I received an email today asking me to stop gassing up at two of the top gas stations here in Canada. The idea is rather than to stop buying gas, which everyone knows won't work because we all are heavily reliant upon our vehicles, we just don't buy gas at the top two gas stations instead. This way we give all our business to the littler guy and some how force the big guns to lower gas prices.
Can it work? Will anyone even try?
I don't know. I mean I'm not a strong believe in conspiracy theories. I'd rather not believe my government is really underhanded and sneaky and if even half of those movies like Rendition are true, them I am really worried for our world. But like most Canadians, I'd rather duck my head and hope that it's not true.
Having said that; however, I do believe that rising gas prices being a necessity is a crock. I don't believe for a minute that it's necessary. I think our governments are running out of money and need the taxes too much. Why do you think tobbacco products are so expensive? Because of the taxes the government lays on them. It's the same way property taxes jumped up in my city. My house went up $100,000. Why? Not because land is so scarce, they are putting in building lot after building lot. No, it's because they need money to pay for the rise in water, sewer, traffic etc. costs. Just like they need to continue funding the war and peace keeping efforts. The War in Iraq may be over but I'm sure they are not done paying for it.
So that being said, I don't actually believe there is any way that we are going to be able to force gas prices down. It makes me wish that I had invested my money in a hybrid though.
Ever heard of the documentary "who killed the electric car". Check it out. Very informative and well worth watching.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Get, Set, Ready and SPEWWWWWWWW
Oh yes, we've proved parenting is not for wimps this weekend. My 4 year old, gets up Thursday night spewing, everywhere.......... Oh yum. The whole crew was up by midnight. Fortunately by 4 a.m. it was all over. Or, was it? Saturday, the baby starts spewing. He's the happiest little flu sick child I've ever see. He'd spew, get up and start running around laughing. Sunday, my 2 year old starting spewing. Fortunately, she started on an empty stomach so clean up was not so terrible.
Oh but the cream of it all was that we had bought tickets to go the Wiggles concert. You know, the Wiggles, a Australian, children's entertainers. Anyways, Hubby decides that since the baby bounced back so quick, J would too. So we pack up and head off on a 2 hour drive to V to see the Wiggles. She's thirsty, she drinks water. She spews. Oh yeah. All over her, the van, her car seat. Yeah.
We get to V. I'm feeling like a bad momma by this point, dragging my poor sick child around when she should be at home in bed. We get to the concert, she's stopped spewing by this point, thank god. I didn't want to have to explain to people why I brought a spewing child out in public. So we climb up to our seats, J flops in her seat and pretty much looks like she's about to pass out. E, (4 year old) and baby O was totally happy and loving it. We look down at J and for some reason her pullup/diaper decided to leak. Not only is she sick, she's also wet. Thank goodness, she didn't reek. I'm feeling pretty bad for her. I wrap her up so she doesn't get me wet and sit her on my lap. Half way through the concert, I start feeling queasy and before you know it I have to drop J off into her seat and leave hubby all alone with three kids and race down the stairs and along to the bathroom where I promptly lose my lunch. I barely made it. I wonder what my neighbours in the bathroom thought. So I make my way back to my seat to find J actually sleeping through the noisy concert.
I was never so relieved in my life that they keep kid's concerts short. On the way out we walked past washroom after washroom and I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get in there again but I didn't want to leave Husband with 3 little children in a crowded hall all alone so I waited as long as I could and finally had to just dump them off with him and run. There was some poor person in a wheelchair trying to get manouvered into the handicapped stall and I had to all but push them out of the way so I could get past and into the stall. I'm apologizing profusely not wanting to appear rude but there was no way I could have made it any longer.
We get out to the van and I'm using the baby syringes to get baby gravol into myself, I must have looked like a drug addict as I'm throwing my head back syringing it into my mouth. I have to say it was the longest drive home ever. I almost made it all the way but had to use the bucket when we were about 45 minutes away.
We get home, I'm dying. All I wanted to do was throw myself onto my bed but no, being the momma I've got to be the strong one and help husband out. Mainly because he wasn't feeling so hot himself. So we get the kids packed off to bed and I promptly get sick. E immediately got up. She seems to think I can hold a conversation with her about how I'm feeling while I'm in the middle of upchucking. Bless her heart though, she genuinely wanted to help take care of mommy and offered to help daddy with the little kids.
We eventually get ourselves to bed and my husband joins the ranks of the diseased and infected. At 4 am, J announces she's awake. Hubby tells her to go back to bed, she says no and he just says okay. We were so sick, we couldn't even muster up the energy to do basic parenting. We woke up to find her passed out on the couch. Something which never happens in our house.
So we've all since recovered. Not, however, without infecting the upstairs Nana and Papa first.
Parenting is definitely a very messy business.
Oh but the cream of it all was that we had bought tickets to go the Wiggles concert. You know, the Wiggles, a Australian, children's entertainers. Anyways, Hubby decides that since the baby bounced back so quick, J would too. So we pack up and head off on a 2 hour drive to V to see the Wiggles. She's thirsty, she drinks water. She spews. Oh yeah. All over her, the van, her car seat. Yeah.
We get to V. I'm feeling like a bad momma by this point, dragging my poor sick child around when she should be at home in bed. We get to the concert, she's stopped spewing by this point, thank god. I didn't want to have to explain to people why I brought a spewing child out in public. So we climb up to our seats, J flops in her seat and pretty much looks like she's about to pass out. E, (4 year old) and baby O was totally happy and loving it. We look down at J and for some reason her pullup/diaper decided to leak. Not only is she sick, she's also wet. Thank goodness, she didn't reek. I'm feeling pretty bad for her. I wrap her up so she doesn't get me wet and sit her on my lap. Half way through the concert, I start feeling queasy and before you know it I have to drop J off into her seat and leave hubby all alone with three kids and race down the stairs and along to the bathroom where I promptly lose my lunch. I barely made it. I wonder what my neighbours in the bathroom thought. So I make my way back to my seat to find J actually sleeping through the noisy concert.
