Day of relaxation

It was a good day for relaxing, spent most of it on the back deck with my book and some tunes. Got some sun, had a visit with a friend. Friend and I took kids for ice-cream then back to her
place for a swim and a few laughs, which haven't been too plentiful lately. Couldn't ask for a better day.



This is NOT the deck I was relaxing on but having relaxed in the past here I can say this is an ideal relaxing place, will always be one of my favorite places to hang out - with the right companion/s. Doesn't it look inviting?

Can't wait for your next trip home Lora; we'll have a few drinks while enjoying the view - I'll even help with the flowerbeds.

Teenager Home

Boy home unscathed, bike not so lucky - broken sprocket in the rear. With a broken bike that means the boy will be staying closer to home.

So all is good and safe for another day.

Teenage boys

Teenage boys think they are invincible. I don't know what Alex does on his 4-wheeler when he and his buddies head out to have fun. I don't think I want to know. So far, he has come home at the end of the day in one piece...well, once or twice there have been a few pieces missing but he always manages to come home. The bike, on the other hand, has not been so lucky. Usually it needs some kind of overhaul. The last time it was something with the rear end. The time before that it was the front end. The time before that it was a total rebuild of the motor...and so on and so on. But Dad, who has first hand knowledge of how well he can handle his machine, seems to think all is well. After all, Alex has been driving a 4-wheeler since he was 1 year old. He started with a battery powered one for his 2nd. Christmas and as he has grown so has the machine. And I do know he is a good rider my problem comes from knowing that when boys get together they can talk each other into almost anything, each one trying to out do the next. And my boy is easily influenced, not always known for using the best judgment.

All this to say he is off on yet another adventure with his buddies. He leaves without too many details on how he thinks his day will play out leaving me to wonder when he will be home and hoping it will continue to be safely. Dad is gone to the camp for a few days so that leaves me to worry and fret alone.

Days like this makes me long for the days when he was just a toddler playing in the yard, always within arms reach - safe.

My head and emotions have been like this lately...



...but I am starting to feel it clearing up a bit.

hmmmmmmmm

Ok, found my quiet place, in the grocery store - of all places
Made the mistake of coming home though,
Kids still fighting
Mess they were to clean up still lying around.
Sister screams at brother to leave her alone instead of just leaving the room
Brother teases sister because she screams when he bothers her.
Mother steps in and this time everyone else is shown to a quiet place...bedrooms can be a great place of solitude.
AHHHHHHH, hear the quiet.

Stressed

Stressed and overwhelmed
Can't stand the noise
Children fighting and arguing
Need to run
Need to escape
Nowhere to go
Who would understand
Can't get the noise to stop
Can't find peace
Why does there always have to be an argument
Why all the noise
Unceasing shouting and screaming
Kids being kids?
Mom overwhelmed
I need a break
Going now
Had enough
Need to find my own quiet place

Latest movies seen

Evening
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Last Mimzy
Charlotte's Web
The Pursuit of Happiness
Casino Royale
Flags of Our Fathers
Premonition
The Lake House
Dream Girls
Flags of Our Fathers
Eragon
Little Miss Sunshine
Blood Diamond

Latest CDs I bought

Serena Ryder - If Your Memory Serves You Well
Jessie Cook - Frontiers
Shaye - Lake of Fire

Books I've read

Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
Tara Road - Maeve Binchy
Glass Lake - Maeve Binchy
Mermaid Chair - Sue Kidd
Whispers and Lies - Joy Fielding
Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson
Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes
Night - Elie Wiesel
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
The Stone Angel - Margaret Laurence
The Diviners - Margaret Laurence
The Fire Dwellers - Margaret Laurence
The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

Crazy days

Hormones or the "change of life"... whatever it is I don't like it.
And it's not something I can just shake off, or tell myself it will go away.

Look what I found...isn't it beautiful - Queen Anne's Lace - grows wild on the side of the road.
It was just standing there all alone, one flower. I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture.

Went out last night to take photos but my battery died so I back tracked tonight with the battery freshly charged.

New Job..

As a very good friend said,

"Holy crap - you are no longer a house wife - you are a professional!!!!!"

After so many years of being a house wife, and we're not saying that's a bad thing; although it is nice when the 'cell doors' finally do open, it feels great to be doing something I really enjoy. And especially, with so many years of volunteer work I am finally going to be paid for all the stuff I have been doing for free.

I will be working, on contract, at one of the local papers in the production department. Now, this is not a big paper and there really is only one room where we will all be working and it's only put out twice a month but all that doesn't matter, it's the fact that I got the job. Out of 3 that were interviewed I was told I was the best candidate -

1. all the experience I have accumulated from my many volunteer positions I have a wide background in layout and design
2. I am well known in the volunteer community, if they don't know my face they know my name and apparently I have a good reputation - WOW, it's a shock when you hear these things about yourself.
3. I am from the area, which was one criteria for the job
4. and they sort of came looking for me. A friend called and said "you should phone Lynne, she is looking for someone for the paper". Apparently, they had run a couple of ads but hadn't hooked anyone yet. this Lynne had stopped my friend's office to ask her if she knew of someone and my name came up to which the reply was "that's who I was thinking about".

