Early Spring?

This week has been cold, cold, cold. But there has been quite a bit of sun, so that evens it out in my book. I used to hate winter. I dreaded and loathed every minute of it. But these days, I am finding I like it, maybe even love it a little bit.

Of course I do hate what winter brings, the never-ending viruses and various bacteria infecting our household. But on the plus side, the allergies are at the low end of the spectrum. However I am finding that as the boys get older, they seem to picking up fewer bugs than they did the year before. Geez I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that! Perhaps their immune systems are getting stronger? Man I hope so! Don't get me wrong, we still get sick PLENTY around here! It's just that instead of 10 colds per year, we might be down to 3 or 4. So that's good, right?

But back to winter and all it brings.

Snow.

I am loving the snow. I know, I don't have to shovel it (DH does that as I insist I don't know how to use the snowblower and it scares the heck out of me!) or drive in it but it's pretty and above all, fun. The boys have had a blast this year tunneling out caves and forts in our giant snowbanks framing the driveway. And of course there's the skiing.

Ah, skiing.

've only been twice this year, but I love it. And so does the rest of the family.
We would go more often but here are the problems:

1. It's expensive even just for lift tickets.
2. We really only have weekends to go as I work until 5 every weekday and DH is in school sometimes until 5 or 6 o'clock. We could night ski but if we couldn't leave until 5 at the very earliest, that puts us at the slopes at 5:30, on the hill around 5:45 and would only give us an hour, hour and a half of skiing time before we had to go home to bed! And, where would dinner fit in?
3. Only having weekends is difficult as some weekends have been way too cold (in -20's with wind chill!), some we have been sick, and some we have other commitments.
   

So that's why I am hoping that winter lasts a long, long time this year!! We may only have one or two more opportunities to ski in ideal conditions before spring hits us. This coming week the temperature is supposed to go above zero! Yikes! Not good for snow! And that's when things get ugly too, as in dirty and sloppy and just gross outside. It makes it difficult for me to get to school and back with babies, as I can't pull the sled over the many bare patches, but I also can't push a stroller or easily pull a wagon through all the still snowy/slushy patches.

Then there is the clothing. I do love winter clothing, indoor and above all, outdoor. I love that I can hide my body through all the layers. There's no showing off rolls or love handles when you have about four thick layers of cotton/polyester/wool/various materials on top of it! And I don't have to worry about shaving, or the fact that my veins are popping out extra nicely on my legs today, or that my skin is as white as a vampire's.

And as much as I hate being cold, I DESPISE being hot! I can't stand it. It makes me grumpy and short-tempered and very uncomfortable. I can find ways to easily warm up, but cooling off is always harder. So the winter cold is ok by me. Preferable at least to the sticky summer heat.

So don't hate me, but I am NOT hoping for an early spring!

Roll on, winter!

Random Stuff

Wow, today is cold! We went from about -1 or -2 yesterday, to a very chilling -25 + a windchill this morning! BRRRRR....At least now it's sunny.

I really have no idea what to post here today. I wanted to write something originally about the Christina Aguilera epic fail, and I know that's been done but here it is anyway. At first I was appalled and shocked that someone could mess up so badly singing their country's most precious song. I mean, if you have been honored with singing your country's national anthem at your country's most watched and biggest sporting event of the year, you'd think you would want to do the very best you could. As a very patriotic Canadian, I would be horrified if one of my fellow Canadians did the same thing. I know our anthem has been messed up, but it's usually by American singers, and if they can mess up their own song, then...

But as I went onto Youtube and typed in "Christina Aguilera national anthem", I got not only the Superbowl, but other videos of her singing to open other events. And on those ones she did just fine. I just think the poor girl probably got so nervous that she messed up. Who wouldn't be nervous? You're singing in front of MILLIONS of people. But the look on those faces of the soldiers that were there. You could tell what they were thinking.

One week until Valentine's Day. Honestly, I could care less. I've never had much love for this Hallmark holiday. I think it's fun for the kids, and gives me a theme to work with during the boring dull days of February, but ever since I got too old to pass out Valentine cards, I pretty much hated it. In high school, it was just another "rub it in my face" thing proving once again how unpopular I was. Don't get me wrong, I had great friends, I just wasn't popular with boys at all. And they always did these stupid secret Valentine things, where for a week or so before the holiday you could purchase a rose, or candy or something, and have it sent to the chosen person for $0.50 or $1 or something. You could leave it anonymous, which a lot of people did. I'm sure I sent some out, but I don't ever remember receiving any. The day would come, and those cursed messengers would come around to the classroom to deliver the goods. And I would hope and hope that they would call my name, but they never did. Or if they did it would be something from a girlfriend. Not what I was hoping for.

