The Crazee Chick's View of Life

10 years ago on this night I was really FAT. And uncomfortable. And someone kept kicking me! It was my little baby girl preparing to make her way into the world. Kiki came into the world in the usual way (that phrase always reminds me of Cat Stevens' Cat's in the Cradle song); she took me from 5 to 10 cm in 10 minutes and pushed herself out in three pushes. She was a fighter, that was evident, and it was a character trait that served her well in her first few years of life. Aah, who are we kidding? It still serves her well to this day... (The first few pictures are graphic. They may be disturbing. Consider yourself warned.) Here we are basking in the glow of our new born baby girl. She's so precious; pink (a tiny bit purple, but aren't all babies?!) and calm as can be. Aaahhh.... This is Kiki 13 days later after she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and had to have surgery at 5 days of age. Her feisty nature served her well through her long, arduous surgery ...

So, one day last March, Miss K. (Prez) and I were sitting around chatting, enjoying a peaceful moment, when Miss K. says, "Hey, don't you think it'd be fun to be the Prez and Vice Prez of the PAC next year? Wanna run?! We'd work so well together." So I, in what must have been a drunken stupor brought on by the peaceful moment, the sun and the box of chocolates that Miss K. had presented (hmmm...I'm thinking wolf in sheep's clothing here), muttered, "Yeah, that'd be cool. Pass me another chocolate. Burp." Fast forward to September. Blink. Say 'hello' to October. That's how fast the month went. Honestly!! What were we doing, you may ask? Well, allow me to introduce you... People, meet our Welcome Back BBQ. BBQ, meet the people. Here are some pictures of the BBQ that Prez, Miss J (Food Co-ordinator Extrodinaire) and I put on. At last count we had over 575 meals/people! That's pretty amazing considering we are all newbies. Ouch...

I'm going into labour in less than 17 hours.... hee hee whooo... It hurts so bad! I don't know if I can do this again! hee hee whoooo.. . I can't catch my breath! hee hee whoooo.. . I can't consistently maintain rhythmic breathing . hee hee whooo... . Each cycle gets harder and harder! hee hee whooo.... Oh man! The pain! When will it end?! hee hee whooo... And just when I think I can't take anymore of it.. . hee hee whooo.. . IT STOPS! hee hee whooo.... hee hee whooo......... hee heeeee.... For only a minute. Just long enough for me to suck in some air. Gurgle. Gasp. Sputter. And maybe grab a slosh of water. hee hee whooo .... hee hee whooo.... hee heeee.... And then it starts again. hee hee whoooo... Another timed cycle of running . (We're up to 9 km now!!) And breathing hard. And hurting. And just like in labour, there is a reward. Although the reward for this kind labour is not a sweet baby, it is still a bundle of joy-- it is watch...

Last night I looked over at my little boy kneeling on the floor in his Spongebob undies, his Winnie the Pooh blankie draped over his knees, and his eyes squished tightly in fervent prayer and I thought, "How does God stand it?" How can He let these precious little souls out of his sight even for a second? How does He not weep from missing them so badly? How can He not answer every single little prayer that is uttered from those perfect little lips? I couldn't do it. If Zee had prayed for a monkey riding a unicycle last night I would have run to the nearest circus and grabbed one for him. He didn't ask God for anything for himself though, he asked that the Lord could 'pwease make everyone in da whole world safe.' Awww.... It was all I could do not to just scoop him up in my arms right there in the middle of his prayer and cover him with kisses. And as I tucked him in his bed and kissed his gorgeous little mug the thought crossed my mind... "How d...

Nut Job. Fruit Loop. Nut Ball. No, these are not references to my culinary prowess. Nor are they references to my nut allergies or my affinity for colorful circular cereal. These are references to ME! By my so-called FRIENDS! (with friends like these, who needs enemies?) Fruit Loop. Nut ball Unfortunately, they are pretty accurate descriptions of me. Yes, I am goofy, spinny and even though I am blond from the bottle, the ditzy-ness is all natural! I'll let you in on a little secret about me though, as nutz as I am and as 'eccentric' (that was another word I got today which, I'll admit, surprised the crap out of me), I really am quite shy and introverted. Yes, you read that right; I am shy! I really would like to just blend into the crowd. I would actually like to sit back and listen to a conversation go down without adding my two cents, but it never happens. Someone inevitably says something that pushes my 'goofy' button and before I know it I'm rolling aro...

