Life in the Canadian Desert

Moved!!

2010-02-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

You can now find me blogging in my new home: Educating Jackie

Dusting off and Starting Over

2010-02-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about this blog lately, and I really want to start back into my routine of updating here regularly, but I'm struggling with how is the best way to go about doing that.

I think I need a change, and I'm not sure if I can do that in this space. I would love to make a fresh start, and have a blank canvas where I can blog without having to worry about how I used to do things here, where I could create my own niche find my voice again.

So I'm in the process of re-locating. I'm not sure if the blog will be a blogger blog again, or maybe another form of blog altogether? Time will tell, but watch this space, as I will come back here soon, and let you know where you can find me. Because believe me, after all these months of silence, I have LOTS to say :)

Migraines and Me

2009-10-22T14:36:00.000-06:00

I received and e-mail message a few days ago from someone who followed my blog back when I had daily chronic migraine headaches. She hadn’t read in a few years, and when she stumbled across my blog again recently she noticed I no longer talked about my Migraines (can we get an Amen???). She asked what I had done to stop my migraines, or at least control them. When I was responding to her e-mail I realized there are probably a few others who might be wondering the same thing, and since most of my archives have been deleted (although I am considering bring them back) I should post here what worked for me and my migraines. So the following is the e-mail response I sent to the afore mentioned commenter:

I wouldn't say I'm cured of my migraine, but defiantly don't get them regularly or frequently anymore!! The first thing I did was switch my medication to a different daily preventative (which I can't even remember the name of anymore). Then I stopped taking birth control, and also started watching my diet. I cut out all caffeine (coke was a big one for me) and chocolate, processed cheese and other things that are clearly bad for you. Then I started going to a massage therapist weekly. This was a therapist that was trained in acupressure, and was very knowledgeable about headaches and how to treat them, so if you are going to try massage, make sure you shop around and get someone who knows what they are doing!
After about 6months my headaches were very rare, so I stopped taking the daily medication to see if I still needed it. Which, thank goodness, I didn't! Then I slowly started to spread out my massages, going once every two weeks, and then monthly, and now I only go when I need it (if my neck is particularly tense, or if I'm getting a few migraines or headaches in a row). It was at this time that I got pregnant, so the birth control was no longer an issue. After I was pregnant I went on a birth control where I only got my period once every 3 months, that way my body could get back into a normal routine and get used to the hormonal changes slowly. After my body was used to that, I switched to an IUD, so I have no artificial hormones and no meds right now!

I am so happy this worked for me, I am now at a point where I get a couple migraines every now and again, and they are usually well handled with my Maxalt or if it's a regular headache, I alternate between Advil and Tylenol so my body doesn't get used to one or the other.

This worked great for me, I really think my body needed to be detoxed, which is why the med change and then diet change helped me, my body had got into a rhythm of pain, and it needed something to break that cycle.

I'm at a point now where I still don't eat processed cheeses, but I can have coke and chocolate in moderation without getting a headache right away. I do still watch what I eat, try to eat organic and healthy and stay away from the crap.

I think for me it was very important to just start listening to my body, and learn my cues so I know what triggers a headache for me, and what I need to do to stop that cycle from happening.

Headaches and migraines are so very unique to each individual, so what worked for me might not work for you, but you can take bits and pieces of what worked for other people and create system that works for you.

*** I’d also like to take a quick second to thank everyone who has commented here lately. I since I’ve started posting here again, I sometimes wonder why I even bother, since I lost all my readers when I shut things down last summer. Getting comments really does motivate me to take better care of this space, and to keep writing, which is so therapeutic for me. So thank you! And to the troll comment left here recently, thank you as well! My first troll!! How proud I was to read that, because everyone knows you haven’t made it in blog land until you are trolled! ;)

On the Farm

2009-10-03T09:08:00.000-06:00

My mom and I were lucky enough to be able to take Donovan to a farm just outside of town, and visit with a new baby calf and some real race horses.

Here are some of the best pictures from that day (click on any picture to enlarge)

What do you think??

2009-09-25T23:47:00.000-06:00

I was playing around in photoshop this evening, and I need your help! What do you think of the edited version? Too much? or would you take it in a whole different direction? Perfect the way it is? Or do you like the orriginal best??? Let me know what you think!!

Orriginal:

Edit:

The wise man..

2009-09-25T14:41:00.000-06:00

built his house upon a rock...

Did you ever sing that song when you were little? I was one my of favorite Sunday School songs, the wise man built his house upon (up on ?) a rock, and the foolish man built his on the sand. Silly man.

Well from what the backhoe opperator told us, we are definatly building on rock! Or at least some VERY hard dirt, which I guess is just as good in building terms.

It's getting so exciting to drive out to the new house and see the progess! We still haven't sold our house, but have had some very positive feedback from people interested, so here's hoping that happens soon!

A couple pictures to tide you over, and yes, there will be more coming this weekend, because there are a bunch on my camera that haven't quite made it to the computer yet!

(and again, still no spell check in blogger, someone, anyone??? other then typing it in word and pasting it over here, is there a spell check shortcut that I'm missing somewhere???)

I cannot tell you how much fun I am having picking out paint colours. Markibly MORE fun then Jamie is incendently.

And I leave you with some picutre I took last weekend of Jamie and Donovan checking out the pond that our property boarders. I LOVE these pictures. My problem now is trying to decide which one I like the best!!

New House - Day 1

2009-09-16T22:06:00.000-06:00

Today was the day! We started building our new home! I am so excited!! Jamie and I keep looking at each other like, "really??? is this REALLY happening?" and the answer is always, YES IT IS!

First a few pictures of the "before". This is our land, those of you who have been reading for a while will remember about 3 years ago when we bought this. It's about 10mins outside of town, and about 5acres. And we love it, we think we are so lucky to have water on our land, since as the title of this blog states, we live in a desert!

Dig Day! Eight years ago when our brother and sister-in-law built their dream home, we all gathered on their lot to watch the shovels hit the ground, and we had hot chocolate to celebrate (well to celebrate and because it was early morning on PEI and COLD). Well since today we broke a record for HEAT (my truck read +36'C today, not sure what the offical temp was), Donovan and I stopped at the store to get a slush to celebrate breaking ground on the new house. This was a VERY big deal for Donovan, as this was not only breaking ground on the home he will grow up in, but the first time he was allowed a slush, all to himself!

Here you can see the footings being dug for part of the garage, as well as the basement being dug out.

Yes I know, you are all wondering, "How can I get hair like yours??" well here's what you do. You go out on a windy day, with your hair tied back, and then have a camera man (thanks dad) that doesn't let you know, YOUR HAIR IS STANDING UP LIKE A SPIKE!

Donovan, pondering everything. Looks to me like he's ready to say "hey guys, how about a little more this way???"

Daddy and Donovan checking everything out.

I just like this last picture. I think it's a great one of Donovan and Grandpa. (ok, maybe a touch over exposed, but hey, that's what photoshop is for right???)

Thanks for sticking with us on this journy, I'm sure there will A LOT more picture posts to come!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it has begun!

2009-09-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

... or WILL begin tomorrow!

We finally got the phone call to go out to our land and verify the position of the house, because tomorrow, TOMORROW!!!! They will start to dig the hole for the house!!!!

Seriously, I am SO excited. I can't believe this is actually happening. I know I've said that before, but again, it's still true, so excited!

It felt like years (probably because it has been years) that we were in the planning stage, and then this summer we finally decided to actually BUILD it. At that time it felt like "wow, I can't believe this" and then people asked when would we start, and we said, "In the next few weeks" and we said that for, well A LOT of weeks, and now, now we are starting TOMORROW!!!

So other then taking pictures of the progress along the way, we need to sell the house we are living in. So um, any mojo house selling vibes you want to send our way? Feel free to send them!!

I will update with pictures tomorrow, I can't wait to start this next stage of our lives....

(also, can someone tell me why the new blogger doesn't have spell check anymore?? Or HOW I go about spell checking in the blogger compose area??? Thanks!!)

I Rock

2009-09-14T14:56:00.000-06:00

Somedays I just kinda feel like I rock. And today, was one of those days!
You know the feeling that you get when you make, fresh from scratch Corn Salad and then when you are done you CLEAN THE KITCHEN, all while your child is napping?

No? You don't know that feeling? Well I do know that feeling, and today, right this min, I feel like I rock.

of Friends and Family

2009-09-13T20:17:00.000-06:00

Well THAT was a longer break then I had anticipated! Sorry about that! Things just got crazy around here, and I was out of the habit of blogging, and well, it obviously just didn't get done.

