Boxing Day!

December 26th Is Boxing Day!

For all my USA followers, No this is not a day were Canadians sit around to watch boxing or anything to do with the sport of Boxing. (cheeky laugh here)

As far as I can tell its just like Black Friday in the USA.... something I never took part of and often thought people were nuts for even daring to go out on Black Friday....(Yes even you Mom) :)

Today my wonderful husband got up at 5:15ish and started hunting for the best deals on a TV... our friends were thinking about starting a fund raiser due to how old are TV was....  with that, I thought it was about time for us to finally break down and get one of em fancy little flat screens ALL MY FRIENDS have.

So at 5:25AM I crawled out of my warm bed ...sleepy eyed,  walked into the kitchen to start fixing coffee and cereal bowls.....(I could not help but to feel some pleasure as we woke the kids up...payback is Ours) as they grumpily asked us WHY we were getting them up in the middle of the Night....(mind you just the morning before .... Christmas DAY we were up at 5:35AM, they had smiles of glee plastered on their faces with squeals of pure delight!)

My husband tells us we have 15 minutes before we have to get out of the house to make it there by 6:00AM .... Can you believe people really want to get to the store by SiX O'clocK in THE MORNING just TO BUY STUFF!

OK we are in the car!....town is kinda slow, not many cars on the road.... feeling this is going to be good. "Not many people out on the roads hun....maybe its not like the States Black Friday after all." I say to my husband. Then as we come up to the store OUR eyes open WIDE .... we circle the block of the little mini mall.... People LINED UP all around the BLOCK.... CAN you believe it! AROUND the WHOLE freaking block just for one store... of course nothing else was open except a little cafe.

My husband looks at me as we try to pull into the unopened parking garage "damn the parking deck is not even open... forget this Lets just go home... I can't EVEN find a parking spot!" Then one of my wonderful children perk up "sure you can Daddy...you can find somewhere to park...we are up now lets go in." I agreed with them as my other children joined in saying "Lets go in...Lets go in...see if we can get a new TV Daddy!"

Its now 6:00am, we park a block away from the store at least we could see the doors from where we were. Our eyes light up as we sit and watch the people go inside. "cool they opened the doors ..Lets go!" We make way over to the entrance and see they are stopping people only letting a few at a time. I look at my husband and then the kids, they seem like they are game to stand in line. 6:06am... we are in the doors!
By 6:45am We are OUT with OUR Brand New TV and Wall mount! WHEW!

That place was a MAD HOUSE....But somehow we got in and out within less then 40 minutes!! I felt bad for the people that spent all Night  camping out, waiting in line just to beat us by 6 minutes....
To each is there own.

Until next time .... Happy Shopping!

Christmas Eve...

Today is Christmas, Yay for family fun and cheers!

I love this time of year, it makes me smile to watch my children's eyes light up with joy, to see family come together and bond with all walls down even if it is just for a day, gifts of from the past and rooms filled with love. That is what December 25th is for me.

However until yesterday I never knew how important December 24th was to me. Yesterday I had to work, I said I would work....so a co-worker could enjoy her holiday tradition of a German style Christmas. Little did I realize December 24th is just as important to me as December 25th.

My husbands family always had done Christmas on the 24th and since we are not in North Carolina to be with them, we chose to let the kids still open one present each on this day to still hold tradition so to speak. So yesterday morning I had not finished all the wrapping and I had to quickly wrap a gift so it could be given out to one of my girls, I wished to myself while wrapping that I had time to do all the gifts that were left....in totally were about 5, I also still had the shopping bug and wished that I could have bought a few more things.

I know most people do shopping early and each year I say to myself next year I will not be shopping on the eve of the 25th. That promise came true this year, and boy it hurt. It hurt to watch the kids open the first gift and me not be able to watch them play with them. It hurt to watch them do the final shop with out me. It hurt not to have time to fix a good breakfast or dinner as I have done so many years before.

