P is for Post Office

Domesticity

Today was a perfect day.  It was the kind of day that, if I had gotten up and planned this day, it wouldn't have turned out to be.  The planets aligned, my mood was just right, the weather was divine and the littles were in the mood for a day at home.  It was sheer bliss!

We've been on March Break and, after the basement disaster, our stress levels were fairly high.  We went for a few relaxing days stay with my parents-in-law (I'll probably do a post about that in the next few days).   Yesterday, late afternoon, we got home and then, I ended up off to the local emergency ward.  Don't fret, it was me this time, nothing too scary, just the combination of my varicose veins (a pleasure of motherhood) and my high platelets in tandem with a new kind of pain and hotspot that made me think it was worthy of having checked out (and, thankfully, the ultrasound showed no clots...)  The women in the next cubicle who was addicted to narcotics and screaming obscenities as the doctor just made it interesting.

This morning, I was the first person up and had an hour to myself to plan my next knitting project and play on Ravelry (how did I ever find patterns before that came along?)  Then, LB and I had a cuddle on the couch and watched t.v. for a while (the finals of Top Chef).  We had a brief thunderstorm, making it extra cozy to be inside.

It was the sun popping out and the warm temperatures that led to my cleaning frenzy.  Every curtain in the house was washed and hung on the clothesline (is there anything sweeter on a warm spring day than the sound of sheets flapping in the breeze and the smell of newly dried bedding?)  Pk's room was scoured, bags of clothing were assembled to be given away, vacuuming was done, cookies were baked, knitting was done.  

For lunch, we had a tea party which involved some furry friends in preparation for "T" week which is coming soon and then, Pk's new Veggietales movie, Robin Good, arrived as a special treat from Gran.  I haven't really watched it closely but Pk watched it three times and demanded that all of her plush Veggietales be taken down off the shelf so I believe that she likes it.

I ended the day with a knit and chat at our "knitting guild" (that sounds so much more official for our little group - it makes me laugh given that the purpose of "guilding" ourselves is to get a 10% discount at local stores).

It's hard to imagine a more pleasant day.  I'm now off to knit a bit, watch t.v. with dh and peruse the new Aran knitting book I got at the library.  I can't wait!  I hope your Thursday was as lovely as mine!

A New-to-Me Blog

I've stumbled across a new blog that I really enjoy - Beautifully Rooted.  I wish that I could remember who suggested it as I would love to say thank you!  It really meets me where I am in my life and there are some wonderful ideas.  The word-y in a recent post is something that really speaks to me and I must try it!

O is for O.S.

O was a tricky letter for me.  With some letters, I am truly inspired but with some others, it just won't seem to come to me.  We had a few ideas for O but not as many as I would have liked.  I did manage a few that I thought were pretty good, though.

The first was a no-brainer.  We were doing a visit up north and it gave us a chance to stop by the sign for Owen Sound.  I think people probably wondered why we were stopped at the side of the highway but it was a fun photo to take.

Then, we have Pk's friend, O.  They have been the best of friends since they met at about 6 months of age in Mother Goose at the library.  They ended up at daycare together, have done music classes together and now, are in school together.  They are a bit like siblings, really - they defend each other to the death and can be pretty chippy with one another.  O's mom has become a very dear friend, too, which is wonderful.

 

Of course, we couldn't do the letter O without oranges.  I think they have gotten used to the weird woman with the camera at the grocery store.  It's a good thing we live in a small town - they are pretty used to the local weirdos and just smile indulgently at us.

This one was a brainstorm that came to me out of nowhere.  Pk doesn't have any overalls these days but LB certainly has a bunch of pairs (I love little boys in overalls!) and, in fact, this pair used to be Pk's.  Cute, I'd say!

  

A big feature of our O week was oatmeal.  I found a great recipe for oatmeal and honey cookies that don't have any sugar and are made with whole wheat.  They are rather yummy and perfect for a morning recess snack.  They also don't require any rolling or using of a cookie cutter so they are perfect for little hands to assist me with.  As you can see, LB is now wanting to get in on the cookie action - it ends up being a very slow and messy process.  

I've also taken to sitting down with the yellow pages to get ideas for local events and activities.  Once Upon a Child is a super second-hand children's clothing store.  Pk and I are both addicted to nice dresses and they usually run us at least $40.  I love going to OUAC since I can usually get three or four and I don't mind Pk wearing them to school or daycare and risking getting them stained (which she is so good at!)

LB loves the Old Navy at our local mall.  They have these vertical, transparent coloured plastic strips that look almost like a curtain and he loves them.  A wonderful friend told me about the free shipping over $50 on O.N. orders and I must admit, I do most of the buying for the kids from these online now (their online sales are great for buying basics) but we do visit the store once in a while.

 Of course, our next letter is P and it felt much more inspired!

Thankful...

With our being teachers, we started our March Break yesterday at 3:20.  Needless to say, we are on plan B.

Dh's desk in the rec room has had a problem a couple of times with a bit of water in the spring.  Earlier in the week, we noticed that we had a LOT of water starting under his desk.  We were supposed to go up to visit my parents-in-law for the first few days of the break but, once we discovered the severity of the leak, we decided that we couldn't go.  I was very upset, as was Pk.  It was also scary because, frankly, we don't have the money right now for a big house repair and we are hearing rumours that hint at a possible teacher's strike down the road.  We don't have any extra funds kicking around.

That's where the thankful part comes in.  My father-in-law called back after Dh called to say that we couldn't come to say that he was on his way down to help Dh fix the leak.  FIL is very handy and has dealt with a lot of this kind of thing before.  It was a feeling beyond relief.  I feel like now, there is hope that we might get this fixed and not in the thousands of dollars.   He arrived today at 1 and he and Dh have already gone and bought the supplies, pulled out the drywall and insulation and applied the sealing concrete.  Cross your fingers!  We might even be able to fit in a visit to the in-laws before the end of the break.

