Friday, September 29, 2006

TGIF!

Well, after all the excitement in the morning yesterday everything kind of fizzled (thankfully). We went to Ringo's to celebrate Steven's birthday which was low key (and yummy). He's not the one to want a big public spectacle for his birthday. After we retreated back to my house and served up his ice cream cake and gifts. Alex now thinks he too needs a battery charger as Steven got one for his MP3 player. Alex also informed us that he thinks he should have an 'I-Pot', pot nor Ipod, he's getting neither...maybe an IDog for christmas. He also did a birthday dance for Steven, my goodness that boy loves to dance. I told him I had the movie Grease and they did alot of dancing in it, to which he responded 'Is it something like Highschool Musical??'My I'm getting old ;)

After all of the festivities Steven headed home and I got Alex ready for bed. I was just about to stitch again when mom arrived home, we talked for a bit and then watched Survivor/CSI, neither of which I've watched lately. I almost finished one of the ornaments I was working on (still trying to come up with a sub for GAST Buttercrunch) and prepped the fabric to stitch the second one :) Matt called from the camp and they sounded like they were having a really good time, at least from the bits and pieces I could hear where the cellphone was breaking up.

This morning Alex was anxiously pacing waiting for mom and Jazz to get up, he never usually jumps up when his alarm goes off. We said our goodbyes and headed to work and school. I received a picture of Matt's moose at noon, it looks like we'll have LOTS of meat ;)

This weekend is low on the planned scale, I'm going to pick up some of our no name stuff and a birthday gift for the party Alex got invited to this weekend (hooray...not) on my way past the superstore and head home. Either my lack of sleep every night but last or the cold I'm coming down with have zapped my energy (and who knows, there maybe an attractive male waiting at home ;)). I think most of this weekend will be revolving around doing the actual finishing on some projects. I have three that need to be laced and two ornaments I'd like to start making into ravioli pillows. I suspect lots of time will be spent in the craft room :)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Happy Birthday Steven!!

Happy Birthday little brother! Last night we all went out to Boston Pizza (well with the exception of Matt and Dad who were prepping for the moose hunt) and it was bittersweet. We got to celebrate Steven's birthday and say bon voyage to Patrick who we won't see for at least a year. During this time Patrick reminded me of the story of 'my' reaction to my new little brother. I really wanted a sister, and came home from school to find my aunt there and no mom. My aunt was very excited to tell me I had a new little brother to which I promptly started jumping up and down, mad, saying I wanted a sister and ran to my room. He turned out alright though (after the initial disappointment, which I made up for by dressing him in little girl clothes when I had a chance). ;)

Alex was on much better behavior than this time last year and was colouring (what?? My son??) a picture for Steven's birthday asking for Steven's input on all of the colours. He even coloured in the lines!! My goodness, his new teacher must be like the Ann Sullivan for boys with social adjustment issues!!

After Alex was in bed, I chatted a wee bit with Matt online. I was so relieved to see he'd made it to the Miramichi. He wasn't coming through our city to get there, instead taking a glorified dirt road they like to call a highway which is infested with deer and moose, at dusk, which has no stores or anything for at least an hour, trees close to the road...a wife's worst nightmare! Just to save some time, argghh... Anyway, he arrived safe and sound and was getting ready for his 4 am wake up call (I'm curious to see how dad would get him out of bed at that hour)

***Update-just had a call from one very excited Matt and he got his bull***

In other news...Organic Veggies are expensive! 57+ dollars for two organic carrots expensive. I heard my security chimes go off a number of times and my computer booting up early this morning when Patrick was supposed to be getting ready for his flight back to Ottawa. So where I was awake I figured I'd go out and say goodbye one last time. Apparently Patrick had pulled two carrots from mom's garden to take back to Ottawa, and decided 4 in the morning was a good time to take the tops off (to take up less space in his carry on) and put them in the composter. When he came back he found the car locked and the keys inside... So...the two carrots cost 57$ to get the car unlocked (it wasn't my car and the spare is in Miramichi...dad in the woods) and goodness only knows what to send his luggage back to Ottawa. Ouch. Nothing like making a grand exit!

