Hard to believe it's been a month already, but it has! Our little girl is 1 month old. So far in her short life she's made two trips to TP, met lots of great people and received endless amounts of love. A perfect start.
We've been completely blown away by the kindness and thoughtfulness of friends and family over the past few weeks. From friends taking care of our house and pups while we were in the hospital to people making long trips to see Pips for short periods of time (you know who you are!) to the amazing hand crafted blankets and clothes, toys, and home-made meals we've received, we're so very grateful for the wonderful people in our lives. Thank you!
As the weather warms up, we're looking forward first to long walks in parks, and first smiles. They say kids grow up too fast, and I'm starting to understand why.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
BBQ season has begun!
Last weekend was kind of a big deal: we got our BBQ up and running at the new house thanks in no small part to Steve who visited us on Saturday. It took a couple trips to Canadian Tire, but she now burns beautifully. We know that for sure because we've been eating BBQ exclusively ever since.
The inaugural meal was, of course, melt in your mouth, perfectly done steaks with mashed potatoes, gravy, and asparagus done in butter. Mmmmm.
It's amazing how nice it is to have a BBQ a few steps away from your kitchen. Goodbye climbing two flights of stairs carrying food and utensils every time you want to cook. Goodbye and good riddance!
In more annoying news, someone dumped some construction waste on our front lawn consisting of a broken door and wood shards in a garbage bag. Not pleased at all. We really need to get our fence up sooner rather than later. On the plus side, I called 311 yesterday and by this afternoon the debris was gone. Hooray for good public service!
The inaugural meal was, of course, melt in your mouth, perfectly done steaks with mashed potatoes, gravy, and asparagus done in butter. Mmmmm.
It's amazing how nice it is to have a BBQ a few steps away from your kitchen. Goodbye climbing two flights of stairs carrying food and utensils every time you want to cook. Goodbye and good riddance!
In more annoying news, someone dumped some construction waste on our front lawn consisting of a broken door and wood shards in a garbage bag. Not pleased at all. We really need to get our fence up sooner rather than later. On the plus side, I called 311 yesterday and by this afternoon the debris was gone. Hooray for good public service!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Need some practice
Today I finally made it to a ServiceOntario location to update my name and address on my driver's license. It took this long not because of me (surprise!), but because this is how long it took to get our long form marriage certificate which is required for the name change. Since it arrived yesterday, I decided to go now while I still have some free time.
The closest ServiceOntario location isn't walkable so I had to take the bus. Since it was so nice today I decided to walk to Coxwell and Mortimer to enjoy the sun a bit and wouldn't you know it? About a minute after I arrived at the bus stop, my bus pulled up. Must be my lucky day!
So the bus is supposed to go up Coxwell before turning east on O'Connor and going all the way to Eglington which was to be my stop. Everything was going fine until we got to St. Clair and the bus made an unexpected and very unwelcome right turn. Turns out I took the 70C instead of the 70. Yeah. Didn't know there was a C. Now I do. Go me.
Luckily I was able to get off at Vik Park and grab a bus north which pretty much got me to my destination. Pro: this bus was just pulling into its stop as I arrived as well, so no wasted time there. Con: the bus was packed. Normally not an issue, but right now? It's a bit of an issue. I wedged myself in the best I could and grabbed the bar preparing myself for what would be a bumpy ride (note to bus drivers: you are not driving a formula 1 race car. There's no reason to have a lead foot, particularly when most of your passengers are standing). A few minutes in, a man in his mid-50s noticed me and offered me his seat. We were so crammed in there it would have taken some pretty advanced gymnastics to trade spots so I thanked him for the offer and politely declined. He said, "No problem, ma'am." A few minutes later people started moving back in the bus, and when I started to move with them he added, "You be careful there, ma'am." Guess I'm at that stage in my life now?
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I arrived at the door to ServiceOntario at the exact same time as someone else, and he was kind enough to let me go first. Yay for good people! The wait in the place itself was only about 10 minutes and the woman I spoke to made quick work of the changes. Then I caught the (right) bus home with under two minutes of wait time. Guess it was my lucky day after all.
And that concludes today's boring story which also happened to be the most exciting part of my day.
(I kept an eye out for new 'hoods, Julie. Nothing to speak of unfortunately, but I'm sure you already knew that.)
The closest ServiceOntario location isn't walkable so I had to take the bus. Since it was so nice today I decided to walk to Coxwell and Mortimer to enjoy the sun a bit and wouldn't you know it? About a minute after I arrived at the bus stop, my bus pulled up. Must be my lucky day!
So the bus is supposed to go up Coxwell before turning east on O'Connor and going all the way to Eglington which was to be my stop. Everything was going fine until we got to St. Clair and the bus made an unexpected and very unwelcome right turn. Turns out I took the 70C instead of the 70. Yeah. Didn't know there was a C. Now I do. Go me.
Luckily I was able to get off at Vik Park and grab a bus north which pretty much got me to my destination. Pro: this bus was just pulling into its stop as I arrived as well, so no wasted time there. Con: the bus was packed. Normally not an issue, but right now? It's a bit of an issue. I wedged myself in the best I could and grabbed the bar preparing myself for what would be a bumpy ride (note to bus drivers: you are not driving a formula 1 race car. There's no reason to have a lead foot, particularly when most of your passengers are standing). A few minutes in, a man in his mid-50s noticed me and offered me his seat. We were so crammed in there it would have taken some pretty advanced gymnastics to trade spots so I thanked him for the offer and politely declined. He said, "No problem, ma'am." A few minutes later people started moving back in the bus, and when I started to move with them he added, "You be careful there, ma'am." Guess I'm at that stage in my life now?
