Weekend Photos

Abby's birthday cake with the chocolate ganache. It was so yummy and so easy to make!

I'm not sure that I could go back to regular icing.

Casey after a day at the emergency room. He is usually the one that will absolutely freak out over the smallest scrape, but he handled a dislocated finger extremely well!

Abby having breakfast in bed for her birthday.

Abby opening gifts at her party. Imagine 12 girls surrounding the birthday girl, all trying to see the action and begging to have their gift opened next. I'm lucky to have gotten as close as I did for this shot!

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Abby's Room

It is that time again when I can no longer tolerate the mess in my children's bedrooms and must take action. I would love for my kids to take more responsibility for their rooms and possessions, and we are constantly offering instruction, or nagging, to that effect. It doesn't work; at least not very well. Here are some photos of Abby's room taken just a few minutes ago. Now I must admit that I am responsible for a bit of the mess in these pictures as I had already been at work prior to taking the shots. Hmmm, upon a second look, you really can't see too much of my mess! The blue garbage bags are my handiwork though: one for clothes too small and one for garbage. Both
bags are equally full!

So far, I have gone through all her drawers of clothing. There are a few items that can't be put away or tossed until Abby is home to try them on. I have also gone through the bins of toys in her closet. The amount of junk this girl amasses is astounding! Why couldn't I have given birth to a child that loves order and neatness? Instead, I got the slobs.

I don't think I will get much more done in there today, and I don't know how much, if anything, I will get done tomorrow because of work. Thursday is my only other day off this week, so I suppose that I should finish the room then. There is no way that I want
the process to take more than a couple
of days or it will never get done!




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Long Weekend

What a looong weekend that was!

Abby's birthday party went well considering that there were a grand total of 13 girls in our house. The tea party idea didn't go exactly as planned. I had planned on serving the punch in my fancy tea cups but opted not to do that. I'm quite glad. Those girls were animals! It wasn't as drastic as it sounds, but they were loud and hyper and all over the place. I was picking up pieces of wrapping paper in the living room, dining room, the kitchen and the hallway long after the presents had been opened. When the girls left, Kane had to bring out the vacuum for all the small pieces of shredded paper used to stuff one gift bag; several of the girls thought it would be fun to throw it all over the place and carry it in their pockets. I didn't think it was so much fun.

Abby had fun though which is good as this is not going to occur again. No more massive birthday parties! I don't care how many friends she has or how popular she is.

The cake turned out better than I had hoped it would. The ganache was so easy to make that I will definitely be using it again.

So, Saturday was a long day. The party was only three hours long but it could have been twenty for how tired we were after. Sam had a hockey game that evening, which was a nice change of pace and volume.

Sunday was going to be a different day than it turned out to be. We were going to go to church. Kane and Casey were going to check out a basketball program at the rec. centre in the afternoon, and Sam had a hockey game at 4:15pm. I didn't have anything specific to do, but I was expecting to something quiet and enjoyable at home. The only thing that really happened was Sam's hockey game! We did make it to church. Casey and Abby were in their Sunday school classes, while Kane, Sam and I were in the service. Worship had just recently ended, the offering was about to be taken, and then one of Casey's teachers was at our pew whispering to Kane. It seemed that Casey had badly sprained his finger, so Kane left to check it out. The offering was finished and the pastor was preparing to deliver his sermon when I noticed Casey's teacher working his way back up the balcony stairs. Uh oh. Sure enough, he came back to our pew.

He told me that Casey needed to be taken to the hospital. I grabbed Sam, pulled Abby out of her class, and we met up with Kane and Casey in the lobby. Casey was crying and in obvious pain. The pinky finger on his right hand was pointing out at an awkward angle which sent shudders up and down my spine. Apparently, the kids in Casey's class had been playing a game and Casey tripped and fell, hitting his hand against the heavy wooden base of an easy chair. He later said that it hadn't hurt immediately, but he noticed it was pointing outwards so he showed his leader. Then it started to hurt.

