And Now the Good Stuff....

Okay, how much of a downer was I last night?  Man, I can barely stand to listen to myself whine....

Anyhoosey, here is a list of awesome things going on right now....

- I get to fly home with the kids on Friday (it's Friday, Friday...haven't heard the song???  Youtube it!  Don't hate me!). 

- I get to see my Mom and Dad and sister on Saturday - so happy to be going home to see them!  Not that I'm not happy to see my inlaws, I just have a better time there when my hubby is with us - both of them work and it's not quite as labor intensive with the kids when he's there.

- I do have the most awesome kids - my son is a laugh a minute, and I think my daughter is going to be the most eccentric little gal around - she loves weird music and clothes - remind me of this when she goes goth...

- It's really, really trying to be spring out there - I'll give Mother Nature a break, as we live so far north, but she's got a month to get rid of the snow and start shining that hot sun!

- My Arbonne business is taking off, and I have the best clients a girl can ask for.  I'm so appreciative of all of the positive feedback I'm getting, it kind of makes my heart glow! :)

- My house is a mess, but I don't care right now! I'm hanging out with my girl watching Uncle Buck - great for some laughs!

Have a great day! :)

There I Go...

Disappearing again! 

I've been doing a lot of reading, but not a lot of blogging lately...

Life around here is about to get super crazy, and I'm not looking forward to it!  I'm not a person to be worried by things, I have no problems falling asleep at night and don't let things gnaw away at me.  But, lately, I've been worrying about anything and everything. 

So.  In an attempt to get these stupid thoughts out of my head, in no particular order, here they are!

- I fly out with the 2 kids alone on Friday for a 3 1/2 hour and then a 1 hour flight.  Alone.

- We are gone from here for 5 weeks to visit family (isn't that enough of a stomach eater?!?!) and back for 2 weeks before we move.

- The previously mentioned move is to another city, an hour flight away (we are in a remote area only accessible by airplane during the summer, ice roads in the winter)

- Did I mention I've got 2 weeks to get ready for the move after holidays?  2. Weeks.

- I'm not looking forward to moving with a 3 year old and a 4 year old.

- We were told at my son's "speech therapy" appointment (this is in quotations because I think the SLP got her credentials from a cracker jack box) that there was concern about him being on the autism spectrum.

- Spent 3 days crying and freaking out after said appointment.

- Started smoking again after almost 2 months of being smoke free after getting this wonderful news (and believe me, I know that there is no good reason to start again, no excuses.  I just didn't give a shit about my quit at. all. at this point)

- Going to have to pick out a school for my daughter to go to in the fall for kindergarten and have no idea what school will fit her the best - trying to do research, but until we get there, I'll have no idea.

Okay, I'm leaving my issues here for tonight, not rolling around in my head keeping me from sleeping (and if you've ever met me on little sleep, I don't function well at all).  I'm thinking my next post will be a list of great things going on in my life....

I'll give you a preview..

- My two awesome kids, I could spend all day laughing at them.  Goofs.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The good:

It's my birthday today!! Yay me!!  I've always been a birthday person and love to celebrate everyone's birthdays - I love baking and decorating specialty cakes especially for the kids!

And there was a Toy Story cake that I made for our daughter and I can't find the picture right now (it really was an awesome cake).

I'm no professional, but I love making special cakes!

The bad:

I didn't get a cake today.  And, if you know me, one of the best parts of birthdays to me is the cake.  Love me some cake.  Chocolate, vanilla, whatever - gotta have me some cake on a birthday.  I didn't get cake, but my sister did send me some mini easter cream eggs - that pretty much makes up for it (not totally, but pretty much).

The ugly:

It wasn't until my husband received an email from a friend of ours (who shares my birthday - we're, like, 2 hours apart) asking dear hubs to wish me a happy birthday from said friend, that he actually realized he forgot my birthday.  At 3 in the afternoon.  At that point, he frantically tried phoning me for an hour (I was out with the kiddos running errands).  He finally got ahold of me and proceeded to make excuses about how he was in a rush to get out of the house in the morning, how he's been busy all day, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

I informed him that he does this every year, and that I wasn't surprised (a little choked, yes, but surprised, no).  He didn't need to make excuses, as he was only digging himself in deeper. 
So, what did I get for a gift, you ask???

Part Four:

The Very Ugly:

Ingredients to make nachos.  Yep, you read right.  I am now the proud owner of a bag of tacos, a tub of sour cream, a jar of salsa, and an ittttttyyyyy biiiiiiittttttyyyyyy bag of pre-shredded cheese that cost him as much as the large block of cheese I buy every month does.  Ummmmm, is this supposed to make up for the cake????  We've been married almost 15 years.  Ya think he'd know? 

Yeah, this is the same guy who frantically bought me a pair of tennis rackets at 5:45 on Christmas Eve the year we got married.  I don't play tennis.  He thought it would be something fun we could do together.  They been used once.  The fun must have really overwhelmed us. Ha!!

Anyway, that's my birthday in a nutshell.  Oh, and I got a ton of awesome birthday wishes from all of my friends and family on facebook - I'm so lucky to have such an awesome posse!!

What is One Thing You Want To Do Today?

