Random Acts of Kindness

Last night, after Adam's Baseball Practice (yes, Baseball season has started and we're not even finished with Gymnastics yet!), we stopped to get a treat.

MY treat was stopping at Tim's for my coffee! MMMM Coffee ... XL Triple Triple!

Pic courtesy of TimHortons.com

So we're in the drive-thru, I order, pull ahead a bit and wait for the car in front of me to move and then see someone pull up behind me, giving them no more than a glance in the rear view.

When I reach the window to pay for my order, the girl says, 'The guy behind you paid for your coffee.'

HUH? WHAT? REALLY WHY??? ?

I was told this guy is a regular at that particular Tim's and that's something he does occasionally ... pays for the order in front of him.

WOW! With all the crap and insanity in our world today, there are STILL people out there who do random acts of kindness!

Who knew?!?!?!?

I thought about the stranger a few times last night. I hope someone does something nice for him someday.

Have a great day all. Be kind to strangers!
K

Oh ... and to the gentleman at the Tim's on Beaverbank Rd. last night around 7:30pm ... THANK YOU!!!!! :-)

Hurry Up and Wait!

Patience. Whoever said it was a virtue wasn't waiting for test results from the Doctor!

I'm not a good 'waiter'. For some things, (like little people and old people) I have patience.

Other things, not so much.

I'm the one who's grumbling, through gritted teeth at the driver in front of me, "Move Buddy! Green means GO!".

I'm the one who hits the end of a traffic jam, and is frantically looking for an alternate route, because I can't stand sitting in traffic.

I'm the one who knows all the 'secret' checkouts at the 'box stores' so I won't have to wait in the lines from hell.

I'm a 'if we're going to do it, let's do it NOW' sort of person.

I don't do waiting well.

Earlier this week, a family member went for an MRI. Yeah, scary stuff. Now we're waiting on the results.

Did I mention I don't wait well?

This is driving me insane!

What has me worried and stressed, is that prior to the exam, the tech said "We may need to inject you with dye afterwards, we may not". After the exam, the tech said "We don't need to do the dye injection, the doctor saw what he needed to see without it".

My family member left it at that. Ok, no dye needed. Great! One less procedure to go through today. WooHoo!

MY brain on the other hand, is screaming... WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!?!??!?!?!

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Does that mean that because he was able to see 'what he needed' that it means there was nothing there to see at all... or that the something was so big that it didn't require the dye process to reveal itself?

And what is that something?

I'm guessing the next step will be a biopsy. And then we'll have to wait for THOSE results.

Sigh. Did I mention I don't do waiting well?

Come on Doc ... Green means GO!!!!!

Have a great weekend all!
K

Out of the Mouths of 8yr Olds

Hey Everyone!

Two posts in two days! Scary, I know. But this one just had to be told. And it's a short one ;-)

This morning, the boys and I were on our way to school. Alec noticed a sign in the back window of the car ahead of us.

Pic courtesy of http://www.twinsclub.co.uk/

'Holy!' he said. 'Triplets!'

'What's a triplet?' asked Adam.

I guess we've never had a 'multiple-birth' conversation.

'It's when you have three kids at the same time.' replied Alec. Then he re-thought that answer. 'Well, not really at the SAME time, they usually come a minute or so after each other. Right Mom?'

I told him that was about right. They will usually be a couple/few minutes apart.

Adam got really quiet. Thinking. All of a sudden, just when I thought the conversation was over and forgotten, he says in all seriousness...

'Wow... she must have a REALLY big Vagina!'

For a split second, I had no reply to that. It was another one of those 'mouthful of coffee - meet my windshield' moments.

Apparently he missed the part of the conversation where we said, 'One at a time!!!'

K

Canon Rocks!

Hey everyone!

This one's a Good News Story!

Two months before we separated, my ex gave me a Canon Powershot S1 IS for Mothers Day.

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It was a GREAT camera and has been WELL USED the past four years. I love taking pictures, and do so at every opportunity.Shortly after this Christmas past , my camera died. I was very sad. I really loved my camera :-(

I debated what I should do. Take it in to be repaired, or simply buy a new one. Problem was, I knew my camera was a 'good' camera, I couldn't afford to get another one of the same quality on my Single Mom Budget.

So, a week before the Wrestlemania Event, I finally got off my butt and took it to the camera shop, hoping I'd be able to get it back by the end of the week, to have for that night.

No such luck :-(

The Repair Guy told me he could definitely fix my camera. It would cost $110, but he'd have to order the part(s).

I knew I wouldn't be able to afford another digital camera, of the quality I had, for $110, so I told him to go ahead and order the part, and let me know when it was ready. He said it would be a couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago, he called.

He said "I have good news and bad news.'

