Friday, June 25, 2010

Repatriation

On our way home from a lovely afternoon at the beach we were traveling westbound down the 401. It was about 2:20 pm and I hear my son pose question #1, 203 of the day. Mom, what are those people doing on top of the bridge? Why do they have flags?

I almost couldn't answer him. An innocent question with a loaded answer. Loaded even for a 40 year-old let alone a curious 5 year-old. What do I say? Um choked up. I didn't realize that there would be a repatriation ceremony today given the G20 was interrupting life as we know it. I swallowed the frog in my throat and tried to sqeak out an answer.

What could I say but the truth. I started with the definition of repatriation. Then I told him that there are men and women all around the world who's chosen profession is the military. That as soldiers they fight for our freedoms. They fight for everyone's freedoms. That sometimes they die. I then told him that the people on the bridges were there to show respect for what today's soldier did for us. To thank him for his sacrifice. To show the world that we are Canadians and yes, we support our troops no matter what.

Then the car was quiet. The air thick with questions without words to carry them.



The soldier being honoured today was: Sgt. James MacNeil, 28, of Glace Bay, N.S., was killed June 21 while on foot patrol in Afghanistan. (Department of National Defence)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Childhood Memories of Summer Time

I'm currently taking a break from planning and packing for the beach tomorrow. Some of the moms from my group are taking their kidlets on a field trip to Cobourg Beach and I've wanted to check this beach out ever since I heard them talking it 4 years ago.

For some reason something always came up and I wasn't able to make it. Well I was almost unable to take the boys tomorrow. Luckily, our schedules got shuffled around to accommodate. I'm so excited I actually finally bit the bullet and went shopping for a new bathing suit. Man that wasn't a pleasant trip but with an ankle length cover up I should rock the beach! *snort*

I used to love summer. What kid doesn't? It's just been since my 20's that I've come to dislike the heat and the city during hot spells. The a/c either never worked right or we plainly didn't have any. Having to adhere to rigid office dress codes never made it much fun either.

But this year I'm all on board for summer and anything summer-like. I want to do it all. The beach is one of the treats that I haven't enjoyed since I was a teenager. So, I've pulled out the wagon, cooler and the beach blanket. Sand toys and sunscreen. I bought some provisions at Walmart that I would never have considered (mainly pouches of fruit punch for the boys and bottles of water for me).

When I was a kid nothing was better than the smell of a new beach ball or blow-up rafts. Oh of course, after the smell of new Barbie which was king. The brand new snorkel and facemask/goggles were always a great treat. The excitement of packing up the car and hot footing it down to one of the last open spaces on the sand. Then grabbing my brother and racing to the surf. Bobbing around on the raft or getting my feet tangled up in the weeds that lurked between the sand banks. Sitting on the shore and letting the waves crash around me causing me to sink further and further into the shifting sands.

After getting the teeth chattering in the cold water that never seemed to warm up, splaying out on the towel which had warmed up in the sun and burying my feet into the sand. Ahhhh....gazing up at a cloudless sky or trying to spy land at the end of the horizon that stretched forever across the lake. Whether it was lake Erie, Ontario or Manitoba the beaches were all about the same give or take sand for tiny pebbles.

If we couldn't get to a beach there was always a small pool or sprinkler. Water fights with leaky water pistols that took longer to fill than empty. Getting the jump on my foe with the hose itself. Genius and evil.

Lunches and early dinners always served outside on our wooden picnic table. Cold fried chicken with slaws. Fresh corn on the cob or cold garden salads. Watermelon larger than beach balls or bowls brimming of sweet cherries. My father made the most terrific fresh fruit pies and sometimes we were lucky enough to get that with a wedge of ice-cream.

Do you remember freshie? Ok well you probably knew it better as Kool Aide. My mother was so stingy with the sugar that even the toughest kid got a pucker face from a sip. We didn't drink a lot of that but it was still a treat. My mother always purchased a handful of packets. Orange, pink lemonade, grape, cherry, lime. They made great popsicles too.

