Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

posted by erin on Mar 26

I’ve been contemplating for some time starting a separate blog where I can flex my interior decorating “muscles,” toss around ideas and post things I’ve found that I love.  It’s nothing fancy and it may change over time and likely it will move to a new location once I have more time to focus on it.  I may only post there sporadically as I find something that excites me or something I want to jot down to remember.  I’m just dipping my toes in and seeing if it’s something that I really can and want to do.  I’m super nervous about exposing this side of myself, but it also gives me a renewed fervor to get creative and learn more.  So with all that said…a little of life’s Frosting for your enjoyment.  I hope  

posted by erin on Mar 23

***Looking for the UBP post?  Click here or scroll down*** 

I’ve been getting no sympathy at home with this dang cold-death-virus-thing because everyone within hearing range has also been sick.  I had to come up with something REALLY good to make my people realize that mommy’s need some TLC, too.  So today I just created a little drama of my own, landed myself in the ER and VIOLA!  Lots of sympathy.  And a whole staff of people to take care of me.  It was great!  And so easy.  I’ll have to remember this for future reference…as a mom it’s FAR better being sick in the hospital than at home!

I had been feeling completely awful all weekend and even coughed up streaks of blood a few times, so I decided this morning that I would go to the walk-in clinic just to make sure that I didn’t have anything serious like bronchitis or pneumonia or something else that I could possibly use to make people feel sorry for me  I was all set to go when suddenly I felt very wrong.  My lips got all numb and my arms and legs were heavy and weak and I felt a little out of body.  Pretty good drama, huh?  I thought so.

I called Jer and told him that I didn’t think it would be a great idea for me to drive myself and that it might be better if we just bypass the walk-in altogether and go straight to the ER.  On the way there I felt breathless and a little like I was floating.  It could possibly have been fun, if it didn’t scare the crap out of me!  Then I got all cold and shivery and by the time we got to the ER my legs could barely support me.  I leaned on the counter and almost fainted right there, but a nice paramedic took me to a bed and the fainting spell passed.  

After ALL that it ended up being a rather anti-climactic visit.  No hot doctors!  Tell me WHY are there no hot doctors??  Do they even really make hot doctors or is that just all tv propaganda?  I’d even take a hot intern or paramedic or cleaning personnel!   Gah!  There were no more out of body experiences and no good hospital drama with anyone else in the ER.  There were hours where I didn’t see or hear anyone.  I guess that’s what you get at a smalltown hospital.  And to make it even funnier, the doctor that I was waiting and waiting to see…”working in the walk-in clinic, she’ll be around to see you when she can.”  I would have seen her faster if I had gone with my original course of action and gone to the clinic.  Not to mention I could have made a scene in the waiting room when I fainted.  

The nurses took my vitals, drew some blood, did a couple x-rays, letting me rest over the course of the 4 hours that it took to do all that and I continued to wait for the doctor.  I guess I wasn’t really an emergency.  Heh.  Well it FELT like an emergency when I couldn’t feel my limbs!  Just saying…

Some more time passed and the doctor finally came in and said that all the tests came back clear and good.  (What?!?)  She said that it looked like nothing more than a bad cold and neglect. (NEGLECT!!!  Well I could have told you that!!)  I was too sick to take care of myself properly PLUS I was taking care of everyone else at home and not resting or eating enough.  She gave me a prescription for 6 pretty pink pills that cost me $5 a piece, told me to rest and drink plenty of fluids and sent me on my merry way.  Not even a fancy name for what I’m feeling so that I can fee less guilty for “taking it easy” as she prescribed.  

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s some serious awesomeness that I’m not dying or have some crazy illness, but I WAS kind of wanting to yell at the doctor, “NOOO, stick an IV in me and keep me for a night…or 4, so that I don’t have to go home and TRY to rest with wee people running around!!”  Then someone else would take care of me and cook, even if it’s awful, and I could really get better, but nope.      

