To resolute or not to resolute?....that is the question.

I've decided NOT to resolute this eve of the New Year.
Call me lazy, call me chicken, call me afraid of failure....call me what you will but this New Year I'm just not going to make any promises. That must be some kind of resolution.....shit....I already blew it!
I mean really, what's all this promise making for anyway? So we can let ourselves down? Oh, and we announce it to the world too! So everybody can check up on us to see if we made it a day, a week, a month.
Nope. I'm not going to change anything this year.

My extra pounds like me, they are like a faithful puppy. They follow me around where ever I go, so happy to see me, never letting me out of their sight. They have unconditional love so I'm going to keep them this year.

I'm not going to be better at anything this year. I'm already really good at being so so. So.... I'm not going to try to be better.

I'm not going to care anymore than I already do. If you care too much you worry. I don't want to worry.

I'm not going to improve my fitness level. I don't really have a fitness level so what's to improve?

I'm not going to save, make or give away more money. I'm going to continue with what I'm doing...earning and spending. It's what everybody does anyway. Saving is a bonus and a nice surprise when it happens. I like surprises!

So, here's to a New Year. A year of being ok with who and what I already am!!

Aye Carumba!!!!

I don't have a drinking problem and have never really needed a stiff drink until today.
Today I handed my children over to a 15 yr old with bad acne and a nose ring and gave her the responsibility of keeping them safe while they careened down a steep hill on a small surf board........while I watched.
Aye Carumba!!!! Talk about stress!!!
First of all I think I made a mistake in raising polite, well mannered kids. I should have raised squeeky wheels. They're always last ( the pushy ones always butt ahead), they're not demanding ( pick me, pick me), and don't demand the attention and help they need and deserve....so......they're last to go and they're always on their own while the instructor is helping someone else.
I'm watching the instructor slowly guide kids down the hill while Nathan's careening down doing 360's ( supposedly fun according to him....not fun to watch, helplessly from the chalet) and Claire's still at the top of the hill " waiting" her turn. When it's Claire's turn, the instructor's too far down the hill to help her so she signals her to " just come down"! Bless her heart she just starts a goin' and spends most of it on her butt.
They started off on the "bunny" hill and by lunchtime I was feeling better as it seemed they got the hang of things.
After lunch I was scanning and scanning the bunny hill for my kids when alas there they were lining up for the chair lift to go to the top of the BIG hill.
Nathan came down doing spins the whole way.....spins on his board.....like a figure skater. He thought it was fun.
Claire, ever so conscientious of keeping everyone waiting, skidded down the hill on her butt, finally just taking the damn straps off and pushing herself down like she was on a skateboard. I wanted to yell " They can just damn well wait for you Claire! Take your proper turn! Don't worry about those kids who butt in front of you!!!"
All in all, they said they had a blast. Want to go to their lessons again tomorrow.
Kevin will have to take them.
I'll be too hung over.

Warning!!! Warning!!!

I just receieved another *warning* about the movie The Golden Compass. Arhg!!! I hear there are some Christian schools actually banning the book!! I remember when the Davinci Code was hot off the press and there were churches banning their parisioners from reading that one too.
Why???
What are these people so afraid of? Are they afraid that their faithful flocks will " flock" off and join some other religion or non- religion? Let me tell you something, if the leaders that are telling these people not to read the book are that afraid they haven't led very well!!!
It's like telling straight people not to read gay stories for fear of them " turning" gay!!
If you're strong in your faith no book is going to change that. You may question a few things and I believe that's good! I don't believe in blind faith. I think it's healthy to read and experience and ask questions. What a great teaching tool for your kids. Seeing differing view points is a great opportunity to answer questions and discuss religion and you're point of view. Of course with respect for those views of the movie or book in question.
I myself can't wait to see The Golden Compass with my kids and I'm interested to hear and answer the questions that follow. I'm all for a good debate and discussion.
Let's stay open minded people!!!

Confuscious say.......

Hubby's got a bad, bad back. It was bugging him a bit a couple of weeks ago.
Our boy child had " parent" day at his rock climbing lessons about 2 Sundays ago and Kevin decided to try tackling a mountain or two......I very politely said "Honey, do you think it wise to climb a backward slanted wall with your sore back?". I was met with stoney silence....he ignored me and continued grunting, climbing, falling and climbing again.
The next day.....
Hubby is home from work early....he's walking kinda bent sideways and looks somewhat grey. Wrenched his back good.
Well, he's been to two Dr's, chiropractor and physio almost daily and no relief. We're on our 8th day of the sideways walk, grey toned skin, not to mention me having to do EVERYTHING around here like, shovel walks on our corner lot, christmas shopping, kid driving so today I decided to make him an appointment with an acupuncturist.
Guess what?
It's the first thing that worked!! He's been doing physio, taking drugs, stretching, icing, heating, groaning, moaning and grunting for 8 days and he spends an hour with a few needles and he says it's working wonders.
Now he's still a little crooked and the pain's not gone but he's getting relief! He's going again for sure.
Man, I trained as a nurse in the conventional western ways of medicine but have started believing more and more in natural remedies. I'll take acupuncture and herbs over surgery any day!!! There's a Dr here in Edmonton that is world reknown. He's a medical Dr as well as herbalist and acupuncturist. He teaches medicine at the U of A. In my nursing practice I've run in to a few people who have been lucky enough to have been a patient of his. One such patient had MS and was in a wheelchair. As a "last resort" went to Dr Aung and left walking.
A collegue of mine's daughter has had a cancerous tumor on her heart. At the age of 16 she has had more surgeries, and chemo and radiation than anyone I know. My collegue took her daughter to Dr Aung for some pain management and she told me he was like a spiritual guru! She said that he exuded this wisdom, calmness and warmth. Talk about good vibrations! She is painfree now.
So, I'm leaning more and more " to the left" in the world we call medicine. I will not hesitate to recommend Chinese herbs, acupuncture or whatever else they've been doing for the past few thousand years! I think they've mastered it enough by now, don't you?

A liar, but a happy one!

Lie#1-
I called in sick this morning. I had to. It was my only chance to get the Wii. Future Shop was getting a shipment in the dark of night. They may be the only store in North America to get a shipment before Christmas.

Lie#2
My kids asked me why I wasn't driving them to school this morning and I told them I had to work early.

Lie#3
I lined up at 7 am at the store that doesn't open until 9 and I got a number!!!!! Happy Dance, happy dance, happy dance. So with your number your guaranteed a Wii. You also get the chance at one of 30 Guitar Hero III for the Wii. I didn't really want the guitar hero but there was this lady who came late who didn't get a number but wanted to go in with me and get the guitar hero I didn't want so I told her I DID want it......I thought it was kind of an honest lie because other people who stood in line and got a number may not get the guitar Hero because someone who didnt stand in line goes in with me? Get it?

