musings and mutterings

Kalbarri

2011-02-03T00:54:00.000-08:00

On the kids school holidays my friend Sarah and I took the boys on a massive road trip...in our swift... we loaded up the tent and just about everything the car could hold around the kids and set off on our 6 hour journey...maybe a bit longer with pit stops. We finally made it and we got the tent set up no problem! Whoo Hoo!! Then we went to put up the fly, well it was super windy and the fly on a four bedroom tent has now become a giant KITE. so after hours of struggling, someone finally came over to offer up some help. So later that night while we were all just about asleep, the tent collapsed on the kids because of the wind. We figured with all the creepy crawlies out there in the bush of Australia it could wait until tomorrow to fix.

The next day we were off bright and early to do some Sand boarding. So much fun. There was some 4 x4ing on the dunes, I was scared, then came the safety talk and we were on our way. Max was the first up the dunes and the first one down, he was the first to try and succeed to stand on his board as well! What impressed me the most was that he carried his own board just about the whole time. Once it got stinking hot we took a break and had lunch on the beach before round two.

The next day we took it easy and did some swimming and fishing. Cyrus caught one, it maybe could have been saved for bait but we decided to let it go and be caught another day. It was nice to chill out and relax for a bit.

Up bright and early the next day for some nature walking and a trip through the gorges. It was really pretty and not too hot for the hike. We also decided on a canoe trip through the gorge, Max was a big help, I think he only almost tipped us 3 times and hit me 5 with the paddle until his "help" was restricted to navigation and sitting still. Sarah and Cyrus did really good on there canoe and stayed dry.

That night as we were getting ready for dinner and cleaning up Sarah seen a cat by our tent, no big deal until it came out of the bush with a freakin snake! We ate quick had a bunch to drink by the fire and then zipped in tight for sleep. All we kept hearing was something hitting the side of the tent and kicking sand on it, I am sure it was a lizard......

We got up the next day and decided that we had enough of roughing it and made our home. We stopped off at the Pinnacles in WA on the way home. In case you are ever up that way, it is not on the way at all and the signs that say 200 meters away is a croc! But we made it and drove through, took some pictures and ticked another thing off our list.

Borneo

2011-02-03T00:36:00.000-08:00

So last March we went to Borneo! It was the best vacation I have ever been on. The place and people were all absolutely beautiful. We went for a river cruise, seen fireflies at night (millions of them), we seen orangutans, did a tree top climb, seen the biggest flower in the world, (it smells like rotting flesh) met new friends and even spent a few nights on Survivor Island Palau, We all went Scuba Diving, even the boys, and Cyrus seen a shark on his first open water dive and was so excited. We seen great big monitor lizards and enjoyed the mud volcano. I can't wait to get back there and enjoy even more of my new favorite place on earth...

The food was so great and the weather was perfect. We spent some time at a mineral spa, and sang karoke with the locals and sampled our fair share of the local liquor! We seen Mt. Kinabalu but with the kids we were a bit unsure if we could make the climb...after meeting some very active people a few days later who came from the climb, we knew we made the right decision, ha ha ha

two years in OZ!

2011-01-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well it has now been just a little over 2 years that we have been in Perth. It has been an experience to say the least. We have been camping in Kallbarri with snakes. we have been sandboarding, boogie boarding, even took a trip to Borneo. I have no idea what this year will bring, but here are some photos of our journey, enjoy

First Dates and Sexual Harrasment!

2009-05-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

So in the short year that we have been in Australia, Cyrus has managed to find a girlfriend and has had the same one for almost the whole time. Her name is Eneka and she is a very lovely little girl.

About a month ago we were on our way to yet another birthday party when from the backseat he asks me if boyfriends take their girlfriends on dates? I amswered with "well the good ones do, lol!" So then he says that he would like to take Eneka on a date and did I think that the movies was a good date?

Of course I said yes and that we would have to clear it with her mum first. So finally we had agreed and found a day that worked for all of us.

So last Friday Cyrus took his girlfriend on his first date. We went to the movies and they sat in the row ahead of us and we watched Night at The Museum 2. They shared popcorn and we would see them giggling with each other. Too cute for sure. I still think that 7 might be a little early to date, but it was all in good fun. That same night Max was at yet another sleepover with a couple of girls.

Gaia and Ella. These are 2 very confident 5 year olds. While Cyrus was at the movies, Max was being kissed and hugged and told how much they loved him. There was even a fight over who would spend time with him the most at the sleepover.

