Personal Trainer!

When Blaine was just over a year old I took the personal trainer course through the YMCA to be certified for my cardio kickboxing clients. I did the first half and passed with flying colours. I was scheduled to do the second half when Blaine got pneumonia, he was very sick so I had to cancel and not go. Which means I never finished and never actually got certified.

I have decided that I am at a point in my life I would like to say to my clients, "Yes of course I am certified and I keep up with my yearly training". I know if the world of fitness you don't have to be and it really means nothing to anyone. A certified personal trainer could suck at it, and someone who isn't certified could be awesome at it. This time I am going to go through CANFIT PRO because it is USA and Canada recognized, not that it matters, but when you ask someone they normally know what Canfit Pro is.

There are lots of reasons to become a personal trainer and my reasons for wanting to become one is the same reasons I love to teach cardio kickboxing, helping others reach their goals. Many people want to become one because of the money there is to be had in the fitness industry, well not me, I pick 5 clients to coach each 6 months for free and I don't charge much for coaching when I do charge.

As a fitness coach you don't need to look like a super model or be built like an MMA fighter, most people find those two extremes to be unattainable and intimidating. Am I fit yes, is it a daily process yes, did it happen over night god no, do I slip up, of course I do I am only human too.

As a coach I am real, I know your struggle because I have and I do struggle with the same things daily. I am a mom, I run a small business, have a house, animals, and of course my fitness clients.
I learn from my clients just as much as I teach them, each person, each situation and each moment is a moment to learn something new. My clients feel comfortable being open and honest with me because I am that with them and I do not judge. Being a judgemental coach is useless and the only place its going to get you is client-less.

Shaking things up, I coach different than many other coaches because I coach to what you need and want. I offer meal planning, shopping lists, one on one work outs, group work outs, work out plans, measurements, daily tips, monthly photos, almost 27/4 help. I want photos of what your eating,  you need to be accountable for not working out. At the end of each month each there is a prize for the one who worked the hardest and best stuck to their plan.

You can work out everyday, you can lift tones of weights, but if you don't change your eating habits, portion sizes and thinking about food nothing will ever change for you. The sayings weight loss is 80% in the kitchen 20% in the gym is true, you can eat whatever you want in small amounts, you can't eat whenever you want late in the day because your less likely to even move much because you are beyond tired from working, chasing the kids and cleaning that food will turn to fat. You can't starve yourself but you can't eat 2000 cals every meal either.

We all tend to have this mindset that we want to look "perfect" and of course everyone's idea of perfect is different but here is the thing, its not about having the "perfect" body its about feeling good about yourself, having energy, enjoying life and just being all you can be. Overeating and undereating may seem like too completely different issues but they are just two sides of the same coin. The struggle is with food, changing your mind set and thinking and creating new life long good habits. Are you going to be 100% everyday for the rest of your life? NO but you will wake up every morning knowing you will do your best to eat good foods and move as much as you. You will wake up knowing each morning is a new day, a new beginning and a new chance to give it your all.

All it takes it one step! Are you going to take that step?

Bullet Journal

Its just a trend that I am 100% sure of, but I fell hard for it and I am in love! My problem is I suck at keeping up with something like that daily. So the daily, weekly list you can put in it are useless for me. I do have a daily to do list that I write out the night before to remember everything I have to do for the day.

I need to redo my book these pictures kind of suck, I will take new photos once I get my new book finished.

This page in my book is about Blaine, it is everything that he needs to know before he starts school in Sept 2018. I am still on the fence about homeschooling him. Once he finishes this list I will move on to things he needs to know for Grade one!

Books I would like to read. This list is a growing list!!!!

As you can tell I am not even close to an artist and you don't need to be, there are a lot of posts and pinterest ideas out there for doing special fonts or cute things. That's not my thing, I like simple and well I suck at drawing.

Everyone needs a bucket list page!!! We all have things we want to do at some point in our lives. Even if its small things. It was fun to write this out and as I wrote it out I thought of more things that I want to do or experience.

Most posts say your book should start with a glossary, mine on the other hand starts with my yearly goals!! This is important to me because every time I open this week I look at and see where I am at in my life. As you can see it is almost Sept. and I haven't even done one thing yet. Its been a busy year to say the least.

This is my favourite page in the whole book. This is my 3 week meal plan. I do it with post it notes so I don't have to rip pages out every week. I am able to just pull one shopping list out each week!

Spring/Summer bucket list. I made this of things I wanted to do with Blaine this year. We have done a few things on the list and a lot more to do yet. My goal was to enjoy everyday of the nice weather and we have been doing just that.

There are a lot more pages that were in my book until it got wet, the joy of children! I will update this post with pictures from the new book and soon as I get it finished.

Pages missing:

Birthdays
Movies
My blog ideas list
Christmas
Monthly workout challenges
Measurements
Savings
Debt pay off
Project process
TV tracker
Places I want to take Blaine
What makes me happy
Summer Sch.
Bosscos Training list


I used to keep daily, weekly, monthly cleaning lists in it as well as some other lists but I just never kept up with it so whats the point.



Do you keep a bullet Journal? What lists do you have in yours?

Movie: Fences

Just watching this movie the other day, it was one I have wanted to walk for a long time. Thankfully I have an android box and I didn't have to pay a rental fee or see it in theaters because in my opinion it wouldn't be worth the fees. It wasn't a horrible movie by far but not even close to my even top 20 movies. Now it may be that I am just not understanding what the story was supposed to be about, but I feel it jumped stories too much.

I understand they they were trying to highlight life for someone from the 1950s who grew up in harsh conditions and raising a child when black people were just starting to get the same rights as whites. What I don't understand is where or why this other women came into play. In all honestly it could be just me, but it felt like a bunch of the story was missing. His marriage appeared perfect, he loved and was attracted to his wife. Was an asshole dad, and took forever to build a fence.


I wouldn't say don't watch it; however, at the same time I wouldn't say run out and rent or buy it now either. Maybe if you had nothing else to watch because ALL your shows are on break and you have seen all the other movies you want to see, then watch it, other than that I give it 2/5 stars.

I am usually pretty easy going with movies and enjoy watching them especially when they are about the past, history, war, etc etc there is always something new to learn even if the movie is not based on a true story.

Have you seen the movie? What is your opinion about it?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2671706/

Business review: The Hair Boutique

Being a small, local business we like to support other businesses like ourselves. There are a lot of businesses that we buy from personally and from a business stand point too.

This month I decided to do a review on a local business that I use personally.

Sarnia has many many salons and I have used almost all of them and never been really happy. My friend opened her own Salon called The Hair Boutique, it is located in Point Edward at 105 St.Clair Street, right across from the OPP station. I decided to give her a try a few years ago when she first opened, not much to loose at the point I had never been to the same salon more than once because they always messed something up.

In 2015 I decided to colour my hair rainbow colours. It turned out amazing and yes the colours stayed bright, I wish I had more photos of it over time. It has been almost 2 years and I still have colours in my hair so if your worried about it washing out over time, it takes years to fully come out unless you dye it again.

She has never messed up my hair and I am picky when it comes to my hair. The Hair Boutique offers the following services; hair cuts, colours, styles, wedding parties, eye brow waxing, and of course colour. All ages and hair types!

