head and wonder what the heck is WITH some people?

Case in point: I took my Grandmother to the bank today. They'd made a mistake when she did a bill payment earlier in the month and sent her payment to someone else's account. She wanted it reversed and corrected so her bill was the one credited with the payment. Pretty cut and dry.

I just dropped her off and ran to handle an errand of my own, then I returned and went into the bank to see if she was done.

From the minute I sat down beside her, the teller ceased communicating with my Grandmother and started directing her explanations to me.

Why? The situation had NOTHING to do with me.... and my Grandmother had been handling everything fine without me up until then! I thought she was incredibly rude.

And the tone of voice?? OMG... I'm sure she meant to sound sweet and caring, but she was really just down right insulting - the tone of voice she used, and the pace of her words and clarity in enunciation were the exact way one would express things clearly to a toddler!

Talking a little louder, slowing down the spacing between words.... I think someone needed to explain to her that grey hair is NOT a direct indicator of deafness! At one point she even interrupted her overly-thorough explanation to my Grandmother in order to address me directly (as an aside... like my Grandma couldn't hear):

"If she has any trouble understanding what we've done, just tell her that.... blah, blah, blah..."

"Why??", I couldn't help but counter, "She's not deaf!"

And my Grandmother just absorbed it and didn't get ruffled at all. I couldn't believe it.... I was supremely annoyed on her behalf, but she was so used to it that it didn't even faze her anymore. I asked her if she gets treated that way alot and she said "all the time".

And I know it's true... because I see it with her, and with my mother-in-law, and with the elderly clients I serve who bring their adult children with them to appointments. I swear, all around me people are turning back into those eye-rolling teenagers again.

And they think they're right, this time.

How to tell a Canadian:

2009-03-24T13:14:00.000-05:00

Laura Ingles Wilder, I'm not, but I have to cop to some differences between myself and my American friends, so I've pulled a little list. I thought it would make a good frame of reference to show how normal I am ;) Most of these are borrowed and I've added a few of my own.... but just so you know:

- We stand in "line-ups" or "queues" at the movie, not lines.
- We're not offended by the term, "Homo Milk".
- We understand the sentence, "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my BOWL OF POUTINE"!
- We eat chocolate bars instead of candy bars.
- We drink pop, not soda.
- We had a Prime Minister who wasn't fluent in either of the official languages (English & French).
- We know what it means to be 'on pogey'.
- We know that a mickey and 2-4's mean there's a party brewing.
- We can drink legally while still a teen in most provinces.
- We talk about the weather with strangers and friends alike (it's an obsession... just look at the number of posts I'VE put in on the topic!).
- We don't know or care about the fuss with Cuba, it's just a cheap place to travel with very good cigars.
- When there is a social problem, we turn to our government to fix it, instead of telling them to stay out of it.
- We're not sure if the leader of our nation has EVER had sex and we don't WANT to know if he has!
- We still get milk in bags as well as cartons and plastic jugs.
- To us, Pike is a type of fish, not some part of a highway.
- We drive on a highway, not a freeway.
- We know what a Robertson screwdriver is.
- We have Canadian Tire money in our kitchen drawers.
- We know that Mounties rarely look like that.
- We dismiss all beers under 6% as "for children and the elderly."
- We know that the Friendly Giant isn't a vegetable product line.
- We also know that Casey and Finnegan are not a Celtic musical group.
- We drive with our headlights on during the day (since 1989, all new cars have been fitted with "daytime running lights")... but doesn't everyone now?
- We have an Inuit carving somewhere in our home.
- We wonder why there isn't a 5 dollar coin yet.
- Like any international assassin/terrorist/spy in the world, we possess a Canadian Passport.
- We use a red pen on our non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, color. etc.
- We know the French equivalents of "free", "prize", and "no sugar added", thanks to our extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging.
- We get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.
- We can do all the hand actions to Sharon, Lois and Bram's "Skin-a-ma-rinky-dinky-doo" opus.
- We can eat more than one maple sugar candy without feeling nauseous.
- We know what a touque is (it's NOT called a toboggan!) and we all own one and often wear it.
- We know Toronto is NOT a province.
- We never miss "Coach's Corner" during Hockey Night in Canada.
- Back bacon and Kraft Dinner are two of our favourite food groups.
- Our cars have a cord and plug sticking out of the grill ... it's a block heater for those sub-zero (in Celsius) days.
- We design our Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.
- The mosquitoes have landing lights.
- Some of us have more kilometres on our snow blowers than our cars.
- We have an average of 10 favourite recipes for wild meat.
- We know that a Canadian Tire Store on any Saturday is busier than most toy stores at Christmas.
- We've taken our kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.
- We know driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in with frozen snow and slush.
- Some of us owe more money on our snowmobiles than our cars.
- The local paper covers national and international headlines on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.
- At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
- We frequently clean grease off the barbecue so the bears won't prowl on our deck (at least at the lake!).
- We find -40C a little chilly.
- The trunk of our cars double as a portable deep freezes. (so do backyard sheds!)
- The deck or the snowbank outside the back door is an acceptable place to chill and stash beverages at parties.
- We may attend a formal event in our best clothes, our finest jewellery and our Sorels.
- We can sometimes play road hockey on skates.
- We know the 4 seasons are actually: Winter, Still Winter, almost Winter and Construction.
- The municipality buys a Zamboni before a bus.
- We understand the Labatt Blue commercials.
- We perk-up when we hear the theme from "Hockey Night in Canada" (or at least we used to!).
- We pronounce the last letter of the alphabet "zed" instead of "zee."
and ... We end *some* sentences with "eh," ... eh?

Just when you thought it was over....

2009-03-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

We're saddled with a spring Blizzard.

All the melting and beautiful spring-like weather is forgotten as we're forced to slog through a pelting of heavy, wet sleet and snow.

Highways are closed and I can't see my neighbor's house from mine.

Nasty.

I shouldn't complain - it's only March. Please let this not be a year when we're hit with another Blizzard in May. It's happened before.

Perspective is important. Let winter have it's last hurrah.... the tide IS turning and the warm weather will come again.

(I hope.)

Turkey Day in March....

2009-03-23T14:37:00.000-05:00

I'm going to look back on the title of this post and think it was about Easter.....

But it's not.

It's about how I use our shed in the back yard as a large extension of our deep freeze in the winter months and place additional items that need to stay frozen in it when our freezer is full.

Last fall, when our 1/2 Bison was delivered, there were several things that needed to go out to the shed. One of those things was a 17 lb Turkey that my husband received from work before Christmas. At one point we had an entire maximum-size cooler full of meat staying frozen in the shed outside.... and we slowly went through it all... either using it or moving it back in doors as space allowed.

All except the bird. We totally forgot about the 17 lb frozen turkey....

And as much as we've been enjoying the break in the weather lately, the fact that we are no longer living in a deep freeze ISN'T good for keeping meat frozen!

So we discovered the Turkey, almost thawed, in the shed yesterday. Which means that I was cooking a turkey until 10:30pm last night. And 10:30 being a time when the house is sleeping, not waiting to sit down to a home cooked meal, means that we'll be having turkey dinner tonight.

At least I don't have to wonder about what to cook for dinner today.

And since the bird was 17 lbs, I should say don't have to worry about what to cook this week!

Anyone got any great turkey leftover recipes to share??