Greetings Humble Readers...
It is an absolutely beautiful Sunday evening here on the flatland. Sunny, warm, a slight breeze, and peaceful (at least it is now... more on that later). Seriously... I'm thrilled with how gorgeous it is outside right now. It feels much more like June than April. It's days like this that get me through the frustration of spring set backs (ie - snow in April).
*****
Today I went on what will probably be my last solo non-medical outing until this Halfling makes his or her appearance. I had some shopping to do (a few random things from a discount store and some summer clothes for Ginny) and I needed some conversation other than my Beloved and my wee sweet girl. Shopping went well, except that I bought two shirts that I thought were t-shirts and they turned out to be long-sleeved. I even splurged and bought myself a non-fat, sugar-free chocolate and cherry frozen yoghurt. Then I went over to my old bookstore and visited a few people and looked for a baby book for the Halfling. It was a nice outing, but by the end I was pretty worn out.
*****
While I was out, my wonderful Beloved was at home finishing the spring cleaning. There are a few little things that need to be finished, but I am thrilled to be able to say that it's FINALLY done for another year. I'm so relieved to have that off my mind.
*****
There was a fair bit of excitement in the vicinity of our hobbit hole this afternoon. I've told you about our neighbours (directly next door to our condo... we have to walk past their front door to get down to the sidewalk) before. I have had to call the RCMP on them a few times when the shouting and screaming has gotten to a scary level. Just before Christmas, the guy was taken away in handcuffs. We didn't see him for a couple of months, but then he was back. They have actually been fairly quiet over there until recently, when they fired back up. As I was leaving this afternoon, I heard them arguing. While I was gone, things got really bad.
When I got home, the parents of the girl who lives next door were here, and her brother was carrying her out to the car. The guy was standing on the stairs screaming at her and her family. Apparently, the cops had just left, after giving buddy-boy a time frame in which to be out of the house. I waited until he went out to the parking lot before I decided to try to enter my house. Things were quiet for a while, and then buddy-boy was back, banging on the door and shouting that if someone didn't let him in, he was going to bust the door down. Thankfully the cops returned right in the middle of this (doing a follow up) and they escorted him off the property. I sincerely hope this is the last we see of him. I despise feeling like it's unsafe for me to go in or out of my own house.
*****
Other than prepping for the Halfling's arrival, our lives have begun to center around one thing. The hockey playoffs. My Beloved's favourite team has long been out of the running, but there are still two Canadian teams with a bit of a shot, and so hockey rules around here. I know many much more knowledgeable commentators have said it, but of all the hockey I have watched in my life (and remember, I AM CANADIAN), I have never seen such violence in the game. It makes me sad. I hope that the powers that be are able to bring it back in line.
*****
That's about it from the hobbit-hole. What was happening around your part of the world today?
Showing posts with label spring cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring cleaning. Show all posts
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
S is For... Sachi (& Some Potpurri)
Happy Saturday, Humble Readers...
Have I ever told you that although I want to travel the world, I'm not particularly interested in visiting Asia? It's not that I have something against the continent... quite honestly, I know it's because I am afraid. The culture is so different, so outside my comfort zone. (And yet, I long to go to Africa. I never claimed to be sensible.)
But I never tire of reading novels set in Asia. For today's A to z Challenge post, I want to tell you about Sachi. She is the main character in Lesley Downer's first novel, The Last Concubine.
Set in the last days of medieval Japan, Sachi's story takes her from rural anonymity, to the heights of the royal court. When a royal princess passes through Sachi's village, she chooses the pretty eleven year old to accompany her back to the Women's Palace in Edo.
Soon, Sachi is in the middle of all the court intrigues and jealousies. What else do you imagine happens living in a place with hundreds of women and only one man?
Sachi is eventually chosen as a concubine for the young Shogun. And just when her life appears to be secure and comfortable, all hell breaks loose. The arrival of the first western sailors, and the beginning of a revolutionary civil war, bring about the downfall of the royal house, and the end of the Shogun era.
I love Sachi because she is continually adapting to her surroundings. She is taken from the life she knows in the mountains and succeeds in the contentious world of the imperial court. When life at court is no longer safe, she takes a few trusted friends with her, and escapes back to the world she was forced to leave behind. She doesn't weep or mope or whine. She does what needs doing, and she stays focused.