Anita is very professional but the atmosphere of the salon is fun and laid back. It is a quaint shop right next to the ice galore. When you walk in you see a bright, smiling face doing someones hair while offering you a sunshiny Hello. She is always happy to try something new or crazy and loves to see all the ideas you have from Pinterest.

As long as she is in business it will be the only place I will go and of course the only person I recommend to everyone. I have many friends who go to her and they are very happy repeat customers.

If you want a great hair care experience stop in at The Hair Boutique and visit Anita.

April 2015

Sept 2015

Blaines birthday outfit

Last years outfit didn't so as planned because well I was behind on EVERYTHING. This year I am on the ball and I made his outfit last night.

In our business we create a lot of our own patterns or use old clothing to make a pattern out of and modify as we need. This time I used an old pair of his shorts to make the shorts for his outfit, the only problem with this is HOURS of seam ripping to make sure you have everything including the seam alliance. I had fabric for his shorts months ago but we ended up needing it for a client order, so I went to Chatham where my favourite fabric store is located, R&B Fabrics.
 R&B Fabrics is a small local business that is family run. The staff and owner is amazing, the amount of fabric they have is astonishing.

After hours of seam ripping I had my pattern, woot! I pinned the pattern to the Disney Cars fabric I picked out. Cut it all out, and started sewing, I have never in my life made shorts and the down side of doing a pattern from clothing is there are no instructions. It took 3 seam rips but I now know how to do them and they turned out awesome. I got Blaine to try them on and he wouldn't take them off.

The shirt I made as well, kinda, I bought the plain white shirt at Walmart, printed and cut the iron ons and put them on the shirt.

All in all the outfit turned out amazing and I can't wait to see him wear it at his birthday.

Being A Women who Loves too Much: Childhood

I have written, erased and rewritten this post more times than I can count. I have to retell my life from my childhood and it is a hard thing to do. I don't want to hurt my mom and I don't want to hurt the just beginning relationship with my father. At the same time retelling it brings up a lot of things that I may not be prepared to deal with.

Every memory I have of my mom and any partner is of them fighting with each or mom fighting with whoever she is with. There are not too many good memories and the bad out weighs the good.

My mom was raised in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and who was in a string of bad relationships. She had to grow up too fast, had to take care of her mom. She met my dad at some point I don't even know the story of how they met. She got pregnant with me when she was 16, far to young to be a mom. Her and my dad got married, this should never have happened period. I can only guess what it was like for them both forced into marriage and not having a clue how to even take themselves let alone take care of a baby.

They split for the first time before I could even walk and my mom was onto the next one. My dad was abusive physically, I can't remember if it was mentally but I do know it was physically with my mom and my self. He was raised by his mother and my Papa, which I just learned of the true story about them I never had any idea.

When I was three we move to where I live now, my dad and mom bought a house, my grandmother from my moms side moved here as well. My dad joined the local carpenters union. I have no idea when my aunt and uncle moved here but at some point they did the same and my uncle joined the carpenters union as well. I remember my dad working on lots of cars with my uncle, I remember owning a car that we had to use a screw driver to start, and playing in the old trucks in the back yard.

We spent as much time as possible up in my home town with my grandmother and papa on my dads side. My dad was in and out of my life, my mom drank too much, my dad did too many drugs and my aunt and uncle were always around. My cousins were my best friends and of course I watched them and my sister after school from a young age. We all grew up together and we grew apart as well.
The police were called often, there was always people around lots of partying and drinking and fighting of course. I don't think my mom every really loved us, I know she tried of course and did everything she had to do to take care of us. My dad was out of my life more than he was in it.

I had serious issues from the time I was very small, I had anger issues but what child wouldn't growing up like that. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother on my moms side and she became my surrogate mother. She is the women who raised me more than my mom did. We moved in and out of my grandmas and apartments a lot when I was young and my dad was still around.

My mom was in a serious of bad relationships, drank too much, worked too much and went to school. She took care of everything like she was supposed but never really was "with" us. Back then I was what was called a latch key kid, meaning I came home and no one was home. My mom always had dinner in containers for me to warm up for my sister and if my cousins came home with us that day.

I remember some but not all of my mom relationships.The first long term relationship I remember she having was my first step dad, Jim, he was just as abusive as my dad but bigger and louder. Police were called often, lots of parties and again drugs on his part.

My second step dad and the one who raised me and my sister was as far as I could tell a good man, he never hit anyone, rarely yelled, liked to spend time with us, and loved us. Lots of parties and drinking continued, this step dad didn't do drugs and from what I know was my moms longest relationship. She split from him a few times, moved us all the way to Sudbury because she suddenly wanted to be with my dad again and within a month we were back home with my step dad. I felt safe with my step dad, pretty sure he was the only man my whole life that I actually felt this way with. He seemed like he cared.  Well according to my mother when she finally got sober that he never loved me, actually hated me and never wanted me in his life. I don't know if this is true or not I haven't had the guts to actually ask him, but it hurt and broke my heart.

Through my childhood my dad would beat me, beat my mom, yell, threaten, just be an asshole, I didn't know a relationship to be anything but pain and hurt. My grandmother had an odd relationship with the man we called brad. I never seen my grandmother drink, she got dry before my time and I am glad she did. She loved me, she cared for me, every one said she was just trying to make up for what she didn't/couldn't do with the all of her children when they were small but I didn't care. When I was small this is all I wanted, to be loved and cared for by someone. I trusted her and always felt safe with her. I know now as an adult it was an unhealthy relationship but as a small child it was all I had.

Being a child in a home like the one I had caused me to have all kinds of issues and I became the one in the family who just couldn't listen, couldn't handle the word "no" and was bad. Well to everyone but my grandma. I would hit, kick, bite, go into blackout fits of rage before I even started school. I hated everyone. Once I started school this wasn't a safe place for me either, I was sexually molested by another little girl in my class daily. It started out at circle time. I soon didn't want to go to school and would throw fits about going, once again I was just the bad kid and didn't want to listen. I learned from 5 years old to rely on myself and only myself and my abilities, that I could trust no one else. By grade 1 I learned if I was teachers pet and too busy doing things for her the abuse would stop. At school I could pretend life at home wasn't happening. I spent all my school years being perfect in school, doing everything right, being helpful and of course cute. At home life got worse not better. I lived with my grandmother more than my mother. I had mental break downs and "freak outs" and just couldn't function.

I had the cool mom once I got older, I had no curfew, she didn't care what I did or who I did it with as long as the police didn't bring me home. I was raped the Canada Day before I turned 15 by 2 guys who were supposed to be my friends. I went home to tell my mom her exact words were "your clothes are not ripped so your lying". The following year just before the 1 year mark I had a major break down and was hospitalized. I went through one horrible relationship to another using whatever "power" I had to win boys over. I was cute, sweet and everyone loved me and I used this to my advantage.
I left home for good when I was 16. I moved in with my grandmother and then went from one bad relationship to the next. Every man I was with was abusive usually physically. Back then mental abuse wasn't really a thing. My mom got sober when I was 18 almost 19. We had our first physical fight the night of her last drunk. I grew up taking care of her, making sure I had her keys so she wouldn't drive drunk, I can't count the times she told me she wanted to kill herself or tired to drive drunk or tell me that I would just find her dead in a snowbank.

