um... I think something is missing

So while on my visit to Nazko today I had a few cups of tea with my mom. She usually has a few that I've never had and usually they are pretty yummy. Today she shows me this tea that looks very expensive.



The tea bags were in this fancy little sash bags and shaped like triangles. The tea tasted ok, but it needed honey to make it taste good. Any way I'm always curious about what goes into tea because I've tried making a few teas and like to "borrow"
recipes. So I go to the label on this one...



Hmmm, green tea, white tea, blueberry bits, dried apple, rosehip... but wait... where is the pomegrante? Apparently not in the tea bag and only on the box. With that I decided I better cut up some of the box and put it in with my tea, because I was going to have some pomegrante and they weren't going to keep it from me by only putting it on the box. Asses.

Follow up - so I went to lipton's website and found more promotional information on this tea - "tantalizing blueberry and pomegrante pieces is the perfect compliment to an active, healthy lifestyle." So now I'm going to contact customer service and see what's up

Dear Customer Service: I bought some of your blueberry/pomegrante pyramid tea and found that the label did not note any pomegrante in it and was just wondering what was up with that? It doesn't taste like pomegrante so I guess that's why it isn't an ingredient, but wonder how you can call it pomegrante tea when it isn't an ingredient.

now this is weird...

Ok - usually I watch a few minutes of the Oscars and feel disappointed and don't want to watch because man - it just goes on and on... but tonight I really liked what I saw. I didn't sit here and watch the whole thing and missed seeing if Heath Ledger won or not - need to google that after this post... but I really enjoyed the past winners presenting to the current nominees - that was great - and they also gave people time to speak. For award shows they did a good job - and that's tough to say since I remember watching it some years and being left thinking - what the hell was that - and why on earth did I sit through it - tonight I've been left thinking - man there are a bunch of films I want to see... I'm even interested in seeing the benjamin button movie and I've never wanted to see any of Brad Pitt's movies. I'm definitely going to see the Reader (I love Kate Winslet) and Slumdog Millionaire.

Ok... so Heath did win... I guess I need to add the Dark Knight to the list of films to see too

and because I have nothing else to do

I have seen 84 of the 239 films

Supposedly, if you have seen more than 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list for facebook or for your blog... then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.


(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane

Total: 6

(x ) The Princess Bride
(x) Anchor Man
( )Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 11

(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
() Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp

Total so far: 17

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
() The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch

Total so far:22

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots

Total so far: 28

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x ) Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
(x) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG

Total so far: 34

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( )The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber

Total so far: 33

(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 35

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
() Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total so far:37

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
( ) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
() The Mist
(x) Ice Age
(X)Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x ) Curious George

Total so far: 43

(x)Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
( ) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2

Total so far: 46

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(x)Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 50

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
( ) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2

Total so far: 60

( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin

Total so far: 62

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 68

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
( ) Highlander * there Can Only be one! *
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
( ) Three

Total so Far: 69

() The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 70

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld

Total so far: 72

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness

Total so far: 73

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 80

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
() Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Total movies seen 84

demons

Today I drove to Nazko. I was supposed to be there on December 26 for sledding... I guess better late then never.

My anxiety kicked a little bit of a fuss, but I made it. I even got to go x-country skiing.

My next big event to get through is a flight on Wednesday. Right now I'm not worried about it simply because I made it through my drive today.

sad

Alright so I'm watching the UFC match up tonight and a commercial comes about a kid in high school who didn't know how to meet up with woman at dances... until he started using Old Spice under arm pit stick... and can you guess who it was - the man who said that that was him from years back... LL Cool J - WHAT! I can't believe it - he is a beautiful man - BEAUTIFUL! And he is talking about how pit stick made his life better. It can't be - it just can't be... I'm choosing not to believe it.

He should be selling trips to the Bahamas or anything else.

What I meant to write this week...

It's been a week since my last post. To be honest I've been blogging somewhere else for a while and got pre-occupied with that, plus I've actually been trying to use my computer less and try to actually do stuff... I have time in the evenings to spend on here but I'm trying to find out where my hobbies went and I don't think my computer should really be a hobby.

In the last week we celebrated Valentines day... what that means is that I celebrated with the boys and that's all... apparently the rest of us don't believe in Valentine's Day... ok, ok - we just don't do anything for valentines day... and I'm ok with that... of course I'd also be ok with receiving flowers too :)



We did light bright one day and had lots of fun making shapes...


And we had some laughs...


Michael has also started singing the rhyming song so when he wants stuff right now he sings what he wants - for example... mom I want a freezie, freezie, mo meezie, bananaman bo beezie, fe fi fo freezie, freezie... he bumbles it a bit, pretty funny... but it is definitely something that gets stuck in your head

lordy lordy

So I've been having some difficulties (putting it mildly) with anxiety for the past six weeks or so. Stress induced apparently. So I've been visiting my doctor and trying to de-stress... (HA) Today I went back in for some test results and because he'd called me back in. I anticipated that my test results would be clear so I wasn't worried about the appointment - but was curious.

He came in and we chatted about how I'm doing and what I was feeling and he was happy to hear that I felt like a lot of my symptoms were as a result of stress and not as a result of actual physical problems. My most recent test of a infection screening and peptic ulcer test were fine. He reminds me that I'm ok and that I just need to take time for me... ok and then he says "Can I ask you a personal question?" I'm thinking gees... I've got a personal relationship with you - you've seen some parts with an up close and personal view... what could be more personal then that... so I say - go ahead - what's the question?

Ok - so hold back the laughter if you can... he says what's your relationship like with your mom? I actually laughed. I said so what does she think I have. He says - what I need you to do is not listen to her because she is only going to make my anxiety worse. HA - this I know... but I'll be honest - she reeled my in a few weeks ago - had me convinced that I needed a CT Scan... but I think we can all agree with who needs that scan :)

Anyway - he gets into all the details and says that she thinks there is something wrong with my appendics and that he should do an ultrasound. I could barely contain myself. He goes on to say, now don't get me wrong, she can believe what she wants. We can be ok with that - but you don't need to believe her. Here I sit 12 hours later and I wish I'd asked for that on a prescription note... it might just be a first of its kind...

That 25 list...

Well everyone else is doing it...

