Cell phones vs House phone

Keith and I these last couple of months have been trying to cut down our bills. I hyperventilated at the sheer thought of it.. I kept telling Keith it was easy for him to cut back, he is out there in the real world and I am at home.. I needed my HGTV and my Food Network and my TLC..but we compromised and I agreed to let go of my "needs" if we could do it in short doses. So last month was cable...sigh...You don't know what you have till you don't have it anymore... oh well..

This month is the phone...Keith has been saying for a couple of years he doesn't see the need to have a house phone AND a cell. Well sure he doesn't.. he is not a talker... When phone companies came out with this call anywhere North America 24/7 for 19.99 a month we latched on it. Needless to say they no longer have it but it was too late.. I think when we got it was when they went broke with it hehehe I mean seriously have you met my mother? Where do you think I got my knack of endless talking???

But my rationale is now I will be tied to the phone. Anyone that has ever been in my house knows how our phone rings NON stop. So to only have my cell when I go out it would never shut off. As well with no phone in cars, I would spend all my free time answering voice mail. But I had agreed to work with this new plan so last week we went out to the local mall to all the phone kiasks to see what they had to offer. I told them all what our plan was now and what they could do. Every single one of them said the same... they could not even come close to match it. Gee thanks guys.. you were a big help. The only ones that came close were some we saw commercials for or found on the Internet. But they were not known companies and I did not want to go there.

So there lays my dilemma. What to do what to do.. Has anyone done that? Gotten rid of their house phone and just had their cells to use? How did that work out for you? Anyone know of a cell company that gives 200 free daytime minutes, free evening/weekend calling, 200 long distance minutes, free incoming and outgoing texting and web searches (although rarely used) a month and all for $39.99?

Saskatchewan

I know I know weird topic...but here it is. I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and moved to BC almost 21 years ago. I thought I knew every place and every thing in that province. But I have been proven wrong. I have been known to be wrong from time to time.. not often and especially not when I want to be right but occasionally. One of the pavilions that we visited over the Olympic time was Saskatchewan. Keith has a great love for that province. Not me. I love my family and miss them every single day but I can not say I have a great love for it. BC yup yup yup. But I learned a lot in that pavilion and thought you might like to learn something new this Monday that has nothing to do with medals or 100ths of a second time frame.

-It has more then 2 million hectares of parkland, 2 National parks, 34 Provincial Parks and 95 Regional Parks
-100, 000 lakes... (really?)
-A Saskatchewan angler invented the now famous read and while spoon style fishhooks ( I have like 10 different ones in a variety of sizes)
-They have the world's biggest uranium mine. They are one of the world's top uranium producers
-it supplies about 4% of all electricity in the United States- enough to power New York City!! Glad to know Canada is good for something other then gold medals hehehe sorry I could not resist.. tomorrow I'll behave I promise
-The Dakota Dunes Golf Links was named Canada's best new course in 2005 by Golf Digest and in 2009 it was named the number one golf course in Saskatchewan and Manitoba by SCOREGolf Magazine.
-It has the most golf courses per capita in the world.. again really?
-The province's incredible Aboriginal heritage shines through in teh achievements of its First Nations people. Allen Sapp is a world renowned Cree artist. He has a gallery in North Battleford and shows around the world.
-Every summer thousands of people converge onto Wascana Park in Regina to hear the Regina Symphony orchestra perform Symphony Under the Sky. The RSO is the largest continously performing symphony orchestra in Canada.
-Saskatchewan has 5 of the 10 most entrepreneural cities in Canada
-It is the world's largest exporter of mustard. Seriously? huh
-Has the largest ptoatsh industry in the world - it is a key ingredient in the fertilizer that helps feed a hungry planet
-Has more then hlaf of the world's potash reserves. They are to potash what Saudi Arabia is to oil
-the RCMP(Royal Canadian Mounted Police) headquarters is situated in Regina. Did you know ALL RCMP officers are trained there.
-in southeastern Sask you'll find North America's hottest oil play, the Bakken Formation. It produces over 58,000 barrels of oil a day. It is Canada's 2nd largest oil producers. It also accounts for 1/3 of Canada's energy production with coal, oil, uranium, natural gas, hydro and wind
-the wheat fields make it the breadbasket of the world.It also produces more canola, flax and peas then anywhere in the world.
-it not only produces a lot of energy but Saskatchewan is leading the way in reducing greenhouse gases and carbon footprints. The Petroleum Technology Research Centre manages the world's largest monitored carbon storage project. By projects end it will be like taking 8 MILLION cars off the road for a year (well living in a huge metropolis city it would be nice if some of those would be removed permanently so it wouldn't take so long to get to where I am going)
-they have the best fans in Canadian Football League
-in 2009 it broke records for the 5th consecutive year in investment initiatives
-they have a record 9.7 billion in mineral production in 2008 and have over 10 billion of committed project expansions so the future in mining is tremendous
-is home to almost 1/4 of Canada's cattle herd
-International scientists are lining up to do research at the Canadian Light source in Saskatoon, one of the world's most advanced synchrotrons
-the lower cost and less stressful lifestyles associated with small centres make it a great place to call home. It is still cheaper to lve there then in most of Canada

