Thursday Thirteen

Summer is drawing to a close. The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. Tends to make me a little on the melancholy side to see this happen. And so, today...

Thirteen things to look forward to:
1. Slightly warm, slightly cool walks through the park.
2. Getting settled in my home.
3. A visit from the Calgary branch of our family.
4. Going to a movie (or two) with my equally-addicted brother.
5. One last outdoor pizza night in Riverton.
6. The resumption of Thursday Nights.
7. A surprise for my boy. Shh, don’t tell him.
8. Our housewarming party. Tentative date: September 15th. Stay tuned for details.
9. A concert planned for September, assuming my sister still wants to go with me.
10. A concert planned for October.
11. A trip to Minneapolis with Corrie, Pam and Don.
12. NFL season. Oh no, wait, that should be on J-L’s list.
13. Planning Abby’s birthday party. Yes, that’s still a long way off. BUT, it’s at OUR HOUSE so it’s extra special this year.

How appropriate

For those of you who know me in RL this will just seem very apropos:

Last night I was on the winning team for The Amazing Race (yes, THAT part of the function was loads of fun). The prize? A gift cert for a movie theatre.

I doubt there was another person at the event that (a) knew as much about TAR and (b) loves movies as much.

Do as I say not as I do

When I see kids dreading something or moaning about some event they have to go to that they don't want to I tend to tell them it's all about the attitude. Try to have a good attitude and maybe you'll end up enjoying yourself after all.

So then WHY can't I persuade myself of the same thing regarding a function I have to attend tonight?

Thursday Thirteen

With all my blank walls I've been thinking of artwork. So, today, 13 pieces of art I would consider hanging on my walls.

Believe me, this is a shortened list and it is only painting and photography art. I could find many other pieces to add, given the time.

T-shirt

And also a little bit because I can't spell.

A story

This morning mr. ccap took The Babe off to daycare. Nice. Off I headed to work. Being nearly half an hour early I decided to stop for a coffee. A rare treat. Actually, I believe since I started here (9 months ago) this would only be the second time I stopped for a cup of coffee. Usually I just drink the office crud.

Lovely. I feel so urban, so sophisticated. All I need is my high powered suit and my coach bag instead of my flats and my 8 year-old slightly too tight dress.

While there I am tempted by the baked goods all glimmering beneath the cake servers. Oooh. That poppyseed cinnamon bun looks divine. That bran muffin looks light and tasty. Quickly I decide "why not?". Sure I only have $5 of my "allowance" for the rest of this week. But hey, tonight I'll be unpacking and tomorrow is a birthday party so really, when else will I spend the money? I order a raisin scone, butter on the side. The man tucks it into the little brown bag and hands it to me. I carry it to the car feeling ohsohip with my brown bag and coffee-to-go. The world is my oyster!* I can take on anything with my lovely scone and coffee! All my work will be done in moments due to sufficient sustenance in the form of an infrequent treat!

Oh my!

The thing is about as stale as a scone has ever been in the history of scones. I want my $1.60 back!

Wahh.

* ??

Know what I'm looking forward to?

Being a little settled, having our (new) dining room table set up and being able to cook a real meal for my family.

Thanks to Linda we actually have been able to eat some real food though. The blessings of friends.

Caplau Manor

So there it is. We are now officially residing at Caplau Manor. And it is good. And once more is unpacked it will be very good.

The first cd we played in our new home? Where I'm Going by Dwight Plett.
My sister and her daughters? ROCK. They came with me last night to clean the old apartment.
Unexpected changes? Yup. When God put this huge home in our laps one of my first thoughts was that he meant for me (us) to share it. I just never expected it to be so soon. Almost accidentally it looks as though we'll have a roomie already September 1. A 20 year-old university student will be moving in with us. A complete stranger* to us (except for one in-person visit and multiple emails) so hopefully we all get along.

* Well, except she went to the same high school that I did and actually used to date a boy that I babysat a coon's age ago.

You know that tired feeling where you just want to sit and relax for awhile and yet then you realize that relaxation is days away and thinking about that just makes you more tired?

Yeah, that feeling.

Sigh. Trying to keep my eye on the prize.

In bed last night

(used with permission)

Me: Whoa! Who farted?
Abby: Abby.
Me: Well say "excuse me".
Abby: Me-me (roughly translated to mean "excuse me")
Me: Honey, do you even know what a fart is?
Abby: Daddy?

Well, then, there you go. I guess you DO know.

Thursday Thirteen

Subtitled: Know what's nice? (All from our big day yesterday.)

