Category Archives: Random

Every so often I look back on posts I’ve written and sort of “relive” those moments in my life. The other day I was browsing back on where I was last spring, and I can still feel the stress of everything that was going on between March and May. Teacher’s college courses, new house, moving, work, the play, etc. I was desperate to find some balance in my life.

Then the summer happened. I had such good intentions and such big plans to accomplish a billion things with all the free time I knew I’d have.

And then… I just couldn’t do it. Part of it was due to he baby-induced nausea and anxiety, but I know the rest was that I simply burnt myself out last spring. As much as I wanted to be productive, I just… couldn’t.

I constantly compare myself to others, and feel guilty even writing this when I think about how much The Hubster is juggling. He somehow manages to work full-time, work part time as a teaching assistant, run a side-business with three clients, hold a busy calling at church, work on the house, play soccer & hockey and still find time to spend with me.

I was exhausted just typing that.

I know he’s tired, but he really doesn’t complain. He just puts his head down and gets to work, and even though I try I’ll never be able to find adequate words to tell him just how much I love, respect and admire him for that. He is the best man I know and I’m so lucky to be married to him. :)

This week has been a bit of a flashback of what we went through last spring with the insane busy-ness. I feel like work has officially started again. I was booked for four full days this week, and while that is all kinds of awesome, it’s also been all kinds of busy.

(This post is actually coming to you from the staff room at my favourite school. Oh 76 minute prep period, how I love you!)

I haven’t been home a single evening this week, and tonight is no exception. I had book club on Monday, house errands on Tuesday, church stuff last night and tonight, and I still work again tomorrow.

I miss my home time!

I already feel like our weekends are precious. The Hubster is taking some time off from everything this weekend, and aside from some general cleaning around the house, I plan to do the same. There will be movies, hangouts, walks and sleeping, and I am beyond excited about it.

Part of me is worried that I’ll end up the same stressed out basket case that I was for most of last spring, but I’m trying hard to keep things low key for the baby’s sake.

So the question still remains… how do you do it all?

The Hubster and I have had a busy week, so last night we tried to go to bed early. We were in bed by 10pm, and after watching/falling asleep to an episode of Seinfeld, we decided it was time to turn in. I’m pretty sure I was out cold before he even turned out the light.

At 12:45am I woke up suddenly to a loud, consistent beeping which I immediately recognized as our smoke detector. I cried out to the Hubster who was still a bit groggy and we both seriously jumped out of bed. You need to understand that having a fire in our home is one of my biggest fears. I am that person who checks twice each night to make sure the oven is off, candles are blown out and any fire hazards are eliminated before being able to fall asleep.

We were almost out the bedroom door when the alarm suddenly stopped. My heart was racing a mile a minute and I began to feel sick to my stomach from moving from the bed so quickly. (sorry, little one!)

I sat on the edge of the bed while the Hubster went to investigate. We quickly realized that though we have more than one smoke detector on our upper floor, only one had gone off, and we could see absolutely no cause. The detector that went off is actually hard wired into the ceiling and only uses a battery as a backup. We moved from room to room on each floor as the smoke detector shifted from the alarm to a chirp every minute or so, much like one would when the batteries need to be replaced.

We were both still unnerved, so the Hubster called our local fire department to see if this could just be a fault with the detector (whose backup batteries we had just replaced) or if we should be concerned. The person we spoke with said that she couldn’t make a definite call on the cause for the alarm without actually seeing the detector and offered to send a truck over, but as we had thoroughly checked the house and no other alarm had gone off we decided against it. By now we had been awake for almost an hour and were already dreading the 6am alarm for work.

The Hubster held me close and promised me that everything was alright before drifting off to sleep.

I lay awake for some time thinking that my house was going to burn down, obviously.

(I actually got up one more time just to make sure that there was no smoke anywhere near the detector. My super sensitive pregnant nose couldn’t detect anything.)

After my second check through the upper floor, I finally drifted into an uneasy sleep with dreams about police and fire fighters banging on my door trying to get us out. I managed to sleep through my alarm before leaping out of bed at 6:40 to get ready for work in a whirlwind.

Thankfully I was back at my favourite school again today and though I was exhausted, the day at work was great.

I called my fire fighting brother-in-law when I got home to ask about last night’s adventures. He was familiar with the type of smoke detector we had, and believes that either a power surge caused the alarm to go off, or the unit itself was simply showing its age and faults. We’re pretty sure the detector is as old as the house, so we went out tonight to buy a new one.

While I’m so grateful that there really wasn’t a fire, the whole night was still a bit traumatic. I’m sure I’ll find the whole thing hilarious in a week or two, but for now I’m too tired to even see straight.

Fingers crossed for no alarms tonight! ;)

(via: http://img.blogcu.com/uploads/emmasara_40.jpg)

Due to baby-induced nausea, I spent much of July trying to be as immobile as possible. So, I decided it was a good time to tackle a project I have long debated undertaking: reading Harry Potter.

And I did. All seven.

…in three weeks.

Everyone I know is a Harry Potter fanatic. Not in a bad sense, but they all seem to be crazy about the books. I have lonnnnnng been encouraged to read them, but they just never appealed to me. When I gave that response in regards to Harry Potter and why I hadn’t read them, the inevitable question follows:

“So, what do you like to read then?”

I never really know how to answer that. I love to read everything.

…except fantasy.

If I had to pick a favourite genre, it would probably be historical fiction. Yes, that probably makes me a nerd, but so be it.

I LIKE IT.

Anyway. Harry Potter. As I read the first three books, I thought that they were “cute”. I wasn’t in love with them, but I was interested enough to keep reading. The fourth book was definitely darker and more well written, but the fifth was terrible. It took everything in me to push through and finish. I liked books six and seven, though I found the ending to be completely predictable and a little boring.

