Blog war

Have you ever had a houseguest over, and you feed them, shelter them, enfold them into your family and then they turn and stab you in the back??!!??

Welcome to my world.

JD, author of the Left Hemisphere, came to my house and proceeded to disrespect my little village. Click here for the offending post.

Good thing she is awesome with my children. And that I've known her since she was 7. And that she is one of my favourite people in the whole world.

Just for the record, it was sunny and 18 degrees in my 'hood this afternoon!

Tattoos

I am going to tell you a secret....I have always wanted a tattoo. Not super scandalous or exciting, I know. However, I grew up in a family that is opposed to tattoos. Not just mildly opposed, banished from the family opposed. My sister got a tattoo one unfortunate night and hid it from my parents for years until 2 days before my wedding. The only reason that our family didn't implode was because of my wedding. My sister is now half way through treatments for tattoo removal.

See the dilemma? Hubby is not in favour of tattoos, but at least recognizes that it is my body and I should be able to do what I want. And I have known for several years what I want and I want it in a place that is not highly visible to 95% of the people in my life.

But at the fair today I got an airbrushed tattoo...on my wrist. And I love it! And I found out that one of my dearest friend also wants a tattoo....

Hmmm...that would make a fun girl's night out!

Starting the day off with a bang!

Today, sparks flew in our household. Literally.

Let me explain. Our whole house is heated by electric baseboards, which is both expensive and renders 3/4 of our walls almost unusable due to their placement. We knew that it was risky to have a couch and table near that wall, but we thought we had taken precautions in turning off the heater and placing cords away from the heater...until today.

This morning, as the girls were playing beside the couch, there was a huge bang! Just as I turned to look, there were sparks flying and smoke was filling the air. As I was racing over to the girls, they were screaming and running upstairs. Turns out the lamp cord had fallen into the baseboard and even though the baseboard wasn't hot, the cord had exploded into 2 pieces. I quickly pulled the couch and table into the middle of the room and unplugged everything. Then I grabbed the girls and tried to calm them down. Bear was shaking so badly that she couldn't stand on her legs for 10 minutes, while Pookie kept screaming that we needed Hubby. Finally I took her face and told her that I was perfectly capable of taking care of this and they needed to calm down. I flung open all the doors, got Pookie to find a fan and cleaned up the remnants of the lamp.

Then we headed off to swimming lessons. Just another day in the life...

May Days

As a teenager I remember staring out the window watching the May Days fair set up. I would be checking out rides and thinking about how to get some money to hang out there. All week during set up it would be sunny. Invariably every Friday clouds would roll in and the rain would start. And it would rain for most of the weekend, putting a serious cramp in our weekend fun.

It has been raining for a 100 days now. OK, maybe just 2 weeks, but it is the end of May. It would be nice to see the sun! We took advantage of a break in the rain and the fact that tonight was half price night and we went to the fair.

Let's be honest. It is a village fair. It is corny and ugly with about a dozen rides...its no Disneyland. However, $20 got my family on 6 very spinny rides, which pretty much was awesome for the girls and Hubby. For me it was an exercise in spotting former school mates and matching them to their kids. It is kinda awkward to recognize folks from years past. Do you go up and say Hi? Just nod? Or completely ignore the fact that you recognize them?

I tend to say Hi to people that I actually knew and liked in high school and ignore the rest. I mean really...we were not friendly in high school. Why pretend now?

The other interesting thing was how many people Hubby knew there. Again, there were the adoring groups of kids amazed that Coach Hubby was there. The mothers batting their eyes at him. It is ridiculous! And totally funny to watch! We figured that between the 2 of us, we knew about 65% of the people there.

Ah, life in the village....

I am a Movie Star!

OK, not really. But today my house was transformed into a "set" and I was the star.

The reality is that I was asked to do a dvd segment for my workplace. A dvd that would go to 180 churches and be shown at gathering of many folks...pretty much my total nightmare! Me on film, speaking in my "sick" voice for hundreds of people to see. Awesome.

On the upside, I got to hang out with a very cool guy from work. A good friend came to hang out with the Bear. And we got 'er done.

But I probably shouldn't have watched all those blooper reels on YouTube yesterday. I screwed up so many times that I could have my own blooper dvd...and some of it wasn't pretty.

Another cool thing that happened today was that I got an email from Dooce.

So today, I'm a rock star.

