Nepper's Landing

Favorite thing #12

2012-02-07T12:29:00.009-07:00

I love my public library. A lot. Don't you?

Seriously. I realize that for some, this might be far too much enthusiasm for one's public library, but over the years, I have really come to appreciate ours. Its the best $12 I spend every year. Not only am I injecting money (albeit a small amount) into the library, but I also feel that it supports our community as a whole.

Our library is located directly across the street in our mall. We go there a lot. At least weekly, and often I'm running in to pick up or drop off books a few times per week. A lot of residents are pushing for the library to be located in a separate building, one that isn't limited to mall hours, but I can't imagine I will use it nearly as much if its not as close. I love that my library is less than a 5 minute walk away.

Growing up in Nanaimo, I rarely used the library. It is in a really odd location, nowhere close to where I used to go, and as such, I never used it. Which really is a shame, as I'm sure that library has a lot to offer, but the Edmonton Public Library really is ahead of the game. For the last three weeks we have had an eReader in our possession...from the library. Like how cool is that? It was an awesome way to try it out and decide if it is something we would like to purchase (which we would, but I'm thinking we're Kobo people, although the Sony eReader was nice to use).

It is a wonderful way to keep the children's book variety fresh and new around here. We recently had a friend recommend the book, Matthew and the Midnight Tow Truck. After reading our Christmas letter, she said that Gabe reminded her so much of her son when he was little (always toting cars & trucks around). So we reserved it from the library, and voila, within days we had the book in our hot little hands. A super cute read, and likely a classic around the Nepper household. It also prompted the introduction between licorice and our kids (also a hit).
I have also been loving all the music I can discover through the local library. I have been working my way through bands lately, so I'll place a hold on every CD they've ever made and then for about a week I'll get to know all of their music. I used to love my classes at the downtown MacEwan campus, because I'd end up driving about 30 minutes each way, and could work my way through an entire CD in just one night.

I have also been working my way through various genres, and I pick out CDs, generally based on the cover art (take note all you musicians, cool cover art is key). I have made some wonderful musical discoveries this way. A few weeks ago, I picked up this CD by the Magnolia Sisters (a fairly fantastic cover image if you ask me). I was surprised when they started singing in French (nothing on the cover indicated it would be French). But I must say, this is loveliest French music I have ever heard. Think some good old Cajun folk music. Its fantastic.

The best part was that Abbi was enjoying it too, which I thought would be nice to have some French music we could both enjoy. When I was reading the insert, I discovered the first song, "A Boire, a Boire" is actually "Lets Drink, Lets Drink." Apparently before the Acadians were "sent" on their way to Louisiana, they made a point to have one last round before they left. While historical in nature, its perhaps not the most wholesome music for my 5 year old. Hah.
Another favorite discovery of late is Basia Bulat. Again, it was all thanks to the picture on the cover of this CD, Oh My Darling. She just looks like a cool chick who I might like to sit down to a cup of tea with. Her music is fantastic. I was also able to place a hold on her other CD, Heart of My Own. Another new favorite.
With our library you can also do inter-library loans throughout all of Alberta (eg. if your location doesn't have an item, you can see if other libraries in the Province might have it). Or you can put in a request to you local branch to purchase a new item. Its a bit of a process (Title, Author, ISBN, why they should get it, your name, etc, etc), but well worth it.

In keeping with our documentary theme, we recently watched Cry Freedom, a film about apartheid in South Africa. The film is based on the story of Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness movement who was ultimately murdered for his beliefs of equality. It was a powerful film. There was also a book written based on Steve Biko's life, called Biko. Which is currently sitting on my nightstand thanks to EPL.
Another book that had interested me was Through the Glass, about a woman whose husband committed sexual assault on two women, just one month after they had been married. I had originally been introduced to this book through a Restorative Justice conference, as she really helps to present the effects on the family of the accused. That in a lot of ways, they are also victims, not necessarily in a physical sense, but through social perceptions ("you must have known") and media. It looks like its going to be a good read.

There you have it folks. Visit your local library. Buy a card. Just do it!

Favorite Thing #33

2012-01-18T20:31:00.010-07:00

Favorite Thing #33 ~ Flannelette Blankets

Yes, I know I have posted about my flannelette blankets in the past, but I figured they have to make the favorite things list. Not to mention, these are some of the most recent pictures I have on my computer (the camera is on the fritz, lame). Plus, I've made some seriously adorable ones lately that I want to share.

In early December I was able to attend a UFO weekend. No, not a sci-fi conference, rather a crafters retreat for completing "Unfinished Objects." Hardy har. Ahem. We were located at a Christian retreat centre, in central Alberta, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was a beautifully picturesque location to get creative, and we even got snowed in for an extra night. It was a bit of an adventure, and was also my birthday weekend which just added to fun. I worked on a number of projects while there, including the following two blankets.

Baby Naomi
*I must admit, this fabric makes me want to have another girl. Too cute.

Baby Ezra

Baby Dixon

*This one is an oldie, but a goodie. This little guy just recently turned 1, but his blanket is still one of my faves.

Baby Gabrielle

*Also, an oldie but one of my favorites. I love the seeming patchwork feel to this fabric. This fabric had been given to me by a friend's Mom. She used this fabric for her own daughter's blanket (that daughter is now 30+ with her own kids), so she really wanted to see it used for something special.

I have to admit, creating these blankets for "new arrivals" is something I truly enjoy. I love heading over to Fabricland (at the mall across the street) and picking out the fabric. Usually I fly solo, and I have a coffee in hand. It can be a bit of a tedious process (it has taken me upwards of an hour to find just the right match on occasion), but it's a process that I really enjoy. Sometimes its really simple when they have a selection of coordinating fabrics, but more often than not, I have to find two fabrics that complement each other amongst their vast selection.

Picking the right thread is also an important factor to consider. I generally like the thread to "pop" and stand out. So I try to find something that is not a dominant color, but still is found within the fabric. I now have a pretty impressive thread selection thanks to this, as I have to buy an entire spool for one blanket. I'm starting to get to the point that I don't have to buy thread for each and every blanket, as I usually have something pretty close.

There you have it! Flannelette blankets...the best! I love creating these cozy little blankets, and it just warms my heart to see friends and family with their little ones snuggled up in my blankets.

Favorite Thing #89.

2012-01-16T13:49:00.008-07:00

OK, so my newest blogging brain wave is to do a Favorite Things series. I know, I know, you think Oprah started this whole thing, but lets be serious, this is totally original. Or at least, mine will be 10x cooler than Oprah's. Although unlike Oprah's favorite things, I likely won't be giving away cameras, or CD's, or cars for that matter. This is about me sharing a few things that I think are just plain great.

Favorite Thing #89 ~ Documentaries.

Seriously, I love my documentaries. As a teen I spent a lot of time reading biographies. I think that is where my love of non-fiction was born. I found reading about real people's lives so fascinating, and oftentimes, much more interesting than fiction.

In the last few years, watching documentaries has really become something that Rob and I enjoy together. We don't really have a specific theme to our documentaries. As long as a film is true or based upon a true story, we'll watch it. We occasionally still dabble in fiction, but I'd say 70% of the movies we watch are either documentaries or based upon a true story.

One of the first ones we watched was Super Size Me. A documentary classic. If you'll remember, its about the guy who lives off McDonalds for one month. The effects on his body and his health is simply stunning. And it certainly makes that Quarter Pounder with cheese seem a lot less appealing.
Over the years, we've seen it all. Seriously. A recent recommendation was the film, Okie Noodling. About those fine folk in Olklahoma who use their hands to catch giant catfish out of the local rivers. Why didn't I think of that? Oh right, because the water is so murky, you can't see where you are going or what might nibble on your hand or foot.
Another recommendation was the film, Manufactured Landscapes. This was a stunning look at the effects of industrialization on nature. This photographer takes a picture of a landscape, and then another picture post-industrialization. It is just simply mind boggling.
We also recently watched, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Now if the title doesn't catch you, I don't know what will. Its about an Austrialian man, Joe Cross, who journeys across America to speak with Americans about diet and health. He only drinks juice for 60 days, and the dramatic transformation is incredible! It definitely encouraged us to dust off our juicer. We've been at it for over a month now, drinking one glass of juice per day. For me, its not so much about trying to lose weight, although I'm sure its been a great addition to what I have already been doing. I just feel healthier and I know that the nutrition boost is worth the effort.
Our library has a shelf that is filled with "top picks" and I often check it to see if there might be anything of interest. Last week I picked up Made in Dagenham. I must say, its definitely one of those films that makes you want to get out of your seat and cheer. Its about a group of female workers at the Ford plant in London in the 1960's who battle for equal pay (to men). In the end, they win, and ultimately change the labour laws, not only for the women of England, but eventually for women in industrialized countries all over the world. Inspiring.
So there you have it. Next time you're in your local library or the movie store or on Netflix, check out the documentary section. We have learned about so much and been exposed to so many different walks of life and people's stories. Most of which we never would have known about had we not watched these films.

SCOP.

2011-11-30T10:05:00.003-07:00

On Monday night I was lucky enough to attend an Extreme Couponing workshop. Seriously fascinating stuff people! This gal has created this 2 hour, jam packed, workshop and does it all over Alberta. She charges $10 (all of which she donated to the service trip of our local Christian School), and you get a giant stack of coupon flyers (SmartSource, Red Plum, BrandSaver) along with your admission, not to mention her 30 page e-book. A fairly fantab deal if you ask me.

I must admit, I kind of walked in there thinking, now what on earth could she really teach me? I mean I've been at the coupon game for at least 3 years now, and just a few weeks ago, a lady behind me in line said, "Wow, I feel like I just watched an episode of Extreme Couponing." Why thank you, thank you very much. Ahem.

Well, she did have a lot to teach me, and I'll be pouring over her e-book for years to come. Lots of handy tips, and things that some people just plain don't know. For example, who knew that the tear pad coupons (that you find in front of the product on the shelves) come out the first week of the month? Not me. Did you know there are a total of 11 places to find coupons? Nope, I didn't either. And who knew you could get "overages" at Walmart? Meaning if you have a $3 off coupon, and the item is on sale for $2...you get $1 back, in change. Fascinating.

One thing that she addressed at the workshop that I would say over 50% of the people didn't know about, was SCOP, or the Scanning Code of Practice. This is a Canadian policy that was enacted on a National level in 2002. It is voluntary for stores to participate, but the majority of them do (the only ones I know that don't are The Bay/ZellersHome Outfitters). Most major chains, including Walmart, Superstore, Costco, Shoppers Drug Mart, and most major grocery stores participate. The idea behind the code is for stores to demonstrate a commitment to accurate price scanning.

So what does this mean to you? Well, if you purchase an item and it scans in at more than what it was ticketed at, for example, an item advertised for $4.99 comes in at $6.99, you point this out to the cashier and you get it for free. Absolutely free! If the item is over $10, you get $10 off of the sale price. So if its advertised for $12.99, but scans in at $15.99, you get it for $2.99. Um, yes please!

This is the technical jargon of the code, "If the scanned price of a non-price ticketed item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the item free, up to a $10 maximum. When the item has a price tagged, the lowest price applies. When identical items are incorrectly priced, the second one will be sold at the correct price."

A few rules about the code. It can only be on the first item (so don't run back and grab 10 more). Any additional items will just have the price adjusted to the sale price. It does not apply to items that don't have a set price (eg. weighed items, like bulk or produce). So only items with a UPC (Universal Product Code), bar code, and PLU (Price Look Up). It also does not apply on pharmacy items and price-ticketed items (I'm thinking this means items priced with a ticketing gun).

The CBC did a little segment on the code to let Canadians know about it and test out the code to see if it actually worked. You can watch that video here. Studies show that 2% of of items are incorrectly scanned, so if you are spending $500/month on groceries, that's $30 per month you could be getting free, totaling $360 extra in your pocket per year. Again, yes please!

So next time you're out shopping, make sure to check the shelf price and then watch as items scan through. Or check your receipt afterwards. I know when you have 40 items on your bill during a big grocery shop, its hard to remember them all, but if something just doesn't look right, go back and check. That extra 30 seconds might mean up to an extra $10 in your pocket!

The policy is there, so make sure to hold companies to it (espcially since they volunatrily participate in it). And if they give you any trouble, you may register a complaint with the Scanner Price Accuracy Committee, by calling 1-866-499-4599 (toll free). They will deal with your complaint directly with the store and let you know the outcome.

Hooray for policies that are there to protect the customer!

1569 Branch Tips? Pscht.

2011-11-28T14:39:00.005-07:00

Totally random post, but has anyone noticed how its all the rage in Christmas trees these days to advertise them by branch tips? Seriously, what poor sod has to sit and count all the tips on a tree? I found one advertised at Canadian tire, 7 ft. tall, 1569 branch tips for a mere $199.

Let me show you the Nepper way of dealing with this branch tip business...

First, take a $5 garage sale Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Seriously, never pay full price for a fake tree, in the summer time garage sales are crawling with them. This one happened to still be in the original box, from Canadian Tire, funny enough.
Step two, scour the end of season sales for cheap pine garlands. I scored 4 garlands from Zellers for $1 each. She scores! Then starting from the top or bottom, start weaving it into and in-between the branches, all around the tree, and fluff it up as you go. And voila...look at those branch tips!
Seriously, the easiest way to fluff up a fake tree in a few seconds. Yesterday that was the family project, setting up for Christmas. There are no after pictures yet as I find I take a few days to rearrange and putter over things before I'm finally set on them. This year the tree is in reds, whites and anything shiny seems to be making the cut.

The two little helpers actually pose for a picture for once. Hooray!
PS. And that is the tree "pre-pine garland" if you couldn't tell. Its looking fairly rickety in the background there.

Where is the easy?

2011-11-16T21:01:00.006-07:00

Tonight I feel sad. Sad at the reality that it seems as though nothing in this life will be easy for my daughter. I suppose some would say that few things come easy, but for the majority of us, life is not a constant struggle.

Perhaps I'm viewing this from 29 year old eyes. Maybe most things at the age of 5 are hard work when you are constantly learning and discovering. Basically everything is new. But that said, I happen to know a lot of 5 year olds and it simply just doesn't seem to be as hard for them.

Believe me, I'm not comparing. I learned long ago never to do that with my kids. It began in my Mom's group when Mom's would be bragging about their kid's weight or how quickly their child learned to walk. I never felt the need to add another helping of insecurity to someone elses plate when I fully understood how constant of a struggle mothering is in the first place. I never wanted to be on the braggin' wagon. I still don't.

But as a parent, to watch your child struggle for the simplest things, is heart breaking. Whether it was watching her in the PICU fighting to recover from major heart surgery (twice). Or waiting and waiting for her to walk (it finally came at 15 months). Or struggling throughout her entire preschool career (the good days were few and far between). I've learned it never gets easier. In some ways I feel like I've just come to expect that it will be harder. Always.

Not to be a fatalist here. I do picture my daughter as a beautiful young woman in her 20's, not struggling. But at this age, when most things are new, and a new social situation pops up basically every other day, its a struggle. And it makes me sad. As a parent I find it so tempting to make it all so easy.

Never pull your fingers away when they toddle along.
Never take off the training wheels.
Never let them hear those painful first words of rejection.

It all seems like it could work right? But then I picture a grown woman, still holding onto my fingers, never getting off her tricycle, and not understanding the realities of this world.

Somehow I like to believe that perhaps all this hardship will account for something great one day. Maybe she will be more graceful. More loving. More compassionate. More giving. To be honest, I have no idea what this will all account to, and at times the cost simply doesn't seem worth it.

I am truly grateful for the people in our life who love our daughter and work to understand her struggles. Without them, this journey would be bleak and lonely. The days would be long and hard. That is one of the most starting Mom realizations; that not everyone loves and adores your child as much as you do. Let alone understands their struggles. Its sheer madness really, and you hope against hope they come to their senses.

I think it may just be a standard parent answer to say that easy doesn't exist, so maybe I'm fooling myself, but some days, I just wish it wasn't so hard.

"Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be so hard" ~ Coldplay

The Little Things.

2011-11-13T14:12:00.004-07:00

Alright, this is definitely not all that deep or thought-provoking of a post (assuming the others are, ahem), but I made a sweet score during my Safeway shop yesterday and I thought I would share it. Not sure if this is just limited to our local Safeway, or perhaps Safeway in general, but grocery stores that sell ripe bananas at a reduced cost...seriously brilliant!

I've had my eyes peeled for another batch of ripe bananas every time I've gone into Safeway lately. It had been about a month since they last had them, so when I saw four bags filled to the brim I scooted right over. I grabbed three, and just as I was thinking, I better grab all four, a lady pounced and beat me to it. Oh well, three bags is plenty. For now.

And how much did these three bags, totaling 31 bananas, enough to make multiple smoothies and numerous loaves of banana bread cost me? A "whopping" $6.20!
Seriously. That is a steal, and the bananas are barely bruised, not that I care either way. Their sole purpose is to be added to fruit smoothies or to make banana bread. The way my son eats bananas, we never have any leftovers in the house to actually get overripe, so banana bread is a true treat around these parts. So I cut each banana in half and put them into three large Ziploc bags to freeze and use as required.
Every few days the kids and I share a smoothie, usually as a part of our lunch. Its like a Nepper staple. Abbi learned to drink through a straw at probably 12 months and she's been drinking them ever since. Same with Gabe. I buy the 1.81 kg package of frozen berry mix from Costco ($11.69). Your standard non-fat Vanilla yogurt. I switch between orange and apple juice. Add half a frozen banana, pop it into a blender or use a hand blender, and voila...a smoothie comparable to Booster Juice, but probably for a third of a price.

I usually do it all by sight, but the ingredient list would read something like this...
1/2 C. Frozen Berries/Fruit
1/2 C. Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 C. Fruit Juice (Apple or Orange)
1/2 Half a Frozen Banana

Optional: Add 2 Tablespoons of ground flax seed

Smoothie goodness. Yum.

Sex and Babies.

2011-11-12T10:57:00.002-07:00

Oh how I love blog titles like this one. Its an attention grabber, and I imagine it will be one of my highest read blog posts. Although interestingly enough, my post on DIY Laundry Soap is still my most popular posting. I suppose that speaks to the non-juiciness of my blog! We're all about practicality around these parts ;)

So whenever Rob and I watch movies, I'm all about the happy endings. Sex and babies, I say. A truly good movie should end in sex and babies. I mean not like "sex sex" on the screen, but the assumption that such things take place as the credits roll. In my weird, twisted world, that's a happy ending.*

*Of course, my version of a happy ending does not spend much time considering things like stretch marks, morning sickness, and labour.

Perhaps that stems from my own experience, but like seriously, the worst endings are when the long lost love dies in the last scene...and alas, no sex and babies. Tragedy. Recently we watched the movie Troy with friends, and it may ruin the ending for some...but no sex and babies took place. He died a hero. A shame really. Although there was plenty of sex prior to the death scene, it still doesn't get my sex and babies happy ending stamp of approval

I can't really explain it, but real life stories like these truly sadden me. Husband's leaving wives prematurely seriously gets to me. Likely because I'm married and the thought of it is terribly saddening. There just are no words for that kind of loss. It never really occurs to me that the female partner leaves prematurely, mainly because in my experience, its almost always been the man.

I learned yesterday that an old schoolmate died. He just happened to be married to a girl I used to work with when we lived on the Island (life in a small town). The wife and I were facebook friends. I watched during their dating years, and it was incredible to see their love grow and blossom. They married this summer. They still don't even have their wedding photos back yet. And he's gone.

Social media allows a strange glimpse into the joys, struggles and sorrows of an acquaintance or coworker. Beyond the grapevine, I never would have known about his death or her sorrow, but I must admit, knowing this, its making me want to love harder and be kinder.

Let us be kind to one another.

Success!

2011-11-07T10:11:00.007-07:00

Over this past weekend I helped organize a large vintage fabric sale. It was a considerable amount of work, but looking at the end results and the funds raised, I would say it was more than worth my while. Through the church, I was connected with a family who had inherited a large fabric collection from a seamstress. When I say large, that is an understatement. The amount of fabric is truly mind-boggling. Perhaps what's more astounding is that one person amassed all of it! There were receipts dating back to the 1960's!

We had to use a trailer to transport the fabric which had been stored in produce boxes and Rubbermaid totes. We had a number of people help unload the fabric and it ended up taking about 8 ladies 4 hours to unpack all of it! The church had 15 large folding tables and we used every single one of them, and we could have used more.

We had originally planned to sort the fabric based upon type, but once the boxes started opening, we noticed two things. First, it was primarily polyester blends (remember, it is vintage fabric). Second, there was just so much it would have been impossible to efficiently sort. I still look at the pictures and can hardly believe it.

The tables ran the length of the churches foyer which is a good distance. I'd say this is 6-8 tables end to end, stacked about 10 layers of fabric high. And that means we still had another 7-8 tables filled with more fabric. We also dedicated a room off the foyer to sewing notions and patterns. The number of patterns was incredible!

Beyond Fabricland, I've never seen anything like this. And what's more remarkable is that it was a private collection!

Loads and loads of drapery fabric.
Of course, a perk of unloading the fabric and helping out with the sale is that we got first dibs on the fabric. Rob's Mom came in to help with the sale as well. While it was a lot of work, I think we also got to pick out some fairly fantastic fabrics. These are a few of my faves.

Seriously...have you seen anything like this before?

I'm thinking this has cute throw pillow potential. I got two of them.

While I've never sewn clothing, I love this print and would love to make a long flowy dress out of it.

The fabric on the left says slinky dress or skirt. The red polka dot screams sexy 192o's style dress. Super cute.

I'm loving this hot pink plaid. I've love to recover a little chair or bench in Abbi's room with this. I'm sure in 1970 a man would have had a suit jacket made out of this.

And this. Well this. I have no idea what I'd do with it, but the pattern was just so fantastic, I had to have it. Seriously fantastic!

These three fabrics are likely best used for upholstery. All great. I do love the floral pattern. I'd love to see another little chair or bench done up in this for Abbi's room.

On the Friday we were open for only 4 hours and it was so busy! Saturday wasn't as busy, but the sale was still a great success overall. All the sales were by donation and it was wonderful to see just how generous people could be. We raised funds for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, and in total, we ended up raising $1565! Unbelievable!

So a big thank you to everyone who came out, helped, shopped, and supported this great cause. Now I've got some sewing to get to!

Inspired.

2011-10-25T07:04:00.009-06:00

An area of my life that I have been striving to be better is in the sense of health. I have been on a healthful journey since mid-May. At that time I picked up a bunch of Groupon type deals for local fitness centres. I started with two months at Curves. It was a good start, and it slowly eased me back into the world of exercise. But to be honest, Curves was never my thing. After my time at Curves, I moved onto a month at World Health Club (a Alberta-based gym). I loved it!

Once that deal ended, I decided to take as much advantage as I could of our late summer. So I began running. It was a slow start, and at times painful. A sore knee initially, then some bruising on the ball of my foot. I began increasing my distance, and was easily managing a 5km run. I am now in the 7-8km range. I'm definitely not the fastest runner, but I do love being outdoors and feeling my body work. I do worry what winter will do to my running routine, but I've been getting out regularly on the weekends.

I also started up a weekly class at my local Spa Lady (another Alberta-based gym for ladies only). Its a 45 minute Circuit training class. I love the instructor. She is a lot of fun, encouraging and really present with the group. They even have a daycare on-site where I can plunk Gabe for 2 hours and get my sweat on while Abbi is at school. This has been working out nicely.

I've also been delving into yoga one night a week. I'm really enjoying yoga. I've gone to hot yoga a few times with Rob on Friday nights, and during the "centering" portion, I literally could not shut off my brain. These days I'm finding that easier. Or perhaps more necessary. So now I have one evening, per week, where I can give my brain 1 hour off of life, its brilliant. Your focus is on your breathing and having awareness of your body. I also love this instructor. Her voice seriously needs to be recorded, its amazing. And often she'll say "Notice." Seemed hokey at first. Notice what? But I'm finding it amazing when you consider your body; what's straining, what's at ease, what needs some work. I've also been trying to practice a little at home. I'm amazed at my increased flexibility in such a short amount of time.

On the healthful eating front, I've been making huge gains. I think the change for me this time (compared to the other gazillion times I've tried to lose weight) is that I'm trying to do it in the most balanced, healthful way possible. So no pills, no shakes, no starvation, nothing that is not manageable in the real world. At least in my real world. So I'll still eat chocolate (although I eat considerably less, and actually rarely crave it). I still drink coffee, although I'm trying to swap out my afternoon cup with some green tea. I eat a lot of the same foods, just less of them. For the most part I'm avoiding greasy foods and fast food, although I will indulge from time to time.

I'm not sticking to any one program, but rather doing my best to educate myself on a few different strategies and incorporating aspects of each. I recently picked up this book from the library and we were pleased with so many of the recipes and simple, easy to come by, ingredients.
I've also been reading this book, trying to gain a basic understanding of how my body works, and what nutrients it needs. I'm fairly certain I missed that entire section in biology. Or perhaps I was too busy passing notes...
I also picked this book up from the library. Rob has read his other book, and while I don't see myself being vegan anytime soon, I do think a lot of the principles stand for a diet that includes reduced amounts of meat. Plus, he's from Vancouver so he already gets my vote.

