These things only happen to my Hero

Yesterday the Hero was meeting with someone at Starbucks, next to Fourbucks is FatBurger. It was a bit of a stormy day and suddenly there was a whoosing sound that was loud enough to draw people from the wi-fi and their decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, cappucino, with a dash of cinnamon, one splenda and extra caramel drinks to the window. Mr. grande quad shot americano with room (aka my Hero) gets up to see what the fuss is about. He is shocked to find that the one and a half story inflatable fatburger has landed on top of our van!!! He is livid because the assistant manager is first avoiding him til he practically barges into the back demanding to speak to someone in charge and then is clueless as to how to handle this situation and has to wait til she calls her manager. Hero is less than pleasant because all he can see is a van buried under a burger with the antenna sticking out at a less than upright manner. The assistant manager finally gathers her wits and deflates the burger and the Hero takes it off of the van to find an antenna broken in half and some minor scratches on the top and worst of all that his just cleaned van is now filthy from the dirty burger. When he calls to share his bad luck with me my first question is "Did you get a picture?" He is less than amused with me and of course he doesn't carry a bleeping camera around with him. I desperate for documentation call the Starbucks to see if any of the employees by chance photographed this spectacle. They think someone may have, I leave my email for the pics but have yet to receive any. By the time my Hero contacted the head office of FatBurger he was in better humor. They didn't quite know what to do with him when he said that one of their FatBurgers landed on his van. The president of the Canadian arm was out of town but is supposed to be calling him back. He was assured that they would take care of the damages. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm just disappointed I don't have a picture to share with y'all.

Have a great long weekend (sort of long for us Canucks with Canada Day falling on a Tuesday)! Beware of the flying inflatables.

Meme about Me

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?: Adjusting to my new life as a SAHM of 2.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Get my nails done.
Buy year end presents for Iceman and La Diva.
Find some non-hoochie shorts for La Diva.
Make some curry.
Attend an awards ceremony.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Smart Food Popcorn
Banana with peanut butter
Hummus and anything...carrots, pita, my finger (LOL)
Blueberries
Raspberries
Cheetos

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel
Live somewhere warm with an orchard or vineyard and horses.
Buy or build the Hero his own fire station complete with brass pole and truck.
Fund proper and safe equipment so firefighters can do their jobs.
Start a breakfast program at school.
Have a housekeeper and easy access to alternative pain management therapies so my quality of life doesn't suffer from overdoing things.
Help my children pursue their passions and become active in giving back to the world.
Be a blessing and live a blessed life..... wait I already have that.

5) Places I have lived:
Alberta, my whole life, all over the province but always AB except for a brief 6 weeks in Quebec.

6) Jobs I have had:
babysitter
librarian's assistant
waitress
short order cook
bartender
day care worker
day home receptionist and home visitor
oilfield lease maintenance worker
groundskeeper
legal assistant

7) People I want to know more about:

Rachel
Crafty P
Kim
Skellebelle
Janine

La Daredevil

La Diva had camp last week with her class for two days. The Hero went along as chaperone because they were doing all sorts of cool things that he used to do before he became the Hero to the crew. They had a blast and the only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. I tried to post this earlier but the wi-fi decided to have a fight with the Mac and the Hero was away so I had no patience to deal with it. I had orginally thought that I'd lost every thing but just today discovered that these pictures had actually loaded. W00T! Besides the suspension bridge and climbing wall they also did zipline, archery and horse back riding. I cannot believe how brave La Diva was. She tried everything without any of that "I'm scared" drama and loved it. She was one of only 3 people to make it to the top of the climbing wall not once but 3 times. Her BFF was the only other girl to join her in that feat. The Hero says that BFF is a natural born rockhopper and he can see these two taking up this sport if given half the chance. I'm so happy that La Diva had such a great time. It was really nice for the Hero to take a tiny break and go. He's been working way too hard and the boys overrun him at times so the father-daughter time was extra special. You would not believe the span of this suspension bridge. It was quite the stretch.

The climber.

Rockhoppers - La Diva (L) and her BFF (R)

Where do you run?

A short time ago someone mentioned a phrase that has stuck in my head ever since. I have the tendency to chew on things for awhile, let them roll around in my head and my heart until I determine why it's sticking with me or touching me.

I've had to deal with some personal challenges lately that have had me in out of control mode. I don't like chaos so I don't do well in this mode, it sends me into a panic. A recent challenge involved some dredging of some very painful past memories and I know I cried "Why God, why now?" It was not something I wanted to remember at all let alone relive. My first instinct when hit with this challenge was to seek comfort. I knew that I couldn't get through this in my own strength, I knew that I needed to give it to God- completely and totally. Unfortunately I chose to seek out the comfort of people. My Hero was away during this time and I felt completely alone. I ran straight to my support system and begged for prayer. That in itself is not a bad thing but it should not have been my first destination, my gut reaction was to go where I would see or audibly hear words of comfort coming back to me. The result of this action was temporary relief and being lulled into a false sense of everythings gonna be alright. I ran to my friends, I ran to strangers online, I ran to my Hero but I did not run to God and pour my heart out to Him. I did not crawl up into His lap and say I need you to help me through this, I need you to free me from this torment, I need YOU to comfort me and tell me that everythings gonna be alright. I did not let myself be still long enough to listen to what He had for me. I panicked, I was afraid and I ran in 100 different directions trying to keep it all together.

I've finally found my freedom from this nightmare from the past. It came not from my Hero, my friends or imaginary strangers... it came from my Heavenly Father who has all the answers to the trials and challenges of my life. He cares about every one of them... no matter how trivial or small. He sits there patiently waiting for me to come to Him, weeping at my unnecessary suffering at my own hand, ready to wrap His arms around me and give me what I need.So thank you for the phrase through which I found freedom and healing: Go to the THRONE and not the phone (or internet or text).

