How Does She Do It?

Yes, the age old question that we sometimes ask ourselves, or even ask out loud.  I've thought it, you've thought it, we've all thought it at some point: "How does she do it?"

I know the term "mommy wars" gets a lot of press these days, and before you tune out because you've heard enough about mommy wars.... this post is not about that.  I think that as much as we talk about moms tearing each other down, sometimes, or even frequently, we can be our own worst critic.

I thought about this the other day, a friend of mine said to me "I don't know how you do it, working full time, going to school, busy mom.....  I could never handle all of that".  It made me smile, because just says before, I was thinking the same about her: mom of 2, busy job, busy social life, I don't know how she does it.

I think we all have moments when we think to ourselves "I don't know what I'm doing", or feel frustrated or overwhelmed.  And while we all have those moments, I think we also are far too critical of ourselves for having those moments.

I think it's great to recognize other great moms that you know in your life.  Know someone that's doing a great job?  Fantastic!  It's great to have good moms and friends.  Just remember, you are a great mom too.  We're all just doing the best we can for our kids.  We may all have different methods of getting there, but ultimately, we're all just trying to do right by our children.

All of this to say, take a breath, take a bow, take a moment for yourself.... and pat yourself on the back, mom, you're doing a good job.

I Tell My Daughter Princess Stories

Ok, not exactly the confession of the century, but, I've been reading a number of posts lately that are very critical of sharing stories about fairy-tale princesses with their daughters.  Why?  Because many of these stories feature princesses that are rescued by a prince.  And many argue that this sends a message to young girls that they need a man to get through life.

I consider myself a strong an independent woman.  Yes, I am married, but not because I didn't think I could survive without a husband.  I love my husband, and we each bring our own strengths to our marriage.

I too was told fairy-tales as a child as well.  I loved hearing these classic stories.  I loved imagining their beautiful dresses, and I even liked the part where the Prince would come to save the Princess.  In my opinion, these are stories, not reality, and the important thing is that we encourage self-confidence and independence in our children.  If they choose to have a partner in life, great, but it's also important for them to know that being in a relationship doesn't define you as a person.

So I will continue to tell princess stories to my daughter.  We will watch our favourite Disney princesses on tv.   And I will continue to encourage her to be happy, healthy, and self-confident.

How do you feel about these kinds of stories?  Do you share them with your children?  Why or why not?  Feel free to share in the comments below.

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Thanks for reading!!

So... Where are the Reality TV Posts?

I know, something's been missing for the last couple weeks from this blog.  Ever since Big Brother Canada ended, I haven't blogged about anything Reality TV related.  Don't kid yourself, it's not because I'm not watching any Reality TV.  (Anyone that TRULY knows me would know that would never be the case)  And I did briefly consider doing a Bachelorette recap, because I have been watching.  But, I've fully expected that I will be recapping Big Brother when it makes it's premier at the end of June... and that takes a good chunk of time.  That show airs 3 times a week!  So I'm holding out for that.

Does that mean I will have no content?  No.  Of course not!  I can't keep my thoughts to myself!  But just not regular recap posts about the Bachelorette, Catfish, or other reality show.  But I will post the occasional commentary.  I've also been reading some of the feedback I've been getting, and apparently people want things other than Reality TV (whhhaaaattt???!!!)  So, seeing that I am a wonderfully nice person, I will accommodate.

So for today, you have to deal with this boring post.  More exciting content to come. 

In the meantime, have you entered my blog contest? Do it!  http://overtiredmama.blogspot.ca/2014/05/some-changes-are-coming.html?m=1

You could win a coffee card and donation to charity of your choice!

Dreams of Travel....