She worked in many bars from the time I was young. I remember being in these bars and being the cute little one. Men would give me quarters for the music machine and lift me up onto the pool tables. I would put her to bed most nights because she was too drunk too, so I would kindly put her to bed and make sure I had her keys, I continued this in every alcoholic relationship from then on. It was my job to make sure they were safe, to calm them down from harming them or someone/something else.

Once she got sober she left my step dad and had a couple relationships and she now has been with my third step dad for a few years now. I like him, hes a nice guy. When she got sober and was in AA I thought it would be mean that her and I would have be able to have a real relationship but that never happened and never will. She replaced drinking and not raising me with AA and too busy with those things, but that's okay at this point I am so used to it I just don't care anymore.

https://twitter.com/al_anon

My childhood was one giant confuckle. I protected my sister from my father and all the nasty business that came with him, she grew into an
 adult who thought he walked on water. I took care of my mom day after day. My mom see our past a little bit different than I do. She see it as, well hers was worse, or others had it worse or it wasn't that bad. Well its too bad she was too drunk, too busy or just not even there to actually have lived what I did.

As I grew into an adult I took care of everyone, doing things that I thought I had to do to keep them happy, keep them in my life, keep them loving me. I did things they were more than capable of. I treated everyone like children and it seems I attracted those who enjoy that role.

My childhood was the roadwork to me as an adult. We tend to forget that we give children what they need to travel the world of adulthood safely. We forget that its a parents job to teach our children what a relationship looks like, how they should act and we forget that they only go into the future with what we have given them as children. I went into adulthood with only the ability to please, help, take care of, and "use" my "powers" to get what I wanted or needed.

When these children grow up we have to relearn everything, we have to teach ourselves how to be in a healthy relationship, how to properly treat others, how to set up boundaries and how to just be.

We can't fix anyone but ourselves!

M&B Creative Creations

Almost 3 years ago a friend of mine and I started a business together. It started out small and only doing tutus and bows.

Slowly over the years it has turned into us doing everything from sewing, tutus, bows, birthday invites and even embroidery. We do about 30 orders a week right now on top of doing shows in the community.

We love our business although you can tell some days that we spend way to much time together. Her youngest and Blaine are pretty much the same age. They play well together most days but being together everyday has created a brother/sister type of relationship so they tend to fight as well.

Right now the items that are ordered most are our custom shirts, we just started doing them last year and we have gone from strictly iron ons to vinyl for everything that we can.

We are lucky that we can do so much for our community. We donate to every event and online auction, we help out where ever we can and we also make weighted blankets for Autism Ontario, Weighted blankets when used correctly help with a multitude of things. Another item we make and donate are Gtube covers, theses help protect the delicate skin of infants that require feeding tubes, these we make in fun designs like batman!

Being in a community like we are, there are of course other small businesses similar to ours but not the same. Many places don't do EVERYTHING so you have to contact a different company to do each of the items you are wanting.

Events are fun, but hit and miss on sales depending on the type of traffic and of course the amount of traffic. We enjoy doing grand bend, lots of people and it is nice out there.

My favourite thing to make right now would have to be the stretchy car seat covers. So many fun fabrics to make them out of!

About a month ago our business became fully self supporting, it of course doesn't pay dividends yet but we are hopeful that within a year it will be.

We find our selves trying to stay away from pinterest because its too much pinterest ideas too little time in a day!

Do you enjoy crafting?

https://www.facebook.com/MBCreativeCreations/

Currently Reading July 2017

Reading is something I don't get to do as much as I would like to. I try to at least get 20 minutes in a day but some days with the dogs, Blaine, the business, the house, the yard and life I just don't seem to have the time. I always have more then one books on the go at the same time. Normally there is one downstairs, upstairs, in the SUV, in the truck, in my beach/park bag and an audio-book on my phone.

The books I am reading right now are:

One solider by Dillon Hiller
      It is about a Canadian Soldier who joins in the fight against ISIS by volunteering to help right at the front lines with the Kurdish army. Its a good book, so far.

Women who Love too Much by Robin Norwood
         This book is amazing and one I will read over and over again as soon as I finish it. I will write more later on about this book and how it has helped me

Wizard Squared Rouge Agent #3 by K.E. Mills
       At a crucial moment in time, their Gerald turned left ... but the alternate reality Gerald turned right.  I am enjoying this one but I think I liked the first one the best.

A stolen life: A memoir by Jaycee Dugard
     It is the book written by the young girl who was kidnapped for about 18 years. This book is hard for me to read, it creates anxiety in me about Blaine that I would normally not have.

The book of dreams  by O.R Melling
      Well I like this book I couldn't figure out why there was back story I was just not understanding. Turns out in my search for the author while writing this blog post, the book I have is the 4th book in the series. Guess I have to go out and get the first book.

I am short one book right now because I just finished call of the wild by Cheryl Strayed


What are you reading right now? Do you recommend a book I should read?

Bossco update July 2017

Bossco also known as Butthead in our house and it is said in the most loving way. He is smart, huge, hairy and full of energy.

Being an akita/shepherd he is triple coated, long haired and beyond smart. He knows many commands and I have barely had a chance to work with him one on one. He is an odd dog though loves other dogs but not a fan of people. He is scared of most men and will bark and growl. He is laid back but at the same time on edge. Bossco loves being outside, going for walks and hikes. Hes not a big cuddlier by any means but wants to be near you at all times.

Protector of the house and children, my goodness this dog will protect us no matter what it seems which is good and bad. He barks at everyone who walks by or comes near the house, which is a good thing because that is what a dog is supposed to do and he has even scared off a feel people from stealing things from our cars at night.

Prey drive in both of his breeds is really high, and he has it! He will catch any small animal that moves. Ace has taught him to a very good hunter. Food driven is not the word for it lol. Before I had Blaine I could leave a whole pizza on the table and neither him nor Ace would touch it. Fast forward to Blaine eating food and now they eat everything. You can't leave it for a second, once Blaine learns not to share his food with the dogs they will be retrained not to touch our food. I lost half a sandwich today to bossco because I forgot to put it up.....sigh he didn't even eat anything but the bread.

He is great with Blaine and just likes to chill but is always on alert for sounds or anything happening. He loves to play, him and Blaine chase each other and have a blast. They are quite the pair together.

He is only 4 so he has lots of years and life left in him which is awesome, him and Blaine can grow up together being the pair that they are.

He likes water although I haven't taken him to a beach before, I am thinking this summer I would like to. It is hard to take only him but Ace hates water and freaks out whenever we are in it.

Bossco is a "nanny dog" whenever Blaine has no clothes on he must "groom" him. It is how we are getting through potty training with keeping his clothes on him, Blaine hates it when bossco licks his butt. When we first started if Blaine had an accident bossoc would "clean it up" soooo gross I would go and get cleaning stuff come back and mess gone. My stomach turns at the though. YUCK!!!

Let me see all your fur babies in the comments!!!

