Sunday, August 27, 2006
This blog sucks!
How did I go from being someone who only blogged about her children on very rare occasions to someone who seems to blog about nothing but her children? The answer is very simple: summer. I'm surrounded by children all the time and they take up every square centimetre of my brain space. If it's boring you to tears, I apologize. The kids return to school on Tuesday and with any luck I may even get a job outside the home (part-time, hopefully). Maybe then I'll blog something worth reading.
Thank you for your patience.
How did I go from being someone who only blogged about her children on very rare occasions to someone who seems to blog about nothing but her children? The answer is very simple: summer. I'm surrounded by children all the time and they take up every square centimetre of my brain space. If it's boring you to tears, I apologize. The kids return to school on Tuesday and with any luck I may even get a job outside the home (part-time, hopefully). Maybe then I'll blog something worth reading.
Thank you for your patience.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Back from Vacation
Sorry for the interruption in my ultra-fascinating blog. I know you're all on the edge of your seats wondering how the deck turned out and how our vacation went.
Well, wonder no more, loyal reader(s?). The deck is awesome. I feel so cool saying "Let's eat out on the deck tonight" and when I go out to have my coffee on it in the morning I forget that we actually don't have much money. I feel as rich as any rich person, surveying the grounds and basking in my own personal sun. It's like a little vacation every time we go out there.
Our actual vacation was another instance of how we are the luckiest family alive. Remember that it was a last-minute arrangement, for not much money, so if the cottage had been a filthy wreck on the shores of a toxic waste dump I would have made do and been grateful for the chance to get away from it all, or rather bring it all with me and deal with it in a different location, but, um...what was I saying? Oh yeah, as it turned out the house was gorgeous; a log cabin with a dishwasher, better appliances than ours, two bathrooms with showers, 3 bedrooms, wood stove, super clean and comfortable, etc. But best of all it was facing a beautiful lake that tumbled over a waterfall on the side of the house into a bubbling river that ran alongside and into the back of the property. I will post pictures and you won't believe it, it was so incredible. And, to boot, the entrance to the cottage grounds was a horse farm, so the kids could wander up any time and feed horses, llamas and goats. Honestly, we couldn't have hoped for a better place and time. The weather was fine and sunny and we were just spoiled, that's all.
If life is like a box of chocolates, we've spent the last couple of weeks eating all the truffles and caramel-filled ones. I've never met a chocolate I didn't like, so that simile doesn't really work for me, but we've definitely been feasting on the good life. I'm very grateful for it.
Sorry for the interruption in my ultra-fascinating blog. I know you're all on the edge of your seats wondering how the deck turned out and how our vacation went.
Well, wonder no more, loyal reader(s?). The deck is awesome. I feel so cool saying "Let's eat out on the deck tonight" and when I go out to have my coffee on it in the morning I forget that we actually don't have much money. I feel as rich as any rich person, surveying the grounds and basking in my own personal sun. It's like a little vacation every time we go out there.
Our actual vacation was another instance of how we are the luckiest family alive. Remember that it was a last-minute arrangement, for not much money, so if the cottage had been a filthy wreck on the shores of a toxic waste dump I would have made do and been grateful for the chance to get away from it all, or rather bring it all with me and deal with it in a different location, but, um...what was I saying? Oh yeah, as it turned out the house was gorgeous; a log cabin with a dishwasher, better appliances than ours, two bathrooms with showers, 3 bedrooms, wood stove, super clean and comfortable, etc. But best of all it was facing a beautiful lake that tumbled over a waterfall on the side of the house into a bubbling river that ran alongside and into the back of the property. I will post pictures and you won't believe it, it was so incredible. And, to boot, the entrance to the cottage grounds was a horse farm, so the kids could wander up any time and feed horses, llamas and goats. Honestly, we couldn't have hoped for a better place and time. The weather was fine and sunny and we were just spoiled, that's all.
If life is like a box of chocolates, we've spent the last couple of weeks eating all the truffles and caramel-filled ones. I've never met a chocolate I didn't like, so that simile doesn't really work for me, but we've definitely been feasting on the good life. I'm very grateful for it.
Friday, August 11, 2006
A Long Time Coming
Our deck is in the very final stages of construction right now. The stairs are going on, and then the railings, then the benches, and then...voila! A big beautiful deck of our very own! I'm super excited about this, despite the fact that we have had to pay for it out of our credit line. But it's a fabulous deck, especially for the price.
