4 Things Meme

4 things meme....Tagged by Northern Mom:

Four places I have worked:
1. Nortel (they still ask when I am coming back)
2. Angelo's Pizza (I had a dream two nights ago that I went back to work there and I remembered everything on the menu)
3. Cineplex Odeon (Do not miss this one bit, ok maybe the free movies)
4. Pinkerton's Security (Miss the free concerts)

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Bridget Jones
2. Failure to Launch
3. Just Like Heaven
4. Pride and Predjudice (BBC version, yes it is five hours long)

Four of my favorite TV shows:
1. Friends
2. The Amazing Race
3. Survivor
4. Men in Trees/Brothers and Sisters (two new ones that tie right now, like them both)

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. San Diego
2. Mexico
3. Thunder Bay
4. I should say Delaware, but it is so much like home it isn't really a vacation.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Right now, almost everything
2. Grotto's Pizza
3. Nicola's Nic-a-Boli
4. Mom's Chicken Wellington (to die for)

Four things I like to do in my spare time:
1. Take photos
2. Snuggle with J
3. Surf the net
4. Write

Play along if you like!!

Ahhh... massage...

After a weekend of rest, I was feeling pretty confident that my back was pretty much better. I had big plans for yesterday. Then. I sneezed. Yes, my friends, I sneezed. That was it. I was back to barely walking.

I did what I had to do. I called my midwives, made sure it would be ok to get a massage and then booked an appointment. I had to wait until 3:15pm, but it was so worth it.

My wonderful massage therapist was too pregnant, so I felt pretty confident. Although her five month along belly looked alarmingly small compared to my 10 week belly. It too is her second, and she did admit to being worried, but apparently the baby is measuring on track. She is a rather petite woman so I gave her a bit of grace considering I am far from petite.

We got started and right away she could feel that I had a lot of scar tissue from previous back injuries. I was pretty surprised because this is not my first massage for my back and nobody else has ever said a word about it. She could feel the inflamation and heat from my back and started work ing on it. I thought it was sciatica, but thankfully it was not. It was my hip rotators. Which can mimic the sciatica, but will heal faster. She worked away for 45 minutes and when I left I was much more upright than when I got there.

I asked her if it was ok to start walking slowly and stuff as I have been couch bound for way too long. We had a good laugh when she said I should get up off my couch. She admits that it will hurt at first, but the more I can get everything moving the better it will be (as I sit here on my couch typing). And if I don't get moving soon, this pain will be bound to stay around until August or September and just get worse and worse. We don't want that happening, so I have already been for two short walks (taking J to Duffer Doo, and returning with his shoes) and a third in another hour or so. This is a good start. Hopefully I will get in a round of yoga this afternoon to start to stretch things out. Then more walking tomorrow. The pain is much better today and hopefully I won't need to sneeze for a few days and let my back catch up.

Appologies out there

I feel I must appologize for my lack of posting and keeping up to date. It is just going on the computer, although I miss it terribly, sometimes makes the nausea kick in. That and the fact that I wasn't doing much all that exciting for a while was making the postings kind of lame.

I am feeling better. My back is not quite right yet, but certainly getting there. Last week continued like Wednesday. Thursday I met a dear friend for coffee and lunch, we had great chats, J was well behaved, and we must not let as much time pass between meeting up.

Friday, I had unexpected lunch plans with a girlfriend. Apparently when I mentioned I might stop by sometime last week, she took it as I was coming for lunch on Friday. Although I was pretty beat from the previous days, I sucked it up, bundled us into the car and headed to her place. We had a good time, good food and I was home in time for J2 &A2 to come play with J for a couple of hours.

I was really hoping we could head to the canal for a skate yesterday, but with my back and the really cold temperatures, it was not to be. If it had been warmer Hubby might have caved, but not with it so cold. That being said he is off running a half marathon right now, funny eh? Too cold to skate on the world's longest skating rink, but not too cold to run 24km! Ah well, I guess he figured one day in the cold was enough for him. Hopefully next weekend, we must get out and enjoy the ice considering they thought it wouldn't freeze this year.

Hopefully, I will have some fun stuff to report next week!

Out and About

I did it! I got out of my house today for the whole entire day. With the nausea on track and the back getting better, I dropped J at my Mom's and ran a bunch of errands. The ones where they are two minute stops so it is easier without a toddler in tow. Then I picked him up and headed to the Children's museum with a girlfriend and her daughter (and baby son too). We spent the entire afternoon there. Three hours, definately the longest J has spent at a museum other than when he was a baby. It was great to get out, plan to do it again tomorrow. Hopefully the back will get better faster with a bit of use.

How do we keep busy when I am chained to the couch?

