Blah blah blah...

Yesterday, was Ash's 40th birthday. Her dh arranged for Nanny to babysit the kids (they all came here) and four couples went out to dinner. It was a fun time. I passed the 40th Birthday Tiara onto Ash to wear. It was a lot of fun and I think she had a great birthday celebration.

We still have snow on the grass. This must be some kind of record - 4 days after the snowfall! It is like now ice but still hanging around. Weird weather.

The right button on my laptop's touchpad stopped working just before Christmas. I finally ran diagnostics on it today then contacted Dell. Turns out the whole "palm rest" needs replacing. Then I happened to mention that I also had another error message when running diagnostics...now I need a new hard drive! Good quality product I have here. :\

Tomorrow night we are going to Ash's for New Year's Eve celebration. No doubt fireworks will go off at midnight. I think we were very lucky on the 4th of July not to be cited for fireworks so I wonder if we might just pushing our luck now.

I am have a good start on my goal to get rid of some of the stuff in my house! Today, I gave away some baby stuff to my SIL while she and my brother came by for a short overnight visit. Whoo-hooo!

Today was a very cold winter day (for here). We had snow again yesterday (what is up with this winter?!) and it became all crunchy today. The sky was so blue so we decided to go tubing in the mountains. However, when we arrived there were about 400 people in line in front of us to pay for the session so we turned around and stopped in this little area down the street and just went tobogganing. It was such a blast! Jax is such a kamikaze!

Edited to add some photos from yesterday (click for larger if you like):

 
Dex sliding down a mini-hill sans sled

Cars kicking back enjoying the snow

Jax racing down the hill

Stephen making a snowball (Look at that blue sky! 
A rarity for me to see in the winter!)

Enjoying hot chocolate after sledding

Christmas rocked! The kids were delighted with their Christmas gifts, especially Jax We told the kids it was our "tradition" not to build Lego on Christmas day so they have been working them this morning. Stephen is building Cars' Lego.

We had two families come over for dinner and everyone had a grand time. I was only really stressed when I realized that dinner was going to be about 30 minutes later than I had planned because our friend's son, who has Asperger's Syndrome, started saying he was ready to go home before dinner and I really thought they would pack up and go then (they would have in the past) but they were able to encourage him to find something to do and he was fine.

Stephen spoiled me rotten of course. He totally surprised me and bought me a gorgeous purse and matching wristlet/wallet. I am so impressed! This is the man who in the past has surprised me a 19" monitor for the computer for Christmas (that one went back).

T and I braved the mall today. She bought a ton of stuff but I just bought a bunch of candles on clearance at Pottery Barn to replace all of the candles we burned during the power outage.

Ash's 40th birthday is this week. I am not sure what to get her. I did buy her some hand and foot cream from Arbonne (I signed up to be a consultant but that is really just to get the discount on the products - I love their face creams!). Not sure what else to get her.

JP and Marilyn are arriving tomorrow for an overnight stay. Gotta get the guest room cleaned out because it became our dumping ground for all the stuff we needed to move out of the way to set up two tables for Christmas dinner. We were going to take the kids tubing at the pass but the weather will be bad tomorrow and we do not have chains to be driving around in that snow. Perhaps we will go Thursday.

Oh and for Christmas, Dex made me a painted ceramic plaque at school. It is of the family and I love it. I opened it up and told him how great it was, that he got everyone's eye colour correct and I loved the detail. He said it was not that accurate and he was sorry because "I didn't paint you with the grey in your hair". LOL

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. Here is one of my favourite quotes from a Christmas show:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'".

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

P.S. Peace on Earth

Stuff

In my quest to get my house in shape for Christmas, I have decided that I have too much stuff. Way too much. All of my cupboards and closets are busting at the seams. I could not find a place to put away some votive candle holders that I took out during the storm (I cannot for the life of me remember where I found them but there is definitely NO place to put them back). I have two wicker baskets of stuff sitting in my bedroom with things I need to hang on to until a later date (most of it is MOPS crafts crap and the other is an Art Start project that I sometime need to deal with for an end-of-year gift for the teacher).

We do not park out cars in the garage so that is filled up with stuff. Granted, right now some of it are the Christmas boxes down from the loft in the garage but the other things like skateboards, helmets, traffic cones, bikes, an easel, ladders (3!), garbage pails, recycle bins, lawn mower, gas trimmer, paint cans, ETC have taken over. Never mind the shelves with SpongeBob Squarepants shaved ice makers, pasta drying racks, party supplies, and so on. Seriously, too much stuff!

And now Christmas is in a few short days so we will be adding MORE stuff to the mix!

So, my NEW YEAR'S resolution is go to through each and every room, closet, cupboard, shelf in the house and garage and get rid of at least 25% of everything. At least 25%! That would include my size 10 purple wool skirt that I purchased in 1989 (which btw, is probably considered a size 6 these days), two bridesmaid dresses (both of which are from weddings in 1992 and which are identical except one is red the other is royal blue), the Spongebob shaved ice maker, a dozen sippy cups, a breast pump (!), Jesse Ventura Governor of Minnesota doll (don't ask!), mason jars, a hot diggity dogger (a Christmas gift from the IL's the first year we were married).

So much stuff that will be gone from my house. Gone! And there will be room to move around and put things away without jamming things into cupboards. I must do this as I fear I will turn into a compulsive hoarder.

Dear Santa

Jax's Christmas list to Santa included:

1) Jango Fett Slave I lego set
2) "Superball Shoes"
3) Yu-Gi-Oh cards

#1 is taken care of and my brother got him #3. Now, about #2...I explained to him today one could not really bounce as high as the kids in the Superball Shoes commercial without help. He immediately wanted to email Santa and this is what he wrote:

Dear Santa Claus,

When I asked you for SuperBall Shoes ( Bouncy shoes with balls in them,) I thought you could bounce really high in them like in the commercial. Then I discovered that on the commercial, they probably were bouncing on a trampoline. I just wanted you to know I don’t want them any more.

Instead, I would like a Pirates of the Caribbean Electronic Black Pearl Ship Playset.

I hope what my friends say about you not existing doesn’t offend you. I know you exist though. (*Sigh*,) to bad they don’t know about you.

I’ve been trying to be the best I can around these times in December.

Sincerely,

Jax Ourlastname

OMG, I had tears in my eyes after I read it. This certainly is the last year that he will believe in Santa so spending that outrageou$ amount on that one gift might be worth it after all (ok, I am trying to justify it here).

And for the record, he is not getting a Pirates of the Caribbean Electronic Black Pearl Ship Playset.

Oh Sh*t

Oh Sh*t #1:

Our very full upright freezer that survived the 55 hour power outage (due to being jammed packed and the fact that we only opened the door two times), did not survive Jax's leaving the door ajar last night when he helped himself to a frozen Go-gurt. We tossed out half of the freezer. Again, thanks to the two frozen turkeys, we did not lose the expensive meat but all of the processed foods (why did they defrost so quickly?!) and all leftovers. I will be cooking up ground sausage and bacon later today.

Oh Sh*t #2:

I bought the WRONG friggin' Lego off ebay! It is the wrong one! Aargh! We just realized last night. Stephen said to me last night that Jax is going to be so happy because the Lego has "rare figures" and he keeps talking about it. I thought that the figures were not so rare because we already had one of each (Boba Fett and Han Solo in Cabonite). Then we both realized that we bought a Boba Fett and not a Jango Fett Lego (ok, tell me that you understand the difference here). And WTH would Lego have a billion different versions of "Slave I"?

I figured that we could just buy something else off the list to Santa but that would not do for Stephen. So this morning we started checking ebay again and there was no way we were going to be able to outbid these people AND get the Lego here by Christmas. Much to Stephen's chagrin, I searched FROOGLE ("Why don't you use BigSoftwareCompany LIVE?") and found the one we need at an exorbitant price but we could buy it right away and have it sent Expre$$ $hipping to have it here by Christmas. I feel just sick about the cost of it. Stephen says we learned our lesson today - If you throw enough money at it, you can save Christmas. :\

Tick-Tock

The clock is ticking and Christmas is coming! I feel as though I still have so much to do although in reality, much of it is already done. That storm and subsequent power outage has thrown everyone off and into Christmas panic mode.

Tomorrow, Stephen is taking the day to finish up his shopping. He has taken upon himself to do the stocking stuffers for the boys each year. He will also finish buying the gifts for the kids from the grandparents.

I haven't worked out in ages. The club does not have power completely restored to all of their facilities and apparently there are long waits to use the one cardio room that is open (with a 20 minute work-out limit). Hopefully by Thursday or Friday I will be able to get back to it. I am feeling like goo.

For the first time since Wednesday night, I slept in a warm bed last night and it was wonderful!

I have to make one last trip to the post office today to mail my nieces' gifts to them. The package should arrive by Wednesday or Thursday as I will send it priority. We need to get out in shifts today to finish Christmas shopping too. And find a store with milk to get us through the day (the milk man should be delivering tomorrow morning). The city to the south of us was still mainly without power yesterday so I will not be heading that way to do shopping. So that leaves the shopping areas in the city to the north/west will be just packed. What's the Christmas season without some hustle and bustle and crowds?

