Dr Deb

I used to see the midwife here in my town, but she tranferred my care to an OB/GYN because of some health issues. *shrugs* I've seen this OB before, she was my care provider when I was pregnant with our last daughter, so no biggie. I'm used to her. I knwo what to expect & what not to expect.

I've been taking my youngest daughter, Fiorella, with me to my appointments...mainly because there's no reason to hire a sitter for her...when she can just come with me.

At the last appointment, Fiorella was asking a million questions & talking a mile-a-minute. Now Dr Deb doesn't have any children & her place (ironically) is not child friendly. There are no toys or kids books in the waiting room, nor in the exam rooms. She's not very....child friendly herself. But whatev........she's just there to give me the proper care...she's not a pediatrician...so I don't really care.

Anyways, this is the conversation from our last apt:
F: What's your name?
Dr: Dr Deb, whats your name?
F: Fiorella. Whats this?
Dr: Its a stethescope.
F: What does it do?
Dr: I use it for checking on your mom.
F: Is that my mom?
Dr: Uh..yes.
F: I'm a girl. Are you a boy?
Dr: No. I'm a girl too.
F: I'm a big girl.
Dr: Me too.
F: Your breath stinks. Are those your shoes?
Dr: Uhm. Yes.
F: These are my shoes.
Dr: I like the lights.
F: Your breath stinks. I like Dora.
Dr: I don't know Dora.
F: How come?
Dr: I don't know who she is.
F: Oh. Your breath stinks. Do you know Boots?
Dr: No.
F: (singing) D-d-d-dd-d-d Dora.....I like Dora. Your...
Dr: (cuts her off) Do you want to listen to the baby's heartbeat?

LOL....OMG...I had a hard time not laughing each time Fiorella just casually slipped in how the Dr's breath...wasn't fresh. I mean....to give Fiorella credit....the Dr did have stinky breath. It was like.....teacher breath......remember when teachers used to drink coffee all day & smoke at every break....so they had this awful....'pea-soup' smelling breath?? Well....thats what was going on. All I could do was pretend that Fiorella hadn't said it. Dr Deb did the same.

On the way home I told her it wasn't nice to tell someone they had stinky breath.

On the plus side......the next apt we went to.....Dr Deb had minty fresh breath & a jar of mints on the counter.

OH. MY.GAWD. Bwa-hahahahaaa

Okay, today my youngest & I watched Peter Pan.
It was quite the eye opener. I was emabrassed. I was horrified. I laughed my ass off.

There are some scenes that had my jaw just hanging open....and I had no words. (OMG...I have no words. Thats never happened to me before *Josie Grossie*) All I could do was stare at the screen. I wasn't sure if I should laugh....sing along....turn it off...I mean really....as a parent and you come across some absurdly racist material in a kids movie....what do you do? Do I take the time and explain to my three year old what was inappropriate? Do I leave it and bring it up again when she's older and more able to understand what was wrong?

Sooo....I laughed and then just said that it was just a movie and that real Natives don't act like this.



So after my brief horror at the movie.....I was able to sit and laugh at how crazy & absurd it was. I mean come on!! LOL......the best was the song that explained how the red man became red. It was all because of how one guy was blushing. So of course....that explains how Natives changed from "Normal" white skin to "Different" red skin. *rolls eyes*
And....what is with Tiger Lily's hussy dance??? I've never seen any native girl dance like that at a pow-wow....maybe at some bar....LOL....and I've never in my life...ever heard a native woman refer to herself as a Squaw.....I've heard some refer to other women they don't like as a Squaw...LOL!
*sigh*
Its just crazy.
I bet if I watched more of our older Disney films, I'll find racial over-tures as well.

Priorities

You know what bugs me? Being a grown up. Okay....not all the time...but there are times when I just hate having to be responsible.

I can't buy a fabulous handbag or a fabulous pair of boots because that money should be spent on groceries to feed my ever-growing family. **in case you were unaware this is a rant** I mean, not that I was ever the type of woman to be able to drop a couple thousand dollars on a purse.....but you know....it would be fun to be frivolous once in awhile.

I have a bad shopping problem. I love to shop. I shop whenever I can....I buy whatever & where-ever. Its a bad thing. Its like a disease. I even spend a good portion of my evening browsing online and making up lists of what I'd buy. Of course......this is probably the reason my Hubby took away my credit card and we only have the one....which is now under his name only. *rolls eyes* So since my credit card is gone.....my shopping has become limited. But I will admit, I would have had that baby racked up in 3 days. No problem. Well....to me it would have been no problem...but for US it would have been a big problem.

See.....I'm married to an accountant and economist. Not 2 different men...the same guy. He's very money savy. He's very responsible.....if it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have a savings account, over-draft, credit cards, line of credit, money in our chequing account....or have our bills paid on time. Needless to say we have very different views on money handling....which...probably works out best this way, as he manages the money. I'd probably spend half on the way home. But whatev....at least I can admit my faults. I'd have us in the poorhouse in a month.

But back to this priorities thing......I hate having to prioritize things we need. We need to save money to renovate our basement as our family is growing and our basement is undeveloped. We plan on adding a big full bathroom, a family room & 2 bedrooms...as well as a storage & laundry area. We also need to budget in money to redo our shingles sometime in the next 3 years....and we need to put in new windows in the next 3 years as well.....not to mention we plan on redoing our kitchen next spring/summer & tearing down the fugly deck & put in brick patio. Our fugly bathroom could use a bit of botox as well.

