Sweet Dreams

If anyone ever tells you that you will not sleep better in a bed that is beautiful...they are lying.

We came to notice that we were not sleeping particularly well. It was difficult to fall asleep...then I'd wake up at 1:00am and that would be it for the rest of the night...no more sleep for me. Finally, we decided to take action.

We bought a king sized bed.

I love it a whole lot. There was just one thing missing. A beautiful duvet cover. I have had the sort of "look" that I am after all pictured out in my head for a very long time...and I assure you, that turns shopping into absolute torture. It is much easier to go without any expectations. That way, if you see something you like, you simply purchase it and go merrily on your way. Oh no. I can never seem to do it that way. I search and search and search until I find EXACTLY what I'm looking for. It has taken me almost two years to find what I'm looking for.

It was worth the wait.

Don't criticize my taste, okay?? It's pretty much plain. And beige.

Yup...it screams "me."

Matt

So, for those of you who aren't on facebook - here's what's been going on with our boy. Been a rough couple of weeks, but God is good, and He always knows how to give me a new perspective right when I need it.

Here we go:

School: Matt hasn’t been crazy about his school ever since he started there this fall. He cried about the bus ride and begged me to drive him each school day. I told him that he’d be fine, and it settled down a bit once his seat partner actually started taking the bus (it’s a little boy in his class). Then he started telling me that the kids there don’t like him, “Mommy – the friends at school don’t even like the name of me, and they don’t want to play with me.” What a dagger into the heart of a mother!! I sooo want to see him happy- and confident and all those good things. I also don’t want him to be a follower, or to base his decisions on getting approval from his peers – and his teacher says she sees a bit of that. He’ll act like a baby to make the other kids laugh. This is not a good sign….and I don’t know how to handle it. Do we change schools?? Will it be any different anywhere else?? The kids at daycare love Matt and he seems to fit in REALLY well there, so why doesn’t he at the Christian school?? Is public school really the answer??

Health: Matt got sick during the last week of RRSP season. This is very bad timing for me. I work at a financial institution. It ended up in him feeling very much like a sick yo-yo who wasn’t able to just stay at home and get better.

The week after RRSP season wasn’t much different, and by now Matt was crying every night saying that he just wants to stay home, and he doesn’t want to go anywhere in the morning. “Please can we just have a home day?”

Things just piled up and piled up. Then Matt’s whole body broke out in eczema and he REALLY didn’t want to go to school because they are having swimming lessons at school right now – and all the kids would see his rash.

We were stressed – so Matt was stressed – he was getting more and more upset about school and the night I posted that my heart was breaking, he was so worried about going to school in the morning, and so sad that he wasn’t going to have a home day – he cried and cried and cried and then lay awake in his bed until almost 9:30.

Things are getting better. He is healthy again and his eczema is much better. It’s truly amazing how a few nights of sleep can make the whole world better.

Have a great weekend every one - we're taking it easy here in the Candline house!

Issues

So, those of you who know me will not find this shocking in any way.

I have some personal space issues. Several of them actually.

I really don't like other people to be physically near me. I'm also not really one to wear my heart on my sleeve.

These perfectly reasonable boundaries have been tested lately. I'm not very happy about that. I like my boundaries, and I have no plans to deal with my issues any time soon.

So, there I was innocently watching Matthew's hockey practice - and one of the other moms came over to me and started a conversation. To date, I have been largely excluded by the other hockey moms. I am not from our little town, and thus, I am an outsider, and have been looked at, however, not spoken to, while sitting in the stands. Just a little reminder - we are quite a ways into the season. There is only one ice time left.

Okay, back to the horrifying experience. She began by asking me which little one is mine. Totally reasonable. She asked how many kids I have - also very socially acceptable.

Then she jumped right into, "Which guy is your husband?? He looks a bit older than you - how much older?? Has he been married before?? Does he have other children?? How many, how old, what happened to his first marriage?? How did you meet?? How are you finding the whole blended family thing, do his kids like you, do they like Matthew???" Somehow, in the midst of the gunfire-like questions, she managed to tell me her entire life story...in terribly graphic detail.

I think I'm fine with sitting by myself and being looked at occasionally by the other hockey moms. Yup, pretty much fine with that.

Now for the personal space story. As if that incident weren't damaging enough. There's more.

We have started going to the early service at church. I like being home at 10:45, it feels like we still have a day left, instead of getting home at 1:30 (starving) and by the time lunch is done...you get that sinking feeling that the last day of your weekend is slipping through your fingers with alarming speed.

Anyway...back to the point. Our church has that awful 2 minutes where you are supposed to move around and greet people. Shake hands (AAGGHHH - touching)chat with the people you know and introduce yourself to those you don't. I try very hard to be in the ladies room during those particular two minutes each Sunday morning. Don't get me wrong - I don't have a phobia of going outside and I'm not afraid of placing my hands on the grocery cart. I just don't like people I'm unfamiliar with to be too close to me.

There I was - caught in the church when the two minutes of greeting came around. I was trying to make my way through the crowd to the door, when this well meaning individual stepped in front of me, and said, "Good morning!!! Come here! I need to hug you. I'm not a hand shaker - I hug everyone whether I know them or not. I just have to give out as many as I can every day...don't you just love a good hug!??" Oh. My. Goodness. You have no idea. The bright side is, I lived to tell the tale.

Next Sunday, I will be much more prepared. I will plan ahead.

I really am a nice person. I just like to be a nice person from a safe distance. That's all.

Unplugged

So, I'm not really a technical genius. I am a genius in so many other ways, though, that there must be one area in which I do not exude brilliance, or people would get jealous. Hope you know I'm kidding and that I love sarcasm.

We're having some computer issues, over here in Candline-ville, so if you have suggestions, please LEAVE A COMMENT!!!

Our desktop is ill. It makes a funny noise every now and then. Not when you're using it, just when you're across the room doing something else - it will make that loud noise that computers make when you try to save something with the wrong "last three letters behind the dot." See how brilliant I am??

Then, it started telling us, "unable to display that video mode." So, we would turn it off and come back the next day.

Then the screen went all pink and stripey. You guessed it. Turned it off and came back the next day.

The next day, the screen went all red. Nothing but red.

The day after that...smoke came out of the monitor. I do realize that the monitor is dead.

The computer is in the hospital. The tech dude says the computer is fine...that the video card is okay and that it didn't kill the monitor. I don't beleive him. I have a feeling that if we bring the computer home, and happily replace the monitor, the computer will assassinate the new monitor...it may even become a serial monitor killer. Okay techie people - feel free to jump right in here with opinions galore!!

Our computer is not new. Matt wasn't even one when we got it.

We know that we need to face the inevitable question - should we replace it with a new PC or...get a Mac?? More opinions please.

So, this is the reason for the lack of blogging lately. Hang in there...and if you're at all technically intelligent, leave me some advice.