The More Things Change...

This weekend a very good friend of mine came over for a 2 night stay. She brought her lovely children and they played so well with my girls! We had a great time. One thing she did was watch the kids while Sailor, Neighbour, Neighbour's Wife and I moved the big stuff out of the store and into a storage locker.

It took us 2 hours to take the majority of stuff out - all that's left are mannequins, a couple of chairs, dresses, stands, a computer and the printer. Well... a couple of boxes too... and the racking... and a giant counter.

ANYWAY, everything else is leaving by Tuesday (except for the counter) and tomorrow I'll be busy bagging the dresses and hopefully selling a few, before taking them all to the storage locker and storing them in preparation for the mobile service I've come up with. With luck there'll be room for the manni's too... and the chairs, stands, boxes and racking. The computer and printer are coming home with me.

Speaking of which, the desk and printer cart came home - broken. So now the desk is really only good for firewood and the printer cart needs the rollers taken off so it's not cart, but more of a table. With luck I can sell it, but so far no bites on either.

Ok, so Friend and Kids arrived and while we were out loading and unloading, she would text me - the kids are eating muffins, we're having a great time, stay out as long as you want, the upstairs toilet has overflowed, and we changed the living room around!

Awesome!

We got home and put stuff downstairs into what is supposed to be my craft room but is now turning into my crap room, and then I came upstairs into the living room... it looked amazing! The sofa table was where the sofa was, the sofa was cross-ways, the giant entertainment centre was empty and items were put on the bookshelves, which were moved to the other end of the room and the tv (#1) was in the corner... It looked great but we decided it could look so much better! So Sailor, Friend and I took apart the Monstrosity (giant entertainment centre) and though we thought we found the base and sticky-uppy-thing for the flat screen tv (#2), we realized we didn't have the right sticky-uppy-thing, so we bought the stand-with-a-stick from another friend and put that in the corner... which we liked until we realized the cable wasn't turned on in that corner (the outlet part), so the tv is now back where it started, only on a smaller, more modern stand with a new tv on it. I just need another HDMI cable to hook up the Apple TV and we can toss cable TV!

Now, my office area has always been in the living room and moving it is a gargantuan job. But Friend convinced me the girls don't need a playroom - they need a play area with the majority of their toys in their rooms and if they don't fit, then they leave! The toys, not the girls.

This morning, we moved all the toys in the living room and told the girls to sort out what's garbage, what's being sold and what's being kept. Then we moved the office into the playroom - that L-shaped desk was a to move but we did it! WOMAN POWER!!

The far end of the living room has a loveseat against the wall facing an older tv (#3) which only takes cable. I hooked up all the cables to the receiver, speakers, DVD and VCR but the remote for the tv (#3) isn't working and the other things are hooking up, so Sailor needs to bring back the other tv (#1) and I can re-hook that up. He wants to use a tv (#3) for his PS2 (yes, we're old and out of touch. Whatever.), so hopefully this old one will work for him. It's super heavy and he's not going to be impressed that he gets to move them all again, but seriously, the whining from these two is going to drive me mental.

Then two tall bookshelves became one tall one with books and games on it and one short one with dvds and vhs on it. The other tall one went downstairs across from the freezer and is holding canning stuff. The coffee table is in the far corner with a tv (#3) on it and the speakers with the receiver, DVD and VCR under it. The girls' paint/chalk board easel has a large toy under it with a small square table in the corner holding current larger play toys. Their huge toy bins are going to be sorted out (they're in R's room right now) and all toys are to be purged to fit ONLY in their three cloth bins in their rooms. Anything else is being sold, donated or tossed. Honestly, they don't need that many Barbies, especially since G is into Monster High now.

We decided to put the sofa back against the wall and the sofa table back under the window with the Christmas cards, the keyboard piano in the corner and when the Christmas tree is taken down and gone, a couple guitars will round it out nicely. Sailor's recliner is in front of the fireplace and can be moved around along with the wooden rocking chair in the opposite corner.

The whole living room is opened up now. Very linear, but looks much more spacious and the walls will be much easier to paint now that we can actually get to them! We just need to agree on a neutral colour and get some paint on sale (and the accoutrements!).

So, though the living room is REALLY different, some things are the same - the couch is across from the tv, the area rug is in between, the horse cabinet is still in the corner and the sofa table is against the window.

Now Friend is working on me removing more stuff! She sure has her work cut out for her... but in all honesty, I'm looking at the stuff in my craft room and thinking, "I could get rid of this and this and this..." so it might be possible after all!