YouTube and Me

I have a love/hate relationship with YouTube. On the one hand, you can watch a demonstration of how to make fresh pasta, boys doing stupid tricks, catch up on a show you missed or 'Charlie bit my finger!'***

On the other hand, you can fall into the abyss and emerge hours later, stiff and sore with a slight hangover from watching too many of these clips.

Too often the latter scenario has happened to me. I get sucked into a YouTube link that someone has sent me and boom! Hours later I realize that yet again time has disappeared. Time that I could have been doing laundry. Or cleaning. Or cooking. Gardening. Or actually working at my job.

YouTube...I love/hate you!

***For your own good, I did not link any of the above YouTube references lest you fall into the wormhole!***

It sucked and then I cried

This is a book by the author and web-goddess, Dooce aka Heather Armstrong. Anybody who has had a kid, is thinking about having a kid or struggles with depression and wants kids should read this book.

It is funny, honest, a bit R rated and refreshing to read.

The book I needed to read for my book club was this one:

This was a pretty "fluffy" book, funny in parts, a bit draggy in others. It would be a good beach read for the summer.

Some other books I've read this week are 'Her fearful symmetry' by the same author as the Time Traveller's Wife and 'The mercy of thin air'. Both books are about ghosts and love. I preferred the former, but both are OK.

Just in case you needed some good reading this summer...

Family outing

Today we decided to do a movie date with the girls. We had coupons that we could use and a rare day off for all 4 of us. Since all movies these days seem to be in 3D, we donned our glasses and settled in to watch 30 mins of previews and a 1 1/2 of the movie.

The premise of the movie is Shrek longing for the pre-family, more ogre like days. He is getting tired of the constant parenting, curious visitors and general lack of time to take mud baths and terrifying people. So he makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to have 1 day of his former life. Of course there is fine print and life is not all roses...in fact, the kingdom is in shambles and Fiona is this kick-ass ogre warrior trying to lead a revolution. And worse of all, she doesn't like Shrek.

The movie also shows all the other characters and how their lives are so very different in this reality, Puss in Boots is fat and bootless, Donkey is enslaved and Gingy is an extreme cookie fighter.

Of course Shrek realizes how good he had it and must get a True Love kiss from Fiona. Wackiness ensues and all is well at the end.

Of course, this makes me think of how my life would be different if I had taken a different path in 1996. If I didn't go to Camden or didn't get involved with Hubby when I was there.

It would be pretty different for sure. I wouldn't be married for one thing. People tell me differently, but I know that Hubby was my one shot at a relationship and lucky for me, he stuck. He is a good, good man.

Guaranteed, I'd be a bit of a hermit. Unless I purposely put myself into a situation, like living in a community house or a ministry in the 3rd world. Otherwise, I'd be adrift, a bit disconnected from folks...I'd hide it by constantly moving about the world, exploring and writing and taking pictures...but no real rootedness.

And I'd probably be in a little more of a mental mess than I currently am...mostly because having a family forces you to get outside your own head to take care of others.

Wow, this got kind of introspective! The reality is that this is my life, the girls and Hubby, and it is a good life. One that is ever changing and evolving. Though I may long for a different life once in a while...I ain't signing no deals with Rumpelstiltskin!

Ugh...

Still sick. And pretty tired of it!

Allergies and the Bear

This is Bear. She is my baby...even though she hates it when I call her that. This kid will be my baby even when she is taller than me, when she has her own babies and is 54. She needs to get over it....

This week we did some tests to figure out why my baby girl can get so sick, so often. Starting from 6 weeks until today, Bear gets really sick about 4-6 times a year. So, we went to an allergist for some tests hoping to shed light on the issue. Bear had 27 pokes in her arm. Trust me when I say that it is a horrible feeling to pin down your screaming daughter as a nurse takes a needle to poke/scratch 27 spots on your baby's arms.

Thankfully Bear has no food allergies! But she is allergic to wet mold and birch trees. Huh. Apparently if you are allergic to birch trees, you can also react to about 15 different types of fruit and nuts as well. But the big one is the wet mold...awesome when you live in a rainforest region where wet mold abounds.

So, our 20 gallon fish tank is leaving our house. We will keep our little tank since it is much easier to keep clean. But the big issue that I am mourning is our tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree. Live trees are full of wet mold...hence the need for a fake tree. Which isn't a big deal for this year since we are heading east for Christmas, otherwise known as the land of fake trees.(due to an abundance of tree allergies in the family). But I love real trees in the house for Christmas!!!

I blame Hubby's side of the family for this.

