Diapers

I just finished making my first pair of longies.

I'm using cloth diapers and have been tweaking my diapering system. We have the easy cute picket diapers and also prefolds. The pocket diapers are the easiest but leak more often. I bought some better inserts for them (since it turns out I was using far less absorbent doublers) and we will see how they turn out. The prefolds work the best but cause such a huuuge bum. Until I got these wool diaper covers on her. They not only are the Cadillac of cloth diapering, they also take away the need for pants on TOP of the diaper and are therefor more trim. I got an awesome pattern online (Katrina's Sew Quick Soaker) and easily made the soaker and the longies. Love them! Yes, they are a bit long but she's a long baby and this gives a bit of room for growth. Plus, if I find they are reaaallly too long I can always hem them again.

The next few weeks, months etc.

I'm mixed with lots of different feelings about the future right now. Really, I should just stick with not thinking about the future and have fun right now.
Dan and I are moving out next week. This should be an exciting thing but except for the part where we get to set up a brand new house and unpack all our things, I'm not really looking forward to it at all. I'll be living in a quiet clean new house with no one around when Dan is gone (which has been a lot this summer). I'll cook for myself and Dan (who appreciates it but isn't near as verbal about that as mom and dad are) and that's it. I'll have to walk the dog everyday, which is a good thing, but won't have the reassurance that Caleb is out playing with her everyday too. I'll really miss the company and humor of this place and just thinking about it is putting me down so I'm going to switch directions now.
I'll have my own computer set up with my favorites, I'll have neighbors, I'll have lots of time available to get on the phone with my long lost sisters and friends. I'll get into more of a routine and schedule with housework and cleaning. I'll have a new house to set up with my own things and own styles.
Two weeks later I'm going to B.C. This is the best thing coming up in my schedule. Sarah and Peter are getting married and my sisters and I are going out there for 2 weeks of straight celebrating... hilo style! The guys are coming a week after us (the day before the wedding) and we're all going to travel around for the next week touring the island and wherever else we want.
I'm hoping that Frank and Alisha will be coming out with Gavin soon so that will be something else in the schedule and before you know it, it'll be Christmas.
I'm looking forward to some changes at work. If the posting ever comes up I'm looking to jump on that job advancement and my second job is looking promising in terms of career development.
I'm going to a seminar on Sat. (the first of five) on Horticulture Therapy. This is a big step for me in developing myself academically that I have wanted to do for a while now so that's pretty exciting for me too.
I have my own car now. Dan bought a truck so there's none of the carpooling juggling that we had to do last winter.
So, except for this moving business, life seems pretty exciting for the next little while.

For a person who has internet access everyday I sure haven't been posting much... or so dad W. says. :) I figure I'm just having too much fun hanging out with everyone. I know my cooking has failed in this department too. It could also be that I was reading a book though. For those of you who are on facebook this book list will be a repeat but here it is: Jamie at home, The Glass Castle, and Water for Elephants. I just finished reading Water for Elephants. It was a good suck-you-in type book but isn't on my top 10 list. The Glass Castle is on my top 10 list though, so I bought it and the Jamie at Home cookbook with my $50 gift certificate that mom gave me. I love those dates!
I don't think I like facebook even though I'm spending more and more of my time there. It's a good connecting tool but it really isn't as good as reading peoples blogs. I don't really like snooping through peoples pages. It makes me feel sneaky.
Tonight we had BBQ'd sausages with a side of fried up bacon/onion/perogies. mmm mmm mmm Now is that the best meal you've ever thought of or what?! what... potatoes are vegetables, right? and the cheese and sour cream hit the dairy food category. I don't feel guilty at all. In fact, I might go have a pop or something. gurgle gurgle...
Here is an attempt at my top 10 books:
The Brothers K - David James Duncan
The River Why - David James Duncan (I haven't read his 3rd and last book yet)
The Glass Castle
How I spent my summer vacation - W. O. Mitchel
Watership Down
Fifth Business - Robertson Davies
The curious incident of a dog in the night time - Mark Haddon
Jane Eyre
Lullabies for little criminals

I know there's more here that I forget so remind me if you know there's one that I love.
And one more thing... I have to say that I hate having the links bring you to a chapters or amazon site... I don't want to advertise for them but I want you all to be able to read up on whatever book it is that I'm talking about. If there's a better site that shows and reviews books that I could advertise, let me now.

