Yesterday was overwhelming for me; emotionally and mentally. I'm a smart girl, and I'm a great cook - that is of course, when I have the ingredients *I* select for the meals *I* want to prepare.
I live a very balanced and healthy lifestyle, and interestingly enough, last week was questioning how healthy I REALLY was eating. Last night put it into perspective as I was working at making lunches. The lunch for my daughter was really easy - she's 5, and loves anything pre-packaged, dyed and loaded with carbohydrates. Me on the other hand, I'm a bit of a snob I guess. I like trimming asparagus and fresh broccoli together with some baby carrots, adding some low fat margarine or fat free spray butter, along with a 40 calorie pork chop. Then, I'll generally pack a banana or two, a pear, an apple, perhaps a 100 calorie snack and 1/3c. of whole oats with 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar. As you can see, not only do I normally eat very healthy, I also eat A LOT. It falls in line with the fact that I work out 6 days a week, three of which are heavy weight lifting days.
This social experiment changes that.
I cut up some iceberg lettuce (which is basically like eating water - there is little to no nutritional value), some tomatoes (perfectly ripe, might I add!) and several mushrooms. I have a beautiful raspberry vinaigrette I would normally use on a salad, however, it's not an option this week, so I made my own.
Recipe:
2 tsp. garlic bbq sauce
sprinkle of salt
several dashes of pepper
two dashes of cajun spice
Voila! We have salad dressing. I'll dilute it a bit to make it less "saucy"... but it's actually quite good; tangy.
The remainder of my lunch is a pb sandwich and then two slices of bread with margerine, some more mushrooms and a half of a tomatoe, and a jell-o pudding cup. In total, I'm looking at about 750 calories from just that small amount of food. Considering that breakfast was 290 calories (2 medium eggs, 2 pieces of toast w/margerine) that leaves me just under 500 calories for dinner/snack tonight. I'll have to be quite careful, considering that I'm going to be making spaghetti and a home made sauce. I'll also be hijacking a vegetarian chili from Darren Krause - if he ever posts it. It sounds like he and I received similar hampers.
I do note that we didn't receive fruit - this will make the week difficult ... we eat a lot of fresh fruit in our home in a week.
This morning was an interesting experience. I put my daughter's breakfast out for her every night before I go to bed, and leave her a little glass of milk in the fridge for her cereal. As she was getting dressed, she shouted down the hall,
"Mama!? Did you give me cheerios this morning? Or Rice Krispies?!"(We only received cheerios in the hamper)
"Cheerios, baby." (wincing for the inevitable)
"MAMA!!!! I wanted Rice Krispiessssssssssssssss." (whining)
"Sorry honey, we only have cheerios this week..." (sighing deeply... waiting for more...)
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Mooommaaaaaaaaaaaaa" :: slamming bathroom door ::
:: blink :: :: blink :: I've raised a total food snob.
I got dressed and went downstairs, where my precious little snob was sitting, poking at these terrible cheerios. I asked her what her issue was, to which she responded that she wanted Rice Krispies, that she was sick of cheerios (she'd only switched to Rice Krispies on Sunday! She eats cheerios EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.) I sat down with her and explained, again, what we were doing.
I reminded her of the food we laid out last night, and how we took pictures of it for my blog. I also reminded her of the many families we remember to help out on a regular basis, the ones she calls the "unner-privs" (under-privileged - hey, it's better than the "poor kids"). That comforted her - she asked when she'd be able to have cheerios and I told her that she'd be able to have them on Saturday morning, that she could eat as much as she wanted. That satisfied her. I asked her if she peeked in her lunch kit ... she said she did and she was excited about the pink pudding .....
Score! Small victory in the world of a food snob.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Week in Their Kitchen - May 31
I was okay on the ride over; there were three of us in the vehicle. I don’t know Roger or Pat all that well, but we were able to make some decent “not-too-awkward-conversation” on the way to the Food Bank.