I was already having a REALLY crappy day, so I replied, 'OK, give me the bad news first.' May as well get it over with I thought.

He said 'The parts that we need to fix your camera, are on back order in Japan, and they don't have an ETA on when they can get them here.'

GREAT! LOVELY!

'OK.' I answered. 'What's the good news?'

I could hear a smile in his voice when he replied, 'The good news is, I have a box sitting in front of me ... from Canon. They would like to give you a Canon Powershot S5 IS, to replace your camera.'

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I thought about this for a second... 'A brand NEW camera? Or a refurbished one?'

'Brand new.' he said. 'Still in the box.'

'How much?' I asked.

He paused for a second, and said "$110... same price we were going to charge you to fix your camera'.

HOLY CRAP!!!! A brand new camera, three levels up from my original one, for the price of the repair costs. Holy crap! That was a $400+ camera, depending on where you bought it. Even if I found one on sale, it would still be $300 or more.

"OK!!!" I said. 'SOLD!!!!'

He said, 'I didn't think you'd argue with me on the bad news LOL'

Wow! A brand new Canon PowerShot S5 IS!!! I'm very pleased with my new baby, and VERY pleased with Canon! Most excellent customer service!!! THANK YOU!

I finally picked it up on Friday. I tried it out on Belle this afternoon :-) She didn't seem to mind posing lol.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, my back yard needs to be mowed!

Hmmmm - Now what did I do with that video camera I bought at the yard sale a couple of years ago... I wonder if it's a Canon... ;-)

Night all,
K

What's The Big Cosmic Point? Death Sucks Part III

Over the past 7 yrs, the boys and I have experienced the deaths of 6 people within our circle of family and friends. We grieved for them, and their families, and wondered, 'why? why them?'

This past weekend, I had to explain to them the death of a four year old beautiful little girl. She was the granddaughter of my Mother's significant other. He and Mom have been together about 3 yrs. An extended family tree member if you will.

Around 18 mo, she was diagnosed with cancer. Yeah. Uh ... again ... 'why?'

This Sunday, June 1st, she would have turned 4. The past two years were a continuous battle for her.

But you hope. You always hope. And pray. Whoever you pray to, you pray.

Yes, death sucks and is always sad, but the death of a child, a beautiful, happy child who was born into a loving family ... that's just not 'right'.

How does that much pain make a parent 'stronger'. Why does a person need that type of strength anyway? How does being able to endure an unequivocal heartache, unimaginable suffering, make someone a better person?

What lesson is being learned through bearing a perfect child, only to then watch your child suffer from a bastard of a disease - that our scientists can't seem to get control over - despite the millions ... billions? raised for the cause - have your hopes raised during remission periods, only to be dashed on it's vicious return, continue the emotional roller-coaster through treatment periods, only to lose her in the end a mere 2 yrs later?

WHAT THE ?????

STOP!!! Don't start forwarding me religious and afterlife links and quotes! I don't want them. I was raised catholic and know all about god and attended enough church services, and Sunday school classes to know what's supposed to happen when the soul leaves the body and moves on to be an angel in heaven.

What I don't get, and understandably never will, is why the good ones? The innocent ones? There are plenty of 'bad souls' out there beyond saving. Take them. Take 'em all. We won't miss them. Really! Would it be all that bad if the good guys controlled the earth?

Leave the littlest angels. I'm sure there's another way we can be taught those 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' life lessons. Dontchathink?

Her parents are incredibly strong people. They spent months in hospitals, by her side. They cherished her. They finally brought her home last Friday night and she died two nights later in her Daddy's arms.

As a Mom, as a human being, my heart breaks for them. Life is SO not fair.

The boys didn't say much when I told them. They understood there was a chance her treatments would not be successful.

Although it was 6yrs ago, they had been through a similar experience with my father. Alec remembered. I could tell the news of her death upset him, he asked about her every time he saw my Mom. Adam ... harder to read how he took the news. He tends to keep more inside. More of the brooder where Alec outwardly expresses his emotional pain.

I had discussed her condition with them over the past couple of yrs. Tried to prepare them. But how do you prepare for the death of a 4 yr old?

On the inside ... you don't. You hope. You always hope. And pray. Whoever you pray to, you pray

Sigh. And question ...

What's the big cosmic point?

I asked myself that question when dad's brother, a favourite uncle of mine, died suddenly of a heart attack.

I asked myself that question when my dad died shortly after that of cancer.

I asked myself that question when a friend died of breast cancer last spring.

I asked myself that question when the Dad of one of Alec's friends died suddenly of a heart attack last summer, on the golf course, with his 11 yr old son. (Now tell me, what lesson is that poor boy supposed to learn from THAT?!?!?)