At one point Max was in a closet with one of the girls and was re arranging shoes? While the other was being left out. I was told later by the mum that Max was sitting on the stairs looking sad and said that he just didn't want to be kissed anymore. Poor kid! Lol!

Then they fought over who was going to sleep next him, mum eventually seperated them all. The next morning when I called to let him know that I was on my way to pick him up, he told me that they hadn't had breakfast yet and he wasn't quite ready to go. So he seems to be no worse for wear and was glad to see them both at school this morning.

Cyrus and his girlfriend!

2009-03-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Cyrus had his birthday party at a place called Time Zone, like a big arcade...He only invited one little girl named Eneka. She has been the object of his affection since last year. Well he had some points to buy some things at the counter when the party was finished and he bought the ring that I told him I had liked the last time we were there.

So when he walked up to me and showed me and asked if it was the ring I liked I totally assumed that he had bought it for me..you know his mom, but he right away said "good, I really hope Eneka likes it"

He later told Grandma that it wasn't a silver ring that you get when you get married though...What an sweetheart!

Max

2009-03-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

I have my very first Canadian visitors! My cousin Kevin and his girlfriend Lisa. I am very happy to have them here and it was nice to see some familiar faces.

My cousin Kevin is about 28 years old and Lisa is 19, cute, bolnde and fun. So right away my boys are showing off and wont leave her alone. On Friday night we are at the table eating dinner when Max breaks into his version of 20 questions, I am almost immune to this now and only answer about every 5 questions. Lisa on teh other hand is all over it.

Max finally asks her how old she is? She answers that she is 19. Max looks very confused by this and glances over to Kevins direction and gives him a good look over before asking how old her DAD is!!! My mouth drops open and I am trying to put this all together, and Kevin starts to answer by saying that his dad is.....And Curtis and Lisa and I all jump in and say...Max wasn't asking about "your dad" he was talking about you. Well we all laughed for a good 20 minutes and will now never let him forget the day he became the "old guy"!!

Holy Hot Batman

2009-02-11T02:43:00.000-08:00

OK so when we first got here to Perth, the weather was pretty crappy and depressing. I have never seen so much rain in my life. I kept saying "does it ever get nice here" well about Feb. 8 it does. It is so freaking hot that I can't stand to be outside. We haven't been to the beach or pool in over a week, cuz we would fry like an egg. Now don't get me wrong, I am in no hurry to see the rain again, but a breeze would be nice. It is so hot that the great tan I did have is starting to fade as I can only be outside for just about long enough to have a very quick cigarette.

I know I shouldn't bitch too much as the rest of Australia is either flooding or buring and I do feel for those people. I am not really bitching, but it is finally hot enough for me!

Some of my favorite songs!

2009-02-09T02:19:00.001-08:00

So I downloaded a play list with a few of my favorite songs. I hope they bring back some good and fun memories for you.

Some of my favorite songs!

2009-02-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

So I downloaded a play list with a few of my favorite songs. I hope they bring back some good and fun memories

2009-02-09T02:18:00.001-08:00

Breezy or Flakey

2009-02-09T01:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I like to consider myself a fairly laid back person who sometimes does really dumb things...if you know me, you have most likely heard of the time I spent $214 on cardboard boxes..not my proudest moment. However, I am also a girl who isn't afraid to take a chance on say like moving my family around the world. I also like to think that I am a really good parent and somewhat responcible.

My youngest son said something to me tonight over supper that made me think back to when my oldest was in Kindergarten. After we left the house to take Cyrus to school he would always ask me if I had locked the door, packed his lunch and had his backpack. He was always worried that he would be late for school. Now I have never forgotten his lunch, I always locked the door and he was never late. I thought he was just one of those kids who worried.

So tonight I asked Max, the youngest how his day was and if liked the sandwich I had put in his lunch. He is a pickey eater and lunch is tough. He told me that he ate half of it and wondered what I had put on it. I told him that it was ham and cheese and butter on one side.

He looked at me with his most grown up serious face and said that tomorrow he would just like ham and butter and no cheese. I said, of course I can do that and started to clean up the supper dishes., Apparently he did not think that it was a good enough answer. He looked me right in the eye and asked if he should get me a pen and paper so that I could make a list and write down exactly what he wanted.

Really....WTF. it is a sandwich, I think I can handle it. He was dead serious.

