Excitement at the Beach

We took the kids to Petro Beach last night for some swimming, kayaking and playing in the sand. Ty brought the canoe as well so he could do some fishing. We got down there (its just past GTI) around 7:30pm; the weather was warm and beautiful and the kids were excited.

We all took turns on the kayaks, Ty of course headed out on the canoe, then the kids frolicked and splashed in the water. Lena and the two older ones went out to their chests, even Ryder tested his limit by going up to his belly button. Then the two little ones returned to the sand to play and build castles while the big boys stayed out deep and goofed around.

Ryder dug a big hole and proceeded to flood it with water, first calling it "Tiger Lake" and then changed the name to "Crocodile Lake". Gotta put some more water in Crocodile Lake for all the crocodiles that live in Crocodile Lake. I think he said the word crocodile about 30 times in 5 minutes, haha.

Lena was prancing around in the sand when she noticed something on her leg near the ankle, looked like a small piece of grass or reed. She went to slap it off but it wouldn't move. I was sitting there at the picnic table watching all this and it was like it happened in slow motion. She grabbed the thing with her fingers and then suddenly this horrified scream burst out of her, "ITS A BLOOD SUCKER!!!!" O.M.G! She started frantically hopping around, stomping her leg, slapping and pulling at this thing, and it wouldn't come off! Gunnar had reached shore by then and raced for the bug spray, started spraying that leech like crazy but it just would not leg go. By this time Lena was hysterical, still screaming and crying, while bad mommy sat at the table and giggled. (You know, that nervous laughing thing I do. Bad, bad me.) Gunnar had a firm hold of the leech and was pulling at it, and it still would not come off! Finally, it came loose and Gunnar flung it to the ground, where Ryder promptly stomped on it, "That's for sucking my sister's blood!" (Then of course he checked the bottom of his foot to make sure it hadn't stuck to HIM! lol)

Poor little Lena was a shivering, sobbing mess, utterly traumatized by the whole experience. She changed back into her clothes and flat-out refused to swim or get near the water for the rest of the night, even though I assured her the leech had come from the deeper waters she'd walked in, because there were reeds and seaweed over there. To my knowledge, leeches don't hang out in shallow water (maybe I'm wrong though). So she just sat by me and I cuddled her and rubbed her back and crooned to calm her down. See, I'm not such a bad mom after all!

A little while later I asked Ryder to find the dead leech so we could be sure it wasn't still alive in the sand, waiting for a juicy foot to come near. He told me, quite seriously, "No mom, it clawed its way back to the water with its one sharp tooth, and then it fell in and drowned because leeches can't swim, and now it can never be revived." Omg I laughed so hard to hear that, in his solemn gruff little voice. We never did find it, either.

So the boys were out kayaking, I was stuck on the beach with the little ones, one of whom refused to play or swim after her traumatic episode, and it was getting colder and windier, the sun was setting, and I realized Ty had taken the truck keys with him in the canoe. I was wearing flip-flops and my feet were blocks of ice. Ryder had to go poop so we ran to the bathroom there. Afterward, we couldn't wedge his cold wet clammy thick thighs back into his suit, so he just ran back to the water buck naked and played, sand stuck all over his cute chubby butt. By now it was around 9pm, the kids were starving (we hadn't eaten supper before we left because we'd had a really late lunch, but I had a roast slow-cooking for when we returned) and they had already eaten the bag of chips I brought and drank all their juiceboxes. I, stupidly, had not brought along a book or anything to keep me occupied other than my pack of smokes, so that was incredibly boring. Just sitting there shivering, chain-smoking, cursing my hubby who'd taken off across the lake in his canoe and taken the damn truck keys with him.

The boys came back in the kayaks and we all started packing up and hauling stuff back to the truck so when Ty finally returned, we could quickly get out of there. Finally we spotted his canoe heading our way. He was just at the area where all the boats are docked in the water when we saw him stop to take a few more casts. Oh, you can imagine the steam coming out of my ears. It was 9:45 at that point. We all watched as he cast and reeled, then he actually got something. He was so surprised! Then, THEN, oh holy mother of all things awesome and righteous, the damn man over-reacted in his excitement and set the hook much harder than he intended, that he actually managed to somehow lose his balance and accidentally flung himself overboard the canoe! SPLASH!! Ohmygod it was so funny. We were all laughing so hard we almost peed our pants, bent over and clutching our stomachs. He returned to shore in disgrace, haha. Good thing he had the foresight to put his cellphone in a ziploc baggy in his pocket before heading out. Unfortunately, he did not put his wallet in there. Bahahaha.