Blaine update July 2017

Time flies when your having fun!! Blaine will be 3 years old Aug 5th. Its crazy how fast they grow and learn.

He is day time potty trained. Night time is a different story. He hates wearing diapers now and yes tells me when he has to pee and poop I don't even ask him unless its right before we head out. Blaine has a new obsession of peeing in the grass so hey it works for when we are outside or at a park with no bathroom the life of raising boys!

He is super smart, loves to make friends, plays and shares well with others (most of the time).

Last summer I created a list of everything that Blaine needed to know before he started kindergarten.
I went online and I searched for lists, every list was different. So I created a master list from each of those lists.

Blaine loves being outside, hiking, walking, the park, the beach and just exploring everything! He makes friends everywhere we go. Right now his favourite colour is Purple and he likes to play cat and mouse. We love going to the animal farm but he slightly scared of the animals this year, other than the bunnies. He loves food, not a fan of meat but that's okay. Loves his fruit and veggies. He speaks very well and NEVER stops talking, but I love it. We play cars most of the day and build with blocks. He is scared of pretty much every bug which is weird because I am not and have always exposed him to them.

Blaine is in preschool 2 days a week from Sept to June. He loves it and now that it is summer he asks about it at least once a day. His favourite people right now are Mommy and Grandpa. My child is stubborn and hard headed, has to learn everything the hard way and sometimes more then once lol.

I love to watch him just playing pretend with his cars and tools. Oh he has to fix everything :)




What to know before kindergarten list:

Write first name
Tell if 2 words rhyme
Identify patterns
Letter Sounds (He knows some but not all)
Practice Letters
Put Coat on
Count to 20 (He can count to 17 so far)
Do up Zippers (He can do them up and undo them as long as you start it)
Read a book ( We are working on this he can recognize words in some books as we read along)
Do up buttons
Practice Phone Number
Tie Shoes
Identify colours (He knows all colours including teal and beige)
Follow Directions (He can follow simple directions with under 5 steps)
Match Capital and Lower Case letters
Put on Backpack (He can do this no problem)
Rhyme Words
Practice Address
Wash Hands (yup hes got that)
Practice Scissors (He is very good with scissors including holding and cutting properly)
Put Pack on hook
Write 1-10
Wipe Nose (He has been able to wipe his nose on his shirt since about 15 months old lol)
Know Birthday
Cough into elbow
Shapes (He knows all of his shapes, we are working on the harder ones such as Hexagon)
Drink of fountain (He has been able to do this since he was a year old)
Count Objects (He can count objects, and knows just looking at ones that are under 5 pieces what they are without counting out loud)
Stand in line
Say ABC's (well he has most of these but not ALL just yet)
Open lunch pail
Know moms name (He just learned my "second name" about a week ago)
Know dads name (He has known and been able to say his dads "second name" since he was about 17 months)
Sight words
Hold a pencil
Identifies gender
Sort items
On, beside, under (he knows and can show you this)
Stop/go (He knows this and what lights mean go and what mean stop)
Hop on one foot (He can stand on one foot but it would appear he has my balance lol)
Take turns (He knows how to take turns and wait his turn)
Glue and paste (he is not a fan of arts and crafts but knows how to glue things onto paper and together)
Share (Yes he can do this, some days he is better at it than overs)
String Beads
Tidy up (yes he knows how to do this, if he will or not is another story)
Draw lines
Complete 9 piece puzzle (With help he can do the 10 piece ones but not into doing them alone)
Trace Lines
Put Pictures in Order
Cute paper with one hand (He can cut lots of things with one hand, not just paper)
Make a pancake, snake, ball from play doh
Big/Little (He knows how to tell objects are big or little, people, animals etc)
Throw a ball (He can throw way more than just a ball)
Sort by size
Sort by colour
Fast/Slow (Yes and he will tell you if he is going fast or slow. If a car is going faster or slower than us)
Tall/Short
Balance on 1 foot (for about 5 seconds)
less/more
Petal a bike
Ask for help (Yes and give help when needed)
Sort by shape
Taping
Hard/Soft
First/Last
Rain, Clouds, Snow (Knows all of these and hates that snow is cold)
Use manners (He has used manners in one way or another since he was just over a year, but now he knows them all and when to say each one)
Say Last name (He can say his first and last name)
Raise hand
Draw a person
Tells stories (He can tell you lots of stories)
Know age (as he has this one when asked and will even show you how many 2 is on his fingers)
Draw a circle
Know the genders
Draw a square
Act out a story


He hasn't gotten them all yet but I think its a pretty good start. One more year until he is off to Junior Kindergarten. I am still debating between home school and private school

Ace July 2017 update

Moo Moo or resident asshole as he is lovely called, is now 7 years old and my heart. I can't explain it. I love every foster that comes through, I love every dog we adopt but Ace I just love differently. He hikes with me, he knows all my moods, when something is wrong, when I need something, when I get confused and lost, he has just become my soul.

We went for our first big hike this year and afterwords I felt like the worst doggy mom in the world. It was a 12KM beautiful hike and he was having the time of his life, showing no signs of pain or anything else. Towards the end of the hike, I was lost and wondering for about 2 hours pretending I wasn't lost, attempting to find my way back to the truck. Well after 2 hours of wondering I finally said to Ace find the truck I put all my trust into him before I had to call the park rangers to come find us. I let go of his leash and followed him, within 45 minutes he led me back to the truck.

Ace is trail trained this means he knows all of my cues without me saying a word. He knows he has to stop on top of hills or inclines and wait for me and the same for declines. He knows when I need to take a break, he never pulls even once on the trails. Ace understands right and left commands, "hup" command which means up onto whatever is in front of him. He knows how to check puddles for which ones I need to go around. I am pretty sure I will never, ever own a dog like him again.

You can say its all about training, etc, etc. Its not just that, not all dogs can sense issues, not all dogs do trails well or are as willing to learn trails. Our bond is something that is just indescribable.

After our trail hike he was acting funny in the truck so I was getting him to lay down but every few minutes he was back up again moving around on the seat and then would settle for a few minutes and repeat. We stopped to visit my grandmother and he couldn't get out of the truck, I helped him down the best I could and watched him walk, he was limping very badly. He didn't fall or trip or anything on the trail. All the way home he was acting funny, at home I had to get help to get him out of the truck he could barely stand. This was a Saturday, I decided to give him rest and no walks for a few days and see how he was if he wasn't okay still I would call the vet.

I took to my other rescue friends and akita/husky owners to see what they thought, to see if their dogs had any similar issues. I was suggested glucosamine for hip care, well getting Ace to take any sort of pills is near impossible he always knows and wont eat the pill. I went into Pet Food Ware House here in town to see if I could get treats with it in them, yes I could but they gave something that might work better as it was concentrated. You just put it on their food twice a day. So I decided that I would do the same for Bossco as he is a big big boy and just better safe than sorry.

Normally when I leave without Ace he yelps and cries for a few minutes until I leave the driveway. For 2 weeks he came to the door but didn't make a sound. It broke my heart to know he was hurting. By week 3 he was yelping to come with me, getting up on the bed and couch with no issues, even licking the left over bits off the kitchen table. Week 4 he has started to play with Bossco again and run and chase the birds in the back yard. He has thankfully come back.

