Things I love and things I hate…

Amazing friends.
Awesome parents.
Concerts.
Ikea
The River Rock Casino
London Fogs

Today, these are some of the things that I love the most.

Aside from KEW that is!!!

Lack of sleep.
Wolf spiders.
Not having shoes on when running in to wolf spiders.

These are things I hate… I mean I REALLY REALLY dislike these things!

This past weekend was the getaway with my BFFs R and C. Because I have the most awesome parents ever, I was able to go away for the weekend and do so worries free knowing my girl was probably having an awesome weekend as well. We headed over to Vancouver on the first boat Friday morning… which meant for an early wake up call. This is when I ran in to Spider #1. After sneaking to get some shoes to stomp him, I was up and going and ready for the weekend to begin!

Once we got to Vancouver we decided to try our hotel with the off chance that our room would be ready. The River Rock Casino Resort is incredible. The place is beautiful and the staff are truly first class. I really mean it – I am totally impressed with this place – and not just because I won $125 on the slots in the first half hour that we were there.

Once we cashed in my winnings, we headed over to one of the greatest places on earth... IKEA! I hadn’t been there in a long while… and since I just moved, there were some things that we needed around the house. My winnings also allowed me to get some things I wanted too! R, C and I did our usual routine at Ikea – walk around up top checking everything out and getting ideas, stop for lunch and then shop down below in the marketplace. Since we got to Vancouver early it allowed us to really take our time… about 4 hours. Needless to say, I had to use my side mirrors to drive as there was no way I was seeing out the back. And it’s a good thing Cindy is little… as it was a wee bit cozy back there!

We finally made it back to the hotel after picking up some munchies in Richmond (thanks to the iPhone GPS app finding us a grocery store!). The suite was great and the living room was the perfect setting for some appies, some martinis and some laughs. Then it was off to Michael Buble!

I’ve been to quite a few concerts now, and I have to say that he will definitely stay up at the top for most memorable. He is an amazing entertainer, a talented performer and dang funny. Not to mention generous – donating Friday’s show to the Children’s Hospital was a great way for him to come home! His opening act, Naturally 7, was pretty amazing as well. I had never even heard of them before, but I am definitely a fan now.

Saturday was The Beach Boys and Bryan Adams at the PNE. I have to admit that The Beach Boys (or what is left of them) were actually pretty good. They played way longer than I anticipated and they got the crowd all warmed up for Bryan. As usual, BA did not disappoint. It was my 4th time seeing him live and he definitely customized the set list this time to let the hometown crowd know that he was happy to be back.

The only thing that I would have done differently this weekend was to book Monday off as well – I am SO TIRED!!! Thank goodness for the Soy Milk London Fog this morning that has gotten me through the day!

Things I haven't done in a while...

I’m in a really good mood about a few things that I haven’t done in a while.

One of them happened this morning… I made cinnamon toast. I was trying yet another breakfast food for my KEW. She has a lot of her Mama in her, including being a bit of a picky eater. I admit to not having the best eating habits, but I’m working at changing them. One that has taken me a while is actually eating breakfast. That, along with a whack of vitamins per Dr. Bovee (the best NP ever!), is really making a difference on my energy levels through the day. So I am trying to make sure the kid gets some food in her in the morning – she is a goer, so she needs the energy! Anyhow, back to the cinnamon toast. P-Dub did a post a few months back about the right way to make cinnamon toast (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=cinnamon+toast)… and man my mouth was watering after reading it! I didn’t follow her method this morning, but boy oh boy did it ever taste G to the O and O to the D!!! I may just need to have another piece or two as a bedtime snack!!!

The other thing that I haven’t done in a while is a girl’s getaway... and part of that means a ferry ride. I honestly think the last time I took a ferry was when KEW was a couple of months old and the ladies (R and C) and I went to the big city to see our boys - Duran Duran! To not take the ferry for over a couple of years feels strange… us Islanders need to get off the rock on a regular basis in order to appreciate it! Maybe I did take the ferry between now and then, but I sure can’t remember it… which could be more of the impact of Mama brain!

So let’s get back to that girl’s get away – it is going to be a HUGE treat! My parents (the bestest people EVER) are taking KEW for the weekend to allow me and the chicks to get our concert on. Not just one show… TWO shows! Michael Buble is on Friday night and Bryan Adams is on Saturday afternoon. I honestly could not ask for a better line up – R, C, Michael and Bryan – I am the luckiest girl ever. Oh ya, and we are hitting up Ikea on Friday morning… one of my happiest places on earth! My wallet will be tight this time, but I’ll still have an awesome time!

Oh… I can hardly wait!

With or Without...

Over the last couple of years I have learned a lot about what I really need versus what I want… and ultimately what I can live without. Being pregnant and preparing for life as a single mother made me spend some serious time evaluating “stuff”. I had been an independent single woman for some time and really had a lot of freedom with what I did with my time, money and space.

There has been many a day over the recent months where I really start to wonder where all my money went in my life pre-KEW. Now that I have to pay for daycare, diapers, clothes and food for another little person in my life… a lot had to change. All those things that I’ve listed (and the ones that I didn’t) add up to a pretty penny by the end of each month! I don’t have Stacha or Bailey or their respective vet bills any more, but the KEW expenses generally add up to more than my fur-baby expenses ever did! So where did all that money go to… and how the heck do I make it work today??? Although Ikea seems to be surviving without me (shocking as it is), I also seem to be surviving without them (or at least without a shopping trip in nearly 2 years)! Gone are the regular take out dinners. Gone are the many many tabloid magazines filling up my recycling bag. Gone are the shopping bags of clothes and shoes and “stuff” that I just had to have. And the part that I never would have learned without KEW – I’m ok without all that stuff. Ok… I do miss my trips to Ikea – but I think that is more about missing my girls’ day trips to the store with R and C!!!

I’ve had a lot of wake up calls over the last while about how lucky I am in life… and I’m really working hard not to push the snooze button on that lesson. Sure, I have crappy days (don’t we all)… but there are a lot of folks out there in the world a lot worse off. One of those wake up calls came through a powerpoint that is similar to the show at The Miniature Earth. If you haven't seen it... do check it out. It's a bit of a reality check.

I had an "ah ha" kinda moment yesterday. Driving home after our trip to the Backyardigans (ya gotta be a parent of a wee one to really get the coolness of this reference) show at the Mac I crept along Blanshard with the rest of the rush hour traffic. As usual, there were some street folks at the intersections begging for cash or handouts of any kind. I’m generally not to keen on the street people thing… but I had a few recent reminders pop in to my head –“see, an example of someone who is worse off” and “what you give comes back to you”. So I started thinking of what I could do to help. I didn’t have cash with me to give to this guy… but I did have a big juicy nectarine in my purse. His sign said something like “Homeless and hungry. Anything will help”. Well, if he really is hungry, then that nectarine will taste really good. Down went the window when the light turned red and I offered up the fruit. He took it with a very grateful thank you. When he went to return to the curbside, the American with the thick accent in the car beside me stopped him and gave him some cash (apologizing profusely that she had to give him American dollars – LOL). Then the car behind them called him over and gave him some cash. I’ll be honest… I don’t think I’ve ever been at a stop light and noticed people in the waiting cars giving to the people asking for hand outs. I was surprised by the chain reaction of support that started with my offer of a nectarine… and I was even more surprised by how good it felt to give and how great it felt to see others give as well. The reminder that popped in to my head was right – I did get something back when I gave to someone else. I don’t even care what the guy used the cash for or if he ate the nectarine… I’m grateful to know that we as a society haven’t given up on charity and hope and supporting each other… myself included.