A Girl and her Dog

I realized something this morning. It began like this. We have a dog. Her name is Corrah and she is a 3 year old collie/shep. cross. There is nothing fancy about Corrah and, like most of the animals on our farm, she was born on a Mennonite farm. We picked Corrah out of a litter of 8, in a large country kitchen for $75, 3 years ago. Actually, almost to the day.
I like Corrah. She does what she is meant to do. She barks when an unfamiliar car pulls up our driveway, keeps all of those pesky squirrels and rabbits out of our yard, no longer harasses our cats and wrestles with the neighbour's dog. When we got Corrah it was somehow assumed that she was Troy's dog. Whether that was just because he was 'man of the house' or simply because she was mostly Troy's pick (I'm a LabX girl myself) he assumed responsiblility of training Corrah. I was simply the enforcer. Roughly $800 worth of leather boots and shoes later Corrah is very well trained. She will sit, lay down, shake both paws and roll over (in that order) and never needs a leash. I even took her to our new farm yesterday and after a quick sniff around the barn she had no problem sticking around the new yard with no supervision. She is a really good dog. Well, she has her flaws like we all do. She does bark at the stroller wheels (as you know) and the odd time will rummage through our kitchen garbage as a midnight snack (as you also know) but at least she doesn't touch my boots.
This morning while we waited for the bus I let Avalee out of the stroller to wander around. She seemed very concerned about Corrah's where abouts at all times. Avalees speaks only handful of words that are recognizable and "Orrah!" is one of them.
Corrah likes to zig and zag up our road in both directions. We live on very low-traffic street. She sniffs the air, the shrubbery in the ditch line and our mail box where the neighbour's dog pees on a routine basis.
Well, Avalee was having a absolute fit trying to chase and call after Corrah. In her mimicking way, of Troy and I , she stands and smacks her hands together shouting "Orrah!" over and over again. I can tell that Corrah is listening by the way her ears cock during her frantic sniffing spree. I have to keep asking Avalee to stay off the road but all she wants to do is follow the dog around. Not her sisters, not me, but the dog.
Once the girls are safely on their way to school we make our way back up the driveway (Corrah being her annoying 'freaking over the stroller' self which has Avalee thrilled and in stitches) After I toss some hay to the horses we go in the house.
Year round I spend a lot of time telling Corrah to 'Get outside!' This is exceptionally easy in the summer because our storm door no longer has a screen in it so Corrah can easily hop through the closed door in one graceful leap. This morning for some reason I let Corrah in the house with us. Even though the grass is all dewy and I know that she will leave wet doggy prints all over my clean kitchen floor. I go about my business, do the breakfast dishes, fix my pony tail and turn around several minutes later to see Avalee kneeling on the floor beside Corrah. We keep our dog food in a bottom drawer of one of those rubbermaid 6 drawer storage units. Avalee had pulled open the dog food drawer and Corrah was happily munching on her kibble. Avalee was also munching on Corrah's kibble. (After two years I've accepted the fact that Avalee enjoys the meaty flavour of dog food so this scene doesn't shock me.)
I take a glance at my kitchen floor and not only are there wet paw prints scattered everywhere but just as many wet toddler slipper prints. This gets me thinking. When my older girls were Avalee's age they had each other, 24/7. They left two sets of little wet foot prints on our old kitchen floor. Or muddy ones or sticky ones.
Avalee doesn't have a close sibling to play with 24/7. Corrah is her 'sibling' 24/7. Her 'someone' to play with, to chat to, to cuddle with, to share her sandwich with. That makes SO much sense to me now. So now I see Corrah in a bit of a different light. She's not just 'the dog' or 'Troy's dog' or another 'something' to have to clean up after. She is a very important part of our family. She protects us, she unconditionally loves us, she babysits for us and she does it all for little in return.
As the years go on I can only wish to have a connection with a dog like the one Avalee and Corrah share and I wish for the both of them a long and healthy friendship.

Kind of a random blog but one of those enlightening moments that brings tears to my eyes! Now go hug your dog!

