"Just Dance!"

Clearly, I've not been blogging for over a week. I guess I could explain everything that's been happening, but it's easier just to post pictures. The boys and I are just home from Uncle's (C's) wedding in Denver. It was such a good time! The only one missed terribly was Uncle Chuck, and we're hoping to see him soon somehow! So, I'm a week or more behind events. These shots are from the very quick trip I took to Tampa, Florida for a wedding shower/girls' night out for one of my dearest friends. Left Friday morning, home Sunday night. But I did get to fly all alone, which was heaven once you've flown with an 18 month old! 

 The first night was just 4 of us - JR, Rebel, Candace (the bride) and me. JR is above.

 JR and Candace, one of my best friends from college.

 Cando and Rebel (whose middle name is "Lyn" - no lie - so her name is Rebel-lyn. Seriously).

 Saturday was the bridal shower, and Sat night, we moved to a resort in Clearwater, Florida. This is our view from the suite we shared with 20 other women. JR and I snuck out and got our own room so that we could sleep. But LOOK at that white sand and warm water. We were walking down there at midnight with our feet in the water. It was glorious for a freezing semi-Canadian.

Although there were those 16 other women, we spent most of the time together. I am noticeably giant next to these small women.

Pictures and news from the wedding as soon as RKZ gets home from Denver. We found out on the second day of our trip that his boss wanted him to stay for work until tonight. I won't go into details about my flying alone with the boys at 9:30 at night. I'll just suffice it to say that there were tears - and not from the boys.

"Maybe this is what happens when a tornado meets a volcano"

It's funny, when school starts it seems as though everything starts and everything hits at once and I have no time to sit and blog or eat or go to the bathroom or any of that stuff normal people do :) And our September is FULL BLAST, as they say. I am stealing 5 minutes (literally) from another activity (and ignoring a poopy diaper) to write even this quick post. 

Buck had his most recent EEG test (the brain test for seizures) last Thursday. I asked the lady if I could get some pictures with my cel phone because I'm hoping he'll never have to take this test again and I wanted to remember them. 

First, the tech draws x's in different spots she measures out on Buck's head, then she places sticky goo onto the x's. The ends of the wires (little pads) stick into the goo.  Lastly, she wraps his wired-up head with medical gauze so that he can rip any of the wires out. It looks terrible (there is another wire on his cheek), but he was in good spirits about it all. It doesn't really hurt him. 

After the wrapping, Buck is subjected to a series of test (flashing lights, pulsing beats, etc) and he must sleep for 30 minutes. I laid down with him because he couldn't fall asleep and it he grabbed me and snuggled and then fell asleep. These pictures make is seem to graphic. It's really a very calm thing. 

My friend, Barbie, in her new home in Lethbridge, Alberta (don't even bother looking it up). It's a 3 hour drive and we spent Saturday night down there with them. She still hates pictures, so it's just getting funny to post these random shots. I miss her living near to us. 

Last night, I made meat load and red sauce and Buck totally helped me. He measure ingredients and mixed and stirred and helped form the meatloaf. He was great. This is him with his new glasses and school uniform shirt. This is also evidence of how old-school our new house it. Look at the very unsafe range in the middle of the island. I have a 2 year old!! 

Said (almost) 2 year old strapped into his high chair for safety reasons. When I put this shirt on him in the morning, I remembered Aunt K giving Buck this shirt as a joke, and now Thunder is old enough to wear it. Time flies by!! also, please ignore how clearly messy my kitchen is. Those boxes are from Costco :) 

Off to a bridal shower in Florida tomorrow morning!! All by myself!! 

Ralph - I miss you and love you and will reply to you when I have a good amount of time! Shout out on the blog!! 

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called 'Life'."

I posted this before, but I just think it's funny. We are entering a "wedding season" (Fall is the new June) and this just makes me laugh. As a caveat, I think that any marriage IS one of the most sacred (not just special) things in the world...but this is still funny.

"I'm so happy that I can't stop crying..."

I am seriously a nominal mother. Today is Buck's 1st day of full-day Kindergarten (MWF) and we were late for school. We had to run in and he was saying, "It's ok, Mom! As long as we don't miss the prayer!" My 5 year old was reassuring me! Also, this is the only picture I have of this momentous day. He looks cute. He only said, "I think I'm going to be a little shy." But when I reassured him that he was going to be one of the only kids who knows other people in the class, he felt better. I can't resist wondering how lunch went for him today. I just want him to like it and think it's a good place. He's such a nice kid. 

In other news of the day, I had a doctor's appointment and had an "abnormal" Pap smear result. I know that 100's (maybe 1000's) of women get abnormal reports all the time. Here is basically what the doctor told me: 

• "You have" : Atypical Squamous cells, cannot exclude HSIL (ASCH) – This Pap smear test result means there is uncertainty about whether HSIL is present. This result requires further tests.

HSIL is basically the HPV virus or pre cancerous cells or whatever.  I asked for the range of what the result meant and he said: "Could be absolutely nothing - like an inflamed cervix from intercourse. Could be the early stages of cancerous cells...but I really doubt that because the result would be different." I have a girlfriend who's had about 5 of these abnormal reports, and they've all been nothing, so I have decided not to worry (seriously). I just want the info out there so that all the women I know will keep on top of these pap smears!! They make all the difference!