I have learned from this..... I really need to watch what I say! I know I have the power to make things real.

Today we were up at 5:30am and I had a smile on my face knowing how painful it can be to not be there to share with your family. For this lesson I am thankful for working on one of the most important days of the year in my families little world. Cherish time....

And until next time....Happy Holidays!

I don't Know...to..... I will figure it out!

About two months ago I was talking to a friend and I noticed that I said " I don't know" like three times back to back. I looked at my friend and told her I really need to stop saying that. She then told me that I also said that a few months before. She said It would be nice for me to think of something else to say... However from that point on I would catch myself saying "I don't know". Then it got to the point were I would not say it, but I would think it... over and over again. Then I would get mad at myself for feeling like I have no power over breaking this bad habit of I don't knows. Now that I think back to my past, I had always "I don't know" through my whole life. Well I am ready to Know, I am ready to stop IDKing my life away. I know once I set my mind to make something happen.. I have the power to make it happen, but often times I lose that power, that drive, and I go back to my fence of I don't knows... it is what I feel is my safe place... I realize that now it is not a healthy safe place. I am looking for a new healthy way to live... on the path of I will figure it out!

This is the comment I left on Owningpink.com a Blog page I love to follow now....  check it out.
http://www.owningpink.com/blogs/owning-pink/the-i-dont-know-conspiracy

Thank you Owningpink ... The topics that are written in each blog really move me to become more positive, more driven and less of a fence sitter... each day I fight the battle of thinking to much to the point of doing nothing at all.... Today is the day I will stop thinking about things to much and saying I don't know.... Today "I will figure it out"!

Life comes at you...

Sorry I have not written in awhile, Life came at me!

Between working, the kids school play, holiday shopping and fighting with my landlord, there was not much time to actually sit down and write anything....

Heck I did not even cook but once this week, which is not like me at all. I make a meal plan once a week and I stick to it. I love food, it brings me great joy to cook.

Even though I did not get to do the things I enjoy most which is cooking and writing, I have been doing other things I enjoy, I have been reading Smart Women Finish Rich ( which I have already read twice).....going to the kids Christmas show ..(which was so great to see everyone so welcoming to the holiday spirit).....Also I have been searching eBay trying to get a grasp of how it works again a seller. And of course SHOPPING I just love buying gifts, I picture the smiles and excitement in the persons eyes when they open the gift, I am going to buy them, it really warms my heart to give gifts! Sometimes I wish I had more money so I could give Everyone I know Gifts...but life gets in the way of that too sometimes.

Then there were things I had to do that I did not enjoy such as ....Fighting with my landlord, which I am not even going to write about, cleaning, driving the van back from SSI (which I have never driven in the city and at night time..OMG lets not even go there!)

Working is not so bad, I really love talking coffee with people and when I have a good team player that is positive to work with it makes it really GREAT! Today was not one of those days and my team player ended up walking out on her shift and she wanted me to get caught up in the drama...

Anyways this is going to be a short one... I am tired, my second long day of standing on my feet talking coffee, and Boy are those holiday shoppers mean! I do hope they turn on those pretty smiles and when people open the gifts and the room fills with delight..... because if they are like how they are in these holiday shopping days, the room is going to be uptight.

Until next time ..... Happy Shopping and please remember to say Excuse me Please when you hit someone with your shopping buggy!

Joy of Food!

How many people take the time to make REAL homemade food these days?


With busy times, life in the fast lane of this work work work, money driven world we forget about the simple things in life. Yet we try to focus on how can we make ourselves healthier, marketing does a great job of confusing what is "healthy" good for you foods and what is not. We are told to read the labels, do research, OMG the stress of it all!

Buy organic ..no buy local.... can you really afford local and organic? Shop here, no shop there.

