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| Saturday, October 28, 2006 |
| Last Weekend was Awesome....This Weekend.... |
Is nowhere near as fun as last weekend was. I put my ass on a plane on Friday and off I went to Toronto to meet up with a gang of ladies. 2 whole nights of no husbands or kids, it was amazing as always. We shopped, we drank, we ate....the whole weekend was like this. The conversations were as always wonderful. Picture Silver Creek Mom, Twin Mom from Hanging In There, Nancy from Blog Pourri, Laurie from The Emma Report and a few more ladies that have been let loose in a big city! This has become an annual event and I can't wait until the next one. I live almost the furthest away from the main group and only get to see them a few times a year. If not for them, I'd still be a Martini Virgin, wouldn't have cool new boots or a renewed sense of being. I'd be lost without these ladies!!!
This weekend it's cold and snowing last weekend was damp and rainy, but it just didn't seem so bad. Must have been the company.
How many more sleeps until the next get together??? |
posted by Northern Mom @ 9:20 p.m.  |
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| Stolen meme |
from Chrissy from Life on Manitoulin
So, the idea behind this meme is that you bold every one of these things that you've done and leave the rest in standard typeface.
01. bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. swam with wild dolphins
03. climbed a mountain
04. taken a ferrari for a test drive
05. been inside the great pyramid
06. held a tarantula
07. taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. said "i love you" and meant it
09. hugged a tree
10. bungee jumped
11. visited paris
12. watched a lightning storm at sea
13. stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. seen the northern lights
15. gone to a huge sports game
16. walked the stairs to the top of the leaning tower of pisa
17. grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. touched an iceberg
19. slept under the stars
20. changed a baby's diaper
21. taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. watched a meteor shower
23. gotten drunk on champagne (cheap champagne)
24. given more than you can afford to charity
25. looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. had a food fight
28. bet on a winning horse
29. asked out a stranger
30. had a snowball fight
31. screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. held a lamb
33. seen a total eclipse
34. ridden a roller coaster
35. hit a home run
36. danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. adopted an accent for an entire day
38. actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. had two hard drives for your computer
40. visited all 50 states
41. taken care of someone who was drunk
42. had amazing friends
43. danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. watched whales
45. stolen a sign
46. backpacked in europe
47. taken a road-trip
48. gone rock climbing
49. midnight walk on the beach
50. gone sky diving
51. visited ireland
52. been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. in a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. visited japan
55. milked a cow
56. alphabetized your cds
57. pretended to be a superhero
58. sung karaoke
59. lounged around in bed all day
60. played touch football
61. gone scuba diving
62. kissed in the rain
63. played in the mud
64. played in the rain
65. gone to a drive-in theater
66. visited the great wall of china
67. started a business
68. fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. toured ancient sites
70. taken a martial arts class
71. played d&d for more than 6 hours straight
72. gotten married
73. been in a movie
74. crashed a party
75. gotten divorced
76. gone without food for 5 days
77. made cookies from scratch
78. won first prize in a costume contest
79. ridden a gondola in venice
80. gotten a tattoo
81. rafted the snake river
82. been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. gotten flowers for no reason
84. performed on stage
85. been to las vegas
86. recorded music
87. eaten shark
88. kissed on the first date
89. gone to thailand
90. bought a house
91. been in a combat zone
92. buried one/both of your parents
93. been on a cruise ship
94. spoken more than one language fluently
95. performed in rocky horror
96. raised children
97. followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. passed out cold
99. taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. walked the golden gate bridge
102. sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. had plastic surgery
104. survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. wrote articles for a large publication
106. lost over 100 pounds
107. held someone while they were having a flashback
108. piloted an airplane
109. touched a stingray
110. broken someone's heart
111. helped an animal give birth
112. won money on a t.v. game show
113. broken a bone
114. gone on an african photo safari
115. had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
sidenote where is 118?
