Create Kate

T minus 2

2 sleeps left. I'm saying a toodles for now- the internet won't be up until next Monday at the new place. See you all in about 10 days from a house- Can't wait! Back to finish packing!

And I'll leave with a little Mack story. She has been hesitant/excited about the move. talks about it a LOT. We were packing yesterday and we got to talking about the boxes and all the fun of unpacking at the new house and she said:

"Mommy, we can go to the new house and take the stuff out of the boxes andthen come back home right?"

Awwwwww broke my heart. She is still unsure 100% as to what it means to move move. She likes the idea of a yard, but at the same time this is her home and the only place she has ever known. It feels safe to her. I think after a few days in the new place, she'll figure it out. Should be interesting.

Coming to you live...

from the packing centre. 95 boxes so far! 5 more to 100 and I'm out. I need to head out to the store and get some more. Here's a funny little packing story:

My previously mentioned friend Tara is a fellow teacher at my school. She just moved two months ago and saved her boxes for me. (Thanks T!!) Being that we are teachers, most of the boxes were the nice boxes that the photocopy paper comes in. They are made by Unisoucre and are red and white. You can spot them easily in the photo. I think I have about 50 of them in my living room all stacked up right now.

So back to the story. Mackenzie and I were coming back from my neurologist appointment yesterday and having a nice drive home. We had had the music on and had been singing (one of our favourite things to do in the car- sing at the top of our lungs!) Closer to home, Kenzie says:

"Mommy, turn it down. I want to talk."

I oblige. We have some chit-chat back and forth for about 5 minutes, mainly about the new house and the new yard and how she wants a doggy. We keep chit-chatting. There is a lull and it's quiet in the car for a bit.

Then, Mack pipes up:(quite loudly I might add)

"Mommy look!!!"

"What is it honey? Where?" (I'm driving the car so it's hard to tell where she is pointing but I sneak a quick glance behind me to find the general direction her finger is wagging towards)

"Over there Mommy! It's a BOX truck!"

I look out the window to the left to see sure enough a big Unisource truck Right beside us with the logo on the side.

"He must be going to our new house! He has all the boxes!!  It's a BOX truck!!"

Darn they can be so cute at this age. Totally.

Gems

OK just HAD to run to my 'puter and jot these little gems down before heading off to bed for the night. I have to say that I love the BBC and the Brits. Damn funny they are. In Canada we have HGTV but it's HGTV Canada and so we get a fair number of Canadian and British shows. Tonight I was watching one of my new faves (well I've only seen two episodes as it just started but I'm hooked) It is called the 1 million pound experiment. It's about two designer guys who buy  flats or houses at each price point and then fix them up, re-sell them for profit and move up to the next price point. The theory being you can eventually move up to the million pound price range. So far, they made a fair bit off the first property and just squeaked by on the second- a 10,000 lb profit. But still a profit nonetheless.

The part that I LOVE is the chit chat - it's done kind of documentary style with some pizazz- totally cool. The good ole' banter from the British Isles. Makes me think of my grandparents and me Dad. (Had to throw in a me somewhere's didn't I?)

Anyway, here are some little gems from tonight's episode:

One of the designer guys on a first look at the room during the middle of renovations:

"It still looks like absolute soddy bullshit, but now it's bullshit with a future."

The builder whom the two designers are teamed up with when the guys just squeak a small profit out on this one and learn a valuable lesson about checking the structure more thoroughly next time:

"Most people are under the false impression that making money in the real estate market is a piece of cake. There's a technical term for that. Bullshit."

When they were cleaning up at the end preparing to move onto the next place and one of the guys was contemplating whether or not to leave a cool element in the place or pack it up:

"Oh you're so tight you Scottish person you! God, all Scottish people are tight."

And finally, I headed over to find info. about this show and found this little interview with the guys:

Interview

Check it out- totally hilarious read. Here's one snippet:

On what they did with the profit they made out of all of the shows:

"We took that money and gave it to Children In Need and that for us was so rewarding. It’s not that “we do a lot of work for charidee” thing, but there was something so rewarding to give that money to kids who get a shit deal out of life."

What a cutie

Took some photos of my friend Tara's dog over the weekend. He is just 3 months old now and FAST!!  Sooooooooooooo cute though- I had to photoshop out his leash as there was NO way he was sitting still for a picture. He moves a mile a minute and still is in that chewy puppy stage. Check out his feet though- that's going to be one big dog when he grows up!