In stitching news I have a new happy dance which I'll share later. I dug out some murano and started two ornaments that are going to be gifts this Christmas. I'm still debating which one I'm going to do for Alex's teacher. What a relief this year is in that department. Last year Alex had two or three TA's in his kindergarten which put stitching something out...so we went with chocolates. Stitching from stash and frigging with the sewing machine will definitely be funner than having to figure out something for that many people. :)

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Catching Up

We had a wonderful weekend with mom, dad and my brothers. It helped brighten my spirits although I'm not going to kid myself and believe this isn't something I should talk to my doctor about. It was kind of bittersweet where it was the last full family get together for the next year and a half with Patrick heading off for his Cuso appointment in Bolivia and then his backpacking adventure. We headed to Kings Landing despite the rain and it was really neat. One of the big highlights for me was when we went to the 'general store' and over on one side of the room was antiques you could ask about and there was a china set that was identical to one of the teacups I'd brought home from Gram's and have on display. I was amazed when they said they were manufactured in Austria between 1880-90 to 1915. Alex was incredibly good throughout the trip, considering we were there in the rain for 4 hours! One Alexism that arose...he was walking ahead and slipped, apparently when mom asked him ok he said 'yes', then got his serious voice on 'well it was meant to be, it was to teach me that I shouldn't run when it's slippery out', apparently he went on and on about the consequence of his action and that he should learn from it ;) We had a wonderful dinner at MacGinnis Landing and Matt took me out to see Invincible where he couldn't find a sitter for my birthday. It wasn't cold out but I was sooo excited about my new wool coat I wore it to the show anyway ;)

Sunday we had a wonderful little brunch and then chatted for awhile before our company left. I was beginning to think Alex was going to leave with them. I spent the remainder of the afternoon catching up on Eureka and stitching. Well... I've learned Alex has quite the french vocabulary... I was running around the house doing some errands while the water was running for Alex's bath and he was undressing. One of my passes past the bathroom I see this little boy in the buff with his butt stuck out going 'derr-i-ere' *slaps butt* 'derr-i-ere'. I dropped the clothes I was laughing soo hard. I was really excited about Desperate Housewives and it didn't disappoint. I'd debated going to bed at 10 but it was soo worth staying up for.

Last night was hectic in preparation for our Epicure party. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be successful but it was great. We had the unit leader and she was just sooo much more informative than our original consultant. There was soo much to taste! One big hit that in the catalogue didn't look like much was the hot buttered rum, it was divine on popcorn!! I loved the maple whiskey dip and was so glad that I could get the chocolate for that at half off. I had a really good time. After we were done sampling I let the boys clean up, apparently my son LOVES to dip. He was very good throughout the party.

Tonight should be quiet, I'm going to do a little stitching and that's all that's on the schedule (besides running another load of dishes through the dishwasher). Matt leaves for hunting tomorrow, we'll definitely miss him!!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Twenty Nine

Wow, for a day of 'nothing' it sure ended up a busy birthday. I tried to sleep in but couldn't (more on that in another blog) so I went with Matt when he drove Alex to school. The principal was VERY upbeat when Alex walked out and Alex actually looked straight at him, pleasantly and said good morning to him (he used to slink by). The prinicipal then commented on how great he's been doing this year and that he's heard nothing but great things from the staff about him this year, I almost cried I was so happy. What a difference a change in curriculum, separating him from some kids that together are atomic, and a new teacher can make.

I met Eleni and Angela for lunch which was really nice. Since I've changed my hours at work I don't get to go out for lunch anymore (although that's a blessing on the pocketbook). I dropped off the bottles and headed home for 3 hours of stitching and Eureka. The boys took me out for dinner at Boston Pizza and we got the waiter that I filed a complaint about a couple months back, much more friendly this time!! There was a bit of a wait but still really good. I was stuffed by the time they brought my birthday brownie! The boys 'bought' me an IPOD shuffle for my birthday (hooray), I just have to go in when the new ones are released and decide if I like the new model or old one better. They gave me the option of upgrading to the Nano but do I really need a display, it's not like I can't organize my songs in Itunes and when I plan on using it (car, running) it's not like I'm searching around for a particular song. I received some beautiful cards from Tracy and Lisa which both touched different parts of my soul that needed a little 'up' yesterday, and lots of internet wishes on the stitching boards, e-mail and WoW boards :)

To be truthful I woke up crying yesterday, I found the whole 29 number hard to deal with. The closer I get to 30, the more I feel like I fail. Sometimes I just feel 'isolated' when it comes to our parenting. None of our friends had as short a period as we did being d.i.n.k's (dual income no kids), ours was in the negative. I sometimes feel like I'm not as good a mother as I can't afford to do all the great things that even I got to experience with my parents (who I firmly believe walk on water) and get frustrated at some of the debt accumulated when we do 'keep up'. Then I get mad at myself for not being grateful for what I do have, our health, a roof over our heads, two boys that love me very much, great friends and parents that love, support and help us so much I'd never be able to repay them. 2006 has been a very rough year to adjust to and getting closer to 30 it's just a bit overwhelming sometimes.

