21-30

21. Read 6 books. Check!

I love reading, but I am an excruciatingly slow reader. Mostly because I like to ponder, and also because lately I have been making an effort to read more fiction. I think a good fiction novel is supposed to take longer to read - that way you can truly appreciate the characters, the author's style.... maybe I am just making excuses for myself. My book count for this year...

My (super short) opinions you ask?

 - I know I do not fit the demographic but I really enjoy Joyce Carol Oates' writing. Both the style, and the subjects she tackles in her works. 

 - Steve Martin should stick to playing the banjo. And acting. Or maybe not, maybe just the banjo.

- My husband urged me to read the "Last Lecture" and I enjoyed it. I think what I enjoyed most was having some of the conversations the book provoked. 

 - The Convent - I randomly picked this one up off the bookshelf and I was glad I did. An easy read, but thought provoking none the less.The author, just in case you can not make it out from the picture above is Panos Karnezis. I am putting his other novel, The Maze, on my to read list in year 31.

- One of Our Thursdays is Missing - such a fun book to read! If you love fiction - go get this one. It is very clever. Sometimes a bit too clever (some of the puns I knew I should be getting, but I simply was not). There are more Thursday books out there, and when I have the time I think I will seek them out as well.

22. Take the family to a concert. Check!

What I really meant to do was to take my boys to Hillside this year. Unfortunately, that did not work out. What we did end up doing was going to the Grand Porch Party which was also great music fun, but probably a little easier for Hudson to bear. I know that at the end of the day there was talk of turning it into an annual thing - I sure hope those plans are being kept alive.

23. Give back. Check!

Karl and I each have a Kiva account. Mine got a boost in July after my no spending hiatus. If you have no idea what I am talking about, click here.

24. Continue to grow out my hair. Check!

I think my hair is officially the longest it's been in about 10 years. So long in fact, if I was it in the morning it is often still damp in the afternoon. I am seriously considering going back to super short. We'll see :)

25. Donate Blood. Check!

26. Go vegetarian for a week. Nope

This, unfortunately did not work out. We have, however been making efforts to eat less meat then we used to. I think what it boils down to is that I am having a hard time coming up with vegetarian dishes that are no pasta. Or Indian cuisine which Karl does not care for. Help?!? Seriously, I would like some suggestions as I would still like to complete this challenge,

27. Write (as in hand write) a letter. And actually mail it, too! Nope.

And it's totally eating me up. Now that I have more free time, I am making this a priority though. I am hoping to do this before September is over.

28. Take a class/course/seminar - learn something new. Nope.

 

29. Have a picnic. Check!

30. a) Say "yes" when I really want to say "no"

      b) Say "no" when I really want to say "yes"

It's pretty scary, but we are going for it soooo..... Check!


xo, 
M

10-20

11. Play hookie from work. Check!

Although, I do have to say that it was only for half the day and I really needed to run some errands. Also, on my last day I was told to leave around 12. I stayed until well past 4, just trying to make sure loose ends got tied up. Really. I am that lame.

 

12. Learn how to use our SLR camera. Ongoing 

 

I am no longer afraid to touch the darn thing, and that is a step in the right direction. I can kind of figure out the flash settings about 50% of the time but I prefer to take pictures in natural light. Mostly because I don't have to worry about flash setting :). A while back, a photographer friend of mine told me my pictures were looking better. I don't know if she still thinks so, but it meant a whole lot to me :).

13. Stay overnight in a "fancy" hotel, order room service, play tourist for the day and generally "spoil" ourselves. This was fun!

 

14. Find a pair of sunglasses I will actually like, and not loose them! Check!

I think this is officially the longest I have ever owned a pair of sunglasses (7 months). Wait, no.. there is a pair I bought about a year ago that I still own... except they have been in a drawer for the past 7 months...

But my wayfarers... Hudson and I still love them. 

 

 

15. Spend a weekend morning browsing a bookstore. Alone. At a leisurely pace. My goodness this was a fail!

 

I seem to have developed adult ADD or something, but I lasted about 25 minutes of leisurely browsing. Around minute 10 I found myself in the interior design section, and around minute 28 I was at the Home Depot. And then around minute 60 at the dry cleaners. Minute 75 at the grocery store..... 

 

16. Start swimming regularly. As in more then once a year. Oh the shame.....

17. Make a new friend. Well...

 

It turns out that being a working mom and married to a man who last year put in something like 400 overtime hours.... not so conducive to the whole social life thing. Although... I guess you can say I have been able to convert some acquaintances into friends, so that is something. And also, I hope she does not mind being mentioned (and if you do please let me know), I have developed a bit of a cyber crush on this lady here.

 

18. Potty train Hudson. Working on this one...

As a cute (or so I think) side note, we made a dash for the potty today, sat, waited... and nothing. After about two minutes Hudson looked up at me and sighed. 

