and we're off!!

heading out tomorrow morning to nanaimo for just over a week. will return next sunday hopefully refreshed and rejuvinated from the vacation - needed for us all! hoping to maybe catch up with jennifer from scraptivity - hopefully we can co-ordinate!

the kids head back to school only a couple days after we get back. they're both looking forward to it - ok, who am i kidding? ds 1 is - he's the big geek. ds 2 - not so much. he'd rather be buried in his computer games and archie comics.

and me? looking forward to the routine of school days again. and maybe i'll find a little bit of productivity scrapbooking again. didn't get anything done over the summer. but i did take pictures!

have a good week - updates and pics when we get back!

picture post

and this is all there is - just pictures. a little bit of playing around in photoshop, some digi brushes, and i'm quite happy with the result of my just messing around on sunday morning.

the first series:

my neighbour's baby boy - at 1 week old. he's just too cute.




the next couple are pics that just touch my heart. my oldest son with my niece. she was born about 2 weeks before my neighbour's little guy - they couldn't be more different - she's just a little wee thing, with the sweetest little face. he's a bruiser - almost 4 pounds heavier than her already!


and after all we go through with my grandma, you know that she just loves to cuddle the little ones.

and a couple of goodies of one of my other friend's son and girlfriend. they are just too cute together! i caught them candidly when my friend said very quietly "i really need some pictures of them". still need to fiddle with these ones a bit, but i'm still happy with how they turned out.

relief

is on its way!! we're finally in for some rain - yippee!! we desperately need it, everything is so dry out here. we're still supposed to hit 27C today, but some showers through the day.

working quite a bit this week again. covering a sales route. good stuff :)

dropping the boys to my mom this morning for a visit, will pick them up on friday.

a quick round of golf is booked for after work today too.

have a good one!

august long...

sunday morning, halfway through the long weekend. sunflowers blooming outside my window. sun shining. whinnies of horses just a stone's throw away. the promise of a lazy day is here. its been a busy weekend so far - friday night had the neighbours over for dinner and a movie. lots of laughs, a great time! saturday morning dh went to work and the kids and i slept in, very much needed for me. we then headed off to walmart for a wander and a couple purchases, then met dh at the rodeo grounds for a wander. after that, it was home, i crashed out for a nap, then went down to a friend's campsite for dinner and drinks. this morning its quiet. and i'm liking that. we're supposed to be going for yet another bbq/dinner at a friend's later today, but haven't heard from them yet. will have to call here shortly and find out what's up. tomorrow morning we're off to rosebud for a round of golf with the kids. it's their first time out golfing "for real" so it should be an entertaining time.

enjoy your weekend!

there is a silver lining

in that storm cloud that sometimes hangs over me.

a few weeks ago i posted about that jerk that harassed me at one of the stores i work in. well, it seems that he has now given the store a written warning, and he has also gone after the company i work for and kraft as well. so, to make a long story short, effective immediately, none of us merchandisers are allowed to go into those particular stores any more to do our work. i'm thinking it will last all of a month before we're told to go back in.

why? the simple answer is because the service we provide is needed. the stores are going to be outraged that we will not be there to help them out. and what we do is a big PITA for them to complete - its a job that they don't want to do, so we do it.

so what is the silver lining? i'll be having more saturdays off for the rest of the summer. makes me happy :)

in the meantime, this week and next week, i'm covering sales routes for a couple of different reps. this is the part of my job that i love. i get to use my brain, and do something i really really enjoy. the crazy part is that it wears me out more than the physical stuff i usually do. i was ready for bed at 8:00 last night. but its a good tired.

and with that, i better get my butt in gear and out the door - i have a busy day today!

have a good one!

and this is what it looks like...

when you get your butt in gear and get your yardwork done!

