Talked to my girl today

It was great to hear her voice.  She called to wish Jellybean a happy belated birthday.

Anyway, we got to talk to her for a bit.  It was so nice to talk without there being  reservations or hearing the guardedness in her voice.

I love that girl to pieces!

Now on to a busy week. B.D. is gone away on business again. A reprieve for my soul....

Hellooooo down there!!!!

Yeah, you!  That's right.... you!  All my American friends!  You know who you are. You are the ones you are wanting to nap because you ate too much turkey, too much stuffing, too much of your granny's sweet potatoes, too much pumpkin pie and had too much visiting with your family (wait, that doesn't happen does it?).

Anyway, now that I have gotten your attention, or interupted your turkey-induced nap...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Your Canadian friends happened to be at work today... thinking about your turkey dinners and pecan pies and all that delicious goodness... Oh and some of us happened to be wearing football jerseys to work because our boss is a football fan and this weekend is Grey Cup weekend.  FYI: when your boss is the football fan, make sure you where his favorite team's jersey...

Pictures to follow...as soon as I get off my duff, get them off my camera, watermark added, blah, blah, blah...

Ok, end rant, carry on rifling through the fridge for that last piece of pumpkin pie... and don't forget an extra large dollop {LOVE that word} of whipped cream! YUMMAY!!!

SURPIRSE!!!!!

Jellybean is turning 10 on Friday (Wait a cotton-picking minute!!!!  My baby is gonna be 10!?  Someone pass me a paper bag; I just may be hyperventilating! {grin})

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Jellybean is turning 10 and she all ready has some of the greatest friends in the world!  I am not exaggerating or stretching the truth here in any way, shape or form.  In fact, I will let you be the judge.

Due to our up-coming trip to the States to see her brother, we, as a family, decided to forego a big friends birthday party and she will, at some point, have a friend go with us to the wave pool. Her friends decided that that would not do and they began to plot and conspire to have a party for Jellybean. (Keep in mind that these girls are 12 years old and younger - NO JOBS)  They took a poll of their classmates to secretly find out what Jellybean's favorite pizza, chips and pop (soda) are. (yes, I just ended a sentence with a verb! My english teacher always HATED that)

Now, they were in a pickle because they had no means of buying this stuff. So these young girls began shovelling people's sidewalks, raising money to surprise my daughter with a birthday party! {As a matter of fact, I am crying! Thankyouverymuch!} They bought a cake mix and a mint aero chocolate bar to crumble on the cake as decoration and got the one girl's mom to bake it, got her over to the house by telling her that they had clothes to give her and voila! SURPRISE!!!!!   A party in their basement for my darling Jellybean! 

They even decorated the basement with Christmas lights...

These are good kids!!  Darn good kids!!!  The honor, the respect, the love that Jellybean and her friends have for each other and others melts me into a big ole' puddle of goop!!!

5-Question Friday and a bit of a mama brag

Mama brag moment first, you know, 'cuz its  my blog and dat's how I roll, baby! (not neccessarily how I talk but whatever. {grin})

Report card day today and my two cute, little, angelic, never do anything wrong, cherub-like...what?  Oh, was I day-dreaming again? Ahem.  Thankyouverymuch! Let me continue in like reality... my two cute, respectable, try their very best to do what is right (youngest) children got their report cards today and...

I would like a drum-roll puhlease!!!!

Jellybean got a 92.12% overall average and Bug got a 95.19% overall average. Yup, they get their brains from me {grin}...

Anyways, let's get on with this week's 5-question friday brought to you by the lovely MamaM

1. What Christmas song do you loathe?

 Oh, "Blue Christmas"... whine whine whine.... Bluuuuuuuuuuue Christmas without youuuuuuuuuuu.... sulk, sulk, sulk.... And here's where the hate mail starts to come, right...  I'm sorry! Sorry I tell you!!!  It makes my toenails curl and my muscles tense up and then I need a motrin and then I need a massage.  Massage!?  Hmmm.....