Rather then drone on and on about what I've been up to (vacation in PEI, trying to sell the house, busy with both jobs), I'd like to just talk for a bit about something that's been on my mind lately.

I was raised to cherish my family, that family, all family, near and far are important, are THE MOST important things in our lives. Our families are what grounds us, family is what teaches us who we are.

I always thought that once you were family, you made an effort to get to know each other, to support each other, and to be there for each other. But I'm beginning to see that that's not always the case. I've found that there are a lot of members of my family, who are only "family" when convenient. Who are only there for you if they feel like it, or if it benifits them in some way.

I've been told a few times that I'm not invited to welcome to certain "family" event because it was an event only for "close friends and family". And I stopped and wondered, am I not family? I mean when does family stop? Is it only siblings, and our parents? Or do cousins count? If cousins’ count, do the people your cousins marry count?? For me personally, they ALL count, family is family, and I don't draw lines one way or the other.

I often feel like I have made an effort to get to know new members of my family, only to be treated as an outsider. Is it because I don't go to the same church as they do? Or, because I'm not Christian enough for them? I know it takes more effort to get to know me, if you don't see me once a week in church, but I always thought that family was worth it.

When they were hurting, I was hurting, I cried tears of sadness when they experienced tragedy even though I didn't "know" all of them. I’ve celebrated with them when they got married, or had babies. Why? Because they are FAMILY, because families are supposed to look out for each other, and be there for each other.

But the more I think about this, the more I believe that our friends are the family that we choose. I have been blessed in my life with some really good friends, friends who take the time to make an effort to get to know me, and friends who are there for me whether it's convenient for them or not.

I don't want to get jaded, and I don't want to put walls up and block people out of my life, but I sometimes wonder, at what point is it ok to stop trying? or IS it ok to stop trying? If family isn't as important to someone else as it is to you, then what?

I don't really know if this post is going to make a lot of sense, I'm still really trying to get everything straight in my own mind... but please feel free to add your input, or personal experience in the comments, I'd love to hear what you have to say about family, friends, and everything in between.

I'm Home

2009-08-31T21:49:00.001-06:00

I'm home, and I have pictures and stories, and NO TIME! sorry, I'll post more soon!!

This is going to be quick, my to-do list is waiting...

2009-08-12T14:49:00.004-06:00

in this case of course, the to-do list mainly consists of Donovan waking up from his nap, and well the time between "hi I'm awake" to "COME AND GET ME RIGHT THIS INSISTENT MOTHER" is well, limited.

The rest of the to-do list? The get house ready to be sold, and get selves ready to travel across the country, is actually down to a manageable level. Which is good, because we leave on Friday.

So I don't really have a lot of exciting news to share with you all, unless you count things like:

- In washing the walls, I made an interesting correlation, Donovan is approximately two feet tall, and ALL dirt grim and finger prints, are approximately in the bottom two feet of wall space... humm.... makes you wonder!

- Putting the oven on "self clean" is only really useful if you actually WIPE OUT the over AFTER self clean is over. However, if the next day, you still have not wiped out said oven, and then say, cook a pizza and it over flows, well you will have to clean the oven all over again.

- Cleaning the house while the above mentioned two year old is awake, well it usually ends up dirtier then when you started cleaning in the first place.

Ok, that's it for now. I probably won't get to post while we are away, but rest assured, there will be pictures when I return.

Vrooommm Vrrrrooomm!!

2009-08-05T18:48:00.003-06:00

I know I've said this a lot lately, but seriously, I cannot believe the changes in Donovan lately, he really is becoming a big kid.

Yesterday we got the package in the mail from Uncle Kurt and Auntie Shawna, and it was "Cars" themed. There was the movie (which he loves) and a car and then a package of Big Boy Underwear.

Today Donovan asked to put them on, so I told him that if he wore them he had to pee in the toilet (which he has been doing off and on for about 4 or 5 months now). So he put them on, and he looked down and saw the "Car" picture on his crotch, and well, what's a little boy to do but grab his crotch and say "VRROOOOM VROOOM!!" It was absolutely hilarious.

Of course, once he realized how "fun" one pair was, he had to have the other two that came in the pack put on too! So he then ran around with three pairs of underwear on!

And I am happy to report, that after the evening in nothing but big boy underwear, we are accident free! He went to the toilet twice!

Woooowhoooo!!! I think we are on the right track here!

There should be pictures with this post, but then I would have to go to the other computer...

2009-08-04T20:37:00.003-06:00

So you may or may not be aware of this, but I have a two year old! How the heck did THAT happen?

We had Donovan's birthday party yesterday (Monday) and it was a great time. The weather was actually perfect, I was hoping for it to be warmer outside, but it turned out it was the perfect temperature, that we were able to keep the backdoor open, and the outside and inside temperatures were about the same!

We kept his party small this year, with only a few friends and family invited. It was great, it was a long day, and a busy day but great.

Last year I was "super mom" and made his cake from scratch (it was an elephant) and we bbq'ed burgers and hot dogs, and made salads, and well, did everything. This year, as we were flying home from Arizona, I was talking to Jamie about all that we had to get done in the next three weeks (the deadline being when we leave for PEI). We are putting the house up for sale, so we have all the work to do in order to get it ready for that, we are finalizing plans with the bank and the builder, and getting all that ready, so there are no delays to the start of construction, we are packing and getting ready for our trip, oh ya, and I'm still working both jobs and taking care of Donovan. So ya, we were going to be busy. Add in his party and Jamie said, "why don't you just order a cake for him this year?" and I thought, well that wasn't such a bad idea. Next I thought, "well if we are ordering cake, why not pizza too?"

So that's what we did. Bought a couple bags of chips for the table, ordered the cake (a super cute, and CHEAP race car cake, which Donovan LOVED) and ordered Pizza. It was easy, no stress, and most importantly, Donovan had a mom and dad "present" at his party and not stressed out about everything they had to "do".

There is so much competition among mothers out there to plan the perfect party, to make everything from scratch, and you better not ask for help. And you know what? None of it matters! Did anyone care that I wasn't the one to make the cake? Nope, not one of them! In fact everyone asked me where I ordered it from, so they could get their next cake there too! (Sobey's by the way, in case you were wondering) and the pizza, well I didn't hear any complaints, and there was only a couple pieces left over, so I guess that went over well too!

What matters most, is that we got to celebrate another year with Donovan. Another year together as a family, and look forward to the next year together. What mattered is the time we spent together.

Happy Birthday Little Man, I feel so blessed to be your mom, and can't wait to watch you grow over the next year!!

And by the way, the only thing terrible about two, is how terribly GREAT it is!

It's official

2009-08-01T20:40:00.002-06:00

We are moving!!

Ok, not this second, but we went to the bank, and got approval to start building the new house!! So excited about this! We have been planning, and saving for this house for 3 years, I can't believe it is actually happening! Still doesn't seem real even though we signed the contract this morning!

Of course, we can't have TWO houses, so we will be selling the house we are in now. We are going to list it on the 14th, which gives me two weeks to get it in tip top shape! Luckily this has been in the works for a while now, so I've already got a lot of work done around here.

I will post with more details soon. But if I go a few days without posting, it's cause, well I'm busy!

:)

Phoenix

2009-07-28T14:38:00.012-06:00

So, you may have noticed my absence last week? No? It's ok, my blogging hasn't been exactly regular these last few months (although I have been making an effort to blog more regularly, so you know, when you make the effort to click over here, there will actually be something new to check out).

Anyway.... last week Jamie, Donovan and I, took what would be his last free flight down to Phoenix (more specificlly Fountain Hills), Arizona to visit my parents at the vacation home they reciently purchased.

They bought this home last summer, and yes, it took them THIS long to convince us to go down there. You see, Phoenix was never on my "must go see list". For some reason I never really understood the big excitement about it. I thought it would be much better to go to Mexico for a week and relax at an all inclusive, or go to I don't know, there are a number of places Jamie and I have talked about, and Phoenix was never one of them.

That all changed when we got off the plane a couple Thursdays ago (my birthday actually) and felt that Hot Hot air on our skin (Jamie and I are both hot weather people), saw all the catus' and the rest of the beautiful environment, walked into my parents beautiful home, and then stumbled into the backyard to see this:

Of course, shortly after seeing that, we did this:

And we sat back, relaxed, enjoyed ourselves, and well, life was good.

And people, I am not lying when I tell you this, I am a Phoenix Convert. I LOVE Phoenix, and I can't wait until our next trip down there!

