Happiness in the simple things.

On my living room wall is a picture of Mr. A and I standing in front of a limo moments before the dinner of our high school graduation.

I have that picture hanging there not because it reminds me of how smoking (I kid...) I was when I was 19 or how thin I was or how absolutely HUGE my hair was. The reason I have that picture hanging there is because it reminds me of how simple life was for us then. No mortgage. No responsibilities. Just pure, simple joy and excitement of the moments we were about to witness.

Back then (oh, we were young), Mr. A and I would talk on the phone in the wee hours of the morning dreaming about what our lives would be when we were older. There was never talk of mansions and fancy cars. I don't even remember wishing to travel to exotic places. I do remember however, the one wish we had for our lives together - yes, we knew we would be together - a simple house with the white picket fence and a little dog. That's it. I think we just assumed we'd be happy. I think we just assumed there would be children. It was such a modest dream.

I forget that dream often, now that I'm older. I get caught up in the 'what I wants' and never does that feed your soul or make you happy. It's always the little things; the late night phone calls and dreams of togetherness, the giggles of the kids, the wag of the dogs tail. They are so easy to overlook.

I feel ditched.

You know how Mr. A and I started this great tradition last year (yah, I know one year doesn't make a tradition but then, maybe it does...) of having a martini a day, for the 12 days leading up to Christmas? And you know how we were totally trying to figure out what to do this year? I did some research and I had settled on some really great 'Old fashioned' type cocktails. I WAS EXCITED. I made a list and everything. Really people, this is something I feel passionate about and I was researching it and EVERYTHING. This is the list:

1. Hot Buttered Rum

2. Brandy Alexander

3. Old fashioned (makes sense considering the list)

4. Bloody Mary

5. Tom Collins

6. Whiskey Sour

7. Rusty Nail

8. Singapore Sling

9. Gimlet

10. Rob Roy

11. Gin Fizz

12. Kir Royale (cause that's just classy)

Honorable mentions go to: The Mai Tai, A Manhattan and the always classic, Martini - shaken, not stirred.

Great list right?! I mean, that's impressive. But here's the thing, I haven't had one, NOT ONE, drink off this list. It's the 14th, I'm a good two days into this thing and NOTHING. You know how hard it's going to be for me to catch up? And if I skip tonight as well? (I have no spiced rum and I have to go in order...) I'm not all together sure if I can do it. I might have to combine a few days... or maybe just do it all in one? Decisions, decisions...

Other things.

Spent some time on Pinterest again. Here's what I'm coveting right now - tomorrow is a new day.

1. This poster is fabulous; as is this one.

2. A recipe for Butterbeer. It is NOT for children. I wonder if this is what J.K. Rowling was thinking... and if it is it makes me LOVE England soooo much more. Note: This blog has a recipe for Cream Biscuits and Sausage Gravy on September 12th. They look quite appealing.

3. I've collected wine corks for quite awhile now and as you might imagine, I have quite a few. Last year I put a bunch of them in the garden for a natural mulch. It seems to have worked. Of course, that was a year ago and I was wondering as to what I should do with the 'new' corks. I think I should do make one of these! A little hot glue, some cardboard?

4. I thought about sending this to one of the boys in the mail. They love getting mail - it makes me feel special too... how about you?

5. I'm waiting for one of my readers to have a baby again. I giggled. I know you will too!

6. I tried to do this. The first year it worked wonderfully. I used beans and peas and they twirled and climbed and covered the sticks. The kids loved it.... well, the neighbor kid loved it. This year everything died. The sticks are starting to fall down and all in all, it just looks like a mess. Maybe next year...

7. I want to walk into anyone of these little houses and have a glass of wine with Mr. A. The one with the candles and the little table is my favorite.

8. Potato Chip Cookies. I'm DOOMED!

Where did the time go?

It seems to me that I've spent the whole summer sitting around like this little gopher. My words are more like, "S., S!, S!, Hey, E., E!, E.! Why is no one listening to me?" But all in all I get how that little guy is feeling.

