Sneezing my way to the new year

arcktchooooooo! sniffle snifffsifff

yep, just 2 days away from the new years and i have to catch my first cold of the year. and just well timed to pass on to the next, how cool is that?

and to top it off, i get to miss the traditional family reunion. one of the few where we get to see most of the family at once. not that many peoples talk to me. i've felt like the invisible one for quite some time. but it get a chance for the kids to get toghether, play and have fun like we used to do when we were kids. hehe

i guess my new year's eve plan, are to sleep it away

today we had some sopping to do so i didn't get to rest and get comfy. got shelving to put into the play room so we can organise the toys better. a new 3 way dimmer switch for the entrance light. the old one was really dying and down right anoying. we also got a new thermostat for the wood furnace but there's a riddle that came with it. our current thermostat is so old that it doesn't have the wire designation label we need to follow the instruction. this new thermostat has connection for 5 of 6 wires, and we only have 2 wires. and since it's the christmass and new year season. we'll have to wait a bit before to get customer service.

ahtchoo time to go to bed *blow nose*
chantal all miserible... with a small "c" because i don't quite feel myself

Just because everybody's in a quiz mood

How well can a quiz tell if you know me? Take my quiz! Take This Quiz See Scores Make Own Quiz

Are you cold?

I just finished reading an article on global warming that bring forth a different theory then what i heard so far... according to this, we do affect our environement with our polution but we would be giving ourself far too much credit for how much of it we do influence.

look like they found out that there are warmings every 1500 years. enough that they were able to grow crops in greenland at one point so we're not even that warm yet. apparently the most of this recent warming occured durring the 1940's. and here i thought that it get so cold even in the past 15 years. make me wonder how cold and depressing it must have been before the 40's? brrrrrrr.

i wonder how long those warming cycles usualy last, because i could get used to this warmer milder winter time

Chantal, frozen feet and blue nose

Zombi Thumping

this post is 2 days old, and i'm still a zombi
~*~ ~*~ ~*~

it's only 5:30pm and we're done eating supper... it might sound like the normal time to feed two tots but i think otherwise... they still have 1 hour and 30 minutes to play or what not before bedtime routine. and to top it off, bathnight is only tomorrow so i can't even use that to spend some time.

it was a day shift for Andy and my mom had events to attend all day so i didn't even get her usual help that is especialy welcomed around naptime where i can sleep regardless of the kids decision to snooze or not.... today, well, they didn't, i don't think they did and it was making it difficult for me to rest, and i really needed it. i believe i was falling asleep as owen was doing his 15 minute pre-nap rocking, while nursing. it was hurting to stay awake. so after he went in his room, i took Vivian in bed with me to nurse her and she didn't indulge very long that she actualy wanted to go in the play pen. ok, so there you go! but after a short period, she either beg to go on the potty or get naked, whitch is an indication also that she want to go on the potty. this time, she was getting undressed, so i took her on the potty and changed her diaper, took her back in play pen. she played and babbled and complained about getting out at times. she sometime complain a fair bit just before she passes out.

this time, i'm really not sure what happened, i felt that feeling, that one you get when sleep is just about to overtake you. but then, it got more intense and it felt like a white light was coming to me and penetrate me in my left shoulder. at first i though it had to be good, then i had some doubt. i started to wonder if i'd die if i let it happen. looked like someone was walking in through that light. i started to pray and it remained unchanged but i didn't know what to make of it at this point and i willed to wake up and then back to sleep and at time it was to figure out what was the status with the kids. and it seemed like i bobbled in and out of sleep, riding that thin limbo feeling. sometime dipping deeper in the sleep realm and sometime becoming consious but hearing radio? radio??? but but? wake up fully, no radio... start driffting again, more radio, wake up, no, just the kids talking and singing a bit and nothing else. drift again and it sounded like a radio anouncer was talking but i knew it could't be. so eventualy i decided it was probably late enough and they've been waiting awake long enough, can't have wakefull down time all afternoon. trying to drag myself out of bed was verry difficult, feeling guilty for trying to take a nap when they don't and yet feeling like i needed to sleep much longer.

it took me more time then i care for, to get functional again, and durring that time i really couldn't afford to nurse, something Vivian was requesting at the time. it would've probably knocked me back out of consiousness. i had to say no but that brought a chain reaction of cries. no one wanted to be reasonable so back in their room untill they could calm down. that feel very terrible since i felt they already spent more then they should in there. but it allowed for a more peacefull restart.

i also mannaged to finish sticking the whole christmas tree on the wall in the living room

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A potty trip back in time

ok, this post was meant for november 15th, i wrote it upstairs on a computer that has no internet connection so i had to physicaly move it down to my computer. i know it's old, i guess it leads me to ask you, does blog post have an expiry date?

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I think we reached a new step in potty training this morning, Owen's diaper was dry and he had a good one in the toilette. i don't think it's gonna be all smooth sailing from there. but there's hope.

Andy found my wedding ring on the floor of the sun room in a corner... now all doubts are removed to where i could've lost it. i didn't, my son did. he is getting tall enough to have a very good reach over the kitchen counter where i had placed it.... over a week ago. i'll have to stoped waring it on my pinky, it doesn't fit on my fing finger since i was pregnant of my daughter. the disadventage of an intricate design is that i can't get it resized. so i guess i have to find an other way to carry it with me or store it away.

z36e.4jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
xdn36jarm5yrk
5505kh4u45;93+4;*tttttteettttttttgfg
ej5
k/r,.4+..8rrr444444re4rrrrrrrrrdfdf

· ok, i got 2 monkey on acid sworming around my keyboar hn v nnnnnnnnnbbbb<.bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbnbbbbbbbbbbnbhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjhhhhhhhhkuuuuuuuuoooooo vvvvvvvvvvvvvvhhhhhhhhkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkukiuknnnnnn bnjjjlllljjjjkjjjjmnunjcccccccccfgggggbbbbbbbkhkjhkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjjjjkjjjjjjjjjjkjjjkjj vvvvvvfvg vvvvv the windows. they left you a message above. i think it's bath time


~*~ ~*~ ~*~

hmmm, look like they chewed a piece of my post off with their bbbbnbhhhh, bah, i guess that's life with kids :D
did i tell you that Owen (3 years old) is learning to play free cell? all that hacking away on the puter might pay off one day hehe

Diet Coke and Mentos

a force to reckon with
Seriously, i have just viewed a number of different video made on youtube... i'm going to post here the most enjoyable for your eyes...
warning: there are some, not so pleasant one you can view if you're a sceptic but please... DO NOT TRY TO INGEST THIS COMBINATION

Snow! snow, snow...

that's all my daughter could say when we got back home and we allowed her to stand in it. and she didn't want to get inside, even if her nose fell off. ok, no her nose didn't fall of, but it was colorful.

talking about colorful and seasonal. here's a little someting to put you in the mood hehe

so yeah, we went in town today for one of owen's many apointments, and the roads were still nice when we left. when we got out of the office, it was snowing quite a bit and we had to go eat and we did... the restorent was fairly empty so there wasn't much competition at the buffet. we got out and it had calmed down so we did a few errands and picked up a cellular phone, since there's a fair bit of winter driving involved in going to work for Dear Hubby and for apointments in town... we need to be reacheable and also be able to call for help if accident happens.

we got a $0 phone. yep, costs us nothing for the phone when we sign up for a 3 years plan. and since it's going to be usefull for much longer, i thought it was a good deal. just in pay phone charges to call home from work, we almost pay that much in longdistances and i don't think we'll be using our 220 minutes a months for the little we might use it. hmmm, 220 minutes, that's 3.6 hours! that's a lot!!! that's very much a lot for us hehe

euh? you want to see my new phone? well, it's not really mine, cause Andy's gonna be the one carrying it when going to work. but i'll have it at times too when i have to go intown... so i guess it's our phone. bah! tough, i'm not showing. cause really, it's just a phone, and well, who really care what the phone looks like? :p

on our way back the road to home was covered and about 5 minutes of the way, there was an accident that didn't look too good. one car was across the ditch and quite crumpled on the front end. there were some pieces on the road and on the other side, there was a big flat bed truck resting full length in the ditch. there were already other vehicles on site as we drove by, one was the phone company. not sure why, probably just driving by and stopped to help. so we drove 55km/h on a road that usualy drive 90-100km/h.

For Owen's service, i was debating wetter i should pick morning or afternoon. cause he might be in better mood in the morning, around 10 then in the afternoon. but around 8 he's just getting up or having breakfast and i can't picutre myself getting us up around 6 am, i'm just not a morning person, and it would be 5 am if we had to make it for an in town apointment. eh eihn, not gonna happen. on the other hand, in the afternoon, he rarely ever take his nap anymore, he just putter around in his room, banging walls, talking and singing. we still gave him downtime, because sometime he still fall asleep, and when he does, he sleep a long time. and it would also be much easier for us to make it in town for his apointments in the afternoon when it's the case. but today, the Lady in charge of the team that will be providing his service gave me an other option for the at home visits. from 10 to noon, and then from 12:30 to 2:30pm. now that would be great i think. because 10 is, in my opinion, one of his peek time of the day, and finishing at 2:30 would still allow him time for a nap before supper if he wants one. especialy that after she was done with him today, he really looked like it tired him out hehe. she mentionned that with that arrangement, he'd have the one showing up in the morning, going away for lunch and a different one showing up after lunch. although, that would make for twice as much traveling for the team. ah well, i guess we'll see. we should be starting his steady schedule next week. seems like it's taking for ever to start. i guess i shouldn't worry too much, she's confident Owen's gonna go through the program like a breeze.

ah yeah, tomorrow i should remember to call the farm to put my name for a Christmas turkey

oh, did i say, the snow look very nice in the contry? or is it the contry that look nice with snow on? make me look forward to get myself a good pare of cross contry skies. weee, we got a very nice trail that would be perfect for it.

i should go put a log in the furnace now

Chantal, it's winter, booh!