Now enough self pity! Anyone else have the new JCS ornament issue?? I've been staring at mine fondly ;) I can list off at least 20 projects I want to do, but I'm going to be a good girl and do it only from stash and actually learn to substitute ;) I need to locate my fuzzy stuff so I can finish my DD ornament. :)

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Adios Ants!

Well, our squatters were kicked to the curb last night ;)

This spring we had some ants sneak their way into the house and when we did everything to kill the ones outside and I mean everything (and suceeded), we'd still spot one or two in our kitchen here and there. Well...last night I couldn't find the rice and went hunting under our poorly laid out cupboard which never got 'organized' when we moved into the house. Well I found where the buggers had been living, in a bag of icing sugar that got pushed way to the back corner from neglect after we started eating healthy. Usually sugar is kept in big tupperware containers but somehow this missed getting put in. I swear, if the bag had been flat it would have looked like an ant farm. I was soo grossed out. It was triple bagged and put in the dumpster! The cupboards are sooo my next project after the craft room!

Does anyone have any awesome chicken noodle soup recipes?? Alex comes home everyday and raves about this girl in his class's father's soup (I do hope the poor dear is getting something to eat herself). I can't have some 'dude' making better food than me now can I??? ;)

Yay, I finally got to stitch at lunch!! One of my Mill Hill Santa's is parked at my desk. I was beginning to feel like I'd never get to stitch again! *ok a little too overdramatic there ;)* I'll lose Thursday's lunch though, I need to renew my stupid drivers license. Happy birthday...give us 60 dollars >:( At least I confirmed that there is in deed childminding at the gym tonight so I can go to Jam! Already the pants are starting to feel looser :) It's amazing what 3 lbs either way can do to your mindset!

NB Has Spoken!

Oh my...there was no stitching for me last night, I was just too wound up!! It was election night and I find that truly fascinating...yes I'm a very dull person. I had the opportunity to have the excitement of politics introduced in my elementary years when one of my classmates/friends father's threw his hat into the ring for premier and literally was one of the most influential atlantic canadian politicians of the twentieth century imo, needless to say when the stars aligned and he turned down the federal leadership it lead to some serious moping ;) Equally as riled up was DH who also has a political upbringing, and very proud of his grandfather's accomplishments as an MLA. Yes, we're both techie semi introverts but it's just so interesting...and we were pretty pleased with the results ;)

I talked to mom on the phone for a bit last night and did my flylady 15 on the craft room. I'd started the endeavor when it was looking like my brother wouldn't be visiting after all for my birthday, then came the very welcome announcement that he was coming back east so things have been in high gear ever since :)

I'm really looking forward to this weekend and a trip up to King's Landing. Tonight is fairly laid back looking so hopefully I'll be stitching. I have Jam at 5 but after that I'm as free as a bird (besides that 15 minutes of cleaning). Tomorrow is stitchy night and I can't wait! All of the fair entries should be there, along with some new finishes and most of the faces that were missing over the summer should be back. Hooray!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Busy As A Bee

Ack...another relatively non stitchy weekend :(

Friday after Body Pump and all the usual mommy stuff I did get some stitching in my Summer's Magic Dragons. The sandcastle isn't a 'vast' feeling to stitch as I thought it would be. I know when I stitched my PM God Bless Our Home the castle felt like it took forever!

Saturday was Alex's first day at gym and swim, which from an adult point of view almost turned into a stitching session. The first person I saw was Nancy (who used to own a little LNS out by our house) and soon we were joined by Michelle. Alex loved the gym part, and one of the little boys from his class was there too! It was nice to see him forging some relations with a non possesive non girl for once ;) They played freeze tag and did an obstacle course, which he really liked. Only one small incident and that was when Alex's knoggin came in contact with a little boys mouth :( A complete freak accident but my heart sunk when I heard crying and recognized the little voice saying how sorry he was.

They didn't get much swimming in this session as they spent most of their half hour sorting the kids. There was one wickedly snotty couple in front of us that temporarily had me doubting our choice in swim programs, but really after having one of those step back moments to realize that Alex was having a blast and THAT is what was important I felt a bit better. As I was changing Alex I heard a familiar voice and saw Eleni and Callie about to get ready, she looked soooo cute in her little pink outfit (lord help any daughter we might have ;)) Then we went out to say hello to Jackson and saw Faith Ann and her DS getting ready :) It was a big stitchy reunion (and I did get a chance to work on my Summer's Magic while I was there ;))

Alex conned his way into dropping by market on the way to groceries, now I remember why we make it a point to go early!! It was insane. We grabbed our sausages (having to settle for honey garlic as the hot italians were going to be another 10 minutes...and it was too hot and packed to stay). He was very good while we got groceries...and we picked out his new snowsuit while we were there too. One less thing to worry about. We made a quick trip into Walmart to look for some more track pants for him and a new swim suit, the elastic in the waist of his must have dissintegrated as the poor boy kept having to haul them up. Scored a great deal on some loud hawaiin trunks but no luck on the track pants :( Lots of 4's and 6's, but no 5's. I picked up the last pair of 5's at the superstore too so that's out. I really don't like gym pants, especially the ones with the elastic bottoms so finding clothes for physed/gym and swim has been a challenge ;) As for the remainder of Saturday it was mostly spent resorting the craft room and mowing the front lawn!

