*&%^!!

I am so over winter.

I have had enough.

It is cold outside. It is cold in my house. It is especially cold in the basement, where I need to be today (painting).

Sammy has a closet full of really cute dresses that she should be wearing but she can't. I have a pile of cute fabrics with skulls and pink Medusa heads and Kawaii characters that need to be made into more cute dresses. But I made myself promise that I wouldn't sew a thing until Jake's room renos were done and the snow was gone.

Winter sucks and I wish it would go away.

A craptacular day!

Shall I itemize, just to keep my bitching neat and tidy? Shall do.

• worked today. I don't normally work during the week but someone needed the day off...and what the heck, why not? Took me 50 minutes to drive what usually takes me 15 minutes. It snowed last night and the roads are CRAAAAP.




• Drug seekers galore in our downtown office today. T4s, percocet, oxycontin, you name it! They're not shy about asking and they don't take no for an answer. Even though the dr has explained to them many times that they will not refill their prescriptions anymore...day after day, it's the same thing.




• One of these drug seekers stole another patient's boots. It's snowing and mucky, so we ask the patients to remove their boots at the door...no way would I leave my $250 Uggs sitting in a doorway of a downtown clinic, but some people are trusting I guess. That patient had to go home in Dollarama flip-flops from our slipper box while the drug seeker went home in $250 Uggs. The doctor had me call the pharmacy to block her antibiotic prescription until she returned the boots, but it was too late. Man, I'd be pissed if I was that patient!




• Scott is stuck in Medicine Hat because (a) the highway is in super-crappy driving condition and (b) the ass-hats at the Chevy dealership have not fixed the truck, and he brought it to them on Tuesday because something in the transmission is messed up. They didn't even look at it until today, knowing full well that he had to leave to go home tomorrow. Now they won't have the part to fix it until Monday. Oh, did I mention that Scott has been gone for nearly a week on business? Yeah. Sucks.
  I miss my guy :( .




• The brightest part of my day: getting to my mom's to pick up Sam and her running to me...throwing her arms around my neck and saying, "Let's go home now!". I'm so grateful that I don't have to work every day...man, so grateful indeed.

Well, I'm going to bed now. Pizza day at school tomorrow, selling lollipops after school...compiling sausage orders over the weekend. Oh, I started Jake's freezer-paper-stencil shirt, wanna see?

...took more paint than I thought, but it will look good once the red bow tie and buttons go on. It's a tuxedo shirt (remember those?) but with a modern edge. Fancy.

Later, taters.

Friday.

I know, I've been neglecting my blog. Too many projects on the go, and not enough hours in a day. My mom says I should try to get by on less sleep...and then she laughs. Nice lol.

So what's been happening??

Pirate Party at Auntie's house. Awesome, so much fun. Some day I'll post pictures.

Santa's Anonymous Toy Run. Again, awesome. Love seeing all those burly bikers riding into the Wal Mart parking lot early on a chilly Sunday morning, with dollies and Lego strapped to the back of their bikes. A lot of people donate money, which is cool, too. Pictures someday (possibly).

I hate Jacob's teacher. I know hate is a strong word, and I'm really trying to convince Jacob that she's nice and he should give her a chance...but in my head I think she's a bitch who should go back to teaching junior high. Maybe yelling at little kids, and belittling them works in junior high. In elementary it just makes little kids hate going to school. You can give me that junk about how 'teaching is hard' and 'maybe she just had a bad day'...blah blah blah, she's mean. Yesterday we were having a conversation and she interrupted me so that she could yell at a little boy who was taking too long to tie his shoes. He's 7, lady...those people take FOREVER to tie their shoes. At least pretend to be a caring educator in front of parents. Bitch.

Kylie has a dr's appointment this morning, then we are going to meet Scott for lunch. She doesn't want to go back for the afternoon and to be honest, I don't think I'm going to make her. It's Olympic Day today, or some junk like that. I think she would learn more by going grocery shopping with me so that's what we're going to do. And then I have to come home and clean the basement. Yay.

I sewed this week...making a pink princess dress for Sam to wear on Halloween. I can't remember the last time I sewed something, other than mending. Next, I need to make Jacob the grey camouflage bedding that I bought fabric for last year. Yes, an entire year ago lol.

Gotta go haul Kylie out of the shower and throw some pants on Sam. Later, taters :) .

Long weekend, baby!

Well...semi-long weekend. I still had to work Saturday and Monday evening, but we had all of Sunday together as a family (except for Kylie, who doesn't get out of bed until 2) and we got tons of crap done! I mended, organized, cleaned, and rag-dolled Scott all over the house to do the menial stuff lol.

