Gratitude Project – 12/22

I’m not sure where this week has gone. I have been pretty good at keeping on track with Christmas preparations, and yet I haven’t found the time to blog much. Oh well.

With the holiday season officially upon us, we should all take a moment to be thankful for what we have rather than aiming for the “perfection” we believe is expected by others. All that matters is being around family and friends, those we love. Everything else is just “stuff” and can be replaced.

This week, I’m thankful for:

• My son and daughter
• My mom
• My man and his continuous surprises (even though I don’t like surprises, but he’s helping me with that!)
• My CAA membership – used it for the 2^nd time in over a week. Ugh.
• Being able to be home when my son needed to miss 2 days of school this week because he’s sick, poor little guy
• Kids Tylenol, grape flavoured specifically – bubble gum didn’t go over well
• Both my kids being able to ride the Christmas kids train, and sitting on Santa’s knee, without any issues or meltdowns
• My kids BOTH being on a sleepover last weekend – my daughter has done it a number of times, but it was the first time for my son…and I didn’t get a panic phone call in the middle of the night! Such an amazing achievement for my son!

Be sure to take some time over the upcoming craziness that is the holidays to just sit back (with a warm cup of tea), and recognize the wonder that is the Christmas season.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Single Girl Empowerment

It wasn’t until I was at the Christmas tree lot that I remembered the bottom inch or so of a Christmas tree needs to be sawed off. The ex-hubby did it every year, and even last year, I had man-help.

So, I started by sawing a bit around the circumference of the tree trunk:

Just kept turning the tree, and sawing away:

Than I realized I was almost half way through, all around the trunk…

 

Done! Amazing sense of accomplishment! I did it!

I will admit though, there may have been a couple phone calls to my man, who lives an hour away with statements such as “Where’s a boy when you need one?!”.  But, it was all done, standing in my living room (only fell over once!) and is now all decorated, I can say that I did it…all by myself! Yay!

 

Fill in the Blanks Friday, with a theme…ugh!

Ugh. This week’s “Fill in the Blank Friday” from The Little Things We Do has a theme, to honour their 4 year wedding anniversary. Officially, congrats!  I remember those days of being happily married. I sometimes even miss those days. But if you’ve ever read my blog, you know my feelings towards being out of my marriage, so this is a tough one to complete.  I’m not really a “reflect on love and relationships” kind of girl.  My man and I “work” because neither of us are interested in getting married again, nor do we feel the need to define our relationship. We just “are”, and we “are” very good together.  So, here goes…

1.   Love is completely blind, and not just because there’s a famous saying that says so (who coined the phrase anyway?). When you are in love, you are blind to someone’s weaknesses or even worse, to your reactions to them…and hopefully that isn’t a dangerous thing. You need to trust yourself and your instincts before you can know that you are truly in love – wow…that almost sounded wise.

2.   Being in love feels like comfort. Knowing we are there for eachother, for good things and stressful situations.  My man stuck around and supported me through the months leading up to, the day of, and recovery after my first surgery.  I learned tons about him and his character throughout that time…he’s definitely a keeper!

3.  My favorite quote about love is…hmmm, honestly, I had to Google “quotes about love”. I’m not very “girlie” about love. My belief is that you either are in love, or you aren’t. No need to discuss it at great length. You either smile when you see his name on your call display or in your inbox, or you don’t.  If you roll your eyes when you see his name pop up, it’s past the time to finish.  So, in my 2 minutes Google search, I came across a quote from Marilyn Monroe that made me smirk: “A wise girl kisses but doesn’t love, listens but doesn’t believe, and leaves before she is left”.  Yup, I’m cynical…but at least I admit it, and my man accepts it (plus, he may be a bit cynical too…so that helps).

4. The most important thing in a relationship is not something I have figured out yet. I could say the standard “communication”, “respect for eachother”, “make eachother laugh”, and also knowing yourself, but I haven’t actually mastered it…mind you, my man has stuck around for a while now so either we’re both bad at it together, or I may have inadvertently done something right in the last year, but I don’t want to jinx it.

5.  A “deal breaker” for me in a relationship is abuse. Does it really need explanation beyond that?
6.  The way I show love in my relationships is between my man and I, plus there’s the occasional surprise delivery of Coke…makes him happy.

7.  I love …do I really need to say it?  He knows who he is.

 

Gratitude Project – 11/25

Ironically, today is American Thanksgiving. I hope there are many people realizing how much they have to be thankful for, even if it’s just the small things in life.  Personally, I’m thankful/grateful for the following this past week:

• My son and daughter
• My mom
• My man (and especially his amazing cooking skills!)
• Receiving the first report from my son’s IBI therapy – it sets the benchmark, and develop goals for the next 6 months
• Receiving my daughter’s first report card in French Immersion
• Attending parent-teacher interviews at both of my kids’ schools – my kids are doing great!
• Being able to volunteer in my daughter’s class
• My daughter’s creativity in everything she does
• My sexy mini-van’s tires keeping us safe…phew!
• An event I attended on Tuesday

What are you thankful for?

