Picture this.  I’m walking out of Walmart.  My cart is packed so high that I can’t see straight ahead.  I’m about to cross the walkway toward the parking lot when my cart hits a snag somewhere in front.  Again, keep in mind that I can’t see the front of the cart.  I look down and see a very tiny rise in the pavement.  Assuming I snagged that I back up and push the cart a little bit harder hoping it will jump the snag.  I’m still stuck, so this time I RAM the cart, grabbing some boxes that are about to fall off.  Around the third time my sister finally asks me what in the world I am doing.  Turns out I was slamming my cart into one of these…

We went to Baskin Robins the other day, 31 flavours of ice cream and the kids always get the blue or the orange.

The kids don’t care much for the ice cream to be honest.  They love to the take the ice cream cone and feed the little birds.  Mikey has gotten really good at scaring the crap out of them.  He drops a bit of the ice cream cone, waits…and then runs at the bird screaming like a wild animal.

There’s a Tim Horton’s next door and one of the employees was eating his/her lunch.  (The reason for the dash..I honestly couldn’t tell, really)  She/he had the nerve to turn to our kids and tell them “Knock it  off”  I guess he/she was referring to their joyous laughter and squealing.

You’re not at a black tie restaurant, you’re outside an ice cream store.  That is one place where not many people would be expecting for kids to sit quietly.

If we are at a restaurant or anywhere else, I am the mother that will take my screaming two year old to finish off his tantrum in the ladies washroom.  But outside the ice cream store he can be as loud as he pleases.

So I did what I think a lot of people would do in my situation.  I called Mikey over and asked him to scream as loud as he can at the birds…and then Ella joined in.  2 two year old screaming and squealing at the top of their lungs.  One rare time where it was music to my ears.

It has been 5 days since I have had a cigarette.  Everyone around me smokes and yet I haven’t even taken a drag.  Though I will admit I asked for one from my sister but she refused to share.  I have not had a drag even though Mikey is cutting his last molars and being a complete PIA.  I have not  had a drag even though we had a death in the family of someone I was very close to.

Day 3 was pretty bad as is today.

I remember people telling me that it takes 48 hours for the nicotine to clear your body, then I read it  can take up to 42 hours.  Today I read it can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks.  I haven’t even cleared a week yet, I don’t know how I’m supposed to go forever.

A fun fact about qutting smoking that I learned today.

The diziness is just your brain getting too much oxygen…that explains it.

I’ll be nicotinne free for 36 hrs in about 20 minutes.  They say it takes 48 hrs for it to leave your body and the rest is in your mind.  I hope they’re right.

So please forgive me if I won’t be updating for a while as I am now spending most of my days doing EVERYTHING to keep my hands busy and though my body works, my mind seems to be shutting down.

Wish me luck!

It makes me ashamed how I complain about my problems when I get news like this.  This news has hit me so hard.  Help me pray for this family and hug your children extra tight. 

Many of the blogs I’m reading are doing this so I thought I would give it a try

1. My real name is Dorota

2. I prefer to be called Dorothy

3. Better yet, Dori is what most people call me

4. I moved to Canada when I was 7

5. I met my husband on a visit to Poland after not being there for almost 12 years

6. We were in a long distance relationship for a year before we got married

7. And a year after we got married

8. I lived in Poland with him for about 6mos and couldn’t stand it

9. I’m a true Torontonian and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else

10. I used to love to write and actually had a talent for it

11. I think pregnancy ate some of that talent

12. Mikey was a total and complete surprise but he’s the best thing that ever happened to me

13. I love cats

14. I love watching documentaries

15. And musicals

16. I’m tone deaf, cannot sing for the life of me

17. I’m not artistic

18. Or crafty

19. or athletic

20. the above things I can do on a two year old level and that is why I think I am such a good early childhood educator

21. I will be the first person in our family, EVER, in 100s of years, to graduate from College

22. I also hold that title for being the 1st high school graduate

23. I hate my curly hair

24. I love my hair straightener

25. I hate clothes and shoe shopping

26. I love shopping for make-up

27. I don’t spend money responsibly and have a hard time sticking to a budget

28. I have a few bad habits that I need to quit

29. My personal hell is folding laundry

30. If given the opportunity I could easily sleep in to 2pm

31. my dream is to visit Rome and Egypt

32. I have a huge interest in WWII history

33.The only famous person I ever met was Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block

34. I hate decorating and am getting a panic attack just thinking about our upcoming move into a new house

35. I could eat pasta all day, for breakfast, lunch, dinner…and sometimes I do

36. Mikey is a spirited child

37. I get coffee craving daily but don’t actually drink it

38. I’m not into nature and would pick a crowded mall over a walk in the woods

39. I refuse to stay at home alone after dark

40. Mirrors creep me out at night and I avoid looking at them on my way tot he washroom

41. I’m thinking of opening a large scale day care

42. I own three pairs of shoes not including flip-flops

43. I own two purses

44. That is proof how much I dislike shopping

45. I’m not planning on having any more children

46. We are getting a puppy in about two months (think I’m trying to tell my biological clock to shut up?

47. I would love to be on an episode of the amazing race

48. The only times I have been out of the country are the few visits to Poland, a grade 8 trip to Washington DC and a layover in Heathrow Airport

49. I love card and board games

50. I’m 24

 I’m sorry to do this but I absolutely had to review this product.

I’ve had bad skin since those awkward teenage years. I know everyone always says this but I have tried EVERYTHING to get it all under control. The only thing I refused to take was accutane and similar drugs since the problems always come back once you get off it.

The one thing I thought for sure would work was Proactive. I heard so many great stories about it before. Well, how do I put this mildly…it sucked! The only good thing out of that whole kit was the oil controlling serum which made my 8 layers of make up stay on all day.