With all this said.... I would love to have a green house, were I could grow my own veggies all year long. Be able to buy local fresh meats that are possibly organic.
However with a family of 5 ... out the door is the possibilities of Organic Milk that cost almost 10 dollars a gallon. Then people say "Oh I do not drink cow Milk... due to reasons of A, B and C... I drink soy or almond..." which both are processed foods as well.... is that really better for you?
Some people even frown or look shocked when I tell them I buy real butter... well atleast what the food store calls real butter.... and lets not mention the word Lard...

I learned how to cook on the stove top at a fairly young age and loved being in the kitchen, there I learned how to make alot of homemade foods...

I believe homemade foods stick with you alot longer then the pre-packaged just simmer on the stove  or pop in the microwave for a few minutes kinda foods.


Over time I would go back & forth on homemade foods. My husband and I would spend many weekends in the kitchen pre-making meals for the week... while he and I both worked full time jobs. Every once in awhile I would look at my husband with this LOOK of  is it all worth it...  At times became a chore and with that out went the JOY of Food.

Now that we live in Canada  I am learning about healthier ways to eat.... what is healthy to some is not healthy to others.... but I do think you should not cut out all the "bad" stuff. There have been to many times where I have heard  "the most said healthiest people" die suddenly of heart failure or something that just went wrong within their body ... I think its because we have taken the JOY of FOOD out of our lives.

Now I am learning to bake... more then just cookies, cakes and pies... I am teaching myself the art of breads....doughs, homemade biscuits, pizzas, tortillas, pie crust, not just sweet pies but meat pies as well!
Even though I cook with things like real butter and lard, I rarely cook DEEP FRIED foods...
 I can say I know mostly what is really in the Foods I eat, I am trying to put the JOY of Foods back into my Daily Life, and learning that just because its good for you doesn't mean it can not have Flavor!

<-----Check out this cookbook for all your cooking needs!
It truly is the only cookbook you will ever need.

I've Been Swipped!

I have been Swiped!!!

Yes you heard Right.... To bad I was not there to Say "Swipper NO Swiping!"

Some Lovely person skimmed my Debit Card Number, as I punched the secret code into the hand held key pad was able to take all my info. This also Happened to my Husbands Card as well.

Then to my understanding they took a blank card, gave that card all my info, which lets them go to ANY ATM, and use it as their own.

Here I am getting all huffy & puffy because I can not seem to make a deposit at the local ATM with my card and put Money into my account. So I leave the ATM to talk to the people at the local bank to find out why I am not able to money into the bank...... I am thinking to myself...."What Bank in the World would not let you PUT MONEY INTO IT". The bank teller was very nice, explained to me that it must have something to do with my bank card or my bank, they were even kind enough to look up the number for my bank since THE NUMBER was not even on the Bloody card!

So here I go out the door calling my bank, while I am walking to the food store to buy nuts and chips for my yummy cookies.... DAMN I have to leave a message... Ok I leave the message.... I hope she calls soon but after I am out of the store, Its Friday and I really don't want to play phone tag, I REALLY WANT TO FIND OUT WHY ..I can not put money into the Bank Account!

Into the store I go.... I find the nuts and the chocolate chips, I am excited... I happily go up to the counter to pay for my goodies thinking about the yummy treats I am going to have for my kiddoes and husband when they get home... AND then something makes me frown... I look up to the nice lady working the counter, and she goes "Your card has made its Limit" I am thinking Limit... "my card doesn't have a limit" she says "would you like to swipe it again" I say No and hand her my American debit card. Complaining that I could not even put money into my account, she tells me that "ALOT of people today is having that same problem." I thank her....

Home bound I go...trying to think how this has happened, hoping the lady at the Bank calls me back soon. So as I am chopping my nuts, she does call... and I firmly explain to her that I am upset because it seems like something is going on with my card or the Banking system Every month... and she firmly tells me back "we do this for your protection etc." She tells me to go to my online banking account and WHACK (yes I felt hit in the face) as my focus on the missing dollars from my account from an ATM from two towns over. A heavy Sigh came from me and I ask how this happens... come to find out it happens alot in the area I live in. She tells me not to use any free standing ATMs in malls and such... which I rarely do anyways. She also informs me that it can happen even in normal shops such as food stores and clothing stores, She tells me I just have to get a feel of the place and the people that are checking me out...and when I am taking money out use a bank ATM...

