Our Sunday did not go well and I have to say that it was pretty much my fault. I do not know why I act this way some times, perhaps you could tell me?
This is what happened.
We talked about going to the beach on Sunday. We get up, have breakfast and I go have my shower. I had sent J to her room because of her whining and talking back and when I saw the state of her room I instructed her to pick it up. Which, of course, prompted more whining and back talking so I got even more annoyed and told her if it wasn't done by the time my shower was over the rest was going in the garage.
So I go shower, I hear raised voices and arguing and when I'm done my shower I come out to find hubby helping J organize and put away her toys. This ticked me off for some reason. Partly because I had already done that this week and it was pointless as her room was completely turned out within a day and also partly because we were supposed to be going to the beach today, why would he start that kind of project at this time.
Still, I tell myself he couldn't very well take a shower when I was, could he? Well, maybe he could but the point was to get clean and get ready to go out. But he always does this when we have plans, just lazes around for as long as possible and then blames me that he didn't shower earlier because I was in the shower. He could have showered before me or even better.. jump in the shower as soon as I am done. I don't even have to be dressed, it's not like the kids need that much supervision now.
So half an hour goes by, he's still not showered, he's been after the kids continually (and has been all weekend in fact) and I next find him sitting on the couch watching cartoons with the kids. I ask him if I should call my mom (to see if we're going to their campsite) and he ignored me. Some other tiff occurs with the children and he's back upstairs getting after them. Finally he gets in the shower and comes down to a messy kitchen and I can tell by the way he stopped and the look on his face that he was annoyed I hadn't done this.
If you've read my blog earlier this week, you will understand a little of where I am coming from. The day before we had been working on the garage. I worked just as hard as he did, yet I still was the one to make the meals and clean up the mess after every meal. He'd just get up and bugger off to the garage leaving me with the mess and even when he came back from hauling stuff to the dump, did I get any help with dinner. Not a bit. He just crashed on the couch. So I thought to myself that there was no bloody way I was cleaning up the mess, and getting all the kids ready to go while he lounged around in the shower. Cause that's usually what happens. I usually end up doing it all while he's showering.
If he hadn't had that look on his face, I would have jumped up and helped. I don't mind doing the work together. But he started slamming things around as he started tidying up the kitchen. Which drives me crazy. I have to clean the mess all the time and I don't show my displeasure with sighs, grunts and slams when I do it. (okay sometimes I do but not generally).
So I buggered off upstairs and sat in the window seat. There I sat staring out the window contemplating my life and regrets and started to become depressed. My children soon followed me, of course, and ended up playing around me on the window seat and in the cradle. Which helped to take my mind off my own sad thoughts and made me realize why I read so much. If my mind isn't occupied, I'm too apt to dwell on the past.
Hubby eventually saunters in and asks if I've called my parents. I told him I had asked him if I should over an hour ago and he never answered me. His response.. "well I guess you better get on it". That's it. Nothing major, nothing harsh or silly. Yet, I was annoyed. So I just sat there while one by one they all left. Eventually I did come downstairs to find them all sitting like bumps watching t.v. I asked if that's all they were going to do... sit on the couch and watch t.v. ?
He, of course, was waiting for me to call. And I would have but why couldn't he have been getting ready to go? IF we didn't go to my parent's we were going to go to a beach closer to home. So either way we were going out. Why were they sitting watching t.v.?
Eventually the kids petitioned to go outside and they did. K finally asked me if we were doing anything and I responded I don't know. I did tell him that I was annoyed because he hadn't answered me this morning and how I didn't like his reaction to the messy kitchen, how I keep getting dumped on with all the work. I said it all nicely and calmly but of course I also had to throw in there... "and there you are sitting on your ass watching t.v. (he had at this point started watching Criminal Minds) when we've got piles up carpet, boxes and vinyl loaded up in front of the washer what needs to go in the crawlspace (this from our clean up of the garage on Sat) and I am not doing laundry until it's gone. I am not climbing over boxes to do it). Man like, he says nothing .. well I think he muttered, paused his show, got up and started hauling crap out of the closet, none too gently, so as to get access to the crawl space. Then he proceeded to vacuum.
Why oh why do men not get it? Just because I say help me... doesn't mean help me this minute. It doesn't mean that I want to drop everything, all our plans just so you can vacuum. Then he goes back and sits down on the couch and turns the t.v. back on. WTF?
Meanwhile the kids had been bugging me the whole time about going in the pool but I said no thinking we were going out. So I went outside and said I guessed they could go in the pool since daddy only wants to watch t.v.
And that was it... for the rest of the day. We still could have ended up going, it wasn't too late but when he decided to sit down and watch t.v. I gave up.
Of course, your mind goes back over everything that happens so as to be fully armed with every word that was said, every look that was sent so that when the arguments start you are prepared and justified in what you had done. Only I knew I had myself to blame. Sure he did minor petty annoying things but really, it was my own stubborness that really actually ruined our entire day.
Of course, when his show was done he stomped around the house some more. Oh he talked nicely to me but he'd disappear upstairs and then into the garage and then come out and announce that he fixed E's bike. Ladies, I had been asking him to fix that bike for weeks.
I tell you I cried like I hadn't in a really long time. Still when you tend to be a crier and well up over almost every argument, tears come across to him like no big deal. Why should he care that I was crying when I tend to tear up over most arguments anyways.
Like I said, it could have all been avoided. If I had just kept my mouth shut we would have been off to the beach. Better yet if I hadn't allowed myself to get annoyed way at the beginning and just called my mother, none of it would have happened.
I didn't really need to get into with him at that particular moment. I actually had been communicating some of my frustrations to him periodically throughout the week as conversations come up and as most of you know, it's better not to them over the head with it but give them something to ponder. Even so, it's still frustrating because while he listens, he never acknowledges the justness of my feelings or sometimes even he just laughs it off.
When I called my father that evening to talk to him about something else, I wasn't surprised when he told me that my mother had expected me to call that morning. Try and explain to your parents why you didn't bring their grandchildren out to see them because their mother was acting like a big baby.
It still bums me out. It's not like we can't go to the beach another day. It's just that I only generally take them when their dad's home and that's only on the weekends. Next weekend K and I are away and the summer is almost over. K is moving his video store in a couple of weeks so ventures to the beach are going to get pretty scarce. Every summer ends with a.... I wish we had done more things with the kids.
sigh.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Video Stores on the Verge of Extinction?
As most of you know, my husband and I own a video store. You may also recall that I owned another video store with my SIL which we sold last April. So I have, in effect, been in the movie business for the past 6 years.
Move Gallery has recently closed it's rental business and is now in the process of liquidating their stock. I am informed that Blockbuster is about to die as well and even that Roger's wouldn't be doing half so well if they didn't sell cell phones at their locations as well.
The demise of all these top video rental franchises has prompted a series of news reports all in which discuss the demise of the video rental store business. A news report aired today entitled "Why Would You Go to A Video Store?". The premise being why would you leave the comfort of your own home to travel the short distance to your local video store. (Okay some of you live in rural areas but a lot of you if not most live in urban areas). If we were all about convenience from the comfort of our homes then why don't we stay home and make our own coffee instead of going to Tim Horton's or Starbucks.
What these reports do not discuss is the cost of PPV and VOD. While we have been in a recession of the past year and a half, have they cut their costs? No way. Not only are their new release movies more expensive than a rental in my store, they also charge more if you want it in HD. Not to mention, they only offer the top new releases. While those of you in the US may benefit from companies like Netflix etc, those companies are not available to us in Canada and I can't imagine why you'd want to fill out your selection and then wait for titles to arrive in the mail. Maybe if I lived way out in the boonies, it would be convenient.
With rising gas costs it seems that everyone around us are raising their prices, from the pop guy to the candy man to the chip guy. However, if we raise our prices barely 25cents we'd have a mutiny on our hands. Change our programs or day specials a wee bit and literally customers have left slamming down their movies and walking out. They always think that there is a better deal down the road and some times there is but most often we feel we're pretty reasonable. We're not getting rich, we're supporting our family... barely.
Still the perception out there is that with VOD and PPV out there that it is only a matter of time before stores like mine are closing. Indeed at the pig roast this weekend, I was questioned by two different sets of people throughout the afternoon as to whether or not we could actually make a living running a video store. I thought this bordered on rudeness. After all, I wouldn't go up to any one in construction and ask how much money they made, whether they could support their family.
What people don't realize is that VOD, PPV, Netflix and downloads are only a small portion of the multibillion dollar industry. Even if their portion of the revenues added up to as much as 5%, it still leaves plenty of room for DVD sales and rentals for the rest of us. And believe me, they are not attracting more than 5% of the market at this point.
People also don't realize that the power behind things like VOD, PPV and Netflix are movie studios who want to cut out the middle man as much as possible. In fact, they are constantly discussing ideas like providing all new releases to Blockbuster and VOD 30 days before they allow the rest of us to rent them. By the time, I would be allowed to rent the movies, I might as well save my money. Why would they do that when Video Stores provide them with the biggest revenues even over and above what even Walmart generates? I just don't get it.
I am not completely naive. I realize that eventually we will get to the point where everything is done online and that even one day we won't even refer to it is as being online (it's not for nothing that I've watched 1984), it will just always be there. I just don't think it will be as fast as people say. If it was free, maybe but so long as we are having to pay to be online, pay for cable, pay to order movies, I think we have quite a few more years still. I think it's those who are really into ordering or downloading movies (often illegally) that spin up this whole hype thing that the mom and pops video stores are dying.
So why are places like Movie Gallery and Blockbuster suffering? One, they are publicly traded companies. Once you go public you have to pay presidents, vice presidents, CEOs, stockholders etc. It becomes extremely expensive for them to run. These companies are extremely top heavy and when trouble hits they aren't able to make the cuts necessary. Add to that that it is often difficult to keep stores running well when they are not owner run. Most successful business have their owners involved in the day to day business. I have seen more businesses go under because of an absent owner relying heavily on a manager who doesn't always have your best interests at heart. Think about it. How many times have you gone into one of these stores and been disappointed by the quality of service and the 3 or 4 giggling teenagers gossiping behind the counter who could care less about helping you. I'm not saying all stores are like that but many are.
Then they eliminated late fees. That was a huge mistake. Think about it, you tell your customers that it's okay to keep your movies out late, you won't be charged until 30 days go by and then they will charge your credit card the price of the movie. Okay. you keep your movie out for 29 days, take it back and all is forgiven. Tell me how much potential revenue did they just lose on that one movie that was unavailable for rent? Sure, BB and MG have tons of copies but only of the top new movies. So if they had 100 copies and you can bet they have an average of 2000 customers or more going through their store a week, what happens to the other 1900 customers who wanted to see the big new movie?
What it we were to go to the public library and take out as many books as we wanted and just kept them for as however long we wanted, no charge. The library would be empty.
Yet people constantly bitch at us about our high late fees (we charge $1.00 a day) and how MG was so much better. Yeah, and they went out of business. Then people like to make snide comments of how we make all our money off them being late and how we must just rake it in because they are so bad at returning movies. Um yeah, that's right. Would you like a tour through my mansion or even take a look at my $9.99 fake weddinng ring from Walmart because I can't afford to get my real ones sized, or how about that wonderful staycation we're taking this year. Don't even get me started on people who say they've returned movies when they actually didn't only they argue with you, swear at you and then 3 days later show up with the movie and no apology.
The point of this whole post is to make people aware that there is more to these companies going under than just a decline in rentals. Part of a successful business these days means you have to be diversified and we try to do that by bringing in movie related products and electronics for sale. It's true that if we want to stay afloat we need to turn our business into an "entertainment destination" rather than just a mere video rental store.
