8 Days and Counting

So we are down to single digits. Counting down the days until we fly away to sunny Florida for 2 weeks. I can't wait. It will be so exciting to see my girls when they find out where we are going to be for Christmas holidays. I have known about this trip since the summer so it is killing me that I have not been able to tell them. Especially on days when they are driving me crazy because I figure that "If you do not behave yourself you are not going to Disney" would probably be way more effective than the "If you do not behave yourself you are not going to get your dessert" that I have been using since they were born!

There are only 8 more days until we board our flight. I haven't even started to pack yet. Do you think that is a bad thing? The way I look at it is that I have 7 more days to procrastinate about packing and cleaning and then 1 day-totally under pressure-to do everything that I should have been doing since this summer.

Hustle and Bustle

Alas, good ole' December has arrived. Month of over-spending, over-eating and, my personal favorite, over-drinking.

This time of December is always a tad bit more stressful than anything after December 9. This is because Darian has her birthday on December 9, so not only do I have to worry about remortgaging my home for Christmas gifts, I also have to worry about what kind of cool thing a soon-to-be 12 year old would like to have.

There is the ever cool ipod....wait....she has one of those. Ok, well there is a computer....wait....she has one of those.....hmmmmm.....clothes.....clothes are good but that just means more laundry! What do you buy for a girl that wants for absolutely nothing and treats it all as though it is disposable anyway? I have only 3 more days to decide.

After the 9th usually I would be running around like a mad woman, fighting crowds to do Christmas shopping that I swear every year I am going to start earlier. It never happens. This year I will have a different hustle and bustle to deal with though.

Out of the kindness of their hearts (and wallets) my parents are taking our whole family for a glorious 2 week vacation to Disney World!!! I cannot wait. No presents to buy (at least not before I leave because suitcases can only weigh so much....), no tree to decorate, no cookies to bake, no Awesome-Father-In-Law for Christmas!!! Oh joyous day!!!!

Instead of all those nasty things I have to do every stitch of laundry in the house in an effort to make sure that we don't have to spend days 5- 14 naked, I have to arrange a cat-sitter, something I never though I would have to do or would require so much effort. I also have to pay someone to shovel snow while we are gone which could be either the best money spent or the easiest money a person could make given Alberta's ever unpredicatable weather.

I did have to fight a crowded Wal-Mart the other night to buy cat food. I bought enough to feed an army. The lady at the till though I had about 20 cats. I explained that I did not wish to have to return for cat food before our trip as it is just too much of a pain in the ass. I have to return anyway....I forgot the litter!

Hmmmmm.....kitty litter.....Darian doesn't have any of that! Do you think would make a good birthday present?

Feeling Bad

With my dear Nathan out of town for work the last 2 nights I have been sitting and catching up on some blog reading. What I should have been doing is catching up on some blogging but I just can't seem to find my blog mojo. I did post the other day (more of a rant than a real post...but it's there) and then after proof reading it (after publishing it...only a little backwards) I decided to review what I have written. I was surprised. Sometimes I don't think that it was me who actually wrote some of the things on here.

After getting over myself, which didn't take too long, I am shocked and amazed that I am still linked to any other blogs....all of which are very good and entertaining, basically the complete opposite of what mine has become. I guess right now I just want to say thanks to those of you who have been so kind to take a peek into my life. I promise that it will get more interesting. Soon.

Been There, Done That!

There is something that has been bugging the shit out of me all week. I am not sure why is it bothering me so much so I am hoping that by unloading it onto the internet that I will feel better.

I have 3 daughters, the oldest of which is going to be 12 in a month. If you do the math, that means that I have been a mother for almost 12 years. In those 12 years I have had to get out of bed for early morning and midnight feedings, midnight puke clean up and midnight "Mommy sleeping...she won't know I ate all the popsicles" refridgerator raids. I have spent sleepless nights with a chicken-pocked baby, driven countless late night kilometres with a cranky teether and paced a hole in my floor with a cold-stricken bundle of phlegm in my arms. I have done all the things that I can't remember about right now that were not a vision of perfection in Motherhood.

And then after all that, I added another to the mix. At this point Darian was ready to start school. I did almost all of the above mentioned over again, this time having to do it on more of a schedule. Just when life settled into a nice rut, with nearly self-sufficient children.....I did it again! Enter Ryleigh.

