Or so they say....

Bear with me as I re-post a couple of posts from my previous blog... Jp's kids are in town from Montreal til August 9th,

(yes - both of them, and NO they don't speak english!)

So I don't have time for new posts... I know there are a handful of reders who followed me here from my old blog, and if you've read this before, I appologize.

A little padding never hurt anyone...

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But how would you feel if you had a playdate for your 5 year old one afternoon...

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Let's suppose Ms. Snobby dropped off her junior at your house.

Then suppose you tried not to notice her looks of disaproval as she notices that your house is probably 3 times smaller than hers.

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Furthermore suppose that the same Ms. Snobby comes back to pick up junior and wants to come in. Suppose you let the kids play quietly by themselves, and are quite proud of how nicely and quietly they've been playing.

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Assume that you let Ms. Snobby into the house and together you go to get junior for her. Then suppose they are not in their room, so you call for them. Pretend that their voices are coming from the bathroom down the hall...

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Skip to the part where you enter the bathroom, and find the kids sticking maxi pads ALL OVER YOUR BATHROOM WALLS. ("mom, we're wallpapering your bathroom")

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How would you feel?

Yup, that's EXACTLY how I felt.

Couldn't think of 6, so you get 100.

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UPDATE:

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We're going away for the weekend to a golf

and spa resort, where we plan on enjoying both equally. We'll be back on sunday night. (Yes, it's a birthday re-do for me)

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I was tagged again, by V.V. Dancing Madrona this time, to write 6 things about myself.

Instead of thinking up new 6 things, I'm re-posting an old post with 100 things about myself:

(hopefully that still counts, eh K?)

1. I was born in Transylvania.
2. I lived there until my teenage years.
3. I legally changed my first name at 25.
4. I also added a middle name just for fun at the same time.
5. My astrological sign is Cancer.
6. English is my 3rd language.
7. I also speak a 4th.
8. I don't have a birth certificate.
9. I have been married. And divorced. Twice.
10. I always wanted to have blue eyes.
11. My favorite movie is "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".
12. I broke both my arms twice. Not at the same time.
13. I read by candle light while I was young, and have bad eyes because of it.
14. I don't like to eat red meat. Or pork.
15. I became a parent by accident.
16. My grandfather was a gypsy.
17. My blood type is 0 negative.
18. I don't like public pools.
19.I required stitches after my left foot got accidentally hit with an axe by my friend.
20. I prefer pickles to cookies.
21. While visiting a foreign country I decided to live there, and simply stayed. For 4 years.
22. I weigh the same now as I did in high school.
23. I prefer white gold to gold.
24. I ate my first banana at age 13.
25. My husband is my best friend.
26. My best girl friend forgot I existed the moment she met her current boyfriend, that was last year...
27. I have a good memory. When I was younger I could remember all the numbers on a telephone book page. I don't think that was useful information.
28. In school I got bugged for getting good grades.
29. My shoe size is 7.
30. I am an only child.
31. I want to live in South America.
32. I don't sew. Not even a button.
33. When I was 16 my French teacher said I'd never amount to anything.

34. I became an accountant and last year, the same teacher asked me to do her taxes. I said no.
35. My first kiss was in grade 8.
36. I once accidentally killed a bird by running it over.
37. I am outspoken and am often perceived as abrupt or insensitive.
38. I get nightmares when I am upset.
39. I never had to wear braces.
40. I have recently switched jobs.
41. I love paint-by-numbers projects.
42. Between JP and me, we have 4 children.
43. 3 out of the 4 are affected by autism.
44. I don't like snow.
45. I'm afraid of flying. And bears. Equally.
46. I have been "the other woman".
47. Past lives fascinate me.
48. I am a cat person.
49. When I was pregnant I was in a car accident.
50. I have scoliosis because of it.
51. My exboyfriend is my only regret.
52. I own more than one wig.
53. I don't understand computers.
54. My cousin and I recently found out we're in fact not related at all.
55. I had a job once that was only based on commission. It was one of my favorites.
56. I don't own an ipod. Or an mp3 player.
57. I only listen to Country Music.
58. I don't care if people make fun of it.
59. I have no traditions that I can remember.
60. I drive 60 minutes to eat at my favorite restaurant.
61. I am an auditory learner.
62. In university I taped my lectures and listened to them in my car.
63. When I was young I thought I'd be an astronaut.
64. Looking at a rollercoaster gets me motion sick.
65. My Christmas decorations come down on Boxing Day.
66. I read all my junk mail.
67. I don't camp. Ever.
68.When I was a kid, I almost got bit by a snake.
69. I woke up once to find a cockroach on my face in Mexico.
70. I drove on the autobahn in Germany at 16.
71. I (used to) take 4 sugars in my coffee. Now I'm down to 2.
72. I re-decorate and re-paint my bedroom on a regular basis.
73. My friends are mostly male. (actually this is no longer true)
74. I recently had a hernia that needed to be operated on.
75. Both my kids were colicky as infants.
76. I always wanted to have an easy last name. Never happened.
77. I can not catch a ball that is thrown at me.
78. I am over sensitive to criticism.
79. I have a tattoo.
80. After that I discovered I am allergic to tattoo ink.
81. I only drink one or two cups of water a day.
82. The first thing I notice about people is their eyebrows.
83. I am slightly claustrophobic.
84. My favorite book is still "1984".
85. When I was in high school my best friend and I made up our own secret language. It included symbols and characters. I still remember it.
86. I rarely chew gum. It reminds me of cows.
87. I had a paper route when I was a kid.
88. I've never had chicken pox.
89. I prefer the toilet paper to roll off the top.
90. I almost ate turtle once, but couldn't go through with it.
91. I like to smell things. All things. I do it subconsciously and it annoys people.
92. I can't fall asleep if music is on.
93. I like traditional man/woman roles.
94. When brushing my teeth, I like to sit on my bathroom counter.
95. I don't like when teachers go on strike.
96. I used to eat pizza with just green olives on it. Yum.
97. I cut my tomatoes is wedges not slices.
98. I pay my bills as soon as I get them in the mail.
99. As a child I used to pick up frogs and kiss them to see if they’d turn into princes.
100. I take great pleasure in refilling things, like salt shakers and liquid soap dispensers.

