Saturday, March 29, 2008

Fun in the Sun

Today was a beautiful, sunny day so Caden and I decided to take advantage and go to the beach. I wasn't able to take any pics at the beach because I was too busy chasing Caden around but we had a blast. Living in Crawfordville can be inconvenient sometimes but you can't beat the 10 minute drive from the beach!
While we were wading in the water, a little girl came up to us and said, "Do you guys have a Daddy?"
To which I replied, "Yes, but he is working today."
She thought for a second and said, "Shouldn't he have the day off?"
It's funny how a 6 year old knows the importance of a break. I hope someday we can have family Saturday's at the beach.
After beaching it up, we came home and had some fun in the backyard with the sprinklers.






Friday, March 28, 2008

Phew!

What a week! It's been challenging, tiring and great!
I started my job on Monday and what i thought was going to be an easy peasy data entry job ended up being something much more intricate and diffcult. On Monday afternoon I came home wondering if my brain was big enough to handle it all. Alot of hightech talk...alot of unexplained acronyms...and although my co-workers are very nice, I don't think any of them knew who was suppose to train me so they handed me a 30 paged document with my responsibilities and pointed me to my cubicle. Tuesday I went in determined to have some clarity and after tracking down about 12 people with sticky notes filled with questions, I now think I have the hang of it.
I like having somewhere to be everyday. I've been drying my hair everyday which hasn't been the case in many years. I went grocery shopping in heals this week which made me feel very important...and slightly uncomfortable.
Caden has been going eagerly to school. Jay and I think we can work it out so that he only needs to go to school twice a week, 3 days max. My job is incredibly flexible and since it is challenging and busy the day goes by quickly when I'm only there for 5 hours.
I also got a random email from a woman wants me to play for an hour at her wedding in the park and she's going to pay me $150.00 to do it!
Make-up artist, project administrator and wedding pianist....3 jobs! WOWEE!
The only thing I need to figure out is how to get my laundry done in the midst of it all...

Monday, March 24, 2008

We're at it again

GC.TV's latest message series, 'Inked' is causing quite a stir in the community. Check out Easter Sunday's article in the Tallahassee Democrat. The article is great. Reader response is mixed.
Apparently this time we're pagans who have shamelessly desecrated God's temple with our tattooed bodies.
Shame on us for marking our bodies with memorials of loved ones who have past, loving tributes to mothers, fathers, spouses and children and images that represent God and the Holy Trinity.
Oh my. People are funny.
In my case, I have openly offered to get a GC.TV sponsored tat on stage while Pastor Brian is preaching....cool visual for the people....free ink for me! They've yet to take me up on the offer though. Maybe me screaming in pain would take away from the sermon :)
You just have to wonder whether those who take such a passionate stance against tattooing really know the culture and reasoning behind the scripture in Leviticus...or why the same people do not take an equally passionate stance against ear piercings or obesity. After all, heart disease kills people. Tattoos don't...but no one is protesting against the post-church crowd stuffing their faces at the Golden Coral. And why must we literally adhere to the old testament laws against tattooing but we can forget about the laws against wearing cotton blends or eating medium rare steak?
I believe the bible is inherent and should be taken as literally as possible but when studying it you have to be sensitive to the culture, situations and goings on of that time. The bible is afterall a book of history and although God doesn't change, culture does. What was once a sign of pagons is now a beautiful artform that can be used to spread the gospel.
I wish more people knew why they believed what they believed.
Anyway, that's my mini-soap box. Check out the article and my good friends on the cover.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter

This morning, Daddy and Caden went out for a nice Easter breakfast while Mama had sound check at church. They came to the first service and during the second service they went to the playground. On the way back to church to get Mama, they stopped at CVS and bought some chocolate bunnies. Daddy let Caden have his in the car...



Have a sweet Easter!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Amen


I wish more people would politely correct the misconstrued words of God.
This billboard is not condoning sin...it's loving individuals.
Good job billboard puter-uppers. I couldn't have put it better myself.

