100/1001

Ok, ok, I have jumped on the band-wagon and have made my list of 101 in 1001 Days.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Start Date: Monday, August 1st, 2009
End Date: Monday, Saturday, April 28, 2012

Strikeout = Completed.
Italics = In Progress.

1. Grow an organic garden It was small, but organic :D
2. Go on a Road trip.
3. Loose 60 lbs
4. Make my own skirt.
5. Add to my star tattoo.
6. Get a sparrow tattoo.
7. Send a Birthday card to my family members.
8. Watch a sunrise.
9. Begin my children’s book.
10. Find, and buy Mushroom Canisters.
11. Finish my photography course. One more unit!
12. Ride a roller coaster.
13. Visit the local grave yards where my family is buried twice a year.
14. Go to a concert.
15. Read the required books for Doula Certification [0/6].
16. Attend a BlogHer Conference.
17. Make one scrapbook page for each kid once a month for 2 years [0/24]
18. Hike Pilot Mountain.
19. Try 5 new foods. [2/5]
20. Drink nothing but water for a week.
21. Try 10 new and different recipies [4/10] Banana Bread and Meatloaf, Chocolate Guiness Cheesecake, Irish Cream Brownies
22. Go without buying impulse items for two months.
23. Go without meat for 2 weeks.
24. Go for a walk at least 2x a week.
25. Save at least $1 a day
26. Go without “carbs” for a week a month.
27. keep a photo-log for one month, 1 picture a day
28. don't eat any fast food for one month, including pizza
29. Review 10 kids books on my site [1/10]
30. See a NHL game
31. Visit the beach
32. Take Vitamins every day
33. Celebrate a Solstice
34. Get my Canadian Passport
35. Finish Brye’s Mario quilt
36. Donate Blood.  Did it without realizing it was on the list!
37. Register and participate in Book Crossing.
38. Release 5 books
39. Paint kitchen
40. Get Re-CPR Certified.
41. Go tubing or skiing.
42. Bake a cake and icing from scratch
43. Bake cookies from scratch.
44. Buy a piece of artwork
45. Be almost done my documentary
46. Take a picture of myself each week
47. Print and frame 5 photos that I’ve took [0/5]
48. Become proficient at a shooting video game
49. Write myself a “where will you be in 10 years” letter. Open in 10 years.
50. Go Camping
51. Buy a brand new couch.
52. Try wine
53. Decorate for Halloween
54. And Xmas
55. Mail xmas cards before December 1st (Let's try for 2010)
56. Bake a turkey.
57. Create a folder, and keep husband’s pay stubs each week.
58. Buy a new *good* TV
59. Convert 5 people to cloth diapering (or at least try it) [1/5]
60. Get out grocery bill down to $100/week
61. Clean the van 1x a week.
62. Learn to knit. Not good, but I made a face cloth.
63. Go shampoo free.
64. Drive a stick shift
65. Visit Washington DC
66. Start a bank account for Freedom
67. Make a weekly deposit into each of the kid’s accounts
68. Buy a new computer
69. Go Geo-Caching.
70. Go Shooting.
71. Take a pic and write a blog entry 9-9-09, 10-10-10, 11-11-11
72. Spend 11-11-11 in DC
73. Send a care package to a US Soldier.
74. Learn to play chess.
75. Put a fun colour in my hair, if even a streak
76. Plant flowers in our front yard
77. Keep track of my cycles so that when we TTC 100% it might go quicker. We decided not to have more children.

