Who is Matt?

Good question...I wondered the same thing when Heddy said "Watch This!" So I watched it and discovered Matt and his crazy dancing. Happy dancing. How fun!

Winter left

Yup it did...and in its place came summer and heat and humidity and fans and lots of water. I'm not complaining. So far it's been tolerable...I've almost doubled my water consumption, hardly eaten anything that's not really just water in disguise (ahem, jello, popsicles, melons, etc), and taken full advantage of the Hawaii dresses that came my way when my Mom and Dad went on their little spring holiday this year. I've taken way more showers every day than I ever thought I would...but it's okay. As long as I keep the fluid coming and my feet up, both of us (me and the cub) are happy and good! And yes, jello is a food group. A very yummy one. Especially if you add canned fruit to it. Yummy. And yes, the baby is getting enough to eat...I've got lots of fuel in reserve ;)

Okay, going home now to soak my feet and take (yet another) shower!

Happy summer everyone!

Pseudo long weekend

Cause that's what happens when Canada Day falls on a Tuesday (or Wednesday or Thursday)...there's a day or two of what to do between the real weekend and the holiday. I had three choices this year - take June 30 as a vacation, work June 30 or work at home on June 30. Originally I had thought I'd work at home, but in the end I decided that I'd got to the office. I'm the only one from our department here today, but it's good...as long as I don't get distracted by the silence. I'm actually accomplishing a lot since there is no one to talk to, the phone has not rung once since I got here and no one is sending email...and this is a good initiation into the not working full weeks that is going to happen from now until I finish work in August (except for two weeks of training...)

Because it's fun...

or something like that...no, not really, it's not fun, but this time it is very exciting.

What is? oh right, I guess I didn't mention it, did I? We're moving. In a few weeks. When I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Because moving once in this pregnancy just wasn't enough excitement for us! But this is exciting because this will be OUR place. And this time, well, I'm taking those lists I made the last time into account so hopefully this move will be much, much smoother.

From list #1: "Do this again"

• thoroughly clean and disinfect the new place...this will happen the day we move. No doubt about it. Because not only will Alex and I be there to do this, but my Mom and Dad will be too and anyone who has ever moved with my Mom knows, the disinfection will happen!
  
• borrow bankers boxes from work for books, dishes and other breakables...these are still in hiding at the pink palace because we anticipated another move in the near future
• use lots and lots of tissue paper...still got this too
  
• hire movers...yup, to be booked on Monday
  
• set up the bedroom and bathroom ASAP before unpacking anything else. Then when bath time, naptime or bedtime comes, well, you can get clean and have a comfortable place to sleep, now, not after you unpack and assemble stuff...this will most definitely be happening. Naps are essential these days!
  
• have company come a week or two after the movers move everything...motivation to get unpacked...um, well, does a new baby count as company? Or what about my parents who have graciously offered to spend an extra long weekend with us helping to move and unpack?
  
• make sure horrible old furniture stays away from the new house...motivation to replace it. If the nasty stuff moves in, well, it's never going to leave...we don't have any horrible furniture right now (well, at least not any we need desperately to get rid of), but we do have a Queen sized bed and frame if anyone wants it (if not, it's going on craigslist) so we can replace it with a CRIB! a crib!
  
• give any and all things that are not important, useful, or needed to charity...we haven't accumulated too much in the last few months, but we do keep coming across stuff that we wonder why we bothered to bring it with us the last time!
  
• use original packing boxes whenever possible...yup, still got some of that too
  
• forward mail...of course
  

From list #2: "Don't do this again"

• move on someone else's terms (okay, sometimes there's no controlling this)...but this time it's all about us! Yay...
  
• prolong the move over a three week period...nope, one day. That's it.
  
• be a presenter at a conference the weekend of the move...good, none planned and I've been practicing my NO skills just in case, not that I'll need them. It's summer.
  
• move while recovering from the nasty winter cold...it's supposed to be summer then, but who knows, what with the weird weather we've been having lately...fingers crossed!
  
• move while suffering from morning sickness...morning sickness is gone, but the baby is huge now....we'll see how that goes!
  

From list #3: "Do this next time"

• move somewhere that has parking, preferably assigned...DONE!
• move somewhere that has storage...Christmas decorations and spare tires need to live somewhere else for most of the year...DONE!
• move in one day...prolonging the inevitable is stressful and makes everyone sad (especially when no one wanted to move in the first place)...DONE!

We're hoping this move is much smoother than the last one, but we're pretty sure it will be...we're happy to move this time, unlike last time when we were both very very sad to leave our house.

Pictures will come (I realize I still haven't really posted many of the pink ghetto palace and some of you have asked, so I'll try to get some up before the packing starts).

PS....I like lists!

Once upon a time

...winter stuck around until June.

Then summer came (and we pretty much skipped spring entirely) and it was wonderful!

And then...then winter seemed to come back. It's cold. I got rained on. And I'm allowed to complain again...but I'll try to keep the complaining completely weather related.

You didn't just...

no, wait, yes, you did.

And you did it again...

Ummm...okay...