1. My favorite comfort food is toast with cheese whiz and little bit of mustard... I then like to dip that in hot chocolate

2. Due to a jaw problem I've been unable to chew food for more than six weeks

3. A horse kicked me in the face when I was four years old

4. I haven't read a book I enjoyed in a couple of years and have been on the hunt for a good read for a long time

5. I've started sleeping with a hot bag (those bean ones that you stick in the microwave for two minutes) because for some reason my feet are cold every night

6. My favorite book for a long time was the Stand by Stephen King, I tried to read it before Christmas and I couldn't even get through the first couple chapters because it was more graphic than I could take

7. I love hiking and had a blast writing our area guide

8. I want to win the lottery and retire

9. I want to own my own retail business - I think something in gifts and baskets or travel

10. I like roasted marshmallows especially those nice brown ones mmmmmm

11. I like camp fires and I love sitting around the fire yakking with friends

12. I love to watch the sky at night and try to watch one meteor shower annually

13. I like Survivor man

14. I have a Canadian maple leaf tattoo on my foot

15. I want to live in a city that has an ocean beach

16. I hate accounting

17. I'd take a good rain storm over a hot day anytime

18. I like margueritas

19. I love hugs

20. I love jamming and canning

21. I think the only choice for the final torch bearer for the 2010 games is Rick Hansen - period. (Carm - I would be willing to split my vote for Trevor Linden... having a hockey puck shot light the torch would be pretty cool)

22. When I was a kid I dreamt about making a book that would read to me, not that I didn't enjoy reading but because I loved being read to... now they have "TAG" and it works just like how I dreamt it should

23. My brother and I sat around one day a few years ago and tried to figure out how to invent a frame that people could load photos into... about six months later they came on the market... sadly we are getting no benefit from that... damnit

24. I want to go to Hawaii and would gladly accept an invitation

25. I still love mail

look at that... more photos... it's amazing

Soccer fun (Kyle's the one in yellow on the far left)

Michael having fun on the side lines.

More fun on the side lines - Michael wanted me to take a bunch of photos of him - he also needed to approve each photo as they were taken... then taking a new pose for each photo.

the boys

ice crystals

the sky

what gets me out of bed

12:45am going to sleep... did some light reading and just unwinding... and then I hear something mechanical and then my brain says - april that sounds a hell of a lot like the garage door opening - so I'm up and out of the bed trying to see if our auto light has come on... it hasn't... - ok - calm down - it isn't someone breaking in.... lord... and then I hear something else and my heart rate goes from a whisper to a gallop... but I'm not putting up with that - my brain kicks in and says - well then lets just go and check it out - don't sit here and worry all night about that... so I go outside and see if the door is open - nothing... ok but maybe it closed - so I go down and check the interior entrance - nothing... but now I'm awake... ARG! stupid brain - and wouldn't you know it - I'm home alone... boys are at the grandparents, andy is at work - I've got the night to myself and now I'm sitting here more awake than I was hours ago trying to get my brain to turn off and let me go back to bed.

What else? I saw two moose tonight - cows - just in case anyone was wondering if there are still moose up in them there hills...

ha

Ok I love Tropic Thunder. I could watch it over and over all day (nearly have done this...). And you would be correct to guess that that is my background to this evening's activities.

"Tired of being your trail donkey's - pretending you are some kind of human GPS" - man, Robert Downy Jr is awesome in this. I laughed when I saw him nominated for awards but really he is amazing in this movie. He is believable as an Aussie, and African American and has some of the funniest lines every said in a movie. The whole cast is great.

What else? Not much. We went to the library tonight and sat around looking at reference books for a while. They have a great dinosaur book that Kyle looks at every time we visit. Plus it gives me time to look at the magazines. Michael wanted to horse around a bit tonight, but that's ok - we all had fun. The library has started to carry games, so we borrowed one - turned out to not really be a game which was disappointing since we agreed to play it when we got home. We spent the time reading a Christmas book - so all is good.

"We're supposed to be a unit".... "Suck my unit..."

february

Well happy groundhog day. The groundhog didn't need to get out of his cave this morning - we got a foot of snow yesterday so I was pretty sure we are going to be in winter mode for another six weeks... and six weeks would be lucky.

The snow is lovely though - I won't complain about it.

Health - well I'm trying to stay positive. I've got another dr's appointment tomorrow and I'm pretty certain that all of this is revolving around stress, but my stomach is so awful now that it looks like I'm going to need some ultrasound or a gastroscope stuff done to get to the bottom of it.

Thoughts - I've been thinking a lot about my dear friend Carmen. I hope everyone reading this sends some positive vibes out into the universe. They can be general thoughts that are directed to Carmen in Calgary and lets also put positive thoughts out there for everyone we know suffering with cancer and think about cancer being a word that our children and grandchildren will ask - what was that?

ARG!

If you are sick and know you are sick - sick enough that really you shouldn't be at work and you keep telling everyone around you that you shouldn't be at work and that you've noticed that you are getting worse and not better - don't think for a second that coughing without covering your mouth is ok.

Now I'm writing this because I didn't say anything to you when you coughed in my GD'en face and I sat there so flamin' shocked that you did what you did and you didn't acknowledge your rude behavior, you just carried on like nothing even happened and maybe your brain didn't connect the fact that you were sharing a terrible cold but my brain noticed it - and I'm pissed about it. I'm not in kindergarten or daycare - coughing on others is NOT ok and it is not acceptable. And now I'm getting sick - I can feel it- and on top of that all of the stress I've experienced in the past four weeks has given me some kind of gastro problem - that may very well be an ulcer.

So there is a heap of complaining - bang a gong for 2009 is the year of the whiner in my house.

head

My head isn't hurting - I was actually afraid to say it because maybe that could attract it back.. but right now I don't have a head ache. It's taken me most of the day to figure out what wasn't the same...

I do have a whole new problem - this terrible ache in my chest/stomach area and largely uncontrollable burps - how sad is that - now I've read that this could be related to stress but I'm more inclined to think that my stomach and whole digestive system are beginning to wonder what the hell is going on... no solid food in weeks - or largely not solid - yesterday - in desperation I bought a muffin and then dunked it in hot chocolate to make it edible. I know - how sad is that...

Anyway - not having a headache or head symptoms made me want to post - so that's what I'm doing... now I'm going to go and buy some computers.

additions

So I've added two new widgets (gadgets) to my blog. On your right you'll see a hand reflexology widget and a foot reflexology widget. They are awesome. Last night I massaged both my hands and feet and it definitely made me calm down and relax.

I had my chiropractor appointment in PG today (thanks Amy). So that meant that Andy and I got a half day in PG with out kids... it is crazy - we spend half the time wondering what to do with ourselves and the other half of the time looking at kids stuff wondering if the kids would like it... silly.

The appointment was different. I haven't been to a chiropractor in YEARS! He told me that my left leg was 3/4 of an inch shorter which explains why my pants look funny. I had a lot of xray - apparently so the dr. could check he was doing the right stuff. He applied some (little) pressure to my neck and that was it. I actually had weird back pain this afternoon which caused my anxiety to turn on for a while, but after eating some food and calming down I was ok. Tonight I'm still struggling with some pain around my ear/jaw, but some of my other pain isn't there. I also feel like I'm getting closer and closer to what is plaguing me. Most of it appears to be stress related which I've really struggled to get my head around. I don't feel stressed out, but my body just wasn't sending the right messages to my brain to slow down - now I'm slowing down and hoping I can reverse the damage.

