The Decade in Review

January 5, 2010 By

2000–We did not die as many predicted. Worked as an account executive at a PR agency in Salt Lake City and moonlighted as a travel writer. Paid $50 to spend the night at the new Salt Lake County jail’s “B&B.” Juggled two fun guys, making up for the dating drought that was my life the previous 2.5 decades.

2001–Landed dream job at Deseret Book Co. Oversaw events at the corporate office and 40 stores. Ate Lion House rolls every day (the best you’ve ever had), ran them off every night on some mountain trail. Worked as the travel editor at Sports Guide for the fourth year and wrote for Utah Outdoors. Traveled most weekends and loved every minute of it.

2002–Laid off when corporate cut one-third of the positions. Went into mourning, regrouped, made life changes and then played. Continued travel writing and branched into radio as a freelancer for Metro Networks. Attended multiple events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Connected online with my future husband in July. Broke up with on-again, off-again boyfriend of five years. Met Internet Guy in September. Both men proposed the same week. Fell madly in love with Internet Guy.

2003–Moved to Denver. Married Internet Guy on February 15. Climbed 14ers (14,000-foot peaks), skied, backpacked Southern Utah, loved and laughed. Built a house, moved in with in-laws while it was being finished. Got pregnant. Got sick. Taught early-morning seminary. Got sick again.

2004–Still sick…and now big. Moved into new home April 15. Daughter Hadley born the next month. Beautiful, chubby, colicky and rarely slept. Thought life was over with motherhood. Joined hiking club for moms. Hit the trail a few times a week. Only time Hadley stopped crying. Loved introducing her to the outdoors.

2005–Hadley showing slight improvement. Still a tough, spirited, independent child. Lots of hikes, play dates, library story times and drop-in gymnastics. Started blog at MSN Spaces. Somehow documenting and connecting with online moms helped make sense of the madness. Husband had surgery to remove heart arrhythmia. Went on a cruise. Pregnant with baby No. 2. Had legitimate concerns could give birth to another tough baby. Prayed. A lot.

2006–Sick and big. Baby Bode born. Sweet and slept all the time. Amber rejoiced. Regular hikes and bike rides with both kids in the Chariot. Internet Guy promoted to director position at work. Life as a widow begins.

2007–Adjusted to life with two children. Went on another cruise. Pitched Mile High Mamas idea to both newspapers. Launched with The Denver Post in October. Husband’s pumpkin obsession begins. Started travel writing again. Family vacation to Mexico. Daughter began preschool. Finally saw the light at the end of the newborn tunnel.

2008–Husband loses job. Takes severance package and finished basement. Hired by company that had been actively recruiting him. Makes lots of money as their consultant. His pumpkin obsession continues. Spends every summer night at his parent’s pumpkin patch making out tending to his pumpkin. Final weight: 755 pounds.

2009–Hubby’s consulting gig dries up when main client declared bankruptcy. Starts Pixo Web Design and Strategy. Works hard. Grows pumpkin. Family goes on Tour de Colorado for summer vacation. Tornado wipes out pumpkin patch. Husband mourns. Wife rejoices. Throws Mile High Mamas events while working with various brands. Husband celebrate 10 years of being cancer-free. Daughter starts kindergarten, son in preschool, Mama solo again on the mountain trails. Added kitty Remy to the Crazy Clan. One of five semi-finalists in Microsoft’s Office Winter Games contest.

I started the 2000s alone and ended them surrounded by love. This past decade has been a roller-coaster ride of joys and sorrows. Outlook for 2010 is bright.

What were some of your high and lowlights of the last decade?

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, Olympics, travel

Happy New Year and Christmas in Pictures

January 1, 2010 By

As you can see, my lil’ ol’ blog has had a makeover. We are still working out the bugs (“we” meaning poor Jamie who is supposed to be on vacation this week). Be sure to change your RSS feeds and bookmarks to www.crazybloggincanuck.com.

Our two-week-long Winter Break has been one of our most laid back ever and all this downtime has about killed me.

I don’t know why they call this a “break.” It is anything but for the parents.

