One Day at a Time

It has been almost three weeks since I deactivated my Facebook account.  I have two weeks left. My thoughts still come out in the form of status lines sometimes.  I still wonder what the chatter is over there.  I have almost fallen twice, during very stressful times of day.  My friends Laura and Ami talked me down via IM each time.  (Thanks, guys!)

I miss certain things about Facebook--being able to let people know about playgroup, quickly scheduling playdates and catching up.  I am realizing who I really miss and who will probably be cut from my list when I get back.

Not having Facebook has made me much more productive around the house--I have time to clean and bake and be present with the kids.  I read more now.  Panic sets in when something happens and I need a break. (Like right now, when I just discovered Matthew found my brand new lipstick in my room and destroyed it.  I need to deal with it instead of running to the computer to hide--which I am doing right now, with my blog.)

This is so hard to do.

Why are they called Sleepovers?

This past weekend my little Sparks group teamed up with our sister Brownie group and had a slumber party.  I filled my van with craft supplies, bedding and jammies for two, and headed over to our local Giant Indoor Playground where I met my fellow leaders.

Out of my share of the girls, I had no fewer than three mommies cry at and one daddy look positively giddy beside his teary wife at drop off.  None of the girls cried.  Because of the facility, they got right down to the business of playing right away.  It was actually good PR for us.  I had my girls come in their uniforms and the facility was open to the public for the first little while we were there so people could see Girl Guides have lots of fun.

We got started on an extra messy painting craft after the wiggles were run out.  Then, after finding places to sleep, we all got into jammies and sang campfire songs with some snacks.  The girls were then tucked in with bedtime stories.  The grownups listened to whispers and giggles well into the night.  At the crack of dawn we were up and running again, playing, finishing our craft, painting faces, and then sending the girls back home to their parents.

Time flies at these things.  When it was all over I felt like I did when I used to have to work night shifts (both at the hospital and with newborns)  I was spent.  Richard tried to help out as best he could and took the two older kids to a movie when I got home and then cooked supper later.  I was in bed, asleep by 9:00 PM last night!  I am still droopy this morning.

This was my first sleepover with my girls and I am glad it was so successful.  We planned for weeks and it feels funny that it all went by so quickly. 

I am wondering how long it will take for me to make up my missing sleep???  Stuff like this makes me remember why I am  glad I don't have any more babies coming into my house.  I used to function on hours of sleep I could count on one hand for months at a time!  How did I do that???

The girls want to know when we are doing this again.

Friend Making Monday

Jodi over at And in My Corner...does this meme every Monday. I thought I might try it out today.  If you are coming here from another FMM site, welcome!  I hope you like what you see!

1. Who is your pick for the Final Four? 

Ummm... well I am in Canada and we don't do college football here like the US... so I will have ato pass on this one! (I just stole this answer from Jodi.  The only March Madness I participate in is at Go Fug Yourself)

2. What is your favorite workout/fitness activity? 

I have two favourites:  I love to run outside, but on days when the weather is not co-operating or I don't have anyone to watch the kids I cross train with one of my Biggest Loser or Jillian Michaels DVDs.  I do have a treadmill that I use for most of the winter, but I can't stay on it any longer than 45 minutes.  I go batty with boredom and really, if I am on it then the kids must be home and I can only get away with being unavailable for so long before bad things start happening!

3. Do you have a favorite healthy snack? Something that REALLY hits the

spot? 

I love sliced apple with a side of light spreadable cream cheese that has been sprinkled with a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon.  If I don't have cream cheese on hand, a scoop of cottage cheese with a packet of Splenda and a dash of cinnamon (and maybe some unsweetened applesauce) kills my sweets craving with a nice hit of protein.

4. What is your dream car? 

Funny how this question pops up on the week we have started shopping for a new(er) car!

Since we are talking about dreams, muscle cars like a Mid/late 1960s Pontiac GTO or a 1970's-era Plymouth Roadrunner really excite me.  The deep visceral growl of the engine, the aggressive lines.....so masculine and powerful...rawr.  Of course, I can't exactly drive around town with kids and groceries in one of those so we are on the hunt for a nice, dependable minivan with four doors that can seat seven.  I covet the Toyota Sienna, but will end up with a used Montana or Grand Caravan.

5. Have you set any goals for yourself this month? What are they? 

My goal this month is to finish of my Lenten Facebook Fast and re-integrate it into my life without losing myself again,  drink 2 litres of water a day and stop snacking after seven PM.  Boring, but necessary goals.  I also plan on getting back on the running wagon once I kick yet another chest cold that is making my asthma act up.