I finally gave up and decided to accept the fact that this is my skin and nothing will change that.

Two months ago I was doing some impulsive shopping, which for me means buying things that look nice but I most likely don’t need or won’t use. I saw the Clean & Clear Advantage system. It looked very similar to proactive as it was a three step program but the bottles were a shiny silver color and I decided to try it.

I haven’t looked back since. It is so far the best thing I have ever tried. It started working in about 3 days and I’m thrilled with the results. No more breakouts. My skin is still red from previous incidents but everything is healed and for the past two months I think I had about 3 tiny pimples which didn’t last more than a couple of days.

And now a message from our sponsors…

Ritz  crackers, if Mikey (the world’s pickiest eater) will eat them, then you know they have to be good!

And now back to the program…

I’ve gotten to know my skin pretty well all these years while searching for that miracle product. I know I have very sensitive and dry skin. I knew which products had the tendency to irritate it. Benzyl Peroxide was one of these ingredients and it is a main ingredient in this product.

The best part about this??? It cost me less than $25.00 for an almost two month supply.

Potty training is not something I look forward to.  To be honest I keep putting it off simply due to my own laziness.  I came up with a fabulous argument as to why I will start it with him sometime around fall.

Mikey had other plans yesterday….

As his blue potty sits behind our toilet gathering dust he decided he wants to go on the big potty.

It was cute, he sat on it still in his diaper and then Ella, his cousin wanted to try.  They were clapping and cheering for each other.  So before bed time I decided to test the waters and asked him if he would like to go potty on the big toilet.  He said “No, I potty in tub”

So we had a talk for about the 100^th time that we do not go potty in the tub.  Then I pulled out the big guns and bribed him.  I told him if he sits on the big toilet he will get chocolate.  Didn’t even have to ask him twice.

He’s such a trooper.  He sat there for a few minutes and tried really hard to go but obviously didn’t have the need to do that.  At one point he even said, “Help me pee mommy”

Once again Mikey has proven to me that he knows when he is ready for something and he always comes around.  That is why I’m not going to switch his crib to a toddler bed until he lets me know he is ready, and that is why I will not throw out his pacifiers until he does it himself.

A few days ago on our way to the pediatrician to check for an ear infection (which he did end up having) Mikey did something that plainly shocked me.  He decided that he will not be wearing his baseball hat on this car ride and cried, screamed, and threw things at me insisted on wearing his huge, wool, just in case a winter blizzard hits hat, left over from winter.

I really wasn’t in the mood to argue with him and it was one of those pick your battles type things so I let him wear it.  On the way there I was wondering if I made a horrible mistake by giving in to his tantrum.  Have I created “that child’ that goes to school in April wearing his halloween costume just because he wanted to?  I couldn’t care less if other people let their children do this but after working in daycare for the past 4 or so years I always told myself I would never do that. 

After I finished that thought, we parked the car and I quickly yanked that hideous hat off his head and we proceeded to the doctor’s office hatless.

The next evening I was excited after his bath time because I just got him some new pajamas.  Am I the only mother that gets excited when buying clothes for kids and cannot wait to put them on? I don’t get that excited when  I buy clothes for myself! 

Anyways…So I whip out the cutest red pajama set from Children’s Place.  I am so hapy to give away all the footsie pajama’s we have left over from winter.  That’s another thing I swore I would never do.  When I was pregnant with Mikey I was looking at those huge footed Pajamas and wondered why in the world a child that big still needs to wear those.  Well for some reason mine did…in my defense our heating sucks and it was chilly upstairs.

I got off topic again didn’t I? Oh yea, the red pajamas.  So I start putting them on him and once again the little bugger manages to shock me.  He begins to scream, pull off his pajama’s insist that he does not want red pajama’s, he wants blue pajama’s. 

Am I wrong to think he’s a little young to care what he is dressed in?  What am I in for when he gets older?  I know he does not get that from me.  I think his dad needs to stop analayzing his own clothing choices infront of his son.

I’ve always been awful when it came to saving money and sticking to a budget. I never thought things out and planned ahead. I am an in the moment kind of person and just deal with things when the time comes. I decided to work on that though. I was so proud of myself last night after I came back from my retail therapy trip.

I set a budget. I gave myself X amount of dollars and needed to come home with two jackets. I was in desperate need of a fancy jacket and an everyday durable jacket for taking Mikey to the park and whatnot.

Usually in a situation like this I would go into a store, pick the ones I like and buy them, most of the time I wouldn’t even look at the price tag. Then I would regret paying so much for it next few days. Last night though I actually shopped around. and for those of you that know me probably realise what a big deal that is.

I actually spent an hour trying on and comparing two jackets that I actually liked. That’s another thing I never do, try things on. I buy more or less my size and tell myself I can always return or exchange it later…which I never get around to doing.

On my X budget last night I bought not only two but THREE jackets!!! I also got a bag, pants and a wallet. I still had money left over for shoes but at the last minute decided against them…they weren’t THAT nice.

I did so well that I decided to try this thinking on our grocery shopping as well. I actually made a list and am planning on sticking to it, I wonder how much we can actually save by doing this.

I find it rather amusing that two years ago my biggest worry was which club we’d be spending our Saturday night. Now my worries are grocery shopping and being cheap…umm I mean thrifty.

Today is going to be a long day for me. Last night was awful. Mikey has a bit of a cold and was up every half hour until 3am. I was finally able to shake off the sleepiness and think logically enough to give him some Tylenol. That did the trick and I was able to sleep until 7. I have to do some emergency cleaning since w have guests coming from Europe tomorrow. I’m till trying to figure out where to put them. I’ll deal with that when the time comes…