Not having fun at all...

Here is what I have done since my boys have been gone....other than miss them terribly!

Had a girls night out with my little 14 year old neice, saw Mamma Mia! for the 3rd time, watched 3 movies, that were bonafide chick flicks....didn't cook dinner, went shopping, layed out in the sun.....stayed up late and slept in....

BUT....

I hate it....with the exception of spending time and girl talking with my neice, I walk around not knowing what to do, I mean, don't get me wrong...I have plenty to do...I could hang some stuff on the wall, but the frog is the expert at that....I could read....but it's too quiet as it is...I have danced around the house and sang Abba songs at the the top of my lungs...but that is only fun for a little bit....I MISSSS MY BOYS....WAAAAAAAAA! It's too quiet, I miss my cuddles with all of them, I miss laughing with them....I miss them.....:(:(

I have to work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, then I am off to the train station on Saturday, I won't get to them until Saturday night....tooo long! Seriously the day I thought this would be wonderful to have a full week without all three of them....I should have realized they are my world...without them for a week, suddenly it's quiet, boring, no one to take care of...I hate it!

Okay enough complaining! It will go quick, I am talking to them like a few times a day...they are telling me that the water is freezing...like 59 degrees, okay after this trip...no longer will I crave lobster rolls and lobster for dinner every night...I guess I should have figured it out after maine...that if there are lobsters in the ocean it must be cold....I really can't wait to join them though...they said they have seen groups of seals nearby...harbour seals....judging by the water temp, I bet they are on vacation too!

They rented bikes, I am not sure if they are kidding, but they said they will get me the pink tricycle with the big basket to carry our beach stuff....you just never know with those guys...they are tricksters first:) although I bet with a tricycle, the seat will be comfy:)

This week, I am going to see the Producers and beauty and the beast and lots of work....being on my own like this makes me realize...i could never be without my kids and my frog...i would have nothing at all to do....i can't even think about cooking...to cook for just myself seems so unsatisfying....blech, i don't like to be on my own...that is for sure!

On another note, the lawyer stuff seems to be actually moving along...i can't believe it...I was teasing the frog and telling him that he better not find a cape cod replacement...and he said something like..."well you know the best way to keep the girls away from me" and I'm like what, shave your head, or dress you badly?...and he points to his ring finger...I was laughing....so I was going to slip my Opa's old wedding band that I have, just to be funny...in his sleep, but of course I forgot:)

Well goodnight for now...it's just me and the dog....quiet...tooo quiet...and creepy alone in the house....boy, i'll never do this again...next time i'm going for 2 weeks too!!!!

Cape Cod here they come...I'll be there in one week!

The kids and frog are off to Cape cod for two weeks..I will join them next week!

It was a bit of a stressful start, last night while we were packing and trying to get the soft roof rack on top of the frogs little tiny car, almost a cooper, but not quite...the guy from the camping store said it would fit on his car...well we were stupid to actually believe it and not check for sure....IT DID NOT FIT....okay plan B....leave a couple kids home?...plan C...take my mini van....okay seems reasonable enough...well the little car is a stick and I am not insured, so then there is the problem of how, next Saturday will I drive all the way to Cape Cod???

It was just crazy...each option was getting worse and worse....to rent a car for me, would have been over $2.20 PER mile....for a one way...to use a car and drop it off the next day, it was almost $700....so I checked the train...although not completely efficient like in Europe...they can pick me up in Providence, RI and its' a little over $100...so that is the plan, I packed everything up with them, they drove the mini van and I get to NOT have to drive 7 hours bymyself!! A little angel is watching over me all the time:) I'm soo lucky! NOW I JUST HAVE TO FIND MY PETITE ANGLAISE BOOK THAT HAS BEEN PACKED UP!!!!