Ok - and since we had time to look around a little bit for us.. ok for me.. I got two new pairs of jeans and a skirt... all in a size 12 - which is about as fantastic as anything could be. I actually put on the first pair of jeans and had to take them off to make sure that the tag wasn't lying... cause I just didn't think they were going to fit - and they aren't even tight... So frickin' hip hip hooray for that.

something fun

Here's a little Friday night laugh - my sister sent me this at the end of my day - and a laugh was very welcomed :)

A little bit of rubber fun

This may not be suitable for all viewers - it is pretty tame for us grown ups but it isn't for kiddies... unless you feel like having the "talk" with them... might want to turn the sound down too...

enlightenment

So I'm sitting here trying to eat a muffin when it happens - i start getting the twinge weirdness that has been plaguing my temple for weeks - the thing that is causing me great stress and making me feel like there really is something wrong with me... I take a bite, it happens again, I take another bite and now feel it happening as I bite - and now I think I'm coming to conclusions - maybe this muscle is just so strained from all the change and pain and all the rest of it that is it twitching just like my eye does or my other parts does when I get stressed out or over use it...

I also now know that I clench in my sleep. At 6:14 I woke up from a nightmare (dreaming again - I'm dreaming nearly every night right now - so I'll take it even if it was a nightmare) and was definitely clenching my teeth.

What was the dream? (Mel - stop reading here... )
Well I was flying out of Vancouver and we took off into the fog. The fog was dense and we didn't get very high, then I could see Hwy 1 (right near Port Coquitlam) below me - everything was very clear and then we started to try and pull up and then it was like a radio came on talking about a crashed plane on highway one. Then I look out on the road way again and I see a plane (white with some blue on it) with its wings missing and then a pile of sheets - I could see someone under one the sheets and then I was up. It didn't really scare me - it more startled me because I tried to go back to sleep to see what was going to happen next.. I'm one of those choose your own adventure types and get interested easily... I have a lot of plane crash dreams and I usually stay asleep through something like that because I've had so many - in fact I usually have the same dreams - with slight modifications

So there you go... back to the grind

the battle

Mouthguard - check...

Sanity... sometimes lost...

Headache - something that won't go away... very very sad

Sleeping - YES - AMEN!

Thanks to Amy I've booked my appointment for the chiropractor visit and I'm also getting some blood work to see if there is more to this than just a jaw issue.

What else? Well life has trogged (yes, that's a new word) on. Michael got a cold and is making a come back from that. Kyle had a whopper of a nose bleed this morning. I use to get them pretty often as a kid so it isn't a big deal, but this morning - man - he bled for a good 15 minutes if not longer... and of course he got blood all over the place. Good times :)

Ok and here is a great video to check out... It is definitely worth watching... this might be the next big trend... no more bride and groom dancing stunts - just kick ass, out of the box speeches :)

laugh

Ok - so I'm not feeling great and if I could pick somewhere to be - it would be on a beach and not in my office... but I just had one of those moments that I had to share.

Someone comes in my office and gives me something and asks for something in exchange - sure... - and then says I'll get you what you need ass-ap... instead of a-sap (ASAP)... I could heardly contain myself - I started giggling as soon as they lift my office... I mean really - ass-ap... gees...

Laughing does help... I need more laughter :)

blah-diddy-blah-blah

So tonight I decided to celebrate my dear friend Paula's birthday with a trip to the ER... again... I seem to be a regular there now... my jaw was so painful tonight that I caved and had a family friend look after the guys while I went in to see if they could do anything to help me... so I got a shot of toradol - which is like a whole bunch of advil - and that took the edge off the pain after about 15 minutes... now I'm still feeling pain but they gave me T-3's for that... so the fun just isn't stopping around here...

I'm going to try and sleep and recover from another crappy day with this pain...

blogging

So my blogging has been a little bit hit and miss lately as I'm struggling with my TMJ. I've pretty much been through the ringer the last few days and couldn't be happier that tomorrow is Wednesday and I get my mouth guards tomorrow. Pretty sad day for me to want to go to the dentist - as I've been afraid of the dentist for years and here I am looking forward to the phone call that everything has arrived.

How bad is it? Well it is worse than anything I've ever had to deal with. When I was pregnant with Kyle I was sick a lot - more of the pregnancy had nausea in it than anything else - but that was really it. I've had colds and flus but nothing compared to this. Jaw pain, inability to chew food, face muscle pain, numbness, neck and shoulder pain and to top it all off with a cherry I've gotten anxiety from all the symptoms. Anxiety has got to be the worst thing in the whole world. I know that my friends will say that I'm a little off but this is nothing - I really feel like I'm going off the deep end. One little pain leads to another thought about pain leading to fears and dwelling on the pain and what it might be and on and on and on and on until I either calm down and work past it or fall asleep. Plus without real food I'm having sugar lows that also kick start the anxiety. The jaw issues are rooted in stress which I'm working on developing a new relationship with - I need to have more control of my stress level and realize when I've taken on too much... which I have and now I'm trying to withdraw or just take things on as I can and get them done at my own pace.

My dentist is confident that the mouth guard is going to clear this up and I'm riding his confidence to the bank because it is the only hope I have right now.

Thanks for posting books to read - I'm definitely going to get them at the library. I meant to go today but I decided sitting on the couch and relaxing was better for this afternoon. I might get there for lunch tomorrow - all depends on the dentist appointments and when I get scheduled in. So there you go - not much uplifting in that little post, but with any luck my next post will be very positive, happy and cheery :)

product review

I've watched the commercial from the town in Alaska where a woman says she's found the best hand lotion for ultra dry skin on the market - and they would know about dry skin because it is so dry.... so I've seen this commercial for a while and was very interested in the product - I'm always interested in using a skin product that will actually keep my hands feeling normal.

I've used up my regular hand lotion (which really wasn't keeping my hands in good condition) and decided to try the Alaskan supported brand.



Here it is Intensive Rescue Clinical Vaseline Lotion. It claims to increase hydration by 5x that it is long lasting moisture for 24 hours and helps to restore extremely dry skin in five days - restoration through hydration. There was a lot of helpful information on their website. (www.vaseline.ca) (The link will take you right to the clinical page.)

