caddy shack

i don't know if everyone has seen caddy shack or not but there is a pretty famous scene when 'poo' is found in a pool well it happened to us last night. We took Michael for his first adventure in the pool. We had a good time - Kyle went on the slide and Michael just took it all in. We were just splashing around when this girl is all - um, is that poo - I think that is poo - then she is over with her friends to the lifeguard - I think there is poo in the pool - I'm making my way out already but the lifeguard comes over and asks us all to get out.... like we'd stay. We never saw said poo and I'm glad we didn't...

So G-R-O-S-S... I kind of think the little boy who was playing near us did it and his parents didn't notice. When we were in the family change room together it sounded like he was trying to say it was his... and that he was sad he couldn't play anymore because of what happened... but I'm not sure. I know it wasn't one of ours..

When we were leaving the lifeguard gave us a family pass for another visit in the future - hopefully when there is less poo in the pool... (you can't spell pool without poo) I asked if we should be worried about the kids or us getting sick and it was like the lifeguard wasn't listening - she's all - well you won't get sick from chlorine - people drink that all the time and kids pee in that pool all the time... all the time - GREAT! Not like I didn't know that - like those swimmers retain anything but poo... none of us are sick tonight - well I guess andy was a little sick - hopefully unrelated. She went on and on about us having to get out of the water because they super chlorinate the water and it can cause rashes on some people - meantime I'm thinking like I wanted to stay in the water with a poo floating around... ok - so there is a little bedtime story for you...

olay

In a lame attempt to make my pasty northern bc skin look more southern i'm testing out another moisturizing product that claims to make my skin look tanned. The product is called Touch of Sun and when you apply it you have to wash your hands thoroughly after to avoid getting orange hands - which I've had before and it SUCKS! I actually applied this with gloves because I'm so nervous about getting orange hands again.

I applied it and for being a moisturizer and tanning product it dried relatively quickly. I applied while Kyle was having a swim session in our tub. I smell kind of tan lotion-y right now but I don't mind that.

Olay has free stuff for us Canadians on there website. I've had them ship me stuff before and I've actually gone on to purchase with them as a result. Check out www.olayoffers.ca for some free stuff.

I will let you know how it looks tomorrow. The bottle suggests that I will see more dramatic results after multiple applications and minor results after tonight. We will see.

wireless

Thank you Aman at Telus. I had given up all hope of getting my wireless internet working. We bought a wireless router yesterday and tired to set it up more than 5 times and it kept calfing out when I got to the connect to the internet stage... ARG! I gave up... but I couldn't really give up and tried again tonight - 4 more times and then I thought - it can't be me - I'm doing everything this damn thing says to do - I'm not doing anything extra... so I finally give up using the CD for installation and try it my way - I plug it all back in like it has been part of my network all along and - BLAM - it works - well it starts to work. Then I keep getting a telus page - over and over and over and over and over.. you get the idea. I finally cave and call telus for help. I can tell that I was a simple call for Aman - but she did have to think a little bit to help me - turns out my MAC (this is the piece of information that lets telus know that you are loading something new up to transfer data - be it a new computer or a new router) wasn't installed - at all - the software that came with the router was bogus and did NOTHING! Aman, the telus angel, walked me through the final steps of this process and go sing it on the mountain - I've got wireless... so I come to you live from living room - why wireless... I know - right now I could be just as easily downstairs typing - it is more for andy during the day when there is no chance of being near a connection and it gives him another point of entertainment for himself and for Kyle who quite likes Elmos world.

Well - seeing as it is Saturday night and I have the night to myself now I think I will have a good dose of indigestion - as I typically get it when I have time to myself - freakin' fabulous! Night night - I'm off to get my tums and then browse around some sites...

tagged

So Carmen tagged me to complete the below alphabet task that will allow me to, yet again, share more with you... to tag or not to tag... you know who you are - my readers - please complete this tag task if you feel the need and have the time... if not I will continue to read your blogs and still love you :)

A-Available or Taken: Happily taken - over nine years - I know, it is crazy

B-Best Friend: Paula

C-Cake or Pie: Um... pie - definitely yummy pie - I love real blueberry pie - not the out of a crappy can kind and lemon merigue - MMMMMMMMM

D-Drink of Choice: Steeped Tea double double, and peppermint mocha

E-Essential Item (s) Used Everyday: toilet - I hated peeing in the woods when I was a kid and can't imagine having to go through that again

F-Favorite Color: navy blue

G-Gummy Bears or Worms: gummies - but not very many

H-Hometown: Quesnel

I-Indulgence: Chocolate Long John - Cream filled from Quesnel Bakery - I've pretty much cut that completely out but it is my true indulgence

J-January or February: January - Michael joined us at the start of this month...

K-Kids & Names: Michael and Kyle

L-Life Is Incomplete Without: Family and friends

M-Marriage Date: June 29, 2002

N-Number of Siblings: 2 - brother and sister

O-Oranges or Apples: Mandarin oranges

P-Phobias or Fears: I'm more scared of things - I wouldn't say that it is a phobia or fear... just a nervousness and uneasiness about a number of quarky things

Q-Favorite Quote: I like a number of quotes - no specific one that comes to mind

R-Reason To Smile: There are always reasons to smile - the list is endless

S-Season: Spring

T-Tag 3 or 4 People: Well if you read the top you know you can choose to do this or not... I will be happy to read others and will post those who complete it... Carmen has completed this if you'd like to check it out

U-Unknown Fact About Me: When I was about 10 I saw a UFO with my dad.

V-Vegetable You Don't Like: Is horse radish a vegetable? I know that I don't like that - no other vegetables come to mind.

W-Worst Habit: I tell my family that I will be home at a certain time and then my meetings run late and I'm late for them - I hate it and I've tried to exaggerate my time and that usually works but sometimes even that is off. It comes back to me shutting my hole and gaining the ability to tell people that I have to go... I am getting better at this...

X-X-rays: teeth, hands, belly (with babies), ovaries, knees

Y- Your Favorite Food: Right now I like mixed green salad from Save On (ARG - damned cashier at save on) with cranberry sauce whipped on top... I'm a lame ass... I know

Z-Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Well if you read all that - thanks - when I started working on this tag Andy called me over to a little flood in our basement. It appears that water is leaking in from the wall... so tra la la an adjuster will be calling us shortly... FABULOUS! I'm super nervous about the whole thing - the leak is in a bad spot that is covered by cabinets and a sink... it definitely isn't the sink - which means water from outside is coming in... I will keep you updated on our little flood...

customer service

I bravely took Michael grocery shopping alone tonight. Kyle is pretty sick with this round of cold/flu. So Andy stayed home and watched Muppet Treasure Island with Kyle. I knew I was in for trouble when I couldn't find a cart with a seatbelt. So after shuffling four carts (deposit quarter - move to next line - deposit quarter, etc) I find one and start to shop. No sooner have I started to get some mushrooms then Michael is standing up and trying to help. He definitely likes to help and not listen. This routine of telling Michael to sit down and, please don't do that went on for 15 minutes. I finished the shop and headed to the tills. No one... no one at the light... I look and the express girl sees me and kind of nods and then says oh its open - so I start unloading - carefully because Michael is ready to bolt at any given moment. I put everything on the belt and she shows up and rings it through. She bags it as she goes and I'm struggling with Michael - desperate to keep him in the cart and not standing because I don't want him to fall. She puts everything onto the counter and then after getting my $40, leaves. She doesn't even offer to put my groceries in the cart, she doesn't say goodnight, or have a nice night - NOTHING! I'm I expecting too much... a drop of kindness to a mom who is struggling. So I do the balancing act of trying to support Michael while loading the groceries. Now sitting here I know I could have just picked him up and loaded and then reloaded him to walk out... but my brain got all mad after this scene. What makes me even madder about it is that it came from my favorite grocery store - SAVE ON! I can't even say that I will shop somewhere else because I won't... so rather than calling the manager I'm writing here for you to read - my faithful few.

I'm feeling less stressed about this situation now... and now I've been thinking about the grocery store it dawns on me that I would like to share my idea with you. I've been thinking about creating a cart cushion for kids. One piece in the front that could be used for the back as well. The piece would cover over the metal to protect kids from hitting their heads and from licking up whatever the last kid left behind. The cushion will have a cover that will be washable. I'm thinking of making some for farmers market and, well wherever else. The insert piece would only be replaced as it wore the cover could be replaced based on need or style. I'm thinking about pricing them for $5 each. I'm still narrowing down my insert supply and the price might go up as a result. Moms and Dads with babies, aunties and uncles with kid nephews and nieces would you buy something like this. Does $5 sound too high? Worse question - have you seen this somewhere... does this already exist... I'm thinking someone else must have thought of this - but I'm planning on giving it a shot anyway... no harm in crafting some and selling them at a fair or farmers market... that said I've never seen one - nothing even like it... I thought if I could cut a deal with IKEA or another family orientated company I might actually pay off my house and start to really save some money for my travelling years. Thoughts, expressions of interest... I'd love to hear... thanks... - oh and this idea is officially copyrighted... and now has intellectual property rights (I was actually given a letter from a lawyer once on these grounds - someone told me they owned a name I had used for an event - really it was completely bogus but I had to change the name and all our advertising as a result because he has claimed them as his intellectual property.

canker sore be gone...

