2 more sleeps

Well it is only 2 MORE SLEEPS UNTIL NANO!!!!!

I suppose that maybe I should give you guys a short synopsis about my book that I fully intend to write.

Here we go:

The Adventures of James Potter Jr.

"James Potter is no ordinary boy, from no ordinary family.  James is a boy from a family of Wizards and it is his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  This year James, along with his little brother, Al, cousin Rose and his two best friends are going to Hogwarts together and are in for the adventure of their lifetime.  Join James and his friends as they discover what it is really like to know the great Harry Potter."

I tried to get permission from J.K. Rowling but I couldn't find any way to contact her or her publishers so I guess I will not be able to get my book published or anything, but whatever.  That is not my goal.  My goal is to have fun writing in NANO!!!!  If you are interested, it is not too late to join.  Just go to nanowrimo.org and sign up!  It is going to be a fun time!

Good news, sad news!

So, today is yet another work day.  I have worked the last 4 Saturdays in a row, and I have 2 more scheduled.  It is ok though, because the pay check is lovin the extra hours.

As for the sad news...the pictures that Janine took for us are awesome, but they are so big that my blog won't let me put them up on display unless they are in a post, so here are some teasers, and maybe as I am writing my novel for Nano I will randomly post a few more pics of our little family!

Our First Time

Sean and I both woke up at the same time to our little girl screaming.  What is the problem??
Just as we got to Jenni's door there came this horrid wreching sound.  Jenni had made herself sick because she was crying so hard...or at least that is what we thought.
As we came into her room we were hit in the face by the most disgusting smell.  We had forgotten that the power was out, and it was pitch dark in Jenni's room.  I went to get our big Mag-lite Flashlight, and there Jenni was, sitting with white, chunky grossness pouring down her front.  She had puked.
We checked to see if there was hot water so she could have a bath.  Sean worked on getting the yuck cleaned up in her room and I worked on getting the yuck cleaned off of her.
She seemed fine once she was cleaned up, so we let her play a little bit, and then we decided it was time for her to go back to bed.
We put her in her bed, and were tucking her in, when all of a sudden she started to wretch again.  Oh no.  I sat her up and caught most of it in my hand.  I had taken her into the bathroom and got her to throw up into the bathtub.
We finally got her cleaned up (again) and we got her back into bed.  She did get back to sleep, and it was glorious.  Sean made a little bed right by Jenni's door so that he could get her right away if she started to cry and therefore puke again.
Once, he got up and wasn't quite quick enough, and she got puke all over everywhere...so we cleaned up...again...and she was so tuckered we got her to sleep almost right away.
About an hour later she woke up again, and Sean was quick enough that time.  He got her to be sick in the tub, and so we had finally figured out a rhythm.  By this time it was after 3 and the power had just come back on.  We managed to get a bit more sleep (in our own bed) before the whole thing started all over again.
So, that was our first experience with our baby having the stomach flu.
As I was writing this Jenni filled her diaper with straight up liquid.  Here's to the BRAT diet!  (Bananas, Rice, Apple Juice and Toast).  Hope that she eats something later today.

New Blog

Hey everyone.  I am going to be trying to write for NANOWRIMO this year!  (National Novel Writing Month)  Basically you have to write 50000 words unedited in the month of November and I am going to try it out.  I will be posting my story on my blog every now and again, so the entries will be quite lengthy.  And the pictures from our new photo shoot are here!!!  Yay!!!!  So, with that, there are going to be some new pictures on my blog, and I hope that you enjoy seeing them.  You can also see them on my facebook page. So, this next month is going to be busy, but pray that I will accomplish my goal!!!!

Love and Anger...and a few more memories

Ok, so we are going to start by talking about MAPS this morning and the chapter of the book that we discussed...called...Love and Anger.  As most people know, Love and Anger are two emotions that usually go hand in hand.  You get the most angry at the people that you love the most.  That is just how it goes...and most people need to learn how to deal with their anger in a proactive, and constructive way. BUT...when you are already grumpy and your kid does something that really makes you angry, you act out in anger.  It is hard to act out in love when something is already making you see things a little darker.  Instead of seeing your child as just a child, and they didn't do what they did intentionally to bother you, but just because they are a kid...but NOOOO...you can't see it that way...You see that your child did that act just to bother you because you have told them over and over and over again that you don't like it when (or want them to) do that!  Anger makes your brain see things differently, and usually all distorted in a way that makes you think that everyone is out just to piss you off.  So, next time I am angry, I am just going to have to take a deep breath, tell whoever it is that is bugging me to leave me alone for a bit, and then we'll get to the bottom of the issue...right??  Sure....in an ideal world where it is summer all the time and weeds never grow in my garden.

