sunday randoms

Hey guys! Does this thing still work. More importantly, I guess, does anyone care anymore? Don't get me wrong, this isn't a poor me statement. I don't want you out there saying, look at this asshole, she took a million year break and now she's whinging that no one is reading. Nah, I just mean the bottom really fell out of blogging. Didn't it? Oh, it's just me? Weird.

I guess I could write a few paragraphs about where I have been and why I took the break, but really.... see paragraph one. Nobody cares. Totally not trying to garner up any sympathy, it just truly doesn't much matter. I did it, it's over. I'm back. Maybe. Who knows how long before I get distracted again.

Too be honest I have been super busy getting insta story famous. It's totally happening too. I am pretty popular with the 12-15 age group. That live in my house. It actually started out as a joke with a child person who lives here with me, but I am actually having a lot of fun with them and my partner in crime has been (surprisingly) willing to take part in these stories, so there's that.

Guys, I have totally become addicted to many many new things in the million years since we last spoke. Things like Sweetlegs. I was going to blame Auntie KK for that, but dudes I ain't even sorry about it. They are a dream. And like my dear friend ML says, those are happy pants and really, who doesn't want to put on happy pants?

Also bullet journaling. Oh yeah. Big time. Total game changer. In fact the only reason I am writing this right now is because I put it in my bullet journal.

Also pretty busy watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffe, The Crown, Bob's Burgers and Stranger Things. I am so behind on all of them. Unlimited Internet is a thing that needs to happen here.

One last also, read a couple of enjoyable books by Jojo Moyes, no not those ones (Me Before You or the other way around, whatever it is), but The Last Letter From Your Lover and The Girl You Left Behind. Can recommend.

What have you cats been up to?

sunday randoms

So kind of a big week/weekend around here.

My very best texting friend/future compound wife married her guy this week. Super duper happy and excited for them both and only a titch jelly that they already went to a Jays game. But yeah, over the moon happy for those two. They deserve every happiness in the world. Congratulations again guys xo

We tackled and finally completed a little home improvement project that has been on the books for many year and with minimal swearing, so yay us! The girls now have satellite TV in their Lady Cave and this Mama doesn't need to listen to her two children and one man child fight about what we are watching on TV. The fact that this project got wrapped up just before the Jays opening game of the season are completely related. Go Jays go!!

In amongst all of that it is still spaghetti dinner around here all the time. I think this year is going to be a record breaker. I am so excited only 6 more days!!

This Billion Dollar wreck show has me completely hooked. Anybody else watching it?

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

Happy Easter y'all. Hope you had a great long weekend. Ours was on the quiet side, with only one big dinner at Granny's. The rest of the weekend was spent on spaghetti dinner errands and talking about spaghetti dinner and putting out spaghetti dinner fires and posting on the internet about spaghetti dinner oh and spaghetti dinner, spaghetti dinner, spaghetti dinner.

Yep, we are in the home stretch now. Two more weeks and it will all be a distant memory.

There are a lot things about this year's planning that make it feel like it's the first one all over again. Which is equal part exciting and nerve wracking.

Still made time this weekend to binge watch some Schitt's Creek, watch a movie with the oldest, cracked the spine on a new book, started re-routed some co-axial cable and of course the pinata party on Plants vs Zombies 2.

Ugh Mike went to bed and left some Nostradamas documentary on.

Oh he also got me hooked on that show, Billion Dollar Wreck. Will they find that gold or won't they?

How was your weekend? 

sunday randoms

I am working on a project that is totally out of my wheelhouse. So one minute I think it's going great and the next, I'm all like what in the hell am I actually doing? I should just commit to the most obvious path to the finish line and make life easier on myself. Ugh. Wish me luck.... or offer to come and do it for me. Either is good.

This weekend has been one of me getting less done than I expected to. See paragraph one, many hours wasted walking around in figurative circles.

Maya had me playing Super Mario Bros with her this weekend. She actually calls if Bros. instead of Brothers, so that is super cute, but apparently I am an old lady who can't play video games anymore even though I devoted many hours to the completion of Yoshi's Island back in my younger days. Luckily for me once we move onto the compound TC has promised to be the "Video Game" mom while I shall be the "Cookie Baking" mom. Come on powerball!

The powerball! How crazy is that? How do you even comprehend that kind of money? Maya nd I were checking out floor plans for the Dream House we will build when we win even though we are Canadian and don't even have a ticket. We did have a ticket for the LottoMax though, didn't win, so the compound dream continues to be on hold. Which isn't helping TC or I, at all.

