Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

The last day of the year deserves a post, no?!  And It feels like a heavy one percolating in my head.

There has been a LOT on my plate in the past months.  I thought about blogging many times, but I just didn’t have the desire to try and put my thoughts into words.  I don’t know if blogging was only for a season for me and it has lost it’s pull.  I hope that’s not the case.  I think my head was crammed with so many things and my life being pulled in so many directions that blogging fell to the bottom of the priority list (even though I probably had more to blog about this year than most).

This year has flown by at an unbelievable pace.  It feels like a bit of a blur.  The anticipation of so many things, always waiting for the next thing to happen so that I can move onto the next.  It leaves me feeling a little motion sick, if that makes any sense at all.  There are moments I want to go back to and savor.  There are other times I’m so happy for the speed with which they happened.

So today, December 31, 2009, I’m sitting here, in my new house, in the room that is slowly turning into my very own office, and I’m pondering what 2010 will hold for me.  This past year held so many new things for me and I can’t even fathom where the paths will lead!  It has me peering through the door with a bit of fear and trembling.  Some giant steps need to be taken and I wonder if I have the fortitude to walk across the threshold…if I have the fortitude to press on.

Will doing reflexology as a part time career be a resounding success or a colossal flop?  I feel the passion and excitement simmering just below the surface when I think about doing it, but at the same time, almost the bigger feeling is one of fear.  Ugly, ugly fear.  It has me stalling, worrying and wondering if I’m making a good decision.  I don’t doubt that I love doing it.  I don’t doubt that it works.  I don’t even doubt that people enjoy it.  I do, however doubt my ability to do it for money and make it work for me.  I didn’t get into it because of the money and I fear that I will undervalue myself because I’m afraid that I’m not worth the price tag.

Will I take time to improve my skills in photography and pursue it more or will it, like so many of my hobbies be tossed aside?  I LOVE the creative avenue taking pictures has opened up to me, but like decorating, as soon as people want me to do it for them, the pressure scares me and I don’t think I’m good enough.

(Anyone else seeing a theme in the last two paragraphs?!  It seems that as soon as a dollar value is attached to something I love doing, I freeze up unable to proceed.  The self-doubt takes hold, but I am DETERMINED to conquer that this year.  I will do the things I love and if people will pay me for it then I will take that as a compliment rather than viewing it as pressure!  Ha!  Thanks for letting me do a bit of self talk here.)

Will my longest running phase of consistent fitness and health continue or is it destined to be just be a “phase?”  Oh, dear Lord, I pray not!!  I have managed to maintain my 12 pounds lost from the biggest loser competition I was in from June-September and when I weighed myself again this month to see where I was at, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I had lost an additional 3 pounds.  Thank you, Jillian Michaels and Clean Eating magazine!  :)

And now that we’ve finally settled into our new house (and I’m kind of in love with it), will we sell it soon and build another one in the next few months, or will it sit on the market for a long period of time, forcing another growth in the patience department?

So 2010 feels big!  Another huge thing is I’m turning 30 in October…and I want that to be a GOOD thing.  I want it to be the start of the next stage of my life and not, as so many people feel, the end of something.  I want it to be the year I really become the woman I’m supposed to be.  To gain the confidence I need.  To be passionate about the things that matter to me and pursue them…and more importantly SUCCEED!

Yes, lots of questions.  Lots of unknowns.  But also, I feel, lots of wonderful opportunities lay through that open door.

Now if someone could just stand behind me and kick my ass through it, I’d greatly appreciate it!  :)

Happy New Year, interpeeps!  May it be filled with tons of success and happiness!  <3

I love to paint.

I do.

Really.

Just not things I’ve painted already.

Rooms that I thought were done.

I busted my a$$ and painted the main area of our new house in 15 hours (over 2 days).  This included living room, dining room, kitchen and entrance.  As I was applying the first coat of paint, I kept thinking, “This color looks awfully green.  I don’t remember the paint chip being so green.  I don’t actually WANT green. Green doesn’t match my flooring, my accent color, my cabinets, my curtains…” (I was going for more of a grey-brown color)

But I kept painting.

I finished two coats and I’d almost convinced myself that it was NOT green.

“Look, in this light it doesn’t look so green, does it?!”

DENIAL!!