So this week for me will be "oh so quiet"...but exciting...well exciting for me people, I don't get out that often....I'm going out tomorrow with my neice, who will be moving away for the school year, so we are having a real bonafide girls night out....either sushi or french food, I will let her decide:) then off to a movie....MAMMA MIA! for the 2nd time........I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!! And then on Tuesday I have an interview with a new girl...OMG, I have not been blogging here very much because I have been consumed with my other work blog....oh yea and consumed with work:) which is a good thing! Here you can visit it and feel free to leave me comments....I NEVER get any there...real bloggers aren't really visiting there....it's more of a marketing thing....which honestly, WOW, if you have a business, write all about it....it works sooo well!!! okay back to my itinerary....Tuesday I have a play to see...the Producers...can't wait...Wednesday dinner with the girls from work hopefully, Thursday another play...(I think I'm in heaven) that one is Beauty and the beast...Friday pack my little bag...and leave for the train station bright and early on Saturday...although I may try to leave early...friday..who knows....

Everything else is hunky dorey....I do believe I will be divorced very soon...prayers please, it's only been 5 years!! In August it will be 4 years for the frog and I:) Who knows, maybe there will be a wedding soon:)

Life is flying by, the kids are growing like weeds...Pickles is growing weeds under his armpit, we lost count last year, but he has a forest of hairs under there;) only a few scraped knees and tick bite, but no lyme disease, Cheese is already getting taller and wiser, but still with that cute toothy grin:) a dog that got his teeth whitened, and one frog that jumped out of the tank and took a hop, then realized he was in fact a water frog, so he was dried up by the time we found him...(God bless Phillipe the froggy) and all in all life is awesome...the business is excellent...the girls I have are all amazing...I/We are sooo blessed! Thank you to the universe...Our lives are wonderful!

I probably will only post monthly...If I can even do that...I may return, but trust me I am out there reading and keeping up with all of you! Keep writing, I would miss you all dearly:) and please if you want to see what is going on at the shop, visit Bijou! I've got some good music there:)

McCain vs... by Thomas

Well it appears that the Democrat Party chose Obama to run against McCain for the presidential election in November.

Will all the white "Democrats" in southern states vote for a black man? Knowing the reality of the south of the USA when it comes to races, was this a winning move? Not so sure... 

Fool me once.... by Thomas

So this is it, yesterday we got a phone call from our landlord informing us that he was moving in on the first of July, and so he was expecting us to be out by June 30th. So these two last months of school before summer will somehow be stressful for us and the kids. Not a lot of house are for rent, if none... 

Once again, our landlord showed no signs of remorse. And while I cannot criticize the mean (this is his house and this is surely the cheapest solution for him), I still am in total shock of the way he handled the whole situation... Even going to say that us not having a home was none of his business. He did not care at all. In a way, we are not family so why would he care. Maybe two years ago we should not have took care of his dad and just let him die like a dog when he got his strokes while trying to get up his bed. But well this is just not us.

In a way this taught me a great lesson. Next time I am having to deal with a landlord, I will stay a nice tenant but this will be strictly business. I will let Kim do the social if she wants... Cause I won't. From now on, I will consider every person I am doing business with in this country as a potential selfish backstabber... As Americans are saying: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me

Please....

Please say a prayer or wish us well...cross your fingers with us...anything...
We do not want to move...

It's all so weird...we have a great relationship with our landlord and his family...we had Thanksgiving dinner and plenty of other things with them....and suddenly as if it is no big deal, we are told that we may have to leave...It's not definate...only if he rents out his house that he is living in now...then we will have 2 months notice to find another place...what if there is NOT another place?? Then what??

The kids are worried...The frog is feeling betrayed...and has said that, fine, after this he will stay French and not share anything personal with anyone again, he will just keep to himself, because who we thought were friends...turns out it's just business...gaahh!

The hardest thing for me is, the lack of remorse...after he told me...matter of factly...just simply put, not a sorry, or I wish it could work out any other way, but this is our only option...nothing...just if we rent out the crow hill road house, we are moving in here...no concern or anything...I could not turn back to look at him...I had to leave the room and not come back..I could not finish or start dinner...

It's a horrible feeling...I understand he has to do what is right for his family, but to tell me this with such finality and oh well you'll have two months...sucks...it's a weird betrayal that we have all felt...it's horrible...

But I guess with that said...everything happens for a reason...and I do hope this reason is good at least for someone! We will be fine, it just stings our feelings a bit...I guess this is what will make us thicker skin and less trusting...considering we are probably the most trusting...(well at least I am:) it's probably a good lesson to learn, with just a landlord....

