And Now I Break Into the Hallelujah Chorus

The grass has landed! The grass has landed!

And now my Canada Day is perfect. How about you?

ABC

The ever fabulous Amy Beth had this on her blog and I decided to play along.  Plus, we are all about the ABC's these days so it seemed fitting.

A

Animals?   You bet, as soon as they make one that doesn't shed, make any noise, poop on my lawn and require more care than my children.  It  also can't have scales, feathers, fur or a shell.  

B

Best weather: 26 degrees, a few puffy clouds and a light breeze to keep things pleasant.  Plus a frosty drink and my two favorite pool boys.  

C

Chinese / Mexican food: Chinese.  But not the MSG laden stuff in the mall.  I like the stuff where my family Are the only Caucasians in the restaurant.  I've only had this once or twice since I've been married and it about killed Way Cooler.  He does not like (and this is a direct quote) foreign food.  He can't even handle Greek.  I like Mexican, but Mexican does NOT like me.  My poor kids come by their reflux issues honestly.

D

Drop things: trip over things, bump into things, get hit by things, you name, I do it.

E

Eyes: Two.

F

Food: Oh yes please.  I grew up in a family that LOVES food.  I like to list eating as one of my hobbies.  This may explain why I am a tad on the heavy side.  

G

Greatest fear: Losing a child.  Even typing it makes my heart beat faster.

H

Hair color: Brown with natural golden highlights.  We shall see how long that lasts.  I've got really competing genes on this issue.  I'm so hoping I take after my Paternal Grandma who still had some brown hair at 100.  REALLY HOPING.  

I

Instrument: 7 years of Piano lessons.  Finally passed grade two Royal Conservatory. With less than flying colours.  To say I'm not musical is sorta the understatement of the century.  

J

Jewelry: I am SO not girly in this manner.  I never wear earrings, I find bracelets annoying and always forget to put on a necklace.  I would make a TERRIBLE Southern girl.

K

Kissing: Mmmmhmmm.

L

Laughed so hard you cried: Most days.  My kids are a constant source of entertainment.  

M

Movies: Action.  Most chick flicks make me want to stab my eyes out.  She meets him, they have a misunderstanding, it is resolved and they sail away into the sunset. Throw in an illness or a natural disaster or another man (who wasn't meant to be) and that is the plot line of every chick flick EVER made. 

N

Name: My middle name is a month.  But not the one I was born in.  You can guess, but I probably won't tell:)

O

One wish: Hair that just did itself.

P

Perfect pizza: Lots and lots of meat.  All kinds.  And mushrooms.  And feta.  With a cream sauce, not tomato.  Oh and don't forget the caramelized onions.

Q

Question you would like answered:  What can  I do to make a REAL difference in this world?  

R

Reality TV: So You Think You Can Dance.  

S

Salad Dressing: 4 cheese ranch with bacon.  Which sorta negates the whole point of salad.

T

Thunderstorms: I love them.  I'm really hoping there will be one in Texas when we visit in October.  Those were the most amazing thunderstorms I had ever seen.

U

Unpredictable:  Since I have been married, every single change we have made is one that I never would have imagined in a thousand years.  And we've made a bunch of changes.  Which is a bit ironic since I am all about stability.  

V

Vacation spot:  A hot spot where the biggest thing I have to do is order another frosty drink.  This may never happen again, but a girl can dream.

W

Worst feeling: Being late.

X

X-rays: Spud needed several chest x-rays as an infant.  Which was horrid at the time, but now I  picture him strapped in that thing and madder than a hornet and I just laugh and laugh.  Which is yet another reason I will never be mommy of the year.

Y

Yellow: Currently Sprout's favorite colour.  Woe to the fool who does not give him a yellow cup. 

Z

Zoo animal: Whatever animal my children are pretending to be at the moment.

Just a Simple Day

It was one of those days.

A day of simple and continual joy.

The sight of little heads bobbing through prairie grass as two pint sized explorers go on a "Big A-Venture."

A 45 minute conversation with my kids that covered the eating preference of deer, a simple explanation of photosynthesis and a chat about peer pressure.  My geeky-teacher heart couldn't ask for anything more.

We saw three deer.  In the middle of cookie-cutter suburbia.   Our community has a nature preserve and it has become our favorite place to visit.   

Having the really cool playground all to ourselves.  Not that I don't like other kids, I do, but so many have this thing whereby they must step on my kids which means that I come close to jail every time we go to the park.  Which can really rain on a park outing.

Walking through the pre-historic park with a Spudasorus and a Sproutasorus.  Complete with dino voices and perpetual growling.  I LUV me a good imagination.

Fresh rhubarb muffins.  I may not be good at singing, photography, drawing or organizing, but I rock the muffin pan.

A surprise visit with Poppa at the zoo, complete with ice-cream.  It's like winning the pre-schooler lottery.

Have I told you about my fence?  Yes?  Can I tell you again how much joy it brings to my soul?  Remember, Happy Geek, not happy interesting person.

And now, bloggin and watching So You Think You Can Dance.  Although Toni is getting on my nerves.  Old white lady in big black hat talking about "street".  Meh.  However, I'm in such a good mood from my day, I can't even come up with some decent snark.

