Welcome 2008! Good riddance 2007!!!

There is nothing I hate more than a cop on a power trip.

I was going to the gym this morning, and I didn't bother to brush off the (maybe) inch of snow on the van, because it was already so mild out that snow was turning to water and dripping off EVERYTHING so I assumed it would be off the van momentarily. About five minutes down the road I passed a cop. I was going about 45 mph in a 40 zone, not that big of a deal, but still had that moment of panic until I saw that he wasn't following me.

But then I noticed that suddenly he WAS following me, and with flashing lights. ARGH.

Now, I should probably admit now that we haven't changed our licenses or registration. We had the best of intentions to do so, but there was so much fucking red tape that we gave up, especially since our plan is now to go back to Canada. It just didn't seem worth it. So the idea of a ticket or anything else is somewhat panic-inducing.

Turns out, he stopped me because of the frigging snow on the van! Went off on a rant about how some woman with a dirty windshield nearly t-boned him, then muttered something about how it was already melting off and tried to make it seem like I should be thanking him!

What drives me nuts about cops like this is that it forces me to act like the simpering female, "I'm SOOO sorry" etc in the scared little girly voice. Blech.

Wanna know what I really WANTED to say to him???

"Listen, I don't know what happened with your wife this morning. Perhaps she burnt your toast, or perhaps she bit down a bit too hard while she was giving you your morning blowjob, but back the hell off of me! I'm a fucking Canadian - I know how to deal with snow on a vehicle, and this is NOTHING!!! So go back to your damned redneck cop car and go bug someone who gives a rat's ass!"

Sigh. Now that feels better :)

Oh, and my other rant for the day? I went to have a prescription filled today. We're changing insurance because it's been costing us an arm and a leg for practically nothing in terms of service. But my understanding was that the new insurance takes effect tomorrow. But the pharmacist told me that apparently it must have taken effect today, because my card was expired. Grr... now I have to wait for Wednesday to get my damn drugs! And BELIEVE ME - you want me to have my drugs! (Not as much as Hal does, but...) ARGH!

And just to add this one last rant: why on earth, when they leave a notice saying that you missed a parcel delivery, would they not put an ADDRESS for the post office where you're supposed to pick it up????

Merry Christmas to all!

I should be catching a quick nap right now, but oh well...

Back in Ontario again - nice to be home. We're staying at my ILs house while they're in BC at BIL's place. Ahhh... an entire house to ourselves amidst all the chaos. Of course, MIL didn't exactly child-proof before we got here, and left bowls full of suckers sitting on the coffee table. Sigh. Three kids under the age of 7 eating suckers at 11pm after sitting in the van for nearly 11 hours. Blech! This morning Ian broke a glass bowl. Last night Hal knocked over a poinsettia and got dirt all over the place (OK, so TECHNICALLY that's nothing to do with child-proofing, but it definitely has to do with HAL-proofing!)

Kids got spoiled rotten - what else is new? And in about 45 minutes we'll be getting ready to go to my aunt's, where they will get further spoiled. At least I don't have to cook a turkey! I made my first ever apple pie this afternoon - let's hope that it worked! I've made pies before (I had a major craving for strawberry pie when I was pregnant with Leah - to the point that in labour I asked Hal to make sure my pie went into the freezer once he was home again!) but not apple. We'll see what happens, I guess :)

Hoping that perhaps I'll start writing more in the new year. Anyone believe me???

Christmas is really bumming me out this year. The materialism of it all is just plain getting to me. Spending so much time trying to find presents for people that I can actually afford (and even THAT is a stretch) and that they'll like (and I still don't know if they will or not) and appreciate (and maybe I'm just grouchy, but I seriously doubt if they will) just seems so... pointless. I'm feeling like I would rather just forego presents entirely and do everything through the World Vision gift catalogue instead. Honestly - I've spent so much time over the past few months getting RID of stuff, or planning on how to get rid of it, that it just seems so pointless to bring in MORE stuff.

I'm feeling like less is more these days. Like my kids are growing up too priviledged, despite our constant $ woes. When you have so many toys that you forget you even have some of them... I think that's just too much. We don't NEED 50,000 dvds and videos. We don't NEED three (working) televisions.

Need is being able to provide enough nutrition for you children that they don't starve, or have their hair falling out... need is making sure that you have heat in the winter... need is making sure that you aren't naked (unless that's something you're into, of course ;) )

I'm just so frustrated by all of it. I'd be happy to have a day at home, with my kids, with my husband, listening to Christmas carols and eating a decent meal.