We have tried to stay busy and went miniature golfing, watched movies, skied, bowled, shopped, read lots of new books, picnicked in the family room, hiked in the snow, had playdates, toured the Denver Art Museum, went go-carting, threw a New Year’s Eve party and traumatized The Cat. Daily.

Christmas itself was the most quiet I’ve ever had. With Jamie’s parents gone, we skied on Christmas Eve, played the bells and ate. His sister came over after we’d unwrapped our presents on Christmas. Bode’s favorite present was an Optimus Prime Transformer. Haddie’s was a live butterfly kit.

If her father insists upon having worms in our basement, it’s only natural his offspring would covet something like caterpillars.

I was delighted to receive some Vancouver Olympics gloves from my mom for good luck (official announcement is on January 14), a beautiful painting of Jesus in Jerusalem from my in-laws and a pair of Sanita Clogs.

Which are exponentially cooler than these beauties.

As for James, I gave him a milkshake maker to go with his old-fashioned soda fountain. I was most excited when his parents gave him a deluxe remote that combines the four remotes he has for his home theatre.

And which also means I’ll finally be able to turn the blasted thing on.

December’s highlights in pictures:

Gingerbread making with Aunt Lisa.


Haddie’s Rockin’ Rudolph Dance Recital.


She was only a half a beat behind everyone else, an improvement from her unscripted solo performance she performed when she was 3.

Eighteen giggling tweens crammed into our basement for a “Grinch Party.”


My failed attempts to photograph Hadley at our church Christmas party.




Which may or may not have lead to the threat, “So help me if you do that when you see Santa, you will not get any dessert or presents.”

Dessert + Santa = the way to every girl’s heart.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Be sure to weigh-in about your holidays.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie

Why my children are on the naughty list this year

December 21, 2009 By

Child No. 1: Bode.

I hate swimming.

OK, let me qualify that. I don’t actually hate being in the water. When I did a study abroad in the Middle East, I relished my early-morning swims in the Sea of Galilee. But due to two failed operations on my nasal passages, I just hate getting my face wet.

Kind of an important factor when you’re swimming.

When we went to Mexico a couple of years ago, Haddie became an excellent swimmer. Three-year-old Bode takes after me. He enjoys the water but hates to be submerged. Swim lessons last summer didn’t help help his aversion so I was recently determined to conquer it on a Saturday morning trip to the pool.

“I’m going to dunk you.”
“Nooooooo. You can’t dunk me, Mommy.”
“Sure, it’s fun. Mommy will even do it with you.”

And I did. Don’t tell him but there was nothing fun about it.

We let him get used to the water for a while and then did the deed. And shocker: he did not die. I can’t say he liked it but it definitely overcame his fear. So much so that he brazenly went on the large water slide on the tube with Jamie multiple times, each time getting his face wet.

As we were driving home, we praised him. He relished in his glory but then pointed out that Mommy didn’t go on the waterslide.

Traitor.

I hemmed and hawed about it but nothing worked. Finally, Jamie interjected:

“Bode, Mommy isn’t a fish like you!”

“Dat’s right. She’s a whale.”

================================
IMG_0893
Child No. 2: Hadley.

My 5-year-old daughter Hadley and I were recently sitting at the kitchen table. She was deeply engrossed in coloring when we heard a strange sound, likely the wind blowing our Christmas door hanging. Without looking up, Hadley caustically queried, “What the hell was that?”

My sentiments exactly.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor

A Lesson in Parenting

December 18, 2009 By

I have received several inquiries about the outcome of the Microsoft Office Winter Games Contest. They still have not decided upon a winner and will publicly announce their choice on January 7. Fingers are still crossed several times over that I win and thanks again for your support!

In the interim, we are busy following all the Olympic hopefuls, implementing social media strategies for several Colorado and Utah ski resorts, and enrolling Haddie in skating lessons.

Oh, and Jamie and I have been practicing superior parenting strategies. To illustrate:

The Mother Teaching About Family Bonding

As Haddie and I were crossing the street, I told her to hold my hand.

“Why do we hold hands when crossing the street, Mommy?

Me: “So when we get hit we can go down together.”

The Father Expounding Upon Bad Words

Our neighbor Steve was hanging out at our house today. Jamie said something like:

“I’d kill for that. The whole thing is just stupid.”

