Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Open letter to Debbie Travis

Why, oh why must you create such stylish and practical household furnishings? Furnishings that solve the problem of no bathroom cabinets (none!) and look so simple and elegant on the shelf at the store?

Why must you create a chest so perfect that I refuse to browse any further aisles, and load the large but surprisingly light (light!) box into my cart to take home for immediate assembly? With a design that pleases me so much I offer to construct much of this piece on my own instead of foisting it off on my rather handy husband (who has been assembling all other newly purchased consoles and shelf units)?

And why, oh why must this simple, stylish and now absolutely necessary to my home wicker chest be such a motherfucking impossible pain in the ass to put together?!

It's not fair, Debbie Travis. It is simply not fair.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Goodbye, change jar

I am about to go upstairs and complete my final load of laundry in a coin-operated machine.

As of tomorrow, I will have unfettered and exclusive access to a washer and dryer any time of the day or night.

I will no longer be restricted to Tuesday afternoons between 1 and 6 pm (damn you, senior citizens!).

I will never again realize I have no clean underwear and gather it up to be washed, but alas, it is already 9:30 and the laundry room will close in half an hour.

I will never again settle for hanging slightly damp clothes around the apartment because I don't want to spend another dollar to dry the load again (or - see above - it is too late to use the machine anyway).

Goodbye laundry money . . . hello, electric bill!

Monday, July 21, 2008

I should really be packing

All the hoax-busting sites I could find - including snopes - have verified this story to be true.

It is embarrassing to admit that this story made me a little teary. And that the normally appalling music may have had something to do with it.

Agenda for an impending move

Monday:
  • Appliances delivered between 9 and 11 am.
Complete, with only brief panic when the delivery guy said the washer and dryer were not going to fit. Soap dispenser won't open far enough to allow me to use bleach, but I have never used bleach in my life and am not planning to start now.
  • Painter is working on the stairwell and upstairs hallway. Downstairs all but complete.
Tuesday:
  • A whole day for packing.
  • And toddler wrangling.
Wednesday:
  • 10:15 am: Library program with Will
This is the only baby program on over the summer! The under 3 set really gets dropped when the school-aged kids are on holidays.
  • 12:30 pm: Second attempt at an assessment by the cleaning company. Apparently there was a "mix-up" about addresses that kept Will and I hanging around the house for an hour last Tuesday. But no time now to find a new company for the "move-out/move-in" cleans.
Thursday:
  • 8am - 9am: Mattress company will call with delivery window
  • 9 am: Paramedical nurse comes to apartment to complete assessment for house insurance. I have been assured that there will be no blood work. That alone should keep my "white coat" anxiety in check during the BP check
Please do not let mattress delivery window fall around 9 am, at the new address!
  • 9:30 am: Call furniture store for delivery window
  • 12:30 pm: Cleaners arrive for the "move-in" clean of the house
Not to mention any packing that still needs to be done.

Friday:
  • 8am: My parents arrive to whisk Will away for some grandparent fun.
  • 8am - 9am: Movers arrive
  • Um, not sure what time: Cable, internet and home phone installation. Possibly the "move-out" clean on the apartment.
Um, anything else?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

She knows her own mind

The four (!) pairs of pink sandals Will refuses to wear:


The one pair of shoes she won't go without:


These shoes are mandatory if she must walk on grass. They must be worn with socks at all times. If one becomes loose or falls off it is a matter of national security.

In all seriousness, though, these shoes from See Kai Run are the best toddler shoes ever. They are comfortable and fit well, and they have sturdy but flexible soles.

Not to mention how freakin' adorable they are:

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Annoyed

Just because Will napped beautifully for hours and hours in her stroller at my parents' house does not mean she will do the same thing with me.

Maybe she did nap beautifully on her first day home, for more than 2 hours, and woke up perfectly happy.

Maybe she was too uncomfortable on the second day, as the temperature climbed, to nap for more than an hour in the stroller and an additional 30 fussy minutes in her crib.

Maybe today she was ravenous after hitting the park early - to avoid the even hotter temperatures - and wanted a second breakfast or mid-morning lunch. Maybe she was getting so sleepy from all that running around that we were preparing to take her pre-nap walk early when she slipped and slammed her forehead into the coffee table. Maybe after a good cry she fell fast asleep, and then woke up quite happy after an hour, ready to play and then have a late lunch.

Maybe when my parents call to see how we are doing, they should refrain from saying, "So much for that schedule."

