On The Road Again

Tomorrow morning, I am packing the little man up and we are heading back to Calgary for two days. Both of us have doctor appointments to attend to, a little shopping to take care of and the most exciting part, some precious cargo to haul back. What is it my friends? Well, to my husband's dream, a 50 inch plasma TV, a 27 inch TV and drum roll please ..... a new computer for MOMMY!! Yay!! Perhaps that means that I will be able to post pictures and commentaries with ease on my blog site and surf with relish online. Oh how good will it feel to be able to get back online without any hitches.

Stay tuned for some great pictures .........

Settling In

Whew .... we've made it! We are officially living in our new house, almost unpacked and ready to relax. It was a long road to get here but worth it now that all of the hard stuff is in the past. The house when I first walked in, was a lot older than I had remembered it to be and filthy dirty. The previous owners didn't even have the courtesy to clean the place up, so things like the oven, fridge(s), carpets and bathrooms were a mess. I know that an owner doesn't have to clean, but come on now, after the money that these people made off of this sale, one would think that they would have felt appreciative. But as my hubby said, not everyone is like us and are concerned about leaving a good impression.

So after a few hours of scrubbing, swipes of the vacuum and boxes later, this house finally feels like ours. No longer do I have that sinking feeling that this place is old and decrepit, instead it feels like it has character because it is ours. Our belongings fit so perfectly in here as if after all of this time, it was meant to be. And, the best thing about this house is that it is surround by other houses that have young children. Already Kaelen has met new friends and has been playing road hockey with the older kids in our cul de sac. Kaelen so far seems to be the youngest but only by a year or two. The kids around here are great and seem more than happy to include him in their hockey games and treat him just like he is one of the boys. We have only met two sets of neighbours but they seem great. I look forward to the summer and sitting on my deck watching the kids run around and hopefully enjoying a laugh or two with fellow parents.

Good things are coming to us and this move feels so right. There are still a few challenges that lay ahead for us such as finding child care and then myself a job. But so far, we are still living in our euphoric high of happiness and contentment.

Over And Out

It is time for the big move. As of today, I will be homeless for just under a week. By the end of today, the rest of our house will be packed into a moving truck and heading back for Cranbrook tomorrow morning. The kids, cat and I will camp out at a generous friend's house until Tuesday at which time, we will head down to Cranbrook. We will spend two days camping at my aunt's house and provided nothing goes wrong with our closing, we will gain possession of our new home on Thursday the 20th.

This means I will have no computer for the next week unless I manage to high jack one of the computers of where I am staying. In all honesty, I probably won't have much time for the computer anyways. So friends, this means that I am off in non cyber land for at least the next week to two weeks.

For those of you who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter! I look forward to catching up on everyone's lives once things get settled for us in our new place. Keep healthy and stay happy. And to my two blogging friends that are getting really close to their due dates:

1. Jenn - good luck with the big day that is literally just around the corner. Should you have that precious baby before I get back online, know that I am thinking about you. It was great running into you the other day and you look FABULOUS for only being two weeks away from your due date!!!! Seeing as I will be back periodically, we will definitely have to get together with Lesley and I will finally get to truly meet you both! It is funny really, with just over one million people living here in Calgary, what are the chances that I would have run into you not once but twice? It is a small world really.
2. Sheryl - you are five weeks away and look INCREDIBLE!!! Keep that little one in there cooking for a little while longer, or at least until I get back online to read all about it!! Good luck to you should your little girl decide to arrive early!!

Other People

We went shopping at the Superstore today to purchase large RubberMaid tubs. Earlier we had gone to Walmart but they were all sold out. I usually try to refrain from going to the Superstore because there is just something that chaps my butt about having to bag my own groceries when I am dropping $250 for food. Plus, I don't really see where the savings are that everyone talks about. I am a Safeway shopper, and when I use my club card, I usually end up saving anywhere from 15 - 30% with discounts.