So, the consensus? I liked them, but I didn’t love them.

It’s not a series that I’d read again, and it certainly hasn’t made me want to foray any further into the genre. It’s funny, but I almost feel like I’m blaspheming by saying that I didn’t love the books. People are so passionate about the series and the characters, but I just couldn’t get into it.

I started watching the movies, but they keep straying from the storyline of the book and leaving plot points out and, well, we all know how I feel about that.

(FAIL.)

Am I alone here? Did anyone else read Harry Potter and not fall wildly in love?

(via: http://ilovesplashpanic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/end-of-summer.jpg)

Ah, it was a summer of good intentions.

As the school year wound down last year, I made such big plans for the summer. Write every day! Work on my book! Tackle a bajillion house projects! Decorate everything! Buy new dresses! Read every day! Run a race!

…but I got pregnant instead. :)

It has been the laziest, most relaxing two months I’ve had in years. And I needed them. July was spent laying in bed or on the couch most of the day, trying to ward off waves of nausea with gingerale and crackers. All those house projects I wanted to do (remove wallpaper, paint downstairs bathroom, scrape paint from upstairs tiles, etc) suddenly seemed… huge. And I just couldn’t face them. You would think that all that time being still would leave me with oodles of time to blog, and really–that was my intention–but again, I just couldn’t do it.

First it was all the secrecy–I was so afraid I’d let something slip before I was ready to make the big announcement. Secondly, I was just drained. My creative juices were dry. Lastly, I’ve been so dissatisfied with my blog layout that I just couldn’t stand looking at it. haha!

So you ask, why not change it? I tried. WordPress is not nearly as user-friendly as Blogger, and there are not nearly as many cute themes and backgrounds to choose from as there are for Blogger. I’m also a bit… particular. I’ve had a look in my mind forever, and I could never find anything that came close to it.

…until yesterday. After writing yesterday’s post it was like something caught fire again. I kept coming back to my blog to look at the layout and see what could be done with it. I played with a few options, but ultimately decided that the whole thing had to go, and it was time to roll up my sleeves and design my own.

So, welcome to my new look! I’m still tweaking the fonts and playing with some minor design changes, but I love it so far. I like that it’s clean and bright, and I think it’s kinda cute.

And, I made it myself.

(WHAT?)

Seriously. I found a plain, white customizable template from wordpress and spent all morning designing a new header, searching for a background image, inserting photos, etc etc. I can’t believe that I waited so long to do this–granted, it took some time (I should have been cleaning the basement… sorry hubs!)–but I am in loooove. I like looking at my website again.

I hope you do too. :)

Anyway, back to good intentions. My Six Months + Six Dresses project kind of came to a standstill. After my last month I noticed that I was, um, expanding a little around the middle. For a long time it just looked like I was putting on weight, and I did not like having my photo taken. So, the end. haha! I would like to finish it now though, I only have two more dresses to find and I will rock out with my baby bump! I will do my best to find you one for September!

On that theme, I also let my Summer of Dresses Project fall by the wayside. I’m so sorry about this–I was so so so excited about it, then I dropped the ball. Fail. Maybe we could extend into the fall? I love me some cute dresses + boots!

Annnnd the house. Oh, the house. The Hubster has been working so hard on some amazing additions and changes to the house. Our deck is nearly finished and it is going to be beautiful. We’re (read: he’s) also in the beginning stages of finishing the basement so that we can move our office downstairs and have a room for le bebe when he/she arrives in February! Amidst all that there have been ceiling fans, cables, dresser sanding, beautifying/organizing the garage, and a myriad of other things. He’s really turned out to be quite a handy Hubster, and I have been so, so grateful for all he’s doing…

…and tell him so. From my seat on the couch. ha

I’m ready to get back into a routine though. I feel like myself again, and I’m actually looking forward to getting back to work. I miss teaching, and I hope I really enjoy these next few months before my maternity leave!

So, lazy summer, I bid you adieu.

I’m ready for fall.

Hi.

I’ve been away for a little while. I just… needed a break. So, I took a break. From everything. From the house, from the blog, from work. I just relaxed.

And it felt so good.

Well, mostly good. The flu sucked. I realize that most of the world now thinks / suspects that I’m pregnant because really–who gets the flu in the summer? Let me assure you, what I experienced last week–the chills, feverish, keep no food down flu–was actually just the flu. I know it’s going around, and if I gave it to you, I’m so sorry.

I can’t help it. I like to share. haha

Anyway.

I’m back to feeling like my regular self, and the Hubster and I have been rather busy. He is hard at work building us a fabulous new two-level deck in our backyard. He spent much of the weekend framing the structure of it, and despite a few setbacks, it looks fabulous. He’s working so hard, and soon we’ll have a deck to relax on! As soon as he’s finished I’ll post some before and after pictures.

As for me, I’ve been watching ridiculous amounts of old shows I missed, going for walks, cooking and spending time with friends. I ventured downtown on Thursday to spend the day with Bo Bandy–one of my best friends from Ghetto U. We wandered around downtown, saw a cute play at the Fringe festival and found a fabulous little Thai restaurant that I fully plan to take the Hubster back to.

Seriously. The food was life-changing.

This week I’m headed north to see my adorable 96 year old Grammy and spent some time in my hometown. Every so often I just need to be back there–I don’t know what it is, but the Great White North will always feel like home to me. I’m excited to see my friends, visit the places I loved as a kid, visit Poutineland and hang out with Grammy.

And… I’m ready to come back. For real this time.

So, I promise to write every single day I’m up north and tell you all about my adventures. I head out tomorrow and the trip will culminate at a family reunion in Muskoka on Saturday, so there should be lots of stories.

Of poutine. And camp. And Grammy.

Be excited. :)