So I've started using the lotion and here is my rating so far. I applied a bunch this morning. It took about the same amount of time to apply as my other lotions (Olay, Vaseline, Aveeno, Body Shop - yup I've used 'em all). I found it to be a little greasy - not overly - (like Aveeno - I had the intensive stuff from them and found it to be very greasy.) I was re-applying it in the afternoon and it doesn't really stay on for 24 hours - or at least not on my dry hands... but since they've noted that for really dry hands you need five days before it will restore your hands, I'm going to continue using it for five days and see how much better my hands have gotten. I'll let you know how it goes, because I'm sure that you really care :)

Ok - off to read something good... tell me what is a book that will be uplifting, non-depressing, non-scary...

blizzard?

Well it got a little bit snowy (less than an inch) and a little bit windy, but at my house there was no blizzard. Disappointing really, I could have gotten out x-country skiing for the afternoon if I hadn't been so worried about what the weather was going to do... I guess better safe than sorry - but I really could have used a ski. I guess it will have to wait until next weekend now.

Today was Michael's 3rd birthday. We spent some time this morning making a chocolate cake and then the boys helped decorate with green sprinkles - Michael's choice... we waited until after dinner to open presents and Kyle wanted to give his first.



What you have here is a rocket ship from recycled materials. He spent about an hour this morning taping things and glueing things - it was so nice to see him work at something so hard for his brother... really it was quite touching. The bottle is the rocket ship that launches out of the box. Michael really liked it and got it right away - that the gift was a rocket ship. I wish now that I had done the same - the more birthdays and christmas gift exchanges we go through the more I really wonder about gift giving - it really isn't about the gifts... love is all that matters.

a blizzard?

So apparently this winter hasn't been bad enough - now they are calling for a BLIZZARD tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking it that that doesn't mean we are all supposed to stop by Dairy Queen tomorrow and pick our favorite flavour. I don't recall actually seeing a blizzard warning for Quesnel before... crazy - madness even. What really sucks is that I was hoping to test out my x-country skiis tomorrow - but there's no way I'm bothering to drive in that.

What else? Well my TMJ (jaw stuff) is brutal right now. It has been pretty bad since I went on holidays but is getting worse and worse - to the point that now I'm avoiding solid food - I'm taking as much advil as I'm allowed - and have been forced to wait to even book a dentist appointment until Monday because my dentist took just as much holiday time as I did.. BLAST! I'm just hoping that getting a mouth guard will solve my problem. I think a bunch of my jaw issues are stress related - but I haven't quite figured out how to make changes to that - but I'm definitely seeking help with it because the pain is literally driving me insane...

On that pleasant and pleasing note I'm going to continue going through my collection of magazines and removing the articles I like and then taking the rest off to the hospital for others to read.

photos...

Alright - so zoolander just didn't cut it - I have harold and kumar on in the background while I'm working on some beading... new to me...



And now for a few photos from Christmas...


Michael and Kyle Christmas morning


Michael opening a transformer present


Kyle with his new fishing net


Transformer slippers from Aunti Mel - modeled by Michael - he actually asked me to take photos of each foot and wanted to check them after I took them...


The boys a few days after Christmas

candy sushi for all you non-raw fish lovers

Last night I was cruising the contest area on Canadian Living and I found a link to safeway's (grocery store) website. I don't think I've ever been on their site, but was very pleased with what I found.

Anyway I came across the following:

Safeway Candy Sushi

That's right - it looks like sushi... but it is candy.

So the rice part in the roll is a marshmallow and you wrap them with fruit leather or fruit rollups and the rice part on the other sushi (ebi) is a half of one of those powdered donuts... I'm going to pick up the stuff to make some in the near future and I'll share what we come up with.

And now I've decided to watch a movie... time for Zoolander - and speaking of movies - I've actually watched a few over the holidays - I watched Hancock the other night and it wasn't too bad - I mean it wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't boring... I also watched most of Wall-E and all of Kung Fu Panda (again)... Wall-E was ok - but definitely a kids movie - I really enjoyed Kung Fu Panda - really really... ok off to Zoolander.

Ok - zoolander isn't doing it for me... I need something to do... I'm bored...

hide and seek

"Hey Mom, close your eyes."

Ok - why?

"Let's play hide and seek."

Ok, sounds good.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 , 10...

Open eyes to see Kyle standing there looking at me - having not moved to hide.

"Mom, close your eyes again and this time count to infinity."

... Needless to say, I'm still counting... ok so the conversation actually went like this...

Ok, one..... (pause) infinity...

I did not receive thunderous applause to my counting... only a funny face - saying mmmmmmmoooooommmmm.

Good times... do I really have to go back to work? :)

Welcome to 2009

Hello everyone and happy new year!

Boys had a fun christmas... and we had our usual quiet new year's. We've spent the last two days moving into the room. It isn't finished but I've given in and really need to get it done before I go back to work next week. What isn't finished... well it could pretty much use a paint job - already - because every contractor that went in there left a mark on it - plus the insulation foam made a hell of a mess on the wall and that all needs to be cleaned. We also had to remove the drain pipe and that meant cutting a hole in the wall that needs to be patched, but I guess we will take care of that later - I'm just not planning on putting anything in front of the hole. I'll share some photos once we get the last of the stuff moved in... I'm looking forward to being in there and having the rest of our stuff cleaned up. I don't know how many times I've heard people say - gees you have a lot of stuff or someone in my family suggesting we have a garage sale - I guess people forget that we renovated a room that was just holding garage sale stuff and then we had christmas which left a few more boxes out...

We cleaned up the Christmas tree last night (I know... what the hell kind of New Years is that...) and I've got my village to put away tomorrow. Anyway - there is a short update. We hope everyone had a safe holiday season and that people are starting to recover from the variety of colds and flus that seemed to set back a few of us over the holidays.

Best wishes for an amazing 2009!

Oh yes - one more note - Jen commented on getting a carbon monoxide alarm and I think everyone should definitely get one. I initially put it off and put it off again - but am thankful that we did have one. They are a little expensive ($50+) but all of our lives are worth that much. In addition to the one natural gas leak (by chance detected during our alarm scare a few weeks ago) we had the installers come back again and found another natural gas leak on the newly installed hot water tank... and hopefully that is the last of the renovations for a while.

christmas

Well nothing went terribly wrong with the house today and I watched the Muppets Family Christmas tonight and actually feel a lot more in the spirit of things... hooray! I just need to watch Garfields Christmas and I'll be good to go :)

The tree has all the presents under it and we have a yummy cookie and carrots for the reindeer (2 for Rudolph, "I feel sorry for him Mom, he should get an extra one," said Kyle) I'm looking forward to a nice brunch-ish meal tomorrow, some good old Christmas cartoons and family arriving... We read the Polar Express before bed and I was surprised that that book inspired the film... I mean the book was good - but man the movie had a lot more details and characters... Kyle enjoyed it and was really happy to get the book - he gave me two hugs for it... it was one of those moments...the ones you can reflect on for a lifetime.