2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on opposite sides of the bed?
Well, to answer you truthfully.... I try to sleep as far on my side of the bed as I can...right on the edge...

3. Have you ever had surgery?
Yes, I have 4 as a result of children and then having my tonsils removed - best hospital stay EVER!!!!  I was 5 and my auntie was head of the peds ward!  Can you say spoiled ROTTEN!!!????

4. When do you typically have your holiday shopping done?
I start in August - sometimes June or July.  THAT makes me sound on the ball and oh, so organized. Now, let me answer the question and tell you when I am done... Usually the week before... *hanging head in shame and kicking at an invisible clump of dirt*  Most years by the time I am done, I have purchased so much I didn't remember I had bought that I have a really good head start for birthdays the next year OR the following Christmas!!!  It's ingenius really.  REALLY!  {I mean it!}


5. If money were not an issue (and you HAD to pick something), what would your ultimate luxury item be?

Mmmmmmm, luxury item!  I heart me some luxury items.  Well, at least I assume I would since money IS an issue.  I pick massages! No! manicures/pedicures!  No!!! facials!  No! A maid! No! A chef! No! All the camera equipment I currently drool over, I mean covet... no, that didn't do much more for my character than the drooling... um, currently have placed on my wish list that I occassionally happen to glance ever-so-longingly casually at.  A log cabin? How 'bout my own not-too-big-slightly-bigger-than-big-enough home with big yard perhaps on an acreage? OH!  And a nice car or a Harley Davidsons (only I want mine to be pearl and sparkly - a girl still needs bling even on a hog!)  How about the one luxury item is just a compilation of everything on my list...  please...?

A place to hang on to

for some is grief.  We all do it - some just hang on longer.  It seems the longer we hold onto the grief, the longer we think we are holding on to the one we have lost.

I don't say this out of judgement towards anyone because we are all at different places in our lives with different strengths and different abilites and coping skills. I say this because 11 years ago tomorrow, my youngest brother-in-law was killed in a car accident.  When I think about it, I still remember the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach as I answered the phone in those wee hours of the morning, how I knew something was about to happen to alter our lives forever before I even said "hello".

He was 23 years old when his car flipped into a swamp on a very icy Canadian gravel road.  His friend tried to get his seatbelt undone but he couldn't.  He held my brother-in-law's head above water for as long as he possibly could before he realized that he desperately needed to run to the neighboring farm in order to get help.  He had to make a decision to let go. It was the hardest decision of his life. 

My in-laws have never, ever gotten over it.  They have pictures of him everywhere in their home - not a single one of their two sons who remain living.  This hurts my husband and his brother immensely (but is not the point).

No parent should EVER have to bury their child - EVER.

My children miss the uncle they have only known through stories and pictures and who Jellybean is named after in one aspect.  They have living uncles who have shown them how wonderful having an uncle is and so, through the love they have and have been given by these two, the kids miss what they have never known.

While this time of year comes up and rears its head as a vicious reminder to my husband of what has been lost, I can say that he doesn't allow that spirit of grief to rule him as I have seen and experienced others do.  We do miss our brother and tomorrow we shall think of him and remember him with much love and fondness and share stories with our children of who he was and the kind of person he was but we can not hang onto the grief... it will do nothing more than eat at any joy we find in our lives because that is how grief operates.

We love you, Peach!

Well, color me stupid!

Altenately titled: A new shade of red.

So there I sat this evening in my car, my two beautiful children sitting in the backseat, at a 4-way stop.  And there I continued to sit as if waiting for some invisible light to turn green... and waited...

...and waited...

....and waited...

for an undetermined length of time. I am thinking about 5-10 minutes.

You know, until someone pulled up behind me and I became painfully aware that I had just sat at a 4-way stop for quite some time.