I've also been posting things around the house to keep me on track and inspired. Rather than putting up a picture of a supermodel, I put up a picture of myself from our honeymoon on the side of our fridge. Conceited? Perhaps. But at least my body of old is far more attainable and achievable than that of Cindy Crawford's.

For fun, I also put up Rob's "skinny picture." Crazy! Him and his best friend, Jason, circa 1997 (ish).
I've also have this on the side of our fridge, as I've long believed that long-lasting weight loss and healthfulness will be a result of hard work and consistent decisions. Not to say I don't make some bad decisions, but the point is to trying you best to make the next decision is a good one.

A friend sent this to me in an e-mail forward last week called "Forever Young" and I absolutely love it. "Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help."

So in 5 months I've lost a total of 16 lbs! I am thrilled. I still have about 8lbs to go to be a healthy weight according to the BMI charts, but I already feel a huge difference in my energy levels, in the way my clothes fit (I've gone down 2 sizes), and in my overall confidence! My goal is to be at my goal weight in time for my 30th birthday. That's been part of the motivator, as well as just knowing that there will always be excuses not to get in shape, but even more reasons to do so.

Care to share any healthful tips that work for you?

Archie.

2011-10-18T17:35:00.010-06:00

I was trying to think of a terribly witty name for my pumpkin. I think Jack is just too cliche. I needed something with pizazz, something with style. Um yeah. I got nothing. The best I could come up with was Archie...orange hair, orange pumpkin. A sad, sad attempt at wittiness. Although really, there is a slight resemblance...

Source: Comic Con International

Regardless of his name, Archie has served me well. He has been an overachiever in the world of pumpkins. He definitely would have made the honor roll in my class. As if he isn't the most picturesque pumpkin ever!
I felt slightly guilty sticking his pretty self into the oven. I watched him turn into a sad brown version of himself. Perhaps a similar story to that of many 60 year old women who live in California. You know the types, platinum blonde hair, leathery skin, most often accompanied by a whiskey voice. Classic.

I put Archie on a baking sheet, set the oven to 300°, and left him alone for 2 hours. This is what he ended up looking like.

*Caution: grotesque pumpkin pictures below.
Not too pretty, at all. This is about halfway through the "carving" process. The roasting made it surprisingly easy to separate the skin, pumpkin meat, and seeds. I just kept cutting him into quarters and scraping out the stringy junk and then scooping the meat into a separate bowl. This all took place on my stove, which was not entirely brilliant. I let it cool off on the stove top, which resulted in a surprising amount of liquid on the baking sheet, making it tricky to move. Hence the stove top disaster.
If you'll remember, this pumpkin cost me a whopping $4 (Plus, I got 15% off of that!). I plunked him on our bathroom scale which reported his weight at 17lbs. I'm a little suspicious of that weight, but definitely somewhere between 10-20 lbs.

So Archie, my $4 pumpkin, gifted me with 21.5 cups of pumpkin meat!

I started out by using my food processor attachment for my Cuisinart hand blender, but quickly realized this was a job for a more substantial machine. That's where the husband and his Robot Coupe came in. For the most part, I despise this machine. It takes up a significant amount of space in my pantry, I never use it...and my husband rarely uses it. So why do we have it again? Oh right...for my yearly pumpkin puree fest.

Look at all that pumpkiny goodness!
I made a batch of pumpkin cookies (which used 1 Cup of pumpkin puree, and resulted in 48 cookies), but the rest I plan to freeze in sandwich Ziploc bags to use for baking, soups and whatever else I can figure out to stick pumpkin in.

Thanks Avenue Homesteader for the great idea! She also has a recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds, which we will be doing as well. Brings back lots of Hallowe'en memories of my Mom roasting this delicious snack.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

2011-10-18T16:59:00.005-06:00

Argh. I hate it when I can't find a source for something. I think that's a clear sign of academia taking over my brain. Now I can barely write a thank you note without wanting to add a "Reference" section to the bottom of it. All I can say is that I got this recipe from Abbi's preschool last year. Legend has it, one of the parent's from years past had provided this recipe to help accommodate her child's milk/dairy allergies. That's as about as referenced as things are going to get...

On one of my duty days, this was the activity. Me + 2 teachers + 16 kids needed to make these cookies. Ack! Even more painful was the fact that they had no measuring spoons. I searched the entire school and finally found a questionable set in another classroom. Afterward, I promptly went to the Dollarstore and gifted the preschool with their very own handy dandy set of measuring spoons & cups. So believe me, these cookies are fool proof. I had 16 four year olds as my assistants and a haphazard set of measuring spoons. Enough said.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies
2.5 Cups Flour of choice
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
2.5 Tsp. Baking powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Margarine
1/4 C. Maple Syrup
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Pumpkin puree

1. Preheat over to 375°.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream together: sugar and margarine. Then gradually beat in maple syrup, vanilla, and pumpkin.
4. Beat in the flour mixture.
5. Drop onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Makes 48 cookies.

Another recipe I found online for Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies had a glaze on top which looks rather delicious, and is super easy to make. Don't they look divine?
Glaze: Combine 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle on top of cookies.

Holly's Pumpkin Cookie tips: I used 1.5 Cups White flour, and 1 Cup Whole Wheat flour. I also cut down on the sugar, using 1/2 Cup Brown, and 1/4 Cup White Sugar. I used my own pumpkin puree, but you could use canned pumpkin, making the color a deeper orange. After dropping cookies onto the baking sheet, flatten slightly, as they will rise significantly (which can extend the cooking time and dry them out).

15% Off Day.

2011-10-06T11:33:00.005-06:00

I'm in the full swing of school right now, hence the lack of posting. I'm just over a third of way through the course and there is SO MUCH going on. Usually teachers shove it all to the end, making it crazy then, so perhaps having it spread out will keep my blood pressure down. Not that I know I have high blood pressure, but I imagine during times of stress, we all do to some degree.

I have discovered I do get a crink (a mixture of a kink and a cric) in my neck during times of stress. Our massage therapist suggested its extended time at the computer and poor posture. Likely so. All I know its a pain in the neck!

I did want to quickly share about my 15% off day brilliance. Now I think this is only relevant to Albertan readers. I don't remember this in BC, and haven't lived anywhere else, so I have no idea. Here in Alberta, all grocery stores offer 10-15% off groceries on the first Tuesday of the month. You don't have to be old. Or a student. Its for everyone. And its great.

I used to do my shop at Safeway (which offers 10% off), but I have since started shopping at Save On Foods. They offer 15% off and also allow you to use points coupons and the 15% discount at the same time. At Safeway its either 10% off or 10x your Airmiles (not both). And the Airmiles aren't really all that great of a deal.

Anyway, I was thrilled with my shop this week. A friend had her receipt go down $100 with sales, coupons and 15% off (she shopped earlier in the day). Mine went from $188.33 down to $114.91! Unbelievable! I feel like I robbed them blind. Nearly ran to the car I couldn't believe it!

Just a little break down of what I got for $114.91. A little disclaimer, I did redeem 8000 points to get a free turkey, which did help out the bill. But still, 8000 points for a $20 turkey is a fairly good deal in my opinion.

Produce: 3lb Onions, Alfapha sprouts, 3lbs Carrots, Celery, Cranberries, 5lb Gala Apples, 2lbs Garlic, Ginger Root, 3lbs Peppers, Yams, Orange, Mini Carrots, a Pumpkin, Red Grapes, Tomatoes, Snap Peas, and Mushrooms.

Dairy: Cheesestrings, Yogurt Tub x2, and 4L Milk.

Meat: Turkey, Lunch Meat

Non-Perishables: Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Clif Bar x2, Nurtigrain Bars, Peanut Butter, 1L Apple Juice x4, 1l Orange Juice x2, 1L Fruit Juice x2, Raspberry Jam, Vegetable Thins x2, and Spaghetti noodles x2.

Misc: 5lbs WW Flour, Dill Weed, Cumin, Italian Seasoning, Lundberg Wild Rice, Raisins, and Flax Tortillas.

On the Pumpkin front, I realize its fairly keen to be buying a pumpkin this early, but this pumpkin shall be meeting its early demise. It was $4 for a GIANT pumpkin! So I plan to roast it in the oven and get out all the pumpkiny goodness I can. I also plan to roast some seeds. I got the idea from The Avenue Homesteader . I was inspired. From a $4 pumpkin she got 18 Cups of pumpkin! She figures that's equivalent to $24 worth of canned pumpkin filling. Not to mention the seeds. So we'll see how easily I can roast a pumpkin, and if it goes well, I may buy me a few more pumpkins to roast.

I've also been getting hip with bulk food. I do not buy spices in the package anymore. Save On Foods has an impressive bulk section, and buying spices this way is so much cheaper. Superstore and Bulk Barn also rock the world of bulk. For example, I got enough Cumin to fill up my spice jar, twice, for $1.89. Enough Dill Weed to fill it, twice, for 60 cents, and about a jar's worth of Italian Seasoning for 30 cents. I also find pasta and grains are a great item to buy this way. I know people have health issues with bulk items (eg. did someone touch this, did it get mixed up, etc), but at least with pasta, I know I'm boiling it. And for the most part, I have a blind faith in the cleanliness of the human race, at least when it comes to bulk food.

Its always nice to find ways to save money when it comes to food. Do you have any shopping tips to add?

A Runner?

2011-09-16T16:00:00.005-06:00

I am trying to be a runner. I do not yet claim the title of a runner. Really there is no method to my running. Very little technique. I don't have tips or tricks. I just run. Seems simple enough, right?

During my last year of high school I somehow ended up in gym class. I think the alternative was a spare block, which seemed wrong. I already skipped class so much as it was, having a block dedicated to skipping seemed fairly redundant. My other options were calculus or chemistry, both of which would have guaranteed me a big fat F. So I went with gym. Not to mention my boyfriend happened to be in the class, which made things all the more appealing.

The first run of the year was probably in the 3-5 km range. Technically no big deal for the other people who had been doing gym all throughout high school. Not for me, I came in dead last. Like not even close to the runner before me last. Like it was bad. By the time I made it back to the class they were already halfway through their wrestling portion of the class. Um, ouch.

As the year progressed, I started moving up in the standings. Of course, I went from something like 25th to 23rd, and I think by the end of the year I was averaging in the 20th range. Nothing to write home about, but heck, at least I wasn't last! By the end of the school year, we had increased the distance of our runs to about the 10km range. I was in the best shape of my life. My prom pictures are direct evidence of this fact.

So perhaps I'm drawn to running as I look wistfully at pictures of my Grade 12 self. I am doing fairly good on my weight loss project. Technically I've lost about 15 lbs since May. Which actually sounds like a lot. I guess because it is a lot, but I'm primarily losing weight in areas like my arms and legs, and it seems like its slow going around the mid-section. Not like I'm complaining, but I'm most looking forward to some inches lost around the waist.

So the running is good. I've been at it for almost 2 months. In the process, I have learned that I am no longer 18 anymore (a little shocking). My right knee was giving me trouble initially, so then I was told to buy some new shoes, which solved the knee problem and now I'm having a bit of pain in the ball of my right foot (which can be caused by a number of factors, likely my new shoes, which are definitely not top of the line). I'm mixing it up with icing and good stretching, which is good enough for now. But I'm thinking I'll have to invest in even better shoes if I want to keep this up.

I'm currently in the 5/6km range. For now its a nice distance, pushes me, and doesn't take too long. Tomorrow I plan to do a run fun for one of the local community leagues. They will donate $15 for each runner to the community league. It will be my first "race." There are no prizes and I will be keeping my usual pace. All that I ask of the running gods is that I don't come in dead last. I imagine its repressed trauma from high school.

In my running process, I have also been reminded of just how much I enjoy getting out and breathing fresh air (well, as fresh as Edmonton can offer). I have no idea what will happen once winter comes, I do have a stack of gym memberships and coupons, but a treadmill just cannot compare to being outdoors.

So for now, I'm a near runner. Or perhaps a psuedo runner. And I'm lovin' it!

Value Village 50% Off Sale.

2011-08-30T10:01:00.006-06:00

Did you manage to make it out to your local VV's 50% off sale yesterday? I sure did. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked, but in 1.5 hours, I did some serious damage. Not in the pocketbook department of course, but I found a lot of items in that short time. 21 items to be exact!

I've frequented these sales over the years and its been my main form of clothes shopping, especially for the kids. Back when the kids were still "wee," I would be waiting until the doors opened, first thing in the morning, with all the other crazy thrifters by my side. As the kids got older (and perhaps I got a little more sense), I started going a little later in the day. And now it seems the only reasonable time for me to stop by is in the evening.

Here are a few of my 50% off day tips...

-They usually hold these sales every 3 months or so, often the day following a major holiday. So if you missed this one, don't fret, there will be another. Probably mid-Fall, around (Canadian) Thanksgiving.

- If you join their SuperSavers club (a free club), you can go in the day prior, during the last 2 hours before the store closes and also get the 50% off rate. Highly brilliant.

- Go when you can. Of course, the later you go, the less selection there is, but lets be serious, it is Value Village. Isn't the slogan "The thrill of the hunt?"

- Go up and down every aisle. I know that sounds like a lot, but I'd say within 45 minutes I had scanned every t-shirt/sweater/tank top rack in the place. I walk down the aisle and scan racks on either side of me. Your eyes are generally drawn to colors or patterns that appeal to you. But also slide the items down the racks, looking for ones that might be less visible. And look in all size ranges. Even though you might be a medium, often larger shirts can shrink or smalls can be fitted larger that usual.

- Be prepared for crowds and lines. Last night was fairly tame, but usually the greatest source of congestion is at the change rooms line-ups and people lining up at the tills. Last night I was primarily shopping for shirts and sweaters, so I avoided the change rooms line-ups completely by wearing a tank top. That way I was able to find a mirror at the end of one of the aisles, and throw shirts on over top of my tank. It was incredibly fast. No line ups, no waiting, a few strange looks from other shoppers, mind you, but I think it worked quite well. Of course if you were trying on pants, skirts or shorts, this wouldn't necessarily work so well, and I imagine the strange looks would increase, but to each their own.

- Make the check-out process less painful by removing all the items from their hangers, and make sure the tags are easily visible so the cashier can scan away.

- Bring along some fabric bags that you can load yourself. Again, a major time saver (not to mention earth saver).

- Remember, they have a 7 day exchange policy. So while you won't get your money back, you do have the option to go back and find something else. Of course, it won't be 50% off, but let's be serious, it's Value Village. You can find something.

I'm quite pleased with all my finds. I spent a total of $50.66, for 21 items! Yowza. That works out to just $2.41 per item. The kids stuff was generally cheaper overall (some items ringing in at 75¢), but I the most I paid for an item for myself was $3.50. Not too shabby.

Three new sweaters for myself (Total: $10.50). Unfortunately I just noticed a stain on the white one, so I'll likely exchange it, but I'm fairly thrilled with the other two.

I couldn't pass up this blue sweater. It screams classy Grandpa. And its the real deal, retro. Loving it!

This red cardigan is so pretty and I'm thinking it could be a cute way to dress up a black tank top with jeans, or it could be worn over my black linen dress for a Christmas party. I'm fairly certain I was drawn to the sparkles! (My Mom always said I was part crow, drawn to the shiny stuff). Not to mention it still has the replacement button attached, making me think its never been worn.
One long sleeve, and two short sleeve t-shirts.
While I am in no way affiliated with Vangaurd College, I do like their t-shirt and their logo. Not to mention the color. Its a bible college here in Edmonton.
This brown one is a bit tight yet, but hopefully I can fit into 'er soon. Loved all the buttons. Joe, of course.
I'm liking these two black shirts, although I'm thinking the one on the left may go back. Definitely a boob shirt, and I just can't seem to find anything to bridge that gap (hardy har). The one on the left is super cute with giant black buttons connecting the straps. Its a long shirt and Rob said its almost long enough to be a dress. Making me think if I could find some super cute patterned fabric (with black details), I could put a strip around the bottom, making it into a dress. We'll see.
Even though I was mainly looking for fall shirts, I couldn't resist these three tank tops. I'm fairly certain the center Gap tank (ranging in shades from white to blue) was designed with me in mind. I LOVE IT.
Here is the bundle of kids stuff I picked up. I shopped mostly for Abbi as she seems to be the one lacking in the fall department this year. I'm loving that pink polka dot dress. I'm thinking picture day. Gabe got a few hats (one was left at the park a few weeks ago), a pair of shorts ($1) and a pair of cargo pants that should fit him this fall. 10 items for a total of $15.50!
So those were my fantastic finds of the day. My next Value Village mission will be to get the kids outfitted for winter (snowsuits, toques, boots, etc). They still won't get those items in for a few weeks yet, but I love being able to get my kids totally set for winter for $26.96 (2010's total) and $29.26 (2009's total).

Bathroom, numero uno.

2011-08-29T22:01:00.009-06:00

So the upstairs bathroom is finally done. Not like it took all that long. These days it seems to be taking me longer to actually find the time to sit down and post about such things. I figure I'll reveal this bathroom and also include a tour of the downstairs bathroom in another post. The downstairs bathroom was essentially completed last fall, but its been oh-so patiently waiting for some artwork to be hung over the toilet. I finally decided on a frame and a picture and I'm pretty pleased with it. Anyway, lets not steal the upstairs' bathroom thunder...

The thing I realized was just how tricky it is to get a good picture of a bathroom. At least one outfitted with CFL lighting! So you'll have to put up with my bad photography and overexposed pictures.

Here's a before picture. Not a terribly great picture, but it shows how much filling and sanding was required to get this wall to a presentable state. It had awful teeny holes in the drywall on this seam, all the way up the wall. Probably little air pockets that they never bothered to fix before they painted. Ugh. So I went a little crazy here, but I no longer have to stare at nasty holes and I am happy woman!

The before color was a rose-esque beige. Not really my cup of tea. The vanity counter top is in a similar tone. With the new paint color, its less offensive, but I'd love to find a old dresser, stain it up in a rich, chocolatey brown and revamp it with a sink. And the husband even likes this idea, so this is a good start! Another shot of the before color, with a tester color on top (not the color I ended up using).
This is the shower curtain that started it all. Beth on Seersucker. $22.47 at Zellers. So pretty. And I love my little white curtain knobbies.

The picture below gives a pretty good idea of the paint color. Its from the Rona Eco line; the paint color is called "Wheat." I'm impressed with how nicely matches the grout on the shower tiles.

My cushy, plush red towels. I'm fairly thrilled with them.
I'm quite pleased with how well the ceiling turned out in this room. In the downstairs bathroom I did the ceiling first, and I'm not super pleased with it. So doing the ceiling last worked really well, and I have a beautifully crisp line.
I picked up this little storage unit off of Earthcycle for free a few years ago, I just had to drive to Beaumont to get it (about a 10-15 minute drive). I'm pretty pleased with it. The toilet paper basket was bought at one of our churches silent auctions. I was really after the basket, thinking it would work perfectly for toilet paper storage (which it does), and as a bonus it happened to be full of bath goodies. The box on top was a wedding gift, which we both love. It looks like this beautiful antique mini chest.
We still haven't hung my little birdies because I'm still deciding on a location. I'm thinking over the back of the toilet. I do like the idea of them being on display. Below is a picture of their current state...and its not pretty. Of course, 2 or 3 necklaces draped over a watering can definitely has cute potential, but this has just gone way too far.
I also thought I'd show off my $6.99 scale. A Value Village classic. I picked this up 6 years ago. I've always been impressed with its accuracy. I would follow along with my pregnancies and compare the weight it showed to the doctor's scale. Well folks, apparently price has nothing to do with the accuracy of a scale, because she's always been painfully honest (and accurate) with me! Thankfully, we've been on good terms lately, so I keep her around.
This room is so tiny, its basically impossible to get a picture of the entire room (even whilst standing on the edge of bathtub, believe me, I tried). So here's the best shot I could get. Still not sure if I'm going to do any artwork in this room. I think with the shower curtain being so detailed, its not entirely necessary, but if I see something, I'll likely pick it up. I was thinking a trio or quartet (can you say that about pictures?) of floral-ish scrapbook pages on the wall to the right of the toilet. We'll see.
So there you have it. One bathroom done. One bathroom utterly adored by the makeover artist. I now have my bathroom, suited to my liking (the downstairs bathroom is definitely Rob's territory). I haven't indulged in a bubble bath yet, but when I finally get around to it, I'm sure it will be doubly delicious!

Fun in the...bathroom?

2011-08-27T10:11:00.004-06:00

OK, I don't generally get too excited about bathrooms. I mean they really serve one, well technically, two purposes. A fairly utilitarian room. Our upstairs bathroom has been tolerable for the 3 years that we lived here. It was good enough and I was okay with it, but I knew it didn't have my signature on it and I didn't love it. I finally decided to get out my roller, my brush and my Mp3 player (Royal Wood is impressively inspiring to paint with). Enough was enough....

So, I don't technically have any "after" pictures yet, but its only taken me 3 days and I'm almost there. Seriously, a bathroom has to be the easiest room to do a makeover on. Its basically a weekend job. Not to mention the cost is quite low (depending on what you do). I was just at the $41 mark, but I did splurge and buy a few new sets of towels last night. With a pretty new room, I couldn't exactly resist some new towels to go along with it. Although, in my defense they were buy one get one free. $27 for 4 bath sheets and 3 hand towels is a fairly good deal, in my humble opinion.

Here is just a sneak peek at some of the inspirations for my "new" b-room.

This shower curtain started it all. I've loved it for 2 plus years. I'd always check to make sure it was there every few months while I was in Zellers. Why oh why did I wait so long?
I couldn't find the paint color online, but this is Rona's Eco paint, and I am a FAN! They have 16 pre-mixed colors. It covers beautifully and has a lovely velvet finish. And only $16.97 for a 4L can! I still have 2/3's left. What else can I paint?
My new towels. I've always wanted big plush red towels. Yummy.
I picked up this little trio of birds while I was at Coombs this year. They have an amazing assortment of iron hooks and doo-dads (for uber cheap!). I thought this would make for some cute necklace storage. At the most excellent price of $1.99!

So that's all I have for now. I better get to that final ceiling coat and then in a few hours I can start putting it all back together. I do love it when a makeover all starts to comes together.

Coin Geek.

2011-08-21T10:46:00.005-06:00

Confession time on Nepper's Landing. I am a self-professed coin geek. Of course, being a coin geek isn't actually geeky when you are 88 and have been doing it since 1923. Then coin collecting is actually cool. Back when coins were actually hip, and the monarchy was changing on a fairly regular basis. Nope, not anymore. Now old Lizzie just keeps on truckin'. Just been on the throne for oh, I don't know, 59 years!

Yup, I'm officially a coin geek.

I think I come by my love for rare and unusual coins honestly. My Grandma always had a fairly fantastic coin collection that I loved to sort through as a kid. The best part was that even though it was probably worth a good amount of money, the top-secret hiding spot was behind their living room drapes. And the one time they did get broken into, the theft totally missed their valuable coin collection. Who knew 1970's mustard yellow drapes worked so well as a home security device?

When my Granddad died in 2007, I went to spend time with my Grandma and my Mom. Abbi came along too. It was a sad time, but it was so nice just to be together and share in each others sorrow. One of my tasks during my visit was also to roll the coins from the jars that she and my Grandpa used to hold their winnings from their daily games of Smear. And yes, it actually makes me love them just a little bit more, knowing that they played each other for money, daily. Of course, Grandma's jar had considerably more money it, and it is said that I have somehow inherited her good luck with all of my contest winnings.

During this visit, my Grandma also decided that it was time to give me her coin collection as she knew how much I loved it. The only catch was that it was located in their crawl space (they had moved into a new home, and the 1970's mustard yellow curtains had been retired from service). If you know me, I easily get spooked and don't do well with small, dirty spaces. Ugh. I shudder just thinking of it. If I wanted that coin collection, I would have to go and get it. "Oh and by the way, we did have a mice problem a few years back, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa took care of it with some poison." Gee, thanks.

I think, if anything, the sole purpose of gifting me with the coin collection was for comic relief during a very sad time. As I was crawling along on my hands and knees under their house, through dust and dirt, I could hear my Mom and Grandma up the small stairwell, chuckling away at my misfortune. They have a very similar laugh, and it was almost eerie to hear this cackle in the background as I'm crawling along in the dark, with my trusty flashlight. To my horror, there just happened to be a mouse trap, complete with a long-dead mouse, right beside the coin box. Ugh. I let out a shriek to rival all shrieks from the basement, which led to another roar of cackles from the main floor.

Possibly even more comical than me retrieving the collection from the basement was me trying to sort through the collection, fearing more dead mice remains. This took place on their patio with their garden hose, which forced me to stifle my shrieks. They still sat back with coffees in hand, laughing away at my misfortune.

Perhaps this story is an excellent example at my willingness to put up with most anything to get a good deal. But more importantly, I treasure this collection of coins that my Grandma has held onto throughout the years and has had so much significance in my life. One day I hope to somehow display this collection as it holds so much sentimental value for me.

