Business and Pleasure

This will be the only time that I mention my business by name as I am not one to mix business with pleasure. Today I launch my fall and winter gardening company. I will be changing messages on my answering machine and booking appointments. I know I am crazy to be stating a fall and winter gardening business in the frozen north but there is a real niche for the services that my sisters and I will be offering. The only thing is people need to be educated on why they need our services. Wish me luck. I am not expecting much out of this experience. I'm just hoping to break even. If anyone has some great marketing ideas, let me know.

I'm It

I finally found time to answer the Meme.

1. When showering do you start the water before you get in or do you get in and start the water?
I start the water before I get in.

2. Do you read the labels on your shampoo bottles?
Yes I do and if necessary i repeat

3. Do you moan like the people on the Herbal Essinces?
Not all the time.

4. Have you ever showered with someone of the opposite sex?
Have you? I'm uncomfortable with this question.

5. Have you been forced to shower with one of your siblings?
Whe I was younger. I'm sure for the reason of speed. There were 5 of us.

6. Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower?
Yes, I believe it saves time, but really I'm just trying to find an excuse to stay in the shower longer.

7. Have you ever dropped your soap on your foot?
Yep.

8. How old do you look?
You tell me.

9. How old do you act?
Younger than I am

10. Whats the last song you sang?
How do I get you alone - Heart.

11. Have you recently become a member of anything?
All of MP3 gotta have my tunes. Yet I haven't bought anything. I'm kind of warming up to the idea.

12. What are your plans for the weekend?
Salsa

13. Do you kiss with your eyes open or closed?
That depends. sometimes I start closed and peak and sometimes i sart open an end closed. I don't want to miss.

14. Whats the sexiest thing about Condoleeza Rice?
I don't find her sexy. Sorry Condy. I do however think its awsome that she is a concert pianist.

15. Are you in love with anyone right now?
Absolutly

16. Have you ever said I love you?
Absolutly

17. Does anything on your body itch right now?
No

18. What colour is the carpet in your bedroom?
Grey Blue. I think.

19. Have you ever had somone of the opposite sex in your room?
Absolutly

20. Who is the sexiest famous woman alive?
Jessica Alba I think?

21. Who is the sexiest famous man alive?
If my husband was famous it would be him but I guess i would have to say James Marsden.

22. Are you more creative alone or with people?
Depends on who the people are.

23. Does every family have a crazy uncle or is it just mine?
neither. My doesn't but i don't think its just yours.

24. Have you ever smuggled anything into america?
Which america North or South? Aren't we all from America canadians too. Since i don't smuggle I'd have to say no.

25. Do you end up making a fool of yourself when you flirt with someone you like?
Not all the time. Ask my husband.

26. Does playing a guitar make a girl/guy more attractive?
Almost every instrument does except the acordian or triangle

27. Do you exercise before you eat in the morning?
Sometimes

28. Do you believe your name fits your personality?
I never thought about it. I guess it does. I've always been me.

29. Do you live in a city with a good sports team?
Sports, Whats sports?

30. Is it better to be single or in a relationship?
Depends on the person and who they are in a relationship with. Right now its better for me to be in the relationship I'm in.

31. What do you think about the person who sent you this survey?
Revenge is a dish best served cold. I get you with a survey when you least expect it.

When God Closes A Door Somewhere He Opens A Fridge.

My sister came up with this phrase and I thought it appropriate for this day. Yesterday my wonderful hubby gave me some money to go shopping for some skirts and such since my clothing collection has dwindled. I lost a dress size and got rid of all my "fat clothes". Thinking I was going to loose a lot more weight I only bought a few "skinny clothes". Well to my dismay I have gained the weight back and have no clothes but that is not the point of my post.

As I said before I my wonderful hubby gave me some money to buy clothes. So this morning I took the boys on an outing to the mall fully intending to look at things that interest them as well. After loosing one son, being so badly talked back to by another, almost breaking of a mirror, and a bunch of other incidences too little to mention but piled on top made our excursion the worst ever.

I must admit I wasn't the best behaved mummy either, but they made it out of the mall without bruising. I bought a drink for my self and drank it in front of them, telling them little boys who behave that way don't get treats. This was followed my fit pitching at the bus stop. In haste I told them that if they didn't stop this horrible behavior they would be confined to their beds until their father got home. The line was drawn and they tried to cross it.