The Big Blow Out

Whew! The windstorm brought damaging winds that completely devastated our power lines. Trees were down EVERYWHERE and we were without power at our house from 8pm Thursday to 11am Sunday.

After I picked the kids up from school on Thursday, I filled the car with gas and bought some extra D batteries. I also bought a few snacks for the kids. We were fine with food. I thought about buying some Duraflame logs but we have not used out fireplace since 1999 so I decided against it.

We had driving rain and the wind started to pick up. Our book club decided to still go out for our Christmas dinner celebration even though the winds were high. The big storm wasn't due to hit until after 10pm so we figured we would be home safely by then.

While I was gone, the power went off at our house so Stephen let the kids sleep in the living room. About 10:30pm, the gate and one section of our fence blew down and hit the side window to the living room but fortunately did not break the window (you can see where the screen was damaged by the fence in the picture):



Of course there was no school (or work) on Friday morning because more than a million homes were without power. We decided to take a look around and this is what we saw:



This tree was well over 100 feet tall and very thick. My friend lives directly to the right of the house where the tree stood. She did not allow her kids to sleep in their bedroom that night because she was worried about this tree. It fell the other way though. These people decided to sleep in their downstairs (on the other side of the house) that night. The tree fell at 1:30am, crushing their bed and crashing straight through to the garage.



This house is across the street from the park which backs onto the school yard. It was hit by 4 trees. You can see the blue tarp on the roof. Their car was also crushed and had just been towed down the street so that crews could get to the power lines and trees. The log in the lower right of the picture was a utility pole that had toppled but was already chopped up into three sections.



This is just one of many streets where the power lines were down and laying across the roads. This street runs perpendicular to the park. A person I know told me that earlier in the morning you could not even look down the street because of all of the trees.

By Saturday morning it was 57 degrees in the house. I took the kids to Safeway in the early afternoon (they had generators to power their cash registers but no lights in the store and they were not selling meat, dairy or frozen foods).

The rest of the day we just hung out, cooked meals on the grill and the power outage was seeming a little "old". Ash and Gar packed it in and decided to drive to visit his sister in Portland. They left us some duraflame logs and the propane tank to their grill since ours was running low. By early evening, the house was 51 degrees. We started burning the duraflame logs, hoping that we would not have a chimney fire because we do not use our fireplace at all. At 6:30pm, our neighbour across the street told us to come over because he bought a generator and had light and heat (space heaters). We went over and watched a dvd. We got home, bundled up and slept in front of the fireplace (which really did not give up much heat).

This morning it was 47 degrees in the house. On the way to church, I noticed that the Shell station had power (and 20 cars in line for gas). Some of the traffic lights were running on the main street. No power in church though. The power came back on about an hour after I arrived home from church.

Now, this week I will be finishing up my Christmas shopping and also re-stocking our emergency supplies. And calling a chimney guy to check out our fireplace and chimney to ensure it really is safe to burn logs. BTW, the wind-up radio I bought after 9/11 worked really well but I am going to buy one that lasts more than 15 minutes on a charge. I already had this one on my Christmas list, which I am sure now Stephen will consider buying me (before the power outage, he told me we did not need another one). :)

Yet Another Winter Storm

A huge windstorm is on its way. The schools have canceled all after-school activities which includes Dex's 1st Grade Holiday Performance tonight. Gav's school has been without power since lunchtime. Tree branches are down all over the place. We are supposed to have our book club's Christmas celebration at a restaurant tonight but now some people are worried about driving along the parkway with all the tall trees dropping branches (or falling down).

Anyway, we'll see how the weather changes in the next four hours before I decide if I will venture out. And I suppose I should go and pick up some extra batteries after I get Jax and Dex from school.

Did you know

...that it is next to impossible to find a Harry Potter toy in stores when the movie is not in the theatres or newly available on dvd?

...that when you pick a tag off the Giving Tree you should consider that kind of thing?

...that dragging three children to 5 stores looking for out-of-date, impossible to find toys makes for three very grumpy children?

...that the duplicate Harry Potter toys that ones child received at a birthday three years before can come in very handy if you keep forgetting to sell them at your garage sale or putting them in the Goodwill box?

We had our meeting with the school this morning. They did not say that Jax was not eligible for a 504. They said that the health plan provides the same protections as a 504 so a 504 was not needed. "The school district views the health plan and a 504 plan as the same thing" was repeated over and over again. The problem is that they are not the same thing and they do not provide the same protections.

In any event, rather than go ahead with the 504 evaluation, they have insisted that we now speak to someone from the school district's Special Services area. If they were so sure that Jax was not eligible, they would go ahead with the evaluation and deem him ineligible. Now it is apparent that they just do not want a 504 plan for him for other reasons. I think that their push to keep from evaluating Jax proves that he is indeed eligible.

This stress has given me yet another migraine. I will wait until the kids are home from school before I take some meds (Replax - similar to Imitrex) and then have a quick nap before dinner.

I spent much of today writing Christmas cards after promising myself that I was going to make Stephen do his share of them this year. I have left him about a dozen (his aunts and some high school friends). Hell, I will probably end up doing them tomorrow while he is at work so they will get done and mailed "on time". To be fair, he has decided to put together a dvd with photos from the past year and he has spent the last three nights working on it (you know you have to get those picture fades and transitions just right to go along with the music - or so he claims).

I had planned to go out Christmas shopping today but it was a torrential downpour most of the day and I really did not want to drag Cars around in that. So now I am down to one day to get the last few items that need to be mailed to Canada. Yikes!

We finished putting the tinsel on the Christmas tree tonight so I was able to take a picture (click each photo for larger images).

First, here are the boys decorating the tree:


Here it is with the lights on and after we put the tinsel on. Dex had a heyday with it (notice the globs here and there):


And here is the Pez Cabinet after I moved it to the other side of the living room:

I almost lost my purse tonight. I left it in the bathroom in a store. Thank God it was still there. I was mostly concerned about losing my Green Card (I have to carry it with me at all times) but I also had money in my purse (I usually carry less than $20 and just use my debit card). I am so lucky.

Yesterday when Jax unpacked his backpack, there was a letter from the principal addressed to the parents of the students in Jax's class. The letter states that one of the students has a "severe nut allergy that can be life threatening if he/she is exposed to any form of nut products".

WTF?! He is allergic to PEANUTS, not "nuts" and any form of "nut products" will not do it, only PEANUTS will. I cannot believe this shit - she has just made things worse! There goes all credibility because now the letter is just plain inaccurate and therefore looks stupid.

The timing is suspect of course too. I have been pushing for this damn letter since August and now suddenly, on the Friday before Tuesday's meeting she sends this letter. The main point of contention over this whole ordeal has been that his health plan states that a letter will go home stating that he has a life-threatening peanut allergy and no such letter had been sent (until this piece of crap that came home yesterday). Aargh!

Cosmo Moms

Last month I read this article about Cosmopolitan Moms who get together Friday afternoons for a drink after a hard week of taking care of the kids. ;) Ash, Laurie and I decided that we just needed to do this too so last Friday we met at Laurie's after school and had a glass of wine and some munchies and chatted while the kids watched a movie. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again today but this time we actually did drink Cosmopolitans. Yum! It was so fun and we have decided that it will be our Friday drink of choice.

Last book club, Laurie showed us so photos of her old boyfriends so Ash and I did the same today. It was a hoot. I found out that Ash had been engaged to a different guy before too! Oh my, the things you learn while sipping Cosmos. ;)

I finally have a handle on my Christmas shopping (thanks to online shopping). I still have a few gifts to buy and mail to Canada but these should fit in envelopes so no huge rush to get them in the mail by today (which I thought was the deadline but it is actually on the 13th).

This and That

Killjoy is just that.

It's a girl! (my brother and sister-in-law's baby-to-be).

Christmas is coming way too fast.

Now, I am off to bed with a wicked migraine. I hope the boys do not kill each other before Stephen gets home from work in an hour.

Aaargh!

After careful consideration, I created a great list of things for Jax, Dex and Cars for Christmas for his aunts/uncles to buy for them. There were things like board games, books, cd's etc - all reasonably priced. Stephen decided today that he is going to buy an xbox 360 so he emailed his brothers and asked if they would like to buy things like xbox 360 controllers and games for the boys and they said YES. It irritates me because now Christmas is going to be about a friggin video game system. I am MAD.

I don't care that he is buying an xbox 360. He says that is what he wants for Christmas (and he can get it with a small discount from work) but I don't want my children's christmas to be an xbox 360 christmas. It would be different if they were older and other toys did not interest them. I had some cool ideas like Stare! Junior, some Star Wars chapter books, blocks for Cars, Make Your Own Rootbeer for Dex, etc. All fun, non-tv screen/computer screen activities. I limit them playing time so what fun is it for them to get a xbox controller for Christmas when they are only allowed to play for 2x/week for an hour?