Where did I go wrong? In my earlier years I was not helpful. I never volunteered to help babysit anyone's kids, I never offered to make a meal for someone in need, I never committed my time to making the world a better place. I was happy then. I had time. Lots of it! I had energy too; enough to work all day, come home in the evenings and take the dog for a run or else leave the dog in the backyard (because in those days it was alllll about ME) and bike down to the gym for an aerobics class or a couple of hours working out on the machines. Yep, I was toned, calm, stress free, and loving my selfish, ego-centric life. Then I had kids. Life is different now. Now I find myself volunteering for everything that is mentioned within earshot. It doesn't really matter if I know you, I'll help out in some way. I'm teaching my kids how to be good citizens, how to contribute to their community, how to serve their fellow wo/man and how to be Christ-like. But seriously, do I h...

I'm kinda getting sick of hospital blue. I never want to have to don another one of those drafty, oversized, blue hospital gowns again in my life! I'll spare you the details but I was in and out of emergency again all this weekend (well, Friday and Saturday anyway, so far Sunday is uneventful). Three different doctors; three different opinions; no conclusion. Whatever it was has cleared up so that's good. No more hospital BLUES! Hub and I started week 7 of running. This morning we popped out of a nice warm bed to a nice warm morning, put our shoes to pavement instead of the rubberized track, and ran 9km! We've gone from 0km to 9km in 7 weeks! I don't know if this is impressive or not, but I am thoroughly proud of us!!! Yeah!! After we complete the 13 week program, we're going to start swimming or biking. We're still aiming to participate in a mini-triathlon (apparently called a 'sprint' triathlon but there will not be any 'sprinting...

Week 6.5 of running! Helllooooo, 1/2 way mark!!! Since school is back in session we've had to alter our schedule a bit and so now Hubby and I run in the morning. Although I am, by nature, not a morning person I was pretty excited to wake up to the birds' morning song and the sun's beautiful rays. That's not what I got... RAIN!! TORRENTIAL RAIN!! UGLY, UGLY RAIN!! No fair..... Hubby and I, we're no quitters (which is why I haven't given up my chocolate addiction) so we laced up our beautiful white, brand new, runners, donned our waterproof (not so much) 'shells' and leaned our bodies into the wind and rain and ran, ran, RAN our little hearts out. We came home absolutely soaked from head to toe...and our beautiful, shiny, engineering feats (feets?) of wonder upon our pedis were wet, dirty and squishy. So sad.... Good quality runners are so important. If you are going to be taking up the sport, be prepared to spend about $150.00 (Cdn) on a really good pa...

Don't you think September should be the New Year? With the start of the school year I find myself getting excited about what the year holds. I find myself dreaming and planning. I start to set goals. I feel reborn. Do you feel the same way too? I can't wait to start this New Year! I'm sure it'll be a great one! Happy New Year to you all!!!

Do you remember the show called Dragnet? If you're a spring chicken (in your 40's), then you might actually remember the movie better. I think Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks were in it. Do you remember the line, "Just the facts, ma'am?" That's what this blog is going to be today...just the facts. 1. On Tuesday, I made a spontaneous trip to visit my parents who live 4 hours away by airplane. We booked the flight at 11:30 am, and my flight departed at 2:30pm OF THE SAME DAY! I've never done that! I was so worried about my sick mommy, and Hubby insisted that I go see her (isn't he a sweetie?) and he stayed behind with the kids during his week off of work. I'm not sure how to repay him for this(although I'm pretty sure he's got an idea) but I'm so glad that he encouraged me to go. It was great to see my parents but it was hard to watch my mom struggle and to see how much her energy level has decreased. She said that the woman she was...

...to get to sleep? It's 3:00am and I am wide awake. Why? Because I am stupid... ...and wired on caffeine. Allow me to explain. I don't drink Coke or Pepsi --ever--but lately I've had the urge to have some. Call me a rebel. So tonight when I took the fam out to McDonalds I decided that I would submit to the cravings and I ordered a coke. Super size . Go Big or Go Home--that's my motto. So now, after finishing one novel and getting half way through another, worrying about my mom, and composing a late night/early morning email to my parents, I find myself sneaking quietly out of bed so as not to disturb the slumber of my fam who, wisely enough, chose to have Fruitopia, and stealing away into the night/early morning to the arms of my laptop (if it's my LAPtop then maybe I'm not exactly in it's arms though, eh?) But I digress. (as usual). As I mentioned, I finished a novel which I enjoyed so much that it launched into my top 10. It's called Fortune...