The Play

            “I need your help writing a play.” That’s what my mom said. The first thing I thought was – crap. I hate writing plays. Then I thought, I’ve never even written a play. Then … I thought – can we put Star Trek into it?

            “So this is my idea.” My mom began to tell me of her character which I thought reminded me of someone. Mom. Then she started talking about the weird shows she watches but I was already thinking about the character.

            “Okay.” I said, interrupting her thoughts. She frowned but began to set the scene. Once she’d put enough information down she looked at me expectantly.

            “So what kind of scene should I have?” Then she began to describe her idea. I cut it down in my usual gentle way.

            “No.”

            She frowned again.

            “It should be like this.” Enter idea. She wasn’t really buying it, “Fine. But then this should happen.” She bought that.

 We started laughing and I started to enjoy the idea of writing this play. We have a similar sense of humor, which helps. There’s nothing worse than saying something you think is fricken hilarious and being met with silence. Or crickets. Oh my God I get annoyed by crickets. And I hate grasshoppers. OMG now I’m thinking of grasshoppers.

And NOW I’m super annoyed at my Microsoft Word for constantly TABBING every time I start a new paragraph! STOP thinking for yourself WORD! I’ll do the thinking around here!

Back to the play : I’ve been perusing the idea for a while. It has to be written in French though. I think I’ll try to jot some stuff down. Er. Type. I don’t jot anything. It takes too long. Although … it doesn’t RANDOMLY tab things. Or randomly make lists!!

            Speaking of lists, I need to get groceries. Well that puts an end to this blog post ... which was only partially about the play. Oh well. 

Ballet Class

I don't know why I'm getting worked up about it.

I know why. I don't want Amélie to get kicked out of class.

Now that I've written that ... I realize how silly that is. Think of the lesson she would learn if she got kicked out of class. Seriously. Also. How can anyone in their right mind expect a 3 1/2 year old to concentrate on being 'still' and 'perfect' for 30 minutes. Kids are supposed to have fun. Ballet is for fun at that age. She isn't going to grow up to be a ballerina ... probably.

So why am I worrying that she's 'disrupting class' because when I look at her as if she were in my preschool class - as my mom suggested - I would tell myself as a parent 'don't worry! She's ONLY 3.' It's all about learning what's acceptable and what isn't. She'll figure it out. She's not screaming. She's not crying. She's not pulling a tantrum ... she's just ... dancing ... on her own ... around ... the room.

Now that I've written that i realize how ridiculous I'm being. Amélie's teacher is very young. She also needs to figure it out lol. I can't imagine that every class has perfect students either.

Relax mama bear. Amélie will be fine. Miss Ariel will be fine. Everyone is fine. Let her dance.

And yet I still have that uneasy knot in my stomach.

Amélie is normal.

Practice chin-ups instead. I can only do one - barely. Also. Who runs up and down stairs? Also. Mom and I are writing a play and it's going to be hilarious because we could barely stop laughing lol. 

There are more important things to worry about than Amélie dancing around on her own in ballet class. Pfff ... seriously mama bear.

Well I feel better.

Busy

I'm so busy.

It makes a difference that I actually want to be good at my job this year. I even wear  high heels to work and put makeup on. I just need to do my hair. SERIOUSLY who has time for hair??!! I need to grow it out long again. Hello fancy ponytail here I come! AND since I'm getting white hairs heelllooo highlights or ... lowlights whatever.

I'm actually liking my job. I like being busy. I hate simply running out of time to get a task done and I get antsy when I 'fail' a task or take on a little too much. I'm learning what I can actually accomplish in a day and am working 30-35 hours a week ... and am contracted for 22.5 hours a week. Awwwkward. But I do realize that there will be more relaxing weeks ... I ... think. Oh sure there will be ... and they'll coincide with the weather being -30. (shrug) It really happens like that I swear!!

Random annoyance : SERIOUSLY my computer is irritating me because it is putting red squiggles everywhere since it's a french computer and I'm typing in English.

2nd random annoyance : My sister is REALLY irritating on the computer. Ever heard of typing gently. Your fingers are supposed to 'GLIDE' GAWD.

Now I just hope things keep going well. All I can really do is my best. I have my kids and I need the flexibility. Hopefully I've proven that I'm worth the flexibility.

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On a sidenote - I'm having a Discovery Toy party on Friday and I'm excited! They are such good quality toys! My kids freakin' love them!

Okay. I'm tired now. And. I'm going to the gym tomorrow. I plan on sitting and drinking coffee. I am not joking. Maybe next time I'll try the treadmill but I need to take it a little easy.

FYI I wrote something HILARIOUS here but ... deleted it because I didn't think you'd appreciate the TMI no matter how funny it was.

But ... I might come back and add it. Tomorrow. After the gym. Stay tuned.

Update

I woke up this morning, cautiously and felt pretty good. The only parts of me that were really sore were my right shoulder and my butt - pelvic bones (?) Well the butt bones really and my outer hips actually. My legs were surprisingly fine! Oh and my hands were a little tender by the thumb from the grip on the handle bars.

All things considered ... that's pretty good. Now. Let's see how I feel ... tomorrow. ;)

When someone asks you if you have access to a bike ...

... you should ask more questions before finding a bike and helmet then saying yuppers.
... the correct response is 'What's a bike?'