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I arrived at the door to ServiceOntario at the exact same time as someone else, and he was kind enough to let me go first. Yay for good people! The wait in the place itself was only about 10 minutes and the woman I spoke to made quick work of the changes. Then I caught the (right) bus home with under two minutes of wait time. Guess it was my lucky day after all.
And that concludes today's boring story which also happened to be the most exciting part of my day.
(I kept an eye out for new 'hoods, Julie. Nothing to speak of unfortunately, but I'm sure you already knew that.)
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Community
A friend of mine added me to an east end mom Facebook group a few days ago (something I'd never join on my own) and I've been idly browsing the posts in my spare time. It's a big group -- somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1200 people -- but I was impressed to see that everyone's posts were greeted with helpfulness and warmth.
On Sunday morning I noticed one woman's post asking to borrow a bassinet for the summer. She had an offer within 30 minutes. Within an hour, there was a second reply offering a free bassinet to keep, the only stipulation being that she too pass it on when she was done with it. The woman who posted the request responded that she'd already agreed to borrow the first one, so I figured I'd see if it was still available and sure enough it was. I offered to pay her something for it because I know how expensive bassinets are, but she politely declined and again just asked that I eventually pass it on. Spence and I drove to pick it up tonight and had a good chat with her and her husband. The bassinet itself is in excellent shape and will be absolutely perfect to have at Twin Ponds this summer before we eventually upgrade to a crib.
All this to say I'm really glad to be part of such a generous and helpful community. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute in a more meaningful way in the near future too. I guess community does exist in big urban areas after all.
On Sunday morning I noticed one woman's post asking to borrow a bassinet for the summer. She had an offer within 30 minutes. Within an hour, there was a second reply offering a free bassinet to keep, the only stipulation being that she too pass it on when she was done with it. The woman who posted the request responded that she'd already agreed to borrow the first one, so I figured I'd see if it was still available and sure enough it was. I offered to pay her something for it because I know how expensive bassinets are, but she politely declined and again just asked that I eventually pass it on. Spence and I drove to pick it up tonight and had a good chat with her and her husband. The bassinet itself is in excellent shape and will be absolutely perfect to have at Twin Ponds this summer before we eventually upgrade to a crib.
All this to say I'm really glad to be part of such a generous and helpful community. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute in a more meaningful way in the near future too. I guess community does exist in big urban areas after all.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Things that make me happy
Wow, the video quality on blogger is atrocious. Protip: apparently you have to upload to YouTube and embed the video to make it watchable.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Good morning sunshine
Or in this case, hello moon.
I hit the sack at 2am after spending a great evening with some of our best friends. That's officially the latest I've stayed up in probably 6 months. It's 6:16am as I type this, and I've been up for over half an hour after tossing and turning for a while in bed. At this point I'm used to waking up every 60-90 minutes to go to the washroom and going back to sleep (yay pregnancy!), but sometimes you just need to cut your losses and get up and do something.
In my case that something is making a latte and watching last night's episode of 48 Hours. The subject's Robert Durst, someone who's been getting a lot of attention lately. His story is so bizarre it's like rubbernecking a car wreck. I don't want to, but I can't help myself.
I watched HBO's The Jinx and have to say the thing I find most fascinating about it is the way he answers questions. He states his reply in a direct, non-editorialized manner even when his words have damning implications. He doesn't try to explain them. Just answers matter-of-factly then sits and waits for the next question.
I've heard a theory that he has Asperger's Syndrome and that's why his emotive response appears off. Maybe. But regardless, why would someone in his position seek out the production of that kind of show after expending great personal effort to fly under the radar for decades?
It just makes no sense to me.
I hit the sack at 2am after spending a great evening with some of our best friends. That's officially the latest I've stayed up in probably 6 months. It's 6:16am as I type this, and I've been up for over half an hour after tossing and turning for a while in bed. At this point I'm used to waking up every 60-90 minutes to go to the washroom and going back to sleep (yay pregnancy!), but sometimes you just need to cut your losses and get up and do something.
In my case that something is making a latte and watching last night's episode of 48 Hours. The subject's Robert Durst, someone who's been getting a lot of attention lately. His story is so bizarre it's like rubbernecking a car wreck. I don't want to, but I can't help myself.
I watched HBO's The Jinx and have to say the thing I find most fascinating about it is the way he answers questions. He states his reply in a direct, non-editorialized manner even when his words have damning implications. He doesn't try to explain them. Just answers matter-of-factly then sits and waits for the next question.
I've heard a theory that he has Asperger's Syndrome and that's why his emotive response appears off. Maybe. But regardless, why would someone in his position seek out the production of that kind of show after expending great personal effort to fly under the radar for decades?
It just makes no sense to me.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Guess who's back?
Thanks Julie for the inspiration to actually post something and to broaden the focus of this blog. Look! I'm posting!
Winter seems like it's been dragging on forever so I thought I'd post a picture that makes me happy:
That's Spence planting a maple tree he brought out from the back of the property. Look at all that lush greenery!
Yesterday's temperature hit a high of 8°C which felt amazing. Had a great visit with Julie and we came thisclose to having our inaugural porch sit to enjoy the sunshine at the new house. But we got to talking and didn't manage to make it out before sunset. Soon. It will happen soon.
Winter seems like it's been dragging on forever so I thought I'd post a picture that makes me happy:
That's Spence planting a maple tree he brought out from the back of the property. Look at all that lush greenery!
Yesterday's temperature hit a high of 8°C which felt amazing. Had a great visit with Julie and we came thisclose to having our inaugural porch sit to enjoy the sunshine at the new house. But we got to talking and didn't manage to make it out before sunset. Soon. It will happen soon.
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