Anyway, I need to cool down, review my Christmas master list. Looks like the budget has been blown.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

After looking at the rainy forecast for the next week, we decided to go ahead and get our tree yesterday. It is definitely no fun looking for a tree in the pissing rain.

We decided on an 8' tree this year so I had to put it against the wall where the PEZ cabinet stands. Which meant emptying the 300+ PEZ, moving the cabinet to a temporary location on the other side of the living room, and setting up the 300+ PEZ again. As you can imagine, this took quite a bit of time. I actually was not so smart when moving them and placed them all in two wicker laundry baskets so I had to re-sort them all again before putting them back. Next time, I will sort they by shelf.

Anyway, the tree looks great up against the that wall although my red tree topper blends into the red wall. I have been on the look-out for the perfect lighted star for the top of the tree. I haven't found it yet.

I put the lights up last night and today after school, the kids will put the ornaments up. I love the mish-mash look that the tree has after the kids have put like 5 purple glass balls side-by-side. I'll post a picture of the tree once the decorations and gobs of tinsel are up.

NaBloPoMo

We have started getting ready for Christmas. Stephen hung the outdoor lights today with help from Jax and Dex. I rearranged some furniture in the living room to make room for the tree that we will probably get next weekend. We should probably have gone today since it is not raining. We usually just get our tree from Home Depot.

Today the PTSA sponsored a "Christmas Shoppe" at the school where kids can go into the gym without their parents and buy gifts for them and have them wrapped. It is run by volunteers and proceeds go to the PTSA. Items ranged in price from 50 cents to $20.00. Jax decided that he did not want to do it but Dex did so we headed over after lunch. He had a budget of $5 for a gift for Stephen. There was nothing left besides some $3.50 candles and a $15 fake diamond necklace. He was crushed that he did not get a gift for his dad. I will have to take him out shopping next week to buy Stephen something.

There were also some teachers and parents in the library selling their tupperware, necklaces, knitted scarves and make-up stuff. Dex's teacher from last year has taken this year off work to help grow her Arbonne skin care business. She convinced me to take home samples and use it on my skin for a couple of days. She would not tell me the prices of the items until after I try them so no doubt they are expen$ive. But I am sure my skin will look great for the next three days.

One of Jax's teachers from last year and Dex's teacher from THIS year were selling scarves that they had knitted. Lots of pretty ones but overpriced IMO. Maybe I think that because I can knit and kept thinking that I could make those scarves for a lot less than they were charging.

Anyway, Jax's old teacher commented to me that she heard that Jax was having a great year at school this year. It seemed to me that she was very surprised by this. She is the one with whom he seemed to have a personality conflict with last year. He only ever got in trouble on the days that she was working and he used to come home a write little notes like "Mrs. XX is the worst teacher in the world!". She was also the one who told me that he did not speak to her in a respectful manner. He told me it was because she was mean and didn't like him. I used to scoff at that idea but later in the year I was not so sure. He definitely was not one of her favourites. At the end of the year he didn't want to give her a teacher's gift and very grudgingly signed his name to the card. I gushed to her that Jax was doing fantastic this year, and thanks for noticing. heh

Ok, time to get back to preparing for Christmas!

December already!

Yesterday, Cars and I went out and purchased a couple of Christmas presents so I can check a couple of things off my list. I stopped at an art supply store and picked up two "how to draw cartoons" books for Jax and Dex. Cars, who is usually so oblivious to what I am buying unless it is Pirate Booty or "Cars Yogurt" (soy yogurt), was very interested in what I was buying and who it was for. I told him it was going to be for his brothers but it was a surprise so don't tell them. The minute Jax got in the car after school, Cars blurts out "Mommy bought you a present of some kind of book and crayons but it is a surprise!". So, no more Christmas shopping with Cars.

And that Lego that Jax wanted for Christmas that is no longer available? Stephen insisted that we buy it off ebay anyway because this is probably the last year he will believe in Santa Claus so Stephen wants to make it special for Jax. I was able to find it for a somewhat more reasonable price (reasonable being subjective) and it arrived yesterday. It will be fun for Jax when he opens it on Christmas morning so that justifies the exorbitant price, right?

I finished my swap ornaments and have placed them in mailing envelopes but I cannot for the life of me find the stash of Christmas cards. I hate that! I was up in the garage rafters yesterday, teetering on the 8' ladder while peeking in all of the Christmas decorations/wrap boxes but still they eluded me. Looks like I will be heading out today to buy more because these are supposed to be mailed by today.

My parents were married 50 years ago today. I wish my dad were still here to celebrate it with my mom.

The End

The winter storm has come to an end. Last night, temperatures rose so we had rain rather than snow. The ice is gone from the roads. School is in (with an hour and a half delay so the kids go in at 10am). Cars' preschool is still canceled because the delayed start knocks off all morning preschool and kindergarten.

Today also marks the end of NaBloPoMo. I managed to post every day through the month but then that wasn't particularly hard for me because I tended to blog about my blah blah life most everyday anyway.

Lastly, today is the end of my sitting on my butt thinking about Christmas. I need to get in gear and buy, wrap, pack up gifts that need to be mailed to Toronto, Edmonton and Minneapolis! I am running out of time!

Snow Day #2

No school again today because the roads are still icy. Stephen did make it down the hill and off to work today. I hope he can make it home!

Comcast was supposed to come to take a look at our cable box/dvr and our cable line but the guy just called and said he cannot get his truck up the hill. Funny, the milk truck was able to make deliveries today. I bet the cable guy just does not want to work outside today (don't blame him - it is COLD!).

I made cookie dough for shortbread and sugar cookies today. I was short an egg but fortunately Neighbour had walked to the store to get some eggs. There was no milk in Safeway. None. She said they were also all out of beef and ham. Crazy!

Snow Day

No school so no school meeting. I guess it will be rescheduled until next Tuesday.

It is very cold for here - 24*F - so the snow is not melting. The roads are all ice so Stephen has decided to stay and work from home. There is no way that he will be able to drive the car up the hill so it will have to stay at the Shell station until tomorrow.

The kids are itching to go outside so I suppose I should bundle them up so they can play in the snow. This could be the last snow that they can play in for this winter season so we might as well make the most of it.

edited for clarification...24*F, not -24F
That better Pley? ;)

Let it snow...some more

Please forgive me for being a typical Pacific Northwesterner and blathering about the weather all of the time. It is just what we do.

We went all day long with no snow but then it came with a vengence right at rush-hour tonight. What a mess! Stephen almost got into an accident so he turned around and went back to work, arriving one hour after he left. He left again at 7pm but is not yet home (less than 10 miles).

Oh! He just came in (8:23). He had to walk the last 7/10 of a mile home because the car could not make it up the steep hill that leads to our street.

We'll find out in the morning if school is canceled for the kids. And if so, that means that our "Guidance Team" meeting scheduled for 8AM is also canceled so they will have to wait another week to formally tell us that Jax's disability (life-threatening allergy) makes him not eligible for a 504 Plan. Of course, everything I have read tells me that he is eligible. >:\

I have not yet heard back on the results from my CT scan. Since it was Thanksgiving last week, I figure I will give it an extra couple of days. I might need to add a day too for this snow day since snow usually shuts the whole area down for a day.

Ash is scheduled for sinus surgery in the morning too but that may be canceled due to the snow. She is having the same surgery that Stephen had 4 (or was it 5?) years ago by the same surgeon.

Ok, time to go work on my swap ornaments because they must be mailed by Friday!

Let it snow...

We awoke to a dusting of snow this morning and what looked like a promising day for more snow. Unfortunately, the snow turned to sleet and it rained most of the day. It has now again turned to snow so with luck, there will be enough snow for the boys to throw one snowball each just before bedtime.

Edited to add - it started snowing before dinner so there was plenty of snow for snowballs:

This morning as I drove down off the plateau to go work out, we had rain mixed with snow. They are predicting snow for tomorrow and of course Jax's feet have grown like 8 sizes (ok, more like 2 FULL sizes) since last year so I took him shopping this afternoon to buy some boots. I found a good deal on a pair at Mervyn's (they are closing all of their stores in WA and OR).

I also caved and bought myself a new cell phone. I could live without the caller id working and the broken screen but it was completely draining the battery in a couple of hours and that wouldn't do. T-Mobile even replaced the battery for me for free (how nice of them) but that made no difference. So out I went and purchased a new phone which also extended my service with them another six months. The service extension is not a big deal, I suppose, but it bugs me to have to do that. Especially with the spotty service we have from my house to the parkway along the lake (I just do not make any calls until I hit the lake).

I was going to buy the new phone off ebay but the phones were selling for anywhere from $60-$80 more than I had to pay (plus shipping!). Anyway, I shall now be much more careful about where I put my phone and about zipping my up my purse.

I took photos of the boys today for our Christmas cards. Unlike last year and the 60+ photos I took, this year I managed to get a decent one after 30 pictures. How wonderful that they were so cooperative.

