Thanks On Thursday

Today is a day that I want to take a minute and remind myself of all the things in life that I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my husband. Things have not always been easy, but either way we get through whatever life throws at us. With him by my side I have been able to face soo many of my fears, soo many things that I would have never in a million years imagined myself going through. He really is my rock. I really believe that with him by my side we can conquer life and whatever else our future may hold. I am thankful for our life together.

• I am thankful for my family. I know we don't technically get to "pick" our family, but in the end M and I have both ended up with a pretty good one! I wouldn't change a thing, well maybe I would make it so we see each other more often. And family does include my fur babies as well. It is crazy how much they light up my life!

 

• I am thankful for our friends. In my eyes, they are the family we do get to choose. I am grateful for soo many friendships both near and far.

 

• I am thankful for life's miracles. Today another one will be born, and I am sooo excited to meet her! Praying for N & K today as they welcome baby T into the world!!  I am soo grateful for Lily as well. She is a walking miracle and I feel soo blessed to have her still in my life!

 

Sometimes life doesn't happen the way we expect it to, but in order to find peace in the battle, I feel that if I remind myself of the things in life that make it worth living, things suddenly don't seem so bad. Life is going to continuously challenge us all in one way or another, some easy tasks, mixed with some horribly hard ones. Find the balance, ride out the storm, embrace the end goal. Don't let a moment go by where you are not thankful for something, anything.

 

Happy Thursday Friends!

So What Wednesday

Linking up with Shannon for another edition of:

• So what if it has been forever since I have linked up. It takes a while for these things to build.
• So what if I am still finding white stuffing from Gracie and Lily's weasel? I have decided to not restuff it this time!
• So what if my facebook page is having issues! It says blogger.ca is spam and will not allow me to post my daily url!
• So what if I just received the same fax 3 times! Not everyone can get it right on the first time!
• So what if I caught my hubby off guard last night:

Me: "I'm watching a new show called "The Client List" with Jennifer Love Hewitt."

M: "That sounds like it is about an escort service."

Me: "It is."

M: "And you are watching it? I would have never expected that one and begins laughing"

Me: "Alison had mentioned it, not that it was an escort show, but that it was good. There is more to it. It's about a girl trying to keep her family together after her husband left her."

M: "I wonder why he left her?"

• So what if I thought yesterday was Thursday? We had our Thursday Dinner and I wondered why Brian's House didn't PVR! Hubby was sure to tell me "that is because it is Tuesday."
• So what if I don't quite get the concept of the new TV show "Duets". I'm not sure what the goal os, but I love Jennifer Nettles!

I love the conversations that M and I have. Some are completely random, like the one we had Monday night lying in bed.

"I need you to find the sprinkler so I can water the grass, it is dying"

"It is in the cedar box on the deck."

"Which one? I don't want the one that goes "ch ch ch" I want the circle one."

"Oh it's the yellow one in the box."

"How many sprinklers do we have?"

"3 - the yellow one, the circle one we play in with the dogs and the "ch ch ch" one."

Needless to say we found the sprinklers, not in the box, but in the garage and I think we have more than 3! I still don't like the "ch ch ch" one. It's the noise that bugs me!

I love that M is officially in the new shower and IT DOES NOT LEAK!! Good job baby!! I am very happy to have my bathroom back to myself!!

I love how Gracie's head wrinkles up when she is exhausted!

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Tuesday's Tid-Bits

• I am still without the palm trees I went looking for.
• I am still without the black mulch that has been sold out for 2 weeks. I pray it comes in soon!
• I am enjoying watching The Client List - thanks for recommending it Alison!
• Oh and P.S Alison, if you could let Cruz know that Lily and Gracie say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! They would very much appreciate it!!
• The Bachlorette: I love Arie!! I think they are soo stinking cute together. Not sure that I love Ryan as much, but Sean is my second runner! I am glad they smashed the egg that the one guy was carrying. Oh and what the heck was she wearing on her feet during the rose ceremony?
• I got a notice in the mail today that M needs to pay his speeding ticket! Opps!! We obviously forgot about that and should get that taken care of before going out west!!
• I stopped in to see K this morning after my doctor's appointment. I think she needs to hurry up and get home! I miss being able to hang out whenever! Baby comes Thursday!!
• I also met up with my sister today while in London and got some face time with H and B!!
• Oh and there is nothing like passing the same car 6 times on the 401!!  That may make me sound a little crazy, but it wasn't me, I had my cruise control on!!
• My peony bushes are flowering!!! This makes me very happy!! It also reminds me of my Grandma!!

