Leslie's Gong Show

How do you know?

2011-09-25T23:29:00.001-06:00

Recently, someone very close to me split up with their significant other after being together for four years. She asked me how I know that I did the right thing when I married my husband, especially after some of the troubles we had in the beginning. So I started thinking, how do I know? My husband is far from being perfect. He annoys the ever living hell out of me some days. Sometimes I am envious of other people's relationships because they seem closer to their significant other and spend more one on one time with them. But with all that, I just know. Here's how:

After six years together he can still make me laugh, cry, roll my eyes, listen with interest, miss him, want to smack him, want to yell, stick my tongue out, surprise me, and make me feel special. But most of all, when he kisses me, he still makes my toes tingle. I am the most content I have ever been my whole life and when I watch him with our kids it makes me fall in love with him all over again. The best part of my day is when he comes home from work and half the time he is on the phone with work and ignores me. But he comes home. Everyday.

So, how do I know? I just know. Do I know he will be my forever? No. I can't see what will be in 20 years or 30 years. But I do know he is my right now and when I imagine life without him it makes me hurt inside, not curious.

How do you keep things interesting in a long term relationship? Do you text dirty messages? Do you go on romantic getaways? Do you have weekly date nights? Or are you more like us, where you just make every moment count and call each other a million times a day just to say "Hi, I am thinking about you".

One. More. Day.

2011-08-29T22:24:00.000-06:00

One more day until school starts! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Actually, I have had the best summer ever and am actually incredibly sad to see it ending. My kids have been driving me insane the last few days but I think a lot of that is the excitement of the start of school! I am rather relieved to have my routine back but at the same time it's going to be rather boring!

In other news, I am going to start babysitting a one year old two days a week! Yay! Maybe I can get one more kid then I will be able to stay home from work! I also managed to find a new renter for our revenue property (I don't know why it's called that when we are actually losing money on it! LOL).

Now I just have to lose a few pounds and life will be great. Low carb diet, here I come.

WFMW: Saving Money on Back to School

2011-08-23T22:28:00.001-06:00

Every year I spend too much money making sure my kids have what then need to go back to school. This year we are broker than broke so I was trying to come up with ways for them to still have what they need without breaking the bank. Here is what I did:

First we went through their old school supplies to see what they could re-use from last year. (we do this every year, but this year I was a little more firm about re-using rulers, backpacks and such)
Then we went to a dollar store and bought as much as we could from there. Why pay $0.79 per duotang when we can get them 4/$1.00?
Next we watched the flyers and bought things on sale and bought store brand over name brand. If their teacher wants to specify "Crayola" pencil crayons then they can buy my kids supplies! Sheesh!

Of course, as with every summer, they both grew a meter over summer vacation! It must be all that fresh air!

We went through their closets and pulled everything that was to small and set it aside to be donated at a later date (usually when the bag is full)
We checked sales at shoe stores and department stores
We bought jeans and some tops at second hand stores. I managed to get both kids name brand jeans for $3.99 - $8.99 a pair! I even picked myself up two pairs of jeans (since my pre-pregnancy jeans still require either spanx or a hanger to zip myself into them. Ooops)
I allocated some of their birthday present budget to a few new outfits that weren't on sale. They hate it when I do that, but do they really need more TOYS! No.

Now my kids are ready for back to school and I didn't have to use a single credit card! Score!

See more tips at Works For Me Wednesday!

School starts in 2 weeks?

2011-08-16T23:05:00.000-06:00

How did that happen?

We have added some more fun to our summer! We hit the beach, I updated some old worn end tables with some paint, we visited family and we have been going to playgrounds and doing crafts! I can't believe summer is almost over already! My first summer off in 10 years and I feel like it flew by so quickly. It's really too bad the weather wasn't more cooperative. We really didn't get very many hot days. I am not sure it hit 30 even once. No week long heat wave where you are ready to kill each other because it's hard to sleep (which I suppose isn't such a bad thing).

My 2nd wedding anniversary came and went. We aren't big on celebrating, we tell each other we love each other at least once a day and do small things to show appreciation very often (like him bringing me coffee in the morning) I bought him a $50 gift card for his favorite coffee shop and he bought me this charm for my charm bracelet.

It says Eternal Love around the band. Actually for my husband, it's unusually romantic. :)

I have decided that I need to get more adventurous in my cooking. Over summer it has become BBQ Chicken, BBQ pork chops, hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese (on cold evenings) etc. Same old, same old. I am kind of excited that fall brings stews, chilis, roasts, and casseroles! Bring on the comfort food! What's your favorite comfort food recipe? I feel like I have spent my life looking for the perfect mac and cheese recipe!

Things I learned on the Internet today

2011-08-05T23:03:00.000-06:00

It was a very educational day!

Oral sex is good for your health... and your skin.

Click here if you dare. Don't show your husband.

I am not the only one that removes batteries out of my kids' toys when they aren't looking.

Could they make them any louder?

Thanks to my friend Shannon for those two finds!

Hope you enjoy your finds on the internet as much as I do!

How I am going to become a SAHM

2011-07-30T12:47:00.000-06:00

For those non-mom types, SAHM = Stay at home mom.

I am desperately trying to figure out how I can stay home with Abby when my maternity leave is up. The thought of leaving her with a stranger so I can make a few bucks is just about killing me. It would be different if I thought I was going to make a significant financial contribution to our household budget, but by the time I pay for child care I will really only be making a few hundred dollars. That of course is our grocery money and my spending money, but still! ARGH! Stupid debt load!

My ideas so far are to open my house up to babysitting and to get back into selling AVON.

Any ideas from the interwebs?

Rainy Day Fun

2011-07-23T12:06:00.000-06:00

We were supposed to go to the fair yesterday. It was 12 degrees and pouring rain. Not fun! So we had a day with Aunty indoors instead! We went for lunch, then came back to our house and made all this!

The top picture is all the projects we made from Perler Beads (called Melt Beads in our house). The bottom project is made from a sock puppet kit, but really you could make it yourself with pompoms, felt, and glue easily!

We really made the best out of a rainy day and look forward to the next one now!

Our summer so far...

2011-07-20T22:21:00.000-06:00

Here is a summary of our summer so far!

We started summer off by going to the library and joining the summer reading club. Everytime the kids go in to exchange books they get to roll the dice and move their little token around the board they get a free "something" (pencil, eraser, whistle). It's great fun and encourages them to read over the summer! Score!
We have gone to Grandma's a few times and visited but she is spending a lot of her summer at my Aunt's house in BC so not as much as I had planned.
We have met my sister for brunch a bunch of times and gone shopping.
We attended 2 beautiful weddings.
We did a tour of the oldest standing building in Alberta and also saw a real tomb. http://culture.alberta.ca/museums/historicsiteslisting/fatherlacombechapel/default.aspx
We went to a Canada Day parade and my son was in the parade with his Karate group.
We went to a rope climbing gym. I watched, but it is amazing how fearless my kids can be!

The baby is growing like a weed! She is 13 lbs already (at 12 weeks) and we are just completely in love with her! She is giving me 7 hours of solid sleep a night so it might be time to transition her to her crib in her own room. She is quickly outgrowing her bassinet! I am sure she is in the bassinet more for me than for her now.

We still have lots planned for the rest of summer though!

Swimming lessons
a Fair
Farmer's Markets
Fishing
a possible trip to Vancouver Island
And much much more!

I am still looking for healthy lunch and snack ideas! :) We can only eat KD so many times in a row before we get bored with it!

My Next Vehicle....

2011-07-03T20:12:00.000-06:00

My next vehicle is going to have pleather seats for easy cleaning.

My next vehicle is going to have a huge trunk.

My next vehicle is going to have a plastic shield in between the driver and the passenger seats

My next vehicle is going to have a cup holder big enough for a large slurpee/pop/milk shake.

My next vehicle is going to have an auto clean button (like my stove).

My next vehicle is going to seat at least 7 people comfortably.

My next vehicle is going to be a silly putty free zone.

Seriously.

I spent Saturday cleaning out my car because we might be selling it. In six years I have managed to spill more than one drink out of my cupholder because the cups were too big for the holder and wouldn't go in properly, including a strawberry milkshake that almost caused a divorce because of course it was my husband's fault the milkshake I bought him tipped over onto the floor. I also had a full large iced tea spill in the same spot. I don't know what was in the back seat but all the steam cleaning in the world couldn't get my cleaner to stop sucking up brown stuff. And there is a lovely spot of silly putty that will not come out of the seat. Some lucky to be alive child left it there on a hot day about 3 years ago and it melted in. And don't even ask me what is sprayed across the ceiling!

PS. The big trunk is to put naughty kids in. ;0) Hahahaha I wish.

Summer Planning

2011-06-23T09:59:00.000-06:00

The kids have exactly 4.5 days left of school. At this point I don't even know why I bother sending them. Their supplies have already started making their way home and they basically are using up art supplies and watching movies all day while their teachers work on report cards. I am incredibly proud of my son though, he is getting an achievement award tomorrow for being a genius! No, really!

Anyhow, to get ready for our first ever summer at home, I have been planning like mad. The last thing I want is for September to be looming and realize we spent our summer sitting at home watching movies. So, I made up a calendar and put clipart on the days we know we have stuff happening (weddings, swimming lessons, etc) then I made a sheet of just clip art that I am going to print on a sticker page so we can cut them out and stick them to the calendar as we plan things (usually a few days ahead). We also made a big list of places we can go, things we can do at home on rainy days, and things we can do at home on hot days. My plan is to do one "field trip" per week that gets us out somewhere super fun (like the zoo) and one day a week that is free but out (like a picnic in a park across the city) and then the other 3 days a week we will either be at home hanging out or at my mom's visiting. I didn't plan anything for weekends because we already have filled a lot of them up with weddings and other events, plus my husband will be home on weekends so he will want to be working on projects (like skirting the deck, replacing our poor dead tree in the front yard, etc.)

I am so excited about this summer! My kids have always been in daycare all summer before because I have always worked, so this is going to be so much fun!!!

What are your favorite summer activities?

I am also starting to think of fun lunches for the summer so we aren't eating Kraft Dinner all summer long, so any kid-friendly recipes you have would be great! I know we will make soft pretzels at least a couple of times, grilled cheese, hot dogs, chicken wraps and lots of sandwiches! They need to be quick and easy with minimal cooking so that I still feel like making dinner after the hubby gets home ;-)

Well, the baby is fussing. I guess that is the end of this post. Duty calls!

1st Weekly Menu Planning Sunday Extravaganza!

2011-06-12T12:05:00.000-06:00

Ever notice if you add "Extravaganza!" to the end of an activity it makes it sound more fun? :)

I must get back into menu planning. A: It will make my life easier with a baby if I know what I have to do for dinner that night. B: It will save us money because I will know what I need for groceries that week and not be throwing out rotten vegetables by the end of the week. C: it will save us money because when someone asks me at 5pm "What's for supper?" my answer won't be "Oh shit, I forgot to take something out. Do you want McDonald's or Pizza?" and D: It will help me lose weight. See C for why. LOL.

So, when planning a menu for the week I think about a few things.

What do I have in my freezer for protein?

Ground Beef
Steak (already marinated)
Pork Chops
Beef Roast
Shrimp
Hot dogs

What is the forecast for the week?

Monday: Hot with possible thundershowers
Tuesday: Nice and Sunny
Wednesday: Mild with showers off and on
Thursday: Same as Wednesday
Friday: Showers

What nights do we have stuff going on?

Tuesday I have a late afternoon doctor's appt and my son has Karate. Rush Night!!! Friday is my Birthday. I am NOT cooking.

So, tonight is the night before I go for groceries. It's supposed to be mainly sunny and 21 degrees today. Sounds like BBQ!

Sunday: BBQ pork chops, perogies, corn
Monday: Hot dog bites, beans, fries
Tuesday: Spaghetti, salad
Wednesday: steak, roasted potatoes, asparagus
Thursday: BLT's and home fries
Friday: Either dinner out or pizza in
Saturday: I am going out. Jay and the kids will eat leftovers or I will make them grilled cheese before I leave
Sunday: BBQ ribs for Father's day! (At my parents)

The best part about this menu is I only need the following groceries!

Bread
Tomato
Lettuce
asparagus
cheese

Happy Menu Planning!

