Just Keep Swinging

This weekend we had hopes of going camping but opted to cancel due to the weather. Plus Abby was not feeling so great either. Instead, the family and I, watched movies together...pretty much the entire weekend. It started with Jason stopping at Blockbuster on his way home from work on Friday night. He rented "Enchanted" and "National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets". We treated the kids with cheesies - 2 1/2 cups to be exact -and ourselves with salt & pepper chips and ringalo's, and cuddled up together on the couches.

Enchanted was actually quite entertaining, even for us adults. Abby had already seen it once at school and would constantly turn around to watch me watch the movie. Even Jason did not seem to mind it. After tucking the kids into bed, we put in National Treasure 2. Having enjoyed the first one, I knew it was the perfect movie for my mood. Nothing too scary, too dark, or too depressing but still entertaining. It's got a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe to it...without the snakes.

On Saturday the girls preceded to watch Enchanted again, and Jules watched National Treasure 2. (It's rated PG). The rest of the day was spent tidying up the house. I tackled upstairs while Jason took the basement. Trust me...I got the better part of the deal. Jason also tinkered with his old dodge outside and I slow cooked a roast pork for supper. We toyed with the idea of going for a drive into town but we decided we really wanted to just stay in. We hit the Irving for more movies. I picked up Ocean's Thirteen, which I had never seen. Samuel passes me this animated movie called "Everyone's Hero". I hadn't heard of it so I flipped it over to read the back. The name Christopher Reeve catches my eye and I'm sold.

It turns out that he was directing this film when he passed away. He cared very deeply about bringing this type of story to the public and created it's theme "just keep swinging". It is filled with an all-star cast providing the voices. Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Rob Reiner - just to name a few. The film takes place during the Babe Ruth era in NYC. A little boy named Yankee Irving loves baseball, the Babe and his Dad. It's a really great film for children to watch, with a really great message. At the end, there is a very climatic, inspiring, scene where the boy finally connects bat to ball, while his Mom, Dad and the Babe look on. The music rises up louder, screen fades to black and the words "For Christopher and Dana Reeve" appear. I lost it. I bawled my head off. Jason turned to me and said "You don't even know them, Jenn".

There are some people that, although you never met them, you feel a connection with. I have always felt like that with Chris & Dana. I cannot begin to say the admiration I feel, the inspiration, when I think of how they lived their life. How when faced with the most unspeakable tragedies, they "just kept swinging". That is what I wish to instill in my own children. When life knocks you down, when you're diagnosed with a debilitating disease or suddenly find yourself paralysed...you can climb back out of the darkness, dust yourself off and discover an inner strength that you never knew you had. It is not fair that these two great human beings, were both taken away long before their time.

Fall In

Summer vacation is officially over. Tomorrow will be filled with baths, braids(girls' choice for first day of school) and butterflies...in my stomach, that is. This Summer was everything I wanted it to be. Calm. That was all I ordered, all I wished for. Calmness. And God delivered. So why then, do I feel so sad? Like I never got my fill? I guess everyone feels like that. Summer is smart.....it always leaves you wanting more. No one ever gets sick of Summer.

Right now Jason is gone up to Blackville to pick up a movie for him and I to watch, once the kids go to bed. He and I plan to enjoy a glass of wine, some snacks and frankly each other, one last time before we are thrust into the world of homework, bedtimes and everything else that comes with school, for another year. Then the countdown will begin for Thanksgiving,...Remembrance Day....and before you know it, we'll all know how many weeks there are until Christmas(16, if you're interested).

I must admit that I am feeling the urge to become more organized. I dare say I am looking forward to it. One of the perks of having all your children in school, is that you can tackle a job like housecleaning a room or organizing the basement, and not have to stop to referee a fight, check the girls sugars, or listen to them constantly asking you when lunch is going to be ready. If you wanted to, you could even (gasp!) skip lunch altogether. I'm not sure how long this nesting period will last. A week? A month? Who knows?

What I do know for sure is that Fall is coming whether we like it or not. So I'm choosing to like it. To focus on all the things that I enjoy about this season. The crisp air, colorful foliage, decorating the porch, etc... And you know I am dying to dig out my sweaters! I am such a sweater girl.

Anyway, time to get the kids ready for bed. Jason has returned with Premonition starring Sandra Bullock and that guy from Nip Tuck, whose name escapes me.

