Goals?

Hi-oh (as Kermit would say)!

I just re-read some of my latest posts. I still feel a bit the same about some of those goals. The difference now is that I am working some new goals, while I have accomplished some of the goals I set out. And even, I have completed some new goals that I set out since the last post.

- Dyson update: Yes!!! My parents (god love them (sometimes) ) bought J and I a Dyson. It was on some ridiculous sale at Lowe's. There is only two in the city, and I am not close to either of them, but good 'ole mom and dad were! I now LOVE vacuuming because you can actually see the dirt disappear. Thank you Mr. Dyson!

- Gardening update: Another Yes!!! I got everything in the garden that I wanted. I have even reaped some rewards from it. So far, we are talking beets, carrots, LOADS of tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini and one lone potato. Check it out!

- Painting: Nope. Still nothing. I just don't seem to have the time.

- Repairing relationship with the in-laws: I think so. It's hard to tell. They were here for a 10 day visit. And it went remarkably well. I guess only time will tell.

-Getting fit: Well...it was time. I am the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life. So. I joined a gym. And I got a personal trainer. And I'm trying to eat better. I lost two whole pounds since I started. But I was so uninspired with that two pound loss, that I ate 5 oreos to soothe the sting. NOT RECOMMENDED. So...now I am working out a minimum of twice a week. But I would rather be working out more like 4 or 5 times a week. I guess I will have to talk with J about it. It's a big commitment, but I feel like I NEED this to feel like my old self again.

In other news...I am heading back to work on September 11th. I DID NOT CHOOSE THE DAY. What a terrible omen. But I am really looking forward to it, even though it means that I'll be away from my babies. K starts school this September also. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. No more babies after I starts daycare on September 4th. But maybe that is a step in the right direction to getting myself together?

Ridiculous

Ok. This is ridiculous. I'm falling to the same pattern that I did before. Which is NOT BLOGGING. I can't even believe it has been since April. Ridiculous.

Uninspired

This week has been a bad one.

Did I mention that its Tuesday????

I was working like a crazy person last week - and it was good. It felt nice. It felt like my work, my opinion counted.

Then on the weekend, I stopped working. Not because I wanted to, but because there was no more work. And I went and watched some good friends run a marathon/half marathon in town. Wow.

I didn't realize until that moment, that I really wasn't working toward any goals. At all. Or maybe I am, and I just don't see them. Is that even possible.

Let me give you the run down:

- I have a half completed vegetable garden. I have hit a mental roadblock - or maybe its a weather roadblock. Either way, there should be more in it than there is, and I can't seem to get it done.

- I would like to paint my living room. I am not even close to getting this done.

- I would like to paint the frame of our windows. I have the paint, I have the brushes, I have the sandpaper. I just have no "willpower" to get it done.

- I would like to buy a "Dyson". Yes, I would like to spend $600 on a vacuum. Because it makes my space cleaner. I do not have that $600.

- I would like to start my own business. Essentially doing the same things I do now, for the same people even, but on my terms.

Essentially, I feel like I haven't actually accomplished anything on this mat leave. Not even truly spending time with my babies. How do I get all the things done that I want without compromising?

Garden

I don't know if I mentioned to you that I have a garden. Well, I shouldn't say I have "a" garden. I have several. I have a front garden that has a few perennials, I have a back garden that I have yet to actually do anything to, and I have my vegetable garden.
I LOVE my vegetable garden. It is made up of two 4x10 raised boxes that my dad and I put together a few summers ago. Last year, I added metal posts (and mesh around those) about 2 feet around the whole thing to keep out the critters. This will be the third summer that I have my garden, and the first that I am going to experiment a little with what I put in it.
Two years ago, I had four tomato plants. I told myself I will NEVER do that again. I had more tomatoes than I could possibly ever eat. Or give away. Or donate. IT WAS RIDICULOUS!!!
So then last year, I planted only one tomato. And it didn't do as well as I thought. So I might try two this year.
Last year's fiasco was eggplant. I think I had 8 eggplant plants - which...is too much for any one city block, let alone my family.
So...this year...this year, I plan to plant potatoes (4 types). And artichoke. And carrots. And beets. I might try broccoli. And spinach. I might do lettuce. And peas.
It's actually really hard to decide. Because, you only have so much room, and you want to get things that you love. Carrots, I love. LOVE.
And the rest...well, the rest I can get at the farmer's market if I'm really desperate.
:)

Maternity Leave?

