Everyone seems to be doing a 2011 wrap up post. I don't want to because 2011 and I aren't speaking. I think 2011 is negative attention seeking and I don't feed into that type of behaviour.
Just kidding. Yes I do.
Seriously though, I'm blogging from my broken iPhone because my computer broke. That's how absurd 2011 has been. We have to wait until payday to fix it so.....that's good news.
Who knows how many typos are going to be in this post.
So 2011 was nutso and it flew by. I attempted many goals and accomplished a good chunk of them.
I worked out lots. I quit sugar for a month. I quit Facebook for a month. I was vegetarian for a month. I made rules and didn't follow them for a month. I managed my time poorly for a month. I read the Book of Mormon in a month. I did 30 classes of hot yoga in 30 days. I wrote a book.......which is stuck inside my broken computer, by the way.
I can't think about everything that's on that broken computer, possibly never to be seen again, without hyperventilating so let's just not go there.
Okay?
Out of the last 12 months my house has been for sale for ten of them. It never sold. We are still reevaluating that one
The upside of that one is that we didn't have to move in 2011. See? I can always find the positive.
4 kids, healthy and strong, is nothing to sneeze at. And a sexy man who always comes home to me tops my list of things to toast tonight.
We are chilling with my brother and his family this New Years Eve.
My house looks like a bomb went off in it and no one cares so on that note.........
Happy New Years everyone. I'll catch you on the flip side.
And ps, please don't drink and drive.
Ciao.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
stop the madness
Jack, who is 12: My tongue tastes funny.
Me: It's probably scurvy. You should eat a piece of fruit.
Jack: How about an orange pop. Can I have that?
Me: Sure, why not?
If I hadn't almost barfed at hot yoga this morning that conversation may have had different undertones. Or overtones.
I feel less than invigorated and it's because the food at Christmas is so very tasty. The madness needs to stop.
Stop the madness, I say.
Time for a green smoothie and a vitamin. For everyone. And maybe a nap.
Yes, a nap. That sounds delightful. But apparently I made some inane promise to take the children to the mall.
As if I haven't hated on myself enough today. Remember? I went to the hot yoga.
It was almost catastrophic.
Me: It's probably scurvy. You should eat a piece of fruit.
Jack: How about an orange pop. Can I have that?
Me: Sure, why not?
If I hadn't almost barfed at hot yoga this morning that conversation may have had different undertones. Or overtones.
I feel less than invigorated and it's because the food at Christmas is so very tasty. The madness needs to stop.
Stop the madness, I say.
Time for a green smoothie and a vitamin. For everyone. And maybe a nap.
Yes, a nap. That sounds delightful. But apparently I made some inane promise to take the children to the mall.
As if I haven't hated on myself enough today. Remember? I went to the hot yoga.
It was almost catastrophic.
Monday, December 26, 2011
the snow angel returns
Why Boxing Day? When did you get here?
We've gone from "2 months til Christmas" to "14 sleeps til Christmas". From "7 more sleeps" to "2 more sleeps". Then we had the big one.
One more sleep.
Amelia was asleep before 7:30. The excitement simply proved too much for her. Holden followed shortly after. Jack went on his own accord when he decided the sooner he went to sleep the sooner he would wake up. I sent Cicely to bed at 9:30.
Santa came and went by 9:45 and then I was in bed reading a book at 10. It was easy. And relaxed and stress free.
Just the way Christmas should be.
Lovely.
But for our family, the loveliest part of this month has been playing with the Snow Angel. On December 12 we started The 12 Days of Christmas for the Snow Angel and his family.
And it was fun.
We did it anonymously, or so we tried. I do detect, however, a level of delusion in myself in thinking we could get away with that for 12 straight days. We didn't want him to know who was leaving little treats on his front step. So we tried to be real covert-like and hid under a cover of darkness.
We have never met the snow angel and it took some time to figure out where he lived last year when I discovered someone was shoveling my walk every time it snowed. One day I saw him pulling out of his garage on his little green and yellow go-go machine. A little while later our next door neighbour confirmed it was him. We meant to take a thank you to him earlier in the spring but never got around to it. This Christmas, and my December goal, made it perfect for us to thank him properly.
We started every gift with a note that read something like this:
Dear Snow Angel,
On the 1st day of Christmas thy true fans gave to thee...
a partridge in a pear tree.