Me : Where are we going?
Him : Oh just a bike ride with my students.
Me : Okay. Sounds fun.

A few days later - or more I forget since he asked me way before the event - smart guy.

Me : Where are we going again?
Him : Rotary trail, it's nice.
Me : Ok.

Later on ...

Him : It's about 26 kms ......
Me : ..................................... ok.

Today ...

I got a ride to the school because ... I don't know why I just did. Call it whatever you want (Corey votes for laziness). I planned to bike back to Pat's house so I left my car there. No big deal ....

We get all set, get the tires all pumped with more air and we're off. We get past the streets and onto the trail and everything is fine. I'm all like "Look at me BIKING!!!"

That ... lasted about 5 seconds. Okay. Obviously longer since I had to stop twice and put two chains back on bikes. I was at the back of the group - which was awesome - because I could go slow and easy and relaxed and not racing around.

I got to be leader sometimes. I drank water. I have a sore butt ...

Here are some things I noted during the trip :

- I'm pretty sure rotary trail is only uphill. Pretty sure.
- 20 seconds is not enough time to cross all intersections with 16 people on bikes
- stopping suddenly in front of a group of bikers will get you injured - I said this many times during our bike ride. (It didn't happen to me because I was the leader or else way in the back with the stragglers.)
- It is hard to steer while looking behind you to make sure everyone is following.
- Yoga breathing helps you breathe away the pain in your legs when instead of peddling you want to stop and die.
- There should be a way to attach a nice comfy pillow to your seat. This is not a joke.
- When someone says 'This hill is steep' what he means is 'This hill is steep'.
- It's hard to reach your water bottle while you are biking when it's in your backpack.

So the end result is this :

My legs are sore - I can't think about biking because my legs feel like fainting just at the thought.
My pelvic bones hurt - that was worse than childbirth ;)
My hands are a little sore from the handle bars
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update I'm pretty sure it will go something like this :

Who the HELL goes biking for 30 kms!!!!!???

or possibly this

I ... I can't feel anything!!

or maybe even

I'm dying aren't I?

but hopefully

I'm OKAY!!!


Next week - Going to the GYM with another class ... no big deal ... just going to the gym ... (shrug)

It's the yeast.

Bah. I got really tired of my bread/buns/cinnamon buns not turning out. Many of you suggested it was my yeast but I'm a pretty stubborn person and I figured that since it was still active it was still fine. It turns out ... this is not true.

Interesting fact : Even if yeast is still active ... it might still be no good.

I found a cinnamon bun recipe, bought new yeast and made two batches of cinnamon buns. I used my 'trusty' yeast for one and my new yeast for the other. I should have taken pictures because ... it was comical. They were both active and I did them at the same time so they got the exact same temperature of water/milk etc ... all was the same. When it was time for the dough to rise I couldn't get my dough out of the oven. My 'trusty' yeast didn't rise much but my new yeast made my dough rise so high it was a little stuck between the rack and the top burner. Woopsies .... haha.

I did punch it down and get it out. No worries. Before I had even finished rolling out my 'new' yeast it was trying to rise again. Good heavens. So. Obviously it was my yeast. My cinnamon buns from my 'old' yeast didn't hardly rise. The end difference is obvious. I have a picture or three which I will post later.

Basically ... I need to buy new yeast.

I just want a new house dammit!

It's a super good thing I went back to work this fall, like seriously. I used to question how all the other moms that stay home could possibly stay home and afford it, but then I realized they don't live in a house that is literally falling apart at the seams.

Makes a major difference I swear.

When you don't have to have your furnace tinkered with every few months, or pay ridiculously high heating/power bills because your house is less than energy efficient it makes a difference. When you worry less about your water suddenly stopping it's flow or the septic pump deciding to quit ... also a major difference.

You would think that if we just put new of all those things it would solve the problem, but it doesn't. We had a BRAND NEW motor/fan put in our furnace and now ... it's not working again. BLAH! I just need it to work for TWO-THREE MORE YEARS!! COME ON FURNACE!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!

That being said ... does anyone have a spare furnace they aren't using right now? Thought I'd ask. You never know.

Oh and to top it off we are trying to catch up on me being off for two months (less than wise in hindsight), save up for Amélie's dental (which is less stressful because it's going to be covered-but still) and now I'm going to add buy new furnace. Can we say ... skip Christmas this year?

If somehow we get a miracle and our furnace graces us with heat until at least after Christmas, I will be SO SO happy. I'd be even happier if it worked until next spring, then I think we'll have to put a new one in whether we want to or not.

Oh and to top it off my washing machine needs to be replaced ASAP. It sounds like it's going to burst into a million pieces at ANY SECOND!!

ALSO, my car needs a serious tune-up.

Really though, I have a budget set up. If only I could get my husband to stick to the budget I know that eventually I could get a new furnace AND a new washer (or really I'm okay with semi-new - or totally used but still awesomely functional).

I AM grateful for all that I have. I am. But SERIOUSLY!!!! COME ON NEW HOUSE!!! IT's hard to save up and get things paid off so we can build new if our old house keeps FALLING apart and we need to buy things for it. HOUSE! Don't you understand?!

I think the house is angry we want to build new. Sigh.