little logan…two years later

We had a party this weekend!! Little Logan celebrated his 2nd birthday this past week. 

He surprised us with his arrival and he's still surprising us every day with his progress. 

You've come a long way, Baby!!

Logan and the "duckie" in the NICU.

Logan and his "duckie" at the party this weekend!

Go Logan!!

Adventures at Work?!?

When I started university I dreamed of a job downtown in a nice office in a highrise with a great view!! Then I met Wally....

I did finish university but I also got married and settled in to being a wife and mother which I  believe is the BEST job in the whole world!! And I love that job!!

However, over the years it became apparent that in addition to managing the house and the kids I also was very good at managing my husband - not just at home but professionally as well. And as the children grew, I sort of eased into a nice position at "the office". 

So it's been about 15 years now that I've been "working" for my husband. And he has a nice office in the highhest highrise in town with big windows and a great view. Some days I can't believe how lucky I am and how dreams can really come true.

And I love my job!!! 

I've also worked very hard to keep it professional over the years. I always refer to the boss in a professional manner: "The Doctor... Dr. Smart... my boss..." And I never behave in any way that might seem too familiar for a formal setting.

As a result, I now have a collection of experiences that I simply have to laugh outloud about. So I thought I'd share.

A while back Wally and I volunteered to bring fried chicken to a family potluck so we drove over to KFC after work to pick up a bucket. I walked in the store and marched up to the counter to order chicken when I realized I didn't know what we really wanted. The last time I was inside a KFC, it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken and the colonel was still alive. So I turned around and called back to Wally who was waiting patiently by the door, "What kind should we buy?"

The cute little KFC costumed girl behind the counter made eye contact with "the dr." at the back of the store and smiled sweetly. Then she looked me up and down and asked quite seriously, "Are you two dating?"

The 17 seconds it took me to check her name tag, look her in the eye  and realize that I actually knew "Brittanee" from the doctor's office played out in slow motion as I formulated my answer. 

I smiled and said, "Him and me?! Ha Ha, we're not dating, Honey. We're married. And we've been married for a looong time. We're too old to date!"

Britanee gasped in surprise and went on about how I should wear wedding rings and how she never would have guessed......and I loaded up my chicken and promised to see Britanee soon "at the office," while the doctor and I giggled all the way home. 

Shortly after the KFC incident, another busy day at the office found me scheduling a follow up appointment for a long time patient named Aimee. Aimee has been coming to see the doctor since she was 5 years old and we've gotten to know Aimee and her family quite well over the last ten years. I was chatting with Mom about my upcoming trip to Orlando, FL explaining that the office would be closed and "we" would be visiting Disneyworld for the first time. 

Mom leaned right in and put her hand up to her face as she whispered, "Are you married to that man?" She motioned with her head toward the doctor's office. I nodded and winked in the affirmative and Mom exclaimed, "Oh that's a relief!! Dr. Smart told me he was going to Orlando for the first time and I certainly didn't want his wife to find out he taking his receptionist on the trip!! Whew!! Who knew? haha" 

She laughed nervously and wished me a bon voyage as she hustled out of the office. 

Of course, there have been many instances where "the doctor" has been spotted in the company of that blonde woman from the office in restaurants, movie theaters and shopping malls. But he takes it all in stride and introduces me as "his wife" when we are out of the office.

The other day we skipped over to Costco during lunch to pick up some copy paper. It is difficult to step into Costco and pick up just one item so as we were wheeling towards the checkout I started putting a few household articles in the cart. I was loading the humungous bags of splenda as one of our "moms" walked by with her cart. She glanced at the doctor and I and exclaimed, "You two even do your shopping together?!" 

I gave her a wry smile and explained, "We do everything together," and with a wink and a grin I added as I was passing by, "We even live together...."   hmmmmm

Occasionally the doctor and I enjoy a fun, quiet, private moment during the day. When we are the only people in the office, it is easy to remember that we are actually husband and wife and we love being together. 

There was that time when Wally came out of his office and hovered over my shoulder as I was busy on the computer. He often comes out and checks on the schedule or any messages I may have for him so I thought nothing of his presence. Then he gently placed his hand on my shoulder and said in the kindest, most thoughtful way, "I am such a lucky man to have such a beautiful wife." 

I was flattered by the compliment and turned my chair to face him and thank him for the kind words when I noticed my top button was undone. I smiled warmly and then aghast, asked, "You were looking down my shirt, weren't you?" 

He smiled wryly, tossed his head,  did a funny little skip and as he closed his door responded glibly "Ya, so? Whatcha gonna do about it?"

So when it's all said and done, I have a lot of fun working for my husband. And the job does come with its own set of perks probably not found in traditional office settings. 

I have been known to give myself a day off here and there. And I do know that I probably won't get fired if I make a mistake or come in late once in a while. My boss is very forgiving and kind and easy to work for. 

However, I think my "situation"was best summed up by the receptionist who works for the doctor we share office space with. 