So there you go.. your history AND geography lesson all rolled into one afternoon of light reading!! And if you want to still know more (other then where my mom lives) go to www.gov.sk.ca

Haysom Olympic Finale

17 days out of our lives.. a mere 2 1/2 weeks out of the grand scheme of things.. what does it amount to really? At 53 years of age, it's nothing really..but these last 17 days have left an imprint in my life. In case you have been on another planet this past month you know we just had the Olympics here. In 1988 when we had the Olympics in Calgary, I had 5 teenagers at home, a husband who worked out of town and was going to school out of town, I worked full time as nurse as well as part time as a councilor at a sexual assault centre. Olympics? What was that? My olympian feat was trying to keep the laundry pile from being higher then my ceilings, the fridge from completely emptying on any given day, filling hollow legs, fighting crowds in stores for that last pair of jeans/sneakers/sweater/ that was on sale for 5.00.

During the 1976 Olympics in Montreal I had 2 small babies, and was in the hospital. In those days there was no such thing as tv's in your room and if you were lucky there was one old small black and white one in the common room that had rabbit ears on top (and if you have no idea what those are you need to ask your parents) and as I was bedridden that option wasn't there.

Needless to say when these Olympics hit our little city, I was excited!! I'm a winter sports person way more then summer so it works for me. I spent the month prior to it arriving to go over what Olympics were to my younger granddaughters, we looked up all the events, researched them online and found bios on our athletes. even wrote letters to some of them. We talked about winning and losing, the different medals and the dedication it takes to be an Olympian athlete. I talked to them as often as I could about patriotism, about what it means to be a Canadian and why we should be proud of who we are. I talked to them about how the whole world would be watching us and we should always be on our very best behaviour.

We decorated our home inside and out and my car. When we would be driving around and saw another car with a Canadian flag we would honk and wave. It made them smile when the other drivers would honk and wave back :) But it was more then my teaching them; as I mentioned before they taught me too. They taught me to cheer for the other teams so they would play with us again. They taught me that it doesn't matter if we win or lose as long as we have fun. They taught me to keep some things INSIDE my head and not use my outside voice so much. They taught me that I am way too loud when I cheer.

I learned that you CAN be a part of Olympic celebrations without spending an arm and a leg. It became my passion to find things to do that were free. I realized it was way more important to spend the time at the activities with family and friends then to have been there alone. We were there on the first day when the torch ran in our neighborhood, and later that night at the ceremonies in our city. I was able to take my 12 year old granddaughter with me to the opening night celebrations at a free site downtown Vancouver watching the whole thing unfold on megatron size tv's. And I loved her even more then I already did for not standing away from me when I was screaming my head off when Wayne Gretsky came on board.

I had always said you would never catch me dead going up to Yukon but after an evening in their pavilion Keith and I were both so impressed that we know that will be our next big trip in the future. I learned a lot about different countries that I didn't already know. I learned that it's ok for big girls to cry at the drop of the hat over and over again and it's ok. I found out that red is my new favourite color.

It became even clearer to me that I have the BEST husband in the world when he would keep his eye rolling for when I wasn't looking because I wanted yet another picture of the torch even though I already had 100 of them. Even though he knew I would pay for it the next day with pain, he was ok with going back downtown again and again even though he HATES going down there on a regular day let alone when everybody and their mother is on the street.

I loved him for not once saying "I told you so" these last 17 days, nor for saying "didn't you watch that event already?" I loved him even more the day I woke up from having fallen asleep on the couch watching the events and he had covered me with a flag when he left for work. Last night was the last full day we could spend at the events so we went down with 2 of our children and 7 of our grandchildren. It was cold and wet and the little ones were tired and cold but we kept on going. Lots of walking (thank goodness for strollers!) although they sure gave it a valiant effort at wanting to walk on their own. At one point the 5 year old asks me " When are we going to be in Canada?" I said we are in Canada.. and she said "No, we're not.. we have to yell GO CANADA GO GO CANADA GO and jump up and down that's when we are in Canada"...opps.. my bad...I have to work more on geography in the future and less on cheerleading I guess :)

Late in the afternoon, we went in our different directions, our 1 son needed to go home (DIL is due any day with their baby) and our daughter and her family wanted to go in a different direction to find some Olympic items. We kept our oldest granddaughter with us and headed off. We went to the Italy, the French and the Switzerland pavilions. We then managed to scrounge some tickets for a cruise around the harbour. They were getting ready to leave and had some empty seats and they wanted to just fill the seats. So for 2 hours we cruised around Stanley Park, saw the Olympic rings from the water side and the cauldron. When we returned back to the marina we found we could take an aquabus back to the other side without having to wait forever for the train so we hopped on!!! Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It was a great bonding moment and I sure hope she will remember that day for a long long time.

