Still feelin' icky

So the fever is still hanging on nicely.  I thought it was going to break yesterday - usually when my fevers are about to break, I sweat like a horse - get absolutely drenched - and then I'm done.  Well, I got the 'drenched' part down yesterday, but then 2 hours later, I was back up to 102.5.  Crazy.  Shivering, sweating, shivering, sweating...  my body just can't figure out what it wants.  It's frustrating.  I ache all over from laying down so much, too.  I have a doc's appt at 11:30 to see if he can figure out what's going on.  This is misery.  The kids spent all day yesterday at Gramma & Grampa's house, and they are there again today.  One day they will be old enough to look after themselves when Mama gets sick, but for now, they're still too needy.

I'm very sick to my stomach - can't eat anything, but at least I can drink.  I've had a lot of water lately, as well as some apple juice this morning, and Graeme bought me a Booster Juice last night when he came home with the boys.  I've lost about 5 lbs already.  We all know it's just going to come back when I can start eating & drinking normally again...

Hopefully I have enough energy to go to my swimming lesson tomorrow...  

Sick again

This time... the flu?  Not sure.  I ache all over, have apiked a pretty good temp in the last 2 hours, was shivering all night last night, am nauseous, coughing...  Oh, I hope it's over soon.  I've been watching other peoples' Facebook status updates saying how they feel like they've been hit by a truck... yup, I can definitely feel their pain.  

I can't afford to be sick!  I mean, none of us can, but seriously...

On a more positive note, I got to sing with Pastor Mark this morning at a community church in the Park.  He was doing a 'concert' sort of thing and needed an alto, so he e-mailed me and asked if I'd be willing and available!  Thursday's rehearsal went well, and despite being a shivery achey mess all night last night, I think today went well enough.  I wanted to 'represent' well - God first and foremost of course, but I also wanted to represent Mark well since it's obvious I was 'imported'.  :)  It was a good time.  They (Mark & his wife, Anna) are moving back to Calgary at the end of next week, so this was a nice bit of closure for me.  At least I know where I can go for some good Italian food - his wife Anna is an amazing cook, so I'm told...

Eww.  As if Italian food is something I actually can fathom right now.  Excuse me while I go deal with that thought...

Anyway, Graeme and the kids are off to Curtis & Darcy's for dinner tonight.  They made plans while I was at church, but of course I felt like I'd been 'hit by a truck'... tried to sleep it off, but woke up with a definite fever instead.  No germ-bag is welcome at their house - can't say I blame them.  Oh well, at least the kids will have fun.

Time to go find my trusty blanket and my bucket...

Jen, I hope you feel better (more rested) soon, too!!

I'm back!

I had a fun retreat!  I went to a place called King's Fold, out by Cochrane.  The drive out was a bit intense - I got off a little later than I intended to, and ended up driving a narrow, winding, foggy road in the dark.  However, I got there safely.  The next morning I woke to find myself with a beautiful view of the mountains!  It was pretty sweet.  I did a lot of hiking, a lot of reading, a lot of sitting by the river, and a lot of reflecting.  I've never sat and read/reflected by a river before, and I have to say it was totally fabulous.  The food was amazing - all home-made - I even got their bun recipe, it was so amazing!

So now I'm back to real life.  Hoping to implement some of the things I *learned* this weekend.  Hoping to *rise up on wings as eagles*.  Hoping to be stronger and more stable, with goals and plans that are achievable and realistic.  Oh, and to have a house that cleans itself.  *grin*

The boys were happy to see me, as I was happy to see them, too.  They both woke super early this morning to make sure I was here - Joshua used an excuse of a sore foot to come find me, and Dustin was just awake and let me snuggle in his bed with him for about 45 minutes before the love was all over.  It ended when he kept slamming his stuffed puppy into my head.

Today the boys both have dental appointments.  Dustin's lower 4 teeth are pretty cramped together, and have quite a bit of buildup already despite the dedicated brushing and flossing I've been doing.  We'll see how he does in the chair.  Joshua is amazing in the chair - he's done it before and totally amazed me.  He's a good one for the dentist!

I'm waiting for my friend Tanya to have her baby.  After a rough pregnancy last time around with a ton of bed rest and misery (oh, if you only knew her story...), this pregnancy has gone very well and now we're all waiting as she gets ever-closer to her due date.  Come on out, little baby!  

On a side note... I was thinking about all my pregnant friends.  I made a list.  There are 17.  SEVENTEEN!!  Who has that many friends who are pregnant at the same time?  Crazy.  What's in the water, anyway?

I'll post a few pics of my weekend another time... for now, I gotta get myself a little snack and get out the door for the boys' appointments!

Ironies

I received an e-mail in my inbox today titled "8 Ways to Get a Better Sleep" or something like that.

Last night I had the worst sleep I've had in months.  If you can even call what I did "sleep".

I went swimming last night - started taking lessons, finally - who says you're too old?  Did my 1-hour lesson.  Now, I'm not the world's worst swimmer; probably just in the bottom 10% or so.  My stamina is terrible, and my technique is, well, I wouldn't even call it "technique". 

But I can kick.  My chiropractor told me once (when he was working on my knee one time) that I have "good strong legs".  Oh, you can come out and say it.  They're big.  I will never have those cute little skirt-worthy calves that my mother-in-law has.  Ever.  I am Dutch.  My calves are big.  So are my quads.  

