Not Me Monday- Things

This past weekend, I did NOT have all the kids for the first time in a few MONTHS (it seems). We did NOT all fit at my kitchen table, obviously NOT an inspired purchase a few years back. I'd like to think I did NOT know I'd need a large table someday.

We did NOT decorate Christmas cookies, we did NOT set up a 'kids tree' and it does NOT look ridiculous with only lights and three candycanes on it. LOL. Whatever. I did decide to take the girls shopping, where I did NOT spend more money than I EVER have at Value Village. True story. Like, I do NOT hate shopping there to begin with, so to have spent ANY money, I am so NOT surprised.
Sarah (Will's not-so-nice Ex) has NOT started to read the blog again, although she said she'd stop. Let's NOT all act surprised all at once. I do NOT roll my eyes everytime my trackers show me.

I did NOT sing in church during Relief Society on Sunday with my two sisters, where the music director for our ward liked it so much that she did NOT ask us to sing in Sacrament Meeting. The same song. ??? yah. It was a bit wierd, but hey, whatever. We did NOT then sing AGAIN. I do NOT love love love singing with my sisters, whether it's with one or all 6. Then again, if Nelly sings I do NOT have no idea. But the others, for sure.

I did NOT then have Will make the yummy dinner he makes on Sundays. And we did all stuff ourselves silly until we had a nap, and then until we had to take the other kids back to Tawny's house. After, Will and I did NOT watch my mother's kick-butt cantata (music concert) which was so amazing. I am NOT totally impressed, even if she does amazing every year.

For the first time in my life, I was NOT hired to 'cater' for a work party. Well, that is exaggerating a bit. I was hired to cook some stuffed mushrooms for a work lunch meeting tomorrow, which is totally flattering. And totally NOT overrated. I'd take credit for it, but frankly, The Pampered Chef does NOT have SUPER awesome recipes.



I am NOT ready for Christmas as of tomorrow. YAY. :) Will and I are off to Calgary so he can see a dentist and so I can NOT shop and spend NOT enough money in stores that I do NOT love. *contented moan-- REAL SHOPPING * :) bliss. Oh, and I get to see two of my GV girls, Kare and Sin. I do NOT miss them so.

Six Word Saturday- eeeee!

The newlyweds are coming to town!


*and by newlyweds, I'm referring to their blog, "As Newlyweds See It". My lovely sister and brother-in-law arrived from Ontario last night, and I'll be seeing them later today! YAY!!! So exciting.



For more Six Word Saturday, visit Cate at Show My Face dot com.

Some Guys Have All The Luck

So, it's that time of year again.

You know, the time where you get all excited. Where you make a special trip to visit the jolly old man, take off all your clothes, and prepare for the ultimate in feeling exposed?!

You know. My yearly visit to the doctor. The routine 'maintenance and oil check, complete with dipsticks?!' I mean, although Santa may ALSO see me when I'm sleeping and awake (and showering?), I don't recall him donning latex gloves (fur covered or not) and going THAT far south.

I had my first physical/girl check-up with my new doctor. Funny, my new doctor is also my Stake President. And funnier yet, he also lives a block away. Funniest of all, I'd still prefer that doctor over my doctor from Calgary, whom I didn't particularly like AT. ALL.

So, wanna know the BEST part of this whole story? *evil laugh* hee hee hee

I also booked Will in for his first physical in years. MUAHAHAHA. WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE! tee hee.

So, you'll have to find the humour when he tells me "I'm not looking forward to this, you know, some old dude putting things up my butt". HA!!!

"NO one looks FORWARD to it!", I reply, a bit of a dirty smile on my face. My heart bled for him. I've had some old dude sticking things up inside me for years. Boo hoo.

So, at the office, I did my thing. I'm laying there, in all my birthing glory, when the special light breaks. Um. awkward. While the doctor tries to fix it, I just... well.. lay there, stare at the ceiling, and, well, wait. Not like I can go anywhere. Make small talk? Somehow, "pretty cold out, eh" just seemed like a wrong thing to say at that moment. I giggle, thinking, maybe Will thought the same thing over in HIS appointment.

Now, although this whole POST is TMI, here's added info you didn't ask for: I have a difficult-to-locate cervix. Lucky me, right? So, use your imagination when I tell you that EVERY SINGLE YEAR I am not only duck-billed, but I'm VIOLATED as they poke and scoop and twist around that speculum trying to locate my inners. And, although I warned him that it was hard to find, I have to take their word for it when they tell me what it looks like; I didn't recall ASKING, but thanks for the late-breaking news flash.