It was a day full of memories that cost us virtually nothing. Today it was the men's gold medal hockey game. We had friends who thought that we cheered the men winning way more then we cheered the women winning their gold and how wrong that was. I had been there watching the women win and I know the city went wild but as I thought it about all afternoon I realized it wasn't because we cheered more for the men it was because of what that gold medal meant. It meant we had beat the record held of most gold medals won at any Olympic games. That was why we went crazy! I went back on Shaw on Demand and rewatched the womens' win again and there really was pandemonium that day from the spectators! We are nothing but equal opportunitistics :) Keith and I had gone downtown to watch it at FreeCity Yaletown that day and I had known there at least it was insane with excitement.

Canada is going to seem awfully quiet this week. I heard something today..we may not be as outwardly patriotic as other countries, we may not all hang flags from our door frames but we do have a quiet pride..it was always there..we just needed permission to know that it was ok to let it all out. So for another 2 1/2 years (summer Olympics) I will put my medals away, wipe my tears, swallow the lump out of my throat, but what I will not do, is forget how for 17 days our country became one. We no longer were French-Canadian, Indo-Canadian, Asian-Canadian etc. We were Canadians.. through and through.. and with glowing pride we stood shoulder to shoulder as one nation, cheered when we won, cried with our athletes when we didn't, we felt every sorrow, every win, every in between. We sang our national anthem in every possible wrong key that could be found but we did it with such pride.

I saw this short video today and thought I would include it in closing as well as "my" medals that has grown since the first one was won. Some of our granddaughters helped me make this poster and as we got a medal I hung a matching on in the window. It became our neighborhood gauge on how the country was doing. I actually twice had a neighbour come to our door to ask where a medal was because we had won something and I had not hung a medal yet. :-D

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=16afced6-f953-42f8-88ce-46c9493947e9

End of an Era

Friday will mark the end of an era in my life. 3 and a 1/2 years ago a then 2 1/2 year old red headed Princess with her own independent mind came into my household. I started watching her while Mommy and Daddy went to work. This little princess became my saving grace and didn't even know it. On Friday I will find it hard to "give her back". Mommy is going to be on maternity leave while they wait for their new baby to arrive then will be home for a year or so. After that Daddy will become a full time at home dad. Or so that is the plan now.

But this little girl became attached to my soul more then one would think. I realized today after I dropped her off at school, I won't be there for her Noisy Reader time in the mornings at school where the parents etc can come in to read with their child. She was sitting on my lap and told me she was going to miss our snuggle time. She said she would tell Mommy that she HAD to come help me clean and then we could just snuggle lol.

She saved me from my self destruction when I was diagnosed with cancer. Here I had all these adults surrounding me, looking after me, but it was this little 4 year old that "took care" of me. She was the one that got me a cloth when my head spent way too much time in the bucket; she was the one that kept an eye on the draining bags from my surgeries and would tell me that one had more blood then supposed to and I needed to empty it. She would follow me in the bathroom just to make sure I did like the nurse told me.

She gave me back rubs every day; brushed my hair and put clips and ponies all over telling me if I looked pretty then I would feel pretty. We spent days at the library, went to the pool, went on adventures in the forests, treks to the parks and beaches, went to the surgeon every 2 weeks for 6 months, we learned where all the bathrooms were, where all the cool lunch places were and she knew the train stations and when we had to get off.

We had tea parties and sleepovers with her younger cousin and together we would get dressed up in our Queen and Princess clothes and tiaras then would bake something scrumptious for Papa. Together with her cousin, they kept my spirits up when all I wanted to do was to pull the blankets up over my head and escape from the world. We finger painted, sculpted masterpieces and went for trips up to Whistler and many camping trips.

And Friday that will come crashing down all around me. I believe I might just have to be elsewhere when Mommy comes and gets her so I do not have to say goodbye. I know I will see her throughout the week but it won't be the same. She taught me about life, she taught me about slowing down and smelling the roses, she taught me patience (she does NOT move at any speed but hers and that was never mine!!), she taught me about sharing, about playing nice and for cheering for other teams that are not Canadian.

I will miss my morning snuggle and all the I love you mostest no returnies. But most of all I will miss making new memories. But this time now belongs to her mommy and her daddy and her new baby when it comes. And one day I will tell her all this and how much she saved her Nana from her self and what she came to be..Nana's special Princess. Thank you Rosaleen. I truly do love you mostest NO RETURNIES!!! xoxoxoxoox

Playing Nice

All last week little Princess Rosaleen, our 6 year old granddaughter, has been telling me continually that I need to also cheer for the other teams because they are visiting us and if we don't cheer for them or let them win sometime they won't come and play with us again. This morning she told me she was very proud of me that I had obviously been cheering for the other team last night (Men's hockey) letting them win so that they would play with us again. She has been listening to me being so ..hmm well let's just say passionate about my cheering our athletes and has been chastising me continually that it's not if we win or lose but if we had fun that is the most important thing. I have had to bite down to not confuse her with how different rules are when you are at the Olympic level. Better she think that I had been listening to her all last week and that I let USA win just so they would play with us again. But let me be perfectly clear here...

