Comfort Zones.....

Tonight I have to step out of my comfort zones.....It is Chris's Farewell Celebration at school. He graduates from Junior High today. The celebration begins with a Liturgy at the big Catholic Church in town and Chris has been chosen to do a reading there. So tonight not only do I have to wear a dress, but I also have to go to Church. Me. An Atheist. In a Catholic Church! For most of the service I will be on my own as Lloyd won't be back from work - he will arrive mid way through the service.

I know nothing about Catholic services apart from the fact they tend to be long and they do different things to the services I grew up with. Do I need to take money with me? Do they give donations during these services? How much? Is it notes or change? I haven't been in a Church in a VERY long time......Chris was probably a baby and it was probably Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve with my Mom. I don't think my Sisters wedding counts. Or my friends Daughters Christening......

After the Liturgy we are going to the Farewell dinner which is a catered dinner at the school which is being decorated beautifully I hear. Chris has been chosen to be the MC and I have helped him write his speech! I am so proud! he's only been at the school just over a year and he's been chosen to MC the farewell dinner! Last night he was texting all his friends asking them for memories from the last few years - and people they wanted to thank for certain things.

I think we've managed to mention everyone! We wrote everyones names down so no one would be forgotten and we got a memory about everyone in there but they are said throughout the evening so the speech is broken up into bits.

After the dinner tonight, Lloyd and I get to come home, but Chris is off to a Luau - a party at Birch Bay Ranch with all his friends - in Hawaiian costume :) - handy when your friends parents own Summer Camps huh????? :) That ends at 1am :)

Then tomorrow he is off to another party that is a sleepover - so his weekend is just one long celebration but luckily school is over for him apart for exams so he gets to sleep in a lot now (and I get my babysitter home a lot - Val lets do breakfast - I can go kiddy free a lot woohoo!!!!)

So I am excited and proud about tonight but also very nervous about being out of my comfort zone for a while. I will be taking my camera to embarrass my Son with but hopefully to capture many memories for him with - he'll thank me one day I'm sure!

I know the school are very proud of him - they certainly seem to pick him for a lot of things! I just hope he does equally as well at his next school :)

Back from the salon!

So I had my hair don today.....and what an experience THAT was!!! Lol! Sat in the chair and I asked the girl if she was enjoying Summer......only for her to say...in tears....that she was sorry if she wasn't chatty but she had just had a phone call to say her boyfriends Dad was dying of cancer!!!! OMG!!!!! I mean.....what do you say to THAT!!!!!!????? Not quite what you expect to hear from your hairdresser is it?????? See! This kind of thing happens to me all the time - this is why I hate going to the hairdressers just like I hate going to the dentist!

Anyway...here are some piccies of me with my hair do - including some silly ones....and some of susie with her do too ;) Chris threw a towel at me in the last picture ;) There were some hilarious pictures too but I won't add those.....

Blogging is good for you!

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Hottie Swap ATC's

Here are the ATC's I received in the 'Hottie' swap I took part in recently at Scrappers Haven!

This was such a fun swap to take part in :) Aren't they cool? Mine is the Matt Goss card. Tess did the Keith Urban card. Kendra did Trevor Linden. Glenda (who is interviewed in a double page spread in the Summer issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine and also has a page in the new CK book about 50 most important pages to scrapbook or something or other lol by the way - oh Glenda you Star you lol!!!) did the David Beckham card. Tina did the Jon Bon Jovi card (we all think she's a bit of a stalker lol hahahaha!! Anyway - GREAT cards and my ATC tin is FULL of some fab artwork :) Just in time for Scrappers Haven to close :(

need sleep........

I woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep.

Still awake at 4am when the dawn chorus started! Beautiful!

Still awake at 4:40am when the dawn chorus just suddenly ended!!!! And the birds began their day!

Finally drifted off after waking Lloyd u to get rid of a mosquito that was screaming as it buzzed around. He killed it after it flew behind the curtain into the window.

Was woken up at 7:20am and checked the kids were up - only Susie! She said Laurie wasn't well and not going to school. What? Again??? No way!!! I am too tired and stressed today! So I told him to get up and take a tablet and go to school! He has been off too much. If he feels no better later to call! So he dragged himself out of bed. She also said she had woken Chris up but he wouldn't get out of bed so I yelled at him to get out of bed then I went back to bed and fell asleep again.

Was woken up at 7:45am by Chris banging on my door telling me the trucks had arrived and the workmen were here!!!! OMG so I crawled out of bed bleary eyes and threw on some clothes figuring I'd have to grab a shower later....Abby came in moaning that the banging from the workmen had woken her up and it was too early and couldn't they be quieter?

I need some sleep :(

So I am so tired and my lack of sleep and the thunder storms expected again later...I have a feeling that tonight I am going to get a big migraine :( so please just let it wait until AFTER my hair appointment!