I've also loved working in retail over the years, because almost daily a customer would give me money from a far away land to pay for their $14.99 way-too-tights jeans or their ridiculously overpriced $4.99 latte. I would often keep extra change in my pocket so that I could swap out the coins. Eep, can I admit this? The best one was when some customers from the States paid me for an item with five $1 Canadian bills. Poor souls didn't know any better. I've also had friends bring me back treasures from their travels. I realize countries advise against this practice, but really France, have you even missed that Franc? Doubtful.

I was reading a blog post recently about NOT collecting things. Any things. While I generally would concur with them, in this instance, I quite love my little coin collection. And technically if I ever decide against it, I'll have a fairly sweet consolation prize.

Thoughtfulness.

2011-08-17T08:06:00.004-06:00

I had a fairly fantastic realization last weekend. Basically I recognized that I feel most in my element or niche when I'm being thoughtful. Of course this is a tricky word because its clearly my interpretation of what being thoughtful means. While others may not always consider my actions thoughtful (and at times, they are most definitely not thoughtful), for the most part, I do really enjoy the action of being thoughtful.

I looked up a few definitions and these were the two that stuck with me,

- Having or showing heed for the well-being or happiness of others and a propensity for anticipating their needs or wishes
- Showing consideration for the needs of other people

As to why, I cannot explain. I've been thinking about why something like this truly fulfills me, and to be honest, I don't know. A few years ago, in a contesting spree, I won a $500 gift card to West Edmonton Mall, and I was over the moon because that Christmas I was able to buy all the gifts I really wanted to buy for people. The ones I considered to be really thoughtful. I actually didn't buy a single thing for myself out of that money, and I felt so incredibly satisfied with the items I was able to bless people with.

Unfortunately for our bank account, my thoughtfulness often comes in the form of money spent. There are few things I love more than spending an afternoon shopping for gifts; it actually probably surpasses shopping for myself. In recent years, I've tried to change my tune a bit, and put more effort into free or cheap giftings. And I've found that one of the most priceless gifts you can ever offer is your time. Of course, everyone's time has a value (to them), but I know it is one of those things that I can give freely of, generally at my own choosing and will.

Back in my youth group days, we would always have to fill out these lame questionnaires about what our "spiritual giftings" were. Of course we all wanted to be something fancy like preachers or musicians, you know, the big time stuff. But not for little 'ol me. Time and time again I always got stuck with having the gift of encouragement. At the time it seemed like an incredibly boring gifting, but as I've aged, I've come to appreciate the versatility of it. And for the most part, its stuck with me. I can recognize when I am most definitely not being an encourager, and for the most part, its usually in my home, where I become the exact opposite...a critic. Sigh.

Another thing I have come to recognize is that for the most part, we are thoughtful in ways that we wish people would reciprocate to us. Its a fine line. I think oftentimes thoughtfulness stems from observance. If you pay close enough attention, you will begin to see those things that make people tick. The clothes they wear. The way they decorate their home. How they spend their money. Their hopes and dreams. A friend recently shared with me how she loves to dance, despite the fact she's never taken any lessons. So when she's home alone she dances around her house, and considers it to be an act of worship. The thought of her dancing around her living room makes me smile, so much so that I sent her some music that I think is really beautiful. Of course, I don't know if she'll like the music, but I hope, if anything, she feels loved and recognized through my gift.

I thought I would share some of my most favoritest thoughtful actions. Forgive me if this seems totally self-absorbed. To be honest, I do spent a lot of time thinking and considering what would bless people. I usually have a little notebook going of things people have mentioned that I want to remember for their birthday or holidays. So while I am in no way an expert at being thoughtful, and I often fail, I was just so excited to recognize this recently, I thought I'd share.

- Leave a meal in the fridge of friends who are returning from a holiday. There's nothing worse that getting home to an empty fridge after a week of holidaying and then needing to run out to the store to get some food for dinner. What a delight to come home to dinner, ready to go. Its almost like one more day of holiday.

- Write a thank you note. I cannot emphasize this enough! Such a simple and quick act that leaves a lasting impression. And blesses the heart of the receiver, knowing that you took the time and effort to recognize their actions.

- Spontaneity. Recently I flew back home and surprised my Mom with a weekend visit. Of course my Mom was a bit of a ninja and had a sense that I was coming. But, to know that someone planned and prepared and took time out of their lives to spend time with you...well, not much can replace that. My friend still talks about the time I drove to her home, 2.5 hours away, ate dinner, briefly celebrated her birthday, and then drove another 2.5 hours home. That took time and gas money, but it will always be a memory we share and hopefully an example of how much she means to me.

- Gift someone with that small, simple, silly thing that they live without. I know, it seems silly, because they live without it, but at the same time, I've seen time and time again how it blesses their heart. In one instance it was a crepe pan for friends. Another time, a garbage can. Both items are neither glamorous or necessities in life, but they warm hearts.

- Babysit. For free. I must admit, I generally despise babysitting. As a teen I avoiding babysitting at all costs, that is unless my allowance was spent or I desperately wanted something. I've learned that I like my own children best, but I also know that having someone offer to care for them is one of the best gifts. Knowing that your children are in good hands and at the same time, getting a break from them, is so refreshing.

- Offer your skills. Having a husband who also happens to be a carpenter and a handyman is great. Seriously, I have no idea how I'd pull off 95% of my DIY ways without him. What I also love is to see him use those skills to bless others. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra money he can make with his talents. But I am equally thrilled when he randomly fixes a part on someone's dishwasher, or replaces a faucet, or installs baseboards, or repairs a storm door. Over the years I've learned the hard lesson of prematurely offering his talents, so now I always ensure that I have his permission before I offer. But it always thrills my heart to watch my man bless people with his giftings.

- Food. This is one that still challenges me, but I am slowly getting more confident in my kitchen abilities. Have someone round for a meal. Or give them a meal after having a baby or during illness. Or heck...for no good reason at all. Unfortunately in my churches culture, meal-giving is solely reserved for birth, death, and/or illness. The reality is that food can bless someone's heart any day, regardless of the circumstance.

Care to share some ways that you've blessed someone's heart lately?

Bread Maker Drama.

2011-07-20T14:56:00.006-06:00

I expect this should be one of my most boring blog posts. If you actually get to the end of it, you shall get a prize. Hey now! No scrolling down to see what the prize is. That's just plain cheating and it won't be tolerated around Nepper's Landing! And yes, I plan to write an entire post about bread makers. Lets be serious, you need something to keep you entertained while at work, or during your kids nap time, or during your retirement. The internet couldn't possibly offer anything more titillating than Holly's thoughts on bread makers.

So when we got married, we got our first bread maker. We were like "for real" married for 3 months, and then we moved in with friends for the next three months, and then lived on the oil rigs off and on for the next year. When I say "for real" married I don't mean like we pretended to be married or didn't consummate things (OK, that just got a bit awkward, sorry Mom), I mean that we lived in our own house for 3 months. Like how grown ups do. We lived in our grown up house with jobs, and cars, and kitchen appliances, including a bread maker. In a very non-grown up way, we never actually touched the bread maker. Ever. Once we moved in with our friends, the bread maker was put lovingly into storage for the next year.

Oh, and if you happen to be the person who did buy the bread maker for our wedding, thank you. And know that it eventually did get much usage! So fast forward to mid-2006 when I finally tried my bread maker for the first time.

Here she is. The first born.

This was a great bread maker which lasted probably 2-3 years and I was using it on a weekly basis, if not more. We would often set it up before we went to bed, and then woke to fresh bread in the morning. A wonderful way to wake up! It seems that over time, the exposure to water over such long periods of time broke down the seal on the base of the pan (water was the first ingredient in the pan, so it just sat on this ring at the bottom of the pan for 8 hours or more). So eventually the pan would start to leak into the baking chamber, which is virtually impossible to clean and just got worse over time. When the first one finally kicked it, I picked up the exact same bread maker off of kijiji and it lasted about a year. The same thing eventually happened, which we kind of expected.

So last fall I was on the hunt for another bread maker and I was able to pick up this beauty, for a mere $5, off of kijiji...
A GoldStar. A super retro machine, but I was very impressed with it. It was basically the exact same pan as the Black and Decker, so I just continued to use my favorite recipe. This gal lasted 8 months! For $5! Talk about a bargain! You can barely buy a loaf of bread for that much money!

So two weeks ago, I was about to put on a loaf on when I noticed that there was a bit of water on the counter top. Ack. I knew what was coming, but I hoped against hope I'd at least get one more loaf out of her. And I did! I put on my facebook status, "At least my $5 bread maker had the class to put out one last loaf before it died." I was impressed. Apparently the water continued to leak throughout the baking cycle and essentially welded the pan to the chamber. Like it.will.not.come.out. Oh well, I got my final loaf, which was delicious. It almost felt like sacrificial bread. She died to give me this one last loaf. Sigh.

For the last two weeks I've been hunting for a new bread maker. It was getting almost stupid. Like I'd e-mail someone, "Hi, I'd like to buy your bread maker...today." And no reply. This happened over and over again. Perhaps my bread maker keenness scared people, but I was a desperate woman. Last week on my grocery shop I had to do the unthinkable...buy bread.

So yesterday I found a guy in Sherwood Park who was going to give me a bread maker, and deliver it, all for $30. A bit of a increase after my last deal, but heck, if you want to bring it to me...I'm sold! So he came by last night with a shiny, beautiful bread maker that I would guesstimate has made maybe 2 loaves of bread. Ever! This is why its so brilliant to buy second hand ones. They are a fairly trendy item. People think "Oh I'm going to be a kitchen diva and make my own bread," and then shazam, over a period of 4 years they've only used it twice and just want to be rid of the bloody thing.

Anyway...I've returned to my Black and Decker ways. Here's the newest addition...
I haven't had a horizontal pan yet, but I can't imagine it will be much different. This one actually has really good consumer ratings, so that's a good sign. I assume that the seal will eventually go on this one, but when I consider I paid $6.50 for two loaves of bread last week, I should get my money's worth within 10 weeks (we normally go through one loaf per week).

Here is my beloved bread recipe. I don't really make much else, because this bread is just so freakin' delicious.

7 Grain Cereal Bread

Put into pan in the same order as they're listed...
1 1/3 Cups Water
2 Tbsp. Powdered Milk
2 Tbsp. Canola Oil
2 Tbsp. Honey
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 3/4 Cups White Flour
1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup 7 Grain Cereal
1 1/4 tsp. Yeast

*Holly's Notes: First of all, I recited that recipe entirely from memory, so that is proof of my bread maker prowess. I believe this is for a 1.5 lb vertical loaf, so I hope it continues to work in a horizontal pan (can't really see why not). The recipe called for "shortening" and we have always used canola. Just use plain old flour, none of this special bread maker flour business is necessary. I have bought anything from 7 grain to 13 grain cereal. You can find it in bulk at a lot of places, but if not, you can buy it in the cereal aisle, usually by the oatmeal. I also sometimes do 1/4 Cup of 7 Grain Cereal and 1/4 of Ground Flax seed. I just buy the Fleischmann's yeast in a jar.

So there you have it. Holly's random bread maker thoughts. So what's the prize for putting up with my dreadfully boring bread maker ranting you ask? Well, how about if you ever come to my house, you shall get a piece of my most delicious bread maker bread? Shipping bread is just not a good idea, but when I'm in my bread maker groove its pretty rare we don't have a loaf on the go.

And thus...the bread maker drama is over, for hopefully at least a year.

Absenteeism.

2011-06-29T13:20:00.002-06:00

Yes, I have been an absentee member of the blogging world. Hence the title, "Absenteeism." What a horrible word, by the way. It immediately makes me think of some sort of illness. Too many e's. Yes, that's weird of me, I know. Its not that I haven't had much to blog about. I have, I've just have had no desire to blog about it. Our summer started much earlier than most peoples, as preschool ended the middle of June. So perhaps its that lazy summer attitude. Well, no, because that would mean I'd have to call myself lazy, and I'm not about to do any such thing!

So this now sounds bad, because I'm going on about being lazy and then say I'm going to steal Linda's blogging format. Not at all to imply that Linda is lazy. She's highly efficient. Thus, I shall do a Linda blog post and get down to the nitty gritty.

School

This one course a semester thing is slightly killing me. Its just so boring. Yeah, yeah, I realize, I'm a stay-at-home Mom, I should take easy and be happy with it, but its actually boring to the point that its fairly hard for me to stay focused. I'm hoping its just the course, not the next two years of the program! Its currently reading break of which I am taking full advantage of, to work ahead, that is. Its been so low-key, a break almost seems ridiculous. Yes, you students, I know, I know... this is a nice problem to have.

Working Out

I've been going to Curves for just over a month now. I'm scooping up all these Groupon type deals on fitness centres. Its fairly brilliant (in my opinion). I get two months here, one month there. Technically no commitment, and I'm getting variety out of it. Eventually this sleeping around will have to end, and I'll have to commit to one gym, but for now, I'm enjoying this "loose" lifestyle.

Curves, by the way, is a fascinating place to work out. I must admit, the workout is a bit tame, and I'm no workout casanova, its just a really basic workout. So in this instance I'm really glad its only a two month commitment. The clientele seem to be ladies who are, well...older, and haven't done much working out, ever. Its supposed to be 30 minutes, start to finish. That part I like, but then I start doubling up machines and it ends up being more like 45 minutes. But the chatting! Its almost deafening some days. Its a big circle of machines, all facing each other, so if you go at certain times, there can be up to 8 (or more) ladies all nattering away. I probably come off as very antisocial, but I didn't come to chat...I came to burn fat (I should seriously get that printed onto a workout shirt).

I'm trimming up. Of course not as fast as I would like, but I am feeling much healthier. I really appreciate how Curves does the monthly weigh and measure, and they also have the body fat calculator. Somehow 33% body is healthy for a woman, which seems really high to me. I mean its right on the cusp of unhealthy, but you can be sure that I lived up that percentage point all that I could. "You mean to tell me that 1/3 of my body is fat?" Ugh! In my first month I got it down to 30%, so that already seems a little less offensive.

I've also been using our elliptical quite a bit. It faces the computer, so some days I workout to Youtube videos (you can make up your own playlist, its brilliant). Other days I watch documentaries about the Oka Crisis or heck, poverty in Canada. You know, just to mix it up.

Children

Both of the kids are well. I think they are enjoying this freedom that summer brings. Although I always feel that I lack in the activity department. "What, you mean you don't have a craft and a daily activity for them set up?" Um, no. Not really that Mom. At all. We get outside, basically daily. The park. A walk to the mall. Picking up garbage (we are volunteers in Edmonton's Capital City Clean up Program). Play dates. I'm also hoping to get them into swimming lessons for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in August. So we're keeping busy.

I'm also working on a daily quite time for the kids in their rooms. Abbi is way beyond the point of napping, but she still needs some Abbi time throughout her day. Gabe is off and on when it comes to napping. Seems to be about every 3rd day he'll take a nap, and thankfully he's getting to the point that if he does miss the nap, he isn't an absolute beast by 6pm. So I've let them pick out their toy or activity and I set an egg timer in the hallway outside of their rooms. Once it goes off, they are free to come out. Its been working quite well.

But really, this egg timer business is really all about me. Not sure how other Moms spend all day, every day with their children, but I definitely need a break. So my egg timer time usually includes a cup of tea, a book, the elliptical or the computer. And no, I generally can't do all of those things at once. I'm not superwoman people!

Husband

The husband is also keeping busy. This is generally not his preferred state of being (unlike me). But 'tis the season. Summer means lots of side work, and renovations. Thankfully we're not doing anything major around here this year (other than a "measly" back splash in the kitchen). He's picked up a job with a lady in our church, building a set of stairs and installing some doors around her house. He's also slated to do some work at Rob's parents house and possibly their neighbors. There's never a dull moment for a carpenter, especially a married one.

He's also been teaching his guitar lessons. We have 3 students in our current session. They end next week, although the plan is to start another 8 week course the next week. The house has to be immaculate and the kids and I clear out for the hour. It does take a good amount of effort, but its really been nice in that the house has been staying organized. The kids and I generally go to a friends house for a visit or walk to the park. With the basement finished, we can hang out down there, which we do on some days as well.

Summer Vacation?

This year, I'm thinking no real vacation. Like you know, those people, the ones who spend 3 whole weeks on the Island during the summer. Ahem. Yeah, not this year. We will be sticking to the Prairie region for the most part (sorry Mom!). We do have a wedding in Kelowna to attend. We are over the moon because it's just Rob and I going. NO KIDS!

*Cue heavenly angels singing.

We are also planning a long weekend trip out to see our friends in Saskatchewan who had a little baby girl a few weeks ago. So little mini vacations here and there, but nothing major at this point. Although the temptation is always there for me. But I figure, why leave Edmonton when its actually nice and sunny? We'll have to plan a vacation for mid-January.

Kijiji

Yes, it keeps me busy. I've always got something for sale. Rob would like to set up a heavy bag in the (ahem, MY) craft room. This has been a bit of a contentious issue, but the first reality is that the room already needs to be more functional than it is. So that's led me to be posting a gazillion items on kijiji. Not only does it make me some extra cash (I've easily made $50 this week), but it gets the room to a place that we can move stuff around and have space in the middle for his heavy bag.

Anyway, that is a Linda-cized version of a blog post. Easy peasy, and hopefully it no longer feels like I have missed 2 weeks of blogging ;)

Yippee!

2011-06-17T10:40:00.004-06:00

I do love my contests. Like really love my contests. Perhaps that's because I win them. A lot. I can't explain the winning part. Perhaps sometimes its talent, or wit, or just pure luck. I don't really get myself too concerned about it. I figure if you don't enter 'em, you'll never win 'em. Well, I do enter a good number of contests, but I also consider the size of the contest, the length of the contest period, and a few other factors. So I honestly don't enter each and every contest that comes my way. Really.

But amazingly, I won two contests yesterday. Once I found this out, I had considered going out and buying a lotto ticket, but with a tornado watch on for Edmonton, I figured I better stay at home. I mean its one thing to be one in a million to win a contest, but you certainly don't want to be the one in a million person who gets struck by lighting...or sucked up in a funnel cloud. Just sayin'.

So the first contest I won was for a day at Ravenwood Ranch in Caroline, AB. This Spring we were at a friend's BBQ, and we were able to sample some of the farms most delicious burgers. We happened to be in need of a new local meat supplier, and so I befriended them on facebook. Then, they had this contest, "Why my family needs to spend a day at Ravenwood Ranch." So I wrote a little 250 word essay, and huzzah, our family won! So we get to spend an entire day learning about life on the farm, lending a hand, eating delicious local food, and then we camp that night and have a Sunday breakfast. Fairly fab deal if you ask me. I think it will be a wonderful experience for the kids, and for this self-proclaimed city girl.

On their website they have a cute little list with some of the "Fun Stuff You Might get to do":
-collect fresh eggs
-learn how to milk a cow
-learn how to bake buns
-feed pigs
-move chickens to fresh pasture
-helping with haying
-make pickles
-feeding the rabbits
-bottle feed baby goats
-brush horses
-learn how to make jam
-give a pig a back rub*

*I'm especially partial to this last item on the list.

The second contest I won was announced today on their facebook page. A local mall, Southgate Centre (which we used to live quite close to for 3 years) was hosting a "Cool Dad" contest. In 140 words, you needed to say why your cool Dad, needs a makeover. Of course its not my Dad, but my children's cool Dad. Anyway, he won, and he gets a $500 shopping spree with a personal stylist! Um wow. I'm slightly envious, but also super excited for Rob to pick out some fab clothes and get some style advice. Although I must admit, the control freak in me is thinking I may just need to tag along. Lets be serious, $500 can go a long way...if you spend it right. We'll see. It will be interesting to see what Rob decides his "style" is.

This was the entry I submitted...
"I’d like to introduce you to Rob. He is the cool Dad of Abbi and Gabe. A cool Dad who works long, hard hours as a carpenter to support his family. Rob is a Dad who makes the most of the moments with his children. A cool Dad who takes the time to thrill his kids with a weekend visit to the fish store to gaze at the “snarks.” A cool Dad who regularly surprises his kids with a movie night, complete with pillows, blankets, and of course, popcorn. A cool Dad who will spend hours building forts with pillows, blankets, and couches. Unfortunately, Rob rarely takes the time to stock up on cool Dad clothes, but lucky for him, his kids have no idea who Tommy, Eddie or Calvin are (other than kids they meet on the playground)."

The cool Dad himself.
If you go to this Southgate link, and scroll down to the "Southgate News" section, they have a blog entry entitled, "Father's Day Contest" and you can see Rob's picture and entry, as well as the picture and entry of the other winner. Very cool.

Preschool Review.

2011-06-14T08:38:00.011-06:00

Its hard to believe that my girl is done preschool for the year! Even harder to believe that next year she will begin kindergarten! This has been a huge year in terms of growth, change and getting used to the whole school routine (something Mommy is still desperately trying to get the knack of). Tomorrow is the big year end party, held at a farm of one of the teachers. Its currently raining, so I'm thinking it might be a muddy, farm party. I imagine the kids won't be bothered in the slightest.

I thought I would share some pictures from over this past year. Our little lady is growing up!

First day of preschool

Preschool Hallowe'en party. For the entire month of October they would stir the cauldron each class, singing a special song. It was only on the day before Hallowe'en that the spell "finally" worked and the cauldron was filled with bon bons. The teacher had an impressive cackle to go along with the song. It was priceless.

It was also during this year that Abbi was referred to Wally's School which really was the highlight of her year. This program did wonders for Abbi's classroom behavior and overall self-esteem. This is Abbi with her favorite teacher, Miss Jen.

For Abbi's preschool Christmas party, they had Mr. & Mrs. Claus come in to see the kids. Abbi still talks about how Santa "knew" her name. Too cute.

This is Abbi and her aide, Colleen. She was instrumental in helping with Abbi's success over the school year. She helped Abbi transition between tasks and worked with her during activities.
During the winter months, the classrom did a unit called Anicouni, focusing on First Nations history. I'm still amazed that at this age they are already instilling an awareness of the first people's of this land. They toured the Alberta Museum and their First Nations display on a field trip. They used the story of a boy named Anicouni to help make it more understandable to the kids. This is Abbi at their party where they all got dressed in appropriate garb, and even did a sweet grass circle. The teacher got permission from a local elder to burn it.
This is a youtube video of a little one singing the song, seriously adorable.

Abbi also got to have her birthday during the month of May (even though its in July). Regardless of when their birthday was, each child got to celebrate it at school. On this day she got to be "chef" which is a very special privilege, that she got to share with her good friend, "A."
This is Abbi, Mlle. Lisa & "A."
This is a picture of some of the art that Abbi did over the year. We were very lucky and got a special memory book that was put together by the Early Learning Team. I know that we will all treasure it for years to come. It contains pictures of Abbi throughout the year and a samples of her artwork.
It has been a very full year. Filled with lots of challenges and successes. We are all excited for kindergarten. Abbi has come a long way in regards to classroom routine and transitions, and although we know there are still challenges in this area, we are just amazed to look back at the past 9 months and see how far she's come.

Way to go little girl!

Sexy casings.

2011-06-03T09:35:00.007-06:00

Can casings be sexy you ask? I like to think so. Mine are looking rather fine these days. I've been puttering away this week, getting the kitchen casings and baseboards all painted up, in a purdy semi-gloss white. The filling and sanding, and re-filling and re-sanding (those were the putterings from last week) was the dull part of the job. But the paint, ah yes, the paint. Paint never ceases to amaze me with its instant ability to transform something. While primed mouldings are "white" to some folks, once you put it beside a painted moulding, primed white just never looks the same. Its dull, its drab. On a few occasions in this house, the previous owners didn't take the time to paint their primed mouldings. Tsk, is all I have to say about that.

I have some pictures, although I'm still cursing this camera. I really do miss my old camera, but the $80 for a new battery is just a bit much at the moment. So forgive the grainy pictures. I did the best with what I could.

This fat little fellow is Herman, the ledge lark. First of all, I adore his fatness. Second, I adore that he is basically the exact same yellow that I painted my kitchen. And third, I have set him on this ledge with the most important job of watching out for ledge devils. Yes, you know the ones. My husband is definitely a ledge devil. His roommate of many years graced him with this name, because if there was a ledge or a surface, somewhere, anywhere, Rob would have to put something on it. So Herman's purpose in life is to give Rob "the stare" if he dare put anything on my beautifully painted ledge. He looks cute and unassuming now...
This little rosette is our door stopper, and it also gives a nice idea of what the white mouldings and the yellow wall color look like together. So pretty.
Rob finally hung my barn star, which I LOVE. I'm not exactly a fan of the cheesy little hanging loop thing at the top, but I think the black contrast looks smashing.
*And I have to say, I was fairly convinced I was going to paint the hutch this summer, but now that the walls are yellow and no longer prison gray, I'm not entirely bothered by the light wood look. I still think a shabby chic blue paint job could be cute, but for now, I'm much happier with my little hutch. It also seems to pop more now that the paint color is brightened up. I've had a lot of people walk in the house lately (it is the first thing you see) and ask me when I got the hutch. That would be 7 years ago people!

