I need an intervention and I need it NOW

I'm a big enough girl to admit when I need help. I have been struggling with this for well as long as I can remember. Yes, I need an intervention but I know that I would cave and resort to my old ways. Here it is. I have an ADDICTION to ............
lip gloss. THERE, I said it. I put it out there. Oh, I really mean addiction. I have NO idea how many I have. I just know that theres a lot in my make up case. That's right CASE! I have clear, pink, bubble gum pink, red, purple, orange, opal, light brown, dark brown..........you get the idea. I LOVE the way they smell. How it feels when the gloss goes on my lips ( even the word- LIP GLOSS sounds pretty!) I LOVE the way it tastes. MAC Lip Glass, is my favorite. Oh, the SMELL and TASTE. Just a slight tinge of vanilla. LISTEN TO ME!!!!! I have sparkles too, but that's for a big night out!
I LOVE to go into Shoppers Drug Mart or Rexall and just look. I try the colours on my hand. I take in the smell. I'm like an alcoholic in a liquor store. And I usually don't even buy!

Now the very rare time I go to MAC Make up store.....mmmmmmm. I'm in owe of the colours and combos. The make-up bags are awesome.
Then there is Shephora. I hear the sounds of music when I walk in there. the first time I saw the store was in Vegas and I think I actually let out a cry for JOY when I walked in. It was a huge store full of well a little piece of heaven!!!!! And then they brought one here. I actually have never bought anything from the store here.

Now they have Bed, Bath and Beyond just 10 min from MY HOUSE!!! WITH a bookstore RIGHT NEXT STORE. OH I hear the music again! I wonder if it's the same thing as voices in my head!?!?!?!?

So there is my confession. Well, part of it. I also have the same feelings of LOVE for Lipstick........

So, I'm not going to count how many I have because then I have to admit HOW bad it really is.let's just say I have enough to have at least one lipstick and one gloss in every bag or purse I own ( yet again another issue- bags) If I'm not wearing gloss or lipstick you know SOMETHING is wrong. I think I take after my paternal grandma. I remember going to visit her after she had a stroke and thinking she was going to be near death. I walked into her room expecting the worst. I walked in and she's sitting up in bed and after I gave her a kiss she asked me to hand her her purse so she could put on a "little lipstick." I remember laughing and saying "Well at least I know your going to be OK!" I love that!

I guess I shouldn't tell you about my scrapbooking OBSSESION. How I can go into a scrapbook store and browse for HOURS. Feeling the pretty paper. Looking at all the sparkly nick knacks. The ribbons.........

I made banana bread last night

I was bored and have a bunch of bananas so I thought I would bake. I'm not a cook. I don't enjoy it. I do it because we need to eat. I don't find it relaxing. I don't think it's fun. Since we are watching our money, and who isn't right now, we have decided to only bake our own cookies and cakes and well anything sweet. I actually do seem to enjoy that somewhat.
Last night I realized something. Bill is a risk taker. He does things with out thinking for months and months (sometimes I wish I could be more like this), he's very spontanus and jumps right into things. He is the same way when he cooks and bakes. He never uses a recipe and if he does he will change it around. Add this and that. He likes change. He will play around with new ideas and add a little of this and a little of that. A taste here a taste there. Myself, on the other hand am NOT a risk taker. I will think about something for ages before I make a decision. I don't like change. I like to know what to expect and I want to know ALLLLLLL the details thank you very much. When I cook and bake I ALWAYS use a recipe. I will not change it up, EVER, are kidding me thats CHANGE! I measure exacly not a pinch more, not a pinch less. I get pissed if it doesnt come out perfect. Hmmmmm, it makes me wonder....so, when I was making banana bread last night I forgot to add the baking powder so needless to say, my muffins looked more like chubby cookies than the big light, fluffy muffins in the picture. Me being as stuborn as I am ( yes I'm a real treat!!) I then decided to make banana bread WITH the baking powder. Ya much better. The loaf turned out really well, but it drove me crazzzzzy that it took longer than the recipe told me!!! I loved the way the bread smelled while it was baking. Drew said the 'muffins' where great, they actually were pretty good. Bill tried not to giggle and the bread was delish even better with tons of belting butter!
My mom bakes and cooks like Bill. Although now that it is just her and my dad I think some of the fun has gone out of it because she has to make smaller portions. I always remember having homemade goodies. Suppers where always piping hot and really yummy. My mom loved to make all different dishes everything from Dutch to East Indian food and I really think that is why I like all foods.
Not only is homemade food better but it's great to have the boys help. They love it too. So I have decided to be more adventuous ( i'm having a panic attack thinking about it) when in the kitchen. If something that I have slaved over ALL DAY flops then after I have screamed, yelled and pulled out all of my hair I will look at the positive, although I really don't see what that could be. I will just order pizza.

