Bread Crumbs In The Butter

Bullety, Edition 14; So Much To Say

• The job training this week in Kingston? It was awesome. I learned a lot, even if I did have a pretty good grasp of Canada Post and it's products from our business here. I think this is going to be a great job.  And the pay? Amazing. I nearly fell off my chair.  My training continues the 9th-12th of October, full time and then Canada Post in Almonte can feel free to have their way with me after that.

• Driving to and from Kingston every day was a killer (I decided not to stay in a hotel, I missed the kids too much), but it was made bright by Kingston having some great shopping. I almost wet myself when I drove down Princess St toward the Kingston Postal School only to find a Lululemon, Running Room and a Starbucks right up the road. Do you know how many times I said "Venti Half Caf Cappucino!" this week?  I was giddy with delight each time.

• My husband may brush his teeth with my toothbrush, but he totally rocks the stay at home Dad thing. I came home each night to a clean house, homeworked kids, signed agendas and dinner on the table. He didn't even get all pissy when I told him I was too full from Lone Star at lunch like I do when he tells me he had Rotten Ronny's when I made a roast.

• The kids handled my being gone from 7am to 7pm with relative ease. Though, on Wednesday night Meghan bawled her little eyes out.  Now, the girl is a bit of a drama queen and can really deliver a line, but she seemed genuinely distraught.  I asked "Are you sad because Mommy wasn't here for homework time?" and she bawled "No, I'm sad because Daddy has been making supper. He tries hard, but it's not that good!"

• Yesterday was a rockin' day.  Did I mention that last week I broke two fingers in a soccer tournament?  I did. Last game. At first we thought it was my entire hand, because I caught a ball funny on the tips of my fingers.  We had another tournament yesterday and I taped 'em up, sucked it up and rather than play keeper, I played out - which I hadn't done for this team in the two years I've played for them.  Best. Day. Ever. We won the whole thing - taped fingers and all. I felt great.  Today I'm tired, I haven't showered and I think I should probably see a doctor pretty soon, but still, great.

Lucky Me

I've never considered myself to be very lucky. It seems though, that marrying John was a very big step in the right direction. That direction being straight toward his good luck rubbing off on me.  So far, it's worked in big ways.  Not least of which is the events of the past week or so.

It seems, as though I wasn't blogging infrequently enough, that I've gone out and gotten a job. A real, honest to goodness, money paying, in another building other than this house, job.  Not just any job - a good job.  At Canada Post.  You know what they say about working for any branch (or crown corporation) of the Canadian Government, eh? SWEET!

I am beyond excited, but reasonably shocked. This was my very first interview since well before having the kids. It's been over 12 years since I interviewed for a job.  Not only did I get the job, I nailed the interview.  Hearing the wonderful things the interviewer said about me as she offered me the position made my feel fantastic, marketable and totally relevant.  It kicked ass.

This week, I'm off to Kingston for training. I'll spend a few days back and forth, but Wednesday/Thursday/Friday, I will stay in a hotel. Alone. By myself. Getting paid.

Knock me over with a feather.

Overheard

This morning, in our bathroom.

John is brushing his teeth and says "Wha aw yow pans fo da day?" (What are your plans for the day)

Me, brushing my hair. "Busy day. Alex has his first swimming lesson and I have to go to the ban... Hey! What they hell are you doing? That's MY TOOTHBRUSH!"

John pauses. Takes a look at the red toothbrush in his hand.  "Huh. Is it? I thought the red one was mine?"

"No! Dude. Ew! The red one is mine! Yours is blue."  At this point, I was throwing up in my mouth a little.

John, "I thought that it was weird that the blue one isn't mine."

"It is yours!" I'm gagging now. "How long have you been using my toothbrush?"

John thinks, a bit too hard. "I dunno. How long have we had them?"

I gag, outloud, and yell "What? Are you serious? You idiot! Now I have to get us new toothbrushes. This is just gross."

"Hmmm..." John says. "I don't really need a new one though. Do I? Mine is brand new."

I'm standing there, with the pitiful red toothbrush in my hand, knowing I have to suck it up and brush my teeth with it.  I put the toothpaste on and vow silently to never, ever, go without spare new toothbrushes in the house again.  But I can't do it.  Just bringing it to my mouth is enough to make me want to toss my Mini Wheats into the sink.

John is now laughing so hard, he has floss stuck between two teeth and he's crying.  I'm gagging and yelling expletives that he can't understand, but valiantly plugging through for the sake of my teeth.

"Oh relax!" John says.  "It's not like I stuck the toothbrush in my ass. We kiss all the time!"

"Sure. We kiss. KISS!" I yell. "I don't scrape plaque off your teeth and use the revolutionary scrubbing pad to scrape your tongue!"

"Maybe you should, Chantal. Maybe you should!"

____________________________

And that my friends, is how to bring a little disgusting hilarity to your marriage at 7am.

Bullety, Edition 12; Redneck Racing Series

I have to make this one quick. It seems when you have four kids in school all day, all the time you thought you would have is a myth. Someone lied to me.  In any case, I'm leaving tonight for an adventure race. It's a 30k bike, 6k canoe and about 7k run. It's put on by of my soccer teammates and her husband and dubbed the "Redneck Racing Series".  Why? Cause it's put on in the back bush of their farm and we get a beer at the checkpoints.