Sleeping late, going to bed well after our usual bedtimes. Camping out back with our trusty tent and sleeping bags. Camp fires with marshmallows. Monopoly tournaments on rainy days. Getting caught up in the summer plots of all my favourite soap operas. Then there were the summer time gangs. Kids from the neighbourhood who would adopt into their society the kids that were too young to be in their grade but were old enough to hang out with. These were always good for adventures and getting an earful of the mysteries of being an "adult".

My cousin posted this commercial from the 70's to his facebook profile and I just had to post it here. It was filmed on the Bobalo Boat that used to cruise down the Detroit River taking passengers to Bobalo Island (it was an amusement park way before Wonderland ever came to pass). We made this trip every summer without fail. This commercial reminds me so much of being a kid. It is actually timeless. Enjoy. I'm still humming the song....



Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Privacy

You may think it's odd that being a pretty "open" person and a blogger that I'd be pretty protective of my privacy. Well, I am. I only blog about what I want to share. Not everything is on display as it should be. Why would you even care about all the minutia in my life? It's bad enough that I dedicate my ramblings to outdoor laundry lines and homemade veggie stock. Oh boy I'm boring *giggle* When it comes down to the real nuts and bolts of my life, some things are sacrosanct.

So with all that declared I'll let you in on a major peeve of mine. I was always raised with the notion that a backyard was for living and the front yard was for show. That it was no one's business what you did in your own back yard, in fact, it made for a great place to retreat. I feel very strongly about this and have always done my living out of other people's sight lines.

For the last few years I've been grumbling about the fact that I cannot enjoy my front yard at any time of the day (well I could if I were up at 6 am, which I am most certainly not). The reason why is that a pair of neighbours live their entire lives in their front yard. It's almost as if they don't own furniture other than beds. From 8 am until 10 pm at night they are outside. They never ever go away! So that means that anyone coming or going from their homes become their entertainment.

Often times I've been heading in or out from various activities to have one of these neighbours make a comment. Now for some people this "neighbourly" chit chat wouldn't be an intrusion but when rubs up against my canons it creates a friction that isn't welcomed. Lately, I've been avoiding my front porch and garden beds in the same manner as someone who wants to avoid a dentist taking a drill to their teeth. Even if the comments were never offered the idea that they are always there is irritating.

How do you feel about the "fish bowl" effect? Do you do your living in plain view? Am I wound too tight? Maybe I'm just a tight ass? Well I'm sure that I am....that's part of my charm *wink*

Monday, June 21, 2010

Domestic Monday

After the last couple of completely unorganized weeks I declared today to be Domestic Monday. I despise housework. There isn't anything about it that I find enjoyable well until today. A few weeks ago I finally allowed husband to put up a laundry line (retractable) in the back yard. Yes, I am very concerned about conservation and using an outdoor line will greatly cut down on our electricity use/bill. It's really the right thing to do.
Today I got up early and put through three large loads of wash and put out the laundry line. Got the first load up and it was dry in 30 minues. Then put up the next half load and it was dry in 30 minutes. I was going along as such a good clip that I barely noticed what time it was because I was plugging along with the housework. Then I went out to string up my whites and as I reached up I had the sun in my eyes. It was actually pleasant. I was actually enjoying laundry day for the first time in well, forever. I stood there for a minute feeling the breeze blow at my skirt and looking up at where a plane was tracing it's tracks across the sky. So quiet. So peaceful.
I only just got everything on my very long list done about an hour ago. I've been sitting here vegging with my feet in a bowl of hot peppermint water. Wow do they ache today and my fingertips are dry and cracked but the house looks great! I don't feel nearly as anxious or guilty as I was feeling at the beginning of the day. Zen=Clean House. Who knew?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! Wow, off to a great start. Got up at 8 to very happy smiley children and husband. Hot coffee, fresh whole grain blueberry pancakes (chocolate chip for E). Sun is shining and all is great!

The plan for the day is that husband is off to visit his dad who is still in the ICU of Bowmanville. He's better and that's a really good thing. Once hubby comes home then we'll scarf down some sandwiches and head out for a rousing round of mini putt.