Sunday I finally got to the point that I could swap the desks just before BodyJam. Jam was soo much fun and sooo many calories were burnt! I then stayed for Pump, ouch! A very good combination but my clothes reaked at the end and my calves were tender. I've been my own drill sargeant lately so does it come as any surprise that after waiting for Matt to help me move the desks for a half hour that I went ahead and did them myself?? My calves are thanking me for that now. I installed some new hardware on the desk and it looks great. Now to finish sorting all of the stuff into it ;)

Confession: Since the wedding I put several lbs back on, my regular gym drive only went about 5 times all summer and our travel schedule threw my classes out of whack. combine that with the loss of stress of having to fit into a dress and being too tired to cook healthy, things were a little more snug than usual. Well...after yesterday 3 of those lbs are gone, woo hoo! I've started paying attention to what we cook again, changed my work schedule so I leave early enough that I can do the gym and not get home any later than usual (so I only have myself to blame if I don't get there) and travelling has slowed down again :) Now back to onward and lighter ;)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

The 'Secret' Project




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Now to wait for the embellishment pack to arrive.  I finally convinced Matt to go outside and mow the remainder of the lawn, giving me a little time to post my finish ;)


Friday, September 15, 2006

Count Down Until NB Votes: 3 days

Well, NB...if you've had any question in your mind who NOT to vote for I'd love to point out this lovely little nugget of ineffective governing >:(

Jazzy Wakeup Call

Holy smokes! Talk about a wake up!!! I head into work about a half hour early, which really isn't all that unreasonable considering the lack of free parking spaces and leave work early to beat rush hour traffic to head to the gym. I usually turn the lights on in our section I'm so early...so you can imagine my surprise when I walked into the building with my tea half asleep to a big crowd and some really kickin' music. Thankfully the Jazz and Blues Festival only runs a week or my system would be in total shock!!

~On The Stitch Side~

Now that the 'secret project' is complete and begging to have it's picture taken, I'm back on rotation. Right now I have one of Mill Hill's Santa's (Mandolin Santa to be precise) as my breaktime project at work, DD's Summer's Magic Tue-Sat and Mirabilia's Guardian Angel Sun-Mon. Summer's Magic is working up pretty quick which suits me just fine, although I don't think I'll be finishing them by the end of this 'summer'.

I've been putting my flylady 15 in still on the craft room It's actually looking worse than when I started, but now almost everything is sorted and ready be put in the closet or desk. I'm really hoping to get some lacing done on two pics this weekend. I finally ordered a frame for SB's Witches Moon this week. She patiently sat downstairs last year through Halloween but this year she demands to be on display ;)

~Back To School~

Tuesday we got to meet Alex's teacher who seems like a very sweet lady. I was pleased to see that his class is one of the ones fitted with the amplification systems so children in the back hear the teacher just as clearly as if they were in front...but Alex is in front anyway which I believe is the best place for him. I think I've figured out why the VP has such a problem with us, during her little speal before we actually got to see the teachers she started going on about this lecture coming to town on The Pampered Child Syndrome...So to attempt to smooth over this relation I requested the book that's a parenting resource. I think she sees Alex as her next rehabilitation project or something.

I'm hoping that there's one nugget of advice in it that the book that's useful, so far I really don't see how it pertains to us anymore...of course Alex isn't the same kid who'd come from a small daycare and had to adapt under the public school system's scrutiny to such big groups while dealing with issues such as marriage in the family, death in the family and a mom searching for second opinions during some breast cancer screening. How we parent has also changed in the last year, holidays are a big affair, but we no longer go overboard, he earns his book allowance by doing chores and he has responsibilities (not slave labor...putting his dishes in the dishwasher). The only thing I read last night was recognizing when they're trying to wear you down to get what they want. We started seeing this last year and now if he starts to ask again after we say "No" to something we ask him what No means.

