Good Morning

I am part of all that I have met. Alfred Tennyson

Have you ever had a friend that makes consistantly stupid decisions? Someone who knows they are making a mistake in that decision and then comes running to you to pick up the pieces when they are hurt and need somone to help them?! I have one of those friends and I am at the point where I have about had enough. The problem is, I fell bad for her when she is hurting and I stll want to be there to help her. And she has done STUPID!!!!! things. She made some friends that "adopted" her as their daughter and her daughter as their granddaughter. Then she fell in love with the husband. He gave her (unbeknownst to the wife) $6000 for the downpayment for a house. Anyway, this is just the beginning of stupid things she has done and when I called her on her stupid choices she says "Oh, thats okay. If you end up being right, I can always cry on your shoulder! You're always there when I need you!!!" Do I have the right to be ticked off, or should I be a true friend when she is hurting and support her?!

Alright enough of my vent. I am LOVING the fact that my children are gone!!! I haven't gotten to the point where I miss them too much yet. (does that make me a bad mom?) They are having such a wonderful time that they don't even miss me yet. This is a real break that I have needed though. Especially with S! birthday this week - its gonna be a fun crazy time!!! Can't wait to celebrate.

Hope you ladies have a wonderful day! I love you all!!

I am home!

What a great holiday we had in Winnipeg, but it is always good to be home! The highlight of my trip was DEFINITELY getting to meet another of my S! friends - Tracy(stitchfan18). We had fun shopping and having lunch. She is so much fun - I felt like I have known her for years. I love her to bits.
One of the places that we love to go while we are home is to Fun Mountain Water Park. It was soooo hot - about 43 degrees but the heat didn't even affect us as we went down the slides. I must have lost about 10 lbs. climing up the hill with the tube so that Malachi could slide down again and again. He and his 3 yo cousin Brianna had me climbing up and sliding down the slide with them at least 100 times. I got a nice tan out of the whole deal, so that was a bonus too. But man, I bruised my feet on the pebble walkway every time that we walked up the path to wait in line again.
This cute little creature that Chris is holding is the newest member of my sister's family. I TOTALLY fell in love with her. Her name is Simba and she is a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix. She is the runt of the litter and she along with her 9 siblings were rejected by their mother when she was 2 weeks old. The owners decided to give them away to good homes so my sister decided she needed a puppy. It took everything in me not to bring her home. She is very sweet and cuddly and loveable. She is a really smart dog too - my sister started training here while we were there and Simba caught on VERY QUICKLY!!! We could always tell when she was hungry tho, because she would latch onto the boob of whoever was holding her and tried to nurse. It was kinda funny actually!
Kiana loved being at the beach. Another of my sisters has a cabin on Lake Winnipeg and Kiana LOVED to be there. She spent hours in the water and when she wasn't in the water she was building sand castles with her cousins. There was NO WAY she was leaving the beach. This was the best thing for her because she could control the water level that she was comfortable with and there wasn't the echo-like sounds that you get from being in a pool or waterslide. She told me that one day she wanted to live at the beach. Too bad that summers are so short and winters are so long - especially in Winnipeg. LOL!!!

But I think the most exciting part of the trip happened in the first few days that we were there. Chris and I think that we should write a book about the craziness that is my family. I want to share with you a quick snapshot into the first couple of days that were my holidays:

1. I went to the CFL football game with my dad and dh. There was a drunk guy sitting in front of us and he started cursing a blue streak. There was a 4 yo boy behind us who got tired of him cursing and asked him to be quiet. He started yelling at the kid and tried to hit him. I got up and blocked him so he turned on me. Then he tried to hit Chris and threatened us. Then he poured his beer on my friend sitting next to us. By the time security showed up, they wanted to throw the lot of us in jail. Anyway, they got him out of the game and I thot the excitement for the night was over. But, not so!!! In the 3rd quarter, some drunk chick in the row ahead of me got bored and decided to flash the crowd. Problem was she was sitting directly ahead of me so I got some booby to the face!!!! Now, for those of you who haven't experienced that - you have NO IDEA what you are missing!!! So, there was my first night in Winnipeg!

2. My second night in Winnipeg, my aunt called my parents house needing Chris' legal help. Her and my uncle are getting a divorce and my uncle's gf got a restraining order against my aunt. My aunt broke the restraining order so at 1 a.m the police came to her home to arrest her. She has crippled hands and feet from her arthritis, so when she held out her hands for them to handcuff her the police explained that because of her health condition it wasn't neccessary because she wasn't a flight risk. Then they took her to the police car and gently put her in. They took her to the station, fingerprinted her and took her mug shots. She asked the police for copies of the mug shots because she wants to use them for her Christmas cards this year and she also wanted a recent picture for her wallet. The reason she called my dh is because she wants to know how to press charges against the Winnipeg Police Force for discrimination. Apparently, because they didn't handcuff her, throw her into the cop car and lock her up in jail she is charging them with discrimination because they were gentle with her because of her arthritis.

