Hello?

Hey Dearies,

It's been almost a year since my last post. I am the QUEEN of procrastination, and now I shall make no promises to continue, either.

To bring you up to date: since my last post, I have sold a house, bought a van, relocated, unpacked, and entered (for the 4th time) into the "Family WAY". In the midst of all that, I have found time to have a bit of fun and enjoy being here in our new (old) town. Brett is working (*gasp*) instead of going to school, and that is quite fun! Being in such a small place means he comes home for lunch, which Seth and I enjoy. He loves his work. At the moment, he's taking over for my doctor, which means if Baby Poulin rears his cute little head early, I would call him... and scream "YOU DID THIS TO ME, NOW GET IT OUT!!!" Heh heh heh.

I'm due March 5th, but I'm a C-Section gal, so the babe shall come March 1st, unless I can coax him out by other methods...but that never works for me, alas and alack...

I have a bone of contention about this whole state of pregnancy. Actually two. Two bones of contention.

#1. When you first get pregnant, more often than not you get morning sickness. WHY?????? You need the energy, you need the food, the baby needs the nutrients... WHY MUST WE PUKE? I don't get it.

#2. When you are in your third trimester and are as big as a whale, you can't sleep. WHY???? Again, you need the energy, because the little twerp is coming soon and you won't be able to sleep for months. Shouldn't you be able to sleep like the dead, since you are about to feel like the walking dead? I don't get that, either.

I've also had an interesting condition this time - everything I eat tastes like metal. Weird. I hear it has something to do with the amount of saliva in my mouth. I hope it goes away soon, since I DO love my food. All of you followers know that...

Name ideas, people? We've got one in mind, but I need to cover my butt and have a back-up. Ben was supposed to be Thomas, Abby was supposed to be Camille, and Seth was supposed to be Thomas... I need ideas.

Professional Cleaning May Not Be My Destiny

I respect and admire all of you professional cleaners. It takes a strong, strong person to tackle the dirt again and again and again. I don't think I have the chops! This whole "obsessively clean" thing is driving me to distraction! Our house isn't even on the market yet. Hoo boy.

Brett's having a great time in Drumheller. He even posted Facebook pics of us when he should have been studying. Nice.

I've made a bet with my brother in law, Richard, and my husband to see who can lose the highest percentage of body fat before July 24th. I am SO MOTIVATED. Every day I see Richard's face and I envision him trying to take the prize away from me... and I am finding I can forego the chocolate. It's amazing. The prize is $200, by the way, which I have decided will be towards a spa day for myself. I have never done that and I would like to try it.

The photographers were taking pics of my lovely little first home so that we can sell it to some stranger. I think I need to de-emotionalize. I love my house. I'm sure I'll love the next one, too.

March Didn't Go So Well

The whole "Professional Writer" thing may have gone a tad astray. Oooops. Did I even write my name in March? Oh yes, on several nasty cheques to car repair places, book orders, etc.

On to April.

The PROFESSIONAL HOUSE CLEANER.

I am happy to report that I did do some house cleaning today, in fact. My lovely babysitter came upstairs and almost fell back down the stairs when she saw the state of the rooms - CLEAN! No mess! No toys everywhere! Actual carpet on the floor, not just a carpet of clothes! Yes, it is true. My upstairs is actually clean.

My plan is to do an hour or so everyday to keep up the usual stuff, and then spend 15 minutes de-junking. Will this get the job done in time? For the clock is ticking... we put our house on the market later this month. I did most of the big stuff in February and our Realtor seemed to think it was good. We shall see... I have never sold a house before and I'm petrified. I can't imagine keeping my home in show-home order constantly for months. EEEEEEEEEK!

Easter was great. The kids had a blast with their cousins. It was so loud... my ears are still ringing. The amount of food needed to feed those twerps was amazing. I found a new lemon bar recipe which was received with thunderous accolades. I shall direct you all to ourbestbites.com so that you may enjoy them as I have. Every recipe I have tried on that site is fantastic. The gals that write it are hilarious.

Happy Spring!

Lonely Gal

"I'm just a poor [gal],

I need no sympathy..."

Name that quote. Or this one...

"...but I never complain!"

I know you know that one, Megan.

I miss my boy. The whole "single-parenting" thing is not my favourite, but I'll survive. I'm afraid I'm pulling out my teacher training from the back of my brain and being uber-strict for a little bit. I always find that if you start out strict for a little while, then everyone can relax later and have some fun.

Professional Writer.

Well,

I forgot that I was going to be a professional writer this month. I suppose I should go buy "Writing For Dummies" at the bookstore... because there must be a technique to it.

What shall I write about? For starters, I could tell you what my little Ben said at dinner tonight with the Missionaries. He starts talking about all the funny jokes he read in this book that his friend brought over. "Here's one," he says, "how can I make love without a TV?"

SILENCE.

And then, red-faced and shaking with silent laughter, the poor Elders cough food into their napkins while Brett says, "Yes, well, that doesn't make much sense, does it?" And Ben just says,
"Yeah. It doesn't."
Innocence. Gotta love that.

I explained it later, after they left. He decided he wouldn't tell that joke at dinner parties anymore. Good decision, good decision.

Another Report

Hello there, faithful readers!

I am researching fitness-y type stuff in order to be a good fitness guru. Did you know that 2 out of 3 Canadians are over-weight or obese? BRUTAL! 30% of youth aged 12-19 are completely inactive during the day. WOW. Perhaps I'll take my kids to the track and make them run. Maybe not the best idea for making exercise fun.
I'm using the Wii Fit quite a bit lately to help motivate the kids... they need to earn minutes by moving and then they can play the more sedentary games. How much time do your kids play video games? We're trying to cut back over here. It's the first privilege to go when they are being naughty or disrespectful.
So, now that the weekend is done, I'm hoping to get my flat tire fixed (AGAIN) and get back to the gym 3 times this week. The calorie counting thing is annoying... but good. 300 calories every 3 hours. I'll let you know how it's going. Tah tah!

First Official Day Off As A Professional Fitness Guru

Ahem...
I might have eaten half a bag of peanut M&M's today, along with 4 pieces of pizza and 2 glasses of pop. I didn't work out, either. Oh dear. Well, back on the wagon tomorrow, as it is Fast Sunday and I'm pretty much guaranteed not to go over my caloric intake....although one should never say NEVER...