We all have dreams.  Some of us have really selfless dreams like dreaming of happiness for all, etc.  My dreams are selfish.  I dream of lavish vacations for myself (and I guess my family can come too).  I kid, I kid (sort of).  Anyway, my family and I recently went on vacation, and, as with all of my vacations, I come home with high hopes of when we can travel again.  Although my dreams are of lavish vacations.  I often will spend time (I won't say how much time, because it's embarrassing) finding nice looking vacations at bargain prices.  I thought I would share some of my bargain vacations with you as a public service.  Perhaps I can live vicariously through one of you.  Or maybe I'll just provide you with a starting point for a dream of your own... or maybe this is pointless, but let's pretend this is helpful, shall we?

Bargain vacation #1: Orlando Holiday - May 11 to 18

1 - Rented house - I know what you're thinking, sounds expensive... or maybe you're nervous you'll get a dump.  Here's my tip, look for properties that have some reviews written about them.  If there are some negative ones, look at what they're complaining about: Are they complaining that the paint is a colour they don't like?  Or are they complaining about bed bugs?  You need to decide what is important in your rental.  Personally I don't care about paint colour, I DO care if there are bed bugs.  Perhaps you're the opposite?  Anyway, why not check out something like this property:

http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/82140.html?promoType=deal

$424 a week - Includes washer and dryer - so if you're an efficient packer, no need to check your bags, just bring a carry-on and do laundry.  This house sleeps 8 people, so depending on how many adults you're travelling with, there's potential to share that cost, making the trip even more cost efficient.  Purchase groceries (as opposed to eating out) for your fully equipped kitchen.  Enjoy the pool/spa at the end of the day to top it all off.  Doesn't it sound heavenly?

2 - Flights- This is usually where it gets expensive, but there's a few things you can do.  There are a few sites that "guarantee the lowest price" so, if you have the time, great idea to search multiple sites, find the best deal, and see if anyone can beat it with their low price guarantee.  But this is the deal I found with Hotwire without searching anywhere else: $289.16 (taxes included) round trip - (and just an additional note that I've seen this flight as low as $240 round trip, so if you're willing to take a chance and check back every day, you may be able to get it cheaper.

3 - Car Rental - If you are renting a house, this is pretty well necessary.  A cab from the Airport to Orlando can run you somewhere around $50 (and more if you're heading to the outskirts... like Davenport).  Hotwire and Priceline can be helpful in this area if you aren't particular about what kind of car you have.  I've seen rental prices for a mid-size as low as $12 a day (before insurance). 

As for activities, it's up to you.  If you're going to do the parks (Disney, Seaworld, etc), it's difficult to find really spectacular deals, but you can usually get a few dollars off the gate price through places like undercovertourist.com or kgstickets.com.  The multi-day passes are usually your biggest bargain.

But lets take the flight, car rental & accommodations alone - and why don't we say this is a trip for 4 people.  That will be $416.16/person (+ groceries, car insurance & attraction/activities), but even with those added expenses... a pretty reasonably priced vacation, oui?

Your welcome. 

Did you enjoy this post?  Did you find it utterly ridiculous?  Either way, let me know in the comments, or Tweet me on Twitter (that sounds wrong, doesn't it).

If I were famous....

As I watch the Golden Globes last week, I was thinking about how often I hear celebrities complain about the paparazzi, and that made me think of some things I would do to "mess with" the paparazzi.  Here is my list:

- I would constantly rub my belly as I walked around in public, and randomly stop and look at baby clothes.

- I would stop in at lawyer's offices and come out with paper work for restraining orders, divorce, adoption... and I would flash it around as I walked past paparazzi.

- I would "close talk" with all of my friends... which would cause constant speculation about my relationships

- I would constantly change my accent when I was speaking close to the paparazzi - British, French, Spanish, German (although my accents would be horrible so no one would know what accent I was trying to do).  Then I'm sure they would constantly speculate that I was having some kind of breakdown or psychotic break.

- I would wear horribly matched clothes, do my hair in weird styles, or wear ridiculously coloured makeup (instead of blush, put green eyeshadow on my cheaks, that kind of thing...) and when people ask about whether I'm trying to start a new trend, I would pretend I had no idea what they were talking about, and describe my outfit as something totally different than what I was actually wearing.