I'm on a little bit of an anger streak right now...I'm not sure how some parents expect my kids to occupy their friend's siblings as well?? Can someone please explain that to me?? I remember the first summer we moved into this house, Kylie met a great little girl across the alley and they played together every available second. There were no little boys around for Jake to play with so *I* played with him when he had no one to play with. I took him to the park so he could play with other kids at the Greenshack program, I took him on walks around the block and I even pretended to play video games with him (just pressing random buttons on the control) on rainy days when he couldn't occupy himself for one second longer. Jacob was *my* responsibility, no one else's. I can't see the day when I would force Kylie to occupy Jake because he had no one else to play with. That seems greatly retarded to me. And no, just because Jake invites one of his BFF's over, that does not mean the invitation is also extended to his 5 year old sister!! Play with your own damn kid!!

And that also goes for non-paying babysitting gigs disguised as playdates that are never, ever reciprocated. Even if you say you'll do the same for me...it hasn't happened once in the 5 years I've lived in this house so, no. Cough up the bucks for adequate care for your kids. There are lots of wonderful, wonderful caregivers out there...just admit that you don't want to pay what it takes for reasonable care for your kids.

Wow! I'm a bitch. Too bad lol.


Carry on. I'm going to sit on the stoop with my husband and my crazy toddler, who has been running around like her bum is on fire for the last hour.

Later, taters!

Blah.

I'm soooo not feeling well right now. It's not that I feel sick, per se, I just don't feel good. Like there are piles of bricks on my shoulders, pulling me down. And bricks on my eyelids, making them want to close. And bricks on my brain because I can't think.

Sam spent the first hour of the day, after Scott left with the big kids, crying about her boots....then laying in front of the door crying because Daddy was gone...then crying about her boots again...I don't know what's wrong with her boots. It was just, "Mah boots!! Mah boots!!" and then collapsing in a sobbing, tearful mess on the floor. I distracted her with a Caillou DVD, which seemed to work. She only stopped watching once, to tearfully ask me: "Daddy home yet?" but then Caillou did something silly and she was distracted from her misery again.

It's been a long day. I can't wait for Scott to come home so that I can go to bed and sleep this thing off.

Open Letter to the Hag who Cut Me Off Today

Dear Stupid;

Hey, remember that thing today? That thing where we were each driving down the road, with snow up to our wheel wells...and you cut me off without signalling, while you were yakking on your cell phone...and then you gave *me* the finger?

Nice. Merry Christmas to you.

Bitch.

Yours truly;

Kylie's Mom.

(sorry mom)

Hey, wanna hear me bitch?

Sure you do. You came to blogger to hear lots of miserable, hateful things, right? LOL...it's your lucky day :) .

Kylie came home one day last week without her boots. Her expensive, fall suede boots that I think are pointless. OK, they look good, but it's not like they're warm and fall lasts about 2 weeks in Edmonton. Onwards.

Kylie had forgotten to change from her indoor shoes to her boots after school, as she was yakkin' with the girls and got sidetracked. Put her coat on and dawdled home. So I tell her, be sure to look for them as soon as you get to school. It wouldn't be the first time that something nice went missing...

The next day, at dismissal, the phone rings. It's Kylie's teacher, and as I have a phone allergy, I don't answer it. This is the message he leaves on the machine:

"Hi Mrs T. Just wanted to let you know that Kylie's boots have been recovered and the perpetrator has been identified. Kylie will be bringing her boots home today."

Argh!!!!!! I friggin' knew it. So I called the teacher back, and although he couldn't tell me who stole them, he could say "check" when *I* mentioned a name.

Honestly, how does a parent NOT NOTICE when another kid comes home with suede boots that aren't hers, and that have another kid's name on the sole??? And the inside tag??? And how does said parent not notice all the other things that she has stolen from my kid: EPL library book, toys, notebooks, pens...all with KYLIE'S FRIGGIN' NAME ON THEM??? Even if the kid claims it was a gift...at some point, you would think that the parent would say, "Jeez, I've never met this Kylie person. Why is she giving you all of these things...like a library book?"

Who in the hell gives a kid a library book as a gift???

I've told Kylie that she's not allowed to gossip about the situation with her friends...and that she has to have empathy for this girl, because there could be underlying issues (so vague). But I also told her to guard her stuff with her life, and that she needs to be polite to this girl, but it's up to her if she wants to be friendly. I also asked the teacher if he could look into past instances, and possibly offer this girl some counselling. Something's not right there.

I'm trying to be understanding, but I'm so friggin' mad right now...

Monday. Blech.

So Saturday started out really well...went off to work, which I really enjoy...chatted with some regular patients...no one yelled at me that day, which is odd...and then, around 2pm I started feeling ill. Left by 3, and I don't remember the drive home. At all. I remember getting into bed, still wearing my scrubs, and then shortly after that I was sicker than a dawg...ew, not good.

