Heat Wave...

Holy heck it was hot in Petawawa today. Well over 28 degrees Celsius. It felt like July. It was great! Once I got the kids out the door that is. Before they left, it was madness trying to find all of their hats, put sunscreen on them, give them all their medicine. You know, a normal weekday morning. I actually spent the afternoon ripping apart the flower bed, with Arlene's help, of course. Maybe we could have picked a little cooler day. Surprisingly, not one of the kids asked for the sprinkler or to go swimming. What's up with that?? I had been bracing myself for it all day! All they wanted was Popsicles. I was okay with that, much less trouble for me. I was totally not in the mood for that in and out of their bathing suits foolishness. I really should have uncovered the air conditioner this afternoon, its over 26 degrees in the house. Hopefully, it will cool down some over night. Although, I'm much too paranoid to leave the windows open at night. And I do hate sleeping with the window open in my room at this time of year, because it just makes my allergies worse. I can barely see as it is. I suppose I could go outside now and uncover it, but it's dark out there, and I'm frightened. Actually, I'm just too lazy. And besides, I might miss some of House, and that would not be good. Hmm, come to think of it, it has gotten a lot warmer in here since House came on.

"Weather forecast for tonight: dark."~~George Carlin

Elizabeth and the Doctor...

Elizabeth had a routine doctor's appointment this morning. There was no fear of me being bored while we waited for him as she was quite chatty. So chatty, she was a bit manic and jumped topics like frogs on lily pads. We had quite an in depth conversation about the two vents in the floor, which is evidently a fascinating subject. We then discussed the size of the exam room, as it was once an old PMQ and she figured it was the same as her old room in Petawawa. She insists she remembers it well, which I find interesting as we moved to Gagetown when she was 18 months old. She then noticed the fish poster on the ceiling above the exam table. "Look at the pretty fish, mom. And isn't it sad how some kids have cancer and have to spend their birthday in the hospital?" As I was saying, "Yes that is tragic." she noticed an anti smoking poster on the wall. "Nana should quit smoking. Nana told me it's like me quitting candy but I don't think so much, candy doesn't give you cancer." Out of the mouths of babes. Next came a discussion on the "artharitis" poster. "Arlene and Nanny Doris both have the artharitis, their hands must hurt a lot." The next poster that caught her eye was the Tell Someone poster for cervical cancer. Of course, then we had to discuss what that was all about. She's decided her and Katty really should get the HPV vaccine. Luckily, Dr Rowan came in then, as my head was starting to ache. This was her first time seeing our new doctor, and let me tell you, he was quite smitten with her. Of course, the fact that she told him all about Ireland might have something to do with that (he's originally from Ireland). The two of them had quite a discussion about the National Botanic Centre in Dublin, and I'm afraid there is no way to avoid going to see those giant lily pads now. Oh, and they also discussed how expensive things were in Ireland. She informed him she really wasn't worried about that anyway, as she would not be spending her own money because mommy and daddy would be paying for everything. Big of us, don't you think? Once they were done chatting, he had a look at her knee and her warts are finally almost gone. He then checked her out to see what was causing her hoarse voice, and, not surprising, diagnosed her with upper respiratory allergies. She is now on two different puffers for the summer, and will probably have to go on Singulair as well. So it was off to the drug store again, after a stop at Timmies. For some reason, I needed an extra large coffee this morning. Thank goodness we have a drug plan, it's shaping up to be an expensive week. If only PharmaPlus gave Air Miles for prescriptions.

"A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer."~~Author Unknown

The Taxi Driver...

I spent the better part of the day driving the kids around to their many varied activities. It just seems wrong (on so many levels) that they have a more active social life then I do. Katty had a play morning at Kid Zone with Sparks this morning. While she was there, I took Connor and Libby to Walmart for a bit, then to Burger King for lunch. Very exciting, as they currently have Spiderman toys. We passed some time there, before going back to get Katty. We then had to go to the mall to meet Connor's friend Ryan and his mom and dad, as they were taking the boys to see, you guessed it, the new Spiderman movie. Let me tell you, they have talked about this movie non stop all week. They are borderline obsessed, no, they really are obsessed, to the point Connor even had me dig out his Spiderman sheets Gramma bought him a few years ago. I'm waiting for him to ask for a new set to go with the new movie. Of course, you know that we had to look at anything and everything Spiderman while we were at Walmart. It's a good thing Elizabeth is so easy going, she barely got to look at anything girly at all. We finally dropped Connor off and came home, 4 hours later. Connor loved the movie (no surprise there). He's on his way to bed now, and he's still talking about it. I'm thinking Nana and Poppa had similar conversations with Daddy about Star Wars. Mother of God, my ears are ringing. He was even talking to me about it while he was in the shower and I was in the kitchen. And just when I thought he had finally run out of things to tell me (as I now know the entire plot), he has decided to mix things up, and now he's talking about the new Pirate's of the Caribbean movie that comes out in a few weeks. Of course, the big debate is about which one is going to be better, that or Spiderman. And what do I think? Honestly, I hadn't given it much thought. And Shrek 3 is coming out soon. Oh, God help me, it's going to be a long month.

"A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after." ~Peter De Vries

Doing Nothing...

