The week in review

The last week has been pretty much uneventful other then a bit of snow here. Quade is completely back to normal and now in heavy duty teething mode on those back molars. He's doing really well with just chewing on his toys and nothing else. *knock on wood* I can't believe he's 15 weeks old now and weighs in at 40 lbs. He's not chubby at all but looks very healthy and is one solid pup.

Cleo and Quade get along so well except for the fact that Quade likes to jump up on her and when he gets close to her hips she yelps so that has me a bit concerned.

Photography class started this week and it was really interesting. We learned about shooting from different angles, directions and when it's best to use a flash. I'm looking forward to learning more and to be able to take better photos.
We have homework and i've taken some shots but need to get out and take some more before class on Wednesday or go through some photos and use them for the assignment.


I've started Christmas shopping and this year will be cut back from last year, which is a good thing. Hal and I are going to plan a trip away instead of buying each other stuff we don't really need. I picked up a few things at Fields and need to get to BookMasters to pick up some other items. The only thing Hal is getting will be picked up at Home Hardware and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FISHING! *that's just in case my computer illiterate hubby actually finds this place, lol.

I'm disappointed he's not going to hockey tonight as I was looking forward to some time alone in the house and to putz around with the music cranked. Oh well, i'll probably crank the tunes anyways and he can just turn the game up. Who know's maybe he'll change his mind and go...i'll try prompting him to go that it will help work out the stiffness in his groin.

I'm going to upload a few pictures and will be back to post.

Call me 'Windbag"

Ahh, it's Saturday morning and i'm enjoying a hot cuppa Joe. The dishwasher is going and now i'm pondering what to do next...put in a load of laundry, vacuum, wash the dishes in the sink or make the bed. Guess what....NADA! I'm going to blog while i've got 20 minutes of peace and quiet. It was nice to sleep in until 7 a.m. this morning too although right now I feel as though a nap is in order, lol.

What an amazing whirlwind the last two weeks have been! And has it really only been two weeks cuz time has flown by but that could also be in part to how busy our social life has been and it's AWESOME!

Let's start off with our trip to Vancouver on September 28. I just love my hunny, he was a trooper. You have to know how much he hates shopping to get this, lol. We arrived in Vancouver on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. By the time we drove from the Airport to Port Coquitlam it was 8:15 and Coquitlam Centre closed at 9:00 p.m. Hal was in dire need of adding some new clothes to his wardrobe and let me tell you in less then 45 minutes we had him clothed, lol. He picked out two shirts and a pair of jeans and said he was going to try them on. Well while he was in the dressing room I picked him out two more pair of pants, a sweater and 5 shirts. He steps out of the dressing room for me to see how the jeans fit and most importantly how I liked his bum in the jeans, lol. He saw the stack of clothes and said "I don't have to try all of those on do I?" Told him no but that he should try on the sweater, a tshirt and the pants so we could see if the size had to be changed. One pair of the pants went back and we changed the size on the tshirts. We hit an amazing sale I tell you!! The clothes we picked out would have cost almost $400.00. Hal had $200.00 in Sears gift cards that the meat department won at work. He still has almost $40.00 on a card!!! We saved over half on the clothes he bought. This was all done in less then 45 minutes too...yay I love shopping!

We then scooted off to Maple Ridge to his brother's place to spend the night. We stayed up until almost 1 a.m. talking and catching up. 8 a.m. came way to early the next morning but we had lots to get done on Saturday. Up for coffee and breakfast, showers and hit the road for our busy day. First stop was at Marks WorkWearHouse for Hal to find some new winter boots. Again, amazing shopping. He saw a pair of boots that he really liked and they're nice and even better they were on sale too!

We picked up our boy Quade on September 29 (two weeks ago today). Saturday night after getting Quade (Rio) settled at Hal's brothers place we headed into Port Coquitlam to go for dinner and to the BC Lions vs Calgary Stampeders game. Dinner at Moxies was fantastic! OMG do they know how to cook a steak! Good food, great company and lots of laughs.

The game was a blow out. BC Lions rocked the house! I have to say it was odd watching a football game live as the field seemed so much smaller then it does on the tv screen. Although...I would probably drop dead running from one end of it to the other. The players looked really nice in their tight pants too, i'm a bum girl so appreciated the view!

