Thursday, October 31, 2013

Vandals!


my co-conspirators





I have 2 amazing sisters and the youngest one turned 21 yesterday so of course, a little surprise was in order.








We hit up a discount store near out house and saw this...

what 21st birthday is complete without creepy clowns?
 And set off with bag of vandalism surprise tools.

We decorated the front yard.

we were going to completely fill the door up with balloons but
the ones we bought were garbage, immediate headache after
blowing up the first one so we gave up after only a few

And the back.

the co-conspirators used silly string for the first time,
they decorated each other more than the house


And lastly, a little surprise for when they opened the curtains and a nod to my favourite blogger.



Some people would get mad but like I said, my sisters are amazing.



Why spend life being serious when you can have so much fun?

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

What Has Your Gym Done For You Lately?

When my family started using our local YMCA 2 years ago I had a hard time getting started. I took the kids faithfully and dropped them off for classes and escaped for an hour with a book. With the shift my husband was working those days, it was the only free time I would get all week.

Then one day, as I sat outside in the sunshine, reading my book, listening to music and smoking a cigarette it finally came to me,

I should probably be using my membership for more than free babysitting.

(I'm slow, what can I say?)

After just a few short workouts I got bit by the bug and I turned into a full-on gym rat. It was over a year ago that I started working out at least 5 days a week, and as often as I can with a fit buddy or trainer.

Then last May, I was suddenly hit with EXTREME pain in my left calf. I've got tattoos, I've given birth to children, injured and endured surgery on my knees and still, I've never experienced pain like this. But as soon as I stopped running/jumping the pain disappeared. For a week, I continued to visit the gym and tried low-impact workouts. But the pain started popping up at other times, like when I was running up the stairs at home or turning suddenly. 

I mentioned something to a trainer at the Y and she encourage me to run (not walk) to the doctor.**

IT WAS A BLOOD CLOT. HOLY CRAP.

I immediately started on a low-dose blood thinner and had to have blood work taken every six days. Ultrasound quickly became a part of my daily lexicon.

For the first 2 weeks I was constantly on edge, every ache, every twinge had me in fear that the blood clot was moving toward my heart. I thought I was going to die. For reals. For the first time in my life, I actually did every single thing the doctor told me to do. Followed instructions to the letter.

I cleaned my house, had long tea dates with friends and told my kids about 7 million times a day that I loved them and always would.

I was actually preparing myself for death.

After 8 weeks the blood clot cleared and the doctor deemed it was okay for me to discontinue use of the blood thinners. 

So yeah, not only has the YMCA helped me get into great physical shape, boosted my confidence AND given me free babysitting kids classes, it's also saved my life.



*Smoochy, sloppy kisses to all the staff at the A.R. Kaufman YMCA in Kitchener. There's no better place I can imagine to take my family to have fun, keep fit and make new friends. Also? You saved my life so I guess I owe you one (or a million).

**But not actually run, because that would have hurt, ya know?

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Forget the Kids, Lego is for Grown-Ups

I like Lego. Like, a lot.

So when the Ignite Waterloo team decided to build a massive Lego trophy as a mascot of sorts for the event, I jumped all over the chance to be the builder.

And here it is:


Have Mercy. Isn't she wonderfully majestic? Yes, the trophy is a she, she told me so. It's an intimate relationship, the one between builder and buildee.


She is made of 1396 pieces of Lego, took 15 hours to build and 3 designs to get just right. In related news, Lego Digital Designer is a bitch to use and I'll probably never go that route again.

During the final build, and only about 6 hours before I was due to deliver it, I drop the prototype of the cup and had to redesign on the fly, while gluing. And that gorgeous butcher block she rests upon? $5.50 at a garage sale. Score!

Thanks for allowing me to become a part of Ignite history, Ignite Waterloo, this was fun!

Friday, October 18, 2013

At the Intersection of Little Kid and Big Kid

My kids love Thomas. Popping in a Thomas DVD on a Saturday morning is often the only way I can get a quiet shower in before we head to the market.

But the lights are fading.

The boys are 5 & 7 and they're quickly realizing that they're the only ones in their class that watch Thomas so I've found they're starting to improvise a little more in their Thomas games.

Like tonight. We're driving to the YMCA and they're pretending our SUV is Thomas and Diesel 10 is chasing us. They're watching out the back window and yelling for me to hurry because Diesel 10 is gaining on us. We beat Diesel 10 around a few corners and lights but eventually it happens... we get caught by a red light. Diesel 10 is bearing down on us and I can see Pinchy reaching out from the top of the engine raring to crunch up my Ford Escape until there's nothing left of it.

PHOTO CREDIT: Diesel 10
I yell back to Mr5, "Quick! Throw some cookies out the back door, Pinchy can eat those and then he won't crush us!"

The boy quickly reaches into his pretend bag of cookies, opens his window and tosses the cookies out behind us. I cheer, "You saved us!"

And the boy, in the most serious voice EVER, tells me, "We don't have to worry about him anymore. Those cookies were poisonous and he'll be dead soon".

And in that moment, our happy Treehouse, Thomas and Bubble Guppy childhood died.

PHOTO CREDIT: DEAD :(