made another thing

Ha ha -- look at me, turning into a crafty person. I made this to hang in my kitchen as a reminder. I used the Cricut to cut everything out. It took about 10 minutes altogether. I'm looking for a frame now (note to self: making a picture to fit a frame is far easier than finding a frame to fit a picture!).



These are the steps in my new house. And my slippered feet.

Here is a picture of Aaron on the couch in our new place. We still don't have a curtain in that window. Soon!





Here is Sam and his cousin Erica colouring. Those two get along so great.

I made something!

Two somethings! Two greeting cards for the Autumn card swap I'm participating in through Swap-bot. I figured this would be a good way to force myself to do something creative. I had lost of fun and plan to do more. I prefer a simpler card without a lot of embellishments but I'm willing to branch out. Here are the cards I made:

Card # 1



I used the Cricut to cut out the word "explore" and the tree picture is a detail element from a page of a vintage children's book I saw on Flickr.


Card # 2




I don't know the names of the papers I used -- I got them from the Dollar Store (LOVE the Dollar Store!).

I'm going to be working on my next swap -- Holiday gift tags. I got some excellent books out the library that have really got my creative juices flowing. Just need to pick up some Christmas-y paper.

As for the wilderness i.e. my house, we are doing pretty good. All moved in and almost all unpacked. I'll be posting pictures soon. The room colours in the house are -- strong. These people were not afraid of colour! And I need to come up with some more curtain. But I LOVE the house!

Back at it

well, I'm back from Ireland and, after recovering from a little illlness I brought with me (note to self: do not cross the Atlantic without going to the bathroom again!), i'm putting in a quick blog post. Pictures will follow once Mother Dearest downloads them from her camera. I didn't take mine because it is as old as the hills.

In less than 24 hours

I will be on the plane, heading to Toronto, first stop on the way to Ireland. Mom and I are going to spend a couple of days with my sister, then head across the pond. I'm trying to find something to occupy the loooooonnnnnggg flight. Other than sleeping, which I'm planning to do a lot of. I have to go light on the books (and the library hasn't been showing me any love lately) but I found a new scarf pattern I might try to my for my neice.

See, I do do crafts.

Oh, note the new link on the site for artsy-crafty babe. Gotta love anyone who calls themselves a babe but her blog is great fun besides that.

the black hole

ohhh, i've got a bad case of the crazies. leaving for Ireland in 3 days and i don't have a thing packed. Moving to the new house in 7 days and have hardly anything packed. I am, however, caught up completely at work and since i don't want to start anything new right now, am sitting here doing nothing. ugh. with a headache and either allergies or a cold. i'm hoping allergies. i haven't posted any pictures because i can't find my camera cord. Again. i lose it everytime i download pictures. it's not in any of the reasonable places. i'll have to check the unreasonable ones next. Toyboxes, shoes, stack of towels.

My mom and I are convinced our houses contain black holes. things go missing and are never seen again. we never did find Nathan's glow-in-the-dark soother. and Mom is still missing a half a loaf of bread. Currently my black hole is holding:

my good mascara
one set of car keys
the camera cord
my blue hoodie
Aaron's sexy jeans
Sam's black hoodie

I'm hoping some of these will turn up as we move. What has gone missing into your black hole?

meh

So, this is a day that started going bad last night and hasn't improved by me forgetting to take my anti-crazy drugs (as the darling children call them). Now i'm sitting at work in a cranky funk wishing everyone would leave me alone and listening to aggressive metal music through YouTube.

I've been reading a lot of crafty type blogs and books lately (see favourites in side bar) which are nice to read but when i get in this frame of mind make me feel bad because i don't lead their happy, homeschooling, creative lives. i work full time at a Top Secret Paragovernmental(emphasis on the MENTAL) agency. by the time i get home and find all my children, throw something vaguely nurtrious at them and (if i remember) get them started on their homework, any creative energy i have is used in coming up with ever more terrible things that will happen to them if they don't stop arguing and DO THEIR HOMEWORK NOW!

meh, maybe i wasn't cut out to be a mother. or parent. i think i was meant to be a cat.

Awesome Crafting Blog

I just came across this awesome crafting blog. Mique (pronounced Mickey) had collected links and tutorials and just plain great crafting ideas all in one spot. I love it! Pop over and check her stuff out.

