Month: November 2008

and i thought he was a pack rat

A few days ago I tackled purging the contents of three boxes of stuff that I’ve been carrying around for a few years. The boxes contained letters that had been written to me by various family members and friends.

I could have been there for days had a had the time. There were hundreds of letters, dating all the way back to when I was in grade 8. That’s almost 25 years ago. I started reading some, but realized I just didn’t have the time.

Then I struggled with what to do with it all. It felt wrong to just toss it. So much history. But would I ever read it again? Would anyone ever read it again? After a bit of internal debating, I decided to keep all the letters from my mother, my father and my sister (my brothers don’t seem to write me much!). The bulk of the letters from family were from the year I was in Quebec for university, and they wrote me a lot. I decided these letters were worth keeping, even if I don’t ever read them again. But I suspect I will, most especially my mother’s letters — there will come a sad day when she is no longer around, and she is a beautiful letter writer. I’m pretty sure I’ll cherish having her words available to me to read any time I want.

I also decided to keep a diary that I wrote in grade 10. I read a couple of pages and it was pretty entertaining. I know I’ll want to read it again at least once, if only for a good laugh. It was the year I had a huge crush on one of my brother’s friends, a crush which never amounted to much, but it sure was a roller coaster year because of it.

best laid plans

This morning I started a new mum and babe yoga session. This time round I’m taking the class at the local rec centre so I can walk there.

I woke up to some sun, so I decided to time everything so I could take Yoshi for a walk first, with Amy, and then drop him off at home and head to the rec centre. I figured the timing would be good for Amy to get at least an hour of sleeping in, and I’d get Yoshi walked as well.

I got everything ready, which included grabbing poop bags, stroller set up, child fed, child changed, child in jacket and hat, supplies ready for yoga, me showered, me dressed, Yoshi collared up, etc. About five minutes before I left I noticed it was raining, but there was sun out as well, and it didn’t look too bad.

I left the house a bit later than planned, but still with enough time to get Yoshi walked first. By this time it was pouring. I got out the rain cover for the stroller and quickly changed my jacket, and stayed the course. For all of three minutes. I got about 200 feet down the road and when the wind whipped the rain cover off the stroller I decided to abandon ship.

I still needed to give Amy a nap, though, and by this time I only had about 45 minutes before yoga started. I couldn’t really nap her at home because I’d be waking her up 30 minutes in.

So what did I do? Amy and I piled into the car and we went to Starbucks. She had a sleep and I had a chai. So no exercise for the dog, no exercise for me, money spent that wouldn’t have been spent with the original plan, and I drove to the rec centre.

I’m hoping for better luck next week.

i can just hear the conversation that must of gone on in his head

Ahhh…it’s nice to be back in the car after a good walk. Hmm…I’m pretty sore, maybe I’ll just shift around a bit.

Oh crap, the stroller just fell over on me. Stupid contraption, why can’t they put it in the front? Oh well, if I lie really still it won’t hurt me, and I’m sure one of them will help me soon.

Oh good, we’re parking. One of them will get me fixed up.

[Car doors open and shut, voices fade into the distance.]

Hello? Excuse me? Can someone help me? The stroller’s fallen and I can’t get up.

They must just be stopping for a minute. They’ll be back soon.

Hmm…it’s been a while, maybe if I just move this leg like this, this one this way, and this one this way…there, I’m free! Crap, but where do I lie down now?

Where the hell did they go? Hello? Hello?

Poor neglected pooch.

finishing up

Continuing with the blogging thread from yesterday (I’m trying to have some continuity in these daily posts, but it’s hopeless…), one thing I always have trouble with is ending my posts. I usually can type something up pretty quickly, but when I proofread it, it always seems as if it’s missing an ending. One final statement that brings everything to a close. I don’t know why I worry about it, what with my vast and judgemental readership and all, but I do.

Maybe that’s why people put those stupid questions at the end of their posts — so they can tie things up.

comments, anyone?