*****
We are so close to having our spring cleaning done, it's driving me mad. It has never ever taken this long to spring clean the house. Granted we didn't do a real thorough clean last year, but this has been going on and on. All we have left is the living room (walls, baseboards, windows, and furniture) and the walls in our entryway. That's it. But after spending three hours working on our master bedroom (including purging and reorganizing my crafting trunk... I threw out a disturbing number of half-finished cross-stitch projects, that I hadn't worked on in more than 5 years), I was just completely worn out. We WILL finish the remainder tomorrow after church, and after I run a couple of errands. So much for going to the park tomorrow afternoon. Oh well.
*****
I think I may be having actual contractions, rather than Braxton Hicks. They don't go away when I rest, and they are actually a bit uncomfortable. Nothing consistent, and not terribly intense, but still they are different from my usual BH.
*****
Is it totally bizarre that all I really want to eat is ice cold apple pie filling? Seriously, I want a can of apple pie filling that's been in my fridge for a couple of days. Cherry pie filling would be a good second.
Have I ever told you that although I want to travel the world, I'm not particularly interested in visiting Asia? It's not that I have something against the continent... quite honestly, I know it's because I am afraid. The culture is so different, so outside my comfort zone. (And yet, I long to go to Africa. I never claimed to be sensible.)
But I never tire of reading novels set in Asia. For today's A to z Challenge post, I want to tell you about Sachi. She is the main character in Lesley Downer's first novel, The Last Concubine. Set in the last days of medieval Japan, Sachi's story takes her from rural anonymity, to the heights of the royal court. When a royal princess passes through Sachi's village, she chooses the pretty eleven year old to accompany her back to the Women's Palace in Edo.
Soon, Sachi is in the middle of all the court intrigues and jealousies. What else do you imagine happens living in a place with hundreds of women and only one man?
Sachi is eventually chosen as a concubine for the young Shogun. And just when her life appears to be secure and comfortable, all hell breaks loose. The arrival of the first western sailors, and the beginning of a revolutionary civil war, bring about the downfall of the royal house, and the end of the Shogun era.
I love Sachi because she is continually adapting to her surroundings. She is taken from the life she knows in the mountains and succeeds in the contentious world of the imperial court. When life at court is no longer safe, she takes a few trusted friends with her, and escapes back to the world she was forced to leave behind. She doesn't weep or mope or whine. She does what needs doing, and she stays focused.
*****
We are so close to having our spring cleaning done, it's driving me mad. It has never ever taken this long to spring clean the house. Granted we didn't do a real thorough clean last year, but this has been going on and on. All we have left is the living room (walls, baseboards, windows, and furniture) and the walls in our entryway. That's it. But after spending three hours working on our master bedroom (including purging and reorganizing my crafting trunk... I threw out a disturbing number of half-finished cross-stitch projects, that I hadn't worked on in more than 5 years), I was just completely worn out. We WILL finish the remainder tomorrow after church, and after I run a couple of errands. So much for going to the park tomorrow afternoon. Oh well.
*****
I think I may be having actual contractions, rather than Braxton Hicks. They don't go away when I rest, and they are actually a bit uncomfortable. Nothing consistent, and not terribly intense, but still they are different from my usual BH.
*****
Is it totally bizarre that all I really want to eat is ice cold apple pie filling? Seriously, I want a can of apple pie filling that's been in my fridge for a couple of days. Cherry pie filling would be a good second.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Observations on Cleaning House
Good Evening Humble Readers...
I hope that you all have been keeping well. I haven't been around much for the last few days, and I am woefully behind on reading and commenting. I will attempt to get caught up in the next couple of days.
******
Sunday was a restful day, for the most part. Church, lunch, then grocery shopping. The danger of living across the back lane from a small grocery store is that you can go for weeks without doing a 'real' grocery shop. I only bought what we needed (ok, we didn't need the dulce de leche ice cream) and it was still ridiculously expensive. And why is it that when you spend a chunk of money on groceries, no one follows you home to put everything away? That should be part of the price shouldn't it?
******
Monday and Tuesday were big time cleaning days. Check out the Mission Impossible page for an update on my list. We haven't made as much progress as I had hoped, but the house really is looking much better. We have already made two trips to Va.lue Vil.lage with stuff we don't need anymore, and we have yet to hit the storage room and the second bedroom. Two laundry baskets full of books, a set of dishes, an old crock pot... lots of goodies.
