Neighbours from Hell

Here

Yup, we have one of those. I once again had an another confrontation with our neighbour. We live next door to the most ignorant, hypocritical a**holes you will ever meet. From day one they have been a thorn in our side as well as everyone else around them. Their ignorance ranges from extremely loud music to full out shovelling snow onto our driveway. They have absolutely no landscaping done, they have weeds not grass. Their lawn is littered with a bbq and an old chair but is this what our fight was about?! Nope.

I decided to water my lawn. That's it.
Sorry, let's rewind. I live by Calgary. As of recently Calgary faced a devastating natural disaster. Flash flooding left many people homeless and when able to return home many found that they have not much to go back to. During the floods some of Calgary's resources were threatened including drinking water. As a community outside of Calgary these floods hit very close to home and Airdrie residents pitched in to do all that they could to help out our neighbours. Many people volunteered, donated clothes, food and money. But the city of Airdrie itself was also placed on an outdoor water ban to help conserve the drinking water.  We respected that.

As of today that water ban was lifted. It has been scorching hot the last few days and our grass was very thirsty so I watered it. I left the sprinkler on for maybe 10 minutes. The neighbour yelled at me, not even to my face but as I was walking away when I turned my water off. "There is a water ban on!"
"No. it's been lifted." I yelled back, not even turning around.
"Nope. Still on."
I actually pulled up the City of Airdrie website on my phone and waved it in their faces. "Do not yell at me. According to the City of Airdrie there is NO water ban." May I also add that during this they were having a fire in make shift fire pit (aka steel drum) and completely uncovered, which in not allowed in the city of Airdrie and also that I never made any snarky rude comments about (ok, maybe during the yelling match I may have).

A neighbour from across the street heard the crazy lady yell at me and came over to make sure I was ok. That was like fuel on the fire. Next thing I know I am defending the fact that my children wander over into her yard (which is unfenced because they refuse to help us pay for it/build it) and my dog cries and whines all day when I'm not home.
First off, I may have dropped the F bomb when I told her they were too cheap to help us pay for the fence, hence the reason why my kids are in her yard "I'm just trying to keep my family contained, there is only so much yelling I can do to keep them out of the fun dirt pile you live in". Secondly, anyone who has met my dog knows that Nanook does not whine or cry when we leave him alone. In fact, when Blair or I sometimes come home for lunch from work it's a hit or miss if our lazy ass dog gets off the couch to even greet us.
So not only is she a rude ignorant B*tch, but she is a liar as well. It did not go well.

My turn to dodge the C word

A few years ago I started to develop a pain in my muscle right above my left knee. The more active I was, the more it hurt. Then a mass formed. I never thought anything of it. I put it at the back of my mind thinking "it's just a muscle that is irritated. Just over worked." But it wasn't. It never went away and just over a week ago I was sent for a MRI in order to make sure that my lovely mass was not in deed cancer. All of my previous tests came back inconclusive. The doctors just weren't sure. I was given a 50/50 chance that it could be a malignant tumor. Here I was once again faced with the C word, only this time it was my body and not Blair's.
Yesterday I received my results. I walked into that doctor's office with a lump in my throat as well as on my leg. Benign, good news. I swallowed my lump. But the tumor is smack dab in the middle of the muscle and is filled with blood vessels meaning that it may be inoperable, bad news.
I have been referred to an orthopaedic surgeon in order to get the final take on whether or not they will operate.
 Some families grow tomatoes, we grow tumors.

Enjoying the weather

Deep in thought

Fun in the sun at the neighbours while the mom's landscaped. 

Bad Dog! #5

 

 

Wow, this will be my fifth post that I have titled "Bad Dog". Although there have been hundreds of things that Nanook has destroyed apparently I have only dedicated entire posts to about five.

This is Nanook's little handy work from lounging on the stairs landing. He is very fond of sleeping on stairs, unfortunately while he is laying on his back his back legs tend to scrape the crap out of our walls. I patch it, it returns, I patch it again, it returns with a vengeance. I am at a loss as to what to do. Is there a product out there that can protect the walls without screaming tacky?

The culprit!

Miner Blair

 

My husband is a geek!

Update on Fred the Fibroma

Blair has now been tumor free for almost 2 years (21 months to be exact). About 9 months ago he got fitted for a brand new mouth piece. This one is more realistic, more like dentures and if he didn't take it out to eat people would never know he was missing teeth. This mouth piece is still a temporary fix for his gaping hole though.
Blair is on the waiting list to get bone grafts done and his surgeon has placed an application into a government program that will help cover the costs of his implants. Lets keep our fingers crossed that he will be approved seemings how we don't exactly have $12,000 for new teeth. Neither of our insurance plans will cover the cost so unless this awesome government program comes through for us the new teeth will be another pipe dream.
If all comes together he could start his bone grafts in the next couple months. This is going to be a long and painful process of removing bone from the hip to use in his jaw... not a fun thought.

