Day 28 - 3 Wishes

I wish my son had less problems

I wish I could get motivated to eat better and exercise

I wish I could travel again

Now I'm all done with the 28 days of ME - hope I didn't bore you too much.  I wonder what I'll ever think about to write in here now that I don't have a prompt every morning...hmm.

Day 27 - Something that stresses you out

Thinking about the job I used to do at my prior employer - I was way too stressed out and all I have to do is think about it for a minute...and I end up with a nightmare about the place that night.

Day 26 - Pets

Its all about CATS!!!

These are the cats we had at my parent's place:

1st cat was Hobo - a black, part Persian male cat - lovely fellow.  Purred a ton, kept all the other animals out of the yard, put up with being carried around by a couple of kids.

2nd cat was Dusty - a grey, part Burmese, part Chinchilla male cat.  This one was temperamental and didn't purr or want to be patted or held - very not like Hobo...which meant that we quickly got another cat

3rd cat was Brandy - a big orange tabby, part Persian male cat - lovely fellow.  He purred a ton, loved to have his stomach rubbed (and would drool with delight).  He would  wait until Dusty was done his food and then eat whatever was left over, so he got really large!  He put up with Dusty being mean to him, but every once in awhile, he'd stand up for himself and send Dusty running for cover.  He loved me best, and would follow me around wanting tummy rubs - the most friendly cat of all!

Now I don't have a cat and I really miss it.  GJA doesn't like cats, so I don't think we'll ever have one, but I think that PJ would really love one around.

Mom's current cat is Meko - a blue, mitted ragdoll male cat - softest fur ever!  This cat will purr, but he's so shy that you rarely see him.  He only comes out when my parents are on vacation and I'm cat-sitting - he gets lonely and comes out for people time.  He's a beautiful cat, I just wish he'd come out to play more.

Granny would have been 101 today

My Grandmother - Marjorie Mitchell - was born today back in 1910 in Melville SK and would have been 101 today.


She loved birds and as shown in this picture, they often would let her feed them right from her hand. If she was late to feed them, they'd be standing on her step chirping away, trying to get her attention.

We took PJ out to meet Granny in August 2006 when he was only 5 months old. Granny had 6 great grandchildren - PJ is the youngest. He is also the only great grandchild that she saw at this young of an age and she was thrilled to see him.

Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw Granny. I had a feeling it would be and it was very difficult to drive away that day. I ran back in just before we left for another hug, kiss and I love you.

I miss her very much - each and every February. I especially miss her this month when I need some happy chats after PJ's diagnosis just over a week ago.

She passed away, just before Mother's Day, in 2007....she was 97.

Day 25 - Picture of your family

This is my family of my father's side...my parents, my aunt and uncle, brother, Granny, GJA and me

This is our little family at Christmas 2010

This is my parents, brother, PJ, GJA and me in 2007

This is my family of my mother's side....too many to name.

Day 24 - Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

HA HA - nothing - it needs to be recharged!

OK, I've recharged it:

Express Yourself - Madonna
Need You Tonight - INXS
Private Eyes - Hall & Oates
The Look - Roxette
Rhythm of My Heart - Rod Stewart
Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics
My Sharona - the Knack
End of the Line - Traveling Wilburys
Let's Go Crazy - Prince
It's Still Rock & Roll to Me - Billy Joel

Day 23 - Something you've learned

Living with someone with OCD is difficult - living with 2 of them is enough to drive you insane. (also see:  Keeping Afloat). Not only are you doing the same stuff over and over constantly, you never get to have your own routine or do your own thing.

Day 22 - Favorite vacation

GEE...I can't pick just 1 - so, in no particular order:

Australia - because of location and all the amazing things we saw

Puerto Vallarta - because of the hilarious things/situations we were in/did

Mexico cruise and Disneyland - because of the the fun we had on the ship AND being kids again at Disneyland

Day 21 - What's in your makeup bag

OK, so, the only reason I know this is because I was in there the 1st week of February for the CA Graduation Ball.

Contents:

eyeshadow - purples and greys

eyeliner - navy

foundation - ivory

concealer - ivory

translucent powder

I only pull it out once a year to go to this function...and ONLY if we are able to attend it.

