Hello FLIST!!!!
Welly well…. It’s been a while AGAIN!
Can’t believe I’ve gone from being on LJ almost every day to a mere once every few weeks. Oh well, I guess that’s what happens when RL gets too busy.
Life is good with us. Keeping busy, of course. Hubby is keeping relatively normal hours these days, which is nice, but he just announced that he’s going away for a week in March. Get this: He’s going to BC. Yep, Mr. “I don’t even ski” is going to BC over March break WITHOUT his ski-loving wife. Does anyone else find this to be just…. Well… wrong?
Once he’s done in Vancouver, he’s off to St. John’s… yep, you read that right. Now I don’t really expect any of you Non-Canadian ladies to be familiar enough with Canadian geography to know how silly this is but my response was:
“ummmm, are they trying to see how close they can come to sending you coast-to-coast without actually making you swim in both oceans?”
Cuz… really…. That’s nuts. *Shrugs* no wonder when I worked there they were always claiming they couldn’t afford to give us raises,.
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Been crazy in the winter sports / activity department.
Project Ice-Hole is in full operation right now but it keeps frakking raining around here, which wreaks havoc on the ice. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve had to literally empty the hot water tank on the rink in order to get the ice nice and smooth again. OMG… thank GOD we’re on Natural Gas and not Oil.
Skiing is going beautifully with the boys this year but holy shit it’s a lot of work with two little kids. The folks at the hill laugh their asses off when they see us coming now. First off, just getting over to the chair lift can be an adventure. When you have a six-year-old, and a four and a half-year-old, nothing happens easily. Stick a pair of skis on each of them and, well, it’s a goddamn miracle we manage to do anything at all!
Anyway, I digress… so We’ve gotten ourselves into a little routine where I will put Owen in front of us and just give him a little push every now and then to help him make his way up the line. Of course, for some reason, the lineup to the lift is on a slight incline… not much of one, but just enough slope to fuck things up for me while trying to herd two small kids along the way.
Once we get to a specific part, where the lines are corded off by rope, we’re good because Owen can just grab onto the rope and pull himself. He’s a little older, it’s his second year on skis, so he’s a little steadier than his brother and can usually manage himself once we get to a certain point. Then I can just keep Drew between my legs/skis and push him along…. OMG, I’m exhausted just trying to describe it. Now bear in mind that we haven’t even made it onto the lift yet. The kids that work the lift have gotten to know me now so I don’t have to ask them anymore they just know that once I’m ready they slow down the chair and I get the three of us lined up… then they actually stop the chair for like 5 seconds for us so that I can get the boys on safely. Now bear in mind that this lift is on the “green” side of the hill and is mostly used by beginners and people with small children so nobody minds the lift being slowed or stopped for a few seconds.
So, once we’re on the lift the rest of it is a piece of cake. Getting off is as simple as gently guiding them as they let their little bums slide off the chair and then we just slowly glide off to the side and out of the way.
The actual skiing part is a blast. Drew, who is 4, is a little natural at it. I used the harness like a total of 3 times before I tossed it and just let him go. So this past weekend I had the boys on a run and found that they were starting to get a little bit competitive. So I kept telling them to slow down. I even made them both stop at one point and read them the riot act about safety on the hill.. blah blah blah…. So on the next run we’re coming down and Owen fell. So I yell over to Drew to stop… and he didn’t. So I yelled again… this time a little louder because he’s getting farther down the hill…. He looked over his shoulder at us, and kept going. Now these runs are not very long at all so I wasn’t too concerned about losing him or anything so I figured I’d deal with him later and helped Owen up. When we got to the bottom of the hill I started to give Drew shit…. Here’s the conversation:
“DREW! Did you not hear Mommy tell you to stop?”
“I’m sorry Mommy.”
“Why didn’t you stop?”
“Because I didn’t want to.”
So now I start on a small rant again about safety blah blah blah….
“You can’t go too fast…. Blah blah blah…. It’s not safe….”
Drew tries to interrupt: “But Mommy….”
Me: “…. Don’t interrupt me while I’m speaking to you. You can’t just go off on your own….”
Drew: “Yeah, but Mommy….”
Me: “…. DREW!. Stop interrupting me. I’m trying to explain why this is so important.”
Drew: “But MOMMY!”