So anyway, I was in the pool and decided to stay for the lane swim afterwards, since my lesson went well and I didn't do as poorly as I thought I would.  And I can kick.  So I thought I'd hang out and do some lengths.  Is a lap considered 2 lengths?  Well, whatever.  I ended up doing 31 lengths of the 25m pool.  At least I'm pretty sure it's a 25m pool.  Sure wasn't as big as the pool Phelps swam in in Beijing.  I kicked my way in a side-glide, a back-glide, and a front-glide.  I occasionally threw in a few arm strokes for good measure, but, being as ungraceful as it was, I generally just glided with my feet being my propellers.

My legs cramped up after about 20 lengths.  But the pool wasn't closing for another 20 minutes, so I figured I'd make the most of my time and keep going towards my goal of 30 lengths.  The 31st length was thrown in for good measure considering that I ended on the "wrong" side of the pool.

So yes, those good, big, strong calves of mine cramped up.  I can hardly walk today.  

And... bizarre of all bizarre things, something happened to my upper shoulder/neck on the left side... it feels like I've had a surgery where they've pumped my abdomen full of air.  Any of you who have ever had such surgery know the associated shoulder pain that can go along with it.  I laid with an ice pack on my neck for an hour this morning.  I can hardly turn my head.  The leg thing, I can understand.  I just overdid it.  But the neck thing???  Strange.  Just weird.  But then again, I am a LaRue.  All of the odd things happen to anyone with LaRue as their last name.

Tomorrow I am leaving on a retreat.  Just me.  Myself.  And I.  And some books, and some recipe cards, and my calendar, and my Bible.  And some music.  I need some time away from the rat-race to plan my year.  To set goals and plans of action to reach those goals.  I'm so tired of living week to week, just trying to make it to the end without crashing.  I need something bigger for my family.  Something to reach for.  There has been so much going on with Graeme's work, with my health, with the kids' activities... I haven't had time to really sit and plan anything.  I want to be excited about the vision God will give us for our family... right now, that vision is clouded by all the frustrations of this past year.  So I'm going to clear my head for a couple of days.  

Besides, Jesus retreated.  So it must be OK.  And if anyone had responsibilities, it's Him.

Frustrations

So, Graeme is supposed to have a new tech starting today.

The tech is supposed to take over my job of robin hood blisterpacking.

She has been delayed twice coming from BC.  The first time had to do with her movers being a week behind schedule.  The last one had to do with her husband winding up in the hospital with pneumonia and her son breaking her arm.

She has said that she is not reachable by phone, and the only way she can communicate with Graeme is by e-mail.  Graeme's second-to-last e-mail to her outlined that he expects her to find a better way to touch base rather than e-mail - 'cuz really, with today's technology... there are payphones out there, at least!!

Anyway, she still e-mailed (3 days after Graeme's e-mail) to say she would still like to start, and that she would contact him at 4:00 p.m. or that he could call her to confirm.  I immediately told him to wait for her to follow through on her end of the bargain.  He didn't want to wait, but understood my reasoning.

Did she phone?  Nope.  I even told Graeme to give her an hour's grace because maybe she didn't know about the time change.

By 7:00 Graeme had tried to phone her 3 times, with no luck.  She had also not tried to get ahold of him.

No e-mail, either.

This ruined most of Graeme's day yesterday.  We are disheartened, disappointed, and I'm just downright miffed at the whole situation.  The nerve... if she had no intention of following through, then she should've let us know.  We could've been looking for someone else.  The lack of commitment she has made to keep her word to call us is appalling... now if she shows up for work this morning, will we even want to keep her on?  This is NOT a good impression... and it means that until he finds someone, I'll be working evenings to do the work, as my Tuesdays are running out (Joshua starts preschool and I start Bible study).

Must go.  The boys woke up too early today - like 6:20 - and I am already irritated.  And I know Graeme is just miffed, too.  *sigh*

Goofy boys

We got these special glasses at Cineplex last night when we went to view the 3D presentation of "Journey to the Centre of the Earth".  It was a pretty good flick, actually - better than I was expecting, anyway.  It helped that we had two free movie coupons as well as a gift card so we got in for free, pretty much.  At the price of movies and snacks these days, every little thing helps!!

The boys found the glasses today and posed for me...

Yesterday we had a date day. Our first in ages!!  We dropped off the kids at Gramma's house around 9:00, and headed into the city around 9:30 to start our date with erranding  (fun, fun, I know).  Our first stop was to South Common, where we had to buy Joshua a new carseat.  He's getting too big for his regular seat, so we upgraded him to a booster seat - he's feeling like such a big boy, now, being able to wear an "adult" seatbelt!!  We also got some track pants that were much needed for Graeme, and I bought a couple pairs of exercise shorts.

We then stopped at a couple of fireplace shops on Calgary trail - we're considering changing our drafty not-so-easy-to-light wood insert to a gas insert... but we don't have the money.  I suppose we'll just have to smoke the house out a few more times before we learn to do the wood one right.  Let me tell you, it's a far cry different from the wood stove I lit during most of my upbringing!!  