Or rather.....
a copy of our favourite Christmas CD.
Day 2? Was turtle Doves.......
And everyday after that we took a treat with a little note and tried to tie the treat in as best we could to the song. Sometimes it was a stretch, youknowwhatimean? We tried extra hard not to get caught. The boys were in charge of ringing and running, and in their excitement, some banging on the door.
After a few times I was starting to worry we were bothering them. But then I decided that if someone was doing it to me I would love it and so would my kids so we pressed on.
On day 5 they were having a party. We banged extra hard.
On day 12 I sent the boys up with 12 tiny little ice cream drumsticks and a longer note explaining exactly WHY we appreciated them so much and how grateful we were for their service.
I gave the boys the bag and the usual talking to.
"Now don't bang too loud or too long. We don't want to irritate them. And run fast. Don't walk in front of the windows and DO NOT GET CAUGHT! We've made it this far. Don't get caught!"
A few minutes later they were home and we settled into a game of Uno Extreme. Which is really fun, by the way.
Sometime later......
The man: What's that sound? It sounds like the Snow Angel coming.
Me: But, it's not snowing.
We all looked out the front window and, low and behold, Santa was riding a snow plow and stopped right in front of our house.
The kids freaked. I was a little surprised.
Me: Boys! Did you get caught?
The boys: NO! We ran fast down the alley. They wouldn't have seen us.
The door bell rang. We opened it. Santa, his wife and his two teenage children were standing there with huge smiles on their faces.
Santa (otherwise known as the Snow Angel): Merry Christmas!
Mrs.Snow Angel: Are you guys the ones doing the 12 days of Christmas?
Me: Maaaaaaaaybeeeeeeee?!?!
Snow Angel: We loved it. It was best Christmas ever. We loved it. Thank you.
I almost cried. Part of me was so mad we got caught but a bigger part of me was so relieved that they loved it.
Mrs. Snow Angel: We had spies out tonight and they followed your boys home. We needed to know who it was so we could say thank you.
They handed us a box of chocolates and a DVD and the loveliest of Christmas cards in the history of lovely Christmas cards.
We all introduced each other, shook hands, exchanged some niceties and it was over.
So a thank you for a thank you. And so goes the cycle of generosity and gratitude at Christmas time.
We were pleased but I did need to talk it out a bit.
Me: I'm glad they liked it but it was supposed to be anonymous.
Holden: I'm glad they caught us because now we get to eat all this chocolate!
Me: Hmmmmm, the point has been missed, me thinks.
But it hadn't. They got it. They loved it.
And they are already planning next year's escapades.
And me? I'm just hopeful the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" will exit my head and leave me alone for a bit.
Oy!
*************
Here's what we did:
A partridge in a pear tree. A homemade Christmas CD
2 Turtle Doves. A box of Turtles and a Dove Chocolate bar
3 French Hens. A bag of Chicken Bone Bark. Hens. Chickens. Bones. Get it? Me neither.......
4 Calling birds. They were calling for a dozen of our yummy spiced chocolate chip cookies. They flew away but the cookies stayed.
5 Golden Rings. 5 Honey glazed donuts from Tim Hortons. I was going to make them, but.......
6 Geese-a-laying. Some Cadbury Mini eggs. Yum.
7 Swans-a-swimming. In 2 mugs with Rolo flavored hot chocolate and some chocolate stirring spoons.
8 Maids-a-milking. Egg Nog.
9 Ladies dancing. I cut out 9 paper dolls and Amelia decorated them. We glued them to 9 French Vanilla candy canes and laid them on a Christmas platter.
10 Lords-a-leaping. They leapt right over some Maple Pecan Chocolate Butter tarts. They were goooooood.
11 Pipers Piping. Or Poppers Popping. 2 bags of microwave popcorn with BBQ Chicken Wings flavoured Popcorn salt.
12 Drummers Drumming. 12 mini ice cream drumsticks.
Good times.
We've gone from "2 months til Christmas" to "14 sleeps til Christmas". From "7 more sleeps" to "2 more sleeps". Then we had the big one.
One more sleep.
Amelia was asleep before 7:30. The excitement simply proved too much for her. Holden followed shortly after. Jack went on his own accord when he decided the sooner he went to sleep the sooner he would wake up. I sent Cicely to bed at 9:30.
