Tuesday's Trials

Well, it is Tuesday. A terrific day to :

• be attacked by your babysitter's dog. (I am okay, other than being bruised and sore.) But he tore a hole in my NEW FAVOURITE hoodie. And now I am rather terrified of him. My new babysitter starts in April! YAY! (decision unrelated to dog incident).
  
• discover that someone tried to break in to my car. Silver lining, the damage is not big, I think someone came by while the jerk was getting started. So I might become the next annoying person with a sensitive car alarm that goes off every time someone walks by. Sorry. Jerks.
• finish antibiotics. Discover that at least part of my ear/sinus/head infection must not be bacterial because my head still feels like there is a wrecking ball swinging back and forth inside of it. Although my ear does feel better, and the roof of my mouth is no longer numb.
  

Ponder excess weight.
PROS

• My cups overfloweth. Rather nicely I must say. Keith agrees.
• It is much healthier to be more than 100 lbs.
  
• It is good to have a couple of those extra lbs for the lean times of crohn's which overcome me.

CONS

• My pants do not button comfortably. Which reminds me of the extra lbs every minute of every day and that is what makes me feel fat.
• Today there was a slight jiggle when I drove over a pot hole. Not a nice feeling.
• I can no longer get away with eating a bakers dozen of sugar cookies with thick buttercream frosting. This is very sad, and I think about those cookies daily. I think this is what my sisters meant when they would talk about the evils of butter all day long. Now I understand, and I apologize for having being annoyed at the time about it.
  

Solutions

• I think the best thing to do is to buy a couple of new pairs of pants.
  

PS: I like bullet lists. They make me feel justified in using poor grammar.

Keeping Promises

Abby's first Ukrainian Dancing performance was a couple of weeks ago. It was at a seniors home, and many of the residents were asleep in their wheelchairs. Cute story about 2 of the ladies who live there. They are the best of friends, do everything together, hold eachother up when they walk down the halls, eat together in the dining room, do crafts together. One speaks only Portugese, the other only Ukrainian. Neither can understand a word the other says! They were very happy sitting together, watching the kids.

In this dance school, you rent the costumes - and just have to pay for cleaning at the end of the year. No more mom's having to figure out how to make them! Sweet. They actually buy the costumes directly from a village in the old country. 3 of Abby's primary classmates are in her dance class. Abby will be having an end of the year thing too - I'll give you dates soon. Mina will dance at that one too. (her class just does the one performance.)

Well, I tried to upload the video, but it is just to darn slow. I tried! So Instead I will instruct you on how to dress like a 3 year old.

1: Put on a brightly coloured shirt. Backwards. (Certainly do not choose the shirt that your mum hunted for at the mall for 3 hours that matches the skort she made you.)
2: Ignore the fact that it is still winter time. Put on the cute Diego skort your mum made you. (because the Thomas the Train one is dirty.)
3: Add a pair of purple fairy socks. The skatey ones that you can skate with on the floor. (All socks must be skatey, or do not even bother buying them. Even though the rubber grips would be so helpful for a girl who falls down as much as this one does.)
4: You must always wear a hat. Actually, a toque. Every day and all day, it must be on. Otherwise your hair gets in your face and causes endless tantrums and gets food in it.
5: Cover the big scrapes on your knees with special Diego bandaids. (Hey - they match the skort!) The scrapes are because you were not wearing tights, leggings, pants or snowpants when you went running down the sidewalk, with your winter boots on the wrong feet, and fell. Hard. In front of the gorcery store, with big tears running down your cheeks, and blood running down your shins.

Before I was a parent, I decided I would never give in to buying licensed things for my kids. I would not become a part of the marketing machine that is taking over the world and brainwashing all of our children. blah blah blah. Everything was going to be gender neutral, with no recognizable trade-marked images on them. Ha. It makes this girl so very happy to have Thomas or Diego on her shirt, you'd think she had died and gone to heaven. With Abby, all she needs is a horse and she is the same way.

Wednesday

Well hello there.

I have sick children. Ear infections, colds and whatnot. We have not slept well for a week, waking up all night long for Mina's horrible coughs, and then her sad sad cries. "Mummy I am so so sad. My tummy hurts and I have snotties." Her ears started bugging her last night. I think her head was really stuffed up. She was really tired and delirious, I think. "Why is the house floating? Why are there flies all over the wall?' I am not sure that she needs the antibiotics that Papa so kindly called in for her though, as her ears are not as bad as last night. But I must say, the codeine put her out like a light last night, she slept all night long, with no coughing fits at all. Blessed blessed codeine. Sadly though, she is not well enough for me to go to the gym today. And it would probably be bad parenting to drug her up so I could exercise. Perhaps today will be a yoga on TV day. Painting the kitchen ceiling could be a good workout too...

Tonight is Abby's first Ukrainian dance performance. She will be dancing at a seniors nursing home. I promise to post some pictures! My blog is so void of colour I really must pick up my camera again. It is just that sometimes, having a camera in hand all the time makes me feel so separate from what is going on. Like I am watching, not participating.

For my birthday, I got an little mini IPOD. So e mail me your favourite running playlists! I also received some very awesome olympic gear. I heart the winter olympics. Go Canada!

Some Wednesday things

Today I learned that Pretzels + Nutella = Bliss. I don't buy nutella, but dad gave me a jar last summer, and it was close to expiry. So in the spirit of good food storage and rotation, and not throwing away perfectly good food, considering Haiti, I am eating it.

We also learned (a few days ago) that our cat will live another day. At least. She is not at deaths door. She will probably continue to crap on the floor for many more moons. But the good news is that she has stopped vomiting. Therefore, our basement reno ( laminate flooring) will remain a distant dream. The bathroom however, is coming along nicely.

I have also learned that exercising really DOES feel good! I always thought that my sisters (and others) were crazy liars. Sorry. I even like getting all sweaty at the gym, and feeling my heart pumping. And Keith says that my face does not get all red, like I told him it would. (but then, he may have said that just to be supportive and loving, which he is.) And I did not fall down over my step in class this week. Also, there is a class I really love which is a cross between ballet and yoga. So 3 cheers for the gym!

Close your Eyes

You are going to have to close your eyes. And imagine for a minute. Because I did not bring my camera with me, so cannot share with you the funny pictures. And a still picture just would not do anyway.

Ukrainian dancing class. Parent viewing day. A group of 3 and 4 year olds, little Mina among them. She is the smallest, and the youngest by about 6 months. They are all lined up, as straight as possible for 3 and 4 yr olds.

Except for Mina, who stand apart, facing the wrong way.

The teacher asks the children to imagine a ball, right in front of their feet. And tells the children to kick the ball "one, two, one two", and do the "kick kick" step. So the children kick their balls, one two, one two.

Except for Mina, whose ball has rolled across the gym. She follows after it, picks it up and throws it in the air. Then it starts to bounce, and so she hops around in a circle, like her ball.

The other children are doing "kick kick" in unison.

Mina's ball has once again rolled away.

Now it is time for the "stomp" step. (It is Ukrainian dancing after all, not ballet!) The teacher asks the children to imagine a bug on the floor, and to stomp on it. Which the children do happily, it is fun to stomp on bugs.

Except for Mina, who does the initial stomp, then sits down, and removes the bug from the bottom of her dancing slipper, walks to the corner of the gym, and puts it down on the floor. then tries to find more bugs on the floor.

And when it is time to "draw a line on the floor to hop over", Miss Mina sits down, drawing a line that turns into a letter M, and then finishes writing the "INA".

I think that perhaps she is not going to be a dancer. Her dancing teacher says that "Mina makes me sweat! She is very, um.... Artistic". (But not in a danc-ey sort of way.)

So Keith and I, sitting on the bench, tried very hard not to pee our pants laughing.

Unexpected

Well, I just did something shocking and unexpected.





