Thank you for the ideas on getting Kyle to eat veggies! I will definitely try using the big kid at school name and seeing if he decides he can eat it. Andy does have issues with some veggies, but not to the extent that Kyle has gone. He can sense a microscopic piece of green on anything. I've seen him look at something and decide - no green and then his tongue gets a hold of it and nope... it senses out the green.

I eat a lot of veggies so I thought that Kyle would naturally like them. Michael is pretty good with veggies - some nights he even ignores the rest and just picks out veg. Kids...

Jen - you being the teacher around these parts - I'm hoping you can help or suggest some reading on this - there is a child in Kyle's pre-school who has special needs. It isn't something obvious, but he tends to lash out at others (hitting, scratching, biting, etc) and he has an assistant with him most of his day. Kyle has decided he is a bad kid and I don't want him thinking that about anyone who is different. I've explained that the other boy is special and reinforce that he should try to be friends with him. Kyle got a pretty nasty scratch on his chest from him and, well since then he hasn't really talked about him. I know he is busy with other kids and girls.. (LORD) but I would like to read with him about these issues or discussing them with him. Any suggestions? Everyone can join in on this - I just thought Jen might have a resource with her school connections.

Well I'm going to scrap right now and watch a movie. I hope everyone has a great rest of their weekend... we took the boys on their sleds around the neighbourhood today - it was the most beautiful day we've had in a while. I hope to do something equally pleasing tomorrow. :)

diet program

Four miserable days ago I noticed that my speech was going in the crapper and that my tongue hurt. The next day it was to the point that talking (especially saying things quickly or loudly) and eating hurt. I made an appointment to see my doctor and felt like a complete whiner going in for something like this. My speech has been terrible - letters are blurring together - I sound like there something wrong - something even more wrong with me than usual... :) Eating is super painful! Every bite hurts - and all the snacky foods make it throb... so I've been forced to give up most foods and really I don't want to eat because the pain is terrible.

I had an appointment at 1:30 but my doctor got called to a huge motor vehicle accident outside Quesnel - 4 ambulances (at least) were used to bring people in. At 3:30 I called back to make another appointment and they told me to try and come in. I got there and he saw me right away. After his day (one c-section, all the MVA and a bunch of other stuff - not to much that he is one of two doctors working) he must have had a laugh at my mouth... I even told him that I was sorry for being such a weiner about this... he is all - no problem - April it is just a canker sore... it will go away... Frankly it can't go away soon enough! Just swallowing hurts.

Thank you for letting me whine on here... and yes I did have my cheese before I started.

What else - well it snowed a lot today - probably 6 inches throughout the whole day. Kyle is getting big and I can't believe that in eight months I'll have a kindergartener... lord - he is so kind hearted (and crazy... definitely crazy) - now that I'm back to work he is always telling me how much he misses me and then tells me things about his day. He made a girl friend at school - she is very sweet. He was telling me that she wanted to play games with him and that he wanted to play with her more than the big boys. That's a big deal because all he does is play with the big boys - these are simply the boys that are taller...

Michael is getting into walking. He is still crawling but he is getting to the 30% walking and 70% crawling - maybe even more walking... it is exciting to see him getting it.

Anyone else have problems feeding their kids vegetables. Any tips? I saw a thing on tv that said we should have two types of veg on his plate every day and that eventually he will simply start to eat them... I've tried hiding it - Kyle can sense green foods - it is the strangest thing. Meantime Michael would happily eat only veg and skip all the junk.

One more thing...

I forgot - this week was Michael's one year shots - lucky him - they were terrible and we are still trying to get through the side effects. Here are his new stats:

Height - 30.5 inches (2 1/2 feet)
Head - 19 inches (around)
Weight... and this is why my back hurts - 24 lbs 2 oz... lord!

Kyle weighed 30 lbs at his 1 year check in and he'd been walking for 4 months - Michael is still figuring out the mechanics of it all - he walks 4-5 steps and then sits down and crawls... I'm not putting up a fight - take your time... it all goes by so fast

So there is my baby - er' I guess toddler update :)

And now good night.

Greyhound... a slow dog

Yesterday was January 12. I sent a harmless few christmas gifts to my sister and her boyfriend and yesterday they arrived... Now I would hate to say - don't ship with Greyhound because my package going to Dawson Creek made it no problem... so here is what I will say - don't ship with Greyhound if you are shipping to Calgary because apparently sorting is not first priority...

I'm glad the package made it - one because I spent a lot of time on the gifts I sent and two - Mel and my mom and my brother will stop calling me and giving me advise (yelling sometimes...) on shipping and insurance... Yes Mel you are not going to get to live down calling me on my 30th birthday and yelling (maybe not at me but in my ear) and then remembering (or having Sean prompt you) to say - oh yeah and happy birthday... I guess you at least called and wished - more than some :)

Happy belated birthday to Sean - sorry we didn't send a card - had I known the package would get there just a few days after your birthday I would have sent something in it - sorry the pants are soo long :) If Mel doesn't hem them I will when we come and visit.

Well my hands are singing - damned dry Quesnel - and I need to get some lotion. I have an hour now where I don't know what to do - kids are asleep - andy is at hockey... I guess I will try and scrapbook something. I'm trying to commit to more scrapbooking but I haven't succeed yet. Alright - I will grab a movie and do some scrapin' - nightie night my lovies :)

miracle phone

As I mentioned a few posts ago I fell behind my office. It turns out that when I bailed I also lost my cell phone. I didn't realize it until last night that it was missing. I was getting out of the car yesterday and heard it beep and assumed that it was sitting in my car... not under my car.

Last night I really started to look for it and realized that I hadn't used it in a few days and then it dawned on me that it must be out in the cold. So at 10pm last night I drove down to my office and started the search.

I'm standing in the back parking area with Andy's cell calling my cell and I faintly here... "It's time to put on makeup, it's time to dress up right, it's time to raise the current on the muppet show tonight." The dig begins. We've had a foot of snow fall since I fell... I dig and dig. The sound gets loud and then fades. Fading... fading - gone. I call again and I can't hear. I take a step and figure I must be standing on it. I start the dig again and it gets a little louder. It is beeping and the battery is dying... must find it... SOON - not to much that it is -20 and I'm freezing! I continue the dig and there it is - stuck in the ice - obviously driven over and pushed down as far as it would go. I start to pick away at with my gloves on and have no luck. I take off the gloves and give it a go with my fingers.. BRRRR - not advised to try. (I get home and Andy says 'why didn't you just grab the snow brush out of the car...' ) After a minute or so of picking and pleading it comes free.

I put it on the heater in the car and let it defrost. Last night when I started to charge it I thought it was really broken because it just didn't want to work - but this morning it had a full charge and was ready to go. AMAZING! So there you go - those little telus phones can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.

scrap pages

As I promised in December - here are a couple of the pages that I did for my mom and mom-in-law. If anyone has suggestions on capturing better pictures from scrap pages I would love to hear them. I know I should have turned the flash off, but it was 2am Christmas morning when I took these photos and I just wanted to have reference copies for the time I get to put my book together.


These are just some photos we took before Christmas. The centre pic is Kyle's first skate... he had a great time.


I did two pages side by side on Michaels faces. I tried to have a photo from every month. The other page mirrored the picture layout. I wrote some words that described the pictures along the top and bottom of the pages.


Here is Kyle's first amusement rides. It was a crazy day and I will admit that I didn't want him to go on anything. I'm not very fond of rides and I'm nervous about the Billy Barker Days ride quality. I'm sure the machines are fine, but they appear to be the same machines that have come as long as I've gone to the festival... regardless, he had an excellent time and I was glad he enjoyed it. (I have to say that... right... :) )

I took about 40 photos of Michael eating one day and used them to line the top and bottom of this page. Each one is slightly different. The middle photos were my favorites. He definitely loves to eat! The monkey picture came from a book that I cut up. I've done this a bit with pages - cutting up books, calendars, etc to go with a page. I buy a religious day planner every year just for the pictures and then cut out all the pages to use in projects throughout the year.

christmas project

So I never said what I had been working on as a craft at Christmas and since it has come and gone now I thought I would share... (Mel - you would have gotten one and if the package never arrives I will make another... DAMNED GREYHOUND)

I went to a PG craft fair and bought a starry night charm from a vendor for $2 - and I thought if she is selling them for that cheap this must be something easy to do - so I started trying to figure out how to do it. I'm still working on the best backing and I will likely buy the kit I saw on ebay and I think it is fun and makes a great gift.

