Merry Christmas!

Well as much as I not really a Christmas person, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for you and your families.

I'll be back hopefully before New Years but if not I hope you all had a great 2011 and hope it gets even better in 2012!



I expect e-mails about any Strange Christmas antics the best one gets posted in the new year!

Bring on New Years 2012!

   Remember being a teenager and being able to drink anything in sight and hold your liquor without the repercussions of a hangover? I remember...ah the good old days. Now I can't drink a half a glass of wine without making sure I take 2 Advil and drink a giant glass of water before going to bed just to prevent the headache that would follow.

   I've heard that it's the sugar content or mixing your booze can cause it and if that's the case so much for the long Island Iced Tea's and Alabama Slammers ( Soooo Goood ).

   There are a few different hang over types that you can encounter. Why am I talking about the hangover today? Well one of my fave holidays is around the corner! New Years Eve! Out with the old, in with the new and all that jazz. So I looked around and found out what are the most common hangovers. I took special interest in #4 because that's the one I had after our work Christmas party last weekend.

The Delayed Hangover

This is one of the worst hangovers ever.  You drank your water the night before.  You wake up the next morning feeling right as rain.   You’re thinking this is gonna be a good day and you dodged a hangover.  Nope.  Wait until the afternoon.  It takes about 5-7 hrs but eventually it hits you like a freight train.

The Near Death Feeling Hangover

These are the ones where you literally feel like you might die.  You’re checking your pulse.  Your head hurts so bad that it simply doesn’t make sense.     

The Red Ass Hangover

This is the hangover that isn’t that horrible as far as its effects on your head and the way you feel.  But this is the hangover as a result of the wrong booze.  This is the one that makes your ass feel very painful and keeps you in the bathroom.   Probably one of the worst feelings ever.

The Still Drunk Hangover

You kind of like this hangover because you’re still drunk.  However, this is just a variation on the delayed hangover.   On this type of hangover you have kind of a double hangover because the real hangover is around the corner once you’re sober.

The Don’t Look Down Hangover

For some reason there are those hangovers where you really shouldn’t look down.  I call these dizzy hangovers.  They are the kind where if you move your head in the slightest direction you’ll get dizzy.  These are brutal.

  

I rank about 3 of the 5 here ( Delayed, Near Death and Still Drunk ) and personally never want to have issue #3...ever. I've had a Still Drunk that turned into a Delayed then over to a Near Death lasting about 2 days overall which is all still better in my mind than a #3.

Hmmm it's like a 3-way hangover!

Next we'll investigate weird hangover cures that should be fun.

You have got to be kidding me!

So I had another post I was working on full of laughter and drunken fun but that got put on the side due to finding out that the bus driver I have blogged about before is back on our route!!! That's insane! What else...we find out that he REQUESTED our route!! So I had to half rant.

WTF! Why? What for? What possible reason could he have for wanting us?? Oh because he can drive past the people with the greatest of ease? Be a jerk to every passenger and argue with them on a constant basis?

I have a lot of respect for the people that chauffeur our asses around on a day to day basis. They put up with a lot, especially noisy teenagers that are unruly and throw coffee at the bus causing the bus driver to have a breakdown then stop the bus and refuse to drive people any further. ( Another story, another time )

On Monday we get to our stop and it's pissing rain now usually the bus is pulled up and we can get on, well not with this guy driving. He makes us all wait in the rain while he sits about 20 feet away watching all of us get soaked while the other buses load up and drive away. By now myself and a few others have resorted to calling him colourful names. Mine was... douche-bag.

Tuesday. not him thank god.

Wed. Oh it was him nastiness and all. Every time I say "thank you" which I continue to say regardless and he says "ya" more like he wants to say " ya, whatever... get off my bus" because as he's said before it's not a taxi, which it kind of is if you think about it. We pay both to get us from point A to point B.

Thurs and Fri?? Not there 'Woo Hoo!' but in the light of the holiday season I've chosen not to let him get to me even though I can't wait for Christmas to be over.