we've made alot of changes to the yard this year, namely adding the lower deck right at the back of the house, as well as adding in the gravel to make the maintenance even less. (if only we could get the dogs potty trained, it would be simple!!) things that are still to be done: flowerbeds that match up the railing along the lower deck, and putting up the cedar to close in the bottom of the upper deck (no pics of that simply because it just doesn't look very nice with the clutter underneath at the moment!) i'm also wanting raised flower beds in front of the upper deck, along where the cedar is being put in to finish it off. that won't be until next year i'm guessing. just the amount of work we've done this year has improved things hugely! makes me happy!

oh, yes, and between the gazebo and the jurassic park plants, is the mini-pond. it's flourishing this year, doing very well aside from my crazy algae problem i'm having (because of no fish, too much heat, and too much sun), my lilies are doing awesome, as well as the rest of the miscellaneous plants that are in there.

thanks for taking a peek!

LOL

dragonfly bliss

this little guy was hanging out on my daylilies last night when i was moving the sprinkler around. i don't think i've seen as many dragonflies ever as i have this year. we have ones that are big enough to cart off with a small child, down to little ones like this. and the colors are spectacular too. blue, yellow, red, and all of them having a grand time catching the bugs that bug us! if we sit still long enough, and it doesn't take long with how many are hanging around, they will land on our toes or our fingers so we can get an up close and personal moment with them. i think that having the pond in our backyard, as small as it is, is a great lure for them. they are buzzing about constantly, dipping down to take a drink, and enjoy the cool that the micro-climate of the pond provides.

today: gotta make phone calls. to the vet, the dentist, hopefully receive a phone call about an interview, make a phone call about the offer i'm not taking, call the kennel to let them know about our additional doggie for holidays (we had booked before we got kikanue). need to take pictures of our alley - dh is going to town council about the issues that are going on. funny thing, its not our kids that we're worried about, its all the others on our block (and issues only because of one household that is causing big problems on our street). we're taking the kids to the driving range tonight, gotta get some practice going on! and i think that's about it. hopefully the sun will poke out today, its cloudy at the moment, but a welcome relief. rain last night :) and most of the night as well, its been far too long since we've had any.

have a wonderful day!

lost in the shuffle

it's been a busy week. what can i say?

finally feeling like i'm settling into the unscheduledness of summer - the way things should be.


i'm back to working 4 days a week, but i did take the past saturday off to have a full weekend with dh and the kids. saturday we did some errands, had a swim in the pool, and just generally enjoyed the day. sunday we went out golfing with a friend, and had a great time at Akokiniskway in Rosebud. its not a far drive for us, only about 40 minutes, and a great little course to play. it was challenging enough for our friend, who golfs a good deal more than we do, but easy enough that we had a great game as well.

this little deer greeted us at the 8th fairway, and was kind enough to pose for a picture on the way by. just past the bush is the river that runs through the course, and she headed down that way after we passed by.


this was by far one of the more picturesque golf courses we've played on. well manicured, but also lots of trees and scenery to keep thing interesting.









this is dh and our neighbour friend that we head out to the course with. he's a riot to play a round with - always so complimentary, even on the bad shots! one of the "rules of the course" that we have seen posted elsewhere is to always be complimentary of your fellow players. encouragement is always a good thing. and, interestingly enough, i managed to tie with dh for the day! i did far better the second time around (it is only a 9-hole) but i was very pleased with myself!



by far, one of my favorite scenes from the day. after finishing the rather challenging uphill 8th hole, we had to cross the railroad tracks to head over to the 9th tee. its so quiet and peaceful out there, and not a busy course. we didn't have to rush, nor did we feel like we were playing too slow either. we're planning to take the kids out for a round there as well one afternoon, its reasonable to take them with us, and a good course to have fun at.




















and, as you can see, both of these guys are finding that golf can be fun. we took them out to the driving range the sunday before last, and they had a good time taking a whack at some balls as well!






we're working on getting these guys to use "proper form", something ds #1 is having a bit of a hard time with. he's a bit of a stiff kid as it is, so getting him to loosen up while taking a poke at the ball is a bit of a challenge.