What I did was find photos of things I knew a couple of family and friends would like - 17-19 pictures and then I shrunk them down in word (office suite) - I then printed them on glossy photo paper and used double sided tape to adhere them to charm bracelets. I bought blank bracelets for about $4 each. Then I did 3-5 coats of clear nail polish. I made a few for my bracelet and haven't had any problems with them - the one I did for my mother in law had two fall off right away - so I know I need a better adhesive but glue just doesn't seem like an option since it will likely warp the picture.

I was just about to post a picture of some that I did and realized that it was copyright infringement... I will take a picture of one of the ones I did that was a personal photo and share it tomorrow. If anyone else has any cool crafts to try for next christmas gifts I would love to hear about it. I don't want to wait until December to try and get them done this year.

hi ho

It's back to work I go tomorrow.

Today in a preemptive strike against my work I thought I would get Andy to help me move a few things around my office. I have two new staff starting in a week and I have a tonne of work to do before they show up.

We pull up to the backdoor and I get out. I take one step to open Michael's door and hit the ground HARD! On my tailbone - well more on my left hip - but closer to the middle. I shouted and I'm pretty sure I got a little bit of a concussion. I rolled off my back right away because I didn't want to rest on it any longer and moaned in the snow. There was two inches of snow and three inches of ice. I had a headache pretty much right away and felt nauseau. We went home because I just wanted to lie down. I called our landlords when I got home and asked what the protocol was on responsibility. I then took some advil.

I'm sore tonight but I know I didn't break anything - just bruised and some kind of head/neck thing. My headache is trying to chew its way back... here is to another soak in the tub and some advil. Should I see a chiropractor? Andy suggested it moments after I hit the ground... I haven't been to one in years and I'm always nervous about them.

so smart

"Hey Bill, I was thinking about our new line of margarine that can compete with the big companies."
"Really Fred, what were you thinking?"
"Well I was out shopping last night and I started thinking about the people that buy margarine. Everyone does it, even celebrities... right Bill."
"Ok Fred, so what were you thinking?"
"Bill, what do you think of the new no name margarine being called Celeb?"
pause
"Fred, I love it."

The night before...
"Sharla, I've got a big day tomorrow at the no name office, I hope you are making something good - something inspiring. I've been putting off the naming of our new margarine for weeks and I really need to think of something."
No answer from the kitchen.
"Sharla, are you listening to me?"
No answer. Fred begins to day dream. He looks at the beautiful no name plates on his table and a lovely vase full of bright flowers that he'd brought home for his beautiful wife. The table has been set with no name salad dressing and no name cottage cheese and... hold the phone, what is this - some Becel margarine has made its way onto his table... what is this?... what is this...
"Sorry dear, did you say something?" Sharla comes through the kitchen door into the dining room and finds Fred beaming.
"Sharla I've got it. I've got it." He kisses her on the face and continues to beam.
_________________________

So the above I made up - I just thought it made for an entertaining way of sharing my grocery shopping moment tonight. I was looking for Becel and there underneath the Becel was the no name Celeb. Those darned creative no name people, how do they come up with these things?

Hope everyone is having a great day! I'm heading to the tub for a nice soak.

birthday pics

Here is Michael at his first birthday party. Grandma and Grandpa came over and shared some chicken tetrazini and Quesnel Bakery black forest cake, which is without a doubt the best on the planet!


This was taken before Michael realized that the thing on the plate was chocolate... I think being deprived of chocolate while I was pregnant has led to a total and complete love for it. I told my grandma that he liked arrow bars... she bought him a jumbo one for christmas - it was pretty funny.. he hasn't eaten it yet. (And neither have I... :) )


Here is Michael enjoying the chocolatey goodness and embracing his love for cake.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome to 2007! I hope someone had a good time out on New Year's. We were laid up with sick kids and family. Michael has been kind of sick for a while - mostly teething (four at the same time) - Andy's mom got what we thought was food poisoning until everyone else started getting sick. I was thinking of Jen on New Year's and how I wish I could come over one year to play games and have some fun... it will happen. We drove home on Jan 2 in the flood of 2007 - the roads were terrible with more than a foot of water in places... we made it home... sick - but otherwise unscathed - I can't say that for some of the other drivers we saw three cars that had a very bad day.

ERKS!

Canada Post is only just starting to return my Christmas cards - Sarah - I sent you one and it came back - I guess I had the wrong Mackenzie family. I also got two others back that said they were bad addresses.

Greyhound is worse - we shipped a large package to Calgary on Dec 18 and today - January 4 - it has still not arrived. We've done nearly everything we can do at this point. Now we all just hope it shows up - somewhere... ARG! Arg again to crappy greyhound for loosing my sisters christmas gifts... boo greyhound - double boo...!

SMILES

And speaking of the date - it was this time last year that I was sitting in the Quesnel Hospital enjoying my first few hours with Michael. He is one today and I will post some birthday dinner pictures tomorrow. Time definitely flies. Today also represents my first day back to work - well half day - I go back full time on Monday. I'm going to get to bed.

Merry Christmas

Well like my title says - Merry Christmas - I hope you all have great days with your friends and family. I'm just heading off to tuck myself in for a couple of hours before Kyle wakes up and realizes that "santa" has been here. I can only hope that he is a better child then me and my brother and sister were... we use to stay up all night - like all night - and keep pestering my parents - is it time? is it time? come on come on come on...

My eyes are starting to seal themselves shut so I better get to bed. Best wishes to you all!

heaven

I caught some of the Barbara Walter's special tonight on heaven and found it to be quite interesting. I would love to hear what everyone else thought about it - if you managed to catch it.

Basically she talked to people from a lot of different religions and non-religious walks of life and asked about their heaven - was there one, what did it look like, who got in. There was a scientist who said there was a heaven gene - which meant that those people with the "mutated gene" felt more spiritual than others - not that they were closer to God, but that they had a passion about some form of spirituality and this gene made them able to believe easier.

The American Atheist Association(?) seemed to get the worst of it. It seemed like the questioning was different - like - come on join the rest of us - we all believe in something - don't you believe in anything - come on, come on - if millions of us think this way we must be right and you must be wrong... come on - she wasn't buying. So now I've said the atheists got the worst of it - that is compared to the jihadist she had on - who had pretty easy questions - although Barbara proudly didn't want to say anything that would get her in too much shit. I commend her for asking such a diverse group and showing people like me that there are lots of thoughts on what will happen when we die.

What do you think? Where do we go - just into the ground? is there more? I started writing a novel about this topic - fiction - it followed four lives and took them to different endings - heaven, hell, reincarnation, a little bit of everything. I stopped writing it because I feel like I dwell on death too much and that makes me nervous. I would hate to pass away and be thinking about how it was all going to end. I worry enough about stuff without throwing that into the cake mix too. I seriously think that I have some kind of disorder - probably just ADHD - but my brain seems to go in all kinds of directions - all the time... yep - sounds like ADHD... good grief

enough enough.... I better get back to scrapbooking. I will post pictures tomorrow of my work.... my (cross your fingers) completed work.

what the heck is this

It's Christmas - we are joyous... we are trying...

Tonight while Andy was painting the bathroom (yes, it will be finished for Christmas hooray) I saw this little critter climbing across the ceiling... anyone every seen one of these before... I thought maybe it was a festive bug - sporting two antlers for the holiday season - but alas they are attached - yes, I now have the heeby-jeebys and wonder if he has any buddies...

more christmas quizzes

I sit here with a swollen lip and some anger... but I'm trying to get over it. Michael head butted me about as hard as his little head could tonight and my lip is paying for it - and my jaw. I felt like my mouth was on fire, but I just laid him down in bed (we were already in bed mode) and left the room. He bawled his eyes out, but I just needed a break. He finally went to sleep... hooray! Now I'm just going to put together some packages and get a little scrapbookin' done. I finished my grandma's scrapbook last night so I'm very happy about that - I just hope she likes it.

