I am now an official stay at home MOM!!
The past few months I have been having hallucinations about our home life with me being a full time Mom...however I am being reminded daily that I kinda suck at being a stay at home Mom!
The dream:
Breakfast will be homemade oatmeal with fruit. The kids will get up and revel in the fact their clothes are neatly in their dressers. The morning walk to school will be filled with happy conversations between the kids and I.
The reality:
Breakfast is whatever is fastest, with one out of three not happy with the choice and wailing their displeasure. We are running 20 mins late, it has rained everyday. The only conversation is, 'Hurry!!!' (from me) and 'There are NO pants in our drawers!' (cause I am behind like 20 loads of laundry)
The dream:
I will clean the house Flylady style, it will be clean, fresh, tidy and flowers on the table.
The reality? The kids are up at 5am and going through the cupboards and eating anything they can reach and swearing the dogs (who are still in the crates) ate the leftover cookies...the house is in spots knee deep in laundry...and flowers? Who am I kidding? The weather is still cold and WET! lol
I am enjoying it...way more then I ever thought. I have been getting calls and people are asking if I am going to start back up...nope...not now...not sure when and not making plans.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Long days...big changes
I love my job and normally the time flies by and I look up and realize it is 4pm and I have to FLY home...now the days are creeping, I am sore and achey and whiney...I have 9 days to pack up 4 years worth of stuff in my shop...and I don't have time or energy...
But on a grooming note that is very positive, I was asked to do a seminar on grooming! That is excited! People actually want to pay money to listen to me babble about my day job! (Insane huh??!!) Organizing it is turning into a wee bit of a fiasco, I need to find a space and the hotel I was hoping to have it at is convinced that my professional groomed dogs will cause severe allergies...compared to their ancient dirty carpets...i have my doubts. So, I am still looking for a place to host the event.
Josh bought me a new phone, a fancy schmancy iphone...someday I will figure out how to turn it on an off. Those basic functions are still a mystery. My sister told me I just need to sit and play with it...right...in all my many hours of spare time. Bahaha! I cannot remember the last time I was just sitting and bored and waiting to do something.
The hardest part of the phone? The SLIDE keyboard...you don't touch or tap you slide your fingers along the screen to wear the letters are (looks like you are reading braille) and the phone figures out what you are typing...but I think the phone and I speak different languages...I will type, 'Hi Tina, see you soon!' And I would get "Hi tunafish, seaweed you schooner!' I keep sending emails from my computer explaining to people that I did not have a lobotomu, just my phone is evil.
Josh bought a new car, 2005 Kia, paid a REALLY low price and it only has 24,000kms on it which is AWESOME! (considering our late Kia Spectra 2006 had 200,000 kms on it as of LAST YEAR....). Josh changes jobs on Friday and no longer can carpool, which is a bit sad because it has been GREAT having one vehicle for savings wise...but it is also pain when I work 40 mins west of our home and he works 30 mins EAST...so when he cannot carpool or our schedules don't mesh we need to call in some favors.
We are still madly in love with that house, Josh is waiting to start his new job and then off to the bank he goes...he got one part of the paperwork done and got an okay...the big question is can we keep the old house we live in and buy this one and hold both mortgages? Things will be tight but I can do without to have this home!
Other news....my sister Leah has finally decided after being engaged for 5 years they are getting married this summer!! She is the worst reluctant bride but I asked to handle and pay for her family dinner aka reception and she agreed and now we are having a BLAST!!! We chatted all night about wedding stuff and it was awesome!! She and I really lost touch and there was too much distance between us, but now it is like old times.
So I need to plan a wedding and make it CHEAP:)
But on a grooming note that is very positive, I was asked to do a seminar on grooming! That is excited! People actually want to pay money to listen to me babble about my day job! (Insane huh??!!) Organizing it is turning into a wee bit of a fiasco, I need to find a space and the hotel I was hoping to have it at is convinced that my professional groomed dogs will cause severe allergies...compared to their ancient dirty carpets...i have my doubts. So, I am still looking for a place to host the event.