78. See 5 movies in a theater [0/5]
79. Go to the Drive-In twice [0/2] They Closed the drive in :(
80. Plant a Tree
81. Research family tree past Henry Harrison Cummings.
82. Fast once a month
83. Get a Massage.
84. Send 24 postcards on post crossing [12/24]
85. Get f’ed up “Good and Proper” (Drunk)
86. Buy or acquire “The Daring Book For Girls”
87. Buy 2 CDs (Not diapers. Lol) [2/2] Blind Melon, Green Day
88. Watch all Lord of the Rings in one day
89. Learn to ID 5 constellations [3/5]
90. Buy 35 disposible camera for 35 different days [0/35].
91. Write one blog a week in French as best as I can
92. Create an original piece of jewelry
93. Participate in Operation Beautiful at least one day a month
94. Find a new blog to follow each month
95. Teach Brye to spell his name He can spell it, just not write it

96. Go to a hockey game in Winston-Salem
97. Get rid of 101 things I don’t use/need/want. {0/101}.
98. Take Brye to a baseball game
99. Go to a Casino
100. Review 10 Movies [0/10]
101. Make another 101/1001 list.

Top Ten Thursday

I got this great idea from "A kiss and a Peck".
Every Thursday she makes a Top 10 list.
Even though you don't have to go with her "topic". . . I liked it!

Without further ado...
I present:

Top Ten Strangest Dreams I Have Had (in no certain order)
1. Before my Grandmother died, I had a dream that I was in a long barn with round bales of hay lined up from end to end. A huge tornado came through and started to lift everything up, and revealed my Grandmother in a very fragile stat in a hospital bed. Up till that point, I was trying to hold on and save myself. I tried to make my way to her bed, and hold her down. She kept telling me that it was okay, not to be scared and that it was meant to be... she then got lifted up into the tornado.
What makes that strange to me?? Well a few weeks later, we watched my Grandmother die in a hospital bed and she looked exactly like what she did in my dream. The same thing happened when my Grandfather died. Same dream, just it was my Grandfather instead of my Grandmother. I knew when I got an unscheduled call from my Father in Canada that he had passed away.

2. I once had a dream that psychedelic amoebas were floating around and telling me to kill everyone. I've always compared it to what I think an acid trip would be like.

3. I'm going from Fort Coulonge Quebec to Pembroke Ontario. We have to cross lots of bridges and swampy areas in my dream. In my dream, there is a huge waterfall and a bridge that sits inches above the water. Of course it's safe! R-i-g-h-t. As many times as I've had that dream, and as many variations I've had of it, we always go on the bridge and we drown.

4. Keeping with the bridge theme... There are some bridges between Portage-du-Fort Quebec and Ontario. (I tried to search and found that it's either Horton or Chenaux). There is also a huge dam, the Chenaux Hydro-Electric Power Station. Long story short, I die on this bridge. The technical details change from time to time, but I always wake up right before I die.

5. I always have lots of dreams about tornados and having to hide in my Grandparent's old farm house.

6. I've had a dream a few months after my Grandmother's death that I was in her body trying to talk and say goodbye to everyone.

7. There's a variation on the "Jesus is coming back" and the begining of Armagedon. They all are a bit different, but always like that. There was one where the day had turned to complete darkness, and the water had turned to blood.

8. I had a dream that I was going into labour and I had an unassisted homebirth. Why is it strange? I was squatting over a baby bath tub and the baby was caught in that.

9. I was in Shawville Quebec, and driving down John Dale St in a life sized pink plastic dump truck. It turned over and it shattered into millions of little pink plastic pieces.

10. When I was pregnant with Freedom, I had a dream that I knew I had a baby, but couldn't find it. The baby turned up a few weeks old at my Grandparent's old farmhouse.


I've had several dreams where I've seen people out of the blue, and run into them within the next day or two. That's how we would know who was going to come and party on the weekends.
Here lately, all my dreams seem to involve my deceased Grandparents, who in the dream are not aware that they have passed on, thier house which my Grandfather sold. Or even my Father's old farmhouse which has been demolished.

I'm a personality quiz junkie

Wordless Wesnesday!

What I Wish I Knew Then

I am taking part in Dirty Diaper Laundry's first cloth diapering carnival. The theme is "What you wish you knew then that you know now"...