Tapping this out early because.... Golden Globes! Ricky Gervais! Oh my gosh I can't even wait! I need to be free and clear of impossible projects, laundry, lunches and showers so I can glue my butt to the couch at 7pm. Like I am going to miss the red carpet. Ha!

The halls have finally been undecked here. It's never as much fun putting it away as it is putting it up.

We watched Inside Out twice and we may or may not have done the ugly cry both times we watched it.

I also managed to deal with my deactivated bank card and get NetFlix back up and running, so I adulted the crap out of Friday anyway.

How was your weekend?

suday randoms

Well that is it.... Christmas 2015 is a wrap. Back to work and school tomorrow. As in years past I took this week off to be with the kids. We had a great week, perhaps a tad busier than our usual week of sloth, but we still managed to squeeze in plenty of jammie days and more than our fair share of Big Bang Theory episodes.

We spent a few days north, where I claimed my crown as best Auntie ever.... like there was ever any doubt! We drank some wine, played some cards and enjoyed good food.

Mike and I binged watch Making a Murderer like it was our job. Our apologies to The Mindy Project, we'll be back soon promise. It's just everyone is talking about Steven Avery. Having seen the entire thing, I can only say wow. Just wow. Just an awful horrible story on so many levels.



We sent a day shooting pictures at an open house at a dairy farm. We froze our toes off, but we had a blast shooting with honest to goodness DSLR cameras. I had forgotten how much fun it was to use a real camera. Don't get me wrong I love the camera on my phone, but it isn't quite the same.



Maya even joined in singing Christmas carols at the open house, which likely had more to do with the propane heater they had than any real desire to entertain the masses, but whatever.

We were all wonderfully spoiled, but the greatest gift was a week and a half of laziness and time with family.

So looking forward to more wonderful in 2016!

sunday randoms

This weekend was a mash up of necessary and fun errands. Things like grocery shopping (necessary) and furniture shopping (also necessary) and taking a girl to get her ears pierced (fun! (for some of us)).

There was a coffee date that turned into a lunch date. Aren't those the best kind of dates? The ones you don't want to end because you have so much to talk and laugh about?

There was time for board games. Time for an unexpected play date. Time to catch up with Vinnie Chase and his Entourage. 

There was time for a drink. Time to wrap up a volunteer project. Time to take care of those pesky leaves with many thanks to a super great neighbour.

There was time to kinda of sorta make it through Donald Trump on SNL. Time for multiple The Mindy Project episodes (guys! I can't even stop watching it!!)

Time to pick up birthday presents and to buy soap that smells so good I want to eat it.

There was even time to blog.

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms on a monday

I am unabashedly in love with Taylor Swift. I hope we can still be friends.

Also play far more Plants vs Zombies 2 then I probably should!

Netflix in bed is like the best thing ever, how come y'all never told me?

This weekend kind of slipped through my fingers like sand. I feel like I got zero accomplished, to which Mike says p'shaw!

After an epically long break I started running again, with the Abster. As a beginner she has a love/hate relationship going with it. 

September... it arrives tomorrow. What?

Given this is the last day on August we are on the eve of what is... hands down.... my busiest month in the year. Wish me good luck y'all.

That being said I am looking forward to hoodies and tea and early evenings.

How are y'all doing.

random bits

Mike and I finally wrapped up the final season of Sons of Anarchy. Yep, we are late to every cool party. No spoilers, but I was satisfied with the way the series closed out. I miss Nero and his old man cardigans already!

Big news our internet package improved greatly a few weeks ago, so I set us up with Netflix. We can't go crazy with it, but it's super great to be able to catch up on all the cool shows everyone else is watching like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Once Upon a Time, The Unstoppable Kimmy Schmidt and Suits!

Derek is where we landed first. Mike and I are both huge Ricky Gervais fans, so it was kind of a no brainer. Derek is unlike anything else I have ever seen him do. It is incredibly sweet and each episode has been near tears. 

Is it just me or does this summer seem like it's just racing along?

Abby has braces. Maya is on the verge of finally losing a tooth. It's been a big summer so far.

sunday randoms

This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind. I spent it with ML at a volunteer conference. So it was full of meetings, seminars, discussions and team building exercises. Yeah, I did all that and it was fine. I lived to tell you all about it. Here's the thing Shanny a few years ago wouldn't have made that trip for all the gold in the world. Shanny a few years ago would have shriveled up and died at the thought of sitting at a table and having a discussion with people she'd only met 30 seconds prior. Overall it was very good. I learned a lot, heard a lot of good ideas and met some interesting people. I learned I have two dominant leadership styles, participating and coaching, but I can access the other two (delegating and directing) if the situation requires it. That was pretty interesting. I wonder if the people I've "lead" would agree with that assessment?