I'm nearly ready to put together Mama's command centre in the kitchen. I've been slowly picking up items to make this little space more functional. Not having a lot of counter space, most of our mail and other random junk ends up on top of the dishwasher. So I've moved our black filing cabinet into the corner by the window, stuck a letter tray on top, and I plan to hang a bulletin board (the same one I used in my office space downstairs), as well as this little letter sorter thingy above that. I picked it up last weekend at a g-sale for 50 cents. It had a horrid ivy motif going on, but with some sand paper and white paint, voila! A cute little spot to stick outgoing mail, coupons, and whatever else. Last weekend, I also found a cube organizer at a garage sale. I literally had it on my to-do list for later that day, as Zellers had them on for $50 (regularly $70). So I picked the exact same one up for $25 at a garage sale. I proudly brought it home, stuck in in the closet, and much to my dismay, our closet was not square. My husband says closets are NEVER square. Sigh, so all my measuring and figuring was all for nothing.

That is until I remembered the carpenter factor, and promptly set the husband to work. He cut about 1.5" off the end of the cabinet, put the end back on, and voila, it fits like it was made for our front closet. Brilliant. That means we won't be able to put a cute little fabric basket in the end cubbies (on the right side), but its a great spot for cleaning products, garbage bags, etc. I was so thrilled with it, I ran out to Zellers and bought another to put on top! So Rob did the same thing to that one, and now I have a total of 18 little cubbies in my front closet! I am in cubby heaven.

We still have a lot of work to do in the front closet, as we removed the two shelves, as well as the rod. There is much hole patching to be done, as well as a coat of white paint to freshen things up. Due to the lack of rod, we will put up hooks for people to hang their jackets, and the kids will each get their own little coat hook, at little people height. Eventually we will each get our own little fabric bin too, but I plan to pick them up slowly over time, as they are $8 a pop! 12 times $8...eep!

Finally, this is another exciting addition to my front closet, but to the exterior of it. This closet was clearly an afterthought or something. So above the door, we have this giant, empty panel. I really wanted to find a grate or scroll piece to hang up there, but at $20, it was far too much. I even checked out a number of salvage places looking for old scroll work. Couldn't find anything, but I did get this old shutter for $6. Its cute, its cheap, and I think it might just do the trick. Still not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it. The closet is such a brilliant white now with the paint, I think no matter what I do, this little fellow will pop. Shutter love.

As you can see, I've been a busy little bee trying to finish up this kitchen makeover, bit by bit, piece by piece. With every new addition, or change, or upgrade, I'm loving the results. Now the back splash stands to be the final big change, but in the meantime, I'm doing what I can to make it a little more like home.

Green, green, green.

2011-05-24T19:29:00.005-06:00

After an entire winter of brown, then bright white, then white-ish, then questionably white, and back to brown, we Prairie folk are sure happy to see some green. The rule around these parts is not to plant anything in the ground until May long weekend (in case of frost). Its a sad reality. I'd say by late September, plants are starting to die off. Sigh, its a short, short growing season around these parts.

So we Neppers were out in full force on May long, getting stocked up on plants. A local greenhouse, Kuhlmann's Market Gardens & Greenhouse, had a coupon which was $50 for $100 worth of plants. Yippee! You know I'm all over it when its a bargain. So we loaded up with bug spray (the mosquitoes are especially evil this year), and off we drove to the far North-side of Edmonton for some planty goodness.

I thought I'd share some pictures of our garden thus far. It always amazes me just how excited we get for gardening season and beautifying our garden, especially considering its such a teeny tiny little patch compared to most peoples. I can't imagine what will happen to us when we one day own a house and have a "real" garden.

Seriously, you need to listen to my husband moon over his lilac.

Yes...it's his lilac.
This weekend Rob also built me one planter box for our garden. There was a house being torn down in the town that Rob's parents live in, so I sent him and his Dad to load up on old barn wood. I'm sure I got an eye roll or two. There was definitely some muttering as well. So in our yard it sat for over a year, and its finally found its purpose. I always find the completion of little projects like this rewarding. Not only because it looks adorable and serves a purpose, but it also makes me seem a little less crazy for sending my husband out to hells half acre to pull planks off a nasty old house. It's in moments like that (although they are few and far between), I feel like he slightly understands the method to my madness.

Ain't it purdy? We have two tomato plants and 6 heads of romaine lettuce.
I also got all the goodies to fill up my two hanging baskets that I picked up a garage sale last summer for $5 apiece. I'm quite pleased with them this year. I have a thing for fuchsias as they always remind me of my Mom.
This is my "mostly perennial" garden. For the cheap woman, nothing is more satisfying that seeing all the plants you paid for last year come back to life. Hooray for garden bargains! I did add some asylum for color.
I've also been introduced to the world of Coleus'. I am IN LOVE. Not only are they beautiful and come in a gazillion different color combinations, but they are also happy in my shady backyard. Hooray!
We still need to plant our herbs, so I'm thinking next weekend, Rob will be building another planter box for those. This year we decided on sticking to the basics - parsley, oregano, basil, celery leaf and cilantro.
Gammy also found a plant that was just perfect for Abbi. It literally gives off the scent of citronella candles (the plant on the far left, above). Abbi was pleased as punch to find a plant that will do away with those pesky mosquitoes. Seriously, a few days last week she refused to play outside due to them.

We also plan on planting potatoes, as we did really well with them last year. I'm slightly opposed to spending $6 on a box of them. While it guarantees 50lbs of potatoes, I don't exactly have the room to grow that many, not to mention, I'm slightly opposed to paying $6 for three or four potatoes. I'm hoping that my potatoes get sprouty really soon. This year I think we will try them in this pot.
Can anyone hazard a guess at what the symbol on it means?
Over the weekend, I had some spray paint fun. Not only did I get the two picture frames painted, but I also put a coat of black paint on this old pot that I got from a friend. It was all nasty and the color was faded from the sun, but a quick shot of black spray paint (which I already had), and voila...a brand new pot!
*I was also introduced to the wonderfulness of Begonias on our shopping trip, which apparently like the shade. I'm loving the Dracena in the middle, and then a few trailers in the back.

This is the bigger picture of the front garden. The dryer well kind of adds a rustic charm to it, but I'd far prefer it with a cool trailing vine all over it. Although not sure it would grow super well with my weekly blast of Bounce.
The other side of the front garden is still a bit of a sad story. Rob has desperately been trying to grown Hosta's for 2 years now. Our neighbors have ridiculously full and bushy Hostas. My husband is seriously suffering from Hosta envy. I suspect they may be the reason for our Hosta failure. Bwahaha. No not really, but apparently they are really easy to grow, and ours just won't do anything. And then two of my Bleeding Hearts got the springtime memo, but the third...well, its not exactly on the same page. This garden really does need an intervention.
So that's a little tour of the greenery around Nepper's Landing this year. Hooray for green!

Last Wishes.

2011-05-14T08:42:00.005-06:00

One of my favorite (and least favorite) types of garage sales are the ones when Grandma and Grandpa are moving into a home...or well, have moved on from this world. I have been to quite a few in my day, and I must say, its terribly eerie to wander through someone's home that's now completely void of life and character. The only thing left are the assumed children who are putting on the garage sale. Often there are tables set up haphazardly, with all of the homeowner's worldly possessions laid out, but now with a price tag on them. Beyond those tables, all furniture is gone (unless its for sale), all pictures have been removed from the walls, and all that's left to do is shampoo the carpets and give it a final wipe down.

These are my least favorite garage sales because there is such a sense of finality about it. Its a clear reminder that you can't take your stuff with you. None of it. (*A shame really. I think I could put on a rather lovely tea party in the afterlife). I love browsing the random little collections of pins, hats, dolls, cologne bottles, tea cups, costume jewelry, records, 8-tracks, you name it, they had a collection of it. Its amazing (and occasionally disturbing) to see what one can accumulate over a lifetime.

On the other hand, these garage sales can be a source of great deals. Often the children just want to be done with it, and move on with their lives. Generally by the time they've gotten around to the garage sale, they've already set aside all of the things that will remind them of their dearly departed. So now they are just trying to make some extra money off what they can before everything else goes to the local Sally Ann.

Unfortunately, the garage sale yesterday was not a source of great deals. In fact, it was shockingly overpriced, and I bought nothing. Unfortunately for the garage salers, as someone who originates from Vancouver Island, I would never, ever, ever pay $3 for two clam shells. Or heck, $3 for some random tree fungus. Or how about $5 for a pair of costume earrings from 1983 in decade appropriate colors (eg. hot pink and green). While the wooden peach crates from the Okanagan were adorable, and definitely authentic, I wouldn't pay $7 for them, mainly because I just thought they were plain cute, but beyond that had no real use for them. Or how about the collection of rotary dial phones, at $25 apiece. Hmm, I think not.

This is the part where my last wishes come in. When that day comes, you know, that fateful day when I've passed on from this earth, I suspect some poor soul (likely my husband) will have to conquer the mountains of my randomly collected treasures (ahem, junk) in my home. Well, please, do me a favor, and let my thrifting legacy continue. Seriously, I want my final garage sale to be one of deals galore. A garage sale that people talk about for years to come. A garage sale where cars are piling up in the back alley, on the road, people have to park a block away just to find a parking spot. I want an EPIC garage sale!

Below is an example of an epic garage sale. Not like I bought a lot, but in this instance, I didn't need to. This was one of my first garage sales of the season, so its always nice when your first is a good one. He was a jolly, well-natured man, and just the kind of person who you want to buy from. Not to to mention, not trying to swindle you for every last penny (please, no penny-pinchers at my final garage sale!).

He had these two paintings, by Victor Zag. Not worth terribly much, but based on the sheer size of them (at least 4' x 3'), and the fact that I quite like them, should make them a little more expensive. He had them $10 apiece, but he said how about $10 for both (I didn't even ask, he offered). Sold! I think these will be in our dining room. They go perfectly with my colors. Yippee!
And another...
The frames aren't real wood, but some sort of plastic, but you really can't tell. I think the frames need to be painted white to go better with the room, as we don't have very much that's dark and heavy on the walls. Rob thinks no painting needs to take place...but I'll work on that ;)

My other great find was this shelving unit thing. I really want more functional storage in our pantry, so he asked how much I would be willing to pay for the shelves, and I said, "I'm so out of practice, I have no idea." He said "$5." I said "Wow." He said,"That's too much?" I'm like, "Nope, sold!" He has all of the brackets (plus extras) as well, as a total of 6 shelves. All in incredible, barely-used condition. Yippee!
So there you have it. Some great deals were had yesterday. As well as some deep thoughts about my last will and testament. A Starbucks Frappucino was also thrown into the mix. I call that a successful afternoon of garage saling!

DIY Vase.

2011-05-10T11:00:00.007-06:00

Call me crazy, but I generally despise the cheesy wrap that most store bought bouquets get wrapped in. I often wonder if they went to the local Value Village and picked up a few rolls of wallpaper straight out of 1973 to wrap the flowers with. Ugh. Not only is it generally ghastly paper, but it also hides the most important part of the package....the flowers.

So lately I've been avoiding the cheesy wrap, and just having them wrap it in cellophane with a ribbon. And yes, I get some strange looks. Although, I must say Save-On Foods as well as the Thrifty Foods in Nanaimo always impress me with their floral wrapping skills. The bouquets are wrapped in cellophane, then tied with some raffia and curled ribbons...beauty!

We are delivering flowers to our babysitter later today as a get better present, and I came up with the following idea. Not only does it do away with bad 1973 flower wrap, but it makes use of something that is easy enough to find right in your recycle bin!
I just took a small strip of scrapbook paper, used some fancy scissors on the edges, attached it to the jar with double-sided tape (cutting it wide enough to cover the Safeway applesauce logo). Attached some ribbon, and voila, a pretty little vase.
On another occasion, I didn't use the scrapbook paper, because I was actually able to remove the jar's label without all of the gummy mess that is normally left behind. I'm thinking this was a pickle jar in a former life...
Can you tell I have a thing for tulips? Indeed, they are one of my favorite flowers.

On another note, we made a trip out to Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm in Bon Accord, AB on Mother's Day. They have a greeenhouse, U-pick Strawberry area (although "u" ain't picking anything these days), a petting zoo, a corn maze, an ice cream shop. And the list goes on. Cute little place, and the kids really enjoyed it. Slightly reminiscent of Coombs, which is always a welcome discovery. We even got to enjoy a 30 minute peacock show. Not sure the 5 ladies in his pen were all that impressed, but the kids sure were. They also got to meet some baby bunnies, so I thought I would share some pictures...

Abbi and her fluffy friend.
Gabe meeting his little furry friend.

Parenting FYI.

2011-04-21T08:19:00.006-06:00

Parenting. Seriously, one of the most daunting words in the English language. It still makes me shudder. I mean seriously, where is the manual? Where are the directions on these little people? And for heaven sakes, why has no one figured out how to install a mute button on these things? All that said, it is one of the hardest things, ever, yet there are these little glimmers. These little experiences where you have an "Ah ha" moment. They are few and far between, and usually you have these moments after something dreadful has happened. Most of the learning is done "the hard way." So I thought I would share just a few of things, either me or someone I know has had to learn the hard way. Hopefully sparing you of this trial...although trust me, there will be more.

Last night I learned a fairly important lesson. Never, ever, let your little one go to sleep with their thumbs through those holes they put in the sleeves of shirts. Ever. And no, these are not holes that have grown into old nasty pajamas, but in fact, some pajamas actually have purposeful thumb holes put into them. Call me crazy, but my thumbs seem to manage just fine through the night without thumb holes. Anyway, poor Abbi was up most of the night moaning and groaning, and we could not, for the life of us, figure out what her problem was. And that coupled with her ability to sleep so deeply, she couldn't tell us. I walked into her room at 6:30am this morning, and she was still at it (moaning and groaning). She finally had the sense to tell me her thumbs hurt. Well boy, did they ever! They were GIANT! Like you couldn't see her knuckles anymore, and they were purple! Poor thing. Note to self...

Another one I heard from a friend, whom I love dearly, but I'm certainly glad it was her and not me. She taught me to never sleep beside your ill child. He was up most of the night sick to his stomach. So she pulled up a little cot so she could be beside his bed when he woke up. Well, at 3:00am when he sat up and needed to vomit, all over Mommy's face it went. Ugh. Note to self...

I've always remembered a story my Mom told me about how my sister was fussy one night and she could not settle her. She was at her wits end, and finally took off her sleeper and found a hair wrapped around her toe, cutting off circulation, hence the upset child (similar to Abbi's thumb story). So when my kids were little and they were just inconsolable, I would always take off their sleepers and do a check of all the fingers and toes (and in Gabe's case, certain other parts as well).

Another classic we learned the hard way last week was the trauma that automated toilets can induce. Gabe was 3 days into potty training and we were out and about and sat him on the toilet. All of a sudden, it flushed, my son's face turned red, and he began shaking and shrieking out of sheer terror. As a result, he will have nothing to do with any toilet that flushes. So I'm grateful that we didn't fall off the wagon entirely, as he will use his mini potty, but this means we have to tote the darned thing everywhere. When I went online to look into this fear of flushing toilets phenomenon, its apparently quite common. As a result, many Moms carry around a package of sticky notes to put over the flush sensor. Brilliant...but you only know that once you learn the hard way.

*Potty training update, last week we were out shopping and Abbi had to go, so she used a flush toilet in a store, Gabe saw this and did it too. Hooray! Since then, we have been able to use flush toilets, but he still refuses to use the toilets at the scene of the incident.

Does anyone else have parenting life lessons to share? Help us to learn the not-so-hard way?

Downtown Adventures.

2011-04-18T19:04:00.004-06:00

I think I'm an odd breed. I'm a person who actually appreciates Edmonton's downtown. Most locals don't really like it, and tend to avoid it at all costs. Perhaps coming from small-town Vancouver Island, I'm enchanted with anything big city. Trains, large malls, Starbucks, buses, downtowns, you name it. Thus, I always find Edmonton's downtown an adventure waiting to happen.

This past weekend I was in a restorative justice seminar. This is a concept that really caught me during a first year criminology course that I took last fall at Grant MacEwan. I wrote a paper on it, and even did an interview for that paper, which ended up scoring me an A+ (thank you very much). There is a lot within the RJ principles that really resonates with me, so I was happy as a clam to sneak my way into a seminar on it. There was only two students in attendance, and I think we only got in there out of sheer annoyance. Apparently we had both e-mailed the coordinator until she finally relented and let us in. I was sure glad she did!

The seminar was downtown, and seriously, I generally enjoy any reason to head downtown. After it finished at 4:00pm, I got to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring and shopping, as Rob had taken the kids to his parent's house for the day. So this Mama was wild and free in the big city. Not really. I shopped for Easter outfits for the kids, and ran typical boring errands. But, I do find doing errands downtown always feels a bit more adventurous, even something as dull as buying milk. I'm an easy girl to please.*
(*Well, no, I'm not, at all, but a good downtown adventure always satisfies).

About a month ago Rob and I got the evening "off" while Gammy took the kids skiing for the first time. So I'm sure you can guess where we went...downtown! It was a bit chilly, but I've always wanted to walk up this atrocious set of stairs that I used to drive past on my way to school. I was always impressed with these people who would run up and down these stairs on their lunch break. Seriously. So we bundled up, because it was still a bit chilly, and off we tromped. I brought my camera, because I'm always shocked at how few pictures I end up taking of my hometown.

Edmonton's downtown is perched on the edge of the river valley. It really is a sight to behold. While I can't say the architecture is all that amazing, I still think its lovely. We have Hotel MacDonald (a fairly amazing Fairmont Hotel). Apparently that's about all we got for architecture, which our English friends think is a pile of hooey. "You call that architecture? Bah."

Edmonton's snowy downtown

The infamous steps. There are approximately 206 of them (you bet I counted!). I nearly died, twice. Then, once we finally (read: barely) reached the top, we looked back at the mountain we had just conquered to see a lovely jogger who appeared to be floating towards us. Once she reached the top, she carried on, floating off into the distance. Jerk.

Our lovely river (the North Saskatchewan). I mean its lovely in that its a river. Beyond that its probably more toxic than Drain-o. Or so my husband says.

This is the view from downtown, looking south.

We then proceeded to the nearest Starbucks for some tea to warm our souls, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and people watching. It was a lovely evening. I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our downtown adventure!

(Un)foiled Plans.

2011-04-17T21:14:00.006-06:00

So last week, I blabbered on about deciding what to do with my kitchen. And, well, I'm still deciding, but my plans were slightly foiled, but in a rather great way. Apparently my son decided it was high time for potty training. One morning I was changing his diaper, I sensed we had some more business to take care of, so I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty (something we hadn't really talked about or tried with him yet), and yup, he did want to sit on the potty. So off we toddled, and voila, the first time we got a #1 and #2 smack dab in there! I'd like to believe this is a small miracle in the world of potty training...

I was in near shock. You could see this light bulb turn on for him. Like "Ohhh, that's how that whole business works." Anyway, we continued for the rest of the day with 5 out of 6...in the potty. Needless to say, I was in disbelief. Potty training our daughter was, well, nothing like this. After 3 failed attempts I was convinced she would be wearing diapers to her high school grad. Finally, three months after her 3rd birthday, she figured it out. It was still a challenge, and a struggle, but she eventually got it. And I was left with a terrible taste in my mouth for potty training, figuring I would not be pushing Gabe to do any such thing, any time soon!

So this first try success has just seemed too good to be true. We are nearing the end of week one and still going strong. Gabe is still willing and very excited about his successes on the potty. He still needs some reminding, but is starting to get to the potty on his own (something that took months with Abbi).

Of course, it isn't all marshmallows and kittens (there has to be some dark side to potty training, at least in my experience), last week we were out at a Positive Discipline class for Abbi (through her school), and I plopped Gabe on the toilet there, which just happened to be automated. Well, it just happened to flush, while my little man was doing his business. Bingo. He is now absolutely terrified of flushing toilets. So while we are having great success on the little potty, big toilets are a no-go. I'm not too worried about this. We can tote around the little potty in the van, and hopefully with time, he can ease himself back into the big potty. Blasted technology.

Yes, we have the special padded seats, for each of our toilets (one Winnie the Pooh and one Diego). Yes, we have used little candies as motivators (although I find we rarely need them now, as the verbal praise seems to be enough). We've gotten him on our big toilets at home a handful of times since "the incident" but for the most part, he prefers his little potty. Can anyone offer wisdom from a similar fear their child had?

Regardless, I'm proud of our little man doing such a great job. This picture is from way back in the summer when we first showed him the little potty (yes, this is the same potty we have to tote around everywhere. Its like a mini love affair!).

Way to go Bubs!

This picture goes out to you, Katrina.

Decisions, decisions.

2011-04-12T21:39:00.009-06:00

A title like that implies that I'm making huge, life-altering decisions. Well, no. Come now, lets not be so serious. I realize that choosing a paint color for my kitchen is. not. that. big. of. a. deal. But then why oh why am I having such a hard time choosing one? Sigh. I have no idea. I think because I feel like I've screwed up paint colors twice in this house thus far and am having a bout of paint selecting phobia.

Out of the five rooms we've painted in this house, I'm not thrilled with the color in two of them. So technically I've been 60% right. When I look at it like that, those aren't entirely impressive odds at all. But screwing up a bathroom isn't that big of a deal. And I must admit, I'm still not convinced the bathroom is a complete mess, it may just need the right accessories.

Anyway...picking the kitchen paint color. I think I've decided, finally. But I have never put so much thought into a paint color (perhaps why my odds are only 60%). I initially described it as butter yellow. Yes, I wanted a butter yellow kitchen. Creamy, country. You know. So we actually took a stick of butter and stuck it up beside the wall (not ON the wall, just to clarify). Oh my. Nope.

All that said, the color I'm lingering on is actually called Butter Yellow, but I like to think Behr didn't actually take a stick of butter and put it beside a wall. But really who knows. The moral of this entire story, is that I like it. I mean I think I like it. I want to like it. Sigh. See, I'm a paint doubter. All you devout painters would say "just have faith." Anyway, I think tomorrow is d-day, I will finally decide.
Butter Yellow by Behr
PS. It looks nothing like what it looks like on my computer screen.

In the meantime I've been thoroughly enjoying my half made-over kitchen. Did I mention my kitchen was gray? Like seriously. Gray fake tile floors, gray counter tops, gray tile back splash, gray walls and a gray ceiling to boot. Talk about gray overload. Its like a gloomy BC day...but even gloomier. So I've never (ever) liked the gray, and have always vowed to get rid of the gray.

And last Friday, I finally did it! I just started painting the ceiling like a madwoman. It was a shocking spur of the moment thing, not terribly well thought out (eg. we were supposed to have company the next day, and the day after that). But, here I am, with a white ceiling, and white primed walls. Its beautiful. I mean not beautiful enough that I would ever dream of leaving it, but its much better than gray any day.

So I've been looking and clipping out of magazines, for the quintessential lovely buttery, warm yellow kitchen. Doesn't this one just make you feel at home?

Photo Credit: House to Home

The catch with this whole Nepper-style kitchen "reno" is that it can't (or hopefully won't) cost more than $200. Hence why I have done that to the word reno. Not exactly worthy of the full recognition of the word. So my goals are to paint the ceiling, the walls, change the casings, change the baseboards, the back splash (to bead board), and eventually paint the cabinet doors. So technically, that's a lot of sweat (and likely tears), but not a lot of cash. Did I mention Airmiles has happily contributed $100 to the project? Yippee!

Another aspect to my makeover is sprucing up our front closet. For those of you who have been to our house, I'm sure you've seen the disaster that is my front hall closet. It has improved dramatically, but with two open shelves over the top, overflowing with cleaning products, there's a lot of work to be done. I plan to raise the shelves, switch out the curtain rod, get new shoe racks (done), a organizer cubby with fabric shelves to organize things like plastic bags, reusable shopping bags, etc. I also plan to have two hooks at kid level so the kids can hang up their own coats and a place for their shoes below. Did I mention touch it up with a fresh coat of paint? Phew...

Here are a few glimpses into my little makeover...

A new chindi rug for the front entrance. I wanted something fun and bright that could be easily washed. Although the white stripes on it prove to be a bit troublesome during Alberta's muddy spring.
$24.99. Canadian Tire.
I got two of these shoe racks. Double-stacked. Sheer brilliance.
$3.99 each. Zellers
A delicious red gingham fabric. Not sure if I can fit this in somewhere, but I do like it. My main colors are white (cabinets, appliances, ceiling), black (hardware, accents), red (accents), and creamy, buttery yellow (walls). Yum.
Decisions, decisions. And by the way, none of these are the color I chose. Although I really do like the color combination on the far right chip.
The two yellows side by side. I've had quite a few votes for the color on the right, but I think its just too bright for me. So I'm leaning towards the one on the left. And yes, I realize it really doesn't look yellow in comparison, especially next to the gray, but the splotches on my walls beg to differ.
Bye bye nasty gray. You won't be missed. At all.

Anyway, a little glimpse into the April project around Nepper's Landing. Never a dull moment. What's your vote for paint color? Creamy and warm? Or bright and funky?

Making it home.

2011-04-05T08:58:00.005-06:00

Last week I came downstairs to find Rob on the computer, with tears on his cheeks, he said, "My buddy John died this morning." Its kind of one of those surreal moments, and of course, this is only my perception of a death that is far more real and life altering for someone else. But it has certainly made me think. So please forgive the self indulgence of this little ramble.

