Little Peanut Traveling Show

It's been awhile since I brought to you Little Peanut Traveling Show and I thought it was time.

Yesterday I joined Little Peanut and his class on a school trip to Sockeye Salmon Release Celebration.

Usually I don't like school buses and I choose to take my own car, but the school got a new bus and LP was very excited and insisted on me riding with them. What's mama to do?

As we are riding to our destination LP looks outside the window and then he looks at me and out of nowhere this conversation starts:

LP: I really like beer. Dad lets me drink beer you know.

Me: He lets you have a little taste here and there. Don't say you drink beer with your dad or people will get the wrong idea.

LP: He lets me have a swig and it's good. Do you like beer?

Me: Sometimes. It depends on the occasion and the beer.

LP: Do you get drunk?

Me: Do you ever see me drink or be drunk?

LP: No. What do people get drunk from?

Me: Beer, wine and other alcohol.

LP: Does daddy get drunk?

Me: Did you ever see your daddy drunk?

LP: No, but he drinks like two beers sometimes.

Me: Two beers is not enough to get drunk.

LP: Good. So can I have two beers?

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

LP: I like beer anyway.

Seriously, where did I lose him? He's only 7 , but I think drinking and alcohol conversation might be on Mr.Misery's agenda when he gets home.

LP waiting to release his Sockeye salmon fry

I am also double tasking today. I decided to join Shell @ Things I Can't Say for Cutest Pet Picture Contest so I can show off our new family addition Jack and try to win him some Tooth Soap Pet Pack.

Our Schnoodle Jack

If you have a cute pic of your pet go over to Shell and enter.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Part Of History Is Gone

Another Wednesday is here and it's time to join my friend Marilyn @ A Lot Of Loves for Wordless Wednesday and Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday.

I live in a small town and last Sunday we were all woken up by the noise of sirens and cloud of smoke coming from downtown.

Our 98 year old hotel/pub/restaurant that has been recently renovated and given a new life was in flames.

Get Out Of My Backpack

Today I spent hours writing a deep post explaining why I was MIA....

...then I read it and decided to delete it.

Nobody needs to know or be bored with details and reasons of my personal crisis.....trust me. You don't!

Long story short....I am back.

I needed to take some time to get my priorities in order and realize that I am not a Super Human.

I am "sort of" single mom (hubs is home 6 days a month) trying to survive in this jungle I call my life trying hard not to blow up like a volcano.

During my week of sorting out my priorities I watched "Up In The Air" with George Clooney.

Perfect timing, right? I know.

His backpack analogy was spot on and I started thinking about what's in my proverbial backpack.

I couldn't believe how much stuff I try to stuff into that backpack every single day. No wonder some days I can't even lift it up never mind walking with it.

I don't want to have an empty backpack like George Clooney's character. The life would not be worth living, but I think that I need to remove certain items so I can walk with ease.

I need to concentrate on removing items that are weighing me down hence not allowing me to lead the life I deserve.

With that said, go rent the movie and let's move on.

While cleaning my proverbial backpack I threw myself into physical labor combined with creativity.

Nothing rejuvenates me and gets me pumped up then seeing things happening around me.

First I decided it was time to make myself a garden and a little spot where I can sit and enjoy the beauty of my surroundings.

I started with this



and I turned it into this






Then I decided that it was time to mud and paint my living room.





I know it's not finished yet, but we are moving forward and I will be able to remove those items out of my backpack very soon.

It's Friday and I Ain't Happy

This has been a crazy week and it's not even over.

My yard is a construction zone since Tuesday and tomorrow we are having a huge fundraiser Yard Sale for juvenile diabetes.

I am just hoping that they will finish the construction by tonight since they did promise it will take only 2 days. Well, we are starting day 4.....

I have a feeling since Mr.Misery is not home they think they can take their sweet time cause....should I say it?

What the heck, I'll say it. Because I AM A GIRL! They think I am a girl and have no clue or idea what is going on.

I know one thing. Working 3-5 hours a day while scratching your butt won't get the job done. At least they showed up.

My new neighbor promised my husband to come 5 days ago Monday morning and finish sanding and mudding the drywall so I can put a coat of primer before hubs gets home tomorrow night. Yes, call me naive, but I had visions of shopping and picking out my new sofa this weekend.

I did learn something.....never trust a dude who crashes your BBQ, drinks your beer and tries to impress your divorced friend by playing PVC tube in your living room (story for another time).

Like my mom said: "Drunk will promise you his first born for a beer."

In all fairness Mr.Misery though that our neighbor dude changed since the days he worked for Mr.Misery. 

Oh, yes, he's no stranger to us and good working ethics wasn't his strong suit 8 years ago.

Anyway, it's hard to reach your goals when the players needed to reach the goal are not fulfilling their obligations.

This is very hard on me. As a person with OCD I have issues when it comes to not working hard and not meeting deadlines. I make plans based on the lack of promises from people around me and when they don't keep their word my plans crumble and I have to work very hard keep not to let depression take over.

