Well hello there world! Oh how I have missed blogging! I have been so terrible at it over the last few years. There was a time I used to update weekly... ha! That feels like ages ago. I would like to think that I could go back to that, but I won't keep any promises until I get back into the groove of it again.

What I like about keeping a blog is looking back at it over time. Seeing what went on, what we were going through, what I was thinking, feeling, doing. I like feeling that I've left a mark, that I capture the moments in some form as they passed. It all goes by so fast. I think I spend too much time browsing the blogs of others when I could be focusing that energy more productively.

Here is a bit of what's been going on lately.

We are selling (or at least trying to sell) our house! Long story. Not something that was foreseen, but we are going to go through with it in the hopes that we will be happier elsewhere, in a detached home. Having shitty neighbors really sucks. This is all happening, hopefully, within the next few months before the wedding. Oh right, of course, did I forget to mention?? Since my six month blog-hiatus, we got engaged!! Kinda big news around here!

Patrick proposed while we were on vacation in Bermuda. We went on a cruise last July, and he popped the question on the bow of the boat one evening after a romantic dinner.

I have been documenting the process in this gem of a book, which I highly recommend to anyone planning a wedding.

We are getting married on July 20th. It is an exciting time, but also a very busy time. I would like to share the process on here, so maybe that will be my motivation to keep the blog going.

As for right now, it's time to unwind after a long, dreadfully cold week. Temperatures reached -40 with the wind chill. We feel like hibernating! Thankfully, we made it to Friday night! We are just about to cook some salmon and open a bottle of wine. Here's to weekends, even if they do pass by all too quickly.

There's a new guy in my life. His name is Bowie. He is a big boy. He is getting along just fine with his sister Jade. They love having wrestling matches and on a few occasions, I have caught them nestling against each other while they relax. I had to really force convince Patrick that getting another cat would be a good idea. He slowly warmed up to the idea when he realized that there was no way around my crazy cat lady desires, which had only grown stronger after having been repressed for 27 years in a home with no animals. So there you have it, that's how we came about our second fur child.

In other news, there are 15 days of school left!!! Can I get a woot-woot. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to June 22nd - the celebratory events will be quite something I dare say.

Now I'm off to do some yoga and get ready for an afternoon of work at the library. Cheers.

My brain is exploding with the amount of content it has just taken in from blog hopping. Among my faves today: 6th Street Design School, Everything LEB, House*Tweaking, How About Orange, August Empress,  and Eighteen 25. I think I have a serious internet addiction. Like, really. And I haven't even been on Pinterest yet today - I was only getting up to speed with design blogs. Oh dear...
Of course, I did throw in a little side project along the way. Just fooling around in Photoshop.

But now that Patrick's back from work, it's time to catch up with some other addictions. So many pretty faces to be watching. Sigh.

Alive and Well...

Suddenly I feel the urge to poor my heart out to the world again on this good ol' blog. Had been a long, long while. I debated giving it up completely - I just wasn't feeling it anymore. And of course now with Pinterest, well, you know...

So here I am again, wondering where to start, how to bring you up to speed with this whirlwind of mine. I don't know why I kid myself with the audience. The few folks who tune in probably already know most of my life anyways. I'm really I'm writing this for me, to keep track more, to document the every day and be able to look back and say "oh yes, remember...". So I am doing this for me, as a gift to my future self who will one day be grateful for these little fragments.

Since last August, the start of a new school year, it's been quite the ride. Allow me to summarize. I found out shortly after my last blog post that I was getting a grade 3 class at a new school, about a half-hour away from where I live. To make a very long, complicated and not so great story short, it was a really rough start to the school year. I had a hard time with the new grade level, and discovered that I had a very demanding, oversized class with little outside help at the time. Thanks to some amazing, life-saving friends and family members, I was able to pull through. It was really hard at first and there were days when I was absolutely faking it until the routine of it became normalcy and eventually comfortable. At first I hated it and was really on the verge of quitting my profession. I just wasn't feeling it any more. But thankfully, I stuck it out and am in a much, much better place now. A place where despite the daily challenges, I feel confident, happy and I just know I doing what I should be. It may not be the ideal circumstance, it may not be my favourite grade level, but I could not be doing anything else than this.

