They say with hypothyroidism you get certain symptoms. Fatigue, lack of appetite, feeling sluggish, coarse hair, depression, muscle aches and swelling. I totally knew what I was getting into I researched it to death when they told me I had hyperthyroidism and needed to slow down my thyroid causing me to head in the opposite direction.
The weight gain was imminent and impossible to stop regardless of how many salads I ate or how much I spent time on my treadmill or playing sports with my family. As a result of the radioactive iodine therapy I lost about 70% of my hair leaving the back of my head in particular with a gaping hole that I had to use longer strands to comb over and wore my hair up a lot as a result. Lots of fatigue and cloudy thinking and memory.
I have started growing my hair back and it's thickening. I finally went to the hair dresser for the first time in a year, didn't want anyone to touch my hair it was so fragile, and took the time to not only listen to me about what was going on with me and my hair but to carefully discuss how to fix it and cutting it a certain way to hide the thinning in the back. She's wonderful. My hair feels awesome. The shortest it's been in years but it looks so much better now that I have it styled so I can wear it down. She even put notes on the computer so if I ever come back and she's not there the hairdressers will know what I'm going through and to be careful with my hair. Seems dumb to some people but when people are gently and careful with my I am so appreciative. It actually got to the point about 4-5 months ago when I was balling from the loss of my hair and my prayers went something like..'I know I have hair still and it could be worse but I am a girl and as girlie as this sounds Heavenly Father and I know I'm not usually I need my hair'. Prayers answered it started thickening after that. I'll take it!
Loss of appetite comes and goes weight now that my medication is finally sorted out is slowly going back down, thank heavens. I am starting to feel like a ball more than a person. Muscles aches is a new one for me. Some of them are mild but some are down right painful. I can either live on pain meds, which I hate to take unless I have to I've always been that way, or I can endure it. So far I've been enduring but let me tell you, it isn't that easy. I get woken up about 3-4 times a night from some pain or other and that makes it hard to get any deep sleep which plays right into the fatigue that I already have now doesn't it. I can see it now, 'Here lies the walking zombie of a wife and mother we're not really sure if she's gone or not'. But I cope and I do my very best whatever I can muster, taking one day at a time.
I think though, and this is the very personal part, that I might be sadder than I usually am. So far it's so easy to pick myself back up or be picked back up so that's good. But still, I can't not look at all the crap happening around me now and not feel more sympathy for it. Sounds like a good thing but I don't think so. I had a nice balance where I cared but I accepted that everyone makes their own choices and some things just plain happen lately it's more like protective in a way. That poor child or that poor family etc.
I've also started analyzing my own family, eek!, which is never a good thing to do because you are likely not only to compare everyone to yourself but to judge how you did things vs how they do things. I don't want that kind of arrogance everyone is different. But still. There it is in my mind swimming around all the time. That is on the days that I can think straight. To be honest with you the cloudy mind thing I kind of like. Makes it easier to forget the things I need to. And there are plenty of people around me to remind me of the things I do.
I really hope that this heavy heart will improve with time. I am trying to do small things that make me happy for myself but let's face it, it's nice when your family and friends do nice things for you too. Here's to coping and keeping up the fight for a better life. Cheers!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Those quiet moments
It's rare, but I love those quiet moments where a simple reflection can have an amazing impact on you. Where you notice something in your life that you never did before. Those quiet moments seem to hold wisdom that somehow you always possessed but never noticed before.
I myself sitting here suddenly in one thought realized that our family would be very different if it weren't for my husband. I'd still be working, I would have to trust my children to wake up in the morning and get to school on time with breakfast in stomach and homework and lunch in hand. They'd be limited with their friends being from such a small town until they got their licenses and could drive themselves to other high school dances etc. Granted I'd have all my friends every weekend and my kids would have all of their kids as friends as well.
But....
We would be very different people. I don't know that any of us would have been forced to grow the way we did altogether. So many events changed our lives in such unexpected ways. Changes always force us to grow whether we are ready for it or not. I'd probably be sort of active in the church. My kids would be less shielded than they are now. They would have been forced to deal with individuals that could have truly hurt them both physically and mentally. Myself included. There would be no little sister to entertain us with her silly antics and adorable logic. I certainly wouldn't trust my children to the capacity that I do now.
My husband made us the kind of family that we always wanted. He's had to learn to grow up and be a father and I've learned to trust again. We fight for our family all the time. We fight to love, we fight to stay together, we fight to grow together and become better people than we are now. We laugh together, encourage one another, and no one person can be overwhelmed when all of us will carry each other's burdens. My favorite is that we learn together. Everyone learns as they go, new things will always trip you up some, but we stick it out together and dismiss any judgments that may come our way because we aren't experts at it yet.
There's a lot of love in this family. The more people we've added to it, the bigger the love has grown. I'm so grateful for my husband and his presence in our family. I'm thankful for his leadership and his kindnesses. I even love his quarks! I feel so blessed to have children and watch them grow. They are amazing kids and I'm so excited to see what they do with their lives and their futures!
And to think....it only took a moment to see it all.
I myself sitting here suddenly in one thought realized that our family would be very different if it weren't for my husband. I'd still be working, I would have to trust my children to wake up in the morning and get to school on time with breakfast in stomach and homework and lunch in hand. They'd be limited with their friends being from such a small town until they got their licenses and could drive themselves to other high school dances etc. Granted I'd have all my friends every weekend and my kids would have all of their kids as friends as well.
But....
We would be very different people. I don't know that any of us would have been forced to grow the way we did altogether. So many events changed our lives in such unexpected ways. Changes always force us to grow whether we are ready for it or not. I'd probably be sort of active in the church. My kids would be less shielded than they are now. They would have been forced to deal with individuals that could have truly hurt them both physically and mentally. Myself included. There would be no little sister to entertain us with her silly antics and adorable logic. I certainly wouldn't trust my children to the capacity that I do now.
My husband made us the kind of family that we always wanted. He's had to learn to grow up and be a father and I've learned to trust again. We fight for our family all the time. We fight to love, we fight to stay together, we fight to grow together and become better people than we are now. We laugh together, encourage one another, and no one person can be overwhelmed when all of us will carry each other's burdens. My favorite is that we learn together. Everyone learns as they go, new things will always trip you up some, but we stick it out together and dismiss any judgments that may come our way because we aren't experts at it yet.
There's a lot of love in this family. The more people we've added to it, the bigger the love has grown. I'm so grateful for my husband and his presence in our family. I'm thankful for his leadership and his kindnesses. I even love his quarks! I feel so blessed to have children and watch them grow. They are amazing kids and I'm so excited to see what they do with their lives and their futures!
And to think....it only took a moment to see it all.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
My secret to a good life is.......................
As most of you do this also I'm sure, I reflect a lot on where I've been, things I've survived (some not so well), and how it is now aka what can I improve upon. All I can really do is share what I've learned along the way through my own personal experiences and then hope I keep improving as time goes on. I also learn a great deal from other's personal experiences as well so don't be shy to share them with me.
My secret is........................................patience. The hardest thing in this world to aquire and also hard to execute. Patience means in the face of adversity you embrace long suffering during your trials as a learning tool instead of a 'why me' burden. Challenges in life don't always have to be amplified to horrific from their simplicity. Maybe that's a little too factual and direct for some of you and I understand if you disagree that's fine. But I think we complicate it more than it should be most of the time. Life is hard and life is messy and we are human and get worn down but patience in your adversity and accepting these challenges for what they are at face value will definitely help you overcome them sooner than later with a better understanding of the "why".