When we arrived, it was about 12:30. The Food Bank opens its doors at 1:00; there were already people in line. One was a woman who was in good spirits, she pretended to punch Pat for cutting in line in front of her; the other was a small family with a little baby.
My heart felt sad.
I watched as the two in front of me went ahead and did the intake work. I felt nervous standing there, waiting for my turn. The smell of over-ripe fruit filled my nose, and the voices of the workers in the food line talking to one another carried over to me. I talked to Pat about books and his book viewer; he made me feel a bit calmer.
My scenario? I’m a single mom, I work hard, but I just don’t make enough to make ends meet. Did I mention I live in Strathmore? I didn’t know Strathmore has a food bank – I was informed that this would be the only time the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank would be able to help me. Normally, they help a family (provide a “band aid”) 7 times in a 12 month period; and never more than once in a 30 day period. Once a family or individual has been through three times, they then go to a referral service (along with other services) to help them manage.
I had to provide identification for myself and my daughter, (thank goodness I had it with me), employment numbers, expenses paid out in a month, and when I indicated that I “hadn’t paid my bills”, Joan quickly ran to get me some resource information, telling me that if I didn’t call them today, they’d shut off my services. She was concerned about my little girl having lights and hot water. I felt comforted by her, and yet a little intimidated, what if she told me I couldn’t feed my child for the next week? She also told me that if I knew anyone in line, not to wave at them, unless they waved at me first to protect their comfort zone and privacy.
Once she was done “interviewing” me, she gave me a print out with my name on it with “BLUE” written and circled in a highlighter of the same color. She sent me with Brooke, the coordinator of the event, to the food line. I turned to walk to the entry, and I felt every set of eyes in the place on me. I felt a deep tension fill my lower abdomen; I couldn’t look anyone in the eye. The line up had swelled 10 times to what it was when we originally arrived; I didn’t realize I’d taken so much time with the intake process. I wanted to busy myself with my blackberry, something I do often when I’m in an awkward situation or have a few minutes, but I felt this great sense of discomfort at even thinking about it, so I didn’t. I thumbed my device in my pocket as I walked behind Brooke, my eyes on the floor.
I followed Brooke through the door into the area where the food line was. The smell of over-ripened fruit was stronger; I felt my stomach do a flip-flop. When I looked to the right, Brittni was waiting beside the bread. Brooke smiled at me and offered a mini doughnut to help me feel better – as did the man behind the line. He told me they were calorie free, which made me smile. They were all so friendly, working hard to put me at ease; my discomfort was likely quite obvious. (Surely I’m not the only uncomfortable person they’ve had though those doors.) Brooke left me with Brittni and I turned to her as I indicated that I had no idea what to do. How was it I couldn’t figure out what to do in the Food Bank? I needed these groceries to feed my family, why was it so difficult?
My thoughts were spinning through my head as the man behind the line dropped several bags into some crates and then pushed the crates down the line. I had 4 crates of food and a recycling “bin” from Superstore. The first gentleman, and two more offered me “extra bread” – I couldn’t bring myself to take it after having seen so many families, truly in need, waiting in line. I glanced at Brittni as they rolled my five crates of food down the line, each person putting more food into it. The tension grew in the bottom of my stomach; I’m sure she could see the tears welling in my eyes as the emotion of the situation overcame me. I can't begin to explain the emotion I was feeling at the point – it was a clear mixture of guilt for taking the food, knowing I wasn’t truly in need; embarrassment for the fact I was having to take the food and another emotion, one I can only explain as innocent love, knowing that there was an agency, filled with people so willing help me, a perfect stranger, make ends meet and take care of my family.
I was someone to them.
As I rolled down the line, I made my best effort to focus on the people behind the line and the things they were telling me and giving me. They gave me pudding, I found myself thinking about my little girl, and how excited she would be – and then I saw them add in a big box of Oreo cookies – I made a mental note; my husband would like that.
