wow.  we have spent the last three days running hither and thither and yon.  it was crazy, i tell ya, crazy!!

Christmas day had us off to my parentals for dinner and presents, boxing day was the annual gigantic christmas party for ja's extended family, and yesterday, (which usually happens on the first) saw us in cobourg at ja's immediate family.  we are TIRED today!  i'm still in my pj's, ja's in his undies, and keyzia's been naked for most of the day.

it was fun, but way too much in way too short of a period of time.  it won't happen like this again next year, that's for sure!  at the very least because we are demanding that everyone come to us next year.

the leap pad is a fabulous hit with the doodle-girl, and our handsome boy has finally got over his paralyzing fear of the geo-trax.  although, i do think that ja might be enjoying it even more than the kidlets are....

i was spoiled rotten, as i should have been...  ja got me some beautiful gold sleeper ear-rings...  the gold won't even come off in the shower, and me ears will not turn green, and he got me the bottom half for my toolbox!!  i, actually, have a much better toolbox than most men i know! 

my parentals got me this crazy Rolodex Touch-Screen PDA.  it's pretty neat.  i can even hook it up to the computer and download stuff onto it.  i even added a dictionary to it!  how funny is that?  i haven't figured it out totally yet, but i sure am hopeful that it will help me remember things better.  i can set an alarm to remind me of stuff, put in addresses and phone number, has a lot of little gadgets.  very cool.

we just have a few more people we're hoping to see soon, my great aunt joyce, and then new year's eve is at my friend jen's place.  then we take down the tree and start packing!!  a new year definitely calls for a new place to live!

yuppers!  we're moving!

it's quite amazing really, a true Christmas miracle.  We've been on this list for subsidized housing for about three years now, and we call them occasionally just so that we can annoy them into giving us a house...  last month when ja called, we were still something like 60 on the list.  and then.... AND THEN... last thursday we got the call!  they had a three bedroom townhouse for us, would we like to look at it?? 

ummmm....  YES!  now, we were a little wary.  a while ago, i guess it was late summer, we looked at a place that was a little odd, then we ended up losing it.  we were pretty disappointed by that.  so, we pick up the key, and go to look at this townhouse.

three bedrooms, good sized kitchen and living room, and A FULL BASEMENT!  you heard me people.   I WILL NO LONGER NEED TO HAVE A WAGON IN MY BEDROOM!!  we're even allowed to paint!  wahoo!  hooray!  personally, i want to PAINT EVERY INCH OF WHITE WALL THAT THERE IS.  but, unfortunately, ja is drawing the line.  he thinks that might be too much to start with. 

it has a little postage stamp backyard, fenced in, and our unit fronts on a big field.  I WILL EVEN BE ABLE TO GO BIKING WITH THE KIDS BY MYSELF!!

we are so totally pumped.  ja has big plans for making a workshop in the basement, and i have big plans for making a toyroom in the basement...  there's even laundry hookup!  mind you, we don't have a washer or dryer, or a fridge and a stove that we also have to provide, but, the possibility is there.  ahh yes, how lovely.  we won't even have to have the cat litter by the front door!

so, we have two months to pack our stuff.  there is still some rigamarole with the application procedure, but God has made things smooth thus far, i see no reason as to why they won't continue to go smoothly!  the subsidy people were even more than willing to hold this place for us for the two months.  wow.  we actually won't be saving any money, we'll be about breaking even, but that's fine.  for double, almost triple the space, it will be worth it.

we are accepting volunteers right now for moving duties, looking after the monsters duties, and painting duties!

wow.  what a weekend!  and here it is, monday once again.  my children are sleeping...  well, they are in their room...  the christmas music is playing, and the tea is hot.  it is definitely time to tell my story.  such that it is.

saturday was a little bit crazy.  first off we went to look at a house with sharlene and peter, ja's cousin and her hubby....  the house had a beautiful basement...  AND THE TAP ON THE TUB CAME OUT OF THE SIDE INSTEAD OF THE END!!  oh ya.  that's what i'm talking about.  that's definitely the way it should be!!  but, alas, it was not to be.  not the house for us.

my dad brought my sista ashley up so that we could take advantage of her (again) and have her sit for us while we went to ja's christmas party that night.  it was LOVELY.  much fun.  the food was great, turkey, roast beef, ham, all the fixin's...  the music was good.  the company was fun...  THE.  BOOZE.  WAS.  FREE.  i know.  i was amazed myself.  so, i decided to try a white russian.  okay, two white russians.  and a couple of coolers.  and a glass of wine.  and something else.  but that's it!  i swear!  ja's company is so great, they paid for us to take a cab to the banquet centre, and to take us home again.  good for us because we HAD NO MONEY TO SPEAK OF, and otherwise i would have been the dd for sure.  i looked fabulous, if i do say so myself...  i made myself this very pretty angora triangular shawl type thing to wear over top of a black top...  and, my dad slipped me some moola for a hair cut...  my hair guy even did something a bit fancy, put velcro rollers in it...  very fun.  never done that one before!  the best part of the whole evening, did i mention??  IT DID NOT COST US ONE CENT.  lovely.  and, we stayed up past 11!!

you know, it's very funny tho, you finally get out without the kidlets, and what do you end up talking about?  the kidlets.  you tell kidlet stories to people without kidlets, you seek out and find the other kidlet people, and you swap kidlet stories with them...  i remember the days when i used to have intelligent conversations about literature...  the only literature i read nowadays is stuff like "Everyone Poops" and "Clifford's Bedtime".  stunning topics of conversation...  really.  it's also funny how the people without kidlets manage to run away as fast as they can as soon as you start into a kidlet story.  "oh, you have children?  i'm going to go over there now."

yesterday we were having ja's parentals for dinner...  which meant, of course, that we had to clean up the place a bit before they got here.  my dad came up to steal my baby sister away from me (can't we keep her???  pleeeeease????) and brought the gifts for my kidlets from the sears christmas party.  ephraim got this crazy riding toy...  a jeep kamikaze trike.  and keyzia got this weird doll thing.  we didn't end up going down for the party because ephraim's been very sick, pukey and poopy and stuff (sorry ash!!).  but, i will leave all that talk about the poop that no diaper can possibly hold for another day...  another post.

ja's parentals made it in time for dinner, through horrendous weather that forced them to spend the night.  we had a lovely evening, played play-doh with the kidlets...  play-doh that keyzia and ephraim got from the domtech kids christmas party... and then the adults got to play cards.  we were nicely in bed by 10...  i can't handle this staying up past 11 stuff too often!!

so, all in all it was a lovely weekend.  except for some spatting with the hubby, everyone was well behaved and great.  and hey, i got to go out, talk to adults, and i didn't even cut up anyone's meat!

the hubby and i are going out tomorrow night.  just the two of us.  WITH. OUT. ANY. CHILDREN.  there will be no one clinging on my leg...  no one saying, "momma, momma, momma," no one needing their meat cut up at dinner...  no one smearing gravy on me...

ja booked us a taxi that will pick us up here and bring us home again.  do you know what that means?  that means that i can have more than just half a glass of wine!  there will even be other adults there.  other couples.  we will be able to have adult conversation without having to say, "don't touch that, put that down....  get back here!"

ahhh yes.  it should be lovely.  i think i might even shave my legs.