Friday, August 30, 2013

Just Some Stories (And Some Sidenotes)

So I meant to write this post about a week and a half ago but then packing (and moving and unpacking) intervened and now it's two weeks later and I'm telling you some old stories. But I want to remember these events and this blog is how I remember things. (Sidenote/question: I love going back and reading my archives and remembering what was happening at that time. Do any of you ever do that with your blogs or is it just me?)

Sam decided to give up wearing pullups at night at the beginning of August. He just announced that he was done with them. And then he asked, "When can we have my underwear party?" (Okay, another sidenote: Dave's mom had offered to throw Sam a "panty party" once he was toilet trained but since I really don't like the word "panty" we changed it to "underwear." At the time I had NO CLUE that "underwear party" had a whole different connotation. (My question is "What kind of people go to these things???) And that's not the kind of "underwear party" we threw for Sam. We just wanted to celebrate the fact he is toilet trained.)

Okay, back to the post... Sam wanted to have his party at our new house, which if you remember, we hadn't moved into yet. So we decided to have the party at our empty house and tell people it was BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair). We ordered pizza, cut up some veggies, supplied some drinks and we were going to get an ice cream cake.
But then Sam came home from preschool camp that week with the world's biggest zucchini and wanted to make "chocolate zucchini muffins with sprinkles" for his party. So we did. Sam was excited about grating the zucchini (for about a minute) and licking the chocolate batter off everything (for the rest of the baking adventure).
Eventually we ended up with some awesome cupcakes/muffins. (Sidenote: I don't know whether to call them "muffins" because they are made with zucchini and applesauce or "cupcakes" because of all the chocolate and chocolate chips in them. Maybe I should just call them "muffin-cakes" like Sam used to call "muffins" a few years ago!)
Sam wanted streamers to decorate for his party so we hung some from our garage.
 
He also wanted a "people wash" made of streamers so we made that in the living room doorway. Every party guest had to got to walk through the "people wash" and Sam was thrilled!
It was a fun party which just goes to show, all you need for a great party are fun guests and good food. Who needs actual furniture?! :)

This party would have made the weekend fun enough (Sidenote: Is there such a thing as "enough fun"?) but then Donny and Marika stayed overnight. And the next day we wanted Vincenzo's sandwiches. Donny and I offered to go and be the hunter-gatherers and pick up the sandwiches. Then we had an argument over who was going to pay.

We had our credit cards lined up at the machine ready to see who would win the duel and then we realized we were likely going to break the machine. So we decided to play rock-paper-scissors (RPS) for the honour of paying. So we counted "one two" and on "three" I made my action. Donny said, "No, you have to wait until after 'three'." So we started again. But then Donny played my way and I played his way and we failed again. (Sidenote: There were no people in line behind us or we would not have been so annoying.) Then we agreed on the rules and played again. And we both chose "paper." (For those of you keeping track that's three rounds of RPS and still no clear winner.) So then we played a fourth time and Donny won. (He paid but did ask "Did we decide if the winner or the loser got to pay?!") By this time we were laughing really hard and the cashier was completely amused.

And then we went home and ate our sandwiches and decided that Donny and I are not only the worst hunter-gatherers ever, but also the worst RPS players ever. Don't sign us up for any competitions. (Sidenote: Did you know there actually are RPS tournaments?! One of the most bizarre things ever.)

And thus ends this walk down memory lane. Coming tomorrow, even more distant memories from this summer.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Make Hay Do Laundry While The Sun Shines

So one of the things, among the things I was really excited about regarding our new house was the laundry line. I love hanging clothes outside and it just hasn't been possible in a really long time. But this house came with four long laundry lines. However I am discovering a few things about hanging laundry outside which I now offer for your thoughts and consideration.
1) Our new washer holds a very large amount of laundry. This is all from one load.
2) Hanging laundry outside makes me feel like a 50s housewife. Now I just need to be wearing an apron, high heels, a nice dress and a string of pearls.
3) We need more clothespins STAT.
4) You have to pay attention to the weather. For instance, today is a good laundry day. Saturday and Sunday won't be.
And on that note, I'm off to do more.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Home Ownership Is Fun?!?!?!!!!??

So I really was going to write a more interesting, and potentially informative, post for today but...

For the past few days our kitchen sink has not been draining happily. I called my dad (my reference person for all things house related) and he suggested plunging the sink. So I bought a brand new sink-and-bathtub plunger last night ('cause even if you sterilize it I just couldn't imagine using the same one we use for the toilet there) and then Dave and I plunged. And plunged. And plunged. Until the action, and the word, lost all meaning.

So I called my dad back. He suggested it might be an issue with the p-trap. As soon as I loosened the nut on the far side of the p-trap all the water came out which led us to believe the obstruction is past the p-trap. Thankfully we had a bucket under it first -- we're not that naive. (Plus my dad warned us to have a bucket there!) So now we are looking for plumbers because I can't wash dishes right now.
So until we get our kitchen sink issues figured out I can't blog. At least, not about non-kitchen sink related things. So I have a question for you and then some interesting (to me, at least!) links for you to read. Here's my question -- what is the most fun thing you have faced as a homeowner??? And by "fun" I really mean "not fun." Fill me in and help me feel better. (And I realize a non-draining sink is a pretty minor home issue to be facing.)