I'm Getting Older and This Is How I Know

When my Mum had me she was 30. Back in the mid-60's that was pretty much the upper limit of women's reproductive age and by the time I realized she was THIRTY YEARS OLDER than I was I thought she was OOOOLLLDDD.

Mum moved away when I was 17, just a few months shy of turning 18, and for some reason, even though I know she's in her late 70's now, I still see her in my mind's eye at about 48. I told her she'll always look 48 to me, and she probably always will. She sends me photos of her Sweet Adelines' singing group, and there's a few more wrinkles, but she essentially looks the same to me.

Now I have two kids of my own, my last born a week before I turned 40. I didn't FEEL 40. I felt more like 28 or something, 30 tops. Now I'm in my last two years of being in my 40's and I'm not liking what I see in the mirror. Well, ok, I like it a bit, but I'm starting to really understand how women can go to a plastic surgeon and say, "Fix this!"

Today is annual Christmas photo day. The girls are dressed up in their beautiful Christmas dresses and I'm busy putting on the war paint. Usually I go with the matte shadows because it hides the creases in my eyes so well, but today I throw caution to the wind and decide to use the cream makeup that I have. The blush is a great colour and goes on smoothly. Then the eyes... I have amazing eyes. They're built to be a perfect palette for eyeshadows with lots of space on the lid, the crease and under the brow.

But wait... once the eyeliner goes on, there's nothing left to be seen. In fact, it looks a little... droopy! I know I've gained weight (and I'm dropping it thanks to aquafit and healthier eating), but on my EYELIDS?! I have fat eyelids?! Why isn't there any colour showing on my eyelid? Why is the crease all puffy? Where did my canvas go?

And hey... are those... jowls? Seriously? JOWLS along my jawline? Where the hell did they come from?

And under my chin, why is there another chin? I tighten my throat to get rid of that and notice the horizontal lines going across my neck are a little deeper today than last week. And then my gaze travels to my 'decollete' and it looks a little... lizard-y. And lower to find my boobs. I swear I didn't have to look as low a little while ago.

Down my gaze travels over a body I have known intimately all my life but now looks completely foreign to me, with new hills and valleys, new contour lines and dimples that I've never met. At least my knees... nope, they're gone too!

I know kids have done some work on me, and those are my battle scars I wear with honour. I know some of it is the love-hate relationship I have with ice cream and late-night snacking versus lack of desire to exercise. I know some things are just natural aging processes. Not really liking this 'older' stuff.

But my eyes? I pull my skin a little, just to erase the jowls and puffy eyes. Ahhh... plastic surgery... now I get it. When your inside is contradicting your outside, you need to align them again.

I can't afford it that's for sure. So I will keep on eating healthy, being mindful of what I'm actually noshing on, and exercising as often as I can (I guess that elliptical I've used twice this year will start getting more use), and maybe, just maybe my eyes will come back, the jowls will disappear, and I'll find my knee caps once more.

At least Mum still looks 48. That gives me hope that I can hang on too.

Well, HELLO there!

Yes, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged here. A lot has been happening and now that things aren't happening quite as much, I've decided to start writing again.

Essentially, the store is closing as of the 30th of this month. I'm moving to a mobile service instead. This will allow me to sell off stock in a personal setting and still be able to hold down a job.

Speaking of which, the military has asked me to come back again in the New Year for a 90 day contract. I said I'd do it, but I'd prefer to do only 4 days/week instead of 5. I'd prefer to get an STS position instead of a CR position. I'd PREFER to work in town instead of commuting an hour each way every friggin' day. But whatever. I'm applying for jobs left, right, and centre. So far, no interview phone calls yet, and that's kind of depressing. I mean, I'm spectacular with warehousing - why hasn't anyone called me? I'm a good receptionist - where's my interview? I think I'll need some help with my cover letters maybe. Bah.

The kids are good: R is in Grade 4 and has been diagnosed with three separate disorders: ADHD inattentive sub-type, Sensory Integration Disorder hyper-touch-hypo-sound, and Anxiety Disorder - Social. Poor lamb. Her teacher is awesome though, really helping her through. Her classmates are wonderful, but they should be worried about themselves, not about R. G is in Grade 2 and acting more like 17 than 7. We're in for a rough ride through her teen years I fear. She is loving and kind, but can't understand why people think she's bossy. Well darling, it's because you are.

Sailor is still in the Navy, although not sailing. He's teaching now. He seems happy enough but we're expecting a posting in the New Year to either a ship or another part of the School. I hope it's a ship - we're out of duty free booze and could use the sea pay.

So, that's caught me up now. I will go back to more in-depth fluff next time around.