Did a dingo steal my baby....already?

Well officially she's only been in Australia for 9 hours or so...but I haven't heard from her! I followed the news, I checked the internet. No planes went down in the last 35 hours so she must be there!

I know that as soon as she's gotten settled in and as soon as she's got some means of connecting she'll let us know she's okay...unless they got her, the dingo's I mean!

So for now, I will be anxiously awaiting her message!

Hugs Baby Girl!
Miss you like crazy!

Never thought I would be doing that!

On the weekend we went to the Exhibition. It's kind of like a city version of the fall fair. You know rides, vendors, good greasy quality food and such.

Every year the girls and I go so they can partake of the damn fine deals they get in the various buildings. Every year they come away with new clothing for school on a very slim budget and every year I drool over the hot tubs. I want a hot tub. I know that hot tubs are an expensive investment, I know the expense to upkeep them is significant but I also know the healing benefits of the wonderful big bathtub with jets that knead away the stiff and soreness of the the day!

This year was going to be the year. Rob and I had discussed it last year. Then over the winter the car started to sputter and the roof started to leak and damnit there went the hot tub!

The car is in getting fixed as I sit here to the tune of $2,000 and well the roof will be about the same plus a little more. I hate attempting to be a responsible adult and refusing to go into debt for the luxury items that I sooooo want!

Anyway my point here is I try and be responsible and very rarely do I splurge on anything for myself at the Ex...usually I do the internal sulk..."If I can't have the hot tub, I don't want anything!" This year, I bought myself something that I can honestly say I never thought I would!

Can you guess what it was? Nah, you'll never guess cause I have been adamant that I would never pay the money for that!

I bought these:
Yes they are even this color as this was the only colour they had in my size! Yes, they are pink and orange and they are honestly the most expensive pair of plastic sandals I've ever bought!

They were worth EVERY penny!

Another thing that I never thought I would be doing was dropping my kid off at the airport to go to Australia for 10 days without me! A trip to Australia is what we planned to do if we ever won the lottery.

That's all good though, since now she can take pictures, get the lay of the land and let us know if it's worth the 28 hour travel time. I mean since they've grown up we've all said we'd love to do Asia as well so...a little change of plans never hurt anyone!

So for the next 10 days I'll be a little cranky as I miss one of my brood....but she'll be having the time of her life and showing off her smarts in a land down under!

Could NEVER be prouder!

I'm BACK!!!

I actually returned from my trip away to Ottawa on Tuesday night but things have been very busy with lots of things going on!!

Ottawa was a very interesting trip. While I was there the American President rolled into town with 400 of his closest aides. This closed down airports, streets and even some shops (I think the owners may have been out trying to catch a glimpse of him (read throw a rock at!)

Aside from that very interesting little bit of excitement the days were long, the nights were lonely and traveling by yourself to an unfamiliar city with demonstrators everywhere around you (my hotel was 2 or 3 blocks from Parliament hill) really does suck!

On my way back from Ottawa, I gave Colleen a call to tell her I wasn't coming to pool and was greeted by my sobbing friend's little "hello..." Clearly things were not going well and when she broke her news to me that her Dad had been diagnosed with the "Big C" just that afternoon...well the rush was on to get home to be there in her absence. I made it just in time to organize the guys on the team into winning spirits. They really aren't good at decision making, keeping score or anything besides playing pool! Anyway, Colleen called me later that night to let me know that although the diagnosis was made, the prognosis was not...more to follow on that one! Please keep Colleen and her family in your prayers!!

After a long day on Tuesday and not seeing my hubby and kids for 3.5 days, I decided to go into work a little later than usual and spend some time with my gang at home. I didn't go in till around 8:30am. It was our wedding anniversary after all and the least i could do is give him a taste of what I was sure he had been missing, in fact I increased the dosage by 10cc's (just kidding!, an increase of that much rat poison all at once...clearly he would notice!!) Anyway by about 8 o'clock he was napping in the chair and the furthest thing from his mind was reminiscing about our wedding day 9 years ago!

Off to work and a busy day it was getting ready for today's presentation to a wonderfully satisfied client! (sarcasm at it's finest!, I clearly get all the good ones!)
Last night when I got home, dinner was being made by the eldest daughter (a very nice schnitzel dinner by the way!!!) and the entire family spent a quality 10 minutes together before making their way off to their other engagements. Hubby left for work at 9pm and I left for my Wednesday night standing date with my other spouse that will soon be moving away!

Dammit another late night and therefore a very painful awakening this morning! Two meetings today and another late night today since it's the girls night to show those boys in the pool hall just what we are all about!

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and for me the end of a long week and beginning of a long 4 day weekend since I don't have to be back at work until Wednesday.

Hope all is well with you and remember to say "I love you" even if you're having a bad day!

Hugs!!

The Nation's Capital

I'm heading out to our Nation's Capital this weekend. I've never been. It's only 5 hours away! Pretty pathetic isn't it. Well no less pathetic than the fact that I live less than 30 minutes away from the CN Tower and until Brianne came to visit from the US last year...I had never been!

Anyway, I'm driving there all by myself. No hubby, no kids, no co-workers...just me and the conference booth and a van full of marketing materials!

Wish me luck!

Mixed Emotions

Got some news today from a very good friend of mine. In fact, I would probably consider her one of my best friends.

For many years now we have laughed together, cried together, played together and vacationed together. We even slept together! but she sleeps with everyone...LOL!

I've known for some time that she and her fiance have been exploring the possibility of moving to another city about 100 km's away. This is a place north of Toronto that has reasonable housing costs and it will half the distance to their cottage.

She is a friend that has always talked about leaving the job she hates, getting married, having babies, buying a house etc and although I listen to her....well let's just say I never really considered the implications. Let's just say she's TALKED ABOUT IT! for a very long time.

Well, she's found a job in that city and is actually giving her notice today at the job she hates and starting the new job on the 27th of August. Man, that's only two weeks away.

I'm going to miss our standing Wednesday night date.
I'm going to miss our bitch sessions about our men.
I'm going to miss evenings sitting in my backyard, getting rid of her grey hairs and drinking coffee
I'm going to miss our playing pool together on Thursdays Girls Team

I'm going to miss my friend!

However:

I am going to be happy that she is no longer in a job that she hates
I am going to be happy that she will own that house she wants
I am going to be happy that she will now move towards getting married and having a family
I am going to be happy that she is only an hour away and I will still get to see her
I am going to be happy because I have internet phone that allows me to call her daily if I want for free
I am going to be happy that she will still be my friend


True friends are hard to find and when you do find one, you know that no matter the distance between you, you will always be together....