Top 10 Meme

Okay, so go to your pictures folder and post your favourite 10 pictures, with a brief description, from the past year. At least one has to be of YOU!

Kris, Jo-Ann, Sara, Jenn, Jennifer...TAG!

Here are mine:

A dog and her boys...Goldie, the boy's 'Grand-dog'

The boys cuddling with my Mum, Grandma C.

Liam, just being Liam

P enjoying a PB & j on his Dad's Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

Parker & I

Harvesting our purple potatoes!

The boys exploring a spring wheat field

Liam enjoying a late snow day!

King-Parker on his 6th Birthday!



Liam's Lime-frog Cupcakes, courtesy of Simply Sweet


Alan & I enjoying some sun and a good book on our 10th anniversary!

Ok...there are 11...but I couldn't leave one out~!

Toothless Wonder

So, my 6 year old finally lost his front tooth.

We were walking in the grocery store and he said, "Mom, I can turn my tooth sideways!!". Sure enough, it was twisted sideways in his mouth. 15 minutes later it was out and his little face has changed forever...*sniff*.

I remember when he got his first bottom tooth, feeling a little sad that his little smile would never be the same.

I don't think I will ever get used to how amazingly quickly he changes and grows... I love him...:)

Bath or shower?

Are you a bath person or a shower person?

I predict that many people will answer that BEFORE kids they were bath people and AFTER having kids they became shower people... at least that is what happened to me.

It seems like one day I lounged for hours in the tub with a good book, was exfoliated and shaved and smelled great and the next day I hadn't showered in three days, could braid my leg hair and smelled like sour milk.

With the boys now somewhat independant I have decided to revert back to my pre-shower days... I am going to enjoy a nice soak. Bubbles. Smooth, hair-free legs and BOOKS...oh, yes... there will be books.

I think I am going to start...tonight!

Dream Boards

So, anyone ever done one?

I am going away this weekend (I know, again) for a retreat with a group of good friends. I am thinking of taking a portion of one of the days to complete a dreamboard. I have invited my friends to join me as well.

I know everyone has dreams... everyone is striving to find balance in their lives and to attract things, comfort, friendship, health and most important, happiness.

It can be easy to get side-tracked by life's everyday challenges and change your focus from things you truly want from your life, to settling for what your current situation is... and feeling stuck is frustrating.

I know this. I know this with all my heart, but I have been allowing things to get in the way and it is time to change direction and start to focus on things that are truly meaningful.

Summer

So...Have you had your vitamin D checked before?

I just did and apparently, I have none. This is a problem, but one that is relatively easy to fix.

I am currently taking 4000iu per day of D3...and i have not had chest pain since I started.

I am feeling so relieved. Vitamin D deficiency causes all kinds of things...hypertension, muscle pain (including chest pain), headaches, depression....the list goes on.

We have just come out of one of the longest, darkest winters in years (at least 10, maybe more) and I am so happy to feel the sun on my skin again.

We sat at Edworthy Park the other day and there were children playing and peole laughing and visiting and it was warm and the breezy...it was beautiful.

Oh Summer...how I've missed you.

Home

So, our 3 day escape was wonderul!

I'd forgotten what it was like not to have to do something because someone else wanted you to.

Alan and I arrived at Blackstone around dinner time on Thursday... we made Chai lattes with the lovely Tassimo *S* gave us, ordered Panago and popped in a movie. We were so tired, we didn't want to go anywhere or do anything.

Saturday we both enjoyed an hour massage, followed by 30 minutes of Crainal Sacral Therapy and a pedicure. I fell asleep during the cranial sacral treatment and actually woke myself up, snoring...:) The therapist was very nice and told me what I tell anyone who snores during a treatment "No worries, we take it as a compliment!".

The pedicurist was a lovely, 40-something, German Lady. We chatted about the differences between Germany and Canada... she preferred Munich because Calgary was such a "small" city...:)

We then drove to Banff and spent the afternoon shopping, ate at Barpa Bills (Banff's best Burger) and enjoyed the release of "Angel's and Demons"... which not only turned out surprisingly like the book, but painted the Catholic Church in a reasonably positve light, after all was said and done. Having grown up Catholic, it always bugs me when they try and make Catholics out to be crazy. Even though there was a crazy priest in the movie, the basic chuch was quite interesting.

Saturday we ate breakfast at Starbucks (try their oatmeal...so yummy!) and then shopped in Canmore for a few hours before spending the rest of the day laying on the deck chairs at our hotel, reading and relaxing. It was SO warm, we were in our bathingsuits!

My normally pale, freckled skin actually has a bit of colour!

There were many families staying at our hotel and they all seemed to enjoy the pool! We polled half a dozen kids who looked around our boy's age and have decided that the boys would enjoy coming with us on a weekend getaway sometime this summer.

Saturday night we read/watched movies/ate/slept and just basically relaxed.

Sunday morning we packed up and arrived home to get the house ready for the boy's return.

While we were away, Parker lost tooth number 3! Liam spent his entire sleeping hours wrapped around my friend's neck and my dear friend had a reminder of how "on" you have to be with a 4 and 6 year old. She was great and the boys were well cared-for.

I feel refreshed and happy and look forward to the week!

Beautiful Day!

WHAT a beautiful day!