I hope everyone is having a great day!!!

HOT HOT HOT

Today is HOT and when I say hot, we are talking 33 degrees, but feel like 38 with the humidity, which in an Americans eyes would be 91 degrees Fahrenheit, feels like 100!!!

BEAUTIFUL day!!!

Our weekend came and went too quickly, since we still have soo much to do before this coming weekend.

Friday night: M had ball, they lost again. It was retarded... but I am over it! 24 - 15 loss. M did a great job pitching though.

Saturday: We were up early and off to the farm to gut the kitchen, and when I say gut, I mean out with the old and it was OLD! The kitchen is now bearing the walls down to the studs. I can't wait to see the new kitchen!! The girls enjoyed a run to the back of the farm when I took the tractor to the back of the farm. I got my first deer fly bite and swelled up instantly. I now have a purple knee cap! They were pooched! I ended up spraying them down with the hose to cool them down and they just laid there and took it all in! I helped as much as I could, but still ended up paying for it later. Thank you allergies... NOT. I was a mess come 9 PM. We were supposed to go to a buck and doe that night, but I was not the best company and M was beat.

They do love each other!!

Sunday: M finished the shower!!! YAY!!!! You read that right!! We just have to trim it out and figure out the 2 inch gap around the shower, but I think we might eventually do a mosaic tile, but for now, just put some temporary trim. We went shopping, in search for some palm trees for my planters and came out empty handed! No one had any!

Today: I am trying to figure out some planning for the weekend, I will spill the details when it is all said and done. I am sipping on my first "Vitamin Water" - not bad actually!

I have soo many little things to get done, and we are running out of time in a hurry!

Soo tired, but still cute!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Dear....

Today I am linking up with Ashley for some letters!

Dear Husband: I love you. I also wanted to thank you for calling me your wickedly awesome wife for finding your lip chap in the driveway, and for helping you practice pitching. I am also happy that your shower now has 2 sides up, now we just need the door. This is going to happen soon. I hope you have an awesome ball game tonight, just like last week, but maybe your team will pull their sh*t together and win again!

Dear Lux: You are pretty much the sweetest kitty EVER... well aside from your sisters, who would be jealous. Thanks for your cuddles, they are much appreciated!



Dear Lily: So after taking you to the vet yesterday, I am happy to see that you are no longer losing weight and that you have in fact gained. I'm not sure how happy I am that you gained, but it means you are healthy and bouncing back! However the vet says I don't have to keep catering to you now! I also love how much spunk you have back, although sometimes it is a bit cheeky!! Did you really have to take turns with Gracie destuffing your weasel? Could you at least clean up the stuffing? No? You think the cats do a good job? Only until I move the couch! I love you anyways!!

Dear Hair: If you could please figure out if you are going to be curly or straight, I would appreciate it. One or the other, not both! I get it has been humid lately, but we are not complaining. A bit of co-operation is greatly appreciated!

Dear Skin: Remember when used to get along? Remember how easy life was. I get it, things have changed, but we didn't HAVE to! I have been trying to get you some sun safely, and it seems to be helping a bit. Let's just be friends again!

Dear Followers: Thank you soo much for the continued support here on Life As I Know It. Welcome to any new readers, be sure to find me on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook too!! I hope everyone has a safe and great weekend!!

Someone Wants What You Have...

It is soo easy to compare your life to someone else's, so easy to want what they have or to experience what they have experienced.

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But remember…

When you’re weary of fixing another meal and doing dishes yet again, somebody wishes they had food to put on the table.

When you’ve folded and put away a(nother) mountain of laundry, somebody wishes their children had proper coats and hats to wear to school.

When you’re groaning over the highest heating bill yet this year, somebody wishes they weren’t so cold.

When you’re losing sleep and gagging over a child’s stomach bug episode, somebody is praying for a miracle over her child’s hospital bed.

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When the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester are about to do you in, somebody is weeping (yet again) over a negative pregnancy test.

When your headache intensifies over your teen’s college financial paperwork, somebody is visiting the site of her teen’s fatal wreck.

When you wake up to another cloudy, rainy day, somebody is praying for moisture to end a season of drought.

When you pick up your husband’s dirty socks and take out the trash because he forgot, somebody is wishing that for just a moment she didn’t have to do it all alone, all the time.

The next time your situation threatens to steal your joy, try to remember… somebody wants what you have.

I saw this post over HERE and had to share, because it is true. Not to mention the fact that soo many people suffer silently. You never know what someone is actually going through, so before you complain or think it will never end or that it could never get worse, just know that someone else would rather have what you have, someone else has it worse.