When I first started out, I wish I would have known how addicting diaper buying could be. At first it was just a "well it's diaper" kind of mentality. It quickly evolved into "OMG This is SOOO cute. I *must* have it". With my son, I didn't learn about cloth diapers until he was 4 months old. It was a kind of "learn as you go" situation. I was always so confused at first. I didn't know the difference between a soaker and an insert. I know that sounds dumb now. I googled as much as I could about cloth diapers. I am sure that I annoyed people at times with my relentless questions.
I wish I would have known about diaperswappers at first. Back in the day, you could still buy used diapers on Ebay. I could have saved a lot in shipping.
As for learning from my mistakes... I wish I would have known not to skimp on covers, or try Gerber Prefolds. I also wish I would have known about crappy laundry detergents and using fabric softeners in the machine.
I wish I would have known more about prefolds and the sizes. I had 6 Infant Prefolds before Freedom was born, that were left over from Brye. Through a co-op I bought some Regular Prefolds. I measured what they were "supposed" to be compared to the Infant ones I had. OMG they were so huge, even after I prepped them. I was lucky to buy a dozen used Infants for $16PPD (postage paid) from diaperswappers. It took forever to fit into those Regular sized ones right. Doesn't help that I was planning on a huge baby.

I also wish that I knew about cloth diapers as an option before my son was born.

It's Super Safe!

*eyeroll*
This would be the park I referred to in a earlier post.

An oddity.

I'm not huge on being photographed.
Just a self conscious thing. I usually opt for the "myspace" types of pictures. So to have see me with more than a head shot, that's a real oddity.
I think it's really got something to do with still hanging on to all this baby weight, and not having all the time in the world to spend on "primping".
I had dressed up (by my standards) to take Brye to the Children's museum.
This is my favorite sun dress. I sometimes feel a bit like Marge Simpson with her Chanel suit. Not that I try to fit in socially with the dress. I bought it cheap at a "discount" store. I always figure out a way to wear if differently by adding a shirt over it, or a sweater, or just something to make it look different. I wore it once with a teal/turquoise polo shirt for a job interview. In this picture, I am wearing it with a Beatles shirt.

Wordle!

How cool?!
I just came across this site www.wordle.net. I put in my blog feed and it made that cool pic.

Take Two!

So I decided, even if it doesn't count, I'm gonna get back in the game!
Brandon has cut wood, and we're going to have a cook out and fire tonight.
Always fun discussions to be had!


♥Testing out my code

That went well

The blogathon had barely started... And I failed! I might still attempt it. We took Brye to the Children's Museum and I thought it would be better to spend the morning with him than trying to blog with my "superphone" as he calls it.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Are we there yet?

Thank you for using Picture and Video Messaging by U.S. Cellular. See www.uscellular.com for info.

I'm a genius!

I had this great blog typed up... And I emailed it to the wrong blog. Guess I'm still working out the kinks of mobile blogging.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Murphy's Law

Never fails. . .
It seems like every time we plan on a Saturday trip with the kids, one of them will throw a kink in the plans. Like Brye suddenly deciding he doesn't want to have his hair washed, but doesn't want a hair cut. Having Freedom dressed, then the non drip sippy cup leak all over her.

The joys of parenthood.

Now off to the Children's Museum!

I'm doing the hard part!

In 9 hours, I'm going to be participating in a Blogathon to raise money for NorthFoothillsMommies.com
I'm needing people to pledge to sponsor me.
You do it per hour, or a lump sum.
Even $1!

I have to post a blog every 30 minutes for 24 hours!


NorthFoothillsMommies.com is part of The Mommies Network, a 501c(3) organization founded in April of 2005. The mission is to provide a safe, secure, FREE place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empower them to be better women, parents and community leaders.

Her First Piggie Tails!

Inspired by Finn Giveaway and Discount Code

I am super excited!
This is my first giveaway ... ever!

When I bought my Ergo, the sales person kept trying to sell me on the benefits of amber. At the time, I was thinking it was all hoop-la.

Fast forward...
I was at my wits end when my daughter was teething. I had read of some of the scary bad things about Orajel online so I was looking for something other than teething tablets. One of the cloth diaper forums I was on at the time had a co-op for Amber Teething necklaces from Inspired by Finn.