Post-high school it didn't matter to me either. Well, one year I got dumped on Valentine's Day, so that pretty much killed any hope for the holiday I ever had. When I finally got a boyfriend that could and would dote on me and make Valentine's Day what it was supposed to be, it was nothing special. The guy was so good to me ALL the days of the year that it was nothing new. (Why did I break up with him again???LOL)

Now it's more about money, I mean the fact that we don't really celebrate. I despise spending $5 on a piece of paper to tell the person I married that I love him. Really? I do it anyway, if I have time to find a card, because I feel bad to be empty-handed that day, but I don't like it. And I'd love for us to have a romantic weekend away, but I can't afford that. And trying to organize a babysitter and go out for dinner...more money and more hassle. I would like to do those things regardless of the calendar date, the fact that it says Feb 14 is irrelevant to me.

Ha ha, I googled anti-Valentine's Day images, and I like this one the best. There were other funny ones, but I didn't want to get carried away. I don't HATE Valentine's Day, I just don't look forward to it. I like it for the kids. And for the candy they bring home!

Snowmaggedon 2011

The snow cave they made next to our driveway.

Just a few pics to showcase our little piece of the snowstorm.

The kids walking home from school.

I have other pictures, but I didn't want to show any faces without any parents' permission, and I'm still wary of showing my own kids on here.

So this is what the streets in our neighbourhood look like now. The storm was pretty hefty, yes, but in our neck of the woods it's really nothing unusual for us to have one or two of these dumpings during the winter (along with many,many,many other smaller snowstorms). They never close the schools here for any amount of snow, so my kids went to school along with all the others I look after.

So you can kind of see how big the snow banks are. I don't think there's anyone on our street that does not own a snowblower. You'd be crazy to live here and not own one. And pretty much everyone owns one vehicle that can push through the snow better than a little Corolla or Prius. We all either have a minivan, SUV or pickup truck. So we're all well adapted.

That's it! Just a short post today.

I'M FREE!!!

Yesterday was the day that I've been waiting for - Cast Removal Day. I had to book the day off with all my parents, but I was still doing before and after school. Of course, it was the usual hurry up and wait at the hospital, what with waiting to register, then waiting to be called in to have the cast removed, which wasn't too long, and so on. The removal process was literally less than a minute. The guy took the saw thing, and zip - down one side, then zip- down the other side, then he used scissors to cut through the batting and snap, off it came with a shower of dead skin flakes.
Ew, yeah, I know.
Then he shooed me off to x-ray.
At first, my arm felt very naked and vulnerable. I immediately wanted to protect it, instead of revelling in the freedom. While sitting and waiting for my x-ray, I experimented gently with how far one way or another I could bend my wrist. It's not too bad, actually. I think the fact that I used my hand so much for the 6.5 weeks, plus the fact that I could and did wiggle my arm around inside the cast helped. I can bend my wrist back farther than I can forward, but even today it is more flexible and less sore than yesterday afternoon. Yesterday there were a few times that I got a sharp stabbing pain shooting down my arm when I positioned my thumb a certain way. I haven't had that today, or maybe I just haven't put my thumb in that position.
But I expected all this stuff; the dead skin, the weird feeling, the weakness/stiffness. What I didn't expect was how sensitive my skin is now where the cast covered it. It's strange. If I stroke my wrist or arm, it's so sensitive that it borders on irritating. And my palm is sensing things differently than my other palm. That's the weirdest part. I put my hand down on my bare knee, which is a tad stubbly since being shaved about a week ago. With my left hand (cast one), it felt very pokey and rough. With my right, it just felt a little stubbly, but not very. I put my left hand down on the computer desk here, and the temperature felt so cold I thought it was wet. I put my right hand down, and it just felt cool, not cold. Fascinating.
It shows as adults how desensitized our skin and expecially our hands are. I wonder how much more sensitive a newborn baby's skin feels? No wonder they cry about everything! The softest blanket to us, could feel rough and chafing to them.
Anyhow, I was happy to be finally free and able to put my winter jacket back together (I'd had to pull the liner out and use one of DH's sweatshirts because the liner's arm wouldn't fit over the cast.) I also got to finally put a glove on my left hand! After seeing the Dr., who congratulated me on healing so well (whatever, like I did that on purpose!) I was sent to a nearby building to purchase a brace, just like one you'd wear for roller blading. So I'll be wearing that for skiing, and I wore it last night to bed because I was afraid I'd wrench my wrist in my sleep or something.
Speaking of skiing, I was really hoping to go this weekend, since I can wear my coat properly, and mitts and everything. Now of course I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.
Of course.
The universe hates me.
I haven't had a cold AT ALL this winter!! Definitely not since I got the cast on. I couldn't have come down with a cold last weekend, when it was like hell had frozen over temperatures and we had nothing to do but hang out inside the house all weekend! Oh nooooo, of course not. So I am taking aconite (a homeopathic remedy), drinking green tea with ginseng, and I might even consider taking some of that nasty cold-fx that makes me feel nauseous and gives me heartburn.
DAMN!