We also had the chance to watch a TED Talk on Positive Youth Development that was completely fascinating, not just as a leader of young people, but as a parent. It was all about finding a youth's spark and using it to help them thrive. There's definitely a post rolling around in my head about that one. Honestly, I can't stop thinking about it.

To circle the wagons back around to my original point..... Saturday was a full day of talks and meetings, beginning at breakfast and going until dinner time, then we attended a banquet (the food was incredible all weekend!) and by nine o'clock I was done. I may be light years ahead of where I was in terms of how I am able to manage myself socially, but I ended my day completely exhausted. That was a incredible test for the new Shanny and she pretty much rocked it, but jammies, one of my besties and a Jason Batemen movie back in the room as exactly what the doctor ordered.

And to make this weekend completely perfect I got to hug a friend that could really use one and I found exactly what I needed for our spaghetti dinner in the quantity that I needed.

Oh and I stopped panicking about spaghetti dinner coming together. I know we'll rock it just like we rocked the three prior to this one. I always just want this to be the best event I can make it because I don't want to let my Jersey Girls down after all the hard work they put into this and I certainly don't want to let down the people we honour with this fundraising. I am very excited to have the Jersey Girls be a Juravinski Cancer Centre registered team, so all of our fundraising will go straight to the JCC to help with the purchase of a new anesthesia machine. It's an incredible opportunity to be a smll part of such a great community project. If you're local and haven't bought your April 11th Spaghetti Dinner tickets..... you're not going to want to miss this, message me for details.

sunday randoms

I am feeling a little out of sorts this weekend. I had to pass on an opportunity that I really did not want to pass on. It left me feeling more than a little crummy. To complicate matters that yucky feeling I usually get around this stage of the planning game showed up this weekend. That "oh no this is going to be a disaster" feeling. Which is total crap of course and I know that, but you gotta be careful when you hit a low spot.

So I took the advice of my favourite mental health professional and set it all aside for the day and checked out Cinderella with the kiddos and Granny, we threw in a dollar store shopping spree, lunch and a lap around the mall for good measure. I had just sent out my "sorry I have to decline" email before I left, so my stomach was a bit of a rock and I panicked a bit about the state of our Jersey Girl finances, but some quick figuring with my calculator eased that worry.

Don't I just sound like a delight? It's all just a big work in progress you know and I managed it pretty well if I do say so myself. I lost myself in the movie, I thought it was well done. The kids enjoyed it as well and we're all dying to check out Inside Out when it hits theaters.

Laundry is the bane of my existence...... that is all.

I'm thinking a few more hours in the day would be beneficial. Or maybe just being able to go without sleep..... but I kind like to sleep, so......

I think I'll call quits on today and start tomorrow refreshed (after I had my coffee!)

hey there

I need to find some time to blog. Yes, things are busy and crazily spinning almost out of my control at times it seems, but it's that good kind of crazy busy, ya know. So typically I would blog late at night after everyone was tucked into bed for the evening because keeping myself exhausted was my anxiety coping method of choice. Now I'm tired and when I'm tired I go to bed and shockingly enough, fall asleep as soon as I get there. The days of this chick being up for hours after Mike and the kids have gone to bed are long since over. Now a lot of the time I am in bed before Michael.... which is a whole post of it's own, let me tell you. In this new configuration, we are not what you would call compatible sleeping partners.

So time to write, it's hard to come by. Well it's not. I typically answer emails and get myself caught up to date with all the facebook happenings when I get home from work. I could blog then, but I'm also not used to blogging with interruptions (Mom, can I borrow your hoodie? Mom can you make me a waffle? Mom can you make sure syrup goes in all those little holes? Mom can you sign my test? and so on and so on). I guess I'm just going to have to push through it, teach one how to forge my signature, teach the other one how to toast her own after school waffles and then I'll be set. Right?

sunday randoms on a monday

Well it happened, I'm off pace for my 3.65 million step goal by the end of the year. Right now I'm at 458, 148 steps and I should be more than 470,000 by now. So the wheels fell off for a couple of different reasons. One being it was beyond frigid this weekend. Dave and I headed out to walk to the dog on Saturday and dang near froze our faces off. Oh and Dave, Mel and The World's Cutest Nephew were here. So I spent my time building towers out of blocks, playing cards, drinking wine/rye and just soaking up all their company.

Had the most amazing late Valentine's dinner double date with Dave and Mel. Best steak I've probably ever eaten in my life. The company of course was top drawer..... I can't thank them enough for suggesting such a lovely evening.

