I am sorry......again

Yep.... its me again.Down on my knees,groveling,begging forgiveness yet again for my lengthy absence.I am SOOOOOORRRRY! Am I forgiven?

Even if I am not I thought I would fill you in a little on what I have been up to this summer .*ahem* I use the term "summer" very loosely.Yes like the thousands of other people I am whining about the weather.Thats what we do isn't it? Granted I am not extremely fond of anything above 25C, as I tend to be very susceptible to heat stroke, but it sure would have been nice not to have to turn the furnace on in the middle of summer.
The deck which seems to have taken a zillion times longer to put together is nearing completion.Hurray!DH just finished wiring in the last of the pot lights and boy do they look nice.It won't get painted until next year but that was at the recommendation of the guy at Home Hardware.

I got a cool new bike this year.A single speed, old-fashioned looking one with a basket.I haven't been on a bike very much since I had my bike accident in 2000.So when I took my first ride I felt a bit like a little kid just learning to ride a bike.

My little garden has been at the mercy of the weather and the deer.If they weren't so darn cute I would have to kick some "Bambi" butt! They decided that my garden made a wonderful salad bar and helped themselves to my peas and beans.I managed to get some off the plants but they have not been very flavorful.The up and downs of the temperatures didn't do them any favors.The only thing I might get to enjoy is the potatoes.
My front flower garden was amazing though.I had the best year for sweet peas ever.And I had numerous compliments from the neighbours and the bank employees that walk by everyday.

I completed several sewing projects that I have had waiting for a long time.Like curtains for my bathroom,a night gown for "pumpkin", and two summer dresses for "monkey".
We did manage to take a short vacation to B.C. this year which was very enjoyable.We visited DH parents in Valemount for a couple of days and then made our way south to a campground just outside Merritt.Despite the smoke from the fires it was nice.We also made a day trip to Kelowna and visited a couple interesting places like the Lavender farm and the girls loved the water park.On the way home we stopped at a roadside fruit stand and brought home 20lbs of peaches,some cherries and a few apples.
I sliced up and froze the peaches.I then made my first ever jelly from the nanking cherries in our front yard and it turned out to be pretty good.Now I can add jelly making to the things I have tried.

My Birthday has come and gone and I certainly won't add it to my "most memorable" list but none the less I am a year older.Wiser?Maybe a little.

That brings you up to date WHEW!

a promise is a promise

I know ,I know, I promised pictures of the deck and various other things.Well the deck is taking FOREVER!!! We only are able to do bits and pieces of it on Saturdays and only when dear husband is not working.So in other words not too many of those have been free either.At least it has a non leaking roof, stairs and railings.I'm also pretty excited about my new acquisition.A new paint sprayer!

Don't laugh too hard.I happen to like tools.In fact I consider it a "date" to go wandering around hardware stores.They have always held a fascination for me.I don't much care for the electrical aisle or the plumbing aisle but paint ,wood and tools get me really excited!Not to mention the home improvement section.I have not however been able to try out the afore mentioned tool yet because though I may like tools, I am not the best user of them until someone is around to supervise.So it still remains in its plastic carrying case unmarred by the white paint it will eventually hold.Oh the possibilities of this new little machine.

I am slowly accumulating my own little stash of things.I have my very own mitre saw,a snazzy level,an oh so pretty drop cloth,hammers ,a tape measure,not to mention two very pretty colbalt blue clamps.All held together in a charming tool box.Now, my only issue is keeping MY tools as MY tools.There have been several occasions when certain items have gone missing and have mysteriously ended up in someones work van.Kind of annoying when you go to use something and its missing.The guilty party gives me a sheepish grin and goes and fishes it out for me.I guess I will keep him anyway.Someone needs to help me use these things!

Any how, enough about the tools here are a couple more pictures.Slightly closer to being done...

