Oct
2014

Summer to winter in a week flat!

FullSizeRenderMy school friends and I are working on a play for school to show the other grades at the end of the year. I am the costume designer. I have been planning all weekend on my costume designs.

IMG_0276He said

Yes, as the title would suggest we saw a drastic change in the weather that had us sweating and almost getting sunburnt last weekend at the Ilderton Fair to us hunting for sweaters, coats and warm pyjamas. The cold weather is certainly a nice change, but it isn’t like we had this intensely warm summer that we need a reprieve from. In fact I was kind of hoping the warm weather would cling on for just one more week so that when we take Wolfie out for her last camping trip of the season next weekend, we’d have some great weather for it. Though… if I am being honest fall camping is one of my most favourite things ever so either way I will be pretty happy next weekend.

IMG_9123This week was a whirlwind. But one where I was able to take part in a good part of the evening activities with Danielle and Emelia. We got to the gym a couple nights as a family and I even got to sleep in a couple days with later starts at work.

By the time the weekend rolled around, and another Saturday off with Danielle and Emelia faced us down we made short order out of what to do with time we had after Emelia was done her Saturday swim and gymnastics class. Midweek Danielle sent me an iMessage asking if I wanted to go down to the Burlington Ikea to inspect the couch we had our eye on to replace the one that is so old and beat down that sitting on it was like fending off body punches for five rounds of boxing. She didn’t have to ask me twice for a road trip to Ikea, so plans were hatched on the spot.

IMG_9125I got up early Saturday morning to let Danielle have a little more sleep in and because selfishly I was looking forward—with the cold fall weather—to a coffee and some time to hangout with Emelia on the couch over breakfast. Since my schedule doesn’t deliver consistent Saturday mornings like it used to, I’d much rather be the one who gets up early with our rises-ahead-of-the-sun daughter even when sleeping in would be a nice reprieve from the busy weeks. It might be me slurping away at my coffee while surfing Pinterest on the iPad while she watches Netflix after some oatmeal, but in those moments quietly together with her, I feel a reconnection with her that remedies the fluctuations of my work schedule.

IMG_9134After swim and a trip to Locomotive Espresso to replenish our weekly java needs, it was a whirlwind trip to Gymworld for her much beloved gymnastics class. I have to say after seeing her second straight week of class and only her third week in, in total, Emelia has taken to this like a fish to water. She is courageous and works really hard at all they are showing her. And I love seeing the leaps and bounds she is taking and the confidence it is building in her. This especially shy girl is really in her element tumbling, jumping and cartwheeling all over the mats. This week they even got to time on the uneven bars which Emelia was over the moon about.

The second we were done class it was back home for a quick lunch and then on the road to Burlington and Ikea. There were some little things we were planning on picking up, but the real purpose of the trip was to see if the couch that had caught our eye, along with the chair we thought to get with it, were comfortable and would be a good replacement for the green clad rock pile our current couch had become (truth be told a lawn chair cushion might seem like a feather bed in comparison).

IMG_9135The drive down to Burlington in the cold rain was a reminder that we picked the perfect day to spend an hour and half in the car. It was a nice drive down and Emelia even got the better part of a forty-five minute nap on the way. We arrived to skies that cleared but still cool weather—the perfect kind of weather to be inside. We managed to pick up some odds n’ sods things we were needing and were delighted with both the couch and chair. Now all that is left to worry about is what to do about the table we have and to find an ottoman that goes with the chair. And to wait for their next free shipping sale.

We slipped in a meal at the Ikea cafeteria, and after a stop for a tea got settled back in for a drive home just after the sun went to bed. The ride home was a combination of listening to great music and talking about pretty much anything. It’s one thing Danielle and I have always been really good at: having great discussions about nothing and everything of importance in the framework of a road trip. It’s one of my favourite places to be trapped with Danielle. And I love that Emelia now gets to have front row seats to that sort of connection and relationship we have on any of these trips we take.

