Things to look forward to this fall

Fall is my favourite time of year!  Spring is good with all of its new growth and flowers and lengthening days.  I don’t mind winter except for the icy sidewalks.  Our summers get so darned hot and humid and leave me cranky – except when I get to sit in the shade with an icy bevvy then I can dig it.  Fall though….. 

Six things I like about fall:

The heat and humidity are gone, woo hoo!  (for the most part anyway)  The nights are crispy cool and I can actually sleep with my window open without turning into a big sweat ball (not a pretty thing!).  I love stepping out of my door in the morning and breathing in that crisp air 

I absolutely love the colours of the leaves.  The oranges, reds and yellows of the leaves are so inviting and leave me feeling mellow.  This is the time of year when I love to take a walk and simply enjoy being alive.  I especially like to do this in the evening when people have started up their fire places and wood stoves.  The cool air, fall colours and the smell of wood smoke just do it for me. 

All of my favourite comfort foods make their come-back at this time of year as well.  The slow-cooker comes out for roasts, soups, stews and the list goes on.  With the hot weather gone, I get more into cooking and baking.  I mean, who wants to turn on the stove/oven when they are already sweating?  I’ve already made bread, muffins and tried a new cake and September has just begun.  I know, autumn only officially starts September 22 but as far as I’m concerned, once Labour Day has passed, autumn has started. 

The looser days of summer are nice with no homework and lack of formal bedtimes but, by the time September rolls around we’re all ready for school to begin again.  The Boy even said, by mid-August, that he was looking forward to going back to school.  He was missing friends that he didn’t get the see much of during the summer.  The Girl felt the same.  For my part, it’s kind of nice to get back into a proper routine.  I tend to feel a bit disjointed and at loose ends when they are out of school. 

My kids’ birthdays are in September – The Girl turns thirteen this week (Sept. 11) and The Boy turns 15 in a couple of weeks (Sept. 29).  How is it possible that I am the mother of TWO teens?!  Time goes by way too quickly!  Now, two birthdays added to back-to-school supplies and fees do make this an expensive month but I don’t really mind.  Everyone is back from vacations at this point so there is no issue of friends not being able to make it and they are far enough away from the chaos that is Christmas that there is some breathing room.  We are not dealing with the heat of summer, the snow and ice of winter or the rain of spring.  It’s kind of fitting that I had my kids at this time of year; it makes my favourite season just a little more special. 

Three words – Pumpkin Chai Latte!  David’s Tea has brought out its fall collection and they have brought back Pumpkin Chai.  Woo hoo!!  I fell in love with this last year and so did my kids.  I can’t make it for myself without making them each a cup too or else they’ll just come along and take sips of mine until it’s gone.  I love David’s Tea all year round but this one is special.  Here’s the recipe for the latte: 

I usually don't have whipped cream in my fridge but, quite honestly, the drink is so good that I don't really miss it.  Please check out my favourite tea place; I guarantee that you'll find something you like - David's Tea 

What do you like about this season?

Kat

Hairs, Hormones and Naps

When I saw this week’s Writing Prompts from Mama Kat, I knew that number five would be the one for me – “You know you’re getting old because”.  At forty-three, I’m feeling older than I ever have (imagine that!) so I must be an expert on this subject. 

The biggest sign that I’m getting old?  Napping.  When I was younger, I rarely napped during the day.  You could catch me snoozing if I was really sick or hung-over and that was about it.  Having kids opened up a whole new world of napping to me.  The second those “precious” babies would finally close their eyes and give me a break, I would dive for my bed and be asleep within minutes.  Even then, though, it had to be in my bed and it had to be quiet. 

Well, that is no more.  These days, I can pretty much fall asleep on command (or accidentally) wherever I am – rocking chair, bus, waiting room, lawn chair at the park……. usually with a book in my hand.   My ability to snooze is only getting better as I age. 

Since I turned forty, my hormones have gotten wonky.   When I was in my twenties, I admit that I thought that the moodiness that comes with PMS was “all in their heads”.  Really, there’s no reason for hormones to make you be bitchy, right?  Don’t those women have any control?  Boy was I an idiot!  Over the last several years, I’ve found my moods changing drastically over the course of the month.  I’ll be really pissed off at something and actually stop and ask “why the hell am I so angry over this?”  That’s when I’ll glance at the calendar and go “Oooohhhhh, that’s why”.    I used to think that I was immune to that but now I’m older and wiser……… or at least older. 

Of course, then there is every woman’s nightmare – the chin hairs!  Eeeeek!  I don’t exactly have a beard or anything but I get these single, dark, thick hairs that seem to sprout almost overnight.  I’ve become obsessed with checking my chin practically every day because I definitely don’t want to be one of those old ladies that walk around with stray hairs sprouting out of their faces.  When I see somebody with one, I practically do the pee-pee dance in my efforts to restrain the urge to run for my tweezers.  I’m not the most vain person around but I am very OCD about stray facial hairs on women and it makes me nuts when I find them on myself. 

My children never pass up an opportunity to let me know that I’m not young or hip anymore.  I made a joke a while back (which I can’t remember, of course, because I’m old) which I thought was pretty cool of me and The Girl just rolled her eyes.  I asked “what, you don’t think I’m cool?”  Needless to say, the answer was a sad headshake.   Sigh……. 

It’s a good thing that I’m still young at heart 

Kat 

Vacation Wrap-up

Well, my vacation is almost over.  It has been a nice, relaxing two weeks mostly consisting of chilling out.  Quite frankly, I didn't have the budget to do much more.  That's okay, though, I got plenty of time to recharge my batteries.  I did do a few things though.

Last week was the end of soccer for the summer.  After four regular games during the week, we had Soccer Fest where both kids played in the finals.  It was a brilliantly sunny and hot day and both kids played hard in the heat.  The Boy's team came away with the bronze medal and The Girl's team, with Stinky as the coach again this year, came away with the silver.  This mom came away with a killer of a sun burn!  I've been peeling all week.....

Check out that burn!

We also took my mother out for her birthday (which is what killed my budget!) which she was very happy with.  We all ate well and she walked away with a handful of lotto scratch tickets to occupy her while she digested her belly full of fish and chips from Moe's.  Yep, she's easy to please  :)

I've been on my own this week with the kids at their dad's place but they've been popping in and out.  It's nice that Stinky and I live so close to each other so that the kids, now that they're older, can go back and forth between our places as they wish.  One of the visits was to pick up the schedules and agendas that I picked up from school for them - after handing over $622 worth of post-dated cheques to pay for school fees, of course.  No wonder I feel poor!  I haven't even seen the school supply lists yet (insert shudder here).

I had a good visit with a friend yesterday and am hoping to hang out with my SIL sometime this weekend and that pretty much sums up the last of my vacation.  Time with my SIL is definitely a good note to end on!

Believe it or not, the stress of going back to work is already starting to sink in.  I laid awake last night with work on my brain.  What nightmares await me?  I must give my co-workers credit, they didn't call or email me even once although they know that I'm home and wouldn't begrudge them a call or two.  Thank you ladies!  I'll just have to wait until Tuesday to hear the stories.  Hopefully I'll be able to sleep with the anticipation.....

Happy long weekend to you all!

Kat

Time Out!

One of Mama Kat's Writing Prompts this week is - list six people or things that deserve to take a time out!  I think that I can handle that  :)

Number one on my list of people or things that deserve to take a time out? Definitely the Kardashians. OMG do we ever need a break from these ever-present, ever-trashy, attention-seeking twits! They are not actresses (unless you count a sex tape) or musicians or anything else that make any significant contribution to society. They are simply celebrities because they are pretty and trashy and so hungry for attention that they are willing to live out their dramas in front of a camera. Enough already!

“Reality TV”, in general, is something that I am so tired of that it’s just ridiculous! I hardly watch the big networks anymore because of this programming. I can’t believe that there are so many people out there willing to make asses of themselves in front of television cameras for the public’s entertainment just to get their fifteen minutes of fame. It’s time to give all of these shows a time out and bring back good programming.

Bad drivers in general need a time out (or perhaps just a refresher driving course). Unfortunately, there are so many of them that the streets would be practically empty if we enforced that. Then again, not such a bad idea…….. The number of drivers who never signal their turns/lane changes, never stop for a cross-walk, don’t know what a side mirror is used for, have no concept of right-of-way, can’t park straight to save their lives and many other daily offences is just staggering.

William and Kate need a time out too; not because I don’t like them cuz let’s face it, they are adorable! They are a beautiful couple who had a beautiful wedding and have now made a beautiful baby together. They now need a time out for THEIR sake. Being new parents is tough on any couple, with people hovering over you, ready with their advice and, yes, criticism. Imagine how tough being a new parent would be living under the microscope of public opinion like they do! So, now that the baby is here and everyone is happy, how about we leave them alone for a bit.

I have given Candy Crush a time out. As a matter of fact, I completely removed it from my Facebook profile. That game was the biggest time-suck I have encountered in a while. There was one level that I was stuck on for so long that it actually had me totally stressed out! I kept going back to it over and over again until I finally beat that sucker. The next time that I got that stuck, I decided that an intervention was needed. You wouldn’t believe my anxiety level when my mouse hovered over that delete button but the relief afterward was reward in itself. Of course now, thanks to my kids’ stepmom, I have discovered Words of Wonder. It begins again……..

Last of all, I am taking a time out.  It's been a busy summer with two soccer schedules and work so there's been a lot of running around.  Soccer ends this weekend and I am on week one of my two week vacation so I'm ending the summer in a quiet way.  I'm going to catch up on some housework that has been ignored (you should see the dust bunnies in this place; scary!!) and do some reading.  We may even catch a movie.  I'm going to use this time out as a time to recharge my batteries calm my mind so that I can go back to work and get the kids back to school refreshed and ready to tackle the world.... at least my corner of it.



Kat