What a difference a day makes

Now that I've officially turned 33, I figure it was time for a change.

YESTERDAY

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TODAY

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Out of the hospital

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So, we're home. And he's doing much better.
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You guys all rock.

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Some of you were kind enough to email me and share your own experiences with me. And so many of you left me nice thoughtful comments. I know a few of you prayed for him, and I thank you for that as well.

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Let's recap. He got sick just before my birthday, with something that I thought was a normal cold. He had very high fever, 104...for 6 days straight. When I went to the doctor the first time, around day 3 of the fever, they told me it was just a cold and to wait it out.

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Then he ended up with some really big swollen lymph nodes in his neck and a rash on his body. We went to the Children's Hospital, where they told us he had 3 out of the 5 signs of Kawasaki Disease. (What the hell is Kawasaki disease, right? I heard of the Kawasaki - the motorcycle)

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Click here to read more about Kawasaki disease.

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With Kawasaki, there is a potential for its young victims to develop severe heart problems and it has even been known to cause heart attacks in kids, and if not treated, could potentially become fatal in some cases, so the doctors were very clear when they told us that if he does have Kawasaki, it needs to be treated within 10 days of the onset of the first symptoms in order for him to have a 90% rate of recovery.

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The treatment would include an intravenous dose of antibodies of gamma globulin (purified antibodies) from other blood donors, to clean his blood basically. Anyway, they were going to start the treatment on day 8...wednesday. But then, that morning we found out he tested positive for another virus...that only mimics Kawasaki disease.

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Big sigh of relief.

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This one is also a lymph node virus, but it's one that he can recover from on his own. It's just going to take another week or so before he is all better and back to normal.

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So...it's been a roller-coaster of a week, him and I both lost 5 pounds (me due to stress, and him due to the illness) but I gained about a million grey hairs in the process.

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Next year, I'm skipping my birthday alltogether.... just in case.

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FOR UPDATE, READ MY LAST COMMENT

To lighten the mood somewhat, and because it's my birthday tomorrow, JP and I went golfing. It's something we like doing together. I am not good at all, so he's teaching me :-) Here is a short clip of us, isn't his accent just so cute?

Un Fucking Believable

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*Steam coming out of my ears*

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I am so mad. Let me start at the beginning. A month ago I get a call from my mastercard company, Capital One. (That's right, I'm naming names)

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Capital One: "good afternoon, bla bla bla, nonsense, nonsense... we'd like to offer you a new credit card with a microchip in it that would be better for you than your current one"

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Me: No thanks.

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Capital One: "actually ma'am we're going to send this card to all our customers as we are updating our system".

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Me: "So, it's less of you offering it to me, than it is you bullying me into taking your new card"

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C.O: "Oh, we wouldn't refer to it that way".
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Me: "Of course you wouldn't."

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So, they send their bloody card. Or so I thought. Fast forward about 2 weeks, and I realize I haven't yet received this magical card from them yet. So I call them. *I should probably inform you that calling any credit card company is on my least favorite things to do list. It ranks right up there with calling the phone or cell phone company. They piss me off every single time*

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Capital One: "Oh, you didn't get your card?"

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Me: "Nope. Can we just forget the whole thing now, and I'll just keep my old one"

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C.O: "Oh no, we'll have to send you a new one. But now we may have a breech in the card so we'll have to issue you a new account number."

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Me: "What does that mean?"

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CO: "The card you have now will become invalid at the end of this call and we'll send you a brand new one with a new account number within 10 business days"

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Me: "WHAT?! Are you frikkin' kidding me? I don't want my card to be invalid, there's a long weekend coming up."

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CO: "I'm sorry ma'am it's to protect you against fraud."
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I hang up.