So now here I sit posting, venting if you will, and eating some lemon squares. Not only do I feel like I over did it (they were confined to their rooms for 3 hours), but also I am engaging in a behavior that got me to this place in the first place. What a vicious cycle.

Awake and Arise

Lately I have been waking up at 4:00am. For some reason my eyes open and I am awake. There is no transition from sleep to awakening. No metaphorical fog to lift. I am just awake. I start thinking of all the things I have to do and I can't go back to sleep no matter how hard I try. Today, instead of lying there with my futile attempt to sleep, I got up. I did a load of laundry, dishes made lunches, muffins and showered all before my family got up at 6:30am. It was a productive morning and I didn't feel rushed. It was nice but I don't think I would like to do that every morning. My sleep is just too high on my priority list. I expect to be hitting the wall at around 2:00pm, right when I need my second wind.

Attention! School Fees

This information is very important to anyone who falls under the Calgary Board of Education and meets the following criteria:

1. Child goes to designated school. (school in your area)
2. Child is bus eligible but does not ride the bus (must live at least 1.2 kms away)
3. Is staying for lunch.

You do NOT have to pay lunch fees. This is a policy that has been in place for at least a year. I just spoke with the luch lady in charge at my son's school because a friend of mine (Trina Marr you go girl.) informed me of this policy. The forms are not clear so don't rely on them. If you are skeptical ask someone at the school, not the teacher as they probably don't know, what could it hurt? But if I could save anyone anywhere from $220.00 to $440.00. I will have considered this my most productive post.

The current count of people helped is now two, including myself. The money saved is now $660.00. Please pass this on as I don't have a very large readership. Lets get this information out there and I will be personally writing a letter the CBE on the lack of clarity on the forms.

Just so you know Trina's friend had to fight 12 months to get her refund last year so don't give up.

MMMMM. I'm Lovin' It?

I think I have been blogging for long enough now to share something really personal about myself. Who out there has not heard of McDonalds? I think there is a law that states "upon every third corner there must be a McDonalds." Who doesn't know the menu off by heart? Who hasn't been there in the last month? Finally who has never worked at McDonalds?

I know there are probably a lot of people that have not worked at McDonalds, but who out there has applied for a job 4x and been denied all of those times? The answer is me! OOOHH the shame of my youth. I thought that they took everyone barring some mental deficiency. Maybe that was the problem. I don't even know why I was rejected. I think I need to start a support group but unfortunately I would be the only member.

Sometimes when I take my kids there I look at the people behind the counter and think to myself I could do that. It can't be that hard and yet I will never know. Not that I want to work there now but I would like to think that if there was absolutely no other option, that if I was in desperate need of an income, I could fall back on it, but I can't. Things would have to get pretty bad.

I should get over this but instead I go there and torture myself. To add insult to injury their food doesn't sit well with me either. Ever since my gall bladder came out, I don't have enough juices to digest all of the fat. I think I have been rejected on all fronts.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

Alyson Out!

I Have Found My New House

I have found my new house. It is so beautiful. I have seen larger and more extravagant but I'm a practical gal. Careful of the drool. Now I just need to move to MI. I also need another $19000, in US dollars, for a down payment.

My Funny Son

All of you have funny children I'm sure but mine is really funny. He is funny without even trying. Dakota is 6 years old and has been funny for a while. A couple of years ago we were driving down a road in Calgary and Dakota asked a question that had nothing to do with our conversation. He said, "Dad, do people drive with their elbows?" What an odd question, but my husband answered anyway,"no, people don't drive with their elbows and if they do they shouldn't be." Dakota got a funny look on his face and then asked the question "then why do they call this elbow Dr.?"

About a few months ago Dakota was sitting next to a vent in church. All of a sudden he skooches over to me with an intense look on his face. "mom I think I am a jedi"
"What?" I ask
"I think I am a jedi"
"why?"
" I was sitting next to the fan and I was wishing that the fan would turn on. It did mom, I have the force."

The most recent incident was when my two sons and I were reading Harry Potter. We were at the part where Aunt Petunia was cutting Harry's messy hair. She had cut it, shaved it. The next day it grew back. Dakota remembered that earlier that day I had been complaining about how fast his hair grows. He put 2 and 2 together and decided that he was a Wizard.

These are only a few examples but I deal with this on a daily basis. I'm glad he makes me laugh. I'd rather be laughing than yelling or crying.