So if you're tempted to order PPV or VOD just remember that sometimes it's better to have spent the money upfront than to get a whopping big bill at the end of the month. Also, don't forget that the little video store around the corner is some guy or gal just trying to make a living. Cut them a break and give them a chance to get to know you by name. Going out to the local store becomes more than just an errand, it becomes an opportunity to socialize and you never know who you might run into.
What do you think? Do you VOD or PPV?
Move Gallery has recently closed it's rental business and is now in the process of liquidating their stock. I am informed that Blockbuster is about to die as well and even that Roger's wouldn't be doing half so well if they didn't sell cell phones at their locations as well.
The demise of all these top video rental franchises has prompted a series of news reports all in which discuss the demise of the video rental store business. A news report aired today entitled "Why Would You Go to A Video Store?". The premise being why would you leave the comfort of your own home to travel the short distance to your local video store. (Okay some of you live in rural areas but a lot of you if not most live in urban areas). If we were all about convenience from the comfort of our homes then why don't we stay home and make our own coffee instead of going to Tim Horton's or Starbucks.
What these reports do not discuss is the cost of PPV and VOD. While we have been in a recession of the past year and a half, have they cut their costs? No way. Not only are their new release movies more expensive than a rental in my store, they also charge more if you want it in HD. Not to mention, they only offer the top new releases. While those of you in the US may benefit from companies like Netflix etc, those companies are not available to us in Canada and I can't imagine why you'd want to fill out your selection and then wait for titles to arrive in the mail. Maybe if I lived way out in the boonies, it would be convenient.
With rising gas costs it seems that everyone around us are raising their prices, from the pop guy to the candy man to the chip guy. However, if we raise our prices barely 25cents we'd have a mutiny on our hands. Change our programs or day specials a wee bit and literally customers have left slamming down their movies and walking out. They always think that there is a better deal down the road and some times there is but most often we feel we're pretty reasonable. We're not getting rich, we're supporting our family... barely.
Still the perception out there is that with VOD and PPV out there that it is only a matter of time before stores like mine are closing. Indeed at the pig roast this weekend, I was questioned by two different sets of people throughout the afternoon as to whether or not we could actually make a living running a video store. I thought this bordered on rudeness. After all, I wouldn't go up to any one in construction and ask how much money they made, whether they could support their family.
What people don't realize is that VOD, PPV, Netflix and downloads are only a small portion of the multibillion dollar industry. Even if their portion of the revenues added up to as much as 5%, it still leaves plenty of room for DVD sales and rentals for the rest of us. And believe me, they are not attracting more than 5% of the market at this point.
People also don't realize that the power behind things like VOD, PPV and Netflix are movie studios who want to cut out the middle man as much as possible. In fact, they are constantly discussing ideas like providing all new releases to Blockbuster and VOD 30 days before they allow the rest of us to rent them. By the time, I would be allowed to rent the movies, I might as well save my money. Why would they do that when Video Stores provide them with the biggest revenues even over and above what even Walmart generates? I just don't get it.
I am not completely naive. I realize that eventually we will get to the point where everything is done online and that even one day we won't even refer to it is as being online (it's not for nothing that I've watched 1984), it will just always be there. I just don't think it will be as fast as people say. If it was free, maybe but so long as we are having to pay to be online, pay for cable, pay to order movies, I think we have quite a few more years still. I think it's those who are really into ordering or downloading movies (often illegally) that spin up this whole hype thing that the mom and pops video stores are dying.
So why are places like Movie Gallery and Blockbuster suffering? One, they are publicly traded companies. Once you go public you have to pay presidents, vice presidents, CEOs, stockholders etc. It becomes extremely expensive for them to run. These companies are extremely top heavy and when trouble hits they aren't able to make the cuts necessary. Add to that that it is often difficult to keep stores running well when they are not owner run. Most successful business have their owners involved in the day to day business. I have seen more businesses go under because of an absent owner relying heavily on a manager who doesn't always have your best interests at heart. Think about it. How many times have you gone into one of these stores and been disappointed by the quality of service and the 3 or 4 giggling teenagers gossiping behind the counter who could care less about helping you. I'm not saying all stores are like that but many are.
Then they eliminated late fees. That was a huge mistake. Think about it, you tell your customers that it's okay to keep your movies out late, you won't be charged until 30 days go by and then they will charge your credit card the price of the movie. Okay. you keep your movie out for 29 days, take it back and all is forgiven. Tell me how much potential revenue did they just lose on that one movie that was unavailable for rent? Sure, BB and MG have tons of copies but only of the top new movies. So if they had 100 copies and you can bet they have an average of 2000 customers or more going through their store a week, what happens to the other 1900 customers who wanted to see the big new movie?
What it we were to go to the public library and take out as many books as we wanted and just kept them for as however long we wanted, no charge. The library would be empty.
Yet people constantly bitch at us about our high late fees (we charge $1.00 a day) and how MG was so much better. Yeah, and they went out of business. Then people like to make snide comments of how we make all our money off them being late and how we must just rake it in because they are so bad at returning movies. Um yeah, that's right. Would you like a tour through my mansion or even take a look at my $9.99 fake weddinng ring from Walmart because I can't afford to get my real ones sized, or how about that wonderful staycation we're taking this year. Don't even get me started on people who say they've returned movies when they actually didn't only they argue with you, swear at you and then 3 days later show up with the movie and no apology.
The point of this whole post is to make people aware that there is more to these companies going under than just a decline in rentals. Part of a successful business these days means you have to be diversified and we try to do that by bringing in movie related products and electronics for sale. It's true that if we want to stay afloat we need to turn our business into an "entertainment destination" rather than just a mere video rental store.
So if you're tempted to order PPV or VOD just remember that sometimes it's better to have spent the money upfront than to get a whopping big bill at the end of the month. Also, don't forget that the little video store around the corner is some guy or gal just trying to make a living. Cut them a break and give them a chance to get to know you by name. Going out to the local store becomes more than just an errand, it becomes an opportunity to socialize and you never know who you might run into.
What do you think? Do you VOD or PPV?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Recipe Tuesday - A Change
I know I haven't always been faithful to post up a recipe on Tuesday, a week often goes by that I do not think about it. While I often have many good intentions, I just as often find myself uninspired and have to fall back on the good old stand bys.
This week; however, I am bypassing Recipe Tuesday here in order to announce a little project I have started with my daughter E, and rather than referring to her as E all the time I decided to call her Emma.
That project being "Cooking With Emma"
In the interests of connecting more with my growing girl and in an attempt to find a fun way of encouraging her to read, I've decided to start a new blog documenting our cooking together. We are going to be pouring over the cookbooks looking for delicious things to try and my only rule is that we have to eat what we make. Which is easier said than done. ;)
So if you have a moment please check out my Cooking with Emma site.
This week; however, I am bypassing Recipe Tuesday here in order to announce a little project I have started with my daughter E, and rather than referring to her as E all the time I decided to call her Emma.
That project being "Cooking With Emma"
In the interests of connecting more with my growing girl and in an attempt to find a fun way of encouraging her to read, I've decided to start a new blog documenting our cooking together. We are going to be pouring over the cookbooks looking for delicious things to try and my only rule is that we have to eat what we make. Which is easier said than done. ;)
So if you have a moment please check out my Cooking with Emma site.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Lasagna in your Dishwasher?
Well, it's still sunny here on the west coast and what with shuffling the kids off to swimming lessons, laundry and hanging outside supervising the kids in the pool, I haven't had a whole lot of time to actually post lately.
However, here's a fun link that was sent to me this week. It's How to Cook Lasagna in your Dishwaser. Yup. In your dishwasher. There's a little video you can watch and while I may not go so far as to do this (not in the summer anyways), it definitely gave me a great tip on how to snazz up my lasagna skills a little.
So check it out at Cooking Lasagna in Your Dishwasher Video
And if any of you try this... let me know how it turned out.
However, here's a fun link that was sent to me this week. It's How to Cook Lasagna in your Dishwaser. Yup. In your dishwasher. There's a little video you can watch and while I may not go so far as to do this (not in the summer anyways), it definitely gave me a great tip on how to snazz up my lasagna skills a little.
So check it out at Cooking Lasagna in Your Dishwasher Video
And if any of you try this... let me know how it turned out.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Still feeling resentful
My husband and I recently shared our 11th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, this year we had no funds and no babysitters so this day passed almost unnoticed by ourselves. I was too pooped from trying to manage everything to even desire to put any effort into even something small for him and he.. well he just didn't think about it. We never exchanged gifts in the past, choosing instead to put the money to going out to dinner or even away for the night once we had children. However, seeing as how we couldn't do anything this year, I would have appreciated even some flowers.
Some times I wonder if we are on that slippery slope towards... I don't know exactly what. I'm not talking divorce or separation but sometimes I just feel like we've lost our closeness, our desire to be with each other.
I don't think he sees it this way at all and I can only go by what I am feeling. It's just that sometimes I get so resentful of seemingly doing everything around here that I don't want to be close to him. I entertain thoughts of "why should I do something special for him when he can't even help with... I do everything else, why can't he surprise me for Valentines or Anniversary... ". You know what I'm saying? I struggle with this because I don't want to tear my heart away from him, I don't want to be grumpy or miserable with him yet... some times I just get so frustrated it's hard not to.
I used to think that we could resolve everything because we are such great communicators but 11 years of marriage has taught me that sometimes men just get tired of all our crap. They get tired of our sensitivity, our hormones, our desire to talk everything out. Add to the mix of working with a bunch of hormonal, overstrung women in the work place eight hours a day and my man just no longer has the patience or desire to even hear me out any more.
Also, when you have two different perspectives on the issues doesn't help either. I think I do everything, he thinks he helps out just fine. Which he does, on occasion. In his mind he is a regular helper, in my mind it's more like once a month kind of help. I've tried talking it out with him but it only gets his back up and I get the "you want me to work all the time and have no break" back from him, it's time to quit talking because he's just not getting it. All he hears is... "you never help, you do nothing, contribution is nothing". It doesn't matter how much I tell him that I am aware of what he does etc. So it's this bizarre circle that we just go around with. I get mad and become alternatively grumpy or silent and he shrugs and says "I'm not taking this on", which makes me even more mad or sad.
I sense the problem is more in my mind than his. I think he simply takes for granted all the things we do, he may know that I am not always happy but manlike, he also knows he can't fix it so that it is my problem. I am sure other than my occasional grumpiness, he's quite content. I would be too if someone made me dinner everyday, did my laundry, looked after the children etc, etc.
Every time I come across some mess that he's left for me, I have to remind myself of how he worked like crazy on the backyard to get it ready for E's birthday and how he mows the lawn and waters the flowers and the other things that he does do even if it is only occasionally.
I just wish I could stop feeling resentful about these things. Because after all, I am the one staying at home all day every day with the kids while he goes off to work. Since I've stopped working, it stands to reason that the bulk of the work falls on me. I can give myself a good lecture, shrug it off for a few days and get into a better frame of mind but then the next infraction brings it all back up again (like the soap dispenser or leaving his stupid dental picks all over the place).
We will get through it Marriage really is a complex thing. Just when you think you have it figured out, life changes and so does our expectations. The problem is learning to adjust our expectations into some sort of acceptable form. If that makes any sense.
I don't really feel like I have things down the way I had thought them out while bathing O this a.m. But the kids need me to take them to swimming lessons so I will just have to ponder this a little further.