I took the kids to a friends christmas party today. My friend has nine christmas trees and her house is better than Martha's... I'm sure of it. She takes a lot of pride in her Christmas ornaments and displays - enter the boys... lordy lordy lordy - first I showed up way to early - thinking the party was right at noon - nope... but we just hung out... the kids were actually pretty good, but there were a few moments where it could have gotten ugly... I won't go into all the gruesome details but we left with no broken ornaments and we left first so my friend had time to vent to the other women if she needed to :)

And now for a quiz to get you in the holiday mood -
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial - but not by choice... I will confess that this year it is more practical because we are leaving on boxing day, but I'm not in love with the hand-me-down fake one.
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the first weekend in December
4. When do you take the tree down? I like to do it before my birthday (29th) but it usually stays up until New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Um - YES - but not a lot anymore - and not the low fat kind - BLAH!
6. Favourite gift received as a child? That is a hard question - nothing is even sticking out for me - I remember getting a jello cookbook the same year my sister (i love you) got a keyboard and I was pretty upset - oh then one year I got a porcelain doll - but I'd asked for it about three years earlier... I always loved getting pjs - not so much anymore...
7. Do you have a nativity scene? nope
8. Hardest person to buy for? my brother - and I've given up shopping for him as a result
9. Easiest person to buy for? all the woman in my life
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? is this a joke - those who send me email christmas cards will be laughed at
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I received a brick in 2001.
12. Favourite Christmas Movie? I've always liked the one with Mary Steenbrenner? when she loses everything and then gets it all back... I also like the Muppets Christmas Show (not the Mupper Christmas Carol), Garfield Christmas and Scrooged
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I'm always looking for that perfect gift
14.Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes - I will admit it!
15. Favourite Christmas treat? is turkey a treat? I like turtles but I never buy them because I know that my love of these is not a good thing.
16. Favourite Christmas song? Oh Come All Ye Faithful - Barenaked Ladies (it's actually my ringtone right now)
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home Christmas Day then one the road
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes
19. What's on top of your tree? A lame star
20. Do you have Jesus in your heart this Christmas? I think the holiday spirit is with me - not so sure if that means Jesus or not
22. Favourite ornament theme or color? I left silver and white with red...
23. Favourite Christmas dinner? when all my family is around... although if the question is supposed to be what was your fav christmas dinner i would probably saw it was in res. with all my friends - there was 16/17 of us and we had a great meal - we were all dressed up and I will always remember it
24. What do you most want for Christmas? I want this (it's a video so it might take a minute to load - thanks paula)

steps

Michael took his first steps on Monday night. He has been motoring around the furniture and anything that will support his weight for months, but he finally took the first two alone steps. Michael is now 11 months old and the chattest baby I've met. He is very independent and knows what he wants and has no problems in voicing his opinion on things. It is all a learning curve as Kyle didn't do anything the same. He definitely keeps us on our toes.

We went to PG yesterday to pick up some new lights for the bathroom and kitchen. We stayed the day and did a tour of candy cane lanes. (Carmen, we stopped by your place but nobody was home... I guess we will have to catch you in the New Year - great display! - is there a contest for lighting houses in your neighborhood?)

Not much else new here. I'm trying to finish scrapbooking projects and a variety of other things. I managed to get all my christmas cards in the mail today - so hooray for that! One less thing to do before we had to the coast. We will be in Vancouver from the 27th to Jan 2.

Well I better go and get some sleep if I want to actually accomplish stuff tomorrow. Hugs and kisses :)

Getting to know me :)

Here is a little getting to know me quiz from Carmen's blog. Please feel free to cut and paste the quiz and showcase it on your site. Let me know you've done it and I will add links at the bottom for those who've completed it.

Put an x next to the items that apply to you.
[ ] Short, 5'2 and under
[ ] 5'3 -5'6"
[x] 5'7" - 6'0
[ ] Tall 6'2 and up

NATURALLY
[x] Blonde
[ ] Redhead
[ ] Brunette
[ ] Dirty blonde
[ ] Dark brown
[ ] Light brown
[ ] Black
[ ] Orange
[ ] Kind of both blond n red
[ ] Kind of both brown n red
[ ] Kind of both brunette and black

Eyes
[x] Blue-eyed
[ ] Brown-eyed
[ ] Green-eyed
[ ] Hazel eyed
[ ] Dark eyed (dark brown)
[ ] Gold/gray-eyed
[ ] Silver/gray- eyed
[ ] Blue/green-eyed
[ ] Blue/gray-eyed
[ ] They change colors
[ ] Other
[ ] Glasses
[ ] Contacts
[ ] Neither
[ ] Both

Hair
[ ] Short hair
[ ] Medium
[x] Long hair

Your favorite color(s) are?
[x] Red
[ ] Pink
[ ] Yellow
[ ] Black
[ ] Green
[ ] Neon green
[ ] Blue
[ ] White
[ ] Turquoise
[x] Silver
[ ] Purple
[ ] Brown
[ ] Orange
[ ] Grey
[x] Maroon
[ ] Gold
[ ] Deep purple
[ ] Blood red

Some things you've done or have attempted to do:
[x] Ice skating
[x] Hiking
[ ] Kayaking
[ ] Rafting
[ ] Water skiing
[x] Camping
[x] Horseback riding
[ ] Surfing and skim/wake boarding
[x] Snowboarding
[x] Skiing (cross country for me )
[ ] Skateboarding
[ ] Cheerleading
[x] Lacrosse
[x] Street hockey
[x] Ice hockey
[x] Gymnastics - when I was four - does that count?
[ ] Martial arts
[ ] BMX
[ ] Baton twirling

You CAN'T stand listening to?
[ ] Pop
[ ] Country
[ ] Christian
[ ] Classical
[ ] Techno
[ ] Oldies
[ ] Opera
[ ] Reggae
[ ] 80's
[ ] Disco
[ ] Hip hop
[ ] Punk
[ ] Rap
[ ] Hardcore

The pets you have/had?
[x] Cat
[x] Dog
[ ] Lizard {salamanders}
[ ] Rat
[x] Ferret
[x] Bunny
[x] Fish
[x] Duck
[x] Horse
[ ] Bird
[x] Frog
[ ] Hermit crab
[ ] Prairie dog
[ ] Turtle
[ ] Hamster
[ ] Snake
[ ] Gerbil
[ ] Guinea pig
[x] Pig
[x] Goat
[ ] Chinchilla
[ ] Tarantula
[ ] Squid
[ ] Geese
[ ] Chicken/rooster
[ ] Hedgehog
[ ] Mouse
[x] Sasquatch (this is to see if you've really been reading all this)

Provinces/Territories I have been to:
[x] Alberta
[x] British Columbia
[ ] Manitoba
[ ] New Brunswick
[ ] Newfoundland & Labrador
[ ] Northwest Territories
[ ] Nova Scotia
[ ] Nunavut
[x] Ontario
[ ] Prince Edward Island
[ ] Quebec
[ ] Saskatchewan
[ ] Yukon

Your confessions:
[ ] I'm afraid of quietness
[ ] I am really ticklish
[ ] I'm afraid of the dark when I'm by myself
[x] I've collected comic books
[x] I shut others out when I'm sad
[ ] I open up to others easily
[ ] I don't kill bugs
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name
[x] I bake well
[x] I have worn pajamas to class
[x] I love Martha Stewart
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS
[x] I love to laugh
[ ] I drink alcohol on a regular basis
[ ] I have tried a cigarette
[ ] I can't swallow pills
[x] I bite my nails
[ ] I play computer games
[x] Gotten lost in the city
[x] Gone out in public in your pajamas
[ ] Been skydiving
[ ] Been bungee jumping
[x] Bitten someone
[ ] Dressed up like the opposite sex
[x] Egged a house/car (pumpkined a house/car.... )
[x] Crashed into a car
[ ] Been fired

Have you ever...
[x] Stolen a sign (HA - SIGNS)
[x] Danced in the rain
[x] Seen a shooting star
[x] Proposed to anyone
[x] Gotten stitches
[x] Eaten Sushi
[x] Gotten the chicken pox
[x] Ridden in a taxi
[x] Been on a boat
[x] Driven over 400 miles in one day
[x] Been on a Plane by yourself
[x] Had surgery
[x] Seen a movie more than 3 times in the theater (it pains me to share this but it was Cliffhanger and I went alone... lord - please feel free to laugh at me - I've also saw Alive (the cannibal movie) and A Bugs Life three times in theatre - pathetic - I know...
[x] Been on stage
[x] Gotten a black eye
[x] Memorized all the dialogue in a movie
[x] Watched an entire baseball game on TV (this is only because I lived with Susan for a while in university - I have not and would likely have never watched an entire game otherwise)

Do you like...
[ ] Old movies
[x] Musicals
[x] Music
[x] Foreign foods
[ ] Bukkake (ok for those that don't know what this is I've given you a link to follow - this is definitely R rated - so put on your plus 18 hats...
[ ] Anime
[x] Christmas time
[x] Donuts
[ ] Animals
[x] Coffee

Others who have completed this:
Carmen
Mel

the hand

On Tuesday we made our way to PG for my hand appointment. The roads weren't too bad. I was a little hesitate to go because we'd had a big dump the night before. We made it to PG where the City I guess forgot what to do when it snows - the PG roads were TERRIBLE. It has warmed up now so I'm sure mother nature has cleaned them up for the City by now.

