Three words...

I...... LOVE..... CALIFORNIA!!!!!

If only it was so much closer to home, I would be here all the time. It is everything I ever thought it would be and more. For only being here for four whole day, I think we have seen almost everything here in San Diego, even if only for a glimpse. Hubby has been at the conference which has been too bad for him, but J and I have had lots of fun. Will update on our return. We travel back tomorrow, will be back online on Friday.

Photos of our Adventures

The cutest hockey fan I saw all day. (In my opinion) J loves to get his face painted and had his Senators Hockey stick with him and everything. Bad Mommy that I am, I forgot his jersey. He loved the game and asked when we could go again.
Me and the boys. J was yelling "Go Sens Go", his Grandpa would have been proud. A was rather embarassed by his brother, but watched the goalies intently. J was rather laid back at his first Dental appointment. I would have taken more photos, but the hygenist thought it was weird that I wanted to take one.

So Busy These Days

I feel I need to write a catch up post!

Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning my house and preparing for my little Sister's birthday dinner on Friday. I was trying to plan a semi-elegant dinner with the hopes that the kids would behave.

I decided to serve a Crown Roast with Wild Rice Almondine and Green Beens. We started with Wine and a cheese Platter. All was going well on the dinner front, but I decided to make a Devil's Food Cake with Mint Chocolate Ganache Icing. I have made this before, but the icing didn't work out quite right. I thought this was due to me not using whipping cream so this time I did. BIG MISTAKE! HUGE! The Ganache did not set properly, so when I was whipping it it started to separate. I figured it would still hold on the cake. Why I thought this I am not sure. So I spread it on and it held. Until I poured the rest of the Ganache on. This is when I figured out that it did not set properly, it was all over my Island. It basically poured right off the cake. This is at 4pm and guests are scheduled to arrive at 6pm. I try to think of what to do. Instead of running back to Farm Boy, I decide to scrape off the Ganache and whip up some good old fashion icing, they way Grandma used to. It worked, but there was so much icing holding the cake together that it was hard to tell if there really was any cake underneath it all.

The rest of the dinner was a success, but my idea of a quiet family dinner was anything but. Not only were the young kids wired, but so were the older ones. My Dad had been working so hard that whole week that he let loose and was laughing up a storm, talking in his very loud voice and mimicking J & J2 in all that they did. Add to the mix Hubby, who is now trying to outyell my Dad (NOT POSSIBLE) made me feel like I should have ordered in. My Sister loved it, as did my Mom who it was really meant for anyway. My Mom has just had her 60th birthday and 40th wedding anniversary, then my Sister's 29th... yes only 29!!! So in reality it was for them. The boys raved about it the next day so I know it all went well.

Saturday was spent recovering from Friday and putting the pool away. Another summer gone and swimming is done for the season. J was loving it so much that he wanted to go swimming even when we were all in our fleece pullovers. Now how to keep him loving it all winter long.

Sunday we went to the Ottawa Senators Family Fun Day. It was great, the kids loved it. J got his face painted and chased after Sparty, until of course Sparty came to talk to him in our seats, then he started to cry. A had a blast getting to watch the new goalies and pick up a few tips.

Sunday afternoon we all crashed in a state of exhaustion. After our naps we let A mow the grass while Hubby, J and I cleaned the garage. Phew.

Monday was a promised trip to the Children's Museum with J2. The boys loved it so much they did not want to leave. I actually bought a membership (or should I say J bought a membership with his Universal Child Care money) , the one that I can bring a guest so that we will have to go again four more times throughout the winter and upcoming year. The museum is set up with stations from around the world. Each station is a building or a boat or a pyramid and there are costumes to try on while they play and learn about each place. There is a café where they can pretend to work in a café, there is a grocery store, and a bank (where J & J2 pretended to be ordering a Moca Frappacino and a chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks). It was great. My Sister and I asked around and found out that they have a lunch room where you can bring your own lunch, we will be doing that for sure.

Which brings us to today, where J had his first visit with the Dentist. It went great, there were no tears, no confusion, just did everything the Dentist told him and was so happy to get his new tooth brush. J has two damaged teeth that grew in that way, so I was concerned, but hopefully all will be well underneath as they have not changed at all and we brush them very well. The Dentist figured the harm that we would do by making him get fillings would be worse than just leaving them be. If anything changes we will get them filled though.