Something else happened during the long, depressing winter months. I started car-pooling to work. And it just happens to be the best thing ever! To be able to bond, to vent, to tell secrets, and to laugh like crazy has been so therapeutic to me. It makes work so much more fun. I have come to appreciate my colleagues and my environment so much more. We have a word of the day every day (if we remember). We tell jokes. We sing and scream at the top of our lungs if we feel like it. We do what we want. Here is an example of our awesomeness:

In other exciting news, Pat and I have a new kitty named Jade, who is the sweetest, most affectionate little bébé ever. She loves to play fetch with her scrunchy ball, to drink from the tap, to run after treats, and to cuddle. We love that we found her. She is friendly and adventurous, pretty and petite. The only annoying habit she has lately is meowing in the morning when she wants us to wake up and play with her. She's been a bit more vocal because we think she might be in heat. We actually took her to vet tonight to be operated, since she was too young to go through the process when we bought her.

It's funny how much I miss having her around right now. She's really part of the family.

I've got lots more to ramble about but I'll hold off for now until another time. Cheers maties.

we all float on

I want to float on these last bits of summer for as long as I can. I am in between, that place right before the change, before the priorities are re-aligned. It's coming, there's no doubt, and soon. The first stage is already here, but more on that later. Right now, I still want to lie on my back in the pool staring at the light, fluffy clouds above me, my only worry what we will eat for dinner or finishing another chapter in my book. I want to feel the freedom of the whole day, the whole week stretched out in front of me, countless possibilities to be had. I want to wake slowly on the trail of dreams, when I feel good and rested. I want to sip my coffee as I visit my favorite sites, inspiration swelling inside of me and spurring creative projects that can all be realized. I want to eat melon and corn, cheeseburgers, roasted pepper, onion and zucchini. I want to try new recipes every week, with all the time and patience I need to devote to them. I want to kneel and dig in the dirt, pulling weeds, planting flowers, re-arranging a garden that will take form as the years go by. I want to drink Pina Colada on my parents' deck with the sun rays streaming in through the branches of the maple that has grown towering over the backyard since the days I was a little girl. I want to eat food from the BBQ. I want to watch fireworks, I want to bike ride and roller blade, take drives down to the countryside. There is still some time. If only this last little bit of August could last forever... Holding on to these glimpses...

time keeps on slipping into the future

Here we are mid-August, a few days away from the famous "call". Trying not to be stressed about that; trying to enjoy the last little stretch of summer before school starts up again. Trying not to freak out about the unknowns - which school, which grade, for what length of time... What will be will be, so no sense stressing over things you can't really change.Right? I will try to suck it up and make the best of whatever comes my way.

I feel like I need to recap the summer. I've been really crap at blogging. Here are some things that have been happening around here. Sadly, we'll have to go way back to June for a full-fledged summary.

Behold, Patrick's birthday:

First we had a brunch with his family, and we celebrated Father's Day at the same time. The following weekend we had a dinner with my family, which was also a sort of housewarming. We got my parents tickets for the Beatles' Story to make up for the fact that we hadn't really done anything for Mother's Day or Father's Day since we had been so busy with the move and the end of the school year. My family also surprised us with a new BBQ!

I was pretty stressed about cooking for both families for the first time, but it all went pretty well in the end. Patrick and I are refining our cooking/team skills, so it's working out nicely. It is so great to have our own kitchen with a huge island. I must say, it makes all the difference. Now I just need to learn not to freak out about having everything perfect.

Ah yes, during all this time, Pat was also taking an yoga/massage course which came to an end that weekend. An amazing perk to all this is that he must practice giving massages to a certain number of people before he gets his official certificate. Guess who has been volunteering lots of her time towards this goal?! Yup, I'm cashing in on it people. It's great. It's really relaxing now that we have a massage table in the basement. I am spoiled, I know.

Hmm, what else.... Well, we adopted a kitty. She belonged to our friend Dave, who will be moving to Dubai shortly to work for an undetermined period of time in the construction business. Although he wanted to bring her with him, he would have had to pay a ridiculous amount of money to have her quarantined (think $3000) and even then, there was a chance that they might have killed her if they didn't like the look of her, even if she was perfectly healthy. Seeing as he did not want to take that risk, we volunteered to take her in. We've had our ups and downs with her over the past few months. She is needy, she meows a lot for attention, and she has nibbled at some of our curtains (thankfully it's not that noticeable). But overall things are going well and she has her "cute" moments that makes her irresistible, as seen here.