Having patience with your kids also extremely vital not only for your growth as a parent but also for the growth of your children and their friends who associate with them. Don't underestimate the power of your influence on your children's friends. In my own personal experience with this the neighborhood children who come into our home know the rules in it. My children were taught the rules and pass it on to their friends, any friends, they encounter whether they physically come into our home or not. My children have outright told people who want to be friends with them what we as their parents expect. No cussing, no lying, be compassionate and helpful, don't take everything so seriously or be easily offended, things of that nature. Through our influence on our children, they have the opportunity and ability to influence many others that will in turn influence even more. That's why I hate being quick to judge. I don't know every circumstance that happens in everyone's lives I can only control my own. That includes my children. I don't see life through their eyes or share all of their experiences, too personal. But I can have patience and faith that they will keep influencing others for the greater good and continue to create a world of freedom and joy. I can be patient with them when they make mistakes, even mistakes that are so horrible it makes me shudder to think. I can be patient with them and their own learning process to figure it out and answer any questions or share advice when they ask for it, counseling with them as often as I can to choose what's right not only for their parents sanity but for themselves and their own personal growth.
The biggest one of all, patience with yourself. Probably the hardest. Probably the most impossible! Probably one of the most important. How often do we make a mistake and act so hard on ourselves? How often when we make a mistake in public does it infuriate us with embarrassment? Face goes all red, immediate hot flash where you feel like your neck is on fire, start to sweat looking around at everyone who might be staring at you immediately judging them for judging you which they might not even be doing. My biggest key to patience with myself, is humor. In the worst stages of my life through bad health problems or just being plain out right treated badly by another I get my best bouts of humor. My dad taught me if I take an embarrassing situation and make fun of it before anyone else can it's like ripping the rug right from underneath them. I agree. I can make fun of it my way, get a laugh and then no one feels they need to say anything at all and my feelings don't get hurt. But when they do, I have patience. I kneel in prayer often having learned to pray for my enemies that their hearts will soften and they will be forgiving of me for my short comings. I pray often for myself that I also will be forgiving of my shortcomings. I have to make a point of working on that all the time. I pray because I know I can't do it alone.
Everyone has weaknesses. Some people get offended when you tell them that they aren't perfect because in their minds they're trying so hard to be. I propose this question to you. Is your idea of what's perfect the same as the God who created you's idea of perfect is? If you are unsure seek out the answers. Once again be patient with yourself in overcoming your weaknesses. It may take a lifetime to correct some of them and you have to live your whole life with you. Instead of damning yourself maybe try some encouragement instead. Anne of Green Gables quote I still have to remind myself to live by: "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." I feel like I never do anything right, or that my day could have gone a lot differently, maybe I could have done this instead of that, or I should have done these things first. I do that on a daily basis. That's when that quote pops into my head and I remind myself there's always tomorrow to start anew. It's nice to be able to uplift myself when I need it. If you need it to and you need someone other than yourself to say it to you give me a call. There are days I don't believe myself either lol.
Life is an amazing journey and I find myself more and more being grateful for every inch of it. Even the things I had to survive through or tolerate that seemed unbearable and unfair. I grew from them. I see life a lot differently now. Bad things happen to us all whether you are a sinner or a saint. "The rain falls on the just and the unjust" and as long as I feel like I'm doing my best it's all ok. Even on the days where I know I could do better instead of being impatient with myself about it, I just write it all down, or say my frustration out loud, and try again tomorrow. If I run out of tomorrows then I am grateful to say that I'm in a place where I can say it's ok, you tried your best and that's something to be proud of.
My secret is........................................patience. The hardest thing in this world to aquire and also hard to execute. Patience means in the face of adversity you embrace long suffering during your trials as a learning tool instead of a 'why me' burden. Challenges in life don't always have to be amplified to horrific from their simplicity. Maybe that's a little too factual and direct for some of you and I understand if you disagree that's fine. But I think we complicate it more than it should be most of the time. Life is hard and life is messy and we are human and get worn down but patience in your adversity and accepting these challenges for what they are at face value will definitely help you overcome them sooner than later with a better understanding of the "why".
Having patience with your kids also extremely vital not only for your growth as a parent but also for the growth of your children and their friends who associate with them. Don't underestimate the power of your influence on your children's friends. In my own personal experience with this the neighborhood children who come into our home know the rules in it. My children were taught the rules and pass it on to their friends, any friends, they encounter whether they physically come into our home or not. My children have outright told people who want to be friends with them what we as their parents expect. No cussing, no lying, be compassionate and helpful, don't take everything so seriously or be easily offended, things of that nature. Through our influence on our children, they have the opportunity and ability to influence many others that will in turn influence even more. That's why I hate being quick to judge. I don't know every circumstance that happens in everyone's lives I can only control my own. That includes my children. I don't see life through their eyes or share all of their experiences, too personal. But I can have patience and faith that they will keep influencing others for the greater good and continue to create a world of freedom and joy. I can be patient with them when they make mistakes, even mistakes that are so horrible it makes me shudder to think. I can be patient with them and their own learning process to figure it out and answer any questions or share advice when they ask for it, counseling with them as often as I can to choose what's right not only for their parents sanity but for themselves and their own personal growth.
The biggest one of all, patience with yourself. Probably the hardest. Probably the most impossible! Probably one of the most important. How often do we make a mistake and act so hard on ourselves? How often when we make a mistake in public does it infuriate us with embarrassment? Face goes all red, immediate hot flash where you feel like your neck is on fire, start to sweat looking around at everyone who might be staring at you immediately judging them for judging you which they might not even be doing. My biggest key to patience with myself, is humor. In the worst stages of my life through bad health problems or just being plain out right treated badly by another I get my best bouts of humor. My dad taught me if I take an embarrassing situation and make fun of it before anyone else can it's like ripping the rug right from underneath them. I agree. I can make fun of it my way, get a laugh and then no one feels they need to say anything at all and my feelings don't get hurt. But when they do, I have patience. I kneel in prayer often having learned to pray for my enemies that their hearts will soften and they will be forgiving of me for my short comings. I pray often for myself that I also will be forgiving of my shortcomings. I have to make a point of working on that all the time. I pray because I know I can't do it alone.
Everyone has weaknesses. Some people get offended when you tell them that they aren't perfect because in their minds they're trying so hard to be. I propose this question to you. Is your idea of what's perfect the same as the God who created you's idea of perfect is? If you are unsure seek out the answers. Once again be patient with yourself in overcoming your weaknesses. It may take a lifetime to correct some of them and you have to live your whole life with you. Instead of damning yourself maybe try some encouragement instead. Anne of Green Gables quote I still have to remind myself to live by: "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." I feel like I never do anything right, or that my day could have gone a lot differently, maybe I could have done this instead of that, or I should have done these things first. I do that on a daily basis. That's when that quote pops into my head and I remind myself there's always tomorrow to start anew. It's nice to be able to uplift myself when I need it. If you need it to and you need someone other than yourself to say it to you give me a call. There are days I don't believe myself either lol.
