Of Going Away and Staying Home

Next book club book

2011-03-12T13:54:00.001-05:00

This is my Saturday. Read a chapter...do some chores...read a chapter...do some chores.

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Onlineness

2011-03-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

If you post something on yoir blog or on Facebook or on Twitter and noone ever comments on it or brings it up when you see them. Then what is the point of posting it at all. Should everything we post have significance to other people or is it ok if you are the only one listening to yourself? What is so alluring about the publish/share button?

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New Book

2011-03-11T12:21:00.001-05:00

I started reading this book, so far so good!

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award

2011-03-09T10:42:00.001-05:00

I accidently orded 50 boxes of 5000 staples and one of the profs got such a kick out of it, that he made me this award:)

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Vancouver

2011-02-26T21:41:00.007-05:00

On our way home from Hawaii, we had a 7 hour layover in Vancouver. Recently, our friends had moved to Abbotsford (near Vancouver) and we hadn't seen them in 4 months or met their new baby. Other friends were in Langley (near Vancouver) visiting family for Christmas. We landed in Vancouver at 7am. At about 8:30am, I think, it's a little hazy since it was 2 hours earlier for us and we had pulled an all-nighter on the plane, our friends pulled into the arrivals area of the airport and we hopped in. Thankfully, our luggage was transferred onto our connecting flight so we didn't have to worry about it in the interim. We headed towards the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park stopping at a cafe for breakfast on the way. I was starving so the breakfast sandwich, coffee and biscotti I ate really hit the spot.

Sorry, that I look so goofy. I had forgotton my toque in the car and it was cool and rainy so I borrowed Reuben's.

Really cool dolphin show.
Gemma wasn't feeling very well. Um....I think that's why she looks stunned but maybe it's cause I was holding her and she thought I was a little strange.
Experiencing a 4D movie. I thought it would be dumb but it was actually really cool.

When I was younger, the toucan was my favourite bird. I think these are Macaws.
Gemma and Opa.

Watching the belugas.

Reuben with his head in a bubble underneath an aquarium. I forget what other kind of animal was in the aquarium.
Jellyfish are really amazing.

Inspiration

2011-02-25T14:48:00.002-05:00

That is wallpaper back there....not a real bookshelf!! Isn't it awesome? It reminds me of used bookstores that I love wandering around in. I wonder if I could do this in my craft room/study?

Surprise from Reuben

2011-02-24T11:20:00.001-05:00

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Guest Room painting

2011-02-18T09:18:00.003-05:00

I finally managed to take a picture of our guest room. I took it with my cellphone which is why it's so grainy but you get the idea. I wanted to centre that Ikea print first but then it would've been another few weeks before I got a picture up here.
The quilt on the bed is the one my sister made us for a wedding gift. The curtains are new and the little bedside lamp is new as well. The room has been such a mishmash of stuff ever since we moved in over 3 years ago that it's nice to have it a bit more coordinating now.
Did I go a little overboard with the green? As you might now, it's my favourite colour.

My amazing productivity

2011-02-15T08:03:00.003-05:00

This is how I spend the small window of time that I have between getting home from work and starting to make dinner. Anyone else addicted to watching "Parenthood"?

Bits and Bites

2011-02-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

Renovation update: undercabinet lighting installed and functioning. It lends a lovely ambiance to the kitchen. I tried to get a picture when my countertop was clean but it was nearly impossible. I'm fairly knit-picky about keeping things neat and tidy but at the end of the week when the amount of plastic containers that need washing piles up; it's so hard. Washing plastic containers is one of my least favourite jobs. That and cleaning the bathtub/shower. I don't think I posted pictures of our backsplash either but there it is. I love it!

Recently, we went out for dinner and beets were heavily incorporated into both of our meals. We loved them so I thought I should try cooking with them. They were surprisingly easy and most definitely delicious! I roasted them tossed in olive oil, sea salt and pepper along with some baby potatoes.

Book Club Update

2010-11-08T10:29:00.006-05:00

Our book club is still ongoing. We've read 2 books since my last update.

"The Grapes of Wrath" was the book that I picked. I'd always wanted to read this book and my dad recommended reading it. It was quite a long book but very interesting as it describes a family travelling from Oklahoma to California after they lost their farm during the Great Depression. Handbills were sent across the nation from California claiming there would be jobs for anyone who wanted work. When they arrive, though, they find that work is scarce and the pay is even lower. I enjoyed this book and the discussion the has come from it. Given the current economic climate in the States and the government's attempts to solve the problem, there has been the comparison to the government's decisions to relieving the Great Depression and how their policies could have prolonged the Depression rather than relieving it.

Reuben's turn was next and he picked "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. This book is written from the perspective of a Calvinist minister in his 70s writing letters of reflection to his 7 yr old son. It wasn't too easy to get into and was quite confusing at times. But there are great passages of theological reflection and moral debate. We ended up having a good size group come out for the discussion, which is always nice.

Fish and Alfredo

2010-10-20T13:39:00.002-05:00

2 haddock fish fillets
tri-colour rotini pasta
Classico Alfredo sauce
1 medium-sized fresh zucchini from your garden, chopped into bite size pieces

Thaw haddock fillets by placing them in a sealed bag in a sink full of cool water for half an hour because you didn't plan far enough in advance to thaw them properly in the fridge(is this bad for them? I'm not sure). Place in glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cajun seasoning, to taste.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When ready, cook fillets for 10 minutes or until ready.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water. Saute zucchini in frying pan. When cooked through, add Alfredo sauce to frying pan, to heat. Combine pasta with sauce in frying pan and heat through. Serve with fish.

A Birthday Supper

2010-10-18T09:23:00.002-05:00

Cranberry Apple Stuffed Pork Loin
Roasted Potatoes
Roasted Brussel Sprouts (pre-brined and post-tossed with balsamic vinegar)
Green Beans

Dairy-free Pumpkin Cake with Streusel Topping

Steak, Acorn Squash and Spinach

2010-10-15T08:44:00.002-05:00

Using what I had in the house to cobble together dinner last night.

1 grilling steak
1 acorn squash
2 cups uncooked baby spinach

Thaw frozen steak ...toss on the bbq ...grill to perfection.
Preheat oven to 350F. Cut acorn squash in half and place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 min. Take out, turn over and place 1/8 c. butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar, salt and pepper into the cavity of each squash half. Return to oven and bake for another 20 min.
Place spinach in pan of water on stove. Bring water to boil and simmer until spinach is sufficiently wilted. Drain.

Serves 2.

Grilled BBQ Chicken and Grape Sandwich

2010-10-14T09:13:00.002-05:00

2 red seedless grape clusters
2 (5-oz)boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. hot wing sauce (I used Diana sauce)
4 sandwich rolls (I used pitas cause that's what we had)
1/2 c. finely chopped celery
1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese (we used brie, which was good but probably didn't add quite as much flavour as blue cheese would have)
2/3 c. light mayonnaise
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (used bottled lemon juice)
Bibb lettuce leaves

1. Preheat grill to medium (300F to 350F). Grill grape clusters 15 minutes or until slightly soft. (only took 10 min on our grill)
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Grill 5 minutes per side or until an instant read thermometer registers 165F. Remove from grill. Thinly slice or shred chicken and place in a medium bowl. Add wing sauce; toss to coat. Let cool.
3. Brush rolls with oil and place on grill, cut side down. Grill until just toasted.
4. In a medium bowl combine celery, blue cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Spread blue cheese mixture on cut side of rolls. Layer bottom halves of rolls evenly with chicken, grapes and lettuce. Cover with top halves of rolls, and serve.

