For Ellen, yes, that Ellen, seriously

So I love the show Ellen. I DVR it every day. :) She never, and I mean never fails to bring several smiles to my face as well as causes me to laugh out loud. I depend on her, I count on her and I am happy to rely on her. This week I realized I had to talk to her... so here is the video I made for her.

Wow! cannot begin to tell you how nervous I was making that video. And now I will wonder... will she ever see it.... I wonder how many messages she gets a day. Great now I will wonder that too.

What is up lately...

We now have all 4 Christmas trees done and the majority of the Christmas boxes up in the storage loft. So very very close to being completely de-Christmassed. LOL

The kitten and puppy (can I call her that since she is not yet 1 yr old?) are doing fairly well together. They wrestle quite energetically. I mean really, with body slams and everything. She is quite tiny compared to our massive (LOL) dog. Hey! our dog is massive compared to kitty!

Feels very very weird to not be looking forward to going to Florida in March. We are not taking any trips this year and it feels so strange. I think I am happy / excited to not have to dig out suitcases. But when my BFF texted me today the dates she will be in Florida, I must say I had some momentary regrets.

Hoping my hubby called Judy today! :)

New Beginnings

how do you feel about the New Year each year? do you find yourself setting tons of goals? I find my mind swims quite a bit there in January each year. I also feel I get a Holiday Hangover. Sort of that icky feeling from having some candy, large meals and burning the candle on both ends.

In the fall, in early October, I had some people come in and help me purge and organize our home. We really made some great changes and a lot of stuff left our house. (you would not know it to visit LOL) and now with Christmas over, we have stuff again... Not the same amount but some of the gifts we got sort of replaced some stuff that we had purged. I purged a Santa cookie jar and lo and behold we got one. I purged a chocolate fondue set and lo and behold.... I gave me such a feeling of release and lightness to have less stuff to take care of and organize and it is amazing how heavy you can feel having to now find a place for it all over again.

at work, we started a healthy lifestyle / weight loss challenge. I signed up for it. I have not begun to participate as of yet. I cannot say quite why. I am in sort of a funk I guess. I need to give myself a talking to ??? or maybe kick myself in the butt?

I always loved blogging so I hope to get back into that too.

Several people have told me you cannot wish people a Happy New Year after a certain date. But I defy them and say Happy 2010 to all of you!

Slow Motion - NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I love to blog... I really do.... I never seem to get to it as much as I want to... but I do love to blog.... and I also LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE comments... but that doesn't work out the way I want either... oh well...

on to the post I had to write regardless of exhaustion

My hubby is off right now. Vacay. Lucky man. Well he does work hard... so I am ok with it... the fact that he is off and I am not. Really, I am ok with it... That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Anyhoo....

First week of his vacay... and he is doing tasks around home. I am delighted, tickled pink actually.

He hauled out the carpet scrubber. Dashed off to the store and bought the cleaning fluid said machine requires and scrubbed the heck out of our creamish berber carpet we stupidly put in our family room when we should have done laminate or hard wood because two little girls and one hell of a clutzy mother spill tons of stuff. Sorry, I digress.

So it is seriously hot out, he scrubs and scrubs and scrubs. Does stair landings as well.

So me and the kids come home... carpet looks great! You can hardly see the 7 milion stains that were in it! Amazing! He instantly tells us to go around the corner with our shoes. And then we cook the beans and weiners we are having for supper.

We are one of those families (I KNOW THERE ARE HARDLY ANY OF THESE ON THE PLANET...) that sometimes... SOMETIMES NOT ALWAYS (although perhaps 99.8% of the time) eat in front of the t.v.

Yes I know that is terrible. I hate it for all kinds of reasons.... we are not connecting as a family... we are missing amazing bonding time... wonderful rich conversations etc. And I have guilt. Moving on...

So there we are beans and weiners and trays and a tv that is on.

Hubby heads downstairs to the basement for some reason.