Design help..

What do I do with this dresser? I got it from Oma and Opa Wikks when they moved. I don't now what attracted me to it since I'm not normally a vintage mid-century styler but still.... and now I don't know what to do with it. Any suggestions? Do I paint it? Move it to a kids room? Design our master room around it? Make it a TV stand in the living room? Here are some pictures of similar dressers and their uses. Help.... suggestions?

I don't really feel like posting much right now but I have to write a bit about where I am. Dan and I moved in with his parents yesterday. I was a really quick move even though our stuff(!!) was going to three different locations. I guess it really helps when you don't have any of your own appliances. We had enough people out to help us but at times I wasn't sure if we would have enough. Good friends and family are always around though. Most of our stuff went into James and Larissa's loft and the rest of it came here. I've already got a mental note started of all the stuff that I want to get from the loft (Sunday shoes, CDs) We'll have an interesting summer for sure. I think I'll enjoy having more people around all the time... more people to cook for... more people to talk with... and definately more internet. MIL (mom in law) already got me started on her favorite past time... Scrabulous. I hate it already. I love crossword puzzles and other puzzle type games but I suck at coming up with good words that make lots of points.
Pretty much, this short post is just to tell you that I'm here, living with the in-laws so now you all know how to get a hold of me. Expect more online and most of you should know my #.

Mornings

Tonight I work from 3:30-9:30. While it's too bad that I have to miss our first halloween in our new house and I'll miss out on dinner and movies with good friends (I'll make it for drinks after), I really do LOVE having the morning at home.
I slept in till I felt that it must be noon (it was really 9:00) and then read my book till the dog started whining. Chloe and I went for a walk into town so I could by a long over due frying pan and scrub brush. We kept walking to the post office (no mail!) and then came home. Now I'm sitting here with an amazing breakfast and coffee. I can spend some time online, unpack my bags (still) and see my husband for a few hours before I have to start work.
I looovvve mornings at home!

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Christmas!

We went to the second Sunday of Advent today. It was a really good service, especially because my mom and dad came and met us there. After church they came to see our new house. It was really nice to show it off and feel comfortable sitting around in our place. We ate cheese and almonds and sausage while drinking coffee and wine. We went through Sarah's wedding pictures and talked the whole time. For lunch, Dad had brought the leftovers of Sarah's Red Lentil Coconut Curry so we tried it with all sorts of different toppings (pears, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and tortillas) and rice. Eventually, probably too late, we left to go find a Christmas tree. Mom and probably should have left much earlier but this was the only time I could get it. They graciously drove all over creationg to find me a place that was open and sold them. We drove some neat roads and saw a deer watching us up close and finally ....ta da!!!

And now our place looks really festive.

It was such a good day. Thank you soooooo much, mom and dad. I'm so happy you came!

Suggestions?

For the last couple of weeks we've been noticing a lot of dog poop accumulating on our lawn and the one next to ours. Even though I've noticed that no one else in the neighbourhood walks their dog, Dan and I religiously do and so we KNOW it isn't Chloe's poop. I've talked to other neighbours and ensured them that it isn't our dogs poop. I've had my suspicions about a big black dog that lives a couple of doors down but didn't want to accuse anyone if it wasn't. Sure enough, last night I caught the dog pooping on our lawn. It is so gross. Really. There's about 20 spots on the lawn next to ours (it borders our driveway) and about 10 now on our lawn. Big black dog poop too so it's not such a small little pile. This dog is an old dog and doesn't move much (Chloe wagged her tail right in his face while she was in the middle of heat and he didn't do a thing).
So my question is, what do we do about it? There's no way I'm going to pick it up myself although I've been tempted to since there's one right where you would step getting out of the car. Dan, of course, wants to throw it on the guy's doorstep and yell at him. I just want to keep the peace. Besides, the people are kind of sketchy. I'm actually a bit afraid of them so I don't want to start a feud.
What would you do? I really don't want to just leave it.
If I don't get some good responses soon I'm going to post some pictures with this post. :)

What I'm up to:

Yesterday Dan said his nose was raw already from just one day with the cold. I picked up some Kleenex (with lotion!) on my way home from work yesterday and figured he would call in sick today. Sure enough, here he is, miserable and filling up the garbage with used kleenexes. Poor guy. Oh, and on top of that, Chloe is sick. I think she might have gotten into something at mom and dad w's because she's got diarrhea and she puked yesterday twice. She hasn't crapped in the house but every time she whines at the door I come running. Really, I'm not doing much though. I've got a book and don't have to leave for work till 2:30. Hopefully the snow plow comes by then.