So I started to think back to when Cyrus first started school and how he was always concerned about everything...now I am wondering if it is me and not the kids... Breezy or Flakey... you be the judge.
If you don't know the cardboard box story I will tell you, but only on request, it was bad and I now will never buy anything from Discovery Toys!

2009-02-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

So the boys have started school again. Max is in Pre-Primary and Cyrus in Year 2. We have just finished the first week back since the Summer holidays.

We had a great summer, we went to Bali, John Forrest National Park, did a lot of swimming and just hanging out with friends and at the beach.

On the first day of school when I went to pick up Max, I asked him how his day was. He had a great big smile on his face and told me that he was kissed by a girl.....He was so excited! I am so excited that he finally is enjoying school. By Monday next week he will be going full days just like Cyrus. What will I do with my days......

Cyrus is really liking year two and can't wait to learn everything he can.

Christmas In Bali

2009-02-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

So we went to Bali for Christmas this year. It was so much fun and an experience I will never forget. We seen a volcano, a beautiful waterfall, we took the boys to Waterbom Park, lounged by the pool and learned how to barter. We spnt a day in the Monkey Forrest and seen some beautiful Temples and were even blessed. I have never met more friendly people in my life. Both the kids spent a day pool side and took a break to get massages. I spent 4 hours in a Massage place getting a pedicure, manicure and facial and 2 hour full body massage, all for $35. Because the Balinese are a Hindu community they don't celebrate Christmas....However, the hotel we stayed at put together a Christmas show for us with dinner and entertainment. We had a D.J dressed as Santa and live music.

So Santa comes in right before dinner to shake hands with all the kids and wish them a Merry Christmas....then we eat...Santa makes yet another appearance and this time he strips...turns out he is a body builder and then some more come out and start a pose off. We all thought this was pretty neat and now the boys think that Santa is a muscle man, lol... So the D.J starts to play and I am pretty sure the song was about whores and booze and drugs... not festive, then we had belly dancing and then.....

Enter Drag Queen....now the kids think that Beyonce's put a ring on it is a Christmas Carol! The Queen then gave everyone a lap dance and kissed our friend Micheal... Max thought that was great. Then he heard us say that he was kissed by a man... Now he tells everyone that Michael was kissed in Bali by a boy and he's a boy too!!! So now that I have warped my kids idea of Chrismas and gave them their first taste of Drag, I am sure that I will be paying for their therapy for years to come.

It was definatley a Christmas I will never forget and even the boys can't wait until we go to Bali next year for Christmas!

On the serious side

2009-01-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

so we moved to Perth with the hopes of adventure. We have seen the Indian Ocean at sunset, we have BBq'd on the beach and went to Bali at Christmas. My kids are thriving and I have even made a few friends. I really like it here. So here is the issue, Curtis has an amazing opportunity, he is one of only 7 people in the world who know how to run a new tool designed by Weatherford. Now Weatherford Slickline, the division he works for here is just starting and is a bit slow, They have made up for this by giving him courses that will only advance him back in Canada, they have provided us a trip home a year and have made it possible for us to live here while they get everthing sorted out as per the comapny stuff. Curtis (husband) was hoping that a few of his buddies back home would come over to Perth and work with him., well 2 of his closest buddies have fell in love and are doing really well where they are in Canada. they have just told him that they were no longer thinking that Australia was in there best interest.. I have to agree with them. Due to their lack of experience they would not be offred the same package that Curtis was and with the lack of work thus far, I also think that it would be not in their best interest to leave what they have on a maybe. For us it has been worth it. Both the ups and the downs has brought us closer as a family and the rewards to his career are priceless, even if they don't count for much here. He is missing his friends and I understand that. Curtis has been waiting for the last 7 months for his friend that will not come, while I knew that mine would never come to vistit. I made new ones and kept in touch with the great ones I had for when I return to Canada. It all came to a head tonight, combined with too much scotch, the pity party has begun, he also found out that this father and mother who had quit smoking due to his fathers heart attack a year and a half ago have started again, which means that I am not to answer their calls, in case it is another bad news call, due to their stupidity. It is hard to be the supportive wife to a husband who doesn't want to listen to reason right now. I know that tomorrow when sobriety hits that it will all make a bit more sense to him. I also know that he feels less than worthy because he is slow at work and not bring in the money he used to. It is still all that we need and the experience is worth more than I can put into words. We are not suffering and in fact are doing just fine. We have had to alternate our lifestyle a bit, but I think for the good. Thanks for listening to me bitch and moan. I sure hope he sees what an oppourtunty we have here and does not take it for granted. My rule is to regret the things you have done and not the things you didn't.