Santa came and went by 9:45 and then I was in bed reading a book at 10. It was easy. And relaxed and stress free.
Just the way Christmas should be.
Lovely.
But for our family, the loveliest part of this month has been playing with the Snow Angel. On December 12 we started The 12 Days of Christmas for the Snow Angel and his family.
And it was fun.
We did it anonymously, or so we tried. I do detect, however, a level of delusion in myself in thinking we could get away with that for 12 straight days. We didn't want him to know who was leaving little treats on his front step. So we tried to be real covert-like and hid under a cover of darkness.
We have never met the snow angel and it took some time to figure out where he lived last year when I discovered someone was shoveling my walk every time it snowed. One day I saw him pulling out of his garage on his little green and yellow go-go machine. A little while later our next door neighbour confirmed it was him. We meant to take a thank you to him earlier in the spring but never got around to it. This Christmas, and my December goal, made it perfect for us to thank him properly.
We started every gift with a note that read something like this:
Dear Snow Angel,
On the 1st day of Christmas thy true fans gave to thee...
a partridge in a pear tree.
Or rather.....
a copy of our favourite Christmas CD.
Day 2? Was turtle Doves.......
And everyday after that we took a treat with a little note and tried to tie the treat in as best we could to the song. Sometimes it was a stretch, youknowwhatimean? We tried extra hard not to get caught. The boys were in charge of ringing and running, and in their excitement, some banging on the door.
After a few times I was starting to worry we were bothering them. But then I decided that if someone was doing it to me I would love it and so would my kids so we pressed on.
On day 5 they were having a party. We banged extra hard.
On day 12 I sent the boys up with 12 tiny little ice cream drumsticks and a longer note explaining exactly WHY we appreciated them so much and how grateful we were for their service.
I gave the boys the bag and the usual talking to.
"Now don't bang too loud or too long. We don't want to irritate them. And run fast. Don't walk in front of the windows and DO NOT GET CAUGHT! We've made it this far. Don't get caught!"
A few minutes later they were home and we settled into a game of Uno Extreme. Which is really fun, by the way.
Sometime later......
The man: What's that sound? It sounds like the Snow Angel coming.
Me: But, it's not snowing.
We all looked out the front window and, low and behold, Santa was riding a snow plow and stopped right in front of our house.
The kids freaked. I was a little surprised.
Me: Boys! Did you get caught?
The boys: NO! We ran fast down the alley. They wouldn't have seen us.
The door bell rang. We opened it. Santa, his wife and his two teenage children were standing there with huge smiles on their faces.
Santa (otherwise known as the Snow Angel): Merry Christmas!
Mrs.Snow Angel: Are you guys the ones doing the 12 days of Christmas?
Me: Maaaaaaaaybeeeeeeee?!?!
Snow Angel: We loved it. It was best Christmas ever. We loved it. Thank you.
I almost cried. Part of me was so mad we got caught but a bigger part of me was so relieved that they loved it.
Mrs. Snow Angel: We had spies out tonight and they followed your boys home. We needed to know who it was so we could say thank you.
They handed us a box of chocolates and a DVD and the loveliest of Christmas cards in the history of lovely Christmas cards.
We all introduced each other, shook hands, exchanged some niceties and it was over.
So a thank you for a thank you. And so goes the cycle of generosity and gratitude at Christmas time.
We were pleased but I did need to talk it out a bit.
Me: I'm glad they liked it but it was supposed to be anonymous.
Holden: I'm glad they caught us because now we get to eat all this chocolate!
Me: Hmmmmm, the point has been missed, me thinks.
But it hadn't. They got it. They loved it.
And they are already planning next year's escapades.
And me? I'm just hopeful the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" will exit my head and leave me alone for a bit.
Oy!
*************
Here's what we did:
A partridge in a pear tree. A homemade Christmas CD
2 Turtle Doves. A box of Turtles and a Dove Chocolate bar
3 French Hens. A bag of Chicken Bone Bark. Hens. Chickens. Bones. Get it? Me neither.......
4 Calling birds. They were calling for a dozen of our yummy spiced chocolate chip cookies. They flew away but the cookies stayed.