Life is an amazing journey and I find myself more and more being grateful for every inch of it. Even the things I had to survive through or tolerate that seemed unbearable and unfair. I grew from them. I see life a lot differently now. Bad things happen to us all whether you are a sinner or a saint. "The rain falls on the just and the unjust" and as long as I feel like I'm doing my best it's all ok. Even on the days where I know I could do better instead of being impatient with myself about it, I just write it all down, or say my frustration out loud, and try again tomorrow. If I run out of tomorrows then I am grateful to say that I'm in a place where I can say it's ok, you tried your best and that's something to be proud of.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Things I need to work on....
1. My stress level. I need to work on shutting out the world a little bit more and letting in the Spirit without walls to constrain me.
2. My idea of the perfect woman. I need to look myself in the mirror and remember everything I've overcome and accomplished in life instead of thinking about all the things I fall short on.
3. My idea of the perfect body. I had the closest to the perfect body when I was in high school, working out, and playing soccer. I have to let that go and realize that children and Motherhood change everything and I should wear my stretch marks with honor instead of embarrassment.
4. My idea of the perfect family. Life is messy and Bissell isn't going to clean it up. But through prayer and sincere love for each other we can work together as a team and take on life's challenges with as much vigor as a pirate takes over a ship.
5. My musical talents and abilities. I have abandoned and forsaken so many of them. I truly am blessed with blessings to write music, play many instruments, and sing well and I have to try not to waste that. I'm still working on it lol.
6. My ambitions to further my education. I have always excelled at school and have this incredible thirst to learn everything I can get my hands on. I just need to pick something and stick with it as long as I can and hopefully I'll find what it is I'm supposed to accomplish but I'll never get anything done wondering about it. BYU independent here I come!
7. My need for friends. It has been a struggle for me to make friends that I feel as close to as the ones I've had back home and I have made several efforts here but I will occasionally get weird, uncomfortable looks. The ones I do feel close to I'm not sure they feel close to me at all. But I will never give up trying to find that handful of friends that I can bare my soul to without fear of judgement.
8. My house. My house bugs me the way it was built. But instead of trying to make it how it should have been I need to work the problem and do the very best I can to create house I can smile at and feel completely comfortable in and I need to be patient because, duh, that takes time.
9. My husband. I need to be more expressive to my husband when I need to have time just the two of us. He usually is busy doing something or reminds me of all of the kids commitments to things but I really need to stop being shy and speak up when I need time with him. As you all know none of us are mind readers. ( well maybe some of you lol )
10. Forgiveness. When people wrong me and honestly apologize to me I am quick to forgive and try to move on from it. When I wrong myself, it's unbearable to me. I can't walk away, I can't look in the mirror and see someone else every day, and I can't escape my own head reminding me all the time. I need to work on allowing myself mistakes and choose to learn as fast as I can from them but also to let them go instead of allowing those memories to flood my mind and hurt myself all over again. Need to have mind control on myself maybe that's what I need to invent lol.
2. My idea of the perfect woman. I need to look myself in the mirror and remember everything I've overcome and accomplished in life instead of thinking about all the things I fall short on.
3. My idea of the perfect body. I had the closest to the perfect body when I was in high school, working out, and playing soccer. I have to let that go and realize that children and Motherhood change everything and I should wear my stretch marks with honor instead of embarrassment.
4. My idea of the perfect family. Life is messy and Bissell isn't going to clean it up. But through prayer and sincere love for each other we can work together as a team and take on life's challenges with as much vigor as a pirate takes over a ship.
5. My musical talents and abilities. I have abandoned and forsaken so many of them. I truly am blessed with blessings to write music, play many instruments, and sing well and I have to try not to waste that. I'm still working on it lol.
6. My ambitions to further my education. I have always excelled at school and have this incredible thirst to learn everything I can get my hands on. I just need to pick something and stick with it as long as I can and hopefully I'll find what it is I'm supposed to accomplish but I'll never get anything done wondering about it. BYU independent here I come!
7. My need for friends. It has been a struggle for me to make friends that I feel as close to as the ones I've had back home and I have made several efforts here but I will occasionally get weird, uncomfortable looks. The ones I do feel close to I'm not sure they feel close to me at all. But I will never give up trying to find that handful of friends that I can bare my soul to without fear of judgement.
8. My house. My house bugs me the way it was built. But instead of trying to make it how it should have been I need to work the problem and do the very best I can to create house I can smile at and feel completely comfortable in and I need to be patient because, duh, that takes time.
9. My husband. I need to be more expressive to my husband when I need to have time just the two of us. He usually is busy doing something or reminds me of all of the kids commitments to things but I really need to stop being shy and speak up when I need time with him. As you all know none of us are mind readers. ( well maybe some of you lol )
10. Forgiveness. When people wrong me and honestly apologize to me I am quick to forgive and try to move on from it. When I wrong myself, it's unbearable to me. I can't walk away, I can't look in the mirror and see someone else every day, and I can't escape my own head reminding me all the time. I need to work on allowing myself mistakes and choose to learn as fast as I can from them but also to let them go instead of allowing those memories to flood my mind and hurt myself all over again. Need to have mind control on myself maybe that's what I need to invent lol.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Do I really have to go?!
I really hate doctor's offices. I rarely spent much time in any as a child other than to update my shots and get the occasional stitch. I come from a childhood filled with tree climbing, jumping off of buildings we're not supposed to, and almost of more than one occasion being dragged by a horse or two. But you know we chalk that up to life and think it's awesome. But once I hit about 12 years of age I started visiting doctor's offices a lot more often.
First thing they discovered was asthma. Was NOT happy about that at all that's a lifetime commitment to inhalers and I wasn't too fond of them to begin with when other people used them. From then on it was like my immune system crashed. I got the chicken pox twice and there is no amount of calamine lotion in the world that would help you. Even if you filled a pool or bath tub full of calamine lotion the only thing that would help is it would have been harder for your mother to see you scratch. I still have scars from that. Then it was tension headaches that would last for months at a time. I'd rather be dead it's amazing I lived through that because just standing up from bed and my heart pumping a little bit faster was light take a sledge hammer to my temples. Then came anemia which they said was easy to control just eat more beef and being from Alberta that's no problem.
But then there was a severe case of depression following a 3 year case of anorexia. Just like every other girl in Junior High and High School I stopped eating and when I did it was either tiny amounts or add some bulimia. Some of you reading this are going "holy crap!" isn't it wonderful that doctor's have to keep their mouths shut? I do like that part a really lot! The depression was pretty severe no one even in my family knows how bad and plenty of kids at school made fun of me for it not knowing what was really going on with me. I would have to say I hid it well in grades 10 and 11 but by the time I got to senior year I just didn't have the mental capacity or physical energy to hide it anymore.
I hated going to the doctor's office in high school for just about anything because they knew my history and would always check up on me. How annoying when doctors that have gone to 8+ years of medical schooling pretend to know everything. ( hehehehe) I always hated especially being weighed and I still hate it I will always hate it. If I weighed 90 lbs I would hate it and be hard on myself so I've spent a lifetime trying not to care about all that crap. As long as I'm healthy and happy that's all that matters. Life is just too short to constantly try fad diets, and pills, and programs that are ALWAYS temporary. I say just be who you are it's who you were always meant to be anyways. Just be the best you in the most important ways. I'm not saying give up and be unhealthy either. I'm saying get out there and do all the things that you love doing and stay active on your own terms and if it's something that makes you uncomfortable doing alone then don't do it you should be able to enjoy anything on your own terms.