Living with a lazy eye

This afternoon when I was driving home from work the sun happened to be in that right spot where it was shining directly into my eyes. Instead of putting down the visor I decided to live a bit dangerously and soak up the sun (it wasn't the bright white but rather the deep yellow kind of sun). It was nice until I hit a shady part of the road and suddenly I had spots all over my vision so, I automatically shut my one eye that I usually use and used my lazy eye instead. The lazy eye wasn't looking directly into the sun so it wasn't as spotty. I did this naturally since I've always had this until suddenly I thought about how wierd that was.

I have a little bit of a lazy eye that normally isn't that noticeable unless I'm tired. I'm not really embarrassed about it but more annoyed when it's obvious that people can see it. When I was working retail (yeah for not working retail anymore!) and I would the next person in line what they wanted they would usually turn around to see who I was talking to. So annoying. Actually, I kind of think it's neat. I remember when I was a kid it really intrigued me.

I don't know if I actually use my lazy eye. When I close my lazy eye my vision stays the same (except for a little bit of peripheral). When I close my good eye, my vision shifts (about an inch or so perspective, right?). Is the visual input from my lazy eye actually going to my brain? Because it's not being integrated into the final product that my brain sees. If I close my good eye, forcing my brain to see from my lazy one, and then slllloooowwwwllllyyy open my good eye, I see from both eyes but seperately so it's like I have double vision. I remember telling my dad this when I was a kid. He didn't really understand so I looked at the table (the guys had just finished work on a Friday) and I said, "I can see two beer bottles. One here, and one there." Of course I saw two tables and two kitchens too but that's just how I explained it.

They tried to fix it when I was super young (beyond my memory). I had a patch on my good eye that was kind of like a big band-aid. There's a few good pictures of me with that eye. Mom says that she would rip it off at night when I was sleeping. Maybe that's why I don't remember. Dad nicknamed me cyclops. I thought it was great to have my own nickname. When I learned about Greek mythology I thought it was a great coincidence that they had a character also named cyclops. Until I realized that dad named me after a one-eyed monster. They also said I was a great chicken-catcher because of that one eye. I have no idea what having only one eye has to do with being able to catch a chicken. I was just quicker than the rest of them.

I also had the pleasure of testing out a theory from my optomotrist that bi-focals would fix a lazy eye. Do you know what it's like to go to grade 4 with thick bi-focals?!! You who are just trying to get used to them now when they are all chic and seemless have no idea. What a pain in the but! No wonder why I lost 3 or 4 pairs till we finally decided that it wasn't going to make a difference.

There are some differences. The eye that I use (the left one) is a teensy bit near (or is it far?) sighted. The lazy eye (the right one) has 20/20 vision. The lazy eye sees colours juuuusst a little bit bolder and brighter. Probably from less use. I can't really read that well from my lazy eye. That's a super wierd point. I can see everything just fine but I don't think I recognize words as fast or something. It's hard to explain. It's like the letters are all jumbled. Does the vision from each eye go to a different part of the brain?

I don't know if these are things that are normal with everyone's eyes or if it's just mine but I think I'll be a little disappointed if it is. I don't mind having a lazy eye. I still kind of have soft spot in my heart for cyclops.

