Write it Down!!!

I have learned over the years to write ideas down when they pop into my head or else I forget them. It takes a lot of discipline to do this since most of my ideas come at the most inopportune moments, like just when I'm drifting off to sleep. To counter this problem, I usually have a notebook and a pen beside my bed. I've also purchased a digital voice recorder for when I'm driving or otherwise engaged and unable to pen something. Usually this works great!

However, there are times that I am just too dang tired to want to get up. It is times like these that it is easy to delude myself into thinking, "oh I'll remember... I'll tell myself to remember and I'll remember". Yeah, guess what...I never do remember my idea. What I do remember is how important it is to write it down no matter how tired I am. I have learned that these moments are my subconscious' way of sneaking through and saying PSYCHE!!!!! Hahahaha fooled you... It dangles the carrot of a great idea in front of me and then yanks it away when I am too lazy to make good on it right away. Impatient my subconscious is!!

I blog about this today because this very thing happened to me last night. I was laying on the couch, vegging and watching my older girl on the computer. As I watched her I had this great idea for a blog... but alas I was tired and the pens were all the way upstairs (remember I haven't fully unpacked yet), so I told myself I would remember.

SURPRISE!!!!

I didn't remember...hence this lovely ramble. Next time I will just get up and write it down.

Exhaustion

We are all moved, well pretty much. There are still a few odds and ends at the old place, along with the cleaning. My wonderful roommate left all the cleaning for my girls and I... this includes all the leaves that need to be raked in the backyard. Oh well, I suppose that means ALL the damage deposit that gets returned will be mine. I shouldn't really be surprised at his leavings.

I was slightly annoyed bordering on a healthy rage when I found garbage and empties belonging to him left in the basement, but got over it as there's no point in being angry. Anger is not going to clean it up, the girls and I are.

We spent my entire week off moving and making sure the new house was unpacked enough to provide the girls with a feeling of home when I went back to work on Wed. Sleep, rest and relaxation were things I could only dream of, in fact, it was like I had to come back to work to get rest. Now I'm back and I can't wait for my days off. I am exhausted. It requires great effort just to remain upright and keep my eyes open. At this point any action taken is a huge exertion.

There will be no rest for me until after the 29th (that's the first day off in the next set of days off and will be the day I will spend cleaning the old place), but let me tell you ... as soon as the rug shampooer is gone on the 30th I am going home and curling up into the fetal position and then I am not moving for the next few days.

I know that won't happen because I am a driven person and there is still much to unpack, however, I am going to rest on the 30th. I need a day to step back, to find myself again and my inner peace. I need to relax. Right now I feel like I have been going mach 9 forever and my engine is screaming .... STOOOOOPPPPPPP!!!!

I also wonder, if I'm feeling this exhausted, how must my girlies be feeling? They worked so hard this past little while. Without their help we would still be in between homes. I am definitely blessed to have such wonderful children. I am so proud of them, they worked steadily and without complaint. They saw tasks to be done and they did them. They will be receiving a well deserved treat...I'm just not sure what yet. I have amazing girls!!!

As I sit here, bleary eyed, feeling like I haven't slept in years.... I can't help but think the 30th can't come soon enough.

PS: I am blogging from work because my home internet is not yet hooked up, but that in itself is a whole other story. Gotta love Telus, and that's all I have to say about that (for now)

Fast Food Follies

Incident One:

Recently there have been a few events that have caused my blood pressure to rise a few notches blood to boil.

As I have stated we are in the process of moving, so culinary skills have sort of been forgotten to some degree and we have acquainted ourselves with drive-thrus. I went to the Dairy Queen near my house and began to place my order. It was very simple really. I wanted a cheeseburger, well done with extra cheese, combo, coke to drink as well as an order of onion rings, and two blizzards for my girls who had eaten earlier. Little Barbie "not quite out of middle school" Bimbette couldn't seem to wrap her head around my order. She totally butchered it when she read it back to me, apparently as well as means "instead of" so she figured I wanted the combo with O rings instead of fries. I patiently repeated my order.