I joined a gym.
Because I want to be fit.
I want to run, and refuse to do it in the cold winter, which is 3/4 of the year here.
Because I have no room in my 750 square foot house for a treadmill.
Because my brand new running shoes are gathering dust while waiting for better weather.
Because they have Thomas the Train stuff in the gym's daycare.
Because I want an excuse to buy and ipod and listen to Roxette really loudly.

Saturday

Well, the sunbeams last week did not shine. The other teacher (there are too many kids for one class) did not show up. So guess who got to "teach" not 6, but 12 Sunbeams? Me. And, I did not bring enough supplies for 12 kids, so 1/2 of my plans were not useable. Disaster. And, I fed one of them something she was allergic too. Even better. My approach this week is to adhere to a strict schedule. And also bring dairy/egg/nut free candy.

In other news,

• Today I primed the walls of the new bathroom. Very exciting. I am quite happy that I redid the lifting seam, as that wall looks very nice now.
• Keith has a job! It seems to be a good fit. We are working on how to arrange my work/childcare with his new schedule. I am cultivating a friendship with a teenager who I see in the AM while we are waiting for the bus. I hope that she might be interested in watching the girls on days that Keith has to work late.
• Tonight we are going to IKEA for dinner. A fun field trip for the girls, because now Mina and Abby can both play in Smalland, and Keith and I can browse towel racks, mirrors, and the as-is asile at our leisure. One of the other good things about not having a baby in the family.
  
• On the same topic, today was swimming lessons, and for the first time, I did not have to go in the water with them!

(am I maybe, perhaps trying too hard to convince myself that we don't need another baby?) It's just that I am noticing all of these little life changes which tell me that our family has entered a new stage. It is certainly food for thought.

A nothing post

Well folk, this is a nothing post. Or maybe not. Who knows. Sometimes it feels like I have nothing to say, and I should just do a duty post, because all of my sisters have new posts up.

I have not finished my basement bathroom yet. One of my tape seams was lifting. I tried to stick it down with more mud, but that looked just awful. So I finally just ripped it out, and started again. So, It will be another 3 day cycle of sanding and mudding before I can prime and paint. Thanks to youtube, I learned that fixing the seam is really not a big deal, and I was over sanding. Youtube is great for stuff like that! I was trying to watch the reno shows on HGTV to find out what I was doing wrong, but they never show the boring and tedious ins and outs of tapping and mudding drywall. (Really - all of those HGTV marathons I may have watched over Christmas break were research, not lazy procrastination! ha ha)

My friend just found out she is pregnant. I am very happy and excited for her. But the strange (for me) thing is that I was not jelous or wishing it was me. I was more jelous of the fact that she had a moose walk by her front window yesterday, not of the pregnancy. Just kind of strange to me, because usually that kind of news paints me very green with envy.

In other news, my new primary job is the Sunbeams. Last week was a disaster. They are used to nursery where they get to play and eat. I actually have to control them and teach them. For 2 hours. I really hope today goes better than last week. I woke up to horrible dreams about loosing some of them when I took them for a potty break. I think this week I shall bring candy for them. And if their parents have a problem with that, then they can have my job of teaching 6 sunbeams and try to do it without bribery. I hope that I can become a better Sunbeam teacher. If you have any tips, please share. My new idea for this week, courtesy of some LDS website, is to bring them "primary pets" (beanie babies from the thrift store) that they have to hold and keep quiet during the combined primary time. Our lesson today is about how our bodies are like HF's body. So we will be tracing our body shape and colouring it, reading a book about body parts, and playing with Mr Potato Head. And the candy. Church is now at 9AM! YAY! So, I better get going.

just need to say

...that it makes me really sad when my sisters do not return my phone calls. For days or weeks. Very sad indeed. It's because I can't text, isn't it? I feel so uncool. sigh.

Christmas!

Today is the Christmas season, as Mina likes to say. We are having lots of fun doing festive things. So far, we had made no less than 12 batches of cookies, most of which have already been eaten or shared. I did freeze a container full to bring to mom's house, but even that stash is getting nibbled on. By me. I have also eaten a box of Toffiffee's, almost by myself, and am working on another. I think I need to control myself, as my pants feel too tight. Auntie Patience has come to visit, and we took her to our ward's Christmas party, which ROCKED! It was so well done and so much fun. (when was the last time you head that about a ward Christmas party?) Patience also took the girls shopping to pick out gifts for Keith and I. I am not sure how much fun it was for Patience (busy mall, 1 week until Christmas, 2 excited kids.) But I enjoyed getting books at the Library while I waited for them. I am very happy that they did not want to sit on santa, as I have issues with that. Okay, I'll tell you my issues.

• Santa is really a stranger. I don't want my kids talking to, taking candy from, or sitting on the lap of a stranger. Oh whispering secrets in his ear.
  
• He touches hundreds of kids a day. Think of all the H1N1 living on those white gloves.
  
• It could be a stewie underneath that fat suit. Nuff said.
• While I do carry on the santa tradition, gifts, stockings, etc., I hate having to add more lies to the story "he is just a helper. He is here until Christmas Eve when he goes back to the N pole. He is magic and can be everywhere at once. Abby is very smart, as most 6 yr olds are, and would question me until kingdom come trying to get an answer and I'd have to make it all up on the spot. And, I'd probably mess it up and ruin the magic of it all. Oh the therapy.
• Line ups. Being that physically close to a bunch of stressed out parents and sticky kids who are not my own. Not fun.
• Paying 20 bucks for a commemerative photo.
  

We have also made home made Christmas cards, sang many songs (Mina's Jingle Bells version is really cute), and today was my CTR 5 Christmas party. Five 5 yr olds came over and we crafted and had lunch. I did feel bad about asking Keith to hide his coffee though. I was going to post pics, but am not sure about putting other peoples children on the net. So just imagine them here. There has been much playing outside, as we have a lot of fresh snow, more falling even as I type. And Mina is old enough that I do not have to go out with them anymore. Hooray for me, I get to be warm. I finished typing up the Christmas recipes, I have finished my course at G Macewan. I think my next extra curricular activity will be a stained glass class.

Keith has some time off. Well, he is looking for a job actually. So if you are a plumbing company in Edmonton, give us a call. In the mean time, he is building equity in the form of a basement bathroom. We are very excited about it! One b-room is not enough. And the new one will be much better than what was there before. Just ask Nunu what a pit it used to be. So, while is does suck that Keith currently is not employed, he is using this time to build a bathroom and it will be much appreciated by all. (I don't want to say "unemployed" because that makes him sound like a pogey bum, and he is being anything BUT lazy!)

So Merry Christmas All!

Bread!

I am becoming good at making bread! 3 successful weeks in a row! Thanks mom, for the hands on lesson this summer. She taught me how to knead the dough properly by hand. I was using my kitchenaid before, and as much as I love the kitchenaid, for me, it always wrecked my bread. But when I knead it by hand, voila - perfection! Plus, I love the way you can feel the flour and stuff coming together and changing consistency. Being only 5 feet tall, I need to stand on a stool, so that I am at proper kneeding height. I think that helps the bread too. I still like to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. I remember having a little stool for that when I was little.

Remember when we were little and mom was baking bread, and would always make us be quite and not run around when it was baking or rising? Because it would "fall"? Well, I think she only said that for some much needed peace and quiet. My kids were loud and jumping around the kitchen the whole time, and the bread did not fall. Not even a bit. So, I think mom Just said that to keep us quiet. Maybe that is why she made bread so much, so that we would not be crazy all the time... Good strategy mom, we all won with that one. Bread for us, and 2 hours of peace and quiet for you.

2 posts in 1 week!

How unusual. Usually it is one a month! My children have the swine flu. Poor babies. They are very sick. Abby is heartbroken about missing her school play today. While I am of course concerned about them, part of me wants to make curly piggy tails and pin them on to their jammie pants. But I should probably not make light of a situation. I get in trouble that way sometimes.