Anyway - I'm going to do a few more things and then get to bed and wait for the kids to wake up and see how the living room has changed, good ole' Saint Nick.

Merry Christmas everyone!

eve

Well this is the first time I've had a few minutes to write anything - today was not a very good day - but it ended well so I can't complain - oh wait, yes I can...

We started the morning with a "plumber" how yanked on my plumbing snake so hard that he broke it - and then left because "he wasn't dealing with that"... my brother came over and he and Andy spent the day working on the problem... the snake was stuck in ice in the drain - and the drain was so full of ice - well it was about 10 ft or more full - so there wasn't much we could do with it... needless to say it was a long day - it ended with a new water pipe being installed and the washer working again...

Some of the day was insane though and part of the reason I'm still awake. I went out to get some work done this afternoon - when I returned to the house are CO2 alarm was beaking off - I go and see it and it has a reading on it - I go into safety mode and evacuate the house... the guys think I'm nuts but I wasn't dying from that shit - that is why I bought the alarm... ok - so we evacuate and I call someone I know on a volunteer fire department - he says call Terasen - gas company - I call Terasen (this is the short version because the long version - well I'll save that for my journal...) Terasen says get out of the house - open windows and doors - and leave - emergency guy will be there soon - ok... I leave again - kids never came back in the house - just me and Andy and my brother (who stayed the whole time...) Terasen arrives and whatever was here has gone with the open windows... from a reading up over 124 down to nothing... but... this very nice Terasen emergency person says he will look around anyway... and what does he find... well no CO2 problem... but he finds that our BRAND new pipes in my BRAND new furnace wasn't tightened enough and was leaking natural gas - which I complained about but was told - "I've got a nose for natural gas and I don't smell it..." I guess he's been smelling too much horse shit lately... cause he was WRONG! Anyway - great Terasen guy tightens the pipe and we seem to back up and running.

I spent the last 2 hours (ish) wrapping gifts and now I can't sleep - the CO2 thing scares the shit out of me. It is dangerous to be around a reading of more than 50 and when I came home from work my whole family was sitting in the house - I think you could have lit me on fire this afternoon and I wouldn't have noticed - I packed Michael - who was asleep - and basically had a fit and now I keep thinking I'm going to hear the alarm go off again - or maybe it won't go off - I know I will sleep tonight but I'm just a little bit ( a lot) out of my gourd...

I'm pretty sure whatever the alarm read this afternoon and beaked off about was something my brother did as he used a chemical ice melter and it stank the house up - it was hard to breath and it gave me a pounding headache - but I never would have thought it would set off our CO2 alarm... I think it was a fluke that Terasen ended up detecting the natural gas leak - I guess the stars aligned on the whole thing - the alarm is clear - the house smells fine now - the pipe is fixed - and everyone is sleeping... except you know who... oh well - so there you go - great holidays... great - flamin' great - it doesn't help that I'm queen of worry-wort village and this just stacks on top of all the shit that runs through my head every day...

Ok - I'm going to watch some tv and unwind... tell me I'm not insane - I'm feeling insane...

Holly-days

So what's new on the work front? Well I thought I was going to work a fair bit today but it turned into a work on the house day - for the most part - we tried - TRIED - to unclog or de-ice our drain to new avail. We got a boiler with a pressurized steam spray that you funnel into the hole and hope for the best - it was a 2.5 person job to get everything working properly and to keep the water that was going in from coming back and going all over the damned place. This didn't work though - which after three good tries, numerous cursing, a significant bruise to my hand I gave in... I called a plumbing company and they should be here tomorrow - again not holding my breath - since I've heard that before. And as I suspected - no sign of the trim guy - freakin' fabulous...

Outside of that nuisance I did get some work done this afternoon - meetings - and then went to one store to look around for christmas gifts - then gave up because it was so busy. I did go to wally world tonight - but even that wasn't very much fun. The boys went to their aunties house and made a gingerbread house while me and my sister walked around wally world. Lots of people out buying... I'm having a hard time buying stuff this year because I'm really trying to avoid useless stuff.

Are there useful and fun gifts?... I'm on the hunt... while trying to complete nearly all my shopping in town..

holidays... well sort of

The plan was to be in holiday mode this weekend but my work schedule changed last week and then with the unfinished room, plus a clogged or frozen washer line I'm pretty much at a standstill on feeling the holiday season.

I need to get to the library and pick up a book - the newest King one I'm reading - well it is short stories so that is nice - but I've read three and only one was really good - but it was good reading, but terrifying and probably something I shouldn't have read.

Tomorrow the trim guy should be here to install and then I can start loading back into the room - and hopefully we can get the drain fixed. I bonked my head something fierce today - I did one of those stupid open the door when your head is in the way moves and clunked my forehead - I thought I was bleeding - turns out it was just the ooze of stupidity leaking out.

brrrrrr

Um - it's already MINUS 33 - and it is supposed to get colder tonight - what is going on... I don't remember it ever being this cold in December - January, sure... but not December.

oh spca

So we are watching the great Global BC TV morning news (BCTV) and a commercial comes on for BC SPCA and it stops the boys in their tracks. "Mom, we need to help those animals," says Kyle. This is followed by Michael "Mom we need to save those titties." LIttle boys grow up so fast.

I leave you with that for now... I'm sure more fun is on the way for today - not going too far - -32 and still dropping.... as much as I want to go shopping - I just don't think the guys need to venture into it.

wimp

Ok - so I left off saying that we were trying a snake... sadly this went no where - well the snake did go down the hole but it did nothing to alleviate our problem. Today I called around and talked to a couple of plumbers and they said if it is just a clog we can do it ourselves. So at the end of my work day I rushed over to a plumbing store and bought the supplies. He tells me as I'm buying it that it is sulphuric acid that does the trick... sulphuric freakin' acid.... plus some enzyme that should be applied after...

Enter the wimpee part of me... I don't want to be burned, I don't sulphuric acid on me or splashing on my walls - who knows what could happen - plus I tell my Dad and he gets all - well you better be careful with that stuff and goes on and on about it... so I wimp out - tonight I'm wearing the gear to do it and decide to try the organic way first - so I put in baking soda and then some vinegar and blam-o I've got a volcano for a washer drain - great - so I re-snake it - hoping for the best - and it actually goes in easier than last night but then when it gets as far as it will go it spins in place - the snake twists and twists and then releases because it is bumping up to something - that something could be ice... it could be general laundry crap, it could be a build up of detergent from years and years ago - it could be something the furnace people put in there... it could be IT1 or IT2... it could be a rubber shoe....

