Farewell, My friends

I have started and restarted this post a bagillion times. And I've thought about what I would say and how I'd make this work.

Over a year ago, I started this blog. I was going through an excruciating time in life, trying to figure out where Chris' and my relationship was heading. I was sad. I was drained. I was searching. I was conflicted. And I knew that, in some way or another, the year held many more changes..

I have always loved writing. I love getting my thoughts on paper, and as a mom, finding time to type was easier than sitting down with my paper journal. I didn't think many people would read this blog, as I only told family and my closest friends about the URL (blog address).

Before I knew it, I had people searching for me online. People from all over the world who would comment and follow along in my life. Somehow I brought some people hope. Somehow I brought some people laughter. And somehow I brought people insight.

But I wrote for me. I wrote my story according to what I wanted the world to know. The truth, perhaps only shared in pieces. My cathartic confessional.

I go back to my "FOCUS" for the year. MAKE THE CHANGE. Change is good. I was talking with Em today about being unhappy, and how there are so many things that we all do in life that KEEP us unhappy. Things that we can change if we just get up and do it. Things that maybe we're afraid of, but we KNOW we need to do. Things that may continue to hold us down because that's the only place we choose to be. Being held back because of our laziness. Or our fear. Or our anger towards someone else.

I am making the change. I am grabbing the sharper knife.

452 published posts later, I have now got over 150+ readers DAILY. I have some who visit daily, some who visit weekly, and even some who stalk
visit multiple times a day.

I am not a secretive person. I have no enemies of my choosing, and I have no animosity towards anyone. However, my blog is not 'mine' anymore. I have to watch what I write because of people I know who read. There are exes. There is EF. And I don't want to have to do that in my blog. The angst that this blog started with is no longer in my heart.

The blog now isn't only mine...I am not single. I have Will. We are a package now. And, I have perfect peace in life now. I have a beautiful family. And I have hope like no other! I have never known a love so amazing, and, if I could share even just a morsel with everyone, I would. Divorce is a horrible, hurtful, hard road. I have been so blessed in spite of some of my choices. I do NOT wish an affair, or a divorce on ANYONE. But, if you are one of those fateful unlucky, my empathy and heart and prayers go out to you. Keep doing what makes you YOU, and, I hope, you'll find someone who makes you HAPPY in the near future, as I have been so lucky to find myself.

I was seriously contemplating making this blog private, and just continuing the story from here. But I think that it's better to put ALL my heartache from the past behind me and to leave on a good note. Secondly, I want people to continue to stumble on this blog as some have done, and, hopefully somehow, they'll find a post that may help THEM through a divorce/separation/first-time dating.

So, friends, I am closing this blog. This is my last entry as Debbi from Daisyhalos.

I am, however, opening a new one. A blog with the pitfalls and happinesses of raising 4 bonus-children alongside my own. A blog of a second, BETTER, marriage. A blog where I don't feel like I have to hide certain information from strangers, people from my past, and the general public.

My "followers" will be allowed on the new blog with their email addresses, and family members too. So, friends who I don't have as listed followers (and I know there are quite a few), send me an email to debbirn2b@hotmail DOT com, and I'll put you as an allowed reader. *EDIT* I can't get my follower's emails, blogger's being silly. So, sorry guys, but just send me an email saying "hey" and I'll make sure to get you on the safe list.

Until I meet you on the other blog, friends, I bid Adieu.
In honour of my last Daisyhalos Six Word "Wednesday", I write:


And They Lived Happily Ever After.



***FINAL EDIT*** after a bunch of contemplation, I realized that being a private blog annoys the heck out of me. Besides, I'm really not that interesting! ;) So, the new blog can be found at www.ninepeasinthepod.blogspot.com See you there! :)

Fall has Fell

It's the official first day of Autumn. Which I know, because last night we spent a while on google figuring out if it was actually YESTERDAY or today. And, so we're all aware, no two sites said the same thing. So whatever.

Point being, I'm in my element! Fall-born babies tend to love the fall season the most, and I'm no exception to that rule. I love the smell, the colours, the crisp leaves under foot, the sweaters and cute boots and leggings, and, most of all, the TV line-up every night.