Boy oh boy! My boys really ARE boys!

Both my boys are Boys with a capital B! They are loud, LOUD, LOUD. They talk non stop ALL day. They ask questions about everything ALL day. I try so hard to answer them with REAL answers not mumbles.
I do tell them they have to quiet down and slow down but they are Boys. The more Boys that I visit with during play dates and such just confirms, BOYS are LOUD. Boys are different than girls. Not to say little girls are not loud but just a different loud. I don't let them run wild but I have 'embraced' the nature of boys so to speak. Voices will be in surround stereo for the next oh, 18 yrs or so. I try to think ( yes I giggle as I write the word 'think') when all the chaos makes me want to pull out my hair one by one, that in a few years I will miss the sound of their loud voices.

We will see how well I embrace the stinky feet and B.O. when they reach the ripe, literally, age of playing sports and just plain old sweating. The girlfriends, and all their buddies. Oh the drama!

I kiss the boys belly buttons. I love their belly buttons because it was where they were connected to me for all those months. It makes them really laugh because it 'kickles' them.

Its new to me....

this whole blog thing and I really don't have an interest in computers to begin with. I'm on Facebook a lot and that is hard enough for me to keep up with, and also my scrapbooking.......I see that some people update their blogs daily and have like 3on the go. I don't know how they do it????? I'm lucky if I can do it weekly! But I'm going to get Bill to show me how to post pictures and scrapbook pages and also if I'm talking about something specific all you have to do is click onto the word or picture and it pops up. I'm sure I can figure it out on my own but I would get so frustrated that I would end up throwing the whole computer out onto the snow. So I will get going on that once Bill gets back from Fort Mac......I also know that it is super easy to add blogs to my list but heaven help me if I can remember. I have about 15 I want to add.......UGHHHHHHH!

I don't like people with another skin colour.....

NO, NOT ME! I soooooo don't understand it! How can someone not like another person b/c of the colour of their SKIN??????

I have just finished reading 'Roots' by Alex Haley. I'm sure everyone has heard of it (or maybe seen the movie. I think the books are always better!)It's a really long book that had me captivated from chapter one. Its about a young black man who gets taken away from his homeland,the horrific journey over by boat, thrown into the States and into slavery. The book goes on with his story and his family's story over generations. I couldn't put it down.

When we lived in Michigan we were able to visit a plantation mansion with the slave huts surrounding the grounds. It was sad and interesting. So I was able to picture how it might have looked somewhat.I just don't get and never will how horrible the slaves were treated b/c of the colour of their skin. The sad thing is, racism is still here. Not just between blacks and whites but all cultures. We don't appreciate each other. We're rude. We say things that hurt.

I laugh at people who claim to be of great faith and make a huge deal about what a great church goer they are and let it be known to all who will listen, what a good christian they are. But then they whisper loudly, and roll their eyes at other religions and cultures. They make fun of people who are not like them, they make it very clear that they are 'the better person.' The RIGHT person.They have NO tolerance, none. I've seen it first hand ( I will make it VERY clear I was not brought up that way, I never saw it in my home.) I was raised in a house with faith. I was raised in a house that the colour of ones skin doesn't matter. Or, off topic clearly, who you love (yes, being gay!) does not mean you will go to hell and doesn't make you a bad person.

So why do we all judge people so harsh? Myself included, I would sometimes look at someone and I would have them all figured out. I've stopped doing that. Too many times I've been way off.

So, by reading this book and falling in love with it. I look at things a little different. I think that is a sign of a good book, if it makes you look at yourself and question things in your own life.

I've already had conversations with Drew about the colour of peoples skin. He has one East Indian boy in his class and one of his really good friends is black- and very proud of it! It's so cute! He asked me about skin colour when he first met them.
It was neat to hear him question it and then never bring it up again. That's the way it should be.