Then my dad (whom I’ve always thought is somewhat color blind) comes in and says, “Oh, nice color.  Kind of sage, right?”

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Reality set in.  My color was definitely green.

I went back to the place where I got my paint and talked to someone else about my dilemma.  She looked at the paint I was given and told me what I already knew in my heart.  It WAS wrong.

So she mixed me a new pail of paint.  I took it back to the house and hesitantly and with mild foreboding, applied some on my already finished wall.  It wasn’t even close to the same color.  But it was the perfect color.

And I repainted.  The. Whole. Room!!!

Jer tried to console me by telling me to think of it as a really good base coat, or a “practice round.”  Not so much funny.

But…now it looks wonderful.  Exactly the way I’d envisioned.  Next time, I’ll rely on my instincts and act a bit quicker.  Although I pray there isn’t another next time.

Progress update:  I have the 2 bathrooms and the hallway left to paint.  The closet shelving is going in tomorrow, the carpet on Wednesday.  The hardwood is done in the main area, just needs to be done in the hall.  The tile is started in the entrance and we still have to do tile in the bathrooms.  Cabinets should be installed a few days after we move in.  We are WAY ahead of schedule.

And we’re moving in 9 days.

And the “Great Paint Project” has begun!!

Again!

Seriously, it feels like I was just here…doing this.  Incredibly, it’s been almost 2 years since we built our house!  TWO YEARS!  Where has the time gone?!

I’m lucky not to have had to prime the house or paint the ceilings this time.  We put it in our budget to hire that stuff out.  So I thought I had it easy to just have to paint the walls, even though I only have about 2 weeks to do it.

I must have tucked away a few important details into the recesses of my brain.  Like how much work all the preparation is to actually paint the walls.   Oh no…you can’t just take out your paint brush and roller and begin.

NOOOOO…

(Sidenote: we do things a bit differently in the houses we build.  We put up our  casings around our windows and doors first and spray them on, thereby eliminating painting casings, putting them up and then doing touch-ups and repainting them.)

So there I am in our new house, surrounded by nicely primed walls and freshly painted ceilings, excited to start, when I’m told that I need to start caulking around all the doors and windows.  SEVEN and a HALF HOURS later, I somewhat dejectedly left our new house wondering where in tarnation I put THAT particular memory.

Today Jer and I spent another 11 1/2 hours sanding down where we touched up nail holes on the casings, priming the door jambs, putting plastic in the windows, and finally, spraying all the casings.  Which means tomorrow, after 18 1/2 hours of prep work, I can start painting.

Whew!

So now, to unwind after a long day of working in the house, I’m watching the CMA’s…say what?!  Erin?  Watching country music stuff?  BWAHAHAHA!!!

Yeah, I’ve gone over to the dark side, it seems.  I went to see Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum in September (purely because I’m in love with Lady A!!!) and had a BLAST!  I’ve got tickets to see them with Tim McGraw in March and I’m counting down the months to that show.  And now I’m sitting here clapping happily when Lady A won their 2 awards and very much enjoying someone singing about a big green tractor…

SERIOUSLY!?!  What the eff is wrong with me?

It must be the end times or something.

Literally.  I’ve been doing a lot of happy dancing around here lately.

For starters we are 3 weeks from moving into our new house (complete or not).

*insert happy dance*

It’s drywalled and we are waiting to for the painter to come in and prime and paint the ceilings so that the OTHER painter (me) can go in and paint the walls.  Then we are going to get flooring in and move in regardless of the rest of it being finished.  It just means we’re going to be doing a lot of eating out for a week or two

Second.  I FINALLY did my reflexology exam.   Yep.  Done.

*insert another happy dance*

And what did I get on my exam, you may ask?

97%

That deserved a line all to itself.

To say I’m happy with the mark is the understatement of the century!  I’m ecstatic!  It reminds me why I’m doing this.  It feels so natural and like it was meant to be.

*insert very frantic happy dance*

Then to add to all the reasons to dance happily, today I went to our town office and got my license to conduct business in our town.  I’m officially allowed to work!  Haha.

*another happy dance*

And just when I thought the day was as happy as it could be, I got notification that the name for my business was approved!!!

*yet more happy dancing*

“Head Over Heels Reflexology” is officially in business.

Now I just need to get into my new office in our new house and I will be all set.  Happy sigh.