So, yesterday, the last night of summer, I took the kids out to where Will is working on a cabin, about an hour away. We played in the creek and on the tire swing, sang songs in the car as loud as possible, and when it was all over, we went to Waterton to listen to the Elk calls. And, for what anyone cares, listening and watching the Elk like that was seriously AWESOME! Em told me, with a shrug and roll of the eye, that she's done it 'a million times,' and I thought, Holy Crap, kid, if you only KNEW how cool of a life you've lived. Living out here provides some pretty awesome opportunities for kids and adults alike, and, even though I come from a Scouting/Guiding (camping,outdoor,hunting) family, I have NEVER been that close to Elk and listened to the bellows.

Family Home Evening doesn't get much better than this.

Although, I hate to admit.... I committed an unpardonable sin last night. One I SWORE I would NEVER NEVER EVER commit!

Yes, (sadly) that's me.
Ponytailin' (oh the ears!!! Kill me now!),
short-donnin' (yuck.. I hate shorts.)
sweater-wearing (uh, with shorts?!)
CROC-walkin! CROCS!!! What in the name of all that is fashionable am I thinking? I friggen HATE crocs. And, this croc-promoting McSpanky family has totally taken over-- I swore I would NEVER own such hideous shoes. And yesterday, I sunk to the lowest of lows. *moment of silence as the COOL Debbi falls into fashion oblivion*

It's a good thing Will still thought I was cute...he was super cute too, all messy and painty and muddy from drywalling, but he refused to let me take a picture of his cuteness. This is the only one I snagged. Which, if I may say so myself, isn't too bad of a view either. tee hee.

So, on a Tuesday Tune tribute... (man, it's been a while since I shared a tune,)I thought I'd share this one. Found it on Facebook from a bloggy-friend, so, hopefully it's new to some of you. Will doesn't have this problem yet. But huney, just in case you read this, it's all very true.. take notes. :)

*Watch song here!*

Have a great Tuesday! :)

Not Me Monday- Moving

I am NOT still sick. I did NOT, however, take some serious drugs this weekend to get back to my normal amazingly awesome self.

Life is NOT starting to feel back to normal again. I do NOT need a buttload smidgen of routine in order for me to NOT function, and now that the wedding is NOT over and I am NOT settling in to this small-town life, I can NOT finally get it together.

This week, my kids do NOT have 2 days off! I know, school only started 2 weeks ago, and already they have TWO days off... I do NOT remember when I went to school, and did walk up hill both ways, carrying my shoes in my hands with plastic bags on my feet, in the snow, for 50 miles. And, NO, I did NOT have days off every two weeks.

We did NOT have last-minute dinner guests yesterday, and NOPE, I did NOT feed them whilst sitting on rubbermaid buckets around the table. Both of our children did NOT eat in the living room, on the (blue carpeted) floor. That would be just rude, and I would NEVER do that to dinner guests. This was NOT bad enough, but to top it off, I did NOT inwardly freak out, considering it was Will's Ex's extended family, and I did NOT worry about making a good impression. I am NOT pleased to say that they were very nice and friendly, in spite of my dirty house. And, in case you're wondering, I did NOT overcook the asparagus to a nasty utterly delicious green goop. I do NOT hate the craptastic flat-top stove and oven here at the house, and my prissy city-girl inner cook does NOT miss her gas stove from the Calgary house.

I am NOT thankful that my parents brought the kitchen chairs from that house later last night- too late for the dinner guests, but great just the same. I am NOT also excited about bringing ALL of my stuff later this week. I am NOT demanding hosting a cleaning party at my house, for those interested! :) BYOC, BYOTC, BYOLW. -- bring your own chairs. And toilet cleaner. And lysol wipes.

I did NOT buy Hallowe'en candy already. Nope, NOT ME! I do NOT have a weakness for the peanut-butter ones. It is NOT Chocolate Wednesday, and I am so NOT cheating! I have also NOT eaten the box all. by. myself.

This does NOT remind me that X-Weighted is starting up that "where are they now" website. It is NOT a bad idea for me to be eating all that chocolate just before they launch. And, apparently, my episode is NOT airing all week, too.