******
Why is it that cleaning the kitchen takes the longest to do and looks like you made the least difference? I spent all day yesterday reorganizing cupboards, cleaning behind the stove, washing walls, and it hardly looks different (until you open a cupboard anyway).
******
When I was cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, I was struck by a few thoughts. First up, never again will I keep my tupperware containers separate from the lids. I know it takes up a lot more room, but it will save my sanity in trying to figure out what the hell was happening in that cupboard. I seriously had an avalanche of tupperware. Second, why don't all companies that produce canned goods design their cans so that they stack nicely (like the soup ones do). I am sick of tomato paste cans falling all over the place. Lastly, when corriander seeds spill in your spice cupboard, you are going to be cleaning them up FOREVER.
******
Today, we took a break today and I took the most glorious nap. It was wonderful. This afternoon, I had an intake appointment with a chiropractor. Have any of you moms had chiropractic treatments during your pregnancy? I'm hoping that it will help with my sciatica. The doc was really great too, altho I had my first ever 'are you sure you're old enough to be a doctor' moment. He was a young'un! One interesting thing he noted when doing the initial exam... he had me stand on two scales (scary!), and he had only ever seen one other patient who was 100% balanced like I was, and that it was especially surprising given my size. Hmm, who knew?
******
I dragged my Beloved to the craft store today. I picked up a shadow box... one that I had planned on getting ages ago. I have some things that are reminders of our angel girls (some pressed autumn leaves for Emily and a Christmas ornament for Olivia), and I have wanted to frame them nicely for ages. I came across them again when I was reorganizing the bookshelves, and got re-motivated. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get it assembled.
******
At the craft store, I also picked up a ball of pretty green yarn and a pair of knitting needles. I learned how to knit when I was in junior high, but haven't done any in decades. I tried to teach myself how to crochet a couple of years ago and it went very badly. I was afraid that I wouldn't really remember what I was doing with the needles, but it has come back pretty quickly. I started knitting a baby blanket and I've gotten about a quarter of it done. My tension needs work, and I think I dropped a stitch somewhere back near the beginning, but I'm enjoying it. I don't know how to do anything fancy, but I really wanted to make something for the Halfling.
******
Pregnancy Update: Not much to report. I have had a few panicky moments over the last few days. My symptoms really have faded away, except for the fatigue and occassional constipation and water retension. I have caved and have ordered a doppler. I should get it next week. I am almost done the prometrium. Another couple of days I think.
******
We have had a drastic switch in our weather. Yesterday it got up to 28 degrees (that's celcius)! And yet we know that we aren't out of the woods yet for snow. May long weekend is coming and it always snows sometme around May Long.
I hope that you all have been keeping well. I haven't been around much for the last few days, and I am woefully behind on reading and commenting. I will attempt to get caught up in the next couple of days.
******
Sunday was a restful day, for the most part. Church, lunch, then grocery shopping. The danger of living across the back lane from a small grocery store is that you can go for weeks without doing a 'real' grocery shop. I only bought what we needed (ok, we didn't need the dulce de leche ice cream) and it was still ridiculously expensive. And why is it that when you spend a chunk of money on groceries, no one follows you home to put everything away? That should be part of the price shouldn't it?
******
Monday and Tuesday were big time cleaning days. Check out the Mission Impossible page for an update on my list. We haven't made as much progress as I had hoped, but the house really is looking much better. We have already made two trips to Va.lue Vil.lage with stuff we don't need anymore, and we have yet to hit the storage room and the second bedroom. Two laundry baskets full of books, a set of dishes, an old crock pot... lots of goodies.
******
Why is it that cleaning the kitchen takes the longest to do and looks like you made the least difference? I spent all day yesterday reorganizing cupboards, cleaning behind the stove, washing walls, and it hardly looks different (until you open a cupboard anyway).
******
When I was cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, I was struck by a few thoughts. First up, never again will I keep my tupperware containers separate from the lids. I know it takes up a lot more room, but it will save my sanity in trying to figure out what the hell was happening in that cupboard. I seriously had an avalanche of tupperware. Second, why don't all companies that produce canned goods design their cans so that they stack nicely (like the soup ones do). I am sick of tomato paste cans falling all over the place. Lastly, when corriander seeds spill in your spice cupboard, you are going to be cleaning them up FOREVER.