So with little success with the snake or the volcano mixture - I try the enzyme - this is stuff that is potent but not sulphuric acid - it has to sit over night in the hole and with any luck - makes its way over to the problem and voila - unclogs the mess - if it is ice... well we've set up extra heat and hopefully it will unthaw over night... of course we are working against -29 right now - looking to -30's over night...

Within any luck my post tomorrow will be - hooray - it worked... but at this rate it is more likely that I will have won the lotto - and we all know the odds on that :)

angrrrrrrrry

Furious, on fire, mad, upset, stomping, ANGRY!

1:15pm
"Hi... is this April?"

Yes

"Hi, I'm the contractor installing the trim in your room, can I stop by to measure the room?"

sure

"Ok, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Great

1:27pm
Ok - be patient - it is icy and people shouldn't be rushing around
Gives me time to look around... wait a second... what is that?

I look at a foot print on my BRAND NEW carpet from the furnace people... ARG
Um.. hold the phone... what is that?

I look over in the corner of the room and see what looks to be the corner all darkened - almost.... WET!

I actually left the room because I thought I was just mad about the footprint...

1:34pm
No show - still waiting - getting madder - it isn't just his time that is worth money
Walking around the room - I bend down and feel the dark area.... it is WET.
Blood pressure begins to rise

Above the wet spot (about 3 ft long x 2 ft wide... ish) is a new condensation hose they've installed for the new hot water heater - freakin' fabulous... I assume this is the source, but go to the drain they've guided the hose to and see if there is water there - no apparent water - so I call the furnace people.

I remain calm and just note that I'm trying not to lose it since this leak is happening on my BRAND new carpet in my newly near completed room.

"We'll send someone right away..."

1:47pm
Still no trim guy... but what is that - the furnace people are actually here... so quickly... I guess you just have to get stressed about a leak on a two day old thing and they come running.... amazing.

1:55pm
It isn't the furnace - furnace guy, who is not a plumber suggests that it is a clogged drain that just happened to back up - coincidence?

2:05pm Trim guy shows up
"I can do this next week, I'll call on Monday."

(My inside voice notes Monday suggestion and anticipates more like in the new year... note to self - don't hold breath)

2:15pm Trim guy leaves
THANKS!

2:17pm
Furnace guy finishes up and leaves.

2:20pm I call Andy - no answer
2:21pm I call my dad.. "I need help" "What do I do?" I'm basically on the verge of a meltdown and I just try not to cry the whole time on the phone. I know he can hear me breaking - that I've come to the point where I'd just like to beat my head on the wall - he says he'll call me later - but that the drain probably just needs to be snaked - a term I actually know because this isn't my first clogged drain...
2:22pm I have a small cry - because I just can't F'ing believe this project

2:25pm I move the laundry, undo all the water pipes, and cut a little bit bigger hole in the wall to see the problem more clearly.

I spent the next 30 minutes looking for the snake to try the drain...

So now it is night - I'm still upset and have now steam cleaned my BRAND new carpet - so it doesn't smell like dirty smelly water and doesn't leave a big stain... we've snaked the drain to no avail and now Andy has gone to get an attachment to try one of those air pump things to see if that will work...

I'll let you know how it goes...

One more day till vacation... I don't think it can come soon enough.

Christmas concert

Tonight was the grade one Christmas concert. Good times, good times. Kyle's class was up first and as I should expect from our school - they didn't sing a Christmas song - very disappointing. They sang a song that was like the wheels on the bus except they sang about the instrument they were holding and sang about the sound it made... I mean there are how many christmas songs and they couldn't sing one... not impressed... but Kyle had fun - so whatever - the other problem is that the kids come in - sing their song and leave... they don't even get to see the other classes perform...

Ok - so we stuck around for a few more songs - the next song - Carmen you'll appreciate this from our bar dancing days... was the grade seven class who were doing a dance number... here I'm thinking it would be something fun and festive and merry christmas and fun ... did I mention fun? and so what did my listening ears hear... Cotton Eye - freakin' - Joe - I'm not kidding you - they danced around to cotton eye joe just like we did in university - TRAVESTY! So you can't say merry christmas anymore - WHAT! I call 'stupid' and I call 'shut the hell up!'

So after two none christmas - non traditional anythings I was ready to go - I went with some family friends and they wanted to hear a few more songs... we sat for one more and than I said let's go. We picked up Kyle and that was it - I'm glad my parents didn't stay in town for it - as much as Kyle wanted them there it just wasn't worth them delaying their trip home by three hours for five minutes of a non christmas song... no wonder he can't sing any of the christmas songs... I guess they'll be taking Santa out next... after tonight's non-christmas event I'm actually surprised Kyle's even heard of Santa - and that they wrote Santa letters... it must have nearly killed them to do something that is part of the holiday season!

I'm definitely in need of a good dose of Christmas music, loud singing, smiling faces and fun... I guess I'll have to wait until I'm on holidays and we do it at home.

Christmas-y update - Sleepless in Seattle is on... now if I can watch Christmas Vacation I'll be starting to get in the spirit

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song.
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you.
When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration.
But that was long ago, and now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.
Beside the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
Of paradise where roses grew.
Though I dream in vain, in my heart you will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of loves refrain.

oh babe - i miss you so much - it hurts...

man - another great movie...

Wrapping

Tonight was the beginning of wrapping presents - I actually wrapped everything we have for gifts right now and now have a few more items to get before Christmas arrives.

I also have an item coming from a distance and I don't know if it will make it here on time... but not the end of the world - just be nice to have here for Christmas.

How are others doing in their Christmas shopping? Finished? Haven't started?

the ear

"Hello, (pause) April."

"Yes"

"April, this is Mrs.Teachers name, Kyle is at school. He said he didn't want to get on the bus today and that he needs to go to emergency. He says that he has a rock in his ear."

*gulp, followed by silence

"I'll come and pick him up, I'll be there shortly."

Fast forward to tonight....

As some will recall our curious five year old (now six) put a rock in his ear earlier this year and we had a highly traumatic visit to emergency. We've dealt with that trauma nearly every day since. Kyle is still sensitive to what happened and is very sensitive about his ears. So when I got this call I wanted to cry. When I put the phone down I'd already decided that I'd ask for sedation for Kyle and some for me... if they could share.

Kyle describes the scene and the more he talks about it, the more I think there isn't really anything there... but he insists that he feels something rolling around. So I make an appointment with our great doctor and we get in about 30 minutes after I call. This also gave me the opportunity to discuss Kyle's ongoing cough - more than three weeks old now...