I just spent the last 2 hours putting together a 7-day family cruise on a Disney Cruise line and I even went as far as budgetting out how much we need to save each month so we could go. As an alternate plan, I also put together a plan complete with meals, hotels, flights, daily spending & shopping to Orlando for 10 days. I was gleaming with pleasure at my brilliance and took the computer to show my Hubs my plan. What was he doing? Budgetting out our renovations and putting together a plan for the next 5 years so we could save each month and get everything done within our planned time frame. Guess which plan we're going with? I'll give you a clue....the only water we'll be playing in, will be in a brand new tub.

I know, I know.....I should be happy we're renovating....and I am....I really want our place to be renovated....the problem is....I would like my fairy godmother to show up and do it for us, so we can go on vacation. I'm a dreamer & Guliano is a realist. I have all these ideas of places I want us to go & I like to push the reality of paying for these ideas on the back burner. Juliano does it the other way.....its amazing that our marriage actually works....we're so very different.

But anyways.....since I like shopping so much....we're going on Sunday to RONA to go look at kitchen cupboards, counter tops, tubs, showers & toilets. Yay!

Haircuts, pumpkin pies & lattes

The time has come for another hair cut.....for most people its an easy decision....they decide its time and they go in, get the cut & its done. But for me.....I'm a bit of a.....weirdo I guess. I've been thinking of getting a hair cut now or a trim since August. Yup....thats right...its now middle of October and I'm still thinking of it. Don't get me wrong....its not like I'm contemplating a major change. I'll probably just get my usual..some sort of variation on a layered cut. I usually keep it around my shoulders. Long enough to slap into a pony-tail if needed. Only issue is....I've had this same type of variation of hair cut since 2002. I'm worried I'm going to end up having the same style of hair for the next 20 years.
Neurotic thinking?? Possibly. But in my defence......my mom has had the same style since the '80's. Its just been some type of variation of the same cut. Different lengths perhaps varying in inches.....but basically the same style. Its a bit of family joke....not a cruel joke...but a joke non-the-less. I have a fear of the same thing happening to me. YET....when I do go in for my cut.....I just know I'll come out with a layered cut. So I worry about turning into my own mom.....and yet...I'll still go down that same path & cut my hair the same way again. What makes it worse is that I know it and I seem to still follow that path. Crazy right?? I KNOW!!
Anywhoo....back to the haircut dilema.....there are limited places in my small own where I could go for a cut. I could go the same place my hubby & kids go....Cheryl is good.....but....I feel rushed when I am there...she doesn't wash your hair, she just wets it and cuts and sends you home. Then there is the other Cheryl....I've been to her once before....and she cut it a bit crooked. There is also Bertha......maybe I'm just judgmental.....but I can't imagine anyone named Bertha has a good grasp on the latest cutting & style techniques. Plus....she's right on mainstreet with big windows....and I don't really feel like having the town talk about when I went for a haircut. LOL.....not that I'm a celebrity here....but its small town and people LOVE to talk here. About anything.
So.....I'll think about this haircut for another few weeks before I finally get it done. I drive myself crazy. I should just get it done next time I'm in the city and get it over with. My only goal...is to have it done forsure by the time we have the baby. Our due date is Dec 4th....so I have another 6 weeks to contemplate getting the same cut.

Speaking of cuts......we had our late Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I LOVE thanksgiving. Its my favorite. I made turkey, stuffing, gravy, the whole works. Yummers. Hubs hacked into the pie while I was playing stuffed turkey on the couch. I am grateful he took it upon himself to serve up the pie to the kids....but seriously...he hacked this poor pie. I have a large knife & pie/cake server......and he used a small steak knife as both the cutter & server. Of course the pie fell apart and didn't come out as piece and being the A-type (only food situations) I am, this irked me. Why? I don't know. But it took all my strength & will power not to freak out about the proper way to cut & serve pie. I just had to get that out. There's no real story there.

What I wanted to mention was my addiction to pumpkin spice lattes. OMG. These are heavenly. I can't get enough. If gas wasn't so grotesque....I would drive to the city every day to get one. I know I'm pregnant and probably shouldn't be drinking that much anyways......but still. They are a taste of pure heaven. Especially with extra whip. *drool* Have you had one yet? If not, I highly suggest you go out and try one. You won't regret it. If you do.....send it to me. I'll drink it.

Good bye to you...

This is Joe. Or..was. He was our family cat for about 9 months. Not a very flattering pic of him....but its the best I have. Sierra wanted a picture of him & her and when she tried to hold him, he started fighting her hair. So its actually a very 'Joe' type picture.

We had to put Joe down. Meaning.....we killed him. Euthanized is a very soft term to killing your pet. It sounds nice...but it is not. Not in any terms. I know it was the best thing to do, but it doesn't ease the guilt I feel for making the choice. Its not an easy thing to decide to do. Saddly, the Humane Society told us they would have a hard time placing him because he was vicious with kids...and that the majority of people who come in looking to adopt a pet, are looking for a family pet. They said Joe would have sat in a cage for a few months and than would have been put down anyways. I couldn't let him spend the last of his days in a cage. It was too cruel. So we made an appointment for him & told the kids he was adopted by an older couple who had no grandchildren he could hurt. A lie....yes....but better then telling them he died.