(Yes, there’s happy sighing right alongside the happy dancing.  It’s one big happy place!)

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE my birthday.  I mean I <3 HEART <3 my birthday!!!!

It’s not that it’s about “ooh look at me, it’s all about me” as much as it’s about a really, really good reason to be with my peeps!  And who doesn’t like a good party?!  Last year was awesomely fun and I heard some calling for a repeat with the costume idea.  Let’s just call me a party planner/event coordinator that happens to have a birthday really close to a holiday where people dress up and like to party and so I can combine the two.

(And maybe there’s a little bit of hope that I’ll get a gift or two in the process, let’s be honest)

But this year I’m at a loss for a few reasons.  My birthday happens to fall on Thanksgiving weekend (if you’re in Canada) and it always happens to be a busy time for people.  I’d really, really like to do another costume party since my birthday is in October, but that takes a bit of planning.  Somehow time slipped away on me this year and it’s only 2 1/2 weeks till my birthday.

So do I wait a couple of weekends and have my party closer to the end of the month, which means closer to Halloween, as well?  Does it matter that it’s not my actual birthday (or even the week of)?  We could call it a Halloween/Erin’s birthday party.

And there’s the issue of space.  I had thought about just having it at home again, but we were pretty much maxed out last year and I can’t see it being smaller than it was, so perhaps renting a nicely equipped space in our town.  This costs about $150 and it has a kitchen and plenty of space for mingling.

Here comes the real underlying dilemma…it’s not a milestone birthday this year (that’s next year), so is it weird to have a big birthday event when it’s just my 29th?

(What will people think?!)

Who am I kidding?  I don’t care a whole lot what people think and next year will be huger than this year and planning for that event will commence shortly after this year’s bash is concluded.  And so it probably doesn’t matter, but I just want to know if it’s worth it and if it’s too geeky.  My guest list is fairly lengthy and I want people to be comfortable, but does it look a bit over the top to rent a place, even if it’s not a large establishment?

I need to hash this out before the weekend so I can send out invites before I leave and give people time to get their costumes together.

Give me your thoughts about this…

I’ve been making my daughters’ cakes since their first birthdays.  I’ve discovered over the years that I LOVE making cakes.  Sorry, I LOVE decorating them.

This year I decided to make the jump into fondant icing.  I’ve always wanted to create designer cakes and I realized that fondant is the way to go.  I was going to buy the Wilton premade fondant, but after reading a few different opinions about the ickiness of premade fondant I decided to try to make it myself.

Thank the Lord for YouTube!!!  Hehe.

It turned out wonderfully and I will now use fondant to ice my cakes.  It’s just so easy and beautiful!

But before I discovered fondant I made a cake for Ella’s 6th birthday that I have always wanted to make for one of my girls.  It was a big hit!

Then I did the fondant for Aidan’s “Littlest Pet Shop” cake.  I had so much fun making this one!

And my final cake…the woodland cake I made this past week for my friend Sarah’s 30th birthday was my favorite to date.

I spent many hours making the green ferns out of fondant.

I’m excited to try more fun cakes in the future.  I have about 30 designs saved on my computer to try one day

I have butterflies in my stomach!  I’m so excited!  In one week from tomorrow I’m flying down to visit my Val!!!

Almost 2 years ago (October ‘07) I made the historic journey (in my books) to Illinois to meet in person, someone I’d met through this humble blog.  It was one of the more exciting and memorable moments in my life.  She has been the kind of friend to me that one searches for and hopes to have in life.  I don’t know if everyone is so lucky or blessed as I have been to have found someone who is so similar in personality, so caring and compassionate in spirit, and such a bright sunshiney spot in life.

**happy sigh**

So anyway, my darling Val has been through a rather turbulent time in her life during the past year.  I’m not going to go into many details (and Val, forgive me if I’ve screwed any of the details up), but she was quite ill last year and then she found out early this year that she was pregnant.  Her pregnancy was very crazy with being quite sick and having many, many, many doctor’s visits because of her prior illness and her history of miscarriage and whatnot.

Little Mr. Finley (Finn) Robert made his triumphant appearance into the world on September 10th (a week earlier than the scheduled c-section).