Big Stop

over a week ago, we were driving along toward my inlaw's and talking away when we spotted an helicopter high and far. Andy started going on how it would be nice to have one to go to work. sur it would as long as it don't stall, cause if it stop up there, there's nothing keeping you up, unlike a plain that has wings and can glide. still wouldn't have to worry about slippery roads in the middle of winter though.

Dear hubby was a bit on the tired side and felt it would be better to make a pitstop at tim horton. as we near the drive through, i say, speaking of chopper... here's one, how odd of a place for it? oh wait! it's the helicopter we just saw a few minutes ago. and they're going for a coffee. ha! and there's even a paved landing spot marked and all for them, imagine that!

i'm not making this up, here. i even took some pictures.

Chantal, happy on the ground

Here i am at 5 O'clock in the morning

Gah, nothing as romantic as the song would imply here. or was it 4 am? there might be a song for both time tho and i was up at that time too. left my computer at around what? 11:30 or so to nurse baby... fell asleep and woke up to a cold house, brrrrr, fire's out, not even some good ambers to keep it going, Oh joy! i have to start it all over again, that's why i'm here you see. cause i have to baby it for a while to make sure it takes well and add bigger stuff to it gradualy, yaddy yaddy yadda, YAY! got to love it. but i guess i shouldn't complain, i was the one who was looking forward to wood heat.

so yeah, i'm here, it's early, too early in the morning, and i have to go in town with the kids again today. Owen is having his first apointment for the service of ABA. this one is in town but i hope most of it will happen at home.

in our trip in town today, or errr, rather yesterday, i got myself a new watch. i felt that i will need one with all those apointments in and out of town. like, when we go in town, we can drop him off with the interventionist for his 4 hour thing, then go do our errands and come back when he's done... don't want to forget him there for longer then needed. that remind me, we should also look into picking up a cell phone so we can be reached if something happen during that 4 hour and we are needed back sooner then expected.

oups, sound like Vivian woke up again and andy's up too, i better go back up, fire seem to be well now

good morning!
Chantal

Am I really that good?

maybe i calmed down a bit hehe

You Are a Very Good Girl

You are 90% Good and 10% Bad You're a perfect angel - almost impossibly so Don't you ever feel like being a little bad?!?

Are You a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?

I ku, you ku, sudoku

it's a bit rough since dear husband is working a few more shift then usual but so far, still alive.
the kids are getting some fussy at time. hard to keep up with them. i guess i can't really blame vivian though, she's got 4 molars comming out at once wich make for rough nights and some iritability during the day. got the embasol and tylenol, not much more i can do.

a few days ago, my mom said she got into sudoku and said it was quite easy.
- easy? did you say easy? i can't be bothered with them. i don't have that kind of patience.
- no honest, it's easy.
- bah! ok, that's nice.
- once you know how to do them, it goes very fast
- i tried and it's not my thing
- i'll bring you my book i bought...

sure enough she brought it today and got to read the instructions and i did learn a few details that evaded me before. so armed with better knowledge i grab my weapon of sudokie and sudoaway to it. don't try to stop me, i'm sudocentring, the ku is with me. wayaah. that's it? ok, so i can do it now. i can now officialy inform to Nancy and Tina that i can sudoku too. so i guess next time you guys have a sudorace, i don't really have the excuse of it going over my head. lathough i'm just a newkubie. i've only done 2 this afternoon so far. and pen and paper is quite nicer then i thought it would be.

just to let you know tho, my mom offered to leave me the book but i insisted she take it back, i don't want to have that kind of convenience tempting me to sudoku all day long. i don't find it all that trilling, but it's how can i say that? it, it takes your brains off of other things.

chantal, kunikuku

I'm just a mother, i don't get paid for my work!

Breath in, Breath out, Breath in, Breath out.....

am i stressed? no, maybe, i dunno anymore. Breath in, Bread out..... maybe i'm too tired to realise i'm stressed? if my hands weren't hurting and so useless, i'd pick up an ax and i'd go mad on some trees in the back.

i'm not angry, it's just peoples that don't make sense to me. ok, maybe i have a beef. first of all, my husband already have a messed up shift of 8 day cycle... making it tricky for apointments, and with the kids, you can bet there are apointments...

now that's not so bad, i have printed out a special callendar that follow me everywhere with his schedule so i know when it's ok to take apointments. now, there's this guy that work on a machine my dear husband used to work on and my husband got quite good at it, that's probably why they kept him so long on it and call him back there whenever there's a problem, and that guy just happens to have trouble handling it, so yes, he's going to help him and to top it of, he's on a different shif so it's gonna mess up our schedule. who asked me if it mattered? you can bet on it, no one. but that's ok, i'll just print an other schedule that's gonna be effective for how long? who knows, it could be just a few weeks or indefinately if they decide to can the guy at his evaluation in a week and need to take the time to find and train someone new. so how do i plan in the mean time? i don't know, eccept i'm gonna have to call and cancel or move some apointments. cause dear husband will work his first 2 day shift and then hop on the other guy's 2 day, 2 night's shift. not sure how it will work if he goes back to his shift. blah!

now i got an other issue about work, yes one issue is not enough. you see, there's one guy at work, not even on dear husband's shift but he decided that everybody was gonna lose 18 hours if the factory shut down for remembrance day. because you see, if they work it, they get paid double time and a half. but only regular time if they don't work it. so he convinced everybody to request keeping the boxs flying out of those machine on remembrance day. i say, if the 11th was just a regular day, he'd just be paid regular time anyway, so taking the day off is not losing anything so the guy is just a greedy loud mouth. are we gonna start losing all our stat holydays because of 1 person?

please hold me back when i see this guy on the 10th at the celebration dinner prepared to highlight the 10th anniversary of the factory. hold me cause i'd tell him my 2 cents. cause oh yeas i'm gonna see him there and yes i already know who he is cause my husband and i worked with him at a previous job. is money really more important then spending time with the family? i should be getting his extra time and a half, i tell ya. and i was just saying last night that i could use a vacation, i bet my mom could use one too, but i'm so gonna need her on that big string of days. she should be entitled to a time and a half check worth too.

2 hours later and dear husband decided to cancel our attendance to the 10th anniversary dinner. all work and no fun. i suddently feel a wave of grumpiness invading me. *growl* it's amazing how many decisions can be made without concerting with me?

Chantal, euh, yeah, i'm a mom, that's it that's all, thank you

An invitation

i want to invite you to join the christianforum
there are topics for everyone

Happy All Saint's day!!!

Yes, today the saints are all celebrating in Heaven and praying for us. not too sure of what to make of all halo's eve. it seems it's been distorted and overly comercialized, and i am totaly turned off by comercialism. call me wierd, that's ok with me.

today we had to be in town for a few apointments, chiropractitioner for me and then the speach terapist for owen and again, our kids, i tell ya, they can provide for a good unexpected laugh at times. the therapist was olding a yello lego block asking him if it was yellow, vivian was nursing at the time and the question was asked a few time with owen just staring without saying anything. then spontanously, vivian turned around in one motion saying in her most articulate way, "oui!!!"(yes) it cracked us all up.

after the apointment, we were walking back to the minivan when i spotted a pumpkin by a dorstep, making me state again how i find it sad that pumpkins are trown away and none can be bought after haloween. Dear husband said, well, why don't you just go and aske them if you can have it?
-no, i don't think so
-you got nothing to lose in asking
-i don't even think there's anyone home
-just go

so i finaly decide, why not? and i go knock at the door

-excuse me, are you going to do anything with that pumpkin?
- no, why, what do you do with it?
- soup, cake, juice....
- ah yeah, well, you can have it
- Really? wow, thank you

walked away with a huge pumpking in my arms and pleasantly surprised at how easily someone would part kindly with their pumpkin...

and a few house later, i see an other huge one. i look at Andy and say, oh an other one, but i can't carry 2. he said it was ok, he'd carry one :D

so i went again... and just like the first, they had no problem parting with it, Oh Joy! this is even funner then trick or treating hehe. you might think it's quite similar except daylight and no costume. but no, it's really totaly different. those kids get the same thing you can get year round in the store and in smaller size, just a big load of it if they hit the right doors. what i got, was a very underapreciated, rarity, yes, only once a year can you get it, and i was sad to think that i would only be able to make that delicious pumpkin soup again next year. pumpkin are loaded with vitamin A and other goodness, and they keep very well for a long time without need for refrigeration. after that i was beaming of joy. so happy to bring my treasure home and primed to go to other doors. but Andy said it was enough and i needed to prove i could make use of all that before considering getting more next year, but if i failed to use it all, that would remain my limit.

we also went to sign for the health insurance policy switch over. i felt at first we were not getting much for it but i had the drug plan explained to me and i realised it was really not as bad as i tought.

