The end of summer.......

Enjoy the photo of Quinn at Fire camp.

This is always a hard time of year for me. I am not in the "oooooh, let's decorate our fall mantle" camp. I am in the "why can't we have one more month between July and August" camp. I spent the weekend camping with my boys at a local quarry. Spring-fed waters at about 80 degrees, beach bumming, jumping off the cliffsides, campfires and smores, dancing in the evening hours, snuggling in the tent....I want more of that.

First day of school today. It comes so fast. One going into Grade 6 who reminded me that he had to have this kind of that and the right whatsits. The other one going into his Junior year at highschool, whom I had to remind to shave this a.m.

Whoosh.......that's the sound of summer. At least I have some beautiful memories and pictures to last me through till next year :)

...we now return you to our regular programming.

I'm back. Suntanned,R & R'd, with a sore back from bad cottage mattresses, living off the nothing in my fridge until I can get to a store. Still down one kiddo (Liam gets in from his trip to Calgary this Thursday). Quinn had a great week at summer camp and even though Momma got a sore back she had a pretty good time watching Greg work his buns off at the cottage while she sipped cocktails :) ....now back to life, back to reality!

Hairy Christmas!

I am getting ready this week to steal some remaining time off that I am owed. Down to the dregs of work hours and I am pretty proud of myself. Shopping for gifts, groceries and odds & ends is complete. Running around on Friday afternoon (on my lunch hour) to get the groceries into the house under the wire was worth every harrowing moment. I had pretty much all weekend to tidy and fluff the house getting ready for guests and friends.

My Dad will be flying in tonight and the family is super excited to see Gramps for Christmas. It's been at least 20 years since I had a Christmas morning with the old guy so I might be a bit excited too :)

I will admit that I have let up this year on the usual "cavalcade of junk" that makes my family room look like Santa's sleigh threw up....it's a smaller pile this year. As the boys get older the gifts seem to get smaller and more expensive and we have decidedly cinched the belts as well. Yo, we have a pool to pay off, right? Merry Christmas boys.

I am loving the milder winter weather we are enjoying, it's made driving around decent and errands don't seem like a scene from a horror show! Not being a "strong winter driver" means I have taken great advantage of the clear roads to get everything ship-shape prior to the snow flying.

I took the boys to the mall on Friday night, which is a 40 minute drive for us. I was amazed at the lack of whining and thoroughly enjoyed shopping for Dad with my guys. They always surprise me with what they get for one another. It really is sweet, and their gift ideas are so well thought out.

Here is wishing you and yours a lovely holiday. Hairy Christmas, yo!

Bobbing to the surface....

Has it been actual weeks since I've posted here? Gads, my life right now is like being inside a blender on the HIGH setting, except I'm not HIGH and that may be why I am not doing everything on the To-Do list with a sunny smile on my face :(

That being said, the Hubs and I are off this weekend for a much-needed weekend away at a local hotel. We have enlisted the Grammas' help and will have 2 glorious days of wild sex and couple-time. OK, OK....room service and bad daytime TV. :)

Anyway, if anyone is still reading this.....I will be coming back. I will be posting some of the glorious crap I've been up to and I promise to WOW you all. LOL

For now, picture this as me, coming up for air soon!

My Housebound Holidays

Bonjour my legion of fans....miss me?

Don't answer that.

My Christmas was *good* thanks, in that I did receive an awesome new KitchenAid mixer toy from Greg and I have pretty much made rolls, bread and cake for days on end now. I am positively Martha these days, y'all. Meet my new boyfriend:

Family drama ensued throughout the holidays which was *bad*, but it isn't anything new to me or to you most likely, I'm sure you had some of your own ;) By the way, how was your holiday? Regale me with your own drama. Please. I need to make sure it's not just MY family.

As to my holiday overall, it was my evil plan all along to NOT leave my house for as many days as I had off. I was almost completely successful in this. Other than having to restock the house with food once (believe me bats had to fly out of the pantry first), complete one shopping trip for the boys to spend some Xmas cash (2 hours tops) and provide a birthday party trip to a waterpark for Quinn (I read magazines and sat in a hot tub for 4 hours)....I did not leave my house. I also did not complete one house project. I didn't repaint anything nor did I "shop my house" for any reason. I didn't decorate anything other than a dinner roll. See, the whole point was to take time off. Time off. I read, I watched TV, I played games, I ate (and ate) and enjoyed company and the kids....I took *time off*.

Imagine me fist-pumping into the sky here.

But darlings, there is a piper to pay for being housebound. It's a little thing called your immune system. That's right, I too have joined the ranks of the red-eyed, sore, sniffling, coughing plattoon of the suffering. Just in time to go back to work too. Hooray. Damn hottub, I should know better than to sit in "people soup" for four freakin' hours!!!!

