Christmas Day

This has been a trying year in many ways. Employment, parenting and writing challenges abounded. Still, with the support of family and friends we made it through.

This time of year is about tradition and family. As I write, we are listening to Garrison Keillor's Christmas album. I don't remember when this album became part of the Christmas lexicon at our house, but Christmas just isn't the same without hearing about the Norwegian bachelor brothers, Santa Lucia, the 12 Days of Christmas in Norwegian and Santa Claus (yes, he was there too...) We have a more Swedish heritage than Norwegian, but it all applies. For those that are curious, I recommend "Scandinavian Humor and other Myths" Part owners manual and part humor for all of those with Scandihoovian and Lutheran blood.

As a traditional Lutheran family, we stick to tradition fairly closely when it comes to celebrating the holidays. The predictability of the way we celebrate is comforting to all. We get together at church for the carol service, have a late dinner and then open one gift on Christmas Eve. Off to bed to wait for Santa (not Lutheran per se, but part of the package when you have small ones!) then up in the morning to open presents.

Keeping with tradition, last night we settled in to the pew (after attempting to parallel park the SUV in snow, twice. Second time was the charm.) for the carol service at Grace. There is a carol sing along as a prelude, and then a processional. The church has a gorgeous pipe organ, purchased for the church as part of the endowment fund. For a small church it's a treat to have such a wonderful instrument. Fully expecting to hear the hum of the pipes as the pastor and seminary student came down the aisle, I was rather alarmed to hear a different hum, from quite a different set of pipes. I looked at my dad, who looked at me and mouthed "Bagpipes?" as I did the same. We then looked down at the order of service bulletin to see who was responsible for the, um, interesting prelude. Unattributed bagpipe playing. No one was listed, so it was for one of a couple of reasons. A) Someones kid is learning to play the bagpipes. B) One of the long lost Scottish Lutherans was present and made a request C) It was a pinch hitting bagpipe player, standing in for a squeaky clarinet/squeaky violin/squeaky preteen soloist or D) All of the above. I had to fight the urge to giggle, because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop if I started.

The rest of the service went ahead smoothly, Lutheran aerobics notwithstanding. What is that you ask? Stand. Sing, sit down. Sing again, stand to pray, sit, then stand again to sing. Sit, pass out the collection tray, then pray and stand, sit, stand and pray. Normally this isn't really difficult, but factor in coats, small children and entire families crammed into one pew. It was a tight fit, until Lily played the potty card about halfway through. Bryan graciously took her, and then watched the rest of the service from the 'cry room' on closed circuit TV. The service always ends with the lights dim, candles flickering along the pews and in the stained glass windows. The line 'all is calm, all is bright' is so fitting, just at the moment that the overhead lights go down and the glow of the candles takes over the stillness of the church. It's my favorite part of Christmas Eve.

After church we invited the family back to our place for a late dinner where we all ate too much and I had too much left over. I'll be eating spinach dip for a while... For years my Grandma and Auntie, and then after we lost Grandma, Auntie Ann hosted Christmas Eve dinner at their house. This is the third year we have hosted it and I love having everyone over. Lily ran around eating way too many grapes, a lot of chocolate and crackers. The rest of us indulged in fancy appetizers, potato casserole and desserts. Thank goodness for President's Choice appetizers! They made food prep really easy - I highly recommend the Fig and Goat Cheese Blooms, and the Cranberry and Brie Blooms. In fact, come over for some - I have a lot of frozen appetisers right now. I really shouldn't grocery shop while hungry.

Christmas morning dawned bright and beautiful. Picture perfect, all the trees in the neighborhood were covered in hoar frost this morning. It's tradition that I wake up well before everyone on Christmas. Bryan and I woke up at pretty much the same time today as I forgot to turn down the heat last night. At 5 am we were both roasting! I went back to sleep until just before 8, when we woke Lily up to tell her that Santa had come. He left 2 presents under the tree in her room. She tore into them to discover new craft supplies and a tote to carry them in.

We opened gifts here, and then packed up for the quick drive to Mom and Dad's. On the way to the car, I took the snow off my Christmas present. Dad and Bryan put it in the back yard last week, with instructions to not peek under the tarp. Then it snowed, so any chance of peeking was thwarted by Mother Nature. I had an inkling as to what it might be, but I waited. It is a huge (!) fountain for the garden. I have to figure out where it's going to live - front yard or back, and this will involve some reconfiguration of the garden. It will give me something else to plan now that the basement is on the go.

We were all spoiled with gifts, but most of all, I appreciate the time I get to spend with my family today. It really is the best gift that you can give or get.

Enjoy the day with your loved ones, and remember the ones that are not here, as they are part of the traditions you are enjoying today. Past, present and future all run together on days like this.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

On the go!