Photo Updates

Here are the Halloween costumes: a Mermaid, and Mavis the train. 100% home made!
This was a really foggy morning at our bus stop.
Hmm. I think I posted this one already. oops.
A better look at the Mermaid! I am so pleased with how it turned out!
Patience and Dan came and we went to the greenhouse/cornmaze. It was really a fun time! I think we will make it a Halloween tradition.
Here we are in the corn maze. Dan was the navigator, he was tall enough to see over the corn!
Aunite Bunny was up a while ago - there is always lots of crafting happening when she is here. She and Abby added wings to the horses.

Weird Wednesday

For lack of a better title, Wednesday begins with a W, as does Weird, and today is, you guessed it, Wednesday. Although nothing weird has happened. I did get to go for lunch with my mom, on her way to Coronation street. She was so cute, she was vibrating with excitement. While we were out I bumped into a former patient of mine, one of my favourite people ever, Norma. Her husband just died and she was very sad. And in the middle of this serious and sad conversation, she asked me if she could make some new puppet mittens for my girls, as the last ones she made must be too small by now. She is such a sweet sweet lady, and I am so happy to have met up with her today. I think that is the best part of my job, people like Norma. Tonight I start my class at Grant MacEwan, and I found out that the U of A is considering a midwifery program. Very hopeful! Hopefully within 3 or 4 years, I can just do that, instead of settling for LD Nursing.

End of Summer Top 5

Well, summer is officially almost over. There are yellow leaves on the trees already, we are busy thinking about back to school shopping, bussing schedules, and what to be for Halloween. My top 5 summer 2009 highlights are:

Seattle Sister Extravaganza: How fun to get together will all of the girls! We must do this at LEAST once every 2 years. Thank you for inspiring me to learn to run. My first goal is to do a 5K in summer of 2010. I have only gone out running a few times so far, as summer scheduling has been all over the place. But once we are into a good fall routine it will be much easier to keep up with it.

Colfax Cousin Camp: Letting the cousins play and get to know each other is priceless. It was so fun to hang out at Betina's beautiful home for a week. I hope that all of our kids - the unborn future ones included, will become good friends.

Disney Family Reunion: Of course Disneyland is the perfect place for a huge family reunion. They just know how to take care of families! Thank you Dad for the awesome holiday, everyone had so much fun. I finally got a chance to do the Indiana Jones ride, and scared myself silly on the Malibu Screamer.

Potty Training, Mina Style: Step one - put on panties. Step two - Throw away diapers. Mission complete. She rocks!

Tooth Fairy Visits: Abby lost 2 teeth this summer, one at Disneyland! She is growing up so much. I love this great girl!


PS: I discovered today that I have a lot of jam in my fridge.

• ED Smith triple berry
• Bonne Maman mixed fruit
• Smuckers Strawberry
• Smuckers seedless Raspberry
• Plum Jam
• Apricot Jam

That seems like a lot, but I keep trying new recipes, and they all need some specific jam.

On the topic of recipes... I am collecting the Christmas recipes this year. So please send me no less than 3 yummy recipes that you have been loving in 2009. Please have this to me by November 15th. Thank you, I will send out a e mail as well. And reminder e mails too.

About Mina

Two things about Mina this week...

I wish I could say that she is always well behaved, and would never think of running away from her family in public. However, that is not my daughter. She loves to run away, and sometimes just gets distracted and goes her own way. So, I have made a harness for her, to use while in Disneyland. Yes, I admit that I am going to tie my child to a leash. Please do not judge me, I am not a bad parent! Besides, she really likes it, and pretends to be a puppy.

Also, she has foiled my potty training "plans". I was going to think about doing it once Abby was back in school, but yesterday, she made the choice to start. She has been very successful so far! I am worried about DLand though, and the airplane ride. I am going to have to bring so many more clothes now. Sheesh! But I will not complain about it, because she is not showing the same difficulties that Abby did.

Colfax Cousin Camp!

This one is from the Appaloosa Horse Museum. It was a big highlight of Abby's holiday. They have a contest where you can buy a ticket and the prize is a real live Appaloosa horse! I am so happy that Abby did not see the poster about that, or she would have choose a ticket for the draw as her souvenir instead of the stuffed horse we brought home.
Mom loves having her picture taken, especially in front of tourist landmarks, like the World's Biggest Truck. Abby, not so much.
Here we are at the WSU Creamery eating ice cream. We were too late for the cheese making demonstration, but did get to buy a can of really yummy cheese to take home for Keith. I love ice cream. I think next time we should go more often to the creamery, so that I can try more of the yummy flavours!
Here are 2 kissing cousins. Sortly after this, Mina gave Ivy a hug, and Ivy fell backwards and rolled down the little slope behind her. Very cute.
2 Cow-girl cousins. The horse is Danny, and the girls had a really fun time with him. They even got to use the reins and direct him where to go. Pretty cool!

My only regret about this trip is that I did not bring a camera on the boat with us, when Betina's friend took us tubing. But it was really hot out, and therefore I was feeling like poop. So I did not even think about bringing it. I wish I had pictures of Eden and Abby together on the tube, and especially of mom after she was dunked upside-down under the water. Mina even took a turn on the tube, and she cried when her turn was over. She is such an adventurous little two-two!

Thank you Betina for showing us such a good time. We all really enjoyed ourselves and had a great trip. The girls are already asking when we can come again!

Some photographical updates

The main even this week: Abby lost her first tooth! She is overjoyed. I am a happy/sad. Another "growing up" sort of event that makes me feel all conflicted. Maybe that is why I am doing nothing about potty training Mina. I just don't want them to grow up so fast!
Getting pretty. Auntie Eve gave Abby a make up set and Abby loves it. She even shares it with Mina! wow. Thanks Auntie Eve. Sharing does not happen often around here these days!
Here is Abby's reaction when we (finally) told her about going to Disneyland this summer.
This was the day of Abby's 6th birthday party.
Mina often takes off all of her clothes for no reason at all, and then I find her places, carrying on with her naked life. When she does this in combination with a tantrum at the medicentre, that is when it is time to go home.
Here are my girls. Abby can be such a nice big sister. They are so cute together in one big bed. It is hard to spot them sometimes, there are at least 8 pillows and no less than 50 stuffies at a time....

Inspiration

Here at long last is a picture of the runners! Seattle was so much fun. We did not get even a drop of rain and the weather was great. We stayed downtown and there was lots to do. I think it would make a good family holiday spot! The energy and excitement of the marathon was very inspiring, and I have decided to learn to run so that one day I can cross the finish line with my sisters. Although not for a marathon! Those crazies all looked mostly dead, had ice packs cling-wrapped to every joint below their waists and were falling over. The 1/2 marathoners on the other hand looked happy, but tired out. It was quite a contrast. Anyway, I bought some over-priced shoes, and some walmart special shorts and an exercise shirt. I never ever in a million years thought that running would ever be something I would do, but I am going to give it a try. One day, I might get to run with my sisters. And I will also gain the skills to run away from a bear, if I ever need to.

Abby Soundbite

Today gramma is visiting.

Abby: Brings her Trilobite cast that she made in Drumheller for Gramma to see.
"Look Gramma!"

Gramma: "Oh, what a nice footprint".

A: "It's not a footprint."

G: "Is is a bug?"

A: Rolls eyes. "It is a TRILOBITE. It is a sea creature from the early cretaceous. (Stomps off sighing to herself), I'll go get the book and look it up for you..."

Later...

A: "Mum, isn't Gramma a teacher?"

Me: " Um, yes, but she teaches special ed." (Was that wrong of me to say??)