Now on to the links:

I seriously love reading, and this article (or whatever you call it) made me laugh. And sigh. And relate to many of them: 17 Problems Only Book Lovers Will Understand

Speaking of books, ever since Tiffany alerted me to this possibility I want to be in a library catalogue!

And if you haven't heard of Sporcle, it is a trivia website where you can waste way too much time. Not that I am speaking from experience or anything. But if you do happen to venture over there you absolutely have to try this word cloud book title quiz.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Other Things To Deal With

I wish I had time to blog right now but unfortunately, I don't. I have a few other things to deal with before I can get back to regular blogging again. Like the top of my dresser, because I don't think it's a great home for the hammer, screwdriver and electric drill. Nor do I want those boxes taking up permanent residence in front of my dresser.
And our laundry room could use some attention too. Since it rained (or threatened to) all day yesterday, I couldn't hang things on the line so I focused on other things, as you might be able to tell.
I wish I could say the playroom hasn't had any attention but I have to admit, it is suffering from too much attention! Ha ha ha!!! Thankfully, I don't really have to deal with this mess which is why I love having a dedicated playroom for the kids.
 
Not only am I not in a great mental space to blog, I don't really have a great physical space to blog right now either. My little corner of the office will probably get my focus after Sam's room, Rachel's room and our kitchen are a bit more settled.
Thankfully Janice, Tessa and Willem came over yesterday afternoon to help out. Janice brought some new organizing energy (including a new layout for Rachel's room which I LOVE!!!) and Tessa and Willem entertained Sam and Rachel. And after they left, Sam-In-The-Box amused Rachel with a concert while I continued to "settle in."
 
It takes a lot of work to make a house a home, and while we are getting there (S-L-O-W-L-Y), we aren't quite there yet. Thankfully Tessa is coming over again this afternoon so I have another dedicated block of time to chip away at some things. Yay! Maybe I'll even get to unearth my desk. Maybe...

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Less Than Ideal...

So I sit here at our old house waiting for our movers (who are actually our friends and Dave's co-workers) to show up so we can move all our furniture to our new house. The circumstances are less than ideal. For instance, Dave moved the camera cord already, but not the camera, so while I have taken pictures for this post, I can't upload any of them. I will have to wait until we have internet at our new place later today, and by then I'll have new things to talk about so this post will remain picture-less. So I'll tell you where I would have inserted pictures.

imagine picture of me blogging at my computer in our empty dining room here

We've already picked up our truck to load the furniture into. While we've been moving as much as possible in the back of our Toyota Matrix, some things just won't fit in it. So we rented this bad boy.

imagine picture of our U-Haul truck here

And yes, I am making Dave drive that thing because big trucks (or big vehicles of any kind) aren't for me.

imagine picture of Dave driving the truck here

As of yesterday afternoon, I told Dave "I am done with the moving process but the moving process is not done with me, so we are at an impasse." Yes, I ran out of moving energy. After a good night's sleep and some comfort food grilled cheese, however, I regained a little more momentum and managed to get through the rest of the evening. And now our house looks like this.

imagine picture of our old house with lots of taken apart furniture lying around

Now I am going to eat breakfast...

imagine a picture of my maple French Toast bagel toasted with butter and a large coffee/hot chocolate here

...and wish I knew where my fleece was. It's cold here this morning. And oh yeah, I'll probably fold some laundry because It. Never. Ends. Even in the midst of moving.

imagine a picture of a basket of unfolded laundry here

And now, for the last time from the house where I have been blogging for over a year, over and out. Catch you on the flip side.

imagine a picture of me, being driven slightly insane by moving (because why would I talk like that otherwise???), here

ps. If any of you are reading this before 9amEST and feel a strong urge to come up to Ontario and meet me, we have lots of moving for you to help with. You won't find a better offer out there on the internet today! (Okay you might, but do you really want to take advantage of those offers???)

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Moving: The Continuation

Yesterday we continued "the moving process." I am calling it "the moving process" because, while we are not spending every minute actually packing, moving and unpacking things, we are spending practically every minute dealing with some aspect of being first-time home owners, settling into a new house (although we aren't staying there yet), and all the other assorted miscellany we need to deal with. So, what does our camera tell you about yesterday?

At 8:34am I discovered we have a hydrangea at our new house. Ironically, I discovered this while looking for a spot to plant the hydrangea I've kept alive in a pot all summer. Two hydrangeas at our new house -- whoo hoo!!!
At 8:42am I was hanging the shower curtain we spent hours looking for. I wanted a black and white shower curtain with an accent colour. You would think this would not be hard to find. It took looking at about five different stores but I am really happy with the end result.
At 8:48am I was taking tape off the office walls. Even though we got specific painting tape, it still took off a few huge chunks of the paint it was taped too. So now we have more to paint. Just what I was hoping for. I think that the colour of our walls does not translate well in photographs so it seems really startlingly green to me. In person, it is just awesome. You'll all have to come visit and check it out.
At 9:25am Dave set up an art installation in our bedroom. To really appreciate it you had to crawl on your belly around the room. Or be no taller than about 18 inches!
At 9:26am I took some time to admire the shower curtain again. I really like how it works with the floor and the classy French taps.
At 9:35am our washer and dryer, a housewarming present from my parents, arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I was a little excited about it?!?!?!