Incase there are any readers from the USA, here in Canada, we get up to 1 year off when we are on maternity leave.
When E was born, I worked in a job where my boss was pretty unhappy that I was off having a baby. And I kept in touch. A lot. Then when K came along soon after my return to work, the boss was even less happy. And I got a bit jaded and refused to call in.
Now with I, I have started a new job, and they are fantastic. BUT...having only been at the company for 6 months before my leave, and having only a 2 year contract has made me a complete spaz.
I mean, I love my job. Don't get me wrong. And I love the work I do. But sometimes I feel like I need to let go a little bit. I need to spend this year with my baby - my very last baby. I need to enjoy the moments of just her and I.
And then my drive (also known as my anxiety) kicks into high gear, and I race. I'm not even sure who I race against. Probably myself. But I take on too many things.
This year, I am on the school PTA, the daycare Board of Directors, I take my kids to swimming, skating, and gymnastics (although truthfully these are slowing down for the summer). Did I mention we also bought a puppy? So we also have puppy class.
And that doesn't include the things I like to do. Sew, knit, try to scrapbook...
And on top of all those things, I also do work from home. Yes...I decided to volunteer my time to work on projects from work. But seriously, it's like an addiction. Sometimes I'm so busy, the day just flies by. And maybe that's why I do it. Otherwise, I don't know what to do, because there is so much to do.
But, I have made a bit of a promise to myself. I have 2 projects left to complete. And after that, I am going to take the summer off. I am going to go camping with my family, and enjoy my 3 girls. After all, this will be the last summer that I can spend hours watching them grow without interruption from work.
What do you think - should I slow down?

Milo Woofy Turner

I have been bugging J for quite some time about getting a pet. Several years, actually. When I lived in Montreal, my boyfriend (then) bought me a kitten for my birthday. His name was Pamplemousse. And he was cute and cuddly and wonderful. And two days later, he threw up a worm. A big, white, squiggly worm. I took him to the vet, and he needed to be put down. AWFUL. Then same boyfriend and I bought two brother kittens. They were AWESOME. There was M. Tigre and Champignon. Here are their pictures:

M. Tigre was a playful cat, and clearly the older brother. Always looking out for Champers. And Champers, was clearly the baby. He would paw at his brother as though he was nursing, and M. Tigre would always allow it to happen. When M. Tigre got sick and had to be put down, Champers was devastated. He moped for weeks. And then a second tragedy. Said boyfriend and I broke up. His family had fallen apart. But he had me. And I kept him. He would do that nursing thing in my hair in the morning. He liked to cuddle. And he somehow always knew when I was feeling bad.  When I got pregnant, I couldn't feed him anymore. I couldn't stand the smell of the food. And I couldn't do the litter anymore, because of the risks. So J took care of him a lot. But, just after K was born,  Champignon got really sick and had to be put down. It was awful. Then I was the one that was moping for weeks. And I didn't look at another animal until recently.
The girls have been asking to have a pet. And I still can't think about having a cat. So, when I talked to J about getting an animal, his instinct was to say no. We visited PetSmart a lot. We petted dogs, we gawked at cats through the glass.
I looked on the Humane Society Website and there was Milo. Well, actually his name was Maurice. And I sent the link to J. At first, he refused to look at it. Then when he did, we decided to go and visit that night. And before the night was over, we had put a deposit down.
The girls were so excited. They talked and talked about the dog on the way home. They talked about walking him, and cuddling with him. They talked about taking him outside, and taking him to the vet. J and I talked too. We talked about whether we were ready. We talked about what it meant to have a dog, good and bad.
Saturday morning, we picked up Milo. J chose the name. And E wanted Woofy. So, his official name is Milo Woofy.

He's so gentle with the kids. And with us. We haven't had a biting incident yet - but I imagine it will happen. He is only 2 months after all. Still LOTS to learn. For both of us.