We played some Cards Against Humanity after the kiddos were all asleep and it is a ridiculously funny game, oh yes it is, but let me tell you something about my brother. When he finds something funny, well and truly funny, he laughs in a way that takes over his entire body. He can barely breathe and hardly speak and you cannot help, but join in even if you don't know what he's laughing about. I think I might love that about him most of all. There was a lot of opportunity for that Saturday night.

Maya racked up a new nickname this weekend, she's now Choo Choo Maya. Somebody brought his trains to Auntie's this weekend and Maya was the perfect playmate.

The SNL 40th anniversary show was killer, did you watch it?

There was so much more awesome in this weekend, I can't even put it in words. How was yours?

sunday randoms

391,928 steps so far this year means I am still ahead of schedule. Yay me!

This past week had The Abster at sewing club (shes making a pillow),wood working club (she made a bird house) and art class (she painted a picture). I think she's got her creative outlets covered.

You'd think a movie starring Amy Poehler, Zach Galifinakis and Owen Wilson would be hysterical, turns out not so much.

In other news this last season of Parks and Rec is killing it already, only two episodes in.

Abby, Maya, and I are still working our way through Gilmore Girls, I kind of love Luke, kind of think Jess is a douche.

Today I deposited two more cheques via my smart phone and I paid for Abby's dance and civvies day on the internet. Welcome to the future.

We are out of Chicago Mix and no plans to hit up Costco until the weekend. Hashtag sad state of affairs.

I am officially addicted to Trivia Crack, not surprising given the name.

Just finished reading a great book, Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.... now I say this while in the back of my mind I'm thinking Allison is reading this and her reading list is way more impressive than mine which is mostly fluff and chick lit with the odd biography thrown in... so in other words the anxiety is on the rise, but I really loved reading this so much I feel I have to tell the five readers I have out there that might actually be looking for a book to read. So there you go. It was great. I have never read her stuff before, but I am a sucker for an interesting cover on the display shelves at the library. Which is also how I ended up with Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, also loving. I am also a sucker for British writers. I actually just love the Brits, their shows are top drawer... I'm looking at you Downton Abbey and they have Ricky Gervais.  So enough said.

Also life was just really really good.

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

323,897 steps! Still on track for my 3.65 million. Started a new fitness challenge this month, it's all Russian twists, side planks and bicycle crunches. Yes, I had to google how to do those. Looking forward to feeling the change in my body by the month's end. In January I went from crying doing 20 squats to being able to do 180, with relative ease. I kind of surprised myself that I stuck with the challenge for the entire month. On my way to building a habit!

Y'all my phone is possessed! There is this weather app that came pre-loaded on my phone that I can't delete and it has taken over my phone. Hit the home button and the weather app opens up, so now I have to use the back key to get out of all my apps. It is so annoying. It's also battery draining. Oh and the speaker, it's now on as a default whenever I attempt to make a call or I answer a call. If you know me at all then you know I am not a fan of the speaker phone. I've had this one for two years, totally time for an upgrade right?

This weekend was just crammed full of friends, food and laughter. The very best kind of weekend in my books!

Masterchef has made me cry twice already.

The weather outside is certainly frightful! The wind and the snow are crazy. My back door is slowly drifting in. I had one kid go to bed praying for a snow day, the other praying for no snow day. I'll let you guess which is which.

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

252,637 steps toward my ultimate goal of 3.65 million steps this year. That still puts me a tiny bit ahead of schedule. I'm not going to lie, this week was a tough one. I had to add some extra steps.... a lot of extra steps.... on some days to keep on pace. There were meetings and obligations that ate up my afternoons, but I was pleased even still I was able to get myself back on track.

I've been keeping up with the squats. I'm up to 125, but I've pretty much abandoned the push ups for now. My shoulder is feeling great, but I'm really not looking to push my luck.

We did science experiments with our Cloverbud kiddos today. It was fun and crazy and chaotic. Those two hours really flew by.

Anybody else thinking Downton Abbey is pretty great this season?

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

182,696 steps so far this year means I am still on pace to make my 3.65 million steps by the year's end.

I never take my cellphone to my bedroom, but I did last night. I remembered to turn off the ringer, but forgot to turn it screen side down, which was a good thing, because otherwise my brother's text abut Top Gun wouldn't have woken me up at 1:30am. Best brother ever. No sarcasm. True story.

My shoulder feels different/better under all that tape. I'm grateful, but still taking it easy.

This weekend was kind of on the quiet side, which was nice because the ones coming up are jam packed already.

