Catch Up From The Weekend

I'm sad that my blogging is 'failing'. My pre-post option isn't functioning properly on blogger, and I had posts pre-written and scheduled that never showed up while I was away from the computer. (So, No, Cate, it wasn't your google reader). What makes me most sad is that I have ten kids a day here at the dayhome for the next 2 weeks, and finding a few minutes to blog is tough. So preposting may sound like a great idea, but the posts aren't posting anyways. Expect sporadic, semi-discombobulated posts like this one!

Yesterday, I had ten kids. And two showings! We spent the first one at the playground. The second one was during dinner hour, so thankfully Sin and her family invited us to eat and have Family Home Evening with them.

BY THE WAY, 10 kids eat over a loaf and a half of bread for lunch sandwiches! It was a lot of bread!

THANKFULLY, I had Will helping me. And Uncle Kannie. AND Auntie Kennie (Uncle Kannie's ex girlfriend came over to see the kids, too). Will stained my deck, which looks AMAZINGLY better. He fixed the broken screen on a window, and put the basement back together from the leak.

I would take a picture, but my camera battery died this weekend in the middle of when I went to Waterton with my kids to play with Will. So, no such hot pictures!

Friday night, I picked up Uncle JJ from the airport, and we drove (quite late at night) to my parents' home. Slept there, and enjoyed a lazy morning before I packed the munchins up for Waterton. Once checking in with my painting Will, I took them to the classic touristy spots, since they'd never been.

We had lunch, got ice cream, and lucky for us, there was a play in the park put on by the "rangers", so we enjoyed some free entertainment too. And then the camera died. :(

Once we picked up Will and his son B-Ray (whom, from hereafter is referred to as "Bigguy" because that's what Mimi calls him) and the other painter, we drove to Cameron Lake and went on a bit of a hike through the trails before the boys jumped into the glacial water!!!

Saturday night, Gramma D watched my kids so Will and I could go on a date. Which, really, consists of visiting friends and looking at houses to buy. We may (or may not have) gotten MORE ice cream, and then we drove out into the outskirts of town, passing eagles and bucks and mosquitoes galore!

Then, we watched the AWESOME night sky. Overlooking the city and the temple, the stars that night were absolutely breathtaking. We saw about 7 shooting stars! A few satellites and a huge crick in the neck later, we left. It was very sweet and romantic.

Sunday: church. Dinner. Naps. Walks.... and then a drive home.

All in all, a nice, easy weekend. Just my favourite kind!
And now I'm off to get ready for ANOTHER showing in a few hours and to go charge my camera batteries!

Looking Back

So, I'm part of a group called 20 Something Bloggers, and they have a contest on right now. You can read all about it here. It explains it all there, but in short, this post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers! And come on, guys, it's ICE CREAM!! I'm a sucker for something yummy! (VL)

In order to participate, I just pick a post from my first 2 months in blog-land that shows where I was mentally and, like, deep inside my head. So, here it is.... It's funny how much has changed since then. How much we know now.

Let's go back to May 24th, 2008. (since I technically started blogging in April 2008)

****

"My Last Secret"

My kids know now, so the 'cat's out of the bag,' so to speak. Now, it's time to let you know what's been going on in my life to the extent of what my children know.

Tonight, we told my three kids that Chris will be leaving June 1st. He's going to go live somewhere else for at least the month of June, possibly returning in July, possibly not returning at all. This decision has been in the works for about 4 months now. It's hard to fully explain everything to everyone, as some details are more meant for family and some are just meant for Chris and I. But some things need to be said.

Chris and I love each other. If you saw the X-Weighted TV show, you'll see that there are issues with Chris' desire to be married. It's not about being married to me specifically, but about being part of a family. And we both know that no marriage will survive if both parties aren't FULLY committed to working on it. We have done so much growth in these past 4 months, more than can be shared. We have learned how to communicate in a whole other language. We have learned what we each NEED versus WANT in a marriage, and neither of us believe that the other should have to lose their needs just to stay married.

Because I love him so deeply like I do, I know this is essential to his growth. There's no other option. And our marriage counsellors and clergy are behind us, working with us and guiding us in proper directions. We aren't fighting or angry. We are doing this for the betterment of our marriage, the betterment of ourselves and in time, the betterment of our children. They deserve to be part of a family where love, respect and commitment are strong and obvious. If I can't find that in this marriage, with God's plan, I hope to find it elsewhere. They deserve that. As do I.

Ask questions. It's okay to be confused and sad and even angry... It's the same thing we told our children. The next few days are going to be tough-- prayers tonight invoked tears from both LL and Bear for their father's choice. They asked me lots of questions, and I believe LL cried herself to sleep. Bear is still awake, and asked me to sleep in bed with him. Obviously, they're going to be dealing with the aftermath of their father's choices for a long time. I just hope that the positive in the long run outweighs the negative we feel now.


***
Wow. Back then, I hadn't yet spoke of Chris' affair. No one knew who EF was.
I hadn't yet spoke of why he wasn't returning.
I hadn't met anyone that I thought I could love more, or who could love me.


I am so glad I'm not there anymore.

Six Word Saturday- Open House

Another Saturday, another chance to join Cate's Six Word Saturday funnage by clicking on the button!

Open House: You Should Live Here!

FIFTY-TWO "FIND MOM" FRIDAYS!!

Last night we went to the Block Party for the soccer camp that the Baptist church puts on every year. I've put my kids in it for 3 years, and it's a SUPER program! They just rock. I'm so annoyed, however, as this year they're only doing it for the little kids, and the program they're running for the bigger kids is during a week I'm out with Sin and Will's family, camping.

But, that soccer camp is where I met EF years ago. And I'm always afraid of running into her again at these block parties and such. Is it kind of wrong for me to be relieved that she's likely seen the FOR SALE sign on my lawn and now she knows I'm going to be gone?! Half of me expects her to phone me to ask where I'm moving to or something once she sees the SOLD sign. I find that lately I am much more paranoid about running into her unexpectedly. Or, worse, that she calls me or something with the excuse that she has money she wants to get to me (which, yes, she DOES owe me money, but I'm SOOOO letting it go- not worth the phone call.)

