Mexico Part 1: Travel tips

Welp, we're home. What a great time we had! The weather was perfect and the company was also perfect. It's great being married to a person who likes to vacation the same way that I do. We like to sit quietly, wherever we are... people watch, watch old TV re-runs on DVD, and act like children in the swimming pool.

I thought I'd write a couple posts about our trip - just cause putting it all in one may get a little lengthy. My first post is entitled Travel tips. I wish that the following list of valuable tips have been tested and proven true by me, but they are more things I wish I would have thought of before travelling this time around.

#1: Whether or not you are travelling with children, bring a toy or a childrens book along with you; you may be seated behind a child who is absolutely out of control and lacking all parental oversite. Ooooh! A puppet would have been perfect.

#2: If you are the parent of the out of control child, they don't need to be calmed down, they need to just be strapped down - then the flight can proceed.

#3: If you are the travellers around the family that is out of control, be patient. If you think that the parents are having a fun time - they're not. They may have a general disregard for those around them, but it doesn't mean they're enjoying their present situation more than the next person. And really, it sure is a whole lot less stressful to listen to a child scream when it's not your own!

#4: Ear plugs. Wait - I did have ear plugs...so I guess that is a tried, tested and true suggestion.

#5: Just bring the skirt that you were waivering about. Chances are it won't tip the scale at the baggage check because of it, and you may not even wear it. But at least you will have the option!

#6: Say no to burning, yes to sunscreen. There were two types of people at this place. Lobsters, and roasted chickens. There really wasn't much inbetween, the finely fair-skinned folk burn and cause people to whisper "ouch" as we walk by, and the crispy dark tan that if whipped a little would eventually make a fine leather handbag. I am ok with not being blessed with skin that holds any sort of colour except for the great occasion when freckle meets freckle and amalgamate into one glorious light tan blob. Actually, while I enjoy roasted chicken, there is nothing like a good lobster feast slathered in garlic butter. Lobster ordered at dinner turns heads as it passes the other parties wishing they had ordered it. I, on the other hand, turned heads as I walked past the other tables because I am not made to be - or look like - a lobster. And magically, after only spending a short hour in the sun, I morphed into one. And just as magically as my appearance changed and held a glimmer of hope that maybe, maybe this time it'd fade into a wonderful semi-pink-semi-brown tan, it disapears by sunrise the next morning. Choose sunscreen. Apply evenly.

#7: When travelling home to a cold place from a hot place, do not think to yourself "how cold can the airplane be" and then not bring sufficient clothes for yourself. You may be hot at the airport checking in...but you won't be hot on the airplane at 37,000 feet in the air with a grandioso temperature of -74 degrees fahrenheit. Socks should do the trick.

#8: Don't eat a full rack of ribs before embarking on a 6.5 hour flight. I'll leave it at that.

#9: "Moderate" turbulence only feels moderate to those who are flying professionals such as stewards, stewardessessssss, pilots and pilotessesssss. To the rest of us, going to zero gravity and plunging for any amount of time is 'Major' turbulence. That's not a tip, you could call that a mini rant. Basically I feared for my life - on the inside. I was very composed and calm on the outside of course.

#10: Have an awesome teenage brother who stays up super late anyways so that when your flight arrives at 2 in the morning you know you can rely on him to be awake and up for the mini road trip. I realize that this is probably something you cannot change in your life if you do not currently have a teenage brother, but...ya...sorry about that.

I thought that it would be smart to only have 9 tips because 9 tips is less than 10 tips and it's not an even number. And I thought I DID only have 9 tips...but I really had two #3's so my numbers got mixed up and I guess that means I ended up with 10 tips after all. huh.

All of that to say, those were my travelling tips and in no way do they reflect the quality of vacation that we had. 10 across the board. 1st place. Numero uno. Zee Best.

G'nite friends! Travelling home to our beautiful Island tomorrow. Mexico Part 2 will make it's debut sometime in the next week. For a little teaser I'll give you the title: Sea-humans.

Adios Amigos.

AVATARRRRR

So this is my first movie review. It will probably be my only movie review as the town I live in does not have a theatre that is worth seeing movies at. I am in Langley. And last night we went to see Avatar in 3D. I didn't really want to see the movie - but kinda felt the world wide pressure to see it because of all the historic new advancements in technology used to create this film. We went with some dear friends of ours.

Ok. Movie.  There were a few things that I thought were kinda cheezy, especially for a film of this caliber. The political undertones were at times so blatant it was brutal...Mike is calling them overtones. Definately major racism stuff going on. The 'green' and anti-Bush agendas were so prevalent. At one point the general even said that they were going to 'fight terror with terror'. BRUTAL. I mean, I get that every movie has a message lying beneath the actual story line, but this was tooooooo much. It almost got a bit tacky.

 I forgot to wear contacts so my 3D glasses had to sit ontop of my regular glasses, that was a bit annoying - I was always pushing them up and trying to focus. But that was my fault.
There is some pretty strong tribal 'Mother Nature' chanting and prayer stuff going on in it - I think there are definately some things we could incorperate into our prayer styles :) (that was sarcastic, hopefully that came across)

All of that being said, I loved it! The graphics were amazing, and the creativity was incredible. If you haven't seen it - it's worth it to see it in a theatre.

