contest

Here I am waiting until the last minute to be creative. I'd like to make a gingerbread house for our Christmas party at home and I would like to have a fun contest for someone to win it. But....the tricky part is thinking of a contest that is age appropriate. There will be a 9 year old, a 7 year old, a 5 year old...and the twins but really...they don't count! haha. There is also a 17 year old and a 19 year old. What would be a fun fun contest that could involve all of them where everyone has a chance? Obviously an older child will win a colouring or drawing contest...I could pick a name out of a hat but that seems boring......

HELP!!!

post twin pregnancy

Wanna know what feels real good? What really makes my day? What makes my damaged tummy - complete with stretch marks, wrinkled skin, deformed tummy completely worth it? FITTING IN TO SIZE 2 PANTS!!!!!!!!

Rant

Grrrrrrr I know I said that I wanted kids, hell I practically begged for them! But lately all I want to do is bang my head against the wall and leave!!! I am having such a hard time dealing with my little 20 month old girl's constant need for attention and temper tantrums. I am being completely literal when I say constant. I am unable to get up from the couch to make something to eat, talk on the phone, tend to the other baby, go on the computer...anything without my little girl having a major flare up. She throws herself on the ground and screams and screams and screams! I don't know what to do. I can't ignore it or else I'll go nuts. My instinct is to yell, yell, yell but obviously that doesn't work...in fact Mr. Wonderful is insisting that it does more bad than good. I know but I can't stop myself. The only thing that makes her stop screaming is putting her in her room but I seem to be doing that 90 times a day! Is she really learning anything????

I'm at my wits end. This behavior has got to stop before I go insane.

Guilty pleasures

I have something that I just have to get off my chest. Be warned that you may be shocked. Are you sitting? Ok...here goes...I know I should really be embarrassed by this and at the very least shunned by my friends and family...but I have to admit, yes, I love tacky Christmas sweaters.

There. I said it. It's so liberating!!

In a perfect world, or in my little world, I envision my loved ones sitting around the Christmas dinner table, lights dimmed, good cheer in the air, nice aromas, white smiles! Each of us wearing coordinating reindeer, or santa, or snowman cable knit sweaters. Alright, I'm going a bit overboard. They wouldn't necessarily have to be coordinating. Like, really...that would be so nerdish!

Believe it or not - Christmas sweaters for the family are very difficult to find! I may have to do the unthinkable and knit them! GASP!!! Wait a minute...what am I talking about? This is the 21st century. I should hire someone to knit them! :-)

total silence

This is brutal! I thought for sure that blogging would come naturally to me, but I honestly can't think of anything to talk about. I could talk about my two days in Vegas. That was incredible! We saw the Lion King - absolutely amazing. I could talk about how my baby is hanging off my leg right now and not actually letting me type...oops, there go my pj bottoms!!!

Ok, this is not going to work. I better get back to my parenting gig! I will type more later when something happens. Like maybe I'll actually have some free time!! hahahha

hair pulling, nail biting, kissie kissie

aah the life as a new parent! It really is amazing how a 20 pound little munchkin (or in my case 2) that doesn't talk or have much life experience, no more than 18 months has the power to run my life! They somehow have the power to keep me from sleeping in - even while they are still asleep! They have the power to turn me into a short order cook, to continuously clean the house, and spend money that I don't have! They also magically enter my mind 24/7 making me smile about all the cute little things that they do.

I anxiously put them down for a nap and at the same time I look forward to them waking up. How do they do that? Blissfully powerful babies and blissfully powerless mommy!

Viva vacation

Exactly 11 more days until Mr. Wonderful and I kiss the monkeys goodbye, hop on a flight, and take off for Las Vegas!!

My hubby is fortunate enough to attend a conference in Las Vegas for an entire week...I am fortunate to have a wonderful guy bring me too! I'm not staying for the entire week, only 2 or 3 days but yay! I'll take it! I'm looking forward to just lounging beside a pool reading a book, and when he's not attending some of the workshops we'll be touring and gambling. I can't wait!

To "prepare" I'd like to rent a few Vegas movies. Even though Showgirls is supposed to have gone down in the history books as one of the worst ever...I'd still like to see it.

