"I must have done something good!"

You know the movie, The Sound of Music...the scene where Maria and the Captain are singing in the gaezbo, realizing that they love each other and she sings, " I must have done something good."  Well that was me about two weeks ago. Not singing of course, but thinking it...I was sick and lying in bed on a Saturday afternoon.  Matt came back from the mall. He went there to get a Hockey Game for the PlayStation. He came home without one but with a ring...a ring for me!!!

It was a ring that we looked at just before Christmas. Matt had found it first and wanted me too see it.  I told him NO but shook my head YES. But really I meant NO! If you read my blog before you know that we are slightly backwards....kids first, living together and then marriage(about 2 1/2 kids in). So when we decided to FINALLY get married(phew), money was tight...and as one knows, to plan some kind of wedding is expensive, then add kids in...well it can be VERY tight....so with a budget, I chose my wedding rings, the band was and is quite small...like a key chain loop....but I like it!! I guess like it to the point where we discussed getting a new one...but I was holding out for the 10 year anniversary.

While walking through the mall, we glanced at rings and chose some....just for fun.....talking about "what if, one day". And that day came...while lying in bed, coughing and sniffling...he sat down beside me, all smiles and that glint in his eyes, like he had done something...something proud and was happy and couldn't wait to tell me. He then handed me the BOX...I was shocked, happy, slightly mad(since it cost a few dollars), but OVERALL excited.

So... I guess "I must have done something good" to receive such a lovely gift......and I am thankful and blessed that I have such a WONDERFUL man!! As I look at my hand, it is a daily reminder of how much he loves me, its the ring that he chose!

Hmmm...which has me thinking now...whats going to happen on Valentines Day!?
Dont worry Matt...no pressure!!

Kids suck out the Creativity!!!

I use to write...nothing world famous or anything...but I use to write in high school and then in University...I took courses and wrote various stories and poems. I still have all my work, neatly zipped up and tuck away in my closet. If I look at some of work,  I wonder who that person was? She is not me? What happened to me?? What happened to me was that I had three kids and got married...that's what happened to me. I think with having kids, they slowly suck out all the creativity that one has.

To prove my point....a friend wrote me a letter and enclosed a newspaper clipping about a Short Story Writing Contest. First prize is $3000 plus tuition to a Writers Course through a college(long distance). I thought why not....and now the contest is closing in about three weeks and I have been sitting here...trying to focus, but I cant...there is always a distraction...like three kids!!! Something always comes up. Now I know that I am also to blame...somewhat...I will go on Face Book, play Scrabble, check Twitter, Kijiji, my Hotmail.....and then try to focus back on writing.

I have written two stories(not yet finished) and I do love them...but they are each over 50 pages and this contest is 2500 words...slight problem. Then I thought about downsizing my stories...I really want to win...get some more knowledge from various scholars...but reality hits me hard when the kids start fighting or meals need to be cooked, or Josh needs help with homework. I am Mommy first. Me...Sherry is last, non existent! That's how I feel!!

To get my juices flowing I started to read The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club and felt a little better!  I read things that I already knew. Carving out that time for you...whether waking up earlier, or staying up later, write about what you know...etc etc...but it felt like she was writing to me and it gave me insurance...something to go on. Then Matt gave me an idea, write about how we re-met!  At first though,  I was starring at the blank screen, then I put my head down....I didn't know how to start...then it all clicked!! But it took me a week to figure something out! And now I am rereading what I wrote and I am thinking its kinda rubbish...I don't like it...it doesn't inspire me to do more...and shouldn't it?? Shouldn't something YOU do inspire YOU??

So....in conclusion, the more kids you have and the more your plate is full of life, it will be harder to write...to be creative....right??!! BUT in order to succeed you need to carve out that time to be YOU and YOU alone...not Mommy,  wife, co-worker, daughter/friend....just YOU!! But its HARD!!! I just want to carve out that niche where I can be me and noted for being me, me Sherry! LOL....I need help....this is a messed up blog....right?? Perhaps I need more SLEEP!!?

Time for thinking...with three kids???

Do you ever get to that point where you want more and you are not sure what it is??? But you feel that something is missing?? That you could be doing more?? But you are not too sure what it is!? That's me!! I know I have  a GREAT life...three kids, marriage, home and health in abundance(mostly...except for colds that my darling children bring home...welcome to SCHOOL!) But I want something more...something creative...don't get me wrong......I created with my Husband three great kids...nothing can be better..... but there is something more out there...but how to reach that??