There were several things I wouldn’t normally buy as a result of sugar and trans fat content – but not bad by any means. In fact, I found myself interested to see what else they would put in. Tentatively, we came upon Kelly, another one of the employees in the food bank. Her smile made me feel better as she acknowledged me. I appreciated her warmth and kindness as she gave me several containers of fresh mushrooms.
We kept rolling, and the feeling kept building in my stomach the closer we got to the end. Brittni helped me load my groceries into a cart and the friendly workers took the crates away; one gentleman even offered me tips on how to load the cart to get it out to my car properly. We turned the cart and left. I could feel everyone looking at me, wondering why I was there. I slipped out quickly and unloaded my stuff into the trunk of Roger’s car. The amount of food took over his whole trunk - Pat would have to put his in the back seat.
I expressed the overwhelming feelings I had to the group as we loaded back up and headed back downtown. Once we arrived back in the Core, Roger and Pat helped me unload my groceries onto my incredibly gratuitous truck, where I then waited for my fiancée.
When I got home, I unloaded all of the groceries onto my table and took photos. I was given a lot of food, and as I said before, a lot of food I wouldn’t normally buy. Food that is high in carbs, sodium, trans and saturated fats. But on the other hand, I was given milk, whole wheat bread, eggs, fresh vegetables, tuna fish, beans and sauces. I was also provided juice and meal replacements, which I’m seriously allergic to, a large container of peanut butter, and a pound of margarine. I’ve reloaded the recycling container with everything our family can’t use with the intention of bringing it back to re-donate. That includes the large container of peanut butter, the two bottles of bbq sauce, some of the crackers, the juices and meal replacements. I don’t want to keep something that someone else in that line could use.
So, dinner tonight? Mac-n-cheese with hot dogs, creative, right? (Not.) On my calorie counting diet, I was able to have 1/4c. of mac-n-cheese with 2 hot dogs for 530 calories. I’ll be able to better plan now that I know what I have to work with, and with that said, I don’t intend to eat another dinner like that again. I also have every intention of stealing recipes from other bloggers posts (cough-Darren-cough).
I guess what gets me the most about this whole thing is that I have choices, and I do have other food in my pantry – the people who utilize the services of the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank don’t have that option. In a week, I’ll be having a steak and a potato, but these people, they’ll be back in another 30 or 90 days maybe; and the need will continue to revolve.
When we arrived, it was about 12:30. The Food Bank opens its doors at 1:00; there were already people in line. One was a woman who was in good spirits, she pretended to punch Pat for cutting in line in front of her; the other was a small family with a little baby.
My heart felt sad.
I watched as the two in front of me went ahead and did the intake work. I felt nervous standing there, waiting for my turn. The smell of over-ripe fruit filled my nose, and the voices of the workers in the food line talking to one another carried over to me. I talked to Pat about books and his book viewer; he made me feel a bit calmer.
My scenario? I’m a single mom, I work hard, but I just don’t make enough to make ends meet. Did I mention I live in Strathmore? I didn’t know Strathmore has a food bank – I was informed that this would be the only time the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank would be able to help me. Normally, they help a family (provide a “band aid”) 7 times in a 12 month period; and never more than once in a 30 day period. Once a family or individual has been through three times, they then go to a referral service (along with other services) to help them manage.
I had to provide identification for myself and my daughter, (thank goodness I had it with me), employment numbers, expenses paid out in a month, and when I indicated that I “hadn’t paid my bills”, Joan quickly ran to get me some resource information, telling me that if I didn’t call them today, they’d shut off my services. She was concerned about my little girl having lights and hot water. I felt comforted by her, and yet a little intimidated, what if she told me I couldn’t feed my child for the next week? She also told me that if I knew anyone in line, not to wave at them, unless they waved at me first to protect their comfort zone and privacy.