And now that I have no voice left and I'm just starting to get into a groove with the kids, school is starting. Not just yet. Next week. Soon enough. I should have more time to accomplish all those tasks that I've been putting off and maybe even post something here every now and again.

I haven't started on the stairs yet let alone the bathrooms and the hallways... I have started applying around for employment. Nothing yet. Try to think positive thoughts for me and if you know someone, who knows someone, have them give me a ring!

Almost time.

The days of summer are fast approaching. While I always love having the kids home full-time (I truly appreciate it sometime in July or near the end of August...) I have to admit I'm going to miss my one-on-one time with Mr.E. Next year he's off to school full time and I have to decide how I'm going to fill those days. Yes, there's always laundry, dishes and looking after the dog but I'm pretty sure that will only take up a day.

Frankly, heading back to the workforce scares the crud out of me. I haven't been part of it all for 8 years. That's a long time people. And not only that, I'm in a new country where a TON of people are looking for work and probably slightly more qualified than I, for any job. Granted, I would do awesome in a negotiations setting or with the bomb squad but how many positions for that could there be? Another thing, my CANADIAN degree is in Geo-Anthropology. That's up there with Psych majors and Philosophy - no offense to either of those... Crud.

So, here I sit, wondering about something that's not going to happen for months. Maybe longer if I don't settle for a career in the food services industry (ie. McDonald's - not that there's anything wrong with that either - Dear McDonald's people, please hire me). And I have to make up a resume. Man, this could take years....

Is it Summer where you are?

I was lucky enough to be able to wear my sunglasses. It's about 80 degrees, the sun is shining and there's a breeze just cool enough to keep things wonderful. The kids are playing out in the field behind the house. They've finished their slushes (pineapple juice, limeade and lemonade blended with crushed ice) and they're happy as can be.
The pitcher of Sangria is chilling in the fridge. I've already had a glass (or two) with some of the crushed lemonade and some blueberries- just to keep things interesting.
A light lunch; cheesy dip with fresh herbs from the garden, perfectly ripe cherries, yummy whole wheat crackers from Trader Joe's and an exquisite italian salami. Perfect for enjoying the Oasis on this beautiful day. I'm sure summer must be here. Hoping it's there for you too.

Dammmmittt.

• Thank you to my friend Stacy for getting me addicted to saying that. It's great except when I'm at the school carnival and I forget and I say it out loud instead of in my head. Nothing like teaching a bunch of 1st graders a new word.
• I made the mistake of stepping on the scale today. Dammmiittt! I knew I was gaining weight. My stomach was bigger than my jeans and my shirts weren't fitting properly. Apparently my diet of frou frou coffee and McDonald's chocolate milkshakes was working against me! Who knew? Anyway, I've decided it's time to get serious. I'm just going to accept the new weight and live with it. Yah, you heard me right. I'm officially 30 pounds heavier than I was before I had kids. But that was 10 years ago and I ain't no spring chicken. I like food. I eat (fairly) right. I exercise. So screw it. If I want to eat M&M's then I'm going to eat M&M's and I'm not going to feel guilt about it.
• I just had a birthday. I think not only getting older, I'm also getting wiser. I'm getting more relaxed and dammmiiittt I'm happier!
• I made a big bunch of granola today. I also happened upon puffed Kamut. I added it to the granola. It tastes freakin' fantastic. See? I totally eat healthy.
• The garden is in full swing. The Iris's are blooming, the peas are a couple of inches long and so are the squash. I had my first drink on The Oasis with my friend Ser. We got a little red as well. It was fabulous.
• We're making our summer plans. I'd like it to include a lot of beer, sitting around with my friends and swimming at the pool. So far, so good. What about you?

To do lists and other things I don't want to do.

