Yes – today is Monday and it started, appropriately, with a car that wouldn’t start – when I was already running late. I think we may have left an interior light on or something because the battery was nearly flat. It had just enough juice to make me think it was going to start but not enough to actually get going. Thankfully the AAA guy was able to give me a jump start and I was on my way – about an hour late but I did squeeze in a work call to London before I left so all was not lost. I think the fact that I felt like crying when the car wouldn’t start had more to do with hormones and less to do with the gravity of the situation.

We had our weekly house renovation project meeting this morning and everything is moving along swimmingly. The best news is that we won’t have to move my Mum out of the house as soon as she arrives. The timeline was indicating that we may need to move out for a couple of days while they seal the hardwoods but it now looks like we can move that up a week so it will be done just before she gets here.

More progress:

• Plumbing, electrical and heating vents are almost all complete. Just have to put in the new hot water heater and hook everything up. In the process, absolutely every room in our house has been affected in some way except the living room. We have holes in walls and vents running through closets all over the place. It will all be nicely hidden when we are done but Kei and I are a little tired of moving things in and out of our very packed closets.
• Kei fixed the leaky sink in the kitchen (after two years of complaining that I haven’t been able to use the sprayer). Just waiting on couple of parts and my sink will be living up to its full potential. 🙂
• Speaking of sinks, I have a brand new Laundry sink in the basement. It replaced the original concrete monstrosity that has been here since the house was built in 1923. I can also use hot water to wash clothes for the very first time since we moved in (long story).
• We have windows – well most of them. I think they will wait to put the last couple of windows in until the very last moment as they are currently using the windows as a doorway to the second floor. The best part is that it is so much lighter upstairs now. Oh, and now that the upstairs heating is connected we are heating the inside more, and the outside less.

The best news of all is that we are right on schedule so we should have most of the really noisy/dusty work done by the time this baby comes… IN THREE WEEKS!

Here is a new picture of the house. Not much has changed from the outside except the addition of two window. The one on the right is Thomas’ room, the boarded window in the middle is the baby’s room and the little one on the left is the bathroom. We also have new windows on either side of the house. The best thing – we will be able to open them without needing super-human strength!

TTFN

Nicole

In case you haven’t heard (or seen, or sensed), today is EARTH DAY.

It is around this time of the year when we are bombarded with messages about being “green” and how the whole planet will be under water in 50 years. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration but it is a little scary. Here are some things the Ishida’s are doing to be green.

• Recycle as much as we can – Thankfully we live in a city that is very supportive of recycling.
• Compost (Although not as much as we should)
• We only have one car – and plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. AND it’s a very small car. But we will soon to discover how cozy it will be with two car seats. Hmmm.
• Kei rides his bike to work most days (about 5 miles) or catches the bus – largely owing to the fact that we only have one car. Unfotunately I have to drive a little further to work but I am trying to work from home a lot more to save gas (and time).
• We are trying to use sustainable materials with our house renovation as much as our funds will allow – using reclaimed gym floors for the “new” hardwoods and seriously considering a new tankless water heater that uses less energy. It will be more expensive now but will save money in the long run – another bonus.
• We drink from water bottles A LOT – no plastic bottles for us. And of course now we use stainless steel bottles thanks to the scary news about plastic leeching. We spent about $70 to replace our Nalgene bottles with stainless steel alternatives.
• We have organic, locally grown fruit and veg food delivered every two weeks. I just love that we are supporting local farmers and the fruit and veg they send is the stuff in season which helps keep the price down.
• We have switched all of our lightbulbs over so we are using less energy to light the house. And I am very good at turning lights off when I am not in the room (my Dad drilled that into me as I was growing up).

A couple of things that I struggle with and wish I could do differently:

• Disposable diapers – for a full time working mum the alternative is just too difficult to contemplate. Instead I will focus on potty training to get my kids out of diapers as soon as I can. (wish me luck!)
• Facial Tissues – I just HATE handkerchiefs. They are so disgusting and I can’t get past the gross factor to use them. Just can’t.

So I feel like I am reducing my footprint a little and they say it’s the small things right?

And because a post isn’t a post without a picture – I leave you with a little bit of nature that has been preserved in the heart of the Portland. This is one of favourite places to hike – mainly because it’s flat and easy and there’s a lot of wildlife to observe.

Happy Earth Day. 

Thomas’ daycare has started a new activity each day where they ask the kids to tell them a story. They sit in a circle and ask for volunteers and apparently Thomas is always one of the first to put up his hand to share his story of the day. The best part is that they write the stories down and send them home for the parents to enjoy. It’s like a little insight into his thought process.

Here is the first “chapter” – three days worth.

April 11th
About a Shark and a Whale aaaand Sesame Street. The shark coming! Aaagh! Aaagh! There’s a shark! There’s a shark coming Daddy! A wolf.

April 14th
There was a Wolf, Shark and Sesame Street.

April 15th
Once about a Wolf, Shark and Sesame Street. My story about a Shark and Sesame Street. The guy not happy.

I sense a pattern in his thought process. 🙂

Random Tuneage

Today is the day of random songs in my head.

