Blizzard time!!!!

Canada Winter = snow (and lots of it!!)

however winter is over in Jan......isn't it????????? haha not here!! it flows all the way right into summer!!

it teases.... we were starting to see grass again... i think i actually braved a day without snowboots over the weekend ( that's the rebel in me!!) haha

then i went to work on Monday morning (naturally slightly late!! it was a Monday after all :)

standard Monday morning...moan, moan ,moan, grumble, grumble grumble.... procrastination is a standard for at least an hour!!

morning hit of nicotine and caffeine sorted!!! actually did some work (after the mandatory email, facebook, twitter updates!) actually got head deep into the management system... I'm days away from launching!

so i sauntered back outside again a couple of hours later..... and the apoloclyse had happened.......

Its so mental......... no sure I'll get used to it anytime soon!!!!!!

4 inches of snow had fallen......... the place was eerily white again.......

it never ceases to amaze me!!!

so it looks like........ snowsuits again!!

...and SLEDDING is back on again for this weekend :) :) :) score!!

Me vs a Fridge

ever have a fight with a fridge :) well i wouldn't recommend it!!

Having recently moved house.... i had to purchase a new fridge! Luckily we were in no real hurry with one ....... due to the fantastic Canadian weather... the temperature in the garage is sub-zero!! so we have been living out of a couple of cool boxes in our hugmous fridge (ie the garage) for the last 2 weeks!!!

so it was about time i was a responsible mum, so i bought a new fridge!!! its was all shiny and new!! and i was tickled pink with it................ until i got home!!

The kind men at Sears has placed in gently on its side in the back of my pick-up truck!! (sure its only a short drive... i vaguely remember saying!) However fridges cant be left on their side for too long!!

so mmmmmmm got home and looked around at my 3ft odd twins and 4ft odd daughter........ and went CRAP!!

and then it dawned on me.... i have to get it out of here somehow!!

i inconsciously hung around out the front of the house... for as long as i could bare (its still about -10 this part of world) but it seems all my neighbours were out enjoying there weekend!!

so nothing for it but climbing right up there.... bit of pulling this way, shoving that way i got it to the edge of the back of the truck!!

then came the psyching up part ... there was no other way of getting it off other than using myself as the crash mat!

so i inched it closer and closer to the edge and then let gravity do its job!!

i was shaking....trying to hold a double fridge on my thighs

but ......... ROUND ONE to me!! i got it off the truck :)

and have some super cool bruises to prove it!!!!

right then came the 24 hours of sit and wait!! as a blizzard hit Ontario there was even less pressure to move the fridge from the garage... so i let it acclimatise! get used to its new house!!

so last night i was all set for round 2!!

did i mention there are a series of 5 steps into my house...... and fridges are damn heavy!!

more pushing, pulling throw in some twisting and turning..... and bingo... got to the front door

i was proud of not being the silly girlie... i had measured the door opening before i bought the fridge....... so i was good.....

eh no my blondness took over.......... the opening was wide enough....... the door itself was in the way! but i was committed at that stage (and i may be a bit stubborn) so off came the front door!

and yes the freak blizzard was still blowing outside!!

it was a tight squeeze...... but i got it in!! while catching my breath and being super super proud of myself

my poor daughter starts screaming.......... there is blood all over the kitchen floor... i checked my son first, then his twin sister....... at this stage i was confused and put my hand through my hair...... then it transpired half my finger was hanging off!!!!!!!!! 4 fingers covered in blood!!

ROUND TWO to the fridge :)

so 5 stitches later........ and a mop to the kitchen floor....... I have a fridge!!!

the irony being having to go to work today and being responsible for telling a workforce of over 800 construction workers they have to work safe........... ha ha ha if only they knew!!!

super proud mammy update........

soooooooooo back at training last night!! no rest of the wicked eh!!

and the results were out of all the official times

and............ wait for it :) :)
she came 1st in the 25m BS
2nd in the 100m IM

3rd in the 100 FC
3rd in the 100 BC

and her relay team for the 200m IM came 3rd :)

even prouder again.......... if thats possible :)

just sorry i couldnt' keep a better eye on proceedings on saturday so i would have know all of that then!
but the twins grew kinda bored after the first race!!!
i'm feeling bad now that the post competition treat at McDonalds really didn't do much justice :)

super proud mammy....

so once again i'm like a proud peacock tonight......
my baby has blown me away once again with undescribable pride!!

todays root cause of fighting tears rolling down my face.......... was a love and pride that is becoming a weekly feeling as i watch my daughter pull on her goggles and step up, take a deep breath and dive into the pool!

She swam 6 races today......... even throwing in an unplanned relay leg in the middle day!

and as i watched her complete her first IM i was crying :) i can admit it!!! i was a mess!! alannah told me my eyes were leaking :)

i have a feeling today will be the first of many more weekends spent on the deck of a pool!!
(at least its warm in there :) :) )

Cheerleading!!

Just back with a car full of exhausted kids from the Love to Cheer Invitational, Brock university, St Catherines, ON!