I have also contiued to live life while having children. I stayed up way too late drinking but still got up in the morning to tend to my kids. I am a human being who also gets sick with colds, flus and other various illnesses. I still got up and took care of my kids. Bad things happen in life but I always managed to make sure that if I wasn't caring for my kids, then someone was, but usually I was close by.

You are probably wondering by now where the hell I am going with this. Lately there has been someone in my life, that I spend a fair bit of time with, that likes to lament about how she never gets a break from the kids, she never gets to sleep in and so on and so on. She continues with how it must be nice that I get to sleep in on Sundays or that I have Darian and Camryn to help me with and to watch our baby, Ryleigh, when I want some time or a nap.

I have listened to these comments for sometime now and lately it has reached a point where I am ready to fire back at her. All the things that she complains about, the having to get up in the morning after a late night or working hard the day before, the trying to watch 2 kids while trying to keep house, or work, or study, all of it.....I have done it! I have done it for nearly 9 years longer than she has.

It is nice that I have 2 older daughters that help out with Ryleigh. It is nice that my husband knows how important Sundays are for me and that he and my kids treat me to a morning to sleep in and a day of minimal "Mom" work. It hasn't always been this way. I did not have a "Darian" when Darian was a baby. I did the work. I did not have a "Darian and Camryn" to help me when Camryn was a baby. I did the work. Nathan has not always had a Monday-Friday job. We have done the working weekends at all hours. We had a baby and lived 7 hours apart from each other!! I did the work!!

Now don't get me wrong. I love my kids and feel like the work that I have done is totally worth the effort as they are really great kids! I am just not impressed by hearing how much easier it is for me to be a Mother as opposed to my friend. I've had a get into everything 1 year old, a terrible 2 year old and an even worse than two 3 year old......twice before already!! You are not breaking new ground.....millions of us have done it before you and millions of us will do it after we are long done. My life as a Mother has not always been what it is today and for all I know it could change in the next hour. I refuse to feel bad for how things happen here. I don't feel sorry for you when you have had to get up early with kids and truthfully I probably never will.

I know that I have it good. I am thankful that I have it good. I will continue to be thankful that I have it good and the next time that this person reminds me of such perhaps I will thank her for reminding me!

Lacking

I haven't been doing very well with this whole blog thing. It seems that the only time that I think of anything worthwhile to write about is when I am lying in bed at some godawful time of the night when normal people are sleeping. I guess I could get up and actually come to the computer, all of maybe 20 ft. away from my bed, but that would take too much effort. That and it is about 10 degrees colder in this room than it is in say....the Arctic. That makes it very hard to want to get out of bed....even for something as entertaining as posts like this.

I think that right now my life is just not as exciting as it previously has been. I have 3 cats with all 4 legs, a functioning kitchen, Awesome Father-In-Law hasn't been around much and over all things have been running smoothly here.

Although I guess I could blog about my neighbor who yelled at me for smoking on my own front step or the halfway house for all of Edmonton's teenage population across the street or maybe even about Nathan's hair, or lack thereof. The possibilities really are endless.

Now if I could only get some heat to this room we could be cooking.

Thanksgiving

It must just be the time of year I guess. I cannot believe that as I sit here typing this I can admire my baby and truly say that I don't think that I have ever been this happy. I don't have to work. My baby is acting silly and making me laugh, my pies both turned out and my basement is almost clean.

This (and for the next 3) weekend I will be giving thanks for the opportunity that I have. I get to stay at home and take care of my family. I am sure that there are a million women out there that would gladly turn in their 9 to 5 job to have mine.

This is getting way too touchy feely for me but just know that I am happy....and thankful.

When does it end?

So I was feeling kind of gung-ho this week and as a result I now have hardwood in my living room and dining room. Now don't go and get the wrong idea, the hard wood has been there longer than I have been alive but it was covered with cheap, ugly laminate. The laminate is apparently very near and dear to the hearts of the people who used to live here. My neighbor is friends with them and told them that we were going to rip it up and the lady nearly had a coronary and extolled my neighbor with the story of how difficult and how much work it was to lay it down (over disgusting pools of dog urine I might add.....gross!!!!!).