Serves 4.

Recipe on a card picked up at the grocery store.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-10-13T08:47:00.008-05:00

On Saturday, we met up with my sister, Diana and her family. This is my nephew, Micah, he's turning 1 at the end of this month.

Here, Reuben is listening to Hadassah describe their camping pictures with Nethaneil looking on.

In the afternoon, we went with Reuben's family to Dundas Peak. Here is Reuben defying any fear of heights any of us might have.

Apple Scones

2010-10-11T10:13:00.002-05:00

2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 shredded apple
1/2 c. milk

milk for brushing tops
sugar for sprinkling
cinnamon for sprinkling

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt into large bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Add shredded apple and milk. Stir to form soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8-10 times. Pat into two 6 inch(15 cm) circles. Place on greassed baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Sprinkle with sugar then with cinnamon. Score each top into 6 pie shaped wedges. Bake in 425 degree F oven for 15 min until browned and risen. Serve warm with butter. Yield: 12 scones.

from Company's Coming Muffins & More.

Walking for Hawaii continued

2010-09-01T21:02:00.007-05:00

I haven't been faithfully updating this blog but, surprisingly, we have been faithfully walking for the past 3 weeks. I think we have walked 5 out of 7 nights each week for a minimum of 25 to 30 minutes sometimes more.
It has been fun thinking of new places to walk. Usually, we need to run some sort of errand and if it's within walking distance we walk instead of take the car. It turns out that Shopper's Drug Mart is only 12 minutes away and carrying a bag of milk home adds to the strength training!:)

While in Nova Scotia this past weekend, we hiked a trail out to Cape Split. It took us 2.5 hrs to get to the end and 2 hrs to get back.

It was long and tiring but the view at the end was definitely worth it! If you ever get the chance, don't chicken out! Do it!

Walking for Hawaii - Days 3 and 4

2010-08-14T16:17:00.002-05:00

Reuben and I walked together in the late evening on Thursday night and last night. It's hard to get motivated to get out there but once we're walking it feels great. Until the end when I'm so exhausted I can't wait to step through the front door. It was pretty muggy again last night so the cold shower at the end was a nice reward. Reuben got blisters on the bottoms of his feet last night, so we're thinking a good pair of shoes is going to be well worth the investment.
Going late at night is good because there is no hot sun beating down on you but it also makes it not so safe for exploring areas with no street lights. We wanted to walk by the railway tracks but it was too dark and I was picturing the boogey man behind every tree so we turned around.

Our front door - the inside

2010-08-14T16:15:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally got up the energy to paint the inside of our front door. Most of the trim is done around it too. Reuben just has to finish up with some of the baseboards so don't look at that. What do you think?
You'll recognize the colour from our livingroom. I find that it ties everything together nicely.

Walking for Hawaii - Day 2

2010-08-12T12:08:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday evening, Reuben and I walked together for 30 min at around 8:30pm. It's starting to get dark earlier and earlier, signalling the end of summer.

Walking for Hawaii

2010-08-09T17:09:00.002-05:00

I decided I really do need to start building up some energy for our trip to Hawaii as I'm sure we'll be doing a lot of walking. So...today was my first day. I hope to record a 30 min walk (for now and up it to 1 hour after a couple of weeks) at least 5 days a week.

Day 1 - 30 min walk

It was quite muggy and I got my heart rate going and saw some parts of my neighbourhood that I'd never seen before trying to find a route that wasn't along any busy streets. I listened to David Grey.

Book Club

2010-06-25T10:34:00.012-05:00

I'm part of a Book Club. I wasn't there from the start because I'd always disliked analysing books and over thinking things but once I tried it, I realized that I did enjoy it. My outlook has changed a lot since highschool. Reuben is also part of the club, which is fantastic! It's neat to read the same books. He was part of the Club from the beginning; being more excited about philosophical ponderings.

The first book that was picked was "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It's about a slave who runs away and ends up in the slums of Fort Worth, Texas. A rich couple come to the mission where he gets his dinner and become involved in his life. It's been awhile since I read it so I can't really remember all of the themes. The book was alright but definitely not my favourite. I didn't go to this meeting so that's probably why it didn't stick so well.

The next book that was picked was "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.
I read the first chapter and couldn't read anymore. It just didn't interest me at all. This is Reuben's favourite type of book. It predicts the demise of civilization and how awful it's going to be. It also has a lot to say about how the world works now and it draws everything to it's most awful conclusion. Needless to say, I didn't go to this meeting either.

Next we had some short stories by Kafka "The Metamorphosis", "In the Penal Colony" and "The Judgement". I read "The Metamorphosis" but it was so illogical and unclear that I couldn't bring myself to read the other two so I didn't go to that meeting.

Finally, a book I could read! "My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok was selected next. I had read this book in high school and I remember really disliking it because it is told from the perspective of someone who is naturally gifted in art and can't stop himself from doing art and thinking in an artistic way. This is so the opposite of who I am and how I think, that it was really hard for me to understand in high school. Reading it for the second time was a lot better. I actually enjoyed it and took the time and effort to really try to understand what was going on. The boy is part of an Hasidic Jewish community in New York City in the 1950s. His parents are very devout and very focused on establishing Hasidic communities around the world. They cannot understand him and so the dichotomy of growing up Hasidic and artistic. We had a great discussion about art and how involved Christians can be in the art world.

The next book was "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. I, also, read the first chapter of this book and couldn't read any further. The point of the book club, in some part, is to read books you wouldn't normally read or wouldn't have time to read. But I just couldn't read any further. The book had a ton of swearing and the way it was written was really hard for me to read. It was very wordy, too wordy for my taste. It's semi-autobiographical. It's about an Australian convict who escapes to India to start life over but he just ends up being and associating with criminals in India. I did go to that meeting and I'm glad I didn't read the rest of the book from what the others told me of what happened.

The next book was "Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard. Wow! What a different book. I forced myself to get past the first couple of nonsensical, poetically written pages and found that finishing it was relatively easy. I would like to read this book again. She had so many images, thoughts and insights that it would take many readings to digest them all. While many people in the club had differing opinions on whether they liked it or not, it still brought great fodder for discussion. There were many scenes discussed as everyone had a favourite.

Our most recent book is "The Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway. We'll be having our discussion tonight. It's a pretty easy read. It tells the story of war from the point of view of 3 different people. The city of Sarajevo was under seige for 3 years. 2 of the people are trying to get across town, one to work and one to get fresh water while dodging snipers that are in the hills surrounding the city. The other is a sniper from inside the city trying to shoot the snipers in the hills. She is also tasked with guarding the cellist who comes out to play on the spot where 22 people were killed by a bomb while waiting in a bread line. It's a powerful description of how various people deal with war. We'll see what the discussion brings tonight.

Should Christians Be on Facebook

2010-05-28T12:41:00.001-05:00

Just something I came across and found insightful.

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/should-christians-be-facebook/

My brother got married

2010-05-21T07:19:00.004-05:00

The last wedding in the Buist family took place on May 8.

My little brother married his sweetheart after 6.5 years of dating.

My sister, Karin's 2 little girls in their matching dresses that she made. Elyssa and Julia.

My sister, Diana and her family. Hadassah, Nethaneil, Micah.

Isn't this just the cutest picture ever!? It makes me laugh so hard every time. I can't wait to show it at Nethaneil's wedding some day.

We were blessed with the company of all the J. Jager girls. Since they grew up in Ottawa, we have lots of shared memories and it was great to catch up. The interesting thing is that the 2 youngest (Amanda and Diana) each have 3 kids!

