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Monday, July 31, 2017

My Best List EVER!? Who knew at 42??









I turned 42 yesterday. Not sure how that is suppose to feel? All I know is that I have learned a few things...

1- I have never been happier
2- confidence can be regained
3- grey hair appears everywhere!!!
4- thinking outside the box and putting your own twist on something leads to success 
5- someone with substance is invaluable
6- being healthy is a good thing
7- I am an athlete. Never really was growing up but on my way to my fourth half marathon... And second triathlon
8- oily skin was a horrible shiny pain when I was a teen but now it's helping keep wrinkles away
9- sunscreen is super important. Sorry to my epidermis for burning you so many times
10- old friends/longtime friends are the best
11- I don't have to wash my hair everyday
12- there are great men out there. I am raising one:)
13- don't save stuff for special occasions use it all now. 
14- I am more independent then ever
15- I can do anything
16- fear leads to regret
17- everything in moderation 
18- don't understand tent camping?!? 
19- eat what you like
20- colour makes me happy
21- running is my medicine
22- use what you have
23- ask the cashier how she is doing
24- sitting doing nothing with people you love is the best
25- try everything- adventure wise, food wise you are on your own
26- watching your kids succeed is an awesome high!
27- a nickname means a lot
28- a real book is better than the screen version
29- flowers are good
30- Canada is an amazing country
31- children are sponges
32- tattoos tell a story just ask
33- always someone worse off than you
34- I deserve to be treated well
35- music motivates
36- eat breakfast
37- got an itch scratch it, if you do not have someone to do it for you
38- everyone does it
39- therapy is awesome
40- all the seasons rock
41- I love my body... Too much?
42- chocolate everyday is ok!

Sunday, July 30, 2017

THIS is 40


Love re-visting my blogs of the past. In some ways I have changed, in some ways I remain the same.



Here upon my 40th birthday, are 40 things you may or may not know about me:)


1- I collect the closure tags from bread, milk, bagels etc.  I have a container at home and a bag at work of them.  The bag at work of tags was suppose to be used for a craft? or sorting?  never happened. 

2- I love to do the laundry!  Putting it in, selecting the settings, moving it to the dryer and then folding it (in front of the TV)  Putting it away is another story.

3- I'd love to be a roadie for a band or just go on tour...

4- My new favourite singer: Gin Wigmore  But will always be a PINK fan

5- I'd love to work on an assembly line or be a food prep person (the one who cuts up the veggies, fruit or other ingredients {not the meat}) but I do love the job I have.  I think of my class as my classroom family.  I also am very grateful for the women I work with and the support from my students' parents.

6- Ok maybe I would cut up the meat if I had gloves on.  I think I can touch/clean/prepare anything if I had gloves on.

7- I have no chest (boobs) and I love it!!

8- I wear men's briefs sometimes. So comfy!  Victoria Secret low-rise bikini underwear are my alternative.  I hate thongs/G-strings.

9- Hair growth sucks at 40 (what the heck is going on!) Love laser hair removal:p

10- Not a big athlete but can be your biggest cheerleader:) I played water polo in university actually more like I trained with the water polo team because I only played one game as goalie.  Yes we lost that game but we'd lost every game that season:O)  Loved being goalie so much was goalie for the one season of Futsal I played a few years ago.  We actually won games, thank you very much!  so enjoyed it swollen fingers and all, even when I got the ball in the throat and couldn't talk for a bit!

11- I loved being pregnant.

12- My favourite movie of all time is The Princess Bride.  My favourite colour is purple, my second favourite is navy blue and my third favourite is black.  Favourite number is 2.  My favourite flower is a tulip, any colour

13- A huge multi-tasker.  If I am talking to you on the phone,I am doing 5 other things during that conversation.

14- I love Rockets, Sweet Tarts, real maple syrup and of course chocolate.

15- Wanna get my nose pierced, tiny little stud.

16- I was hit by a van when I was 5 years old, when I was getting off the school bus.  What I remember is waking up and my Mom feeding me ice cream and then I remember them wheeling me up to my room and my Dad commenting how the whole bed fit into the elevator.

17- I have three tattoos and considering another: this quote "For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first." Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

18- My kids are my everything!!

19- I wish I could make money from my art.

20- I went to Brock University, majoring in Child Studies, I have ECE equivalency and a Montessori diploma

21- I run and want to be better at it.

22- My front tooth is dead.  I've had a root canal.  At the time in order to stop it from going brown my dentist rubbed hydrogen peroxide on it--it burned my gums.  I had 16 teeth removed as a kid and I had braces and a head gear

23- I use men's deodorant.  I stink and it stops the stink, also it is easier to find deodorant in the men's section. 

24- I will travel to Australia, NYC, Vegas, San Antonio, Greece and Hawaii one day!  I have been to the Dominican, Aruba, England, Italy

25- Love the smell of cinnamon and also spearmint.  Smelling these scents puts me in a better mood

26- I want to go in a hot air balloon, bungee jump and/or skydive.  I would go in a shark cage too.