Lego, that's how... We aren't talking the big sets and buildings here, just the guys. J pulls out his little box of 'guys' and we pretend that some are good guys and some are bad guys. Sometimes they are looking for treasure, other times they are shooting each other (thank you Lego for making every guy come with a gun of some sort). At least it keeps us occupied and I can participate with very little movement. When I do get off this couch I will be heading out for some new guys to add to our collection.

Let's hope...

...for the sake of OUR wonderful Country that this woman does not become President.

We don't need anybody else adding fuel to the 40+ year old fire that just won't die.

My Canada includes Québec.


**Not trying to be overly political here, I just love our Country the way it is and would rather others kept their noses out of it.

One

Friday I had my first ultrasound. And I am pleased to announce that we have one beautiful bean growing away. I made the tech look extra hard to be sure there wasn't another lurking behind in the shadows and she assured me there was only one. My Doctor did say not to be surprised if another one showed up later on.

So, how do I feel about one. Good. Although I would have been happy with two, one means that I get to have my midwives again. And have another home birth. When you have twins you automatically become high-risk and thus not allowed to have a midwife or have them at home. This works out very well for me.

And having confirmation of my little bean meant I could take out the maternity pants without guilt. Thank goodness my older Sister gave me a whack load of Mat clothes that included not one but, two pairs of cool jeans, which is exactly what I needed. My belly has already grown enough that it is uncomfortable with my regular jeans. I can at least keep wearing my regular sweaters and shirts, just change up the pants for now. I am only switching a few weeks before I did for J so that's not too bad.

As for my back, well it is getting better, just a lot slower than I had hoped. We will keep on keepin' on and hopefully will resume some regularly scheduled fun in the near future.

Winter is here and life on the couch.

I have been trying to write this post since Monday, when Winter finally arrived. After much anticipation and wonder as to whether winter would make an appearance or not it reared its ugly head in the form of snow and freezing temperatures (we are talking a 35 degree difference from a week ago). Whether it is Global Warming, El Nino or God telling us never to expect the same thing year after year it arrived. And for some of us we could have gladly done without it, for others it means saving their livelyhoods or putting their new bought winter toys to good use.

I wish I had some fun things to share about playing in the snow or doing some fun winter activity, but nope. I have nothing but tales from the couch. J seems to be taking my relaxing in stride so I am happy about that. I had been having two good mornings where I was able to get off my couch and clean up the disaster our house has turned into. Tuesday I tidied and vacuumed the main level, something that gets done every other day normally hadn't been done in a week and a half almost! My carpets were driving me crazy. Wednesday I tackled the upstairs bathrooms. Oh the excitement, let me tell you. Then. All of a sudden, after cleanning the bathrooms, my back gave out. I can barely walk. Thankfully yesterday my Mom and Sister came to my aide and kept me company. And today, although feeling a bit better, I can't do much I had my Sister drop of J2 so J would be kept company and you know what? They are playing happily together in the 'good' living room as though I am not even here. I should have gone in there myself and enjoyed a different view and a softer couch with a cozier blanket, but because I was already established in the family room, they left me. I am good with it, I can hear them and they are doing great.

It is with mixed emotion that I am posting of the passing of our family friend who was 104 last summer. And I say with mixed emotion as she was 104 1/2 almost and she lived a full and wonderful life. Made even better these last two years since she has been living with my Aunt and Uncle. Who at 104 1/2 is still living in a house, next door to her own house complete with homemade food, loving care and attention 24 hours a day? On the other hand, I feel the loss for my Aunt and Uncle who have cared for her all these years. For my cousins who thought of her as a Grandma. Our own mutual Grandmother passed away in 1976, so this woman was kind of like our replacement Grandma. Although I only saw her once a year, she did make a few treks north with my Aunt and she will be missed by all of us. The worst part is that I won't be able to go to the service to support my family as I can't make the drive through the mountains at this time of year. I mean, I can, but would be terrified to hit a blizzard or get caught in a storm with J in the car, all by myself. It never mattered before I was a Mom, I would drive through anything, but now, I just don't take my chances. She will be missed and my prayers are with my Aunt and Uncle now, who have to sort through her house and settle up all her affairs. She did not have kids so there is only my family and a few neices and nephews who never came to see her but are waiting to see what she left to them.

Product Tester

Although I was feeling good for about two days, I have resumed my spot on the couch. Much to J's despair. He is learning slowly that Mommy needs a rest after lunch and that if he brings toys to me at the couch I will play with them. Just not the Tonka trucks.

My biggest problem is the nausea. I just never know if it will ever get worse. My Sister gave me a pack of gum and told me it worked for her. So far so good, I can go out for a few minutes to the grocery store while chewing away. Although I used to chew gum years ago and all the time, I had stopped. I find it irritating now, but I will keep on chewing if it helps me feel better.