This NaBloPoMo thing would have been easier if I’d decided to do it on our family blog. Every day something funny, interesting or frustrating (read: blog-worthy) happens with the kids. It also would be easier if I was living in Austria like my friend Hillary and visiting castles every day. Okay, so I see she’s sick today so maybe that’s not a fair comparison (hope you feel better soon, Hillary!).

Nope, I decided to do this on my blog, and now I’m stuck with it. So while I was thinking about this today, I was also thinking about blogging in general, and I’ve decided to officially register a blog pet peeve I have. It drives me nuts when people end their blog posts with a question that basically asks for comments. To me, by just writing the blog post and having comments available, you’ve achieved your goal. Don’t insult your readers by asking an obvious question at the end. The blogs on Today’s Parent are particularly bad for this.

Here’s a good example of what I mean, in keeping with the general gist of this post:

Anyone out there have any blog pet peeves they want to share?

to nap or not to nap

Both kids are asleep (or quiet, anyway) as of ten minutes ago. The question I always ask myself at this point is, do I nap? Usually the answer is yes. I love napping, and have my whole adult life. But now that I have much less time to myself, I have started to question whether I’d get more enjoyment out of being awake without kids for a little while. And often when I nap when the kids are napping, I’m wakened by Amy since she usually only sleeps for 30 to 45 minutes. That sucks, because part of a really good nap is to wake up on MY time, not someone else’s.

Yes, I’m a bit tired, but I’m not sleep-deprived. Amy wakes up anywhere from two to four times a night, but she’s back to sleep within ten minutes, and I can usually fall back asleep quickly as well. And my wonderful husband gets up with her almost every day, so I get to sleep at least until 7:00, usually later.

So today when I was on my way upstairs to have a nap, I turned around at the top of the stairs and decided against it. I will probably use the time to clean up the kitchen, but even that is enjoyable, as I feel like I’m accomplishing something. Maybe this is the start of a new trend.

And, for the record, in regards to my post yesterday, I AM still in my pajamas. Elliot is sort of in his pj’s (comfy pants and a shirt), and the only reason Amy’s out of hers is she was wet this morning. I did brush my teeth, though.

not ready for tomorrow

Tomorrow is Wednesday, which means I have both kids at home. I have to admit I’m not looking forward to the day. I think it’s because we don’t have plans. Amy was feeling pretty sick today with a cold, so I thought it would be better if we just lay low tomorrow. But I find the day drags when we stay home the whole day.

There’s also laundry to put away, a house to tidy, meals to prepare and more laundry to do. But I think my day will be easier if I just ignore that stuff (except maybe the meal part of things) and focus on the kids. When I try to get household chores done I often end up frustrated because I get pulled in different directions.

Maybe we won’t even get out of our pajamas…

T minus 25 days

I’ve officially started packing. I think Greg started a few days ago. We move in 25 days. Scary!

I packed 2.5 boxes tonight before Amy woke up. That girl’s been waking up about two or three hours after she goes to bed and I have to say it’s a bit annoying! She’s going to cut into packing time if she keeps this up.

Tonight we also wrote down a more detailed list of things we have to do in each room, which, if nothing else, made me realize the amount of work we have ahead of us.

It’s going to be FUN!

saying goodbye

I dropped my sister and her family off at the airport this afternoon, after a 24-hour visit with them. They are on their way to New Zealand for six months. Thankfully we’ll be seeing them again in three months, in NZ, but I always find it hard to say goodbye to her. I really wish she lived in the same city as me. There’s been many a day where I’ve wanted to just drop by and say hi.

Elliot and his cousin Hugh got along well, as usual. They seem to really enjoy each other’s company. I hope they continue to have a strong connection as they get older.

So I’m feeling a bit blue right now. Greg is on his way back to the island and I’m staying over on the mainland one more night so I can visit with some friends tomorrow morning. The kids and I will head back to the island tomorrow afternoon. It’s been nice to be away, but it’ll also be good to get back home.