Finally. The basement is on the go. After a really long hiatus, we have a framer and the work is going on as I type. While we had intended to be finished down there by this time, life and work (or lack thereof) got in the way. My dad had a window installed late this fall and found us a great contractor that does basement framing. Pierre and Luis are sawing and nailing away.

I can't wait!

Off to buy some groceries in this bitter cold. It's -20, but it might as well be -40. Too cold for me!

Lily's first official picture with the real Santa!

(click on the picture to see a better view)

Things to think about.

I'm having a hard time putting a lot of my thoughts into words these days. There is, at the same time, too much and too little going on in my life right now and words fail me. I want to write. I need to write. But the words are stuck. I now understand what writer's block is and why it can be so devastating to a writer. I don't even identify as a writer anymore. I wish I could.

On the nights that I work, I often listen to The Road Home on CKUA. Bob tells tales about his little home in the woods of Lake Nakamun, about the birds and skunks and porcupines and his dog Hershey. He plays sweet gentle music jusr right for a short quiet drive home. Sometimes he reads poetry. Tonight, this is what he read.

Staying Power

BY JEANNE MURRAY WALKER

Like Gorky, I sometimes follow my doubts

outside to the yard and question the sky,

longing to have the fight settled, thinking

I can't go on like this, and finally I say

all right, it is improbable, all right, there

is no God. And then as if I'm focusing

a magnifying glass on dry leaves, God blazes up.

It's the attention, maybe, to what isn't there

that makes the emptiness flare like a forest fire

until I have to spend the afternoon dragging

the hose to put the smoldering thing out.

Even on an ordinary day when a friend calls,

tells me they've found melanoma,

complains that the hospital is cold, I say God.

God, I say as my heart turns inside out.

Pick up any language by the scruff of its neck,

wipe its face, set it down on the lawn,

and I bet it will toddle right into the godfire

again, which—though they say it doesn't

exist—can send you straight to the burn unit.

Oh, we have only so many words to think with.

Say God's not fire, say anything, say God's

a phone, maybe. You know you didn't order a phone,

but there it is. It rings. You don't know who it could be.

You don't want to talk, so you pull out

the plug. It rings. You smash it with a hammer

till it bleeds springs and coils and clobbery

metal bits. It rings again. You pick it up

and a voice you love whispers hello.

Source: Poetry (May 2004).

Maybe because it's the Christmas season, maybe because my words are missing, maybe that's why this one hit me straight in the heart. Maybe this will help me bring back the words, or at least let them out. Here's hoping.

First Day of PreSchool!

Do you think she was excited?

We are back - safe and sound. I have a blog post or two in the works - lots of pics and tales to tell!

Canada's Next Top Model?





This was Lily's ensemble the other night. She's wearing a dress by H&M, jewels by The Dollar Store and her legwear is Zellers. Slippers by Gagou Tagou.

We are off to the Emerald city, and will send updates from the coast when we can !

WORMS!

If you're squeamish, don't look. Lily has been asking about worms since she saw an episode of Curious George having worm races. I told her we would find her some worms once the garden had woken up a little bit. Now that spring has sprung, we are out in the garden every day and she keeps asking for her worms. So today I dug some up and Lily had her fun.

The poor creatures were subjected to all sorts of poking and prodding. She ran over to me and said she was giving one a bubble bath. She was 'washing' the worm in the bird bath. Rather than having to explain the concept of worm heaven to her, I told her that if she left the worm there, the birds visiting the bird bath would eat the worm for lunch. She pulled the worm out of the water, pointed at the tree and yelled "No birdies! Don't eat my worms!"

Then the worm went for a bike ride. At this point, I intervened and asked her to please leave the worms in the dirt. She carried them around in a bucket until lunch time, occasionally taking the worm out to look at it and to tell me "I love this worm. He's my friend."

I'm not sure the worm returned Lily's affections.

How a Lily grows!

Sigh. She's growing up. These were all taken about the same time in May, a year apart.

Lake Weekend!

While the weather wasn't great, we had a lot of fun. This is mostly what we did...

Spring has finally arrived!

The pictures from the last post were taken on March 29th. What a difference 2 weeks makes! The snow is gone, my tulips are up and the gardening has started. I love love love being able to get my hands into the dirt again. Lily was a bit confused when I told her that having dirty hands made me happy. Then I told her that when she was outside in her rubber boots and her mud pants, she could get as dirty as she wants to. So now she spends her days out there, running around with a rake and a bucket yelling "I'm as dirty as I want to be!"

And she is.

This picture was taken Easter Sunday, just before heading out to dinner at my parent's place. She's growing up way too fast...sigh.

My mom laughs at me when I tell her about my girl. She also mutters things about "Payback" and "Apples falling from trees." Family legend indicates that my very first sentence was:

"I do it myself!"