Anyways, Safeway doesn't sell tubs so off the to Superstore we went. As I unload the kids from the van, there was a lady parked beside us who was unloading her groceries into her car. Kaelen politely asked her if he could have her cart when she was finished with it. She responded with a yes and wheeled the cart to us. At first she seemed a little hesitant about accepting our money for the cart but then snatched it out of Kaelen's hand quicker than I could blink. At the time I thought that it was a little weird and remembering telling Kaelen that she must have been in a hurry when he was inquiring about it. So ... we do our shopping and stood in line for ions because the tubs scanned in at $5 more than the advertised price. The rude customer service lady after 15 minutes informed me that those prices were actually February prices and there was nothing she could do for me. I in turn (and rather iritated at this point), calmly (which is a miracle for me) told her that I would like a refund then because I was not going to pay $15.99 per tub when a) it was listed at $10.99 a tub (which is not my fault) and b) I could just go to Walmart in a couple of days and get the same ones for $10.99 when they were restocked. This customer service lady, then told me that this one time, she would refund me the difference and that is all that should could do for me. Hmm .... I didn't remember asking for anything more but I let it slide.

After getting my $20+ dollars back, we loaded up the van and then took the cart back to get Kaelen's dollar (which came out of his piggy bank too). To my disbelief, there was no money in the cart. It was a freebie cart. Kaelen, being the sharp kid that he is, immediately started questioning why that lady lied to us and took his money. So, for the past hour, he still can't understand why this cart lady took our money when she didn't pay for the cart in the first place. I know that in the big picture it is only a dollar, but still .....

So, if on the off chance, you cart lady are reading this, I hope that you can hold your head up in pride for ripping off a three year old boy today. I know that you didn't pay for the cart in the first place because of your hesitation to accept the money in the first place. Why you would take his money is beyond my comprehension but then again, perhaps a dollar isn't much money to you in the first place so you don't realize that it can be worth millions to others. Lucky for you that we don't know who you are because my son is adament that we call the police on you for stealing and Santa for lying.

Moral of the story - I won't be going back to Superstore anytime soon because everytime I go there, I deal with stupidity and stupid situations.

Many Little Things

Gosh, it has been a while (probably because today I actually surfed blogging friend's sites), but I have been tagged for a meme by my good blogging buddy, Sheryl. If you have a moment, I highly recommend visiting her site as she is always uplifting, insightful and will put a guaranteed smile on your face.

8 Things That I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Travel North America in a swanky RV for a couple of years with my husband.
2. Decide on a career path and go to school to get the education to support my career; this would be either becoming a Registered Nurse or obtaining an HR Management Degree.
3. Take a web design course and become a true cyber nerd.
4. Write a published memoir about my life.
5. Run a marathon.
6. Learn to stick to a goal and accomplish it. I get too easily distracted and it gets easy to shelf the desire for "another time".
7. Own a summer home on a lake with a boat.
8. Learn to become a better person.

8 Things That I Say Often:
1. What the Heck?
2. You know what? I have a secret and you can tell someone if you want .... wanna know what it is? Mommy loves you so very very much.
3. Have I told you how much I love you today?
4. F%&k (it is bad .... I know)
5. You are such a wanker
6. I'm Sorry
7. Please
8. I just love you and love you and lovvvvvve youuuuuuuu

8 Songs That I Sing Over and Over Again:
This is a toughy because I am the queen of making up my own words to pretty much any song and I do it on a daily basis. The words are always sung to my children and is about them and usually how much I love them. Kaelen now has caught on and will sing me a few songs every day and make up his own words too. Therefore, I don't really have specific songs that I always sing. Here are a couple of tunes that come to mind though .......