Owen didn't have a good day with toys today. first at the office, the HR person gave him a car that winds up and not knowing, he wound it up to the max and it made a noise that made him burst crying. then at the autism resource center, while i was talking with the person in charge, owen was going through the toys in one of the bins, and suddently he came to us screaming in panick, holding a fluffy, fuzzy long blue haired thing that was vibrating at the end of both fully extended arms clenched to it in total terror. and to top it off, while loading the van with the groceries, he sneaked up behind me while i was pivoting with a grocery bag that contained 2 big cans of pea soup which naturaly had to hit him square in the face, outch! not a good day. no, i don't think he enjoyed it one bit.

at least tomorrow, we have nowhere to go, so i'm going to try to get some rest before hubby returns to work the day after

Chantal, one more day that hits the fan. there's some good and there's some bad, it all blows in the wind and garnish our fading memories.

till my arms fall off

i called my mom today to look after the kids so i could go help dear husband bring some wood inside... i waited for him to drop the logs in the woodroom and then i tossed them away from the wood trap, toward the wood pile and corded them until a new load was done being dumped in again...

then i chopped the ceadars that were mostly dry by our door and trimmed the other ones that hadnt' been trimmed in who knows how long. what a difference. i'm not an expert in edge cutting and they are far from perfect but they are a lot more of an enhencement to the look then they were. i came back in the house and my arms could fall off.

there was much more i wanted to blog about, i'm absolutely sure about that, but i can't remember what i wanted to blog about yesterday, cause i really wanted to blog yesterday but i didn't get around to it and same with the day before...

oh yeah, i remember one of them... in the parish bulletin, there was an add that said, that the church had an old electronic organ that wasn't making much noice anymore and they were gonna send it to the dump if no one came to claim it. and here i tought, noise? don't need much of that for the kids, as long as we can hear the notes, it will be fine, especialy that they won't be able to crank it loud hehe

so sunday, i called, no answer, monday all morning, no answer, i had to look in the phone book since they didnt' put the number of the janitor in the add. and there was 2 with the same name... then finaly in the afternoon, i just layed down for the nap and he called, and i made arrangement to go see it and bring it home...

beautiful solid wood organ with nice woodwork. wow... i like it, let's bring it.... if it fit? ok... let's see how quiet it is... hmmm, it's loud enough. so i hit several keys.... Do, Do, Do, D'oh!!!! all the same note, just do! so we came back home and it stayed there awaiting it's faith.

look like it's time for dodo

Chantal, tired and more tired

our fist date take 2

i really don't remember the last time me and Andy sat at a restorent alone since owen was born. so after signing the request for the service of ABA(for autistism, asperger and non specific learning disorders) and going to the spychologist to be explained the result of the assesment, we headed to the pumphouse for a plate of onion rings, fish n chips and a greek salad... and a stout. it was not a big evening all out, but it was a lot more then we're used to. it was nice just to sit and talk. i think we should do it more often.

one thing that i can't help thinking about over and over is the recomendation that i let go of my plan to homeschool and send my kids to public school where there will be someone working with him for as long as he need. and trying to make it sound like more atractive by saying that i will have more time to myself to relax and do things for myself. they think it's better for him, i'm not convinced yet.

i don't agree with society's standard and atempt to make everybody conform to the "norm". "different" is not always a handicap, it can also be a stenght and one that most seem to miss or see as eccentricity. i don't want my kids to be treated with a cookie cutter. it break the spirit of the majority and only struggle for mediocrity. if we want to see a change in society, we must nurture that change in our kids. I don't want to send them somewhere where they are gonna be told, "who do you think you are for thinking different?, just try to fit in"

Andy told me today that David Suzuki is retirering now, at the age of 80, after much effort to conscientize the population of the need to look after our environement his whole career. and he is very disapointed because verry little has changed. i feel sad and share in his disapointment. we boast in our technological advances. but still live a 50's lifestyle with such a rigitidy, unwilling to set our confort aside for the sake of our survival. instead we dig deeper in the rabbit whole, and soon we'll lose ourself and our humanity. depressing, am i?

ah well, an other night with little sleep await me, so i better go get what's left of it

Chantal, could probably use an other date

Anygma

blogger ate my post!!! :|

this shouldnt' happen, argh
why me? why???

good think i copied and saved it previously, so i'm gonna atempt to post it... again

*Blank Look*

Totaly blank, like heh?

yeah, on top of my wierd tea, i thought i had other things I could blog about but i can't remember. *think* not, i can't remember. cause on top of my usual extreme tiredness, i feel like my brain is turning into a rock... : *blink blink*

i was trying to explain that to my mom around meal time 2 days ago, as i was so disfuctional she made most of it. i think. and i was just standing there, the kids were also just wandering the kitchen/diningroom aimlessly like 2 lost souls. So i started to chirp like a bird, flapping my arms around, darting for the playroom adjacent to the diningroom, and going in circle chirping and pluck plucking like a bird/chicken.

My mom didn't say a word. the kids looked at me curiously, started giggling and then jumped it the fun. well it had to be fun cause mommy was doing it and it looked funny. they went around trying to imitate me around the playroom giggling like crazy, they were hooked and so i could stop and step outside in the fresh air to try catching back my breath.

the next day when the interventionist was here, my mom admitted that she got worried for a bit that i was loosing my marbles. that i was flipping hehe but felt quite relieved when she saw me step aside, out of breath and still being the usual me hehe.

although i do believe that it is helpful to sanity to have some insane moments. and i feel i havn't had much time to act silly so i don't go totaly nuts. i think my imagination is a bit rusty.

I guess i miss those talks with myself but too tired to talk in general for the necessary stuff. so hmmm wait! am i saying that talking to myself is not important? *scratch head* Tina? when you talk to yourself, do you actualy listen to what you have to say and take your advices? i know i don't always, and end up telling myself i should've listened to myself. could it be that myself is mad at me for not paying attention more? and just decided to sulk? what do i do if myself don't want to talk to me anymore? *sigh*

I wonder what does it mean when we talk to ourself, or don't. I usualy only talk to myself sometime when i'm alone, but i used to have a room mate that talked to himself all the time with some quite intricate conversations that could get very animated. he entered the house one time when i was sitting in silence in the dark in the livingrooom so he didn't noticed me. and he went on for quite some time before going by and noticing me, being a little surprized he said, oh! you're here hehe! and went back to his conversation... very humoritic guy , was quite interresting to have him around and i didn't dare to interupt.

*blank look* again, yeah, i do that a lot lately :s but i'm thankful for Tina's blog, it made me realise i need to do something with myself. all that silence can't be healthy.

Chantal, me will make an effort to listent more to myself, and God

Tea from my backyard

Warning... this is not the usual herbal tea and some might be shocked at its content!



i sometime feel the urge to do something drastic in my quest for a bit more energy. ok, a LOT MORE energy. my philosophy is, the closer to nature as possible and it should be readily available in the region too. not just some far exotic plants, fruits or what not.

so i eventualy discovered that the one single plant or "weed" we work the hardest at trying to eradicate from our green lawn is a gold mine for the health. medicinaly and nutritionwise too. altho i'd avoid the one in high trafic, the one snow have been piled on all winter and from lawn where they use pesticide and herbicides... yes. Dendelion, very valuable... some even make wine with it... i wouldn't go that far, then again, our yard is big enough that i'm sure i could gater more then enough for that hehe

now you know one ingredient in what i'm drinking right now, are you sure you want to know the rest?

ok, ok, i'll get with it... a few bunches of pine needles with the branches. it's loaded with vitamin C and other good stuff. saved Jaques Cartier and his ship crew from scurvy along with spruce and probably other conetrees. watch out for hemlock and yew, those are toxic. i yet have to gather some spruce needle and make spruce beer. i'm a bit nostalgic of the spruce beer non alcoholic soda we used to drink as kids in Montreal. some gives it quite a list of benefits

the other ingredients i added are more for flavor. i know that dendelion by itself can be bitter and cinnamon stick help a lot to make it pallatable, i never tried it in combination with pine needles before but i thought the cinnamon couldn't hurt. and also a stick of licorice root... also tonic, good taste and very much used in chinese medecine.

i guess time will tell what kind of results i'm going to pull out of it. i didn't think it was all that exciting to make a whole post out of it but since it was a special request, i tried to make an effort. and as you can see, it's not green, it's brown... probably not a whole log of vitamin C left in it as it simmered a bit too long... started boiling as i was captive by the bedtime routine with the kids.

Chantal the walking green lab (as in laboratory, not the dog breed :p)

Too tired to blog

but i guess i'll try to anyway. seem i'm perpetualy too tired lately. and i just rememeber to blog when it's time to shut down the computer. oh wow. Nancy just came online! just what i need to make me procrastinate about getting a good night sleep again hehe.

i just dumped half a bottle of vitamin C in the garbage today. i started to feel funny about them, and took a second look at the label and there it was staring at me... sucralose... a chlorinated sugar molecule somewhat akin to pesticide :| and i've been popping them for hmmm, since Vivian had her croupe. i was also indulging Vivian and Owen to them, and my mom found that Owen was regressing lately... could that be linked together? or the fact he's been tromatised with his burn... he now feel hot meals. will wait till they've cooled down considerably or just not eat.

feel like we havn't been home very long today, left early morning for the farmer's market and kept shopping from there and came back home around 7 pm. it's the 3rd time this week for me, but making a pitstop at some friend's place helps take it a bit more relax.