Five Days Left

Still trying to maintain composure over Abby starting school. She is sooo excited, constantly asking me what day is it. We are pretty much ready for school to begin. Bags are backed, names written on everything, hair cut, even the clothes thing has been taken care of. I usually go insane doing the clothes switch-a-roo. This is where having a basement really comes in handy. Took me no time. I knew where everything was and just picked out some Fall things. No sense in digging out all the heavy sweaters and coats, etc.. when they won't be wearing them yet. When we lived in the trailer and I stored everything over at Mom's, I had to spend an entire day looking through clothes. I would come home with tons of bags of clothes that included everything for Fall and Winter. Never wanted to have to spend another day doing it so I would always bring over everything. Would drive myself crazy every season. Thank God that's over.

Tonight all three of my kids are having a sleepover at Mom's house. It is the girls first time sleeping away since their diagnosis. Even though they will literally just be across the street, I find myself feeling a bit nervous. Yes my Mom is fully trained and has babysat for me often, it's the nighttime thing that worries me. We still check their sugars in the night at around 3am, and although Mom has assured me that she will do the same, those little irrational worries creep in. Like will she get up? Will she sleep through her alarm? Will she even set an alarm? Should I just set an alarm and call her to be sure? Crazy, crazy, crazy. Guess just another "first" that I have to go through. I really want the girls to have an enjoyable sleepover. Especially Jules, since she has complained that Samuel has gotten to sleep over at a friends house and she hasn't. One of those times where you so don't want diabetes to make her life different than his, but can't help it.

Taking full advantage of the situation, Jason and I plan to go to the movies tonight. I have had free air miles tickets for almost six months. We have just never managed to go, usually due to babysitting issues. But tonight the babysitting is taken care of. Jason is working days this week so we can go and catch an early show and still be back in time for him to get enough sleep. Think we are going to see The Bourne Ultimatum. Tonight is it's last night playing. If it is anything like the previous two, it should be good.

Was thinking of taking the kids up to the school today to show Abby her classroom. The teachers are not working tomorrow so today is my last chance to do it before school actually starts. But I still have a lot of things I want to do before taking kids over to Mom's. Hmmmm..... Told the kids earlier in the week that I would do it, so I guess I will just have to fit it in.

Meme Time

This one comes from Andrea

1. Who is your favorite style icon from the 20's - 40's? This is a hard one. There are so many to choose from, but I will say Marlena Dietrich and/or Katherine Hepburn. They were the brave ones who dared to wear "trousers". LOL.

2. If money was no object, how would you decorate your whole home? We just built a new home last Fall, and I was blessed enough to paint/decorate every room pretty much however I wanted. So, amazingly I would say I already got to do that. Having said that, I would love to have an electric fireplace in the living room, along with a sofa table, book case and new end table. To add some new art work would also be cool.

3. What's the most annoying toy your kids have? This one is not near as bad as it used to be. LOL. The girls have tons of pairs of those plastic high heel shoes. The noise they make on the floor can get quite annoying by times. Samuel's electric battleship game makes a noise the entire time you're playing it, that can grate on your nerves. Other than that, it's actually not too bad right now.....but Christmas is coming. :)

4. What culture fascinates you? I've always been fascinated with the Native American culture in the way they trust and respect nature.

5. What's the earliest thing you remember? Jeez, this is hard.....For some reason I want to say sucking on a cold face cloth. LOL. No idea why. Teething maybe? I vaguely remember my Mom discovering the fact that I had pooped in my pants and trying to convince her that it was a puzzle piece in there and not what she thought. I was twelve at the time. LOL.

The rules of the meme:

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like the food you hate most in all the world, etc.. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment about asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

No Man Is A Failure Who Has Friends

The above line is from one of my favorite movies, It's A Wonderful Life. Right now I am feeling a lot like George Bailey.....again. Late last Summer, in the midst of our chaos, the community blew me away with their support. And now they have done it again.

The Anglican Church Hall in Blackville is now filled to the brim with donations, not only from family members and friends, but from complete strangers as well. It is unbelievable! Our story was published in two local papers that came out this morning. Upon reading them, an older lady from our community, whom I've never met, called to offer us her winter coat. Another gentlemen called from Newcastle to offer donations. Several older ladies surprised me with baked goods to sell in the sell. One even said she made me something special that was just for us to eat at lunch tomorrow...not to sell. She had dropped off a few items for the sale and gave me a huge hug before leaving and promising to return tomorrow. I can't stop to think about it or I will start to cry.