Personally, I think it was "I don't like this oatmeal." but we'll leave that to history.

Lily is very much my girl, (but she likes oatmeal) and insists on doing things herself.

Her sentence is

"No no, I want to do it!"

or

"I know how to do that!" (ask my dad about that one!)

It has led to some frustration, but it sure helps me. She can dress herself and put on her own shoes. This keeps her occupied long enough to allow me to get my things together if we are going out. Some of the other things she insists on doing are not really time saving.

Like walking to her grandparent's house and pushing the wagon. We actually had a neighbor stop and ask if we had someone in there that Lily was helping to push. No, we just have a toddler that would rather do it herself.

Today we joined Keltie and Evan at the Telus World of Science. They are a bit young for the concepts, but they sure had fun running around touching everything. Lily asked me on the way in "I can't touch here, right?" and was really happy when I told her she could touch just about everything. The two of them ran around and shrieked and laughed and touched a lot of stuff while Keltie and I caught up.

After the TWOS, we went to the Second Cup to recharge. The kids were really good, and kept each other amused. Bryan taught Lily how to wiggle her eyebrows, so she was eager to show off her new skill. Evan was being his sweet goofy self.

Lily? Well, Lily saved the cookie.

Home for pizza night and a couple of playoff games. Here's this weeks creation, pre-oven. Pesto chicken, zucchini, pepperoni and mushroom on a whole wheat crust with homemade sauce. It was really really tasty!

A spring day at the park...or why big kids should stay off the slide.

Busy Busy Busy!

It's on the go. I have 244 pieces of sub floor sitting in my front hallway. I have 100 2x4's in my basement. My house smells like lumber.

This week has been a blur and it's not over yet...I think I will be able to relax next Wednesday.

Monday: Worked all day at Lily's school. Which meant a lot of cleaning, a lot of answering to my new name "Lily's mo-om", and trying to remember the names of 18 short people. (Lily, Felix, Thyme, Nathan, Emma, Leah, Hadlee, Tyler, Hudson, Mallory, Jacob, Rhys, Sophia 1, Sophia 2, Adam, Johannes and two others I can't remember...they were probably really normal names compared to most of the above list, which is why I can't remember them.)

Tuesday: Waited for a call about my delivery from the Despot. It was minus 32 that morning. No one ran or plugged in the delivery truck on Monday night. Frozen truck meant no delivery. Bryan has a late shop class on Tuesday so he was home to bring things in. Since there was nothing to do, I drove him to school and ran past our favorite west end bakery instead. Took Lily to my parent's place for her dinner as I always work on Tuesdays. I made arrangements with work to deliver the items on Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday: Lunch at my great Auntie Eleanor's place is always a treat. After lunch I took my Auntie Ann to the grocery store for a few things and then Lily needed her nap. Since we were out late, it meant a late nap. Late naps are usually preceded by a giant meltdown and Wednesday was no exception. I tidied a few things in the basement before heading out to work again.

Thursday (today): We signed up for ItsyBitsy Yoga classes, and these started today. Most mornings, Lily wakes me up by coming into our room and telling me "Mumma. Mumma! Wape up Mumma, it's morning. I want to pat my Leocat in the hallway. Come. Come" We don't let her sit on her own with the cat because she loves him a little too much sometimes, and he has given her a warning nip when she does things like touch his paws or sticks her fingers in his ears. (Hey, if I was a cat and someone stuck their finger in my ear, I would bite too!)

Today, my alarm didn't go off at all, and instead of getting up around 7:45, I woke up at 8:23 and had to get Lily going. Our class was supposed to start at 9:30. 1 hour is NOT enough time to feed toddler and self, dress toddler and self, make coffee, consume coffee, allow coffee to hit system, bundle toddler into winter clothes and into the car AND drive to class to get there a bit early. We were there at 9:20 - I'm not sure how.

The class was fun, and about as focused as a yoga class for toddlers could be. (Imagine herding cats.) Next week will be a bit better as it will be more familiar to all the kids. I have to say that I am SO impressed with the other parents in the class. Each and every one of the girls had a gorgeous name. Normal names. Not an Emerson or (insert random letter)-ayden in sight. We had Lily, Josephine (whose middle name is Lily), Evie, Daphne, and Anna (mom is Inga). So pretty!

Of course, because I had made arrangements to have my delivery in the afternoon, my cell phone went off during the class. Delivery driver, calling from in front of my house. He was still there when I got home, so Lily got to watch the driver drop things on our front sidewalk. Lily watched Ice Age 1 while I got lunch together. Thank goodness for DVDs. I don't use them often, but when you need your kid to stay focused and still for a time, they are a lifesaver. Bryan came home and together we hauled all the stuff inside.

