About me .. in a (nut)shell

My name is Denise .. or Deni, or Dee .. I’ve been called worse! I’m 35 .. ugh! I woke up one day and suddenly I was in my mid thirties! I’m struggling with the reality of that!

I’m married to my love, Kenny, we’ve been together 13 years and weathered many a storm .. PCOS and infertility issues, emigrating from Scotland to Canada, and marriage in general (I jest, honest I do). We have two beautiful little boys ages 5 and almost 3.

Saskatoon Skyline in Winter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We moved to Canada 8 years ago, both our boys were born here. We chose Saskatchewan .. in truth, partly because it was so much fun to say! If you’re ever in need of a fun drinking game try saying “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan” 3 times fast after a you’ve had a few! It’s not easy! Saskatoon is a beautiful city .. although it’s buried in snow 6 months of the year! I was completely unprepared for our first Canadian winter .. I pulled on my fancy new snow boots and ventured out, by the time I returned I was convinced I had frost bite on 7 of my toes and that the boogers in my nose would never defrost!  My scarf had frozen solid!! That sounds like an exaggeration, I know .. but I swear to you it was frozen solid! I’d wrapped it around my face and the condensation from my breath froze on the wool. By the time I got home and took my scarf off it was stiff as a board. I could (and did) thunk it off of a wall … I don’t know why I did that, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

To the amusement of our family and friends back home in Bonnie Scotland, our kids have Canadian accents. Well, I say they have Canadian accents, in truth they have a strange half breed accent that no one side will claim as their own. The Scots say ‘oh my goodness they are soooooo Canadian’ and the Canucks say ‘oh no they’re bloody not!!’ … personally, and I’m not alone here, I think they sound Bostonian! But whatever their accent is or isn’t it’s cuter than cute and totally unique!

I’m self employed and run a small daycare .. my job is ace! I get to hang out with a bunch of kids all day and goof around! There are only 2 downsides to my chosen profession, 1) ‘The Poop’ (read ‘The Poop‘ in a horror movie trailer voice .. like ‘The Exorsist’ …..  ‘THE POOOOOOP’), ‘The Poop‘ is never ending and 2) Dora the Explorer! I hate her! I basically hate all kids shows, but Dora is a special kind of torture (partly because when she asks questions, I feel the need to answer!).  My job has been a blessing, it’s given me the opportunity to spend time with my own boys, it’s provided them with a social circle and a close knit group of friends who are all growing up together. I’ve also met some of my dearest friends through my job .. I have a lot to be thankful for in my professional life.

English: Cherry blossom A tree in the car park at Daisy Nook Garden Centre. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am out-numbered and regularly over-ruled by the men in my life, I am a multi-tasking legend, an epic bedtime story reader, a fab PB&J sandwich maker, an unbiased peace keeper, primary boo boo kisser better-er, a bloody awful singer, (not that being tone deaf stops me from singing .. I do it often and at the top of my lungs, mostly to embarrass the men in my life who out-number and over-rule me), I randomly dance with my kids in the mall, but only to the cheesiest tunes (unless it’s Christmas, in which case all bets are off and I will make them dance with me to any tune), random mall dancing is apparently waaaaay more embarrassing than my random singing (in the mall, or anywhere else) but I make up for the fact that I’m a random, cheesy mum because I totally rock a school bake sale and I love my kids more than life itself.  I also love coffee … LOVE IT! I love wine, I love chocolate! (that being said, I try my best to live by the motto ‘a little of what you love’ .. the exception being coffee, in which case I just fill my boots .. not literally. Not like I fill my boots with coffee and chug it .. not that I’m saying that could never happen .. ‘never say never’, another motto I try to live by .. but as of this moment I’ve only ever drank my coffee from a mug). I love laughing till my belly hurts; I love looking at my sleeping children, I love taking in every detail of their little faces .. the way their eyelashes almost touch their cheeks, their pouty little mouths and cute button noses; I love hanging out with my friends; I love long, late night phone calls; I love purple and green; I love sitting on the couch with my husband .. I love falling asleep that way; I love sledding with my kids; I love Christmas morning; I love family dinner; I love movie night; I love my tartan blanket; I love cleaning with my headphones in and singing at the top of my lungs (no one loves my singing, we’ve established that!); I love fresh fallen snow; I love chick flicks; I love horror movies, although I am the worst person in the world to watch a horror movie with; I love curling up with a good book and a hot cuppa; I love vanilla scented body lotion and I hate anything that smells of lavender; I love cherry blossom trees; I love listening to my kids talking to each other when they think I’m not around .. I love my life! It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for me.

 

Update: We uprooted our lives and moved from lovely, snowy, sunny, shiny Canada to lovely, rainy, wet, windy, not so shiny Scotland. Our kids are losing their groovy Bostonian Canadian accents and have adopted strange trans-Atlantic  type accents, the like of which none of us have ever heard before! I no longer have my daycare and no longer get to spend my days with fun little guys (except my own fun little guys) .. and I never thought I’d say this, but I miss it!! Yes, even the poop!! Life is different, but essentially the same .. the same but different. Except now I’m 36!! Ugh! Obviously the boys are older now too .. they’re now 6 and 4 .. they’re way more trouble, but just as much fun!