H1N1 Pandemic

Thought that might get your attention. I`m actually not going to say anything about H1N1 today, except that I got my vaccine today and can still walk forwards and turn left. Phew.

Tomorrow I work the third last shift of my internshipness-thingy. It`s been a really fast 8 weeks, and I`ve quite surprised myself with how much I have stayed on top of things, what with crazy kid schedules, crazy hubby work schedule, and throwing an after party for rock-star diva sister. I know full well that the reason I have stayed on top of things so well is only because of awesome hubby, super-mom and uberfriend. Hubby has been doing laundry, running kids to and from things, cooking meals, and even doing K`s hair (and quite a good job of it!). Super-mom was here for a week and cooked and cleaned and chauffered kids around while I worked extra hours. Uberfriend was instrumental in the after-party preparations. She was indeed the brains behind the operation.

Spent my day off cleaning- the kitchen. It took me all morning to get that one room organized. Included such tasks as sorting through the pile of papers, fliers, school work and lost and possibly not paid invoices (e-mails have been sent to the respective employers asking if E was paid for those shifts), cleaning out the fish tank that has not actually housed any fish for weeks. Bummer how you have to remember to feed them every day. The snails aren`t nearly so demanding. Good thing the boys have been in charge of feeding the other pets. But the kitchen looks goooood tonight. Except for the dirty walls and gross cupboard doors and baseboards. Good thing my b-day present is a full house cleaning. W, I apologize for all the work you have ahead of you.

And now I have three shifts left. All internship assignments are oh-so-close to being completed to the college`s satisfaction, and on Friday the 13th I will do a mental gymnastics sort of exam to prove my worth as an actual pharmacist. After up to 8 weeks of humming and hawing, the gurus at the college will tell me if it`s all been worth it and I will have a license to fill, or if I have entirely wasted my fall. I am hoping for the former. Haven`t heard back about the jurisprudence exam yet, but I`m feeling good about it.

And I don`t even have the bubonic plague... I mean, H1N1 yet.

Not that I'm complaining

I had a really good day. Busy enough at work that it went quickly. Short-staffed but not nutso. A really funny phone call from our resident hypochonidriac that made me laugh all afternoon. Apparently the H1N1 vaccine can paralyze you so that you can only walk backwards. (ppfffftt!) Hard to maintain a professional decorum in the face of that one. Maybe that's what happened to Zoolander. Got the H1N1 vaccine and now can no longer turn left.

But even with all the comic relief of the day, I find myself frustrated with people in general. I wish they would all get over themselves. Seems even some of the nicest ones are wrapped up in their own little worlds. Whatever happened to thinking of other people first? Whatever happened to the common courtesies of please and thank-you? Whatever happened to appreciation for a job well done? These things have not happened to me today, and I am not feeling particularly jilted by anyone, but it's just something I've noticed lately. Maybe I've noticed it as I see the surprise on someone's face when I express appreciation, or am nice to a stranger. But there's not enough of it anymore. I'm sure I'm as guilty of it as the next person when I'm honest with myself.

And what's with the love for complaining? I try very hard not to complain about things, and get frustrated when others do it. If you only knew how good you had it, people. If the thing that they are complaining about is the worst thing that happened to them that day, they are pretty darned lucky! I almost said that to a complete stranger once as he was ripping up a grocery store manager for not having the right kind of coffee cream for sale. I was too chicken. That's my problem- I'm all talk... most days.

Some days I am brave. Some days I call people on it. And when I do they don't quite know what to say to me. But it makes them think, and I like to do that. When we stop and think, quite often (I speak for myself here) we realize it's better just to shut up than to shoot our mouth off. Or if we are going to say anything, instead of complaining to someone, to say "I appreciate you. Thank you."

My birthday is two weeks from today. Everyone is asking me what my plans are. I don't have any. I don't say this to make anyone feel bad for me- I just don't have any. My hubby is going to be away for the week, so I am going to have a nice quiet evening at home. I may have a date with a glass of wine and a chick flick. And some Brie. People almost seem sad for me when I tell them this- I don't understand why. I am happy to be here another year, and I am even more happy to spend the day with my kids (wish my hubby could be home, but someone's gotta bring home the bacon!) and not have to go to work on that particular day. It will be a lovely day for turning 37. Just call me Dennis.

