Just Jordan

The post you need to read is not mine. It is Glennon's over at Momastery.com. Check it out HERE . Such an amazing idea. And so simple. . . I have started thinking more about work. My date to return is March 17. It is getting so close and I am having a whirlwind of emotions surrounding it. Mostly sad emotions, but I'm working on that. I do love my job, so at least if I'm not with my kids, I am doing something I love. I can't imagine how hard it must be for moms coming off maternity leave heading back to jobs they hate. This week I went in to my school. Twice. Once to meet a staff member who was teaching a math class for the first time and was looking for some help and the second time to drop off resources for that teacher and two others who are teaching my classes until I get back. I like to hand over anything I have ever created, hard copy or digital file, if there is someone wants it. I am honoured if co-workers find it usable, whether it be in the form I gave them...

At Christmas time Hugh expressed a desire to get away for a mini-holiday between January and the February break. It was cold over Christmas which left us limited time to enjoy the outdoors and Hugh figured after another month or so of indoor recesses he would need a bit of break. He also thought it would be fun for us to do something different with the Calder and Boone. I was apprehensive. I love getting away, but since I am at home all of the pre-holiday planning and the  organization of clothes and food gets left in my court. The post-holiday cleanup also falls to me. Hugh is a great helper when he is around, but since he would be at work when most of this would be getting done, I would be flying solo. The thought of packing and cleanup for our "relaxing" getaway actually began stressing me out. It seemed like more work than it was worth. On top of that, our kids go to bed at 6:30 pm (B) and 7:00 pm (C). Calder can function if he stays up later, but only for a day or so...

Hugh has been the subject of quite a few posts these days. Before you start feeling bad for Hugh, remember that these are all legitimate things he has done. I have actually offered to post stories that he has written about me, but he hasn't taken me up on it yet and I suspect he never will.  I have a tiny bit more than a smidge of Mary Poppins in me (for those of you not in the know, Mary Poppins in practically perfect in every way - self proclaimed of course, but nevertheless), so coming up with anything incriminating on me would be nearly impossible for Hugh. After we arrived home from Christmas at my mom and dad's, Hugh was feeling a bit sluggish from overindulging and decided he was going to shape up. I was surprised when he said this included hopping on the treadmill. Hugh got into running this summer, but his running was almost exclusively done outdoors. Once the cold weather hit this fall, he had stopped running. Hockey had also begun and since he is playing on a numbe...

Last week, I went to the library and grabbed a few books for Calder to read. I was super excited at my finds. They were at his reading level and I thought were in his interest area. Library card in hand, I headed up to the front to check them out. Denied. I had borrowed the DVD Despicable Me at the end of October and apparently hadn't returned it. Our DVD player is in our utility room out of plain sight and since we rarely watch DVDs I figured it had got left there. Sad, the librarian kindly told me she would hold the books for me for 24 hours. As I drove away, I couldn't believe I had forgotten to return the DVD. I recalled it was only a 1 week loan and as I did a fog lifted. In early November I had remembered the 1 week loan part on the day it was due back. I asked Hugh to return it that morning and he agreed. I remember him being annoyed that it was in the basement when he was on his way out the door to school. I pulled into our garage, put the van in park and texted...

This summer I blogged about the Clear Flow Garden Hose from Home Hardware. If you forgot, I basically told you how great it was - super light and durable. I am too lazy for look for the old post. We bought two hoses. One for the front of the house and one for the back. Unfortunately, after only a couple of weeks, the one in the back cracked open. We couldn't find the receipt (which wasn't surprising since Hugh bought it :-), but figured we would give returning it a shot. The staff at Home Hardware in Sutherland were awesome. Hugh took it in and they immediately got him another one. Since Home Hardware is the only place that sells them, they didn't even question and made it an easy exchange for us. Home Hardware simply took the replacement out of the package and handed it over. When Hugh got home with the hose there was a little problem. He had told the staff at Home Hardware our hose was the 25 foot and not the 50 foot. The 25 foot didn't even reach 2/3's of the...

I have actually felt guilty this week about being sick. I must be out of my mind. I have felt guilty for not cleaning my house, letting Calder play too much on the iPad, not getting groceries, and not checking stuff off my list. Seriously, what is wrong with me. Can't a girl just be sick? Apparently I can't. I have to be sick and continue to get it all done. Someone climb into my head and kick that girl in the fanny. Tell her to give me a break! I am sick of being sick. I am finding it a bit frustrating that I am always the one sick and Hugh and the boys don't seem to get ill. Don't get me wrong. I don't want the boys to get sick. I just don't want to be sick either. I have had a sore throat all week and am not sure if it is the cold or my acid reflux. I am also sick of acid reflux, but all this complaining actually isn't making me feel any better, so I'm going to hit the couch. That girl in my head can hit the road. Hope you are feeling well! ...

I am having trouble organizing thoughts for a post. I am blaming it on this darn cold. I just had one before Christmas and here I am a month later with another one. My immune system sucks. I am almost petrified of what it will be like going back to work. . . coming within range of 100's of potentially sick teenagers . . . It could get messy . . . Or in my case, really, really snotty. I still haven't gotten my Christmas cards out. GASP. I know late is better than never, but not getting this done is eating away at me. Part of the problem has been getting together the letter. Hugh and I like to write a summary of our year and include it with our holiday picture. We wrote the letter right at the start of December, so it's not that it isn't done. I just read somewhere that people don't like Christmas letters anymore, because they feel all they are simply a forum for people to brag. I write about my kids and my life on my blog. Some may call it bragging, but I feel like...

Today I took Boone down to the basement after his nap this afternoon. This is what I found: Calder had spent the earlier part of the day playing with a couple of buddies in the basement. Apparently he lost the need to cover up the minuscule paper cut on his thumb during the intense game of mini sticks. Sigh. Luckily I spotted it before Boone tried to see what it tasted like.  Have a great weekend!

I walked in to our bedroom yesterday to find this: At first, like I'm sure you are thinking, I thought, "What the heck is that?" This shot is hard to tell the location but there is a pillow to the left propped up at the head of our bed and you can see the corner of another one at the bottom of the frame. As I made my way in for a closer look it became disgustingly clear. It was a used bandaid. One word immediately came to my mind. Hugh. My first reaction was actually the suppression of giggles. It is gross - for sure, but it is stuck to our wall! And the crazy part is Hugh wore that bandaid a week ago and we washed our sheets in between him wearing the bandaid and it getting stuck to the wall. I suspect he put it on his night stand and somehow on Wednesday night it made its way to our wall. Last night I told Hugh he was going to be the subject of today's post. His first response: "What did I do?" I had left the evidence in place for him to see for...

We had a great Christmas. We saw all our family and spent New Years' with a group of great friends. It was a fantastic time, but the moment I realized that the holiday season was over, I got a little bit sad. This isn't something new this year, but for some reason it hit me a little bit harder than other years. Maybe it was because Calder really got it this year and it made it so fun, or maybe it was because I have a few other things weighing on my mind. Whatever the case, last week I found myself with a serious case of post-holiday blues. I was grumpy. I snapped. I wanted to lay in bed all day. I cried. I complained. I ate like crap and spent as much time as I could on the couch*. Finally, I broke. The full-out meltdown kind. And it helped. Nothing was solved, but just getting it out somehow made it drag me down a little less. Monday, I began the slow climb out of the hole. I ate better (until a tub of mixed nuts got the best of me before bed). I exercised. I completed tas...