Summer Boredom

2011-06-10T11:53:00.000-06:00

My kids have exactly 13 days left of school (2.5 weeks). We are currently coming up with a list of things we can do over the summer to keep from being bored. I have told them that the words "I am bored" will result in a chore! (That will get them outside quick!) On the list are various indoor and outdoor activities as well as reasonably priced places we can go (picnics, spray parks, etc) for field trips.

This is my first summer off since in a billion years and I have never had school age kids off for the summer either, they have always been in daycare before now. Any ideas you can offer would be great!!!

We also have two weddings to attend this summer and I have the kids booked in swimming lessons, so it`s already booking up fast!

I am also looking for suggestions for quick, delicious summer meals!

Making Maternity Leave Work

2011-06-04T11:37:00.000-06:00

In Canada, we are lucky enough to get paid by the government to stay home with our baby for maternity leave for a full year. Unfortunately, that pay is only 55% of your salary. This is really going to stretch us financially. Here are some of the ways we are going to make it work! Please share ideas for more!

Luckily my maternity leave coincides with my final payment on my car. That will be $250 less per month I will have to pay to the bank!
No work = less gas driving back and forth
No work = less lunches out (though, this only adds up to like $10-15 per week)
Losing baby weight = eating less take out
Meal planning = eating less take out
Meal planning means throwing out less perishable food as well.
Being home also means I will have time to do more large cooking sessions. This is where you can really stretch a dollar. If I buy meat/produce in bigger quantities and cook several meals at once I can save money!
My husband has said he is going to cut back on his takeout coffee and drink the free stuff at work more. That resolution only lasted a day last week but hopefully he gets on that track!
He is also going to talk to his boss' about possibly using his gas card for my gas once in awhile. (His dad owns part of the company, so this might fly!)
We buy all diapers and wipes in big bulk packs to save more money.
We only buy store brand junk food from now on (ie chips)
I have put together a big list of free or cheap ideas to keep the kids busy over the summer so I am not spending money on things just to get them to leave me alone (ie movies and waterparks)
I am going to start couponing more!
Oh, the other thing I am going to do is that when I want fast food and then cook Kraft Dinner instead, I am going to put the money I would have spent on Fast Food into my savings account! Then we can use that as our summer fun money!

Any ideas for saving more money or cheap/free things to do with 2 school age kids and a baby over the summer, please post in the comments!

Abigail's Birth Story

2011-06-01T20:34:00.000-06:00

Before her birth I had been having contractions off and on for 9 days. Sigh...

Tuesday, April 26th, I went to bed around 11 and read until probably 11:30. Jay came to bed around 12:45 am. He woke me up just enough that I decided I was uncomfortable and rolled over. As I rolled over I felt a breeze (like that feeling when your arm is wet and you blow on it) on my butt. So I reached down and my underwear and the sheets were just soaked. I laid there processing the information for a minute then said "Umm Jay?" and he says "what?"

Me: "I think my water broke."

Him: "Yeah right". (LOL)

Me:"Do you want to feel over here and see how wet the bed is?"

Him:"No, that's ok. So what do we do?"

Me: I think we need to go to the hospital

Him: Should we wait until you get contractions?

Me: No we should go, once your water breaks there is a risk of infection

Him: Ok. At least my clothes are still warm.

Then he brought me a towel and I went to the bathroom and put on clean underwear and a pad and started packing my hospital bag. Then we had to wait for his mom to get there so that she could be there for the kids. So I loaded the dishwasher while we waited. :) We stopped at Tim Hortons to get Jay some coffee on the way and off we were! On the way to the hospital we talked about induction and what I wanted if I had to get an epidural (like getting it turned off or down for pushing) and just reminded him all the things I wanted and didn't want so they would be fresh in his mind.

We got to the hospital around 1:30 am and they got me right up to the assessment room. They actually waved me over to the admission desk in front of all the people in the ER, I was impressed! In assessment they hooked me up to a monitor and by that time I was starting to get some contractions. After about 20 minutes they checked me and I was only a fingertip dilated and my cervix was still very posterior. They decided to keep me and put me in my delivery room. Then they sent me off to hike the empty halls for a couple of hours. I was doing squats, stairs, etc, trying to get things moving. Around 3:30 they checked me again and I was 2 cm and very soft but still high and they couldn't feel the head. So off to hike again. At 4:30 there was still not much progress so they shut everything off and told me to take a nap because they were probably inducing me when the day shift came on. I couldn't sleep. Jay napped a bit. My mom managed to nap a bit. Then just after 7 the OB came and checked on me and I was about 3 cm so she gave the go ahead that we should start induction in the near future.

Then things got a bit scary! Abigail's heart rate started dropping during contractions and taking too long to recover. At one point the nurse hit a call button and yelled "I need help in here, D-cell" and this big swat team full of nurses came running in and they were slapping an oxygen mask on me and making me roll over and it was crazy and scary and all I could think was "breath, breath, I have to keep breathing." Her heart rate recovered and they decided to do an epidural and keep an eye on things. The epidural was so that if her heart rate decellerated again like that they could do an emergency C-section and I wouldn't have to be put out. So they put in the epidural and waited an hour to see how Abby's heart rate was doing then they started the pitocin drip really really slowly. Abby was handling the contractions perfectly by this time so they don't know if she was pinching the cord then or what... Around 10:00 am or so the doctor came to check my progress and I was only 3-4 cm, she dug deeper to see if she could feel the head yet and said "I think this baby is breech! Get me a scanner!" and a nurse ran to get a portable u/s machine and sure enough! Abigail was trying to come out butt first! No wonder my contractions weren't doing anything... her head wasn't being pushed down! LOL. So the doctor explains to me that we can continue with what we are doing and see if we can do a vaginal delivery but it would probably take awhile with the pitocin and due to Abby's heart rate dropping before she wouldn't recommend it or we could do a c-section. She did say that if I had come in with labor progressing and not having heart rate issues she would even encourage that we try a vaginal delivery since it was my 3rd baby. I told her I had absolutely zero desire to deliver a breech baby vaginally and they started prepping me for the c-section.

Once in the room they draped me and started the stronger epidural and got Jay in there. He held my hands and sat by my head and they got Abby out so fast!

At 11:55 am on Wednesday, April 27 Abigail Jennine was born! She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz I made Jay repeat it to me twice. I couldn't believe how tiny she was! She scored 9 on her apgars though so that was fantastic. We are just so proud!

She is now 5 weeks old and I am so in love with her and can hardly remember what life was like before her!

On a side note. I am never going back to that OB! I can't believe she didn't once check to see if I was breech, especially after I told her at 30 weeks I thought I was breech and she said there was lots of time for the baby to flip. She never once palpitated my stomach to check for size or positioning. I could have totally avoided a C-section if we had time to encourage her to flip. Because of this, I no longer trust her and am transferring my care back to my family doctor for my 6 week check up and will be finding a new OB if I ever have another baby. She was worth it though. My new little princess makes me feel so content with life and watching my husband with her makes me fall in love with him all over again.

She's here!

2011-05-31T14:37:00.000-06:00

5 weeks ago we welcomed our new little princess into the world!

Abigail Jennine
5 lbs 13 oz
Born April 27th at 11:55 am via C-section. It's really hard to type with one arm covered in baby, so I am going to leave you with a picture and come back with my birth story later!

Secret pregnancy confessions #1: Diet and Exercise

2010-09-21T09:18:00.000-06:00

When I first saw the pre-natal nurse after I peed on a stick and realized I was pregnant, she told me to eat healthy, continue exercising if I was already doing so, and what foods to avoid. Well, after eating super healthy and trying to work out a few times a week, and trying desperately to lose some weight what I actually heard was "You are pregnant, you don't have to lose weight anymore, you can do it after the baby comes". That first weekend I binged on take out. Pizza, McDonalds, poutine. (For my American readers, Poutine is a delicious Canadian dish in which one takes french fries, smothers it in cheese, and then pours on gravy, try it sometime, it is delicious!) Anyhow, the 8 lbs I worked so hard to take off in the first place are back!!!

My first secret pregnancy confession? I can't wait for this nausea to change to actual puking so I can lose some of this weight! My pants are tight and I am not even at that point yet!!! It's kind of ridiculous. I am going to ask the prenatal nurse about my diet. Do I need carbs? Or do I get enough from vegetables? If I go back on my low carb diet is that ok? Is artificial sweeteners ok or should I be sticking to real sugar?

As for the exercise... my husband is getting me some pregnancy safe exercise videos and I am planning to walk more. It's just so hard when at the beginning of the pregnancy you are so exhausted all you want to do is eat and sleep!!!

2nd Ultrasound today!

2010-09-20T16:26:00.000-06:00

My husband got to come in at the end and we got to see the blob that is our baby. Mostly it was just a blob on the screen that had one spot flickering. That was the heart beating. It was pretty cool! We are measuring at 6 weeks and 4 days so my due date will probably get bumped up to May 12th.

On the way home I bought a pants extender :) It's called a Belly Belt and it helps you stay in your own clothes longer. Because I was eating a low carb diet before, as soon as I added carbs back in I gained a few pounds and with the huge scar on my stomach from my surgery in the spring I am finding that the buttons on all my pants really dig in when I sit down for a long time, so this should relieve that!!!

I also started a baby registry so that I could keep track of all the stuff I have picked out. It's a little early for that so sshhhh don't tell anyone!!!

A special announcement

2010-09-09T16:39:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post this separately since this is just so exciting! On Thursday, September 2 we found out we are having a baby!!!! My 8 and 9 year old are so excited!!! My husband seems to be too, maybe a little less than I am though. :) I am on the pill, so this is a total shock! We were thinking about having one in a couple years possibly, but this is much sooner than planned!!!! Looks like I am due May 8th. I went for a dating ultrasound on Tuesday but it was too soon to see much so I am going back on the 20th.

I am so excited!!!! BABIES!!!

Wow, has it really been 4 months?

2010-09-09T16:35:00.000-06:00

I guess I am not very good at this blog thing. LOL.

Let's see, a quick review of the last couple of months:

May:

continued recovering from surgery
mother's day BBQ at my mom's
Had a really good friend come up for a week and stay with us. Hosted a BBQ with some other friends while she was here!

June:

Took a trip to Vegas for my husband's job. Ate well, slept well. It was too hot. LOL. Gambled too much money! But that's ok since it was mostly a free trip.
Celebrated my birthday! My husband bought me a margaritaville mixer and strawberry daquiri and pina colada mix. YUM!
Celebrated my son's birthday on Father's day, BBQ at my parent's house.
My son chose to go on a family trip instead of having a party, so the following weekend we went on a day trip to another city to go to the zoo, then took the long way back through the mountains. It was a long day! We left at 6:30 am and returned at 1:30 am that night!
Started my new job!

July:

Fairly quiet month. My husband took some time off and finished our deck, we have a railing now! And privacy lattice wrapped around one end so that the nosy neighbors can't watch us enjoy our deck!
Spent a weekend at my parent's lake lot. Did some swimming, relaxed, played some badminton, roasted marshmallows, and had fun!
Celebrated my daughter's birthday with dinner out.

August:

Happy Anniversary! We celebrated our 1 year anniversary by taking the kids to the mountains. We went for a hike up a mountain and found a gorgeous lake. It was a very nice vacation. We only took a long weekend for it, but it was perfect!
Refinished a dresser for my daughter and rearranged the kid's bedrooms.
Went on a day trip with my mom and sister to get lost in a corn maze!
Back to school preparations!!! School started on August 30th.

Books, books and more books

2010-05-03T17:46:00.000-06:00

I love reading. I love books. I love cracking open a new book. But I hate paying $10 for something I am going to read once. Why would I read it again when there are MILLIONS of books out there that I haven't read?

So I am super happy it is garage sale season again! I picked up an old Nora Roberts novel (that actually contained 3 novels) for a whole $0.50 the other day. Incredible! Some of the second hand stores have a really good selection too, then I just donate it all back for the next frugal book worm!

I also love checking out my local library, but I am terrified of forgetting my due date or not having enough time to finish a book and I always take out more than I can read in a three week period.

The other place I love to get books is costco. My son has been begging me for this book out of a series he is reading. They wanted $17.99 for it at chapters! And of course it is new so no luck finding it at the second hand stores and there is a waiting list for the 1 copy the library ordered. I found it at costco for half the price!

Happy Reading!

Random Friday thoughts

2010-04-23T09:40:00.000-06:00

Sitting on my tush for the last few weeks, watching daytime television, has taught me a few things...