We got to my appointment early and thankfully Andy and the boys went shopping. 10:20 I handed in my slip to the clinic and then I sat there and listened to at least 10 other people go and get casts replaced or put on. Some yelling, some crying - not fun. At 11:40 I was called in. I sat down - he looks at my hand - oh looks good - I reply 'well it doesn't feel good - it doesn't work like it used to' - oh give it time - it is still healing - your finger is still swollen... - all with a slight Arnold Swartznegger accent - I tell him I've been popping it to make it feel better - the other surgeon suggest that might help - 'stop doing that - that only causes inflamation' ARG - and that was it - I was probably in the room (screened off area) for three minutes! Thank you BC medical system! I know that I wasn't that important on their list but I was hoping he might say - hey I know it isn't feeling great yet, and I know I told you three days for recovery - but I guess I was wrong - would you like to take me out back and give me a punch - will that make you feel better - and I would have said no - I just want to complain about it on my blog. :)

So then we went for lunch and did some shopping. At 4pm I said let's do a little more shopping and just have dinner. And then another blizzard came in. At 7pm I started to make my way home. Andy and Michael slept, while Kyle watched a movie. We had one scary part - I will share now because I'm getting over it. I'm driving about 80 so I know I have time to slow for animals and vehicles. I come over this hill (10 km from Hixon) and I see a light - I'm not sure if it is on the road or not because of the white out conditions. I keep going the same rate of speed and soon enough the red light seems to be closer. It is a faint red light - I started to think it might be someone in the ditch. I get about 15 feet from it and then another car comes around the corner and see that I'm 15 feet from the ass of a red nosed reindeer. Ok - I couldn't resist - that was too easy. Ok - so I'm 15 feet from a rig that hasn't wiped off his lights. I'm just lucky that some extra light was shone on the road. I don't think I would have hit him but I could have lost control.

We made it home after 2 hours and one break at Hixon to wipe off the lights... I didn't want to be another asshole out of the roads. It continued to snow - there is more snow than I've seen in - well at least 10 years - it seems to be similiar to the dump we got at university in '96. Andy has been clearing the drive way a couple of times a day - or had been - now it is warm - a mild 4 degrees and melting.

Well tonight is my staff christmas party and I still have work to do so I better get on it. Prayers to Sarah's friend on the Island - check her blog for more details. We could be a regular prayer hotline at this pace. :)

oh santa

Today was the School District's staff santa day. They give out gifts to all staff with children and grandchildren. Lucky us, we fell into the second category and got to go and see Santa. It started at 11am and by 11:15 there was a choir singing. Then in the middle of the first song, one of the girls takes a step forward and proceeds to have seizure on the left of the stage. With that my mom runs up and helps out... one of the few people who knew what to do... I was little surprised that there weren't more people there with first aid - or something - I even knew what to do... in any case - mom went to the rescue and the performance carried on - which seemed odd to me, but I guess the girl also had panic attacks and wanted them to carry on to take the focus off of her.

At 11:35 Santa arrived with Ms Claus and they began handing out gifts. Michael was one of the first - then we waited another 45 minutes for Kyle's... it was long - but fun. Mom came back and joined us after a while... I'll get to her part of the story in a moment. We took the boys home with their gifts so they could open them with Grandpa and Dad. Kyle got a model mini cooper and Michael got some new tub toys, we happily played with them tonight.


Here is Kyle, Michael and Grandma, just before the magical events began.


Here is Michael not really enjoying the whole Santa experience - he was actually a good sport - my picture just caught him during the worst of it.

Here is Kyle, thoroughly enjoying his minute with Santa.

Alright - so you've seen the cute kid pictures - what about the story of my crazy momma... well the poor girl that had the seizure was epileptic and forgot to take her medicine this morning - lucky her - she was going to meet a healer today... lord love a duck (my favorite Paula saying) - mom went into great detail with me about how it proceeded - mom told the girl that her aura (yes, I just wrote aura) was too close to her and that there was something else wrong. Mom told the girl that she should stop taking whatever else she was on (drugs) because it wasn't helping her, she touched her head at the end of the sitting session and told her she had given her some energy - to which the girl said, what happened, I feel so much better, then other people came and talked with her and mom told her that her aura was starting to look better... when we got home - my dad did not get this version - mom actually got caught in a couple of "truths" that she had told me one thing and him another and had to sit through us going - WHAT? What are you talking about? So there it is - my classic mother.

let's get this holiday season started

Carmen posted this cute little quiz link over at her blog - if you want to get into the holiday spirit I suggest stopping by to see all her decorations and other fun stuff. It turns out that I'm a candy cane. :) I tried to post the quiz here, but became more work than I felt like this afternoon and Carmen's link is just as good - plus then you can explore a bit.

pictures, at long last

So I've been meaning to load pictures for a while - my apologies for the delay. It is cold here... not as cold as where aunti jenni is, but it is cold - last night we got near -30, but today brought some delightful -10 ish weather. It snowed today so the roads are starting to go in the crapper, but it will be nice to see the weather break. You can't do much of anything in this weather...

So here is Kyle with the snowman we made during the first couple days of November.
They melted the very next day. They were cute while they lasted.

Here's Kyle being ever so cute in the snow. He was a great sport.
He didn't do much of the rolling - so I got a great workout.
Those snowmen heads were HEAVY!

Here is Aunti Jenni, Derrell, Uncle Phil (holding Kyle) and Phil (Jenni's son)
This was the ten minutes we saw him at our house. He had terrible luck
flying into Quesnel and then had to head back before we got to visit with
him again. Hopefully he will come and visit us again soon...

Here is Michael at Grandma & Grandpa's - checking everything out.

Here is Grandpa giving the boys a ride. Yee haw!

to do list

For those of you counting it is now 30 days until Christmas. Kyle is counting the seconds to Santa's arrival. I'm not really doing much of anything for Christmas this year, specifically in the present department. We've decided to keep it pretty light on the gifts and try to focus more about family... or that is what I'm telling myself anyway. We will get a few things for the boys, but that is about it - well except for a few homemade treats/surprises... which brings me to my to do list.

I've been told that I'm to stay away from work in December.... great - so that means that I have a lot of time to finish all my scrapbooking and my powerpoint gift for my grandma. I'm also working on a story book about my grandma who passed away. Paula showed me a scrapbook her friend did when her mom passed away and I want to do something similar, while also capturing some of the stories we have for my grandma. For my family reading - if you have anything - a short recollection or even something long winded - your stories help us all remember and I don't won't those pieces to be lost. Please share them - email me at aakcheng@gmail.com

Today was a rough day on that front. I had to proof my grandma's obituary. I nearly started crying in the newspaper office, but held it together... I'm trying to not let the pain of it all get to me. I manage to squeak in some of ER and found myself pretty upset over the woman in the bus telling Lockheart about her son... I guess there will always be triggers.

As you can see by my little temperature on your left, it is DAMN cold in Quesnel. I'm freezing... I'm going to finish this up and get to bed. I just want to be cuddled and fall asleep in the arms of my beautiful husband. Good night friends and countrymen - thank you for lending your ear. :)

Note to Paula - to post all you have to do is make an account - user name and password - why am I mentioning this - well I was wondering if the temperature thing you gave me is broken or if they just don't work in negative temperatures....

finding the groove

My sister flew home this morning. She was sadly missed by Kyle and Michael. Kyle has officially named our guest suite as Aunti Mel's room. So consider yourself to have a permenant home with us. :) Thank you for coming to stay with us. The 'air' about you will be sorely missed :)

I'm tired tonight, but have found my groove working - desperately trying to catch up on mounds of work. Letting two jobs go for a week is proving to be more difficult than a thought to get back in to.

I've started drinking coffee again. This morning before we left Quesnel we stopped for breakfast pick me ups from A & W (blah) , when the drive thru window open I nearly changed my order to just coffee - with a side of coffee. I'm trying to keep it to a minimum - I don't want to get dependent on it - but... oh the smell... mmmm coffee orgasm in three, two, one.. aaaahhhhhh. Thank you - was it as good for you as it was for me :)

Ok - I'm in better spirits tonight and I really should carry on with my work. Nightie night.

a long time gone

As you, my dear readers, have likely guessed my grandma passed away. She left us on Monday November 6 and we had her funeral on Friday November 10. It has been a hard couple of days and I don't believe that the pain of it all will ease any time soon. It seems that every time I turn a corner or look at something I have a recollection of her.

Her funeral was the first I've ever been to. When we intially walked in I was shocked by how few people were there. I had a rage and anger... the reverend began to speak and was pointed in a different direction and explained that the family was sitting seperately. Her eulogy and songs took 40 minutes. The songs weren't good - I didn't agree with the choices - and I didn't agree with the eulogy. I was left open mouthed when the reverend said that grandma had been in a relationship that brought my uncle rick into the world before her marriage with my grandfather and summarized with a 'but things happen'. I sat there open mouthed for a while... I couldn't believe it. I don't know if anyone else was a shocked as I was. I knew, but I didn't think it needed to be announced at her funeral. I felt kind of drunk during the eulogy. I didn't know what to do with myself - I felt giggly and then without warning I broke down. I cried threw the entire last song. When we left I watched as my family broke down. I turned away and cried. We went to her tea and it was terrible seeing all the sad faces. My other grandma sat with us, she asked how I was - I said fine and then I told Andy I needed to leave. I left the tea and cried outside for a while. I was disappointed with the eulogy and myself for grieving. I know - that sounds crazy but I'm not comfortable with feeling like that.