Why would I do all of these things?  It's a little bit like "the boy who cried wolf", eventually, people would tire of my "crazy antics" or "drama", and they wouldn't pay attention to anything I did.

____________________________________________

Note - I'm not really sure that they would "tire" of these things if I was say... Angelina Jolie.... but, I could try it.  But then again, I'm not famous, so no one would really care if I did this in my current job.

Weird Things on the Internet

There are weird things on the internet.  Yup, I'll let that sink in for a moment, because I'm sure you weren't aware of that.  Anyway, I'm not just talking about that annoying Facebook friend you have that is constantly updating their status about everything they're doing every minute of the day - "Just woke up, great day!", "I need groceries, looks like I'll be having oatmeal for breakfast", "Doctor just called to say that rash should go away in 4 weeks, phew!" - yeah, that person.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the weird and wacky stuff I've come across on the internet recently:

So this one just came to my attention today - I love Turkey Dinners as much as the next person, but this "Smooth Turkey" video is beyond weird: 



So, my daughter loves when I look up cartoons, etc, on Youtube.  In my effort to find some Wiggles videos, I came across a really creepy Wiggles Puppet show.... well someone took that video and put it to the music of the Exorcist.  Terrifying yet funny.





Now from creepy to terrible.  This website offers visitors the opportunity to bet on how long couples will last in their marriage (based on a photo of them):
http://www.weddingbetting.com/

Well, that's probably enough for today... do you have weird websites/videos/friends that you want to share?  Leave a comment!  :)

These are a few of my favourite things.....

Don't worry, I am not posting a Youtube video of me singing this song.... I'm just humming quietly at my desk.  Unless you want a video, because I can do that (just kidding.... or am I?)

Anyway,  I read alot of blogs, visit alot of websites, watch alot of shows and eat alot of junk.  That about sums up my life.... I'm kidding, but only half kidding.    So I thought I would do a post about my "favourites"... and yes, I spell that the "Canadian way". 

So here we go...

For a laugh:

This is my favourite parenting related blog.  And before you skip over it because you think that this will be a website with lots of parenting advice and tips on how to make organic healthy meals for your family... you are mistaken.  This blog is hilarious, and the pictures just up the "epicness" of each post.  Am I pumping this up to much?  Decide for yourself....

Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures:  http://crappypictures.com/

This is for a whole different kind of laugh.  I began reading this blog for his hilarious commentary on episodes of Laguna Beach & The Hills, and I stayed for the other trashy reality tv ridiculing posts.  I also had never seen "Harriet Carter products" until I read this blog.  I highly recommend looking up those posts.
The blog is hilarious, if you are not easily offended.  And if you are easily offended, get off my site.  Just kidding (or am I).  Here you go:

http://www.ImBringingBloggingBack.com/

Ok, so just a couple of "Favourites" today, I will post more again soon.

Pinning....

Ok, so I knew I hadn't written anything in a while... I was having a bit of writers block for a couple of reasons... 1 - Most of what I wanted to write about was really just me ranting and complaining about random things, and that gets boring for people to read.  2 - My life isn't that exciting.

So, I was on Pinterest this morning... a website I only go on about once a month, but when I do, I pin like crazy.  And that action this morning inspired me to write about it.  And I use the term "inspire" loosely because this will not be an inspiring post... at all.