I woke up with “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham. There’s a line in the song that goes “Sun Shines brighter than Doris Day” which led me to…

“Que Sera Sera” because Doris Day sang that. Which then led me to

“Rock a Bye Your Bear” by the Wiggles – but I think that’s because Kei was singing it this morning and any parent knows that once you get a Wiggles song stuck in your head then that’s pretty much it for the day.

Until… I started thinking about the weather and how it’s 75 degrees outside (and such a shame that I am in the office) which of course led me to “Sunny Days” – the opener to Sesame street.

So I clearly need some new adult music on my ipod. Any suggestions?

Thursday Night TV Review

I love Thursday night TV, but with American Idol on last night and regular shows coming back after the strike, I did feel a little overwhelmed by choice. Good thing we have Tivo now. 🙂 Recap:

• American Idol – Boo Hoo. Michael Johns, my fellow Aussie, is gone. Seems to be little reason for me to watch it now. I mean he was good for the ears AND the eyes.
• Survivor – Yes, I admit I am one of the few people who still enjoy that show. Feel really sorry for Eliza but maybe she is more annoying in p[erson than she is on TV. LOVE that she was smart enough to recognize that the stick was not an actual immunity idol but had the courage to use it anyway AND out Ozzie as the one with the idol. He is so cocky.
• 30 Rock – not as funny as other episodes but I do like this show. I just love Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. But sadly no laugh out loud funny moments last night.
• The Office – The new episode had me crying with laughter. I think Kei summed it up best when he said that it was like the British version of The Office – uncomfortably funny. And now you can watch the full episodes online – Sweet! One of the best moments – Pam handing over a bottle of wine and Jan saying “this will be great to cook with – thank you”. I KNOW people like that. 🙂

Baby Update

Had a Doctor’s appointment this morning. Just five weeks and three days to go (eeeck!). Apparently the child has decided to lie sideways across my belly. I figured as much as I have been getting some pretty nasty kicks in my side lately. Heart beat is good, blood pressure is good and everything else is just dandy. Well, everything except the big “H” – women who have been through this before will probably know what I mean by that. This is the first experience for me and not at all pleasant, but bearable for now.

The good news is that I seem to be managing my weight better this time. I think it’s all that running around after Thomas.

Oh, and the hormones have been getting to me a little – particularly after work when I am tired and emotional. Of course Kei saying “I’m sorry you’re hormonal” is NOT helping.

Signing Off

Have a great weekend. Hope it’s sunny where you are too. You didn’t think I’d go without posting this did you? 🙂

Having problems posting the video so I’ll leave you with the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hksil-KkebQ

Had to make some major life-altering decisions this morning about the electrical work on our renovation. My entire life I have fully underappreciated the fact that SOMEONE had to make decisions about these things. I rented an apartment and the outlets were there. I bought an apartment and the outlets were there. I bought a house and THE OUTLETS WERE ALREADY THERE!

Granted, our second floor has had just two working outlets the entire time we have lived here. One in the bathroom and one in the master bedroom. Yes – TWO OUTLETS! Oh, and two overhead lights that worked with string cords. And not one of those lights was in the master bedroom.

Yes, we have been living like we have been camping for the past two years making the most of extension cords and double adapters and seriously pushing the limits of existing fire codes.

I am now experiencing the exact opposite situation – an abundance of choices, but all of them permanent. Ah, nothing like knowing that any little decision you make will be something you will have to live with for a very long time. And if it’s the wrong decision you know it will eat away at me until I want to run screaming from the house yelling “I didn’t know I would need an outlet in the closet…” Living with someone else’s mistakes is a lot easier.

So we probably have WAY more outlets that we need and I know that we’ll be very well lit (pleasantly so. :)) but better to be safe than regret a decision to go with canned lighting rather than sconces because, you know, a sconce can add atmosphere and in the process… CHANGE YOUR LIFE. And that is no exaggeration.

Off to do a little online sconce shopping now – wish me luck.

I will be back a little later today to catch up on P365 but in the meantime check out my post on the Lauren Reid CT blog.

And because I HAVE to include a picture – here’s a little bit of Zen to help bring some calm to your Monday morning.

Nicole

And just before the rain started again.

We also have walls. You can’t see them from this photo but they have put up all the framing – walls and all. It is so exciting to be able to see just where all the rooms, doors and closets will be. Kei and I are already thinking about furniture placement (premature, I know) and Thomas loves walking around pointing everything out to us.

We are actually a week or so ahead of schedule which is also great news. Now if only they could catch up on a couple more months then this renovation might beat the baby’s arrival. I know it’s highly unlikely but a girl can dream can’t she?

And one more new thing…silence. Thomas and I have become used to the banging that starts every morning at about 7:30am – 30 minutes before we walk out the door. But this morning…nothing. The construction workers were there but I guess they were outside discussing what they were going to do next because it was blissfully quiet. So much so in fact that when I had to run back inside to grab something before we left I was almost scared to death by one of the guys coming in the back door.

Thomas has come to enjoy saying hi and bye to “the guys”, as he calls them, every day. He is especially attached to Miguel who has been with us since day one. The unfortunate thing is that poor Miguel gets blamed for all the noise. Every time there is a loud banging from upstairs Thomas says “Is that Miguel?” I think he’ll miss them all when they’re gone.