This morning (Monday), Scott is in bed and can't get up, could barely direct me how to turn on his iPhone so that I could phone his assistant. That never happens.

Sam fell asleep on the couch by 10am, watching Dora. That never happens, either. So I tucked her into bed beside Scott, and left the door open. I asked her if she wanted to play Polly Pockets with me and she said, "No, mama. Go 'way."

My poor sick baby, stealing my salad at supper a few days ago :( .

And here is my poor sick baby with that red moo-stache. The pen-wielding maniac was none other than myself, and it was done with the wipe-off pen from my to-do list board (ok, so that was a trick question - it was neither a washable marker, nor a Sharpie). Sam enjoys kitty whiskers as well, but is not against the occasional handle bar moo-stache. Then she wants me to take her picture, and then she cries if I won't let her play with the camera.

Sadly, there are no point winners this month :( . I will donate the points to charity, or perhaps save them for that attack-giraffe-with-an-invisibility-cloak-and-laser-eyes that I've been wanting for so long. I don't know.

So have a good week, everyone :) . Hope your house is flu-free!

Blah part deux.

That's French. Fancy, huh?

I feel all floopy. My brain is on a ten second delay today...my head is spinning and I have to go to work tonight. Blaaaaah...

Welcome to flu season.

ARRRRGH!!!

My computer is fried: Kiki picked up a virus from her beloved Gaia.com, and when the virus was deleted it took a bunch of drivers with it. Sucks.

So I'm down to using Scott's laptop, which I loathe...i just can't get used to typing on those flat keys. My fingers are throwing /// in everywhere, because that stupid key keeps getting in the way. Today, Kylie and I are at the library...here on Gaia while I check out some blogs. I've been really bad for commenting lately, but I hope I can get up to speed today.

There is a teenaged boy, maybe 13, sitting across from Kylie at another computer and he keeps peeking around his monitor at her...and she's completely oblivious. I want to poke him in his bony shoulder and say, "Hey, buddy, back off...she's only 11!" lol. I can tell that I'm going to have trouble with the oncoming teenage years lol.

Kylie has an appointment for a haircut tomorrow. We were looking at hairstyles on the computer, and while I like the conservative looks for her, she likes the wild and crazy 'scene' and 'emo' look. She's asking for black streaks...um, no. Come talk to me when you're in junior high. Unless you want the Sharpie treatment, which is good. Washes out in one shampoo and costs me nothing lol.

We're going shopping for jeans and indoor shoes, as soon as I can pry her off of the computer. She wants Puma shoes...um, do they sell Pumas at WalMart? No? Then forget it.

So many pictures to share with you...hopefully our computer will be up and running and I can post some in the next few days.

Later, taters :) .

So disappointed...

Just got back from the Grand Opening of the new T&T in Edmonton's north end...their grand opening ceremonies started at 9am and the website announces the grand opening as 10am today! As we were frantically trying to find a place to park, we see a group of performers packing up the dragon costume and the drums. We missed the entire thing, and Kylie has been waiting for this for months :( . Kylie was incredibly disappointed and I was too, for her sake. This girl is Asian-culture crazy, and it is near impossible to find anything other than New Year celebrations in February...even then, there's not much information published about it.

All of the little kids that were there for the ceremony got these little Chinese drum-rattles (I apologize, I don't know the proper name) and they had completely run out by 930.

Oh well...poor kid. We waited in the 6-person deep lineup to get in for about 10 minutes, and then it was wall-to-wall people inside. We got as far as the bakery counter and then left, it was just too hard for Kylie to get a good view of anything. And people were pushing and shoving, it was just unreal :( .

Maybe Gramma will take Sam and Jacob tomorrow afternoon so that I can take Kylie back again to shop. She has a whole list of snacks in her pocket that she wanted to pick up.

I am making the worst grouchy face right now.

Shitty day.

That sums it up.

Swine flu has arrived...

Presently there are 2 known cases in Alberta (one in the North and one in Calgary). No reported cases in Edmonton...although someone on a local forum has spilled the beans that there is someone in isolation in a local hospital, with a suspected case. Great.

Today, at the kid's school, there were signs all over the place stating not to enter if you had any flu like symptoms. I'm starting to freak, just a little bit...but then I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, I'll admit.

...and right now the kids are watching a cartoon on The Disney Channel called "The Replacements". One of the characters is visiting Canada, and the Canadian family ends every sentence with 'eh', they call pancakes 'flapjacks' and their bacon 'is all kinds of crazy' lol. Never mind their pet caribou. That stuff drives me nuts lol. Now the kid is running away because he can't get corn dogs in Canada.

He can come to my house, my freezer is full of corn dogs :D . But I don't have any of that crazy bacon they're talking about, we just have the regular kind :D .

This sucks.

