Impromptu Afternoon

What a beautiful day! It started out boring. I wanted (not wanted, but NEEDED) to clean up the house so I stayed at home for the morning. I seriously lacked motivation though and just spent the time stacking blocks and staring out the window at the neighbour who decided to chop down the beautiful privacy hedge between our houses. At first I thought it was a very bad thing, but I've talked to him more in the past 5 hours than I have in almost 3 years.

In the afternoon, I thought I was going to become a permanent fixture of the couch, so I put Nate in the car seat and left without knowing where I was going. 

We started off at a scrapbook store. Very good place to start! Then car seat shopping at Babies R'Us. I had a free fries coupon from Pajo's (the fish & chip place at Rocky Point Park) burning a hole in my pocket so decided to head there, after a quick trip to Starbucks. Oh, and I found my new favourite coffee...a mint mocha chip frappachino blended light. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmint!

I was reluctant to go to Rocky Point though. You see, I joined a Mom & Baby fitness group called "Fit 4 Two" in PoMo in April. My goal was to get into shape before the cruise and then get back into shape after the cruise. I achieved half of that goal but haven't been able to go back since we got back from the cruise. If YOU want to go, tell them I referred you, and then I get two free classes. Then I'd be able to go back!

Anyways, I'm getting off track. Fit 4 Two is a few blocks from Rocky Point, and on sunny days we walk to Rocky Point to do our exercises...right in front of Pajo's Fish & Chips. It's nasty, really. You're exercising and all you can smell is fries. 

I dawdled on my way to the park because I didn't want to run into the personal trainer there. I didn't want her to see me walking towards deep fried heaven instead of toward the push up bench. 

I got to the park 5 minutes after they left. Sneaky.

I got my free fries and Nate and I set out for a walk. 

And something happened to me that's never happened before.

I was pooped on by a seagull. WHAT are the chances of THAT?? I tell ya, I win all the bad lotteries. 

Not only was I pooped on, I was wearing black, so it was TOTALLY obvious. But you know what was weird? It pooped UNDER my.... chest. Now, I'm not an overly endowed woman, but still! How did it hit me right underneath? Still trying to figure that one out. I'm sure Colin will have a scientific answer using physics calculations.

I wasn't going to let that bother me. At least it narrowly missed my fries. And everyone probably thought that Nate puked on me. So we continued.

Nathan got pretty mad that I was eating fries and not sharing. I forgot his snacks at home, so I gave him his first fry. He loved it (obviously....who wouldn't?). He went for a fun ride on the swing and teety totter, and then we enjoyed our respective beverages on the grass, and in the sunshine.

Sometimes the best moments are the ones that aren't planned.

My Crafty Corner of the House

I've been an avid scrapbooker pretty much since scrapbooking started. I think it was in 1997 or 1998 when I first heard about it. No stores existed (gasp!), just "Creative Memories".

I went to my first Creative Memories class, and thought that it was too expensive. I was 17 and working at Tim Hortons at the time, so an album cost me a couple days of work! I bought one package of stickers, not really knowing what I'd use them for, and the rest is history. 

I became a Creative Memories consultant in 1999 at 19 years old. I don't know if I ever thought I could make a living doing it, but it supported me and my mother's habit. The problem was that most of my clients were my age, and had minimum wage jobs. With Creative Memories, I had to order $400 worth of product every 3 months. So if my clients didn't order much, I still had to.  I stopped being a consultant as soon as I got out of the hole, maybe two years later.

I didn't stop there though. Been cropping ever since. 

I mentioned on my Mothers Day post that I got a new scrapbooking desk! Now that it's totally organized so I thought I'd show the details incase it inspires anyone. It was some random person on a Google search that inspired me, after all.

So bear with me if you are a regular reader who doesn't give a hoot about scrapbooking. 

My very own part of the house

The desk is covered with white paper (big massive roll free from my Father-in-law!) so I can draw ideas or test stamps on it. All my cutting tools are on the keyboard tray so I can slide them away when not in use. This is my favourite part. It saves SO much desk space!

Colin installed 2 magnetic racks (IKEA) on the wall. Storage cups (IKEA) and the magnetic strip keep all of my tools within arms reach. Also holds the "garbage can" (a cutlery rack from...IKEA!) which perfectly fits a brown lunch bag I can easily empty into the trash when it gets full.

There's a bathroom towel rack (IKEA) installed directly onto the side of the desk. The bottom rail holds my ribbon and adhesives, and the top rail holds another favourite part...the inspiration cards!

These are the inspiration cards. I've sketched out an idea, some scraplifted (the scrapbookers term for "plagiarized") and some of my own. They're organized by the number of photos that fit onto that layout. So if I have 2 photos for the page I'm working on, I'll flip through the "2" pile for the one I want, and then it hangs right in front of me on a 3 x 3" square as I work on my page.