119. had major surgery
120. had a snake as a pet
121. hiked to the bottom of the grand canyon
122. slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. visited more foreign countries than u.s. states (well, more countries than Canadian provinces)
124. visited all 7 continents
125. taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. eaten kangaroo meat
127. eaten sushi
128. had your picture in the newspaper
129. changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. gone back to school
131. parasailed
132. touched a cockroach
133. eaten fried green tomatoes
134. read The iliad
135. selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. skipped all your school reunions
138. communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. been elected to public office
140. written your own computer language
141. thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. built your own PC from parts
144. sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. had a booth at a street fair
146. dyed your hair
147. been a dj
148. shaved your head
149. caused a car accident
150. saved someone's life
That was fun. Leave me a comment if you do it too!!! |
| posted by Northern Mom @ 5:53 p.m. |
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| It happened |
And we are forcasted for more today...It's too early for this..... This was taken this morning
Proper update to follow sometime this weekend
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| posted by Northern Mom @ 12:21 p.m. |
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| Friday, October 27, 2006 |
| It's not winter yet.... |
| and we are forcasted for between 10 and 25 cm between tonight and Sunday....YUCK |
| posted by Northern Mom @ 9:30 a.m. |
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| Tuesday, October 24, 2006 |
| How 5 minutes can turn into one hour.... |
This morning as Jo and I were going out the door my neighbour yelled across the street and told me there was an accident on the overpass going into the city and that traffic was being rerouted. I dropped Jo off and headed to town. I hadn't gone very far when I realized the traffic was backed up and stopped at the detour. I was tempted to wait and continue on my way when I looked at the gas gauge. The light wasn't on, but it was very close to the red mark on the gauge. I called my neighbour and asked her how far she had gotten and she had actually turned around and decided to take the long, way out of the way route to work. I needed gas so regardless of which route I was going to take I had to get back to the gas station. I filled up and headed out to Highway 17 which would bring me back to town after a great amount of back tracking. Imagine my surprise(pure sarcasm inputted here) when I ended up stopped in construction on the highway. After 2 calls into work and 1 hour after I left home I arrived at work. Not a great way to start the day.
One my way home this afternoon I tried to bypass the construction outside of where I work and went down to the furthest access street only to find it blocked with construction equipment. I turned around and went to the 2nd closest only to discover the same thing. As it turned out, I ended up going back up the street where I had started out in the parking lot at work to get home. I'm really beginning to hate this city.
We have 4 seasons
-Almost winter
-Winter
-Still Winter
-Construction
Almost winter and construction seasons usually overlap...it really bites. |
| posted by Northern Mom @ 2:04 p.m. |
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| Tuesday, October 17, 2006 |
| Progress |
I've been somewhat of an absent blogger these days. Between trying to sneak naps in and get some of the renos happening there just doesn't seem to be much time. What have we been up to? On Thanksgiving Weekend Jo and I took a day trip to Little Current on Manitoulin Island and had a great visit with some of my childhood friends! The weather was perfect and so was the company. Even without a nap Jo did pretty good. She did however find out that no matter where we are, or who's around that Mommy doesn't really like it when you stick your tongue out and act bold. We have now started taking things away when we get attitude from her. I had tried this in the past, but if I threatened to shut her movie off, she did it for me. Now things have changed and she isn't very happy when her Curious George Movie is on the line to be taken away. She thinks her Playdoh is in the garbage, but is actually out in the garage as part of a lesson. We've had snow which Jo thought was just great and is disappointed when there is no snow on the windshield in the morning to dust off with the wipers. Hopefully the novelty will wear off by mid December and she'll dislike the snow and cold too. I've been trying to take things easy. I'm 5 weeks post op and still having some hurting issues when I know I have done too much. Hence not answering the phone this aft when Silver Creek Mom called. I was snoozin'. I noticed over Thanksgiving weekend that my brakes were making a funny sound. They are metal on metal. Tomorrow my truck goes in. I don't think I'm going to like the bill at the end of it, but it has to be done. I found out that "M" and the 4 kids have moved back in with my Mother In Law. Apparantly they originally moved out of there because the kids were wrecking the place, then went to Hubby's Brothers and that didn't work out either so back they went. My MIL is in her 70's and really doesn't need 4 kids running around.... Here are some pictures of the progress! Jo helping with the taping and mud  The new closet done and almost full! At least now I can find the clothes I need for Toronto this weekend!
 The view from the kitchen. The first door is a closet that is coming out and the second my bedroom. There used to be a wall and couldn't see this from the kitchen.
 This used to be an opening going into the living room which will soon become the bedroom.