200 and counting.

So I signed on to post another blog, not really feeling like blogging, but feeling somewhat of an obligation resulting from the heckling I get from my family every time I take an extended leave of absence from blog-land. Then I noticed that this is my 200th post, so I feel the need to say something deep and profound. But mostly I'm wondering what I could blog about that would get made into a movie and make me rich, like the girl in "Julie and Julia". Great movie. Highly recommend it for foodies, girls in general and guys who want to impress girls by not taking them to an action-packed-things-blowing-up movie.

I got nuthin. So instead we have...

Update on the fam. I have five shifts left. 5. FIVE. Cinq. Cinqo. FIIIIIIVE. Then I get a week off, then a lovely 6 hour exam, and then I get to be a pharmacist again. I hope that by then the H1N1 panic has worn off. Seriously people- some of us just have a cold right now. Just because I am coughing and blowing my nose does not mean that I have the bubonic plague and will infect all of you and your loved ones. I was seriously considering pretending to cough up a lung all over every prescription just before I gave it to customers the other day at work, just to see their reaction and perhaps chuckle as they ran screaming out the door. Don't get me wrong, I know that H1N1 is a pretty nasty bug and that it's no fun to have. My dad has it right now and I am praying for his quick recovery. But there is a fine line between educated concern and outright paranoia. Most people are erring on the side of paranoia. But enough of that.

The kidlets all went on their annual extortion run aka trick-or-treating tonight. I headed out the door with Batman, a fairy princess, and Optimus Prime in tow. A good time was had by all, and now hubby and I are wondering what we can sneak out of their loot bags undetected.

W had a good lesson in helping others today. Went to hockey practice for his Atom B team at noon, got home after working VERY hard for an hour (around 1:40 by this time), and listened to a message on the phone from the coach of the Atom A team who just found out that they had no goalie for practice. Wondered if W could come out at 3 pm and help them by taking some shots. W did NOT want to do this. He was tired after a hard practice. He is liking goalie less as the season goes on. He didn't know anyone on this team. Had just settled in to a rousing adventure of Hot Wheels vs Bionicles with J. Had a talk with him about the fact that he had committed to goalie, so he at least had to see the year out in that position. Had a talk with him about helping someone who's in a pinch and how that shows them God's love. Also mentioned what good experience it would be to skate with the A team for a practice. He didn't want to do it, but decided to do the right thing. So we bundled all up, unpacked the player gear from first practice and packed the goalie gear for this practice. Headed back to the rink- I didn't know what to expect. I figured he would be there and take lots of shots but not get a whole lot of attention paid to him- just good experience for him to take some shots from the A team. Turns out these guys were more appreciative of his help than I expected. The coach thanked him several times, and during practice, whenever he wasn't taking shots, there was a goalie coach there who basically gave him a private goalie clinic. It was great. He even learned the basics of butterfly (all you goalies and goalie moms out there know what I'm talking about). He really ended up enjoying himself. Asked me after practice if he could go and thank the coach. I went with him, and the coach asked if he could call W up again sometime as he was so impressed with how hard he worked. W said of course, he'd be happy to help whenever he could. A proud moment for mom.

K saw figure skating for the first time on TV today. I feel that ballet may have gone the way of the dinosaur with her. This is ballet on skates- what could be better! And they get to jump and spin way more. Thus for the rest of the afternoon my living room became an imaginary skating rink for her. All was fine until I had to put a stop to things when she and J decided to mimic the pairs skating they saw- involving lifts and throws. No good could come of that. I was not popular. Ah well, everyone had life and limb intact for the trick-or-treating tonight.

Speaking of which, I think I hear a pack of rockets candy calling my name from the pantry...

5 down, 3 to go.

I am officially well over half way done the internship. This is shaping up to be the busiest week yet. Full-time work continues, on Thursday is the jurisprudence exam in Toronto, and Friday night is the long-awaited CD release concert for my rock-star sista. Before the internshipness began, I asked for the honor of hosting her very first after party that night, so amidst all else have been making fancy little finger foods for 250 people. Let us not forget to say that I couldn't do this without uber friend's wife, S. She is the queen of party food. She and I have been cooking up a storm and having lots of fun doing it. I am also very excited that B2 has asked me to play keyboards for some of the songs at the concert- yes, another thing in my already busy schedule, but one of the things that I love to do, and so not a stress, but relaxing. It is nice to have a reasonable excuse to sit down at my dusty, neglected piano and practice for the concert.