ME, impatiently: “What?”
Drew, with a bratty little smirk on his face... “I beat Owen down the hill.”
It was at this point that I realized that it really didn’t matter what I said. I had lost this battle the instant he realized that his brother was down and that he was going to beat him to the bottom of the hill. Boys will be boys, testosterone is testosterone, and no matter how many “Safety” lectures they get from their mother it’s never going to change.
I just shook my head, muttered something under my breath about him being a little arse, and herded them back to the chair for another run.
It should be noted that Hubby, who doesn’t ski, has been a total trouper and has come with us to the hill for their lessons so that he can help me get them ready and such. Even though I have all the equipment in a locker at the hill, it’s just so much easier if he’s there to help. I can do it by myself if I have to, but man-o-man, it sure is nice to have a hand. There’s also the added bonus of having him in the lodge when the lessons end. The one time he wasn’t with us was just nasty when it came time to find a spot for lunch. We ended up going to the car to eat lunch because there just wasn’t anywhere to sit. When hubby comes, he sits in the lodge and reads while we ski. When we come in for lunch he already has a spot set up for us so we don’t have to fight the crowds for a table.
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So the schedule so far this winter has been absolutely absurd. I swear, I don’t know how people who work outside of the home keep up. To all you ‘working moms’, I take my hat off. Here’s a glimpse of a typical week in our world
Last week:
Monday - Volunteer at school in the morning. Took Mother-in-law to appointment in afternoon. Came home, made dinner… Skated on Project Ice-Hole in evening after dinner.
Tuesday - Went Cross-Country skiing with a friend in the morning… did 8 Kilometers. Not bad for an hour and a half (we’re beginners). Boys had swimming lessons in the afternoon, then took them shopping. Came home, made dinner… Skated on Project Ice-Hole in evening after dinner.
Wednesday - Volunteer at school in the morning. Went to the Rideau Canal (7 kilometer long skating rink) with the boys for the afternoon. Started off with both boys skating… ended up doing the last 2.5 km pulling a sled with 100 pounds worth of lazy-assed children in it. Needless to say, I was a little tuckered when I got home.
Thursday - Oh how I was so very excited about Thursday…. Had NOTHING scheduled. Then Mother-in-law called and asked me to take her for some errands…. FRAK!. I could have said ‘No’…. should have said NO. But I didn’t.
Friday - ahhhhhh…. Beautiful Friday. Went cross-country skiing with my friend in the morning. Then when the kids got home I gave them a quick lunch and then off to take Mother-In-Law to another appointment. Then…. Then took in-laws home and left the kids there with them. I took off to Mt. Tremblant with a friend of mine for the night. Mt. Tremblant is a ski resort about 2 ½ hours from Ottawa. It’s the biggest place to ski in this area by far. Probably still not much compared to something out west but it’s a pretty nice place to ski. My friend’s parents have a chalet there so we try to get up at least once a year for a night. Anyway, went up Friday night, just picked up some take-out and then went to the chalet. Lit a huge fire and sat around the fireplace eating take-out, sipping wine, and playing trivial pursuit. HEAVEN
Saturday. - Skied all day…. WITH NO KIDS!!!!!!! Hello Black Diamonds!!!! Oh how I’ve missed you my friends. Came back Saturday night because the boys have ski lessons on Sunday mornings.
Sunday… took the boys skiing….. came home and did a ton of laudry. made dinner… Skated on Project Ice-Hole in evening after dinner.
and then started to prepare to start the whole thing over again on Monday….
PHEW!... yep, that’s a typical week in my life these days.
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After careful deliberation and a number of over-the-phone interviews, we’ve finally come to an official decision. I have sent off my deposit to the breeder and am anxiously awaiting the birth of our new puppy / pony. We’re getting’ a Newf.
When I told my neighbor we were getting a Newfoundland Dog she looked at me and asked: “Have you lost your mind?” When she asked me why I wanted a dog so big my reply was: “Because Chris won’t let me have a pony.” She nearly pissed herself.
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Anyway, this post is waaaaaay too long again. To any of you who actually stuck with me and read this whole thing….. kudos to ya!
I’m really going to try to post a little more often and then maybe I won’t feel the need to cram six weeks worth of news into one post…
HUGS to Y’ALL.