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...

A Pain in The ...

I am suffering from "OW! I can't move!" syndrome. This Fitness Buff stuff is quite the profession. I did a class at the gym today. Wow. I feel like someone liquified my glutes and quads. Who ARE these teachers of terror - these instructors of infliction - these harbingers of hell-fire... seriously, those instructors can beat the crap out of you, all the while smiling and telling jokes.

Funny story from Seth yesterday. We were in Superstore, shopping merrily along, when Abby announces she has to go to the bathroom. Now, if you've ever been in a public bathroom, you know it's a nasty necessity, but THIS one... words cannot express the stench that emanated from this room. Seth, Abby and I piled in there, holding our breath, and the dastardly deed was done. Phew! We go back to our cart and happily make our way to the opposite side of the store. Seth cries out, "Mommy! I have to go pee-pees!" I cannot believe it. No "stinking" way do I want to go back in there. I ask him,
"Are you kidding me??" (exasperation implied)
Seth replies in a very serious tone, "No Mommy. I'm not joking." I had to laugh at that.
We survived, but just barely. My sense of smell may not ever be the same. But then again, I am stinky. "If you don't know that by now, you will never never never know it, ooooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oooh!"

Self-Sabotage

I did so well yesterday. Now I have cleaned up my kitchen, and I decided to mess it up with the most divine cookies:

1 1/4 c. butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. bk.soda
1/2 tsp. salt
chocolate chunks, chocolate chips, etc.

Bake at 350 for 8-9 mins.

Calories: A TON.

Report

My plan to be a gym buff/fitness guru has officially started. I went to the gym this morning, armed with all of the necessary items for the event: water bottle, towel, shoes, iPod. When I got there, I realized I left one MAJOR thing at home ... energy. Oh dear. I am afraid I was not the picture of stellar form this morning, as I collapsed on the mat after only 6 seconds of holding a plank position, and I could not get my legs to do proper squats at all. My arms are still shaking from trying to lift only ***8*** get that - EIGHT - pound weights over my head. Hoo boy.
My specific goal for being a gym buff is to get into the habit of regular exercise. 3 days a week for weights, 5 days a week for cardio. This is the plan. Hopefully, weight loss will occur, but I'm trying not to focus on it. I focus too much on that all the time. It backfires on me... "Oh, poor me! I went to the gym but I didn't lose any weight so I'll eat that huge chocolate cake so I can feel better!"
Thanks for commenting, girls! It makes me SO much more accountable when I know someone is actually going to be checking to see if I'm doing my goals. Tami - I have a baby gift for you! I MUST GET IT TO YOU!!

Professional Plan

I just have to say that I LOVE the idea of being a professional Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) and I am absolutely inspired by my friend Sondi. She asks on her blog if I've done my plan for this year and NO! I haven't. The main goal is to focus on one area each month, so as to combat boredom/ depression. So here we go:

January: Too bad, so sad. Professional Procrastinator of Professional Plan

February: Gym Buff/ Fitness Guru

March: Writer

April: House Cleaner

May: Gardener/ Lawn Care

June: Packer

July: Mover

August: Organizer/Beach Bum

September: School Teacher (I am attempting Home Schooling)

October: Travel Agent

November: Personal Shopper

December: Snowman Maker / Dinner Party Queen

This is my personal plan. It is subject to extreme changes due to the weather of my moods. Thanks for the inspiration, Sondi!

I Love Friday.

Friday. Or Fried-day. The day when my brain is completely fried and my body is tired and I can't see straight and I crave all things chocolate. The day that I know will be followed by a SATURDAY sleep-in.
Today we walked to the movie store in our effort to save the environment. All the way there, the kids were congratulating themselves on just how "green" they were, how much pollution they didn't put into the air, etc. All I was thinking was that it would be so much faster just to drive there. Fried-day.
The kids got up this morning and sauntered downstairs, quite late, only to see that their crazy mother was in a rather sour mood due to the time. After experiencing mother's rants about how they were going to be late for school, Abby declared, "Wow. She's gonna need A LOT of hugs today." So true. Fried-day.
My lovely friend came over to chat with me and have lunch this afternoon. I love my lovely friend. She puts up with the fried-ness and makes me laugh. We drink our herbal tea and discuss pretty much anything/everything. If we ruled the world... LOOK OUT. Fantastic Fried-day.
Now I shall go and make dinner. Perhaps in honour of this day I shall FRY something.

New Year, NEW ... post.

Oh how I love this little man. A classic pose.

If I get one post done this year I am going to be OH so happy!!! I'm not going to promise any kind of regular posting or anything, since that is not realistic... but I shall try to write more because I truly enjoy this silly blog. It's fun for me.
Christmas Report:
Most of the baking got done and got eaten immediately. I should have taken pictures but the truth is that I forgot to get the camera. My big plan this year was to bake loaves of bread and send them to people instead of sending sugary baking... I think I only did that to 2 lucky people and the rest of the people got zippo. Oooops. Not a great year for gift-giving or card-sending... sorry people. No offense intended!
We had a lovely visit with most of the family at Christmas this year. We partied hard... about 11 adults and 12 kids at each supper meal. That is a LOT of cooking and cleaning... but it was fun because there were lots of people around to help. Brett got 2 days of skiing/snowboarding in, along with a couple of 15 km runs, so he was happy. I was able to go on ONE walk with my Mom to the graveyard. That was the highlight of my trip, I think. Oh, and AVATAR!! So great. What a fun time at the movies! I highly recommend it.
Here's a few pics of the festivities...if I can find them...

This is proof of how busy Grandma and Grandpa's house was. CRAZY. But fun.