Friday Feast

Appetizer
Name 3 people whom you admire for their intelligence.

Wow I have to narrow it down to just 3 people. To be honest I surround myself with people who are smarter than I am. Therefore, I admire them all for their intelligence.


Soup
What's the last food you tried that you really didn't care for.

Eggplant!


Salad
If you could rename the street that you live on, what would you want it to be called?

Joanne's Place of course!


Main Course
When was the last time you were genuinely surprised?

When my friend told me she was pregnant :)


Dessert
Share a household tip.

If you have a really stubborn casserole dish, fill it with water, put in a used bounce sheet and let set overnight. In the morning, use the bounce sheet to wipe the dish and it will come right off.

And the bruises came back

Over the past couple of months, I have had very few bruises. I was starting to get quite excited that maybe my bruising problem was going away. Nope not the case. This morning I noticed a fresh batch of light colored bruises on my legs.

Here's my theory:

My corticosteroids allow easy bruising while exercise is what actually causes the bruises.

My data:

I learned about the side effect of corticosteroids on the net. For the past couple of months I have not been exercising. I started exercising again 3 days ago and Whamo! new bruises.


So the question is.... Anyone know how to hide them or stop them from getting purple and ugly? I really don't want to have to wear pants in the summer nor do I want people thinking that I'm some abuse victim or something.

My friend, my enemy, the scale

As some of my older friends know, I have battled with my weight for most of my life. The highest was in university when I weighed over 200 pounds and wore a size 18. The lowest was when I lived on Waterloo St, walked to work and went dancing almost every weekend, that was around 137. My Dr. says I should keep my weight between 140 and 150 and never go below 135.

During my pregnancy with Darrelyn, I was very scared of gaining too much weight. I walked every day, played golf and stayed in pretty good shape. That is until I was put on strict bed rest. I did nothing but lay on the couch for the last 4 weeks. I only gained 25 pounds during that pregnancy. Darrelyn was born at 35 weeks, though, so I probably would have gained more during that last 5 weeks, had it been full-term.

By the time I was pregnant for Breanna, 3 months after Darrelyn was born, I only had 7 pounds left to lose to get back into my range. During Breanna's pregnancy, I was not allowed exercise of any kind and was on limited movement from 28 weeks on. It made me realize how important exercise is in weight maintenance. I gained 50 pounds!

About a year and a half after having Breanna, I reached my goal weight again and have been maintaining it ever since. Over the last month, however, my weight has been creeping up and I am now over the 150 mark. BAD JOANNE!!! I guess less exercise and more food will do that to ya ;)

Now I am in losing mode again. This means counting weight watcher's points and exercising more than normal. I'm hoping to get at the bottom of my range before we go to Portland so I can indulge during out trip.

Here goes nothing!

We played, we ate, we got wet

We decided to have playgroup at Meehan's cove beach today. This morning I packed up the beach stuff, made a picnic, and we headed out. When we left the house, it was nice an sunny so I had high hopes. As we were driving on the highway, the clouds started moving in and I was feeling quite proud of myself that I packed jackets. The weather wasn't bad when we got there. A little cloudy, but no rain yet. It was only about 10:30/11:00 when the children wanted to have the picnic. We looked at the approaching clouds and decided to eat early. Sure enough, about 5 minutes after we finished eating, the rain began. The children still wanted to stay and play, of course, but it was getting wet and cold. Not my idea of a great day to stand around and watch the girls play. That was when we packed up, got a couple of things at the grocery store, and headed home.

Now, Breanna is sleeping, Darrelyn is watching cartoons and I have a stew simmering in the kitchen. What a nice afternoon. If only I didn't have all this housework to do. How can a house get so messy and dirty when we were hardly here for the last two weeks?

I think the elves had a party when we were gone.

Our week away

Okay, I'll be honest, I didn't want to come back ;) Here's a rundown of our week.

Saturday:
Left Saturday morning, picked up Dad and Brenden and headed out. Stopped at Magnetic Hill McD's for lunch (huge line ups) and stopped at Gateway Village before proceeding to the cottage.