Lie#4
I kinda told Kevin the Wii was cheaper than it was.

Then.......we bought a big screen tv!!!! What's come over me????? I got this huge adrenalin rush from the whole conquering the Wii thing and now I'm super woman? Super rich woman???
I'm soooo excited though!!!

Lie#5
Our tv is busted. The tv we watch movies on downstairs. We have another tv upstairs in our bedroom that's small. I gave the kids the ol' " when I was a kid we only had a 12" black and white with 3 channels and one of them was French" lecture so they think that little tv in our bedroom is it. Mom's having one of her "I'm raising active healthy children that are readers" phases. Hee Hee

Crazy Shopper!

My kids aren't likely to read this ( actually they would never read this....mom's boring!) so I can feel free to post this.
I'm one of the maaaany people out their hunting for a Wii for Christmas. It's crazy! I don't know, and can't seem to control what's come over me!
It started with just the idea " Let's get the kids a Wii for Christmas" and now it's come to plotting a sick call to work tomorrow so I can stand in line 2 hrs before the store opens probably with 100 other people for 80 Wii's that MIGHT come in tonight.
This is CRAZY!!!
I have to get one though. I started this so I have to finish it. It's my personality. I don't take failure very well. It kinda wrecks my self worth or something. Plus, I already got all the accessories like controllers and games....that would suck the big one if they opened those on Christmas Day but could only "pretend" to play on the Wii!!!!
So, if anyone out there can score me some Wii I'll pay big!!!

Oh Christmas Tree

Well, I did it. I caught myself being my mother. We were decking the halls on Sunday night. We put some nice Christmas carols on the stereo and started putting up the tree. I found myself getting tenser ( can't think of a better word!) and tenser.

"No! That can't go there" I heard the distant voice of my mother say.

"You have to put those balls on the front!" again, my mother's voice. When did she come over? Where the hell is she?

Then my mother's hand reached out and moved an ornament my daughter just put ( too low) on the tree, WAIT!!! That's my hand!!!!!!

yup, I'm a little picky I guess when it comes to the tree. My mother used to sit in " her chair" and almost guide us telepathically. We'd hold up an ornament and look at her as we placed it on the tree. We could tell by the look on her face if we were placing it in the right spot. Kind of like that hot-cold game. Warmer.....warmer.....yes! That's the spot.
Fortunately we don't have tinsel. when I was young we had to "hang" the tinsel ONE BY ONE on the branches. No random tossing....no clumps!
But you know what? We had a gorgeous tree and by the time I was 9 or 10 Mom could relax. We had it down to a science.
This year I heard my daughter tell my son ' pfft, you can't put that there, it's blocking the red light."
Ah...like mother like daughter!

Are you having difficulty breathing?

Well today I have to say I was stumped. I'm a telehealth nurse. I give medical information and advise over the phone. Sounds easy but it's not. I assess symptoms and make recommendations with the only tool being the sound of the callers voice and what they tell me.
It was much easier in the ER when they walked in bleeding all over or smelling of ...well I won't gross you out.
I've gotten pretty good at reading vocal cues and tone and even better at trying to understand the different words others use for body parts. Sometimes people even go " it hurts right here." and I know they're pointing at something!
Usually it's about some body part hurting or bleeding or not feeling right. With extensive Q&A we usually get to the bottom of things and I can recommend a solution even sometimes recommending they hang up and dial 911.
Today I couldn't help.
I felt helpless.
It went something like this.
Me- "Health Link Dilys here are you having any emergent symptoms? Are you having difficulty breathing?"
Caller- "no"
Me- "How may I help you?"
Caller- "My hair is dull and lifeless"
Me- *pregnant pause*"What's lifeless?!"
Caller- " my hair."
Me- " Are you on chemo? "
Caller- " no"
Anyway, I advised a good shampoo and conditioner and patted myself on the back for responding to yet another medical emergency.
Dry cracked heels anyone?

I'm here!!!

I'm at the public library posting this note. I'm sitting on a computer next to a middle aged guy who is giggling. I send quick little "spy" looks his way and notice that on his screen are little cartoon characters. I think they're those smiley face things you can attach to emails etc. Why? Why? Why am I sitting in the public library writing my blog , next to this cartoon freak who...oh....I just noticed that for some reason he has really sharp scissors inches from his right hand....ok I'm gonna make this quick.
My computer is sick. It's at the computer hospital being ministered to by the best computer Dr.s I could find. The diagnosis was simply a virus.
A virus.
Do you know how many times I tell patients...." oh it's just a virus , it'll run it's course."?
Well let me tell you that I have a new respect for viruses. They're EVIL!!!
There I was sitting at my computer minding my own business when a little pop-up appeared. ( At the time I thought...thank you little pop up. Thank you!)
So this cute little pop up told me in no uncertain terms that all was going to hell in a handbasket, (and soon), and if I didn't "Click Here" right now all my personal information was going to the bad guys. ( stuff like bank accounts and my weight).
So being the polite person that I am I did click on "click here" and another little pop up told me that I needed something really really badly so the bad people wouldn't know my weight and I'd better click faster and I started getting "a feeling".
Something in my left brain was saying..."hmmm, Dilys, this doesn't seem right". So I x'd everything and was left with this really ugly red screen with a symbol similar to a skull and cross bones in the middle of the screen!
SHITE!!! All the bad people probably know my weight now! I quickly shut off EVERYTHING...my computer, the printer, the speakers, the coffee pot, the clock radio.
So, now all the computer geeks at Best Buy are looking at my fat pictures, my favorite songs,and the short story that I tried to write and they're probably saving them to their own files or something.( Like they care!)
So, I've been without email, online banking, blogs, viagra ads, hot stock market tips for about 3 1/2 weeks! What do I do with my time you say????
I read.
I read books that I get from the library!!! Really good books! Books that are free!!!
I think I'm falling in love.
Thank you virus!

Eat $, Pray$, Love $

I finished reading the best seller book "Eat, Pray, Love" about a month ago. I really enjoyed the book, laughed aloud at some spots, teared up at others but I had this nagging feeling that I couldn't shake throughout the whole book. It kinda prevented me from enjoying the book completely.
Where the hell does she get the MONEY to spend 3 months at a time in Italy, India and Indonesia eating, praying and loving? She goes on and on about how she couldn't "fight the fight" anymore and gave EVERYTHING to her ex. She suffered severe clnical depression. No mention of the one thing that at times has me contemplating depression and that's money or lack there of!
I started the book and really felt for her and couldn't wait to embark on this journey with the author to find peace and happiness. Not once did I enjoy a trip to the bank with her to negotiate the loan to pay for this adventure. Not once did I join her in Italy getting paid under the table while waitressing at the many restaurants she enjoyed.
It was while "we" were in Italy that my funds were exhausted. That was when I had to jump ship and watch from afar. Not quite " with her" on the final legs of her journey of self discovery.
Yup, there's no way I could sit still and meditate in the Indian Ashram with those bills piling up. My mind would be swimming with thoughts of the collection agency tracking me down ruining my peace and tranquility and, frankly, embarrassing the hell out me in front of my newfound ( albeit wierd) friends.
By the time "we" got to Indonesia I was stressed right out! I'd have to stay in Indonesia under an alias. By then several collection agencies would be after me, my family would probably have an interventionist hired to kidnap me from the feet of my new Indonesian guru. Oh, not to mention that part in the book where she gets all of her friends to send money to her Indonesian friend who needs a house. By then the bank would have reposessed mine!
Anyway, I'm not completely pooh-poohing the book. I just couldn't really get behind her in her struggle to find inner happiness. I really didn't enjoy the trip knowing how hard I'd have to work to pay it off!!
Anybody want to buy a used book???