Us girls with our new sister!

And all the Buist kids...finally all grown up.

The good looking couple.

On their way out from the reception.
The sparklers were a great idea but it was freezing!!!! Only 1 or 2 degrees.

And they lived happily ever after.

Our garden Spring 2010

2010-04-27T10:03:00.004-05:00

The vinca cut from Reuben's parents' garden growing under our maple tree. As grass will not grown there, we hope it spreads quickly to cover the ground.
Trillium that came with the house.

And below are several views of the beautiful tulips that have sprung up in the last 2 weeks. A bit early for tulips in this part of Canada but we won't complain!

The purple ones in the foreground are called "Princess Irene"...I couldn't resist.

Photos taken by Reuben.

Newest Niece

2010-04-27T09:53:00.003-05:00

Looks like Reuben beat me to it...check out his blog for pictures of my newest niece, Julia Elizabeth. She was born to my sister, Karin and her husband, Josh on the morning of April 6. She was 7 1/2 lbs when she was born and has a darker skin tone and slimmer face than her big sister, Elyssa did.

They live in Ottawa so we get to see her progress frequently. We also went to Montreal recently to witness the baptism of Samuel Hayo deBlois, born to my cousin, Amanda and her husband, Derek.

As you can see, he is the youngest of three boys.

Our 4th Anniversary Part 3

2010-04-02T12:58:00.001-05:00

7pm - 12:00am - At the Black Sheep again to hear the Wilderness of Manitoba, The Wheat Pool and finally, Catherine MacLellan.

Our 4th Anniversary Part 2

2010-04-02T12:57:00.001-05:00

9:00 - Buffet breakfast
10:00 - Relax in the outdoor hot tub

The hot tub is on that lower deck. As you sit there, you have a beautiful view of the rushing water.

2pm-ish - Walk around Wakefield. This is the graffiti art on the outside of the Black Sheep.

Our 4th Anniversary Part 1

2010-04-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

Itinerary:
4pm - Arrive in Wakefield; check in to Wakefield Mill
5:30pm - Dinner Chez Eric

6:30pm - Walk around Wakefield before doors open at the Black Sheep Inn

7:00 - 11:30pm - Melissa McLelland concert

The Crocuses in our Garden

2010-03-30T19:39:00.001-05:00

Another visit with the Broersmas

2010-03-22T16:18:00.005-05:00

My sister, Diana, and her family came for a visit 2 weekends ago. Here are some pictures from the weekend.At breakfast. Nethaneil being goofy.
Micah...propped up by Mike's unseen hand.

We took the kids for a walk. This is Elyssa...she doesn't like the wind...after this picture we covered her face completely with that blanket and she didn't complain at all.

This is the Ottawa River....semi frozen.
Both Elyssa and Hadassah can appreciate a good cup of yogurt.
Mom feeding Micah.
Reuben playing with his nephew.

My brother with Nethaneil.
Grampa reading stories.
And we end where we began...with Nethaneil's goofy grin.

Sleepover

2010-02-22T22:34:00.007-05:00

Our Christmas gift to Karin and Josh was to babysit their daughter. So, this past weekend, we picked her up Saturday morning and brought her with us to Local Heros for breakfast. She surprised by eating a huge pancake! It seemed like a lot of food for a little girl. Then I dropped Reuben off at home and took her grocery shopping with me and then we went to the library. At home we had some lunch and then she slept for 2 hours.This is part of Elyssa's lunch. Yep, half a lemon...she doesn't even flinch.

These are the books and movies we got out of the library.

After her nap, we played playdough and made a train out of some nesting boxes.

We had my parents over for dinner and then had some vanilla pudding for dessert. Here, Reuben is trying to bond with her but she just gave him one of her famous withering looks.
She went to bed alright...if alright is crying herself to sleep for 1/2 an hour. Karin said to leave her for 1/2 an hour and that was exactly how long it took for her to fall asleep. Amazing! The next morning, she woke me up at 5:15am...apparently, this is sort of normal. It probably didn't help that she had a racking cough. I tried to get her to sleep a little bit longer and then Reuben took over and helped give her breakfast while I caught a few more winks.
As you can tell, it's the wee hours of the morning here.

We love you, Elyssa...but maybe we'll wait to have a sleepover until you can stay in bed later than 5:15am. I don't know how my sister does it....she's amazing!

Winterlude 2010

2010-02-19T16:46:00.003-05:00

No renovation updates this time...although, Reuben is slowly but surely finetuning the surface of the walls in the foyer...it's Winterlude season here in Ottawa.

It's always a bit of a struggle for me to don all that winter wear, head downtown and really enjoy myself in the cold, wet winter but with my hubby by my side, it was actually really fun!Us on the canal.Reuben being his goofy self.

Us on an ice sculpture.My favourite snow sculpture. That evening we enjoyed a Basia Bulat concert. She's the one sitting down. If you get a chance, you should give her a listen.

Some other highlights of the day include my joining the group on an ice slide...thought I was too old to enjoy such things...but it was a thrill! And eating a beavertail with freezing cold hands...the only way to enjoy them.

We had company last weekend too. Reuben's sister and her friends. Sorry, I don't have any pics of them. They are a good group. Reminded me of Winterludes in the way past when groups of my friends would come to Ottawa and we'd stay up way too late...I think we stayed up way later than these kids (oops, no, they are not kids!) did:) They are a good group and we hope 2 of them will end up here for school;)

Next on the event list, babysitting my 2 year old neice, Elyssa. We'll be picking her up tomorrow morning and her parents will pick her up after church tomorrow. That's right, we'll be taking her to church with us. Wish us luck!

A relaxing day

2010-02-06T22:02:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day! You might wonder what exciting thing we did today to make it so great. Well, today was so great because we did nothing exciting. In fact, we didn't even leave the house. We slept in. We made a hearty egg and bacon breakfast. We did dishes. We did the second coat of "rhubarb" on our walls that had been needing it for so long. We did some vacuuming and general tidying. We put the door back on the bathroom. We added some grout to our new floor where it was lacking. We prepared for Bible Study. We did some laundry. It was such a relaxing but productive day.
To top it off, we finished watching this great tv series/DVD called "Long Way Down". It's about these two guys who drive their motorcycles from the northern tip of Scotland to the southern tip of Africa. It's just extraordinary. Besides the scenery, the wildlife and the people of Africa, I just love hearing their Scottish brogues through the whole thing. If you ever get a chance, please do watch it. It will inspire you to travel for sure!

Hope y'all had a great Saturday, too.

Foyer and Bathroom Floor

2010-02-01T15:12:00.007-05:00

Our house renovations continue with laying down a new floor in the front hall and powder room. First, here is a picture of our old door...so you can see the improvement. Although it's from the inside.

Here's the pictures of what our floor looked like. Lovely pink ceramic tile and white tile in the bathroom.
Under the pink tile was a layer of laminate flooring.

After Reuben got the floor down to bare plywood, he screwed it down all over to minimize creaks and squeaks. Then we cut out and lay down this Schluter product that helps to level the floor.

Our friend, Carl, helped Reuben install the Schluter under flooring and the new ceramic tile. They grouted it on Saturday and it looks great!

Our new Front Door

2009-12-21T08:44:00.003-05:00

I can't find a decent picture of our old front door, right now, because I'm at work. But this is the new one. It still needs some trim both inside and out but it sure is a lot nicer! I used to have to fight to get my key in and out of the lock because it was a copy of a copy and now it's so easy. Thanks to Dad Helder who helped Reuben install it.