I was expecting a phone call this week from doctors and still waiting, it's the weekend now so maybe next week? or maybe they decided to keep me second guessing till the psychiatrist give me her report on her evaluation of our son. seem like a far way to go but the pediatrist seemed confident that i should have some help in place by the end of the month?

i feel like i'm just blurting random thoughts, and it's probably what's happening. so i guess i'll stop now and go to bed like i should

Chantal, resisting sleep expert

So, i was told i should blog

*yawn* if i can stay awake that long. i'm so tired. feeling like i'm catching some cold, but so far it hasn't bloomed. my dear daughter on the other hand really got it, bad enough that i had to drive her to the hospital at midnight with 103 degree farenheight and a cough that was chocking her. i was affraid to drive as i was quite sleepy already and i didn't think driving 30 minute in that state would be safe, but i made it. at the hospital they called it a croupe... aparently it's worst the first day. they gave her a medication that was suposed to last 3 days and that's about how long the virus runs for.

they said that i could go home but if it happened again, i'd have to drive back and they'd give her something stronger. but i said, drive back? i'm not even sure i can return home in the state i'm in, i'm soo tired, especialy after 2 hour wait and what if she choak while i'm driving? so he said, it's very simple, since we live a considerable distance they could admit her for the night. so we did... only we got our room at 4:30 am!!! not much of a night left! i might have slept 2 hours at the most. i guess it's better then nothing and the daylight was a bonus to keep me awake on my way back.


I requested for my mom in law to come help some that day, since me and my husband were both so painfully tired that day... he was on his swing shift, suposed to stay up as late as possible and sleep part of the day but had to get up early with our son who had a full night of sleep. so she came and it was really nice to be able to get 1 hour nap.

Owen's hand is healing nicely, he didn't ware any bandage for the first time today.

don't know what else to say, i shoud go to bed, i've just been requested to talk about my healthy lifestyle hehe. well, i try to eat organic, at least for animal product. i don't eat meat at restorents. and well, while i was stuck at the hospital for a big part of the night i got hungry, so i went to check what they had at the cantine... all i could find that was semi acceptable was a whole wheat tuna sandwich...ironicaly, i rarely eat tuna but i had already eaten a can of tuna that day :| ah well, it was better then starving, especialy with a sick kid that just want to nurse for the most part since she's not feeling too well. i also bought a can of V8 and a snack pack of honey roasted peanuts. that's the best i could find at the time. but righ now, the best i can do healthwise, is go to bed. sleep is very important too and i've been neglecting it for quite some time. so i guess it will be my point of focus for the next while... getting in a good sleep routine.

night night, sleep tight
Chantal

Like the change?

I think i do, let me know what you think...

the change wasn't motivated by an urge for something different, just looked like my template was messed up, and then after i made the switch, it was still messed up and then i realised that some image was taking too much space and was the cause of all the missalignement... all fixed, will keep the change for now. i might get nostalgic at some time... or just grow into my new look... when i asked Nancy if i should go for a change, she said, that change was good, like a new haircut and it's free! hehe, so why not? i could also need a new hair cut... seriously. i haven't had my hair cut since some time before vivian was born! over a year ago... when i decided to let them grow a bit. they aren't all that long but they could use a trip to even them out... altho i was somewhat surprised to find no split ends.

now i should go and make fire before i go to bed... gonna be an other cold night
Chantal, working on my firecraft

Insert title here

Now that the kids are done pooping, i'm all pooped. it was a long day today, spent just me and my dear son in town. first for a visit to the spychiatrist, she'll be doing some evaluation on his behavior. after lunch, we go see the ortophonist. it's amazing what change learning to say yes and i want can do to a kid. and after that, was time for an other change of bandage.

I just assume that i have 2 blog readers and my dear husband who drops in every now and then, and all already know what happened to my little Gizoux. if, by any chance, i had any other readers, on labour day weekend, at a family cornboil, he fell in the ashes of a firepit that was not outlined by rocks and was pretty much flat to the ground. no one suspected it was still hot. but his hand found intense heat and burned pretty badly in the short time it took him to get back up and scream his lungs out. it looked so bad, i screamed too when i saw it. my mom had to snap me out of it... good thing also that we now have a nurse in the family. was the longest 30 minutes i can remember, driving to the hospital.

now he's getting his bandage changed every day. it's been over a week and starting to heal. it look much better now that a skin is forming. it would be amazing if there are no visible scarring after all is said. but at such a young age, he seem to have very good healing capabilities. already i find it amazing how it improved in such a short time.

so we spent all day in town, just the 2 of us, it was geting around suppertime and i just wanted to be home as soon as possible. we needed orange juice and diapers, so i stopped at superstore, picked a few clearance items on the way in hehe and through it all, i also had the pleasure to say hi to Nancy. wish i could've chatted longer. it was just one of those long days and i needed to get home quickly. i was expecting the same joy from my son as we were getting near home. i assured him. we're almost home... "no!... don't want to go home!" what? "not home!" but dear, where are we to go? "don't want home" :| i never thought i'd hear him say something like that so young. i guess he really enjoyed the one on one with mommy. we so seldome have that previlege. i guess one on one with dad is really nice but it don't replace quality time with mom at times too. at home it's so hard to do one on one with the demand of 2 kids. what would it be like with 3? or more? i have a hard time imagining it at this point. I still look forward to a 3rd kid when the time come, hopefuly in no less then 2 years.

i was also expecting my one year old daughter to want to nurse like there was no tomorrow when i get home, but again, was surprised. she only sipped a bit and returned to her occupation. and again at bedtime, she did with amazingly little and even walked on her own to the bedroom. what's going on? one day out of the usual makes for a big difference. I think i like it and would like to plan more, our of the usual days. but before then, my mom will be gone for a week and i'm not gonna be able to enjoy the usual help i get from her. so it will be a challenge to gove more one on one until she come back.

just one question totaly on a different subject before i go to bed... anyone seen the new bloger beta? and know anything about it?

sorry for the lenghty post that drags on. maybe if there were more readers, i'd feel more compelled to try and up the quality. that doesnt' mean i don't apreciate my 2 faithfull readers. otherwise, i wouldn't post at all...even if most of the time, you already know everyting i'm posting :p

Good night, sweet dreams, i'm late again, i'm late, i'm late, i'm late....
Chantal

For a good laugh, or not

Lotapooloozoo

Say what? hmm yeah, its a poo zoo here, one after the other, if one poops, you can be 94% guarantied, the other pooped too, or is just about to. and if not, is because one of em has pooped more then his share. poopy!!!! yeah, 2 kids in diappers, both having the runs and a red bum. so i decided to cancel Owen's apointment to the ortophonist in the afternoon, he will stay with Memere and Vivian home while mommy and daddy goes to town to meet the psychologist that will assess what kind of learning dissability he might have. We suspect some spectrum autism tendencies, in a high functionning way but still would need some help getting some things under control.

now i'm relaxing sipping a few glass of wine and, euh well, the piece of cake is gone now. it was good. nice b-day cake. angel cake, with butter cream and straberries/blueberries in a gelly to top it off.

my dear husband announced me this morning that we have a mouse in the house. our cat has been camping in the family room for the past while trying to get it. he say she had it in her mouth a few times but failled to kill it yet. she's good at killing mouses and shrews outside, so what is she waiting for here? in any way, i put a humaine mouse trap near the place Andy suspect she's hiding. it don't kill mouses, it just trap them in a container with a bit of peanut butter and a metal door that flip so it can't get out. we'll see if the trap or the cat will get it first.

and today was the first day ever that i can remember that Owen woke up and darted out of his room saying, "thomas le train, thomas le train" and rushing to the play room... we just bought him a thomas the train play set, and he seem very fond of it. we were gonna buy him a Little Peoples garage station from fisherprice, with a few add ons sets. but for the past few days prior to our b-day gift shopping, he's been requesting to see the thomas the train short shows. and we decided to give the train set action figures a try. we'll see over the next while if he keep some entousiasm for is. or at least enoug interrest to grant expanding on the set in the future. his sister on the other hand, like to be the giant and climp on the table to take the track apart. she's quite the climber lately, she even started climbing on the kitchen chairs so she could climb on the kitchen table. she's quite good at it too. i cought her doing it a few times. but the one time i wasn't looking. she missed her stunt and fell, while i was changing owen's diaper.... remember... the runny poop? so hopefully, this poopy deal will end soon... i think i'll try to stop at a pharmacy to ask about kid's diareah's remedy tomorrow if it dont' get any better.

Night all
Chantal, all pooped out

TIMBERRR!!!!!

today my inlaws came so my father in law could help my dear husband cut some wood for the winter, and also thin out the forrest, because it's terribely thick. By clearing around some trees it give them a chance to grow without so much competition and get bigger. My mother in law also brought me some yellow string beans and some beets, i love beets, especialy with the greens on top. after they left, i called my mom to look after the kids so i could help cut some branches off to clear some of the lawn that is occupied by trees right now.

grumble, grumble, getting late again, grumble grumble, got.. to .... go ....crash down, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Chantal out

No more leaky roof

Finaly, this week, we had the roofers over and they replaced the shingles on both the house and the garrage. it's so nice not to have to worry about heavy rain anymore. it took them 4 days, they were only 3 of em, except on the first day they were 2.

found out, that the fans to draw the moisture from our bathrooms were venting directly into.... our atic : did i mentionned earlier that that atic don't have any ventilation to the outside?
we also finaly fixed the leaky toilette that we had put out of service for probably a month. now i don't have to leave my bedroom to go pee, hehe

now, next on our priority list is:

cutting wood for the winter
getting the furnace inspected and serviced
finding someone to look at our water softener, if it's still usable
and much more

i wish we could have the windows done but after the cost of having the roof done, it will have to wait a year or 2 if it can

we also bought a push reel mower this weekend, it might take a bit longer and be somewhat more physicaly demanding, but it's quiet and no gas cost. considering that it cost us $10 of gas everytime we mow the entire lawn, it can get quite expensive, and our mower is either in bad need of service or about to kick the bucket so we need something else. at the speed the lawn is growing, i can see us spending $100 of gas easily for the summer, if not more. having owen follow the gas mower around bare feet made me quite nervous, that pushmower has me more at peace and it stops as soon as you stop pushing hehe and i can enjoy the bird singing while mowing, something impossible whit a gas mower.