I worked really hard on all of those other issues as soon as I graduated high school and it took a lot of strength I didn't even know I had to smile and mean it. But I did get there through friends and faith. It's my fault my family never really knew what was going on or didn't believe me when I told them I should have been more straight forward about it all and for that I apologize.
I will literally wait until the very last minute of a disease or medical problem that I'm having to call the doctor and even then, I have to talk myself into driving myself there and taking care of it. I get so uncomfortable sitting in the waiting room, I get all nervous and sweaty waiting for them to call my name and I'm always expecting harsh judgement when I get in there and speak with the doctor. Not once since I've moved to St Louis have I ever had my doctor be rude to me or even beat around the bush. We have very straight to the point honest conversations. I don't feel rushed once I see her, and I always leave feeling so much better that I addressed it and hope that I won't have to go back for at least a year. ( keep dreaming ) Now if my experiences are always good, why do I still dread and hate being there?
First thing they discovered was asthma. Was NOT happy about that at all that's a lifetime commitment to inhalers and I wasn't too fond of them to begin with when other people used them. From then on it was like my immune system crashed. I got the chicken pox twice and there is no amount of calamine lotion in the world that would help you. Even if you filled a pool or bath tub full of calamine lotion the only thing that would help is it would have been harder for your mother to see you scratch. I still have scars from that. Then it was tension headaches that would last for months at a time. I'd rather be dead it's amazing I lived through that because just standing up from bed and my heart pumping a little bit faster was light take a sledge hammer to my temples. Then came anemia which they said was easy to control just eat more beef and being from Alberta that's no problem.
But then there was a severe case of depression following a 3 year case of anorexia. Just like every other girl in Junior High and High School I stopped eating and when I did it was either tiny amounts or add some bulimia. Some of you reading this are going "holy crap!" isn't it wonderful that doctor's have to keep their mouths shut? I do like that part a really lot! The depression was pretty severe no one even in my family knows how bad and plenty of kids at school made fun of me for it not knowing what was really going on with me. I would have to say I hid it well in grades 10 and 11 but by the time I got to senior year I just didn't have the mental capacity or physical energy to hide it anymore.
I hated going to the doctor's office in high school for just about anything because they knew my history and would always check up on me. How annoying when doctors that have gone to 8+ years of medical schooling pretend to know everything. ( hehehehe) I always hated especially being weighed and I still hate it I will always hate it. If I weighed 90 lbs I would hate it and be hard on myself so I've spent a lifetime trying not to care about all that crap. As long as I'm healthy and happy that's all that matters. Life is just too short to constantly try fad diets, and pills, and programs that are ALWAYS temporary. I say just be who you are it's who you were always meant to be anyways. Just be the best you in the most important ways. I'm not saying give up and be unhealthy either. I'm saying get out there and do all the things that you love doing and stay active on your own terms and if it's something that makes you uncomfortable doing alone then don't do it you should be able to enjoy anything on your own terms.
I worked really hard on all of those other issues as soon as I graduated high school and it took a lot of strength I didn't even know I had to smile and mean it. But I did get there through friends and faith. It's my fault my family never really knew what was going on or didn't believe me when I told them I should have been more straight forward about it all and for that I apologize.
I will literally wait until the very last minute of a disease or medical problem that I'm having to call the doctor and even then, I have to talk myself into driving myself there and taking care of it. I get so uncomfortable sitting in the waiting room, I get all nervous and sweaty waiting for them to call my name and I'm always expecting harsh judgement when I get in there and speak with the doctor. Not once since I've moved to St Louis have I ever had my doctor be rude to me or even beat around the bush. We have very straight to the point honest conversations. I don't feel rushed once I see her, and I always leave feeling so much better that I addressed it and hope that I won't have to go back for at least a year. ( keep dreaming ) Now if my experiences are always good, why do I still dread and hate being there?
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Ahhh the Trip Home.....seriously!?
I will never be the type of woman to say that family vacations are boring or perfect. Not true, never true, never can be true. If you say it is I'll go out on a limb and call you a liar. With so many dynamics and personalities the individuals that make up families create what looks like on occasion conformed chaos lol. But we all know, no.
Was a tearful goodbye for all of us. I really miss my home, the smells, the sights, my family and friends. My children are still very much attached to Alberta and wish that they could stay. My parents who now live so far away from us value, as do we, our time together as a family. That feeling you get when everyone is together, everyone is happy and healthy, it's a great feeling of peace and joy. Who wouldn't want to feel that as often as possible? All our gear packed up, was a chilly morning due to the wind. There's always an ere or excitement and sadness when you go back home, the party's over.
It was an enjoyable drive to the border staring at the mountains in the background with canola fields in front. So beautiful. At the border (Coutts)we finally get to go through the East Germany looking building which I still can't help but giggle at when I see it I'm sorry but it's funny to me our paranoid societies have reasons and I get that but I guess I figure it's gonna happen anyways so this building makes me giggle. The border guard we met with was awesome a great and wonderful example of the US. He was direct but very kind and practical. Unlike this other woman at the other border nearby (Del Bonita) who is anything but normal I'd ask if that was a pickle or a stick but I'm sure she'd detain me all day long just for spite sooooooo, we'll stick with this guy.
Once in the States a feeling of relief and missing take hold of me. Glad to be back in the States but sad to leave my home. We stopped in Great Falls at the local market for breakfast and to fill up, which to me is also just like home I've been there so many times, and then off we went. About a half hour drive out of Great Falls you could smell it. Campfire smell. We purposefully didn't drive down to Utah partially for that reason. Wildfires. You could see where it had ravaged these hills taking homes and fences and other buildings with it. There were hummers and tents sprawled out for miles with people looking at maps and talking on the phone. The trees and grasses were stills smoking as we drove through. The closer we got to Billings the thicker the smoke started to become and we knew there was going to be a lot more of this driving to come. It was like driving through red air. Usually you have a good visual of Devil's Tower from the interstate in Wyoming but the smoke was so unbelievably thick you could barely see to the end of the hills right beside you. Great for an asthmatic! ( no I forgot my inhaler Mom but I was ok)
We decided to hoof it on our first day and make it as near to Rapid City,SD as we could. Also knowing that we were doing the longest part of our journey I made reservations at a hotel for the night so that I could shower and crash. So happy I chose that! Setting up camp when you're exhausted just doesn't work all that well. Like most people we find ourselves fighting over stupid crap, the pole goes here no it goes there, well how about I take this pole and.....you get the picture.
It definitely was not like in the brochure lol. Scary when we say that right? A little smaller and dingier especially next to the Comfort Inn Suites across the parking lot. Was like looking at a hallelujah hotel that I wouldn't be staying at and turned to our hotel where you can hear the crickets. Didn't care as long as the bedding was clean lol. They had a small but deeper pool and hot tub at this hotel which my kids planned on going into the second we walked in the door and they could smell the chlorine. My kids do that at EVERY single hotel we go to. Mom and Dad tired from traveling, kids smell chlorine and automatically assume they must put on their gear the second we open the door to our room. Even though they're older, today was no exception. I opted to read and allow them to take their baby sister into the pool who is anything but careful which is why I read maybe 4 lines of my book the entire 2 hours I was there.
