the man

I feel as though I should clarify the term 'the man'. When I reference the man in my blog I am referring to Darcy, my husband. I know you know that. I don't say it like "Yo! You the MAAAAN!" You know.... like that. I say it like "the man" - like half of the chaotic universe we have created together over here.



I am the woman, he is the man. King and Queen..... like that.



Sometimes he IS 'the maaaan'. Like when he does stuff like this:


(he built this house ALL. BY. HIMSELF. Which is nuts)


Last week the man became a murderer. He killed chivalry. The week before he seriously wounded it and then last week he stomped it to death. The stress of the reno has turned my sweet husband into this preoccupied, overworked, cold-blooded killer. Let me tell the story.

A couple of weeks ago, while he was at work and I was running errands strictly reno related he texted me and invited me for lunch. I was close so naturally I said yes. Who wouldn't want to go out with a man dressed like this?



Anyway, after we ate, he paid the bill while I used the washroom. When I came out he was nowhere to be found. I figured he was also in the washroom so I waited. After a different man came out of the one-man washroom I knew my man wasn't in there. I went outside, he wasn't there either. So I walked all the way to the car, which was a jaunt. There he was sitting on the curb in front of our car. I explained that leaving me in a restaurant without any explanation isn't conducive to the woo. And just because we have been married for forever doesn't mean the woo shouldn't happen. He said he was sorry. Mmm hmm.

So last week, while he was at work and I was out running errands strictly reno related, I texted him to see if he wanted lunch. He told me to meet him at the same restaurant. When I got there he was there with our realtor, our finisher and two of our finisher's guys. Me and five men for lunch.... when was the last time that happened? The man had ordered for me and mixed my soup just how I like it. Nice woo, I thought. When lunch was done the man, myself, our realtor and our finisher were all walking towards our vehicles. The man wanted to borrow a tool from the finisher so they were going towards his vehicle as I turned to go towards mine. I looked back to say bye to the man and he had his head down, hands in pocket, completely oblivious to my very existence. The finisher and our realtor both said bye to me and waved. The man? Nothing.

Dead. Chivalry is dead. The man killed it. My poor husband has no multitasking abilities. When he is just plain working he can manage his job and his life splendidly. When he is stressed out? He has blinders on which soul purpose is to get him through the task and nothing else. I know he is stressed when he begins to act a little selfish and grumpy. He is stressed.

It's okay..... I'll wait for him.


(maybe while I'm waiting I'll take some updated pictures of our family..... good grief!)

willacy

This is what greets you as you turn the corner to go to my little brown house.

This is Willacy Drive.

Tomorrow the painting starts.

mr. computerlandman

Dear man from computerland,

You just called me and at first I thought you were a real human being, you sounded just like one but then I realized that you were a computer designed to trick me into listening to you. You called me on the phone to tell me that there is "a need to open the lines of communication" between me and my credit card company. You told me to call you back at my earliest convenience. This is fascinating to me on so many levels. For one thing, since the call came up as unknown name and number I figure you're pretty dang lucky I answered the call in the first place. Second, since I did answer, I would hazard a guess and say that the exact moment I picked up the phone may just have been my earliest convenience. Thirdly, I know there is a zero balance on that credit card, so basically, I don't feel the same pressing need to open the lines of communication as you do.

I don't think I'll be calling you back, Mr. Computerlandman.

And for future reference, man from computerland, if you want to talk to me then have a real person, and not a trickster like yourself, call me. Then when I pick up the phone, which I don’t normally do when it is an unknown name and number that real person can openly communicate with me right then and there.

Thanks so much for sparing me a moment of your valuable time.

Love,

Catherine

catie's randomness

Today is random. My mind is all over the place so my post may as well be.

The man calls me Catie. If he calls me Catherine I know he's serious, if not angry. I don't like it when he calls me Catherine.

My brother and sister sometimes call me Catie but mostly they call me Catherine, because that's my name.

No one else is allowed to call me Catie. And.... I hate Cathy, so don't call me that.

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Last night for Family Home Evening I took the children geocaching. One of them against her will. Suck it up princess and smile.... thank-you!




and yes, three of them are still in their pj.s. It was a holiday coupled with a late night before, give me a break.






And the man is missing. He has been missing from 5 of the last 6 FHE's. He is working or so I thought. Shortly into our adventure he texted me.

man: where are you?

woman: geocaching. where are you?

man: on the couch.


Awesome..... We missed him by 5 minutes. Isn't that always the way? See, he told me he was working late and then changed his mind. Thanks for the heads up Mr.Darcy.

Highlight of the evening? Easy! It was when Holden said "This Family Home evening sucks."

Wow! I am doing a great job with these kids, I deserve an award or something.

The irony is that the child who said that is also the child who asked me 376 times this past weekend if we could go geocaching.

I'm confused.

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On a happier note I just want everyone to appreciate how hard my life is. This is what I have to look at every morning when I come down the stairs.



I know. It's rough. And then at night this is what takes my attention away from the important things like laundry and the tv:



Shame on you! Blasted beautiful sunset!

Seriously though, I may weep when I have to leave this gorgeous pocket of the earth that is as close to mountainous perfection as I've ever lived.

Have I mentioned that I love the mountains?