Then it was off to Kingsway - I needed a new swimsuit.  My old one still functions to an extent... however, I am starting swimming lessons on Wednesday and my old suit isn't so much for swimming as it is for bathing.  Big difference.  I went out on Friday night briefly to Southgate to check things out, and came home disappointed, of course, although I did have an idea of a couple of suits that might work.  So we headed up to Kingsway on Saturday to the same store, where I pulled the two suits from the rack to show Graeme.  The sales associate stopped me and asked me what I was intending on using them for (ummm... swimming?)... and she told me that a better and longer-lasting suit would be over *here*... and within 15 minutes I found something that fit, covered well, and felt good.  This is absolutely unheard of!!  Usually it takes me a good couple of hours, lots of frustration, and multiple trips to various places.  *whew!*

After that, the *real* date started.  We went to the River Valley - stopped at a park near downtown - and then biked for about 2 1/2 hours.  It was a really perfect afternoon for riding!!  So relaxing - I felt like one happy woman.  It was really nice.

Came home, showered, went to dinner at Boston Pizza (yum!), went for a long walk since we had a ton of time before the movie started, then went to the movie.  Came home around midnight, just in time to fall into bed for a few hours before heading over to Gramma & Grampa's to have breakfast with the boys (the only way they would spend the night last night was if we promised them we'd come and have breakkies with them).

The hunt for a new church is proving interesting and challenging.  :(  

This week - a busy week!  Prison Break is on tomorrow night, I work on Tuesday after accompanying Joshua to his preschool orientation in the morning (i'll get to stay with him), and on Wednesday I have an appointment (nothing serious, just routine), a registration date for Joshua & Wee College, and my first swimming lesson!!  

I think I can breathe on Thursday.

And on Friday... I get to go away for the weekend!  Alone!!  I know I'll miss Graeme and the kids like crazy, but I am kind of going crazy.  (Paige, I don't know how you do it, honestly!)  I am going to a Christian retreat centre near Cochrane from Friday afternoon till Sunday night.  I need some time to gather myself, spend some uninterrupted time with God, and do some planning before the busy year ahead.  I want to come home with a vision of how I want this next year to operate.  Right now I feel like I'm operating day to day and week to week, and I want more than that!  I also plan on bringing maybe some scrapbooking stuff.  The best part is the price...  any hotels or whatever that I looked at would cost me $80-$100+ per night, plus I'd have to make meals and such.  This whole thing is costing me only $159 which includes two nights' accommodations, 5 meals, and all the relaxation a body could want!!  I'm really looking forward to it...

I'll check in later this week!

What a day!

What an interesting day today turned out to be!

The other day I decided to look up my cousin, whom I'd never met but knew a little about, on Facebook.  I typed in his name, and only one match came up.  I e-mailed him to see if he was my cousin, and he replied, giving me even more information than I had given him, to confirm that he was indeed my eldest cousin on my mom's side!  He gave me his phone number, and I called him tonight - we talked for over an hour!!  

We've always known about each other, but have never actually talked.  Family dynamics were disastrous even before I came along.  Fallouts between his mom and the rest of the family created a cavern so deep and wide... from what I've gathered, he was pretty much best friends with my eldest brother, Stuart, who died about 4 years before I was born.  So, even though Lorne and I have never connected, there was a built-in connection that we were able to use.  It was really neat getting to know Lorne a bit - he's had *quite* the life, lots of loss and pain.  Lots of good things, too - we talked a lot about my granny & grampa.  But we barely scratched the surface.  He is 13 years my senior.  He was beyond thrilled that I would make the effort to find him. 

I am tired of the puzzle pieces of my family missing.  I am old enough that I can take things into my own hands; to try and find people and create connections just because you're family.  I can never get the past back, but I can take care of the future to an extent, and within God's will and purpose for me to do that.  I will never find all the pieces, or know all the stories, but that's not up to me.  I'm just thankful that I've gotten another chunk.  

Imagine.  30 years I could've had, knowing Lorne... I won't get that back.  But at least I have tomorrow, and the next day, and whatever days God allows...

Onto other things... i took the kids out for a walk this afternoon - well, more like I walked, and they rode in the chariot.  I went for about 3 miles.  Joshua walked about 1/2 mile, and Dustin about the same.  It was fun, and the weather was perfect!  I also got 3 loads of laundry done, got Dustin to pee on the potty several times today (he's so proud and likes to bring me the potty...ewww!...thankfully no spills yet, though!), and bleached my kitchen.  I also wrote letters to two of our compassion kids, got bills paid, and expenses done. If not for my long phone call with Lorne tonight, I'd have gotten the rest of my to-do list done, but obviously priorities were shifted...

I'm tired.  It's late.  I'm gonna go to bed, thankful to God for family tonight!!

Oddities

My body can't seem to figure out what it wants.

Yesterday, I had absolutely no appetite, but ate a few things anyway.  Food was bland and just plain uninteresting - yes, even the bbq'd steak and corn on the cob was relatively boring to my taste buds!

Today... well, that's another story altogether.  I have been insatiably hungry.  My tummy has started grumbing at midnight or 1:00 these last few nights, so tonight I made myself a couple of slices of toast.  I could've eaten seconds and thirds of dinner; lunch barely scratched the surface... you get the picture.  But, I exercised my self-control.

Speaking of exercise, I went out for a ride tonight.  I bought a headlight for my bike so that I'm more visible... however, the eerie sounds of the dusk still weirded me out.  :)  I did only about 7 miles tonight.  It got too dark for me to want to do any more.  

We have a new computer.  Probably the first new computer we've ever purchased.  We got a MAC.  Graeme loves it.  I like it, too, but haven't had much time to play on it.  I'm still waiting for the "wow" factor.

