a tad busy, a tad overwhelmed

busy, busy, busy.

does that ever go away? not sure. not sure I want it to. it's been one of those busy weekends, but a good busy. last market day, family pictures, church, shopping with cor, friday night with yvonne & andrea. the good busy. and alas, I sit here on a sunday night looking at the marking I have sitting on my desk - all unmarked! grrr. I am going to give myself one hour to do school work, then it's to bed...so I can face another super busy week.

happy october!!

skinny bitch

yeah, the name of a yet ANOTHER new book I found this week.

I have the following books sitting on my desk as we speak:
shake hands with the devil - romeo dallaire
not on our watch - don cheadle & john prendergast
skinny bitch - rory freedman & kim barnouin
an ordinary man - paul rusesabagina
rmr: the book - rick mercer
the kite runner - khaled hosseini

so many books...so little time. all of this and we are watching the bionic woman...love, love, LOVE!!

love, love, love!

can you tell I am avoiding work?

yeah, so I bring a crap load of school work home with me on the weekend. it is almost 9pm on sunday night and I have not touched any of it. grrr.

on the other hand...
1. I helped amy write an essay on a really bad margaret laurence story

2. I started my new kathy reichs' book [ashes to bones...takes place in lovely montreal!]

3. I watched the premiere episode of what could potentially replace my defunct oc...gossip girl!

4. I am currently waiting for some other season premiers to watch tonight...law & order: svu and cold case. ahhh...the fun with my vcr begins again!

5. I made some cards, went shopping, bought groceries, did laundry, washed the floors & dusted.

really, not too bad for a weekend! next post...new kid pics!

a saturday night

sitting here with john, watching tv, drinking a glass of wine. I am struck with a thought, and a heart full of gratitude. my life is full. good. phenominal. rich. happy. I have a husband who loves me. kids who amaze me daily. a job I love. a God who loves me. a family who cares. friends who are friends regardless of the crap. a house over my head & bills that are paid. I am sitting here, thinking that I have nothing to complain about. I like this place.

oh my poor, neglected blog!

I got a bit of a push from erika to get back to blogging...so I will start with her tag! [it's kinda a fun one!]

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Sparky Wave
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Cherry Garcia Chocolate Chip Oatmeal [so NOT a gangsta name!]
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) C Fra
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Orange Giraffe
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Marianne Edmonton
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Fraco
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Green Coffee
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Jerry John
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Naige Licorice
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names) Not too sure what to put...neither of my parents have middle names!

Now I need to tag five people, so here goes..... Just copy and paste the above into your blog with your own answers, of course! and since I don't have 5 people that erika didn't already tag...SUSAN!! you're IT!

and on another note - the diet [or whatever I/you want to call it] is sucking big time, school is going super well [knock on fake wood] and I have finally adjusted to life without recess. oh, and I am getting sick. grrr. overall though, it has been hard getting back into the swing of things, but life is good.

the first day back

I SURVIVED!!! I am officially junior high! how wild and crazy is THAT??? what is the whole gig with no recess in jr high? I was starving at lunch...st-AR-ving! but, since I totally got through today, that means tomorrow I can get back to being my hyper, exciting [LOL], happy self - regardless of what the supervision schedule will bring me!

and plus, john is still in make-up mode [little, wee disagreement last night], so life is ALL good right now!

oh, and as far as diet-goals go, not a bad day, not a great day. tomorrow I must remember to DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!

I get knocked down, I get up again...

yeah...you can sing the rest of the song.

Today's post: more of a list.

1. I never realized how overwhelming starting school could be. I am always super organized and over the top ready. yeah. not so much this year. I feel like I am wading into no-man's-land with this whole junior high business.

2. church today. we tried something new. we liked. something to ponder, that's for sure.

3. stepped on a scale today. EEEEEEKKKKKK!!! yeah, my clothes had been indicating a bit of an issue, but the scale confirmed the truth. I am NOT a happy camper. AT ALL. I have a bit of a plan though: this week, I am going to track all my calories and drink all my water. 2 very manageable things for me to do, in light of this being the first week back at school. I am tired of all the excuses. tired of all the crap that I feed myself, as far as hate mail in my head. enough is enough already. I am planning to be 8-10lbs lighter by october 1st. anyone with me???

4. read a good book this week. a long walk home by liane faulder. totally worth the read, and although amazon is listing it as not released, it was released this week. you can also pick it up locally at audrey's books. paul [the subject of the book!] has also started up a charity [naap]; john and I are going to see rick mercer next sunday in support of the charity. I am totally stoked!

