Babysitting

Memories of a bag filled with activities, worrying about the noises of someone else's house, and playing on the floor with kids to earn pocket money.  It hasn't changed much in twenty-five years.

The Sprouts and I had our first gig with a little person today.  It was busy and far more tiring than we anticipated.  I had completely forgotten how much attention and focus toddlers take.

Although we are tired, we had a good day.

To entertain our little guest we pulled out the little-kid toy bins that we keep just for these kind of occasions.

A few non-little-kid toys came out to play as well.  Our little guest was pretty nervous around the dog to start the day.  By the time she went home she was feeding her treats and telling her to sit. 

First on the agenda was making our lunch; homemade pizza buns.  Each of the kids stretched their own dough, spread pizza sauce and sprinkled toppings.  I did the rolling and slicing to make cinnamon-bun-shaped pizzas.

The end results was good enough that the picky Sprout ate three.  Definitely going on the do-again list of recipes.  And the leftovers went in the freezer for school lunches.  Double win!

Next we had an interest in going outside.  Borrowing from my mom's activity set I suggested washing the car.  Another win!  Playing with the hose was enjoyed by everyone.  We had a few conflicts over sharing the hose, but overall a good time was had.  And we ended up with a clean(ish) car.

Since the car was clean and the kids weren't tired of the hose, we pulled out an old bike to scrub up as well.

Now to find a list of activities to keep them all busy on Thursday...

Austen Today

I have been meandering through Pinterest fairly regularly this summer.  Too much random scrolling through the everything category to really find something special except by serendipity (my very favourite way to find things - which is why thrift shopping is such a delight for me). 

This afternoon I found such a delightful website that I have to share it with you.  I am a huge Austen fan.  I have read everything she wrote, Pride and Prejudice at least twice.  So when I saw a link to a blog post called "7 un-put-down-able books" I had to click through.  I found Modern Mrs. Darcy.

Check it out.  I promise you will like her voice, her passion for books and writing, and her perspective.  I spent half an hour reading backwards through her posts before being overcome by the need to share this lovely find.

Changing Eras

Our life has shifted quite significantly in the last four months.  My brain and heart are still catching up with the changes. 

Four months ago we were counting down to the possession date on our first home.  We only had fairy tale ideas and dreams of what house ownership was like.  We were counting down to the end of a school year, and the end of an era in our family life - living on a FN Reserve as teacher-guests.  There was a great deal of excited anticipation tinged with more than a pinch of grief.

We are all still working through the bittersweet feelings of stepping out of an era.  Some days I feel deeply guilty.  Guilty that I have abandoned students who need the best teachers that can be had. (Doesn't that imply an arrogance on my part?) Guilty that I didn't do enough to engage and support the community while I lived there.  Guilty that I have bought into the middle-class box of a lifestyle (even though I don't fit into that box very well).  On those days I spend a lot of time trying to remember that there is a plan, and that plan has a purpose for me to serve in this new era. 

Other times I feel that my soul is awakening and coming alive again.  Mostly when participating in worship and fellowship.  And when I get to sing!  It feels like spring sunshine after months of SAD.  And then the guilt melts away and my heart rejoices.  That is when I can pray with confidence rather than in fear.

I believe with my whole heart that each of us is created with love for a specific purpose.  Mine is to teach.  For the past six years it was in GN.  Now I don't know what I will be teaching and exactly where.  For the past two years, in anticipation of this change coming eventually, I have wrestled with leaving the teaching profession.  I keep coming back to loving my job so much that even thinking about doing something else made me mopey.

However, going back to that plan and purpose, teaching in an elementary school context may not be the plan for this next era.  So instead of "Please Lord, please Lord, please Lord..." I am praying, "Prepare me to follow your will not mine."

Its a scary step.  I know that when I pray He hears and answers.  That's why its a scary step. 

Emily Two-Two and the Busy Spring

To say that running two houses, commuting between two communities, keeping up with two children, and the Man and the Dog has kept me busy for the past two months is an understatement.  As a result I have collapsed at the end of each day, thinking about blogging, but not getting past the thought.

I have learned two for sure things in the past two months.  First, I am not someone who should own a cottage.  Two buildings and properties to maintain and pay bills for is one too many in my book.  If waterfront of worth having, then it is worth having full time.

Second, I am terrible at the end of a marathon journey. 

The past year has been a marathon in many ways and I barely crawled across the finish line for this one.  I am deeply thankful for the slower pace we have begun in the summer season and anticipate much more time to reflect on daily life and share my thoughts.

A Dream Come True

After over a year of searching and two and a half months of counting down to today, the whole "get the keys" was somewhat anti-climactic.  However, opening the door with our keys and walking into our very own house for the first time ever was so much more wonderful than I could possibly have imagined.