I do believe that couples should take yearly vacations, somewhere where it isn't quite simple to just run home after an evening. A weekend getaway in a town 2 hours away isn't the same. It's nice, but it doesn't provide that escape. Personally, my vacation paradise is somewhere hot, sunny, colourful, and decadent. I have no interest whatsoever in tours of old run down towns that have sooo much history and beautiful churches (really? who cares??). Just give me a beach, turquoise water, a nice breeze, my Mr. Wonderful and best of all...no obligations! Like a waking dream!

A family vacation is next on my to do list. As soon as the twins are old enough, I would love to rent a winterized cottage for a week. Something secluded. I'm picturing a winter wonderland getaway. Family time, skiing, skating, snowman making, snoeshoeing, then an evening curled up by a wood stove, in cozy jammies playing board games and drinking hot chocolate! I'd say 4 or 5 more years. But then again...this would be a great romantic, couple time getaway.....hmmmmm Mr. Wonderful, we need to discuss further!

;-)

How's that rash doing?

Seriously, would you ask anyone that? How's that rash? What are your bowels like? Nooo, I didn't think so. I have come across so many people (and I do use that term loosely) who feel the need to know everything about my personal life. It's not just me either I'm sure.

Ever notice when you're single the most common questions asked are "when are you going to date someone?" "Are you dating anyone?", "Why aren't you dating anyone?". Then when you are in a serious relationship these neanderthals ask "When are you two moving in together?", "When are you getting married?", "Why aren't you married?". So once you pass these hurdles and are settled down, married, living in a nice home you think you're in the clear, right? Seems logical. Nope it gets much much worse. "Do you want children?", "When are you going to have children?".....and my personal favourite: "Are you trying?" Oh yeah, doesn't that sound invasive?!!! You wouldn't believe how many times I had been asked that one!!! Now with kids in hand what more could people want to know? Oh you guessed it "Do you want more kids?". I am looking forward to hearing what the next batch of personal questions might be. Perhaps "have you selected you plot at the cemetery yet?"

Where do these people get the plums to ask such personal questions?? If I were quick I'd have a list of good retorts ready. Start now folks!

Baking - 1, Jodi - 0

This Thanksgiving I have alot to be thankful for...I am especially thankful to have Mr. Wonderful to pat me on the shoulder and say "There there dear, I'm sure that it's still edible!"

Sigh........I occasionally get in these Mrs. Cleaver moods. Today, I had decided that since I'm a mom and a wife I should do the Cleaveresque thing and bake pumpkin pies. From scratch. Like with a fresh pumpkin. I bought two frozen pie shells (bake those from scratch? I am certainly not a lunatic!!).

So, donned with my cute frilly apron, my hair in a bun, I got to work. It was surprisingly easy! All you do is chop the pumpkin into quarters, gut the seeds and gunk and roast it in the oven for 2 hours. The pumpkin just falls off the skin. (or vice versa). The rest is just mixing and pouring into the shells. I was surprised that more people don't just do that! It's probably cheaper than buying.

After my "look at me" moment, I got Mr. Wonderful to put the two pie shells on a cookie sheet and to carry them to the oven. His hands are much steadier than mine are. And so began my little dance of joy!! In hindsight, my dance of joy was waaayyy too premature. Have you ever put a cookie sheet in the oven and then hear that dreadful "clunk" sound? Oh you know what I'm talking about don't you? That "clunk" is the cookie sheet warping.

I peeked into the oven and saw one pie still looking great, and the other pie looking like it's twin....the evil and disfigured twin. The pie is now on a slant and half of its filling is all over the cookie sheet. At present, it's still in the oven and no doubt burning. At least, for now, one pie has survived.

Mrs. Cleaver can kiss my ass!

TGIF!!!

I am so happy it's Friday! I don't know why I still look forward to it? When I was single it was usually a date night, and then when I was working it was just good to have the weekend. Now I'm home with the kids and every day should feel like a Friday but for some reason it's still special. Maybe because Mr. Wonderful has the weekend off which gives us more time to spend together, maybe because I get to sleep in on Saturday!

I want to start a little ritual or routine. Friday night is movie and treat night. Truth be told, I do this more than one night of the week...but still, Friday is special!