The best days are days like these.

 

And Now I Enter my Happy Place

Over the weekend, little tool-belt wearing elves entered my yard and look what they left me.

It doesn't get any better than that. My children will be able to go outside, without me. DARE TO DREAM.

It really doesn't get any better than this.  Well, I could have grass, but let's not get carried away. 

And now I abruptly switch topics.

Stick with me.

I got a MUCH needed haircut last week. I'd been putting it off forever because I didn't really like the hairdresser I had and I hate trying to find a new one. But the mop on top was finally getting to me so I bit the bullet and did it.

Apparently the newest trend is to have bangs. Every hairdresser I encounter tries to talk me into having bangs. I'm thinking of having a card made up to hand them when the whole "bangs are cool" spiel begins. The card would read as follows:

Dear Nice Lady with Scissors,

I know bangs are cool. Trouble is, I am not. No matter how you cut them and how many times you show me how to properly style them, the instant I get home I am going to get a medium barreled curling iron, curl my bangs into one straight curl and then tease them upward and shellac them with hairspray. I can't help it. It's a sickness I have. I am certain you don't want that kind of a hair tragedy on your hands. So slowly back away from the scissors and no one will get hurt.

Fortunately, she listened to reason and I got a decent haircut. Now I am good for another 4-5 months or so. Seriously. I try not to do that to myself any more than I absolutely have to.

I've got better things to do. Like staring at my pretty fence.

Fire

Today is my mom's birthday. I thought about writing a flowery post describing how much she means to me, but what would be the fun in that?

I'm going to share a little story instead.

For the background, my mom is a very very organized and efficient person. She has a schedule and a plan for everything. Her OCD is a bit legendary actually. It took me till high school to realize that not everyone in the world washes their sheets every Thursday, dusts only (and immediately) after they vacuum, and uses the same mug every day for breakfast for years.

She's also from Scottish stock, so while she is not prim, she certainly is proper.

For example, if one should pass gas, one should quickly deodorize, so to speak. Mom's favorite method of doing this was to light a match. She believed the smoke would quickly neutralize all unpleasantness. There were always matches in every washroom in our house and she carried a book of matches in her purse for this purpose as well.

One Easter we were at a family reunion. We all attended an Easter Cantata together, because really, nothing says good times like a re-enactment of the crucifixion. All the cousins were gathered in a clump waiting for the action to start when we could smell something.

Smoke. There was a brief discussion and yes, we confirmed we could definitely smell smoke. In a packed church. Just as the panic was starting to set in, we happened to glance down the row.

Sure enough, there sat my mom, quietly shaking the match to put it out.

Problem solved. Properly.

Happy Birthday Mom.

I love you!

Twits

Hi there.

Miss me?

How about pretending that you did?  That'd be super.

Anyway, all I've had recently are tiny snippets.  It kinda makes me wish I was on Twitter, but then I'd be all worried about who was following me, and I'd spend even more time on this machine.  Which is not a good thing.  SO, I'm going to subject you all to my mental twits, all at once.  

Lucky you.

(for my tech-less followers, Twitter asks the following question and you have to answer it in 140 letters or less, what are you doing?)

-Trying to figure out how in the world Amy Beth can blog and dry her hair at the same time.  I need both hands to do my hair and have even considered co opting a small child into helping.  Which shows the level of desperation I feel when doing my hair.

- Trying to get over my SHOCK that we are not going to have a summer election.  What, you mean this whole thing was just political posturing during the midst of silly season?  SHOCKED I tell you.

-Loving this.  Iris, Iris, Iris, you do know that you live in Canada right?  Yes, you are in the most conservative province but still.  Rick Mercer just hit the roof with glee.  You've given him fodder for his entire season next year.  Honey, we're in a liberal Country.  You can think these things, you just can not SAY these things.  Especially in front of the camera.

-Cleaning pee.  SO GLAD that Way Cooler taught the boys to stand up and do their business.  SO GLAD.

- Wishing my kids knew how to make their own breakfast.  They are little tyrants in the morning until I get some food in their bellies.  

- Eating chocolate. 

- Washing all the fans.  I've pulled them out of the basement now that it is summer.  Which by the way is the quickest way to ensure that it will snow again next weekend.  The year our fans were all hidden in boxes and we couldn't get at them?  One of the hottest summers that I remember.

- Trying to explain to a four year old why he will never carry children.  He's not catching on.

-  Watching So you Think You Can Dance.  I am now in my happy place. 

Forgiven

Achilles heels.

We all have them.  

You know, the area in one's life that seems hardest to change yet incredibly so loathsome to have as a part of one's character.  Yet it remains. 

I don't think there is any part of me that I have prayed about more than my temper and yet it gets the better of me more than I really even care to admit to myself. 

The guilt I feel after I blow it yet again feels like a weight on my neck.  The mental re-hashing of my failure grinds at my soul.   The remorse at unleashing an unnecessary fury on two small blessings is bitter pill to swallow.

Yet it remains.