There is a doctor that attends our church, and he had been pulled out of the service before I was in order to take a look at the finger. He felt around and tried to put it back in place without success. He was the one that said we should go to the hospital as it was most likely dislocated or broken. Kane dropped Casey and I off at the hospital emergency room shortly after 10am where we began the waiting game. I don't have enough time to tell about all the interesting things that happened during our wait, so I'll just stick to the facts.

After x-rays were taken, the doctor told us that it was indeed dislocated and the finger had also twisted. They were going to sedate Casey in order to put the finger back where it belonged and then put a cast on. We waited some more until a bed was available; it was very busy and crowded. Eventually, they brought us to one of the trauma rooms where Casey was hooked up to a heart monitor, blood pressure, oxygen, and an IV before I was shooed out of the room. Within 15-20 minutes, I was called back in and Casey was already awake and sporting a blue cast on his right arm. He was groggy and actually rather spacey. Three times he looked at his arm and remarked, "Oh, I have a cast!" as if he had forgotten since the last time he had looked a minute before. After some of the dizziness had worn off, we were free to go.

Kane picked us up around 3pm, we stopped for a bite to eat for Casey and I, not having eaten anything since breakfast! Then, we were off to Sam's hockey game. Finally, shortly after 6pm, Casey and I were back at home for the first time since we left for church around 9:10am. It was a very long day. I was worried that Casey would be difficult to get to sleep, but he fell asleep almost instantly. I fear that tonight will not be so quick though. He tends to focus on all the things that might prevent him from sleeping to the point that he can't fall asleep. Last night was an anomaly, probably because of the "excitement" of the day.

So, he didn't get to do the basketball. His class at school is in the midst of weekly swim lessons. He'll miss half of the classes. The cast only needs to stay on for three weeks, but it is a long time when he thinks about all the things that he won't be able to do or may not be able to do as well.

I'll post some pictures from the weekend later. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I didn't have the camera with me to take any 'before' photos of Casey's finger.

Frustrating Friday

Can I start this day over fresh?

I didn't sleep too well last night. Yesterday I noticed that my eyes were tearing frequently and there was a scratchiness making its' presence known in my throat. A cold was on its' way. As I slept, or more appropriately, tossed and turned, my throat became more sore and my nose stuffed up. Fun.

So, yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from Westjet saying that a parcel was there for Abby. I was at momentarily stunned. I easily deduced that the parcel was a birthday present from my brother-in-law and family, but we've never had parcels sent or picked up at the airport before. I inquired as to where exactly I needed to go to pick it up and was told at the airport. Okay, I don't exactly have a lot of experience with airlines and airports, so last night I popped into the Westjet departure area to ask where I should go to pick up this parcel. The five or six idle employees hanging about were very friendly and eager to help, but they told me that I needed to go to Westjet cargo which was in a completely different building down the way; however, that building closed at 5:30pm and it was now 5:45pm. One of the employees was in radio contact with someone in that building, so he told me that he'd let them know I was on my way. Maybe a minute later, I find the cargo building but the door is locked and nobody answered my repeated knocks on the door.

This morning, I went to the airport to try again knowing that they would be open. This time, the woman in cargo told me that she didn't have any parcel for me and no idea what I was talking about. She sent me home to call my brother-in-law for a tracking number before she could properly help me. I was far from impressed but I went back into town. A trip to Wal-Mart was almost a complete waste of my time. They didn't have anything that I was looking for and what they did have wasn't the right size. I opted to skip another errand until after I was able to track down this parcel, so I went home and called the in-laws. Of course, they couldn't find the receipt or tracking number and promised to call me back shortly. Meanwhile, there was a knock at the door. Canada Post was dropping off a parcel for Abby from the in-laws. Go figure! I called them back to ask if this was the only parcel. No, they had sent two and still hadn't found the paperwork. After several attempts, I finally got through to the Westjet number that called me yesterday and asked about this parcel. She had it right in front of her, but she was at Westjet baggage, not cargo! At least she apologized to me for the other employees directing me to the wrong building; that wasn't her fault. The third time was a charm. I once again went to the airport, paid a dollar for less than 5 minutes of parking, and got the parcel.