Rob and John worked together a few years ago. They also did a side job together at one point. I can see so many similarities between our lives. They have two young children (maybe a bit younger than ours). He was only 26 years old. I never met him, nor his family, but when I look at his pictures on facebook, he appears to be full of life and joy. And perhaps a bit cheeky.

John was killed in a car accident on his way to work. Likely during the same early hours that Rob leaves for work. I am almost always sleeping when Rob leaves for work, although over the past few weeks, due to the craziness of my school, I have been up at 6:00am, and we see each other before he leaves for work. Otherwise, I don't normally get up until 7:30am, and Rob's already been working for half an hour. I cannot imagine getting that phone call.

When Rob comes home from work, I'm usually fine until around 6:00pm. But once the clock turns to 6:01pm, I get a little knot in my stomach, which only gets bigger as time passes. If we haven't previously discussed Rob being late, it just creates an uneasy feeling in me. It has most definitely crossed my mind on a few occasions, that one of these days, he could be one out of the thousands of commuters in Edmonton who just doesn't make it through the rush hour craze.

I am grieved to hear that this has become a reality for another mother and wife. I didn't know her, but I think on some level, this is the greatest fear for a lot of us. I've heard of many a story like this in my lifetime. The husband/father dies in a plane crash. Or a car crash. Or on a ski hill of a heart attack. Or dies of cancer. I asked Rob why this is, why is it never the Mother (at least in my experience, its rare), he said, "Maybe kids need their Mom more." I don't think there is ever an easy answer. Actually no, I don't think there is ever an answer. Or perhaps there is just never a suitable answer for such tragedies.

And forgive me, I realize that natural disasters, and genocide, and starving children, and all the sheer evils taking place all over the world right now are far more appropriate circumstances for a term like tragedy. But in my little bubble, this is one of my greatest fears, thus one of the most realistic tragedies I can fathom in my little life space. Not one that keeps me awake at night, but one that I've often considered. Rob questioned what the protocol might be when Dad doesn't make it home from work. I don't think there is one. Ever.

Another interesting aspect of this story is to see the role that social media has played. His wife updated his facebook status in order to let people know about it. Within hours of his death. This may seem crass to some, but you must agree, its a simple way to get the word out to hundreds of friends. The funeral has also become a facebook "event." To see "Rob is attending John's funeral" on his list of activities just doesn't seem right, for many reasons.

For me, this story has helped to remind me of what matters. Unfortunately, this is far too often just a short-lived remembrance. I so easily return to my pettiness. I return to my nagging. My critical ways. So as I've been going through these past few days I've really been trying to focus on, what if he didn't make it home? Would those blasted socks matter? Would I really care about the forgotten item from the grocery store? Or the umpteenth time I've had to remind him of whatever?

Nope. None of it would matter. At all. Yet, why is it that when I'm not considering the permanent absence of my partner, my best friend, and the father of my children, they seem to?

Swimming Fun.

2011-03-28T15:35:00.006-06:00

Yesterday we Nepper's took to our local pool. It have to admit, we live about 4 blocks from said pool and its 'only' taken us 2.5 years of living in this house to finally get to it. I can't really say why, oh right, because we aren't exactly swimmers. I suppose unless you plunk a lake or a river in front of us, which aren't in huge supply around these parts, especially when there's still 4 feet of snow on the ground.

So the kids were delighted at this out of character move by Mom and Dad. We bought a community league membership this year (also the first time in 2.5 years), and you get a free swim one Sunday a month. All for $25 a year. Not too shabby. I mean you knew it had to be a deal for me to be taking my kids somewhere...right ;)

Bodies of water are fascinating social situations I must say. I mean where else are people scantily clad, splashing about, acting like its the most normal thing in the world? Maybe there are dance clubs that fit this criteria, although if you hadn't guessed, I don't frequent many night clubs these days...

This may be a hint to our lack of pool-ness, that whole bathing suit requirement. I know few people who are actually comfortable in a bathing suit. Then once you add kids to the scenario (not to mention an extra 20lbs!), well, then you can't just spend the entire time in the comfort of the hot tub, where conveniently, the water goes right up to your neck.

Nope, once you take kids to the pool, you are bending, chasing, sprawling, and just plain old having fun. And for the most part, you can let go of those silly bathing suit insecurities, because heaven knows, kids certainly don't have them. Abbi could care less that her bum crack is peeking out the top of her bikini bottoms.

Then there's the whole change room aspect of things. I remember being appalled at my Mother's apparent lack of concern about being naked in the change room. For the longest time, I preferred the rooms with doors that locked. But again, when you have two kids and they are hungry and cold and ready to run, well, that goes out the window too! I was the naked Mom in the change room yesterday. Sigh. And I always remember, as a kid and a teenager, looking at these older women and thinking...'Ack, my bodies going to turn into that!' Well, I'm sure some girls around Mill woods today are thinking...'Ack, that's what I have to look forward to?"

No really, I don't think girls are doing that currently. I don't give my body that much credit, although it makes me smile to think that I've moved into a new era of change room-ness. I still like to think that I'm a bit of a change room ninja. You'd have to be really focused to catch much of a glimpse of anything, but I do enjoy the ladies who chat away, totally naked, do their hair, put on their lotion...all naked, in the change room. Not sure that will ever be me.

My final pool anecdote is a rather funny one. I think. Rob and I were sitting in the kiddie pool side by side, people watching, and a little Asian girl swam right up to us. Too close for it to be a coincidence, so we thought she was going to say something, but instead, she moved towards Rob, cocked her head and looked at his arm. It was only after she swam away and I looked at where she was looking that I realized she was reading this tattoo! Rob has a Chinese symbol as a tattoo (Year of the Tiger), and she was actually reading it! It was priceless.

Heh. Gotta love multiculturalism.

Black Beans with Rice

2011-03-24T09:51:00.003-06:00

So this is basically my favorite recipe...EVER, so I'm a little shocked that I've never shared it on here before. That said, pictures really can't do it justice, so don't get too caught up in the pictures (I mean really, how do you make mushy black beans look as delicious as they really are?). So take my word for it, take my husband's word for it...its stinkin' delicious...

At my wedding shower some of the gals brought along some of their favorite recipes to add to a book for me, and this one was courtesy of my maid of honor. I had eaten it a number of times at her house and had always raved about it. So this has been a tried and true throughout my entire marriage, and one that everyone enjoys!

Black Beans with Rice

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 cans, Black Beans (19oz/540mL)
1 Green Pepper, coarsley chopped
1 Medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 jar, Pimentos, 4oz (with liquid)
3-4 Cloves Garlic (or more to taste)
2 Beef Bouillon cubes
1/2 Tsp. Cumin
Black Pepper, several dashes
Directions
In large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Saute onion, green pepper, garlic for a few minutes until softened. Then add to blender, along with pimentos (with liquid). Puree until a medium-smooth consistency (add more olive oil if needed).
Return to pureed mixture to pot, and saute for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.

Then add beans (keep liquid from one can, drain second can), bouillon cubes, cumin and black pepper. Cook slowly (low/medium) heat for a minimum of 30 minutes, stirring often. The longer you cook (1-2 hours), the more flavour you get, and the thicker the consistency.

Serve over a bed of basmati rice, garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped onions.

Unfortunately my final picture of it in a bowl was too fuzzy (blasted new camera!), so this is just the end result in a pot. Its rather thick, and goes beautifully over a bowl of rice.
Holly's tips

(because you knew there had to be some...)

~This recipe originally called for 4 cans of black beans, but it just made way too much food, so we cut it in half, and that still leaves plenty for leftovers.
~In the original recipe you actually blenderize the ingredients first and then saute them, but I've found that they puree much easier (and with less olive oil) once softened.
~Pimentos are a type of pepper, although not terribly hot. I have always been able to find them in Safeway, Save-on and Sobeys. They are on the top shelf, usually near the olives.
~You could add the liquid from the black beans from both cans, but I think that ultimately increases the sodium and its not necessary.
~ I am a huge fan of my Cuisinart hand blender set. I rarely use our big blender anymore because its such a pain to clean, and I can usually blenderize with this little fella in two batches.

~ I faithfully use McCormick's bouillon. I love the flavor, and while it still has fairly high sodium content, I have yet to find a lower sodium one I prefer.
~ As a cumin lover, I generally end up adding at least a tablespoon. And maybe 5-8 garlic cloves. And yes, we like our garlic around here!

DIY Laundry Soap.

2011-03-12T17:00:00.010-07:00

First off, I claim no ownership over this recipe. I learned about making your own laundry soap through a friend who got her recipe off the following website, The Family Homestead. I must admit, it seemed like a terribly hippie-ish practice, and I was a bit of a skeptic. I mean Tide does a good enough job, right?

My reasons for doing this are really nothing noble. For the most part, it has zero to do with the environment or saving the whales. I'm not particularly concerned about the chemicals in store bought soaps (and yes, I realize that some of you think I should be). To be honest...I'm just plain 'ol cheap! Nothing more to it than that!

Making my own laundry soap has saved us a considerable amount of money. With 4 people in our family, we do a lot of laundry, but even still, we do a lot less than most families of four. I'd say we average 4-6 loads per week.

So the recipe? Easy peasy. The ingredients are easy to come by in your local grocery store (I bought all of mine at Safeway), and the best part, inexpensive.

1 Bar Sunlight Laundry Soap
1/2 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax 20 Mule Team
*You will also need a large pail (eg. a 5 gallon).
I'd say all three ingredients cost under $15, and although you need a full bar of Sunlight per batch, you would have enough in the Borax and Washing Soda boxes to make almost 10 batches (so you would just have to buy more Sunlight bars). Fairly amazing. Did I mention each batch washes up to 64 loads of laundry? That's some serious bang for your buck!

#1. Enlist a cute helper!

#2. Get your kettle boiling with 4 cups of water in it (you'll use this later). Then grate the entire bar of Sunlight soap. An IKEA cheese grater is perfect for this task.
#3. Add 6 Cups of cold water to a large stock pot. Add the grated soap. Medium heat, until the soap melts, and looks like this:
#4. Keep cute helper busy.
#5. Add the washing soda and Borax and stir until dissolved. It will start to thicken and look like this:
#.6. Once dissolved, remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of boiling water into your pail and then add your soap mixture (into the pail). Then add another gallon (4 litres) of cold water, plus 6 more cups of cold water to the pail.
I hope that isn't as confusing as it reads...

#7. Let your soap sit for 24 hours, and then it will be ready to use. It will look like this:
You will use 1/2 cup per load. It won't have the suds of typical laundry soap, but don't worry, that's not what's making your clothes clean. I don't find it has much of a scent to it, so I still add about a tablespoon or so of scented laundry detergent. And believe me, I am a fan. It takes me about 20 minutes to put this all together, start to finish, and then it lasts me about 3 months. Amazing!

Desky Goodness.

2011-03-10T16:50:00.005-07:00

I realize that you all are totally expecting a post about Rob's trip, but I'm having a bit of camera drama. Call me old fashioned, but I like my own darn camera. Maybe feminist is a better word. Or a selfish feminist? Rob got a new one for the trip, and its like learning a new language. So until he can sit down and get all the pictures off and prettied up from his camera, you will have to wait for some Africa pictures. Ahem.

Have I mentioned I'm cheap? Shocking right? The lady who dumpster dives and uses a minimum of 5 grocery coupons a week calls herself cheap. I know, I was shocked too. But I'm currently paying for my cheapness. I don't want to spend the $80 that Panasonic charges for a new camera battery, so I've been buying Asian knock-offs for like $5, which seemed to do fine, but its now at the point that I have about 0.3 seconds until my camera shuts off, so I better snap fast. Sigh.

So...that means that I only have 3 pictures to provide of my desk makeover, which really, is like blogger blasphemy. Gasp! You just don't do a makeover and not provide 15 pictures from each and every conceivable angle. Or can you?

So the story. Remember my hideous desk of old? Ugh. All that chaos, smack dab in the middle of the living room? We had a slight improvement to my $15 garage sale retro desk that we moved into the basement. The husband never came around to that desk. Shame. And finally, we have moved on up again. The lovely folks who gave us Gabe's bed also gave us the matching desk. So off went retro legs, and this is what we now have. I'd call it a vast improvement.

Ahh, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I've been puttering away on this space for the last few weeks. I picked up some more baskets at Jysk to match the existing ones I already had. They house everything from stationary, to CD cases, to cords, to other such randomness. Beauty. They no longer sell the baskets with the hinged lid, but even with an open top, they are so similiar, I bet you didn't even notice ;)
I also dedicated the bottom shelf to my school stuff. This way I can have the binders and textbooks separated, with other assorted random school stuff in the middle.

If you want to see the before of the shelving unit, you can see it here. Back at that legendary garage sale of 2009. Still gives me goosebumps really. I still haven't painted the inside of the shelving unit, only because I love this blue so much and haven't found one I prefer yet. Although I'm tossing around the idea of painting our china hutch this summer. If I can find the color blue I'm dreaming of, I might just touch up this bad boy.

I wanted a bulletin board for a little inspiration space below the shelving unit. I had very specific measurements, and was pleased to find this little number at WalMart for $6. Nice. It was the classic cheap veneer wood look, so I gave it a few coats of the Swiss Coffee paint that that shelving unit was painted in. I'm just using it to put up a few little things that inspire me.

On the right, I clipped this picture from the newspaper, "Yesterday I was demonstrator, Today I build Egypt." Wow. Another one about how children learn what they live. And finally, my African diva card. I LOVE that my husband picked this up for me. He knew I would fully appreciate a topless, curvy African woman on an art card. Yup. So there she hangs.

I also have a red jar which holds coins from all over the world (did I mention I'm a geeky coin collector?), as well as a few mugs that house other such randomness. I do love the color red. Its like my decorating vice. Generally a splash of red, must be added to every room.

So there you have it. A desk space that is functional (meaning it is staying clean and organized), it has plenty of storage, and it is pretty to boot (really the key point). And the best part? It cost me a whopping $27.97! Love it.

Wrapping up.

2011-03-04T07:58:00.003-07:00

Wow, its hard to believe that tonight (eg. our today) is Rob's last sleep in Kenya. He will spend a good portion of Saturday still at the school, and they fly out Saturday night to Amsterdam. He should be arriving back in Edmonton late Sunday night.

I.can.not.wait.

I can't believe how long this time has felt, for me. I imagine on Rob's end of things its been flying by, but I think its always different when you are the one, left in normality, waiting. I'd say the kids and I have done quite well. Thankfully our kids did not ask all day, every day, "when is Daddy coming home?" Not like I think they fully understood that Daddy wouldn't be home for two weeks but I do think they got this would be longer than just a day at work. They have asked occasionally when Daddy is coming home, or if someone opens the door, they assume its Daddy. This is a big relief for me actually, not having to tell and re-tell over and over again.

I've been doing what I can to keep busy and keep my mind off of Rob's absence. I feel it the most in the evenings. Basically up until dinner time, Rob wouldn't be home from work yet anyway, so the evenings are the most bothersome. I've had some friends over for dinner and got in one girl's movie night (although we did watch 127 hours...which isn't exactly chick flick material, ahem).

I really didn't think it would be this lonely. So I finally came to this realization, and perhaps this is just plain common sense, but really Rob has never been away prior to this. I've gone to visit my family or spent my week in Victoria for school, but I've always been the one who was away. But I've come to realize that there is such a depth and connection in our relationship that just cannot be replicated in friendships, no matter how deep. Don't get me wrong, I've loved my time with my girlfriends and the families in our lives, but it just cannot replace the level of intimacy that Rob and I have.

My good friend who's husband is also on the trip found it rather amusing that I didn't think I would miss him as much as I do, and perhaps rightly so, as I believe her husband has been away before. But for me, I'm the one being left, for the first time, so its been a quite the revelation for me. And gosh, there is only so much a person can do to keep busy before that loneliness creeps in. I've learned my lesson!

So how have I kept busy? Well, apparently by cleaning, A LOT! Seriously people, I've learned the true power of a toothpick, and I'm rather impressed. I took to the exterior of my stove with a toothpick. My stove is looking rather spectacular. I also gave the kitchen cupboards an intense wipe down, and out came that magical toothpick. Amazing the grime you can get off with those bad boys. You may now think I'm completely OCD, but I assure you, this mad cleaning spree was completely motivated out of sheer boredom.

I have also been doing copious amounts of random laundry. For example, the shower curtain and bath mat, all our extra bedding, the blankets that I toss over couches to snuggle in, scarves, mittens, toques. Basically if we own it, I washed it. Although I really do enjoy doing laundry so that example may just be due to my enjoyment of the act.

I've also been organizing like mad. Another thing I know I do when I'm feeling stressed or just needing to control (check out that self-analysis my social work friends!). My new and improved desk space is almost ready for its debut, hooray! I also took to our filing cabinet and got rid of a lot of extra papers and reorganized a few things. I've finally begin to tackle my magazine stash. Seriously, its probably a foot tall. So I've been clipping articles and recipes that interest me, and I plan to recycle the rest.

Phew. Just writing all of that is nearly exhausting, although I really am loving our clean and organized home. Its really such an improvement. So much easier to keep clean (although I may have to point out there is one less person to, ahem, pick up after), and when I'm having people over there really is no fuss as the house is fairly tidy already. I absolutely love coming downstairs each morning to an empty kitchen counter that completely clean with all the dishes put away, and the coffee on (as I've been setting it the night before). I mean it's amazing. So what happens when Rob returns? Will all my cleaning and orderliness go out the window? I'm hoping not entirely, but lets be serious, know I'd far rather watch a show with my man or chat to him that clean my stove with a toothpick.

I've also been getting on the elliptical which is good all around. I find it really it to be an excellent stress reliever, and I feel a lot better in so many ways. So I'm pleased that I feel I have been so productive with my time, but also glad that I can slow down on the "productivity" a bit. I think since Rob has been gone I've watched maybe 2 nights of TV. Not like we watch that much TV anyway, but its just been this need to keep busy, keep moving.

Here are just a few other things I've been doing to stay sane in Rob's absence...
Last weekend the kids and I went to WEM to occupy ourselves. This was my first mini golf attempt with two children. It was going smashingly until Abbi schwacked Gabe in the head with her putter, which led to much crying of both parties. One out of guilt and one out of pain. Fun times. Then once Gabe recovered, he realized that if he threw his ball at the hard ground it would shoot up and do some pretty impressive bounces.
I bought this map and hung it in the dining area, so we can see how far away Africa is. When Gabe's room is back to normal (no progress in that department, by the way), I intend to hang this map over the head of Gabe's bed.
I borrowed a bunch of safari books from the library so we could talk and learn about the animals that Daddy might see while on safari. Abbi is very excited to hear Daddy's "Africa stories."
As a self-care technique, I treated myself to some lovely flowers. And perhaps the odd Starbucks, or two.
And finally, I indulged in a little DIY action. I rarely have time for this stuff right now with school, but last week being reading break allowed me to get my DIY on. In a small sense anyway. This will be part of the desk area makeover.
So there you have it. Not much else new around here to report. But a big thanks to those of you who have been following along and praying for the Africa trip during their time away. I don't think it turned out as anyone expected, but sometimes that's a good thing, and as one friend poined out, "It's just us Westerners that are so project/results driven." I think that the greater need really was for the halfway house to be built, and while it really was disappointing for many, I know for Rob, he has been in his element (minus that whole 45° bit!).

Last night during our phone call, Rob asked me if he could leave his work boots with someone there. Absolutely warmed my heart! If you noticed a few posts ago, most of the men working are either barefoot or in flip flops working on the halfway house. So I can imagine the adoration that Rob's work boots got. So I just have this visual of a line of Africans, 9 in flip flops and one in a pair of rather swanky work boots. This is my husband, and I love it!

When we were dating, we went for coffee at the Empress (a Fairmont Hotel, uber fancy) in Victoria. We walked out and almost right away a street person walked up and asked us for change. We had none. It was a typical Island-esque drizzly, cold day. Rob was wearing his very expensive Gap wool jacket (while not good for the rain, it was quite warm). The man who asked us was wearing this dirty, thin, hole-filled jacket and you could tell he was very cold. So Rob said he had no change, but asked if they could trade jackets. Of course the homeless man obliged, and even today, I picture that guy walking around in his swanky Gap coat.

John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." Luke 3:11 (NLT)

A little r&r

2011-02-27T08:03:00.007-07:00

This weekend the Kenya team has been able to get in a little r&r. This was technically supposed to happen later next week, but with the playground delay, they moved up the beach day and safari, just in case the playground does arrive before the end of next week.

I do need to point out that the images I am using are not mine. I have been using some pictures from the Education for Life website, to hopefully give a little glimpse into what life might be like for Rob. I suppose we'll find out when he gets home if I was on base, although I'm pleased to hear that he is taking an uncharacteristic amount of pictures, yippee!

On Saturday they spent the day at Diani beach which is south of Mombasa. Which you can see on the map below...

Photo credit: Forest Dream

Rob said the beach is literally picture perfect. White sand, vivid blue water. Apparently he got a decent sunburn, despite his slathering of sunscreen. He also made a rookie mistake when it came to a cactus. Apparently they were sitting on a telephone pole that was on its side, in the shade. He knew there was a cactus behind him, but what he didn't realize was that the back of his shirt would end up filled with these tiny spikes from it (not entirely sure how they got there). The Africans knew this and told him to take off his shirt right away. Cute.

Photo credit: Real Adventures

With our current Albertan temps hovering in the -15° - 25° range, I'd take some of that beach action any day!

On Sunday they were attending church, and then heading off on safari. Very exciting. I must admit, my husband wasn't so sure of this safari business. He figured you're there to work, so work. I figured, you're in FREAKING Africa, go on the bloody safari, Dear! I guess I finally won out, because that's where he currently is. I couldn't get a specific location, as I don't believe they are in the actual Tsavo East National Park, but in a private reserve not far from there. Interestingly enough, you may have heard of Tsavo from the book, The Man-eaters of Tsavo which was made into the 1996 movie, The Ghost in the Darkness. Two lions happened upon some workers, and apparently this scene is in the movie (which I saw far too long ago to remember). Anyway, moving on from man-eating (ahem, preferably not my man) lions...

So the trick with this safari business is there is no guarantee what animals you will see, as its supposed to be au naturel although I must say I'm really hoping for some good pictures of some elephants and giraffes. I'd be quite fine if they didn't happen upon any carnivorous animals (that's what zoos are for really). I believe they will spend two nights on safari, which sounds rather posh. In the little "what to wear while on safari" it was recommended that men have a "suit jacket" (really, people still own these?) to wear for the evening meal. Well, we didn't exactly have a suit jacket, but I figure a nice collared shirt might be a good compromise.

Here are my two "I really hope Rob gets to see" animals...
Photo Credit: Acacia

Photo Credit: Kevin Williams Wildlife Photography

That's the latest news as of yesterday morning. We seem to have a nice phone schedule with Rob phoning around 8:30am (6:30pm his time) every morning. The kids and I are doing well. It's definitely lonely, but I'm also really trying to appreciate the "me and them" time. Some days its definitely trying but as long as I make a point to have 1 hour of me time in the afternoon, I seem to be doing OK. Another bonus has been that this past week has been reading break, which has really helped. Of course, as all good things must come to an end, I do have a paper due tomorrow night.

Still Playground-less

2011-02-24T21:16:00.005-07:00

Yup, unfortunately still no playground. Apparently it is in the works to have the papers signed by next Tuesday, but it will still take 4 days for the container to be released. Meaning...my husband will likely not touch this playground on African soil. Really sad. The team leader traveled to the government headquarters to see if he could get some strings pulled and get things sped up, but thus far, Tuesday is the first day anything will happen. Shame.

To be honest, I thought Rob would be really upset about this. I was really upset about this! You travel all the way to Africa to set up a playground...then there's no playground. But I'm amazed at my husband's positive attitude. He says he's in Africa and he's there to serve, and that's exactly what he's doing. Playground or no playground. I'm so impressed with him. And so proud.

On the school property they are building a halfway house for the orphans that live there (26 children actually live at the school, they are presumably orphans, but the other 500 or so attend and are fed at the school). This will be the transition house for these kids as they enter into adulthood and independence. This project has been a long time coming, and it recently came to a halt due to lack of funding. So as I understand it, the team (our team) was able to give $2000 towards the project, which got it up and running again. Amazing.

And guess what the majority of the work is? Concrete. Precisely what my husband does pretty much all day, every day, here in Canada! Amazing right? He says he feels like he just traveled for two days to go to work in Africa, because he's essentially doing the same thing...

"What do you mean this isn't how you do it in Canada?"Well, I suppose it's not exactly the "same" but close enough that he knows what he is doing, and is earning some serious cred with the Africans. "Mr. Rob, you need to slow down. Take a breath." (eg. slow down dude, you're making us look bad!). Rob says they are hauling 100lb sacks of concrete mix around, and to mix the concrete they dump the mix onto the floor of a room that's about 10'x10', then add water, and get mixing it with shovels. Then you pack the mixed concrete up to the second level. Fun, right? At a mere 42° that's buckets of fun.