Alex and I had dinner on Granville Island tonight. As we walked home, we passed a lady on the side walk who was apparently eating a baguette. Nope, that's not strange. Just as we crossed the road something smacked down on the crosswalk next to us. I thought I was going to crazy, but one look at Alex told me he had seen the same thing. The thing that hit the sidewalk, it was a chunk of the lady's bread. Alex figured she must be feeding the birds or something. She was by now "window shopping" and we just kept going. Three steps later, big thunk...yup, you got, another piece of bread.

Huh?

I just don't get it...we're not sure what we did to insult her, but we walked out of there pretty quickly.

Solstice

The sun same out just in time for the summer solstice...maybe summer will stick around. I'd like that. Especially if it was a cool summer, you know, low to mid 20s...nothing too hot to keep my internal furnace at bay. I know that many northern hemisphere countries celebrate midsummer today...but that just confuses me. Why the heck are they celebrating midsummer on the first day of summer...

Sigh...I'm just easily confused these days. Also, easily winded, easily exhausted, easily emotional.

To the people on the bus - Part 2

First of all, maybe I should just stop taking the bus. Then I wouldn't complain so much. Complaining isn't good. Or so I've heard.

Dear people on the bus who sit at the front and don't need to,

Like I mentioned last time, it's uncool to pretend to sleep, study or just not see the people who get on who need to sit down. And I'm not talking about me. How about the guy with the crutches the other day or elderly lady yesterday?

Dear people on the bus who sit at the front and speak in stage whispers,

I can hear you. Especially when I'm only one person away from you. And the only reason I didn't say anything to you was because I was too hot and tired and really couldn't be bothered talking to people like you. And no, I'm not "too pregnant to be out in public and on the bus." I know my presence on the bus wasn't hurting me or my baby. I can't imagine how it was hurting you. And I still had three months to my due date when you whispered that to your husband. Just you wait. I'm gonna get bigger. I PROMISE!

Dear lady on the bus who claims she was going to give the two girls who were (a) pretending to sleep and (b) pretending to study heck for not giving me their seats,

I know that (a) was pretending to sleep because once I sat down she "woke up" and was alert for the rest of the trip and I know that (b) was pretending to study because once I sat down, she stopped studying for the rest of the trip, but if you were going to say something, you should have said something when I got on or offered me your seat if you were that concerned, not eight or ten stops later when I sat down in a vacant seat. I wasn't concerned. If I needed to sit, I would have asked someone to move. I made it ten or so stops plus a bridge without fainting, falling over, banging into anyone etc. And when I did sit down, it was because there was a seat empty and no one in it - I'm pregnant, not an invalid - I could have managed the next six stops no problem too!

To the people who insist on standing in the doorways when there is space in the aisles,

Please move when the bus stops. I am pregnant. My belly is huge. I cannot get through the narrow little space that a three year old could maybe get through. Even if I wasn't pregnant. Six inches just isn't enough space for a grown up body. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, but I'd like to get off at my stop, not yours. And if you're on a B-Line, get out of the way so the people can get on...three door boarding and all, you know!

To the bus driver who waited until I got to my seat at the back of the bus,

Thank you! I might not be an invalid, but my balance isn't what it used to be and riding buses when I'm not holding tight to something could be dangerous!

To the people who roll their eyes and groan when someone gets on the bus who might take a little longer to board,

Chill out! You kinda suck...and you never know when a split second event could occur and that person who needs a courtesy seat, a few extra seconds to get to their seat, or who is in a wheelchair could be you. (Go read the last bus rant post and you'll see what I'm talking about - scroll to the end.)

And now the sun is shining and the birds are chirping so I'm going to try not to complain anymore..at least not until it starts to be winter in June rain again.

It was Mother's Day...

a while ago...and I never posted this, even though it was in my head...and even though I wasn't home, I did think of my Mom and talked to her at least once!



So...Mom, this is why you're the bestest...because you:

• temporarily moved in with me and Alex and took good care of both of us when I hurt my back and we all know that can't have been fun for you!
• pick the best books
• sent letters and clippings and other fun stuff to me when I lived anywhere other than Kelowna
• are already taking care of the baby and its not here yet
• send us home (and come visit) with care packages of good stuff like soup and canned fruit and jam and cake!
• helped me pack all those times I went away
• came to visit me all those times I went away
• believe in the importance of family
• encouraged but never pushed too hard
  
• are the very best mom ever!

Those are just a few of the reasons - I could write a book about you, you know!

Happy belated Mother's Day!

It's Father's Day...

Happy Father's Day Dad!


Yet again I'm not at home to wish my Dad the best day ever for the best Dad ever, but that doesn't mean that I'm not thinking about him!

Dad, I hope you have a super day...you deserve it, especially because you :

• put up with a house full of girls
• were at pretty much every school function and many, many, many games, even when they were during the work day
• showed me how to use a hammer, a screwdriver, a plunger, a drill and a bunch of other tools
• made (and still make) the bestest weekend breakfasts ever
• were my own personal field hockey goalie coach
• gave and give great advice and know when I just need to vent and don't really need advice
• have helped me move many times
• took us all kinds of places to do all kinds of things while Mom studied and wrote papers
• read books with me as a kid and now share the newspaper when I'm at home!
• are the best dad ever!

I just realized that my Mother's Day post never got out of my brain, so stay tuned tomorrow for my belated Mother's Day list!
(this is just a small selection of the many things I could list)