you keep waving at the taxis they keep turning their lights off

Mags screamed for the better part of three hours last night. i don't know what to do. i never had this problem with Nate. i didn't have this problem with her until two months ago. if i nurse her she's usually ok but i can't keep doing that forever and it seems to be sort of backfiring in that she's waking up more often wanting to be nursed. ugh. i'm so tired and stressed and starting to completely regret my going back to work early. i wish i could just quit.

but...i know if i get a decent night sleep i'll feel much better. and, i know once i'm back at work i will actually enjoy it. its just going to be a rough few weeks i think.

on the bright side, i booked my train tickets (and mom and Jess) to Montreal for our annual shopping excursion. this has taken a backseat in the past couple of years due to me being very pregnant or Jess being away so i'm really looking forward to it even if i can't spend nearly what i did past years and most of it will probably be spent on the kids.

because of the VIA rail strike the tickets were 60% off though and mom gets the hotel (a nice 5 star hotel) for a grand total of $36 through her time share so that certainly frees up some fun money.

it will be my first night away from Mags and only my third night away from Nate the first two of which were because i was in the hospital giving birth to Mags.

ok. time to focus on all the positives in life and just be thankful already.

before we get much older

stayed up way too late last night after discovering that Mad Men season 2 is finally on demand. then Mags was up a ton and here i am again about to do the same...

didn't do too much today.

got a possible hit on Leasebusters for the Cobalt. hopefully it'll pan out as i could do without the added stress of hanging on to it. why oh why do i get myself into these situations. i'm too impulsive and impatient. delayed gratification is not in my vocabulary.

tomorrow is grocery day which is good because i'm running out of ideas. though i must say i did very well on using up what was in the cupboards and freezer. tonight i made burgers but i added pesto and garlic to the ground beef and then when they were frying i topped them off with spinach and shredded mozzarella so the spinach got nice and wilty under the melty cheese. yes, i am aware that neither wilty nor melty are actual words.

uh - gotta go close the window because for the 3rd night in a row a skunk has sprayed in close proximity of the house.

what the world needs now

good weekend all around. Saturday morning we picked up our new car/truck i guess it is actually a CUV. i spent much of my spare time reading the manual and pressing buttons. the coolest feature which i didn't think we had because we didn't get the Nav/Entertainment package is the iPod jack.

seriously, i am probably the worst car buyer ever. i don't care about the engine or performance. all it really needs is an iPod jack and storage cubbies - SOLD.

ok, i care a little about the other stuff but seriously i was psyched. can't wait for the trip to Deacon this weekend to really test it out.

i also got rid of our energy inefficient freezer (gave it to some totally creepy hippie/bushman type dude who answered our ad first). and then i painted the laundry room floor. its just that chip/board stuff and it looks so much better painted - even if i did have to mix a bunch of odds and ends together to get enough paint! its kind of a greyish blueish white.

i also put the remaining peel and stick tiles the previous home owners left around the laundry tub so the floor doesn't rot when i reapeatedly spill water on it while cleaning up paint stuff.

this morning we watched the race and skipped out on church because Mags went down for her nap late.

Jay is on eve's again tonight so after dinner i took the kids for a walk around the hood. the sun was actually shining and it was nice and hot with a great breeze.

speaking of dinner. in a continued effort to use up pantry items i made another throw together meal. inspired by beef and broccoli, honey garlic spare ribs and ribs in black bean sauce i made a stir-fry with black beans, broccoli and two packs of ramen noodles with a sauce made from soy sauce, hot chili-garlic sauce, honey and some actual garlic. it was pretty darn tasty, like i would perfect it and make it again - probably with some more veg and rice noodles or rice as opposed to ramen noodles.

only one week left of complete mat leave before heading back to work. what was i thinking again??? oh well, i know the year will fly by.

but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red

another rainy miserable day. though i am thankful for saving on the AC bills we're all going a little stir-crazy and this late aft/early evening half of Kanata was flooded though our house seems ok thus far, our backyard probably had 2 inches of standing water at one point.

i have never seen so much rain in my life. i would have taken pics but i was too busy running around making sure all the downspouts were as far away from the house as possible and that our sewer drain wasn't backing up.

we pick up the new car (car? truck? its more of a crossover so i guess car) tomorrow so that is a bit exciting i guess...

there is an article in this month's (actually i think the date on the cover is September) Chatelaine about food waste that is pretty eye opening. so, tonight in part because of the article and in part because we're trying to stretch our grocery dollars, i made dinner out of what i could scrounge from the cupboards and freezer.