(picture taken by Val and stolen by me from her Facebook)

Isn’t he just a doll?  Look at his adorable expression!  I just love him already and I haven’t even met the little guy.  ONE WEEK!!!!  YEEEEE!!!!

Okay.  So anyway, a few days after she came home with him she was having terrible headaches and she ended up going back to the hospital because they were so bad.  It was discovered that she had a subdural hematoma.  I don’t know much about this stuff, but it’s bleeding in the brain and it’s very, very bad!  Through a complete miracle (and because of all the HUGE amounts of prayer, I’m sure) she did not have to have surgery because the bleeding didn’t get any bigger and she is back at home on bedrest waiting to have another CT scan later this week.

Needless to say, knowing all that she has been going through has made my heart ache.  I have felt so helpless here in another country wishing to be near her and helping in some tangible way.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been praying which I know is the GREATEST thing I can be doing for her.  But it doesn’t make me wish any less to be with her and her family.

I talked to her on Thursday and I expressed my desire to be of some help.  At first she gave mild protest because I’ve been out there to visit twice and she’s never been here to see me (she was planning on coming here this summer, but her health and pregnancy prevented her from coming).  I don’t care if she never comes here, she is my friend and I will help when and how I can…besides I love to travel  The circumstances are such that we are not tallying up who has been where how many times (although if we are going to keep track then she has a lot of travelling to do in the next few years, lol), I go because I care.

I have a wonderful support system in my own life that enables me to go and be of service to them.  I am truly blessed by the people in my own life who are willing to help me out so that I can go on such short notice.

So I booked my flights and I’m off in a week.  Even though I’ve only known her for 2 1/2 years and have only been to visit twice, it feels like I’ll be with an extension of my own family.  They are as close to my heart as if they were my own blood relatives.  And that sweet Finn has a special place in this auntie’s heart already.

Did you know that there are just some days that you shouldn’t even walk into a kitchen?  Like today.

I am quite a good cook/baker.  Except today.  Today I am a failure in the kitchen.  Today I should have been fired.

 The challenge: make two trifles – one Skor and one strawberry for our neighbourhood barbeque.

I can do this.  I’ve made a hundred trifles in my time.  I mean how can you possibly screw up a TRIFLE??

Well, for starters you can buy the wrong cake mix.  One of my trifles required a chocolate cake mix and one needed vanilla.  So what do I do?  I buy two vanilla.  For moi, baker extraordinaire…no problem.  Just make a chocolate cake from scratch, cause I’m awesome like that.  Or something.  And I get the even more brilliant idea to use the old family favorite, Chocolate Mocha Cake.

This particular recipe requires coffee.  Strong black coffee (but perhaps not so strong that it’s walking out of the house with a fur coat on).  I opened my cupboard to take out the coffee maker, which by the way, we NEVER use because we are not coffee drinkers.  Buuuutttt apparently we HAD used it once upon a time…a very, very, VERY long time ago.

And not cleaned the filter or filter tray (you know those handy, dandy filters that you don’t have to throw away??  Umhmm).

And there was still coffee grinds in it.

And it had about an inch of fluffy white mold.

And I think I puked in my mouth a little bit.

I set out to disinfect my coffee maker.  I’m a little upset at this point.  What was supposed to be an easy recipe is turning into an hour of obstacles and yes, I admit a few cuss words.

I get everything prepared and put my coffee on, breathe a sigh, wish I was a coffee drinker and start again.  I can do this.  I just need to change my attitude and carry on.  No big deal!

Oh, but it gets worse.  Or better depending on how you look at it.

I start mixing ingredients in the bowl.  Well, I TRY to mix the ingredients in my bowl, but for some odd reason the batter just wants to crawl up my beaters and I shake my head in wonder…this has never happened before.  I’ve made this recipe many times and it’s never done this.

I check my recipe…what could be wrong with it…SUGAR!  I FORGOT SUGAR!!!  Huh?!  Who forgets SUGAR in a DESSERT???

**heavy sighing**

Okay, incorporate sugar into globule of chocolate batter that has the consistency of glue and playdough.  Not. Happening.

The next thing I know there is batter flying past my head, onto my wall, onto the floor, hitting my soap dispenser, sticking to my arms.  Ugh.

 So then I did what any self respecting woman would do.  I looked at the opportunity presented to me and began eating chocolate…I may have even licked my arm.  :D

And just for the record, I managed to salvage the cake.  So not an epic fail.  Just an epic pain in the ass!