and just a little bit of a funny face to end it all! i packed up the boys and a pal, and we went to riley park in the city last wednesday for a chillin' kind of day. the weather wasn't as co-operative as we would have liked, it was cloudy, but was still warm enough for the guys to splash around in the pool there for a bit.

gotta put a shout out for Vicki and the amazing RAK she sent me that arrived last week. a wonderful box of goodies, including a page kit of one of her designs, rub ons, ribbon, chipboard and other lovely things! now to just get some scrapbooking done. i had great intentions of doing something tonight - anything really, and i haven't done anything at all.

have a great week everyone!

you win some

and you lose some.

started my day out well this morning - got up and organized early as it was my housekeeper day (LOVE that lady!!). before it got well and hot in the house, i set out to get mini banana loaves in the oven, and then finish up the machine stitching part of the 4th cover for our outdoor benches.

and that's where the losing some started!

i measured (vaguely) and cut (vaguely) the fabric so i could make the cushion cover and get it stitched up in a timely manner. (why vaguely?? because i can't sew a straight seam to save my life, but i can get the job done LOL)

then i lifted up the cushion off the kitchen table...

and WHAM!

hit the light above the table and the blown glass cover came smashing down onto the table (my neighbour across the alley even heard it - she told me this evening!)

so, glass everywhere across the kitchen.

so i swept, jonah vacuumed, and then a couple hours later after another vacuum by my housekeeper, she was still finding bits of glass when she washed the floor.

now the search for a new light. or maybe not. we are going to be renovating the kitchen/living area next spring, and i can live with it for the moment. so it could wait for now.

so, from there i still did end up having a good day. finished up my ATC cards for the S! swap, they're quite cute, but not what i had started with in the first place. will scan and post a pic tomorrow.

also, got the bottles taken back to the depot. $30 is not a bad bit for a 20 minute trip.

then out to the country to a friend's for a coffee and to pick up her son to hang out with bailey tonight for a sleepover and tomorrow we're off to riley park in the city for a fun day. its a bit more of a little kid's place, but nice nonetheless. lots of big trees, and water. can't ask for more!

our yard has really come together in the last couple weeks. will make an effort to take pics tomorrow and get them posted. there's still a few more things to get done, a few of them will be worked on this weekend, but won't be too much of a difference overall compared to what we started with the beginning of this summer.

and yes, i did get the cushions finished today. and they're awesome if i do say so myself :)

music to my ears

its so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

its that quiet in our house this morning. i think everyone was just exhausted from the heat yesterday. right now, being up earlier than the rest of the crew, i have a good cross breeze going through the house. it is lovely.

and last night, searching for a song by jesse cook, i found this site, RadioCanada2, and there is a live to radio concert that is just beautiful. i've heard his song, "It Ain't Me Babe" performed with Melissa McClelland, a number of times, but never caught the name of it until yesterday. its gorgeous. if you have the time, just click on the play all tracks button and have it go for you. if not, you can listen to just that song.

sometimes the CBC can surprise a person!

have a great day, stay cool! we're off to the driving range with the kids in a bit to hit some golf balls. good times!

now, i wouldn't want to argue with a "pretty lady"

oh yes, these words were spoken to me this afternoon while i was at work.

by a lovely gentleman who attacked me for doing my job.

and then pulled out his little book and showed me the "rules" that he enforces.

and then proceeded to berate the store staff for "allowing" me to do my job.

after a rather heated discussion with the store staff and myself, escorted me out of the store to ensure that i was, indeed, leaving the premesis.

i'm sure he got the shock of his life when i got into my mercedes and drove away. you can stick your smarmy butt into your datsun from 1970. "pretty lady" indeed!

asshole.

i'm getting a letter together to forward to his boss. about his sexist attitude and completely rude and out of line harassing behaviour.

stuff that one in your rule book buddy!

sometimes i wonder

if its just me.