This is exactly how I like to start off my week. Not.

Around rolls another Monday. Waking up under the heavy, gray sky never is a good thing in this house. We had been so spoiled all weekend with such beautiful weather that I think my brain was attempting to fool me into thinking that summer isn't actually over and that it didn't suck as much as it really had, and that we haven't been royally jipped.
This particular Monday morning, though I was prepared and on schedule, I roll out of bed, rattle the girls' cages and try to slip down the stairs without waking the baby. Half way down in my stealth persona I hear that cheerful little voice at about 10,000 decibels
yell "MOOOOOMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Morning has begun.

As we enter our kitchen we are met with a quarter-sized mouse stomach right there minding it's own business on the floor by the shoe rack. As to where the remainder of that little mouse is, I'm going to have to guess that it is somewhere lodged in Chai Chai's large intestine. I bet you didn't know that cats will eat an entire mouse but most wont (unless they're starving) actually 'eat' the stomach. Why? its really quite simple. What is on a mouses menu is much different than what is on a cat's. Any cat would turn up its nose to a lost fruit loop from under the fridge or some peanut butter licked up from of a counter somewhere which is likely what is half digested in the small organ that I was staring at.
I'm very, very appreciative of our pet cat's new found hunting ability but I wish she would take her breakfast to go and eat it on the front lawn.

Faster than a certified, qualified McDonalds employee I whip together three egg sandwiches, get the baby organized and kick the girls out the door with minimal drama on any of our parts. We stroll down the driveway, its chilly but the sudden briskness in the air actually was welcomed. Things are good, our move is progressing well, the girls are happy, I only had to kick our dog once for barking at the wheels on the stroller like a maniac. This is a good morning. I can deal with a few clouds. Yep Things are good.
We engaged in a brief conversation with our house-coat-wearing neighbour at the bungalow at the end of our driveway. Apparently her toddler grandson had lost her car keys somewhere along our routine path of travel, 'if we happen to stumble upon them, they are greatly missed'.
This is how you wait for a school bus in the morning. You stand. You wait. You wave to the dairy farmer from down the street as he whips by in his excessively humongous pickup. You check the mail box again just in case Canada Post got confused and delivered mail on a Sunday. You wait. Check your watch and wonder how late the bus is going to be. Our new bus pick-up time for this school year is meant to be 8:10am. a very much welcomed revision from last year's 7:30am pick-up time (if only I Blogged back then...groan!). My watch reads 8:18 at this point and I know school starts at a very prompt 8:30am (I was reminded on several occasions last year). I know it is still very early in the school year and I can understand that they have been having trouble with our bus/driver in particular but COME ON!!!! . 8:25 we return to our house and I call the school. After taking so much flack last year for our (really not that often) tardiness I was not taking the shot for this one.
The secretary sounded just as exasperated as I did with the buses.
Remembering that my minivan is still sitting in the garage waiting to have its guts put back together (but at least the tire leaning up against the van has no holes in it and the shiny new rotor is physically attached to the frame) there is no way to transport my kids to school.
Mondays are crap but at least I can usually have my peace and quiet when there is no one here to mess up the cleaning I just did. Today was like Sunday all over again but I didn't wake up to a face full of golden sun shine.
Needless to say, now that the chicken is thrown in the oven (which smells heavenly) and my relentless scorning in the lesson of 'this is how you clean up after yourselves' has paid off,, somewhat I find the time to blog.
Maybe it'll be sunny tomorrow. I fully intend to read an entire romance novel during nap time if its not!
Time to go out for a much deserved cigg.
...oh, and to top things, those dairy farmers decided to cut down their crops today so we are no longer that secret little farm hidden away from the rest of the world!
But, Meh, I'm still smiling!

Why there is a heap of junk in our backyard.

As some of you know our family is on the move, yes, again *sigh. As excited as I am to be upgrading this time around moving has got to be one of my least favourite ways of spending my time.
My other least favourite way of spending my time is entertaining Troy, with his sometimes - ahem - wacky ideas by agreeing to let him go ahead with some scheme or another. This is ultimately the reason why there is a heap of junk in our backyard.

