Thanks kid...

Now accepting donations to either fix or replace my netbook after my son had a tantrum on it... Literally....

The Sheepdogs and other cool pics

Hug Your Kids...

Little Keinan Hebert is still missing. Snatched from his room in the middle of the night by a predator. A blogger I came across today just lost her son to floods. I cannot imagine the horror either of these parents is facing. My heart goes out to both families, and to every family who has suffered a similar situation.

If you have not already heard, info on Keinan can be found here. There is an Amber Alert issued for BC, and Alberta. Thankfully the internet being what it is that little boy has people looking for him Canada wide (and quite possibly beyond)


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Banana Popsicle

Happiness is...

Too much iPhone fun

Wake The Fuck Up

I cannot take credit for the following... All credit goes to Scary Mommy http://www.scarymommy.com

http://www.scarymommy.com/wake-the-fuck-up/

The dishes are washed, everything tidy in its place The leftovers boxed up, my dear, and the counters wiped away I've asked you six times, don't make me say it again Please, for the love of God Just empty the fucking trash can.

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You work hard and need your rest I do know that and care But you slept all night and napped three times You've more than gotten your share It's time to awake and get on with the day Wake the fuck up already, you hear me OK?

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You've been flipping for an hour But have yet to pick a show Could you be more annoying? The answer is no. Surrender the remote, I'll ask one last time or I'm kicking you out, on your fucking behind.

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The day is getting dim Soon it will be night I can't see a thing, my love You have to know I'm right I'm not as tall as you so I need your larger height Would it kill you change that fucking hall light?

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I know you feel sick but I do as well My nose is stuffy too and my throat sore as hell Please stop complaining It's just a little cold So shut up and cope You're not that fucking old

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I love you so much I value what you say But now I'm trying to sleep And you're keeping me awake For the last time, my sweet, I just don't give a crap. Enough already, really Just shut your fucking pie trap.

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I'm laying in bed, desperately needing my rest You've been sleeping for hours Happily passed out on your chest, How are you so loud, I really don't know But if you don't fucking stop snoring, You're gonna have to go.

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Is this too much to ask, from the man I adore? I really don't get why I'm so easy to ignore. Start listening to me, that's all there is to it. Oh, and the dog needs a walk Just fucking do it.

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Sent from my iPhone

iPhoneography

Tact

If you don't know what tact is, I suggest you figure it out ASAP. Especially if you use social media. If you don't actually know the person you are referring to, tact becomes even more important. You don't know who is reading "your" friends wall etc. Maybe your friend is also my friend, stop and think about that.

I love you!

Dad, Mom, Andrea, Lincoln, Xander, Zoe, Liz, Axel, Cole, Grady, Margo, Dan, Colton, Kayla, Jesse, Erin, Beckie, Traci, Shantelle, Riley, Ava, Ivan, Rosemary, Mirna, Butch, Sonny, Garry, Brenda, Kim, Sara, Jen, Wally, Grandma, Amanda, Leslie, Murray, Lesmeister, Natalie, Peggy, Kim, Erma, Robin, Kayla, Jon, Sherri, Meaghen, Chantel, Corina, Danni, Shelley, Farrah, Faye, Aaron, Aimee, Claire, Danny, Anne, Bruce, BJ, Bo, Gail, Chris x 8 (I know a lot of Chris's) , Henry, Matt, Crystal, Jamie, Kyle, Kylie, Dave, Curtis, Frank, Rhonda, Danielle, Tyler, Pam, Paula, Quan, Peter, Rachel, Spencer, Tegan....

I could go on and on, and I will. I have so many awesome friends and family who I adore. If you are not listed it does not mean I forgot. This post is merely the beginning!

Gratitude mixed with a rant....

We are celebrating Xander's 5th birthday today. He could have died on Saturday.....

We started holidays on Friday, original plan was Buck Lake, Ab for a family get together at my husbands Aunt's lakeside house. The plan was to camp in her back yard. She phoned Friday morning to say it was a no-go due to terrible weather. So we decided to go camping at the Battlefords Provincial Campground instead. We took the van in for an oil change and a once over where I work. Turned out we needed tie rod ends immediately. We get the van fixed and the mechanics OK to leave town. We stop at Big Way foods in Cochin, Sk to pick up ice etc. Go to start the van annnnnnnd *nothing* dead starter.