2008-12-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

When is it Swearing?

2008-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

So I have a 4 year old boy who goes to Kindy. At school they have a religion class. Now that it is the Christmas season the kids are learning about Jesus. Now I would like to start off saying that I am not very religious, but I am spiritual. So Max, my wonderful 4 year old fell down on the tiles in the kitchen the other day and drops "Jesus" He must have heard his father say this one more than one occasion, because he sure didn't get it from me. I almost wrote that without laughing...Anyway. I now had to talk with his teacher to tell her that although I don't encourage swearing, and under normal circumstances my boys are pretty good and don't swear. I just thought I should give her the heads up because you know when he spills something at school he may say it. Now he is allowed to say "Jesus" at school, because they are learning about him, he started to say it all over the place.

So I now have to try to explain to my little Blasphemer that "Jesus" is a word that should only be used if you are talking about him, not to be used when things don't go your way. Jesus.

Name That Smell!

2008-11-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

So I was reading my BFF's blog and Beau had a mystery smell in her laundry room and it brought back some pretty painful memories of my own. So here they are:

It was a little over 7 years ago and I was just pregnant with Cyrus. Now if you have ever been pregnant you sense of smell is heightened to some level as what dogs hear at. It was early morning in the summer and I noticed a smell, it wasn't that bad and was eliminated with the lighting of a candle and opening up a window. So I carried on with my day. The smell kept getting worse as the day wore on and the heat of the day swept in.

Curtis came home for lunch that day and said "whoa, what is that smell" together we spent the next hour looking for the stench. He went back to work and I started to power clean the house determined to find the odor. By the end of the day I could barely stand to be inside with what now has become the stench of what I can only assume is a rotting carcass of some sort.

At 5pm I had all but given up and was just going to move out and find a new place to live. Curtis got home and almost passed out when he walked in the front door. I was sitting outside and figured this was no doubt some how his fault and he could deal with it. So here we are again, looking for the stench.

On a small table in the kitchen next to my tiny deepfreeze is a couple of balled up Walmart and Safeway plastic bags, the ones you use for garbage. So Curtis picks them up and further investigates. Under the wad of bags is yet another wad of bags and one of them is leaking some kind of Motor Oil.....weird right.... Yeah well we have indeed found the smell. Turns out that when you take minnows (bait) out the freezer and don't put them back in they tend to rot and turn into a oil of sorts. They had infact taken on a life of their own and were only a day a way from walking themselves to the garbage.

Well now that we had found the smell the next problem was eliminating it. So my cute little table was taken out and we spent the next 3 days with all the windows and doors open trying to rid the left over smell. There was also quite a lot of swearing done by me and a few death threats to Curtis that if he ever, ever brought bait into the house again the smell of HIS rotting carcass would be the problem.

I don't think I will ever forget that smell as long as I live.

So a couple years pass and again we play the name that smell game, Round 2....
everytime I walk into the kitchen it smells funky, around the fridge area. I open the fridge door and peek in, no smell, I close the door and smell it again. It is rank and I can't find where the smell is coming from or what would cause it. I procede to clean out the entire fridge. I take everything out and get the spraynine and give it a well overdue cleaning out. I close the door and I can still smell it.

Well it can't be coming from the fridge so I take everything out of the cupboard near the fridge, I clean out and under the microwave, still the smell eludes me. At this point I am tired and cranky and overwhelming stench is still there. I make Curtis pull out the fridge and I clean under it, put it back and I can still smell it.

I open the fridge and the smell is gone, close the fridge, smell is there....WTF. So I am now getting a bit hungry and we head out to Micky D's for dinner, come back and I open upo the fridge to grab the ketchup out of the door.... Wow found the smell.....In the door where I didn't clean was some black forrest ham from the deli that Curtis had bought who knows when and had forgotten about. So when I walked by the closed fridge I could smell it, but when I opened the door and smelled inside I couldn't. Once I got rid of the ham, I got rid of the smell.