Have you ever spent an entire day doing absolutely nothing? Evidently, it's not that hard to do, because I did it today. Although, this morning, I did take the kids to swimming lessons, and I got a cup of coffee. That's something, right? But this afternoon, well, this afternoon I did nothing. Not for a lack of anything to do, by the way. There was plenty to do. You know, the usual, laundry, housework, signs, cough cleaning the garage cough, the blog (yes the blog, and I know I've been a bit tardy) I actually tried to do a lot of these things. Okay, some of these things, except for cleaning the garage. I did not attempt to clean the garage. That's Zaca's job. Zaca makes the mess, Zaca cleans it up. And I haven't finished the blog on time either. I'm a bit behind, I know. I just seem to have the attention span of a flea. Actually, come to think of it, my aunt and uncle called me flea when I was growing up. At the time, I thought it was because I was pesky, but maybe they were on to something. But seriously, my concentration has been terrible since Dan left. I'm really starting to think it's from the stress and being a bit overwhelmed. I mean, it really can't be my lack of motivation that is causing all of these disruptions. Right, I knew you'd agree. And you know, I am feeling wretched, it could be the allergies, or the allergy medication even. I know, maybe it's a combination of all of these factors. Which means, I really can't be expected to get much done until allergy season is over mid to late June, when it is time for us to leave for vacation. And I don't get back until mid July, and by then it will be ragweed season. Looks like I'm off the hook until September. Sweet!


"Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing”~~Lao Tzu

Allergies...

Note to self: do not buy house in an area surrounded by hardwood trees again. Allergies suck, there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Of course, if I'd had my shots, I probably would not be suffering as much as I am right now. But I didn't and so here I am, feeling wretchedly miserable. Whats even worse is Connor is feeling equally miserable. Poor little bugger, I feel so bad for him. He spent 2 hours trying to get sand out of his eyes because they were itchy and sore. The worst part was, he couldn't figure out where the sand came from. When he finally told me, I had to break the news to him it's his allergies doing it. This is the first year his eyes have really bothered him, they are all blood shot and puffy. Elizabeth actually thought we'd both been crying. We must look pretty scary. Well, scarier then usual, that is. The kids and I had a long discussion tonight about the things we're allergic too (thanks for that, by the way, Mom. Oh and you'll be happy to know Gramma, I told them to blame you for the allergy legacy). As I listed the trees I was allergic to, Elizabeth stopped me. "Wait a minute mommy, you're allergic to maple trees? You're Canadian, its wrong for you to be allergic to maple trees. No Canadian should be allergic to maple trees." She's right, it is wrong, on so many levels. Speaking of Elizabeth, I'm reasonably sure she is suffering from allergies too. Her voice has been very hoarse for 3 days, she sounds as if she smoked an entire pack of smokes today. Luckily, she has a doctor appointment Monday morning anyway, so we'll verify that. Thank goodness we have a drug plan, I already spent $200 today on prescriptions for Connor and I. And if that wasn't all bad enough, the kids gleefully reminded me today that I am not allergic to dogs, just cats. How fortuitous for them!

"What linguistic genius set up the sneeze and wheeze to rhyme so very perfectly with the word for allergies?"~~Charlie N. Abbers

A Diva In Training...

As the sun was finally out today, Katherine decided that she absolutely HAD to wear her new skirt ensemble. She calls this one her "Ireland outfit." She also insisted I HAD to take pictures (she was totally working the camera, as scary as that is) for Daddy so he would know just how cute she is. You know alright, don't you Daddy?? And cute she is, and a good thing too. She was also quite insistent we put her hair up on her head, with bits of it coming out. As she was going out the door, she was positively bouncing with excitement. Apparently, the other girls were going to think her skirt was to "die" for, and would be quite jealous. She giggled quite a bit at this announcement. Oh my, nothing evil about her, not a bit. She asked me several times before she left if I thought she was beautiful in her outfit. Of course, I told her I thought she was beautiful no matter what she was wearing. She rolled her eyes at this, "I KNOW that mommy, but I'm even more beautifuler in this outfit!" God help us!

"I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want - an adorable pancreas?"~~Jean Kerr, The Snake Has All the Lines

May Day...

The first day of another month, and I bet you can't guess who called me bright and early this morning? John thought he'd trick me by using his cell phone to call so I wouldn't recognize the number. I'm still stunned he even knew how to turn it on! Now, he says he won, I say it was a draw. We both said pinch and a punch at the exact same time, but whatever, I will be the bigger person and let him claim the victory. After all, he doesn't get them very often. And if he doesn't win now and again, he will get discouraged. We can't let that happen.

Elizabeth is watching from the stairs, impatiently waiting for me to move so she can play her webkinz game. Ask how impressed I am by that one. All 3 of them are clamouring for time on the computer to play. They are addicted. Of course, we have a computer in Connor's room they could use, but it's slower. Oh, the humanity. Of course, up until the unfortunate demise of Pine Cone, the excuse was it was too stinky because his nest was beside the monitor. At least they don't have that excuse anymore. And that, my friends was the extent of our excitement for the day. Not exactly what you would call scintillating. I did however, come across a CD with some old photos of the kids. My favourite is the one where Katty put herself in the corner. If only she'd do that now.

Two more articles about the Battery!

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=694b2b10-badf-4dc3-8d59-88df2e068e8c

http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/208996

"If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out."~~ George Brett, 1986