I'm sure the Esso Refinery safety guys would drop dead if they happened upon this job site.
Heh. Love it. Kenyan style.

This is the rooftop view. Incredible.
So Rob is feeling purposeful, which I am so relieved about. Unfortunately for some of the other team members, they are having a hard time adjusting to the idea that they may not set up the playground at all, and understandably so. The reality is, the playground will still get set up. The team leader will likely stay until the project is done, and I'm sure there are a number of willing bodies around to do the work, I think its just hard to let go of the idea that you won't get to physically do it, especially since you were mentally preparing for this for months. But I hope that in hindsight they can see how much they contributed to the project overall, and can find purpose during their time there.

The "single" men stay at a apartment hotel a few minutes away from the school compound, and all the married couples stay in apartments on the school property. So I believe there are 4 single guys staying together, which seems to be going well (minus a few excellent snorers in the room). I haven't seen pictures, but from the description Rob gives me, he looks out from their room, and right there is the Indian Ocean. Every night they go for a swim. Rob says the water is so unbelievably warm.

As for the poverty, I know from experience (a missions trip to Haiti), it really is hard to comprehend when you first see it. Well, no, from my happy little 1st world view, it's always unbelievable, but I asked Rob, 'what are you seeing' (the first day he arrived), and he sounded shell shocked. He said, there just aren't words. So today when we talked he said that his instinct is to just throw money at it. You see adults and children begging and you just want to give them money, because you know you have so much.

I do know that you do have to be careful as people can be very manipulative, and will tell you sob stories so they can get your money. Sad. But as a friend pointed out today, "What would you do if you knew you had no food for your children? What lengths would you go to to feed them?" Very true.

I suppose I question whether money really is the answer. Look at all the money that was "thrown" at Haiti and its still in a complete state of disrepair. I think its about responsible money, and education. Education first for yourself. To walk into another culture and just start throwing money around, I think, is highly ignorant. When you don't even understand the culture, the values, the people, by throwing money at it, you just put a 1st world band aid on a 3rd world problem. And likely not a problem that will get "fixed" with a $20.

Anyway, after all that rambling, I don't think you 'figure it out' in a 2 week stay, but I do think you get a good perspective on how the other half lives, and hopefully get a better idea of their struggles and can see it for more than just about money. Because I do think its about so much more. So I'm excited to hear this process happening for Rob (and I imagine for many others on the team). I think it really does open your eyes to just how big, and beautiful, and often ugly the world really is.

Safe, Sound and HOT!

2011-02-23T07:39:00.003-07:00

My husband has arrived safely in Mombasa. Hooray! They traveled through most of the night on Sunday (February 20th), arriving in Amsterdam at what would be our 3:00am, and their 11:30am. They were told, without a doubt, DO NOT sleep! A couple going on the trip with them left two weeks ago, so they learned that one the hard way (apparently it really messed up their internal clock). So they spent the day in Amsterdam, and as I understand it, they even got in a canal tour. Rob says the city is a beautiful.

They left Amsterdam at 8:40pm, and again traveled through the night, and arrived in Nairobi at 7:00am and then they had one more flight to Mombasa, which got them in around 10:30am. They finally arrived at Education for Life (the school/orphanage) at Noon on February 22nd. Um yeah, I have no idea how many travel hours they logged there, but gosh, they must be tired!

And it is HOT! Of course, they are traveling during one of Mombasa's hottest seasons, so everyone knew and expected this, but I imagine that going from a week of the -20°s to +30°s would be a huge shock to the system.

This is the Mombasa 5 day forecast. Ahem.

Wednesday, 23

32 | 24° C

Partly Cloudy

Thursday, 24

30 | 23° C

Partly Cloudy

Friday, 25

32 | 25° C

Partly Cloudy

Saturday, 26

33 | 25° C

Partly Cloudy

Sunday, 27

32 | 25° C

Partly Cloudy

Oh my poor, poor heat avoidant husband...

So the big catch? Well, back in October they loaded up the playground as well as a number of other items (soccer jerseys, soccer balls, underwear for the kids, clothing, computers, medical supplies, etc) in a giant shipping container. The container arrived in Mombasa mid-January. They shipped it early to avoid any government funk and red tape, and guess what? Over a month later, the container is still held up by customs and they aren't releasing it. So this is a HUGE deal, and we are asking for many prayers to get this container released. ASAP!

I believe they have other jobs for them to do while they are there such as painting and whatever else is needed, and I imagine they could prep the playground site in the meantime, but I know it would be a huge disappointment for all to not have the container released.

I would love to see these faces light when they see a playground, sent all the way from a far away place called Canada, and set up by some nice, white-looking folks, just for them.
Wouldn't you?
They serve around 750 children, per day.
These are the children who live in the Children's Home. 27 in all. Amazing!
Love. Seriously.

The new (ab)normal.

2011-02-17T10:05:00.008-07:00

Remember our leaking windows? Well, we had our lovely little condo-hired handyman come in this morning to do further exploration of what could be causing the leaks. And what did he discover? An ant infestation...

Sick. Seriously sick.

Call me crazy, but somehow mold seems so much less gross to me. Mold doesn't have a personality. I didn't keep "mold farms" as a kid. I used to like ants. They were the go to bug when it came to introducing my kids to the world of bugdom. Ants. Easy peasy. Rarely bite. Kind of cute in a insecty kind of way.

Not anymore...

Now that they live in my son's wall, they are my forever enemies. They have completely eaten through the plywood right through to the exterior stucco. There is actually frost on the studs because there was nothing left to separate the wall from the outside. Kind of explains why his room used to get so cold.

He said, "Didn't you see ants all the time?" Nope. In the summer the odd one would scurry across the main floor, but that's pretty typical summer stuff (and never on the top floor). Never ever anything to make us suspect anything to this magnitude...
Yeah. Wow.
Wow again.
Yup...that's the backside of the old stucco (which is now covered in vinyl siding).

Anyway, so now we leave it, as is, and let the wall dry out. Then I have no idea what happens next. Basically the entire wall needs to be replaced (inside and out). Its currently -23° outside, so not sure that will be happening anytime soon.

So this is our new normal...

Both of the kids dressers are in our room now.

And its amazing that stuff like bookcases, desks, dress-up baskets and whatever other randomness all have found a little place to go. I figure this is going to be a long haul, so I really wanted stuff to be put somewhere that was not in the way. This was our project when Rob got home from work last night. Completely dismantle, set up, and re-organize Gabe and Abbi's room.

Remember our leaking window? Well, that's a whole other story. That is likely due to the lack of ventilation in the attic, causing the ice to melt down into the wall (coming through the window). So that issue..well, we're not even there yet. But just to top things off, and really, to make it fair, we had some of our wall ripped out too...
So much better. I mean not better in the sense of it's still a serious pain in your butt, but I can deal with this (this is about 3 feet from my side of the bed) way more than I can handle antness. So again, this side will dry out, then they decide what happens next.

So yeah. This has been my morning. I'm in this daze. Like really? 3 days before my husband leaves for a 2 week trip for Africa? We just had to go there. Really? Seriously? Although I'm "trying" to focus on the bright side. We own a home. That in itself is something to be grateful for. And as much as I often begrudge condo living...we don't pay for the repairs. That is a wonderful thing. I actually have walls to be infested by ants, many people don't (not like I'd offer my ant infested walls out). And we live in a 3 bedroom home. My kids can share a room. We have places to put the extra stuff. I mean, its bad, its sick (and disturbing), but it could be much, much worse.

Wasn't that impressively optimistic? I know right? Because then I walk downstairs and look at this wall, which is right below Gabe's room and think...oh my word, "what is behind there now?" How else do ants get to the second story of a house...other than through the wall.
Oy.

Us Lately

2011-01-29T16:34:00.005-07:00

While I like to think I can write a fairly witty post on a good day, my brain is currently fried and recovering from a paper for school, therefore, this is not a good day (in terms of my brain's capabilities). Group work is officially exhausting. Or maybe it's only exhausting when you all have different ideas of what a decent paper looks like. It was good, and stretching, but yeah, it took a lot of work...for one paper! With 3 more assignments to go over the course of the semester. Oy.

Thus, all my brain can handle currently is posting a few pics from our lives lately. Hope you enjoy...

Abbi and her baby sister, Harriet. You didn't know?
Gabe, being his usual adorable self.
An afternoon of painting.
Our photographer in training.
I love that Gabe fits perfectly across a step. This is his grumpy face.

Sexy Legs.

2011-01-24T13:17:00.007-07:00

I realize it would be somewhat obnoxious to make an entire post about your own sexy legs. You'd be thinking, seriously where does this chick get off? Thus I am not doing a post about my own sexy legs (in reality, I'm not the biggest fan of my legs), but rather a post about the legs on this chair.

Hubba, hubba.

I picked up this little number at Value Village for $14.99. I am in love. While I was eying it up, and considering, and sitting, and smelling (gross I know, but I've been burned by a smoky couch), another woman did the walk by. And she was eying me up! Waiting to see if I was going to snag it. In the end I did, and I'm quite pleased. It reminds me of those old school wicker rocking chairs, but even hipper, if that's possible.

The arms need a bit of loving, as they are pretty dinged up, but I figure it would be an easy job. Paint them black or stain them? Unsure at this point. Its funny how this whole "distressing" and aging" furniture thing is so in right now, but actual wear and tear generally doesn't qualify. Oh you DIY divas, how you confuse me.But before I attempt any staining, or painting project, our backyard will have to stop looking like this...

I mean really? Is this amount of snow even necessary? Although I am quite fond of my yellow birdhouse's snow toque...

We have some fairly serious snow overhang, icicle-ness going on around these parts.

While icicles are cool, and I have fond memories as a child chewing on them (although I'm not sure I'd ever attempt eating them in our refinery town), the huge shift in temperature has not only turned the roads into slushfest, but also made our bedroom window leak. Not cool. It looks like the previous owners had additional insulation blown into the ceiling, yet someone failed to make sure that there was still adequate ventilation.

Apparently there isn't because all the condensation in our attic has nowhere to go. Not good. So we have the condo board looking into it, but our window was an extra bonus (we started noticing it in Gabe's room). Early Sunday morning I woke up to my husband reverting to his carpenter-like ways and exclaiming a rather foul word. This was in response to the drip, drip, drip taking place on our window sill. In a 5:00am stupor we both staggered around getting towels in all the right places.

Oy, the joys of home ownership. Although we did decide in this instance, it may be advantageous to be in a condo, as someone else will be paying for the repairs. Seriously, life is never dull around here!

Kijiji-ness

2011-01-17T07:00:00.004-07:00

Not only do I find spectacular deals on kijiji, but I also am able to sell a variety of things on there. I love this website. I used to be quite the eBayer, but then with all the shipping hassles and PayPal, I fell off the wagon. Ugh. So I've moved onto kijiji, which is local and even better, free to use!

I have been on a kijiji mission over the last few months, selling whatever I can, whenever I can, to help raise money for Rob's trip. And honestly, I would estimate we've sold over $1000 just off of kijiji in the last few months! Amazing right? of course there were a few big ticket items, like Rob's blue bass that he sold yesterday for $400 (and yes, it was a sad day, but knowing how much he wants to go to Kenya, I think it was worth it for him...not to mention it hasn't been played in, ahem, years!).

Rob bought a guitar a few months ago for $250 to teach guitar lessons with. A nice electric acoustic one, and then he decided he didn't really need the electric side of things (one you can plug into an amp), so he tried to sell it, ended up getting $260 for it (because he didn't have change for a $20. Smart man!). That day he found the exact same one he was going to buy in the store for $160...on kijiji for $100! So there was a cozy little $160 profit.

Those are rather large sales, but beyond those things I've sold anything from snow chains ($40), to 2-Way Radios ($15), to light fixtures ($10), to power bars ($1 each), to canning Jars ($2), to a Pay-As-You Go Cell Phone ($40), to an IKEA mirror ($2), to an IKEA Step Stool ($3), to an IKEA Storage Box ($5), to a Winnie the Pooh Duvet Cover ($5), to a MEC kid's snowsuit ($15), to a Clarinet ($40), and a Toy Story Foam Chair ($4). Phew. And honestly, the list goes on!

I currently have over 30 items for sale. I've just been going through our storage area, our kitchen, the kids rooms. Basically the entire house. In a sense, de-cluttering, but at the same time making a little profit as well. It never ceases to amaze me just how much stuff I have...that I just plain don't use, or need. I suppose this is the problem with North America, we have the "one day" mentality. "One day" that will come in handy, or "one day" I'll get into those jeans, or "one day" I will have the space to use this. Riiiggghhht!

I've been trying to fight that mentality in a lot of areas lately. I figure if one day I can fit into that size, I'll go out and buy the clothing then. And one day if I really need that item again, I'll buy it then. One day, if Rob really wants to get into bass playing again, we will look for a new one. Its not just for Kenya that this mentality arises, but just for plain simplicity. I mean our under stair storage space is considerably less cluttered with so much more room. Its incredible!

So for those of you who may want to give kijiji a whirl, I have a few tips...

1. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, take pictures of your items. And good pictures. I'm not going to drive 30 minutes across town for something that I can't see. Plus, people are more likely to respond to your ad when they can see the item they are asking about.

2. Take measurements! I know, sometimes its a pain in the butt, but again, when I was looking for a computer desk, I needed specific measurements. What a waste of everyone's time when I have to e-mail you, you go measure, and nope, its not the right size. Measure once, and you avoid repeatedly wasting your time measuring and replying to people who need measurements.

3. Reply promptly! I've had a textbook for sale over the last couple days, and lost the sale because the buyer was just cruising kijiji that day before class, and the first person who replied to her got the sale.

4. Be clear! If you lay it all out in your ad, you don't have to reply to a bunch of e-mails asking questions you should have answered in the first place.

5. Set a realistic price. Generally if I'm selling a specialty item, I will search kijiji first and look at the going rate. Or look at other online retailers. No one cares what you paid for it in 1972. It matters what its selling for now! Although my Dad often reminds me that their couch set cost over $3000 (To which I always reply, "Yes Dad, that was in 1977").

6. Be willing to bargain. If you need to get $100 on an item, you certainly don't list it for $100. You add $10 or $20 to the price so that people can talk you down and feel like they are getting a deal. Some people don't bother, some people will. I rarely talk people down unless their price is absolutely ridiculous.

7. Be willing to deliver. Sometimes. I generally make a point not to make deliveries, but in some cases I will. Call it karma, call it what you will, but I have had some really great people, complete strangers, be willing to come to my house and drop off couches (before we had van) or other large items.

8. Don't be scared to charge a delivery fee. If you are selling something big and have to deliver it across town, don't be scared to ask for some gas money. State this before any sort of delivery agreement is made. People are generally more than willing to shell out some cash if they don't have to do the driving.

9. Don't put up with nonsense. The first guy interested in the bass wanted $100 off, then he wanted Rob to pay for new strings ($25-$50), and then he wanted Rob to deliver it. Hm mmm. Cute. While there aren't many items I need to make a certain profit off of, I would rather wait to sell it to someone who can actually appreciate the value of it, instead of someone who is trying to squeeze every penny out of you they can. Hence, yesterday's sale of $400 (precisely what we were asking).

10. Give it a whirl! Seriously. kijiji is one of the most user friendly sites. Posting an ad is simple. Uploading pictures is a piece of cake. Writing up your ad, easy peasy. It may seem somewhat intimidating, but the process is painless. I can have 20 things listed within an hour. Give it a whirl!

Experimenting.

2011-01-12T10:06:00.008-07:00

No, Mom, I'm not experimenting with drugs! More like trying out some new recipes. I don't know about you, but I am a clipper! When it comes to books and magazines, I cut, clip, tear, dog-ear, you name it, I do it! Over this past year I've had a magazine subscriptions to House and Home, Style at Home, Chatelaine, Good Housekeeping, and Homemakers! Eeek!

Talk about magazine OVERLOAD...

I end up having a pile that looks like this! Ugh. So this year, I've finally come to my senses and cut down on the subscriptions. Although, in my defense, most of them were the freebies you get when you buy specially marked boxes of Cheerios. I'm only keeping Chatelaine for now. I find their articles super practical and helpful. As much as I love my home decor magazines, I just don't have the time right now, and most of the things I do like are fairly timeless, so I can easily find them in a magazine that's 2 or 5 or even 10 years old. Not to mention all the amazing ideas you can find online.

I'm a happy camper when my magazine stash looks something like this...
So back to my clipping addiction. Its not good. I've been at it since we've lived in Alberta, and you end up with a pile looking like this. And this is just my recipes, not my home decor/crafting ideas! Yikes!

The other night, while watching a show with the husband, I trimmed, tossed and three-hole punched all of the recipes that I have been clipping over the years. (FYI: I cannot just sit and just watch a movie. I must be doing something with my hands. Unfortunately for my weight, eating can fit into the "doing something with my hands" category. Sigh).

If you'll notice, on top of that pile sits a cute little book, entitled "Recipe Keeper." Brilliant idea right? Yeah, only if you use it! My cousin gave me that over a year ago now. Ahem. It has been collecting dust, and I have continued on with my clipping addiction. So I finally put all the clipped recipes in their respective places, Main Dishes, Appetizers, Desserts, etc. Now, the real trick is to try them all out.

We also have a number of cookbooks that also have a few recipes that I would like to try out. I am slowly moving away from cookbooks, because I do find most of my recipes online these days, but there is something about a pretty stack of cookbooks on a counter top, isn't there? I'd really like the husband to build me a mini bookshelf for this spot that would span from the base of the cabinets down to the counter top. If it could fit the cookbooks, and maybe two little baskets for kitchen randomness, I'd be a happy camper.
Last week was black bean week. I tried out 3 different dishes, all having black beans as a main ingredient. Two got 5 stars, and one was a 3-4 stars (probably won't keep that one). But wow. 3 recipes down, in just one week! I found it took a bit longer to shop and plan my list, but I think it really paid off. We got to try something new, and I made a dent, albeit a small dent, in my recipe stash.

So this week, there really isn't a theme, but again, three more nights of new meals. I actually really enjoy trying out new recipes, its just the matter of having the time to look them over, shop for them, and make them.
I realize I still haven't done the 2010 follow up post, or the what's to be done in 2011, but seriously, where is the time? But one of my thoughts for 2011, is use up what you have. This can span from clothing, to food in my cupboards, to craft items, to home renovation items. So I'm slowly working through the recipes I do have. And the recipe binder I do have.

New-ness.

2011-01-07T08:58:00.007-07:00

OK, so now I've really been off the blog wagon. Recently we were speaking to a friend about our "diet" and whether or not we were still on the wagon, and we decided we haven't seen the wagon in months now. Its probably in the next town by now! So the blog wagon...yeah, its been gone for a few weeks now.

Life has been full and busy around here, as it always finds the way to be. Being the Mom of a preschooler, the beginning of January seems to bring you back to reality, and it does so, fast. I got to enjoy three blissful weeks of not having to run out the door three times a week. It was lovely. Rob was home for two weeks of that, so I got to sleep in until 9:00am for two weeks straight. Was I spoiled? Absolutely! So Monday the 3rd came as a bit of a shock to the system! We're now at the end of that first week, and we are slowly getting back into the rhythm.

Yet, its not only readjusting to school life just for Abbi, but also for myself. I'm starting 2 new courses, and finding that adjustment also difficult. "Research for Social Change" and "Human Development and the Social Environment within a Global Context" will be occupying my brain for the next 4 months. One teacher is the same from last semester, but with each new course, there is a new course format to get used to, different teaching styles, deadlines, and an entirely new group of people to work with. Phew.

Thankfully, I already have one semester under my belt and have kind of figured out what worked last semester, what didn't, and what I need to work on. First things first, I can no longer plan my life from my computer or my desk, I need some portable planning...hence, the oh-so-beautiful day planner.

And I know, these days they have all sorts of fancy machines that will do this for me, and plan my life, but I'm still a fan of the written. I still do flash cards when I study, because I personally find the writing of the information super helpful in the remembering and retaining of it. So I found this beauty for $10.49. Please, please, do me a favour and never, never buy the next years calendar or planner until Boxing Day. Really! I refuse to, knowing that I can still get my calendar before the new year is upon me (on Boxing Day and beyond), for 50% of the price.

I really wanted to get my "OrganizeHer" wall calendar from last year. I loved it. Big daily squares to fit in all sorts of family busy-ness, but I looked far and wide in Edmonton and couldn't find it. I found it online, but I wasn't about to pay US prices, plus shipping. So I found the little number below and I'm pretty pleased with it. I do prefer coil bound ones (just because they lay flat on the wall), but this seems to do the trick. Plus, there were still a good number of the stickers leftover from last year (each of us had color-coded stickers to keep everyone's activity in order). I'm also a big fan of the business card pockets and the big clear storage pocket on the bottom. Brilliant!

Another thing I'm working on is writing down daily goals and reminders on a little note pad. I don't know about your family, but we somehow seem to be a magnet for all these random little note pads. Like seriously, how many do people really need? Rob gets them through work, I get school ones, I get day planner ones, I get real estate people ones. They just never stop! So I figure this would be a good way to not only remember the gazillion things running around in my mind (at any given time), but also to use them up.

The one I'm using currently has had every page scrawled on. Abbi went through a phase where it was imperative to put a little scribble on EVERY page of a book. Coloring books, note pads, Rob's school work (I'm sure you can imagine how that went over!). Basically any piece of paper she could get her hands on. So I find every morning when I flip the page, it reminds me of the crazy, creativeness of kids.

*And yes, here in Alberta when you shop on the first Tuesday of the month you save usually 10% off your groceries, or at Save-on-Foods you save 15% off (or you can choose to get 25x the points, but I always go for the money savings).

Our shocking note pad stash. I'm feeling a bit like a hoarder here...
I'm finding it very rewarding to go throughout my day, not only remembering what I wanted to do (a big bonus!), but also crossing off tasks when I'm done. Of course, there are days like Wednesday where nothing got done on my list, and oh well, such is life. But thus far, its been highly successful.

And I'm sure I've raved about my shopping list before, but I'll rave again. I do love it. I've seen these handy dandy pads at Chapters/Coles/Indigo. I think they are in the $10 range and so worth it! It sits on the side of our fridge, next to the sink, and I can jot something down the second I think of it, and voila, so few less grocery runs for that "one thing I forgot." Anyway, I still want to do a goals for the year post, and the what goals from 2010 did I actually accomplish post, but for now, these are just some ways I'm trying to get my life in order for 2011. I seriously love New Years. One of my favorite holidays. It really does feel like a fresh new start. I suppose one could make a fresh start in March, but nope, January just makes sense.

This weekend the Neppers are heading to Jasper for the annual Children's Heart Society weekend. This will be our 2nd year in attendance, although I think they've been going there for almost 20 years now. Wow. Should be fun. The kids love staying in a hotel (as do Mommy and Daddy), primarily because there is a pool within walking distance of their bed. We'll also get out to explore the town of Jasper, as well as spend an afternoon schmoozing at Jasper Park Lodge...pretending like we are actually staying there (not the budget hotel across the highway). Shh, don't blow our cover!

Enjoy your weekend dear readers!

Merry, Merry to you!

2010-12-23T21:58:00.004-07:00

I have been off the blog wagon lately. Now without school, I find the computer and I aren't as attached at the hip. Its nice really. I'm enjoying my month off. I finished well, with two A's. I'm still having a hard time deciphering if I'm just plain brilliant, or perhaps there is just a shortage of Social Worker's and a cat would get an A too. Don't worry. I don't think about it too hard. I take my A's and RUN!

This will be a different Christmas for us this year. Its funny. Here in Alberta, it seems like all the Calgarians come to visit the Edmontonians and vice versa. Few people actually celebrate in their own respective city. So this year, we're joining with the crowd and heading South to Calgary.

First things first. Looks like I will finally get to meet my half-brother Jason! I'm thrilled. We tried to meet up in May and that didn't work out. So this has been a long awaited meeting. We talk on the phone often and usually text every other day. We will be going out for lunch Calgary tomorrow. Very cool to introduce the kids to "Uncle Jason."

Next stop, Cochrane. This town is about an hour West of Calgary towards the Rocky Mountains. The foothills. Our favorite landscape in all of Alberta. Every time we drive through, we always pick spots to build our dream house. Generally on the top of a rolling hill, facing back towards the mountains. Its just beautiful.

We will be spending Christmas Eve with my cousin Ruth (Gammy) and her husband's family who own a cattle ranch. Around 20 or so family members come out on Christmas Eve. Apparently there will be a mini ice rink made up and if there are enough willing participants a game of hockey will take place late afternoon (us non-skaters are in the non-willing category). Abbi will probably get out with Gammy and take a few turns. Then a big beautiful meal. There is also a gift swap. And apparently even an old fashioned carol sing-along, instruments included (It has been requested that Rob bring his guitar). Sounds like a lovely time. We will open our gifts as usual on Christmas morning and then have breakfast.

Then we are off around lunchtime onto our next stop. My friend Katrina's parents are caretakers of a camp in Caroline. Another foothills town. She has invited us out to spend Christmas afternoon and night with her family. We will get our own little cabin to spend the night. There is a pool and a hot tub, so we will definitely be bringing our suits. Apparently the camp is right on a lake so there is a possibility of some ice fishing for Rob with Katrina's Dad. I forsee sweets and laughing and tea and great company.