I was never so relieved in my life that they keep kid's concerts short. On the way out we walked past washroom after washroom and I'm thinking I'm gonna have to get in there again but I didn't want to leave Husband with 3 little children in a crowded hall all alone so I waited as long as I could and finally had to just dump them off with him and run. There was some poor person in a wheelchair trying to get manouvered into the handicapped stall and I had to all but push them out of the way so I could get past and into the stall. I'm apologizing profusely not wanting to appear rude but there was no way I could have made it any longer.
We get out to the van and I'm using the baby syringes to get baby gravol into myself, I must have looked like a drug addict as I'm throwing my head back syringing it into my mouth. I have to say it was the longest drive home ever. I almost made it all the way but had to use the bucket when we were about 45 minutes away.
We get home, I'm dying. All I wanted to do was throw myself onto my bed but no, being the momma I've got to be the strong one and help husband out. Mainly because he wasn't feeling so hot himself. So we get the kids packed off to bed and I promptly get sick. E immediately got up. She seems to think I can hold a conversation with her about how I'm feeling while I'm in the middle of upchucking. Bless her heart though, she genuinely wanted to help take care of mommy and offered to help daddy with the little kids.
We eventually get ourselves to bed and my husband joins the ranks of the diseased and infected. At 4 am, J announces she's awake. Hubby tells her to go back to bed, she says no and he just says okay. We were so sick, we couldn't even muster up the energy to do basic parenting. We woke up to find her passed out on the couch. Something which never happens in our house.
So we've all since recovered. Not, however, without infecting the upstairs Nana and Papa first.
Parenting is definitely a very messy business.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I feel Better
Well, I feel better after my last rant. The next day I woke up in a much better mood and spent some necessary time just playing with my children. Needless to say I didn't get much done that day but in a way I did. My older daughter and I had a wonderful time creating a paper jungle while the little ones napped. All of us spent some serious time outside playing since we've had a change of weather and just all around had some fun.
Of course, that little niggle of guilt tried to jump in when my husband came home. Jane had a blowout in her pants (decided not to use the potty), he's having to deal with a poopy, squirmy 2 year old and wanted to be able to just throw her dirty pants in the wash but, of course, I had clean laundry in there and dry clothes in the dryer so he was a little peeved. Then the baby wants to crawl through all the while I'm trying to finish cooking supper so you can see where it got a little tense there for a moment. Murphy's law, it would have to happen on the day I left laundry in the machines! I have to admit though, I was pretty glad it was him and not me cleaning up the ****. :)
Ah the joys of potty training. We had transitioned from diapers to pull-ups when we thought she was pretty much on the ball with knowing when she has to go but she ended up becoming dependent on the pullups and stopped going potty again. So I have had to throw caution to the wind and just put regular underpants on her and let her at it. I realize this is the recommended way to potty train (except according to Pampers or Huggies *LOL*) but when you have 3 children, you do not have extra time to be mopping up puddles. So we have at least one wetting a day and we have succumbed to bribing with a treat. We are almost out of treats that's working so well. Now if we could just get 100% we'd be laughing. I am so not looking forward to potty training my son. We've been through 2 girls, I won't have a clue with a boy now.
We had a really good time this last weekend. We had to go grocery shopping and didn't want to leave the kids with the grandparents. Figured we had leaned on them too much lately so we decided rather than go to our usual grocery store we'd head out of town about a 45 drive minute to P.A. and shop there. It was around lunch time by the time we got there so we took the three children to a Chinese restaurant. They had a Sunday buffet there. Well normally we are very reluctant to actually eat at a nicer restaurant and mostly stick to fast food like Mc Donalds. However, we have sworn off Mc Donald's. I'm following a special diet and the last time we got it for my husband and the kids (a salad for me) it was disgusting. Every time you tell yourself, it will be better but it's just not. I can't eat for thinking about how bad all this garbage is for me. Anyways, the kids were as good as gold and better. The three of them sat as nice as you please, ate their food, didn't chase after us when we went up the buffet to get their food. Even the waittress asked us if the baby was always this good. He just smiled and flirted with her like crazy. We were so impressed with our little guys and made sure they knew it. The oldest loved it so much she asked if we could go there again next week. Of course, now she knows there's jello and icecream for dessert good luck getting her to eat any regular food if we go again. You can only really get one over them once.
They were pretty good grocery shopping too so maybe we are doing something right afterall!
Of course, that little niggle of guilt tried to jump in when my husband came home. Jane had a blowout in her pants (decided not to use the potty), he's having to deal with a poopy, squirmy 2 year old and wanted to be able to just throw her dirty pants in the wash but, of course, I had clean laundry in there and dry clothes in the dryer so he was a little peeved. Then the baby wants to crawl through all the while I'm trying to finish cooking supper so you can see where it got a little tense there for a moment. Murphy's law, it would have to happen on the day I left laundry in the machines! I have to admit though, I was pretty glad it was him and not me cleaning up the ****. :)
Ah the joys of potty training. We had transitioned from diapers to pull-ups when we thought she was pretty much on the ball with knowing when she has to go but she ended up becoming dependent on the pullups and stopped going potty again. So I have had to throw caution to the wind and just put regular underpants on her and let her at it. I realize this is the recommended way to potty train (except according to Pampers or Huggies *LOL*) but when you have 3 children, you do not have extra time to be mopping up puddles. So we have at least one wetting a day and we have succumbed to bribing with a treat. We are almost out of treats that's working so well. Now if we could just get 100% we'd be laughing. I am so not looking forward to potty training my son. We've been through 2 girls, I won't have a clue with a boy now.