This is not the best one but it is one of my favourites because it really captured them (not that Cars looks cross and sulky all of the time but he is three after all!)

Stephen braved the Black Friday crowds while I stayed home with the kids. He got a few items but the main ones on our list were sold out by the time he got to those stores.

I raked up a ton of leaves that I should probably have done last time we had a day of no rain. I completely filled the yard waste bin and my neck and shoulders are sore!

Movie night today "Cars" or last night's episode of "Survivor". We haven't decided yet.

Stephen has spent much of the day (after shopping) putting together all of the Harry Potter Lego sets for the boys. The Lego has all been dumped in one big bin so a lot of the time has been spent searching for just the right piece. He is so patient!

Happy Thanksgiving

Feeling better and we are off shortly to E & T's for T-day dinner.

Yesterday, I had a CT scan to take a look at what my OB/GYN thinks is incisional endometriosis (basically, he thinks some of the uterine lining leaked out of the incision in my uterus from my last c-section). Anyway, I had to drink barium for the test but I kept throwing it back up. I thought it was just the fact that the barium is oh-so-gross but later when I had the chills and a fever, I realized that I must have the flu. Then, by 2pm yesterday, Stephen had the same symptoms. We took turns napping yesterday and the kids' 8pm bedtime could not come fast enough.

We are supposed to go to E & T's house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I cannot see that happening based on how we are still feeling at the moment. I will have to let them know soon because we are to bring the pumpkin pie.

Ash drove Jax and Dex to school today. I will pick them up when they get out at 11:30am. Poor Cars is basically on his own this morning.

The flu or some other stomach bug has landed. Of course it is Stephen and I who are sick. Jax is worried about who will make him dinner! lol Wish us luck!

I am a very proud parent today. Both Jax and Dex had glowing reviews from their teachers at Parent/Teacher interviews. Jax's especially was so good compared to last year and the attitude he copped with his teachers (I think I was too embarrassed to write about it!). He is doing really well and I think a lot of it has to do with his teacher. I do really like her (although I do still hate that the classroom is not peanut-free but that is not an issue I have with her but with the administration).

Dex is doing well and his reading has really taken off. We need to continue to work on his handwriting (which is horrible!). We asked for a stack of handwriting practice paper (you know, with the two solid lines and middle dashed line).

Jax's teacher also reminded us of the Guidance Team meeting on the 28th and that she would be there. I told her it was about peanuts and 504 plans and mentioned that I was not sure she was needed but that she could follow up with the counselor (I have been spelling that word wrong for ages - Pley - why did you not point that one out to me? ;)

Anyway, I am so proud of my boys. They ROCK!

Well, I did not accomplish much from my to-do list this weekend. I did work out and return two things to the mall. Oh, and I did buy a Christmas present so I guess that is four things. I decided that I hated the swap ornaments that I was making so I have been planning what to do in place of the ones I was making which turned out to be very cheesy-looking.

When I went to the mall to return the boots and pants, I parked in an area that I never park in so when I entered the mall, I passed by a store that I have never been in before - Coldwater Creek, so as I passed it on the way back out, I decided to pop in to look around. Ok, the clothes were nice but kind of, hmmm, how do I describe them - "old". I mean they were not out-of-date (although there were some mom jeans and stirrup pants (STIRRUP PANTS!!) in the store) but just something that perhaps my mother might wear. Oh, I then noticed that I was the youngest person in the store by at least a decade (and we all know I am no spring chicken!). One of the saleswomen, who must have been at least 60 years old, approached me and said "Oh, I love your hair! What a great effect! They did a great job!". WTF?! Did she think that I paid someone to make my hair look like it is growing-in-grey? Seriously. I was speechless and just blinked at her a few times before turning on my heel and taking my too-young-for-Coldwater-Creek self out of that store.

Reminder to self: Park outside of the Nordstrom or Macy's entrance from now on.

edited to appease Pley's spelling issues. ;)

Blah-di-blah-di-blah

I am totally blowing off my to-do list today. I did work out with Terry but that is about it. I may assemble a few packages to mail...maybe.

My gut is killing me. I am still taking antibiotics and I wonder if that it is. I missed a few doses here and there so I still have 2 left. I took one before bed last night, not heeding the warning to take with food. Ugh.

Stephen has taken the boys swimming at the club today. And then he is taking them out for lunch and to the park before the rain returns for the rest of the month. The meteorologists are excited that we stand a chance to break the all-time record for most rainfall in one month. We've already broken the November rainfall record.

I have the name of someone who was able to get a 504 plan from our school district for food allergies for her son. We met online at a food allergy forum but it turns out she is also an acquaintance of my friend, T (the kids go to the same school). So much for the district's policy of not writing 504 plans for food allergies, eh?

I called the mail-order drug company the other day to order more EpiPens® for Jax. I had to talk directly to customer service in order for them to affix the pharmacy labels directly to the EpiPens® and not just to the box. Anyway, after arguing with them that yes, they can do it because they always do it with Cars' EpiPen® Jr, they said they would send them out right away. They arrived via overnight express, in a huge box which contained a cooler with three ice packs and the EpiPens®. I wonder how much Big Software Company had to pay for that! Or is the mail-order company footing the bill? Normally, they come via regular mail.

I have been thinking a lot about going to see Crazy Doctor again. Not sure if I need to but just the fact that it is almost always on my mind makes me wonder. I was stressing so much about childcare, if I need to go, but then I decided that it would be ok to pay for daycare for Cars at the club if Crazy Doctor could not see me while Cars was at school. The club's daycare is licensed and they just charge you an additional $1/hour if you are off-site. I have this info, just in case...

My To Do List for this weekend

• meet T to work out
• return boots to Nordstroms
• return pants to B.R.
• pack up and mail present for O's baby
• pack up and mail C's birthday gift
• finish packing up and mail gift for R
• buy/mail b-day cards for L
• pack CARE package for my niece (she is away at college plus her b-day is coming up)
• finish Ornament Swaps (create, pack, mail)
• knit hat for Cars
• take photos of boys for Christmas cards
• start Christmas shopping
• order keychains for mom and mail to her

Too much to do. So why haven't I been doing any of it?!

The sun is shining and it is about 50 degrees. If you did not see the downed tree limbs and branches down everywhere, you'd never know we had a storm yesterday. Our power was out from 2pm until 6:54pm (not counting the times it went out in the morning). Some of my friend did not get their power back until 7am this morning. I guess overall we are very fortunate that we live in a pretty mild climate so it did not get too cold in the house.

MOPS was this morning. Our craft was no-slip wooden hangers. Next time we are doing Votive candles. I need to get a crack on figuring out exactly what I am going to do and get all of the supplies. I am thinking of something like these Votive Candle boats but with Christmas paper. I need to find some vellum too.

We are going to E and T's house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I am making pumpkin pies since it is nearly impossible to find some without a peanut warning on them. The Costco ones are HUGE and only $5.99 but they are made on shared equipment with peanuts. I also need to make a dessert for T's kids because they will not eat pumpkin pie. I will probably make a chocolate pudding pie or something like that.

I wore my news pants with my kick-ass boots today. :)

Another Wind Storm

Another wind storm has hit today. The power has gone off twice so far this morning so I am taking this oppoortunity to get my post in for NaBloPoMo!

I am also trying to get laundry done but it is taking FOREVER while the power goes off and on and off and on.

I was up waaaay too late last night reading online documents about "hidden disabilities" and food allergies, the responsibility for schools who receive federal funding and protecting children. I know that we are right and just because the school district has a policy where they do not like to write Section 504 plans for food allergies, they cannot deny because it is State and Federal law. Also, I have found at least one person who has a child in our school district with a Section 504 plan for their life-threatening food allergy. So, we will go in armed with that information.

To make this day even more fabulous, I accidentally ran over my new(ish) cell phone with the car today. Friggin Riggin Briggin!

OMG, where has November gone? Seriously, it feels like the 4th of the month, not the 14th! Next week is Thanksgiving then comes Christmas and I am so ill-prepared! Yikes!!

I hate-hate-hate our school district. You can guess what this is about. As always, I loathe this situation. I don't want to get into it for now. Maybe in two weeks after we have a meeting where they will FORMALLY denying Jax his legal and civil rights.

Sleepless near Seattle

Blogging early today because we are having a windstorm and it is highly likely that the power will go out.

I think I have mentioned before that many (ok most) nights Cars will wake up and end up in bed with Stephen and I. Well, with me mostly since he sleeps on my side of the bed so really it has not been a problem for Stephen. However, one night last week Cars came in and ended up sleeping on Stephen's side of the bed. The next morning, Mr. Grouchy-due-to-lack-of-sleep-and-sharing-his-pillow-with-a-three-year-old said "This is ridiculous! He cannot sleep in our bed anymore!" Easy for him to say.