THIS IS OUR HOME, OUR GAME, OUR GOLD!

End of week one

I have been a proud armchair supporter of the Olympics. I am a avid sports fan, well ok sports to me means hockey and then football in that order but for the Olympics I watch every event Canada is participating in. When the torch ran through our community I was there with some of our family then we went to the city's opening ceremony that night.




On Friday I took one of our granddaughters that had turned 12 a couple of days prior to that with me and off we went. We were in the lineup JUST to get in the gate for 2 hours and 15 minutes in the cold and rain. We were totally soaked but it was so intense. We loved it!! We were the only ones in our large family out here that were there and we took advantage of it. I kept telling her we would probably never get the opportunity to do this again.


When the Canadian athletes walked in well to say it was a screaming frenzy was to say the least!! I was jumping up and down and screaming my head off all the while knowing I would suffer in pain the next day but at that point in time I did not care. Then when they were getting ready to bring the torch in to light the cauldron I kept repeating the mantra "Please let it be Gretsky" over and over again then Rick Hanson wheeled in. Well it wasn't the Great One but it was ok. Then another one then another one and we realized there would be 4.. there was such anticipation in the air where I was. We could see the back of the man but not his face. I knew it was him.. you could tell by the way he stood and his hair.. and when the 3rd torch went to him to light his and the cameras finally panned to his face I screamed so loud and jumped up so much I actually almost knocked myself out and lost my breath. My granddaughter kept looking at me like I was weird. I said Latitia it is Wayne Gretsky!! And she said WHO??? Are you kidding me??

So on the way home I had to explain to her who he was as well as all the 6 people who carried in the Olympic flag. Man they sure don't teach kids these days about who Canadian athletes are! So oh man just to have been that close to him, I would have stood 10 hours more just to have been a part of that whole experience.

Other then Survivor night I have had the tv on 3 different channels to keep an eye on all the events. One of our other granddaughters and I did up some posters and decorated our front window to show our support. Then when we got our first medal I wanted to do something more so I got out a bronze kind of cd and hung it on a ribbon on the one poster that says "Do You Believe?" As we have gotten more medals I have hung them on the poster. Not very "Modern Decor" look but it shows our grandchildren how important it is to support people even when you do not know them.

Of course I am hoping to get enough medals that I will have one window for the gold and one for the silver and one for the bronze :)Tomorrow Keith and I will be heading back to check out all the pavilions and just walk around downtown checking things out. I am sure afer a couple of hours he is going to be fed up with the crowds and ready to go home so will have to make sure we check out the Quebec house first heheehe. Although I know he will suffer through the crowds cause he knows it is so important to me. I even have my autograph book in my bag already just in case I meet someone important.. like you know.. the Great One :)

Pizza anyone???

I got this from our son Kim and man oh man I am so making this over the weekend!! Good thing the crust makes 2 because there isn't a hope in heaven Keith will eat a pizza with eggplants and tomatoes on it!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/my-favorite-pizza/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pwcooks+%28The+Pioneer+Woman+Cooks!%29

Olympics 2010

6 years ago when Vancouver put their bid in for the Olympics I was against it. Right out of the starting gate I knew they would never keep within their budget (I was right), it was going to put a lot of people out of work (again right), businesses would suffer (yup) and that the money would be better spent on health care and education. Patients are already on long wait lists because hospital beds are closed, not enough nurses to go around, not enough is done to keep doctors in small towns, schools are closing and those that are open don't have enough computers for children, no after school extra curriculum, and the lists went on and on.

I watched the ceremonies that day all those years ago and I have to admit that I jumped out of my chair and cheered when the host declared Vancouver had won the bid! I was caught in the moment! Over the last few years it has been brought home many many times at how the cost of these Olympics are out of control, we have gone into debt to bring it to pass, businesses have gone bankrupt because of all the road closures due to road construction and so on.

But having said that, I have athletes in my family and I do know that those athletes work very very hard and for most of their lives at the sport they are playing and competing. They don't deserve to be penalized because they love to compete. These last couple of weeks I have been explaining about the Olympics to my almost 6 year old granddaughter, explaining the intricacies of the game and medals. She wanted to send a letter to one of the athletes one day so we cut out part of a Cheerios box, found how to mail it and she told me exactly what she wanted to say for me to write it. She also was very specific to who she wanted it to go to. So as she dictated her wishes I had to hide a smile. She wanted me to write the following "It doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you played your best we will all still love you." I didn't have the heart to tell her that at that level of competition, disappointment at not placing let alone not winning a medal would be at the front of all their minds and hearts. But she is 6 and for now it was enough that she wanted to send her wishes to this athlete.