There's certain times I find myself more prone to thinking about her- and the soccer camp is one of them. And although I didn't put my kids into the community soccer this year, her daughter and LL were on the same team one year, so when I drive past the teams playing, I can't help but wonder if they're there.

Are her and Steve still together? Last I knew, he was living in the basement. Was that her car? Does her daughter still get on the bus at the end of my street? Do they still live in the house I designed? Is she still using that horrible, semi-abusive dayhome? Is she sleeping with THAT dayhome-mom's husband?! (oops, was that my outside voice?!)

It's an obsession at times. An annoying obsession I'd like to be DONE with. It's not all the time, either, and it goes away. But right now, I find it creeping back in. And I don't like her in my thoughts, as I don't find it productive in any way. I'd like to say it doesn't happen, but I think it'll be many years before time passes and I'll realize I didn't think about her even ONCE. This, in my opinion, is expected and normal. And it's rarer and rarer lately. Which just reaffirms: It will be nice to move away.

On other notes:

I'm joining a year long challenge, created by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. The goal is to be in one picture a week, for 52 weeks. Since us moms are always behind the camera, this gives us a chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. So, click on the button if you want to join in on the fun!

So, here's Week One of 52, me and Mimi and Bear at the soccer camp/block party last night. I think it was a bit sunny! ;)

The End and The Beginning

SCHOOL'S OUT. FOR. SUMMER!

Remember this?: (first day of school this year)

Now we have this:
Think they're a bit excited about summer vacation!? This may be the last day they get to wear these uniforms, though, assuming we move before school starts next year. :(

And so now my blogging may decrease even more. I'm hoping to find some time to blog, as the house is filled with dayhome school-aged kids who entertain the regular little ones. And we will be outside, avoiding further damage to the house I am trying to sell. We had *two* showings yesterday, so at least people are coming in! PRAY HARDER, PEOPLE-- I need out of this place.

People keep telling me it took 50 or 100 showings before they sold their homes. Or how they lost money. Or how it was 6 months before they got an offer! BUT, the good thing is that my realtor talked with one of the realtors who brought someone through yesterday, and the feedback was really positive in regards to price and how the house shows. So, I was happy to hear that. I realize we're only on the first week of being listed, but holy moly, I'm soooo done with selling.

I feel totally in limbo until this place is sold. It's hard to feel like I can't plan school, or housing, or vacations or work or whatever-- I don't know where I'll be when. Standing still in a horrible dormant feeling is driving me to bite nails and break out. I just want routine. Stability. And direction. It's how I work best-- it's when I feel in control of my life.

So, let's hurry and get a move on (literally) so I can Make The Changes I need to make.

If You're Looking For A Post on How to Have a Divortion with a Hermaphrodite That Exacerbates Folding Panties, Whoa, You've Come to the Wrong Place

So, using my super-secret, high-tech analytic gadgets , I can stalk track what happens on this blog, where people come from, and what brought them here. I thought I'd share with you some of the funny things people searched for in the past month to end up here on this silly blog.

Some searches are obvious, like "Daisyhalos," "blogspot," "Mormon," or " X-Weighted," but here's some original ones for this month:

1. "Cute Ways To Fold Undies." In case any of you missed it, it truly was a great tutorial (you can catch it here). I'm just sad that only two people find it important to ensure all panties are nicely placed into the underwear drawer. If anything, underwear are the closest thing to our..uh..hearts. Shouldn't we fold them with a little more reverence!?
   
   
2. "Hal and Joanne McLeod Divorce." Don't think I started that nasty rumour. That would be a sad story if it were true. I mean, whose marriage can't survive the mantra of "keep fit, and have fun"? Body Break is NOT a break-UP, people! And, Joanne would be the DUMBEST woman on the planet to divorce a man with such a stellar 'stache! Hey, Hal, if it's true that you're single... CALL ME! *wink wink*
   
   PS- were they ever even married?
   
   
3. "Is the Word Whoa A Proper Word". Seriously, Feltcher, it totally is. The spellcheck accepts it, so that's sayin' something. And, besides, it was on TV, so its superly gotsta be a real word cuz everything on TV is true! *cough* And, for a frikkle-head to search on google for that and ultimatively click on a BLOG-linky, you needa go back to school. Cuz, CLEARLY, blogs are the be-all and end-all of Good Wordisms. And punctuationisms. And gooder English. Other real words not to be left out: bestest, recockulous, and buttmunch.
   
   Whoa. I think I hurt my head on those last few. Whoa.
   
   
4. "What is a Hermaphrodite Technically Called?" "Hermaphrodite Love 8" "Blue Power Ranger Hermaphrodite" I don't even want to comment on this one. I'm scared. Please, if you're looking for ANYTHING of this sort, you're on the wrong blog. The title of THIS POST was just a joke. And Blue Power Ranger Hermaphrodites???? WHAT THE??!?!
   
   
5. "What is a Divortion" I still love this word, courtesy of Babbling Brooke. But the true definition of Divortion doesn't exist. There's no such word. Maybe divortion is only for those people who want to be unmarried AND lose their responsibilities as a parent?
   
   
6. "How Many Calories In A Burger From Peters' Drive-In" WHO CARES?! Just eat the mofo! And stuff the ginormous amount of french fries they give you in your mouth, too, before anyone sees! (ooooh, Ginormous... hey, dumbdumb from number 3, FYI: ginormous is ALSO a word.) And, if you're gonna do a trip to Peters', do it right: get a Tiger-flavoured milkshake. MMMMM. There's no calories in milkshakes on Thursday. Like there's no calories in *Chocolate on Wednesday, in tacos on Tuesday or in *Candy on Fridays.
   
   *yes, as the link says, these are always capitalized!
   
   
7. "Peloop" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. SERIOUSLY!?!! That comes from THIS POST, and frankly, that's just hilarious that someone was SEARCHING for that product! Good luck on that. Let us know how it went!
   
