the case of the missing fitbit charger

My fitbit one requires charging once every seven to ten days. Over two weeks ago when I got my battery low notification I plugged it in to my laptop and dutifully charged it up. What I dutifully failed to do was return my small fitbit charger to it's resting place in the junk drawer when I was finished with it. I promptly forgot all about it until the low battery warning popped up yet again.

Ooops..... where did that silly thing go? I searched high and low. I searched the logical spots and some of the illogical spots. I stomped round the house like godzilla growling at every one who even glanced in my direction. I offered up exorbitant rewards for whoever could find my wayward charger.

You see around here the kids set an clear the table. Since I don't have dedicated desk space my laptop is almost always on the kitchen table, so the kids clear it off the table every night for dinner. My best guess was the charger had been stuffed somewhere during dinner time chores. After a week of wracking our brains and hard core searching by both Mike and I (and somewhat halfheartedly by the children) we were ready to admit defeat. Just buy a new one, Mike insisted. We searched everywhere we can think of. It will likely turn up eventually and when it does you'll have a spare, but it probably won't show up for a while.

So I bought a new one. $27 with taxes and shipping and they had it to me in a day in a super huge box for my super tiny charger..... but that's a story for another time. I dutifully plugged in my now dead for a week fitbit and charged her up, clipped it back on to my bra and everyone was happy.

Fast forward twelve hours.....



Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is in fact two fitbit one chargers you see in my hand. We were getting ready to head out the door this morning when Abby found it in her backpack. Her backpak! Now why didn't I think to look there? She claims I owe her that exorbitant reward and I claim she owes me $27.. so I think we're going to call it even.

boo

I really live in the best neighbourhood and I have the best friends! Came home from a meeting tonight to find a little surprise waiting at my back door. We were boo'ed!!



Are you aware of this new phenomenon? People leave a little gift of Halloween treats on your door step, knock and then run like hell! There's a sign to hang in your window letting the world know that you've been boo'ed and then your job is to go out and boo two other families.

We were lucky enough to be boo'ed last year, so we knew the drill, but it still didn't dampen the excitement. The kids were already in bed, when we found it, but they'll be over the moon in the morning. It's always fun trying to figure out who the culprit could be. We have several suspects and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. These sorts of things happen and it makes me realize this is the exact life I envisioned for myself, for my family. To be surrounded by people who are so much fun! Love it!

You know what they say... it's the little things that are the big things. Thanks Great Pumpkin.... who ever you are!

dinner was not meant to be

So I was headed out for a run. I'd be gone about 45 minutes, so I asked Mike to get dinner started while I was gone. Out the back door I went leaving everything in his capable hands. Forty-three minutes later I'm walking up the driveway and logging my run into my phone. I hit the back door and Mike calls out, no dinner!

What the hell? When I left he was preheating the oven. Again I ask, what the hell?

It turns out that yes, he did have the oven preheating, but it never actually heated. A quick appointment with the appliance version of Dr. Google has diagnosed it with a faulty glow ignitor. Le sigh.

Then Mike's on the phone with our sitter/hair dresser and yes she can cut his hair if he comes over right now. So out the door he goes. Me, I light the barbecue and throw the chicken that should have already been cooked out there. I check 5 minutes later and.... can you see where this is going? Yep, the barbie is cold. Out of propane. What the hell?

By this time it's after 6pm, the kids are slowly starving to death and I have moved my raw chicken from one non-functioning appliance to another and am no further ahead. Desperate times call for desperate measures and...... a can of zoodles. I'm typically not down with the canned pasta, but see above. Thirty seconds in the microwave and I'd solved one of my problems... [whine]I'm hungry. Mom, I'm starving![/whine].  Then I officially broke it off with the chicken and made myself a gigantic salad. Which I ate while still in my running gear.

option c is the worst

I have

an adorable 8 year old who all but begged me to let her wash the dishes tonight, by hand. It was a project suggested by her French teacher, to do dishes without being asked. I wish all homework was that awesome!

a bear of a four year old, who did not handle school well at all today. She cried from the time she got home until the time I left for my meeting (and probably after, but I wasn't home for that part!), pausing only to throw her cup at her sister and then sniff at me that it was "just a toss and it didn't hurt her". I'd be willing to bet my next pay cheque that she was an absolute delight at school though. She just saves it up for Mama.

a husband with a head cold. God love him! Here's hoping he keeps that to himself!

lesser of two evils

Which would you rather hear from your 4 year old as she cries her face off...