So, finally, once I'm done for the year, and things that need to be tested will be tested, etc, I met up with Will, who's done his appointment right about when I am.

I, admittedly excitingly, ask him how it went 'in there'. he he he

"Was it everything you'd hoped for?" *sly smile*

He tells me that he didn't have to be man-violated.
WHAT?!





Lucky bum.

Let it Snow?

If you're a reader of many Northern/Canadian blogs, ESPECIALLY southern Albertan ones, you'll not be entertained to see these photos of why it's been a few days of no-blogging. I mean, you'd THINK that when mother nature unleashed her PMS (Putrid Mounds of Snow) all over our Mo-town, and how we were snowed in, that I'd have lots of time to blog.

yah. Not so much. Snow days only means that the kids are fighting for computer time and the teenager is suffering sever Heliophobia. Snow days mean shovelling mounds and mounds of snow, only to have it blow back in your face because the wind down here is CRAZY!! And then, once you've sweated a pool inside your snowpants, you break a shovel. Big Guy was here for the night, and drove his new-to-him little car. Well, you'd be lucky if you had a 4x4 truck with MONSTER tires if you wanted to go ANYWHERE on Saturday. The snow was HIGHER than his car! We ended up getting him home, magically, on Sunday. But even then, church (which, in Mo-town, is only EVER a block away from ANYONE'S house) was cancelled.

Yah. It was that bad. Church is NEVER cancelled. Snow day Monday. And Will was out making his backyard skate rink. Love him, but after shovelling and shovelling, he then informs me we have two feet in the backyard of snow to shovel off. Who, in their right minds, shovels their backyards?!?! yep. That would be us. We're totally cool like that. Actually, we're totally FROZEN like that. I had snotsicles like you've never seen before! ew.

And, it ONLY got down to -50'C with the windchill. (-58'F) Yah. ONLY!

Actually, I'm excited to have the rink done. We're planning on making a firepit too, where we can drink hot chocolate and roast mallows with our skates on. The kids are all here for the first time in months this weekend, so maybe we'll get some skating/cookie eating/ gingerbread house making/ basement "Kid's Tree" decorating done.

It's been a bit snowy here. Pretty and lovely, but cold. Our old house creaks and groans with the cold wind, and our fireplaces are going and blankets are thrown on EVERY couch cushion. It's kinda fun, I'll admit.

Things We Do For Fun

Oh, welcome back to another tour of Mo-town. Mo-town isn't just ANY Mormon Town. Nope-- Mo-Town has a LOT to offer.

Like, free family skating. I don't even LIKE skating, and have found myself enjoying it more and more each time we go. Will loves skating, and, if I didn't know he was currently working right now, I'd expect him to be outside babying his backyard hockey rink. He's BORN for the ice. Me... not so much.

But, Bear is just like him. Heads outside in ANY weather, and wants to be JUST LIKE Will. Even cut his hair like him recently.

LL and Mimi don't skate as proficiently, but in just a few tries, Mimi will let go of his hand for a few minutes. To pick her nose, but whatever. I personally think she just would rather skate with Daddy Will because Mom-- well, Mom isn't that helpful! :)


And Em skates well. She's USUALLY with her friends who just so happen to MAGICALLY show up (by themselves during FAMILY skate time) and distract her. Not that I hate that.

But, either way you spell it, family skate time is one of those things that us Mo's enjoy here in Mo-Town. Not because it's pretty much the ONLY thing to do, but because we actually like it.

Being DONE

So, it really is becoming Christmas!

I'm stressing out. :)

This year has just been so tough for me to get 'into' it. I usually have my tree up by November 1st. And I usually have presents bought and stockings all but filled. I'm usually DONE.

This year, though, I'm not even started. I mean, I *DID* host my 9th annual cookie-exchange party last week. It was fun, and some of my dearest friends drove down from Calgary or Medicine Hat to be with me, while others were new friends who live right around the corner. There was yummy food, and yummy cookies, and it was the first moment in a while that I felt like Christmas was truly beginning. Not that I need the dang cookies hanging around. My butt is bigger than Santa's and it's only the first week of December! I have a trusty/dusty treadmill and no desire to make any further excuses for not using it.