Waffles and bacon for dinner rounded out our day. Bryan crashed on the couch at 10 - I just sent him to bed.

And the rest of the week?

Friday: Tomorrow I will be doing a lot of laundry in the morning. I have a hair appointment tomorrow afternoon, and Bryan has to do a little bit more destruction while we are out. I don't know why I said I would do it, but I am working tomorrow night as well.

Saturday: In the morning Mom and I are going to the local "I've Outgrown It" sale to grab some summer things for little Miss Stretch. I can't believe my little peanut wears a size 3 shirt and pants! Every time I put a pair of pants on her, they are too short. She has no bum, and now no diapers, so pants that fit in the length are too big in the waist, and ones that fit in the waist are capri length. You can cheat on pant length in the summer, but not in the winter! She needs some new bathing suits, and some play clothes. I am also hoping to find some cute dresses or skirts. Last year I found great bathing suits for $3! This is also where my mom gets toys for Lily. We really try to limit anything that requires batteries, but my mom can buy them as long as she keeps the toys at her house. That's how we dodged the bullet of the 3 Little Pigs shape sorting thing with the electronic voice that sounds a lot like Stephen Hawking. It lives in the toy box at Buppa and Lala's house - they get to hear the creepy "I'm Tracy the Triangle Pig, jiggity jig" over and over and over again.

After the sale, Lily is spending some time with her Lala while Dad, Bryan and I start on the install of the sub floor. Hopefully we can get at least the family room area done, maybe the bedroom area too. We won't do the bath area until the plumbing work is done, and the laundry room will be done last, after the other renos are complete. Once the sub floor is down, we can work on the framing of the rooms and it will start to look like the plans we have in mind.

Since I work Friday, we are moving Friday night pizza to Saturday.

Sunday: More installation, and I think Bryan has a date with Dave to see a movie. At some point, I want to have a nap.

Monday and Tuesday: Lily has school and I work both nights. I am looking forward to Wednesday - no plans and no work!

Whew. Hope I make it....

The before the Before photos...



Don't say I didn't warn you. It's pretty ugly. These are the pictures I took on January 31, 2001, shortly after I bought the house. The contents you see are not mine! Click on the pictures for more detail, especially the floor plans. And no, these floor plans were not scribbled on a napkin in crayon. I drew them on Lily's coloring paper. With my own markers, not her Crayolas. (She won't let me.)

This first shot is standing in what will be our bathroom, looking towards the stairs. Note the lovely vibrant green paint on the wall. This was the color of my kitchen for about 5 minutes - as soon as I moved in the painter was there to cover it up. And no, it's not the flash. It was really that green.

This next shot is taken from the bottom of the stairs, looking into what will be the bathroom area. That's the old no-efficiency furnace you see. You can also see where the old HWT is - right smack in the middle. We took it out and converted to a tankless water heater that is the size of a suitcase and mounts to the wall next to the furnace. WAY better.

This is taken from what will be the corner of the bedroom, looking into the new bathroom area. The bath is going to be accessible from both sides, inside the bedroom and also from the hall.

This is the laundry room. We have replaced the washer and dryer with a stacking front loader and dryer combo to save some space. So far, the only appliance left to replace is the oven. That's my end of reno treat, along with Bryan's flat screen TV. The wall on the right hand side of the washer has been removed - this is the nook under the stairs and landing. The new electrical panel has gone under there, and we will put in cupboards for storage along the walls. The laundry room is the storage area for now, and will be done last - we need to strip it back to the studs, redo most of them, do some plumbing for a new laundry sink, and rewire the room. There will be soundproof insulation in all the interior walls of the basement, for both sound and fire protection.

Ah, the mural. Isn't it lovely? Painted on velvet, it is truly representative of the 1970's rumpus room era decor. The previous owners must have been fairly conservative, as they didn't install shag rug on the floor, instead opting for the ubiquitous 12x12 vinyl composite tile. Thank goodness. I can't imagine what creatures would be found in 40 year old shag rug.

This is the view from the end of the room, under the window. The string hanging in the middle of the picture is the pull cord for one of only 2 lights in the whole space. Isn't the faux fireplace great? The owner actually apologized that she wasn't leaving the fake fire for the fire place. She gave it to her nephew. Poor guy.

The bar. I don't think a lot of parties happened here. The fridge probably held a lot of orange soda and root beer from the old Pop Shoppe up the road. Note the contrast between the 1960's bark cloth curtains and the 1970's colonial style print on the vinyl wallpaper.

And here is the plan for the space. I can't wait for everything to be done. We're only beginning, but it will be so much better. Play space for all!

The next set of pictures will be shots during and after demolition, from pretty much the same perspective as the ones here.