We had a really good time this last weekend. We had to go grocery shopping and didn't want to leave the kids with the grandparents. Figured we had leaned on them too much lately so we decided rather than go to our usual grocery store we'd head out of town about a 45 drive minute to P.A. and shop there. It was around lunch time by the time we got there so we took the three children to a Chinese restaurant. They had a Sunday buffet there. Well normally we are very reluctant to actually eat at a nicer restaurant and mostly stick to fast food like Mc Donalds. However, we have sworn off Mc Donald's. I'm following a special diet and the last time we got it for my husband and the kids (a salad for me) it was disgusting. Every time you tell yourself, it will be better but it's just not. I can't eat for thinking about how bad all this garbage is for me. Anyways, the kids were as good as gold and better. The three of them sat as nice as you please, ate their food, didn't chase after us when we went up the buffet to get their food. Even the waittress asked us if the baby was always this good. He just smiled and flirted with her like crazy. We were so impressed with our little guys and made sure they knew it. The oldest loved it so much she asked if we could go there again next week. Of course, now she knows there's jello and icecream for dessert good luck getting her to eat any regular food if we go again. You can only really get one over them once.
They were pretty good grocery shopping too so maybe we are doing something right afterall!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Why oh Why
Today is one of those days I wonder why I ever became a parent. It's hard to remember 6 years ago that I was actually crying over the fact that I couldn't conceive. Of course, if I hadn't been able to experience parenthood, I'd still be depressed and crying over the fact. It's the classic grass is greener on the other side syndrome.
I miss not being able to sleep in on the weekends, I miss not being able to run out to the store for a few minutes or head to the mall and do some serious power shopping. I miss not being able to just pop out with my husband for coffee. I miss morning sex. (so does my husband)
I read magazine articles that moms need to get out and get together with girlfriends or doing something for themselves like going to a spa etc. I really don't find that that works. Of course, I enjoy going out etc. but I don't find suddenly that I have more patience or am in a better mood. My good mood is most often temporary, that is until I get home and have to deal with all the mom crap. Where is the deep well of sudden mom serenity? Are the articles really full of crap or are they just flat out lying? Maybe I'm expecting too much.
I'm not liking all the tantrums, arguments, power struggles. Let's face it, it's stressful to get three children under the age of 5 ready to go out. From finding boots to coats to snacks to drinks to diapers. By time I'm ready to go out the door my head is pounding. No wonder we don't go many places.
There's this friend of a friend who was telling me she got her 5 year old a drum set. Like a real drum set. I thought OH MY GOD!!!! How can you do that? Give a 5 year old a drum?!?! Are you insane. I said. "wow, kudos to you. I couldn't do that." It turns out she loves it. She loves the noise. She loves being a mom 100%. I felt like crap. I wish I could be like that. I wish I had all the patience of a saint to deal with it every day.
I'm not great at playing pretend games anymore. I used to love it when I was a kid but there's anything I'd rather be doing. I've gotten to the point that I hate messes so much that I'm not inclined to do something with my kids if it will make a big mess. I'm that sick of housework or I guess I'm just that lazy. I have to be totally in the right frame of mind to deal with it. My poor kids, right. Not really, they are happy and I give them all the love I have.
But I'm a stressed mom. I'm living in a small space with 5 people underneath my in-laws, who are perfect by the way. My husband used to work these incredibly crazy hours and now that he's home more, I'm working more. I own a store with my sister-in-law that's struggling financially and I'd like to get out of it only we have debt so I need to help pay that off before I can move on. So I work full-time nights 5 days a week and only have one day off with my husband.
I'm beginning to think living under my in-laws is starting to have a negative effect on me. It's been 3 years now and I'm just realizing now that that could be part of my problem. I feel like I have no privacy. If I yell at my kids then I have the added embarrassment that my in-laws have heard me lose my temper. I feel bad already when I lose it but does every one need to know too?
Every thing we do or forget to do is glaringly apparent. If we don't get on to something then they do which irritates me. Mainly cause it gets thrown up at us about how much they do etc and it never seems like we are sufficiently grateful because we're never allowed to forget it. But also because I would like to do stuff around the house too, it just has to fit in with our family schedule. If I say anything about what they've done, then I get the cold shoulder. It can go on for months. They are really nice people but what it comes down to is 4 adults living in the same house with different ways of doing things, only cause they're older their way is always right.
The only reason we all moved in together was because they were living in another town and it was hard for them to be able to afford to get into the real estate market. So we figured why not split a home. It's a lovely home but since we've moved downstairs, we are so cramped it's not even funny.
Hopefully we will have our financial situation sorted out and we will be able to afford to sell and buy somewhere else. The plan is for us all to have our own home again. Please lord soon.
Well, I have probably whined enough for one day. Tomorrow I probably will come back in and delete this post because I will regret being so candid.
All you can do is pick yourself up and keep trying. Trying to be better than you are. Trying to be the better parent you know you can be. Trying to be patient, more caring, more loving, more fun.
I miss not being able to sleep in on the weekends, I miss not being able to run out to the store for a few minutes or head to the mall and do some serious power shopping. I miss not being able to just pop out with my husband for coffee. I miss morning sex. (so does my husband)
I read magazine articles that moms need to get out and get together with girlfriends or doing something for themselves like going to a spa etc. I really don't find that that works. Of course, I enjoy going out etc. but I don't find suddenly that I have more patience or am in a better mood. My good mood is most often temporary, that is until I get home and have to deal with all the mom crap. Where is the deep well of sudden mom serenity? Are the articles really full of crap or are they just flat out lying? Maybe I'm expecting too much.
I'm not liking all the tantrums, arguments, power struggles. Let's face it, it's stressful to get three children under the age of 5 ready to go out. From finding boots to coats to snacks to drinks to diapers. By time I'm ready to go out the door my head is pounding. No wonder we don't go many places.
