Bah Hum Bug

Ruby's supposedly having a nap right now but I can hear her door opening and closing. That's fine, she can wait a few more minutes while I have a cup of coffee and rant for a bit. it's been a frustrating time for me lately and I think yesterday was the "final straw" kind of day... today I'm slowly easing out of my stress but it's still there. It's hard to put into words exactly why I feel so stressed, anxious and frustrated these days.

But take yesterday for example.... there was a serious monsoon going on outside and inside the house as well. Yup, we've got a leak in the roof and now when it rains hard, it drips quite rapidly straight into the house by the front door. Nice. Does anyone have $12K kicking around for us?? Obviously this is a stressful situation because we don't have the money to fix our roof right now, not to mention you can't fix a roof during monsoon season. So out come the towels and a heater to try to save the hardwood floor from ruin. It's going to be a long winter. Rain, rain... go away!!!

Add to the frustration: Sunday School and the upcoming Christmas programs. it's amazing to me how in the dark I am when it comes to the program and what is expected of me and the kids... and I also had no clue that I am not part of the decision-making process, I am just told what to do. But I wasn't actually aware of this fact until yesterday when I tried to make a decision on behalf of Sunday School. Again, final straw for me. I'm done. By the end of June, I will have put in 3 years and it's time for someone else to take on the challenge. Let someone else "live and breath it" for awhile. I long for the day when I can just show up for church and be spiritually fed again... what a concept. Or better yet, if I want to skip out one Sunday I CAN! I cannot wait.

Then there's the upcoming Grade 1 sleepover next Thursday night... yes, a school night! Seriously?? Excuse me, but according to my calendar it's an instructional day on Friday and it's supposed to be "business as usual." The teachers are encouraging parents to pick up their child at 8:30 am Friday morning because they will be very tired. So I guess Cameron will be one of the only kids in his class on Friday morning. Oh, I'm sure he won't even notice or feel left out when all his buddies pass him in the doorway with their jammies on, waving "nighty night", as Cameron heads into school for a regular school day. Yesterday my letter to the Principal was met with "I understand your perspective on all of this, but too bad." And here I thought school was for learning?? Maybe I'm just old-school that way. Silly me.

Rodger's dealing with a parking ticket that I got a couple of weeks ago, while dropping the family off at the ferry terminal. we pulled into the drop-off zone, got 3 carseats, various baggage and 3 kids out of the car, and then proceeded to a large lineup of people at the walk-on terminal. After several minutes we finally paid for our tickets, then spent a few more minutes checking in their baggage & car seats (which had to be put into plastic bags and tied up.) By the time I headed back to the drop-off zone where the car was parked, I had a $59 ticket on my windshield because I "left the car unattended for more than 3 minutes". Oh my word. I can't even go on any more about this because just thinking about it makes my blood boil. So yeah, add that to Rodger's list of things to deal with.

Tomorrow's going to be a better day. We're going to chop down a tree at the Christmas Tree farm, then try to have fun while we decorate it. Then on Sunday we're spending a big chunk of time practicing our songs with Sunday School. Then we're working on a combined craft with all of the kids, followed by hot chocolate and treats. I can feel the Sunday headache coming on already.

I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon, when I will be taking a very long nap. Because I deserve it. Wah.

My Play Date

This morning was a rare treat... I had a 2 hour play date with a fellow stampin' addict while Rodger took Ruby skating with the Grade 1 class. It was such fun!

Mi Ran and I swapped Christmas card workshop cards today... we each had extra card "kits" so it was super easy to put together. And it's always interesting to me how everyone can have such completely different ideas, or styles.

So everything turned out great except for the fact that she thought I was a Big Shot - I mean, she thought I owned a Big Shot! So I wasn't able to finish 2 of the cards which required embossing. (Doesn't this wreath card look awesome?) But lucky for me, I have a friend with Big Shot toys, so I'm sure "she" will let me use her machine to finish the cards next week sometime, if I walk in the door bearing treats or a meal! :-)

Chaotic Creativity

It's always amazing to me that I can actually get anything accomplished in such a mess... but I do! And I'm also amazed when I see my crafty friends' organized craft spaces, and that they seem to have the time and patience to put things away as they use them. I can't work that way when I'm stamping... I need everything out and within arms reach at all times. Maybe it's because I have no plan when I start, and they do?? And somehow I (mostly) know where everything is.




Today I'm working on my Christmas Card workshop cards, and this is what I've come up with:



I may tweak them a bit but I think they're okay... what do you think? Comments? I have a couple of "virgin" stampers coming, as well as experienced ones so it's always a challenge to come up with cards that cater to everyone. I'm excited about Thursday night - it's been a long time since I've had a Card Night here and I've missed playing with my friends!! Better go out and get a big bag of Ju Jubes for the party - they're a staple for these kinds of nights!