We spent the second half of the game just socializing as it was clearly the Lions game. We were such rebels too Hal and I. Rhonda and Dennis had amazing seats and there were a lot of empty ones beside them so with a little ticket swapping we managed to sneak up and enjoy the view and company.

I DO NOT ENJOY THE TRAFFIC in the lower mainland. On Saturday Hal and I spent 7 hours of our day in traffic. This is going from Maple Ridge to Chilliwack, Chilliwack back to Maple Ridge. Maple Ridge to downtown Vancouver and then Vancouver back to Maple Ridge. It sounds like quite the distance but really wasn't, just waiting in traffice. It makes us appreciate the fact that it takes us 2 minutes to drive to work.

The weekend went by way to quickly but was a lot of fun to get away and enjoy time with family and friends.

Enough for this post....more to come.

We're off!

Roughly 29 hours from now we'll have Rio! We will be flying out this afternoon and then as the post below shows we'll be extremely busy. I slept really well last night but have a feeling tonight will be a little tougher.

We're so appreciative of Scott and Gloria loaning us Dozer's travel case. I have to tell you that seeing Dozer standing next to this travel case he dwarfed it and it's so hard to believe at one point that bruiser fit in there, lol.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for putting up with our excitement and continued talk of getting our boy. See you soon!!

Counting down the days

The countdown has begun....6 more sleeps and Rio will be in our arms! I can't wait for all the puppy love and to have him join our family.

It's going to be such a rushed trip but such a nice getaway too. We fly out Friday afternoon and will be staying with our family in Maple Ridge. Saturday morning we're getting up early to go get some shopping done then head to Chilliwack to get our pup. We will spend an hour or so with the breeder filling out paper work and getting filled in on all things puppy.

We will then head to our familys place in Port Coquitlam, head out for dinner and then off to the BC Lions game. Sunday morning we'll have brunch, off to do more shopping and then head to the airport to fly out on Sunday evening.

Hal and I both now have Monday off and if i'm not needed at work then the 5 of us will spend our first day at home all together. WHEW busy but i'm excited.

10 Favourite Childhood Movies

I saw this on Alison's Blog and thought it would be a fun one!

My 10 faves are:

GREASE
ET
HERBIE MOVIES
THE SHAGGY DOG
THE WIZARD OF OZ
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG
The WITCH MOUNTAIN Movies
STARWARS
BENJI
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Visit with Mom

Wow, it's been awhile since i've posted to Blogger but have to say that time away from the internet is only a good thing!!

Our visit was wonderful, albeit too short. I am thankful, however, for the time we had. Mom and Doug are going to come up next summer with the motorhome to do some camping and fishing....YAY!!!!

We couldn't ask for better weather and thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of it. Our Prince Rupert trip had the best weather too and it was a great trip. We checked out the shops in Cow Bay and Atlin Terminal. We were disappointed though that Smiles was closed but had a good lunch at Breakers.

I miss Mom and living close enough to be able to just pop in for a visit or a cup of coffee and a good bs session. I feel we are reconnecting again and it feels good. Love you Mom and miss you already!!

Here's some pics of our visit:

Mom and Doug at Breakers Pub


A little Highway visitor:


Stop along the way to Rupert:

Blogger vs. Facebook, growing old, my Mom and fear

So i've been kind of negligent lately on Blogger. Not because I haven't wanted to be but Facebook is a novelty and has been a wonderful tool for finding family and friends I haven't been in touch with forever. It's good for sending a quick message, posting a note, poking someone and letting a whole network see in one click what's going on instead of them checking out your page all the time.

However, I do miss blogger because it's a great place to just put down thoughts, feelings, recipes, meal plans, vents, pictures and just connect with friends and family I have here too. There is no comparison between the two, they're both great online communication tools with totally different features.

The last month has been one of much turmoil and decision making. From a previous post you know i've gotten a full time job and i'm excited for a new beginning. This is going on in other parts of my life too. Hal and I are no longer trying for a family (actually haven't been for a bit) but now i've started back on the birth control pill as a measure of prevention and the hormone balancing act it will do with PCOS symptoms that are way out of control. In regards to PCOS and Insulin resistance that i've got going on he's now put me on Avanda-Met. Initially he put me on Metformin 7 years ago. It worked amazing at first BUT I was also more active, food aware, etc. and I lost 35 lbs. Now with PCOS you never know when things are going to go out of whack. Somewhere in there we tried to conceive and managed to twice but lost both in miscarriage. With those, the loss of family members, stress, etc. I gained back most of that weight and had no motivation to get active, poor eating and voila....Met quit working and I quit Met.