First a word or two about the weather. People, it was HOT, I'm talking +44'C (or 118'F) hot. And it was beautiful! The pool heater was turned off (obviously) and from just the heat of the sun, never dipped below 88' and most days stayed around 92' (one day it even got as hot as 97'). And it was WONDERFUL. We were in the pool, at least twice a day, and the first dip usually being somewhere between 6 and 8am, depending on what time Donovan got us up at, and how quickly we ate breakfast.

We spent most of our time around the house, which was perfect, as the intention of this trip was to relax and unwind. Jamie and I like to travel with no schedule, to get up in the morning and decide what to do that day. That by the way, drives my dad NUTS, and I think it almost killed him to not have a plan. So for his benift, we did make a tentive schedule, and would even go as far as to suggest what we might be doing the next day.

And on Sunday, that ment Jamie and I taking off in the morning on a little adventure.

(please note, these next few pictures are over exposed. Donovan dropped my camera onto the tile floor while we were down there. On inital inspection I thought just the UV lens had cracked, but after using the camera for about a day and a half, I realized there was some pretty serious damage done to the lens, which resulted in my loosing the last 35mm of the lens (it would no longer focus at that range) and also the sever over exposure of my pictures. I think a mechanisim jammed somewhere that caused the apature to be stuck at a wide open setting. Anyway, I really wanted to get this post up before things got too busy around here, so I haven't had a chance to photoshop these pictures into a better image. Also, after relaizing what had happened to my lens, I got a new one, so you won't have to put up with the crappy pictures for long).

Of course, we had to get a little shopping in, and I have been dying to get to a Carters Childerns outlet store for, well how old is Donovan? Two? Yes, well that's right, two years then! Being down in Phoenix, we finally had the oppertunity, and we made it to this one in Scottsdale. And people, it did NOT disapoint! Jamie and I had to practice some real restraint in this store, and even had to ban ourselves from the little girls section after getting our niece a couple shirts, had we kept looking, well she would have got an enitre new waredrobe.

That same day we decided to try to check out a boxing gym that was near by in Tempe. Unfortunatly the gym was closed, but since we had made the trip all the way over there, we thought we would drive around and check things out a bit. And we were THRILLED to find that ASU was mear blocks away from the gym!

We had a great time looking around the campus (or what we could see from it), only wish we weren't there on a Sunday, so a few of the buildings (read gift shop) would have been open!

Donovan took the liberty of learning how to swim while we were down there, which simply amazed us! I can't believe what a great water kid he is! I guess taking him to the pool when he was 9 weeks old started something! Becuase he absoultly LOVES the water. Every day he was larning something new, from just floating on his own, to doing the doggy paddle from one end of the pool to the other, to putting his head down and trying to swim (with eyes open under the water I might add) to LEAPING into the pool, he was absoultly GLOWING around the pool (and not just because we kept him covered in a layer of SPF70 sunscreen!)

Jamie and I also took another trip on our own to try to go to a boxing gym, that was, well you know, OPEN. And we were lucky enough to find the best gym in Phoenix, Central Boxing. It was a dream come true for Jamie to walk into the gym, and I almost had to drag him out by his ear to leave. It was the perfect boxing gym, both Professional and Amature boxers trained there, and Jamie was able to watch them train for a bit, to talk to the coach and Ms. Margret (who LOVED us) and to make some contacts. He is hoping to get down there to fight in the near future.

It was a wonderful week over all, and we can't wait to get down there again. Although somewhere along the line our baby turned into a little boy...

and I couldn't be more proud!

(also, I got to look at this all week, which wasn't so bad either....) ;)

(sorry, I just HAD to share that, lol)

Two Years

2009-07-27T07:53:00.003-06:00

Two years ago today we became a family when Donovan was born.

Two years ago I learned that my heart could hold more love then I ever thought possible.

In two short years, he is growing up to be such a big boy. Swimming on his own.

Jumping into the water (sorry about the over exposed picture, my camera was dropped and the lens got jammed, and I haven't had a chance to photoshop yet).

And making our lives happier then we ever thought possible.

Happy Birthday Donovan! Love you and am SO proud of you!!!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-07-24T15:59:00.001-06:00

I meant to post this earlier, but we just got home from Phoenix last night, and today, well today was CRAZY busy with getting everything organized again. But today is Jamie and my 5 year Wedding Anniversary. Which if you do the math correctly, and take into account that we were together for 5 years before we got married, that makes for 10 years of togetherness!

Crazy, I can't believe it's been this long already, sometimes it seems like yesterday, and sometimes it seems like a 100 years ago.

Although when I think back to that sunny/rainy (we had both sun and rain on the wedding day) 5 years ago, in that beautiful church in PEI surrounded by all of our friends and family, and I think about what our lives have been these last 5 years, it was nothing like I pictured! But right now, right this second, it's BETTER then what I pictured. If I could say anything that Jackie that Saturday morning, July 24, 2004, I would say this, "hold on tight, it will be one crazy ride, but man is it worth it!"

Alberta Sky

2009-07-13T16:01:00.001-06:00

Like Father Like Son

2009-07-10T21:52:00.002-06:00

This picture was taken shortly after Jamie got back from England. Can you tell Donovan missed his Daddy?

If you look closely, you will notice that Donovan is imitating Jamie EXACTLY. Same hand in the air, same foot position.

It's so cute to watch Donovan look up to his Daddy and try to be like him. He even tries to "make" coffee just like Daddy.

Can't keep quiet any longer

2009-07-09T20:17:00.004-06:00

The very first thing that went through my mind when I heard that Micheal Jackson had died, was "I thought he died when his skin started changing colour". I honestly meant this in a serious way, the Micheal Jackson the artist, the icon, died in the late 80's when he started to drastically alter his appearance. After that, he turned into a different person.

The news coverage got more and more frequent, and the praise got bigger and bigger. He went from the "King of Pop" to the "King of Kings" (which in and of itself is so blasphemous I can't even stand it) in less then a week. Throughout it all, I kept thinking, "but what about the molestation charges? Surely they can't ignore that part of his life?" but they did. Then I thought, "but what about the drug addiction, someones got to mention that???" and no one did. To top it off, I heard Lisa Marie's statement about how Micheal always thought, "he would die the same way Elvis died" and I waited, and I waited, and not ONE PERSON stopped to say, "well if you knew you were going to die that way, why not STOP TAKING THE DRUGS???" but the only person I heard saying that was me.

On Tuesday was the memorial service, and I hoped so badly that it would be a memorial to his MUSIC, a memorial to his talent and how he changed the way we listened to, and watched our music. I was so saddened to be wrong, as I watched the service (ok, not so much watch, but it was on in the background as I was doing other work) when I heard not only the much deserved praise about his music, but person after person talk about HIM, how amazing he was, how he exuded light, how he would "never hurt a soul", and my stomach turned.

Never hurt a soul??? Really? What about his admission to inviting young boys into his bed? The fact that HE didn't think anything was wrong with it, is irrelevant. As any pedophile in prison right now, and they too probably don't see anything wrong with their actions. Since when is "but I thought it was ok?" as a legitimate legal defence?

Never hurt a soul??? Really? Why then pay a family $20million dollars for the trail to go away? In my experience (granted I've never been on trial before) but innocent people don't pay for charges to go away.

Every time I heard someone talk about what an amazing person he was, my heart broke for all those boys that were wronged (again, I'd like to clarify, I don't know the extension of the wrong, I simply know, that locking yourself in your bedroom with a young boy for an entire day, and not allowing anyone else in with you, is wrong). Every time someone praised HIM outside of his music, I felt like those boys were being wronged all over again. Whatever indignity they suffered (whether they knew that's what was happening at the time or not) was being committed again and again with every word of praise for Micheal the man.

What must they be thinking? The emotions they have been experiencing up until his death would have been confusing enough, but then to see someone who wronged them in such a deep and personal level to be held up as a hero???

I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with me, in fact I've talked to some of those people. There are many people out there who choose to only look at his music and turn a blind eye to the rest of his actions. There are people out there who feel that the word "acquitted" or "not-guilty" are the same as innocent, and that is fine, they are entitled to their opinion as I am to mine. And I only ask that if you are out there and you disagree with me, please do so respectfully.

Finally, there are two lovely ladies out there who wrote about this same topic, and did so MUCH better then I did, so do me a favor, hope over to these ladies sites, and read what they wrote, then come back here and pretend that it was actually me who wrote that! ;)

One Crafty Mother wrote about his addiction and how the rest of us enabled it in her post "Just Calling it Like I See it"

And DaMomma wrote about separating his talent from his behavior in her post "Speaking Out".