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Vacation Recap #1: A Saskatchewan Affair

We were waiting for the bus because we were tired. So very, very tired in so many, many ways.
  • we had been up since 5 am eastern time and it was now 7 pm western time, which felt like ten
  • we hadn't gone to sleep until almost 2 am before that 5 am awakening
  • the night before that our daughter had woken up every hour to remind us why we were going away without her
  • that same daughter had stopped sleeping through the night on a fateful trip to Ithaca last September
  • that works out to something like 240 nights since either one of us has had an uninterrupted night's sleep
Since the ferry back from Granville Island would drop us at the bottom of an incredibly steep hill, returning to our hotel by water was not an option. But the posted bus map was quite confusing, and we couldn't seem to figure out if it actually went downtown. That's when we met Saskatchewan.

She was probably in her late forties or early fifties and she was very round. Even her hair was pulled up in a loose bun with a poof of hair that crowned her forehead. Her face was moist and she told us how much she hated the humidity, so rare during her annual trip to Vancouver. She was unimpressed with Granville Island, but couldn't very well return from her vacation without having done anything. She was pleased that her hotel - right on the bay - was substantially less expensive than ours, although she confessed that she was getting a weekly rate. She told us about her one trip to Ontario, which was first too cold for June and then sticky with humidity, as she fanned herself with the top of her shirt. It was a cream-coloured shirt, short-sleeved, with a yellow and gray pattern across the front.

We eventually got on the bus and made it back to our hotel, where we slept - blissfully uninterrupted - until our brunch date the next morning.

In a hotel by the bay, we ate our eggs with an incredible view of the water. Then, as we were leaving, I heard a voice say, "I met them yesterday waiting for the bus."

There was Saskatchewan, sitting beside a man with a dark complexion. His heritage, like my husband's, was difficult to place. Mediterranean? Italian? Persian?

Saskatchewan's smile was also difficult to interpret. "Isn't it beautiful?" she said, gesturing at the view.

I noticed that she was still wearing the yellow and black patterned shirt.

"My hotel is right across the street."

Monday, July 14, 2008

Travelling as grown-ups

This was me on Saturday:


I will definitely be posting more about the trip over the next few days. But for now, I'm off to pick Will up from her grandparents. We all seem to have survived the separation (and if I believe my mother, she actually slept during the night).

Travelling as a couple again was interesting. It felt like putting on an old sweater that at one time was one of your favourites. It was comfortable and familiar, but it just didn't fit in quite the same way.

Even though it felt good to inhabit our own space for a little while - and know that we can do it again - I am ready to scoop up my little girl and jump back into the craziness of our regular life.

Monday, July 7, 2008

How to blow your toddler's mind

Step 1: Give said toddler two plastic cups to play with, Cup A and Cup B. Each cup must be a different colour or pattern. Watch toddler play with cups.

Whatever. Continue drinking coffee.

Step 2: Give said toddler a third cup, a cup that is a duplicate of Cup A. Watch toddler as she tries to figure out how two of the cups are the same, and yet different. Watch her manipulate all three cups to make sense of this new phenomenon.

Amusing to watch. Even better to realize said toddler has been totally engrossed in the cups for a full 13 1/2 minutes.

Step 3: Carefully give toddler a fourth cup, a cup that is a duplicate of Cup B. Step back as toddler's brain stretches and threatens to explode. Watch in amazement as toddler begins to organize the cups in different patterns: Cup A into Cup B, Duplicate Cup A into Duplicate Cup B. Pull apart and repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Cup B into Cup A etc.

Decide said toddler is very intellectually advanced. She may, in fact, be a genius.

Wonder why she has not yet stacked duplicate cups together.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Sisters

Me: I'm thinking about getting a Wii Fit.

Sister: omg, why?

Me: I like how it sounds - I keep saying it like it's a "wee little man."

Sister: Well, I think you'll just be getting a "wee bit fit."

Friday, July 4, 2008

Now with more cowbell

Look at what came with the house:



Apparently they are from the original farm house that used to sit on this land, and they bring harmony to the home. Or keep away uneasy spirits, depending on your interpretation.

Of course, Will Farrell and Christopher Walken bring their own version of positive vibes to the house!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

T minus 2 days

In an hour we are off to sign the final papers on our (new to us) house! I don't know what we are signing, exactly, as we already signed our lives away on the mortgage papers, but I know it is one of the last steps - including handing over the *big cheque* to Friday's closing. We also get to do our final walk-through this afternoon, so that will make it even more real.

After fifteen (FIFTEEN!) years of renting, of moving every two years or less, we are finally going to have a house of our own!