Worked today.  Our other tech is now another week behind as her son broke his arm and her husband landed in the hospital with pneumonia.  Sheesh.  What next.

Tomorrow is a home day with the boys.  Yay!

We went to Fort Edmonton Park the other day with Gramma & Grampa - that was a lot of fun!  Here are some pictures...

My favorite, of the boys on the fence at FEP:

My fave of Graeme!

A random picture of Dustin, not from FEP:

A not-so-random shot of Joshua; I had to take a picture of him to send to his pre-school teacher - I chose a different one to send to her, but I like this body pose better!  :)

Been thinkin' about...

...Daddies.

An exerpt from my friend's blog (well, her entire post from yesterday):

On fatherhood.
There's a nip in the air. It's the last day of August & it still seems too soon for there to be that familiar chill, but there it is. This Saturday, we went to the pool, in lieu of our summertime outdoor fun. Last year, we accidentally went to a special "family day" at the pool & won a prize for the largest family in attendance ~ including a $20 gift certificate for the little eatery they have in the rec center. Neil decided since it was a drizzly day & we had errands to run after swimming, that we'd stop & use our certificate to get some munchies. The kids loved it ~ all sitting at one little table, while Neil & i sat with Gage at a table to ourselves. We were done & just visiting & playing with the baby. Neil was holding Gage & just tickling him & nuzzling his nose into his chubby little neck when i noticed a teenage boy ~ maybe 15? who was walking by. He stopped dead in his tracks & turned & stared at Neil & Gage. Neil didn't notice, but i couldn't help it as he was standing maybe 6 feet from us. i saw a look on his face that i can only describe as *hungry*. Eventually, he pulled himself away & sat at the farthest table from us ~ but still keeping his eyes on Father & Son.
Maybe it was my imagination.
Maybe i read something into the situation that wasn't there...
But it seemed to me in that moment that that big boy with messy red hair, dressed all in black ~ thought my sweet little cherub baby boy was lucky.
& he is.
i want to pray for fathers ~ that their hearts would be softened towards their children. God, give them eyes to see, ears to hear ~ & hearts that love.
My mom once said to me something to the effect that we need to be praying for the daddies as they're the ones who are "interfacing with the world on our behalf". i think this is so true ~ especially as i get to be a stay at home, homeschooling mom ~ & Neil's the one who gets teased about his big family & who has to worry about the fact that if we ever have another one, we'll have to buy a bigger vehicle, & where do all the dollars & cents go at the end of the month? Maybe all that 'interfacing' is too much for some men & that's why fatherlessness is one of the biggest challenges facing children today.
i am so grateful for my good man.

I think she said it all. What a sweet picture, but sorrowful, too. Thanks for sharing this, Paige, and for letting me share on my blog, too!

Update

Well... I went for a ride before church this morning. I don't usually exercise on Sundays, but I missed Friday, and yesterday was a write-off (my goal is to do Mon-Fri, with weekends off). I didn't have time to do my usual 20K, but I did about 18 instead. Pretty close. The problems were threefold - a) I got out the door too late; b) I didn't realize I was only in my "medium" big gear instead of my regular "high" gear; c) my legs were a bit off today and felt heavy, which is why I didn't notice the gear issue until over half-way through my ride.

My knee felt fine during the ride, but once I got off my bike... hooooo boy; I almost couldn't walk. I showered (thought it would be a nice gesture to the people we'd sit with in church), and immediately put on my brace. Took it off about 6 hours later; it still aches, but not as bad. I've never enjoyed wearing the brace, but today, it actually felt good to wear it. If this is what gets me by until my surgery, then I'll be thankful. I'm not in a position of luxury to be able to not exercise. So, I guess I'll have to put up with some pain.

A saddle update - well, I wasn't really intending on going out for a big ride so soon after my last painful ride. But with the new seat, today, I couldn't resist. And, even though I was still sore (probably more residual from my last ride), I wasn't in the "oh-my-goodness-I-have-GOT-to-get-off-NOW!" moment.

Interestingly, I actually read an article a while back about improper saddles, and that if the saddle you're using is the wrong one, then one symptom (aside from the obvious soreness factor) is that your feet/toes can tingle. I laughed - so that's why my feet have been falling asleep after about 12km! LOL!

We went to another church today - the Lutheran Church in town. We're currently "churchless" - having made a decision to leave our previous place of worship. Thankfully, I am still able to be involved in the ministries I've committed to already; they know me and trust me, and we're still friends, so it's not a problem. And Graeme is fine with it. The people at Bethel were SO friendly today! It was a nice service - the music was actually at a really good volume - not overbearing at all!! :) We definitely have some doctrinal questions. Of course we're concerned about the theology of where we'll attend, however, community is extremely important to us, too.

We took the boys out for a special treat tonight. We usually don't do that, but we decided to take them to DQ tonight. The boys each had a small dipped cone (we realized afterwards that they have child sizes!), I had a Buster Bar, and Graeme went for his usual Peanut Buster Parfait. The Buster Bar was definitely beyond what I should even be thinking, so I guess I'll have to reconcile that one tomorrow in my workout. My more immediate concern is my restless legs... they are already antsy, and ice cream is a major culprit. Poor Graeme. He tells me I "surf" at night. I guess it can get pretty bad.

I'm feeling tired. I'm thankful that Graeme is home tomorrow. Weather permitting, we'll go to Fort Edmonton Park, and Gramma & Grampa might join us. Looking forward to that!