 Just to gross everyone out, here is a picture of a cervix in the different stages of developing cancer. 

I have to have another procedure (like a crazy Pap smear) where the doctor will use a scope (see doctor image below) to look at my cervix and find the "white areas." I guess how big the white area is hints to how bad it is. 

This does not look like my doctor nor me, but it's interesting none the less. 

If you are a woman, schedule a Pap Smear!! 

"Who cares what they're wearing on Main Street or Saville Row..."

It's what you wear from ear to ear - and not from head to toe - that matters" Annie

 

So, I haven't yet mentioned that I've challenged myself to spend a year not buying anything new for myself and (as much as possible) for the boys. Food and disposable products aside, like the real bloggers do it. Anyway, I started Sept 1, so I'm just in the planning stages as yet, but I'm excited to see if I can at all pull it off. I was inspired by a sister-in-law (Hoonka) who did it while she was on her Maternity leave for 6 months (long story). She inspired me with the explanation that not shopping actually brought a great deal of peace to her life. She had me at "peace." I will occasionally mention how it goes - nothing more boring that stories of what I'm NOT doing :) 

Anyway, Buck is in RKZ's brother's (C) wedding at the end of this month. He needs a tux and I found one at a kid's consignment shop. RKZ hates how used it looks. We need a different shirt, but I think it's great for a 5 year old's tux (and it cost $20). I wish I could take a poll, because I was so proud. My first "second-hand" purchase of this challenge. The pictures aren't the greatest, so I'm afraid it won't go well for me in the poll...

 

Aside from my issues, our good friends who just moved away (about 3 hours) were up for the weekend. They came for dinner and some drinks last night (my girlfriend, Barbie, hates having her picture taken, so I had to put it here. She's beautiful). It was a great night and we had a simple BBQ with beer and chocolate cake. Very yummy. I've decided to head down to their new house next weekend as RKZ is going away for work. It should be fun to see their house and spend some time in the "wilds" of Prairie Alberta. I'll need some time away after the starting of school on Wednesday. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited to get some kind of schedule going. 

"Taught her how to run baby, run baby, run baby, run!"

Again with no pictures? What is this a NEWS BLOG?

Yesterday got much better as we had an entire day of play dates and no one died. Also, it hit the high 70's/20's in the afternoon. Warm weather effects my mood 110%. And Thursday nights are RKZ and my "date nights." 5 hours in the evening without children and with only adult conversation. Lovely. We went to see "The Other Guys" and it was a solid B of a movie. Marky Mark (Mark Walberg) is the perfect straight man. I've loved him in 3 comedies just this year!

How are your Fridays? I am debating a trip to Costco, making necessary phone calls and folding laundry. With hair cuts and the esthetician in the afternoon. Seriously, how is there NOT a magazine about the absolute glamour of my life?

"Cry - Cry baby!"

I currently have one child screaming in his bed because I told him that he needs to remake it correctly. He had piled all of his 15 stuffed animals in the center of his bed and covered them with a sheet (over the blanket). His pride is hurt and he screamed, "It's too hard!" Seriously? We are working on a chore chart with stickers and a subsequent prize, so it needs to be done correctly. I am not a Nazi. He needs to learn it and he's 5.

The other child started screaming for NO REASON after his sibling's meltdown. I was seriously imagining just slapping the 20 month old because he pulls on my legs and screams as though he is going to die while he's throwing a fit. It's like fingernails on a chalk board and it actually hurts my legs. I put the toddler in his crib (for my own time out) and he is now screaming like I cannot describe in words from the room next to me.

That whole, leaving-your-child-in-the-crib-until-he-learns-not-to-cry like-those-Russian-Orphans thing is looking pretty good today. I'm wishing my 5 year old could learn it retroactively. And it's not even 9 am.

"This is how we do it"

Today, a friend and I took our 2 kids (each) to Heritage Park. I know that I've written about this "historical amusement park" before; but today, I learned something. I learned a bunch of things that any reader will find dull at best.

But, what was interesting to me is how interesting Canadian history is. I don't mean wars and leaders and all that - but the people. What the people did and why they did it. One random fact: did you know that beaver fur (pelts, skins, whatever) were actually never used for hats or blankets or anything by actual Canadians? I mean, a main source of income for the country was completely exported. Completely. Guess where it was exported to? (NESWAP, I know). Europe. Beaver pelts were made into top hats - the really beautiful shiny kind that rich men wore (not fur traders). And the expression "the mad hatter" came from the people who had to pick the rough hairs from the beaver pelts (these are what made the hats shiny). Eventually, someone I don't care about came up with the idea to use mercury to remove the hairs more quickly. Hi, have you ever submersed your hands into mercury for a length of time? Uh...I think you'd really go crazy (like insane, not just irritated).

These facts are dull to you, I'm sure. I was just excited to think about those people so long ago hunting and trapping (don't ask how they trap beavers) something that had almost no value to them. There is also a legend about the pricing of things based on the pelts. It's not really legend, but there are some fun stories here. That is a link to the store chain here called the "Hudson Bay Company" which was instrumental in the entire process (Canadians say "Pro (long o) - cess").  They answer some FAQ's on the site.

I am a dork about historical things. I know. But there are so many human stories to know. I wish those trappers could have blogged.