Mom and Dad arrive on Wednesday, just in time to see W play his first hockey game of the season. He is excited beyond words. So am I for that matter- it's always fun to have them visit, but they haven't seen him play yet, and he is so proud of his hockey, I love to help him show it off. And to know that Grandma and Grampa are here to help with anything and everything they can is so relieving. I am hoping that amidst all of the craziness, we will find time to just relax together. Maybe play a game or two of bridge. (You're going down, Dad!)

Had a dream about the concert last night- it was like a pre-wedding dream. Only 40 people showed, and we still didn't have enough food. The piano was put in the wrong room, so I was in there and couldn't see the rest of the band. We forgot our music, and B2 was trying to tell me which song we were playing next, but she couldn't remember the title. And the crowd was so dull- no response whatsoever. Crazy.
I thought B2 was supposed to be the one having those dreams. Not surprising, though if I think about it. I have found myself becoming very protective of this night of hers. I said to hubby one day "if anyone screws this up for her, they will have me to answer to!" LOL. Like D wouldn't take care of that in a flash.

feeling the heat

I got stressed today. And it's only the beginning of week 2. Picked up kids at school and found out that the parents meeting tonight was also a dessert social and parents were to bring food. Hmmm.... haven't had time to do much baking lately. Came home to find messages saying that W missed hockey tryouts last night, and that there were additional tryouts tomorrow and Wednesday. Still trying to figure out how to get baked goods to meeting, I quickly e-mail hockey convenor and apologize for missing tryouts, but assure him that W was at the goalie tryouts the previous day- was that ok? And we'll figure out how to get him to tryouts on Tues and Wed even though W has soccer after school on Tues and K has ballet after school on Wed. Oh, and there's one parent available to get them everywhere.

Harvested the veggies that were ripening in the garden, before they got too big and/or went bad, and made a quick supper with improvised ingredients when I discovered my chicken broth in a box in the fridge had turned into some sort of primordial goo, and it's always on the nights when you want them to eat fast that they don't. At least they all finished, veggies and all. Oh, happy day.

Rushed off to pick up babysitter extraordinaire, and arrived back home with her in time to resign myself to the fact that I was not going to be taking baked goods of any variety to the meeting, even store-bought. Surprising OK with that. Did a quick e-mail check and found out that since W is a goalie, he didn't have to be at last night's tryouts after all, and he only needs to go to one of the other sessions this week, not two. Feeling a weight lift off the shoulders, and kids are happy that they'll get a supper at Timmy's between W's soccer and hockey tomorrow. Have a feeling hubby is just as glad to find out that he doesn't have to cook.

It is 10:30 pm and I'm just sitting down to relax for the first time today. Well, kind of. I have a contract in front of me to sign for my pharmacy internship, and I have a schedule of my work hours, trying to figure out when I'm going to go to J's class and tell everyone special things about him, and show them special things from his past when I don't have any because they all burnt in the fire. Think I'll bring all his soccer medals. And the cat. Pets are always a hit with 8 year olds. Maybe I can work in a little presentation to them on medication safety and check off my community presentation that I need for the internship.

This all gets me to thinking. Why am I feeling stressed? For the most part, things are running like a well-oiled machine around here. Hubby is going above and beyond on a daily basis- yesterday while I was at work he tidied- without being asked. Today he actually made a list of things he had to do while I was at work. Yes, a list! And there were things on it I never mentioned- like vacuuming. Unreal. Awesome. I am staying organized, making lunches and packing bags the night before. So why am I stressed? And then I realized, it's because my brain won't stop. Even though other people are wonderfully taking care of things and the kids are run around by and looked after by other people than me some days, my mind is still in everything. Today while I was at work, I was mentally going through the grocery list while hubby got groceries, I am thinking of what he'll have to do tomorrow with running the kids around while I'm at work. There should be a switch to turn that sort of thing off. I know it's in good hands, so I should be able to forget about it. I don't, and now my brain is full of all that and the full-time workload I have. Good thing I only have 6 weeks and 5 days left. Too much of this might drive me crazy, and it's a pretty short drive.