 Music is my cure all along with writing. Once they're put together nothing can get to me.

Here's hoping a dozen Elves and a few Reindeer can slap him around a bit over the holidays and give him a tad more tolerance and decency for the New Year.

 If not...I don't think he'll want our bus route anymore.

Oh it's Christmas Time Again...

The office got decorated last week...I do not have the best Christmas spirit since my kids have grown older but I have to say that they have enough for everyone and I bet when I get home or shortly after not only will it look like Santa threw up in the office it will look like that at home too.

Santa's projectiles have quite the reach.

As some of the girls are singing songs of Yuletide joy and have little trees with lopsided branches and balls at their desks and I just wish it was all over. Now I'm not a Scrooge because I will try to give my family the best Christmas but I don't have to like it. What I love is the sense of family and the food. Love the cooking and baking! That makes me excited.

 I don't see my side of the family much, if at all some years and I wish we were all closer as a whole but circumstances have prevented that. Nothing we can't change though.

I don't hate Christmas, I just hate the stress of it all and the intense build up for the 1 day that leaves us in a turkey coma and tornado of wrapping paper with stuff that we have no more room for. I love to drive my kids nuts because I won't get out of bed or open anything until they're done and I never want anything except for this year. I asked for 1 thing...a Kuerig. I...want...one. Just putting it out there.

As the countdown goes on until that day we will be inundated with Christmas specials and songs that make my ears bleed like Santa Baby. I wan to poke my ears out when I hear it. I do love the lights though and if it was snowing and I had a Bailey's in hand even better!

No we have to get the tree which I promptly take down on boxing day but this year they get a real tree ( which I'm allergic to ) so they might get to the 27th or 28th as long as I have industrial elbow length gloves. The things I go through for my girls... the sneezing, the hives trying to make sure the zoo doesn't eat the decorations see stress here? They get vacuuming and wattering duty. After it's all done though, the night I love the most besides Halloween comes along... bring on New Years!

2012 Can't wait!

Now the tree hunt begins...where's the best place to find a tree?

Commuting can be Stressful!

    Alright, I've left The Gong Show at home this week thank god I think my brain has turned to weird slang words and Mushmouth from Fat Albert in my head.

    Some time ago I blogged about a bus driver in Bus Driver Abuse that was...well... and asshole. As much as I'd love to think that me ranting and commenting everyday made the difference, I know it didn't. They rotated their shifts and he was gone to the joy of little old ladies everywhere.

    I take the West Coast Express to work and sometimes the most stressful and entertaining things happen. Take for instance me and SM my partner in crime, friend and co-worker when we are on our way to or from the city we always know that people may or may not be listening to our conversations even when they try to look like they're not but sometimes... well we're listening too.

Pet Peeve #1: One sided conversations.

You know those people on the phone who talk really loud like the person on the other end is deaf. Then you try to imagine the other end of the conversation and you know it's no where near what you think it is. You can make of game of that.

Pet Peeve #2: One sided conversations about something really stupid.

We had a woman who had an entire 30min conversation with her dogs hairdresser? Her dog has a hairdresser? She actually called the person a hairdresser. Wouldn't that be a fur dresser? I know, I know it's a groomer calm down.

This woman continually talked about what kind of cuts her dog looked best and worst in??? Next is a mani/pedi and it's a male dog poor thing.  This baffles me...it's a dog and as much as we tried NOT to listen to that conversation it was hard not to.

Pet Peeve #3: People that fall asleep...on me.

Everything is fine, chatting away and the person beside me falls asleep. Ok not a problem until their head lols to the side and ends up on my shoulder. Then they wake up and apologize only to nod off 5 mins later and do it again while I watch SM sit across from me and giggle. I must look comfortable because it's always me.

Pet Peeve #4: People that fall asleep and drool... not on me.

Ok that's not really a pet peeve it's kind of gross yet funny at the same time. We take bets on how long the drool will be before the person wakes up and notices they are embarrassing themselves.

Pet Peeve #5: Rolling luggage.

