Michele’s Musings

I can’t believe I haven’t posted here since June 1st!  Between soccer, school field trips, volunteer commitments, work, planning our summer vacation…..  I think this weekend I can finally catch my breath!

Rowan had a great soccer season, had lots of fun, especially in goal.  Only problem is he now has exercise induced asthma.  He has had eczema since infancy so asthma is something we have been watching for in him because they are closely related.  This year he was having a hard time running, having to catch his breath, then coughing after games all evening.  Got him into the dr and he’s now taking Singulair, it seems to help.  His last couple games he had an easier time and there was no coughing.  Master Rowan is now a grade 3er!

Keely now needs to see a physiotherapist for her arm, she was doing really well with mobility, but recently as she makes a fist, her pinkie knuckle becomes indented and she gets a pain in her wrist….. I need to call and make an appointment for that!  She got her hair cut last night, it looks really cute, kind of cut like mine with layers but no bangs.  And she is now a grade 5er!

Arran is happy to be done exams.  He got a Merit award for having over a 75% average with his core subjects…. how he managed that with a 58 in LA I don’t know… I guess the 80’s in religion and gym helped?  lol Anyway he’s onto HS in the fall, grade 10!  Oh my!

I went out Wed night to Jubulations dinner theatre with co-workers and saw Grey’s House of Anatomy, it was really good!  Didn’t get home till 11 though, was very tired the next day!  Today and Monday are going to be stupid busy at work!  Word to the wise, if you don’t HAVE to go to the bank, don’t!  The line ups will be killer!  I have also been taking over the treasurer duties for the community league, wish me luck.

This weekend we have sad plans… we are bringing the cats to the shelter.  They have been fighting for about 9 months and no longer getting along.  It has become too stressful around the house, with hissing and spitting and fur flying…. We kept hoping it would improve, but it hasn’t.  We are surrendering both because I don’t have the wisdom of Solomon.  Give up one and one child is resentful…  They both seem to have accepted the inevitable, but I’m sure there will be some tears come Saturday. 

The rest of the weekend, I’m hoping the good weather will find James out in the yard sawing me some toe kicks and trim for the kitchen!  Otherwise cleaning and laundry.   James has Monday off work, while I get Tues off, so any family plans for Canada Day are shot.  We probably won’t go to the fireworks in Fort Sask as usual because we have to get up early for work on Wed!  We also need to finalize our vacation plans, get the itinerary set and hotels booked!

I have finished reading Voyager, so 1/2 way through the Outlander series, although the last 3 books are longer……  I have taken a break and am reading a Kresley Cole book called No Rest For the Wicked.  When I’m done I’ll probably try to tackle Drums of Autumn.

I hope everyone has a great Canada Day!

*yikes* can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted in the blog! 

Well to start with the weather is better!  lol  We’ve had enough balmy days that a lot of the snow melted and the roads are clear, so it makes for easier driving.  Today is 3C out, but I have a feeling we still have more winter in store for us, this IS Edmonton after all.

February started off with Carnivale, which is an Italian tradition to begin Lent.  My kids go to a school with an Italian culture and language program so this is always a fun event at school.  Lots of games played, a bake sale, proceeds went to the Canadian Diabetes Foundation.  The febrary school calendar ended with 2 days off for the kids for teacher convention.  Days off at the end of the month are always a challenge for us, as I am not usually able to take time off then because the bank is SO busy!  So for teacher convention, James was supposed to work the mornings, then come home after lunch hour and work from home to help supervise the kids…. but that of course did not happen.  People at his work didn’t show up so they were short handed *sigh* On Thurs he came home at lunch and brought Rowan back to work with him for the afternoon, with a promise to do the same for Keely on Friday but again…. that did not happen and she ended up in tears Friday night because she didn’t get to go to work with daddy   Luckily we DO have a teenager in the family and he was home to babysit, but it’s not fair for him to be stuck with them every day off.  That’s something I am always trying to balance.  As it is I need him to watch them every day after school until I get home from work, which I pay him for.  I try to make other arrangements for PD days and spring break so he isn’t having to “work” those days and can possibly hang out with his own friends for a change.  But it doesn’t always work out that way….. 

