Who Says Size Matters?

Meet Ringo, our 190 pound English Mastiff.

Ringo, meet DumbLittleSquirrel.

I know, Ringo. It's a Provincial Park. You can't touch him. And he knows it.

Better luck next time, my boy.

Hidden Treasure!

We were at Long Lake this weekend, which is one of Alberta's Provincial Parks. We went for a nature walk and on our way back I ventured off the path and into the bush. (Which is apparently a no-no, so don't tell....) Suddenly Cassie looks down and sees:

To which we say, "WTF?".

Cassie and Leon start pulling this container out of its hidey hole and open it up. (Picture re-enacted by Liv, who was not with us initially.)




Inside this container was a notebook and pen so that you could write a little something and date it. It went back to early summer 2008 and was written on by many.

There were little items in there. On the instructions, which was an actual website idea, you were to look at it and enjoy the find. If you wanted to take something out you were welcome to, but you had to put something in in its place. You notice Liv holding a silly little ball thingy. That was her donation and she took out a Little Pet Shop toy. There was everything from camp straps to tape to ear plugs to toys. There was even a love note to a long lost love, vowing to find each other again. It was so sweet!

This was easily one of my top 5 Long Lake moments in all the years we've been going there.

I'll finish with a photo of the young lady who first found the "Happy Place" container, and the girls and Ringo with it. I plan to print the group shot and put it in a ziplock baggie and put into the container.





Next to this, of course, would be the fact that I have caught more fish than Leon. I will enjoy this for now, because naturally it is just beginner's luck.

Maybe.

My Name Is Rhonda. I Was A Blogger, But It Has Been Two Weeks Since My Last Post.

I feel like I should be reintroducing myself.

Hello self.

I say self because I'm pretty sure everyone else has given up on me by now.

I thought I would post a quick update. Life is getting out of hand and I just can't keep up. I'm PMSing. My body hurts from soccer and bug bites. I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks. I've gained 10 pounds. And I'm a little cranky.

Asia is still doing her thing. She has been gone six weeks today, but who's counting? She is coming over for supper tonight and to be honest, I'm a little nervous. How totally stupid is that? What do I do if she doesn't want to come home? What do I do if she does? Shit. Hahaha.

I got a new-to-me car. It's a Dodge Magnum. Black with tinted windows. I'm calling myself Mafia Mama. I think it fits, seeing as I'll be turning to drugs soon if life doesn't shape up, and since I'm PMSing, I may just off someone pretty damned soon.

We went to the lake for the first camping weekend last weekend. It was actually nice. But shhhh.... Don't tell Leon. It'll go to his head. I went fishing for the first time and entertained my family with how "excited" I got (truly it was just totally scared shitless, but it's my blog and I'll lie if I want). My very first catch was a jack that poked his face out of the water and opened up his big-ass ugly mouth so wide I thought he was going to swallow me whole. I screamed. Really loudly. Then he spit out the hook and swam away. I think he was laughing at me, but I can't be sure. I got totally sunburned and was really close to saying screw the rules and going braless at work on Monday. But I chickened out. It would have been really embarrassing if the ladies peaked out the bottom of my shirt to say hello, dontcha know.

I changed the layout of my blog and now have lost my daily reads. You know, the one that updates as my peeps post? Gone. I'm totally bummed, because if nothing else, I would now and then come on here just to keep up with others. And now I don't know how to get it back and I don't remember blog websites. So, what the heck do I do now?

Liv and Cassie have their last day of school today. Next week they will be heading off with their Dad to the lake for 10 days and I will join them on weekends. My weekdays will be booked with dates to see old friends that mom guilt won't let me see except for when my family is gone. The rest of the time I will work my full time job and my casual job for extra cash since we moms all know that when our families are gone, all we do is clean house anyway, right?

So, that's about it, I think. I don't know when I'll be back. I'm worried that if my blog is ignored for too long, then it'll be wiped out. Does that happen? Not sure, but I don't want to risk it.

Is It Getting Hot In Here, Or Is It Just Me - And 800 Other Women...

For your viewing pleasure, Leon's 2011 Fireman Calendar Tryouts that went on last weekend. He got first place competing against 22 other firemen. I highly recommend you watch it with your sound up. The music is essential to the show - as is my mother's laughter!! lol

Laughter Is Always The Best Medicine.

1.) I sometimes laugh when I’m uncomfortable…or being yelled…or in church…or at a funeral. Write about a time when you laughed at an inappropriate time.

I'm a little late in my writer's workshop post. Life, and Facebook's Family Feud has gotten in the way of my blogging. But better late than never, though, and can you believe that I'm going to write about something other than Asia?

I definitely laugh at inappropriate times. Two in particular come to mind.

First was during Christmas Eve service at Leon's family's catholic church. Let me just say that I don't do silent, serious moments well. And even worse for me are catholic church moments. Even in my lowest moments, I will come up with something off the wall to lighten the mood. Now if something funny happens in one of these situations, I'm just screwed. I will laugh without ceasing for embarrassing lengths of time.

Church service was just starting and they were doing their processional down the middle of the church, the alter boys following behind the priest. They got to the dais, or alter, whatever, and one of the alter boys tripped on his little white dress thingy as he was going up the stairs. He stumbled up a couple of the steps and caught himself. I thought it was hilarious.

And then he tripped again.

And I basically just freaking LOST it. I laughed the entire hour. Leon's mom elbowed him and told him to tell me to get it together. Ha. Fat chance. It was by far my favorite Christmas Eve church moment.