The Mother Weekend

Last weekend I sent to ye ole home town of Slave Lake, and visited my mom, along with 3 sisters. We had a lot of fun hanging out with mom, and she loved it. I think she gets really lonely up there. Eve made bread with mom, and did lots of scrubbing - but I think the crazy girl actually enjoys the scrubbing! I went for a nature walk with mom while all of the athletic types ran away from us, and we all went to the movie. My mom was surrounded by a whole row of us at the movie theater, instead of being by herself. I think it was the highlight of the weekend for her. We also gorged on orange slurpees. mmmm, and the campfire smores of course. I had a chance to visit with an old friend and it was so nice to see her! Although being around her kids made me miss mine. Definately bringing the family up there next time. We even cruised mainstreet in her '68 Camaro. Being inside that car makes even a 30 something mom with the mom ponytail and a sinus infection feel cool. I think that might have been the highlight of my weekend. The weather was beautiful, and of course being in SL in the summertime always makes me want to move back. I miss the nature, the open spaces and well, the non citiness of it. ( All the things I hated as a teenager...) The black preacher at the old IGA, the small town gossip at the health store coffee shop, picking up mail at the PO, the REX, Tags, the deer and coyote sightings, the horses and cows, the quads and boats, the lake, seeing more of the stars. You can just, breathe, there. I think when I am done educating myself, we are going to have to seriously consider a move back to nature.

The Best

The best $13 I have spent this week:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090323.wStyle0323/BNStory/lifeStyle/home

Did that show a picture? Or just a link? I am so not good at this...

Anyhow, this cheese grater like device has transformed my hideous heels from revolting to almost normal. I know that I am not the only sister with hideous heels, so if you want to try something new, other than moving to the perfect climate of California, try this! It is kind of gross really, to think about grating off the dead dry cracked skin, and emptying the old skin make me want to barf. But the results are amazing. Do try it.

Up Up and Away

My girls are growing up. Mina has made the big leap out of her crib. She began climbing out of it, with Abby's instruction, of course. Although it was quite a fun game for her, it meant the taking away of the crib, the last piece of bona fide baby furniture we have around. Sniff. So now Mina and Abby share not only a bedroom, but also a bed. They snuggle up together in Auntie Nunu's old double sized bed, and it is the cutest most heart warming thing to see my 2 little girls cuddled up amongst no fewer than 37 stuffies. I was a little worried about how this new arrangement would work out, but after a few late nights of the 2 of them playing and being very silly until 2 hours past bedtime, they are settling in well.

Abby choose to get a hair cut. She wanted shorter hair, just below her ears, with bangs. All that hard work to grow them out for 18 months, and she wanted bangs. So even though I really really did not want her to have bangs, I remembered what it was like when I was little and was absolutley not permitted to bring a pair of scissors near my hair, and forced to emulate Laura Ingalls. So now Abby has bangs and short hair and is still very beautiful. And I feel good because I made a good mother choice and let Abby choose her own hair style. I hope it makes up for my not so stellar moments this week...

Random Tuesday thoughts.

• I have a grey hair. At first it just had a weird texture, but even with Paul Mitchell moisturizing shampoo, it did not soften up. It just turned grey. I hope it is a "one of" event. I am not a fan of hair dye, but will try it if this gets out of control.
  
• I like the commemorative Olympic glassware from the gas station. Weird, I know, but for some reason I get really excited about the winter Olympics, and next year they are in Canada! Very exciting. Time for the deeply buried hockey fan in me to come out and cheer for my country. I think it weirds Keith out a bit when I become a sports fan every 6 years. And I admit that I like watching figure skaters fall down.
  
• When I was in grade 12, I ate a lot of m&m's. Usually in Mrs. Walstrom's Social 30 class. But after opening each package, I would chart how many of each colour were in each bag. By the end of the year, I could pretty accurately predict what would be in each bag. I made pie charts about it too. (DORK!!) I wish I still had the data.
  

Been Awhile...

Once again, it has been a while. All is well here, in the N household. Here are some tidbits about what our family is up too.

Abby: Loves to watch infomercials. She is very convinced that we need the Turbojam, Snuggie, Rapid Wave oven, and Oxyclean. She will bring up these, and other, products in conversation. "If we had Oxyclean, maybe that stain would have come out mom." "Did you know that the Snuggies comes with 2 free booklights, and you can get it in 3 different colours? It is a good deal if we order it now, and not wait! Then it would be more expensive".

Mina: Loves Abby's things. The moment Ab's bus rolls away for school, Mina heads over the their room, I hear her dragging the step stool over to the dresser, and she plays quietly. Then she comes out with armfuls of Abbys "specials". Snowglobes, paper umbrellas, seashells, horses. She treats them with a quiet reverence and it is so cute, that I, as a younger sibling myself, cannot help but allow her to do it. And she always puts things back before Abby gets home.

Keith: His wacky boss is coming back from India, where he has been at a spiritual healing retreat for the past month. Who knows what the return may mean, hopefully the experience has calmed his inner demons. Or whatever new agey term you are supposed to call them. Perhaps he will start eating cooked food again. Or he might just get some stronger crystals to hang in the windows of the office.

Me: Keith bought me a Crohn's cookbook. It is so validating. It says things like: Do not use whole wheat flour when you are unwell. When trying to gain weight, use butter instead. Try adding chocolate syrup for added calories. Recipes are tagged as" higher fat choice", "low fibre", "high protein" and so on. It is really quite interesting to see all of the foods that I cannot eat right there on a list - it made me feel like I am not imagining all of this, and there is good reason that I don't like those foods.

I have also realized that I really do not like my job. It is not the location, which is a bit far, or the employer, who is a passive agressive meanie a lot of the time, or the hours that keep me up way too late. It has more to do with the fact that is is not interesting, challenging or fun in any way. It is boring. I have been doing it for way too long. I cannot wait to be back in school, learning and doing new and interesting things.

And so it is February

Ahh, February. The coldest month of the year, so it seems. We are all so tired of winter. What am I doing in this climate anyway? Why aren't I living somewhere warmer, closer to a sister or 2? I judge how cold it is by how hard it is to open and close the door, and whether the deadbolt will actually turn. I spend 20 minutes getting me and the girls dressed so that we can go and wait for the bus for 3 minutes. I am afraid to roll down my car window at the drive thru in case the plastic handle snaps. We eat cheese and crackers for dinner because it is just to cold to make the trip for groceries. It has been -20 degrees for the last 3 weeks, which admittedly is better than the -30 it was before that, but I am tired of being cold, and even though my long johns are a gift from God, I am tired of wearing them! Even my eyelids are now plagued with dry flaky skin. Gross. The only bright spot is that it will be my birthday, and I will have an excuse to make a cake! On which I will remember to place candles for Mom and Bunn Bunn, the far away members of the February club.

In other news, the kids are doing well. Abby is in the "learn to read" program in kindergarten, and is finding it too easy. She rolls her eyes when it is time to do home reading, and reads the books upside down to try and challenge herself. Lucking student confrence night is tonight, so hopefully we can convince the teacher to send home better books for her.

Mina talks so well now, in full and well put together sentences. She likes to tell stories about things that she has seen or done. Like the dog who was sniffing another dogs poop at the bus stop, or when she was playing with Uncle Dan and bumped her head on the fan. She also likes to identify people, and strangers by whether they are boys or girls, and if they have have a penis or a "gina". So cute... I think.

Well, I am braving the trip to the grocery store, where I will procure supplies. I am trying PW's-friend's parmesan chicken this week. It looks so good!

My "calling"

My job, or "calling" at church is as a primary teacher. I love it. I teach 4 yr olds, and they are very sweet and wonderful. It is so neat to get to know other people's children. But, some things about it bug me. I have one little guy, let's call him "Jimmy". He's a bit different than the others. He does not like to clap his hands when the others do, he likes to sit under his chair sometimes. He is the kind of kid that might get medicated, if a public school teacher has her way. The kind of kid who I was warned about: "Good luck with Jimmy this year, he can be a handful". "So, how are you going to deal with Jimmy this year?" Well I'll tell you. If Jimmy does not want to clap his hands, colour the picture or sit on TOP of his chair, that is fine with me! Let Jimmy do what he wants to! He is fine under his chair, not clapping along. He is happy and comfortable there. Jimmy is sweet and adorable, and he enjoys coming to my class and I am happy to have him here. He is much easier to have in class than "Jack", who is a spoiled know it all, talks out of turn, and always wants to be first. And Jack, claps to ALL the songs.

