Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 in review

so my friend Mike did a photo review on facebook - and a stellar job of it, I may add. it got me thinking that I should do a year in review - but I can't really remember what happened in January or February. mmmmm. I love being over 35. maybe I can make a video montage.

January - March: I seriously don't remember. I know that seems rather odd to some of you, I know darn well that it is very normal for others of you. I can guarantee that I was busy with work [because that NEVER changes!!]. was easter in March or April? not sure, but here's an easter picture!



April: I went to Palm Springs with my sisters and my mom [my dad was there too!!]; Marcy & Madi flew in from Mexico and I had 36 hour overlap with them! In addition, John & I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. "celebration" is a bit of a hyperbole. I think we may have spent 5 minutes together that day! However, I did do one whole scrapbook page with wedding pictures this year. yeah me!



May: okay, so this was a pretty big deal. I walked the Vancouver half-marathon with my mom & Joy. absolutely no pictures of this. the pictures that were taken were awful. not to mention, I didn't take them, so they are no where. hehehe! oh, and soccer started for the boys - John coached again!



June: well, Ty turned 3. still not potty trained. I think at this point it's a mom issue and not so much a ty issue. also in June, I got my application in for the leadership course. I almost didn't apply. and Steph moved out into her own place.

July & August: we kicked off the summer with a big Canada Day party for the boys birthdays. I turned 36. Nate turned 6. Susan had a baby [yeah, Izzy!] I took a road trip to Canmore with Audra. I went to SLC with Erika for the Stampin' Up! convention. I went to the lake with the boys and to the farm to see Aunty Coralee! and then it was back to school to get organized for the fall.






September: yeah, I don't really remember this either. LOL Nate started kindergarten. Chad moved in with us. I got my acceptance letter for LED and general chaos began again!



October - December: I started my LED course, started a student achievement project, wrote an article review, I wrote a kazillion IPPs, report cards were in there too, parent-teacher interviews [as both the teacher AND the parent], Christmas concerts, John's birthday, a weekend trip to Calgary [the BEST move evah!], conducted interviews then wrote a paper on it, sick kids, sick mom, stamp nights, piano recital, home reading, Remembrance Day [planning the whole gosh-darn thing], PHEW!!! I don't know what else was in there...oh yeah! and Coralee had her baby!!



and today. silence [okay, so I can hear John snoring over the sound of the dishwasher, but general silence!]. although it's been a busy year, it's been generally good. no major illnesses. no major hoop-ups. no major disasters.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

the song in my head

I can't seem to get it out.

click here to get it stuck in your head too...

Thursday, December 25, 2008

merry christmas

I hope you had a splendid day - we did. got some good vid footage of the boys in their new hoodies. I will try to upload. if it works, great. if not - it's on my facebook page! I actually remembered to take some photos' as well, so I will try to get some of those posted this weekend. so crazy how fast it goes eh?



do I dare believe that it's working???? if so, my wee flip cam may be worth it's weight in gold! I could vidblog. eek! even more of me. okay, kinda scary. maybe just more of my kidlets for now! maybe I could talk about the gift fun that was today/yesterday. nate got a ds for christmas, ty got a leapster2. my kids have turned into gaming monsters. and they are loving it. nate especially. he is at the age where learning responsibility is super important and this is "THE" toy to reinforce all that teaching. we talked today about where it goes, how it is stored, how to treat it. all good. the boys also got a huge stuffed zebra from my mom and dad - totally crazy, but kinda cool! they've been riding it, playing "knights", playing "horse", playing "starwars" [not too sure how the zebra fits...]. hopefully I survive the weekend, and I really hope the weather improves so I can kick them both outside tomorrow for some fresh air.

anyways, it's late. my vid uploaded. woohoo! and tomorrow is brunch with friends/family in celebration of a true canadian holiday - BOXING DAY!!!

xoxo

Sunday, December 21, 2008

the crazy that is me

december, well really this whole fall, has been more insane than I could have imagined. I am so thankful that I made it through in one piece - there was a couple of times through october and november that I was questioning all of it. the course I was taking was a lot of work on a couple of levels. first, it was just a lot of extra work - projects, papers, professional reading, classes. but more importantly it was a lot of emotional work. I have been so indecisive about the direction I want to take in my career and completely baffled about my purpose as a mom, wife, teacher...all those important roles that define my life. that's perhaps been the problem - I've been really busy "doing" life and I've not really been connecting with my life. how oprah of me, eh? well, this fall has brought to light a few things. 1. I want an admin position. 2. I need to wait until ty is in school before I pursue further schooling. 3. I need to take care of me - mind, body, soul. 4. I really love my husband. 5. I don't want to turn off my life - I want to spend more time enjoying it. I spent even less time than normal with my friends, my support network. bad move. I gained 5 pounds and haven't worked out in FOREVER. was it worth it? don't know if I can answer that. I have good friends - friends that understand, support, get the lack of phone calls and coffee dates, but I also know that I don't want to ever abuse that generosity. I started at weight watchers a couple of weeks ago, so I feel like I am back on track in the health/weight department and I will figure out the whole workout thing in the new year! my kids are going to take some time - some love smothering will need to be the focus of the next two weeks - my wee ty was not a happy camper with the lovely schedule I was keeping.

so, my plan for my break: SCRAPBOOK!! send out Christmas cards [better late than never, right?], have coffee with some friends, get a pedi, potty train ty, drink wine, read some good books, lose 4 pounds, watch some tv...reconnect with some people that I'd like to spend some time with - good for the soul.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

the end is near!

2 more weeks until christmas vacation - a couple of blissful days of complete rest. then the flurry of activity that is christmas. regardless, my shopping is basically done and my course is 2 classes from being done. i really can't complain. as busy as it's been as of late, there have been some highlights...I will try to "top 10" them!

1. Nate had his piano recital last monday. I've birthed a rock star. seriously, [and I am COMPLETLY biased!], my kid kicked butt on the ol' piano. Love him.



2. the house is decorated for Christmas. I like it this year - lot's of red & white & silver. LOVE!
3. have I told you about my robot? we got an irobot a couple of months ago - best investment in house cleaning ever!
4. I went to weight watchers for the first time ever. need a kick in the pants.
5. If the kids at school fill one more HUGE box for the food bank, I'll be dying my hair hot pink.
6. I went to H&M today and got my kids some long sleeved t-shirts, since nothing fits Nate right now.
7. I did a curb crash with my car on tuesday - slid into the curb off a piece of ice. $1200 later...yeah. love.
8. I have Christmas cards all made, don't know where all my addresses are.
9. we are hosting 2 Christmas parties in the next week or so - my work party & our "small group" party. thank God for the robot.
10. my kids really believe in santa. grrr. I have tried to fix this - no such luck.

and a few more pics - random things!