Josh bought me a new phone, a fancy schmancy iphone...someday I will figure out how to turn it on an off. Those basic functions are still a mystery. My sister told me I just need to sit and play with it...right...in all my many hours of spare time. Bahaha! I cannot remember the last time I was just sitting and bored and waiting to do something.
The hardest part of the phone? The SLIDE keyboard...you don't touch or tap you slide your fingers along the screen to wear the letters are (looks like you are reading braille) and the phone figures out what you are typing...but I think the phone and I speak different languages...I will type, 'Hi Tina, see you soon!' And I would get "Hi tunafish, seaweed you schooner!' I keep sending emails from my computer explaining to people that I did not have a lobotomu, just my phone is evil.
Josh bought a new car, 2005 Kia, paid a REALLY low price and it only has 24,000kms on it which is AWESOME! (considering our late Kia Spectra 2006 had 200,000 kms on it as of LAST YEAR....). Josh changes jobs on Friday and no longer can carpool, which is a bit sad because it has been GREAT having one vehicle for savings wise...but it is also pain when I work 40 mins west of our home and he works 30 mins EAST...so when he cannot carpool or our schedules don't mesh we need to call in some favors.
We are still madly in love with that house, Josh is waiting to start his new job and then off to the bank he goes...he got one part of the paperwork done and got an okay...the big question is can we keep the old house we live in and buy this one and hold both mortgages? Things will be tight but I can do without to have this home!
Other news....my sister Leah has finally decided after being engaged for 5 years they are getting married this summer!! She is the worst reluctant bride but I asked to handle and pay for her family dinner aka reception and she agreed and now we are having a BLAST!!! We chatted all night about wedding stuff and it was awesome!! She and I really lost touch and there was too much distance between us, but now it is like old times.
So I need to plan a wedding and make it CHEAP:)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday Afternoon...
We took the dogs in the afternoon to get their pictures taken. Randi Gallant is awesome, so hard to get into but somehow I managed it! (could help that we have done some charity work together)
Crosby of course was awesomely behaved but ignored Randi...she would try to get his attention and he was looking at me, as if to say, 'Mom someone is squeezing a squeaky toy but and I sitting like I am supposed to?'
Reggie was next and he was not too badly behaved for an old fart...but his poor mouth won't stay shut and where the jaw was broke, it hangs open and his tongue hangs out...but he was thrilled that I had not only blueberry doggy treats but salmon ones too! (a way to man's or beast's heart is through their stomach)
Kenzie...well she was normal Kenzie...weird, freaked out, completely paranoid over the whole situation. Bonus: she didn't pee on anything. I was happy.
Randi wanted to get a a group shot of all the dogs...right... Reggie and Crosby were no problem, they like each other and will nap together. Kenzie and Reggie are brother and sister and connected at the hip...but Kenzie and Crosby? Well...Kenzie likes to scream at him and he gets fed up with her strangeness (I mean he has been around for nearly 6 years now) and bops her on the head with his paw (which results in her turning ballistic and bit like the Tasmanian devil).
So, we tried and Kenzie was 'stiff' to say the least, Reggie wanted more food and Crosby was BORED...he knows every trip to the city means a visit to his best buddie's house or a trip to the dog park.
Trip to the dog park was funny for other reasons...Kathleen fell face first into mud, we were the only ones there and therefore I let the kids have free reign. The yorkies stood in the mud whining...they are not used to such harsh conditions like real dogs. Crosby got bored again with his sucky siblings.
Crosby of course was awesomely behaved but ignored Randi...she would try to get his attention and he was looking at me, as if to say, 'Mom someone is squeezing a squeaky toy but and I sitting like I am supposed to?'
Reggie was next and he was not too badly behaved for an old fart...but his poor mouth won't stay shut and where the jaw was broke, it hangs open and his tongue hangs out...but he was thrilled that I had not only blueberry doggy treats but salmon ones too! (a way to man's or beast's heart is through their stomach)
Kenzie...well she was normal Kenzie...weird, freaked out, completely paranoid over the whole situation. Bonus: she didn't pee on anything. I was happy.
