Mom visited!

I was very surprised to find out my mom was going to be in town for a couple days! I thought she would be visiting near the end of April, but she showed up on Friday morning instead.

So I gutted the laundryroom/spare room while she was off shopping so she would have a place to sleep. It was a very short visit, but it was nice to see her (it's been a while). Her and Max (the pup) got along great.

She did get to witness the freakish patch of weather yesterday morning ..... WHAT THE --?

Big fat flakes smothering all the attempts at SPRING..... very very chilly.

Is this March? Really?
Yes those WERE my daffodils under that blanket.

And mom even go to attend Steve's Nerf party (I can't believe he is ELEVEN!!!!!!!!!) in the school gym. Total chaos! But loads of fun. I love my little boy! He arranged most of his party himself, and was very happy to have the people that could come. (Between chicken pox, strep throat, and a broken down car there were a few "no-shows").

Everyone had a great time there, the only injury was Cammy had his thumb badly twisted in a soft mat accident.... no permanent injury, lots of tears.

Them mom had to leave bright and early this morning.... I don't know when I will see her next. I hope she has a safe trip home.

A day at the beach of my childhood

It was a blustery, cold sort of day, but we were on a mission!
Meet Kimber at the beach of our mutual childhoods and have a picnic.
I almost cried when I saw the home in which I had spent the most fun bits of my childhood demolished to the ground!
But the great news is that the beach has NOT changed, and that is the best part to share with my boys.( I took some nice pictures of Kimber and her family, with her permission I may post them)
Steve enjoyed conquering the big rock....
And Cammy did too (with a bit of help)...
When the chill got the best of us, we headed for home on the scenic route of the old highway. And through a nice hailstorm that you can see here in the photo fast approaching! From sun and wind to miserable pea sized bits of storm-propelled ice! I felt so sorry for the miserable saps trying to walk downtown Qualicum in it.

I love my walks

The best thing about having our dog so far is the forced walks.

Sure I feel miserable peeling myself off the couch and getting my outdoor gear on, but once I am outside enjoying the wind and mist and fresh air, I can breathe deeply and really look around and I feel all the better for it!

Especially when I bring the camera! We have an excellent network of trails (slated for development unfortunately) and even a wetland reserve with a boardwalk which is a lovely place to be.

Flowers growing in ditches , even interesting funguses.... (beautiful and really strange)

Yes, the walks are an interesting adventure every time.

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Yesterday the whole family went out for a dirtbike ride, and we brought the dog. I was sceptical at first about how the pup would keep up and handle the noise and motion.... but he was GREAT! We were all worn right out by the end of the day, but oh so happy to spend the time together doing something fun and memorable.

Today I am sore, but it's that happy sort of ache that says you did something worthwhile.

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BTW........Happy Easter!!!! The Easter bunny came last night and hid little plastic eggs full of sweets all over the boys' rooms and the living room. It is so much fun watching them rush around in their PJ's looking in every nook and cranny for the elusive brightly coloured eggs! It's almost more fun than the Christmas present mayhem! You know we aren't huge participants in Easter festivities, but this one little tradition is sacred to us.

Here is Cammy with his Easter crafts from school..... so cute!

Health Update

The WHOLE family had doctor's appointments yesterday!





T got to review the lab results with the doctor and get a check-up. Guess what?! He is perfectly fine! All his test results are within the healthy range, so we don't know WHAT that insurance test was talking about. He has even lost 18 lbs since January and the doctor is pleased with his bloodpressure too. He is a nutrition label reader now, particularly Sodium and Cholesteral.... (do you know how HARD it is to cook low sodium without doing the whole thing from scratch?) of course I will do my part, after all a Hypertension diet is good for ALL of us and may prevent things like diabetes and other nastiness besides the heart disease and excess weight.





The reason we took Steve: He has a ganglion on his foot.**** He will be seeing a specialist to see what needs to be done. (My sister had one for YEARS and it miraculously took care of itself and disapeared when they finally decided they may as well do surgery. I hope Steve's body has the same sense!) So the poor little dude has endured a lot of potentially embarassing ailments over the years: psoriasis, aczema, glasses, buck teeth and particularly the constant odd behavioural reactions of ADHD. I still think he is cute and a very interesting fellow, even if I didn't just all-over love the boy! Otherwise he is healthy, hooray.





I brought Cammy in because he walks funny. I never thought it was a big deal, but T wanted me to make sure. Well wouldn't you know it, he has an "excessive pronation" to both feet! in other words he walks on his inner foot:

So I guess we will be getting some fancy, custom, correction inserts for his shoes (and everytime his feet grow too). Egad! Good thing T's medical does cover a bit of it!

My doctor's appointment was quite a bit more personal. It seems I have an "eroded" or "friable" cervix and I too need to go see a specialist. I tell you, I am SO NOT looking forward to THAT. I went once before for the same thing, and she mentioned cauterizing so I ran away as fast as I could. But the symptoms persist and are getting disruptive to my daily life, so I have to be a big girl and get it dealt with ( and try not to be too squeamish). I also need to cut down on my caffeine intake as I am getting some other side effects from that too. I guess my bodiy's limit is 2 cups/day. Woah is me I will miss the warm comfort of a hot caffeinated beverage in my hand all day! Decaf after noon only from now on.