Dave was also staying with us for a few weeks when the lease to his apartment was up. We were glad to help him out as he got his shit sorted out. He's sort of been in limbo for the past little while as he waits for the official okay to sign his contract and begin his new life abroad (which he finally found out should be this September if all goes as planned). Our basement was a royal mess since we hadn't even cleaned out all our boxes from the move, then we needed to find space for Dave and his things. I was getting a bit antsy because my mom was having new couches delivered around that time, and we were going to take her old ones, which we would also have to put in the basement. I also really wanted to paint over the atrocious orange colour that was gracing the walls down there... All this to say that Dave ended up moving in with some other friends so that we could continue sorting out/renovating over here and to accommodate the donated furniture that I wasn't willing to pass up.

Shorthly after, we got into the painting, adn that is when the fun really began. We noticed a little chip in the wall, and upon closer investigation, we discovered that the paint was peeling right off in the same fashion as wallpaper. Then the little hole became a gaping, scary hole.

The real party came when we found about 4-5 different layers underneath with some really sketchy type of plaster that had never dried properly, so it started coming off like sand when we touched it. Here is what the basement looked liked when we thought we would never see the end of it. Depressing, isn't it? Doesn't it look like a DIY project gone terribly wrong?!

I am very happy to report that after a few weeks of peeling, priming, plastering, re-priming, re-plastering, three coats of paint and 2 coats of touch-ups, it is complete! What a fantastic day when we were finally able to vacuum and mop, and start to place furniture the way we wanted. I am so glad that it's over. Oh how rewarding it feels! Here is what it looks like now.

Anyways, I have been rambling for long enough now and I want to go enjoy the sunshine before this evening since we have a going away dinner to attend :) Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

he is here!

My best friend has had her baby! The whole family is doing extremely well. I am impressed with how calm and easy-going they have been about the whole thing - they are naturals!

Julie and Ken kept his name a surprise until he was born, can you believe it?! The curiosity was killing me, although I think it was a cool idea in the end because it made his birth that much more special. Julie called me late one Tuesday evening as Pat and I were peeling paint off of our basement walls (a lovely story for another time). Pat said that he didn't even recognize her voice over the phone because she sounded so chillaxed (though she claims it was pure exhaustion). She just wanted to let us know that we had a new baby friend, and everyone was doing well. We were soooo happy to hear the news and couldn't wait to meet him!! We went to the hospital on the following Thursday morning, on literally the hottest day of the year. Just walking outside was like melting into a steam bath, it was that drastic. We drove out to Chateauguay through the road work and traffic, but we didn't mind because we were going to meet Joshua (yes, I had caved and asked Julie to tell me his name over the phone because I couldn't wait any longer)!!

We were impressed with how nice the hospital is, not dreary and hospital-like at all really. It looks more like a strip mall when you first walk in, and light streams through the skylights in the main hallway. We tracked down the "pavillion des naissances" and found room 21, the second-to-last room on a long corridor, but very nicely and privately located. We knocked on the door and a few moments later, out came Ken with little Joshua resting in the crook of his arm. How precious and miraculous a newborn truly is. It's stunning at first to see them, you can't believe that they are finally here after a long journey from beyond. But there he was, tiny and adorable, swaddled in his blankets.

After a quick visit from the nurse, we were able to go in and see Julie, who looked fabulous for a lady who had just given birth. And no, I'm not only saying that because she's my friend. She had already lost so much of her weight and looked comfy and well-adjusted. I found myself hoping that I will look that good when I give birth. I hope I can be that "together".

The private room they were staying in had a nice large window overlooking a green space with tall trees and sprawling hills. Another nice feature was the double bed they got to share. I must say we will definitely consider this hospital when it's our turn, although it won't be for another long while, don't you worry.

Patrick and I took turns holding Josh while Julie and Ken recounted details of the journey they had just experienced, each adding dimension to the other. I am so glad we were able to visit and be part of Josh's first few days. I can't wait to watch him grow.

Congratulations on your beautiful boy my dear friends!