As a complete cheerleading sceptic........ i have to admit i have had alot of mixed thoughts over the last few months!!

i suppose I'm a typical 30 something European!!! Cheerleading is what we saw in the movies... normally the bimbo type long legged non important role in the movie!! Cheerleaders where an object of fantasy to most males!! A stuck up bitch, a bimbo... not the person you wanted your daughter aspiring to be!!

Then came High School Musical.......... which became a religion in my house for all 3 rounds!! i woke up from nightmares with ...'we're all in this together' singing in my brain!!

and so the cheerleading dream began!!

throw in a couple of 'Bring it on' movies and i had a young girl who was brainwashed!!! however it was a daydream and at most something to play with her friends!!!!!!!!!! That's as close as she was going to get in Ireland!! so she settled for gymnastics and dancing :)

That was until i upped and relocated her to North America :) :)

so 3 months in........ Stingrays was discovered.......... and the rest is history!!

There was still apprehension... i couldn't remove the years of brainwashing...... i didn't want my little girl that stuck up cheerleader!!

however as i watched today as a group of little girls they gave there all, throughout their routine... i welled up as i watched my little girl be part of something very special.

The strenght, power and agility it takes to be a cheerleader is only the small detail, as they learn to be a team player, they lift each other high in the sky, learning the fundamentals of trust most adults don't' understand!

I have to admit, I'm converted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am tonight.....one proud CHEER MOM :) :)

GO RAYS GO :) :) :)

Two Roads diverged in a Yellow Wood ....

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there,

Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference !

Robert Frost (1874–1963)





Ironically maybe, this is the only poem i remember word for word from my school days!! have a vague memory there bring a possibility of detention being the cause of that!!


but little did i know it would be so apt :)


What a year it has been! this time last year...... Canada was merely a thought, i hadn't set foot in the country yet! i just knew i was coming out here for an interview (free trip to Canada being the main appeal!!!)


Then the domino's started.... interview...job offer......will i/wont i.....pros/cons.....endless nights of tossing and turning.......... uprooting 3 kids and hitting to a country alone, where i knew no -one etc


its funny what convinced me to come here, is the one thing that didn't work out!


its been a rollercoaster..... of ups and downs, broken promises, tears and smiles... i don't know if i have completely made my mind up yet! its a good life, my kids smiles say it all, and I'm sooooo lucky in so many ways! But there are still buts....


I miss my friends, i miss my family, i miss down time, i miss home............ suppose I'm just lonely! a loneliness i have never known! i know i shouldn't complain, I'm supposed to pretend its all good, its all amazing, its all perfect! but as things at home are tough... which is better to have people around you that you love to help through tough times................. or be where its all supposed to be good and you have no-one, no-one to just tell you it will be ok, no-one to give you that much needed hug, sometimes just having a good job, some money etc isn't everything!


despite the complaining at how bad life is at home.... life is going on, nothing much has changed!! people are going to work or not! (ok so a little more are not) going for a couple of beers at the weekend, catching a rugby game! ok so its not like 2/3 years ago with 2 foreign holidays a year but that was only going to last so long either way. So salaries have dropped, but yet everyone i know who wants a job has one! and people who don't, just don't want a job bad enough :) its a perfect excuse to have some time off that you couldn't have justified any other time!! i know a lot who are using this to their advantage!!! maybe I'm missing something.... maybe I'm sick of people telling me how lucky i am to be here, and oh how fantastic life must be..... life has never been so hard, we are making the most of it, having fun whenever we can!! but is far from the perception! if the reality was known...............

was watching a movie (alone sitting on my couch again) last night which summed up so much......
50% of life is what you do with it.... the other 50% and the more important part is who you share it with!!!

Thank God for my one sanity in life, the one thing in life I'm truly proud off......... my kids. Thank you for sharing the ride with me!!





k my rant over for tonight.....

Winners vs. Losers
A Winner makes commitments;A Loser makes promises.
A Winner never quits;Loser always quits.
Winners have dreams;Loser have schemes.
Winners say,"I must do something";Losers say,"Something must be done."
Winners are a part of the team;Losers are apart from the team.
Winners see the gain; Losers see the pain.
Winners see possibilities;Losers see problems.
Winners believe in win/win; Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.
Winners use hard arguments but soft words;Losers use soft arguments but hard words.
The Winner says, "I will do it";The Loser says, "Let me see what I can do";
The Winner is always part of the answer; The Loser is always part of the problem.
The Winner always has a plan; The Loser always has an excuse.
The Winner says,"Let me do it for you; The Loser says;" That is not my job."
The Winner sees an answer for every problem; The Loser sees a problem for every answer.
The Winner says," It may be difficult but it is possible"; The Loser says,"It may be possible but it is too difficult."
When a Winner makes a mistake, he says,"I was wrong";When a Loser makes a mistake, he says," It wasn't my fault."
Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.
Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would, not want them to do to you";Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."
Winners make it happen; Losers let it happen.