I had a moment as I was locking up the hall to come home tonight. I was proud of myself. No, proud doesn't seem like the right word to use. It's hard to describe. It's like seeing my children's picture in the paper along with the story describing everything we went through. It's like I can feel several emotions at the same time. I'm sad, yet happy, yet nauseous, yet proud, yet inspired, yet.... Like I said, very hard to describe. lol I intend to take the camera tomorrow so I can post pics of just how much stuff is actually there. Some people snuck their way in tonight, while we were still setting up. Mostly family members. lol. But now I've already raised over $70 and the sale hasn't even started yet! Amazing!

Now I have to try and wind down enough to get some sleep. The whole family has to get up early tomorrow. Busy, busy, busy.....but oddly, it feels good.

Shuffle up and deal

No school today. Cancelled. We're supposedly going to get some snow but so far.......notta. Preschool was cancelled too. Abby was going today because tomorrow is Good Friday. So now we are all home together for five days. Pretty cool. This should give us some time to catch up on some much needed sleep. Things always seem better after a good night's rest.

Tuesday, Jason, Abby and I went to town. Jason's income tax cheque finally came, so we could finally pay Mom back the money we had borrowed to buy the van. Plus we also paid off the table and chairs. So now they're officially ours. One down.......

Tuesday night was our PSSC meeting. After that we ran into the Irving to get a coffee and rented a movie. The Holiday is absolutely wonderful. I loved, loved it! I love Nancy Myer movies! I laughed. I cried. I loved it! Did I mention that I loved it? Definitely one to own. Can't say it enough.

Tomorrow night is poker night here. Nothing says Good Friday like playing poker. Not sure yet who is all coming. Nothing big. Pretty much just family. But hey, if you're interested.......drop in.

You Are What You Do

I watched The Matador last night. Somehow I managed to miss this movie entirely. I mean I don't remember any previews or anything. I popped it into the DVD player without even reading the back of the jacket. So I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I loved it!! I mean I really loved it!! I literally laughed so hard I cried. It stars Pierce Brosnan & Greg Kinnear. Pierce is amazing! His best role I've ever seen. If it wasn't for Joaquin Phoenix being nominated in the same category(Best Musical or Comedy - Joaquin won for Walk The Line), he totally would have won a Golden Globe for this performance. He's really that good.

So the time has changed. I completely forgot. I always do. Mom called me yesterday to remind me. She always does. And then last night I went to bed without changing the clocks and woke up this morning thinking I had gotten up quite early, only to realize that it was actually 8:20am, not 7:20am. Oh well. Part of me loves this whole idea of making the switch early, while the other part would have liked to leave it the way it was. That way we're all that much closer to Spring when it happens and the snow actually stands a chance of melting. Right now we're just getting more sun in the evening to stare at the snow, and wish it to be gone already. But I guess the snow will be gone soon enough.

A friend gave me a link to a website where you can have your tarot card reading done online. I did it this morning and it was really quite interesting. I am apparently The Magician - "possessing unusual magical powers that has the ability to bring you anything that your heart desires. You only have to wish for something and it is right there in front of you." Cool! I'll take that. There were also some details in there that were literally spot on. Very funny.

Who Says You Can't Home?

Last night I met my brother's new girlfriend. She seems really nice. They are both here visiting for the weekend. I'm very happy for him to have found someone. He is beyond proud. He told the kids her name and then said,"Do you know who she is to me? She's my girlfriend". The kids were like "OK then". It's hard to get a desired reaction from a 7 year old. Jules pulled me aside, giggled a little and whispered, "Is Lee in love with her?". I smiled and told her I didn't know.....one can only assume.

After they left, Jason and I finally watched "Little Miss Sunshine", which along with numerous other DVDs, I borrowed from Kellie many weeks ago. I loved it! That girl totally deserved her nomination. The crying scene on the bed where she's worried about being a loser......amazing! I was on the verge of tears at the end, when her family got up on stage dancing with her. I just hate how society is. I'm scared for my children, especially my two daughters. Simply because I am a girl and I know how hard it can be. I'm trying so hard to raise them not to mold themselves into what other people say they should be. We don't use the word "fat" in our house, unless it's in reference to saturated or trans. We never speak of dieting but rather eating healthy. Exercise is never connected with losing weight but rather a part of living a healthy life. But you can only control so much. I can't control what they hear at school from other kids, or from certain family members.(believe me, I try!) All I can do is try my best. In the end it's going to be up to them alone, their own personal journey. I hate it...it scares me.....but that's just the way it is.