Back to work

No not outside work, stay-at-home-mom work ;) Gary went back to work on Monday after 3 weeks of vacation. While he was home, I felt like it was my right to take a vacation too. Needless to say, not much housework was done. Oh and it was even worse after leaving Gary alone with the two girls ;) He kept up with the dishes and kept the girls clean and happy, what more could I ask for? Well, a maid to clean the whole house would have nice :D

Anyway, Monday I met one of the mom's from playgroup at McDs. The kids played while we got caught up. Playgroup is going to start back up the Monday after school starts. Monday afternoon, I called the school to get Darrelyn's teacher's name and find out when I should have her there on Tuesday. The secretary didn't have her teacher's name yet. She said that their systems were down, understandable, and told me there would be greeters on Tuesday morning to guide us in the right direction. Oh and she suggested we get there for 8:30 for the first day. I also found out that Darrelyn goes Tuesday, is home Wednesday, and then back on Thursday. Its neat the way they stagger them.

Yesterday, I felt like crap. If it was the right time for it, I would say I was PMSing, but its not. I was just grumpy and irritable all day. A call from Yvonne helped break my funk, but I still didn't feel like doing anything.

Today, much better. I did what flylady calls "crisis cleaning" and, although I still have a lot to do, the house is starting to look presentable again.

Its somewhat weird. I feel really comfortable in someone's else's messy house, doesn't bother me a bit, yet when my own house is messy.... I feel stressed and cranky. Now that the house is looking better, I feel better. As I said, its somewhat weird.

I forgot to mention...

when we were at the Liquor Barn, the man at the checkout said, "can I see some I.D. young lady". When he saw my age, he looked shocked and apologized. I thanked him :D

Must be the Oil of Olay ;)

Shopping, shopping and more shopping

I got back yesterday from 3 days of shopping. For a great summary of our shopping trip please see Mare's blog

When I got back, there was a great sign hanging up that said "Welcome Home Mommy", but no family. I was a little dissappointed as I missed them. Turns out they were at the in-laws and had visited there every day I was gone :)

The girls were really excited about the stuff I bought them and Gary loved his "Git 'er dun" t-shirts and Reebok shorts. I can't count the number of times Gary said how much he missed me and really appreciates me ;)

Today, because I'm a sucker for punishment, we headed to Cosco in Moncton. Dad and Gary took Dad's van, as he wanted to go to Prince's Auto after Cosco, and the girls and I went in our van with Dora playing the whole way. We met Dad and Gary at East-Side Mario's for lunch and then went into Cosco. I mostly got groceries and household supplies, the girls each picked out a book and Gary got some electronic stuff. I had to pull Gary away from the leather chair, but I won :)

Now, I am totally wore out. I think I would like to sleep for a week ;)

Update on Derrien

After the drama was over, Trina decided to find out the whole truth of the story. She spoke with Derrien's caregiver and found out what really happened, not the story she received from the "drama queen of the daycare".

Derrien was playing with another little boy HIS AGE, not an older boy like the other lady said. The other little boy was picking up fistfuls of rocks when Derrien leaned in close to him. Now anyone who has a toddler knows they do not like people too close to them. So the other little boy pushed Derrien away. When he did so, the fistful of rocks that were in his hand got in Derrien's mouth and Derrien fell over. The caregiver picked him and started taking the rocks out of his mouth. Derrien helped her do this. All of a sudden, Derrien started screaming. This is when she took him inside and "drama queen" who was inside preparing lunch, took over. They pat him on the back and he puked up more rocks. He seemed fine after vomiting so they laid him down for a nap and called Trina.

This version of the story sounds a lot more realistic to me. An incident like this could happen in a split second with toddlers.

When Derrien's caregiver came into the hospital, he ran right up to her and gave her a big hug. Definitely not the reaction a child would give to a poor caregiver. The daycare got him a large stuffed dog (bigger than him) and all the kids made a card with their hand prints on it.

After speaking with Derrien's caregiver, and knowing what the other lady is like when she talks to parents, Val and Trina have decided to keep Derrien in this daycare. He is comfortable there and they know that he will be watched like a hawk ;) The daycare is not going to want to call them again that's for sure. At another daycare, he would be just another child.

At first, I was shocked that they were taking him back, but after hearing their explanation, I support their decision.