Today right after school we walked over to where the torch bearers were going to be running along the road. I explained to her before what the torch meant, went online and watched other torch ceremonies and she had it all down pat. As the athlete ran past our group we cheered as loud as we could waving our flags as hard as we could and at that moment, the debt never crossed my mind, the over spending, the feedback from the people that the government wouldn't listen to, none of it mattered for one small moment in the grand scheme of time. What mattered was watching my grandchildren cheering for this athlete as she ran past us. What mattered was them knowing that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, that you CAN be everything you want to be. As my little granddaughter and I walked back home out of the blue she started singing O Canada, she knew every word.. and half way through the first paragraph she asked me why I wasn't singing with her. I told her cause I had a frog in my throat. She laughed and said Nana you're funny.

So all the way home, we sang our national anthem over and over again and then I sang it in French to her. After the Olympics are over then I will go back to worrying about how the sheer cost of these games are going to cost the taxpayers, but for now, I will support the athletes.
But for now, true patriot love in all thy sons command.

Before and After

Today with the help of my 2nd oldest granddaughter we changed our master bedroom around. I had measured it carefully but somehow when we moved everything around, the bed stuck out way too much. That would have been a recipe for disaster! It's bad enough trying to not run into things when I go to bed in the middle of the night without having large pieces of furniture in my way. Then we moved everything around a different direction but could only use one of the night stands :( So we finally went to plan c. We would have been ok to do it the way I wanted had Keith been the one helping out as we could have moved the dressers. But at 8 feet high and solid oak, it wasn't something the 2 of us could even attempt to think of moving them. It may not seem like a big change but considering we literally moved the rest of the furniture from one end of the room to the next 3 different times trust me when I say we had enough!! Other then the bed and the night stands all the other pieces Keith built for me and they are solid oak so very heavy. I am feeling every strained muscle at the moment let me assure you!

Thanks Britnee!



Those 2 were the before's
Britnee with her masterpiece.. even hung my curtains when they were done in the wash :)

Strength of Character

Not too many things surprise me.. guess it comes with being half a century old heheee but I was surprised twice this week. First, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Keith's company was letting go of their extended health benefits. Well on Tuesday this week we found out I have to have a full back brace as the taped binding one he had been using was not working as well as it should have. He said the type I needed to get was expensive.. joy... We told him about Keith's company and he said he would make some calls to see if he could find one quickly so we could get the receipt in. So yesterday Keith called his office to talk to the group administrator to find out exactly what date the plan was being cut off and why. Today he went to the office to get his paycheck and found out that his boss has decided to keep the plan for another month to give me time to find a brace and get the receipt in. Huh...

Today I saw the specialist for my Prolotherapy session and told him I had gotten no relief at all from the last session in fact things had gotten worse. He had me do some moving and bending and decided my muscles are just too weak to continue on and that we needed to work on strengthening my core muscles as well as my legs etc. Now that surprised me. Well not what I needed to do but that he wasn't going to continue with the sessions right now. He obviously would get paid more with the treatments then just working out with my skeletal frame but he chose not to because he felt right now it wasn't what I needed. Huh..go figure

So I have been surprised twice this week that with everything going on in life there are still people out there with character, good people, people that still care about others. And as if that wasn't enough... my family doctor who I also saw today, has agreed to take Keith on as a patient.. she has not taken on new patients in years but as a special favour to me she agreed :) But she did tell him he needed to be on his best behaviour and to never give her a hard time, to always do as he was told, and that if at any time I felt I could not handle having the same doctor he would have to find another one :)

Update on back

I saw the therapist yesterday and was not pleased with his prognosis. He had been using tape for binding my upper back to try and keep it straight as the muscles were pulling my ribs forward making me bend forward which was causing all sorts of pain. But I was breaking out in rashes and it wasn't working well enough. So now I have to go from the taped bindings to a steel/metal full back brace They apparently are very expensive and we told him that we are losing our extended health benefits in the next short while so he was going to move fast at trying to find one right away for me so we can get the receipt into Blue Cross. I am not looking forward to going in that kind of brace but he said my skin is now deteriorating from all the tape going on it. So I end up taking it off from the itchiness of the hives from the allergy as well the tape is not stiff enough to keep me in place so am bending too much even though I think I am doing much better. But he said I have to try even harder. Sigh.. getting old really sucks.

For my daughter and daughter in laws

Today I think they need to hear this:

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."
This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night and can't find their children.
This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and made them homes.
For all the mothers of the victims of the Colorado shooting, and the mothers of the murderers. For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TV's in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.
For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.
What makes a good Mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to School alone for the very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying?
This is for all the mothers that sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.
This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."
This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired two-year old who wants ice cream before dinner.
This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.
For all the mothers who bite their lips -- sometimes until they bleed -- when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green. Who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.
This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse. This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.
This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves.
This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.
This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school with stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse and hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at football games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without. This is for you all. So hang in there.
"Home" is what catches you when we fall - and we all fall.

