Catching up is hard to do

Where to begin?

We had so much snow, well 'so much' is a relative term. Since we had so little last year and we like to forget what it is like to have a lot of snow, I feel like we really got dumped on this week.

Hubby's bus didn't even come Monday morning. J had a combined class because teachers couldn't make it in and I pulled him home on a toboggan. That is how much snow we got in one day. And what to do when there is so much snow?

Bake, play in it, and keep the baby in the house. J is dressed for baking in the photo above. I have been working on the cookies that I am baking for Hubby's employees at work. I did this last year, but found out the night we stuffed the boxes that 400 weren't enough. So I baked approximately 400 cookies in one night to fill them. This year I already have 400 in the freezer, with plans for another 400-600 more. We are filling the boxes with cookies and chocolate this year. And I tried out a new recipe, spice cookies drizzled with chocolate. They just sound so yummy, that I had to try them. I am also going to do a Vanilla bean sugar cookie tomorrow and see how they taste too. And you know what if I don't like them, that is ok because they will be baked and out of the house within a few days.
See these guys? Yes, these two furry snow like dogs? Yeah, well they are not so snow loving. They go in and out so many times that it drives me batty. They seem to only stay out when it is 35 degrees above freezing or 35 degrees below freezing. They stand there at the door and knock and knock and knock until you let them back in. J was even out there wanting to play with them but noooo they knocked and knocked until I let them back in. Crazy dogs.
And poor Santa. For a while he was hanging off the side of the roof, but for some reason he got tired and had to lay down for a while. He has been like this for two days now. Hope he will be alright in time for Christmas.

I posted a few more photos in flickr. I have been busy trying to finish all the handmade presents. I am almost done all the sewing ones. But, had to stop so I could put together the Christmas cards. They are almost ready to be mailed. Then I have a few things to make together with J, so I need to do them on the weekend when Hubby can watch Apple for me, so I don't have to pick her up while working with glue. It's a busy time here chez BeachMama, but I love every minute of it.

The Weather here sucks

I think if I knew we would be returning to such aweful weather, I would have opted to stay for another week with my Aunt and Uncle.

My tan is fading fast and although yesterday was quite nice, it only lasted for half the day. It is cold rainy and rather depressing actually. I miss the sand and the sunshine. All the folks south of us getting a heat wave and we are stuck insome artic chill or something.

I guess I do have the photos and the memory of warm sun and air on my skin. If only I could sit out back and close my eyes and pretend I was still there. If I sit out back right now, I will be soaked and wind up with a chill.

How do you spell relief??

S..U..N!!!

Yesterday the skies opened and the sun shone through. The temperatures soared and all was well in our little world again. Today is supposed to be hot, yes hot! I better wax the legs and pull out the capris, we will be spending most of our day out in the sunshine!

Will take photos to share.

And this is what we woke up to...

Is is really April 16th??

I am sure if I check in on other blogs from the Eastern US and Canada, I will find similar photos or rantings at least, but I mean, come on already! The last time I saw snow this late in the year was when I lived in Winnipeg and that, at least, was expected.

Not only did we wake up to the snow, but we woke up because our power went out. Just before 6am the power shut down, which in our house, results in beeps and blurps filtering through the fire alarm system. This in turn makes our Huskey, Mickey, howl and whine because it is so high pitched that he hears more than we do. One of the alarms actually wouldn't stop bleeping, so we had to shut that breaker off completely. What a way to wake up.

The good thing about no power was that J had to survive until 2:20pm without TV or computers. I know, imagine having to play all day long! Once he got past the fact that there was nothing I could do he seemed alright. He would play for a while, then have a mini melt down, play again, melt again. This went on for most of the morning. We did go to the grocery store, but the roads weren't exactly stellar, so I didn't want to go far from home. And with the breaker off, if the power did come on I wanted to be able to flip it back on right away because it also controls our water heater.

The afternoon went quite well, the fireplace was still able to flip on and I could cook on the gas stove so we were doing alright. J wanted to go outside and play so I dug out his winter gear and let him out to play. He was trying to make snow angels, but the snow was so heavy you can't really tell where the angels were. The power came back on while he was out playing but I let him stay out for as long as he would stay, just because.

