Moving!

I have taken the plunge and I have moved almost all of my content over to wordpress. Please change your bookmarks and make the move with us!

www.pootandboogie.com

Doug: MY therapy dog

About two years ago I lost my best dog friend Fritter. He was a special dog, brought back to BC from Ontario with us from our honeymoon. We found him at the local shelter there, and even though we were looking for a puppy this crazy somersaulting mutt stole our heart. Named after a Robins Donuts road sign for apple fritters, he stepped right into our home like he had been there forever. My time with Fritter was short, only 6 years. He suffered from a lot of old dog problems as our vet said, not those that a young adult would suffer from. He was supposed to be about two when we brought him home, but really he was mostly likely closer to 6 at that time.

His passing left a huge hole in my heart. I was distracted by babies, and life, but at night when I lay down to go to sleep the spot to my right was vacant. He always laid there, his back to my thigh and hip, his head resting on my upper arm. We always fell asleep this way. He would grumble lightly when I got up in the night to breast feed, but would happily reclaim his spot in our position when I returned.

A year ago when we were visiting Victoria I decided to go to the SPCA and see if they had any small dogs. Mark and I had been discussing the possibility of adopting another dog to keep Twiggy company. She seemed sad and I missed having two dogs in the house.

The girls and I waked past kennel after kennel of bigger dogs that didn't fit what we were looking for.  Then around the corner was the kennel for us. Three small dogs all of them mixes, A dominant long haired Chihuahua cross, a Jack Russell cross and another little black Terrier cross that stopped me dead in my tracks. He was shy and passive while we were watching him. He was concerned over the growly Chihuahua in the back corner. She defiantly didn't like us being there. I took a quick picture through the kennel door and texted it to Mark "I think I just found another Fritter..." he immediately texted back an "OMG."

We walked back toward the front desk and I spotted a volunteer sitting in another kennel with a bigger dog. I asked her if she had any experience with "Robbie". She told me that her family was in the process of deciding which of the three dogs in that kennel to adopt. Each of her family members liked a different one. I'll admit in that moment I panicked. I hurried to the front and asked if I could take an adoption application with me. I called Mark and I filled it out in the car and told the clerk that I would be back with my husband at the end of the day. We came back and I asked if we could meet Robbie one on one to see what he was like. A volunteer unlocked his kennel and he came out happily, I went into one of the empty kennels with him alone while Mark and the girls waited outside.

As soon as he came in, he laid down, and I reached out my hand. I touched his wild corse fur and began to cry. I closed my eyes and it was like I had my best friend back. He felt the same as Fritter, almost exactly, just a third of the size. I imagined what Fritter would have been like as a puppy and this was it. Robbie climbed into my lap and that was it. We discussed adoption with the volunteer and did all the necessary paperwork and checks and he was ours. Half hour after adopting him we were on our way to the ferry, with two very excited little girls and one very happy mama. We knew we would change his name from Robbie to something a bit more significant just like we had done with Fritter, so we named him Douglas, for Douglas Street. The only street where I could get my bearings in Victoria.

Poor Douglas barfed all the way home, in turn making Mark almost barf all the way home. He settled in quickly and Twiggy didn't mind him at all.

He quickly showed us that he was not the mature two year old they thought he was. More like a very immature not even one as our vet soon told me.

He has an obsession for chewing the eyes of of any stuffed animal he can get his teeth on. Hard plastic is a second favourite and rolls of toilet paper are a close third. Basically he eats everything and anything all the time.

This winter has been exceptionally brutal for our family in the health department. When I say brutal I don't mean, major health crisis' just virus after virus, infection after infection and so on. I am running on a lack of sleep, and some days are just more trying than others. About two weeks ago (when I first thought of this post) after trying for about 2 hours to get Ola to settle in to sleep. I sulked out of her room and plopped on to the edge of the couch. Doug climbed up into my lap and just melted into my arms.

We all know that dogs are used for therapy for all sorts of situations. Companions for children with special needs, visitors at seniors centres and hospitals, but I think sometimes we take for granted that we have them in our homes everyday. I get annoyed when I have taken another little person toy out of Doug's mouth, and I tell him he's a brat when he's chewed up a glow stick on the couch, but really I am glad that he's here. 