Some times I wonder if we are on that slippery slope towards... I don't know exactly what. I'm not talking divorce or separation but sometimes I just feel like we've lost our closeness, our desire to be with each other.
I don't think he sees it this way at all and I can only go by what I am feeling. It's just that sometimes I get so resentful of seemingly doing everything around here that I don't want to be close to him. I entertain thoughts of "why should I do something special for him when he can't even help with... I do everything else, why can't he surprise me for Valentines or Anniversary... ". You know what I'm saying? I struggle with this because I don't want to tear my heart away from him, I don't want to be grumpy or miserable with him yet... some times I just get so frustrated it's hard not to.
I used to think that we could resolve everything because we are such great communicators but 11 years of marriage has taught me that sometimes men just get tired of all our crap. They get tired of our sensitivity, our hormones, our desire to talk everything out. Add to the mix of working with a bunch of hormonal, overstrung women in the work place eight hours a day and my man just no longer has the patience or desire to even hear me out any more.
Also, when you have two different perspectives on the issues doesn't help either. I think I do everything, he thinks he helps out just fine. Which he does, on occasion. In his mind he is a regular helper, in my mind it's more like once a month kind of help. I've tried talking it out with him but it only gets his back up and I get the "you want me to work all the time and have no break" back from him, it's time to quit talking because he's just not getting it. All he hears is... "you never help, you do nothing, contribution is nothing". It doesn't matter how much I tell him that I am aware of what he does etc. So it's this bizarre circle that we just go around with. I get mad and become alternatively grumpy or silent and he shrugs and says "I'm not taking this on", which makes me even more mad or sad.
I sense the problem is more in my mind than his. I think he simply takes for granted all the things we do, he may know that I am not always happy but manlike, he also knows he can't fix it so that it is my problem. I am sure other than my occasional grumpiness, he's quite content. I would be too if someone made me dinner everyday, did my laundry, looked after the children etc, etc.
Every time I come across some mess that he's left for me, I have to remind myself of how he worked like crazy on the backyard to get it ready for E's birthday and how he mows the lawn and waters the flowers and the other things that he does do even if it is only occasionally.
I just wish I could stop feeling resentful about these things. Because after all, I am the one staying at home all day every day with the kids while he goes off to work. Since I've stopped working, it stands to reason that the bulk of the work falls on me. I can give myself a good lecture, shrug it off for a few days and get into a better frame of mind but then the next infraction brings it all back up again (like the soap dispenser or leaving his stupid dental picks all over the place).
We will get through it Marriage really is a complex thing. Just when you think you have it figured out, life changes and so does our expectations. The problem is learning to adjust our expectations into some sort of acceptable form. If that makes any sense.
I don't really feel like I have things down the way I had thought them out while bathing O this a.m. But the kids need me to take them to swimming lessons so I will just have to ponder this a little further.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Oh No He Didn't - A Wifely Rant
So I am feeling like a much put upon wife these days. Between being busy and sick with a sore throat, hubby hasn't exactly been all that helpful around the house these days. As you can imagine, some days I stew on this a lot as I am forced to do something I had been waiting for him to do... like move the cabinets out of the front room that he bought at a garage sale over a week ago, haul the desk from the family room to the living room, pick up his drill, the drill battery and case off of my kitchen counter and *gasp* put it away.
Now I get that since I'm not working outside the home at the moment, a lot of the chores are expected to be done by me. No it wasn't an agreement.. it's just one of those silent if not reluctant understandings. Still, I expect him to take out the garbage and shift the heavy stuff. These days it doesn't seem to happen.
So the other day when he was in the bathroom, I just about snapped. You see he went to wash his hands and I guess the soap dispenser was out of soap. I heard him mutter .."... what's the point of having this if it's out of soap." OMG he so did not say that. That dispenser literally just ran out of soap. It's not like it's been out of soap for days and as far as I am concerned the implication was that I should have filled it. I was so mad I rushed in there, jabbering at him that I can't believe he just said that.. it takes like two minutes to fill it up... as I filled up the soap dispenser and all he said was it wasn't meant as a criticism of me. Oh yeah? Who was it a criticism of then, the soap fairy?
He then proceeded to explain that it's just frustrating to him to find things empty when he hardly washes his hand in that bathroom yada yada yada. But he wasn't criticizing me. Hubba what? Has he forgotten that he uses this bathroom daily to do his business since he can't stand sitting in any of the other bathrooms so that I can't even have a shower in peace if he decides he needs to do a number 2 at that precise moment. Yeah, and they say romance is dead.
This is not the only thing he finds empty around the house. He hates finding the sugar bowl almost empty and seems to think it's a conspiracy and only happens when he goes to make the tea. He fails to remember that 90% of the time I end up making the tea since apparently I just make it so much better. Yeah, it's called "things taste better when you sit on your ass and don't have to fetch it yourself". That's what it's really called.
I have to admit sometimes I leave things empty on purpose, like the kitchen soap dispenser just to see if he will actually fill it up. HE NEVER HAS. He gets the container out from under the sink and uses that until I actually take the extra two minutes to fill it up myself. Still it's aggravating trying to play these mind games with someone who doesn't have a clue.
Cause really it doesn't matter that I cleaned the bathrooms, washed the floors, did all the laundry AND put it away, cooked supper, tidied up the kids toys, dusted, washed and made beds, hauled the cabinets out to the garage, shifted the desk around.... those things all pass by unmentioned but I miss an empty soap dispenser...
well just take me out back and shoot me because obviously I have lost my usefulness around the house.
Now I get that since I'm not working outside the home at the moment, a lot of the chores are expected to be done by me. No it wasn't an agreement.. it's just one of those silent if not reluctant understandings. Still, I expect him to take out the garbage and shift the heavy stuff. These days it doesn't seem to happen.
So the other day when he was in the bathroom, I just about snapped. You see he went to wash his hands and I guess the soap dispenser was out of soap. I heard him mutter .."... what's the point of having this if it's out of soap." OMG he so did not say that. That dispenser literally just ran out of soap. It's not like it's been out of soap for days and as far as I am concerned the implication was that I should have filled it. I was so mad I rushed in there, jabbering at him that I can't believe he just said that.. it takes like two minutes to fill it up... as I filled up the soap dispenser and all he said was it wasn't meant as a criticism of me. Oh yeah? Who was it a criticism of then, the soap fairy?
He then proceeded to explain that it's just frustrating to him to find things empty when he hardly washes his hand in that bathroom yada yada yada. But he wasn't criticizing me. Hubba what? Has he forgotten that he uses this bathroom daily to do his business since he can't stand sitting in any of the other bathrooms so that I can't even have a shower in peace if he decides he needs to do a number 2 at that precise moment. Yeah, and they say romance is dead.
This is not the only thing he finds empty around the house. He hates finding the sugar bowl almost empty and seems to think it's a conspiracy and only happens when he goes to make the tea. He fails to remember that 90% of the time I end up making the tea since apparently I just make it so much better. Yeah, it's called "things taste better when you sit on your ass and don't have to fetch it yourself". That's what it's really called.
I have to admit sometimes I leave things empty on purpose, like the kitchen soap dispenser just to see if he will actually fill it up. HE NEVER HAS. He gets the container out from under the sink and uses that until I actually take the extra two minutes to fill it up myself. Still it's aggravating trying to play these mind games with someone who doesn't have a clue.
Cause really it doesn't matter that I cleaned the bathrooms, washed the floors, did all the laundry AND put it away, cooked supper, tidied up the kids toys, dusted, washed and made beds, hauled the cabinets out to the garage, shifted the desk around.... those things all pass by unmentioned but I miss an empty soap dispenser...
well just take me out back and shoot me because obviously I have lost my usefulness around the house.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Kids Drive Me Crazy
Kids Drive me Crazy.
What kid law is out there that says the minute your mother gives up and decides to grant you your request to have your water baby back, making your sister take her own water baby instead, after you put up a big huff, rant, rave and all around meltdown about the fact that your sister was playing with your water baby (which your sister was admittedly taunting you with) that you sneak back after I leave and give your sister back your water baby. ?!?!?
This absolutely boggles my mind. You hear that... it's the sound of me banging my head agains the wall.
What kid law is out there that says the minute your mother gives up and decides to grant you your request to have your water baby back, making your sister take her own water baby instead, after you put up a big huff, rant, rave and all around meltdown about the fact that your sister was playing with your water baby (which your sister was admittedly taunting you with) that you sneak back after I leave and give your sister back your water baby. ?!?!?
This absolutely boggles my mind. You hear that... it's the sound of me banging my head agains the wall.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Kids make you smile
I wish I had a photo of this. O had used his dollar he "earned" from our garage sale selling lemonade to buy himself a cheapo watergun. I'll have to admit this water gun was cool because it had two barrels and a switch on the end to make the water spray in different directions.
So it was with great expectations that he took his water gun up to the beach to visit my folks. Nana obligingly filled it up for him but then he was disappointed when we all told him not to shoot water at us. (spoil sports I know). We then told him he could spray Papa's truck. Which he enthusiastically did unknowing that his dad switched the nozzle so that it'd spray in all directions including straight back at the person who is spraying it.
You cannot imagine the chuckles we all got out of it as my son would persist in spraying Papa's truck only every time to get sprayed in the face, which he would then startle back surprised, wipe his face and shoot again. Did he lower his water gun so it'd spray his shirt? No. Everytime it'd hit him straight in the face. This went on and on while we, the loving adults we are, howled. Really, who was the three year old in the bunch?
However, I was later able to see my son's mischievious side as I looked up to see him with his sister's, dorothy the dinosaur hat. This is a sturdy hat made out of denim. The little sneak was half ducked behind a log squirting his gun into her hat repeatedly and then I heard him say... "Here J" in a sing songy voice. Well, that cracked us all up again as we pondered the pure sneakiness of the trick he had ready for his sister. Unfortunately, his sister was busy playing in the sand and so was not interested in donning her hat.
It still makes me smile to think about it. Of course this is probably be one of those moments when you had to be there to fully appreciate the joke but at least it makes me laugh.
So it was with great expectations that he took his water gun up to the beach to visit my folks. Nana obligingly filled it up for him but then he was disappointed when we all told him not to shoot water at us. (spoil sports I know). We then told him he could spray Papa's truck. Which he enthusiastically did unknowing that his dad switched the nozzle so that it'd spray in all directions including straight back at the person who is spraying it.
You cannot imagine the chuckles we all got out of it as my son would persist in spraying Papa's truck only every time to get sprayed in the face, which he would then startle back surprised, wipe his face and shoot again. Did he lower his water gun so it'd spray his shirt? No. Everytime it'd hit him straight in the face. This went on and on while we, the loving adults we are, howled. Really, who was the three year old in the bunch?
However, I was later able to see my son's mischievious side as I looked up to see him with his sister's, dorothy the dinosaur hat. This is a sturdy hat made out of denim. The little sneak was half ducked behind a log squirting his gun into her hat repeatedly and then I heard him say... "Here J" in a sing songy voice. Well, that cracked us all up again as we pondered the pure sneakiness of the trick he had ready for his sister. Unfortunately, his sister was busy playing in the sand and so was not interested in donning her hat.
It still makes me smile to think about it. Of course this is probably be one of those moments when you had to be there to fully appreciate the joke but at least it makes me laugh.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
1st Annual Blog Bash & A Little More Me
To participate you need to head over and grab her Blog Bash button, read the rules and link up.
So here's a little more about me...
I am "Zeemaid" a mostly stay at home mom to three children aged 7, 4 and 3. Since May when my video store sold I have become a full time stay at mom. I pretty much had already considered myself to be a SAHM mom because I worked evenings. I spent the bulk of the day with the children while leaving only the last two hours of their day. I haven't completely left the movie business though as my husband still owns his store in the community we just moved to.