In memory of a beautiful girl

We had just moved to Deep Cove, and Simon was just 7 months old. We were in need of a babysitter and one day I noticed an ad at the Deep Cove store, from a young girl who lived just down the road... "I love kids and I want to be your babysitter!" it read. I was nervous leaving my baby but I took a chance on Megan, who was a shy, very sweet young teenager. That was the beginning of an 8 year babysitting relationship, and during that time our family grew and so did Megan... into a beautiful, confident young woman. She still enjoyed babysitting even though she had a job at Safeway and went to college. We haven't needed her much over the past few years, as we don't go out much. But the kids would always want to stop in at Safeway, to the meat counter and say HI to Megan. She joined me for Card-making nights and sometimes brought her friends, grandma or mom. A lovely girl.

Today I bumped into Megan's mom while Ruby and I were going for a walk. I cheerfully said "hello" and asked how she was doing... tears welled up in her eyes as she told me that one morning, 2 months ago, Megan never woke up. She had died in her sleep and they don't even know why... they say perhaps it was similar to SIDS for adults. Her heart just simply stopped, at 22 years of age.

I am so very sad today. And when I tell the boys after school, they will be too. We will miss you Megan.

Halloween

Halloween cannot start before we take our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The weather was terrible so I was worried that a) we would never find a time to go when it wasn't raining, and 2) once we got there, would all the pumpkins be rotting in the field?? Well, I managed to find a time right after school one day to get them to the patch before it rained again, and even though some of the pumpkins were gross, there were still plenty of nice ones to choose from.

Cameron insisted on finding the biggest one he could. Isn't there a rule out there that says "if you can't carry it, you can't take it?" I somehow forgot about that rule, or maybe I was flustered by the constant whining, so I gave in and lugged the pumpkin to the wagon for him, getting my coat muddy in the process. Simon found a nice medium one, Ruby found a perfectly round little one, and we got a few assorted fun ones to look at and/or eat.


I left the photo-taking in Rodger's hands on Halloween, so we have 2 dark photos where you can hardly see what their costumes are! Oh well. Simon is a wizard, Cameron is a bat and Ruby is a ladybug.

We trick-or-treated with the neighbor kids behind us, and had a great time!! We managed to hit about 15 houses, which is alot given the distance between each house around here! And since there are very few kids in our neck of the woods, our kids benefited greatly with huge handfuls from each home. Ruby even ended up with more than the boys because she chatted and charmed each neighbor... as she loudly announced "I'm a ladybug!" and "I have 2 lollipops already" and on it went. After a leisure hour we headed to the bonfire and fireworks at the fire hall.

Halloween seemed to last from Friday to Sunday this year. It was a fun evening but I'm sure glad it's over for another year!

This and that for October

I don't know what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks, but apparently I was busy enough NOT to post anything. Let's see if I can remember some stuff...

Cameron's Grade 1 class is finally on the mend after having a lousy beginning. Long story short: his new teacher (who was also new to Deep Cove) ended up being sick all of September, except for maybe 5 days? As a result, he had a different teacher literally every day for the first month, which caused alot of anxiety with some of the kids and parents. (Cameron was fine, I was not!) So anyway, after 5 weeks of craziness, sick teacher when on leave of absence (no reason given) and we now have a lovely new teacher who is working out just great so far! I cannot wait for parent-teacher interviews next week though, it should be interesting. Other Cameron news: He lost his first 2 teeth within a few days of each other. Very exciting indeed, and I just love his goofy little smile!

(Yes, I do have 2 other kiddos: Simon and Ruby are fine! Nothing earth-shattering to report, which is good! :-) )

I hosted a Jolica Jewellery party and just received the order yesterday. Awesome, fairly traded jewellery, handbags, scarvs.... I love everything about this company's products and what they stand for. If you're interested, check out their website! http://www.jolica.com/

Neil, Shihgee, Jade and Sonja came to visit last weekend! We had a fantastic time together... filled with lots of good eating, drinking, playing and just hanging out! Wonton soup, beachcombing, Scrabble, wine, caramel apples, thrift stores, chips, pasta, playing with goats.... all in all, a fun-filled weekend! I hope they don't wait another 2 years to visit!

This digital scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Mood Swings

It's amazing how getting a parcel in the mail can significantly alter one's mood!

Today I was feeling a little bummed because I'm suffering from a bit of buyer's remorse... or maybe it's more that I set myself up for high expectations and it didn't work out the way I planned? I don't know.

I finally got a new pair of glasses after wanting a new pair for years. My old ones are 9 years old, super boring and chipped. I didn't want to go boring this time, I wanted some funkiness in my life without breaking the bank or getting tired of them in 3 years. So, long story short: I tried on 100's of glasses before I finally chose the winner... but really, there were only 3 pairs to ultimately choose from because my face is "wonky". Anyways, I get my new glasses, bring them home and decide they are BORING! I went the safe, conservative route again. And I'm disappointed.

I can't see the difference...



Can you see the difference??



So.... on to the mood swing! :-)


I put Ruby down for her nap and decided to go for a long power walk in the rain. On my way home I stopped at the mailbox.... my JELLY ROLL HAS ARRIVED!!! And I love the colours, fabrics and patterns. I can't wait to get started on Cameron's quilt!

I guess I should look at the bright side of all of this... at least I'll be able to see more clearly while I quilt.