If you watch the same talkshows all week long, you can see the same interview several times. On Monday you will see Hilary Duff on Regis and Kelly, on Tuesday she will be on the view, on Wednesday she will be on Rachel Ray, on Thursday she will be on Ellen. I am sure she is on someone else on Friday, but by this point I have changed the channel.
Americans must sue people A LOT. Every 3rd commercial is a law firm. One lawyer specializes in accident law, three commercials later you can get a lawyer for suing the hospital for giving you the wrong meds when you were in labor, 3 commerials later and there is one specializing in suing your insurance company for denying your disability claims.
Americans also spend a lot of money on their homes. Plumbers, flooring, bathtubs, granite counter tops, and they all have catchy little jingles that get stuck in your head and you find yourself singing while making dinner later that night.
I am going to die really soon. I am either going to get some awful disease from the hospital and die several weeks after surgery because of it, leave my purse on the floor and get a disease from that, have some undiagnosed heart issue, get cancer from plastics, have undiagnosed diabetes, get brain cancer from my cell phone, have my appendix blow up because of my standard american diet (oh wait, I don't have an appendix, phew!) or be allergic to my house and die of mould poisoning. I really need to stop watching Dr. Oz and the Doctors. (But the main guy on the Doctor's is sooo cute and he takes his shirt off A LOT, so maybe I can just watch it on mute?)
I need to get out more.

I have also learnt:

When you are home all day and don't get out much you spend much less money on gas and eating out.
You CAN get bored of eating Mr. Noodles
It's ok if you forget to take the meat out in the morning. You have all day to thaw those steaks!
I can only watch 5 continuous hours of tv before I am ready to find any reason at all to go out. We might run out of milk in 3 days? ON IT!
I am actually excited to get a job soon. I have pretty much been sitting around for 2 months now. It sounds fun... it's not.
The internet isn't as interesting when you have all day every day to surf it. It's much more interesting when you are sneaking onto your favorite site from work.

Happy Friday!

WFMW: Allowance

2010-04-14T10:55:00.000-06:00

I try really hard to teach my children the value of a dollar. This is done through many teaching moments such as explaining why they can't have a $60 toy at Walmart "just because", making them earn a slurpee after school, asking if they are going to pay for dinner when they want to go out, that sort of thing!

The one thing I find really works is having an allowance system. My kids get $5 per week for helping out with chores. If they don't help out that week, they don't get allowance. Chores range from empyting the dishwasher, taking the recycling to the curb, wiping down a bathroom, cleaning their rooms, putting away their own laundry, helping with supper, or setting the table.

Generally I let them decide how to spend their allowance. At christmas time they had about $30 each saved up and spent a lot of it on me!!! Sometimes I will save up the allowance and just give them a $20 bill every four weeks. I find they recognize the value of money this way. They are only 7 and 8 years old, but if we are shopping and they want something I make them tell me how much it is and then I ask "is that something you want to spend your allowance on?" and they will often say "no, I was hoping you would buy it". I will tell them that it is not in my budget either, but if they really want it that bad then they can pay for it. My daughter recently wanted to get a third remote for the wii so that I can play mario with them when they play. My husband and I agreed to pay for half of it since it will likely be by more than just her, but she handed over her $20 to pay for half of the remote! Now that she has payed for part of the wii system, I think she appreciates it more and is more careful when she plays it.

Having an allowance system works for us! It teaches the value of money, the value of hard work, and responsibility!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit here!

Meeting People Online

2010-04-12T11:09:00.000-06:00

My mother used to think it was crazy. I remember the first time I started on an online dating site and was going to meet a guy for dinner that I had met online she was all "meet in a public place, have your own ride, call me when you get home!" And admittedly I was nervous. You hear horror stories about people meeting psychopath's on internet dating sites (or craig's list) and it's creepy! That first time around I met 4 or 5 guys, never got past one date, but they were all nice guys, just not for me.

A few years later I found myself lonely and wanting to meet Mr. Right again. I had just spent a year and a half dating a great guy that was a lot of fun, but just not THE guy. So I went back to an online dating site. After going through 7 pages of mini-bio's with about 12 bios on a page I was thinking that the site had been taken over by a bunch of losers with no sense of humor and big egos. Then I came across one that made me laugh so hard! I sent him a note telling him I thought he was funny and he sent me a message back. We started chatting until 3 am every night, and emailing all day long. This lasted for 3 days. By this time I thought like I knew him so well that I loved him and didn't care what he looked like in person! We decided to meet for dinner. It was pouring rain and we met in front of a movie theatre. By the time I found parking and walked to the entrance I looked like a drowned rat. But it was love at first site despite my lack of attractive hair. That first date lasted until 5 am. The rest is history.

4 years later we were married.

But this post isn't about my fantastic Husband!

While planning my dream wedding I came across a bridal site that had talkboards where brides could exchange ideas and offer support about all the wedding stress we were going through. (Unless you have planned a wedding, you have no idea how hard it is to come up with an guest list that matches your budget, and then making a seating plan where all the guests get to sit with people they like!)

On this site I met a wonderful group of women. There are 20 of us that regularily chat with each other and are invested in each other's lives. I have only met 5 or 6 of them in person, but they are the most loving, caring women you will ever know. They have become my closest friends. They are supportive and funny and everything you want in a friend! We have been known to snap pictures of outfits so we can vote on what one should wear out, we talk each other down when one of us is ready to smother our spouse, we blog on another site and challenge each other to be better people, and we are fiercely protective of each other.

As you can tell from my last post, I have not had a good spring so far. My girls were there for me through it all. They were texting me, emailing me, sending me messages on facebook, calling me, etc. I really meant a lot to know they cared so much. Some of me IRL friend's weren't nearly that attentive! One of they came to the hospital the night before my surgery and gave me a manicure. A few other local ones visited. And the non-local ones were in constant communication with each other and me to find out updates on how I was doing. Then they did something that really blew me away! They all chipped in and got me a gift certificate for a housekeeper! I get two 5 hour sessions with a house keeper to come over and clean my house from top to bottom, because I CAN'T! It is the most amazing gift. Much better than flowers! I am so excited about it! My husband is very busy and works hard, my kids can only do so much, and I can't do anything! It will be such a relief to have a clean house. She will probably even clean the things I skip! (Like dusting on top of the shelves in the kitchen!)

I am thankful for the internet. I not only met my wonderful husband, but I have met some wonderful friends along the way too. :) Thanks Ladies!!!

Missing March

2010-04-07T22:24:00.000-06:00

I missed March this year. Let me tell you about it!

On March 1st I went in for a colonoscopy. It was scheduled and due to me not feeling so well off and on through out January and February. The appointment was for 8 am, I thought I would be home in time for lunch! It's a pretty routine procedure, right? WRONG! As some of you may recall, last April I was admitted to the hospital with a partial intestinal blockage. I was treated with drugs and released, and continued drug therapy. Prednisone for 8 weeks and imuran for as long as my doctor kept me on it. Well, it caused scar tissue in my intestine and a narrowing as a result. The doctor was attempting to stretch the narrowed areas with a balloon and one area kind of shredded. He kept telling me it look like ground beef. I am not sure I want to know what he means by that. Anyhow, due to this shredding I had a small perferation and they admitted me to the hospital for observation and pumped me full of antibiotics to ensure I didn't get an infection. I spent the next 11 days under observation, undergoing a million tests (2 CT scans, numerous x-rays, and an upper GI follow through, as well as constant blood work) They took me off food at first and just had me on IV's then slowly started reintroducing foods, starting with clear fluids. I was scheduled for surgery on March 12, but the surgeon decided it would be better to delay it 8 weeks and try more drug therapy. The drug is called remicade and it is a serious drug for seriously sick people. It can cause lymphoma, but the risk of that happening was much less than the risk of me getting worse. I was released from the hospital on March 11th with promises of surgery.

So I went home on Thursday, March 11. On Sunday, March 14th I started to have abdominal pain again. By Monday it was worse and I made my husband take me back to the hospital. They diagnosed me with constipation caused by the barium from the upper GI follow through, put me on IV fluids, stopped letting me eat, and gave me laxatives. Once everything was moving I was sent home again. So, Wednesday, March 17th I was home and hoping it would be the last time I saw the hospital until my surgery, now 7 weeks away.

In order to go for a remicade infusion (which costs $4000 per shot by the way! Thank god for health insurance!) they needed to make sure I didn't have tuberculosis. This meant more tests! I passed though! If you have never had one, it is very interesting how they test for it. They take a needle and insert it between the layers of skin, then inject you with a serum that bubbles up like a blister. Then 48 hours later you go back to get your test "read" and if you have red spots or a rash around the injection site then you have to go for a chest xray to confirm you have it. I had nothing. Just a small bruise from the injection. I went in on Monday, March 22 nd for the injection.

On Tuesday, March 23rd, I started to feel like crap again. Which was just perfect since my husband left that morning to go to Vegas for 4 days for a trade show. So there I was alone with 2 kids and feeling like absolute crap. I worked most of the day and hoped I would feel better so I could work again on Wednesday. I had to cancel on helping out my daughter's brownie group that night and everything. Wednesday I had to go get my TB test read, then I planned to go in to work but I was just in so much pain I went home and called in sick. On Thursday I was so sick I kept the kids home from school and popped percocets and went back to bed. They were such good little nurses! I thought I just had constipation again, so I had been taking mild laxatives hoping things would pass. Thursday afternoon I started to feel better for a bit, then around dinner time took a turn for the worse and was in so much pain I was delirious. I called my husband crying, not sure what to do. He called around and finally was able to get his boss to come and drive me to the hospital. My parents met us in emergency and my dad took the kids to their house while my mom stayed with me. They admitted me, sent me for xrays and blood work, etc. There were no beds, so I ended up spending the first 7 hours in the OR in the emergency department, then they needed it for some idiot with a knife wound, so they wheeled me out to the hall. At this point they were shooting me up with morphine so I didn't really care where I was laying!

The next day they found a bed for me (in maternity of all places) and my GI specialist came to see me and told me that he was sending me for a CT Scan and I would likely be having emergency surgery, as they were pretty sure I had a blockage. The CT Scan results agreed and I was booked for surgery on Sunday morning at 8 am. I was scared by this point. Other than my wisdom teeth I have never had any kind of procedure.

I hardly slept Saturday night and was very relieved to see my aunt and my husband at 6:30 am the next morning. They took me to the OR prep room and at 8:00 am on Sunday, March 28th I underwent major abdominal surgery. They ended up taking out 8-10 inches of small bowel, my appendix (I had a fistula going right through it!) and a hernia that seems to have been caused by the blockage. I remember going to sleep, then I remember them waking me up and me panicking because I couldn't breath. I kept trying to point at my mouth to tell them I couldn't breath and they kept pulling my hands away. I know now that I had a breathing tube down my throat, but at the time I was terrified. I woke up again back in my hospital room with my husband, aunt, and sister looking down on me. The rest of Sunday is pretty much a blur. I remember bits and pieces, like blowing my IV, ordering my family around as to who was feeding me ice chips and who was scratching my back, that kind of silly thing. Oh and my morphine drip button not working. It was on a 10 minute delay, so I could only push the button every ten minutes, but I kept pushing it and then telling everyone it was broken.

I now have a 6 or so inch long incision down the center of my stomach that I will always carry with me as a reminder of what I have been through. I got released from the hospital on April 3rd and managed to be able to spend some time with my family for Easter. When I left the hospital I was on solid food again and everything seems to be working fine. I go back on Friday to get my staples out. Time will tell if the surgery was successful. Crohn's patients fall into three categories after surgery. 1) Never have a problem ever again. Basically cured. 2) End up back in surgery in 10 to 15 years due to a flare up. 3) End up with a flare up in a year.

I would be happy with option 2 at this point.

When things like this happen you realize who cares about you. I am forever thankful for my husband who was by my side holding my hand through this whole thing. He came straight from the airport to the hospital on the Friday afternoon. My sister and my aunt that visited me every day. My other family that visited me often as well. My friends that were texting or emailing to see if I was alright, one even stopped in and gave me a mini manicure the night before surgery! My mom, for taking care of my kids when I couldn't so that my husband could be with me.

In 4 - 6 weeks I should be as good as new! For now I am taking it easy and just relaxing and doing things slowly. It feels like I am going to split in two when I cough or sneeze or laugh, so I cannot wait for that feeling to go away!