Day 20 - Picture of yourself

Here I am with my mother

GJA & I at the Chartered Accountant's Ball

Day 19 - Nicknames

When I was in K-6, everyone called me DEE DEE (and, people that knew me during that time period, still call me that).

When I was articling, someone mispronouced my name and called me  DIETER - so I responded...you mean, like Dieter Brock? (who was a quarterback in the CFL)  then, my nickname became BROCK ... and sometimes BROCCOLI.

Now, I get called DEE

Day 18 - Something you miss

I miss my Grandmother - and I especially notice this loss in December (she was a HUGE part of our Christmases when we were kids), February (because she was born in February) and May (she passed away in May).

I also miss my cousin Brian - especially in April (the month he passed away) and on Canada Day (his birthday).

I miss felines - we grew up with cats and I really miss all 3 of those cats and the fact that I don't have a cat in my life.

Day 17 - Something you regret

I regret not having children earlier - granted, I didn't get married until I was 37, but  we should have started having kids earlier so that we could have had another one, so PJ wouldn't be an only child with old parents.  Its a constant worry about how young PJ will be when we are both gone - I lose alot of sleep over it.

I wish my brother would hurry up and have kids so that he'd at least have some cousins.

Day 16 - Something you're looking forward to

I'm looking forward to going out for dinner with some great friends tonight.

I'm also looking forward to scrapbooking dates with friends during the year...whenever they may occur.

I'm also looking forward to going to some Circut Circle events - just not sure what year they will occur!

Its been 6 years

Six years ago today I had my 1st miscarriage.

A day or so before Valentines Day, I always seem to get angry and sad and it isn't until Valentines Day arrives that I remember why - Valentines Day was the beginning of the miscarriage.  You wonder if you did something wrong, or if you realized something wasn't right that you had gone to the hospital to see if they could do something - but, I just thought I had over done it and had had too much stress at work during the day and a rest would fix everything - boy I was wrong.

You'd think one would be over something like this after 6 years, but obviously not because I'm angry and sad and lethargic and and and - yet again this year.

I guess the one good thing is that the depression isn't going to last as long as it did 6 years ago.

I'll hold on to that.

Day 15 - Dream house

My dream house would be huge with a walk-out basement and there would be a large room for my scrapbooking and a theatre room.  Even though it would be huge, storage for hoarded crap would be off-site.

Of course, there would be a cleaning lady and it would be professionally decorated.

Day 14 - A picture you love

I have lots of photos I really love - but most aren't digital.

Here are 2 of my most favorite photos I took of my beautiful boy in 2006. 

 

This was our Christmas photo in 2006 - we still get comments about this photo & some people still have it on their fridge.

 

This is my favorite photo of me at our wedding - my brother took it.

 

This is a favorite of the 2 of us on our wedding day.

Eggshells

Please don't read this if you don't want to hear me bitch and complain.

___________________________________________________________________

PJ may be allergic to eggs BUT he sure has me walking on eggshells all the time.

He is pretty stuck in his routines which means that I'm stuck in them too.  I'm expected to follow the routines even if he changes them in his mind.  When the expectations are not met, I get a lovely tantruming child that doesn't have enough words to communicate to me what the problem is, so the tantrum continues.  Until I can figure out what part of the routine that's in his head that I missed, and then do it, the tantrum will never stop.

Tonight we had one of those, the problem with this one was that just as I had figured out what was missing and was in the middle of fixing it, GJA decided to do something that irritated PJ...which put a break into the routine I was trying to fix...and the tantrum started up again.  

Eventually I was able to calm the kid down by finishing whatever it was that he felt needed to be done (or re-done, several times, in my opinion).  I was spent and angry.  GJA knew that doing that one act was going to get PJ off again...but he did it anyway and acted like he didn't know it would cause a problem....and then had the gall to laugh about it.  I had to put myself in a time out before I lashed out at the 2 of them.  I wished I had a dog so that there would be a house for these 2 to be sent to.

How short is YOUR leash?  Mine feels really really short.

Juggling the rigid routines of these two boys takes all my energy.  Little wonder I feel tired, irritable, useless and isolated all the time.  

Day 13 - Goals

I'm not one for goals.

I had a goal to be come a chartered accountant and once working as one, the firms and companies that I worked for ruined goals.  They used goals as a means to keep from giving any salary increase because they would make sure the goals were so unattainable that no one would ever get salary increases - hence, lots of turnover and they couldn't figure out why.