And as a side note, the most disgusting thing I have seen in a long time is the microphone in the primary room. It's mesh covering is filled with bits of food and drippy saliva. If I ever have to speak into that microphone, I just might throw up.

Welcome

Welcome to little Georgia Ann. She is my newest niece and I can't wait to meet her, of course. However, the whole having a baby thing (not only me, but other people too), just gets me so worked up. How am I ever going to be an effective midwife or LD nurse when I melt into tears and gratitude everytime I read a birth story, see pictures of a new mom, dad and baby, let alone getting to be there as part of that incredible journey? My face will forever be red and puffy, you know how it gets when I cry. Like it is right now, because I just read Georgia's story, and even though I heard about it firsthand already, I sit here crying. Abby just asked me "Mom, are you thinking about new babies again?" Sometimes she catches me sitting on the couch watching those birth TV shows with a box of kleenex in hand. I only do it on very early mornings, when Keith is at work (heaven forbid he see me that way - he might think I want another), and Abby and Mina are still asleep, and I am awake usually because of the cat. So anyway. I am going to have to find some coping mechanisms.

Not a Creature was stirring...

Well, Christmas is upon is. And my family (siblings and parents) are all away, at Betina's house. Well, except for Eve and Sean. So at least I am not alone in my lonely-ness. I thought I would be okay with having a quiet Christmas, and probably I still will, but when I read Betina's' blog, and think about how much fun it is to be all together, I wish I was there. I don't even want to call there, because that would make me miss it even more. But it was not going to happen - Keith and I both have to work today, so that would have left us 1 day to get there. Not possible, at least for us. So, we will have a quiet holiday here, as planned. And it will be nice and fun and happy. But, very quiet. Next year, I will be where the action is!


And just to comment, I think it is GROSS when people leave their shoes on indoors. How disgusting. That is one thing I just did not get about Americans.

School Days

Abby is happily settled in school, kindergarten that is. She had her first report card last week, and all is well. But I think a day at school is hard work for a 5 year old. All of that playing and learning... The pictures showed up in the wrong order. But you can tell which is the before pic, of her at the bus stop, waiting excitedly for the morning bus to arrive. (which it did not, I had to drive her...) She is well put together, wearing her Auntie Nunu shirt and sweater, hair nicely pulled pack, pants on properly. the after shot, of her home on the bus (which did show up) amuses me. What a busy day she must have had. Kindergarten can sure take it out of a girl!

I ask her about her days, and she tells me things like "Matthew wore three coats today" and "I lost my gloves because they dropped when I was getting on the bus and I did not want to be late so I did not pick them up". We are on her 4th pair now. She knows how to sing "oh Canada" now, and can read. She brought me for show and tell when the letter of the week was M, and Keith when it was D. Very flattering! Although today at breakfast, she said that she should have brought a mirror instead of me. hmmph.

monday musings

It has been pointed out to me that I do not blog very often. Well, that is true. Sometimes my life just seems so normal and routine, that it does not seem blog worthy. So well, here are some of the things I have been doing and thinking about.

• I did not realize when I choose to become a mother that for the first (well I don't know how many it will be, still counting) at least 5 years, my children will want to be no further than 2 inches AT THE MOST away from my body at all times. Sometimes it is kind of cute and endearing, but usually it is just annoying and causes a lot of crying when children get stepped on and fall over.
• Mina talks a lot. She is so unbearably cute. I think 2 years old might just be my favourite age. I love when she says phrases that we use. Like "just don't worry about it" (when she drops a toy) and "maybe later" (when she is in her bad crying about having to have a nap).
• I am going to finish my nursing degree, starting when Mina is in Kindergarten or grade one. Then in the future I may go to the states somewhere for 2 years and do a masters Certified Nurse Midwife degree. When the kids are older, I think that might be a neat thing to do. Planning on something that does not even exist yet is to stressful for me to handle.
  
• Keith's office has been moved into his boss's house. His boss is a raw foodist who hangs crystals in the windows and believes in the energy they give. This should be interesting for him.
  
• My babysitters kids have headlice. It gives me memories of when I had lice as a kid and my sisters were so mad at me and hated me, sort if like when I brought the chicken pox home and they were so mad and hated me. Well, I'm sorry I was so infectious! I did not realize how much my feelings were hurt by those experiences. I bet that is why I tried to hide all of my sicknesses after that, like having the flu at school and denying it even though the teacher caught me throwing up in the water fountain, cause I did not want my sisters to hate me again. So, I am trying to be understanding and cool about the whole headlice thing. I have added tea tree oil to the shampoo the kids use, and check daily. They are fine, but it all still makes my head itch!
  

Alberta Joins the Brave New World!

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/10/16/alberta-midwives-costs.html?ref=rss

Holy Moly! I can hardly believe it! Alberta is finally going to cover midwifery care! It makes me want to get pregnant all over again! (oh oh, wait a minute. Keith reads ths blogs once in a while, I better be careful what I say, hee hee). This is such great news, and can only mean that an education in midwifery is getting a wee bit closer! What great news to wake up to. It is going to be a good day!

I admit it.

Alright, lets face it, I am a terrible blogger. I have not posted since august, shame on me. I had the best of intentions to do a fun "first day of school" post for Abby, and in the excitement of it all, did not get around to it. I also wanted to post pics of my finished renovated bathroom, and again, never did. Now I have a kitchen in the process of renovation, and maybe I'll just post them all when it is done. Keith spent the whole weekend taking out the old countertop and sink, and installing a DISHWASHER! (and new sink and countertop.) The dishwasher kind of scares me. It says on it "whisper quiet" but it is so loud that I keep thinking someone is spraying down my kitchen with a high pressure hose! Also I need to buy some more dishes, especially glasses. Usually I just wash them after each meal, but yesterday I ran out of dishes, so for his bedtime snack, Keith had to drink his milk out of the bottom of one of Mina's sippy cups, and I put my reheated chinese food in an icecream bowl. I am getting very excited to host Thanksgiving dinner here! Mom, Dad, Patience and Dan are coming. The other sibs are all invited too, but I know Anders and Celeste cannot make it, and Nunu is not sure yet. I hope I have the cabinet doors installed by then.

Abby is loving school. Her teacher is able to teach her in ways that Abby won't allow me to. With me, it was always "NO! I am not reading! I just remember what those letters mean", but for her teacher, she will sound out words, and write them down, and even admit that she is actually reading. Abby used to draw pictures for me when she was mad at me, with her sad face, tears streaming down her cheeks. Now when she is mad, like last night, her notes have evolved to spelling words, such as "NO LOVE MOM" and "I HAT DAD". I love the way she expresses herself on little notepads and post it notes.

Mina is at the talking age. She talks all day long. She has no control over the volume of her voice and is often yelling when she is really excited. When I get her out of bed in the AM, she says "Hi mum, I awake!" She loves to eat. When we run out of something, she is very sad, and will spend the rest of the week reciting the grocery list. "Shreddies, all gone. Chocolate milk, all gone. Yoghurt, all gone." Needless to say, she LOVES to go grocery shopping, and gets so excited when I put the all gone item in the cart for her to hold. Especially if it is chocolate milk, which I think is her favourite thing the world.

Not much is new with me. I am excited about renovating the kitchen, and I have some canning equipment which I am very excited to try out. I am going to start with applesauce and see how that goes. I am still struggling with my future education choice. LD Nurse of Midwife? I know that LD nurse would be more practical for me, however I am not sure I could follow a hospitals regulations, and deal with doctors who have a medical agenda and different opinions about pregnancy and childbirth than I do. But maybe in the right hospital or birth centre, I could actually make a difference... ahhhhh.....

