Bill is visiting

The rain has started -- Hurricane Bill is visiting Nova Scotia. Depending on which storm watch you follow, the eye will either pass right over us or drift out into the Atlantic. We are all prepared with our 72 hour kit and actually, kind of excited. We love storms!

Assuming we will be losing power soon, as it's starting to shut down around Peggy's Cove, I'll be back later to let you know how we fared. Another benefit to living in the basement!

Re-arranging

The Most Wonderful Man in the World was busy yesterday. He is on vacationi (yay!) and re-arranged our living room. I had just jammed stuff in there because I am not a decorator. It looked -- okay. Like a room with furniture in it. Aaron moved some furniture out, some furniture in, taking care to decorate around The Drip (another story). It looks so cozy now! We even hung a picture. If we have to stay in the morgue for a little while longer, we might as well make it look homey.

this is the Most Wonderful Man in the World (MWMW).

I love him very much. I love how he came into my life and rearranged everything so that I am cozy now.

Bad Mother Chronicles

This morning as I left for work at the ungodly hour of 6:15 AM I realized Sam was up. Still up. As in hadn't gone to bed yet. Since last night.

Now, we've all pulled all-nighters but Sam is eight years old. He spent all night up playing video games. and I didn't know because, well, I forgot about him. With Liam in Toronto for three weeks Sam has been so quiet (no arguing!) that I actually forgot he was in the house. He doesn't seem the worse for wear. Actually, he was pretty impressed with himself. I told him he wasn't allowed to sleep ALL DAY so he will be good and tired tonight.

Good mothers do not forget their children. Mind you, more than once during my childhood my mother sat down with the family for supper and declared "Oh my god, I forgot Kate at her piano lessons", so the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. And I can pass for being normal on a good day.

pain

pinched. nerve. so much pain. back soon

Bloom in the Black Disgusting Hole Where You Are Planted

Well, we didn't get the apartment. Sigh. oh well, i guess i'll just keep looking. i had high hopes for this one . . .

Right now we are in a crappy apartment in a really crappy building. A building with a bad reputation. But we needed a place quick and this building always has space available. We've been here almost 9 months now and i still haven't started decorating or doing much to make it homey because i have been hoping to move.

Our apartment is in the basement of an old hospital that has been made into apartments. While i'm sure the apartment building has a name, everyone calls it the old hospital. We are in what used to be the morgue i believe. Interesting note: Aaron was born in this hospital, in what is now the laundry room. Anyway, being in the basement, it's dark. and kind of damp. and you have to stand no a chair to look out the window.

Anyway, i guess i'm going to try to bloom where i am planted and i'm challenging myself to this: Everyday i will post a picture either of something i do like about the apartment or something i've changed to make it better.

anyway, i have a tub of icing that needs eating right now.

About me

hmm, usually i see a little blurb near the top to put in the "about me". I'll do that when i figure out how.

I am a divorced mother of 3 ADHD boys, am ADD myself and now partnered with the most wonderful and patient man in the world. I write, bake, craft a little, read a lot, spend way too much time on the internet and not nearly enough time cleaning.

uhhh, i'll likely add to this as i become more interesting.

I heart cats

I love cats, truly I do. I am currently owned by two cats, Jack and Kittee.

Jack is 11 years old and we got him at a time when we were having a rat/mouse problem. Traps and poison weren't working so I determined we needed a cat. Jack arrived as a tiny bundle of fluff, not bigger than a mouse himself. I waited until he was 6 months old before letting him in the basement where the mice were. (I call them mice because I am afraid of rats). He came back up a couple of days later all sleek and happy and we didn't have any more mice problems after that.

Kittee is 3 years old. We rescued her from a skeezy apartment building as a small kitten. She was so tiny we thought she was much younger than she was -- until she surprised us with kittens! She's since been fixed but she won't grow much bigger the vet say, due to her young pregnancy. She is a delicate little sweetheart who loves to drop "presents" on our bed in the mornings. Furry presents. Furry presents without heads sometimes.

Brotherly Love

After a whole day of insulting his brother and finally being threatened with loss of computer priviledges, Liam turned to Sam and said "Please hand me the remote, oh kind and loving brother."

Sam handed him the remote and said "I'm not loving but I am kind."

My boys.

quiet

With the two boys off to swimming and my wonderful man at work last night, i actually had an hour or so of quiet. This is so rare in our household that I hardly wanted to move in case I made a sound. Eventually I did move -- washed dishes, made bread. Went for a walk with my mom.

The quiet ended when Sam came through the door after swimming with stories of everyone he met on the way home ("she had a big dog, Mom, but it was friendly."). Liam decided to spend the night with a friend, so it was just Sam and me for the rest of the night. Time with Sam can never be considered "quiet" (that boy never stops talking!) but it was quieter, relaxing and peaceful. And the apartment smelled of fresh baked bread.

at this moment . . .

• I am procrastinating at work
• I am eating peanut butter cups -- delicious, delicious peanut butter cups
• I am anxiously waiting to hear about a duplex we would like to rent. Our current apartment is horrible. Very horrible.
• I am looking forward to my vacation.

Demon's Point

A hot sunny Saturday means swimming! Aaron suggested we go to a place from his childhood -- Demon's Point. It's the front part of a dam, so it's practically bottomless but the real attraction is the cliffs to jump off. They call them the 20, the 40 and the 60. It's supposed to be how many feet high they are but it's not by any means accurate.

Liam standing at the 60 -- decisions, decisions


Justin jumps . . .


then Liam goes for it!

Jumping isn't the only adventure -- getting to Demon's Point is challanging of itself. First you go doooowwwwwnnnn (straight down) a hill through the woods. Then you cross a brook. Then you go uuuuppppppp a hill steep enough that you're grabbing onto treee roots to haul yourself up. then you climb down a rock cliff. Lots of fun. Aaron keeps forgetting that I am delicate and not suited to exertion.


Sam climbing UP the hill



Sam and Aaron on the top ridge

Regardless, the boys loved it. Sam even jumped off a low ledge (lifejacket on, of course) after Aaron swam him across. But he made it back on his own!












Sam and Aaron swimming, Sam's feet, Sam's sneakers and the shoes I apparently felt were appropriate to climb a mountain in.