1. Discovering that I have a peony at my new house.
2. Seeing my daughter running around the big, empty house in glee.
3. The beautiful birch trees in my backyard.
4. Having a job that I love so that leaving my house behind isn't so bad.
5. My husband moving over dozens of boxes while I'm at work giving us that much less to do during the actual move. (As well as shampooing the rugs and washing the drapes. Seriously, he was The Man yesterday.)
6. The previous owners having cleaned the house impeccably.
7. A nice new rug laying by our kitchen sink giving our house its first touch of looking like a home.
8. Sitting on the floor of our empty living room enjoying a little snack with my babe.
9. My 2 new flangs complements of my sister.
10. Toasting our new home with my favorite sister, J-L's favorite brother and Abby's favorite double-cousins.
11. Taking the time to go to the park for a few rounds on the swing and a few times down the slide before bed.
12. Kissing my babe's toes as she rode on my shoulders to the park.
13. Knowing that I have a home.

"Song, Mom, song!"

The problem with singing the same three songs to Peanut every time she can't fall asleep is that those end up being the only ones that "count".

I tried a new one the other night. Nope. She objected, "no, Mommy, song!"

Just for fun.

Come on, try it. Go here, enter in your date of birth and find out the number 1 song on the day you were born. Sorry, no Canadian charts so a lot of you will just have to be satisfied with the U.S. charts.

Come back on here and tell me what the hit was. (It will help pass my day at work.)

Mine: Someday We’ll Be Together - Diana Ross & The Supremes
J-L's: The Happening - The Supremes
Peanut: Gold Digger - Kanye West

August 15th

And so there it is. We have a house. Wow.

And now, apparently, I'm supposed to hang out here for the next 6 hours and think about WORK. Not exactly sure how that's all going to pan out.

This is really happening!

Just got this email from our lawyer:

I have the keys and will courier them to you ASAP.
Please confirm the address is correct and I will send.

And just like that it all became real to me and my heart leaped out of my skin.

For those of you familiar with the movie The Jerk, this scene is currently running through my head (of course, insert "keys" where necessary):

Navin: The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!
Harry: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.
Navin: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 - Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.

Rhetorical question

Just got back from Safeway. While standing in line I noticed one of the tabloids.

Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Nicole Richie on the cover.

The question is: (in true Chandler fashion) Could there BE 3 people I care less about?

New post!

(If only to get the word panties off the screen.




Oh crap.)

Hey, speaking of crap, this one's for my family (although, obviously the rest of you can read along, it just probably doesn't interest you as much): Mom said the word crap on Friday. Just in everyday conversation like she uses it all the time. As in, "when we're in Alberta Paul has to drink a bunch of crap before he takes his tests". WHAT? J-L actually stopped her and asked her if she said what we thought she did. Yup. Her response: "Why, is that a bad word?" No, Mom, not a bad word, just surprising from you, a little like the cucumber joke and the pant pocket joke. (And now that's REALLY inside and those of you not related to me have drifted off to sleep.)

Anyway, back to regularly scheduled program. A few updates.

The daughter? She slept all night in her own bed by herself. Did you catch that? All Night. Own Bed. Alone. I think she was just as shocked as we were when she woke up.

The house? We own one in only 2 more sleeps. Wow.

The previous owners? Yeah, it would appear that they've moved out. (Finally.) And yet, there is still furniture that can be seen through the front window*. Crap (that one's for you, Mom). I have this fear they've left us with a giant mess.

The packing? Going well. Still much to be done but much has been done as well. One of my favorite friends, Marja, took Peanut for a few hours on Saturday. I don't think I have felt as blessed as that for a long, long time. And, as if that wasn't enough, they came back bearing cotton candy for me. I could cry just remembering it. (Of course, some of the tears might also be because it's all gone.)

* I had to put in that "front window" bit so that you all realized I wasn't skulking around the back, peeking in windows. I might be a stalker but I am NOT a peeping Tom. Please, people, I have SOME dignity.

Cue The Everly Brothers: Dree-am, dream, dream, dream

You know that ever-clichéd dream where you're in school in your underwear?

Yeah, I see that dream and I raise you church.

That's right, me, in church, in my underwear. Nothing but bra and panties, standing to sing. And the worst of it was? I even looked down to notice that I had a hole in my panties.

Oy!

What fun!

Know what our average evening/day has looked like this past week?

I get home from work and start making supper while my whiny babe clings to my legs hoping for some attention. Then while supper is cooking I put together a box and chuck some stuff into it. Anything really. Organization has been completely thrown out the window. The way I see it it will be an adventure opening them up. Like Christmas! "Whoa, what's in THIS box? A shoe? Some canned corn? Windex? Wowza!"