The younger two are now 10 and almost 8, and are old enough to take the home alone course… but as a mother you know your kids, my oldest has always been responsible when left alone, we started trying him out with it for short periods when he was 8, gradually extending the time as he and his dad and I were comfortable, and we had him take the home alone course at age 10.    My daughter I can see doing ok, we have tried her a few times and she seems to be comfortable with it (well ok she’s a little TOO eager actually) and I’m willing to let her try some more, but my baby?  Not on your life!  He needs supervision even on a good day.  Maybe when he’s 12 I’ll feel ok leaving him home alone lol  I picture his brother around the same age and man they are different boys!

This working mom thing in hard….  I helped make up for Keely’s sad day by bringing her out for a girls coffee and dessert date on Saturday.  I met up with a few ladies from a parenting group at a cafe on Whyte Ave, after that we did some walking around and shopping and a new Webkins to add to her family cheered her up!  That wasn’t even me bribing her, she used her own money lol

Monday we had a provinical election and I’m a bit sad about it.  I voted for our local MLA to stay but he lost  I did not vote for a party, I voted for a person, he was very hard working and I thought he did a good job for us, but now we have a PC MLA in there, and Redmonton is no longer, we lost a lot of Liberal’s!  The map is almost all Tory blue now. 

Oh our other BIG thing this week is that we went to the open house night for the high school our oldest is going to attend in September.  HIGH SCHOOL!  I’m a little freaked out about that I have to admit.  I can’t believe he’s old enough…. It’s a really good school, and so many different program choices compared to the olden days when James and I went to school lol  Right after the open house James had to go to a council meeting which kept him out till 2 am!  Apparently discussions got heated in regards to the election of 2 days previous….  There is a city councillor making waves in a local paper about how community leagues should stay out of “city issues” and confine their efforts to sports registration Community leagues advised to back off on controversial issues  Well the original mandate of community leagues was NOT sports programs…….  I don’t know where the one making that comment gets her facts from.  Tonight I’ll try to dig up the book I have on the history of the Edmonton community leagues movement.  So because of all this poor James is wiped out this week.  He didn’t sleep well last night so actually called in sick to work for the morning, hoping to get some sleep, perhaps he can go to work in the afternoon.

It’s still bitterly cold in Edmonton but the windchill warning has been lifted thank gawd!  And the foreacst looks promising for next week  Not feeling really motivated to do much this week with the weather.  No cleaning…. no laundry…. just cooked comfort foods and baked…. my dk’s school has an Italian Culture program so they are having a Carnivale today, so I made stuff for the bake sale. 

Hanging out a bit more on Facebook this week, have gotten in touch with some high school friends and it’s been fun chatting with them, finding out what they have been doing the last 20 years… hard to believe it’s been that long since I was in HS!  Hoping to meet up with some for coffee when we go back home this summer for vacation.  Stumbled across my brother on Facebook, found him on one of our cousin’s friend lists….. So I added him, hope he accepts my friend request!  He has no other family on his list, just lots of women   Hmm maybe it’s not really my brother????  but it’s not a common name, but I guess we’ll see.

This is the first week my branch has extended hours, till 7 Thurs and Fri and now open Sat’s.  We have hired a couple new people but they aren’t ready yet, so I got to work 12:30-7:30 yesterday and today to help out.  I actually enjoyed it yesterday, spent the morning hanging out with Stacey, we had coffee, then went shopping at Michael’s and Home Outfitter’s, then back home for more coffee! 

