reboot in safe mode

You all own computers. You know how they work. You have this wonderful operating system. It lets you run multiple applications as once. Your working away on one, uploading data on another. Downloading info for later on a third. A few more apps open for good measure. The system handles it all beautifully. Keeps track of it all without a hiccup.

Then you get this new peripheral. You plug it in. At first everything seems fine. The system is interacting with the new hardware perfectly. But slowly, in the background, things start to slow down. You can't seem to run all your apps at the same time. The download you desperately need is taking too long. Soon it won't download at all and you can only run one app successfully. You reboot and it helps a bit, but quickly things slow down again. You need a full system shut down, but who has time for a full system shutdown, you have things to do!

At the end of the day when things are at their worst, you shutdown. In the morning things look good. You boot up without a problem and are able to start up everything you want. But by lunch you begin the downward spiral. The peripheral is using up all your random access memory and you don't know what to do to stop it. You love this new peripheral so unplugging is out of the question. You just do your best to get through the day till you can do a full shutdown and start over. You just hope that the peripheral only hogs your RAM and doesn't try and grab any memory from your hard drive. You have long term storage on there and you plan on using it again some day, when your memory manager comes back online.

Sound familiar... This computer is my brain. And the beloved peripheral is my darling baby. In the last few weeks I have completely lost the ability to multitask. I couldn't plan my way out of a paper bag. I need to start writing everything down. I mean everything, like - BRUSH YOUR TEETH before you leave for work! I need to change the way I do things. I was one of these people who bounced from one task to the next without problem. Now I find myself sitting at my desk wondering what exactly I had been doing just moments before. Distractions are many in my job. They are part of the job (the part I usually loved). Now people come to see me and I have to listen hard and focus hard to remember exactly what they are talking about. This is probably a good thing. I will have already started to find a new way of managing my life in time for this 3rd child to enter my world and throw everything into chaos...

Strangely, I am so looking forward to the chaos.

My luck may be improving...

I have found the end of the rainbow!
We were at the cottage when we spotted this. It was pretty amazing to see and I am pleasantly surprised that it showed up on the photograph. It was very cool and lasted for quite a long time. All of us were in awe. My brother had his canoe with him and the kids were yelling "GET THE CANOE, GET THE CANOE, we have to go get the pot of gold!!". I am afraid no pot of gold was found. But we felt very privileged to have witnessed such a rare sight.

**I would like to request that if anyone takes a copy of this photo that I get credit and link back to my site. Please and thank you!

It was only supposed to be a haircut

It wasn't supposed to be a transformation! Last week my 4 year old asked me if he could get his hair cut. I love his curls and I HATE cutting my kids hair. I am not sure why, but I just do. He has naturally curly hair, which I love, and never had myself. Maybe that is why I hate to cut his hair. I am living my life vicariously through him. He said he wanted it short, so we headed to the hair dresser and asked for a brush cut. I figured it would be a comfortable cut for summer and he would look so cute. This is a photo of him taken a week before his hair cut. He was puttering in the backyard pretending to be Dad (note the shoes!)
This is a photo of him from last night.
Honestly the kid looks so much older. So much more mature. And slightly more devious! I love his new hair cut but OH MY GOD! Where did my baby go!?

And to add insult to my sadness at my baby growing up in one day - The night after his hair cut M came to me upset. It was bed time and M has always been a hair twirler. It is so cute, he twirls his hair in his fingers while he falls asleep. And with his short hair can't twirl his hair. I HAD INADVERTENTLY REMOVED MY CHILD'S SLEEP AID! By the time his hair grows back he will probably be so used to sleeping without twirling, he will never have to do it again. AAAHHH I loved that he twirled his hair. It was so cute. UGH Good move Mommy!

Boy, was I a grump yesterday

I am feeling much better today.

I had my nap when I got home from work and then we headed out to dinner (cause who wants to cook when grumpy). We were all asleep by 9:30 and we all slept soundly for a change.

I usually avoid blogging when I am feeling grumpy or down. I figure who wants to hear me complain. But maybe that is not the right way to go. My blog is an outlet for all my feelings, not just the happy ones. I should open up a bit more. I think it would make me feel better too.