I am currently waiting to hear from him if he will raise our rent and let us stay...basically he is renting the other place for 1300 and we pay 1100, I asked if it would help us to stay here and not uproot us all if we paid more...he said possibly...he would do some number crunching and see....so please say a prayer, send some positive vibes or whatever you can do...or maybe a miracle will happen and the family that is staying in Germany for a while will rent us their house for the time being...even though they are asking 2500 and that is not possible at all...maybe they will realize they won't get that and take half of that and know we will take good care of it.....it's doubtful, but not impossible:)

Wish us luck!
Oh and our fabulous garden, that we made, the raised vegetable garden...may have to come out...a hard days work...a beautiful plot just waiting for vegetables to be planted....sniffsniff...I have been dreaming of a veggie garden for 12 years...and finally my frog made my dream come true...all to be possibly yanked out next week if we have to move:(

Winter is over.. spring always comes with some surprises

Finally winter is over. The weather has been very nice, and with the business turning good the year started really great. We even planned our summer vacation... This year will be Cape Cod.

Another family project is to make a little vegetable garden. We have the best spot. Asked our landlord if it was ok with him... On saturday , he even showed me how to use his rototiller. So Sunday we went shopping.. landscaping wood and other material to make the best raised garden. Dylan and Thomas spent the entire day working. They were sooo sore. Perfect you would say.

Well what started perfectly ended up in nightmare... ok nightmare is not the word, but the ending isnt so happy. Sunday night, while we were cooking dinner, our landlord comes and tells us this little story:

So basically, he has 3 houses. The one we live in, where his mom lives downstairs from us. The one he lives in and is trying to sell for about a year now. and the one right next to our house that he bought to move in when selling his current house. So the discussion was roughly about the fact that he actually started to rent his to-be house with a year lease started 1st of june this year. BUT he was still trying to sell his house. The market is so low though that chances are that he wouldnt sell anyway at the price it is listed. Instead he was going to try to rent it until it sells... and if you have followed well, you probably already guessed where he is going. Current house for sell/rent, to-be house for rent for a year... I really wonder where he is planning on living with his family... Oh wait, why not tell Kim and her little family that well... if his house happens to rent.. could be tomorrow, could be in months, could not happen... well she would have two months to move out.

In a way this is his house, so there is nothing much we can say about it... but why didnt he tell us so before we actually spend so much money and time on that garden. All I can say is that as much as I thought he was a very nice person. I lost total respect in him... Oh and obviously... summer vacation are on hold (we just made the reservation 4 days ago... with a non refundable deposit)

Sh@$! in your plate

I love food, I mean I really love good food. But I really am amazed about what we are eating

Beef with growth hormones: or why wait for Mother Nature to do its job when you can just accelerate the process

Milk with growth hormones: same... more hormones= more milk production

Chicken "cleaned" with Chlorine dioxide: No comments, I mean seriously, I know Americans are scared of chickens but...

GMO corn, soya... people have been eating these for more than 10 years in the US without knowing. I guess it is better than with pesticides, but then again

Extra salt in process food: luckily I avoid these, but hey, put a bit more salt than needed and your product becomes heavier with water absorption (since you pay by weight...) not too good for the heart. Look at your labels.. salt is everywhere, even in sweet food.

Until it was "banned" not so long ago: Shortenings.

For the ones loving Diet food. you got the aspartame that turns into methanol and phenylalanine. 

And let's talk about the Natural flavors. I mean obviously no one wants artificial flavors so you take your milkshake with natural your strawberry flavor it tastes like real strawberry you say? try some kind of australian wood with alcohol and some secret ingredient, I mean wood is natural... 

When you think about all the things that we have not found out about yet, you imagine what we must be eating? I once asked one of Kim's friends who is a doctor about this and she replied, "I am more concerned about foreign policy".  Oh well, I guess no one really cares about what we eat. I am starting to wonder if Bio is as Bio as it is.

And they want to make us believe that we will all live till 100 years old

For info:

Nestle: $9.7 billions profit in 2007

Kraft: $2.6 billions

Danone: $6.1 billions

Monsanto: $689 millions in 2006