Braxton Hicks... Watts?

HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL

So, I think I might name my son Braxton Hicks... because that seems to be the name of the game of my pregnancy of late.


p.s. Braxton Hicks is the "technical term" for false labour. I want to meet this Braxton person and ask why he was so lucky to be named after this joyful feeling.

The Hills are Alive.....

The Sound of Music is on the telly, haven't seen this movie in years. I'm not a huge fan of musicals, but when Maria feels the need to break out in song, I can just flip the channel... after all holiday weekends are full of marathons. Damn, I need a hobby...or a job... or something. Okay, gotta finish up because Maria is just about to sing "My favorite things"... time to go back to the Food Network.


p.s. Christopher Plummer was pretty dashing back in 1965, just sayin'.

Holidays

Happy Holidays Everyone! Hope it was a goody.

Its very strange today because it's Boxing Day and I have no mall near by... what's Boxing Day without Boxing Day shopping? I guess we'll find out...maybe to my horror, it will be like every other day with out a mall!

This year was my first year ever to have Christmas off the island, to have Christmas sans the family. It was different, it totally felt like there was a piece missing but this is what change is all about, I suppose. I'm thankful for what I have here, I'm thankful that Terry was able to get the day off work, I'm thankful for Rebecca and Court and the surrogate family I have accrued here since I've moved...with out them, it would have been a very long and lonely holiday. So, thank you :)

Once again, as the story seems to go here, it will get easier...next year it will be easier. I hold on to that, I've heard it so many times here that I'm starting to believe it. Next year, I will have my own family to contend with, it will be my son's first Christmas. And that in its self is a milestone, a stepping stone to start our own traditions. Every family has them and they all started from some where and now its our time to do them. Growing up and away from family is hard and I miss them everyday, especially on the holidays.

Let it snow....let it snow............let it snow.

I hate the snow, I hate the snow, I hate the snow!!!!!!!!!! (well, not really...but today I do)

Gah!!!

I come from Victoria, it maybe snows twice a year...if we're lucky and when it does, I'm all over it. Love launching myself down a hill at break neck speeds, its awesome.. its a treat, you know you have one weekend of total debauchery and then it goes away and you can look forward to next year. This is not the case in Elkford, it is a constant! it just keep piling up and up and up. Its over whelming, I've had a hard time keeping it together! I've never had problems with the weather before and I come from S.A.D.S central. Some people hate the coast because of all the rain and over cast weather, they get depressed, they buy special lamps and o.d on vitamin D... Me, never had that problem.. love the rain, love the wind... over cast weather never really bugged me. Now place me in a small town in the mountains and cover me with the white fluffy stuff and I loose my bloody mind.

It took me 20 minutes to leave my parking lot this afternoon.. 20 minutes! My car was buried. First you have to find the door, dust off all the snow and the surrounding snow (so nothing blows in the car), then get out the scraper, unplug the block heater, start the car and turn the defroster on high, dust off all the snow from everywhere, then scrape off all the ice, remember to put the block heater extension cord into the car so no one takes it, get into the car, wait for the ice on the inside of the car to melt so you can see out, put the car into reverse, discover the snow plow left a snow bank underneath your tires, go into the trunk and get the shovel, dig out the back tires, swear alot, ignore the smart ass neighbors, remember to put the shovel back into the truck only to discover you can't make it collapse back into its self (for easy storage, of course), swear some more, close the trunk, get back into the car, only to discover the ice still hasn't melted... do all this, just to drive 5 minutes up the hill. So you all must be thinking "Why don't you walk?" Well, because I'm 7 months pregnant, the roads are an ice rink and you try walking up two hills in knee deep snow... then I would be complaining about how it took me 20 minutes to put on all the water proof gear, just to walk 2o minutes up a hill!

The moral of the story is, its along way from Kansas Toto and I chose to live here. Everyone, I've asked said that its always hard the first year of living up here and next year it will be easier. Next year, I'm going to hire someone to do all this crap for me and stay warm until its time to leave. Gotta love the mountains, gotta love it.

That'll do donkey, that'll do

In true Christmas form, every elementary school has its Christmas pageant....errrrr... play... or as Josh reminded us... performance...

...So in true Christmas form, every elementary school has its Christmas Performance. Last night was Rocky Mountain Elementary School's time to shine. So naturally, Terry and I went to cheer on our darling nephew, Joshua's big time in the spot light. I'm no stranger to Christmas pageants..(I mean performances) because I myself, had a staring role as Mary's donkey in my elementary school performance back in the day. Yes, it was a hard role to learn...I spend hours becoming one with my inner donkey.. crawling on my hands and knees and sitting ever so patiently beside Mary while she did her bit...yes, I guess you could say that was my fifteen minutes of fame, if you could recognize me under my cardboard donkey head and my gray clothing. It was a proud moment for the Betts family, very proud indeed.