Even though I know he attacked & hurt our kids and the neighbourhood kids.....I still miss him. He helped me kill moths, bees, spiders and other bugs. He kept me company in the middle of the night when I was kept up from pregnancy related pains. He had attitude that I admired....he didn't automatically like anyone. He had little quirks about him that I found comical. He dragged clothes & stuff into his litter box when he was upset...he was afraid of the dark and would cry in the basement if there were no lights on for him, we had to invite him to come eat his own food, he opened cupboards and once in them...he could close them as well. He was afraid of the hair dryer and vacuum......but would attack them anyways. He was a very.......different type of cat.

I won't go into his bad side. That doesn't do any good now. He's gone. Its hard enough trying to accept the fact that we did the best we could for him & everyone else.

On Friday, October 3 at 11:30am.....he died.

Rest in peace Joe.

Headed to NASA..just like mom.

Back when I was in high school....I was a bit...well...spinny. Not intentially. Not sure why...but sometimes...it took me awhile to 'get' things. But in my defense....I come from a long line of 'spinnies'. Namely...my mom.
Here's some examples of typical 'my mom' stories:
-My mom could be on the phone talking to one of her sisters and she would suddenly say "Oh, I have to go I think the phone is ringing."
-My mom called a dry cleaning service to come pick up her dry cleaning. This dry cleaning company was named "Arthur Rose". They showed up the next day for the pick up and the guy rang the door bell, my mom answered and the guy said "Arthur Rose" my mom looked at him in confusion and said "Sorry, you must have the wrong house, the Thomas' live here."
-She is notorious for wrong pronunciation. We asked her one year from INXS tapes..and she went around asking for 'inks' tapes and insisting the staff look for them.
I could go on and on....but the point is...clearly this is where I get it from. I mean...got it from. As in past tense.

Back in high school.....someone had taped the words "Space Cadet" on my binder. I was pleased and left it there all year. I thought someone thought I was bound for NASA. Little did I know....at least...ignorance is bliss.
My cousins had nicknamed me "Dopelynn" it wasn't until I was older that I finally 'got' what they meant and insisted they quit. Uhhh....some of my cousins still call me that.

I think I passed this down to my eldest daughter. Guliano and refer to her as Chrissy. As in Chrissy Snow. Trust me. She fits the name.

She is always getting things mixed up, not 'getting' things, totally off the level as everyone else....and...hahahaa...it can be quite funny. Ahem...I mean...of course we don't laugh at her...well...not in front of her anyways...okay...not usually.

Sometimes I just look at her in amazement and wonder how she gets through the day. Like last night. I was tossing together a quick casserole for supper and asked her to run down to the storage room and grab me two cans of cream of mushroom soup. She was gone for a few minutes and came up with a can of pie filling and proceeded to set it in front of me at the counter. I looked at it...and said "Sierra....I asked for TWO cans of soup..not pie filling" She looks up from her book and says "Well...I couldn't see any soup cans so I grabbed that...can't you substitute?"

Uhhh....substitute Pie filling for cream of mushroom soup?? Remind me to never let her cook unsupervised.

I tell her "You can't substitute pie filling into this recipe, can you go see what we have down there?" So she drags herself downstairs and I can hear her mumbling "I love pie filling...it would taste great in there".

All I could think was...OMG...what a lunatic. hahahah...can you imagine? Tossing pie filling into a casserole? ewwww.....we had swedish meatball & noodle casserole. Can you imagine it tossed with pie filling??

There was the time when I asked her to wash the pots as I left to go check the mail...and I came back and the pots were still sitting there. So I said "I thought I asked you to wash the pots for me?" She says "Ohhhhh....(laugh) you said wash the POTS?? I thought you said to wash the PADS..." I didn't even ask what she did.

There are tons of family conversations that have gone on where everyone is talking about a certain subject and she is WAYYYYY of course and we usually end up asking her what she is talking about...and she in turn asks us what we were talking about. 99.9% of the time....its not even close. At least she can laugh about it.

Sooo....my lil Chrissy is going to be heading blissfully into her teen years....just like her mom...and her grandma before her...perhaps someone will also make her believe too thats she's headed for NASA.

You can't handle the truth!

Everyone knows that line. "You can't handle the truth!!" Its Jack Nicholson yelling at Tom Cruise. This was pre-freaky Tom Cruise.

Anyways, thats whats on my mind today...no....not jumping up and down on my or Oprah's couch proclaiming my love for Guliano...or Katie. Hahhaha. On my couch I'd probably slip on a hidden pencil crayon and fall off the couch and lay there yelling "I've fallen and I can't get up" for hours before anyone even noticed. *rolls eyes*

Its the truth about Staying at home full time. If you don't stay at home....your preconcieved notions of what goes on is totally off. Well...probably anyways.

I'll admit....even I have these horrible stereo-type images of a stay-at-home-mom...and I am one!!

Tell me if I'm wrong...but most people think one of these things:
-SAHMs are uneducated & totally dependant on thier husbands.
-SAHMs have it easy, they just play all day long & watch TV.
-SAHMs have never left the 50's.