Annnnndddddddd the only reason you have had no idea that I am so terribly ill and horribly whiny (and that you have not sent more chocolate or flowers)???????? My home computer DIED over the holidays. Sorry, it didn't DIE, it was murdered by a horde of downloading fourteen year old spawn of Satan that visit my home from time to time in the guise of my son's friends. So this blog post (lucky and auspicious NUMBER 100) was prepared offsite and loaded here at work on my lunchhour. No big loss, I feel like eating anything today  like I feel like going to the gynecologist....

So, leave me some sympathy here lovelies and tell me your holiday horror stories. I'll be checking in. Never fear, I'll be back and baby, I've got lots to say in 2011!

Should you receive a call from Kentucky...

...you'll know it's me. Next Thursday I am going to set out on what will either be the bonding-moments of a lifetime with my three guys or what will feel like the longest tooth extraction in history. I figure by the time we get to Kentucky I am going to know which way this vacation is headed. Please keep your cell phone on.

Greg, the boys and I are heading south. To Florida, Daytona Beach to be exact and then a tour of the unhappiest place on Earth....Universal Studios. Florida in August. I know, I know.

Last December when my Dad offered me his timeshare points for a trip anywhere in the world, I pictured....well, Rome, the Scottish highlands, Bali, Peru....not me puce and screaming at the apex of the Terminator ride crying for my Mommy. However, we do all sorts of insane things for our children and barring our annual travels to the family cottage, our little family unit has never had a trip away together. Now, follow me here, my kids are 8 and 14 and I have to date not had to travel with them and their father anywhere farther than 4 hours from my front door. Truly and with great conviction, I could turn to the backseat at anytime and scream...."I WILL TURN THIS VAN AROUND!" Sure I took the boys to Alberta by myself in 2008 but I had no back-up (i.e. Greg) and therefore I was *very clear* about how that whole trip was going to roll down the behaviour tracks. :)

I am thinking that planning is the key here. We leave on Aug. 12th....I have planned for 2.5 days of driving so as to allow for side trips and the inevitable stops at strange roadside attractions that my Boy#2 can smell from 47 miles away (i.e. the World's Largest Potato that Looks Like Jesus). Although if we are going anywhere near Louisville, KY, I know where my hubs is gonna want to stop :)

I have confirmed our reservation in Daytona Beach, where we have (according to the brochures and website) a gorgeous 2 bedroom condo, full kitchen/ laundry with all the comforts of home (on the 7th floor - EEP!) Thank you Daddy.

I have been actively researching online for "things to do" and have found a lot of information on the web. I do know we are doing the following:



A) the Biggest Flea Market in America!! pity my van's shocks ;)
B) sea turtle conservation tour and volunteer night rescue
C) free chocolate factory tour (mmmmmmm......oops, sorry)
D) adjoining waterpark to our resort...one whole day will be sucked down into this hole.....trust me :(
E) largest National Reptile Expo in the US of A (hell.yeah.)
F) go-carts! c'mon everyone loves go-carts
G) oldest lighthouse in America tour (my attempt at educational)

We have the condo from August 14-21, we'll leave very early (in Dharma hours that is 9:00 a.m., in Greg hours that is 4:45 a.m.) and drive to Orlando where we are checking into the Universal Studio's hotel the Hard Rock. Just for being a guest, we get swipe cards that allow us to jump the lines and we get a sneak peek 1-hour prior to opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We are planning to be at Universal for 2 whole days soaking in the magic....and then we're off! Back northbound....

I really am very excited for the boys, this is a big (please God, let this be once in a lifetime) trip for our little family. Not that I don't LOVE my guys, I just hate theme parks, sleeping in other people's beds, waterparks, sand and highrises.... other than that I am sure I'll have a fantastic time! But it's all for these guys really isn't it? Oh, and no we're not bringing the damn dog. I draw the line.

Send a maid, a chauffer, a personal assistant, a wife.....

I am so damn tired. I know I will sally-on. For today though, I feel like trying not to curl up under my desk and pretend that I'm not turning into my best version of a slug.

I start my 2nd-year University course in 3 weeks, I have probably a million pages of pre-course reading to undertake and I cannot seem to find anytime in the day to even get a start on any of it. I am swimming in overtime. I have so many projects on the fly right now I should have sprouted 6 more arms and changed my name to Vishnu.

The boys (including Greg) are flying into summer with track & field, taekwon do, baseball, summer vacation plans, school grad, cottaging, friends, BBQs, entertaining, deck plans etc etc etc. Greg is off for the summer, of course (insert eye-roll here). I know I should bow down in the direction of Mecca and thank my holy stars for that.....but truly, sometimes having 3 men in my house while I am at work all summer long with the housekeeper on holidays......just the thought of it makes me wanna cry.

So I am seriously thinking of taking up drinking in the afternoons, wanna join me?