What I want to know is, if two parcels are sent at the same time and in the same manner, from the same person, to the same address, why was one delivered to my door but I had to pick up the other from the airport? It doesn't make sense to me.

Half my day was gobbled up by this parcel; a day that I wanted to spend at home doing things that needed doing at home.

My kitchen is currently smelling a little burned. On my to-do list for today was baking Abby's birthday cake for her party tomorrow. On a whim, I decided that I would make an angel food cake for her birthday to have tonight with the family. I also decided to make the angel food cake first. The problem? I don't have a tube pan, only a bundt pan. I did read the directions first and noted with dismay the instruction NOT to use a bundt pan, but I'm sure that I have used it before. Of course, the cake rose high above the edge of the pan and dripped onto my brand new oven. The oven has now officially been welcomed into my kitchen! Actually, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and I've already cleaned up most of it. At least the self-cleaning feature will work on this oven...

The party cake is now in the oven which smells like burnt angel food cake. I wonder if these cakes will come out level? The party cake will be a round, two layer cake with chocolate ganache; at least that is the plan. I've never actually made ganache before, but it doesn't look too difficult. There are only two ingredients: heavy cream and chocolate. How hard can it be?!

It is now 1:30pm and my house looks like a disaster; hardly what I envisioned it would look like at this point in the day. I am so glad that I didn't have to work yesterday or today! I'm also very glad that I decided to make a detour to the library yesterday rather than waiting until today. There were two books being held for me which needed to be picked up by Sunday or I would revert to the end of the line again. I enjoy our library, but it is kind of out of the way so I need to be intentional about going there.

Abby will be home in an hour. Casey is staying after school to play some floor hockey. Both boys have ball hockey tonight at 5pm, while Sam will also be playing ball hockey at 9pm with the senior boys. It's going to be a late night! I'm already envisioning a nice steaming mug of Neo-Citran to soothe my throat and help me sleep. Tomorrow will be insane.

Another day over, another week set to begin. Life is busy and just doesn't seem to slow down. I was so exhausted after work on Saturday that I had a short nap before we went to Sam's hockey game that night. The game was exciting with the return of one of our players after a prolonged absence due to political issues. I'm sure that his finally being allowed to play with us again had a huge impact on our team. We won 6-0!

Today's game didn't have as happy a result. We lost 6-4, but we were really pouring on the heat in the third period. We started the game rather flat-footed while the other team came out firing on all cylinders, scoring two quick goals. Their goalie is very good, so by the time we found our footing again, we really had a big hole to dig ourselves out of. We worked hard though. Sam had an awesome break-away not only in this game but in yesterday's game also! Speaking of Sam, something has happened to this kid. He has truly picked up his game over the past two or three games. He is handling the puck a lot more than usual, having break-aways and great scoring opportunities! If he plays like this for the rest of the season, he'll be scoring a few more goals soon.

I am quite glad to have only two shifts this week. Two shifts of four hours each. Piece of cake! So, I am working tomorrow and Wednesday, and I get Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off!!!! Of course, Saturday will be chaos with Abby's birthday party, but four days off in a row will be wonderful, even if I don't have the luxury of idling in the lap of leisure.

Abby can't find her backpack and lunchbag. I haven't seen it since she left for school Friday morning. Abby said that she brought it home and set it down by the coat closet. Casey claims to have seen it on Abby's back after school on Friday. It is nowhere to be found and honestly, there aren't that many places for a backpack to hide. I suspect that it is comfortably hanging on her hook at school. Guess we'll find out tomorrow...

Sam is sporting a mysterious black eye. He had no visible mark early Friday evening when he left for a sleepover; however, when I got home from work on Saturday, I noticed a little spot of purple on his upper eyelid. Since that first notice, the bruising has darkened a bit and spread slightly so that it looks as if Sam is wearing some eye shadow. He isn't amused by that comment, but he has no recollection of ever hurting his eye.