4 chicken thighs, a can of diced tomatoes, a small onion, 2 cloves of garlic and some jarred stuffed manzilla olives served over basmati rice was one of the easiest to make and best tasting meals i've made in a long time. not too shabby for odds and ends.

good luck with the move Ally - have fun going upstairs to bed in the first time in a long time!

Penster - where are you???

i'm out of my head, that was what they said

today i realized that i actually get far more done when Jay isn't around - i won't bore you with the painting/laundry/cleaning details.

i'm kind of starting to panic about going back to work because Maggie is still waking up every night at least once. oh well i'll be crabby at work instead of at home.

Jay is putting in a deployment memo tomorrow (requesting a deployment) so i'm also kind of freaked about that. though, i know i can manage on my own quite well its still not the ideal way to parent. but, at the same time i hope he gets to go because i know he really wants to go and as a bonus there is the money that comes with it which would enable us to really put the plan in action sooner and faster.

in any event - it is in God's hands - not mine and i'll just go with the flow.

we pick up our new car on Saturday - pretty excited to inhale that new car smell which i'm surprised they haven't linked to cancer yet.

i'm on a rollercoaster but i'm on my feet

big day today - bought a new vehicle.

went with the Dodge Journey - seemed to suit our needs (three rows) and budget best. its black and its shiny and its new it has good fuel economy for its size and its got all the safety stuff. only pet peeve is that visibility out the back window isn't super but i'm kind of used to blocked views with all the junk we seem to haul around.

now we have to get rid of the Cobalt. we're going to use Leasebusters so keep your fingers crossed.

second is that i registered for two courses towards a residential design certificate. i'm doing decor elements from Sept - Oct and home staging from Nov to Dec. both seem fairly light so i thought it might be a good way to ease into it and who knows - maybe i can get into the whole staging thing sooner than later.

i'm excited to get going.

got the first coat of paint on the family room today - i guess i got a second wind.

well, i should get to bed. Jay works tomorrow...

whats it take to make the time stop

what started out as mostly killing time has turned into us nearly buying a new car on the spot. now we have been thinking about it for a while. our Cobalt is way to small for us which is why we're driving mom's van which we appreciate but we are not mini-van people.

there is also no point in getting anything without third row seating if we're thinking about having a third kid because the days of 3 kids sitting across a single bench seat went out with smoking while pregnant being socially acceptable.

we checked out a Ford Flex this am but its beyond our budget. theMitsubishi Outlander and Subaru Forester are too small. then we checked out the Dodge Journey and seriously almost bought it.

now we just have to figure out how to get rid of the Cobalt...

other than that - nothing is new. finished the fireplace but i think i put on one too many coats of stain, its a little too opaque now. it still looks good but it almost looks painted instead of stained...in any event i am painted and stained out - at least for a couple days.

tomorrow is Jay's last day off...and now less than two weeks before i'm back at work myself. yikes.

we are not the kids we used to be

fantastic day, fantastic weather. we took advantage and went to Papanak Park Zoo which is a conservation/breeding sanctuary. it was pretty cool. they had lions and tigers, monkeys etc. Nate had an absolute blast. pics are up on facebook.

been busy doing house stuff as usual. finished painting the kitchen and i have just one more coat (i hope) of stain to put on the fireplace mantle. once thats done we can paint the family room and then move on to the basement. Jay finished getting the rest of our decking on. looks great. now we just have to do the railing and stairs.

when we were at Home Depot the other day getting screws and a joist for the deck they had some bathroom vanities on clearance. found a perfect one marked from $499 down to $149. solid maple (stained a walnut colour) art deco detail doors (sort of little pyramids) all it needs is a nice marble top. so we got that for our powder room along with a matching mirror that was on for $25!

so, of course, now i'm itching to do the powder room over...at least we'll get rebates back for installing low flow toilets.

ok - gotta get the stain on while i still have a little energy.

when i think about the big one, WW III...

my husband is home and the kids slept in until 7:40 this am. life is good.