Unto much is given, much is required.

This morning I woke up to visions of Harry Connick Jr. carrying an old man to a rescue boat. This was followed by a myriad of pictures of celebrities "rescuing" people. I admit my first thought was how nice that a camera man just happened to be there to witness this astounding moment. Where were the camera men for the regular everyday person rescuing people.

Shortly after that I saw an editorial cartoon in the National Post, A Canadian news paper. It was of a victim of hurricane Katrina sitting with a sign that said celebrity photo ops $10.00. After all this I started to get mad at the stars for taking advantage of these people all for a good photo opportunity.

As it turns out I am wrong. This doesn't usually happen but at least I am able to recognize it when it happens. It turns out all of these celebs are from the area and felt a pull to help. That feeling I can understand and I'm from way faraway in Canada. Even if their motives are wrong who is it really hurting. These people have the means that most of us wish we had and at least they are doing something noble instead of wasting it. It would be much worse if they had the means and didn't use it.

I'm The King of The Castle...

All the games that we learned while we were in school still live on today and were are my kids learning them. At school. Today was Dakota's first day in grade 1, first grade for you Americans out there, I must say that I am nervous. I'm a little more nervous than I was for him to go to kindergarten. For one thing I haven't met this teacher before. Both grade one teachers got changed over the summer so I have no information on what either of them are like. I miss Miss Smith. Another thing I am worried about is this is real school. You actually have to work. I want so much for him to do well. I want him to love learning and love school maybe because I loved it so much, but also because it is much easier to do something if you like it. I guess we will see when he gets home.

We Could All Use A Little Good News

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am not trying to down play the enormity of the tragedy of Katrina. I am just tired. Emotionally tired of all of the bad news. I know people need to vent and it is therapeutic to do so and you should continue. I don't want to silence. I was just wondering if there were any good stories, miracles, if you will, that came out of this. I would like to focus on the stories of people rising above the tragedy rather than the looting, how awful the president is and such. There were a lot of people affected so chances are one of you guys know someone in the states affected. Share the good news. I need to hear it.

Doing Lines

I have been reading Harry Potter to my sons and this past weekend we got to watch the first movie. My boys loved it so much that they watched it 3 times in a row because I fell asleep. I was so tired. Anyway while I was still conscious I got to hear one of my favorite lines from the movie. Let me give you some background.

Filtch was taking Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco out to Hagrid's place to serve detention for being out of bed after hours. They were to be going into the "forbidden forest" to help a unicorn and Filtch was complaining.
"Detention has changed. It used to be you would find yourself hanging by your thumbs in the dungeon. How I miss the screaming."

This led me to think of some of my other favorite lines from movies and TV. So what are yours?

Grimm? Not Really.

Last Night, Date Night. My husband and I saw the movie "The Brothers Grimm". The movie takes Place in 1800s French occupied Germany. A tale of two con artists brothers who end up battling something truly evil. I don't want to tell too much because I think this movie really needs to be seen with fresh eyes. It was refreshing to go to a movie where I couldn't predict what was going to happen. I loved the references to the folk and fairy tales of youth but I must stress that this movie is not for children. The Bothers Grimm was a little more violent than I usually care to watch but I also thought it was necessary for the story. I give this movie 4*s out of 5.

Twice is Nice

We actually had family scripture study and family prayer in the morning before Tim goes to work two days in a row. That in itself is a miracle. I'm gonna go back to bed now and wake up at a more decent hour.

Stress Factor

Here is an idea for a reality show. Instead of seeing what people will eat or do for $50,000 (not enough in my book). Give people two kids (one of them has to be a really good whiner) a husband who works twelve hours and has an important calling like EQP. Put them in back to school time give them no car and tell them they have to go grocery shopping, hem pants, make doctors appointments, get to them, help their inlaws get ready to move, work out, eat right, pay bills, clean house (difficult task all on its own because inlaws are constantly bringing over stuff that you have no room for), blog, start up a new business, laundry, plan an enrichment pratically all by themselves, sub in Sunday school, watch the neighbour's kids, do a food drive for over 100 houses, and all of the regular mom things that one does in a day to keep from beating her children. Put them in this pressure cooker and see them crumble and for what a mere $50,000. This is my life. I chose to commit myself to these things. I shouldn't be complaining but I think I really need to learn to say NO once in a while.