IMG_0277Today was another day at work for me. So while I toiled away Danielle and Emelia ran through the regular Sunday errands with the fleetest of attack and were done in time to meet me for lunch together. The rest of the day flew by and here I am back home with them (well clunking away at the keyboard) ready to copilot the lumpy couch and lament with Danielle how that Ikea free shipping sale can’t come soon enough.

And even though the Sunday night hang with Danielle isn’t on the most comfortable of stations, I know two things: 1) It won’t be this way for long, and 2) it might be a ton uncomfortable, but the person I am navigating the last bit of the weekend with, makes it just fine!

 

She said

IMG_9137The first big news of the week is that FINALLY we finalized the mortgage and we are on the path to a much healthier financial path. The debt we took on when I opened the daycare and massive renovation to add a ⅓ more livable space to our home was necessary but expensive and the loans and debts we took on to do this was crippling at times. So with the equity we had built in the house we folded in the renovation debt into our mortgage and now with just a little amount still owing on our line of credit we are otherwise only in debt to our mortgage and I hope like hell we can stay that way. So with the 4 month hurdle behind us we have been focusing on saving funds to do something we have been needing to do for more than a year. Replace the living room couch.

In the spring we took on the massive task of repainting the entire main level of the house including the hallway and all the wood trim. Since then this lighter and brighter living space has been heavier because of the dark green couch that has long been uncomfortable. Over the last year it has become down right horrible, the cushioning is pretty well gone in the arms so the wood is just below the surface of the fabric of the arms, the cushions are trapped with allergens that make me sneeze and cough like made when I sit on the sinking middle of the couch. So needless to say we need to replace it. I have vowed we will save for it so we are not putting it on credit and if the same sale happens in late November like last year with free shipping we will be replacing the 15 year old couch to a more suiting grey that will look great in the living room.

IMG_9139The big thing for us is that we would like this living room to be comfortable, family friendly and not an insane investment because let’s be honest we have kids in this house every day so it won’t last forever. We just want something that will work for us for a few years, not break the bank and will be comfortable. And the Ikea Stockholm collection does just that. We have a couch and chair in mind, I will drive myself to madness trying to figure out accessories, a new table set and more ascetically pleasing organization so our front room doesn’t look like a hobo version of the romper room but rather a comfortable living room that the kids can be comfortable in as well.

So now we wait. Impatiently.

Today with John at work Emelia and I were spending the first part of the day doing our normal Sunday errands. I did meal planning, grocery shopping and normal errands. We managed to get home in time to pack up a lunch for John and meet him at work to spend a bit more time together. Before we made a trip to see John, Emelia and I had been on the hunt for one thing specific. Warm one piece pjs for our camping trip next weekend. With temps at night in the single digits and someone (that would be me) a total wimp for the cold weather, I wanted to be comfortable and toasty for the cold nights. Emelia had been obsessed for almost a year with the idea of wanting once piece pjs, which strangely enough was much harder to find for her than me. Anyway, before going to see John we had popped over to Winners to see if they had anything. Well they didn’t but what they did have was beautiful, amazing quality halloween costumes for Emelia. It took no time and Emelia had found one she loved. I was happy because for $40 it was a MUCH better quality that the crappy quality princess dresses she was eyeing up at Costco and it was a layered costume with a cape so she could easily layer under for the normal freezing cold Halloween nights we typically have. So she was happy and we were set for Halloween already.

IMG_0278Well she loved the costume so much that she wanted to wear it all day, including to the mall to show daddy. Well that was a great idea except she hates being the centre of attention and is painfully shy. So everyone who walked by her was making a huge fuss about this beautiful costume, which put Emelia firmly wedged to my hip hiding her face. Silly kid.

After saying good-bye to daddy we were off to finish once and for all this mission to find once piece fleece pjs, after a number of failed attempts we tried Giant Tiger as my best friend had told me she had seen them there. Well we found some, the sizing was limited but we managed to find two pair one for each of us. Just in time for next weeks camping.

All that is left is to survive the week and pack for our 4 day camping trip. Bring on the camp fire, hot chocolate and family time!

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