Ah well, at least I got to ride in a wheel chair and wear a hospital gown.  That made the trip worth it.  And to think I forgot my camera.  

posted by erin on Mar 19

***Okay after hitting publish and going back to read it, it’s REALLY long.  So sorry.*** 

So, after much hemming and hahhing (okay, there was perhaps only one hem and maybe a little ha slipped in there somewhere) I decided to do this Ultimate Blog Party business again.  I…it…um…(insert something really brilliant here since I seem to have momentarily forgotten what it was I was going to say…perhaps we’ll come back to it, shall we?  Then again, probably not).  I have to say this could be interesting because I’m rather on the sick side at the moment and a little drugged up with Nyquil (LOVE that stuff!!!).  

Perhaps you should disregard most everything I say here today because it may not be an accurate picture of me.  Or maybe it will be exactly right!!  I’ll be uninhibited and my tongue will be loose and, Ooh, look at all the pretty colors…

Um, what?  Right.  Hi.  I’m Erin.  I’m currently sitting in my bed wrapped in blankets, watching the minutes tick by, counting down until I can take a pretty green pill to make the owies go away and the sleep come.  I’m bemoaning the fact that I’m supposed to be hosting a party for you all, but can’t seem to stop coughing long enough to really get it together.  

I have to apologize up front, I did make a big batch of hummus for this party, but seem to have consumed a rather unhealthy amount of it by myself.  I started thinking about all the garlic in it and how garlic is supposed to be really good for colds and then I realized that this is perhaps the best batch of hummus I have made to date (pats herself awkwardly on the back) and continued to shovel chipfuls of it into my mouth.  So now I have drooly bits of hummus on my chin from coughing and I smell of garlic and Vicks VapoRub.  Lovely.  

Then I was going to serve you chocolate martinis, but after reading the Nyquil label a little closer, it said something about alcohol being a bad idea in conjunction with the drugs (Hey!!  I even used the word “conjunction” in the correct context…I just checked on dictionary.com).  Although my martinis are strong enough on their own that they’d probably have killed my cold on contact.  Perhaps I should have saved myself $12 and just shaken up a chocotini for myself.  They’re really pretty, too!  Don’t you just love drinking pretty drinks?  It’s so much more fun.  Happy sigh. 

You’ll also have to excuse my appearance.  I haven’t had the energy to get up and do my hair or put on anything decent for you and I’m highly embarrassed, since normally I wear high heels and pretty dresses around the house as I clean and cook up a storm, being the perfect mother and wife, with a house worthy of a magazine.  Martha Stewart would only dream of being me (cough, cough).  

…………chirp….chirp….chirp……………….. 

Heh, I must have missed those crickets during my last cleaning.  

Okay, so maybe all that was a slight exaggeration.  Alright, all my regular readers can stop laughing now, we all know it was a gross exaggeration!  :)  Except for the martinis…they really are good.  

And what was that I was spouting about “regular readers?”  Hi all 3 of you (waves).  It seems the rest of my “regular readers” got tired of checking back and seeing the same post hanging about for 2 or 3 weeks on end.  Fancy that.  Talk about pressure, wanting me to post more than bi-monthly.  Sheesh.  I remember the bygone era when I would have to stop myself from posting multiple times a day.  What happened?  Now I’ve succumbed to reading blogging self-help books such as “No One Cares What You Had For Lunch” just to try to dig myself out of the blogging slump.  

Okay, when did this post turn into a whine-fest?  Moving on…

to something completely different…

A little about me:

1. I have 2.5 children.  
2. I actually have 2 children.  Two daughters, but the younger one uses up the equivalent energy of 1.5, so we can just pretend I’m living the American dream with my 2.5 kids.
3. I’m Canadian, so I probably can’t live the “American” dream, right?  Whatever.
4. I am a mom by choice, an interior decorator by trade, a photographer by accident and will be a reflexologist sometime in the next year.  
5. I’m 28, I feel 16 and everyone thinks I’m 23.  Sounds good to me!
6. I think I’m really funny when I’m drugged up on cold medication
7. I love to travel and I’m currently collecting blogging friends in as many different regions of the world with the sole purpose of one day abusing the system and finaggling hospitality all because I’m your blogging buddy!  Currently accepting new friends from France, Spain, and Scotland.
8. I was totally kidding about #7, I really want to be your friend just for the sake of being your friend.  No strings attached.  Promise.  
9. I’m thinking I may regret my post in the morning when I’m coherent.  There may be a couple of forehead slapping “Ugh, did I really say that??” moments (see #7).
10. My husband thinks I’m funny when I’m drugged up.
11. Or perhaps that eye rolling, head shaking was just because he thinks I’m dumb.
12. Who cares.
13. Where was i?
14. I love long walks on the beach and dinners at sunset.
15. Well, I did a week ago when I was in warm, sunny Mexico and I was feeling robust and healthy.
16. I’m tanned.
17. I tan really easily.
18. By the time I kick this cold and come out of hibernation my tan will likely be gone and no one will know I was even gone on holidays.  And I haven’t seen ANYONE since I got back because I promptly got sick  What a waste of a good tan.
19. Why was I doing this again?
20. Do you feel like you know me at all yet?
21. Well, you’ll have to come back because I’m tired.  So tired.  And I need to pee.  And get more water.  And rewarm my neck warmer.  And put more lip stuff on my dry, cracked lips.
22. Oh.my.goodness, did I just tell you I have to…you know, release urinary fluid?  Gah!  I must feel really comfortable with you people already…or it’s DEFINITELY time to close my laptop and go to bed!!!  

Thanks for stopping in, leave me a comment so I can find my way to your place, and be sure to come back.  Although I probably won’t feel nearly as inspired the next time you’re here.  Perhaps I’ll do a daily “3:00 Happy Hour Post with Dayquil” or something.  This could be the breakthough I’ve been looking for in my blogging slump.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t read anything about drug induced blogging in the self-help book.  Hmmm.  Oh and um…remember kids, Say No to Drugs!  Yeah.  Okay.  Bye.

P.S. To see non-medicated introductions to UBP ’07 and ’08 go here and here

P.P.S.  My posts seem to be getting longer every year.

P.P.P.S.  Next year I’ll just save my breath and link to the last three and let you people get on with your blog hopping because I’ve wasted enough of your precious time.

P.P.P.P.S. (1,2,3,4…I needed 4 P’s, right?) Oh, #23 on my “A Little About Me” list would say “I like to talk.”  At least that’s what it would say IF I was still up and writing this post.  Which I’m not.  Clearly.

posted by erin on Mar 19

 I just read that the Ultimate Blog Party starts tomorrow!  It seems I’ve been so MIA that this fact has completely escaped me.  Why yes, it IS March!  

I’ve participated for the last two years and have made a lot of incredible friends through it, but I’m not sure if I should do it this year.  I haven’t been able to keep up with my blog lately and it feels like it might be overwhelming.  

On the other hand, it would give me something to do while I battle through this nasty cold bug I seem to have acquired.  Not to mention I really LOVE finding new blogs and meeting new people.  Sigh.  What a dilemma.

What about you?  Are you participating? 

posted by erin on Mar 18

Whine, whine, whine, blah, blah, blah… 

We are all sick.  Very, very sick.  Fevers, coughing, the aches, the chills, runny noses, coughing, stomach aches, more coughing…ick, ick, ick.  Not exactly how I imagined my homecoming.  Whining and green goo.  Lovely!

It’s bad enough when it’s just one child.  It’s really bad when it’s everyone all at the same time because who inevitably gets the short end of the stick?  You got it, Mommy.  She has to take care of everyone else.  :(  I had a little pity party and a bit of a meltdown this morning, “It’s not fair that you got to call in sick and stay in bed all day while I was just as sick and still had to take care of everyone!  I wanna call in sick…waaaaaa!!!”  But we all know how that goes.

 My mom was lovely and took the girls for a few hours this afternoon and I ended up going for a massage which gave me a couple precious hours to myself.  Although the wracking cough kind of undoes the relaxing the massage did.  Sigh.

For now I’ve handed the reigns to Jer and said, “Your turn!”  I’m going to have a hot bath (as per the massage therapists orders) and snuggle up under a blanket with some tea.