So hooray there was nothing in his ear and his cough is just a cough and he didn't have any suggestions other than to wait and see if it goes away on its own eventually. So after our little adventure I said I needed to do some work and I took him up to the Mayor's office to drop off some stuff... the Mayor gave Kyle a special chocolate and one for Michael and then we got a tour of City Hall - it was great! Kyle had to hang out for a couple of conversations, but nothing too boring - and he didn't seem to mind... I think he was still getting over the fact that there wasn't anything in his ear... he was actually telling himself to calm down on our way to the clinic...

There you go - another adventure in our lives :) Fun never stops.

booties

Today was my "bitches" (said with love) christmas brunch and it was fabulous as always! We had this amazing breakfasty/lunchish meal and then exchanged some gifts... I got these great slipper boots - and I've been wearing them since I got home...



So they are definitely comfy and warm - I don't have them rolled up to my knees but it looks like you could pull them up if you wanted to - I've just got them scrunched down. They also have a decent amount of foam in the sole and so they provide a nice cushion... so if you are buying slippers for someone this year who might like something beautiful and functional take a look for these... in Quesnel they are available at Carvers and Outlaw.

And now.. I'm back to finishing my christmas cards - I'm nearly done...

a gift

So Kyle has been looking for a gift for my mom for a few weeks. About three weekends ago he and I went by ourselves to Farmers' Market Christmas (the best little local Christmas market in the North). There is a lot to look at but he came across a magnet bracelet/necklace table and then found some unique animal jewelry containers. They have little jewels all over them and are child size animals... tough to explain. Anyways I didn't think much of it - and I said we'd come and look at it again. I thought he should look around and see if something else didn't spark his interest. So for the past few weeks I've heard about the dolphin jewelry holder that he needed to get her.

Last weekend we went back to the market and the company wasn't there. He left in tears... so I knew we needed to get it - it meant a lot to him to give her something pretty that also was something he loved - animals. So today we went back to the market and they were there - phew - but... no dolphin. I wasn't really sure what would happen but he decided he wanted to look at all the other animals and pick her a different one.

After some time looking and holding each one he decided on a whale. It is very shiny and will be the shiniest, prettiest animal and quite possibly object in my mom's home. It isn't something I would have picked for her but it means the world to him... I think she is going to look at it and go... um, what? but I'll know (and tell her later) how much it meant to him to give her a gift that he really thought about... and it isn't really about the gift - it is about the love he has for her... I don't think anyone could ask for anything more - love is the most valuable thing.

Well I'm going to finish my christmas cards tonight and then I have a girls christmas party tomorrow morning - hooray.

baby, it's cold outside

This morning it snowed (ok - so my blog is turning into the weather network... so what... ) and then late today it cleared and the wind started up and now it is windy and the sky is clear and it can do nothing but get colder... minus 30 for monday... the upside of that shiny coin is that Monday also represents the start of the five day countdown to my holidays - and Tuesday I'm going to Williams Lake - so that is work - but it isn't in the office - so hooray for that :)

Kyle was sick last night - not fun - so I stayed home for some of this afternoon and Andy and my mom were around today to play with the kids and have some fun while Kyle got better. He was good enough to play outside this afternoon so he wasn't super sick - but definitely not great...

I'm baking tonight - cookies - monster ones (monsters have chocolate candies in them) and I've got some great tins I've collected at clearance sales or garage sales that I'll be using to ship off this week. I don't know how far I'll get with baking tonight - but started nonetheless.

I had this great fun story to share tonight and now it is lost... so sorry about that - I only have the odds and ends of my day to share...

On the reading front - I've started reading Just after sunset - the latest Stephen King short stories novel and so far it is pretty tame - which is shocking to me - but it has made for good reading - with my anxiety this fall I actually didn't want to read King because it made my mind go into overdrive - but I finally gave in and started reading this new one.. so we will see.... I'm hoping to read the follow up book to Pillars of the Earth over the holidays - I really enjoyed Pillars - which surprised me because it wasn't something I thought I would like - and since then (phew - um - about 10 years ago... ) I hoped for a follow up story - Follett delivered and I never read it - so that is one thing I'd like to do.... I'd love to hear what others are reading - or suggest for reading...

On the second Christmas miracle front - the paint is drying in the room and we'll have carpet on Monday - hooray! Then slap up the trim and I'll be able to clean up the basement - just in time for my vacation - giving me lots of time to organize - or at the very least - pretend to organize.

The weekend lies ahead - a little bit of shopping tomorrow and likely more baking and fun with the family.

Are you a reindeer?

I'm Prancer, the sexiest reindeer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you eat Santa's cookies while he is putting presents under the tree... Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and know how to make mistletoe magic.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Ok - so I did the survey and then adjusted the answer a bit... just in case you get Prancer as your reindeer and you found out that you aren't the sexiest reindeer as well

hooray...

Quesnel got one... holy crapper!

Since I've given up coffee drinking (again) I've been a little less interested in going... but did have a yummy decaf peppermint mocha, no whip... mmmm....

nog

Ok - so I'm going to try and work on my christmas cards tonight... that's the plan - I have another 50 minutes to finish up as much as I can...

Time to break out a cup of nog and get to it... what are others doing? Are you in the spirit or spirits? Have you found the spirit?
What are you doing to celebrate the holidays?

I was at a great women in business session this morning everyone talked about gifts they found locally or things they were making or doing with family... it was great to listen to and fun to hear some great ideas to celebrate the holidays and family...
8 more work days - yippee... now that is something to celebrate :)

A quick note

Happy Birthday to my sister, Mel

a quick thought

We wouldn't have believe without evil....

One of those things that comes out of working on christmas cards and scrapbooking :)

Alright - onward and upward and hopefully not backward.

tree #2

So here is my 2nd tree this year. I've received a few (a lot) of the Christmas scene houses - you know - the village ones - well I love it - I like having this mini village in the house - I've painted a couple myself and my mom and dad have bought Kyle one every year since he was born. So we have a few and this year I simply didn't have room in our main living room for them - so this year I'm setting them up in the downstairs living room and since I had a spear tree that I'm storing for one of the groups I work for I thought - hell - I might as well use it... so it is all a glow in my basement.

I need to go and finish setting up the village.... maybe I'll follow up with some pictures...

oh and it is raining lots... nice winter... ha

oh the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down

Here it is - Friday night - and it is still raining... we braved the weather and watched the downtown christmas parade tonight - and before that I shoveled the driveway - so now I can hardly move my arms - it took more than an hour to shovel the driveway - but we had fun - cause the guys helped direct the snow piling and we also tried to make a snowman...

The parade was ok - the kids liked it - but it was raining and we were pretty cold... I usually watch it from my office, but I thought since Andy was in it this year we should be on the street so they could see dad...