BUT, on the other side of the fat scale, I did NOT wear "the skirt" to church yesterday. This skirt is one that my mother did NOT wear when she was young-- (bought in 1975), and it is NOT the skinniest article of clothing I have. I did NOT wear it when I was a teen, and it was NOT my goal skirt to fit into when the TV show ended. I did NOT force my fat thighs into that skirt yesterday. I did NOT do a little dance of joy that I got the zipper up. And then, when the day was over, I did NOT do ANOTHER (completely ridiculous) dance to try to get it off. NOPE, NOT ME. I would NEVER nearly pull off my left buttcheek in order to get the thing off! I am NOT >this< close to marathon training again going for a few runs with Will to get back into shape.

Six Word Saturday- Sick

Being newlywed while sick sucks rocks.

(or)

Full of love. Full of snot.

Yep. I'm still sick. This is going on an eternity almost 10 days now. I've tried starving the cold, feeding the cold, sleeping it off, NOT sleeping at all, smothering it with love, NOT loving it, washing copious laundry amounts. Working with Will making out painting at the hotel. Sitting on my lazy butt at home. Working at my Mother-in-law's shop. Walking with Will at night. Paying bills. Shopping. Catching up on emails...
nothing is helping.

A runny nose, a headache, sore muscles... NOT a fun way to be newlywed. I figure, though, if Will can't handle a little bodily fluid as a newlywed, he's missing out on the best part! ;)

Doesn't everyone get a blender when they get married?!

It's tricky being a blended family.

It's tricky enough getting married when you're older, because you are already SET in routines and desires and traditions. But, add in some children, a few exes, their families and you have the makings of a new soup for everyone!

Recently, Will and I discussed Christmas traditions. Turns out that MOST of our traditions can be done on BOTH sides. But there's a few 'conflicting' ones, where we'll have to pick to give ours up, keep it, or just make a whole NEW one. For Will and I, traditions can be changed. But when we add children, it's a bit tougher. What's most important to them, and what can change? Santa Claus does different things at different households.. so, what does he do HERE?

We are also figuring out weekends. When does Will's ex have the older kids, when do we? Seeing as how Em lives with us but the others don't, there's more travelling now. Having one ex requires work for scheduling and holidays, but we also have MY ex, Chris. So double the work. When does he have the younger ones? And, if he moves, what happens then? And the travelling ... oh the travelling.

Will's kids eat differently than mine do. Not a LOT differently, but snacks and grazing foods for sure. So, grocery shopping changes. Menu planning revolves slightly around which children are home and when. Dislikes and favourites and habits.

What rules did I have in my home that Will doesn't share?
Given, a lot of these things you find out through dating-- and a lot of them, we did! But, because we didn't LIVE together beforehand, there are some things that you can't know until then.

It's tricky, too, as Will's kids are older than mine so rules are different for some than others. Thankfully Grace and LL are only a year apart, so it bridges the "olders" from the "youngers" much better.

Decorating a home. Planning family vacations. Routines for homework. Songs at family prayer-- there are many things we're learning from each other, and many more to come, I know it.

I look forward to each morning that Will and I grow our OWN family tree. Our OWN fruits, our own traditions.

Although we're two separate families becoming one,.. we are definitely nine great peas in this pod!

(We shelled peas for Gramma, and Will found this one! How appropriate, hey?)

In Point Form

• http://vimeo.com/1531870

I love this video! I loved it when I first saw it, and ended up playing it so often that now my kids sing along. Yes. My kids sing along to Queen. lol

• With my brother's wedding taking up the better part of this weekend, I'm down to some final time in order to get OUR wedding ready. You should see my planner-- CRAZY notes on notes on lists of lists. Seriously. It's getting to the point that I don't know what list to start with-- here I think I'm all smart and organized, but there's so much to do that my organized lists are overflowing! AHHH.

I never 'planned' my wedding to Chris, since we only had an 8 day engagement. So this is new to me.

