Let Me Tell You Where My Children's Tongues Have Been

The husband has flown the coop.  Mark is in Edmonton right now with his family.  They went to a hockey game last night and he is spending the day there today and will be back home tomorrow.  If I'm honest I could sit here and right a post ranting about how left out and lonely I feel, but it's really not so bad.  And I hate being a downer, so no rant today!

Instead I will ramble on about nonsense so I can avoid the productive tasks that I should be doing, like cleaning out our pets' cages and cleaning out the deep freezer so that my fridge freezer doesn't pop open at the least provocation.

Or I could even unpack more boxes in the hopes that my printer power cord will be found because as of this minute, it is still missing.  I never realized before I lost it how important it is to my life.  I'm starting to feel a little panicky about it.  Because, I mean, it's been three weeks I think since we've been here and it still hasn't surfaced.  That can't be a good sign.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  In the sun it was just plain hot!  I love spring.  It's such a happy feeling when things warm up.  Yes, it is supposed to snow again (so I've heard) but I console myself with the fact that the snow usually melts by afternoon.  And my kids love to eat snow, so that makes them happy.

Actually, let me tell you about my snow-eating kids.  They love snow so much that they will eat it from anywhere: the ground, from the bottoms of their boots, from cars.  They eat clean snow and muddy snow, they don't discriminate.  I cannot get them to stop licking cars that have snow on them.  Or even cars that are just wet.  Lick, lick, lick.

Maybe I should ask my Mom-in-law if Mark had a penchant for licking cars when he was younger because I sure don't remember doing that.

I'm All Alone With Only Myself For Company, Somebody Help Me!

I have a few things I want to share with you but our only camera is my iPhone and I don't have the sync cord since Mark is gone for this week and took it away with him.  I know we have another one somewhere, but I don't know where it is.  So what is the point in sharing things with no pictures to go along?  It kind of makes a bland post, I think.

So instead I will whine to you all about how I have to spend 3 nights all alone (well, obviously not completely alone, since the kids will be here) while hubs is out of town working.  I admit, I cried on the phone to him.  I'm horribly whiny and mopey when I'm the one left home alone.

Yet I am totally gung-ho when it's me who gets to go somewhere.  Like last summer when I went to Chilliwack and Nanaimo for a week.  And in just two months I'll be headed back north for a quick trip before going down south to the Okanagan for my sister's wedding.  All while leaving Mark at home.  Though he will join me for the wedding.  I should probably feel sorry for him, since when I go, he is COMPLETELY alone because I take the kids with me.  At least I get a warm body to sleep with.

And what about all those families where the husband has to work on the rigs for weeks at a time?  I have it super easy compared to that.  Or military families.  Obviously God knew that I wouldn't be able to survive any kind of deployment.  I barely survive a weekend.

And you know what is the frustrating thing?  I was missing him a lot and feeling super lonely, and was glad he called before heading to bed.  And I still fight with him!  I mean, couldn't I put things aside and just let them go?  Why do we have to fight?

It's probably because I'm hungry.  I'm frantically dieting at the moment (so I can fit my dress for the wedding) and have only lost 7ish pounds since I started.  Ok, so when I write that down, it actually seems like a bit of an accomplishment.  But I think to me it doesn't count because it's 7 pounds that I regained after my last weight loss, on top of gaining back what I had lost.

But now I'm tempted to go on a rant about weight loss.  I won't subject you to that...tonight.  Tomorrow is fair game.

Good night, pray that I am able to sleep.

Of Headaches and Julia Roberts

This day sure got away from me.  I had our Ladies'/Moms' Group this morning at my house and it was a nice refreshing time for my spirit.  Encouraging me to keep it up and seek God.

But after lunch my head started to KILL me.  I had gone to bed late last night, so I attributed it to that.  I am not much of a napper, but I figured it was worth a try since the headache wasn't going anywhere.  I locked the door, threw the Netflix on the Wii (since the kids can work that remote and not the XBox one) and went to my room to lie down.

An hour and a half later I had yet to even doze.  ARGH!

So I just gave up and vegged on the couch all afternoon.  I texted my husband to see if he could come home early since the kids were driving me nuts and I was responding very poorly but he couldn't.  Can't his boss see that I am a poor, sick woman who needs a break from needy children? (Did I sound pathetic enough?  haha, his boss is actually mostly good if I'm seriously ill and can't deal on my own, which isn't often)

And then hubby had to go to youth tonight, so he wasn't home very long before he left again.  So now I'm on my own.  But my head isn't quite as bad as it was before so that's a bit of a relief.  I am going to go watch some nice, light chick flick soon and possibly eat some popcorn for supper.