Needless to say "AWW MAN", its Christmas shopping time and I have a check I can not seem to get cashed... I think life is testing me once again and if I just bought that TV I had my eye on we would not even had the money in the account to get taken in the first place.... hummm maybe my new motto is SPEND IT WHILE you can...because if you DON'T someone else will!

Self Love...

Self Love sounds like the most easiest thing to do...Right?

However, I believe its one of the hardest things to do..especially if you do not know How you lost it in the first place.

When we are babies all we know is self love, and no one judges us for that .... we cry when we are hungry, thirsty, hurt, for all the needs to be meet. As we grow we are expected not to be so needy of others, we are encouraged to learn for ourselves and try new things. As we move into being adults it turns and we need to be there for others and sometimes we get lost.

Looking back at one time in my life I do feel; I knew what Self Love was.... I was PROUD to be the Person I was... and some where along this path I lost it... My Mother likes to call it my FIRE, I like to believe she was speaking about my spirit.

I had children at what some people think is an early age.
I had my son, 2 months before my 21st birthday. Then about 2 and half years later I had my twins....

I am unsure how or when but some where along the way I Lost myself Love. And yes Even though I was what normal people would call Young, my soul is old and I have been told I have wisdom beyond my years of age.

I also know it was not something that happened overnight.... I am Strong... I am a Fighter!

I still became Broken.... I was judged... I was shamed.... I felt unable to be a good mother for my children because I did not meet others expectations of what They thought a good Mother was. I fought to be a good mother. I tried to change, slowly my spirit died.... my Fire as my Mother called is was almost gone... I Gained ALOT of weight, which gave me more judgements.....and self judgements .....(thoughts of how did I let it get this way, is this really who I am, am I nuts?) Nothing I did pleased them and no matter how hard I tried it was never good enough... they always wanted more. I thought I was going insane....
At this time I did not know what reflections were....
All I knew was people I thought loved me and I looked up to; found faults with things I believed were right and set out to go against everything I did, wanted, and believed. Even made it seem as if I was just out to get them... which was not like me at all....  and over time I started to believe them.

I knew DEEP DOWN I was a good mother. 

Thankfully I have Angels, that watch over me, my children and my husband.
Those angels sent me to good Nice people, people that gave me hope and held my flame from burning out.
People that told me on a daily bases that I was a good person, I was smart, funny and a proud momma, they prayed for me and wished me well on any path I took in life. They held no judgements toward me, even though they knew I was different from them. They truly showed me what love was.

With that I knew myself Love was still there ( the fighter inside me would not give up) but it was burning really low, everything was running low.... only a small dim light showed a path.... and I knew this path would forever change my life.

Our move to Salt Spring Island was a challenge, we were tested, we fought hard and were blessed with more angels...

Life On Salt Spring was different from anything I could ever imagine, when people ask I just shake my head and smile, I can not explain to them what life is like there...

I often wish I made better use of my time on SSI with making friends and enjoying the island life. However I knew I had alot of self healing and reconnecting to do with my family.... after being Broken for so long I forgot who I was and my trust for people was not so great. When we first moved to SSI I Cried Ever Single Day, then slowly it turned into once a week, it turn into random odd times, and I still cry jut not as often or as hard.... I knew I was healing, slowly the weight I had gained was coming off, it felt like it was just melting off of me. A small handful of people came into my life on SSI and I am thankful to those people. They are my angels.

Now that we live in the city .... I am healing in a new way, self Discovery.... and self Love.

Learning that its OK to be Who I am... I am honest, funny, smart, talented, passionate, thankful, nonjudgmental and cheeky.