There's this friend of a friend who was telling me she got her 5 year old a drum set. Like a real drum set. I thought OH MY GOD!!!! How can you do that? Give a 5 year old a drum?!?! Are you insane. I said. "wow, kudos to you. I couldn't do that." It turns out she loves it. She loves the noise. She loves being a mom 100%. I felt like crap. I wish I could be like that. I wish I had all the patience of a saint to deal with it every day.
I'm not great at playing pretend games anymore. I used to love it when I was a kid but there's anything I'd rather be doing. I've gotten to the point that I hate messes so much that I'm not inclined to do something with my kids if it will make a big mess. I'm that sick of housework or I guess I'm just that lazy. I have to be totally in the right frame of mind to deal with it. My poor kids, right. Not really, they are happy and I give them all the love I have.
But I'm a stressed mom. I'm living in a small space with 5 people underneath my in-laws, who are perfect by the way. My husband used to work these incredibly crazy hours and now that he's home more, I'm working more. I own a store with my sister-in-law that's struggling financially and I'd like to get out of it only we have debt so I need to help pay that off before I can move on. So I work full-time nights 5 days a week and only have one day off with my husband.
I'm beginning to think living under my in-laws is starting to have a negative effect on me. It's been 3 years now and I'm just realizing now that that could be part of my problem. I feel like I have no privacy. If I yell at my kids then I have the added embarrassment that my in-laws have heard me lose my temper. I feel bad already when I lose it but does every one need to know too?
Every thing we do or forget to do is glaringly apparent. If we don't get on to something then they do which irritates me. Mainly cause it gets thrown up at us about how much they do etc and it never seems like we are sufficiently grateful because we're never allowed to forget it. But also because I would like to do stuff around the house too, it just has to fit in with our family schedule. If I say anything about what they've done, then I get the cold shoulder. It can go on for months. They are really nice people but what it comes down to is 4 adults living in the same house with different ways of doing things, only cause they're older their way is always right.
The only reason we all moved in together was because they were living in another town and it was hard for them to be able to afford to get into the real estate market. So we figured why not split a home. It's a lovely home but since we've moved downstairs, we are so cramped it's not even funny.
Hopefully we will have our financial situation sorted out and we will be able to afford to sell and buy somewhere else. The plan is for us all to have our own home again. Please lord soon.
Well, I have probably whined enough for one day. Tomorrow I probably will come back in and delete this post because I will regret being so candid.
All you can do is pick yourself up and keep trying. Trying to be better than you are. Trying to be the better parent you know you can be. Trying to be patient, more caring, more loving, more fun.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
To Post or Not To Post?
I have a feeling that these blogs are going to be completely boring. I mean not much really happens in the life of a stay-at-home mom who works nights. Okay, does that really count as being a stay at home mom? I don't know but it should. I spend the entire day with my children and only miss their last 2 hours of the day before their bedtime. That's pretty much a fulltime mom in my books. Anyways, other than writing about what the latest thing my 2 year old flushed in the toilet or who embarrassed the shit out of me at the department store, life is pretty predictable. Raising children is not rocket science nor is it all that entertaining. How many times can YOU laugh over some cute thing someone else's kid said?
That really reinforces my theory that "real" reality t.v. would be completely boring. Who really wants to sit and watch me as I type my blog, cook dinner, wipe my kid's snotty nose. Eww gross did I really pick my underwear out of my butt on t.v.? Even my fav Kat & Jon plus 8, they don't sit and film them every day. They pick out events in their lives, going to the July 4th parade, going to the dentist, pumpkin farm etc... If they filmed Kate dealing with the kids everyday all day and then Jon coming home at night, do you think as many people would watch it? I sincerely doubt it.
Maybe if my day was creatively edited, like when I had to pick my two year old's poop off the floor because it was dropping out everywhere like rabbit turds and I had no time to run for kleenex because I was trying to make sure my 11 month old didn't touch it or even worse eat it. That would be kinda funny. (Did I mention that I also happened to step on one before I noticed what had happened YUM) At least it was to my husband when I told him about it later. Or when my 4 year old (then 18 months) some how found poster paint and painted herself, the carpet and left a lovely little handprint on the back of the door. I knew she'd been too damn quiet. To this day, I have no idea how she found the paint. Fortunately she was naked and I can still picture her cute little tummy covered in purple and brown paint. The funniest part was probably me. I was hysterical. I was literally freaking out because of the carpet. We'd just moved in and my in-laws lived downstairs and I could just imagine what they would say when they found out I "let" this happen.
So yeah, a few events in my life could possibly be entertaining enough for t.v. but I rather doubt it. Most of our personal life events are only entertaining to ourselves.
However, I do have to say though people today seem to have an almost unhealthy need to spy on other people's lives. Is it envy or just a need to escape our own boring lives?
When I first started this blog I had all sorts of rants I wanted to post but once I've thought them out and then actually get a chance to post it, I seem to lose it. So in the end, I'm not sure how long I will carry on posting. It would be nice to think some one else is interested in what I have to say but I doubt it.
That really reinforces my theory that "real" reality t.v. would be completely boring. Who really wants to sit and watch me as I type my blog, cook dinner, wipe my kid's snotty nose. Eww gross did I really pick my underwear out of my butt on t.v.? Even my fav Kat & Jon plus 8, they don't sit and film them every day. They pick out events in their lives, going to the July 4th parade, going to the dentist, pumpkin farm etc... If they filmed Kate dealing with the kids everyday all day and then Jon coming home at night, do you think as many people would watch it? I sincerely doubt it.