Today my two oldest daughters decided that they were going to be helpful and try to force me to stay in bed all day long while they cleaned, cooked and looked after their baby sister. I think that my children were kidnapped by aliens and replaced with clones but they assure me that they are the originals. They were cleaning the floor when I finally said that we were going to finish ripping up the laminate. It only took us about half hour to do that and now the floor is nice and clean and my front yard is littered with cheap, ugly laminate. Maybe if I leave it there someone will come and take it away during the night. It could happen.....

So now all we have left to do is paint the entire upstairs, ceiling included, lay new tile from front door down the hall, refinish the hardwood, buy and install new baseboards, decide what kind of flooring to replace the cheap, ugly laminate with in the bedrooms, redo the bathroom.......the list goes on and on. When we are finally finished with the upstairs then my basement needs to be gutted and redone. Sigh.....I hope these clone children get to stay for awhile because they have lots of work to do!!!!

Camping Trip

This past weekend we went on a kid-free camping trip. IT RULED!!!!!!

I cannot believe how much fun it can be to just sit around a fire, drink beer, talk, laugh, smoke, eat and relax. The weather was alright but considering that it is still August, it could have been much better. It was in the low 20s, high teens, which is great weather if it was October.

We played a few games of bocce ball, which I am not that great at. I am sure that if I could kick the ball I would do much better but I am pretty sure that I would break my ankle.

Although I am finding it difficult to put into words just how great it was just know that I cannot wait for it to happen again next year and hopefully for many years to come.

Getting Back On The Wagon

I guess I took a summer hiatus. I was not intended but it happened.

There are only 2 more (actually 1.5) weeks left of summer holidays. The girls will be heading back to school and I will be.....at home....with Ryleigh.....wishing that the girls were home. I will only be like that for the first little while I am sure. After that I will be too busy with junior high, this activity or that activity, homework, first words, baking and all the other things that, as a teenager, I swore I would never do or be as an adult.

This year I will try my hardest to blog more. I have been thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that blogs only get done when you sit at the computer and type and not so much when you only think about what you are going to type. Here I am........getting back on the wagon.

Slacking

Ok so I have not been the best blogger as of late but in my defence....well there is none. I have just been slacking.

Currently I am not at home. I have been playing cowgirl (ok not really) at the Calgary Stampede. Actually I have been playing "I have money" which I don't. We took the girls the other day and spent $300.00!!! It really didn't take that long, especially when you consider that we spent $25.00 to park. Parking at the Stampede requires financing. We paid $30.00 to park for the parade...yep $30.00 for 3 hours of parking. Welcome to downtown Calgary!!! YAHOO....

Darian, Camryn and I went to the Stampede by ourselves last night. I took them to see Good Charlotte and then go on some more rides. We did not get back to my parents until 1 am. I am so done Stampedin' for the year. It is always fun but very tiring. We didn't even go do all the things that we normally do. I only went to one Stampede breakfast, we didn't have any free lunches and I only ate bannock once!!

You will notice that my Stampede experience is generally related to food. That is because I am a huge wimp and do not go on rides. I watched with awe and fear last night as my children went on ride after ride that flip them, twirl them, soak them and generally make them giddy. The smiles that they had on their face make me smile just thinking about them. Camryn is so happy that this is the year that she grew big enough to go on most of the rides that she wanted to. I think that Darian really enjoyed being the big sister taking her little sister on all the "big" rides.

The thought of my kids going on some of these rides just about had me in tears last night. I was doing my best to keep a happy face on though. I don't want my kids to have any fear of amusement park rides because let me tell you how boring it is stand around with all the bags while you watch everyone else scream with fear and joy.

Anyway...there is more to this story but I have to tend to the kids for the moment. We are spending our last few hours together before I head home on the bus and they stay with Grandma and Poppa for the weekend. I can't wait.....sleep will be so sweet without having to worry about getting up with the baby. Maybe I will recover from being so exhausted in time for Capital Ex.

A Little Less Excited

So I posted last week about my new appliances.....yeah....they didn't show up. I am steaming mad...and not at dirt.

Apparently when you buy appliances in full 3 months prior to actually needing them in the hopes there is no guarantee that they will actually, in fact, be here when or because you need them. Not only were my appliances not delivered on Thursday, they were not even in the same area code as me on Thursday, they were somewhere.....else. There was no explanation as to why they were not here and being delivered to the house that has not had a stove for over a month. There was also no phone call from Sears saying that they were not going to be delivered because they were not here (although their computer indicates differently. Bastard computer telling nothing but lies.).