Cross your fingers! (Edited)

Bryan is at the very top of the waiting list to take his second year apprenticeship classes at NAIT. Classes start Monday, so we are waiting for the call that means he is in. Chances are very very good that someone will drop out or not show up on the first day, and then he's in. We need some positive "get off the list" thoughts please!

** He got the call from NAIT this morning! He is in and starts classes on Monday at 9am. Thanks to everyone for the good vibes!**

The house will be quiet without him here, but it means he's getting ahead in his training, and when he does go back to work it will be with a significant raise in pay. Can't argue with that!

The renos are progressing - demolition is about 90% done, just 2 small areas to take out. Our electrician was here yesterday starting work on the panel upgrade. Once this is done, we won't have to worry about the breaker tripping every time we make toast. (For fun, the entire kitchen is on one circuit, so you can't make coffee and toast at the same time. Or microwave and use the dishwasher. It's a gamble!)

The subfloor and framing materials will be delivered on the 7th, with the subfloor install the following weekend. Then we can start some of the framing before we have to stop to tear up some concrete to put in the bathroom plumbing. (Still have to get the permit, water lines marked etc...) I have the order for the bathroom stuff ready to go - the Despot got over it's Scroogeness and gave us a 20% discount coupon at Christmas this year (last year was sweet nothing...not even a lump of coal) so we save $600 on the bath items plus we qualify for a $500 rebate card from the store. AND we can use the receipts for all these items as a tax credit in 2009. Anything that saves me money is a good thing. I'm cheap. I hate paying full price for anything if I don't have to.

I know, everyone wants to see some pictures. I have to scan some photos, but I will post them as soon as I can. The basement pics I have were taken in 2001, shortly after I signed the papers on the house, but while the previous owner was still here. So everything is VERY old-lady. Wallpaper and pink sheer curtains, and an untouched 1970's basement rumpus room. You'll see.

I will be taking progress pictures from the same angles so you can compare the before, during the rene, more during the reno, still during the reno, are they done yet? during the reno, and finally the after pictures.

Now that we are at this stage, I'm getting more excited about what it will all look like when it's done. I can't wait to have play space for all of us. Even better is that we will be doing most of the work ourselves - with the exception of the furnace, electrical and carpeting.

On the home front, Miss Lily is 90% potty trained. I am so proud of her! She's been dry overnight 6 nights in a row, and doesn't need a Pullup during nap time. She had one accident at playschool, but it was her first day there in big girl panties, and she was too busy having fun. (She made it to the bathroom, but not in time.) My little girl is not so little any more.

Watch for house pictures soon!

Pfffft!

You know it's not going to be a good day when you go out to run a quick errand and find out you have a flat tire.

What should have been a 15 minute run over to Walmart to buy storage totes turned into a 3 1/2 hour waste of a good afternoon.

I pulled out of the drive, and the truck felt funny. I got out to look and found one of the back tires was flat. Not just low. FLAAAAAT. I drove back home. Looked at the tire again. Swore.

Then I called my dad. In 8 years of owning the Mazda, he was lucky enough to never have a flat. Which meant that he didn't have a clue about how to go about changing it. But he did have an air compressor. He topped up the tire enough to get me over to Canadian Tire so I could get it repaired. Yay! $23 and 45 minutes and then I could get on with my day.

Yeah. I know. I tempted fate the second I thought that. And Fate, that fickle creature, kicked me while I was down.

My first hint should have been the grumpy lady at the key cutting station. She didn't smile. Or blink. Or say hello.

My second sign was when I was returning plumbing parts. Bryan did some work for my Auntie Ann this week, and as you should when repairing a toilet, he bought every part he might need on the first trip.

I went through the routine "No, nothing wrong with the parts, we just didn't need it for the repair...yes, the other part worked." Then the clerk handed me $3.15 for the $18.99 part I was returning. Umm, what? She didn't bother to look at what I was returning, she just refunded the first thing on the receipt. After we corrected that, I discovered my cell phone was dead, so I had to borrow my dad's. (He followed me over to the repair shop to make sure I made it there OK.)

I went back to the automotive area and asked them to call me on the cell as I would be running over to the McDonald's across the parking lot to have a cup of coffee.

45 minutes later, I get the call that the car is ready. Only it's not. Non-repairable tire. Ugh. Two new ones will be $399 + tax. Ugh. I tell them I need to make a call or two, and that I am heading back. I called home and explained it to Bryan, who already knows. It seems that the request "Please call me on my cell first." was a difficult one. Sigh. I called my dad to see what he thought. I had to leave a message as he was out walking the dog.