So anyway, we got home around 10, had a very late supper of tender deer roast, tossed salad, leftover corn-on-the-cob, and spinach. Threw the kids in the bath while the boys took turns showering, then everyone hit the sack.

What an exciting night!

The Protein (Dukan) Diet: Day 3 results

Thank you to Deanna for turning me on to this. Mom started the Dukan diet about two weeks ago and has already lost 17 pounds. SEVENTEEN FRIGGIN POUNDS. So that gave me a well-needed kick in the arse to get going and seriously commit to it. And it IS a commitment. Do you know how hard it is to resist eating what everyone else is and just stick to protein? So I've been drinking my protein shakes, eating fat-free yogurt and lean sandwich meat, fat-free cottage cheese, turkey bacon, etc. I started this two days ago, on Friday (so today is actually the start of day 3, I guess) and I'm already down 2 pounds. Doesn't sound like much but I'm pretty happy. Its a good start. Will keep you guys posted on the results as the days go by.

Well, poop!

Things just aren't going my way lately...

It all started with a toilet that wasn't flushing properly. At first the plunger seemed to do the trick, but then after a day or so even that didn't work. I knew, I just KNEW, that little Ryderman had something to do with it. "I promise Mommy, I did NOT flush anything down there!" After emptying the toilet of its foul soup-of-despair, I tried the snakey-thing with the claw, even put my hand up there (*shudder* picture me afterwards, like Lady McBeth, frantically washing and washing and washing my hands and arms), nothing worked. It was at that point, with my arm buried up to the elbow in the throne, when I heard a tiny voice coming from Ryder's room, "Wellll.... I might have accidentally flushed a bath toy down there." WHAT. THE. HELL?! So now I knew the enormity of the problem. It then became apparent that I would have to physically take the toilet apart, flip it over and flush that damn toy out. Googled until I found a how-to article that didn't seem too scary, annnnddd.... long story short, it DID NOT turn out to be a tub toy, but hundreds of friggin' toothpicks jammed up in the bottom like a friggin' Kerplunk game. And of course, the toothpicks held in place a disgusting putrid sludgy mess of crap and toilet paper and even a few cardboard toilet paper rolls. You can bet your ass Ryderman got a spanking for THAT! Toothpicks, of all things. Now I know why the new container of toothpicks I bought went missing.

Also, during the past week I came to discover, after taking Lena in to the doctor because her voice went froggy, that she has strep throat. And then this morning, Gunnar woke up with an agonizing throat. Yep, the doctor confirmed it, also strep. Just waiting now for it to hit Ardan and Ryder. You know, because that's the way it goes in this household.

Oh, and then, tonight, Lena and I showed up for her 6:30 soccer practice, 6:30 like it said on the schedule I was given, only to see her entire team already on the field playing. And I was then informed that the schedule had been changed, ALL our game times are at 5:30 from now on, and oh wasn't that too bad I hadn't gotten the new schedule? And it was our turn to bring snacks, which we did, a huge container of watermelon for the kiddies, so the poor duffers had to eat it after the game was done. Lena got to play for 5 minutes, and she did score a goal in that time (of course), but the coach (who owns Taco Time) awarded her the Taco Time Player of the Game award (a free taco gift card) for having Most Goals Scored this season so far. So that took the embarrassing sting out of our night, a bit.

*sigh*

New Fave Songs

I first heard this song on our trip to Edmonton for the System concert. Tyler was like, "This song is so annoying!" and I was like, "Yeah, I know, I love it!" LOL



I know this Muse song is old but I just love it! (Also, I couldn't embed the official video as it was 'disabled upon request', arrghh!)



Of course, my girl Adele. I chose this version as her voice is so frickin' amazing live.



Something about this guy, Classified, I just love. He seems so real. A white-boy rapper but he keeps it real, you know? His lyrics just lay it all out there, state what he's about. Plus he did the 'Oh Canada' song that came out around the same time as the Vancouver Olympics, so there was that patriotic thing going on. I really like this song... if only the other big rappers out there had this attitude.



Oh, all right, here ya go... (How awesome are the Canadian Heritage reenactments at the beginning and end? He's so proud to be a Canuck, LOVE IT!)

Back in the Groove

Hello loveys, I'm back. I'm sure you've wondered what the heck was up with me. Damn, I was wondering that myself. I fielded a few concerned calls, "What's up with the blog? You okay?" The answer to that is, yes and no.

