It's a long weekend for us here in Canada and I'm happy to be home with my family for three whole days.
I can hardly believe we are into August now and the summer is half over. This time next month the kids will be getting ready to return to school. Sam will be going into the 8th grade, Julie into the 6th and Jordan will be starting Junior Kindergarten. Our school is one of the few Catholic schools left that are still offering half day classes. All the others have moved to full-day which I don't like.
We had Willow fixed this week. We held off doing so because we had been approached by an acquaintance about using Willow for stud service. We ended up not doing that, and so we had him fixed. Ian had found a lump on Willow's tail and so the vet removed it at the same time. Because the tail is a sensitive part, the vet couldn't close the wound after he cut off the cyst, so he had to leave it open and wrap it with dressings. He said the last time he closed that type of wound, he did it too tight and that dog ended up losing circulation in his tail and the tail had to be amputated. So, Willow spends his days working at the dressings until he gets them off, I see the open wound and practically barf and Ian wrestles him to re-dress it. Fun times.
In case you were wondering what all the cheers and squeals of excitement coming from our house this week were all about, I'll tell you. Jordan is fully daytime and night time potty trained!! She hasn't worn a pull-up in almost two weeks. YEEHAW!
Thursday evening I went out to see Step Up Revolution at the movies. SO GOOD. Then we stood in the parking lot and talked forever. It was midnight when I got home.
I'm hanging in at work but my workload is growing constantly. There is a lot of pressure to produce and it's really getting stressful. I don't enjoy being a working mother. I never was very good at it, and this time around isn't any different. I'm mentally exhausted by the time I get home and I don't feel as though I have much left to offer my family at that point. It's sad. I'm sad. I just wish I could be at home with the children, cooking and cleaning and doing laundry and playing with them in our awesome new backyard. I hate how wrung out I feel. But in the midst of all my emotions, I remain thankful for the provision of this job. I am paid very well for what I'm doing, and I have my manager's respect and support. Those things are huge and I'm grateful for them. And my co-workers laugh at my jokes, so that's awesome.
Today I unpacked all of my books and clothes, and set up my desk. I figured it was time, you know, since we've been here a month now. Sometimes it feels like home, sometimes it doesn't. Hopefully now that my things are put away I'll feel a little more rooted. I love everything about this house. I just need to feel more settled. This week I started missing our old house. Everything there was safe and comfortable. Familiar.
Matthew calls for me only when he's upset, and he calls me MaMaMa. So cute. He's currently drinking milk and eating a little piece of brownie and is happy as a clam.
Julie has been busting her butt around the house this past week and helping Ian with his errands. Sam is loving his new contacts and can now put them in on the first try.
I'm hoping to visit with my mother tomorrow. I haven't seen her since she was here on Tuesday and I'm missing her.
I'm late for Mama M's Five Question Friday but I still want to participate so here goes. If you click on the button below you will be taken to her awesome blog.
1. What is a must in a hotel room?
It has to be clean and not have any bugs.
I used to LOVE staying in hotels but then I watched an expose on Dateline and they told me all about the grodiness that goes on in hotels. Like the comforters only get washed once every six months. And they used infra-red lighting or whatever and you WOULD NOT BELIEVE what showed up on the carpets and walls. GRODY. And they showed a clip of the maid rinsing out the glasses... not washing them, just running them under water and putting them upside down to dry. So gross.
So now I pull the comforter and the blanket right off the bed so I don't get anyone else's DNA on me, only use the glasses if they are the pre-wrapped plastic ones and I wear my shoes until the final moment before I get into bed.
Thanks a lot for ruining hotel life for me, Dateline.
A dark room is always good too.
2. Which Olympic event would you be best at?
If worrying, napping or sarcasm were events, I would win gold in all three.
3. What's your stance on the Chick-fil-A subject?
Well you can add CFA to the list of awesome things we don't have here in Canada. I hear their food is awesome.
I am 100% in support of Dan Cathy's right to state his religious beliefs and I am beyond disgusted that he has been attacked for doing so. He is not a gay-hater. He simply believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, which is a part of his faith. He does not fund gay hate groups. I researched a bit about him and he financially supports different family and marriage ministries that are in line with his beliefs. If he is a true Christian then he is called to love God and to love others. ALL others. An anyone who has a problem with anyone stating their beliefs towards homosexuality, then they need to take it up with God Himself - He's pretty clear about His stance on that. He's also exceptionally clear that He loves us deeply and longs for each of us to know Him. I'm sure He grieves watching this nonsense unfold - putting an issue like this over the hearts of others.
I read somewhere this past week that the mayor of Boston who wrote the letter that caused all this drama has backed down from his stance and admitted he was wrong to write the letter in the first place. And that Huckabee character appointing Aug 1st as CFA appreciation day? He wasn't any better.
That said, judging from the sheer number of people that went to CFA on Aug 1, Dan Cathy is far from alone in his beliefs.
We need to stop looking at from an "us vs them" mentality and just do what God asks of His children: love Him and love others.
4. One thing you said you'd never do as a parent, but totally have.
I was never going to say "because I said so" But sometimes that's the only answer I've got.
I also said I was never going to make my kids eat vegetables but I do.
And that using the tv as a babysitter thing...? Yep.
5. What's the weirdest thing you've ever found at a yard sale?
I don't like yard sales so I don't go to them. I am not interested in buying other people's junk. That said, we did score a sweet Little Tykes picnic table for the children at a yard sale we went to a couple of weeks ago that our friends had as a fundraiser. They are trying to get enough financial support to move to Bolivia for a year. I put aside my snobby ways to make sure I was there to support them. We bought some raffle tickets and I won a $150 gift card to Lowes! Good thing, we need to replace our screen door.
That's it for now. We're having a heck of a storm right now and I want to sit on the porch and smell it. I just love the smell of rain.
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