I'm An Auntie Again!

Just a quick post to share my joy at being an aunt again. My niece, A., was born yesterday around 3 p.m. at 6lbs, 9oz. I'm so excited and happy for my sister and her husband! I also cannot wait to meet this new little person. Unfortunately, due to the fact that #1 - I live an hour's drive away from the hospital (that factor combined with the fact that I am not free to leave my house until all the "other" kids have gone home, around 5 pm) and #2 - yesterday after a winter that has been fairly mild by our standards, it decided to storm like a bugger, I have to wait now until the weekend to see her. Sigh. Oh well, it's not like I'm not used to it by now, after all, I did choose to live here (and I do love it) so I have to make sacrifices.

The pictures I posted aren't the best, I know, because they were sent to me from my dad's iPhone, but they're all I have, and they are definitely better quality than the ones I tried to steal from my other sister's Facebook page. And yeah, they're typical red-faced-scrunched-up-puffy-eyed newborn pictures, but she's still pretty cute! And if she's anything like her mommy was as a little kid, she's going to be completely adorable (and spoiled)!!

Under The Category Of "I'm Gettin' Too Old For This Sh*t"

I thought up the title for this blog while having a small cardiac infarction riding the chairlift Sat morning.
Ok, not really (the C.I.) but I felt like I was going to have one. And many thoughts were running through my mind at the time like, "Just what the HELL was I thinking??" and, "Will they let me ride this back to the bottom?"
You see, I decided that after a mere 10 or so years, that I should try skiing again. On top of that, I decided to take R with me. Now, I'm not so deluded as to think that I should be the one to teach him (my kids don't do well when I'm trying to teach them something, it seems; we ALL end up very frustrated! However, I did teach them both to ride a bike, so it's not all bad!), he had a "discover skiing" package lesson for 75 mins which seemed to do the trick just fine.
So while R was out discovering the joys of strapping fiberglass planks to your feet and trying to manoevour safely down a snow-and-ice-covered hill, I decided to brush up on my stellar skiing skills on my own.
Hence, me, riding up the chairlift and trying not to alarm the other passengers with my heavy sweating and rapid breathing.
At first, I thought maybe my fear was stemming from the fact that I wasn't sure how I was going to get back down the damn hill if my body failed to remember how to keep me from tumbling head over heels like the idiot that I am. But on reflection, I was pretty confident that I could at least master the easy hill and that I would surely remember how to snowplow if all else failed. So then why oh why was I so nervous? Glancing down I suddenly realized, that's right! I'm scared of heights! How could I have forgotten my phobia that seems to have developed and worsened over the past decade?
Shit!
Shit!
Ok, deep, calm breaths and hold on tight.
Oh, yeah, and don't look down!
After about a year five minutes we came to the top, I took a deep breath of relief and lo and behold I eased myself off the chair with grace! It seems I did remember some things after all! On to the next stage...
I managed to get down the first small hill leading to the top of the cliff face the "easy" hill they referred to as "Family". Taking another deep breath I psyched myself up.
Ok, I can do this. Just go slow. Lots of snowplowing.
And don't die.
Tears pricked my eyes; either from the cold wind, or the fact that I suddenly realized that I was going to be leaving my poor child all alone when I crashed and lost consciousness. Why oh why didn't I rent the stupid helmet?
Three year olds whooshed past me, giggling in delight and probably muttering under their breath about the old person with apparent dementia standing at the top of the hill looking lost.
Who, me?
Ok, I can do this. Just go slow. Blah, blah, blah. If they can do it, so can I.
About a third of the way down the hill, I was doing fine. I probably looked completely uncoordinated and ungainly, but I was still alive! However, my knees!
Oh, my knees how they ached! They were burning!
I don't remember this! This is a new kind of pain enjoyed while skiing. Maybe I am getting too old for this!
I was never so relieved to reach the bottom before. But like the glutton for punishment that I am, I got right back into the chairlift lineup. It was starting to all come back to me now. The thrill of conquering the hill while remaining conscious, the adrenaline rush, if you will.
By the third run I was right back to where I was (skill-wise) when I last skiied, a lifetime ago. And R loved his lesson, loved the whole experience. He has caught the skiing bug, as I did so many years ago, and wants to go again.
I think I've started an expensive obsession!
And guess what? I'm not even hurting that much, so I guess, after all, I'm NOT too old for this shit!!