To continue the mysterious happenings, while at work yesterday, I noticed a rash spanning half of my forearm. It hadn't been there when I started work at 7:30 but there it was at 10:30 while washing my hands after my break. I had not been scratching it up to that point nor I had come in contact with anything out of the ordinary. Today, it is barely visible. In fact, you might not notice it but I can still see traces of it. Weird.

Yesterday/Today

This was yesterday. The photo doesn't do justice to the heaviness of the snow falling from the sky. Trust me-it was heavy! I shovelled the driveway; I know. There was about 7 inches of snow on our driveway. Now if only the city would hurry up and plow our street...maybe then I wouldn't come close to getting stuck the moment I back out of my driveway.

This is currently cooling on my counter top. Yes, there is a slice missing from this loaf of asiago bread that I made from scratch without the use of a machine! It took me ALL morning to make it, but it smells and tastes divine. Who could resist a slice of still warm, freshly made bread?

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In 1972 (the year you were born)

Richard Nixon is president of the US President Nixon approves NASA's space shuttle, a reusable spacecraft, at a cost of $5.5 billion Nixon arrives in China for an 8 day visit, which he calls a "journey for peace" While campaigning for the presidency Alabama Governor George C. Wallace is shot and seriously wounded Five men are arrested in the Watergate office complex in DC for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee Hurricane Agnes strikes the East Coast causing 117 deaths First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) os introduced for $395 Shaquille O'Neal, Jennifer Garner, The Rock, The Notorious B.I.G., Cameron Diaz, Eminem, and Alyssa Milano are born Oakland Athletics win the World Series Dallas Cowboys win Superbowl VI Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup The Godfather is the top grossing film Pink Floyd debuts "The Dark Side of the Moon" during a performance at London's Rainbow Theater "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King wins a Grammy for song of the year The Price is Right premieres on CBS

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

How lovely to be as old as the Price is Right.

More Snow

What an icky day! If I didn't have to venture out this morning, I would have been quite content to stay snug inside the house. Unfortunately, I did have to go to the hospital for my appointment with the specialist for carpal tunnel testing. I left the house close to 8:30am and was home again just past 10:30am. After my appointment, I stopped at the grocery store for a few things before heading back home. Every time I came out to my van, I needed to brush the snow off, and I should have worn my boots instead of my shoes as the snow was deeper every time I came outside. I will be picking Sam up from school later today...more venturing out of doors.

So, the appointment went well. The doctor was very nice and friendly. I was able to lie on a nice, soft hospital bed while he performed the tests. I'm not really knowledgeable about medical lingo so excuse my layman's terms. A grounding wire was taped to the back of each hand while other electrode wires were attached to various parts of my hands and wrists. More things were looped around my fingers. Then, he would shock me in different areas of my palms, wrists, forearms, elbows, and upper arms. It wasn't painful enough to bring a tear to my eyes, but it was uncomfortable at times, at least enough to pop my eyes wide open. On my right wrist, he also put a needle into the fleshy area between my thumb and fingers and in the fleshy area beneath the thumb. He had a bit of difficulty with the second needle, so that one was very uncomfortable. I did survive though.

The results? He said I have the symptoms of carpal tunnel, but the nerve test results looked pretty good. Obviously, the splints are helping and he gave me some stretching exercises to do. I don't need surgery at this point. Of course, he said the results might have looked different if he had seen me in December before my wrists started to feel "better". I guess that means I just continue on and hope for the best.