I've taken out some lovely looking organic ribs and plan to do them up nicely on the BBQ with some whole wheat pasta salad, green salad and a side of corn on-the-cob.

hubby had wanted to finish up some of the back yard today and if that's what he wants to do I should let him right? Well, we'll see. I was hoping he'd just sit and relax and enjoy his day. I'm tempted to go for late evening run once I've got the kids in bed.

Well I really need to hop in the shower and get the day going. I still have to call my dad. I forgot to send his card and now I'm feeling like a crappy daughter. Hmmm...wonder if there was a little passive-aggressiveness happening there? What do you think Sheree?

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Garden

All that rain and a few days of sun have caused my garden to explode. Ok some things in my garden to explode. My cucumber plants are taking over the planet and the broccoli is blocking out the sun. But it's all good. I've gotten a handful of strawberries so far and one very lovely radish. I only pulled the radish to see how far along it was and when I might be harvesting the rest.



My pumpkin plants are nice and happy and I'll be building a trellis system for them very soon. The beans are almost ready to be trained on a string. I've got one very lovely pepper that out to be ready for picking by Sunday evening. It's growth has really doubled in the last day.The clematis is winding its way skyward and my herbs are filling out. I've even got the starts of a few green tomatoes. The experiment with hanging the tomato plants from the bottoms of the planters to avoid staking is really starting to heat up! I'm excited.

Ok, enough about my garden and on to my plans for the day. I've been trying desperately to catch up on not only my housework which just seems to be an impossible mission but also my other work. I feel like I'm starting to let people down. Worst is because everything got tipped on it's ear last weekend. So many new changes and one not good bit of news and BAM all hell breaks loose.

So I've promised myself to get two hours of solid work done this morning for the ladies and then I'll break for lunch then take the kidlets out for some fun. I think today is a good day for bowling!

I need to pause to eat some breakfast. Think it will be a banana oatmeal smoothie since I can generally chug them quickly then it's done. Then down to the computer with all the fun stuff shut off so that I don't get distracted like I've become with this silly blog. Will come back and post food later then maybe take a fast pass at the house to see if I can make it look slightly more presentable.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The Sunday After....

After the mall trip yesterday I was so tired. I just couldn't get beyond how exhausted I was and there was no chance for a nap because it was just me and the kidlets for part of the afternoon.

We had these fabulous funky plans to get our babysitter to come stay with the boys and take off to the big smoke and do a duck tour (boat/bus like thing that covers almost the entire city then hits the water via a downtown dock and goes along the Lakeshore) but the weather kiboshed the tour idea.

Then there were other outside forces that made going into the city and having dinner in Little Italy a bit of a bad idea. Husband wanted to do the night up right so he made reservations all over hell's half acre and was going to let me decide based on my mood.

With the rain, the need to stay close to home I decided that we'd just catch dinner here in Whitby then we'd go and do something we haven't done together in a very very long time. That's right. Hubby took me to see a movie. Now I usually go with Jan to see flicks but there once was a time before kids when my husband and I would go and see a movie every other week. Usually we'd wind up running out of new movies to see. But once the kids came along that all dried up.

The restaurant that I chose was dismal but at least we didn't have to pay for part it. I got my entree struck from the bill (politely but firmly since it was barely edible and I didn't even try to eat it). Husband enjoyed his entree but then he stuck to something he knew would be good. I made the error of trying a different entree (the description was good...taste not so much, or rather not at all). They did however, make a brilliant Cosmo. Definitely a two thumbs up drink.

The movie was delightful. A fluffy chickflick meets twenty-something James Bond. I snacked on some salty popcorn but didn't have much an appetite for it. The bag of M&M's however didn't last long *giggle* Oh don't even roll your eyes Misty....a girl only turns 40 once! I enjoyed cuddling up to my husband and just enjoyed being with him. Despite the really big upset, this is still the best birthday I've ever had. My huband and boys went above and beyond to make it special and it was just because they were there to spend it with me. I'm a very lucky woman.

To make up for the candy buzz from last night I decided today was a good day to do some shopping. The house is now filled with wholesome foods. I was extra busy this afternoon making home made tomato sauce. I had some lovely organic tomatoes that we starting to wrinkle so into the pot!