I held him and petted his little scruffy head for close to an hour. I cried and squeezed him tight and he was there for me, just like Fritter always was.

He's there for the kids and their late afternoon naps.

He's around to chew off my buttons if I have too many.

He's there to puke all over my car even during a two minute car ride.

Doug has taken up residence on my left side, only because the cat takes up the right, and Twiggy takes up the space between my knees. 

You can't regret adopting an animal from a shelter, the love they give back is amazing.

I LOVE Etsy!

Mark doesn't read my blog so I can tell you that I shop on Etsy often. Sometimes I get really awesome things from really awesome people and I want to share them with you!

I had been wanting to get a custom family necklace for quite sometime, you know the little silver or gold disc's with initials. I have just never found any that I LOVE.

I saw Todd Borka's custom pendant listing on the Etsy front page, and followed it to his shop. I LOVE customized things. I really like having things that no one else does, it makes me happy, like REALLY happy.

He made me a custom listing for two pendants on one chain (I just noticed that he has some listings set up this way now) I chose the type of chain I wanted,  sent him the photos of my choice and about two weeks later I received my necklace all the way from France!

I have worn this necklace just about every day since I got it. People think it's really cool, and Ola thinks it's the coolest. She frequently grabs it, and says "Mum! Poppa!" I am hoping at one point she will finally say "Ola!" when she sees herself. ( one can dream!)

Todd makes all kinds of cool stuff, just google his name to see! or follow these link to his spaces.

You can visit Todd's Etsy shop here
You can visit Todd's Blog here
You can visit his Website here

2014

2013 : year of lettering

Ok, seriously. It's been just over a year since the last time I blogged.

It's crazy to me that I haven't taken one night to get something down in this space, and that makes me sad.

A lot has happened in the last year. Obviously.

I think when I left this space a year ago I left out of confusion. I wasn't sure where I wanted to be going, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to say. I have lots to say, but I felt the pressure to choose an audience, to choose a type of blog to write. I didn't really know what to choose, so I chose nothing.

So instead of writing it down here, I just talked to myself daily while driving or doing dishes, and after a few minutes I'd think, Man that would be good for the blog… and then I would remember the therapy session I had to get Ola to, and that's as far as it would go.

So lets make a fresh start shall we?

hitting reset

Image: Reset

Everyone has some one in their life that they don't like. 

Some one that drives them crazy. 

Some one that makes them mental.

We hold grudges, and we have a hard time forgetting when we have been crossed. We remember the things that annoy us and the stupid things people do that piss us off.

I was reminded recently that people change, and that every so often we need to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a fresh start. 

A reset in our relationships.

I am hitting reset on all my people.

 Lets start over.

where the heck have you been!?

So... it's been a while since I posted on the blog. If you are still here, Thank You for hanging on and waiting for me. The last year, 6 months, 3 months have been a bit weird for me.

If you were paying attention in the summer of 2012 I posted that I had lumbar puncture (aka spinal tap) and the recovery from it was kicking my butt in a major way. A 3 day recovery turned into an almost 3 week recovery, leaving me completely helpless and sad. My Mom and Dad had taken the girls for the 3 days it was supposed to take me to recuperate, but when they came home it was quite clear that my headache wasn't going away. I pretty much packed up and moved home to my parents and spent the next 3 weeks sleeping, sitting, and floating around in their pool. I hung out with the kids as much as I could and then Mom, Dad and my Aunt B were there to take over when the headache got bad. The only way to combat a low pressure headache (from taking spinal fluid) is to lay flat, so off to bed I went. I had a leak in my spinal column where the doctors had taken the fluid sample from which is why the healing was taking so long.

I went into my neurologists office fully expecting an answer. Something that would explain these annoying headaches, a magic pill maybe that would solve the problem. My doctor went on and on, and finally just said, you are fine. Just like that. There was nothing odd in my sample, it was crystal clear, every enzyme, ph and level were right where they should be. I wanted to cry. Which seems odd considering he had just told me that I didn't have a tumour, or a aneurism, or ________. However his answer to my headache problems, wait for it, wait for it...

Lose weight.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

Well it's not.

At least not for me.

I left with the order that day to lose as much weight as I could and as fast as I could to see if the weight I was carrying really was the problem, or if I just needed a medication after all. He said if I couldn't lose it fast enough he would give me diet pills. I wasn't impressed.