~BB Reading~

Have you ever read a thread on a BB that just gets you going?? Yes the subject hit a little close to home, a babyshower for an unwed mother and yes the girl was 13 instead of 22 but still...
It really made me think of how we parent and what we would do. It doesn't fall in the clear cut, yep go ahead and send your kid to it category but trying to put a positive spin on the situation it's a great chance to talk to your kids and have them see first hand how unglorified parenting can be, no matter at what age. Some women replied that it wouldn't be very christian to let a teen attend, did they miss the part where Jesus lived amoungst sinners and invited them to his table?? In the case where your child is the attendee it also gives them a chance to be supportive in a time of their lives when they can be completely selfish (and I know ALL about being a selfish teen). Finally...I've checked the thesaurus and attendance does NOT equl condoning. Would I let my teen go to a friends funeral for driving drunk, yes, do I condone the circumstances that lead to it No? Why on earth be so judgemental on the other end of life's spectrum?

Phew...feel much better with that off my chest

~Weekend Plans~

Alex is VERY excited to start gym and swim, which is sooo much cheaper than the Beaver's program we registered him in on Wednesday. If one of the gentlemen I work with wasn't there and I didn't have him in tow I would have went home to reconsider! I'm hoping to get the lawn mowed (yes mine doesn't realize it's fall and it should stop growing) and the desks swapped between the play room and my craft room. I've cleaned up the desk we received from my uncle and yes...Mr Clean Magic Erasers can remove 10+ year old crayon marks without damaging the wood....I've also learned it takes those dreadful black scuff marks off of Alex's Little People too!! :)

Body Jam and Pump are on the schedule for Sunday. I've really missed my workout routine over August, my body definitely needs some work before our Dominican honeymoon in February!! Besides that and some more cleaning we should have a pretty peaceful weekend as next weekend should be wild and fun...I only turn 29 once right?? :) Then the next weekend Alex and I are on our own as Matt's going moose hunting, I'm kind of looking forward to some mommy son time :)

And in there I should have plenty of time to sit on the new couch and stitch, yippee!!

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Happy Dancing...In Secret ;)

~Stitching News~

Hooray, after some marathon stitching last night and a bit on break 'secret project' is finally done! Big happy dance!! Now I can get back on rotation with Summer's Magic and Guardian Angel ;) Last night I did my Flylady 15 minutes in the craft room. I took a big bag that had been a catch all for unbobbined DMC's and sorted them based on hundreds. I got those put in the appropriate 'duplicate' ziplocs (for now) and tidied up some stuff that didn't belong in the room. Along the way what did I find?? More unwound thread. I guess I'll put them in a pile while I go through the rest of the room and then do another big sort and then inventory ;) I also located my pattern for Terri's Stocking, which will be mine, and made a shopping list of DMC Perle's that I required where I was putting an order into an ONS sale. We can't get them here in town anymore, or atleast until Michael's opens...of course then and only then does one have the urge to do Shepherd's Bush patterns which alot surprisingly are on that coarse linen!

I also ordered some goodies for my birthday, like Heart In Hand's Family Medley and the corresponding button pack and Bent Creek's Wedding Row. The Wedding Row has about three potential locations in the house, the Family Medley will be going by the door (where my two bunnies have been since Easter where I can't find the picks that go back there!). I'd like to have the Family Medley up throughout the year and then have the seasonal medley's rotate on a slot slightly lower beside it. I also got my SB Witches Moon out of the basement to take to the framer's at lunch. It's been done for almost a year now...it should get a chance to hang up for the big holiday ;)

~Back to School~

Oh my, last night I openned Alex's backpack to check out his first homework assignment of the year and almost cried...tears of Joy! There were two duotangs, so I was scared, but the first was a true godsend. There in writing was the homework expectation for the year 10-15 minutes per grade level (which wasn't the case with the first week of school last year, read and do interpretive drawings of poetry...yeah my kindergarten boy could handle that...in 3 hours) and there was the WHOLE week's assignments, now I can go to the gym guilt free and also know when days are going to be a bit longer. Having a 6 year old has enough 'surprises' let alone the mega amounts of homework he was being dumped with last year. And there was a note saying that if for any reason homework was incomplete to write a note. I only did that once last year and felt like I was a bad parent for giving him a pass once so he could play outside with some kids for once...and that wasn't without doing a half hour of homework before hand! Tonight it's meet the teacher night and I should be able to recognize Alex's as she'll be walking on water ;)

~In The Kitchen~

Do you ever have those flashes of brilliance...one that would make life alot easier?? Since we've been getting BACK on the flylady wagon and getting ready for our annual turkey dinner it struck me that maybe we could be applying the same approach we do to that dinner to throughout the week. At Thanksgiving Matt has the potatoes all peeled and cubed when he has time on Saturday and they sit in the fridge in water until we need him. The bread is all made and cubed for the dressing, onions chopped at our leisure and all in the fridge waiting until show time. Even the spices are premeasured out and ready to go. I think I scare people when they show up and my hair isn't sticking straight up and the kitchen isn't a disaster. Well...back to the other 364 days of the year. Why wouldn't that work for everyday. So last night I set aside 15 minutes for chopping, measuring and prepping and now I have tonight's and tomorrow's suppers taken care of and no mess to worry about for the next two nights. Now if we do a little bit here and there over the weekends suppers should be even smoother! We do choose healthy and if possible low maintenance recipes but even this should make things easier ;) I'm looking forward to our baked ziti tonight :)