And the best part? My very generous husband took my wedding rings in to get soldered together since I couldn't wear them anyhow, and as a get well soon gift he got them to add my anniversary band to the set! I will take diamonds over flowers any day!!! He is so thoughtful! I am so very lucky to have him.

And that is how I missed March.

Tasty Tuesday: Quick Smoothie Recipe

2010-02-23T18:06:00.001-07:00

I love this recipe for several reasons:

It hits most of the food groups
My kids love it
it comes together so fast!
It is filling enough it can be a breakfast substitute on "one of those days"!

Ingredients:

1 cup of milk or vanilla soy milk
1 cup of frozen fruit of your choice
1 banana
1 TBSP honey

Throw everything in the blender. Blend until smooth.
Serves 2. (or me and my two kids for a snack!)

For more Tasty Tuesday Recipes go HERE!

WFMW - Having a Library Card

2010-02-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

This week's tip has saved my marriage. Ok, maybe we weren't quite at THAT point! My husband hates it that I have an addiction to cookbooks. He once made me give 20 cookbooks to goodwill and you could not see a difference. He had to build me shelves in my pantry for all my cookbooks because they were taking over!!! I love cookbooks. I get a new one and read them front to back and mark the recipes I might like to try. I also have a lot of cookbooks that I have never ever used though. I will read them, put them on my shelf, and never look at them again. It drives my husband nuts.

The solution? A library card!!! Now I go to my local library, which has a HUGE cookbook section with literally every subject you could imagine, and I take out whatever my heart desires. Then if a recipe catches my eye I will write it down and I keep the collection of recipes I have written down in a 3 ring binder. I also print recipes from the internet and keep it in the binder.

My kids come with me to the library and they love to take out books on every subject imaginable. We spend far too much time there somedays! They have learned magic tricks, string games, how to take care of animals I will never let them have for pets, and everything else under the sun!

Check out your local library, most places have a year's membership for very little money and if you are an avid reader like me it might save you quite a bit of money in books!

Check out Works for Me Wednesday here for more tricks and tips!

Reason #8426 why my life is a gong show.

2010-02-13T21:39:00.001-07:00

Wow! What a busy day!

We started out with a nice breakfast, then we got rolling.

The kids and I went and delivered our paper route. Then we came home and E went and changed into her full brownie uniform for an event later in the day. Then it was off to the library where we dropped off the books due today. I meant to have time to get new books out but I looked at my watch and realized we had to choose between that and eating lunch, so we ducked into the mall on the other side of the library and grabbed some food. Then it was off to drop E off at a play where she was meeting her brownie group. The Children's Theatre was putting on 101 dalmations and a couple of her brownie mates were playing puppies! T and I headed to Walmart to pick up a Birthday present for a friend of his and managed to get a Valentine's present for Hubby, a few groceries, 2 bar stools for my kitchen, and a few other random things. I hate Walmart. I always spend at least twice what I intend to when I walk in. LOL! We wrapped the birthday present in the car and went and picked up E, then Terry got dropped off at the local rec center for the birthday party and E and I came home.

My darling husband had supper going and did dishes while we were gone! I was so amazed! :) I made sure to tell him how much I appreciated it. I practically gushed. Ok, actually I told him I loved him just a little bit more for it. I was telling my sister and she said "Oh, he got pizza?" LOL. That's what it usually means when he "makes" supper. But he actually got frozen cabbage rolls made by real local Babas and made homemade tomato sauce to go over them and had them baking in the oven AND did dishes!!! I really do love this man. Then he built the two new stools I bought! I tidied up the house a bit and went to get T from the party. Then we had supper.

After supper I decided I needed to sit down! What a busy day after being sick for the 4 days previous! But everything was perfectly timed and executed and nobody was late for anything (which MAY be a first for me!)

We watched the movie Aliens in the Attic. It was hilarious! I highly recommend it. I think it's PG13 though, so if you have kids that scare easily I don't recommend it. We all enjoyed it though, so it was a great family movie!

Phew, another day done at the gong show.

Good thing Sunday is a day of rest!

WFMW - The Perfect Boiled Egg

2010-02-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

I know most people find making a hard boiled egg pretty easy, but I have gone through dozens of eggs trying to get perfect eggs for devilled eggs. Then I finally figured it out, based on methods from several people!

Put the eggs in a pot.
Put enough water in the pot to just cover the tops of the eggs.
Put it on the stove and turn the burner on to high.
When the water starts a rolling boil, time for 5 minutes and let boil the whole time.
Take the eggs out and rinse quickly under ice water
Crack the egg gently on the counter and take a teaspoon and slide it under the shell, if you slide the teaspoon around the shell it should come off really easily while keeping the egg in tact!

Want to know my other devilled egg tip? Use dijon mustard instead of regular mustard when you are making the filling! It makes a huge difference!

For more household tips check out Works For Me Wednesday here.

Thrifty Thursday - Cheap Chicken & other deals

2010-02-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to share with you some of my tips for spending less money.

First, let me tell you about the all the meat I bought on Monday when I went grocery shopping. I went to costco first and bought a $12 roast and a $13 tray of pork tenderloins. When I got home I cut 3 good sized steaks off the end of the roast and put them in marinade then froze them. The roast is still big enough that I will get a pot roast out of it on Sunday night, and beef dip out of it for leftovers. 3 meals for 4 people out of a $12 roast? Sounds like a deal to me! I always buy my meat at costco. It is cheaper, and they hang their meat longer, so it is more tender and tastes better. The $13 pork tenderloins got cut into 5 meals worth of meat. 12 pork chops, 5 good sized chunks for stuffing, and 2 baggies full of sliced pork for stir fry. I made one last night... there was tons of meat left over. Then I was at superstore and they had 4 kg boxes of Chicken on for $32. Boneless, skinless, frozen chicken breasts. Yes, that works out to be $8/kg. Yes, you probably pay $18 per kg at you local Safeway for boneless skinless chicken breast. Seriously, check out the per kg price you pay next time you are there.

Second, let me tell you about the deal I got last week on Winter boots for my kids. I bought them a size too big so they will wear them next year. I paid $9 a pair for Sorel boots regularily priced at $50. Isn't that ridiculous?

Where do you go for deals?

WFMW - my PVR

2010-02-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

I was raised in the TV generation. I love TV! And unfortunately I have no preference in programming either. I like it all! Game Shows, Reality TV, Drama's, Talk Shows, Comedy, etc.

Before my PVR TV ruled my life. I would have to be home to watch certain shows, I would have to decide what to watch at a certain time if two shows were on at the same time, I couldn't watch a movie with my boyfriend, family, husband (whatever the case my be at whatever time in my life). Etc. My PVR has changed all that. Now I can set reminders for shows I want to watch and it will pop up for me while I am doing other things (I hate missing the first 10 minutes of something because I was doing laundry or dishes and wasn't watching the clock). Now I can record one show and watch another. Now I can quickly set the timer to record a show with one button! (Find show on guide, click record. Done.) Remember how painful it used to be to set a VCR?

I know it sounds really silly. But I only just recently realized how much my PVR can actually do for me. Before I just used it for the guide and that was about it. Gone are the days of running out of tape and missing the last 10 minutes of a movie.

Do you have any technology in your life that has made your life easier?

For more Works for me Wednesday tips, this week's blog carnival is being held here.

Tasty Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie

2010-02-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

**Please excuse my unmatching header. I am working on a blog reno! New improved blog header coming soon! The new background is a keeper I think though.**

Today for Tasty Tuesday I would like to share a recipe I made last week that my whole family devoured! There were hardly any leftovers at all!

The original recipe is from "Life's On Fire" cookbook by Sandi Richards, whoever I did modify it quite a bit.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 onion

10 mushrooms
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
1-1/2 Tbsp butter or margarine

1-1/2 Tbsp flour
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
Biscuits (see recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Heat oil in a large nonstick wok or stove-top pot on med-high.
Cut chicken into bite size pieces and gradually add to pan as you chop.Toss until meat is no longer pink.
Chop onion (finely) and add to pan. Wash and slice mushrooms, adding to meat pan as you cut. Add spices and stir.
Add to pan in this order: butter, flour and gradually add milk. Stir until thickened.
Stir in broth.
Rinse vegetables under cold water in a colander. Add vegetables to meat pan, stirring until mixed. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. Make biscuits. Pour this entire mixture into a rectangular oven-safe baking dish or pan.

Biscuits:

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar, if desired
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/3 cup milk plus 1 TBSP

Directions:

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
On lightly floured surface, gently roll dough in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits on top of pie filling. Bake for 18 minutes or until biscuits are browned.

For more great Tasty Tuesday Recipes check THIS out!

Dewberry

2010-01-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

For a limited time only the Body Shop is bringing back some retro scents!!! Whooop!

Ok, I must warn you... When they say a little goes a long way, they mean it!

I showered with the body wash. Then I lotioned up with the lotion. And now I cannot even stand the smell of myself and I am pretty sure when I go to bed that my husband is going to kick me out. He has a very sensitive sniffer.

I still love the scent, but HOLY OVERLOAD batman! Layering scents = bad idea.

But really, why do companies discontinue products then bring them back 15 years later and call them "retro". I very clearly remember being in junior high, probably later junior high because I was old enough to go shopping at the mall by myself, and being absolutely devastated that they discontinued my favorite scent!

So I stocked up. And now that I know how much to use, it should last me until next time they bring it back!

Tasty Tuesday - Right Side Up Stuffed Pork Chops

2010-01-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe out of a great cookbook by Sandy Richards. It's part of the "Cooking for the Rushed" series and it is fabulous! It's called Right Side Up Stuffed Pork Chops and it was a huge hit in my family and will definitely be getting put into the mix more often!

1 package (120 g) Uncle Ben’s Stuff ‘N Such Traditional Sage dressing mix (4 oz)

1 tablespoon brown sugar (5 mL)

8 half inch thick boneless pork chops, trimmed (680 g or 1 1/2 lb)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (284 mL or 10 oz)

1/3 soup can of water

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (30 mL)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to broil.

2.Prepare stuffing in a pot following package directions and add brown sugar.

3.Meanwhile…

Place chops in a large oven-safe cake pan and broil at close range about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

4.Remove chops from pan and drain excess grease. Reset oven to 350 F (175 C).

5.Return chops to pan. Mound stuffing on top of each pork chop.

6.Combine in this order in the used stuffing pot (no heat): soup, gradually stir in water and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until well blended and spoon equally over stuffed chops. Bake in hot oven. Set timer for 25 minutes.

I served it with roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. I just cubed my potatoes, tossed them with a little olive oil and some Mrs. Dash seasoning mix (original) and put them in the oven next to the pork! It would go great with rice too though.

For more Tasty Tuesday recipes, check this out!

New Blog!

2010-01-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

A few girlfriends I met while planning my wedding have started a blog and I am joining in! Every Sunday a new challenge will be posted and throughout the week we will all blog about how we met the challenge at hand. The purpose is to better ourselves and we will be focusing on random things such as budgetting, cleaning, taking time for ourselves, and whatever else we can think of!

Please check in once in awhile to see how a bunch of Canadians across the country (And one American!) with completely different backgrounds, problems, and values tackle each week's challenge from their point of view!

http://newwivesnewlives.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!

No Love...

2010-01-23T16:33:00.001-07:00

Some days, as a mom and a wife, I just want to run away from home. I know I am not the only mom and wife that has felt this way!

Let me explain...

My darling husband has been working his butt off lately to finish a job that is about to get turned over and is behind schedule. He has been onsite working 12 hour days then coming home and doing 4 hours of paperwork, then he goes to bed and does it all over again the next day. This means: No family time, no couple time, just a grumpy, tired, sore, hubby that just wants to be left alone. NO LOVE!

My darling son did something so revolting and disgusting yesterday that he is lucky he is on planet earth today. He tricked me into giving him a hug and wiped boogers in my hair. Yes you heard me right. BOOGERS! My daughter told on him, but I was so grossed out I went for a shower and he is grounded for the weekend. Here is my dilemma... Now I don't want to hug him because I am afraid he will wipe boogers in my hair. I think he learnt his lesson though. I explained to him that it hurt my feelings that he would trick me like that and that it was not funny at all and I asked him if he likes it when I hug him. He said yes. I told him that by doing that he makes me afraid to hug him. He has apologized profusely. I let him out of his room but he is still grounded from video games and the computer. NO LOVE!