Its been a long time

Wow, its been a super long time since I've been here.Its not that I haven't been on the computer,its just I haven't had very interesting things to talk about.The past month has been busy. Raising kids (more often than not wanting to give them away to the first taker),destruction of the old back step,building a new deck and pretending I know what i'm doing when it comes to planting my flower beds,planting my vegetable garden and completely ignoring the fact that the inside of my house resembles a bomb sight,swimming lessons,zoo trips,my anniversary......

Don't even get me started on how bad the back step was.Ummm...Ok I'll tell you anyways.Its a wonder the thing was standing at all.I always felt as though I was going to fall through the floor and now I know why! Not one board on the frame underneath was a whole piece.They were all spliced together (and very badly I might add).It was in no way shape or form anchored to the house and all the supports were sitting on top of the dirt instead of in it.That also goes for the supports that were holding up the roof.Yikes!The railing was a left over piece of pipe that was rusty,the roof sagged and all the wood was rotting like crazy.But now we have a beautiful deck, which is still not finished ,but that is another story!But at least I know it is well built.I should know ,I hammered and nailed and drilled and screwed, crawled under the deck and layed on my back in the dirt and slammed my fingers with the hammer more that once.Don't worry I couldn't have done any of this alone. My dear sweet hubby was there too.and maybe if I talk to him sweetly he will build me a porch swing too.

I haven't taken too many pictures lately.But when the deck is closer to being finished I will show you.For now... does anyone want two small kids that have a love of scissors and hair cutting ???? Ok, Ok just kidding.(about the giving them away,NOT the hair cutting thing!)Grrrrr.They are going to be bald until they are thirty!!!!!

Fell of the wagon....just a bit

Okay,so I am going to admit it to all of blogland.....I fell off the wagon.Just briefly though.I promise.I can't give up now not when I have done so well.I have lost nearly 13lbs so far.

This week sent me into a bit of a tailspin and I just couldn't get motivated to exercise.(ramming a 1/4 of nail into my foot didn't help much either)Then what makes it worse is that the Wii board has the nerve to say "too busy to workout yesterday huh?"
It makes you want to yell at it and say "shut up you stupid thing, you know nothing about what is going on in my life!"But some how I just don't think it would care.It is just amazingly smug and quite enjoys taunting you like some schoolyard bully.*sigh*

Just for the record I haven't avoided all forms of exercise.Just the ones that involved the Wii board.I did spend one of the days digging up "crap" grass(Oooo did I say that out loud? I mean "crab" grass)on the other side of my front fence in order to extend my flower beds. And boy did my muscles complain about that one.I demonstrated to "monkey",numerous times,how to use her skipping rope and you know, lifting the turkey from fridge to counter,from counter to oven and oven back to counter (that counts right?)

Anyways I have my feet back under me.Both literally and figuratively.So I will be back at it again.So here's to the next 10lbs.....

The wind in my sails...

As a parent, you never want to hear the words "your son/daughter has "X"" no matter how big or small the problem. I honestly thought I was prepared for the results.But when the specialist reviewed the results of the EEG and said "monkey" has Epileptic tendencies, my heart sunk.The wind went completely out out of my sails, if you will.One moment you have a happy healthy child and the next your life is filled with anxiety and uncertainty.

Don't get me wrong "Monkey" ,except for the occasional seizure, is perfectly fine.Its not like she has them on a daily basis.She has had three in her entire life.But I went from only having the usual parenting worries to now having to make sure she gets her medication everyday,having to make sure that people know that she has this "condition" in case she has one when I am not there,be cautious of her swimming and the list goes on.

My mind does not process things on a day to day basis.It tries to process things based on an entire life time.So you can see very quickly how it has become very overwhelming for me all at once. I have never gone around day after day wondering is she going to have another one??life just carried on. But now because it has a name I find myself staring at her and wondering when the next one will come.Will she be with out me? Will she hurt herself? Will she be scared?

Sometimes in the attempt to calm your fears I think they give you far too much information to digest and 75% of it doesn't even pertain to your child.So in trying to sift out the information it becomes too much to handle.

However do not worry family and friends.I will survive and I will get through this and life will go on. "Monkey" will continue to grow,be active and be smart. I just need a little time to absorb it all.