~Simple Things To Make One Happy~

We live just outside city limits and for some odd reason they think it's appropriate to ask us to recycle but only pick up our stuff once a month...so you can imagine what our bins look like after a month. In the last year the city has put a couple of depot's up for apartment dwellers but none of which were on our route, until now. I was so excited when it clicked that I could drop my recycling off while Alex went to Gym and Swim, no more piles in the basement and really...if we were doing that we could go down to ONE container instead of two huge ones. I must be getting old and boring to have some revelation like that be soo exciting ;)

Monday, September 11, 2006

Ok, Where'd My Weekend Go?

Can I have another weekend please?? Oh it doesn't feel like we had one at all! Friday I skipped class after work as I was zonked+++ Also during the day our new couch and chair arrived, hooray!! However assumptions, screwed us over and we were stuck trying to find someone to take our old set. Thank goodness for Fredericton Freecyle and Fredericton Freetrade!! I briefly went home at lunch to see if we could fit the couch in the van to take to goodwill and when it didn't I posted it, and had a whopping 20 some inquiries by the time I got home AND it was out of the house by the time I got back from my hair apt Saturday morning.

I took about every non cleaning second this weekend trying to sneak some stitches in on 'mystery project'. It should be done in the next two days, I can't wait!!! (well with the exception of the accessory pack that needs to be added). Well, we now have one clean house so I should have a bit more free time to stitch. Saturday I picked up a big rubbermaid tub and started 'seasonalizing' my closet so now that room is alot cleaner. And now with the non slip covered couch the living room's maintenance went down considerably! Now the main places that need improvement are the craft room , of which my objective is to spend 15 minutes a day in until it's ready to swap desks. My uncle left us a beautiful desk that we were using for the playroom tv and my old P120 computer that Alex uses but it wasn't big enough to accomodate both the monitor and the keyboard without looking at doing some modifications. I was sitting on the basement couch looking at it and thinking it would be great for stash storage but could imagine Matt's face when I stored cross stitch stuff OUT of the craft room. Did it ever occur to me to swap the computer desk I've been using as a sewing table for it?? d'uh!!!

Sunday we prepared to meet the BIL's fiancé from Switzerland, more cleaning ensued which left the Cote household pretty stuffed up after stirring up all that dust in the evening. We had no idea what time they were coming and the closer it got to pump I started getting anxious and asked Matt to call the BIL to see if they'd be at our house before 1:30, nope, plenty of time! So I packed up and headed down to the fairgrounds to pick up our prizes ;) I was kind of dreading going in as all week I'd been searching for my new Wilton caketaker and couldn't find it and the only place I would have left it was there on entry day...and I hadn't had a chance to put my name on it yet!! I asked if there was a lost in found which I was informed that I'd have to call today, and then said how I suspected I'd put my cake taker down when dealing with Alex and forgot it (I was in a rush) but that they knew about and had it set aside. I was sooooo relieved!

I now have Giggles in our room until he finds a permanent home in the house, and the hardanger wedding candle wrap is now cleaned (the stain less noticeable) and on display in the china cabinet. It's sad seeing the fair over BUT it does motivate one to get their handicrafts in displayable shape!! ;)

Oh...back to our future sister in law. She's very nice and petite+++ I suggested to Mathieu that we pick up some flowers seeing as it's the first time meeting her and they went over well...why don't men think like women ;) We headed down to the Diplomat for dinner which was nice, we were all royally stuffed by the time we left. We were zonked by the time we got home and went through the motions and were in bed at 10 on the dot ;) Now here's hoping for a more restful week!!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Walking Zombie

Oh my, I'm truly exhausted. After having a rough night Wednesday, I got an e-mail mid Thursday afternoon saying that the lawn was going to be sprayed...today. Ideally a lawn should be cut before it's sprayed and guess who's the only one home during daylight now?? Why do I bother keeping a calendar of events??????? To top it off I still had prep work to do for our guests that haven't given us a date or itinerary (ok normally I wouldn't be wondering but it's the BIL's fiance's first trip to Canada, maybe they want to try out the cool restaurants), and I had to clean up the living room for the anticipated arrival of the new couch and chair!! So it was close to bedtime before I relocated everything, scrubbed the floors, made the lunches, did another load of laundry, etc. Oh...and it was bath night for Alex last night as well...that and story time were about the only breaks for me :( On night's like that I know why some people hide out at their offices.