Alright...I have to go grocery shopping today, and it's
-25C with the windchill right now...blowing snow with unreal winds...roads are awful, apparently...

Nice.

Can you believe I was driving through puddles yesterday due to all the melting snow? I really thought spring was coming!

I have issues. But you knew that already.

Computer issues will keep me away...please don't email the yahoo.ca address, because I just can't get into it right now, don't know why.

I'll see you soon :) .

Oh. My. God.

Below is a listing of all the articles that I have replaced zippers in since October 2008:

• Kylie's old white winter jacket
• Jacob's brand new winter jacket
• Sam's snowsuit (which used to be Kylie's, which used to be her cousin's, etc)

And now for a list of things, all of which the zippers have broken in just the last few weeks!

• Jake's hoodie
• Sam's hoodie
• Kylie's new winter coat, barely a month old...but no point in returning it because I paid less than $20 for it on clearance when it's worth well over $75

Why do clothing manufacturers put in cruddy zippers to begin with? Hmm? And why does all this happen *after* I let my Fabricland membership lapse, in a form of protest, because their fabric selection hasn't changed in ten years??? Meaning, I have to drive clear across town to Marshall's to buy new zippers, and hope they have a decent colour selection. Argh!

Well, off to rip out yet another zipper...

Argh!!!

Argh! Sometimes I wonder...how can some people be so selfish, so inconsiderate, and so hurtful all at the same time?

Yesterday was one of those days where it seemed all I did, all day long...from sun-up to sun-down...was shake my head in disbelief due to stupid, stupid people. My kids went to school sad today, because of one grown-up's thoughtlessness/selfishness. I could deal with all of the other junk that happened yesterday, but I hate, hate, hate seeing my kids upset like this.

Honestly, some people need a good swift smack to the head.

Thank you for reading this far.

Have a good day lol.

Stupid, stupid dr >:{

Argh! Remember last Monday, I took Kylie to the medicentre to get her checked out because she was so sick? Stupid dr took a throat swab, but told us that he believed that it was just a flu...well, guess who called this morning! The medicentre, asking for Kylie to come back because she needs to see a dr again. Well, after 4 hours of waiting (unreal) we finally got a prescription for antibiotics, as Kylie has strep throat! An entire week she was walking around with this, and I just read that it's freakin' contagious!

Could that dr have not just wrote us a prescription and told us not to fill it unless the test comes back positive? Could he not have saved us a 4 hour wait? How lucky am I to have my mom so close that I could just drop off the younger 2 kids to play while I sit in the stupid waiting room with Kylie all freakin' morning. Argh, how frustrating!!!

Scott is working late tonight, because now he is backed up with files because he had the nerve to take Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I have to go to work tonight, I hope he makes it back at a decent hour :( .

The Christmas Guilt is setting in...

So with all the rushing around lately, planning/executing the school bake sale, finishing the Christmas crafts for the teachers...I completely forgot that the kids would be having class parties today, and each kid requested home-made ginger snaps to take.

Do I feel like the absolute worst mom ever??? You bet! I made sure that all other tasks were taken care of, except for my very own kids: which sucks, considering that they are the reason that I am at home in the first place. Bad Mama. I made up for it by buying mini chocolate cupcakes from Safeway this morning...does that even make sense??? Working all week to make sure that a bake sale goes off without a hitch and then I run off to Safeway to buy cupcakes lol. Oh, and also those stupid Lunchable things that come complete with Nerds and a juice box, because I was at the school most of yesterday and forgot to help the kids make lunches last night. I suck.

At least the bake sale was a resounding success...we made almost $300, and had tons of baking donated from lots of parents. There were even donations of donuts and Little Debbie snack cakes, donated by parents who didn't have time to bake but wanted to help out in some way. That was absolutely awesome to see.

I'm looking forward to picking up the kids after school today...because they are home with me for 2 weeks now :) . Tomorrow we are baking gingerbread cookies, and then on Sunday we will decorate them. I think I will go to work on Sunday night this week, so that Monday night I can take my mom for groceries for Christmas dinner. She is making the ham/turkey while I am bringing perogies, salad and juice. Kylie wants to make a cupcake cake, one of those kind that looks like a reindeer head or something...I think that will be fun. And I still needs to do baking for our Christmas Eve pajama party.

Well, I should go...nanaimo bars aren't going to bake themselves!

Ouch.

If this is what it feels like to work all day then I'm not interested lol. My feet hurt!!!

This is the first time I've sat down all day, other than dinner. Today, I ran all over town returning things, mailing things, doing PAC stuff, finishing Christmas crafts with the kids, finally getting my contribution to the school bake sale done, organizing said bake sale donations with various family members, wrapping my bake sale stuff, banking...plus some. I am pooped.

This is the part I don't like about Christmas...the running around like a chicken with its head cut off part. Not fun.