Randi wanted to get a a group shot of all the dogs...right... Reggie and Crosby were no problem, they like each other and will nap together. Kenzie and Reggie are brother and sister and connected at the hip...but Kenzie and Crosby? Well...Kenzie likes to scream at him and he gets fed up with her strangeness (I mean he has been around for nearly 6 years now) and bops her on the head with his paw (which results in her turning ballistic and bit like the Tasmanian devil).
So, we tried and Kenzie was 'stiff' to say the least, Reggie wanted more food and Crosby was BORED...he knows every trip to the city means a visit to his best buddie's house or a trip to the dog park.
Trip to the dog park was funny for other reasons...Kathleen fell face first into mud, we were the only ones there and therefore I let the kids have free reign. The yorkies stood in the mud whining...they are not used to such harsh conditions like real dogs. Crosby got bored again with his sucky siblings.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Love at First Sight
Do you believe in it? I sure do cause it happened...and I have literally been swept off my feet!! Josh knows and understands cause he feels the same way....
Oh yes, we found a house....
We have been looking since Kathleen was a baby, we picked a neighbourhood that I grew up in (about an hour away)...it is upscale and lovely and horribly expensive....but the houses are nice and there was lots for sale in that area. We started going to open houses, and more and more...till we knew the neighborhood pretty good and the real estate agents knew us....
But we could never find the 'right' house, either too big, too ugly, not enough bedrooms, yard was too small, or the yard was just a cliff....or the big one was the price!! Prices out there are 3 times the cost of our current area.
A few weeks ago my husband mentioned a house down the street from us. It is older, looked larger and has not been lived in for many years. It had been taken off the market but the for sale signs are still up.
I emailed the real estate agent and a few days later I got a returned mail message. Being phone phobic I gave up but Josh ran into the real estate agent at his work place. They chatted about the house, another co-worker had worked in the house...
Josh works like a maniac and so do I, finding a day for us to see the house would be short of a miracle. This weekend we both had it off but Saturday was filled with a photo shoot for Kathleen's Kloset and then the doggy's had a photo shoot in the afternoon.
Sunday rolled around and Josh tried to call the real estate agent and no answer, in fact the phone kept sounding like a fax machine...but he did return our call to say he had been trying to reach the home owner for a few days and no luck and no chance to see the house this weekend. Bummed, we headed out for the afternoon at the family woodlot with my parents. On the way there we noticed the cell was near dead again and refused to charge again...(we need a new cell but I am hanging on to my blackberry!!). Enjoyed our time at the woodlot, kids had a blast, Mom and I had a nice talk, Crosby has fun running around loose and carefree.
On our way home, we noticed the cell decided to charge...and then it rang. Agent said he reached the owner and yes we could see the house! I called Mom and Dad and they met us at the house to go prowl through.
OH WHAT A HOUSE!!!! The kitchen was nasty and needs to be gutted, but there was a cut little sewing room that could be a nice shop/laundry room. A hidden set a stairs that was for the maids to the upstairs. A dining room that had cupboards built into the wall and a little door that opened from the kitchen so food could be served through. A living room with a real fireplace that works, another living room, a sun porch, a hallway so large it could be another room...hardwood floors and gorgeous woodwork.
The upstairs was insane...there are 6 bedrooms in this house! The furniture was antique and I was terrified of the kids knocking over anything! There are little closets in every room, one room has a hidden set of stairs to the attic, which was as spooky and huge and cool as any attic I read about in books. The yard is insanely huge, and the view...oh it is amazing since it faces the bay and the house is next to the falls.
The downer? It needs work...lots of it just to move in. Needs electrical, heat, a new kitchen, insulation, a fence....so much work and the owner wants a bit too much money for all the work that is needed...but I want it! And so does Josh! This house has some magic to it! It has rooms to be filled and I can see us living there and making it ours...