When I got back to the shop, there were no other customers, and when someone walked out from the repair area, he ignored me and picked up a phone to gossip with a coworker. The next person comes out, asked what I needed. He has to ask the guy on the phone what is going on. GUY #1 DOESN'T PUT DOWN THE PHONE! He tells me that it can't be repaired and that now the SUV need 2 new tires. He finished his call, and then disappeared into the back. When he comes back, he told me that at first he thought the car was a 4 wheel SUV, but since it isn't he can sell me different tires for $299 + tax. I called Bryan, he says we should just go ahead, so I give them the OK. This should take an hour or two, according to the guy at the repair counter. Fine, I decided to walk to Walmart and then walk home and wait for the call.

Still with me? Let me recap how wonderful CT has been so far.

• Grumpy lady at the door.
• Incorrect refund.
• Didn't call me on my cell as asked.
• Can't repair my tire.
• Ignored me at the service desk.
• Almost sold me the wrong tires.

I headed out the door, and made the trek across the parking lot. When I got to the crosswalk, my dad called to tell me that he is pretty sure the spare tire on the Mazda is a full size spare, and that if CT can match up with that one, I will only need to get one tire. $150 sounds much better than $299, so I headed back to the shop. When I got there, they told me that they can't do the replacement at all, as someone had just broken their tire balancing machine. I said a rather rude word. I told them to put the spare tire on the car and that I would figure something out. They asked me to wait 10 minutes while the spare was put on and then I would be on my way. I wandered around the store for 15, and then came back. They said it was ready, and then I had to wait another 1/2 hour to get my keys back. At least they didn't charge me to put the spare on. What a mess.

(And just to make it really fun while I waited for my keys, I was stuck in the nostalgic hell of 1980's junior high school slow dance tunes on the Muzak. Careless Whisper. Really loud. All that was missing was a disco ball, short awkward boys and the smell of gym socks.)

Getting back to my car, I found out that the spare is not a full size tire, so Dad's idea wouldn't have worked. But I'm glad he suggested it, as I probably would have gone to Walmart, walked home and then had a call from CT 2 hours later, telling me they hadn't done anything.

After Walmart (had to finish my original errand after all!) I drove to Mom and Dad's to drop off his cell and let him know what happened. Argh!

At home, I called the place in Sherwood Park that replaced the tires on the Focus. They were great to deal with before, so I figured that they would be the best place to go. I wasn't disappointed. First, they thanked me for coming to them after my experience with CT. This is before I have even committed to buying new tires from them. He checked his records and found that Dad had the tires put on the Mazda in 2003, and being 2009, they are probably due to be replaced. The first quote was a bit high - you don't need top of the line Michelin's on an 8 year old vehicle! He found a better set for me for $410, and said he could have them there within a couple of hours and complete the replacement right away. I said I would call in the morning to set things up.

Bryan called in to them while I got ready - they said to come in at 3pm and that the replacement would take about 1/2 hour. I got there at 2:55. When I walked in the door, the tech greeted me by name and told me that it would be done within 1/2 hour. I walked over to Safeway, bought a few groceries for homemade pizza night (inspired by Jay!), grabbed a latte from Starbucks and walked back. I was in the shop at 3:30, and was back on the road by 3:37. WELL worth the additional $100 over the CT price.

My car is fixed, I have my totes, I made our Friday night pizza and all is well. And I will NEVER take my car to CT again.

Next?

We finally had a successful furnace inspection. We had our new furnace and on-demand water heater installed in November. Two months, three service calls and three inspections later, it finally passed code inspection. All of the issues were very minor, and were easy fixes. Just wish they had all done it correctly the first time.

Next is removing some demolition materials and doing some more demolition. And then we can get the electrical panel replaced and get an estimate on what it will cost to add to the basement lighting etc. That means I need to get going on a final floor plan. I *almost* have it ready. It looks good on paper, but I need to actually plot it out on the floor with accurate measurements. Then we move on to some real work down there. Subfloor and walls - here we come!

We had some good news for Bryan this week - he challenged the exam for his 1st year apprenticeship and passed. He worked really hard to study for this and I am proud that he met with success at the exam. He's going to try to get on to the wait list to take his second year of schooling at NAIT - here's hoping that he is able to get on at the top of the list, otherwise he has to wait until July. (There is a session in the spring, but we have a vacation planned in the middle of it.) His company laid off more employees last week, so it looks like there will be nothing there for him until spring. In the interim, school and working for another company, as well as working on the renovation should pass the time.

We really want to get this done - our goal is to have most, if not all, the work done for Christmas of next year.

Picasso? Miro? Ritcey?

My budding artist drew this today. When I asked her what it was, she told me it was her Auntie Keltie.

(Click on the image to make it bigger)

Things I am reading right now...

Raising Your Spirited Child

Hippos Go Berserk

Eat Pray Love

The Pocket Parent

Setting Limits for your Strong Willed Child

Too Big for Diapers

The Cat in the Hat

It's been another fun week at the Carbol Carbol-Ritcey house. I do believe I will be leaving the country the day she turns 12. I might move that timeline up a bit, say on Tuesday.