My circle and oval cutter templates hang on towel knobs (IKEA) screwed to the side of the desk.

My sewing machine lives where the computer tower is supposed to go.

My paper storage bin holds my printed paper. The middle drawer is special though. See the ziplocs (massive ones about 14" x 16")? They hold my scrap paper. There's one for each colour. On the left side of this bin is a built in, hidden bookshelf that hold other crafty stuff I rarely use but maybe someday I will...

My big storage bins (um, IKEA!) are on top of the hutch. The contents are labeled on the outside (stamps, cardmaking, fibres, rub-ons).

Left drawer in the hutch holds books, notepads, memorabilia, etc.

Right open shelf holds the current album I'm working on, extra pages, plain cardstock and the decorative paper I'm likely to use soon (like all my blue papers).

Here's the pretty part! I got clear jars (IKEA and loonie store) to put my colourful embellishments in. Not just for display, but because I find that if something is displayed in front of you, you're more likely to use it. So in the jars are buttons, a whole bunch of brads, eyelets, felt flowers, coloured staples, etc. Looks good enough to eat.

Well, hope that wasn't too dry! Now, I need to go try it out! 

Cruisin'

Colin, Nathan and I just got back from a cruise with my parents!

It was the first cruise for all of us, and we wanted to try a shorter cruise as a starter cruise just incase it wasn't our "thing". My family has never been really good with boats (and I married a boat lover??) so we weren't sure how the sea sickness would pan out.

So we went on a the Volendam (Holland America) from Vancouver to Seattle, Astoria, Victoria, Vancouver. 

Playing in the pool

Enjoying tea on the deck one evening

This is going to take forever to write if I write about everything, so I'm going to sum it up in sections.

*****

PORTS:

We didn't even get off the ship in Seattle. Been there, done that. Rather sit by the pool and eat. We got off in Astoria for a bit. Took a shuttle bus into "town" and went in almost every store and were back in time for lunch. Mmmm. Food! We got off in Victoria, just because we needed solid ground (although it didn't FEEL very solid). Went for a walk on the seawall and got back on. 

Soaking up the sun in Victoria

*****

FOOD:

I don't think I ever got hungry on the ship. There's no time to get hungry between meals! First, there's the breakfast buffet (oh, I feel sick even writing the word "buffet"), with zucchini french toast, peach walnut pancakes, any kind of meat you want, any eggs you want, omelets made to order... wow.

Then lunch comes. You try to tell yourself that walking around the ship for the past hour has burned off all the calories from breakfast. But you're wrong. Maybe half of one pancake. But the lunch is too good to resist. There's Thai and/or Chinese food, made to order focaccia sandwiches, meat potatoes & veggies, pasta with your choice of amazing sauce, etc...

Before you know it, dinner time has arrived! So we dress up, and make our way to the formal dining room, wondering where you're going to store the food that comes to the table. But that doesn't stop you from ordering 2 appys (shrimp cocktail, crab cakes, pineapple with mango strawberry salsa, mussels, baked brie in phylo pastry), soup (french onion, lobster bisque), and an entree or two. Choose from duck, steak, king crab legs, salmon, and lots of other fancy stuff I don't remember. 

Then as if you're not full enough, why not go to the late night buffet from 11-12 pm? I mean, really. Who needs to eat again at that time of night? But did that stop me from eating fettuchini an hour before bedtime? I think I only ate there 2 times. And small portions.

The restaurants are closed after midnight, and don't open until 6 am (I think...I was never there before 8). But DON'T WORRY, you can order room service at any time. Which we did once, just because we can. We actually fell asleep waiting for it and woke up at midnight (or whatever time it came) so we could eat the cracker and cheese platter, fruit platter, (both platters only had 4 small pieces on them) and apple pie, and then fall asleep again. 

Our table in the dining room was awesome! It was a window seat at the very back of the ship! Best table in the house. One evening during dinner, we watched dolphins jumping behind the boat!

the view

My handsome men on formal night

The King on his throne

*****

GYM:

We went to the gym once for 30 minutes.

*****

ENTERTAINMENT:

Comedy act night one. Song and dance show night two. Female jazz singer night three. Comedian/Hawaiian ukulele player night four (so funny!). It was ok, but would have been nice to see a magician or an actual musical.

*****

OPEN OCEAN:

Oh boy. If I have one piece of advice, it's PACK GRAVOL!!!!!!! I didn't. Luckily, my parents did. And we went through the entire pack, and I spent one night concentrating on not throwing up for hours (after the gravol was all gone). 