Today I plan to do very little! Rest relax and sit here. Abby and Sam are playing. Abby did her school work early which is good. Sam is happy to watch the workmen and they have also been out on the swings and climbing frame - they are happy to just 'be' and leave me in peace thank goodness! So I may not win the Mommy of the year award today but thats ok - my head needs as little stress as possible!

Happy Birthday Erin

Happy 6th Birthday to Sharons Daughter Erin!!!!!

We hope you are having a fun day!!!

We hope to meet you soon! Come and play!!

Lots of love from

Abigail and Sam

xxx

Sex and the City - a few spoilers

So last night I went to the movies with Tess, Charlynn and Samantha! It was a fun night! I met Tess at the scrapbook store and we did a little shopping.....well, I did a little shopping! Tess did a LOT of shopping and I eventually had to DRAG her from the store kicking and SCREAMING and foaming at the mouth :)

I think Tess likes my favourite scrapbook store hahahaha! I didn't get much - a chipboard album from the sale table and some bee stickers - but it was double stamp day so I really should have spent more money lol!

Andrea phoned to say she couldn't make it (this is becoming a habit Andrea and now I am paranoid lol - you know this right???????? If you keep not showing up I'm gonna think you don't like me!!!!!! Lol ok ok I'll tell everyone you had a valid reason and you sent me a lovely email this morning but STILL.....lol j/k !!!!)

Then as soon as Andrea hung up the phone rang again and it was Samantha who arranged to meet us at the mall. So we headed off there and got something to eat and met Sam and ate and then went to the cinema and got our seats nice and early but not early enough because everyone else had the same idea and the only decent place with 4 seats together was the very back row!!! So thats where we sat!

Then I ran out to meet Charlynn (so nice to see you again Charlynn) and we got in line for some snacks and Tess comes out to find us and joins us for some snacks (that was so much fun lol) and we thought we were late for the movie...we raced in only to find we weren't late at all! Then Charlynn started throwing popcorn around.....(how childish is THAT???? Of course me being all mature threatened to call security...I mean she was trying to throw it down our tops......
OMG!!!!!! So funny :) Then Samantha who was wearing a top too high to get popcorn down actually lowers her top so we can get better aim!!!!!!

But alas the fun has to end and the movie started....

Tess announces she is in love with Big...and Kieth Urban is in fact actually her number two guy....and Ryan her husband...well I'm not actually sure what number he is.....lol! Poor Ryan! Then when Big proposed (poorly the first time) we compared Ryans proposal with Lloyds proposal and were laughing a LOT because RYan and Lloyd are so similar - and both soooooooo CHEAP!!!!! They will get along so well :)

Oh and in case you don't know how Lloyd proposed to me, we were sat on the sofa in Scotland and he muttered to me 'So Whats the cheapest we can get married?'

Romantic huh??????? ;)

Well, it made Tess laugh :) I think she may well have spat out her cola ;)

The movie itself was wonderful - I laughed, I cried, I clapped out loud (omg I think I was the only one in the cinema that did (Lloyd would have cringed) and I REALLY cried at Charlottes crying angry face when she was hugging Carrie in the street after Carrie had hit him with the flowers....to me that just summed up their friendship totally - that whole thing about friends being there for one another through thick and thin.

The movie made me miss all my best friends from back home. It made me want to go and hug Lianne and have coffee at her house. To go have lunch at the garden centre with Lynne. To go out for dinner with Mandy or just go round to her house for a good natter. To spend the day with Faith just chatting about EVERYTHING and catching up over a bottle of wine. OMG to do the same with Kara over a bottle of plonk in Spain :)

Of course to spend time with Julie but she died and I know I can never have that time back with her.

All my closest closest friends like Sex and the City are so so far away and moving here has meant starting new friendships in a completely new culture. Over the last year or so several new people have come into my life and a few have become very special to me - and finally just recently I have learned and felt that a few of these might actually 'fit' :)

I have friends that I can cry with, laugh with and be me with. I wonder if any of them will be there when I blow out the candles on my 50th birthday cake.......

monkey girl!

Abby showing how nimble she is at climbing the door frame - yes she can climb to the top :)

dandelion clocks

I had fun with Sam and Abby today blowing dandelion clocks....I love when little ones blow them because they always put them too close to their mouth and get the seeds stuck to their lips :)

I took this picture of a dandelion clock out by the rhubarb - click on it to see it bigger - I love how it came out considering it was taken outside by the garage!

Peony

My Peony has come back well and now we have to move it. This flower bed has to be dug up and flattened and turned back to lawn so the peony can't stay here. I know they don't like to be moved so I hope it does well. The flower bed is a mess because it is half dug up from me removing all the day lilies for Val! It's all being moved because I'm getting rid of the flower beds totally and we are redoing the front porch and not having flower beds there at all. Hence all the long grass and weeds!!

