High on Dye and 2Jills Blog Challenge #6

I am in the middle of dying my hair right now. Got my head full of stinky chemicals, just waiting for the timer so I can go and rinse it out. Man this is awful stuff!!! I figured sitting in front of my computer was probably the safest place, where I wouldn't get dye on anything! So, here I am. I have been avoiding this week's challenge, not sure why, too personal maybe. But I guess it's time to suck it up and go for it! LOL!!

So here was the challenge: "Wow, Mother's Day is just right around the corner! I just got me to thinking about when I bacame a new mom. So that is your Blog challenge this week....I want to read about your thoughts when you became a new mom."

Well, of course, when I first became a new mom, I was soooo happy and excited! I had just brought this most beautiful, precious little thing into the world and I loved him more than I ever could have imagined. And then, the excitement wore off a little and reality started to hit me a little at a time. I was terrified. I just knew in my gut that at some point, somewhere down the road, I was going to be doing this alone. Since we had first found out I was pregnant Brian had been very distant, was hardly ever home, we fought about it constantly. We fought about anything and everything really. A couple months after Austin was born the fighting actually got us kicked out of our house. We had to move into a friend's garage apartment, and I hated every minute of it, which cause more problems and fights. I was miserable, we were so far from everything with no vehicle. When I did get my vehicle, I was everyone on the property's taxi driver, and later found out I was usually giving them rides to get their drugs. When I found out Brian was doing drugs I had enough. He moved down to a room in the main house and I started looking for a place in town for me and Austin. Monday marks exactly one year since Austin and I moved to this place. And we are doing just fine on our own! Better than I ever thought we would be doing. And I would not trade being a mother for anything else in this world, it is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has made me realize I can be independent, he has helped me learn how to really love, and most importantly to me, it kept me from going down the wrong path in life. A path I had already started going down before I found out I was pregnant. It has helped me become the person I had always wanted to be.

There's the timer, time to rinse!!

Home, Sweet Home!!

Austin and I are finally home! We got home around 4pm today, Austin was asleep in the stroller so I left him in it while I spend and hour tidying the house and unpacking. Then we had dinner and are just relaxing in front of come cartoons now. It is soooo good to be home! We were supposed to have been home yesterday but plans got changed on us all over the place. Over the weekend, at my mom's place, I discovered that her phone was having trouble recieving calls (we could make calls no problem, though). So, when she got home Sunday I told her and she called the phone company. I am sure I had told her at least 3 times we were leaving to Victoria on Tuesday, but I hear her telling the phone people that yes, she can have her daughter be at the house on Tuesday for the repairman!!! So, I had to call Brian and change our plans for Victoria. Then that got all confusing because Brian had to be back here for a dr. appointment Thurs. (today). We eventually decided we could go on Wednesday, do what we needed to do, and Brian could come back early Thurs. morning and we would come back later. Ok then! So Monday my mom dropped Austin at the babysitter and me off at school to write my History exam. I finished in just over an hour, first one finished, not that that is a good thing! I really don't know how I did on it, I hate long answer questions, am horrible at them, and that's all it was. So, we shall see in a couple weeks when the grades get posted. After the test I picked Austin up at the sitter and we rode the bus out to Cobble Hill to a new scrapbook store I had heard about it. Well, I thought I had died and went to heaven when I went in there! She has a little fenced off area for the kids so Austin went and played in there and we could see each other from anywhere I went in the store, loved that! AND, the best part I think, the lady who owns it has 2 boys, no girls, so she makes sure to keep boy-ish papers etc. in the store. I found some awesome papers, saw some brands that I had never ever seen in person before...like Crate paper, of which I bought a whole bunch, lol! Anyways, definitely worth the bus ride, and I will definitely be visiting there often!!! Then we came home, dropped off some stuff, packed up some other stuff to take back to my mom's and got back on the bus to go meet my mom. Then we went back to her house for the night, and the repairman came and fixed the phone on Tuesday. Wednesday morning (yesterday) we got up and came home to unpack and repack our bags to go catch the bus to Victoria. Well, as we are coming in the house Brian calls to say his friend has some work for him and wants to stay and go to work because he didn't really want to get up and catch the early bus back home anyways. I was ticked off. I wouldn't have been going to Victoria in the first place if it weren't for him! He was supposed to be going to a dr. there on Tuesday, and was whining and complaining that we never go with him, so I decided we could go. Then his appointment got cancelled but he wanted to go anyways, since he had actually managed to get me to go. And then he went and decided he wasn't going at all at the last minute!! Aaarrgghhhhhh!!! Anyways, I was mad and upset but it was too late to do anything about it, we still had to go because my grandma was expecting us. So, we got our stuff packed and then spent half an hour standing in line at the Income Assictance office to get my cheque (I was a little brain-dead at the beginning of the month and didn't take my paperwork back, so it didn't get deposited in my account) something I totally did not have time for! Then we went and picked up some TV trays, lol, at the thrift store. This probably could have waited but my friend had told me about a deal she spotted and I didn't want to miss out!! The trays had to be taken to my mom's work and be put in the trunk of her car. Then we were finally off to the bus! We got there with moments to spare. The busride was uneventful. We got to Victoria around 1pm and from there we headed to Toys R Us with my grandma, after some lunch at the mall food court. We wandered around FOREVER! I kept picking things up, finding something else and changing my mind, then changing my mind again, lol. I was really looking for a bus of some kind but the only one we found was a Little People bus, and all they had was PINK ones!?! This bothered me a lot, probably more than it should have, lol. I finally settled on a really neat wooden train with all kinds of stacking parts. It reminded me of the stuff that the Infant Development lady brings to the house with her so I knew it would be something that might help with his development, which is always a good thing! I also got him a set of the books about busses, closest I could get to a toy bus, lol. And a Cars movie poster for his room. After the toy store we went to Michaels and I spent way too much money, but I will be busy for a while!! Hey, I deserved it for surviving that awful History course!!! We went for Chinese food for dinner, then I ran into The Bay to get a set of sheets for Austins new bed that my mom ordered on her Sears card (that's another story! LOL!). Then we caught the bus to my grandmas house, unloaded our bags, I ran to the corner store to get some milk and we all went to bed, we were sooooo exhausted. This morning we got up and relaxed around my grandma's for a little while before catching the bus to the bus depot and then getting on the bus home. When we got home we just missed the bus to our house so we went into Safeway and got a few groceries to kill time until the next bus and then finally came home! And here we are. It is about time to put Austin to bed and then if I have enough energy maybe I'll work on creating something while I watch CSI and Grey's. It is Thursday isn't it? LOL! I am so tired and mixed up tonight. I need a good nights sleep in MY OWN BED!!! Woohooo!!