27- I do not drink a lot (anymore).  I do not like wine or beer: drink of choice a rye & Coke. Or a Sambuca shooter (on fire)

28- I have texture issues: I will not eat eggs or pumpkin pie cuz of their texture or bananas

29- I LOVE going to an airport.  Whether it is to go somewhere or just to pick someone up.  I find it exciting.

30- Boudoir pix-done 'em! To celebrate losing 11lbs of baby weight.

31- I would get Botox for the line between my eyes.  It is from thinking so hard all these years.

32- I am terrified of bats but have held a tarantula,  a python, scorpion and cockroach.

33- I have never done an illegal drug...

34- Suffered from postpartum depression after my first child but didn't know it at the time.

35- I drink approx. 4 cups of tea everyday.  I also love to eat.  I do not like to cook but if someone makes me good food I LOVE IT!!

36- Have been judged and put down by others based on religious believes or my lack of a religion

37- Extreme introvert.  The friends I have are very very dear to me.

38- Childhood: was really really good.

39- Nicknames I have had: Rob, Robbino, Wild Bush, Bandit, Robynski Comaneci, Curly, Oottat

40- Been to a psychic and she was right!

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Not My Birthday but ...

So this was a blog from my 41st birthday and I wanted to go through it and see what I can cross off:

I turned 41 today!
Here are forty one things I plan to do this year:
Skydive (booked and ready) Done read about it here
Bungee Jump Hmmmm not yet but there is this place in Quebec...
Zip line with B&D DONE! Read here
Go to the CN Tower DONE! Click here
Visit Tremblant Done it twice 
Win my triathlon I was first in my first Try a tri! (I was the only one in my age group)
Figure out what I want to be when I grow up Toddler Assistant Directress feels mighty good to me!
Fall in love Robyn 💖 Paul
Get stronger Always working on this one... six pack might be my next goal...
Be healthier Again always working on this one
Be smarter A work in progress
Make good choices for me and my children Everyday
Make more art Not yet
Grow an awesome veggie garden NO thanx , not interested anymore
Get another tattoo? Got two See them here
Paint my bedroom nouveau boudoir:) Done
Get my umbilical hernia fixed Poppy
Eat at really good restaurants Too many to mention but most of them had Thai food
Hangout at the beach more often Hello CUBA 

Grow my hair longer Actually cut it shorter but the goal is to grow it longer from NOW on
Read a book I am reading a lot more this summer See what I am reading here
Write a script for a TV show Hmmm maybe a book...
Travel more Oh ya Las Vegas and Cuba
Drive slower Sometimes
Sleep better Haven't achieved this
Continue to eat in bed! Stopped doing this one
Fix my front steps Done sorta
Bounce more on the trampoline Not so much cuz of this
Laugh just as much as last year or more Yep
See more good movies Haven't seen anything spectacular lately
Dance and sing more often Still a goal
Drink less mix drinks with pop Don't drink at all
Smile a lot Depends on the day
Botox? Not yet...
Go horseback riding Maybe soon... Stella & Molly may I join you?
Kiss - missed it for so long really enjoy it Done done and hope it doesn't ever stop...Paul
Floss more often Crap...got a dentist appt and still don't floss enough
Write better ... For my blog I am trying
Get a mammogram Will do: this year
Have a better race time for my next 1/2 marathon Very happy with my 1/2 this year
Be happy Some days this one is hard  #depression


I like making these types of lists.  They let you set out your goals, passions, dreams and wishes.  And hopefully help you achieve them.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Going to the church and we're going to....

So this happened on the Easter long weekend in April,


Going to the church and we're going....





To be a witness

I was a witness at the wedding of my friends, Susan and Rob.



Fastest planned wedding ever! 

Engaged on Friday,
Wedding dress bought on Sunday,
Wedding on Saturday

ONE WEEK!

It was beautiful.


Thank you guys!


Friday, July 14, 2017

Road trip 2017!

All packed up in the Georganas van!  Heading to Peterborough to Grandma & Grandpa.

Stella's request: the beach!


Then we went to the zoooooo! Lemurs, sea otters, squirrel monkey's and a pretty peacock were some of the favourites.

Daphne in the batting cages.  She only got hit twice:(

Uh why don't you play baseball? 

Love this moment: B had just finished helping Daphne do up her helmet.

Get ready....set...go!

Not the best memory for Daphne:( a little off roding was done.

My favourite: family meals outside


Thursday, July 13, 2017

this is how i sleep:



When i am alone

i fall asleep

Watching/listening something on my iPad/iPhone.

It helps me shut my mind off.


Wednesday, July 12, 2017

So this has been summer so far...




It has rained a lot this June and July.  We have had some great thunderstorms! And we were even able to see some rainbows.



So because of the string of storms on and off almost everyday, are motto has been "don't cancel, just do it!"


We have faired out pretty well. We have done Calypso in the rain (you are already wet!), cottaging (yep... That's a Canadian original word), gardened, biked, travelled ............