The Bedroom Makeover

Caden seems to dig it.

The new curtains next to the poster Jay gave me when we were dating...he gave it to me when we had no idea how life was going to work out...he said he wanted it to hang in our house someday. It's a bit worn but it will always hang in our room.

Another view

Here is where the keyboard usually is from Sunday afternoon till Thursday afternoon. From Thursday night to Sunday morning it is at church.

We replaced our huge dresser with this teeny tiny one which is perfect. The other one was a magnet for junk and clutter. We put it outside and a few days later (while procrastinating in calling the Goodwill to pick it up) a neighbour dropped by and asked if she could have it and I helped her load it into her car. Better to give it directly to someone who needs it!

The New Duvet Cover

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Chapters

I just checked out my entry from March 20, 2005.
I had mono REALLY bad.
I also had no clue I would be pregnant 3 months into the future. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I was unsatisfied with my job and was begging God to show me my purpose. 3 months later the test was positive.
And that's been my purpose, heart and soul ever since. Growing, loving and raising a little man. I've been blessed to have spent close to every waking moment with my boy over the last 2 years and it's been satisfying, uplifting, life changing and incredible. Watching a child grow from infancy to toddlerhood has been amazing and I know it will only become more astounding as he becomes a man.
I worked as a freelance makeup artist in a cute boutique yesterday and on Monday I start my data entry position. I'm a little too excited to get started, but I'm also scared and nervous. I've been doing the 'mom' thing for so long it's intimidating to think about getting back out there and being something besides Caden's mom. There's also a tinge of guilt that comes along with leaving your child...which I'm sure every mother feels regardless of their situation. Luckily it's only 4 days a week in the office and one day from home. The days should be max 5 hours and those hours are mine for the choosing. Time away from your child is refreshing and necessary but it's also hard to imagine what you might be missing while you're seperated.
But in the words of Caden, 'Yay school!'
I'm looking forward to dressing up for work. I'm looking forward to my cubicle and taking advantage of the on-site gym. I'm excited about contributing financially and taking some stress off of Jay. I'm pumped. I am 80% excited, 15% nervous and 5% scared...but I am 100% content which is all one can ask for in this life.
So Monday starts a new chapter.
Thank goodness I don't have mono.

The Terrible/Terrific Twos

Note: That is a big, black cat in there with him.

Now that Caden is 2, his passions in life are:
1) Torturing the cat
2) Cookies
3) Hitting things with drum sticks (including animals and humans)
4) Bats, Balls and Golf Clubs (all of the plastic, toddler variety of course)
5) Driving Mama insane until she ends up rocking back and forth in the corner hugging her kness....ok, that hasn't yet happened..but we've come close.
6) Flushing non-waste objects down the toilet and throwing non-trash items into the trash.
7) Throwing TV remotes
8) Using everything as a phone...an apple, french fries, a sippy cup...Caden can make any object receive telephone reception.
9) Hopping and screaming...usually simutaneously
10) and last but not least....Mickey Mouse...AKA: Eye Eye Ice.

i've been ridiculously tired lately so I went and had some blood work done. It all came back normal, thank goodness. This leads me to believe that side effects of having a 2 year old include extreme fatigue, laughter, momentary spurts of anger and frustration, public embarassment due to tantrums, forgetfulness/scatterbrain type behaviour and an uncontrollable urge to medicate one self with chocolate.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Kathy of All Trades