We went through this gong show FOUR times. FOUR TIMES PEOPLE!!!!!!! Is there anyone who would not have been frustrated by this point? Seriously, if she hasn't gotten it after four tries, it's not happening. I felt like I was at the Special Olympics of the fast food service. I wanted to get out my green crayola and draw her a picture. I was gnashing my teeth and my knuckles were turning white as I gripped my steering wheel harder and harder. I told her to forget my order, I'd go elsewhere. Then little Miss "I wear a headset at the drive-thru window so I can act anyway I want" says, "Don't you be rude to me, there is no need for you to be rude" (Envision your teen daughter talking to you in anger with the head bob/finger snapping going on). While I wasn't rude to this point, her comment raised my hackles and I replied, "Sweetheart, believe me when I tell you I have not yet begun to be rude.... BUT I can begin if you'd like" At this point I figured it was in my best interest to just back away. So I did, I backed out of the drive-thru and came home.

Once at home I phoned the restaurant to speak to the manager. Of course he wasn't in. I got Lil Johnny on the phone who informed me with a snicker that the manager wasn't in. So I asked how it was that there was a restaurant full of unsupervised pre-pubescent pimply faced staff...SURPRISE!!!!!! There was an assistant manager on duty. Imagine my joy when the assistant manager could barely speak English. *sigh* I expressed my displeasure to him, not really expecting anything. He kept saying sorry, but that's not what I wanted. He asked for my number, I refused to give it. As far as I am/was concerned Dairy Queen is no longer on my go to places. Especially when you count this current incident with the one I blogged about before http://fnygrl68.blogspot.com/2008/05/cold-burgerdirty-bathroom.html

They must have call display because it wasn't too long until the manager called me. He said that he'd received my concerns and felt awful. What could he do to make me happy he wondered, could he send me some coupons. I said NO. I wasn't complaining for free food, I was complaining on principle. I was complaining because what happened to customer service and the customer is always right??? I was complaining because I was tired of constantly complaining about the state of customer service and not doing anything about it. I told him that it is easy to walk away from somewhere disgruntled and disgusted by the service received, but how could one expect any changes if nothing is ever said. Perhaps if more people stood up and took a stand saying "we're not gonna take it anymore" change would come. I told him that as such, I would no longer be a patron of his establishment. I thanked him for his time and ended the call.

Yes, I may be just one voice, but I am one voice that spoke up. I am one voice that said I will not stand for this type of service. It is my patronage that pays your wage and I for one am telling you... YOU'RE FIRED!!

Incident Two:

On Monday morning I decided to stop at the McDonald's on my way to work for breaky. Usually it is fast service so I wasn't concerned that I would be running late. So I enter the drive-thru lane and stop at the speaker box. It should also be noted that another vehicle pulled in behind me immediately and there was not a note to be seen anywhere on the menu.

The drive-thru nazi came on line, "Good Morning welcome to Mcdonald's I need to tell you that our interact machine is down. Will that affect your order?"

Uuuuh, hell yeah that's going to affect my order and now I'm STUCK in this drive-thru lane, wasting my time with no food at the end. I was livid to say the least.

I told her that I would not be placing an order and wondered aloud why it was only stated AFTER one was locked into the drive-thru lane. Her response, "I'm sorry Ma'am but it's the best we could do".

I'm sorry you moronic drive-thru drone, but NO that's not the best you can do...You could have an employee standing OUTSIDE, BEFORE the drive-thru lane letting people know that the interact machine is down. You could have been pro-active so that this fiasco could have been avoided.

So there I sat, for FIFTEEN minutes because that was the day they chose not to be "fast food". Now, not only have I wasted fifteen minutes of my life that I'll never get back, I still have no breakfast. Me without breakfast in the morning is NOT a pretty sight.

Finally I was out of drive-thru hell. I backtracked 4 blocks to the A&W and placed my order there. The people were friendly and capable. Most importantly their interact machine worked!!!!!