On Tuesday, our second new technician starts. I might do some training with her on Wednesday. If not, I'll have one full day on Wednesday... then one half-day next Tuesday, and one half-day the following Tuesday. Then, PRAISE GOD!! - I'll be DONE!!

We've decided to get new windows in the house. We've had some major issues this past year, and didn't want to have to replace them, but we've decided to do it. It'll obviously set us back a bit, but we had to completely seal off all the windows last year.. and so I couldn't get any air flow going to air the place out in the winter. Not healthy!! Major air leaks, major frost buildup, a lot of seals broken between panes of glass... so, hopefully by mid-November, they'll be in. Hopefully the dead of winter will hold off...

We are also getting a new computer. Should be here tomorrow or Tuesday. We're getting a MAC. We've never gotten a *new* computer, and this one has been causing us a lot of grief, so we went through Graeme's brother Jordan and purchased a MAC. Hopefully it'll be a lot more stable. It's supposed to be!

I think I'm going to change my blog template a bit... I changed it the other day, but I'm not sure I like it overall...

Back in the saddle!

I went to United Cycle today, with the boys in tow. It's been quite the day. Bad bad listeners today! Even Dustin, who usually *gets* it after the second time, was being unusually bratty today. I still shouldn't have to say things twice, but... sheesh. It's been a run.

Cherry pies just came out of the oven. I've never made cherry pies from scratch before... with real cherries picked from a real tree in a real person's yard... not cherries out of a can! Last night, Graeme and I finished pitting all the cherries we picked last weekend, and today I made the filling the way the recipe said to, and baked the pies. They are still bubbly hot and fresh. But, please don't rush over for a slice. I'm not a fan of cherry pie, so I haven't taste tested them yet, and for all I know, they could be horrible. Yeah, so I'm going to let Graeme try it first. *giggle*

Oh yes, back to the point. Sorry, got distracted by the smells of baking!

So we went to United Cycle. My bike has been making me a little, umm, sore. (Sorry, guys, if it's TMI... just skip this post!) Graeme picked up a different saddle for me yesterday from zellers, bless his heart. I told him that I'd like to also check United Cycle just to get some more info, etc. Well, the guy that helped me was the same guy who sold me my Chariot over 3 years ago! I told him that I was sorry I had to ask him, and, being the mature guy that he was (he's around 60 years old or so), said, "What, do you think that we guys don't have problems, too?" Ha ha. So I ended up choosing a saddle, and the best part is this - it has a 90-day comfort guarantee - so I basically have 3 months to try it, and if sometime in the next 3 months I find it's not doing the job (because I'll really be riding at the end of November, I'm sure!), I can return it to the store for a full refund. How's that for standing behind your product? It's probably not much pricier than the one Graeme bought yesterday, but seriously, the comfort guarantee means a LOT to me right now!! As much as I said I wasn't prepared to go out again this week, I really want to give my new seat a test run!

On another matter, Joshua asked me a funny question today: "Mommy, do bugs think?"

Good question, Son. (My suspicion is that they have instinct, but no real rationalization capabilities....?)

One of the extra perks of believing in God is that you can totally defer questions with, "I don't know, Honey, but God made them, so why don't we ask Him when we get to Heaven?" Sure beats trying to blow smoke with some answer that's probably going to be wrong anyway!

Day 4 of seriousness

Even though I've made concerted efforts before to eat super-healthy and exercise super-good, I've never been as diligent to journal it and track it (I use a website called myfitnesspal.com) as I've been these last few days.

My knee is killing me today, but surgery is still somewhere off in the future. Who knows...? Regardless, I still went out and "exercised" today - I'm not sure a brisk 2-mile walk even closely compares to yesterday's 25km bike ride, BUT I still got out there and got the blood pumping and the muscles working. Aaah, I can hear you already, "Muscles? She has muscles??" I'm a farm girl, remember? That being said, my knee hasn't bugged me in ages, but has harassed me all day today. I walked despite that, though, and was glad I did. It hurts now again, but I'll ice it at bedtime and it'll be as good as new tomorrow morning. Theoretically.

I spent about half an hour chopping a variety of veggies - carrots, sweet potato (the orange kind, name used interchangeably with "yam"), asparagus, mushrooms, cukes, and celery - into a monstrous silver bowl. I poured in a touch of olive oil, some sea salt, some pepper, and some dill, and mixed it all up. When Graeme got home, I was making myself a veggie skillet for dinner. He ate the kids' leftover French Toast (I use strawberry-applesauce for a topping), and then actually requested a veggie skillet of his own!! What??? I put the rest of the veggies in a couple of Tupperware containers and tossed 'em in the fridge. Mmmm.. I'm loving my veggie dinners. No, I'm not going vegetarian; I'm up for a good t-bone any day! :)

I made fish for dinner last night. Fish!! And Graeme ate it. And he liked it!! (And he's going to take the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow!) For a man who avoids fish at almost all costs, he's really coming around. I think his job at the PCN is really turning his food thoughts around. You know what he said to me last night? "I've been learning from the dietitian at work that when you fill your plate, you should have one fist-sized portion of carbs/starch (i.e. rice, potatoes, or pasta), one fist-sized portion of protein (i.e. card-deck sized portion of meat), and two fist-sized portions of veggies." (I like to fill my plate with 1/2 veggies before I put anything else on it, just so I make sure I get enough.)

I laughed.

I've been trying to promote this to him for two years!!!!

Time to find the ice. G'night!