Derrien gave us a scare :(

Derrien is my 19mth old nephew who I used to mind. He has been in daycare since late June.

Yesterday at daycare, while they were playing outside, a 4 or 5 year old put rocks and pebbles in Derrien's mouth while he was laying on the ground. The daycare workers slapped him on the back and he puked some gravel up. They put him down for a nap and called Trina. They told her he seemed to be doing fine, but she came and picked him up anyway.

When she got home, she noticed that he was wheezing quite badly. So last night they took him to the after-hours clinic. The Dr said that he was fine, but to take him for a chest xray the next morning. Trina took him home and Val headed off to hockey while they went to bed.

When Val got home, he checked on Derrien. Derrien's breathing was quite labored and he was wheezing badly. Val then woke up Trina and they headed to the ER. When they got there, Derrien's oxygen level had already fallen to 90% and they discovered that he had two rocks in his lungs and numberous ones in his stomache.

They operated and were able to extract the larger of the rocks. It was a centimeter in diameter, the same size as the passage it was in. The Dr said that if it had been in a different position, about an inch away, he would have died. They weren't able to extract the second pebble and were worried they would have to send him to IWK for surgery. Thankfully, he coughed the smaller pebble up and his lungs are now clear.

As I was visiting today, the Dr who did the surgery came in. She was quite upset that this was allowed to happen and offered to write a letter if Val and Trina want to take action against the daycare to have it closed. I think they are just relieved that he is okay. They are definitely not bringing him back!

Blueberries

I had noticed the local blueberries for sale at the veggie stand and thought to myself, "why pay for blueberries when I can pick them?" I used to pick berries in the fields around my parents place and my father said they were still quite plentiful.

Therefore, this morning I dropped Darrelyn off at VBS and proceeded to go pick blueberries with Gary, Breanna and Buddy coming along for the fun of it. Boy does age cloud memories!

The walk was a lot longer than I remembered it, especially with a 3 year old. Then when I got to the blueberries it wasn't as easy as I remembered it. I remember picking a 4 liter ice cream container full of blueberries, while chatting away with my friends. Hmmm I think between Gary and I we might have gotten a litre before Bre started wanting to leave.

Long story short, anyone know where the best price on local blueberries is?

An update

Wow I can't believe I went this long without blogging. Here's a brief update.

Last week, didn't do much out of the ordinary. Gary was home on vacation so I didn't do as much housework as I normally would have, but we did start chore charts for the girls. They seem to be going quite well.

Friday, the Millers came over for a BBQ. Its really nice when the children play well together and the husbands get along. A nice day indeed.

Saturday, friends from out of town came for a BBQ. Gary had also invited a friend from school that the three of them knew. So I spent most of the time in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning and such while they got caught up on their lives. I really didn't mind as I didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation and this way I could listen without feeling the need to add.

By the time everyone left, I took Buddy for a walk and was ready for bed. As I was walking Buddy, I remembered Theatre on the Edge and felt like the worst friend ever for missing it :(

I'm really sorry guys!

Sunday, we went out on my FIL's boat. MIL has bought a rubber dingy thing that goes behind the boat. To my surprise, both girls went on it (with an adult of course) and had a blast. We then went back to the in-laws for BBQ.

Today, Darrelyn started Vacation Bible School. Although she didn't want me to leave her, she had a great time! Lets see how tomorrow morning goes. Hopefully, she'll be fine tomorrow and then I can use this against her when she starts kindergarten. "But remember how much fun you had at VBS?" Anyway, its a good trial run for us getting ready in the morning and such :)

After dropping Darrelyn off, we went to the Regional so Gary could get injected for a bone scan, then went and bought a wine kit, went to story-time at the library, brought Gary back to the hospital for the actual scan, picked up Darrelyn from VBS, picked Gary up at the hospital, went to Burger King and then Bre and I came home (she needed quiet time) while Gary and Darrelyn went to buy a new outdoor faucette. Gary then installed the faucette and washed the van with the girls while I took a nap ;)

So there's my update on what's happening. I'm now looking forward to Portland :D

An afternoon off

The nanny that we had when I was working is going to be moving away and she was wondering if she could take the girls to Rockwood Park this afternoon. It took me about a split second before I said, "Sure!"