While we are on the topic of dogs, we have recently been discussing them. With our upcoming move out of our condo. and into a house with a fully fenced backyard, Mackenzie has really been asking for a dog. Once again, we have a few things on our minds. No really big dogs for me- I like them more medium size. It has to be a family dog. We both grew up with family pets and that's what we want. A dog that becomes another member of the family and who will go over to the island with us, who will cuddle in our laps and go for walks with us. We need to find a dog that loves kids as well- that is top priority actually. We have been reading about a lot of dogs over the past while and have settled on a few breeds we like. Right now we seem to be leaning towards a Beagle, Bichon Frise or a French Bulldog. The Beagle is leading for me. We'll have to see where this road takes us over the next few months- should be very interesting!

Side note: I DO know we don't (well I don't mostly) want a new puppy so we are looking at rescues, shelters, friends ,word of mouth etc. I just don't want a new puppy and ll the work of one at the moment and there are a lot of dogs out there looking for good homes as well.

Got any recommendations?

7 days...

7 days until we move....

7 days left to finish packing...

7 days left in our old condo...

7 days left in the first place we have ever owned...

7 days left in the home where Mack was a baby...

7 days to a new world...

7 days to a backyard and a lawnmower for the first time...

7 stress filled, crazy but exciting days ahead.

7 days that I know will go by in the blink of an eye.

I can't believe it is finally here. It has long been a dream of mine to own a home. A home where I can put down roots and spend time as a family. It took longer than I ever would have anticipated when I was younger, but in the end it doesn't matter as it is all coming to fruition now. It is the house I imagined and dreamt of. I grew up in a small small town with 13 acres of property in a house that was bought very tiny with room to grow. My Dad added on to our home every few years until it was a variable mish-mash of rooms and a wonderfully warm home. That's the main compliment my Mom and Dad always got- your home is so warm and welcoming. That's the kind of home I want and that's the kind of home we are moving too. I have never had illusions of grandeur and my parents (being Irish and Scottish heritage) raised me to not live beyond my means (thanks guys!)

We bought a 1970's home in a wonderful neighbourhood. It's a well established area that is full of families. It's not extravagant but at the same time it's not a fixer upper. It's nice. It's a family home. The kitchen was just recently redone and renovated. That's a bonus. When Tim and I were looking at houses, we had a few things that topped both of our lists that we knew we did not want to sacrifice- the backyard was very important. Our yard is on a hill with a slope in the front down to the road. The back though is flat for the most part with a slight treed wooded sloping area to the back. What sold us was the playhouse on the hill at the back in the trees with the slide coming off the small playhouse deck. Mackenzie will have her third birthday in this yard and on our new deck. We had always planned to get a house before she turned three and it's really happening. She will now grow up with an easily accessible yard. I can open the door and it will be right there. No more elevators, no more walking down the street to find a patch of grass at the park.

The other characteristic we both wanted was more space but not too much. Make sense? We are coming from an 1100 sq foot condo to a 2100 sq foot house- just perfect. Tim really wanted a two car garage for storage and that's what we found. Storage is key as we have so little of it right now. We looked at bigger homes but I just kept thinking how much more it would be to clean and look after. My MS diagnosis played a big part in our decision. It had to be a bigger home but not so much that it would overwhelm me. We succeeded. (Well, we'll know soon enough won't we? I hope it won't be too much) Part of that meant that we spent just a bit more to buy a home that did not need much renovation. One that we could move into and not worry about. Check on that too. We do want to re-do the bathroom in a year or two but the rest of the rooms are good to go. Phew.

A home is what I wanted and a home is what we are moving too. Not just a house, but a home. A place where we can possibly look into getting a dog. A place where we can have BBQ's with friends and family and set up the sprinkler for Mackenzie to run through. A place with a neighborhood. A place to just be the family that we are. Our little threesome is moving 7 days and we couldn't be happier!

Fun stuff

My pal Heather just released a new kit at her site. It's gorgeous! So much fun! II am penny pinching right now in prep for our move in 10 days to our new house (more on that tomorrow or later) but my other pal Susan did two awesome pages with it and I just could NOT resist (thanks Sus ;) ) Here is a page I did with her fab new kit:

I also have to thanks Susan again for her enabling as the font is pretty purkey from www.scrapsupply.com- It's Kelly Purkage's font- more fun stuff!! 