Finally everyone munching and putting pajamas on, watching old movies and one by one we dropped like flies. Literally. Not one of us was tucked into bed. Nate fell asleep on the floor listening to music(he was stretching out his back), I was asleep face down on the foot of the bed (drooling), and the kids were sprawled out on the bed next to us lightly snoring already. The only one who looked comfy was our toddler girl who was sleeping beside Mommy tucked into her blanket so I got up and moved her to the crib provided by the hotel, pulled down the bed for the kids, tapped the hubby to get up here it's better to sleep in and went back to blissful sleep. No one at this hotel was noisy, no talking loud, no loud tv, no slamming doors. I decided that I really liked this hotel after all.
Morning comes and you can still smell a little smoke but the rain is taking that away. Wait, the rain? We're camping tonight. Hopefully it's just local. Goodbye Spearfish, we've enjoyed our stay, hello boring paved roads filled with I'm too cool for school old man drivers with their convertibles wishing they was twenty again. Worst drivers ever! I always thought old men with hats, but nope I stand corrected after this trip.
About 2-3 hours into driving we notice something. Something awful. Our baby has swollen tonsils. The way we found out? Our 12 year old son was making faces with her in the back seat and noticed her tongue and throat looked "weird". I asked baby girl to look at Mom and make that face, Dad was glancing in the rear view and could see what I saw. Swollen tonsils. Now at this point some of you are oh no how awful but let me quickly explain tonsils to you. I promise you that at more times than one in your life without any serious infection associated with it you yourselves have had swollen tonsils on occasion. As long as the patient isn't complaining about a sore throat and is eating and drinking just fine you do NOTHING. The body can and will take care of it. I called our doctor back home and let her know we were on our way home but wouldn't be there until the next day. But I also made sure she understood our baby girl wasn't complaining and seemed perfectly happy. She said what I thought she'd say. Do nothing and come in if she complains. I love my doctor. I love having small town doctor mom who doesn't worry she just matter of factly puts stuff out there. Sooooo my kinda person.
We notice after lunch that it's getting hotter and hotter every time we stop. By the time we had lunch we were basically through South Dakota and heading south on I-29 to our campsite near Omaha. When we finally stopped for gas and to find something to take to our campsite for dinner it was about 39 C and humid. Just great when you have a baby. Just peachy! We get to our campsite and are almost immediately greeted with a man with a beer in his hand asking if we know who the guy that's supposed to be camping next to us is. Seriously? This is an amazingly beautiful campground by the way. We are right on the lake. Lapping waves are gonna rock me to sleep. Maybe....
We had the most eventful night I think I've had in years that night. While we were setting up camp and the sun is setting it is now 43 C and humid. Sweat is pouring off of us as we set up our tents and air mattresses. So much so that by the time it's dusk we need to change our clothes because we are soaked. I already explained the whole grumpy fighting over stupid stuff right? Only this time it's not with each other. We see fireworks in the distance over the lake so beautiful and quiet. They are far enough away that you can't hear them but you see all the amazing colors. We figure we should probably turn in even though it's this hot and there's only the tiniest breeze ( please bring more wind please please). Our 'neighbors' have other plans. And on top of that the down the site from us people have other plans too. There is a park ranger that literally goes around reminding everyone that 10pm is the campgrounds quiet time. They have a no noise ordinance in that camp ground from 10pm-7am it's a State Park. Don't think any of our neighbors except that woman across from us got it.
The 'neighbors' down the way are getting louder and louder as time goes on. Drunker, less clothing, even yelling at cheering by 11pm. Our 'neighbors' right beside us are getting edgier and drunker and more aggressive as time passes. Hubby wanders over to the down the way peeps and asks if they can keep it down we have children trying to sleep ( especially our toddler in this heat )they are rude, abusive and don't seem to care. I tried calling the park they have no after hours line, something they need to fix because most State Parks do. Then while I'm doing that a fight breaks out right beside the kids tent. At this point I'm dialing 911. I explain to dispatch where I am they patch me through the police are sent we wait about 40 mins for him to show up. In that time Hubby has asked the peeps next to us to please settle down we have kids here again thanks to beer abusive comments. I state loud enough for them to hear it's ok honey I already called the police. Utter silence. They START setting up their tent ( almost midnight) and trying not to yell at each other because they can't see.
When the policeman arrives at this point I'm so hot and sweaty and tired I just long for some sleep. He was extremely polite and kind to me it must have shown how tired I was. I explained we had traveled from Spearfish, SD that day with 3 kids and one of them is 2 years old. I explained in detail the two instances but told him the ones beside us had calmed down. He said he'd take care of it, you have a good night sweetheart ( awww so sweet ) and then proceeded to drive towards our down the way 'neighbors'. He immediately puts a spotlight on them, yells and whistles at them to 'get out here'. Asked them roughly if they were being obnoxious and causing trouble for 'this nice family behind me'. They denied it, he yelled at them again. Then they said hubby was rude to them asking them to be quiet. Policeman laughs and reminds them of the ordinance they're breaking and warns them if he has to come out again they'll spend the night in jail. Ahhhhhh, peace and satisfaction. Now if only I could get a breeze!
Hubby of course is now nervous in case all these people turn on us in our sleep. I am not nervous at all and fall asleep.
In the morning both neighbors apologized profusely to us especially me. I was more than happy to accept their apologies and suggest that maybe those ones set up their tent sooner and make sure their girlfriends want to camp in the first place and to the others you can't just act like this is party central with all these families around here. He takes a minute to look around and sees all the kids. That'll do it.
Home again home again to excessive heat! Tree's leaves everywhere it's a mess. House is still standing and pillow is beckoning. At least I can say now that's a family vacation!
Was a tearful goodbye for all of us. I really miss my home, the smells, the sights, my family and friends. My children are still very much attached to Alberta and wish that they could stay. My parents who now live so far away from us value, as do we, our time together as a family. That feeling you get when everyone is together, everyone is happy and healthy, it's a great feeling of peace and joy. Who wouldn't want to feel that as often as possible? All our gear packed up, was a chilly morning due to the wind. There's always an ere or excitement and sadness when you go back home, the party's over.
It was an enjoyable drive to the border staring at the mountains in the background with canola fields in front. So beautiful. At the border (Coutts)we finally get to go through the East Germany looking building which I still can't help but giggle at when I see it I'm sorry but it's funny to me our paranoid societies have reasons and I get that but I guess I figure it's gonna happen anyways so this building makes me giggle. The border guard we met with was awesome a great and wonderful example of the US. He was direct but very kind and practical. Unlike this other woman at the other border nearby (Del Bonita) who is anything but normal I'd ask if that was a pickle or a stick but I'm sure she'd detain me all day long just for spite sooooooo, we'll stick with this guy.