Anyone who knows me or follows me on Twitter knows that I have pedestrian rage and it's not only me! Since I don't drive and can't have road rage I get angry with pedestrians and there little bags on wheels that drive me absolutely crazy. While I see the convenience everyone in the city is in a hurry especially at 8am if you walk at a good pace everything works out until someone cuts in front of you with rolling luggage almost knocking you into the street or another person, then they block the escalator on the side your supposed to walk on. Drives me nutty! You'd figure they would move faster since they don't have to carry all their crap but, no.

Here are a few commuter etiquette rules from 1949.

1. Sit with your limbs straight and do not with your legs describe an angle of 45 degrees, thereby occupying the room of two persons? So what, don't cross your legs or sit sideways?

2. Do not spit upon the straw. You are not in a hog sty. Uh Huh...

3. Reserve bickering's and disputes for open field? Open Field with what fists up or a pitchfork?? Well we don't have disputes like that anymore now do we?

This next one I need translated...

4. Refrain from affectations and conceited airs. Remember that you are riding a distance for sixpence, which, if made in a hackney coach, would cost you so many shillings: and that, should your price elevate you above plebeian accommodations, your purse should enable you to command aristocratic indulgences.

...Er...what??

What bugs you?

S

She Tasted, She Tested, She Tingled.

   Well it's official! My baby girl Sese got her first real taste of drinking.... sorry a taste of a taste of drinking on Sat night, she did really well knowing her limit already is good. She'll be 19 in a mere 2 days but she's still my first born baby girl and it was kind of surreal to watch. The night I had her when I was 19, I looked into her tiny face and said, " Only 18 yrs, 364 days left and I'm no longer legally responsible for you " I guess that time has come.

    We tried several different things with her and it's not like she drank everything. Whatever she didn't like she didn't drink, lucky for her she liked most of it. The Daiquiris and Pina Coladas she figured were too sweet and with the size of her sweet tooth I was surprised. Anything beer was out the window, she did try Heineken and Rickard's just a sip and an emphatic " Nope I don't like that! "

     Palm Bay ?? I'm way out of the circuit because I'd never even heard of it so i tried it and it was weird.

     She tried Mango Cider and Bacardi Breezers too, now what 19 yr old girl doesn't like the breezers? Her fave of the night was actually some homemade Amaretto and Pepsi that one of the boys brought by. Thanks to Craig for bringing it and thanks to me for mixing it just right ( patting myself on the back )

     She liked it and even danced a little while her legs were tingly and she felt warm all over, and made me leave the room before she would. Who wants that feeling of death if seen by her parents doing something she's not accustomed to. Yet once LMFAO came on 'Sexy and You Know It' sent all of the girls into a dancing tornado of Tasmanian devils in my living room.

Do we really need to see this? It doesn't matter, Sese had fun ( so she says ) slept until after noon the next day which is not normal and felt fine. Brat... I was hung over the next day probably because I didn't use all the tricks I told her to in order to prevent it in the first place!

Thanks to all of you that were there that didn't push her too hard.

She's on her own now.



 

You'll still love me won't you?

    Ok so this post took me a while this week, it's been up and down at the house these days. You know already that my house is always a den of wierdness and constant entertainment. I'm trying to step away from that but the kids are just too funny.

    Why aren't adults this funny? I guess we could be but we're just too damn tired from chasing all of you young ins around all of the time.

    They are so impressionable aren't they? Sese turns 19 in a week and legal to drink here in BC. She's behind her friends because of her birthday being so late in the year and I think I'm more excited than she is! She doesn't know what she'll like to drink though, she wasn't into that stuff in her teenage years so this is all new territory for her and me.

    We have been arranging a little taste test for her this weekend and have lots of exciting things in mind that she may or may not like and that's what the whole thing is for anyway. I just have to remember to make stuff I'll like too in case she doesn't and then I can drink it...not a problem.

