weekend for the ladies

We had a weekend for the ladies and it was awesome! As I mentioned before, the kiddies joined us the second day, but we did have 24 hours free of interruptions. I love those kids with all my heart, but those 24 hours were wonderful. They were absolutely wonderful.

I had no idea what to expect as we haven't actually spent any time alone together, but it was excellent. I make it sound like I was worried, but I wasn't... just curious to see how things would go.

We all brought books and projects to work on, but we ended up talking for 12 hours straight. We tried to watch a show, but it didn't work so we just ended up chatting the night away. We talked about everything... marriage, parenting (and auntie-ing), family, pregnancy, birth, books, movies, and life in general. We laughed, we cried, we talked, we ate, we read (a wee bit), we played a game and we just enjoyed each others company. It was refreshing.

These girls. These girls are just too much sometimes. All weekend I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed with love and appreciation for these two fabulous women. They challenge me, encourage me, pray for me, laugh with me, and they make life more lovely. They are wonderful.

Milena Mai is eccentric. She's a little bit crazy and 100% lovable. She is so full of knowledge and is more than willing to research a topic if it will benefit her health or her family (or her friends even). She is a devoted mother, a committed wife, and so full of love and energy. She's the first person to laugh at herself and she manages to find "the positive" in each and every situation. She constantly reminds me to pray about everything and is always ready with open arms.

Ms. Mandi is the most patient person I know in the entire world. She is the calm, steady force in our trio. She is selfless, serving, and sweet. Mandi is the first to jump up when you need a hand and the first to throw a party in your honour. She's a hard worker, a thoughtful friend, and a perceptive and gracious mother. Mandi may be the most consistent person I have ever met and I love that about her!
She is consistent, but she is also spontaneous and up for anything. She is adventurous and so sweet.

There is no doubt in my mind that I am a better person because of these girls. I'm a better wife and a better friend because of them. If I am half the mother they are then my children will be so lucky.

It was nice to have the kids join us even though I relished our time alone. Those little ones are so full of love and energy and they bring joy and life everywhere they go. I also enjoy seeing my friends as mothers -- it gives me something to aspire to.

So, to make a long story short, we had an awesome weekend and we should definitely do it again sometime.

Quail Ridge Bed & Breakfast

You may or may not remember me saying that my parent's moved to Kelowna and bought a B&B. Well, they did and their website is finally up and running. Take a look and come for a visit!

http://www.quailridgebb.com/

Some OT

I'm going in for some overtime tonight. I was hoping to catch up on some blogging, but work has been a bit ridiculous lately and we've had quite a few sick calls. There's a strong cold going around and people are having a tough time shaking it. I'm praying I don't get sick as we leave for Mexico on Friday and having a cold would negatively affect the experience. I got off my regular set this morning and was awake all day. I succumbed to sleep at 2:45pm and was offered OT at 5:30pm and in my half sleepy state I accepted. Let's hope it is a wonderful night and that I don't regret this decision.

Erik and I talked Scotland this afternoon. We skyped with our friends who are living in Scotland and who we plan on visiting and it made me so very excited to see the country. I wish we had six months to travel around Scotland alone, but 10-12 days will have to suffice. We're trying to just hit the main highlights in the North and then hoping to spend ample time exploring Edinburgh and the Isle of Arran with K+E. That is really the only part of the entire 6 month trip that we will have the day to day planned of. I think it would be overwhelming if we didn't have it planned as there is so much to see!

Well, I should be on my way. I hope you all sleep warm and cozy in your own beds tonight. I'll be eating apples until I have diarrhea and drinking tea tea tea.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! 

*** *** *** 

steam rollin'

I feel as though we are just steam rollin' forward. Well, to be more precise, I feel as though time is steam rollin' ahead and I am being dragged behind. I can feel myself digging my heals in wishing it would slow down ever-so-slightly so I can breathe a little bit. That's not the way it ever goes though. When you want it to go fast, time crawls on by, but when you're begging it to slow down it seems to pick up speed and zip away from you.