Here are a couple of photos from our adventures! First is Austin giving my mom's dog Sadie a big hug, and then is Austin riding a tractor with Bob The Builder in the mall.

Busy Day...And more to come!

We have had a busy day today already! We got up at 8:00, got ready to go and jumped on the 9:00 bus into town. We went to Save On Food to hit the case lot sale. What a confusing mess that was! Whatever happened to case lot sales being out in the big tent in the parking lot??? That would have taken me all of about 20 minutes, I had circled everything I wanted in the flyer. But, NO, it took me just over an hour to locate everything scattered all over the sale...in very weird places!! We managed to get everything we needed and called a cab to get home. That was great, until I got home and realized I had forgotten to get some cash out to pay the cab driver!! Ack!! So, I told him I had to go back to town in a while, and he said that was fine. So, I go put all my groceries in the house and have to call for ANOTHER cab back to pretty much where I had left from in the first place, run in the bank to get the money and then pay the driver for BOTH trips!! Man, I did not need that today. Then we ran over to Safeway to get some pop ($2 for a case of 12, so I got 3, lol) and a sandwich, I LOVE Safeway sandwiches!! Then we jumped on the bus and came home to pack. My mom is picking us up in about 25 minutes to go out to her house for the weekend. She is going to Maine Island for the weekend so Austin and I (LOL!) are looking after her pets for her. I had to pack all my history books and notes so I can spend the weekend studying for my exam on Monday. I am so NOT looking forward to this exam, I don't do well on exams to begin with, and History is definitely not one of my strongest subjects. Oh well, as long as I pass, I'll be ok. On Tuesday the three of us (Austin, Brian and I) are heading down to Victoria to visit my grandma. And to try and find a present for Austin at Toys R Us, we have very limited selection for kids toys here and the one actual toy store we do have is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive!! I sent Brian in to ask how much this truck in the window was the other day...$192.00...for a large plastic truck!! I almost died! I am sure we can find a similar thing for half the price in Vitoria. I'm hoping I can hit a scrapbooking store, or at least Michaels, while we are there, too. And that's what my next few days look like. Fun fun fun!!! LOL! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

2Jills Blog Challenge #5

This weeks challenge: Everyone post on their blog their latest project that they have finished and tell us all about it! What inspired you to make it, what products you used, etc......

So, here is a project I finished this afternoon. Brian found two canister boxes and brought them to me yesterday to do something with them. My inspiration came from Tam's bandaid tin magnet for the Fancy Pants contest.

I covered the canister and monogram letters with SU! papers. The bugs are cut from some Karen Foster paper and the flowers are Bazzill and Prima. For the flowers I used a preset shape in PaintShopPro, printed it out, and traced it on some chipboard and cut them out. Then I covered them with pp (MM, MME, and SU!) and put the photos on. The photos are from about 6 months, 12 months, 15 months and 21 months. The bugs coming off the flowers are cut from Karen Foster paper, glued on some chipboard and attahced with wire.

Not sure what I am going to do with the other canister yet, but I am really happy with how this one turned out! I am using it as part of a DT application too, so wish me luck!!

Happy Easter!!

This year was Austin's first real Easter, first time he has really been able to understand what is going on. We had planned to go to the park and hide eggs on the playground, but while we were waiting to go it started raining. So, not wanting to miss out on the fun altogether I quickly ran out in our little yard, hid the eggs in the grass that hasn't been cut since September and brought Austin out with his bucket. He knew exactly what to do right away, did not have to show him even once. He's such a smart kid! He had so much fun putting all the eggs in his bucket, he would gasp with excitement everytime he saw another one, lol. He had even more fun when we came inside to open them. I filled 18 plastic eggs with matchbox cars, gummy candies, and little rubber bugs. He loved it! And I got some GREAT photos! After the egg hunting we went to my aunt's place for supper, which was delicious!! Here are some photos