So there have been my last five days. I have kept up with my excercises so I am quite proud of myself. I have been doing 30 minutes of cardio either outside or on the treadmill and I have been alternating core and strength. I don't feel quite as I good as I did in July but, maybe with another week or two under my belt I will.

We are also getting ready here for our special trip. I don't think I have mention this but... we are going to CALIFORNIA!!!! I have never been and have dreamed of it since I was 15. When Hubby told me he had a conference, I knew I had to find a way to go. J and I will be flying out with Hubby on Saturday and arriving home on Thursday. It will be short and sweet and my only regret is that we will not be close enough to Secret Agent Josephine and Whoorl to drop by for a visit. But, I will be thinking of them and wishing I lived in California too. Actually for four days I am going to preten I live in California, I just hope I don't stick out too much like a tourist.

**I tried to post some photos, but again Blogger is down.

Is there such a thing

As too much excercise? Can you love your treadmill so much that you don't even do your housework? That is me right now. Hopefully it will last and I will love to use it twice a day forever.

In the meantime, I have got to clean this house. It is an absolute mess.

And Robin, YAY, I am so excited to be there to cheer you on for the half marathon. And maybe J will have someone to play with on the sidelines (other than me).

I have absolutely no excuses left.

To not stay in shape or get out for a walk. Finally, after much search and debate we went with

a Vision Fitness Treadmill. We had another in mind, one that Beck had asked about. But, we happened to stop at one last store on Saturday. The sales guy was good, very good, we told him we had one in mind that was a bit cheaper. He suggested we stop by the next weekend as they are going to be having a big blowout sale. I suggested that he let us know the sale price, because we were heading over to pick up the other one. He gave us the price. We are soooooo happy.

Hubby is still in training for his marathon. He will be running the half-marathon in Ottawa on Thanksgiving Monday. I am, well, just in training. It will take some getting used to walking fast inside, but so far it has been fun too. And when you get off you still feel like you are moving for a few minutes so it is kinda freaky. I have to alternate between outside walk and inside walk. I love walking outside seeing the sights and taking the dogs for a stroll. But, J is getting a bit weary of going in the stroller, so it is harder to go for such a long walk these days. And of course, the treadmill just makes going in the basement lots of fun for J. He runs around while we are on it and yells, "faster, faster", yeah right ;). I did push myself so hard last night that I brought back an old running injury that I haven't felt since I was running and that was years ago.

All in all, we are very pleased and are considering family memberships ;)

Remembering 9/11

This morning, I take the time to remember 9/11. To remember what I was doing and how, by fate, some people happened to live and others did not.

I was at work in a meeting room, cut off from the rest of the floors chatters. My coworker and I exited the room and instantly we were met by comments of "a plane hit the building" and "building on fire". Instantly we thought it was our building, but realized that everyone was staying put so it must be another building. Getting back to my desk other employees who sat near me were heading down to our cafeteria to catch the news. It wasn't until I got to the cafeteria that I realized what was going on and the magnitude of it.

I arrived just as the second plane was hitting the towers and sat there watching, wondering what was going on. Our team decided to regroup upstairs for a bit, but with the internet going crazy and everyone chatting, not much was getting done. I headed back down to watch some more news. This time, I was there for the towers falling. I will never forget one of my less than favorable coworkers looking at me and asking if I was alright. Thankfully, I got the right words out, "No, I am not alright, there are thousands of people in that building". He just looked at me blankly, then said, " I am sure they all got out." I just couldn't believe my ears. That was one of the last things I said to that man.

My Boss, the good hearted man that he is (was, as he is not my boss, but still a friend) was feeling about the same as I was. Not wanting to be at work, worrying about our families. Thankfully, he decided that anyone wanting to go home could do just that.

I arrived home to quiet, silence. It was very strange. Why you ask? Because I live in the flight path of our airport and all day and most of the night we can hear the planes taking off and landing. We are close to the airport so they are quite loud. All afternoon, evening and the next day it was eerily silent.

I called my friends in NY and my relatives in Delaware. My cousin-in-laws parents had been at the Pentagon just the day before and live not far from it. It all makes you stop and think really.