Spasms

Yep. Spasms.
That is what my back has been doing since Friday last. I'm pretty sure I know the *exact* moment it happened too. It was when I was dropping E off at school and reached across our van to take the baby (in her seat) out. Why reach you ask??? Because the snowbank is higher than my van, and I REFUSE to climb over it to get to the other side.
So I reached across, and in doing that, I  threw out my back.
But I managed to get a lot accomplished before it started to hurt.
I went to Staples. I almost never go to Staples because there are so many little things that I love. I started by buying a new binder and some page protectors for my recipes. Why a binder? Because I subscribe to magazines. And those magazines have WONDERFUL recipes in them. Buuuuut....THEY TAKE UP SO MUCH SPACE!!!!! So J asked me to get rid of them. Ha. I think I have outsmarted him by putting all the recipes into this binder.
Then I bought a couple of pens. Fancy ones. And a dry erase marker for the kids writing practice. And then it happened. I walked into the MECCA. Martha Stewart Heaven. Oh yes my friends, let me tell you. Martha Stewart has a new organization section at Staples. And I might have gone a little overboard. But how could you not???!!!??? There are chalkboard labels (I know right?). There are removable writing pads for your stainless steel fridge (awesome!). And there were special little inserts for binders that hold the recipe cards from her magazine.
Needless to say, as much as I want to, I can't go back.
But throwing out your back makes it hard to do everything else. I can't lift I. She's probably only 12 lbs, but it's enough that my back goes into spasms the moment I try. Today it took me 4 hours to sweep the floor, and even at that, I had to do part of it sitting down.
So. I am going to sit here this afternoon and cut magazines. Pictures of my wonderful binder to come :)

Keeping up appearances

Happy Wednesday!!!

Actually, today has been less than stellar. But I'm determined to get through it in one piece. I haven't posted on my blog in a few days - and for very good reasons: a) I have been baking up a storm; and b) I am completely addicted to Pinterest.

Specifics of reason a) I have been baking up a storm: I baked TWO date squares from Martha Stewart's recipe and didn't have time to take a picture because they were gobbled up by my family. But they were delicious. Trust me. I also baked a carrot cake from a recipe that a friend gave me. Her secret family recipe. Oh. My. Gosh. I can't even begin to describe how good it is. And sadly, I can't give you the recipe. I also baked some pretty decent chocolate chip muffins, not unlike those at Tim Hortons. 

As for my little addiction...I can't seem to get enough of Pinterest. I think because of the snowy, cold weather and the lack of getting anything accomplished during a day (except maybe feeding my little I) I was feeling a little uninspired. And totally unmotivated. So, I decided to try pinterest. And now, I have found a zillion things that I love. Or want to make. Or want to buy. Or places I want to live. But the reality is, I think I need a little break from it. Because I have still not accomplished ANYTHING...but now I have a zillion more inspired projects to complete. :)

Buried

So, I think in my last post, I mentioned to you that K was staying home because of the L.I.C.E situation at her daycare. Yep. She's still home.
And I think she's bored with me. Which is fine, because she's 3. And because the weather has been ATROCIOUS since she has been here. First we got 30cm of snow over two days. Then the temperature dropped to -38C (with the windchill). Then it warmed up for 1 day. And snowed again. And then freezing rain. And then more snow. And then just regular rain. And then the temperature dropped to -29C.
So, we've mostly been hanging out at home.
Yesterday, I decided that we needed to get out. So we went to the Solutions store. I bought some containers for various things - flour, sugar, powdered milk, coconut. All things that I have had all along, but usually stay in bags. It must be that I am going a bit stir crazy, but I can't seem to just close the cupboard and not worry about the chaos that is behind it.
So, yesterday, I completely organized (alphabetically, no less) my spice cupboard. And I composted tons of old nuts, seeds, and spices that had been lost at the back of the cupboard.
I added labels to everything from Mabel's Labels, who I love for labelling anything and everything.
The other thing I did this week, inspired completely by the 40 loaves challenge that Elise Blaha is doing, I borrowed my dad's bread maker, and made lemon poppy seed loaf. It was ok. Not as good as starbucks, but something that can be improved. I'm not even sure that I like the texture of the bread maker bread. I might try the same recipe in the oven.
Today's objective....get K to learn to spell her name. All 8 letters.