Ace still favours the one side often or if he gets doing to much and we have only been on one walk since and it was hard on him. Unfortunately he is getting older for his breeds, I didn't want to believe it not for a second and when I finally came to terms that my MOO, my world, my best friend wouldn't be here forever it broke me and broke my heart. I turned to the women in rescue who knew exactly what I meant when I explained my love for Ace being different than my love for the others. They told stories of their "heart dogs" and how no dog would ever place them.

I will do everything I can for Ace, but I will never ever force him to live in pain and suffering. I would never want him to live a life that he couldn't live to the fullest. Moo Moo being the way he is, high energy, active and go, go, go he gets depressed when he can't for whatever reason and if one day it becomes like that for him I will hold him as he crosses over the rainbow bridge. I will not keep him alive for selfish reason, I will not force him to endure because I don't want to hurt, or I will miss him. I will do what is best for him and only him.

My heart dog is Ace and I couldn't imagine my life without him, but for his sake one day I will have to decide that is best for him and not what is easier or more comfortable for me.

A lot of people say that you can not love an animal the way you do people, or that when you have children you will replace your dogs. Not for me, never for me, my dogs are my children even if they are only fostered for a short time. Each one deserves the same respect and love that I give my children. Do I love my kids without a second thought, but I love my dogs in the exact same way.

New moms sometimes fear their child getting hurt, dying or kidnapped, dog moms have the same fears. Fears the collar will slip while out on a walk, trying to chase a bird and they get hit by a car, or get lost and you have to search for them. It is the same fears a mom of a human child has, it is the same love, compassion and commitment to their well being as moms of human children. I know I will catch flack for this and I do on a daily basis in the mom group and that's okay. I believe those people have no idea what real unconditional love it. The love of an animal is just as the love of a child.


Give your fur babies an extra squeeze tonight, hold them a little longer for they are not here forever.

Random Acts Of Kindness July

When doing someone for another like holding the door open or allowing an older person to go first I never think of it as a random act of kindness. It was how I was raised and its called respect for others. I don't care if you 10, 100, male or female I will wait and hold the door for you. Random Acts of Kindness have become the new "in thing" which I think is great, donating food to the shelter, walking dogs for the humane society, things like that are great acts of kindness. Holding the door, using your manners, talking to your neighbours, thing like that are NOT random acts of kindness they are and all will be respect things and should be done period no questions asked its just something you do.

I try and do a random act of kindness at least once a week. If its picking up an extra bag of dog food for the shelter, paying for the coffee of the person in line behind me, etc. I want to show my son the difference between what is expected of him daily and what is a good deed/act of kindness.

Today my random act of kindness was paying for the coffee behind me at drive through. I don't need a pat on the back or a big thank you. I just wanted to make someone else smile. Maybe they were having a bad day, or just in a mood. I hope what I did made them stop for a minute and smile.


Everyday, all day we have small moments to make another persons/animals life a little brighter, a little easier and a little bit kinder. We don't live here alone and although we seem to have become a community of few words spoken to each other we all still deserve the respect of a door help open, a head nod or just a smile.

What have you done that has been selfless lately?

20 Things about me

http://www.glogster.com/jackfaulkner/me/g-6ldbb8tn4jg09gsr97obca0

I am sure there are a million things about me anyone could tell you, but to be honest I am not good at talking about me at all. I can talk about dogs, people, products, places, etc, etc until the cows come but when it comes to me "I got nothing". So here goes to trying to talk about me. This is a good step in the right detection for self discovery.


1) I am a bleeding heart for animals this means that I will even try and save a toad from being run over; however, at the same time yes I am a meat eater, my meat comes from a cruelty free farm. Yes these exist, in Canada anyway.

2) I had an adoption plan in place when I had my oldest son. I am a birthmom, I am proud of that but I am broken inside as well.

3) I struggled for many years to carry a child to full term after my first. Many miscarriages for me, too many to count, including one at 16 weeks. That was my last one, I was done I was so broken by that point I didn't even want to risk getting pregnant. My youngest son was my last go at it 5 years later when I got the nerve up.

4) My youngest son is 2, and some days his energy levels are too much for me lol.

5) I LOVE cheesecake. The only place in town I will eat it other than when I make it homemade is Coffee Culture it is amazing there.

6) I have serious body issues, not with anyone else, I think everyone is perfect the way they are. Me on the other hand I fight with anorexic eating and self hate.

7) I have 2 dogs at the moment one is an akita/husky and one is an akita/sheperd. My heart and soul dog is my akita/husky.

8) Hiking is my space. Its my mind clearing, just being space.

9) I suck at communication.

10) I have fibromyalga I struggle with all day every day pain and other issues caused by it.

11) I have been raped 4 times in my life

12) As a child at about age 5 I was sexually molested by another student, this continued daily for a few years. I told NO ONE other than a therapist a couple years ago.

13) After being molested at such a young age I started to cause self harm to my vagina.

14) I am the daughter of an alcoholic and that has caused many of the adult issues I have and am trying to work through.

15) I love the colour purple and its has been my favourite since I was very little.

16) The waterfront, the beaches, the beauty here, that most people in my community don't even think about when they spew their hate for living here, it's the reasons I stay. I couldn't Imagine living anywhere else.

17) I run a small business with a partner and we don't always see eye to eye, but without each other we wouldn't have gotten the business to where it is today.

18) My Brain Injury affects me daily and scares the crap out of me

19) I am not scared of spiders unless they see me first. If I see them first its all good.

20) I have OCD.


Well that was far harder than I thought it would be. I figured once I got started typing then it would be no big deal to post 20 things about me.

I love life and I love everyone in it. I couldn't ask for a better one

What is a random fact about you?

July 2017 Spotify Shuffle

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/music-memes.313115/

Music, there's not much I can say about it that hasn't been said before I love it! everything from classical to metal, each song I listen to means something different to me, provokes different feelings or brings back a different memory.

With my Rogers plan I get this app called Spotify its really cool I can listen to music anywhere, anytime right from my phone. As a paid for user I can use it in what is called "offline mode" This allows me to use it without using my data.

I am a strange one, most people have a different play list for every type of music they listen to, me on the other hand well I have one for teach cardio kickboxing and one for EVERYTHING else. If I am not in the mood for the song that comes on I just press next.

"My liked from the radio" list contains 350 songs on it currently

Song One: Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega
         Oh man this song reminds me of the days when I used to go to dances and such as a kid. It makes me want to move and dance! I love this song for cleaning, keeps me moving and upbeat

Song Two: Missing by everything but the girl
              This song reminds me of being really young and my mom listening to really loud music. Its a song I can sing and again its upbeat tune keeps me moving while I clean.

Song Three: Buddy Holly by Weezer
           Well hello younger days, I can sing this one as well and its upbeat you just want to move.

Song Four: Young, Wild and Free by snoop dog, wiz khalifa and bruno mars
        This is a head bob song, I can sing the chours lol. Yes I know a huge difference but I love this song too.

Song Five: Hail Mary by 2pac
          This song takes me back to grade 8/9. I love the beat and of course who doesn't love what 2pac has to say?