Books I would love to love

I used to read every book I picked up cover to cover. It almost felt like I was killing something if I didn't read the whole thing. I still usually read the whole book but in the last couple of years I have put down books that really weren't keeping my attention. The thing is, usually, they are great books! Here's my list of books I would love to love:
The polished hoe - Austin Clarke : Mom gives us Chapters gift certificates every year for Christmas and for some reason, I picked up this book. I could NOT finish it. It was a mix between the type of writing and how slllloooooowwww the book went. I just could not follow it. I agonized over it so much that mom finally picked it up. It's almost a family joke now.
The memory keepers daughter - Kim Edwards : This book even came with so many recommendations. I was told it was suuuch a good book. I might have been a little too concerned with what was going to happen so I will admit that peeked ahead to see what was going to happen. Once I did that, I was disappointed and I didn't want to read it anymore
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi : There's no good reason for me not to like this book. I've just never gotten very far in it. I've started reading it a few times and usually another book comes along that I'd rather read. So sad.
The brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky : For years, my favourite book was "The Brothers K" by David James Duncan. It still might be my favourite book but I haven't read it in years. Of course it refers to the former book and I'm intereseted in reading it for this reason. It is about 4 brothers and one of the gets very involved in Russian literature. I'd like to know what the other allusions are... why else is it "The brothers K"? The only thing is, it's been sitting on my book shelf for years now and I still haven't picked it up. I just haven't worked up the ... the what? I don't know.
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky : When I was in Honduras I gobbled up anything that I could get my hands on that was written in English. I loved reading and read a lot. I read anything. I read harloquin's and mystery novels. I read the Chronicles of Narnia and the most whacked out book about a German midget. At the bottom of all the books that I could find and were sent to me was "Crime and Punishment". Eventually, after everything else was read, I pulled out this book. I even got pretty far. I think I only had a few more chapters to get through. Why didn't I finish it? I came home.

I don't know why I want to love these books. Maybe because I wish I could say I love Russian literature (all that intellectual posh). Maybe it's because I don't want to waste a good dollar I spent on a book. For some of the books, I know it's not the book... everyone loves that book. It's not you... it's me. Sorry. It's almost a relationship.

Family

So we're here! Really, I am happy that I'm here but I WAS NOT looking forward to travelling. It's not that I get sick or anything. I just hate waiting. And all you do when you travel is wait First, you wait for the day of travel to get here. Then, you wait till it's time to go to the airport. Then, when you're there, you wait and wait and wait FINALLY get on the plane. But once you get on the plane you sit down and wait till you finally get to your destination. Then, just to top it all off, you wait to get your luggage. AAARRGHHH! Anyway, we're here... I'm good now. At least until we start driving back.... for 24 HOURS!! 

We all travelled out to Winnipeg to visit with family. Nicholas is getting married on Saturday so that is the technical reason that we're out here but really, any excuse is good to come and visit. We don't really have any plans to go out and do anything for the next day but I like just hanging around and visiting. There's lots of baby time for everyone because if Jaela is unavailable, Gavin's here too... and vice versa. It's really neat to see Gavin in person. What a character. He's got sooo much personality. I'll have to post some pictures. There's definately tons of them since he's very photogenic. 

I hate vacuum cleaners

That's not true... i like vacuum cleaners. I just like them when they work!!! Grr!! We've been living in a tiny apartment with a DOG for 10 days!!! WITHOUT A VACUUM! Can you understand how yuck it is getting around here?
We do own a vacuum cleaner but since at our old place we had central vac., we had lent it out after it had been sitting around for too long. I don't know if it is the 2 years of inactivity or the fact the bag wasn't changed properly or on time but now, it doesn't work. I spent an hour or so this morning walking all over town trying to find a store that sold vacuum bags. Not many do. And the ones that do, probably don't carry my brand of vacuum bags. I had to guess on the type of bag because, of course, the vacuum model and the bag model ISN'T the same thing, of course. I get home, it's the wrong bag. I try it anyway? It just about blows up the whole vacuum cleaner. I spend almost another hour trying to find my vacuum cleaner online so i figure out what bag # i DO need... and guess what?.... My vacuum cleaner doesn't exist! That's right. The model # engraved on my cleaner does not exist!! No kidding!
I'm so frustrated with my vacuum cleaner, the dog hair, the dog that is in heat and the washer/dryer problems that I haven't even started on, that I'm ready to go and just buy everything new.

Good or Gross?

What do you think? Since my breakfast was at lunch time and my typical breakfast ingredients were gone I made dippy eggs on....STUFFING! Next time I will fry the egg in the stuffing, like egg in the hole.

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