The truth is...is that it is REALLY hard. You give up a lot when you stay home full time. And you also feel like you can't complain because...people say: you could leave the home & go to work....but....why do people who have an actual paying job get to complain..why don't people tell them: well...why not quit work and go stay at home with your kids?

One of the things you give up is Alone Time. If you work in an office and you need some downtime, you can close your office door and have a minute or two alone. Not at home. If you close ANY door, your lil boss will be there within seconds crying and/or banging on the door. Have you ever tried to get yourself together with that going on? Same goes with bathroom time. Anyother work environment, you can go to the bathroom in peace. But at home....its hard to try to try to use the bathroom with someone crying outside the door, or...crying at your feet or trying to sit on your lap. There is no such thing as Alone Time when you are a SAHM. We've heard of it.....but we think its an urban legend.

There's also the Sense of Accomplishment. Its hard to feel productive when you stay at home. You clean up, and 10 seconds later it looks the same. There are days when 5pm comes rolling around and you still have yet to find 10 minutes to jump in the shower...not to mention thinking about what to make for supper...all the while, the lil boss has dumped out the cat food...for the 10th time that day. When your husband comes home and tells you about his meetings all day & how things are really moving along on his side-project....then he asks you: What did you do today? It feels really....lame to say: Well.....I played Polly-Pockets for an hour this morning and this afternoon I discussed 'Growing up in the 80's' with someone from PEI in a parent-chat-forum....I also picked play-dough out of the cats hair again during lunch. You don't quite feel like you are doing anything productive.

There's also no such thing as "Sick Leave" or "Earned Day Off". If you are sick, no one cares. Doesn't matter how sick you are.....you still have to get up, get kids off to school, take care of the ones at home, clean up, cook lunch, do laundry, play with the lil bosses....all the while having stomach flu...coming at you from both ends. You're lucky if you get a bless you when you sneeze. Plus all the good OTC medicines make you drowsy...so you pretty much have to suck it up. As for EDO's.....no one cares if your job is 24/7...365 days of the year. No one is keeping track and giving you an earned day off. Your earned day off is when your kids get invited for a play-date for an hour, and you are not required to come help supervise they playdate.

Gone too is Adult Time. I mean real adult time. In the office, you get adult time all day long. You converse with other adults, you talk about work related subjects, you go for coffee and get to drink a hot coffee uninterupted...you get to talk about adult topics. When you are at home and your main company is a 3 yr old.....your conversation skills tend to revolve around the same topics. You start to forget how to converse with other adutls....you start talking in statements....you become the statement talker. Just like your 3yr old. Only...you are 32. And just try to find another adult outside of the playground who can talk & laugh for an hour about Dora the Explorer....and forget about world political events...the hot topic of the day is: What do you think about CBC kids removing all the other hosts and only having Patty & Sid????

Anyways, thats just some of the truths of SAHMs.....

Jamie, Elton & Mr Clean

On Tuesday we are going to our concert!!

(Wa-hoooo!!!)

*singing* I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words....

I've been listening on Youtube to all of Elton John's tunes so I can be all prepared to belt out all my fav songs. I love Elton...I hope I can convince Guliano to dress up in Elton's 70's glory days.

Anyways, since the concert is on a weekday, we needed to find a non-teen babysitter to come keep our kids from 4pm - 12am. Or...around that time. Its quite a long time we'll be gone...we have to drive to Regina early enough that we can get decent parking...and I have to waddle myself to the concert building..than the concert itself & the craziness of leaving the grounds after wards & trying to get out of congested traffic & drive back to our small town. So....its a bit too long for our regular 14 yr old babysitters.

We found Jamie to babysit. She's the pharmasist at the drug store here. She volunteered. Thats one of the few joys of living in a small town....you just need to put the word out & you can usually find what/who you need. So Jamie is coming to sit for us. Jamie has never been to our house.....we don't really know her....but she was in weight watchers with me about 2 years ago...and her husband works with my husband....and of course....she fills our prescriptions. So we know her...in that small town kind of way.

Sooo...the key words above were: Never been to our house.

We have a SMALL house....with 5 people living in it...3 of which are kids...and 3 pets. You know that saying "Cleaning your house while your children are still growing, is like shovelling the walk while its still snowing"? Well.....who ever said that quote...obviously was at my house at some time.
If you are here between 4pm & 4:30pm, you will see my house nice & clean. Thats right after chore time....if you're not here...you're gonna miss it. Usually our house is a bit....well....crazy.

The living room doubles as a family room & play room so it usually looks like a crate of polly pockets & a crate of barbies blew up around us. We're expecting a new baby soon, and his change table is in the living room as well..because we havent' figured out where we are going to put him yet. Sooo...his change table is in the living room...and all his clothes & diapers are stacked on the shelves under the change table. Our TV stand doubles as a DVD/VHS holder & a book/magazine shelf.

Our kitchen is tiny....and our table multi-tasks as a computer table, sewing table, & temporary storage place for my canning supplies. Since we don't have enough cupboard space our counters hold all our big appliances: microwave, stand mixer, bread maker, slow cooker, toaster oven....and...well.....it doesn't take long for our place to be messy.

Since its fall, I have been going through all the kids fall/winter clothes & I have half filled garbage bags of too small clothing in the hallway waiting to be filled & donated & baskets of shoes/socks to be donated to the school.

So this worries me.....Jamie has no kids & I imagine a spotless house. I've been a little panicky about having her come over and be alone with the craziness of our household.