On the bandwagon again

So, I'm back *on* my veggie & exercise kick... I mean, I'm never totally *off* of it, but I've needed to focus more lately. It's hard to go for decent calorie-burning walks when both boys want to ride bikes and the little one goes so slow a turtle can beat him... And it's hard to eat a lot of veggies when the boys won't eat them very often (I know, I know, set a good example and they'll follow)...

So anyway, I've been doing awesome! I've been making some really yummy veggie skillets lately, putting some salt & pepper with it (I can afford the salt since I have low blood pressure to begin with), and sprinkling about an ounce of shredded cheese. YUM! I am making a skillet right now, as I type!

Exercise! Well, on Monday I did a 20km bike ride followed by about half an hour of weight training, yesterday I did an 8km row (not as much as I wanted, but I was pretty beat and it was later at night), and this morning I went for a 25km ride (I went out and clocked it with my van afterwards to see how far it was, exactly). Tonight... I'm tired. Go figure. I still have weights to do tonight, though, if I'm going to stay on track. Probably don't *need* to do it, but it's the habit-developing I'm looking for.

Gotta go stir those veggies!!

A picture

Joshua drew this at the kitchen table one day and then came to show me... pretty neat, hey? As Dustin is the next Phelps, Joshua is the next Picasso! :)

Points of interest... or not...

The weather is doing some funny stuff out there. It's been really hot, and now we have a severe thunderstorm watch out. I am not a fan of strong winds and lightning when we've had a really hot day. I get tornado nightmares... literally. Some of my nightmares consist of 3 or 4 twisters at once. We always end up in a basement somewhere, though, and nobody dies. Whew!

Joshua is sick. He's had a mid-grade fever (hovering between 100.5 and 102.6) for almost 36 hours. Along with a very intermittent deep cough... he's otherwise very happy and active and drinking lots. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Dustin is a little volleyball player! He can do a really respectable somewhat accurate forearm pass... or "bump", as some call it more commonly. Joshua has a good serve and can also do a forearm pass. I can't wait to play more volleyball with them!

Dustin's swimming lessons are going well. He is a CHUNK! Four kids are on a little flexible floaty mat, actually floating. As soon as Dustin gets on, his section of the mat sinks, while all of the other kids are still floating. He has an excellent kick in a backfloat position. He's the next Michael Phelps. Hopefully minus the ADHD that Phelps struggled with.

Joshua is doing lots of neat artwork. He loves to draw tall stickmen. I'll have to scan and load some of his work.

Graeme's birthday went well. On Friday, I took him to Sorrentino's for supper, then to Marble Slab for dessert, and then to the Legislative grounds for a walk in the pools there. It was very romantic and fun!! Then yesterday, we had Graeme's family over, with a surprise visit from Jordan & Carly who weren't expecting to come up from Red Deer. I made soft & hard tacos, corn on the cob, and an ice cream cake. Everything was a hit!

We went to a different church today. Can't share much yet, but it was really a good change for us. The kids behaved absolutely perfectly, and stayed in the sanctuary the entire time. Our friend Jerry was on worship team, and he spotted us during the very last song. Graeme is out with Jerry tonight watching the latest Batman movie. Not my cup of tea, hence Graeme's date with Jerry.

Not sure what tomorrow holds... depends on Joshua's state of health.

Work... only two more full Tuesdays left, and then two half-Tuesdays. Then I should be done!! The first technician showed up, from Nova Scotia, on Friday... the other tech, Jackie, from BC, should be here next Monday. I am looking forward to being done "work" so I can get back to "normal" life.

Must clean up the kitchen before Graeme gets home!! Motivation in the heat is severely lacking these days... can't wait for it to cool down a bit! Did I ever tell you that Winter is my favorite season? No allergies, no hot spells. Love it! Although I have to say that seeing my baby's naked bum running through the sprinkler is worth having summer for...

Recent ramblings

Some of my more recent facebook status updates, in case you've missed them (with further explanation in brackets):

Melissa came home from WalMart Supercentre in South Common... empty-handed! (I went to find water shoes for Dustin - he had a nasty fall at the pool the other day and needs some grippies!)

Melissa is c-r-u-n-c-h-i-n-g numbers... I hope the software update tomorrow actually fixes the inventory problem!! (What can I say... pretty self-explanatory. I spent about 8 hours on inventory in the last day.)

Melissa needs to shave my legs before hitting the pool in less than an hour! (Just keepin' it real!)

Melissa is trying to make heads & tails out of life... (It was a nutsy day. Work, swimming lessons, scheduling, inventory woes, company that night... I was running in circles trying to keep it all straight!)

Melissa is watching "falling tree" with Dustin, for the thousandth time! (At camp... see previous camp post about the guy climbing the tree... Dustin is currently asking for "falling tree" again.)

Melissa is folding diapers and watching the Olympics. (I finally got my replacement fuzzi-bunz in the mail, and had to pre-wash them before using them - on Dustin, of course! It always helps the laundry folding if there's something good on TV. :)

Melissa likes my new "Smart Bin". Costco is so smart to carry those things considering the new garbage & recycling program in Strathcona County! (I got lots of oooh's and aaaah's over this last night - the bin is amazing!! I really like it and am glad I "splurged" on it. I'm emptying my garbages less often and am doing MUCH less running around to put things where they need to be! I'm all for organization!)