Eldest daughter gets up... and somehow... (she is not clutzy like her mom and sister) her bowl goes flying through the air... SERIOUSLY... flying... does a friggin' swear on my life loop de frickin' loop!!!! and heads upside down towards the carpet...

NO word of a LIE... time slowed down... the whole thing seemed to be slow motion... HONEST TO GOD... I screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and it came out loud and slow like it was being played slow on a loud speaker... and SPLAT!

HOLY SHIT!

you should have seen her eyes! I have never seen eyes bug out that far! My chin was on the floor! We stared at each other for a moment. A long moment which involved time freezing.

My youngest daughter was looking on at us GOGGLE EYED.

Then time unfroze... I screamed again... "Move!" and in tandem we began... she RAN... grabbed paper towel... I shouted in staccato what the carpet stain remover spray looked like... get it ... under the sink.... I grabbed a dry dishcloth from the drawer... wet it, squeezed... she came flying back from upstairs where the stain remover was at the ready for potential cat puke (ANOTHER STORY I WILL NOT POST AS WHO WOULD WANT TO READ THAT)

frantic scrubbing ensued....

little one ran downstairs... "it is okay guys... I will tell Daddy it was an accident."

Time froze again.

Eldest and I simultaneously said "NOOOOOOOOOO" in long, loud slow motion....

She came back. "I did not tell him" Stared at us again GOGGLE EYED.

I go to sink and rinse cloths and towels...

He arrives from the basement....

Sees me at sink.... I try to look non-chalant... but my eyes are bugging out of my head.

He says... "Tell me someone did NOT spill something."

And the rest is up to your imaginations.... .... ..... ... ....

I do wish it had been videod though... cuz I really do believe it was in slow motion.

Brace yourself for a shock.... !!!!

r u ready? seriously... I hope you r sitting down... !

I am NO domestic diva!!!!

I know your mind is reeling at this revelation...

You all probably thought I was Martha Stewart-like...

BAAAAAAhahahahahhahaha!!!

ok, so those of you who know me... know I am NOT remotely "domesticky"!

So my mind is sorta spinning cuz yesterday... I tidied, I cleaned including scrubbing a bathroom and sweeping, LOL... went to an appointment, went to work, registered one of my kid for summer camps, got gas and did other errands on way home including purchased flour, shortening, and cooking oil, came home, ate, organized and then made two batches of cupcakes and a cake... FROM SCRATCH!!! and then found some quality time with hubby as well!!!

what the heck was up with all that????

have I turned over a new leaf?

BAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

Lately... & a difficult day ahead...

lately...

the girls played for hours downstairs with babies and toy dishes and then hosted a supper for G & I down there... they were very involved with the props and toys and it was so enjoyable to see them immersed in cooperative play... :) (and supper was good too!)

today they decided to use some sidewalk chalk... they chalked the stair railing out front, the step stone at the bottom of the stairs and all over the driveway as well... they had a super time with it...

It is 1:43 a.m. Today is my husband's late sister's birthday. She would have been 51 today. We lost her in February. Today we are burying her ashes. It will be a difficult day.

My littlest said "It is sad that the birthday girl will not be here" and I agreed. She then asked if we could give her a piece of cake. I said we would have to see how everyone feels... and she then asked if she could sing Happy Birthday too...

Isn't it amazing how kids can be... .... ... I don't know what to say here... I want to say intuitive... warm... caring... comfortable????? but perhaps when you read this you won't think so????

I should get to bed.... I have to make cupcakes in the morning so we can take one with us.

Miss you Cheryl.

Kids' Thinking

Kids have the funniest thoughts and perspectives... the way they process information and what they come up with are the best!

My daughter and I were watching a show together on a Saturday afternoon and a Monistat commercial comes on. Yes, that is what I typed: Monistat. This woman buys it and then as she is doing something else a cartoon rainbow appears just above her privates. My eldest and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, then it continued... and as one woman goes to go outside to ride a bike a cartoon thought bubble appears again, by the privates, with exclamation points and you hear a sort of "hmmmmph!" exclamation... well by this point we are roaring with laughter. And the best part of it is.... I never asked her what she thought was funny. As I did not want to discuss what Monistat is for in any way.