I love you all and am only a yelp away

Mum

Baby pool Time

Ok it's baby pool time once again for our almost here grandchild!! As we weren't on FB before this is a new way to advertise if you want to play :) You do not pay for your guess as that would be illegal hehehe so here is what you need to enter to me:
1. sex of baby
2. weight in lbs/oz (sorry I don't do metric)
3. length in inches (see #2)
4. whether born morning (6am -2pm), afternoon (2pm-10pm), night (10pm-6am) and
5. date born (due March 7).
If you do not already know they have one daughter who was born afternoon, was 10 days overdue, weighed 8lbs 7oz and 22.5".
Winner gets a large Blizzard of their choice. Pool closes March 1st

Out of the 9 times we have done this I have won 8 times hehehee and no you do not get to copy off of my choices!! We also have 10 granddaughters and 4 grandsons and 1 daughter and 4 sons if that helps

Anna & Kristina's Beauty Call Show

Today was a cool day in my life :) A couple of weeks ago one of my new favourite shows, Anna and Kristina's Beauty Call put out a call looking for volunteers willing to let them test hair dyes on them. But you couldn't just want to dye your hair, you had to have grey hair to color. And not just a head of grey hair but just grey roots as the new on the market products were markers that were temporary.

Well I got the call 2 days ago that I had been accepted as a volunteer! WOOHOO~ It didn't help that these 2 are local celebrities and I have been watching their 3 shows since their inception many years ago. I would have been happy just standing in the same room as them!

So we get there and one of the hosts, Kristina, just chats with us putting us at ease. Then the cameras start and she explains all three products to us. That took a couple of takes. Then we go over to this large vanity table in front of a big mirror where we all try product 1 then the 2nd one then the 3rd one. We have to say how we liked/disliked the ease and use of it. Once we were all done, we went back to the sitting area where we took turns talking about the pros and cons of each product and if we had a favourite. After that she gave us the price of them and asked if we would still buy it (for those that have a favourite). I said I would as it blended well with my hair, very easy to use, minimal fuss etc. I loved it.

After we were done that segment then we each had to take a turn at the mirror with no one around other then one camera man on top of a step ladder filming the top of the heads and other cameraman filming the side of the head you were working on. No talking just letting them film as you did it. Then that was it. I was happy just haven been a part of it all. Then I found out we could take the products home AND an extra one of our favourite :)

But no that's not it!! We ended up getting a satchel filled with makeup and beauty products!!! COOL :) Life is good :) Here is the link of the one marker that was my favourite as well as the site for the beauty show. Our segment will air mid March and I promise to keep you all posted! They actually have 3 shows that they film so I am including all the links. You should check them out. They test out everything a woman and man...would use in a home.

http://www.wnetwork.com/Shows/AnnaKristinasBeautyCall.aspx
http://www.wnetwork.com/Shows/Anna-Kristinas-Grocery-Bag.aspx
http://www.annaandkristina.com/

http://styleapothecary.onsugar.com/TouchBack-Hair-Marker-6539099

Baklava

Hello..

well I did a first on the weekend. We had company coming for dinner on Sunday and I wanted to make a special dessert. Keith and I both love Greek food and I happen to be watching Food Network one day last week (gee what else is new hehehe) and they were making Baklava and so I thought cool that is what I want to make.

Well it was easy to make (although very time consuming) and it tasted amazing BUT I don't know if I will make it again unless I can figure out how to make it with less calories and fat. 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of honey and 1 pound of butter were making my arteries clog as I was just reading the recipe!! They did say to make sure I keep the phyllo pastry sheets covered with a damp cloth while I was working with the other sheets so they did not dry out and I did that but what they didn't say was to make sure I wasn't using the counter on top of the dishwasher as it was going and the steam from it was going under the tea towel drying out the bottom edges. But all in all it turned out really well.. at least I think it did. We each had a piece and I kept one for Keith's lunch the next day but sent the rest to our daughter's home as I just did not want to be tempted!!

Physio and Prolotherapy

It sure seems like these last few months have been spent in a doctor's office working on some part of my back. It is tiring. Every other week I either go for physio for my upper back and the alternate weeks I go for Prolotherapy. Both are helping but both make me cringe while I am going through the sessions. How does one's spine get so bad and so crooked ???

With physio the therapist hooks the TENS machine onto my back for about 30 minutes then manipulates it into place. Once there he binds it to hold. Last week he asked me what on earth I am doing that undoes everything he does. I told him I can't do anything as I am stuck in an upright position. But actually for that visit I had to take the bindings off for a week or so before my appointment as my back was burning and very itchy. When Keith took it off I had welts and rashes all underneath from an allergy I presume from the binding tape. Needless to say without the binding it did not take long to get bent over again. Sigh. But I did learn from him that Pepto Bismal is an actual antihistamine if taken topically!!! Who knew? So he covered my back with it and then bound it again. So far it has been working.

