Childish Talk

Even though my kids are growing up - heck - one almost has his driver's licence! We still use the childish and very cute pet names for items and stuff which, as little kids, they mispronounced. Here's a list of some:

Mulk = milk
Basketti Bominase = spaghetti bolognese
Tra-bat = battery
Tertis = Curtis
Pancar = Grampa
Tanks = thanks
Wossat fang? = what's that smell?
"Tertis is a wierdo-headi-yack" = Cadence's term of endearment for her brother

Our 2 favourites are:

(From Cadence) ... No-nee = a word used to describe the feeling of touching something velvety, furry or silky. Eg, toys, animals, the sheepskin rugs at Ikea or my pj's. When she was little, the word also incorporated the action of grinding her teeth - I think that it conjured up something emotional within her.

(From Curtis) ... Testicle = Popsicle (ice lolly). He was only 3 1/2 years old, but we still laugh about that one!

Hope I gave you a chuckle, and I hope your family is as silly as mine!

No, I'm not wearing my 12 year old daughter's clothes ... yet!

I mentioned in a previous post that I've lost 30 lbs since last summer. My weight loss began just before Thanksgiving (November) last year when I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. This came as no surprise to me - I'd had gestational diabetes with both my pregnancies, and had been described as "glucose intolerant" by my doctor for years.

It came at a bad time for me though ... I'd just had implant surgery on my gums ... and I turned 40 :( For a time there, I was fragile and became acutely aware that I had to "own" this for the rest of my life - and that I am responsible for what I eat - and that I have to learn what is good for my body and what is not.

I'd lost 10 lbs by the New Year and have "whittled" away another 20lbs since then.

Ironically, last summer, I spent quite a lot of money on new clothes, resigned to the fact that I was almost 40 and just gaining some extra weight. I gave lots of my old skinny clothes to charity and prepared myself to enter into a new decade. I wore a size 10 (UK 12), but I was in denial of actually being a size larger than that, as I'd squeeeeeeze into my jeans.

I was excited about the new style of the empire waist/babydoll tops in the stores, because they'd hide my "muffin top" (or "mushroom" as I wrongly described it to my kids once, who rolled around the floor with laughter so much that it has now become known as a "mushroom").

I'm still loosing weight, my blood glucose levels are still elevated even with my diet and medication and this can lead me to feel like I'm not in control and to feel down about it. I have to remind myself that the big picture is in the form of a 3-monthly blood test called A1C, which will tell me how my overall blood glucose levels have been ... and of course, the grace of God.

A friend asked me about my weight loss on Sunday at Church, and told me not to get any thinner. He asked if I was wearing my daughter's clothes! That made me laugh! Being on the outside and looking at my weight-loss must be alarming. I am eating food and plenty of it, just ask my husband:)

On the upside, I have so much more energy now, don't get headaches or that afternoon 'sleepy' feeling and I'm feeling like I'm nowhere near 40, plus Craig can't keep his hands off me!

my HOT husband

My husband, Craig, is soooo HOT! Well...I mean...I think he's hot (but I'm talking about his body temperature type of hotness today).

For most of the year, I can cuddle up to him in bed and warm up my hands, feet, nose (yeah, I admit it, I always have a cold nose) and another area which I won't mention. I make Craig giggle and squeal with my coldness - sometimes he shrieks so loud that he disturbs the kids and the dog!

BUT ...

This time of year, the roles are reversed. Craig cuddles up to me because I'm so cool - he tells me that its "repayment time" for the rest of the year! Its a good job that he falls asleep so quickly (in under a minute), because I can't stand his hotness in the summer. We bought a king-size bed a few years ago, so I simply move over a little more to get out of his hot zone ... and he's sleeping like a baby and he doesn't even know!

When we were first married, we rented a flat (apartment) for a year. It was in a converted Victorian house. It was all self-contained, we had 2 rooms (Living room with a huge bay-window and bedroom) and 2 box-rooms with no windows as a kitchen and a bathroom - all joined together with a hallway.

We married in May (1989), so it was spring when we found this flat. We failed to notice that the only means of heating the place was a small gas wall heater in the living room. By October, we noticed that it was getting much cooler, by November we'd discovered that we needed more than our love to keep us warm!

We invented another use for the hairdryer ... We would take turns blowing hot air into the bed with the hairdryer. One of us would be in the bed, getting all the warmth, and the other one of us was standing (shivering) at the bottom of the bed with the hairdryer pointing under the quilt. We'd argue over whose turn it was, but it was always more beneficial if Craig was already in the bed because of his warmth.

Guess what our first Christmas present was to ourselves ... an electric blanket! Very romantic, I know.