• The stairs still look like this. There's more dust bunnies in the corners, piles of kids crap on the second stair and maybe a dint or two from Mr.E throwing a ball up and down "cause it goes faster now" but basically, I've done nothing.
• I still have to caulk in all the gaps on the fireplace room floor. Yep, it's been a year. I also have to prime and paint the molding. Whatever...
• I'd like to make pillow covers for the pillows that came with the green couches we bought. I HATE the pillows but for some reason I also think it's ludicrous to throw them out and just go buy new ones. Me and my stupid reasoning make absolutely no sense at all. None.
• I collected old maps from neighbours and friends in the fall in hopes that I would paint the downstairs bathroom and cover one wall with the maps. Haven't done it yet. Fall is long gone. Stupid fall.
• It's spring here. That's a good thing (though not if you're the bathroom). The sun is shining and the birds are singing and I'm reminded that I really need to get my butthogs out to the garden and clean up all the leaves and 'stuff' because plants are starting to grow. I have one tulip that has actually bloomed. I think it's a little premature but who am I?
• Our garage door decided it no longer wants to be attached to the garage. Add that to "The list of things that need to be fixed" (the basement leaking might be at the top but really, it's such a long list it really is hard to tell which is more important). This isn't necessarily on my 'to do' list but it's on someone's - I think it's safe to assume it's on mine I suppose.
• I have to do laundry. I hate doing laundry. I think I might just be feeling a bit whiny. Maybe just a little? Darn it. I'm going to get a glass of wine now. Did you read all the way to this? Wow. Go make your own list. Pffflllt.

Mornings.

I turn on the kettle. Put the tea bags into pot. It's missing a lid - for a few years now. I'll find a new one eventually but not a new pot. I love my little Brown Betty.

I'll have a scoop (or a cup) of date square - made with garbanzo flour and flax seed and a mixture of fruit, not just dates...

Then I'll probably have one of these muffins - tropical (almonds, coconut and dates). So yummy. I'm all about the carbs.

Spring is up and shining brightly (today) even if the temperatures haven't yet warmed up enough for me to put away my winter jacket. I love staring at the flowers while drinking my tea. It's calming especially when it sounds like the Indianapolis 500 is happening behind me...

These guys are usually hanging out in the fruit tree. Can you see the squirrel? He saw me! And he was taunting Putty. It's an ongoing game that they play.

Balloons and Streamers.

Happy Birthday Auntie Jane.

and while I'm at it; Happy Birthday to you too Mrs. Woods.

Pancakes...

Thank you Ms. Robin for the Corn Pancake recipe. I had them for lunch and for dinner - with your salsa and shredded cheese. I am one happy camper! It's Pancake Tuesday at our house. Mardi Gras for the rest of you.... I absolutely love Pancake Tuesday. I eat and eat and practically burst at the seams. It's lovely. I think if everyone ate breakfast for supper at least once or twice a week we'd all be a lot happier. Just sayin'. (Oh, and a hug or two couldn't hurt.)

In case you haven't connected Pancake Tuesday with Lent yet, let me remind you that tomorrow is the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday. The last couple of years I've tried to give up chocolate. It's harder than it sounds. I'm not always successful. I think last year I accidentally popped a truffle into my mouth only to expel it almost at once. It was a sad waste of a truffle. And it's almost impossible to cut chocolate out completely - try going to Starbucks and ordering a coffee without chocolate in it. It was alright when I was in Colorado as my local barista gave up chocolate too and knew exactly what type of Frou-Frou coffee I could have... *sigh* I miss her....

This year I've decided to go a little bit riskier. Take a deep breath. Sit down.... Alright, I've decided to give up coffee all together. I binged today and bought two large coffees. I might make myself a coffee before I go to sleep tonight. I will miss it incredibly. I reckon I'm going to be a might bit of a bi-yach this week. Warning to those who might be living in the same house as me, see me at pick-up, walking innocently on the street, etc. The headaches are going to be awful. I'm really hoping that by next week I'll feel like a new woman. Maybe a mad woman but a new woman just the same. I'm off to brew a cup. Just thinking about it makes me get the shakes. Wish me luck!

The husband and the kids have gone for a walk. Can you tell I was madly typing, trying to get this all done before they got home? Sheesh...

Boy Crafts.

No pink fuzzy things around here! If you're a boy or have a boy living with or near you than might I recommend you buy Creationary. It's fun for the whole family and you can even drink beer while you play it - not that I would do that but some of you might.