$50.00 cab ride back home, and lucky enough to have a friend come out and at least haul all our crap back. On Saturday my father in law came to town and ended up buying a starter (turns out we didn't have enough money for one) and we headed to Cochin to fix the van.

When we got home, Xander decided he wanted to go out to Grandpas farm, we thought "what the hell, our plans are toast anyways" so off Xander went in Grandpas truck. We followed behind shortly after.

At the farm, things were going well for the better part of the day. Shortly before supper I was in the house with Zoe checking out the pics I had taken on my Ipod. After getting the kid's supper ready I was sitting with Zoe. Then I heard from outside "Wheres Xander?" Instinct took over and I bolted from the house. Everyone else decided to check the area of the pig pen as Xander had been quite smitten with those crazy ass wild boars. Something told me to head for the swimming hole. The swimming hole that my kid didn't even know existed.

Located just past the garden, obscured by tall grass, and over 5 ft deep in the middle. I got to the water and looked, I saw something bob and my heart dropped. I hoped it was just a log, as I got closer though my worst nightmare was occurring. My son was in the water fighting to keep his head up. I am terrified of water that goes past my knees, when I "swim" I'm readdy just wading in the shallow end. This time, I dove, no thought at all except "get him out". I couldn't see shit underwater but as it turns out my dive was right on as I came up right beside him. I grabbed him and held him up while he coughed and sputtered. I screamed for Lincoln because my balance was rather precarious and I didn't think I could actually swim with him the few feet to the edge. Once we were out of the water I pretty much cracked, especially when he looked at me and said "thank you for saving me mommy".

When we got to the house I was hugging my son and crying. Next thing I knew, my husbands step mom smacked me in the back of the head because getting him out of wet clothes was more important than my hug. Needless to say we ended up in a huge argument shortly later about pneumonia caused by wet clothes.... it's not. Wet clothes are not comfy but they don't make you sick. People who get pneumonia after a near drowning get it from water or foreign objects in the lungs, or like I had stated, a virus.

"Why Do Kids Get Pneumonia?
Getting wet doesn't cause pneumonia (sorry, Grandma) - but an infection from a bacteria or a virus does. Most of the time, if you get infected with a virus or bacteria, your body is able to fight it off with no problem. But sometimes it's a really nasty infection that even the healthiest kid has a hard time fighting off by himself.

Source

As for the prospect of hypothermia, it's July, he likely wasn't in the water more than 5 min.....

Was I hysterical? Damn right I was. Telling me to calm down, bad idea. That only made me worse. Screaming at me to grow up while we were getting ready to leave, because I reacted the way I did? "Calm down and stop crying you are making things worse for him" and me getting screamed at by all of my in-laws sure helped the situation. To those of you who are able to suck it up and not show strong emotions in front of your kids, yay for you. Want a cookie? Some of us are incredibly emotional, some of us are able to be calm when the situation is imminent but after the danger passes we let loose. Deal with it. Do not tell a distressed parent to calm down or grow up. Try being supportive instead.

I could have lost my son, but fortunately I didn't, that's what matters. I cannot close my eyes without seeing that scene. The fear in his eyes, and then the relief when I rescued him. I was the only one who saw his fear, I was the only person who thought to head to the water. I don't blame anyone, yet I was the one blamed. Because 20 min before I was "playing with your toys". When it happened I was inside cutting my kids hot dogs to prevent choking and sitting with my daughter.

As for how it exactly happened, we are guessing. Xander had said he was running (he is a mini Forest Gump I swear) and he fell in "a big ice cube" Scariest moment of my kids (and mine) life. I'm truly grateful that he is ok.

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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do....

Dear John (Player),

I'm not really sorry to tell you this but our 14 year relationship is over. You make me feel like shit, I'm tired all the time and starting to get short of breath doing simple things. You cause the shortness of breath but not in a good way.

True, you have been there for me at some pretty rough times, but at what cost? It's almost like bribery with you, "I'm there for you but it will cost you financially and health wise". I'm smarter than that you asshole.