I love Pinterest because I have discovered many really awesome things... a lot of funny things... and a lot of ridiculous things.  But as I was pinning this morning, I realized something.  I have pinned about 50,000 recipes and crafts, and I have not done any of them.  Actually, that's not true, I made two - a homemade microwave flavoured popcorn recipe, and a frozen banana thing (I don't know how to describe it... it was kind of like ice cream, but really all it is... is a frozen banana).  Anyway, that's beside the point.  Of all of these pins I have done... I really don't try any of it.  And actually, I don't even go back and look at what I pinned.  So I'm going to do a little experiment.  I'm going to try to do/make/read at least one of my "pins" a week.  I will post my progress.  Doesn't that sound thrilling?  I bet you will all be staying tuned for my thoughts and experiences.  Follow me on Pinterest!  http://pinterest.com/nbkatie/

Don't worry, I'll post about non-Pinterest related things too... so for all the Pinterest haters out there... don't stop reading my blog for that reason.  :)

Have a comment, suggestion or random complaint?  Comment below or tweet me!  Just for fun!  We can be awkward online "friends".  You know you want to.

Random Fact Tuesday...

So, there's a little tool associated with this blog (no... not me...I'm not talking about a person.. I mean an actual tool) that tracks where my readers come from, how many people are reading it, etc, etc.  So, not very exciting, right?  Maybe not for you (and if that's the case, this post might be pretty boring for you), but I look at that info every once in a while......mostly because I'm still amazed anyone wants to read my ramblings.

So, I logged on with the intent to post a little something about last night's episode of Bachelor Pad... then I looked at those stats... I see most of my readers are from Canada (woo hoo!  Yay fellow Canadians! And please don't mistake that for me saying "Yay Canadiens", because that is something I will never say... I'm a Flames fan... sorry, hope that doesn't change your opinion of me).  Anyway, the next highest amount of readers come from..... Russia!  Cool!  Do people generally like to read about peoples' random thoughts and complaints there?  (Just kidding, I don't generalize like that.... usually).

So welcome to my blog!  I considered getting some little welcome note from a random translation site to say "welcome to my blog" in Russian, but I was nervous that I would actually get a translation that said something like "Welcome to my pizza flavoured hockey puck" and then I would offend everyone and they would never read my blog again (ok, I know it wouldn't actually translate to that... but, you get what I'm saying).

I promise I won't post any more about uninteresting facts, please come back and read again.

Note - I actually can't promise I won't post uninteresting facts... because this Blog is based on that kind of content.  So hopefully you'll come back anyway.  :)

Have any comments/questions/suggestions for this blog?  Hit me up in the comments section (that's what the kids say these days right?  "Hit me up"?  I'm tryin to be cool here).  I may read your comments (I probably will) and I may take your advice (maybe... maybe not... you'll have to keep coming back to find out).

Listening in on Conversations...

... because I'm nosy, and it's fun.  So, this is an actual conversation I heard this morning:

Girl 1 - Have you been watching the Olympics?
Girl 2 - Yes, I'm obsessed.  I love watching.
Girl 1 - Me too, exciting stuff.  What's your favourite event.
Girl 2 - Well, I've really liked watching the running... and figure skating.
Girl 1 - Figure skating?
Girl 2 - Yeah, figure skating, it's amazing to watch.
Girl 1 - You mean in the winter olympics... right?
Girl 2- No, they do it during the summer Olympics because it's an indoor event.

Umm... are you for real?  Hilarious.

When I became a parent...

... I swore I wouldn't be so judgemental anymore.  I was INCREDIBLY judgemental before I had my little one (Why can't the parents clean that kid's face? Why are they bringing that kid grocery shopping when they clearly don't want to be here? etc etc).  I've come to understand why parents do the things they do... and I've tried to tell myself that I have no idea what's going on in people's lives that makes them do the things they do... however... I've come to understand that I am still very judgemental.  It's a problem.  I've tried, but here are the judgements I continue to make:

1 - If you are a guy and you are wearing white sunglasses... I think you're a DB (I'm a mom, not supposed to swear or write inappropriate things... so you can take a guess what that stands for).  I'm sure there are many guys that wear white sunglasses that are awesome people... I have not met them.  Most times that I see guys with white sunglasses their pants are falling down and they're wearing wife beaters... enough said.  Prove me wrong people.