Tonight I snicker in the general direction of my family.  They are clinically insane.  They are planning to forage out into the wilderness (our deck) and commune with nature (mosquitoes) in an attempt to “camp.”

I’m finding this particularly amusing because it doesn’t involve me.  I don’t go for such hairbrained ideas.  Nope.  I rented a movie.  I plan to enjoy a quiet kid/mosquito/husband free evening on my own with my bowl of popcorn.  Then…here comes the best part…I’m going to sleep in my new bed…ALONE!!  I get to sleep sideways if I so choose.  I can have as many pillows as I desire.  I don’t have to worry about any untoward advances in the middle of the night!!

**Hallelujah chorus**

The only thing that could possibly interrupt the perfection of my upcoming night is if the mosquitoes chase my family back in the house.

Shhh…don’t tell anyone, but there is a lock on the inside of the deck door and no way off the deck!!!

Mwahahahahahahaha!!!

There hasn’t been an official bank meeting.  We have not yet met with lawyers to sign any papers.  Nor has the hole been dug in the ground where we will build our new house.  There is nothing even remotely close to a house and yet…

I have light fixtures!

I have my flooring selected.

I have my paint colors picked.

I have my curtains.

Jer laughed and said I don’t have to do it all in one day, but I just can’t help myself!!

 My design skills have been lying dormant for a year and a half and they are bustin’ out in full force.  I had convinced myself in the last year that maybe I had lost my decorating flare and my abilities…nope.  They were just sleeping.  A deep, peaceful sleep.  And they have awakened and now I can’t sleep!!  Heehee.  My brain is just filled with colors and ideas.  I can hardly wait to put it all together and see my vision come to life!

And then of course, I’ll show you.

In a last ditch efforts to keep losing weight for this biggest loser competition, I joined a fitness class.  It was called belly fit.  Should have clued in that it would be a belly dancing class.

Oh yes…you heard that right.  Belly dancing.  Me.

*pause*

You all done laughing now??  Okay, so I actually really, really, really loved it!  I was so sad that today was the last class.  We got to learn a choreographed dance with little jingly skirts and all.  It was fabulous!

Now I don’t have the most, um, seductive figure out there to belly dance with, but who cares, right?  And yes, sometimes I looked a bit like I was having a seizure (or taking a dump, as Nikki seemed to think), especially when trying to shimmy.

I can’t shimmy to save my life.  I practiced.  I really did.  I would stand in front of the mirror and try and try to shake what my momma gave me and it just.wouldn’t.shake!!!

But it’s over, so what now?  How about a hip hop class?  I’ve always, always wanted to learn hip hop, but been too scared to bust out of my box and try something new.  Well…haha, I’ve done belly dancing, so there isn’t much out there that frightens me anymore!  Kind of has a way of letting go of some of your inhibitions.  Perhaps some that should have stayed in the box, but whatever.  :)

This morning I’m sitting at my kitchen table. It’s 10 a.m. and I’m in my, ahem…pajamas.

My pajamas are a t-shirt and underwear.  (I get hot at night, okay?!  Don’t judge!)

I’m sitting working on my computer, but I’m sitting at the end of the table visible from the front door.  A door with a window.  You do the math.

 **shudders**

Let’s back up to last night at 9:15.  Jer and I are sitting and discussing our floor plan for the new house.

Erin: “I really like those entrance doors with the full window like our neighbor has.”

Jer: “Really?! What if someone comes to the door and you are not dressed?”

Erin: “Yeah, I guess, I just think they are nice.”

Jer:” Yeah, but there is no privacy.”

Fastforward to today’s incident.  I hear a knock and I turn slightly so I can see who is at the door.  I don’t recognize the face of the young man staring intently at me through the window in my door.  I just stare at him.  And realization slowly dawns on me that I’m in a predicament and can do nothing.

I CAN’T go to the door.

I CAN’T run and put clothes on.

I CAN’T even explain why I’m just staring at him with horror on my face.

So I do the only thing I can think of.  I start motioning.

He thinks we are playing charades and says, “You want me to come in??”

Fresh horror!!

“NOOOOO…just go AWAY!!!” I yell loud enough for him to hear, frantically flapping my hands.