Hopefully I can kick this thing quickly so that I can take care of my little people tomorrow.  

posted by erin on Mar 14

What can I say about my vacation?  It was warm.  Nuf said!  

No?  That’s not enough?  Okay, where to begin…

I wish I had stories of grand adventures to tell you.  But I don’t.  Some peoples’ idea of a holiday is being busy all the time, sightseeing, cramming every minute full.  My idea of a holiday is 80% relaxation and doing as little as possible, 20% other.  I was perfectly happy to sit my butt down on a lounge chair by the pool and just enjoy the nothingness.  I haven’t had so little to think about in 6 years and it was refreshing to empty my mind of responsibility and just be.  I forgot what it was like to feel that relaxed.  It was what I needed and I came home with a new perspective and a clear head, ready to take on life again.  

Well, that was how I felt yesterday, anyhow.  Today I’d like to be back there.  I swear my tan is already falling off in this ridiculous dryness

I guess because I’ve been there so many times, I didn’t feel the NEED to do anything.  We did a lot of the so called “touristy” things the first couple times that I was there with my family and now it’s just a place that I feel at home and able to relax.  We ate so much good food.  We played cards in the evenings.  We laughed and had fun.  We walked on the beach and swam in the ocean.  Jer and Chad went boogie boarding and hunting for lobster (which they did find and we ate).        

I spent most days lying by the pool, soaking up the sun and admiring the pool boy reading my books.  I did, however, pull myself away from my perch a few times.  We did some shopping (although all I came home with was a bottle of vanilla and a gift for my girls…the stuff doesn’t change from one year to the next and I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt…literally!).  We went to the mercado (market) one morning and bought fresh seafood for dinner.  We went to the cathedral (which I had never seen in all my trips there) and looked around for a while.  I could have spent hours there taking pictures, but it felt really disrespectful of the people that were there to worship and pray.  We took a boat tour to one of the islands across from the mainland (Deer Island) and saw sealions and dolphins and spent the afternoon on the island snorkeling, having banana boat rides and relaxing.  On our last night we went to a Mexican fiesta.

I reached a milestone while out there.  I ate seafood.  Maybe not shocking to most people, but I have spent 28 years avoiding seafood like the plague.  I have always turned my nose up at it.  Farted in it’s general direction.  Well, Mazatlan is the shrimp capital and how can you stay for two weeks in a seafood capital and not eat seafood?  I’ve done it 5 times before (this was my 6th time in Mazatlan) and it was my goal to be brave and at least try it while there.  I think I did better than that.  I ate swordfish (amazing!!), salmon, octopus, squid, lobster and shrimp.  And I actually enjoyed it!

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that yesterday when I went grocery shopping I went into the seafood section for the very first time EVER and bought salmon and made it for my family.  Jer was shocked.  The girls loved it (who thinks hearing a 5 and 3 year old exclaim, “OOOOH, this salmon is delicious!!!” is weird?).

Another milestone for me…One tequila, two tequila, three tequila…why is the world spinning?  Just kidding…kind of…let’s just say the “All you can drink margaritas” shouldn’t be taken seriously.  :D  Moving on…  

Here is my holiday in a few words (with pictures for each, of course).  

Awesome friends.

Pool.  

Sun.  

Books.  

Tequila Go Team Mango!  

 No pictures for that one…ahem.

Pina Colada.  

Beach. 

And of course there are lots and lots more pictures, but I’m not going to post them individually.  I’ll try and put together a slide show soon.  There is also one for every day on my photo blog.

All in all it was an awesome time.  The people that we travelled with were fantastic and I think everyone got along superbly.  I won’t lie, it was really tough to come back to winter, but I did miss my girls and it’s great to be back with them.  And lucky for us, the weather is on the upward swing to spring now, so it’s easier to swallow the sight of snow.  :)

posted by erin on Mar 4

Hi from sunny Mexico!  I’m alive, I’m well, and I’m on vacation!!!  See you all when I get back in a little over a week.  I’m posting pictures on my photo blog when I have a moment in my busy schedule (suntanning, drinking pina coladas, swimming, massages, etc).  Don’t be hatin’ on me