I love to do many things but can't seem to find one particular thing that I am truly great at. I love to be creative whether it's coming up with something interesting for dinner or making some sort of crocheted blanket. I love to sing and I love to read. I really love to read. I devour books as fast as I get them. Funny coming from a video store owner but there it is.
I have been married to my wonderful husband for over 10 years. It's hard to believe it's been that long. I have to say I truly did marry my best friend and am happy to say that even three kids and 10 years later, we still never run out of things to talk about.
I am very much a living in the moment kind of gal. While I try not to do too much "drama", I do find myself succumbing to the if it's good, it's all good and if it's bad, it's all bad theory of thinking. I love my husband and kids 95% of the time the other 5% they plain old just drive me crazy. (To be honest that 95% is probably a little high)
Unbelievably I had become a blogger long before I ever knew what that term even meant. When I was expecting my first child in 2003 I had begun chronicling an online journal hosted through geocities. Sadly Geocities is no more so I had to download and save as much as I could. Little did I knew that years later it would become such a big thing. I really wanted to journal something about our lives, work out a little frustrations here and then, vent about my inlaws (I love them really) and then it gradually became this cool thing where I started connecting with other women out there and started to stumble upon all these amazing creative sites.
It's hard to believe that I have been blogging for over two years now. At first I struggled to be consistent but the more I got into it the easier it became. I don't think I'm just a "mommy" blogger though because while I do talk about my kids I tend to talk about a lot of random other subjects like books, movies, craft projects and even recipes. I even do the odd movie review.
I really love blogging because it makes me feel so connected to other women out there. It's not just me struggling through the ups and downs of this chosen path. There are a lot of other women going through the sames things as I am.
You may be curious about my chosen name, Zeemaid. See I blog 100% anonymously which is why I don't post a lot of photos. I really wanted this to be a place where I can say whatever I want without fear of reprisals from any relatives or friends that may stumble upon my site. But why Zeemaid? It's really simple. I used to love playing Sims but got tired of making the little slobs pick up everything so I created a character to be in their house to do solely that.. clean. She was, in fact... zee maid. (get a little French accent going there) and voila (more French for you) it stuck.
One more unknown fact about me is that when I read to my kids, I often do it with foreign accents. My kids think I'm crazy and often when a British accent slips out, E will ask me why I sound like Mary Poppins. I just tell her I've been reading too much Jane Austen.
So that's a little more about me. If you'd like, click here to check out a few of my favourite posts to date.
Thanks to Brittany over at Not Just Your Average Teen for hosting this blog bash and I can't wait to check out all of your blogs!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Waiter, there's Soap in My Soup!
There is a famous story that goes around our family concerning my husband when he was young. He wanted to help clean up and so poured dish soap into a pot of spaghetti noodles figuring it needed cleaning too. Unsuspecting, his older brother served himself a helping of soapy spaghetti. K has never since lived it down and rather the man that he is rather enjoys his inventiveness and the good joke he had on his brother so many years ago.
So I should have been rather suspicious of my son this morning. He had been up before all of us and I guess after mommy's tearful awakening yesterday decided to entertain and feed himself. We came down to little pieces of foil all over the carpet... ah ha Bear Paw cookies, then the stool was in the middle of the living room with brown and yellow on the top step. I could easily figure out the brown for chocolate chips but not the yellow until I spied the soap bottle sitting by the t.v. It made all sense now. He tried to clean up his mess. Fair enough.
I help him finish cleaning up and think no more of it. That is until I go to drink my tea. See I have no qualms about using my tea cup from the night before. Don't judge me all you germaphobes out there! So I grab my cup from the coffee table and here's where I deviated... I usually at least rinse the cup out only I didn't. I happily made my tea and my breakfast and after several interruptions finally got to sit down and drink it.
Only to discover that it tasted odd and smelled a little like perfume. A quick taste of my husband's tea confirmed that it was only mine. Well it didn't take long for the light bulb to go on and for us to discover the soap residue on the coffee table where my cup had sat. O had put soap in my cup. Oh yum.
Question is did he do it with a sense of mischief... wait till mommy drinks this or was it simple curiosity? Considering he is only three, I can't really imagine him pre-planning such a joke but then still he is his father's son through and through. So let's just say I am going to be considerably more careful drinking out of any cups left hanging around.
How did your tea taste this morning?
Friday, July 9, 2010
Summer Has Finally Arrived - but Do I want it?
Well I can officially say that summer has finally arrived. For the past two days it's been almost unbearably warm. It's funny how we complain about the weather and how we want nice weather then we finally get it and after only two days we start complaining about it. I say warm weather is all fine and dandy but when it messes when my comfort... well let's just say I'm not a happy camper.
It's fine when it's warm during the day... there are lots of ways to stay cool, hang out in the pool, sit in the shade, eat freezies, do as little as possible. At night time, however, there is little you can do but toss and turn in your now sweaty sheets. Because our bedrooms are all on the second floor, the kids can't even have their windows open more than a crack. There's the whole safety, not falling out the window issue, and trust me with O it is a real possibility. Two have ceiling fans in their room so that helps. Only J's doesn't actually seem to create a breeze. How could a fan not create a breeze? Bizarre. So after one restless night we went out and bought a couple of stand up fans.
These worked great in our room, we managed to move fans into the other two bedrooms that needed it and I was able to sleep somewhat comfortably. That is until O decided it was time to get up at 5:00 a.m. and despite being repeatedly told to go back to bed, he decided to stay up and wake up the girls. So E came into my room at 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30 asking me if it was morning time yet. Hello the sun is up.. obviously it's morning it's just too damn early! As soon as I turned the fan off I was blasted by heat. Obviously it had not cooled off overnight.
Add to this that I have a headache so bad that just moving my head causes it to flare and you can imagine the scene was not a good one. By 7:30 I was in tears and angry. I dragged my butt out of bed, slammed around the kitchen trying to make the kids their breakfast. You know it's bad when you have to try and refocus your eyes so you can tell whether the toast you're giving to the kid has just jam on it or if it's the one that has both jam and peanut butter on it because heaven forbid you give the peanut butter hater one teeny smidge of pb on his toast.
So many drugs later, half a cup of tea I am somewhat better but let's now add exhaustion to a dull headache and I just know it's going to be a great day. sigh. Plus I've just had to give the lecture to my oldest that she better behave and try to get along with her siblings (can we say bossy betty) or I'm not wasting my time sitting outside supervising them in the pool when I could be having a rest inside.
yeah... it's gonna be a great day.
It's fine when it's warm during the day... there are lots of ways to stay cool, hang out in the pool, sit in the shade, eat freezies, do as little as possible. At night time, however, there is little you can do but toss and turn in your now sweaty sheets. Because our bedrooms are all on the second floor, the kids can't even have their windows open more than a crack. There's the whole safety, not falling out the window issue, and trust me with O it is a real possibility. Two have ceiling fans in their room so that helps. Only J's doesn't actually seem to create a breeze. How could a fan not create a breeze? Bizarre. So after one restless night we went out and bought a couple of stand up fans.
These worked great in our room, we managed to move fans into the other two bedrooms that needed it and I was able to sleep somewhat comfortably. That is until O decided it was time to get up at 5:00 a.m. and despite being repeatedly told to go back to bed, he decided to stay up and wake up the girls. So E came into my room at 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30 asking me if it was morning time yet. Hello the sun is up.. obviously it's morning it's just too damn early! As soon as I turned the fan off I was blasted by heat. Obviously it had not cooled off overnight.
Add to this that I have a headache so bad that just moving my head causes it to flare and you can imagine the scene was not a good one. By 7:30 I was in tears and angry. I dragged my butt out of bed, slammed around the kitchen trying to make the kids their breakfast. You know it's bad when you have to try and refocus your eyes so you can tell whether the toast you're giving to the kid has just jam on it or if it's the one that has both jam and peanut butter on it because heaven forbid you give the peanut butter hater one teeny smidge of pb on his toast.
So many drugs later, half a cup of tea I am somewhat better but let's now add exhaustion to a dull headache and I just know it's going to be a great day. sigh. Plus I've just had to give the lecture to my oldest that she better behave and try to get along with her siblings (can we say bossy betty) or I'm not wasting my time sitting outside supervising them in the pool when I could be having a rest inside.
yeah... it's gonna be a great day.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Big Stringy Mess
I've been enjoying making rag rugs. When I get the opportunity that is. I found several tutorials online took what I wanted from each and so far have successfully made one rug.
However... while I enjoy the crocheting I do not enjoy the prep work to get to the crocheting part. One recommendation was to tear a bed sheet in alternating strips so that you get one continuous string so to speak. That's all fine and dandy but what the person failed to mention was the frayed threads that accompany this. I probably spent over two hours de-threading the whole thing just so I could wind it up into a ball. I was heartily tired of the process and when it looked like I'd need at least one more sheet to finish off my rug, I was bummed. So I thought maybe if I actually took the time to cut the sheets I wouldn't get so many loose threads. I was right I didn't get too many frayed, I was happy and in no time at all I was crocheting again.
That is until I washed the rug. The entire part of the rug that was cut... had loose threads all over it. I'm going to have to spend some time trimming it all away to make it look better. That project since has been put away.
So this time around I knew it was going to be a time consuming process but I had forgotten just how much it was. But money is tight and I really would like new bath mats upstairs. So I found another worn sheet, thanks to my MIL and starting tearing away. Well, it seems like it took forever and now I only have one ball and if I am going to be able to make a rug big enough, I am going to need another sheet done.
Does anyone know out there how to rip a sheet with having a million threads. Am I ripping it wrong?
I don't know, maybe I can convince hubs to be on string duty. If not, I think I may have to give up making these rugs. I don't mind frayed edges, that's all part of having a rag rug.. but frayed loose threads... that's another story.
However... while I enjoy the crocheting I do not enjoy the prep work to get to the crocheting part. One recommendation was to tear a bed sheet in alternating strips so that you get one continuous string so to speak. That's all fine and dandy but what the person failed to mention was the frayed threads that accompany this. I probably spent over two hours de-threading the whole thing just so I could wind it up into a ball. I was heartily tired of the process and when it looked like I'd need at least one more sheet to finish off my rug, I was bummed. So I thought maybe if I actually took the time to cut the sheets I wouldn't get so many loose threads. I was right I didn't get too many frayed, I was happy and in no time at all I was crocheting again.
That is until I washed the rug. The entire part of the rug that was cut... had loose threads all over it. I'm going to have to spend some time trimming it all away to make it look better. That project since has been put away.
So this time around I knew it was going to be a time consuming process but I had forgotten just how much it was. But money is tight and I really would like new bath mats upstairs. So I found another worn sheet, thanks to my MIL and starting tearing away. Well, it seems like it took forever and now I only have one ball and if I am going to be able to make a rug big enough, I am going to need another sheet done.
Does anyone know out there how to rip a sheet with having a million threads. Am I ripping it wrong?
I don't know, maybe I can convince hubs to be on string duty. If not, I think I may have to give up making these rugs. I don't mind frayed edges, that's all part of having a rag rug.. but frayed loose threads... that's another story.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Are you a Pocket Checker?
So... when your wife finds three long screws in the bottom of the washing machine let's just hope that there weren't four and that it's not damaging the insides in some hideous way. That if the washing machine does break down, it will in no way be the wife's fault.
Just remember ladies, the more you do the more he will LET you do.
