Fashion Statements

For the next 7 weeks, my mom is going to be sporting this lovely fashion accessory:

We, will be wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

Today, as I type this, my mother begins 7 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy as part of her treatment and survival plan against Stage 3 throat cancer.

Prayers are appreciated as my mom begins her battle. May she have the strength and perseverance needed to be victorious. May those of us around her offer the love, support and assistance she needs. May the talents, knowledge and expertise of the medical team successfully treat her. May God know that our faith is strong, our hearts open and our love pure. And may this cancer be GONE, and may our fashion statements go out of fashion VERY SOON.

(Love you Mom!)

Private Parts - Priceless

While driving through Alberta, Canada we stopped at Drumheller - Dinosaur land! No trip to this dinosaur discover meca is complete without visiting the WORLD'S LARGEST DINOSAUR.

After we safely parked our van far enough away from the enormous T-Rex (and Madigan was sure he would not eat our van!), we paid the wallet-gouging, tourist-grab admission price to hike up the stairwell, to look out the observation deck.

As we climbed, and climbed, I pointed out interesting parts of the wall murals. Oh yes, the innards of this giant depicted many dinosaur scenes. I also pointed out all the dinosaur bones embedded into the walls.

"Look guys! There is a T-Rex thigh bone! Oh, look, a brontosaurus foot, and a wing from a archaeopteryx, wow, a skull of a triceratops! Cool!"

Then Anderson suddenly piped up and excitedly exclaimed, " And I see his penis! I see the dinosaur's penis!"

GULP! What did my son just yell out loud enough for everyone within 20 feet to hear?!?!?!?!

"Um, Ander, what do you see?"

"His penis. His penis! Look - right there!"

Do you see it??? Ander could be right! (which might explain why they went extinct) It does LOOK like a penis! But...

... it is actually an emergency light fixture!!!!

Oh, the snorts, laughs, giggles, and snickers that were caused by this observation! I thought the mother ahead of us was going to pee her pants, and the man behind David commented it was too bad that was not caught on video!!!!

My son, Anderson - future paleontologist? Who knows!!!!!

I love me a nerd!

Whilst on vacation I am catching up on some reading. I just finished Gargoyle (Loved it!) I started The toss of the Lemon (Very interesting, just started and I am liking it).

I see vacation reading as an extension of my vacation. I like to bring along books I have been meaning to read, wanting to read, or even just a little book-candy, mindless reading. You know, light, fun, enjoyable reading... you know what I mean.

So, as I take over the wheel, David nestles into the co-pilot seat and pulls out his reading material. Within minutes I can tell he is fully engrossed in his book.

I glance over at his book cover, and do not recognize it.

"Whatcha reading?"
"Secrets of anti-gravity propulsion"
"Oh...........is it, um, good?"
"Ya, really good, it's a physics book."
"A physics book? A physics book is your vacation reading?......You're a nerd!"

Yep. I love me a nerd!

Making Mom Proud

Our HUGE family vacation is fast approaching...you know, the one where we put a 5 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old into a van and drive clear across the country. Ya, the one that Map Quest indicates takes 51 hours and 12 minutes (one way, not including washroom breaks, sanity checks, false washroom breaks, WW3 diversions, playground stops, middle-of-no-where-stops, traffic jams, bad weather, ferry wait times and whatever other types of stops a young family is forced to take in a 4602.46 KM/ 2860 mile car ride). Ya. That one.

Anyways, my mom (who gives Martha Stewart a run for her money in many areas) is a woman of lists, organization and efficiency. While, in daily life, her mutant gene hardly wears off on me, it does when I am vacation planning. I make lists of lists, I stay organized and well prepared.

So, I am happy to report, that while we are still a week from departure, packing and organizing is coming along.

I have a spread sheet that includes 234 rows and almost half of those have little check marks. COMPLETED. PACKED. READY. (I am not sure if being packed or if having a spread sheet of 234 rows or even having room for 234 items in our van is the more impressive feat!?!??!??!)

Yep, while one can never be fully prepared for a epic, crazy-a$$ trip of this sort, I am doing my very best!

Madigan, or line item 154, packed!

Know yourself, spelled with a capital T

"Meeeee want dat!"

"What do you want, Madigan?"

"Dat! Dat DJ's. Meeee want dat!"

"Yep, that is DJ's treat. It is not yours."

"Madie-Meeee want dat!"

"No."

"Yes. Madie-Meeee is a princess. I want dat, now!"