After the adventure that I have experienced in the past couple of weeks this is my final thought:

It may be that the satisfaction I need depends on my going away, so that when I've gone and come back, I'll find it at home. Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Hidey ho from Friendly Manitoba!!!

Well, we have had an exciting week so far. Between family spending time in jail, and incidences with drunks and flashers at the football game, there is never a dull moment at home. It was great to spend some time with Tracy(stitchfan) from S! the other day. She is sooo sweet and so easy to chat with. By the time I left, I felt like we had been friends forever. It was alot of fun just hanging out!!!

But both Chris and I have determined that the time has come to go home. We still have 6 days left and we are both ready to leave already! His mother is driving us crazy. And then to top it all off we have to spend an entire day with her tomorrow because of the family wedding. UGH!!!!! It's time to come home and get busy with the S! party.

I am missing all my girlies a TON!!!!! I wish I could spend time chatting and reading your blogs, but dial up is a nightmare and I just don't have that kind of time to spend waiting to get things done on the computer. I am happy that I am able to at least update my blog. I am uploading pictures tomorrow so hopefully I will have some great pictures to show of my time here so far. Love to all my friends - I miss chatting. Will check up again soon!!!!

Well, we're here

in Sunny Manitoba. Haven't been back here in about a year so its nice to see family again. The trip is about 14 hours long and Kiana cried for the last 2 hours of the trip, complaining about how long it was taking. It drove me crazy, but at last we are here and ready to start our vacation. I can't wait to show you all pictures of my newest love out here. My ds and her dh got my nieces a dog. Its a border collie/german shepherd mix and her name is Simba. She is only 4 weeks old - the mother wouldn't nurse the babies anymore, so the owner had to get rid of the 10 puppies. She is the runt of the litter and she is the sweetest thing. She spent the entire evening sleeping on my lap - that is when she wasn't trying to nurse off me. LOL - as soon as I get a photo I will post it up so you can all see my new love.

Anywhoo - I am hoping to meet one of the ladies from S! next week while I am here. We are hopefully going to be going scrapbook shopping (what else?!) and out for coffee. Can't wait to post some pictures of that as well.

To my lovely girlies - I miss you all like crazy and I can't wait to chat with you again!!!! TTYS!!!

Family and Friends

People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

This is what I learned today. People aren't always what they seem. They will say all the things that you want to hear and make you think that they love you. Then they turn around and bad mouth you to the first person who will listen. If you have a problem, wouldn't it be more grown up to face the problem head on and talk about it rather than complain to others (who don't even know them) and give them a bad opinion without even knowing them or trying to get to know them. The hardest part is being the bigger person, not confronting them on it and trying to love them just the same!!! GRRRRRRR!

Kids really do listen!!!

You never realize just how much your kids listen until you see and hear them. The other day the kids and I went to pick up Chris from work. It was a TERRIBLY HOT day and I have been avoiding turning on the stove at all costs. Well, the kids asked if we could take them to McDonalds for supper and we gave them the typical parent answer "We'll see!" As Chris and I are in the front seat of the car deciding whether we should take them or not, we hear a little voice whispering in the back seat, saying "Dear God, please please please let mommy and daddy take us to McDonalds for supper. We have been really good today and its really hot outside and mommy shouldn't have to cook. I promise that I'll be good, just please let us go to McDonalds for supper." Chris and I had tears rolling from our eyes we were laughing so hard. We have always taught our children that we could pray to God for anything and that if there are things we want or need that we should pray for that too and God will listen to you! I just never thot they heard us!

GOOD MORNING!

My dh can be soooo sweet when he wants to be. To the average woman, this probably wouldn't mean a ton, but he just made my week. We are leaving for Winnipeg next week for a holiday and he was trying to think about what we would like to do when we are out there. So he went out and bought me sideline tickets to the Winnipeg Blue Bomber game!!! Like I say, it doesn't seem like much, but I CANNOT WAIT to go. I miss going to games in Winnipeg since moving to Alberta. I am the biggest fan, so I really can't wait to go!!!!

This morning when I woke up, I took this picture of my beautiful little girl. After nights like yesterday, sometimes I need a reminder to show me how out of line I was with the anger I was feeling, but also to remind me how beautiful and wonderful and loving and innocent and LIKE ME she really is. I was so angry last night, so when I saw her sleeping so beautifully I had to take a picture.