He turns and hightails it off our front porch and I run to the laundry room to put on whatever semblence of clothing I can find.

Then I go and peek out the front door to see if I can figure out who this poor guy is.  He’s going door to door fundraising.  I find out a few minutes later that my cousin who lives down the street also greeted him in her p.j.’s shortly after my rude dismissal and I’m pretty sure that dude will NEVER, EVER come back to this street!

 AND I’m thinking our next house will have a door with NO window!  (Or at least one that’s frosted)

Okay so if I would blog more than once a month I wouldn’t have to put ALL my news in one post.  Sheesh.

I have to say that it started out being a terrible week and ended off being fantastic.  I was pms-ing worse than I ever have in my life and I’m actually surprised my kids and husband are actually still alive to remember the horrendousness of it all

I was struggling majorly with everything.  EVERYTHING!!  And everything felt insurmountable.

Then the goodness started creeping into my week.

First I reached my goal and I ran 6 miles.  That in and of itself made me feel fantastic.  Yes…there were still ALL the other issues, but dangit, I can run further from them now!!  Haha.

Which I guess led to the next yay for me…I’m down almost 10 of my 12.5 pounds.  I had maintained my weight for 3 weeks and I was despairing ever reaching my goal in the final 3 weeks.  Now I have a measly 2.9 lbs to lose in the next 3 weeks.

Then we got a huge surprise when my mom called on Wednesday and told us that they were buying us a brand new mattress set.  We’ve had ours since we got married 8 years ago and that may not seem like a good reason to get a new mattress, but let me expand on that a bit.

Our very first house that we bought had the teeniest stairwell up to the second floor and the bedrooms.  Our queen size mattress fit up the stairs with a bit of blood, sweat and yes, some cursing, but the boxspring?  Nope.  So what did Jer do?  He snapped the support brace in the middle of the boxspring, folded it in half and brought it up.  Well the ramifications of that action have come back to bite us in the rear.  Our poor bed could no longer hold it’s shape and thus, even after fixing and rebracing the boxspring, the mattress was too sad to save.

My dear mother took pity on us and said that it was something that couldn’t be put off anymore and so she was gifting us with a new bed.  All we had to do was go to the furniture store that she had called and made arrangements at and pick the bed that we liked (within reason, of course…alas, the space age memory foam mattress was not meant to be mine).  It got delivered yesterday and I’m in love

We had actually planned to buy a new bed when we sold our house, but THAT wasn’t happening.

Until today!

The final bit of awesomeness of my week really tops everything.  Icing on the cake.  Heck the big old cherry on top!

We SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!

That deserves unlimited exclamation marks.  I had just about given up on Monday during what will forever be called “The Great PMS Episode” at our house.  I was a mess about the whole house selling business.  I was barely holding together.  For some reason I just lost all faith and peace about the whole thing.  Up until that point I had been very peaceful about it.  I was serene, almost.

And then for whatever reason it all just became too much for me.  Call it the seratonin levels, call it the financial burden of things coming due, whatever.

Then I was reminded in that moment (or the moment following it when I was a bit less insane) that I needed to release it all to God…AGAIN.  And again.  That even though I was losing my cool, he still had his plan in tact.  So I let it go.

And here we are 4 1/2 days later and my cup runneth over.  A veritable mess of overflow!  :)

without a word from ME!

I think someone should fire me from this blogging stuff.

I seem to have lost my talent for talking about everything, nothing and all the in between stuff.

Okay, I passed my first exam, the written one.  I got 93%!!  (happy, Nicole??  haha)  Now I’m about 19 sets of feet away from being able to do my practical exam and then I’m in business!!  Literally.  So if you really want to spend money on having someone give you an awesome foot rub…keep me in mind

Um…OOOHH, OOOOHH, I ran 4 miles last week.  And not just once either.  Nope, 3 times already.  I finally passed that hurdle that has been in my way for, oh say the past 2 years!

I’m leaving for my holidays next week.  A full week at the lake with my book and bathing suit…which by the way I will look better in this year than in years past because…

I’m a big loser.  Literally.  I joined a competition with some girls from our community and it’s a “Biggest Loser” competition where we are on teams and everything.  I decided at the beginning of the 12 week challenge that I would like to lose 12 pounds.  Easy.  One pound a week.  To date, 4 weeks in, I have lost 6.5 pounds.  Which could be a good thing, you know, losing all my weight quickly and yay for me!  BUT it could backfire and I’ll lose all 12 pounds in the first 7 weeks and then spend the last 5 weeks gaining it back!!  Hopefully this is not the scenario that we will be talking about come the end of September!