It started with admitting that we had to start downsizing on the amount of junk, that by some story or another, had made it on our lawn. i.e. parked vehicles, Troy's scrap metal collection (??yeah I know), the transport trailer Troy brought home from his previous place of employment (jealous much?!), a few horses (well, they aren't junk per say) and the inlaw-suite (24ft camper trailer).
I am a huge fan of Kijiji and hopped right to it. Snapping photos from every angle of everything that needed to be outta here. A.S.A.P!
Early on it was practically a full time job managing the hundreds of emails I was receiving. Here and there, dropping the prices, and one by one things merrily found their way to their new homes and we were making some money. Yes, even the Transport trailer made some older gentleman from Orangeville very happy (I wish I could have seen the look on his wife's face when he pulled in with that one!)

Now, there are two things that Troy loves almost more than me ;). Flat decked trailers and riding lawn tractors. Coincidentally enough some guy offered a swap. His John Deere lawn tractor for Troy's 'retired' Dodge Ram. Troy almost hit the floor when I read that email out loud! Done deal.

Anyway, it comes down to The camper trailer and my brother-in-law's old van. Both asking $300, neither, rolling even one tire onto our new farm. Firm.

Troy - "but you know what old vans are really good for, especially Jan's, because its taller than most vans, is a chicken coop"

Amanda - (cuts him off) "Nope."

We're not getting much interest on either at this point.

Troy - "Hey baby? Why don't you let me tear down the trailer and then we can have a 24 ft flat deck (you guessed it) trailer"

Amanda - "but we have a trailer already and none of our vehicles could even pull a 24 footer if it had anything more than air on it"

Troy - "but you never know, maybe we'll pick up a 4x4 sometime"

(hahahhahahahahahah, doubt that, can't even keep the vehicles we have on the road.)

Not even ten minutes later I hear the sledge hammer banging, the power drill whizzing and a few hours later the circular saw which was quickly upgraded to the chainsaw. I smile to myself thinking he's upping the voltage, must not be as easy as he thought! I grab a beer on that gorgeous Saturday afternoon and walk around to the back of our house with a lawn chair.
I was actually quite surprised with how far he had come along. I sat my butt down and watched. I know that sort of seems like a bitch thing to do but if you've ever met Troy you know when he's doing demo work its best (safer) to stay the hell out of the way.

I asked him why he was being so careful with all of the appliances when they were all just going to the dump anyway his reply was "people will pay good money for this stuff!"
uh huh?
This trailer demolition took only one weekend shockingly enough! I did my own thing, entertained the children, cooked, cleaned and left Troy to it. At one point he came into the kitchen while I was making dinner with the strangest request.

Troy - "hey baby? do we have any crazy glue?"

Amanda - "yep, why"(as I dig through the 'junk' drawer)

Troy - "Oh, I smashed up my finger with the hammer, I just need to close the tear so no dirt gets under the skin"

Of course. I just hand him the glue and go back to straining my pasta.

So 48 hours later we both stand on our front lawn under a beautiful sunset on a Sunday evening staring at our new 24ft flat deck trailer (Troy, in awe. Me, in 'great, he pulled this friggen thing out with our minivan, no wonder why our vehicles keep breaking!) Can't say I didn't call that one!

The next day I got a call from a guy asking if the Camper trailer was still available and I told him no

Amanda - "actually we didn't have much interest so my hubby ended up gutting it and now its a flat deck, sorry"

Guy - "oh really, Does he still have the appliances? I'm actually just looking for the fridge and the convection oven to install in my hunting cabin up north."

He bought them both for $100. Go figure.

The Johovah Witness just changed my tire!

Oh man, this is a good one! You have NO IDEA how badly I couldn't wait for my friendly, neighbourhood Johovah Witness 'friends' to leave from this week's 'enlightening visit' so I could come in here and write this. In fact, I was in the middle of my last blog when I heard that familiar 'rap tap tap' on my door and so decided to cut that blog short because this definitely deserves its very own!