"Mommy"

"Yes"

"It's stuck in my tummy"

 

19. Find a job I feel good about. This staying at home gig IS pretty sweet.

20. Go hot air ballooning. Check!

 xo, 

M

Almost there...

So it occurred to me today that I will be 30 in ... get this ...  3 days! Yikes!

The scariest part of turning 30 ?!?! The number of things on this little list here that I have not completed!

Oh, the shame!

Ok, no - not really. When I put the list together, I honestly thought I would be able to do it all.

But then life, as it often does, kind of got in the way of life. And then there were also other factors I failed to take into account when making up this list...

Canoeing with a 2.5 year old? And expect not to tip? Or have all our gear thrown out of the canoe by said 2.5 year old? Have you met my son? What was I thinking?!?!

So how did I really do?

1. Finish the perennial border in the backyard. Check!

 2. Organize the office. Check! 

Times two, actually. This here was the first attempt, but we have since tweaked it a bit. Photo coming on Monday :)

 3. Spend a week exploring Tobermory. Nope. 

But we did spend a week exploring and developing a serious crush on Kelowna. Did you see our photos? (If not, you can see them here, and here, and some more here, and here as well. Oh yes, and here, too)

4. Go on an overnight canoe trip with Hudson. Almost.

I went on an overnight camping trip with Hudson.

 5. Finish the upstairs bathroom. Check!

Pics? Monday...

6. Have a date night with Karl at least once a month. We kind of failed this one horribly.

There were 2-3 official dates. Life with a kid and out of town grandparents = ...... well, it = no dates for mom and dad. Which is a shame, really, because I actually really enjoy being out in public with my husband.

7. Go a month without buying a single piece of clothing, shoes or make up. Check!
This one was difficult, and I did a very bad job of keeping track of my monthly spending on those months when I did allow myself to spend. What did I do with the money instead? I lend it to a few folks here and there.

8. Take a family picture. The three of us. No sunglasses. No blinking. No silly faces. No blurs. Check!

 

Well...except for the whole "no silly faces" bit. Because really, this whole thing was silly.

9. Cook AND bake something new every month. Nope.


Actually, I probably did cook something new at least once a month, but I think I baked twice this entire year. I did mean to take pictures and write nice little food posts, but until recently, I was leaving home at 8 AM and coming back at 5:30 PM, screaming, starving toddler in tow. I am sure that some other mom out there could regularly turn out picture worthy culinary delights.... I am just not sure I want to be like her. 
 

10. Finish painting the living room, the kitchen and then all the trim in our house. Check!
And the pictures? You guessed it... on Monday!

So there you have it, the first 10 of my 30 things to do. Come to think of it, I think I did not bad all things considered : ).

More tomorrow!

xo,
M

Cleaning up

I have been a little light on posts lately, mostly because we are wrapping up with some house renos (I will post all pics soon I promise) and I have been in clean up mode.

As a child I was slightly less then neat (ok, so before my mom outs me - I was a slob!) but in university the freak gene was suddenly turned on, and ever since then my closet has always been colour coordinated.

Living in a house that has been under construction for 3 years now, along with a 2.5 year old mess factory - I won't lie - it's been hard on me. But, I have been learning to let go here and there. If you don't believe me, come over and have a look around!

Anyways, yesterday I came across this neat post over here and was inspired to take a deep breath and chill out a bit. After all, sometimes there is real beauty in a "mess". 

For more images, videos, project info etc. I urge you to visit Ursus Wehrli's page. Really "neat" stuff!

xo,
M

The last of our vacation photos

Friday, August 26, 2011

We hiked the Bear Creek Trail

Saturday, August 27, 2011

We rented bikes and rode them on the Myra Canyon trestles.

and when we were not hiking, biking, on a beach, sailing or riding a steam train .... we did a lot of this

xo,
M

More vacation yet

Thursday, August 25, 2011

choo-choo,
M

Even more vacation

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Went for a small walk in downtown Kelowna

Then chartered a sailboat and went for a cruise

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Art class by the lake

A lazy afternoon at Gyro beach 

 

 

xo,
M

More Vacation

Sunday, August 21, 2011

We spent the day on the move. Here we are, having some fun at the airport in Edmonton.

 

 

 

 

Monday, August 22, 2011 - Kelowna

We went for a walk along Gellatly Road.

Then in the afternoon, we visited the Knox Mountain Park.

 
xo,
M

Vacation

Saturday, August 20, 2011

On Saturday we went to the Rockwood Conservation Area

We visited the caves and hung out with our friends.

We ended the day at the airport, where we rode the mono rail
back and forth for over an hour. Just because we loved it so much.

xo,
M

Webster's Falls

Karl and I met while at school - McMaster. One of our favourite date spots was Webster's Falls. Whenever I am in the Hamilton area and have some spare time, I still like to go there.