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I need someone to teach me how to do that thing I see on blogs everywhere where there is a word in a different colour and you can click on it and when you do it directs you to something else.

How do I do that?

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The world of blogging is fascinating to me. You write. People read. Some comment but most don't. I'm not sure how I feel about this. My blog is only of couple of months old so I'm sure I will do one of two things. One, quit because the unknown is simply too much to handle. Or two, get used to it and just assume that someone is enjoying it somewhere out there.

Who's readin' ma blog??

sunday dinner

This is what driving to sunday dinner does to the wee one. It's such a beautiful drive through the country. Having to look at her sleeping face isn't too bad either. Besides the fact that she looks like she would be decapitated if the man were to slam on the brakes I think she looks very peaceful.

friday

This is what I did yesterday.

Woke up early. Kids didn't have school but my body didn't care and woke up at 6 anyway. Thanks wicked body.

Played on the computer for what seemed like FOREVER but the kids had no school so what was I going to do all day?

Tempted the children with some geocaching. They wanted video games and I told them there would be no consideration given to electronics until their rooms were cleaned. They cleaned, I played on the computer. Is that electronic?

They finished and wanted gaming. I said no. How about geocaching? How about lunch, they said. Yes, it was lunch time.

We ate lunch.

We went geocaching. Mom won, shocking. Only the boys came which was a good thing because it turned into quite the event. Hiking steep hills, prickly bushes, swamps..... fun but dangerous for a four year old.

My phone died and the teen wiped out and got road rash so we went to the video store.

Now I'm tired, so I played on the computer again but that got boring so I read. I let the boys play with the computer for a bit.

Then......COSTCO. Me and five kids to Costco for dinner. This small town thing is wearing off on me and now going into the big city is almost more than I can stand. It takes some serious mind manipulating to think that lil ol' me can handle Costco with 5 kids at supper time. Wait....... I'm tough, or so I used to be. We gave it a go and breezed through it.

On the way home Chandler said something hilarious that I can't share because it would offend but I laughed for 10 straight minutes. In fact, it won quote of the day but like I said I can't share. I only told the man and when my sister calls I will tell her and probably my mom too.

The kids watched The Tooth Fairy and ate popcorn. Then they went to bed LATE. It was like 8:15.

The man and I started to watch the epic saga 'Che' and I promptly fell asleep. It had been a really big day, if you know what I mean. I was tired. So I slumbered on the couch until 10:30 when the man kicked the teenager to bed and dragged me up the stairs. I had guilt that the poor kid had to go to bed at 10:30 on a Friday night. I felt terrible about it for about 3 minutes until my head hit the pillow and the ear plugs went in.

What a day. Good thing I chose this glamorous life because I'm not sure the universe could have handled me and my endless amount of energy and imagination and desire to change the world with my awesomeness if I had chosen NOT to be mommy and piddle around all day.

en suite-ness

Once upon a time there was a boy and girl who were looking for an old house to buy that they could make beautiful together and sell. They went tile shopping. They found a really expensive tile that they both agreed would look great as the backsplash in the new kitchen, wherever that was to be. They were surprised that they both loved the tile and were pleased at the prospect of this new joint venture. An opportunity to work together on something they have both always wanted to do. They bought a house. And, a sample of the tile.

Fast forward three months. Man and woman have come to terms with the fact that they both have their jobs and if one interferes with the other ugliness happens. So the man, fixes stuff, moves stuff, builds stuff, sues previous home owners, hauls stuff and apparently gets to keep the ugly window and pick the doors while the woman gets to pick the colors, the countertops, the cupboards, the light fixtures, the trim and baseboard, the carpet, the tile and the stone. Everything but the doors, I know, weird. And she gets to paint and lay tile now too, which is fine, it doesn't mean anything if you don't work for it, right?

The woman based the entire color scheme of the house on this backsplash tile. The kitchen will match, the paint will match, the floor tile will match, it will be beautiful.

Then she changed her mind on the back splash.

It would look better in a bathroom, she thought. The en suite.

Now the en suite is plumbed, framed and drywalled and I think failed inspection but plumbing is not my job so the man can deal with it. I can pick the tile. Bathrooms require lots of tile. I have found what I want. Naturally it's expensive. This is where the problem comes in. I made a stink about the doors because they were expensive and I wanted to cheap out on the doors. Some unfair things were said by the man and he won the door fight. He really knows how to work it!

Now I want the pricey tile that he thinks is too expensive. I want the pricey tile because it flows so well. The room is small and I really want it to be cohesive and look like it is one unit as opposed to a few things that just sort of go together. If it was my bathroom I would I want it to be beautiful and so I can only assume that whoever buys this house would want the same thing. So it is a little more expensive than the cheaper alternative, the same alternative you see everywhere you go (no offense). It's beautiful and may just sell the house, which, by the way, is the same argument he used to win the door fight.

So I think my mind is made up. I want the glass tile that goes with the backsplash which is now the en suite focal point.

I know I probably won't win this one since I want the really super expensive pulls for the kitchen drawers. But I will fight for my tile. What kind of decorator would I be if I didn't at least fight for the tile?



Post edit: I have discovered a new alternative that I am quite happy with and is also cheap. So I am happy AND the man is happy. Marital bliss has been achieved..... temporarily.