Anyway - I'm now watching Kenny vs Spenny - I know I probably shouldn't admit that I watch it - but I do ... I'm not a dedicated fan - but for some reason I'm drawn to watching their crazy antics.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend - I'm hoping the weather breaks overnight; giving our highway people an chance to get the road in good condition so I can drive up to South Quesnel and get some stuff I ordered in. Here's to excellent weekends ahead for all! Hmmmm.... maybe I should be enjoying a glass of wine to warm up - see now that sounds like a good idea!

it is snowing

I just thought I'd share that :)

11:15pm - still snowing

7:59am - still snowing....

10:48am - still snowing...

11:50am - snow appears to have stopped - will report if it is just a cruel trick of nature or actually stopping - or worse yet changing into some other falling water particle

12:46pm - snow has become freezing rain - blah - so no driving for me this afternoon ... oh well - stuff can always wait until tomorrow :)

2:58pm - still raining - roads not looking good from my birds eye window... loads of fun to drive home in - at least we don't have far to go

news

Last night before I went to bed I turned on the news to see if there was anything interesting on - outside of the chaos in Ottawa... so here is what I listened to - the economy is bad, our government is bad, a bear ate someone's pet while the family watched, roberto luongo still isn't back playing hockey, and to cap it all off - as if all of that wasn't bad enough and fear mongering enough they have a group of american's talking about a lethal biological weapon being released on american soil before 2013... pardon me - but what the hell - like everything isn't bad enough in the news... who are these idiots that put together programming and news timing.

Anyways - here I am the next day and I'm still mad about it - hopefully my torch relay meeting today will bring my spirits back :)

project update 2

So woo hoo and happy day I've finished three more projects... well four - but one was for me... I can't share because they are christmas items - but I'm very pleased to be finished - I need to make an adjustment to one of the projects, I think... but for tonight I'm going to sleep on it and look at it again tomorrow to see if I really want to make a change.

2nd holiday miracle update

No such luck - looks like the basement won't be ready until end of next week - which is still fine - I'd just really like to have my stuff back in order by Christmas - that's all I really want...

Now I just need to pick a paint color for the room... I'm thinking of following - this will be my office/craft/spare room.



This is a screen shot from behr - a paint company. Any thoughts?

the project - the start of a hooker

I've tried and gotten ok at a number of crafts - knitting - not so good - but I can knit and perl, crocheting - well I'm pretty okay at it and have made a lot over the years... needle point - sure - in the 80's me and my friend use to do a lot of it... chocolate making, cross stitching, drawing, glass etching - I've tried a lot - so my latest venture into the world of crafting was hooking... no - they have not turned the activity of standing on the corner and attracting male attention into a craft - this is all about making a rug or pillow. It is time consuming, but pretty simple - if you have patience. And so - I unveil my first completed (that's right COMPLETED) project! HIP HIP HOORAY - something complete!



So now I'm going to attach this to a pillow and off it will go as a christmas present. What's next? Well I definitely have a project in mind... but I'm not terribly interested in starting it just yet - I have some scrapbooking I want to do and might hold off on new projects until my basement is back in order - which might be as soon as this weekend - the 2nd holiday miracle :)

And speaking of the holidays...


Christmas tree 2008

santa 2008

On Saturday we went to the annual school district Christmas party and for a change - we were actually on time - usually my mom shows up late and we walk in after the gifts are being handed out... which means that we have to wait until the end and them going back over those who were missed. I did some complaining last year and now this year - we were in the top 20 people there - which meant we were one of the top 20 called up.

It was fun and low stress and usually I'm bitchy and whining during and after the event. This time - pretty good - everyone had a good time - everyone had fun - it was the first holiday miracle :)

After the event we went for lunch - or rather the boys did with my parents while I sat there and played cop to them eating and misbehaving... plus I don't eat fast food and so going to A&W and being offered fries and stuff made me a little - RRRRRR - so I just wanted to get home.

Highlight: Kyle noted the following as Santa made his big entrance - "Look, Santa's grandma came with him." (aka Mrs Claus)


The boys with my mom


The boys visiting Santa - that's as close as Michael came to Santa...


Some photography fun for me after Santa - I managed to get within about 10 feet of this fawn - I got a few other shots of the fawn with the mom and a few other deer - it was awesome!

project update

Alright so the project I really got going on this week should be finished for tomorrow... amazing...

I sat here and watched (mostly) the newest Indiana Jones and I gotta say that I can't believe that that was the story line - I mean really - that's how it ends - that is the story of Indiana Jones - it was actually not the worst film until the last 15 minutes or so... ok - I know - that's a stretch that those 15 minutes were the only bad parts, but I'm trying to be kind because I love the other three films... I just can't believe it. I guess I'm not super disappointed - I'd heard it wasn't great and didn't think it would even be as good as it was... at least it wasn't like I am legend - when it was like 'ooohhhh it is the best film ever - it is amazing" and then we watch it and it sucked... and my expectations were sooo high and just completely dashed...

ok - back to the project and less computer...

stink

There was something smelly in my office yesterday.... thanks, but no it wasn't me :)

I couldn't figure out what it was and I went as far as spraying down the floor and cleaning my chair pad to get rid of the smell. I'm pretty sure the smell gave me my headache yesterday after - something chemically... anyhow - this mornin I sit down and there it is again - and I decide that's it - I'm not sitting here all day and getting another headache... and so began the tearing apart of my office - I believe that I found the source and am now able to think while I work... amazing how that can turn things around...

Alright - so another day kicked off - time for work.

how did it go...

Well my day wasn't as rotten as I thought after my attempt at negativity control :) I ended up with a terrible headache in the afternoon though and I've been feeling a little rotten the rest of the day. I worked out tonight though and don't feel like such a slug now.

I'm working on a project and I'm hoping to share it by the weekend - I took it on my trip to Seattle and started it but then left it - then I got back to it last night and I'm feeling like I'll have it finished for the weekend.

Alright - a photo and then back to the project and - holy crap - I just realized it was after 11... damn! Ok - so I'm going to bed... ARG... ok - project might be tail end of weekend... k - so no photo tonight - I'll load something tomorrow :)

a post before I really get working

It is 12 minutes to the real start of my work day - although I've actually been working for 20 minutes already... and I just wanted to kick off the week on a high note - I'm actually feeling a little bit low this morning, but I know that I need to be thinking positively and then the good stuff should come back to me - will -... the good stuff will come back to me :)

So in an effort to turn the day around here are some quotes to bring smiles and get anyone else who may be feeling this way some help too :)

A day without laughter is a day wasted ~ Charlie Chaplin

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.Dream. Discover ~ Mark Twain

To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever ~ Henry Drummond

And a final one to kick off the morning... To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world - and this came from the ever famous unknown... so feel free to tell people that this morning and throughout the day and tell them you came up with it... :)

Smiling and ready for the work day....