5. I won $40 some bucks playing the nickle slots at the river cree casino on friday night. good times.

and that's all...my mind is a bit warbbled!

and tomorrow...

is the big day back. yeehaw! [insert sarcastic tone here]

needless to say, here of some cute pics that I took the other night of the boys goofing off in the car [and, yes, it was cold enough for vests]!

turd-day

what a misspell, eh? LOL

2 weeks today. yup, my venture into the land of jr high begins in 2 weeks. am I crazy? oh, so totally! livin' on the edge, baby!

so, some fraser family updates:

1. paint has hit the walls. a fresh, new, updated, washable colour...a darker brown behind the couch, and by accident, a darker gray in the back entrance! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
2. nate is still in swimming lessons, and doing GREAT. yippie!
3. got nate registered for music lessons for the fall. my mom offered to take him and he is pretty stoked about the whole thing.
4. I have officially gone through all the boy's clothes: sorted out everything, got some new jeans for ty, hauled out all the winter wear, packed up the old.
5. got myself a bit of a new school outfit. brown cords, white shirt.
6. staples: a new binder. white board markers. smelly felts. sticky notes. I really love going back to school.
7. we have made it to season 5 of the sopranos. I am fully capable of swearing like a gangster.

and...quote of the day:
"the most important thing in life is to stop saying "I wish" and start saying "I will". consider nothing as impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities." [david copperfield]

friday

normally I love friday. last day of the work week. beginning of the weekend. you know, the same reasons you all love friday too! yeah, not this friday. this friday is counting down the days until I go BACK to work. only 2 more blissful fridays. good times.

I am feeling slightly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of things I did not get done this summer. there is no way I can get all these things done in 2 weeks. not with a classroom in complete disarray. not with another week of swimming lessons. alas, does it really matter? nah. unsent emails. unmade phone calls. unpainted walls. uncleaned cupboards. nah.

question is, what did I do this summer? hung out with friends. hung out with the kids. drank lots of wine. shopped. stamped. all the fun stuff!

I am making some cards and things for the market. I will take some pics and post!

more pics!

books I read...

on my vacation!

1. peppermint filled pinatas [eric bryant]
2. a mighty heart [mariane pearl]
3. three cups of tea [greg mortenson]

I've been having a bit of a wanderous brain as of late, wondering how all of my life makes sense in the bigger, global scheme of things. I have had an interesting journey the last few months, and I believe that nothing happens without purpose. as a result, I have to trust that I am hearing the voice that I know I am - the Voice. the one that made me. the one that calls me. unconnected on the surface, but very interconnected beneath the surface. does that make any sense?

event #1 - changing classes for next year & applying for the epsb leadership course [mmmm, I should know about that soon, being that it is almost mid-august!]
event #2 - not going to convention
event #3 - going to LA with erika
event #4 - reading some pretty thought provoking ideas
event #5 - heading to washington to meet jules & jess in winthrop
and connect all of these with relationships [new & established]: susan, erika, yvonne, katrina, audra, jules, jess, mom, joy. relationships with strong, wonderful women who have surrounded me with support and friendship in ways I never thought possible. and even now, as I sit here, I know I have left names off the list. not intentionally. I really could keep going...but then I would really miss someone!

I am rambling. mainly because I have yet to put all of this together. what is my legacy. what kind of world will I leave for my children. what story does my life have to tell? I was created for a greater purpose and I am trying to just listen to the Voice that guides me. the Voice that loves me. the Voice that sees me as the woman He created me to be.

so much stuff!

so, the trip. driving with 2 kids stuck in car seats...not much fun! okay, so I lie. there were fun parts. seeing a big animal with mondo-huge antlers [super cool!]. conversations about animals that live in the mountains [are there llamas in the rocky mountains...nate is wondering!]. stopping at every tim horton's for coffee and timbits [fun the first 5 times until nate had a meltdown over the colour of his timbits]. the non-stop screaming between kelowna and penticton with NO PLACE TO PULL OVER [not such a fun moment!]. considering we had them locked into car seats for 10+ hours at a time, they did pretty well!

the resort in osoyoos was BEAUTIFUL and hot and all things wonderful! there were 2 days where there was a bit of wind and temps were at 30 degrees, but for the most part it was 35. our room faced the vineyard...so super wonderful. every morning we went out [to the beach, the amusement park, a vineyard] and in the afternoon, while ty napped, one of us took nate out [usually it was john taking him to the pool!]. then it was an early supper, then off to the pool again. great fun for all of us, especially after we got the kids some tubes and goggles! then, after the kids were in bed every night, we sat on the balcony with a glass of wine & just enjoyed the view. the best vacation ever!