5 Golden Rings. 5 Honey glazed donuts from Tim Hortons. I was going to make them, but.......
6 Geese-a-laying. Some Cadbury Mini eggs. Yum.
7 Swans-a-swimming. In 2 mugs with Rolo flavored hot chocolate and some chocolate stirring spoons.
8 Maids-a-milking. Egg Nog.
9 Ladies dancing. I cut out 9 paper dolls and Amelia decorated them. We glued them to 9 French Vanilla candy canes and laid them on a Christmas platter.
10 Lords-a-leaping. They leapt right over some Maple Pecan Chocolate Butter tarts. They were goooooood.
11 Pipers Piping. Or Poppers Popping. 2 bags of microwave popcorn with BBQ Chicken Wings flavoured Popcorn salt.
12 Drummers Drumming. 12 mini ice cream drumsticks.
Good times.
Friday, December 23, 2011
makin' a list
Christmas presents bought. Check.
Christmas presents wrapped. Check.
All groceries bought until the new year. Check.
Baking done. Check and still checking.
Parents here for the the holidays. Check.
Insanely organized. Check.
Tired and not sleeping well. Check.
12 days of Christmas done for the snow angel. After dinner tonight we can check that one off. It's been amazing. More about that later.
Well, people, once again Christmas is almost here. 2 more sleeps! I know a certain 5 year old who is beside herself with excitement. It's going to be a crazy few days so I guess I'll see you on the flip side.
Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a fantastically wonderful holiday and be safe be safe be safe!
Christmas presents wrapped. Check.
All groceries bought until the new year. Check.
Baking done. Check and still checking.
Parents here for the the holidays. Check.
Insanely organized. Check.
Tired and not sleeping well. Check.
12 days of Christmas done for the snow angel. After dinner tonight we can check that one off. It's been amazing. More about that later.
Well, people, once again Christmas is almost here. 2 more sleeps! I know a certain 5 year old who is beside herself with excitement. It's going to be a crazy few days so I guess I'll see you on the flip side.
Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a fantastically wonderful holiday and be safe be safe be safe!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
my brain on christmas
Santa uses empty chicken boxes to wrap gifts in, right? Elves eat lots of chicken, it's how they keep their energy up. I swear I read that somewhere.
I am up to my eyeballs in it, people.
My eyeballs. Up to them. With Christmas.
Where is the time going?
I spent $700 at Superstore today and if I hadn't done yoga the last two days in a row I would have committed myself.
That is a surety.
Here's a question. Unsure is a word. And surety is a word. So how come unsurety is not a word?
I can't decide if I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day or I Saw Three Ships is my favourite Christmas carol. What's yours?
Have you ever seen the movie Elf? Does this post remind you of the part where Buddy meets Michael at his school? Yeah, me too.
I love that movie.
Monday, December 19, 2011
dearest
My dearest, sweetest, most affable husband,
I just wanted to let you know how astonishing I think you are. How bewildered by your talents I am on a daily basis. How much I respect you for all your hard work and dedication to this family. Tis the season to let loved ones know how much we love them. To show our appreciation for them. What better place to announce my adulation and express my devotion to you than my blog? Where millions and millions and tens of people come for daily enlightenment.
So here I sit, thinking only of you. Wondering where your thoughts are this sunny, wintery day. It's 6 days until Christmas and our children, our jewels, are beside themselves with excitement and glee.
Cicely has finally announced what she wants for Christmas. Money. Isn't she helpful?
Jack is dying to finally get his birthday present. Never mind that his birthday was 3 months ago and I talked him into waiting until Christmas to get it. That kid is gullible, isn't he?
Holden is just hanging on by a thread. The anticipation may kill him yet. Or me. It's still undecided.
Amelia has finally laid down a mountain of regret. See, she forgot to ask Santa for a Lalaloopsy doll in her letter this year. It has burdened her tremendously, for she wants one more than words can express. She asked me to send the big guy an email and let him know there was an amendment to the letter. Watching a 5 year old live with this level of stress is difficult. A burden I have borne, willingly, for over a month.
But then, all was right with her world again when you waited so patiently with her at the ward Christmas party on Saturday so she could see Santa and tell him herself of her grievous error.
You are a good father. You may have saved the day. Or season. Or moment. Or whatever it is you are experiencing when you are 5.