   
8. "Definition of Exacerbated". This is only funny to me because it wasn't me who said it-- it was an Anonymous commenter on THIS entry. But, for ease of clickage, the proper definition of exacerbated is:
   

• to make more intense or sharp; aggravate (disease, pain, annoyance, etc.)
• to exasperate; annoy; irritate; embitter
  
  
  

So, there you have it. Things that brought some of you here. :) Hopefully you managed to find what you were looking for, and then some, while you've read along since! And if not, I'm sure we'll have some gooders next month. So stay tuned. And yes, gooders is ALSO a word! :)

Yay Or Nay- June edition

Yay for having a house so clean that I end up with not much to do during the day.
Nay for being bored because of that.
Yay for having more time to practice the piano or write in my paper journal.
Nay for lacking the energy to do either of those and forcing myself to anyways.

Yay for having hardly any toys for the kids to make a mess with.
Nay for not having enough things to keep them entertained without reverting to destroying freshly painted walls with markers.
Yay that the only things that have touched the walls were grimy fingers, in spite of my new phrase, "touch the walls and I'll put you in a permanent Time-Out". Maybe the fact that they STILL touched the walls is a Nay, but it coulda been worse! Yay that last week I threw any markers I found in the garbage.

Yay for school almost over-- two days and counting down.
Yay for no more school lunches. Or uniform issues ("my only other shirt is dirty". "I don't want to wear this one", "Where are some black socks!!!???")

Yay for having an open house this weekend and bringing possibly more buyers into the home.
Nay that only 3% of houses bought are ever bought because of an open house. Yay that I bought my first house at an open house, so, there's hope.

Not Me Monday- Catch Up

So, I am NOT playing catch-up on all your blogs this week. Last week, I swear, I was a hermit. Totally secluded in my basement, or surrounded by paint cans, I felt sooo out of the loop regarding facebook and blogging and *gasp* even talking on the phone with my sistas, whom I usually talk to fairly often. I am NOT looking forward to a 'regular' week.

I am NOT happy the painting is done and looking FANTASTIC. It was NOT cute to watch Will in his element, and I did NOT learn anything about how to paint properly. Last time my house was painted, the people who 'helped' paint also did NOT manage to paint the carpet!!! I was super happy about that. So, when Will's employee spilled a tray of paint on my carpet again this past week, it was NOT nice that I knew Will could get it out no problem. Which he did. Which is NOT awesome. It was also NOT cute when Will taught Bear to paint too!
The kids' school did NOT have a stampede breakfast on Friday morning, where Will joined me and the kids (and his sister and her kids, since they also attend that school) and we did NOT enjoy a short break from the WORK back at my house. Will did NOT attract all the cute girls! ;)I did NOT have a good time spending Saturday morning with some of my favourite girlfriends at a baby shower. I also did NOT enjoy walking through the mall after with Sin. We also did NOT enjoy the fact that we are the same size and weight, so only ONE of us has to go into the change room! Everyone needs a friend like that. It does NOT double my closet/shoe accessibility.

I then did NOT drive out to be with Will and his children. I did NOT have a great 24 hours with them. I did NOT play cards with the kids while Will taught one to drive, and did NOT have a nice talk with his mother. We did NOT all cuddle and watch a movie, and I did NOT fall asleep in Will's arms. I did NOT enjoy singing with his father, too, and did NOT enjoy watching some old home-movies of the kids when they were babies. They were NOT cute! It was NOT hard to watch Will's taping of his ex-wife, seeing through the camera how much he loved her and not feeling the pain of that myself. Not because I was threatened, but because I did NOT feel sorry that their marriage didn't work, although it worked out in my favour in the end-- divorce sucks, no matter what. It may not make sense to others, but it was sad. Even though it's good for me! In spite of that sadness, I am NOT thankful for the rain in our lives that has made us who we are.
Yesterday was NOT Father's Day, and I loved being with such a great father. Will's children are a complete joy, and as their Dad, he has done something right. It makes me happy to have him around my kids, knowing that his influence will only be a positive one. I am NOT truly blessed to be surrounded by many great Fathers.

This is Why I Love Him

Will was in one room painting, and I was in another, behind the closed door. Stuck in that room, trying to get off the stupid stickers my daughter plastered behind there, I see this slide under the door I've barricaded myself behind:

(like my paint-edit? It said his real name, but "Always Will" is so cute in and of itself! :) )

How can I not love this man?

Six Word Saturday- Selling

It's Saturday, time to play Six Word Saturday, where you describe your week in six words only. So, without further adieu:

Isn't selling a house so fun!?


Listed. Cleaned. Painted.

And the first showing happened yesterday. Hopefully things go well, the house stays clean, and someone wants to pay OVER asking price. Am I right or am I right?!?! ;)


For more Six Word Saturday, check out Cate's blog at Show My Face com

Our House, In The Middle Of The Street

One House For Sale

Features:

• Fresh paint applied by one hot painter
• Slightly moist basement with new plumbing
• EXCELLENT cul-de-sac location with incredible neighbours
  
• Place where one baby was brought home from the hospital
• One HORRID week spent on landscaping...including 15 extra PALETTES of sod the sod company miscounted
• Carpet is cleaned and well-worn---Five children potty trained.
• 7 children taught how to walk and do stairs
• Safe neighbourhood-- Many tough nights awake in the past year ensured nothing happened in the middle of the night either
  
• Innumerable amount of house guests added to the joy, as well as one Uncle Kannie in the basement for over a year
  
• One or two kitchen disasters while cooking
• Great place for memories!

Not included: Pot rack, Uncle Kannie, three mischievous children, and the super-hot painter.

Will Tends to My Plumbing!

I only have a few brain cells minutes to update today, while paint and the flooded basement dry.

Yes. you read that right.

I had a pipe burst in the basement the other day, so yesterday was spent cleaning up the basement. How lucky am I that I had BARELY finished cleaning everything up down there-- there wasn't much to get ruined by the water. Apparently, when I turned on the outside sprinkler, and couldn't figure out why there was no water pressure-- yah. It's because the putonincorrectlybyamoron broken pipe was busy making a pool in the basement.

