'Hate' is one of those words that I try to teach my children to use wisely. I try to give them many other options like, for example, " My brother is driving me crazy so I am going upstairs for some alone time" or "I don't care for these pants because the button is too hard to fasten and I prefer snap closure so I don't pee myself ".... okay that is a bit much but you get the drift. It doesn't sound too polite when you hear some 4 year old rant about how he 'hates soggy cereal', 'hates the crusty boogers that get stuck up his nose', 'hate the way his Lego creations keep falling apart', 'hate how it is too windy outside', and on and on it could go. My kids are very good at "using their words" and they try to describe how they feel instead of just muttering a 'hate' phrase.
So all of this rambling gets me to why HATE came up in the first place.
I HATE WINTER!!!
There is not one thing that I like about it. I don't care for the constant chill I have in my back. I don't appreciate having to dress in 4 layers of clothing and having to start the vehicle 10 minutes before I want to go to the store for milk. The sound of my chapped hands touching my cozy yoga pants is as bad as finger nails on a chalkboard. I find it a hassle to have to remember each and every school day ' Does Alex have his ski pants, toque, gloves, and should I attach the shitty ass hood that snaps half ass to his winter parka.... and should he have a sweatshirt on under his jacket, what is the wind chill, should I wrap a scarf around his head four times? And is the damn bus going to even run today?". I don't enjoy walking or jogging or snowmobiling or snow shoeing or dog sledding. I have zero desire to ice fish or snowboard or ski. I don't even really feel good about making a snow angel in a fresh blanket of snow because I know that when I stand up there will be a little bit of snow that falls down the back of my neck and runs down my shirt... ruining the entire experience. I find it insane that we paid $240.91 in the month of December to heat our home during the longest cold snap in over 50 years. I am about to go squirrely!!
And don't get me started on all the people who have just returned from their hot winter vacation down south near the equator. Even worse are the people who got in on some smokin' deal and are getting ready to escape in the next few weeks. I would rather not know about it.... thank you and have a pleasant holiday.
The bitterness of this cold weather is taking its toll on my perspective... I am usually pretty cosure about the extreme temps. I laugh at those stories about how ignorant foreigners think that Canadians plug in their igloos. Like really.... it's not that bad!! Yes it is... and I don't like it one bit.
So I am sorry, children, for using the very word that I don't want you to use. Spring will come..it always does.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
I have been tagged!
I'm IT. Here are '16 Things About Me'. If you read this and wanna share please leave a comment so I can learn more about you too. If not, well I still wanna know something!!
1. Geocaching is my new favorite sport( if you consider walking around aimlessly following the coordinates on a GPS a sport). We learned about it in Cypress Hills last summer and plan to leave a few caches this summer. The only downfall.... it's a bit tricky in the winter!
2. My kettle is boiling as we speak. It's tea time! I am a true English limey. I take after my Nana and Mom. Red Rose Tea is always fully stocked in my pantry. I don't drink coffee... ever.
3. I used to be a welder at Flexicoil. It was one of the best jobs I ever had. I love to work with my hands and working with tools is an absolute high for me. I built everything from centre sections, hitches, wheel standards and pins( all parts of a cultivator). I loved that job!!
4. My second son was nearly born in a tent, while on a camping trip. My water broke in the middle of the night while camping north of P.A. He came 2 weeks early and was delivered by a couple of nurses. Needless to say we were unprepared! I owe my husband and Mom !big! for cleaning the sleeping bag and air mattress.
5. I love word puzzles, sudoku, scrabble.... anything that prolongs the onset of my dementia!
6. Although my teaching days are over... I really miss instructing Massage theory and practical. Adult education was a really unique and challenging opportunity. So different from being around kids all day. Reminds me.... I need to book a massage!!
7. I love music and love to dance even more. I have tunes in my head all day long. I am so glad that my kitchen doesn't have windows that face my neighbors because they would think I have lost my mind... I 'cut the rug' when I cook just about every meal.
I have fond memories of playing my Mom's old records as a kid. I used to beg my Mom to stay home on Saturday morning to watch Casey Kasem's American Top 10 instead of hustling off to league bowling. Seriously... I had a bowling coach when I was 11.
8. I am fearful of dogs. My in laws vicious beast attacked me a couple years ago and I have been so scared ever since. My husband reminds me that they sense fear... but I can't be assertive around them. I just turtle if I hear growling and see massive canine teeth.
9. It's my dream to write and illustrate a children's book. I don't know when... but one day.
10. My husband and I have 3 Godchildren. Maeve in Alberta, Mathieu in Tennessee and Charlie in Saskatchewan. We are so blessed to have these kids in our lives... they are very special to us and we don't take this role lightly.
11. If my house was on fire and I had to get one possession out( besides my family) it would be.... all the old photo albums I could carry, as well as my laptop full of photos.
12. I don't want this to come out wrong. I like to walk in the evening when people have their lights on but haven't closed their blinds for the night. I don't stop and peep or anything, I just like to see the layout of their home and see how their home is decorated. I love interior design more then snooping on peoples evening habits!
13. My deepest regret in my life is that I didn't travel to a poor country to offer humanitarian aid before I got married. I do hope that I am able to do this when my kids are older. I really have a longing in my heart for this goal.
14. 14 is my favorite number. It was my number on my jersey when I played senior basketball through high school. Go Crusaders!!!!
15. On a hot summer day my favorite thing to eat is nachos and homemade fresh salsa and drink beer. I can't wait for summer!!