1. I thought (that day) that he just didn't have any clue what to tell me, so he thought, I'll just tell the fat girl that she needs to lose weight. I always thought of blaming weight as a cop out excuse.

2. If I needed to lose weight there was NO way I was going to take diet pills. EVER. Are they not bad for you as well? Did he forget that I also have high blood pressure?

3. What the hell is as much as possible, as fast as you can?

So I went to see my dietician (the only good thing the neurologist did for me!) at the end of August told her about the test results and the diet pill suggestion and my absolute disgust of the idea and we went from there. I also left her office crying, feeling like a big fat failure (pun intended) We made plans to meet up the first week of October.

In the month of September I actually gained weight. The stress of needing to lose weight (as fast as I could) caused me to freak out and eat more. Partner that stress with Poppy starting school, and me suddenly being sad and confused about Ola's Down syndrome diagnosis (after 2 1/2 years!) September was a really bad month for me.

I met back at her office the first week of October and had a meltdown. I sobbed, and cried, and struggled to breathe. It was messy and awful and so so sad. She told me at that point that there wasn't any thing else she could really do for me. I knew what I needed to do, but there was so much personal stuff holding me back, weighing me down. She recommended that I go see a phycologist. When I hesitated and told her that I couldn't do that, she said I should check out an over eaters anonymous meeting. It was a low moment for me. Not the lowest... we are getting there.

I went home, and cried for 2 days.

I looked up the over eaters anonymous website, but I just couldn't do it. Over eating was not my problem. I couldn't picture myself in that meeting. It was deeper than that, it wasn't about the food, it was about the hole I was trying to fill.

I texted my friend Cynthia a picture at 11:15 pm in mid october of the handlebars of my bike. I was outside in the rain peddling my bike on my bike stand. I was sobbing after having an argument with Mark about exercise (or lack there of) I was so mad at him. I was mad in general. I set my timer on my phone for 15 minutes, and by 10 my head was pounding. I rode another 6 minutes and stormed back into the house and in to bed. I officially hit my low.

Those 15 minutes prompted me to make a change. For good.

The next morning I set up some "ground rules" for myself. I needed to set some realistic food boundaries for myself.

1. No more Starbucks or Tim Hortons in the car. If I was going to have a coffee I needed to be with a friend, sitting inside enjoying the coffee with a friend and a conversation. No friend = No coffee.

On October 22nd I got this email from my Dietician:

"I just received an email about this excellent program being available near you.  It is for people who know what they should be doing, but are aware that so many things get in the way that they never end up doing it.  Would you be interested in information about that?

Let me know if you’d like information.

Take care"

Umm.. yes please send me information about that!

She ended up sending me info about a course called Craving Change. I knew that I needed to go to this group/class/whatever you want to call it. I felt like I had a good base with my new rules, but I needed more.

I showed up to this meeting nervous and worried about being the fattest girl there. Scared to tell them my story.

There was 4 of us.

All different types of women. Mothers, and not. Married, and not. Working full time, and not.

We met once a week for 2 hours, for 4 weeks, and it was one of the best things I could have done for myself. We talked, we laughed, we cried, and I finally realized that I was not alone in trying to fill a void with food.

I didn't tell anyone but my Mom and Mark about these meetings. I kept them all to myself. Just for me. Just a visit with friends.

It has been just about three months since that night on my bike.

Things are different now.

I no longer stop in at Starbucks or Tim Hortons every day. I have been to Starbucks 4 times since October and have had great conversations each time. I actually enjoy my latte now, and I drink every last drop.

I have been to Tim Hortons twice, and sat with Poppy while she had a special treat and I have had tea.

I can eat a cookie/chip/piece of cake and not feel like I am the worst person on the planet now.

I still get headaches here and there, but who doesn't?

I learned that I was letting others control how I was living my life because it was easier to have others tell me what to do than decide for myself.

I have learned to say no.  I can say no to booking 3 appointments in the same week for Ola. I can say no, sorry I can't bring 2 dozen cookies to the Christmas Kindergarten lunch at school, I can just say no because I don't have to please everyone around me.

I learned what it was like to not make losing weight a New Years resolution!