They apparently have finally arrived in Edmonton (thank god for the little details) and SHOULD be here sometime between 12-5 (when is Mayor Cammy going to outlaw appointment windows?) and so help them god if they are not here I will be.....well that remains to be seen.

Will update tomorrow sometime between 12-5......I hope.

So Excited~

My new appliances are coming!!! My new appliances are coming!!!

They should be here sometime tomorrow. You will notice that I have only specified "sometime". That is because any place that will deliver anything will only talk to you in generalities when it comes to time. "Yes, we will be there to deliver your (insert something you have paid for here) sometime between when hell freezes over and pigs fly....".

Actually, come to think of it, television and telephone companies also use this method of booking, and I use the term loosely, appointments.

But back to more important things. Sometime tomorrow I will proudly display shiny, new kitchen appliances in my shiny, new kitchen. I am just giddy.

Pics to follow....I promise Cammy.

Happy Father's Day

I don't think that anywhere in the world that I could have found a better Father for my daughters. He is everything and thensome to me and our girls. I wish that there was something that could express exactly how grateful I am to have him. I know it is not much but at least I can tell the whole internet (or at least a handful of people that come to my little corner of it) that I wish my wonderful husband, on behalf of our beautiful daughters, the happiest Father's Day he can have!!!

Use Your Indoor Voice

I hate the bank. I especially hate the Royal Bank. Today was an occasion that made me loathe that I have money and that it is not underneath my mattress. It was not the bank's fault today though.

I walk through the doors, groaning as usual. I hate this bank for the fact that there are always a million people in line and only 2 tellers. One who goes to smoke between each client like they had just had the best sex ever and the trainee who can't shit without the manager being in on it. Anyway, surprise of all surprises, today they had 5 tellers, the line was actually moving faster than a snail.

I was just standing there, waiting patiently when this annoying, shrill, high-pitched, Minnie Mouse, WAY TOO LOUD FOR A BANK VOICE draws my attention to the business wicket. Minnie Mouse looks like all the other people that go to the business wicket. Perky, blond, skinny, in heels high enough to look down her nose at everyone of us poor suckers in the normal, million person long, line.

She told the poor teller all about how the parking spaces around her building are being developed and how they went from "like 20 spaces to like 3 spaces which totally sucks because I don't want to have to walk like 4 blocks to my building in heels. And there are, like, creepy people who ask you for like money and like cigarettes and stuff". She further went on to explain about how "like Whyte Ave. was like awesome this weekend. Do you like hang out there? I went to...." drone, drone, like drone.

Thank god that the trainee and the smoker were not working today because I am sure that if I had to stand in that line-up any longer I would have like put my like foot up her like ass!!!! Either that or I am sure that she would have moved on to a much more interested topic...say like yeast infections or stuff.

If the poor teller didn't hang out on Whyte Ave before she might just start because clients like Minnie Mouse would surely drive me to drink.

Falling Behind

I have not been able to eat at home for weeks now. At least not anything that hasn't been charred, microwaved or come in colorful packaging that has way too long of a shelf life.

Since the last update (which I can't even remember as it has been so long) I have new drywall, which we got a sweet-ass deal on, new elecrical (think I mentioned that), new sub-floor and a fresh coat of paint.

We needed 2 days and a lot of beer and painkillers to rip up the multiple layers of ancient sub-floor but we finally did it. I am sure that the garbage men are going to be cursing me for months to come as I will put out approximately 2 garbage cans full of said sub-floor until it is all a bad memory.


Our sweet-ass of a deal drywall was completed more than a week ago and I am still sneezing out drywall dust and wiping it off surfaces that I did not even know existed in my house. There are still some spots that look like they have been patched but I guess the fact that my house is older than my parents....well maybe I can let some things slide. Other than the odd spot, I am so impressed with how the new drywall has turned out and even more impressed that he made a ceiling that looked like swiss cheese look nice and smoooooooooth.

On Monday my new kitchen cabinets were delivered. They take up my whole dining room and some of my living room. This would not normally bother me but now I actually have to share my couch with people so that we can all watch the Sens lose the Stanley Cup tonight.