Thankfully, nobody I knew personally was lost that day. But, truthfully, a little piece of all of us was lost. Hubby and I were flying to Vancouver on the 13th for his Sister's wedding. It was the scariest time. The flights had only started going again and there were so many people just wanting to go home. And here we were going to a wedding, we felt terrible taking a seat, but if we bumped ourselves there was no telling if we would have made it for the wedding at all and we would have forfeited our tickets. Selfishly we boarded our plane. There was little chatter on the plane and the flight went well. Actually, the pilot informed us that it was probably the safest time to fly as everyone was on alert.

Hubby and I have not made it to New York to see Ground Zero we have meant to go, but just haven't gone. Apparently it is very moving and remarkable to see. Now that they have permission to rebuild, Hubby would like to go even more before they start.


Instead of posting a photo that someone else has taken of 9/11, I thought I would post my own photo of our Parliament buildings, with our flag flying tall and proud. I am very patriotic and I truly appreciate that I can walk up to the front doors of the Parliament and take a picture. I appreciate that my Sister had her wedding in the Grand Hall (which they no longer do since 9/11). I appreciate that we live in a Great Country and that we have many opportunities that so many other people don't have. And I remember so much about that horrible day five years ago. Most of all, I choose to remember, so that none of the people that died, died in vain.

Thanks for Coming

To my pity party :)

All in all yesterday was much better. Thank you all for stopping by to offer some cheering up. I truly think I stay positive for so long and then just when I think nothing else can go wrong something does, so I get hit like a ton of bricks.

The 10lbs extra weight is really what threw me on Wednesday. Since I had been working out so hard and had dropped not weight, but a dress size, I was thrilled. Then, this surgery comes along and blows me up like a baloon and does not want to heal. I couldn't walk for three weeks, then I could for a week. Then, for another week I hobbled. Ack. It was enough to make a girl cry. So, I did. Oh, yes and of course my weight has been an issue for most of my life so when I think I look like crap, it really sucks to have someone point it out for you. For no other reason but to say it.

Yesterday, I had a lunch for my house sitter and my Sister and our Mom. Poor girls had a choice of salad or salad. And for dessert, some fruit or some fruit. Actually they all loved it. I pulled out all the veggies I could muster and even walked the short walk to Farm Boy for a few extras. Then set up a buffet of salad stuff, with cheese and chicken to add if you like, and some veggies and dip. Then, for those so inclined there was platter of melon, canteloupe, pineapple, watermelon and grapes. So that was my pity party. We had a great time. The boys played hard, fought a bit, so they are out of vacation mode. And us girls chatted up a storm and kept kicking the dogs out of the kitchen.

The sun was also shining so the afternoon was spent with it pouring through the windows and warming up my face. J and I played out back for a while and of course he wanted to swim. To which I had to say no, due to the frigid temperature of the pool. Hopefully we will get some more of the sunshine today as the cloud cover this morning kinda bummed me out a little.

On a good note we have picked a treadmill that we are going to buy. I am so excited. I have wanted one for years so that I can keep walking in the bad weather and the winter. Now that Hubby is running , I had a good double excuse for us getting one. Our gym is almost complete, all we will have to do is finish the walls around it. Now, lets hope they don't sell the last few before we go and pick it up or end the sale ;)

My Very Own Pity Party

Years ago, my Sister's used to hold what they called "pity parties". Basically, they felt sorry for themselves because they did not have boyfriends. So, instead of dressing up and going out in public to perhaps be seen by real boys/men. They would pull on their sweats, make popcorn and sundaes and watch chick flicks until they were crying, tired and the next day no man would talk to them if they even tried.

Yesterday and perhaps this morning just for fun. I decided to allow myself my very own pity party. No, no, no, not because I don't have a man, I have one of those. But, because I feel gyped. And here is why.

1. I lost half my summer to my ectopic and surgery. I keep having relapses of pain that sends me almost to the hospital (but apparently is just my bowel pulling scar tissue, no need for surgery yet).

2. My doctor told me yesterday (my fertility doctor) that I am "only" ten pounds heavier than my ideal weight. "Do I need to lose weight?" I ask. "Are you saying I am overweight?", "Why did you say that at all?". He did not respond to any of my questions. Only made the comment that I am ten pounds heavier than I should ideally be. THANK YOU SO MUCH. LIKE I DIDN'T FREAKIN' KNOW THAT ALREADY!!!!!!!