I am learning that I really like being happy, and I am sad that I wasted so much time last year feeling sorry for myself.

I am learning that it's a really nice feeling when your best friends notice that your pants appear to be getting bigger!

Left: January 2012  Right: January 2013

Making positive changes in my health, have lead to positive and exciting changes in my personal life too. Things are falling into place, and I can't wait to share them with you!

The last thing I want to share with you is something I stumbled upon by accident last night and it feel like it describes where I am right this second.

Credit: What If Conference blog

It's time I get my body moving, which is something I have been able to avoid up til this point. I haven't tested my threshold in almost 3 months (the night on my bike) so I am eager to see if I can do 15 minutes without a headache yet.

Cross your fingers for me! Here we go!

Guest post on Poppytalk today!

I am so thrilled to be a guest poster on Poppytalk today sharing my winter scene jar tutorial I did last winter!

Head on over to Poppytalk to take a look!

In the new year I will be sharing a new project that I am working on as Hello, Fletcher! which is currently the name of my etsy shop! Stay tuned for more DIY's, class news and other crafty goodness!

Tick tock goes the clock

I have been a slave to the clock this past week. Every 4 hours I jump up and swallow some pills. I have had a headache pretty much every day for the past 10 months. I have had a bunch of tests and this week was the big one. A spinal tap. It wasn't as awful as it sounds, the doctor did a really good job and gave me some extra freezing to I wouldn't be in any pain. I am however having a difficult time recovering from the headache that follows as a side effect from the test. The ER doctor likened my spinal column to a full water balloon with a pin prick in it that has a leak. My spinal fluid is slowly dripping out the hole that the sample came from. I had to go back to the hospital and came home with a prescription for more Tylenol and to drink as much coffee as I could stand. I am not a coffee drinker but with some yummy recomendations from friends I was able to drink some iced ones.  The caffeine has helped with the headaches somewhat but a week later and my head is still feeling a little funny. A sneeze feels like my head is going to pop off, and bending down makes my eyes bug out... Lol.

Everyday I am improving, but I wasn't expecting a week long recovery.

I'll be back next week, hopefully with a new tutorial.

smash

Just so I don't worry anyone, let me say this. The girls and I were in a car accident, we are OK.

Our car, maybe not so much...

It just looks like a missing bumper, but the damage might be worse. If this is what a written off Volvo looks like, I wouldn't have wanted to be in any other car.

I was driving the girls home from getting their new shoes. Ola needed a pair of high tops to support her new braces (more on those later), and well Poppy just wanted a new pair because Ola got did.

I sat in the mall parking lot for a few minutes before we left returning a phone call to the hospital about my looming lumbar puncture appointment (more on that later too.) 

I started driving home and on a straight stretch of road close to our home, it happened.

A man driving a older car sped through a stop sign. I spotted his car and slammed on my brakes a swerved to the right. I hit him hard on his rear fender sending him into a spin. I slowed to a immediate stop, and he continued in to a large boulder across the road. I swung my car around to the other side of the road where he was, and quickly checked the girls. Poppy was wide eyed and quiet, Ola was fast asleep.

Ola sleeps like a baby in our Volvo (this was not on crash day, and I was parked when I took this photo)

I went to check on the other driver and once I knew he was ok, I asked him why he didn't stop at the sign. He said he didn't even see it, he was looking at the rock across the road. 

I called Mark. "Please come help me. The girls and I were in a bad car accident." I might choose my words more carefully next time and omit the word "bad" just to save his sanity. It is only a 2 minute drive from our house, but still.

He arrived and took control of the situation. He gave me a hug, called the police, and an ambulance, and checked on the other driver. I stayed with the girls, and asked the witness if she saw what happened. He came back gave me another hug and I cried.

We got checked by the ambulance, the girls appeared fine. The driver took note of Ola's Down syndrome and noted that she couldn't verbalize her pain, but that I would take her to the hospital if she started acting unusual. My arm was numb and my heart was racing. 

We talked with the police and got phone numbers and I drove home. Pulling through the last stop sign by our house sent me into an emotional meltdown. I started crying and by the time I parked in our driveway I was sobbing. 