When dayhome kid came up to me with a soaking wet butt FROM THE OUTSIDE, and the kids tell me she got into the 'poison' in the basement, I didn't even get concerned. Seeing as I knew there WASN'T poison in the basement. Bear said it was just water.

So, I'm expecting to clean up a water bottle they opened.

Uh. Or not.

So, I freaked out, knowing that my realtor is arriving TODAY to list my house.

Yesterday, I called the plumbers. Will drove up in the middle of the night to make me feel better and give me a hug help. So, when the plumber arrived, and told me it would cost me another 300+ bucks to fix (which, you know...like that movie where Demi Moore is naked (uh? I have NO idea which one it is, cuz she's naked in EVERY movieI've never seen it), I'm just ROLLING in that kind of 'spare' cash) I was SUPER grateful when Will convinced the plumber to teach him what to do. The plumber left after giving me a free home inspection, and Will and I were off to fix it ourselves.


Things to fix all the other junk around here? Check.
Pipe to fix the other, burst one? 20 bucks
Paint? 50 bucks
Someone incredibly handy and sexy who saved the day? PRICELESS!




Will fixed my pipes-- for 20 bucks at Home Depot and a half-hour lesson from the plumber. The basement is drying. He is now half-way through painting the house. My deck is pressure-washed and ready for stain. We were up far too late last night painting, so I'm SOOO ready for a nap. But, uh. You should see this place-- I won't be sleeping.

So. Blogging will be sporadic for a bit while I spend as much time as possible getting everything cleaned and ready.

ug.
joys.

Tuesday Tunes- Scattered Thoughts

I'm totally random right now. Fair warning.

Finding a theme to the posts lately?! Being BOTH divorced, now we can say what we want and not care about who reads what, so I'm loving the freedom of that. And, so, because of that, you're all getting my pent-up mushy-ness. Trust me, there's LOTS to go around! ;) And, "too bad, my blog!" ;)

Yesterday I just smiled at random times at the memory of the weekend. Being with Will. It MAY have been because I'm sporting a ring on my left fourth-finger from him and so everytime I looked at my hand, I thought about him and laughed. Our little matching rings makes for some fun comments, seeing as Will's father and Chris both asked if congratulations were in order. yah. Uh. Cuz we'd get engaged with plastic. lol it's a mood ring. lol Makes me giggle.

Soooo loving a 'clean' house, even if it's because I have to move. It's so freeing to have everything minimized, aromatized, alphabetized, organized and ... uh... uh... caramelized? The carpets came out pretty well, and for family night last night I put the kids to work and got the windows/mirrors, door handles, light switches and bathrooms cleaned. The family that cleans together...um...
yah. nothing clever rhymes with CLEANS. nevermind.

Mimi's having some separation anxiety, and every night cries for Daddy. I don't know why. Maybe she's too tired lately because she's been avoiding/weening off her afternoon nap, and it's her way of 'releasing' her daily stress? Whatever the reason, it's kinda sad, and I can't say anything other than "Daddy's not here, he's at his house." And, being the good mom that I am, I bribe her to shut up by letting her stay up until midnight with cookies and sugarpops in bed. Forget this "I want Daddy" crap: Mom is SOOOO gonna win her over.

Note to self: Self, when one of your contacts feels wrong and MAY have a tear in it, don't try to be so frugal as to wait until the next day to replace it. When you don't find dirt on it, and it's not bent or in backwards, odds are good that it's time to open a new one. And, for goodness sake, DO NOT try to be a martyr and keep the darned, painful thing IN YOUR EYE for the whole day. Your eye is crying for a reason. Because, if it COULD, your cornea would tell you that the whole entire next day, your eye is going to hurt like a mother!

I got the funniest sunburn that's totally hurting. I wore shorts while I was helping Will paint the hotel again this past Saturday, and the backs of my knees got burnt, but the rest of my legs (calves, everything) is pale-white still! What the? One HALF of the back of my neck got burnt too, but only in a palm-sized spot. It's very odd.



And it's Tuesday, so I'm tuning you today into five of my newer fave songs.

The Arms Of A Woman - Amos Lee
My sister, Keeks (Kiki) introduced me to this guy. I'm totally in love, and have downloaded a bunch of his other songs. Check out Southern Girl, Colours, and Careless... a bunch of my other faves.

The Luckiest- Ben Folds Five
I know. It's not new. But I have this song on a permanent repeat while I clean these past few days.

Goodbye- Kristinia
Allison got me on this one. So fun. So "me" last year. What a great work-out or, in my case, scrub-the-floor song. Scrubbing the floor IS working out, I'm pretty sure. So is blogging. And, uh.. napping. Yah. Total workout. It's been researched somewhere, I'm sure.

You Could Be Happy- Snow Patrol
Just a good song. It calms me, the way the tune goes. I guess it's kinda a sad song, but I still like it.

Closer- Joshua Radin
I love his stuff. "I take the blue ones every time". BEST LINE! Blue mood ring = romantic or in love. :) I know that's not what he's talking about. But whatever.

Why Love is Indescribable

Saying that you love someone romantically for the first time is never a small deal.

• Maybe you shouldn't love them? Perchance you feel it's too early to love them. Likely, you've said it one too many times when you didn't mean it, and you worry about doing that again. But, when you really discover that you love someone, you probably knew it a while before. You DID love them even then, but admitting it out loud to ANYONE just wasn't 'safe'. Even to yourself. You tried to convince yourself that you didn't... but you knew better.

Saying that you love someone romantically for the first time, after being divorced is one hundred times MORE never a small deal.

• You're hurt. You're scared that THIS love will be as fleeting, perhaps, as the love you said goodbye to with the bang of the judge's gavel. You worry that maybe you can't love ever as much as the last time. That your broken heart is too flawed to love again. That your judgement didn't exactly work out in your favour last time, so why trust it now?

Hearing for the first time that you are loved is scary and ethereal and euphoric and terrifying. Hearing for the first time that you are loved, after divorcing, is one hundred times MORE scary than anything else. Shocking. Exciting. Engulfing . Validating.