You ever just kind of fall into a weird funk where every day feels the same, nothing interesting or fun seems to happen, you can't even seem to work up any interest for things you used to enjoy? Life had just fallen into a rut of sorts. Not that that's bad, heck I'm sure many people only wish to have a safe, routine rut instead of worry, uncertainty, and upheaval. So in a way I'm thankful to have that rut, I do appreciate what I've been given in this life. But sometimes... I just have these little funks that I fall into. I would tell myself, I should work on the blog, but what was there to write about? The kids were all okay, hockey had ended (I did briefly consider doing a post on that but what was there to say besides, "Yay"), Ty was working at home and away. I was just in sort of this mental freeze. No motivation to eat healthy or work out or stop smoking, even though I'd done that post on resolutions. (I HAVE been an excellent wife though, I must admit, haha).

I remember at our Christmas get-together with the Kasha side, wearing a new shirt I'd bought and my jeans were loose, I felt great and healthy and proud. I did the resolution post and was hopeful for the new year, new beginnings. And then... I don't know. I just sort of lost that. The battery on my scale died and it was almost a relief, no weighing myself every morning and obsessing over every pound lost or gained. If I wanted to eat a few cookies at midnight, who cared. Working out became something that I'd do "tomorrow". And we all know how that always turns out. I put on that Christmas outfit a while back and the jeans were tight and the shirt felt uncomfortable and I was disgusted with myself but even that wasn't enough to break out of the rut.

Is that what you'd call a bout of depression? I know it runs in the family, I'm certain there are shades of it in there somewhere. Yet I don't feel like that term applies to me, at least not in the broader sense of my daily life. Sure some things bring me down, usually something that would be considered shallow, such as a skin breakout or the whole weight issue. Which is so ridiculous, really. Why should I deserve to feel depressed about something so stupid when there are people out there with legitimate reasons for feeling depressed, loss and pain and confusion of a deep level. Then again, my emotions and feelings are real to ME, therefore no less justified. Do you ever feel that you should have no right to feel a certain way? There's that 'forward this on' email that goes around from time to time about counting your blessings, "The next time you're angry at your boss, remember the person who's been unemployed and is desperate for work", etc. The same line of thinking as never having a fight with your spouse in case that's the last time you see them. But... then you're leading a half life, not allowing yourself to have those normal feelings of anger, frustration, grief, what have you, almost like by denying them you're being a better person. Maybe that's true to a degree. But a person should never deny themselves those moods or emotions because then you're not living in the moment. In denying yourself that full spectrum of emotion and feeling, its like you're putting a judgement on yourself. 'A good person wouldn't think this way', well dammit, who can be a 'good' person 100% of the time. And who would want to? We're not meant to be Pollyannas.

And so I had my big long funk, wallowing in that rut, and just let myself feel it and process those emotions. And then  a couple days ago, Wednesday actually, I woke up and it just felt different. The quality of light in my bedroom seemed different, brighter somehow. I could see dust motes floating in a ray of sunlight through the blinds and instead of thinking 'I need to clean my room, I'm a horrid housekeeper' and starting that whole circular depressive line of thinking, I just saw the simple beauty of it. Tiny specks floating in air, uncaring of where they landed, something sprung from ugliness (dust-mite poop, for gods sake), and yet it is what it is. There's a kind of simplistic lesson in there, I think. We are who we are, no more no less. Not to say we can't change and grow and become different, and there's nothing wrong with that. Change is great. Essential, really. But those moments of going-with-the-flow, allowing ourselves to live in the moment and really claim and embrace where we are right now, no guilt, no feelings of inadequacy or hopelessness, just living it... That is a true life-lesson as well.

So I sprung out of bed, went through the same morning routine, making lunches and breakfast and laundry. But I could feel a lightness in my step, a feeling of wanting to move forward, shake myself up a bit. And when Ryder went for his nap that day, I popped in my Turbo Jam, and I was ready for that workout, man. I gave it 110% and though I was red and sweaty and huffing, I felt great and energized. And surprisingly, thanks to that amazing thing called muscle memory, it wasn't the ordeal I'd been dreading and expecting. I made it through the entire 45 minutes without having to stop (though that 2-minute Turbo was a killer). And I was friggin' proud of myself. Felt great. So while there may be more moments of funk in my future, just knowing that I can move forward and I have, gives me motivation.

So here I am. Back in the land of the living. I've missed you guys and I'll be seeing you again soon.

(PS. I will admit that Thursday I was a stiff, sore mess of knotted back muscles and strained triceps, but even that pain was a badge of honor I suffered through happily. Well, maybe not happily, I had to take a muscle-relaxant that night, but you know what I mean, lol.)

Lookee what I found

So when the Saga of the Lost Camera finally came to an end, I discovered all these lovely video clips taken over Christmas holidays. Enjoy!