*** Conversation with my 2 year old daughter. I am not sure if the lesson from this encounter is that it is always good to know who you are, and what you want (both wonderfully, perfect characteristics a gal should have) or if the lesson is that we (the parents of the self-confessed princess) are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E when our princess is a teenager!!!! Maybe it is both???

To quote Sigmund Freud...

Verrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeey Interzessssting!

Below are the cheer posters my little people made me for my big race on Saturday.

Artist: Madigan, 27 months

According to the artist, Mommy is yellow and running fast. DJ is red, Anderson is blue, Daddy is green and Madigan is black. The route is clearly marked!

Artist: DJ, 5 years old

Mommy is wearing her race number. She is very fast. She is using her arm to push everyone out of the way so that she can win. Everyone in the race is kicking her and trying to push her down and make her loose.

Artist: Anderson, 4 years old
Daddy is on the far right. Mommy and Anderson are in the middle holding up the gold trophy for winning the race. Madigan is the tall, second figure from the left. She is saying, "Anderson", because she loves Anderson (note the "A" above her head). Great grandpa is standing on the far left. DJ is the little figure. He is just a baby and his arms and legs are broken. He only has one eye and one ear. He was too small to see Mommy win the race and he could not help Mommy hold the big golden trophy.


Oh, ya, Dr. Freud would have a field day with these drawings!!!!!

This week

This week has been long and tiring.

I started a post detailing my tri last week...but never completed or posted it.

I started a cute story about each of the kiddies...but never completed or posted it.

I started a heartfelt post about my weight loss journey and some of my current struggles...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post about my ambitious gardening adventure...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post about the wonderful wedding of two wonderful friends...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post on my first outdoor soccer game, the one where everyone sees the "new me" for the first time...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post on how much I hate my new work hours (3am-9am)...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post on how I now work a 7 hour shift on Saturdays, which now means by working early hours, six days a week, I am now working FULL time, BEFORE most people wake up - then I am home with the kiddies ALL DAY...but never completed or posted it.

I started a post on how I really need to catch up on the laundry and general household chores...but never completed or posted it.

Let's hope tomorrow, I start a post on how I STARTED and COMPLETED and SURVIVED a brilliant 10k race. Yep. Let's hope.

This week has been long and tiring.

Luck of the Irish

Apparently, when my great-great grandparents came to Canada they left the luck of the Irish in their home country!

On Saturday I ran in the St. Paddy's Day Road Race. While it was fun, there was no green luck on my side leading up to or post race!

On Friday I drove downtown to pick up my race kit. It was just after 5pm. You can only imagine how busy the downtown core was at this time. Obviously, I could not find parking, so I had the brilliant idea of parking in my parking spot for work. It would mean only a 3 block hike to The Running Room. I parked my car int he underground parking space designated to me and headed off. I picked up my kit, stopped at the sports store to look for new soccer boots, browsed through a few trendy shops and then headed back to my car. I almost dislocated my shoulder when I tried to throw open the front office door. LOCKED. Yep. My car was in the building, the building you need your work pass to access after normal business hours. It was 6:13pm!!!

I waited and waited till I saw a member of the cleaning crew. I banged on the door. She shook her head and walked away. I waited and waited, finally saw another member of the cleaning crew and got her attention. She must have thought me crazy! I was going on like a mad-woman. I think totally out of fear for her own life, this non-English, non-French speaking, older woman finally let me after I kept making the universal hand gesture for car and pointing down. WHEW!!!

Well, maybe I was lucky??? I did in fact get let into the locked building and I did get back to my car!!!!

The race went well and I finished it in one piece - so, that could be considered lucky.

After the race I hurried back to my office to pick up my weekend assignment. I was jazzed. I was sweaty. I was catching a chill. I remembered I had a warm fleece sweater in the trunk. I parked in my underground spot and grabbed my security pass (!!!) and popped the trunk and grabbed my sweater. Threw on my sweater and slammed the trunk closed. Yep. You figure out what I quickly discovered? Yep. I know you would figure out where this story of luck was leading. Car keys. Trunk. Yep. Inside.

CRAP! I race over to the door and thankfully it is unlocked...but in my car there is no trunk release. So, I am sure the security guard upstairs was having a great laugh at the show I was putting on the closed circuit camera! I had to remove the kids' car seats, pile all the junk onto the backseat floor, tug the seat down. Then I had to climb back into the trunk. Which I do, but not without kicking my rear view mirror off it's holdings and almost putting my foot through my sun roof. Oh ya! I could just imagine the security guard upstairs laughing his butt off at me!!! I was a sight for sore eyes!!!!