I got quoted in a magazine this month.  If you see the holiday edition of What’s Up Kids Magazine in the newstand check out page 24!  There is an article about celebrating December Birthday’s and Christmas, since I have two of them with December birthday’s I got quoted a lot

I finally found a copy of it while I was out shopping at Wal-Mart tonight.  James and I started out at TRU, found nothing for the kids….. Keely wants a Nintendo Ds with Brain Age from Santa, they don’t have one, Zellers doesn’t have one….. so we head up to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in St Albert, but as we pull into the parking lot we notice there is an EB Games there so we decided to check them out.  I have to say what AWESOME customer service!  Yes they have many in stock, pick your colour!  (we chose the gold with Zelda game for an extra $10) They sell a one year warranty for $25 for full replacement if it gets broken, and suggested a $5 screen protector since it will be a child using it, I was all over that!  It was relaxed, no line up, friendly service, it was like shopping bliss!  Then we had to head into Wal-Mart…….

I was really expecting it to be a lot worse one week before Christmas, but this location wasn’t that busy, no carts packing the isles, only a few people in the line ahead of us.  They didn’t have a great selection of toys…. but we did manage to get a lot of shoping done for our teenager, lots of sweaters (since he’s raiding James’ closet) and an electric shaver….. yes… my 13 y/o shaves regularly  we figure he should stop using his father’s, not a very hygenic practice…. also picked up clothes for Rowan and our 2 y/o great nephew who wears size 4!  We bought a couple of matching outfits for the two of them, our 7 y/o is only in size 6 lol 

Also picked up a new electric razor for James, and an ottoman cude full of games, that will be for me from the kids!  We will pretend I don’t know what it is lol

Tomorrow is off to work early *sigh* I get to play commercial teller for a couple of days, something new for me, I hope it’s not too busy! 

The Reading Log…

This week I finished Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong, it was “ok” but it’s not a Women of the Otherworld book and I found it hard to stay focused on. Its about a hitwoman working with some other hitmen/women to solve a serial killing.  After that I read I Wear the Maternity Pants in This Family by Susan Konig which I discussed in the breastfeeding forum in the thread Feeling Kinda Let Down.  It’s a book of humour along the lines of Erma Bombeck, I finished the book enjoying it, it was very funny.  Right now I’m reading the newest Dark Hunter book by Sherrilyn Kenyon called Devil May Cry, but only 4-5 chapters in so no real critique yet lol

So tonight, while I sit here with sore fingers and a need for a cold beer, I thought I’d share some thoughts on what life is really like for us right now.  Weekdays are chaotic.  The morning starts off with James trying to get the kids up and at em so they can get their breakfast out of the way, so that they are out of the way, so that I can make lunches for them, all this takes place at the kitchen table in the corner of the livingroom, I would say please excuse the Saturday night mess, but this is actually how we are living right now

Inevitably they do not get downstairs in time and are therefore trying to get their breakfast made while I make lunches, when there really is not room for everyone in that small space behind the chairs. 

I remind them to feed their cats and fish….  get their bags packed and their stuff together….. My friend’s daughter gets dropped off around 8 and they all walk  to school after I yell for about 5 mintues to get all their stuff and GO!!!!!!  James leaves around the same time for work.  After they leave I get the only hour or so of peace in my day, which I spend online or reading (although Friday morning I put a coat of primer on the walls).  Then I am off to work….. 

After work I try to figure out what to cook in the microwave for supper (this is getting very old btw, I don’t think I’ll use the new microwave after the kitchen is finished for at least a good month!)  Then I have to actually cook it…. then round up the children who are off playing with friends.  After we eat there is homework and home reading and getting the kids ready for bed, around 9 James and I are sanding or mudding or painting or cleaning up the mess we made.  By 9:30 I am so ready to be done…..  But we usually go till 10 or so.  Then I get to read in bed for a few minutes until my eyes are so tired I can’t remember the last few pages I read.  Unless James bugs me for some “attention” which I’m being very begrudging about lately, I mean, haven’t I worked enough already?????  I’m FREAKING exhausted!