Once she was done “interviewing” me, she gave me a print out with my name on it with “BLUE” written and circled in a highlighter of the same color. She sent me with Brooke, the coordinator of the event, to the food line. I turned to walk to the entry, and I felt every set of eyes in the place on me. I felt a deep tension fill my lower abdomen; I couldn’t look anyone in the eye. The line up had swelled 10 times to what it was when we originally arrived; I didn’t realize I’d taken so much time with the intake process. I wanted to busy myself with my blackberry, something I do often when I’m in an awkward situation or have a few minutes, but I felt this great sense of discomfort at even thinking about it, so I didn’t. I thumbed my device in my pocket as I walked behind Brooke, my eyes on the floor.
I followed Brooke through the door into the area where the food line was. The smell of over-ripened fruit was stronger; I felt my stomach do a flip-flop. When I looked to the right, Brittni was waiting beside the bread. Brooke smiled at me and offered a mini doughnut to help me feel better – as did the man behind the line. He told me they were calorie free, which made me smile. They were all so friendly, working hard to put me at ease; my discomfort was likely quite obvious. (Surely I’m not the only uncomfortable person they’ve had though those doors.) Brooke left me with Brittni and I turned to her as I indicated that I had no idea what to do. How was it I couldn’t figure out what to do in the Food Bank? I needed these groceries to feed my family, why was it so difficult?
My thoughts were spinning through my head as the man behind the line dropped several bags into some crates and then pushed the crates down the line. I had 4 crates of food and a recycling “bin” from Superstore. The first gentleman, and two more offered me “extra bread” – I couldn’t bring myself to take it after having seen so many families, truly in need, waiting in line. I glanced at Brittni as they rolled my five crates of food down the line, each person putting more food into it. The tension grew in the bottom of my stomach; I’m sure she could see the tears welling in my eyes as the emotion of the situation overcame me. I can't begin to explain the emotion I was feeling at the point – it was a clear mixture of guilt for taking the food, knowing I wasn’t truly in need; embarrassment for the fact I was having to take the food and another emotion, one I can only explain as innocent love, knowing that there was an agency, filled with people so willing help me, a perfect stranger, make ends meet and take care of my family.
I was someone to them.
As I rolled down the line, I made my best effort to focus on the people behind the line and the things they were telling me and giving me. They gave me pudding, I found myself thinking about my little girl, and how excited she would be – and then I saw them add in a big box of Oreo cookies – I made a mental note; my husband would like that.
There were several things I wouldn’t normally buy as a result of sugar and trans fat content – but not bad by any means. In fact, I found myself interested to see what else they would put in. Tentatively, we came upon Kelly, another one of the employees in the food bank. Her smile made me feel better as she acknowledged me. I appreciated her warmth and kindness as she gave me several containers of fresh mushrooms.
We kept rolling, and the feeling kept building in my stomach the closer we got to the end. Brittni helped me load my groceries into a cart and the friendly workers took the crates away; one gentleman even offered me tips on how to load the cart to get it out to my car properly. We turned the cart and left. I could feel everyone looking at me, wondering why I was there. I slipped out quickly and unloaded my stuff into the trunk of Roger’s car. The amount of food took over his whole trunk - Pat would have to put his in the back seat.
I expressed the overwhelming feelings I had to the group as we loaded back up and headed back downtown. Once we arrived back in the Core, Roger and Pat helped me unload my groceries onto my incredibly gratuitous truck, where I then waited for my fiancée.
When I got home, I unloaded all of the groceries onto my table and took photos. I was given a lot of food, and as I said before, a lot of food I wouldn’t normally buy. Food that is high in carbs, sodium, trans and saturated fats. But on the other hand, I was given milk, whole wheat bread, eggs, fresh vegetables, tuna fish, beans and sauces. I was also provided juice and meal replacements, which I’m seriously allergic to, a large container of peanut butter, and a pound of margarine. I’ve reloaded the recycling container with everything our family can’t use with the intention of bringing it back to re-donate. That includes the large container of peanut butter, the two bottles of bbq sauce, some of the crackers, the juices and meal replacements. I don’t want to keep something that someone else in that line could use.