Stage Mom?

OK, forget my last blog. I hate showbiz!! I'll start with a little background. My kids go to a great school. It's an arts based International Bacclaureat school from grades K-12. They teach a global/world focused approach to the curriculum while intergrating all arts forms into the academics. So they'll learn a song/dance etc that teaches them math or science etc. and how knowing this math or science affects the world they and others live in.
As an art school they also produce some pretty amazing drama productions. This year they're doing Annie and both of my kids wanted to audition. Claire, so like her mother in some ways, rrrreally " got into" it. You see, they announced the season at the end of the school year last year so Claire bought the Annie DVD and watched it all summer. She memorized every song and most of the lines of every character in the movie. Nathan really didn't care if he was in or not. He just thought it would be cool to be an orphan. ( when asked what he wants to be when he grows up he says " a comedian, a dentist or a hobo!)
Well....long story short. Neither of them got in. Nathan didn't even really know they posted the cast. Claire was first to the bulletin board. My heart is breaking for her.
She's fine.
I'm devastated.
No, I'm not a stage mom going..." What?!!! My daughter's a star damn you! Can't you see? Are you blind?!! WE worked so hard for this?!!! We deserve this!!!" as she pushes her daughter closer to the director but not before straightening her daughters hair for the 100th time!
Naw, it's not that, I'm just so sorry for her. She worked so hard. She prepared as best she could. She has great experience, is quite lovely, so how do I explain it to her?
How do I say that the director may not have noticed her amongst the 100 other kids in the room? How do I say she just perhaps doesn't look like how he thinks an orphan should look? Man it's hard being a mom sometimes. I want her to learn that when she works really hard and does her best it pays off!!! Oh well, I guess time will tell. She seems really ok with it.
I on the other hand, caught myself giving dirty looks to the sweet little 11 year old that did get in!!! It should have been Claire dammit!!!!

On with the show this is it!!!

We had our first chorus rehearsal for our first show of Edmonton Opera's 2007/2008 season - Carmen! It never ceases to amaze me at how we get from where we are now to performing on the auditorium stage with a full orchestra in full costume in front of hundreds of people! I love the process of how this all gets put together and thought I'd share some of the finer points of " putting on the show we call opera"

First we have music rehearsals. We chorus get together about every 2 nights for the next couple of weeks with our chorus master Peter and learn the music. It involves learning the pronounciation of whatever language the opera is written in (French for Carmen). So we sit in that rehearsal hall with music stands and scores and work our way through the music until within a couple of weeks we're singin' in French and almost have it memorized.
Next it's music rehearsal with Maestro. Meastro is the conductor. He's responsible for how this whole show will sound. How we sound, the stars sound and the orchestra sounds. We work with he ( or she although I've never experienced a female maestro since I've started in opera 6 yrs ago) for a couple of rehearsals fine tuning our vocals.
Next we start the staging. The Director joins us in the rehearsal hall and we start telling the story. We have to have the opera memorized by now because we're moving around the rehearsal hall space perhaps dancing, lying on the ground while singing and can't be holding our scores now! He directs us in our staging and characterizations and we start working with the principles. " Principles" is the fancy opera word for leading ladies and men. Today audiences expect not only amazing music but also amazing acting. Gone are the days of standing in your viking hat singing really loudly! Today's opera stars are highly trained singers and actors with years of vocal and acting training from all around the world. It's quite thrilling to be sharing the stage and working along side them.
So we're about 3 weeks into the whole process and now we get to go to the actual performance stage for the next step in the process. This step is called the " piano tech #1". With the piano accompaniment we go through the paces on the main stage. This is an opportunity for the technical aspect of the show to be run as well. All the lighting and props and stage left and right entrances.
Next night is " piano tech #2 with costumes". The same run through but this time in costumes. This is important because how we move and get around could be quite different if your in high heels, longs skirt carrying a tree branch!!! ( I had to carry a tree branch and had a large dried up turkey bone hung from my waist in Macbeth) We run through our quick changes too. I had to change from a witch into a Lady of the Court in about 2 minutes in Macbeth.
Next night is orchestra dress!!!! Full orchestra run through in full costumes!!! This is fun!!!
One more dress rehearsal with the orchestra and this time we have an audience. We invite schools and the media to attend this rehearsal! We love the student audience. They're so enthusiastic! They boo the bad guy and cheer for the good guys!! Hopefully they're hooked on opera by the end of the night and we have future patrons of the opera!
Finally a night off and then Saturday night is opening night. So much fun and it all culminates in such an awesome night. The audience is still as the orchestra tunes, the lights dim and the curtain rises and the show begins.
While the story unfolds the audience has no idea that there are a bunch of people in costumes drinking diet coke playing cards in the green room. Over the backstage PA system we hear " Chorus men and ladies to stage left for your entrance in act 1 please" and we scurry to the wings, and enter singing our hearts out! It's so thrilling. When the curtain goes down at the end of the opera and rises for our bows you can't help but giggle and think.....a few hours ago I finished my nursing shift, had dinner with my kids and look at me now!! I'm a witch/peasant woman/lady of the court/geisha!!!