Weekends are spent trying to fit in as much work as humanly possible.  This weekend is a long one so there is one extra day to get stuff done!  Painting and hopefully some cabinets built and installed, they are still sitting in boxes on the other side of the livingroom…  yes that’s my last cross stitched project stacked haphazardly on top.  I haven’t touched it in 5 weeks and it’s probably covered in drywall dust *sigh*

Being the weekend I should also try to find time to do regular chores like bathrooms, laundry, vacuuming…. but they usually end up forgotten or set aside till “later”.  This is weekend three I haven’t cleaned bathrooms, I REALLY need to do that tomorrow, I think there is stuff growing under the rim of the toilet seats by now *shudder*  I told myself I’d do them Saturday, but it’s now 11 pm and there is no way it’s happening today.  Hopefully tomorrow, or a least by Monday right?  Last week Keely had to wear a pair of my socks to school because of the laundry procrastination…..  I am doing absolutely no dusting, what would be the point????  Weekend meals are haphazard at best, frozen Eggos or cereal for the kids for breakfast, last night’s left over pizza for lunch, pizza or bbq’d burgers for supper.

Sunday night James and I collapse exhaused dreading having to get up for work the next morning because we really didn’t get any rest.  But onward and upward right? 

We got the first coat of GREEN on the kitchen walls tonight!  We are working together really well and there doesn’t seem to be any strain on the marriage yet, except for the whole Michele is too tired for sex part  We are really proud of the quality of our work, our drywall job rocks!

…….so I have convinced James to reach over and open the fridge from his seat right next to it and grab me a beer, kind of a bonus of the reno, having a fridge in the livingroom  I am off to drink it now. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  I’ll have more pictures Monday!

Or at least Hell Three Days!  Pension and other gov’t cheques came in Wed., which meant line ups out the door all day for three days straight at the bank!  I’m a teller, have I mentioned that before?  It was insane yesterday because as an added bonus it was a Friday (payday) and end of the month!  I had two screaming matches break out, one Wed. and one Fri. because of line jumping.  Both wanted my wicket (lucky me) when I hadn’t even called anyone over yet!  Word to the wise, don’t even think of line jumping at the bank when the line ups are out the door…. it won’t be pretty!  Yup, never a boring day at the bank…..

This weekend is going to be all about drywall finishing, mudding and taping and sanding oh my…..  We are not going to be done for Thanksgiving, luckily we have an invitation to a friends house   I will take more pictures at the end of the weekend!

I’m Michele, 36 y/o and married to Jamie for 16 years.  We are transplants to Alberta, we moved from Ontario almost 11 years ago and love it here.  Our oldest son Arran is 13, our one and only daughter Keely is 9 and our youngest son Rowan is 7, oh and the cats…. Sassy and Sugar (also not so affectionately known by me as Stinky).  I’ve been a member of CPO officially since Feb of 2001, but it seems like much longer!  That’s a good thing… I really can’t imagine what this parenting journey of mine would have been like without this community.  

We have an exciting, busy summer ahead of us that I’ll be sharing here in my blog.  We are currently in the process of renovating our wee condo.  When we bought this place 4 years ago we were hoping by this point to have sold it and moved into a bigger place but…. the Edmonton housing market has gone insane (along with the rest of Alberta), our condo may have tripled in value but the houses have skyrocketed as well, and we aren’t prepared to double or triple our mortgage payments quite yet.  So instead we have decided to fix up what we have and make it work for us.  The big project is an all new kitchen which I’m sure is going to create a lot of chaos in our lives!     

This is my first summer as an almost full time working mom after 10 years as a SAHM and a few years with very flexible p/t jobs…. so I’m learning how to juggle summer, our work schedules, day camps, babysitters and summer holidays…. oh yeah and we’re renovating the condo, did it mention that?

I’m a VORACIOUS reader, so I’ll be keeping you all posted on what I’m currently reading, what I think of it, and what’s on my TBR (to be read) pile.  Please join me in the Chapter Chit Chat board to discuss summer reading; I’d love to hear what everyone else is enjoying

Currently reading: Obsidian Butterfly, an Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novel by Laurell K. Hamilton.  A co-worker got me hooked on them after finding out that I had read all the Merry Gentry “fairy” series by the same author, and is letting me borrow them all, she’s a dear!  Of course after this one is another…. Narcissus in Chains and then there’s another and another….