Andy, being the great man that he is, talked things through with me and we went back in for a while. The tea was about an hour. Afterward some family came to my house and we had some snacks and just hung out.

Last night my mom came by and it was decided that I was to get one of grandma's things - this is pretty weird because they haven't been giving away anything as her will hasn't been evaluated. She handed me her bible. They gave it to me because she had kept newspaper clippings of me in it... there weren't any other pictures of or notes to anyone else. It hurt to take it.

I went through it page by page last night, looking for her hand writing and underlining. She had written on at least a hundred pages and I only made it half way. I didn't realize how important the bible had been to her. I spent many a thursday afternoon in bible study with her and going to church on sunday with her but I had it in my head that she liked breaking the rules of the church and didn't really care. I was wrong. She loved her God and I missed it. Seeing her handwriting made me hurt even more because I know that I will never get anything else with her handwriting on it. I won't get a christmas card this year saying she loved me this year.

Something I'm really struggling with right now is that this is only the beginning of loss. I know I can't live like that but that is how it feels. How many other people will I lose? How many people will lose me? Am I being selfish? Should I believe that there is something else after death? Did she really go to a better place? That is what is really killing me inside, the uncertainty of it all. I want there to be more - I want to believe that there is something else to this life but right now I'm not believing it - something in me is saying that that was truly it. She lived her life and loved us all and we loved her and that is it. She's gone and we are left to grieve our loss.

What do I take away from all of this? I know that I can be a better person. I know that I need to really look at what is important to me and what isn't, because there really aren't as many hours or days as I thought there would be. I need to go and have a shower. I hope that my future posts will be a bit more up beat and not so depressing. Thank you for reading and thank you for your thoughts and prayers through all this.

Somnambulism

Also known as sleep walking. Mine is back with a venegance right now. I've been trying to control it by putting up obstacles, but it isn't working. I'm able to get up walk to Michael's room, climb over the gate and then - well some nights I'm sleeping there for a while and then coming back to my bed, some nights I'm picking Michael up and bringing him to my bed... it is driving me crazy! Worse, I don't know if I'm doing anything else - I'm scared to video tape me doing it because... well the idea of it creeps me out - there are too many what if I'm doing... ???? who knows what... I think it is about not getting enough sleep and my body hears Michael make a sound and that is the reaction - just get up - get him and go back to full sleep... I don't want him in my bed though - so if anyone has any helpful hints - I will happily accept them.

My grandma was finally moved to palliative care on the weekend. She had a bowel obstruction as a result of the meds used for fixing her arm. They put in a gastric tube which runs from your stomach out your nose - not nice - that was in until last night. She pulled it out at 2am. There was talk that once that was out she would go quickly - probably with in 6 hours, because (to be blunt) she would drowned. Because she is in a palliative bed now they have stopped feeding her, she is also only getting teaspoons of water - so her stomach isn't overloading like they had anticipated. At this point, they have removed all her IV's and she is getting morphine every 30 minutes, plus she is wearing a couple of drug patches. She seems comfortable. It has been eye opening and heart wrenching to visit her and see her boys (my dad and uncles) try to talk with her and try to make peace with themselves that she isn't going to be her much longer. The morphine is causing her breaths to slow. She will take a long breath and then hold it for 15 or 20 seconds. This has increased over the past two days.

I don't know how I thought I was going to deal with this, but I'm not coping very well. With Andy gone and very few breaks from the kids I've lost it a few times. I break down every time I leave the hospital. I've been going at least once a day. I don't need to say anything anymore - I talked to her at the beginning of the week... now it just hurts to say anything. My uncle sat with her today and gave her some water and I just wanted to breakdown. I held it together because I don't feel super comfortable crying with them - the men, even women, in my family don't really show a lot of emotion - well all except anger - I've seen loads of that :)

I guess this is all part of grief, and as a first timer to it I'm struggling - and that is being kind. I can't believe what some of my family and friends have already had to experience and dealt with. What do you do? How did you cope? Today I thought about lunch and cried in the car all the way home because I knew that I could eat and she couldn't. Then I started thinking about what her last meal was and meals we'd had and it just snowballed on me. I barely made it home.

Well I don't want my blog to turn into the land of depression. I'm interested in your thoughts if you feel like sharing and I hope no one minds me spilling my guts like this. It is the only place I have right now to try to deal with it.

I better go - I need to clean up my kitchen - guests start arriving tomorrow. It is snowing here tonight - we've gotten about 2 inches in three hours... fun :)

Halloween

After weeks of 'I'm going to be a pirate for Halloween.' Kyle changed his mind two days before Halloween and asked to be a ghostbuster. So in a couple of hours we pulled together his costume. All homemade :)

How ya gonna call?

Michael sans costume. He wore a pumpkin outfit, but once it was on I didn't have a camera... he proceeded to sleep most of the night in it - but I wasn't thinking about my camera last night.

Here is Kyle at soccer. He was the only kid to show up in a costume. He reminded everyone throughout the session that he was a ghostbuster - as seen in this picture.

no locusts

HOORAY - NO CHICKENPOXS!

After 48 hours I took Michael with me to get my stitches out. As I was getting them out I asked about his rash and my doctor seemed to think that it might have been a reaction to the virus he was fighting on the weekend. I'm not sure if I believe that or not - but the bumps are gone and they didn't develop into anything else.

My stitches were painful to remove, but they are out and my hand is pretty much healed up - well the hole is healed. My doctor pulled one stitch out and says - oh I left some in there - it'll come out eventually - have a nice day... I'm like - WHAT?

So I got in the car and pulled it out - I don't know what the heck is wrong with him... like spending 30 more seconds trying to dig it out was putting a cramp in his day.

My hand is not what it use to be. I'm feeling things on the tendon that I didn't before - hopefully this is all part of the healing process. I see the surgeon in December. I might just call this week to ask because if this is the cure I might be looking for a refund... I guess I shouldn't complain too much - I don't have a claw for a hand... :)

Andy has been gone for two full weeks. I'm definitely going a little crazy. On the days that I'm really losing it I put the kids in the car and go for a drive. This way I don't have to chase them or listen to them yelling at each other as they both like the car. I don't drive for long but 15 minutes gives my mind a break.

I've started yoga and if I could find the time to do it without the kids I think I might actually enjoy it.

I've moved Michael into his big bed. I've had enough of the crib and he likes sleeping on a real bed. Every time he moved in his crib the mattress crinkled and I'm sure it woke him up on a number of occassions. Tonight is the first night he will sleep on the big mattress - I hope it goes well. He had his nap on it and that went fine. I've gated him in so he can't escape later tonight. Sleeping walking runs in the family :)

My grandma is worse. I think I mentioned that my grandfather changed her DNR status to a coded one, which means that she is getting treatment for everything. Her body is starting to give up the battle though. As a result of the status change they reset her arm and since then she has been getting sicker. Her bowel became obstructed earlier this week and they were going to perform surgery on that today but they can't get her temperature under control and so they gave up on the surgery. As a result of the obstruction everything is trying to come back up on her - so she has a number of tubes and equipment trying to keep her alive. Her kidneys aren't working very well right now and it doesn't sound like she will make the weekend. I'm hoping to go and see her tomorrow while Kyle is at school - we will see...

Anyway I should go clean up and get ready for bed. Hey, did the time change make anyone else's life terrible today... Kyle and Michael got up at 6... then they wanted meals all at the wrong times... arg! ok - good night.

I'm sure that locusts will be next...

So if things weren't bad enough it looks like Michael might have chickenpox. Last night I had an AGM and left the kids with my mom... it was my only choice as Michael has been sick and I couldn't turn him loose on another parent with kids. I got home to him crying his eyes out. Nothing appears to be too terrible though. She goes to play on the computer and that was it.

This morning she says she wants to go feed grandma. I say go for it, you can take my car. Just be back before 9am because Kyle needs to get to preschool. I got the kids ready at 8:40 and we went outside. At 9am I came inside and at 9:10 I called my cell, as I'd given it to her as a clock and reminder to be on time. 9:15 she rolls in.. 'sorry about that'. I told her I would drive her home... did I mention it was snowing... first day of snow here.... Anyway it is 9:30 before we leave town and I don't get to her house until 10:50. The entire way there I had to listen to the healer speech... I wanted to put my head through the windshield. It was a nightmare. I'm trying to be supportive, but it is becoming weirder by the day. She actually tried to tell a radiologist that she is telepathic and that radiology and telepathy are similar. I can just see the radiologist going... um sure... whatever... the crazy ward is upstairs...

