29, for real!

It's the final hour of my 29th birthday. Which, is actually my *30th* birth DAY, if you count the first one. But I'm not into getting all Confucius on everyone! So, happy birthday to me, #29.

(yesterday I dressed up as the Spider Witch for the Grade Three party I was in charge of at the school)

The biggest question I get on my birthday is what my plans are for the night.

Um.

If you didn't know... I was born on Hallowe'en.... so.. my plans? For the night? usually the same as they are on EVERY OTHER HALLOWE'EN NIGHT for EVERY OTHER PERSON!!!----- I plan on taking monkeys around door-to-door and making sure they say trick-or-treat and that they use their manners and say thank you and don't walk on people's grass and all that fun stuff.

(a photo of my family, circa 1985. I'm the one showing off her hot legs in the front, left corner)

It is a birthday tradition... or, a BOOrthday tradition!

So, Will and I took 7 kids out collecting swine flu candy. We then headed over to KJ's house (the new name of Tawny's sister and brother, who are in our ward and are very kind) who invited us out to dinner and games. While the older kids took off in groups to get full candy bags, Mimi and Bear stayed with the adults and watched scary TV while the Moms and Dads played games at the table. It was an easy night, albeit a late night, and so it was into baths and bed and change the clocks and wait for the teenagers to get home from their friends' houses...you know, again, regular day stuff.

And, for what it's worth, I miss blogging. I really need to get back into it-- things have gotten so busy lately and I feel like I've had nothing of note to say. But worse yet, I am so removed from my friends' lives too! :( So, I'm vowing to do better in November.

Friday Flightfest

Hey guys,
A few fractions of info for my friends.

I officially opened this blog to the public again. I decided that having a private blog that I don't write in very often is kinda pointless. And I miss Daisyhalos. ALMOST to the point of going back to it. So, instead, I'll just open this one unless I feel threatened again. That, and everyone keeps telling me that it doesn't show up on their feeds, so maybe this will work better?

I'm headed to Vancouver tonight. Back to my 'home'. Although it's totally not the same anymore. But Will's never been there, so although it's only for a few days, and we're vehicle-less, it'll be nice to show him around some of the good parts. We're volunteering in order to work at the Olympics! :)!!!! And, the best part is that we'll be childless, as the kids are staying here with my sister!

So, I'm off to pack everyone. But I thought I'd update for a brief sec.

My Decorating Style

So, one of the biggest excitement for me comes in decorating. Alright, I may not be GOOD at it, but I sure enjoy it. I like simple things like rearranging furniture, or buying a new piece of art for a wall, or simply making my bed like in the magazines. Yes, I'm that pathetic cool.

So, with the last three months left in oh-nine, there are so many ways to decorate the house!! :)

But, I live in Motown now, and there are SOME decorating styles that just won't be acceptable round these parts!

Like, these turkeys Em showed me. With the tagline "For ANY time of the month" Yes, these cuddly, super-absorbant turkeys are made with none other than my friends, O and B. *that's Tampons, for you who are wondering*

I thought, okay, so I can't make these turkeys. But cummon-- these ghosts are CUTE!! Still, I don't think people would be too impressed with me. Instead, I think Hallowe'en needs pumpkins and scarecrows.



No? Nobody else things that MAYBE Will won't approve? Hrm. Alright, let's try something else.

It's Christmas time soon-- let's just skip to the love and peace of Christmas decorating.

NO, not these. The tampon-deco is sooooo last paragraph!

Last year, if you remember, my house looked like this. *you can view the whole post HERE on the Daisyhalos blog*

I think this year, with the blue carpets and shag, I may have to resort to THIS!!


Ugggggg.

Instead, I'm just going to apply for the Home Depot Ugliest Kitchen in Canada contest. Maybe they'll take pity on us! RIGHT?!

Take Note, City Folk

There are so many things to figure out about living in this small-town.

1) going to the post office is a big to-do. Get dressed up. Do your hair and makeup. Expect to chat with the clerk for a while about your dead grandmother. Wave and nod at everyone when they enter the room. Grab your mail, then congregate at the 'station' where you sort your mail into piles and throw the junk away. Do NOT wear sweatpants, or a ponytail. Trust me on this one.

2) People wave. At EVERYONE. so, when someone waves at you, it's not because you necessarily know them, and they probably don't know you, but that's just what you do. Note to you newbies: There aren't ANY people around here who flip the bird, so if you see someone make a hand-gesture in your direction, be careful about what you gesture back! They probably wanted you to check out the eagle flying above your truck.

(and everybody and their DOGS have trucks)

3) Living so near the Hudderite colonies is FANTASTIC! We had an extra deep-freeze that came with the house. One of those MASSIVE ones, 100+ years old, heavier than poop, and we were looking at selling it. One of the men came into the store I worked at and asked if we knew where he could find one-- and luckily for us, ours was ready to go. So, last night they came and took it away, and this morning they brought SEVEN boxes of food in exchange. SWEET deal! 6 chickens, huge roasts, pounds and pounds of frozen veggies, *3* boxes of potatoes, bags of onions, loaves of bread, canned pickles and pears and peaches, boxes of beets, and a bag of carrots the size of an 8 year old! Good trade, I say.

