Friday, May 31, 2013

Quickie Post


This is just a quick post to tell you about something I saw on Facebook today that I thought was just too cool and couldn't keep to myself – Zipzicles!!

You heard it correctly!  We’re talking about Ziploc bags in the shape of a freezy pop.  I absolutely cannot wait for these to come to Canada.

They are easy, portable and, best of all, you can put whatever the heck you want into them – pureed fruit, any juice, lemonade….. and that’s just for the kids!  I can imagine wine pops for mom  ;)


Somebody PLEASE tell them to come to Canada!  (have I used enough exclamation marks in this post?!!  LOL)

Kat

Friday, May 24, 2013

Water Woes

We had a boil-water advisory in Montreal and its surrounding boroughs Wednesday morning until Thursday night affecting one point three million people.  That is 1.3 million people who cannot drink their tap water, use it to prepare food or brush their teeth.  That is also 1.3 million people who started their day without coffee.  Imagine! Gasp!  Talk about a first world problem.

We are so spoiled here.  We’re used to being able to turn on a tap and having good, clean water come pouring out.  We fill a pot with water to boil our pasta or potatoes without even thinking about it.  We have showers every day (some twice a day), letting the water pour over us and down the drain while we lather, rinse, exfoliate, shave, etc.  We let water go down the drain as we stand there scrubbing each tooth.  We turn on the hose and use gallons of water to make our yards pretty and clean the dust off our driveways.

All of a sudden, when we are told that we can’t ingest our water without boiling it, have to fend for ourselves and find water elsewhere, everyone freaks out and runs to the nearest store to load up on bottled water.  Every store downtown is totally sold out right now.  People fet out of sorts.  They’ve been put out.  Again, first world problems.

There are people in this world who walk for miles to get a bucket of clean water.  There are people who think that having a shower once a week is extravagant.  There are people who live in places where water is scarce that they wouldn’t dream of wasting one drop of water on flowers and grass to make their front yard visually pleasing.  There are those living in places where the water is so full of bacteria that you or I would be very sick if we drank it with our lack of immunity.

We complain about having to go to the store for a few bottles of water.   Hmmm…..
 

Kat

 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Big and Beautiful


I am part of a Facebook group called BBW Canada.  It is a group for Big Beautiful Women and their admirers.  We trade jokes, ask questions, share information and just plain enjoy ourselves; no judgment or harassment allowed.  The admins of the page are pretty vigilant about removing those whose intentions are not friendly or go against the terms of the page.  It’s sad that, in our society, we still have to worry about judgment and harassment when so many men and women are, shall we say, extra curvy.  You’ll notice that I won’t use the word “fat”. It has become such a derogatory word that it makes you feel bad just thinking it. 

This week a gentleman in the group asked “Anyone a member of a secret BBW group?”  This really struck a nerve with me and perhaps I was a little harsher in my response than I should have been.  I don’t think he intended his question to raise such a response.  However, I have to ask why is he looking for a secret group?  Why are some people embarrassed to openly be a part of a BBW group?   A true BBW lover or a woman who has an ounce of self-confidence shouldn’t need to hide in a secret group. 

I should note that he eventually deleted his post.  I don't think he got the kind of response that he had anticipated.  A couple of us were a bit harsh and questioned his motives, a few more made jokes; he seems to have wanted a place where he could say more "intimate" things.  Maybe he deserved my response......

Our society views being attracted to big women as being odd, creepy, even a fetish and those women as being the toys in that fetish.  Do you have any idea how many men I have met who only want a one-night-stand or the occasional hook-up?  Too many!  No dinners in restaurants, no date nights, no meeting their friends or family, no relationship; just let’s get together at your place.  Men will approach me online on Facebook or on dating sites, speaking to me far more intimately than any stranger should, expecting me to fall into my place as their sex or cyber-sex toy.  It’s amazing how quickly they disappear when you tell them that you’re looking for more in life than just a good time.  It’s really frustrating and lonely for those of us who don’t want to play the game and refuse to participate.   

I said in a recent post that I have been taking a break from dating for a while now.  The disappointments were just getting to be too much.  That being said, the loneliness is starting to get to me and I may just try to put myself out there again soon and see if there are any fish out there worth catching.  I do know that I’ll have to wade through a lot of chum to find a good one though.  There must be a man who lives in my area who is interested in a real relationship with a decent looking woman (if I do say so myself) who is smart, funny, loving, responsible, well-read, passionate,….... oh, and has very well-padded curves. 