Last fall I asked our dr. about Avandia and he said to try it, well by December i'd put on 8 lbs...NOT GOOD!! I went off everything and had this whole idea that drugs were not required, only kidding myself of course. Periods have been irregular, a bit of depression and irritability, obvious excess of unwanted hormones, etc. This week I went back to see him, told him that i'd quit Avandia and natural stuff and was sick and tired of PCOS, couldn't he just take out my woman parts, dip the whole body in wax and riiiippppppp it off and while were at it lets do a whole lotta lipo with one condition....part of what came off the front had to go on the back to give me an ass!! Thank god he understands my humour and we had a good laugh over that. He said that women parts were not coming out as it's better to have them in there doing a bit of something then to depend wholly on hormone therapy, that it has to be frustrating to have a disease that you need to lose weight on to make the symptoms ease BUT it's really difficult to lose that weight because of Insulin resistance and the whole hormonal fluctuations. He also said that I am retaining way too much water! Hello?!?! Please tell me there's at least 80lbs of excess water in this hot bod!! LOL On a good note with all this other stuff going on my blood pressure is excellent, heart still ticking, cholesterol and all that other stuff is good.

Enough about health...MY MOM IS COMING THIS WEEKEND!! It's so exciting to know she's coming to visit and even it's a few days that's such a blessing. We're planning on a trip to Prince Rupert as she and Doug would really like to visit while they're here. They will head to Prince George on Tuesday or Wednesday morning for Doug's granddaughters graduation and then back home to Vernon by Sunday.

We've come quite aways and it's nice to hear that she's tuned in most times when we talk on the phone now. May 21st is a hard day for her as it's my deceased brothers birthday but she said that she's focusing more on how thankful she is to have had him for 16 years because she really should have only had him for 2 but God blessed her with 14 extra years. She misses him and says part of her heart will always feel empty because he's gone but she's got the rest of us too and that keeps her going.

I can't even begin to imagine as a Mother how hard it must have been to watch your child die before your eyes and not have any control over it. It shows me that she truly is a strong women, she carried on after he died and did the best she could to keep it together. Thinking about it some days must have been very difficult to even get out of bed but she did. She kept living, loving and was able to laugh again without feeling guilt. I try not to think of the day that we lose Mom and the emptiness that will fill that part of our hearts. It was hard losing Dad but we had Mom still and even though we're adults there are times I still feel like her little kid, she's going to keep us safe, she's going to reprimand me for rocking on the legs of the kitchen chair or burping rudely, etc. I'm a grown woman but there are times I want nothing more then to feel safe in the arms of my Mom, cuddling with her on the couch like we did as kids, or waking from a night terror and there was Mom arms ready to scoop me into a hug and tell me it was alright, the monster wasn't going to get me, that it was okay she was there to protect me. There will come a day that I will cradle Mom in my arms, scare the monsters away and tell her it's alright. That day I will be strong, it is the days that follow I fear the most.

XO Pen


ps: hopefully this post has not been too confusing, this was total free writing.

Changes

As some of you know i've been offered a full time job and have accepted it. I will be back doing Accounts Payable and Receivables. I will definitely miss my job working with Pauline, Henry and the gang. I said to Pauline today that she'll have to be sure to put the following in the job requirements "Must be willing to make a complete fool of oneself and have a great time! No singing skill required!"

I feel like i'm leaving part of my family and also have a bit of the 'new job' jitters. It will be fine and there is a few weeks to get used to the idea.

However, onto other stuff....THE MALL IS TURNING 50!! We are going to have Birthday cake, live entertainment by our Kitimat Idols and Adrian (Elvis) T., the Totem pole will be open for viewing, photo archive displays from the last 50 years and there will be balloons! This is happening on Saturday, May 19th from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Off to bed for now and will be back tomorrow to catch up on the blogs.

Update in our world

wow, it's been crazy the last couple weeks! We've got the boat in the water, Hal and I will take our maiden voyage together tomorrow and i'm so excited!!