Poppy unbuckled herself and hugged me. It was awful, I just kept thinking what if, what if?  I was pretty much a mess for the rest of the day, I hardly ate and I was so so tired. I couldn't sleep that night, I just kept seeing the flash of the white car and then feeling the smash. Over and over all night long. I was happy to have the nightmares as long as the kids didn't.

I flinched yesterday as we drove past the spot. I guess that's normal. 

I told my Mom that even though my phone was no where near me when the accident happened, that I promised that I would never touch it while I was driving again. I think we are all guilty of grabbing our phone when it beeps or rings. I stopped texting and driving a long time ago, so this is the next step. I can answer my phone with my handsfree headset and that's it. If I had my phone in my hand when that accident happened I couldn't have controlled my car the way that I did, and I shudder to think of what might have happened. Ola would have had the full impact of that crash on her door, and my free hands prevented that from happening. When I spoke to the adjuster at ICBC he told me that I have 16 years of safe driving. I couldn't believe it. 16 years? And only one speeding ticket. I thought I was safe but hearing him tell me that I was made me feel better.

I find out tomorrow if my car will get fixed or written off. I love my car, and now that I have had the Volvo experience in a crash I don't want any other car but my own. 

Poppy on the other hand thinks that our rental van is going to be awesome.

Parked waiting in the border line-up with my favourite quiet driving time friend.

Lets end this thing on a happy note shall we? Today is the last day to comment on the previous post to be entered to win the Cuppow! and painted jar giveaway!

DIY: a painted mason jar travel mug (with a CUPPOW!) and a giveaway!

Note! July 18th! I used my jar for a smoothie for the first time today and I have very bad news... I am not sure if it was the cold of the smoothie mixed with the warm for my hands but the sharpie all but fell off in my hands. This is very very bad news for my tutorial, but have no fear I have so glass paint markers on the way! I will be re-doing this project with the glass paint, to let you know the outcome, and I might just do another giveaway too!

When my friends over at Delish Magazine opened up an online shop called The Delish General Store I knew I had to have one of the products they carried called the Cuppow! 

The Cuppow! is a re-usable lid that turns any wide mouth mason type jar into a travel mug! I love Mason jars and there was no way that my mug was going to be plain. After some trial and error with glass paint I discovered the Sharpie Oil based paint marker! These markers worked fantastic for painting on my jar, and seem to be holding up well after a few washes in the sink. They also come in a large selection of colors and points.

The jars and Sharpies are cheap enough that you could make one for everyday of the week!

I couldn't just make one for myself, so I made another DIY so you could make one too!

so....

I am going to give away my smaller painted mason jars (waves and boat as seen above) and a brand new Cuppow! to one of my readers. To enter simply leave a comment on this blog post and tell me:

What favourite summer drink would you have in your new travel mug?

I will use random number generator to pick a winner on Monday July 16th and announce the winner here on this post! So check back to see if you are the winner! Giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
***Contest now closed!

Now go get crafting!

*a few notes... I have not put my painted jars in the dishwasher, I have only hand washed them. I figure the paint will last longer this way.
* Cuppow! now makes a smaller lid that fits regular mouthed jars! Another must have for those little hands!
* I bought all my jars and rings at a local thrift store. It's a good place to look for supplies. The jars were only $.30!

Cuppow! and Sharpie have no idea who I am or that this blog exists. I just really like their product and wanted to share it with you!


Random.org tells me that commenter #1 Turnip the Heat is the winner of the painted jar and Cuppow lid!


Turnip the Heat said "My favorite way to drink out of a mason jar this summer would be to make some iced coffee. Local beans, brown sugar and cinnamon infused overnight in the fridge...I can take it straight to the beach and enjoy the east coast summers with my pup. :)"


Turnip the heat, please email me at pootandboogie@hotmail.com with your address so I can ship your prize!

DIY: air plant octopus! a cute tute!

I was looking around on etsy the other day and stumbled upon some really cool air plants. I remember my parents having air plants around, and I always wondered how they lived without soil. I couldn't stop thinking about them so I went to our local nursery and picked one up. The plant itself was really affordable (like $6 bucks!) and since they seem to live forever I thought it was even more reasonable. There are quite a few varieties of air plants (Thanks google!) but my nursery seemed to mostly have the one that I picked up. They vary in size and shape as well, but since I knew that I wanted one to resemble an octopus I looked for one with long shapely leaves? stems? I dunno, but you know what I mean.