• Having step-children, especially one who lives with me full-time, is a big adjustment. I am learning that, although Will's kids are seriously fantastic... and he's a super father to them AND my kids, we don't always agree on parenting styles. We agree ENOUGH. But there's going to be growing pains and a LOT of lessons learned--- and I'm mostly talking about just ME! I know I have lots to learn

There's power struggles with LL, who is used to being the oldest and now she has 'competition'.

• I'm so excited about the wedding. But, moreso, I'm excited about having Will live with me. Although right now I see him A LOT more than I did when I lived in Calgary, it still sucks when he tucks me in to bed each night and walks out the front door. I look sooooo forward to sleeping with him beside me-- a warm body to keep the sheets from freezing, a rhythmic breath to lullaby me to sleep, a shoulder to 'pillow' me and a kiss first thing in the morning. I look forward to 'life' starting to settle a bit, where I can cook dinner for him, where I get to spend every other weekend dating him. I look forward to the MARRIAGE.

I am watching my two siblings get married within a week of each other, and, naturally, it's their first marriages. But having been married before, both Will and I come into this a bit tentitavly and jaded. We know marriage can be SUPER and fantastic, but we also KNOW it is harder than anything else. My siblings may HEAR and understand that sentence, but they don't KNOW it. Kinda like when you are pregnant-- you read and prepare as much as you can for that baby, but until it ACTUALLY comes, you realize there was NOTHING that could prepare you for the REAL parts. Like that wedding day euphoria...where you believe life only gets better from here with cake and flower petals all the way...I kinda wish i could go back to those days, but I'm grateful for a better idea this time around. And for a better partner for the trip.

I may be a realist. I may be jaded. But seriously, you guys... I am so in love with this man.

Now I'm off to get marriage licences and stuff put together. We have a bit of an issue because of the stupidity of Will's ex, Sarah, so we are in the middle of fixing that today. Good times.

It's a Good few weeks!

The beginning of September is already shaping up to be AWESOME!!

Along with the BEST part-- marrying Will,

my TWO kids (LL and Bear) started school all day (yay),

I get to see ALL my siblings,

(Kiki's wedding this past weekend)

my van will be fixed from our little Bambi-hitting incident,

LL and her cousin got baptized (okay, it was technically August, but whatever)

I 'inherited' a new daughter full-time, and...

as of tonight....

I conditionally sold my house!
YAY.
*now you see why I haven't been blogging much! :(

8/52 and with the amount of driving I've been doing, it's a miracle this has only JUST happened once.

*graphic content and photos-- fair warning*

Find Mom Friday features last weekend's antics.

Yay that Will and I took his kids last weekend to the lake with Sin and Vegan and her family. We had a great time, about an hour away from our home.

Yay that there was fishing. Lots and lots of fishing!

Triple Yay that there was some AWESOME tubing. Yay that Sin and I went and we laughed our butts off so much, but nay that our stomachs hurt after! It was soooo fun! Nay that I haven't been tubing like that since I was young and I missed it!

And at the end of the day, we started the drive home.

Everything was great (yay), until a big doe ran across the highway (nay). We swerved to go behind her, and yay for her, she got across the road. But her little Bambi ran out right after her...big nay. At that point, we tried to swerve the OTHER way to avoid Bambi, but it didn't go so well.

BIG NAY: Bambi hit the front of my van with a huge *THUD*. Legs starfished, deer spun around in front of our screeching van, and before we knew it, we realized what had happened. Pulling over, we assessed the van damage. LUCKY for us (yayish), although we were travelling at 110kms/hour and the deer hit the front of the van pretty squarely, no airbags went off and no one was hurt. Yay.

Nay that I found out later that it was SUPER close to being much worse, as Bambi hit the van so hard that it moved the hood fairly severely back, and, another few millimetres and the hood would have flown up. Um. That woulda been a super big nay!

Yay that Kay was clever enough to look at the time on her cellphone. Yay that it was kinda freaky that it was EXACTLY 9:11 pm. Okay, how weird is that?!?!

So, Yay that Will kindly moved the body off the highway, and we all paid our respects to the little lad. Nay that I had to file a police report and everything, but yay that it was just a little deer and not worse!

And is it a yay, or a nay, that I've become SUCH a blogger that the first thing I think is "grab a camera!"???

