Exteme Makeover - Me Edition

It's Wednesday...and that means Amber is hosting Extreme Makeover - Me Edition...BUT she just found out she's pregnant and won't be participating full force. Congrats again Amber!

In the meantime she's asked that we share with her the ways we stayed healthy and 'fit' during our pregnancy(ies)...I had to laugh (literally) out loud when I read this...because those that know me IRL know that I gained about 65 pounds during my pregnancy with the boy. Granted, I started out underweight...at about 103 pounds (when I went to the doctor to confirm the pregnancy with a blood test and he called me with my results he immediately ordered me to start drinking Ensure or Boost...yuck!)...but yep by the end of it all I was nearing 170.

Imagine how frightening it is to realize that after gaining that much weight you only have about 7.5 pounds that is the actual baby!!! I battled eating disorders as a teenager but thankfully after having the boy I lost the weight in a healthy manner and it slowly but surely came off...well most of it...I still blame him for the extra 15 pounds I carry around to this day...8 years later.

Funnily enough (and yes I do believe funnily is a word...in my world anyway) I didn't gain all over and really only carried out front...like a HUGE basketball was under my shirt. I so wish I had pictures of me pregnant...but it was a tough time in my life (that's for an entirely different post) and I was uprooted and moved around at least 4 different times while I carried the boy. In the end my mom lost her camera that had all my pregnancy shots on it...and we never found it...so sad!

So I'm sorry Amber I have no advice...but hopefully some of the other women do. I imagine keeping active (walking, stretching, etc.) is still a good idea...and obviously not letting yourself fall into the mentality that you are in fact eating for two and therefore can eat what you want when you want and all in double sized portions...might not work out to be the best plan...though I have to admit it was one I adopted lol.

I don't have much to report in the way of what I've been doing this past week. We are still working on getting into a routine for school....and there's been good tv on...I know I know...excuses excuses...

Friend Makin' Monday - Fall TV Shows

I love TV...so I'm excited that this week Amber who is hosting Friend Makin' Mondays asked us to share with you what shows we are excited about!

I realized something in compiling my list of shows for this post...most of my favourites are no longer on...and I've just been watching a whole lot of reality TV lately lol.

One show I love love love is Desperate Housewives...I missed the finale in May because I was on a road trip with my besties...and I totally forgot I hadn't seen it until they started airing previews for this season...must find last season's finale online...pronto!




Next...I hear Survivor starts next week...it was the very first reality TV show I was hooked on...and I still tune in here and there...it helps that we have a survivor pool at work...I won the first year I entered I might add...$100 is nothing to scoff at!!!



The next couple are some shows I'm excited to check out...they are brand new this year and I hope they will fill the void of some of the shows they've cancelled in the past couple of years...



Hehe...the boyfriend and I looooooooooooooooove Family Guy...so I'm totally stoked t0 check out the Cleveland show...it looks soooooo funny!

That's it for now...I'm sure there are a few more new ones that I wouldn't mind checking out...but those three are the only ones that the previews really stuck with me.

Happy Monday!

Writers Workshop - The first day of 3rd grade

It's Thursday...and that means Mama Kat hosts her weekly writers workshop. You can join in the fun by heading over to her blog and choosing your prompt.

The Prompts:

1.) What does marriage mean to you?(inspired by Jon Gosselin) :)

2.) Scaredy Cat!!!(inspired by Brandi from Not Your Average Soccer Mom)

3.) List the pieces of you that have come from those around you?(inspired via Tweet by Angela from My So-Called Chaos)

4.) The first day of...(inspired by me. again.)

5.) Transcribe a recent entertaining conversation you recently had with someone.(inspired by me...I'm so inspirational for myself.)

Tomorrow my 'baby' boy will start 3rd grade...and I have very mixed emotions...I guess that comes with the territory of being a mother...on one hand, you want your kids to stay little and dependent on you forever...but on the other it's exciting to see them grow and learn and achieve their goals in life.

Last night was meet the teacher...our division is the only one in the City that has these meetings before school starts and I think it's a fantastic idea. The kids know who their teacher is and know exactly where the classroom is...and best of all there is no lugging a bajillion school supplies to school on the first day...because we dropped them all off last night.

Back to the teacher...she seems great! Yes she's young and is about a year out of university...something that had me a little disappointed, at first...the boy had a 'newer' teacher for 1st grade and she really had no idea how to handle rambunctious 6 year olds. But this one seems like she knows what she's up against...bonus!