Once in the States a feeling of relief and missing take hold of me. Glad to be back in the States but sad to leave my home. We stopped in Great Falls at the local market for breakfast and to fill up, which to me is also just like home I've been there so many times, and then off we went. About a half hour drive out of Great Falls you could smell it. Campfire smell. We purposefully didn't drive down to Utah partially for that reason. Wildfires. You could see where it had ravaged these hills taking homes and fences and other buildings with it. There were hummers and tents sprawled out for miles with people looking at maps and talking on the phone. The trees and grasses were stills smoking as we drove through. The closer we got to Billings the thicker the smoke started to become and we knew there was going to be a lot more of this driving to come. It was like driving through red air. Usually you have a good visual of Devil's Tower from the interstate in Wyoming but the smoke was so unbelievably thick you could barely see to the end of the hills right beside you. Great for an asthmatic! ( no I forgot my inhaler Mom but I was ok)
We decided to hoof it on our first day and make it as near to Rapid City,SD as we could. Also knowing that we were doing the longest part of our journey I made reservations at a hotel for the night so that I could shower and crash. So happy I chose that! Setting up camp when you're exhausted just doesn't work all that well. Like most people we find ourselves fighting over stupid crap, the pole goes here no it goes there, well how about I take this pole and.....you get the picture.
It definitely was not like in the brochure lol. Scary when we say that right? A little smaller and dingier especially next to the Comfort Inn Suites across the parking lot. Was like looking at a hallelujah hotel that I wouldn't be staying at and turned to our hotel where you can hear the crickets. Didn't care as long as the bedding was clean lol. They had a small but deeper pool and hot tub at this hotel which my kids planned on going into the second we walked in the door and they could smell the chlorine. My kids do that at EVERY single hotel we go to. Mom and Dad tired from traveling, kids smell chlorine and automatically assume they must put on their gear the second we open the door to our room. Even though they're older, today was no exception. I opted to read and allow them to take their baby sister into the pool who is anything but careful which is why I read maybe 4 lines of my book the entire 2 hours I was there.
Finally everyone munching and putting pajamas on, watching old movies and one by one we dropped like flies. Literally. Not one of us was tucked into bed. Nate fell asleep on the floor listening to music(he was stretching out his back), I was asleep face down on the foot of the bed (drooling), and the kids were sprawled out on the bed next to us lightly snoring already. The only one who looked comfy was our toddler girl who was sleeping beside Mommy tucked into her blanket so I got up and moved her to the crib provided by the hotel, pulled down the bed for the kids, tapped the hubby to get up here it's better to sleep in and went back to blissful sleep. No one at this hotel was noisy, no talking loud, no loud tv, no slamming doors. I decided that I really liked this hotel after all.
Morning comes and you can still smell a little smoke but the rain is taking that away. Wait, the rain? We're camping tonight. Hopefully it's just local. Goodbye Spearfish, we've enjoyed our stay, hello boring paved roads filled with I'm too cool for school old man drivers with their convertibles wishing they was twenty again. Worst drivers ever! I always thought old men with hats, but nope I stand corrected after this trip.
About 2-3 hours into driving we notice something. Something awful. Our baby has swollen tonsils. The way we found out? Our 12 year old son was making faces with her in the back seat and noticed her tongue and throat looked "weird". I asked baby girl to look at Mom and make that face, Dad was glancing in the rear view and could see what I saw. Swollen tonsils. Now at this point some of you are oh no how awful but let me quickly explain tonsils to you. I promise you that at more times than one in your life without any serious infection associated with it you yourselves have had swollen tonsils on occasion. As long as the patient isn't complaining about a sore throat and is eating and drinking just fine you do NOTHING. The body can and will take care of it. I called our doctor back home and let her know we were on our way home but wouldn't be there until the next day. But I also made sure she understood our baby girl wasn't complaining and seemed perfectly happy. She said what I thought she'd say. Do nothing and come in if she complains. I love my doctor. I love having small town doctor mom who doesn't worry she just matter of factly puts stuff out there. Sooooo my kinda person.
We notice after lunch that it's getting hotter and hotter every time we stop. By the time we had lunch we were basically through South Dakota and heading south on I-29 to our campsite near Omaha. When we finally stopped for gas and to find something to take to our campsite for dinner it was about 39 C and humid. Just great when you have a baby. Just peachy! We get to our campsite and are almost immediately greeted with a man with a beer in his hand asking if we know who the guy that's supposed to be camping next to us is. Seriously? This is an amazingly beautiful campground by the way. We are right on the lake. Lapping waves are gonna rock me to sleep. Maybe....
We had the most eventful night I think I've had in years that night. While we were setting up camp and the sun is setting it is now 43 C and humid. Sweat is pouring off of us as we set up our tents and air mattresses. So much so that by the time it's dusk we need to change our clothes because we are soaked. I already explained the whole grumpy fighting over stupid stuff right? Only this time it's not with each other. We see fireworks in the distance over the lake so beautiful and quiet. They are far enough away that you can't hear them but you see all the amazing colors. We figure we should probably turn in even though it's this hot and there's only the tiniest breeze ( please bring more wind please please). Our 'neighbors' have other plans. And on top of that the down the site from us people have other plans too. There is a park ranger that literally goes around reminding everyone that 10pm is the campgrounds quiet time. They have a no noise ordinance in that camp ground from 10pm-7am it's a State Park. Don't think any of our neighbors except that woman across from us got it.
The 'neighbors' down the way are getting louder and louder as time goes on. Drunker, less clothing, even yelling at cheering by 11pm. Our 'neighbors' right beside us are getting edgier and drunker and more aggressive as time passes. Hubby wanders over to the down the way peeps and asks if they can keep it down we have children trying to sleep ( especially our toddler in this heat )they are rude, abusive and don't seem to care. I tried calling the park they have no after hours line, something they need to fix because most State Parks do. Then while I'm doing that a fight breaks out right beside the kids tent. At this point I'm dialing 911. I explain to dispatch where I am they patch me through the police are sent we wait about 40 mins for him to show up. In that time Hubby has asked the peeps next to us to please settle down we have kids here again thanks to beer abusive comments. I state loud enough for them to hear it's ok honey I already called the police. Utter silence. They START setting up their tent ( almost midnight) and trying not to yell at each other because they can't see.
When the policeman arrives at this point I'm so hot and sweaty and tired I just long for some sleep. He was extremely polite and kind to me it must have shown how tired I was. I explained we had traveled from Spearfish, SD that day with 3 kids and one of them is 2 years old. I explained in detail the two instances but told him the ones beside us had calmed down. He said he'd take care of it, you have a good night sweetheart ( awww so sweet ) and then proceeded to drive towards our down the way 'neighbors'. He immediately puts a spotlight on them, yells and whistles at them to 'get out here'. Asked them roughly if they were being obnoxious and causing trouble for 'this nice family behind me'. They denied it, he yelled at them again. Then they said hubby was rude to them asking them to be quiet. Policeman laughs and reminds them of the ordinance they're breaking and warns them if he has to come out again they'll spend the night in jail. Ahhhhhh, peace and satisfaction. Now if only I could get a breeze!
Hubby of course is now nervous in case all these people turn on us in our sleep. I am not nervous at all and fall asleep.
In the morning both neighbors apologized profusely to us especially me. I was more than happy to accept their apologies and suggest that maybe those ones set up their tent sooner and make sure their girlfriends want to camp in the first place and to the others you can't just act like this is party central with all these families around here. He takes a minute to look around and sees all the kids. That'll do it.
Home again home again to excessive heat! Tree's leaves everywhere it's a mess. House is still standing and pillow is beckoning. At least I can say now that's a family vacation!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Family Friends and Family Reunion....of sorts
Anywho.