G'bye. L

Poke me with a needle. Take my blood. I can handle it. Stick a baby in me then tell me to push it out. Fine. I can do that. Drop a clothing iron on my foot (not hot please) - No problem. I can deal with that. I can deal with all of that because it's pain that I can feel. Pain that I can rationalize as temporary, pain that will soon go away. The kind of pain I don't like is the pain I can't feel. Pain that someone else feels. I don't like that kind of pain. I can't control that pain, I can't rationalize and think through that pain and tell it to go away. Even if it really is going to go away soon for whoever is experiencing it, because I can't do anything about it I don't like it. BLAH.

Today I took Linden for his blood work. That is the pain I'm talking about. The pain is done and my Linden was a champion. He sat so still, even as he screamed and cried about the pain of the needle, he leaned into me and held strong. What a guy. He was being tested for some things that may be causing his constipation and lack of weight gain. I'm praying that it all comes up negative of course, but even having that response would feel like some sort of an answer. I wasn't looking forward to today, but at the same time I'm so thankful for today. I wasn't looking forward to today because what mom likes to drive to the lab with their child knowing that they are about to seem like the one inflicting pain on their child for reasons the child doesn't understand? But, I was looking forward to today because it'd finally be done. One poke could give many answers.

I don't worry about Linden. I know that he is a healthy boy. I know that it is probably something he'll grow out of, that it's nothing. I heard a doctor say one time that it's always best to assume the worst with a child, that way you know that you took every measure possible to protect and help them. I am not afraid that Linden will have the worst case scenario, but I am taking every measure to make sure it's not that. Why not? We pay loads of money for the incredible medical care that is available to us, why not take advantage of it? My son is worth it. Plus, he got a little blue airplane, two stickers and icecream out of it so he's happy too.

I'm getting my hair cut on Friday. When you have a short hair cut it's a whole lot more noticable when a spot of hair grows faster than another. I have a rat tail growing out my neck because one spot on my head likes to grow faster than the rest. Ha. Just call me 'gussy' (said with a lisp, like the mouse from Cinderella).

Off to change the laundry, get my baby up from his nap, make a bottle, clean the kitchen, attack my bathroom with strong and potentially dangerous chemicals, put my baby back down for another nap, pack, pack, and pack some more. Don't worry, my baby won't be around the strong and potentially dangerous chemicals. He will be in the bath tub in the other bathroom. And don't worry, there won't be water in the tub. He likes to play in there better than in his playpen....

Ta ta for now!
Laura

I think I can, I think I can.

Yesterday Linden pee'd on the floor twice, and on a chair once. I know that he is in his 'prime' to potty train right now. He will say things like "here comes the pee-pee" that will be followed by a cute little pee shiver. Love the shiver. Today, again, it's been at least twice on the floor. Add on top of that a 10 month old who still spits up and now he likes to slide around in it and you've got one dirty floor. I need to bend at the knees more otherwise I fear I'll turn into one of those wooden dolls on those pack pain commercials.

I've got my reasons for not going full out into potty training mode with Linden...and believe it or not, the aforementioned pee on the floor is not one of the reasons. See, Linden is almost always constipated. (ok, a shameless poo talk coming up. I am going to talk about poo. You can make this like a choose-your-own-ending and skip to the next paragraph if you so desire) If I let Linden go through the day without wearing a diaper he will go pee on the potty - hence the word 'prime' used above. However, he won't go poo if he's not wearing a diaper. Not because he's stubborn, the poor kid just has poo issues. So right now if that's the only place he'll 'go'.....I think I'll take the having two kids in diapers for a bit longer until Linden's intestinal track gets sorted. So am I a bad mom because my kid is 2.5 and no where near being potty trained? Well, that's all a matter of perspective. *wink*

 BTW - I don't think I'm a bad mom. I actually know I'm not a bad mom. Even good moms get frusterated when they step in a puddle of pee.

It's on days like today where Friday seems like it's taking forever to get here. It's ONLY Monday? I'm pretty sure that Jackson is in the midst of popping out 18 teeth. At least that's what his behavior is telling me. Sure glad that teething is something that we don't remember as we grow older.

*Sigh* Enough complaining. So, why is Friday my magical day that just can't come soon enough? WELP, on friday we're heading to Langley. And if that isn't cool enough, we're heading to Langley because on Monday Mike and I are going to MEHHICO baby!! That's Mexico...intentionally spelled MEHHICO because if you say it like that it just sounds so awesome. One week of all-inclusive awesomeness on the Mayan Riviera. And I am so doing nothing the whole time. I plan on sleeping in my bed, then going to the beach and sleeping there. Then I'll find a poolside chair and sleep there. I would say that I'm so excited to sit with a good book and read, but that's totally not the truth. That'd require way too much brain power for this lil momma.

