Sweet sixteen

Of course, I am twenty (almost twenty one) years past being sixteen, but last week I celebrated an even sweeter occasion. My man and I have been together for sixteen whole years. I don’t know many couples nowadays who met when they were twenty who are still together and going strong like us. Our secret: laughter. Not a day goes by without laughing together. Most of the time, we are laughing about our daily life, something the kids said or did, something we heard, watched, saw... It really doesn’t matter what it is, but in the past sixteen years there hasn’t been a day we didn’t laugh together, even if it has been over the phone a lot when he was away on business. Even when we disagree (because we don’t argue), it often ends in laughter. It’s how we get our point across, it’s how we keep things light and simple, it’s who we are... it’s what we are. We celebrated with our weekly Friday night date at home. Good food, good wine, and, of course, laughter. Earlier in the day, we went shopping. No, not the clothes and shoes kind, the toaster oven and lighting kind, the kind which can actually be done in a hardware store. When I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I asked hubby if he was willing to go to that other store that I love but that he cannot stand. You know, the one that starts with a W, ends with a T, and rolls back prices like crazy... His answer: “Okay”. Wow! When I stated that he must be in a very good mood to accept so willingly he told me that he’s been in a really good mood for sixteen years now. I know. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... How sweet! Happy sweet sixteen to us!

Excited about veggies

I have been contemplating joining a family farmers network for a few years and this year, we've taken the plunge. I am sooooo excited! I truly cannot wait for June 20th to get our first look at how this goes down every week. For 18 weeks, we will meet with our family farmer at a local drop-off location situated just 5 minutes from our house every Wednesday afternoon. Apparently, they set up much like a mini market and we get our pick of the veggies available that week. The website even states that they provide recipes for vegetables which may be new to us. Yum! Best of all, it's all organically grown. Double yum!
Between this weekly catch and the tomatoes and herbs in our own garden, I'm betting my vegan wannabe crusade will be on the road to success, at least in the summer months. Although, I probaby will never be 100% vegan, I hope to integrate more and more vegan meals in my diet and there's nothing like fresh produce to give a girl a push in the right direction.
I'm hoping to get the girls excited about this too. So far, my enthusiasm hasn't rubbed off on them, they just don't get it. Like it or not, I plan on insisting they join me and get up close and personal with our family farmer. The way I see it, it's all about appreciation of good, natural food. Hopefully, our family farmer will become a strong ally in getting them interested in healthy eating. One day, I hope they will be as excited as I am in front of a colorful, vegetable-packed plate.

Mother Nature... quit playing around!

By now, you've probably understood the fact that I am a summer girl. Warm weather, sunny skies, and driving with the windows down all bring out the best in me. Yesterday, it was once again nearly 30 degrees (Celsius that is), today it was barely 15 degrees and by the weekend we will be back to a possibility of snowflakes.

You gotta love Quebec weather. Or not.

Can you guess where I stand on that one?

Of course you can, it's a no-brainer.

What's up with all the taunting Mother Nature? Make up your mind!

And I am warning you. Don't you dare send more snow our way than the girls' trampoline can handle. Bad enough you ruined our gazebo for the 3rd or 4th time last year, that trampoline is off limits! It's the only thing that can keep the girls outdoors and active for hours. It even has the power to keep them away from the Family Channel not to mention the fact it's an absolute magnet for friends. All they have to do is bounce up and down once and wham! the neighbourhood comes running (or bouncing) along providing plenty of conflict management opportunities (wow, aren't I in a very positive state of mind tonight...).

Seriously, a trampoline is really a constant block party which means tons of fresh air and a fun cardio workout for all with the added bonus of simplified bedtimes.

So hands off the trampoline! It is desperately needed... at least until pool season starts.

How I humiliated biggirl...

and made her proud all at the same time. You see, when she started grade 6, her backpack was still in pretty good shape. So, I convinced her to wait on purchasing a new one, knowing they would all be on sale just a few weeks after school started. Of course, I was right... but by then she had forgotten all about wanting a new backpack. In all my early Christmas planning due to our trip to Florida, my mother picked up the backpack and matching lunchbox she had yearned for in October and tucked them away, crossing one Xmas present off her list. We were so proud!

