Went to work today, and filled dosettes for 9 hours. It was a fun day though- a quiet one at the store, and had some great laughs with L and J while we all worked. Filled 37 dosettes, which translates to a few hundred prescriptions. An new record for me.

Got home to find all the kids and E in the pool having a great time. I guess they spent most of the day there, which was a great idea seeing as the humidex rested around 35 all day. The only reason I was not bitter was because I was in the air conditioning all day long myself. Did however, come home at 6 to find no attempt made at supper. Pancakes were requested by J, and feeling that a very easy item to whip up quickly, I proceeded to make a batch. I thought they tasted funny, but I blamed it on the syrup. Around bedtime, J started complaining of tummy pains (an all too common thing with him), but after some investigating, I concluded he just needed a good fart. His teeny tummy was stretched taut. Poor guy. Later found out that E also thought the pancakes tasted funny, and that is when it hit me. The recipe calls for 3 teaspoons of baking powder. I always find that odd, because it should say 1 tablespoon, as they are the same thing. Well, after working 9 hours non-stop, I read tablespoons, not teaspoons, and proceeded to put in three times as much baking powder as I should have. No one but J is in any pain tonight, but that little guy always eats his body weight in pancakes. oops. I am avoiding mommy guilt by reminding myself that I had just gotten home from a 9 hour shift, not expecting to have to make supper, and I meant well. Maybe we should order out next time.

the dance

So day camps are over. K's last dance camp ended with a little recital today, and true to form she stole the show. Not during the show, though. Oh, she was very cute, as were all the little ballerinas, and did her steps in her little 4-year old way. But when it was over, and the parents clapped nicely as the kids left the stage, she turned around as soon as the stage was empty, ran back on and started a routine all her own. She was spinning and leaping, smiling from ear to ear. The place broke out in huge applause, and then she took a bow. I couldn't decide if I should join in or crawl under my chair. It really was very funny.

a day (or two) in the life

I am spending a very lazy day today. Have spent most of it on the internet surfing around and ordered new clothes for work in the fall. I have no half decent pharmacist clothes- what better excuse to raid the clearance section at Coldwater Creek. Got some very lovely deals. The kids are watching TV and I have no guilt over them doing that on such a lovely day. Not after yesterday.

This was yesterday:
8:15 am - leave to take W to a friend`s house where he will hitch a ride to B-ball camp. Leave for CHEO with K.
9:30 am - K`s hearing appt at CHEO (she has perfect hearing)
9:50 am- leave CHEO, make stops at IKEA, bank machine (out of service), Wal-Mart, Boston Pizza for lunch, bank machine again (working this time), Canadian Tire.
12:45 pm - drive to Carp for K`s dance camp.
1:25 pm- leave Carp and hightail it to Franktown to pick up W at b-ball camp.
2:00-leave Franktown, drive into Carleton Place Winery for 2:30 with boys to bottle a batch of wine. Let them pick the foil covers for the wine bottles. I have 30 bottles of wine now, each with a different color cap. Most colorful batch I`ve made to date.
3:15 pm- drive to the Beer store to take back empty bottles. Earned $4.75 for my trouble.
3:30 pm- stop off at Timmy`s to spend my $4.75 on an ice-cap, two peach drinks and 3 chocolate timbits, and head to park for 25 minutes of relaxing in the shade watching the boys play.
3:55 pm- drive back out to Carp to pick up K for 4:30, who will then be done dance camp.
4:30 pm- drive back into Carleton Place, and go to McD`s for supper, where the kids start to get slightly cranky. So did I, but we all came out without too much of a scene.
5:30 pm- drive to soccer field to deposit W at soccer practice, then head to grocery store
6 pm- get groceries with J and K
6:45 pm- back to soccer field
7 pm head home
7:05 pm- back to soccer field to get W`s forgotten bag, only to find someone else had picked it up. Hope to retrieve it at tomorrow night`s game.
7:25 pm - HOME, kids into bed.
9 pm- me into bed.

