Last Thursday I went to the gym for a work out and decided I'd take the treadmill as my first exercise...do some cardio...read a mag. I logged all my info in and for the first time I had to enter 30 under the age category. 30....really??
Right then and there I felt this new feeling. Like its my responsibility to be a little more mature. Take care of myself. I have read magazines in the past where they tell you how to take care of your body at 20, 30, and 40's. I could keep myself in the 20's category...since I was in my twenties. I could take my time about washing my face, moisturizing...I had time on my side...right? Now that I have turned 30, I feel like I have no time left. This is where it all starts going downhill. I need to moisturize or lines will set in. I need to start eating right because weight won't come off as easily. All this pressure hits you like a ton of bricks when you turn 30.
But I do feel great! I have more security than in my 20's. I have great friends who I love and would do anything for me. My family is healthy and happy. What more could I ask for? Well maybe a tighter ass and that those dark circles under my eyes don't get worse with time.
Here is to being 30 and experiencing the next great things that are set forth for me:)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Speed Demon
Yes I got a speeding ticket...FIRST ONE!!!!!
I always thought if I ever got pulled over by a cop, that I would break down and start crying and shaking. But that was not the case on Saturday night. I knew I was speeding and the last second when I noticed the man in blue, I knew it was too late and the lights had already come on. I just pulled over calmly and answered all his questions firmly. He knocked down my speeding from 28 over to 15 over...no points and only $52. He then thought it would be funny to ask me what my "MushMush" licence plates stood for. Hey, here is a funny story, how about you just rip up my ticket! Well I guess we can add this to the things that happened to me before I turned 30....Hopefully this is not a appetizer for what comes after 30.
I always thought if I ever got pulled over by a cop, that I would break down and start crying and shaking. But that was not the case on Saturday night. I knew I was speeding and the last second when I noticed the man in blue, I knew it was too late and the lights had already come on. I just pulled over calmly and answered all his questions firmly. He knocked down my speeding from 28 over to 15 over...no points and only $52. He then thought it would be funny to ask me what my "MushMush" licence plates stood for. Hey, here is a funny story, how about you just rip up my ticket! Well I guess we can add this to the things that happened to me before I turned 30....Hopefully this is not a appetizer for what comes after 30.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Best and Worst of MushMush
I thought that a countdown of stories from my life to my 30th birthday would be fun and embarrassing at the same time. A little trip down memory lane of things that I am glad I don't ever have to do again and lessons I have learned to get me to my next milestone. Grab some cookies, a blanket and a spiked cup of hot chocolate friends...it may get crazy!
My first entry I think will have to do with one of the things I am happy I never have to do again...well maybe once I hit my Golden Years I will try it again or I will call up my grand kids and make them drive my wrinkly ass around town!
I have to say I am glad I no longer have to rely on the good ol' Kitchener Transit or as it is called today...Grandriver Transit. I will not miss those morning where I would wake up realising that I didn't set my alarm clock the night before...rushing to get dressed, get my backpack, dial 888-..... and hear the annoying lady say, "Route....3....Downtown Terminal....comes in....(holy shit lady just tell me how much time my half black ass has to get to the stop that is 5 min away!!) 2 minutes. Tearing up the street as fast as I could...JUST! to see the friggen bus drive right passed me. Frig me I hated those mornings!!
Nope can't say I will miss those times in the winter, standing at the stop with no bloody shelter, snow gusting all around me, freezing my ass off. Looking at my clock and seeing the bus is 30 minutes late!! Won't miss the days of wanting to go see my friend on the other side of town and have to take 3 damn buses to get there and 90 minutes later.
Can't say I will miss it. But I will tell you this of the great transit system. Memories. Good and bad, happy and sad. Most of my memories from my teenage years is from taking the bus. Sitting at the terminal with my friends laughing at random things and people. Getting on the bus with all the regulars and "kickin" it. Using the old transfer system by stocking up on transfers then handing them out to your friends like it was drugs and you ran the business. Going to a party on a Saturday night...sleeping over to realise that their bus doesn't run on Sunday's and your ass is stuck way the F out in Chicopee and you need to call upon a friend to come pick you up:)
I really could go on forever...but the bus helped me in many ways. I could really go wherever I wanted (just had to wait for it), but I didn't need my mom. I was growing up! And for that! I thank you Grandriver Transit System...Thanks for the memories!