My darling daughter decided that it sounded fun to have mom afraid to hug you. (probably not really, but that's how it feels!) She gave me a hug today and pulled my hair. She says it was to show me how it felt after I accidently pulled her hair. NO LOVE!

So.... Mexico anyone? I hear the beach is really nice at this time of the year!

RIP Skeeter

2010-01-15T19:34:00.006-07:00

Our family dog passed away today. We adopted her when I was a teenager, so it was surprising she has lasted this long (14 years I think? And she was not a puppy when we got her). She was rescued from an abused home and was dirty, skinny, and stinky when we got her. She was a cockapoo. We named her Skeeter after the muppet.

She was a pretty good dog. My kids are devastated. E says she won't go to grandma and papa's house until they get a new dog named Skeeter that looks exactly the same.

My parents are pretty upset too. I guess she had a seizure this morning and her heart stopped and by the time they got to the emergency vets their was nothing that could be done.

RIP Skeeter. I am glad you aren't in pain anymore.

Works for Me Wednesday - Cleaning away a grounding

2010-01-13T09:43:00.004-07:00

Every Wednesday I go here to read a blog carnival called "Works for Me Wednesday" during which a bunch of bloggers log in and write down tips that keep their lives working! Everything from stopping temper tantrums to cooking tips! I have found many new ideas over there for many aspects of my life! I suggest you check it out.

I usually join when I think I have something to say.

This week my tip is: Use cleaning as a form of punishment! Yep, you heard me! I will ground my kids for a weekend, then when they whine and cry and tell me all the wonderful things they are missing out on by being grounded (usually "but my webkinz will die if I can't feed them!!!"), I let them work off a day of their grounding by giving me 2 hours of service. I get mean too! They have scrubbed dust off baseboards, swept and mopped kitchen floors, cleaned out closets, etc. Plus this is on top of their regular chores like putting away their own laundry and emptying the dishwasher! Working off groundings works for me!!!

Update

2010-01-12T21:52:00.001-07:00

Ultrasound and blood tests confirm it is crohn's related. My doctor is talking to the gastroenterologist tomorrow to discuss the next steps. Sigh...

Something is wrong...

2010-01-11T20:20:00.002-07:00

I don't know what yet. But I have an emergency ultrasound booked for tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers it is nothing serious, but living with crohn's means you can't take anything at face value. Excruciating Cramps + mid cycle bleeding = something not right. Especially when you are on birth control.

I am trying to distract myself by reading other blogs, surfing the internet, watching "Hoarder's" etc.

How do you distract yourself from stress? Do you have any links you to share with me to help distract me? :)

Checking in with my resolutions!

2010-01-10T19:49:00.002-07:00

Well, I managed to go to the gym on Wednesday, worked out with my wii on Friday, and went and played in the snow today! So far so good! I am definitely trying to eat less and better. I really need to lose a couple of pounds!

As for the cleaning... The tree came down yesterday and I rearranged the living room and vaccuumed under all the furniture and I have been keeping up on laundry pretty well, so hopefully my hubby is noticing the efforts! In the meantime, I have not been as good at keeping up on the dishes. I have been baking a lot lately and it seems to dirty a lot of dishes! In my attempts to keep the junk out of the house I have been baking a lot from scratch. Bread, buns, stuffed breadsticks for lunches, etc! It is a lot cheaper than buying bread products and healthier because there isn't any preservatives to give them a longer shelf life.

I am still working on the job situation. I applied for a bunch more the other day. Hopefully I will get some interviews and get something good! I just want something that makes me happy, where I enjoy going to work everyday, and that will be the type of job that stays at work. Where I am not bringing my stress home with me. Know what I mean?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2010-01-02T00:34:00.003-07:00

2010 is here!!! It sure seems like it was just yesterday when we were all panicking about Y2K. The last 10 years has certainly flown by!

I made a couple of resolutions:

Lose 30-40 lbs by this time next year. That works out to be only 3-4 lbs a month. Very do-able!
Be a better housekeeper.
Get a job I love that will take me through until we are ready to start trying to conceive #3. (about 2-3 years away)
Be more patient with my kids.
Save enough money to finally go on my honeymoon.
Either sell or get a long term renter for my townhouse.

We started working on number 2 already. Today my kids were told to clean their rooms. They told me when they were "done" and I had to go up to inspect. All they had done was clean a bare spot on the floor. So I spent most of my day helping the kids sort and purge in their rooms and it is amazing how nice my daughter's room looks! My son's still has about an hour's worth of work left in it tomorrow. I need to get the house to a manageable level of cleanliness so that it isn't such a big chore to clean it! It is amazing how much 4 people can accumulate in six months! That's about the last time I did a good deep purge, cleaning out cupboards and reorganizing. I had to make room for wedding stuff!

I think the Christmas stuff will hang out for a few more days then it will all get packed away too so that I can rearrange the living room again and hang up my new pictures!

What are your resolutions? Do you ever manage to keep to them? I don't really, and they tend to be the same every year, but for at least 4 weeks I do really well!!!

Christmas Recap

2009-12-29T11:50:00.004-07:00

What a wonderful Christmas! The kids were well behaved, the visits were full of laughs, and the food was fantastic! My wonderful husband had some of our wedding pictures blown up and printed on canvas prints for us and they are gorgeous! Is it conceited to keep staring at your own self?

This is one of the ones he blew up:

The kids loved all of their presents! Especially their new laptops! (They are just low end cheapy ones, but now they don't fight over the computer!)

I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did! Happy New Year!

3 days to go!

2009-12-22T00:12:00.005-07:00

and I think I broke my toe!

Hmmm... some highlights of the last few weeks for you before I dig into the fun story!

my shopping is done except for one exchange I have to do tomorrow
the presents are all wrapped
I still don't have a job, but have had lots of interviews and am hoping that some of them will come through next week for me!
I found a renter for the townhouse, so that is one mortgage payment we do not have to worry about
I started making candy bouquets and am really proud of how they are turning out. I might start selling them for fun. I sold one for cost to a friend of mine for her to send to her husband at work and he loved it!

1 Christmas dinner down, 2 to go. I made Christmas dinner at my sister in law's house for my Father in law and his wife for our Christmas visit with them. We did it early because they are going away for Christmas. I made a stuffed pork roast. It was so good.
I made food for my daughter's Christmas party at school and one kid said it was the best thing he ever tasted! All I did was wrap hot dogs in biscuit dough and bake it!
I attended on Christmas fundraising concert for the kid's school, one family fun night at the kids school, and one Christmas assembly at the kid's school.

My husband had the scarlett fever
I hosted a Christmas party with all my girlfriends. We had a blast!
I helped my sister and my mom get their shopping done, and helped my mom with some wrapping
I did a holiday baking session with my mom and sister, the butter tarts didn't turn out, but the cookies were fantastic (and the fudge!)

And that about sums up the last few weeks for me!!! Crazy! Between job interviews, searching for a job, showing the townhouse, getting Christmas ready, etc, I am ready for a vacation! (Note to husband who never reads my blog, I would like a vacation for Christmas, please and thank you!)

Anyhow, so my daughter is fighting off some stomach bug or something. She started at 4 am on Saturday morning with the puking, then it turned into diarrhea. And she has had it since. So this morning she was in the tub and I was in there washing her hair and helping her dry off and she screeches that she has to poop! So I jumped off the toilet (where I was sitting to start brushing her hair) flipped up the lid on it, and ran for the door while trying to pull the door shut behind me all in one fluid movement. My middle name is Ann, which means Grace, and I have none of it! My baby toe caught the door frame and I screamed in agony and went down. My son came running up the stairs "Mommy, are you all right? Wait, you are lying on the floor screaming, of course you are not all right!" So, I think I broke it. I have been hobbling around all day and it is just getting worse. I finally took a painkiller this evening and it feels much better, but it was so sore earlier I almost passed out when I got off the couch and put weight on it. The good news is my daughter made it to the toilet!!!

Hopefully I will have time to post more now that my Christmas stuff is all caught up!

I quit my job yesterday

2009-11-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

After a very stressful week in which I was already considering it, I got pushed too far and quit!

I feel relieved and a bit uncertain. Yes, I just quit my job 5 weeks before Christmas.

Hmmm...

It will all work out! Right?

Taking Control

2009-11-14T19:42:00.002-07:00

Things haven't been going so well for me lately.... so I am taking control of my life back!

I am going to find a job that allows me to be a great mom to my kids and still pay the bills! There is one out there... and I am going to find it!

I am really tired of the stories coming from my kids about the daycare. Skipping snack, leaving kids at school by accident, etc. And it seems no daycare is better than another.

Plus, work hasn't been so good for me lately, so maybe it's time for a change there too!

Anyhow... we will see how things turn out! But I would really like to go back to working part-time as my overall goal!

My favorite trick or treaters!

2009-10-31T20:44:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T11:18:00.002-06:00

Unfortunately my week has not gone as planned. I spent the last few days in bed with a crohn's attack. Hopefully I will feel well enough to carve pumpkins and decorate a bit today!!!

The kids were a little disappointed. A note came home from the school asking that kids not be in their costumes until last recess. So how are parents supposed to help them? I tried best I could, but I sent my son with some face make up so who knows what he will come home looking like!!!

This year my kids had to follow a budget for halloween.

We have a huge trunk full of dress up clothes, so I told my kids they could be whatever they wanted out of the trunk and then they could spend $3 at the dollar store to make their costume better. My daughter is a witch and my son is a zombie!

What do you do around your house to save money during the spendy holidays?

From cool suburban mom to trash in 24 hours or less

2009-10-23T23:42:00.003-06:00

I had the funniest experience today. Well, at least I can laugh looking back on it!

So I was home all day with my sick kid and I was planning on going to the grocery store for the last day of dollar days to stock up on a few things but her darn fever wouldn't break. Needless to say when my husband came home I saw my escape and took it! I grabbed my non-sick son and we fled! Halfway there I realized I had not combed my hair or put on make up or anything yet. I found a hair clip in the car and tried to make the best of the situation. When I got home my husband came outside to help unload and looked at me and smirked. I said "what?" and he goes "did you look in the mirror before you left the house?" I said "no" and he made some comment about how I should at least brush my hair. I asked him if I looked that bad and he says "Oh, I am sure they get all sorts of country bumpkins and white trash in that store, don't worry, you blended right in". So when I got inside I looked in the mirror. What a wreck!!! Then I realized that not only did I look like trash, but I just spent $45 on dollar items, so they probably figured I definitely was!

Oh well, I usually wear make up and brush my hair so they won't recognize me at all next time I go in, right?

Sicko

2009-10-23T07:52:00.002-06:00

My daughter is home sick today. I am really not that disappointed that I have to take a day off work to stay home with my kids. Plus, it was a PD Day at school anyhow, so I was going to have to pay the daycare an extra $50 for them to be there today. This way I get to stay home from work, clean my house, watch some movies cuddled up on the couch with my sicko and sit online and play! Sounds like a good day to me!

Does anyone else have things they do on a "windfall" day off? When you aren't expecting it?

Maybe if she is feeling better later we will get out the halloween decorations and put some up.

In the meantime my son just woke up and realized we were staying home and that we are all out of the good kinds of cereal. LOL Poor kid!

Works for Me Wednesday

2009-10-21T20:48:00.003-06:00

Works for Me Wednesday is getting personal this week and I thought I would join in with my top 10 ways to please my husband. (It's not as dirty as it sounds!)

Give him a back and neck rub while he is sitting at the computer.
Keep the freezer well stocked with pizza pops for those midnight snack attacks.
Keep the laundry caught up.
Keep the front entrance free of clutter such as shoes, coats, backpacks and other kid gear.
Keep a jug of his favorite juice in the freezer at all times (otherwise he will drink my pop!)
Make him 3 egg sandwiches every Saturday Morning.
Shovel the driveway for him (he has a bad back)
Keep the kids quiet when he is working or goes to bed early.
Have dinner prepared quickly when I get home from work (it helps to prep the night before and menu plan!)
Keep my credit card spending on the lower side. (I am trying REALLY hard)

And just for the heck of it... here is 10 ways he pleases me!