• My smallest child started Junior Kindgerten this week. Can I just say, he was so ready. Any doubts I had about his ability to handle JK, especially full day JK, were for naught.  He has done fantastically.  He absolutely adores school. He has tonnes of friends.  I've had two full days to myself so far and well ... it's nice, but I'm busy. So busy, I barely notice they're gone! (Click the photo above to see the whole flickr set).

• John, because he loves me, bought me a new laptop today. I cannot wait to get my hands on it. There is nothing wrong with my current Dell, but John needs it because his desktop died. So, because I always get the new stuff to fill up with fun programs and photos, the sleek new Dell D600 is mine to hump as I wish!

• My article at GNM Parents this week is about Kawasaki Disease. Please go read it, spread it, whatever you think will raise awareness.

• My last words on Big Brother.  Call me a sore loser or jealous, or whatever you want, but the only reason I am watching the finale is to see everyone's reaction to Eric being America's Player. I am going to fast forward through the entire show right up until they announce the winner.  Plain and simple, I don't like either Dick or Danielle. I could give a rat's ass how they played the game. Everyone played the game at some point. I just don't like them and couldn't care less which one of them won.

Bullety, Edition 11; Whatcha Want?

• The Beastie Boys are performing in Montreal and Toronto next week.  My husband refuses to go with me, as do most of my friends.  I have bad friends. Have I told you that?

• The next few weeks brings lots of soccer and racing goodness for me. Three games in 7 days, two tournaments and (hopefully) one adventure race.  I love September!

• Check it out.  Look over to the right. I've started a new sidebar featuring what we're having for dinner each week.  Am I making you feel bad? Don't. Just make what I make!

• Big Brother 8 is winding down and I'm continuing my love for Zach.  No one thought much of him until CBS aired the show where no one would sit next to him, everyone thought he was annoying and dull etc... then everyone hated him.  CBS sure can spin!  He's not dull, he's just low drama and I guess on a show like Big Brother, that's not exactly exciting to watch - until he puts up and stands up to the Donato's, eh?  I'm a huge fan of Danielle's now, um, NOT.  Smirk all you want, but you are not fooling us that you would ever have brought Zach to the final two.  Oh, and get your roots done ASAP. I think people are gonna figure out that the carpet doesn't match the drapes.

• I've been a little edgy lately? Have you noticed? I think I need to run more, or get more roughage!

Difference Of Opinion?

I've got a new article up at GNM Parents today.  Come on over and give me your opinion on parenting differences with your partner!

Bullety, Edition 11; Split!

• The first day of school was proclaimed "Amazing!" by all four kids.  They all have great teachers and their favourite friends in their classes.  Three of my four kids are in split classes, but I'm okay with that because they're all in the lower grade - which is my personal preference.  Let's see, I've got a kid in 6/7, a kid in 4/5 and a kid in JK/SK.  Meghan is the only one in a straight straight grade, which I think is good for Grade One.

• Now that the girls are in school all day, every day, and Alex is only in school all day, every second day, you'd think Alex would be bored? Nope.  Totally the opposite.  He has a new hobby, you see.  He collects and takes care of worms.  As we were closing the pool this week, I drained quite a bit of the water out of it and it was a veritable wormfest!  I think he's happiest because he gets to play with mud.  I'm happy because he has something to do all day while I surf Facebook.

• Alex met his teacher yesterday and he had a blast.  They meet the teacher in small groups, in one hour sessions.  Meghan had this teacher for her two years of kindergarten and she assured Alex he would love her - and he did.  He loved everything about the classroom.  I think he was a bit unsure, so he brushed off the event before we went in, but once there it was impossible to contain him.  Meghan walked by with her class and he greeted her at the door and said "Hi Meghan! It's so fun here!".  I almost cried a bit.  The good news is that the teacher seemed to understand everything Alex had to say, which relaxes me more than you know.

• Big Brother 8 is winding down and I'm so sad.  The last few weeks have been just freaking awesome.  Just freaking awesome. I'm desperate for Jameka to go home.  Not because I don't like her, which I don't, but just because my dream final five is Jessica, Eric, Zach, Dick and Danielle.  Any one of those five could win and I'd be happy.

...and grows.

We're quickly approaching unchartered territory here.

Today, Kristyn started Grade 6.

Do you know how weird that feels?  I don't feel old enough to have a child in Grade 6!  I'm pretty sure I was just in Grade 6 myself!  Not to mention that, to boot, she's in a Grade 6/7 split.  I clearly remember my first days of Grade 6 and 7 and I'm shocked at some of the differences between Kristyn and myself.  She's tall and lanky and sort of goofy, like I was, but that's where the similarities ed. I'm not sure if it's because I was a city kid and she's rapidly becoming very country, but she just seems so young to me.  Maybe young isn't the right word, because being a December baby she is younger.  Let's try naive.  More naive.  Yes, that's definitely how I would describe her.

Kristyn is my test kid.  I'm learning every parenting trick I have with her as my subject.  I've been so afraid of making mistakes I wonder if I'm sheltering her too much?  She's almost 11 and I've never left her at home alone to go to the grocery store - something she is begging me to do.  Last year when she ventured to Tim Horton's on her own for lunch I almost had a heart attack.  I still tuck her in at night and do her laundry.

On the other hand, she seems content with her life, so I think I'm doing okay.  There are worse things than a child perfectly happy at her lot in life, right?  All of that freedom will come and I'm hoping I'm giving her the tools to know what to do with it.  For now, I'll just enjoy that I have a reasonable amount of control of her freedom.  I know the opposite is only a few short years away.