so i went for that interview yesterday afternoon, and they have changed their minds on what they are planning on doing. so i interviewed for a totally different job, and i don't want it. i turned it down the last time as well when i was offered it.

bummer.

kind of ticks me off too - why would they ask/advertise to interview for a position, and then change what the plan is? doesn't make any sense to me. they have a person from another province now doing what i was supposed to be interviewing for. as she already has this job function, they added it to her list, and in 2-3 months another person will then have the opportunity to "move up" into that function here. that's the catch i guess, take a job you may not want in the hopes that you can move up. and with no guarantees, i wouldn't want to move. same shit, different shoe.

bah.

on another note -

my parents get home tomorrow, and for my guys its not a minute too soon. they have really had a tough time with grandma, she's seriously losing it. i really hope that when i get old, i don't do what she is doing to our family. between my parents and i, we thought that she would do well with the kids. she has always been great with them, and they were looking forward to the time they were spending with her. not so much now. she's really laid it on thick this last week - all kinds of guilt trips, and just being plain not nice.

take for instance this: the sewer was backing up. not hugely, but enough that there was gunk coming up the outlet in the laundry room, and in the one bathroom (shower and tub) downstairs. so i talked to my dad, and he said, yes, please! call the city! get them to come out and fix it! (hello!?? there is gross stuff coming up!!)

what does my grandma do? FREAKS OUT. why? because someone was coming to fix it!!

like come on lady. poop in the house is a good thing? seriously. gross.

and all it took was 5 minutes, and it was fixed. man.

i sure don't envy my mom. it all seems to be getting worse and worse. told my kids they have permission to put me in a home if i ever get like that.

i think next time my parents go away, they need to hire a grandma sitter.

party's over!

it's amazing how much stuff we can jam into the small bit of weekend that i get!

friday night we ended up having various neighbours over for cocktails, and chatted into the later hours of the evening.

saturday, i worked, then headed off to pick up the boys and my grandma to go babysit my sister's twins for a few hours. so the boys and i got the little ones down to the park for a bit, came home, ate dinner, gave the twins a tub, put them to bed, and jonah and i headed out for a quick hunt for golf clubs which turned into a 3 store trip and 2 hours. back to my sister's, she arrived very shortly after, and i packed grandma and the boys back to my mom's. i headed home from there and was finally home about 11pm.

this morning (even though i had the chance to sleep in!) i was up before the alarm at 7am. coffee? check. email? check. then off to the shower and out the door for a round of golf with dh and a friend. from there we came home to let the dogs out for a quick piddle, then out the door again to another friend's for a visit and dinner.

phew.

done.

another whirlwind weekend is over!

good news is i'm working tomorrow, "the" interview at 6pm, then should have tuesday and wednesday off. wednesday is a ladies lunch with my boss, her admin assistant, and one other gal that is on our team. so in some ways, not a day off, but not a work day either.

its all good.

but the party's over! LOL

when its hot hot hot...

you gotta stay cool, cool, cool! check out that temperature!! (the time is wrong) 36.7C. freaking hot!

but for that you need one of these:


yes, this is my new sweet ride!!

i got it yesterday - woohoo!! it is alot of fun to drive, just getting used to the blind spots and such. dropped my parent's off at the airport late yesterday afternoon, and from there returned home with this amazing vehicle. there are more buttons to push than you can possibly imagine, along with the amazing leather interior and creature comforts that are all included. it has an actual thermostat on the controls, so i know that i'm not being too outrageous setting the a/c at 26 when its so hot out there. separate controls in the back seat give everyone a chance to cool off, so its not just the front seat that gets cool! and for those cold winter mornings, there are even seat heaters.

i managed to sell my van on tuesday afternoon, for what i think was fair, just under $2K, so that got it out of our hair before we even needed to try to flog it elsewhere. dh was happy as well, especially when i got the cash in hand that day.