******
Today, we took a break today and I took the most glorious nap. It was wonderful. This afternoon, I had an intake appointment with a chiropractor. Have any of you moms had chiropractic treatments during your pregnancy? I'm hoping that it will help with my sciatica. The doc was really great too, altho I had my first ever 'are you sure you're old enough to be a doctor' moment. He was a young'un! One interesting thing he noted when doing the initial exam... he had me stand on two scales (scary!), and he had only ever seen one other patient who was 100% balanced like I was, and that it was especially surprising given my size. Hmm, who knew?
******
I dragged my Beloved to the craft store today. I picked up a shadow box... one that I had planned on getting ages ago. I have some things that are reminders of our angel girls (some pressed autumn leaves for Emily and a Christmas ornament for Olivia), and I have wanted to frame them nicely for ages. I came across them again when I was reorganizing the bookshelves, and got re-motivated. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get it assembled.
******
At the craft store, I also picked up a ball of pretty green yarn and a pair of knitting needles. I learned how to knit when I was in junior high, but haven't done any in decades. I tried to teach myself how to crochet a couple of years ago and it went very badly. I was afraid that I wouldn't really remember what I was doing with the needles, but it has come back pretty quickly. I started knitting a baby blanket and I've gotten about a quarter of it done. My tension needs work, and I think I dropped a stitch somewhere back near the beginning, but I'm enjoying it. I don't know how to do anything fancy, but I really wanted to make something for the Halfling.
******
Pregnancy Update: Not much to report. I have had a few panicky moments over the last few days. My symptoms really have faded away, except for the fatigue and occassional constipation and water retension. I have caved and have ordered a doppler. I should get it next week. I am almost done the prometrium. Another couple of days I think.
******
We have had a drastic switch in our weather. Yesterday it got up to 28 degrees (that's celcius)! And yet we know that we aren't out of the woods yet for snow. May long weekend is coming and it always snows sometme around May Long.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Hobbit-ish Spring Cleaning 2010
So this is what we are going to be doing this winter/spring... Lot's to keep us busy. My goal is to have the whole list finished by the time we go on vacation in May. It will be a stretch, especially with the painting on the list, but I think we can do it.
Go through closets and dressers (including boxes in master closet)- Clean & Organize linen closet and entry way
- Clean & Organize spare room
- Clean & Organize storage room
Clean oven- Clean & organize kitchen cupboards
- Purge books
- Clean fridge (inside & out)
- Clean top of kitchen cupboards
- Clean & organize medicine cabinet and bathroom cupboard
- Wash windows in living room, kitchen, and bedroom
- Wash walls in bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen
- Clean behind fridge and stove
- Clean Laundry room
- Clean carpets
- Vacuum couch and chair
- Clean baseboards
- Fix the faux finish in the living room
- Touch up paint in bedroom and living room
- Paint bathroom
And for those who asked, my housekeeping schedule that we are trying out is:
- Monday - Living room
- Tuesday - Kitchen
- Wednesday - Bedroom
- Thursday - Bathroom
- Sunday - Laundry
Saturday, January 23, 2010
A Snag In the Spring Cleaning
Good afternoon Humble Readers!
Quick Cycle Update: I'm 8dpo, with phantom symptoms galore. Sore b00bs (totally usual), increased appetite (altho, I have been cutting back lately so my body just may be still adjusting), mild nausea (only once or twice), peeing more often (but not frequent), and some weird allergy stuff going on (who knows where that's coming from).
So, if you click back to my To Dos for 2010, you may remember me saying something about wanting to 'take better care of the hobbit-hole'. Well, I have finally come up with what seems to be a workable housekeeping schedule. I'm not ready to cross it off the list yet, but I think we are moving in the right direction.
I have mapped out what we will do Monday-Thursday, focussing on one room a day. Laundry is on Sundays. I have created a list of everything that has to be done in every room, so that My Beloved and I are on the same page in terms of what's clean.
At the same time I've also put together our list of things to accomplish for spring cleaning. It's a pretty long list, considering that we didn't do much of any spring cleaning last year. Tops on the list was going through our closet and dressers. I knew we both had a ton of clothes that we no longer wear and I was sick of not having any room in my drawers.