So yes, you life sucking scumbag, we are over.

Regards, Me
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Can you read me?

Just switched blog templates.... thoughts?

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Stuff.... For Sale

I am putting my remaining carriers on sale! The Organic Bobas are 100.00 each and the Wraps 30.00. I am in North Battleford, buyer pays shipping. The colours I have left are (Boba) Aspen (dark brown/off white) and Willow (light brown/green)

Wrap colours are, Dark Green (kind of an army green), Purple, Orange, Light blue (baby blue)

Both of these carriers are awesome! I used the wrap with my daughter and though at first 8 feet of fabric seemed daunting I was easily able to use the wrap and tie it. My daughter loved hers.

I have used the Boba with both kids (my son at 50+ lbs was still doable) and my daughter loves loves loves her boba. Again, one handed easy to use.



http://www.sleepywrap.com and http://www.bobababycarrier.com

Blackberry Pearl, red, sasktel network. Wall charger, USB cable, 2 batteries, and holster included. Make an offer, less than a year old.





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Mediation is done...

After nearly 5 months of stress over this whole thing it is finally over. Although the owner never admitted any fault (he claimed he never answered me when I asked if he would have hired me had of he known about my arm when in fact his answer was "no" and when I went back to inquire about the schedule he claimed he said "we like to try other people" and/or (it changed several times) "try harder" as opposed to "we decided to try other people because of your arm". Apparently telling someone they are hired, training them one day, and then trying out others who were also told they were hired is standard practice, an audition of sorts. I call bullshit but whatever.

Anyways, as it was obvious we were not going to agree on what took place we deadlocked and moved to separate rooms. The mediator basically then asked what terms I wanted out of this whole thing.

In order of importance,

• An apology, published in the newspaper. If he felt he could humiliate me in public, I felt he could apologize in public.
• For him to develop a clear policy on discrimination
• Added during the session, a clear policy on hiring and training procedures (including the apparent audition process
• And finally monetary compensation for lost wages, the delay to my EI claim, and injury to feelings.

I'm getting the apology written but not published (thats ok, I have a blog! The mediator says apologies are actually pretty rare)

He will be working with the Human Rights Commission to develop his discrimination policy.

He will be working with his lawyer to develop the hiring/training plan.

Financial compensation = $1000.00, not as much as I had hoped but this was never entirely about the money.

I could have said no and let it go to court etc but that is time consuming and kind of a difficult process with no guarantees in the end. Financial compensation through the courts might not have not have been much better considering they take into account length of employment etc. I suspect it would have been just as he said/she said because during our talks to day it was said that he girl who was supposed to train me told him she couldn't because I only had one arm. This is not the same server who took my side so although I had a witness he very well may have had someone backing up his (bullshit *cough*) version of events.

Part of the agreement of course has a clause stating that the settlement in no way implies he is guilty or that he admits to anything, nor does it mean I pulled my complaint. Just that we agree to disagree on the events that took place.

In the end, I do feel like I "won" because now he is forced to rethink how he does things, says things, and treats future applicants.


I would like to thank you all who had my back during this time... I love you all!



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Mediation....

Mediation will occur within the next two weeks. I'm just waiting for the mediator to get back to me on a date. To be honest I'm surprised they went for early resolution, likely their lawyer advised it.

So now I wonder what would be fair for me to propose as a settlement, I know I want a massive apology but yes I am seeking financial compensation. The whole fiasco further complicated my claim for EI after Movie Gallery closed... I lost out on a full-time salary and tips. Tips that I suspect would have been pretty darn good considering what I made only serving 4-5 customers that one shift.

Also, compensation on the emotional front. I used to think that was a stupid excuse to get money until I was grossly humiliated in front of a restaurant full of people and then again to my face with what was said. The feelings I felt that night were indescribable. I was excited for the new job, happy that I had proved myself, and then..... "we decided to try other people because of your arm" . That was the verbal equivalent of a sucker punch to the face. I have pretty solid self esteem considering the verbal bitchslaps I have taken through the years in regards to my arm, but a comment like that after proving I was *ahem* awesome and capable? Bitchslap 1, self esteem 0.