So, dinner tonight? Mac-n-cheese with hot dogs, creative, right? (Not.) On my calorie counting diet, I was able to have 1/4c. of mac-n-cheese with 2 hot dogs for 530 calories. I’ll be able to better plan now that I know what I have to work with, and with that said, I don’t intend to eat another dinner like that again. I also have every intention of stealing recipes from other bloggers posts (cough-Darren-cough).
I guess what gets me the most about this whole thing is that I have choices, and I do have other food in my pantry – the people who utilize the services of the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank don’t have that option. In a week, I’ll be having a steak and a potato, but these people, they’ll be back in another 30 or 90 days maybe; and the need will continue to revolve.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Gave in ... And Update.
So I gave in. BUT! I'm not going to hang my head in shame.
I. Love. Twitter.
I joined at the beginning of April, and I've managed to already rack up 2241 comments and over 140 followers. I stick close to home in the #YYC. I'd say I pretty much have an addiction. Before you go and judge me, have you ever used Twitter? And if so, do you "get" it? A lot of people log in, try it once, never use a hash tag and then say how retarded it is. If anything, it's less invasive than FaceCrack and there's no need for severe security settings - you simply cannot share as much information in a passive manner on Twitter. Anyway ... that's that. If you are a Twerp - look me up - @Kait_Dee.
I'm participating in a challenge at work next week, it's called "A Week in Their Kitchen". It's being run by the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank during the annual food drive we host at work (this is the second annual).
This year we've (and by we, I clearly mean the Food Bank ....!) gone a bit bigger in an effort to actually make Calgarians aware of the need, as opposed to simply the people we work with or those who buy gas from our company. There are actually two streams to this - there is the stream run by the Food Bank, which has several media individuals and then there is the internal one I'm a part of. The Media stream will be publicized on the Food Bank's web site and ours will be publicized internally.
Okay, so you understand the social stream, but what is it?
Monday, after the kick off wraps up at our office building, I'll be heading down to the Food Bank where I will go through their intake process, start to finish to obtain a food hamper for myself, the Redneck and R-Spot. For the next week we will live only on the food that the Food Bank supplies us. We aren't allowed to eat out, participate in any snack shares, or use vitamins or over the counter medications, such as Tylenol or Advil (this in itself will present a challenge considering how I turn into Satan when I'm off my supplements. Good thing I'm me and don't have to live with me!! HAHAHAHA!!) We're also allowed to use only salt and pepper and three additional spices that we already have in the house hold. We're allowed coffee and tea, if we have it in the household or have it provided at work - but that's it, that's all.
The hampers are made in accordance with the Canadian Food Guide, and while there is likely a lot of things in there that I wouldn't normally eat, there's nothing wrong with the food - it's just different.. Non-perishable as a result of the nature of the beast. There will also be fresh fruit and veggies as well as fruit cocktail and milk. We'll be okay as we embark on this journey, however, I do think it will be a real challenge, because as most people are in our industry, we're fairly privileged.
I'm going to be blogging at work regarding my experiences every day, and I'll be posting it here as well, unless it's indicated by the corporation that it would be a no-no to do so... There are 4 or 5 others participating in the event; it should be interesting because I think I'm the only one who isn't management or close to management, and as mentioned, I'm the only one with a child. R-Spot won't even notice.... in fact, as long as I take all of the food that we SHOULDN'T be consuming OUT of the pantry and replace it with the food we're being given, she'll be fine.
I'm actually going to donate all of the food from my pantry to the food drive in an effort to give back in a way, outside of the financial contribution I'm going to be making. I encourage you to do the same - make two donations, one of food, and one of financial bearing. It's important that we, as the privileged area of our society remember that Christmas isn't the only time when people are working and have to choose between rent or groceries.