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Be grateful for what you have.

Give thanks in all circumstances…

1 Thessalonians 5:18

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What's Up Wednesday?

So yesterday didn't quite go as planned.

I did go and visit K, in fact I sprung her from her 4 walls. She hadn't been outside in a week - Poor girl! So we went to Pizza Hut and indulged in some lunch buffet - YUM. Then we hit up Old Navy, Motherhood Maternity and the mall.  K walked that mall with determination, but it didn't work - no labor. We tried! Come on Baby T!!!

My sister called me while I was with K and said she was bringing Brandon up to the hospital. She had spent the night before with him in Emerg because he was breathing funny and had spiked a fever. However, he was not feeling better yesterday, so she brought him to Sick Kids. So I decided to meet up with her and give some snuggles to the little man.

Poor little man was just not feeling soo hot!

He is feeling better now after some IV fluids and medicine and was sent home early this morning. Let me just say that although the ER doc that we had was a bit of a putz and the nurses were a bit crazy, I could NEVER work in Pediatric Emerg. Little kids being sick (and it was busy) just breaks my heart.

So I had gotten home around 9:30 and was beat.

I had M's Mom run up and grab Lily's meds and they only gave her the hepato-support, so now I have to go back up tomorrow! UGH! But I will take Lily up to get weighed as well, although I am pretty sure she hasn't lost anymore because she is eating like a champ! However, I just spoke to our vet and he said Pfizer has paid their portion, which cut our bill in half essentially and they have waived any possible interest and are allowing us to pay as we can, which is awesome when a $4500 vet bill pops up on your porch.

I am loving our vet clinic and as frustrating as this whole process has been, it could have been soo much worse, but we have been blessed with amazing care and generosity.

I am loving the weather that we are getting! Couldn't ask for much better!!

I am loving sweet Baby Brandon and I hope he continues to feel better!

I am loving this cat that broke into M's drawer:

Sporting the "I'm totally busted"look or the "You can't see me"

She would NOT look at me and I was using my crappy phone camera to make matters worse!

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Happy Wednesday friends!!!

May 24 Weekend Recap

Wow, that was busy, fantastic weekend and for me, it is still not over!!! I don't go back to work until tomorrow!! Saweeeet!!!

Friday night: I survived ball without my partner in crime, but made sure she got a play by play of the game, although it sucked! The boys got their bums handed to them. I hope I didn't screw up the score keeping too much, although there wasn't much to miss with only 11 runs by them and 27 for the other team!

Saturday: M had to work, but I started tidying up the house because we were having friends over for dinner. We went into town to pick up groceries and hit up the garden centre for some mulch. M ended up getting a medical call just before our company came, so that always leaves a rush on things, but we managed, luckily our company was a fellow firefighter, so the timing worked out well! M & J came over and the evening went well.

Sunday: We slept in and then headed straight outside to work in the garden! The back garden is one bag short of mulch and the front garden - we didn't even get that far. I worked around the patio and then decided to help M put mulch in. Bad idea. I was getting itchier and itchier, which made me more cranky than ever in the heat. Luckily I had taken a Benadryl before heading outside, because after the stupid wheel barrel fell on me full of mulch I had given up and headed inside only to find hives up all my arms. So I am not sure what exactly it was, but I am done in the garden!! We also have one part of the shower doors up!! Yes, my friends that is progress! M and I were having another dinner party that evening, so we were getting things ready to go and you can guess that pager went blaring with another medical call. He was back just in time to shower before K and S with Wy-guy came over. Another fantastic evening!

Monday M had to work - it is the one long weekend he works every year, just so happens it was really nice this year. So I decided to take in some of the fantastic weather and soaked up some sun and then got ready for dinner with C and S, who were down from North Bay!! Fantastic evening with drinks and dinner on the patio!

Today I am headed up to visit K in the hospital and I will be picking up Lily's new meds.

The weekend was filled with awesome weather with summer temperatures and no rain up until last night. It was a perfect weekend filled with friends, family time, great food, great company and awesome weather! I hope everyone had a great weekend as well!

As far as The Bachelorette?

Ryan - I like him, but can't help but to wonder if it is an act.

Charlie - Still like him, he is honest and to me she needs to credit him for it.

Jef - I am not loving him.. you are there to court Emily, not be courted by Emily.

Joe - glad he is gone

Why the heck is the guy with the egg still there?