Monday, July 5, 2010
For Once We've Accomplished our Goal
Even though we've had the pool up for over a week and the grass was put in last week. The weather really had been too cool to contemplate swimming. E's birthday party was the first bay any of us swam in her pool. The forecast was grim but a thanks to a few extra prayers being cast up, we were blessed with a warm if not slightly breezy day.
The children were still shivering like mad but then again what kid doesn't like to shiver a little. As for the RSVPs. Only three out of the 9 kids invited came. Those three were actually the only ones that called to let me know they were coming. What has happened to common courtesy? I have goody bags all prepped and ready to go waiting for little girls that never came. Of course I had to have them ready because you just never know who might turn up. What with her brother and sister, E wasn't really disappointed and agreed with me that it was nicer with fewer kids because there was more room in the pool.
It wasn't particularly warm yesterday either so we didn't get in the pool at all. Although they just about plagued my life out asking to go in saying they didn't mind if it was cold. Yeah right. Only E really stays in for any length of time, still shivering despite the warm sun so I can only imagine how cold she'd be if the day was overcast.
It's warm again today so here I sit by the poolside while they play. This is peace indeed after the constant bickering and fighting of last week. It's unbelievable how adding one more kid back into the daytime routine managed to throw us all for a loop. E had been bossy and demanding and it's about time that her sisters started to stand up to her and tell her to back off. I've been reading a new book and learning how to deal with their fights etc but that will be another post. Still we are only on the first real day of warm pool weather. I wonder how quickly the novelty of swimming will wear off and I will be back to having to referee them again.
However, I'm not going to borrow trouble. Right now I am going to finish this post and get back to crocheting while I watch the kids play.
So as promised here are a few before and after pictures of our backyard.
The children were still shivering like mad but then again what kid doesn't like to shiver a little. As for the RSVPs. Only three out of the 9 kids invited came. Those three were actually the only ones that called to let me know they were coming. What has happened to common courtesy? I have goody bags all prepped and ready to go waiting for little girls that never came. Of course I had to have them ready because you just never know who might turn up. What with her brother and sister, E wasn't really disappointed and agreed with me that it was nicer with fewer kids because there was more room in the pool.
It wasn't particularly warm yesterday either so we didn't get in the pool at all. Although they just about plagued my life out asking to go in saying they didn't mind if it was cold. Yeah right. Only E really stays in for any length of time, still shivering despite the warm sun so I can only imagine how cold she'd be if the day was overcast.
It's warm again today so here I sit by the poolside while they play. This is peace indeed after the constant bickering and fighting of last week. It's unbelievable how adding one more kid back into the daytime routine managed to throw us all for a loop. E had been bossy and demanding and it's about time that her sisters started to stand up to her and tell her to back off. I've been reading a new book and learning how to deal with their fights etc but that will be another post. Still we are only on the first real day of warm pool weather. I wonder how quickly the novelty of swimming will wear off and I will be back to having to referee them again.
However, I'm not going to borrow trouble. Right now I am going to finish this post and get back to crocheting while I watch the kids play.
So as promised here are a few before and after pictures of our backyard.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Let's Recap the Week Thus Far
It has been a busy week. With E's "fake" birthday party looming up this weekend, we've been hard pressed to try and get our backyard in order. You see we promised her a pool party when we have no pool, no grass and a dismantled deck. All that and only two weeks to get ready. Week #1 we were taken down by Puke Fest 2010. Which left us week #2.
Fortunately due to the generosity of my wonderful brother, we did not have to pay the digger guy to level our yard. So with moolah in hand from our wildly successful garage sale, we purchased sod. Only now the ground had be even further prepped and with K busy with assembling the pool and arranging the bricks around it.. said manual labour fell on my shoulders. All I can say is that rocks breed like rabbits. The more I raked, the more rocks would appear. After raking almost the entire backyard 5 or more times over three days, you can well imagine my dismay when my husband told me that I needed to now "fine" rake it so as to grab all the twigs and sticks that were on the lawn. Shazbut. By the end of it, my back is out of wack and I was only saved from blisters on my hands by the fact that I grabbed a good pair of work gloves on the second day.
But it was all worth it.. K picked the sod up on Tuesday afternoon and by 7:00 p.m. we had a lush and green backyard. Pinch me. It still feels like a dream. Especially after living in a dustbowl for what seemed like weeks. Even the kids didn't like playing outside anymore... it was too dirty for my dirty kids. Can you believe it?
Last night K got the deck finished and while it will have to wait to be stained I no longer have to worry about the kids stepping onto the wrong part of the deck and flipping themselves off it. The only thing that could spoil her party now is rain. We've been having a lot of mixed clouds and sun and today the sun has deserted us completely leaving us with rain. While rain is good for the lawn, I'm just hoping that by Saturday it will be warm. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also only one child has RSVP'd so far. One mom had told us right away that her two kids wouldn't make it so we were down to six. I'm really hoping the other five show up or E's party is going to be disappointing for her. How can you not RSVP?
Add to that, that I'm still waiting for K to release some funds to me so I can buy party favours and groceries and I'm beginning to wonder just how well this party will even turn out. Still his store has been extremely busy this week so hopefully he will have some money for me today.
I will be posting some before and after pictures of my yard. You just have to see it to really understand what a difference it makes.
Fortunately due to the generosity of my wonderful brother, we did not have to pay the digger guy to level our yard. So with moolah in hand from our wildly successful garage sale, we purchased sod. Only now the ground had be even further prepped and with K busy with assembling the pool and arranging the bricks around it.. said manual labour fell on my shoulders. All I can say is that rocks breed like rabbits. The more I raked, the more rocks would appear. After raking almost the entire backyard 5 or more times over three days, you can well imagine my dismay when my husband told me that I needed to now "fine" rake it so as to grab all the twigs and sticks that were on the lawn. Shazbut. By the end of it, my back is out of wack and I was only saved from blisters on my hands by the fact that I grabbed a good pair of work gloves on the second day.
But it was all worth it.. K picked the sod up on Tuesday afternoon and by 7:00 p.m. we had a lush and green backyard. Pinch me. It still feels like a dream. Especially after living in a dustbowl for what seemed like weeks. Even the kids didn't like playing outside anymore... it was too dirty for my dirty kids. Can you believe it?
Last night K got the deck finished and while it will have to wait to be stained I no longer have to worry about the kids stepping onto the wrong part of the deck and flipping themselves off it. The only thing that could spoil her party now is rain. We've been having a lot of mixed clouds and sun and today the sun has deserted us completely leaving us with rain. While rain is good for the lawn, I'm just hoping that by Saturday it will be warm. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also only one child has RSVP'd so far. One mom had told us right away that her two kids wouldn't make it so we were down to six. I'm really hoping the other five show up or E's party is going to be disappointing for her. How can you not RSVP?
Add to that, that I'm still waiting for K to release some funds to me so I can buy party favours and groceries and I'm beginning to wonder just how well this party will even turn out. Still his store has been extremely busy this week so hopefully he will have some money for me today.
I will be posting some before and after pictures of my yard. You just have to see it to really understand what a difference it makes.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Recipe Tuesday - Blueberries & Pancakes
What's more it is incredible that this belief held until I was in my thirties. That's right. Thank goodness for me that my children are fruit fiends. My kids do not scream for cookies in the cookie aisle, they scream for strawberries, blueberries and all things fruity. It's also a good thing I can't help sampling a few of their fruity treats here and there or I would never have known how delicious these nutritious little berries are.
Lately I had been curious about making my own berry syrup. I bought a large cart of blueberries on the weekend (they were on sale) and so I began my search for a recipe. Only it seemed like all the recipes I could find used frozen blueberries until I stumbled across the blog of The Well Seasoned Cook. There it was, a recipe for fresh blueberry syrup along with a recipe for healthy pancakes from her husband. (note I did not make the healthy pancakes as I didn't have the ingredients on hand)
Even if you don't try the healthier version of pancakes, you can't go wrong using this fresh blueberry syrup recipe. Did I tell the kids to hold back on the syrup? No way, they could pour away to their hearts content. It was nice knowing that they were actually putting something extremely healthy into their bodies instead of the usual Aunt Jemima butter flavored brand we typically buy.
Here is the recipe exactly as written on The Well Seasoned Cook.
Fresh Blueberry Syrup - Susan's RecipeMy take: I followed the recipe exactly as is. The syrup was not quite thick enough for my taste and so the only change I'd make the next time I make this is to add a wee bit of cornstarch to the berries when they are boiling. Other than that, it was fantastic and my kids really enjoyed it.
Ingredients
3 cups fresh blueberries, washed and sorted to remove any wrinkled fruit
2 cups water
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown or white sugar (optional)
Method
In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer the berries until they break open and are completely soft (about 10 minutes). The berries will turn a dark reddish violet. Pour the berries into a large metal strainer positioned above a large bowl. With a large, sturdy spoon, rub the berry solids through the strainer. There will be very little waste. The skins thicken the syrup and provide the maximum amount of antioxidant benefits blueberries are known for. Serve warm or chilled. Makes 2 cups. --
I still had lots of left over syrup and so you'll have to wait until next Tuesday to find out what I did with it.
BTW.. if you have a chance check out The Well Seasoned Cook. She has a ton of great recipes and her photos of her food are works of art in themselves.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hyper Parenting - Internet to Blame?
My mom and I have been discussing the roles of parents in their children's lives a lot lately.
Both of us had been listening to some news documentaries on this new phenomenon of over parenting our children which they call Hyper Parenting. Children are not allowed to walk to school, play in the front yard unsupervised and are shuttled from one adult instigated sport or activity after another. We were told that today's threat of abduction has actually decreased only with the heightened media awareness we think it's gotten worse instead of better.
Of course, this hyper-parenting is not just about kidnappings, it's also about trying to make sure your child grows up with great self-esteem and has been exposed to as many opportunities as possible to develop academically, athletically etc. We are told that if our child attends music classes at a younger age, we increase their brain power. That if we catch them young enough we just might have a prodigy on our hands.
But what about the negative effect all this over concern into their health and well being. Could their really be a negative effect? Apparently many of these teens and young adults have grown to be selfish, irresponsible and unable to self-motivate themselves without their parents pushing them. College open houses are now chock full of parents doing all the information seeking and fact finding, while the prospective student follows docilely along behind them.
I can see the truth in this. We work with young adults and high school students all the time. We have parents calling in sick for their kids and some times, even negotiating raises or questioning us as to why we had to fire their precious child. When I was a kid, my mom made me call in sick myself. If I was going to inconvenience my boss and coworkers by not going in, I had to at least do them the courtesy of calling in myself. Nothing like to that to make you realize you're not really that sick. I had to get myself to work and was expected to do a good job. These days, the young people we hire seem to be only concerned about their pay cheque and how much they are going to get paid an hour. They turn their nose up at the minimum wage when it really is an easy job. Then they complain that they aren't getting enough hours but at the first opportunity ask to go home early inconveniencing everyone else. I know not all young people are like this, it's just really hard to sort out the one who do have a good work ethic.
My mom thinks that the Internet is a lot to blame along with all the self help books etc. When she was a young parent she had to fly by the seat of her pants and do the best she can. She admits that she wasn't perfect and she made mistakes. A time was when you enrolled your child into a sport or activity for the sheer fun of it. It wasn't supposed to be competitive. Birthday parties were meant to be good clean fun, not to see who can outdo the Joneses.
(In this one report a mom spent over $4,000 on her child's first birthday. Her 1ST birthday. I kid you not. She had a real Cinderella attend, fancy princess cake, decorations etc. She wanted it to be the most memorable time for her child. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We're talking a one year old here... you know the ones who would rather play with a box than the toy that was in it!)