Yesterday, my boss gave me two tickets for tonight's Rockets hockey game...in a suite! Guess who has suddenly become very popular at home? ;o) Hmmm, two tickets. Two adults and three kids. Yikes! As much as it would be nice to go, I am more than willing to let Kane take one of the kids, assuming that he is home from work in time to go. The biggest problem was which child to take. Unfair though it may be, I eliminated Abby immediately. She isn't overly keen on hockey and would be just as happy to do something fun at home. Sam, of course, desperately wanted to be the chosen one, because 'he likes hockey the most'. Casey, naturally, also wanted to be chosen and would view any alternative as a conspiracy against him. Ah, but I knew that Casey could be easily bribed...that's the problem with children that are never satisfied and want more! So, Casey is staying home tonight. I discussed it with him and, though he is disappointed, he is excited about having some pizza and ice cream and a special little treat just for him. Pizza and ice cream. Simple. The treat? A new game for his Nintendo Gameboy. It wasn't very expensive; probably less than it would cost to take him to a Rockets' game anyway. Now my only concern is whether Kane will be home in time to go. The weather is terrible, the roads are bad, and he had to go to Salmon Arm to do a job today. I think Salmon Arm is about an hour and a half or so away...under normal driving conditions, of course.

Last night for supper, we had rice, broccoli, and salmon. After school yesterday, Sam asked me what we were having for supper. Usually, upon hearing my response, he groans or gags or whines. When I told him we were having salmon though, he said, "Yeah!" What sweet music to my ears! I told my picky kid what we were having for dinner and he was excited. All the kids were! There isn't very much that all three will get excited about eating, but I am glad that they all will eat salmon. Mind you, they like it rather plain, but that's okay! It still tastes great. (and it is good for them, too!)

Slammin' Sammy Scores

Sam scored his first goal of the season last night. He was excited. We were also excited, of course. After the game, Sam told us that John, one of the leaders of our team, gave him the game puck. Wow! What a good kid! It was a small gesture but yet a big one that not too many kids would even think to make on their own, but John did. That's a great example of one of the things that I love about our team...great kids, great parents! The two go hand in hand.

A Hole in the Wall

Kane put a hole in the boys' bedroom wall the other night. He was a little irritated by their behaviour and thought it prudent to show them just how upset he was. Great example, honey!

It is a good thing that I am planning on re-painting the room once the suite is finished and the boys each get their own room.

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Tuesday

I dislike having one day off at a time. There is simply too much that needs to be done or caught up on to fit all in one day and, when days off are separated by a work day or two, the amount of stuff to catch up on doubles. There are no double days off for me this week and, with a brother-in-law arriving tomorrow and possibly staying with us, there were a bunch of things that I needed to get done TODAY. All in all, while not the most productive day, I think I still managed to get the big things done.

The laundry is finished and folded in piles on the couch for the kids to put away. Freshly baked cookies are sitting on the cooling racks on the kitchen counter. (Okay, so baking cookies isn't all that important but I had to try out the new oven!) My bathtub and toilet are sparkling clean. The rest of the bathroom will get a quick wipe-down in the morning after the kids leave for school; it's the only way to keep it clean. Before heading out to work in the morning, I will throw together a beef stew in the crockpot. I think. Maybe I'll cook it up on the stove top after I get home from work...

I finally got a call from the specialist to set up an appointment to check out my wrists. The appointment is for next week which means that I might have to find a replacement for a shift depending on what I'm scheduled for that week. Of course, the schedule should be out today or tomorrow, too late to ask for that day off without messing up the schedule. Oh well. This is an important appointment.

Other than that, it is a typical day. The kids are home from school. Sam is sorting through his binder of hockey cards. Abby is singing to her Hilary Duff CD and driving her brothers crazy in the process. Casey is alternating between annoying his sister and bossing Sam around. At least they aren't fighting at the moment.

Last Day of Christmas Break

This is the cake that Kane picked up from Dairy Queen for me after I whined about wanting a cake on my birthday. He had the employee write "Happy D-Day Angela" on the cake. Nice.

My new smooth top convection oven! Kane didn't get around to picking it up from the store until Saturday, so tonight was the first opportunity I had to actually use it. So far, I love it! I am hoping to do some baking on Tuesday (my day off) to try out the convection part.

Casey and Abby are in bed now; lights out and mostly quiet except for a cough here and there. Sam is watching TV with Kane until his bedtime. I am so glad that tomorrow is back to school, to routine and order. Christmas break seemed rather long this year which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just felt long, and I am ready for a break from Christmas break!