My ex-brother-in-law is building it, and although I had to wait, I would never have asked anyone else do the work for me. He is a master craftsman whose work is always perfect, finished, strong and long-lasting. I can't say enough good things about this man's work. He's a very interesting and talented person, and I've always liked him, even loved him as a brother when he was still with my sister. It's been so nice having him here this week, talking and catching up, seeing that he's happy and doing well. He deserves it. The kids and I were saying this morning that we'll be sad to see him go. We'll have to think up another job for him so that we can see him again!
Isaac has been very funny, watching the work being done, drinking in the experience of watching "man's work". I told him that when he's older I will ask Tom to hire him as a summer helper. He's so into working and doing, he'd be a great helper and eventually a very handy man, and maybe even a craftsman himself. That's if he ever grows past the stage of crying and throwing things when he can't figure out how to do something the first time. Sigh.
Our deck is in the very final stages of construction right now. The stairs are going on, and then the railings, then the benches, and then...voila! A big beautiful deck of our very own! I'm super excited about this, despite the fact that we have had to pay for it out of our credit line. But it's a fabulous deck, especially for the price.
My ex-brother-in-law is building it, and although I had to wait, I would never have asked anyone else do the work for me. He is a master craftsman whose work is always perfect, finished, strong and long-lasting. I can't say enough good things about this man's work. He's a very interesting and talented person, and I've always liked him, even loved him as a brother when he was still with my sister. It's been so nice having him here this week, talking and catching up, seeing that he's happy and doing well. He deserves it. The kids and I were saying this morning that we'll be sad to see him go. We'll have to think up another job for him so that we can see him again!
Isaac has been very funny, watching the work being done, drinking in the experience of watching "man's work". I told him that when he's older I will ask Tom to hire him as a summer helper. He's so into working and doing, he'd be a great helper and eventually a very handy man, and maybe even a craftsman himself. That's if he ever grows past the stage of crying and throwing things when he can't figure out how to do something the first time. Sigh.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Sun and fun
Here's a shot from our day at the waterfront in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
We had another birthday this past weekend, my son's. It was at the bowling alley and it was a lot of fun. When he bowled a strike everyone gave him a big group hug. What a cute bunch of kids. They were nice and well-behaved and even shared the treats they collected from the pinata. (one of the friends is autistic, and didn't really care to grab lots of treats, so the others put some of theirs in his party hat/container. This happened without any adult prompting, and I thought it was pretty sweet.)
I'm thinking of having a party this coming Saturday, a summer/birthday party for D., but the deck might still be under construction at that point. Am I nuts? Well on my way, I think. I'm dying to get that deck going, but there is no rushing a builder.
Here's a shot from our day at the waterfront in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
We had another birthday this past weekend, my son's. It was at the bowling alley and it was a lot of fun. When he bowled a strike everyone gave him a big group hug. What a cute bunch of kids. They were nice and well-behaved and even shared the treats they collected from the pinata. (one of the friends is autistic, and didn't really care to grab lots of treats, so the others put some of theirs in his party hat/container. This happened without any adult prompting, and I thought it was pretty sweet.)
I'm thinking of having a party this coming Saturday, a summer/birthday party for D., but the deck might still be under construction at that point. Am I nuts? Well on my way, I think. I'm dying to get that deck going, but there is no rushing a builder.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Making ineptitude work for you
Despite our complete lack of preparedness and planning, we are going to manage to have a real vacation this summer.
Our next-door neighbour has hooked us up with a cottage (electricity, all mod cans, sauna!) in the Laurentians, right smack on a lake (dock, boat, no motors) for a week. It just happened to be available for the week D. has off, and the price is miraculous.
It's 1 km from Tremblant and a 15-minute drive from my sister's place (that we love to visit). It's going to be a real vacation, just like other families have!
Wooty-woot-woot-woot!
Despite our complete lack of preparedness and planning, we are going to manage to have a real vacation this summer.
Our next-door neighbour has hooked us up with a cottage (electricity, all mod cans, sauna!) in the Laurentians, right smack on a lake (dock, boat, no motors) for a week. It just happened to be available for the week D. has off, and the price is miraculous.
It's 1 km from Tremblant and a 15-minute drive from my sister's place (that we love to visit). It's going to be a real vacation, just like other families have!
Wooty-woot-woot-woot!