Finale Friday

So has anyone else noticed that TV is beginning to dwindle down for the summer or is it just me!? It seems that this past week quite a few of my shows are airing season finales. Which does not impress me for soo many reasons. How am I supposed remember what happened months ago come September/October?  Although summer gets pretty busy around here, so I will be happy to not have to miss one of my shows!

Wednesday nights is our co-ed ball - which we started this past Wednesday and we lost... but it's okay because we had fun doing it!

Friday nights M has his baseball - they are doing soo well this season!! Although tonight I need to keep score by my lonesome because my partner in crime is busy baking a baby for hopefully another week or two in the hospital. I sent popcorn her way today in hope that she would still imagine our time that is not being spent together in lieu of tonight's game!

Now let's get back to the TV talk...

Hart Of Dixie: What is a girl to do? I kind of like Wade more than George. I'm not Lemon's biggest fan either! Not to mention her name.. Lemon? Really?

90210: Who is going to knock up Silver? And the car accident?! Dixon? Whaaaat?!

Private Practice: I am not sure there was one episode I got through without tears. They dealt with soo many REAL subjects this year. I think Addison should choose Sam obviously! I think Sheldon and Amelia should just date already. Pete and Violet - quit the drama and just love each other! Charlotte, Cooper and Mason - adorable little family! Soo glad Mason has accepted Charlotte, and I loved their moment in this week's episode with him calling her "Mama".

Revenge: Um sad moment when Sammy dies and I am glad Emily and Jack kissed. Not sure where next week's episode is going to turn, with Nolan being caught.

Grey's Anatomy: Okay is it just me or was last night's show graphic? I mean I work in health care, blood really doesn't phase me, but the snaps and cracks... I am even used to that with M's shoulder.. but yuck! So who is going to be left next season? Why did they have to kill off Lexie? And Mark - did he die?

See... my life involves quite a bit of TV... maybe taking a break is a good idea. But there is still The Bachelorette, and Teen Mom/16 & Pregnant - why the hell do I watch this? I am not sure!

I bought a bag of Lily's new dog food yesterday. Luckily the switch should be easy, as I am sticking with the same company (Purina Pro Plan) and the same flavor - Chicken and Rice, but this one is obviously not weight management, because we don't have a weight problem anymore (YaY). However, this food has a lot less Copper in it. I didn't want to put her on prescription food, because Lily and Grace eat the same food. That wouldn't be very cost efficient.

So M and I decided to splurge last night... we bought a pool. No it's not an in ground that we dream of, but it is something we can lounge in and cool down in. Oh and it was on SALE... I saved $50!!! Essentially, it is a kiddy pool for adults!!! I am looking forward to it!! It should work well for White Trash Day too - more to come on that another day!

I am looking forward to a summer full of backyard fire pits, soaking up the sun in the new pool, spending days at the lake, a road trip out west, time with my sweet little family and friends!

Happy LONG weekend friends!!! Stay safe, have fun!!!



Welcome Back Wednesday

Welcome back Wednesday! Soo happy you have finally made it back, which means the LONG weekend is fast approaching, although all my weekends are long - no complaints here!

Here is what I am loving:

- I am loving my BFF Hairy Carrie!!! Happy Birthday Friend!! I wish we were closer. I hope Steve-O spoils you rotten!!

An oldie goldie

Love and Miss you like crazy!!!

- My hard-working hubby - he installed another wall in the new shower, so now just the middle piece needs to go in and the glass doors! I am getting closer and closer to getting my own bathroom back! I say this because I have a shower routine and M has messed with it twice now! When M has a shower, he leaves the water coming out of the shower head, where as I turn off the shower head and it comes out the tap when I am done. So when I unexpectantly turn on the water and my head gets wet, I get a wee-bit frustrated. And to make matters better - he told me I did it to him once and then realized that it was himself! Eiyiyi... Men...

- My sweet kitties and dogs! As usual! But yesterday I was sitting out in the sun and the dogs decided they would sun tan too. Lily, who has a shaved belly right now decided she should roll over on her back and tan. What a ham! Gracie does it all the time, but when Lily did it, it just made me laugh!

- I hate that almost all of my shows are doing thier season finale already!!! I know it is the middle of May, but seriously... Private Practice had me in tears last night, 90210 left me hanging, as did Hart Of Dixie. Geez..

- I love my new running shoes, but I hate the new blisters, but just on one foot - go figure! I have recieved a few tips on how to remedy this.

- Our co-ed baseball starts tonight and I am PUMPED!!!