And while doing this I am not going to stress and worry about the state my house is in.  The dishes aren't done, no laundry is done, the toy room is a sort of mess (it's actually usually worse) and my floor needs to be mopped, for the second time this week.  When I get my own house, I am so making sure I have a floor that does NOT show every little speck on it.  So annoying.

So here's to Friday nights at home alone.  And not in a lonely way. In a I-can-watch-a-cheesy-rom-com-without-sarcastic-commentary kind of way.

Cheers!

A Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

Today is my hubby's 30th birthday.  Hurray!! Happy Birthday Hun!  (I just said that for the sake of saying it publicly.  He doesn't read my blog.)

I have a desire to make birthdays in our family a special time, maybe starting some traditions that carry on through the years, but I have yet to reach anything close to my ideal picture.  Last year definitely didn't turn out like I thought it would, as I shared with you.  But this year I have a plan.  This year I am throwing a surprise dessert party.  With people invited.

Yes, I have chosen to host my first, more-than-just-best-friends party this Saturday.  And a surprise to boot.  I'm nothing if not ambitious (actually I am quite a few things more than ambitious, but I won't get into that now!).

Since the party is Saturday night, I am not doing anything huge today.  I am making a cake for him to have, and supper will be...well actually supper isn't super special since we didn't get our pay-cheque until yesterday so I haven't been able to replenish our meat supply.  But the cake he requested is a Lemon Chiffon cake.  I have never made one before.  Things that I haven't made before sometimes go very, very wrong.  So I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it turns out.

I have been busy cleaning the house and baking all the desserts this week.  I had a nice plan where I would make one dessert a day this week, but that flopped since yesterday I had a really bad headache, so I didn't get any baking, or any cleaning at all done.  So now I'm bunching up a little the last couple days.

I am a little nervous about having all these people in my house.  We've had Biblestudies here, but this is different.  The only purpose is to come socialize and eat our food.  I don't want everyone to be bored!  I don't want them to hate my food!  What if there are large amounts of awkward silence?!  Oh goodness.  I think I'm just going to not think about it.

I love the idea of hospitality, but am definitely a little more socially awkward than not.  So this is a big leap for me.  But Mark loves being social.  So I knew that he would so appreciate having all his friends with him.

What Goes on in the House When Daddy is Away

My hubby is away overnight for work, so the kids and I are on our own.  It's funny, he works long hours in the summer, usually leaving before the kids, and a lot of the time I, are awake, and not returning home until close to 7, which is only a half an hour before it's time to start getting ready for bed.  Yet even though he's only here for those hours in the evening, it still feels different, even during the day, when he is out of town.

It must be the knowledge that he isn't coming home.  It sort of feels like when the boss is out of town.  You know, you can relax a little, not be so work driven, maybe chat with the office ladies a little longer.  For me, it means I don't have to stress over what I am cooking for supper.

Mark eats a fair amount for supper, since he works such a physically hard job.  And on top of that, he likes to take leftovers for his lunches.  This means that I have to make enough food for all of us for supper and at least one more meal for him (bonus if there's enough for me too) and I should try to make the food something that he enjoys.    But we differ in our tastes quite a bit.  My favourite foods are not his, and vice versa. 

I can be very emotionally sensitive sometimes (okay, maybe all the time) (okay and maybe it's more like over-sensitive).  If I make something that he doesn't LOVE and RAVE over, I feel a little bit of a punch to the gut.  Don't get me wrong, he is very appreciative of almost everything I make, whether it's a favourite or not (the only time he is unappreciative is when it's a complete disaster, like Pan-Fried Mustard Glazed Salmon, that both looks and tastes like cat poop).  So because I live to please him (hahahahaha, well I try) I want to make foods that he enjoys.  But man, do I hate planning meals.  I think it is worse than the actual cooking.

So for this reason I try to plan our meals out weeks in advance.  I usually have a four week calendar on the go.  And in it I try to balance out the meals between the ones he likes and the ones I like.  So it is very convienent for me when he goes away because I can make whatever I want and there is no gut-punching regret!  Or, I can eat leftovers for the third time that day.  (he doesn't like to eat the same thing for supper that he ate at lunch.)