So that is our completely unorthodox Christmas. Feels kind of strange when I tell someone about it, but also kind of excitingly different at the same time. For some reason, this year just seems like it needs to be "different." No idea why.

I hope that wherever your Christmas season finds you, whether it be 'same old, same old' or totally different, I hope its a beautiful time. Shared with good food, laughs, and people.

Many blessings, and much "Merry" is wished to you all!

The Club.

2010-12-05T00:30:00.006-07:00

I think we are all part of a club to some degree. Might be a scrap booking club. Perhaps a book club. A squash club (PS. I seriously want to play squash. Looks so intense!). A yoga club (The husband and I went to "hot yoga" last night. Amazing!). There are all sorts of clubs, and generally we get a choice in the clubs we join.

But sometimes in life, we are all of a sudden a part of a club that we never even knew about, let alone one we wanted to join. But we have no choice. This club in my life is the "heart kid club." I've been in the club for over four years now. Don't get me wrong, the people are nice and supportive, and hey, there are a few perks (free weekend in Jasper, anyone?), but for the most part, its not a club I ever wanted to join.

Nor is it like the country club where you try to get all of your friends into the club. Nope, I would never wish what we have gone through on anyone, and our story is rather mild compared to many that I have heard. So when I heard the news today that someone who has been a part of my life for over 10 years and who has been a faithful, true, beautiful, friend to me, is "joining the club," it broke my heart.

She is due any day now and just learned this information yesterday. In the months leading up to this time, we had many long phone conversations all about pregnancy, and of course, birth. I shared the knitty gritty secrets that we don't share with our friends until they are officially in the club (eg. In their last trimester. Don't want to scare the poor things off!). I shared this information freely, as it truly is a beautiful, albeit a fairly painful, experience.

So tonight when we talked on the phone, I had few words. I don't want to share these secrets. Partially because it isn't all beautiful. And partially because each story is different. Its so easy to say "this is how it happened for me" and in the saying of those words, I feel like you take a small piece away of the other's experience. Of course, I did share a few things that I wish we would have know before embarking on our heart journey, but beyond that, I was often lost for words.

I still am.

Please join me in being mindful of this friend in the days and weeks to come.

This poem often helps me find perspective.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

It's Beginning to look a lot like...

2010-11-23T09:45:00.007-07:00

Yup, Christmas! Maybe not in your house yet, but definitely in mine! We got to it early this year, just because this upcoming weekend, and basically every weekend between now and Christmas is BUSY!

I bought these green bins at the end of the season last year from Zellers. I was tired of boxes, and I most especially like having my Christmas things color coded. I "only" have 4 bins. Now I know this might be a lot to some of you, but one family that we know...well, the Mom had 20-something bins at one point in their life (and I must say, their house is MAGICAL at Christmastime). So I always try to compare my Christmas stash to theirs (which makes mine seem rather minimal).

And I must vouch for how beautifully and tenderly they are packed up at the end of the season. I always find that one of the saddest days of the year, as I do love my Christmas decor. But just by looking at these pics, I'm sure you can imagine who's excited little fingers got in there...
Absolute chaos. I love it. My husband hates it.

Next comes the "how to properly hang Christmas tree lights" speech. Rob has an enthralled audience.
This is what happens when the munchkins get ahead of Mommy in the decorating...
*Take note of the excessive amount of needles? Isn't that the point of a fake tree...no needles?

Abbi got to put the star on top with Daddy. She was very proud.

The final result? Well, with a little fine tuning, and a little re-arranging, this is what we came up with (and no, I'm not the Mom that can leave the bunch of ornaments placed by the children at the bottom. Call me mean, call me what you will, but nope, just can't do it!). Our tree is decorated with mainly reds, with the odd touch of white. I'm fairly fond of our tree this year.

Anyone else have their tree up?

That Kid.

2010-11-08T13:12:00.004-07:00

Yes, my son is "that boy." Or "that kid." Yes, you know the one. The one that everything that couldn't possibly happen to anyone else's kid, or at least not at the frequency that it happens to my kid...happens. Namely with his head. Always the head. You'd think you'd go for your foot or your hand or your belly or something. Nope, not Gabe. Whack your head, you know, that part that just holds like your most valuable organ. Sigh.

Yesterday we were invited out for a post-church lunch. It was a great time. A wonderful family with 5 kids of their own and 4 foster kids. According to my calculations, they fed 16 people soup and sandwiches for lunch. Um wow. They have a kitchen table that seats 8, and a dining table that seats 8. Wow. So hard to imagine that many people in our home at this point...actually, ever. But I have to admit, there was such a warmth and vibrancy about their home. Never a dull moment, especially when the Nepper's come to visit.

Gabe is still too small to just sit in a regular dining chair, so we have a little portable booster seat that we can strap onto a chair. Well, Gabe wasn't into this out for lunch business, so he was fussy, and decided to push his chair away from the table. Except...the chair didn't slide. It just tipped backwards. Now, don't get me wrong. This is an unfortunate mistake that Gabe has made on a number of occasions, generally to be caught in the falling process by Mommy or Daddy.

But this time was different. The chair tipped backwards into a banister that was separating the dining area from the sunken living room. It was AWFUL! He made full impact, the lump was immediate, and the tears and snot were instant. Poor kid.

Then there was the time at a friend's house (who lives 30 minutes out of the city - meaning, no husband's could easily come rescue him), and I put him in their bathroom for a timeout. I mean haven't we all, on occasion, placed our misbehaving kids somewhere while out on a play date? I mean I can't think of ever putting them in the bathroom, but somewhere. But Gabe...being "that kid" decided that he might as well make good use of his time in the bathroom. No he did not splash around in the toilet (seriously...that's old hat), or turn on the taps full blast and splash about (child's play), no, Gabe just had to lock himself in the bathroom!

Now, I'm not the person who knows how to pick a lock, unless it involves putting a penny into a slot (which was the lock on my childhood bathroom). Nor did my friend. We tried the old pen in the hole trick, but to no avail. I think he was in there around 10 minutes. Completely oblivious, of course. Just chattering away, no concept. I was telling my friend about this key that came with our door locks (for when Abbi had done this at home). This reminded her that she had kept this funny looking key thing for their downstairs lock sets. Thankfully they had recently finished their basement, and she had hung onto this key, otherwise, I'm not sure how we would have gotten him out. Both of our husbands just happened to be not answering their cell phones. Oy.

Or how about the time we were on the Island this past summer, at the waterfront with our friends. Its a beautiful boardwalk area, with lots of space for the kids to run free (without fear of them falling in), so Gabe was just toddling along. The older kids climbed up on a statue (no, not Black Frank's statue). Gabe followed along, and when it was time to get down, instead of, you know, doing the sensible thing like stepping or jumping down, Gabe somehow managed to nose dive about a foot down onto the pavement. Oy, oy, oy. I tell you, its a rare day around Nepper's Landing that Gabe does not smack his head. Generally multiple times.

I don't think he is a clumsy child in any way. I think the majority of this could be chalked up to curiosity. Take for example, when we lowered his crib mattress. Once they can sit up, you have to drop the mattress so that they don't climb out (which he has thankfully never attempted). So once the mattress was dropped, this left a number of old bolt holes exposed. Well, just guess who's son stuck his finger in said hole and had it seriously stuck? You bet it was my son! He started crying, and it wasn't really the "I don't want to nap today" kind of cry but more along the lines of "I may lose a limb if someone doesn't get in here FAST!" Yup, that's Gabe. A small, awkward, probably shouldn't go in there space...Gabe's on it like white on rice.

Don't get me wrong. Nothing beats having a little boy. Its a glorious thing. Its just far more disastrous than I ever could have imagined. Ever...

Isn't he the sweetest little thing? Sweet and mischievous, all wrapped into one!

Can't Win 'Em All.

2010-11-02T19:40:00.007-06:00

I have to report that the Nepper's did not win big last Friday. I mean we won something, and its a great something, but its not $40,000. Everyone walked away with $100 cash and $100 in Safeway gift cards. This latter bit was a surprise to everyone there. They also whipped out a surprise $2,500 draw. Didn't win that one either, but I was super impressed with all this impromptu prize giving. Turns out the winners were a family of 5, and the runner up winner ($5,000) had only entered once. Fairly impressive.

It was quite the event. All the 25 finalists were asked to invite their family and friends. They had snacks and drinks. When you walked in you had to register and then you were given a strip of paper with your name on it. You then had to put it in the ballot box. Which is a mesh cylinder that they could rotate. I've always heard you want to crumple your ballot so that there are more edges to grab, but in this case, where its a reverse draw, you don't want them to grab your ballot...until the end. So I just did the plain 'ol fold it in half. Sigh...

I seriously question my folding technique. No, I'm not losing sleep over it. But in hindsight, I think I should have crumpled the heck out of it. Making it into spit ball size. The smaller it was, the less likely they would have been to grab it. I was the 3rd or 4th name out of the bin. Sigh. I'm just sayin', its all in the folding technique!

So life continues as normal around Nepper's Landing. I think it would have been fairly normal regardless, although I don't know many people that that amount of money wouldn't change somethings significantly.

This past weekend both Rob and I got sick. This was the first time. Ever. Like meaning, we were both so ridiculously sick we were actually parenting in shifts. He'd nap, I'd attempt to parent (although I must admit, Playhouse Disney was a godsend this weekend), then I'd go nap, and he'd have a crack at it. It was awful. Something like the flu. Maybe food poisoning, although Rob got it about 24 hours after I did, so who knows. Blech. Today is our first attempt back at normalcy. Did I already say blech?
~
I wanted to show off, ahem...I mean share, some pictures of my latest home decor attempt. Basically since I've been in school this year, any decorating desire within me has been squashed by shocking amounts of reading and writing. Thankfully, I finished up one course last week (meaning I'm down to one), and at the end of each course, comes this amazing gusto to do something home decor ish. So I finally got around to finishing off this bookcase and making it all the more functional. Hooray.

I picked up the bookcase off of Earthcycle. Meaning it was free. Some guy had put it out in his front yard that morning and I had to go to the far Northeast side of the city to get it. Sure, its a little desperate, but remember the free bit? Unfortunately it did get a bit of water damage (it decided to start sprinkling after he had left for work). But I just painted over it with some white paint we had kicking around, and really, you would never know...that is, until you read this blog post ;)

The top needs a little work, but I'm quite pleased overall, and I seriously sigh a sigh of organizational relief everytime I get to the top of my stairwell. Ahhh....
I picked up the fabby boxes at IKEA (of course). These boxes cost $3.99 for a 2-pack. I printed off the labels on my computer. They house my postcard collection (which is shockingly large), receipts that I need to hold onto, miscellaneous photographs that need to be put in albums, and negatives from the pre-digital days. Beautiful, isn't it?
I have a large assortment of warranties, UPC's, and basically anything warranty related. Seriously, I'm the lady that makes them regret they ever put a lifetime warranty on something. Although, I do make a point to buy items (especially more expensive items) with a decent warranty. They have come in handy more than once. So I needed a place to keep all this stuff, but a place to keep it prettily. So this is what I came up with. These two boxes were $8.99. IKEA again. Beauty. I know, I know, you aren't supposed to save magazines, but really? I mean who said that anyway? I did pare down my collection considerably. I am also working on organizing my "idea book." Its definitely needing to go from a 1" to at least a 2" binder. So now when I flip through a magazine and see something I like, I tear it out then and there.

So the grand total for this little piece of organizing heaven?
$16.97
Delicious.

The Prize Winner of Edmonton, Alberta.

2010-10-25T16:02:00.004-06:00

I wrote the title to this post and then thought, oh, maybe that's a bit presumptuous, but when I think of all that I have won, it is an accurate title. If you'll remember, back in October of 2009 I wrote a post called, Contestista. It was all about my contesting. Well, I'm still at it. I probably always will be to some extent.

But last year around this time I was trying my darndest to win the Edmonton Sun's Change Your Life Contest. So I tried again this year. Again, it cost me a $24 subscription, a certain amount of cutting and pasting each week (you find a certain icon, put it on a game card and mail 'er in). Well guess what? All that cutting and pasting paid off because I'm one of the 25 finalists!

The draw is this upcoming Friday. We have to be there by a certain time (4:15pm) and register, otherwise you are disqualified. Basically we will be there one hour early! They will be doing a reverse draw, which sounds incredibly tense. They call 23 names, and then call the last two, either one is the big winner or one is the runner up. Not like the runner up prize is too shabby at $5000 plus $400 in Safeway gift cards. And all of the qualifier's get $100.

But yes, this will be my biggest prize yet (likely ever). $40,000 for one year's expenses, and $4,800 for a year's worth of groceries. This literally would "change our life." So now there is no skill, nothing I can do to change the outcome. I do think its all about odds at this point. Luck of the draw perhaps? All I know is I want to be the name drawn for the finalist. But so do the other 24 people.

Of course if this doesn't happen, its not the end of the world, but being that close, I imagine it will be hard to walk away with a "mere" $100. Anyway, if I do win, I'm sure you'll hear. I may be posting from the beach in the tropics somewhere, but I'll keep you posted...

If I win $100 I might be a bit delayed as well, only because we decided to stop for some Starbucks on our way home...

Snowsuit Goodness.

2010-10-18T14:37:00.004-06:00

I am pleased to announce that I have completed my snowsuit mission for the 2010/2011 year. It took some serious doin' and some serious Value Village hunting, but both kids are suited up, and we are now ready for the snow to fly. Not like I would like it to fly, but I mean lets not push things, its over halfway through October and nothing? Really? This just makes me think its going to be a really bad winter. Sigh...life on the Prairies.

So for Abbi, the grand total was...$12.98!
Jacket: $7.99
Snow pants: $4.99
Boots: Hand-me-downs (With tags!)
Toque, Scarf & Mittens: Gifts

Unfortunately her jacket is missing the hood (which snaps on), but I figure its much easier to get my kids to wear a toque than to keep their hood up. I also purposely picked navy blue snow pants, so that one day, when Gabe is in size 5 pants, he can use them too.

Definitely a funky jacket, and not one that every kid in the park is going to have.

The toque is from my Mom, and the scarf is a Hello Kitty scarf that Uncle Dave picked out for Abbi when they were in Europe last year.
Gabe's grand total? $13.98!
(*I still have yet to find Gabe a pair of boots, which generally range from $2 to $7 in thrift stores. Seriously people. A quick wash, and voila, brand new boots!)

Jumpsuit/Snowsuit: $4.99
Snow Jacket: $8.99
Mittens and toque: Gifts

I am IN LOVE with this little jumpsuit. We had just watched Amelia (the life story of Amelia Earhart - good show), and she had some fabulous flying jumpsuits, so when I saw this, I had to grab it up!
I really do prefer snow jackets and pants, over a suit, only because if it isn't -30° you don't really need to be in a suit. So much easier to just throw on a jacket if you are running out to the store for 10 minutes. Although, when it came to this little jumpsuit, I really couldn't resist. And at $4.99...

The toque and mittens were from a friend (her son was too big for them), and I am amazed that they match, perfectly, the jacket I randomly picked out from Value Village. Love it!
~
In other exciting Nepper news, we're going to Kenya. Well, no, I'm not going, but Rob is going. I'm going vicariously through him. Our church is arranging a trip through a local organization called The Emmanuel Foundation. And I LOVE what they do. They take old, decommissioned playgrounds from the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. These playgrounds are headed for demolition and then the dump. But this organization, is taking them, and sending them to countries that don't have playgrounds.

Can you even imagine? A town without a playground? I can probably think of more than 10 playgrounds within a 5 minute drive from my house. In countries where there is so much poverty, there is no emphasis on play for the children, despite the countless developmental benefits. I mean when it comes down to food or a swing set, well, I think we can all imagine what we would choose. But did you know that "play" is actually part of the "UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child?" It states, in Article 31 (speaking in child-friendly language), "You have the right to play and rest." Wow.

So this playground is going to be put in a shipping container this Sunday (its currently taking up someone's entire backyard here in Edmonton!), and it will be sent on its long journey to Kenya. Its going to an orphanage run by our friend's sister and brother-in-law. The team is scheduled to leave February 20th, 2011. They will be there for roughly two weeks. Apparently its no simple task putting these suckers back together, so the organization sends someone down to help the team reassemble it. To put it into perspective, they will be needing about 80 post holes, at about 1 foot by 1 foot. Ahem...80! And are you aware of the temperatures in Kenya at that time of the year! Wow.

We had the man who heads up the foundation speak at our church in June. He was the pastor for many years and is greatly respected. Rob was away that Sunday, I think Gabe was sick. As I heard this man preach, all I could think was, "This is for Rob, this is for Rob." After the service I called him and said, "I think you're going to Kenya." Well, its been 4 months, and it was always there, but not something we had officially decided on. But we spent this last week praying and talking and considering and discussing, and finally just knew this is something we have to do. So yeah, my husband is going to Kenya.

We are pretty excited. And I think more than anything, at this point I'm just excited to be done deciding. Its been decided! So now we can start planning. Start saving. Start getting creative. Trips like these come at a large cost, so that part is stretching. The incredible part? That was our big hesitation, the finances. Two weeks ago, we spent Saturday night discussing this very topic, knowing that it absolutely has to be a God thing for it to work out. Then I arrive at church on Sunday, and we are offered this money...by a person who knew nothing of our financial situation! Incredible.

So this is a new tale on our journey. Basically Rob is leaving in four months. I have a lot of peace about this. Being a single mother for two weeks, will be challenging, but two things come to mind when I think of this. I am a single mother every day from 6am to 6pm. Now please don't think I'm comparing this to the challenges that single Mother's face every day, because I seriously do salute you women! But I just personally don't feel like this will be adding that much more to my plate. Maybe on day #10, I will be going absolutely mad, but that brings me to point #2. He's helping to bring play and smiles and joy to children in Africa who have nothing. I do hope in those hard moments, I can bring that into perspective, and realize the sacrifice is so small in comparison.

So if you want to help us out on this journey, please let me know. Basically the space in the container that isn't taken up with playground, is being jam packed with other goodies for the kids. Our church did an underwear drive two weeks ago. I was able to use my deal sleuthing skills at Zellers, and with a budget of $50, I was able to get 48 pairs of underwear for $48.98! Our friend has also been busy getting soccer balls for the kids, which he was successful, with a large donation of equipment.

So I'm excited to watch the team putting this playground back in the container this weekend, and then imagining that in four months, they will reunite with the very same container, yet it will be under the hot African sun, probably surrounded by hundreds of screaming, excited African children.

Humble Pie.

2010-10-14T07:46:00.003-06:00

As one who loves making pies, I should know all about humble pie, and I suppose I've tasted it on occasion throughout life, but last week I got a giant helping. A little too giant for my preferences!

Yes, I was the Mom at behavioral classes (no idea what else to call it), with my arms crossed, absolutely unengaged, in complete disbelief that I needed to be there. Sure, I was referred by her teacher. Sure, I was referred by a behavioral therapist. But really? Do I really have to be here? Is it really that bad? Awful, awful thoughts.

That was last week. It was a hard night. I think I was so focused on not breaking down into tears. Good grief, I mean I'm at behavioral classes for my child. So then about halfway through we are given a sheet of paper that says, "I'm a great parent because..." And you know what? I could not, for the life of me, fill it out. At that moment, in that place, I felt nothing like a great parent. Both the teacher and Rob were trying to give me suggestions on what to put down. Cute. But no, at this moment, in this place, I DO NOT FEEL like a great parent. I'm at behavioral classes for goodness sakes!

Rob and I were talking once we got home. This is how he views it. Its a problem. We're at classes to help it. Great! End of story. For me, I see it as, there's a problem. We got referred here by other people, because they think its a problem. Then I think about all the ways that I potentially contributed to making it a problem. A lot of guilt. Regrets. Etc. Not sure if this is a man/woman thing, but yeah, I was feeling AWFUL! So a putting a blasted sheet of paper in front of me, asking me to share why I'm a great parent, nope, not gonna fly.

But the interesting part is that this week, I wasn't that Mom. Now there was a new Mom, that was "that Mom." It was their first week. She walked in, arms crossed, with a look of absolute disbelief that she had to be sitting in that chair, in that place. So much of what she said, I could absolutely relate to. She had a cute, spunky short hair cut (that I so admire), and fantastic clothes, but beyond those things, I was still drawn to her. Because in some sense, I was her, last week.

I soon realized that we are all "that Mom" on occasion. We are in a place that we don't want to be, but have to be. Whether its sitting on a cardiology ward hearing that your unborn child has a serious heart defect. Or getting a phone call about your child's behavior from the preschool teacher at 9pm on a Sunday night. Or the Mom who's child is melting down in the middle of Walmart. Or in the middle of the restaurant. We are all "that Mom."

A friend and I were talking recently about how these struggles were not what we thought we were getting ourselves into...AT ALL! I was busy picking out a color to paint the nursery (well, technically I wasn't because we lived in a rental), but picking out clothes, and shopping, and picking out cutesy names. Yet, here I am, 4 years later...attending a behavioral class. No one can (or will, for that matter), prepare you for these struggles.

Its not that resent the place I'm in, I just never thought I would be here. And that is where the humble pie comes into the picture. After our first night, and I was sharing with Rob my struggles, he said "Sounds like pride to me..." Sigh. Alright. He earned that one. Then the next day I was sharing my struggles at my ladies group, and one woman (who is known to be outspoken), piped up and said, "Sounds like pride to me..." OY! Alright, alright, I give up. I admit, its absolutely pride!

So yeah, me and pride, pride and me, we're tight like that. Two peas in a pod apparently. Gosh, its ugly. So that's me. Discovering just how prideful I am. And then left with trying to figure out the implications of that. Sigh, life is never dull, I tell you. If its not one thing, its another. But I do see value in this. That I have people in my life who will tell me when I'm being proud. People who challenge me, and force me to work on me. People like that are invaluable in my life.

October.

2010-10-05T07:49:00.004-06:00

I have to say, autumn in Alberta is one of my favorite seasons. Ever. Of course not what fall was looking like a few weeks ago (rain, rain and more rain). But those crisp, clear fall days. Blue skys. Vibrantly colored leaves on the trees. Above-zero temperatures. Unfortunately, mixed in with this appreciation of autumn's beauty, is the realization that it won't last for long. Soon enough the leaves will be gone. The tree in front of our house, and subsequently the lawn, are living proof of this very thing. I swear that everytime I pull in the drive, there are less leaves.

Lately I've been getting out walking a lot more than I normally do. Our so-called summer (which was nothing like a summer in my books) was so rainy that I rarely got out walking. I so enjoy walking. And I'm actually not too picky about where I go. When we first moved to Alberta, Rob and I would go out walking almost every night after dinner. No matter what the weather. Of course, once Abbi came along, -30° walks didn't seem to be the most sensible thing. But even when I was super pregnant, we would be out walking (or waddling, in my case) in our neighborhood.

I love looking at houses, especially in the older neighborhoods, and doing mini-makeovers in my head. The two of us can look at a house and have it completely redesigned within minutes. I'm glad that we share an appreciation for making something better (at least better in our opinion). Someone, somewhere, thought painting the exterior of their house teal blue was a good idea, and doing the corresponding trim in maroon. Ugh...

In other news, I have to say, some of the content of my course has really been hitting home for me. Each unit is focusing on a different thing. Things like mindfulness, empathy, resistance, oppression. I've been reading some incredible articles, that will hopefully not only impact my practice as a social worker, but also just as a person. The one thing that has truly rocked my world is realizing that my learning is centred. Or placed. Or that I am culturally located. It seems incredibly naive as I type it, but to realize that my little bubble of how the world works is just that, my own little bubble.

Especially amongst cultures. I find that fascinating. When I think of colonialism. Or missionary work. It kind of rocks my mind. This topic is harder for me to navigate having Christianity in there too. I think so often in North American/Western cultures, we divide culture and religion, whereas in many Eastern countries they are so tightly linked. Yet, we come in there with a our Western ideals and attempt to place them on a completely separate culture. If we look at the colonialism that took place with the Native cultures in North America, they essentially lost their culture. They didn't have to. But it wasn't valued, so they lost it. An "our way or the highway" mentality.

So then as I think about this, I wonder just how often I impose my own little bubble on others? How many times do I believe I'm right, just because its the way I see it? I remember a friend discussing Jehovah's Witnesses. He had a friend say that he admires what they do. Well, he went off the handle at his friend about how what they are doing is wrong and blah blah. Therefore, its not admirable. Yet, I absolutely disagree. I don't agree with their teaching, but that doesn't mean that their actions aren't admirable. They whole-heartedly believe in what they teach, and while I often question their methods, the fact that week after week, they are out, knocking on your door...is admirable! As convinced you are of your own truths, so are they.

So how do we reconcile this knowledge? Just as much as my own little white, middle-class, Western, Christianized bubble seems right to me, so does the bubble of the poverty stricken, starving, single Mother of 4 in Africa seem right to her. Do I have the right to impose my bubble on her? I think not. I think its not about imposition. Its about a dialogue. About discussion. About hearing someone else, and allowing them to teach you. Learning. What does that mean for you? What does that look like? Seriously, wow. This almost hurts my brain to think about the depth of this.