Let me give you a little bit of history here. For those of you who don't know us, we live out in the sticks, up a long driveway, nestled behind 9ft tall corn fields. We're practically invisible. So much so that, that from our Rd., our farm is completely non exsistant. Like, to the point where I have to make it very clear to my Kijiji purchasers that they have to drive RIGHT to the end of our driveway before they will see our house. If you didn't know the farm was here you never would have guessed it was here.
So you could imagine my surprise when, early last spring, I was sitting in my house, minding my own business and I hear a car pull in. The dog is freaking out (you'll be happy to know that she has warmed to them now!) I walk outside and am introduced to Bo (strapping young chap with a nice set of loafers) and his lovely wife Bethany (pretty blond). Let me be clear that we are not a religious family. Not to say I haven't read 'the book' but we are certainly non-practicing.
Ever since that spring afternoon, Bo and Bethany have been visiting my farm on about a bi-weekly basis, like clock work. Now let me explain something here. When the girls are in school and the baby is napping it can get pretty boring out here. Sometimes having an unexpected grown-up conversation (even if it is about how our entire existance is based on how we, as a whole, are damned) Apparently my yearning for adult chit chat had been mistaken for my interest which in turn had placed me in the 'very eager little student/project/prospect' pile. I must of passed the first few tests because I even earned myself one of those little books that the Johovah's Wittness' carry around which as far as I can gather is basically 'the Bible for Dummies' I was even considerate enough to ask for a second one for Troy so we could have 'his' and 'hers' copies.

Now I hope no one is taking offense to this. I'm not knocking the religion, hey, to each his own but I mostly keep conversing with them with these 'studies' because 'its the more you know'.
That is the back ground. THIS is the awesome part.

Back to my last blog, I was going to continue on and write about how I did end up going out this morning to scratch my head over the flat tire. Then I went and got the jack, propped up the van with a bit of a struggle (I think I may have broke something else in the process as crumblings of rusty metal kept falling from the bottom of the van). I got the crow bar or what ever you call it, gave two Amanda-sized hauls on one nut and then graciously accepted defeat, laid all of the tools in the grass beside the van and went inside to wash my hands. Blah blah blah, that part is boring.
Enter stage right, who else but Bo and Bethany and this time they had two other gentlemen with them (also strapping young chaps, also nice loafers). I greeted them with a smile as usual, we shot the sh*t about my horses, how the move was coming along and I must have mentioned something about the flat tire. Well, didn't Bo and his buddies chests puff up. I said, "oh no no, don't be silly, I just got off the phone with Troy and he's going to be off work early today so he can fix the vehicles" But Bo and friend absolutely INSISTED.

Bo - "No, no Amanda, it's not a problemo" and he started taking off his very crisp dress shirt and stripped right down to his slacks and standard whit t-shirt. Well well well, This is a part of the religion that I was unaware of, perhaps we can 'study' that chapter today!

Bethany - (who didn't seem at all disturbed that her husband was going to change my tire while she read me scripture) "Great!, this works out well, they can change your tire and why don't we go sit down on your lawn chairs over there and chat and let the boys do their thing" at which point she did that wrist flick thing ( you know the gesture I'm talking about) followed by a pffftt sound smiling all along.

O. K.?!

So, Bethany and I proceeded to the lawn chairs and discussed God (who's name is Jehovah BTW, see you learn something new every single day!), the evil serpent, that disobedient Eve, (that persuasive little Nelly) and so on and so forth while the 'pit crew' manned up and got each and every one of those rusty little nuts off. You want to hear a story, I got a story, talk about the helpless damsel in distress. It was like dinner and a show. Sweet!

We had an unusually long session today (did I mention that those nuts were really rusted on there) and in the end everyone was happy! Today I must have graduated up one level because I got the official 'invite' to a meeting. Like an actual paper that I was able to stick up on my fridge right under my "I like to drink, what's your hobby" magnet.