Okay, I know. You know you're getting old when you bitch and moan about the younger generation. HAH!
Still you would think my mother would appreciate the Internet and the fact there is just so much parenting advice available to me but she doesn't. In fact, she sort of makes fun of me. She feels that there is too much information out there, especially medical information and worrying about insecurities and growth development seems like a foreign concept to her. Which is strange because she's taking a psychology course and she really enjoys it. She literally told me that half the stuff I talk about never occurred to her as a parent and hey she didn't do that badly.
I can see where she is coming from completely, but as I was tidying up the house this morning I started to think that maybe it would have been nice if she had made more of an effort to understand where I was coming from or the reasons perhaps behind my behaviour.
You see I struggled with being called "moody" all my life. It's only been later in years that I was able to figure out that my moodiness stemmed from my inability to communicate my needs. By being quiet and withdrawn, I was hoping to get attention and even asked what's wrong. In some instances I was afraid to communicate my needs because of a fear of rejection. A technique I used on boyfriends later in life. This was so natural to me that I was unable to stop or correct my behaviour. Can you imagine how much it hurt to be labeled as being moody without so much as a single question as to why I might be acting that way?
It took years and a bout of depression to work my way through this communication problem. Something my mother has not even a clue about because we can't talk on that kind of level. She had a hard childhood and often she seems emotionally cut off from us. I know she loves us but it's the kind where you have to accept it as a fact because you aren't going to get reassured of it any time soon.
I still struggle with being moody and holding on to grudges. But these days I am better able to shake it off. I may get quiet for a while but I am way quicker to just turn the conversation and tell myself that I'm not going to let this ruin the day. I am so glad I have come this far.
So the point is... if I read a book that says that maybe E's attention getting antics may mean that she only feels she belongs in the family when she gets attention, then I am going to consider this and try to think of ways to make her feel more involved and connected with us.
I do think that the wealth of information we have these days is good and useful. There are no smooth and fast ways to proper parenting. Sure it can be overwhelming. We just have to glean out the useful bits that may be helpful to our situation and chuck all the rest. And we need to watch out for "hyper parenting" by being careful to instill a sense of independence in our children. To not feel the need to shower money down on them via expensive activities, trips and material things.
I had always thought of myself as being selfish for not wanting to drive my kids to activities every day of the week. I had witnessed the crazy lives of too many mom friends (who had their kids before me) and always swore that I didn't want to be the "soccer mom" like that. I don't mind taking E to a class a week and this summer all three of them will be going for two weeks of swimming lessons but I scheduled all their lessons together so it's one drive a day and then we're done. My family jokes about enrolling the girls or O in hockey and I always joke back no way. They are in part serious but so am I. Nothing wrong with hockey but I've seen how busy my brother's family is. Every weekend is tied to the rink, if not in our hometown then travelling hours up and down the island for competitions etc. Then after hockey is lacrosse and there they go again until July.
My husband tends to be very protective, okay not just him, me too, probably too much so. Thanks to these news reports we have been able to discuss ways of helping E be more independent and how to retract our parenting claws just a little. The results of this will, of course, trickle down to the younger two.
Life goes too fast as it is. I want the slower pace of afternoons in the backyard, playing in the pool, picking ripe raspberries and peas, rolling on the grass.
I want my kids to be kids. I don't want to be their social secretary. I want to be their mom.
What do you think about Hyper Parenting? Are you one?
Both of us had been listening to some news documentaries on this new phenomenon of over parenting our children which they call Hyper Parenting. Children are not allowed to walk to school, play in the front yard unsupervised and are shuttled from one adult instigated sport or activity after another. We were told that today's threat of abduction has actually decreased only with the heightened media awareness we think it's gotten worse instead of better.
Of course, this hyper-parenting is not just about kidnappings, it's also about trying to make sure your child grows up with great self-esteem and has been exposed to as many opportunities as possible to develop academically, athletically etc. We are told that if our child attends music classes at a younger age, we increase their brain power. That if we catch them young enough we just might have a prodigy on our hands.
But what about the negative effect all this over concern into their health and well being. Could their really be a negative effect? Apparently many of these teens and young adults have grown to be selfish, irresponsible and unable to self-motivate themselves without their parents pushing them. College open houses are now chock full of parents doing all the information seeking and fact finding, while the prospective student follows docilely along behind them.
I can see the truth in this. We work with young adults and high school students all the time. We have parents calling in sick for their kids and some times, even negotiating raises or questioning us as to why we had to fire their precious child. When I was a kid, my mom made me call in sick myself. If I was going to inconvenience my boss and coworkers by not going in, I had to at least do them the courtesy of calling in myself. Nothing like to that to make you realize you're not really that sick. I had to get myself to work and was expected to do a good job. These days, the young people we hire seem to be only concerned about their pay cheque and how much they are going to get paid an hour. They turn their nose up at the minimum wage when it really is an easy job. Then they complain that they aren't getting enough hours but at the first opportunity ask to go home early inconveniencing everyone else. I know not all young people are like this, it's just really hard to sort out the one who do have a good work ethic.
My mom thinks that the Internet is a lot to blame along with all the self help books etc. When she was a young parent she had to fly by the seat of her pants and do the best she can. She admits that she wasn't perfect and she made mistakes. A time was when you enrolled your child into a sport or activity for the sheer fun of it. It wasn't supposed to be competitive. Birthday parties were meant to be good clean fun, not to see who can outdo the Joneses.
(In this one report a mom spent over $4,000 on her child's first birthday. Her 1ST birthday. I kid you not. She had a real Cinderella attend, fancy princess cake, decorations etc. She wanted it to be the most memorable time for her child. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We're talking a one year old here... you know the ones who would rather play with a box than the toy that was in it!)
Okay, I know. You know you're getting old when you bitch and moan about the younger generation. HAH!
Still you would think my mother would appreciate the Internet and the fact there is just so much parenting advice available to me but she doesn't. In fact, she sort of makes fun of me. She feels that there is too much information out there, especially medical information and worrying about insecurities and growth development seems like a foreign concept to her. Which is strange because she's taking a psychology course and she really enjoys it. She literally told me that half the stuff I talk about never occurred to her as a parent and hey she didn't do that badly.
I can see where she is coming from completely, but as I was tidying up the house this morning I started to think that maybe it would have been nice if she had made more of an effort to understand where I was coming from or the reasons perhaps behind my behaviour.
You see I struggled with being called "moody" all my life. It's only been later in years that I was able to figure out that my moodiness stemmed from my inability to communicate my needs. By being quiet and withdrawn, I was hoping to get attention and even asked what's wrong. In some instances I was afraid to communicate my needs because of a fear of rejection. A technique I used on boyfriends later in life. This was so natural to me that I was unable to stop or correct my behaviour. Can you imagine how much it hurt to be labeled as being moody without so much as a single question as to why I might be acting that way?
It took years and a bout of depression to work my way through this communication problem. Something my mother has not even a clue about because we can't talk on that kind of level. She had a hard childhood and often she seems emotionally cut off from us. I know she loves us but it's the kind where you have to accept it as a fact because you aren't going to get reassured of it any time soon.
I still struggle with being moody and holding on to grudges. But these days I am better able to shake it off. I may get quiet for a while but I am way quicker to just turn the conversation and tell myself that I'm not going to let this ruin the day. I am so glad I have come this far.
So the point is... if I read a book that says that maybe E's attention getting antics may mean that she only feels she belongs in the family when she gets attention, then I am going to consider this and try to think of ways to make her feel more involved and connected with us.
I do think that the wealth of information we have these days is good and useful. There are no smooth and fast ways to proper parenting. Sure it can be overwhelming. We just have to glean out the useful bits that may be helpful to our situation and chuck all the rest. And we need to watch out for "hyper parenting" by being careful to instill a sense of independence in our children. To not feel the need to shower money down on them via expensive activities, trips and material things.
I had always thought of myself as being selfish for not wanting to drive my kids to activities every day of the week. I had witnessed the crazy lives of too many mom friends (who had their kids before me) and always swore that I didn't want to be the "soccer mom" like that. I don't mind taking E to a class a week and this summer all three of them will be going for two weeks of swimming lessons but I scheduled all their lessons together so it's one drive a day and then we're done. My family jokes about enrolling the girls or O in hockey and I always joke back no way. They are in part serious but so am I. Nothing wrong with hockey but I've seen how busy my brother's family is. Every weekend is tied to the rink, if not in our hometown then travelling hours up and down the island for competitions etc. Then after hockey is lacrosse and there they go again until July.
My husband tends to be very protective, okay not just him, me too, probably too much so. Thanks to these news reports we have been able to discuss ways of helping E be more independent and how to retract our parenting claws just a little. The results of this will, of course, trickle down to the younger two.
Life goes too fast as it is. I want the slower pace of afternoons in the backyard, playing in the pool, picking ripe raspberries and peas, rolling on the grass.
I want my kids to be kids. I don't want to be their social secretary. I want to be their mom.
What do you think about Hyper Parenting? Are you one?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Crayola Kidszone - Review Pip-Squeaks
Well it's time once again for another Crayola Product Review. As a member of Crayola's Canada Mom Advisory Team, I am lucky enough to receive crayola products to try out with my children. As you can imagine when that Purolator man shows up at my door I have three extremely excited children.
Pip-Squeaks Wacky Tips: "16 unique marker tips provide kids the opportunity to create cool effects (4+, $5.49)" These were fun too. Each felt has a different shape on it to make a cool pattern on the page. This was a lot of fun for the kids as they tried to outdo each other making rainbows. The colours are very vibrant.
Marker and Watercolor Pad: "60 sheets of premium Marker Watercolour Paper (1+, $3.09)" Of course, what better to have with all those felts and paints but the right paper for it. It is actually a rather large pad of paper for the price and definitely worth it when all those lovely colours from their drawings don't actually run through to the table below. As you know, children colour hard and often rip their paper in the process and depending on the surface, sometimes the colour doesn't go away. This paper more than stands up to the test and works wonderfully well with water color paints as well.
As always we were really thrilled and pleased with the Crayola products we received.
Check out Crayola.ca for printable colouring pages, make-your-own cards and activity ideas.
Thanks to Crayola.ca for the opportunity to review these great products.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Recipe Tuesday - Repeat Applesauce
Today's Recipe is a repeat. My children are still sick, although not throwing up today thank goodness, so I haven't had much time to prepare an original post. I thought this one was appropriate since it is generally recommended you follow the B.R.A.T. diet when kids are sick. (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast). And I actually whipped up a small batch since I was stuck at home. No way was I taking three vomitting children to the store. ;)
Secondly, I don't know if you have heard the recent recall of a variety of juice products due to high lead content. Yes lead. Mostly apples. While we haven't purchased many of those types of juices, we just finished a batch of Mott's Applesauce and Mott's juice products was on the list. So it just goes to show we need to get back to doing things from scratch. Read full article on ModernMom
My kids actually like this better than the Mott's fruit cup I usually buy for them. It takes a small bit of extra effort because you have to peel your own apples and chop them up but it's worth it.
So here is homemade applesauce a la Zeemaid:
Ingredients
* Water
* Chopped or grated apples (11 medium apples makes four cups)
* Approx 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1 cup of honey or 3/4 cup sugar
* Optional: Cinnamon
Directions:
I didn't add cinnamon to my batch because it tends to make the mixture a browny color which can be nice but I wanted a nice golden apple sauce to appeal to the kids.
This is basic recipe that you can add on to and tweak to your heart's content. Add peaches or berries and you have a nice mixed apple sauce.