I really liked the way it turned out, so I thought I would share! It was really easy, so much in fact that Poppy made her own right along with me!

glimpses in the mirror

The girls and I were driving around yesterday. The radio was on, I was singing, Poppy was being silly and Ola was watching her sister intently.

I usually have my rear view mirror tipped a little more in Poppy's direction because she like to talk (a lot) to me while I am driving. It's easier for me to catch everything if I can see her a little bit.

Poppy starts bouncing her hand over her mouth while she is making random noises, I always think of this sound as the stereotypical non politically correct way that someone would imitate native tribal chants... you know what I mean... right?

anyways... She does a few, and laughs, looks at Ola and then looks at me. Does a few more, laughs a little harder, looks at Ola who giggles this time, and looks at me who has now noticed Ola giggling. And we do this dance for a minute or two, then Ola copies Poppy. Poppy looks to me in the mirror to see if I caught it and I acnkolwledge her with a eyebrow tilt. We laugh, and encourage Ola to keep mimicing her sister, and she is laughing, belly laughs now, and she stops to say "ay" (yay) and clap. We clap, we chant, we laugh.

I tilt my mirror a little more in Ola's direction now. I can see her face, her happy cherubic face, her eyes slitted from smiling so hard. She stops to clap for herself again...

And it hits me, I can feel the tears welling up and I am proud. It feels like forever I am staring at Ola, almost in slow motion... I can't believe how she is changing, it's amazing.

Poppy catches the tear falling in the mirror. "Mommy are you ok?"

"I'm great Poppy, Mommy is just really happy. I love you."

"I love you to Mommy."

and just as I look back to Ola she blows me a kiss.


Perfection

giving credit where credit is due

Eating for Ola usually goes something like this...

However lately it has gone something more like this....

Note the fork/spoon. Yesterday I made a spinach tart that both the girls love, and Ola wouldn't touch it, she was messing about, pushing the pieces around, and fussing. I didn't understand, then it dawned on me... Sister just wanted her spork! I handed it to her, she grinned and ate every single piece.

Things like watching her eat with her spork make me so incredibly proud. It's little to most, but over here, it's a party!

a much needed break

The last few months have been hectic for me. It has involved working (temporarily), numerous tests at the hospital to try to figure out why I have been plagued by bad headaches for so many months, and stuff with the kids. Mark and I topped off the chaos with a out of town trip that was so much fun, and was a much needed break from the fast paced busy reality of the last 2 years.

We figured out that the last time we went away together was right after we got married 8 years ago. We were trying to not spend too much money so our honeymoon consisted of a road trip to visit my family, and then a plane ride a few weeks later to visit his family in Ontario. I have to say that being able to just be "me" for 5 days was refreshing, and while I missed the girls horribly, I enjoyed having Mark to myself. We  slept in (a bit) and got to do things like surfing, and a fishing charter. If you ever have the chance to visit Vancouver Island, try to do some things that maybe you wouldn't normally do. Surfing was a first for both of us, and so was the fishing charter. We both had fun at the surfing, and even though I was so sea sick (vomiting included!) I am glad that I stuck out the day for Mark because it was pretty fun. We caught our daily limit of salmon, but no luck with the halibut.

I was trying to smile through the nausea, and I was terrified because it was so choppy!

Our charter was really good, once the choppiness calmed and I puked

The first salmon!

I did pretty good too!

See!

They were hard to pull in!

This is a Canary rock fish. I haven't tasted him yet, but I am hoping it's yummy!

After 3 hours of surfing. I was so tired, but surprisingly warm and happy!

The view from my kayak

Our friend Martin told us about a hike near Tofino that was to see a crashed WWII bomber. this plane was unreal, slammed into the mountain through the trees, and it's sitting there, way up, but still reachable.

We went kayaking too and I have to say that this is still my favourite way to be on the water. I love kayaking, and I hope I get to go at least one more time before the summer is over.

We also went on a hike, and I got a manicure!

I was glad to get home, and the girls were so happy to see us, which makes coming home so much sweeter!

Here are the links to the folks we used for our adventures:

Long Beach Charters

Surf Sisters

Majestic Ocean Kayaking