Re-Design

2009-07-08T22:26:00.003-06:00

It's not a drastic change, but I did mix it up a bit around here. Hope you like the "new" digs. Let me know if there are any suggestions you have for the blog design.

It's been a long day, and after a few nights of staying up too late, and getting up too early (I'm looking at you Donovan!) I'm tired. However, it was also an exciting day!

Jamie and I moved to Medicine Hat 4 years ago this week. Three years ago we bought a piece of land about 10mins out of the city. It's not a lot, about 5 acres, but it's ours, and we love it. The plan was always to build our dream house out there. About two years ago we started searching for house plans and designing our house. One year ago the final plans were drawn up, but we decided to put the project on hold while we got everything in place. This year, it looks like everything is in place and we are ready to move forward! (almost).

A realestate agent came over this morning to look at our house, and we will be meeting with him again on Friday to decide on a listing price and a sales plan.

We've met with the contractor, gone over all the little bits and pieces and finalized the price and plan.

It looks like this is going to happen! And going to happen soon! There is still the pesky problem of the bank, and it's not really a problem, just need them to say yes. In all honesty we haven't even approached them about a new mortgage yet, as we were waiting to get a final price on what the new house will cost and what we can sell this house for. So that's the next step. Once we get the "yes" from the bank (keeping fingers crossed, although it looks like it shouldn't be too much of a problem, as Canadian Banks are wanting to lend right now, we have steady income, lots of equity but little debt, and a good down payment) we will list the house and start this crazy process once again!

I keep thinking that this isn't really happening. We've been planning for the "future" for so long, it doesn't seem real that the future is here.

Of course, I'm trying not to get my hopes up, as we do still need to get the final ok from the bank, and then there is the whole, selling this house thing, and there are no guarantees as how long that will take, but tonight, tonight I'm hopeful, and tonight, I'm a wee bit excited.

Thunder Rolls

2009-07-06T20:24:00.000-06:00

As I sit here typing this, Ruby the Brave is laying next to me, since the storm started about an hour and a half ago, she hasn't left my side.

Ok, that's not completely true. When the storm was rolling in (literally, you could see the front of the clouds rolling through) ((pic taken by a friend of mine of the storm tonight)

anyway, when the storm started to roll in, and I first heard the thunder, I left Donovan to splash in the bath, and walked over to the window (relax, he was in the bathroom that is attached to the bedroom, and the window was in the bedroom, so I could still see and hear him the whole time, it's not like I left him to bath alone and wondered away for hours) Ruby, walked in the opposite direction and curled up next to Donovan in the bathtub.

As I watched the first of the lightening strikes, the really scary kind, where there is sheet lightening mixed in with fork lightening (is it called fork lightening when it doesn't actually fork, but just goes STRAIGHT DOWN! ?) I realized the bath tub was probably not the best place for Donovan to be.

Much to Donovan's dismay, I scooped him out of the tub, (he tried to protest, that he wasn't done playing yet, of course he didn't actually SAY that, as you know, he still doesn't have many words) and I wrapped him in a towel. As I was wrapping him, a loud clap of thunder was heard over head and he perked up, "waszzz thaaa???" he asked as he looked around.

So sans diaper, I took my still somewhat damp boy over to the window so we could watch the storm unfold in front of us.

Donovan looked at the lightening and "ooooed" and then jumped to attention every time the thunder clapped with a big "wazzz thaaaa?" and we watched the storm together. He then looked at me like, "why have I never seen this before?" and I smiled.

Today wasn't exactly event filled, we didn't work on any crafts (other then his colouring book) and we never made it to the park, but today was a success, because today, today I got to experience a Thunder Storm with Donovan for the first time. And let me tell you, when you watch a thunder storm with an almost two year old, well you can't help but stop and realize how neat they really are.

"wazzz thaaaa????"

He's Home!

2009-07-04T12:18:00.000-06:00

Thursday afternoon/evening Donovan and I drove up to Calgary, checked into our hotel room, and went to sleep. Around 4am I heard someone at the door, and at 4:01am, I jumped out of bed, and ran to give Jamie a big hug! He was home!

Yesterday we drove back to Medicine Hat and had a nice relaxing day together as a family, and today, we are doing much the same. The weather has been beautiful, so I was out in the garden getting my weeds out of the way so you can actually SEE the flowers.

Thought I would update with a few pictures I took on Canada Day.

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T08:47:00.000-06:00

The World of Art

2009-06-29T14:26:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, in a fit of what can only be described as insanity, I took Donovan to the art supply store to buy some "kid friendly" (ie, none toxic and WASHABLE) paint and supplies.

Today, to further illustrate that I am slightly delusional, I took my not quite 2 year old outside, and said, "Ok Buddy, LET'S PAINT!!" at which point he looked at me like I was crazy, but decided to stick around and tag along for the ride.

It didn't take very long before Donovan figured out what this whole "painting thing" was about, and well, I'm no art critic, but for a not quite 2 year old, I think he did pretty darn good!

(ok, he's not excatly smiling in these two pictures, but trust me, he had a great time!)

I of course had to include the picture of him back in the house, still covered in (now dry, thank goodness) paint, and much to busy to stop and take a bath, because he had to stop and well PLAY on the way up!

It was a great morning, and I had a ton of fun! Although the cement pad in the backyard, well the paint hasn't exactly washed off of that yet ;)

Also, if anyone is out there reading this and thinking about trying painting with a toddler, a few helpful hints...

1 - buy the pre-pressed canvas's. They cost a little more then paper, but if you get them on sale and stoke up, it will be well worth it. First, they are hard and stiff, and stay in place while the child is painting (unlike paper that just crinkles and floats away) and second, they are easy to store (don't crinkle) and make a great gift for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

2 - buy the cheap brushes. Your kid isn't Vango, and they will treat the brushes terribly, so the cheap ones are all you need.

3 - make sure you get the washable paint... trust me, you will be happy you did.

4 - don't leave your camera unattended while you go put away the "masterpieces" because when you come back, your toddle will have his still wet and covered with paint hands all over your camera saying cute things like "cheese!" and trying to take a picture. And well, then you will have to clean up the camera and pray there was no permanent damage done!

5 - do it, go insane, buy the paints and have fun! It will be worth the mess!

Sunday Review

2009-06-28T19:30:00.000-06:00

Friday marked two weeks since I got my tattoo, which meant I had the all clear to start "soaking" and "swimming" again. So Donovan and I took full advantage and went to the swimming pool today. It was a lot of fun, the two of us haven't been there in AGES, so it was a nice change to our routine. The only thing is, poor Donovan wants to be bigger then he is. He had a good time in the kiddie pool, but really wanted to go into the big wave pool (the waves weren't on yet though, which was too bad, because he LOVES the waves). The only problem with the big pool? Well Donovan didn't want to be held, he wanted to be able to walk around like he could in the kiddie pool. So it was a battle of wills, before I finally let go of him, and let his head go underwater (at which point I picked him back up!) that he realized he couldn't touch. We did get to the edge of the pool where he was contented to walk around at chest height (the kiddie pool only goes up to his waist when he is standing). But I could tell he REALLY REALLY wanted to dive right into the deep water with the bigger kids. I can tell this is going to be a trend with him, wanting to do things before he is physically big enough to, well you know, DO them.

We also stopped at the store to buy some finger paints, which I hope to try out tomorrow. I'll post the pictures, and let you know if we have success or not!

After his nap today we went to my sisters house, and walked to the park near by. The park itself was a little "big" for what Donovan could do. But he did enjoy sitting with me and my sister on the teter-tauter. But the really fun part, was the running around in the trees and grass. In the area of town that we live in, well there aren't many trees, and if there are trees, well they aren't that much bigger then Donovan, so to be in an area that had BIG HUGE mature trees, will Donovan thought that was just great.

So my favorite part of the day was watching Donovan run around in the grass, he is just so full of spunk and life and energy it is truly mind blowing.

On the Go

2009-06-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

Donovan and I sure missed Jamie today. Weekends are the time that we always hang out as a family, and even if we don't do anything special, well at least we are all together as a family. So today, well today was lonely.

To help break up the time, and to take advantage of the beautiful weather, we took a walk to the park. There were some people flying kites, and Donovan thought that it was the neatest thing. One kite even "fell" and the guy let Donovan come up close and touch it, so that was pretty cool.

We didn't stay too long at the actual park though. Unlike the usual mix of kids, there were a lot of older kids play rougher tag games, and Donovan really really wanted to play with them. You could just see the confusion on his face when they didn't want to play too. I felt so bad for him, and so we ran around enough to get the wiggles out, and then walked home again. On the way home, Donovan decided he was going to lead us, so we took the long way. Of course half way through the long way home, he got tired and I had to carry him. But it was still a great day.