   Problem??? A couple of the boys wanted to whisk her away out to the bar but that can't happen until we find out what she likes being a bar newbie and all, so the boys have agreed to also come over and help. Insert Sese's face here .

    I'm sure she'll be fine! Maybe... we'll see. She's a light weight being all size 3 and everything, size 3 WTF! We already know that she doesn't like Wine or Beer or Whiskey...I'll get that anyway just for me. I'm almost positive she won't like Tequila but after a couple of drinks she'll like I might be able to slip that in. I don't want to make her  though or she'll never go out so balance is the key!


   Here we come Sese, here we come.

Love Mom

The Gong Show

   Nope not the TV game show that I vaguely remember from my childhood years but just the usual crazy situations around the house GONG... SHOW... I told my other half that our house is like 'That 70's Show' but I'm Red not him. He says he's not Kitty but come on now there are Kitty like tendancies there for sure.

    I watched the kids get ready for their Sat night outting and got quite the laugh as they counted them in rounds, you know round 1, round 2 ect. They made Halloween last about 5 days! Their costumes were great for the material that was there and hopefully they are more prepared next year...with more material that is. Maybe something big and fluffy that you can only see your head out of girls???? That would be nice and warm and fully covered.


   Teenagers amaze me. They have no worries except where the next party is or who's doing what to whom and I think or would like to think that most of them are genuine in their sentiments but...they also  lounge around in the basement doing things that I try to ignore and place myself in denial about but yet I... SEE... EVERYTHING... so if you think your doing something that I won't find out about then your wrong.

    Someone will tell me or I WILL bust you it's only a matter of time and then,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlTOPjcyQLs  (the link sticks for about 12 secs but the rest is golden)
 and you don't need to pay me I'll do it for free.

It Takes a real Man...So he says

  OK I had to Blog this there was no way around it. I couldn't keep it to myself without sitting in the corner and giggling and every time I see the Carny I'd laugh out loud. I call him the Carny because the kids met him at a carnival and something about living with them, I don't know, I try to tune them out sometimes.

  So the other night I'm helping Choo make dinner we have teenagers all over the house inside, outside, and in Choo's kitchen there is Choo, Bean, the Carny, Shay and myself and Bean steps up ( we have a very open household ) and says mom did you get me tampons?

Uh Oh...

Mom (that's me): Oh crap I forgot!
Bean: Well can you go now?
Mom:  I don't wanna go now! I'm making dinner ask dad.

Choo behind me making washing dishes: I'm not going... I don't get those.
Mom: Ya... I know...
Bean: but mom I need them.
Mom: I'll give you money and you go get them.

Bean shakes her head emphatically: I'll get Al to go! ( Bean's boyfriend who's at home probably sleeping because he's borderline narcoleptic in my opinion )

Mom: You are not dragging him out here to go get you tampons!

As the bickering goes on back and forth for about a minute, Choo from the sink quietly says: It takes a real man to get tampons.

As I open my mouth to argue this point since he won't get ME tampons, now he's backtracking trying to stay out of trouble.

The Carny out of the corner puts his hand up: I'll go!

The silence is deafening as we all stare blankly at him and since we've only met this kid a couple of times...this seems really, really strange.

After I snapped out of my daze,

Mom: Choo give him money, Bean go get the box so he knows what to get you.
Choo: (snickering by the sink) Do you think he'll really get them?
Mom: Better him than us.

Bean comes back with the box,the Carny folds it to put in his back pocket.

Mom: Are you sure you want to do this?
Carny: Yup It's no big deal!
Mom: OK go to the drugstore they're cheaper there.

After the initial shock wore off when he left we couldn't believe this kid took off to get my daughter tampons...who knew!

He came back proud of himself and you know what I guess that makes him a real man.

Walking Dead or Dead Walking?

    After a fun filled Sunday of watching the marathon of the Walking Dead to get ready for the premier I found out that my youngest daughter knows absolutely NOTHING about surviving a Zombie Apocalypse! How is this possible? I know it sounds stupid but yes I have a Zombie phobia. Is there a name for that?