So the next scary step is Josh going to the bank. If they say no I am hoping we will have time to do what is needed to make the house ours before someone else snatches it away.
But for now I am madly, deeply in LOVE!
Oh yes, we found a house....
We have been looking since Kathleen was a baby, we picked a neighbourhood that I grew up in (about an hour away)...it is upscale and lovely and horribly expensive....but the houses are nice and there was lots for sale in that area. We started going to open houses, and more and more...till we knew the neighborhood pretty good and the real estate agents knew us....
But we could never find the 'right' house, either too big, too ugly, not enough bedrooms, yard was too small, or the yard was just a cliff....or the big one was the price!! Prices out there are 3 times the cost of our current area.
A few weeks ago my husband mentioned a house down the street from us. It is older, looked larger and has not been lived in for many years. It had been taken off the market but the for sale signs are still up.
I emailed the real estate agent and a few days later I got a returned mail message. Being phone phobic I gave up but Josh ran into the real estate agent at his work place. They chatted about the house, another co-worker had worked in the house...
Josh works like a maniac and so do I, finding a day for us to see the house would be short of a miracle. This weekend we both had it off but Saturday was filled with a photo shoot for Kathleen's Kloset and then the doggy's had a photo shoot in the afternoon.
Sunday rolled around and Josh tried to call the real estate agent and no answer, in fact the phone kept sounding like a fax machine...but he did return our call to say he had been trying to reach the home owner for a few days and no luck and no chance to see the house this weekend. Bummed, we headed out for the afternoon at the family woodlot with my parents. On the way there we noticed the cell was near dead again and refused to charge again...(we need a new cell but I am hanging on to my blackberry!!). Enjoyed our time at the woodlot, kids had a blast, Mom and I had a nice talk, Crosby has fun running around loose and carefree.
On our way home, we noticed the cell decided to charge...and then it rang. Agent said he reached the owner and yes we could see the house! I called Mom and Dad and they met us at the house to go prowl through.
OH WHAT A HOUSE!!!! The kitchen was nasty and needs to be gutted, but there was a cut little sewing room that could be a nice shop/laundry room. A hidden set a stairs that was for the maids to the upstairs. A dining room that had cupboards built into the wall and a little door that opened from the kitchen so food could be served through. A living room with a real fireplace that works, another living room, a sun porch, a hallway so large it could be another room...hardwood floors and gorgeous woodwork.
The upstairs was insane...there are 6 bedrooms in this house! The furniture was antique and I was terrified of the kids knocking over anything! There are little closets in every room, one room has a hidden set of stairs to the attic, which was as spooky and huge and cool as any attic I read about in books. The yard is insanely huge, and the view...oh it is amazing since it faces the bay and the house is next to the falls.
The downer? It needs work...lots of it just to move in. Needs electrical, heat, a new kitchen, insulation, a fence....so much work and the owner wants a bit too much money for all the work that is needed...but I want it! And so does Josh! This house has some magic to it! It has rooms to be filled and I can see us living there and making it ours...
So the next scary step is Josh going to the bank. If they say no I am hoping we will have time to do what is needed to make the house ours before someone else snatches it away.
But for now I am madly, deeply in LOVE!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Flying with Feather Dusters
I am a rotten housekeeper. I truly am!! I am not going to post any gross pictures of how BAD of a house keeper I am but if you look closely at any of the pictures I do post wiht the kids insde you can clearly see what I rotten little housekeeper I really am.
I despise dishes, those I can let build up and up and up....I am ashamed that it was the number one reason my roommates hated me:(
IU love clean and tidy houses and I wish my house was clean and tidy but I have found that after work and kids and laundry...I am BEAT! I just don't have a clue! Please don't tell me to JUST DO IT...well that doesn't just happen! i run around tidying and then look around and see the house looks no better.