We all enjoyed resting and relaxing, while kids found friends again at the pool and went shopping. Was nice to have a lazy summers day just chatting, playing cards. ( note to self don't play gin rummy with hubby anymore he always wins)
Along with rest and relaxation came surprises. Not to me though, I got to be the one to shock. ( hehehe love it) I called my good ole father in law to say hello there how are you with some fairly minor chit chatting and family updates. I asked him if he'd be interested in having dinner with us the following evening. Stone silence. I can only assume from confusion because as far as he knows we're in Missouri not Alberta lol. Then I mentioned that I was yes calling from my Missouri cell phone from my Alberta mom's house living room. Complete and utter shock. I think he stopped breathing at one point and all I could do was first ask 'Are you ok?' and second burst out laughing. Best part of the day was that conversation. He mumbled some stuff not sure what it was exactly because I was too busy giggling up a storm. ( hopefully I didn't snort that's embarrassing)
Next day, ahhhh sleeping in is awesome I really really like it! We decided to get up and enjoy our day shopping. We had promised the kids some early back to school shopping whilst we were in Canada so that's what we did, although with a nice, beautiful, wonderful, once in a very long lifetime twist, Mom got to go on a shopping spree! Woohoooooo! My favorite store, Additionelle, is in Lethbridge and I love love being able to shop for designer outfits ( not walmart old lady fat stuff) and enjoy what I'm wearing despite my chubby sized, curvy self. Even fat chicks gotta look good you know? I could have easily spent over 600 hundred in that store it's amazing! But instead I settled for half that trying to be "frugal" as much as I could considering I haven't gone shopping like that since I attended a wedding up there a few years ago. Despite the shoe store nearby ( if you know me you know I'm addicted could try on everything) I refrained and moved on to allow the kids the buy what they may for the next school year which took quite a bit of time. Thought I was picky, sheesh!
We really enjoyed seeing in laws greet us at the Montana's restaurant. As always they were surprised at how much the children grew, totally understandable. They asked the kids a lot of questions which is good you know because then I get to know what they been doing and not telling me about right? It was great to hear the chatter and the laughter and see all these lit up happy faces. Made my day. (as did the shopping spree woohoo)
Friday! Another enjoyable restful day of goofing off and meeting up with friends of mine this time. So great to see friends. I love them. I miss them terribly. Once you've established such good solid friendships with people that not only you stand at their worst but they can stand you back and still love is precious and rare. Hard not to miss people like that. Had an outdoor meal with the bugs and the birds. Children running around chasing and playing having fun, and our toddler girl lifting up the melting ice cream bucket and you could literally see her tongue in there licking it alllll up. Good times.
My parents are fortunate to live in a town where almost everyone has a bon fire pit in their backyards. You can't burn garbage in town, but you can burn your yard clippings and have bon fires for the purpose of parties which our family grew up doing all the time with all the neighbors. Felt like I had gone back in time a little bit toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. Sticky but oh so gooooood. It was also nice to vent a little bit with my bestest friend. So nice to be able to talk about anything and let it all out about everyone and everything after "dealing with it" all that time. Ahhh peace of mind. I was sad to say goodbye.
Morning comes and as always where there is a Canada Day Parade it has to be hot enough to burn us all as we watch the parade. We joined our cousins once again on my Dad's side to take in the festivities ( as much as small towns go it was nice) and watch our toddler's face because this was her very first parade. She had no prior knowledge that floats and cars would be throwing candy her way but she sure caught on fast. Albeit the other children around her were faster so she had some help from her older brother and cousin to fill up her candy bag. When the parade was over and we walked back to my Aunt's house for a visit, which I enjoyed, realization that I've missed my family and I'm used to them always being around set in. Was hard to say goodbye to my Aunt, I love her so.
From one family to the next we traveled home to Mom and Dad's and Mom's side of the family was about to arrive. My cousin and her husband and their sweet little girl and my Mom's younger sister and her husband came in to town. Other cousins had been detained although it would have been incredible to be able to play catch up with them and see how much their kids have grown. Was a nice relaxing evening filled with .....bbq....mmmmmmmm ( taking a moment to relfect). Not to mention our eldest daughter turned 14. (sighs) It's getting harder to call her a kid now, young woman might be in order. (bossy young woman) Oh shoot she might be reading this, I love you! Apple of my eye, fruit of my loins, sunshine smile girl. ( when you smile) Ok, seriously the last one I promise! The birthday cake was an assortment of cheesecakes, yummmmmmmm...........................what was I saying again? Oh yeah, Happy Birthday!
We journeyed the next day as a family to Waterton National Park, where they let us in for free. Was really hard for me not to take a gazillion pictures since Missouri is definitely lacking in Rocky Mountains, which I had grown accustom to seeing often growing up and in my adulthood. Was a mixed up day if you ask me, beautiful and breathtaking when it was sunny, then 5 mins later, cold miserable rain. Of course it just had to show up as we were eating lunch. Murphy's law. ( stupid Murphy )
And then there is, the 'potty'. A tremendous whole dug in the mountainous ground with a piece of plywood formed into a seat with an actual toilet seat cover. You could see on the wall that they had made every effort to cut down on...................THE SMELL. The best way to have it smell a little fresher is to have open windows not closed cake in the heat kind. Ew. But they did have hand sanitizing foam and toilet paper so that's good. Although I still can't sit on those things, I hover. Don't like 'em.
We wandered down to the town sight and the falls, of course when we got out, it started to rain. Yup. (sighs) I've seen them plenty and we had a very curious 2 yr old who wanted to see them until it really started to rain, she hates rain, she used to scream 'Rain! Rain!' whenever we drove in it so heading to a large tree for some shelter was okay with her no more I want to see the falls up close. ( Thank Heavens) We also headed to the big Waterton Lake. It is such a beautiful setting of clean mountain water with green mountains cascading behind it and beside it. The youngest two girls sure enjoyed tossing in and skipping rocks with their dads. Was a beautiful setting to watch. I almost started to cry because my heart ached at the very thought of leaving the mountains. It's inexplicable in words how happy I feel in the mountains. Would live there if I could in a heartbeat! I hope someday. It started to rain and pour. I got soaked.
We headed over to a campground site and shared a camp kitchen with a lovely muslim family who was having a picnic on the one side and offered us the other table. It was sunny when we got there. We pulled out our grill to cook the hamburgers and hot dogs and had to use ketchup as our bbq sauce ( poor man's sauce lol) was still very yummy and I really had fun talking with everyone and finding out what everyone has been doing and especially, watching my mom with her sister. They are amazing to watch. It is obvious and apparent how much they love each other and how giddy and happy they get when they are together. So great to be a part of. My mom has always had a close family. I truly hope that someday my children will be the same because they are driving me nuts with their fighting. ( understatement ) And it popped into my head that we were most likely heading home the next day. Bummer. But at the same time, what an adventure.
We actually didn't get to Salt Lake City as we had intended to visit with hubby's sister and family. He opted to allow us all to stay a couple of extra days with my side of the family and rest and relax a little bit more before travelling that great distance home again. He also did it because he really loves his children and he could see how much they loved and missed their friends and opted to allow them more time with them. He's an awesome dad.