A waste

Today and tonight my parents have the girls. The sun has come out, my hubby was home early and what happens???? Nothing.

Because I'm sick. I can't breathe and I fell asleep sitting on a chair.

What a waste of an evening!

Good thing my hubby loves me and went and got pizza for a lazy night in.

Too much...

I had great plans for this post...but I'm consumed by the Grey's Anatomy finale and can't commit to posting...

See you tomorrow!

"Play that funky music...."

I love music, all kinds. You can usually tell what kind of mood I'm in depending on the music playing. But since having kids, I've really been careful in the type of music I play with the girls around. However, since I grew up listening to Belafonte, Marley and Seger, I've decided that exposing the girls to a carefully selected variety of music is not a bad thing.

But today, Bear reminded me just how quickly kids pick up on songs and lyrics. Especially when I heard her rapping along with the song, "Wavin' the flag".

But I have to admit, it gives me a secret thrill to see my 4 year old, nodding her head to the beat while rapping the lyrics...the same way I love hearing Pookie sing in perfect pitch to a worship song...

They get that from me...oh yeah, definitely from me!

***except I don't have perfect pitch...but let's just pretend shall we?***

And this is how great my husband is...

After picking Hubby up from working an full day at the gym, he listened to our daughters' hearts and agreed to not only take them swimming, but to McDonald's for dinner...leaving me to enjoy a quiet house, a hot shower and some time with a book.

I love that man!

5:30am

That's what time my kids decided to wake up this morning. And then at 7 am, they decided that I needed to be up with them.

Needless to say, it was a rough morning in our household.

Today's life observations

#1 - First noted appearance of the "sandal tan"

#2 - Wicked, bad cough = best ab exercise I've done in a while

Today and Tonight

Today

Pookie had a birthday party that she was invited too. The party was 1 1/2 hours long and at a park, so Bear and I decided to stay as well. About 20 minutes into the party I saw Pookie literally and physically excluded from the group of girls there.

And at that exact second, I felt my heart crack.

It only took the dynamic of 2 girls to ruin the party for my girl. And this is the exact reason I did not want to have daughters...because girls are mean. There were other girls and boys there, kids that were kind in their own ways. But the blow had been struck and my girl was wounded and unable to figure out how to work past it. So Bear and I participated and made our own family team to play the game. And encouraged Pookie to try again. And cheered her on from the sidelines. And made sure she knew that she was loved.

Tonight

And tonight I will tell my beloved eldest daughter a secret...the secret of why I am such a good reader.

It is because I know this path of having trouble making friends. And knowing how to enter into a group and feeling welcomed.

So I read. And got faster and faster. To stave off the loneliness and being unwilling to keep trying, I devoured books. I hid behind them. And grew a deep love of reading, learning and discovering.

However, I will also tell my daughter the secret weapons she has that I didn't have...

A parent who gets it. A God who loves her. And a huge extended group of family and friends that love her for who she is and not for who she isn't.

And I will keep praying for that one good friend at school that my Pookie so desperately wants, deserves and needs.

New Music

For Mother's Day I got spoiled by my family and one of the gifts included an Itunes gift card. Perfect timing because the new Jennifer Knapp album dropped on Tuesday!




Knapp set the Christian world buzzing with the release of her new album and the announcement that she was gay. Since I tend toward the liberal side of things, this really didn't affect me either way. I was just excited that she had done new music since I was a huge fan and was slightly surprised when she dropped off the face of music in the early 2000's.

The album is great! I've listened to it a few times. I think you could get trapped into the line of thinking that it is all about "the fuss", but the reality is that you could put yourself into these lyrics just as easily. Plus I've also been a big fan of people, but especially women, who write their own music and play instruments. Just seems more authentic and you know, based on actual talent! (But I could be biased...I'm sure that are redeeming qualities in people who don't do that in the music biz)

If you are interested in reading some articles, click on the following links:

Christianity Today

Larry King Interview

AfterEllen (this is a site dedicated to gay and bisexual folks..do not go there if you will be offended)

The garden...

Despite being sick and having a sore back, I went to my garden today. Made me feel like a real farmer...cause I'm pretty sure real farmers have to keep going despite what ails them if they want to put food on the table and money in the bank. I'm just trying to put food on the table! Plus I like to think the Vitamin D did me some good too.

I needed to get my purple pole beans transplanted into the garden, sow the last carrot and radish seeds as well as the last row of peas.