 Oh and a side note, our team’s name is kind of fun…”Wii Not Fit (but we will be).”  Haha…makes me smile

My sweet Ella turned 6 last month (can’t believe she’s going into grade one) and my delightful (so hard not to use sarcasm when I say that) Aidan will be 4 in two and a half weeks.

No really, she is delightful, usually.  Just sometimes she’s not.  Like last Thursday.  Very naughty little girl.  I was PMSing, too, so that made the day extra special.  I finally walked out of the house and said “Mommy’s going for a time-out to change her attitude!!”  And then I ran 4 miles.  So it turned out alright in the end.

And there was no point to that last paragraph, just needed to get it off my chest.

No, sadly our house has not sold yet.  I’m sure there is a reason for that.  Happily, we are neither stressed out, nor worried about it.  We have come to realize that God’s timing has always been perfect, and why should that change in the present situation?  Right?  Right!

 My bloglines has 627 unread blogs in it!  See, I told you I should be fired (shakes head in disgust)!

I’ve gone to the beach with my family every Sunday for the past 3 weeks.  This is what summer and memories are about.  And it happens to be the only day each week that the weather seems to be decent enough to sit mostly unclothed outside (it’s been an unusually cold month).  My kids are really enjoying it since this is the first year we’ve attempted beach days.  Backtrack about 4 paragraphs and you will understand why the past 3 summers have not been ideal for beach-going.  Ahem, a certain short loud person was FAR too much work to take to the beach.  Now it keeps them occupied for many happy hours as they dance and sing and splash in the water; make ponds in the sand to be mermaid queens; play on the play structures, and of course eat ice cream and fudgsicles without mommy being all crazy about the mess they are making since they can just go and wash off in the water.

And now I’m going to go for a walk.  So there.

My exam is on Thursday and that trumps absolutely everything else.  I can’t even think straight.  I just keep thinking, “the function of the pancreas is…” and “which reflexes would you work for someoe who has (insert condition)?” and “the reflexes that belong in the nervous system are…” and so on and so forth.  As I’m falling asleep at night I’m thinking.  As I’m driving I’m thinking.  While my kids play outside, I’m studying.  It consumes me.

And on Thursday…it will be over.  Then I’ll be able to blog about something.  I just can’t think right now.

So you’ll get the Coldplay overview.  And I’ll catch up on my month of missing pictures on my photo blog.  And I’ll tell you how I joined a Biggest Loser competition in my community.  And other fun stuff like how my daughter runs around naked in our front yard and she’s almost 4.

You see?  My life has other stuff, just right now reflexology is all I can think about.  So bear with me.  I’m almost done

I’m going to see Coldplay tonight!!!

WOOHOO!!!

Okay, that’s all.  Just had to get that out of my system

I have a problem.

And now my problem is about to explode into one of epic proportions!

Umm…

I LOVE makeup.  Love it.  A lot!  Shortly after my trip to Minneapolis, like say about 1/2 an hour, I became addicted to doing fun things with my makeup.  ”Oooh, look at all pretty colors…that one matches my shirt!”  ”I’m bored, I should go watch YouTube videos on how to apply blue eyeshadow!”  So now every morning is an experiment to see what I can do with my eye makeup.

And THEN (here’s where the problem of epic proportions comes in) 13 days ago Sephora opened a store in our city.

Sigh…

Tonight, I shop.

Hopefully tomorrow I don’t regret.

Either way, my makeup will look frickin’ AWESOME!!  :)

WOW, so almost two months since I’ve made an appearance here!?  That’s pretty pathetic.  :)  In all honesty, I just haven’t been in the head-space to blog.  Perhaps it’s because nothing very exciting has happened to warrant blogging, perhaps it’s just because it has been two months of craziness, busyness, and…f.e.e.t!

I am 2 days away from finishing my course in reflexology, 16 days from writing my exam, 45 sessions away from completing my practicum and a couple months from certifying…if i pass!  I’m really, really enjoying it and I always feel on the verge of learning something new and exciting!  It’s been so good for me and hopefully it’s good for everyone that I’ve gotten to practice on

And really, other than that there’s not much exciting to report.