The trip home? Well that is completely another blog filled with excessive heat and police.....
We all enjoyed resting and relaxing, while kids found friends again at the pool and went shopping. Was nice to have a lazy summers day just chatting, playing cards. ( note to self don't play gin rummy with hubby anymore he always wins)
Along with rest and relaxation came surprises. Not to me though, I got to be the one to shock. ( hehehe love it) I called my good ole father in law to say hello there how are you with some fairly minor chit chatting and family updates. I asked him if he'd be interested in having dinner with us the following evening. Stone silence. I can only assume from confusion because as far as he knows we're in Missouri not Alberta lol. Then I mentioned that I was yes calling from my Missouri cell phone from my Alberta mom's house living room. Complete and utter shock. I think he stopped breathing at one point and all I could do was first ask 'Are you ok?' and second burst out laughing. Best part of the day was that conversation. He mumbled some stuff not sure what it was exactly because I was too busy giggling up a storm. ( hopefully I didn't snort that's embarrassing)
Next day, ahhhh sleeping in is awesome I really really like it! We decided to get up and enjoy our day shopping. We had promised the kids some early back to school shopping whilst we were in Canada so that's what we did, although with a nice, beautiful, wonderful, once in a very long lifetime twist, Mom got to go on a shopping spree! Woohoooooo! My favorite store, Additionelle, is in Lethbridge and I love love being able to shop for designer outfits ( not walmart old lady fat stuff) and enjoy what I'm wearing despite my chubby sized, curvy self. Even fat chicks gotta look good you know? I could have easily spent over 600 hundred in that store it's amazing! But instead I settled for half that trying to be "frugal" as much as I could considering I haven't gone shopping like that since I attended a wedding up there a few years ago. Despite the shoe store nearby ( if you know me you know I'm addicted could try on everything) I refrained and moved on to allow the kids the buy what they may for the next school year which took quite a bit of time. Thought I was picky, sheesh!
We really enjoyed seeing in laws greet us at the Montana's restaurant. As always they were surprised at how much the children grew, totally understandable. They asked the kids a lot of questions which is good you know because then I get to know what they been doing and not telling me about right? It was great to hear the chatter and the laughter and see all these lit up happy faces. Made my day. (as did the shopping spree woohoo)
Friday! Another enjoyable restful day of goofing off and meeting up with friends of mine this time. So great to see friends. I love them. I miss them terribly. Once you've established such good solid friendships with people that not only you stand at their worst but they can stand you back and still love is precious and rare. Hard not to miss people like that. Had an outdoor meal with the bugs and the birds. Children running around chasing and playing having fun, and our toddler girl lifting up the melting ice cream bucket and you could literally see her tongue in there licking it alllll up. Good times.
My parents are fortunate to live in a town where almost everyone has a bon fire pit in their backyards. You can't burn garbage in town, but you can burn your yard clippings and have bon fires for the purpose of parties which our family grew up doing all the time with all the neighbors. Felt like I had gone back in time a little bit toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. Sticky but oh so gooooood. It was also nice to vent a little bit with my bestest friend. So nice to be able to talk about anything and let it all out about everyone and everything after "dealing with it" all that time. Ahhh peace of mind. I was sad to say goodbye.
Morning comes and as always where there is a Canada Day Parade it has to be hot enough to burn us all as we watch the parade. We joined our cousins once again on my Dad's side to take in the festivities ( as much as small towns go it was nice) and watch our toddler's face because this was her very first parade. She had no prior knowledge that floats and cars would be throwing candy her way but she sure caught on fast. Albeit the other children around her were faster so she had some help from her older brother and cousin to fill up her candy bag. When the parade was over and we walked back to my Aunt's house for a visit, which I enjoyed, realization that I've missed my family and I'm used to them always being around set in. Was hard to say goodbye to my Aunt, I love her so.
From one family to the next we traveled home to Mom and Dad's and Mom's side of the family was about to arrive. My cousin and her husband and their sweet little girl and my Mom's younger sister and her husband came in to town. Other cousins had been detained although it would have been incredible to be able to play catch up with them and see how much their kids have grown. Was a nice relaxing evening filled with .....bbq....mmmmmmmm ( taking a moment to relfect). Not to mention our eldest daughter turned 14. (sighs) It's getting harder to call her a kid now, young woman might be in order. (bossy young woman) Oh shoot she might be reading this, I love you! Apple of my eye, fruit of my loins, sunshine smile girl. ( when you smile) Ok, seriously the last one I promise! The birthday cake was an assortment of cheesecakes, yummmmmmmm...........................what was I saying again? Oh yeah, Happy Birthday!
We journeyed the next day as a family to Waterton National Park, where they let us in for free. Was really hard for me not to take a gazillion pictures since Missouri is definitely lacking in Rocky Mountains, which I had grown accustom to seeing often growing up and in my adulthood. Was a mixed up day if you ask me, beautiful and breathtaking when it was sunny, then 5 mins later, cold miserable rain. Of course it just had to show up as we were eating lunch. Murphy's law. ( stupid Murphy )
And then there is, the 'potty'. A tremendous whole dug in the mountainous ground with a piece of plywood formed into a seat with an actual toilet seat cover. You could see on the wall that they had made every effort to cut down on...................THE SMELL. The best way to have it smell a little fresher is to have open windows not closed cake in the heat kind. Ew. But they did have hand sanitizing foam and toilet paper so that's good. Although I still can't sit on those things, I hover. Don't like 'em.
We wandered down to the town sight and the falls, of course when we got out, it started to rain. Yup. (sighs) I've seen them plenty and we had a very curious 2 yr old who wanted to see them until it really started to rain, she hates rain, she used to scream 'Rain! Rain!' whenever we drove in it so heading to a large tree for some shelter was okay with her no more I want to see the falls up close. ( Thank Heavens) We also headed to the big Waterton Lake. It is such a beautiful setting of clean mountain water with green mountains cascading behind it and beside it. The youngest two girls sure enjoyed tossing in and skipping rocks with their dads. Was a beautiful setting to watch. I almost started to cry because my heart ached at the very thought of leaving the mountains. It's inexplicable in words how happy I feel in the mountains. Would live there if I could in a heartbeat! I hope someday. It started to rain and pour. I got soaked.
We headed over to a campground site and shared a camp kitchen with a lovely muslim family who was having a picnic on the one side and offered us the other table. It was sunny when we got there. We pulled out our grill to cook the hamburgers and hot dogs and had to use ketchup as our bbq sauce ( poor man's sauce lol) was still very yummy and I really had fun talking with everyone and finding out what everyone has been doing and especially, watching my mom with her sister. They are amazing to watch. It is obvious and apparent how much they love each other and how giddy and happy they get when they are together. So great to be a part of. My mom has always had a close family. I truly hope that someday my children will be the same because they are driving me nuts with their fighting. ( understatement ) And it popped into my head that we were most likely heading home the next day. Bummer. But at the same time, what an adventure.
We actually didn't get to Salt Lake City as we had intended to visit with hubby's sister and family. He opted to allow us all to stay a couple of extra days with my side of the family and rest and relax a little bit more before travelling that great distance home again. He also did it because he really loves his children and he could see how much they loved and missed their friends and opted to allow them more time with them. He's an awesome dad.
The trip home? Well that is completely another blog filled with excessive heat and police.....
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