Enter Mr Clean.

I plan to douse the house with Mr Clean & set everything on fire & start fresh.

Just kidding....sort of. I do plan on having everyone & everything sterilized before she comes & dousing down everything with Mr Clean & spraying everyone & everything with Lysol spray...that way....if it doesn't look clean...at least it will smell clean.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm forcing everyone to help hide, I mean clean, the majority of the mess & hopefully come Tuesday, we can do a "10 second tidy" and have it look/smell half decent for when Jamie arrives. Pray for me people.

Signs you live in a small town

There is a big difference in people's version of 'small town'. Some people think North Battleford, Sk is a 'small town'. But really...its a city hanging on for dear life.

If you live in a small town....you know it. If you have to think about whether the town you live in is 'small town', than most likely it isn't.

So I've comprised a list of things that should clue you in as to whether or not your town is small or not.

The list:

1) You refer to things as: THE high school, THE elementary school, THE park, THE drug store, THE grocery store....as there is only ONE of each.

2) You're at the post office and you see Jason the plumber across the street & you call over to him and ask him to come repair your toilet. He shows up 20 mins later at your house...without having to ask where you live.

3) Jason the Plumber is also known as Jason the electrician, Jason the handyman, Jason the (fill in the blank).

4) You don't even have to give your Co-op member number to the girls at the grocery store, because they know it by memory.

5) The ladies at the post office call you at home to let you know a parcel has arrived.

6) If you become pregnant...everyone in town knows about it within 3 days.

7) If you get married, everyone in town assumes they are invited & show up...and your wedding is at THE church & your reception is at THE rec centre....just like everyone else's wedding.

8)If your kid skips school, you can rely on the people around town to call you & inform you.

9) If you move to a small town, you are like a celebrity. EVERYONE talks about you for months.

10)You know who a kids parents are just by how the kid looks.

Millions of peaches...

Being a 'house-wife' has turned me into a lunatic. I never would have admitted this before.....but after yesterday's fiasco...I have to admit it. I'm plain crazy.

It all started with living in a small town. People here are 'canning' crazy. Every late summer/early fall....its all I hear people talking about...and since I am such a follower...I decided that one day I would attempt canning. I mean really....how hard could it be? You take fruit, put it in a can, pour stuff over it and seal it & stash it away. Easy-peasey.

OMFG....someone should have just hit me on the head and told me I was crazy. I don't know why I keep convincing myself I can do these crazy tasks. Remember my 'chocolatier' moment. Yah. Don't ask me about it. As you can see....I didn't it into a successfull business. I'm still not a millionaire.

Anwhoo....back to thise crazy-canning. We bought the jars. We bought the fruit. We bought the canning equipment.

My first sign that I should turn back....should have been when I couldn't even identify what a 'screw band' was. *rolls eyes* But I plowed ahead with naive confidence.

I dug around online looking for step-by-step instructions and found some with pictures...(a-ha! it also identified what a screw band was). So I went step-by-step. I started at 5pm.

Lets just not go into the hell I ventured into. All I'm going to say is:

1) When canning for the first time, don't do it on a whim...& be sure your first attempt is with someone who knows how to do it...or..at least just don't attempt alone.

2) Its not as simple as "putting fruit in a can".

3) If you are determined to try...don't start late. Its a time consuming process.

4) Just BUY the canned stuff from Co-op. Its easier. Trust me.

The light at the end of this tunnel was that around 1am....I ended up with 100 pounds of canned peaches and I realized that I am not a homesteader.....I'm a home-maker. There's a BIG difference. I think that might be my new daily mantra.

What is this??

Okay, I saw this on another blog....and I had to share. Can you guess what the sign is about??

My list of melters...

I was doing some lurking on my favorite site, and I came to a girls request for most memorable romantic quotes from movies. It got me on a roll...I was originally going to do my top ten...but...you just can't pick ONLY 10. It was hard enough narrowing it down to these:

My list of most Romantic Movie Quotes:

Dirty Dancing:
".....I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life... the way I feel when I'm with you!"

10 Things I Hate About You:
"I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme. I hate it, I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all." (bawling)

Casablanca:
"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time."

City of Angels:
"I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss from her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it. One." & "When they ask me what I liked best, I'll say it was you."

When Harry met Sally:
"I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Forrest Gump:
"I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is."

As Good as it Gets:
"You make me wanna be a better man."

Lord of the Rings:
"I would rather spend one lifetime with you-than face all the Ages of this world alone."

Last of the Mohicans:
"No matter how long it takes, no matter how far...I will find you."

The Notebook:
“So it’s not gonna be easy...we’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want you, forever, and every day.”

Titanic:
"I'll never let go."

Notting Hill:
"I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her."

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
"I want to tell you, with my last breath, that I have always loved you." (I have the biggest crush on Chow Yun-Fat since he uttered this line!!)

Shakespeare in Love:
"You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die."

Bridget Jones' Diary:
"I like you very much. Just as you are." (Colin Firth stole my heart in this movie!)

Love Actually:
"I left Elton John's, where there were a hefty number of half-naked chicks with their mouths open, to hang out with you, at Christmas. It's a terrible mistake, Chubs, but you turn out to be the fucking love of my life. And to be honest, despite all my complaining, we have had a wonderful life."
&
"Beautiful Aurelia, I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person - because I hardly knows you - but sometimes things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof. And I will inhabit here, or you can inhabit with me in England"

Jerry Maguire:
"You complete me." & "You had me at hello."