Six Word Saturday- Last One?

It's Six Word Saturday, where you describe your week in 6 words. It's really fun to play- so visit www.showmyface.com if you wanna join in. Cate started it. Blame her. :)

My six for the week?

It totally sucks that summer's over!


This is my last 'free' weekend of the summer. Next weekend will be lots of fun, with the first wedding in my family, but it's not a 'free' weekend. I have weddings to attend and family to play with! That's work! ;) And the weekend after that? Wedding number 2! So, really, my Saturdays are gone for a while. Then, the Saturday after that? Will and I will be on a honeymoon! ;P Even if our honeymoon is ALONE IN THE 'NEW HOUSE' because I STILL haven't sold the old one.

And, bugger all, another neighbour listed their home for sale. MUCH cheaper than mine. crappy. So not amused.

7/52- The Summer's Ending!!!

It's Find Mom Friday. I'm back at the Calgary house for a whopping few hours doing another switch of children with Chris and grabbing another load of stuff from the 'old house'. It's amazing, now that I'm down to the end of the 'little stuff', I'm realizing I STILL have a lot of junk! Who knew I had so many boxes of maxipads under the sink!? Like, I could rival the hover dam for being able to stop liquid.. sheesh.

The other day I was in a FOUL mood. Like, stick a feather in my butt, FOUL! (yes, I know it's fowl, sillies) But Will tried the entire day to make me happier. I think there was just too much in my head, I was tired, I felt like I did everything the wrong way even when I was trying to help... just one of those days. and it had nothing to do with PMS, in case the previous paragraph led you to think that.

So, Will bought healthy food because he knows I'm trying to fit into a wedding dress pizza. Will drove us to a local park. Will took pictures of me and my grumpiness awesome children. Will was bound and determined to stop my crankiness from oozing into the kids.

And he did a pretty good job. I mean, I can be downright lovely not fun and, gasp, even witchy when I'm cranky. Will says he is a glutton for punishment still wants to marry me. What a man!

It's Small-Town Living at it's best and 6/52 (a bit late)

I missed last week's Find Mom Friday-- but you all know my excuses. So, here's a buttload of pictures to satiate at least a FEW weeks' worth of Mom-photos! :) Although, I'll play fair and only count these as last week's entry.

Will is having a fun time taking me to all the 'hot spots' around our little podunk town. Although I may grumble about some of the aspects of living in a Southern Alberta, LDS-centred, what-the-freak-are-all-these-minivans-doing-here town, there are some DEFINITE sweet selling points to my new hometown, too.

At the start of the 'tour', Will has taken us to the parades and celebrations. Everyone's there. Everyone's PART of the parade. Candy is thrown by the truckloads!

(Mimi and Bear, filling his pant pockets with as much candy as he can gather)

Children nearly get run-over by mini-motorized cars, and everyone laughs at her cuteness and thinks it's normal. ( If you can't tell in this picture, yes, Mimi nearly DIED, but you know, she's a girl after my own heart-- there was some GOOD CANDY on that there road!!)

And, although my heart may TOTALLY jump out of my throat when I see THIS, (this HUGE truck is barreling down the parade route, with kids TOTALLY hanging out the side-- they could fall to their DEATH, but no one seems worried!) it's a town where I can accidentally leave my daughter's hat on the bench we're sitting at, and come back hours later after a thousand people have walked past to find it sitting nicely on the back of the bench, waiting for it's rightful owner to reclaim it. TRUE STORY.

Will has taken us to the creek. Where it's perfectly normal for everyone to strip down to their skivvies and swim. MY KIDS LOVED IT!!

Will has taught Mimi how to swim. Well. Kinda.

Will has taught Bear how to "run like a man" through the safe, SUPER wide streets.

Will has shown me how fun it can be to catch snakes in the bush and freak the heck out of the kids! LOLWill and I have enjoyed ripboarding down the paths.
But mostly, Will has introduced me to many great people. People who befriend me at church, who sit beside me, who introduce me to other great people, and who seem genuinely interested in making us feel welcomed.

All in all, my new hometown is bound to bring lots of great experiences. That's the best part about country, small-town living. Everyone knows everyone, everyone helps everyone, and the best of dirt and mud and memory-making moments reside there.