Song Six: Take a Little Ride by Jason Aldean
        Yes I know its horrible, I am a country fan. One OMG isn't he a beautiful piece of eye candy?

Song Seven: Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G
         Wouldn't you just hate to ride in the car with me? Again awesome beat.

Song Eight: Hypnotize by The Notorious B.I.G
         This one makes we want to dance and move, oh the freak dancing days.

Song Nine: You'll Think of Me by Keith Urban
          Country again, I know, I know! This song right now kind of bothers me. I love it but the words right now touch me more than they normally would.

Song Ten: No Diggity by Blackstreet
         Another move your body song.

Well its officially out there I am a music weirdo. I grew up with a mom who was into country and some 80s dance. A father who loved Steve Earl and AC/DC. A step dad who listened to Metal and rock from the 70s/80s and of course I grew up in the age of dance, hip/hop, RAP, R&B and grunge so I got a taste of it all and I good with that. I have loved classical since I was very young and no idea where that comes from.

Whats on your play list?

Product review: Jamberry Nails

As a business we are at a lot of vendor shows and I always love to look at the pretty nails from Jamberry nails. They have so many amazing colours and designs!

After years of looking at them I decided to buy and try them. Well let me start by saying next time I should video tape it so I at least don't look like I am talking to myself, and I am the LEAST girly girl you will ever meet. I don't even own a tube of lipstick.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. I get everything together, I had to buy nail polish remover, cotton balls and this nail kit thing to clean up my nails. All of which I got at the local dollar store. I get everything out including a hair dryer which only gets used when my sister does my hair.

I open the nails, look at the back of the package, it says follow the instructions for putting them on. I am thinking awesome there is going to be steps and the lady selling them made it sound super easy, I got this. Yes all of this is out loud, good thing my dog was with me or people would start to think I am losing it.

Pull out the nail wraps sooo cute dragonflies, I love dragonflies and butterflies and dogs, just a heads up they have cat wraps but no dog ones. I look inside the package for the instructions, hummm there's nothing in here but the nails. Okay don't panic, we got this, as the dog gives me the "we could be snuggling" look. I remember what the lady said on how to do this.


Okay here we go nail wraps on the table, looking at them looking at my fingers, who the hell made these giant man nail wraps. I go about cleaning my nails FYI nail polish remover in a cut equals OMG IT BURNS!!! I cut the nails in half like the lady said to do because each sheet gives you enough for 4 hands. Well apparently my nails are so small one sheet has enough for 8 hands my size.

Putting the first nail wrap on, I pull it off the sheet, press it on my nail, making sure there are no air bubbles, by the way this worse than the screen things for cell phones. I get it all flat and pretty, I trim the end off, well for crying out loud that created more bubbles, its okay we got this i smooth it out again. I turn the hair dryer on and watch the dog run for his life and at this point I am thinking he has the right idea. I heat my nail and wrap for 30 seconds and press hard for about 10 seconds.

After that mess I learned to cut the wraps in half to fit my nails better and trim before smoothing them out.

After an hour I have them all on both hands! Left hand is far harder to put them on than the right hand. They look so pretty!

Not long after I had them on the burning starts. FML they must contain latex :( well then off they come. They came off easy as they were not sticking right for me. This could be caused by a few things such as; I suck at being a girl or I just don't have the patience.

They are a cool product and you can get them for about 19.00 a sheet. They are supposed to last a week which is great for those of you who love to have your nails done all the time.

Would I try them again? No thanks I am good without burning fingers and besides pretty nails are not really my thing!

I suggest you give them a try they would be great fun for a little girls party or a girls night!

Cardio Kickboxing: July's Challenge

Summer is here, it is hot and everyone already wanted to have their beach body. Well surprise even if you managed to get the body you wanted before summer started you have to maintain it. In spite of all that amazing summer food and drinks that you want to indulge in, you have to keep up with everything just the same as if you were trying to get the body of your dreams.

Congratulations if you got your body, I am almost there but not exactly where I want to be yet.

This months challenges are sit ups and drinking your water!!

Now if I had been posting like I should have been you would have known that each month we have a fitness challenge and a health challenge. You would also know that on the last day of the month you not only have to do the 100 sits up you have to do all the challenges from the months prior.

So far we have had 100 Squats, 100 crunches and now this month it will be 100 sit ups so on the 31st of July everyone will be doing 100 squats, 100 crunches and 100 sit ups as well as the rest of the days cardio kickboxing work out.

We used to do our work outs a tad different but as per the classes liking I changed them around.

What one of my cardio kickboxing classes look like

30 crunches, 20 jumping jacks, 20 bicycle crunches, 30 knee highs, 30 laying toe touches, 30 butt kickers, 20 reverse crunches, 5 jump squats, 30 bicycle crunches, 10 front kicks per side, 15 right side ups, 30 mountain climbers, 20 reverse crunches, 5 burpees, 15 left side ups, 20 jumping jacks, 10 laying leg lifts, :30 seconds jump rope, 15left side plank  knee to elbow, 5 jump squats, 30 crunches, 10 back kicks per side, 15 right side plank knee to elbow, 30 jumping jacks, 40 Russian twists, :40 jump rope.

Now we partner up or shadow box depending on the number of students

Combos 1-4 2 mins
30 Alternating hooks
Combos 1-4 with front kicks 2 mins
30 Alternating Jabs
Combos 1-4 with sit ups 2mins
30 Alternating Knees
Combos 1-4 with knees
30 Alternating upper cuts

30 round house kicks per side.

Switch partners or if you are shadow boxing and would like to run through it again.

Then we finish with yoga
Its new yoga every month and no 2 classes are ever the same!

Pinterest! Mozzarella Sticks

Mine

Who doesn't love bar food? I know personally I love those platters you can get with all sorts of different things on it such as potato wedges and wings. Sigh such great tasting food, far too much deep fried crap.

I was craving amazing Mozzarella sticks like no other and I also had crescent rolls in the fridge that needed to be used before they expired. I have no idea why I buy them we have never eaten them before, but every time they go on for a dollar I "have" buy them. Most end up just getting tossed so this time I decided why not give the Mozzarella sticks a try that use the rolls to cover them.

This is a super simple recipe even can be done with the help from the wee ones.

This is my simplified version of the recipe, below it you will find the link to full recipe if you require lots of detailed instructions

What you need:

Tube of crescent rolls
Mozzarella cheese strings
Pizza Sauce
Butter
Italian seasoning

What to do:

Set your oven to 375. I set mine to 350 because it always runs hot and then everything burns
Put parchment on you cookie sheet, saves on a ton on scrubbing.
Cut your cheese strings, I got 4 pieces from each cheese string
Open your tube hopefully without scaring the crap out of yourself, thankfully mine didn't do that giant POP
Melt your butter and add your spices to the butter
Put a bit of pizza sauce on each triangle dough piece. Now here I cut my triangles in half because I am not a huge fan of a lot of dough.
Roll your cheese up in the dough
Put them on your cookie sheet, put a bit of the butter sauce on them
Toss them in the oven for about 13 mins.

This is the link to the actually recipe https://www.pinterest.com/pin/24347654218649965/

Now my review of this recipe. I didn't like it and I wont be making it again. I don't like the dough on them. Stay tuned for my other trials to find the perfect baked mozzarella stick!