*sigh* So there you go.....the moments in cinematic history that melt my lil dried walnut of a heart...

Say Crack again...

As the head of my own research team I realized I hadn't done any field work in a few weeks & it became imperitive I go out & do some research. I needed Guliano to come home early today so I could do some field work.

He is being unsupportive. He refused to come early & said I just have to wait until this evening when he gets home. Augh....by the time he gets home it will be to late to do my required research & studies.

You see....I need to go to the city to compare the differences between McDonalds breakfast McCrack-wich & Tim Hortens breakfast crack-wich. Both are equally addictive....and I felt it was time to do more research on this via taste-tests.

I live in a small town and while we do have an A & W.....they just don't compare.



What is it about these fast food places that make these sinfully delicious crack-like addictive breakfasts??? I mean....I'm going insane here. They are all I can think of. I even imagine I can smell them. If we lived in the city......I'd be pawning off our stuff just to have these every day. I'd be there paying for them in pennies I found & begged for.



Have you had these?? OMG......McDonalds has the sausage & egg Mc Muffin.....heaven in itself. Tim Hortens now has a tea bisquit with sausage & egg....*drool* such lil packages of delite...so different....yet so much alike.



Augh....I'm going crazy here. Its times like these where I think we REALLY need to discuss having a second vehicle.

Speaking of addictions.....when the hell is Starbucks going to bring out Pumpkin Spice Latte's again? I asked the kid serving me last week for one and he looked at me like I was stoned. I mean come on....YOU work there....surely you can check if one can be made. But I did get an answer, a different worker informed me that they won't be in until maybe October.

OMFG....OCTOBER. I have to wait until October for their version of crack?? I don't know how I am going to handle it. I already have a plan formed out.....I can drop off the kids at school by 9am, head into the city....grab a Latte....head to Timmies or McD's grab a crackwich & head home....all in time to pick up the kids again for lunch.

*sigh*.......I'm feeling bitter. My homemade crackwich...just tastes like ass. Which is not the same category as fastfood crackwiches.

All by myself.....

Well....I'm here...all alone. The kids are gone to visit grandparents for about 10 days and Guliano is at work all day. I'm sitting here....on the couch at 2:40pm in my PJs...with my glass of rootbeer and feeling all lonely. A la Bridget Jones.

I can't believe how quiet the house is. There is literally NO NOISE but the click of the keyboard as I type. To be honest, I had thought that perhaps we had a noiseless keyboard....as I had never heard it before. I guess we're just too noisy on a regular basis to even hear it.

I had big plans to clean the house, read my emails & play on the internet all day, sleep in....but on Monday.....I slept until 10am....and woke to find that Guliano had:
-gotten up, fed the pets
-took Bugzy for a walk
-went to the gym
-came home, ate
-did a load of laundry
-left for work...all before 7:30am.

Thats not all this sick early bird did. He also came back from work, and left me a take out coffee on the counter sometime between 9-10am.

So, feeling like a lazy-ass...I got up, drank my coffee & cleaned the house. Without the kids here.....instead of an all-day job...this took 45 mins. OMFG.....45 mins. When the kids are home, it takes all day!!!!!!!!! So much for my big plan to clean the house all week. It was done in in less than an hour. I decided to do my computer time.....again....an all day mission with the kids home. But with no one interupting me, I read my emails, read my blogs, checked out my sites...i was done in 30 minutes.

This was MONDAY. I was done everything I had planned to do all week....all within 1 hour and 15 mins of my waking up. What the hell was I going to do with myself all freaking week????

So Tuesday came and went in painstaking slowness.....and its now Wednesday. I now understand why some housewives are closet alcoholics. If I wasn't pregnant, I'm sure I'd be drinking here by myself all day.

I know, I know.....I should get out and do something right?? Whatev....you don't live in Fort Qu'Appelle. Once you browsed the drug store.....there's nothing else to do and I already did that 4 years ago.

I guess I'll liven things up around here & turn on the radio & have a shower.

Protector of my family

I saved my family from imminent death. An intruder entered our home while I was in the basement doing laundry & I came up to find my kids running & screaming. It took me about 3 minutes to find the intruder. Thanks to the trusty help of our cat Joe. Joe had already assessed the situation and set out to kill the intruder.

When I saw it....I wanted to faint. I felt my blood run cold....I wanted to run & scream. It was the biggest scariest moth I had ever seen in a long time.

But being the only adult in the household, it was my duty to suck up my fear & do my best to kill this massive beast.

My adrenaline was pumping & I had the chills. Every nerve was twitching as I prowled the house slowly with my flyswatter. I saw the beast fluttering against the kitchen wall. He was prepping himself for attack. I just knew it.

I slowly inched my way into the kitchen and slid along the farther wall, all the while keeping the beast in view. Brave Joe was jumping up against the wall, ready to help with the kill. I got close enough to attempt a strike. I took a deep breath, set my nerves on edge & reached out with a swat.

OMFG....he knew it was coming, before I could even react, this demon started DIVE BOMBING at my head. I knew he was going to try to kill me by diving into my hair. A chill ran through my body and I let out a scream. I started hitting my head with the flyswatter & running around in circles screaming and shaking my head trying to dislodge this demon from my hair.