His reward was some curly fries and a kids show. Which he has already abandoned for his Lego. I have to admit that it was so quiet in here that the noise from the TV and refrigerator is really bugging me.

The only thing I missed during all this... my computer. I did grab a magazine at the grocery store and got some reading done.

20 Weeks

Ok, this weather really sucks. Yesterday was warm and sunny and we played outside and soaked it up. Today is snowing (well raining now) and yucky. No, I did not bring out the winter jackets again we wore our fleeces and rubber boots. We weren't cold as it is above freezing, it's just snowing, this is so wrong.

On a more fun note I am officially at my halfway mark in my pregnancy. 20 weeks!! Woo Hoo!

When I was pregnant with J, I wrote everything down in my journal. All the little tweaks and twinges. This time, not so much. I actually don't like to talk about being pregnant too much. Must be from the losses, afraid to say too much in case I have to unsay it all again.

I swear I look like I am seven months along instead of five. And my scale says I should deliver any day now, but then again I was 15 pounds heavier than I was for J, so I guess I am breaking the needle this time around. I am also keeping it up with working out. I haven't been entirely faithful in the every other day, but I am surely working out more than I thought I would. I walk on the treadmill (or outside when it is warm and sunny) and go through my weight routine. I also have a circuit that my trainer gave me, but that one just about kills me so I only do it once a week at the most.

All else is good, I am feeling lots of kicks and nudges now and don't need my doppler any more. J likes to pat my stomach and ask when he will get to meet his Sister. I keep telling him at the end of the summer, hopefully after your birthday. Every now and then he tries to belt me in the belly but I usually catch him before he makes contact. I think he thinks he can help it out if he wacks me hard enough.

So, here's to another 20 weeks or less of nothing too exciting going on. And I'll try to get a belly shot of two this weekend.

Is is really Easter already??

Tomorrow is Good Friday. I feel like Easter is so, so early this year. I like to explain to J both the secular and Christian versions of holidays but since this one involves one of his heroes dying. And J is very sensitive to death, I don't think I want to be the one to explain this one. So, I think I will leave it up to Grandpa to share at dinner tomorrow, let him deal with the tears.

And to top off the early arrival of Easter, it is supposed to snow for the next two or three days. That just makes Easter Egg hunts in the backyard not so enjoyable. It was actually supposed to snow most of the day today, but somehow we seemed to escape it all. It's a good thing that J likes to play outside in the wet grass with his rainsuit on or else he wouldn't have had any fresh air since the weekend. I thought I would add a few photos of our dogs. They are a royal pain in the butt, but I love them just the same. The first photo is Cosmo (full name Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld). Cosmo is a collie-lab mix and just turned eleven. Not too sure how many years he has left in him, but he is getting really grey now. He is a gentle dog who has a bark that will scare any solicitors from the front porch faster than they can ring the bell. Next is Mickey (Mickey Blue Eye, as he has one blue eye and one brown one) who is seven and a bit. Mickey was a rescue and some days we wonder why we did it. No, just kidding. Some days he is just a little more crazy than others. He came from a litter at a pet store (of which a friend of ours also got a dog, hers had to be put down) that had been very over bred. The result is that he is a bit skittish and has taken him much longer to calm down then most huskies. Again, I don't always mind so much as it keeps strangers away from the front door. He is just as loveable as Cosmo and very protective of his pack (us) so I always feel safe with him around.

Not sure what inspired me to share about my dogs today. I guess because they are always here and I take lots of photos of them. Mickey is not as willing for a photo as Cosmo, he seems to like to be far away from the camera. Cosmo you could get right in there and snap away and he wouldn't care one bit.

Let's hope all the weather forecasters are wrong and that the next few days turn out to be not quite as bad as we think... Oh and Happy Easter!

Back in Action

After a short cold winter, of which I spent most of it on the couch feeling like a bag of dirt, I can honestly say that Spring has brought back all of my desire for photos and all things outside. The weather this week has been fantastic. Lots of sunshine, warmth and drying up of the parks and backyard. We spent a large portion of the day yesterday outside. We walked to my favorite grocery store, played in the backyard and then took a trip to the finally dried out park. It was wonderful. In addition to all that I was snapping photos like crazy. I have been for the better part of the week.