    The Zombie walk in Vancouver every summer? I stay home that day. Someone would get hurt if I walked on the skytrain or up Granville and it was loaded with zombie loving, fake rotting flesh, costume wearing people. I heard about the people that were filming Resident Evil 4 in Ontario ( I think it was there) the platform they were standing on fell, 16 or so people got injured and the paramedics couldn't sort out the injuries. Well that's really convincing make-up.

   Now B ( my youngest ) knows this and has paid no attention whatsoever to my fear of the undead.

   Zombies creep me out!

   I don't care if they are possible or not, they creep me right the out, yet I have to watch every Zombie movie, TV show or anything associated with them. So you'd think that she'd get it but... she really doesn't.

   My oldest Sese and I have gone to great lengths discussing the possible rate of survival if this was to happen. Even her father has had the 'what if' conversation with us, you know the escape routes, possible weapons etc. and as much as I know and have watched documentaries on infectious diseases and their rate of infecting subject A or subject B, ( why I do this to myself I have no idea ) that things wouldn't happen as quickly as portrayed in the movies. So what it will happen slower? What happens in my head is that someone somewhere could be messing with that same exact thing thinking 'hey maybe we really could reanimate the brain, so just for shits and giggles let's try!'

 WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!

I know! Just to freak us out or me the obvious target of the insanity!

   B asked me if she was a zombie if I'd kill her and I said " yes, yes I would! " With no hesitation. she said but don't you love me and I replied " yes I do that's why I'd shoot you " Now before some people I know get all hysterical about me shooting my daughter remember that for this she's a Zombie who is more than likely going to try and eat me.

I'm going to have to educate her and T some more because if I turned into a Zombie I'd sure as hell hope they shoots me...Sese will she's trained.

That was just a little something for Halloween, you know what's worse that Zombies?... Zombie Clowns them and their stupid shoes.

S

Daily Dilemmas

    The past month has been one of sadness and reflection. It's time to move forward again and focus on the things that are prominent in my life right now... maybe just the stuff that sticks out right now. Like my zoo and the headache they give me, in a good way... sometimes before I have to lock myself in the bathroom with the bottle of wine hidden in the toilet tank to escape. Like these daily dilemmas for example:

1. Washing the dishes means washing everything including the pots.
2. If the straightener burns the carpet imagine what it's doing to your hair, ( and my carpet quit leaving it on the floor there's little V marks all over your room).
3. No, you cannot have hair extensions because you burnt your hair.
4. 4 women, 1 bathroom need I say more.
5. For dad... yes you have to deal with PMS for an entire month.
6. If one dog is staring at you and can't move? He needs to go out.
7. If another dog is staring at you and whining? She needs to go out.
8. If another dog is at the top of the stairs whining to get in? He's not ours.
9. If you hear a double thud from the kitchen window... a cat brought something else in the house, find it, chase it and get rid of it.
10. Quit making weird food I can't identify...it's weird and I won't eat it.   

Hmmmm boys might have been easier at least they get mad , explode, fight and it's over. Girls... we get mad, hurt, depressed and then plot revenge solve the problem.
Sugar and Spice.

In Memory of a Lost Son

   This one goes out to a very close friend who has the birthday of her first born son today but sadly he died of SIDS a short time later.

   I've known Kris literally my whole life and when she was pregnant with her son Tyler she was one of the happiest moms to be I've seen. He was born Oct 05, 1996 - Jan 15, 1997. Losing him cause a spiral in her family that almost didn't stop, one day at a time though she put the pieces together and started to rebuild her life.

    She's been pretty tough over the years and has lost 2 children now both boys Tyler to SIDS, Aiden was stillborn a few years ago( that's a whole other story ) and has a beautiful daughter Courtney who is now 12.  

    She talks about her sons  with love and pride always. She can talk about them all of the time and tries to get involved with projects to help get the word out about SIDS as well as still trying to understand why it happens. She came up with the easiest way to put it for me understand, that was that they simply forget to breath and it broke my heart to hear that. When she had Courtney she was scared for a really long time... even after the age of worry. I bet she still checks to see if she's breathing at night.

