Wordless Wednesday

I let River choose his favorite vacation photo for today......

Melt with you

Check ya' later! I'm off to hang out with this wierdo! I can't wait!

And get some sanity too!

Worldless Wednesday- Just around the corner......

River picked this earlier for me. Luckily one of my faves. He wants snow. He is up for adoption.

I love you for ever, I'll like you for....(S%^t the F&#k up!)

Stop right now. Unless he/she/they are sleeping. Pic them up, nearly nudey is the nest and snuggle them until the just can't get it anymore. The coconut shampo, the sweatly boddies and potatoe farm finger nails. He is running away from me....every step towards amazing and everything he dreams of. But for now he hasn't run that far so I am grabbing it while I can. inhaling every glorious smell, smooch and arm strung across my neck

There are days that are bad. So bad. Mediocre days, normal and days. I love hime consistently through each one although one in a while I just can't take it and I need my strong, tall, amazing, and yacky two and half year old to reassure me that his love will always include Momma!

                            Tired Momma not even out of the hospital but already enamoured

My 33'd Birthday present and his first Dins out

With this end I am going to snooze for the night with my dedicated co-sleeper.!

Oh!

OH NO!

NOT ME TOO!

FUCK FUCK FUCK!

I just realized who I have become!

I.am.her

For all that is good in the Universe, I am her! But I HAAATTTTE her. She is a freaky co-dependent. I have banned this book from my house.....yet somewhere.....

Ah FUCK!

Maybe not becuase I have way better sense to show up to my River's Dorm Room. You get what you get if you go searching during the experimental years......... Meh, I can at least hold onto that for now.

You know I'll be there casserole and "Eagle eye" on hand!

Endless Summer

It seems as though the sudden sunny weather and heat have fried my brain enough to make me forget that I have a blog. Things are fine around her. Our lovely German Fraulein has returned to her Deutsch roots and we are down one teenager. That said, the remaining two are keeping me just as busy.

Riv and I are Island bound in a few weeks and we can't wait. There is nothing like an Island summer. For some reason I enjoy Summer more in the big city. More beach choices, more restaurants and coffee shops with balconies, air conditioned matinees to avoid the heat and of course, shopping. I don't know why but to my memories of Island Summer seem endless. Maybe it was the fact that it REALLY is endless in comparison. T-shirts come out in April and go back in October. Or the current of my life at the time. For years I had the entire summer and part of September off. Add to that a pretty much complete lack of responsibility and you have a summer full of books at the beach and all the fun you could possible jam back into a few months. It isn't nearly the same now but one thing that I hope to show River is a few weeks every year spent clam digging and running free in the salty brine of Parksville Beach.

Aside from that, the sun is shining and we need to head out and enjoy our Kootenay Summer and one of the perks of our small town.....an outdoor pool! I hope the link works....this song IS summer as far as I am concerned!

In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry

May all your summers be endless!

Wordless Wednesday- Glass Works

Everytime I am at my MIL's, http://insearchofmycreativeside.blogspot.com/, I take notice of both of these pieces of glass. Especially the larger one. She has some really, really cool stuff at her house but these two always draw me in.

Life's about a trout.

So we took our entire family this weekend and plopped ourselves on the doorstops of my in laws. Kind folk since that means receiving three kids in various stages of development and mood. This can be volatile and is never, ever static.

On this trip which included a post ER rush I stayed up the entire night. I made muffins at 2:38 in the morning and had the entire truck packed when all four of them made their ways out of bed. GOOD MORNING! GUESS WHO HASN'T SLEEP. CAN YOU  GUESS, CAN YOU. Post caffeine intervention we headed on the road. It was a pretty uneventful journey and I must say a very pleasant visit. Taking the mega parenting from me and shoving a book in my face is met with strict denial, I must say.
"Amy, do you want....
"Sshh..... good part."
I feel a good parent always steps in first with when Grandparents are around.
"Shh, I bet Gramma wants to play that with you and can you get me a pepsi."
Last but not least a good parent always gets up with her child in any unfamiliar situation.
"Grrumble Grumble. River, Play. Grumble. Pappa. Dogbones. Shhh"

I am so glad that I am a great parent. And really glad that River's Grandparent's are, too. You should check out her stamping blog here. Her stuff is uber crafty. http://insearchofmycreativeside.blogspot.com/.

Bottom line. Great weekend. The little Ranch, as I call it is one of my favorite places. I wish I could spend more time there. I come back so chill....likely do to the extreme Grandparenting support.

Last but not least. People as questions when your kid is white, as are you and your husband is not. Regardless.  Besides his Father's Sri Lankan side, Riv is light.No Biggie, no questions, just an occasional joke about it. Anyway, iyou know my husband, you will know a fishing aficionado. LIVES for it.

On our way to Vernon. River changed the words to "merrily, merryily, merrily, merrily, Life is 'bout a trout." While there is no actual doubt and this is all in jest let's consider this DNA Test A.

This piece of evidence DNA Test B-GROSS!

And the next couple are gratuitous because of how cute my son is!