Catching Sun

After New Years Day, my children have been at home with me quite a bit. The first week of January, E was home because the school was closed.  It was nice to have some one-on-one time with her - something we haven't had a chance to do since she was small. To be honest, we didn't do much. We watched a couple of movies, we coloured and went for big girl coffee at Starbucks. The other thing we did was we painted Sun Catchers.

I remember being her age (or maybe a bit older) and painting mine. The pack rat that I am, I probably still have it somewhere....

When the week was over, I found myself feeling a little bit guilty that K didn't have the same chance. And when I got to the daycare to pick her up on friday, her teacher told me that...THEY FOUND 3 CASES OF LICE!!!! Ew. Luckily K wasn't one of the 3. So I decided over the weekend, that I would keep her home. Monday was a slow day. We went for big girl coffee at starbucks and watched a movie. Tuesday, I kept her home, because she had her 3 year old check up at the doctor. Nothing special, but it seemed to take all morning. And then I got a call from the daycare. 3 more cases, and 2 teachers. So, I decided that she won't go for the rest of the week.
I just can't do the whole LICE thing. It just grosses me out. I mean, vomit, blood, snot - I don't mind, but lice....just the thought of it makes me itch.
In my spare time (when K and I are napping), I am working on improving my blog. I am also working on knitting a hat for my niece. And redoing the basement like I said.
Sunday night, J and I watched "I don't know how she does it". What a great premise for a movie. The movie itself was a bit....over the top, but at the end of the movie, J turned to me and said. Yep. She's you. I didn't agree with him (purely to not agree with him). But, I try. :)

Resolution Resolve

E & I are in bed napping. K is at daycare. J is at work.
The whole house is quiet.
And I really should be doing something productive. But I'm not. I'm here. Chatting with whoever will read this. Someday.
January 5th seems so close to new years - and somehow, I feel like it has been an eternity. And I still haven't decided on any resolutions. I've been reading a lot on other blogs about having a "year" word. Since I have resolved to NOT have any resolutions this year, a year word seems appropriate. And it's kind of a strange one.

Safe.

Yep. I want to be safe. I mean, I know I can't be protected, or protect my kids from EVERYTHING, but I think it's reasonable to be protected against the things you can. So this year, I will work on the safety of myself and my family. This includes having an emergency kit (with a fire extinguisher) in the car. This means having those safety ladders to get out of the second floor should there ever be a fire. This means having our fireplace redone so that we don't have this useless hunk of brick in our living room for fear of being gassed to death. This means creating a safe place for my kids to play in the basement where all their toys are easily accessible, and away from all the big people toys (like drills, and saws and stuff). This means having our water assessed. And the air in our house. And maybe even the walls. This also means having a rockin' garden again this year without any chemicals. And sticking as much as possible to a 100 mile diet, so we KNOW where our food comes from and what is in it.

Does anyone else have a year word they want to share?

Christmas Cards

Good Afternoon!!!

As this christmas season comes to a close, I thought I would share a few of the christmas cards that I have done. Each one is from the Martha Stewart website (www.marthastewart.com) - because I love all the creative things she does. And the nice thing is, that you can slightly improvise - and make them your own.

Goodbye 2011

So, 2011 is over. As a sit here and write this, my 3 daughters are napping peacefully. What a great day. 2011 brought a lot with it. I changed jobs (again), and found a place to work where I am appreciated for the strengths I have, and encouraged to continue building on those I'm still working on.
I spent most of this year pregnant - little I arrived in September of this year...a few weeks early. And then she got sick with meningitis, but she recovered quickly.
My two babies turned 4 and 3. E started school (a major milestone!!!). We had a chance to go to the zoo in toronto, visit my grandfather in Sudbury, and do lots of exciting new things in Ottawa.
My husband and I celebrated 6 years married, and 10 years together. I doesn't seem like that long!!!
I had a terrific summer garden this year - with lots of vegetables to feed ourselves and our friends and families.
I think the coming year will be good to us. E will be 5 shortly. K will start school in the fall. I will start daycare around the same time. And I will head back to work. I hope this summer will bring camping and bonfires and maybe a bit of travel....

I can't wait. After all, the year is what you make it, isn't it?