 

Fill In The Blanks Friday – 11/18

1.   A nervous habit I have is  hmmm…I’m not sure. I used to crack my knuckles when I was nervous, but that was when I was a kid/teenager. Now, I’m not sure what I do when I’m nervous. I guess I don’t find myself in many situations where I am nervous. Thinking back, I think I flap my hands to release some tension but that’s just a couple flaps…and only in front of someone I trust to show that nervousness to.

2.   Something that makes me sad is  when my daughter mentions that she misses our dogs that passed away. She’s said it a few times recently, and then she seems to move past it quickly enough, but it makes me sad every time.

3.  Today I am thankful for  being able to volunteer in my daughter’s Grade 1 French Immersion class.  Since I’m one of the only parents of the kids in her class who is fluent in French, I was able to work with 6 of her classmates individually on their counting assignment booklets. It was a great afternoon!

4. My favorite room in my house is  my bedroom. All earthtones, pillows, photos, books, etc. It’s a very calming room…when the kids and I aren’t wrestling in there of course.

5.  I can’t stand  when people think they know everything about how to manage kids with Autism because they met someone once who had Autism. I can’t remember who said it but “when you meet someone with Autism, you have met only one person with Autism”.  There’s a reason it’s called “Autism Spectrum Disorder.

6.  If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would  replace some very worn down articles of clothing I own. Our clothing budget is basically zero so, whenever I can allocate money towards clothing, it goes to the kids’ needs rather than my own.

7.  The last person I hung out with was  my man. My days are filled with tons of appointments, school bus schedules, and being taxi to get my son to IBI so I don’t have much time to “hang out” with people unless they come to me in the evenings.  When I do have free time, I usually spend it with my man.

 

Writing Prompt: “I knew it was over when…”

 

Just saw what I think is a great writing prompt on Twitter: “I Knew It Was Over When…”.  Some responses I read that I find amusing and/or truthful. I knew it was over when…

• u began to treat me like an option instead of a priority. @iTweetFacts
• being apart was actually a relief. @bashrafi
• you stopped smiling everytime you saw me. @Its_Stewie
• you replied with a “k” to my long text. @Londonanddreams
• we argued more than we loved…and everyone could see it. @CallMeAuburn
• you said you don’t like Harry Potter. @LovelyLestrange
• us not talking to each other was a form of escapism from your constant nagging. @halfbrown79
• the relationship started to cause me more pain than happiness. @iTruzie
• I asked your goals and you said to be maintained. @Kashanova23
• you went from in a relationship to single on Facebook. @jayfrink1988

 

Here are my contributions, based on my experience.  “I knew it was over when…”

• You prioritized a computer screen over me
• You texted me saying “I have something to tell you but I don’t know where to start”. My response was “Let me know when you do”. Relationship done.
• I apologized to you for YOUR actions
• My friends started commenting on how you treated me
• I called 9-1-1
• I realized I deserved to be “seen”

 

Wow!  This makes me SSOOOO thankful to have my man now! 

 

 How would you finish “I knew it was over when…”

 

Fill in the Blank Friday – 10/14

1. The most selfless thing I’ve ever done, besides giving birth to my twins, was breastfeed them for their first year.  For the record though, they never latched properly so I pumped for the year.  I was determined to do it and, after celebrating their first birthday, I sighed relief that I would now “gain back” the 40mins every 3 hours of time that I previously spent pumping.  Now, I look back on that first year and wonder how on earth I did it…especially when (warning…TMI moment…) my period started when the kids were 10 months old.  How was I alive??!!!  Breastfeeding AND my period??!!! Crazy!  BUT, I aimed for a year and I achieved that goal.  So, perhaps that whole first year was completely selfless – breastfeeding, working, overnight feedings, etc.

2.   When it comes to working out, I want to.  I LOVE exercising…yoga, dancing, weights, kickboxing, etc.  Alas, it’s not as high on the priority list as sleep is!  Thankfully, my 6yo daughter loves yoga and has asked lately if she and I can do yoga after my son goes to bed.  Great way to spend some mommy-daughter time.

3.  A woman should always have her own bank account, in case she needs to leave her situation quickly.  She also needs to wear clothing that fits her body, rather than the body she wishes she had.  Size is not important; class is.

4. I wish I could   create something artistic   and then I’d    have an outlet for my creativity.  Alas, I have the ideas but not the abilities, and no time or resources to attend classes to learn.  Sigh…  

5.  A best friend is an absolute necessity…but can also be replaced.  I’ve been through a best friend-breakup and, although difficult, it showed me that she wasn’t the best friend I thought she was.  She was “replaced” by someone who has stood by and up for me in so many situations.  Don’t know what I would have done without her the last 2 years.  KG – you’re the best!

6.  I can’t get enough hugs, kisses and cuddles – from my kids and my man.  I also can’t get enough of my son verbalizing requests…it’s music to my ears.

7.  This weekend I am attending a Winter Clothing Swap in town, where a bunch of families are getting together to swap seasonally-appropriate items that our kids have outgrown…weather-permitting. Who ordered the “monsoon” that has been coming down for days?!