Cars never comes in our room on the weekends because Friday and Saturday are "Crazy Sleep Night" which means the boys can sleep anywhere in their room or the "other room". Some nights they all climb into the double bed, other nights they put their mattresses on the floor, sometimes they just sleep on the floor with no mattress and we will blow up the queen-sized airbed for them too. They all love "Crazy Sleep Night" and will discuss and plan all week where they will sleep on "Crazy Sleep Night". Anyway, on "Crazy Sleep Night", Cars never comes in our room. I think it is because when he awakens, he is close to either Jax or Dex and doesn't feel the need to come into our room.

Ok, so Stephen has had enough and I really would like to sleep a whole night without having to share my pillow so last night before bed, I told Cars that I wanted him to stay in his own bed all night long. And if he felt that he needed to come into our room, he would have to sleep on the floor. I figured that eventually he would tire of sleeping on the floor and eventually he would stay in his bed. He said "O-tay" and went to sleep.

At 3:23AM, the door to my bedroom opened and there stood Cars with his pillow and blanket. I told him to go back to bed and he announced that he was going to sleep on the floor of my room (notice that Stephen slept through all of this as he does most nights). I got up and arranged the pillow and blanket at the foot of the bed and Cars lay down and went right back to sleep.

Then this morning when we all came down for breakfast, Cars said to Jax and Dex in that teasing sing-song voice that kids use "I had "Crazy Sleep Night" last night! and you didn't. Ha ha ha-ha ha".

"No fair!" the others cried, "We only have "Crazy Sleep Night" on the weekends!"

Some arguing ensued and as much as I tired to convince Jax and Dex that Cars indeed did NOT have "Crazy Sleep Night" last night, they don't believe me. They want to sleep on the floor of my bedroom on a school night too. Help - I've created a monster!

I think tonight I will most likely be back to sharing my pillow with a 3 year old.

Shop-a-holic

I am a little high from the smell of swishing credit cards. I have been buying stuff for me. I don't shop ~that~ often for myself except for basics (ok, stuff from Joann's and Michaels but that really don't count).

Anyway, I do spend a lot of time window shopping online. I found these pants and have been coveting these

for weeks and weeks and weeks now and they are finally on clearance so I ordered them online on Friday night (Stephen's fault since he was out and the kids were in bed and I was bored. ;) Anyway, they should be arriving this coming week. However, last night I went shopping with Ash and the pants were a little cheaper in the store than online and I really needed a smaller size than the one I ordered (happy dance!). So I bought them and I will have to return the bigger size when they come.

Well, these pants are a little long so I figured that I needed (NEEDED!) to buy some kind of shoes or boots with a heel. Boots, definitely boots. So, we went to Nordstrom's Half-Yearly Sale for Women and Children (love that nice long name for their sale and everyone around here actually refers to it as that, never just "Nordstrom's sale"). Boots galore! I found this pair

which I love. They would look great with a skirt (not that I actually wear them) or with pants. They were dressier than I was originally intending to buy but they are so nice and I had to have them. Plus the salesman was so very nice.

Then today I went to Fred Meyer (to buy groceries and our free-with-coupon turkey) but decided to take a detour to the "Outdoor Mall" as my children call it. Basically, it is a mall with all of the stores that you would find in any regular (indoor) mall. Not sure whose bright idea was it to build a outdoor mall when it rains for 6 straight months?! Anyway, I stopped at a shoe store and found these boots

which were more along the lines of what I had been thinking about buying. And they would look better with the cargo pants. Plus they were on sale, then an additional 50% off! Plus, if I bought a second pair of shoes or boots, they would take 20% off my entire purchase! So I bought these

which were on sale but not listed at 50% off but when the salesperson rang it all up, she took 50% off the sale price of them plus 20% off the entire purchase. So, those two pairs ended up being about $10 cheaper than the one pair of boots which I will be returning to Nordie's.

Rock on!

11/11

Today is a day for celebrating!

One year ago, I was in Las Vegas to celebrate my best friend's wedding! Happy 1st Anniversary to Ramona and Greg!

And it is also a day of Remembrance:

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Blah blah blah...

Book Club last night was fun. Our book was Wifey by Judy Blume. It was fun to re-read that book. I had originally read it when I was about 14 years old (OMG if my mother had ever found out I would be in so much trouble - more than I got in after my cousin was caught with the copy of Forever that I had lent to her).

Conversations were very interesting and I learned so much more about some of the women in our club - like I did not know that Ash had been engaged to someone before her dh!.

Today it is Veteran's Day (observed))so no school for the boys. I am planning to take the kids swimming at the club. Torrential rain again (why am I always surprised at how much it rains each November?) so I am certain it will just packed in the pool.

Stephen mentioned this morning that we really need to have someone do something about the drainage (or lack thereof) in our backyard. And the fact that the retaining wall is leaning over more and more each year (a result of drainage from our neighbour's property into our backyard). Come spring, however, when we get estimates for it, he will balk. Just like with the gutters (a higher priority IMO).

Oh my, it just started raining harder - how is that even possible?!

Yesterday when I was in Costco, I ran into K whom I had not seen in a long time. We were never close friends but we were in this "Goddess" group together a few years ago where we got together once a month and celebrated girlfriends and friendships etc. The group started dissolving when one woman left her husband, another moved to California, one more moved off the Plateau and then K and S had a big fight which made it uncomfortable for some of the others who were good friends with both of them.

Anyway, getting aback to K. She is a very kind person. She is warm and friendly and very funny. However, she reminds me a bit of Oprah in that she really hasn't a clue how people who are not in her socio-economic bracket live. K had an allowance of a couple of thousand dollars each month and if it looked like she was falling under it one month, she would rush out to a several stores and buy $100 gift cards to ensure she would hit her amount so that her dh would not cut her allowance. A while later, she had run up her credit cards to $40k and was wondering how to ask her dh to write a check to cover it.

As I mentioned, K is a very kind person and is always looking to help people out. A few years ago she had called me and told me that there was an opening in a playgroup that some woman had formed in her home for 18 month-2 year olds and she just knew that it would be perfect for Dex and me. Dex could play there while Jax was in preschool and I could go have some mommy time to go for a massage or pedicure or even just relax at Starbucks. And it was very "reasonable" - only about $300/month (which was almost double what I was paying for Jax to be in a structured preschool!). Um, I am a SAHM and I do not have a lot of extra cash lying around to that I can put my toddler in a for-profit playgroup so I can run to go for coffee or to the spa. Needless to say that I passed on that opportunity.

Another time, K asked me if I were looking for a Nanny (because apparently I was the only SAHM she knew who did not have one) two days per week because she did not need her Nanny full-time but she did not want to lose her completely. She only charged $18/hour and was a fabulous Nanny and what do I say?! Um, no again.

(Now, I must interject here that eventually I did get Nanny (a different nanny) for one morning each week after Cars was born but that was because I was suffering from post-partum depression and I could barely function. It was financially a strain on us but got easier last year because we had no preschool costs. Oh, and I am no longer crazy but it really did take over 2 years to get back to my new normal. The third year with Nanny was just pure decadence).

So, I had not seen K in a very long while until I ran into her at Costco yesterday. She had two of her three kids with her and two other women who looked to be in their early 20's. K explained that she was out taking her new au pair to Costco for the first time and she also had "Runaway Au Pair" with her and hey, did I need an Au Pair because "Runaway Au Pair"'s family was "Mean Family" so now she was staying with K until they could find a new family for her.

Au pair? Pour Moi!? There I was, wearing my Costco coat, my Fred Meyer clearance shoes, my Mervyn's clearance jeans, an Old Navy Deal of the Week t-shirt, my growing-out-the-grey-because-I-cannot-afford-monthly-trips-to-the-salon-for-colour hair and K asks me if I need an au pair. I had a nice laugh and thanked her very much but told her I was fine since Cars was now in preschool two mornings each week.

I wonder what K will have to offer me next time I run into her?

I received an email today from the Catholic school and school at all three campuses is canceled for the rest of the week because of the flooding at one of the satellite campuses. That makes no sense to me. Why should all parents suffer? I mean, why should the kids at the other two schools miss out?!

So, the rain finally stopped so I went to Costco today to pick up a couple of things and walked out nearly $140 poorer! OMG, I seriously thought it was about $75 worth of stuff. A few things I bought were:

Wheat Thins $4.99 (Jax and Cars love these)
Grands Bisquits $4.99 (total impulse buy here - they had free samples and I fell for it!)
ChickenBreasts $20.00 (I bought this package because it was an even dollar amount and I thought that was cool)
Bananas $1.30 (these used to be 99cents!)
Salad mix $1.99 (no spinach here!)
Turkey Lunch meat $6.00 (for two pounds!)
Mixed Peppers $6.49 (usually I just buy the red for $5.69 but I splurged!)
Kirkland Detergent $11.49 (I usually buy Tide but the box was too big to fit in the cart - or just about! - so I bought the Costco brand)

Another splurge item that increased my shopping cost was a $24.99 cooking thermometer that I thought would make a good Christmas gift for Stephen. Ok, so now I can see how I managed to spend $140.

Oh, time to make dinner. I am making a "French Braid Chicken with Broccoli". I gave the recipe to Ramona this morning while we were on the telephone then I decided that I wanted to have it too! It is so yummy!