Bucket List

Only old people make bucket list right? and only because they didn't get to do enough exciting things in their younger days right?

Wrong! I created a bucket list a few actually. One for spring/summer, one for fall/winter of things I want to do and things I want to do with my son.

I created a huge bucket list of things I want to do before I can't enjoy them as much as I would now. A couple things have already been crossed off and I plan to do so many a year. After I empty my bucket I plan on refilling it with more exciting things to do.

Here is my bucket list



Shoot guns. We have a local outdoor gun range I just need to book a date.

Go to the a drive in movie. There a drive in place not to far from here I just have never been.

Go to PEI. I love our coasts and this has always been a dream of mine to travel Canada.

Spend Canada Day in Ottawa. Who wouldn't want to party in their country's capital on its birthday.

Go to Vancouver. Of course another one of our beautiful coasts that must be seen in person.

Visit Salem which house. These places are said to contain the spirits of those pasted and you can feel their energy.

Scotland. I think this would be on the bucket list of most who would want to travel.

Greece. My oldest son goes here every summer and spends a few weeks. I want to travel there not because he does but because I want to see the ruins of the gods.

Travel on a plane. Yes I have never been on a plane, it has to do with fear of heights, yes I know I have to travel by plane to many of the places I want to visit.

Kiss under mistletoe. I know, I know who lives under a rock and hasn't done this yet, well surprise I haven't :)

Pin up photo shoot done. These have always looked like so much fun and I love the way they dress.

Waltz. The dance that makes you feel like a princess, as long as you don't have 2 left feet.

Experience Zero Gravity. Its like being in space without leaving earth!

Swim with dolphins. No not the kind you go south and pay to swim in a tank with them, I think that's cruel. I want to swim with wild ones and just be near them.

Chocolate Festival In Burges. OMG chocolate!!!!

Rebuild my dream car. This has been a dream since I was small and working on cars with my dad. I want to find the car of my dreams in some dudes barn and do all the work on it.

Northern Lights. The beauty that is beyond words.

Red sand beach. This I have to see!

Hold a Monkey. No not at a zoo but at a wild life sanctuary I promise not to put it in my packet and bring it home!

Kissing Photo is a Photo Booth. I have never even done a photo booth because I always thought they were corny.

Grow my nails. This is a work in progress. I  stopped biting my nails a year a go, ya me, so they grow not but they just break off so easy :(

Volunteer at a wild life reserve. I may never come home from this one.

Backpacking. I want to backpack across a country, just small country though

Make my own cookbook. This one I am on the fence about I want to so my family recipes don't just stop with me. My sister doesn't cook much and she is not a baker so I guess the cookbook is the way to go.

Kiss under a waterfall. No not just a big fountain a real waterfall, which Canada has many of.

Hold a Kola. Not one that is at the zoo, again cruel. One in a wild life sanctuary or reserve.

Message in a bottle. This I should just do. I do live on a river after all! but at the same time is it considered littering? would it hurt the aquatic life?

Visit Wonka land. OMG CHOCOLATE, and who knows maybe they have umpa lumpas...I wonder if they are shorter than me.

Be shut up with a kiss. I don't understand why this one hasn't happened yet. I talk enough it should of. SIGH

Carve something into a tree. This I will do on my next hike up north. As long as I don't forget

Murder Mystery Train. This is something my best friend and I want to do together!

West Coast Trail in BC. I know I will never get to hike the entire thing but I would love to at least hike a few days on it.

Hike the Bruce trail. I have hiked parts of this trail and doubt I will get to hike the whole thing but I would like to hike more than what I have of it.

East Coast Trail in Newfoundland. This trail right here will be my starting point for hiking over night trails!

Hike the skyline trail in Alberta. This is where I will get to see my northern lights

Visit Baniff National Park. Because who wouldn't want to.

Drive a motorcycle. no not ride on the back I have done that since I was young. I know this may never happen because holding up a bike isn't an easy task but I can dream :)

Sleep in a hammock Dear god these things scared the crap out of me as a child and still kind of do as an adult, its a falling thing.

Visit Duffs. Duff is my cake idol. He is my mentor and who I love. He is a cake genius

Hug a penguin Now here is my problem with this. I am not traveling to the antarctic to hug one so I might have to do this at a zoo :(

Drive a race car. I actually just found out that near me is a race track that offers this!!!

Professional Make over. I don't wear make up ever. but I want to have a day where someone does my hair, make up and picks the perfect outfit for me. No idea how this would ever come to be though

Rock Climbing. Yes the girl who is so scared of heights wont even stand on a chair. In grade 8 we went rock climbing. I chickened out part way up and couldn't do it. I regret that want to give it ago again.

Sleep in an igloo. Yes this is a thing and I think it would be so cool.

Learn to Dance. I can dance, well if you call it that but I want to learn to dance properly like 2 step or something lol



Paint slip and slide. Yes we are doing this, this summer with the kids its going to be amazing!!

Have abs. even if its just one lol

Explore caves. There are caves in Alberta that I would love to explore.

Ride a horse on a beach. I rode a horse for the first time last year with a girl friend of mine, It was amazing. Now I want to do it on a beach.

Penny Date. First, make sure you have a date and a penny. Then, get in the car. Tell your date to pick a number between 1 and 20: Whatever number they pick is the number of turns you have to take. Flip the penny; heads equals a right turn and tails equals a left.

Tree Camping. This looks amazing.

Hike the Canadian Rockies. Not the whole Rockies just like the lower parts :)

Ireland. This is actually going to happen sooner rather than later with my best friend!

Travel on a train. I have never traveled on a train before and I think it would be a great way to see Canadian.

Compete in Muderlla. This her scares the crap out of me. I need to be in better shape than I am at the moment endurance wise anyway. I am hoping to compete next year.

Date Jar. You put 52 dates in a jar pull one weekly and go on it.

Islands of England. The beauty is all I have to say about that.

Breakfast with Zebras. This will happen at the wild life reserve.

Take a photo everyday for a year. I tried to start this year, but didn't keep up with it, oh well next year.

Kiss on top of a fariswheel. I don't do heights so this one here is important to me.

Most of the things on my bucket list are things that scare the daylights out of me. I want to push myself to come out of my comfort zone and live life to the fullest.

Whats in your bucket?

Summer Schedule

Ah summer!! The time of the year where you want to spend every minute outside soaking up as much sun as possible because we all know winter comes too soon and winter in Canada is cold and boring.

This year I wanted to pack as much as possible into summer for my son, he loves to explore and I didn't want him to be overly bored without preschool. Being that he is an only child life for him is spent playing with the dogs, playing alone with toys or playing with mommy/daddy. I am sure we are not as much fun as the other kids.

We plan to visit a new place every week. Such as Legoland. I am super excited about that one!

I run a small business at home so it allows me to set my own schedule. My child likes to start his day between 6am and 7am, I on the other hand would like to start mine around 8am.

This is a peek at our schedule!