(the pics were taken with my phone, so they aren't the greatest quality, but you get the idea)

Keeping it Real....

2009-06-25T15:30:00.000-06:00

Is this a sign that I take too many pictures? Or that Donovan is just expressing a natural talent early on? Either way, it is the cutest thing EVER to see him put the camera up to his eye and say "Cheeeeeessssse!"

Just to prove that he doesn't ONLY eat slushes. His afternoon snack one hot June day, oranges (his favorite, he would eat them all day and night if I let him) and cherries.

Last night I tried on his sunglasses from last year to see if they still fit. Not only did they fit, he insisted to wearing them to watch his last show of the night.

When I asked him to "smile please" this is the response I got....

A couple weeks ago my cousins little girl came over to visit (she is 6 months old), I looked at these pictures for the first time today, and wondered when my baby turned into a little boy???

And finally, I got my hair cut today, and since Jamie isn't home to tell me how good it looks, I thought I would leave that up to all of you ;)

Eight

2009-06-24T19:47:00.001-06:00

The UV index was 8 today, which is crazy high. The actually temperature, well I'm not sure, but with an index like that, well it was HOT out.

After going to the park with Donovan an my sister, and him running around like a mad man, it was time to go home. On the way we stopped at the local deli to pick up some freshly stuffed chicken breasts, and well what do you know? They have a slush machine there, and we were ALL dying of thirst.

So I bought myself and my sister and slush, and got an extra straw for Donovan, with the intention of "scooping" him some slush on the walk home to tide him over.

And in what can only be classified as a "remember a couple years ago, when you said, I will NEVER let MY kid do THAT" moment, Donovan ended up walking home with his own slush, and Mommy? Well Mommy was happy to be granted the privilege of a sip every now and again.

************in other completely unrelated news:

It was a pretty good day over all, went to the gym this morning, and after the coke I just finished this evening, I have re-committed to my healthy eating plan. Summer is so hard for me not to snack, the hot weather makes me crave coke, and the long evenings just scream "eat eat eat". So tonight, I've declared to once again cut back on the snacking.

Happy Birthday Jamie!

2009-06-23T18:54:00.000-06:00

Jamie left Medicine Hat last night, to start on a trip to England with Team Alberta Boxing! I couldn't be more proud of him.

The only problem is, well today is his birthday, and since he wasn't actually here, Donovan and I didn't get any cake! I think that is a problem I will have to remedy shortly!

So while Jamie is away, I told him I would try to update this blog regularly, so he could keep tabs on us... I mean know what's going on around here.

First, we had some people come and look at our house today, who are maybe interested in buying it! This would be awesome for us, since we want to start building our new house this summer/fall, and if these people buy it, it would be private, and we wouldn't have to pay realtor fees. The only problem I see right now, is this is a 3 bedroom 4 bath house, with a finished basement. Sounds all fine and good, until you stop to consider that they have 5 kids (all girls by the way) and number 6 on the way! So the space might be a bit small. However, they are moving up here from Mexico, and can't really afford anything bigger, so they might have to make the space work for them. I'm not really getting my hopes up, until I know one way or another if they are going to buy it or not. If not, then we will end up listing the house.

In other exciting news. Our master bedroom seems to have developed a black hole of sorts. Let me first say, it is not a very big room, so there are only so many places things can hide. Last week Donovan was playing with his wooden toy balls while I was getting ready. When I went to gather up the balls, the blue one was missing. Strange, but it is a small wooden ball, so I let it slide. But today, today the phone went missing! It rang this morning, and it was my Opa calling to wish Jamie a happy birthday. I remember putting it on the night stand and then I finished getting ready. This afternoon when I came home from work, MISSING! Like seriously missing, when I page it, no answer, when I intercom it, no answer, when I call the house number from my cell, I can't here it ringing! I have NO IDEA where it went to. I searched the entire bedroom, and the rest of the house, and even called the cleaning ladies to see if they saw it, and nope, phone = MIA. So as you can tell, the only logical conclusion to draw from this, is that our bedroom has a black hole. Well, either that, or I'm loosing my mind. But Seriously, that phone, where could it have gone to???? I searched EVERYWHERE. I even asked Donovan to "go get mommy the phone!" "Where did you put the phone?" and you know what he did? Ran into the hallway to get the phone that is out there! Which, YEAH! he understood what I asked, but um, NOT THE PHONE I WAS LOOKING FOR.

The great search/mystery continues.....

What I've Been Up To?

2009-06-13T21:05:00.000-06:00

Friday I finally got my Mothers Day Gift. I've been talking about wanting a tattoo for over a year now, and this year for Mothers Day, Jamie got me an appointment (with in my opinion the best artist in town) and Friday was the day!

I was so pumped to get this tattoo, it means a lot more to me then just a flower tattoo. One of the meanings is that there are three flowers on the tattoo, each represents the three members of our family (me, Jamie and Donovan). The background bud represents the background of our lives, Ruby, and also the baby that we lost. For those of you that don't know, I had a very early miscarriage before we got pregnant with Donovan.

It also represents Strength. The past year I have come to realize how much inner strength I actually have, so this tattoo represents that to me as well. The strength is also a reminder to me because of where I got it. The ribs are one of the most painful places to get a tattoo, and sitting (laying) for this one for 3.5 hours definitely took every ounce of strength that I had.

So thank you Jamie for this amazing gift, I absolutely LOVE it! Can't wait for it to heal and I can start wearing a bra again! ;)

On the Go

2009-06-03T07:15:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago I got a new cell phone, one of those fancy schmancy ones that lets you take pictures and upload them and stuff.

I thought I would share a few of the pictures we've taken while out and about.

Playing in the backyard. Donovan thought the bucket over his head was the funniest thing ever, walked around like that and everything!

While driving to Calgary we got behind this truck, kinda felt like there was a bunch of nuclear war heads in front of us
The other morning I woke up to a flat tire. The local tire place (at least the one that was closest to my house and I was able to get to) is inside a Sears. So these are the pictures I took while waiting for the tire to be changed.

Who says you have to BUY the toys to play with them?

Really? Is THAT many different colours of playdoh necessary? When I was a kid, we had four colours, red, blue, green and yellow, and we managed just fine. I'm just wondering what 3 year old, needs THAT many different colours to make a snake?

I'm thinking On the Go might be a new thing here, where every couple of weeks I will share a few of the photo's I take while life is happening.

Walking

2009-05-25T19:12:00.001-06:00

Donovan and I took a walk around the block this afternoon, and then later this evening (after supper) we walked to the park.

Walking with an almost 2 year old, is well, very interesting. If you aren't the type of person that normally stops and smells the roses, well, you will be if you walk with a 1 year old.

Things we discovered today:

If you have rocks in your front/side yard instead of grass, you might as well have a sign that says "Please come and play in my yard". Or at least that's the way Donovan sees things.

Ants, are fascinating. Although you must be careful not to follow them onto the street!!

Rocks are even more fun when they are BIGGER. Watching Donovan try to pick up a bigger rock then he can carry, is very entertaining.

Little knees will get skinned, and there is nothing that a mommy can do about it. Well except for polysporn and bandaids before bed (and only before bed, because otherwise little fingers will pick off bandaids).

Just about everyone driving by, will wave, if a smiley toddler is waving at them (and Donovan waves at just about everyone).

Going down the slide is worthy of a standing ovation. A lot of standing ovations to kids at the park today. ;)

Concert

2009-05-19T14:55:00.000-06:00

I've been telling you about a lot of concerts I've been to lately, but haven't posted any pictures. Here are a few of the latest concert we were at, which happens to be one of my favorite bands, The Trews:
Pictures taken on my cell phone, so the quality wasn't that great, but since I was SO CLOSE to the stage, you can still see pretty good. Also I got to meet the band after, so that's who the guys are in the other pics with me.

Mothers Day

2009-05-12T21:33:00.000-06:00

How I spent my Mothers Day.

Hugs from the greatest Son a mom could ask for!!

Watching the men of my life go for a walk (one of my favorite pictures of them together. Only wish I had used the D80 rather then the coolpix to shoot this, would like to blow it up).

If only he didn't just shove whatever food he was eating in his mouth, lol. When you spend the day at Grandma's and Grandpa's, you are always eating!

How do you not LOVE this face???

My two guys! Thanks for making the day so special! (The gift they got me, I will actually be receiving on June 12th, I'll upload pictures when it's done, until then, you will have to stay in suspense).

