not sure how i got here, but i love it

As luck would have the the wonderful Widney Woman was spending the Canada Day weekend up here in the Great White North and we were having our annual Weenie Roast, so I invited them to join us if they were able.

Wait, what?

Yep you read that right I invited them to join us for the evening.

You know, sometimes I just sit back and wonder who this person is I have become.

The Widney Woman has the distinction of being my very first bloggy meet up and to be honest it almost didn't happen. Although we'd been following each others blogs for some time I just couldn't get my socially awkward self past my socially awkward self. I was giving myself an ulcer over the whole thing, but in the end I went and of course she is just as lovely in real life as she is on the internet.

Then I finally had the opportunity to meet Karen of Virtually There fame in person. Karen is one of my very first bloggy bffs. I met her and her kids on my own and it was awesome and not at all weird and really made me wish that she would buy the house down the street. In fact I'm still holding out hope that she'll buy a house down the street. She has Jersey Girl written all over her.

And then I did this really fun social media thing that had me meeting strangers for three days straight. That was so much fun and I cannot wait to do it again this year.

So I invite the Widney Woman and her guy J, who I hadn't had the chance to meet before and instead of wanting to puke when they said they'd love to come I was so looking forward to seeing them. I will admit to a moment of -"oh my gosh" when they pulled up in front of the house. It's kind of a surreal moment when you're meeting some one in person that you've only interacted with online before, but it's gone the second you start talking. ML was actually asking me what it was like, but it's one of those experiences that is hard to explain unless you've been there.

I am so glad and thankful they took time to visit with us. It was great to further reaffirm what I already knew about them online. Conversation was easy and Mike and I would have loved the chance to chat with them longer. We'll have to try for a more one on one visit the next time they cross the border. Big thanks to the Widney Woman for showing me real life bloggy meet ups are awesome!

Have you ever had a bloggy meet up?

finally

For the past year I've been trying to make plans to get together with Karen, one of my very first bloggy bff's. Actually we're pretty great at making plans, we've exchanged plenty of emails trying to work out our schedules and a couple of times we've had solid plans to meet.... only to have one of our kids get sick. But this was crunch time, in a couple of weeks Karen and her family will be heading back up to Ottawa, the land of fabulous bloggers. Hi all my favourite Ottawa ladies! So we set up plans for this morning and our husbands both sorta rolled their eyes in a "ya, whatever" kind of way, certain there was no way it was going to happen.

But it did!! It so did!

Once the plans were in plan I thought I would feel more nervous then I was. You know.... me and meeting people. Especially since I was flying solo, Mike was gone for the day. Just before they got here I started to get anxious because while I'm incredibly witty (HA!) on the internet, maybe I don't translate very well into real life. I wondered if that initial moment would be awkward. I mean it's weird, you already know so much about a person you've never met before.

But it wasn't! It so wasn't!

The girls got along very well, but kids are great like that aren't they? So they swam and Henry hung out being all adorable. Adorable, I tell you! And Karen and I just talked and talked and talked, in between interruptions from the kids, of course. I have always been thankful to know Karen, but I was thrilled I finally got the chance to meet her in person and really just solidify all the wonderful things I already knew about her. Our visit today was much like a visit I would have with Robin or ML or any of my local besties. So much of what I write here is filtered so it was nice to be able to connect without that in the way. I really couldn't have imagined it any better.

I have only one complaint.... well two actually. #1 - the visit was too short. I mean we talked about a lot of things, but there was so much more we didn't get to talk about like GLEE! and The Office and Dwight and knitting and books! #2 That we did this just before she moved back home... we could of had a whole year to discuss all those important issues.

And now for the photographic evidence....



The girls. Okay I promise Abby was having a much better time than she appears to be. And crap, where is the picture of Henry?



You know what's funny. I had on a orange v-neck before Karen got there, but spilled something on it and had to change. Also she has awesome hair!

what more could i ask for

Tonight....

Abby was fantastic at her riding lesson.

Maya "overcame her fear" (direct quote from Abby) and willingly rubbed the belly of a big black dog.

Abby soaked the sticky sweaty stable dirt off herself in a bubble bath while Maya went with Papa to choir practice.

Maya wrote the word 'one' all by herself on the chalk board. Then she wrote 'yoyo' and then her own name. Backwards.

We did homework - four pages of questions Abby had to answer on a book she read. She rocked the reading and the questions right out of the park. And we did it all without either one of us arguing, bargaining or begging.

do me a favour

As always there is much going on and much to tell you about. Maya's first "grown up" play date. Abby reading her very first chapter book. Bank meetings, mortgage renewing, papers to sign, lawyer to see. What I've learned about credit/debt. Wills to discuss and plan out. Finally being a "grown up".

Instead a local tragedy has been weighing heavy on my mind and my heart. So tonight I leave you with this...

Go hug your kids extra tight.

All that other stuff just doesn't seem that important.

almost

Oh we were so close. Thisclose. In a flurry of emails yesterday I finally managed to firm up plans to meet the fabulous Karen of Virtually There in the flesh. Those people who know me well, know that this was a big deal for me, for a lot of reasons -- 1. I've been calling Karen a friend for a good long time now and yet have never actually laid eyes on her in person. 2. And this could be the very biggest one.... I was going to be meeting her on my own.