I breezed into work one day about 45 minutes late. I smiled broadly at Lydia (the receptionist)  and the waiting room full of women and chirped out a cheery "Good Morning!"

Lydia glanced up from her typing, eyed the clock on the wall and in her best dead pan replied, "Well...It's certainly easy to see which one of us is sleeping with the boss."

Yup. I love my job.

" I'll be back..."

I ran into a friend at the grocery store this afternoon after work and she mentioned that she hadn't seen any fun posts on my blog lately. She wanted to know what had been happening in my life and was there really nothing entertaining or "blogworthy" to report?

It gave me a reason to pause and reflect on how things have been going. 

Quite frankly, my life is still just one situation comedy scene after another. I realized that I'd been so busy trying to keep my head above water in all the hectic chaos that is this life that I'd completely neglected to take a breath and report on how good life is and how ridiculously hilarious living can be. 

So in the words of my friend Arnold (for all 15 of my followers) "I'll be back!!"

And as my good friend, Jian Ghomeshi says at the end of each show, "To be continued...."

Stay tuned..... 

adventures in celebrating...

My family has been celebrating since the beginning of the year. I guess that's what happens when the family grows. We've actually eaten so much cake that it is safe to say that the whole family has GROWN. heehee. 

First there was Angela's birthday in the beginning of January (Jan.7). Then Wendi and I had cake for our birthdays.

 Sara ate cake for her birthday even though she was REALLY BIG AND UNCOMFORTABLE. Then we all had some valentine's chocolate and a cake for Nathan's birthday. Grayson was enjoying his birthday cake when Jane arrived on the scene-so we needed to bring on more cake and break out the chocolate pink cigars. 


Through all the partying, Angela and Dylan made plans to come visit in Alberta. With that in mind, we decided to have a family size party to celebrate the three babies (Logan, Kara and Jane) and we opted to make a cake for Dylan's birthday too. (his birthday has been overshadowed two years in a row by babies!! "get used to it, Dude")

When Nana heard that everyone was coming for the party, she decided to come too. 

Add Grandma and Grandpa to the mix and we had a full blown 4 generation celebration on our hands.

Even though it was a celebration for Kara's first birthday, it was impossible to ignore that Logan was also celebrating a full year on the outside (he was released from NICU just 9 days before Kara was born on February 29.) 

Kara and Logan had a grand time!
Jane kinda slept through the whole thing-

And just when we were sure our family couldn't count any more blessings...

We were given no choice but to PARTY ON!

And of course, you're all invited!!

me and the hipsters....

Since Sara gave birth she has sworn off dairy (finally!!!). I guess she's decided that her body can only handle so much trauma and if she can prevent some of the abuse by not ingesting that nasty lactose she had better do it.

The other day as Sara and I were brainstorming about how to make sure she gets all the nutrition (aka CALCIUM) that she needs to be healthy enough to take good care of her new baby, she suggested outloud that perhaps she and Ben should visit that ORGANIC FOOD STORE just down the block from their home.

SARA: Hey Ben, maybe we should go down the street to investigate what the organic food store has available.

BEN: You mean that store? Are you suggesting that we should be like those people?

I laughed out loud as I surveyed the apartment and the people with whom I was sharing my lunch. I hate to break it to you Ben...you are those people!!

And we love you! Enjoy the good, healthy food and that gorgeous, well dressed baby girl.

adventures in homework...

My daughter Angela is somewhat of a math genius. She's always been good at numbers and she's a hard worker too - getting good grades and pursuing higher education.

Over the years she has collected a high school diploma, a bachelor's degree in math, a masters degree and now a PhD! She has done her fair share of homework. She has also helped a variety of students with their homework.

She has also taught classes at the university as part of her career in math. Over the years she has been mistaken for an unaccompanied minor (while travelling home for Christmas with her HUSBAND), the new girl in class,  and the random girlfriend of one of the students. She has struggled to be taken seriously by her "adult learners". And in spite of her youthful appearance, she has soldiered on to teach her students all they need to know about MATH.

Surprisingly, the students who have given her the biggest challenge have been the "adult learners" who actually already have bachelors degrees and are training to be teachers. (Incidentally, the engineers were a very compliant group and generally did their homework.) 

From the future educators she has heard every excuse for homework not being turned in. ("my cat had a hairball and I spent the night in the pet ER", "I've got THREE kids, for crying out loud...and you assign homework?!" "my other grandmother died," and so on and so on.....) I've been thoroughly entertained by her rants regarding these self absorbed, incompetent, inattentive ("how was I supposed to know the exam schedule was on the syllabus?") students. ("I didn't feel like doing the assignment / I forgot to do the assignment.") The homework issue has been an ongoing battle that both Angela and I have found to be simply WEIRD. 

However, last week's assignment did provide Angela (and me) with a bit of levity.

I laughed out loud at the METH lesson plan and then I shed a couple of tears for public education. (or maybe those tears were just because I was laughing so hard...)