More Disney? or….

Today I’m writing with a question.  Do you want more on Walt Disney World from me?  Want to know our favourites at every park?  Want to know what rides/attractions to skip?  Or are you getting tired of all the Disney stuff?  Do you want me to get back to just sharing whatever is on my mind?  At this point I could go either way.

On one side, I’ve really loved sharing about our Disney experience.  It’s allowed me to continue our adventure, reliving all the great moments even though we’ve been home for over a month now.  I’m enjoying sharing all of our pictures and stories.  After all, it was a week and a half that rocked our worlds pretty damn hard. 

On the other side, I do miss sharing my other passions.  Talking about the kid.  Sharing projects I’m working on.  Doing a little advocacy and fighting (as always) for justice and equality.  It’s nice just following my muse wherever she happens to lead me that day.

So really, I could go either way.  I love writing about Disney, but I love writing about my life and passions too.  And we are coming up on April again….  how would you feel about me doing the A to Z challenge for a second year?  I want to hear from you!  That’s one thing about the Disney posts, while they get y’all talking on FB, they sure don’t generate blog comments – and I’m missing the back and forth!  LOL

Home Sweet Home!

I tried to be a good blogger while in Disney World…  I honestly did.  But clearly I failed.  LOL  We were all so exhausted by the time we’d be back at the resort at the end of the day that we’d just crash.  And even today (we arrived home at about 9:30 last night) any time I sat down or reclined I’d start falling asleep.

Most people, when they hear the word “vacation”, think of a relaxing time away.  Lounging on a beach or by a pool, letting life float by, soaking it all in…  This was definitely not that kind of vacation.  This was a set the alarm for 6:00 so you can be at the park de jour for 8:00 or 9:00, go go go all day long, get back to the room between 10:00 and 12:00 at night, get ready for bed so you can go to sleep and do it again the next day kinda vacation.  And as sore and exhausted as we all are, it was SOOOO worth it!

I promise that over the next while I’ll make sure to share lots of details, as well as a few “love it” or “lump it” tips on attractions too.  And half way through we devised our own way of hitting the parks in a way that helped keep things easier, more organized, and thus easier on our bodies and brains.  I’ll share our system as well.  Now though?  Now I’m ready for bed!  I have a feeling we’re in for a week of early bedtimes around here as our bodies begin to recoup after our Disney holiday. 

Heels to Dawgs and back again…

Ready for a more-than-you-needed-to-know reveal?    If not, you may want to skip this next part because we’re gonna talk FEET.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with heels…  mostly because beautiful, sophisticated women wore heels.  So by the time I was twelve I was a perfectionist on the matter.  I, very honestly, spent HOURS walking empty hallways perfecting the click click click of the heels as they touched the hard surface.  Not too heavy, not too light, just the right rhythm.  Hours.  Upon.  Hours.  Every week.  Remember the word obsessed?  I wasn’t exaggerating.

Fast forward to my 29th year and pregnancy.  My feet didn’t just swell a little, they BALLOONED!  And by the time my thirtieth birthday hit I couldn’t even wear flip flops.  The only shoes my feet could fit into were dawgs – and we’re talking the old school original dawgs, the butt ugly ones.  And even those, by the end of the day would leave imprints on my feet.  It was ridiculous.

Before that, I had vowed never to wear anything so nasty on my feet…  but had little choice in the matter.  We’re not a barefoot society, and it was either dawgs or nothing.  So I sucked up what little pride I had left and got used to the idea.

I’ll admit it, I’ll never be without a pair of original dawgs again.  They may be ugly as sin, but jeeze.  There is no footwear out there that is more comfortable – and they are made right here in Saskatoon.  Thankfully, the company has expanded and is now producing a whole line up of much better looking shoes.  From sandals to boots to ballet flats to golf cleats and even reinforced work boots with firestone treads.  Yep.  We’ve become a dawgs family.  Even Damon owns two pairs.  Of course, the girl and I each own five or six different styles.  LMAO  But there is still nothing that can compare to a pretty pair of pumps.

I went years without owning a decent pair of fabulous heels.  My feet never did quite recover from pregnancy, and while I still wear a 5/6, I now need a 5/6 W (for wide).  It’s not too often you can find a pair of pumps that will fit my feet.  But last month?  I stumbled across the cutest pair while Mom, Jewles, Lily-Ann, and I were out thriftstore shopping.  I was shocked.  They are just sooo stinking cute.  And while my feet are sooo not accustomed to four inch heels, I couldn’t resist them.  Chances are they’ll only ever be worn outdoors once or twice a year…  but I’ll admit to having worn them around the house on a few occasions already.  They really do make me feel fabulous (even if they make me work in ways I’m not willing to admit to). 

So here they are, my very favourite pair of shoes:

my pretty, black frilly, peep toe, pumps

 

Now that was a fun challenge.  Who’d a’thunk “your shoes” would be such a gooder. 

Easy and Inexpensive Ornament for the Holidays

It’s been another long day.� So it’s been a long week.� I was sick.� Our old dood, Sweets (the Chihuahua) was sick.� Puppies spent the day at kindergarten.� More plumbing trouble.� Girl didn’t hardly sleep last night (so neither did Mommy).� So yeah.� I’m beat.� I’ve got nothing left in me to write a blog post.� So here’s something cute from another MomWriter friend of mine.� A super cheap and adorable little angel ornament you can make up for all your kids friends, teachers, and family members:

Easy and Inexpensive Ornament for the Holidays.

via Easy and Inexpensive Ornament for the Holidays.