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| posted by Northern Mom @ 9:08 p.m. |
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| Payback..... |
Over at Ordinary Stuff Krazzy K thought it might be a good idea to post a picture of me sleeping in the car on the way home. I told her that payback was gonna hurt and I found this picture while going through some other stuff on the weekend! Love ya K 1st Grade  10th Grade
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| posted by Northern Mom @ 8:27 p.m. |
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| Thursday, October 05, 2006 |
| I'm blah...just blah blah blah |
I'm not even sure why. The change of the seasons, side effects from the surgery, not taking my antidepressants twice a day like I should. I am supposed to take one in the morning and one at night. It's the morning one that I always forget. When I am working I have the bottle of pills in my drawer so when I open it to take out the tools for the day (pencil, eraser, pen, whiteout etc) I grab the bottle and take them. I should make a note somewhere and remind myself. I've been very tired the last week or so too. Again, it could be the above.
I was having a great sleep this morning after I dropped Jo of at Daycare and then I heard a knock at the door. It was two JW's came knocking at the door. I was not impressed. I looked at them and said, "I just had surgery and I'm sleeping." They apologized and I closed the door pretty much in their faces. I was telling my mom about this tonight when we took Jo to gymnastics and she told me that I was rude. I reminded her that other religions don't come knocking at the door...she agreed, but still thought I was rude.
I don't have the inclination to even sit in front of mindless TV and knit. I'm getting ready for a girls weekend and I am having a hard time mustering up the energy to even feel like going. It's a long weekend here starting tomorrow and I have a dear friend coming up to the Island. If the weather looks good I think I'll make a day trip on Sunday to visit the gang. Seeing L always perks me up. She is much like her mom was. Sees the good in all. I miss her mom....
Jo has wet her bed 2 nights in a row now. We started last Sunday and she has been good 8 of 11 nights. I put her fuzzy warm sheets on today and she was so excited about how cozy it was gonna be. I told hubby we should get her up and put her on the toilet before we go to bed. It sucks so bad that I can't lift her to do it myself. We'll see what tomorrow morning brings.
It is frustrating that I can't do so many of the things I normally do by myself. Laundry is sitting down here folded and I've asked hubby to bring it upstairs, but there isn't much point. If you could see the mess upstairs with drywall or lack of, wiring.....renofuckingvations... and I can't help with any of it. I can't put half my laundry away in my closet because that's where the access to the attic is, so everytime hubby has to go up there to pull wires (I was really tempted to say pull his wire) the closet has to be emptied. It will be nice when the new closet it finished and I can put things away properly.
My beautiful tree is now almost empty of the leaves already. Hubby had the rake out the other night and raked the leaves into a pile at the bottom of the slide. It was all I could do not to take the rake and do it too.
See how frustrating this whole hysterectomy thing has been. I really thought that by now I would be feeling much better, but I'm still sore and I think the whole reality of it all has set in. I have my follow up on the 25th and if I'm not feeling better by then I'll ask him about it. The long term outlook is good. I won't be keeping the feminine products companies in business and won't have to purchase any of that stuff for 8 or 10 years (hopefully).
I stopped in at the furniture store that I used to work at and I would love nothing better than to be back there. My bosses both asked if I was there for my old position. I told them that maybe once Jo is in school I'll go back. My one boss there has little ones and understands that Jo is in a good routine now, but damn I'd love to be back. The stuff is gorgeous! They are selling The Ashley Line and the store is gorgeous. Nice and clean and bright! I wanted to really look at the stuff, but spent all my time visiting instead and I knew if I really wandered the store I'd be more "homesick" than I was before.
I'm off to watch ER and then off to bed....Things will look brighter in the morning I hope! |
| posted by Northern Mom @ 9:28 p.m. |
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| Tuesday, October 03, 2006 |
| Might be a long one.. |
I've been stewing on this one for ages and maybe I might feel better if I get it all written down and finally off my chest.......
Back at the beginning of July Jo's birthmom called hubby and asked if she could store all of her stuff in our garage. There was no possible way. We are renovating and have our own junk in there so there just wasn't room. Hubby however offered to pay storage fees for 2 months for her. Somehow she managed to get behind paying her rent. She was in Geared to Income Housing and her rent was only about $100.00 per month. We think that her boyfriend moved in and that's why she got the boot. At that point the bf had apparently bought a trailer for her and the 4 kids could live in for the summer and her plan was to have an apartment by the beginning of September because 3 of the 4 go to school.