I used freezer jam plastic containers to "jar" my sauce and freeze. I even started to add a spoonful to their dinner plates. They really like it and it's helped them eat their meat more. I just tell them to dip their meat in the sauce and voila no complaints.
Secondly, I don't know if you have heard the recent recall of a variety of juice products due to high lead content. Yes lead. Mostly apples. While we haven't purchased many of those types of juices, we just finished a batch of Mott's Applesauce and Mott's juice products was on the list. So it just goes to show we need to get back to doing things from scratch. Read full article on ModernMom
Recipe Tuesday - Applesauce
The nicest thing about homemade? You control the ingredients. No chemicals, no preservatives, no artificial flavours, no food colours.
My kids actually like this better than the Mott's fruit cup I usually buy for them. It takes a small bit of extra effort because you have to peel your own apples and chop them up but it's worth it.
So here is homemade applesauce a la Zeemaid:
Ingredients
* Water
* Chopped or grated apples (11 medium apples makes four cups)
* Approx 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1 cup of honey or 3/4 cup sugar
* Optional: Cinnamon
Directions:
- In a large pot add a skiff of water, enough to cover the bottom of the pot and for the apples to sit in. Add lemon juice. Set on medium high heat.
- Chop or grate your apples. Grating your apples allows them to cook and break down faster. If you like a chunkier texture to your sauce then I'd recommend chopping. I chopped mine.
- Add your apple slices to the pot as you go, pausing to stir once in a while to ensure that all the apples get covered with the water/lemon mixture. Keeps apples from browning.
- Keep the pot at a low simmer. Once the apples seem to have started to break down and soften add the sugar or honey. I used honey because it's supposed to be better for you. Add the sugar at a half cup at a time. Taste it and see if you want to add more. Depending on how sweet your apples are you may need more or less than what I've written here. Also, do you like sweet or more tart apple sauce?
- Test the apples with a fork, are they soft enough to mash? If you want to add cinnamon do so a tthis stage. Then take a potatoe masher and mash apples in the pot. Allow the apples to continue to simmer for a couple of minutes until it's the consistency you are looking for. If after mashing you find that maybe the apples are not soft enough, add a little water if needed and continue simmering until you're happy with it. Remove from heat and cool before serving.
I didn't add cinnamon to my batch because it tends to make the mixture a browny color which can be nice but I wanted a nice golden apple sauce to appeal to the kids.
This is basic recipe that you can add on to and tweak to your heart's content. Add peaches or berries and you have a nice mixed apple sauce.
I used freezer jam plastic containers to "jar" my sauce and freeze. I even started to add a spoonful to their dinner plates. They really like it and it's helped them eat their meat more. I just tell them to dip their meat in the sauce and voila no complaints.
Little tip: Have any of those plastic cups for freezing breast milk left? They will work as well.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Mystery Poo
Just when I figure it would no longer be appropriate to rename my blog "The Poop Diaries", you know because my kids are getting bigger and are all potty trained, something comes up to make me seriously consider it again.
To say we've had an interesting weekend is putting it mildy. But no, we'd have to go back further than that to say Thursday. On Thursday, when I had come down from putting laundry away upstairs I discovered that O had pooped his pants. I was admittedly to embarrassed to post about my morning spent shampooing the carpet because I felt strangely responsible for his lapse. After all, surely I must have traumatized him in some way for him to regress like this. I sort of equated it to when your pet gets made at you, the only way they can get you back is to crap on the floor. And I had denied him yet another snack so surely it must have been my fault.
Then Saturday afternoon, I'm gone for not five minutes from the room when sudden disaster strikes again. K had just come inside and I heard him talking angrily to the kids. The smell of poo has even wafted all the way upstairs. I come down to see my three little moppets all sitting all in a row on the couch quiet as can be watching a show. Only for some strange reason, poo is smeared all across the back of the couch, into O's hair, all over the toy he is holding in his hand, so much so that even the wheels are full of it. There was streaks of poo on the floor and even in to J's shoes sitting by the door. ?!?!?!?
Does anyone know where this poo came from? No. It's not from O's bum. We checked him and all the others deny any knowledge of having seen poo. Was he playing in the poo? Did he actually run his choo choo through poo? I just don't know. Needless to say I'm not cleaning that toy. It went straight into the garbage. The carpet got shampooed for the second time in as many days.
Then we were awoken to O being sick in the night. At 6:30 a.m. we were up shampooing the carpet in the hallway because he didn't make it to the bathroom. Again, if you don't have a carpet cleaner. Invest in one. Believe me, it's worth it.
Course, O wasn't doing that badly in the morning. He didn't eat breakfast but he was perky enough so we still went out to the lake to visit with family. Little did we know that the motion of the van would make him more sick. Poor little guy. By the time we had gotten out to the lake, we had pulled over 3 times. The rest of the afternoon was spent with him on one of our laps. When he wasn't throwing up he was dozing. If we had of realized he was that sick we wouldn't have bothered going. Still the girls got to out with their uncle in the boat so they had fun.
I was relieved to get him home and settled onto the couch with his own blanky and pillow. Only to have the diarrhea kick in. It was so sudden that the kids don't even realize what's happening. After the second change, I clued in and got out the goodnights and slapped those on him. Better to go back to pullups than to clean poo off the couch.
It only went downhill from there, by 7 pm that night, J was now upchucking and it seemed only E, who had been sick earlier in the week was going to get a good nights sleep. Not so. We must have been up every half hour. If it wasn't one kid throwing up, it was cleaning up diarrhea poop off the floor and stripping the bed of the other. E is actually still sleeping now. I've checked on her 3 times just to make sure she didn't vomit and choke. Although their tummies are so empty, I doubt that would happen. They can't even keep so much as a sip of water down.
It's gonna be one of those days. Two of them are currently zombified on the couch watching treehouse and I'm about to join them... maybe I'll get to snooze a little in between holding the buckets under their heads.
To top it off... I just know the chances of us not getting sick from them is pretty small.
Still, I did manage to get in a special breakfast for K for Father's Day and he showed what a great dad he is by pitching in and helping clean up the mess. This will be a Father's Day to remember sweetie!
To say we've had an interesting weekend is putting it mildy. But no, we'd have to go back further than that to say Thursday. On Thursday, when I had come down from putting laundry away upstairs I discovered that O had pooped his pants. I was admittedly to embarrassed to post about my morning spent shampooing the carpet because I felt strangely responsible for his lapse. After all, surely I must have traumatized him in some way for him to regress like this. I sort of equated it to when your pet gets made at you, the only way they can get you back is to crap on the floor. And I had denied him yet another snack so surely it must have been my fault.
Then Saturday afternoon, I'm gone for not five minutes from the room when sudden disaster strikes again. K had just come inside and I heard him talking angrily to the kids. The smell of poo has even wafted all the way upstairs. I come down to see my three little moppets all sitting all in a row on the couch quiet as can be watching a show. Only for some strange reason, poo is smeared all across the back of the couch, into O's hair, all over the toy he is holding in his hand, so much so that even the wheels are full of it. There was streaks of poo on the floor and even in to J's shoes sitting by the door. ?!?!?!?
Does anyone know where this poo came from? No. It's not from O's bum. We checked him and all the others deny any knowledge of having seen poo. Was he playing in the poo? Did he actually run his choo choo through poo? I just don't know. Needless to say I'm not cleaning that toy. It went straight into the garbage. The carpet got shampooed for the second time in as many days.
Then we were awoken to O being sick in the night. At 6:30 a.m. we were up shampooing the carpet in the hallway because he didn't make it to the bathroom. Again, if you don't have a carpet cleaner. Invest in one. Believe me, it's worth it.
Course, O wasn't doing that badly in the morning. He didn't eat breakfast but he was perky enough so we still went out to the lake to visit with family. Little did we know that the motion of the van would make him more sick. Poor little guy. By the time we had gotten out to the lake, we had pulled over 3 times. The rest of the afternoon was spent with him on one of our laps. When he wasn't throwing up he was dozing. If we had of realized he was that sick we wouldn't have bothered going. Still the girls got to out with their uncle in the boat so they had fun.
I was relieved to get him home and settled onto the couch with his own blanky and pillow. Only to have the diarrhea kick in. It was so sudden that the kids don't even realize what's happening. After the second change, I clued in and got out the goodnights and slapped those on him. Better to go back to pullups than to clean poo off the couch.
It only went downhill from there, by 7 pm that night, J was now upchucking and it seemed only E, who had been sick earlier in the week was going to get a good nights sleep. Not so. We must have been up every half hour. If it wasn't one kid throwing up, it was cleaning up diarrhea poop off the floor and stripping the bed of the other. E is actually still sleeping now. I've checked on her 3 times just to make sure she didn't vomit and choke. Although their tummies are so empty, I doubt that would happen. They can't even keep so much as a sip of water down.
It's gonna be one of those days. Two of them are currently zombified on the couch watching treehouse and I'm about to join them... maybe I'll get to snooze a little in between holding the buckets under their heads.
To top it off... I just know the chances of us not getting sick from them is pretty small.
Still, I did manage to get in a special breakfast for K for Father's Day and he showed what a great dad he is by pitching in and helping clean up the mess. This will be a Father's Day to remember sweetie!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
And the Winner is?
*Drumroll please* The Winner of the Tv Series Hawthorne is Ronnica. Ronnica has 48 hours to contact me with her information.
Thank you to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for providing this opportunity.
Zeemaid
Thank you to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for providing this opportunity.
Zeemaid
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Phew, A little Shock from the Past
I'm not really a Facebook fan. I am registered, under my real name, because I wanted to see information about our High School Reunion. Was that only last year? I believe I've posted about this poor at how amazed I was at suddenly how many "friend" requests I had. I think out of all of those only one or two actually sent me a message. I had to chuckle as I got great satisfaction out of "ignoring" a guy whom I knew for a fact thought I was the biggest "B" in school ever. Still... the reunion is over, I never went mostly because of my "apathetic friends" and so I rarely ever check my facebook page.
Still, I have to admit I did try a couple of times to look up old boyfriends. Heh heh. Of course, I was annoyed that because I wasn't friends with them I couldn't check out their profiles and get a sneak update on their lives. Did they get married, did they have children etc? And no way was I going to lower myself to requesting friend status. After all, there was no way I wanted them to know I was curious, right? There is a reason why they are exes.
So I was surprised today when I was compelled to log on to my facebook page so I could comment on another site to discover a friend request from an old boyfriend. I have to admit my heart pounded a little. No, not because he was the "one" as in the one boyfriend that sometimes infiltrates my dreams but just from the shock of it. The break up didn't end well, I sued him over a computer which I was embarrassed over later, and we never spoke again since that last settlement conference. Some 15 + years ago. OMG it was actually more like 18 years ago. I am so getting old.
The more embarrassing fact was that around a year or two later, I was alone and lonely having moved back home and of course with Rose Coloured glasses on started missing him. He really was a great guy. I met him while I was on rebound from the "one" and we hit it off and before I knew it, we were living together. After a while though I realized that I didn't really "love" him and wanted out and the rest is history.
Anyways, the embarrassing part was that I actually stooped to calling him. Instead of getting him though, I got a woman who informed me that he was his fiance and when I explained to her that I was just an old friend calling, she had never heard of me. Oh that put me in my place. I quickly got off the line, unplugged my phone for a couple of days and tried to put it out of my mind.