Maybe if my day was creatively edited, like when I had to pick my two year old's poop off the floor because it was dropping out everywhere like rabbit turds and I had no time to run for kleenex because I was trying to make sure my 11 month old didn't touch it or even worse eat it. That would be kinda funny. (Did I mention that I also happened to step on one before I noticed what had happened YUM) At least it was to my husband when I told him about it later. Or when my 4 year old (then 18 months) some how found poster paint and painted herself, the carpet and left a lovely little handprint on the back of the door. I knew she'd been too damn quiet. To this day, I have no idea how she found the paint. Fortunately she was naked and I can still picture her cute little tummy covered in purple and brown paint. The funniest part was probably me. I was hysterical. I was literally freaking out because of the carpet. We'd just moved in and my in-laws lived downstairs and I could just imagine what they would say when they found out I "let" this happen.
So yeah, a few events in my life could possibly be entertaining enough for t.v. but I rather doubt it. Most of our personal life events are only entertaining to ourselves.
However, I do have to say though people today seem to have an almost unhealthy need to spy on other people's lives. Is it envy or just a need to escape our own boring lives?
When I first started this blog I had all sorts of rants I wanted to post but once I've thought them out and then actually get a chance to post it, I seem to lose it. So in the end, I'm not sure how long I will carry on posting. It would be nice to think some one else is interested in what I have to say but I doubt it.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
We're BAAACK!
So we survived the big city. Mostly thanks to my inlaw's handy little GPS. Worked great, most of the time. What the little bugger doesn't know, is that it is virtually impossible to make a left hand turn on some streets. By the time it had re-directed us 3 times back to one of those impossible left hand turns, we were ready to huck it out the window with a ... "HERE, you turn left!" with lovely little visions of it being smashed to smithereens. It was really odd too, we'd change our route trying to find out way to a light or something, it'd recalculate tell us take a particular street say King street, then it'd tell us to get off King string onto Queen street. Well Queen street was this dinky little street you could barely drive a single car down never mind two only to get to the cross road we needed to turn left on... we'd look right and there was bloody King street with a nice great big light signal there. Why oh why did it redirect us onto Queen? I have no freakin idea, only this happened at least 4 times yesterday.
Other than that, I love the GPS thing. If we ever plan on doing a serious road trip I'd like to get one.
So the tests were good. I have made some improvement and some foods have been added back into my diet. The ones that I am most excited about are prawns, oysters and lobsters. YES!! I still can't do dairy, flour or red meat but I am finally able to have red potatoes. So that's good. They were surprised at how much better my blood looked so that was good to hear. All my hard work to eat properly etc. has been worth it. You're blood can't lie!
It was nice being away from the children for the day. They missed us though. I could tell because my son was upset when I went to work this evening and usually he's a pretty good about it. (he's the 11 month old) I just wish we had had some time to do some exploring and maybe even spend a night out but it's hard asking people to do that level of babysitting for you for a long period of time.
Today we went to LC's house. She's a great friend. Kidless but she gets what it's like having children. She's totally okay if my kids come over and make a mess at her house. She expects it and doesn't get uptight about. She actually invited us over to make cookies or rather attempt to make cookies modifying a recipe to only ingredients I can eat. See what a good friend she is, she was even willing to destroy good chocolate in an attempt to find me a decent cookie recipe. She even bought an excellent quality of chocolate for the attempt.
So we tried it and it turned out to be pretty runny. Thinking that I couldn't do butter, she had added olive oil to the mix. Yup, olive oil. Which is pretty strong tasting but you'd think molasses would have toned down the flavour. Nope! Not one bit. I suggested we add oatmeal to the batter to thicken it up a bit and then chill it. It worked not too badly so we or rather my girls plopped cookies onto the tray and we cooked them. They looked wonderful. That perfect brown colour that chocolate chip cookies should have. They even smelled alright. But when you bit into them, all I could taste was olive oil. My girls liked them and ate two sizable cookies. LC even had two but she confessed it was mainly for the chocolate. Which was true, if you ate the chocolate chunk parts it wasn't half bad but I just couldn't get past the olive oil taste. I have some ideas up my sleeve to try another attempt. Next time I'm going to combine butter and coconut oil and see how that plays out.
I have looked online at various celiac sites for recipes but the problem is that I can't have sugar or potato starch or corn flour etc.. so I found it be annoying to to actually sift through recipes that I can use. I just don't have all that much time to spend online.
So it's back to the drawing board but at least we had fun and a nice chance to visit and have tea.
Other than that, I love the GPS thing. If we ever plan on doing a serious road trip I'd like to get one.
So the tests were good. I have made some improvement and some foods have been added back into my diet. The ones that I am most excited about are prawns, oysters and lobsters. YES!! I still can't do dairy, flour or red meat but I am finally able to have red potatoes. So that's good. They were surprised at how much better my blood looked so that was good to hear. All my hard work to eat properly etc. has been worth it. You're blood can't lie!
It was nice being away from the children for the day. They missed us though. I could tell because my son was upset when I went to work this evening and usually he's a pretty good about it. (he's the 11 month old) I just wish we had had some time to do some exploring and maybe even spend a night out but it's hard asking people to do that level of babysitting for you for a long period of time.
Today we went to LC's house. She's a great friend. Kidless but she gets what it's like having children. She's totally okay if my kids come over and make a mess at her house. She expects it and doesn't get uptight about. She actually invited us over to make cookies or rather attempt to make cookies modifying a recipe to only ingredients I can eat. See what a good friend she is, she was even willing to destroy good chocolate in an attempt to find me a decent cookie recipe. She even bought an excellent quality of chocolate for the attempt.
So we tried it and it turned out to be pretty runny. Thinking that I couldn't do butter, she had added olive oil to the mix. Yup, olive oil. Which is pretty strong tasting but you'd think molasses would have toned down the flavour. Nope! Not one bit. I suggested we add oatmeal to the batter to thicken it up a bit and then chill it. It worked not too badly so we or rather my girls plopped cookies onto the tray and we cooked them. They looked wonderful. That perfect brown colour that chocolate chip cookies should have. They even smelled alright. But when you bit into them, all I could taste was olive oil. My girls liked them and ate two sizable cookies. LC even had two but she confessed it was mainly for the chocolate. Which was true, if you ate the chocolate chunk parts it wasn't half bad but I just couldn't get past the olive oil taste. I have some ideas up my sleeve to try another attempt. Next time I'm going to combine butter and coconut oil and see how that plays out.