I have more to tell, but that will have to wait. ty is waking from his nap!

tomorrow

I promise, I will blog tomorrow! I am exhausted & feeling crazed, so I will sleep and then tell all tomorrow!! as a teaser, some pictures to hold you all over!!

some happy feet

my boys have some happy, happy feet. and even more so, some really happy voices. they LOVE the music and dancing on the happy feet movie and nate has the penguin dance down pat. regardless of the pounding headache that rules my head at present, their freshly washed hair and their happy little feet doing a little dance...makes me smile.

I spent the day painting at audra's house...we had a bit of bad paint information and we spent wednesday night painting, then unpainting her front door. when I left on wednesday night, it looked like a big reddish paint mess. when I left today, the door looked AWESOME!! I have to say, I want a red door too!

we leave for osoyoos on tuesday morning. we are going to stay the night with james and shonnette in vernon on tuesday night, so that will be a nice break from the whole road trip thing! I have to say that I am not really looking forward to the drive, as the boys are unexperienced in this area. I'm sure it's the start of some fun fraser summer vacations, but 12 or so hours in the car with a 2 year old and a 4 year old might just be just a little too much fun!

oh, and a new card to show off [some borrowed ideas from the su! catty]! and a big thank you to erika...you comments yesterday made my day!!

treading on new territory!

so, if you know me at all, you know that I am not a scrapbooker. never have done the traditional 12x12 thing. I don't get it. the whole thematic, timeline of one's life. just never bought into it.

okay, but I have been itching towards trying something a little new. a scrapbook of a different sort. mine has a variety of page sizes. a variety of pages. no matching layouts. no two page spreads. just pages of pictures that I love. there is no order to my pages and [on the idea of a scrapbooker I love], I am throwing in some of nate's artwork - the good stuff!

regardless, here are the pages I've done this week. please, be kind! [oh, and I hate how I have to take pictures of my pages on an angle because the flash loves to reflect!]

rockin'!

so, erika named me as one of her rockin' sites...which kinda makes me laugh, since my blog is so less rockin' than hers!






consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!!

today was a fun day - all day at the city market, making & selling cards. an all round good time. also ran into a girl that I went to concordia with...uber cool! and although I love my nate dearly, I was very happy when john came home from his mom's house without my nearly-four-year-old. tomorrow is his birthday. I cannot believe how fast he has grown and what an interesting human being he has become. full of likes and dislikes. personality beyond belief. such an incredible imagination. shy. athletic. fierce. stubborn. amazing. I am so entirely grateful that he is a part of our lives [although I am also glad that he is having a sleepover at grandma's tonight!!] and it is incredible to me that this wonderful, interesting person was given to us to parent and love and teach. what a responsibility. what an honour. I sure like that God knows what he's doing...especially when it comes to my life! phew! what a ramble.

lookey here...

mmm....

so I was at the urban scrapbook [my lss!] the other day and I am in love with all things basic grey - the paper, the rub-ons, the fibers, the everything pretty - but my store never has the 6x6 pads of paper. needless to say, got a call today that some came in. yippie!!! infusion is soooo pretty!! I also got some wood blocks; I have an idea for a project. something with pictures of the boys that I can have on my desk at school. still working it through!

random, yet not!

erika got tagged, so I am then tagging myself...make sense? yeah, no. that's okay. if you check out her blog, then you will understand!!

7 random things about me:
1. I talk in my sleep.
2. I want to move to europe. no really, if we didn't have friends and family here, john & I would totally take the kids and move to england or holland.
3. I wish I liked to scrapbook. so perhaps, I will do more...venture out from behind the card making.
4. in high school, I did the grade 11 year book...the whole thing. photos, developing, layout. I had planned to be a photographer, then I lost my good camera and thought it was a sign. I should have pursued it further, or taken some courses. good thing I can still do that if I want.
5. drives me absolutely nuts that I can't shake 10lbs off...gotta just stop getting annoyed and just change some things. regardless, it is taunting me!
6. I am a procrastinator. why do today what I can do tomorrow!!!
7. I really miss not having access to a piano.

so, consider yourself tagged if you are reading this and want to play!

another LA pic - I am having a hard time finding pictures without erika & I had promised she could edit them!!