Mondays
Library. Our has a little play center and he can pick his books out to read for the week. They also have arts and crafts in the one corner and other activities all summer long. We will spend the whole morning here because he loves it.
Lunch
After lunch is free play, my business partner brings her kids and they play while we work for a couple hours.
We eat early at about 4pm in the summer as I teach cardio kickboxing
After dinner it is park/outside play until bedtime


Tuesdays
Drop in. He loves drop and we used to go everyday. When he started preschool we stopped going but with summer here and lack of other kids to play with we will be attending again.
Lunch
After lunch is free play, my business partner brings her kids and they play while we work for a couple hours.
We eat early at about 4pm in the summer as I teach cardio kickboxing
After dinner it is park/outside play until bedtime

Wednesdays
I decided Wednesdays would be the best day for our day trips. It helps break up the day.

Thursdays
Its a full work day for us so the kids get to play together

Lunch

We eat early at about 4pm in the summer as I teach cardio kickboxing
After dinner it is park/outside play until bedtime

Fridays
Animal farm day! of we love the animal farm, so many animals to love up plus there is the parks, trails and beach right there too.
Lunch
After lunch is free play, my business partner brings her kids and they play while we work for a couple hours.
We eat early at about 4pm in the summer as I teach cardio kickboxing
After dinner it is park/outside play until bedtime


Saturdays/Sundays
Lazy days kind of.
Weekends are saved for business events, hiking, the market, and of course visits with his grandpa at "grandpas fishing house"

Through out the whole summer we are learning and exploring everything!

I created a list last year of everything he needed to know before he started Junior Kindergarten so we work on that each day. We read as many books as possible, visit as many parks as possible and of course walk the dogs.

We are very lucky to live in an area that is on the water so spending as much time near, on or at the water is a must.

Some parents are going "no schedule" this summer, I guess its the new trend. I look at things this way, does he need to be so scheduled he can't do anything else no, but a bored child is a child who gets into trouble!

What are your summer plans?

Post Traumatic Brain Injury Syndrome

Have you ever been drunk, that horrible everything spinning, feel sick with every movement, cant see or think straight?

I have and it wasn't caused by alcohol, it lasted for months. In January of this year I fell, smashed my head on the cement floor, knocked myself out for a couple mins and never thought anything of it. Ya I was sore and had a headache because well I just smacked my head on the floor. I went and laid down. When I woke up about an hour later I felt drunk, my head was killing me, and I couldn't even walk straight. Meh I figured I see my doctor on the upcoming Tuesday I will just talk to him about it then.

Here comes days of me feeling horrible, I can't think, my head hurts, I am dizzy, all I want to do is sleep and am sick. I head into the doctors I tell the nurse why I am there, just a script refill, and I tell her that I fell on the weekend and how I felt. She asked if I went to the emergency room, of course not why would I do that its just a little bonk on the head. She scolded me and I waited for the doctor to come in. Explained to him what happened, he asked if they did a brain scan at the hospital, I told him I didn't go, again with the scolding. He booked me a brain scan and explained what Post Traumatic Brain Injury Syndrome was. That I needed to see a sports injury doctor which I already do for my shoulder so I booked an appointment with him. Here I am thinking that everyone is over reacting. I go see him the next day still feeling the way I am, at this point I am barely leaving the house, I am confused and over whelmed by the smallest things and I can't get my brain to think straight.

Hello my wonderful sports injury doctor who has been there for me over the past 3 years with my shoulder and the other klutz injuries I get. Things are not okay at this point, I am not okay, this is not just a small bump to the head. I can't go into a store without getting lost, confused and breaking down. I feel stupid, I can't remember simple things that I should, day to day activities are beyond exhausting. I am used to the fibro fog, I am used the fribo exhaustion but this is different this is far more extreme. I cant go anywhere alone. Too much noise or commotion I am screwed and it causes so much confusion I don't know what to do. Sports doctor tells me we can't start rehab until the drunk symptoms go away, this takes weeks and its scary. I start rehab its a mix of starting small things, I can't even help a child with simple math at this point. I can't put memories in order still nothing makes sense. Even showering I would forget why I was in there and what I was doing.

Surprise they now tell you sleep is the best thing for concussions!!! its the way your brain heals itself.

Fast forward a few months I am doing better, but not 100% I still can't remember things, I am having trouble with simple words and math. I still can't put memories in order and don't tell me anything because I wont remember a few minutes later, I am getting confused. Sports doctor has me doing crosswords, it helped a lot but still I wasn't right. I was scared I was going to stuck like this. Stuck not being me, or the same ever again. My sports doctor explained it as I just dumped the entire file cabinet and and now my brain is trying to sort through it. At this point my full recovery isn't looking like its going to happen but he says the brain is a unique organ always changing so at the point where I feel like giving up I have a bit of hope.


Fast forward to today! I am 6 months since my fall. I am not 100% and at this point its a low chance I ever will be. I don't remember much of anything when told. My head hurts most of the time because of course me being me I over do it daily. I can't put together memories from the past properly, I get over whelmed and confused still but not as often or as bad. Numbers I still can't do, which sucks because I do all my business book work. I get flashes of memories and feelings and somethings trigger memories when this happens and I can't put it together or make sense of it I tend to get really really upset. I tell the same stories and information over and over again because I don't remember telling it. I don't remember dates or other important information. My business partner puts it in her phone for me because even in my phone I either forget my phone, lose it or forget to set the reminder. My brain still gets tried and can't focus. I do my best to work through it.

A lot of people don't understand a brain injury and they don't understand that I am hurt, I am broken, you just can't see it. I have been lucky I have had an amazing support team in place for the most part. Some days they get frustrated with me but then again I get mad at myself daily for my brain not working. I gave up getting mad and upset when I can't remember and have to look at it like this I don't remember that's okay, I will eventually and if I don't that's okay too, people can get mad at me all they want for forgetting its not going to change it and its their issue not mine. Getting mad and frustrated just makes things worse for me and causes my brain to go into panic mode which is useless.

I have to be careful because I am more likely to be hurt worse by a bump to the head then someone with out a prior injury. I have whats called Post Traumatic Brain Injury Syndrome and not everyone that hits their head gets it, not everyone who gets their head gets a concussion, not everyone who gets a concussion gets post traumatic brain injury syndrome. Its scary and I don't wish it upon anyone.

A few weeks ago I had severe face swelling to the point I couldn't open my eye. The pressure of it caused pressure to my healing brain and sent me into having symptoms just like day one again. I once again failed the light test and the finger test. I was scared once again that I was stuck like that but thankfully after the swelling went again completely so did the drunk feeling.

If you hit your head and it causes you to pass out for any amount of time please get looked at, there is help out there for people who have PTBIS you just have to ask, even if you hate the idea of doing so.
No matter what anyone says allow your brain time to heal and its okay, you are okay and doing the best you can each day. Take a breath when you get confused. Focus on something right in front of you, cover your ears, touch your support person or call your support person, its okay. Its okay to have better days than others and its okay if you are never the same again. Love who you are now. The memories that I can't remember I look at it like this, well if I can't remember then I guess it didn't happen, don't stress yourself into a panic over a memory its not worth it.

You are perfect just the way you are. Live one moment at a time!!!

http://www.braininjurynetwork.org/thesurvivorsviewpoint/posttbisyndrome.html