Melissa let Joshua deadhead flowers. He did well! Dustin also got to deadhead... but he "live-headed" instead... oh well. (The plants are doing well now. At least he didn't totally kill them - they can do that on their own without his help!!)

Until next time...

Motivation issues

It's 10:23. I should be working, not blogging.

Graeme and Joshua are out tenting again tonight. I tried taking Dustin out, but it went verrrry badly. Not just disobedience, but defiance ... very bad. I brought him back into the house, where he was very angry with me for taking away the fun bedtime in the tent. About half an hour later, after he'd calmed down, I went in to check on him and snuggle him since we ended the night on such bad terms. The kid was out cold. COLD!! I realized he was still wearing his long pants (we were going to tent and the temp was supposed to dip to around 14 degrees), so I tried taking them off while he was sleeping. He was kinda sweaty all over (it must've been at least a 30 degree day!), and so I had to pull and tug and pry.... and he still slept. Through it all. What a honey.

Today was a good day - more sprinkler time (we went out twice yesterday and once today), a weiner roast for din-din (complete with a mad hornet trapped in our hot dog bun bag), a bit of laundry-folding (Joshua folds all my towels now - sweet!), and a sleep-in for me this morning.

Olympics have started. Watched some swimming and gymnastics today. I've enjoyed it so far... must not get too hooked!!

Bathrooms got super-clean yesterday!! Joshua helped by wiping the countertops down. I discovered a new use for Lysol toilet bowl cleaner... rust removal!! It's strange. We are on well water on our acreage, and one of our toilets seemed to have quite the rust-colored tint in the bowl where the water sat. I noticed over the last 3-4 cleanings that it slowly started disappearing in streaks (where the cleaner was most concentrated). So yesterday, I decided to drain the toilet bowl and see if my theory was correct. Within 5 minutes, I had a completely clean toilet bowl, free from any discoloration. So then I decided to try it on the tub in the kids' bathroom. Someone had left the tap dripping a few months ago, and overnight we got that same discoloration. Well, within 5 minutes I had a completely non-rusty tub. I felt like a kid in a candy shop, I was so excited!! CLR has never worked on those problem areas, so I'd given up hope. Needless to say, I feel like I won a victory!!

So, tonight, I feel just blah. I finished up some sympathy cards for the pharmacy, which has needed to be done. However, I still have a kitchen to clean, more laundry to fold and put away, and a family room to "pick up". I have absolutely zero motivation to do any of this, however. Blech. Oh well. I'm sure my second wind will come around 11:00 tonight. It always does.