Anyway, I guess I do have a goal - its to have PJ grow up to be a healthy, well adjusted, well educated, well loved man.

Day 12 - Favorite Sport

I have no athletic ability (or desire) at all.

I never liked swimming lessons, but I was pretty good at it (for a youngster)
I always enjoyed playing badminton for fun in the summer

I enjoy watching figure skating
I enjoy watching winter Olympic events

I enjoy watching hockey and we have season tickets to our local NHL team - so that would be my favorite sport.

Day 11 - Favorite TV shows

Oh My.....this could take awhile ;)

Currently running TV shows:

Bachelor

Bachelorette

Little Mosque on the Prairie

Dancing with the Stars

Being Erica

American Idol

Criminal Minds

Young and the Restless

Survivor

CSI

Grey's Anatomy

Private Practice

Hot in Cleveland

CSI-NY

Defenders

Say Yes to the Dress

What Not to Wear

Desperate Housewives

Amazing Race

Brothers and Sisters

Shows no longer on the air:

Boston Legal

Ally McBeal

Lois and Clarke

Seinfeld

Friends

Thirty Something

Murphy Brown
Little House on the Prairie

Valentine goodie bags

I made goodie bags for PJ's preschool class's Valentine's Day party and here they are:

They are pretty basic, but they're cute and the kids will be pleased with whats in them more than the label on the outside.  The scalloped heart is from Martha Stewart - Seasonal Cake Art

Cricut Imagine Swatches

I decided that I would print out a swatch of every color and patterned paper that came with each of the cricut Imagine cartridges that I own.  It was a big task because by the time the machine arrived from Utah, I had 8 cartridges.

This is not an original idea by me - there was someone on the cricut circle that did it first.  She did it and put the swatches on a ring - very cute.  I decided that I would put mine in a recipe box - and they all fit nicely NOW - but if I ever get more cartridges, there won't be enough room.  EEK!

I also printed out a label for each swatch - includes the cartridge it is on, and what "number" it is on the screen (so you know which one to choose on the machine).  I was going to put the RGB codes too, but it was too time consuming, so I may to it later, by hand.

Day 10 - Something you're afraid of

I have lots of things I'm afraid of:

1. SNAKES - OMG - throw gasoline on ALL of them  and set them on fire!
2. Being in a car, with my son, as it submerges in water and can't get us out and holding him as we drown
3. Being in a car by myself as it submerges in water and I can't get out
4. My son dying

What brand is this?

I need to know the brand of this ATG gun and which brand of tape fits in it.

Day 9 - A picture of your friends

Everyone needs good friends and I'm lucky to have several.

Here is a picture of my parents with Amy and Martha - that I've known since grade 1 - meeting at our house before our 25th high school reunion.  We lived just a few houses away and had great fun playing for years and years.

This is me with Sheila and Denise and they are also friends from way back in grade 1 - we reconnected with Sheila through facebook and she came, with her mother to visit after moving to California right after grade 1 was done - it was a really long time since we'd seen her.

This is Michelle, Colleen and I in Victoria.  I met Michelle in grade 7 when she moved from England and Colleen at University.

Here I am with Miriam, Colleen, Jocelynne dancing in Mexico.  I met Miriam at NAIT, Colleen at University and Jocelynne through Miriam.

Deborah and I are at one of our many shopping trips to Portland.  I met Deborah when she temporarily moved here from Perth, Australia and worked at Price Waterhouse with me.

These 2 are my Mom friends - all our kids were born within a month of each other and we try to get together a few times each year.  Who knew you could make new friends when your in your 40's?!

I'm sitting here, after the Edmonton Oilers won their 2nd Stanley cup, waiting for them to arrive for the big victory parade - I'm sitting with Miriam, Heather and Karen (I met Heather and Karen in high school).