****************

We knew we loved each other before it was said on either side. Just something you could just.. know. It. just. was. And that made it beautiful. And scary. SO scary. It was too early, it was intimidating-- "what if I love them, and they don't love me back? How can I handle that AGAIN after my last love died so similarly?!"

I remember sitting on the couch, cuddling with kids, and I felt perfect. Felt like I was where I needed to be, right at that moment. Soooo many times before that, I had wanted to tell him I loved him. I'd open my mouth, yet, stopped myself; I didn't say it. It wasn't the right time, and although I was sure I knew I did love him, I didn't want to say it then.

A few days passed, and we were in a phone conversation, where we were kinda discussing how we weren't allowed to say that we loved each other because we were worried about the timing of it all. Frustrated, Will decided to call it a night.

Will: Well, it's getting late and I'm tired.
Me: Yah, me too.
Will: Okay. Well, goodnight then. And just so you know, I do love you. OkayIgottago,goodnight!

*pause*
Me: uh. WHAT?! *smiles, butterflies and shock take over.*
Will: Yah. uh. Talk to you tomorrow, kay?
Me: *giggles* okay. Goodnight.

I smiled all night. He loved me. I knew he did, but saying it was different. And hearing it was rapturous.

Another day, a few weeks later. Another phone conversation.

Will: *finishing a conversation about something totally banal, when I cut him off:*
Me: I love you.
Will: *pause* Just like that, eh?
Me: Yah. Just like that!
*pause*- I start kinda worrying that I've wierded him out.

Will: Well, it's about freaking time!!! *laugh*


I hung up the phone that night, expecting to regret saying it. But instead, I just wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Only one other time in my life had saying "I love you" for the first time ever made it into my memory. And I had said it more than twice, believe me. This, though, this was... perfect. It was awesome and sensational and if it culminates me ever falling in love again (here's hoping I don't have to) I'm happy knowing that it could be this incredible.

Six Word Saturday- Good Will

(I'm late, barely making the cutoff, but here's the Six Word Saturday from Cate's blog. Check her out on the button on the right.)

Been Busy! Technically, it's still Saturday!


What a week. So much cleaning got done, so I was SOOOO grateful for Becka's offer to drive me out to Will's neck of the woods for the weekend without the kids. I got the carpets cleaned last night, which is PERFECT because they're drying WITH NO ONE IN THE HOUSE TO WRECK THEM AGAIN!!!!

At least for another 24 hours. shhhhhh.

So, I'm here with Will. Painting. Going for walks. Eating icecream. Checking out abandoned, cool farmhouses. Swimming in MINUS DEGREE water! (okay, so it wasn't THAT cold, but I lost my nipples breath once I jumped in!) You know-- just the general I'MTOTALLYINLOVE things people do. :)

Isn't It Amazing?

Isnt' it AMAZING what you can find in a basement that hasn't been 100% cleaned in 5 years?

Isn't it excessive amazing how much stuff you forgot you had and realized you haven't NEEDED, USED, or even WANTED in 5 years?

Isn't it disturbing amazing what kind of crap can be left on the curb AFTER a basement guttage, and even more disheartening amazing that I still have two floors of the house to gut? Specifically, the bedrooms and toyroom of broken McDonald Happy meal toys. Ug. I loathe those.

It will be unlikely amazing if the garbage truck takes it all and saves me from a trip to the dump! *edit- The garbage man was obviously in a cranky mood and did NOT take the stuff. BOO. Now I have to clean my van of all the garbage inside it in order to have enough room to stuff it full of MORE garbage and take it to the dump! Where's the logic in that?!

Isn't it overwhelming amazing how, other than the basement, the rest of my house looks DISGUSTING-- boxes of stuff everywhere: one pile for goodwill, one pile of Chris' junk, one pile of stuff for the 8GVs to sort through...

Isn't it depressing amazing how much laundry accrues when you're busy for 3 straight days in a basement?

Wednesday Ws and Word Verification Wednesday

Who: The Master of The House
What: Has a master plan
Where: The master bedroom, the basement, the kids' bedrooms, the overgrown gardens
When: allllllll week
Why: because the house is being sold. For sure. And masterfully skilled me gets to get the place all spic-and-span before next week, when I plan to list it. That's cleaning carpet. That's painting/mudding/sanding/fixing/washing walls. That's the .....*eeek* basement. ORRR the Garage!! So, if I'm MIA, you'll find me crying curled in a ball trying to avoid the kids too many mightie Mouses...ew spiders and cobwebs. Cleaning the masterful mess. Don't make me clean. You won't like me when I'm cleaning!

Who: YOU!
What: are invited to play along
Where: Down below, in the comment section
When: This morning, this afternoon, this evening-- whenever!
Why: it's Word Verification Wednesday, thanks to Jillene. So, play as many times as you like!

The Night It All Began

I had bought crabs for dinner. You know: those live things that have yucky eyes that bulge out at you and pinchie fingerie thingies. And, apparently, they needed to be killed humanely before they died a slow death in the plastic bag the Stupidstore lady put them in. Sheesh. SO not my idea!But, Chris wasn't around. And I had to kill them myself. And it was getting late. Time was running out!!!!

Uh. This is not a fish. I can kill and clean fish. This was a crab. Still alive. Blowing bubbles out it's mouth while it suffocates slowly in the bag. This was a cranky crab. ("crabby" crab just seemed too easy) Ready to kill me and my sleeping children. With all his crabby friends. The Crab Mafia!

So, I did what a regular person does. I cried.

And then, in laughable tears at myself, I called my girl. My girl who is more afraid of killing crabs than *I* am. But I knew that, if she at least came over, she'd cheer me on through the tears, and the laughter would make the horrid experience worth it.

So, Sin tells me that her brother is at her house for the night, and he can come over to help.

uh, okay. Whatever makes me NOT have to kill them. Bring over PETA, for all I care! Really, party at my house. Watch Debbi cry. Kill some crabs. Good times.

