Ready...Set...DONE

No pictures yet, the last coat of paint is drying and then I'll put the rooms back together and THEN I'll take some pictures.

Two rooms done.

And that's it.

I'm not doing anymore.

We're hiring a painter for the rest of the house (I haven't talked to Alex about this yet, but we are. Even if it means we have to wait six or nine or twelve months). We had a painter do the ceiling in the living room and dining room. It took him a grand total of three hours, maybe four, including lunch. It looked awesome when he was done. It was clean. There was no mess (at least no mess for me to deal with) and he was reasonably priced.

So, I think we'll get someone to come and do our bedroom and bathroom and the kitchen and the walls in the living room and dining room. Because I'm not taking two weeks off work and shipping J off somewhere to do it. Just not.

If you know of a good painter who doesn't charge an arm and a leg and your first born child, please let me know!

Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty...

I thought J's ceiling was thirsty...then I met her bathroom door.

UGH.

It's going to take at least three coats if not four....and I haven't started on her bedroom door yet.

Tomorrow's to do list is soooooo long:

Spot paint J's ceiling
Second coat on J's walls
Second coat on J's bathroom door and baseboards
First and second coat on J's bedroom door and baseboards
Replace contents of J's bedroom (currently residing in our living room and dining room)
Do some "real" work
Hang out with Heddy

The more of it I get done, the better. Because it means I won't have to do it on Saturday morning when J comes back.

Two more sleeps and J's coming back! I'm sooooooo looking forward to Saturday.

Slow going

It's coming along...slowly but surely. But I'm pooped.

This gave me a heart attack last night:


The pink/peach was about three shades darker than the rest of the house, but I'd never noticed...and it was such a thirsty wall that I thought I might need three coats of the blue (which is hard to make out in this picture) but everything evened out nicely after coat number two. Thank goodness. Bathrooms are horrid rooms to paint.

Though, this bedroom is giving the bathroom a run for its money.


The blinds are up. They're not coming down. So, I had to figure out how to keep them paint free. Solution: LOTS of tape and plastic. And thank goodness most of them lift and drop so they're easy to get around! But it took almost an hour to do. The prep on this room has taken FOREVER. But it will be worth it. It will be worth it. It will be worth it...that is my mantra.


I removed some stupid stuff that was on the walls from the previous owners. Who had not bothered to tape or remove the stuff when they painted the room pinkish, so it was all painted down (including the light plates, power plates etc. grrrr...). Underneath was the colour this room was two colours ago...we had an inkling...there were specks of paint on the carpet and the ceiling...ugh. This would have been a horrible room! Our bedroom (which faces north) was navy blue before they painted it the same inoffensive boring almost pink that the entire house (except J's bathroom) is. Someone had questionable taste in colours.


J's bedroom is giving me grief. I'd almost rather do another bathroom. The ceiling hates me and I can't figure out why. I'm hoping coat number two will be as miraculous as the bathroom's second coat. Anyone have any suggestions or solutions for this yuckiness? (in the top right corner)


Here's a sneak peek at J's bathroom. I still need to finish up the edges (there's supposed to be no pink there!) and I haven't painted the trim or the door yet. There's no natural light in that bathroom so it's hard to see the colours. The ceiling is Lighter Mint and the walls are Lauren's Surprise (huh? what colour is that!?!?!) and the trim and door will be Westhighland White. The bedroom just has a plain white ceiling, the same trim and the walls will be Bonsai Tint. And the rest of the house can wait.

I had hoped to get our room done as well, but that will have to wait for another time. J is back sometime on Saturday and I'd like our house back to sort of normal by Friday. Painting makes for tons of junk in the living room and dining room that belongs somewhere else!

Salt Spring Island

My parents took J home to Kelowna with them so that we could celebrate Jason and Maria's wedding day with them. We had a lovely time on Salt Spring Island. Photos, you do the talking!

The morning before the wedding we spent some time at the market in Ganges. Alex discovered his "secret" other profession

Maria arrives with her mom

The kiss

Maria and Jason, happy husband and wife

Look, it's us! Amazing! I don't know the last time we had a picture taken of just the two of us

With Maria and Jason

The view from our balcony

And it wouldn't be a holiday without lots of yummy things to eat and drink!

Alex and his ice cream...okay, fine, one is mine!

Mmmm...afternoon porter by the harbour

Halibut burger

Spinach ravioli with prawns

Iced tea

Pulled pork sandwich

Spicy pizza goodness

We had a great weekend and, as you can see, we ate lots of yummy things!

Introduction and Part 1: Up – A tale of 3 pregnancies and weightloss…err…gain

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

One of the things I’m supposed to be blogging about (when I actually remember to blog) is my journey to get fit(ter) again since the birth of my little girl almost two years ago (ACK!).

Anyway being a mom (or a mom-to-be) means you talk about all kinds of crazy things with other moms and moms-to-be. I won’t even start to tell you some of the things we talk about…just know that poop is on the tame side! A friend of mine, Melynda, is pregnant with her third baby and she has been working very hard to minimize her weight gain in this pregnancy. She has chronicled her journey in a four part guest post. She has promised to write an update or two as times allows (she will very soon be the mother of three, all aged three and under!). You can read more about Melynda and her pregnancy and life as a mom at It Doesn’t Fall Off.