However, I wanted to let you know something, in the gentlest way possible. Or remind you. Or point out. Or whatever might be the least offensive to you. When you are working hard, everyday, and cursing my station in life. When it is cold outside and your toes are frozen and aching to the point where you long for death. When you come home to find that we are eating ichiban and grilled cheese, again. When you run out of clean socks (which rarely happens since you have 263 pairs of them). When you find out I have watched an entire season of Friday Night Lights in one day whilst you were working. When you close your eyes tight and repeat three times "I wish I was her. I wish I was her. I wish I was her," only to open them and find yourself still at work and not at home, in your jammies, bons bons in one hand and a pepsi in the other.
I want you to remember one thing and one thing only.
I do all the Christmas shopping.
Every year.
All of it.
And because of my existence you are spared this particular nightmare.
It is my hope and dream for you that having this singular, most imperative nugget of information will make your days flow smoothly and without too much perturbation at what may appear to be a gross diverseness of our situations.
And remember, always, that I love you.
And sacrifice much for your happiness.
Yours always and forever,
Catherine
P.S. I bought my Christmas present from you today despite the fact that we have an unwritten rule not to exchange gifts.
I'm sorry and......
you're welcome.
C.
I just wanted to let you know how astonishing I think you are. How bewildered by your talents I am on a daily basis. How much I respect you for all your hard work and dedication to this family. Tis the season to let loved ones know how much we love them. To show our appreciation for them. What better place to announce my adulation and express my devotion to you than my blog? Where millions and millions and tens of people come for daily enlightenment.
So here I sit, thinking only of you. Wondering where your thoughts are this sunny, wintery day. It's 6 days until Christmas and our children, our jewels, are beside themselves with excitement and glee.
Cicely has finally announced what she wants for Christmas. Money. Isn't she helpful?
Jack is dying to finally get his birthday present. Never mind that his birthday was 3 months ago and I talked him into waiting until Christmas to get it. That kid is gullible, isn't he?
Holden is just hanging on by a thread. The anticipation may kill him yet. Or me. It's still undecided.
Amelia has finally laid down a mountain of regret. See, she forgot to ask Santa for a Lalaloopsy doll in her letter this year. It has burdened her tremendously, for she wants one more than words can express. She asked me to send the big guy an email and let him know there was an amendment to the letter. Watching a 5 year old live with this level of stress is difficult. A burden I have borne, willingly, for over a month.
But then, all was right with her world again when you waited so patiently with her at the ward Christmas party on Saturday so she could see Santa and tell him herself of her grievous error.
You are a good father. You may have saved the day. Or season. Or moment. Or whatever it is you are experiencing when you are 5.
However, I wanted to let you know something, in the gentlest way possible. Or remind you. Or point out. Or whatever might be the least offensive to you. When you are working hard, everyday, and cursing my station in life. When it is cold outside and your toes are frozen and aching to the point where you long for death. When you come home to find that we are eating ichiban and grilled cheese, again. When you run out of clean socks (which rarely happens since you have 263 pairs of them). When you find out I have watched an entire season of Friday Night Lights in one day whilst you were working. When you close your eyes tight and repeat three times "I wish I was her. I wish I was her. I wish I was her," only to open them and find yourself still at work and not at home, in your jammies, bons bons in one hand and a pepsi in the other.
I want you to remember one thing and one thing only.
I do all the Christmas shopping.
Every year.
All of it.
And because of my existence you are spared this particular nightmare.
It is my hope and dream for you that having this singular, most imperative nugget of information will make your days flow smoothly and without too much perturbation at what may appear to be a gross diverseness of our situations.
And remember, always, that I love you.
And sacrifice much for your happiness.
Yours always and forever,
Catherine
P.S. I bought my Christmas present from you today despite the fact that we have an unwritten rule not to exchange gifts.
I'm sorry and......
you're welcome.
C.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
on this night, this merry christmas night.
The 12 days of Christmas for our snow angel is going swimmingly. We almost got caught last night leaving the Turtle Doves outside their house. Amelia screams with glee as the boys ring the doorbell and run for their lives.
Good times.
We can't get enough of these guys around here. Children and Christmas go together like Diet Pepsi and popcorn.
11 days. No Christmas shopping done. Could be a problem.
Off to find three french hens now........
Good times.
We can't get enough of these guys around here. Children and Christmas go together like Diet Pepsi and popcorn.
11 days. No Christmas shopping done. Could be a problem.
Off to find three french hens now........
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