Option A - You don't like me!

Option B - I hate you!

Speaking from experience, they both pretty much suck the big one.

monday monday

Here's what today has going against it...

I have my lady days, so I've been snappy-ish (with Mike) with a side order of weepy.
Our central air is not working. Are you kidding me? It's a kabillion degrees outside. Freakin' hot is not something you want to add to the above cocktail.
I couldn't sleep for the life of me last night. I finally fell asleep sometime after 3am. My alarm goes off at 5:30am. You do the math on that and then see above. Oh and that little nap I thought I'd get after work. Didn't happen because the internet we canceled when we got our new internet... yeah they didn't actually cancel it, according to the bill I got in the mail today, so we lost about an hour on the phone straightening it out.

So this is it Monday. I am officially breaking up with you! It's over.

hell of a way to start a monday

Abby appeared at my side of the bed some time before 5am. (Funny how it's always Mommy's side they go to isn't it?) She said she needed to get into bed with me because her night light had burnt out. Since I was not getting up before my alarm went off to rummage around in the junk drawer looking for a new bulb, I let her climb in.

A few minutes later she sat up clutching her stomach and said those words no parent likes to hear... especially when they are supposed to be sleeping -- I think I'm going to be sick.

So she took off running for the bathroom and by the time I caught up with her she was sitting happily on the "throne". I'm okay, she chirped, I just had to poop.

Okay, let's go back to bed then, I suggested, hoping to catch another 30 minutes of zzzz's.

Could I just stay up and watch TV?

Sure, but I'm going to go back to bed, 'kay? -- Have I mentioned before what an awesome age 8 is? So I went back to bed and she watched some TV and coloured until we came back down a little while later. I quizzed her and she said she felt fine. Her stomach wasn't upset, she was ready to go to the sitter's. So out the door we go.

We are no more than a kilometre down the road when she shouts -- I'm going to be sick!

I can tell she means it (Mom's just know, don't we) and I yell at Mike to pull over now!

Nobody wants to be cleaning puke out of the back of the van... again. Abby's sitting on the side with the power sliding door, which is locked because Mike is just stopped on the side of the road, with the van in gear. So Abby is hitting her button to open the door, while holding a hand over her mouth. I'm hitting my button to open her door and we're both canceling out Mike who's trying to unlock the door so it will actually open. Somehow we managed to work together and get the door open and Abby upchucked in the ditch instead of the back of my seat.

Then it was turn around and head back home. Pukey clothes in the wash. Sick girl on the couch with pillow, blanket and puke bowl. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it didn't last long. She was back to herself by dinner time, thank God. And Maya, so far, seems to have missed it.

going to have to start checking the condiments

A little while a go Abby asked if I would make her a chore chart, so she could keep track of her "jobs". One of the jobs on her chart and Maya's too is, set and clear the table. And they've been doing it, which is awesome or so we thought.

Saturday afternoon Mike was in the kitchen making himself something for lunch. One of his weight watcher's go to lunches is grilled chicken and veggies with a drizzle of buffalo wing sauce on a high fibre wrap. And that's what he had made himself. I was upstairs gathering together the laundry when I heard him calling me from downstairs, requesting very insistently that I come down.

You need to come here! Now! I'm serious! Now!

I get to the doorway of the kitchen and Mike appears to be splattered with blood. There's a huge glob of something red beginning at his temple and streaking back into his hair. There are splatters across his shirt, hands and arms. His eyes are closed.

You have to help me!

I look around and my kitchen looks like a crime scene. Red splatters are everywhere, the floor, garbage can, fridge and stove. I'm going to need Dexter to solve this crime. It was a little bit of a shock to walk into a room looking like that, luckily it wasn't actually blood, but rather buffalo wing sauce dangerously close to his eye. His skin was already starting to burn, especially the skin around his eye and temple. Not surprisingly, he was afraid to open his eyes, so I helped he get into the shower to wash off. He did manage to avoid getting any into his eyes, but he said his skin still burned for quite some time after his shower.