I have to say that Parker is absolutely adorable *I know already said it but he truly is!* and Kali Joy, well I love her more and more. She's turning into quite the individual and never ceases to bring a smile to your face. Shari and Doug are truly amazing parents who create beautiful babies too. Once again Hal and I say "Congratulation on the birth of your little son!"

In our world now Hal and I have completely changed our way of eating because of his health issues that have come up.

I'm generally eat a very healthy diet but my dearest was a late night snacker, grilled cheese, bacon n' eggs, kinda guy and now that he's found out his cholesterol is high he's on board with me. Needless to say this has made heart healthy cooking a whole lot easier. We now consume way more vegetables and are purging all the sugary, junk food out of the house.

I now walk with Cleo every night and have managed to get in a few morning walks with her plus Hal and I have been doing yardwork/spring cleaning.

I've lost 6 of the 8 lbs I gained over winter and right now am going to be happy with that loss and keep doing the same for another two weeks and then hopefully kick it up another notch.

Wishing you all well and will try to post more often. I have to say that the girls got me hooked on Facebook and i've found relatvies and friends whom i've been out of touch with for quite some time and it's been fabulous!!

To Blog or not to Blog???

**Tumbleweeds blow slowly by, the only sound is the whistle and hum of the wind blowing through the deserted buildings busted windows. Nary a soul is to be found in this dusty, lonely, ghost town!**

Glad to see that Spring is arriving and everyone's busy getting their spring chores done and enjoying any bit of sunshine we can.

Yesterday Hal and I spent as much time as possible out in the yard....okay, I was cleaning out flower beds and he was sitting in his boat, lol! Really, he was farting around putting on the rod holders, adjusting seats and getting it ready for us to fish this weekend.

Tata for now and sending sunny, springtime wishes to all.

Updates on odds n' ends

Thought i'd better come back and do some updates!

The Pampered Chef party was quite successful. Socializing with friends, enjoying good food and shopping.....where can you go wrong, lol!!

Puppy News
We're still waiting for news of a breeding and fingers crossed that there is a puppy to join our family this year!

Health
I've taken myself off all medications, herbs, etc. to let my body just be for awhile and focusing more on healthier food choices, exercising regularly and doing more research on a holistic approach. Since then i've actually gotten a period on my own and my blood pressure has dropped to a normal range (obviously raised by the meds I was on) and have managed to lose a few pounds (water i'm sure but it's a loss).

Home
The main bathroom is pretty much finished other then some small decorating and finishing touches. Hal's in the shower right now so i'm not going to take pics to post just yet but they'll follow.

It's such a wonderful feeling having the house and turning it into our home by adding personal touches. We were very lucky to have found a house already updated so it was really a matter of picking colours, home decor and appliances.

We're anxiously awaiting the nice weather so we can paint the deck, fence and get the spring yardwork done.

Drift Boat
We leave Wednesday afternoon for a marathon drive to Montana where we'll get the boat. Hal and I realized we pass through Lethbridge and will be stopping there to see his cousin Linda. It's been quite some time since they've seen each other and are looking forward to catching up.

Laura will be staying here to watch the house and our furbabies so that's a relief!

Personal
Focusing on believing in myself again, knowing what I am capable of doing and not allowing others to have me question it. Breaking free of the comfort zone and looking out for what's best for me. Now don't get me wrong here, i'm not out to wreak havoc or do this at the expense of others.

We are anxiously awaiting Parkers birth and wish Shari a very safe and speedy delivery. Keeping Shari, Doug and the babes in our prayers!

It's been good for the soul to get out and socialize more too. This past month has been filled with lots of it and so enjoyable to be around so many wonderful people. A few of these have been: pre pampered chef party, pampered chef party, Easter dinner with Shari, Doug and Kali, Craft Fair and then Jenny's on Saturday! All in one months time frame....ahh, the heart is a smilin!

Enough for now and think that's pretty much covered it.

Why do we do this to ourselves...or is it just me?

I'm having a Pampered Chef party tonight and i'm so excited to entertain.....live for it in fact and wish we did more of it. However, that is part of my issue. I know my friends don't come to judge how clean my house is or isn't but I get panicky and stress about it being clean. I don't want anyone to think that Hal and I are pigs and don't care about our home.