The kids opened the bedroom door, took one look at me and screamed then slammed the door shut again. It was too much for our cat Joe and he took off running down the stairs to hide in the basement. Bugzy, our dog, was barking up a storm......dying to be let in to lend a hand.

I could feel it trying to ensnare itself in my hair & doing its best to kill me by fluttering me to death. I kept on with the smacking myself on the head all over and shaking my hair as fast as I could, trying to save myself. If it got me....the kids would be next.

Finally I saw it fall to the floor. I let out another scream and ran to bathroom and did my heebie-jeebie dance. Since this was a near death experience.....one dance wouldn't do. This event required a 5 minute shudder & heebie jeebie dance. I pulled off my clothes......because we all know....moths like to hide in clothes....I knew I had seen it fall to the floor....but these suckers are sneaky....it could have come back to life & jumped on my back and crawled down my top as I ran for the safety of the bathroom. I stood there nekked, gave my hair one more shake just to be sure...and used the brush to lift my clothes and give them a quick shake out. After I reassured myself that the killer moth didn't hitch a ride into the bathroom with me, I put on a towel and slowly opened the door. I slowly walked back to the kitchen a took a deep breath & took a look around the fridge to see if it was still on the floor.

Thank gawd. Joe had got his bearings back and had come back up the stairs to help and was now feasting on the dead intruder. Bless his heart. I would not have to pick it now. He had saved me from that final torture.

I informed the kids that we were all now safe again & I felt the pride starting to fill me, the pride one feels after saving others. I smiled at them, waiting for them to exclaim their gratitude for me saving our lives....the only thing they said to me was: Mom, where are your clothes??

So much for the thanks for saving their lives.

Dear Non-Pregnant Person

We are pregnant with our fourth (yes, I said FOURTH) child. I've come to realize that sometimes, there are things that need to be told to the 'non-pregnant' friends & family members. Here is a letter to help them understand.

Dear Non-Pregnant Person, I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, SURELY she doesn't mean me- then you NEED to read this. Twice.

1) The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is "Congratulations!" with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you an a$$.

2) Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father- not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase "my baby".

3) On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in #2, the pregnancy, birth and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it.

4) The body of a pregnant women should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone's stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5) Likewise, no women wants to hear comments on her weight- ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about is pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invite her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is "You look fabulous!".

6) By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don't need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes.

7) There is a reason that tickets to L&D are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, mother-in-law or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional moment to be shared only by the parents.

8) Like everything else is life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital and the parents home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to "help out". If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be asked for it.

9) If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, help out with our other children and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules, trying to take over all newborn care and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is NOT helping.

10) The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents & any of their other children. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

Signed,

The Pregnant One

Being Scottish & Elton John

We found out last Friday that Elton John was coming to our nearest city for 2 shows. Can you believe that?? 2 SHOWS!!

I almost had a spazz attack. I LOVE Elton John. The day the tickets went on-sale J (hubs) went online and managed to get us tickets. Both shows sold out in 4 minutes. (jaw drop) 4 minutes!!!!! Holy Crap!! In my pregnant state, I probably would have fell to the floor and cried for a week if we didn't get tickets. Mind you...dropping an egg make me cry..sooo.....*rolls eyes* anywhooo...for a couple days now J has been randomly singing various bits of Elton John's songs. No biggie right? Well....he sings in a horrible fake Scottish accent. He also randomly spouts off quotes ( in this fake accent) from 'So I Married an Axe Murderer'.

It was this Scottish accent that actually had our eldest daughter believing we were half Scottish when she was 8.

Sierra was in Brownies a few years ago and her group was having 'Culture Days'. Everyone was to bring a dish of thier favorite cultural food & talk about thier various cultural backgrounds. Sierra brought Chili. (We're not even going there).

Sierra took my mother-in-law as her guest, and they went around the circle talking about thier cultural backgrounds. Okay....we are Plains Cree, Metis & Italian. No Scottish anywhere. So Sierra's turn comes up, everyone turns to look at her and the Brownie leader asks Sierra about her background. I should mention here that Sierra tends to panick when everyone is looking at her expectantly. So she says she is a mixture of Cree & Scottish background & talks a bit of cultural things we eat & do. I don't even know what she could have talked about.

She comes home and we ask her how it went & she says she told everyone about her being Cree & Scottish. We all burst out laughing and tell her she's not Scottish and she laughs and rolls around on the couch. After everyone catches thier breath, we ask her what made her think she's half Scottish. She tells us that when she was asked she said Cree & drew a blank at the rest of her background.....but she heard her dad's voice in her head saying in a fake Scottish accent: "Scottish...say Scottish".

So she blurted out Scottish.

For 2 years after that (Until I became a Brownie leader) everyone involved in Brownies thought we were half Scottish.

Yup. Makes sense to me. I can just hear the town locals: "You know....that Scottish girl.....Sierra Tupone.....her dad is that big Scottish looking guy.....name of Mr Gugliano Tupone, you know him."

Too horrible to be true???

I took my kids to play at the beach since it was reasonably sunny & hot (we've been having steady rain) so everyone put on shorts, and augh...none of mine fit my pregnant self. So I slapped in a tank top & one of those wrap-around skirts. I tied it in a knot in the side and loaded everyone up and away we went.