Now that I read over this blog post I must admit that it probably was more for theraputic purposes that I wrote it. It may not be one of an inspiring nature or knee-slapping humour. It's mostly one to remind myself that there are only 4 short days left before we head off to start our holiday.

This is the little momma that could signing off with a motivating "I think I can, I think I can" make it to friday,
Laura.
PS - I really love you all.  Thanks for reading. You help me feel normal. You help me remember that I do have a vocabulary that expands beyond the words no, don't touch, let's count to ten, ugga-bugga, and peek-a-boo. I appreciate that.

Don't say goodbye, say so long.

Tonight we said goodbye to our two darling Korean girls who have lived with us for the past 5 months. I am generally not a very sentimental person and can sometimes feel awkward saying goodbye to people because I feel like I'm not showing enough emotion and may come across as....I don't know, unsentimental and emotionless. And I also thought that I'd be glad when the 5 months was over to have a break and just have our family back to the four of us. But I have to say, it was hard saying bye to Jessica and Diana. I genuinely grew to love these two girls and feel like they became a part of our family. I'm going to miss them a lot.

I think that this is going to be a good lesson for us and our kids on loss and dealing with saying goodbye to people. These girls were such a joy to have as part of our family and 5 months seemed to fly by. I pray that we have a great experience with the next kids that come through our home. At times it seems like it's my 'job' to have students live with us. However, saying goodbye to Jessica and Diana tonight made me realize even more that we are learning to open up our lives beyond just our family and welcome people into our hearts and home who might otherwise never have come into our lives. We are learning how to accept and welcome cultural differences and also teaching what it's like to be a part of Canadian culture. If you want to learn more about your own country, have people from another country come and stay with you! It's facinating how much I have learned about Canada being a host parent to Koreans.

Anyways, I am thankful for the few weeks that we have off here. It'll give us a chance to clean up, rest up and gear up for the next group that's coming. This must be so confusing for Jackson. Linden is starting to understand goodbye's a bit more now, I say a bit because tomorrow morning he'll still ask to go and do homework with the girls in their room and tell me I can't come in. But Jackson, he has no idea what's going on! I wonder what he thought about the girls, who they were. And what his memories will be of them. Interesting.

Welp, g'night.
L
ps- watched "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" tonight. So random, and pretty funny. One of the guys names was Brent. He's a big, dumb, macho guy who fames himself on his childhood as "Baby Brent" the sardine kid. He doesn't remind me anything of my dad, who's name is also Brent. My dad is famous just cause he's cool. And he's not big and dumb either. I have to stop blogging so late at night.

Y2K.

Y2K (said in deep booming voice that echoes many times over).It was ten years ago. And it was one of those times where the whole world remembers where they were and exactly what they were doing as they waited for the world to end - or at least the technological world as we knew it. I remember exactly where I was.

I was 14. I had a perm, braces, and was wearing overalls and an orange t-shirt. I had a 'happy new year' head band on and was basically the epitome of cool. I was oozing cool. It was written all over my freckled face. I stood in the not-yet-renovated sanctuary of my church watching as the screens went fuzzy at the stroke of midnight, a funny joke on the part of the tech guys. I even remember who I had a crush on.

That's all. I just wanted to point that it was 10 years ago already. Where were you? And how awesome did you look? :)

2010 is off to quite the start.

Member in my last post how I said I was going to choose to be happy more? Well, I'm choosing to be happy. I choose to be happy. I choose to be happy.

What a day. Happy New year everyone! The boys slept in until 8:30 which basically is as good as 11 for me. It was awesome. A great start to a new year. Until I went downstairs and had no coffee cream. When you live in a small town there isn't much hope of getting coffee cream on a holiday. But alas, Shoppers drug mart was open! Before I left I thought I'd put on the coffee so that it'd be nice and hot and ready for me to drink the whole pot when I got home. Except that by the time I got home my coffee maker had shut off - it's dying a slow and painful death - and my coffee was warm at best. Oh well. At least I had a cup of coffee.

Fun Morning playing Mario Kart Wii with the Jessica and Diana. They leave on Wednesday to go back to Korea, gonna really miss those two. We've had fun.

Jackson christened his playpen with vomit. Cleaned playpen. Lunch time. Jackson vomits in highchair. Smiles so sweetly after. Linden smacks his temple so hard on the corner of the wooden arm on the couch. No sweet smiles. Only big goose egg. Upstairs for Jackson's bath. Linden decides to get naked too and somehow in some strange turn of events he was climbing into the tub and Jackson was following behing him. Almost put his face in Linden's bum. Quickly picked up Linden so Jackson wouldn't get a close up...and instead Jackson fell and bashed his eye lid on the tub. Big black bruise. Did I mention that this all started only 15 minutes proir and Jack still has puke all over? Finish bath. Nap time. Thankfully we all had good naps.

I don't really know how many baths Jackson actually had today....I am still trying to stop my head from spinning so I can count straight. I guess if you count the bath that was a bath within a bath because of the diarrhea in the bath then it'd be three.

I'm wired. I think I might pull and all nighter. NOT. Poor Jackson.

I choose to be happy.

Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the flu bug bite.
Laura - the laundry princess.