So, hopefully I can find a lawyer to simply offer some advice to me prior to mediation... Harder than it sounds though, either they do not deal with this sort of thing or nobody is in the office *sigh*

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The results of "ignoring" my kids...

FYI those are safety scissors ;)






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I sometimes ignore my kids, and it's ok

Yes, you read that right. I'm an AP mommy who also (sometimes) ignores her kids and just lets them play. Scary Mommy posted about this very thing today and after reading it I felt o.k. I felt better than o.k in fact. (See her post here) I felt like I do not have to hide the fact that I do not helicopter over my kids every second of the day. I let them be and they are fine.

When I say ignoring I do not mean I have no idea what they are up to, I always know. When they need me I am still there. They know this therefore they are secure and able to occupy themselves while I do something else.

I tried being the helicopter parent who schedules every damn second of my kids days. It sucked! When my daughter was a newborn I would bundle my kids up and walk 3 blocks to the library once a week for toddler story time. Winter session. -30. I. Despised. It. I did it to appease my mother-in-law who is convinced that I do not do anything worthwhile with my kids. The only person who enjoyed the weekly trek was my baby girl, she was all wrapped up in a Sleepy Wrap under my over-sized winter coat and usually sleeping. My son? Well, I do not think he much cared for it, every week I was chasing my then 2 year old around a tiny room in the library trying to get him to just sit and listen to the story. Sounds like fun eh? I think he (and I) would have preferred our normal story time. It involves him grabbing a book, asking me to read it to him (several times) until he is bored and interested in something else.

My kids have an abundance of art supplies available at all times, they have lego, and cars, and barbies, and most importantly THEY HAVE IMAGINATIONS and freedom, they know they can get paint on the floor or all over themselves and nobody will get mad. I have some me time, I have the ability to clean the kitchen mess I did not make without interruption. I have happy, secure children who can play, really play and still know mommy is there. My kids have learned appropriate social skills such as sharing, and co-operation by simply playing together without interference or a grown up hovering, planning, or dragging them around every waking minute.

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Can't wait to see the shit fly....

Once this is posted on my fridge....

Household Rules

I cannot keep up with this giant disaster alone, so I am making basic rules for everyone to follow. The biggest problem is the kitchen, if it continues to become a disaster a day after being cleaned I will remove all the dishes and replace them with disposable plates, cutlery, etc.

The Kitchen/Dining Area

• Always tidy up behind yourself.
  
  If you're old enough to grab or make your own snack or meal, you're required to put away any dishes used, wipe down the prep area or cooktop, and put all utensils away. If you make it for the kids, teach them how to clean up...

  Scrape the plates into the garbage, then rinse. If the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes turn it on. If it is full of clean dishes, unload it and put them away. Please, do not leave dishes full of food on the counter or in the sink. If you can eat and reach the counter, bus your own plate.

• Wipe down counters after use.
  
  Crumby way to live, with food all over countertops. Although, insects don't seem to think so do they?

• Eat at the table.

  Lets try to reduce the mess elsewhere. This won't be easy for the kids as they are used to wandering around with snacks etc but it will help reduce the overall mess (and prevent the dog from stealing). If the table has crafts etc all over it, clean it off....

• Empty the trash.

  Self explanatory

• Recyclables

  Cardboard (including pizza boxes) break down and put into the large box with broken down cardboard already in it by the back door. When full, move it outside until it can be taken to recycling.

  Pop Bottles (and other plastic bottles and cans) remove caps (garbage), rinse and crush. Put in a plastic bag. Move to basement or shed when full.

  Beer bottles can go back in the case, move to shed or basement

  Stop leaving empty hard liquor bottles in the cupboard.

• Did you eat the last one?

  Then why is the empty box still in the pantry?

• Make use of the saran wrap, foil, and containers with lids.

  Uncovered food in the fridge dries out quickly and is inedible quite quickly.

Misc Other Rules

• Put dirty laundry where it belongs

• Help the kids put toys away

• Clean up after crafts etc

• Stop piling everything on a shelf, or a counter, or on top of an already precarious pile

• If the dog chewed it, throw it out

• If it is broken beyond repair, throw it out

• If it resembles garbage, throw it out

• If it is too small, set it aside, let me know, I'll put it with donations