Yep. Even in lieu of me completing the race, finishing almost a minute faster than I ever-hoped to finish, the St. Paddy's Day Road Race is not that lucky for me! Though I am sure the the security guards would get a kick out of either episodes on the security tapes!!! While not lucky, I am good for a few laughs!

Wishing you all a very happy St. Paddy's Day!

In keeping with an Irish theme - Birthday gift suggestion # 25 would have to be one of these lovely creatures:

Unfortunately, since I am allergic to long-haired dogs, I would basically die! Put, I would like a dog. All growing up we has miniature poodles or cock-a-poos. I would love to have BIG dog! So how about a standard poodle????

How could you say no to on of these little cuties?!?!?!?!?!




Hee Hee!!!

Fooled You All!

As I type this, my lucky parents are cruising the Mediterranean. They live about 35 minutes away from us and asked if we would mind sharing house sitting duties with their neighbours. Basically the neighbours would look over at the house on a daily basis and we would go in two or three times to water the plants and collect the mail. Not a problem. So, this morning after church we headed out.

About 8 minutes away from their house my hubby asks, "You remembered the keys, right?"

"Ah, FRIG, SHOOT! Nope!"

Silence.

"I'm an idiot...sorry....but, hey you are a bigger idiot!

"Me? Why?"

"Cause you married me! That makes you a bigger idiot than me!"

"Ah, no...I was fooled and did not know what I was getting into!"

"Well, then, you are fool & an idiot who just drove 55km and have no keys to get into the house, and you are stuck with an idiot wife!"

"You're right, I guess I am an idiot fool fooled into love with you! My fault!"

-----

Along with my hubby, here are a few other people I have recently fooled!

Mrs. Schmitty, over at It's A Schimitty Life thinks I am deserving of this award:

I also fooled Diane over at Forgetfulone at thinking I deserved this award:

Hee hee...do I ever have them fooled!!!! Both awards are handed out to blogs that show great attitude and gratitude. I am honoured to accept these super awesome, cool awards, and to pass them both off to the following bloggers, who are, in fact, the real deal! They all ROCK! Go check them out!

Tara over at If Mom Says OK.

Mrs. Incredible at That's Life 2.0.

Meredith at Pregnantly Plump.

Lainey-Painey at Life is Just so Daily.

Melissa at Hope Floats.

Kat over at Seeking Sanity.

Miss Sniz

Barry over at Barrie Summary.

Mighty Morphin' Mama

I'm Being Held Hostage at In the Gutter

And any of my other wonderful readers who would like to participate - ya, you! Here is what you gotta do to pay it forward:

1. Put one of the logos on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs with a great attitude / gratitude.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know you have given the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.
5. Share the love and link this post and to the person from whom you received this award.

Seriously...I am super duper appreciative and humbled by these two awards...and what means even more to me is that they come from two bloggy friends I adore. I. ADORE.

Away FROM the Manger

Do you remember this post from last year?

Well, last week my parents left on a whirlwind Christmas tour to South-Western Ontario. They were going to visit family and friends along the Toronto-Windsor corridor.

Or, so I thought.

I wonder if there is any coincidence that they arrived home last night at midnight, and the following news story aired on the National News....

hmmmmm, The Baby Jesus Bandit strikes again!

Reverse Psychology

Reverse Psychology works every time!

Did I mention something big, horrible and ugly is going on at work - you know, the work I love...well, I still love my job, but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, under appreciated and disappointed...I will not post much about the situation until after I talk to my union rep tomorrow morning for the final numbers and payment options.

It is no wonder I am not in a good mood.

Then my exercise partner cancels out workout for tonight - something about Christmas in a week and no where close to being ready.

So, I dug deep and decided to brave the elements and go running on my own.

Me: Do you think jumping from 4.1km to 5km is too big of a jump? I am still at run for 4 min and walk a min.

Hubby: No, you could do it.

Me: What is a good 5km route around here?

Hubby: Go out and Road A to Road B, turn right and follow to Road C. Then keep going to Road D all the way past the shopping centre to Road E and then all the way to Road F, turn right and then left onto Road G and follow back to Road A.

Me: All the way to the shopping centre and back around?

Hubby Yep.

Me: F*ck, I cannot do that!

So, off I went, totally thinking I would do my 4.1 km route...so, I went Road A to Road G then instead of turning onto my regular route, I headed towards road F, all the way to Road E, past the shopping centre, up to Road D and around to Road C, then I turned left onto Road B and found myself on Road A, heading home.