4) Random teenagers will shovel the snow on your walkway for you. Not because you asked, threatened, or bribed. But because they just do it, and so when you look out your window and see them doing it, your heart swells a little bit.

5) It may take years before I make friends. Well, that's what people keep saying. And that's NOT because I'm so annoying shy freckled awesome. But, small-town is apparently difficult to 'break into'. People have their families to play with, and they have the same friends they've had since they graduated kindergarten. Also, if you move out of the ward (the area your church congregation comes from) into another one, you will not see the friends from the OLD ward. Even if you only live down the street now.

6) Don't volunteer to be the parent-coordinator for your children's classrooms. It's a lot of work, and I have NO idea what I'm doing! I am sure LL's gonna fail grade three simply because her teacher will be so spiteful that I didn't get him the help he needed throughout the year! YIKES.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

Dear Zucchini,
I think we need to take a break. You're smothering me. No, really. I dream of you, I wake and my first thoughts are of you, and it's got to stop! Zuke, I have thoroughly enjoyed you from time to time, but lately, you're EVERYWHERE. I know I said before that I couldn't get enough of you, but you've started taking over our relationship, and I'm done with you and I. Yes, it's done. I will always be thankful for the SALSA dance in the kitchen for the past two weeks.. it was really hot! And I will RELISH the memory of last night-- you're just so sweet. But you see, I have run out of patience with you. You've really changed these past few days and you seem to be rotting from the inside. You were quite large-- bigger than I've ever had before! And you tasted so good! But now, oh, ZuZu, all that's left of you is a tini 'cchini! Shrivelled, at best. To put it plainly, our love affair is making my family ill. So, Zuke, while I've enjoyed you filling my storage room (VL) I must say with a happy heart that we're done. I won't say I'll miss you, because I know it'll be a while before I've completely gotten you out of my life.

Sincerely,
The One Who Could Seriously Puke if She Sees Another Zuke!~



Dear friends,
remember me? I probably owe you an email, or a facebook message, or even a visit. I probably haven't seen you in a few weeks. Some I haven't seen since the wedding (and even then, it was so busy, I didn't "SEE" many of you). And some have patiently been waiting on me for MONTHS! I truly DO miss you. I think of you all the time. I'm here. Sulking. In Mo-town. Surrounded by snow.
Missing you,
ME!

Things I Learned This Week

• When making salsa, when it calls for jalapeno peppers, and you have ghost peppers instead, it is NOT 2/1 in favour of the ghost peppers. If you put a handful of those little, thumb-sized peppers in one batch of salsa, you will then have to make THREE MORE MASSIVE BATCHES to dilute the spicy-ness of the first batch. Ghost peppers are three TIMES more spicy than habanero peppers. Yah. We burned our bellies with the first batch!
  
  
• When the kids go away for the holidays with their other parents, it is very good for a marriage. I would venture to say that EVERYONE needs a divorce JUST for the every-other-weekend-off. But then again, it's not recommended. It sure is a nice way to guarantee that once the kids aren't in the house anymore, Will and I will still know how to be together without them. More marriages would stay together if they dated like we do, often.
  
  
• When the kids go away for the holidays with their other parents, I miss them dearly. Holidays are weird without kids. Will and I didn't have a Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, we started our OWN tradition and bought one of those 'ready' chickens, some stove-top stuffing and canned veggies. Oh, and a small yam. And, in 1/2 hour, we had our own LOVELY Thanksgiving dinner for two.. surprisingly, it tasted pretty darned good. Complete with that sparkling-apple juice stuff so we could feel 'fancy'. :) Nothing says fancy like stove-top and sparkling apple juice.
  
  
• There is nothing more fun than staying up until 4 am, watching PVR'd Survivors and Amazing Races. Will and I fell asleep on the Lovesac, cuddling and snuggling. Having NO clothes plans all weekend was a really nice change of pace.
  
  
• The blogosphere will not die without me here. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even miss it. Even Will wanted me to blog, and frankly, I didn't feel like it. I am practically museless right now too, as I find this post incredibly dull. Sorry.
  
  
• Wedding photos are in from V, our photographer. If you'd like to see them, check out this website. It's www.vrphotography.instaproofs.com You'll have to tell me which one is your favourite.
  
  
• When writing thank you cards for the wedding, don't lose where you put your invitation list for addresses. It's a pain to find them again! :S
  
  
• Still no house renovation news. I anticipate it will be a long time before I have 'after' photos to share. We have sooo much to do, and it's a bit overwhelming. And besides, for the next 73 sleeps/1734 hours, I'll be obsessed with thinking of Christmas stuff. Yes. I'm one of THOSE girls. My Christmas trees and parties and stockings hung with care are high on my 'things that make me happy' list. So, yes, we've gone from "wedding only" talk, to Christmas countdown. Two of my favourite days of this year. Yay. Nothing better! :)
  

Just a Bunch of Tidbits

Well, I was right.
After my last blog post, Sarah emailed me that night, admitting that she had gained access to this blog and was sorry for invading my privacy.  She also said she'd stop.  I'm gonna leave it at that.  Usually I write people back, but this time there isn't much I need to say. We'll see.