After a few hours, the wind was really picking up and it started to drizzle. So we packed up and got back in the van.

I decided to get gas before we left so we could drive around the lake. I get out, pump the gas and than opened my van door to tell the kids I'll be right back and I shut the door.

I took two steps and a gust of wind RIPPED MY SKIRT OFF and it went blowing away and stuck to the window of the gas station.

I'm standing in shock in front of hundreds of beach folk & in my tank top & panty & sandles. I scramble back to the van & sit in humiliation trying to convince my 9yr old to go get my skirt off the window of the store.

The cashier was kind enough to come out and pull my skirt off the window and bring it to me....all so I could put it back on and go in the store with no pride & stand in line to pay for my gas.

I think I was Bridget Jones in a former life.

2 minutes 22 seconds!

Our home is usually pretty loud when everyone is home & lounging in the living room. Especially when we are getting prepped for a family movie nite.

There was one night in particular when everyone was especially loud. Hubs was getting the DVD ready and talking to me, Fiorella (our 3 yr old) was yelling & insisting we had to watch Dora. Mercedes (our 9yr old) put herself in charge of snacks and was asking if 2 popcorn bags were enough, Sierra (our 11 yr old) was yelling who knows what from downstairs. Then came the infamous popcorn debate.

Mercedes yells out to her dad, asking how long to put the microwave popcorn in for, so I pipe up: 3-3-3

dad yells out: 2-3-3

I yell out: Maybe try 3-0-0

Sierra calls out from the basement stairs: 3-3-2-1-4-9-9

*silence*

Hubs, Merc & I all look at each other in confusion

Fiorella yells out: I said Dora!!

I say again: 3-0-0

Mercedes says: 2-4-5 maybe...

Dad insists: 2-3-3 it will burn at 3-0-0

Fiorella is now counting: 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-7-4-8

Sierra is now on the couch and has been repeating: 3-3-2-1-4-9-9

Mercedes says: I`ll try 2-2-2

microwave is now on

Sierra once again rolls her eyes at us all and says very loudly and slowly: I said 3-3-2-1-4-9-9

We all look at her and hubs asks her: What are you talking about

Sierra says: Our phone number. What are you guys talking about

Dad: Popcorn

We all burst out laughing.

Yup....never a day without a laugh at our home.

Who Needs Cable??

People are always a little bit suprised whenever it comes up that we don't have cable...or satellite. We've been cable/satellite free for 2 years. Every few months my mother-in-law will offer to pay for satellite for us, but of course we refuse. Its not about money. Its a couch potato issue.

Our daughters (okay, okay and us) were SERIOUS couch potatoes. From the minute they woke up to the minute they got home from school, they were vegged out like zombies in front of the TV until bedtime. One day we had enough, and cut it off.

Everyone suffered. At one time or another we each begged for it to be hooked back up. But we've been through the re-hab program & now are all living a life free of cable.

Our kids reading levels also went through the roof. In one year our eldest daughter's reading level jumped up 4 grades. Our middle daughter moved up 3 levels. They now read at at a grade 12 & a grade 10 level. Yes...I'm bragging. You have no idea how proud I am about my daughters' brains.

But I swear, this won't turn into a "brag-a-thon" *smirk*.

Life with out TV has made us more aware of how funny life is. Well for me anyways. I'm pretty sure the same can be said for my Hubs. There is always something funny that happens at least once an evening.....most times, more than once. Or maybe I am just cruel & laugh at my kids too much.

Anyways, our middle daughter:Mercedes, is a serious bookworm. She wakes up & reads before coming out of her room, she reads while brushing her teeth, she reads while eating, she reads while walking to school. Saying she likes books is an understatement.

She brought a note home today that made me & her dad burst out laughing. Its the absurdity of it that is funny. Or....maybe you just had to be there...or just be a cruel TV deprived parent who doesn`t know whats funny anymore. LOL!

The note said:

*We will be having a special pizza lunch for those students who reached the goal of achieving 200 book points.*

See above pic for how many book points Mercedes achieved. *grin*

Like everyone else, I'm just trying to be an individual

I decided to jump on the band wagon and create my own blog....why? I'm not to sure myself, but all I know is that it seems everyone out there has one & I suddenly felt like I was missing out on something.

Do I have profound words to share with everyone? Probably not.....but I'm positive millions of readers out there are dying to know what goes in my life as a full-time stay-at-home mom. Okay, maybe not millions.....but I'm sure I can convince my sister & maybe a couple friends to read it once in awhile. While you're at it....feel free to press 'refresh screen' a couple times so I can be fooled into thinking there are more readers than there really are. *wink*

This morning I was faced with a few options to do in my daily activities:
1) finish the quilt I started 4 months ago
2) clean the living room (again)
3) sort clothes & box them away
4) go play with the dog
5) call my sister
6) check out weddingbells & all the WBers Blogs
7) organize my kitchen counter & clean the fridge


As usual, I chose to:
1) check out weddingbells & WBers Blogs
2) call my sister
3) check out weddingbells again

But today I also did something totally different. I started a blog after feeling like I was the only one out there without a blog & thinking I was totally missing out somehow by not asserting myself as an individual & writing words of wisdom or words of funy in a blog.....just like everyone esle.