This is "hot-brother-Roll-On-Floor-Laughing" from the ONE picture on Facebook I had ever seen of him. And believe you me, according to what *I* saw, he was NOT 'hot'. Sin had told me a million times how hot he was, (in a not-creepy-for-your-sister-to-say type of way), but frankly, these pictures were NOT verifying her statement. See?

And then they arrived at my door.

Seriously, you could feel it. Where "it" equals "chemistry".

He WAS hot brother. He was fun, and we started talking and joking just like we knew each other for years. Which was weird, cuz I didn't know a THING about him, other than, like me, he was also recently separated.

Sin and I couldn't go near the box of plastic-encased, bubble-blowing crabs. We were stuck, holding each other in that nervous laughter/near tears way, curled in little balls, on the couch in the other room adjacent to the kitchen. Will walked over, all manly, to kill the killer crabs and save the day. Grabbed one. Stuck the knife deep in its belly.And then. The crab *grabbed the knife with its claw and tried to pull it out!*. NO WORD OF A LIE. Will literally SCREAMED LIKE A GIRL, jumped away, and ran towards Sin and I with a look of sheer terror on his "manly" face.

Now, that "Roll-On-Floor-Laughing" part?! Yah. Sin and I literally DID! We were laughing soooo hard at poor, terrified Will's girlie scream. And he was sitting on my couch, curled in a ball, just like the two of us!

Eventually, Mightie Crab died. And Will was business as usual- getting back to the crab cull. But, he was getting crab-o-death juices EVERYwhere. (ew) So, I grabbed an apron, and, being the flirt nice person that I am, I put it on him because his hands were all gross.

And so, there it is; The day Will took my crabs into his own hands and saved the day.

And the rest, as they say, just friggen ROCKED.

Perfect, Except For That Last Part

mmmmmm.

I am in just *bliss* right now.

Being done with everything marital on both our sides, Will and I can FINALLY feel like a new chapter is ALLOWED to begin. So, we're planning our wedding for September 11th, seeing as someone told us that was a day we needed to look forward to!

*he he, hey, if the shoe fits. Thanks for the idea.*

We decided to skip the painting and cleaning. Instead, we played and loved. Although we woke up to THIS, so my original plans to go hiking had to be altered a bit... no outside stuff.

We went to the pet store, something both our kids love doing, so it was an easy family-date to decide on. Of course, the incessant 'mommy, can we get one' got on my nerves, but watching Grace and LL try to connive their way into sharing ownership of a glorified "Mighty", hamster (read: Nasty Mouse-wannabe) was fairly entertaining! Those two are sometimes just peas in a pod.

There's nothing like having 9 people file out of ONE vehicle, ESPECIALLY when there's two parents and a bunch of blond mini-mes. We always raise a few eyebrows. We overtook that already crowded pet store for a good two hours. I even made friends. Anyone want to donate only $1288 to my 'let-my-friend-come-home-with-me' fund?! ;)

(my "friend" looked JUST like this)

We bought a few movies. Shopped for some 'make it fast' dinner, and had a YUMMY supper together. I LOVE having my table full. It's a huge table, but with our clan, there's not ONE extra spot. It's perfect.

A bit of bunny-chasing for 4 of them. They attempted to catch one of the stupid rabbits that are ALWAYS in my yard, and, surprisingly, they almost did. I gave Will permission to kill anything he could catch. Stupid bunnies. Even my NEIGHBOURS were cheering them on! (proof it's not just me that has a hate-on for these bunnies)

Dessert, and bedtime for the monkeys-a-la-ME. Settled the older monkeys-a-la-Will in for the movie and bed.

Then, Will and I went out to CELEBRATE.
It was a perfect, cloudless night, and the moon was full.

So we parked.
Yep. Like I was 17 again.
Went out to a new area of town, where there's only a handful of houses already built, and I drove Will's truck to the end of an unfinished street, turned the truck to look at the moon, and we sat in that truck for HOURS!

In fact, just to make it 'authentic' parking, the police pulled up to us. Shined a light into the cab for a good 5 minutes. Which is when they probably noticed that we were FACING each other, on opposite sides of the truck, making wedding plans talking. The cop walked up to me (in the driver's side) and when I opened the window, the cop just laughed, and noticed we weren't teenagers, and said, "oh! Just checking. We've had a bit of break-ins around here." (don't start me on my dirty-thinking around THAT one! lol) They suggested we move elsewhere. I SOOO felt 17 again! Although, this time I was clothed I was in the driver's seat, being good.

The rest of the night was spent cuddling and laughing while listening to CBC radio, which, if you didn't know, has QUITE mind-numbing, strange entertaining poetry readings. "You are NOT paying attention!" And, yes, it was spent un-gramma-fying us. (Fade to Black, that's all I'm writing! ;) )

Sunday is always my FAVOURITE part of being with Will. This is probably because having someone sit beside me in church isn't something I take for granted. Having someone beside me who would take the sacrament. Holding hands during a prayer I know he's listening to. Someone who'll sing along to the church movie in the van on the way there. Someone who's inspired to tell his children things, advises his children lovingly, and then finds out that the entire Sacrament meeting is about that exact same thing. Someone who's in tune enough to recognize that prompting, and knows where it comes from. Someone who'll read scriptures with me. Who will discuss what we learned *sitting side-by-side* in Sunday School. Someone my bishop knows. Someone half of my WARD knows! :) Someone who wants to be there just as much as I do. And wants to sit beside me forever. "Do you think, when we're married in three months, that you'll sit beside me for the rest of our lives, just like this?" *inner giggle "yes dear." Yep, he wants me! :D

We went home, where I had made a big, early dinner. (roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, cheese sauce, spinach salad, corn, buns) It smelt so good, we could smell it OUTSIDE of the house when we drove up! With soon-to-be family Sin and Vegan, Babbling Brook and Taylor, we filled that kitchen table PAST capacity, and that small roast went PERFECTLY with everything else. SOOO yummy.

A nap later. A cuddle with the kids. A stolen kiss (or twenty) from Will in the pantry.

And then they had to leave. :(

Hugs all around.
I hate that part. But the smell of Will on his shirt beside me while I sleep usually ties me over for the week.