Some ideas keep tinkering in my head...and with my Hubby gone last night(UFC Fights with my Brother...and still not home) I've had time to think and let my imagination wander.  What about writing.....I use to write in University...a few short stories here and there...I have saved them all, but haven't returned to them! Baking...I love to bake and tinker with recipes/ideas. Cooking...I love cooking meals and coming up with new ideas. Decorating....well, if you have read my Blog...you know that I like to decorate and buy, and paint, and check out antiques on Kijiji. So with all these things that I LOVE to do...you would think that there is something MORE out there for me to do.....but what?? How to hone on my desires...my abilities and succeed in the REAL WORLD!?  Is there a REAL WORLD or are we already living in the REAL WORLD and its just how we use it.....or perhaps I've just been doing too much thinking....getting over a cold/infection and medication!!

Who knows.....I just know that there is something more out there for me.....but how to grab it??

I'm BACK!?

When the kids get sick...which sometimes seems to be monthly, especially when they are in school. The germs go from child to child and then to the parents!! Although it seems that only I get it...my husband bypasses a lot of the sicknesses...mostly because he works LONG hours and outdoors. This past cold was minor with the kids. Minor as in no one wakes during the night to complain of a sore throat, fever, vomiting, plugged nose and just feeling miserable to the point where sleeping on Mommy feels better! It was a simple cold.....one night they go to bed, the next morning they have the sniffles...that's it!

When I got it...BAM...this is my first day feeling more like me, normal to some degree.....and this is day 8 of the cold. This is the first day of not taking Advil or DayQuil....I was starting to feel like a junky...gotta pop pills to feel better! I had a sore throat for a week...and it wasn't normal...it was like I swallowed a ball and it hurt to swallow....and I still haven't slept through the night....but at least the kids didn't get it!! So I shouldn't complain!!

So....that's what happened to me...in case you were wondering?? It was hard and is hard...you cant call in sick as a parent...somehow you have to muster on, and try to get the job done. Perhaps bedtime for the kids come earlier and relying on Hubby becomes more of a NEED. I am thankful that when Matt came home from working 12 hours...he slapped on his Daddy Hat quickly and got to what needed to be done. Thank YOU!!

Now that I am back(kinda)....I am ready to clean this HOUSE from top to bottom, sort and organize...reclaim my HOME...and start baking more often. The one thing with being sick and loosing my sense of smell and taste...you loose weight...cause really, who wants to eat something that you cant taste...there is no FUN in that!! Eating was boring!! I'm still waiting for my taste and smell to come back....I'm blocked solid! Just letting you know! LOL!

Understanding GREY HAIRS!!

This morning, while putting my hair in a ponytail, standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, I noticed something....a new grey hair! Come on!!! (Its bad enough that I have my Aunt pointing out to me the age that I will be this year...OMG...seriously..I don't think I will be that AGE, what happened?? But that's another BLOG.) I have a few more grey hairs...and I know there are some that welcome this change, a sign of maturity, dignity...BUT NOT ME...I run and hide and cry over a new grey hair....I still feel 16!! What has happened?? While trying not to focus on the grey hair that is sticking right out(why is it that all greys kinda go kinky??) I thought about why I was getting them.  Then it came to me...it was because of my children!! Did I have greys before kids?? NO!! One of the downsides to having children!!! That and stretch marks(but again that is another BLOG)!!

While washing my face, it started to come together...the thought process of grey hair. We get our first grey during pregnancy, more around the time when we realize that THAT BABY has to come out of THERE....after seeing videos at those birthing classes. I have to admit...Matt and I went for the first child...I freaked out when seeing pics for the first time and hearing and reading what was going to happen to me. It was then that I realized, perhaps we didn't think this whole thing through....could we turn back the clock...please!!! We even skipped the last class....we knew what was going to happen and we paid just over three hundred dollars to be terrified??? So that is the story of the FIRST grey hair. During the birthing process you receive a few more grey hairs....come on...who wouldn't!! My kids were 10 pounds and 12 ounces, 11 pounds and 6 ounces and the last child was an even 10 pounds....so yah...I got some more grey hairs!!! AND they weren't C-Sections...naturally and the epidurals were late!!!