No News is Good News

It was 6 years ago today the Twin Towers went down. I remember it well. It was the month I decided to stop getting the newspaper and watching the news everyday.
You see I was glued to the tv those days in September. The first time I watched those planes fly into the buildings I recoiled in horror. By the time CNN and their competition had the theme song all worked out, I had seen the image about 300 times and was quite " yawn" about the whole image. I had watched the planes fly into the buildings and I watched the people leap to their deaths so many times that I wasn't affected by the image! I started thinking about what was happening to me. I really looked at the newspaper I was recieving everyday and noticed nothing but bad news!
Claire was in kindergarten then and eager to read. Did I want her looking at a newspaper in her thirst for the printed word?? NO WAY!!! Nothing but horrible images, horrible stories of our world gone bad.
I believe everything you read and see affects your day to day life. I can't imagine starting my day with the news or the newspaper. Or going to bed right after watching the news. Why? So I can feel angry, sad, depressed, anxious a soon as I start my day or right before I fall asleep? No Way!
I may not be right up to speed on what's happening in the world today but I know enough to have an intellegent conversation at a dinner party.
I was in the States last year for a week. Five years after 9/11. I was so shocked at the media there. I was in the airport in Chicago waiting for a connecting flight. There were tv's everywhere broadcasting a plane that had to evacuate due to some percieved " threat". That was comforting.
I arrived at my hotel in Dallas and armed with my cozy pj's, and a chocolate bar I hunkered down for some good tv. Nothing but news. Every channel had news and they were talking about what " terror alert" the country was on. Orange, yellow.......
red and yellow and pink and green....
purple and orange and blue.....
I can see a terrorist,
see a terrorist,
see a terrorist threat too.
I was ready to get dressed and sleep with my running shoes on..in case I had to ....uh.....run somewhere in the middle of the night? ...geesh! What does knowing that the country's on a red alert do but freak everyone out!! There's nothing the common folk can do except worry!!! Thankfully I found a Friends rerun, ate my chocolate bar and broke a tooth. Great! I forgot to check my health coverage before I left. Now I couldn't sleep. It wasn't...." was that a plane flying low?" It was " was that my tooth aching?".
So I don't get the newspaper anymore and my kids aren't exposed to all the negativity out there. I remember being in Claire's class last year. They had a current events board up with newspaper clippings kids had brought in. All of the clippings were of soldiers killed in Iraq, global warming, hurricanes, tsunami's....there was not one clipping of a hero, a good deed, or a funny story. Sad.
Does the public really want to hear all this negativity? Do we just blindly buy the newspapers and watch news shows really thinking that this is all that is newsworthy? Not me. I try to watch a comedy before I go to sleep and while we drive to school in the morning the kids and I listen to music.
My cholesterol is low, my blood pressure is low and I'm generally in a good positive mood.

Back to School Blues

We got the blues man.....
It's back to school for my kids this week.
Don't get me wrong, I like this time of year. Kind of a " new beginnings" feeling does permeate the air and everyone's excited to see friends, see who the new kids are, see who's in their class, who isn't, who their teacher is.....
BUT....
It's also back to....
- making lunches- ugh! Just one more task at the end of a busy day.
- getting up early in the moring- ugh! My kids are finally at an age where they don't get up by internal alarm clock at 7....this summer we've been rising no earlier than 9 every monrning!
- homework- ugh! I have to agree with my daugher on this one. Her wise words " we've been working for 6 hours each day, we need a break! Especially on weekends. Weekends are for everyone to enjoy their leisure time!" I'm not looking forward to motivating that wise young lady to do her homework!
- playdates- ugh!Endless playdates and birthday parties $$$$$. The new craze of late is- get this- ( I'm talking 11 yr olds) renting a hotel for the night....one with a pool or the topper was West Edmonton Mall Fantasy Land Hotel with a theme room , wave pool etc. God!! Whatever happened to birthday parties at your house with a few games, hotdogs and a little goody bag!!!???? Or a bunch of kids renting a movie, ordering pizza and having a slumber party????
Awe, it's not all that bad. My kids are happy, smart, friendly, popular kids. They like school. Let's face it. When it's back to school time........

I MISS THEM!!!!!!

Shopping Bag

Either I'm a hag or my daughter's impossible to shop with but the other day we almost divorced!
We went shopping for some back to school clothes. I needed a martini and a cigarette by about 11 o'clock....a.m.
She is so picky! But she can't, won't, or just refuses to tell me what she does like!
Example: Me " This is cute"
Her " Hmmm, It's ok"
Me " you don't like it?"
Her " I don't know........" walking away to another rack
Me " so, what don't you like about it"
Her " Oh, I don't know" starts looking at purses when we're supposed to be looking at shirts
Me " show me what you like"
Her " Well, I don't really know. I just have to see it"
Me " How about this?. This? This? This? This?"
Her " Sorta....."
Me " I give up"
Her " I like this" She picks out a plain black t- shirt with a saying on it. One t- shirt in the entire clothing store!
We had to bra shop too. Didn't like ANYTHING in all of La Senza girl. There are 30 bras to choose from and she didn't like one. She tried on all styles. For some odd reason it was all about comfort! Comfort!!!???? She's young. She'll learn. Bras comfortable? I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell her that bras suck! That they're rarely comfortable. ( She doesn't even know about underwires yet!)
We found one style at the Bay she liked...I bought 3!

I remember my Mom and I fighting in a clothing store. She lost it. She said "That's it! You get the family allowance cheque each month and YOU buy your own clothes!" That was when I was about 13 yrs old. I got $15/month to buy clothes and magazines and things like that. Jeans were about $15 to $20 bucks then.
I kinda stopped being picky. I wore my brothers jeans alot.

We Be Moshin'

Well, I " moshed" in an actual "mosh pit" this weekend. Not a head banger mosh pit mind you....a milder " folky" mosh pit! The fam went to the Edmonton Folk Fest this weekend. We had a blast but made me realize the transitions I've made as a folk fester. When I first started going, I'd just grab my jacket and go...meeting up with friends and crashing on their tarp and hanging out in the beer tent.
Then hubby entered my life and we'd both just grab a jacket and go...crashing on his sister's tarp, dancin' on the hill and of course....the beer tent.
Then kids came along. We couldn't just grab a jacket and go anymore. We'd have to take our own tarp, line up to get a good " tarp spot", pack for about 4 seasons...just in case.....coats, sweaters, raingear,sunscreen,gloves,sunhats, toques,sunglasses,mosquitoe repellant for 4!!! We'd hang out at the blow up jumpy things for kids and gaze longingly at the beer tent.
This year the kids met up with a bunch of their friends from school. They didn't want us hangin' with them. Our friends were in the beer tent. We looked at each other, gave a high five and scrambled, practically pushing each other down to get to.........the HUGE line up outside the beer tent!! We lined up and once in the beer tent couldn't find our friends so had a beer...just the two of us. We people watched for awhile, sipped our beer saying " ah," alot but soon we were both sending quick glances toward the blow up jumpy things. Almost at the same time we had the same thought- we had to go check on the kids! We looked at each other, high fived and practically pushed each other down in our scramble to the kids area in fear that they'd been kidnapped or something!
We get there and can't see them ( there's about 6000 people at folk fest at one time and they don't count kids under 12!!) we kinda get a little panicky but soon spot them...having fun without us!
Later after it gets dark we're all on the tarp listening to the funkiest, grooviest band from the states called " Ozomatli"- named after the Aztec monkey-god of dance! A 10 piece collective of African American, Chicano, Cuban, Japanese, Jewish and Filipino musicians that play a mish mash of Latin cumbia, hip hop, salsa, funk and Middle Eastern melodies! The mosh " pits" on both sides of the stage were full. We were dancin' on our tarp when our youngest ( I need to be worried) kept on something like this " I wanna go to the mosh pit! Please, can we go to the mosh pit? Come on let's go to the mosh pit!" So...all four of us went to the mosh pit!!! It was packed with gyrating bodies. There was a skinny blond guy in a sari with bells on, there were teens in bunches jumping up and down, there was us- two kids and two dorky adults doing a combo polka- twist kinda dance. ......and there were baby's in snugglies, grandma's with walking sticks, grandpa's in grey sweaters all dancin' and enjoying the same song!
Oh have I mentioned that I'm a cry baby? Well I am.....While in the mosh pit with all these people I got teary! There I was moshin' with my hubby and kids, there were probably about 200 people in that pit dancin' and smilin' and laughin' and I got a little teary! Well I was tired ok?!!!
Anyway, we had a blast, heard some great music, had some great family time, and can't wait for next year's folk fest to roll along.