I think A&W will be my new breaky go to place when I decide to make that stop on the way to work.

Incident Three:

Yesterday I wanted coffee to take with me to the new house when I went over there to do a few things. I drove to the closest Tim Horton's to my house and got in line. Anyone who has ever gone to a Timmy's in the morning knows that it is a gong show. It is like a herd of cattle battling to get to the feed trough first.

This particular Tim's is in a complex that also has a Save-On Foods, a McDonald's (notice I didn't go there) and a bunch of other stores. So when the line for the Timmy's drive-thru is backed up, cars can be lined up to the opposite entrance. Now courtesy dictates that you not block any of the lanes to the parking lot of Save-On Foods, thus you have small breaks in the line every two cars or so.

As I am sitting in line, waiting not so patiently (I hate waiting) a white pick-up comes down the lane from the Save-On parking lot. He can see the line of cars in front of and behind me, I mean you'd have to be severely focally challenged not to. Since I know that he can see and obviously knows that this is a line for Tim's I assumed that he was leaving the store parking lot. Yeah, note to self...ASSUME NOTHING!!!!

This freak of nature CUT in front of me and got in line.

I took a deep cleansing breath. Pried my fingers off my steering wheel and did some relaxation exercises. I would not allow that jackass to ruin my day, I would not. There are just some people in this world for whom common sense and courtesy are too difficult to grasp, let alone practice.

All was right again. I had found my happy place. I was smiling. Then it happened.

A small car came from the opposite direction and turned as though he was going into the Save-On parking lot. But then.... he reversed and then pulled in front of me, behind dickwad number one blocking the entry to the Save-On parking lot. I had to blink my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The rage bubbled over. I laid on my horn and practiced my arm waving and hand gesturing. I think he could read lips never mind the sign language I was sending him. He moved out of the area.

As I watched him he drove up past the front of the line and pulled to the entrance to the drive-thru almost blocking the entrance completely. He had left enough room for small cars to get by. Soon it was time for the truck in front of me to enter the drive-thru, he had to hop the curb to avoid hitting Mr. Asshat I'm Too Cool for the Line Dickhead Nuimber Two.

Then, to my utter astonishment this asshole pulls in behind the truck AGAIN cutting me off and butting in. He had the audacity to look in his mirror and smirk. I hope he felt like a big man all day. I hope he felt like he'd accomplished something with his day. In my world he has succeeded in showing me what an ignorant bully he is. How very immature, sly, sneaky and underhanded he is.

All I have to say is ... and people wonder why I believe in selective thinning of the herd. Why I can understand how people are driven to perform violent acts upon others. Why I think our world is on a hell bent path to self-destruction.

This people is why.

Little Girls are Sugar 'n' Spice 'n' Mouth Guards and Sticks!!

Yesterday was my baby girl's first EVER ice hockey game/practice. I took a couple of hours away from work so that I would be able to take her. My heart did little flip flops as I helped her with her gear and then watched her take the first tentative strides toward the bench. She was nervous ... at least that's what she said, but it sure didn't show.

I laughed as I was helping her dress because the more stuff we put on the more worried she was became. She kept saying, "Mom, I don't think I'm going to be able to skate with all this on." I kept reassuring her that she would be able to.

Look at her:

How cute is this little face behind the mask?

She was amazing!!! She is one of those lucky people who is a natural at whatever sport she plays. Hockey doesn't seem to be any different. She innately seemed to know where to position herself, when to go in and when to hang back. She showed no fear and dove right into the action.

That's her in the blue with her back to us on the left... in front of the orange dude.

She even had a very close scoring opportunity which I almost missed because I was changing lenses on my camera, shhh don't tell her. It was difficult taking photos through the glass whilst shivering, many of my shots were blurry but at least her first time was documented.

She has the puck !!! Go girl, go!!

It was so exciting to watch her. It made my heart go pitty-pat. I used to play and she shares my love for the game. She looked like an old pro. Watching her with the other kids one couldn't tell that it was her first time playing.