I'd love to hear from you - what are your TGIF special routines?

The Courtship

Here I am, day 2 into my new hobby and still no comments. I think I'm talking to myself! Oh well that's ok, this is fun!

Anyway, with a glass of red wine in hand I'm continuing on with my story. The story of me, me, me! LOL!

I ended things in my last post in the year 2000. The year that changed my direction.

I graduated from college with a certificate in Office Administration and somehow landed a job in the Federal Government. I couldn't believe my luck! I have a pension, health benefits, dental benefits, lots of leave, a respectable salary and haven't looked back since.

As for romance, it took a few years. A few years of stupid, idiotic, as*holes! It seemed that I always heard the same old tired story "I am not looking for a relationship, I don't want to commit, I just want to fool around and have fun". Why do so many guys think that this is acceptable? And for some reason, after the fact, there are tons of guys whining that good guys finish last! Where oh where are they????? Don't get me wrong, I had my share of fun between year 2000 and the day I met Mr. Wonderful but come on, enough is enough! I wanted substance! I wanted to matter!.....Wonder Woman in Waiting!!!!!

Ok, maybe I'm leaving out some guys...some of them were potentially relationship material but I just didn't happen to be attracted to them. No fault there, right?

But then, finally...finally!!!!!!!! I went out with a girlfriend from work one night and she introduced me to all of her pals. One guy stood out. Not because he was drop dead gorgeous or anything. He was good looking, but his clothing style needed some serious help. Well, not that bad, but his shirt needed to be untucked from his shorts.

Anyway, he stood out because he made the effort to chat with me, to get to know me, to find out if I was seeing anyone (at the time I was, but it was a go-nowhere type of guy). We went to a few bars and he never left my side. So friendly. He even asked me to dance a few times....totally out of character for him. When it was time for me to go, he walked me to my car, kissed me on my cheek and asked if he could send me some emails.

Isn't that nice?!

So, the following Monday, first thing when I got to work there was an email waiting for me. Not just any ordinary email but a cute little poem that he made up. He scored major points for the effort and the fact that he stood out. He gave me his phone number and said to call anytime. I wasn't sure what to do about that because I didn't want to appear like I was chasing him. He was to work for my attention after all! But the following weekend I called him and asked if he wanted to go for a coffee. We did. We talked and talked and talked. At the end of the afternoon he walked me to my car, kissed me on my cheek and promised to call later.

He called the same day and asked me out to a movie the following night. Of course I said yes! I loved the fact that I didn't have to wait and wonder "is he going to call? Is he going to call?". So we went to a movie, he dropped me off at my house, pecked me on my lips and wished me goodnight. I loved that! What a gentleman!!!!!

Never again did I have to wonder, will he call? He called every night. He came over one evening to my house and honestly, we just stayed up and talked all night...for 5 hours!! He went home very very late. Nope I didn't invite him to spend the night and he didn't press. Just a nice kiss and call you tomorrow! Such a gentleman!!!

Then came what I like to call "THE DATE". He came over to my house, told me that he had a surprise planned for the evening. Imagine my surprise when a stretch limo arrived at the door!!! He had arranged this, bought some champagne, and cocktails, just for me! Has anyone ever worked this hard to date you? It was a wonderful evening. We went to the casino, went out for drinks, and lots of smooches in the limo!! He promised to bring me home by midnight (I had an early morning the next day)...which he did, a big kiss, and call you tomorrow! What a gentleman!!!

So everything snowballed from there. He asked me to be his girlfriend...yes, an immature gesture, but cute! And he knew, he knew that girls often question..."what does this mean?" "what kind of label can I attach to us?" "Are we exclusive?". So there was no mystery, there was no wondering. It was perfect! Slow and steady won the race....and the winner was Mr. Wonderful!!

Which brings us to date...happily ever after!!

The Roaring 20s

Two blog posts in one night...is this done? Oh well too bad, tonight it's being done!

Not that I'm self absorbed or anything, I'm going to write more about me! haha I know it does sound self absorbed but since this blog is about me and my life and the lives of those around me...I do have to provide a backgrounder, right?? And besides which...who is reading this?