Adaptation

How quickly we humans adapt.
We just spent a week in lovely Waskesiu Lake. We adapted quite nicely to.....
- a small, million year old cabin with no stove nor bathroom.
- mosquitos that will carry you away while injecting you with enough West Nile to sink a boat.
- a blistering 35 degrees Celcius the first day.....tornado touching down about 50 miles away the next day.
- walking to the outdoor bathroom in the middle of the night whistling away to scare any bear that might be lurking.

So day 1...cabin felt miniscule, mosquitos drove me batty, ate out cause couldn't think about cooking on a hotplate, ran to the outdoor bathroom flapping arms because of bugs while whistling because of bears.

Day 3....love cleaning that little cozy cabin ( only takes about 1 minute), hung around the dragon flies( they eat mosquitoes and they only look like they're dive bombing your head...they miss it at the last minute), cookin' up a storm on the hotplate(spaghetti, corn on the cob, killer coffee),walk leisurely to bathroom at 3 am waving arms gently and only making soft clicking noises to scare away the bear.

Day 6....don't bother cleaning cabin...the sand on the floor is exfoliating my rough heels, I am one giant mosquito bite so the little critters have no more skin to poke, jambalya, vegetarian chili on the hotplate with bar b qued chicken souvlaki and a margarita , strolling to bathroom at 3 am with no flashlight-camera at the ready so I can take a picture of the bear!

Had a great vacation. Next year we're going for 2 weeks!

FORE!!!!

Played 18 holes of golf today. I haven't golfed in about 15 years and then it was with a bunch of chicks, we were drinking coolers and having more fun driving the cart than the ball!
I didn't do to badly today though. I kinda forgot to keep track of how many times I hit the ball so didn't bother keeping score but I hit it and sometimes it went really far AND straight.
Poor Kevin...most of the time his went really far, really high, and always to the right....into the next fairway. He had to yell FORE!! alot. That was kinda fun!
What do you do? Fore means you could get hit by a ball....do you duck? Do you look up? where the hell is the ball coming from? It's awful hearing that....you just kind of do a ducking motion and look left and right and listen really hard for the sound of the ball whistling through the air toward you.
It was hot though....about 30 degrees. Afterward we all decided to go out for dinner with the kids to bore them with our putting stories...I ended up having to take a cab home....sunstroke.....puking....headache....who knew golf was so taxing. Kinda wimpy eh? Bedridden from golf. Had to take to my bed after a hard golf game....

How long is this trip?

I'm packing for our summer holiday at the lake. We're going to Prince Albert National Park! Waskesiu Lake!!! I'm so excited!!!
I used to go there every summer as a kid. The first time we camped in this army surplus tent trailer thing ( my sister slept in the car the whole time!). Next we graduated to a trailer ( my sister slept in the car the whole time!)
--I need to add that my sister slept in the car between my Dad getting us all up and into the car at about 3 am because he " thinks" he heard a bear. We'd drive around looking for said bear and sometimes we'd find said bear....and at 3 am my Dad would honk the horn scaring the bear away and in his mind saving all of Waskesiu from the savage rampage of one lone bear!--
I also think she slept in the car so she could sneak off in the middle of the night with her hippy friends.
I digress!
After the trailer we moved up to rental cabins. 30 some odd years later my family is staying in the same cabins!!!
My problem is - what to pack?
We're only going for one week. There are 4 of us. We need clothing for 30+ and clothing for cold and rainy. We need food. We need entertainment....rainy day activities and hot beach toys.
I know I take too much. I'll undoubtedly be living in the most comfy shorts and ratty t shirt but I can't just pack that. I pack each outfit, imagining myself in the outfit, actually imagining what I'm doing in the outfit....case in point. Cute little capris, cute little tank to go with it, flip flops. I'm walking along the trails along the beach. The sun is shining indirectly, filtered by the trees above...so it's not too hot. My kids are running ahead in their shorts, flip flops etc. My husband is in his beige shorts and grey t shirt. We're eating ice cream cones....I look skinny.
We're on the beach. Me in my black crochet cover up. Always in my black crochet cover up!
It's rainy. I'm wearing my Lu Lu Lemon hoodie with my Lu lu lemon pants .
See what I mean? What will actually happen is this. It'll be hot, I'll want to be comfortable. I'll wear my favorite comfy shorts, I may change shirts. That'll be it. I'll try to put on a pair of jeans in the evening but they'll feel too tight and restrictive so I'll take them off and put my shorts back on!
Oh well, I've packed quite a few bins just in case!

Courage

As I sit and write this my hands are trembling and my heart is skipping the odd beat.
This afternoon....in about 40 minutes and 7 seconds I am going out in public in a bathing suit!!!!
I KNOW!!!!
I'm going to an outdoor PUBLIC pool! Damn it! We spent a fortune on an above ground huge monster pool that has taken over our yard and now it seems my kids seem to miss other people or something.
It's not just any old public pool...it's the public pool that all the beautiful people go to. No old men and ladies with shower caps on. ONLY young, tiny, athletic, bikini clad, PUBLIC swimming, show offs!
I have four bathing suits and none of them are really for swimming. They're for wearing sarongs over them. My kids want me to swim and actually walk on the deck without the sarong!
We're going with another family. My neighbour ( a dad- a guy who doesn't understand) and his two kids.
Oh, I also just realized I don't have waterproof mascara! Great! I'll have jiggly legs AND small squinty eyes!
Talk to you later. I've got to go. I just might have time to shave.

Go ahead, jump in!