So I did call Lynne and after scrambling to put together a CV, I went to the interview and aced it, or at least out of the 3 who applied I was the best suited, had the most experience, and they were impressed with my work examples. YIPPEE!

So, I guess I am a professional!

Allow me to ramble...

There was a police stand-off in my quiet little community today. A guy with obvious problems was holdup in his house for most of the day supposedly threatening to kill himself. The local news reports that his parents had called the police because they were concerned over his mental state. How does it become so bad that the only answer a person feels they are left with is to commit suicide? I didn't know but my 15 year old and his buddies watched the whole thing, saw the police shoot the guy. I don't know how I would be feeling after seeing something like that. He said it was really scary. I can't even imagine.

I went for a drive the other day. Couldn't stay in the house any longer. It was Sunday, we had been planning to head to the cottage but it was raining and cold so we were all stuck in the house all day, together. Felt like the walls were tumbling in around me. The kids were arguing. The husband was ignoring it. I felt like a ball of nerves. I was making supper and couldn't get it ready fast enough. I made KD lasagna - threw it together and into the oven, grabbed my camera and ran out the door. While making a mad dash for my van I informed my husband that supper was in the oven, make sure it didn't burn, the kids were driving me crazy, I wouldn't be here to eat, I was outta here. I hit the back roads, cranked up the tunes, and cried. Cried. Not the loud sobbing kind of cry, just the quiet tears running down the face kind. Felt much better after a good cry. But there I was driving down the road hoping I didn't meet someone and if I did I hoped they wouldn't know that I was crying. (I live in a small community where everyone knows everyone)

Stay tuned, I feel the rambling is not completely over...

Chick flick + friends = one great night

There's nothing better than an evening spent with girlfriends, especially when those same girlfriends are ready for some fun. We went to the AMC Kanata to see "Evening". 4 of us went out early to do some shopping and to take full advantage of a night out...might as well use up as much of it as we can. The rest met us at the theatre just in time for the mopping up - as Kris got up to get more butter for the popcorn my drink was knocked out of the cup holder and poured all over the floor, including the row in front of us which was soon to be taken over by 4 older ladies - notice I didn't say OLD Ladies because as we noted while leaving the theatre that would be us in a few years, if we are so lucky. Anyway,most of the spill got mopped up but most was missed only to become a wet gooey mess below out feet, including the feet of the ladies in the row in front of us.

If you checked out the link for the movie you will realize that it's not a comedy but that didn't stop us, or the ladies in the row in front of us...after the spill and the usual banter about whose fault it was the second half of our group started throwing stuff over my shoulder. OK, yes, sometimes we can act like children...some of you will know exactly what I mean and some of you will be envious of us and those who know what I mean. Every once in awhile it is great to just cut loose and totally relax, without children, without spouses...with our girlfriends, the people we can truly be ourselves with.

The food throwing and the spilled drink ---- and the stress of the last few weeks and the happiness of being able to sit quiet for the entire length of a movie without having to be referee, cook, house cleaner, slave, etc., was enough to have Kris and I laughing beyond control which enticed the rest of our group to join in as did the ladies in the row in front of us. This is when we realized these ladies were out for a good time, too. At first we thought we were bothering them but we realized that wasn't the case when one turned around and asked if we had been "smoking some of that whacky tobaccy". We all had a great laugh.
Then half way through the movie, at one particularly sad moment one of the ladies in the row in front of us went to push herself back into her seat when her foot slipped on the spilled drink and banged into the back of the seat in front of her, all but one of her friends started laughing, one couldn't stop - she had to get a kleenex to wipe away her tears of laughter - this, of course, got us started again.

The end of the movie was terribly sad and I am sure each of us had tears in her eyes. Just when that moment, that inevitable comes that you know you should wipe the tears off your face but you really don't want to do it and make yourself noticed, the one lady in the row in front of us who hadn't been laughing decided this was her moment to ask her friend if she was alright...the comedy relief was very welcomed...it sure cut through the saddness. We could wipe away the tears of sadness and joy together.

We all, 9 + the 4 ladies in the row in front of us, walked out of the theatre together, laughing and enjoying each other and our evening.

It definitely was a Girlfriends night out.

After the movie we ate at Jack Astors then headed to Chapters for books and coffee. The night ended with me rolling up Kris' window while, for whatever reason, her fingers were hanging outside. She did tell say "ow, my fingers are in the window" but I figured she was pulling my chain, as she always does, so I kept holding the button until she finally shouted "stop, my fingers are really in the window!" It shouldn't have been funny but it really was sooooooo funny. In fact, it was a hilarious ending to a perfect night.

Can't wait to do it all again...real soon. Of course, I don't get to pick the movie, next time they want a comedy...geez, there's nothing like a good cry with friends especially when we can laugh about it and each other.