10 Pet Peeves

**cough** So, remember way back with this post I warned you that I might not be so diligent in  updating my “30 things my kids should know about me” in 30 days.  
See, I know my self enough to know that it was a long shot.

I’m trying.

So, back to the list and because it’s a random kind of day I am choosing the first thing that jumps out at me today.

10 Pet Peeves 

1.  People who refuse to RSVP when you specifically ask them too.
Do you have any idea how frustrating it can be to plan a child’s birthday party when you don’t know exact numbers? 

I would rather have more than enough food/ treat bags ect. then not have enough!

2. People who refuse to get out of the way of an ambulance.
Trust me, that 30 seconds you take to get out of the way is more important to that frantic loved one anxiously waiting for the ambulance to get there.

3. Grown adults picking their noses out in public.
It’s gross… you know better.  Trust me on this one.
Just go for a drive and count how many grown ups you see doing this major no-no. You will be more than surprised! 

4. Tea towels are for drying dishes.  Hand towels are for your hands.  

5. If you are going to be late or planning on not showing up.
Call me.  I get really annoyed with I am left stranded or my time isn’t respected.

6. People who don’t cover their mouth while sneezing or coughing.

7. Jerks who take up two parking spaces.

8.  People who write something borderline mean, but then follow it up with a smilie face.

9. People who want you to “follow me” on every social media site available but don’t follow you back.  {I’m hoping by the time my kids grow up and read this they have no idea what a social media site is}.

10. Free offers that always has a catch.

Honestly, this one was way too easy and I could go on and on and on but I am sure it would do nothing for my mood!

We all have pet peeves…what are yours?


  

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Still searching for my dream job..

I know, your wondering why a slightly sleep deprived women in her 30’s hasn’t already figured what my “dream job” would be by now that or worse still why am I not living it?

Dream job? **groan** what’s that?

I’m having second thoughts about keeping this question in the “30 things my kids should know about their mother”query because I am honestly drawing a big fat blank.

By nature I find contentment quite easily and it’s been awhile since I have even entertained the thought of what ” I want to be when I grow up”.

I remember stressing out when I entered my first semester of grade 12 because In my mind I foolishly thought everyone else Had “a plan” and I was left scratching my head.

They knew where they were going to go for secondary education and most had a major picked.
I could barely figure out what I was going to wear!


I’m not sure I’ve gotten much better… But considering most of “them” are already on their second Careers I guess all their readiness was for not.

For the record I did “figure out my next step”.
I attended LCC and graduated with a diploma on early childhood education.

But as my classmates before me, I know this isn’t my final step.

I enjoy quiet sunny mornings home with my kids listening to the hum of the washing machine.
But if you ask me during the middle of summer vacation when the kids are driving me nuts I might not give you the same answer.

I’m perfectly happy with an empty calendar and days left to their own but also love the structure of a full school year with dance lessons, bible study and swimming.

I love planned out events too but sometimes I find that I am digging in my heals resisting the opportunity to trying new things even after I have agreed to go.

I went to hot yoga a few weeks ago for the very first time and
I’m convince the headache I experience days before I went we’re stress related.

I fretted about fainting or puking during one of the 26 poses.
{I didn’t.}
I will go back again.. Wearing less clothes and drinking way more water.
I won’t rush out again after the class was over either..
Sometimes I need days to build up the courage to try something new but I wasn’t always that way.

When I was growing up I wanted to be a:

Princess, supermodel or a detective.

Scratch Princess off the list but I still am going to claim that title.
my prince isn’t of noble birth but he makes me feel like royalty!
scratch supermodel off too because they are away from their family’s too often and crazy stalker people like to follow them.
I wouldn’t want to obsess over my looks… I would rather developer a personality.
Be kind of heart and be happy with what I have right now.

Detective?
Yeah, that would still be cool but I’m not thinking “police detective” I’m thinking more along the lines of “Nancy drew”.
I spent my summers tagging along throughout all of her crazy adventures.
if danger was my “middle name” that would be a great dream job.

But, more realistically those “dream jobs” just won”t work.

For now, I’m happy being a wife, mother, chauffeur and chef.
But when the baby heads to kindergarten I want to head back to school too.
My dream job blends two of my favorite activities.
Trying new foods and cooking!
I want to go back and become a Nutritionist.
A realist dream job… Well, for now at least!

3 Wishes….

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Good-bye..”

Poem found here: http://www.poeticexpressions.co.uk

Every year we light the candles adorning our birthday cakes.
Dancing flames mask our excitement as we take a deep breath in and exhale watching the flames disappear with our breath.

But, unless you just turned six do we really even give the “wish“ a second though?

Are we expecting them to come true?

Usually wishes don’t.