The above photo is one of the 'creations' or as I like to call it "The Subtle Hint my son gave me while playing Creationary". It's the Legoland sign from California. Mr. A didn't even know there was such a thing. How that has escaped him for this long is beside me but I think he might be in denial. Just an FYI they're opening a Legoland in Tampa, FL in October. I wonder if we'll be walking under that sign soon...

We bid you Adieu.

We wanted to take you to The True North Strong and Free (ie. Canada) but you came 3 days too late. (To the people in this photo: I don't know you. I didn't ask if you wanted to be in my photo. The fact that you were wearing hockey gear and watching curling made me miss home. Now you will forever be my reminder of what it's like to be in a Canadian bar on a Saturday morning. Thank you.)
So instead we stuck you to a collage of license plates in the shape of the state of Ohio. (Can you find her?)
We used you to record the temperatures - which have since plummeted a whopping 33 degrees! There could be a direct correlation between the two. We may never know...
But then we were nice and we took you to see the seahorses at the Columbus Aquarium. They were sleeping so we had to be very quiet; as if we were hunting rabbits. We wouldn't really hunt rabbits because I suspect you might be a vegetarian.
When we were at the Aquarium we also saw the sharks. They weren't very scary and you didn't have to hold our hands. I think you may just have been trying to be brave.

Now you're in an envelope on your way back to Colorado. We hope you have a good trip and meet other 'flats' along the way. Say an extra special "Hello" to all the kids you'll get to meet when you get where you're going. And if you could, can you please give Ms. A a kiss for us and tell her we were happy she thought about us? We think about her and her family A LOT!

Not-so Wacky Wednesday.

When Mr. E turned 6 (only a month ago - oh, how time flies) we bought 1/2 dozen cupcakes from our new local cupcake store, Blue Frost Cupcakes. Although it pained me greatly to spend $13.00 on 6 cupcakes, I have to say that it was well worth it. They aren't very big but the cake is moist and the icing is delicious. I believe cake is just a 'extra' so it's always wonderful to find an icing that doesn't coat your teeth. You know what I'm talkin' about.
Speaking of coating your teeth, don't you just love gravy? Mmm... soo salty and yummy. In Canada we usually eat our french fries with gravy. Not a big deal just a cultural difference I suppose but one that I've gotten used to and even after being in the states for almost 6 years it's still one I can't get over. My friends love it when I'm in a restaurant and get into a long discussion with the waiter over whether they have gravy to dip my fries into and I sometimes wonder if they think I'm just making this stuff up. Note: sometimes I am... This time I'm not.

So when we went to Ontario a couple of weeks ago we went to our old university hang out, Morty's. I love this place. No doubt about it, they have the best wings EVER. Anyway, on the menu (pictured above) they have gravy listed right next to the french fries! And yes, I ordered them and ate every last bite. It's good gravy.

In case you were wondering...

We have a visitor! Her name is Flat Anna. She's hoping to go home tomorrow but with the ice storm I'm afraid it might not be possible. We ventured outside (see picture above) but we thought the tree encased in ice was a good sign that we should head back in and sit around for the rest of the day. I say we're brilliant. I think she's having a good time visiting, seeing the sights and catching up on back episodes of True Blood. Hope you're having a good day too.
Oh, and we ate a few cookies and the odd cupcake (or 6). Sorry we didn't share....

A Challenge.

While having a glass of wine with my neighbours last night (them, not me...) we had a small discussion on religion. *Gasping* It wasn't heated, no one came away with bruises and no ones feelings were hurt (I think... I hope - sometimes I'm an ass and don't realize it - REALLY). But a great topic was mentioned and one that I think is often overlooked (by me...).