So then we are watching another show, a family one at that, and this young woman finds herself in the family way. She tells her boyfriend and he looks shocked. So then my eights year old says "well she can always use birth control pills"... ... ..... I whip my head around and look at her and cannot ask fast enough "how do you know about birth control pills????" and then I quickly ask "what do you think birth control pills are?" and she starts laughing at me like that is the craziest question imaginable. "Mommmmmm! come on!" she says.... so now I am close to having a heart attack. "it keeps the baby in... you know controls it.. until you are ready." I think my eyes bugged completely out of my head and then I burst out laughing. "Cuz they are called birth control mom!"

My Girls: Backwards up the Hotel Pool Slide!

well first off I have been dying to post about a visit we had to the hotel pool a couple weeks ago... we went to the pool nearby on a Monday afternoon around 4 p.m. There was NO ONE there! that was awesome! so we had it completely to ourselves... Melanie had gone with us as well! :)

so my girls have never quite gotten up the nerve to go down the slide. They have gone up to the top and walked back down the stairs on many occassions. So since no one is there... I put them in the mouth of the slide (taking turns of course!) and encourage them to just go back a bit to try it. So they do, over and over... going up a little bit more at a time. I kept expecting that at any moment someone would come in and I would be banned from the pool... but no one did and the kids were having a great time experimenting and testing their fears in a way they felt comfortable with.

Now we have gotten to the point where they were were walking up and around inside it sooo far. At one point, my littlest had gone in and up and Mel and I got stressed... no sign of her.... and it was several minutes... I yelled out her name and then I heard giggling.... manic giggling---from above... I look up and see her up there waving from the landing at the top of the slide. So I said... well you might as well come down now. She beamed at me and hopped in and slid down!!!! and since she asked for me to catch her - she slammed into me! And then she kept slamming into me over and over and the other one kept watching and pondering... Then at one point when my littlest was whipping down the slide at top speed... I moved as I did not want to whammied again and came out spinning and kersplash - under she went with her Barbie life jacket on. She pops back up and burst out laughing and says I am going again without you there!

Before we left, my eldest decided to give it a go and loved it too! I was sooooo proud of her. She is much more cautious then her little sister. She asked if we uncurled the slide would it be as big a hill as Splash Mountain and I pondered it and said... yes, I think so. Then she said... "maybe, just maybe, I will go on Splash Mountain next time."

:)

Technical Difficulties!!!!! And Stay Tuned....

well.... my kids are up in the playroom / guest room watching the Chronicles of Narnia... and hubby wanted to watch hockey (ick!) and so I headed to the living room... thought I would watch a movie on my laptop while I did some work... I got the laptop in February...

so I put the movie in... and windows media tries to play it... and a message pops up and says that it cannot play as I do not have a dvd compatible decoder????? wt*????? so I click on help and it takes me to microsoft's help world... and suggests I buy one with many choices ranging from $11.99 to $49.99... I was soooooo p*^^ed. I mulled and contemplated... that can't be the case... every computer I have had and we have had at work for years and years plays dvds, from the day you get the computer.... what the heck?

so then I figure I must have a piece of software in the house that would do the job without me digging out a credit card. So I find Roxio Media Creator 7. I had bought it years ago... and was sooo excited... but then did not get to use it as I installed it on my old laptop and it had compatibility issues with my software that interacted with our camcorder. And since we had paid a lot for the camcorder... I had to keep that software on even though Media Creator had way more features. So I figured... I will install this.... that will enable a dvd to play and maybe I will finally get to use it! (GREAT PLAN YOU ARE SAYING RIGHT?) well not so... I try to install it and it asks for the keycode... go*^#mn it! where the heck could that be after all these years???? so then I go to the Roxio site to see about getting a new code (yah! that would be a No with a big capital "N") and while there I get mesmerized by the video advertising Roxio Media Creator 10. Wow! I think.... pretty.... shiny.... cool program with wicked features even better then #7 that I never got to enjoy.... look I can get $20 off if I prove I have an older version.... but no, I do not bite.