Hadassah Sings her ABC's

2009-12-02T13:08:00.003-05:00

Names

2009-11-17T09:20:00.003-05:00

Is it weird for everyone when they meet someone with their name? I feel like my name is really unique (not necessarily in a good way, I'm still undecided as to whether I really like it or not) so I don't meet people with my name very often.
This morning I had to find someone named Irene and I walked into this sea of cubicles and someone said "can I help you find someone?" and it was really strange to say I was looking for Irene. It was kind of an out of body experience.

I'm an Aunty Again

2009-11-11T12:52:00.004-05:00

This is my new computer desktop picture.

Welcome to my world, little Micah Timothy! Guess what? I already love you and I haven't even met you. This is very sad, I know. But I will see you in 2.5 weeks and maybe you will be able to give me a smile by then!?

He was born on October 29 to my little sister, Diana.
His happy siblings are Hadassah(2.5) and Nethaneil(1.5).

Micah loves getting kisses from them.

Yesterday

2009-11-10T08:48:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a crazy day. I got some Islam "gospel" tract in the mail at work. All the way from Alexandria, Eqypt. That's right...addressed to me specifically and had my current work address on it. I googled it and apparently a lot of people working at University's around the world get the same thing. It was in French, too. Weird!
Then, when I got home I decided to make Chicken Parmesan and Scalloped Potatoes for dinner (well, I had decided to make it on Friday night when I was making my shopping list). Never do this, especially after a long day at work. The recipes I have are from close friends so I knew they would be good but I didn't read them too clearly before I started and seriously, each dish takes about 6 pots/pans/baking dishes to make!!!! And many steps. I was unprepared:(
And then, to top it off, I went to lift up the tin foil to check on the potatoes in the oven without an oven mitt on because I know that tin foil doesn't get really hot and I can usually touch in with my bare hand. Yeah, well, there was steam. And just for that one second that the steam touched my finger caused such excruciating pain for 2 hours! I immediately put my finger under the tap running water and yelled for Reuben. He googled to make sure we were doing the right thing, which we were. But all the sites were saying it should cool down within 15 - 20 minutes and it didn't. I ate dinner with my finger in a cup of cold water and then I sat on the couch and kept trying to take my finger out of the water but after about 5 seconds it would feel like it was on fire so I'd have to plunge it right back in. So, I burned it at around 6:10pm and finally, while talking to my sister on the phone at around 8:30pm, it felt ok to take out of the water. sigh!
I showered with my hand in a washcloth...that was interesting...
This morning, it's ok, tender but not blistering so that's good.

What adventures will I get into today.
By the way, the food was amazing!!!!

Being Accomplishy

2009-11-07T12:37:00.004-05:00

Today is an accomplishy day. Last night, I whipped up a batch of overnight french toast and we had that for breakfast with orange juice and a cappuccino from our Tassimo. Reuben went to go help out at the manse so, I made some muffins and then I pulled out the paint and did one coat of Munroe Bisque in our den (the front room with the bay window) and on our staircase wall.
Then I went to Bulk Barn and when I got back, it was so beautifully warm and sunny that I did what I've been wanting to do for the past couple of months. Clean out the car! I vacuumed it and washed down the inside. I couldn't wash the outside because we already put our garden hose away for the season. We need to rustproof the car soon so I'll wait till that's done before I bring it to the carwash.
After some general clean up and making of dinner, I am so ready for relaxing.

Elyssa turns 2!

2009-11-04T15:09:00.005-05:00

My neice, Elyssa, turned 2 yesterday so my sister had us and my parents over for supper. I made her some legwarmers for a present. She didn't like them but I think they just didn't feel nice on bare legs and also, she was very interested in the present she had just opened from my parents (a Playmobile set of a catamaran sailboat with female sailor). Since I only made 1 legwarmer to see if it was the right size, I have to make the 2nd one now. This is a nice project because it hardly takes any concentration at all. The legwarmer is all one colour and has no increases, decreases or fancy yarnovers to worry about.
The unfortunate thing right now is that I hardly feel like knitting because by the end of the day my wrist and hand is very sore. I use a mouse and type all day as part of my job. sigh!

Anyway, here's a video I took last night of Elyssa. She can say Micah really clearly (Diana's new baby for those who don't know) but for some reason the end got cut off.

What I've been up to lately

2009-10-31T08:15:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favourite meals to make. My parents, sister, brother-in-law and neice were over for dinner and I had bought this really cool plate at Winners so I decided to put the whole meal on it. And it worked out great! It's oven-roasted sweet potatos, pork tenderloin and broccoli with bacon.

Below are the pictures of our latest efforts in our house. We've been living with that patched wall for more than half a year and it was very satisfying to get some paint on it, finally.

And we both absolutely love the Rhubarb colour. It's very warm and inviting. You can see that we also got a pendent light for the pass-through into the kitchen. We still haven't put pictures up anywhere in our living room so that's on the list too.

This is a little sweater I knit for my sister, Diana's baby. Although, I did take it out once to start over, it was a very easy piece to knit and because of the thickness of the yarn, it was very quick. The buttons are my only concern. I used some that I had in my button box...which is basically buttons I've stashed from the clothes I bought where they give you extra buttons. So they don't match. I think it looks kinda unique but I hope Diana does too.

Cute Kids

2009-10-06T09:01:00.003-05:00

Elyssa (niece, 23 months)

Jacob (cousin once removed, 10 months)

Reuben (husband, 25 years)

Kitchen Reno UPDATE

2009-09-25T21:04:00.001-05:00

Instead of duplicating Reuben, you can check out his blog for updated pics of the kitchen!!!

Days 24-27

2009-09-21T08:53:00.004-05:00

I've been in Winnipeg since Friday afternoon so I haven't been able to see the progress in the kitchen. On Friday and Saturday, they worked on the ceiling. Reuben sent me some pictures and it looks amazing! I was going to post the pictures but I think we'll wait until it's more finished because you will all be blown away! The ceiling is totally different than anything you've ever seen! I'm so excited to come home and see it.
I think today they are going to do some painting and then putting the dinette/office area together.
I'll be heading home tomorrow.

Day 23 - the floor

2009-09-18T07:59:00.001-05:00

Day 22

2009-09-17T10:27:00.002-05:00

Mudding of drywall joints and laying down of plywood subfloor was accomplished yesterday. Along with scraping off the last of the wallpaper border in the dinette area.

Day 21 - cabinets

2009-09-16T15:15:00.003-05:00

Our living room is stuffed with Ikea boxes and put together cabinets.

Day 21 - Drywall

2009-09-16T15:09:00.003-05:00

Here's some pictures of the drywalling being done in the kitchen. The opening is into the dinette area.

Photo recap

2009-09-16T08:13:00.004-05:00

In case you're curious as to the progress; these are the photos after the plumbing and electrical work was done last week. You can see all the nice new wire snaking around the room as well as the clean capping off of the sink pipes.

You can also see the new ductwork near the ceiling that we had to do because we widened the doorway into the diningroom.

Here's the ductwork that we put in to vent our hood fan to the exterior wall since our stove is being relocated to the interior wall. We had a recirculating hood fan before (which we never used) so we had to punch a hole in the outside wall and put in the vent ourselves. Well, actually another friend of ours, Reuben VP, did it. Thanks Reubs!

Day 17- 20

2009-09-14T13:39:00.003-05:00

DAY 20 without a kitchen. It hasn't felt too long but that's mainly because my mom has graciously provided us with dinner most nights. On Saturday, we tried our hand at bbqing pizza and french fries. They had a slightly smokey flavour (ie. a bit charred):)

On Friday, our friend, Brian came over and helped Reuben wire some things. Then on Saturday, Reuben managed to get the floors spotless of dust and garbage and I managed to give the rest of the house a "thorough going over" (I think that's a quote from Anne of Green Gables but I'm not sure which part).