We are sweet but not made of sugar so we are just going to do it! 

Monday, July 10, 2017

P!NKALIOUS!

So there is this whole series of -ALIOUS books by Victoria Kann. The first one is  Pinkalious 


Then there is Purplalious, Goldalious, Aqualious etc...

Well, one of the lines in Pinkalious is "you get what you get and you don't get upset"

I use this line all the time when I am teaching, usually when I am handing out a variety of items and I don't need to hear  "I want pink" or "I want blue" or "I want the green dinosaur with the red polka dots", you get the picture.

Well on Sunday night, I went to Bluesfest with this Lady:


And we saw P!nk!


It was a high energy show that did not disappoint.  It did not matter that I could only see her mainly on the big screens, or that there were pushy people weaving their way within the packed crowd or that we had kooky screamers behind us...

Or that it POURED rain for probably 15 minutes in the middle of the show!

I have listened to her music so long I was able to sing a long to every song, she played my strength song: TRY, she continued singing in the rain...Mirka and I didn't bring any rain gear but ended up under other peoples' umbrellas (but still got kinda soaked, water ran off other umbrellas drenching us, but it did not matter! ). The rain did not last and right before it started there was a huge blast of lightening behind the stage, that it looked like P!nk had planned it as part of the show.

We sang, we danced and had fun

We got what we got and we did not get upset:)



***Anyone going to Bluesfest in the future, I highly recommend parking at Tunney's Pasture and walking. It is a wee bit of a walk...but you need to walk!


What a whirlwind, but so much fun!


So for our one day trip to TO I had no actual tickets!  This is somewhat new to me (perhaps showing my age:) all tickets for the train, the CN Tower and the aquarium were on my phone.  Was a little worried that at the end of the day the battery was getting low and I did not bring a charger (could have charged it on the train) so photos were taken less to conserve battery life. We had such a great day and we even had time for cruise around the Toronto Harbour to see the Toronto Islands. Here are some photos from our whirlwind visit to Toronto:



On the train for 5:55AM. Biked over from our house and guess who forgot her tea in her bottle holder on her bike?




Going through security at CN Tower after arriving at 10AM in Toronto.  We could not have timed it better! Later, when we left, the line up was HUGE to get in.  People would have been waiting at least 2hrs to get to the elevator to go up.




Views from the Lookout Level


Looking out from the Skypod Level (447m above Toronto)


The glass floor and our next destination


Ripley's Aquarium (Sharks done in tiles on the roof, come on that's fun).


But first a lunch break @Boston Pizza



Highly recommend Ripley's Aquarium.  If you do go, pre-book your visit.  Like the CN Tower there was a line up out the door. With a predetermine time the line up was minimal and moved quickly.  Our favourite parts of the aquarium were the octopus, the jelly fish section, the shrimp (Daphne's favourite: you can touch them, they crawl on your hand), the moving sidewalk which has sharks, a sea turtle and  a fantastic collection of fish swimming all around and above you.






This was the view from our boat during the harbour cruise. Yes that is that giant rubber duck in the harbour again.  It was part of our Canada 150 celebration. More info about Da Duck here.

We arrived back to Barrhaven a little after 11PM.  The train was a little late but we grabbed our bikes and got home, tired but a giant pocket full of memories, including the grumpy lady on the train.

Oh and my tea was cold:(


Sunday, July 9, 2017

What I am reading

I use to be an avid reader.

...before Facebook, Instagram, blogging...

📚

I read The Nest while we were in Cuba.

With summer vacation I have more time so this is what I have read and plan to read:)

The Weight Of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf

Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes

Saturday, July 8, 2017

We did this today!

 
 
 
Daphne Breton and I ran a 5K at the Agriculture Museum today.  They are always fun.  For more info go here  

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

What I am watching

With no cable and unable to find much else on Netflix I have found some shows to stream.

Kingdom is one show that I have been streaming through TVAddons. It stars one of the Jonas brothers (Nick) and it is about MMA fighting. It is pretty gritty but we all need a little grit in our lives. 

I have just finished watching the first season of A Handmaid's Tale. I never read Margaret Atwood's book of the same name. I am thinking I might because I am pretty sure the TV series has taken creative liberties in order to make it more current. No matter it is really good!

I am waiting for the 3rd season of Ballers to begin. It stars the Rock. Need I say more.
Ok I will...it is based on professional football.  It stars the Rock...

Sunday, July 2, 2017

So summer vacay begins!!!





So our tomorrow looks like this:

5:00AM, yes 5AM, we get up and eat breakie

5:30AM: we bike to the Fallowfield VIA train station

5:55AM: We board our train to Toronto

10:30ishAM: we arrive in TO

10:55AM: CN Tower, all the way up to the Skypod (so wish I could do the walk outside but not in the budget...next time!)

1:00ishPM: lunch

2:00PM: Ripley's Aquarium

5:00ishPM: grab dinner

6:18PM: Board train home to Barrhaven

10:30ishPM: Grab bikes and bike home

Adventure to be had and memories to be made!