It's hard to be seven

So yesterday W gets an invitation to a birthday party for a kid in his class. They went to laser quest. J was very disappointed, as this was W's second b-day party at laser quest, and J had yet to go. He came home from school as W headed off to the party with a friend, and I headed straight out to the Richmond fair with he and K, hoping to stay for a short while with K, and then hand him off to hubby so they could stay on for the demolition derby. Only problem was that by the time we got there, it was FREEZING. We turned around and went home, a dejected little J sitting in the back seat. Strike 1. I promised him computer time, and he settled in to play his favorite computer game, only to find it wasn't working. Strike 2. Gave him permission to stay up late with W and watch George of the Jungle. Told him that maybe today we could go to the fair.

Today, I got to sleep in late (because of my stupendously awesome hubby), and as I rolled out of bed, (at 9:30, may I add), stumbled downstairs and poured my morning coffee, uber-friend pulls in to the driveway to help us finish putting the gate around the pool on uber-deck. No Richmond fair (but the gate around the pool turned out great.) Strike 3.

To make matters worse, before W headed out to his goalie tryouts today, he got a call from a friend inviting him for a sleepover tonight. J was crushed. A whole weekend of disappointment and missed-out-on fun.

There was nothing for it- it was time for a date with mom. So, he and I headed out to the Richmond fair. We rode the bumper cars, we went down the huge slide, we wound our way through the fun-house maze, we watched a strong-man demonstration, looked at antique cars, climbed on tractors, ate popcorn and pop for supper, and played carnival games to win stuffed animals and alien-shaped balloons. We basically went on every ride that wouldn't make mom barf. He had a ball and more than made up for the 10 year old fun he missed out on.

Where was K in all of this? Having some much asked for time with daddy. They had running races, wrestled, played disney princess matching games, and she had a bubble bath. Doesn't feel like she missed a thing.

Tomorrow it's back to work- I have to go in for a few hours in the evening and start week 2 of 8. I survived week one quite nicely and am ignoring the clutter and mess that has already accumulated in my house. As long as I stay organized, at least things will get done, and I will keep reminding myself that at the end of this 8 weeks, I will get my birthday present of a whole top-to-bottom house cleaning. Woot.

coming out of retirement

It's been a busy month since I last blogged. I've been finishing up uber-deck, which is almost done for now. There are a couple of stair railings to finish, and the gate around the pool must be done before the snow flies. I have decided that benches and flower boxes will wait until next summer. Enough construction for one season. What is done thus far has turned out to be even better than I expected. It's a wonderful place to hang out- we have had many suppers and lunches out there, and the kids love the 20 foot running start they can get on their jumps into the pool.

Garden continues to go crazy. I have 23 jars of canned tomatoes in my pantry, one batch each of pickles, relish, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce. I have about 20 bags of beans in my freezer, and there are several nice orange pumpkins both on the vine and my kitchen table. Mmmmm.... pumpkin pies.... We have had beans with supper more times than I can count, as well as yummy corn on the cob, mashed potatoes that I grew myself (well, they were whole when they grew- I mashed them after I cooked them), peas and cucumbers. It's definitely been worth the work.

Through all of this busyness, life continues on. The boys are finishing up their first week of school, and all is well there. K LOVES it- that could possibly be the understatement of the year. She was QUITE put out when we dropped the boys off on Thursday and she wasn't allowed to join them- it will be a long 5 sleeps every Wednesday until Monday comes and she can go again. W is in the middle of hockey conditioning, has signed up for the soccer team at school, and announced that he is going to play the trumpet in the school band. Note to self- buy earplugs next time I'm at the pharmacy. J likes his teacher, except for the fact that she won't let them talk in class- imagine the nerve of that. K, as I said is loving every minute of JK, and has an incredible teacher. Makes me feel good to send them off to a place like that.

Things continue to change for me as well. Finished up with contract negotiations for my pharmacy internship today which I will hopefully be able to start on Sunday evening. Eight weeks of full-time work- a relatively short tunnel with a nice bright light at the end of it. My licensing is all being paid for and I am being paid a very nice intern salary in return for about 300 hours of work after I am licensed. Sweet deal. Hubby is being very supportive, even agreeing to cook supper on a weekly basis or whenever needed and taking his daughter to ballet. What a guy.