At least I wasn't sleeping at a red light though... like the time I had worked a double 12-hour shift (a few years ago).  The light turned red; I stopped the car and my blinks got longer and longer until they stopped... {sheepish, guilt-ridden grin} I really don't know how long I stay stopped at the light...  Thankfully, it was very early in the morning so there was no traffic.

Twisted Tales

So Rush fell down a flight of stairs after missing a couple at the very top.  She has twisted her ankle and is in need of using crutches.

She decided that instead of telling the embarrassing story of how it actually happen, she would twist her twisted ankle tale to make it a fair bit more intresting albeit a downright fib. {grin}
She is, jokingly, telling people that she hurt it while skydiving and her parachute failed to open. "I'm lucky to be alive..."

What a kid!

Same day, she slammed her hand in a glove box.  Yeppers, she is cute. Graceful? Hardly!

My house smells

bea-u-tiful!

The other day I bought these Renuitz Amber Vanilla Crystals and put a containter in one room of each level of my house.  It smells so nice and homey and welcoming in here now.  I love opening the door to smell my home after a long day of work.  It's almost as nice as walking in to smell that supper has been made! {grin}

They aren't too terribly strong and you can increase or decrease the strenght of the scent simply by adding or removing some of the crystals until you have reached your desired scent intensity.  These little crystals are made out of colored and scented sea salt but you will want to keep them out of reach of small children - especially those of the age who like to put things in their mouths. The scent on these crystals apparently last 45 days but I have only had mine for approximately a week (so I don't know how long it will last).  According to their website, you can get these in Canada and the United States. What are you waiting for! 

Now, I think I am going to leave the house, you know, so I have an excuse to come back in and get a nice big whiff of that amber vanilla.  {wink}

P.S. There are quite a few different scents as well if Amber Vanilla just isn't your cup of tea.

*Disclaimer - I have not been endorsed or asked by Renuitz to write this review.  As a matter of fact, I doubt they will ever know it was even written or that anyone who even works there is aware of this teeny little family blog.

5-Question Friday

1. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?


My first c-section, which was at a time when they didn't get you out of bed and moving until the next day.  My muscles had seized up and I was walking around like an ape!  (It just took me 4 times to spell which in the right sequence of letters - gah!).  The nurses kept laughing at me because I would move slightly each time I tried all the while chanting "baby steps...baby steps...)

2. How much sleep do you get at night?

Depends on the night but, most nights I get about 5-6 hours... my body actually wants 8-10.  

3. How long did you believe in Santa Claus? How did you find out that he does not exist?

Who says he isn't real?

4. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?
Karate Kid with Jayden Smith... What a cutie!  He is definitely his father and mother's son.


5. What do you wear to bed?

I am boring... seriously, boring!  I wear cotton pj pants and a tank top.  In the winter, when the temperatures really drop and my husband still feels the need to sleep with the window open and the fan on {I! AM! NOT! KIDDING! I have woken up to find snow on my bedroom window and floor! CHAAA!} I have added a hoodie, wool socks and a toque (Oh wait, most of my readers are American and I am not sure if you know what a toque is - um, a knit cap?) to bed.

Check out more of the hilarity of 5-Question Friday at Mama M's! Yes, that IS an order! {grin}

Much ado about a lot of big things

Today, in Canada, is Remembrance Day.  Today we remember our loved ones and their friends who have and who continue to fight for something bigger than themselves.

Today, I remember my family who fought; I remember your family members/friends who have fought, who are continuing to fight, who have given up their lives, who have offered their lives.

Let us not forget!
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Trying to plan Jellybean's 10th birthday.  A whole decade old! Double digits!  No turning back now, baby! The birthday party is to happen towards the end of this month, perhaps the beginning of December.  I guess we will see what our schedule and the schedules of her friends permits.

Temporary Fix!!!

I had the whole "bandwidth exceeded" message on my blog.  It only took me approximately a half hour to figure out it was not I who had exceeded bandwidth but the site I had gotten my template from.