Bode: “Daddy. Dat’s a BAD WORD.”

Steve: “What? Kill?”

Jamie: “No, killing is just fine. He’s talking about ‘stupid.”

The Children Demonstrating Our Superior Parenting Skills

We have had an unusual amount of snow in Colorado this fall. The kids and I had cabin fever so we hit the playground this afternoon. At one point, Hadley declared she wanted to race her 3-year-old brother. I approved but told her to be careful not to knock him over.

Not even 1 second into the race, she walloped him. He crumbled like a pathetic heap on the pavement.

“Hadley, what do you say to your poor little brother??!!!”

“Bode, YOU WERE IN MY WAY!”

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Little Bit of This

November 29, 2009 By

We ran into Jamie’s work buddy who comped us some tickets for the Holiday Food & Gift Festival next door. We were tired, the car meter was running out and it was snowing.

Me: “Let’s just go check it out.”

Jamie: “Why?”

Me: “Because there are hundreds of samples there. It’s like Costco on Steroids.”

SOLD!

We came home with oodles of goodies but the best one this pumpkin lover bought? White chocolate pumpkin popcorn for my stocking.

Because sometimes Santa needs a bit of help.

=====================

I am hereby going to call last week “The Week of the One-Liners.”

 

As Haddie and I were crossing the street, I told her to hold my hand.

 

“Why do we hold hands when crossing the street, Mommy?


Me: “So when we get hit we can go down together.”

=============================

Hadley has recently fallen in love with bacon. So deep is her love that I think I’ll have to introduce her to the artery-clogging, holier-than-holy bacon taco my sister-in-law made last Christmas.

Much to Haddie’s chagrin, we rarely have bacon but I made baked potato soup and cooked up a batch last week.

Haddie: “Can we pulllease have bacon every day?”
Me: “No, it’s not healthy. We can only have it sometimes.”
Haddie (talking to the bacon): “Bacon, I’ll never forget you.”

She’s too young for me to break the news that neither will her thighs in a few years.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

The party’s over

November 2, 2009 By

Halloween a.k.a. my month-long party is over.

Well, month-and-a-half-long party if you count back to mid-September when I put out the decorations (much to Jamie’s dismay).

In the end, we had really easy costumes: Bode wanted to be a firefighter (again) and Haddie opted for a bat. I simply resurrected the bodysuit from her kitty costume last year, found a pair of butterfly wings at the thrift store that I spray-painted black, styled her hair into bat ears and had Jamie make her a mask.


Cheapest Halloween ever.

We participated in our neighborhood’s annual parade and the procession was led by a fire truck, perfect for the little firefighter himself.


And hung out with our neighborhood besties.


It was the first year the kids really got into trick-or-treating and wanted to venture beyond just our block.

Because they figured out more houses = more candy.

I did not approve of Haddie’s choice to be a bat and cringed every time she made me do online research about them. She wanted to be a “mean bat” and was repeatedly annoyed when folks would comment how “cute” she was.

Bats are not cute, people. They are creepy, scary and ugly.

I mourned when I took down the decorations and lamented to Jamie, “Now that Halloween is over, what do I have to look forward to?”

Jamie: “How about Christmas? You know. Jesus‘ birthday.”

Oh yeah. That.

Ever wonder where my Halloween obsession comes from? Checkout my parent’s house in Calgary:

That picture is not even including the blow-up giant pumpkin on their lawn.

And my brother Jade’s “Duct Man” costume this year.


Still searching for an explanation for this one.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, holidays Tagged With:

The Crazy Crew

October 28, 2009 By

Amber
Shameless Columnist, Travel Writer and Mommy Blogger. Devoted Wife. Frazzled Mother.

Former Crazy Canuck Radio Personality, Prolific Publicist, Public Speaker. Defender of Truth.

Most likely to be found lost in the backcountry with her family.

Frequently has delusions of Superhero Grandeur.

Jamie

Hunky Hubby, Faithful Father, Outdoor Aficionado.

Web Design Business Owner, Entrepreneurial Genius.

King of the One-Liners. All around swell guy.

Obsessed with Growing The Great Pumpkin.


Hurricane Hadley
Gregarious, Fearless and Larger-than-life.