I took Hudson there today and we had a blast!

xo,
M

P.S. Yes, Ryan, I was wearing my Birks and no wipe outs this time!

Hudson Goes Camping

It went a little like this...

One of Karl's buddies is getting married next month. Last weekend was his bachelor party, so Hudson and I were on our own.

Having survived my first week as I stay at home mom, I was encouraged by my ability to care for my child 24/7. Zealously, I though we could kick things up a notch.

By 12:30 PM we checked in at the Laurel Creek Conservation Area campsite. Things got off to a great start.

After a snack and a snuggle WITH the tent we headed down to the beach in hopes of going for a "Schwim". On account of all the geese however, we opted for some sand castle building.

 

And then thing started to get interesting. 

Although it worked just fine when I tried it at home in the morning, I could not get the camp stove going. If you have not experienced it yourself, a hungry toddler is a pretty scary thing. Throw in a hungry Mira.... in less then 20 minutes, round trip, we settled back at our picnic table with a Whopper, Chicken tenders and some french fries.

I needed to redeem myself. 

I was not sure I could do it, but I did manage to start a fire - Scout standard. One match. No paper :)

Hudson was besides himself. He kept running through the smoke excitedly, screaming "fire, fire.. my fire".... 

I was trying to ready more wood ....

Daddy texted to see how things were getting on. The cell phone was in my back pocket, and the vibration of it, combined with being a little on edge over a child who was tired yet unable to stand still for more then a millisecond - well it scared the daylights out of me! 

The hatched in my right hand came down. My left hand, however forgot to get out of the way. 

The following few moments are a bit of a blur. I ran over to the car in search of band aids, which I of course did not have. With my hand behind my back, my finger bleeding profusely (At some point, I do remember nearly passing out, so I knew better then to keep looking down at it) Hudson and I wondered/staggered over to a nearby campsite where a dad was camping with his son. 

Hah! Turns out I am not the only one who takes their kid camping and does not bring a first aid kit! 

At this point I think even Hudson caught on to the fact that something serious started walking from site to site calmly declaring "My mommy needs a band aid". It was actually kind of cute to watch. 

I was in deed "rescued" and patched up by a young couple who suggested I may consider stitches. What you can't see in that picture above is that I managed to slice about 3/4 of the way right through my finger. It wasn't pretty, and it hurt like hell. 

We returned to our campsite, where we (along with the equally unprepared but less clumsy dad and his child) roasted (or simply set on fire if you are my son) marshmallows and talked. I can not remember what on earth we talked about because I am pretty sure I was in a mild shock, but it was a pleasant visit. I think. 

I debated about packing things up and going home. Hudson however, was having a fantastic time.  

We rounded up some pine cones and built a railroad track for Thomas. Later it was converted into a highway for his blue truck.

And we found the fastest slide in all of KW. (That I know of, anyways). Hudson LOVED it!

 

It was 10:30PM when he finally passed out. I am not going to lie, I breathed a sigh of relief. Camping with a 2.5 year old should be a two parent sport.

I pulled out my cell phone to update Karl. I was standing no more then 2 steps away from the tent when something brushed up against my feet. I looked down. 

I kid you not! I bolted for the picnic table and flicked on my headlamp. 

Pepe proceeded to sniff his way around the tent. Where Hudson was sleeping. Awesome. I turned off the light and waited a few moments. The moon was full (go figure!), so I could more or less make out what was going on even in the dark. Pepe made his way off our site and into the bushes. 

Phew. 

I stoked the fire and got my book out of the car. I could hear the pitter patter of tiny animal feet off in the distance. Pepe was back at the tent. 

"You've got to be kidding me" I thought to myself as I climbed back onto the picnic table and contemplated never leaving the house again my next move. Things seemed to quiet down. I turned the headlamp on again and looked towards the tent. 

Pepe backed up and raised his tailed. Strike position! Headlamp off. Shhh******t. 

Headlamp on. 

Pepe makes his move towards the picnic table. 

Headlamp off.

Tiny pitter patter towards the woods. 

"Pheeeeww" 

I crawled into the tent next to Hudson and tried not to stir too much!

We woke up around 9:30 (I know!) the next morning. 

"I schlept in a tent mommy!!!" were the first words I heard that morning. A giant smile beamed on his little face.

"You did!" It was sooo worth it!

By noon we were back at home. Daddy came back shortly before one, and I was dispatched to the hospital. 

According to the doctor that checked me over, in a year's time you won't be able to tell. That's great! 

Just in time for next year's camping trip! 

xo,

M

P.S. 

While I was in the hospital, Karl called me on the cell. 

"The hatched leaning by the tool box, is that the one you took with you?"

"Yes, and I meant to put it back but you came home before ....." I was on the defensive. 

 "It's a good thing you did not find the one hanging up in the rafters. This one is the duller of the two.