I'm delighted that the Calgary Interfaith Food Back is affording me this opportunity, as I'm sure it's going to enlighten me more than I believe I am.
Shout out to @KayPhair & @Darling_Lil_Red for their assistance, humor and coordination.
Peace, love and chicken grease.
Friday, April 23, 2010
How many blogs can I have titled: "I suck"??
I'm terrible at keeping up with my blogs. I'm really good with www.nomocameltoe.com - but that's only because it's so much a part of my life right now. If you haven't checked it out yet, I'd encourage you to have a look. It's how I'm keeping myself motivated to get fit and healthy - and stay that way. I have to be accountable if I have a hundred or so readers, right???
To help myself reach my goals, I bought myself a pair of roller blades - I LOVE ROLLERBLADING! I forgot how great it feels - and by great; I clearly mean having burning ass and thigh muscles. I feel like I've burned thousands of calories in the past four days. :) My cousin, Lachelle (shout out again!), lent me her blades back in the day, when I was 17 and she was like ... 14 ... I used them for the whole summer that I lived in Taber, and I managed to lose massive inches and weight by blading everywhere I went - I seldom got a ride anywhere I went; I was the thinnest I'd ever been - and I'm almost back there.
Life has been busy - work has been busy, the kids have been busy - .... status quo, I suppose - the way life should be! I sold my home in the north, and we're now selling our Strathmore house. We're interested in downsizing; we'll see where it goes. Real estate is so finicky; but we have a good agent - highly responsive, friendly, enjoyable to be around - I think we made the right choice with her! We went for a week without a showing, and tomorrow is showing number 4 in three days! Good thing we all have plans outside of the house - and thank goodness the dog has been so well behaved.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Emotion
Today I cooked several meals for someone in my community. Then I made two very nice Easter baskets for her young sons.....
She lost her husband two weeks ago, and laid him to rest on Monday. He was one of the two men lost in the avalanche in Revelstoke. There is so much media attention and talk/gossip about what really happened, so I'm not going to get into that. She deserves better, and so does the memory of her husband.
Her 5 year old son is in R-Spot's kindergarten class. She came home two weeks ago and announced, during dinner, that his "dad died". I felt so sad the second I heard the words leave her lips. We knew it had been someone from our little town of 12,000, but we didn't expect to have any connection to the person considering the "bedroom community" type of lifestyle we live. We work in the city, we have our friends mainly in the city ... but I guess we're more connected than we thought.
I've thought about this family often. I have a mind that won't sleep; especially when I know someone else is in pain - physical or emotional. Writing this now, I feel this intense, heavy emotion on my chest; tears in my eyes and sadness in my soul. I imagine this woman, waking up in the morning to an empty bed, having to guide her young sons through the day and into the evening, completing routine tasks like preparing meals and giving them baths .. all without her life partner, and soul mate.
While I cooked for this young mom and her two darling sons, I couldn't tear my mind away from why I was doing it. It put a lot of perspective into my own affairs. It reminded me of what was important and what was irrelevant. It reminded me that while I was grouchy when I went to get groceries, I came home to the people I love ... it reminded me that while I sometimes struggled with unimportant, dramatic nonsense.... I have everything and everyone I need available to me.
I can't even express the depth of grief I feel for this family - so please readers, keep this family in your prayers - pray for their comfort, grief and guidance through this difficult time.
If there's one more thing I can plead for... It's to be kind. Turn the other cheek and give to the world in any way you can - because the person you bump on the street, critisize on the train, gossip about behind closed doors... Maybe they need your forgiveness, compassion... and love.
We owe it to one another to pay it forward and take care of each other, besides, we've been taught that our goodness to one another will be rewarded tenfold.
<3
She lost her husband two weeks ago, and laid him to rest on Monday. He was one of the two men lost in the avalanche in Revelstoke. There is so much media attention and talk/gossip about what really happened, so I'm not going to get into that. She deserves better, and so does the memory of her husband.
