House sitting

Well here I am - house sitting for a friend of mine. 

When she first mentioned she was going away and her regular girl didn't want to babysit her pampered cat, I offered right away. First because I'm nice like that...lol.. and second because I love the cat. She is gorgeous, big and fluffy and I love to cuddle her. It wasn't until I was here a couple days that it occurred to me the cat is likely and expensive Himalayan or Persian. 

The first day she was timid. She knew me but not my son and his voice kept her away. Of course we couldn't find her in the morning in order to put her in the basement so she wouldn't trigger the alarm. Just try and find a cat that wants to stay hidden! For all you animal lovers, she has tons of food and cushy places to sleep there. Now she climbs right up on my chest in the morning to get lovin' and in my lap at night.

There's a huge adjustment to being at her house - no TV. For me, that's almost a deal breaker. I have the TV on at home for background all the time. The kids watch it and have an x-box. All she has is a DVD hooked up to it, not even a channel that comes in. Needless to say , I've dug into a good trashy book. Luckily, the kids are at their Dad's or I doubt I could do it!

The bed is nice but not my own, shower has different pressure but its still not bad. Likely a water saver one as she's very environmental. I went the first day without a hairdryer as I forgot mine and she took hers to Mexico. Overall though, I'm enjoying my time here. Nice being in a house vs. an apartment. Plus, it's allowing me to get tons of painting done at my place. 

This morning, at one of my clients' house, I was asked if I'd be interested in house sitting for a week in July. Seems their dog just doesn't know anyone else well enough to dog sit her. She had come from an abused and neglected home before they got her so she's very timid. Of course I said yes... first because I'm nice like that...but mostly because I love the dog. I see a trend here....

Even though it's strange being in a different house and there are adjustments to be made, it's very interesting to step into someone else's world for a week. It makes me appreciate my own even more.

Where, Oh Where did my Fashion Sense go?

As I'm heading to the bus stop yesterday with my youngest, I have a flashback to my teenage years. Here I am at 7:40 am in a pair of sleep pants tucked into pull on winter boots (they were Kyle's but he outgrew them several years ago). Warm jacket zippered all the way up, hood up and gloves. Wow, I think, I look so uncool right now . I recall going to the bus stop in a jean jacket and sneakers in the dead of winter. Didn't matter if I was cold as long as I looked good. HA! Now I don't care how good I look if it means freezing my ass off. I even own "duckies" that I acquired from Mom but I admit, I wear them.

How did that change ever take place, I wonder. I have always had my own mind when it came to fashion. I begged my mother to let me wear certain red shoes in a picture from the time I was about 4. Then in elementary, I had to have navy blue round glasses. (oh they were precious!). Remember the movie "Grease"? I had to have the satin jacket that Sandy wore.. it was awesome. I had a rough year in grade 7 when I had to wear hand-me-downs that were aweful and I got tormented terribly by the other kids. They can be so mean. By Grade 8, I had come into my own style, long about the same time I started going to parties. The movie "Flashdance" came out and with it; off the shoulder tops and leg warmers. Always faithful was the jean jacket. The summer of going into CEC, I was out school shopping and I spotted them. Acid wash jeans. I HAD to have them. I hadn't seen them on anyone but the were the coolest thing ever. By Christmas that year, everyone had them. That Christmas I was lucky enough to go to Florida where they were a little ahead of us in fashion and music. All I heard on the radio was Madonna , "Like a Virgin", and I came back from that trip in head to toe neon, lace gloves, and that leather mini skirt I loved. I had a long neon pink coat that I thought was wicked. My pink panther coat I called it. I have always been able to pull off outfits that many couldn't. I went through all the fashion phases of those short knit skirts, baggy blouses with the big belts on the outside, leggings, big hair, big earrings, granny boots, denim dresses, sweaters and pearls, shoulder pads, blazers inspired by Miami Vice, and many other fashion trends. On the right night you will still see some of these stylers at "The Mill"...LOL...

Fashion costs money. Simple as that. I would love to be able to be trendy as ever but the fact is, I have other things to spend my money on now. I am also at a delicate age where if you dress too young, well, you look like you're trying too hard and therefore you're not cool at all anyway. I don't even want to talk about the sizing of these cute things. Apparently , I no longer have a junior figure. Now don't get me wrong, I like to have a few peices of current, cool clothes, combined with more "classic" clothes. Unfortunately, practical over-rides fashion. Warmth over-rides cool. Rent over-rides the lastest/ greatest.

I come back from the bus to take my 15 year old to school and I realize where my fashion sense and money went. To my kids. Seems I still have it, I just don't benefit from it myself. As he runs to the car in his expensive sneakers, low cut rocker jeans and a sweater with no jacket, I hear myself give the same speech I used to get about freezing and dressing for the weather, and "what if he ever had to walk anywhere". It falls on deaf ears and I realize that everything comes full circle.

The Tooth Fairy

So here it is, 4:00am. I'm awakened by my son, who happened to be sleeping with me . "Mom, I've lost my tooth". My first coherant thought was, thank goodness he hadn't swallowed it or choked on it. I have a terrible fear of choking, stemming back to grade 6 when I choked on an orange during lunch. My second thought was, "great, what do I have for change in the house?" Quick calculations told me I didn't have enough for lunch money for two kids plus a visit from the Tooth Fairy. It never fails, their teeth come out whenever Mom happens to have no change. Guess she must have already gone by our house. Of course he was disappointed in the morning. Last time he lost a tooth, he thought she forgot him but it turned out that he must have moved it through the night as I found the shiny toonie on the floor behind his bed. ok ok, I'll fess up... I had no coin, so when we got home from bowling I snuck in hs room, grabbed the tooth and shoved the coin to the floor. Imagine my surprise when it turned out she hadn't forgotten him at all!!

We don't know a whole lot about her really... like... where does she live? We all know Santa lives at the North Pole but what about the Tooth Fairy, even the Easter Bunny? I have no idea why she would ever want children to put the tooth under their pillow so she would have to delicately reach under when they are sleeping without waking them. "Hello.. Tooth Fairy.. the night stand would have been much easier to negotiate don't ya think? " Those baby teeth are sure worth a lot more today then when I was a kid too! In my day we got 25 cents, now they get a toonie. Why aim for an allowance when you can just wiggle out a tooth. Speaking of money, here's the biggie...... where does she get all these coins ?

Well , I'm off to ponder some answers to these questions in case I get asked in the morning when he wakes up and finds his money.

My First Time

Here I am. My very first time blogging.

A girlfriend of mine has started doing it again and posted a link to Facebook . I must say, I was intrigued. Sure I'd heard of it before but never known of anyone who's done it. I figure it's sort of like keeping a diary, like when I was a teenager, only everyone gets to read it. As I'm writing , I am reminded of Carrie from Sex and the City although my life is no where near as glamorous. Life in a small town is limited to say the least.

I have lived here most of my life with a 2 year stint away at College in PEI. Gosh I loved it there but my fiance at the time had to move back closer to Mommy after I graduated and here I still am. We ended up married and I have a son with him who's now 15. AS you've no doubt guessed, that one didn't quite work out! Sucker for punishment that I am, I decided to try it again and have another little boy who's 7. Currently, single. How in the world did I end up here at this point in my life? The answer is I am only searching for happiness, like everyone else.

So here I am, almost the big 4-0, single with two boys. I have to look at this new chapter as an adventure and I can't wait to see how it plays out!