2 - If you are wearing pajama pants in public, you are either really lazy or really sick.  I remember when we had pajama day at school when I was younger.  How fun!  But here's the thing... I actually wore a pair of pj's to bed and changed in to new ones in the morning..... AND.. I was 10.  I don't do it anymore.  I have heard people say "I don't care about what people say about what I wear, that's why I wear this".  Ok, the look kind of says "I don't care", but if you really didn't care about what people thought about the way you look, you wouldn't have that "tanning bed" look.. and you wouldn't be wearing makeup.

3 - If you know I'm a mom, and you start a conversation with me by telling me what a waste of time/$ etc it is to have children and proceed to ramble off reasons why you will not be having children... I will tune out of the conversation (and that's if I don't walk away from you).  Don't get me wrong.  I understand that having kids is not a desired option for everyone, and I respect that.. so respect my choice for having a child.  You are not going to convince me that I made a mistake.

So there's some rambling for today.  I'm going to go put on my pajama pants and white sunglasses.

Truthful Tuesday

So, here's a post that's a spin off of "Random Confession Friday".  Some more random confessions for you:

1. I love Britney Spears.  Yup.  I don't care about all the crazy stuff she did.  I am always pulling for her.  When I heard she was going to be on X-Factor, I was excited for her.  I'm hoping she's amazing.  I'm also still secretly (or not so secretly) hoping that she will perform at the Billboard or MTV or American music awards some day and pull off a kick-butt dance routine (see how I stayed PG there... no swearing in my blog... or at least in this entry).  The likelihood of that happening is slim, but I'm still hoping. 

2. I am probably the worst eater I know.  My addiction to junk food is so bad that I have often hid sweets from my husband so I don't have to share.  Greedy and unhealthy.  That's who I am.  Don't judge.  Although, if I were you, I would judge me... harshly.  

3.  Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, just for a day (or a week) and re-live my university days.  It's not that I don't appreciate what I have now... I love my husband and daughter, enjoy my job, etc, etc.... but sometimes I do miss the days when all I had to worry about was exams and writing essays.  I ate out regularly, went to the movies often, went shopping pretty frequently, slept in as often as possible and lived with my best friends.  What more could you ask for?!  So... I have a solid business idea for people... as I believe I am not the only one with this kind of wish... you know how there are adult "Rock Camps" where people can go away for a week and pretend they are rock stars?  I think someone should have a "Re-live University/College Camp"... book some space at various university residences and allow people to re-live those days.  Granted I'm sure the actual university students in those cities/towns won't be excited about seeing a bunch of 30/40/50 year old people "partying it up" at the clubs they go to, but who cares.  I'm all for this.  If you start this business, sign me up... oh, and also, give me a cut of the profits... it was my idea and all.

I think that's enough of my confessions today... tune in next week for more (maybe)... or I may turn my attention to another topic.  I don't really have a great attention span.  Must be my lack of sleep.

Random Friday Confessions

So, what are these "Random Friday Confessions"?  I feel like doing a TMI post... but not in a gross way.  So here are a few random confessions:

1 - I have audtionned for more than one tv show/movie.  Nothing x-rated, so don't get excited... and I didn't get the parts either, so you'll never see them... haha.  I WAS an extra in a made for tv movie... ooo... but I turned down the biggest part I was ever offered... to be a "stand-in" for Mena Suvari (I'm not even sure if that's how you spell her name) when she filmed a movie here.  Why did I turn it down?  It started filming the day after my wedding.  Womp womp!

2 - I was a librarian.  Not exactly.. I was a "student page".  I worked in a library for 3 years.  And I used to think "I wonder what people would do if, when they were checking books out, I yelled 'THANK YOU'".  I'm sure they would have thought I was nuts.  And they would have been right... I mean, I'm already a little crazy thinking about such random things... right?

3 - When I worked in tourism, I wrote a song and sang it to tourists... to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song.  Cheezy, but the tourists loved it.