• I’ve gained weight…awesome.
• I still haven’t made my running goal…I’ve gotten about half way (3 miles).
• Spring has yet to arrive…my plants actually FROZE the other night…in JUNE…FROZEN!!!
• My hair has petrified from all the hairspray and lack of washing it during the past week of craziness.
• We haven’t sold our house, but it’s only been a month since we listed it and have had a number of showings…so my house is generally cleaner than it has ever been.
• When I’m not doing reflexology, I’m found behind my camera taking pictures of the newly budding plants and flowers.
• That said, I’m about 2 weeks behind on my Photo blog.  I have the pictures, just haven’t had time to post them
• Um…I’m drinking a smoothie right now…
• I have loads and loads of laundry to fold.

So as you can see dullness abounds.  Pretty much the highlight of the past few weeks has been watching “The Bachelorette” with my girlfriends.  Possibly the reason I’ve gained weight, as well, what with all the food we consume.  I think I’m just going to drink smoothies for the next week.

I’ll try not to leave this so long again.  Very, very bad of me, I know, but in my defence, I guess I rather would have been silent than bore you all to tears with my useless meandering drivel, which is about all I had in me recently.  Even this…I’m having a hard time hitting the publish button on this, but guilt consumeth me.  I feel compelled to update.

You never know…an adventure could await me around the next corner!!!

Oh wait.  That’s just my laundry.  Hmph.

Have you ever wanted something so bad you would do just about anything to get it?  Come on, I know you have…

For me, it was a hot bath last night.  I was cold.  Shivering.  I had cleaned all day and had a supper fiasco (Let’s just say our house STILL smells like sesame oil after the bottle busted on the floor, I cut my toe in the process of the bottle falling and the taste of burnt broccoli lingers in my memory.  Pooey!) and ALL.I.WANTED.WAS.A.BATH!!!  Is that really too much to ask?

Well apparently it is!  This is now the THIRD time in the past 3 weeks that I have started a hot bath (and to clarify I like my baths hot.  Like pruning, turn you into a tomato hot…what’s the point of sitting in a lukewarm bath?  Ick!), climbed in only to discover that as the tub is filling, it’s getting cooler.  It seems when you do laundry all day, dishes, and give the children baths, much like Mommy’s energy supply is depleted, so is the hot water supply.  The other two times I just sighed heavily, complained a little and got out, knowing that it wasn’t going to happen.  In essence, the bath beat me. 

Last night…I wasn’t giving in.  It was me against the bath.  I was going to win.  I was going to have my hot bath.  I got creative.  Desperate.  Insane, really.

I jumped out, wrapped my shivering self in a towel and yelled for Jer to bring me the electric kettle.  He looks at me a little askance and says, “The kettle??!”  Mmmhmmm…you know the one you boil water with to make tea?  The one that makes water that is not hot…HOT?!  Yup, that one.  I know at that moment he thought I was crazy.  Another one of Erin’s hair-brained ideas.    

Well, I filled it up, plugged it in on the bathroom counter, waited for my water to boil and poured it into the tub.  One kettle-ful at a time.  Jer stood by, laughing at me and shaking his head.  He didn’t have any better ideas, so if I were him, I’d just shut it.  Just saying!    

It felt a little old fashioned, like I was drawing a bath.  It was quite the process, but it worked.  I got my hot bath and I was happy.  And really…that’s all that matters.  

I just found this website (ArtsCow.com) for printing pictures and their sign up offer…1200 free prints!!!  Sounds too good to be true.  They ARE spread out over the space of a few months, but what a great deal.  You can get 100 free 4×6 and 50 free 5×7 per month.  Their pricing seems really good too…4×6 for $0.06 and 5×7 for $0.12.  Sounds pretty reasonable to me, even if it is in USD, since you can get so many free pictures each month.  I have yet to order from them so I don’t know what their quality or service is like, but for those prices I think I’m going to find out.  Let’s put it this way…if I was going to order 400 prints at $0.06/print plus shipping it would come out to $42.00 (before applicable taxes).  Not bad  :)  Thought I’d pass my seemingly awesome finding on to all my friends out there.