(And Mom? Once again, I am so sorry that I put you through this when I was this age. I'm not sure how you did it. And you had a newborn when I was Lily's age! At least I know that it all turns out in the end. You did a great job with Craig and me.)

Sigh. Please send chocolate, coffee, earplugs and kleenex. I need a time out.

OK, so my last post should have said, back to my regular posting NEXT WEEK.

I fell off the wagon, or was rather, just running behind it, and couldn't quite hop back on.

Lily spent a good portion of Thursday through Tuesday NOT sleeping at all. One night we didn't get her to bed until after midnight. We seemed to have solved the issue with her getting up a bit earlier in the morning (7:30 instead of 8:00) and making sure she had a better wind-down period before bed.

Bryan discovered the hard way, that games of 'chase Daddy' and 'Daddy the Jungle Gym' are not really appropriate pre-bedtime activities for a 2 1/2 year old. She was WAY too wound up to sleep. Quiet post-dinner activities the past 3 nights have made a huge difference.

So, now that I don't have to get up every 5 minutes to retrieve a toddler from the hallway to put her back into her bed, I can write again.

Coming soon - an interesting interview, a book review, and pictures from Lily's big girl room.

Due to a very late night with very little sleep, this is all the blog you get today. Back to regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.

Did I miss something?

Was it declared 'Sleep Optional Day' without my notice?

Lily's bedtime is 8:30. It is now 11:12 and she IS STILL AWAKE.

We have had cuddles, books, 14 trips to the potty, warm milk, another 3 trips to the potty, 2 night-diaper changes and a visit from dad. NOTHING is working.

I even tried telling her that her beloved Buppa won't come over unless she goes to sleep.

Argh.

It's going to be a long night.

Thank goodness I'm 36 and still haven't slept through the night. I should be used to this by now.

Meg and I had an interesting night at the service desk tonight...

Customer:

I need this blind cut but I'm not confident that your staff will cut it to the right size. She doesn't know how to use her tape measure.

Us:

What do you mean?

Customer:

She doesn't have a tape measure with centimetres on it.

Us:

All the blinds and cut goods are sold and measured in inches.

Customer:

We are in Canada, aren't we? (Hands us a sheet with dimensions in cm) I need this cut in centimetres. She doesn't know how to convert this.

Us:

(Meg) I don't know how to convert either. We are provided with tape measured in inches.
(Me) Most building materials are measured in Imperial sizes, not metric...

Customer grabs her paper and leaves.

Sigh. We really wanted to help her. But we didn't have a metric knife to cut her blinds.

Someday, I will get a day off. Maybe when she's 18.

I was excited for this morning, as the Christmas break from daycare was over. Woohoo! Free day for mom!

Or so I thought. When we walked in, Gidget asked if we had a long sleeved shirt or sweater for Lily. We didn't, because they asked us to keep the kids in short sleeves to avoid play/painting messes. Gidget recommended that Lily keep her coat on because the heat in the school was barely working and they needed to keep the kids warm until the repair man came. Hey, no problem, all the other kids were in their coats so Lily thought it was fine. Repairman was due any minute, all seemed fine.

I went to the Second Cup, had a coffee and some breakfast, read a magazine and casually made my way home.

I let Bryan know about the heat issue, and grabbed a book and hopped in the bath tub. After about 20 minutes, the phone rang.

"Hello? No, she's in the bath right now. Yes it is. Yeah, she told me about it. Oh. OK. Yeah, I'll let her know."

(I would love to know why my husband always feels the need to tell people that I am in the bath/sleeping when he could just as easily have told them I was BUSY! At least he didn't hand the phone to me while I was in the tub. He often comes in to the bedroom while I am napping and hands me the phone...)

That was the call I was dreading. Still no heat, please come get your Popsicle of a girl. Because I knew she would not keep her coat on. She's that kind of kid. And sure enough, when I came in, her coat was in a pile on the floor, her hat beside it, and she was an interesting shade of purple. Some of that was paint, the rest was cold kid with pale skin.

We headed off to Value Village to search for some fabric for her new quilt. I found a great Martha Stewart twin sheet for $3 and another plain white one for $5 - these will be the backing and additional fabric for the quilt face. Can't beat well washed cotton bedsheets for cheap fabric!

We headed home where Lily ate her school lunch and had an excellent nap while I worked on her new quilt. I promise to post pictures of it, and her new room when it is all done. We have the floors and the painting done, still need to complete trim work and final touches.

Bryan called in to work today, and they did say they have a job for him. They just don't know when they can schedule him in. I'm hoping for next week. EI still hasn't paid him, so if Lehman can find 2 or 3 shifts a week then at least we have that coming in. I certainly can't handle working this much any longer. See yesterday's post for my thoughts on being away from home.