This peony seems to be pretty tough and it has survived Charlie chewing on it and moose chewing on it - it disappears to NOTHING every year and sprouts from the ground every year - a couple of weeks ago it was nowhere to be found and then it sprouted from the ground and SHOT up to what you can see now.....almost over night!!!! I tell you, the plants here in Alberta AMAZE me...and in just a few weeks the flowers will open and will be STUNNING. I love watching the ants eat open the flowers. Such a shame its not a bee friendly flower. This one has deep red double bloom flowers. I worry every year that it won't grow back but it does!

Foxgloves

I only bought two this year but they should spread next year...bumble bees love these :) All the perennials I bought this year are bee friendly and spread :) My yellow daisies have already gone to seed for the most part and I collected the seeds and planted many of them throughout the flower bed so next year I should have a lovely selection throught the front flower bed. here's hoping!!!!! I want it to be a lovely wild and crazy flowery tangle of bee friendly colours!!!

In my thoughts....

Please can you keep Donna (from Scrappers Haven) and her family in your thoughts please.

Her Mom has been in hospital for a while now. She has COPD and needs to have a lung transplant. Last I heard, she wasn't doing too well. Her Mom is doing all she can to avoid going onto a ventilator as she is scared she will not come off of it again. I know this is worrying them all.

It's a very frightening time for this family. Please keep them in your thoughts. Donna I am thinking of you and your Mom and hope for some good news very soon.

I need that rolling eyes smiley again

My dickhead of an ex did it again!!!!!

I bought a dress!

I bought a dress last night for Chris's Farewell dinner on Friday :) I'm really pleased with it! First store I went in!! I bought it in Cleo or Cloe or whatever it's called! I tried a few on :) And I kept having to ask for smaller sizes :) OMG it's such a boost to your self esteem :)

It's felt so good lately. I lost my belt for a few weeks and my pants were falling down badly and then I found my belt and put it on and I said to Lloyd 'Oh - I need you to put a new hole in my belt!!!!! It doesn't fit'!! And he said 'No Jane, You need to buy a smaller belt'!!!!! And I was like OMG He's right!!!!!! I need a smaller belt!!!!!!! I need a smaller belt!!!!!!

Then this weekend I found the suitcase of clothes from last year that I packed away and some of the clothes refused to fit me last year because I had gained so much from those horrid meds. My soccer shorts and my capris from a couple of years back....well I tried them on and they all fit!!!!! EASILY :)

I know this doesn't mean much to some of you.....but I've struggled with my weight for several years now...I've been on and off of drugs for migraines since my early 20's and for the most part they have made me gain weight. I come off the meds and struggle to lose some of it and then have to go back on them only to gain all of it and then some back again....and then with 5 pregnancies (and extended breastfeeding NEVER helped me lose weight EVER) I just gained weight. I tried Weight watchers, I ran almost daily last year and still managed to gain 30lbs because of the migraine meds I was on.

I don't believe it is healthy for a person of my height to carry so much excess weight. For me it isn't about looks. My weight doesn't effect how I feel I look but it does effect how I 'feel' health wise. It effects how I move and breathe and how active I feel I can be - and I LIKE to be active.

I am not keen on clothes shopping much either so the fact that I have a closet full of clothes that didn't fit bothered me too!!! It's so nice being able to fit into these barely worn clothes again :) It's like having a whole new closet again :)

I weigh in on June 23rd at my annual physical. It will be interesting to know what I weigh. Haven't weighed in since January. I still have weight to lose. I'm no way near at goal. I'd say I've still got 20lbs to lose until I'm at a weight I'm happy to stay with. So I'm taking it easy......eating healthily, being active - kayaking, walking, gardening, swimming at the lake, being outdoors, enjoying summer......

In the Fall once the basement is finished we'll have a gym in the basement so I can work out down there.

I love Topamax :) Thank you Tanya for the recommendation :)

My Nan

My Nan fell last week and broke her arm, she is in a nursing home in England recovering at the moment. She broke her arm in exactly the same place as Susannah broke hers a couple of years ago. Obviously though, because my Nan is 97 it won't heal as Susannahs did. Susannah broke hers on the trampoline so I sent my Nan a Get Well card and asked her if she had been bouncing on the sofa!!!

My Nan will have to be assessed before any decisions will be made as to whether she will be able to return to her own home or not.

In her own home she is supposed to wear a special necklace with a button on it that she can press to call emergency services - but of course she leaves this necklace hanging in her bedroom - so when she fell she couldn't call anyone and she was lying there until her neighbour woke up and her calling for help. I hope that if she returns home that at least this has shown her that she NEEDS to wear her necklace! I think all old people are the same though because Lloyds Grandad is the same! I think its really common for old people with these systems NOT to wear the necklace part! Maybe a bracelet would be better - is there a reason they don't have it on a bracelet? Is it more likely to get broken in a fall?

The picture above shows Nanny last year with her youngest Grandchild - my Uncle and Aunt had a wonderful surprise baby girl - Leah - who is younger than the youngest Great Grandchild :)