See, this is why Blogging is so important. First of all its nice to have somewhere to document all of these little, happy memories just in case the details start fading away and secondly some experiences are just way, WAY too awesome to not share with a few friends!!

I love my life!
Amen

Amanda vs. the motor vehicles. Part 1.

Ok, so this is fun. I'm going to start by rewinding a few days when I came home from grocery shopping and said

Amanda - "Hey, Troy, I think the van needs new front brakes or something, there seems to be quite a bit of grinding noise coming from the front tires when I brake.

Troy - "is it just when your braking or can you hear it while you're not braking too?"

Amanda - (considers for a moment) "come to think of it I think I can hear it too when I accelerate from a stop, why?"

Troy - "I think it might be the rotor, remember how last time we changed the rotor on the other side and you said that we didn't have the money to do both sides at the same time? It's probably that rotor now"

Amanda - (groans and sighs, swears a little) "it was only like $45 right?" (sighs and swears a little more) "K, well this weekend is going to have to be 'fix the van' weekend"

Troy - "While we're at it we should do the brakes in the car too, it needs fronts soon"

Amanda - (swears some more) "Didn't you just do the brakes in the car?"

Troy - "those were the backs, I didn't do the fronts" (watches the twitch worsen in Amanda's left eye) "ok, I'll make room in the garage"

Now fast forward to this morning remembering that as of yesterday morning our van has been sitting on our slope-y lawn like a beached whale. Ironically you figure, Hell, if we going to have tire off anyway to replace it we may as well gut the whole beast and do the rotor at the same time which is conveniently on the same side. I could almost say things are starting to look up...bbbuuuutttt I wont.

Now, Rewind to 5am this morning when I silently cursed Troys boss for expecting Troy at work for 6am. Who does that anyway?! I have to drive Troy to work so I can have the car so I can do the running around that needs to be done to fix the van. I'm exhausted just typing about it. This involves waking up my 3 children at 5am. which if you want my opinion, should be against some law somewhere. We all fold ourselves into the car that almost has enough room for everyone (which is why we bought the van) and barrel up the dark highway, half asleep. I'm not a terrible morning person but on this particular morning I wasn't someone you would want to sit beside on a bus. As we come to one stop sign after another I cringe when I listen to the horrible, probably spark causing grinding that used to be the front brakes. I bitch to Troy about how he had said 'the brakes in the car need to be replaced soon' Soon? are you flipping kidding me? I'm surprised the front wheels didn't catch fire on my way back home.

Sooooo, here I sit with one vehicle out of gas, on a slope with a flat. The other with only half of the braking system functioning and while my baby is napping I'm trying to figure out my action plan for this afternoon, well actually, I'm blogging but I will, soon, figure out that action plan.

TO BE CONTINUED...

How to instill the fear of 'mom is a psychic' into your 2 year old

It only took me three kids and 9 years to figure this one out.

While I was muddling around the kitchen this afternoon, doing my ongoing damage control, I happened upon a very curious toddler in the playroom. This room is 'titled' the playroom, however, because we are moving it just happens to be the first room I packed (which consisted of nothing more than going through with several garbage bags that all safely and happily made it to the curb!). The remaining contents are not much more than my internet hub, my router, and a few other electronics including an old office telephone. It is one of those really old-school kind with the multiple line buttons and decked out with the 30ish foot long coil cord. I paused for a minute, out of view of this curious toddler, and took a moment to smile. I watched her interested fingers stretching, tugging, folding and even tasting the long, springy point of interest. It was one of those moments, and if you're a mom I know you know what I mean, I suddenly felt the urge to cry from over-whelming love. Touching, I know! I watched for almost a whole minute, the dishes weren't going anywhere.
So picture this tiny child, kneeling in a nearly empty room, completely baffled, yet intrigued, by this strange, new contraption that just happens to be one of the first things this afternoon that has kept her occupied for more than a minute. To think that this same young child can recognize (and know not to touch) a laptop from across the room, runs to my purse as soon as she hears my cell ring and knows enough to gesture at seeing the display screen on the back of my digital camera after I've taken her picture...just wow!
Anyway, it was really cute and I'm getting off track, back to the fear and wrath and all that!
She didn't know I was watching her and eventually I made enough noise to catch her attention. As fast as a two year old can manage she dropped the cord and wore the face of a deer caught in headlights. She was not in trouble but she didn't know that (I cleared that up with her moments later). If I could put into words what, without a doubt, was going through her mind for those first few seconds it would sound something like this.
"I don't get it, how on earth did she know? I was being so careful to be super quiet. I even tried to hide out of view. I know that she is always telling me 'no touch! Go find your toys' and this is so darn interesting but..ohoh, Mom always just knows"