Jay took Nate on a Home Depot/Rona run to take back some excess materials and get new supplies and Mags is down for a nap so i'm having a second cup of coffee and enjoying the moment.

gotta do some groceries this aft - without kids - yay!

our fireplace is almost done too. just the grout today. looks fantastic. can't wait to stain it and get stuff for the mantle. will post pics when its all done.

ok - breakfast calls.

am i singing you the right tune

just spent about 10 minutes playing "diner" with Nate in which he insisted i squish in the little booth meant for 2-5 year olds. fortunately, i'm pretty much skeletal right now so i sort of did fit though i couldn't get my legs under which seemed to bother him.

oh well, his attention span is short so he's onto his train now.

good weekend - but busy as usual.

had a coffee date with Lynne (finally!) on Saturday and our contractor came to begin work on the fireplace surround. the tile is on now and already it looks fantastic. he's coming tomorrow to do the grout and construct the mantle. so excited. Jay has a little drywall patching to do as well before i can paint to but at least the end is in sight.

Jay also started patching up the multiple holes and dents in the basement so we can get it re-painted as well.

today we watched the race in the morning (well, as much as you can while entertaining the kids) and then went to church.

Jay has his test tomorrow and then he comes home for good! whoo hoo. so excited.

can't believe i only have 3 more full weeks off before heading back to work. the more i talk to people about my stay at home plan the more real it feels and the more excited i get. i'm determined to make it work.

ok - gotta go read Nate some bedtime stories.

i don't need to be forgiven

great day. no crazy line up at Toys R Us and lots of train sets to be had. got Mags an activity walker thing too of course, all she really wanted to do was grab Nate's train off the track...

went to Rona too to get screws for the deck. of course, they are too small so we'll have to go tomorrow to exchange them.

i could have spent so much money at Rona. i love Rona and Home Depot equally though i like Rona's decor section and lighting a little better. i was good though and got just the screws and a tension rod for our kitchen window.

then on the way home Mags fell asleep so i drove through our hood. it was garbage day and i spotted a piece that caught my fancy. i drove by it about 6 times before deciding to stop. mostly because there was also a moving truck in front of the house so i wasn't sure it was actually garbage.

turns out it was and a nice couple across the street from it helped me get it into the van (sucker weighs a tonne) and even gave me a bungee cord.

i think it is a tv unit but in any event its big, its solid and once its painted and has new hardware on it it will look awesome. now, i just need to figure out where to put it...

well, its miller time. MGD actually.

why does it always rain on me

yesterday was so weird weather wise. i swear it would be fully sunny, i would decide we need to take advantage of it and go to the park and just as soon as we would be set to go out the door it would cloud over and start pouring.

on our third attempt we were half-way from home when it started coming down and we had to turn back.

today was much nicer. fully sunny and warm. we went to Tara's in the morning (the mom from playgroup with 4 kids) and the park in the afternoon before dinner. Nate even got to see a small back-hoe in action in the new development around the corner. this was def the highlight of his day.

getting excited to have Jay back (for good on Tues) though this hasn't been so bad.

debating on whether or not to do some painting tonight. i have one little corner left to paint in the kitchen (of the green colour). not feeling particularly energetic though.

tomorrow we're heading to toys r us in the am so i can get Nate a Geo-Trax train set that is on for 50% off. i was looking at it the other day but could not justify the $80 price-tag. i can justify $40. it will even be better if i can somehow distract him from it and not give it to him until his b-day.

i also have to take these silicone bottle sleeves (to go over glass bottles) back. i didn't even look at the price figuring how much could they be. when i got out to the van and looked at my receipt and saw that they were $8.99...each...i just about fell over (i bought 2!). that is pretty much half the cost of Nate's train set.

finished S1 of Mad Men last night. took me about 3 or 4 episodes to really get into it but after that i was totally hooked. hopefully they replay S2 soon.