I have looked online at various celiac sites for recipes but the problem is that I can't have sugar or potato starch or corn flour etc.. so I found it be annoying to to actually sift through recipes that I can use. I just don't have all that much time to spend online.
So it's back to the drawing board but at least we had fun and a nice chance to visit and have tea.
Monday, April 7, 2008
It's Was a Long Day
It was a long day today. I had one of my headaches which is made more difficult by having to look after three children. I feel really bad when I tell my daughter that I can't play with her because my head hurts. Bless her heart though, she made me go lie down and covered me up with her blankies, brought me a glass of water and gave me a kiss, while telling me that if the baby woke up she'd come and get me. She's only 4 years old but she's got that mothering instinct already. I didn't get to sleep, my head hurt too much for that, but it did feel nice to be pampered even by a tiny mite like that.
So we are off to the big city tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. It gives us a day away from the children, a welcome break in the routine. I have to say I am not one of those moms that miss their children a half hour after leaving them. I'm actually glad to get out of the house and away from them for a while. I'd like to think it makes me a better parent.
The only thing that I do worry about when we're gone, is how long is it okay with the babysitters to leave them. You see, usually one of our parents will babysit and you don't want to step on any ones toes and stay out too long. That's only real problem with free sitters. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't just ditch my kids all day any day of the week, I'm talking the once a month, we gotta run every possible errand we need to do in one day kind of shopping trip. I feel bad leaving the kids with the parents for so long but only on the parent's perspective. The kids, they love their grandparents and are more than happy to get some Nana and Papa time. AFterall, who spoils them more? Not me.
So, as I was saying we're off to the big City tomorrow to do some homeopathic testing. I went two months ago and have been on a restricted diet ever since. I had tons of food sensitivies so I have been limited from eating wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar and many other yummy tasting foods. Boy I sound pretty boring don't I. Well, it's been a struggle. I have done most of it except I have been unable to give up the chocolate bar habit. I am surrounded by chocolate at work and I struggled for three weeks before I finally gave in. Now that one slip has seemed to have doomed me. I can't seem to get that self control back. Otherwise, I have been sticking to the restricted diet pretty well. I've suffered through rice bread, spelt bread and now Kamut bread. It has expanded my horizons somewhat. I now drink Almond milk and eat rice pasta. Something I never would have thought to do before. Somethings are really good, like the rice pasta and somethings not so much, like spelt bread. I've found I can only truly tolerate it very well toasted or to put something really tasty in it. It's not that it tastes awful necessarily. It's just that it's a dense type of bread and doesn't really taste fully cooked.
Anyways, I'm going back tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to eat a wider variety of food and I hope to find that my blood has improved as well. When last I went it was pretty globby and unhealthy looking. I had had my gallbladder removed when I was 18 and I wouldn't be surprised if that contributed to a lot of my health issues.
One good side effect from this diet, is that it is almost completely eliminated my headaches. Yesterday and today were really the first headaches I've head in over a month. I used to get them almost daily. So it's a big improvement. It's especially important for me to pay attention to my health right now for my children's sake. It's no fun for them when mommy is constantly tired or sick. It's one of the primary reasons why we decided to pursue alternative medicine.
Well, I'm off to bed. I've got an early start tomorrow.
So we are off to the big city tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. It gives us a day away from the children, a welcome break in the routine. I have to say I am not one of those moms that miss their children a half hour after leaving them. I'm actually glad to get out of the house and away from them for a while. I'd like to think it makes me a better parent.
The only thing that I do worry about when we're gone, is how long is it okay with the babysitters to leave them. You see, usually one of our parents will babysit and you don't want to step on any ones toes and stay out too long. That's only real problem with free sitters. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't just ditch my kids all day any day of the week, I'm talking the once a month, we gotta run every possible errand we need to do in one day kind of shopping trip. I feel bad leaving the kids with the parents for so long but only on the parent's perspective. The kids, they love their grandparents and are more than happy to get some Nana and Papa time. AFterall, who spoils them more? Not me.
So, as I was saying we're off to the big City tomorrow to do some homeopathic testing. I went two months ago and have been on a restricted diet ever since. I had tons of food sensitivies so I have been limited from eating wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar and many other yummy tasting foods. Boy I sound pretty boring don't I. Well, it's been a struggle. I have done most of it except I have been unable to give up the chocolate bar habit. I am surrounded by chocolate at work and I struggled for three weeks before I finally gave in. Now that one slip has seemed to have doomed me. I can't seem to get that self control back. Otherwise, I have been sticking to the restricted diet pretty well. I've suffered through rice bread, spelt bread and now Kamut bread. It has expanded my horizons somewhat. I now drink Almond milk and eat rice pasta. Something I never would have thought to do before. Somethings are really good, like the rice pasta and somethings not so much, like spelt bread. I've found I can only truly tolerate it very well toasted or to put something really tasty in it. It's not that it tastes awful necessarily. It's just that it's a dense type of bread and doesn't really taste fully cooked.
Anyways, I'm going back tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to eat a wider variety of food and I hope to find that my blood has improved as well. When last I went it was pretty globby and unhealthy looking. I had had my gallbladder removed when I was 18 and I wouldn't be surprised if that contributed to a lot of my health issues.
One good side effect from this diet, is that it is almost completely eliminated my headaches. Yesterday and today were really the first headaches I've head in over a month. I used to get them almost daily. So it's a big improvement. It's especially important for me to pay attention to my health right now for my children's sake. It's no fun for them when mommy is constantly tired or sick. It's one of the primary reasons why we decided to pursue alternative medicine.