Chantal
P.S. i've had wierd dreams too, but i'm too tired to remember hehe

Empty Septic

Today was an other of those days when andy get home from work in the morning to sleep a few hours before to start his weekend. and i was sitting at the table feeding vivian some food when i saw the septic tank cleaning truck drive in his driveway. and i thought, hey, now's my chance to find out where the tank is and get it cleaned. good thing the guy just invested in a new way to locate ceptic by flushing a "pill" that can be sensered with one of those bleeping wand. so after flushing it, he spent some time searching for it with no sign of it what so ever. he then thought about the original owner of the house and that he knew him and could get in touch with him and so he did and got good direction to where it was... good thing he did cause we'd be still looking for it. it was nowhere near where it usualy is(the back of the house about 11 feet from the place where the toillette pipe goes in the ground) instead, it was at the other end of the house near the front and 32 feet away. and for a bonus, since our dear neybors are getting their septic tank changed, the excavators were on location and were able to dig down to the opening of it. and it was due. nevermind that the sale lady last year told me it was done that year. it's a big 1000 gallong tank and it was full. so very glad i made that move today.

and Andy went to buy a propane tank to try the BBQ that was sitting in the garrage when we bought it... and woooohoooo we have a BBQ that work!!!! yum yumines to yummy yum yum it was goood. after that once the kid were in bed we burned some of the tree brances from the trees that we've cut a little while back and after we ran out of branches we sat to a nice campfire with a bottle of wine. it was a verry nice evening to end a very nice day.

tomorrow is more of a day of running around and it's getting verry late : so hopefully will sleep like a logg, not a burning one, just a log

Chantal blogg a log and a bug bite

Escaping

Last night, or was it the night before? me and my friend Nancy played some escape online game. it was a long one and i'd post the link but i don't have it right at the moment. so i'm back on the escaping addiction and i did one tonight alone because my dear friend is not online *wah*

it's incredibly hot these past days and it will be hot sleeping in the rooms upstairs. i'd much rather sleep downstairs but with young kids sleeping upstairs, it dictate where i'm sleeping. or toss and turn in a bath of sweat. we got few windows that opens and even less that have screens and if you know anything about the contry, opening a window without screen is an invitation to be eaten alive. there was a screen that did not sit right last night and left some gap for uninvited guest that were swirming over my head last night and i couldn't figure out why because i thought the wholes were all taken care of. so i had to apply more tape to secure the fort.

i guess i'll go back to find an other room to escape from

hmmm, maybe i should try to do a bit more updates, it has been a long time since my last post. it's been incrediblly buzy but yet it feel like it's been the same old stuff day after day. looking after the kids, trying to cook interresting meals for each meals everyday without having the kitchen go totaly out of control. haha, i'm so funny, i'm the kitchen terror muahahaha!!! only to be outdone by my daughter :p after one meal she was so dirty i abandonned the idea of wiping her mouth and hands with a facecloth in favor of a dunk in the tub, it was THAT bad.

we finaly asked a contractor to do our roof. it will be some 3 weeks before he can start though so i hope it don't rain too hard but some rain would be very nice to cool off this heat wave. i just hope dual gray will look good because we have to live with it for 3o years. I kind of would like to call the contractor back to ask him about harvard slate gray, but we already had called him twice today. i dont want to sound too much like we don't know what we want.

it's a very long week with Andy picking up 2 extra shift of overtime. will only leave him one day and a half of weekend before to go back to work this weekend. and next week, my mom is moving 4 km away from here. i find it somewath interresting since this is the exact distance she lived from us in Dieppe. although she'll be able to be here 30 km/h faster hehe

we had our service road cleared from growing shrubberies by one of our helpfull neybor. the next day my mom, the kids and I went for a treck down the trail all the way to the river and back. it's a long walk with a stroller. especialy when it's that roughed. the weather was nice, a little too much. my shoulders are still red. i'm lucky that's the only sunburn i aquired. and it apear that i'm the only one who burned. the kids slept well that night... and the night after hehe

the past 2 night on my routine visit to my son to bring him fresh water before i go to bed myself, i am greeted with the very characteristic olfactive expression of a poopy diaper. on a postive note, he's very calm while i change him and pose no resistance to returning to sleep. so i guess i should anticipate and get ready to go change a diaper very soon. i guess escaping an other room will have to wait for an other day, so Nancy pic one and get ready for tomorrow night :)

Chantal, escapist not so spectacular

Celebrating or just burnt

My Dear hubby opened a bottle of our blackberry wine to celebrate the sale of the house. more like, because i'm so burnt with our dear daughter not letting me sleep and demanding so much attention lately that i need something to help me relax. it's a wine that was made quite a while back, as i recall, we picked those berries before i even got pregnant with Owen. i just never had the chance of tasting it before. plenty of other peoples have and said they liked it. i'm wondering if they're just trying to be nice, that stuff don't taste much like blackberries and much more like rocket fuel. wouhaaahhhh!!!

so i can now truely say, the house is sold! we can now start planing our renovations. hopefully, we'll have enough to change some windows after the roof is done. also have to put a garage door on the garage and redo the bathroom with the shower, fill up our driveway... and the list could go on and on. oh yeah, and take care of those ants too. did i mention, i love my house? yeah i guess i do, even tho it need so much tlc. i just hope it doesnt' break us. I believe good neybors also count for something. they make me want to belong to this comunity, not just live here. also at church on sunday, our dear son likes to walk around and i noticed a fair bit of peoples looking at him with big smiles. i suppose, as Andy made the comment that it look mostly like a senior comunity, seeing young ones is something they might not see often enough to their liking.

well, time for a last gulp and hit the pillow
nity nite
chantal

Not dead yet, just procrastinating

as it's been 1 month already since my last post, i tried to blurt something out last night but my browser crashed and i lost my text so procrastination won again.

i feel like not much worth mentionning has happened lately. Vivian turned 1 year old, we got her a few gifts but Owen plays more with them then she does.

She doesn't walk yet, she mastered the art of scooting on hands and knees by now and she graduated from holding 2 hands to walk to holding only 1 hand. i'm hoping the hand free deal will come soon.

we have a leaky roof, hopefully will find sufficient help soon to get the roof redone asap. and yes we still have ants. we've been making a more persistent effort at keeping the floor crumbless, don't always succede but it's getting better.

i went in town today to signe some legal papers for the sale of the house and hand the keys over. i think our lawyer is funny. he calculated the split of money up and as much as i'd like the extra money, couldn't believe it to be true. he then added up the figures and it didn't work but he assured us he would end up making it work. i guess it did, he's the one with the calculator and the big salary hehe. so 2 more days and we'll have the funds to start renovating, yay!!! although at time i'm wondering if we'll need to borrow more to take care of the most important repairs.

so far, we have met a family that live 1 km up the street a few times. very nice talking to them, they have a 5 year old boy who seem to get along quite good with our 3 year old. i wish we had more time to visit them. and finaly one day, i had to chasse Owen, who had decided to cross the street and gave me an occasion to say hi to our front neybours. it took sometimes to have first contact with them but now that it's done, we've had more occasions to chat and experience their eagerness to help.

I feel very blessed to have neybors like them. so far, he has cut down the front ceaders that were against the house that i had started cutting branches the hard way. he lent us his ride on mower so we could get the whole lawn cut in one day as oposed to part of it in a week or more. and helped Andy get the big bay window out of the van and stored by the garage. full of usefull advice and info, i am very gratefull for having good neibors like them. i feel less anonimous and a sense of belonging to the comunity building up. hopefully we'll be able to return the favor and contribute to the livelyness of the area.

i guess i better go to sleep now, as i'm dead tired and often feel brainless. nighty nite all and hopefully that procrastinating mood will fade away soon

Chantalllllllllllllllll :| euh! not sure what happened

The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

2 by 2, 3 by 3.... it never stops at our place, yeah they are marching, everywhere but they don't need to worry about the rain so they keep marching on. and there's plenty to keep them busy at our place cause they can live happily on everything that fall to the ground. oh yes! our ants are verry happy i'm sure cause i seen them more and more.

And i keep sweeping and sweeping, but it doesn't matter cause with kids once they start eating stuff in their high chair and so on there's crumbs! everywhere all the time, no matter how many time i sweep, crumbs crumbs crumbs, under my feets, argh,
there's always some more. it drives me nuts. yes! the small things that fall to the ground and stick to my feet are really getting to me lately.... CRUMBS!!!!
yeah, when it stick under your feet, you won't find it funny, wet, dry, hard, squishy, you name it, it's quite a feet experience.

So it worries me that the ants will keep on marching in cause there's always food falling to the ground. is it possible to have toddlers and be ant free?

ok, i'll put aside the ants for a moment. i just noticed something verry bizzare. in the room that we have made into our office, there's vinyl flooring and what i thought to be two little floor mats, one in each of the back corners. and i was wondering why Andy didn't take them off when he put our desks in place. i just realized why. they are glued there and the vinyl flooring is cut around it. how odd? i never seen something like that before.