Directions to my new house

I am learning a lot about the new place I live. Southern Alberta is quite a Mormon area. And it's pretty much guaranteed that there will be a daily conversation on lineage. (who are you related to? Where are you from? What's your maiden name? Do you know Joe?) Southern Albertans don't realize how odd it is to label people in such a way, and, to someone like me, (an outsider coming IN), it's intimidating and scary and strange. Really, WHO CARES what my Gramma's first brother's cousin's step-mother's name is?! And no, I'm not related to the same John Smith family as the ones who live on the corner in the blue house.

Sadder yet? I went to church in our new ward again this Sunday.
Introduced myself as Debbi "McSpanky", because I knew that introducing myself as Debbi Barber would prove useless as I'll be changing that last name in a few weeks. The next question, "what's your maiden name"...
And then later- "Who are you related to? Are you from Southern Alberta?"
And then, the inevitable, "Whose house did you move into?"


Where's the sad part, you ask? Well, I answered all of those questions (for the bagillionth time) as a Southern Albertan. Yes. I fell into the trap. ...I moved into "Jack Dawson's old home". The yellow one on the corner with the playground in the back.

Yes.

I gave that answer.

And everyone knew what house I was talking about.

If you're not from around Southern Alberta, and you wanna come visit me and Will, we'd love visitors. You may sleep on a foamie in the basement until the old house sells and we bring out beds over, but we'd still love to see ya. I may even bake cookies. Just don't ask me which house number it is. I couldn't tell ya. But we live right beside Norma Jean and right behind Gertrude and Thomas. You'll find us. Ask at the post office. They'll likely give you our mail to take to us too. But don't ask about Mrs. Johnson's health, or you'll hear all about her latest boil issue.

True story.

Flipped Out

Remember that contest I won, on THIS post?

Well, remember how I won a bunch of coupons to give away as a 'reward' to my bloggy friends?
Well, remember that I haven't done that yet???

So, here it is:

If you'd like to win ice cream coupons for a pint of Ben and Jerry's Flipped Out Ice Cream, here's the simple rules to win.

I will reward one coupon to each person who comments on a time when they TOTALLY FLIPPED OUT. A freak out, a day spent on a trampoline, a tumble down some stairs-- ANYTHING counts. If you think you 'flipped out', leave a comment with the story, and you will be one of the winners!

Yep. that's because I have no imagination to make this contest any tougher!

And, lastly, you have to leave an email address for me in order to get the coupon to ya (the company sends them to you personally). You can email me your email personally *(debbirn2b@hotmail.com) or you can put it in the comments for us all to hound your inbox with.

***EDIT: These coupons are only valid in the USA. If you're a Canadian reader, and you want one, that's fine. There's lots of readers I know who travel to the US often. But, I didn't want to mislead us Canadians... They're only valid in the USA.

And one of these days I'll post something good. I'm stretched to the max right now with the wedding and moving and money and selling and coping and planning and cleaning and packing and...and.. and..

Tuesday Tidbits

A post of tidbits. Not Timbits... although... I had some of those with the dayhome kids yesterday, and forgot how gross they are. I mean, I love donuts as much as the next person, but timbits are so much drier. Although, the handy bite-size makes me feel less guilty when I eat 20 of them. Those powder-covered ones are my fave!!

Last night, I donned my VERY FUN wedding shoes, and went with my lovely friend, Becka, dress shopping again at a friend's bridal store. Funny enough, the dresses we narrowed it down to are TOTALLY different than the dress from the other fitting with Sin and Babbling Brook. hmmmmm. Now what do I do? If Will didn't read the blog, I'd ask all of you your opinions. Alas, no pre-wedding shots here. But I'll help ya out-- just imagine: white or off-white dress. To the floor, or slightly above the knee. fitted on the waist or empire waistband. Low cut or not. Sleeveless or strappy or full-arms... :)

Invitations are out. That feels good.

And today's the last day I have with my longest-standing dayhome child! :( I've had Andrew for over 2.5 years now. It's sad that today's my last day with him. Moving on to bigger and better things.