30 things I like about my apartment

things 27 to 1 -- nothing!! we're moving!!! We got a house in town with a BIG yard, right across the street from the sitter's and the park. We move October 1 -- the best month of the year. And by "me" I mean Aaron because I am leaving for two weeks in Ireland on September 27. Thank god he is the Most Wonderful Man in the World and an excellent decorator to boot.

I just don't want to

I'm making a packing list. I'm going to Ireland the end of this month for a couple of weeks and I'm trying to figure out what I need to take. Trouble is, I don't want to go.

I've been fighting this thought for months. At first I figured it was because Aaron and the boys weren't going -- it's just my mom, my sister and me. Then I thought maybe it was because it was just my mom, my sister and me and two weeks is a long time to be with people you haven't lived with in years. Then I thought it was because I didn't know which relatives I would be staying with, or I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the kids while I was gone or that I was using up too much vacation. I finally realized why I don't want to go.

I don't want to say goodbye to my dad. Dad died unexpectedly in May and we are using his "estate" money to take his ashes to Ireland. I'm not big into reality and I've kind of been pretending in my head that he isn't dead, he's just visiting in Ireland and he'll be back in a couple of weeks. Once we go over there, the pretending will end and my dad won't be visiting, he'll be gone. And I don't want him to be gone.

30 things I like about my apartment

Thing number 28 -- my apartment is always nice and warm in the winter. seriously warm. T-shirt and shorts warm and this is from someone who is always freezing. And since my last house was huge and seemingly un-insulated, I enjoyed the warmth last winter, especially since I wasn't paying for it.

30 things I like about my apartment

Thing # 29 -- It's nice and cool in the summer. Right now it's really hot out but lovely and cool down here in the Morgue. i don't have a cool picture to post.

Mixed Martial Arts and Crafts

HA! This is funny. We are huge MMA fans, with the exception of me. This is more my style.

from http://www.soberinanightclub.com/

30 things I like about my apartment

Since we are going to be in this apartment for a while, I've decided I need to look at the good things about it. For the next 30 days I'll be telling and showing you what there is to like about the place I live.

Thing 1 -- Wide window sills for the cats.

This is Miss Kittee looking out the window. All our window sills are this wide and the cats love them. And yes, the screen is torn. Jack pushed his head through it in order to get outside without actually walking to the designated window.

This is Jack on top of the TV stand, hiding from the hurricane.

Bill is visiting

The rain has started -- Hurricane Bill is visiting Nova Scotia. Depending on which storm watch you follow, the eye will either pass right over us or drift out into the Atlantic. We are all prepared with our 72 hour kit and actually, kind of excited. We love storms!

Assuming we will be losing power soon, as it's starting to shut down around Peggy's Cove, I'll be back later to let you know how we fared. Another benefit to living in the basement!

Re-arranging

The Most Wonderful Man in the World was busy yesterday. He is on vacationi (yay!) and re-arranged our living room. I had just jammed stuff in there because I am not a decorator. It looked -- okay. Like a room with furniture in it. Aaron moved some furniture out, some furniture in, taking care to decorate around The Drip (another story). It looks so cozy now! We even hung a picture. If we have to stay in the morgue for a little while longer, we might as well make it look homey.

this is the Most Wonderful Man in the World (MWMW).

I love him very much. I love how he came into my life and rearranged everything so that I am cozy now.

Bad Mother Chronicles

This morning as I left for work at the ungodly hour of 6:15 AM I realized Sam was up. Still up. As in hadn't gone to bed yet. Since last night.

Now, we've all pulled all-nighters but Sam is eight years old. He spent all night up playing video games. and I didn't know because, well, I forgot about him. With Liam in Toronto for three weeks Sam has been so quiet (no arguing!) that I actually forgot he was in the house. He doesn't seem the worse for wear. Actually, he was pretty impressed with himself. I told him he wasn't allowed to sleep ALL DAY so he will be good and tired tonight.

Good mothers do not forget their children. Mind you, more than once during my childhood my mother sat down with the family for supper and declared "Oh my god, I forgot Kate at her piano lessons", so the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. And I can pass for being normal on a good day.

pain

pinched. nerve. so much pain. back soon

Bloom in the Black Disgusting Hole Where You Are Planted

Well, we didn't get the apartment. Sigh. oh well, i guess i'll just keep looking. i had high hopes for this one . . .