It was a great day!

And even better news, the next day at the gym when I was weighed and measured, I found out, in the last month, I'm down 4.5inches overall!! Can we say WOOOOWHOOO! 1 inch of each thigh, an inch off the hips and some more loss from the waist and arms! I was absolutely floored to get those results, and laughed when I told the trainer, "no wonder my jeans have been fitting better!" Project Me, so far, huge success. I've also upped my training at the gym this month (still 3 times a week, but add about 5-10mins to the work out and upped the intensity) so I'm really excited to see my body start to change into a more toned one!! Summer here I come!!

I hope you all had a great mothers day!!!

PEI Addition

2009-05-07T20:56:00.000-06:00

Jamie and I moved to Alberta 4 years ago (holy crap has it actually been THAT long?) And in the time, we have taken a LOT of trips to PEI, but we don't often get the joy of having someone from PEI coming out here to visit.

This month that changed. Jamie's Uncle and Aunt came to visit us for 2 days earlier this month. Here are a few highlights....

The first stop we made when they came to visit was Medicine Hat's landmark, the Worlds Tallest Tepee

Donovan "reading" the sign...

Jamie and his uncle on a walk to the park.

Walking home from the park, Donovan loves to knock on this fence and say "hello?" I could only imagine the look on his face is someone was there one day!!

My favorite picture from the day at the Tepee.

Chocolate

2009-05-06T07:51:00.001-06:00

Since the writing seems to be eluding me right now, I'm thinking of switching things to more of a photoblog, format. We'll see how it goes....

Donovan - the Easter Chocolate Addition....

oh, hi there!

2009-04-10T19:31:00.000-06:00

So it's been a while?? Sorry about that.

Things have been crazy around here as usual. I started working at my new job. I really like it so far, but it's amazing how being out of the house two days a week adds to the business! Donovan is adjusting to the dayhome. The girl that runs the day home says he is doing better each time, although he still isn't a fan of me leaving, and still bursts into tears when I come to pick him up, she said he is generally happy during the day. It's pretty cute when I pick Donovan up, if I can sneak in without him seeing me, he is usually happily doing, well whatever it is he is doing, and as soon as he sees me, he drops what ever he is doing, bursts into tears and RUNS for me. lol, I told Jamie you can just hear him saying "Thank goodness you are here, I've been holding my shit together all day, and I just can't doing any longer!!" It breaks your heart really, and within seconds, after a good cuddle, he's off playing again, or leading me to the door, saying "let's go home mom"

Of course, by saying that Donovan is "saying" these things, I should clarify, that's what his ACTIONS are saying to me. Because Donovan, well not so much with the talking yet. He has "uh oh!" down no problem, sometimes, rarely "no" gets thrown in, and he is working on "go" oh and "Dad" and "Daddy" are also heard regularly. I sometimes get called "Jackie" and rarely I get a version of "mom" but he is definitely taking the talking thing in his own, s.l.o.w. time frame.

The only problem we are having with Donovan in the day home, is on the days he is there, he doesn't want to settle down to sleep at night. Which is odd, because usually he is a rock star sleeper. But I'm sure it's just a transition phase he is going through, and I'm working on my patience.

We are away this weekend for another Boxing tournament. In a little city about 2 hours outside of Medicine Hat. It's been a good trip so far, but today only consisted of getting here! Jamie fights tomorrow and I will keep you updated on his progress.

Happy Easter everyone!!

Home and Busy!

2009-03-23T20:15:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. Donovan and I got home on Friday afternoon. Then we spent Saturday and Sunday at a local hotel, as Jamie was boxing in the Alberta Golden Gloves tournament.
He fought two very hard fights! On Saturday he fought the Alberta Champ in the 152 weight division (usually Jamie fights in the 140 division), and he WON! It was a great fight, but very intense, and a very hard battle.
Sunday he fought the Sask Champ, and it was another hard battle! He ended up loosing that fight, but should be very proud by how he fought.

Which brings us to today (Monday). Donovan and I were back at the gym this morning, and this afternoon during nap time, I spent catching up on booking for work.

Speaking of work, I GOT THE JOB! The one I was telling you about way back in December! I start on Wednesday. Which means Donovan also starts at the day home this week. I'm taking him there tomorrow for a couple hours to get used to the place, and then a half day on Wednesday, as I only have to work a half day. Next week we will start with my two full days of work a week, and his two full days at the day home. I'm trying not to be nervous, as I know he will be fine, and that he will adjust and that this is a good thing for him. But still, it's hard, he's my baby, and it kids drives my bonkers knowing that he will be upset and someone else will be there to comfort him. I'm hoping it doesn't take longer then 3 weeks for him to start liking it there.

eeekkkk

So I'm off to the hot tub to chill out and relax! Hope you all had a great two weeks! I'll post some pictures soon.

In the Air Again

2009-03-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

Donovan and I are leaving town tonight on a spur of the moment trip to PEI. We will be gone for two weeks, so to hold you over until I get back, some pictures.

Surprise Trip

2009-02-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

So last night we were talking to Jamie's parents, and on top of Cheryl's (Jamie's mom) need to back surgery and a hip replacement, she just came down with Shingles.

I couldn't take it anymore, I HATE being so far away from them, I miss them so much, and I haven't seen any of them since July.

So this morning, Jamie and I talked about it, and I booked a ticket to go to PEI for a couple weeks. Jamie won't be able to get time off work on such short notice, but Donovan and I will leave on the 5th and return on the 19th. My stomach is flip flopping with excitement and nerves!

The great trip...

2009-02-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before on this blog (but don't look for the post, it was in the "pre-deleted days") about my Grandmother and her health issues. In case you don't remember, or weren't a reader back then, here is the Cole's Notes version. A couple years ago she started getting sick, turned out she had EXTREMELY high blood pressure (largely uncontrolled) which lead to her kidneys not functioning. So we had a long time of ups and downs, and more then one, "come say good-bye to grandma intensive care stays) and now she is on dialysis three times and week and seems to be doing quite well.

So now she is on dialysis three times a week, and because of some issue with the times of her treatment and such, she isn't able to take the transportation the hospital offers. So our family has set up a schedule, my grandfather takes her to all her appointments, and my mom and her two sisters each have a day of the week that they pick her up. My mom's day is Thursday.

So yesterday it was Thursday, time for my mom to pick her up. Only mom had a sewing class, so she asked my dad to do it. But Dad had some work obligations, so he asked Jamie to do it (Jamie and my dad work together), so when Jamie called to ask "where do I go to pick up Grandma?" I laughed, and told him to just come home and stay with Donovan and I would go get Grandma (I've picked her up before so I knew where to go).

I get to the hospital, and they were late starting her on dialysis, so she still had some time left before she was done. We sat and chatted, and she caught me up with the family gossip, and I let her know what Donovan had been up to lately, and she snuck in a "he needs a playmate" remark, and then laughed and said, "but that's easy for me to say, you do what's right for your family". I watched her machine pretty closely and noticed her blood pressure was 115/75 which sounds really good, but for her, that's low. I think her body became so accustomed to high blood pressure, when it gets in the "normal" rage, she reacts as if it were low. But she seemed fine, so I didn't mention anything.

I left the room to wait in the waiting area while they un-hooked her, and met her at the elevators to take her down to the car. When she was walking with the nurse towards me, I thought it looked like she wasn't walking as well as she was the last time I picked her up from dialysis. I asked her if she was feeling ok, and if she wanted a wheelchair or anything, but she insisted she was fine, and her cane was all she needed.

So we get down off the elevator, and are walking in the main area of the hospital and as we were transitioning from the tile floor to the mat outside the doorway, I felt her tripping....

My stomach dropped. I grabbed her, but it was too late, she was already past the point of stopping. I did the only thing I could, and while trying to stop her from falling, I fell under her, so she mostly landed on me, rather then directly on the floor.

I felt sick. A lovely lady rushed to help us, and called her husband to help too. I screeched "don't grab her arms, she just had dialysis!" and we manged to get her back on her feet.

Still with my stomach flip flopping and my heart beating in my throat, and my mind racing about possible hip fractures, a trip to the ER and having to call the rest of the family explaining how a simple "pick Grandma up from the hospital", led to a visit to the ER and x-rays. I asked if she was ok, and she smiled "oh yes, I'm fine" followed by "sometimes those feet just don't do what I want them to do". I SLOWLY walked her over to a couch, checked again to make sure she was ok, which she insisted she was, and left her to run and pull the car up as close to the front doors as possible.