The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say "THE END"
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Chantal, that's it, "THE END" for tonight!

We got a letter from Santa Clause!

no no, i'm serious...

Andy thought it might have been a pranks at first but it wasn't. look

see? Santa wrote us, we didn't even have to write him first. how special. even tho it was just to tell us that our mailbox need straightening.
Santa's first warning :

our mailbox is in pretty rough shape, i had to pull it from the ditch when we moved here. and even then, it keep wanting to fall back in there. i tried to prop it with a rock, but it's in quite a bad shape. we bought a new one but haven't had the time to replace it yet. hopefully before our next warning. i don't want to make Santa mad.

Chantal, on Santa's list, he has no excuse for forgetting us anymore!

Yay Daphne!!!

Our cat Daphne has been a house cat all her life, she has no front claws and never goes outside. well, that's not entirely true, she escape once in a while for a break outside. most of the time it's go graze on some fresh grass and roll around on dirt.

since we moved, she made a few more brakes, because our son took an enjoyment to play with doors. and she goes exploring the woods. what she does there, we don't know, all i know is that she come back before it is dark.

tonight, after a long effort to get Vivian to sleep, i came down to relax while i eat a snack before to retire for the night and she comes to the office doorway and playfully batts at a piece of packing tape, it makes some funny noise, get our attention and we laugh, not much unusual about that. but after a second look, i say "what's that?"

-what?

-that thing there in the doorway?
-hmmm?
- there!!! ...poop?
- no... it's a mouse!
- really?? but its kinda small
Daphne turns it belly up and Andy conclude, it's a shrew!

I really didn't think she had it in her. i'm proud of her and now we have a good reason to keep her. my mom always complains about cat hair everywhere but i'll take that over rodens anytime.

other noteworthy event, Vivian was standing holding on to something as usual to keep her up, then we cheered to make her clap and she did for about 10 seconds standing without holding on anything. i wanted to go get my camera to capture that special moment but the moment was already gone. i'd need a camera permanently around my neck. those moments always catch you by surprize.

i guess i should go to bed now, my snack is long gone and i'm going to get hungry again.

Chantal, sleeping peacefully. the mice won't be playing tonight!

a bit of catching up

ok, so after 4 days without hot water we finaly have a new hot water tank that should be able to fulfill the need with a jaccuzi and some future teenagers. altho there's still a long way to go before that happen hehe

after that was taken care of, there's been my dear daughter that wouldn't go to bed often before 10 pm, leaving me verry little time to myself before bed. the place is still scattered with boxes all over. no printer cable and no camera cable. but a brand new thing to wast my time on, if i ever get to install it. my sweetheart bought me the sims 2. not sure if i'll have time to play it at all, i still havn't played the older sims in ages, like probably a while before Vivian was born.

just bought ourself a new mailbox. was a bit of a debate or indecision at the store between the traditional uncostly box or the newer stand alone plastic version. so i asked Owen what color he wanted, and he picked the expensive one. but in the end we decided to go with the $16 one.
also found our 911 street number in the ditch this week. it was bent but i hammered it back to a more acceptable shape.

i should go take my shower and go to bed
TTFN
Chantal

I stink, you stink, he stink

We stink, you stink and they stink, argh!!!! Guess what! We still don’t have hot water!!!!!!!!!!!! No sir! Hot water we don’t have here. Someone told us we needed to upgrade the breaker and wiring to have a 60 gallon thank but didn’t tell us we needed the upgrade even if we stayed with a 40 gallon, so the guy came to install a 40 today and no can do, actually he was asked only to deliver it, not instructed to install it. What am I supposed to do with a thank that’s not hooked up? Who’s the dumb ass and can I offer him a nice ice cold bath?

Can’t do the dishes, can’t wash any cloth in hot or warm water, and can’t take a friggin bath, gotta wash babies bums with cold water. Vivian was constipated and I was hoping to give her a good hot bath soak to ease the tummy cramps and help her relax to encourage elimination. Nop, instead I had to try and shove a piece of glycerin suppository up there. At least that helped some and she seem happier now. Owen’s looking at the bathtub and climbing all around and saying splish splash, take a bath? No dear, we don’t have any hot water… haven’t had any at all for 2 days going on 3. I don’t remember the last time I been this dirty. I don’t even dare take my pony tail out, it’s like my hairs are stiffened in that particular shape, they stay that way if I take off the elastic but if the elastic is out too long they’ll fall down and be too hard to return in the pony tail and then it will be a bigger mess. Hmmm that gives me an idea. maybe I should go to town with some sort of container and some pants with big pockets.

Hubby came home fairly late tonight, had a few things to do after work before to head home. Then I had the unpleasant news to tell him that we still don’t have hot water and we’ll need to pay an electrician. he brought a few things in the house and then told me he believe he heart a bull moose outside. I guess we’re really in the wilderness hehe

i’m not too worried about dears they usually flee but moose, I heard they can be quite nasty. I don’t worry too much about skunks but porcupines a bit more. Coyotes are some concern if there’s any and I guess I worry more about bears, I hope there’s none too close from here. We seriously need to invest in good garbage cans, we wouldn’t want to invite them with a buffet.

Weird that Andy hears them in the evening but I never saw anything during the day. I saw a few little birds but I saw that in Dieppe too. Even saw ducks in Dieppe. Hmmm, one day I was out in the back yard with Owen and I heard some thumping in the ground. I was wondering if it could be a groundhog but now I think about it again, maybe it was a hare or a bunny. Didn’t see any holes in the backyard but maybe there could be some at the edge of the woods. Ah well we should see something sooner or later. If they hide well enough, eventually it’s gonna snow again and we’ll be able to see their steps. Not that I’m looking forward to snow. No, I want to enjoy the summer and hope it will be a good one.

That remind me, probably a year ago I saw a book at Canadian tire that was all about animal’s foot prints and how to recognize them. That would be something interesting to get my hands on. Right now I have an other type of species to observe. They’re crawling all around part of the upstairs. Ants! The big black ones. so far I start to see a few path that appear to be regular route for their travel. I’ll try as much as the kids allow me to keep a close eye on them and their paths. I got a treat for them. One that I want them to take to their queen. Out of 5 ants I offered it to, only 2 were interested. Some literally fled from it, but one of those 2 really pigged out on it. I don’t usually like insects at all but looking at it eat I thought it was almost cute. Maybe I should get a glass ant colony observatorium and help them move into it? Would that be more interesting then an aquarium? I was also thinking about putting a bird feeder in front of Owen’s bedroom window. But I guess we have more important things to do for now. a new mailbox would be good. The one that’s here have a strong tendency to lean in the ditch, is bent and is cracked at the bottom. Makes me wonder what is not falling apart in this house?

Chantal, cold and stinky

It is now officially dead

Last night after we washed the kids, our water thank finally kicked the bucket. A smell of blown electronics and some water leaking, tripped breaker and no more hot water. I stink and have to wait till tomorrow morning for someone to come install a new thank. I can hardly wait as I was dying for a nice hot bath tonight but it will have to wait till tomorrow night. Andy will sneak into our old house for a quick shower before work early morning. A luxury I won’t have but he’s been working hard and still is from what I can hear. The computer room is in the basement and I hear some racket upstairs.

I insisted he install one of the safety gate at the top of the stairs so it will be less stressful tomorrow all day with the kids. I don’t have time to run after Owen wandering in the basement and less worrisome when I don’t have to be scared Vivian will attempt to go down those steep ceramic dressed stairs with sharp edge. So scary to think about a tumble in those, not only would in make for bad bruises but also for nasty cuts. Now this house is weirdly made and there’s different elevation to go to some rooms. Most are just 1 step and Vivian is starting to get the hang of it already. But we also have a 2 step sunken living room and that too is some steep and ceramic. Don’t know what those peoples were thinking. I hope one day to change all the steps to wood(rounder edge and some softer too). Until then I have to keep making sure she doesn’t attempt to go down those 2 steps by herself. I’m trying to teach her to go down feet first instead of head first. Once the house is sold in Dieppe, I might be able to afford a custom made gate for the living room.

My dear husband informed me this evening that he saw some critter waddle away from him making weird noise. He wasn’t sure if it was a skunk or a porcupine because it was dark outside. not sure which one I’d like it more to be. Hmmm, I think I’d like it more to be a skunk. Aside from stinkyness, it’s mostly harmless. A porcupine can hurt much more. Leave needles around, and me that like to walk barefoot… and the kids, and the cat? Visit to the vet because of foolish cat is not my favorite thought. Tomato juice on the other hand is fairly cheap.

Chantal the stinky pest

Six things you might not know about me?

So I got challenged, not sure if I can come up with stuff really worth mentioning.

Does that mean I got to find 3 persons to challenge in return? I don’t know many bloggers aside from you 2s. you 2s know who you are. I probably don’t even need to say the names (Nancy and Tina) because there’s probably no one else reading my so unfamous blog.

1. I like to ware men’s boxer short (the ones with a fly) although they are all worn out and had to go bye-bye and I havn’t bothered buying new ones. I also always ware pajamas at the house, get dressed to go out and get back in pjs as soon as I’m back home.

2. I’ve appeared on TV twice, first time was during a mass that was televised, and I was in the choir at the time. The second was while I was doing a training at Royal Direct and they used our group to make a commercial for I don’t remember what. I so don’t like cameras.

3. I used to hang out at a Tim Horton from around 10pm till the wee hours of the morning with a bunch of friends every nights. So much so that the lady that was serving us our coffee knew what to serve us as soon as we walked in and we called her mom. I also knew a few cab drivers and they would drive me home free at time because it was a 30 minutes walk and they wanted to make sure I made it home safe.