Until that man comes along, while a bit lonely, I will get along without him.  I have been working on making my life better than it has been by doing things like getting out more, managing my money better, getting back to blogging and trying to eat better.  I am self-reliant woman and capable of taking care of and amusing myself (take that assertion any way you want!) without help although a partner would make life just “that” much sweeter   

Kat

Sunday, May 12, 2013


I hadn't originally planned to post this on Mother's Day but I think that maybe it's fitting.

I read a post by guest bloggers Mary Dell and Lisa (blog Grown and Flown) on the Scary Mommy site recently entitled “The Myth of Protection” that really affected me.  Here is the link so you can check out the whole post (instead of just taking my paraphrasing and interpretation) –  http://www.scarymommy.com/the-myth-of-protection/  

In a nutshell, they spoke about how no matter how hard we try, the protection that we offer our children is really not much more than an illusion.  We feed them healthy food, give them safe toys to play with, choose “safe” neighborhoods in which to raise and educate them and vet potential care-givers with a thoroughness that the CIA would envy.  Then we hear about tragedies like the loss of so many fragile lives in Newtown and the eight year old in Boston and we realize that no matter how careful we are, fate sometimes has other plans.  We know this but our children live on in the happy belief that we will keep them safe.   It is their unconditional love and faith in us that helps us move past these tragedies that we see in the news and carry on. 

The author of the post speaks of the fact that her children are grown up now and have moved past the unconditional belief in her protection; they’ve grown up.  She laments that this last piece of childhood has dropped away. 

I commented that this post felt like a punch in the gut to me that left me in tears.  My kids are twelve and fourteen now and are at the age where they are starting to pull away and enjoy more independence - The Boy at fourteen more than Drama Queen at twelve.  No longer can I hover over them and make all the decisions.  No longer do I know exactly where they are and who they are with every second of the day.  They are in high school now where the teachers don’t tend to have the kids under their thumbs as much as they do in elementary school.  They are starting to spread their wings and not depend on me as much as they did just a few short years ago and it’s so hard to let go. 

Could this be a part of the difficult time that I’ve been going through lately?  Quite possibly.  I hadn’t really thought about it before now; before I read that post.  I love my children more than anything and love the fact that they are growing into incredible, smart, funny, good human beings.  I wouldn’t change them for anything.  That being said, I am sad that they no longer want me to read to them at bedtime; that my daughter wants to do her own hair now; that my son no longer wants to cuddle with me.   Of course, he’s five inches taller than me now so I guess that cuddling would be awkward.  I still miss it though. 

How long will it be before they are no longer able to believe that their father, step-mother and I can’t protect them from the bad things in this world?  How long before they see us as regular people making our way in this world, flaws and all?  Who knew that I’d be going through so much angst at 43? 

I can only be thankful that they are here and healthy (knock on wood) and that their lives are as good as we can make them (again, knock on wood) so that we can grow together through their adolescent years.  We will go through the growing pains of their adolescence together and, hopefully, will all come out better people for it with only the occasional bumps and bruises. 


Kat

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Boys!


The Boy has been finding ways to push my buttons this week.  Of course, he’s fourteen so that’s no big surprise.  The logic of a teenaged boy’s brain is pretty mystifying. 

I commented about one such conversation the other day on this blog post http://wine-y-wife.com/i-need-a-time-out/.  I just recently found Rhonda and she's a pretty cool chick so check her out.  Here is what I wrote: 


                           

Six thirty in the morning is far too early for conversations like that.  Momma needs a couple of hours in the morning to build up strength for the day.


Then came the grapes……. 

I bought a nice big bag of grapes on Tuesday thinking that they would be nice in our lunches.  I took them out the next morning, put some in my lunch bag then left the bag of grapes on the counter for the kids to put some in their lunches.  I came home that night, went to get something out of the freezer and found the whole bag of grapes in the freezer.  Now, I know that he likes frozen grapes for a snack and I always let him put some in the freezer but the WHOLE thing?!  I went and gave him hell for putting ALL of the grapes in the freezer cuz, you know, somebody else might want some!   

The response:  “Well, it was either put them in there or leave them out all day” 

Huh?  Have we never heard of something called a fridge?!   

The response:  *shrug* 

Oh boy……. 

To be fair though, he did redeem himself the next night by cooking supper – the sausages anyway – on the BBQ.  He did a pretty good job too; no hacksaws needed! 

It’s also nice that he’s tall enough now to reach stuff that I can’t.  I’ve put that ability to use a couple of times this week. 

Okay, I guess I’ll keep him 

Kat