The cottage was everything we were hoping for and more. Gary was quite concerned, as I just happened across this place on the net, but it was great. It was 3 bedrooms. One bedroom had two twin beds (with a unicorn picture over each, an antique-style child's desk (perfect size for the girls) with lots of children's books and a dresser and closet. The other bedroom on the top floor had a double-bed, dresser and closet (this was our room). Also on the top floor was a games room/sitting area with a balcony. In the sitting area was a futon and two arm-chairs. There was also an air hockey table, a 4-in-1 style games table, more books and puzzles. The futon was where Brenden slept. On the main floor, there was a bedroom with queen size bed (dad's room), a living room, full bathroom, dining room, kitchen and wrap around deck. The house was equipped with satellite tv, sega game system, and all the appliances, including washer and dryer. Outside there was a BBQ, lounge chairs, patio table set, playset with slide and swings, sandbox and firepit. In the shed they had 5 bikes including one tricyle. The yard was so big that Brenden and dad played golf around the perimeter.

The owner of the cottage was really friendly. She stopped by Sunday night as we were getting our bonfire going. She invited us to visit her place with the girls. They have two horses and she offered to let the girls sit on them. She also told us of some great places to go that are free ;)

Sunday:
Sunday morning we headed to the beach. There was a local swimming place just down the road from us. Bre had a blast making a sand castle and Darrelyn loved picking through the pretty rocks. Dad and Brenden went down the beach collecting driftwood for our fire pit.

We went back to the cottage for lunch and read most of the afternoon while the girls played.

Monday:
Monday morning we drove up to North Cape. They have an experimental wind energy farm that was cool to see. The other cool thing about North Cape is that at low tide you can walk out on a sand bar and you have the ocean on both sides of you. At the end of the sand bar, you can see seals sunbathing. Gary got some great pictures!

Tuesday:
Tuesday afternoon we went to Mill River Fun Park. Breanna had fallen asleep so Gary stayed home with her. Darrelyn loved the park. She played in the balls and the little house. She tried the waterslide but refused to try again when her face got wet. We stayed there until around 5:00.

Wednesday:
Wednesday was my turn to stay home while the others went to one of the provincial parks on the southern part of the island. They said the beach was nice and warm and they had a great time. I think the girls brought half the beach home in their bathing suits :) My day consisted of reading, sleeping, reading. Oh how nice to have a mom's day off!!!

Thursday:
Thursday Gary and I had to get up early and drive to Halifax for his appointment with the Hematology Clinic. Dad stayed at the cottage with the kids (thanks Dad). It turns out that Gary has what he thought he had, sorry I can't even try to spell it, only he has a rarer form that affects one person in two million. They are sending him for a bone scan, two CAT scans (he already had one done of his head) and he had bloodwork done while we were still there. He is getting these tests done here in SJ and he returns back to Halifax in mid Sept for his next appointment. At that point, hopefully we'll know more about where the tumors are and what they can do to get rid of them. The Dr already stated that they probably wouldn't be able to do Chemo as it doesn't penetrate bones well. We will have to wait and see. Prayers would be appreciated :)

We arrived back at the cottage around 8:30 that night.

Friday:
Friday we decided to make a return trip to the Mill River Fun Park. Breanna and Gary joined us this time. Everybody had a great time. Breanna liked the water slide, but only if we caught her at the bottom, and she also loved the balls and the house. Her and Darrelyn has a great time with imaginative play!

Saturday:
This morning we woke up, packed up and headed home. We only made two quick stops. One for lunch at the Gateway Village and the second at Cosco for pullups and allergy meds.

The week was really great. Gary and I could sit back and read while the girls played on the swingset or ran around the yard. We could just let them scream and holler without worrying about neighbours, it was great! Oh and did I mention that I got through 3 books this week :)

If you've last this long, thanks for reading!

Leave a message after the beep...

beeeeep!

Well I'm off for the week to a cottage in PEI. A cottage that doesn't have an internet connection.

See you all when I get back :)

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

My middle name is Lynn. Wouldn't change my names, I like them.


Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

Fabrics: washable, dryable, stain resistant and no ironing required.
Colors: Dark Green and Burgandy for winter colors and pastels for summer colors.
Styles: Lower waisted pants, Dresses that hug the upper body and waist but flare out at the thighs, tops that make women look perky ;)

oh and the perfect shoes would look like Gucci, feel like Nike and cost like Payless!


Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?

My least favorite chore is cleaning the bathroom. How can a room that people clean themselves in, get so dirty so fast? Oh and why is it that the moment I finish cleaning, one of the girls has an accident or wants to take a bath?


Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

Dead fish frighten me. I cannot stand looking at the eyes of a dead fish. I know they can't hurt me, they are dead after all, but they give me the creeps. I think it comes from when one of our fish jumped out of the tank and was dead on the rug in the morning. My brother decided to taunt me with it. Aren't older brothers great?


Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.

I am sitting in my living room. I can see the computer desk, toys and a picture of the girls.

Home sweet home... at least for a day.

Since Darrelyn came down with a cold yesterday, we mostly stayed around the hotel. Only one excursion out, McDonald's for lunch. The McDonald's had a person that was kind of like a hostess. She opened the door for us, came over and gave the girls a craft, sang with the girls and chit chatted with me. It was weird and neat all at the same time. She said that they've been doing this for about a year and a half.

Today we returned home. That may sound simple, but you know there's a quite alot to it. Although we were up at around 7:00, thx Darrelyn, we weren't packed and leaving the hotel until just after 10:00. Then we headed to the MicMac Mall. I was so proud of myself! I actually remembered how to get there without a map :) At the MicMac, we went to Scholar's Choice where their Papo figures were on sale. They are little knights and princesses, dragons and ogres, etc. The girls love them. We also got Darrelyn some cold medicine. That turned out to be great for the drive home :)

Then an hour later, it started, "I'm hungry". So we held them off as long as we could and then stopped for lunch. From lunch until Moncton, both girls slept! Yay! Then at Moncton we stopped at Cosco and picked up some stuff for my MIL and SIL.

After dropping the stuff off at MIL's house, we came home, unloaded the van, made supper, sorted the dirty laundry for tomorrow and now I can finally rest.

I have tomorrow to do the laundry, repack and then we head to PEI on Saturday. Fun, Fun!

The Halifax waterfront...

is wonderful. I loaded the girls up in the double stroller and we headed to the boardwalk. As we were passing the public gardens, there were two people doing face painting for only $1! It turns out that they are taking an entrepreneurial (sp?) course and they had to run a business for one day. They called it "Apprentice Face Painting" ;) She did a wonderful job with the girls and they were just tickled pink. Darrelyn had a kitty cat face done and Breanna got two flowers.

As we were walking along Spring Garden road, one of the girls had to potty. See this can be a dilemna when I have the double stroller. My stroller is a double jogger with big bicyle tire wheels. Its great for walking anywhere, but it won't fit through every door. Where to go? Where to go? Then I saw the double automatic doors for, I think, Spring Garden Centre. Yay! So we went in and easily fit in their elevator to go to the first floor and I did have to fold the stroller to fit in the bathroom, but I was impressed we got that far :D

After potty time, we continued to the boardwalk. Talk about a lot going on. It was great. The best part was a little playground by the information place. The girls had a blast. Then we walked over and got a hotdog and icecream for lunch, after which the girls played in the playground again. Upon leaving, it took the girls about 5 minutes to fall sound asleep in the stroller. Despite the hills, the walk back was nice and peaceful.

The best part, I was able to transfer them from the stroller to the hotel beds and they are still sleeping!!!!! Woohoooo.

I think I'll pour myself a glass of wine and do some reading. Ahhh me time.

Halifax

Here we are in Halifax. We left Sunday around lunch and had a wonderful drive here with the kids. It was the best drive ever! Gary bought two 5inch monitors that attach to the front seats and can connect to the modified XBox. The girls were able to watch movies the whole way here. It was great! After we arrived on Sunday, we went for supper and then headed to the hotel. After a nice swim in the pool, it was bedtime... yeah right! The girls finally settled down around 9:30 (last night too) At least they weren't up really early :)

Monday

Yesterday we started the day with room service for breakfast and then Gary headed off to work. The girls and I went for a walk and found the Superstore, equipped with a liquor store :) So the girls each picked a treat and I got a bottle of wine for Gary and I. We picked up a pizza for lunch and went back to the hotel. After lunch we had some quiet time. The girls watched cartoons while I read (Dark Elf Trilogy) Then around 2:30 we went for another swim, after which I had to shower and wash my hair again... chlorine is a killer. The evening was low key with room service for supper and the girls playing well together.