Another good thing is that I got my housework done this morning, so I don't even have to clean this afternoon. Wow an actual afternoon off.

I am now waiting for her to pick up the girls and then I am meeting Gary for lunch. Wow lunch, in a restaurant, with no children.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a steady day for me. In the morning I caught up on people's blogs and the boards I follow, as well as post my own superlong blog about the weekend. Then I made my meal plan for the week and the corresponding grocery list. I was going to head out to get groceries when I noticed the mess of our fridge. Ever notice how that creeps up on you? Its like one day you just happen to "see" your fridge. So I took all the shelves and drawers out and gave it a thorough cleaning, throwing away any expired things in the process. Gary actually noticed when he came home ;)

Just as I finished in the kitchen, the dryer beeped for my laundry. I switched the laundry and ironed/folded the load as the girls played outside in the beautiful sunshine. When I was finished, I decided to put on a tank top as the temp was so nice and warm. I cleaned the girls up and headed to the grocery store.

The girls were really good at the store. They only asked for one thing, fruit snacks, and when I said no, they didn't have a fit :D As I was going through the cash, I looked outside. That's when it hit me that the rumbling I heard was not loud carts, it was thunder. The rain was coming down in sheets. I was wearing a tank top and pants, Darrelyn had a white shirt and plaid skirt, Breanna had a sleeveless dress. No jackets, no hats, no umbrellas. I sat the girls in the cart and made a run for it. By the time I got the girls in the van, groceries in the van and cart in the corral, I was soaked! The water literally ran down my arm when I got in the van. Thank God I wasn't wearing my white tank top ;)

The rest of my night was not so eventful. Made supper, played WoW, watched Canadian Idol. That's about it.

A long weekend =

a long post. So fasten your seat belts ;)

Friday
First and foremost, when I did my Friday weigh-in, I was back in range.... YAY. Barely back in range at 149, but that was 5 pounds in one week. Don't forget though that I gained those 5 pounds in a really short time. They hadn't moved in yet. In fact, they hadn't even unpacked ;)

Friday morning I went for a walk with Sh around her subdivision. Its a great walk. A big loop, so no back-tracking, not many hills, sparse traffic (which is great when we are both walking with strollers) and a lawn boy without a shirt on that made for pleasing scenery. The walk took us about an hour so I was back home around 10:30. I left again around 11:00 for my allergy shot and was back for lunch.

Not much happened Friday afternoon. Usual housework and such.

Friday night I went to after work-aoke. Great job Lisa!! I couldn't get over how many people were there. It was wonderful! I met some new people, met a person I had known in high school, and generally had a good time. It was fun being the back-up dancer for a few singers and attempted everything from Jazz to old skool hip hop. All this without being drunk. Oh and is it scary that it was usually the "Portland Girls" who were up dancing? After the bar, we headed to DQ for ice cream. I was very good and only got a fudge bar... which Jen picked up on :D


Saturday
Saturday morning we went to the farmer's market. I had ordered 3 chickens and they were now ready. I also picked up some hamburger and the girls got balloons. Then I headed to Walmart for some gift shopping for Sa who just came home with her new baby girl. After lunch, we went to the City Market where Gary got a neat cut of steak that tasted awesome on the BBQ, the girls got an ice cream and I got some mussels for Saturday night.

Then I dropped Gary and the girls off and went to visit Sa and her new baby. What a cutie!!!!

After the girls were in bed, Gary and I started our home-date. I poured a glass of wine and opened a cook book that had a good recipe for steamed mussels. It uses white wine... yummy! As I was reading that I should tap them and only put them in the pot if they are closed, I realized they are still alive! Okay so that creeped me out a bit and I had to call Gary in to do the tapping. Lets just say that we did a lot of laughing while Gary did a little tap dance on the clams' shells. We then realized that they close much quicker if they are tapped on a plate. It was a nice home-date with garlic bread, mussels and wine. Oh and other details that I'm sure I don't need to go into ;)

Sunday
Sunday was a lazy day for the most part. I took Darrelyn to Sunday School in the morning, picked her up around lunch, and otherwise stayed home. Except for walking Buddy, of course.

Monday
Monday was another relaxing day. Gary and I played WoW quite a bit on Monday while the girls happily played with their toys. Ah rainy days can be good sometimes.