Well, I'm off to bed. I've got an early start tomorrow.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Do you ever watch Jon & Kate plus 8? If you don't know who I mean, they are a couple on TLC who had twin girls and then a couple of years later had sextuplets. They are documenting their lives on t.v. at the moment.
I am fascinated by this couple. Initially, by the nightmare that must be their life. Afterall, can you imagine having twin two year olds and then bringing home six little babies? Yet 3 years later and they are still laughing and enjoying it. What amazes me is how organized Kate is and obviously with 8 children she needs to be. Does she go completely crazy? Sometimes, but she's still amazingly in control. She inspires me because she's not a super mom, she makes mistakes. Her and her husband snip at each other and she has sworn on the odd occasion. They have all had meltdowns (adults and kids alike) and never have they made it like a hollywood life. It's real. I can relate to everything they are going through, except I have 3 not 8.
Yet, they get to do a little monolog about it afterwards. I think if everybody got to do that, you know look back and discuss why they behaved the way they did, it just might give us some insight into our mistakes, our motivations and ways to do better the next time. Of course, our husbands would go batty.
What has especially struck me by Jon and Kate is that two people can be in the middle of kiddie chaos with all that entails, which includes snapping at each other, and know that even though that happens they do love each other. That it's okay and it does happen to other people.
Somehow I always imagine other parents doing better than us. They are better at handling the endless questions, tantrums and just ooze patience all the while maintaing a perfectly tidy house. You know they are the ones that actually rotate their children's toys. So it's nice to see that there are other people out there who feels the same way that I do at times.
Kate also said something else that clicked for me. She said that it's okay that she's not the fun one. That her children see daddy as being the fun one and that's alright. She provides for pretty much everything else and that's okay. That was nice to hear because I've often felt that I had to try and be more fun and carefree like daddy on top of all the other stuff I have to do. Not that you shouldn't take time out to play with the kids sometimes but it takes off some of the pressure. Face it, we place enough expectations on ourselves as it is.
Still, you'd have to be pretty brave to put yourself out there on tv like that. If that were me, I'd be cringing because some days I just don't think I'm doing even half as good a job as Jon & Kate are doing. There are days like I feel like a big failure and other days I know I'm not doing a bad job after all.
Anyways, that's my thought for today.
I am fascinated by this couple. Initially, by the nightmare that must be their life. Afterall, can you imagine having twin two year olds and then bringing home six little babies? Yet 3 years later and they are still laughing and enjoying it. What amazes me is how organized Kate is and obviously with 8 children she needs to be. Does she go completely crazy? Sometimes, but she's still amazingly in control. She inspires me because she's not a super mom, she makes mistakes. Her and her husband snip at each other and she has sworn on the odd occasion. They have all had meltdowns (adults and kids alike) and never have they made it like a hollywood life. It's real. I can relate to everything they are going through, except I have 3 not 8.
Yet, they get to do a little monolog about it afterwards. I think if everybody got to do that, you know look back and discuss why they behaved the way they did, it just might give us some insight into our mistakes, our motivations and ways to do better the next time. Of course, our husbands would go batty.
What has especially struck me by Jon and Kate is that two people can be in the middle of kiddie chaos with all that entails, which includes snapping at each other, and know that even though that happens they do love each other. That it's okay and it does happen to other people.
Somehow I always imagine other parents doing better than us. They are better at handling the endless questions, tantrums and just ooze patience all the while maintaing a perfectly tidy house. You know they are the ones that actually rotate their children's toys. So it's nice to see that there are other people out there who feels the same way that I do at times.
Kate also said something else that clicked for me. She said that it's okay that she's not the fun one. That her children see daddy as being the fun one and that's alright. She provides for pretty much everything else and that's okay. That was nice to hear because I've often felt that I had to try and be more fun and carefree like daddy on top of all the other stuff I have to do. Not that you shouldn't take time out to play with the kids sometimes but it takes off some of the pressure. Face it, we place enough expectations on ourselves as it is.
Still, you'd have to be pretty brave to put yourself out there on tv like that. If that were me, I'd be cringing because some days I just don't think I'm doing even half as good a job as Jon & Kate are doing. There are days like I feel like a big failure and other days I know I'm not doing a bad job after all.
Anyways, that's my thought for today.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
It's All About Me!!
Wow! I am finally joing the ranks of the bloggers. Why not, I say. I have plenty of opinions to share and many things to rant about.
For my first post I'd like to really expand on the About Me and maybe give a quick synopsis of my life so you will know where I am coming from.
Starting with my username, Zeemaid. I used to be addicted to SIMS and after I found all the little cheats and made my characters incredibly weathly I decided to create a maid character so she would clean up after the little slobs. She would have to be, of course, French because they do call it a French maid's uniform. So by now you're getting the drift (I hope). Just think about it. *L*
Three children later and I really feel like I am "Ze maid" some days so I adopted the username much to my husband's delight. HA!
Ideally this blog is will impart my wisdom and insights into parenting. But most likely it will be full of the ups and downs and frustrations of being a mom of three children under five.
I have three wonderful children. (mainly when they're sleeping) I experienced a brief period of infertility (2 years) before we conceived our first child (see my article on helium at http://www.helium.com/items/201917-relax-happen-youre-trying if you'd like more information on how we overcame infertility.)
Baby number two happened without too much difficult and baby number three just couldn't wait it seemed. My daughter was eight months old when I became pregnant with our son. So my life has been a little crazy. Especially given that my son was born at a whopping 12 pounds, yes naturally, and he almost died in the process. He's hale and hearty now but it was a tense time.
Add to that that my husband was fired, without reason, from his job just 7 weeks before I was due with my son. The entire time he was off was spent panic stricken trying to find a new job or buy a business. Which he did, buy a business that is, in another town. So I had my baby, we put our house up for sale and I had to keep my house tidy, YIIII! Then my sister-in-law, who was also expecting came down with pneumonia and menigitis and went into a coma after delivering her baby pre-term by c-section. So we had to take our house off the market and help out family. The baby is great. She was in the hospital for 3 months and is now at home with limited mobility and sad to say, she may never recover fully. Her health issues now are many and complex.