Loves Skating, Skiing, Drawing, Hiking, Swimming, Skiing and Humbling Parents.

Born 10 days early when her father promised to buy her a car on her 16th birthday if she was born that day.

Somehow controlled the elements even in the womb.

Colicky baby, spirited third grader.

There may be casualties.


Bode “Bubby”
First boy ever to love Wii and soccer..

First grader who is already showing his academic prowess. Is snuggly, sweet, and loving.

Except for when provoked by his sister.

Named after skiing legend Bode Miller and has taken to  skiing like a fish to water like Bode Miller to the slopes.

Parents already plotting his Olympic future.

Final photo: The Crazy Clan on a sleigh ride at Durango Mountain Resort. February, 2010.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Peace, Be Still

October 22, 2009 By

When you are quarantined for weeks on end like us, you sometimes get a wee bit stir-crazy. One night, the kids were literally bouncing off the walls (and us) when Jamie attempted to calm them down.

“I am going to tell you a story about Jesus,” he announced.

Both kids immediately plunked themselves down beside him in a gesture no less miraculous than the story of the loaves and the fishes.

“Jesus was on a boat with his disciples and fell asleep. Suddenly, a great storm came and his scared disciples woke him up and said ‘Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’”

Both kids gazed at him in awe as if he were Jesus Himself.

“And Jesus arose and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ And do you know what? He calmed the seas.”

There was a long pause as the kids reflected upon the story and then in silent unison, they both leapt on top of Jamie and started take him down.

Jamie: [Authorititvely:] “Children: PEACE, BE STILL.”

No reaction whatsoever as their abuse continued.

Me: [Stating the obvious]: “I hate to say it but you’re no Jesus, Jamie.”

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

October 20, 2009 By

So, we’re still sick. Jamie’s hospital X-rays finally came back, disproving the pneumonia theory and likely pointing in the direction of H1N1. Fortunately, we’ve survived the worst and are no longer I-can’t-drag-my-body-out-of-bed kinda sick but more like the walking dead. We’re back in school and life and are no longer contagious but the lingering cough and fatigue are pretty darn miserable.

Plus, we’ve been busy helping my in-laws pack for their big move next week, which ain’t exactly helping in the Rest and Recovery process.

Of course life with The Children is never dull, especially when you have Hadley around who is the very antithesis of boring. While snuggled up before bedtime, we had the following conversation.

Me: I want to hear the best and worst things that happened to everyone today.

Jamie: The worst thing that happened to me was when Hadley ate my ice cream.

Me: Oh. Anyone else?

Hadley: My best thing was when I ate Daddy’s ice cream.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Hadley, Jamie

A happy ending to a sad, sad tale

October 14, 2009 By

The Johnson clan is FINALLY on the mend. Of course, we’re not fully recovered enough to go on an epic backpacking trip this weekend to Coyote Gulch with friends Dave and Rebecca that we have been planning for MONTHS.

Serious bummer.

We barely left the house all week but braved the cold and snow to attend our town’s scarecrow festival last Saturday. Like the mythical phoenix borne out of ashes, there was a happy ending to The Great Pumpkin Massacre of 2009. Haddie and Bode’s pumpkin didn’t have a leaf on it after the hail storm but it rebounded over the course of a month and Jamie finally got it to pollinate on August 31.

We only had about two weeks of good growing weather and Jamie cut it off the vine a few days before the competition. Or rather, I should say he dragged his sick family out in the cold and snow to witness the vine-cutting ceremony.

Because surely this momentous occasion could not have waited an extra hour for the snow to subside.


And The Great Phoenix Pumpkin’s final weight? 85.5 pounds. This is 0.5 pounds bigger than Haddie’s pumpkin last year with a growing season that was cut in half. It was starting to turn orange but was never on the vine long enough to fully convert. Some picture-perfect moments:


Father and daughter in their matching pumpkin geek hats:


Their pumpkin was the second biggest in the children’s division. Haddie and Bode received a ribbon and they took home a $30 gift certificate. For some families, their trophy case looks like this.

Sadly, this is only a small sampling of ours.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Family, Hadley, holidays, Jamie, pumpkins Tagged With:
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