Fast forward to August. I was out shopping one night and drove by my Mother In Law's house. It's almost 9pm and there are her 2 middle kids (9 and 5) standing on the side of the street shooting at cars with water guns. This isn't a neighborhood street. It's a divided 4 lane main street in the city with median dividers, turning lanes and lots of traffic. It was all I could do not to stop the car, but then my second thought was that it's not my problem.
September comes and she still doesn't have a place. Our credit card is on file at the storage place and there is supposed to be a note on the file to call us before charging it for a third month. I check the Visa and sure enough we were charged another $188.00 for the month of September. One of hubby's brothers pays us the amount because "M" is supposed to be moving into her place within the month.
One of hubby's brothers called on the weekend and told us that "M" and the kids were staying with him and he had to kick her out because the kids were too bad and things were getting stolen. For whatever reason she is not getting the apartment that she was supposed to get. So once again I check the Visa and sure enough another $188.00 has been charged for October. Hubby is supposed to call Visa and try and stop any further charges for the storage. He was supposed to do that back in August.
"M", Jo's birthmom has 4 other kids. They are 13, 9, 5 and almost 2. She has never had a job and has been on "The System" since her oldest was born. She has 3 which should be in school and I have no idea if they are or not. I'm not sure that they have even spent an entire year in the same school or not. These kids have no stability in any part of their lives. Boyfriends of hers come and go, new apartments, new schools nothing ever stays constant in their lives.
I feel bad for the kids. I look at Jo and think about how lucky she is, how lucky we are. Some days it bothers me that she won't have siblings to grow up with but I do know that she will have so many opportunities that her birth siblings won't. One of hubby's Sister in Laws called us this summer almost in tears. They had stopped over at Hubby's mom's house for a visit and she couldn't believe how different Jo is from her birth siblings. Jo is well behaved (as well as a 3 year old with an attitude can be), polite and so lovable. That made me feel great as a parent knowing that we are doing things right. Almost like a validation of sorts.
I just don't understand how a parent can lack so much responsibility. How can you have 4 children and be virtually homeless? It totally boggles my mind. We continually make sacrifices and put Jo's needs ahead of our own. Isn't that what being a parent is all about?
We are soon faced with the decision of where to send Jo to school. We are seriously contemplating putting Jo in an all french environment. We both think that it would give her more opportunities later in life. The only all french school in our town is a Catholic School and she can't be refused based on religion. I could send her to a public school (in the city) that is right across the street from where Hubby and I both work, but my fear is that she will end up in the same school as her birth siblings and some of them carry the same last name as we do and I just don't want to have to do any explaining to her(until she is ready) or the school. We can only hope that "M" never makes a move to our little town.
I am thankful that we have Jo and without "M" it never would have happened and our lives would be so much different. I just wish I could shake some sense into the woman so she could get her priorities in order. I can only hope that the 4 kids look out for each other and somehow manage to live productive lives. |
| posted by Northern Mom @ 7:46 a.m. |
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| Monday, October 02, 2006 |
| I'm tired..I'm sore.... |
Not thinking this morning I went into Jo's room to get her this morning after she had come to wake me up. She had crawled back into bed and we have been successful at night training so I didn't want a morning accident....I heaved her out of bed without thinking......Jo says to me "You're not supposed to lift me up, I'm telling my Daddy." Needless to say I hurt for the rest of the day.
Hubby learned this weekend about age appropriate television. He popped in a movie before Jo was in bed last night and of course the "F" word was used about 25 times in the first 3 minutes. It was quickly shut off when she told us that F*&^*&n' is a bad word. Will he ever learn?
I've added a pic of the hit of Jo's birthday. Her interactive doll who is named....Baby Maggie, just like all the others. I will get a proper recap of her birthday done one of these days...I promise.
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| posted by Northern Mom @ 9:32 p.m. |
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| About Me |
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Name: Northern Mom
Home: Northern Ontario, Canada
About Me: There isn't too much to tell. I'm Mommy to Jo, wife to Hubby. I'm the oldest of 3 siblings and 4 step siblings, Auntie to a whole bunch of kids and Great Auntie to a few as well!
I'm back to working 9-5 with no weekends or nights so keeping up with everything is a challenge!
See my complete profile
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