In OTHER, moving-on news, things are good.  I'm still waiting for life to 'slow down' so I can get moved in.  The house is a complete STY, with furniture and boxes and clutter EVERYWHERE.  It would be so nice just to have it all DONE, but we haven't really even STARTED the renovations yet,  (other than that wall Will wore down) so I know I'm in it for the long haul.  No matter... it'll get done eventually.  And it's not like I need a renovated house to get into heaven.  ;)   Still, I know once the house is 'done' (is a house ever DONE?), I may feel more at home in this town.  It is still feeling foreign to me, in spite of the million friendly people who've brought over dinners and 'taken me in'.  I still feel like a wanderer in a strange land, but I know everything will come in time. 
I do miss my girlfriends, my neighbours, my ward back in Calgary.  Some things you can't ever 'replace'.  But I'm with Will, and I know that's where I want to be.  Cheesy or not, it's a whole new way of loving and I realize I missed out on that once before.

Speaking of Will I am excited to have a weekend alone with him.  After having every other weekend off for over a year now, I've gotten somewhat accustomed to it.  I know, poor me, hey?!   It's been one of the FIRST weekends we've had alone since getting married, aside from that one where we had to go to the all-day funeral services for his aunt.  So, this one will be MUCH appreciated, AND it's a long weekend because of the Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday Monday.  (Chris is taking the little three to his family's home, and Will's kids are with Tawny.) 

And yes, I realize that most of you now KNOW Will's real name, since most of you are people who know us personally.  Not that it matters if I wrote his name anyways.  But it's funny-- I get into a 'blog mind' and calling him by his first name seems wrong when I blog.  Same as the kids and anyone else.  So, we'll probably stick with it.  Besides, I kinda like having my little Willy..  (haha, sorry, I couldn't resist that one. ) 

Changing a last name TOTALLY bites.  I remember doing it when I married Chris, and I hated it then too.  But NOW-- blah.  I remember it even WORSE!  It's like giving birth-- you remember it being HORRIBLE, but when you actually are in that labour room again, and a baby's on its way, it's when you REALLY remember it.  Not fun in the mental remembering any more than it's fun in the physical one.  And every form has to be filled out before the other one, and yada yada yada, fill this out first, that out last, but you forgot the one before that.  And wait for this one to come in before proceeding.... grrrrr.

I KNOW I'm gonna regret it, but I'll be canning salsa all day tomorrow.  Not that having a storage-room full of salsa is something to regret, but I know once I start canning and preserving things, I'll get that bug and I'll end up wanting to do more and more.  And then I'll never stop!  It's so addictive, and if you've never 'jarred' anything, you won't understand.  I also want to do pickled garlic (don't knock it, it tastes NOTHING like garlic and is actually very tasty) and asparagus and this year I'm even trying zucchini salsa.  I'll take pictures.  I've been slacking in the photo department lately. 

Why I don't Blog often

Kay,
remember how this is my blog?

Yah.  let's be totally honest here.  Cuz that's just how I roll.

I stopped Daisyhalos for the reasons I gave, and started this one with one motive:  To become a better person.  I didn't like that "Will's" ex, Sarah, was reading multiple times each day, in spite of me asking her to stop.  And it was making me into a person I didn't like being.

Why did I care?

Well, she said she read because she wanted to check on the kids, which didn't make sense because she was friends with them on Facebook.  And REALLY didn't make sense because she would click on photos of Will and I, on the wedding ring, on my kids-- and I felt violated.   She also said that she liked reading because it made her laugh because of "Will's Lies".  I don't need someone that bitter and vindictive knowing ANYTHING about my life.  We don't ask drug addicts to pick up our prescriptions, and we don't ask malicious people to know every happy detail about our lives.

Well, it's a new life.  And I don't need a constant reminder of someone who is intentionally cruel and someone who negatively affected so many people I truly love.  It got to the point that I didn't want to write things because I didn't want her to know about my life now.  For her to care baffled me anyways, but it was becoming obsessive on my part, and honestly, I couldn't be that person.   I am not bitter or angry at the way she has treated me-- I'm a big girl and anyone who knows me knows that I forgive fairly easily and quickly.  But I get angry and hurt when I have to deal with the repercussions of what she managed to ruin in the short time she had to influence people I know. 

So, I started this blog.

Now, I've accepted a bunch of people I know, and a few I don't.
And, according to my site-trackers,  she is still reading.  Therefore, she is someone I don't know, a 'follower' or something.  Or else, she is a friend I know who lives in the same area.

So, if anyone ELSE lives in Yelm, Washington (or thereabouts) and I've confused you with her, let me know.  Until I figure it out, I will not blog.  And I will have to start eliminating people I don't know personally, which I don't want to do AT ALL.

But I will not appologize for wanting privacy.  I have more privacy from the parents of my 7 children *Chris (my ex) and Tawny, (Will's first wife)* than I do from a blip in the timeline of Will's life, and quite frankly, I have eliminated negative people from my life and this is the final step.

Call me petty and rediculous.  Maybe I am.  But I need peace, and this is my way to get it.