Summer Hols

I'm over here today panicking about summer holidays for no good reason. Other than I like to panic ahead of time about things I can't control.

Come join me for the ride.

Wordless Wednesday

Because even Picasso had to start somewhere.

Home, Sweet Rental

David and I have really enjoyed living on Vancouver's North Shore for the past year and a half. I must admit, the first year and a half was a bit of a shock. We moved from downtown Vancouver where

1. we were two blocks from the beach and the 10km seawall walk,

2. we were one block from Stanley Park (an incredible place to visit if you come this way),

3. four blocks from a huge public swimming pool and kid's playground,

4. spitting distance from the main drag with restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, coffee shops, etc.

We rarely got into the car on the weekends and our stroller had about 100,000 km on it. (It showed it too.)

When our landlords sold the condo we had been living in for almost three years, we couldn't find a big enough place in our (at that time) restrictive budget. So we moved to the north shore to the bottom floor of a house. I'll spare you the details of the place we were renting (I swear to god there was a meth lab next door), but suffice it to say that the fact that we had to drive to get to anything was not only a shock to our systems, but spiralled me into something of a depression.

We managed to move into a lovely area of North Vancouver, one of the only areas withing walking distance of an entire village full of every service needed. We've decided that we would like to buy in this area (conveniently the most expensive one on the North Shore). Join me here where I talk a little about the fears involved in buying real estate on the lower mainland.

(How's that for the world's longest "intro" post. Don't despair though. You're bound to hear a lot more about our real estate ventures over the next year or so.)

A Lesson in Typecasting

We have two boys. You're well aware of this I know.

I suppose long before I had boys I was full of stereotypes about them. They are loud, boisterous, in love with wrestling and guns and action games. They prefer trains to dolls, action toys to crafts, and trees to books.

Yes, yes, I know these are stereotypes. I have known artsy, booky, quiet boys as students or as other people's children. Of course I don't think boys are all "snips and snails and puppy dog tails." But you can't get away from the stereotype of a boy. We all do it.

So when I went for walk up the local creek trail with my family and our neighbours, it was nice to realize that those pre-conceived notions really have no place in a 2 and 4 year old reality.

1. boys holding hands



2. boys liking flowers





Do I miss having a girl? Sometimes. But really, not so much so. I'll take my boys (frogs and all) any day.

And So It Goes

From my doctor yesterday:

Hi Mandy

Results came back
Strep throat NEGATIVE
Mono test NEGATIVE
Likely viral
Hope your throat is feeling better.

Yes. Finally. On day 11, the sore throat abated. Jake slept through the night (thanfully) as did I thanks to a cough suppressant. (I have never resorted to a cough suppressant before, but David told me it was that or the couch.)

I finally awoke this am after 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep feeling almost healthy, if you don't count a raging sinus cold.

David awoke complaining of a sore throat. And the beginnings of a cough. I'd tell him he'll feel better soon, but, well, we all know that ain't the truth.

Updates? My Update

Hi folks,

I know I said I would update last week, but I've now had a sore throat for 7 days. Severe. Like 8 out of 10 on the pain scale, without cessation. Do you have any concept how many times a day you swallow? Let me tell you it's a frickin' lot.

Throat swab at the walk in clinic tested negative for strep.

I'm at a loss, but I also think I might just rip my tonsils out myself with a dull butter knife. (And you thought you were having all the fun.)

Tomorrow I have a trip to my real doctor, the awesome-est doctor ever, who is squeezing me into her lunch hour just to see me.

David's got 3:2 odds on mono. Any takers?

Of Thee I Sing Baby

We've just returned from our adventures in the Okanagan. Every year, we go in order to stock up the wine cellar (here I use the term cellar loosely).

However, before I regale you with our adventures, I have a more serious wine question to ask of you. Check it out over here.

I will let you know this though. I have improved upon my self-portraiture... Just a teaser of things to be corralled in the OK post.