Alive.

Quiet like the dawn crashing upon the rocky shore of darkness.

Full of noise, full of life.  A roar of silence.

Too loud to speak.

Self-aware.

In all things I am.

I exist.  Sentient.

Feeling, knowing, being.  Thunderous.  Mute.

Heaving towards stillness, the permanent precipice, the denouement.

Beauty in knowing acceptance.  Birthing terminus.

The rocky shore of darkness as the light creeps quietly away.

Waiting to be reborn.

—

Me, spewing my bad poetry on an unsuspecting readership.    It had to be done.  Sorry all.  Just one of those days/nights.

Sick Mommy.

Mommy is having a sick night.

I was fine all day, got a ton of running around done, and even got down to Passport Canada to file our applications (spent about an hour there and then had to go back after getting new photos of the kid when her original ones were rejected – the whites were blown).  But shortly after supper?  I landed in bed.  And since then it’s just been back and forth between the bedroom and the bathroom (for a hot bath and visits with Uncle John).

Now?  I’m going to bed, and letting the Daddy put the girl to sleep.

Night all!

More plumbing trouble.

Don’t even get me started…  another LONG day dealing with plumbing issues.  Seriously, not a happy camper.  And while last time it was tree roots on city property, this time it’s apparently an internal problem.  How many plumbing problems can one house have?!?!?  Good grief.  Seriously, we only moved in a couple weeks ago.  GAH!

I love my house, I love my house, I love my house…  I have to keep saying it to remind myself.  Jeepers.  I really do love my house, but how many things can one family be expected to deal with so soon after taking possession before they snap?  Ugh.

I must sleep!

I find I’m more exhausted at nine here at the new house than I used to be at eleven at the old place.  Guess that comes from waking up a couple hours earlier based on when the light hits.  I preferred my old time table… but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt us all to run a little more “regular”.

We’ve always been a late to bed, late to rise kinda family.  I like my late nights, I always have.  And I do hope that once things settle down and we actually manage to get through some of the unpacking (seriously, we have a stupid amount of boxes everywhere still) then some of our old routine may return.  For now though, I find I’m up earlier than everyone else… still tired, but up.  And so I just lay in bed, not wanting to wake anyone else.

Right now though?  When I’d normally be in tip top shape?  I’m exhausted, brain tired, having trouble stringing sentences together.  I’ve been up too much the last couple nights, not sleeping as deeply or well as I should… so I’m beat and needing rest….  and that, is where I’m leaving this blog post.  Because when I get to this point, where I’m all rambly and not making any real progress?  Well, clearly it’s time to shut it down before y’all start losing brain cells just from reading what I’ve scrawled.    NIGHT!

An unexpected bonus…

I have to admit, I was concerned going from having a basement bedroom, where we could block out almost all daylight, to living almost entirely on the main floor of a house.  I have always had a very difficult time sleeping.  Even as a kid – when I’d count that I was getting eight or nine hours of sleep I was counting the time I spent resting, just lying still in bed.  I thought that time counted, I thought everyone “slept” like I did.  Truly only sleeping for a couple hours, and the rest of the time just lying quietly as the mind raced through scenario after scenario, scene after scene, idea after idea, thought after thought…  These days I take a butt load of melatonin to get to sleep, between 10 and 20 mgs most nights.  It’s a large dose, but it’s the only way I’d fall asleep.  Kid kid has a mind like mine, it just doesn’t stop, and if your brain doesn’t slow down you can’t get to sleep, so she takes a 3 mg dose before bed too.

Having all the extra light around us, all the time, I was concerned the effect it might have on my already erratic sleeping patterns.  And there’s the rub…  instead of making things worse?  It’s kinda like someone hit a reset button in my brain.  For the first time in years I’m falling asleep without the melatonin.  I still have to listen to a movie or tv show to quiet my brain down (focusing on one thing stops all the “noise” and lets me drift off), but I did that before in addition to the melatonin.  It’s an odd thing for me not to need assistance to drift off to sleep, but it’s a good thing.  It’s something I’m really liking, and it’s something I never expected. 

Hot Water Heater Blues

We took possession of our new place on November 10th.  November 15th we handed over the keys to our old place.  November 21st our hot water heater spews water on the floor.  Yep.

So, we kinda figured, after trying our first bath here, that we’d need to be looking at replacing the hot water system here.  If your heater can’t produce enough hot water to get the tub to your five year old’s belly button?  It’s a good sign it’s not working well.  But yeah…  todays epic adventure (complete with cat stranded on top of the washing machine terrified and mewing loud enough for the whole neighbourhood to hear as the water crept closer, and in the end trapping her in the laundry room) kinda synched things.

This is not fun.  We need to find an eco-friendly professional who understands the need to balance a desire to be as green as possible with a practical need to stick to a budget.  Someone who can help us figure out the best system for our family, which may well include multiple options working together to create a system friendly to both our Earth and our pocketbook.  I’m not looking forward to having to find said professional in a hurry.  This is definitely the kind of search I’d like to take my time with…  but I suppose that’s the way it goes.

Here, something fun.  Go make food in jars:  http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/07/50-different-foods-you-can-put-in-jar.html  ‘Cause mason jars make everything look cuter and taste better.