I am tired today. Yesterday was a long day for me as Saturdays tend to be. I am up earlier than normal in order to get to work in time for 7:30, work 8 hours, and then don't get to bed any earlier that night. Plus, Sam had a hockey game yesterday afternoon which started at the same time I was finished work, so I went straight from work to the rink. After the game, we dropped the kids off at home so Kane and I could go out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. We went to East Side Mario's. The possibility of going to see a movie was broached but in the end it was decided that we would simply rent one instead. We watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It was funny at times but highly predictable. I knew the outcome almost from the get-go.

I had been looking forward to sleeping in just a bit this morning, but those plans were shattered by an unscheduled hockey game at 7:30am on the Westside! We decided to drag Casey and Abby along which meant waking them up shortly after 6:30. They didn't appreciate it, but we figured it would be good practice for school tomorrow. Even though they had been getting to bed earlier over the past few days, they hadn't really been getting up earlier. There is a difference. It was difficult for me to get up at 6am this morning, and I've been feeling the effects all day.

Kane has commandeered the TV for the past four hours, wrapped up in some science fiction mini-series or something like that. It didn't appeal to me, so I haven't been watching it. I'd love to playing Star Wars Lego II on the Wii, and maybe I'll do that at 9:00 when his show is over. I should have equal rights when it comes to the TV. After all, he wasn't born with a remote in his hand, contrary to what he believes.

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Malcolm in the Middle

We watched an episode of Malcolm in the Middle last night. I don't know why we've never watched this show before, but it was absolutely hilarious! The boys laughed at all the antics the brothers got into and their attempts at revenge, while Kane and I laughed at all the similarities between the show and our family. Their house was a mess. The boys were always trying to out do each other and they reacted. One of the very first lines out of the mother's mouth were eerily similar to what I said to my boys just the other day when they had been fighting. It's too bad that the show is no longer in production, but at least we can catch the odd re-run here and there. We seldom watch sitcoms with any regularity, saving our TV time for our favourite dramas, movies or the occasional educational program. It isn't that there aren't any good sitcoms, we just don't allow ourselves to become hooked on them. It's weird, I guess.