Not only did I do the 5km route - but I did not walk once!!!

Yep, amazing what a bad day, adrenaline and a bit of reverse psychology can do to up your work out!

Writer's Block

Like some of the best trained and prepared marathoners - I think I have hit a wall.

Well, it is day 29 of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. Last year I only made it to 24 posts - this year - well, it is November 29, so I simply need to post a Saturday and a Sunday entry and I will be successful!!! Victorious...unfortunately, I am suffering from a duo-case of writer's block.

Yep. Duo-case of Writer's Block - this is a rare and very painful ailment.

Like most people, I find writer's block to be frustrating and irritating.

Well, it is even worst in your second language!

Je dois écrire une histoire en français pour ma classe ce matin… que je lutte !

My French class is in 2 hours, and the above sentence is the only sentence I have written in French...hmmm....how do you say writer's block in French, and is that an excuse not to have my assignment completed?? Or to abandon NaBloPoMo?

If I do not post I will not have the sweet feeling of accomplishing this great challenge. I will not have done my part in polluting the airs of blog-world. I will not be eligible for any of the great prizes.

Oh, attendez-vous un moment!
Wait a moment!

Voila!

A post - a lame post...but a post just the same ...no French assignment yet, but a post!!!! WOO HOO!

Nice to be here...

My heart is super heavy with all the news coming out of Mumbai, India. I just do not understand the violence and unrest in this world of ours and I pray for peace and safety.


With my job, I cannot get away from seeing all the news. I have to watch it and report on it. Sometimes, like during this morning's coverage of the tragedy in Mumbai, I just have to shake my head:

TV HOST - "We are joined now by a leading expert in Terrorist Studies. Thank you so much Mr. X for being here to analyze the situation in Mumbai for us.

Mr X - "It is very nice to be here today."


OK - wait a minute, you are a terrorist expert, you will be analyzing a horrific situation unfolding - and 1) you greet the host with a huge flashy smile and 2) you think it is nice to be there?

Nice is being on vacation, nice is enjoying a cup of tea or chatting about spring weather - the fact that your expertize is even required is not NICE...it is quite sad, actually... it is tragic.


TV HOST - "Thanks so much Mr. X. We will be definitely speaking to you again."

Mr. X - "I'm looking forward to it..." (grin. grin.)


Looking forward to it?!?!?! What a sad world we live in when there has to be terror specialists... let alone one anxious to relate his knowledge to current events.

Think of how the world would be if there was no NEED for a terror specialist. Now, that would be a nice place to be. Wouldn't it?

My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this tragedy.

I pray for peace.

I pray for a nice place to be... and a nice place to raise my children.

I pray for nice.

Adverted!

Whew, WW III has been adverted.


Yes, the world was put on high alert yesterday when chaos led to pandemonium. Battle lines were drawn and NATO moved from level one alert to Code Red.


The level of hostility and violence escalated to levels never seen before.


The main issue:





The leader of the 3-almost-4-year-old brigade referred to the above snack product as " a rice-crispy square".


The leader of the mom brigade chuckled and replied, "It is actually called a rice cake."


The leader of the 4-almost-5-year-old brigade sarcastically replied that "it is not a square, but a circle, it is not made of rice, but of popcorn, and it is not a cake 'cause there is no icing." This resulted in the naming of favorite snack product as, " a popcorn circle."


The leader of the 1-almost-2-year-old brigade believed strongly that the entire package of snack treat was hers for the taking.


Lines were drawn. Tempers flared. Voices screeched and all hell broke loose...till the leader of the Mom Brigade informed all parties that no one would be claiming victory over this battle.


Peace was returned when Mommy let Anderson have a "Rice Crispy Square", and DJ got to have a "Popcorn Circle" and Madigan, "got HER snack.


Whew.... WWIII adverted!


File this under you say tomato and I say tamato, let's call the whole thing off!

Allergies in Church

I was standing in our pew, signing along with the choir and simply enjoying the mass.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the Sunday school teacher. Oh Oh. What boy did what?!?!?!?

Excuse me Laura, does DJ have any allergies? We are giving the kids a little snack and I noticed his medical alert bracelet. I asked him if he had any allergies and he said YES.

Ummmm. No. DJ does not have any allergies.

Ok, great. Um. When I asked him what he was allergic to, he replied WORK.

Yep. That he is. That. He. Is.