My oldest son had gone to spend the week with his Grandma and things are very quiet around our house. Not that D is a loud kid, because he isn't. But the doorbell isn't ringing with our neighbour calling to see if he can play, and there is no arguing over TV shows. It feels strange parenting one child. I know M is enjoying all the attention but this morning he mentioned that he misses his brother. Last night he slept in D's bed, and this morning he took D's lunch box to day care. Kev reminded him that he will have to go back to his own things once D returns. Even though I am sure that part of M is enjoying D's stuff because he is usually not allowed to use it, another part of him is using it to keep his brother close. They may argue but they are loving siblings. With a 3.5 year age difference I was concerned they wouldn't bond the way closer age siblings do. But my fears were unfounded.

In a month or so BOTH boys will be going to spend almost a week at Grandma's house and then I will have no kids... What will I do with my time? Oh trust me, I will think of LOTS of things :)

Did I say my pants still fit...?

I don't know if it is the Lobster Fest party we attended on Saturday (so much fun, and we even had the kids with us, and it was still fun. I love this age). Or all the junk I ate yesterday. Or this baby just had a growth spurt, because I am feeling bigger. And I find I look bigger. But I am still not ready for maternity clothing. I may have to find some simple cotton stretch pants, capris, to get me past this hump (literally, haha). Oh I am so not funny.

Speaking of junk food. My diet was really bad yesterday and boy am I feeling it today. You would think that I would learn, but no, I just don't. I eat crap, the next day I feel like crap. Add it up woman!! It isn't rocket science.

I will leave you now, it is almost time to go home and lie down in the fetal position on the couch for my evening nap.

Thoughts on this pregnancy

I removed that floating baby graphic from my side bar. It was freaking a few people out (myself included). I replaced it with a ticker from TickerFactory.com. When I think about this baby I refer to it as my little butterfly, so I thought this ticker was appropriate.

I will preface this next part by saying that I am very lucky in that this pregnancy has been very easy so far. But I do reserve the right to complain now and then...

This has been the most exhausting of all my pregnancies. I have yet to hit the "Golden trimester" even though I am already 17 weeks and should have more energy. Technically I do have more energy than I did at the end of my first trimester, but it is fairly easy to top that one. I barely stayed awake for 2 whole months. I am really not looking forward to how tired I will be in the last trimester.

I had mild nausea during a few weeks early on in this pregnancy and I thought I was out of the woods. Recently I have started to feel nauseous on my drive to work (after I have eaten breakfast). Maybe it is my breakfast that is not agreeing with me, maybe it is my work. Either way, it is no fun.

I have yet to feel the baby move. I know, I am only 17 weeks along. It could be a few more weeks before I feel anything... But come on kid. Throw your momma a rope here. Feeling you move around would make me so so happy!

Things I have done since becoming pregnant:

• Put the wet clothing into the dryer and forgotten to turn it on (I have done this twice).
• Made tuna casserole but forgot to add the tuna.
• Only remembered to pluck my eye brows twice since being pregnant (half grown in eyebrows are not a pretty sight)
• Only actually "done" my hair once (again, not a pretty sight)
• Repeatedly brought salad in to work for my lunch and forgotten the salad dressing (I bought a bottle and left it at work, problem solved).

Even though I am much more tired and slightly more uncomfortable this pregnancy my belly is remarkably small. By that I mean that I am 17 weeks along and still wearing most of my regular pants. I was thinking back to my pregnancy with M. I had attended a funeral at 17 weeks along during that pregnancy and had worn a long black dress. I remember being visibly pregnant and having many family members come over and comment on my belly. This time I am showing but it is not as pronounced. I am not complaining about this at all.

camera update

It turns out the camera is supposed to make those strange noises when it switches modes. And when it is on auto mode it tries to guess which mode is best and changes almost constantly. I may have to take it off auto because it is annoying me. Also, I am really glad I got the extended warranty on this thing.

the photos (photo heavy post)

I took photos with my new camera this weekend. I was really enjoying going around my yard capturing my garden and flowers. It was overcast (as per usual these days).

The garden, I love how well everything is growing. My only sorta complaint is that the zucchini's leaves keep covering up my red pepper plants and one of my bean plants. I have ripped off a few leaves to try and help but I may be hurting the zucchini more than helping the other plants...
My raspberry canes, which probably won't bear fruit for a few years but that is okay. I can wait. And my potato plants. I was planning on building a box around my potatoes to try and get a larger yield but I haven't had time, and the lumber costs were a bit prohibitive. So I will make do with what I get and I may try to build the box for next years crop. My herbs! Parsley and Basil. They are in a window box off my back deck. I love just walking out and getting fresh basil, and I have already made one batch of my delicious Tabbouleh. It looks like be parsley is almost ready to be trimmed again. YAY! When I make my Tabbouleh I eat it almost non stop. LOVE!
The current love of my life - my new rain barrel. Kevin and I bought ourselves this for our anniversary. How romantic of us! We have a small backyard so we opted for a collapsible rain barrel that can be stored in the winter. We need the room for our little rink! With all this rain I have only actually watered from it once. And I dipped my watering can into it. I have yet to figure out how to get the hose and nozzle to work from the faucet at the bottom of the barrel. I am sure there is a trick. I will figure it out eventually. Now for a few flowers: Shasta DaisyColumbine
My Clematis!
I didn't plant any annuals this year (a cost saving measure) so I have been enjoying the rotation of flowering perennials.