Thirteen Things about today 1. It is my 35th birthday. 2. We discovered today that Sam has an ear infection. He was also sick on my birthday last year. He's feeling somewhat better now than he was this morning while we were out shopping. I know he's feeling terrible when he cries and lets me hold his hand! 3. Since it is my birthday and I'm not going out for dinner tonight (Kane and I will do that on Saturday), I decided to make one of my favourite meals for dinner: scalloped potatoes and ham and probably corn as I don't know that I have any other suitable veggies. 4. My new stove should be in today! It would have been nice to have it for cooking the scalloped potatoes, but I will just be happy when it is here in the house and ready to go. Maybe it will rekindle a desire to cook and bake within me...I haven't felt such inspiration for a while. 5. I awoke this morning to the sounds of the ocean. Kane and the kids gave me my birthday gift last night, a new alarm clock with CD and several different sounds, including the ocean. My old alarm clock has been in my possession since I was 17 and it was a plain jane type, so I have been wanting a newer one for a while and the CD option was high on my list of priorities. 6. Today hasn't exactly gone as I had hoped or planned it to be. We had several errands to run, but I had expected that we could breeze through them and have the rest of the day to relax at home (who wants to do housework on their birthday?!). We were halfway through when Sam began seriously complaining about his ear. It hadn't been an issue until this morning and it worsened rather quickly. It went from a feeling of wax build-up to pain within an hour. So, we had to make a detour to the doctor's office and wound up dropping one errand completely. The day wasn't an entire write-off though. I got the grocery shopping done, supper is in the oven, Sam's now on medication, and I can enjoy what's left of the day. I just didn't get to relax as much as I had wanted to. 7. I got to hold Sam's hand this morning as we browsed while waiting for Sam's prescription to be ready at Zeller's. Since he never allows me to show him very much in the way of affection, I relished every second of the twenty minutes that I was allowed to hold his hand. Such opportunity might not come around for a very long time! 8. Abby had wanted to make me breakfast in bed, but I was awake before she was and really didn't want to stay in bed until she was awake. Is that bad of me? 9. I was rather hoping that the World Junior Hockey Tournament final would be today since I didn't have to work, but it is tomorrow when I do have to go to work. Bummer! Canada's win yesterday in the semi-finals was so exciting. Of course, I was at work and missed it, but I did manage to catch the overtime and shoot-out when the sports network replayed it later in the day. Go Canada Go! 10. Today is my last day off work while the kids are still on Christmas break. In some ways it feels like they have been off school for a very long time, but in other ways it hasn't felt nearly long enough. I guess that is what happens when I am working half of their holidays. It has spurred me to seriously consider taking at least one, if not both weeks of spring break off work. 11. Casey's ugly green monster face has shown itself again today. He was highly insulted and offended that Sam was given preferential seating in the van today, even though Casey had already had a turn in the highly sought after seat. Anything to pick a fight... 12. I finally paid the kids all the money that they are owed for their allowance. We began paying them an allowance about 6 or 7 weeks ago; however, we hadn't actually given them their money until today! We seldom have a lot of cash on hand which is a lame excuse but the only one I have. 13. I feel old today. Actually, I find myself seesawing between contentment and panic. I look at Sam and find myself doubting his age. Is he really in grade 8? I had to ask him that while we were waiting at the doctor's office today. I know that he is, but the truth of that blows my mind. How can I have a 13 year old child? It's flattering to hear people say that I don't look as old as I am, and most of the time I don't feel as old as I am. My body might disagree with me on many occasions. My ankle has been giving me some trouble of late, my weight climbs faster than it drops, and I'm sure that I need to update my eye glasses prescription. For all the times that I truly feel old, I also feel incredibly blessed and secure with who I am and where I am at this point in time. Not content to stay there but learning to be content at each stage of life. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Since it is a new year and tomorrow is my birthday, I gave into my urge to get my hair cut after work today. I didn't have an appointment, but there is a little salon close to work which I have used once or twice in the past. They have recently changed their name and ownership, but I'm not overly concerned with finding the "perfect" hairdresser. It's just hair and it grows back.

The hairdresser who did my hair was young. I'm not sure just how young but she mentioned having a sixteen year old brother and everything about her screamed out YOUNG. She did an okay job with my hair. I'm not sure that I love how she styled it after, but I am happy with the cut. My scalp might need some time to recover though. She burned my scalp several times with the hair dryer (man, was it hot!) and dragged the brush back and forth across my forehead for at least two minutes. She was also a little rough with the comb, but she did know how to do a proper massaging shampoo! I love having someone else wash my hair!

Clean Starts

We watched The Devil Wears Prada last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of those movies that I didn't expect to like much at all, but I was wrong.

I took down all the Christmas decorations and ornaments today, so now our tree is bare and waiting for Kane to remove it when he gets home from work. As much as I enjoy the Christmas tree, it will be nice to have that space back once again and to be able to switch the furniture around. The other day I bought a big storage bin to hold all the decorations instead of the four or five cardboard boxes that we have been using since the dawn of time. Everything fit into that bin except for the tree stand, and the bin is now tucked away under the stairs in storage for another year. Of course, I had to do some re-arranging and tidying in that storage room in order to even get the bin in, but now we can actually walk into that space!

While tidying in the storage room, I pulled out a box of old photos of Kane's parents. I sifted through the photos and tossed the garbage and empty photo envelopes and put the remaining photos into the chest with a bunch of other old photos. That's another box that no longer needs to take up space in storage! Some day, I hope to put all the old photos into an album or scrapbook. It is a daunting task since both of Kane's parents are no longer here to give details about some of the photos, but it would be nice to have the photos somewhat organized and available rather than stuffed into a box or chest.

At any rate, I was able to empty five boxes today and only put one bin back into storage in their place. It makes me happy as I am constantly working to purge this home of junk and clutter! What a great way to start the year!