Know what we completely take for granted until it's gone?

Breathing.

Yup, caught myself a lovely summer cold.

I wonder...

if I'll be able to turn my brain off or at the very least settle it in the next couple of weeks?

... Did we make the right decision?
... Will we be able to afford it?
... Where are we going to put the computer?
... What's going to go in the extra bedrooms for now?
... Why haven't we called Bonnie yet regarding reshingling?
... Will we get all our packing done on time?
... Have I actually packed some things already that we might need in the next two weeks?
... Will people like it like I like it or will they find it an odd and unusual home (and not in a good way)?
... What kind of light fixture should I get for the dining room? (I hate the one that's there currently?)
... Will Abby deal with this transition well or will she demand extra attention that we don't have the time to give?
... Will J-L and I be able to agree upon what goes where?
... Will we pass out from exhaustion by the third week in August? (working full-time, not taking any time off, a toddler, packing and moving ourselves, unpacking, cleaning)
... Are all the little extra expenses going to weigh me down or will I be able to manage them since the pros are so worth it?
... Will the current owners leave the place a mess or in good order?
... Will we be able to find a cheap patio set before the summer is out?
... Are there any trees in the backyard that are close enough together for me to have a hammock?
... What are we going to eat for meals during the transition time?
... Why haven't I started cooking some freezable meals for eating during the move?

Agh. It's no wonder I have a headache.

So that's that

The week off is done. It was positively lovely. I just hope next time I have a week off my husband has one too. And, hopefully tomorrow I have some energy to give more details. For now, let me leave you with three things I learned this week:

1. Shopping with a toddler? A LOT easier with a stroller than without.
2. Recaulking a tub? Not that hard. But, I do think it's a good idea to organize and read up on it a bit rather than just jumping in and doing it. Maybe next time.
3. The lemon crinkle donut from Tim's? Yeah, tastes pretty much what I think Mr. Clean would taste like if you added a whole whack of sugar. (Don't get me wrong, Abby and I still ate the whole thing. But, I don't know that we'll be ordering it again soon.)

Friday Five

Missed out on Thursday Thirteen so I thought I'd give it a shot today. (On a lesser scale. I don't currently have the attention span for 13. The list should help to explain why.)

1. August 15th is coming so close it's nearly palpable to me now. I can feel a restlessness in my skin.

2. I'm on holidays now for a week. Yay! Forecast for the week: Hot and sunny.

3. Yes, I'll do some responsible stuff like packing but...

4. I'm starting off the week with camping with some of my favorite friends and...

5. Ending off the week with camping with my favorite boy.

R.E.L.I...

Do you know how you spell relief to me these days? Figuring out what my kid is trying to say. Yesterday was one of those moments. For those of you who hang out with her a lot frwa can mean either flower (which we figured out awhile ago) or rock. Don't ask me how frwa translates to rock but it does in her mind. And hey, makes just as much sense as d for cookie.

As an aside to my aside: Isn't rock actually easier to say than frwa?

How did I get so lucky?

I now have a little girl who promptly hops off the bed to go grab a book for us to read together every time I lay down on the bed with her.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Thoughts About Moving

1. Wandering around my apartment, thinking about packing it up can be quite exhausting these days. There's just so much to pack. So much to clean. So much to organize.
2. Thankfully, this might be the last time I move for awhile.
3. In this last 20 years I have moved 11 times.
4. That averages out to moving about every two years.
5. I think I’m about ready for a "last time".
6. I will miss the occasional change though. The not knowing where I'm going to live next. The pseudo-vagabond lifestyle.
7. But the list of things I won't miss is quite long. I won't miss the unusual cooking smells from other apartments.
8. I won't miss the grocery carts residing in the parking lot.
9. I won't miss the tremendously disgusting BFI (garbage, in case they don't use that everywhere) bin just outside our door. (Total aside: I grew up on a farm. Yes, I have had to clean up chicken, cow and pig um… waste. Not the most fun job in the world. And yet, I would do that a thousand times over rather than clean up human waste. Shudder.)
10. I won't miss the drunken cries coming from the courtyard directed at some scorned lover. (We have a particularly annoying memory of a certain “Ray” who wouldn't let his woman into the @#$*(&@ apartment. That was a long night. A very long night. She went from screaming his name repeatedly to honking the car for about 10 minutes at a time. Over and over again. All. Night. Long.)
11. I won't miss the mysterious stains that appear on the hallway carpet every now and again. Seriously? What is up with that? What's being spilled out there? There's one right outside our door. RIGHT outside our door. What are you DOING right outside our door?
12. I won't miss walking from floor to floor searching for an available washer or dryer.
13. I won't miss the dash. I could write a whole post about the dash. I could weep (with happiness) over the loss of the dash. You know the one I'm talking about. The one that occurs between two numbers on a street address to signify that you are an apartment dweller. In just over a month I am done with the dash. And that makes me glad.

Just feeling a bit sorry for myself

I'm kind of sad that I don't have any weddings to photograph this summer. I miss that creative outlet. Perhaps I need to work a bit more on my self-promotion.

Maybe I'll just have to go photograph one anyway. That wouldn't be creepy at ALL, hey? Me following some bride and groom through St. Vital Park surreptitiously snapping photos?

Levity

If I were to ram my car into a fire hydrant would it truly start spewing water like a sprinkler like it does in the movies? Cause if so, I kinda want to try it sometime.

My weekend? Lovely. And yours?

Thursday Thirteen

I asked J-L for an idea for my Thursday Thirteen today. His suggestion: Thirteen Things I love about Folk Fest. Took me about 13 seconds.

1. Sunshine
2. Mud
3. Music
4. The Handmade Village
5. People watching
6. Reusable plates
7. Unique foods
8. Our small (but ever growing) community of friends and family
9. The sea of tarps
10. Stories
11. Loose, summertime clothing
12. Being outdoors for 3 days (and nights) straight
13. Not being at work for 3 days straight

Can I just say...

I don't think there's much in this world that beats boiled baby potatoes with a creamy dill gravy and cucumber (the young, small ones) salad.

I think that might be one of the meals I'll be getting served to me in heaven.

This weekend...

I got to lay in bed with my daughter singing her to sleep with songs from my mother (Nobody’s Child, Two Little Orphans) and my father (And Can it Be?, Come Thou Fount) listening to some of my favorite friends talking and laughing in another room of the cabin. And I thought to myself, “If this is as good as it gets… it’s pretty fantastic.”