Reuben's dad arrived this morning and Reuben was up early moving the phone jack and prepping some more. I think there is some drywalling happening today. Also, my brother is helping Reuben to pick up the cabinets from the Ikea warehouse this afternoon. I'm so excited to see all the boxes. Although, I'm not looking forward to having them all in the living room. I think breakfast is going to be interesting tomorrow morning.

I'll keep you posted.
ps. My brave 35-week pregnant sister, Diana, is driving here from Fergus today with her 2 kiddies (Hadassah, age 2 and 9 months and Nethaneil, age 15 months). They are staying the week.

Day 10-16

2009-09-10T09:34:00.002-05:00

Since my last update, not much has been done on the kitchen. We went to Sandbanks for the long weekend and left the mess behind.
But today, we got the call that our cabinets are ready to be picked up! And Reuben's dad is busy cutting the slats for our ceiling.
Our countertop, sink and faucet are also in. Reuben's dad will be bringing it all with him on Monday when he comes to install everything.
Tomorrow, our friend is coming to help Reuben finish up the wiring and tonight we are going to buy our hood fan.
Many pieces slowly coming together to form the jigsaw puzzle that is our kitchen.

Camping: Sanbanks

2009-09-10T09:22:00.005-05:00

Beams from our living room ceiling ready to be burned.

Celebrating Reuben's birthday!

Our shady spot.

Karin and her brother.

Gorgeous sunsets.

My crazy husband doing a jig on the beach.

Our accompanist.

The long road home.

Day 9

2009-09-03T13:31:00.002-05:00

New window.

Day 8

2009-09-02T08:32:00.003-05:00

Day 6 was a Sunday so we rested from our labours. Day 7 saw nothing accomplished as we were at a meeting all evening. Day 8 was yesterday and while I went to the movies (Julie and Julia, very cute!) Reuben and Carl got down to business on the plumbing. They removed our sink and tap and installed some piping. Apparently, the venting was in the wrong place.

Day 5

2009-08-31T21:51:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, Reuben and his dad made the pass-through opening in our kitchen. They also widened the doorway into the diningroom. There is so much more light that gets let into the livingroom now. There are windows in the diningroom and livingroom but there is a big maple tree that blocks a lot of the light so it can be quite dark in there.

Tonight, our friend, Carl, is coming over to help Reuben redo some of the plumbing in the kitchen. Apparently, the venting for the sink was done wrong, originally. Did you know that it is critically important for your drains to be vented to the outside so that none of the smells come into your house? Something about a build up of gases...blah, blah, blah. You learn a lot when you own your own home. At least I have been. Reuben knows all this stuff already.

Day 4

2009-08-29T09:22:00.004-05:00

Reuben's dad came yesterday around noon. When I got home from work, this is what our kitchen looked like!

The beginning of the pass-through opening.

Day 3

2009-08-28T07:57:00.003-05:00

Last night, I made fish sticks and bruschetta in the toaster oven. We still have a counter and a sink and it was still frustrating just to make that small dinner. I don't think we'll be having many more dinners here for awhile.
While I went to a baby shower, Reuben ripped out the upper cabinets by himself. I didn't get to take any pictures, though.
Today, Reuben's dad is driving down and will be helping Reuben get the rest of the floor off and the dishwasher and sink cabinet out. We will be widening the doorway into the dining room and putting a pass-through in.
They will also be running the electrical for the new pot lights and repositioning of the stove.
Thanks in advance, Dad!

Day 2

2009-08-27T08:14:00.003-05:00

Last night our good friend, Andrew, came over to help Reuben continue the demolition.

While trying to find the appropriate tool to take up a layer of plywood, they tried out my hammer. Consequently, it broke in half. My sister, Diana, bought me this hammer as part of a toolkit when I moved out on my own.
Behind the cabinet, Reuben found this doggy kibble. Gross.
And I thought our dining room/living room was crowded yesterday.
This is what it looks like this morning.

They brought the one set of lower cabinets down to the basement to use for storage.

Kitchen Renos

2009-08-26T07:50:00.006-05:00

Things are under way in our kitchen. Reuben has faithfully been removing 10-20 tiles every week so that he can put them out in the regular trash. We're trying to avoid getting a construction bin. Last week, he decided to see what was under the plywood that was under the tile and found a perfectly good layer of linoleum. We have to remove that now too. I picked up our new flooring last week and our sink, tap, countertop, cabinets and window have been ordered.

I took some pictures last night after I did the dishes for the last time in our sink and before I cleared out the cupboards. So these are the official before pictures of our kitchen.

Notice the lovely wallpaper border and beautiful pink paint color to match the tiles. Very fiesta-y! I'm really into fiesta style (NOT).

This is a picture of the floor vent that I kept stepping on every time I did dishes.

This is the gross mold that has been surrounding our tap since the day we moved in 2 years ago. Also, notice that I can't swivel the tap to direct the water, I can only move the nozzle. I can't wait for my new tap and sink!

Lilies in our Garden

2009-08-03T12:34:00.001-05:00

Garden Photos

2009-07-24T10:47:00.002-05:00

Here are some updated shots of our garden. We haven't done any work on it. It's all my dad's handiwork. I love the hollyhocks because they are nice and tall and I can see them outside my kitchen windown when I'm doing dishes.
Our tomato plants are coming along really nicely but it does take quite awhile before the tomatoes are ready.

Update: Kitchen Remodel

2009-07-22T14:16:00.001-05:00

Here is the tile layout. Only with the darker tile.

Kitchen remodel

2009-07-22T12:07:00.009-05:00

This is what our kitchen looks like now. (These are the MLS listing pictures.)

In approximately 6 weeks we will be ripping everything out. The floor, the backsplash, the countertop, the cabinets and the window above the sink. The bay window has been replaced already. We will be putting in a pass-through window facing the livingroom. We will be moving the stove over to where the fridge is now and moving the fridge down towards the front area. The front area(dinette) will be turned into a study which will include a pantry and built in desk. Oh and my window seat!!:)
These are the cabinets we are getting from Ikea.

But with these door handles.

This countertop.

I found a picture of someone else's kitchen online with the countertop. It looks a lot lighter than I thought it would be.

Which is good because our floor is going to be made of these vinyl tile, which are pretty dark.

I can't find a picture of the layout online but you put it in so that it is staggered.
The kitchen tap that I've picked out is this one. But we're going to a kitchen place tomorrow to see it in real life.

We still need to pick a backsplash but hopefully it will involve some sort of glass tile and we need to pick out a dishwasher and microwave. We're keeping our stove and fridge for now.
With all of this excitement there is hardly a need for travel. But of course we can't go for very long without travelling. We're heading to Boston with some friends for Thanksgiving.

:Kingston:

2009-07-21T07:50:00.009-05:00

On a Thousand Islands cruise on our way to Kingston.

Boldt Castle.

Fancy cottage on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.

Our room at The Abbey Manor Inn.

Dinner at Atomica: Pizza and Wine Bar.

Old Fort Henry.

Eating leftovers.

Farmers' Market.
Ferry to Wolfe Island.

Beach on Wolfe Island.

Our ticket stubs from the Thousand Islands cruise gave us $10 dollars to spend at the Casino. So we did. Remember...no cameras allowed in a casino.