Is it too much to ask  from people you hire to have good work ethics? I am not asking for them to have my work ethics or great work ethics.....I will settle for GOOD.

So now I will send my kiddies off to school and wait and hope and wait and hope that the huge mountain of dirt will dissapear together with the big digger from my front yard so we can have a succesfull yard sale and raise lots of money for JUVENILE DIABETES.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Construction Continues

Another Wednesday is here and it's time to join my friend Marilyn @ A Lot Of Loves for Wordless Wednesday.

As many of you know I always have something to say so my Wordless Wednesday turns into almost Wordless Wednesday.

Last year we were in a process of building our new home, but we had to stop the construction due to Mr.Misery's job loss.

I am happy to say that we are back on track and only few short months away from completing our project.

Yesterday was time for new water lines.

Our front yard and driveway turned into complete construction zone for most of the day.

As you can see my poor little car in the corner of the driveway.....I was a prisoner stuck  in my home. I guess I needed to stay in and get some stuff done.

I lost water for 4 hours due to some unexpected problems so doing laundry was out of question.

Luckily, they managed to have it fixed just in time for dinner and they also covered all the trenches.

Today they will dig out my side yard in attempt to put in a new septic tank....at least things are happening.

When You Think Life Can't Get Any Better...

When you think life can't get any better you'll get a surprise of your life.....

Yes, Friday morning I thought life was pretty darn good and I was looking forward my Wedding Anniversary/Mother's Day weekend.

Mr.Misery was home for 4 days. The weather was decent and everybody was looking forward our Saturday BBQ with close family and few friends. Everything was perfect.....little did I know.

So lets forward back to Friday morning when it all started.

The boys left for school as usual. Mr.Misery and I had our morning coffee together in peace and quiet.

I had some work to do on my websites and of course some stalking blogging was also needed.

Mr.Misery decided finally to work on mudding the drywall in our living room. Yes, we are just few steps away from finally having another room finished....keep your fingers crossed.

Since my afternoon was booked with my quiet & relaxing time dentist and eye exam appointments Mr.Misery suggested that after dinner him and I will live a little go do some paint and grocery shopping.

It sounded like a great plan....till.....

my sister sent me a message: "D is in town and she would like to meet us all for a drink."

Good thing I was sitting down. D is my old friend who I haven't seen or heard from in almost 10 years.

D is the person responsible for me being married to Mr.Misery. She's the person who MADE me go out with Mr.Misery 18 years ago. She's the person who was persistent and wouldn't allow me to say NO to Mr.Misery.

D was responsible for making me see what a wonderful man Mr.Misery really was and made me see what I didn't want to see.

So after 10 years of not being around D showed up on the eve of our anniversary. Did you just get chills?

I was so excited.

Of course the grocery trip was off and we spend the evening with D picking up where we left off.

Saturday was little hectic since I still had to go grocery shopping for our big Anniversary BBQ, but I was all excited to see my family, close friends and D the person who made it all happen.

5 Hot Mamas and a Baby Girl

It was one of the happiest days I had in a long time. I laughed, I cried, I ate, I drank....life couldn't get any better.Even running twice into the "devil" who caused Mr.Misery to lose his job didn't spoil my mood. It actually made me feel good that he's afraid to look directly at me. Oh, yes, be afraid.....be very afraid you pathetic little man. Sorry, where was I....

Oh, yeah.....thinking that life couldn't get any better.....till....

I checked my emails.

My foodie blog Gourmet Meals For Less  was featured in Canadian Family Magazine and I was one of 53 Top Mommy Bloggers in Canada.

I thought I was dreaming. Someone pinch me, pinch me.....hard. I was honored, ecstatic, flabbergasted and without words.

Sunday I was treated to a wonderful brunch at the Golf & Country Club and leisure afternoon at home with my handsome boys and my sexy husband.

The wonderful weekend might be over, but we made new memories and took many pictures to remember them.

Mr. Misery is on the road again. The boys are at school and I am getting ready for our huge upcoming Yard Sale.

All the proceeds will go to sponsor Hormone Boy for the Walk To Cure Diabetes.

If you would like to donate you can click the JDRF Sneaker on top left hand side of my blog.Every little helps.

10 Reasons To Play Hooky

Who haven't played a hooky at least once in their life?

Yes, I admit it....I DID.

Since I work for myself right now playing hooky doesn't give me the same satisfaction anymore, but a nap in the middle of the afternoon still feels pretty good.

So, stay in bed because you deserve a day off now and then.

Just in case you are not convinced here are 10 reasons why you should play hooky:

#1 Your favorite soap opera heroine is coming back from the dead once again.

#2 You are trying to stick to your New Year's resolution about no longer working your butt off.

#3 Your PVR is on strike and Matthew McHeyHey is a guest on the View.

#4 You need time to figure out how to work that new flat iron.

#5 Because you are the only person on this planet who hasn't seen The Blind Side.