Gets up with the kids on Saturday and Sundays and lets me sleep in (until one or all three of them get hungry)
Randomly does things to my car like take it in for a new windshield or fills it with gas or takes it to the car wash.
Reminds me to do important things when I have too much on the go.
Keeps me grounded and spend conscious.
Thinks I am beautiful even on days I don't quite see it staring back at me in the mirror.
Always sides with me when I whine about someone else (family, coworkers etc.)
Spoils me with expensive appliances and electronics.
Makes me laugh every day.
Does his own laundry.
Gets movies for me that he thinks I will like even though he has zero interest in seeing them!

And those work for me!!!

For other works for me Wednesday tips click here.

New and Improved!!!!

2009-10-20T23:00:00.001-06:00

Any comments on my new template? I really hated the orange. The only think I liked about it was the flower. Change is good!

RIP 42" plasma tv

2009-10-19T19:30:00.003-06:00

Our tv broke. It is only 3.5 years old. The entire bottom of the screen just went black for no reason. It's only been 2 days and I already miss it. Apparently this is a common problem on the plasmas. I wish I had known that 3.5 years ago. The husband is taking it to the tv doctor to see if surgery will help. But if it costs too much we might have to put it down and send it to tv heaven. :(

Next time we will get an LCD.

____________________________________

I have been meal planning lately and reading a whole bunch of blogs about saving money on groceries. My goal is $50 per week. I spent closer to $75 the last two weeks. But I think I will get there! Tonight I decided to try pigs in a blanket. But I thought it was ridiculous to spend $4 on a tube of refrigerated crescent roll dough like all the recipes suggested. And I couldn't find any reasonable recipes online. 99% of them used the pre-made dough. DOH! So I decided to try it with my favorite biscuit recipe and I have to say they were pretty darn good! I will post it for you!

Leslie's Homemade Pigs in a Blanket
(Kids of all ages will adore!)

1 pkg of hotdogs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBSP Sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup of milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees
Boil hotdogs in a pot big enough that the water completely covers them.
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until it looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves the side of the bowl. It will be soft and sticky.
Place dough on lightly floured surface. Split in 2 and put half back in bowl.
Roll one half out into large circle (about 1/4 inch thick) then use a pizza slicer or knife to cut into 12 equal wedges. Repeat with second dough ball.
Rinse cooked hot dogs under cold water and cut each hot dog in half. Place at the wide end of your dough wedge and roll up. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat.
Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the dough is golden. Serve with fries and ketchup!

I substituted 1 cup of flour for whole wheat to make it a little healthier.

Everyone enjoyed and I have enough leftover that I will send some to school for the kids for lunch tomorrow!

Meal planning is really working for me though. The point is to limit the amount we are spending on take out on the nights when I don't feel very imaginative. I did 2 weeks at a time then tried to shop for those two weeks and I picked my menu by looking through the flyers and coupons and seeing what I could get deals on, then based on that and what I had on stock I dreamt up my menus! I also tried to go for ingredients that I could use more than once. Such as canned diced tomatoes were on sale when I went shopping so I bought 2 tins and made chili one night and swiss steak another night. I am trying to cut out as much pre-made processed crap out of our diets as well, since they add up to cost quite a bit! Also I am thinking of ways to stretch the meat a little further, since it is usually the most expensive part of the meal!

What is your favorite way to save money on groceries? Any tried and true tricks for a newbie on how to coupon clip, menu plan or save altogether?

We gotta get those debts paid off so I can have a baby! It's amazing what a little motivation will do!

I suck at thinking of titles....

2009-09-23T09:28:00.002-06:00

Especially since my posts are usually random bits of crap. lol. No topic to speak of and I can only use "random" so many times.

I have spent the last few days trying to play catch up on housework. Cuz, you know, when mom is out of commission for a week nothing gets done! I had a talk with my new husband the other night and told him he either needed to help out more or let me quit my job. Since we are incredibly far in debt right now, I think he decided to help out more. Amazingly enough I came home last night to the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded. Hmm... Interesting.

We finally made it to the public library last night. It was a necessity. If you refer to my bucket list post you will notice that # 93 says read all the Harry Potter books! I am finally doing it! I was borrowing them from my new Brother in Law but he only had up to the Order of the Phoenix. So I HAD to go the library last night because I finished it on Monday night and couldn't wait to start Half Blood Prince. So last night I happily borrowed it, plus 3 cookbooks, and went home. Of course the kids needed books too, so E got some books on magic and was trying to make coins disappear all evening.

One of my oldest and dearest friends is moving away and is having her goodbye party on Saturday. My Father in Law decided he was having Thanksgiving on Saturday. Hopefully we are done eating early enough for me to stop by the party! Isn't it funny how you can have nothing planned at all, then as soon as you make a commitment to something you end up with more than one thing at that same time? Anyhow, I am trying to figure out what to bring to dinner. I am thinking an appetizer. Maybe spinach and artichoke dip? Or stuffed mushrooms? Any ideas from the peanut gallery?

Back to work I supppose...

Random Snip its

2009-09-15T20:56:00.002-06:00

First Up:

From time to time I watch the show "18 kids and counting". I do enjoy it. While I don't agree with some of their principles, I do think they are funny and are a great example of a family. They are far from perfect parents, but their kids are moral and have great senses of humor. On tonight's show they made the most fun looking water slide ever! Then, an announcement. Turns out baby Jordan has been fussing while nursing and Mommy Duggar is having troubles losing her baby weight, so she put two and two together and thought maybe Jordan was fussing because her milk changed and maybe her milk changed because she was preggo!!! AGAIN! So she peed on a stick and sure enough... PREGNANT! So now it is 19 kids and counting! When on earth do they have time to have sex?

Second:

I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and I am soooo sick of pasta, since it is soft enough to eat. Does anyone have any good recipes for me?

Third:

My daughter and I had the following conversation tonight:

E: Mommy, What is a whore?
Me: What?!??!! Where did you hear that word?
E: A whore, like it took 3 whores to get there
Me: oooohhhh you mean hours!!! (phew!)

Don't you love when I little one is learning how to read? LOL.

Fourth random thing:

I got in trouble for spending too much last month. Ooops. And I thought I was being so good too! I really have to start watching my money now that I am accountable to someone else. Send coupons and good deals this way please!!!

My stoned weekend

2009-09-13T19:16:00.002-06:00

I spent my weekend stoned. This was a regular occurance before kids. Now... Not so much! The drug of choice then: Pot. The drug of choice now? Tylenol3!

The joys of painkillers.

I spent Friday morning letting a semi-cute dental surgeon remove my 4 wisdom teeth. Now I am in recovery. It hurts. A LOT! I already miss solid food. And you would think living off of pudding and ice cream sounds like a great idea. Not so much. Then I found out I cannot eat popcorn for 2 months!!! It's my favorite snack food!

But, I have the best husband in the entire world. He has been waiting on me hand and foot, catering to my every need. Taking care of the kids. Spending $100 on pudding, ice cream and soup. Reminding me to take my meds. He has been great. I recommend him if you are ever sick!

Hopefully I can eat solids by Friday night when we go out for dinner with my family for my parents big anniversary! 25 years! Hard to believe!

Anyone have any ideas for soft foods I can eat?

September Already?

2009-09-01T15:32:00.002-06:00

Where does the time go?

What a great day... the kids were on time (kind of) for school today. Yesterday was the first day and my Darling Husband hit the off button instead of snooze on the alarm and I woke up with 20 minutes to get out the door and drive to the daycare. I sure looked like crap yesterday! lol.

My lovely siblings and I are going to get pictures done tonight for my parents 25th wedding anniversary. My mom keeps mentioning how the last pictures done of us 4 siblings was about 15 years ago, so we are going to get a photographer to come and take pictures of us having a good time at a playground like little kids. BUT the other 3 decided it would be fun to have us all wear jeans and white t-shirts. I hardly have anything in my wardrobe that is white. I tried them all on last night. Hubby finally looked at me and told me to go shopping today at lunch for a white shirt. So I bought 4 shirts and have 2 pairs on pants on hold because they will be 20% off on Thursday. LOL. Our conversation after lunch went something like this:

Me: So, would you be mad if I bought four shirts instead of 1?
Him: Not if you get rid of 10 from your closet
Me: But I need more clothes
Him: But you don't wear the ones you have
Me. But I couldn't decide between a t-shirt and a blouse, and I need a blouse anyhow so I bought both, then the t-shirt was a buy one get one, so I had to get another one in another color.
Him: Had to huh?
Me: and then the 4th one they didn't have in my size in white, so I had to buy it in pink, but I really loved it so I had to buy it. It was only $14.99!!!
Him: You have too many clothes. you need to either give some away or pack some up.
Me: Ok I will pack some of the stuff that will fit me when I lose 10 lbs. K?
Him: Alright.
Me (in my head): Thank god he doesn't know about the bin under Emma's bed with all my winter clothes in it!!! Can you imagine if all that was in the closet too!?!??!!

And I got an email from my photographer today:

Hey Leslie,
So I've waited and waited...not more than you I'm sure, and they are FINALLY HERE!!! BUT, they didn't deliver to my house today, they put a little Delivery Notice, pick up tomorrow after 1:00 in my mail box!!! SERIOUSLY??? I wanted to surprise you and bring everything up to you tonight when you got your family pictures done! I'm so upset, I'm so sorry! I will pick up the albums tomorrow and courier them to you overnight because I can't believe that they did that!
I apologize for this ridiculously long wait and hope that you'll be able to hang in 1 more day!
Amanda

Wooooohooooooooo!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see my pictures!!!!!!!

And my boss has been in such a good mood this week! I sure hope that continues!

And my ex texted me to say he was on his way to maintenance to drop off a cheque for me!

I sure hope this trend continues! I like it when my world is all smiles!!!

Cash Only

2009-08-29T21:39:00.002-06:00

Today I was planning on meeting a longtime friend and her daughter out at Pembina River where we were to have a lovely picnic lunch and then go tubing on the river. Sounds like a fantastic way to spend the day, right?

My day started to go wrong the minute I left.

First we went to the closest ESSO Gas station for Coffee and gas. I waited in line in the drive thru, ordered my bagel, donuts and coffee, got to the window and handed over my VISA. The guy hands me my coffee, looks at the visa and says "oh, we don't take Visa." I am like, "but that's all I have" he kind of shrugs. I am like "how can you not take Visa, that is the stupidest thing I ever heard!" and shoved the coffee back in his hand, grabbed my card, and drove off. So frustrating! So I had no coffee and the kids had no donuts. I got gas and started the 1.5 hour drive to the river. 15 minutes in I realized I forgot towels. Lovely. We are going to play in a freezing cold river with no towels.

So we finally get to the river, meet my friend, she had extra towels! We let the kids wade in the river and play around for an hour and ate our sandwiches etc, then made our way back up to the town to the tube rental place. We then stood in line for an hour to find out that:

They took Cash Only. (replay coffee catastrophe) so everyone offered to chip in so the kids and I could still rent a tube and hope they all had enough left over.
The next shuttle bus to the drop point on the river wasn't for another 2.5 hours and we had to wait there with our tubes for them to hold our spot. 2.5 hours with 3 kids in the burning hot 30 degree sun with nothing to do, yep sounds fun.
They were out of tubes and couldn't guarantee they would have enough back in time for our shuttle and wouldn't reserve the next ones for us. We either had to stand there waiting for people to come back off the river or walk away and risk there not being any.

My friend stayed with her daughter to wait for a tube. I decided it wasn't worth waiting 2.5 hours with no guarantee that we would even get a tube in time for the last shuttle bus and not knowing if everyone would have enough money to cover me. So the kids and I decided to come back home.

I felt bad that the kids fun day was ruined so I thought we would stop at the ice cream shack close to home for some gourmet ice cream. So we get there... Guess what!?!?! CASH ONLY! Argh! Who actually carries cash these days anyhow? lol. So we went to Dairy Queen and got blizzards. Then we came home and I made the kids help me wash my car. It's funny how it is work to me, but when you hand a couple of kids a big bucket of soapy water and a cloth and let them climb all over your car in their swimsuits it's a load of fun!!! lol.

Then we ordered pizza for dinner (they took visa!) and after I took them to the new playground by our house and I read my book while they played. A perfect ending to a pretty disappointing day I would say!

But seriously! I never carry cash! And usually it isn't a problem. It was just bizarre to me today that everything I wanted to do was cash only. argh!!!

Wishing there was more hours in the day.