And the house is decorated now. Thanks to Will, he went with a friend out to the mountains where he chopped down a REAL tree. And, it is beautiful! I loved that he did it FOR ME... knowing that it's been hard for me to feel settled here and that decorating the tree would bring back some of that happiness I've been searching for.

I will be done my shopping by next week. So help me. I will do all 7 kids' gifts and be DONE. I will do all the parents' gifts and be DONE. I will do Will. (haha, sorry, it was too easy) Because I refuse to spend the holidays worried about what I have and haven't done. I just want to watch the kids play and cuddle with Will in front of the fire on Uncle Kannie's LoveSac with Christmas music filling the air.

Oh, and I want to eat cookies. :)

When Reality Gets Checked

The Honeymoon is over.

Now, hold off on the "muahahaha's and "I told You So"s. Because you don't understand.

You see, first marriages, as I've mentioned before, are something completely opposite from a second or subsequent marriage. They aren't two entire families blending. They aren't two adults with "baggage" and previous expectations learning a whole new gamut of idiosyncrasies and habits that engrained in them from someone else's idiosyncrasies and habits.. First marriages are fresh, utopian, and slightly naive. I don't care how old you were/are when you first get married (hopefully, the ONLY time you get married), it's naive in ways that only a long-term married person understands.

And staying in that honeymoon phase for months or even years is highly attainable that first time. In fact, it's highly expected. With no children, and no 'baggage' of exes, it's downright bliss for a long time. Sure, getting married is tough no matter who you are or how in love you are. They have their OWN issues. ANY marriage has those. But first marriages have an abundance of cares-thrown-to-the-wind.

But WIll and I. We are past that feeling of frivoulous happiness. We are IN it. We are living it day to day. We are paying mortgages and raising 7 children and owning vehicles and paying bills. We are past the 'experimental' phase of not knowing what to expect or what marriage is like. We already know. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're learning more and more each day. We're growing and we have sooo much left to learn still. But we're THERE. We're not blindsighted by euphoric honeymooning phases that fade when reality hits hard.

Instead, we've found the way to be THAT in love. But we are still living. With our eyes open. And honeymoon phases dwindle down to 'just being married' and the hum-drum of the monotonous life. And then, newlyweds get a rude awakening to what marriage really is. And they're let down. And THEN they realize that honeymooning is NOT the marriage.

Nope... Me and Will? We've got it figured out. We'll be this much in love once our 'honeymoon phase' ends, and then some. I'm past the honeymoon phase. I don't even WANT to be in the honeymoon phase. I'm into the heavenly phase. The phase where lust and naivety and NOW are replaced with love and comfort and forever.

December with Debbi

It's December first!! My first day off that I have a moment or four to spend blogging... FINALLY. I keep telling Will that I need to blog again-- it makes me happy to tell my ridiculous lies life story to random strangers, and I type way faster than I write on paper. So that paper journal I neglect? Yep. It still doesn't know that I got married. Or even engaged. Whatever. I seriously think I'm going to 'publish' the blog anyways and then I'll not have lost those past few months.

And I have no idea why, but I am soooo super tired lately. I am skipping prime nap-time right now for the sake of updating on a rather uneventful life lately. I mean, really, what's to say?

We're still married.
We're still totally adjusting to the blended family issues that arise nearly DAILY. Blending parenting styles or expectations or how we receive and give love... there are just THINGS that people learn with time, and we're on that path every day. I have to remember that Will all of a sudden has four kids in his home EVERY DAY-- something he hasn't had for a few years. And on top of it all, he has teenagers, so raising a three-year old is taking a whole new step back into parenting that he's long grown out of. Me, I have teenagers now. I have NO idea what I'm doing, and even my best attempts at faking-it sometimes seems like it's not working. With Em living here, it's a whole different set of rules and emotions and confusion-- and I'm talking about ME. Not to mention HER emotions. It really is true that you appreciate your parents a WHOLE LOT MORE once you have teens of your own.

Some common things people ask me about are the renovations on the house-- we're waiting until after Christmas to start on that. This year, we plan on having a blue Christmas. well, blue carpets. With green and gold decorations. :)

What's really to say? It's funny- I have so many 'things' I could gripe and complain about. Things about where I live, or my children, or my new husband, but really, it doesn't seem to be something I want or need to burden the blogosphere with. Do I want to complain and be THAT person All. The. time? not really. Because, when I step back and look at everything, I am so super blessed.