#6 Your BFF got dumped and she plans to drown her sorrows with cocktails and tub of Ben & Jerry. You'd never forgive yourself for not being there for her.

#7 Because you want to empower everyone who believes they can't cope without you.

#8 You always wanted to watch a complete episode of The Osbournes and see if you can figure out what's Ozzy really saying.

#9 You always wanted to experience "down time" the newest crazy that's sweeping up the nation.

#10 It might be fun to get your boss wondering if you are at a job interview.

So take my advice and play hooky today. It feels so liberating and SO GOOD.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Thank You For Loving Me

This coming Saturday is Mr.Misery and my anniversary. Yes, I've been married to this wonderful man for 17 wonderful years.

We've been together through the good, the bad and the UGLY. I don't think there is anything that can surprise us.

We've been together through 4 years of infertility, 9 years of running family restaurant, 5 years of trying to help my sister to get her alcoholic and drug addicted loser, pond scam, finally ex husband to get clean and sober while letting them live with us.

We've been through our oldest child being diagnosed with ADHD and year later with type 1 diabetes. We've been through learning how to live and deal with our autistic little nephew.

We've been through Mr. Misery's sudden job loss, health benefits loss and we had to deal with blood sucking and ruthless collection agents.

Most of all we've been through many wonderful family vacations, holidays, camping trips, dinners, concerts, hockey games. We witnessed many milestones in our boys lives.We spend countless hours sitting together in "comfortable silence".

We've been through so much of the bad and the ugly and all I can remember is the GOOD.

All I can remember is the good because I have been married to the most wonderful man for last 17 years. A man who always sees the silver lining and the end of the rainbow. A man who no matter how bad things get finds a way to make it better.

The camping trip that started it all....

9 months later we were married in a backyard of our first house

First trip to Mexico as a married couple

Our first babies....Bobby and Shadow

Our little "miracle" baby - Hormone Boy

Our second "surprise" baby - Little Peanut

Our beautiful boys

THANK YOU for loving me, for showing me what's important in life, for picking me up when I was down, for believing in me when no one else would.

THANK YOU for putting up with my ever changing moods, for walking away when it was easier to argue, for taking blame just to end a fight, for never letting me go to sleep angry.

THANK YOU for being the best father our boys could ever wish for.

THANK YOU for showing our boys how to LOVE, RESPECT and stand behind your WORD and BELIEFS.

THANK YOU for spoiling me rotten and trying to give me the world every single day.


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mr. Misery

Ain't Reality TV Grand?

I am not much for reality TV, but I like to watch it here and there when I ignore my housework don't have nothing else to do.

Last night I was clicking through the channels ignoring housework and I started to watch show called "Rich Bride Poor Bride". 

I don't know if any of you watch this trainwreck show. 

"No matter what the size, every bride has a budget. Whether a princess or a pauper, each episode of Rich Bride Poor Bride looks at how a bride, no matter what size her budget is, struggles through the planning of her wedding."

Despite what the promo have you believe all the bridezillas brides have a wedding planner that takes care of pretty much all the arrangements. So the major stress that comes with planning a wedding is eliminated. I should know I planned my own wedding.

Every single bride on this show is a spoiled, whiny, disrespectful little witch.I couldn't believe that these men actually go through with the wedding after they see their future wives reveal their true colors.

I was waiting for few of them to say: "This ain't worth it and run for the hills."

Courtesy of Google Images

I understand that most of the brides want to have a wonderful day and want their wedding to be remembered for a long time, but to behave like a spoiled little girl to get it is not the way.

The brides on the show were having tantrums. They were disrespecting their families and their future husbands.They were talking down to people. Some of them would do anything and I mean anything to get their way.

Majority of the weddings were paid by the grooms and/or their families yet the brides were blowing the budgets like there's no tomorrow.

The weddings had dressed up pink pony for pictures, cakes taller then the bride, 3 wedding gowns for one wedding just in case someone spills something on her, two ceremonies (I am not talking due to religion or culture). One diva had to have two ceremonies - one normal and one pink princess just for her.

This one couple had a budget of $42.000. The bride was so out of control and when the wedding planner called a meeting to let them know they are going over all she was doing was laughing like a two year old and kept saying" In my mind there never was a budget." The groom just kept rolling his eyes.

At that point I was yelling at the TV: "Wake up dude. Run as fast as you can. This one will clean you out. You really want to have children with this one? Really dude? What were you thinking?"

Well, he ignored my plea and married her anyway. She managed to go over the budget by almost $30.000.

$72.000 wedding....not bad, is it? Are you kidding me? 

Wonder how much was the honeymoon.

The best part of the show was the sarcastic background commentary by Betty White.

I would love to see someone to visit all of these couples 5 years after the wedding and make a reality show from it.

It would be interesting to see how many of them are still together and how many are living with a debt. Now, that's a show I would watch. Not that I don't wish them well....just wondering.

This is a little peek. It's the only one I found on YouTube that truly shows what kind of brides are on this show.