Oh yeah, back to our evening: By this time my husband is home and we try to act like a loving family for 35 seconds while we kiss and hug. And then it's back to the mess that is our home. We eat a quick supper and then spend the rest of the evening pretending to pack and snapping at our daughter, telling her not to get into stuff. "No, Abby, not the Vim. Ah, well, I suppose it'll help the digestive system." Around 8 or 8:30 we throw her in bed and try to do some more packing. Well, TRY. Unfortunately, some of that time is also spent sitting on the couch watching whatever mindless TV we can to help us ignore the large sums of destruction that has become our home.

Around 10:30 J-L goes on to the computer to play a little cribbage and I crash into bed hoping to read for a little bit. And when I say read for a bit I honestly mean stare at pages and try to stop my eyes from crossing in shear exhaustion.

Oh, one would think my story would end there, dull as it may be. Nope, not true. The nighttime oh the nighttime. Glorious night when one can sleep away one's stress and worries... [Sound of screeching brakes] Well, MOST can sleep... Not so us. I believe my darling babe slept better at one month's of age than she does now. She wakes a minimum of twice a night these days. And the thing is, her screams have gotten a lot louder than when she was a babe. Translated: A LOT more difficult to ignore/sleep through. And so, in desperation we take her to bed with us.* And this makes her happy. This helps her sleep. Helps HER sleep, not us so much. For some reason she likes to sleep with us but she doesn't actually want us in the bed. That doesn't make sense to you? Well, me neither. That is, she works her utmost to kick us out of bed. Oh, the love.

6:30 comes and we feel ohsorested and ready to take on the day. The bluebirds are chirping at our windows and we whistle while we ready ourselves for work. There is nothing but sweetness and love.

And then we trot off to work. And, if you're me, type up an insanely long stream of consciousness blog in order to stay awake. And we begin the cycle all over again.

Thus is my happy little life these days. Bet you're jealous.

* Oh yes, I know. You can keep your pseudo-psycholog... psychi.. oh crap, I'm too tired for this... You can keep your tsk-tsking in your head. I know we are the ones creating the cycle by giving in to her every night. By letting her sleep with us. I know that but somehow at 4 am when the shrieking has reached a glass-piercing level I will scale mountains on foot or cross oceans in a row boat (well, okay, maybe not that as even TYPING that took too much energy) to Make It Stop.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Moments
You know the ones where you catch yourself holding your breath because it’s just that good? The ones that you hope you can cling to for the rest of your life? The ones whose memories are tangible and intimate? The ones that have little to do with money or excitement but much more to do with quietness or relationships? Yeah, those ones. I’m sure I’ve mentioned some of these on here before but I’m in the mood to reminisce so here we go…

1. Sitting on a beach with my friend in Hawaii watching fireworks over the water.
2. Walking down the sidewalk with my husband, our daughter between us, holding hands in the summertime.
3. Driving through the mountains with my brother and sister-in-law (pre-kids) looking at the snow-covered pine trees with John Denver’s Whispering Jesse on the stereo.
4. Laying on a square bale with my brother looking up at the most spectacular northern lights taking over the entire sky.
5. Sitting on the couch with my mom, sharing an apple, watching a movie.
6. At a social, many moons ago, hearing someone tell me that they’d been watching me all night and finally worked up the guts to come and ask me to dance.
7. In an airport, on my way home from a trip to Europe with my friends, lack of sleep, laughing until we were crying over some man with homemade shoes (with rubber, sponge and duct tape no less) getting on the plane while *I* had been searched 3 times on the trip.
8. Sitting in a cubbyhole with my sister, giggling and hiding from my mom as she got home from work.
9. Waking to my niece propped up on her elbows, beside me in bed, smiling at me.
10. Walking by Central Park with my husband, watching the fireworks, feeling my baby kick inside me.
11. Eating gloriously large cherries, fresh from the backyard, in Romania.
12. Seeing my father’s smirk as I walk in the door, my visit a complete surprise. (Incidentally, he told me he would have swept the floor had he known I was coming. Which, for those of you who know him, is shocking and bizarre.)
13. Sitting outdoors in a park having a picnic with my boy and babe before scurrying off to the slide.

Just curious about something

Why are all my lottery winnings from London and all the rich people who desperately want to give me money from Africa?

It's all coming together, little by little

Appointment with lawyer? Booked.
Roofer? Booked.
UHaul? Booked.
TV and internet hookup? Booked.
Washer and dryer delivery date? Booked.
House insurance? Currently being quoted.

If it weren't for all the pesky packing, moving and cleaning standing in the way I think I might start to plan the house warming party.

Drat!