I'm not ready for our trip yet.

I know... poor me. About to gallivant around the world and stressing because my vacation is coming too quickly. But it is! I'm not ready! I have things to do, people to see, and my life to organize.

And I only have 10 shifts left at work. Ten. Four shifts until Mexico and only six shifts between Mexico and Peru. Eleven shifts. That is 121 hours of work left. Yippee skippy. And... guuuullllppp.

To break it down even further...

We leave in 35 days. Well our flight leaves in 35 days, but we are catching our flight out of Vancouver so we will actually be leaving a day or two before that.

So of those 35 days...

10 will be spent at work.
9 will be spent mexico-ing (traveling there, back and being there).
15 will be spent not working (though three of those are sleep days and Milena will be having a baby with roughly 10 of those left).
2 will be spent heading to and being in the Lower Mainland.

Wowza. 

the girls in their emma's.

I had the Abba and Bronco's tunics knit up months ago, but it took until last week to actually finish them. I know... typical me. The important thing is that I actually finished them! Yippee!!! It's been a while, but do you remember them?? Abba's Emma and Bronco's Emma??

They're little Emma Tunic's knit in size 6-12 months, but they fit right now as little dresses. Don't Peyton and Avery look sweet in them?? Don't they look sweet anyway? Oh this auntie just love love loves them.

And I'm not the only one. Everyone I know adores these two... and how could they not? I keep saying that the only thing better than one smiling, cooing, and giggling baby is two smiling, cooing and giggling babies. And that is their usual state, despite what these photos show.

Sawyer wouldn't leave their side when we were at my parent's. She was rubbing their faces, holding their hands, petting their heads, and asking to hold them. Peyt even gave Sawy a few smiles which she seemed to enjoy.

But I digress. Back to the little tunics, though I suppose I have nothing more to say about them expect that I wanted them to be similar, but not the same. So I used the same colours, but made different patterned tunics and I was happy with the way they turned out. Maybe even more than happy... thrilled even.

But I'm even more thrilled about the wee ones wearing said tunics. They're something special.

Music Monday

Hola! Yo escribo una carta. El nino come pan. Nosotros somos hombres porque bebemos leche.

I'm learning Spanish, slowly.

Have I ever told you about Radiohead? About how they are my absolute favorite band? No? Okay then; Radiohead is my absolute favorite band.

Moving on here is a song from my absolute favorite band. A song called Feral



One of my most favorite things about Radiohead is how much they have changed through the years. They started as melancholy heavy pop rockers and steadily went crazy from there. You never know what you are going to get with them. By their second album they had started experimenting with sounds, instruments, rhythms, etc to make very interesting music. Each album is very different and I am always interested to see what they do next.

That being said they do have a few signature maneuvers that are fairly common in their songs. The first is layering. They have multiple layers of instruments, vocals, and sounds that they use masterfully. I have listened to the same album from them almost every night for 8 years and I still hear new things in their songs. The second thing to watch out for from them is that they build songs right in front of your ears. One has to listen to an entire song before you hear all it has to offer which is completely opposite from pop songs that give everything catchy all at once and that's it for the rest of the song.

It may also be important to give an idea of how important Radiohead has been for the music industry. Everything from innovations in recording technology to marketing strategies they have left their mark on the music industry. I like them.

Until next time, keep yourself domesticated.

EDO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! 

*** *** ***

spew

I babysit the neighbour twins once a week. They are three years old and they make me laugh all day long. Today Lo cradled my face in her little hands and said, "I love you so much, Ashley. I really love you, but your face is funny looking."

Finally done my work week. This week it was enough to just get to the end of it. I made it! Phew. I slept for only an hour and a half between my night shifts -- uh oh. And then I babysat today at noon after getting off work at seven. It may have been a lets-play-playdoh-all-afternoon kind of day. The kind where I sat on the couch and asked them to make various things for me. It was wonderful.

It's snowing here. Nothing is sticking thankfully. I'm not ready for winter.