So with three kids, two of which are boys...I am bound to get some more grey hair. Then throw in a husband(cause all us ladies know that our husbands can be kids at times.....and we love them dearly!!)...I'm bound to have my share of grey hairs. Now this new grey hair....it came last night after spending an hour trying to help Josh, my six year old, do his Math homework.....and it was only addition!!! We got to the point where I knew he was finished when I asked him, "what is 2 plus 4?" and he was using all his fingers to count and answered, "14?" AND it just wasn't simple adding...the teacher was doing a different way of adding, counting by tens...which honestly, I don't know why she did this, whats wrong with the old way of adding 22 + 42....that's where Josh was getting lost and I was ready to RUN to the LCBO to quench my frustration!! BUT he finally saw a small light of understanding......and we left it at that!!!

So that's where the NEW grey hair came from. I have three kids, two which are boys....I am afraid that I'll be totally grey by the end of Grade 8. I'm scared to see what high school brings...but by then, I would have bought shares in L'Oreal Hair Colouring and I wont care. But right now...when I feel too young for the greys....it makes me sad....and I settle for blaming the kids....which in turn they feel bad and give me extra hugs!!  So all in all.....everything kinda works out!

PS. DON'T tweeze your greys....they just come back...coarser and kinkier!!

January Blues.....

They say that the third Monday in January is the worst...for various reasons, mostly cause our Credit card bills come pouring in...everything we did from the Holiday Season is reflected on that statement. Perhaps it is then, as we go over it, we realize that a certain so and so didn't really deserve that gift, especially if they only got you a spatula...that's right, I got a spatula from someone!!! Next year, they are down graded to a generic gift..perhaps soap!

January also has COLD, miserable weather.  We are back in routines and are coming off our high from the Holidays(now what am I suppose to do?)  And the next holiday that we have to look forward to is Family Day(and that's if you live in Ontario...and that's in February). So other than that Holiday and waiting for Spring....we try our best to get through the cold, dreary months.  Which for me, means improving on our home...and buying flowers!!! Flowers can cheer me up quickly....a burst of bright colours placed about...reminding me of Summer!

I LOVE these flowers and the colours!!

After we got a rug for the living room....it was time to change the wall colour...gotta match!!! After watching HGTV, and having various paint samples taped to the wall, I chose a colour...actually it was down to two colours and Josh chose the one I was liking, but I just couldn't choose it...but Josh did, so that confirmed my choice was right! We chose Luminary Yellow...normally I don't pick a colour from the yellow family for the living room...but something drew me to it...perhaps it reminded me of Spring and Summer....its light and cheery and goes great with the furniture. Now its all done!!! (Except for the curtains.)

I love my living room....slowly the HOME is becoming what I want. The kitchen and the rest of the rooms are complete...it was just the living room and our bedroom(I still want some romantic elements in there, but not girly, don't want to scare Matt). Now...I am just waiting for the curtains...back ordered....they are energy efficient...soon I can block out the WINTER months and focus on the sunny, light living room......waiting for Spring!!!

Its a VENT...sorry...its bothering me BUT....

I picked up Josh from school this afternoon. Living up north, its been turning cold all throughout the day, and ice seems to be everywhere(I haven't seen a sander/salter truck).  There is a crosswalk from the school to the side street, signs are posted.  We got to the end of the sidewalk, and like I taught MY kids, they stopped and LOOKED both ways. There was a pick up trucking coming along....it did not look like they were speeding at all...so we were going to wait for him to past or for him to stop(some cars still don't stop and keep going, never making eye contact with you...seriously...is it that much trouble for you to stop, and let kids cross??) We were waiting, when all of a sudden a kid comes running out to cross the road. The truck screeched and swerved down a side road...not to hit the kid. The driver then turned around and gave the kid a dirty look. The mother who was walking up the road, listening to her IPOD...didn't know what happened.

I had to say something to the Mother....she should know...tell her son about stopping and looking both ways...cause neither of them cared. So I told her...not blaming her son...but just explained how he just missed the truck. Her reply, " yah the roads are bad, the driver should be going slower." WHAT!!!!!! It was your kid who didn't look!! I just shut my mouth and walked on.....I then explained to Josh what just happened and expressed passionately how you have to stop, before crossing any street!! He understood and so did Katie!!! PLEASE PARENTS TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO LOOK BOTH WAYS!! I could have witnessed something more serious than it was!! It is still bothering me how this parent blamed the driver.........