I am stepping out slowly trying to make connections, finding myself, learning that I am a good person.
I strive to be a great mother and wife, but not to others expectations ( well maybe some of my husbands). But mainly to myself and trust me No one in this world is harder on me then Me.... with that being said I have to learn that I am not perfect and love even my flaws.
I am learning how to forgive and I hope to earn forgiveness....
I am learning to let go of anger from my past,
I am learning how to forgive myself and to fall in love with myself.
and I do all this in hopes to show my children the path of self Love.

Our Dependency on Computers

Today I lost all battery and power to my laptop... it just would not recharge!

The day before that I learned that I needed to let my children have more computer time and teach them how to create files, search the web, create docs.... I was even giving a web address to an interactive learning website for my girls to learn and play.

My Children have a computer in there classroom called the SMART BOARD!
If you have not seen one its Super NEAT! To have that in the class room give kids so much advancement its Mind Blowing!

One of my girls came home and said the most cutest thing.... She said: "Momma I really like the FIRST computer." and of course I say "Which one is that?" She goes " you know that one that makes noise and has a Bell when you come to the end of the line." I could not help but laugh and say "Oh you mean a Typewriter!"

However, I also understand how addictive the Internet can be, how you can get sucked up into the cyber world, I even learned this at the age of 16 years old. So I have held my children back from spending time on the computer; even with parent control my son can by pass it....

So with that being said...
It's amazing to me how far we have come with the need for computers in daily life....

Anyone that has come to my home has seen my collection of cookbooks, Yet I still search the web for recipes... such as flour tortillas, I had a recipe for corn tortillas but not one for flour .... And lets Face It.... West Cost Canada has a high Asian influence and I do love Most Asian food; However I do Miss my Mexican food.... And I just have not found really good tortillas here....So when my Laptop died; Out the window went my recipe for Tonight's Dinner!

I also use the Internet for my job search, connecting with family and friends.... it is my main social outlet.

Sometimes I wonder...does anyone keep a hard copy... I mean with everything going "Green" and we do not want to waste paper... If the world went off the grid what would happen? Business rely on POS systems, Bookkeepers use some kind of web based system, Even our Banking system is computer Ran. Rarely do I see people actually give hand written anything.... even work communication is done by texting or emails... gone with the days of sticky notes, pencils and paper...

Would we even know how to function with out being on the Grid or would the world Turn Mad?

Demo in Hell

Have you ever been a Demo person, Promotional Model, Sales Rep.... However you spin it... Whatever you call it You are still trying to get X customer to buy X product by sampling and talking.


On Monday, I felt Like a cross between the Walmart greeter for Nesters and little orphan Annie with the WoRST SPOT In the whole Store....


I was Right beside the Monster energy Drinks, with the recycling bin behind me (out of reach from the customers) The Lottery Table to my left (which I was in the way of) and shopping buggies (the people were nice enough to not hit me or the demo table with the buggies... Even If I was all up in their Way.) 
 A horrible spot I tell you!


My Contact person was not there, I felt totally out of place and the customers looked at me like I bothered them and should not be there. It was possibly one of the worst job experience I have ever had.


I could not even see my product I was selling, it was impossible to put product in hand of the consumer. I didn't even have space to have a small display of the product I was trying to sell. My whole selling tact was Gone! Most people Rushed by me like the plague....and those who did take my sample was out of pity.


I did however show up at the Demo a hour early to make sure I was able to set up and have all the kinks worked out... I am a planner! I like to have order, know what is going on and how it should be done. Since this was my first demo with this product line... I thought that being early was a good idea. I felt Like I was thrown to the wolves.... and that hour early turned out to not be so early by the time the person in charge got around to letting me know where to set-up and helping me find a table to fit into the Tiny Space he felt I was going to be successful at..... (I had brought my own table..however as I said the space was TINY) ....or atleast I hope that was his thoughts even though it felt like a horrible punishment. I even cried before I started the demo.... I did not want to be there.