It's official. I have a job....Actually, I have 2 jobs!
After almost 3 years out of the work force (with the exception of 4 shifts at Bath and Body Works and a stint with Mary Kay) I am an employee again.
3 weeks ago I applied for a data entry position online. I never thought much about it, but a few days ago a man called me to set up a phone interview. I gave Caden a snack and put him in front of Mickey Mouse and proceeded to the bathroom for my interview...classy eh? It is the quietest place in the house...
We scheduled an actual interview for this morning and I got all dolled up and headed into town. I arrive at the building which I anticipated would be a tiny, hole in the wall business, to find a beautiful and massive, FBI secured facility. The gentlemen showed me around, the large kitchen and break area as well as the state of the art fitness facility....this place is sweet!
We talked for about 15 minutes...I then went and talked to someone else...I went back and talked to man #1 and they assured me that I would know by tonight whether the job was mine.
Well, I just received an email with a job offer....a salary higher than what I asked for and an incredibly flexible schedule that will work awesome with Caden. It couldn't be more ideal. I will work Monday through Friday but aside from that I choose the times...and I have the ability to work from home on days when I need to...they'll give me a laptop to complete my work here! They were perfectly ok with the traveling I have already scheduled to do this year...it's almost too perfect...I couldn't be happier. The commute is even ideal. It's in Tallahassee which means that Caden doesn't have to change schools, but it's about 20 minutes closer to home than Jay's store in a beautiful area of town called Southwood.
Job number 2 is something I interviewed for about a month ago for a freelance Makeup artist position and after arriving at the boutique thought I may have gotten myself into more than I anticipated. Afterall, I'm not a cosmetologist or an esthetician. The store/spa is a beautiful, upscale place that sells high end make up found only in New York City, Italy and France. I thought that maybe my Mary Kay experience would be laughed out the door and since I hadn't heard from anyone I assumed it wasn't going to happen...but yesterday I got a call and they want me to come in tomorrow to do complimentry makeovers on women during a special product sale. It's freelance so I may only get a gig once a month or so, but it should be fun...and I don't have to pay taxes. Woo hoo!
I feel great about all of this. Caden is really enjoying school and I am very ready to have a schedule and a little piece of my independence back. Caden should only have to go to school 2-3 days a week so he'll still have alot of face time with the 'rents. I feel really good about things. Life on a scale of 1 to 10 right now would be about a 12.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

From this family of Leprechauns, to yours.











Here are some pics from Caden's bedroom overhaul.

I had to move these pictures to different locations where there was nothing for Caden to climb on. My intentions are to paint a huge mural of Mickey on this wall.
When Jay was Caden's age, his mother's friend painted a mural of a turtle on his wall and he loved it so much that he kept hurting his face by running into the wall while trying to hug it. There is a 50/50 shot that this episode will re-occur a generation later with our own child. I'm going to take my chances.
"IF ONLY I COULD REACH HIM!!!"

Where the blue meets the green...sounds like a book title or something....

The reading corner...eventually the glider will be replaced with a big bean bag chair.

That yellow wall will soon be blue.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Growing Up

Jay took the car to work today. He is going out with some friends tonight so this leaves Caden and I home locked. I should have thought this through yesterday because I have been trapped at home all day without diet pepsi and chocolate. Not good. These things are like oxygen to me...especially with a two year old wearing me down.
This morning I got it in my head to put together the toddler bed Jay's parents gave Caden for his birthday. It is a blue roadster and it is absolutly adorable. It came in a ginormous box that didn't fit anywhere in the house so I thought I would put it together, making it easier to store until we were ready to use it. Well that was an adventure in and of itself, because although the instructions called for one person, it would have been much less frustrating with 2 adults and 0 toddlers in the room.
Caden wanted to play with all the parts and all the tools and all the screws. There were many tantrums by both him and I, but after a while, it was together. I brought it in his room to test it out. I took the matress out of his crib and put it in the car and he immediatly jumped on it and pretended to snore...so I proceeded to take the crib apart and make room for the bed to stay, the whole while saying, "what am I doing?" over and over...
After that I decided to paint. (of course) and this ended up being a great experience! Caden didn't even seem to notice that there was wet paint on the walls and he played patiently with his toys until I was finished. I painted one wall with the 'mistake' blue we originally painted the kitchen. It was a little too bright for the kitchen so we covered it with a darker, greyish blue. The original blue turns out to be perfect for a little boys room! I am going to paint the other walls yellow, green and red...trying desperatly to recreate the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I'm hoping to have the materials to paint a big mural of Mickey's face on the blue wall but this will require a projector...we'll what happens.
He lay down for his nap and only came out of his room once. After I silently walked him back to bed, he fell asleep within 5 minutes and slept like a big boy for 1.5 hours! He even used a blanket and a pillow...which is unheard of for him! Turns out he was more than ready for his big boy bed...or at least that's how I feel now...I'll let you know how it goes tonight!
Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Caden loves all of his new mickey mouse toys

"I've got ya, Nan!"