So as I rested earlier this afternoon, my doorbell rang. That in itself is rare and usually means my pesky neighbour needs a pair of pants sewn or to put something in my freezer. But instead there was nobody. My dogs were barking and I don't like to open the door until I know the all is clear. I went in the living room and saw that the UPS truck was at the end of my driveway. So I opened the door and there was a package for me. Anxious that I was to get the package, I opened it up and I have been chosen to be a product tester for Glow magazine. I signed up back in the early fall and completely forgot about it. I have signed up to be product testers before through other magazines, but none of them ever sent me anything.

This time I got chosen to try a new anti-aging product. And on one hand I wanted to cry but, on the other hand I was looking at the wrinkles around my eyes this morning trying to remember what it is that my older Sister uses to make hers look less noticable. The one thing that makes me feel badly about not having kids in my twenties is that I feel that I look older than I should. I know being a Mom helps keep you young, but I want to keep looking young too.

I won't disclose the brand name yet as I haven't tried it and would like to be able to give an opinion about it when I do. Stay tuned, hopefully this will be the first of many trials.

Playtime 4 Kids

I had wanted to blog about watching the People's Choice Awards last night, and how I still love Jennifer Aniston. And how I wish I had started watching Grey's Anatomy when it first started. But instead, I feel I have to share this new fun place to take your kids.

Sorry for those of you not living in the Ottawa Area, particulary the West end, but I need to share.

Playtime 4 Kids opened just before Christmas on Merivale Road. It is located in the Emerald Plaza (beside the mall with Peir 1 and Home Sense). It is just like all the other indoor playgrounds, but in some ways it is just a bit better. Size wise it is smaller than Cosmic, but bigger than the one in Kanata. Price wise it is the same, but you can purchase a ten visit pass at quite a discount and the pass is transferrable or can be shared.

The structures are simple but not too big, short tunnels (great for J and J2 as they don't like tunnels) slides, a small ball room, ropes to hang on, fake ponds to pretend to jump on the alligators and more. All in all we had a great time.

There is also a cafeteria, well laid out and offering a good variety from pizza to hot dogs. We did not sample the food today as I had another craving that needed to be satisfied. But, we plan for to go back again and stay for lunch.

They do have a game area, where the games spit out tickets and you can exchange the tickets for prizes, but we were able to avoid those today as well.

The best part for us (my Sister and I) was that it was not crowded. Actually today we were the only ones there, but our other Sister went over Christmas and it was packed and the weekends are pretty busy apparently.

My Sister seemed to feel relief that we could see the kids with very little effort and that they couldn't get too far up in the structure without us being able to reach them quickly. This is a problem at the other location as our kids get really nervous when they get up too high and are surrounded by other kids they don't know.

All in all we had a pretty great time. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention... they have free wireless! Yes, so you can bring your laptop while the kids play and work or surf the net, or blog and your kids can play. Try it out.

A Couch with a View

This has been my view pretty much since last Wednesday. And before you read on, know in your heart that I am not complaining.

Nausea kicked in for me last Wednesday. I seriously think that Nancy and Silver Creek Mom wished it on me so much that it came to pass. I had minimal nausea for J when pregnant with him, nothing a bagel or crackers couldn't fix in a minute. Well, not this time. It started with a trip to Costco just a little too close to lunch time. I thought my Chai Lattée would hold me, but such was not the case. And because the sample ladies were just getting started nothing but the coffee was ready to sample. J and I bolted home and scarfed down lots of food in hopes of staving off the nausea.

Thursday came around and it was still there, then there was Friday! I thought I was going to die, it was very similar to when I had the Norwalk virus when pregnant with J except that I did not have to make any trips to the bathroom.

Saturday saw me doing much better. I pulled out my Seabands and I picked up a couple of home remedies, gingerale and mint candies. Then my girlfriend supplied me with candied ginger (this stuff rocks). I was feeling even better by Sunday.

One of the worst parts about feeling crappy is that J had to amuse himself. This is ok for a day or maybe two, but by Friday he was not so happy so my Sister came and kept us company for the afternoon. And with Hubby home on the weekend, I was able to drift in and out of sleep on the couch that I did not leave for two whole days. Ok, I pulled myself together to go to the store and my girlfriends house, but it was hard. It took a lot of convincing myself that I was not going to be sick.

Today, my Sister came again to stave off the boredom for J and brought me her favorite gum that she used to keep the sickies at bay. And hey it works pretty well. I will say that today is my best day so far. Either I am getting used to it or it is balancing off. I did know that it might be worse this time as my hcg levels were so high, and that is what can cause the nausea to begin with.

Anyhow, here's hoping that the sickies stay at bay and that I don't have to continue with the same view for the next five or six weeks. I may have to change to the other living room, just to see something different.

Five Things You Don't Know About Me.

I was tagged by RedDirtRoad to share with you five things that you don't know about me. Let's see how I do.