 I have done many demos.... Even Been a Fragrance Model... you know The Ladies that try to spray you with perfume when you go through the Mall department store! (Yes that was even another Family time thing where I needed money for Christmas, and my mother in law thought I would be good at it... And I was, I enjoy helping people... I even would show people other lines that I was not even working for.) My high customer Service skills let me meet or beat my goals and I was asked If I wanted to work past the season for more events.

Anyways Back to the Demo In Hell....
I mean honestly how many of you tried to do something and you felt like you were not welcomed At All. I wanted to run.... and hide. To top it off I had to go back and do Another Demo with the same product line...Thankfully it was at a different Nesters Location...

Which there again the Contact person acted like He knew Nothing of me coming... But he was nice, found me a great spot and the staff was friendly. I think I did a pretty good job at this demo....

However I know I Never want to do a demo for Nesters again!

MMmmmm Brownies!

I Love Brownies... when I was little brownies with walnuts was one of my favorite treats!

Today I thought it would be a good idea to make homemade brownies with one of my little girls.... With OUT a Hand Held Mixer....yes sometimes I think I am out of my mind!

But today is Sunday and I always like to have a treat after Sunday Dinner; tonight we are having Baked Salmon with  Hot Sesame Spaghetti.

Anyways...Brownies... I was thinking this can be easy with no mixer... they made all kind of yummy treats by hand before they had a mixer why can't I?

 So here I am trying to "mix" the sugar and the butter together with my rubber spatula and cutting it with two knives.... and I am finding its just not wanting to cream together. My Little girl is asking me ...."Can we used this Mommy? Or why not use that Mommy?" And just when I thought about giving up and digging my hands full into the gritty Mixture.... When My beloved husband walks in with an inexpensive hand held Mixer. That Made Our Day... brownies that take maybe 20 minutes to make was almost going to take 2 hours... That was not including bake time!

They are in the Oven now, and I hope they turn out to be everything I imaged... Thanks to my Husband for saving the day!

Big Box Stores... what is your thoughts?

A Few Weeks ago I did a demo in a Costco downtown....

I almost could Not help but to fall in Love with the Prices... the deal on toys, games and of course the FOOD!

However the one thing I really Really Loved about Salt Spring Island was there was no Walmart or McD's!

I am not saying we never shopped at Walmart, Sams Club, and Bj's ....when we are our business it was easy to make a quick trip to one of the Big Box Stores... to pick up the Oh Shit item I forgot to order.

Also with a family of 5 ..sometimes its hard to not go to Walmart or Sams Club to buy the most popular toy your child wants, or to do that one stop shopping of everything to a oil change to bread and milk. I remember when we lived in Gastonia and they built the Walmart on our side of town. We were drawn to it! I cringed almost every time we went in...filled with aggressive shoppers, veggies looking on their last leg and really that meat has had that yellow sticker how long? For awhile it become a habit and just so easy to go for whatever you needed. We slowly broke the habit of going almost every week, But we still did shop there, just not as often.

So anyways, I have been off the Big Box Stores for 2 & half years now.... and Today I broke down and Bought a Costco membership.. a whooping $55 CADs.

Not sure if that is a good thing or not....

However there is a 40" Samsung Flat Screen TV for under $500 CAD's I have my eye on!

I ♥ CoFFee!

For anyone who knows me Now would see this and Think well YEAH DuH!

But for anyone that knew me in my past... They would know I was a pure die hard Pepsi girl... I even thought I would grow up and get a Pepsi tattoo! That is just how much I LoVeD Pepsi.

I remember my first cup of coffee...

I was about 16 or so, I was at my friends house two Sisters named Crystal and Tiffany. Their mom was fixing some coffee in a Coffee maker, I was Like ... can I try some....Oh that creamy goodness I thought when I took my first sip. But then something strange happen... I got really sleepy... Which I thought was just a bit odd...but I still thought the taste was good... So later that week I watched my mom wake up, heat her water in the microwave and then put two teaspoon scoops of "Flavor Crystals" in her sunflower mug, I asked if could have some, I told her I drank some at a friends house and I liked it.. Well Boy was I in for a shock! WHAT THE HELL are FLAVOR CRYSTALS.... After that I left coffee alone.