Well, I better get to it...

~~~~~~
P.S. - about 10 minutes after I originally posted this, I saw a flash. Of lightning. And thought of my boys in the tent. After about 10 minutes of the most constant lightning I've seen in a while, huge booms and cracks of thunder, and torrential downpours, I was sure my boys would be wanting to come inside. Not finding a flashlight, I chose instead to venture out by lightning-light down the narrow path down the hill to where the boys are camping. When I got there, Graeme was wide awake, but Joshua was ZZZZZZzzzzzz......

The weather has since calmed down. I guess the tent decided not to leak tonight. The boys are still out there.

The kitchen is now clean. I succeeded in overflowing my dishwasher and flooding my kitchen floor. My office is a touch cleaner now, too. And I got a couple of loads of laundry done.

A bit more, and I can call it a night...

An ordinary day

Today is just an ordinary day.

Kids got up early. Dustin was a ham. Came out of his room, came to see that we were still in bed, went back to his room. Repeat a dozen times over a half-hour span. He was singing and playing. Joshua also joined in the fray. Dustin always hits the floor running in the morning.

After breakfast, during which Dustin almost choked, Daddy wrestled with Joshua while I read Dustin 4 books. Goodnight Moon is a favorite right now, as is Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Dustin was Eeyore-ish after his breakfast sputter, so he was more than content to snuggle and read with me. The boys definitely exhanged roles today - usually Joshua is the reader and Dustin is the crazy one.

Doing some laundry. Much-needed laundry. I have my timer set upstairs so that I actually remember to go down and change the loads, otherwise time gets away from me and before I know it, the day has gone by with only one or two loads done. That's not helpful.

Went out to deadhead plants. Got the kids in on the action. Joshua did very well. He accidentally chopped one live flower off (I let him use my little pruning scissors), but he got ALL the dead heads. Pretty good. Then, there was Dustin. He didn't dead-head. He live-headed. Oh well. All my pretty yellow flowers are now in a bucket, and all the dead heads are still on the plant. Got all my weeding done this morning, too.

The kids are monster-eaters today. For their 10:00 snack, they each ate two small bananas - I cut them in half lengthwise and spread peanut butter on them, then cut them into chunks. The bananas were small, so I was OK with them each having 2. But then, they ate yogurt and crackers on top of all of that!

Supper is in the crock pot. After spending over 2 hours in the kitchen making dinner last night, I'm opting for a crock-pot day today.

My to-do list is long today. I need to clean the bathrooms - that's the biggest thing today. I wonder at what age you can set a child to scrubbing toilets? For now, he gets to do countertops for me. Mirrors, not so much. :)

The most *fun* thing on my list today is to run through the sprinkler... it's supposed to be a hot one again. I know that a lot of people are complaining that we haven't had much of a summer, but I can't really handle the heat very well (I tend to get very dizzy and almost pass out). So I've actually enjoyed the "cooler" summer. The hotter days, not so much. But I will enjoy the sprinkler with the boys today!

Better get on to cleaning those toilets while the kids are playing!!

Formatting issues

So, I composed my last blog entry... but the formatting is weird with some of the pictures. Not sure if it shows up on your computer or not. Anyway, when I view it in Explorer, almost everything is OK, but when viewed in Firefox, oh my goodness! What a disaster...

Any ideas, you techies?

Fun summer days!

This is the body of an e-mail I sent to a friend tonight (with some minor edits) - I figured it pretty much sums up the camp experience, and so I figured, why retype??

Home... tired... funned out! We had a great time; got back around 8:15 tonight. The boys were sooooo tired, but had sooooo much fun! They took to camp like fish to water. It was awesome.

They slept really well; Dustin even napped there. We all slept in a little tiny cabin - a single bed on each side with a 2' aisle between them.... and room on the ends of the beds for Dustin's playpen (he didn't mind the playpen at all, despite being freed into a big-boy bed for months now!). And that was it.

Dustin even asked for his nap yesterday during lunchtime, and was trying to climb into the playpen for it when we got back to the cabin! Beyond that, today he fell asleep in chapel - conked out on a total stranger during the message, and stayed asleep through the super-loud worship afterwards. On the first night, the boys went to bed at 8:30 (I didn't have a watch and the time got away from me), and slept till 7:00; and last night, they went to bed at 7:00 and slept till 6:40 this morning. They both fell asleep on the way home tonight - Dustin at 7:00, and Joshua about 7:30 or so. When I got home, they wouldn't even wake up - we just put them in bed and covered them up, fully clothed. Their clothes were clean anyway - I'd *just* changed them before dinner, so I wasn't too worried about it. It was the absolute easiest bedtime routine ever! :)

They played, they swam, they ran, they canoed, they did some archery, ate a LOT, and tuckered themselves out. The campers took to them sooooo well, and Joshua spent a good portion of his meals with his new friend Stephan (an 11-year-old camper) at his team's table. Even Dustin started getting in on the action, and ate today with some little girlfriends. :) Joshua started sitting with campers in the chapel services, and was even answering some of the questions that were tossed out during the messages. What a smart li'l cookie - and so well-behaved!! The kids loved chapel - moreso as the sessions went by (we were there for a total of 5 chapel services). I have to admit, it was really nice having 40 little babysitters and a bunch of big ones, too!

Because the boys took so well to camp life, and spent so much time with campers, I had a lot of time to pray, worship & sing, spend time with campers and counsellors alike, and actually be a tiny bit useful (I wasn't expecting to be able to actually do anything). I got to be a "judge" for skit night. Then, Peter asked me to give my testimony last night at campfire - totally impromptu. He literally was closing the service and then told the campers that he always thinks of "Melissa's story" and how God changed my life and brought me out of a situation that many of the kids are in right now... and then he asked if I would share a bit. Gladly!!! It was the last campfire of the week, where the campers get to share what God did in their lives over the past week. They got a stick, and when they were done talking, they got to throw their stick into the fire. It was a really awesome night. And because I wasn't in a cabin with campers, I also got to stay up late and chat around the campfire with "old" friends and new ones, too - it was such a refreshing time!! As I laid in bed the first night of camp, my boys sleeping less than 5 feet away from me, I thought, "I am the luckiest girl on the face of the planet right now." The only thing that would've made it perfect would've been to have Graeme there, too.

So... yes, I'm tired... didn't sleep great the first night, even though the boys did fine - pretty normal for me in a new place, especially since it was cold and I was worried about the boys being too cold (and then too hot when I turned the heater on - how thankful I was to find that the little cabin even had a heater, as it dipped to 5 degrees that night!)... but I slept solidly last night. I am so moved by what God is doing at camp that it's going to keep me fueled for a while. And I'm still so awed by how God just adjusted the boys so well... while I'm glad to be home, I'm really sad that camp is over for the year - it'll be another 11 months before I can go out again.

My intention with going out was to have a little mini-holiday for myself, to give the boys something diff't to do, and also to start conditioning the boys to be out there so that when the time comes for Graeme and I to spend a week working out there (hopefully next year!), then the boys won't be so thrown off by it.

I am so blessed...

Here are some pictures:

Learning archery:















Dustin, conked out about 5 minutes after he'd asked for his nap on Day 2 of camp:












Chapel time - singin' with the big kids:















Dustin, snoozing on Sarah during chapel (notice the big speakers and the girl singing at the piano... and Dustin slept through all of it!):











This was cool. The maintenance guys were clearing some trees to make a few RV pads at the camp, for staff who want to bring their own RV's. This guy had special gear with which he could climb a tree. When he got about 2/3 of the way up this 60-80' tree, he tied a rope around it, climbed down, and then proceeded to cut down the tree while 3 other guys guided it down with the rope. I have a video of it; quite impressive. The campers got to watch, and they all thought it was pretty cool. Something that most city kids will never get to see!














Sharing love and playing on Friday morning:












In the dining hall with their new friends:












Hanging out during games and free time:












Mr. Nose (a.k.a. Vivian):














Fun at the waterfront:
























Hanging out while waiting to eat:











Joshua working on his craft - first time with a needle & thread, and he loved it!











Dustin being his usual hammy self:












The boys, when we got home. Joshua had put a blanket over his head because the sun was too bright while I was driving. This is taken in the garage (door closed), which is why it looks like night-time.... but the sun really hadn't even set by this time...










What a fun trip!!