We went through the closet this afternoon and filled three large black garbage bags. We also went through four boxes that have been in the bottom of the closet since we moved in (two of which I packed before we got married... yikes).
Then we got to our dressers. The dresser situation has been a bone of contention for some time. We don't have a bedroom set. We have two, his and mine. His is a four drawer $40 wa.lm.art special. Mine is a three drawer wooden piece that my Beloved used as a child. Neither one is giving us a lot of room, but I have exponentially more clothes than my Beloved.
My drawers were jammed full. Jammed. Impossible to close properly.
Two of my Beloved's drawers were about 3/4 full. The other two WERE full... full of crap!
(you may be wondering why I didn't know this before, but he does the laundry so I rarely have need to go into his dresser)
Here I've been cramming my stuff into three little drawers, and he hasn't even been using the four he had for clothes! Argh!
We agreed to switch dressers, and set about emptying them. I was halfway through my sock drawer when I came across something I had honestly forgotten about. Actually a lot of somethings... 12 to be exact.
Twelve pregnancy tests. The positive results were still clear on the majority of them. Half of them have dates written on them (the dated ones are from July 08 and the undated ones are from December 08).
I recognize that keeping sticks that I PEED ON (for heaven's sake!!!) is pretty twisted. I get it. But, when I went to throw them away, I just couldn't. I mean I really really couldn't. I started bawling.
They are the only proof I have that my little girls existed. That they were real.
Please tell me I'm not totally insane for keeping them.
I'll get rid of them some day. I know I will. Just not yet.
(Hopefully, the rest of the spring cleaning will be less emotionally charged.)
Quick Cycle Update: I'm 8dpo, with phantom symptoms galore. Sore b00bs (totally usual), increased appetite (altho, I have been cutting back lately so my body just may be still adjusting), mild nausea (only once or twice), peeing more often (but not frequent), and some weird allergy stuff going on (who knows where that's coming from).
So, if you click back to my To Dos for 2010, you may remember me saying something about wanting to 'take better care of the hobbit-hole'. Well, I have finally come up with what seems to be a workable housekeeping schedule. I'm not ready to cross it off the list yet, but I think we are moving in the right direction.
I have mapped out what we will do Monday-Thursday, focussing on one room a day. Laundry is on Sundays. I have created a list of everything that has to be done in every room, so that My Beloved and I are on the same page in terms of what's clean.
At the same time I've also put together our list of things to accomplish for spring cleaning. It's a pretty long list, considering that we didn't do much of any spring cleaning last year. Tops on the list was going through our closet and dressers. I knew we both had a ton of clothes that we no longer wear and I was sick of not having any room in my drawers.
We went through the closet this afternoon and filled three large black garbage bags. We also went through four boxes that have been in the bottom of the closet since we moved in (two of which I packed before we got married... yikes).
Then we got to our dressers. The dresser situation has been a bone of contention for some time. We don't have a bedroom set. We have two, his and mine. His is a four drawer $40 wa.lm.art special. Mine is a three drawer wooden piece that my Beloved used as a child. Neither one is giving us a lot of room, but I have exponentially more clothes than my Beloved.
My drawers were jammed full. Jammed. Impossible to close properly.
Two of my Beloved's drawers were about 3/4 full. The other two WERE full... full of crap!
(you may be wondering why I didn't know this before, but he does the laundry so I rarely have need to go into his dresser)
Here I've been cramming my stuff into three little drawers, and he hasn't even been using the four he had for clothes! Argh!
We agreed to switch dressers, and set about emptying them. I was halfway through my sock drawer when I came across something I had honestly forgotten about. Actually a lot of somethings... 12 to be exact.
Twelve pregnancy tests. The positive results were still clear on the majority of them. Half of them have dates written on them (the dated ones are from July 08 and the undated ones are from December 08).
I recognize that keeping sticks that I PEED ON (for heaven's sake!!!) is pretty twisted. I get it. But, when I went to throw them away, I just couldn't. I mean I really really couldn't. I started bawling.
They are the only proof I have that my little girls existed. That they were real.
Please tell me I'm not totally insane for keeping them.
I'll get rid of them some day. I know I will. Just not yet.
(Hopefully, the rest of the spring cleaning will be less emotionally charged.)
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