Rain and Light

The Pineapple Express storm has brought record rainfall and flooding to our region the past couple of days. As a result, many schools are closed due to flooding, including the Catholic school which runs Cars' preschool at our church (even though our church is not affected). So, Cars is home with me this morning and we'll just hang out here today. I was going to work out but it is next to impossible to get same-day childcare at the club. Then I thought about going to Costco but the thought of pushing my unbagged groceries through the parking lot in the pouring rain is not appealing to me so I'll wait another day.

Last night, Stephen and I finally finished hanging the new light (and plastering/texturizing/priming and painting). Here's a picture:

Now I need a picture of painting to hang on the wall above the tv.

Drugged

I finally decided I needed to see the doctor about my cold/sinuses, so I dragged my butt to her office today in a torrential downpour. The diagnosis was as expected - a sinus infection. So now I am on Mucinex (over-the-counter), Rhinocourt nasal spray (might be Rx but I got a free 2-week supply from their office), a 10-day dose of Augmentin (anti-biotic) and Diflucan (because, Ladies, we all know what happens when you are on anti-biotics for 10 days).

Now I am going to make myself a cuppa tea and sit on the couch with my feet up. I'll knit while Cars watches (what else?!) Star Wars.

To Tell the Truth

Jax wants a Lego set for Christmas that has not been out since 2002. I can find it on ebay for about triple the original price but no way I am paying that price! He told me that he will just ask Santa for it then because Santa can get anything. I think we might need a heart-to-heart conversation about Santa this year. :(

I just signed Jax and Dex up for Little League for next spring. Practices start in February and league play begins the last weekend of March through to the beginning of June. This year, Jax will have to be evaluated and he will be placed on a team according to his skill so the teams are evenly distributed. Jax really, really wants to be on Gav's team again next year. He just might be because Gav is better than him and if they are sorted just right, they may end up on the same team. I cannot really say that to Jax though, can I? So I just told him that we will have to wait and see.

On Dex's registration, I wrote "We respectfully request that Dex not be placed on a team coached by Butt Head". Butt Head was his coach from last year. He actually seemed like he might be a good coach for kids over 12 but for 5, 6 and 7 year olds, he was horrible! He would make the kids run laps if they missed a ball. He MADE them hit both right and left (this is first year instructional coach-pitch league and they are just learning to hit the ball) during games. He would not let Dex catch because "there are no left-handed catchers in the Majors". He would tell the kids to run the bases but if they did not hit the bags with their left foot then they did it "wrong!". He would tell the kids they were "screwing around" if they did not pay attention. Definitely NOT the kind of coaching that Dex, at age 5 needed. His practices were not well run and he would often start batting practice 5 or 10 minutes before the practice was to end. I would either have to stay an extra 1/2 hour (keeping in mind that I have all three kids with me at the school yard where they practiced) or take Dex and leave with him crying because he did not get a chance to bat.

So, I just do not want to deal with BH again this year. I felt a little uncomfortable writing that on the registration form but there is no way either Stephen or I could suffer through another year of BH. Of course, after I submitted the registration, Dex chirps "I hope I am on the same team as last year!". Do I tell him?! *sigh*

Old Grey Mare

It has now been 1 year (well, 360 days) since I last coloured my hair. Ok, I did get some low lights done in May but I am talking all-over colour. It is funny that I don't think the pictures of me show just how grey I am (see upper left for recent photo - click for larger). A lot of the grey is on one side - the right - and more along the temples. It is funny that the hair on top is darkest.

Anyway, I am still miffed that my mother told me that I need to cut my hair if I am going to keep it grey. Really, there are more and more women out there going grey and keeping their long hair. I see pictures of models in the jjill and Chico's catalogues with long grey hair. So clearly there have to be real women out there with grey hair who do not want short hair, right?!

And why am I so bothered by this? I had no qualms about it until my mother made those comments. I have endured one whole year of grey roots, way past grey roots and now, half grey hair. My plan was to grow in the grey then cut shoulder length as soon as the grey was long enough, then grow it again to the length it is now. I have been second guessing this decision now. I mean I don't want to colour my hair again (although I do have brunette envy whenever I see women with hair colour that I used to have) but is it really wrong to want to have long hair when it is grey?

Thinking back, when I worked at IBM and I was young with only the odd grey hair or two, my friend and I used to make fun of Jane, a manager who had waist-length salt and pepper hair. We used to say she looked like a witch. Now my friend and I both have long grey hair (she is still colouring)and I wonder if people think that I look like a witch! Eep!

So, what to do. What to do? Colour or cut. Or nothing. What to do...?

Snuffle

So here I am on like Day Eleventy Hundred of my cold. Ok, it is really day 9 but it feels like many more. Seriously, I don't think I have ever had cold that has lasted this long.

Art Start in Dex's class went fairly well. I was surprised at the number of 6 year old girls who can already sew and they did well. One told me that she does cross stitch too! The muslin I used was very thin which was good for poking the tapestry needles through but it was not thick enough to keep the stitches from pulling too tightly. We spent a lot of time pulling on the too-tight stitches. The other Art Start mom thinks that we should mount these little squares and frame them for the end-of-year gift for the teacher. Hmmm...have to think about this because those kids really, really, really wanted to take home their embroidered squares.

Jax and Dex's school photos came home today. Dex's are of course crumpled because he just jammed them in his bag. The pictures are fine - nothing great. Jax's hair is a disaster in the pictures. Seriously, besides that it is long and shaggy, it looks like he did not brush it that day. He does have a lovely smile though so that makes up for the hair.

So, remember that letter from the school district that we have been waiting for (see just about every September blog post for reference)? I got the name of someone at the school district who apparently is currently working on it. UBI: Her last name is the same as my first name. Anyway, I called her today and she told me that it is on its way to Risk Management (again!). I told her how irritated I was that it has been all these weeks since school started and not one official note has gone out to parents about food allergies. I told her that we needed consistency and to know where the school district stands. She started in on the "false sense of security" line. Save it, Name Stealer. That is not what this is about. Anyway, looks like we will just move ahead with our plans and change them as necessary when/if this alleged letter every materializes.

Ok, off to cook our pizza for Pizza and Movie Night.

I saw this comic in the newspaper on Halloween and I thought it was cute.

The MOPS craft was a lot of fun today and everyone really liked it. It was that one with the roll of toilet paper wrapped in fabric to make a pumpkin.

Now I need to prepare to teach Art Start in Dex's class tomorrow. I decided to go with darning needles, embroidery floss and muslin rather than yarn on cardstock. This is what the lesson plan calls which is easiest on me because it is less prep-work than doing the yarn on cardstock (too much cutting and hole-punching). I am feeling sick again (not sure if the cold is back or if it the effects of the flu shot) so I need to do what is best/easiest for me (and forget what is best for the kids! ;)

Oh, I am feeling flushed again. Oh, I just had a horrifying thought that this could be a hot flash and I am peri-menopausal rather than it being a cold. No, I am sure it is the cold. I am sure.

Blustery Day

Today it was very windy but not as cold as the past two days. It feels very much like fall. After school, I made a huge pile of leaves at the park and the kids had a great time jumping into the crunchy leaves. I wish I had brought my camera with me.

I met Stephen at work today so we could go together and get flu shots at the clinic they set up in his building. Then we had cafeteria food for lunch. What a romantic date.

I am teaching Art Start in Dex's class on Friday. We are supposed to be doing embroidery but the needles are just too sharp for 6 yr olds (IMO) so I am scrambling to figure out what to do in its place. I know that they have plastic needles for kids but I really do not have time to be running all over the place trying to find 20 of them. I might just use yarn with masking tape around the tip like an aglet (love those crossword words!) and then punch holes in a design in paper. Ok, this is what I need to plan and organize tomorrow afternoon after MOPS.

Tonight I will go walking with Neighbour for the first time in about 3 weeks. I hope I can keep up with her!

Boo!

It was a cold night for trick-or-treating. The boys had a blast going door-to-door. Ash and her family (and dog) came with us. She and Gar bickered about the cold until she finally told him to go back to our house with Stephen.

Here are the boys in their oh-so-original costumes:


Cars had a blast but then he decided his candy bag was too heavy and he tried to send me to the doors to get more. Finally, I carried his bag and he just stayed on the sidewalk. By this point it was pretty frosty and he was wearing his coat with his hands tucked in his pockets.

One house was giving out treats to the parents...a Bud Light in aluminum bottles with a Halloween theme (the guy works for Anheuser-Busch). And I don't know if it were the bottle or the fact that it was 33 degrees outside but that beer was FROSTY. My lips stuck to the bottle!