My first entry I think will have to do with one of the things I am happy I never have to do again...well maybe once I hit my Golden Years I will try it again or I will call up my grand kids and make them drive my wrinkly ass around town!
I have to say I am glad I no longer have to rely on the good ol' Kitchener Transit or as it is called today...Grandriver Transit. I will not miss those morning where I would wake up realising that I didn't set my alarm clock the night before...rushing to get dressed, get my backpack, dial 888-..... and hear the annoying lady say, "Route....3....Downtown Terminal....comes in....(holy shit lady just tell me how much time my half black ass has to get to the stop that is 5 min away!!) 2 minutes. Tearing up the street as fast as I could...JUST! to see the friggen bus drive right passed me. Frig me I hated those mornings!!
Nope can't say I will miss those times in the winter, standing at the stop with no bloody shelter, snow gusting all around me, freezing my ass off. Looking at my clock and seeing the bus is 30 minutes late!! Won't miss the days of wanting to go see my friend on the other side of town and have to take 3 damn buses to get there and 90 minutes later.
Can't say I will miss it. But I will tell you this of the great transit system. Memories. Good and bad, happy and sad. Most of my memories from my teenage years is from taking the bus. Sitting at the terminal with my friends laughing at random things and people. Getting on the bus with all the regulars and "kickin" it. Using the old transfer system by stocking up on transfers then handing them out to your friends like it was drugs and you ran the business. Going to a party on a Saturday night...sleeping over to realise that their bus doesn't run on Sunday's and your ass is stuck way the F out in Chicopee and you need to call upon a friend to come pick you up:)
I really could go on forever...but the bus helped me in many ways. I could really go wherever I wanted (just had to wait for it), but I didn't need my mom. I was growing up! And for that! I thank you Grandriver Transit System...Thanks for the memories!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Peer Pressure
The countdown to 30 is on!! People ask me how I feel, and I really do feel okay with turning 30. I am very strong in knowledge of myself, it has taken me this long to really get to know the real me inside. I have a great bunch of friends I know I can count on. I big family that is crazy but wouldn't change them for the world! I am happy with the life I have lived so far and I am very excited for what is next.
What I am not ready for is to live it all over again. I thought that when I had kids I would have the opportunity to live life again through my child's eyes, with the innocence that I forget from dealing with bills and cleaning all day. But what I failed to remember is that I will have to live the uncomfortable feeling of always being accepted in the "cool" crowd again. This is what I have been dealing with my almost 4 year old...ALREADY! Reese constantly is reminding me that she is "cool" not "cute". I will comment on her hair or her clothes or even something she did as cute, only to be screeched at that I am wrong. She wants to be cool around her friends already! She questions what I pick out for her to wear for fear of looking silly. She doesn't want the other kids to call her baby, and she wants to be friends with everyone.
I am not ready for this. I have finally let go of that heavy weight on my chest of preforming for others and now bounce to my very own groovy tune and love it! Now I get to relive this feeling all over again through my daughters eyes...ugh! Its very difficult when you think about it. No matter how I react to the situation ,I change the way she thinks about things. That is serious pressure! I was prepared when I became pregnant with Reese. I read books on the first year, I kept up with the latest products for development...all that! What I was not prepared for was the responsibility of raising a human being!! Helping her through all her tough times, learning to count by twos and tie her shoes, to roughing it through her first friend fight, to being outcast by mean kids! I am not ready for that. Since she has started school there has been this learning curve that I have been on and I am not sure I am handling it all too well. I feel as though I have to take a step back and really be on her team...yet still the parent.
Ohhhh this parenting thing is harder than I thought. Maybe I should go back to the sleepless nights and tons of diaper changes?? At least I knew I couldn't screw that up!
What I am not ready for is to live it all over again. I thought that when I had kids I would have the opportunity to live life again through my child's eyes, with the innocence that I forget from dealing with bills and cleaning all day. But what I failed to remember is that I will have to live the uncomfortable feeling of always being accepted in the "cool" crowd again. This is what I have been dealing with my almost 4 year old...ALREADY! Reese constantly is reminding me that she is "cool" not "cute". I will comment on her hair or her clothes or even something she did as cute, only to be screeched at that I am wrong. She wants to be cool around her friends already! She questions what I pick out for her to wear for fear of looking silly. She doesn't want the other kids to call her baby, and she wants to be friends with everyone.