A man should never be ashamed to say he has been in the wrong, which he is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. Alexander Pope

What a LOOOOONG night!!!

This turned out to be one of the longest evenings of my life. Kiana decided to FREAK OUT on me tonite. She slapped me, kicked me, bit me, pulled my hair and basically beat the crap out of me in the course of about 20 minutes. The psychiatrist thought that being out of school and being scheduled at home would improve her behaviour with the ADHD but its not working. For the last week or so I have been doing some research and I am beginning to think that Kiana may actually have been misdiagnosed. I presently have a call in to the psychiatrist and I am hoping to see if we can have her tested for Bi-Polar Disorder. Turns out that children with Bi-Polar disorder are often misdiagnosed as ADHD children and I am starting to wonder if it isn't true. We have to do something because I am afraid to hug and kiss my child for fear of being hurt. I went to give her a hug and kiss at bedtime and she grabbed my hair and pulled while biting on my shoulder. Something is DEFINITELY wrong. Neither Chris nor I know what set her off. She was happy about 20 minutes earlier and then this. She is soooo terribly remorseful after and she asked me tonite if we could help her. As she was sobbing in my lap she said "Mommy, can the doctor make me better?" She wants help and doesn't know whats wrong with her. Well, I am going to spend some time praying and reading and finding out where to turn and what to do next. I am not sure whats going to happen, but it can't get much worse than this. I am feeling like a failure as a parent because I can't help my daughter and I can't help her to feel better. Well, tomorrow is another day!

Scrappers Block

Creativity is essentially a lonely art. It is in reality the ability to reach inside yourself and drag forth from your very soul an idea. Lou Dorfsman

Today I am suffering from scrappers' block - the well has run dry! In the past week, I have finished 5 los and 3 cjs and I am dead. Today is a day that I WANT to scrap and I have nothing inside me. No ideas, no passion, nothing. I have 3 boxes of pictures and NOTHING is inspiring me. So, I guess that means I will clean - maybe that will get my juices flowing. We are dropping the kids off with my parents in Winnipeg in about 12 days so I NEED to get my house in order. There is nothing worse than leaving on a holiday and leaving your house in disarray. The problem is that it is sooooo HOT!!!! that I really have a hard time getting motivated to do anything. I LOVE this weather, but days like today I wish we had a pool! Thankfully we are heading to Winnipeg and we can spend all our time at the beach. I am soooo looking forward to that.

This weekend has turned out quite differently than I have expected. My dd Kiana is 8 going on 16 and the attitude that we have had to deal with this weekend is killing me. She is all about being "THE BOSS" and being in control of the home. So yesterday, Chris and I decided to oblige her. She announced that she was the boss and that she would be the one to make all the decisions in our home. So, Chris went across the street and picked up a newspaper. Then he sat down with her and told her that they had to find her a job, because as the head of the house she needed to earn money for all of us to live. Then I told her she better figure out what she was going to be making Malachi, Chris and I for dinner. And finally Chris told her that the dishwasher needed to be loaded and the laundry needed to be done. She looked at us like we had all lost our minds. Obviously she very quickly recanted her announcement and decided that maybe being an 8 year old kid was alot more fun than running the house. Dontcha just love the wisdom of children?! Given the options, they DO make right choices. Thankfully I was able to keep a straight face through it all and not completely lose it and laugh at her. And when she got out of bed this morning, she thanked me for letting her be a kid and she was glad that Dad and I decided to be the boss after all. KIDS!!!!!

Have a beautiful day off everyone!

Never let me go

There are perhaps no days we lived so fully as those we spent with a good book. Marcel Proust

For me, there is nothing more satisfying than finishing a really good book. This morning I did that - I read a book called "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. The book is a mystery of sorts, in that you need to read further into the book to realize who the characters really are. It is a book that examines how memories and the past play an impact on the people that we become. Ishiguro wrote a very modern/futuristic book that shows how the vulnerable or "different" people in society are treated. I HIGHLY recommend that if you have the opportunity to read it that you do so. I actually read it because it was the first book on the top 1000 books list. I really didn't think I would enjoy it because I read Ishiguro's "Remains of the Day" and had a difficult time with that book, but he wrote this book in a highly interesting and mysterious way. You don't truly get the full magnitude of the characters and their lives until the very last page. An author who is able to do that is definitely worth his weight.

So, now that I have finished praising and rambling on, I want to wish everyone a very HAPPY CANADA DAY! We are actually having a quiet Canada Day weekend at home this year. My kids dislike the noise of the fireworks so we are staying home. Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!!!!! ENJOY IT!