About two hours later I had a huge pot of sauce and needed to make some use of it. So I determined a lasagna was what would be a nice treat. I so seldom make this dish because it is often labour intensive but since I was already in deep with the sauce I figured why not?Inside: Whole Wheat noodles, tomatoes, carrots, onions, dinosaur kale, lots of garlic, tomato paste, green peppers, zucchini, minced beef and spinach, basil, oregano, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, all baked up in a tidy square pan (I decided to only use an 8x8 because too much of a good thing just goes straight to my butt). This will be enough for dinner tonight and leftovers for hubby's lunches for the next two days.

I should write a blog on how much I love my herb garden. It's growing bigger with each passing day. It was so nice to walk out there and pick what I wanted to cook with today. I'm getting so spoiled.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Wow so this is 40. Meh.

Woke up to a nice little thunderstorm that chased L in to my bed. He was so adorable. So happy and pleased with himself for running into my room and waking me up. Then bouncing around and being all cute then wishing my a happy birthday without any prompting. Even though it was only 6 am and I had been up past midnight reading.

Coffee was awesome. Hanging out with my guys for a few hours before getting ready to go for a run and actually having the rain dry up long enough to enjoy myself.

No pain on the 3.5K run. A good stretch and then off to Sheridan to get more herb plants to fill in the hole that I had in my pyramid garden. $45 bucks later, two tall tomato bushes, 4 herb pots and one very pretty shaggy pot of blue flowers later I'm headed home.

Then off to the mall to enjoy spending some money on new toys for the kids (rainy day fund). That was a great way to occupy the kids during a thunderstorm. Boy was that noisy. We were in Mastermind Toys and the rumbling was intense.

I'm mainlining coffee now just to stay awake now. I believe I could easily nod off on this couch and would be completely content to do so. Gee maybe I am over the hill *snort*

Thursday, June 10, 2010

2 days to the big 40

Gee don't know if I should be panicking or just meh? Actually, it sort a feels like a meh kinda milestone. I actually don't much care either way.

Now I've heard that 40 isn't what it used to be but 50 is where all the action is. So 40 feels more like 30 now. No one wants to turn 30 or 40 but we all do. Once we are that respective age we find it's really no big deal.

16...now that was an age! 21 was hilarious and 24 got me one hell of a hang over and vague memories of throwing water (condom) balloons off a 16 floor balcony. I actually think there may have been some hot dog throwing that night too. 31 got me a surprise birthday party where, as I was told years later, my husband almost proposed. What does 40 get? Gift wrapped bottles of Geritol and Laxatives? Um no thanks. LOL

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Starting Over, well sort of...

So the summer running season is officially under way. I was there. I didn't miss the start which was a good thing. I'm right back at scratch for the better part. Sure my cardio is just fine but everything else is at the start line. It's ok. I can work with that.

It was sobering to think of 3.5K as an accomplishment but it really was. Before that 1K was a challenge. I remember three months ago when I couldn't get to the end of the neighbour's driveway.

I did feel a twinge but running to the mid-front of my foot instead of heel striking made a considerable difference. Very short intervals helped too. It was just enough rest break to help ease back into running.

I hope by sticking to the LTR schedule even in my own runs that I'll see that distance and interval timing stretch out before the niggle returns.

I've been injured and out of the game so long that I had almost forgotten I was ever a runner.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Emotional Eater

I just had what felt like some pretty bad news. It's something I've been avoiding because I had a feeling I'd just wind up getting bad news. Cryptic, yes, but because it isn't directly about me I don't feel it is my place to say, especially in Cyber world.

Now most of you who really know me, know that I don't do sad very well. I do mad in lieu of sad. I do mad very very well. I storm until I'm exhausted then like an earthquake that causes lots of havoc, it's over just as fast. Well I've discovered something about me not doing "sad". If I don't rage then I stuff my face. I actually caught myself in the middle of a binge. How obtuse am I not to have noticed that? Pulling myself out of the trough for a good cry seems like such a strange concept.

I wonder when this started? I don't recall always being this way. Hmmm things to ponder nearly a nice diversion actually. I bet that's me compartmentalizing again.