I thought about taking her to the ER anyway, even though she insisted she was fine, just to be safe. In the end, I decided if she was able to walk to the bench, she was probably ok. Also, I knew by the way my knee was throbbing, it was me that took the brunt of the fall.

We got back to her home without any more incidents. And she is fine now. But man on man, was that scary!

Everyone was very thankful that I was there and able to help and that I handled the situation, but I still feel like I let her down.

Wonder if I'll be asked to pick her up again anytime soon?

18 Months

2009-02-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

Recently Donovan had his 18month check up. Before I went in, they got me to fill out a little questionnaire to see how his development is.

Climb up stairs by holding you hand - check

Go from floor to standing without holding on to anything - check

Able to put very small objects into a small container - check (and by the way, can we say "CHOCKING HAZARD"?)

Turn pages of a book when you read - check

Gets upset when frustrated - check and double check for good measure

Help around the house - check (he likes to vacuum and swifter)

Imitate you doing daily tasks - check (too cute to watch him brush his teeth and "spit" into the sink with me)

Take off some articles of clothing (like socks) - check (in fact after most naps, when I go into his bedroom he is pointing to the side of the crib (the back and against the wall) where said socks have been thrown. Just today I retrieved 3 pairs from back there)

Try to help put his own clothes on - check

Have a 10 - 20 word vocabulary - umm..... well no....

The doctor asked me about the vocab again, because I hadn't checked it on the sheet. I smiled politely and asked,

"Does "uh-oh" count as one word or two?"

All in all, Donovan is doing great. I was asked about speech therapy, and I laughed and said, "no, he's 18months old!" That being said, although no panic is happening around here, we are trying to work on the speech thing.

Since this appointment Donovan has got "Daddy and Dad" down as well as "Ruby" ok, Ruby is more of "uh-eeee" But we know that that MEANS Ruby, so I count it.

Oh and mom? mommy? You know, me the one that takes care of him every day, looking after every need, whim and fancy? The odd time I get "Jackie" (Donovan language Jackie of course) but that's only when he's frustrated, the rest of the time, I'm Dad too. But it's ok... you know I'm not hurt about this at all.... *sniff*

He'll look at me, call me "Dad" and I'll say, "I'm MOMMY" and he will smile so big you would swear his face is going to break and shout "DAaad!" pest...

The rest of the time he communicates in a series of grunts and groans. Think the seagulls on Finding Ne.mo "MineMineMineMine"

So we are working on the speech, slowly but surly.

Victory!!

2009-02-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Not sure why it took me so long to post this! Got caught up in all the excitement and completely forgot!

More PhotoShop!

2009-02-02T19:10:00.001-07:00

Jamie came home the other day with roses that were given to the office he works at, and I just couldn't help but play at bit with photoshop.

First I just upped the colour a bit, and then I got creative!

This is the original:

And when I was done messing around, it looked like this:

Real Mommy's

2009-02-01T20:35:00.001-07:00

I got this forwarded to my e-mail this evening and thought it was too good not to share.

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a littleVoice says, 'Because I love you best..'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

A sight seen a lot at my house, "Mom, can we read this one please!!"

The day before I tried to let Donovan "help" me cook with Fennal seeds, then after that contair was completely emptied (into the carpet no less) I got smart, and filled it with rice, much easier to clean up, less smelly, and he is just as happy!

But at least he's good to help me clean up the rice when all is said and done!

Comparing apples to, well, apples...

Busy as a Bee

2009-01-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Jamie was gone for the last 10 days to the Canadian Armature Boxing Championships. He didn't win the title, but he fought really well and has a chance to go to "box-offs" and make the National B Team, so I am really proud of him (as I usually am!). To welcome him home, I designed this poster of him, and had it blown up and hung on the wall.

I'm very please with how it turned out. One of my first photoshop successes!

It was also a busy week for me. Part of my New Years resolution was to take better care of ME, and in doing that, I needed to take better care of the house, get organized and feel "home" in our house. So I was busy busy busy, cleaning, de-cluttering, organizing, assembling new furniture, and oh ya, tiling the last of the back splash in the kitchen!

I will be posting pictures of my progress soon! Jamie was really happy with what I got done while he was away (it was all a surprise) and I'm sure he is wanting to go away again soon so I will continue with my work! lol

Hope

2009-01-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

As I sit here watching the Inaugurating of the New President of the United States, I can't help but be filled with hope.

I'm so please that Donovan will grow up, with a man like Barack Obama in office!

So proud to be a citizen of the WORLD today.

On the Road Again...

2009-01-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Lots going on around here as usual, never a dull moment in the Taylor house!

This weekend we are up in Lethbridge as Jamie is coaching some of the young guys in his boxing club. We were at the fights this afternoon, and Jamie's fighter won with a first round TKO, so that's a great start to things.

But the big news around here is that Jamie is leaving for Nationals next Friday! There was a GREAT write up in the paper about his come back, you can find it here. In the actually paper there is a half page picture of him and everything. I couldn't be more proud of him. He's been training really hard for a really long time, and I hope he does well.

Although Donovan and I normally go with on his boxing trips, this one we will stay behind. It's just going to be too much travel, for too short of a trip, plus the added price of renting a car, because there isn't an airport in the town he is fighting in, so we would have to drive about an hour and a half from Montreal to get there. But we will be cheering him from home as loud as we can!

As I type this (in the dark) Donovan is napping in his playpen about 10feet from me. You know he is tired when I put him down for a nap in the same room as me, and he falls asleep in less then 5mins!

Hope you all are having a great start to the new year!

Out with '08 in with '09

2008-12-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome 2009! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

Sorry my posting has been slow, we have been enjoying a lot of family time. Jamie has been off work since the 19th and doesn't have to go back until the 5th. So I will see you then, and yes, there WILL be pictures!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

From our house to yours....

Hope Santa's sack is filled with whatever it is you are hoping for!

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-23T15:06:00.001-07:00

Busy enjoying the Christmas season! So much going on here, but no time to post! I'll update with pictures and everything when I can!

Donovan's Obsession

2008-12-18T13:49:00.001-07:00

Donovan LOVES the Christmas decorations, and he especially LOVES the Christmas Village. Every time we walk out of his room, or up or down the stairs, he points and gets all excited to see it. And every time I turn my back, he scampers up the stairs and tries to plug it in, to see the lights!
Here are a few pictures of the village (sorry, it was day time when I took them, so the lights aren't on, but I will take a few when it's dark and post them too).

So this is the whole thing, it's up on my plant ledge, which is thankfully out of reach for Donovan (well for anyone really) however, that did make it a little tricky to put up! lol

This is on the far left, it is the wilderness/farm/residential area:

This is the town center with the school, Church, and other businesses. Also please note Banff up in the background, it's the highest point in this part of the village.

This side is the Ocean View side, with the light house in the top corner (complete with rotating light at the top of the house!) and the fishing shack in the bottom right corner.

Close up of the ocean sector. lol I know, I know, WAY too much time on my hands....

COLD!!

2008-12-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

And I mean really Cold, like this isn't just your normal cold, this is Cold with a capital C. Because seriously people, it's cold out there!

We are in the middle of a deep freeze, actually this post came a day late, today and tomorrow is our little break from the freeze and it was a nice and warm -15'C today! Seriously, I said to my mom when I got to her house tonight, "wow, it's warm out today!" lol, and it was compared to yesterday, when with the wind chill it was -48'C (that's -54ish'F for you Americans in the house).

So Cold, that our snow dog, had to be FORCED outside to do her business. Which like never happens.

So please forgive the lack of posts I've just been trying to thaw my fingers!!

SNOW!!! and a visit with Santa

2008-12-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well we got quite the dumping of snow here these last few days! Here are a few pictures of Jamie and Ruby shoveling the driveway (and yes, I did put down the camera and help out too).

And of course, the Santa visit. As you can tell, he didn't want to sit on Santa's knee, so this was the best we could do. So it's Donovan's second Christmas but his first visit to Santa.

New Oppertunity, New Challanges

2008-12-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

About 6 months ago, before I started working as a travel agent, I posted my resume up on M0nster .ca. Then I started working as a travel agent, and stopped looking on M0nster. I did get weekly (or so) e-mails from them, but most (all) of the jobs that were e-mailed to were based in Calgary (which is about 3 hours away), so I didn't pay too much attention. Plus, I had a job, I was working from home.

I do really like my job, I enjoy trying to help people plan their vacations, and I LOVE that I'm able to do it from home. Although there are definitely draw back, in that it doesn't pay a whole lot, and the pay is random, as I am paid solely on commission. Plus, I have to do my own advertising to get the word out, and drum up my own business.