On a different note I am going to write about my last Saturday in Nova Scotia.  I am all done wanting to hold on to those memories...mostly because if I don't get them out now I am never going to remember what happened.  Also, Nova Scotia is a great place to visit, and we will go back there many times in the future, but I need to get on with my life in Alberta...so on to my vacation!!!

Day 11- 

This day apparently started in a way that was very similar to many days while we were there.  Alice was sleeping and the perfect way to get her up was to bring a baby to wake her up.  She tended to wake up a lot better when she was scared of knocking the baby off her bed.  LOL!!!!

This was my last Saturday in NS and I was very excited about what was going to happen on this morning.  But first we were going to another Saturday morning $5.00 breakfast fundraiser.  We originally went to Centerville, but there was about a 1/2 hour wait just to be seated, and the waiting room was PACKED!!!  Alice is not fond of big groups of people so we went to the other $5.00 breakfast at the church just down the hill from Aunty Brenda and Uncle Al's.  Definitely not as good as the Legion one from the week before and apparently not as good as Centerville...but either way, it was a $5.00 breakfast.  Good enough for me!

This was the day I was very excited about because...

we were going....

HORSEBACK RIDING!!!  W00t!  

Alice and I went out to the farm, were 20 mins early, realized that we forgot somethings (boots and a camera) hurried back to the house, got what we needed and then got back to the farm just in time!  :o)  Yay!  After we signed some release forms Alice picked out a helmet and we got on our horses.  We then set out on our Adventure.  My hips spread WAY more than I thought they had in my pregnancy because I even sat differently on the saddle.  Oh, my rear was getting sore within 10 mins...and we were going to be out for at least an hour.

About 1/2 an hour into our ride I asked if we could trot.  Alice said she was fine with it, so we stared to go faster.  Alice's legs are really short and so her knees were at a funny angle.  That angle made it very hard for her to brace herself when we were trotting...(that and lack of knowhow).  Anyhoo...it was the most HI-FREAKING-LARIOUS thing I had ever seen.  Alice's head was bobbing up and down as she was violently bouncing up and down with the trot.  I was laughing so hard I had to lean over the saddle just to keep myself from falling off the horse!  Even her bum* was visibly leaving her saddle.  LOL!!!  It was awesome!!!

Eventually, after a whole lot of different scenery, we started making our way back.  We stopped and saw more horses, and a cow that apparently thought it was a horse.  By the time we got back to the stables we had been gone for about 90 mins.  My poor bottom was so sore, and I even had bruises and the beginnings of saddle sores.  It had been TOO long since I had been on a horse!

We thanked them and gave them a tip and headed home.  (I am purposely leaving out the part about them only accepting cash and us needing to find a bank)  It was another big family party tonight, but this time it was at Aunty Brenda and Uncle Al's.  So, when we got back home it was time for helping getting the house ready!

I helped vacuum the main area and then my cousin Travis and his girlfriend, Tammy, showed up.  I had never met him before, and because of crazy, insane-o family dynamics he is one of 2 biological first cousins on that side.  When we first met our conversation went something like this:

"Hi"

"Hey"

"So, I guess we're cousins"

"Yup"

It was really awkward.  We had never met, and I don't really look anything like him, so it was just really weird.  Shortly after we had a really strange conversation, I went to get Jenni up from her nap.  Travis met Jenni and it was an instant connection...or at least seemed that way!  He just said, "Look at that red hair" and then they were connected on a deeper level.  It was almost as if the red hair really made him believe that we were related.  It was just amusing to me.  

Dinner was delicious, and there were so many people there (Including Uncle Paul, Grammy's youngest brother who is in his late 50's.  He is 19 years younger than Grammy.) that we had to have a "kids" table and a "grown-up" table.  I don't know if the kids table can really constitute as a kids table because Grammy and Karen sat there with us, but it was still the most fun table.  It was a blast.  Definitely the most fun kids table I had ever been seated at.  I know for me, growing up, I always wanted to sit at the grown-up table because I wanted to be a grown-up...but this time I was more than content to be at the kids table.