First thing the Sprouts darted out of the car and across the lawn to look at the bird bath and bench tucked down the hill beside the house.

"This is AWeSOME," was Jo's first impression.

Next we got to have that magic moment of unlocking the first ever door in the whole wide world to actually be ours.  What an incredible feeling!  Suddenly all the things about the house that I was feeling were not quite perfect didn't matter.  I was completely filled (and perhaps a little overflowing) with joy in this amazing gift.

In our first load brought today was our new dining room chairs.  After we all walked through the house again and had a snack in the dining room (in an empty echoing room that feels terribly huge and vast with no soft furnishings yet) it was time to get rolling.  LK's job was to get the chairs assembled.  Mine was to go our for basic provisions (TP being at the top of the list).

Turn our the grocery store is a whole 6km from our doorstep.  6km people!  That is 78km closer than yesterday. Sweet bliss!

To celebrate we enjoyed a takeout pizza at the breakfast bar.  After dinner Jo had lots of share about the   which he, LK and the dog has explored while the ladies did the errands.  turns out we have lots of neighbours - the kind that poop in the bush.  And our hill is completely covered in oak trees (of the fallen leaves are any indication).

I can't wait for the weekend when we start prepping for paint!

Fit-less

Not only have I been on a blogging hiatus, I have also been on somewhat of a fitness hiatus.  After last fall's Terry Fox run (waaay back in September) I lost my running mojo.  Then the winter to end all winters hit us and there was no desire to exit the house for many, many -40 days.  Only the sad-puppy  eyes of our pooch managed to get me outside at all.  Just as I scraped together all my ambition over the Christmas holidays to started running again (only to rediscover my mojo with a passion) I fell and dislocated my shoulder.  No more running.

Well, it is April.  None of my clothes fit comfortably.  I am dreading the thought of shorts or bare legs.  My physiotherapist has told me to wait with running until I can do a plank for 90 seconds.  90 SECONDS!!! I am not sure that will ever happen.  So I have been somewhat mopey.

Three weeks ago I decided that strength training was where I would have to put my energy right now.  It doesn't feel nearly as good as a long run.  I don't get the fresh-air-induced clean head (which I desperately need daily this time of year), but it will move me towards me 90 seconds goal.

I have been working at it 3/4-assed for three weeks and already feel better.  So it is time to go 4/4-assed about it.

This morning I pulled out my old friend Chalene Johnston and her TurboFire workouts.  Oh my, how far I have fallen.  I huffed and puffed like the wolf.  But I pushed through.  And felt better.

So, my take-away from all this is that it is time to get off the couch, which also means out of bed at the crack of dawn again.

Just a warming, there may be a little grumpiness before we settle into fitness-induced cheer.

Hiatus

No big reason for the long silence, just a season of being over-extended in a few areas and too drained at the end of the day to type anything meaningful.  But I am coming to the end of the tunnel, so to speak, and have lots churning around inside my head.  Whether it is meaningful remains to be seen.

Warning:  most of it is about the house, so those who are not interested be warned.

Since we are officially into the 30 days before possession the paperwork has begun.  We received a very long letter from our lawyer this week detailing all the decisions to be made.  All were clear and straightforward, except one.  Surveying the lot.

We were given four options and it seemed like he was encouraging us to have the lot officially surveyed including a building location.  That was going to be a significant amount of money added to closing costs that we had not planned for.  We understood previously that the original lot survey (5 years old) plus the fact that we can still see all the survey stakes and the lot lines have been kept cleared and walkable in between the stakes a new survey was unneeded.

Sidebar:  we are somewhat compulsive planners and did lots of research.  However, I sometimes forget one piece of data in the mountain of data that I hunt through to ensure that I have 'done my research'.

After a conversation in which both our anxiety levels may have been somewhat elevated we consulted our experts (parents) and the Interwebs.  After reading several horror stories in which hapless home buyers discovered after making a purchase that a significant part of their land was not actually theirs, and the expensive methods of addressing said issue I was definitely in an elevated state of anxiety.  A visit to city hall had me confused, as I was advised that with such a recent build they would have a site plan on file.  They did not, or rather, would not share it with me.  I was gently told my lawyer and realtor should be doing that.

So I called my realtor, who agreed that they were taking care of all that.  He restated the comment from two weeks ago about the stakes and visible lot lines that I had forgotten in my data mining and put all my anxiety to rest.

Moral:  when you have an expert working in your corner who you know is good at his/her job and they give you advice, don't go looking for trouble by mining a mountain of data.  Check it out with one or two other trusted sources, then leave well enough alone!