Winter Blahs

It's that time of year again, the time when I just want to curl up in a ball and hibernate till spring. No one bug me!
I truly hate this time of year. It is depressing. If you're like me, you don't have the money for a vacation, so you're stuck with the grey skies and snowy landscape for a good six months. Going outside to play involves multiple layers of clothing and too much preparation. And then someone has to pee. So, you're stuck inside most of the time, watching your lower half of your body become wider by the second from lack of use.
It's the post-Christmas lull. All the hype, fun, and expectation of Yuletide celebrations is gone. There really is nothing to look forward to other than spring. And that's still too far away to contemplate. No holidays (I don't count Valentine's Day, it's stupid), no vacations, no time off.
So I am taking it one week or month at a time. This year, I am really trying hard to not let myself fall into that pattern of depression. I am counting off all the things I have to look forward to, no matter how small. So here they are:
*My youngest sister's baby shower
*The birth of my niece (coming at the end of Feb)
*Family Day, Feb 15 (at least one day off from work, although unpaid for the most part. For those of you that are American, this is a day our government brought in recently to give people a day off between New Year's and Easter, as we don't have a President's Day)
*A dinner date with another couple using a gift card I received for Xmas (sometime early Feb)
*A local hockey game we have tickets for
*Weekly skating trips with the fandamily (and I got new skates so I can't wait to try them out!)
*At some point, taking the boys snowtubing and/or skiing for the first time (I say I'm going to do it EVERY year, and never get around to it)
I can't think of anything else, but you get the picture. I am also trying to keep up with my vitamins (as I tend to forget them) and also am taking extra Vit D which apparantly helps us northerners with the lack of sunshine.
Well, there's my boring post. Just a peek inside my ever exciting life.

The Olympic Flame Comes to Town!

So the Olympic Torch came through my city the other night. It was pretty exciting! I just had to take the boys to see it, as it could potentially be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Of course being us, we headed out late, intending to go to the main celebration at the City Hall, but didn't make it there. I told DH before about the route the flame would take, ending at City Hall for the night where everyone would gather. And of course being a man, he had not "heard" me, or "forgot" and so we ended up on the road that I knew would be closed at any moment. But as luck would have it, at the very moment we pulled up to an intersection, the cop standing there closed it off, allowing no more traffic through, and we just parked right there in the middle of the road and hopped out of the vehicle. It just so happened that we were right at the point that the Flame hand-off was going to be made, and at the right time too. How cool was that?!

So here are a few pics, and of course as I can NEVER get anything right with blogger, they ended up in the wrong order. Therefore, if you please, go to the last pic and view them in reverse order.

Here the flame is being shared, to a rousing chorus of "Oh, Canada" being badly yet patriotically sung by the crowd.

A shot of the kids (who met up with a friend by chance) with the torch bearer (don't know his name).

The torch bearer.

I also tried to upload a video, but that didn't work, so you can watch it on my Facebook page.

Inside Boredom

The winter blahs are setting in already. After a couple of weeks of cold, rainy weather, I've gotten into the stay indoors mode. Our outdoor time is now limited to walking to and from the school twice a day. It sucks, really. I guess I could suck it up and take the kids outside anyway, but most of the idiots parents don't bring their child with outdoor appropriate clothing, which makes my job waaaaayyy harder, because then they'll get wet, and then I'll have to change them. Sigh. Try keeping a toddler off the wet grass and out of the puddles on our driveway. Not gonna happen.