I can't think of a way to write this without being over-dramatic... But it was a lifesaver!! Within hours of wearing it, she was an easier happy going baby. It was also a great conversation starter.

At Inspired by Finn you can find a wide assortment of necklaces. Not only are they functional, they're pretty too! The amber necklaces are made of Baltic amber beads, when placed against the skin, warms up and releases natural oils. It has been reported to bring relief from mainly ailments, not just teething!

Historically, Baltic Amber has been used in Europe as a natural and traditional remedy and curative for many ailments for centuries. Long ago it was considered one of the leading ‘medicines’ of its time. Baltic Amber is the most esteemed amber in the world, and the healing qualities of Baltic Amber make it unlike any other type of amber found in the world.

Read some of the Testimonials! People have gotten relief from arthritis, headaches, menstrual cramps and carpal tunnel syndrome.

You can also buy Hazelwood Necklaces. Hazelwood is an ancient remedy first used by the aboriginal people. It has the medicinal property of neutralizing the body's acidity. It relieves or prevents ailments such as ulcers, acid reflux, heartburn, skin problems (psoriasis, eczema, acne), arthritis, constipation, migraines, sensitive & bleeding gums, helps reduce dental cavities and more. These necklaces are a great remedy for heartburn and nausea during pregnancy!


Now for the fun part!
The winner will receive any Inspired by Finn necklace up to 17" that is in stock, or a bracelet if they prefer.
All my wonderful readers can save 20% by using the code "blog" at check out!

How to enter:
(You must do this)
-Leave a comment with which necklace you would like from Inspired by Finn if you are the winner!

Extra ways to enter and win :D
(Each one must be in a separate comment)
-Follow Publicly or subscribe to the blog. Leave a comment letting me know that you did, or that you already do.
-Follow me on Twitter and tweet this giveaway - leave me the permalink of your tweet (you can get this by clicking on the time of your tweet).
-Mention this contest somewhere (your blog, plurk, myspace, site etc), and leave me the link.
-Comment on another blog post, but leave a comment here that you did.


Be sure to eave your email address with your entry.

Will end August 5th at 11:59 pm.
Winner will be randomly chosen August 6th with the help of Random.org
Good Luck!

Wordless Wesnesday

What A Shame. . .

While Brye was playing with the kids that my mother in law babysits; I decided to take a walk with the Baby. The local Ruritan Club has a "park" and walking trail. I hesitate at even calling it a park.
When Brandon and I started dating 10 years ago, there were decent quality swings, see-saws, balance beams . . . The typical playground stuff. Well except for a slide. They also had picnic shelters, bathrooms and large granite tables.
In ten years there hasn't been any improvement to the structures. There's obviously been the basic minimum maintenance to the buildings.

According to The Ruritan's website, they're supposed to make our community a better place to live and work. I would assume, being part of an organization and with collecting dues, that they would provide a better place for families in the area to take their children. I had called about renting the building for Brye's birthday party. $70 for an afternoon. Where is the money going? I would feel better if I went out and spent the $70 on some type of playground item and donated it to the park than looking at the park degrade.
And then there's the issue with creepy guys sitting in their cars while you're walking the baby. I called Brandon and told him "I finally left cause more guys kept showing up and I didn't even have a stick to beat them with!"

I hate that this park is within walking distance of my home, but my kids can't play there. We have to pack up the van and drive. The next closest park is about a mile away, but the idiots City has closed it during the summer do put in a walking trail and to re-route the river. I guess people are geniuses around here. The only Mc Donald's with an indoor play area closed last Winter to rebuild the restaurant.

Where have you been these last few months?

Lapbooks.
They are awesome.
I've decided to home pre-school Brye.
We're starting one tomorrow on Weather. I came across this site, http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ which offers some great resources. I just hope you don't live in a secluded area small town. Every book that was on my list was not available at my local library. Which didn't make for a fun trip with an antsy 4 year old.
He made his own monster book today, which he was proud of. He thinks it cute to call me "Teacher Mommy". He calls himself the "Blue Teacher". He loves his blue, also known an glue.