I am not ready for this. I have finally let go of that heavy weight on my chest of preforming for others and now bounce to my very own groovy tune and love it! Now I get to relive this feeling all over again through my daughters eyes...ugh! Its very difficult when you think about it. No matter how I react to the situation ,I change the way she thinks about things. That is serious pressure! I was prepared when I became pregnant with Reese. I read books on the first year, I kept up with the latest products for development...all that! What I was not prepared for was the responsibility of raising a human being!! Helping her through all her tough times, learning to count by twos and tie her shoes, to roughing it through her first friend fight, to being outcast by mean kids! I am not ready for that. Since she has started school there has been this learning curve that I have been on and I am not sure I am handling it all too well. I feel as though I have to take a step back and really be on her team...yet still the parent.
Ohhhh this parenting thing is harder than I thought. Maybe I should go back to the sleepless nights and tons of diaper changes?? At least I knew I couldn't screw that up!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Would you like to Supersize that??
Tell me if I am wrong....what is wrong with the customer service at stores lately??? Horrible I say!
No one seems to be going out of their way for a customer. Its like we are a burden as soon as we walk in the door. I find that going to stores and restaurants lately, the staff is not willing to dot all the i's and cross the t's just to make you feel a bit special.
I have been trying to locate an added part to my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, so I decided to call some stores instead of packing up the kids and looking for the item, just to find they don't have it. So calling I went. The first 2 stores did not even want to figure out what I needed.
Quote from girl fat The Bay, "ohhh that is on the other side of the store....ummm what was the part again??
Me: "the fruit and vegetable strainer"
The Bay Girl: "i have never seen that part here, so no, we don't have it"
WHAAA?? No checking your computer? No saying hey one sec let me run and check? Nothing! I hung up to call other store...no such luck anywhere. I would have waited a half hour on the phone while you looked after other customers, took a while to run to the other side of the store, I am okay with that. What I am not okay with is being an inconvenience when all I want is a product!
Trick up my sleeve...online shopping. Found my item on a Canadian website, ordered it and it will be shipped right to my front door tomorrow. Now how is that for customer service???
**after I re-read the post it seems as though I am entering the old part of aging where I bitch about customer service. I think my next post should be about how music have been flushed down the toilet...who is Soilder Boy anyway???**
No one seems to be going out of their way for a customer. Its like we are a burden as soon as we walk in the door. I find that going to stores and restaurants lately, the staff is not willing to dot all the i's and cross the t's just to make you feel a bit special.
I have been trying to locate an added part to my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, so I decided to call some stores instead of packing up the kids and looking for the item, just to find they don't have it. So calling I went. The first 2 stores did not even want to figure out what I needed.
Quote from girl fat The Bay, "ohhh that is on the other side of the store....ummm what was the part again??
Me: "the fruit and vegetable strainer"
The Bay Girl: "i have never seen that part here, so no, we don't have it"
WHAAA?? No checking your computer? No saying hey one sec let me run and check? Nothing! I hung up to call other store...no such luck anywhere. I would have waited a half hour on the phone while you looked after other customers, took a while to run to the other side of the store, I am okay with that. What I am not okay with is being an inconvenience when all I want is a product!
Trick up my sleeve...online shopping. Found my item on a Canadian website, ordered it and it will be shipped right to my front door tomorrow. Now how is that for customer service???
**after I re-read the post it seems as though I am entering the old part of aging where I bitch about customer service. I think my next post should be about how music have been flushed down the toilet...who is Soilder Boy anyway???**
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Guilty As Charged???
Guilt...apparently a lot of moms serve themselves up a double helping of this feeling. Lately I have talked to some of my friends and this word keeps popping up.
Guilty for going to work while the kids are dropped off at daycare, guilty for disciplining their kids, guilty for not being a good wife...guilty guilty guilty!
Why are we so hard on ourselves?? Why should we feel guilty to get away from the house on our own for a couple of hours or even a weeks vacation?