Her 5 year old son is in R-Spot's kindergarten class. She came home two weeks ago and announced, during dinner, that his "dad died". I felt so sad the second I heard the words leave her lips. We knew it had been someone from our little town of 12,000, but we didn't expect to have any connection to the person considering the "bedroom community" type of lifestyle we live. We work in the city, we have our friends mainly in the city ... but I guess we're more connected than we thought.
I've thought about this family often. I have a mind that won't sleep; especially when I know someone else is in pain - physical or emotional. Writing this now, I feel this intense, heavy emotion on my chest; tears in my eyes and sadness in my soul. I imagine this woman, waking up in the morning to an empty bed, having to guide her young sons through the day and into the evening, completing routine tasks like preparing meals and giving them baths .. all without her life partner, and soul mate.
While I cooked for this young mom and her two darling sons, I couldn't tear my mind away from why I was doing it. It put a lot of perspective into my own affairs. It reminded me of what was important and what was irrelevant. It reminded me that while I was grouchy when I went to get groceries, I came home to the people I love ... it reminded me that while I sometimes struggled with unimportant, dramatic nonsense.... I have everything and everyone I need available to me.
I can't even express the depth of grief I feel for this family - so please readers, keep this family in your prayers - pray for their comfort, grief and guidance through this difficult time.
If there's one more thing I can plead for... It's to be kind. Turn the other cheek and give to the world in any way you can - because the person you bump on the street, critisize on the train, gossip about behind closed doors... Maybe they need your forgiveness, compassion... and love.
We owe it to one another to pay it forward and take care of each other, besides, we've been taught that our goodness to one another will be rewarded tenfold.
<3
Friday, March 19, 2010
And It's Been Awhile .....
I've been down and out for awhile. Last week I had a surgery and felt terrible for a week. I'm finally on the mend and I feel like the sunshine is coming out for me.
It's amazing how a little bit of self-reflection and rest can heal more than just the body. I've spent every night this week doing something with the offspring - and it's been wonderful. Between playing at the park, taking long walks, shopping and doing soem volunteer work with them - I feel like we've reconnected in some way. It's been a good week ... My heart is full of love and joy and my mind is filled with positive thoughts......
I don't have the time to be blogging, I need to be writing a newsletter ... so, with that, I bid you a fantastic afternoon, friends.
It's amazing how a little bit of self-reflection and rest can heal more than just the body. I've spent every night this week doing something with the offspring - and it's been wonderful. Between playing at the park, taking long walks, shopping and doing soem volunteer work with them - I feel like we've reconnected in some way. It's been a good week ... My heart is full of love and joy and my mind is filled with positive thoughts......
I don't have the time to be blogging, I need to be writing a newsletter ... so, with that, I bid you a fantastic afternoon, friends.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Where did the weekend go?!
I flexed on Friday.... It was great - the kids were off school too, and the Redneck had meetings in Acheson - so we went to Edmonton for the weekend. I'm exhausted.
We got into town on Friday morning, checked into our hotel, had a (terrible!) brunch and then the Redneck went to his meetings and the brood and I went to WEM. It was fun - I had a good time with them. R-Spot went on one of the bigger roller coasters - but only once. She wouldn't even entertain discussion on going on it after the first time. She went on a multitude of rides - the kid's roller coaster and this other spinny one like 5 or 6 times each - and then of course the bumper cars and the jungle gym .... and so on and so forth. It was fun!