[A full view of all that's growing]



[The carrot box...that also has radishes, lettuce & broccoli]

The curse of the common cold

I'm sick. This is the second time my body has malfunctioned on me this week. I am not a good sick person. I like to hibernate. And eat soup. And stay in bed. And not talk to anyone. And not to be touched.

Are you seeing the trouble here?

I have small people that I'm in charge of. They need to be fed. And dressed. And listened too. And taken to school.

This is in direct conflict with my style of being sick.

Honestly...people should warn you about these things before having kids!

A blast from the past

Today we had a visitor from the good old days of Camden, Gabby. Gabby and Hubby worked together at a camp and we all lived together, all 17 interns in one rickety old house. Gabby is a born encourager and we've been lucky to have her in our lives since 1996.

Here is one of the most unflattering pictures ever:

Gabby, Me & Heather

Just for good measure, here is Hubby as I first met him way back in the fall of 1996...what a keeper!

Oh my aching back...

I did something to my back and now it hurts. It is a strange kind of injury because sometimes I can be fine. Then wham! It hurts so bad I want to vomit.

Trust me when I say, it kinda sucks.

Happy Mother's Day!

This morning I heard little giggles, and the pitter patter of feet running around.

I heard someone banging around the kitchen looking for muffin tins and tea cups.

I heard questions and answers, the retrieval of hidden gifts.

I heard a small voice asking if I was awake.

I felt a kiss on my cheek.

This morning was the stuff dreams are made of.

I am a blessed woman.

Spring/summer

Apparently spring happened in February and summer is beginning now...either way, I loved the sunny day!

[Spring has sprung]

[Snails in the garden are the bane of my existence!]

My favorite kind of books

Lately I've been reading a lot of memoirs. It is really one of my favorite genres. Here are the two I read this week:

Friends...

Important qualities in a friend:

~The ability to tell a story from memory in such an engaging way that your children are hanging on every word.

~The ability to tell you that the pair of jeans you just tried on look a little baggy in the wrong area...and to compliment you on your improved ability to pick cute shirts.

Two different sets of friends, 4 in total, blessed the socks off me today!

Thanks friends.

Adventures in eating down the pantry.

Every so often I feel compelled to "eat down" my cupboards. We are getting pretty bare and at the very back of one cupboard I found some Easter treats. These were multi colored marshmellow "rabbit legs". That along with about 4 cups of Rice Krispies inspired me to make the classic RK squares.

Just so you know, multi colored marshmellows (blue, pink and yellow) end up making a pukey color of purple....but they tasted good! Luckily our raisin bread and homemade pizza turned out much better.

[I don't think you get quite the full effect here..]
.

Half Broke Horses

Recently in my book club we read The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I enjoyed it so much I searched out other books she had written. Half Broke Horses is a fictionalized account of Walls' grandmother's life. I recommend it as a must read!

Overheard in the car

Pookie: Do you know what flavour we are?

Bear: Which one?

Pookie: Caramel.

Bear: Huh?

Pookie: Mommy is chocolate, Daddy is vanilla and we are caramel because we are a mixture of them.

Bear: Oh...I like caramel!

Gene Simmons' Family Jewels

There a couple of shows that are totally guilty pleasures for me. Gene Simmons' Family Jewels is one of them.

They crack me up. They have a unique family dynamic that isn't crude or gross. There is respect for each other and strong love.

But when your dad is a rock god and your mom is a former PlayBoy Playmate...they ain't angels!

Guaranteed Hubby and I will bust out laughing at least once or twice a show.

Oh reality tv...what would I do without you???

The trouble with tire swings.

Today we attempted to walk for charity. We did one lap, then spent the next 2 hours eating hot dogs, watching a friend play T-ball and playing in the park. Finally, after lots of longing looks, Pookie seized the opportunity to play on the tire swing. Bear and their friend G hopped on too. Tons of giggles with a fairly gentle spinning motion and swing...all was good.

Until I turned away to chat with someone and some preteen boys took over the pushing. In their defence, they are sweet boys with good hearts, just trying to give me a break. However, they were a bit over exuberant with the spinning. When I turned back, the kids were spinning so fast they were a blur.

I could hear Bear screaming and I ran over to stop the swing. Bear was stark white and dry heaving, Pookie and G could barely walk. I had to hold Bear for several minutes for her to regain her equilibrium and ended up carrying her into the van. She fell asleep on the ride home.

Lesson learned. Kids + tire swing + enthusiastic preteen boys = vomit.