Until Friday, and *bliss* starts all over again.

oh, and yah, the wedding part. Uh, it's a joke, sillies.

Six Word Saturday-Whoa

What else could possibly happen next?!



Remember yesterday's post? Remember how it was Divorce Day for Will? Remember how, in the comment section, Sarah was sure there'd be no problems? Remember how everyone said they'd be celebrating in their own ways?

Yah.
Divorce didn't go through.

Why am I not surprised.


Another 90 days (september 11th). That is, if Sarah does the filing in Washington. I'm looking into how to help Will file here in Canada, maybe it'll work out better. There's ways.

Finding the silver lining. WHY is every decision being made FOR me lately!? grrr. Needless to say, the celebrations and "un-gramma-fying" me are on hold.

What a week! I'm soooo ready and deserving to sit here with Will and our seven kids, and enjoy my Saturday. Oh, wait. I'm moving. So we're not gonna 'sit'. We're going to paint and clean. Nothing like that kind of fun on your weekend, hey!? ;)

Join Cate (and her button above) while she punches a few people in the face, and start your own Six Word Saturday. You'll like it!

Sincerely yours,
GRAMMA! >:(




PS: just kidding.

I wrote the above portion of this post yesterday afternoon.

Then Sarah posted an entry on her blog, saying she was finally divorced.
So, she's either lying on the blog to the entire world, or lying to Will. Either way, she's lying. This is on top of the fraudulent charges to Will's credit card in the past month or two, which we're pressing charges about. Sarah, I don't deal with that kind of (im)maturity. Go away.

Will is officially divorced. Sarah, for some unknown reason, decided to play some stupid game and texted Will saying that the divorce didn't go through, which is when I wrote the part above. Will was, understandably, upset. So I called Sarah, to find out what happened. She didn't answer, so I left a message. Instead, she texted Will back to say that she got the message but wasn't 'in the mood to talk right now'. Understandably to me, and according to what she wrote in my comments yesterday, she was probably upset too.

When I called my lawyer to see if the divorce in Canada would be faster, he said that there was something 'fishy' about her reasons she gave. (Will being Canadian, and her being from the USA-- yah, cuz that's something the judge has NEVER seen happen before???) You see, my lawyer knows USA law, because he got his education from a USA school. Told me to call the courthouse personally.

I call the courthouse, and jump through the phone-hoops to get to the clerk. When I give her the case number and Sarah's name, she confirmed I had the right information and asked what I wanted.

We're just trying to figure out why the case wasn't upheld. Unfortunately, I can't get a hold of Sarah to get answers directly from her. She says she's too upset to talk right now. Why didn't it go through?

Why didn't the divorce go through? Um, Let me go talk to the clerk who was in the courtroom for that case.
*****pause, on hold****
The case was approved. The divorce is final.

HUH!? He's divorced?

Yes. I don't know why she said that, but the case is done.

Are you sure? it's final final?? Like, is there a waiting period? In Canada, there's still a 31 day holding period after the judge signs.

Nope. They're done. It's over. In a few days he can go online and get the documents himself.

For sure? They're divorced?!?!

*laughs* yes. DONE. He can go online in a few days and he'll see his copy of the papers. Normally she would be in charge of sending those papers to him herself, but I take it because of what she told you, she probably won't do that.

No, I'd think not.

Is this normal behaviour for her?

Uh... well... trying to be nice here, but they ARE getting divorced for a reason.

HAHA, yah, I guess so! Oh, well, congratulations. If you have further questions, just call again.

THANK YOU!!!



????? Is it just me, or does this confuse people? Sarah, if you wonder why you're 29 years old and divorced now for the FOURTH time?!?!? yah. See above.




.

Free Willy

WILL IS DIVORCED!!!!

As of 1:30 p.m. today, the judge should be signing the papers and it's finished.


I'm not quite sure how that works, seeing as the USA does it different than Canada.

Washington (where the divorce is getting granted) state has a no-fault clause, so the divorce is a simple "apply, wait 90 days, be done" kinda thing... At least, that's what we gathered from reading the forms and websites the other day. He doesn't have to go to the courthouse, so, this is all assuming that his ex (who filed the papers) didn't accidentally miss something in the forms (not likely, she's also done this before) and that she shows up at the judgement. Again, not sure what happens if she doesn't... but whatever. We'll worry about that if we come to it (cuz I think having more to worry about will be FUN!).

But, as far as we know,
Today is the day. He and his kids might be heading here tonight for a celebration of sorts. ;) Or, you know, a cuddle and a movie on my couch. Potatoe potahtoe. I'll be sure to try to post a few pictures.

And you know that 'gramma' thing? Yah. That was only to be good while he was married! He'd better take the evening off... if you knowwhatImean! ;)

Sucky

yep yep.

Yesterday rocked. And by rocked, I mean sucked rocks. And by sucked rocks, I mean, please let me just sleep a looong looong time and make it all disappear. I contemplated taking a sleeping pill last night left over from when I heard about Chris and EF, but I ran out of those... I fell asleep before I was able to get it swallowed .. I'm too smart for that.

It was nice having a 4 minute visit with my parents and my future SIL, Nellie. Mamma bringed me some lilacs from her house, which was AWESOME... although, my Ikebana skills were NOT up to par. And by not up to par, I mean ROYAL SUCKAGE. Are we finding a trend here?! To think I spent a year in Japan taking Flower Arranging courses. You wouldn't know it after such a slaughtered bunch of flowers appeared on my kitchen table. Hey. Just be blind. Then you'll smell the gloriousness of them without having to view the massacre. Deal with it.

Yep. Then the day realllllly began. The dayhome child was cranky. And by cranky, I mean her Dad was home with a severe flu and it's likely she's coming down with it too. Oh, and she hasn't pooped for 3 days. Constipated children are a joy! I absolutely LOVE whining at a monotone. ALL. FREAKING. DAY. Moreso, I'm excited for today's reaction to the prunes, raisins, juice and fibre her mother and I are forcing down her throat. That's gonna make it a GREAT day.