In the sermon at their church on Sunday the minister asked them to try be grateful every day for something - 3 things in particular. One glitch: you should try to find something great in a situation that may not have been perfect. It's simple but not always easy. In fact, yesterday I was having quite a hard time thinking of just one thing and though I lead a pretty good life it's not always perfect. I probably made it far harder on myself as I didn't want it too be too easy... I thought that when you're thinking of being grateful you shouldn't pick something tangible (I'm so grateful for my lovely dog and his beautiful collar from Target), it shouldn't be something moronic (I'm grateful for my new vase from Anthropologie) and it shouldn't be something totally freakin' obvious (I'm grateful for my Lexus). Note: I don't have any of this except for the dog with the collar from Target... Instead, try to really test yourself. For instance, here's one of mine:

The other day I dropped A. off at work. As I'm driving, I come to an intersection and I have a green light (sound familiar?) and yet, there's someone (bi-yach) walking across the street in front of me. As I'm a calm and totally in control person, I quietly yell (loud enough for everyone in a 5 mile radius to hear), "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT, NOT YOU!" Nothing big right? Except all my windows were rolled down and a university kid is on his bike right beside me. He burst out laughing. True (hangs head in shame). He could have looked at me in dismay but nope, he was chuckling like crazy... and it made me smile. I'm grateful he was there - for so many reasons. Can you imagine if he wasn't?

If you've read facebook

The Summer Croc. It's a favourite in our house. We all have a pair (or two...). How can you not? They are so versatile.

The winter croc (as it's known in our house). What I don't understand is that you've already mastered a perfect shoe... why mess with it? Frick.

Then please disregard this... I'm ranting again but in a different format so I feel it's legitimate.

Dear People at Crocs. If you're going to make winter crocs could you please (I beg of you) make them exactly like your summer crocs (ie. with the backstrap)? That way I don't have to reason with my son in the middle of the mall. Thank you for listening.

p.s. if you could do that before the snow flies that would be extra wonderful.

A Few Observations.

A word of warning: I wrote these observations after spending way too much time in the car running from one errand to the other. None of which was for me. I'm selfish so just the fact that I didn't get anything out of it was enough to make me incredibly grumpy. And I haven't had wine/beer for a few days so that was just the cherry on the top. Also, I may not feel the same way tomorrow so don't hold it against me or do, whatever.... I still haven't had wine today...

1. You can't text and drive. Yes, I know you think you can but you can't. Even Oprah says you can't - it must be true.

2. To the guy in the green car: The 'tick, tick' sound you've been hearing for the last 6 miles is your turn signal. Frick. Turn it off already.

3. The big red octagon in front of you is a stop sign. Really, I'm not making this up. Generally, it means you have to stop. For those of you new to this concept, it means you have to use that pedal next to the one that makes you go. Yes, that's what that's for.

4. The big red light in the sky, you know, the one next to the pretty green and yellow one? Yah, that means you have to stop too...

5. You can't text and walk either. Especially you there in the black sweater - you definitely can't.


End of Part 1... I'm sure there's going to be a Part 2.

Wanna go see the BJ's?

Well, you can! For FREE. Oh, you just can't beat that. It's Blue Jackets training camp time. I'm going to bet most everyone in this city doesn't know that. But now you do. So head down to Nationwide Arena today and check out Gerald Boll doing his slam-bam-thank you-mam (he's currently my favourite BJ). Find out the practice times here. See you soon.

Freakin'!

I was going to check how many times I used "Freakin" as my blog post title but thought it better that I didn't know. My darn computer keeps getting 'stuck' - for lack of better computer tech. lingo. I'm wishing that I lived closer to Robin (not that I don't wish for that often) but today it's cause I'd like Mr. K to come over and fix my computer for me. It's probably not all that technical and I bet it could be solved by throwing it from a 6 story building. And he'd do it for a bottle of fat tire (or maybe a six pack) 'cause he's good like that.

In the mean time I'm typing away at my hubby's Apple. I dislike this computer. I don't like the fake "click, click, blach" of the keys and I dislike all the little symbols at the bottom of the screen. What are those anyway?! I'm an old school PC gal. I wish this wasn't true but it is and because of that I will have computers that get virus' and get 'stuck'. Stupid things. And I'd like to believe that I could live without my computer, without the constant need to check facebook and hotmail and everyone's blogs but I can't do that either. Frick. It must be Friday.