We had misplaced my TENS machine and had not been able to locate it. With all the people here over Christmas, it had not been put away properly and it went missing. We thought we had looked everywhere. The pain was getting out of control so Keith said bag it and went and spent the money on a new one. This was on Friday. Last night he calls from the bathroom and I go over to see what he wanted me to see... and there sitting in the basket in the ensuite was the base of the machine. We had both checked the bathrooms several times each and had not see it. Sigh. And of course I had used the new machine already so could not take it back.

The Prolotherapy also has been working except for this last session. Normally for a couple of days afterwards I am in extreme pain. Don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't call me or anything. I just curl up in a ball and try to not move. Then the pain eases and I have greater mobility and ability to function half way normal. But this last session the therapy has not worked. There is still great burning in my tailbone area and the leg/hip joint area is inflamed. And the doctor is away on holidays last week and this week so have not even been able to go back and get it checked.

So I just fumble around as best as I can and go from there. Then to make matters worse, last week Keith had a meeting with his boss concerning the new contract coming up and he was told that effective the end of this month we were going to lose our extended health benefits. Things have been tight in the construction world for the last year as the city would not allow any new commercial construction to happen until after the Olympics and that means both of them. So they have just been doing renos but there is no money in that. They have had to lay off all of their labourers making the Superintendents do all the work. Keith was expecting that he was going to be told he was going to either get laid off or get a cut in pay but those didn't happen so that's good. But they are letting go of their benefits. Which for us means we now will have to dish out about 1200.00 a month on medications and therapies. Not good.

I do miss my wages let me tell you.

New Blogs

The advantage of being up most of each nights, I tend to work on my laptop and just putz around. I have had these ideas going through my mind last summer/fall but was too busy with other projects to give them much more thought till late fall. I have started 3 new blogs but rather then this one where everything shows up on it from rants about idiots, to crowing about my grandchildren to everything in between, these will have specific themes. I hope you check them out and give me your feedback. If you find you can't post a comment or start a new post let me know about it and I will fix it. You can email me privately if you have a question or comment but don't want your info on the sites and I will post it for you. You can email me at smilesonly@gmail.com

So here are the blogs:

1. http://padmess.blogspot.com/

This one is about creating an organized home, life, self and family. These are ideas to help you. If you have a particular problem in any of these areas or even for new areas, let me know and I will find some solutions that might work for you!

2. http://sallysyourgirl.blogspot.com/

This blog is about being your Internet Yellow Pages ~ how do you find something, are you looking for some references, certain restaurant, directions to something, what is the best hotel somewhere; This blog is your personal info yellow pages for your life whether it be for cooking, cleaning, health, beauty, stress relievers, how-tos etc.

3. http://alivein2010.blogspot.com/

This blog is about starting a new you! Look at this year as a fresh start to a brand new you.. Maybe it is about watching what you are eating, maybe it is about learning to start working out small, perhaps it is about losing that last (or first) 20 pounds...whatever it is that brings you here today welcome and let's get started together!

And then of course there is this one :) So please continue to let me know your thoughts.. hate to think I am always just talking to myself hehehee

Lots of Bread

I was looking through my recipe folder on the weekend looking for a cottage cheese roll recipe that I love and came across one that I have not used in about 20 years. This was made each and every week when our children lived at home and I thought someone out there might find it came in handy :) I would be interested in hearing how you like it.

15 Loaf Bread Recipe:
3TBSP yeast
1 C Water
2 TBSP Sugar
Dissolve in water

3 QTS warm water (sorry I did tell you it was an old recipe lol you might have to look for old measuring utensils if all your things are in metric)
3/4 c sugar
3 TBSP salt
3/4 c. shortening
40 cups flour

Start mixing. I would add 1/4 of flour at a time, get that mixed well then add the next 1/4 which made it a lot easier on my arms and shoulders. It also guaranteed everything got mixed in properly. Grease bowl or roaster (Get an actual bread bowl or baby's bathtub or something huge as it will be a BIG batch when rising) turn dough over so greasedl side is up. Cover with damp towel and place in oven with oven light on.
Let rise for about 1 1/2 hours. How you tell if the bread has doubled enough put 2 fingers in the top about a couple of inches. If the holes remain it has risen perfectly. If the holes collapsed it is not ready yet.

Form into loaves. Let rise about 45-60 minutes. Make sure you do not have any drafts in the house. Cover with cloths to keep moist.

Bake at 375 for about 35-40 minutes depending on your oven. Brush with butter. Assume your family will be like mine and will devour 2 loaves the second it comes out of the oven. Trust me they can move pretty fast even with very hot bread!!!