Oh to look at the world through a child's eyes for just one day........maybe the world would b a little more fun, relaxed and accepting.

I am I cheap? Nope!

I love a a sale, who doesn't right? I will wait until something goes on sale to get it- most times.
Bill and I have really cutting down in the last year on purchases and watching our cash. At the beginning of the new year I said I wanted a more simple life. I hated having 8,000 channels to pick from ( I know. I'm nuts, but think about it? How many of them do you really WATCH? And you are paying for them!) I hate cell phones and call wait, I think it's rude and the only reason we still have it is b/c they don't take it off and I try to ignore it but I hate the beep's and you miss half of what the caller was saying, so I answer the other line out of frustration!!!! I hate all the 'gadgets' that are out there too. I actually find it overwhelming. So we are cutting down and saving money too!
Here's some of our ideas that we do and it works great! Pass on any money saving tips my way if you have them!!

-Cut coupons. I can save $3 on kids/adult meds. Tampons, etc....
-I take cash at the beginning of the month and put it all in a little wallet (it stays @ home!) and this way I can actually SEE how much I have spent and have left. It works like a charm and I usually have some left over for the next month!
-I try to make it to the %15 off every Tuesday of the month (add coupons to that!)
-Buy big items or items/food you use a lot in bulk.
-I have a store near me that sells CHEAP fruit and veg.
-I grind my own coffee from COSTCO(I don't know if it is really cost effective?)
-We no longer buy cookies and sweets, we make them. Healthy too.
_Pack snacks if you are heading out for the day or a few hours so you don't go to take-out. (Bill has been making his own coffee and teas when he goes out now instead of always buying, it adds up A LOT! This way when you want a treat it FEELS like a treat. I can always find a $1.50 or so on the floor of the van or the washer!!)
-We have "parked" the truck and use only the van now.
-I take the boys to the library 1 week to stock up on books and DVDs for them and they LOVE it. We spend a good bit of time there. Something my mom did with us when we were little) I have stopped buying my magazines and get them there. I LOVE the library. I actually get excited to go. I'm a nerd! I told Bill that they now have Play Station 3 games there and he has been going on line now and renting them for himself and the kids. He's rented a couple already. It's just very new at the library. But it's so much better than dropping a small fortune on games.
-We now wait for movies to come out to the "dollar" theatres. And the wait isn't very long. I sneak food and drinks in. and Bill will go and HE will sneak in. He hasn't paid for a movie EVER I don't think!
-The very rare time we do eat out, the boys share a meal and we watch what we spend.
-We cut down our cell phone extras to nothing and don't miss it at all and saved a TON of cash.
-Just have basic cable and don't miss the 8,000 channels we had and never watched. I DO miss TLC something FIERCE though!!! OHHHHHH!
-Turn off lights when not in the rooms. Use dimmers.
-Unplug appliances when not in use. I still have to nag Bill about this one.
-Dollar store has awesome crafts stuff for kids! The boys the other day made puppets.
-I use second hand stores almost all the the time for the boys. They have really nice ones now and I always get brand name stuff. Superstore has FANTASTIC stuff for the boys and ME!!!!!!! I also love Value Village, I went there for Halloween costumes and found 2 NICE GAP sweaters for me. The kids clothes sucks!
-I make my own pizza's I got the boys to help and used a meatloaf from the night before along with the corn that was our side dish, we added broccoli and spinach and NICK ATE IT! I swear it was b/c he helped me put it together!
-For B-day's and Christmas I'm going to get the boys to start decorating the wrapping paper by getting plain paper and letting them go crazy. I stamped the boys b-day treat bags with stamps and ink I had and paper bags I bought in bulk for like $2 and they looked really good.
-I'm in LOVE with scrap booking and started a group up of girls that all get together once a month to scrapbook and it has really worked out well. We each host once a month, bring a snack and $5 for the host, and she HAS to spend it on herself and we scrap and visit. We used to go to a store, sure it only cost $5 but they would keep the store open for us so we could shop. We NEVER just spent the $5 we always ended up buying scrap stuff. With this group we still get out, eat, and ONLY SPEND $5. Well $6.50 for me... I stop at Timmy's!
-Ohhhhh, we also now make our own frozen yogurt with a ice cream maker machine that we have hardly ever used. WOW it it GOOOOOOD!