In closing, life is still busy, as it will be. I'm off to a playdate this morning. The kids are watching morning cartoons. And can I just point out that I LOVE that my daughter shouts "Amoeba" at the TV when watching Dora. She means to say Arriba, but I'm not about to correct her. Now I think she's getting Gabe in on the Amoeba bandwagon...

This is a little glimpse into our life. Our calendar. In a fairly central location in our house. I am amazed at how "orderly" I'm getting as I get older. I truly do enjoy placing all of our little stickers on the days of our commitments at the beginning of each month. Somethnig about seeing it all at once really helps me. Or perhaps I'm just coming down with some OCD. Not to mention is a fairly cute calendar ;)

Here is the current month. Not too shabby.

Relieved.

2010-09-26T08:37:00.003-06:00

Well, Wednesday has come and gone, and I have to say I'm one relieved Mama. This doesn't mean they didn't see some issues, but it was all done in such a positive manner. Gosh, I am so relieved. The behavioral therapist was super positive, and that for me, made all the difference in the world. Rather than approaching me after the class and telling me all the faults in my daughter, she began by talking about Abbi's wonderful personality and incredible verbal skills. For me, that was a great way to start that conversation.

They did see issues, and from the sounds of it, Abbi's day was pretty standard - for her. So this was good because it allowed them to really understand where the teacher was coming from. They heard a lot of "I'm tireds" from Abbi. This generally has nothing to do with being tired, but not wanting to do something. So they somewhat concluded that perhaps she has difficulty expressing her emotions in a positive way. Rather than saying, "I'm really enjoying playing this game, and don't want to stop." She says things like, "I'm tired," "leave me alone," and "I don't like anyone." Not super appropriate responses. So they hope to help her understand what those feelings mean, and how to appropriately deal with them.

So the fabulous thing about being in a preschool that is attached to the Catholic school board is that they came at me with so many support options. Seriously, I'm floored at the support that they can just throw at you. I mean first of all, the fact that they even have an early intervention support team, with a behavioral side is incredible. I know a lot of schools do en early intervention, generally focusing on speech issues in children. But apparently this behavioral side is quite new. So how wonderful that we even had this option available to us.

So they would like the psychologist to do a bit more one on one with her (they mainly just observed Abbi) to get a better grasp on where she is at. She will also have a more regular connection to the behavioral therapist, who will be dropping in on Abbi a few times a month, working with her throughout the class time, helping her deal with those situations when the breakdown normally occurs.

They have also referred us to a program that will help all of us. The goal is to teach the child and the parents, effective skills to deal with the behaviors. From the sounds of it, it is in a classroom type setting, and I think for portions of it the children are allowed to freely play, and as situations arise that cause conflict, the leaders will step in and show the child the proper response. Which I so appreciate, because you can talk until you are blue in the face about the situation, but I think its only when the actual situation arises and you have to deal with it, when the real learning occurs. So this will be weekly for two months. They provide childcare, so that both Rob and I can attend. I am thrilled about this resource and the opportunity.

And seriously, I'm just so impressed with the Catholic School Board. I mean the resources are incredible. They had to register Abbi as a student to be able to give her all of this, so it appears to be a bit of smudging the lines, as she technically is only in preschool, but because the preschool is in one of their schools, its do-able. Rather than giving us some diagnosis (which they will not give at this point), they give us options, and referrals. I'm thoroughly impressed, and relieved. Not like this is the end of the line, and I imagine we have a long road ahead of us, but how wonderful to know that there even is a path! The best part? When the behavioral therapist said, "Remember, she is young, we are stepping in now, and this should hopefully resolve itself so that she can have a long and positive school career." Isn't that really what every parent needs to hear? So we are feeling optimistic around here, and look forward to our classes and our new learning, which starts in a few weeks.

Now Hiring.

2010-09-21T07:47:00.004-06:00

Yes, this is a job posting. Not a blog post, but a job posting. I am in need of a personal assistant. The ad would read something like this...

Nepper's Landing, Personal Assistant required.
Wage: Nothing
Hours: Long, long hours
Start Date: Yesterday
Contract Length: As long as we both shall live

Job duties (include, but are not limited to):

~ Run errands with little to no notice.
~ All poopy diapers automatically default to you.
~ Cooking, Cleaning, and Laundry duties
(*minus the folding bit, which I actually tend to enjoy)
~ Remind me of upcoming important events, daily.
~ Babysitting services, on a whim.
~ Do my course readings and provide a detailed synopsis.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

As funny as this is, some days I really wish I did have someone in my life who did all these things, other than myself. Not like I despise my place in life, but I do find it hard to divide myself a gazillion ways. I'm finding this especially hard with my schooling right now. Two courses make for one confused Holly. The content is so similar, but different enough to keep you on your toes. For example, I was working on my 311 course last night, and was just about done my readings (yahoo!)...that is until I realized I was doing the readings for 312. Although this is an improvement, because last week I completely forgot about my 312 readings altogether, that is until Thursday morning. So things are slowly improving, I mean I've nearly almost read all of them, just in the wrong order. Ahem.

Since we've been back from the Island there have been so many little things that need to get done. I am more and more becoming a list person. When I go to the mall, I have a list. I am fortunate enough to live literally across the street from a mall where I can run most, if not all of my errands, including grocery shopping at my beloved Safeway. So I can can often be found in the mall, darting from store to store, "gettin' 'er done."

Take for example last Friday. I had to pop into the post office, the library, drop off at the dry cleaners, go to the fabric store, pick up something at Zellers, and then do my grocery shopping. This saves me an enormous amount of time as I don't have to get in and out of the car and makes it more manageable on the kids. But still makes for a busy, busy morning.

I'm finding now that Abbi's back in preschool, this is becoming more manageable. Gabe and I have 2.25 hours to get a lot done. Unfortunately this means a lot of cart riding or car seat sitting for Gabe, but I do what I can to make it fun and special. He's actually a pretty good trooper. Not to mention, I think the second child will take one on one time any way they can get it.
~
We just got back from a weekend in Calgary with the Childrens Heart Society. It was a really great time. Each family got to go down, stay in a fairly swanky hotel, get some gas money, and a day at the zoo on Saturday. Our kids loved it. We were at the zoo in June (in Edmonton), the kids were so-so about the entire thing. This time, you could tell they were quite excited. Although the Calgary Zoo is far superior. I mean, here in Edmonton, we have a Prairie Dog display. Sigh. I know when I'm dolling out big bucks to go to the zoo, I sure had gophers in mind...

So it was a good time. Unfortunately I didn't feel that much bonding took place within the CHS. Everyone was so busy doing their own thing, and getting to and from the zoo and going to and from the pool, we really didn't get a chance to connect with anyone. This is the 3rd event we've been a part of with them. The Christmas party being our first event (terribly awkward, seriously feeling like the new kid on the block). Then we had a weekend away in Jasper, which I most enjoyed. They actually rented a conference room for the entire weekend, which was stocked with goodies, games, video games, ping pong tables. A great way to connect with people.

So the plan is to continue on with the group, despite these things. I really do see value in Abbi being able to relate to kids who have had similar experiences to her own. I just find it tricky because this is an organization that has been around for decades, and many of the members have been involved together for years. There are a few families with younger children (although the predominant group has teenagers), but again, I'm finding it hard to connect. Despite the fact we all have such huge, life-altering things in common. Hopefully this years Christmas party we can make some connections.

Perhaps we've been somewhat spoiled by the church in the sense that most churches have a "newcomer mentality." They expect, hope, and long for newcomers. Therefore they are very focused on this. They have Greeters. The average group, outside of the church, generally does not have this. Its very easy to get caught up in your cliques. Not to say I have not been guilty of this (within the church), but I just feel like its constantly brought to the forefront while in a church setting. "Take 5 minutes and greet the person next to you. Learn their name. What they're thankful for." This last question often drives me batty, because it can lead to the most awkward situations. "Hi Bob (You 45 year old, single white male, you). I'm Holly. What are you most thankful for in life?."
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In other Nepper news, we are having the same types of struggles with our daughter in preschool. The teacher says there is some improvement, in now her 5th time attending. But we had the same issues all last year in her other preschool. I think so much of it is getting used to the new routine. New people. New expectations. Hard on any kid, but even harder on a child who seriously struggles with transitions. So upon the teacher's recommendation, we are having a behavioral specialist come in and observe Abbi in the school setting tomorrow.

I realize many of you, being Grandparents or loved ones of this child may scoff at this, but I also long for answers. I feel like since we have been struggling with her behavior, or attitude, or whatever you may call it, we were told she is just strong willed. She's far too smart. She's just feisty. Look at all she's been through. Maybe she's too young to be in preschool. Etc, etc. All nice things, but none of these answers provide a concrete way to deal with this. And for me, these explanations breakdown even more when she is injected into an institutional setting. As lovely and as smart and as sweet as she is, she is "failing" (so to speak) in this setting. I realize someone might offer the idea that maybe this isn't the setting for her (eg. maybe its the wrong school), but this is technically the 4th setting of this type that she has been in, and in each one she has struggled immensely.

Those struggles include, but are not limited to, the major thing, defiance. My daughter has no qualms about mouthing off anyone, including a teacher, a Grandparent, a parent, or heck, even a complete stranger. So when it comes to transitioning from anything like coloring to snack time or just going out in the van to pop into the grocery store, it is a battle. This is exhausting to say the least in a home setting, but I think its even more troublesome in a school type setting where there is 2 teachers to 16 kids.

So I had given it a month in my head. "We'll see where she's at within a month," I thought. A silly time line (but this also comes from the girl who was not going to blog for 30 days instead of 29 because 30 is a nicer number). So I was holding onto that number loosely. But when the teacher approached me and suggested that we try this first, I was excited. Then terribly anxious. I so appreciate that there is even a service such as this, but also the thought of a diagnosis unnerves me. You mean I can't just call her a sassy 4 year old anymore?

I'm not saying there will be a diagnosis, but with this may come some ways to help deal with her. Because the teacher(s) always ask me for ways to work with Abbi, and I often have nothing to offer. I too feel like I am failing in this regard. I would say Rob and my Mom deal with her best, but they both have different ways of dealing with her, and I think its a fluid thing. There is no one simple way to get through to Abbi. Each situation, each day brings new things. And ultimately it will not be Rob or my Mother who will be responsible for educating my child. So we need to find solutions and ways for her to thrive in this setting.

And I also realize that many of you who read my ramblings are homeschooling advocates, and believe me, this thought has crossed my mind. Unfortunately this is generally not a welcome thought in my mind. Call me selfish, call me what you will, but I have literally no desire to home school my children. I always said I would do it only if my children needed this from me. I suppose die hard homeschoolers would question what defines that need, but this comment isn't to diminish home schooling, or what you lovely people bring to your children. Its just to point out that I haven't entirely ruled out this scenario, its just not a welcome one at this point in my life. But perhaps over time, it will become a welcome conclusion.
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So I realize this post has run over many different things going on in my mind. Some sober, some terribly serious, some funny. This is how my mind works. As much as I am thinking about what tomorrow will bring, there is also so much more going on in my life, therefore it cannot consume me. I think this is a good thing. Sitting and fretting will do me no good, not to mention I have no time for it!

And if you haven't noticed my blogging has gotten more and more sporadic as the school year continues. So forgive me when I don't do a "follow up post" tomorrow at Noon. Blogging once a week seems somewhat manageable, and therapeutic for me. It still allows me that space to reason things out, to laugh, to reflect. But none of this comes with any sort of regularity.

Back.

2010-09-13T07:02:00.001-06:00

I have to admit, it was tempting to not blog for an entire 30 days. I'm a fan of round numbers, so something like 29 days of no blogging just seemed wrong. But here, I am, on day 29, getting back into it. Am I the only person in the world who cannot turn the stereo volume up to 56, but rather it must be 55 or 60? Rob tells me that I am (the only person in the world who does this). He thinks its absolutely crazy. Same with my alarm. Heaven forbid I wake up at 6:04am. Nope, it has to be either 6:00am or 6:05am. Call me crazy. Its these small things in life that keep me happy. And sane.

So our trip, was great! Three weeks is a long time, so we were happy to come home. Somehow that one extra week makes all the difference. Normally after two weeks we are always wishing we could stay just a bit longer, but I think in 3 weeks, we got to see most of the people we wanted to, visit most of our favorite places, take in a good amount of rest. So it was good. And also good to be home.

I did manage to take 500 or so pictures. Excessive, maybe. Worth it, absolutely! I won't be posting them on here. You'll just have to become my friend on facebook to fully enjoy them. Yes, I'm talking to you Linda.

Some trip highlights? Traveling there with our friends was a lot of fun. Our minivans were outfitted with a fairly tech radio system, so we were able to chat most of the way, and it came in handy in many instances. For example, when our cars got separated on the ferry, we then had to find each other once the ferry docked and unloaded. This process is absolute madness. Hundreds of cars trying to get out of the terminal on two main roads. Its a nightmare. And especially when you are trying to direct someone who is not at all familiar with your hometown. Thank goodness for the radios.

Meeting my half sister, Tara, was an incredible experience. My Birth Mom also happened to be there at the same time (we literally pulled up at the same time). It was a nice visit (about 3 hours). We went to a local park so the kids could play and we could visit/meet. Worked out quite well. We also managed to get out to DQ for some Blizzards. So wonderful to meet her, and I was so glad that we were able to adjust our trip dates to make it happen (we had originally planned to be in Kelowna that night).

Watching the cousins play is always fun. Abbi's older cousin is 6 years old. This year was one of the first (in my opinion) that they seemed to be on equal playing levels. She was at Nana's for all of August, so the girls had a blast, and were pretty good about including Gabe in the fun. Abbi so enjoyed the company of her cousin (basically an older sister), some nights we would go out visiting and the girls would stay and play. So of course Gabe would come along, and honestly, that whole one kid thing seems like such a piece of cake. Of course, I remember the time of just having one kid, it seemed crazy. But now, just taking child #2 somewhere. Easy peasy.

We got out to most of our favorite locations. Sadly we didn't get up to Tofino, one of the places I so wanted to visit. Its a 2.5 hour drive, there and back, on a fairly windy highway. Its a beautiful spot, and worth every turn, and likely every whine, but I just wasn't up to it. Not to mention we were so busy visiting all of our other favorites. Coombs, Parksville Beach, the waterfront, Westwood, Victoria, and of course, some of our favorite restaurants like Gina's Mexican Cafe and Delicados.

Seeing all of our friends and family is always a highlight. Of course, this is the tricky part of "vacationing" at home. This creates a conundrum. As much as we enjoy seeing all of our loved ones, it makes for a busy time, and generally doesn't leave much room for relaxation. The solution to that problem this year was to plan nothing. Absolutely nothing. I pre-booked nothing. We fit in people as we could. Meaning we didn't get to see everyone we would have liked, but did get to see many of our favorites. There is only so much time. So we really took it easy this year. Although next year I'm thinking we may try actually "vacationing." A novel concept really. Going somewhere where you know absolutely no one.

My week in Victoria was good. The UVIC campus is absolutely beautiful. And yes, there are bunnies like crazy. I quite liked the bunnies. I figure its a good problem to have. Yes, I realize they ruin your manicured lawns and student's probably twist their ankles in their holes, but I say its better than a rat infestation or being overrun by lice. I mean seriously, they're bunnies people! Cute, fluffy, hopping bunnies. They made my day, every day.

My actual course was interesting. I was quickly brought back to my early social work days. We are very in touch with our feelings. We centre ourselves. We reflect. We are critical thinkers. We sit in circles, rather than in your typical classroom style. All very good things, just seeming a bit hokey at times. I felt like I went in there fairly "hard" over the first couple days. Just wanting to get it over with and had a hard time with all the touchy feelyness of it all. But by Wednesday I got over myself.

I will say that this is one of the beautiful things about social work(ers). They are never afraid to share their feelings. It truly is a challenge to open yourself up to a complete stranger. But even as we did so within our classroom, it reminded me of the fact that people will regularly open themselves up to us during our career. So things like being present, and being open-minded are totally relevant concepts. It just took me a few days to get on board...

I had other fun adventures during my week alone. I stayed with a family we met through our first church here in Edmonton. We hadn't seen each other in 3 years or so, but I felt so welcomed into their home. I "got" to ride the bus to and from school. For a stay-at-home Mom/housewife, this provided hours of entertainment. I actually enjoyed it. I also got to shop...alone. One night some of my classmates and I took on downtown Victoria, which was an adventure.

I will admit, by Thursday I was feeling pretty lonely. As much as I do appreciate being by myself (in the bath, when I go pee, or when I go shopping), it was getting a little too quiet. So I asked Rob to come down a day early, on Thursday night, to rescue me from myself. He got to spend the day on Friday doing his own exploring, which I think he quite enjoyed. And funny enough, the family I stayed with has three children (one of whom was only 3 weeks old), and I actually enjoyed that noise. I was missing my munchkins terribly. So chatter of a 4 year old princess, and a 2 year old mischievous boy, was music to my ears. Amazing how we find perspective sometimes, isn't it?

So we are back. Life is full and busy. Somehow, it seems to be the way I like it. Nothing better than filling in the calendar and organizing life. Abbi's in preschool. French immersion preschool. Gabe is starting a short little session at the zoo, meeting some of the animals, which I'm sure he will love. Rob will be teaching his guitar lessons soon enough, and continuing on with the worship team. As for me? Well, I'm back in school. Distance education. 2 classes this semester. One is finishing up the rest of the course after the 5 days in Victoria. The best part is that one week of face-to-face class is equivalent to 10 weeks of a semester, so this online portion will only last another 6 weeks. Bonus!

I think we are all feeling refreshed. Got some good perspective. Taking time out always seems to do that for me. A friend was commenting on how strange it is that September is the beginning of the year in North America. Its so true. I find this true of September moreso than January. So as life begins to get busy and full, I go into this time, trying to maintain perspective, and boundaries (Eg. even thought I do love a full calendar, I don't need it "too" full). And most importantly, remembering to take time out as a family. As a Mother. As a wife. As a friend.

Nanaimo-ey goodness...

2010-08-14T19:42:00.004-06:00

The time has come for the yearly Nepper pilgrimage back to our hometown of Nanaimo. We used to get back there twice a year, but over the past few years its only been once, in the summer. Not like the so-called winters are bad...if you don't mind a little rain! When it was just us, or just us with one in the tummy, a 12 hour drive seemed like nothing, but now with two kids, its a bit of an ordeal. Not just the packing, but the actual traveling. Yes, I know, I know, we could fly, but when you do a cost comparison, it just can't compare. Especially when you tack on the cost of a car rental...yowza!

Our life has been super busy with me finishing up school on Friday (Read: Mommy was a stressed out nutcase all week, and I think the entire family sighed a huge sigh of relief along with me). So we move from busyness, into more busyness. This weekend has consisted solely of getting stuff finished up, organized, and PACKED! Thankfully, I quite enjoy packing. It feeds into my organizing tendencies. Few things in life can satisfy nearly as much as a neatly packed suitcase.

This year we are quite happy to be making the trip home with good friends of ours. They've never been to Beautiful BC, let alone the picturesque Island. So we are quite excited to not only have traveling partners, but also be able to share our hometown with good friends. In a highly dorky manner, we will be a mini Ford Windstar caravan. Thankfully theirs is beige (ours is sage green), so that reduces the dorkiness...somewhat ;)

A few weeks ago, in preparation for our trip, we sat down and were looking at some tourism guides. It really is odd to see your hometown, and places you regularly hung out at in a "Visitor's Guide." Conversation came up about the infamous Nanaimo Bar. Yes, that's really where they are from. Well, technically it looks like it was a lady from Ladysmith who is credited for the first published recipe...but seriously, a Ladysmith Bar? I think not!

After researching the history of these bars, I stumbled upon the "official recipe" on the City of Nanaimo website. As a ex-resident, I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I had no idea there was an official recipe. Not to mention I had never even attempted a batch of these little gems. So I quickly remedied this problem. I like to call it pre-trip preparation.

If you too would like to attempt a batch of Nanaimo Bars, here is the official recipe.

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

In my preparation of the Nanaimo Bar...a cute helper is a must have!
My first-ever double boiler attempt worked quite well.
The bottom layer looked so delicious I just wanted to stop right there and grab a spoon...
I picked up my custard powder at Bulk Barn. 62¢ is what it cost me for 2 Tbsps, compared to the $4.99 Safeway was going to charge me for an entire box, I'd say that's a pretty swell deal.
Mmm, chocolaty goodness...
I doubled the recipe so that we could share our Nanaimo Bar plunder with those near and dear to us. I had one 9x9 dish, plus a 9x13 to divide up. Considering 6 families got to nibble on some Nanaimo Bar-ey goodness, I'd say it went pretty far. And the reviews were quite good!
A picture just can't do the deliciousness justice.
So we'll be gone for 3 weeks to our lovely little Island. Staying with my parents. Visiting the many beaches. Enjoying the hot weather (compared to ugly, rainy, mosquitoey Edmonton. Ugh!). Visiting with old friends. Of course we'll join in on some of the touristy stuff with our friends. Its actually an interesting concept, being a tourist in your own town.

I was looking at our pictures from last year, and its amazing how few I took of the actual town and the scenery. Usually I'm more interested in taking pictures of friends or their kids. I think partially because those beautiful mountainous scenes and breathtaking beach side sunsets are imprinted in my mind. I've spent countless nights enjoying those views, so when I return I'm not quick to take pictures of them. To be honest, I often forget just how beautiful it is...until I go back. So this year I hope to view it from a "tourist's perspective" and try to see some things and places and maybe even people that I wouldn't normally see.

I hope to do some blogging from the Isle, so stay tuned...

The Patch.

2010-08-06T16:05:00.008-06:00

Yup, its true. We Nepper's have a wee little garden patch. Considering we are in a townhouse, I'd say its a reasonable size. Not like we'll be feeding ourselves all year from it, but it's still fun nonetheless! And its also a great way for the kids to see how food actually grows. Like other than at Safeway...

These tomato plants were $2.10 each and around 10" tall when I bought them. I'd say we did well for our money...now that they are well over 5 FEET TALL!

*In front of the tomato plants I have a row of radishes and a row of carrots. There's also some Swiss chard in there, just for kicks. Its quite smushed I know, so we'll see if we get any results.

This little guy is specifically for pots. Looking rather sad currently...

...because we enjoyed his spoils a few days ago. Mmm, mmm, good!

In addition to our tomato bounty, we also have one zucchini plant, which has rather purdy flowers. As well as two strawberry plants which some lovely lady gave to each of the kids when we were at the nursery once.
My favorite garden friend is the rhubarb. Seriously, it's one of my favorite looking plants. I'd say if rhubarb could be human, she'd be a flamboyant, larger than life woman with a name like Della! She just lets it all hang out!

And I'd heard this rumour about planting potatoes in the ground, you know, the ones that get all gross and sprouty. As if that really works...
OK, I'm seriously a believer now! These suckers have gone mad. I put 4 potatoes in the ground, and look at the madness that has ensued! Probably in the 4 feet high range. I'll have to get in there, again, and try to contain these bad boys.

Unfortunately, the potatoes aren't too into sharing because they seem to be smothering my poor pepper plants (one red, one yellow). You can see one sad little pepper on there, hanging on for dear life, praying for some sunlight.
I also have a happy little herb garden. I think its fairly adorable, and I do love that this planter was $5! I've got some Stevia (a natural sweetener), chives, basil, oregano and parsley.
In addition to foodie type plants, I also have some pretties in the backyard. "My" garden is on the opposite side of the step (Rob considers the veggie patch to be his). Its kind of gone wild and crazy with our wet, wet, wet summer. I've got Hollyhock, Irises, Daylilies, Variegated Ornamental grass, Columbine, Campanula and a Mum.
Can you tell I love my perennials?
I also picked up these lovely hanging baskets at a garage sale for $5 each. I had to buy the coconut liner, but I'm pretty much in love. And the fuchsia reminds me of my Mom. Every Mother's Day we would buy her one. And no, she is not dead, she just lives too far away for me to buy her a fuchsia anymore ;)
I picked up these cute hooks at Walmart for $1.97.
This bird house was from the legendary garage sale last year. I think it was $1. The yellow makes me happy. No bird has decided to move in yet, but its so cute it doesn't even need a bird to live in it for me to like it!
And finally, I have a fairly exciting yard feat to share. I have never mowed the grass. Ever. I'm not even sure I've ever operated a weed wooter.

*And yes, I know they are normally called weed eaters or weed whackers or something of the sort, but I like weed wooter. And this is my blog, so weed wooter it is!

So anyway, our grass was getting to offensive heights, and with all the rain, I think our long grass was just creating the perfect mosquito habitat. So I finally told the husband he needed to show me how to operate one of these blasted contraptions!

So it took some getting used to, and my forearms weren't too pleased with me, but I now have cut grass, and I'm quite pleased with my attempt. Not too shabby...
So that's a little Nepper's Landing backyard tour for you. The best part is that you got to see it from the safety of your house and not get eaten alive by the crazy amount of mosquitoes we have in this neck of the woods!