Day 8 - A place you've traveled to

How do I ever choose?  OK, so I'll just do a list of where I've been

Australia (Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Canberra)

Cook Islands

Bali

Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto)

Greece

England (well, only London)

Mexico

Several places on 2 separate bus tours of Europe (Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and Italy)

Several places in US (Phoenix, Anaheim, Honolulu, Portland, Seattle, Boston, Yellowstone National Park - plus surrounding states)

Several places in Canada (Toronto, Niagara Falls, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, Jasper, Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon etc)

Day 7 - Favorite movies

My #1 favourite movie is The Sound of Music!  I went to it for the 1st time when I was in grade 4 and it was a field trip (and its the 1st field trip that I actually remember being on).  We got to take our lunch and during the intermission in the movie, I ate my very 1st not-at-home lunch - I thought it was very cool.  I watched this movie every time it came on TV until I owned the video (and now the DVD).  I had the LP (and now the CD) and sang my lungs out to it - love it!  I also really enjoyed the Sing-A-Long version that came through town about 3 times already - oh so much fun!  A couple of summers ago, we went to Toronto and saw a live performance of it - very good as well!

Other movies that I like are (and in no particular order):

Grease
Dirty Dancing
When Harry Met Sally
White Christmas
Meet me in St Louis
Holiday Inn
Mamma Mia
Easter Parade
Wizard of Oz

Day 6 - A picture of something that makes you happy

My son makes me very happy - his smiling face and curly hair.  Nothing makes me happier than this little guy - who knew!?!

This is a photo I took of our little family and it makes me really happy!  PJ decided to pull on my hair (as is normal, I seem to be the wrestling/punching bag for that kiddo) and instead of helping me out (so I don't lose a chunk of hair) GJA is laughing (as is normal....I think I have 2 youngsters in my house...a 4+ year old and a 40+ year old).  Anyway, my family makes me happy and this photo shows the fun we have together.

Day 5 - Your favorite recipes

OK, I'm late with this...spent time at the medi-centre to get some medications for PJ's ear infection, then we had to pick up GJA's mom to babysit so we could go to the CA Graduation Ball.

I'm not much of a cook, but some that I like are:

Candy Cane Bark

1 bag of Wilton melting mint, dark chocolate  (from Michael's)
1 bag of Wilton melting white chocolate  (from Michael's)
Food coloring for white chocolate (if desired)
candy cane pieces (if desired)

Melt mint dark chocolate in microwave... spread on wax paper on cookie sheet. Put in fridge and let harden (you CAN skip this and swirl the white and dark chocolate). Melt white chocolate in microwave, mix in flavoring (if you want more minty flavour)... spread over dark mint chocolate. Sprinkle with candy cane pieces (if desired). Refrigerate until hard. Break into pieces - may need to thaw a bit if is too thick.

Diamonds

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup flour
6 milk chocolate bars (1 oz each)
2/3 cup sliced almonds

Cream butter, sugar and egg yolk. Add flour. Spread dough on a greased pan (15x10x1). Bake @ 350F for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and lay chocolate bars on top. Spread chocolate when it has melted. Sprinkle with nuts. While warm, cut into 75 bars (or diamonds).

6 can Chicken tortilla soup

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained (I use 1.5 can of frozen - using soup can to measure)

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can chunk chicken (I use 3 chick breasts cut into cubes)

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained

1 (19 oz) can diced tomatoes, chili style (or other)

1 tsp chili powder

If using chick breasts - cut into cubes, cook.  Open cans of corn, broth, black beans & tomatoes then put into large saucepan with chili powder.  Simmer over medium heat until everything is heated through.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Serves 6

20 Minute Chicken Chili

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp dried oregano

28 oz can of diced tomatoes (chili style or other flavor)

19 oz can of black beans, drained

1/2 cup corn kernels

Cut chicken into cubes and cook, then transfer to plate.  Add onion, green peppers, chili powder, oregano to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring often for about 5 min or until veggies are softened.  Add tomatoes and beans and increase heat and boil, stirring often for about 10 minutes.  Add corn and chicken & heat through.

Day 4 - Your parents

My parents are Dorothy (Stewart) and Del Mitchell.  They both were born and raised in Saskatchewan, my mother was on a family farm and my father in the city.  They met at a skating rink in Dad's home town (she moved there after high school) where they apparently played music for people to skate to (maybe like roller rinks, who knows).  Anyway, one song was decided to be a Sadie Hawkins (or ladies choice) and my mother asked my father to skate with her.

After they got married, they moved to Alberta and after living in 1 apartment for a few years, bought a house on the "outskirts" of the west-end of the city (I don't even think it was part of the city at that time) and are still in that house.