We were in open ocean for 2 nights, so, half of the nights. The swells were CRAZY. We looked at Colin's GPS and saw NO LAND at all!! Just the little ship in the middle of a big blue screen. We used the GPS to see how far away from any land we were, and it was 50K! 

This is actually one of my biggest fears. But I went out on the top deck by myself in the evening, and looked 360 degrees around me, and could look past the fear and appreciate the beauty and awe of the scene (granted, the ocean was calm at the time). 

The ocean swells were so bad that it turned the normally calm swimming pool into a wave pool. Colin and I got in it when it was thrashing about, and it threw you around! I've tried uploading a video but it's not working. Too bad!

*****

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:

Waste. I am guilty too. You eat more than you need, and if you don't want what you've taken off the buffet, just throw it out. 

There were people who were treating the staff terribly. Like they are SO MUCH BETTER than them. It was disgusting. One lady made the sandwich maker change so many things. "Take it apart and put mayo on BOTH sides. I ONLY want ham and cheese. Where's the tomato? I want tomato?". Poor guy. She put him through the ringer. Then he toasted the sandwich and she said, "I wanted it TOASTED not BURNT". Then she waved her hand at him as if it was diseased and walked off. 

Give me a break.

And another lady asked where the decaf tea was. He'd run out so suggested there was some on the other side of the buffet. She was angry. She retorted, "NEVER MIND" and walked off.

Give me another break. You've eaten enough to have the calories available to get your lazy legs to the other side of the buffet and get your own tea. Can't you see he's busy?

I could go on and on.

Another thing that bothered me? The people who are working on the cruise ships are coming from places where they can't get a decent pay. So they're leaving their families for months and months at a time so they can earn a living. The head of the kitchen came to talk to us at every dinner. He has a 5 month old daughter at home, who he's o

nly seen for 5 weeks of her life. I think he talked to us so much because he misses her, and seeing Nathan may have shown him what she may be like. There were only 3 babies on board so Nathan did get a LOT of attention. And when I say "a lot", I MEAN it! 

*****

One thing I was looking forward to on this vacation was that Colin wouldn't be saying "I'm going to work on my boat now". 

What was on the agenda for the second day? A BOAT BUILDING competition! You're kidding me. 

"Oh well" I thought, "At least it's only for an hour". 

How wrong I was. It was an info session where you got the rules. He actually got 2 DAYS to build it, using anything he found on the ship. The competition was in the hot tub on the last full day at sea. It had to float with 12 cans of pop on it in the turbulence of the hot tub. He built it with 32 casino buckets, duct tape and balloons. His ship was the most seaworthy. 

After the competition was over the ships went into the pool. Colin's was the favourite among the kids, as they could use it as a floatation device! They were climbing all over the thing and it wasn't sinking or falling apart. If the judging had been after that occurrence, he would have won more than 3rd place! I was happy with 3rd though, because I got a coffee mug out of the deal!

*****

Nathan always went to sleep in my parents room so Colin and I could go out by ourselves for a bit every night. Like to watch karaoke, go to a late show, or go line dancing! I would insist that people with kids must cruise with sitters!

Well, it was a fun time. Nathan was SUCH a good boy. He really can roll-with-the-punches. I am still wondering though, when the sea legs will go away, as I'm still losing my balance!

My First Mothers Day

What a wonderful day... actually, a wonderful weekend!

On Friday, Colin took me to the store to pick out a sewing machine as my Mothers Day gift!

Saturday morning, a friend hosted a brunch for me and 4 other "First Mothers Day" mothers. Yummy homemade waffles, and a great time!

Saturday afternoon, Colin and Nathan had father-son time, and left me at home BY MYSELF! 

Saturday evening, Colin took me to pick up a desk from Craigslist that would be PERFECT for the new scrapbook table I'd been hoping for.

That brings me to the actual day, today, my first Mothers Day!

Colin gave me a card this morning that just about made me cry. He made it himself! I always get nervous when he goes in the scrapbook room and closes the door! But it was great. A wonderful heartfelt message on the left, and a message from Nathan on the right, complete with his hand prints in finger paint!

Part of the heartfelt message said that I would not be changing any diapers today! Woo hoo, what a treat!

Colin changed the computer desktop photo to this:

We went to church and Colin took Nathan out of the service when he started to fuss (Nathan, that is), so I got to hear an ENTIRE sermon. 

Colin thought to pack the "I love Mommy" bib in the diaper bag.

After chatting with friends, we headed up to Westwood Plateau with my parents, sisters and their families for brunch. It's a Mothers Day tradition. Usually Colin is fishing with his folks on Mothers Day, so it was his first year coming (he was warned that last year would be his LAST Mothers Day away from me). Yummy food, as always! And we got our faces painted and balloon animals, as always. And we were barely able to walk out of the place, as always. 