So the big question did I respond to his friend request? Yes I did. Mainly because he actually sent me a message although it was only to ask if I was indeed who he thought I was. Now I have no idea how he stumbled across my profile as we have no "friends" in common and live completely separate lives six hours away from each other. And secondly, it was 18 years ago and you would think I could be mature enough after all this time. I said.... you would think. ;)
Facebook can be so frustrating though. As his "friend" I was at liberty to poke around his site a little and so far I have seen one kid in a photo but no photos of a possible "wife". Oh well, I guess I will have to wait for his reply to find out how he's fared all these years.
Please enter my giveaway for a 3 Disc Set of Hawthorne. It ends Friday
Still, I have to admit I did try a couple of times to look up old boyfriends. Heh heh. Of course, I was annoyed that because I wasn't friends with them I couldn't check out their profiles and get a sneak update on their lives. Did they get married, did they have children etc? And no way was I going to lower myself to requesting friend status. After all, there was no way I wanted them to know I was curious, right? There is a reason why they are exes.
So I was surprised today when I was compelled to log on to my facebook page so I could comment on another site to discover a friend request from an old boyfriend. I have to admit my heart pounded a little. No, not because he was the "one" as in the one boyfriend that sometimes infiltrates my dreams but just from the shock of it. The break up didn't end well, I sued him over a computer which I was embarrassed over later, and we never spoke again since that last settlement conference. Some 15 + years ago. OMG it was actually more like 18 years ago. I am so getting old.
The more embarrassing fact was that around a year or two later, I was alone and lonely having moved back home and of course with Rose Coloured glasses on started missing him. He really was a great guy. I met him while I was on rebound from the "one" and we hit it off and before I knew it, we were living together. After a while though I realized that I didn't really "love" him and wanted out and the rest is history.
Anyways, the embarrassing part was that I actually stooped to calling him. Instead of getting him though, I got a woman who informed me that he was his fiance and when I explained to her that I was just an old friend calling, she had never heard of me. Oh that put me in my place. I quickly got off the line, unplugged my phone for a couple of days and tried to put it out of my mind.
So the big question did I respond to his friend request? Yes I did. Mainly because he actually sent me a message although it was only to ask if I was indeed who he thought I was. Now I have no idea how he stumbled across my profile as we have no "friends" in common and live completely separate lives six hours away from each other. And secondly, it was 18 years ago and you would think I could be mature enough after all this time. I said.... you would think. ;)
Facebook can be so frustrating though. As his "friend" I was at liberty to poke around his site a little and so far I have seen one kid in a photo but no photos of a possible "wife". Oh well, I guess I will have to wait for his reply to find out how he's fared all these years.
Please enter my giveaway for a 3 Disc Set of Hawthorne. It ends Friday
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Hawthorne TV Series 3 Disc Giveaway
Hawthorne Season One is being released today on DVD. I am excited to tell you that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has offered to give one of my lucky readers his or her own 3 disc set. Haven't seen Hawthorne yet? This amazing new drama series stars Jada Pinkett-Smith who plays Christine Hawthorne a recently widowed nursing director and mother to a teenage daughter. Christine Hawthorne tries to juggle her career and family while struggling to "hold the middle ground in a battle between bureaucratic administrators, heartless doctors, and apathetic colleagues who are caught up in a system that’s forgotten whom it’s there to serve."
More than just a medical drama, it shows the struggle we women face when trying to balance our careers and our family life.
So to enter to win this TV Series, leave a comment sharing how you maintain your hectic life.
For an extra entry Tweet about this giveaway and let me know @Zeemaid
Giveaway ends Friday, June 18th 6 pm
For more information check out Hawthorne's Official DVD Site
Like to see an Episode clip, check out Healing Time
Monday, June 14, 2010
Weekend Update, Garage Sale & Unexpected Sadness
We've been fairly busy this weekend what with getting ready to have the mother of all garage sales Saturday morning. Untrue to form, we actually got ourselves up at 6 am and were fed and out the door by 6:30 to start setting up well before K's parents even arrived.
It seems that we were incapable of caring for three kids while conducting a garage sale at the same time so they insisted on showing up to help. Which when you consider the amount of mess they left behind, as apparently they needed to use every dish in the house to serve three kids breakfast and the fact that MIL insisted on having the blinds all the way up so the kids could stare and cry over every toy they saw being carried away and that E and J ended up with us anyway having a lemonade stand... you can see how useful their presence was. Bitter much? Not I. Could I turn this into a Not Me Monday and claim that I never get offended by the fact that they fail to acknowlege we are grownups and are capable of handling ourselves? Oh no, they don't insist on treating us like children. They never once admonished my husband not to clear out the gutters on his own. He did not have to wait for their presence and assistance before doing so. Do I need to remind anyone that he is 37 years old?
Okay, I got that bit of grumbling out of the way. The main thing is that the garage sale was a success. We made over $500.00 and most of the big stuff sold. It was a little disheartening to bring a lot of stuff back into the house but then I figured that stuff was mostly junk anyways. That and the fact that we had no tables so a lot of the great things like all the great sheers and curtains got over looked. So we'll donate it or recycle it. One or the other.
That was Saturday. What I did not expect was that last night as we lay in bed, I suddenly recalled the pooh couch and asked Hubs if it had sold. He said yes it had. To my surprise, I started to cry and said I hadn't really wanted to sell it. Which I hadn't. It was something that hubs had added to the pile last minute and although I had said okay at the time I hadn't really had time to think about it as we were busy. Then I started to recall all the other neat toys we had sold and started to cry as well. Why? He asked. Well those particular toys had a lot of great memories. I have tons of photos of the kids curled up on that couch and the games they played with it and the turtle sand box... well that was given to E for her first birthday. It's silly and unpractical. They were outgrowing those toys anyways but still... for the first time I felt like a truly mean mom. After all didn't my daughter stand up in her bedroom window and sob through half of the sale? My husband, practical man that he is, pointed out that she got over her sadness pretty quick when we set her up selling lemonade.
Still, I sort of wish I knew who had bought the pooh bear couch so I could ask for it back.
It seems that we were incapable of caring for three kids while conducting a garage sale at the same time so they insisted on showing up to help. Which when you consider the amount of mess they left behind, as apparently they needed to use every dish in the house to serve three kids breakfast and the fact that MIL insisted on having the blinds all the way up so the kids could stare and cry over every toy they saw being carried away and that E and J ended up with us anyway having a lemonade stand... you can see how useful their presence was. Bitter much? Not I. Could I turn this into a Not Me Monday and claim that I never get offended by the fact that they fail to acknowlege we are grownups and are capable of handling ourselves? Oh no, they don't insist on treating us like children. They never once admonished my husband not to clear out the gutters on his own. He did not have to wait for their presence and assistance before doing so. Do I need to remind anyone that he is 37 years old?
Okay, I got that bit of grumbling out of the way. The main thing is that the garage sale was a success. We made over $500.00 and most of the big stuff sold. It was a little disheartening to bring a lot of stuff back into the house but then I figured that stuff was mostly junk anyways. That and the fact that we had no tables so a lot of the great things like all the great sheers and curtains got over looked. So we'll donate it or recycle it. One or the other.
That was Saturday. What I did not expect was that last night as we lay in bed, I suddenly recalled the pooh couch and asked Hubs if it had sold. He said yes it had. To my surprise, I started to cry and said I hadn't really wanted to sell it. Which I hadn't. It was something that hubs had added to the pile last minute and although I had said okay at the time I hadn't really had time to think about it as we were busy. Then I started to recall all the other neat toys we had sold and started to cry as well. Why? He asked. Well those particular toys had a lot of great memories. I have tons of photos of the kids curled up on that couch and the games they played with it and the turtle sand box... well that was given to E for her first birthday. It's silly and unpractical. They were outgrowing those toys anyways but still... for the first time I felt like a truly mean mom. After all didn't my daughter stand up in her bedroom window and sob through half of the sale? My husband, practical man that he is, pointed out that she got over her sadness pretty quick when we set her up selling lemonade.
Still, I sort of wish I knew who had bought the pooh bear couch so I could ask for it back.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Wordless Wednesday - Wiggin Out
It's just so sad that we as moms find so little to amuse us in this job that we have to create our own amusement by torturing our children. You might want to check out my mom or super spy post.
For the record, I can't remember who actually put the wig on her but still...
it was good for a chuckle at the time. ;)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Recipe Tuesday - Cheesy Italian Tortellini
This week's kid approved recipe comes from Tracy Stallard over at Allrecipes.com. The great thing about this recipe, like most of the recipes I recommend, is that you can take it down to the bare bones and then adjust it as much or as little as you'd like to your own family's tastes. Again, I was surprised that my children liked this. Now when I serve it I actually get exclamations of "Oh I love those noodles, mommy".
First here are the ingredients and instructions as outlined in the recipe. Direct Link to photos and recipe here.
Ingredients
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
1 (16 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated or fresh cheese tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
1.Crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage into a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain.
2.Combine the ground meats, marinara sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on LOW heat for 7 to 8 hours.
3.Stir in the tortellini, and sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese over the top. Cover and cook for 15 more minutes on LOW, or until the tortellini is tender.
Now for Zeemaid's take on the recipe.
#1. I generally use ground turkey and mild Italian ground turkey sausage if we have it on hand. If not, I just use the ground turkey. My children are not keen on spicy dishes anyways. So make it mild if you need to.
#2. My children don't like mushrooms so I omit that.
#3. This does not have to sit and stew all day. I've actually started it mid afternoon and still had a wonderful dish by 4pm. You can opt to just use marinara sauce if you like. If you're not adding in a can of the undrained diced tomatoes.. then add a small can of water to the pot for extra liquid. I've used different kinds of marinara sauce and even made my own four cheese sauce by adding different cheeses to it while it cooked. Yummy.
#4. I always boil my tortellini first. The first time I made this I added it in as per the directions and we found that the tortellini was not cooked all the way through. So I boil it and then add it to the crock pot for the 15 minutes. It has never been overcooked.
This was even a great and economical dish to serve friends when they came over. One package of family sized tortellini and one package of ground turkey served 7 people. Excellent dish to serve with salad. They absolutely raved about it and asked for the recipe.
Like this recipe there are many more great recipes like it over at AllRecipes.com
First here are the ingredients and instructions as outlined in the recipe. Direct Link to photos and recipe here.
Ingredients
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
1 (16 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated or fresh cheese tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
1.Crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage into a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain.
2.Combine the ground meats, marinara sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on LOW heat for 7 to 8 hours.
3.Stir in the tortellini, and sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese over the top. Cover and cook for 15 more minutes on LOW, or until the tortellini is tender.
Now for Zeemaid's take on the recipe.
#1. I generally use ground turkey and mild Italian ground turkey sausage if we have it on hand. If not, I just use the ground turkey. My children are not keen on spicy dishes anyways. So make it mild if you need to.
#2. My children don't like mushrooms so I omit that.
#3. This does not have to sit and stew all day. I've actually started it mid afternoon and still had a wonderful dish by 4pm. You can opt to just use marinara sauce if you like. If you're not adding in a can of the undrained diced tomatoes.. then add a small can of water to the pot for extra liquid. I've used different kinds of marinara sauce and even made my own four cheese sauce by adding different cheeses to it while it cooked. Yummy.
#4. I always boil my tortellini first. The first time I made this I added it in as per the directions and we found that the tortellini was not cooked all the way through. So I boil it and then add it to the crock pot for the 15 minutes. It has never been overcooked.
This was even a great and economical dish to serve friends when they came over. One package of family sized tortellini and one package of ground turkey served 7 people. Excellent dish to serve with salad. They absolutely raved about it and asked for the recipe.
Like this recipe there are many more great recipes like it over at AllRecipes.com
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