2009-08-26T14:23:00.002-06:00

As you know I got married just over 2 weeks ago. Now, I am trying to be a good wife, a good mother, and still find time for the things that make me, me! But honestly there is just not enough time in the day for cooking, cleaning, playing with kids, working full time, surfing the internet, laundry, errands, reading Harry Potter, and sleep!

If anyone knows of a cheap and/or free house keeper please send them my way.

I am trying to get back into meal planning to make things easier when I get home from work. Tonight we are having steak and baked potatoes and some kind of veggie. Tomorrow night I think burgers and maybe some homemade fries (I love julienning potatoes, tossing with a little olive oil and seasoning salt and baking them. So yummy and not all that bad for you!) Friday night... I dunno!

I am also trying to get the kids more involved in chores and we started giving them allowance ($5 a week) to encourage this.

Things I am trying to find time and energy to do in the near future are:

Clean out pantry
Organize kitchen (make room for wedding presents)
Clean out and wash car (soooo bad after a few road trips over the summer!)
Clean out and organize all of our closets and send rejected clothes to goodwill

And of course while I am trying to get everything done, I am getting a cold. So last night I said screw it and went to bed early. Yep... great wife and mother... not such a good housewife!!! LOL.

Please share any tips you might have! I tried fly lady, but it really doesn't work for a mom working full time I find.

Sigh...

2009-08-20T16:04:00.002-06:00

I have been doing admin work for over 10 years. I have had the following titles: Jr. Receptionist, Receptionist, Administrative Assistant, Office Assistant, Office Manager, Secretary and now finally, Executive Assistant. They all mean: Someone to yell at when things go wrong.

What I really want to do is start my own event management company. Or be a housewife. So I sent my Darling New Husband a text today: I wannabe a housewife!

His response: But then you would have to clean.

Thanks! LMAO!

He has his titles wrong. Housewife = organizer of houses activities and stuff. House cleaner = cleans house. So I need to quit my job and hire a house cleaner. Makes financial sense, right?

I wish. Methinks I need to be more convincing! *evil plan hatching in my head* Too bad that man cannot be manipulated! I have tried everything! The only thing he responds to is logic. Hello, I am a blonde! How is that ever going to work!!!!

Oxymoron at work over here!!!! Smart Blonde. Really! How come no one ever believes me?

Speaking of Blondes, this is my new favorite blonde joke:

Why didn't the blonde make ice cubes?
She forgot the recipe!!!

Ridiculously Excited!

2009-08-17T22:08:00.004-06:00

My photographers posted my wedding pics on their blog!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so unbelievably excited! I look so happy I think, which makes sense since it was the best day of my life!!!!!!

In other news, I made an awesome pie yesterday. Aren't I a good little wife?

Bad Blogger

2009-08-14T09:49:00.002-06:00

but now I am a married blogger! And now that the wedding is over I am hoping to have more time to blog!!!

3 weeks until Christmas?!?!

2008-12-03T13:11:00.002-07:00

Yikes! Only 3 weeks until Christmas!

I got one present early! I got my engagement ring! woohooo! She's beautiful too! 11 stones. 1 big one in the middle, then 2 medium sized ones on either side, then 4 small ones down each side. I love it! We booked a venue and I am starting to gather ideas for bouquets, center pieces, etc.

I sure hope we get more snow soon. The company sleigh ride (for J's company) is on the 13th and so far we don't have enough snow! It might be a wagon ride, and that is not nearly as much fun!

Christmas and weddings have pretty much been occupying my mind lately... so that's all I got!

Cheers!

I am a bad blogger!

2008-11-18T13:54:00.002-07:00

So, I have been a little self absorbed lately. You know how things just kind of all happen at once in life? That's where I am right now. And just when you think everything is up right, you whole life flips over again!

Long story short... the bf and I had kind of split up and the kids and I moved back to my townhouse (in which the bathroom is still not done). Then of course, because I am so fabulous, J decided he cannot live without me and we have decided to get married! The ring is coming, (I gave him a Christmas deadline), we set a date (August 8th) and have started the planning!

So, the reason for me being a bad blogger is that I have been planning my wedding which is less than 9 months away!!!! So far I have ordered my dress (soooo pretty), and we decided on a venue. Then... with all the wedding stuff that was clogging my brain, I suddenly remembered that Christmas is in like 5 weeks! And I hadn't started my shopping! Crap.... Maybe I can tell the kids that Santa took this year off? Ok, maybe not. So, yes, bad blogger and a bad mommy! I need an assistant.

My Bucket List

2008-10-23T21:02:00.002-06:00

1. See a Ballet
2. Go to New York and see a broadway production
3. Have a picnic in Central Park
4. Go canoeing/rafting in a river that runs through the mountains
5. Visit the Mayan temple ruins
6. See a real castle
7. Go on a safari
8. Ride the biggest roller coaster in the world
9. Go to a Thanksgiving parade in New York
10. Find my soul mate and get married
11. Vacation in Hawaii
12. Go on a cruise in the Mediterranean
13. Visit the Egyptian ruins
14. Ride the London Eye
15. Write a book and get it published
16. Sleep in a teepee
17. Get a tattoo
18. Drive a Shelby Mustang (oh Eleanor!)
19. Visit the Louvre
20. Kiss the love of my life a top the Eiffel tower
21. Visit the Toronto Zoo
22. Learn how to swim and go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reefs
23. Learn how to play the piano (properly)
24. Visit Quebec during the winter carnival
25. Go to PEI and tour Green Gables
26. Skate on the St. Lawrence Sea way
27. Ride a sail boat on the ocean
28. Spend a night (or a week) on a massive yacht
29. Go on a horseback ride in the mountains
30. Learn more about astrology and spend more time stargazing and pointing out the constellations to my kids
31. Take a helicopter ride over something amazing
32. Take a wine tour
33. Stay in a theme room
34. See Stone Henge
35. Walk along the Great Wall of China
36. Visit Easter Island (Is that where the Easter bunny is from?)
37. Learn a Martial Art
38. Have my portrait painted
39. Go skinny dipping in a lake with a water fall
40. Take a train ride across the mountains
41. Take an ice explorer bus over the Colombian Ice Fields
42. Learn to ballroom dance
43. Learn to belly dance
44. Buy something ridiculously expensive just because I can. (Like Manola Blahnik shoes)
45. Set foot in each of the seven continents
46. Attend high tea at a posh hotel.
47. Go whale watching
48. Swim with dolpins or seals in the ocean
49. Sleep outdoors under the stars with no tent
50. Go shopping in an evening gown
51. Build a giant sand castle on a big beach
52. Get my fortune told by a real gypsy
53. Make love on a beach
54. Watch the sun set over the ocean while on a boat in the middle of nowhere
55. Mud wrestle
56. Take an evening class to learn a new skill, like pottery, or cooking, or something like that
57. Find a job I love
58. Swim in the dead sea
59. Ride in a gondola in Venice
60. Go to a viewing of the Rocky Horror Picture show where they actually throw rice
61. Get a cooking lesson from a celebrity chef (like Gordon Ramsey!)
62. Visit Legoland
63. Join the mile high club
64. Go to a Drive in Movie
65. Spend a night in a tree house
66. Buy a round of drinks for everyone in a pub
67. Read a novel like Moby Dick or the Odyssey
68. Shop on Rodeo drive
69. Make love on a bed of rose petals
70. Have a proper spa mud bath.
71. Have my handwriting analyzed
72. Own a rather large diamond
73. Have a caricature done
74. Be proposed to in the most romantic possible way. And say yes of course.
75. Visit a wax museum
76. Climb a mountain, from the bottom to the top. No trams.
77. Put my hand in the mouth of truth
78. Ride a tandem bike
79. Fly first class
80. Go to the opera all dressed up
81. Bathe in hot springs
82. Get a hot stone massage
83. Float down the Grand Canyon
84. See Machu Picchu (Incan Ruins)
85. Ride a camel into the desert
86. Tell my kids I love them everyday
87. Make a random strangers day. Maybe by buying coffee for the person behind me in a drive through line up. And do this often.
88. Go to France and learn how to cook French food
89. Go to Ireland to see Sheep with dots painted on them.
90. Drink in a real Irish Pub
91. See Big Ben
92. Visit Pompeii
93. Read all the Harry Potter books (I am behind the times on this one!)
94. Vacation in Bora Bora
95. Have lunch with someone that has made a difference in the world
96. See tulips and windmills in Holland
97. Join an archeological dig
98. Have something named after me.
99. Live my life for me and no longer compromise who I am.
100. Kill my friend Kari for daring me to get to 100

What's on your bucket list?

Even Fly Lady Can't Help Me Now!

2008-10-21T10:52:00.002-06:00

Anybody know an arsonist? Just kidding... but seriously, the kids and I moved on the weekend. Back to our townhouse. The kitchen cabinets look magnificent. My little brother did a really good job. A coat of fresh paint really made the living room look a lot nicer too. Now, if only I could see the living room and kitchen. There are so many half unpacked boxes piled around my house right now that I feel hopeless! It's never ending!

Oh, and did I mention that my bathroom isn't done yet? Tonight we are visiting my mom's house. She is feeding us dinner (because I can't cook in that mess) and letting us borrow the shower. I sure hope it will be done soon. Sigh...

On a positive note, the kids are so glad to be back at their old school and daycare with their old friends. They had such a good day yesterday.

And another thing! Shaw hires a bunch of dougheads! I called for reconnection of services yesterday and supposedly everything was good to go... so last night I expect to have phone, cable, and internet. Nothing worked. The technical support dude got the internet working but after an hour and a half on the phone with me could not figure out why the phone and cable did not work. They he clued in that they only put the reconnection order in for the internet. sigh... so he had to put in a new order and I should have phone and cable today. An hour and a half wasted on the phone when I could have been unpacking because they are dough heads.

I know it will all come together... I just wish I could wave my magic wand and be done with it though!

The fool that I am

2008-10-15T19:40:00.002-06:00

My friend is raising money for the entry fee for a fashion show she has been invited to show her line at. It's a huge deal and I am so proud of her. The exposure is priceless! So, being the BFF that I am, I volunteered to host a make up lesson party where people pay her (she is a professional) to show them how to apply make up and go from day to night. Great idea! Right? Yes, for her! I just had this panic attack as I realized this is only about 3 weeks away, I am just moving back to my townhouse this weekend, the bathroom is not yet done, and now I have to host a party? Eeek! I hope my guests are blind! I better sign up for fly lady!

Oh, and I realized, while reading another blog today, that Christmas is only 10 weeks away!!!!! Where did this year go? What the heck? Who do I call to postpone Christmas by about.... 6 months?

I forgot my funny story!

2008-10-14T14:49:00.002-06:00

My children have apparently decided I am already an old spinster. (At 27? hardly!) My son (for whatever reason) decided that he was going to share the following information with me on the way to daycare this morning. "Mom, I am going to live with you until I am 23" I honestly don't remember his reasonings as, once again, his sister stole the show. "Yah, well I am going to live with you forever!" I asked her "don't you want to get married one day and live on your own?" She says, "Yes, but we will live with you still. I don't want you to be all alone, so I will live with you forever." Awwwww... what a sweetie... but seriously!!! Is it really so bad that even my kids think I will be alone forever?!?! All I said was "Hopefully by the time you are old enough to get married I will have found a husband and you won't have to worry about me, ok?"

I am not an old spinster! I just wanted to clarify that. In case, you know, it was starting to show. LOL

WFMW - It's good to know people

2008-10-14T14:34:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday!

I am writing this post on Tuesday, if you would like to know why, please read last week's WFMW posted Here.

A lot of things don't work for me, but one thing that does is having friends I can call on when I need help. As a single mom, I don't have a handy husband to fix everything. In comes my friends. One friend (you know who you are) is a handy dandy furnace and hot water installer and had the necessary skills to hook up my new bathtub! While he was at it he also installed shut off valves for the sink and tub. What does it cost me? Free babysitting. It kind of reminds me of the olden days when you would trade a chicken for a check up at the Doctor's. I am going to babysit his lovely daughter for a few evenings in trade for labor. Another friend came and installed my drywall and did the mudding and taping. I might babysit for him too, but he has 3 rambunctious boys and I am not sure I have the patience for that! Then, yet another friend came and helped me move all my furniture on Saturday. I owe him pizza and beer. Maybe I am lucky I don't have a husband. He surely would have gotten irritated at his honey-do list by now. OH! And of course I wouldn't be anywhere without my Daddy. He runs me around to hardware stores in his truck when something won't fit in my little car. What would a girl do without her Daddy? So, in summary, what works for me is having friends work for me!!!