The boyfriend was teasing the boy before our meeting...saying his teacher was going to give him homework...the boy responded with "impossible we haven't even had our first day yet"...but guess what? The boyfriend was totally right! The teacher handed the boy a paper bag just before we left and told him it was an "all about me" bag that they would share on the first day of school with the rest of the class...he was to put 2 or 3 items in the bag that he could show to his class. So the boy chose 2 baby pictures and a baseball card...since baseball is his favourite sport! He was going to put in one of his pokemon cards because he is obsessed with all things pokemon...but then thought he'd just go with a second baby picture because he didn't want to lose one of his most prized possessions...lol.

So there you have it...there is no denying it...my baby is a big boy...a big 3rd grader...where does the time go???

Awards~I feel so loved!

So I'm sitting here at work twiddling my thumbs...when I remembered I had about 3 awards I need to get to posting...I believe one or two of them may be more than a week...maybe even close to a month old...oops.

I received the one lovely blog award from Natalee at Raising Normal Kids...love her blog...it's so fun to read about what her and her three boys are up to on a daily basis.

Second I recieved this award from Melissa at Outnumbered 3 to 1. Great blog there too...Melissa hosts a ton of awesome giveaways but I personally love to read about her and her family...we are very similar in alot of ways!

And last but not least...Jennifer over at The Causey Clan gave me this splash award! Jennifer has a quirky sense of humour and usually has me giggling....and she's got some super cute kiddos too!

Now I know you are supposed to pass the awards on and link up to who I pass them on to...blah blah blah...but quite frankly who has time for that??? Besides I absolutely hate playing favourites...I love all of you that come here to read...and I love reading all of your blogs. So if you haven't received these awards consider yourself awarded!

Why I Can't Blog

So we've known for quite some time now that there is something wrong with our computer mouse...it most likely as something to do with sticky little fingers touching it...and now there's been something spilt on the keyboard...the keys are sticking and some don't work unless you hit them hard about two or three times...urgh.

So we'll be on the hunt for a new keyboard and mouse in the next few days because this is extremely irritating...note to self...enforce rule of no food or drink in the computer room...it seems I've let that slide a bit over the Summer months...and boy do I regret that!!!!

I'm still reading and trying to comment on all your blogs...bear with me...I fear that I may get frustrated and give up...it might save my sanity to wait till tomorrow at work when it will be so much easier...lol.

I have awards to post...and I wanted to do that today..man oh man!!!

Hope you are all having a great long weekend! Ours has been nice and relaxing...we spent the day at the beach yesterday...my absolute favourite thing to do!!!

Extreme Makeover - Me Edition - Successes

Amber over at aefilkins hosts this weekly meme...I haven't participated all summer...that could explain the massive tire I have forming around my midsection...why is it that I have no problem working towards the body I want all year long and then when summer comes I sabotage it all by eating bad and not exercising near enough???

I haven't stepped on a scale in a very long time but I bet if I had weighed myself before summer and then again now...it would tell me I had gained at least 10 pounds...all my clothes are too tight and I just feel down right disgusting.

Hence the reason I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack. If you'd like to join this group of gals who are working hard at trying to live a healthier lifestyle than be sure to head over to Amber's blog and check it out.

This week Amber has asked us to focus on our successes. Seeing as I am just now getting back into a routine and haven't yet had the opportunity to add in exercise...my only success (albeit a big one) is my thought process...instead of feeling like I just can't do it...I *know* that I can because I've done it before. It doesn't take much to plan meals a little better so that I'm eating healthier...and it also doesn't take much effort to get myself back into exercising....I just have to do it! And do it I will...starting now.

My intent is to ease back into it slowly...knowing myself the way I do...if I try to change things too much I decide it's too hard and just give up yet again...so this week I'm really going to focus on eating better and uping my water intake...after school starts next week and our family is more into a homework/evening routine after dinner I will decide when it's best for me to exercise.

Two Years Ago - The Post Where I Get Kind of Deep

I interrupt my regular blogging randomness...to tell you a little story...something that still makes me very sad from time to time...

You see two years ago today (well okay Saturday but I didn't have time to write this post then)...I lost someone very special to me...not through death...though sometimes I think this way may be worse because there is just no closure.

Let me back up just a little...

When I moved to this city back in 2001 I knew very few people. My mom and extended family (that I didn't really know well) and that's it...that's all. So when I met this girl "D" about six months after the boy was born and we hit it off and were Besties right from the start...well I couldn't have been happier. We were joined at the hip...literally...wherever she went I went too...usually having the boy in tow...but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she used to beg me to let her babysit while I worked...this was pre-kids for her.

Until September of 2002 when her and her (then) husband had their own bouncing baby boy. Sadly, her husband was laid off in early 2003 and they figured it wise to move out of province and go back to where "D" considered home so her parents could help them out financially until they were back on their feet again. We kept in touch via email, telephone and good old fashioned letter writing.