1. The Barney Song ... I Love You
2. Hush Little Baby (Mocking Bird)
3. Low - Flo Rider
4. The Way You Are - Timbaland
5. Piece of Me - Britney Spears
6. First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face - Celine Dion
7. Beautiful Boy - Celine Dion (I also change it to girl for Masyn)
8. Following the Leader - From the Peter Pan Movie

8 Things That I Am Passionate About:
1. My children
2. Helping others
3. Reading
4. Wanting the best out of life for my family
5. Making people around me laugh
6. Letting those I care about know how important they are to me
7. Doing random acts of kindness
8. Being that shoulder to lean on

8 Books That I Have Read Recently:
1. The Washingtoneinne
2. The Venetian Betrayal
3. The Predatory Game
4. Out of Control
5. The Gotham Diaries
6. Peter Pan
7. Toopy & Binoo
8. Z is for Zamboni

8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends:
1. Inspiration
2. Patience
3. Humour
4. Loyalty
5. The willingness to disagree and not hold a grudge for it
6. The ability to communicate periodically and being able to pick up where you left off without any discomfort or awkwardness.
7. Honesty
8. Spontaneity

8 People That I Think Should Do This:
1. Christie
2. Jenn
3. Lesley
4. Andrea
5. Ellen
6. Sari
7. Beth
8. Megan

One of Mommy's Nightmares

My husband always thought that I was morbid and for a bit I was too until I spoke to a friend and she too did this; Envision worst case scenarios while with your children and how you would handle the situation. At the time, our biggest thought process was envisioning carrying your child down the stairs and falling. I would get that sick feeling in my stomach thinking about it and would force myself to envision falling, tucking their precious little head into my body and I would absorb the fall. Has anyone else ever envisioned stuff like this? My friend and I jokingly called thoughts like this our Protective Mommy Instincts. We justified that it was a built in mechanism programmed into our bodies upon becoming Mommies to help us protect and nurture our children to the best of our capabilities.

Well, one of these "dreams" came true for me yesterday. I was visiting a friend for lunch and was in the process of unloading the kids to her house. I was going to take Masyn first but Kaelen asked that I take him first. So, I grab the little man and make my way to the house but apparently was not paying attention to where I was walking. Before I knew it, Kaelen was flying out of my arms and I was on my butt. Struggling with shock and complete horrification that I dropped my child, I ignored the screaming pain in my body to crawl over to my son. He of course was crying and I was sick to my stomach. Did I just break his leg again as he just got out of his cast the day before. Did he hit his head on the concrete stairs? LUCKILY, he landed on his butt on the stairs and was more scared than anything. He has a nice bruise on his butt but he promises me that it doesn't hurt. Picking myself and him up, I gingerly got him into the house and made my way back to Masyn, who was still in the van. The walk back to the van was long and I seriously almost threw up when I got there. All I could think about was how lucky was I that I fell with Kaelen. I mean, he is three and a sturdy three. If that were Masyn, she would have landed on her head and of course with my overactive imagination, all I could envision was her having a spinal, neck or head injury.

Once I got into the house and settled, Kaelen came up to me to apologize for me falling and asked if I was okay. I said yes but secretly wanted to cry because my body was throbbing everywhere and my emotions were taking a toll on me. It was then that Kaelen pointed out that I had blood on my arm. When I looked down I sure had blood - lots of it but in the form of a massive swelling bruise that was rapidly spreading down the outside of my forearm. Now over night, the swelling has gotten worse to the point that I look like I have half a golf ball under the skin with bruising that is about 4 inches long by 3 inches wide. And because I am so lucky, pain radiates to my wrist and elbow every time I clench my fist or open my hand wide. Yep - I am going for xrays tomorrow .... lucky me. And here today I thought that my luck was changing because I finally after four years, won a free coffee at Tim Hortons on their Roll Up the Rim to Win.

Wordy Wednesday

Well, I had the intention of posting a few pictures of the kids to put a smile on some of your faces, but as usual, this computer looks as if it is acting up. I can't seem to upload pictures on to this website .... grrrr ......

