Miss Me?

It's been a week. A looong loong loong week. "What have I been up to?" Glad you asked!

1. The nightmare that was potty-training is fast becoming a happy dream. On Tuesday we had 11 accidents in 3.5 hours. I was beginning to think Spud would be in a diaper for Junior High. Fortunately the tide turned Wednesday and by Saturday we were able to finally go out. Yee haw. Not that being stuck in my house by myself with my two toddler boys for 5 days isn't a joy forever, but well, sometimes a mommy has just got to get out!

2. We are almost at the end of our company. We can go for months without a visit and in the past 2 weeks we have had Way Cooler's Mom and her hubby, my parents, some friends, a meeting hosted here and now Way Cooler's sister and family are here. (I'm blogging because they ran out to get snacks for the Grey Cup, I'm not ignoring my guests, promise!)

3. We are going to watch the Grey Cup this afternoon. To me, this rates right up there with Tuesday's pee-all-over-the-house-fest, but everyone else seems excited!

Yep folks, that has been my week. A thrill a minute I tell you! But, my babies are healthy, I have a warm house in which to watch grown men tackle each other for a ball in order to make more money than a teacher makes in several years football and there still isn't snow on the ground! What more could a geek ask for eh?

My Kids Have a Great Dad!

Way Cooler is truly a great dad. I've known this from the moment he broke into a goofy grin holding our son for the first time. I was reminded how much he is willing to sacrifice for our kids again yesterday.

You see, I may be a cheapaholic but Way Cooler is um, well, how do I put this kindly, so tight he squeaks. Loudly. Spending too much money gives him hives. One of the way he tries to save money is by turning down the thermostat. WAY down. Penguins would be picketing for better living conditions.

We have been involved in a thermostat war for all 11 years of our marriage and I usually lose. I now wear fuzzy socks and grandma-type sweaters just to maintain a proper core temperature but yesterday I was able to go around without 4 additional layers. It struck me as odd. Sure enough, the thermostat had been turned up. I had never seen that before. I thought maybe the thermostat had malfunctioned. But no, Way Cooler turned it up. I wasn't even sure he was capable of this!

That's when I realized what a good Dad my husband is. We are potty-training this week (no, it's not going well, I don't want to talk about it) and Spud is not wearing pants this week for faster access to the pot. His dad was worried that he might be cold so he turned the thermostat up yesterday morning. Against all his money-loving instincts and tendencies he turned up the heat for his son.

That does it for me!

NaBloPoMo Recommended Reading

One of my favorite bloggers is participating in NabloPoMo. Those participating have to write a post every day of November. This would kill me. I can't even commit to one particular brand of toothpaste let alone committing to blogging everyday!

However, JCK has been up to the challenge. She is (among other things) chronicling how she came to be a mom to two kids born ten months apart. It is enthralling. All my mommy-in-waiting friends, you NEED to go read her adoption journey. JCK has brought alive the heartbreak of infertility, yet shows how the dream of family just refuses to die.

Take tissues.

I discovered Motherscribe through a Works for me Wednesday post. This led to the unfortunate cookie incident but also to a talented writer who is graciously sharing her heart on a most sensitive subject. I am better for having read her story. You will be too.

The Cookbook Sale

Every year a major Canadian cookbook company headquartered in my city has their annual Scratch and Dent sale. This is pretty much as close as we get to Black Friday. All their cookbooks are at least 65% off, but most are more in the 80% off range. This is good news for all cheapaholics who also enjoy collecting cookbooks.

I was new to the city last year and had driven past the warehouse the week before the sale and seen the sign out on the road. I didn't know at all what it was about and decided to go with the boys as Way Cooler was working that particular Saturday.

It almost killed me.

My first indication that this might be bigger than I had originally thought was the lack of parking in a three block radius. This might deter lesser individuals with an 8 month old and a 2 year old, but it was either go to the sale or go sit at home alone with them and we do that a lot anyway.

We parked, I loaded the boys in the stroller of death and off I trudged through a foot of snow, visions of cheap cookbooks dancing through my head.

I do know however that God loves me as Sprout fell asleep just before we arrived at the sale and slept through the whole ordeal.

Upon arriving at the warehouse I realized that I may not know much about the sale but the rest of the 800 000 or so people living in my city did, and they all were there.

So here I was, with the world's largest double stroller and a two year old who was hollering every 30 seconds or so for "more (s)nacks" amidst several hundred woman all trying to get the same books.

Good times.