What Dreams May Come?

Two nights ago I had a dream that my husband and I were splitting up and that I lived in this huge apartment with all of the room mates I have ever had before. I dreamt that neither Tim nor I could find an apartment that would take children so my son Dakota had to live with my mom. If I wanted to see him she would send him over in a cab, because in my dream she couldn't drive. I woke up shortly after that with this tremendous urge to get back together with my husband (still in dream mode because we are fine) I hate it when dreams seam so real and it takes a while to get out of them. Well I called my husband at work and told him that I loved him. Then I told him about my dream. He thinks I silly. Apparently this isn't uncommon in our marriage. I have a dream that is not real but feels real and overreact. You should hear about my poligamy dream.

A Little More Me.

I'm thinking of personalizing my blog. I got some good advice from plastic obsession (she said to copy my original template in a word document unless I totally screw up so that I can copy and paste it back together) but I was wondering if anyone else out there has some more advice. I'm not looking forward to ripping out my hair so if anyone who has gone through this before please help.

I Tune, You Tune, We All Tune...

Yesterday Dakota, Ethan and I went school shopping at Chinook Center. After three hours of trying on pants at various stores we finally found a pair that fit him. In desperation to find a pair of pants that will fit his tiny waist and that we both liked we walked in to the Gap. They had a $10 off promotion on jeans so what could it hurt. The jeans had adjustable waists. Yea! They we still long but I can hem those. As we came out of the dressing room a girl handed us a card for a free download from itunes.

Tim and I haven't downloaded music since Napster because we are cheap and we rarely buy cds because its pretty rare that all of the songs are good on a cd. After much consideration we decided to download "Lets get it started in here." by the Blackeyed Peas. It turns out that its one of Dakota's favorite songs right now (we'll see how long that lasts with only one song in our library). Also he was the one who tried on the jeans and has the skinny waist that made it necessary to purchase pants there.

this morning I broke the news to him and he and Ethan we ecstatic. We have played it 5 times already and had a bit of a dance party, a scene that is common in our house to the point that a neighbour bought us a party light for Christmas last year. I admit I am a little tempted to go back a few times to try on jeans so that I can get more cards but what happens if I find a pair that I like? And what songs would I download?

What Was Lost is Now Found

Eureka! I found it! I was cleaning my kitchen and found my ring by the toaster. I must have taken it off. I don't know why it would be there but hey who cares I have it. Thanks to all who prayed for me to find it. I'm sure it helped.

I Am NOT A Great Date, But Maybe I'll Get Lucky

Last night I took myself out on a date. I think I am pleasing to be around and good company so why not? I was going to see a movie and got there a little early and decided to walk around the mall. Because I am always trying to get back that inner goddess I lost (see I not a bum I'm a mum post) I thought I would cease the opportunity to do a little research on what was new for fall. Why not I neither had kids with me or money so there was no danger.

When it was time to go see the movie, I made my way back to the theater all the while appreciating the irony that I was a married woman by myself going to a movie about divorce (Must Love Dogs). As I sat by myself I noticed that the theater was full of couples and I imagined that they were thinking how pathetic she is, all alone. I shrugged that off because I knew I was wearing a wedding ring. The symbol that I belonged to someone. That I was in a relationship and that I was a confident woman who could go out and see a movie that I wanted to see, by MYSELF.

10 minutes into the movie...... AAAAARRRRRGGGGG!

I LOST MY WEDDING RING! Oh the irony.

I tried to remember the last time I saw it. Did I take it off at home? Did I loose it in the mall? I checked my pockets, my purse. Nothing. I wasn't enjoying the movie and wanted to leave but under the circumstances I thought I should stay to the end to wait for the lights to turn on so I could search the area around me. Nope not there either. After searching my seat area I quickly drove home to check all surfaces in my apartment. Nothing. By then it was midnight and I decided that I should break the dreadful news to Tim.

Seeing that I was upset and that scolding wouldn't help (good choice). He consoled me and said that if we cannot find the ring I will get a new one but I didn't want a new one. I calmed down and we were lying in bed trying to go back to sleep and one of us joked about him being a married man (because he had a ring) with a single girl in his bed (because I didn't have a ring).

Well I have spent the last little while contacting all of the stores I was in and now I am waiting for a phone call to tell me either way, from the movie theater. I just don't see how I will ever get it back.