That is Until I went to work for Joe Muggs.

I really wanted to work in the book store (Books A Million), but I figured working for the cafe side was just as good as any... How hard could it be to make some Coffee... hehehhe Little did I know..huh?

Well I order my cappuccino with my momma by my side; Thinking about the commercials on T.V. with the spooning in the creamy goodness of frothy Milk. I took my first sip while my Momma had this drum roll look, I made the grosses face Ever.... I leaned over whispering  "Momma this is some Nasty Shit". She Giggled hard and looked over at who is now my Husband... and she whispered..."Well he Looks like he knows what he is doing....Lets add some Sugar" She stirred and stirred... complaining there was no coffee, what in the Hell was this drink and giggled more... we ended up running to the bathroom to pour it out! (Shhh I didn't just say that!) O.o

I went on to work for Joe Muggs, and my Trainer Steph made me try every Drink so I would know what it tasted Like... I groaned and made a face, Steph giggled with a cheeky grin and said "Well if you want to work here?".... After making and trying all the different drinks, I found one that I Loved... It was a Little Treat of Heaven...Mocha Breva' over Ice.  (It was more Like Latte' since it was over Ice... but hey what did I know? I just found something I liked)
As time went on I slowly learned to cut out the half and half, then cutting out the chocolate...I learned... If the espresso is good and the shot is made right You can taste the sweetness with out all the extra flavoring.

I Now Drink Coffee Black of course Over Ice... I no longer Must have Pepsi...I do not even think about Pepsi, Unless I have a moment of weakness at the Mall.

I could go on about Coffee and how it has effected my life... but this is it for now..Until next time.

Enjoy!

To Drink or Not to Drink..... in front of the kids....

Ok so ... Here it is... I "Like" this page on Facebook called I <3 Being a Mom...about 8 other of my Facebook friends also "Like" this page.

So when the post today was "Nothing like a drink after a long work day" I was thinking to myself..."Like" then I looked down at the "likes" and then how many comments were made about that post... It was at 5000 likes maybe and 900 some odd comments. Most of these comments were Mothers saying how bad it is to drink in front of there kids..some comments were off topic and others were trying to find some commend ground.....

Of course I had to make a post.. basically saying Everything is bad for you if you over do it, and if you hide drinking or anything from your kids they know ....that you are hiding it and are going to wonder why its so special you have to keep it for yourself as a secret.

Now this post is up to almost 1050 comments and 7774 people like it.

I myself do drink in front of my kids, My kids all three of them have tasted wine, and beer.... Does this make me a bad Mother? I do not think so.... And here is my reason of why... I was raised around drinking,  I remember my first beer, I got to take a few sips out of my daddy's Budweiser bottle one forth of July and boy I thought it was special.... did I become some crazy beer loving little girl...No, I just wanted to know what it tasted like. Many years later my early teens; my parents made homemade wine.... I was allowed a taste, then as I got older I was allowed alittle more in my glass. So when all my friends wanted to go to parties and drink... I didn't want to. Nothing about drinking was special to me. My Mother and Father didn't Hide it from me.

Alcoholism does run in my family, does this mean I am or will be the same... I think not. Do I think my children will  become alcoholics because I let them have a sip...nope I don't think that either.

Here is what I think... My kids come home daily with new thoughts and Ideas from kids and teachers, mostly about what is good for you or bad for you. I tell them " Everything is bad for you If you Over do it." Also  I believe that if you shelter your children from the world, Your Children will go find the world in which you kept from them.

So, No I do not let my children run around drinking until they are sloppy drunk and the sun comes up, I let them have a taste. I will teach them about good beer, fine wines, coffee, foods from around the world, and treats. I also cook with wine and beer.  My newest thing is Beer Homemade Pizza dough...which is super yummy.

I will do my best to show my children what is right and what is wrong....and hope they can go with that while making their own choices of what they think is right and wrong.
Do I think I am the prefect mother? Heck no! Being a Moms is hard...

Until then Happy Drinking... and Let Them Eat Cake.

Who Moved My Cheese....

Have you ever read the book Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

If not It is a Must Read! http://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0399144463

I sometimes forget to move with the cheese.

I get stuck just like everyone else in old habits and patterns.

Who Moved My Cheese talks about life being a Maze and the "Cheese" being whatever it is that you want in your life. It also talks about different parts of the self. Two which happen to be Mice one named Sniff and the other named Scurry, and two little mouse size people one named Hem and the other named Haw. It also goes on to speak about the writing on the wall... that writing teaches how to deal with the change, how the things that worked before no longer work, and how we need to change our old habits....

I am learning to move with the cheese, and even though I am not a "Risk" taker. I have changed alot in my life over the past 10 years... I became a co-business owner, a mom, a wife, a mother of twins, a home owner, a student, another business owner, an employee between all this, and now an American living in Canada..... the list goes on. To top off the Move to Canada. I didn't just move North, I moved North West.... Which the west coast is much different then the east coast in any light. You might would think Oh its Canada its just right there, is not so much different then America. But I have to say it is.... It reminds me of how America used to be, loyal to the products made in its own Country, Loyal to its People that live here....
I really do enjoy it here....

I have to learn that what worked in North Carolina is not going to work British Columbia.... the rules have changed and I have to learn the rules in order to know how to move with the cheese.... I have to learn that what worked today might not work tomorrow...and the person I am today will not be the person I am tomorrow.

So Instead of hemming and hawing over things that I can not change or things that have changed, I need to sniff out, be ready to scurry, to move with the cheese.... This does not mean I will jump from one extreme to another. It just means I am going to Enjoy the change and Savor the taste of new cheese.

Cheers, And Remember to Move with the Cheese.

Stuck in a rut...

Have you ever felt Stuck in a Rut?

This is how I have felt for past few days.

Sorry I have not kept up with the writing, I have sat down and started to write about a few different things that have happened over the past week. But then when I search for the words to be typed out.... I can not seem to find them.

I can say that I had a great weekend, and Friday was really good too.

Friday I had two interviews, One with a company I would be so proud to work for, they treat their employees really good and it would be a great fresh start for me. The second interview was a bit odd, I felt like I was not supposed to be there. I almost didn't go. Glad I did though, now I don't have that What If, in the back of my mind.

We had a great time on Saturday and Sunday Day was pretty great as well. But when it came to Sunday night after we came home from someones house I just felt real mad. Mad at the world mad.
I could name a few things that got me to that point but I will not bring those up. Instead I am going to talk about how I feel.

I feel as if my life is going on in the circle that is always repeating itself and I do not know how to stop it. I feel as I am stuck in this circle, going around and round, while I am watching everyone that I know move on with their life.

Now do not get me wrong, I Love my Kids, my Husband... and I even love being in Canada.
 However I want to be more then just a mom or a wife. For some people that is all they need to be content with their life... I do not like the feeling of being dependent on my Husband....or anyone for that matter.
Maybe its a control thing...

I often find myself feeling guilty for not being content... which I know is a super unhealthy way of looking at life.

Now I am trying to work on pulling myself out of this Stuck in a Rut...mad at the world state.... yet I keep hitting road blocks, and my energy is running low. My dreams tell me so...  (More on dreams later..)

So I hope I get the job I Interviewed with at the company I think is great. I will work on getting my energy level up and keeping it up. I might reread the book, "Who Moved My Cheese".  Maybe even go out and get some vitamin D drops... you never know how much you need the sun until its gone. And while my dear husband is out of town, I might just go and get my hair cut pixie short.... who knows.

Until Next Time Happy Thoughts.