Where the heck have I been?

Nowhere really. Just taking a little blogger break. I've been writing just not blogging.

My girls are growing like weeds!

Elodie has started talking. Her favourite words are "no" "Papa" and "Daddy". She tries to say almost any word you throw at her but it mostly comes out as syllables in a random gargling sound.

Kaiya does not shut up or stop moving. I get dizzy watching her. She is smart as a whip though. A lying whip! She has now entered into her lying stage. 

"Did you eat this pudding?" 

"No, Elodie did." 

"Really?! Elodie got a spoon out all by herself, got the lid off of the snack pack all by her self?"

"Maybe, Nanook ate it."

 Right!! I guess this is a normal stage that they need to go through. It is a little frustrating and a little funny. 

Work is a great escape from life. We have started the planning of landscaping. Our plans exceed our bank account (surprise). Our neighbours are not co-operating with the fence (double surprise) and we are still trying to finish details inside the home.

We have contracted out the mudroom to my brother. It is going to be awesome, but till then we are living out of our teeny tiny front hall closet. Not ideal, it's a bit messy and stinky at the front door (ok I must admit, I have stinky work shoes.) We are also redoing our fireplace. The tile was just not working for us. It was crooked and no matter how many times we had the tilers come and redo it just ended upt he same. So we have received all our money back, removed all the tile and are in the process of shopping for some natural stone instead (which is what we wanted to begin with). 

I am tired of fighting with the builder, fighting with the neighbours and living in a big mud/dirt pile.

I have also decided that I will be separating my "mommy blog" from my "zombie blog" these things don't mix and I was having a blogger identity crisis for a while. To follow everything not mommy blog related with a bit of a zombie flare please refer to my new blog Zombetty.

Christmas Part 2:

Christmas Day!

Zombie thought of the Day

A little bass never hurt a Zombie. In fact, a little bass leads the Zombie exactly where it wants to be. To where the douche bags live and who become instantly torn apart from the horde when the apocalypse hits.

Happy New Year!

I still need to finish my Christmas post but till then I wanted to wish all the Zombie lovers out there a very Happy New Year. No cliche resolutions here because lets just face it, I don't keep them anyways. So instead I have made a list of things I plan to NOT change/do in the new year.

1. Have another baby
2. Move
3. Gain weight
4. Wear a unitard
5. Get another dog
6. Cut off my hair
7. Eat out every day of the week
8. Spend less time with my family

There is however one goal I would like to achieve this year and that is to go on a trip. My passport has expired, Blair's has expired (as of 2 or 3 years ago) and I would love to get new ones go away with my hubby. It's been so long since we have left the country. Actually it's been since our Honeymoon almost 6 years ago so yes, we are over due. I just hope life co-operates enough for us to spend at least  a week in a tropical/exotic place...... alone :)

Christmas in two parts

Decorating the tree:

Kaiya thought the tree looked best with all the stockings on it.

"Wach out! I have icicles!"

Christmas Eve at my parent's place:

Doing what mommy's do best, opening the packaging.

Trying to get a good pic of the kids is like spotting Bigfoot from the chair lift at the ski hill. Not gonna happen!

A little bit of pink to brighten the holidays

Pink Eye that is and it is not brightening my holidays at all. So to top off the cold that all of us have, the diarhea and diaper rash that Elodie cannot shake sand the stress of the holidays both the girls have developed pink eye *la sigh*. I have turned into a germaphobic over night. I have gone through a bottle of bleach and a few containers of those disinfecting wipes. This house is CLEAN! Kaiya's eyes are looking great. After 2 days of antibiotics her eyes are clear and symptom free. Elodie on the other hand is having a tougher time fighting it. It's beyond frustrating!
All I want is the girls to be better by Christmas. Apparently they are no longer contagious after 24 hours on antibiotics but if Elodie still has a yucky eye come Christmas we are for sure speding it alone. Pray that both girls shake this in time for turkey.

Gingerbread home

 

Kaiya's first ever Ginger bread house.

 

The trying month of December

I have to admit that this month so far has been a tough one for me. Poor miss Elodie has been battling the flu off and on for a few weeks now. Every time we think that she is feeling better her bowels explode and her temper flares. I think she may be popping a few teeth too, it's hard to tell since she doesn't let us look in her mouth too often.