ok - enough random thoughts for one evening.

you're a real mean mama but you got a lot of time for me

kind of a dull day - woke up to a cold and rainy 13 degrees. supposed to be back into humidex readings by the weekend though at which point we'll all complain its too hot. never satisfied.

went to toys r us today so Nate could pick out a new potty (thinking if he picks it out maybe he'll be more inclined to use it) so of course he picks out the most expensive Baby Bjorn one. At least i've read good things about it and hey, its better than the pink Dora one I thought he pointed to at first.

got strawberries on the way home. in the last 3 weeks i have honestly spent about $50 on strawberries ($9 a basket) but its been totally worth it. the guy said there's maybe a week left in the season.

watched 3 more episodes of Mad Men while Nate was down for his nap. it took a while to get into it but now i'm hooked and it certainly beats any of the reality crap that is currently on the networks.

hoping to get some painting done tonight (the rest of the green in the kitchen) after a strong start i'm kind of burnt out. too much at once.

i'm anxiously awaiting the fall course catalogue (sp?) from Algonquin so I can sign up for a residential decor course. there are 16 of them in the program. i'm also considering working towards a real estate license but i have to do a bit more research - that may be too much of a commitment at this point.

ok - well Nate needs a diaper change (new potty not working so far...) and Maggie is not settling.

it's a drag, and a sigh and that's not all

i feel like i've used this title but i'm too lazy to look back and its the lyric that happens to be sticking at the moment. Josh Ritter is awesome.

today was busy starting with a 9:10 Dr. apt for Nate which we were actually on time for! his lump is just a swollen lymph node and nothing to worry about. also got a new scrip for his cortisone because his eczema is out of control at the moment. hmm - can you claim new hardwood floors as a medical necessity?

then i decided to pop into work for a visit since the kids were in good humour. can't believe i'll be back in 4 weeks. in many ways it feels like i never left so i don't think it will take too long to adjust.

i've already let a couple people know that this may be my last year. i'll have to break it to my boss sooner than later. such a delicate balance though because on the one hand what if i change my mind and on the other hand i want to let them know so they can plan on a future without me. sometimes i think i'm too loyal and should just keep my mouth shut and give my two weeks notice if and when the time comes.

when we got home i made the kids lunch got them down for naps and started cleaning because Chantal is coming over for dinner tonight. also got the lasagna ready and a chocolate cake is baking in the oven. see, i could totally be a housewife.

watched some more Mad Men last night. kind of growing on me. there is a large part of that era (furniture aside) that appeals to me. the civility, the formalness (i don't think thats a word but you know what i'm getting at). now, i'm not about to start wearing a house-dress (i like my track pants thank you very much) but it all holds a certain je ne sais quoi (?).

Chantal is here - gotta go.

help me undo these chains my love

the last few days have been unremarkable but busy as usual. more painting (can only fit so much in during the afternoon nap time) groceries, etc.

last night Jay and I started watching Mad Men because the first season is on Demand again. love the mid-century office furniture. like the show. but i sort of feel that some of the writing is a bit contrived when it comes to illustrating how different life in the 50's was.

for instance in one particular episode it shows a little girl playing spaceman with a dry-cleaning bag over her head (and most of her body). the mother's main concern was where the dry-cleaning that came out of it was. another scene showed an adult physically disciplining a child that was not his own. and then there's the smoking...

busy day today. another trip to Home Depot to pick up the rest of the supplies for our fireplace surround. lumber, mortar, grout etc. already did a trip earlier in the week to pick out our tile. (tumbled slate 2x2 mosaic). hope our guy can fit us in this week - anxious to get it done so i can finish painting.

later this afternoon we went out to Carleton Place to visit with Jay's family (from his Dad's side) including two of his half brothers whom we hadn't seen since our wedding 7 years ago! we had a great visit and the kids were both fantastic.

now we're home - kids are in bed and i think we'll be heading there soon.

oh canada, our home and native land

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."~Mark Twain

nope - that quote has nothing to do with Canada day but i thought it was appropriate re: blogs of late.

happy safe Canada day everyone - i'm spending the day painting - what else?