My kids are in the middle of their summer swimming lessons and for some reason watching them in their lessons gives me such huge surges of heart swelling love!!
Every summer I enroll them in swimming lessons for the first two weeks and every summer I'm hit with this feeling as I sit on deck watching them.
Is it that they seem so vulnerable in their near nakedness struggling and never giving up in their attempt to master the art of staying afloat?
There's something about seeing my kids in bathing suits all bony and skinny, wet hair plastered to their foreheads winning this battle lesson after lesson.
Is it that they send quick glances my way every few seconds to see that I'm watching them, then quickly look away like they don't care that I am?
Is it that I know my son is terrified in the deep dive tank yet jumps in like he's told to and says to me later " Mom, I was shaking but I'm really good at treading water."
Is it that my daughter swims effortlessy, doing the front crawl like you wouldn't believe, yet at 3yrs of age she adamantly refused to put even her chin in the water at the toddler lessons?
Swimming lessons are different than other sports. There's no protective gear, no team mate to pass it to, no position that you're better at so that's where you stay. It's you against the pull of gravity....sink or swim.... and they win the game everyday at that pool. Man they're cool!

School's Out For Summa!!

Woo-Hoo!!!! Today's the last day of school!! No more lunches to pack, no more scrambling in the morning to find a twooney for the field trip, no more fights about who gets the bathroom first, no more " Mom my boots, shoes, sandals, pants, socks don't fit and I need them for today!!!"
I love summer vacation!!! I have the luxury of working a job that affords me the flexability to work around my life. In the summer I'm home during the day with the kids and I work the odd evening, and during the school year I work when they're in school. I love having my kids around and we don't seem to get tired of each other or bored.
We roll out of bed when we wake up. Eat when we're hungry. Get dressed if we feel like it ( or someone's coming over!). We read delicious books ( no more books we HAVE to read because of projects and book reports just read what you want!) We have sleepovers in the tent in the front yard. We go on a holiday to the lake.
It's so relaxing and enjoyable. Healthy too! I can see my kids growing over the summer. They get lots of sleep, eat tons of fruit and veggies( and ice cream!), get loads of exercise and there's just no stress.
I'm excited when fall rolls around...new beginnings and all that, BUT I always feel sad when they start going to school again. I really miss them those first few weeks.
3 more hours and I get to pick them up from school and " Summertime and the livin' is easy".

Millionaire Mind

So, I went to one of those "Find your Inner Millionaire" seminars over the weekend. Here's what I learned.
I've got to figure out what I'm good at, figure out what I REALLY want to do and tap into that.
I've got to know what I want and send it out to the "universe".
I've got to rrrrreallllllly believe it and feel it.
I've got to watch for " the signs" along the way that are bringing me what I need to get what I want.
Soon I'll be a millionaire!!! Sounds easy ,right??
NOT!!! First.....what am I good at?
I'm a good nurse....can't accept tips so stuck with what they pay me.
I'm a good mom...my kids don't pay, they take. I pay. Not a great moneymaker.
I'm great at dreaming. I have the best dreams of anyone I know. Although I try telling them to people and they kinda glaze over and start looking a little frightened so that tells me they probably won't pay.
I LOVE to....NEED to make people laugh.

I'VE GOT IT!!!!!!!! I'll write a self help book! People are buying them up in droves. I'll combine what I know and what I'm good at.
Nursing, mothering, dreaming....funny.
I'll call it, " Dream and Laugh your way to a Healthy Child".

So? It's a start?

Yup.....I'll keep thinking on it.

I cope with comedy!

I've realized I may have a bit of a unique coping mechanism when it comes to my day to day life. I imagine I'm in a sit com. Complete with laugh track! Case in point....
Episode 12
I'm about 15 months preggers with my youngest. I've been puking for 16 of the 15 months and whilst lying in bed the little guy is performing a little hip hop dance routine so as all mom's do I gently tap hubby awake to share the experience.
( the poor guys always feel so left out of the pregnancy loop right?). He sighs ( a little annoying) and rolls over with a " what?!!"...( more annoying ). I reply with a sweet voiced, " Feel my tummy, honey, the baby is moving". Hubby PUHLUNKS his 20 pound hand on my stretched to the max belly.
(Now as we all know, they can hear in there and Nathan's sense of humour started in the womb so ...he stopped moving. )
Hubby again sighs a little louder and a little longer ( I'm getting a bit more annoyed) and I say "Just keep your hand there for a bit longer" .
....he says....
"Do you know how hard this is?".....THE STUDIO AUDIENCE IN MY HEAD STARTS TO BELLY LAUGH!!!! I roll over shaking my head with that " Oh you big goof" look we all expect sit com moms to have. End of scene.

Episode 12
Having one of those division of labour disputes. You know the one where the wife's lines are " I sweep, launder, cook, vacuum, take kids to dentist, Dr, do dishes, help with homework and all I ask is that you dry this bowl!!!"
Well hubby's line this episode was " You SAY you do all those things, but I'm at work and don't actually see you do it". Studio audience does one of those groan- laughs and we cut to commercial.

Episode 24
Kids at breakfast table. Me wearing funky new yoga pants, long blonde hair tied back in pony tail twist thing.....oops wrong channel!
Kids at table eating breakfast when Child #1 notices Child #2 has more in bowl. Child #1's lines are..."Hey, how come he gets more than me?'
My line- "Because I love him more"
Child #1 looks up at mom in near tears.
Mom ( me) winks and slow smiles.
Child#1 laughing " Awe Mom!!"
Cut to commercial.

So, as you can see this coping mechanism works. He still has an arm, he dries bowls and my kids think for a second before complaining about who got more! My only complaint is my paycheque. Definitely not ACTRA rates.

Human Kindness

"Yet doe I feare thy Nature, It is too full o' th' Milk of human kindness". Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Although this past week has brought the lowest of lows and the saddest of sadness it has also brought some of those moments that make you think that the world is a good place after all.
Acts of kindness and compassion like...
-a simple cross made by a stranger/ witness at the site of the tragic occurance soon becomes a memorial site
-over 200 stuffed animals and toys and balloons left by strangers on the roadside at the memorial site
- a beautiful charcoal sketch left at the roadside memorial drawn by a stranger
- a stranger mows the lawn on their hottest day of the week
- a large donation made anonymously in little J's name to a Children's Hospital
There's still alot of goodness out there. I think it's going to be ok.

Questions

How do you help someone whose world has just stopped?
What do you say to someone whose pain is too deep?
How does one make sense of something that seems so senseless?
How will I know when they need my help?
How will I know when they need me to leave them alone?
WHY?

These are questions I ask myself daily- all day- as I look across the street at the home of my close friends and wonder "how are they doing right now?".
Six days ago their world stopped making sense.
It took about 30 seconds for their life to change.
The world stopped and they've gotten off for awhile.
Little J. will be missed.
One foot in front of the other. Breathe.