Looking back, we've always been able to laugh at ourselves and our situations. We may be as different as chalk and cheese in many ways but our humour (no, its not a spelling mistake, British people spell it that way) has grown so very similar over the years. We finally 'get' each other.

I'm wondering, though, if he'll be laughing when I begin to experience hot flashes ... those will be coming soon ... I'd better suggest we get a ceiling fan for our bedroom remodel too :)

Strawberry Fields Forever ... and ever ... and ever

We went strawberry picking yesterday! We took a quick drive to Biringer Farms in Marysville, about 20 minutes north of us. Well, it is about 20 minutes if you know where you're going! Took us a little longer:)

We took a trolley ride out to the field then, within 20 minutes, we had what looked like half a ton of big, beautiful shiny red berries. They were lovely and clean, thanks to the 24 hour thunder and rain storm which hit us last week. Oh, yeah, and we ate probably another half ton when we were picking them (they were soooo good).

We had strawberry shortcake last night, berries for breakfast and berries at lunch, I can only eat half a cup of fruit at a time, so I'm freezing the rest of them (before they go bad) and we can put them into smoothies from now until .... Christmas probably:)

Raspberries will be at their peak in a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping to go back.

The Shape of my Heart

I drove home yesterday afternoon from visiting a friend. I had a heavy heart. I arrived home and saw my husband, Craig, busying himself with preparations for some more friends coming over later in the evening and I just needed a hug. I was teary-eyed with emotion from contemplating some big changes going on in our life right now.

I'm sure Craig thought I was PMT-ing, but no, I was grieving ... the upcoming move of a good friend (and her family).

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my friends that they're moving on to bigger things. I'm excited about their new adventure! We've experienced many, many, many good friends move away (its not like they're moving, for example, to England!) We do go back a long way and they were instrumental in saving our lives, gave us hope on many occasions, and so have earned our utmost trust and respect. We share very similar hearts, my friend and me ... she's been such a blessing in my life ... and I love her so much.

I am being selfish (grief can be selfish in a way). I am going to miss her! I know that if I don't keep my emotions in check that I could become bitter - and I can't allow myself to do that! Our friendship is too important to let Satan destroy it. I'm praying for my friend to be strong ... I think she needs so much strength and comfort right now.

Her friendship is worth so much to me and I'm going to struggle through and be determined to keep it alive and remain in her life. She's never met a Yorkshire Lass before and I don't think that she realizes that Yorkshire Folk take their time when choosing their friends, but when they do, they do it wisely and for LIFE.

I'm a closet Toby Mac fan - and I'm quoting from the song "Face of the Earth" on the portable sounds cd:
...Its been way too long and we've come too far for you to drop out (of) my life like a falling star...

... and I wholeheartedly mean that!

Enjoy your evening!

Living Simply

I strive to live simply nowadays. Haven't always lived like that - used to be @ 100 mph. Poor kids! We were always on the go - preschool, swimming, baseball, soccer, me at the gym, etc. Plus Craig worked L-O-N-G hours, and weekends. I kept my life with the kids busy because my home-life stank!

My life changed 9 years ago in a couple of ways. Firstly, I felt a calling to find out who Jesus is and what Christianity is truly all about. Secondly, I lost my father - suddenly and without warning.

My Dad was a good man. A good friend. I adored him. We shared a great relationship, dry sense of humour, pessimistic to the core he was! He was a tall, slim man, dark and handsome ... and my son has his eyes. I loved that man (and I know that he loved me) - I love and cherish the memories I now have of him.

It was his time to go ... but, how could I move on? Jesus was there to pick me up, superglue my heart and answer my prayers. Sounds simple now. It was messy - 9 or 10 months of being in a pit. I can't talk much more about this (still hurts me somewhat), I just never want to go back to that place of such sadness.

Since then, I've simplified my life - to give my children memories of having time with their parents. Its what my parents gave to me as a child and I look back now with such happy memories of baking, gardening, sewing, 16 mile bicycle rides, fishing, wood-turning, simply sitting in the backyard on a summer's day playing cards and eating home-made "ice-lollies" (popsicles), going to Beverley Westwood on a Sunday and eating "99" ice-cream cones and running down the hills :)

I don't do all these things I learned as a kid with my own, but we have new memories in the making: walking the dog to Starbucks, scrapbooking, making music together, toasting marshmallows and making s'mores in our backyard firepit and hopefully some more to discover over this summer.

There's s saying which goes something like "Don't be too busy making a living that you forget to make a life". I'm simply trying to live life so that I can imprint something positive and memorable on my children's hearts.