I didn't take any mind reading classes, I have no super natural powers as far as I know but I'm going to take this and run with it for all its worth!

My 'You have got to be kidding me?!!?' morning

So I've learned this morning that some days just aren't meant to happen as according to plan. There is nothing more frustrating than thinking that waking up three kids completely on schedule, tackling breakfast, diapers, the kitchen garbage that the dog decided to mangle some time last night and drinking instant coffee, 'today is a going to be a good day', Boy was I off the mark.

Next we load our selves into the van, only about 15 seconds behind schedule, mentally singing 'hi ho hi ho its off to school we go' and guess what? Thanks to my hubby's slightly untimely negligence I turn over the engine and there is nothing more than a sputter from under the dew covered hood. No Gas. All I'm thinking is why would he have not stopped to get gas last night in his attempt to drop off a trailer load of yard waste at the dump? Which, btw NO, he didn't make it before they closed, as I had predicted while he was hitching up the trailer in a mad rush. What he did manage to do, while the kids and I attended the 'meet the teachers' BBQ at the school last night -alone-, was to drain the $10 of gas that I had just put in the van.

We unload out of the van. The kids are silently ecstatic, afraid of their pissed Mom barking commands for chores that need to be done, since they don't have to go to school anyway. Instead I take out my anger and frustration on a more deserving soul. As I clench my cell to my ear, grit my teeth, and aimlessly wander around the yard and garage looking for that gas can that we're supposed to always keep extra gas in 'for emergencies', he answers. I don't often hang up on people, and certainly not the ones I choose to share my life with, but I did, however not until after I spent about a minute and a half bitching and complaining and blaming. I may have even cried for a split second. Oddly enough it didn't make me feel much better. I tried to call back to apologize but he didn't answer. Oh well. The 'emergency' gas had been used up in the dead tractor that is still parked in the driveway, hood open.
Deep breath in, ok, at least the kids are happy watching the final few minutes of the cartoon they had begun watching before the whole ordeal and the kitchen is still as clean as I had left it.
I walk back to the van to see if, as Troy had suggested in the two words I let him get in, it could be rolled forward in that hill-billy way which I spend a great deal of time trying to never have to experience. There is a slight chance that the slope that the van is parked on is causing all of the gas to pool at the front of the tank. Maybe, just maybe there is enough in there, as Troy swore he thought there was, to get us to the Pioneer gas station. As I get close I assess the tilt of the van, yes it is on a slope, I'm thinking I'll just throw it in 'neutral' and use my super-woman strength to...oh, wait, that is quite the slope to the front driver's side and it has nothing to do with the grade of our lawn.
It is a flat. Not just a 'we should stop and get air on the way'flat but a complete and absolute flat. I'm not sure whether to be more pissed, more frustrated or both. Gas or no gas, we were not destined to make it off the farm today.
Another angry/ tearful phone call later I make my self another one of those instant coffees.

What does any other mother of three do on a morning, such as the one I'm having, do? They sit down at their computer, tell the kids to bugger off for a good 20 minutes, and blog.

That didn't hurt too badly...

This seems like one more activity to take up more of the time I don't seem to have. How fun!
I shall add the Blogger site into the regular rotation of Hotmail, Facebook and Kijiji. Perhaps the crushing feeling the impending winter drapes over me wont seem quite as much a burden.
Blog, Blog, Blog...Ye' haw!