The only similarity today had with yesterday is driving W and K to their respective day camps. Much more enjoyable, although I am pleased with what I accomplished yesterday. Got some good deals on end-of-season specials, got some things I`ve been meaning to pick up for a while. Clocked well over 200 K on the van.

W came out of b-ball camp today with a new shirt on that said `Best Effort Award` with his name on the back. Apparently at the end of yesterday, they said they`d give out an award every morning to the person who made the best effort the day before. W was the first awardee, this morning being given the shirt for yesterday`s effort, which is even better as he earned it without knowing that people were watching them. Watch for pictures on facebook in the next couple of days. I am presently washing said shirt as he plans to wear it to camp every day. Good thing I have to do laundry anyway nearly every day.

Right now the house is nice and quiet. I had forgotten what a difference a toddler makes in the house. It`s weird not to have K here, but I am enjoying the lack of busyness, and the quietness of the conversation. One of the boys commented that this is what it used to be like all the time, and the other quickly agreed, but said that it was weird. I think they prefer life with a sister. That makes me feel good. I will also feel good when I pick up my little princess at 4:30. But for now, I will enjoy my cup of tea without interruption.

same old, same old

Not much new to blog about, just more of the same. Uber-deck continues along nicely. Uber-friend was not able to come over today to help again, as he is moving today. I suppose that's a reasonable enough excuse not to come. Hubby is over at his place returning the favor of helping out on a Saturday. In his absence, I have been working hard here on the deck. All of the deck boards are down (except for the trap door over the filter, which will be left for uber-friend and rocket scientist b-i-l to figure out). Yesterday I went online and taught myself how to build a railing. You can find tutorials for anything online, I have discovered. Seemed easy enough, so I went out and proceeded to construct four railings. The look great and even appear to be structurally sound. Today I will finish the railings and possibly start the stairs, which are much more complicated. Found a few tutorials for them online, and every one of them refers to stairs as the most complicated aspect of a deck. Ah well, how hard can it be?

Garden continues to thrive. The beans and peas are slowing down, but we still get lots every few days. Now the green peppers are nearing maturity, and I have two lovely sweet huge ones in my fridge. There are many more coming, so I'm glad they can be frozen. I have had to reinforce nearly all of my tomato cages, as the plants are so laden with fruit, they just fall over ripping the cages right out of the ground. Cukes and pumpkins are getting big and lovely, and there are more than enough ears of corn growing to provide a lovely feast some night. It's definitely been worth the work. Think I may try watermelons next year as the onions are not going to be attempted again. I can never grow onions.

One month from today my kids start back in school. Man, the summer has gone fast. I have really enjoyed it, but it will be nice to have routine again, crazy as it will be with me working more. I'll probably be more ready for it then then I am now. Right now, I'm happy for a few more weeks of summer, staying in my housecoat till 10 am if I feel like it, sipping coffee knowing I don't have to go anywhere right away, and not figuring out what to make for supper until after lunch instead of having the whole week's worth of meals planned in advance.

Coffee is done now- time to put in a load of laundry to hang out on my new clothesline. Lovely.

8:43 and all`s quiet

I can`t believe it- all three of the boys are still asleep. I am sitting here in my housecoat sipping a coffee and my little princess is looking semi-quietly at a princess book on the floor beside me. I love Saturday mornings.

Not all of the day is shaping up to be like this though. Our uber-friend is coming back for the third Saturday in a row to help us in the final stages of uber-deck. The shaping around the pool will happen today, the section where the clothesline will be will happen today, and quite possibly deck boards on the top level. The kids will be able to go in the pool again, and there will be much rejoicing. Lower level is already seeing lots of use in the form of several suppers at the shiny new deck furniture, and K and I enjoyed a bowl of cereal out there this morning. Lovely.