Robin gave me a link to NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). The challenge is to post everyday in the month of November. Since I normally post inane things daily, I am sure it will not be too difficult for me to do it. Heh

Jax's class party went well today. Laurie made pumpkin seed brittle (think peanut brittle with out the child-killing peanuts in it), pumpkin cream cheese frosting and orange soda/ice cream punch served out of a carved out pumpkin. It was great! I made my best-ever sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins that the kids spread the frosting on then they used sprinkles. The craft (similar to this but with a fall/leaves motif) was a hit with the moms but notsomuch with the kids. I will have to plan something different next time. This was the first year since we've been at the school that the kids were allowed to wear costumes at school. It was fun to see the kids get so excited to show off their costumes. Jax had his (minus the scythe and the black face paint) on and he had the hood down so low that it was not until the end of the party that Laurie even knew it was him!

Ok, so now I have written a book! Perhaps I should have signed up with NaNoWriMo?!

Brrr!

Ok, I am getting over my cold but I am still cold because the temperature has dropped! It is currently below freezing in our area. I am so not ready for this. It is a month too early too! And I only just ordered Jax's winter coat from LLBean on Friday so it will not be here for at least another week.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I am getting over my cold. Today was the first time in days that I did not feel dizzy and weak. I fell as though I might be getting a sinus infection though. :\

Stephen said that E's birthday party was fun. He introduced himself to one of T's friends who is one of the other 3rd grade teachers at Jax and Dex's school. She said "Oh, you are Jax's dad" but Stephen is not sure if she knew about Jax from T or from the peanut shit at the school. I will have to ask T.

Speaking of Jax, I have a couple of good ideas for him for Christmas. I am going to get him a wallet and put a wallet-size photo of him inside along with a $10 Target gift card and perhaps a couple of dollars. In fact, I will probably give this same gift to all three boys. I am also thinking of getting Jax a cartoon drawing kit. I saw some cool ones in a Dick Blick catalogue but I cannot find it online for some reason.

I have no idea what to get Dex and Cars (other than the wallets). I am sick-sick-sick of Star Wars toys in this house and the constant "I can't find Mace Windu's lightsaber!" or "Mooooooom! Help me find a green lightsaber!" or "Cars broke up my Lego walker! Waaaah!". And then Cars asks every.single.day to watch STARWARSEPISODETWO. It is actually more like "Thawarzzzepithodetoooo!" And it is not like he does watch it everyday. He just asks everyday. Several times.

Today I watched the Michael J. Fox interview from CBS news. It is heartbreaking how devastating that disease has been to him. To watch the interview, click here. It is long but well worth watching. It is interesting and thought-provoking.

Ok, off to bed to ensure this cold does not come back. But before I do, I am going to turn the heat up! Brrr!

Still sick. I spent all afternoon in bed. *sniff*

Today is our regular Friday Night - Pizza and Movie Night. We eat pizza for dinner then the kids watch a movie of their choice. Tonight's selection: Garfield: A Tail of Two Kittens. Ho-hum. I am still feeling rotten so I think I shall retire upstairs and miss this fine gem of a movie.

I took the kids swimming again today. It was surprising dead considering that school was out for the day in our school district. The sun did shine today though so perhaps people took advantage of being outside. Anyway, Cars pitched a fit in the shower after swimming so I had to rush and therefore did not get to rinse all of the conditioner from my hair. So, I have greasy-looking hair, a red, raw nose and puffy eyes. Ooooh, now I'm the gem.

Then a friend called today and we compared thyroid problems. She has Hashimoto's disease but I had thyroid nodules that they thought were cancerous (they weren't) and I got to have a partial-thyroidectomy. She is on medication though and I do not yet need it. Not sure which of us is the gem there.

Now, I shall take my dazzling diamond self to bed with a box of kleenex.

I have been chewing Cold-Eeze gum all day trying to help get rid of this cold. Now I am sitting in bed, with three layers of clothing and slathered in Vaporub. I promised to take the kids swimming tomorrow (they have the day off school) so I have to feel better by then.

We were invited to E's 40th birthday party this weekend (it is the costume party) but I cannot find a babysitter! I thought I could ask Ash if I were desperate (was working on exhausting all leads first) but her SIL and BIL are coming to town this weekend so she is out. So, Stephen will just have to go to the party by himself. I feel badly about it and hate to have to tell Terry tomorrow. Maybe it is just as well since I have this cold.

Misc...

Ugh - I have my first cold of the season. Sore throat and a runny nose. Boo. :(

I took the kids swimming after school today (early release). They had not been there in ages. Cars of course refused to get in the pool with his swim belt on for at least 10 minutes. He said he would sit on the bench and watch. Finally, he decided to come in once he saw a ball that he could play with in the water.

I bought some pumpkins at Whole Foods today too. The kids each got one and I bought a 4th one for Stephen to carve at Cars' preschool party tomorrow morning. They were only $0.11/pound! What a bargain!

I just watched Monday Night's episode of Heroes on the dvr tonight. It is such an exciting and fun show. I cannot wait until next week's show.

Oh and I had a good one hour chat with my BFF today!

Stephen took a day off today because he hurt his back yesterday and he is "tired". (I will resist the urge to eyeroll right now - like I can take a day off and lay in bed because I am tired). So it was a lovely day with him moping around here and my mother driving me crazy. Fortunately, she leaves tomorrow morning and Stephen will go back to work.

Overall, Killjoy's visit was good. I started to tune out her "You should"'s and "Why don't you"'s a couple of days ago which made the visit nicer. The kids really enjoyed her here. Cars started crying tonight because he didn't want her to go (she needs to leave before they get up in the morning). It is nice that they love her and enjoy her company.

Cars had picture day today and he told me that he would NOT be smiling. Or he would smile "like this" and he put his hands over his eyes. It will be interesting to see how they turned out...

Ash's puppy is so cute! She is 7 weeks old and they named her Sophie. She has a little pink collar and leash which looks so out of place on a Rottweiler. All three of my kids pet her so that is a good start.

Tomorrow is Killjoy's last day here (she leaves very early in the morning on Wednesday). For the most part it has been a good visit but man, can she get on my nerves! Besides the whole grey hair thing and lecturing me about laundry, she has been ok. Oh and today she was interfering with my parenting which pissed me off. Anyway, I imagine that her next visits will be shorter because she will spend more time in Vancouver on her west coast trips since she will have a grandchild there too.

Ash cut Cars' hair today. I tried to cut it myself but he was uncooperative and he ended up looking like Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber. Fortunately, he was cooperative for her and she fixed it although it is still a little choppy. And of course tomorrow is Picture Day. *sigh*

And speaking of pictures, here is our ragamuffin family photo for the church directory. And yes, I know that Jax needs a haircut.

Crafty

I have been very crafty these past couple of weeks. These are things I have been working on:


Pumpkin decorations which are just rolls of toilet paper, wrapped in a 22" square of fabric with some plastic grocery bags for stuffing. Add a pipe cleaner and a crumpled paper lunch bag and voila!


More pumpkins. Regular pumpkins covered in glitter! They look better IRL. I got this idea from Martha Stewart.


These are beaded plant stakes/picture holders. I was trying out a craft to maybe use at MOPS. It turned out ok. If I use it we'll use smaller beads.


I love these keychains. I think I might make them for everyone for Christmas. Instructions can be found here. I think this will be a MOPS craft too.


And speaking of MOPS crafts, these decoupaged mirrors was this past week's craft. Use Mod Podge to stick napkins to a mirror (from IKEA). This craft was a real hit!


Pumpkin and "Harvest" holiday pencil party favours. This is for Jax's "Harvest Party". Each pumpkin is filled with Hershey Kissables which are peanut-free. I have made 17 of 24. I ran out of crepe paper because it was so thin, I had to double it to make them strong enough. I also ran out of Kissables but I think it was because I ate them. Need to buy more of each tomorrow.


Working on another booga bag. This one is a little larger than the others I have made and I have doubled the thickness of the bottom to give it more support.


I made five of these undershirts for my mom to give to my SIL's who are expecting babies! I guess I can tell everyone now that Jean-Paul and Marilyn are expecting a baby in May. I think I mentioned already that my brother, Wally (Fiona's dad) and his wife are expecting a baby in January. Whoo-hoo! Anyway, this was another Martha Stewart craft.

It has been fun making these items. I am looking forward to being even craftier in the upcoming weeks!

Fun Stuff

Idea lifted from Snapper's Blog. (Thanks, Chris!)

1) Click on IMDB

2) In the SEARCH field (top left part of the page), type in the name of a favourite movie

3) When you get to the movie's page, click the link in the left navigation bar that says "MEMORABLE QUOTES" (in the Plot & Quotes area)

4) Find your favourite line from the movie and post it in the comments section of this post

Stand By Me:
Vern: If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, Pez, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it.

Cars' first dentist appointment was, um, interesting. He first refused to lie back in the chair for the dental assistant. Then he laid back but then would not open his mouth! He had the biggest pout on his face. I am sure I have never ever seen anyone stick their bottom lip out so far! Finally, I had to pry his lips apart so they could count his teeth. Then they made the mistake by letting him sit up before the dentist came in. No more lying back. No mouth opening. No eye contact. Another huge pout. Thankfully they only billed us for a "Happy Visit".

I took my mom to MOPS today. She was happy to do the craft (mod podge napkins onto a mirror frame). Tomorrow night we are going to go to Joann's Midnight Madness sale.