So where does this lead us?

This afternoon the phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, in fact I was ready to tell whoever was calling me about a credit card that I wasn't interested, when the voice on the phone said something I wasn't expecting.

It was as job placement agency, that got my resume of M0nster and they had a job opening in Medicine Hat at a local Oil and Gas company that they were wondering if I was interested in? Hum, I said, "I could be interested, depending on the job!"

We got to talking, and the job is mostly an office administration position, and is part time. Actually it's only 2 days a week, and the pay is pretty good too! So she asked me to e-mail her the latest copy of my resume, and to fill in an on-line interview (since she is based in Calgary and I am in Medicine Hat, they are allowing me to do the interview on-line).

So here I sit. It's scary to think about going back to work. It's scary to think about putting Donovan in a day home. However, it is also good to think about that, because I do think that it will be good for him to interact with other kids and get to play with more then just me!

I figure that since this job came to me, and I didn't seek it out, it's a good sign. I've sent in my resume, filled out the form, and then trying very hard not to worry about it! It's no longer in my hands. And if I'm offered this job, then I will make my final decision. Although right now, it's looking pretty positive.

Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

(ps, I know it's with an oil and gas company, which doesn't really sit well with the environment side of me, but the lady did say that they were quite interested in my degree, and if things went well, there was room to move up in the company and move into a position that would involve my environmental training. But that could just be talk in order to get me to say yes to the job! uggg, lots to think about!)

For Magnetbabe

2008-12-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

I give you Ruby in the snow:

I don't know if I've shared this story with you before, but if I have it was probably so long ago that you don't remember anyway.

When we first adopted Ruby from the Shelter, it was February. February in PEI I might add, and in PEI they have SNOW in the winter, like all winter long, snow, glorious snow! We think she was about 4 months old when we got her, which would make her birthday sometime in November.

Ruby was found abandoned in the ditch on the side of a country road not far from where we were living at the time. And in a completely side note, taking us way off track, we think we know who Ruby's dad is, being that there is a male dog that looks EXACTLY like Ruby (so much so that driving home one day I actually pulled the car over to see what she was doing out of the house and on the road, only to find it wasn't Ruby but a male Ruby look alike), and this dog that is a Ruby look-a-like lives VERY close to the place that Ruby was found in the ditch.

ANYWAY..... the point of this story was that Ruby was born sometime in a snowy PEI winter, and we brought her home during that winter, and therefore, she was trained to do her "business" outside, in the winter, on the snow.

That spring, when super genius Ruby was completely trained, the snow started to melt. I didn't think anything of this, in fact I thought that Ruby would be happy to have grass to run around on. But what I failed to consider is that Ruby was trained to go on the snow, not the grass. It didn't take too long before she did number one on the grass, as that is hard to hold in when you really got to go! But number two? Well she searched and she searched until she found the last remaining snow bank to relieve herself on. It took her a good month before she was able to just go on the grass without searching for snow first!

But I swear, if she could smile (which those of us who are pet people know that they can) she would smile every year when the snow came back! I swear, she is never happier, then when she is knee, hip or neck deep in the snow!

Remind me to tell you about the winter storm we had and the snow was so deep she was literaly SWIMMING in the snow. Oh wait a min, I think I just did tell you! lol

Getting Ready for Chritmas

2008-12-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

We had a nice snow storm on Sunday/Monday and we took full advantage of it and Donovan got all dressed up in his winter gear as we went out to play!

Of course, he had to make sure to stop and point out the Canada Geese flying over head!

With all that winter gear made it tricky to walk! So we had a lot of tummy time on the snow! Here he is laughing his head off as Ruby was running around and jumping like crazy!

We also set up the Christmas tree, and as you can see, he was a BIG help! Jamie and I both said, that was the most fun we've EVER had setting up the tree!

Snow Baby

2008-12-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

We got our first REAL snow fall this weekend, of course it hit as we were driving home from Calgary, so our normal two and a half hour drive actually turned into a four hour drive! But unlike the 13 cars we saw in the ditch on our way home, we made it ok.

Yesterday, the snow was nice and fluffy, and the temperature was nice and warm -8'C. So I bundled Donovan up and took him and Ruby outside to play in the snow. They both LOVED it. As usually Ruby is happiest in the snow, she runs around, jumps and plays like she is a puppy again. I swear, the more snow the better for her.

It took Donovan a while to get used to the big snow boots and snow suit, so he spent a lot of time crawling in the snow, as it was easier the walking, but he still had a great time! This winter is going to be great!

Then tonight, Jamie Donovan and I put the tree up! It was SO MUCH FUN! Donovan really did try to help, and although the ornaments that he put on the tree weren't so much "hung" as "nested" in there, it was still a blast!

Pictures to follow soon!

Travel with Jackie

2008-12-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would draw your attention over to my side bar, I have a link to my travel website and also my work e-mail address. If you are interested in booking a trip, anywhere, any kind of trip, big or small, I can do it for you!

I would love to look into your trip and help plan your vacation or give you a price quote, no pressure, no obligation to purchase.

If you have any questions, please either leave a comment, or e-mail me! I appreciate it!

PS. lots of great last min deals at Christmas time!

Road Trip

2008-12-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

We went up to Calgary this weekend on a road trip for Jamie's boxing. Donovan couldn't have behaved better, he was a little angel and charmed the pants off of everyone he met!

On little story from the trip...

Saturday night after we watched Jamie's fight, Donovan and I went back up to the hotel room so I could put him to bed, and Jamie stayed down to finish watching the fights and visit with everyone.

About 10pm (Donovan had been asleep for about 20mins by this time, yes yes, it was a VERY late night for him). I hear the fire alarm out in the hallway start to ding.
So I stick my head out the door to see what was going on, and no one seemed to know anything.

"Hum, weird" I thought, and then decided I better call down to the front desk to see what was up. I called and asked if it was a fire, or an emergency or just a false alarm or what, and the guy at the desk said,
"Um, well I don't think it's anything, you should be ok"

So I sat down as the alarm started dinging more frantically, looked over at Donovan sleeping away and thought, do I really wanna chance getting stuck in this room on a "I should be ok"?

So I grabbed the car keys, put my shoes on, and picked up Donovan and his blanket. Went into the hallway, where the alarm was ringing like crazy, down the stairs into the lobby where Jamie was waiting and panicking because "WHERE WERE YOU? WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG?" lol and we waited there for about 20mins while the firemen came in and checked things out.

We still aren't sure if it was a small something or other, or a false alarm, but we were sent back to our rooms and everything was fine.

But the really amazing part about this whole thing? Donovan SLEPT through the entire ordeal, the alarm, the going down and up three flights of stairs, and noisy lobby, all of it!

Addiction

2008-12-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ok seriously, etsy? Did you guys know about Etsy??

I started my own etsy shop a couple of years ago, and although I did have one sale, I've largely neglected it. Mostly because I gave most of my paintings away, and haven't had the time to do more.

Etsy is a place that I usually check out every once in a while, but since November was getting close to Christmas time, I started checking things out a little more regularly, and a little more closely. And it's official, I'm addicted! I absolutely love it! The only thing that would make it better is if I were able to actually feel and touch the things. Because seriously, who doesn't love to touch beautiful things??

Anyway, if you looking for a unique gift for Christmas, or just killing some time and want to browse, check it out. But be warned, once you start the etsy clicking, you might not be able to stop!

Honestly the only thing stopping me from buying something on a daily basis, is that darn thing called a budget won't let me!!

Before and After

2008-12-04T10:53:00.001-07:00

Before:

After:

I can't tell you how happy I am to have this finished!

Kitchen Reno

2008-12-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

This past Thanksgiving (the Canadian Thanksgiving, so we are talking October here) we started an impromptu kitchen renovation. Finally today, I got my dishwasher back! We are almost done, and I couldn't be happier about that!! Just have to get the water working in the fridge again, and then finish up the last bit of tile and we are finished. Jamie thought we would still be working on it over the Christmas break, and let me tell you I'm SO PLEASED that we are not!

hi

2008-12-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well that was a bit of a long break huh?

I am still am debating on how much I will be blogging here, I do miss it a lot, so I think I might start up again, but just trying to get the balance in my life so that the blog is simply icing on the cake and not the entire dessert!

I'm off to do some dishes but in the mean time, here are a few pics we took this fall.

Temporarily Out of Service

2008-08-11T19:35:00.000-06:00

This blog has been out of commission for a while, please bare with me as I get things up and running and back date all the old posts!

New posts, pictures and templates to come soon!