Anyways, back to the present...as in last nights performance. From what I gathered from the play (eerrr performance) was that it was Christmas around the world and each class had a different city or country. Josh's was England, the lights turned off and all the kids came out wearing black and in their hands they had different colour flashlights. They walked around the gym, flashing their lights all over to this beautiful music.. it reminded us of the Northern Lights because it was all greens, blues, oranges and reds. Absolutely beautiful, it honestly made me emotional, I had a hard time keeping it together. Josh's class moved me to tears. I think the amazing thing about the whole performance, Josh's and others, is that it wasn't typical Santa and Jesus...It was more than that, it was pure and involved everyone... different cultures and a different spin on your typical Christmas carol. Its a looong way from Mary's donkey, that's for sure, can't wait to see whats in store next year... or 5-6 years from now when its my own kid moving me and probably Terry to tears.

Christmas in the Koots.....

....or should my title be wacky and should I use a K for Christmas?

Kristmas in the Koots

Bah, whatever... whatever gets the point across I guess. Gotta love that tho, when people get wacky with the letters. I saw one once and it was the Christan Kids Klub, why didn't they go full out and make Christan - Kristan?....maybe because it would be sacrilege? or is it be because the abbreviation would be KKK... either way, kinda dicey.

Alright, now...that not really being the point of this post...it kinda makes me want to go on about it but I'll stick to the task at hand (and the original plan of this blog) and blabber about Christmas.

Yessssss Christmas, two weeks... yep slightly depressing. Especially since I haven't finished or really started on my shopping... not to mention it has to be packed off and mailed to the coast in time so my gifts will be there in time, not me personally but my gifts... I suppose you could say that is gift enough. Now, I just have to get my ass in gear and drive two hours to the nearest mall. That is a whole 'nother bag of worms, I miss 24 hour Wal-Mart and the mall being a 10 minute drive away. I got pretty damn good at leaving my house at 8:40pm, getting to the mall 10 minutes before closing and crossing off at least 3 people on my list in that short amount of time. I suppose I could floor it down to the Mini-Mart at 9:55 and buy everyone trout bbq lighters and scratch tickets...call it a day and brag about how I finished my shopping early, but how lame is that? I think my brother did that one year, because I totally remember getting a stress ball and Flinstone vitamins from him... either he was cleaver and was trying to say something about my health or he was just lazy... love you Brian, but I think I'm going with the laziness.

Monday is our big trip, I have to get my shit together on Monday. Monday we are making the 2 hour drive and hitting up Lethbridge... Monday get'r done... Tuesday get'r in the mail...Wednesday breathe easy and hope to hell that you didn't forget anything! Next year will be easier... hopefully... probably not, but at least I can think that way... at least I know that bribing the post lady wont get me (or my package) anywhere and getting your shopping done in November would make for an easy December. Right. Wishful thinking.

Breaking the Bacon Habit

One of the downfalls of being pregnant is giving up your vices, its been a hard 6 months so far...no beer (or booze for that matter), no self medicating on Advil and Gravol or any cold medicine... all your left to survive on is Tylenol (which, I'm still convinced to this day doesn't work), you loose all decent sleeping habits and lets not forget your sanity! Another thing your suppost to give up is cured meats, such as bacon, sausage and handling deli meats (wouldn't want to have a side dish of Listeria with your pregnancy, totally not on the menu)

Breakfast meats in my opinion is the best kind of meat, who doesn't love crispy bacon on everything?! According to Terry's trusty "Baby Bump" app on his iPhone, preggo's such as myself, are suppost to give up breakfast meats in their second trimester. And now that I'm rounding into my third trimester, I still haven't been able to break the habit of bacon. Going out for breakfast here is a staple and Elkford has one of the best greasy spoon breakfast restaurants one breakfast lover could ever ask for... did I mention the restaurant is attached to a gas station? Double kitsch, double goodness. Bacon is on everything I like to order at Curry's.. the Clubhouse.. the Daybreak breakfast.. hell, I order it as a side dish with my french toast.. and how could you order these things and say "Hold the bacon?" its just not the same, its just not right!

Today, however, I'm taking a stand... yes... I'm going to break my bacon habit. Sure, I'm three months late, but perhaps I can save my growing boy from the nitrates for the next three months. I'll just fill the bacon void with "Simulated bacon bits" (don't worry, its just soy..baby boy is used to soy, since I'm lactose intolerant) and starch... yes, I will suck it up and say "Hold the bacon, but can I have extra hash browns?" Its going to be a hard three months, since bacon is one of my most craved cravings, but I can do it... I will think positive, like when this baby is born I will celebrate over a nice cold beer and a huge plate of crispy bacon... yea, that's it, an incentive. Perfect. Only 87 more days to go......