1. And I was going to share this in Reddirtroad's comments yesterday but saved it for today. I have a toe ring. I have been wearing it since I was fifteen. That would make it... 21 years that I have had this thing on my toe. It started when a friend gave me one of those rubber rings and being that I have fat juicy fingers, I stuck it on my toe. She kept giving me more when they broke, she even gave me a silver one, but that one hurt. About ten years ago, my sister made me one out of beads and I have had that one on ever since.

2. I drive a motorcyle. Ok, I used to drive a motorcycle, as I don't have one anymore. But, I had lots of money, there would be one parked in my garage. I used to have a '90 Kawasaki EX500, electric blue with a pink and white stripe on the side. The fastest I took it was 180kms on the highway heading out of town. Once, and only once did I push it as fast as I could go. I drove it around Ottawa and Winnipeg when I lived there. Then I sold it and got a convertible.

3. I lived in England. When I was six and turned seven, my Dad was asked to go to England to open a church. We packed up some stuff and headed there. My older sister and I attended school (Devonshire Public) and we lived in Sutton Surrey (5 Lynton Court, Cedar Road to be exact). And my next younger sister that I hang with almost everyday was born there. She has never been back to see her birthplace.

4. I play a cello. Ok, I can play the cello and I have one in the basement but I rarely take it out these days and I am a little rusty. I used to dream of playing in an orchestra that was playing a score for a movie. Most likely because my first teacher would write out the themes for "Chariots of Fire" and "Rocky" and other popular movies and we would play them in concert. I gave up seeing "Duran Duran" so I could play in a concert one night. I was the only cellist.

5. I was a cheerleader in highschool. I still love cheerleading and secretly watch all those silly cheerleading movies. I still remember a few cheers and break out in them once in a while to the horror of A.

Comfort Food

It seemed only fitting that I make my Sister's Black Bean and Sausage soup as the comfort food I craved and needed after she left. They have only been gone a day, but we miss them terribly. J & J2 just did not want to understand why the rest of the cousins weren't joining us today. It will surely take some time to get things back to normal around here. Until then, a little comfort food. A lot of chocolate. And many trips to Starbucks will possibly keep us going.

Black Bean and Sausage Soup
Serves 4 to 6

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled or scrubbed and chopped
1 stalk of celery, sliced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp of dried oregano
1 medium potato, peeled, diced
2 cups beef or chicken broth
1 28oz tin diced tomatoes, with juice
4 to 6 oz of kielbasa, cubed
1 19oz tin black beans, or your favorite canned beans

1. Heat oil in large dutch oven (in other words large heavy pot). Add onion, carrot and celery; cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables begin to soften.

2. Stir in garlic, oregano, potato, broth and tomoatoes; heat to boiling. Stir in keilbasa. Cover and simmer gently for at least 1/2 to blend flavours.

3. Drain and rinse beans. Add to soup. Heat until hot. Add salt and pepper to tast. Serve with crusty bread.

Enjoy!
It's even better the next day!

Festivies are almost over

The last of the visitors are heading home tomorrow, it will be a sad day around here. J and J2 have had constant extra companions for two plus weeks. And my extra Sister time sure has been great.

They will all be missed. Must start planning trip to Regina, I guess that could be #7 on my list of things to do.

**Oh yes, and Sister number three who left on Boxing Day has already taken the Blue Goose to Charlotte, NC, Kansas, Kansas and is now sitting on the beach in SAN DIEGO, California!!! Oh to be 23!

Hello 2007

Saying goodbye to 2006 is not going to be hard. Despite many wonderful things, my near death experience in August seems to stand out the most. Thankfully, I am here to share all of this with you and more. As I said in an earlier post, I don't do resolutions, but I do make lists.

So here is my to do list for 2007.
1. Clean out top drawer on island in kitchen. This drawer is my nemesis. I hate it. Every single day I want to dump it out and run away. My mostly organized life is disrupted by this drawer daily.

2. Finish setting up my proper office in our loft. I started last summer and did not get far. It used to be my sewing room, but now that I am not sewing full time, I want to turn it into a proper office. We have no proper place for all our paper work and equipment. And sometimes I miss sitting at a desk and working.

3. Start rewriting my novel. For Christmas I received three books to help me with my novel. I promised I would not write a single thing in it until January. As tomorrow is January 1st, I may be starting as soon as I wake up. I have so many ideas and thoughts that I cannot wait to get started.

4. Sign up for photography class. I have been wanting to take a photography class since I got my camera back in May. Although I use it almost every day there is so much I don't know about it and would like to be able to use it to it's full capacity.

5. Learn how to set up a website properly. I want to be able to set up my own websites and manage them properly. Will see if I get this one done this year.

I think these five will get me off to a really great start, but I have to add one more, just for good measure.

6. Be a new Mom again. I have great hopes and feelings about this pregnancy so far, but there will always linger a tiny little bit of doubt until everything comes to fruition.