Anyhow. I need to blog more. Shame on me.

At a Loss!

I am at a loss about what to do. Mina, appears to be ATHLETIC! This is very strange to me, and I wonder how the combination of Keith and myself could ever have produced an athletic child. Keith is the first to admit that he is very much not athletic. He is also non-competitive. Although I think that he may have enjoyed badmington in Jr. High, I don't think he was good at it. I also, am the opposite of athletic. I think my very low blood pressure, and crappy hemoglobin, has something to do with it, because when I physically exert myself, I get very dizzy, and red, and stay that way for hours. At high school track meets, when we are forced to choose 3 events to participate it, I would pointedly choose things that I would only have to do once, because I sucked so much and would rather just go and, well, no need to get into what I would go and do. So I choose the high jump (funny to watch a 4 foot 10 girl attempt!) the 100 m dash (my body does not "dash") and the shot put, which usually landed somewhere around my feet. Hardly even out of the circle. So. We produced Mina, who likes to run around the house shouting "fast", could hold her own in a throwing rocks in water contest with her cousin, and can throw a ball like nobody's business. Way straighter and harder, and with far more accuracy than Abby ever will. (Abby is much more like Keitha and I, when it comes to natural athletic abilities.) I picture a dim future for us, having to get second jobs to have to pay for sporting equipment, and driving all over the province for tournaments. Weird. I never thought I'd be a soccer mom, but I guess kids surprise you.

This 'n That

Hello all! Just thought I'd say hey. We are so excited to go to SL for the weekend and see everyone! (Well, except for Eve, who is following her dream and writing her big exam!) Mom has a million plans for us all, I don't think she realizes that we are just there for 2 1/2 days, one of those being a church day. I have been thinking about Eve a lot, and have to admit that I am a little jelous that she is following her heart, and doing that thing that she loves and has wanted to do for so long. I am so frusturated that I cannot even study part time to do midwifery, as the program just does not exsist here in Alberta. All of the courses at the other universities are very midwife specific, there is no equavalent here to get me started. Sometimes I wonder if I should just be a labour and delivery nurse, and wonder if I could ever be happy doing that, or would I always pretend to be a midwife and get into trouble with the hospital rules. It is just not the same. Although there is a Dr here who does home births, and brings along a nurse and usually has a midwife as her back up. What do you think? Should I get on it, and be a L&D nurse, since Midwifery is a far far off possibility that may or may not ever happen here? And at least then I would be able to help, and make a small difference in the way women give birth. Or should I hope for the best and keep on dreaming about getting to be a midwife? I just hate not doing anything to reach my goal. I hate not really knowing if it will happen or not. And I do not feel right about uprooting my family and starting everything over for me to go to school in another province. I like to ask myself every once in a while "what have I done today/this week/this month to reach my goal?" And it drives me crazy that the answer is nothing. And, that I cannot do anything about it.

In other news...

Abby is learning to read her watch and tell time! I have no idea what she is going to do in kindergarten... I remember being so frusturated trying to learn to read a watch in grade 2!
Mina is talking up a storm. She also is learning her shapes and letters now, and gets so excited when she sees a letter she recognizes. She nearly has a seizure when we drive past a McDonalds. "M!M!M!M!M! Yellow M! Yellow, yellow! mom mom!" If she weren't buckled down, she would fall out of her chair for sure.
We have renovated our bathroom once again, because Keith got a free toilet at work after chatting up the American Standard rep, and I wanted to replace the cracked tile... It looks way better! My next task will be painting the bedrooms and then switching our room with the girls so that they will have more space to share, and Mina will not have to sleep in the living room anymore.

Later!

Changes...

Well, my old job is officially finished. I worked there for 7 YEARS! That is a really long time for me to be in one place, and it was very hard to leave. My employer whom I got along so well with, his patients (sniff, not mine anymore) who I got to know so well that going to work every day was more like a social engagement, catching up with old friends, instead of actually working. On the bright side, now I work 3 evenings a week, and 2 saturdays a month. I get the privledge of raising my own kids, instead of sending them elsewhere, which always felt a little wrong, and a lot wrong if I thought about it too much. So here I am, on the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, and I feel so strange not having to be at work. It is like those days when you forget to wear your watch, and spend all day wondering what time it is and what you are supposed to do next and being all nervous that you are late and missing something important. I need to establish a new routine, and am not sure how to start. I think by finding some swimming lessons and library groups to join for the girls. I have been able to do so many things I have been needing and wanting to do! I finally threaded and started using my beautiful new serger that has been gathering dust for months, the house is cleaner than it has been in a long time, and it has only been 2 days! Housework somehow does not seem so oppressive when you have more than a 30 minute slot to do it in! I think I may even be able to make some progress on the house reno stuff we have been wanting to do for so long. Change is difficult sometimes, but I think this is going to work out for the best. The only down side, is that I am really going to miss Keith in the evenings. But I think we can handle it, after all those years of night shifts, this is nothing!

The Latest

Well, last week it was the International Day of Midwives. I missed Edmonton's event, as I was in Disneyland, and I was a bit sad about that. I was looking forward to going to the leg. and seeing all of our area's midwives (yes, all 7 of them!) and especially Noreen, who was there for Mina's birth. Anyhow. The news is that the province is planning to start funding midwifery! For real! Alberta is finally going to catch up with most of the rest of Canada! Also, MRC had a date set for the "bridging program" for training international midwives to practise here. And they had a meeting with UofC and UofA about developing direct midwifery programs. Soooo, I may not even have to move to get my education! I am going to try and post links now. One is from the news brief from MRC, another is to a documentary called "the business of being born". It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is about 1 1/2 hours long though. I love how at the end, the director, who is pregnant goes into labour. She was planning to have a midwife home birth, but her baby was coming early and was breech, and so the midwife brings her to the hospital for a c section. There are so many people who have such an uninformed opinion about midwifery, and I hope that they will see this film, and recognize that midwives are professionals, and are highly trained in knowing when a delivery needs interventions. And they bring the mom to a hospital when this happens.
http://www.mtroyal.ca/healthcomm/ashs/midwifery.shtml
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/home.htm
I am really excited about this positive development for Alberta! Imagine, being able to birth where and how you choose, whether you have the $ or not! Midwives will be available to everyone, not just rich people! Now I really have to get serious about figuring out how to fund my education...

The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland! We got to spend 3 days there with "Papa" and had a wonderful time! The weather was beautiful, (even though the air quality was not - Keith said that it made him feel like a smoker again.) Our flight was uneventful! That was a true miracle, and it was so nice to fly direct instead of having to transfer airplanes. Our new sit-n-stand stroller was really the best $100 bucks ever spent. It was perfect for the girls, Abby could get out when she wanted, and hop back on when she needed a break. We actually did a really good job at packing just what we needed. I was quite proud of us for that! My new favourite ride is the Tower of Terror, I thought it would be really scary, but actually it was quite fun. Keith was quite impressed by the Haunted Mansion. Abby loved the rollercoaster in Toon Town the most, and she also spent most of a morning getting soaked in the waterpark. She still does not like rides that are dark, as they are too scarry. I do need to find a way to cover her scalp in sunscreen, or just get her to wear a hat, as it got sunburnt through her fine red hair. Feeding the ducks was also a big hit, especially with Mina, whose new words from the past few days include "duck-duck" "Papa" and "abra" (as in abra-cadabra). Very very cute.

Travel tips for next time:

• Take the time to get to a grocery store. Shopping at 7-11 for groceries is just wrong, and you never quite get what you want.
• Stay up for the fireworks (note to self). Even though I get so pooped out after a day of Disney, I should have stayed up! Next time I will!
• Bring some Auntie's along. I would have loved to have a sister to go shopping with. I wanted to go, but did not really want to go alone, and also did not want to bring Keith and the kids. Shopping for deals at Ross is just something you have to do with a sister. Plus Aunties are good for the girls, and cousins would have been even more fun. Next time we should plan for a family event. There is usually a "kids fly free" event in the spring time, I think we should take advantage of it!
• Bring my own camera. At the last minute I decided not to bring mine, as dad and Keith both had theirs. But I missed my D40 the whole time, and was kicking myself for trying to be so practical about how many cameras one group of people actually needs.
  