I have no idea if I am feeling so well because I am getting better or if it's because Alan and I are going away for a few days for our 10th anniversary...ALONE!

We have never gone away together since having kids. Not even overnight. So this is a really big deal for us... even though we are just going here.

I have a dear friend who is amazing with kids and she has agreed to take the boys for a few days.

I told the boys yesterday, so it wasn't a big surprise... Liam cried on his bed for nearly 30 minutes...:(... I decided that I had to figure out some things about staying at Debbie's he would find exciting.

Our conversation went a little like this:

ME: "Liam, did you know Debbie has two teenage daughters? They know how to read and will read you stories!!!!!"

LIAM: "But I want YOUUUUUUU!"

ME: "Debbie has Two DOGS!!! I bet you could help take them for a walk!"

LIAM: "But I WANT to stay with YOUUUUUU!!!"

ME: "Debbie has a HOT TUB!!!!"

LIAM: "*sniff* Really? But you will be gone too long!?"

ME: "Did you know Debbie's husband is a Police Officer?"

LIAM (no longer crying): "REALLY????!!!! Does he have a GUN?".


I think he is over it.

Manifesting, the secret & the universe...

I believe in the Secret, or manifestive thinking or whatever you want to call it... it totally works in my life.

I know a lot of religious people that think the Secret is somehow blasphemous or satanic or something not altogether good... but I think that kind of thinking is kind of short-sighted.

Some people believe in a Christian God, others call him Buddah or Allah, some people believe in the Goddess, or the Universe... there is an endless list of possibilities when it comes to faith and spirituality. The bottom line with all of these choices, I believe, is their capacity to work for good in someone's life.

I consider myself a spiritual person. I feel spiritual power working in my life. I don't know whether to call myself a Christian... maybe in a past life.

Honestly, though, when I look at my life, where I have been and where I am now...I am happier.

I am more confident with my relationship with God or the universe now that I have ceased to try and explain and understand the nature of that power. I just believe it is there, I accept it and it works strongly in my life... more strongly than ever.

Recently I watched and felt this power work in a friend's life. It was good. It was strong. It was unmistakable. She asked for help and within 48 hours, against pretty good odds, it happened for her.

When I closed my eyes and thought about her and focused on her needs, I felt an overwhelming power... the only other time I have felt this power was while sending positive thoughts and energy to a critically ill child. I told her what I felt and that I KNEW she would receive what she wanted... it was so clear. The next day, she did.

There must have been many people sending her energy.

I am working up to manifesting something huge very soon. It is mine. I deserve it. It is neccesary.

I think I may need to take a page from Sara and do a 'Wishcasting Wednesday'.

What do you think about the Secret? Manifestive thinking? Positive energy?

So I spent 90 minutes yesterday with an acupunctrist.

I have never really had acupuncture before, so I was unsure of what to expect, but, really, it wasn't bad...

So she placed a total of 9 needles, all tipped with silver and gold, 5 in my ears, one in my wrist, one in my cleavage one on my left ankle and one on my right foot!

I am drinking some herbals twice a day and following her advice to destress and rest.

The picture is of my ear, with the tiny gold seed that she placed there for me to push several times a day until next weeks appointment.

See if you can find it.

De-stressing

So, I have been dealing with too much stress lately.

Parker's school situation, my niece and recently the lies and betrayal of someone I considered a good friend...

I am not certain that this stress hasn't triggered the health challenges that I am experiencing right now...it all seems to have popped up too close together.

I have regular chiropractic care and recently massage, but my question is this: How do you deal with stress? What do you do, for better or for worse that helps you reduce the stress in your life?

Bloodwork and echoes and hearts...oh my!

So, I have been feeling kind of crappy for awhile.

I've been tired and my hair is falling out (this happened after the boys were born) and I have been having some strange indigestion and shortness of breath so off I went almost 2 weeks ago to my doctor.

I figured it was my thyroid...or that the type 2 diabetes everyone has been talking about had finally caught up to me...but after my initial bloodwork it turns out that all those things were fine.

What was off were my CBC (complete blood count) and Sed-rate. My doctor became quite tight-lipped and at first told me it just meant something was wonky...then he said it indicated an inflammatory process in my body...then, after some intense questioning on my part he admitted that it could likely be an auto-immune disease and wrote out a new blood work requisition and asked me to rebook for three weeks later.

He did not, however, listen to my heart and lungs or take my blood pressure.

My indigestion kept getting worse and worse and nothing I took helped at all...and, despite my better judgement, I looked up Auto-immune diseases and spoke to a friend who is a medical professional.

Everything seems to point to Lupus... and with lupus, there is often cardiac involvement...and then it dawned on my that the indigestion I was feeling was rather high up in my chest (sub-sternal).

The end result was that I spent the night at the Rockyview hospital (they admitted me because I was having chest pain, difficulty breathing and my normally low Blood Pressure was 146/110.

Apparently I have pericarditis. I am supposed to be having an echocardiogram in the next two days and possibly a pericardiocentesis (they stick a long needle into the sac surrounding your heart to take a sample fo the fluid there to see if it is caused by a virus, bacteria or other cause).

I just don't understand why my doc, whom our entire family has seen for over 5 years, didn't take a few minutes to listen to my heart and lungs, or to ask me any other questions?

So, my question is this; are you happy with your family doctor?