Trust me on this one, I am more than perturbed that I am not a princess with a flying purple unicorn in my stable.

I don’t have a beach house and I never did get that tree house.

Birthday Wishes get forgotten as soon as the fork scrapes the last hint of icing on the plate.

If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?

What would I wish for?
If wishes were a guaranteed 100% certain thing I would be cautious.

How would I know that what I really wanted would turn out to be a good thing and not a bad thing?

We don’t.

I don’t want to be a billionaire.
We are working towards being able to retire comfortably and travel the world but I like anonymity and I blend in quite well in a crowd.
No one cares what I wear or what I eat.  

I don’t want to be famous.

Have you seen any of them actually be happy with your every move photographed? So scratch those two off any list I may have.
   
Most of the time wishes are things that people “think” they want when in reality the very thing they wished for destroyed them.

That’s one line I don’t want to stand in thank you very much.

 I think the safest three wishes would be:

1. “Enough” {see above poem, I’m sure you will agree}
2. Love & Laughter
3. To have a time machine so I could go back and meet my Great Grandmother so I could learn more about my “roots”.  

{hey, they don’t all have to be serious!}  

5 things that make me happy

As you may recall when I started this “30 things you need to know about your mother” adventures I mentioned in one of my posts:

Foolishly thinking that 
a.) I had an easy escape clause when life got a little crazier. {See… 60ish days}
Meaning that if I went 
oh, a few 6 days in between posts you wouldn’t be that all that surprised. I mean, I am a mom of 4 busy children! 

AND

b.)I never really expected any of my readers to “call me out” if the days ran a little longer between posts.  

Boy,was I wrong!



I wonder how long until it’s noticed that I went out of order and missed one of the most important ones?

So, in between punching down dough for another batch of homemade bread here they are…

I’ve had a few nicknames through out the years but I’ll Bet you probably didn’t know my nickname during college was “happy”.
I always had a smile on my face and most of the time I was laughing.
                                               
Now, I know that the “easiest” answer would be to say my kids or my husband are five things that make me happy but that’s not reflective at all and really is more of a copout.

A few things are a given, a warm sunny day will bring a smile to my face or successfully trying a new recipe for the first time would qualify for sure. But that’s just scratching at the surface. All those things would make anyone happy if they were in the same situation and I don’t know if they actually show you my heart.   

So, here are 5 things that make me happy.

1. Receiving a phone call from a friend out of the blue and talking to them for hours about everything and nothing all at the same time.

2. Being inside when there’s a thunderstorm outside.  Being able to watch the lightning zig zag across the darkened sky waiting in anticipation for that next big crack of thunder to rattle the house.  When the storm has passed to go outside and jumping in the puddles or even dancing in the rain.

3. Walking along a quiet trail deep in the forest with only the sounds of my footsteps crunching on broken twigs and leaves.  I love exploring the forest and walking along the sand beside the ocean.  By far two of my favorite places in the world.

4.  Learning and walking in relationship with God.  That I live in a country where I am free to share my faith, That I can curl up in a parking lot while I wait for my daughter to finish her dance lesson and I can read my Bible.  Out in the open for everyone to see.  That I can teach my children about the man who broke my chains and set me free.

5.The time spent with my nana.  The year before she passed I was lucky and we had the chance to celebrated my birthday together.  I know from pictures that it wasn’t the first birthday we celebrated but it was the first that I can recall.  I miss her terribly but I cherish those memories and even today they touch my heart and makes me happy.   

Who me? Afraid… nah!

  why they became a legitimate fear.

So continuing on with the list this one won’t come as a huge surprise to my kids. It’s funny how irrational fears can be and even sharing them makes you feel, well silly.

How do you explain why one thing that makes your blood run cold thru your veins when the other person doesn’t share that opinion.

Sometimes even saying them out loud can make a person nervous.  Maybe that’s why it’s not every day when someone opens up and shares the deepest parts of their soul. 

1. By now enough vacations to the Rocky Mountains or trips to the mall might have tipped you off that something was amiss. 

Perhaps you have caught the jesting between your father and I when you wandered closer to sneak a peak through the glass-railings at the second floor of the mall. I am hoping you misread the look of fear written all over my face as I run up the dead middle of open stairs to one of concern of being late for whatever even we were going to.

I so desperately want to tell you it’s o.k when you are dawdling a little too close to the railing or your poky walking up the stairs  but deep down inside there is a madwoman waiting to yank you safety away. 

Rationally I understand that you can not fall through the small opening on the bottom.  I’m sure I couldn’t shove my purse under there but you won’t see me try.

Ever. 