I asked myself again when I held my dog's broken body in my arms, and felt him breath his last breath. Not the same I know, but grief is grief is grief to dog lovers.

Sunday night, I cried, again, and asked myself ... once again.

I'm still waiting for the answer.

Have a good night all,

K

P.S. If you're wondering why the title of this post contains the phrase - Death Sucks Part III, it's because we've been here before, in I'm Very Very Sad Today ... aka Death Sucks!!! and Just when I thought I was all cried out .... Death Sucks Part II

Look Into My Eyes ...

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great long weekend!

On Saturday, my best friend and I were sitting in a pub having dinner. This man walked over to our table, wrapped his hand around my upper arm and said "I have a strange question for you."

Uh Oh ... My eyes flashed across the table to my friend, then around the room, scoping out the nearest Security Dude.

I'm not unaccustomed to having men approach me in a pub. However, usually it's to ask for a dance, not to play 20 questions :-)

He asked "Were you ever an instructor at the Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx?"

I said "No, I was a student there a long time ago." Wondering if that was enough of an answer to get his hand off my arm.

Nope, not good enough I guess.

He then asked, "You worked in the lab though didn't you?"

I flashed back almost 15 years and answered "Yes, I did work in the lab for a short time after I graduated ..."

He said "I KNEW IT! I knew you worked in the lab. It was back in 1994. I remembered you from your eyes. I remembered those eyes!"

OK! Is that enough to get your hand off my arm now?!?!?!?

Yup, apparently it was.

He simply walked away then and said "Thanks. I just needed to make sure I wasn't going crazy! I knew I remembered those eyes!"

Well ... I still have no idea who he was, so it's possible his sanity is still up for debate, but I'm glad I could put a little piece of 1994 into perspective for him ;-) Wow, 15 years later someone recognizes my eyes, go figure LOL.

Now if only I could have gotten the tall, dark haired 'broody' one to come on over and look into these eyes ....

They're all shiny cause it was halloween. My attempt at the scary look.

What can I say, I didn't have many 'eye shots' to choose from. I don't take alot of eye close ups.

Till the next adventure all, time to pick up potatoes and then my kids ... and knowing me, I'll find an adventure in picking up the potatoes LOL!

Later!

K

X-tra Kids, Carrie, Dinner with Ex's. Yup ... 'bout sums up Mother's Day!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all my Mom friends!!! Hope you were all spoiled rotten!

This was definitely an odd Mother's Day for me this year.

Saturday night, Alec finally had his birthday party. We had to postpone it until last weekend since he wanted to have a sleep over, and we were at the Wrestling Event the previous weekend (the week of his actual birthday).

So Saturday night Adam was shipped off to his father's for the night (he came home again around 10:30pm), and 'The Boys' arrived around 5:30pm. They had a ball. Pizza, juice, popcorn, Alien vs Predator, YouTube and a PS2 kept them occupied all night :-) I herded them all off to Alec's room around 11 and by midnight ... silence and sleep had claimed them :-)

The next morning, Mother's Day, I woke up to EXTRA kids :-) No breakfast in bed this year!

I had told them the night before that if they woke up at some ungodly hour - ie BEFORE 8am - that there was cereal on the table, milk in the fridge, help themselves and I'd do the toast and fruit when I got up at 8. Normally, when I have my boys on the weekend, we'll do the BIG breakfast. Eggs, bacon/ham, toast, fruit etc. With that many boys at my table on Mother's Day ... Fruit Loops it was!!!

They all left fairly early though. Last one was gone just before 11am. A&A went downstairs and were being very quiet, and since my back was still really sore after having seized up a couple of days before, (yeah, two days flat on my back in bed ... and not in a GOOD way!), I said to myself "Self ... it's Mother's Day ... boys are being quiet ... your back is killing you, go lay down for awhile." And I did!

I watched The Sopranos. I've never watched The Sopranos before. I LIKED it!!!

Adam came up to my room to see what I was doing just before the end of the show and crawled into bed with me. No sooner did he get 'comfy', then a movie started. We decided to see what it was.

Turned out it was the 1976 thriller Carrie. Yup. The old Stephen King horror flick.

Now, normally I'm not one to promote 'scary' or 'adult' movies with the boys. Yes, Alien vs Predator is scary, and 'adult', but the only reason Alec was allowed to get/see it was because of the 'sleepover'. What's a sleepover without a scary movie?!?!?!?!? And as it was, they turned it off after about 20 minutes and watched it the next morning anyway LOL.

When Carrie came on however, I called for Alec to come upstairs. I thought it was 'strange' that this movie was on, considering he and I had just been discussing that very topic the week before. We were talking about books, and I told him I could still remember the first SCARY book I had read. It was Carrie. When I was 12, his age. I've been a Stephen King junkie ever since!