Nan trying to come down the ladder...Caden trying to go up...quite the conundrum.

"I've got it from here, Ladies."

He's a bit obsessed with M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.

This one's for Uncle Gerry.

Here she is in all her glory. The roadster toddler bed. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!
I had to leave a little piece of the crib behind in order for Caden to see his night light aquarium. He's definitely not ready to give that up yet.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

One Million Blogs in One

I haven't blogged in a while...I was busy hanging out with the coolest chick I know, My Mom. I had such a great time with my Mother. She spoiled us rotten, helped me paint, organize and deep clean my entire house and kissed the face off of Caden on a daily basis. While she was here I never had to make a meal, wash a dish or even scoop an ounce of cat poop...not because she was expected to do these things...but because she doesn't know how to function if she is not being incredibly helpful. On top of that I loved having someone around all the time...to experience life with Caden, to laugh whether he was being hilarious or hellish. It's always good to laugh.
I was sad to see her go.
Caden keeps wondering where Nan went but luckily we will be heading to Newfoundland in the very near future...and Nan had to leave in order for Aunt Melissa to come and I can't wait to see her! It's been 2 years. Insane.
Life has been exciting lately. God has been revealing alot to me, through many different people and situations. Everything from my peace about starting Caden in 'school' to encouraging words people have spoken to me and over me...to things that are happening all around me...God is constantly affirming that the call on my life hasn't changed....I am so pumped about it. Whether it is facilitated through volunteerism or future occupations, i don't know...but i'm excited, and I need to prepare myself with lots of prayer and lots of scripture. I want to be ready.
I miss Canada today. I watched a documentary tonight about this guy from Canada who after traveling all over the world decided no place was better than his home and native land, so he returned there, bought a house and created 'Canada House'...basically a giant house that only Canadians would understand. It was filled with everything from Terry Fox memorabillia to Ookpiks. They painted the entire house white...right down to the fixtures, window glass and floors, making it look like an igloo. It was awesome.
It is after 11pm...I am a night owl, which is why I'm tired all day long...at least that's what my mother thinks. So I will tell myself what she would tell me if she were still here:
"Kathy, get off that stupid computer and go to bed!"

Friday, March 07, 2008

Party Animal

Here are some pictures from Caden's actual birthday supper at home and our trip to the Animal Museum. The birthday supper turned into quite the event when the power on our street went out for about 2 hours, right in the middle of eating. That meant Mickey Mouse couldn't be playing in the background which made Caden very distressed. My mom caught a stomach bug after the birthday bash at Chick-fil-a the night before, so she was in bed most of the day feeling pretty lousy. Luckily she slept it off and was able to enjoy her 60th birthday on Wednesday!
Her and I dropped Caden off with friends for the day and hit the town shopping, topped off by a visit to the Melting Pot.
Thursday we hit the Animal Museum and had an awesome time taking in the sights and playing on the playground.

"Mmmmmmm, pizza for my birthday!"

"Happy Birthday to Me!"

Mom had been in bed with a stomach bug and Caden was devastated that he couldn't watch Mickey Mouse during the power outage...so that pretty much explains this picture.

Here is our Mother Mary candle burning next to our birthday cupcakes.

Since the power was gone, we went outside and played with the new Tball set. Thanks Harris Family! It was dusk so the red eye was unavoidable and I couldn't edit it out.

"I'm a natural!"

Nan and Caden playing crawl chase...I swear she has more energy than he does!

About to embark on our hike through the Wildlife Park.

Checking out the turkeys

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Swinging in the playground