Our Canada Day

2009-07-20T12:17:00.004-05:00

Our Canada Day was enjoyed with friends on a warm and sunny day in the heart of our Nation's Capital...which happens to be our hometown. Anna, Carl, Gemma, Anne-Marie, Garnet, Heidi, Bryan, Reuben and I all gathered at our friend's unoccupied home (they were away on vacation but graciously lent us their home which is in close proximity to downtown). Then we set off for the 15 min walk to the hill where we met up with Andre and Karyn.

It never fails to amaze me how many people manage to make it downtown for Canada Day and all the festivities. We watched the noon show, which included several fly overs by the Snowbirds and a 21 gun salute.

After walking around for a bit, missing a free NAC concert and hearing parts of some good jazz at the Jazz Festival, we walked back to Andrew and Carrie's for a potluck dinner and a rousing game of Alhambra.
Then we walked back to the hill to watch the fireworks. On the way, we saw this...

Even little Gemma enjoyed the fireworks!

And so did we.

Nethaneil turns One

2009-07-13T19:26:00.008-05:00

Nethaneil brought his family to visit for his first birthday! His future Aunt Emma made him a double chocolate cake with mint icing and colorful icing decorations.

He got lots of clothes, a book and a noisy steering wheel toy.

Duvet Cover/Quilt

2009-06-15T14:41:00.003-05:00

Remember this quilt that I blogged about at the end of March?Tada...I did it...only it's a duvet cover. Reuben doesn't seem to mind that it's pink, thankfully.

It turned out to be random but not to so random. As in all the dark colors are near the top and the light colours are near the bottom. Oh well. Oh and remind me not to sew again for a long time! It's not my forte.

Jubilee Anniversary

2009-05-22T09:01:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was our church's 50th Anniversary party! It went very well. We had over 100 guests.

And I was part of two choirs that sang. This is our College and Careers Bible Study group.

This is the Jubilee Choir.

The photos are courtesy of Chris van Popta.

On Sunday, we had even more guests (we believe) and held our services in the Ottawa Christian School gym. Funnily enough, the church had services in the 70s at OCS so it was a familiar place for a lot of people. I also went to elementary school there. We served lunch to all the people as well. By the end of the day, I was pretty exhausted but it was worth it.
We are selling t-shirts, buttons and mugs to fund raise for our school (that we are hoping to open in Sept 2011). If you'd like some of these products, let me know. I'll try to put up some pictures of them soon.

Hi

2009-05-14T09:05:00.002-05:00

Our house is looking a little more sane these days as we prepare to host my sister and her family this weekend. Since my last post, we have all the drywall put up that we want to put up and all the tape joints mudded. The next step is for Reuben to go over every wall with a fine tooth comb looking for depressions and ridges that will show up when we paint. It's amazing the imperfections in a wall that are really accented when you paint. I am so thankful (though I don't always show it) that he is such a perfectionist in this area because I know it'll make our home just that much better when it's all said and done.

In the meantime, I had my birthday. Reuben took me to the Urban Pear for dinner and bought me a lovely bouquet of pink lilies. And the next day, my sister arranged for a group of ladies to go out for drinks. I had a great time!

This coming weekend is going to be a busy one. We have been planning for a big party for our church's 50th Anniversary for about 8 months now and on Saturday night we'll be hosting 100 guests(plus our own church members) for a dinner and program. My mother, husband and I along with another couple in our church have been the main organizers. I'm excited but nervous about how it will all play out as it is a pretty big event. We are also organizing church services at another venue on Sunday so we have to worry about the details for that, as well. Yikes! The good things will be that there are many guests coming that I am excited to see not the least of which is my sister and her kids (and her husband;)) and also one of my fave aunts and uncles and one of my fave cousins (along with her husband and kids). Also, our former ministers and their wives.

So, our plans for the next couple of weeks include priming and painting all the walls and ceilings that have been redone and then start thinking about our kitchen!

More craziness

2009-04-28T09:12:00.002-05:00

Over the last week, Reuben has been working hard on the walls and ceiling in our house. I have been working hard trying to keep my sanity. Patience is a virtue and I'm learning the hard way. Some advice to those in the same boat...if your husband is trying to finish the drywall don't try to talk about hanging pictures, gardening, paying bills etc as it will only remind him that you should be helping him sand. You don't want to have to help him sand...it's not fun.
Our drywaller came on Saturday morning (after our week of prep work) at 8 am. No sleeping in for this girl. He quickly and efficiently retaped all the drywall joints we had exposed by noon. I tried to stay out of the way but at one point, while trying to make Tiramisu for a party, I had to move all of my stuff to the other counter. There isn't one area of my house that doesn't have drywall dust or mud tracked through it or on it. I thought my livingroom would be a sanctuary but now all of the shoes and coats from our front hall closet are strewn about it. Last night, Andrew came again and did a second coat of mud and then they put up drywall on the ceiling in our dinette and front hall. I had to help hold it up while it was being screwed in place.
Despite all of this, the Tiramisu turned out and was enjoyed by all.
I haven't taken any pictures recently to show the progress.
Oh and also, our tulips have started blooming!!! And isn't it so cool how they close at night and open during the day!:) Amazing.

Wainscotting and drywall joints

2009-04-21T09:41:00.002-05:00

This is what we've been working on the past week. In the picture below you can see what else has been taking place in the stairwell area besides potlights and a new ceiling. We've (Reuben) been scraping away at all the joints; taking off the old mud and tape. It's a thankless job and creates a huge mess on the stairwell. I wish I could sleep downstairs so I wouldn't have to walk through it every night/morning.
And on Friday last week, I had a day off from work, so I proceeded to take off the old beadboard/wainscotting in our front entryway. It was easy-peasy. It came off with little trouble. Now, all of the nail holes have to be filled and sanded and then we can paint! It looks like painting will take place in 2 weeks...to coincide with my birthday.

part 2

2009-04-14T17:44:00.005-05:00

Here are the pictures...
First there are some from a party we had 2 weekends ago. Then of Reuben working on the house and then of the finished livingroom, well, the main wall anyway.

renovations and in-laws (or How I Spent My Easter Weekend)

2009-04-14T07:51:00.003-05:00

I want to tell you all about our renovations...but I have no pictures...
So, I'll keep it short and add pictures in when I can...
Reuben's parents came to visit for the long weekend so lots of work got done on the house.

1. They(Reuben and his Dad) put up crown moulding and baseboards in the livingroom and diningroom....it looks amazing!
2. They also put 2 potlights in our stairwell...there was much fiddling around with 3-way switches!
3. They installed drywall on the ceiling in the stairwell and part of the hallway upstairs.

While they were doing that, my mother-in-law and I organized our basement mess. We had been chucking stuff down there ever since we moved in and it was really starting to bother me. Now, it's all organized and there's actually room to move around down there!

We also really started thinking about our kitchen and so we went to Ikea to get one priced out and then also to a higher end place...the price difference is pretty big. I think we're going to go with Ikea just because we don't want to spend more money on renovations than we'll get back out of the house when we sell it. Any improvement to the kitchen is going to be significant, that's for sure. We're planning to do it in the Fall.

So this week is looking like the beginning of more dust and construction in our house for awhile. We have to rip out all the tape joints in the stairwell, upstairs hallways and 2 bedrooms and then it all has to be taped and mudded. At least we're not doing both floors at the same time. While the livingroom was being done I could retreat to my bedroom and now that the upstairs is being done I can retreat to the living room. You should come over sometime and check it out!

My handsome nephew, Nethaneil

2009-04-03T09:54:00.003-05:00

I knit that vest for him...