I drop her off and zoom back to the daycare. Kyle finishes at noon. I made it there for 12:05... and 10 minutes of that was crossing the bridge into downtown. So I'm frustrated by all that and then we get home and change Michael. He has a rash all over his back, and stomach/chest. I called public health and they figure it is chickenpox. I called the rn hotline and they thought it might be more like an allergy. I just have to watch and wait now. If it blisters, it's chickenpox... if it doesn't do anything it is a rash or allergy and we can go see a doctor. Why the story about my mom and her sitting last night... well I can't be sure about what she fed the boys and maybe he had an allergic reaction to something she gave him... she didn't mention anything... although - everyone will recall her not mentioning that she pinched his chin... which is still visible on him.

I'm getting my stitches out on Friday - hooray. My finger is working pretty well. I'm not waking up with the claw. It is only bothering me when I try to use the tips of my fingers. This is supposed to be six weeks recovery... so I've got a ways to go before it is 100%. All that said I'm happy I went to PG for Emergency now... I can't imagine having gone through the weekend the way it was.

how many times can you go to the hospital...

I will start by saying this has been the worst week of my life. The last seven days have been a nightmare.

As noted previously, I had trigger finger surgery last Tuesday. By Friday I couldn't open my finger. I could get it to a point but nothing further. It was terrible. I was fearing the worst. Friday afternoon Michael had his 9 month check up. We got there 10 minutes early and waited another 40 minutes before we saw the doctor. Then he just went through a stupid list and then weighed Michael... he hasn't gained any weight, he is now just under 22 lbs. He didn't check his height - it was a waste of my time... of course I had to ask about my hand. I asked if it should be open by now, should I be able to straigten it.. 'I don't really know' 'you should go back to your surgeon' - I tell him that I called on Wednesday because I knew it was going well and they didn't call me back. I called on Thursday and was told that there office was closed until Monday. FABULOUS! My brilliant doctor says 'you should go back to PG, go to emergency - they'll be forced to call your surgeon in' - I have to drive back to PG with two kids and a terrible hand. So I call the PG hospital... why drive up there if they can make a phone call to him and ask. I get a bitch on the other end who won't help me. I explain that I'm trying to lessen their work load by calling, rather than just showing up... nothing... she continues to be a complete bitch. I hang up on her. I call the Quesnel hospital and call the health hotline. After going through the survey questions with the RN she says I should go back to PG. So I call the Quesnel hospital again and ask for th PG ER number - direct line - allowing me to skip the bitch. I accomplish this and they tell me - you should just come up if you are worried about it.

So at 3 in the afternoon I pack up Michael and Kyle and go to PG. We arrive at 5pm. We then sit in emergency until 6pm. ER doc says I need to wait for the oncall surgeon. At 6:50 the surgeon comes in and says 'the other surgeon should have told you to be stretching your finger' he pulls my finger as far as it would go on a good day. I want to cry, but I'm being strong. He says you have to do this. It feels like something kind of pops in my hand. I keep moving my fingers back and forth. It was painful... not childbirth painful... but it was enough.

After all this I decide I should go visit my grandma (backtrack - for whatever reason the decision was made to move my grandma to PG and get her arm rebroken and reset) She is upstairs and so after 20 minutes of hunting we find her. This was probably the worst part of the last few days... and it has been bad... she was lying in her bed with IV's and a white cloth with IV's on her head. She looked terrible. She didn't look alive. I asked how the surgery went. 'It didn't happen, she was bumped. She'll be staying with us until she is placed in the schedule.' She hasn't woken up since she arrived. I didn't try to wake her. After I left I wished I had. I wished that I had just gone up to her bed and told her I loved her. Seeing her like that broke my heart. I'm still choked up about it.

I took the kids back to the car. We had a pathetic dinner at Wendy's. I grabbed a crappy drink from starbucks and we drove home. We got home at about 9:30. Saturday was the beginning of Michael getting sick. His temperature started to go in the afternoon. It kept going. Sunday he was completely out of sorts. He didn't want to do anything. I took him to the walk in clinic, where the doctor didn't bother taking his temp. just decided that I was doing the right things and to keep doing that.... great... except that it wasn't helping Michael. At 5pm I gave him Tylenol and by 5:30 I didn't want to touch his skin it was sooo hot. He was 40.1. I took him to the ER and then he had a blood test and urine test. Everything came back fine. So there has been no resolution on whatever he has. I'm just hoping he cracks through it soon. Tonight he cried for more than an hour. His temps are still high but not into the 40's - thankfully.

Aunti Jenni that was why had to go so quick last night - I'm sorry we didn't get to chat. I will try and catch up with you again sometime this week.

I'm grumpy and tired so I should just go to bed. What is the upside? Well my finger is straight. Well mostly... my stitches make it pretty hard to straighten the right out, but it feels and looks better. My stitches are itchy, but that is very minor compared to everything else. I hope this week is better but I'm not holding out much hope on that with Michael being the way he is. I just hope Kyle doesn't catch whatever Michael has... I think this just might be him teething - both his top teeth are just poking through - seems a little much for teething though.

Good night lovies...

not for the squimish

So here is my gimp hand before the surgery.


Here is the mess they left me with. You can kind of make out where the stitches are not doing there job and the skin is pulling up and apart... frickin' fabulous


So here is today - Day 3 - now you can really see the mark that will be a life long scar for me... I will cry like George about not being able to be a hand model later ;) I, of course, called the surgeon and was told he would get back to me - I called today and his (of course) office is closed until Monday... so hooray for me... I am not feeling too bad today, however I'm still unable to do most things....

surgery

I had hand surgery yesterday. Right hand - trigger finger... not very confident it fixed it this morning. I've placed a call into my surgeons office because I'm so concerned. I've been told to give up putting my hand in water for five days- which I guess means the kids can't have baths... so I probably won't be able to do that... I've already removed the crappy bandage they put on yesterday as it was falling off and so thick that I couldn't do anything.

Yesterday was a miserable day. My mom was supposed to be here at 7am so I could make it to PG for 8:30. She showed up late and then decided to come with me. So I had to pack up the kids, get all the gear for the day and then drive like the wind. I was late and my mom didn't seem to care about any of it - being late and being annoying. ARG! I get to the surgery - they do their thing - a student does some of my stitches - which are NOT pretty. I'm definitely going to have a scar. Then I find mom and the kids outside the surgery room. We walk outside and she says oh I left the lights on - teehee - I wondered what that beeping sound was.... WHAT! Of course my car is half dead. I tell her to wait - my car likes to heal itself, hero style - but she is so inpatient that she keeps trying it - I finally get so frustrated that I just take the kids and we leave for a walk... of course she comes and then I have listen to more of her cult crap... 'i'm a healer, i'm going to get my naturopathy doctrate online... BLAH BLAH BLAH' I fumed all day... we get back to the car and of course - it starts and I laugh in her face because she was queen of 'it isn't going to start... blah blah blah... naturopathy' - we went to costco because I needed to do shopping - i knew the surgery wasn't going to kill me so I had planned a quiet day for myself - fat chance of that... ffff'''eerrrss.... anyway - I do my shopping - we grab lunch and then she says she will drive home - not that I can't - I had driven us from the hospital to costco because I was so mad... so she can't drive - she drives with the gas on hard and then kick brake! AAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! I couldn't wait to get home.... I get home and within five minutes of getting in the house she says well I better go I have stuff to do... I barely choked out a thank you for helping because SHE DIDN'T! I might as well had three kids yesterday... oh and (sorry for not telling andy this on the phone last night) she pinched michael - like HARD! She caught his chin between the buckle on his car seat... first let me say that accidents happen, i accept that but... - I'm outside the car when it happened and all I can hear is him crying - she's all - oh maybe he needs a bottle but momma april knows the cry of her injured young... I'm like - Um no he isn't he's hurt... 'no,no'.... then I see the welt on his poor little chin and I'm all 'um he's got a welt - he must have been pinched...' nothing - no - hey I'm sorry, hey I did it - nothing - no admission - she just goes on like nothing happened - AAAAHHHHH! It was the worst day... and then I had to deal with the rest of the night - I was so tired and sore that I just bought McDonald's for Kyle - which I was really try to avoid - me and Michael had left over wonton soup

well kyle will be done preschool in a couple of minutes so I better run - sorry about the rant - today has already been better - even with a swollen hand...

a letter

Dear Previous Owners Of Our Home,

Thank for selling us your house so quickly and giving us a discount on the price with one simple request. You asked no questions and we thought it was grand.

Thank you for leaving the mice behind in the cold room. It appears that they had a real feast in that room. Thank you for making us fear that we had the hanta virus. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to brush up our skills on bleaching wood and reconstruction.

Thank you for making sure that every wall and floor line in the house is not square. The 'Alice in Wonderland' feel should help us in resale value.