I have decided to skip past my childhood and teen years. Mainly because it was so long ago that I can't really remember anything too life altering. Now my 20s, I could probably write a book!

Where shall I start? Career? Romance? Friends? Ok, I'll start at the beginning.

When I was 19 years old I got my first full time job. Fresh out of college with diploma nearly in hand (I had to pick up another course which I had failed). Anyway, I was a teacher in a daycare centre. I was so excited because I figured that this was it. I was going to be set in a career for life. Unfortunately, I was a teenager when I had decided that I should become a daycare teacher. What did I know?? When we are in high school it's next to impossible to think of something we'd like to do for the rest of our lives. I certainly didn't know anything, what I'd enjoy or even be good at. All I knew was babysitting.......soooo daycare teacher was pretty close.

I worked there for about 5 years and was miserable. Kids were cute. Some of them...others were difficult to control. I was broke. My salary was about $20,000 a year. Brutal!! There was no chance for a raise either. To get around it I think the daycare owners would hire teachers after me at less pay. "See? You have seniority, you make more". Could be just my clouded memory but it seemed that way to me. The other problem with this particular job was that it was a "for profit" daycare so there wasn't that much money to be distributed in the centre. So, things like material, education for staff, resources were things that we could only dream of! But there I was...making $20,000 a year, living in a subsidized apartment, driving an old junker, and pulling my hair out every day.

Did I have a boyfriend? Well of course!! He was the rocker, the bad boy, the guy my parents warned me about. Ok he wasn't that bad but he dressed the part. You know the type, long hair, metal head concert t-shirts, tight jeans. I thought he was so hot and so cool...which made me cool by association! I was with him for 5 years and was a mixture of happy and miserable. Maybe not miserable, more like in denial. I was happy because I had a boyfriend, and a social life. Our relationship pretty much consisted of us partying with his friends. It was fun! I loved that part! I had to keep reminding myself that in the morning as I was barfing in the toilet after a night of tequila. Not to mention 3 hours of sleep before going to work at the daycare again.

So that part was fun, but I wanted more. I wanted him to be serious about me. Sometimes, dare I say, I wanted him all to myself without all of his groupies. Like a real relationship. Needless to say this caused lots of tension and lots and lots of fights. In the end I didn't win. He left after 5 years. So there I was in one swoop without a boyfriend and without a social life. Ladies - pay attention - make sure you always always keep your friends. Have a life outside of your boyfriend!! duh!

At this time I also had had enough of the daycare and was ready for a change. So I quit and went back to college to study Office Administration.

Year 2000......the year that changed me. For the better! It seemed so depressing at the time but now I look at year 2000 as the best year of my life. (or at least one of them), it was definitely the year that changed my life. A turning point.

Ok, I think I've rambled on enough about all of that and I don't think that I have left anything out. My next post will be a continuation. What happen after year 2000?!! Riveting I'm sure! :-)

Blog Virgin

Ok here we go! Look at me I'm blogging!! The reason I have named this "Wonder Woman in Waiting" really is because I pretty much live an ordinary life and have ordinary news....but, I'm sure one day something really exciting is going to happen. A WOW moment.

Maybe I've already used them all up though (WOW moments). I pretty much have everything I've ever wanted right now.

I spent quite a few years dating. Ugh, how I hated every moment of being single. I know people say that the most fun they've ever had was when they were single. Not me, nope. I hated every moment of it. Although, upon reflexion I'm glad that I didn't meet Mr. Right at an early age. As much as I hated being single, I sure do have alot of stories and learned from most of them. I hope.

Anyway, I met Mr. Wonderful when I was 30. He truly is the man of my dreams. I know it's lame to say and very cliche but it happens to be true. He did everything right. I'll blog about all of that some other time. So...meeting him was definitely a WOW!

We have been married for nearly 4 years, live in the burbs and have twins. Yep, a million dollar lottery family...a girl and a boy 18 months old! Another WOW!

Now if only we could actually be million dollar lottery winners! Gotta actually buy tickets first.

Ok...more on the twins later. Speaking of which, little miss thang is awake now and Mr. Wonderful is being very patient.

toodle - loo!! Hope you enjoyed my little intro!!