She is the one in the middle on both these photos. She kept up with the other kids, and went into the corner and fought for the puck. I think she's played somewhere before...in a past life, because she sure didn't look like a rookie player.

Well, except for maybe here:

She dropped the water bottle and couldn't pick it up. Pesky, bulky hockey gloves anyway!!!!!

She is playing in a pond hockey league as opposed to the minor hockey league in our city. Anyone who has ever played organized hockey will know what I mean when I say some hockey parents can really ruin it for some kids and the league here is no exception. When I first phoned to inquire about registering her the woman I spoke to was rather snobbish when I mentioned that my girl had not played before. She then went on to haughtily explain that the girls team was a "travelling" team and it was very expensive. So I asked about the Pee Wee C team in the league, her reply was "if I wanted my little girl getting hit all over the ice by a bunch of boys then by all means put her on that team". My reply... Thanks for making my decision easier. We'll save $450 and put her in pond hockey.

The pond hockey league is more laid back. It truly IS just about having fun and being a part of a team. There is a lot of parent involvement, in a good and positive way. All kids, all ability levels are accepted and encouraged. If there is a child who can't afford the $100 sign up fee or equipment then help is given so that the child can play. The philosophy is that ALL kids deserve the opportunity to experience the great sport of hockey.

Just to give you an example of how great the people are: When we arrived at the rink we were a bit late due to the fact that I got hung up at work a bit. One of the Dads showed us our dressing room and then made sure the girl got to her bench. He and I began to chat. Through the course of the conversation I mentioned that we were late because I'd had to leave work. He told me that if there were ever any games/practices that I couldn't get her to because of work he and his daughter would be more than happy to give her a ride. The coach's wife also offered the same thing. I am going to like this pond hockey league. It really felt like we been a part of this team forever.

I look forward to this upcoming season. To seeing her develop her skills and abilities. To watch her confidence grow. To seeing her blossom both as a player and team member, as well as an individual. Most of all I am looking forward to strapping on my skates and showing her some moves!!!!

Look out Hayley Wickenheiser ... there's a new kid in town!!!!

Sunsets

I love sunsets.

At the end of the day it is just so relaxing to sit outside and watch the sun go down. It is the end of a day well spent. A time for reflection.

Sunsets never fail to make me feel good. No matter what my day has been like, the beauty of a sunset takes my breath away and brings a sense of peace and well-being to my soul.

This particular sunset was taken from my friends deck in a rural area just after a thunderstorm. Everything smelled so fresh and clean, and then nature gave us this beautiful gift.

Tangled and Jumbled

This is how I feel right now:

Tangled and jumbled and pulled into a billion different directions. I feel like I'm branching out all over and not really coming together.

I am constantly reminding myself that there is light through the maze. That soon I will feel peace and serenity once again. This is a crazy time and I find myself losing to the chaos at times.

I want to feel the way this picture makes me feel:

Calm and content. Relaxed.

Soon I will feel this way again. Only a few more weeks of chaotic living. Of feeling like I need to be super woman, in fifty different places at once.

Are you sure none of you would like to help?

WHYYYYY...

Why doesn't it look like I've packed anything....

Why do kids have to think they know more than we do when we try to tell them something...

Why aren't there little fairies that come visit in the night and pack up my house...

Why is it only when I have lots of physical work that needs doing that I truly miss having a man in my life....

Why can't I just be like Samantha on "Bewitched" and wiggle my nose then everything would be done....

Why

I want to know

Packing

I hate moving. I've been packing for the last couple of days ... I'm sick of it already, but I have a long way to go yet.

How do we end up with so much shit tucked away in cupboards, closets and drawers?? I seriously need to downsize and get rid of some crap.

Thankfully I already have keys to the house we are moving into and am able to cart stuff over as it's packed. Today we took a truckload over and tomorrow we'll do the same. This is a bonus because I REALLY detest living amongst boxes.

I will be hit and miss for posting on my blog for the next little while, however I am finding time to read my faves. If I am gone for longer than a month please send a search team, I've fallen into a box and was not able to get out.