So the last year has had it's challenges. I went through a bad phase emotionally before Christmas time and my husband finally decided to drag me off to a homeopathic outfit in Vancouver called Ubiquity Wellness Centre. Also to deal with my high blood pressure, an after result of the birth of my son. They basically told me what I already knew but it was nice to have someone else confirm it. I basically tired, that is my body is exhausted. They've given me some supplements to aid my stress and digestion and recommending a whole list of foods that I am sensitive too. I have had to eliminate dairy, wheat, flour, gluten, and sugar. It's been incredibly limiting because even people with celiac get to eat more than I do. But I've struggled throught it and the good news is that we've almost eliminated my headaches. I'm due to go back for a follow-up next week. That is if I can get someone to work for me.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also work full time evening shifts. I own a video store with my sister-in-law and have for the past 4 years. I had in the past cut back my hours and before my third child was born, only worked two nights a week. However, we are struggling financially (my video store that is) and it has become necessary but me to come back to work full-time to save on employee wages. Hopefully this won't last long. I've been finding it a bit of a stretch to look after the kids all day and then work till 9 or 10 at night.
Although if I had to work this is the way to do it. I get the best part of the day with my kids and only miss 2 hours of their day before bed. That's better than a lot of working moms get.
I should also mention that I live with my in-laws or rather we share a home. At first they lived downstairs, we lived up but now because of her health problems we've moved down this last week. (Add that to a full time job) So we've squished a family of 5 into about 1100 square feet while they get about 1800. Am I bitter? Not really, it does irk me sometimes because I've a real lack of storage and moving the house in and around works and kids was more than a little stressful.
I just feel like we are finally getting our lives back to normal. However, there are several unresolved issues.
For my first post I'd like to really expand on the About Me and maybe give a quick synopsis of my life so you will know where I am coming from.
Starting with my username, Zeemaid. I used to be addicted to SIMS and after I found all the little cheats and made my characters incredibly weathly I decided to create a maid character so she would clean up after the little slobs. She would have to be, of course, French because they do call it a French maid's uniform. So by now you're getting the drift (I hope). Just think about it. *L*
Three children later and I really feel like I am "Ze maid" some days so I adopted the username much to my husband's delight. HA!
Ideally this blog is will impart my wisdom and insights into parenting. But most likely it will be full of the ups and downs and frustrations of being a mom of three children under five.
I have three wonderful children. (mainly when they're sleeping) I experienced a brief period of infertility (2 years) before we conceived our first child (see my article on helium at http://www.helium.com/items/201917-relax-happen-youre-trying if you'd like more information on how we overcame infertility.)
Baby number two happened without too much difficult and baby number three just couldn't wait it seemed. My daughter was eight months old when I became pregnant with our son. So my life has been a little crazy. Especially given that my son was born at a whopping 12 pounds, yes naturally, and he almost died in the process. He's hale and hearty now but it was a tense time.
Add to that that my husband was fired, without reason, from his job just 7 weeks before I was due with my son. The entire time he was off was spent panic stricken trying to find a new job or buy a business. Which he did, buy a business that is, in another town. So I had my baby, we put our house up for sale and I had to keep my house tidy, YIIII! Then my sister-in-law, who was also expecting came down with pneumonia and menigitis and went into a coma after delivering her baby pre-term by c-section. So we had to take our house off the market and help out family. The baby is great. She was in the hospital for 3 months and is now at home with limited mobility and sad to say, she may never recover fully. Her health issues now are many and complex.
So the last year has had it's challenges. I went through a bad phase emotionally before Christmas time and my husband finally decided to drag me off to a homeopathic outfit in Vancouver called Ubiquity Wellness Centre. Also to deal with my high blood pressure, an after result of the birth of my son. They basically told me what I already knew but it was nice to have someone else confirm it. I basically tired, that is my body is exhausted. They've given me some supplements to aid my stress and digestion and recommending a whole list of foods that I am sensitive too. I have had to eliminate dairy, wheat, flour, gluten, and sugar. It's been incredibly limiting because even people with celiac get to eat more than I do. But I've struggled throught it and the good news is that we've almost eliminated my headaches. I'm due to go back for a follow-up next week. That is if I can get someone to work for me.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also work full time evening shifts. I own a video store with my sister-in-law and have for the past 4 years. I had in the past cut back my hours and before my third child was born, only worked two nights a week. However, we are struggling financially (my video store that is) and it has become necessary but me to come back to work full-time to save on employee wages. Hopefully this won't last long. I've been finding it a bit of a stretch to look after the kids all day and then work till 9 or 10 at night.
Although if I had to work this is the way to do it. I get the best part of the day with my kids and only miss 2 hours of their day before bed. That's better than a lot of working moms get.
I should also mention that I live with my in-laws or rather we share a home. At first they lived downstairs, we lived up but now because of her health problems we've moved down this last week. (Add that to a full time job) So we've squished a family of 5 into about 1100 square feet while they get about 1800. Am I bitter? Not really, it does irk me sometimes because I've a real lack of storage and moving the house in and around works and kids was more than a little stressful.
I just feel like we are finally getting our lives back to normal. However, there are several unresolved issues.
- my husband is suing his employer for wrongful dismissal. Trial is in June
- we still need to sell our home and move to the other town so my husband won't have to commute, especially with the price of gas.
- I need to figure out what to do with my video store with my sister-in-law and my future involvement with it, particularly if my family decides to move.
So that's my life in a nut shell at the moment. Hopefully I haven't come across as overly whiny. I think I've managed to get most of that out of my system in the last few months. :)d
So stay tuned for my next instalment.
Zeemaid
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