I really don't feel guilt when it comes to these situations. If I have been stressed out and feel I need sometime with my girlfriends, I jump at the chance and enjoy every second I have. I feel getting away for some time with myself gives me the extra boost to take care of a melt down or wash up the milk Marli has spilt for the tenth time. Taking those special moments to realize that yes I do have kids, but I am still me, I am still Nicki (er..MushMush). Having the chance to get away with my husband and have our own conversations without breaking up a fight or doing rock, paper, scissors on who is going to change the shitty diaper. I cannot wait for these moments. We had them before kids...why does that have to stop?
I just wish women would be easier on themselves. We work very hard at raising kids, whether we stay-at-home or work full time...we all have lots on our plate. I was flipping through a magazine not long ago and it was a Campbells ad. It listed basically what goes on in a brain of a woman. All the details we think about, all the tasks that we need to accomplish, its really exhausting even thinking about it. We deserve time to do what we like and remember ourselves for that minute or hour or week.
So please moms...stop feeling guilty, we are not bad mothers. Do you beat your children and not feed them or bath them? No, well I hope not or I will be coming to knock on your door. Taking time out for yourself or doing what you think is right for you and your entire family should never make you feel guilty. We are smart women and we do a good job...stop being so hard on yourself!
Guilty for going to work while the kids are dropped off at daycare, guilty for disciplining their kids, guilty for not being a good wife...guilty guilty guilty!
Why are we so hard on ourselves?? Why should we feel guilty to get away from the house on our own for a couple of hours or even a weeks vacation?
I really don't feel guilt when it comes to these situations. If I have been stressed out and feel I need sometime with my girlfriends, I jump at the chance and enjoy every second I have. I feel getting away for some time with myself gives me the extra boost to take care of a melt down or wash up the milk Marli has spilt for the tenth time. Taking those special moments to realize that yes I do have kids, but I am still me, I am still Nicki (er..MushMush). Having the chance to get away with my husband and have our own conversations without breaking up a fight or doing rock, paper, scissors on who is going to change the shitty diaper. I cannot wait for these moments. We had them before kids...why does that have to stop?
I just wish women would be easier on themselves. We work very hard at raising kids, whether we stay-at-home or work full time...we all have lots on our plate. I was flipping through a magazine not long ago and it was a Campbells ad. It listed basically what goes on in a brain of a woman. All the details we think about, all the tasks that we need to accomplish, its really exhausting even thinking about it. We deserve time to do what we like and remember ourselves for that minute or hour or week.
So please moms...stop feeling guilty, we are not bad mothers. Do you beat your children and not feed them or bath them? No, well I hope not or I will be coming to knock on your door. Taking time out for yourself or doing what you think is right for you and your entire family should never make you feel guilty. We are smart women and we do a good job...stop being so hard on yourself!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Like Mama Used To Make
In my case, its more, Like Oma Used To Make. If I can tell you a story about a courageous yet somewhat timid woman...it would have to be my Grandma. Coming from Germany to Canada being young as well as having a two young children herself, not speaking a speck of English and dropped into a society all by herself. She managed to survive, learn English and raise her family to what we are today. If all her blood and sweat and most defiantly tears never happened, I would not be here today.
I have been very fortunate to grow up with my Grandma, not too many people get to know their elders in a way I did. From a very young age I have always spent lots of quality time and lots of snuggles with her. I loved going to her house, with the smells of cooking and lots of love. I feel very close with her and I feel a little bit of her old fashioned ways have really stuck with me. I have always loved having people over to entertain and filling their tummy's with good things. Which has led me to this interesting part in my life. I have always wanted to do canning like my Grandma. From pickles to jam, beets to peaches...she did it all. I admired her for working hard over the stove on a hot day...just to make homemade goods for her family. We would literally fight who got the last jar of chili sauce or dill pickles. Cabbage rolls...damn that was another good one. She would make hundreds of these rolls and freeze them, only to be yanked up with visits from her own children and then the grandchildren. Every chance I get I try to make whatever she made. The tastes of my childhood I cannot let slip under the carpet. She has since stopped making her jarred goodies, hence my turn to grab the bull by the horn and do it myself.