Now you must now be thinking who are these people and why do they live like that? I have no answers for you. I am thinking the same thing. I don't claim to be a housekeeper, but my home is usually tidy. I never worry that when I sit on the sofa I will be sitting on a PB and J sandwhich as well. Yet on these rare occasions something gets by me and it is like I am living in the houses you see on talk shows, you know the ones where the womans house is so horrible you think my God how can people live like that.

Anyway, that is my horrible smell story and I feel for you Beau and anyone else who has suffered the fate of bait left out, or the hamster that escaped and you prayed that it found its way out of your house only to find out days later that in fact it was not so lucky....here's to you!

I am going to have a glass of wine now and try to once again bury those memories....

The Things Kids Say!

2008-11-04T00:06:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been out in public and have your children say something so loud and so embarassing that you spend the next 10 minutes trying to find a place to hide and the next 5 minutes looking for their "real" parents....

Well a couple of weeks ago we are at the mall doing a bit of shopping. It was a nice day and we were able to get everything we were looking for. That so seldom happens and on top of it all the kids were so good and well behaved that we thought we would buy them an ice cream on the way out.

So here are ice cream in hand on our way out of the mall, we are laughing and having a great time when off to the side Cyrus my six year old sees something that is worth his undivided attention...

Background, we are from Alberta Canada and don't see a lot of Afganistan Women out and about...

So he spies this lady in a full Burka (I think that is what it is called) she is covered head to toe in all black with all that is showing is a slit for her eyes, it really was quite beautiful...

Enter Cyrus..."look mom a NINJA, a real life NINJA" oh my he was so excited and really loud.
Now you would think that people would have a sense of humor about these things, she was with children, but no.

So I quickly usser him out of the mall, shusshing him all the way, meanwhile, he keeps saying how cool it is that he just seen a real life ninja. Well I could hardly burst his bubble, as we made our way out of earshot of anyone, I agreed that it was very cool, but we should probably keep it a secret between us otherwise his friends would be jealous!

My Life as a Rock Star!

2008-11-03T23:35:00.000-08:00

So I went back to Canada and came back with Franks Red Hot Sauce, Cookies and Cream Oatmeal and Ceaser Salad Dressing! It was an amazing trip. I flew into Tokyo and met 2 very wonderful women from Perth. A lovely lady who has a tattoo shop here in town run by all women and a stripper on her way to Vegas to interview for a job at Planet Hollywood! Good Luck to you! So we sat and ate and drank really good beer, once we found it! Which is hard if you don't speak Japanese, however I do know where the phones are at the airport.

So Canada was great, I had so many good laughs it was nice to be back for a bit. So on the flight home, I again find myself in Tokyo with a bit if a wait. So I head on down to the smoking lounge. Yes you can still smoke in the airport in Tokyo! So usually everyone is quiet and tries not to make eye contact, so you don't get stuck hearing someones life story when all you really want to do is relax, be glad your not on a cramped airplane and enjoy your death stick in peace!

So there is a guy there and he is very friendly and he tells me a bit about himself and asks me what I do and where I was coming from and where I am off to. Turns out we are sitting in the same row on the next flight into Perth. He is really nice so I tell him I was just at the Everything To Do With Sex Show in Toronto and that I do home parties for Passion Parties... Well next thing I know he tells me that he is Rick's The drummer from Def Leopards guy, and wouldn't you know the whole band is sitting right there!!!

Wait for it.....

So we get on the flight and I talk with some more people from the band... he asks for my card and if he can get some "goodies" for the band to give to their wives!

So now we land in Perth and I don't get hassled at customs for once and am outside enjoying the fresh air and stretching my legs. And who do I see but Rick and yes I got a picture of us together! We chatted it was nice. Then Tod the "guy" comes out, tells me he will call or email and get in touch. So on Halloween I was picking up VIP tickets for the Def Leopard concert in Perth and handing over some Passion!

So not really a rock star, but pretty frick'n close!!

How to eat like a Canadian in Perth

2008-09-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

So here I am, missing the food from home. I don't know what we put in the cheddar cheese to make it orange, but don't be fooled, that is what makes it good!

So I called in some help and I got a recipe for perogies. That's right I made perogies from scratch and they turned out really well.

I also had some friends mail me some hot sauce....they just don't have it here, they have some sort of chilli sauce, but it isn't the same. You also have to be very choosy where you get your pizza from or you can make it yourself, also a good way to get the kids doing something on a rainy day....They love to "decorate" their own pizza!

Wow I just realized that all of the above includes cheese...could be because the coffee here is just like a laxative, no need for extra fiber. There's no joke there.