BUT!!! (oh yes! I have a but in there!!) There was ONE time in my life my house was NEAT as a FREAKIN PIN!!! When I was pregnant with Charlie, I followed Flylady.
I have known about flyady since 2004, when I was pregnant with Peter but I only half followed it...but then we bought our FIRST house!! Oh, I wanted to be the housekeeper in my dreams!
I followed Flylady hardcore, I had the control journal, did the tasks, read the emails, etc... it drove me nuts and in 3 weeks I realized my house was SPOTLESS!! I was so excited!!! it hardly took any time but I felt so in control and I really was on cloud nine.
Even after Charles was born, I went back into my routine and the house stayed tidy and clean and I was so proud!!
When Charlie was 11 weeks old I went back to school, opened a business and the house went to hell in a handbasket.
Since then, I have been a rotten housekeeper, very rare do we have company over because I cannot handle the stress of crisis cleaning!!
My career days are coming to an ending due to an injury that has reared its ugly head and making my working life miserable and making me considering just folding my business SOON. but I am secretly VERY excited because I am going back to Flylady!!
(I know there are tons of people who work and do Flylady...lovely for you, I cannot, not in my genetic makeup.)
I know Flylady works for me and I was so proud of my home...when I was in the hospital with Charlie my darling husband decided he would make ME proud and go through my cleaning journal and follow my routine...he started in the mid afternoon and was still cleaning till 3am...not realizing that there was a method to the madness and the routine only took an hour but it made me feel like SuperHousewife!!
I am excited about getting my daughter's room TIDY...it has been a wreck for over a YEAR...I have not had the entire house tidy since Charlie's infancy....
Sounds funny that the girl who HATES housecleaning cannot wait to leave her job she loves to clean...
I despise dishes, those I can let build up and up and up....I am ashamed that it was the number one reason my roommates hated me:(
IU love clean and tidy houses and I wish my house was clean and tidy but I have found that after work and kids and laundry...I am BEAT! I just don't have a clue! Please don't tell me to JUST DO IT...well that doesn't just happen! i run around tidying and then look around and see the house looks no better.
BUT!!! (oh yes! I have a but in there!!) There was ONE time in my life my house was NEAT as a FREAKIN PIN!!! When I was pregnant with Charlie, I followed Flylady.
I have known about flyady since 2004, when I was pregnant with Peter but I only half followed it...but then we bought our FIRST house!! Oh, I wanted to be the housekeeper in my dreams!
I followed Flylady hardcore, I had the control journal, did the tasks, read the emails, etc... it drove me nuts and in 3 weeks I realized my house was SPOTLESS!! I was so excited!!! it hardly took any time but I felt so in control and I really was on cloud nine.
Even after Charles was born, I went back into my routine and the house stayed tidy and clean and I was so proud!!
When Charlie was 11 weeks old I went back to school, opened a business and the house went to hell in a handbasket.
Since then, I have been a rotten housekeeper, very rare do we have company over because I cannot handle the stress of crisis cleaning!!
My career days are coming to an ending due to an injury that has reared its ugly head and making my working life miserable and making me considering just folding my business SOON. but I am secretly VERY excited because I am going back to Flylady!!
(I know there are tons of people who work and do Flylady...lovely for you, I cannot, not in my genetic makeup.)
I know Flylady works for me and I was so proud of my home...when I was in the hospital with Charlie my darling husband decided he would make ME proud and go through my cleaning journal and follow my routine...he started in the mid afternoon and was still cleaning till 3am...not realizing that there was a method to the madness and the routine only took an hour but it made me feel like SuperHousewife!!
I am excited about getting my daughter's room TIDY...it has been a wreck for over a YEAR...I have not had the entire house tidy since Charlie's infancy....
Sounds funny that the girl who HATES housecleaning cannot wait to leave her job she loves to clean...
Searching...
Josh is back on night shift...feels like lately all he does is work (cause in fact he does work nearly all the time, no days off here!) and I am doing my usual 5 year old routine of not going to bed when I should. Instead of crawling into bed like a sensible person, I am scrolling through blogs, entering new sights, reading, hoping to find some thing that will pique my interest.