House NEEDS TO SELL!!!!!!

yah. That's it for today. Pretty lame post- busy dong laundry and cleaning and getting ready for the long weekend coming up.

And check out this blog: www.cutelikemegiveaways.blogspot.com They always do fun give-a-ways. Not to mention, Hailey's awesome herself. After all, only the awesomest of people have a birthday on a holiday.

Mom's Week Off

Being without my kids for the week is taking its toll.

Firstly, it's awesome.
I got to sleep-in yesterday (as sleep-in as 8 am is... and for me, that's 2 hours!), and once the dayhome kids go home, I am FREE to do what I want (any old time?). I don't have to make dinners, my house is staying pretty dang clean (not that anyone's asked for a showing this week, which is both a relief because I don't have to leave and also a pain because that means it's not being sold and just FIGURES since this is the EASIEST time for me to show the place), and there's NO responsibilities to keep me at home at night.

So, last night I went out with Becka.

We went shoe shopping, and AMAZINGLY, found the shoes I was looking for for the wedding! The right colour, the right heel, everything perfect. Nice.
And we headed out for dinner after with Lena to The Olive Garden. Which, by the way, was soooooo yummy!

But, to my surprise, my kids came with me. Oh, every few minutes I'd end up thinking "Oh geez, it's getting late and I have to get back to relieve the babysitter" or "Chris is gonna be mad that I've been out so long, he probably wants to go home" or something along those lines. I'd actually have to TRAIN myself NOT to think about them and enjoy the night out.

We got home fairly late after traffic issues and going downtown to drop off dinner for Becka's working hubby, and it was odd to walk into an empty house that late at night. Not bad. Just... odd. The doors to their bedrooms have remained closed (so they don't get messed up by dayhome kids) and last night it was so hot, I opened every door and window to get some cross-breezes goin' on. Their little beds are still made. Their rooms SMELL like them. (remind me to give those bedrooms a bath! ;) )

And then I chatted with Will on the phone.
And my kids were there.

During the conversation, I had to remind myself that the kids weren't going to be overhearing anything I said. That I could talk 'loudly' and not worry about waking anyone up. Although, it's a relief to be able to have a full-blown conversation with someone and NOT be interrupted at least once with "MAAAHWHHHWMMM, soandso is looking at me!"




It is very odd not having them here. I had them alllll last week by myself, and I'll have them alllll next week to myself too. I'm enjoying my week-off, getting stuff done and relaxing. But it sure is empty, and peaceful quiet and a nice home-cation.

Not Me Monday- Camping

I am NOT back.
I did NOT have the BEST time!
I do NOT think Will's family is crazier than I knew they were.
And that does NOT make me happier, knowing he still has yet to meet most of MY family! muahaha. And, heck, we already know he can handle crazy.

I am NOT tanned after spending the entire week at the foot of the beach.
I am NOT bruised all over my hips from sleeping on the tent floor.
I did NOT miss my bed!

I did NOT love swimming.
I did NOT love learning to ride the new ripsticks Will and I have.
I did NOT enjoy kayaking around the lake to see the turtles and fish in the SUPER CRYSTAL CLEAR water, and I did NOT laugh my butt off when Em tipped the kayak while she and I were in it!
By the way, the water was NOT cold and refreshing.
I did NOT love that my kids got a heck of a lot more water confidence after this week, even though there were a few moments that I had to 'save' Mimi.
I did NOT love being goofy with the kids.

I did NOT give my kids to Chris for the week, while they camp with him and my ex-in-laws.
I am NOT happy to have a week to myself (minus dayhome kids during the day) to get some wedding planning done.

I am NOT excited that Will and I have a house to move into.
I am NOT happy to live closer to my family.
I am NOT moving in a few weeks, even if this place doesn't sell by then. Which means, I will NOT be living out of suitcases for a while.

I am NOT so in love!
Oh, did I mention, I do NOT think Will is DANNNNNG hot?! ;) And he's NOT all mine. :D
I do NOT think my little Willy rocks. (haha, that sentence is NOT funny!)

I am NOT upset that the house across the street has a conditional sale sign.
I am NOT hoping I'm next.