The washer and dryer delivery guys were hilarious. Dave and I have been yelling to each other throughout the empty house about where we are and what we've been doing so at one point I yelled to Dave, "I'm removing tape from the office." Dave yelled something back, and I didn't hear him. So I yelled, "What???" The delivery guys called, "He said, he's got the pictures (meaning he was putting the art installation in a safe place). And we've got the washer and dryer installation." It made me laugh. A lot.
At 10:19am the washer and dryer were installed and I had to admire them for awhile.
At 10:57am Julia came over, with her mom Kristen, to play in our playroom. Thankfully she is only nine months old and didn't mind that there was basically one toy to play with.
 
By 12:39pm Dave and I were packing up some of our kitchen at our old place.
At 1:27pm Dave hung a pot on our new pot holder. He is very excited about the pot holder. I'm just hoping I don't knock myself out by conking my head on a pot. (We are putting our kitchen cart underneath the pot holder so that possibility is slim.)
At 1:53pm I started filling my tea cupboard. I am so excited to have a dedicated tea space. And don't worry, I have more tea to fill it with.
At 2:07pm I tested some couches as we did some couch shopping. Dave was laughing that I was pretending to hold a book as I tested out my favourite reading position.

At 4:18pm we took a break from couch shopping and finally got some propane for our BBQ. We've gone to Costco a few times and forgotten to bring the tank with us so this was a significant moment.
At 9:02pm Dave read stories to the kids. (Between 4:18 and 9:02, we did some more couch shopping and had supper at Dave's parents' and brought the kids home with us. We also took the kids to our new house so we could show them how it had changed.)
So yes, the moving fun is continuing. However, today Dave is back at work, I am doing errands with the kids this morning, and then I will pack up the basement (including preparing hundreds of extra boxes for recycling because we have box overload). And since the heat wave is continuing (30C(86F without the humidex)), I think we will go swimming at Dave's boss' pool tonight. Whoo hoo!!!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Move Begins

Our official moving date is this coming Saturday. That is the day we have lined up friends to help us move our furniture. Our plan is to spend most of this week moving boxes and other assorted stuff in the back of our Toyota Matrix. Yeah, a Matrix is not that big. However, we are only moving about six blocks so it's not that bad.

Yesterday, Dave took the day off work and we started the more intensive moving and packing process. The best way to tell the story of the day is by providing you with a timeline. The times shown are from our camera's record of when the picture was taken.

At 9:09am Sam and Rachel did some packing in their rooms before Dave's parents picked them up. Sam and Rachel are staying with them for a couple of days so Dave and I can get things done without their "help." I particularly like the picture where you can see the puzzle pieces falling into the box as Rachel dumped them in!
At 10:30am I was shoveling sand out of the sandbox. The shovel I was using broke after about one scoop so I had to do the bulk of the work with Sam's little sandbox shovel. It was not near as efficient. Thankfully a couple of our neighbours took our sand so we didn't have to haul it to the dump.
Dave was loading boxes into the car while I dealt with the sand and at 11:12am Dave loaded the last box in the car. For this trip, that is.
By 11:50am all the boxes were loaded into the playroom. Dave then proceeded to move them to the areas of the house where they belonged.
 
Around 12:06pm I started the fourth, and final, coat of paint on the office. I was so sick of painting by this point. Also, I don't think the office is as startlingly green as it appears in these pictures. And also I forgot my painting shorts so I was wearing Dave's.
At 1:23pm I ate lunch on the floor while Dave finished the last five minutes of painting. Yes people, I was so hungry I couldn't finish five more minutes of painting.
At 2:28pm I was putting the last of the locks back in the doors. We removed all five locks and got them re-keyed. And then we had to put them all back. What a pain! (P.S. Dad, if you are reading this, we had a little trouble getting one back completely correctly and hope you will fix it for us when you come visit. Thanks!)
At 2:56pm Dave was overwhelmed by all the boxes in our new basement. However, before they overwhelmed him, he managed to organize them into sections. Yay Dave!
At 3:16pm Dave had a super-sized, homemade, iced coffee to recuperate. Oh yeah, did I mention the high was 27C yesterday. Blah.
At 6:10pm we went out for dinner and Dave had a Guinness to recuperate further! Ha ha ha!!! I would show you pictures of our dinner but we ate it too quickly.
After supper we did a bunch of moving related errands and acquired a shower curtain and hooks, an outdoor garbage can, some rope, some polyurethane, a diaper pail and some breakfast pitas. Sadly, we couldn't get this all at the same store.

And today we get to do even more moving. Lucky us.