I can't say how grateful I am to know that not one but both sets of parents are there for us.  While we have disagreements, like all families, it means so much to know that they have our backs.  Both families have come to support us when we needed it most.  That's a beautiful thing.

FIL and LB had their first game of soccer together this evening.  It was oddly moving :-)

I feel very lucky!

N is for Nurse

This is a tricky post because the best photos are the ones I can't post.  Privacy and lack of consent can be very tricky things and, working in the public school system, I am VERY aware of how careful we can be.

Anyway, you won't be seeing our nurse, which is too bad.  There's a funny story behind that one.  I had been talking to a friend at work who has really gotten into this.  I was saying that I hadn't come up with anything great and she suggested n for nurse.  My reply was that I wanted nothing to do with nurses, that since we have had children, we have had too much contact with hospitals, something that hadn't been a part of our lives up until that point.  I told her that she was going to jinx me.

Jinx me, she did.  LB got a terrible cold and his breathing started to sound raspy and he just didn't seem right.  I had been off work with him and so Dh took a day and, with my encouragement, he decided to take him to the little local hospital (the big hospital in the next town always has a wait for hours and we haven't been thrilled with the care).  Dh called me at work to say that they felt that LB probably had pneumonia and he had been given inhalers and antibiotics.  He didn't seem to get any better and then, the next evening, at about 9:30, he started to cough and cough.  We couldn't get him to stop wheezing and even after 20 minutes in the bathroom with the shower running, he was still wheezing.  We ended up trekking back to the hospital and they were concerned that he wasn't getting enough oxygen.  Chest X-rays and a steam inhaler (that was miserable keeping on his face) finally got things calmed down and we had to increase all his meds.  At around midnight, I got brave and asked to photograph the kind nurse  and for a copy of the X-ray (I was trying to figure out how I could get one for X week!)  The photo is great and we went it into the school.  I think they thought I was nuts!

We also went to the local health food store, which has Nature in the name and to buy noodles.  I would swear that I had checked my camera battery but when we got there, the batter was dead.  Noodles had to be taken at the local grocery store.

N is for necklace.  Don't you love the look of concentration???

N is for "numbers in the neighbourhood" - we took the camera out for a walk and got shots of all kinds of numbers.  I was a bit worried that the police would question us for doing something odd.  A few of Pippa's friends got a kick out of seeing their own house numbers in her alphabet book at school :-)

And finally, we introduced the littles to nachos.  They were a bit hit!

Weekly Update

I knew it had been a while since I had been around here but looking at my last post, I notice that it was over a month ago.  No wonder I have so few readers!  I don't have much of interest to say AND I disappear for weeks on end...  Oh, well, that's my stage of life.  Thank you to the few of you who do put up with me.  I'm going to try to be better (words that I have sadly said before).

I'm thinking of trying a new format for a weekly post.  I get too wordy and I am wondering whether this will help me to keep it short and sweet.   I've seen things like this on other blogs and it works for me.

On my agenda:
small group tonight, which I had to miss because LB is really grouchy (we are doing the Rick Warrn 40 Days in the Word, which I am really enjoying), lunch with two friends and their little ones tomorrow, teach Sunday school at church on Sunday, work until Thursday and then the start of March Break!

On my book pile:
This book appeals to me right now - I am feeling very much as if I am running non-stop and reflection and prayer can't seem to happen since I can't calm my mind.

I've enjoyed Dr. Leman's other books and he is very down-to-earth.  I find he can be a bit too male for me in his orientation, especially around parenting but his writing helps me to keep a sense of balance.

This is our small group study.  I'm enjoying it, although I wish I felt like I had more time to ponder and pray.

 I ADORE Peter Robinson and his Alan Banks mysteries.  He may well be my favourite mystery writer.  This is a stand-alone novel and I wasn't sure I would like it as much but once I got started, I just couldn't stop.

After a book like the Peter Robinson, everything will pale in comparison.  It's the perfect time to read something light and fluffy and not to expect too much so that I am not disappointed.  This has fit the bill perfectly.

On my to-do list:

Way, way too much.  I realise that I need to scale back somewhere but I don't know where.

-marking, marking, marking - I like the new split grade I am teaching this year but I have become over-involved in committee and extra-curricular work and I am not keeping on top of things

-writing for Sunday School - I've been helping to modify the curriculum we use for the older kids to match a group for the younger ones and it's a heavy curriculum and while it isn't all that time consuming once I get going on it, the files take a long time to download

-cooking - there is a family at the school whose 2-and-a-half-year-old has a malignant brain tumour - I've been organizing support from the staff at the school and making a meal and some baking for them each week, one of the teachers broke her left wrist and she is left handed and is totally stranded so I'm trying to do some cooking for her, I do the treats for small group every other week and I do a treat for Dh's weekly Tuesday meeting

-knitting group - I'm trying to keep on top of some fun knitting for me and I would like to work on some knitting for street people through our group... I'm not sure that will happen

-exercise - I'm back on the ski machine for 40 minutes 6 mornings a week - my right knee isn't liking the running I was doing

On my mind:

-our union is starting contract negotiations with the province and it does not looking promising - I'm trying to keep with my "today" focus for the year and I know that much of this is rhetoric but it's hard not to worry given that Dh and I could both be on strike

-LB is finally starting to do a lot more talking but I'd still like to see more

-a good friend is struggling with a husband who is dealing with some significant personal problems and I'm feeling guilty because I am so angry at him and frustrated with her that she won't do more to advocate for herself that I am avoiding her a bit

-I watched a very interesting documentary last week on the early sexualization of our children that has scared the pants off me

I hope you are all doing well!  I'll try to drop by here more often