So instead, I will thrill you all with Masyn's new vocabulary. I honestly am so impressed with this little girl and it is like I am a mother for the first time again. With Kaelen, he was delayed with speech and gross motor skills like crawling and walking and didn't do any of that until almost 18 months old. Now with Masyn, she is doing all of this stuff earlier and I am like "Wow ... you just have to be the smartest baby on earth". I know other children do it earlier and/or that Masyn is just doing things that are expected of children her age, but I like to secretly live in my fairy tale world and relish in the fact that she is indeed the smartest little girl around.

Anyhow, here are her words at 12 months old: Kaelen was her first word, Kitty was her second, Ashi (our cat's name) her third, Baba (aka Bottle) is her fourth and drum roll please ..... MOM and/or MOMMA is her fifth!! It must be those genes of her Mom's that makes her so incredibly smart (okay and diva like .... )

Happy Wednesday to all!!

Freedom

Yesterday we had a provincial election and sadly, only 40% of Albertans actually made the effort to go and vote. The media spotlighted that many people weren't equipped with the knowledge of where to go and vote, that the Elections Alberta information card contained incorrect phone numbers and that it overall was this was a "user" unfriendly election.

Personally for me, I made the effort to vote because I had the freedom to do so. There are millions of women out there that don't have that freedom to express their choice on much of anything. I am not, especially of late, overly fond of politics mostly due to the media always exposing such stories as possible corruption and bad decisions. I get torn with disgust at politicians overall for the choices that they make and how they conduct themselves yet know there is more to the story that we will never hear. We have only heard the sensationalized version that has probably only 10% of the truth in it. So, if you are like me, I can understand maybe why some individuals in our province wouldn't want to vote. However, to hear excuses like not knowing where to vote and such, kind of make me shake my head. We as Albertans, had known at least a month in advance that an election was going to take place. Perhaps it was due diligence upon the candidates, but I was inundated with information both in my mailbox and around it. Regardless, I knew an election was coming forth so at some point, I made the unconscious decision to inform myself on where to go and cast my vote.

So, because I am in the minority of the province that took the time to vote yesterday, that gives me the right to complain if I am not happy about something that the province is responsible for ... or at least for another two weeks while I am a resident here.

Crunch Time

The time has come where it is more important than ever that I apply my super anal tendencies to get my list of jobs done. And as irony would have it, I just can't get myself motivated to do so. It is crunch time folks: the house needs to be packed up and ready to move by this weekend yet I would say that at least half of the house still needs to be taken down. Both tomorrow and Tuesday find me at the Children's Hospital for most of the day with appointments for the kids and come night time, I just want to sit on my butt for I am exhausted. The kids and I all have colds and Masyn has just cut tooth number 15 if you can believe it.

There are moments that I get swamped in feelings of being overwhelmed as there is so much left to do. And it is the tedious things like waiting on hold FOREVER to cancel services and then having to try and reestablish services for the new place, in a new town and you have no idea of what is out there for choices. And, because we are moving to a smaller town, I find that there is a serious lack of information for those services that is available to one via the internet. And I feel the pressure to find a job right away, which is mostly of my own doing, yet I seriously doubts as to whether that will happen as child care services down there are slim pickings. No one wants to care for a one year old child period. Now I won't deny that there is that little piece inside of me thrilled with that and dreams that it will mean that I can stay at home with my children, but that just isn't reality for me. I have tried to search everywhere for a job that I can do from my home to ensure that some money is coming in to pay for the bills but so far I have come up empty in the pocket so to speak.

When I try to express my frustrations of late, I always feel like they get unvalidated by comments such as "oh you are young, you will live through this" (thanks for that comment seeing as I will be 36 this year) or " I was there once too". I get it. This is just a phase in my life that I am trying to approach with humour because I know that I will find it all funny even a couple of months down the road. But I tell you, there are days of late that I just want to shut everyone out of my life and curl up on my bed to read a good book and savour the silence. Kind of a wishful dream don't you think? And seeing as that little fantasy hasn't come true of late, I have found of late that cake and milk in bed will help ease the pain just a little ......