This is the 3 of us at a family reunion in Saskatchewan in 1996 - my brother wasn't able to get time off work to come along.

My mother was (is) a homemaker and an oil painter.  My father worked as a civil engineer until he retired in his mid 50's.  They have been ballroom dance instructors for as long as I can remember, but probably since the 1980's and run a ballroom dance club.

Here they are in 2007 and 2010 respectively.

 

Here is a link to photos from their last cruise:  Europe 2009

Day 3 - Your first love

Phew, after this one, I'm all caught up - I hope I remember to come back every day to update. ;)

My very 1st love is probably our cat, Hobo.  Santa brought him to our house Christmas eve when I was 6 & it made me believe in Santa longer because I "knew" that my father would never bring home a kitten (or cat) and since my mother couldn't drive, there was no other explanation of how the kitten got there than from Santa.

He was part Persian and black - but not 100% black, the under layer of his fur was light grey/white, but you couldn't tell that unless you looked.  He put up with me putting him in dolls clothing and dragging him around everywhere.  I teased him alot and he would run towards me and jump up, put all paws around my arm and start kicking - I was always covered in cat scratches, but it was because I taught him to do this running/jumping/kicking thing (and encouraged it).  He was the boss of the yard and wouldn't let any other cat in - you could hear his growls and meows from anywhere in the house - it was fun to watch the other cats run for cover!

Day 2 - Meaning behind your blog name

OK, so since I started my 28 days on Feb 3...I'm catching up:

Scrapperdee - is the combination of my love of scrapbooking and my 1st name (Dee is the shortened version of my name).

I started the blog to put random things down about being a SAHM (stay at home mom) but really, its more about whatever...hence the rambling part.

Day 1 - Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

This is me with my son at Christmas.  My name is Deidre and here are some interesting (well, probably not) facts about me:

1.  I have traveled a wee bit - includes Australia; Japan; Bali; Cook Islands; various places in the US and Canada as well as Europe three times .  I miss traveling.

2.  GJA (my husband) & I met in an accounting class (on creative writing) in Vancouver, BC.  I lived (and still do) in Alberta & he lived in Saskatchewan.

3. I have no athletic (or desire to have) ability whatsoever, but my brother has run in several triathlons, including the Iron-man (see here Dean's triathlons).

4. I love the taste of cinnamon and pickles, but not together. 

5.  I enjoy music.  I started playing the organ when I was 6 yrs old and taught organ lessons to new students when I was 14 yrs old.  I started playing clarinet when I was 13 yrs old.

6.  I started scrapbooking in 1998, just after we returned from a trip to Australia (posts about scrapbooking)

7.  My Grandmother lived to be 97 years old (see her here).

8. Dramas during our wedding preparation included - my gown arriving in the wrong color (white instead of ivory) and when I went to get a routine foil done on my hair (2 weeks before the wedding), the stylist turned my hair white (which then got changed to brassy yellow).  OH so not impressed.

9.  I like to put salsa on my grilled cheese sandwiches

10. When my son was born, I was 42 years old.

11.  I am very introverted and shy.  I rarely talk, even with long-time friends.

12.  I am crazy about Christmas - especially the lights and the Christmas specials on TV (Cartoon, movies ... all of it).

13.  I have 2 university degrees (Arts - Economics; Business - Accounting) and am a Chartered Accountant.

14.  I take a ton of photos, print them all, but rarely scrapbook them all.

15.  My drink of choice is Diet Coke - throw some rum in and I'm even a happier camper!

28 days of ME!

Ok, I saw this on another blog (go here) and thought, I also haven't been in here for awhile, so I'm going to post something every day.  She did 30 days (because she started in January) but since I'm in February, I'll do 28 days.

Here are the topics for the next 28 days.

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your favorite recipes
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite TV shows
Day 12-Favorite sport
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Dream house
Day 16-Something you're looking forward to
Day 17-Something you regret
Day 18-Something you miss
Day 19-Nicknames
Day 20-Picture of yourself
Day 21-What's in your makeup bag
Day 22-Favorite vacation
Day 23-Something you've learned
Day 24-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 25-Picture of your family
Day 26-Pets
Day 27-Something that stresses you out
Day 28-3 Wishes