4. when I lived in Montreal, no one was paying attention to me but when I moved to Moncton I quickly had more peoples to hang out with then I ever knew in Montreal. Also much more attention from boys.

5. I’ve been at a punk’s party/ demonstration in Montreal. The punks/homeless used the park as a place to sleep and the city was gonna put a curfew in place to prevent them from using the park. It was a very pacific event. The authorities still decided to interfere none the less, but I was gone before they started handcuffing peoples.

6. I’ve been in the scout movement, took piano lessons, figure skating lessons, been in a folklore dance troupe. All mostly for 1 year each. Quite scouts because of a bad summer camp experience with dislocated shoulder from previous trip with parents. The camp wouldn’t accommodate my discomfort. Quit piano lessons, mostly because bored, didn’t enjoy the music I was thought with(maybe trying an other teacher would’ve helped). The dance troupe, I quit because through childhood I often got sick for some time and missed some practices just before a performance and messed up in the show. Felt too embarrassed to continue. And figure skating, I was doing ok but the second year there were no more room for my level so they bumped me up and I had too much struggle keeping up. Also was bought new skates that were supposed to be more professional but I kept tripping on the front picks that were sticking out more then my old skates. I think after that my parents didn’t want to enroll me in anything because I was always quitting. When I got in college I got myself into karate, really enjoyed it but as time went I started to be more and more tired before training, and got to the point training was making me dizzy, I didn’t have enough energy to keep up, I had to admit to myself I couldn’t continue. When pregnant with Owen started ti chi and again, I got too uncomfortable at the end of pregnancy to continue and after birth have been too busy ever since. There’s probably more to this list. But even though I did those things only for a short period of time, I’m glad I did them.

No Rest For The Wicked

What did I do?

I’m tired and out of it, haven’t had my dose of internet anti stress for a week! A whole week!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhrgh!!!

The moving went well enough. Aside from the scare of having lost my whole cd/dvd collection, by my own stupid fault. But I found it in the big downstairs family room wich is totally filled with our boxed junk. My uncle who helped us move couldn’t find his jacket either. That made me feel so bad because he worked so hard to help us and his cell phone and truck keys are in it and he absolutely need them to work. The next day, after the kids were in bed I managed to find it for him.

I feel blog rusty, it’s been so long and with only 5h of dial up access a month until the high speed internet guy shows up to hook us up. Which, we have no idea when that will be, being as we live in the sticks now. so much probably went by since I last posted but I can’t remember much, it’s all foggy and like alphabet soup.

Owen seem to like his new home, he actually unpacked his clothes himself and stuffed it all in the bottom drawer during a nap time. Then around supper time since he didn’t sleep, he was so out of control, I sent him to his room to calm down and he passed out in his drawer overstuffed with all his clothes. Looks comphy in a weird kind of way. He has a bed all his own but I’ve been finding him asleep everywhere but his bed lately. Yesterday, he fell asleep on the floor after pretending to vacume his room with the dirt buster’s attachment till he passed out. Before we moved, 12 days before the move to be precise, he started developing a passion for pealing his wall border. One evening I found him passed out on the night table after a pealing frenzy. I can guaranty you that he will not have a border in his new room, nor will there be any in the rest of the house either.

The house is much roomier and Owen also like to walk/run in his own way back and forth for long amount of time. I also love the spacious play room beside the dinning room. Allows me to finish my meal and watch them play. It’s nice that Vivian don’t need to wait till I’m done eating to go in her jolly jumper, after 4-5 days without it, she was absolutely jumping of joy for over 30 minutes.

There are also all kind of things we’re finding out about the house that will require prompt action. Like the fact our water thank work poorly and need to be replaced, but nb power wont do it until we replace the wiring and breaker for something heavier grade. So only one of us can take a bath a day and remain with cold water for the rest of the day. Wonder how the previous peoples did manage in this house without taking care of all that stuff. Like the water softener is totally grimy, doubt water ran through it for quite some time. I think we might have to buy an other one. And it would be nice to get it before the new water thank cause our water is quite hard. I boiled some water today and when it start cooling off, the hardness fall to the bottom like a blanket of white dust. Mostly lime. I think our water is rich in calcium, will make for strong bones hehe. But it is hard on the water thank, the washer and the dish washer, so it would be a good investment to get that water softener soon I guess.

The house was lit with a gizzilion 100 watt bulbs. Every sockets, whether it rated it or not was fitted with 100 watt bulb. That’s a lot of energy when you consider how many light fixtures there is in that house. How do you feel about being greeted by 500 watts when you walk in? 400 watts in the kitchen, probably like 1200 watts in the family room downstairs. So we’re downgrading most with 60 watts or less and put a few more dimmers.

This room is cold, there’s a heater but I can’t find the thermostat. Trying to save on electric bill till we can look after the furnace and get a bit of wood, but the warmer days should be here soon too. Until then, the sunroom warm up the kitchen/dining room nicely after 10 am.

I guess the biggest concern right now is having our old place sold. All I can do is look after the kids day after day. While DH is either at work or working on the few last reno and things to do on the house that has now a sale sign on the front lawn. And I usually had my mom’s help in the afternoon to let me have a nap and things were under control. Now she too is at the old house doing some work and here I am with no relief for me, no one to help with the kids so I can get things out of boxes and get organized to be somewhat functional.

I managed to clean a few floors but not as much as I want. The bathroom, kitchen and play room, because with a baby crawling around, I need at least a few clean surfaces. I want more but they hardly allowed me to clean the few I did. They are taking so much out of me right now. I don’t remember being able to do so little at the other place.

Vivian usually played quite a bit on her own, now almost always want to be held and make a big fuss about it, and Owen is in everything and anything, I constantly have to ask him to leave doors closed or open, he’s constantly playing with the fridge doors or digging for an apple, eat a bit leave it somewhere and then eventually goes back for a new one. He’s hard to keep out of the boxes also. And if it’s not having his nose stuffed in everything, he’s harassing his little sister or pealing the flooring in the sunroom. Yep, he found something else to peel.

And he drive me nuts, totally bunker, don’t get me wrong, I love my son very much. He just don’t seem to want to listen to anything I say at all since we’re moved. I guess I can’t really blame a soon to be 3 year old in a new universe to explore. I should be aware that the routine is going to take a set back for a while but with no help for me to cope, I get overwhelmed at time. I suppose that for 12 days, DH was at home giving him some extra one on one attention. It’s so hard for me to get anything done, I mean, is it normal that after a week of being moved, my dresser is still totally empty? Yes, empty, I’m not sure in what bag all my clothes are yet and I haven’t had the time to go digging. And the closet is the same way, well aside from a few too nice things to put in garbage bags, like my wedding dress a few gowns and stuff like that. At time I have doubts if moving was a good idea. But I’m pretty sure it’s just because I’m overwhelmed and once the house is sold and things return to normal I will feel a sense of normalcy return.

I probably have more to say but it’s getting late. Now that I have internet access, I will try to post more soon.

Until then, it’s all alphabet soup

Chantal, in need of vacation

Oh yeah, about that tag thing, I’m not sure what to say, will think about it and see if I can come up with something later, 6 things no one knows about me? Meh!

where the street have no name

That's where i'm going in about 3 weeks, to live on a street that is only identified by a number, not a name. I guess that's what you get in a town of less then 1 000 peoples. hmmm i think i'm gaining some apreciation for that song.

"I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out
of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the
city and the values of our society don’t hold you down." ~ Bono, U2

yes, our offer finaly was accepted and we're only waiting for a water test and time to get all the paperwork done and over with. DH recieved the ok for his vacation request, so he'll have more time to help get ready for the big move.

Chantal, cityfobic or at least wanting to break free

Sitting on edge

it's only the second house we make an offer to, and since we made the offer friday and it's a bank repo, the bank is closed on the weekend and they can only reply to our offer on monday morning. I thought waiting 24h for an answer was bad enough. I tried not to think too much about it yesterday. but this evening, the waiting is anguishing me.

