Blog Material

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but I haven’t been blogging very much lately.  Yes, I’ve been busy.  Yes, I’ve been tired.  Yes, it seems like the minute I sit down to put my fingers to keyboard I’m jumping right back up again.  But mostly?  Mostly I just feel too boring to post anything.  I’ve been approaching everything in my life as potential blog material and nothing seems interesting enough to say.  It’s just same old, same old.  This is not to say that I’m bored with my life.  I find my own life quite enjoyable and interesting.  I just haven’t had anything to say I think anyone else would be interested in.    The last blog I posted felt dry and dull and I was bored and thinking who cares? (except me) even as I was posting it!

Shortly after posting that last post an old friend I haven’t talked to in eons called.  “I read your blog this morning,” she said.  “I could so relate.”  She was in the middle of a situation where she desperately needed groceries but her youngest had just gone through a few days of diarrhea and she didn’t trust that he was really over it and was sure that at the most inconvenient moment possible (and don’t we know moms, it’s always at the most inconvenient moment possible) he’d have a relapse.  While we were discussing how glamorous it is to be a mom, two of her kids were decorating the peanut butter jar with Canuck logos in anticipation of Game 7.  Fifteen or so minutes later Jaime interrupted me with a gasp.  Unbeknownst to her, those two darling little boys had wandered away and managed to cover themselves and their entire bathroom in Canuck peanut butter.  Jaime walked in to a peanut butter-crusted sink one inch from overflow.  “Uh..... can I call you back later?” she asked.

As we hung up the phone I thought, oh wow.  Poor Jaime.  That would really suck.  Jesus please give her strength and grace to get through this.  My next thought was, that would be a seriously good blog. And I’m not kidding, for a moment, I wished my kids would do something like that so I’d finally have something good to write about.  And then I remembered that when it’s your own kids you don’t just get to write about it you actually have to clean it up.  And do you know how hard it is to get peanut butter out of hair?  Or out of sink drains?  The only reason it would be a good story to write about is because it absolutely SUCKED to live! 

I talked to another friend today whose husband is breeding his German Shepherd.  Oh.my.word.  I told Heidi that she needs to write a book or a blog or something.  You would not BELIEVE how expensive it is and all the crazy things that have gone down in this process.  One of the least crazy things was having to pay to get the dogs sperm counted... which... umm.... you have to get the sperm before it can be counted.  So many times through this process Heidi or I have said, “Seriously!  This is real life. You couldn’t write stuff like this!”  It would be great blog material but again, it’s stuff that SUCKS to live through.

So instead of feeling like I have nothing interesting to say because I don’t have a lot of crazy drama in my life right now, I’m taking a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to God that I don’t have any crazy drama in my life right now.  There is nothing going on that is SUCKING to live through.  Do I think we will never have crazy drama in our house again?  No.  But I’m not living in fear wondering when it will come.   Instead, I’m doing laundry, going grocery shopping, refereeing kid arguments, washing dishes, making meals, cuddling my babies, cheering at soccer games, laughing with friends, and catching up on all the So You Think You Can Dances I missed because they got trumped by basketball and hockey play-offs, and you know what?  I’m LOVING my life.

A list of random things

1.  It is 8:44am.  I haven't had breakfast yet but I have stripped the beds and thrown in my first load of sheets and put away a load of laundry that has been sitting on the floor for two days.  I haven't had my first cup of tea yet but I've written my to-do list for today.

2.  As the school year is winding down we're in the middle of a last gasp of busyness.  It's like they just want you to be really, super-duper, extra-glad it's finally summer holidays.  I'm glad! I'm glad! 

3.  My vow to watch every Canucks game of the finals has been a bust.  Life has just been too busy.  So far I've only sat down and watched one game start to finish.  Tonight will make it two.  I'm nervous already.  They have to win.  They just have to.  And it can't go into overtime or I will lose my sanity.

4.  Watching the kids play soccer this year has been so much fun.  This is their second year and I can't get over how much better they are this year than last.  Last year Ava was totally the girl who sat in the goal picking flowers until the ball came her way.  She was the girl who twirled and sang on the field until the combined shouting of her team and parents broke through her consciousness and she'd realize the ball was pretty much at her feet and she'd run it toward the goal and kick and score.... on her own team.  This year she is a fireball!  She is right in the middle of all the action and consistently gets the break-away.  She hasn't quite figured out her timing once she's within striking distance but has still managed to score 4 goals this season.  Tristan last year was just average.  This year he is unbelievable.  He is ridiculously fast, can outrun anyone on the field, has incredible ball control for a six year old and is a goal-scoring machine (also a ball hog which we're working on).  A few games ago our team won 7-1.  Tristan scored 4 goals, Ava 2.  On Monday night they won 5-1.  Tristan scored all our goals.  It is so much fun to watch your kids excel at something you didn't know they were good at.  They're both playing soccer in the Southern Alberta Summer Games in July. 