I am currently in search of a new, fun template.  So for now, until such time as an appealing one is found, I leave you with slightly bland and boring, kind of jumbled up as far as lay-out of my stuff on the blog but, at least it isn't a bunch of squares saying "bandwidth exceeded update to pro". 

I happen to know that that is nearly impossible for me to do at this point - you know given the fact that I'm not exactly one of the "popular" kids.  {GRIN}

So crisis diverted.  Carry on with your night as planned.  I know I will now.

Bah Humbug!

Ok, not really! I love "the holiday season"; I mean Christmas.  I simply made that the title of this post because...

...we will not be putting up a tree this year.  Not because we think putting up a tree is "evil" or anything like that.  We aren't putting up a tree this year because, well one, we don't have one.  Our old tree (artificial) was so old and ratty looking that we decided it wouldn't come with us to the new place. Our home is treeless {oh, our poor, children! :D} and that's ok this year.  You know, since we aren't even going to be here on Christmas Day to "enjoy" a tree. (And that would be reason #2)

We decided, as a family, that it would be silly to spend the money on a new tree this year.  We are going to put up our snowmen and lights and whatever other decorations we have that do not involve a plastic evergreen. We will be wintery and glittery and festive and all the like... and of course, we will still have our Family Gingerbread House masterpiece to complete...

You know what I think I am looking forward to the most? I mean aside from the obvious of being with some of our favorite people.  Christmas at The Plaza, the outdoor mall - all decorated all pretty and sparkly and... not at all Scroogish or Grinchy.  Yay!

Textanese... my love language

You just made a face at your computer didn't you?  You know what kind of face I mean... the one that says "huh" and "that's kind of intriguing"...

Rush doesn't always initiate conversations with me.  If it weren't for texting and facebook I doubt we would talk - other than the spuradic visits that is. Sometimes it does seem like she could just keep going on without showing me that she is thinking of me at all. 

Now, I am not saying that to induce your mama's hearts so y'all feel sorry for me.  I am not looking for pity at all; pity does me no good.  I tell you this because I just want to set the stage as to why I said that textanese was my love language.

I will send texts to my girl everytime I think of her - a little note that says "I love you", "you are loved", "missing you", "morning/night", "have a great day"...  I may not have the ability to converse with her the way I want but I do still have the ability to converse with her and I want to make sure she knows each and every time I am thinking of her and that those thoughts are of nothing but unending, unchanging love.

{Rush, if you ever read this blog, you are loved - nothing is ever going to change that. I love you, baby girl!}

In all the excitement

of being able to pay off our bills a funny thing happened. 

I didn't have our cell phone bill in front of me at the time so I just guesstimated at what the amount was.  It had been a couple of months and we have a couple of cell phones on it so I thought $220 would cover it and any residual "left-over monies that probably hadn't been paid.

This morning I wanted to make sure the balance would read zero when they received my payment so I gave them a call.  After a bunch of rigamaroll (yep, totally a word) because my name wasn't on the bill, just BigDaddy's so they wouldn't tell me (I had to pass my phone to him to confirm that "yes, this woman wanting to know the balance to pay the bill is my wife"), the gal on the other end of the phone informed me that our bill was $120. 

Guess, I inadvertently paid next month and a bit of January's cell phone bill.  Too bad they don't send you a nice letter in the mail opposite the one you get with the big red letters that reads "Final Notice".  Wouldn't it be nice if they sent you one that says "Extra Special Notice"?

Know what's nicer than having your bills balance at zero?  Finding out at least one of them is set in the negative dollar figure!

Uber busy moms, housewives, business women, house dads...

with your uber busy schedules do you micro-manage schedules in your house?

I'm working on implementing some major reconstruction to the sheduling infrastructure in this house. (using those words just made me feel incredibly powerful - grin)

Why re-invent the wheel? If you have a great idea "let 'er rip".  I mean, please do share!