Now, about the camera... It was working perfectly, then all of a sudden it started to make strange noises, and would randomly change settings on its own... OH NO. I am off to Henry's at lunch today to see what they can do. I will let you know how it goes.

Oh Camera, how I have missed you

I am notorious for forgetting my camera. On many occasions I have felt guilty about the volume of photos I have of my first child, as opposed to my 2nd. But when my camera broke a month ago I went into withdrawal. All of a sudden photo ops were presenting themselves to me left and right. My kids were doing cute, smart, funny things and I had no way of recording them. How on earth would I prove to the world I had cute, smart, funny kids if I had no photographic evidence! OMG! It doesn't help that a few of my favourite local bloggers are avid photographers: Danigirl, BeachMama, MuddyBootsAmy! And their posts with photos and talk about photography is inspiring to say the least!

But I also have a budget. And Kevin and I decided that $200 was the max we were willing to pay. Not because we are cheap but because we have other priorities with our money right now. The camera, although needed, should not break the bank.

I searched at Costco, I looked at Best Buy and Future Shop. I have heard a lot of talk about Henry's. I have never been there although it seems to be touted as Nirvana for Photographers. A location opened up close to my work last fall. Off I went and am I ever glad I did. Helpful service, no pressure, totally worked within my budget. I walked out happy with this:
It is the lowest priced model Nikon has but it have everything I need. Oh happy day. I will be testing it out tonight on the kids and my garden! WHOO HOOO.

BTW: If you live in Canada, click on that Henry's link I provided, it connects you to an entry form to win a SmartCar

Second BTW: Henry's did not put me up to this post! I am just a happy customer. And we all know, there is no better customer than a happy customer - with a blog! hahaha

Is it August yet?

I have two weeks holiday planned for August and they couldn't come fast enough! I have been sick, and took 2 days off work. You would think that two days home would satisfy me, but you all know what two sick days home are like. They are wasted days. I literally spent both of them in bed. It didn't hurt that the weather has been really crappy here (as it has all over Ontario). So I didn't feel guilty about my slacker days. And I felt like crap, and bed was the only way to go.

But now I will be selfish and say I am ready for holidays, real holidays. Days where I can spend time with my boys. Days where we can go site seeing, go to the water park, parliament hill, the art gallery (well maybe the art gallery...).

Since when did I turn into such a whiner... Oh yes, I have always been a whiner haven't I. Sorry to all of you who took the time to read this drivel :( I will do better next post. I promise.

Its Sunday and I'm beat

Hey y'all! I am still here. I haven't been neglecting you on purpose. I went on a short holiday. I took 3 days off work (with weekend and Canada day it upped me to 6 days home). We left Friday (the 26th of June) on a whirlwind trip to Southern Ontario (we headed back home Sunday). We had a great time visiting with friends and the kids played and played. They played so well together it made me sad that we live so far apart. Then it was two days home to rest and then off to my home town for a Canada Day BBQ. Thursday and Friday I was so tired I could barely type, let alone work. I basically hid in my office hoping no one would need me to think. Of course they did need me to think, and it took me longer then usual to come up with answers. Darn work!

As of tomorrow I am 16 weeks pregnant. I am still very tired. I don't know if this tired will ever go away. But I am feeling more motivated to do things around the house. The first three months I could have happily lived in my own filth (if it wasn't for my hubby cleaning up after me I may have had to). I had no desire to do anything other than sleep and sit around.

The thing that is driving me the most nuts these days is that my camera broke. It is amazing how many photo opportunities you notice when you DON'T have a camera with you. I am hoping to buy one this week and I will post riveting photos of things like, my garden, which is my main obsession this week. I was able to eat my first green bean and I see zucchini and cucumber starting to grow and I get positively giddy just thinking about it. I really am a boring person.