Am I anal retentive for asking for a bit of notice when people plan on visiting?? I mean there are some people I don't mind having impromptu visits from, my parents being one, and not because they're MY parents, they just don't complain or make comments about other people too ofen, so I know they're not talking about my cleaning/cooking and other people who have or are around children and can appreciate the absolute chaos (even when flyladying) that they can unleash. Alex picks up after himself, most of the time, but he can also roam around and get something out which you only find minutes before/after bedtime. No toys in the living room has helped this some...but every so often I get a shock when I haven't realized he's gone from playing in the playroom downstairs to his bedroom and vice versa. Then there's the food or drink spills... Juggling work, kid, schoolwork, fitness is alot of work, let alone throwing in being a half decent hostess.

What's worse?? My Drema package arrived last night and I had NO Time to fondle my new fibers...I hardly got to look at them, killer! The most I got to do was pick up the perle cotton I needed for 'secret project' so I could work on it at lunch. Tonight should be a bit quieter, I'm hoping...

Thanks for the comments on the Evening Dragon, he'll be available on the Dragon Dreams site around Christmas I believe or can be requested from any store that went to the Charlotte market (I believe Jen keeps a list on her site). He was so fun to stitch. I'm hoping Alex will like it and the planned Lost Dragon Sampler :)

Alex so far is loving French Immersion. He's actually found the transition from playtime unstructured kindergarten to sit down and learn grade one a very welcome change. He's like his mother and doesn't do well in unstructured/non scheduled situations :) Although at 3:30 yesterday I saw the phone number for the school come up and my heart just sank (after last year), but it was just the teacher offering advice on a form that I didn't bother to fill a section in (additional school bus stop) and saying how cute she thought Alex was. I guess she overheard him singing their au revoir song to himself at the end of the day and thought he was adorable :) What a relief.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Happy Dancing

  Hooray, thanks to Faith Ann I was able to stitch in the remaining spots of 415, now he's all ready to be framed and then wrapped up until Christmas :(  Maybe he'll sit on my desk at work for a bit until I have to wrap him for Christmas ;)  Stitched on SMF Merlin.



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Two Down!

Wow, Alex had a busy day!! The poor little guy had a tonne of stuff to lug for his first day back (and it wasn't even ALL of his supplies). He really likes his new teacher and both girls that were a 'problem' last year are not in his class, yippee!! According to him there's only one other kid from his kindergarten class in the same homeroom. Then last night he had Matt extract his other loose tooth! This one wasn't as loose as the first but he gets very distracted by loose teeth and he's got enough on his plate entering immersion this year.

I headed to the gym after work for a much needed run. When I got home there was a lovely 'parcel' waiting for me, THANK YOU Faith Ann!! I can't wait for the weekend to try out the pumpkin waffles!! Thankfully there was no homework...yet... I put some chicken parmesan in the oven (Alex had a special request where it was his first day back to school) and puttered around the computer room and then hid out in the kitchen making as much noise as possible waiting for the 'extraction' to be over...that just grosses me out! After Alex was in bed I took one last night to veg with Eureka and finished the stitching (with the exception of 415) on the Evening Dragon and tried my hardest to get to bed by 10..but it ended up being more like 10:30.

Tonight?? Well, that's another story...we STILL don't know when Mathieu's brother and fiancée are visiting so we'll have to kick in clean up mode tonight. I'm hoping it'll only last until 9:00 but it's hard to guage, we also have to get the couch and chair ready to be moved out as the new furniture should be arriving next week (we have a big movie night planned for that event!!). So there'll be some scrubbing going on tonight!! I also need to get a storage tub sometime over the weekend to put my summer clothes in...although for now they'll go in the drawers in the computer room. Hopefully at 9 I'll get to stitch a little bit, after finishing the Evening Dragon I tried to move back to my rotation working on the Summer Dragons...I'm hooked and can't wait to get back to them tonight :) Thankfully supper is in the slowcooker so I can probably do some of the tidying with Alex, as he loves to be a big helper :)

In other stitching news the end is in sight for the 'super secret project'. All rows are either finished or substantially started (with the exception of a heart that needs to be frogged). Now if only my DMC perle would show up... I also finished Monica Ferris' Hanging By A Thread yesterday and started on Cutwork. I'm really hoping I can get Karoline's copy of Crewel Yule back to her in time for retreat (but I'm anal and have to read the books in order)....then it'll be on to Tracy's Laura Child's Scrapbook mysteries!!