This year I have tried to make jam...successful and gave myself 2nd degree burns in the process. Last night I tried my Grandmas pickled beets...again successful, no burns this time. This weekend my mom and I are trying the dill pickles. The girls and I went to the market yesterday and bought bushels of cucumbers and they are sitting in the cold basement ready to be transformed. Reese always asks when we go to the grocery store, "Mom! Mom! can you get some pickles pleeeease?". She is a feen for the green monsters. I always tell her that we are going to make them ourselves...and now we will. I have also gone as far as learning from other families. Last year I learned how to make tomato sauce right from the perfect source. My Italian family! They opened their arms and took me under their wings. Teaching me every step of the way their very own traditions. I also did my sausage with them, cutting up a whole pig and tasting homemade prosciutto. I love the fact that each family has their own traditions and it really is all about family. Everyone pitches in and has a great time in the process. I hope to make more delicious tomato sauce with them again this year.
I had also started a small vegetable garden in pots this year to see if I had a green thumb before I upgraded to a large scale garden. Each day I show Reese the new tomatoes or green peppers growing and I see her appreciation for it seeing food grow. All those times my grandma would sit with me and show me the secrets to her spaghetti sauce or other dishes I would sit intently and listen. Now I see Reese doing the same thing. I want her to grow up and realise she can do anything she wants, whatever her heart tells her. I think about my Grandma when I have finished up some canning and think how I can make her proud and I think I do. I think the thought of someone carrying on her tradition really makes her happy. I also like that I am able to share this with my own daughters...I really wanted daughters. (After TONS of brothers you really don't want to go down that road again)
Thank you Grandma for sharing your love for food to me and the rest of your family. It has truly made me who I am and I am grateful for being able to have had you teach me everything I know. I promise to carry on this tradition and always always think of you in the process.
I have been very fortunate to grow up with my Grandma, not too many people get to know their elders in a way I did. From a very young age I have always spent lots of quality time and lots of snuggles with her. I loved going to her house, with the smells of cooking and lots of love. I feel very close with her and I feel a little bit of her old fashioned ways have really stuck with me. I have always loved having people over to entertain and filling their tummy's with good things. Which has led me to this interesting part in my life. I have always wanted to do canning like my Grandma. From pickles to jam, beets to peaches...she did it all. I admired her for working hard over the stove on a hot day...just to make homemade goods for her family. We would literally fight who got the last jar of chili sauce or dill pickles. Cabbage rolls...damn that was another good one. She would make hundreds of these rolls and freeze them, only to be yanked up with visits from her own children and then the grandchildren. Every chance I get I try to make whatever she made. The tastes of my childhood I cannot let slip under the carpet. She has since stopped making her jarred goodies, hence my turn to grab the bull by the horn and do it myself.
This year I have tried to make jam...successful and gave myself 2nd degree burns in the process. Last night I tried my Grandmas pickled beets...again successful, no burns this time. This weekend my mom and I are trying the dill pickles. The girls and I went to the market yesterday and bought bushels of cucumbers and they are sitting in the cold basement ready to be transformed. Reese always asks when we go to the grocery store, "Mom! Mom! can you get some pickles pleeeease?". She is a feen for the green monsters. I always tell her that we are going to make them ourselves...and now we will. I have also gone as far as learning from other families. Last year I learned how to make tomato sauce right from the perfect source. My Italian family! They opened their arms and took me under their wings. Teaching me every step of the way their very own traditions. I also did my sausage with them, cutting up a whole pig and tasting homemade prosciutto. I love the fact that each family has their own traditions and it really is all about family. Everyone pitches in and has a great time in the process. I hope to make more delicious tomato sauce with them again this year.
I had also started a small vegetable garden in pots this year to see if I had a green thumb before I upgraded to a large scale garden. Each day I show Reese the new tomatoes or green peppers growing and I see her appreciation for it seeing food grow. All those times my grandma would sit with me and show me the secrets to her spaghetti sauce or other dishes I would sit intently and listen. Now I see Reese doing the same thing. I want her to grow up and realise she can do anything she wants, whatever her heart tells her. I think about my Grandma when I have finished up some canning and think how I can make her proud and I think I do. I think the thought of someone carrying on her tradition really makes her happy. I also like that I am able to share this with my own daughters...I really wanted daughters. (After TONS of brothers you really don't want to go down that road again)
Thank you Grandma for sharing your love for food to me and the rest of your family. It has truly made me who I am and I am grateful for being able to have had you teach me everything I know. I promise to carry on this tradition and always always think of you in the process.
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