So hubby says... take the t.v. in here... and I say...no, I want to be able to watch a dvd on the laptop... it will need to watch one some other time so I might as well deal with this now. (Famous last words)

So I put on some headphones and crank some tunes while I get ready to purchase a decoder. My fave songs are blasting in my ears... loving the quality with the headphones on. And I purchase the cheapest dvd decorder possible. So it downloads and then I virus scan it... and install it... and then you WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!!!!

It asks for a verification code or some other code... oh right! And it says if you have not purchased one to click here to purchase one! I am not joking! I am serious! Can you even believe it????? And now you will say... she did not then purchase one... right????? cuz am I that much of a sucker?

Well by this point I am on a mission, come hell or high water this laptop is playing a dvd... so I click on it... and the g/d activation code is double the price of the g/d decoder was!!!!!!!

so as the sage / adventure / nightmare / crisis / or whatever you wanna call it continues... I had turned my music off.... so I decide to listen to it to chill out. And ... now my music doesn't work.... you have to picture my face at that point... and my fury / confusion / desire to pound my head into the screen of the machine in front of me or perhaps chuck it against a wall..... It says I either don't have a sound card or it is in use by some other program....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

p.s. the company that sucked me in.... was the same company that makes the program that mesmerized me and they also now make the program that interacts with our camcorder... they took it over or something... wonder if they fixed the compatibility issue and what a scam with the activation codes eh????

p.p.s. wish me luck with all this please.

my first meme - thanks Lesley! I think... hmmmm

wow! my very first time to be tagged for a meme.... not sure if I am excited or fearful... well I will go with excited!

I have to remember that my blogspot imports into my facebook automatically as a note... so this could be dangerous for me... hmmmmm

1. Where did you meet?
We met at Shoppers Drug Mart which was the very first "food basket" Shoppers in Nova Scotia. The excitement was palpable... LOL... that over the "food basket" designation that is. He was my supervisor... we were a psychology experiment that the head cosmetician and the head cashier had planned... Linda, the head cashier, decided I was perfect for him. She pulled Ruth Anne in on her plan and between the two of the continually telling him I liked him and thought he was cute and vice versa... we got pulled in... tee hee... and every time I see the wedding video and see them arriving... I laugh wondering what they thought that day.

2. How long did you date? haha... that is soooo funny... well he started asking me around June to be his girlfriend... which sounds funny but remember that would be a couple DECADES ago, but I had been hurt a couple times so I was seeing a couple of people and was having too much fun playing the field so he was one of four at the time... wow... amazing to think back on it. But then I went away to visit a friend in Ontario and missed him desperately for the 2 weeks and called him constantly so when he met me at the airport and asked me again I said "yes". That was August 13th, 1987. And we got engaged the day before our one month anniversary.

3. How old is he? My darling husband of almost 19 years is 44 years old. I am not quite 41 but getting close.

4. Who eats more? well this question is a sweet one isn't it... well sitting down at a meal... definitely he does. Unless it is tacos... then I kick his butt as I looooooove tacos. We both get the munchies far too often! dammit!

5. Who said “I love you” first? have to say I cannot remember.... wish I could... it has been 2 decades. Must ask him if he knows....

6. Who is taller? He is... that was an easy one! He is 6'4" and I am 5'6"

7. Who sings better? crap.... I have no idea... I will sing in church... when my voice joins a crowd... I will sing with kids at daycare and I will sing my friggin' head off in the car but otherwise DETEST my voice... he sings to me when he has had some drinks and is dancing with me... which I can count on my hands as far too few dances for 20 years buddy!

8. Who is smarter? shall I respond by intelligent quotient comparison... LOL... I think we are pretty equal. We both have areas of knowledge that we are more familiar with but pretty much round and about the same on the whole.