   She has been through alot since Tyler passed away and gotten tougher the whole way along. Aiden was her last and that almost broke her spirit but she didn't check out of life and reality, she took care of her family and continued on through investigating why these this are happening for her own comfort and knowledge.

   I am amazed by her and the strength she has on what would be his 15th birthday. I have posted this for her in memory of him to show her that we all still think about him at this time and am proud of her for every day she continues to put one foot in front of the other and move forward.


What is SIDS?

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) occurs when a baby dies suddenly while sleeping. It is also known as crib death. SIDS is most likely to occur in babies between 2 and 4 months of age, and the death remains unexplained even after a full autopsy.

The rate of SIDS goes down by half at 6 months of age, though it still happens up to one year of age. There are about 150 SIDS deaths in Canada each year, or 1 in every 2,000 live births. SIDS is still the leading cause of death of infants between one month and one year.

We know that baby boys are at a higher risk than baby girls. Other babies who seem to be at higher risk are premature babies and babies with low birth weight. SIDS occurs during all seasons of the year. There is no indication of a higher risk for babies who have had a SIDS brother or sister.

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant loss Remembrance Day. It's used to promote, support and educate grieving parents worldwide.

http://www.october15th.com/

Remembering our Babies provides awareness for those who are suffering or may know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, still birth or loss of an infant.

http://www.rememberingourbabies.net/store/Default.asp

I am Mother to an Angel provides a support network and community for bereaved mothers.

http://www.iamamothertoanangel.com/
For more information:

For more BC HealthFile topics visit www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/index.stm, or visit your local public health unit.

Call the BC NurseLine to speak to a registered nurse, available 24-hours every day:

Visit BC HealthGuide OnLine – a world of health information you can trust at www.bchealthguide.org

To Do It or Not To Do It that is the question.

    As you know, my mother in law passed away a few weeks ago. Jackie was an avid reader, anything she could get her hands on she would read...wait that's wrong she wouldn't read everything, as long as it was Sci-Fi for Fantasy she was all over it. If it had a combination of both she was very happy. Jackie tried her hand at writing poetry and art, painting mostly and art ex which I knew absolutely nothing about until I met her. Some of her art hangs in our house and it wasn't well known that she had written a book as well.

    Many years ago she gave me her manuscript and asked me to look it over for her and I agreed to do some light editing for her. I found that she seemed to have the need to introduce and heavily detail of EVERY character she had in the story ( she has lots of things going on ) I was trying to help her narrow the field down a bit to her main and supporting characters. After awhile time got away from us and there was lots more to do. The story concept was interesting but she had lots to add and re-write that I don't think she ever did.

    When we were going through her house after she passed I found the notebook she used to jot down her story and her notes. Out of everyone there Mat and I were the only ones that knew that she wrote it ( he only knew because I told him ) The family was shocked, excited, proud and they even put it in the eulogy for everyone to know about.
    Now that things have settled down Mat asked me to go over it, do the re-writes and see if I could possibly get it published in her honour. Okay now I haven't even gotten my own stuff published yet and at least I know the direction she was going in because we talked about it a lot and I guess it's like co-writing without the physical other writer.  Between her manuscript and he notes she had I should be able to put it together in a way she would have liked.

She did her part already though didn't she?

    If I take this on that means the projects that I'm already working on will have to either share time or be put on the back-burner. I'll be multitasking because and don't want to put the script on hold and finding time when there aren't enough hours in the day will be interesting. My script has to come first and even though the researching and writing will have to be done for both of them her book will have to wait before I can put the attention needed into it. So that's on the agenda too.

 I can give up sleep right?

    Maybe not... The genre itself is different than I'm used to writing, hers is Sci-Fi based where mine just aren't. I think I can do it though with some outside consulting maybe it's the last thing that I can do for her.

I'll give it a shot and see what happens with both en devours. Hmmm I think I answered my own question.