And I am NOT a Scrooge!!!

I have been VERY remiss in updating this. If I actually had any readers before, I probably don't now :)

Ironically I've had LOTS to write about, but usually I'm composing entries in my head while driving, or at the gym, and it's kind of hard to post then (ha ha ha...) Too bad, too, because some of them were pretty good.

EVERYONE but me has been sick with the flu over the past two weeks. Hal had it first, but he recovered fairly quickly. He ended up working from home a bit, though, because I was still taking care of 3 sick kids. Millie hasn't been to school since the 30th of November, except for about 2 hours on the 4th, when I thought she was doing better, but I got a call from the school nurse to come and get her. She seemed MUCH better yesterday, but then by the end of the day had a fever again and actually turned down McDonald's for chicken noodle soup.

Leah hasn't been too bad flu-wise, but she spent about 3 nights last week screaming every time you put her in bed. In my kids, that's classic ear infection, so I finally took her to the ped on Friday and she got some antibiotics, but by Saturday night she was screaming again, and Sunday night was AWFUL, so back we went yesterday for a different antibiotic.

Ian really has had it the easiest of everyone. He's stuffed up, and coughing, but other than that he's his usual Hurricane Ian self. Right now he's running around dumping random things on the floor, occasionally watching Elmo Saves Christmas, and getting goobers all over me.

Everyone keeps asking if we got flu shots this year: shouldn't that be self-evident???

So we got back home late on Monday night. A LONG trip with 3 young kids. And we're doing it all again 3 weeks from tomorrow - eek!

It was good to be home, it really was. There are things that will never change about Ontario, though. We will always be annoyed by Hal's family no matter how great they can be when they want to be. My mom will always be whiny about not spending enough time with me, making me feel like she really doesn't like my kids very much (mainly because they prevent her from spending time with me... sigh...) We have some good friends, who really care, and some hangers on that are just there well, because.

We went to see friends from church on Friday night, who had several other friends and their kids over as well. It was so great. I honestly just came out of their house that night on a high. I rarely feel that loved and wanted by people outside my immediate family. It's nice to spend time with other people our age, with kids the same age as ours, who are also professional people (and I don't mean that as snobbily as it sounds, but there are different challenges depending on your career choices, too). Church was great, too. It honestly felt like we'd never left, except for the number of people coming up to us. It was funny how many people asked if we were back for good. Leah and Ian went into the nursery that morning without even looking back, which is amazing, because every time we've tried to go to church since we moved here, they've FLIPPED OUT if I tried to leave them in the nursery. It's been six months, so there's no way that they remembered it (especially Ian), so all I can think is that they must have just realized it was home, somehow.

Saturday was interesting, to say the least. I took Millie to see her BFF from down the street. That was ok. I left Hal with Leah and Ian at his parents' place. His mom drove him nuts, the water wasn't working (the ENTIRE day) but at least the little guys got some sleep. That night there was a HUGE dinner (around 25 people) for us, which I enjoyed, but it was kind of disorganized and by the time that I got to eat there was barely any food left. Sigh. Oh well, better for my diet anyway :) It was nice to see the people who were there, but it's hard trying to talk to that many people, especially when you're chasing after two toddlers and trying to be sure they don't get themselves into trouble in a house that's essentially a construction zone right now.

Nobody slept particularly well the whole time, so I'm still trying to get the kids back on schedules, and trying to get caught up on sleep myself.

It was weird - while we were in Ontario, it just kind of felt like we'd never left, and yet I didn't really believe that I was actually there. When we got back here, it was good to be "home", but it just felt bizarre at the same time - like I wasn't sure what was real anymore. I hope this all gets resolved soon. I've come to the conclusion that although I love to travel, and I hope to see as much of the world as I can, I want a home base to always go back to. I'm not meant to live in foreign places - just visit them for pure enjoyment.

I hope this made sense - I've been meaning to write it all week, but I'm still so tired I can barely think straight. I'll try and write something later that might actually make sense :)

I'm HOME!!!

Sad when a hotel in your hometown feels more like home than your house.

So... Saturday afternoon suddenly people were outside blowing the leaves and then mowing the grass. We were somewhat perturbed, given that a) Leah and Ian were napping, and b) we hadn't asked anyone to do this.

Turns out the landlady called for them to come. We made SURE he said that she was paying, but Hal still called her to confirm and tell her that we didn't appreciate not having any warning. Ian ended up waking up early from his nap and was cranky the rest of the day.

So, the lawn is all nicely mowed.

Today we have about 10 inches of snow. Gotta love irony :D