I am working on a give-a-way!
Coming soon, an "Inspired by Finn" give-a-way!

Something In The Works

If you know much about me, I've spent the last year or so wanting to make a documentary. I figure I need to start somewhere. I came up with an idea for one, and I am trying to gather my own statistics. It's still in the planning phases.

So please take the "Online Tattoo Survey" which is completely anonymous.

Wordless Wesnesday

What I wanted to be When I Grew Up

(Image courtesy of http://www.nataliedee.com/)

Honestly... I am grown up and still have no idea what I want to be. I remember things like hair dresser, singer, actress, farmer, veterinarian, scientist, FBI agent, astronaut...
I had a teacher hate me in High School because I answered the question "A Stay at Home Mom". She gave me a failing participation grade that day.
I would love to go back to school, be a nurse or something. There is a mom on my mommies group who is taking a 6 week phlebotomy course. I am seriously considering it.
What else do I want to be?
A photographer, a film maker, a midwife, a lactation consultant, a doula, a cloth diaper consultant. . . I think I add to the list everyday.

Mama Drama

Everyone seems to say they are "Drama Free", but I honestly think all women are dramatic. I personally like to call it "Emotional". I try to keep on everyone's good side, and "go along to get along" so to speak. But then it will happen. The one person who gets on my nerves the most says something that I take personally. Maybe I've had a bad day, maybe it questions what I believe to be right. Maybe I take it as a personal attack on my parenting. Either way, I try to defend myself and it escalates. I am sure there are some people who were my virtual friends who think I am a horribly bad person now. I speak my mind sometimes, usually as a last resort because I try to fit in with the crowd. I've never seemed to fit in with the clique, you think I would be used to it by now. In Grade 8, right before I moved to the states, I remember my "friends" telling me I couldn't hang out with them since they saw me with a "non-cool" kid. In reality, I spent my summer in NC because we we're going to be moving here.

I did a quick search for "Mama Drama" and it turns out that Play Group Mama Drama is a real "issue". It seems to go all through school, only to be taken over by the kids themselves in High School. I guess that's how it keeps on going. Seems to be a lot of cliques and personality clashes.

So with my ultra-cool deductive reasoning, I think there is no such thing as "Drama Free" especially when it comes to women. Face it, we're emotional creatures. We're mama bears defending our cubs; or lionesses if you prefer.

I really need to work on that, or try to surround myself with even more like minded people.
Now Brandon, he's not afraid to speak his mind or let people know what he thinks. I envy him sometimes.

(Images from Google Image Search)

4th of July

Recap:
We had a small BBQ at Bran's parent's house in the afternoon. Brye and Freedom played with bubbles. Freedom passed out before the fireworks and Brye got bored half way through. He wanted "bubble fireworks". I attempted to take some pictures only to become annoyed.
The kids stayed with the grandparents and we had a little fire and enjoyed some beer.

Happy Independence Day

Annoying Fat.

The annoying thing about being fat? The fact that there are no decent priced clothes that I like. I guess they think that people who aren't loaded are all too poor to eat, or spend the majority of their money on crack or something. UGH. Okay, so that was maybe to much of a generalization. But seriously. Go to a "discount" store and look for anything a size 18, or in the case of plus size juniors, 19 or 21. In the last year or so, it's impossible to find anything over the 15/17. While it's considered an XL in Juniors, it's really the equivalent of a L. I read online before that Juniors sizes are cut smaller in the bust and hips. I understand that it's marketed towards young undeveloped teens.
So the next step is Misses then, right? I would like to know what magical life altering event happens to make Misses dull and drab. Thanks to the whole smaller cut bust on Juniors clothes, I've never been able to correctly wear clothes I like. So I settle for something from the Misses department. Might just be my style too. I just feel like most of the clothing in the Misses departments here were designed for people pushing 60.
Plus Sized? OMG, What a joke. From everything I've seen, there is no style what so ever. There are some bad attempts at recreating the styles, but it's a joke.
Oh the joys of being a 25 year old mom with an odd sense of style.

Wordless Wesnesday