True Story Tuesday - Cold Edition

The weather has been BITTERLY cold here in the Great White North.  I don't think it's been above freezing for a week and with the wind blowing down out of Canada's Fraser River Valley, it's even colder.  Thank God there aren't any clouds or moisture in the air because it'd surely turn to snow.  Which would make me cry hot, salty tears.

True story.

Aside from the awful temperatures, I've been sick for almost two weeks with some kind of bug.  Not stuck-in-bed sick the whole time but I have an annoying cough that is lingering and making me feel less than stellar.  And it's making me cranky because it's keeping me from going to the gym.

True story.

As if coughing up a lung isn't bad enough, we went to a lighted Christmas parade on Saturday night - yes, out in the frigid cold night air - and I somehow managed to throw my neck out of whack.  After tensing up and shivering in the cold for an hour, I left the parade with a lovely neck ache.  I went to the chiropractor yesterday before work to get it adjusted but the muscles are so spasmed that she couldn't completely fix it.  And it actually kinda feels worse today (muscle-wise).  So I get to go back on Thursday and hopefully get it straightened out.  It better work because I'm sick of being hobbled by various ailments.  I've got things to do and need my body to cooperate.

True story.

It's only December 8th and I'm already sick of winter.

True story.

Go Fly a Kite

I've been kind of mired down with a snotty cold the last few days and combined with working until 11:30pm, I just haven't had much energy. Yesterday what energy I could muster went into folding the eleventy jillion loads of clean laundry that were threatening to avalanche and bury the nearest passerby (which was always ME since I'm the only one who apparently knows where the laundry room IS). I finally looked it square in the eye and said "FINE." And just to show it that I was serious, I even washed a couple more loads. I guess I showed it, huh? But I'm happy to report, our closets and drawers are now all full of clean and folded clothes. For the moment.

Today my empty cupboards were crying for food and my head screaming for cold medicine, so I packed up the kids and headed to Wal-Mart. Surprisingly, it was an uneventful trip and we made it home in one piece. While cruising the aisles, we came across some kites and I remembered what Zoë had said the other morning when we headed out into the wind to take Sam to school: "We need to get a kite, Momma." So we did. As soon as we got home and unloaded the groceries, we bundled up and headed out to try out our new flying tropical fish.

It was quite windy, which made for great kite-flying, but dang, it was cold! When we were in town shopping it had actually started to hail/sleet/snow so I knew the temperature was dropping.
We all took turns flying the kite and the kids had a great time. It was definitely windy enough to keep our fish afloat and Sam even managed to do a few loop-de-loops with it.

Even though it was short-lived because of the cold wind, it was nice to be outside and let the kids run around and burn off some energy.

To say we can't wait for Spring is an understatement.

Winter, Part II

It's a frosty, cold, windy day here at The Red House. The rain turned to snow yesterday afternoon about 2pm and continued on all afternoon and night. Then the winds picked up and the temperature dropped. We get the northeastern winds blowing down out of Canada's Fraser River Valley and they are viciously cold. Weather.com says our temperature is about 18° but feels like 9°. I don't know about you, but that's too cold for me. With the snow and such, school was cancelled today and Hubby isn't going to work, so we're all home together.

Last night Josh and I started laying out and putting up the stone on our fireplace. I've discovered I have quite a talent for applying mortar to stone. I'd slather them up, pass them to Hubby up on the ladder, and he'd put them on the fireplace. This is what we've got so far:

Today, we'll continue getting the stone up and hopefully get it finished. I think it's going to look beautiful when it's all done. I think we'll put some gray slate tiles or something down on the hearth, and combined with the dark cabinets on either side (which are hidden by the tarps), it'll be a real centerpiece for the room. Even just having these few stones up makes the fireplace really stand out, so I can't wait to see how the finished product looks.

I'm being summoned to work so I better wrap up. I'll leave you with this picture I took out my back door this morning. Looks a bit chilly, doesn't it?

I Like To Move It

Tomorrow is MOVING DAY! Finally.

It's been 207 days since we broke ground on our house and tomorrow, my friends, is the day we start to live in it.

It's been 207 days since the dream started to become a reality. Since we started pouring our blood, sweat and more than a few tears into this project.

We did as much of it ourselves as we could but we didn't do it by ourselves, by any means. My dad and Josh's dad spent HOURS out there with us, swinging hammers, pulling wire, laying tile, sharing our excitement and calming our fears. Josh's mom made numerous trips up to help watch the kids while we toiled at the house. Friends and other family have helped entertain the kids and have offered their support and encouragement throughout the whole process. Words alone will never be enough to show my gratitude for the helping hands that have brought us to this point.

Over the past months when I've told people that my husband and I were building a house, I got much the same response: "Wow, and you're still married?!" It seems building a house is stressful. I suppose it can be, and I can certainly see areas and moments that could have been very stressful, but I gotta be honest and say that it's been a great experience.

We acted as our own general contractor so were in control of everything ourselves instead of leaving it up to someone else. We didn't really have any expensive, unbudgeted surprises and there weren't any major delays or screw-ups. We had a fantastic framer/contractor who essentially built our entire house and did it with as much pride as if he were building his own house (Hi Framer Josh!). We were on the jobsite nearly every day, monitoring the progress, giving our input, helping where we could. Maybe our constant involvement kept things going smoothly. Or maybe we are just incredibly blessed.

I did alot of praying throughout this whole process. I prayed for good weather, I prayed for our safety while working, I prayed for prices to drop, I prayed for strength, both physical and mental, I prayed for comfort and calming of my fears, I prayed we were making good decisions. But tonight, on the way home from delivering a load of boxes to my new home, I prayed with a grateful heart, a prayer of thanks.