Holy Doodle

This is a spin-off of my last post. Who watched the 2 hour season finale of CSI Las Vegas and Without a Trace last night? Holy smokes! I was on the edge of my seat all three hours! Great shows both of them.  (A little disclaimer here- I'm revealing some secrets so if you haven't watched them yet don't read further)

The CSI was directed by Quentin Tarantino ans I was thankful that he toned it down for tv as I don't think I could stomach another Kill Bill (Was that a whack job of a movie or what?) Anyways, I found I kept finding bits and saying to my DH "Oh that was such a Quentin moment." Like when he had the dream in black and white near the end and they were doing the autopsy on him. Total Tarantino scene. And when Sara had the hand to get fingerprints from. The scene in the warehouse with the ransom man reminded me of reservoir dogs as well. That whole show gave the heebiejeebies though- Ughhhhhhh a lugggggggggha. But that's basically what QT does- makes you uncomfortable and pushes the boundaries. It's fair to say that episode made me uncomfortable. Lastly, do you think Grissom will get "his guys" back next season. Should be interesting.

Next, without a trace. So glad Viv is OK- phew! I like her presence on the show and I think they should show more of her. The episode itself and the story were not that out of ordinary for Without a Trace, but the ending was a typical season finale cliffhanger. Yikes! I just thinking that it means one will come back and one will be leaving the show. They can't both make it out alive from that. What do you think?

Phew again! I have to say that I love May each year, the summer is approaching, the need to watch less TV and be outside and man the season finales make for one great month. It's been week after week this year with Uchenna and Joyce winning AR, Tom winning survivor and then last night. Oh and Mack going out on a date on CSI NY. I never got into it but I hear that Desperate Housewives has cooked up quite the finale. May just have to watch it.

Phew!

So the tv season is nearing a close. There is too much good stuff on tv- don't they know those shows impede with my scrapping time? I mean c'mon people! I will stand up right now and admit that I am a reality tv junkie- I love way tooo many reality shows. I have figured out there is a good side to it all. If I do get in a scrap groove then it's OK to miss an episode of America's Next Top Model or The Apprentice. No Biggie. It's not too hard to come back the next week and figure out what you missed and most of them have arecap at the beginning. Thursday nights are now free with Surivor over- there's another hour for scrapping :) The Amazing Race is done too- more time. I must start taking more pictures- at this rate I'll be all out by the end of the month.

I also have to admit that next to the reality tv, I love CSI NY, it's my  new fave next to Crossing Jordan and the rest of the CSI's. I love crime dramas- they are my other vice. OK now I'm starting to sound like I have either

a) no life

or

b) a serious tv problem

hmmmmmm maybe both are true. maybe both are wrong. does it matter?

And while we are on the topic does anyone know if big Brothe is on again this summer because that will take an hour away. I'm going to need a little notepad to add up all these lost and gained hours pretty soon.

Here is my list of faves: (from most watched dwindling to eh I like it but I can miss it too)

Amazing race

CSI NY

Without a Trace

Survivor

Crossing Jordan

CSI Las Vegas

CSI Miami

America's Next Top Model

The bachelor

Big Brother

These next ones I only watched a few episodes of but aren't too bad)

Project Runway

Super Nanny

Queer Eye(heck any decorating show)

These are the ones that make me change the channel and FAST:

Simple Life- grrrr those girls make me crazy

Newlyweds or Britney and Kevin chaotic

The Surreal Life

Deep thoughts for tonight eh? (had to throw in some Canadian in there)

Are you a reality tv junkie or do you stick to comedies or dramas? What's your fave?

Call it what you will...

But I had FUN! And yeah it was better than my old art classes. I took two years of painting, big stretched canvasses and all and it just felt hard. This felt fun. I wasn't;t trying to make the paint do what my head wanted it to do but my hand couldn't. Maybe they should have art journal classes for digi girls. Now that would be fun. Thanks Cherie for the challenge- LOVED it!!  And yes, all you undies- I am a freaking lemming. Snicker away girlies.

voila

Did a page with my kit!  Must say I am quite proud of myself too :)