River meet first fish

PS I never got to see my friend, MISTY who I love like CRAZY. So here is my partial apology! Love you!

My first award!

I won my first little award!!

This was bestowed upon me by Cat of http://yippiemomma.blogspot.com/ Head on over there because you will learn how to be a hippie AND a yuppie a fantab, eco party planner on the cheap and last but not least.....make fantastic salmon patties you will find yourself making for years on end;)

So Here is How It Works:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award by linking back to them in your post.2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.  

3. Award a few recently discovered bloggers. 

4. Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news!

Seven things about me:

1) I manage a small Inn in a small town

2) My son's name is River. He is not, in anyway, named after "the" River (although I did adore him.) Both he and I will be asked that for a while I guess.

3) I am a voraious reader. Before child(ren) I read lots but only one at a time. I never understood reading more than one at once. Since hen it seems as though I can read a few at once. Honestly, whichever one is in the room I grab and can follow and remember as much as needed.

4) I am an Educator and wonder many times daily why my knowledge hasn't transferred;)

5) It actually bothers me that Katie Couric took my soaps time spot and I will be without the show I have followed since my babysitter at 5. Running home for the last 15 minutes, taping on VHS, watching clips on YouTube. Boo to cancellation, Go GH!!

6) I can come off rough and self assured. The secret is that I am not. I feel shy, I hurt very easily and I truly trust rarely.

7)  I have been married for almost nine years. The most difficult thing I have ever done and hope to consider doing. I understand why people divorce but more so I understand that look people have who have been together for 30 or 40 years.....the comraderie of knowing it's been tough and the reward of never giving up.

In turn I am going to give this award to............

http://aggraygate.blogspot.com/  (in the hopes this gets her juices flowing)
http://1000reasonsimabadmom.com/
http://twistedmummy.blogspot.com/
http://retorte.blogspot.com/ (although should I reward someone who makes me SO hungry!)
http://yippiemomma.blogspot.com/ (and Cat, of course!)


Thanks Cat and keep blogging a smile onto my face ladies!

Wordless Wednesday

Oy-Vey!

With friends and family like these, I ask..... "Who needs enemies?"

Before reading this blog here is some info needed to ensure that the story makes sense.

Lea: Best friend, fearless leader and encourager of all things gutsy
Mom: My Mom. A mischievous sort and not above torturing me slightly for a laugh.
Spiders: Kriptonite

So I was doing some yard work in the back garden and suddenly the largest, hairiest black spider goes scurrying along the wall of my house. Rather than let it go in peace, Lea taunts, encourages me to find that sucker and dispatch him without mercy. After handing me a claw like hoe I do away with the hairy beast in a very un-Buddhist like manner.

Then Lea proceeds to fling it at me! She throws the freaking spider AT me and while I am paralyzed with fear she lays it on my naked knee. I scream and I scream.

Then she shows it to my Mom who proceeds to chase me down with it. I cannot run. I cannot hide. I cannot get away. My screams go without notice. She grabs me from behind and holds the lifeless tarantula to my rib cage. My pleas go unheard. She is unfazed by my screams of "I am going mentally insane!" "Insane!" "You are killing me!"

Then I become aware that my loving and kind husband has reached over the baby to poke me repeatedly in the forehead. (????)

"Amy, Amy" Poke, poke, effing poke. "Are you having a bad dream?"

Uh....yeah. To make things worse, I am now up at 5:11am because I can't get over the desire the murder the both of them with that claw like hoe. Awesome.

Are you there dreams? It's me, Amy.

I want to go back to school.

There I said it. I said it, I typed it. Soon I will publish it and I cannot take it back.

It has been on my mind for awhile. For a variety of reasons I feel as though I have closed the chapter of my life as an Early Childhood Educator. I loved being an ECE. I love continuing to be an ECE with my friend's kids but other than that, done. I am one practicum shy of my certificates in Community Support Work and Special Education. Both fields that I am really, really interested in and would be honoured to call either a career.

But that is not what I mean. I want more. I want more education. My only true regret is not taking my education more seriously during the time that it should have been my priority. That said, I don't regret a single moment I spent with the minds of our most amazing. Some would say this was the journey I was meant to take.

I want to be a Speech and Language Pathologist.

Or a Developmental Psychologist.

Those are my secrets. I fascinate about either and have truly believed that those are dreams long gone to seed. Until the other day. I was explaining to my dear son some touchy feely lesson and it came to me. If I want him to truly believe it is never to late to follow a dream then I should show him. I owe it to both of us.

I have no idea how to go about his. I have started looking at online schooling and so on and so forth. There are no time limits, no expectations.

Just the acknowledgement of a dream and the commitment to go there.

Without Inspiration

I am completely without inspiration. I have written and erased many ideas and the kid needs to do her homework so hows about this.....

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!! On a Tuesday! But, let's hope that something interesting happens before tomorrow night or I'm in trouble;)

Seems appropriate since we seem to be having an extended Winter. It's chilly tonight!

Beer Cocktail

It seems as though we have our long weekend! Not only did we all make it unscathed past 6pm, we get an extra day off to boot! Yippee. So......Cheers to you! And to me. In honour of the first long, lazy weekend of camping season I have a beer cocktail recipe for you.