Our cabinet installation was to begin today but as per usual when I am looking forward to something, it has been delayed. The installer is sick and won't make it here until tomorrow. I guess it could be worse but I have had this day in my mind since we ordered our cabinets in March and especially since I have not had a kitchen since May 19. That and the fact that I don't want to have to share my couch. That is why we have 2, one for me and one for Nathan.

We have company from B.C. here right now as well so it makes it very hard to be a gracious hostess when your company is dodging 5 ft. piles of laundry that have been neglected since kitchen reno hell started, a house that has the same amount of order (maybe even less) as say.....your friendly neighborhood crack den and enough boxes in it that you could surely pack every knick-knack that every Grandma in the world owns and still have enough boxes for the Grandmas to be packed up too!!!

So with all that rambling I will sign off for the day. I hope that tomorrow I will have a start to a new kitchen. Once the cabinets are in then I get to take a crash course in tile setting. Can't wait!!!

Day 4? 5? I lost count already.

We have been hard at work. The kitchen is down to studs, ugly paint and 2 layers of ugly floor. The electricians are here as I type giving me more outlets...YAY!! Now I won't have to make my kitchen a fire hazard with extension cords and 6 outlet plug-ins!! Joy of all joys!!!

Next on the list is to pull up not one, but two layers of sub-floor with linoleum older than my kids and cats combined. After that we need to re-drywall (note to self: hire a taper), have Nathan install sink so as to have running water, set up make-shift, survivor-like kitchen, paint, clean, (entertain Awesome Father In Law), clean some more and count down the days to cabinet installation. I am sure that in between all of that I should also do something with my children...you know...like clothe them, feed them, talk to them, stuff like that.

Isn't kitchen renovation exciting?

The Beginning of the End

It is Day 2 already. Day 2 of kitchen renovation hell. I have been excited, nervous and stressed out all at the same time for the last 3 months. From the day that we ordered our new kitchen cabinets I have been all these things.

Yesterday was the beginning of the end. I finished (well 99% finished) packing all of our kitchen into open boxes. Everything haphazardly thrown into a box and moved into what was once my dining room. The stove was cleaned and gleaming for it's new owners to come and pick it up (and they got a hell of a deal on it).

We have pulled down ugly plastic light covers and ugly chair rail only to find out that the ugly yellow paint is over what at one point in time was ugly wallpaper to match the ugly cabinetry. UGLY, UGLY, UGLY. I keep reminding myself how lovely and modern my new kitchen will be with its lovely charcoal maple cabinetry and it's lovely new stainless steel appliances.

Yes, we are at the beginning of the end of ugly in our house. Now if only the end wasn't so far away and so much work.

*I would love to add a picture of the ugly but something is not right in blogger land right now.....

Why?

are the months in my sidebar en espanol?

Impending Crazy

I think that I am starting to go crazy. I am unsure if I am being totally irrational or not but I know that the anxiety attack that I can feel building inside me is there.

I really need to get away or maybe that is not what I need....see....I can't even decide that. Going somewhere would require leaving my house and even that is getting to the point where I really need to convince myself to do it. I need to meet some new people but I have forgotten how to make friends. Where are all the people that I have something in common with? Am I just that odd that I am totally alone?

I HATE FEELING LIKE THIS!!! I just want to pull away from everyone and everything but Nathan won't let me (which I am sure is a good thing).

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Damn Facebook

Does anyone know where my desire to do anything other than surf Facebook went? I lost it. I have laundry to do, supper to cook and oh yeah, those 3 little people that live with me....they would like their mother back.

I find it fascinating that I have become so consumed with this Facebook thing. I have heard from a few people that I honestly never thought that I would see or hear from again. People that I actually liked and am happy to hear that they are doing well. Then there are people that I would like to converse with but I am sure that they could care less that I still populate the earth.

And then there are the people that I went to elementary school with. I have looked through their profiles and viewed their friends and they are still friends with the same damn people that they were friends with 20 years ago. Which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing but I know that they were (and may still be) a clique due to the exclusion of others. I am finding that the way they portray themselves on Facebook is exactly the way that I remember most of them to be in school. I am not sure why I give a shit about this. I think that I find it amusing more than anything else.

Oh well. The novelty will wear off eventually and I will again go back to not caring where various people that I haven't thought about in 20-something years are or what they are doing. I will be happy that people that I did give a damn about are doing well. I will be happy when my new addiction reverts back to the old one.
(Do I really sound as retarded as I think I do?)