Today I have the whole day ahead of me. The weather is okay right now, but we are supposed to get thunder showers this afternoon. Perhaps I'll walk down to the boardwalk or something.

We'll see.

Going to see the animals

We have a Garden Centre about 15 to 20 minutes away that also has a sort of petting zoo. There are pigs, goats, a horse, a cow, chickens, sheep, turkeys, rabbits, a duck pond... well you get the idea. The girls really like to go there. Friday was a beautiful day. The girls were really good as I cleaned the house Friday morning so after lunch I told them we could go see the animals.

As we were getting ready to go, the phone rang. It was my friend Sarah. She was just pulling out of the grocery store parking lot when her van siezed up. She was stranded on the side of the road with her two kids (and another due in two weeks). I said I would go get them, but before leaving, I had to take the stuff out of the back of the van so I could lift up the third row seat. Then we were on our way. It wasn't hard to see where Sarah's van was. It was the one with the orange pilons and a fire truck

So we transferred Parker's booster seat. Finally found the seat belts that had slipped inside the 3rd row seat and loaded Sarah's groceries into my van.

I then headed with all four kids to my house so I could put Sarah's groceries in my fridge and 3 out of the 4 kids had to go potty.

We then set out to see the animals. This is when I realized that we needed gas. So I filled the van (my word gas is expensive now!) and we set out to see the animals.

Just as we turned onto the road, Gary calls. Most of his coworkers went home early so he was wondering if I could pick him up too. I said sure. So we hopped on the highway and headed in town to pick up Gary.

After getting Gary, we were on our way to see the animals. Then the phone rings, its Sarah. She's on her way to Burger King from my brother's garage. We were close to the exit so I said I would be there in a few minutes. We went and picked up Sarah, then headed to my house to get the groceries and proceeded to Sarah's house to drop her and the kids off.

After leaving Sarah's house, we were on our way to see the animals. This was the point when Breanna started whining and complaining. Definitely tired! I dropped Breanna and Gary off at the house and Darrelyn and I proceeded to see the animals.

Two hours after leaving, we made it to look at the animals. Ten minutes later, Darrelyn informed me she was hungry so we left and headed home for supper.

It was definitely the most interesting afternoon I've had in a while :)

To help a friend

I received two wonderful emails this evening. One was from my friend Shelley. She recently had a baby and thanked me for the little doll and visiting her in the hospital. She also thanked me for something I didn't even realize I had done. As she was trying to breast feed the baby, I was chatting with her grandmother and her cousin. She was having difficulty at the time and therefore, b/fing became our topic of conversation. I said that I tried and realized that bottlefeeding was "the best choice for our family". In her email she said, "I have to tell you, Joanne, that has played in my mind since you said it...the fact that you weren't appoligizing for it gave me some strength in my decision. I'm trying to get to the point where I can say just what you said & leave it at that, instead of feeling like I have to make a million excuses. " What a wonderful feeling that I could help another mother. Especially after the guilt trip I went through when I was not successful with Darrelyn. Who needs guilt on top of post-partum hormones? If b/fing works for you then great! Its best for the baby, cheaper and more convenient. But if it doesn't work for you, you have to do what is best for you and your family. A depressed/stressed mother is not good for any family.

The second email thank you was from my friend Sarah. Yesterday, her van siezed up just after her and her two children got the groceries. Oh and she's due in about 2 weeks. She gave me a call and the girls and I were there within 10 minutes. I took her kids and her groceries while she stayed with the van waiting for the tow truck. Oh and did I mention that 4 firemen were there waiting with her... I know the real reason she wanted to stay behind ;)

Anyway, I put her groceries in my fridge so they wouldn't go bad. Got gas, picked up Gary from work and then picked her up. Got the groceries from my house and brought her and her children home. (there is a longer version of this story, but I'll save that one for another post)

I must admit, when I help a friend in need, its almost a selfish act for me. I get this great feeling knowing that I could help someone. I love to feel needed. Perhaps that's why I enjoy being a SAHM.