I had a hard time getting as entousiastic about this house because the land is no where near as nice. but on the other hand, the house is much better and more suitable for our growing needs. and there is a river running at the back of the propriety. i suppose we should go take a walk down there sometime this week. unless we're outbided and there's no chance to redeem ourself.

the house was only listed the day before we went to see it thursday and we were the first to see it. there were 2 or 3 other couples that went to see it before we even made an offer but yet there were no other offer made yet. there was an other couple going to see it yesterday and i guess we're gonna find out tomorrow if they decided to make an offer.

it is a nice house but it has a lot of overdue maintenance. nothing i'm worried about but it could scare some buyers... i hope
what would you think of a place that need:

• new roofing
• new windows
• driveway need fixing
• side metal stares have no support on one side at the foot of the stares.
• the lanterns on the cement posts along the driveway look totaly rundown
• there's a deadbolt but no doorknob on the entrance door
• the staires are tiled but the edge of a few are missing the trim
• a hole in the bathroom door
• some solarium glass panes are cracked
• the jacuzy might need replacing, meaning the windows have to be replaced at same time cause it will be the only way out for the jacuzy and back in for the new tub.
• the en suite bathroom need be totaly torn down and redone, too much mildew on the walls and ceiling.
• hard wood floor has a few burns in one of the room and nasty scratches in the master bedroom.
• a few missing ceiling acoustic tiles in the basement
• a tiled fireplace cassing with a pipe sticking out but no fireplace
• the driveway will have to be broken up and dug for drainage near the house since it used to be a garage at basement level and will have to be filled.

that's all i can think of right now hehe not sure i feel like going to bed tho, but then again, if i mannage to sleep, time will go faster.

my uncle had advised to bid low, i hope it will work for us.
i guess you'll hear back from me tomorow with more stress or a big celebration hehe altho i seriously doubt they would accept our offer without counter offering. but i kind of expect to be turned down.

ok, enough rambling, this is waring me out
Chantal, worn out from house shopping

torn between dream and reality

So this morning we were anxiously waiting for the report from the inspector to go get a mortgage aproval at the bank. this is it, one of the final steps on our way to ownership. wondering why did the inspector took so long and if we were going to be able to meet the deadlines. and the relief when he walked to our door.

then he came in and sat us down. and his first question was "you guys are infatuated with this porperty aren't you?" yes, it is possible, the view is so nice and a lot of what we were looking for. then he broke it to us, and the words sank deep, "to bring this house to code, it would cost about $100 000" we had even failed to see that there wasn't an electrical outlet upstares where all the bedrooms are. they use extention cords! and about the wood heat? i guess it doesn't even make it to the 2nd floor, they have electric heat up there. the only electricals that are running in the walls up there. he also said that if we were to do any work that required a building permit, like the extention i wanted as an exemple, we'd be asked to bring the house to code and we might as well just tear down the house and build anew. that's quite a wakeup call.

I can't help but feel bad for the owners that are stuck with it. the land and view is beautiful but we need somewhere safe to get our kids to bed. so back to house hunting it is for us. blah!

I had a good laugh this evening while preparing the bath for Vivian. Owen came to see the water running. and when i got ready to get in the tub myself, he hurried like i never seen him do, to get undressed, all by himself. i was so proud of him. pulling his shirt over his head, pulling his pants down and unfastening his diaper with so little trouble. but how do you tell him that he had his bath the night before and will have his bath tomorow and this is Vivian's turn? well, i guess you don't. i took Vivian in for her bath and he was trying to climb in himself. but ended up being pulled back in the livingroom and put new diaper and a pijamas with much protest. he did not want to get into his routine at all, he was so set on getting a bath. he usualy follow bedtime routine very compliantly. Not tonight, after Vivian was clean, i told DH that he might as well have a little soak so he can calm down to go to sleep. So vivian wasn't even out yet that he was trying to climb back in, fully dressed. he got some help getting undressed and then with a little help, climbed the edge of the tub and jumped in gleefully.

so after they were in bed i went to get a boob rack and a 18l water bottle. came back with what i went for and 2 chicks. they were so cute i had to bring them home. they weren't much and they're gonna help with after school activities. I was gonna show you a picture but it won't let me upload.

Chantal, gonna be here for a while longer

Too excited to think about a subject

This is it! we made an offer last night for the house that's been running in our mind for the past few weeks and got a call this morning. we have to call the building inspector, the offer is accepted without need for negotiation on price. although, i think we'll have some negotiation after the inspection is done, there's a lot of work to do in that house.

the closing date is very soon so we have to get ourself into top gear. it sure will help get the clutter out of this house and make it easier to show all the corners hehe
there's so much to do though, oufff, getting this house ready fast and cleaning up our new one. the current owner of our new house don't apear to be the kind keen on reno and maintenance.

my mind is racing, my heart and all, so i'll see about more updates on the events later
Chantal gonna be a contry girl

Mommy beware of new chompers

outch, yes sir
those top 2 teeth are making their way out, gnaw, gnaw gnaw, chomp! :o
i recieved a little preview of their potential this evening. hopefuly she'll be kind to me.

looking back on previous posts, i noticed that i've been talking mostly about house shopping, and i must admit it's on my mind a great deal. especialy that we're starting to get the house ready to put it on the market. there's this sense of entousiasme, exitement and doubts, all mixed into one big ball of nerves that is me right now. why? i'm trying to keep my thought rational on the whole deal, but with Owen that has developped a strong selective hearing and love to torment his 2 sisters, push and steel lill sis's toys, chasse and wagg tail of fluffy fur sister Daphne. and when he get in his mind to chase her around, he has to follow her exact path. it's difficult to keep a straight thought in this chaotic circus of laugh and tears.

to add to the mix, Vivian nurse more frequently at night since she can do so more peacefully. good for her but i'm not getting much sleep from that deal wich i wasn't asked my opinion in the first place. i would like to see her eat more solids but she refuse everything food from me aside from the booby. i've been trying more persistently for the past 3 days to give her food, but it's just one big source of frustration for both of us. My mom has no problem giving her solids though, and my husband has had somewhat more success then me, so i really don't feel like pushing this issue to battle anymore. it just ware me out and make me feel guilty.

it's been a week already since i recieved my potties. we first had asked a coupple that are in business to order them for us, thinking they'd apreciate the business. but time was going by with no news and after 2 months of waiting, we said enough is enough, they wouldn't even return our call, so on monday, i ordered the potties, from a canadian store in Ontario, and thursday they were at my door. Wow, now that's service! and really not too soon for vivian, she look so happy on her new potties.

Argh, i was gonna post some pictures but after 2nd try it just won't let me.
i better go see how Owen's doing, he wasn't sleeping last time i checked. instead, he was in his rocking chair that i just recently placed in his room. might have to take it back.

Well, maybe not, i found him curled up over his sippy in bed hehe if it work for him, i'm ok with that. and if he went to bed later, i might have a bit more time to sleep in the morning.

This evening when i was getting Owen ready for his shower, i found out Vivian mannaged to stand up by herself and was holding on to the side of the playpen. Yay Vivian, you go girl! already 9 months old tomorrow, it's had to believe time went that fast.

looks like Daphne don't want me to type, she's laying across my arms
Chantal, looking for my sanity

Is that my sign?

The sign i've been praying for last night?
could it be?

cause i have a hard time dealing with dilemas, i prayed that if the house in Sackville was the one for us, I asked God to send us someone interrested to buy the house in the next week or 2. i thought leaving 2 weeks for God to send me a sign would be a descent timeframe. Not that i think he can't work with much less time, i guess i just didn't want to sound too much like i was in a hurry. I really didn't expect that a friend hint to us that he's interrested the next day.

Yes, tonight, less then 24 hours before my prayer, he announce that they're gonna put their house for sale and that they are looking for something like our place. She'd like to build, but he doesn't want to. And we are so close to everything here, from first school to college, even university is not too far. and we're walking distance from the mall but it doesn't feel like we're so close to all that trafic. I'll keep praying. it's not an offer yet but there's hope. but now i'm wondering, if he decide that they are not interrested and don't make an offer, is that still my sign?

I guess time will tell, he'll be coming over in 2 days to get his computer virus checked and look at the house.

Chantal, believing that everything should go well if it's God's will

Oh the View

For the past few days' that's all i've been thinking about, The View. i gues you would have to be there to understand.

Friday, we went to see one more house. probably the last in a while, since we were gonna put the house hunting on the back burner again. i feel bad for the estate agent that help us look around. he work so hard for us and then we always end up saying, we're gonna wait some more. wait, wait...

oh, i can't say that we havn't seen some gorgeous house before. sure there was a few. but the price was ah hem! nice too. but this one. when we stepped out of the van. i was so taken by the view. it got to be one of the most beautiful view i ever saw comming with a house. high up overlooking the bay of fundy. oh so beautiful. i guess i'm loosing all my ability to use objectivity when i looked at the house.

there are cracks in the stone masonery, the kitchen is ubber small, witha wonderful view of the bay at the sink. there is barely any room to eat, unless we convert the livingroom into the diningroom. and the office into the livingroom. then, the listing say there are 4 bedroom, but we could only count 3... we are already using the 3 bedroom and will need more if i get pregnant again. the roof need reshingling. the house need new siding and new windows. and if your cooking, hope you don't have to go to the loo in a hurry, cause you have to go all the way throught the house, up the staires and then a few more paces. the barn is not falling apart, there are still some animals in it but it need some TLC too. but the view is astonishing.

the View is what i have in mind all the time no matter what i see in the house. altho i'm unsettled about finding a water cooler in the kitchen. this house is hooked up on well water. what's wrong with the water? we want to get out of the city so we can have good water on tap. not having to keep carrying big water bottles back and forth. so i'm really wondering about that. the kid said that his parents got the water tested not long ago. hope to hear about the results soon.

so after seeing the size and condition of the house we thought about the first house we saw last year. it was about to go in the hands of the bank due to bankrupcy. and it would be out of the market for 3 months. i thought about it again. its a big house with 6 bedroom. there was a few things i had issues about but over all it only needed roof redone and windows. plus it's a finished basement. not the same wonderfull view but a good sturdy house with enough room that we don't have to think about expanding someday.

then we started to think about it and how it would be ok. but the location is in alittle town with not much to do. not a problem for me so much but i think about our kids and how they might have not enough to keep them out of trouble there. altho there are plenty of wood to heat the house and a river running at the back. no barn but a big garage that can fit a few vehicules and lots of junk or hobbies. and no pastures. just a fairly large backyard but nothing i'd call a pasture.

So i'm torn apart, the view keep calling me and sackville has much more to offer. but the house is needing a lot of TLC. it has some fenced pastures and plenty of room to grow lots of stuff. and even more wood. and the view is so nice. but how could we afford all the renovation and the possible expanssion?

Where does the reality start and the dream end? anyone can help me make up my mind?

Chantal, Struck by the View