- Shannon

Here’s Melynda:

I have been asked to be a guest blogger on this site and to talk about my pregnancies and my weight loss and gains. To do that properly I feel like I need to start from the beginning.

The beginning of my weight journey started the summer before my wedding, June 2005. Having a boyfriend, then fiancé and co-habitator really expanded my waistline. I had always been on the bigger side but I was active and worked in a fairly physical job. At the beginning of 2005 I noticed that my weight had slowly crept up to 200lbs. I was astonished because I felt and thought I looked pretty much the same. I like to think that I am fairly lucky that I gain weight and carry weight well. I didn’t like the 200 number at all and with the thought of my wedding less than a year away. I needed to do something.

My fiancé, now husband, Mike has done several diets and had done Weight Watchers before and liked it. So we joined and I slowly got most of my family to join. It actually was a lot of fun going to meetings together and we would usually celebrate with dinner afterwards…maybe not the smartest choice when on a diet but hey you need to have fun. I lost about 40 lbs and I looked and felt great!

After my wedding in February 2006 we decided to start trying for a baby. I got pregnant in June. (I actually just celebrated my 4 year anniversary of growing children.) I have been pregnant and or nursing for 4 years straight. I was so excited to be pregnant and as soon as I could I dove into the maternity clothes. They are just so comfy! I love being pregnant and with my first pregnancy I enjoyed the cravings and Mike was very indulgent. I was also working at the time and I travelled around the city all day and didn’t really have a lunch break so I ended up eating out a lot. I didn’t worry too much about my weight gain because I figured that I would have lots of time to work out and nursing would help me to lose the weight. And after just losing 40lbs so well I was confident in my ability to diet. My midwives weren’t too concerned but near the end they did caution me. I had no negative side effects from gaining the weight like gestational diabetes. By the end of my pregnancy I had gained about 70 lbs. Amazing!

I quickly realized that a newborn is hard work. I also had significant breast milk supply problems. Ally was born by c-section, but I had hoped she would be born at home. I was okay with the c-section because it was really needed. But the low supply really threw me for a loop and I became a bit obsessed with figuring out why.

Over about 6 months I saw and did everything to ‘fix’ my problem. I was on domperidone, and several weird diets to help with supply. One diet had me eating full fat everything and the other was no white flour or red meat.

I dabbled in going to Weight Watchers again but then something would set us back and I would quit dieting for my milk supply. In January 2008 I also did Body For Life and lost about 10lbs. I somehow managed to get down to 200lbs before thinking about getting pregnant again.

Saying Goodbye

To this (J's bathroom):



And this (J's bedroom):






And hello to this:


Let the work begin!

Squirt's Birthday Party

What are Rebecca and J up to?

Pippa helping J open her gifts

J knew (without any prompting) that cards get opened first

J got these awesome play silks from Fiona and Jessica. They were a big hit with both little girls!

What's in here?

Two little girls sharing Dora candies

Auntie Rebecca made J's cake

Someone doesn't look thrilled to be waiting for her cake!

But as soon as she sees the cake, all that changes!

Oooh....cake...ooooh...

Owl cake is yummy

Blowing out the candle

J says: "Pippa, don't do it like that..."

"...do it like this"

We had a great day - J had a very fun party and loved hanging out with her cousin Pippa and playing with her new toys and books. The adults, well, she was happy to share her cake with them, but since they're not two like her, Pippa was definitely her favourite person!

Saturday morning just for me

Here I am, sitting on a little deck, looking out over the harbour with my coffee (eep, no milk, but it will do), a hunk of homemade banana bread, and a fresh Okanagan peach. Alex is inside dozing. It’s warm enough for no coat, cool enough for long pants and a sweater. Fall is here.

J is with her grandparents and I’m torn. Part of me is enjoying this quiet, relaxing morning before Alex gets up and we play tourist for the morning and then do the wedding thing this afternoon and evening. It’s so peaceful and it’s time for just me.

But a little tiny piece of me thinks, wouldn’t it be great if J were here. We could share some banana bread. We could talk about the BOATS! in the harbour. We could snuggle up a chat and giggle the way you can only do with a two year old and you can only do first thing in the morning before the busy child sets in. We could visit the park and play when we go down to the market later. We could take a little walk around the hotel and run on the big lawns.

But...she’s with her grandparents. She has probably had peaches and maybe even some of Bop’s pancakes for breakfast. She’s probably already gone down the slide and mowed the lawn and talked about airplanes and run a few laps of the back yard and brought at least a few books to Bop or Lallie, likely when they had their hands full, and implored “Read?”

I miss my little lady, but since I don’t get mornings like this very often, I think maybe I’ll just take the time to enjoy my book, some coffee, the view, and maybe write a little bit of something. And do it all without the help of a two year old who is clearly having the time of her life somewhere else!

USA - Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh

Postcard from Pittsburgh from PostMuse

Description: While suburban locals refer to thier homes as resting on "grades" rather than hills, Pittsburgh's South Side community offers a quaint contract to the metropolitan skyline behind it. Loaded with small shops and restaurants and located just a mile east of Station Square, the South Side is easily accessible to most of the Pittsburgh area.

Finland - The Beach

Postcard from Finland from tuulis

Description: Sulho Sipilä, The Beach