Today, for example, I cooked a salmon for supper.  He likes salmon, but he likes it done a little fancier than me, with some kind of lemony-dilly-ish like sauce.  I eat mine with all the goodness of melted butter.  Mmmmmmmmmm.  So I got to cook it plain, and eat it like that.  My kids also get a kind of supper break when Daddy isn't home, since I don't really enforce our dinner table eating time.  They can have what they want, whenever they want it.  Today they wanted toast at 4, and then bread for supper later.  Yes, they ate mainly bread.  Leigh did eat a few potatoes.  Mom of the Year award over here please!

Tomorrow I will be back as a slave to quality(ish) food.  Hubs is coming home, and my in-laws are coming also, so I will really be putting out my best efforts...or just regular ones!  But I have had my salmon, and I'll have it for lunch tomorrow too!  (And maybe breakfast)

Downfall of the Lounging Day

Mark was heading out of town early this morning (5:30) and was going to be gone overnight.  I usually try to get up to say goodbye when he's gone for a few days, but last time I got up I wasn't able to get back to sleep and ended up with a horrible headache and just had a crumby day so I figured I would stay in bed and try to sleep.  Maybe if I would get myself to bed at a decent time I could get up earlier, which I would love to do, but that's a whole other story.

But Abby woke up around this time so he dumped her in bed with me and that hampered me getting back to sleep until she fell asleep again since she squirmed and fussed and fidgeted.  And insisted on drinking from a metal water bottle that went clink, clink, clink.  But I did get a few more minutes of sleep before Leigh woke up.  Leigh cuddled in bed with me for a little while before demanding "Hot Dogs!" for breakfast.  Well, I didn't have any hot dogs, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't give them for breakfast.  She settled for toast.

I sat (laid down under a quilt) on the couch while she was eating, half dozing, half trying to wake up by playing games on my iPhone.  Abby slept in until nine, the time when I was conveniently making myself some toast so I just gave her one of my pieces.  Then we proceeded to just do nothing much.  They played, and screamed and fussed and fought, while I read and played and sat there like a blob.  None of us were dressed.  I did change Leigh's diaper though, since she was STINKY. 

And guess who walks in the door just before the lunch hour?  Mark!  My wonderful husband that I want to impress with all my wonderful housewifely skills.  Yes, he caught me on a lounging day. 

I was so embarrassed!  Not that the house is always perfect and this will ruin any kind of image I have with him.  No, he's pretty much seen me (and our house) much worse than this.  But I have been trying so hard to keep up with cleaning and all that kind of stuff and to not slack off by reading or playing on my iPhone or wasting time on Facebook (curse you FB!!!  Why are you so addictive and revolting at the same time?).  He goes to work 5, sometimes 6, days a week, and he doesn't get to sit around.  But I am supposed to be manning the homefront.

Oh well!  So that is my secret of the day.  If I ever try to portray myself as this perfect super-mom/wife, you all know differently.  You know that my husband came home and found me in an old, hole-y tank top with no dishes or laundry done at all. 

One Person's Junk is Another Person's Treasure...

And now to break the bloggy silence.

So I had a garage sale today.  It was a combined effort between me and my dear friend.  I call her dear because she bought me a flower yesterday.  What a sweetie.  I think she did it because she found out that my hubby didn't get me anything at all for Mother's Day.  She was quite indignant to hear that.  But I don't want her or you to get all upset for me about it.  (Though I will admit it does satisfy me a little bit to have people on my side, so to speak.)  I didn't remind him of it at all, and without a reminder, he doesn't get things like that done very much.

But anyways.  She wasn't able to be here for it today, but if we didn't hold it today it would have to be postponed until June, since next weekend is our town's Blossom Day Festival parade and we both are planning on taking the little kidlets there.  And the weekend after that we are both out of town.  I was willing to host the sale without her in order to get this junk (treasure) out of my house.

But as life would have it, I still have junk in my house.  It was a beautiful day, except for the stinking wind that was trying to blow everything down.  But so nice and sunny that I have some burnt arms to prove it.  And I got a fair turnout.  Quite a lot of people came before my start time of 9 o'clock, darn early birds.  That'll teach me to put out my signs early.  Next time, I'm putting them out just before start time.  Take that!

We made a fairly good amount of money, but there is still quite a bit of stuff leftover, so we will probably try again next month, since another friend of ours has some stuff to get rid of, but had been out of town and didn't have time to get it ready for today.

My kids kept pulling toys off the table and playing with them.  I am very frustrated that these toys I'm trying to get rid of they suddenly are in love with.  Just can't win.  But hopefully I can hide them until next time.  All in all my girls were well behaved.