ENJOY!!

Dreams

I hate mornings.. but even more so this morning. I have this special ergonomically correct pillow that keeps my neck straight and prevents tension headaches. Well this morning I somehow slipped partly off and woke up with a nasty headache. But that was ok.. well not ok per se but better then what ticked me off. I had been having such a wonderful dream.. you know the kind where you never want to wake up?? Because I dream so much I almost always know I am dreaming but not last night.

I dreamed that Keith and I had bought an old large Victorian house with all these rooms, hardwood floors, tall vaulted ceilings.. gorgeous. Well it was moving day and somehow somewhere between buying the house day and moving day the house inside grew immensely. The outside still looked the same but when you went in the rooms were all larger and there were even more rooms then there had been before.

As I am walking through each room 2 new rooms made me think I had died and gone to heaven, one was a library. It had a ceiling that must have been at least 20 feet high. shelves from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Every single space was filled with books!!! People that know me know I am a reader. If something has 2 covers and words in between it will find it's way in my hands. It even had one of those ladders you see in movies that are hooked on the top shelf and you can swing around the room in it.. oh man life was good at that moment. In the middle of the room were these big overstuffed armchairs and lounges that just begged for you to curl up in front of the fireplace to read something.

The 2nd room that I fell in love with was the dining room. Well not that room but the room that now was attached to it. This one had wall to wall and floor to ceiling closed oak cabinets and drawers and when I opened them there were the most beautiful china, silver pieces, crystal, linens, centerpieces, it just went on and on.. I could see my mouth wide open and completely speechless!! Yes I know..me? speechless? That should have been my first clue I was dreaming!

Then I could hear Keith calling me and I turned back into the dining room to go get more boxes and where 2 minutes before had been an empty room was now this solid oak large gorgeous table that could easily sit 30 people!! I kept walking around the house unpacking and every time I turned around there would be a new room and new discoveries. Keith kept looking at me like I had never seen the house before. I went into the master bedroom to put things away and saw another door that had not been there before. Thinking it was a closet I opened it to find a stairway. Now this house from the outside was a 2 story Victorian home in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. When I got to the top of the stairway there was another door and when I opened it I opened it to a huge roof top garden!!

There was a greenhouse with all kinds of herbs growing, there was a large vegetable garden in the middle, rose bushes and all sorts of plants all along the edges. It also was flat which was interesting seeing as how the house had a pitched roof when I had first walked up to the house. I could hear all sorts of noises and when I got close to one of the edges I realized I was standing on the roof of a hightower in the middle of New York City.

At that point I woke up with a kink in my neck and a bad tension headache. What a terrible way to start my day!!

2009 Reflections

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
took my children to Hawaii

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I rarely make NY resolutions but this year I have made 2: work on being more patient with others and to be off 75% of my medication by end of year

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
yes one of our sons and daughters in law

4. Did anyone close to you die?
yes a very good friend

5. What countries did you visit?
Only the USA.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
a home business that makes money

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 31st. We had a family reunion for my paternal side of my family. I got to see over 140 members of my family, some I had never met some I had not seen in a couple of decades

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Overcoming cancer

9. What was your biggest failure?
putting so much burden on Keith

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
no injuries and as for illness..just recouperating from all the surgeries

11. What was the best thing you bought?
tickets to Hawaii for our family

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Keith's

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one that I can think of

14. Where did most of your money go?
what money?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
our family reunion

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Remember When by Alan Jackson

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? same
iii. richer or poorer? same

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
gotten on my knees

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
snap

20. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Nope, I was already in love.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
Survivor, Amazing Race CSI's

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope

23. What was the best book you read?
When Thou Art Truly Converted

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I could listen to music that wasn't country

25. What did you want and get?
finish the year cancer free

26. What did you want and not get?
all of our family in Hawaii

27. What was your favourite film of this year?
The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Keith took me out for a surprise picnic - 53

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I can't think of anything

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
same as always, comfy casual

31. What kept you sane?
Keith

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
hmmm can't think of anyone

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
H1N1 - people freaked out! My goodness!

34. Who did you miss?
my family back home as always

35. Who was the best new person you met?
I can't think of anyone new that I met

 36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
That I can delegate and still live

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I'm Alive -Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews


So damn easy to say that life's so hard
Everybody's got their share of battle scars
As for me, I'd like to thank my lucky stars that I'm alive and well...
It'd be easy to add up all the pain
And all the dreams you sat and watched go up in flames
Dwell on the wreckage as it smolders in the rain
But not me...I'm alive

(Chorus)
And today you know that's good enough for me
Breathin' in and out's a blessing can't you see
Today's the first day of the rest of my life and I'm alive
And well...I'm alive and well

The stars are dancin' on the water here tonight
It's gonna fall a soul when there's not a soul in sight
This boat has caught its wind and brought me back to life now I'm alive and well