Day two brought a date with the water park - she was terrified of the waves at first, but soon enough, we couldn't get her out of them. We were there for almost four hours. The five year old outlasted all of us. We hit Mr. Mike's for lunch before going back to the hotel for a movie and a snooze. Then my sister showed up and we had coffee with our kids before the Redneck and his kids came down for dinner. We had original plans to go to Pizza Hut, across from the hotel, but my sister suggested we go to the River Cree Casino for dinner, which we did, thinking that there was a sea food buffet.... only to discover that Merle Haggard was there for a show .... (I can't think of one song he sings?? And even then, we totall thought he had died?!) .... We decided to stick to the original plans, which didn't turn out so smoothly when my sister (6 months pregnant with a 2 and 5 year old) locked herself out of her truck on the opposite end of the casino parking lot. We managed to get ahold of our dad, who had the code to get into her truck before heading back to the hotel to cross the road to Pizza Hut ...
The knob working the door at PH said he couldn't offer us a spot as a table of 40 and another of 12 had arrived only 20 and 10 minutes prior to us ... and was as useless as a third boob would be to me .... so we ended up going to McDonald's across the parking lot .... thank goodness for grilled chicken salads and play areas for kids. (On a sidenote, I have NEVER waited so much as I have this weekend - there is SELDOM a wait for a table anywhere in Calgary - but EVERYWHERE we went in Edmonton (except our terrible hotel resturant) had a wait of 20 minutes or more, regardless of the time we went to eat!!)
We got home today about 12:30;I'm beat. I napped, as did R-Spot ... Then it was off to hunt and gather dinner. *sigh* All I wanted was a baked chicken ... I ended up coming home with a maple ham from Co-op; no one had chickens! Oh well, it was good... and I ate too much.... (but not more than my alloted calories!)
So ... goodnight moon ... this was a rambling blog ... with no point .... just ... babbling. <3
-- Kait --
We got into town on Friday morning, checked into our hotel, had a (terrible!) brunch and then the Redneck went to his meetings and the brood and I went to WEM. It was fun - I had a good time with them. R-Spot went on one of the bigger roller coasters - but only once. She wouldn't even entertain discussion on going on it after the first time. She went on a multitude of rides - the kid's roller coaster and this other spinny one like 5 or 6 times each - and then of course the bumper cars and the jungle gym .... and so on and so forth. It was fun!
Day two brought a date with the water park - she was terrified of the waves at first, but soon enough, we couldn't get her out of them. We were there for almost four hours. The five year old outlasted all of us. We hit Mr. Mike's for lunch before going back to the hotel for a movie and a snooze. Then my sister showed up and we had coffee with our kids before the Redneck and his kids came down for dinner. We had original plans to go to Pizza Hut, across from the hotel, but my sister suggested we go to the River Cree Casino for dinner, which we did, thinking that there was a sea food buffet.... only to discover that Merle Haggard was there for a show .... (I can't think of one song he sings?? And even then, we totall thought he had died?!) .... We decided to stick to the original plans, which didn't turn out so smoothly when my sister (6 months pregnant with a 2 and 5 year old) locked herself out of her truck on the opposite end of the casino parking lot. We managed to get ahold of our dad, who had the code to get into her truck before heading back to the hotel to cross the road to Pizza Hut ...
The knob working the door at PH said he couldn't offer us a spot as a table of 40 and another of 12 had arrived only 20 and 10 minutes prior to us ... and was as useless as a third boob would be to me .... so we ended up going to McDonald's across the parking lot .... thank goodness for grilled chicken salads and play areas for kids. (On a sidenote, I have NEVER waited so much as I have this weekend - there is SELDOM a wait for a table anywhere in Calgary - but EVERYWHERE we went in Edmonton (except our terrible hotel resturant) had a wait of 20 minutes or more, regardless of the time we went to eat!!)
We got home today about 12:30;I'm beat. I napped, as did R-Spot ... Then it was off to hunt and gather dinner. *sigh* All I wanted was a baked chicken ... I ended up coming home with a maple ham from Co-op; no one had chickens! Oh well, it was good... and I ate too much.... (but not more than my alloted calories!)
So ... goodnight moon ... this was a rambling blog ... with no point .... just ... babbling. <3
-- Kait --
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