Funny how I barely wanted to open my computer for a while, let alone take some photos. Now, I feel like I am back in action (hence the title) and raring to go. Now, I just have to plan some fun little trips to places other than my backyard. I hope this weather holds for a while, or better yet keeps getting nicer. I feel the sun lifting my spirits by the minute.

Spring is here!!

Welcome first day of Spring. Your are holding so much promise. You blessed us with lots of sunshine,above freezing temperatures and melting snow. You are promising a much bigger jump in temperatures for tomorrow and the coming weekend and week. Please don't turn your back on us. We are so happy to have you here.

Here I sit

Eagerly awaiting the onslaught of snow. Last night they were forecasting only 5cm (about 2inches) but this morning they have reforecasted 15 in total between tonight and tomorrow. And to think I can see all of my backyard! There is only a tiny bit of snow left where the sandbox is becasue it doesn't get the sun this time of year.

I can only hope that we don't get anything they are forecasting. One good thing is that we are supposed to get those warm double digit temperatures back next week. Which of course will melt anything we get.

I am also wondering if any of you out there have heard of Facebook? Two of my Sisters and lots of other relatives and friends are all into this Facebook thing. To me it looks like a glorified MSN where you have a homepage and can talk to your friends but you don't have to be online for it. The weird thing is that anyone in your invite list can read all these conversations and you can read theirs too if you are on their invite list. Most people use real names and give a lot of info out. I know you have to be 'invited' to read about other people, but I find it kind of strange. Just wanted to get take from others out there if you had heard of it. I like to investigate new things out there, and since one of my Sister's is not exactly the most computer/internet savvy kind of gal, I wanted to check it out for her.

Waterfull Wednesday!

The melt started on Monday. I could see a tiny patch of grass along the side fence. I awoke to large patches of grass yesterday. And today with the rain, this is all that is left! Can you believe it?? Three days, that is all it took for the snow to melt, even without the sun. I can only imagine what it would have been like if the sun had been out and shining.

The grass really suffered this winter with the dogs. I think it was because of our late start to winter, but a little tender lovin' care and some good old fashion fertilizer will get it back into shape in no time. In the corner, there was a Japanese willow, the neighbourhood rabbit thought it would make a good snack, so it looks like I will have to replant that one. It was gorgeous too. The new leaves would come in pink, then turn green and it would have grown up past the fence this summer. Otherwise all else made it through the nasty winter. If only it makes it through the possible snow on Friday!

And this, is my novel. All 223 pages of it. I felt the need to print it off and reread it with red pencil. I felt very much like an author last night going through my draft. My ultimate goal is to almost double the legnth from 50,000 words to 90,000 words. I have so many more ideas to add that I finally felt well enough to get started again. Just starting the reread last night made me feel great. I got right back into the characters, I saw where I went one way when I originally wanted to go another. Hubby bought me a few books at Christmastime so I started flipping through them as well. It should be lots of fun.

Don't tease me now

I can see the grass. Lots of it. The snow just kept melting all night long. We had a BBQ last night. It is supposed to rain today. And tomorrow is supposed to be +12 with more rain, which means no more snow.

Until Friday apparently. The forecast is for -4 and snow both Friday and Saturday. Don't trick me like this again. Please.


p.s. I am getting ready to break out my novel for the rewrite. The time has come.

Spring, what is that?

So as our week was getting so promising, warm sunshine, above average temperatures, patches of grass in our backyard. It was just too much to ask for really. Today we are getting hit with a so undesirable winter storm. Complete with freezing rain, ice pellets (that pounded our house almost all night last night, so we woke with headaches), wind and now snow. And it is only 11:30am!

The storm is supposed to continue all day and into tomorrow, dumping a total of 20cm of snow. That will make it our biggest storm we had all season. The saddest part is that if it would only warm up another three degrees it would just fall as rain.

On a good side, it is supposed to warm up above freezing for Sunday and Monday and it could all just disappear. It was so good while it lasted.

At least I have the tulips my Mom brought by to cheer me up.