Stress Relief 101

  A few things are raising my blood pressure and I think if I get them off my chest I might not have a heart attack in my sleep tonight. Yes it's that high. So let's begin.....

  Another shooting at another school in the US today. I'm going to say this in a way everyone can understand. I'll use small words we all know the meaning of. The reason this keeps happening is GUNS. Yes, these people have been radicalized or are mentally ill or blah blah blah. But if there wasn't such easy access to guns this wouldn't happen on a weekly basis. GUNS. Period. 

  Joe Biden is on an apology tour for being in a few women's personal space. Not touching them. Not grabbing them. Not saying inappropriate things. Not sexual in any way, shape or form. Just being too close. Making at least two women feel uncomfortable. Ever ridden on a bus or subway during rush hour? That's being in someone's space. Sit in coach on a plane? Someone's space is being invaded. Holding someone's hand for a second too long or giving a hug to someone in pain? Not a problem. And if you are offended by that or uncomfortable....tell the person. Right then and there. Think about the intention and give the person a chance to understand what they have done wrong.

  Both Premier Ford and PM Trudeau got bad press for coming to the flooded areas in Ottawa this past week. They both were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. Were they a distraction? Of course they were. Did their visits bring extra attention to the devastation? Yup. But peoples anger over it is childish and foolish and needs to stop immediately. People are losing their homes. That is what should be the focus. Grow up.

  Measles is being reported in record-breaking numbers these past few months. Again an easy way to explain this situation....VACCINATE YOUR KIDS! Omg, it's so simple. So easy. Mothers in third world countries carry their kids miles and miles and miles to have them vaccinated. And we have parents who won't drive five minutes to have their children protected. Ask any doctor. Or nurse. Or Pharmacist. Ask me I'll tell you. Just get the damn needles. It's free for God's sake. Don't have a family doctor? Go to a clinic or Public Health. Call your MP or MPP and ask them where you can get it done. Just get them the needles.

  Finally, I'm so tired of hearing about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's soon to be born baby. Every baby is a blessing. Theirs is no more important than any other baby. Hard to believe I know but it's true. My kids? Just as important. Yours? Ditto. The world welcomes approximately 353,000 babies each day! Every day!! This one is no more and no less, important than any of the other 352,999. And we should remember that.

  I feel better already. Maybe I'll survive the night.

 Ang

Next!

  Doing home renos comes with a mixed bag of emotions. There is the excitement of something being pretty, clean and new. Followed by the fear of how much money is going out. Then the disappointment that it takes much longer than you thought to complete! Just as soon as we finished our beautiful, amazing, perfect family room...can you tell I love it?...we are starting in the powder room!

  Unlike the laundry, kitchen or family room not much is changing in the bathroom. Cleaned up. Prettied up. New fixtures but in the same spots. There is only one little extra thing I want to change and it's a sticking point for John and me.  I want some new floor tiles that will be the big wow factor for the room. He doesn't want the hassle of removing the old ones.

  Realistically there are twenty-one tiles in the bath. Hardly any right? That's what you would assume but...they continue into the hallway and entryway. Some are old. All are ugly. My idea is if we are taking out the bath tiles why stop there? What's another one hundred and seventy-one???? This is the moment where John's eyes roll and he hangs his head as he walks away.

  Somewhere in his brilliant mind, he knows I'm right. The amount of work to remove them all makes his knees hurt just thinking about it I'm sure. But he also doesn't want to do what we Maritimers call a "half-ass job". Cutting corners makes things look not quite right and we really want to avoid that at all costs. Well maybe just me.

  Right now I'm 100% in the excitement phase of renos. I have plans and spent a crazy amount of time on Pinterest today. I've found a toilet, vanity, and countertop. There are tiles and light fixtures picked out. The faucet is taken care of too. I've even looked at wallpaper to go behind the sink though I'm still undecided on whether that will happen or not. 

  It will take a few hours to remove everything in that small space. Add on a day to patch up a few spots and paint. Another to put the new things in. Realistically it's a weekend job. So I totally understand why John doesn't want to touch the tiles. I get it. But.... 

  Time will tell who wins the war of the flooring. The odds are 50/50 as I type this. I will use all my design knowledge to sway him to my way of thinking. Give it a few days and I'm sure his vision will be the same as mine. 

  I do know one thing though. New tiles or old ones, John will create a beautiful powder room. And it will take much longer than one weekend so I guess I know two!

  Ang





  

  

Patience...There's Never Enough

  One week ago I folded a basket of towels. Fresh from the dryer and super soft. They even had that snuggle smell. As one of my wonderful kids went upstairs, I won't say which, they were asked to take the basket with them and put the ten towels in the linen closet. Please and thank you. Exactly one week later the same basket with the same towels still in it, is in the exact same position beside the bathroom door where it was left.

  If you have kids then you know patience is the number one thing necessary to raise them. Love comes a close second...but not too close. From the second they are born children test the one thing we can never have enough of. Starting with sleepless nights then moving on to the terrible twos and the tyrant threes, we struggle to keep our tempers when we have walked on one too many lego pieces and found crayon marks on the newly painted wall. It isn't just you....it's all of us. 

  Once school starts we believe our patience will return but then it's schedules and trying to get out the door at the right time. Getting our little angels to eat cereal for breakfast when they absolutely must have toast with the crust cut off is a mind-numbing crisis we face almost daily. All the while we are figuring out what to tell our boss as we arrive late for work again instead of screaming "get in the car" like we really want to be doing.

  The teenage years, as we are finding out, put those other complaints to shame. "In a minute" is every thirteen to eighteen-year-olds favorite phrase. But it doesn't mean what you think. Nope, it actually means "when I get around to it but certainly not this week." Accepting that is the biggest test of patience. And to be honest, both John and I are failing....badly.

  Since we still have quite a few years before we are empty nesters maybe we need to take up yoga or meditation. Something calming and relaxing for the long road ahead. 

  Too bad we don't have the patience left for either one of them!

  Ang

**FYI the towels have finally made it to the closet. Who put them there is anyone's guess 🙂**