I am afraid Heights.  I don’t think its so much being fearful of being up high but of falling from somewhere up high. I don’t ever remember being afraid of heights until high school.  I was on a family trip and I remember my mom sitting on the floor in the car demolishing our silly putty as she pulled, squished and stretched it hoping to lessen her anxiety over being stopped on down slope of a steep hill hugging the mountain side our breaks smoking against the weight of us, our car and our camper trailer. 

2. Thanks to an evening wasted watching Stephen King’s movie “It” my perspective changed from trusting and believing clowns were “happy” to one of irrational fear of clowns.  No longer deemed safe in my subconscious eye they now come across as “evil and dangerous”.

Seriously.

What are they hiding behind that happily painted face?

  On my 25th birthday your father paid a waiter $20 to put on a clown wig and red nose and encouraged him to “pop” up when I walked into the room.  I saw him out of the corner of my eye I hightailed it out of  their and lost my ever loving mind in the restaurant bathroom leaving my stunned friends and family laughing in shocked disbelief. 

3. I hate to think that this one will get me labeled as a “Typical girl” because in some ways I am not but, I am afraid of teeny tiny spiders.  Perhaps it’s because I have often been surprised by one tangled up in my hair or felt it crawling across my arm when I was unaware that it was there. Which is strange.  I have held a tarantula in my hand and allowed it to crawl up my arm.  I stroked its back with my fingertip amazed that his fur was as soft as a bunny but a teeny tiny spider and all of a sudden I am a kung fu master viciously swinging my arms in defense. Perhaps I just don’t like surprises?

I am sure there are many more things that I am ridiculously frightened but this list only called for 3, if you really want to  poke inside this head of mine just ask!

20 random facts about me

Jumping right into this list of my 30 things my kids need to know about me I’ll start with listing 20 random facts about myself.

In no particular order…and totally off the top of my head so some of these might probably shouldn’t even be on the list.

1. I have an uncanny sense of direction and can navigate strictly by memory sometimes I’m even surprised.

2. You will know I am comfortable where I am sitting if I cross my big toe on both feet.

3. I used to chop up worms when I was a kid, and watch the different pieces keep moving.

4. I’m very sensitive, and I don’t have very thick skin.

5. I have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine. I love  creating something wonderful, but I hate that I am terrified that I might get stitched again.

6. I once knit a teddy bear for a Girl Guide service project when I was in high school. {We gave them to the Fire Department to give out on their calls}

7. My grandfather gave me a pen and pencil set as a graduation present to “Write myself out of jail” should the need ever arise.

8. I love dancing in the rain & splashing in puddles.

9. I feel most at home in the mountains or near the ocean.

10. Clowns are evil and they scare the crap out of me.  I don’t care what anyone says to try and prove otherwise.

11. My nana taught me how to cross stitch and to knit and one day I hope to pass that on to you.

12. I can change  learned how to change a tire in High School.

13. I have never worn a bikini but hope to get into one before I turn 40.

14. The only person who knows my natural hair color is God and he’s not sharing so that will just have to remain a mystery. 

15. I love Fruit, almost every kind.  In fact, I can’t think of a fruit I don’t like.

16. I played the flute in Junior High, horribly.

17. I have a horrible habit of taking your school grades as a reflection of my parenting.

18. I have a sewing box filled with letters I wrote to my nana when I was a little girl.

19. I wish I had of been a cheerleader when I was in high school.

20. I can’t handle scary movies anymore.  I’ll lie in bed freaking out in the dark at every strange noise days later.

30 things my kids should know about me….

My blog has always been mostly a journal for me, but I also like to think that someday, my kids can look back and read this and laugh (hopefully when they are much, much older, considering some of my content in the past). 

I found a great list of 30 things to ask your spouse on Pinterest but my initial thought when reading it was “hmm, I’d like my kids to know some of these things (and more).” 
I tweeked a good third or so to fit the type of things I’d like them to know, and taking out things I thought weren’t relevant or wouldn’t be as interesting for them and created 30 things my kids should know about me. (Or shouldn’t, depending who you ask).


The idea is 30 things in 30 days, and while I’d love to do that, I’m not sure *cough* that’s exactly do-able so please don’t hold me to it. Especially seeing as I can’t even manage to mail out Christmas cards, update the kids baby books, and other random things I set myself up believing I will actually be able to do.

So I’m aiming for writing about these 30 things in 60ish days. Feel free to join along in this new list if ya like. I’ll link to my posts as I write them.

THE LIST:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your spouse.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrassing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. What’s the hardest part of growing up?
14. Describe 5 and weaknesses strengths you have.
15. Describe when you knew your spouse was the one or how I fell in love.
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What do you think your spouse loves most about you?
19. How did you feel the moment you became a parent?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. Describe your relationship with your parents.
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
24. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about parenthood?
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What’s your favorite quality in your spouse?
29. What are your hopes and dreams for your prosperity?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.