Right now we are in a crappy apartment in a really crappy building. A building with a bad reputation. But we needed a place quick and this building always has space available. We've been here almost 9 months now and i still haven't started decorating or doing much to make it homey because i have been hoping to move.

Our apartment is in the basement of an old hospital that has been made into apartments. While i'm sure the apartment building has a name, everyone calls it the old hospital. We are in what used to be the morgue i believe. Interesting note: Aaron was born in this hospital, in what is now the laundry room. Anyway, being in the basement, it's dark. and kind of damp. and you have to stand no a chair to look out the window.

Anyway, i guess i'm going to try to bloom where i am planted and i'm challenging myself to this: Everyday i will post a picture either of something i do like about the apartment or something i've changed to make it better.

anyway, i have a tub of icing that needs eating right now.

About me

hmm, usually i see a little blurb near the top to put in the "about me". I'll do that when i figure out how.

I am a divorced mother of 3 ADHD boys, am ADD myself and now partnered with the most wonderful and patient man in the world. I write, bake, craft a little, read a lot, spend way too much time on the internet and not nearly enough time cleaning.

uhhh, i'll likely add to this as i become more interesting.

I heart cats

I love cats, truly I do. I am currently owned by two cats, Jack and Kittee.

Jack is 11 years old and we got him at a time when we were having a rat/mouse problem. Traps and poison weren't working so I determined we needed a cat. Jack arrived as a tiny bundle of fluff, not bigger than a mouse himself. I waited until he was 6 months old before letting him in the basement where the mice were. (I call them mice because I am afraid of rats). He came back up a couple of days later all sleek and happy and we didn't have any more mice problems after that.

Kittee is 3 years old. We rescued her from a skeezy apartment building as a small kitten. She was so tiny we thought she was much younger than she was -- until she surprised us with kittens! She's since been fixed but she won't grow much bigger the vet say, due to her young pregnancy. She is a delicate little sweetheart who loves to drop "presents" on our bed in the mornings. Furry presents. Furry presents without heads sometimes.

Brotherly Love

After a whole day of insulting his brother and finally being threatened with loss of computer priviledges, Liam turned to Sam and said "Please hand me the remote, oh kind and loving brother."

Sam handed him the remote and said "I'm not loving but I am kind."

My boys.

quiet

With the two boys off to swimming and my wonderful man at work last night, i actually had an hour or so of quiet. This is so rare in our household that I hardly wanted to move in case I made a sound. Eventually I did move -- washed dishes, made bread. Went for a walk with my mom.

The quiet ended when Sam came through the door after swimming with stories of everyone he met on the way home ("she had a big dog, Mom, but it was friendly."). Liam decided to spend the night with a friend, so it was just Sam and me for the rest of the night. Time with Sam can never be considered "quiet" (that boy never stops talking!) but it was quieter, relaxing and peaceful. And the apartment smelled of fresh baked bread.

at this moment . . .

• I am procrastinating at work
• I am eating peanut butter cups -- delicious, delicious peanut butter cups
• I am anxiously waiting to hear about a duplex we would like to rent. Our current apartment is horrible. Very horrible.
• I am looking forward to my vacation.

Demon's Point

A hot sunny Saturday means swimming! Aaron suggested we go to a place from his childhood -- Demon's Point. It's the front part of a dam, so it's practically bottomless but the real attraction is the cliffs to jump off. They call them the 20, the 40 and the 60. It's supposed to be how many feet high they are but it's not by any means accurate.

Liam standing at the 60 -- decisions, decisions


Justin jumps . . .


then Liam goes for it!

Jumping isn't the only adventure -- getting to Demon's Point is challanging of itself. First you go doooowwwwwnnnn (straight down) a hill through the woods. Then you cross a brook. Then you go uuuuppppppp a hill steep enough that you're grabbing onto treee roots to haul yourself up. then you climb down a rock cliff. Lots of fun. Aaron keeps forgetting that I am delicate and not suited to exertion.


Sam climbing UP the hill



Sam and Aaron on the top ridge

Regardless, the boys loved it. Sam even jumped off a low ledge (lifejacket on, of course) after Aaron swam him across. But he made it back on his own!












Sam and Aaron swimming, Sam's feet, Sam's sneakers and the shoes I apparently felt were appropriate to climb a mountain in.