It's no secret that Michael is my social security blanket. I am horrible at small talk if I don't know you. I am so shy that I know it comes across as stuck up and/or bitchy. It's not something I like of myself, but here we are. That being said, if you take a moment to get to know me, I like to think I'm a pretty kick ass friend to have.

So I extended the invitation to Karen and then, surprisingly, didn't have a panic attack. There was no hyperventilating, no moment of -- oh my God what have I done? I was actually very excited about our date. Her and I. Her girls and mine. And lunch.

I was even very low key about it with Mike, casually mentioning it over kitchen chores in a conversation that I immediately emailed to Karen.....

[email]
Funny story Mike was loading the dishwasher just a little bit ago and I was
getting dinner ready. I said to him... so Karen's coming over tomorrow.

Karen, who?

Karen from Ottawa.

His response to that... yeah right. [/end email]

When I explained to him that I was serious he stopped what he was doing to stare at me for a moment..... you know, he said, you sound pretty proud of yourself.

And I was. No doubt, between blogging, email, twitter and facebook Karen knows lots about me already (and I her). She could definitely hold her own with my jammie movie night girls. (which by the way Karen, if you want to hit up a jammie movie night before you head back home, you are more than welcome). All the awkward getting to know you stuff has long since been taken care of. The only part I was truly panicking over was the menu. I mean Karen is no slouch in the kitchen and I did not want to disappoint. I think I changed my mind about what to make a dozen times.

Alas it was all for naught. Poor Emily was not feeling the greatest this morning and as tempting as it was to say eff it and go ahead anyway.... Abby was the lone grown up amongst us, wisely suggesting it would be best to wait until Emily felt better. Good news is we're already working on rescheduling it. Here's hoping we manage to align our schedules soon.

what's cooking wednesday

Well Whats Cooking Wednesday has been pre-empted by real life, once again. Tonight I am planning on a quiet low key night with my girls, my Michael and my Mom to acknowledge the passing of another year. I am touched and endlessly thankful for all the birthday well wishes on facebook and in real life. I am not one to get meloncholy about my brithday, but this year I had a myriad of little things bubble up on me unexpectedly. So I had a little cry which led Abby to ask her Dad "what did you do to her?" Which made me laugh and then cry some more while Mike proclaimed his innocence to a somewhat skeptical Abby. Nice to know, even at (almost) seven, she's got my back.

And since I'm pretty sure my What's Cooking Wednesday friends aren't all at home weeping over a bunch of little things that account for nothing on their own, I'm putting up the Mr. Linky to see what you're all cooking up in your kitchens.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

widney wednesday - the canadian edition

It all started when I clicked on the link for Widney Woman (Simone) in The Mommy Project's (Normie) blogroll. I'm not sure why except that I had begun to notice her commenting on Normie's posts. As it turns out the Widney Woman and the Mommy Project are friends from way back. Me, I'm just a Mommy Project newbie friend, but that was enough of a connection for me to keep reading over at the Widney Woman regularly. Then she's commenting here and I'm commenting there and before you know it we're facebook friends too.

There was so much I enjoyed about her blog and the lady herself. I loved the fun things she had planned for her kids, things like Widney Wednesday. A day that looked like so much fun I wished I could go myself, but the commute to Chicago would be a killer. Then the Widney Woman came to Canada. Not only to Canada, but to my hometown. And extended to my family a Widney Wednesday invitation. I was thrilled. And flattered. And nervous. Remember I'm the shy and socially awkward one. The idea of actually attending Widney Wednesday was as terrifying as it was exciting. I waffled back and forth on whether or not I would actually be able to go. Talking myself into it, only to talk myself back out of it again.

In the end I went, after a pep talk from both Mike and Auntie Yoli (ack! what am I going to do without her?). Oh and the promise of Michael to come along and be my "wingman". And not just because Simone had promised me a surprise. Jiffy corn muffin mix y'all! She knows me so well! What can I tell you? I am so glad I went for my first official blogger meet up! The kids, (yep the girls went too, Widney Wednesday is a family affair) made construction paper popsicles before chasing each other around the house and then wrapped it up with a little make your own sundae bar. I did manage to snap a few pictures before the white screen of death showed up on my camera. It seems to be working "okay" now, but totally crapped out on me when I needed it. Here's is the one sort of okay picture I got that shows, Abby, Normie's girls and Jazz. Paris and Maya were busy still making their sundaes while the bigger kids were eating theirs. Hopefully the other ladies got better pictures that they will be posting soon.



And Simone? Well she was terrific. Exactly as I imagined she would be from reading her blog. Her kids are absolutely adorable. Abby was thrilled at the idea of meeting new friends and wasn't yet ready to leave when the time came. I'm sorry we didn't get more time to visit. So your next visit to Canada Simone, please know you have a standing invitation to the Ranch. Which really isn't a ranch, we just like to live with delusions of grandeur.