Then, when Christmas came along (beginning of December in our house), biggirl was thrilled to receive the perfectly high school worthy kit. Come January, we had to do a lot of convincing to get her to use it right away. She wanted to keep it looking brand new for high school... I finally got her to use it before her old one tore open. When I stated that arriving with brand smacking new gear on your first day of high school is uncool, I knew I could rest my case. Sometimes, parenting pushes you to provide extreme explanations I guess...

Just one month later, the inside pocket was completely torn, providing me with a new mission: to get this replaced, free of charge. Now, I am not normally one to return merchandise or cause trouble, but this was probably the most expensive backpack she had ever had and it really was supposed to carry her through at least her first year of high school too. Since, after just one month of use it was damaged, I went to the store, with the girls and the backpack (plus the lunchbox tucked inside), determined to get this business taken care of.

Having worked in retail myself, I know very well that it wasn't the poor manager's fault, but it all didn't go down very well. You see, she started by telling me that there was a 60-day guarantee. Do the math. It was purchased in October, received as a gift in December, and only used as of mid-January...way beyond the 60-day mark. But, I strongly expressed the fact that the bag had not been used for 60 days and that we should not be penalized for Xmas shopping early. I also voiced the fact that this was a pretty expensive kit and that I was very disappointed of the quality. The manager then inspected the bag as I looked on red-faced and exasperated. When she told me that the backpack had obviously been torn by books...I lost it! Of course there were books in it. I mean come on lady, it's a school bag. Then, as I explained that I needed the lunchbox exchanged too since we had paid for a matching kit to begin with because that is what we wanted, I really felt as if we were out of luck. She finally asked me for my phone number and promised to call after she had checked with her supervisor.

Throughout this scene, I could feel the girls' eyes on me, I could tell they were uncomfortable, and I even had time to think of what kind of example I was setting... talk about multi-tasking!

When we left the store, biggirl told me she was a little bit embarassed about how I insisted...but also very proud. As I said, when we pay a lot for things, we expect them to fulfill the purpose we spent money for. I also told them that if the bag were mine I probably would not have done anything, but when it comes to my girls, I will fight no matter what! I also insisted on the fact that I remained polite with the manager. There was no name-calling involved in all my attempts to prove my point.

I don't know how many times I replayed the scene in my head.

Can you guess the final outcome?

A few days later we walked out of the store with a new backpack.

And

A new lunchbox picked out by biggirl. She was happy. I was happy. The manager probably wasn't.

Hopefully the lesson learned is not : get angry and get what you want, but more along the lines of stand up for yourself and make a wrong right.

One thing is certain, the girls know their mom is not a pushover. And I am definitely proud of that!

A little shopping goes a long way...

I have always loved to shop. I still do. I always will. However, my shopping techniques and methods have changed drastically in the past years due to the endless possibilities online shopping provides. As I grow older and wiser, I love taking advantage of discounts, 30% off being a minimum I aim for and often patiently (well okay impatiently) wait for. So when I got an email saying that a local boutique was offering 30% off its entire store for one day only, I was on a mission. A t-shirt mission. The pretty, flattering, feeling-good-about-my-look kind of t-shirt mission. At first I planned to go with the girls after school, but then decided to play hooky and go alone on my lunch break. This is what I call shopping success:



And yes, there are also jeans in there. When you can take an extra 30% off brand jeans long enough for my legs that are already on sale (notice those beautiful little orange price tags), I am not one to resist!

So in under an hour, mission accomplished. And with my iphone I was even able to check my emails between trying the items on to make sure no urgent messages were waiting for me at work... How efficient is that? Hooray for playing hooky!

Of course, the unprecedented March heat wave we enjoyed all week is now over... so although I have great new t-shirts, I will have to wait to wear them. Come back warm weather, come back!!!!!!!