Aside from the wonderful blessing of my new home, I am so thankful for my husband. He has worked himself silly building this house for us. He has reassured and comforted me when I threatened to spin out of control with fear, promising it would all work out. He has made wise financial decisions for years that have enabled us to build this home. He has thought of all the little things that I didn't know to think of. I am so proud of all he has done, and all we have done together.

And tomorrow's just the beginning...

Yellow Light

In case you're wondering, I'm still alive over here in my little corner of the world. Even though I was semi-housebound because of the snow and puttering on the computer throughout the days, I just ran of things to talk about. Other than the snow. And how it was ruining my life. So in the interest of keeping you, dear readers, I opted to hold my tongue and say nothing. Mark the calendar; it doesn't happen very often.

Christmas was lovely. Hubby and I were up before the kids; me because of a dang cold & cough that attacked me shortly before Christmas and Hubby because he's just an early riser. We sipped our coffee in the pre-dawn silence and eagerly awaited the little footsteps that would come from the bedrooms. Sam woke up first, sneaking out to check if Santa had visited. After seeing the presents & filled stockings, he raced to wake Zoë up with soft kisses and whispers of "Santa came Zo-Zo! Wanna go open presents??" It was a magical morning, watching them tear into presents and squeal with joy. Their smiles and excitement were truly my best gifts.

We got dressed and headed over to my parents' house for our family brunch. After opening presents there, we gorged ourselves on Mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, potatotes, biscuits, and sausage then sat around holding our bellies and groaning about how full we were. Really, everyone should have it so bad. In the afternoon, my sister and I took all the kids to see the movie Bedtime Stories which, by the way, was super cute and funny.

Now here it is, the Day after Christmas and the packing of our house needs to start in earnest. We still have alot of snow but the forecast is for warmer temps and rain in the coming days, which will hopefully translate into the snow melting quickly. Since we gave notice that we'd be out of our rental house by the end of the year, I'm hoping we can make that happen, although I know the owners would be totally understanding if we end up needing an extra month week. Unfortunately, the house will probably sit empty for a few months before somebody else rents it because, honestly, who's going to be able to drive out here, see the driveway and think "Yah! I wanna live there!" It's a great house, it just sits on top of a ski slope practically.

I'm working on getting my new house equipped with internet service but it may be a bit before it gets installed. Especially since the pipe that the cable lines need to go in is full of ice. So if we manage to get moved in the next few days, I may be without internet service for a bit. But do not fear, I will find a computer to check in on. And of course, I'll update ya'll once we actually begin moving, whenever that may be.

For now, I'll get packing and wait anxiously for the green light to get the show on the road.

Snowy Adventures

Yesterday I was looking out the window...because really, what else is there to do when housebound with two small agitated, bored, crazy children except look longingly out the window, remembering what it was like to leave the house. But I digress...

As I was gazing out the window, a couple of our hooved neighbors wandered by and were getting perilously close to discovering Bob's nose. (Doesn't Bob look a little nervous??)

Using my ninja-like skills, I quickly formulated a plan to distract them. I went out on the porch and bribed them. "Come here, pretty deer. I have something tasty for you."
And wouldn't you know it, the fuzzy critters listened to me! And walked right up to me and took my offering oh-so gently right out of my hands. (Apples, in case you're wondering.) I even snuck a quick pet on their noses.
It was pretty cool. I never get tired of seeing the deer go through my yard or trying to entice them with treats (always apples so don't be hatin'!) I've written about our visitors before, here and here, but I'm always amazed and in awe to have such a brush with nature. I don't know why. I just love it. Or maybe I'm a Deer Whisperer and have a special gift.

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Today I loaded up the kids and headed out to brave the roads. I figured crashing into a snowy ditch couldn't be any more painful than enduring another day at home with them. Just kidding! (Kind of.) We headed in to the mall to look for some snowpants for Zoë and I couldn't have been more wrong: leaving the house and going to that particular destination was in fact extremely more painful than staying home would have been. Christmas shoppers combined with every single school in the state having a snow day resulted in masses of people and zero parking spots, which when added to the way below freezing temps and snowy parking lots apparently sucked any hint of Christmas spirit out of people.

I was in Target, meandering through the crowds and trying not to scream, when I came upon some de-icer. As I've mentioned, we have a perilously steep driveway so I figured grabbed some might not be a bad idea. I saw that it was in short supply so I squatted down to look on the bottom shelf. Lo and behold, there was one last gallon jug of the stuff. But! Before I could reach out and get it, some Astoundingly Selfish SOB reached around me and grabbed it. I was shocked into near silence, considering I'd stood there and watched the same man grab two 25lb+ bags of the stuff and heave them into his cart. So it wasn't like we were fighting over the last bit of de-icer. He had ALOT already and had moved away! Shocked and absolutely dismayed by his behavior, I simply stood up and started to walk away, muttering (loud enough for him to hear of course), "I guess I won't be buying any of THAT today." A kind lady who had grabbed several jugs already offered me one but I was too stunned to say anything other than "No thanks." Seriously, I still am in shock at his behavior. I mean, really? You're going to grab the last bit of de-icer, reaching around someone who is obviously interested in it? It just makes me really sad that people act like that. It would have been different if he hadn't already loaded up his cart. I considered following him through the store, waiting until he turned to look at something, and then taking it out of his cart and running off it with. But I didn't think that'd be a very good thing for my kids to witness: mama duking it out with some man over de-icer. Sounds like a scene from a National Lampoon's movie or something. Whatever. I hope he has a Merry Christmas with his extra de-icer.