I got a nap in the afternoon.

I dragged Colin to IKEA to pick up supplies for my new scrapbook organization idea. It's my day, he didn't even complain about going!

We went to Colin's parents for a BBQ dinner. 

When we came home, Colin installed all the stuff I bought from IKEA into my scrapbook room. It's now all done!  

I really love being a mom. I'm not going to get all mushy on you, but today it just seemed easier to look past the un-glorious, frustrating and difficult parts of being a parent, and just focus on the blessing it is, and on the one-of-a-kind bond I have with my little monkey! 

Junk Cup

By now, you already know about our love for rooting through people's perfectly good junk to find treasures. 

Coquitlam's "junk week" was this past week. As Colin and I were waiting for it to come, we came up with a great idea. 

WHY DON'T WE TURN JUNK WEEK INTO A FUN EVENT?

So we did.

The first annual JUNK CUP!

How it worked:

After a rushed BBQ (we wanted to make the best of the daylight), teams were given a list of 10 categories (such as "Oldest Piece of Junk") and a Coquitlam Garbage Collection Schedule as a map. They were then sent out on the town to find one piece of junk to enter in each category.

 

After 1.5 hours of hunting, we all met back at our house for the silent voting process to find the most deserving piece of junk in each category. The winner of each category was given a cup (that Colin and I found while hunting for our trash), and the team with the most cups after the voting was over won the coveted "Junk Cup" (also found while junk hunting).

All the treasures were laid out on our front lawn, and we had some curious onlookers (aka, neighbours) who know for sure now that we're totally nuts. 

Here was the list of categories, and the item which won:

1. Best toy - Old fashioned red baby buggy (below right-ish)

2. Best Sporting Equipment - a working tube for water sports (below middle)

3. Oldest - Ancient goalie pads

4. Tackiest - a rug wall hanging (below left)

5. Funniest - a head with a woody woodpecker hat

6. Most Practical - outdoor lamps

7. Best Tool - Mini Hand rake

8. Best Building Material - Laminate Flooring

9. Nicest Plant Pot - Bold blue strawberry pot

10. Best Christmas Item - "Eat Me" Santa

One team won 1 cup, two teams won 2 cups, and one team won a whopping 5 cups! So they were the overall winners of the JUNK CUP! 

It was a lot of fun, and we plan to do it again next year. And the best part is that even though Colin and I planned it (and it didn't take much effort to plan), we could also participate too! 

So if you're interested in participating next year, let us know, and we'll put your names on the "dumpster divers" list for next year. 

Moments Like These

I woke up frustrated this morning. I got up early so I could have a relaxing breakfast before Nathan got up. But upon entering the kitchen I see that we forgot to start the dishwasher, so Nate has no clean bottles. So I had to load up the dishwasher instead of having my warm coffee and Special K vanilla. 

I know, it doesn't seem like much, but it bothers a schedule freak like me. Especially one who just got out of bed and has been in a relatively bad mood all week.

It's partially because Nathan's sick. Poor little guy! I'm not frustrated at HIM, just the circumstance. Yesterday he was sitting on his play mat and looked at me with his big brown puppy dog eyes, opened his mouth, and projectile vomited. Nice. At least he barfed so far that it cleared his pj's. Then when Colin got home from work, Nate had a poonami. While changing his diaper, he stepped in it, getting poo all in between his toes. 

I'm getting off track.

Usually by the time Colin leaves for work, Nathan is awake and playing in his crib. Sometimes I think Colin makes extra noise so he can wake him up to say good morning to him before he goes.  Who can blame him? It's his little buddy!

This morning, since I was up too, we watched the baby monitor for signs of wakefulness. Other than a cold-induced cough, we could tell he was still asleep. 

Colin really wanted to sneak in and see him, so he opened the creaky door (do you think that after 8.5 months we'd remember to FIX IT??) and went in. A huge smile appeared and he motioned for me to come look.

Nathan was laying on his side completely conked out, with his arms hugging a stuffed giraffe! It was the cutest thing I've ever seen (however, I have been using that phrase daily since he was born). 

I wanted to grab my camera, but refrained.

I am one of the most camera happy people I know, being a scrapbooker. But since I became a mommy, I realize there are special moments that just can't be photographed. Times where the mental picture will speak more words than a physical one. 

Times when just one glimpse of my little one, melts away the frustrations of the day, and reminds me what's really important. 

I truly believe God gives mothers moments like these to survive everything they're going to encounter for the day. 

And the baby monitor just told me that my day has begun! Time to go say "good morning" to my son!