I slept in on Saturday and Sunday. I needed to catch up after the lousy pre-shoulder taping night. Auntie KK would be so proud of me.

Who's loving season 5 of Downton so far?

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

Well so far I am 112,432 steps towards my goal of walking 3.65 million steps this year. Some quick and dirty math says that puts me a little ahead of schedule. I've also jumped into a month long squat/push up challenge that Maya has joined in on. It is equal parts adorable and demoralizing to work out with her.

Just wrapped season two of Hell on Wheels this weekend. I had never heard of this show before, but checked it out on my friend TQ's recommendation and boy are we glad we did. This chick is a card carrying member of the Cullen Bohannan fan club. Can't wait to see season three.

Shopped some deals this weekend and picked up some new Christmas lights, Christmas cards and a couple of end tables for the toy room. Full retail for the lot $110 and I got it for $40!! I love love love a deal.

I used my phone to deposit a cheque this weekend. How crazy is that?

Best words I heard this weekend, don't worry Mom I figured my math homework out myself. Phew. Grade seven math is tough, yo!

Cannot wait to give Maya her birthday presents. She's going to love them!

I slept in until 8am, two days in a row. What the heck?

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

So this was a productive weekend. I cleaned up and decluttered three trouble spots in the house. I made a shit ton of skor bars or toffee bark or whatever you want to call it. I got the laundry as caught up as any family of four can get it caught up.

Next on the list was to get Abby squared away for the end of the week when she's having 6 teeth extracted as we move towards getting her braces. Thank goodness for Grandmas willing to step in and play nursemaid. This appointment was kind of last minute-ish and I'm already committed to something that I can't in good conscience walk away from. I mean I could, they'd manage, but I'd feel lousy about it. Luckily Grandma Linda and Abby are both happy with the arrangement.

Oh and did I mention I also managed to get all of my wrapping done as well. Yep, Christmas can come tomorrow I'm good to go!

Robin introduced me to Mang-o-ritas. So good.

I am ridiculously excited about the gifts I've bought for people. Can't wait to give them!

This weekend was full of laughs... but that's a post all on it's own.... time with friends is the best thing for the soul! 

The kids have been watching the Home Alone movies like it's their job.

Abby and I dived into season one of Gilmore Girls. Why haven't I watched this before now?

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

Snagged Ferris Bueller's Day Off from the library and watched it with the kids and Mike this weekend, all of whom were seeing it for the first time. The kids loved it, Mike declared it a steaming pile of poo..... you know sometimes it's like he wasn't even born in the 70's.

Middle school has brought many interesting conversations to our dinner table. I'm still working out how to share some of them with you.

Dudes, my Christmas shopping is finished. Please don't hate me. It all has to do with early shopping and having real handle on the idea of having a simpler Christmas. We just decluttered a bunch of stuff out of this house, the very last thing we need is more stuff. I've tried to be mindful of that. Plus I really like the one thing they want, one thing they need, one to wear, one thing to read. Shopping was based on a loose interpretation of that.

We don't have a tree skirt so I wrapped a Christmasy fleece blanket around the tree stand. It feels very Linus-esque. I kind of love it.

Our second year with our fake tree and I cannot over state how much less stress it is on me. My anxiety levels thank me for making the switch. Should have listened to Mike years ago.... only nobody tell him I said that... he never reads my blog, so if y'all keep my secret he'll never know.

Maya almost caught me out tonight. Our Christmas Elf, Elwood, always leaves the yearly photo album for us on Christmas Eve and this weekend Maya has been flipping through the past four years of books.
Maya: Hey, Mom, who makes these books?
Me: I guess Elwood does. Why?
Maya: Well this one says *I* ran my first 5k race. You know, like you wrote it, not Elwood.
Me: I think Elwood was just trying to make it sound like I wrote it.

Oooops. She's too smart that one.

How was your weekend?

sunday randoms

Somebody please tell me why I waited so long to start watching Suits?! It is sooo good.

Abby has recently become fascinated with the Duggar Family. In related news there is a lot of "side hugs" in our house these days.

Project Simple Christmas is well under way. The very few Christmas presents I plan on buying have been bought, more or less.

Mmmm Caramel Brulee lattes are back at Starbys. My life is complete.

I took full advantage of a somewhat quiet weekend to spend as much time as possible in my jammies with my tea watching Suits with Abby or Breaking Bad with Michael.

Keep your fingers crossed that our appointment for a new internet provider works out to our advantage. Our family has recently increased by two devices and our very low bandwidth cap is not going to cut it.

How was your weekend?