3. When OHIP covers your IVF, they don't actually cover everything. So instead of $10,000, like we paid for J, we will still have to fork out $3,000. Not bad, I thought. Hubby was appalled! He kept saying "What happened to coverage, why should we pay anything?". All the while I am thinking, I did not cry once when I lost my ectopic, I did not bawl my eyes out when I almost died, I haven't sulked about the fact that I lost my fallopian tubes, nor have I complained that I can't walk, work out or anything. I just feel like a slug!

4. When your Doctor offers you a trial treatment, that covers all costs, he should really look into your reactions to drugs before saying anything. As I was getting all excited to try out a new drug and way of taking them, I realized with my awesome stimulation of my follicles that this would not be a possibiltiy. I would most likely hyper-stim and have to cancel. And if I am taking drugs, I won't be doing it with a more than 50% chance of cancellation.

So folks, join with me will you, in my own little pity party. Shed a tear, throw out your carbs and all the candy you brought back from vacation. Scrimp and save so you hubby realizes that IVF is way more important than a round of golf. Go lift some weights, no matter how bad it hurts, take a walk and perhaps run a bit, why not? Throw all caution to the wind, because it really doesn't get much worse than this. And remember. It is September, not November and the cloudy rainy month is still to come. For now, just pray that the sun will shine this afternoon and you will get some of your much needed sunshine full of vitamins and goodness. Cause nothing restores the body better than some sun shining on your face.

Funland

This year J got to experience Funland. The last two summers he would cry if we even got close to it on the boardwalk. Funland is a mini amusement park, full of kiddie rides, adult rides and games. Growing up me and my Sisters, along with a handful of cousins, would burn through our allowance at Funland.

There are stories of my younger Sister p--ing on her cousin on the tilt-a-whirl (which has been replaces with another ride). I have gone on the flying dragon just to impress my husband. Now that A finally was ready to go on the big rides again and J was on the little ones, I no longer have to subjet myself to the rides. I get motion sickness, but if I go at just the right time, I am ok.

J and J2 loved the rides and it was so great watching them go. My Sister and I had tears watching our kids ringing the bells on the fire engines, shooting each other on the fighter planes and watching J ride his first motorcycle. There were boats, a jeep train, flying swings, tea cups and a merry go round. We saved a few for next year, just for fun.

Hubby won both J and J2 a puppy at the "Wack-a-Mole" that became quite a challenge and at one point five of my family members where up there whacking moles. Hubby came through on both accounts.

Although I miss the sand and the surf all year long, I also miss the boardwalk. A mile each way, we walk it two or three times a day. This year Hubby only did it once, but I made sure I got my walk in each morning and afternoon and the night was a scattered walk. Stopping for fudge, lemon ice or coffee and finally Funland. Every now and then I wonder if we should go to another beach for a change, then I get to my beach and feel like I am home. Every year a few things change, this year my coffee shop ("Java Beach") was gone and is now a crab shack. But, all in all things pretty much stay the same. Hubby had his "Grottos" every day... yes, pizza, every day! And I had my ocean. I am good for another year, but next year we will be going a bit earlier in the summer.

Calm before the storm

This shot was taken on Sunday of last week (August 27th). It was a beautiful, partly sunny day. The dolphins were swimming, the kids were playing in the sand and I was trying out my new camera at the beach. I could probobly bombard you with a photo a day of the ocean, sand or seashell for the next three months, but I will save you from that. I just thought I should post a happy before the Tropical storm hit photo.

That wave crashing is on my favorite beach, storm or no storm, it is still my favorite. No surfin' this year, my stitch still hasn't healed and sadly I fear I will be returning for more surgery. Should know more later this week, but I this way I will be in better shape for me next surfin' lesson.

One more name

we won't be naming our future children...


ERNESTO.

First it was Bonnie, then Dennis. Now Ernesto has topped the list of names not to name your children.

The beach was fun, until Ernesto paid a visit. The calm before the storm lasted until Tuesday, the beach was closed for swimming Wednesday and Thursday due to the rip currents. And Friday there was no walking on the boardwalk the wind was so powerful. We did make a trip right when the full force of Ernesto could be felt an it was wicked to be thrown around in the wind and to see the waves so high, but it was also a bit creepy to think that we were riding this thing out less than a block from the beach.

All in all it was a great vacation and I will add some more tidbits later.