• Plan for a cheaper parking spot for when we are at the airport! Nuff said.

We had a really fun time. I think Keith may even be hooked on the Dis for family vacations too! I will post some pics later when I get them sorted out.

Because I don't post enough pictures...

Here are some pictures, I realized that I do not put enough up here, and the aunties do not get to see my kids beautiful faces enough.
A) Abby and Keith doing science experiments.
B) Putting together IKEA furniture. Notice that Mina is the only one bothering to read the instructions...
C) Playing "my old friend". This has become a favourite activity before bed. (I thought I had rotated the picture. Sorry) I had forgotten how much fun it is to play my saxophone. Abby and Mina love it so much, although they do chew up my reeds and slobber all over the mouth piece.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the girls, each wearing the cute hats Auntie Betina made for them. Although Mina prefers to wear panties on her head, I do make her switch them out for a hat when we go out, which makes her very sad. It is officially spring now, and even Easter this weekend, but you would not really know it by looking outside. I am wishing we were at Betina's again for the holiday so that the Easter Bunny could come outside (and to Rosaurs too), instead of just to the living room. Somehow, it just does not seem as fun. But I am sure Abby and Mina will still love it. Maybe we should consider making Easter in Colfax a tradition.

Funny

"Where am I going? And why am I in this handbasket?"

About my Job

This week is teachers convention in Edmonton. Which means that at work, I get to clean childrens teeth all day long.
One question: Are all 9 - 15 yr old boys so sullen and unresponsive? They will not answer any questions, make eye contact, or even be generally pleasant.
Also: A note to people who go to the dentist. If you treat your dental professional badly, if you are whiny and mean or try to bite them, you can bet that you are going to get the 4 minute disgusting fluoride instead of the more pleasant 1 minute tasty one. There will not even be a choice!

What Have I Been Up To, You Ask?

Well, let me tell you. I have been making and individually wrapping (well, 2 to a pkg) 500 home made chocolate chip cookies. I have been doing it for a long time. Because I love my little sister, and they will make her wedding guests very happy. I have always been good at baking cookies, and sometimes people ask how come mine always turn out so well. Here are some cookie baking tips.

• Use butter. It just tastes better. It must be at room temperature. You should not try to cheat by heating it up in the microwave, because that melts the middle of it and that will change the end result. Make sure you leave the correct amount of butter on the counter until it softens. Do not cheat.
  
• Have a good recipe. Some, like just finding one on the net, will not turn out well. Others are tried and true, like the Toll House chocolate chip recipe, or the ones on the back of the chipits package.
  
• Have good equipment. A Kitchenaid mixer is the absolute best, but a hand mixer will do. Ther right cookie sheets are essential. Shiny metal, air insulated with a rim only on one side. This is very important so that the air will circulate around the cookie and bake it properly. A cookie scoop will ensure they are the right size and shape. Do not cram the dough into the scoop, or they will not fall out of the scoop properly. Have an oven thermometer in your oven to make suer the temperature is correct, and pre heat it. Know your hot spot. Mine is at the back left, so a cookie sheet must be off centre to the right to ensure even baking.
  
• Follow the recipe. Always cream the butter with the sugars before adding eggs and vanilla. Mix the dry stuff seperately, then mix in with wet. Then do add ins, like chips/nets etc. Don't do it all at once.
• Use only a minimal amount of spray oil (pam).
  
• Make sure the cookies are 2 inches apart. If you try to put too many cookies on a sheet, the air will not flow around them and they will be flat and raw.
• Do not scoop dough onto a warm or hot cookie sheet. Have at least 2 cookie sheets to rotate, so that you do not have to wait for the one the cool before putting the next batch in.
  
• Use a timer. Always check them 1 minute before the timer goes off. They should be very slightly brown around the bottom edge. Take them out of the oven at this point and let sit on the pan for 1 - 2 minutes more. Then remove to cooling rack. Use a clean lifter. If the lifter has melted chocolate chips on it, it will not lift your cookies properly and they will get misshapen.
  

If you do any of those things wrong, your cookies will not turn out and be beautiful, like the ones that will be at Patience's wedding.

My Incredible Husband

I have a fantastic husband. There is a long long list of praises to sing for him, but let me just share with you this most recent feat. He has not smoked in 4 days! I am so proud of him! YAY Keith! You are awesome. I love you.

Tagged

Well, Betina tagged me, and so I have to write 6 things about myself. I do not have any other bloggers to tag back though, so the tagging will have to stop here.

• I hate hot weather. Even though today it is the coldest day so far this winter (-46 with the wind), and it is the first time ever that I have called my boss to tell him that I am not coming in to work, I still can honestly say that I hate hot weather. Today I will attempt to shovel out the 3 feet of snow we got overnight, I will plug in the car so that it might start tomorrow morning, and will probably get frostbite. But I will still enjoy it more that I would a hot hot summer day.
  
• I have been fired from 2 jobs. One was a Tim Hortons, and they fired me because I had a "bad attitude", and the other was The Keg, because I missed a shift when it was -35 and my car would not start, and they thought I should just take the bus. (I was not about to wait for a bus in that weather, so I got fired.) So even though I know Dr. M would not fire me for today, I was still a bit nervous about calling him this morning.
  
• I really like eating out at restaurants. We do not do this very often these days, but I love it. I am excited for when the kids are older and Keith and I can do this more often. One of the careers that I have always wanted to try out is being a food writer for a newspaper or magazine. And if you are going out to eat, you have to order desert. It does not make sense not too! Especially if they have cheesecake, or a chocolate lava cake.
  
• Recently I have began to enjoy opera music. I think it is because we got a kids opera CD with english translation, and the songs are really fun! Now every time it comes on the radio, I turn it up.
  
• I never properly learned how to be a girl. I cannot for the life of me blow dry my hair, and I haven't the first clue about how to put on makeup. I don't really like spending money on clothes, or even shopping for clothes in general. This only really bothers me when I am with my beautiful sisters who are really good at blowdrying.
  
• I never use spell check, normally. But the past few weeks I have been e mailing principals of some schools we might send Abby to, and I used spell check on them. I would be so embarassed if I sent an e mail to a principal with spelling mistakes in it. And besides, they might not let Abby into their school if that happened.
  

I think that is 6. Now I just have to figure out how to link to my sister's blogs. I'll try that next time I am on here.

January 8 random samplings

Well, it is a new year already! Christmas was really fun, Keith and I both had lots of time off, and we both got to just relax. It was nice, and actually felt like a holiday when it was over. Here are some fun things that happened/were said. (Mostly by Abby)

• "Auntie Patience, are you excited to get married so that you can sleep with Dan?"
• "I am NOT a fish expert, I am a HORSE expert" (stomping away in a huff)
• Mina seems to be sleeping better! Over the holidays we developed a new night time strategy. We just ignore her. Well, not completely, but we try to have her go back to sleep on her own, without the boob. She seems to be getting the hang of it!
  
• Mina is also walking up a storm! 14 months is such a cute age. She will just walk around the house, carrying a stuff, putting random things in the baking cupboard, and chattering away. So cute.
  
• We were talking about registering Abby for school. Abby got really excited, started to jump up and down doing the happy dance, saying "Yay! I get to go to Paleontology school!" When we told her it was for kindergarten, and not college, she was very sad. Incidentally, we may have found a suitable school for her, so long as there is space left for kids from other neighborhoods.
  

I am sure I had more to blog about, but it is nearly 10, and I am falling asleep. zzz.

One more sleep!