When I`m not working on the deck, seems I`m strolling in the garden. We`ve had beans almost every night for supper and there are several bags of them in the freezer already. Peas are starting to come, and we`ve enjoyed broccoli several nights as well. Peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cukes, pumpkins, onions are all doing very well and promise a good harvest in a few weeks. I think we`ll have enough tomatoes to sink a ship. And the corn- it is now officially taller than me now, and there are half a dozen or so with silks starting on them- it will be the yummiest corn ever. And I think there might be some potatoes growing too- we`ll see about that in the fall. Note to self- use lots of compost every year.

Time to go and get dressed and rouse the biggest of my boys. Uber-friend will be showing up any time and it wouldn`t do to have us still in our jammies and asleep when her arrives, although I do hate to disturb the peaceful place that is our home. Nevermind- by the sounds of things, K has already gone upstaris and done that for me. Wakey, wakey.

the single life

So I am a single mom this week. This morning the two wee ones went off to DVBS for the morning, and I came home and continued work on uber-deck. I have the box for phase 2 built and attached to the deck that was built on Saturday. All I have to do it cut and screw in the deck boards and phase 2 is done. I built it on the premise that if the deck ever falls down in a heap from poor craftsmanship, or the hurricane of the century, I don't want it to be my fault. The rest of the deck may blow away, but that little 6x7 rectangle will still be standing. Overkill on lagbolts would be an understatement. But I have discovered that it is much more fun to build a deck with friends than by yourself. Probably safer too. Wood is heavy. I escaped relatively unscathed, minus a couple of scrapes, and I only hammered my own finger once. No large pieces of wood fell on me (thanks to my guardian angels, I am sure), and I still have all my appendages even after using the big scary saw several times. Oh, and a note to rookie builders out there- safety glasses are your friend. I am sure they're the only reason I still have both my eyes. Wood pieces flying everywhere.

I have actually tired myself out enough that I am not going to finish the deck today even though there is lots of day left to finish it in. Tomorrow will be fine for that. Time to veg.

The wheels of progress

What a day- it started with the sound of pouring rain and thunder at 6:30 and E and me wondering if we were going to have anyone come over to help us with uber-deck in this weather. The phone rang 3 times- every conversation was the same. "You guys still building in this rain? Yea? OK, I'm on my way!" What good friends we have. The rain actually let up for a while, and it only downpoured on us a couple of times. Just nice for a cool-off and a break, and then the sun would come out again. Had 4 friends here in the morning for all the hard work of frame-building and leveling, and just after they all had to go at lunch time, another friend showed up and stayed till 6:30 to help with the final securing, laying of the boards, and clean-up. I had not thought we'd get this much done today- I am VERY happy! Phase 1 is complete.






Next week I am on my own- E and W are off to hockey camp for the week, and J and K are in a DVBS every morning. Phase 2 is a very small little rectangle to finish out the lower deck, so I am thinking that I can complete that on my own this week and gear up for a huge-all-day work party for phase 3, the ominous upper deck. I'm a little scared of that one, but if it goes as smoothly as today did (and if we get the same guys back, it will- they were all awesome!) it will be fine. Then phase 4- stairs, railings, benches and flower boxes- I'm not going to think about phase 4 yet. It scares me.

Today made me realize a few things.

One- as I mentioned, we have great friends. I already knew that, but as I was thinking of all the other things they could have been doing with their morning, it made me appreciate them all the more.

Two- there is one thing I don't like about renos. The regular housework must continue. It's very crappy to have to leave deck-building to make lunch and make sure the children are fed and clothed. But alas, that's life.

Three- I like wearing tool belts. They make me feel very useful and handy and they have lots of cool pockets to hold everything you need. Can't believe I went this many years without one.

Four- I may have gone a tad overboard on the deck. We only have phase one done, and it is already bigger than any other deck we have ever had. It's about 200 square feet, and the final product will be about 580 square feet. It's more of a summer home than a deck. But it's too late to turn back now. And I know we will enjoy it immensely when it's done. We live out back in the summer. But for the next half-hour or so, I plan to live in my jacuzzi.