When I was in Nanaimo in March my friend Brenda made this fan-freaking-tastic Guiness and Blackberry Chicken dish that was to die for. Seriously. Marinated in Guiness and Blackberry then basted with a similar sauce. Crazy good. This left a bottle of Blackberry Liquer on the table. I kept sipping it. And sipping. And sipping. Sweet, berry,luscious headache in a bottle. I found myself imagining a drink that could capitalize on the berry without being like a syrup. Then it came to me.....I had just tried a delicate beer from a little company called "Mnt Begbie" and it was still on my mind. It was so light and delish that I imagined a little fruit flavour would just take it over the top. So here it is.....

A beer cocktail. I must have heard about these subconsciously as my friend Mike of Rossland's "Boomtown Brewing Company" told me they were all the rage when I shared my seemingly original idea. The idea is simple. One shot of liqeur. Top with beer. For the record, my bestie Lea really liked a shot in her Spy Porter as well. Enjoy!

 +

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PS: Don't forget to hand over your keys before you start downing this delish concoction!

PPS: The first drink pic is a real live drink I tried on my birthday. A Lime Margarita with a Corona emptying into it. The "Matador." I highly recommend it.....or anything that involves lime, salt and a liberal hand with the Tequila bottle.



Tempus Fugit

As I sat down to write toady's thought provoking blog I began to wonder if this was the premise of an episode of a certain serial-medical-drama on ABC. Maybe , maybe not.....can't remember.


One hour. Sixty minutes. Tiny and minute in the span of our life yet I can guarantee that most of the events in your life happened in less than one of them. I'm a Mom. So I think like a Mother. It is always the first place I go when thinking about major life changing events. While my sweet boy took a long sixty hours to make his way in the world it only took a minute for me to become his Mom.

That moment came long before those sixty hours. It took a moment for two lines to appear and from that day on, I was River's Mom. And on a frosty, clear January morning with a bright sun rising it took only another moment for me to meet the love of my life.

In a moment I met my husband and while it was not love at first sight, it took only a few minutes for him to make me laugh my ass off and realize what a gem he was (is.) And of course it was in a fleeting moment that I realized I had fallen completely in love with him. Our marriage Ceremony was another one of those significant, life changing moments. Appointments with a Marriage Counsellor were an hour long. Those sixty minutes filled with painful realizations and tentative reconciliations. Without those hours, where would we be?

Those are some big ones but there are hours everyday that mean something. Themselves the reason for being. Dinner time is an awesome hour in the McKay household. When you get the five personalities in this house sitting down together it becomes a riot that often sets the tone for the entire evening. It sticks out in my mind as one of the happiest of every day. Having my family sitting together, happily communicating over a plate of something I have created for them brings me great joy. It is exactly how I imagined my life as a Mom.

One hour. It takes less than that to sit down with one of kids and make them feel understood. A few moments that could easily be used to clean the kitchen or watch a TV show. However when I give them to one of the girls or Riv, I am gifted back. I am gifted back knowing that I am investing in their happiness and confidence.....on hour at a time. And those hours compound.

This morning I left the house to go "up" town to run some errands with the one man wrecking crew. Within the hour I came home to find both of my girls. Apparently Chrissy Hynde (as I have lovingly nicknamed her) had an asthma attack in gym class. They were unable to reach me at home so they called upon my German lass to rescue her "sister." Apparently it was a bad one. I was gone for ONE HOUR! How annoyed was I that they didn't even call my cell phone? But, that is a post for another day. It just made me think about how quickly things can change. I went uptown with the idea that C.H. was happily making her way through a typical ninth grade day. Then I discover her laying, pale on the couch in the middle of the morning. It could have been worse, not major emergency but a thought provoking one.

The kind that leaves me wondering whether I should spend my time perched on the phone when my chickens are out and about in the world. Or, if I could really have my wish, perhaps one of those Weasley Family clocks. The one where a pendulum moves to share the whereabouts of every family member at all times. That would be a real life saver.

But for today I will appreciate my hours as they come. The hour I spent writing this while the Tornado napped was a delightful one. Thoughts, ideas, writing (a great love of mine,) music of my choosing and a fresh breeze. In my life there are very few hours like this one so I will take it like a thief because I think I have earned a moment for myself!

Wordless Wednesday

Beach feet!

Here we go again.

As many of you know.....this is not my first time at the rodeo. I started a blog in 2010. I had the best of intentions and a bad memory. Honestly the thing that stood between me and success was my inability to remember my google or my blogger user names and passwords. I was way smarter this time so let's see how it goes.

I guess any good blog could start with a view at the people behind the blogger. The picture is not great and it is likely that I will recieve a ton of flack for posting it. But with two teens and a toddler it's a challenge to get them SMILING at the same time never mind SITTING! Our current family structure includes my husband and myself. Our two year old son, my fourteen year old cousin and for a couple more weeks a seventeen year old gal on loan from Germany. This is a lot of personalities in one mid sized house and likely the source of most things worth blogging;)