in other news, the interview i had the other morning went well, waiting to hear about it, but i'm sure i could have it if i want. it comes with a $5.50/hr raise and car allowance (i do get mileage now, but that works too) and full time hours with no weekends. downside? full time hours. we'll see. i'm guessing i'll hear about it either tomorrow or early next week.

i also have one more interview on monday afternoon. that one to me may make more sense as it will be more flexible in my hours, full time as well, but it's supposed to be 80/20 - 80% out at the various stores and 20% at home. through the summer i could probably sort it out to work 6 hours out a day and the remainder at home, with weekends off again. there will be some extra travel as well, with it supervising all the employees of the company in alberta, but they are talking about splitting it in half in the not so distant future only because of the sheer size of the territory. i would love that job, it is really something that would be a good position for me. no, its not sales, but it is a step up, and not lateral as with the previous one (even though with that one the money is better - but does that make up for less flexibility?)

and my dear doggie is back - some of you may know that she disappeared on us in a totally panicked moment when the fireworks were going off on canada evening. someone found her north of town, still frightened, and very sore from her extreme escape. she's still got slightly sore paws, but she is moving alot better and is very happy to be home.

that's it, that's all for today - i'm off to find a cold beverage, and have a little relax before dh gets home from work in about 45 minutes. sushi is on the menu for dinner tonight - totally looking forward to that! (not to mention that its not something HOT to eat!!LOL)

happy summer holidays!

well, today is the first official day for the boy's summer holidays. and i'm off to work, so just a quick post...

have been running 6 ways from sunday this week, and looking forward to having 2 days off in a row. i have a busy day ahead today as well - a stop in chestermere, then an interview, then 3 more calls and stop and pick up the patio set i found the other day. then home. hopefully it won't be too long a day.

the boys have their day planned out as well. its supposed to be a hot one today, so they'll head off to the pool this afternoon after lounging the morning away. funny how getting b up for school in the morning is like pulling teeth, yet today, not having to go, he's up earlier than when i try to get him up for school. LOL

have a happy friday!

grade 6 celebration!

Last night was the farewell and awards ceremony for the grade 6's at Jonah's school. He did very well, finishing at the top of his class. Yes, he's a nerd, but we love him all the same! He got the award for the top Social Studies mark in his grade, and was congratulated all around.

These two fantastic ladies have been a huge part of his life for the last year. Kudos to them for helping him grow and learn and have fun while doing it all!


This is one of the men in his life that I know he'll remember for the rest of his life. The school principal. He has been an amazing role model to all the kids in the school. And this was his last year, he is retired after Friday! I know that he'll be missed!
And man, has my little Donut boy grown. He is more than a head taller than the rest of the kids in his grade, he is even taller than me now!

Congrats to my grade 6 grad!

busy weekend...

well, its been a weekend. i worked most of the day yesterday, and came home after picking up some awesome steaks for dinner. unfortunately, the weather wasn't wanting to co-operate. so rene suggested we head back into the city for vietnamese for dinner. i drove through that storm on my way home, and saw some spectacular lightening on the way. there were even a few times that it hit the ground! thankfully it was a good distance away.

during the trip back in i had a little nap, and well needed. it had been a late night before, and getting up early, then a good busy day of hefting boxes around almost made that quick nap a necessity at that point!

while we were in the city, we noticed the sky was just black looking eastwards to home. it was quite the storm going on, but we weren't too concerned. arriving home, there was hail everywhere! a few of my perennials in the back by the pond have taken a beating, but all in all, not as much damage as there could have been.

i got a good sleep in this morning, and after messing around on the computer for a bit, i got the carpets cleaned in the living room and hallway. amazing what comes out of that carpet. just gross!!

from there i had a shower, then cut both the boys hair, got most of a layout done, a thank you card done, tidied up the kitchen, got dinner organized and had a quick trip over to walmart just to get out of the house for a bit.