Given they've seen movies like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, I didn't think that Carrie would be overly 'scary' for them. Also, it was on A&E so any nudity and swearing had been taken out.

So, my boys and I snuggled up in my bed and all watched Carrie together for Mother's Day LOL.

Now, before y'all pick up your phones and call Social Services on me for being an awful mother who encourages horror flicks, let me first say that this movie brought about TONS of discussion! Which in my opinion, is always a GOOD thing.

We discussed Periods within the first 10 minutes. - If you remember the first scene in the movie, Carrie is in the shower after gym class, and has her first period. She doesn't know what is happening to her, and she's scared. Of course when he saw the blood on her hands, Adam asked "What's wrong with her Mom?" So we had the Period discussion. They now appreciate the fact they're boys! ;-)

We discussed Bullies and the destruction they cause in people's lives. For me, Bullying is a main premise of this movie. That and telekinesis. We discussed how Carrie was the way she was - shy, an outcast - partly because she had been bullied by her classmates her whole life. We discussed how this can hurt people to the point that they want to hurt back. I also brought up the Columbine incident again to drive this 'bullying point' home.

We discussed Telekinesis. What it is - as best I could explain it anyway - and how yes, there really ARE some people in the world who can supposedly move things with their mind. We all agreed that we'd all love to have telekinetic powers. To use for good of course ;-) Telekinesis comes in a close second to the power of invisibility though ;-)

And we discussed Child Abuse. This was a bit of a heart wrencher for me. There was only ONE part of the movie that bothered Adam. And this was it. The Mother's abuse of Carrie. The scene where Carrie came home from school after the shower episode, and her Mother confronted her about 'being a sinner' because of what had happened. When Carrie refused to say what her Mother wanted her to say, she hit her repeatedly in the face with a Bible, and then locked her in a closet.

At this point, I looked over at Adam who was curled in next to me, and saw his little bottom lip was quivering, and his eyes were filled with tears he was fighting so hard to control. I asked "Are you OK Babe?", and he looked at me, one tear spilling over and down his cheek and whispered "There really ARE bad Mom's like that out there who hit their kids aren't there Mom?"

My heart broke at his obvious pain and the empathy he was feeling for this poor girl in the movie, but I didn't lie to him. I simply put my arm around him, gave him a squeeze, a kiss to his temple and said "Yes Babe, there ARE some nasty parents out there".

He replied with, "There are Moms who badly hurt their kids aren't there?"

I said "Yes Hun, there are".

He then asked, "There are Moms out there who lock their kids in closets when they don't listen ... aren't there?"

"Yes Hun. **Pause** Maybe your old Mom isn't so bad after all huh?" **Small encouraging smile**

"You're the BEST MOM EVER!!!" (yeah, until the next time I won't let him do something he wants to, and I suddenly become the worst Mom ever again LOL)

That was hard. I don't like admitting to my kids that there are 'bad' parents out there. But it's simply the sad truth. Hell, I know I'm certainly not perfect, and there are those who would probably call me a 'bad' parent myself for even letting the boys watch this movie in the first place.

But they watched it WITH me. I was there to answer all their questions, and you know what? In the end? They didn't find it 'scary' at all LOL. Maybe because I kept prepping them through the whole movie for the Prom scene that was going to come at the end LOL. Maybe simply because a 1976 'scary' flick can't hold a candle to a 'scary' flick of their generation. They're unfortunately more desensitized to that kind of 'stuff'.

What I hope they got out of this movie, is to be NICE to and tolerant of the kids at school who are maybe a little different!

If not ... don't go to Prom! ;-p

The last 'odd' part to my Mother's Day, was when the Ex called in the afternoon and invited the boys and I over for a Mother's Day dinner. I accepted! :-)

We are an odd pair the ex and I lol. People tell us all the time that we get along so well. And we do. For the most part :-) So I accepted. His Mother was there also. He cooked, he cleaned up afterwards, all we had to do was park our butts at the table and eat! He even made cookies for dessert! Mmmmmmm cookies!!!!!! OK, so maybe the cookies were for the boys .....

I didn't really have any plans for Mother's Day, since my back was too sore to make the drive to my own Mother's (2hrs away). I also didn't expect to wake up with extra kids in my house (when I originally said yes to the sleepover, it wasn't planned for Mother's Day), or didn't plan to spend the afternoon snuggled in my bed with my boys watching Carrie, and I certainly didn't expect to be going to my ex-husband's house for Mother's Day dinner with my ex-mother-in-law.

But ya know what? It was a GREAT Mother's Day!!!! I wouldn't have changed a thing!

OK, maybe two things ... I'd give myself telekinetic and invisibility powers. Hee hee hee. And would have insisted on Fruit Loops in bed! ;-)

Have a great day all!
K