5.  A friend gave me an Amish Friendship Bread Starter.  It's a 10-day process!  I'm on Day 8 today.  After looking at this bag of mush sitting on my counter for a week Hugh thought I had forgotten about it and was about to throw it out until I very vocally rescued it. 

6. Hugh and I are flying into Kelowna on Saturday at 5:00pm, going to a wedding on Sunday where I'm doing the make-up for the bride and bridesmaids and flying home at 7:00am Monday morning.  So much to do/arrange for 38 hours of being away but I'm so looking forward to this wedding.  It's going to be a great chance to catch up with a lot people I haven't seen in about 5 years.

7.  I need to make my kids breakfast.  I need to eat breakfast. My washing machine just beeped so I need to throw another load in.  And then I can tackle the rest of my to-do list.  At least the sun isn't shining and calling for me to come out to play.  I always believe her when she says there will be time "tomorrow, tomorrow".  She lies.

Heal the Past. Live the Present. Dream the Future.

I head up an incredible team of women at the Dream Centre Church and together we plan events and dream for and pray for the women of our church.  Last Saturday we had a ladies breakfast where one of the girls on my leadership team spoke about freedom.  I wrote a blog about the event and my own personal revelations about spiritual/emotional freedom on the Dream Centre website.

If you're interested you can check it out here.

Happy Friday everyone! It's a glorious sunny day, my big kids are in school, my not-such-a-baby baby boy is asking for a cuddle and there is a deck chair calling my name.

A picture may be worth a thousand words but I still had to write a few

I finally got my vacation pictures off my camera.  In the process I got distracted looking through the folder of photos taken in the month before our holidays.  Want know how to make your baby grow up overnight and make yourself wonder if that vasectomy your husband got three years ago was such a good idea after all?

Give him a haircut.

And then go cry yourself to sleep because your baby's babyhood is gone forever and the baby era in your family is gone forever and then torture yourself wondering why-oh-why you didn't have another baby when babies are so delicious and wonderful and perfect in every way...

And then after a good nights sleep, when peace of mind and perspective has returned, remind yourself how awesome it is that you get to have a good nights sleep because you don't have any babies anymore, that you don't miss diapers or strollers or diaper bags, and then have your little man wrap his arms around your neck and say, "Oh mom, you're my best friend."

The end.

This just proves you can't ever count on the Canucks

We drove 12 hours and got home from 10 days of vacation in the Okanagan at 2:00am Monday morning.  I then did 75,000 loads of laundry.  Or, well, 7.  Close enough.  I want to blog about our holidays but I have to upload all the pics.  I hope the stories don't get too stale to tell by the time that happens.  In the meantime I feel a burning desire to tell you two things.

1.  Sebastian has been sitting at the kitchen table in front of 2 squares of a roast beef sandwich for 2 hours and 18 minutes.  I will win this. 

2.  When the hockey playoffs began Hugh asked every game if I would come downstairs to watch with him.  I told him if the Canucks made the finals I would happily sit and watch every single game with him but until then I would happily watch none.  Who knew they'd make it to the finals for the first time in 17 years?  Apparently I have a promise to fulfill....

Reasons to twirl with my arms wide open

Tea in bed.

Polka dot mug.

A new first page.

Gadget for the garden I dream of.

Songs by little voices. 

Kisses from shiny little faces. 

Hugs to go all around.

Worship in the House.

Lunch out.

Value Village adventure.

Backyard wiener roast.

Setting Sun.

Sipping Tea.

Crackling fire.

Softly-picked guitar

Cuddling under blankets.

Good-night kisses.

Thankful heart.

Perfect day.

AOGG Girls Weekend By the Numbers

3 - days spent shopping/lunching/talking/laughing/crying.

194 - dollars spent at Value Village between the four of us.

3 - extra suitcases the girls needed to buy to bring everything home.

3 - historic events that we got to watch unfold together - the wedding of the century, the death of Osama Bin Laden, and Tanya wearing a proper bra.

1 - brunch/royal-wedding-watching tea-party that took 4 hours, 6 bodums of coffee and 2 trips to the grocery store to make.  PS. So glad we PVR'd the wedding instead of watching it live.  It was so satisfying to be able to fastforward the boring parts. 

2 - times we asked Hugh to take pictures of us on the porch till we got a good one.

2 - times Hugh died a little on the inside.

8 - Anne of Green Gables pins we wore over the course of the weekend to commemorate how our friendship began.

13 - hours of sleep over the first three nights combined.

1 - night we were up so late we were minutes away from watching the sunrise.

1 zillion - gallons of coffee/tea/coke needed to function each day.

4 - girls who still never run out of things to say even after 15 plus years of friendship.