Where do you run?

In Him,

Ker

Blinded by the......backspray

We have been having some troubles with the wild cats that roam our town. No, not cougars, panthers or cheetahs. Feral house cats who breed like rabbits and live under the local bottle depot. They tear up the garden, tear up the garbage, wake us up with their catfights and are generally a big nuisance. Our front garden has suffered horribly at the paws of these beasts and the Hero has been fed up with them for some time. We tried to get cat traps from by-law but they are all out at the moment and they are in the process of ordering more (this shows how big of a problem this has become in our community).

Last night we had come home around 1o:30 pm and were scarcely home a few minutes when the screeching began, this time in the backyard. Furious the Hero went flying out the back door with bear spray in hand. There was not much thought in his actions, he didn't take the lovely breeze into consideration until it was too late. He yelled for Kodiak to shut his office window and I quickly shut the kitchen window. Then he came stumbling blindly to the back door and rushing to the sink. Blinded by the mist of backspray and gasping for air. Kodiak and I were laughing so hard we could barely get words out to see if he was ok. I don't know if we will see those cats again as they were probably traumatized by the raving lunatic blinded by his own weapon.

La Diva plays Clymont Hall

La Diva has been taking piano for a few years now.  It's not always been a full year as piano teachers are hard to come by and our gypsy tendencies have thrown a wrench in that quest from time to time.  Last year we tried a group situation and it was a disaster.  We were so discouraged.  This year she had the most phenomenal teacher and grew so much.  She made her way completely through one book and half way into another which is unheard of in her musical pursuits thus far.  She lives up to her name and has natural ability which makes me so happy.  I come from a very musical family, on my Dad's side. Sadly that talent has eluded me (despite years of lessons) I'm thrilled that La Diva has the gift and the desire to pursue it.  She aspires to be a music teacher at the moment.

On Monday night she played The Mermaid and The Bubble.  Here she is:

She had a great audience with her BFF, us (sans the soccer star, Kodiak), Grandma and Poppa, Auntie, cousin and her BF there to support her.  Grandma and Poppa surprised her with a bouquet of roses.  She felt very much the concert pianist that night.

hidden memory

fear comes, unable to hide

morph back, twenty years

voice brings revulsion

want to hide within myself

Hero out of reach

stupid, unworthy

no is not heard, won't stop

washing, can't get clean

alone with secret

hiding from the world, ashamed

chose path, self destruct

drowning pain, more comes

find forgiveness, learn to love

grace, mercy, healing

no power for you

miles of crap cannot touch me

no longer weak, strong and loved

I'm a both hander!

Turtle and La Diva were signing Father's Day cards to be sent in the mail. Turtle prints his name so neatly these days. La Diva exclaims "I didn't know you were a left hander." Turtle replies "I'm a both hander" and proceeds to neatly finish the 4 cards using one hand or the other or a combo of the 2 to print his name ever so neatly.

Just Do It Already!!!!

What is in the air lately? It seems like my corner of the www has gone whiney crazy. If I hear one more poor pitiful me story I'm going to scream. We have no money, we don't know what we are going to do to make ends meet this month but we still have internet and eat take out!! My kids are acting out, you won't believe what they are doing but I've been sitting in front of the computer feeling loved by all my imaginary friends all day. My DH (does anyone ever mean "dear"???) works too much, doesn't work enough, is mad because the house is trashed, complains that nothing seems to get done but I get to be a SAHM, I've got top arcade score, read all my flylady emails and gave everyone a list of my intended daily todos. Seriously people step away from the computer and deal with your life or as a dear friend would say "Get off the phone and go to the throne" (meaning the Throne of Grace not the proverbial white throne).

Your complaints won't go away if you don't deal with them. All the imaginary friends in the world won't make up for nurturing your real life relationships. Don't have real life friends than use that energy to nuture your relationship with your spouse, your children, your sister, brother, mother, father, grandfather, neighbor. Have all the time in the world to whine and moan about your life??? Get off your butt and take action. Clean your messy house, cook some dinner, find creative ways to stretch your budget and yes sometimes that means getting rid of the internet, the Tivo and the take out.

Trusting in God for provision doesn't mean sitting on your blessed assurance and waiting for the pennies to rain down from heaven or for some benevolent church member to show up at your door with an armload of solutions (ie/ groceries, entertainment and clothes). Sometimes He provides that way but most of the time He requires us to take some action and use what He has given us wisely. Sometimes we are required to give out of our nothingness to someone who has even less than we do.

Enough with the whining, unless it comes in a glass than I don't want to share it with you!!!

Take that Fred Flinstone!

I have ugly feet, so ugly that the Hero dubbed them Fred Flintstone feet many years ago. Fat, wide, square toes, not loverly at all but I hate socks! So I love summer because it frees me from socks and I can go barefoot most anywhere. Due to the ugliness of my feet they need some help to be acceptable to the general public. After a long, hard winter of neglect they are in sad shape. I've been too scared to get a professional pedi because of my torment. I'm worried it will cause me too much pain and I will suffer through because they aren't cheap. I usually take the plane to my nasty heels but even the thought of that has made me cringe in fear this year. I've heard some good things about the Ped Egg and when I finally spotted one in a store I decided to give it a go. This thing really works and doesn't cause me pain. I'm frankly very shocked because anything with the "as seen on TV" label on it has the alarm bells ringing for a skeptic like me. It is easy to use, easy to clean and doesn't cause me any pain.