Renovation Update

2009-03-31T14:05:00.003-05:00

This picture is a little old already as we now have everything cleaned up and our furniture back in place. It is such a relief to come home to a normal house. I know that Reuben is going to start working on drywalling again soon but I'm loving it for right now. Anyway, this is a sneak peek of our paint colors ... you'll just have to come over to see what it really looks like.
Actually, last night we bought all the crown moulding and baseboards for this room and Reuben's father is coming at Easter to help him install it. After that, we will be fixing the drywall joints going up the stairs and in the hallway upstairs including the ceilings in our 2 other bedrooms (our bedroom was done before we moved in, thankfully).

Mont Tremblant

2009-03-30T18:52:00.010-05:00

Last week Thursday and Friday, Reuben and I and 2 other couples went to Mont Tremblant for a little getaway. We shared a 2 bedroom plus loft suite right in the village! We left at 6:30am from Ottawa and were in Tremblant around 9am...with a little detour at Timmy's/McDonalds on the way. Here are some pics of the suite....

This was the view...Reuben is wearing the coolest goggles of the weekend...they have pretend bullet holes in them....don't ask me why...As you can see, we were just a hop, skip and a jump away from the bottom of the hill. The weather wasn't the greatest the first day as it was pretty drizzly. While the boys snowboarded, we shopped and looked around the village and went to a delicious creperie for lunch. In the evening, we took a dip in the pool and the outdoor hot tub and then had dinner at the local microbrewery, La Diable. Here are our friends, Heidi and Bryan Feenstra at the pub. And this is us at the pub.And that evening, my brother-in-law, Josh drove up and joined us as he had a one day ski pass to use. In the morning, the boys plus Carrie hit the slopes at 8 am and got 3 runs in then came back to our suite for breakfast. Heidi and I made waffles and bacon with strawberries and whipping cream. It was delish!Then we had to check out of our hotel so we loaded all our stuff into the car and everyone continued snowboarding/skiing except for Heidi and I. We grabbed our books and found a nice, cozy couch to sit on in the lobby of one of the hotels right at the base of the hill. We read for about an hour and a half and then Carrie called and we met her for lunch. The rest of them stayed on the slopes. We wandered around the village some more but then as the weather was so warm and sunny, we joined the crowd at the bottom of the skihill watching people go off of jumps. We had a grand time people-watching. At 4pm the lifts were closed so we watched the boys end their final run right at our feet. They enjoyed their final run in their t-shirts because it was so warm. Then we packed up and headed home after agreeing to do it all again next year.

Quilting

2009-03-30T08:33:00.002-05:00

This morning,while flipping through my usual blog readings, I spied this lovely quilt with instructions. It looks totally doable, even for a non-quilter like myself. But maybe my sister can help me.
Doesn't it just make you thankful for Spring? It's my favourite season by far!

Elyssa Walking

2009-03-18T13:46:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to post a cute pic of my niece, Elyssa. She's walking a lot now and is very sweet. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to remember to take my own pics of her so this one is borrowed from my sister. Enjoy!Click here and you'll see what she looked like a year ago.
Oh and the painting is coming along but I'm recovering from the flu so I can't get it done fast enough. The first coat is done but it needs another coat. I promise to post pics as soon as the second coat is done. It's so hard to know when to post pics because I want it to look beautiful and it's just not done yet. Do you want to see it part way done?

Paris When It Sizzles - the movie

2009-03-17T11:22:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, while convelescing, I watched 2 Audrey Hepburn movies that I hadn't seen. One was Funny Face and the other, Paris When It Sizzles.
Funny Face is a musical with Fred Astaire. It has lots of neat choreography and singing. I watched it for the beautiful clothes and scenes of Paris (suprisingly both movies were set in Paris). I did not watch it for the plot. It was hilariously cheesy and usually I like cheesy but I was pretty bored by the end of it.
Paris When It Sizzles on the other hand is just one of your everyday romantic comedies but so much more than that because of the classiness that Audrey Hepburn brings to the movie. The storyline is that of a screenwriter who hires a typist to write out a screen play that he hasn't written yet and is due to the producer in 2 days time. So, the movie jumps between the story of the movie being written and the real story of screen writer and typist who get written in as the main characters of the movie. I won't give it all a way but I do recommend it. Oh and Reuben liked it too so if your partner is as endearing as mine and will sit down to an old film with you than go for it!

Update 3 or 4

2009-03-16T12:35:00.002-05:00

The ceiling is done! It did need another coat but it looks amazing and I love the color:) We also primed the walls on Saturday. Reuben did the rolling and I did the cutting in although I had this awful headache and sore throat. I really wanted it done though so I worked on it as long as I could and then collapsed into bed for a nap. I'm still feeling sick but I really want to get this done so I'm persevering.
Tonight, I'm going to paint one wall with a tinted primer and the other walls with a neutral color that is called Monroe Bisque. Over the tinted primer we will be painting the wall Vintage Wine. These are Benjamin Moore colors so if you're curious you can go to their website to check it out. There will be one more color in the room which will go on the exterior of the kitchen walls that face into the living/dining area. We are waiting to paint these walls because we still have some more prep work to do and also because when we do the kitchen reno the walls may be reconfigured.

There is still a long ways to go.

Of painting a ceiling

2009-03-11T07:19:00.002-05:00

Painting our livingroom/diningroom ceiling takes me approx 1.5 hrs. Last night I did one coat of color...actual color...not just plain ol' white. When I first put it on I was shocked by how dark it looked and was sort of nervous but I kept going. This morning, although it was still pretty dark when I left the house, it doesn't look so bad. It's going to be cozy. I also can't tell yet whether I need to do a second coat although I have a feeling it's too streaky to leave the way it is.
Reuben is also done with the walls so we'll be priming them on Saturday!!! Woohoo....there is an end in sight. At least I'll be able to move the loveseat back into the livingroom by this weekend.
We'll probably keep the rest of the stuff out so that we can move around more easily to paint the walls.
I'll take pictures as soon as I can. Reuben took one of me painting last night but I'm sure you don't want to see that ....!

the state that we are in

2009-03-06T16:53:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you're all curious as to how the renovations are coming. Well, I'm here to report that there has been progress! Today, I took up the drop clothes and swept the floor. Tomorrow, I will put them down again and paint the ceiling. The ceiling needs a coat of drywall primer because it is now all new drywall and then a coat or two of ceiling paint which will be tinted Muslin from Benjamin Moore. You can look it up on their website if you're curious. I'm not sure when the walls will get painted because Reuben plans to do a few more coats of mud on some stubborn spots. This will ensure that our walls are as flat as humanly possible without having to re-drywall them all.
Anyway, I still can't navigate my kitchen too well and there is dust everywhere!! I'm so thankful we can go to my parents to escape the insanity!
More updates to come....

Why I Can't Cook....etc

2009-02-24T16:40:00.003-05:00

The reason I can't possibly cook right now is due to the fact that I have a couch in my kitchen, blocking my cutlery drawers and pots and pans cupboard. This is my front room...This is what I see when I walk in the front door. The plastic sheet hanging down is to help prevent dust from getting into that part of the house.And this is the livingroom....if you look really close you can see paint samples on the wall...we are having trouble deciding on a third colour. To get upstairs you have to squeeze past the piano and under the plastic sheet. Nice.

Busy Weekend

2009-02-23T16:38:00.005-05:00

phew! What a busy weekend...we had my sister,her husband and 2 kids visiting this weekend plus I had my choir concert which included a rehearsal on Saturday. Here are some pictures I took on Sat. evening while the men were skiing/snowboarding.
I knit some thumbless mittens for Hadassah to wear with her Sunday coat.
I tried to get her to stand still and show me the mittens but the girl is a whirling dervish!!!
Here's my sis reading her daughter a book.