I grabbed 5 or 6 books, managing to only elbow a few people in the process. (None on purpose of course - well, except maybe the old lady who kept telling me this wasn't the best place to bring my kids.) I got into a large line and began cursing my stroller, the sale, Way Cooler's work schedule and Spud's never-ending appetite in my head when a marvelous thing happened.

They rang up my purchases.

They were soooo cheap. I had new cookbooks for me, tons of gifts for my gift book and I hadn't spent $50.

It's amazing how saving gobs of money will put the spring back in my step. (It's also a little pathetic, but I never confessed to being cool.)

I manhandled the stroller back out the door, through the snow and went home to tell whomever I might come into contact with about my marvelous score.

I went back to the sale this morning. Spud and Sprout were not invited. I may be a geek, I may be a hardcore cheapo but I am not clinically insane and that is what I would have to be to ever go there again with kids.

Dumb Vandals

I've been vandalized. Some punks broke into my garage and painted my van with invisible paint. That's right, my van is now invisible to everyone on the road but me. "Impossible" you say? How else do you explain the following:

1. There are no cars behind me for miles but someone makes a left turn onto the road I'm driving on almost exactly where I am, causing me to brake violently to avoid hitting them.

2. Last week a trucker in the lane next to me started to change lanes right into where I was driving at the time. Apparently the punks did not muffle the sound of my horn, so when I honked violently, he stopped changing lanes. Thankfully I can still be heard, just not seen.

3. Several drivers recently have driven so close to my rear bumper I can read the logos on their hats. In fact, my bumper was the only thing preventing them from joining my kids in the back seat!

4. A couple of weeks ago a group of pedestrians stepped onto the road (where there is no visible crosswalk) pretty much into the path of my van. I have become very thankful that the punks left my brakes alone or I'd have a whopper of an insurance claim this month.

So, do you believe me now? There really is no other reasonable explanation, I drive a mini-van for crying out loud, it's not all that inconspicuous.

Gotta run, I'm gonna go wash that paint off my Sienna.

What's the Opposite of a Southern Girl?

I have recently started reading Boomama. This woman is sooo funny. She is a true Southern girl. I LOVE Southern girls. I got to know some real Southern girls when Way Cooler studied here and they fascinated me. On the other hand, I think I scared them, but being Southern they would be too polite to ever let that show!

You see, a Southern girl is a lot of things that I am not, and never will be. Ever. Like fashionable or even relatively put together. I see nothing wrong with wearing sweats to the grocery store, to the mall, wherever, and the last time I put on make-up was my sister's wedding. She just celebrated her eighth anniversary. That sound you hear is all the Southern girls desperately trying to cover up their instinctive gasp of horror.

I do like pretty clothes, but it's just not at all high on my list of terribly important things. Let's face it, clothes aren't even on my list of sorta important things.

The one exception is shoes. I HATE shoes. I can still see the horror that caused for many of my amazing co-workers down South. To me, shoes are for protecting my feet and keeping them warm. I will wear the three pairs I have until they stop doing that and then I will drag my sorry little behind into P*yless and find the pair that are most similar to my last pair, pay my money and get the heck outta there.

When I first arrived at my school in Texas the principal told us we could only wear sandals without hose if our feet and toes were done. I thought "great, I stopped growing years ago. My feet are done!" Turns out, she meant pedicure. Do you know what they do to your calluses in a pedicure? Calluses are there for a reason. They, like shoes, protect your feet! They are mine, I earned them, leave them there. Guess who never ended up wearing sandals to work?

Another thing about Southern girls is they are so polite. Those of you reading my blog for any length of time know that this is an area that I struggle in. If someone is being a dimwit, I might tell them! I might even use that word. A good Southern girl wouldn't. She'd bake the offender a cake. I might bake a cake for the dimwit too, but just to apologize for calling them a dimwit, as that's not something a seminary professor's wife is supposed to do. Or so says the professor.

Then there is football. Let's just say, I like hockey more. That doesn't say much. On the other hand, I do love football fans. If I go to a football game with a die hard fan, I am not watching the field, I am watching the stands. WAY more interesting!

So, while I LOVE Boomama it's not because we have much in common, rather she is everything I'd like to be, but just never will. And you know what, that's OK!

Thank-you

Today was Remembrance Day in Canada. It's the day we honour our veterans and those still serving.
There are not enough words to express how important their sacrifice was and still is.
Thank-you.
We may not always agree with the politicians who send you, but thank-you for going. Thank-you for willingly putting yourself in harm's way to benefit others. We are behind you.
We will remember.