It was still a good day, just not the one I had planned for.

I told Lily I was running away to join the circus. She said she would like to come too...

Wish us luck tomorrow. Bryan should find out whether or not he is back to work.

While I have enjoyed the family time, I can't wait for him to be back at work. When you are with your family pretty much 24/7 it can make you feel a little stifled. I have no space and no time to myself. I really enjoy Lily's nap time in the afternoon - it's 2 hours that I get to myself. I can read a book, take a bath, play on the computer and relax. It's been a month since I've been able to relax in any way and I miss the down time. And it's been way too cold all month, so we've been cooped up inside with a cabin feverish toddler that doesn't understand that it's too cold to go out.

My only time away has been work, and while it has not been busy at the store, it's not time to myself. I hate how much I've been away from home.

I miss my girl.

This week, she wants Daddy before Mumma and it breaks my heart every time she does it. The rational side of my brain says it means she has a strong bond with her dad, and that's a good thing. The emotional side of my brain is another matter. I know she asks for him because he's the one home during the day, and that it's not something I should take to heart but I do.

I hate that 3 or 4 nights a week I have to miss out putting her down to bed. I miss 'cuddle in chair', as she calls it.

I miss our quiet afternoons together, playing with puzzles, or going out for a coffee (steamed milk for my girl), or running errands.

If the paycheques were actually going towards something fun, then I wouldn't mind so much. But they have to pay for the groceries, utilities and soon, if EI doesn't come through, the mortgage. It worries me.

Today was not a good day. I really just want to run away, just for a moment, so I can feel ok again. I know it will get better; it has to. I'm just overwhelmed with it all.

Thanks for listening.

Minus. Thirty. Two. Celsius.

(That's -25.6 for my American friends)

That was the temperature when I left for work this morning. I wore two hats, and two sets of mittens.

I like winter. Or at least I try to. It's fun when it's -5 or even -10, because you can go out and play in the snow, or go for a walk. It's not fun when everything is frozen solid, the car takes 15 minutes to warm up, and the roads look and feel like finely polished granite.

This is the kind of weather that, as Christine puts it, makes your nostrils freeze together if you dare to breathe in deeply. I don't like having my nose stuck together, thank you.

It should warm up soon. I am done with winter. To quote Lily:

"I won't like it. I won't like it more. All done winter."

Amen to that my girl, amen to that.

Today was fairly uneventful and VERY cold.

Lily passed the time by being very two and very silly. She ran into the kitchen and told me she was busy. I asked her what she was doing that she was so busy. She replied "

"I'm spinning" and proceeded to spin in circles, saying "I'm busy!" and then stumbled off because she was dizzy.

Then it hit me. In toddler-speak, she was DIZZY not BUSY.

Sometimes I need a translator. Or, just think like a two year old.

I really need to do this during the day, and not at night when I am wanting to curl up on the couch with one of my new books. I probably wouldn't last long. Work, as boring and uneventful as it was, is tiring me out. I haven't worked full time since before Miss Lily was born, and the close to fulltime hours I've been averaging right now are wearing on me.

It's not particularily challenging work, especially when you work on New Year's Day and all people want to know is

A) What time you are open until

B) Where the lightbulbs/batteries/garbage bags are

C) Where the washroom is

The answers were 6, over there halfway down the right hand side (this is an all purpose answer that works for most things at the store!) and all the way to the back. (Alternatively, they could look up at the GIANT sign that says "Washrooms" and follow that.) I still think we should just stencil toilets and arrows on the floor to lead them to the right spot. It's that or I send them all to aisle 53, which doesn't exist.

Tomorrow I work on the switchboard, which means I get to answer silly questions BUT I get to make faces and roll my eyes when the silly questions are asked because they can't see me! It's very very hard not to give the answers I want to sometimes.

"Hi, I'm just wondering what time you are open until?"

"Six o'clock"

"Are you sure?"

This is where it gets tricky. What I want to say and what I am allowed to say are very different things.

"Yes, we ARE open until 6" is the correct answer.

What I really wanted to say:

"No I'm lying to you, we've been closed since 2."

"Actually we aren't open, they just asked one of us to stay here to answer the phones all day."

"Are you calling me a liar? Of course I'm sure."

Instead, I play nice, mentally roll my eyes and wait for the next call. Which rolls out the exact same way as the previous call. If I could have kept a straight face, then I would have pretended to be a recording, stating the store hours, and asking the customer to press 95642 if they wanted to speak to a person.

"Thank you for calling the Home Depot. Our New Year's Day store hours are 10am to 6pm. Regular store hours resume on Friday the 2nd of January. To speak to an associate, please press 95642 now."

*95642*

"Sherwood Park Home Depot"

"Hi, just wondering what time you are open until?"

Sigh...