jonah's managed to find himself a couple of lawn-cutting jobs for the summer, so he did one this afternoon, and he'll have a few more to do by the end of the week. he's quite excited about the prospect of earning some decent money this summer. awesome for an 11 year old! he's already planning on saving for a new bike, as well as having spending money for holidays in august.

tonight another crazy storm just missed us. on the weather website, it was reporting nickle sized hail and severe thunder and lightening. it was interesting looking out the front side of the house and seeing blue sky and sunshine, and looking out the back at a threatening sky and hearing the thunder booming. bizarre weather!

some new music tonight - bare naked ladies. easy. that's what i'm looking forward to for the summer. a little bit of easy. enjoy!

friday friday friday

crazy busy day today. and tomorrow's about the same.

but i'm home now, and its gorgeous outside for the b-man's tent-out tonight.

he's pumped.

i'm not.

let's just say that some freakin' asshole opened my gate. i think its the neighbour's kids - they have nothing better to do with their time than piss me off. then they usually call and complain our dog is out. thanks a lot.

the same ones who figure they can park 10 cars out front of their house daily and not leave anywhere for anyone else to park. today i just about went over there to give them my 2 cents worth. but then the gate was open and i left it at that - had to go see if i could find the dog (and i can't) don't know where the heck he's gone.

the same ones that figure weeds that are 6 feet tall in the front yard is acceptable landscaping.

the same ones that never mowed their lawn (till this year)

the same ones that have a field of dandelions out front as well.

people are pissing me off today!

hump day giggles...

courtesy of my hubby:

New Words for 2007 * SALAD DODGER. An excellent phrase for an overweight person. * SWAMP-DONKEY A deeply unattractive person. * TESTICULATING. Waving your arms around and talking bollocks. * BLAMESTORMING. Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. * SEAGULL MANAGER. A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and Then leaves. * ASSMOSIS. The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard. * SALMON DAY. The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die. * CUBE FARM. An office filled with cubicles. * PRAIRIE DOGGING. When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on. (This also applies to applause for a promotion because there may be cake.) * SITCOMs. Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a "home business". * SINBAD. Single working girls. Single income, no boyfriend and desperate. * AEROPLANE BLONDE. One who has bleached/dyed her hair but still has a 'black box'. * PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE. The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again. * ADMINISPHERE. The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. This is often affiliated with the dreaded "administrivia" - needless paperwork and processes. * GOING FOR A McSHIT. Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the bog. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a McShit with Lies. * 404. Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found" meaning that the requested document could not be located. * AUSSIE KISS. Similar to a French Kiss, but given down under. * OH - NO SECOND. That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just Made a BIG mistake (e.g. you've hit 'reply all'). * GREYHOUND. A very short skirt, only an inch from the hare. * JOHNNY-NO-STARS. A young man of substandard intelligence, the typical adolescent who works in a burger restaurant. The 'no-stars' comes from the badges displaying stars that staff at fast-food restaurants often wear to show their level of training. * MILLENNIUM DOMES. The contents of a Wonderbra, i.e. extremely impressive when viewed from The outside, but there's actually naught in there worth seeing. * MONKEY BATH. A bath so hot, that when lowering yourself in, you go: "Oo! Oo! Oo! Aa! Aa! Aa!". * MYSTERY BUS. The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while you're in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you come back in. * MYSTERY TAXI. The taxi that arrives at your place on Saturday morning before you wake up, whisks away the stunner you slept with, and leaves a 10 Pinter in your bed instead. * BEER COAT. The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a booze cruise At 3:00am. * BEER COMPASS. The invisible device that ensures your safe arrival home after booze cruise, even though you're too drunk to remember where you live, how you got here, and where you've come from. * BREAKING THE SEAL. Your first pee in the pub, usually after 2 hours of drinking. After breaking the seal of your bladder, repeat visits to the toilet will be required every 10 or 15 minutes for the rest of the night. * TART FUEL. Bottled premixed spirits, regularly consumed by young women. * PICASSO BUM. A woman whose knickers are too small for her, so she looks like she's Got 4 buttocks.