Taylor/Rogers Update

I'm sorry that I haven't updated my blog in a while. Things have been crazy around here. First our laptop died again so now we are back to our old PC. I took for granted how easy it was to do things on our Mac. It doesn't look like we will be able to get it up and running again any time soon so for now I'm back to the laborious PC.

I've also been busy with some projects for the Highland games. Since my jewelry isn't really selling anymore I'm having to expand my Celtic merchandise line, plus I've been working on a few other projects that I've had rolling around in my brain. My creativity has been blooming lately and I can't work fast enough to keep up with my brain. The house and my family have been neglected.

As soon as I can get photos downloaded I will get caught up on my blog. I'm going to make it a priority this week.

Love to you all.

Poll Results

Here are the results for how often you buy online:

1 vote at least once a month
3 votes a few times a year
2 votes never

I buy a few times a year and it's mostly supplies that I can't find here in town, like craft supplies that I use to make things for the Highland games. I don't usually buy things for personal use, although with my discovery of Etsy, that it quickly changing. I got some birthday money so I've boughten a few things that I couldn't live without. It's fun to get things in the mail, but I love the instant gratification of just going to the store and getting something right away. It's a give and take.

This week's poll was inspired by Amanda.

The Best Birthday Ever

I was so lucky this year to have a whole weekend of birthday celebrations. First I threw myself a tea party on Saturday. It was an intimate affair with four of us at the table. I went crazy making lots of food. I made two kinds of tortilla roll-ups - one had hummous with tomato and spinach and the other had a roasted yam and garlic spread with red peppers. I also made a white cake with marshmallow icing, oat drop scones with jam and chocolate covered strawberries. I had different kinds of tea and for my non tea drinking friends I had water and raspberry lemonade.

When the party was over I went to the mailbox and inside were two birthday cards, a letter and a magazine that I subscribe to. Yippee! I love getting lots of fun stuff in the mail.

Will took the kids out for the afternoon and after my friends left I had some time to myself to work on a project that I've been wanting to do for a while. A little bit later Will dropped Liam off at home and he and the girls continued on with their adventures for the day. Liam was in such a great mood and I was able to continue working on my project while he watched and laughed.

Yesterday, for my actual birthday I got to be lazy. Will brought home lunch from my favortie Mexican restaurant so I didn't have to cook. Afterwards I had a long hot shower followed by a nap. Will took the kids out for a half hour so I had time to myself again. I continued to work on my project and then I watched a few episodes of Due South on DVD. For my birthday Will got my bike tuned up and a litter box cake. (Yes, it's exactly how it sounds - cake in a litter box, including choclate "poop".) And from my kids I got a fight-free day. Bliss!

It was such a great birthday that I almost didn't mind turning 36.

Poll Results

Thanks for voting! The results for whether or not a french fry is a vegetable is as follows:

3 votes yes
2 votes no

I voted for yes, since a french fry does come from a potatoe, however, there is very little to no nutritional value left once they have been deep fried. However, if you are ambitious enough to make your own, I highly encourage it. Homemade baked steak fries are the best and only require a little bit of extra time to make. I also have a yummy recipe for polenta fries.

Check out my new poll.

Poll Results

Hey, Everyone! Thanks for voting. Here are the results for how many shoes you own:

1 vote 3-4 

1 vote 5-6

1 vote 7-9

3 votes 10+ (I'm glad I'm not the only one!)

I was shocked when I started to count how many shoes I actually own (I included my 2 pairs of winter boots and sandals). I have more shoes now than I did when  I worked at the shoe store all those years ago. (Good times, huh, Lise?) I really only wear about 3 pairs on a regular basis. I think it's time to clear out my closets of the shoes that I just don't wear enough to keep, including the cool high heels I bought for Sarah and Jimmy's wedding and only wore them that one time. Then there are the shoes that I wish that I had more opportunity to wear like my black dress boots and a pair of black shoes with a square toe. Then there are the chunky ankle boots that are so cool, but damn uncomfortable to wear for more than an hour, kind of like my one and only pair of heels. 

While you were counting your shoes, did you take note of how many shoes your spouse has? I bet he only has a few that he can get away with wearing all the time. I think Will has about four pairs of shoes and that includes his dress shoes that he only wears once a year to the Burns dinner when he wears his kilt. It hardly seems fair that they can get away with only having a few comfy shoes and women have so many shoes for different occasions. Maybe it's our own fault. Do we really need all those shoes? Could we be more like men and get away with only having a few shoes just for necessity? My guess would be yes. But that wouldn't be much fun!

Check out my new poll.

Weekend Update

I figured that since it's been a week and a half since I wrote in my blog, that I better update it. Nothing too exciting is happening so I haven't felt the need to say anything. 

Moira was on spring break the last week of March. We didn't do too much, but the week went by fast. She is now into Webkinz - stuffed animals that you buy and can play with on their website. It is pretty fun and I like to play too. You can play games to earn cash to buy stuff for your pets. You can interact with them and feed and bathe them. I'm thinking about getting one for myself so I have my own character to play with. 

Kyla is fine. We are still working on the potty training thing. Some days she does really well, and other days it's a fight. The whole thing is a slow process. She adores her big sister and follows her around and wants to do whatever Honey is doing. 

Liam is growing fast and is gobbling up cereal and veggies. He's starting to sit up on his own, although he is still a little wobbly. He rolls all over the place so I have to keep an eye on him when I put him down. He is so chunky and cuddly. I love to squeeze him!

Will is still enjoying his 8-5, weekends off job. In the evenings he serenades us with his bagpipes. He got his small ones working again so he can play these ones in the house without breaking our eardrums. 

As for me, I'm still working on Etsy and with the start of the Highland games season almost upon us, I've been busy with that too. The jewelry hasn't been selling very well so I'm having to expand. So many people are selling it now and a lot of them are looking to China to furnish them with products. I'm just one little Canadian girl trying to find a niche among 1.3 billion Chinese. Not an easy task! Last year I start selling Celtic inspired cards and they did pretty well so I'll try it again this year. I'm still doing the shortbread and am thinking about doing journals and headbands. We'll see how it goes. I'm still doing Avon. I'm hoping to expand my customer base here soon. 

We are talking about moving. The house is started to close in on us and it's driving us nuts. I can't imagine living in this house with three teenagers so we think it would be best to move so our family has room to grow. With it being a buyer's market right now we think we can get a good deal on a home. We are going to hang on to our house and rent it out until the market picks back up. Then we'll see about selling it. We have a house that we are interested in. It's a split level with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a swimming pool and a hot tub. It sits on almost half an acre and there are open fields full of sheep and llamas behind it. Moira will still be able to attend her same school. We like and didn't want to pull her out of it. Right now we are fighting with the bank because of their crappy business practices, but we hope to have it resolved by the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed. 

That's about all we are up to right now. I'm not complaining, though. Sometimes normal and boring is highly underrated. 

Poll Results

We got five votes this week for eye colour. Here are the results:

3 votes blue

2 votes hazel

Check out this week's poll.