- I finally finished editing my sisters photos!! Yay!! Here is one of my two favorite little people:

- I made the Avalanche Bars yesterday, they are a good change, but in all honesty, I do not LOVE them! I am not a huge peanut butter fan. I like peanut butter cookies, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut butter and coconut, etc. It is not even a strong peanut butter flavor. I dunno, they are good though.



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- I love this look, but I think I would need thick hair and my hair is fine, but I have a lot of it! 

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- With a fast approaching deadline, I need to get organized! I wonder if this idea would work, instead of throwing them all on M's desk!

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- Love this outfit, minus the scarf, because scarfs in the summer just annoy me! Especially with shorts and tanks!! You can call me a crazy Canadian!

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- I NEED to get back in my sewing room. It has been months! I still need to learn how to do this:

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- Now for some words that inspire me this week:

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Happy Wednesday friends!!

Ugh Blogger... I Am Back!

I had a few technical problems with Blogger all weekend! I have been unable to both read and write, but now friends, I am back!!! I hope everyone had an awesome weekend, because mine was pretty great!

First off, today is GRACIE'S 3rd BIRTHDAY!!! Happy Birthday Gracie Mae! Love you like crazy!!!

Here is to many more!!!

So I will get on with my link up of what I have been up to!

Friday: M had his ball game. His team won again!!! Yay!!! 2 in a row!! We will see how they do this Friday! After the game we went back to N & K's for some beverages. I also finally tried the Coors Light Iced T. Not bad, not fantastic, but for beer, not bad! I think I would have liked it with some lemon!

Saturday: M worked, I did some stuff around the house and then ventured over to K's deck for some sunning. Little G enjoyed some playtime with Grace and Lily, who came home pooched afterwards!! M and I watched This Means War. I thought it was pretty good. M got bored of it a bit when the guy hired his family, but overall, not a bad movie! I do love Reese Witherspoon!

Sunday: M and I went for brunch with M's parents, as my sister and mom ended up bailing because my mom has a cold. Brunch wasn't bad, but for the price, it wasn't worth it. I can say I wouldn't go back. After brunch, we got groceries, worked in the garden together - yes you read that right... Mrs. Allergy Queen was pulling weeds and tilling the garden! Fear not, I paid for that later. But most of my gardens are weeded, just 2 sections left!! M and I played in the yard with Grace and Lily for a while and then headed in and worked on the shower stall. We enjoyed a nice chicken dinner and then headed to the ball park to practice hitting some balls! Here is to hoping it helped!

Yesterday: I went shopping in London with S and baby W - who was the best little shopper ever!! I also think he has moves like Jagger!!  I also managed to pick up the ingredients needed to make:

Avalanche Bars

I plan to make those today!! I hosted Girl's Night last night, although it was just K and I, and we watched the season premiere of The Bachelorette. Can I just say how corny some of the guys were? But I like Doug, Arie, Charlie, and Nate stood out as real contenders for now!

Oh Friday

I can honestly say that this past week, I didn't even really care that you were approaching and now I see why. Thank goodness I brought Hershey's Kisses with me to work today!

I am taking a few minutes out of some very frustrating work to blog.

In Ontario, our health care is paid for. Which is great. I am grateful, don't get me wrong. BUT, when you work in health-care, particularly the billing department in my case for today and they make a zillion cuts and changes. Your life becomes pretty miserable. The amount of papers on my desk right now - unreal. The amount of error reports coming back because they made the billing changes retroactive to April 1. It is May 11 people!!!  Soo frustrating.

But what is more frustrating is the fact that a lot of the changes they made were in Cardiology. I work in Cardiology. Sooooo many people lost their jobs on Wednesday because of these cuts. Luckily I did not. But the changes are that dramatic. It is a crazy world right now in Cardiology.

On a happy note though, Lily is an eating machine, like I am trying to watch now how much she eats, because she is eating soo well. And dry kibble - we are pretty sure she ate some last night. Which just excites us like crazy!

Oh FYI: Brooke Burke is a mean, mean (very lean) lady! I tried my first workout yesterday with her and man... I know I am a beginner and all, so it is bound to hurt, but really?

This weekend I am hoping the shower will get installed, it has been a project that has been lingering for a little longer than I expected and we have a deadline to get a lot of things done by fast approaching.

We also need to gain some control in our garden... man those weeds just like to take over!

Sunday we are doing brunch at The Elmhurst with my Mom, M's Mom and Dad, M (of course) and my sister! I am looking forward to it!!

The weather all weekend is supposed to be awesome!!

M has ball tonight in the village, which I am looking forward to. I love watching baseball!

I will leave you with some awesome quotes:

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Have a great weekend friends!