So now I'm on the computer while I'm supervising the kids, inbetween diaper changes, snack feedings and fight-breakups. This is not good.

It's not good for a number of reasons.
#1. I'm sitting on my ass, which seems to make it wider somehow (weird how that happens).
#2. My brain is turning to mush from all the mindless drivel (and I don't mean your blogs, other stuff!)
#3. I'm waaaaaayyy too tempted by online shopping. I've already spend over $200 (US) on winter clothing so far. Yikes. Don't tell DH.

At least the kids are happy. For now.

My Secret Obsession

Ok, so you know how lots of women have obsessions over shoes, or makeup, or purses? They love shopping for them, and have tons of them, closets full even...That's not me. I can't stand shoe shopping, I do like buying purses but I limit myself to things on sale and about one new one per year, which is reasonable, I think. And I don't really wear makeup - maybe twice a year if lucky.
What I love, love, love to shop for and buy is ............
WINTER OUTERWEAR.
Ok, I know, that sounds totally crazy and stupid. Ridiculous really. But I just do, I don't know why. Now, I don't go overboard. It's not like everyone in my house has four or five coats each or anything, really, only one or two (in the adults case, 'cause, we don't grow out of our coats!) But I do spend a lot more time than necessary online window shopping for all the latest and coolest outfits. I love dressing my boys up in coordinating outerwear (I don't mean with each other, although that would be cute, I mean with themselves.) I just need them to be matching, which is stupid, because they don't care if they're matching, at least not yet, anyway. But I love having the hat and gloves match the coat, and even better, the boots (although this is much harder to accomplish.)
So here are the brands I have bought in the past and that I would recommend to any newbie parents. For boots, I buy Sorels. I've never had any problems with them, they are warm, waterproof (with some extra help from a waterproofing spray I use, although they do claim to be waterproof on their own) and they last at least two winter seasons (which, around these parts is the equivalent to about 12 months or so, depending on how early the snow falls). I also like that the liner is removable which a) helps with sizing as you can pull it out, have your child try the liner on and you can actually feel where their toes are, and b) you can pull it out to dry out the boots faster, which inevitably get wet from snow falling inside them.
For coats/snowsuits I have had success with Please Mum, a Canadian company and one of my favourite stores to shop for the boys in, Woodland, which is a brand sold in Bonnie Togs, Osh Kosh (but their sizes don't go past six here in Canada for some weird reason) and I always buy Columbia for myself. I haven't yet bought the boys a Columbia jacket, as it's just a little too pricey, but for me, I know my jacket is going to get several years' use.
As for accessories, I like Kombi, Columbia, Please Mum, and I've also bought online from http://www.llbean.com which is also where I do my online browsing/dreaming, as well as http://www.landsend.com .
So that's my weird obsession. Last night, we were out doing some back-to-school shopping, and some stores actually had winter coats coming out on the racks. Yikes! I know! I don't even want to think about winter, but a very small part of me was starting to feel those first tingles of excitement about the upcoming shopping expeditions I would get to have...
Well, I guess every woman's gotta have a vice...

A Visitor

Ok, I'm going to try this again. Yesterday, I wrote a whole blog entry only to have it NOT save, and then of course was gone. Frustrating.

So here is our little visitor. Our little friend named Stumpy, due to his lack of tail. We don't know what happened to him, perhaps he was even born that way. At any rate, it doesn't seem to affect his balance at all; he is just as nimble as any other squirrel I've seen.

Last year, Stumpy got bolder and bolder as we fed him peanuts, and eventually came up to the back sliding door to receive his treats, even taking them from my hand. I won't let the kids feed him by hand, as once he accidentally bit my finger (didn't make a mark or even hurt) and then I was thinking about rabies. I know, paranoid, but he might have another even more exotic disease he's ready to pass on.

So over the long cold winter we had, I wondered frequently about how he was doing. When spring came, I looked for him, and feared that he didn't make it through. But then suddenly, one day he came back, although it seemed that he didn't remember our "friendship". He would bolt when I'd open the back door.

Yesterday, however, he didn't run. I threw him a peanut, and then he came up on the deck to get another. After about four peanuts, he grew brave enough to come and get one from my hand again. Now he stands at the back door, peering into our kitchen as if to say, "Well, what have you got for me today?"

What have I started? LOL

Welcome back Stumpy.