After dinner, we did the compulsory family photo's.  Most of the pictures are the classic everyone looking at Jenni - at least G&G are looking at Jenni - instead of the camera.  That seemed to be the typical theme of the whole vacation.  To get a photo where everyone was looking at the camera was somewhat of a miracle. 

And also, there was the compulsory act of me playing some kind of musical instrument and singing.  For some reason most of my family really enjoys when I do that.  (Apparently Alice has a few tracks of me singing from Open Mike night on her MP3 player.)  But, now it seems that I can't play any kind of piano instrument without Jenni "helping" me.  She loves playing the piano.  Jenni loves making music!  It is good to see her enjoy something that is so important to me.

Aunty Brenda's mom and dad (Grandmum and Granddad) were also at the big family bash, because they are awesome, and they were very happy to have met Jenni and I.  They are wonderful people, and are also very much missed!

So, unfortunately, I don't actually remember what happened after dinner.  I think Alice and I may have stayed up to watch some "Top Gear" or maybe even played "The Buffy Game", but I am a little foggy on what actually happened.  All I know is that the next morning was going to be a busy one, so I am hoping that I made a good decision and didn't stay up really late.

*I am sorry to have mentioned your bum Alice, but that was all part of the hilarity!

Rough Day

Today was a rough day for me.  I don't really know why.  I had a decent morning, was in children's church with a bunch of great kids and helpers, walked to and from church, had a great afternoon with my mother-in-law, and now I have some time to myself...and Jenni was really good today, even though she had a full out face plant with bloody nose and everything.

It sounds like a fine day, but for some reason my attitude was just not there.  As Sean would lovingly say, "your feelers are out really far today."  Basically meaning...I am super over sensitive, and I am reading into everything he says with a negative connotation.  Or, I'm being a bitch.  Either way, it was really a weird day.  I was pissy at everything.  However, the first thing I did after Sean left, to watch the Canada-New Zealand World Cup Rugby game, was did my homework for my bible study.  I learned something that I really always knew, but it was reinforced in my brain.

GOD IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING!!!  

It sounds simple, and to some it sounds horrible, because if God was in control of everything, then why is there world hunger, and why do bad things happen.  Well, those things exist because of sin.  Those things exist because of bad choices, and those things exist because God let's them happen to glorify His greater purpose.  Sometimes bad things happen because it is God's way of bringing you closer to Him.  It is like tough love for a parent.  Some times you need to let your kid hit rock bottom, fall on their ass, and realize that they don't have everything figured out before they'll learn.  We are all like that.  We are all the kind of people who will think, "I'm the exception...that'll never happen to me."  God says, "Oh yeah!  You think you are better than me?  You think you are in control...well, watch this!"  Not that God is that vindictive...but you get the gist.  God let's us go through Hell on earth so that we learn that we need Him to get through life.  That is just how it works.  Everything is for the greater good.  Not like Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald and their feelings for muggles...that is something completely different. (that is for all you HP fanatics out there.)  Just check out Romans 8:28.  The Bible is completely true, and it says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose!"  We have all been called according to His Purpose (in my belief anyway) and so we know that God works for the good of everyone.  The END!!!

So, after my homework and some mindless facebooking I am feeling a lot better.  My heart was just not in a good place, and I had to focus it on God and His purpose.  (Although that is sometimes easier said than done!)

On a completely different note, last night we had friends over.  It was great.  And I was all "Suzy Homemaker".  I made a Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic, White Wine Sauce for my pasta, and added some chicken, and for dessert we had homemade ice cream (with the cooked base and everything) and scratch cinnamon buns (but I forgot to put out the buns, so we didn't really have them, but that was their original purpose).  I felt really good about the dinner and we even had adult conversation and wine and all that jazz.  It was definitely a good night with friends.

One final thought...has anyone noticed that it went from Summer to Fall over night.  It was chilly this morning, and warm(ish) this afternoon, but right now I am FREEZING!!!!  What's with that?  At least there isn't any snow on the ground...(yet!)