I have only worked out once in two weeks and I feel like a slug. Ugh. I am going to go Saturday morning. I promise!

Today was a much better day with Killjoy. I took her shopping at Michael's and she loves crafts so that kept her busy (and from making me feel like I am 15) for a couple of hours.

Dex and Cars went to the dentist today. The dentist is a little concerned that Jax does not seem to have an adult lateral incisor on the upper right. Unfortunately, they did not take panoramic Xrays (insurance would not cover it this visit) so they said to come back in two months so they can re-check. Dex did great and was proud to show off the hole where he lost a tooth two days ago.

My dentist appointment is at 7:30am tomorrow and Cars' is at 10am (the office is just one mile from our home). I have been very good about wearing my night guard for the past three nights. Now I gotta floss!

*sigh*

My mom had a good trip down on the train but she said she would not do it again. Anyway, she just went to bed but not before telling me that "if you are going to have grey hair you need to cut it short". Aargh! Why do I put so much weight into what she says? I am already wondering if I should cut my hair or colour it!

Anyway, 9 more days...

Guilt

Killjoy is on her way here from Vancouver. Already I am stressed. She called this morning to check if a parcel that she mailed two weeks ago had arrived (it has not). And now I feel as though it is my fault because it is things that I asked her to bring (Smarties for the kids for Halloween and some Tetley tea). She also put toys in the box and is upset because she is arriving in a couple of hours with no presents for the boys. Ok, it is not my fault that she did that so *I* need to get over it. ~breathe~

Also, Stephen was talking to him mom yesterday and she was saying how she really regrets not taking the train trip with my mom and how she would love to travel across Canada by train. She said that if my mom had just asked her, she would have gone. I felt badly at first, thinking somehow I should have arranged for this to happen. But shit! She knew my mom wanted someone to travel with so why didn't she just ask to go along? And OMG, can you imagine how crazy I would be after a week and half of BOTH Killjoy and MIL?! Just as well...

So, I will spend a few more moments here, sipping my tea before I have to psyche myself up to head to the train station in downtown Seattle (across that friggin bridge in the pissing rain!). Perhaps I need to spike my tea...

A little of this and that

Not much exciting this weekend, besides our date night. Saturday, Jax and Dex went to a birthday party at a kickboxing school. They had a blast and I have never seen them so sweaty!

Today we spent much of the day getting ready for my mom's visit tomorrow. She arrived in Vancouver this morning. She leaves there tomorrow morning and arrives in Seattle at 12:30pm tomorrow.

I have so many craft projects on the go or planned at the moment. I hope to get to a few of them this week while Killjoy is here so I will take some pictures and post them.

Friday

Stephen and I had a date tonight. We first went shopping for a new light (no luck) then out to dinner and then to a bar for a drink. The bar had Labatt's Blue on tap! It was nice to have a Canadian beer in an American bar.

Nanny babysat for us tonight. She was not able to find a job in Canada so she took a new Nanny job here. It is nice to know she will be around to babysit for a while yet. My kids had a great time with her here tonight.

Tomorrow, Jax and Dex have a birthday party at a Kickboxing place. We'll need to go shopping in the morning for a gift (oh and I need to make cupcakes since they will not be able to eat the birthday cake).

On Sunday, the kids start RE classes. Cars will go to Sunday school during Mass and then immediately following Mass, Jax and Dex will go to their classes for one hour.

And we need to prepare for Killjoy's visit. The house needs to be cleaned, the room she will stay in needs to be set up and I need a sedative. Just kidding, I will just use the back pain pills that I have.

We have had such gorgeous weather the last few days. It is quite chilly in the mornings but it warms up to the low-70's during the day. The sky has never been bluer and not a cloud in the sky. We have spent long afternoons at the park afterschool, enjoying the sunshine before the 6 months of rain and gloom arrive.

Today I also had a roofing company come and give me a quote on gutters. Actually, I already had the quote from them but the guy came out to try to please a very unhappy customer. The guy is Cute Roof Guy who sold us our roof back in 2004. I received a letter from him last month stating that they had a deal on gutters (10% off!) and to call their new office. So I called made an appointment for someone to come out. They said New Roof Guy would be out and I said "Fine" but I did wonder why Cute Roof Guy wasn't coming.

Anyway, on Monday, New Roof Guy calls and tells me he is stuck in traffic and will be about 15 minutes late. Hmmm...traffic? Coming here? There is most definitely traffic leaving our plateau, heading to Redmond and Seattle but not really any traffic coming this way. He showed up *1 hour* late. Fortunately, I did not have anywhere to go but I was irked.

New Roof Guy: What are you looking for?

Me: We had our house painted and Painter said we needed new gutters so I called for a quote. Cute Roof Guy had sent me a letter about the sale price.

New Roof Guy: Cute Roof Guy sent you a letter!? So why am *I* here?!

Me: Uh, I don't know. I called the office and they sent you.

New Roof Guy: (exasperated sigh) Cute Roof Guy has all of the measurements for your house then so I am NOT climbing up on the roof to re-measure.

Me: Okaaaaay...

New Roof Guy: I don't know why they sent me *all* this way.

Me: Sorry that it was a waste of your time (not sure why I apologized because it was not my fault and by this time I was getting mad at him for being so rude)

New Roof Guy: I will have Cute Roof Guy call you with a quote.

Me: When can I expect to hear from Cute Roof Guy?

New Roof Guy: (walking away) Later today.

Ok, I was miffed. But I thought I will hear from Cute Roof Guy later today. Besides, we had re-pounded in the spikes in the gutters and they probably would last another year so it wasn't urgent...

So, fast forward to Thursday night, just after 11 o'clock. I was thinking about the gutters and was really irritated that I did not hear ANYTHING from the Roofing company, New Roof Guy or Cute Roof Guy. So I thought I would email the owner of the company only I could not find his name online so I just sent an email to their general email account. I didn't care if I did not hear back from them but I was going to let them know I was peeved. I mentioned that it was not my fault that they sent the wrong person and here it was 4 days later and still not quote. And that I felt I could no longer recommend them to friends looking to replace their roofs.

Friday morning, at 7:45am the telephone rang. It was the roofing company calling to talk about my email. The caller apologized and asked that I give them another chance and is there any way that Cute Roof Guy can come out to my house to give me a quote. I explained again how disappointed I was in their service and agreed to let Cute Roof Guy provide me with a quote. Also, within the hour, I had an email from Cute Roof Guy with the quote.

The next day, I received a hand-written card apologizing again. They said that my experience was not up to the "gold standard" that they normally provide. Enclosed was a $10 Starbucks card.

Today, Cute Roof Guy came out and was trying hard to butter me up. Said he loved the new colour of our house. Apologized again for the mix up. Said it was all his fault. Basically said I could get the 10% off anytime, not just if I booked it this month.

And after all that, we probably will not replace our gutters this year. Stephen thinks we can wait until next year. So, I will let Cute Roof Guy know that we will wait and in the meantime, I will take the kids to Starbucks for hot chocolate.

Ick

It is that time of the year. Spider mating season. I have been fortunate not to have seen any of the HUGE spiders running across the floor yet this year, but enough of the smaller one are around to scare me. But, I have been brave. Very brave. No screaming at all. In fact, I have very matter-of-factly asked Stephen to kill a few spiders. I didn't get all sweaty and shaky just looking at them. I did not insist on showing me the squished spider as he flushed it down the toilet (the only acceptable squished spider disposal system in this house). Look at me! I am a brave, brave woman.

Yesterday, I saw an icky black spider running around one of the closets just off the family room. I did not panic. I did not scream. I just very calmy went for my "humane bug catcher" and went on a spider hunt. Ok, I must admit here that I did have the fly swatter as back up but it was not needed. The spider ran out of the closet and right into the path of the "humane bug catcher". Right into it! So, I very calmly (people, you don't know how proud of myself I am here) and slowly pushed the little door shut on the little bugger. I went slowly because I did not want to deal with any squished spider legs on the thing. I then very carefully picked up the "humane bug catcher", taking extra care to ensure that the door did not slide open and let the spider get away.

I walked slowly across the floor, unlocked the back door, walked across the deck and then FLUNG the door of the "humane bug catcher" open and dropped the spider into the grass. I hope he got eaten by a bird.

Ok, so after umpteen very frustrating hours, it seems that the new light is broken or something. The lines are "hot" and appear to be wired correctly but the light just does not work. We need to box it back up and take it back to the lighting store this week. So we'll live with a big hole in the ceiling for a while yet.

Jax and Dex wore their "Be a P.A.L., protect a life" with the NO PEANUTS symbol shirts to school today. M's son wore his to and I guess a couple of kids in Jax's class noticed that the two of them had the same shirt. Laurie is going to make one for her kids too (her dd is in Jax's class too) and we have all decided that the kids will wear these shirts every Monday to school. I think I will contact another mom with a PA child in 2nd grade and offer one to her for him.

Ok, off to work off the Oreos I had after dinner.