If you answer these questions on your own blog, leave me a comment with a link so I can stop by and read your answers.  If you want to answer and don't have a blog, just do it in the comments.

Just Dance

We had two extra days off from school this week.  Some moms look forward to the downtime.  Some moms dread it.  It is very treacherous outside so it is hard to go out and play right now (the world around here goes between a giant, jagged sheet of ice and dirty slush right now.  Today outside my window more snow is falling to cover up the ice.  Sweet.)  Day One I scheduled a giant, day-long play date for myself and the kids to keep us occupied.  Day Two, my plans fell through and the kids spent most of the day trashing the house and fighting with each other.

Then this happened:

Do spontaneous dance breaks happen at your house too?

A Short Film by Emmett: Milk Cat vs Milk

Emmett loves drawing comics.  Whenever he has a spare moment he is creating comic books with very interesting characters and surprisingly complex illustrations.  This is the first comic book he has chosen to turn into a film.

(here is a Youtube link if your computer isn't compatible with the Blogger media player)

Poop.

Last night's Sparks meeting was part 2 in my 2 part series to get the Healthy Spark badge.  I brought my stethoscope to the meeting so the girls could listen to each other's hearts, lungs and tummies.  The girls had a lot of fun listening to the gurgles in their stomachs and made a game out of guessing what everyone had for supper.  I taught the girls to take their pulses and then we tried an experiment where we took our resting heart rates, and then jumped around and took our pulses again.  My partner set up a table of bandages and everyone practiced their dressing skills on teddies and dolls they had brought for the occasion.  We ended the meeting by handing out paper dolls that showed what the insides of their bodies looked like.  There was much giggling and pointing at the end of the large intestine on the colouring sheet.  The girls thought the paper dolls were boys.  I very matter of factly said  "No.  That is the end of the large intestine.  That is where the poop comes out."  Of course that made the girls laugh even harder!  So, after my partner and I carefully constructed a meeting full of information and fun, what are the girls going to remember the most?

That is where the poop comes out.

Ahh, the mind of a five year old!

Shrove Tuesday.

I have ranted about the evils of Facebook on more than one occasion.

I am a hypocrite.  I am on that page more often than I care to admit every single day.  It is a huge time vampire for me.  I can disappear down the Facebook rabbit hole for hours while my kids wreck my house and the laundry piles ever higher.  Books are stacked up on the table (and now piling up in my e-reader).  Projects ignored.  All because I have the need to look at some stranger's vacation pictures.

Today, I changed my status to read

Is thinking of giving up Facebook for Lent

 I got several responses ranging from " Nooooooooooooooo who'll I talk to???"  to  "That's such a good idea that I wish I was still a Catholic."  (Those were cut and pasted from my actual profile page)

I am an addict.  Facebook is the first thing I turn on in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to bed.  It is getting out of hand.  Today is Shrove Tuesday.  The day before Lent.  I remember my friend April turned off her internet for the 40 days of Lent last year.  I am not going that far, though I applaud her dedication.  I live with a computer software developer.  Computers and the internet are a way of life for us.  I have just identified the biggest problem in my life and I need to gain some distance and perspective so I can re-integrate it in a more healthy way.  I am not even close to being a devout Anglican, but Lent is a nice, clear cut time frame in which to do this detox process.  Lent is also a time traditionally reserved for reflection and introspection.  I feel like distancing myself from Facebook for a while will make me a better person in the long run.

There are people from far away places I will miss having easy contact to.  I know that.  I am sure the first few days will be the hardest.  But, I am not cutting off all modes of communication.  You can find me here.  You can find me on email.  IM.  I have a phone and a cel phone.  It is just that even with all of those other distractions, Facebook is the hardest one to turn off.    The fact that I am still online, even though I am not on Facebook will be tough.  In fact, let me put this out right now.  If you catch me on Facebook during the next 40 days I will donate 10 dollars to the Canadian World Friendship Fund. 

Hey, the upside could be more blog posts for you to read!

I can do this, can't I??

Another milestone has been reached.

It finally happened.  Charlotte and her harem of Barbies have lived in relative peace for the past three years.  Then Matthew came along.  We have a casualty.




I am giving the patient a good prognosis for long-term recovery.   Despite the complete fracture of Rapunzel's cervical spine and the loss of the vertebrae I think she will be fine with restricted activity.  If the injury reoccurs, Dr. Dad may have to do a spinal fusion with advanced polymer technology.