And here is my mom feeding Nethaneil a bottle.
I'll try to take pictures of our renovation chaos tonight to show you all why I can't possibly cook right now;)

Daily News

2009-02-19T09:16:00.003-05:00

Well, my readers, I have begun a new job here at Carleton University. I am the Administrative Assistant to the Program Coordinator/Mentor at the newly formed Science Student Success Centre. This centre is designed to target Science students who are doing poorly in their studies during their first year at the University and to offer them guidance. Right now, I am waiting for my colleague to return from a Conference so I don't have a lot to do. Part of the job, though, is setting up a database which will contain all the student info and their grades in their first year Science courses. As some of you know, I did a lot of database work when I worked on Parliament Hill so I'm excited to get back into that a bit. My office is in the same hallway as my old one so while I am starting a new job, there won't be a huge amount of change which I am happy about. Working at the University has been really great so far and I'm really thankful that I can continue here.
As far as our house goes, we were in a lot of chaos in the last couple of days as we tried to get as much furniture out of the livingroom as possible. Our love seat ended up in the kitchen so that I couldn't get at my pots and pans or cutlery drawer. This was actually fine with me as I had a great excuse not to cook:) Andrew has finished two coats of mud but is now on a bit of a holiday so Reuben has arranged with him that he will come after school on Tuesday to finish the third coat. After that, we will be doing a lot of sanding and then priming!!! And then painting. So, for now, we've cleaned up a bit so that we can get upstairs more easily and my kitchen is more usable but by Tuesday it will all be chaotic again.
I'm also working on a pair of mittens for my niece, Hadassah...I finished one last night and should be able to do the other one tonight. After that, I plan to make a pair of fingerless mittens for myself...I just have to get to the yarn store.
And last but not least, the Broersma's are rolling into town tomorrow. Here's a picture preview from the last time we saw them.

Construction and Knitting Photo UPDATE

2009-02-17T15:01:00.002-05:00

My Sunday project....mittens for my sister, Diana....completed.

As of this afternoon, this is one coat done. Not paint, taping drywall joints on the ceiling and wall. Two more coats to go and then a ton of sanding and then ...I can paint!! We picked out colors ... they are outrageous! I won't give it away until they are on the walls. One is the name of a fruit and the other is the name of something to drink. Those are my hints ... have fun guessing!:)

Construction and Knitting

2009-02-12T14:45:00.002-05:00

As some of you have seen over on Reuben's blog, we have started some more renovations on our house. The last thing we did was put up a shed in the backyard. I really shouldn't say "we" as Reuben does most of the work. He had his dad's help though. Now we are starting a major project which requires our living room and dining room area to be uninhabitable for probably close to a month and if it's like any other renovation project it will be longer. We are replacing the ceiling (or covering up the ceiling with new drywall) and re-doing most of the tape joints (where the two pieces of drywall that make up a wall come together) with tape and drywall mud. Not only are we doing this in the living/dining area, Reuben feels that we should also redo the tape joints along the staircase and upstairs hallway.
I have been trying to help but it's hard work. It's kind of fun chipping away at old, dried up drywall mud but when you scrape your knuckles as I have already done a number of times, it's not so fun. I don't pretend to be any good at construction type work. I'm far too wimpy. The best thing I can do is make Reuben laugh because it's a frustrating process and he gets really serious about it.
We do have some help coming in. One of our friends from church is in University right now and has a Reading Week coming up. He grew up helping his father and grandfather in the drywalling business. We figured we could pay him a few bucks and have a semi-professional help get the job done better and quicker while staying within our budget.
Tonight, we are going to our friends' house for dinner. Church friends who recently moved here from BC. She is a certified Interior Designer and I'm bringing a couch cushion so we can talk color .. paint color. I'm so excited!!!!! I love dreaming about what colors we should paint our rooms. I love bold, rich, dark colors! I hope we can find something that will match nicely with our ugly teal couches. We will no longer have a stipple ceiling and I"m planning to have a hint of color in the ceiling paint as well which is also really exciting!
Anyway, so today the thing that brings me JOY is color and renovations! Seeing the good amongst all the drywall dust.
Oh yeah...and about the knitting. Yeah, not getting much done these days as I help with the deconstruction. I'm trying to get a pair of mitts done for next weekend when my sister comes down. I also wanted to have a pair of mitts done for Hadassah by then. We'll see.

Days of Joy - Day 4 - 7

2009-02-10T08:57:00.003-05:00

Oops ... I'm falling behind already.

1. Warmer weather ... it's going up to 9 degrees tomorrow.
2. Seeing long lost friends.
3. The star treatment at the Cheshire Cat pub ...Reuben's firm is doing an addition for them so the owner knows Reuben. When we walked in there on Saturday night we were greeted personally and given one of the best seats in the house.
4. Singing the Beatles hits at choir practice last night.
5. Even though it's frustrating...starting some more renovations on our house. See Reuben's post here.

Legwarmer UPDATE

2009-02-09T09:03:00.002-05:00

Here's the sweet girl sporting her legwarmers...

Elyssa's Legwarmers

2009-02-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

365 Days of Joy - Day 3

2009-02-06T09:03:00.002-05:00

1. A free ride to work and home again.

2. The news that we're halfway to seeing leaves on our trees.

3. A home-made exchange ... one pair of leg warmers, size 13 months for one knitting needle holder ... thanks sis!!

4. I just read some more information about that plane that went down in the Hudson River after a bird strike ... I'm so glad I wasn't on that plane.

5. Dinner plans with just the two of us.

365 Days of Joy - Day 2

2009-02-05T08:28:00.003-05:00

1. Fresh cup of coffee.
2. Warm boots.
3. Freedom.
4. Hugs.
5. Blog updates.

365 Days of Joy

2009-02-04T13:26:00.003-05:00

Ok ... so I've read this on other blogs and I think it's a great idea. I mean, who doesn't struggle with discontentment ...honestly, I'm not the only one, right? Anyway, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon to turn my thinking around. Everyday, for the next year, I will think of 5 things that give me Joy. Starting right now;

1. Sunshine ... finally some sunshine.
2. The days are getting longer.
3. Hanging out with my niece and sister last night.
4. Red hair.
5. A good job.

Mittens

2009-01-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

This is my latest completed project. They fit perfectly!

The Pride of America

2009-01-21T10:09:00.004-05:00

Without malice, I've been fairly cynical about Barack Obama's election and inauguration. This article articulates what I've been feeling.

Christmas with the Buists

2009-01-16T08:53:00.003-05:00

We really didn't take a lot of pictures this past Holiday season. Here are some ...

My nephew, Nethaneil ... he's 6 months old already!

Hadassah just turned 2 and is growing smarter and sweeter by the day.

Christmas with the Helders

2009-01-15T10:30:00.001-05:00

Ok...so a little late but better late than never, right? Here are some pics from our time with Reuben's family in Waterdown. We surprised them by arrived around dinnertime instead of leaving Ottawa at dinnertime. Catching Dad with a big grin in a picture is a challenge ... but we did it!

On Christmas Day, we decided to go for a walk to work up an appetite for our turkey dinner. It was a cold but beautiful day.

On Saturday, we went to visit our only Veldkamp cousins in the Toronto area, this is Harrison and Brianna ... and Lawren.This is Jared and his girlfriend, Andrea. Andrea has a daughter named Serena whose 15 months old. She's really sweet. We bought her this book for Christmas and she seemed to really like it. Our traditional meat fondue before we open gifts .... mmmm...