The simple truth is I want something to ease the lonely feelings. Drives Josh bananas that I am this needy...cause lordy knows he is not but 'I yam who I yam!', I know there are millions of woman just like me and I wish I could take come comfort in that.
I would rather both home bored with him then alone and bored.
Besides? Who can get bored sitting at home with a guy like him? :)
The simple truth is I want something to ease the lonely feelings. Drives Josh bananas that I am this needy...cause lordy knows he is not but 'I yam who I yam!', I know there are millions of woman just like me and I wish I could take come comfort in that.
I would rather both home bored with him then alone and bored.
Besides? Who can get bored sitting at home with a guy like him? :)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Not too shabby...
When I arrived in Atlanta I had a split moment thought that I would never leave...cause the grass was green, the air was WARM, the roses were in bloom....and well...Canada had 6 feet of snow covering everything...can you understand why it was tempting to just call hubby and ask him to drive down??
I belong to an awesome soriety of sorts call the CATS aka the Cape and Tiara Society, we are all dog groomers and we do good things for others by raising money sending cards, etc. And we wear dorky crowns and walk around the convention like we own the place (cuz we are so cool...)
Competing was time consuming, you have to bond with the dog, play with the dog comb out the dog, get a bathing time at an ungodly hour, wake up at 5am to get ready...in the ring I nearly cried. Normally you have 1-3" of extra hair...I had 18" (we measured cause it was so funny). The dog was well behaved and looked like a new dog when i was done but I was SOOOO tired and terrified and MAD!! I was! I KNEW I did not have a chance in hades to win, and I like to win...I had 2.5 hours to groom and the first hour was spent HACKING off extra hair...when i should have been sculpting...
But after the winners were announced i was ready to leave the judge waved me over and told me she had me pegged at 4th!!!! That is insane!!! it is the world largest grooming competition and I came 4th in my division!! But I got a free lesson and learned a ton, got a ton of sleep and lost 17lbs eating nothing but junk food and good southern food (YUMMY!!!).
I am glad to be home, I took the remaining week off because of march break here but I do NOT want to go back to work...and I also now know that my grooming days are very numbered, my rotator cuff is torn and not getting better. So between eating Ibuprofen (which causes stomach/liver issues) and wishing I could stay home to get this house CLEANER...ugh....I am feeling less and less like going back.
I am saying for sure I am DONE July 1st....but that date may move up sooner...
I belong to an awesome soriety of sorts call the CATS aka the Cape and Tiara Society, we are all dog groomers and we do good things for others by raising money sending cards, etc. And we wear dorky crowns and walk around the convention like we own the place (cuz we are so cool...)
Competing was time consuming, you have to bond with the dog, play with the dog comb out the dog, get a bathing time at an ungodly hour, wake up at 5am to get ready...in the ring I nearly cried. Normally you have 1-3" of extra hair...I had 18" (we measured cause it was so funny). The dog was well behaved and looked like a new dog when i was done but I was SOOOO tired and terrified and MAD!! I was! I KNEW I did not have a chance in hades to win, and I like to win...I had 2.5 hours to groom and the first hour was spent HACKING off extra hair...when i should have been sculpting...
But after the winners were announced i was ready to leave the judge waved me over and told me she had me pegged at 4th!!!! That is insane!!! it is the world largest grooming competition and I came 4th in my division!! But I got a free lesson and learned a ton, got a ton of sleep and lost 17lbs eating nothing but junk food and good southern food (YUMMY!!!).
I am glad to be home, I took the remaining week off because of march break here but I do NOT want to go back to work...and I also now know that my grooming days are very numbered, my rotator cuff is torn and not getting better. So between eating Ibuprofen (which causes stomach/liver issues) and wishing I could stay home to get this house CLEANER...ugh....I am feeling less and less like going back.
I am saying for sure I am DONE July 1st....but that date may move up sooner...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)