The other time was actually when we were meeting with the minister for our wedding. Harold was my family's church's minister and thankfully he was very down to earth and pretty cool. Again, a serious, quiet discussion in his tiny little office.

For no reason at all, I started to laugh. I know it was nerves. But that didn't help to stop. I had tears streaming down my cheeks. My face was contorted into that awful look a person gets when they are trying their darnedest to stop laughing.

It was ugly.

And embarrassing.

Everyone was worried I wouldn't be able to get through the wedding without imploding. I did, however, thanks to the various moments during the ceremony when we could all laugh off the tension. Like the big "Yeehaw" when I came down the isle, jamming the ring on Leon's finger with full sound effects and wee Asia clapping her hands and saying "yay!" after we were pronounced husband and wife.

Knowing me, there have been plenty of other "moments". I do laugh a lot. Usually uncontrollably. Usually late at night. And usually at my husband's expense. Tee hee.

Okay, Now I'm Just Angry

I think I'm going about this in totally the wrong order, but whatever. I never have done things quite right. And I'm sure the subject of my ire will confirm that whole heartedly.

I'm angry.

I'm angry that she thinks she is such a victim.

I'm angry that she seems to hate us for no reason. (Unless you can consider opportunity, encouragement, love and a nice trip to Florida no reason.)

I'm angry that she is putting us through this.

I'm angry that she is just a selfish little brat who doesn't have a clue.

I'm angry that she thinks we owe her.

I'm angry that she can thrive in another woman's home while being nothing but hateful in mine.

I'm angry that we're having to put on smiles and pretend that everything is okay while our hearts are breaking.

I'm angry that she is still running my house when she no longer even lives in it.

I'm angry that she was so mean to her Dad when he was just going to the school to pay for HER bus pass.

I'm angry that she wants to use us and make demands and she thinks that this is okay.

I'm angry that she has told her Gramma and Godmother to leave her the hell alone.

I'm angry that she has so little respect for herself and her family.

I'm angry that she doesn't see that having friends who are okay with the way she is acting means that she needs to pick her friends better.

I'm angry because while she is happy as can be and apparently doing well, I can't see that for myself.

I'm angry that she has taught her sisters that running away is okay. Because it is so clearly not.

I'm angry that she phones just so she can pick fights and make demands and that she succeeds in making me feel lousy.

I'm angry that this is taking all my energy and the result is that I'm probably not the mother I should be to my other kids.

I'm angry.

I'm just plain old fucking angry.

I Wish There Was A Chapter In The Instruction Manual For This One

Asia came to visit Livvy today. She waltzed in like nothing happened.

Like she didn't just get kicked out of school and choose to run away when I tried to talk to her about it.

Like we didn't just go three days without hearing from her.

Like we are so completely in the wrong that we should have welcomed her with open arms.

I couldn't do it. To be honest, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say.

I've never been in this situation before.

But I get the feeling that I should figure out how to handle it really quickly.

Because it is probably going to happen again.

And again.

And again.

Because we will never be allowed to parent her.

And we can't not parent her.

So where does that leave us?

What's Your Status?

Some people are very vocal about what they think of facebook and status updates.

Some think it is a waste of time. Others quite happily keep up with your life via your status.

You can be funny. I have a past client who is an absolute HOOT on his status reports. For example, "I used to be schizophrenic. But we're okay now." Whenever he updates, you know it's going to be good.

You can be controversial if you choose. You want opinions on abortion or divorce or politics, put it in your status.

You can just plain old let people know what's going on in your day. "I'm off to the dentist. Yuck."

Some think that you should never put anything negative in your status, because people shouldn't have to see that you're having a bad day, or that you're sad. "Go to a therapist" was that person's general opinion. And if your status updates are routinely negative, then yes. You just might need a therapist. Sorry 'bout that.

Last night I updated my status to read:

"If anyone is FB friends with Asia and you see she's in a tight spot, please remind her that she is always able to come home. We're choosing the tough love option, but it's hard. I pray that she stays safe and makes smart choices."

The support poured in. I had comments on my status. I had personal messages.

To me, right now, my status update is my support system. That is the amazing thing with it. Friends and acquaintances sharing their own stories with me. Just sending a cyber hug. Words of encouragement.

I don't feel so alone.

Thank you, my friends.

Wordful Wednesday

As I posted yesterday, I think I would be quite happy to do this full time. The problem for now is the evenings and weekends the job entails. While the kids are young and Leon is a shift worker, I am a little stuck in the 9-5 grind. I'll keep doing this part time for now. To keep my head in the game.

One day, though.... This will be what I do full time.

And I can't wait!

I don't have an abundance of self confidence. I'm not a go-getter. And I'm a bit of a chicken.

But I have to tell you that I would love to take this photography gig to the next level. I love to do it and I usually love the results. I love the products I offer my clients. I love that they are happy with their pictures.

What I love most, though, is that most of my clients have come to be friends. I have clients on facebook. I see pictures that I have taken for them as their profile pictures. I look at the facebook photos and see in the background my work on their walls.

It's a great feeling.

I have clients that come back year after year. Even when I tried to convince one of them to go somewhere else, SHE had faith in me that I just didn't have in myself. (I don't do 'baby' pictures well, which is what she was needing... lol)

Now I know that I'm not overly artsy. I don't have time to take courses and learn all the new-fangled things that photographers are doing now. But what I do give is nice photos, fun photo shoots and good quality albums for a fair price.

And we have fun. And we stay in touch. And I think that rocks.

I'm so incredibly lucky!

And I just thought I would share that with you today.