Saturday Night Live

I had THE BEST time this past Saturday night. I went to a dear friend's birthday party...chicks only. She was celebrating an over 40 under 50 party and there were 8 women there. It was wierd because most of us new OF each other, a couple of us had met before but generally we were all strangers with one friend in common. We were from all walks of life...professional actress, opera singer, writer, nurse, 30 year old ( yes that's a category when you're in a room with all mid 40 year olds!), dental assistant, stay at home mom.
What was unique about this evening was that everyone seemed to have equal voice/equal status. You know what I mean? For some reason ( ok maybe the red wine helped) there didn't seem to be anyone prettier, skinnier, funnier, smarter, richer, nicer, better, etc etc. Now, of course there WAS someone skinnier, funnier, smarter etc etc but it didn't feel like it.
Everyone shone. We laughed so hard. We danced so hard. We ate so much. We drank a little too much. We were ON! Did we solve global warming, world hunger and the war on poverty? NO.... we sure could have - but we were just having too much fun being comfortable, care free, smart, funny, pretty, skinny, powerful women.
Happy Birthday Rhonda!!!!

I write the songs......

I've always wanted to write a song but thought you had to be a really good poet or writer. Apparantly not. Have you listened closely to the words of songs????
" there were plants and birds and rocks and things" And things? And not even a name for the horse?
" That's the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it uh-huh uh-huh...." Men just don't kow how to communicate
" everybody wang chung tonight"?????? OK!!! ( look around to see what everybody's doing and copy them so no one figures out you don't know how to wang chung)
" a doo doo doo, a duh duh duh that's all I want to say to you" Again...men and communication
" skinna ma rinky dinky dink" Hey did you hear about that guys dink?
" You're once, twice, three times a lady" Did you just call me fat?
" Muskrat Suzy and Muskrat Sam, do the jitterbug...". Is that code?
" Knock 3 x on the ceiling if you want me. Twice on the pipe..." There's a prisoner in his basement.

I've got a funny feeling.....

I had a conversation at work about women's intuition the other day, and how it ties into nursing. You see, I had a nursing instructor who was working on her Master's and she was doing her dissertation on male nurses vs female nurses and the use of "woman's" intuition. She didn't think male nurses had "woman's" intuition and therefore couldn't be as effective a nurse as a female.
I've been a nurse for 20 years now..I've worked ER, ICU, medicine and surgery and I have to say I've used intuition on a number of occasions. The vital signs are fine, everything on paper looks fine but I've got a "funny feeling" about this one so I'll watch him/her a little closer this shift and what do ya know....the patient crashes at about 3 am with a big bleed or something.
Most of my female nursing friends have stories of their " funny feelings" and how those intuitions have even saved lives.
I was working triage in ER one night and a 40 something female came in complaining of mouth pain. She said she had TMJ ( a joint in the jaw is inflammed) and it was acting up. Vital signs were fine. She also had sore arms but she'd been moving and lifting heavey boxes all weekend. She felt tired but hadn't slept alot due to the move. The doc I was working with was all ready to prescribe some pain meds but I had a " funny feeling" so ordered an ECG ( heart tracing). The Dr thought I was wasting time and money and got kinda pissed at me ( an ego thing too...thought I was disobeying Dr orders) Well....you guessed it- this woman was having a massive heart attack!!!
I have worked with alot of excellent male nurses in my career. Love working with them and boy do they know their stuff...but...I've NEVER heard a male nurse say" I've got a funny feeling about this patient". In fact I don't think I've heard ANY guy say...." I don't know what it is but something about that guy gives me the creeps!" Do guys get "funny feelings'? Do they consider them not concrete enough to mention? I'd like to know.
Ask your male friends,family members,co-workers, neighbours, nurses, Dr etc. if they have "funny feelings" and if they do, do they act on them or ignore them?. Let me know by commenting on this blog or send them my way.
Wait, if no one comments I'll think I have no friends .......
I have a funny feeling ........

La La Land

Well, this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't write something about my dreams. No, I don't mean my hopes and dreams- I mean dream dreams, the kind you have when you're sleeping. I'm what some call "The Dream Master"!!
I dream EVERY night usually several dreams per night.
My dreams are like motion pictures / in color/ stereo sound/ ....a plot, a beginning, middle and end. There's usually some conflict or dilemma (with me usually the hero) solving said conflict (or waking myself up!).
Sometimes I'm not even in my dream...I'm just an observer...I lurk around "watching" my dream but am not in it in any way shape or form. " I'm just watching the show, don't mind me!"
Just the other night my dream was like a " Murder She Wrote" mystery. There was a little old lady, there was some type of mystery and there was alot of solving to do. Although I wasn't a character in my dream, I was trying to solve the mystery not unlike you do when you watch a murder mystery movie or read a book !! I wasn't "in" my dream and I really didn't know what was going to happen next....it was so exciting!!!
I'm a bit of a musician and once composed an entire symphony ( in my dream). I conducted it too....I knew what I was doing, knew where the oboes/french horns and trumpets sat in the orchestra pit. It was a really moving and beautiful piece....lost forever in la la land.
I do have a recurring theme in alot of my dreams. Almost everynight one of my dreams will involve some type of building with many rooms to explore. Usually the building is my home or a home I'm moving into or a previous home that I'm revisiting... ( but WAY different than the actual home, you know how dreams are.....it was my house but it wasn't my house type of thing). In the dream I'm usually wandering the house discovering rooms ...beautiful rooms.... hidden in some corner of the basement will be this little door, I'll open it and voila a beautiful room with a fireplace and a grand piano. I'll be like "Huh?, I vaguely remember this but I do remember a little room upstairs" and off my dream takes me up these stairs to another door and voila... a room with windows galore and plants and window seats with colorful pillows...etc etc.
I'm sure we all experience heightened emotions in dreams. You know , where just a little touch of the hand has you panting and all quiverry !! My emotions are "explosive" in my dreams. I avoid conflict at all costs in my waking life but in my dreams I'm physically violent. I've beaten my husband. I punch, slap, kick with every ounce of strenght and it still doesn't seem hard enough! I've never cried so hard as in my dreams.....gut wrenching sobs that rip out of my body in waves....laughter that actually wakes me up because I'm making some kind of strangling noises!!
I'm a horrible mother in my dreams. I have forgotten to feed my infant daughter for about 4 days because I can't find her...I can hear her, but I can't find her.
I'm a horrible nurse in my dreams. I had a trauma quadripalegic patient, newly admitted, requiring ventilation. It was 6 hrs before I actually assessed him because I spent 6 hrs looking for a pen! (I had this dream the night before returning back to Spinal Cord ICU after a 9 month maternity leave.....do ya think I was a little nervous about going back to work?!)
I fly about once a month. I do the breaststroke. Not the most graceful Peter Pan type of flight...legs frog kicking, arms flailing about, but it gets me where I'm going and feels GREAT!
I run alot....running, as we all know is very hard in dreams.....try this.....go backwards! I discovered this in a running dream....I was in a marathon or something and of course had that heavy feet like running in deep water feeling and for some reason I turned around and started running backwards! EASY!
I don't know what it is and why I have such amazing vivid dreams but I LOVE it! I go to sleep everynight anticipating what my dreams will be. If I wrote them all down I'd have a library! I remember at least parts of one dream per night. I know I have way more than that. I'm so lucky!