16. The most influential and memorable person from my past was my Gramps. I was beside him when he died and closed his eyes for him after he took his last breath. And even though he has been gone for over a decade, I think often of his impact on me as a kid. He used to play with my long hair by twirling it around his huge chubby fingers... I could have sat in front of his big brown chair all day. He just did things in stride instead of rushing through life without thought or focus.
My Gramps had his own repair shop and had a motto that he 'could fix anything, even a broken heart'. He would putz around in his little shop every weekday.... he made loads of house calls to desperate folks who's washing machines wouldn't spin. He was brilliant for only having a grade 7 education and honored our family more than anything. I try to live a life that he would be proud of.... I miss him dearly.
1. Geocaching is my new favorite sport( if you consider walking around aimlessly following the coordinates on a GPS a sport). We learned about it in Cypress Hills last summer and plan to leave a few caches this summer. The only downfall.... it's a bit tricky in the winter!
2. My kettle is boiling as we speak. It's tea time! I am a true English limey. I take after my Nana and Mom. Red Rose Tea is always fully stocked in my pantry. I don't drink coffee... ever.
3. I used to be a welder at Flexicoil. It was one of the best jobs I ever had. I love to work with my hands and working with tools is an absolute high for me. I built everything from centre sections, hitches, wheel standards and pins( all parts of a cultivator). I loved that job!!
4. My second son was nearly born in a tent, while on a camping trip. My water broke in the middle of the night while camping north of P.A. He came 2 weeks early and was delivered by a couple of nurses. Needless to say we were unprepared! I owe my husband and Mom !big! for cleaning the sleeping bag and air mattress.
5. I love word puzzles, sudoku, scrabble.... anything that prolongs the onset of my dementia!
6. Although my teaching days are over... I really miss instructing Massage theory and practical. Adult education was a really unique and challenging opportunity. So different from being around kids all day. Reminds me.... I need to book a massage!!
7. I love music and love to dance even more. I have tunes in my head all day long. I am so glad that my kitchen doesn't have windows that face my neighbors because they would think I have lost my mind... I 'cut the rug' when I cook just about every meal.
I have fond memories of playing my Mom's old records as a kid. I used to beg my Mom to stay home on Saturday morning to watch Casey Kasem's American Top 10 instead of hustling off to league bowling. Seriously... I had a bowling coach when I was 11.
8. I am fearful of dogs. My in laws vicious beast attacked me a couple years ago and I have been so scared ever since. My husband reminds me that they sense fear... but I can't be assertive around them. I just turtle if I hear growling and see massive canine teeth.
9. It's my dream to write and illustrate a children's book. I don't know when... but one day.
10. My husband and I have 3 Godchildren. Maeve in Alberta, Mathieu in Tennessee and Charlie in Saskatchewan. We are so blessed to have these kids in our lives... they are very special to us and we don't take this role lightly.
11. If my house was on fire and I had to get one possession out( besides my family) it would be.... all the old photo albums I could carry, as well as my laptop full of photos.
12. I don't want this to come out wrong. I like to walk in the evening when people have their lights on but haven't closed their blinds for the night. I don't stop and peep or anything, I just like to see the layout of their home and see how their home is decorated. I love interior design more then snooping on peoples evening habits!
13. My deepest regret in my life is that I didn't travel to a poor country to offer humanitarian aid before I got married. I do hope that I am able to do this when my kids are older. I really have a longing in my heart for this goal.
14. 14 is my favorite number. It was my number on my jersey when I played senior basketball through high school. Go Crusaders!!!!
15. On a hot summer day my favorite thing to eat is nachos and homemade fresh salsa and drink beer. I can't wait for summer!!
16. The most influential and memorable person from my past was my Gramps. I was beside him when he died and closed his eyes for him after he took his last breath. And even though he has been gone for over a decade, I think often of his impact on me as a kid. He used to play with my long hair by twirling it around his huge chubby fingers... I could have sat in front of his big brown chair all day. He just did things in stride instead of rushing through life without thought or focus.
My Gramps had his own repair shop and had a motto that he 'could fix anything, even a broken heart'. He would putz around in his little shop every weekday.... he made loads of house calls to desperate folks who's washing machines wouldn't spin. He was brilliant for only having a grade 7 education and honored our family more than anything. I try to live a life that he would be proud of.... I miss him dearly.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Saying Goodbye
I first have to sigh and take a big breathe as I want to get this right. I thought I was ready for this but clearly it is hitting me harder than I thought it would. Some of you will appreciate this more than others and I welcome you to leave a post if I drudge up any repressed feelings from your souls.
I have taken apart my babies crib for one final time. It happened yesterday while my husband was out, at my request, in -30 degree cold to purchase a mattress for a bed that we bought months earlier... knowing this day would come. I was very excited to get Tao into her new bed, to prepare the bedding and rearrange her pretty room. Then when I saw my little lovebug laying under her flannel sheet and cozy duvet in a bed 10 times her size... it saddened me. There is no going back.
Our family is now complete... and growing. And again I am reminded of how time just keeps ticking and no matter how much you live in the moment and try to reflect daily on your graces, time has its own agenda. We bought that crib new from Sears nearly 7 years ago for our first angel, Alex. He was 26 months when Manny was born and moved out of it into a big boy bed just in time. We didn't take it down during Manny's transition to the bottom bunk when he was 28 months either. So that crib has been a solid piece of our home for nearly as long as we have lived here. I am going to miss Tao calling for me to come and get her after a nap, standing in the corner of the crib all smiley and disheveled. Today she just walked out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs and smiled proudly saying in her cute Tao voice " Big Seep Mom!".
That crib was an expensive and hugely important purchase for us as new parents and now it is history. So my kids are growing up, and I am sad about that.
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