I was more than thrilled when she came back for a visit in the Summer of '04 and told me that she was coming back...with or without her husband...they were having marital problems and she was very unhappy living so close to her family who were the meddling type...but when she went back home after her visit she (unexpectedly) got pregnant and decided it was best to stay put, at least for the time being, as her husband had a decent job and now they had another little one on the way.

BUT in the summer of '05 after their second baby boy was born she knew she had to get out of the small town they were in and back here to the big city life which she enjoyed so much more. So they came back...and I was soooooooooo happy.

Little did I know that this was when all sorts of drama was going to come into my life. You see she was still unhappy with her husband...he refused to keep a job...played video games relentlessly...and just did not help with the boys. So I stepped in and would often spend the days with her...we'd take the 3 boys out to the park or to the mall or just let them run wild in McDonalds playland. I continuously told her that the constant fighting that went on in her household was not good for her children and that she really just needed to leave. But she was afraid of the unknown...having not worked in well over 3 to 4 years she was certain she could not get a decent paying job and would not be able to survive.

She started to become someone I didn't even know anymore...putting herself before her children...I remember her husband calling me on ocassion wondering if I knew where she was because she would up and leave for days on end. To this day I don't know where it was she was 'escaping' to...she always told me that she was out with some girls she had worked with years earlier...but who really knows.

In March of '07 (just a few months before I met the boyfriend)...I met a guy at the bar...he seemed like a nice enough guy...we 'saw each other' for just over a month when I realized he was not looking for anything serious...and in and around that time I had kind of decided I was ready to settle down...so we broke off ties.

Little did I know that "D" kept talking to him. In fact he started hanging out at her house and befriended her husband...I kind of started to get a bad feeling about him then...I mean you meet a girl...things don't really work out and what do you do? Go after her (married) friend...ummm ewwwww.

In July of '07...I was happily dating the boyfriend and "D" and I were growing apart...I just couldn't stand to see her flirting with this guy all while supposedly trying to make it work with her husband. So one day she calls me up and is crying hysterically...begs me to come down and spend the day with her because she really needs someone to talk to. I got there and her husband was gone...she said he had left her because she was pregnant with another man's baby...yep you guessed it...she had been fooling around with the guy I had met months earlier at the bar.

She decided she was going to keep the baby but cut off ties as much as she could with the 'affair guy'...she told me that he was abusive to her older two boys and that she didn't want him anywhere around them. I of course tried to explain to her that seeing that she was carrying his child it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of him. I urged her to come and stay with me where I could support her and help her stay strong.

But she refused and next thing I knew she was barely calling and when I called her she wouldn't answer the phone. Eventually her phone was disconnected and the only way I could contact her was to go down to her apartment...so I did...numerous times. Most times she wouldn't answer the door but I could hear the boys playing inside.

Finally one day she came to the door and told me that "affair guy" was in her room down the hall and that she really couldn't have me in...it just wasn't a good time. So I left it alone...I was pissed that she would put her own selfish needs over the wellbeing of her boys...but without knowing all the details didn't feel it was my place to step in.

Fast forward to August 29, 2007 - her 25th birthday...I receive a call at work from "D's" sister..."D" is in big trouble...and needs to leave the city. "Affair guy" has been keeping her and the boys locked up in their apartment and refusing to allow any of them to see the light of day...for almost 2 months now. She explained that he had been getting physical with "D" as well as the two boys.

So that day "D" came down to my work and we said our goodbyes...I told her to take care of her babies...her husband (now ex) drove them to the next province over where "D" has a sister that she was going to go and live with to get away from this crazy psycho.

We kept in touch through email and facebook and she even came to visit in November '07...she told me that "affair guy" knew where she was living and had even been out there begging her to marry him. She seemed to have cleared her head a bit out there and knew that being anywhere near him was a bad idea and even tried to convince him that the baby she was carrying was actually her (ex) husband's.

That was the last time I spoke to "D"...ever. I'm sure I could look her up and reconnect...but the thing is do I even want to at this point? I firmly believe that the reason she cut off contact is because she is back with the psycho...he had some kind of hold over her...one that I had never seen anyone have over her. Last I heard through the grapevine they were living as a family...she had a baby girl in Feb '08...I feel sad for all of her kids. I miss the boys terribly...I was "Auntie Mel"...and the boy misses her oldest ALOT....they were the best of pals.

So am I destined to remember this unfortunate series of events every single year on "D's" birthday...and will I get sad every year when I know the boys are celebrating another birthday without Auntie Mel???