The truth and nothing but the truth

Wouldn't it be funny if whenever we're asked " How're ya doin?" , we actually told the truth? No one does and if they do answer with a " Oh not so good today" we usually wish we didn't ask and quickly butt in with a " Oh I'm sure it'll get better- bye now!"
Imagine a truth serum slipped into our bottled water just one day....here's how it might go.....
Hi, how are you? Reply-" oh feeling a little icky....my heavey day"
Hi how're ya doin? Reply- " Oh a little sore...sex went on a little longer than usual last night."
Hey, how's it going? Reply- " well, I just threw up a bit in my mouth when I saw you coming and was just getting some gum to freshen my breath- and you?"
Hi, long time no see! Reply " Whoa, I see you've packed on a few since I last saw you , what, 15 lbs in a month?"
Hi , I'd like you to meet my new boyfriend. Reply-" yikes, you're even creepier looking than her last one. The one she chopped into little pieces and buried in her back yard."
What would you say today???

Wine expert

I wanted to title this entry " Wine Conissuer" but as you can see I can't spell connissuer (argh!).
I had two couple over for dinner last night. We consumed about 6 bottles of wine. Wine that I bought on sale. I'm no wine connis..(expert) you see. I knew we all liked red wine and I knew my neighborhood liquor store was having a sale. I bought a case of beer, and about 8 bottles of wine for under $100!! I bought wines with really neat lables and names. Fish Eye, Wally's Hut, Painted Turtle, Jacob's Creek. "These are cool" I thought. Well now I know what the "conniseurs" know - that if you have a Painted Turtle with a fish eye in Wally's Hut you'll feel like you drank from Jacob's Creek after someone peed in it!!!
Ugh!

Go Edmonton!!!

I've lived in Vancouver ( ocean, beaches, mountains, mild climate).
I've lived in Calgary ( 15 minutes to Banff, chinooks that bring warmth to cold winters).
I presently live in Edmonton ( um......my home town).
Recently Edmonton has had one of the wildest, rapid rises in housing costs that I have ever seen!
We bought our little bungalow about 6 years ago. Two years ago if we sold our home we would have made about $100,000.00. If we sold it today we'll have made about $350,000.00-$500,000.00 !!!!!
Yes, Edmonton. The average house is selling for over $400,000.00.
We have no mountains, we have no beaches, winters are cold, summers are hot with thirsty mosquitoes...why is this happening? Why are we more expensive than say parts of Vancouver Island?
Well, we have -
- oil( there are big wars fought over that stuff!).
- lots of land to build more homes.
- lots of jobs
- some of the best arts opportunities in Canada -opera, symphony, theater, and gallery art, a top notch School for the Performing and Visual Arts for grade K-12 ( seriously, I read that in Macleans or something!)
- the finest in health care ( our research facility developed Cold FX...a possible cure for the common cold!!!!, pancreas transplant, stem cell research, etc etc).
- clean air.
- blue sunny skies ( most of the time)
- no traffic ( a 40 minute drive home from work is considered a traffic jam)
- friendly people
- all the amenities of a really big city with the attitude of a small town ( we are the Capital City of Alberta ya know!)
What we don't have
- threat of earthquakes
- big city traffic
- days and days of rain or no sun
- dangerous bugs ( ok mosquitoes don't count!)
- PST
- mold growing on our sidewalks and roof
- bad pollution
Edmonton's not too shabby. No, it's not the most beautiful or metropolitan of Canadian cities out there but it's my home town and worth every cent I paid 7 yrs ago!!!!

What the #$%?

I think I finally understand that "sports parent" thing that people are on about. You know, the parents who swear at the refs and yell at their children for missing the net or something. I think I became "one" this evening. My cute little 9 yr old blonde haired angel...I digress....he plays in-line hockey. Some little 9 year old shit purposely shellacked my little angel and it took everything in me not to run into that rink and kick him in the nuts!!
I didn't. Instead I yelled " Nathan sweety are you ok, honey?"......he's not speaking to me right now.

oops, I forgot to introduce myself

I guess I'll start by introducing myself.
Hi I'm Dilys.
I'm married to Kevin ( 11 years!!) have two kids Claire 11 ( no we didn't HAVE to get married) and Nathan 9. I love being a mother!!!
I work parttime as a nurse.
OMG!!! this is so boring!
O.K. I sing in the opera! I'll tell you a funny story about my first year with the opera. I auditioned ( no, it wasn't an "American Idol" phenomenon moment! as I had never been to an opera, didn't know the title of ONE opera and seriously didn't think I'd be considered) and they liked me, they actually liked me!!!! I was in!!!!
Soon I received an invitation to an opera party! The party's theme was based on the first opera of the season-Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci by Verdi with a clown/circus theme. It said " Send in the Clowns" come one, come all...blah , blah, blah......DRESS UP or COME AS YOU ARE!!!!
What was I to do?????
Do I dress up? Do I not dress up?
I didn't know anyone in the opera ( having never been to one!) so didn't have anyone to call for advice. I asked friends, I asked family and got mixed responses from ...."I'd die before I dressed up in a costume" to " Go for it, they're an artsy bunch I'm sure" so.....I borrowed a playschool teacher friends clown costume complete with giant blue shoes, bells for buttons and orange wig, made my potluck potatoe salad and jingled my way to THE HOUSE. Now the host of the party was in the opera, a very wealthy lawyer with a Judge wife ( not judgemental....JUDGE as in your honor!) and the house was a mansion. The judge opened the door and smiled in a non-judgemental way in her little black dress with a teeny, weeny clown pin on the left breast!!! I jingled further into the castle and found myself ...alone....amongst tiny clown earrings, brooches and nice little summer dresses!
I'll have you know that I stayed the whole party in that get up, I jingled up to small little groups of opera talking people in cute little sundresses and made an impression.
I'm fun damn it!!!!

Testing ,testing, 1.2.3....Is this mike on??

Wow! I've spent the entire afternoon reading peoples blogs. So entertaining and funny! I wanna do this!!! My friends and family tell me I'm entertaining and funny!!! I'm worried about the " American Idol" phenomenon though. You know, during the auditions people say they're the next star, they say their friends and family tell them they're amazing...they sing....and ......THEY SUCK!!! My friends and loved ones tell me I'm funny and entertaining too. What if they just don't want to hurt my feelings? What if I'm a big ,fat, BORE??
Well this blog will be the test.
If people like it I'm auditioning for Saturday Night Live!!