2008-09-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

From Canada to Ausrtalia

2008-09-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

So a couple of years ago, my husband started thinking about his career and making a bit more money and going to work off shore. He had numerous job offers....for Iran, Yemmin, Dubai....so we left it alone.

All of a sudden he gets a call from a comapany in Australia and they want to fly him down for an interview..... Well yeah!

So off he goes, he is gone for a week, by the time I pick him up at the airport, I have sold our car, put an add in the paper to rent out our house and I am making arrangements to move.

It all seemed to have happened so fast, but the within a month we were gone. We left Canada with 10 suitcases and 4 carry-ons. We moved to Perth. It was sad to leave everyone I knew, my family and friends... we took grandchildren away from our parents and are still reminded that it isn't to late to change our minds and come home. But we were embarking on a new adventure for our family. The experience alone would be invaluable.

So after a 28 hour flight and 2 layovers we were here. And so it begins.....

It is late as we arrive at the airport, the kids are tired and just glad to be off the plane, however customs was another issue... The guy with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle....you know who you are...

We get to the apartment that the new company has provided us. It is really nice and swank, but it is an apartment in East Perth, near the CBD (downtown) and I still have 2 rowdy boys, who need to be near a playground or in a school. So 3 weeks there, Curtis has to fly out for a job and the kids and I are alone in a strange city.

So we did a bunch of walking, learned how to take the train and the bus, even watched a live rugby game at the Oval across the street. Curtis came home and we checked out the most beautiful beaches and the Fremantle Market, met some new friends and re-connected with some old ones. We had a great day at the Zoo and Kings Park and started to look for a better place to live.

So we move into our new home, I really like it, it is small, but clean and new and close to the school and the beach and shopping. The kids would like to have something a bit bigger and they remind me all the time that we DON'T have a basement.

Now the kids are in school about to finish their third term of the year. Summer is just begining and the beaches are still beautiful.

I do miss coffee with my neighbors and backyard fires, but When Cyrus is in school and Max and I spend the entire day making sandcastles and playing in the waves and Cyrus is so excited to learn everything he can about Australia and to see how they were able to settle in and adjust so quickly has been amazing.

Now the spiders don't yet seem to have come out from the winter, or I have been to busy to notice them, however, much more troubling has been the COCKROACHES!!! Frickin gross, I have seen 5 in my driveway getting close to my front door. I am not ok with that at all. I have gotten used to not having bacon, the instant coffee, the cheese, the fact that my toilet is in a closet and that I could load my new car up in the back of my truck I left in Canada, but there is no getting used to the cockroaches, Shivers and heebie jeebies...

A bit about me....

2008-09-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well I have just turned 30! I couldn't be happier about that. To me there was little worse than being that lady down the street with a couple of kids...pushing 30? I wasn't pushing anything. So now I am officially 30 and it feels great. I have a wonderful husband and I can count on one hand all the big fights we have had in just over 10 years. We have 2 beautiful boys and I am proud to say that I am their mom.

I routinely do really dumb things and strongly believe them to be learning experiences...once I bought my kids desks that turned out to be cardboard boxes...desks $214.00...lesson in recycling..priceless....Comments from my husband....are still costing him, lol!

I have the best friends in the world. I have the kind of friends that I can call in the middle of the night and know that they will answer the phone just to hear me cry. I have realized that life is too short not to be surrounded by people who bring out the best in you. I also have realized that life is too short not to eliminate the people who bring out the worst in you from your life.

My life has taken in me to many wonderful places, sometimes those places were just around the corner, but wonderful none the less.

I love to cook, camp, try new adventures, spend time with great friends and family, enjoy a good glass of red wine. The best thereapy I have found is putting the kids to bed early, opening a bottle of wine and cleaning house while listing to your favorite music and wear a pair of your favorite shoes. (that part is important) When you wake up the next day, your house is clean and your head is still in a bit of a fog and your problems don't seem to be that bad anymore.

I love to scrapbook all of my memories and read, Thans to a great friend, I have read 6 of the best books about a brotherhood....it is dark and sexy and makes you glad to be a women.

Apart from being a wife and mother, I am also a Passion Parties Ind. Consultant. Something that I tried doing about 3 years ago for fun. As it turns out I am really good at my new job and love it! I have met the most interesting people and in the process found out that in fact I did have room for more friends in my life.