We are slowly slowly packing up out house. We don't know if our niece will live here with a roomie while we are gone or if we will be giving up our place and putting everything into storage (aka Lindsey's crawl space) while we are gone so we've decided to start packing the non-essentials. It is a bit stressful and I feel like our house is in complete disarray (what's new?), but I'll be glad I started this early. 

I'm looking forward to a weekend with the girls. Mandi, Milena and I are having a bit of a staycation at my parent's B&B (did you know my parent's have a B&B here in Kelowna??) and I am so excited. I wish it wasn't at my parent's place as it is "mom and dad's" to me and not really a holiday, but we are accommodating for the kiddies who will be joining us on the second night. You heard me correctly, the kiddies aren't coming until day 2. That means I get my girlfriends to myself for a night. I don't think it has ever been just the three of us and I can't tell you how excited I am. I love their children, but I can't wait to spend time with just the ladies.

With this trip coming up (in six weeks!) I feel a bit of desperation and panic. I want to capitalize on the time I have left here as I am acutely aware of how much I will be missing while I am gone. My nieces and nephews (both bio and pseudo) are going to grow and change so much and I won't be there to see it. My sister and friends (not just the mama's) are going to go through so much and they too will grow and change and I won't be there to physically support or spend time with them. I love being there to help out in practical (and sometimes impractical) ways. 

Milena will have a new baby. She will be adjusting to life as a mama-of-two and I won't be there to help with meals, or housework, or snuggling. I know she doesn't need me, but I love being there to help out. The new baby will be over six months before he/she knows just how much I love him/her.
Peyton and Avery will be almost a year old when I come home. They will learn to sit, crawl and maybe even walk all before I get home. I find the 6-12 month stage so.much.fun. And I'm going to miss out on that too.
Sawyer and Maelle are going to be little three-year-old ladies when I get back. And little Gus will be one and a half. Ugh! They're going to be so big!
I know there are many adults I won't see for six months too, but those relationships are easier to maintain at a distance. It's those six little ones that I am most sad to leave... ugh I need some kids of my own.

But I will also be changing and growing and experiencing and it will be awesome. It will be different, but it will be awesome. And I have absolutely no regrets about being gone so long. Erik an I are going on an awesome adventure -- a grand adventure -- and we are going to love every minute of it!

I'll still miss home.

within

what lies behind us 

and what lies before us

are small matters

compared to what lies within us.

-ralph waldo emerson-

Music Monday

Hello Mondains,

Today a short post as our home has been invaded by window installation men. In honor of that this is The Cinematic Orchestra with "To Build A Home"



Patrick Watson does the vocals. If you've never heard of him then you should check him out. Great musician.

Until next time, keep your windows up to date.

EO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday Ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Wishing you a bright weekend!  

*** *** ***

the strangest thing.

The strangest thing happened last night.

I woke up in the middle of the night and it took me a moment to realize I was feeling nauseous. I was violently nauseous. I scrambled out of bed in a panic thinking I was going to hurl on my feather duvet or on the mattress and I did not want to have to clean up that mess. I thought vomit was coming so quickly that I actually considered bringing the sheets or even my pillow to my face to catch the puke or, ugh, to stop it from coming out of my mouth all together.

I made it to the bathroom just in time to spit the saliva that comes pouring into your mouth pre-puke into the tub (I really had to pee as well). Then I just sat there waiting to vomit. Instead of puking or even dry-heaving I just continued to spit out that gross out-pouring of saliva and then I felt fine. Well, not entirely fine. My stomach felt a bit sensitive like it does after you ralph your guts out, but my nausea was gone.

That was at 0330.

I brought a bowl into bed with me so I wouldn't have the panicked scramble to the bathroom in case it happened again.

And it did happen again. At 0430. Same thing -- violently nauseous and saliva pouring out of my mouth. I did gag and have one little dry heave, but then it just stopped as it did before.

Same story at 0530. I didn't have the panicked feeling this time as I wasn't anticipating vomit (I hate puking! Hate it. Hate it. Hate it!) but it was still horribly unpleasant.

Has this ever happened to you???