So how in the world did he do that? Well when he grabbed the bottle out of the fridge, for some reason he thought he should give it a shake and the lid wasn't screwed on. He's the only one who uses it, so he really had no one to blame but himself......

until

later that day I grabbed the jar of mayo out of the fridge and sent it sailing across the kitchen. The lid was still in my hand, but the bottle was several feet ahead of me, on the floor with it's contents oozing out onto the tile.

Well, what the hell?!

Turns out our little table clearing crew has only be *placing* the lids every so gently on top of bottles and jars we use with dinner, instead of, you know, actually screwing them on. Yet another thing to keep us on our toes.

it's zero fun

Hey guys, remember how I kept whining about how much I would like to have another baby. And how disappointed I was that we weren't going to be able to?

I take it all back.

'Cause Dudes I never want to toilet train another kid as long as I live.

So not fun.

if only there'd been a bit less barf it would have been perfect

Between Mike and I we have three moms. All awesome. And I was planning on writing a post about how awesome they all are, but then Little Miss Abby asked if she could have the floor instead. How could I say no to that?

I mad mom a krawn for math day

And there you have it, short, but sweet. The poor little lamb has been sick all weekend. She started Friday evening with some wicked stomach cramps and has been sick to her stomach on and off ever since. We'll get a few hours where she seems to be on the mend and then she'll be on the floor complaining her stomach hurts again.

This morning she did manage to muster up enough energy to retrieve my Mother's Day present from it's hiding spot. She had made me a crown at school and I am to be Queen for the day. I'd like to think that a Queen doesn't usually spend the day rubbing backs, washing blankets and cleaning up barf, but what do I know. I guess, all in all, it wasn't a bad Mother's Day spent cuddling my kids on the couch.

I have to say, though, the thing that put the biggest smile on my face this Mother's day was this link from my pal Jenni. Finally the recognition I deserve. wink

everyone out of the pool

After a day of broken china, temper tantrums, screeching and the occasional elbow to the face, what is the last thing you'd like to hear come out of your little one's mouth during her bath?

Momma, I got poopie bum!

For the record, Abby was not impressed either.

wish me luck

It's getting down to the wire and we're in full out Martha Stewart mode around here and just crafting and baking our butts off. The deadline for our chosen entries to the Fair is on Wednesday. I'm entering 8 items, Mike - 4 and Abby, well, she seems to up to about a gazillion, give or take. Add that in with work and Michael's committee obligations and the Meet the Teacher barbecue and saying good bye to Auntie Yoli (sob) and volunteer night and riding lessons and the actual fair itself and there isn't a moment to spare.

But since I'm waiting for my potentially award winning chocolate cake to finish baking I thought I'd give you some love. Not linky love, sorry. I've barely had time to cruise by your blogs and I feel horrible about it. Karen and Suze I have partial emails written to both of you and Leah I think I had one from you I meant to reply to. I'm thinking by Friday I should be able to catch up with you all. Since traditionally that is the night that Michael hits the fair by himself and I chill at home with the girls. I just have to make it there first!

glad someone has noticed

For the last couple of days Mike has been plagued with a rather unfortunate medical issue that I'm not going to go into right now, but there are those out there that know of what I speak. Anyway I ended up at home early yesterday to take care of the girls and Michael as well. After what felt like a very long afternoon it was finally bedtime. Well somehow it ended up being way past bedtime, but I digress. So I get Maya settled in bed, then head down the hall to deal with Abby. As she's getting into bed she accidentally knocks her glass of water off the night stand.

At that point it was really something I could have done without, but what are you going to do? I let a sigh escape as I grabbed something to wipe it up. Abby is sitting on her bed watching me on my hands and knees drying up the spilled water when she says.....

Abby: Mom, you look like Cinderella.
Me: I do?
Abby: Yeah, you do everything around here, just like Cinderella.
Me: You think so?
Abby: Yep, you just to everything and then you go to bed. That's what Cinderella does.