I want to take this nice day, grab my camera, and drive to some of the most beautiful places in the area to take some winter pictures.  Being that it's March, winter won't be here forever (that's what we keep telling ourselves anyway!), so I want to take some pics before all of the mud and dirt and ick of spring appears.  I really do love spring, but because of the make up of the ground where we live, it doesn't exactly soak up the water, so we have giant mud puddles until the sun dries everything up.  And that ain't very picture worthy (although the kids love it!).

I'll post pictures of my adventure!

The State of My World

The Good:

My new Arbonne venture is going great - I am still so excited about this!!  I love it when people love this stuff - it confirms to me why I love doing this!

My kids are hilarious!  I just love to laugh at them and the silly things they do - they crack me up and I'm so amazed to see they have the senses of humor that they do at this young age!

We are less than a month away from heading back down south to see the fam dam.  I'd better get a move on with all of the stuff I want to get done before we leave!

We have some exciting news  - I can't share yet, but hopefully soon - I am a horrible secret keeper!

I am 6 weeks and a day smoke free!  I'm doing awesome with my quit, but am a little nervous to go "home" and be quit.  I know I can do it, it's just that sometimes family gets my bp up, and my cravings kick in.

I'm getting more blogging in, which makes me happy, and I have a few new followers, which is awesome!  Love to see comments and love to check out everyone else's blogs as well!  Welcome!!

The bad:

My heart hurts for a few people tonight - not to get into specifics, but it's hard to see people hurting when you know you can't do anything for them. 

I need to organize my house AKA: dejunk!!  I am lacking a little motivation, hopefully that will come to me.

It's still bloody cold here.  -40 C (that's -40 F for my American friends as well!) is getting really old.  And when the weather does turn nicer, the wind picks up, jacking up the wind chill.  Yeesh - I wish spring would come already!!


That's about it for now, how has your week been?  Happy weekend everyone!

The ABCs of Me!

I borrow this one from one of my fellow bloggers, Sweet Pea.  Hop on over and give her a visit, but in the meantime, here are the ABCs of me!

A. Age: 37 (for now, I turn 38 on in 9 days!)

B. Bed size: Queen size
C. Chore you dislike: the endless mounds of laundry in this house!
D. Dogs: Not now, we had to put our beloved Harley down a couple of years ago.  We really miss her.

E. Essential start to your day: Don't even talk to me until I've had my coffee!
F. Favorite color: Green

G. Gold or silver: Gold.

H. Height: 5'4"

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano, french horn, trumpet
J. Job title: Director of In-House Operations - HA!  Me too Sweet Pea!

K. Kids: 2 - Daughter - 4, Son - 3 next month.

L. Live: Northern Canada, less than 60 miles from the Arctic Circle
M. Mom’s name: Penny
N. Nicknames: Roo, Cliff, Clairebear
O. Overnight hospital stays: Tonsils at 7, children's birth X 2
P. Pet peeves: Crumbs on the floor

Q. Quote from a movie: "I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack." Zach Galifianakis - The Hangover


R. Righty or lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: Older sister, younger brother - that's right - I have middle child syndrome (whatever that is!).

T. Time you wake up: If the kids are nice, 8 am on a day with nothing scheduled, 7 am on playgroup days.
U. Underwear: Gosh, I hope so.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Not crazy about lima beans, and I just made kale chips the other day - epic fail!
W.What makes you run late: My children and my husband - it's pretty much everyone else's fault!
X. X-rays you’ve had: Dental
Y. Yummy food you make: I love to cook and bake, and my sweet hubby says he loves everything I make. (hey that rhymed!)
Z. Zoo animal favorites: I love polar bears (I guess we live in the right place!), and the dolphins at sea world.
 
Who's next?  Please let me know if you've done this too, so I can read about you!!  (that rhymed, too! ha)

What Do You Remember?

I came across a post on facebook today that reminisced about things that remind you of childhood.  When was your childhood?  Mine was in the late 70's and 80's (from what I can remember, I was just a wee one in the early 70's).  As I read this post, I suddenly was hit with vivid memories - a couple of them brought tears to my eyes - I had such an awesome time being a kid!!  Here are some of my favorites from my younger years:

Running through the sprinklers on a HOT day.

Riding your bike as hard as you could until your legs burned.

A first kiss at the roller rink, and though it was supposed to be special, it was the most disgusting thing I'd experienced thus far in my life.

The first day of school.

The last day of school.

Christmas morning.

Going on a vacation - it was all fun - all of it.  There was no packing, no driving, no stress - kids don't have to worry about that stuff.

Cream of Wheat on the stove on a cold winter's morning.

Crawling into Mom and Dad's bed after a bad dream.

Four square, hopscotch, dodge ball, tetherball.

Game days, whether it was for ringette, volleyball or softball.

Having a true BFF.

Having a fight with my true BFF.

Making up with my true BFF.

Favorite teachers.

Watching lightening storms from our picture window.

Camping, and wandering through the forest for no reason other than to just be there.

Opening birthday presents first thing in the morning on Mom and Dad's bed.

Friday's pizza night.  Every Friday.

Saturday morning cartoons.  Accompanied by cold pizza.

The Flintstones.  Family Ties.  Cheers.  The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show.  The Waltons.

Olivia Newton John.  The Bee Gees.  David Cassidy.

Sleep overs.

Only having to dial the last four numbers when I phoned anyone.

Summertime freedom with cement so hot, you couldn't walk on it.

Wishing I could grow up.  Faster.