How the fuck are they protecting me against fraud? I never asked for their stupid card. Now, I am without a c/c for 2 weeks. On a long weekend. Granted, I don't use it much, so I am grateful for that. But I'm still pissed.

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Fast forward to yesterday. It's been 2 weeks. No card yet. I call them again.
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Me: " Where the hell is my card?"

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C.O: "We sent it 2 weeks ago."
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Me: "Well, did you send it to me?! 'Cause I didn't get it. Just like the first one I didn't get. And now I have no c/c"

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C.O: "Well, it shows it hasn't been activated yet, so that is a good sign."
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Me: "Indeed. When can I expect it?"

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CO: "Any day now. But I can offer you extra protection if you want it. We can ask them to request a password upon activation of the new card."
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Me: "So, just for the activation, the person would need a password to activate it?"
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CO: " That is correct. That way it can only be activated by you."

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Me: " Okay. Let's put a password on the activation."

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Done. I feel slightly less annoyed. Then today, I get my card in the mail. I open it up. It doesn't look any different as my old card. What makes this card so coveted?

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I see a big sticker on the card that says "Call here to activate". So I call. It's an automated message. It asks for the card number. "Your card is activated" it tells me.

What the fuck? Why put the damn password on if I can activate it without one?
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I call them again. I can't even get a word in, she asks for my password.
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Me: "Yeah, that's what I'm calling about. I shouldn't have a password on my account. It was supposed to be for activation purposes only. But I just activated it, without being asked for the password."

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CO: "Did you call the customer help line to activate the card or the automated line?"
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Me: "Well, I called the number on the orange sticker. It was an automated line."
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CO:"We can't have passwords on the automated line. Only at customer service".

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Me: " You guys said the password is to stop any possible fraud against the card being activated by someone else. If someone else were to find it, why would they call the number on the statement? They'd obviously use the automated line to activate it, which means it didn't protect against fraud at all".

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CO: "It would have had they called the customer service line"

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Me: "You're missing the point. Never mind. Just take the damn thing off and let's just get on with it."

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CO: "I'm sorry but passwords can only be removed after writing a letter in to customer service"

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Me: "What? what are you talking about?"

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I'll spare you the rest of the conversation. Turns out even though I didn't ask for the card, and didn't want my account changed or cancelled, and didn't actually want a password on the account, but only on the activation (Which by the way, what was the point of that anyway?) I do now, need to write a letter and spend even more time on this god forsaken company to undo this password.

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I know that to most this wouldn't be a big deal. But it IS a big deal to me! This is complete foolishness. Why take a password over the phone (never mind that they're not describing the rules accurately, therefor I'm making a decision based on mis-information) but now, to undo, it must be in writing?

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That's wrong.

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I know it's petty, but it's the principal behind this people! I've told my husband and my parents about this because I was outraged. All have said to drop it.

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But principals are not like a hat that you take off or on when it's convenient. You either have them or you don't.

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So, I'll write my letter. And another one to the supervisor. And then, I'll call them just one more time.

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To change my password to 'dumbass'.

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Offensive to sensitive readers

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So here's my beef with women: They manipulate men.

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Now before you go and send me nasty comments, I have plenty of women that I have as friends and they are dear friends to me. I am in no way saying that ALL women are manipulators (After all, I am a woman so that wouldn't be very smart of me)

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But I am talking about women in general. You know what I mean ladies. When you pout and cry and yell and scream, or make yourself appear more vulnerable than you really are, just to make that certain man in your life act according to your will.

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I've just about had it with those types of women! Yes it works, and most of the time the man doesn't even realize he's being manipulated. But I hate when otherwise intelligent women resort to this type of behaviour.

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Stomping your feet and slamming doors will not change what is happening around you. All it does is let everyone know that you are feeling out of control. And what bugs me is when otherwise intelligent men sit miserably by, while it all plays out.

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Granted, only a nice guy will allow you to act like a primadonna and not put you in your place, but come on nice guys! You don't have to let women walk all over you. There are plenty of women who , appreciate but not take advantage of, a 'nice guy'.

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Plenty that will treat you with the respect you deserve, and love you without trying to change you into someone else.

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My grandpa always said: "Men marry hoping their wives will never change. Women marry hoping their husbands will."

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Sad, but true.

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Bragging

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Most of you know by now that my frenchie is a pretty awesome photographer.

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He is much more shy and modest than me, so he never boasts about his skill - but this time I thought I should.

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I am so excited to tell you that he'll be participating in an Art Exhibition soon! I'm proud of him for being part of it, especially since it's an exhibition entirely and totally about him as an artist and they'll have only his work on display.

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Today we had to pick a handful of photos out of thousands that he has, to be displayed at this art show. He'll be displaying about 15 - 20 pieces.

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Wanna see some of the ones we picked?

(they're local photos, and fairly recent, which was part of their request)

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Cool right?
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Too bad you don't live closer, I'd so invite you to come!
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You know you totally want the free champagne :-)

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