I feel fine though, and so do the boys.

Doctors, doctors, doctors, what would we do without them?

****

Ganglions are fluid-filled lumps that can occur anywhere in the body, but commonly appear around the wrist and fingers, and on the top of the foot around the ankle.
They vary in size from pea-sized swellings and lumps affecting the fingers, to larger lumps affecting the wrist or ankle and foot. They are firm and rubbery in texture, and may move freely under the skin. Ganglions are often associated with a dull ache.

smart breakfast

As I swirled my mustard onto the delicious breakfast muffin that my dearly re-acquainted friend had made for me, the random pattern it made for itself said it all!

What a happy weekend!

Excellent reconciliation through quality time spent together. Fine food, inspiring conversations and girl-hero action packed movies!

Smart mustard ( it REALLY was a fluke)!

Tender Times

Through a reaction to her own pain and suffering a best friend wounded me yesterday.

Instead of asking for help, or a hug, she smacked me and my entire life in the face. A defence mechanism I am sure, and I could not for all the light in the world believe she meant to hurt me.

She accused me of not wanting to visit her.

She says she understands and respects about my family and then asks more of me than I can give at this time in my life. She admits she is being selfish and not rational, but it is how she feels and she has let it stew for a year and a half.

I have tried to explain as plainly as I can and in many different ways that I LOVE HER and VALUE HER! She doesn't believe me apparently, and maybe actions do speak louder than words.... lesson to learn for me...... But the limited resource of time and the excess of responsibilities has tied my hands. So she has quit calling when she goes through town with the excuse that the relationship is too one sided and she feels she is the only one putting in the effort. Touche!

I keep saying "I WANT TO BE THERE!" I am yelling it, rattling at the bars banging on the wall that is between us, but she can't hear me. She just hears the silence of me NOT calling (we go to bed very early in this house), NOT visiting her (what the heck am I supposed to do with the kids?). She is hurting, and I can't do a thing to fix it... she feels her life is stuck and stagnant, and I am forced to make her lean on others for support, not me. Ouch.

You know what -- that really SUCKS.

ANYTIME I see her it is a gift. I don't care if it's 30 seconds on her cellphone as she whizzes by on the Freeway on her way past town. If I lose those few precious moments because she feels like I don't love her enough..... well I don't know what to say.

I am sorry that I don't call, write of visit enough for her. I am sorry she can't see the life I have and maybe be a little more understanding, patient. I am so sorry........my heart is breaking.

There are no excuses, no right answers to make it all better, I feel I have been told to chose between my family and my friend.... it is so complicated, so COMPLICATED.

my life is on a path that is set for the next while it is family, first and foremost. They are not adults yet, they still need guidance and their mother, I don't have that opportunity forever. I really thought I did have that opportunity forever with my friends, but I guess I should not take that for granted. Is that an excuse to not take a day out and visit her? YES. Does that make it any less painful? NO.

How could I have hurt her so badly and not seen it coming? Is it really so precarious as that?

I will still be here when she feels like having a lop-sided friendship. I will still love her.

Pardon the rant, it is all I can think about.

We were just talking.... her pain is worse than mine, we WILL sort this all out, I think we will be okay.

Happy Birthday -- to me

Famous People born on March 1st:

1445 Sandro Botticelli (painter)

1904 Glenn Miller (musician)

1927 Harry Belafonte (singer)

1954 Ron Howard (actor/director)

On This Day In History:

1872 Yellowstone National Park established as the world's first National Park.

1912 Albert Berry makes the first ever parachute jump from an aeroplane in St. Louis, in Missouri

1936 The Hoover Dam is completed.

But my favourite is, that I ALMOST share a birthday with Dr. Suess!!!! (March 2nd)

(How egotistical is it that I looked these things up?)

Actually, I still look forward to my birthday. I love the anticipation of sleeping in, the guilt free eating of whatever I fancy and the attention that T gives me. Nobody can criticize how long I languor in bed when I am the birthday pig!

And today (so far) has been really wonderful! I woke to the sensual scent of fresh, made from scratch buttermilk waffles! Complete with fresh strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream (and a side of dark roast coffee). My hubby does birthday breakfasts with style!

....Even though I am stuffed full, I am still drooling at the recent memory of them...

Next, I was serenaded (via cellphone) the tune of Happy Birthday from my longest-time friend and her hubby as they cruised through town on their way to a very important wedding. I am not too proud to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it!

And as I sat out on my back porch with my second cup of coffee, soaking up a particularly wonderful patch of sunny day, I was treated by a second fantastic phonecall by my second and third longest-time friends! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! (she) chortled in (her) joy.

I am happily waiting for what the rest of this day may bring... one thing is for sure, I will get to blow out some candles at some point, and no wish I cast can be as sweet as those luscious waffles!