Thank you for cutting a whole in the countertop and covering it up. We also would like to say that the color purple everyone is a great added bonus. You, so cleverly, matching the grape wallpaper to the countertop was genius!

Thank you for deciding that insulation was not a necessity in exterior walls. We enjoy paying through the nose on gas bills. What a great way to ensure that I will never get to go on a vacation.

Thank you for giving my husband the opportunity to purchase numerous tools. He enjoys all of the tasks that now lay ahead of him. The list grows everyday and it always makes us smile.

I hope that you found an equally pleasant home and wish you the best.

Sincerely,

April

oh what a couple of days

Kyle's 4th birthday started out nicely. I had to take Michael to a 9am check up and was just walking out the door when the phone rang. It was my grandpa. He was crying and struggling to get out that grandma had fallen out of bed and she was hurt. Andy took the kids and I ran out the door. I live about a kilometre from them so I drove over and called 911 on the way. When I got there I saw a car in the driveway and felt better because the health worker was onsite and must have arrived between the call and my arrival... right.

So I walk in the house and I start to think that maybe I didn't get a phone call, maybe I made it up, because they were sitting having coffee, looking normal. So I ask, is everything ok? The health worker says she fell out of bed and I think she hurt her arm. So I go to grandma and ask, but I can already see. Her arm is twice as big as it should be and the cress where your hand mets your arm is black. I ask her if she is in pain, 'no'. Then I see she had also hit her head, the skin is scrapped and bruised but not broken.

I tell them that the ambulance should be here shortly and we wait. She is in no pain but should be. I would be cryin' my eyes out if my arm looked like that. The ambulance comes and I tell them about her alzheimers. They do the history and then ask when did this happen. I pipe up with, well I was called 20 minutes ago so within the last 25. The health worker then says, well it happened before I got her at 7:45... (WHAT!???) and then my grandpa says it happened at 12:30... I ask again because I figure I've heard wrong, nope - 12:30. He says he was in the chair and heard her roll out of bed. She didn't really complain so he picked her up (he's 82) and put her back to bed. I can't believe what I've heard. I can see my grandpa going, oh she is ok - maybe it's even happened before, and putting her back to bed. I don't understand why the health worker - who dressed my grandma - didn't think - gees that looks really bad and her head looks pretty bad - maybe I should call 911... nope she tells my grandpa to call family. I don't know what she should have done so I'm reserving judgement until we find out.

They cart my grandma away who is now complaining of hip and back pain and I follow her to the hospital. (Grandpa didn't want to come.) Long story short they find her wrist is broken and won't be getting surgery as she is DNR, and she is probably bleeding on her brain as a result of the head injury. They won't perform a scan of any kind as it is extraordinary care.

So all that happens - I call my dad and tell him what has happened. I talk to my mom at the hospital as she is working in xray and then I go home to finish Kyle's birthday cake. Kyle had two little girlfriends over for dinner, cake and presents. It was fun. He really liked having friends over. We went to a kids concert after and then called it a night. The kids went home from the concert.

Needless to say I was beat. So then Andy left today. I was a basketcase. Between everything that has gone on in the last 48 hours and now him leaving for Vancouver I just wanted to have a permanent breakdown. It was a short meltdown. I've done well all day. I had a season ending event for Rocky Mountaineer Vacations tonight and I think it was success. Good turnout for a Saturday night. My mom told me she was going to take the kids for the night... HOORAY... of course - like the cheesecake - it did not happen. No worries - the kids aren't crazy and we just hung out. Michael, unfortunately, was sick. He threw up and was just generally cranky. They are both asleep and I can only hope that I will get six hours of sleep in a row.... oh how great that would be.

So there you go... sorry for the depressing blog entry. I'm going to go and make my bed (yes Andy I'm putting sheets on it ... mmmuh ha ha hahaha), watch whatever trash is on tv for a half hour and then go to sleep. Tomorrow is clean up day - work clean up - I have to return the gear for tonights event and write a press release.

giants

I subscribe to monthly updates from parentcenter.babycenter.com. Today they sent their monthly thing out and it said it had a height predictor. I decided to punch in the info on the boys and see what it came up with. It takes into account the sex, current age, current height, weight and height of mom and dad to calculate the prediction. They go onto say that this method is pretty darn accurate - it will be right with 3 inches by 96%.

My (laughable) results:

Kyle at age 18 will be 7 (yes seven - one two three four five six seven) feet tall, and 2 inches... in case seven feet wasn't enough.

They can't calculate Michael's as you have to be at least 2 years old. So for all of you with two year olds I suggest you give it a try and see what your results are.

Height Predictor

four hours well spent

I bought a cake decorating kit for Kyle's birthday; so I could make some cool designs on it. I wanted to make sugar cookies so I made a batch and decorated them... then I decided to make some more... this batch was nearly 150 cookies. I think it probably took more than four hours in the end, but well worth it. I need to practice more - so everyone should expect similar ones at Christmas.

do you see anything?

pictures

Michael enjoying some chocolate chip pancakes.

Kyle standing proudly beside his fish.

A little tub time for the boys

gobble gobble baby!

Well my turkey is defrosting right now and I'm looking forward to a feast of bird, tatoes, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, mmmmm! My parents have told me they are coming, but you never can tell with them. Many a time have they said we will see you at X time and many a time I have sat waiting only to get a phone call saying - oops sorry about that. Anyways I will showcase some photos after the weekend of the food and fun, even if it is only the four of us.

I hope everyone has excellent turkeys/ham and other family foods for this turkey day!

I had so much to say before I started typing and now it has been farted out of my brain like some can of beans - I sat here for a minute trying to remember what brussel sprouts were called, remembered and then everything else was gone.

I will go and finish my kitchen cooking project. My request goes out to all of you again for any remedies for dry hands. I've tried all of the lotions that say 'for dry or extra dry hands' and have no success - I had a sample lotion from the 'Basketree' in Quesnel and it cleared my hands up for a day but they are closed over the weekend and she probably won't have the same stuff again.

Oh - here is some of what I wanted to say - (hooray I remembered) - we bought the little mermaid - one of my all time childhood favorites - as I've mentioned my sister, brother and I used to take roles from the film and then repeat their lines word for word - my sister was usually ariel and I, the ugly ursula... I still cry about it :) Anyway - I put it on this morning for Kyle and he loved it and funny enough - I found out he really loves someone else. We are sitting there and he is babbling about Ariel, mermaid, Prince Eric and then he starts talking about my sister. Now this is pretty weird - he talks to her pretty often but it was out of the blue and I don't think I mentioned her name before hand. Anyway he says, I'm going to marry Aunti Mel. He repeated this again to Andy this afternoon. He has never said he wants to marry anyone, it kind of made my heart melt. So watch out Sean, you've got competition. Ok, there is my turkey day story for you. Off to the kitchen, fast as a speeding turtle.

soccer

Today was the first day of soccer for Kyle. He had a great time and I will post footage soon. I just have to figure out how to load to youtube.

Michael said up to Andy - twice. We were quite blown away by it. It could well have been a fluke as it has not happened again. I will keep you posted. He is walking around the coffee table, but does not feel at all comfortable in letting go. Our little baby is 9 months old today (Oct 4). Kyle turns four in a week... where does the time go?

I will also post pictures of our kitchen reno. We took one side of our cabinets out to put in a new stove. I've been without an oven for too long now and it was time to get something else. We had a wall oven, mickey moused into the "cabinetry". It was a hell of thing to see the way they put the kitchen together. I should have photos loaded in the next day or so.

Thank you to everyone who completed the 50 question survey on their blogs. I had a good time learning more about each of you.

That's it for tonight, I need to go and apply moisturizer to my poor hands. The winter weather is coming and cracking my hands... any advice on curing this or helping it will be greatly appreciated!

Good night my beautiful friends!

(Oh wait - here is my complaint for tonight - every year I have done a big turkey dinner... well every year for the past ten... this year we aren't - why? Well no one wants to come to our house - my grandma came over today and said she was doing her own thing - well good on her but, and I know this is selfish, I was hoping for some of her good pumpkin dessert.. my mom is working, but my parents have had the 'puppies need us' excuse for everything since they got them. Should I care? Why hasn't anyone invited us out?.... It is ok to tell me that I'm being selfish - I am -, but it also feels like I'm at some kind of ending... a cross roads and I'm sad about it. I like people over, I like the family being around, I like the chats about past holidays and family members, I like the meat, cheese, pickle and cracker tray that we put out for the afternoon, I like my holidays and this one will pass us by without so much as a dinner with more than the four of us... not that there is anything wrong with just my little personal family but... you don't need 10 lb, let alone, 5 lb bird... - ok I will stop complaining... it sounds more and more like selfishness and less and less about what I'm really trying to get at - I miss my family and friends being closer and more interested in time together.)