I know this stems back to visits from his Mom and Grandma. They wouldn't say anything to your face but didn't have a problem telling the rest of the family. The kicker is that our house was never messy there either but it seemed like they weren't happy unless they made you unhappy or were complaining about something. When Hal and I renovated our kitchen all freaking hell broke loose!! Well we were just going to make a mess of it, we couldn't possibly know what we were doing, etc. The end result was one very bright, clean and more to our liking kitchen and they all liked it too.

Anyways, back on topic. Last night I got a call that work was changed from morning shift to afternoon and that put me into panic mode. OMG, I had planned on coming home from work early afternoon and vacuuming, scrubbing floors and do a tidy up on the bathroom. Well I was up until 2 in the morning putzing around and managed to organize the pantry a bit better, cleaned the office, guest bathroom and bedroom and got a load of dishes through the dishwasher. Now this seems like a lot but it was just little odds and ends that i'd been procrastinating and got them done.

I'm not stressed now but it frustrates the bejeezus outta me why I let myself get turned inside out over really little shit. OCD MUCH!!!!

Going to have fun tonight regardless of what happens. The weather isn't very agreeable so not sure if Carla will make it in from Terrace for the party. If not, well there's a bottle of tequila, a lime and some snack stuff....PARTY AT PENS!!!



.

I love my hunny.....BUT

HE'S SUCH A WEINER SOMETIMES!

On Wednesday night i'm hosting a Pampered Chef party. Well we're both feeling a little panicked cuz the bathroom isn't finished and the house is a gong show! Tonight Hal comes home from work and he says "Well aren't you going to clean the windows too?" "Hello, earth to Hal. This is a Pampered Chef party not the Queen's Inspection crew coming over!" LOL. I love him but silly man. Regular housework and finishing the bathroom is the main goal.

**insert shameless plug here: If you'd like to come it's an open invite. 7:30 p.m. on March 28th. If your interested in coming leave a comment and let me know then i'll tell you where, lol**

I'M CRANKY!!

.

and tired of some bullshit in my life!! Can't go into details here just yet but will soon. Let's just say that I really need to make some changes in certain areas of my life and tonight I'M JUST FEELING BITCHY!! I warned Hal that I was feeling this way and that it wasn't him just other crap.

I feel trapped at times and stuck but not sure what to do. Pulled out a journal and thought i'd start writing again, lots of times what's bugging me but am unable to put a finger on it comes out that way.

Another thing is my home office/work space. This weekend will be the time that it gets organized so I can utilize the space and my crafty things!! Perhaps this will help get the creative juices flowing, lol.

Enough venting right now, just focus on what I need to do to find satisfaction with certain parts of my life.

.

GONE TO VANCOUVER!!

Hi all,

I'm gone to Vancouver with a dear friend Laura for a week. Hal's feeling a little left out and I feel kind of bad, lol. Still haven't heard from Rhonda yet tonight to see if she's still meeting us but really hope she is.

Have a wonderful week, keep smilin' and talk to you next week.
Hugs and love to all,
Pen

I'm going private for now

Hi all,

I've decided to go private for awhile for a number of reasons. If you'd like to read my blog send an email to blueyessmilin@hotmail.com and i'll add you to the list if you haven't been added already. If you've been missed it's purely by accident or I didn't have an email address for you to send a request to.

Take care,
Penny

Accountability

My new motto is: Today is your tomorrow!!
I've realized just how much time I waste here on the internet and i'm truly an addict!! It's really hard to write that but it's the truth and what's suffering is my health. These past three days i've really focused on not being online so much and to get more active.

Today I came home from work and instead of plunking down to read emails, surf favourite sites and just get lost I cleaned some of the kitchen cupboard doors, got stuff ready for dinner, took Cleo for a half hour walk and put laundry away.

From here on in i'm going to use the net as a sort of reward system. So much activity will allow so much time online. The goal (as pathetic as it sounds) is to get away from the internet and back to LIVING LIFE to make TODAY MY TOMORROW!

For me it was a comfort, companion and a place I could get lost when Dad was dying. I would escape to the library and get play backgammon with a dear friend in Australia or connect up with my sister. It was an out from reality and although life is at a different place now and so much better it's still a comfort zone for me and it's really not healthy for my body as I need to move, MOVE, M O V E!!

Take care all,
Pen