It seems we may be out of luck for patio furniture. Shucks. I really wanted some nice outdoor furniture for our new deck this year. One of my dreams was to take a day off in early September to sit out on my deck, looking out on my backyard, reading a novel. But, after 3 Walmarts, 2 Canadian Tires and 3 Superstores I'm beginning to lose hope. I think we'll go check out Home Depots and Ronas tonight but after that I'm at a complete loss as to where to go. Any ideas?

He keeps me laughing

Abby (from the backseat of the car last night): Daddy doe. Daddy doe.
Me (to J-L): Daddy doe? What's doe?
J-L: A deer. A female deer.

Randomness abounds

- We got someone to sublet our apartment for September 1. Yay! They've been approved through the rental agency. All's good.
- We spent the weekend at a friend's cottage. Had a lovely time. However, I am entirely sick of dog hair by now. With 3 dogs invading every part of that house (2 of them being long-haired) there was dog hair on EVERYTHING. I'm just not crazy about seeing my babe put a stuffed toy in her mouth that's covered in hair.
- Anyone seen Little Children? Well, I had a few moments of feeling like Sarah Pierce during this weekend. You know the scene where all the other moms have snacks and she doesn't? Yeah, that one. Thing was, I HAD snacks but for some unknown reason this lady felt it necessary to offer my daughter snacks every time she turned around. “She's giving me doe eyes. I thought she was hungry.” Honey, have you SEEN my daughter's eyes? They're big and deep brown. They're doe eyes 100% of the time. (I can't even begin to tell you how close I was to telling her, in my snottiest voice available that we don't give Abby X or Y (the snacks she had to offer) as they aren't nutritionally sound. Of course, all of that would have fallen flat when she saw the hot dog we chose as her lunch.) Oh yeah, and she was also the mom who cringed and nearly jumped out of her chair to stop her when she saw my daughter eating a cookie with some sand on it. Anyone know how to stop a 21 month-old from ingesting sand at the beach please tell me your secret. Oh yeah, AND she felt it necessary to correct me when I was disciplining my daughter. I'd try to stop her from stealing their toys (we had our own along – call me foolish for not wanting Abby to think everything in reaching distance is hers) and she'd call Abby over basically to console her regarding her horrid mother. AND twice she had to rescue our windblown chairs or beach ball (when we were over at the slide) and felt it necessary to point that out to us when we got back. Oh, thought I was done for a second there but another one just occurred to me when I brought up the slide: There was a wasp's nest close to the slide. Her daughters were DEFINITELY not allowed to go to the slide. Again, the slide is one of Abby's Favorite Things Ever but apparently I’m a bad mom because I took my chance with the wasps to make my daughter happy. Slap of the wrist for me! I'm sure you can imagine how broken up I was when they packed it in.
- We get possession of our house next week. NEXT WEEK! My heart starts to palpitate just writing that down. So many things to get done that haven’t been taken care of yet. I'm basically in a constant state of feeling behind. (house insurance, final payment, packing, cleaning…)
- Speaking of things to get done: I need to go get some photos framed. If there's one thing I don’t want in the new house it's bare walls. There may be no furniture in the rooms but by golly there will be photos on the walls. Frankly, I'm one of those people who puts photos up even before things are all unpacked. I need it, to help me feel like it’s my home. Although, I'll be a little more nervous now. I'm so used to apartment living where I can just put holes in the walls and think “what do I care? It’s not mine.” if there are too many holes. I know, I'm not saying it's the RIGHT attitude but it is the one I've had. Now I WILL care because it’s my place and any holes will affect me.
- I just bought something online and am having it delivered to our new house. Yipes! Felt good typing that address in.
- I need to try to get my eating under control again. I've been completely out of control with it all summer. I can tell in my clothes.
- It feels like August. Sad to say but true. The evenings have cooled down a lot these last few days. It always amazes me how quickly things can turn. One day hot all day and all evening. The next, warm during the day with dew forming before morning.
- I wonder if Abby's personality is such that she loves to go places or if we've forced her to become like that because we go places all the time? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
- We added roofing to the mortgage. We need new shingles within the next couple of years so we figured we may as well do it now and add it to the mortgage. Found out today that we have to get it done within the next 3 months or that money is no longer available and goes to the principle. Shoot. Guess we'd better pursue finding a roofer ASAP.

Thursday Thirteen

Crazy busy, very little time to post so it's a quick one this morning. Just a little dreaming. It will take me YEARS before I have everything the way I want it (and I'm sooo okay with that) but...

Thirteen plants I want to have in my garden one day
1) Bellflower
2) Hosta
3) Shasta Daisy
4) Peony
5) Rudbekia
6) Delphinium
7) Pansy
8) Iris
9) Poppy (Iceland, California AND the ever popular Flanders poppy)
10)Lily
11) Tulip
12) Clematis
13) Lobelia