A few weeks I had a parenting fail of epic proportions.  There was yelling, there was door slamming and I believe a wall may have been punched.  None of it was helpful, none of it changed my children's behaviour and all I was left with were two scared, tear-stained pre-schoolers.

The weight of my failure was immense.  The night was endless as I cried out to my Maker, "Please heal me of this horrid anger.  I so desperately long to be kind, to be gentle and to be even, not this tower of fury."

Again and again I repented.  Yet, the weight remained.

The following morning was communion.  Once again, I examined myself and once again, found myself repenting.  I asked "how can I come before you, so stained and pathetic?"

The answer was what I long to be to my children.

Gentle, firm, full of authority but overwhelming with love.

"Forgiven.  You can come because you are forgiven.  You are weak, you are sinful, prideful and you will fail again, but you are forgiven.  I am faithful and just and you are cleansed from that unrighteousness."

The weight was gone.

So it remains.

Forgiven.

Happy

I just re-read Friday's post.  Oh my goodness.  I sound like a cranky old lady.  All that is missing is a cane, a couple of over-indulged cats and a three year supply of bread-bags all washed, folded and put away, just in case.

I'm sorry to have subjected you all to that.

So, to help restore some sort of happy to the geek, another installment of things that make me grin.

- The snow is gone.  AND my tomatoes have survived the three nights of frost as well!  Take that, bad weather!

- Way Cooler took Spud to soccer tonight.  It rained for pretty much the whole game.  I'd like to say that I felt kind of bad for him, but I'd be lying.  I was totally delighted it was him and not me.  I may not be wife of the year, but I was warm and dry.

- We are getting a fence in the next week or so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Way Cooler is finalizing things as I type this.   Sod is no longer a distant dream, it will soon be a reality.  If the weather cooperates I'll have a yard within a month.  Watch for the crazy lady dancing across a fresh lawn, coming soon to a suburb near you!  

-  Spruce Meadows is having their first tournament of the season this weekend.  A full day of family fun for 0 dollars.  Plus, most of the companies that sponsor it give stuff away as well.  We usually leave with more than we came with.  It just doesn't get much better than that!

- Spud really has the best O.T. around.  I'm no longer panicking every time I think about him entering kindergarden and she is one of the main reasons.  He has come so far, that if I get thinking about it too much I'm gonna start raining on my keyboard.

-   Bubble baths.

-This list.

Happy Tuesday.

#%$@*&

My deck on Saturday June 7th.

 

It's still snowing.

7 Quick Takes

This week I am really thankful for seven quick takes.  As Kelly has pointed out, if you live where summer is scarce you really do want make the most of it rather than blog.   Because Miss Summer is a fickly lady.  Which leads me to my first take.

1)  I am not one for profanity of any sort.  Saturday's Forcast is making me strongly reconsider this.  Did you see the little snowflakes?  In June? *%)#(@  

2.)  I was out the other night with some moms that I had met when Spud was in pre-school.  One of them is six months pregnant and was drinking a beer.  It was KILLING me.  Yes, I understand that we don't know how much alcohol is needed to cause F.A.S.E. but why in Sam Hill would someone want to take that risk?  I've worked with kids who suffer from this completely preventable disorder and am still perturbed by her drinking days later.  The worst thing is, she was totally aware of FASE but blew it off, saying most of our moms drank and we turned out OK.  I had to really bite my tongue not to reply, "maybe not, if you're willing to deliberately harm your child because you are craving a beer."  I refrained however.  What would you have done?  Am I over-reacting?  Should this still bug me days later?  Do  I need to jsut get out more?

3.) Way Cooler has been chatting with all our neighbours about a fence.  It should happen sometime very soon.  I cannot wait.  It will be so nice to be able to send the boys out to play without me, PLUS, there will be a Bobcat in my yard digging postholes.  My kids will pull up lawn chairs on the deck, I'll pop some popcorn  and it'll be better than Disney for them.  

4.)  This week has been what I sometimes refer to as Resume week.  You know, when a stay-at-home mom begins to seriously contemplate updating her resume and getting the heck out of Dodge.  If you've never been there, just smile and nod.  I'm so thankful that the resume weeks are getting fewer and farther between.  It makes it easier to deal with the child who has peed down the heat register with love and grace.  Or least not screaming so loud the neighbours call the police.

5.)  Last night I think Way Cooler noticed a crazed look in my eyes and he volunteered to make supper.   He and the boys did it all while I hid out rested.  Those scrambled eggs and toast tasted amazing.  I love it when I'm pampered by my men.

6.  Have you seen this?  Christine posted it on the weekend.  I can't decide what is funnier, the "dancing", the fact that he referred to his music as rock and roll or the backup singers.  Just a warning.  It is impossible to get the song out of your head.  IMPOSSIBLE.  And that is not a good thing.

7.) Speaking of good things, last week I wanted to grab a magazine to peruse while the boys were in swimming lessons.  The library was out of Real Simple, Macleans, Canadian Living and Newsweek so I thought I'd try something new.  Martha Stewart Living.  Oh my.  That woman takes pretension to a whole new level.  Quite honestly, I'd rather read Runner's World.  And I can't even run to the mailbox.  

For more quick takes, visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary!