Saturday, August 31, 2013

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


Thursday, August 22, 2013

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.

Mama’s Losin’ It


Kat

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Ten Things to Smile About This Summer


This week’s post idea comes from the blog Things I Can't Say via Mama Kat’s writing prompts.    

As of 5:00 Friday, I’m on vacation for two weeks; no alarm clock, no commute, just going where the wind blows us.  Woo hoo! 

Proudly watching my kids play soccer, enjoying the cool evening breeze on the sidelines after a day in the office. 

The Boy at Soccer

 Shark Week, ending with watching Jaws with The Boy and my favourite SIL. 

My air conditioner, without which I would be one sleepless, cranky bitch.  Enough said. 

My friend/coworker’s sixtieth birthday celebration where I got to see friends I hadn’t seen in a while, have several drinks (mmmmmm, vodka….) and eat some good food. 

Birthday boy at the head of the table, of course!


Speaking of coworkers – my coworkers who make the long days better with their warmth and goofiness. 

I got the coolest gadget this month that cores a pineapple right in its skin while cutting it into rings, not letting the juice escape all over a cutting board.  I love a new gadget! 

My new gadget!

My little cherry tomato plant, chives and pepper plant on my balcony that I have somehow managed to not kill.  My black thumb is not up to par this summer…… 

From my garden :)

 Saturday morning with my paper and my tea.  Yeah, I know, not strictly a summer thing but it makes me smile anyway. 

Did I mention that I’m on vacation day from now?  Oh yeah, I did……  well it deserves a second spot on my list because it gives me the biggest smile of all!  Besides, it’s my list so I can do what I want with it, lol! 

What has made you smile this summer? 

Kat 

Mama’s Losin’ It

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Vacation


Even the sky is irritable and needs a vacation!

Know how it feels when you are SO ready for vacation time that you feel like you’re limping to the finish line?  I still have another two weeks to go until mine and I can hardly wait.  When my alarm clock goes off in the mornings, the sound drills into my slumbering brain and I just want to roll over and fade back into dreamland.  One of these days, my snooze bar is going to give up and die from the pounding that it gets every morning. 

My last real time off aside from holiday long weekends was a week back in March and it feels like forever.  I can’t say that it’s because we’ve been excessively busy at work because that would be a fib.  As a matter of fact, it’s because we’re not so busy lately that the days are dragging and seem to go on and on and on…….  I’m getting to the point where I get irritable for no good reason and my patience for idiots is tenuous at best. 

This isn’t unusual for me.  Whenever I get to the point where I’m due for vacation, my workdays are more of a trial than usual.  I pity the fool who gets in my way when the clock hits 5:00 on my last day of work before vacation (yeah, that’s an 80’s Mr. T reference for those us old enough to remember) 

That last Friday will be a good day.  I’ll be able to turn off my alarm knowing that it won’t go on again for two weeks.  I may even start the day with a smile with that knowledge.   

I’m looking forward to two weeks of starting my days slowly in my pj’s with a cup of tea (probably several cups) and spending time surfing the net, reading a paper, relaxing and so on.  Other than making sure that the kids are ready to start school, I have absolutely no plans and I like it that way.  I intend to charge my batteries and go where the wind takes me.  Maybe I’ll take in a movie, go shopping, get together with friends…….. whatever. 

Just the thought of it is calming my mind. 

I have friends who dash off to the airport and travel for every vacation and they love it.  Good for them!  Personally, I find travelling to be stressful and exhausting and I get antsy for my own bed after about three nights.  That’s the point where I get irritable and snappy – might as well be at work and get paid to have a bad attitude.   

Give me a good old staycation every time. 

Kat


Thursday, August 1, 2013

My Morning Drive....... I mean Commute


(Chosen from Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts but tailored to my life) 

Each morning, at about 7:00, I leave my apartment to face the world.  I walk the block to the bus stop with my eyes half-closed, still yearning for my bed.  It’s a good thing that I know the walk so well or I’d wander in a daze to nowhere. 

The bus arrives and I settle into a seat with a sigh.  The depth of the sigh is directly relative to which day of the week it is; it seems to get lighter the closer to Friday we get.  Hard to imagine why….  (insert heavy sarcasm font here) 

I generally pull out a book and stick my nose in it, escaping the real world for a short time while the bus driver expertly navigates the rush hour traffic.  These guys/gals are my heroes.  Even when I had a car, I never drove to work downtown; my patience could never stand driving in the traffic.  I’m a bit of a bear when I get irritated behind the wheel.   

Lately, I have also taken to sitting back for at least part of the ride and daydreaming.  I often dream of getting the winning lottery ticket and retiring; a pretty apt daydream considering my destination.  I don’t need a huge jackpot – let’s not be greedy – but just enough to lead a quiet and simple life where I don’t have to drag my ass out the door every morning to an uninspiring job in order to pay the bills.  I dream of the simple house that I would buy and even decorate it in my mind.  Think bookshelves, lots and lots of bookshelves.  This really isn’t such a bad way to spend part of my commute.  It’s a pleasant exercise that wakes my brain up for the day. 

This morning, as the world whizzed by, I spent time fiddling with my phone.  Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and various games, I have plenty to keep me occupied.  Now, I am old enough to remember a time when we didn’t all have smartphones in our hands 24/7 and I know that we all survived just fine without them but, honestly, what would I do without it?!  It’s an addiction!  I always know what’s going on – for better or worse – and I actually fidget if I don’t have it in my hands for a long enough period of time.  My kids are going away to a cottage for the weekend where there will be no cel service or wi-fi.  While I know it’s good for them, part of me actually pities them the separation from their screens.  (#mamafail) 

By the time I get downtown to the metro (subway in English places), my eyes are open and I’m looking forward to my Tim Horton’s stop on my way to the office.  A Timmies breakfast Panini always makes me smile.  It’s a small consolation for the fact that I’m going to work and not relaxing at home lounging in my pajamas with a cup of tea and my newspaper. 

Mama’s Losin’ It

Kat