Our ongoing war against germs

Spring break is almost over and this year, it has been highly demanding on the homefront. The girls have been sick... the coughing all night (and day), no energy at all, on and off fever kind. Naturally, this has meant they have practically spent the entire week lying on the couch in front of the television bundled up in layer upon layer of blankets. For some reason, just seeing them like that seems to drain me of energy and joy.

So much for the cooking and spring cleaning projects I meant to enjoy with them. So much for fresh air, shopping sprees, and movie theatre outings. That alone has been hard on my morale, but nothing compared to the fact that yesterday I began feeling an achiness in my fingers, toes, legs, back, neck... Yup! I guess it's only natural that I am the next target of this bug. After all, even with my intense germ phobia, even if I have avoided touching my eyes, nose, and face all week, even if I have washed my hands so much they are cracked and dry... as a mother you can only be coughed on so many times before becoming a coughing germ-infested victim yourself.

I am determined to give this bug the cold shoulder. I will not let it get the best of me! I don't need to curl up on the couch or blankets or medicine... right?

Wish me luck.

Once my fingers quit being so grumpy (achy), I will be back to share how I made a scene, both humiliating and making biggirl proud all at the same time.

Babygirl is 8

Okay, so it's Valentine's Day and, naturally, hubby is away on business. Over the course of our almost 16-year relationship, let's just say we haven't spent that many V-days together. I am okay with that. Really, I am. After all, it's not as if we love each other one day per year. We love each other every day of every year and we celebrate that love every Friday night. That's our official date night and we wouldn't miss it for anything short of a fortuitous event (doesn't that word sound oh so serious?).
When you really think of it, I am not really a fan of many special days and holidays. I mean, we basically escape Xmas and New Year's Day altogether by going to Florida, and Easter, V-day, birthdays and so many other little things just don't seem very important in my book as I grow older.
However, when you're turning 8, all these days and so many more are utterly important. That's why Babygirl's birthday was celebrated not once, but four times this year. It was really like the birthday that wouldn't end... we had a party with family members the weekend before her birthday, we went out for supper on her actual birthday, she invited our neighbor over for supper one evening (because he so would not have enjoyed the girly party we planned for the following weekend), and then we had the ultimate scrapbooking/jewellery making/dancing party 10 days after her birthday. We sang Happy Birthday so many times it feels like she's 18 for crying out loud!
Oh, and I do take pretty much all the credit for the girly party since hubby's participation was limited to blowing up balloons (which looked great by the way). He basically spent the entire party in his office catching up on work and wearing noise cancelling headphones (for those who don't know, little girls can be very, very loud). I really should borrow those sometimes...

Silent blog posts

Guess what, I have successfully limited my grumpiness since our return to snow-covered lawns and freezing temps. The way I see it, if I want to go back to Florida, I have to do my time up North! After all, Florida may be the sunshine state but sunshine doesn't come cheap if you know what I mean!

White sand beach jogs have been replaced with treadmill runs. There's something about staring at the wall for 45 minutes three times a week... it's led to many silent blog posts. You know, the ones which perfectly describe my endorphin-enduced state of mind, the ones in which the hustle and bustle of morning prep for school vanish with wise words only to be replaced by serenity.

Well. They were just that. Silent posts. They were good, heck some were even pretty darn great, but sadly, I never got around to actually typing them for y'all (pardon the lingering southern influence).

Indeed, time seems to be running ahead of me in 2012. I am constantly trying to catch up. But I will.

If only I could figure out a way to type while I jog... the posts would blow you away!

The end is near...

So basically, this is how I've been walking around today... soaking in every single last bit of sun I can.
Although our trip will end with a slight cold spell in Florida, I choose to hold on to those wonderful warm days which were much more frequent and appreciated. They are the ones which will get me through the cold Quebec winter, the ones which energized me so!
Everyone who knows me is bracing for my grumpiness and moodiness upon our return, I just don't do well with gray skies and snow... I promise to make an effort though! I'll give it my all and look at our vacation photos frequently to remain in the zone! The beach zone that is!
We're off tomorrow morning. That's when the nostalgia will most likely set in. My heart will most likely linger on Estero Island... but we're coming home.