But bestest of all.
I got to talk with a few Realtors. I got to talk with a bank Account Manager. I got to talk with Chris about the equity in the home.

Here's my dilemma.
One, Chris has a chunk of money of equity in this home. The number is based on what the house COULD have sold at when he moved out last year.. Uh, we've all seen the great and wonderful housing market lately, have we not? And by great and wonderful, I mean TOTALLY sucky. And by housing market, I mean, not even cardboard boxes are selling!
With this, and him not having a job, he has NO money. Which means he has to move in with his parents. 6 hours+ away. Which means my kids won't see their Dad more than once every few months. Which goes against what he and I wanted for our kids. All that 'make them feel secure with this'... down the drain.

So, I have to give him his equity in order to have him stay around. And by giving him his equity-- yah, suckity suck suck, I have to sell my house.
Besides, he isn't paying child support anymore, so I can't afford to KEEP my house. But once he gets his equity, he pays child support again, and I can pay my mortgage. Only-- yah. Are you following--- I had to sell in order for him to pay me for that mortgage. Catch 22 on that one or WHAT?!

Sooooo, instead, *I* move. I sell my home that I love. From the area I love. From the ward, and the community, and the school, and the security that I love. I move 2 hours away (where there is CHEAP houses. And by cheap, I mean that in ALL ways...) to keep the kids nearer to their father than the 6 hours it may be otherwise.

THANKFULLY, we're looking for the shotgun silver lining around here. Chris could get a job today. I could win the lottery I didn't buy a ticket for. And unicorns could fly out my butt.

• I will be closer to family. My sister is VERY excited about being 'neighbours' again. We used to live 5 minutes away from each other, and our kids loved that. We did too-- constant sitters, shopping buddies, instant "I'm out of blank, do you have" availabilities... really, what else could you need than a sister who lives close to you!? I'll be closer to my parents too.
• I always wanted my kids to live near a temple. Although Calgary is getting a temple in the future, it will be far away from us now, and it will not be seen on a daily basis.
  
• I will be free and clear of owing Chris money. We will be "done" even more. At that point, there is no more connection than the kids.
• I will OWN my own house. Houses down south are cheap in price, and most of them need some serious demolishing fixing up. But I'm dating a handy guy. And I'm not ALL snobby. I GUESS I can settle for laminate counter tops again, although *shudder* I will REALLLLLLLY miss my granite and my $15 Mocha Latte chapstick. And how is Fifi going to get her pup-icure every afternoon while I take my tennis lesson at the club?
• This is all part of my yearly "motto" to "Make The Change". Security is soo overrated.
  
• Wind isn't that bad, right? It's horrific FUN to have snow up to your armpits in May. And who doesn't love living in a town where everyone knows your business before even YOU do, everyone is related to a Beazer or a Leavitt, and no one knows their actual address.."I bought the Clarke's gramma's brother's cousin-in-law's house." "When you get to the store on the corner, go up a block (or TWENTY!) and I'm that house with the rusty...delapitated..green truck and the flowers in the front." And you guys think I'm joking. I'M SO NOT!
  
• I will be closer to Will. You know. As a side bonus! ;) In case. You know. He needs nookie sugar. *he he he From a gramma! :(
  

And...discuss.

There's a delicate balance I need to figure out, so I'm opening up the floor to you wiser peoples for your opinions.

How much of your OLD relationship do you bring into a new one?

• How much is inevitable? Do bad habits ALWAYS stay, no matter how hard you try? If you're bound and determined to change them, don't you kinda always have to have them on your mind? And are some things just impossible, as hard as you try, to change about yourself? Engrained into your soul, part of you? How much SHOULD you bring in?
  

How much does the NEW person need to know?

• Like, do you start AGAIN, clean slate, and it doesn't matter what happened in the past? Or what others thought. Or what happened before you came along? What was said? What went wrong? What was done? Do you need to know their previous story about their past relationship to know if you can handle that in the future? Do you need BOTH sides of the story?
  

Are you better off knowing? or is ignorance really bliss? Does ones past always foretell the future?




*it's Wednesday. Don't forget word verification!!!*

Letters from the Employer

Dear Mr. Will,

Your presence at this weekend's conference was greatly appreciated. It is always nice to be with you and your company. You are doing a fantastic job of keeping the southern division running smoothly (Haha, don't even think it, you dirty-minded people-- I'm CLEARLY talking about his geographical location!) and we appreciate your hospitality to our delegate we sent your way this weekend. We are currently investigating our need for someone of your calibre up here in our division. If you are thinking of relocating, I'm sure we can accommodate your needs. I would be nothing less than happy to have you working with our team up here, and I'm willing to negotiate terms of your contract, should you feel that our division is more suited to your liking.
Please don't hesitate to call, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
The BOSS!


Dear Mr. Economy,

I would sincerely appreciate it if you got off your lazy butt and did something productive around here. Your inability to get a move-on is, quite frankly, a little tiresome and overplayed by now. You have a job to do, and the rest of us are busy working ourselves to the bone to fix your asinine issues.

Your lack of commitment around this office has negatively affected others in your absence. Our CFO in charge of Adolescent Affairs is in need of future revenue, and our company is in need of further increase in order to keep our business in this location.

If you wouldn't mind getting back to work here at the office, that would be a good move to make on your part. Unfortunately, should you decide NOT to pick up a bit of the slack you've created, the terms of our employment agreement state that there is nothing I can do about it. So this is my proverbial flippage of the bird in your direction.

Indignantly,
CEO, CFO, CAO, COO, CSO



Dear Mr. Energy,

We look forward to your return to our location in the near future. We trust that your extended leave was well-spent, and assure you that there is much to do to remedy your absence. Our bottom line does not look as promising as it did before you left, and we are eagerly anticipating your expert attention to those issues.

We understand that your return from your sabbatical is possibly temporary through the summer months, as it usually is, and trust that you will be able to achieve our needed goals before your winter hiatus again.

Thank you in advance for your enthusiasm throughout the coming months.

Yours,
Mrs. Stella Corpulent