Almost finished

Now If I hadn't have run out of 415 this would be a happy dance for one christmas gift for Alex :)



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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Eureka!

Oh my goodness, I'm completely hooked! Matt had recorded Eureka and yesterday he suggested I watch it where it was a pyjama kind of day. What campy fun...4 hours of it to date to be exact!! It's got the x-file factor but mixed in with the campy Desperate Housewives feel that makes it a fun show to watch even for non geeks ;) Mind you I loved the x-files but it just has the right tones of everything, conspiracy subplot, a town of super smart people, sarcasm and even the over the top Men in Black guns...without that forced feeling of most of the sci fi gen...and a very dashing Canadian as the star. ;)

Well...seeing as my butt was parked watching that, I did get plenty of stitching in on Alex's Evening Dragon for Christmas...with the exception of the grey that I need to pick up this morning :( He should be all done in time to take some pictures tonight though :) Alex was camped out in his room with the ninja turtles taking on his multiple spider men with some Jedi's looking...he was definitely in his own little sci fi adventure ;)

Later in the afternoon we got a call from Alex's new teacher, she seemed genuinely excited about meeting Alex and even asked to speak with him on the phone. I was pretty impressed seeing it was a holiday for her. I'm very excited about Alex's 'fresh start', I'm just hoping he can keep his distance from the girls that caused him sooo many problems last year...and are thankfully in another class. I spent the rest of the evening...until Eureka hour number 4, labelling, making lunches, laying out clothes, fending more death questions (I didn't even realize Alex knew who the Croc Hunter was) and staring at the new light fixtures ;) I'll have to post the pics of our old lights to understand why...one was dubbed the 'gross spaceship light' and the other...well it had a chain and that's just wrong!! I don't know what would be better getting rid of the final 'chain' light fixture in the bathroom or winning stash...it's a tough call ;)

Monday, September 04, 2006

Getting Results

Phew...what a busy long weekend!! It's been so nice to have 4 days off to get some things done around the house. Daycare was closed for a well deserved vacation day so I was home with Alex Friday, mom and dad also visited which was really fun. Mom and I went Friday morning to order the couch/chair and then visited a number of kitchen remodelling stores (for her house). After they left Alex and I vegged...and read some Mummies in the Morning and then had our local liberal candidate drop by on the campaign trail and the poor guy...I really vented my frustrations of the school system thinking that families are still the 1960's makeup with a mother working at home and zoning not being nearly flexible enough for working parents with regards to afterschool care.

Saturday the gardenning was finished for the season, some discount perrenials I purchased were put in and my silver bush moved to the back garden :) Even the lawn got mowed! I also brought back the bins that we'd purchased only to go through every single set at the store and see that the entire atlantic canada shipment was bad...now to find somewhere else to order them. I also labelled Alex's school gear after having a nightmare it wasn't done the morning school started ;) I put in some real good hours working on Evening Dragon too!! I can't wait to post a finished pic of him...then put him in hiding until Christmas.

Sunday we finally found something worse than ceiling fan installation...flush mount lighting installation!! Matt and I put the new front entryway fixture in in no time flat, the same is NOT to be said for the hallway!! Trying to line up a screw with a screw hole on a VERY wide base with insulation in the way and an electrical box which isn't quite level was an extremely good workout for the shoulders!! When we turned the power back on thankfully everything worked! Then I noticed the time and rushed Alex over to a birthday party.

On the way there I had the radio going and heard the rain forecast for today, our traditional FREX day. Considering we bought Alex a bracelet already I was a bit concerned where any future evening would be a school night. We hummed and hawed (and I stitched...) and at 5 packed up to go to the FREX. Well...I think I'll go on Sunday's now. There was hardly a line up anywhere, even at the dippy dog :) Alex was giving 'little' kids (my goodness you'd think he was 10 instead of 6)instructions on all the rides until he met up with two of his friends. Off they went leaving us parents to follow ;) Matt and I got on one of the adult rides with them which I was fine on until it started going backwards...but me not feeling good was a good excuse to check out the exibits.

Out of our ribbons here was the one we were most excited about:

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Alex was soooo proud of his win, and he had his little friends with him when he saw the results. And what's even better is they're a Dragon Dreams recipe for the '04 JCS ;) I/Giggles In the Snow also took home a first in the medium framed cross stitch category (as long as Cathey enters I'll never take home a grand champion ;) her Angel of Grace was gorgeous). I also took home a second in the ornament division with my three Jeanette Douglas needlerolls :)

And without further ado, Giggles...finally framed!

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Today will be all about vegging and stitching. I was hoping my package from Drema would show up Friday with the perle cotton I need to finish 'mystery project' but it looks like I'll just be putting the finishing touches on one of Alex's dragons :)