Kaiya has been pretty good. We bought her an advent calendar for Christmas. On the first day of December she snuck off with it and ate about half a dozen chocolates. Our new Scout Elf (Elf on the Shelf) Jingle Jangle was not impressed. He took the calendar away for a day and she hasn't done it since. It's definitely been a fun Christmas season this year Kaiya is really into it and it puts me in the Christmas mood too.

Christmas Eve, day and evening are always a bit stressful for me. Blair and I always feel obligated to attend every family gathering that is thrown. Last year we spent most of our time driving around from house to house and not enough time relaxing and just enjoying Christmas so this year we vowed not to do that again. We will have one per family. It's been really challenging though trying to figure out where we will be spending Christmas day this year. We actually thought of spending it alone. It was supposed to be at my Mothers but since my sister is not going to be there (she will be spending it with her new husbands family) my Mother has decided to forfeit her year with us. I didn't want to not see my family on Christmas day since it's been 2 years since it was their turn but that would mean driving to 3 houses that day (My moms, Blair moms, then his Aunt's who is hosting the dinner) and once again, something we did not want to do. I guess we shall see what plays out.

Being back at work full time has taken a toll on me emotionally. I miss my babies. With the sadness that hit Connecticut it makes me rethink my decision to be a working mom, in fact it makes me rethink my decision of putting Elodie and Kaiya in public school....period. I know I cannot protect them from life but I am seriously considering home schooling. I know that may be a little bit extreme on my part but I am scared to death of sending them to school and them not being safe. What has this world come to?!

Zombie thought of the Day

Children Zombies are by far the creepiest.

It's the third day of full time work and it feels as though I have never left. The same people are still there (plus or minus a few), the exact same routine, the same shit needs to get done. I'm not sure if it's a comforting feeling or a depressing one. I do have to say though that I am feeling awfully good about myself these days. All I hear all day long is "you look great for just having a baby, look how skinny you are etc." I know most of it is just small talk but my co-worker from my previous employment (aka my husband) never told me everyday that I was looking skinny so I will take all the compliments I can get. 

It was most definitely easier to go back this time compared to when I returned the first go around. I feel that I am more confident as a mother and as an employee. 

Back to work on Thursday

After a year of mat leave I am finally going back. *la sigh*
That year went by so fast and I woke us this morning feeling slightly depressed.
Yesterday Kaiya started back at the day home again, Elodie was supposed to start with her but low and behold she came down with another flu on the weekend and has still not fully recovered.  The house has been so quiet and all I can think about is "I miss my little munchkin". She is such a pain in my ass right now. She has started her "trying three's" stage. Talking back, potty talk, tuning me out and just testing her limits but in between all the mood swings and small rampages she is so darn sweet I just want to eat her with a bowl of cherries.
I am extremely anxious about returning to work. I know that a lot has changed in the past year and I hope that I am not too overwhelmed. Also, the change of morning routine will be a huge shock. I am looking forward to socializing with adults again, going to the bathroom by myself and being able to just sit in my office and have "alone" time. I cannot decide what's considered to be the break, mat leave from my job, or my job from my children.

Falling off the Face of the Earth

At least that is how I felt for a while. Zombies did not invade, I just seemed to have lost my groove, had some major writers block, just too darn busy to blog. You pick one and we will go with that as my excuse.

A quick review of what has happened since my last post.

Kaiya turned 3, holy crap.

Kaiya's 3rd Birthday

We had Halloween, yay fun!

Halloween

Spooky Jack O 'lanterns

Elodie turned 1, double holy crap.

Elodie's 1st Birthday

Yes of curse there has been more but there is not enough room to list it all. 

Hip Hop Superstar

Today I attended my first adult hip hop class. It was a riot. I was petrified that I may be the oldest person there but what a pleasant surprise that I was right about the average age. There were a few people who were way more "hip" then most of us but I think this will help me get my groove back. I've been feeling a little uncoordinated and my mid day kitchen dance parties just aren't that cool looking. There is however one thing that I must remember to bring for next class, a panty liner. Yup I peed a little. Too much jumping equals a small release of urine. Gross! God I love this post pregnancy body (sarcasm if you didn't pick up on that).

Zombie Thought of the Day

This year's zombie walk is almost upon us. For all the zombie lovers that live in the Calgary area it is on October 13th at 1:00pm. If you would like more information about this years Zombie walk, please visit the facebook group. Hope to see your undead corpse there.