P.S. Remind me not to "gut" any rooms in my house in the near future or those friends might become "people I used to know". ;0)

WFMW Doesn't WFM!

2008-10-08T21:11:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I get excited about Wednesday's because that's when it is Works For Me Wednesday at http://www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ I get tips on child care, cooking, cleaning, and everything else! Reading this blog and following the links to other blogs is actually what inspired me to start my own blog. So! Every Wednesday I decided I would join and post my own links there. Only I suck at it. Last week I didn't post my link properly, so it got deleted. This week, I didn't write my post quickly enough so I didn't get to join again! Argh!!! Why can't she cut it off at 10:00 CST instead of 7:00? Then I could write my blog and post it in time! Or... I could start writing it on Tuesday's so I can post on Wednesday... hrmmmm... interesting. I need to find a way for WFMW to WFM!!! sigh...

For posts from people who have their lives together and remember to post on time, please visit http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2008/10/works-for-me--1.html

OH! The bathtub installation worked!!!! Wooohooo! Drywall is going up on Friday night, furniture is getting moved on Saturday, and the rest will be done between now and next weekend! I see the light!!! I can't wait to move into my pretty new (Ok, reallly old but renovated) townhouse! It's mine! All mine! Mwahahahahahhaahah!

Tuesday Ramblings

2008-10-07T15:02:00.002-06:00

I finally have a comical story about my son, T. I arrived to pick the kids up at daycare last night and E was quick to tell me she had already done her homework so that she could ride her bike while I made dinner. I asked T if he had done his as well. He said no, but he didn't have homework because he forgot to exchange his home reading book. I looked at him and said that J was probably going to make him read something else and write in his journal and that he needs to remember to exchange his book. We get home and as we are walking into the house J was coming out, T looked at J and told him he had done his homework at daycare! I called him on his lie and he got sent to his room. But, if I hadn't been there, it was kind of ingenious. Should I admit that? My kids are creative if anything else!

I am going to the townhouse to install the bathtub tonight. It better freaking work this time! LOL. I am planning to move the furniture on Saturday, then all that will be left is clothes and "stuff". Moving day is coming! And so is thanksgiving! mmmm turkey.... I can't wait until Sunday.

I am trying to decide what to write about for tomorrow's works for me wednesday.....

Oh, so... speaking of daycares, the owner of the kids daycare was a total cow to me yesterday! I couldn't believe it! I understand fees are due on the 1st, so on October 1st I went into the daycare and asked how much I owed, because they were supposed to pro-rate my fees for a half month. The one daycare lady said she would talk to the owner and have her put a note on the kids locker for me the next day. So Thursday I go to pick them up and the note has the full fees on it. So on Friday I went in to talk to the owner/director lady and she said she would re-calculate them because she forgot to pro-rate them. Monday comes along and she calls me at work and informs me I owe $480 (which is fine) but that since I waited so long to pay that I can no longer pay by cheque, I have to pay by cash and I have to bring it to her that night when I pick up the kids. I explained I work in the boonies with no bank machine around me, and would try my hardest to have time to detour to a bank machine on the way home from work. She tells me that I need to guarantee I will. So, I gave in and was like "alright, fine, whatever you want" and she goes, "well is that going to be ok?" and I said "I guess it's going to have to be, isn't it?" GRRRRR.... I was ready to pay on the 1st and this is the flack I get because she hadn't done the calculations yet? Anyway, that was my vent about stupid people for the day. :0)

Works For Me Wednesday - Organizing for quicker lunch making

2008-10-01T19:42:00.003-06:00

There is a blog I follow called Rocks in my dryer that hosts a blog carnival called Works for Me Wednesdays. Bloggers post links to their own blog and tell about tips that work for them! Today's is a themed WFMW about kitchen organization. One of the things that I find tedious in the kitchen is making the kid's lunches every night. I am a working single mom, so unfortunately my kids get a lot of pre-packaged foods in their lunches like granola bars, apple sauce, pudding, fruit snacks, etc. One of the things I noticed was that my pantry was filling up with all these boxes of lunch snacks that only contained 6-10 items in them! So, my solution was that I bought a rubbermaid bin that fits on one of the shelves, and when I get home from grocery shopping I empty all the boxes into the bin. Then when I am making lunches, I just grab the bin and put it on the counter and grab what I need out of it. It sure cuts down on the time I spend searching for that box of granola bars that I thought I bought last week! Now everything is in one place. This is one organizational solution that WORKS FOR ME!

For more great tips, visit: http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/

Monday Mayhem

2008-09-29T20:19:00.002-06:00

So, you know how some days you start out your day with a list of things you are planning on accomplishing and within 5 minutes of getting started you realize that your day is about to be one of those crazy ones where you might as well throw all your plans out the window? That was today for me. I don't think I actually crossed a single thing off my to do list today! But you know what they say about the best laid plans! There is always tomorrow... LOL. Luckily I changed my receptionist from P/T to F/T starting on Oct. 1st so I do believe that will help somewhat!

One of my friends has been scuba diving off of Vancouver island and posting amazing underwater pics on Facebook for us all to see, and I have to tell you... after a day like today, I could sure use a vacation like that! I haven't really taken time for myself since May, and even then it was only 2 days. Talk about jealous!

Speaking of the best laid plans... I didn't get the bathroom renovated this weekend as planned. The $%&*#% bath tub didn't line up with the $%&*#% drain. So, next weekend we start all over. It delays my move a bit, but to be honest, I don't want to move anyhow so I am really not that devastated by the whole catastrophy.

Speaking of catastrophies... have I mentioned my darling 6 year old daughter yet? LOL. Today the drama queen played sick and spent the morning in the nurses office at school. The school called me by lunch time and let me know that although she hadn't thrown up yet, she keeps threatening to. J to the rescue, again. He took the afternoon off and went to pick up "sick" E from the nurses office. She got home and wanted potato chips. Then she wanted to go outside and play with her friends that don't go to school yet. J said no and that if she was sick she had to stay in. She wanted a second opinion so J let her call me at work. I was having my day from you know where so I wouldn't even let her whine or try to convince me. I told her flat out that if she was too sick to go to school she was too sick to play outside. Yep, I had that moment. That one where you open your mouth and hear your mother speak from inside your head. I think I was channelling my own mother. What have I become?! Oh, well, I turned out all right, right? (**disclaimer: I love you Mommy!**)

On a side note: Has anyone ever bought one of those microwavable roasts before? I made one for dinner tonight (please read the part above about the day I had before you judge me!) and I read the back when I bought it and the nutritional information per serving had a serving size as 1/6th of the package. That to me would mean it should serve six. So surely it should serve us 4 considering the kids hardly eat that much meat at all. Lets just say that J supplemented his meal with cheese because he hadn't had enough protein. Ooops. LOL. I think it would serve 2 all right, but no way its more than that!

Is it the weekend yet? This is going to be a looooong week, I can tell!

TGIF! Kind of...

2008-09-26T15:33:00.003-06:00

I would like to start this post with a little story about my drama queen daughter, E. I am trying to get my townhouse put back together so the kids and I can move out of J's and back into my place. So, last night Mom came with me to do some work in it and J picked the kids up from daycare and fed them for me. On the way home from daycare all J, T, and E were in the car discussing what they should have for dinner. (J can't cook, boy is he going to miss me!) J suggested Pizza 73. E went on to state that on the way home from school her tummy still hurt from the LAST time we had pizza 73! That was weeks ago! What a kid... I don't know where she gets it from.

Anyways... my townhouse is really coming along. A few hundred more dollars at home depot and bribing some of my friends and it should be ready by Canadian Thanksgiving! (October 13th) The cabinets in the kitchen that my little bigger brother D re-did for me look amazing. I might give him a tip. Tonight is tub installation and spending another fortune at Home Depot, and tomorrow is drywalling the bathroom.

So, back to the subject of the post... TGIF, cuz this has been a long week with working full time and working on the townhouse in the evenings... but really, it just means the start to a weekend full of renovations when I really just want to relax and watch the season premier of Grey's Anatomy that J recorded for me last night.

Oh, and friends with trucks: Mark the calendar please! Moving day is set for the 11th so that I can be unpacked in time for Turkey! mmmm... turkey.

Hump Day is Here!

2008-09-24T09:03:00.002-06:00

Wednesday's are one of my favorite days of the week. Here are my reasons why:

One of my favorite sites http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/it_works_for_me/index.html
has a blog carnival (I think that's what its called) and a whole ton of people post the things they have discovered that work for them. I have learnt a ton of tricks about discipline, school snacks, cleaning, etc. Go check it out if you have time. But I warn you, it can take all day to follow all those links! Great time waster if you have the time to waste. LOL. One day in the near future I am going to start posting my own Works for Me Wednesday Links.

Another reason is that I know there are only 2 more days left of the work week after today! You can almost see the weekend! Today is the day I start planning what I am going to do this weekend and checking with other people to see what they are doing. This weekend is going to be super busy! Friday night I have a good friend coming to install my new bathtub at the townhouse. Saturday I have different friends coming to drywall it. Sunday I have to take my grandpa grocery shopping and will probably start getting the kitchen in the townhouse reorganized. Moving day is coming!!!

Wednesday's are also the day I have the least amount to do at work and feel like I can relax. I usually sleep good on Wednesdays because work isn't very stressful. And when I get home at night, I am more productive because work doesn't mentally stress me out, so I get laundry done, and want to cook, and I clean a bit.

What's your favorite day of the week?

TGIF

2008-09-19T08:16:00.002-06:00

Am I the only one that thinks this has been a very long feeling week? I was ready to call it quits by Wednesday, personally.

This weekend I am going to attempt to spend organizing my townhouse. It is currently undergoing some renovations but they are **crossing fingers** nearly done and I am hoping to move back into it in the near future. However, it's a disaster! I cannot believe how much crap I have collected in a year and a half! Tomorrow I am going to start with the bedrooms I think. Also, I have been reading this website called flylady and I think I can do that! http://flylady.net/index.asp Each week of the month you are in a different "zone" of your house, but there are also daily tasks to do in the general area to keep you going. They email you a new task everyday that won't take longer than 15 minutes or so to do that are in your zone. It sounds quite reasonable and I really need to learn some new habits. So, once we move back into the townhouse, I am going to sign up and see how I do! If I fail, it will still probably be cleaner than it was before I started!

Last night was meet the creature night at school. E doesn't like her new teacher. I didn't get the warm fuzzies from her myself. However, the vice principal that has been keeping E company during lunch is very nice (see my first post) and he agrees with my disciplinary methods for the situation. I still think its funny though. Especially her trying to forge my signature at 6 years old. Oh, and T's teacher was pretty nice from what I figure.

So, anyone wanna help with my townhouse this weekend? Come on, you know you want to! :-p

Happy Friday!

My First Post

2008-09-17T15:04:00.005-06:00

Whew! My first post! No one will likely read this anyhow...

I have been reading blogs for a long time now and always loved reading about how other parents dealt with kids, what antics occurred that day, how they get through tough situations etc. When I was a kid I wrote in my diary obsessively! Lately things have been occurring in my life that have made me wish I still had that outlet, only I hate writing. But I can type! So... along came the idea that I needed a blog. An outlet for my frustrations. A place for me to connect with the rest of the world. A journal for me to read back to my children when I am explaining all the grey hairs and wrinkles they caused. And maybe even a way to meet new friends.

My children are 6 & 7. We will call them "E" and "T" or if I am talking about both of them ET! They are really well behaved children that sometimes do things without thinking. Yesterday for instance, I came home to find a note in my daughter's (E) agenda book that told me all about the food fight she got in during lunch yesterday and how she was eating in the vice principals office for the rest of the week. Sigh... It couldn't have been her idea, she isn't that creative! But she is great at following and, like me, will do anything for a laugh. Oh wait, she is creative afterall! Her teacher told her I had to sign her book so that she knew I saw the note and knew about the incident. E decided that if she wrote "Leslie" in her book that her teacher would think I signed it. There, in a 6 year old's writing, was clearly "Leslie" at the bottom of the note. It's hard not to laugh at her pitiful try. She isn't getting treats in her lunch this week. Only fruit and sandwiches! What would you have done?