Only one more sleep, and then it is Christmas holidays! I am really excited for Christmas. It seems like the magic only lasts a few years - until grade 1 or so, when other kids ruin it for everyone. So I am really trying to enjoy and notice how magical it is for Abby, and Mina too. Every morning, the first thing Abby does is the advent calendar, and of course counts the remaining days. She has her letter for Santa memorized, and wraps up little presents for people all day, with kleenex and tape. She also loves to hear the baby Jesus story before bed, she says it gives her a good sleep. Right now she is more excited for "Auntie" day, the day we get to see Nunu. Abby is kind of upset that I did not put a picture of Nawana on our Christmas card, and she also thinks Auntie's last name is the same as ours. Abby also dreams of her every night, riding a white horse together. Mina likes to toddle up to the tree, oohing, and goes up to the baby's 1st Christmas pictures of her and Abby, and she likes to take the Christmas Fish off of the tree and play with him. It is fun.

Just a note about the Christmas card I sent out, you will notice there is no letter to go along with it. That is because I was too tired and grumpy that week to say anything positive. It has been a good year, I think, but really it has gone by in a blurry haze due to lack of sleep, and I do not really remember the highlights very well. Each time I started writing the letter, it degenerated very quickly into "I wish everyone would just go away and let me sleep." I am trying to be more positive now though, and I am hoping that this holiday season I can at least have a nap. Maybe 2 of them, if I have been good this year. Then I might feel better.

This and that, incoherent ramblings of today....

Well, since I went through the trouble to sign in and post a comment on nunu's blog, I might as well post here too. I do not really have anything specific to say, so here are my random thoughts.

• It is very cold here now! Like 20 below 0 for a high during the day. brrr. I sewed Mina's mittens on to her snowsuit, and she ripped out the stitching! That little weiner. I guess I should not have just basted them on...
  
• Abby and Mina both have eye infections, and I have to torture them 4 times daily with eye drops, and it is not much fun.
  
• There is no Midwifery school in Alberta! So, it seems likely that in 4 or 5 years, we will be moving to BC or Ontario. Unless things change in this province. We are so backwards here, in the "richest" province in Canada. I might become a lobbyist in the meantime, while I am upgrading and saving $.
  
• Christmas is coming! I arranged a cookie exchange at work and everyone signed up to participate! (except for M the grinch, who doesn't really like me, so is spurning the cookie exchange) I am unreasonably excited about this, and change my mind 3 times a day about what kind of cookie I am going to wow everyone with. I also arranged a festive pizza lunch, to which I am bringing dessert, and Donna caught my merry spirit and is arranging a gift exchange. Ho ho ho!
  
• Mina walks now! She can go about 10 steps, when she is motivated, like when she sees someone else's church bag and wants to root through it, in search of food. Then she will sit there, quietly, eating someone else's apple.
  
• Abby can count to 100! She is often muttering under her breath, and when you ask her what she said, she gets mad at you for interupting, and she has to start counting again.
  

When I Grow Up

I have always known that career wise, and education wise, I want to do more than Dental Assisting. For a long time though, like the past 12 years or so, I have struggled with figuring out what that something was. I have always been very envious of my sisters, who all seemed to be able to figure that question out very early in life, while I sat by, taking dental assistimg really only because it was only 1 year long, so if I hated it, it would not be a big loss. Turns out, I do enjoy my job, and it has served me well for the past 9 years. (holy cow, that is a long time!) For a while I thought that I wanted to be a nurse. But after being in the hospital a couple of times, and seeing what a nurse's job is like, and what our healthcare system here is really like, I realized that I do not want to be doing that. So that was the end of that dream. But the past couple of years, I have had this secret ambition. At first it was just a passing thought, I did not really believe I could do it. I would read books about it all the time, and imagine and dream that it was me, but I never said anything about it, because it was like this secret idea I had... But I got brave, I said it out loud, and it made me so excited. I have an info session to attend at the end of the month to find out if I can train for it in Alberta, but I could also go to BC or Ontario for it - for a 4 yr program at university. So my new 5 year plan is to do some major upgrading, as the programs are super competitive, and to save money. A lot of money.... Then, when my kids are both in elementary school, I am going to school to become a MIDWIFE! I am so so so excited about this, and it feels so right!

We Miss Auntie

Sigh, beloved Auntie, sister and nanny NuNu has been away for a week now. We sure miss her! I miss having so many stylish pairs of shoes on my shoe rack - and they almost fit me, so I could pretend they were mine and that I knew something about fashion. I miss all of her shopping bags, she would come home after being at the mall and give us fashion shows of all the things she found that day. I miss coming home to a fresh batch of cookies. Nunu would wake up, promptly at 2, and start baking up a storm. And she always shared. Now, I have to start baking cookies regularly again, because there is nothing as depressing as an empty cookie jar. I miss hearing the giggles from when Abby would crawl into bed with Nunu and pretend to be a bear in a cave under the blankets. I miss being able to say "go see what Auntie is doing" when Abby was driving me crazy and needed something to do while I made dinner. Abby misses her too, and really loves sleeping in Nawana's old bed. She says that she dreams of Auntie sleeping there too. She misses the walks to Starbucks to get strawberry frappuccino's on a nice day. Keith misses reading fashion magazines, well, so do I. Mina misses impromptu piano concerts - Nawana would play very complicated songs, and Mina and Abby would dance around the living room. It was so cute.

We hope things are going well in Mississauga, and that your ugly nurse shoes are at least very comfortable. We love you Nunu!

Disneyland!

We are back! We had such a fun and relaxing time at the Happiest Place on Earth! (Which to Keith was the one and only smoking section in Tomorrowland.) So after taking a car, 2 airplanes and a bus, we arrived at the wrong hotel. So "Judy" called for a golf cart to come and pick us up, and what appeared, but a fancy schmancy Cadillac - a sign of things to come. Abby asked if she had to take her shoes off in it, it was so nice. The Grand hotel was so amazing and beautiful. I miss sleeping in the bed, having a newspaper delivered in the morning, and the double vanity and cozy robes that we wore to the pool. It was really high class, nothing like the KOA Disney holidays of childhood. Not a can of Chunky soup in sight! Just nice ladies asking us if we needed turn down service (I had to ask what that was. It involved fluffy pillows and chocolate. Two of my favourite things!) For me the hotel was really the highlight. I may plan all future vacations based on if we can afford a top hotel.

Our first morning there, we went to California Adventure, which was all decked out for Halloween with candy corn growing on the palm trees. Abby LOVED Soaring over California, and was making a joke later about "walking over California", ha ha. Keith, mom and I did the big rollercoaster, (which we could see from our balcony!) and Abby went on the carousel too. Then it was time for lunch at Ariels Grotto. Holy moley. Princesses galore. Abby had the Christmas morning look on her face for the entire event, and I got all teary seeing her so excited. Then we went to Disneyland, where I made the mistake of taking Abby on Snow Whites Scary Adventure (not reading the sign before going into it.) It was very scary. Abby would only go on outdoor rides that were not scary, loud or dark after that. So we spent lots of time at Dumbo, Tea Cups, and the Carousel. Although we did get her to go on Pirates then next day, which she says she liked, even though she was complaining about how wet her Belle dress was, and hiding her eyes the whole time... Her big highlight was the Princess Vanity Faire, where she got 1 on 1 time with 3 princesses - for 1/2 an hour! She brought a picture of them that she had drawn, and got to show them and chat and dance with them. She did have a bit of trouble explaining to Pocahantas why she was not included in the drawing... It was so cute to see her in that princess dress, having such a magical time. She also really liked the parade and the Jungle Cruise. Keith and I loved Space Mountain, which I think is my fav "fast" disney ride.

We had such a fun time! It was relaxing and happy and fun! Our pics are not digital this time, but I will try and post some after I get the negs scanned and put on CD. Thank you dad and mom for taking us on this really great holiday, and for all of the magic that Abby got to experience! We are planning to go again at Christmas time, when the girls are a few years older, I am going to save me pennies so that we can stay at the Grand again!