4 - I know WAY too much about "The Wiggles".  My daughter loves their music, and I find them more bareable than alot of kids music.  I know about their previous music groups, what lead them to start the group, and about some of the scandals a couple of them have faced.  Weird, I know.

5 - I did not know who Justin Bieber was until just before his "Never Say Never" movie came out.  I always considered myself pretty up to date on music, but he slipped through my radar.  I think I must have just dismissed his music as being like Hannah Montana, or any of those other Disney singers.  As another piece of this confession... I downloaded my first Justin Bieber song... Boyfriend.  But in my defense, I find that song sounds like something Justin Timberlake would have sang... when he used to make music.  I say that's my defense, but I know some people will say that's not any better... and to those people I say... we can never be friends... I love Justin Timberlake.  :)

So, not earth shattering confessions... just ramblings from an overtired mama.

I'm so bad at posting regularily.....

So, once again, it's been almost 2 months since my last post.  Sorry about that.  I apologize, but was there really anyone who was upset by that?  I'm sure you were all visiting the site regularly and saying "What?  No new post?!  What is wrong with her?????"  Hey, I get it, you live for my blog.  I'll try to update more often (spoiler alert: I probably won't... because I'm terrible).

So, what has motivated me to write today?  Random thoughts....

Random thought #1 - I really don't take an effort to appreciate my own city.  I'm always anticipating and excitedly waiting for my next trip out of town.  However, I took a fabulous walk in the few blocks that surround my office... it was awesome.  Part of it was the weather.... sunny and warm... my favourite.  The other part was the fantastic little shops that surround my work... I felt like a real hipster/poser/wannabe going in to a little shop and buying some loose tea... oooh lala!  I know... big spender.
So what's my point?  Relax, I'm getting to it!  I think we all do that... ignore what we have in our own backyards.  So, my recommendation?  Go out, go for a walk and appreciate what you have in your own city/town.  (I know, I'm bossy.... but DO IT)

Random thought #2 - So, I saw there is going to be a "Big Brother Canada".  Same idea as the American reality show.  When I was in University... I would have been ALL OVER that.  I always said that there were only 2 reality shows I would consider auditioning for: Amazing Race and Big Brother (although, if they were doing a "Real Housewives of Atlantic Canada" I might consider it...).  So, now that the Canadian Big Brother is going to happen, am I going to apply? No.  Why? A couple of reasons.... 1 - My little girl... I can't imagine being away from her for that long (Aw... isn't that sweet?  No? Ok)... And I guess I'd miss my husband too... haha!  2 - Nobody wants to see an overweight cranky mom lay around the pool (I assume they will have a pool).  3 - I have limited patience for jerks... and you know there will be at least one jerk in the house.  But as I wrote that, I thought "do jerks even know they're jerks"?  I think they do... they must... but if they don't... how do I know I"m not a jerk? In that case, maybe I'm perfect for the show.

Random thought #3 - So, I was reading some travel reviews the other day, and I noticed that (on the particular site I was on), in at  least 50% of the negative reviews the major complaint was the weather.  I get it.. bad weather on a vacation is kind of a downer, but you know what?  The town/city/village you are visiting cannot control the weather, so, to rate that place as an "awful place to visit" (that's an actual quote form a review I read) simply because of the weather, is ridiculous.  I used to work in tourism, and I can't even tell you how many people would ask me on a rainy, foggy and/or cold day "is it always like this here?"  Yes, yes it is... I've heard of this thing called 'the sun' but I've never seen it. 

Anyway, those are my random thoughts for today.  I hope you found it as thrilling as I did (note: I didn't find it thrilling at all).

Final note: Are you one of the few people who actually reads my blog?  Have something to say?  Want to fight about it? (Just kidding... or am I)  Feel free to leave a comment!  Or follow me on Twitter and "tweet me" (that doesn't sound right...)  @Zumba_KatieNB

Thanks for reading!