9. Whose temper is worse? Emotionally speaking, my emotions are demonstrated in a far more intense manner. All of them, happiness, joy, excitement, sadness, anger etc. Actually off the charts compared to most people. I am a 150% into everything kind of gal. So my temper is sort of worse in that it gets riled up faster but it is over fast too. His takes more to flare and then can last for some time.

19. Who does the laundry? well he would say he does more but I definitely disagree. And G we are not counting the hockey jerseys for the team you coach! We can get tons done in spurts. We both fold. But I put it all away except his.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? he does currently but it all depends on where the bed is.... it is all about the location of the door in relation to the bed with him.... sorta weird eh?

12. Who pays the bills? he does... cuz years ago when I had an obsessive system with a ledger and logged everything to the penny... one day when I asked for his bank machine slips and he didn't act fast enough... I threw the ledger at him. I have only thrown 2 things in 20 years and they were all in the first couple years. The other was a tv remote. Never hit him and knew I wouldn't.

13. Who cooks dinner? hahahahahahahahahh..... BAAAAHAHAHHAHAHA.... 99.9% of the time he does. And when I get dinner together... once in a millenia... it is not a real cooked one unless you count warming a can of something.

14. Who drives when you are together? He does. He enjoys driving. I have only enjoyed driving once for a brief period of time... when we first got the Blazer (which we don't have anymmore) I loved driving it for the first couple weeks.... felt awesome... like it was powerful and I was on top of the world somehow.

15. Who is more stubborn? not sure... I think we are both pretty stubborn.

16. Who kissed whom first? He kissed me. It was so fast, and on the cheek, I was almost certain I imagined it. Me and my galpals had been out to a Kool & the Gang concert and were back at the appartment Rae was taking care of for a friend; he and the security guard for Shoppers came over afterwards and after spending some time alone in a room chatting (with me wondering the entire time if he really liked me and why did he come over since he was sitting sooooo far away from me....), I walked him to the door and thought about walking him out of my life.... holy shyness Batman... when he quickly kissed me on the cheek and dashed off.

17. Who is the first to admit to being wrong? always me.... he has never admitted to being wrong I don't think. right babe? or am I wrong again? LOL

18. Whose parents do you see the most? well mine are away a good chunk of the year... so sort of his mom I guess?

19. Who proposed? He did... he arrived on my parents doorstep with two bouquets of flowers. One was an assortment for my mom he told me as my dad was away in PEI and it was their wedding anniversary and a box of long stemmed roses for me. It was a Friday and mom was taking a bunch of us young'uns out to dinner at the Mother Tucker's. He handed me the flowers as we were walking upstairs. I asked why I got flowers and he said... "uhhhh... tomorrow is our one month anniversary and the florist might be closed." Which was sort of funny, but cute. He was nervous but I did not clue in to that... So then we were walking up the stairs and he blurted out "Will you marry me?"and my response, cuz I thought he was horsing around... was in a laughing but sarcastic manner... and I stress again... cuz I really 150% thought he was messing with my head.... was "F*^k off"... wow... painful to type it here... it is a much better story with a glass of something in hand and everyone giggling and on the edge of their seat. Which they are as they can't believe we got engaged so quickly and are still married. So we get to the kitchen and I give mom the flowers he got her and we are all chatting and gabbing and excited to be going out and I open the box of roses to get a vase and I am organizing them and then I see a ring box in the corner of the box... a burgundy one with the word Tradition on it.... and I am flabbergasted... don't know what to do or say or think... so I look away and keep talking and searching for a vase and am shaking... and he takes it out and asks me again. And this time my answer was obviously yes.

20. What’s his best physical attribute? hmmmm... his thick hair, his eyes, his hugs are amazing... his shoulders... I love him all what can I say.

21. Who has more friends? what the heck? I don't know... check our facebook profiles... LOL... about the same?

22. What are you most proud of him for? He is a wonderful father, son and educator. He puts so much into being there for his mom, and our kids and his students.

23. Who has more siblings? He does. He is from a family with 4 kids and I only have the one sibling.

24. Who wears the pants in the family? well now... that is a loaded question if ever there was one.... I shall plead the fifth on that one.