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Fit for a Princess
Wow! It's been quite a few days since I last blogged.
Ha! I feel like I've gone to confessional (or whatever it's called): "Forgive me, Father, for I have not blogged for a whole week!"
Anyway, I've been busy making curtains. The very first pair of curtains that I've ever made! The first evening after buying the material, I lay it out on the kitchen floor, measured it and pinned it all into place. The follow evening, I dug out my never-before-used sowing machine and attempted a few stitches on a spare piece of fabric. When I was finally satisfied with my capabilities, I started on the curtains.
My knowledge of the technical "sewing" terms are sorely lacking so please bear with me: After I'd completed the first curtain, the thread from the lower spindle ran out. I couldn't find the instruction manual anywhere so I took it apart, inserted new thread and then tried my damndest to get the stupid thing back together. I was very nearly outsmarted and could have easily given up on the second curtain. I can't believe how difficult they make it to get that thread replaced. Or am I just missing the obvious??!
But I finally got it and off I went. I finished the curtains and put away the sowing machine. With Abby tucked up in bed, I knew that I couldn't put the curtains up right away so I waited until today to iron them and hang them.
I worked this morning and, by the time I got home, Stephen had put up Abby's new shelves and the room was really coming together.
We still have a few things that we'd like to do, like fix her ugly cupboard door, but other than that, it's done. Yay!
Here are a few pictures of Abby's Princess-themed room:
My lovely curtains are on the left, Stephen's shelves full of Abby's books and toys are on the right. In the centre is the Princess-themed picture that my sister bought for Abby for Christmas. It started this whole theme off!
Notice the Princess border. You can't see it clearly in this pic but it has all the same princesses as the curtains and pictures.
The curtain material:
Anyway, I'm very proud of the room. I think it looks great! And when I went to get Abby from her nap this afternoon, she was just lying in her bed and looking around. I think she likes it too.
Free Raleigh, NC Getaway
Fancy a weekend away from home? Perhaps you’d like to spend a couple of days in city that offers tons of things to do, combined with affordability and a laidback attitude. For the perfect Fall getaway, look no further than Raleigh, North Carolina, the city that oozes Southern charm. The Visit Raleigh website is running contest right now to win a night’s accommodation for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley, along with a $25 gift certificate for dinner at the Bloomsbury Bistro and tickets to the theatre and to museums.
Raleigh really is the hidden treasure of the South in that it offers big city attractions while still maintaining the appeal and the relaxed atmosphere of a small town. Concerts, sporting events and loads of culture: Raleigh has it all.
For example, there’s the NC Shakespeare Festival taking place tomorrow at the AJ Fletcher Opera Theatre. Tickets are only $31 for adults. If you can’t make it to Raleigh by tomorrow, visit the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, to learn about the state’s natural history, from the coastal plains to the mountains, in the Southeast’s largest natural history museum. And it’s free! Also at no charge is the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Gardens, the NC Museum of Art, the NC Museum of History and much more.
Open to all US residents of 21 years or older, the Free Raleigh Getaway contest closes on October 31st so make sure you register now.
This post has been sponsored
Taking a hit
I have a confession to make...
Whenever we go out now, I drive. Gaining experience is important as a learner, of course, and well, I also love doing it. Stephen can see that I enjoy driving and knows that I need to get as many driving hours under my belt as I can. So we pretty much always head to our respective sides of the car: me on the driver's side and Stephen as the passenger.
Our new car is odd because if the last person to drive it left the wheel in any position except pointing straight up at 12 o'clock, I can't see the part of the dash where one chooses drive, reverse, etc. You might think that I'm just a shortass, which I am, but Stephen has complained of the same thing.
So when I pull the car into the driveway, I always try to straighten the wheel so that the next driver - possibly me - will have an easy time of popping it into reverse to leave the drive again.
But I have now learned that I perhaps concentrated on that a little too much.
Our minivan is still parked on the driveway and, as I always do, I pulled in slowly behind it. I braked softly, but was still a few feet away from it. The wheel was still turned and I thought that I'd straighten it up a bit. I took my foot off the accelerator and let the inch forward, as I straightened the wheel.
But then it happened. Instead of hitting the brake to stop, I hit the gas. We jumped forward and bumped the minivan. I gasped and hit the brakes. HARD. We stopped and I just sat there stunned. Stephen's response from the passenger seat was something along the lines of "what the %"&^$ did you think you were doing?". I didn't have an answer for that.
We came into the house, having checked for damage and not finding any, and I found it hard to accept what had happened. I am one who likes to think of myself as infallible, but gets a good kick in the ass every once in a while to bring me back down to earth.
Inexperience? Yeah, a bit. But I put it down to human error mostly. It's not like I was unsure of which pedal to push. I was simply concentrating on something that didn't need thinking about when there were more important things to consider. Like not hitting the minivan.
I felt embarrassed. Heck, I still feel embarrassed. But Stephen has told me about the few knocks and bumps he had as a new driver and I know that taking a hit like this is all part of the learning experience.
But you wouldn't believe how careful I am pulling in behind the minivan now. I leave a 10-foot gap now! And the wheel can stay as it is.
Decorating our House
So next, we paint Jake's room. We have the blue paint and will be continuing his Thomas the Tank Engine theme. He's got a lot of the stuff already, like all his bedding and numerous toys. My Mum even made him TTTE curtains. We'll just need to paint the room, perhaps we'll add a border, put up the curtains and accessorize with a theme light switch plate and a lamp, like we did for Abby.
After that, I think we'll tackle the kitchen. Although our bedroom desperately needs doing, the kitchen is driving me more crazy. It's two shades of dull orange - dark on the bottom and light on top. The cabinets are in good condition, as is the floor, but we'd like to add some splashback tiles above the counters and around the stove. At the moment, if my spaghetti sauce splashes, I have to gingerly rub down the pale orange wall in hopes of leaving the paint behind.
It doesn't seem like the kitchen would be that big a chore, so that should definitely come next.
I am open to suggestions on how to decorate the master bedroom though. I'd love - LOVE! - to do something dramatic. Stephen would NEVER go for this but I'd love for the far wall to be painted a deep, dark red. We'd make curtains to match. Then we'd need new bedding, of course. Get the ugly desk out of there. You know, the one we don't use. I want to make it a real, grown-up bedroom. Not a thrown-together, miss-match of things. A general dumping ground.
If you're reading this, Stephen - and I know you will - open your mind. 
Consider it. Imagine it. Very romantic.
Hawaiian Shirts at Mad Gringo
A guy I know from work named Dave always wears a Hawaiian shirts the day before he has a couple off. It’s his way, he says, to celebrate the impending break in his schedule and to take a step toward the rest and relaxation that is to follow. He always looks bright and happy when he wears his Hawaiian shirt and definitely takes on the ‘go slow’ attitude that leaves him in a state of nothing-can-bother-me-now.
You’ve got to admire a guy who can express himself like that!
That ‘go slow’ attitude is shared by the folks at Mad Gringo, who sell a wide range of the coolest Hawaiian shirts. The mantra on their front page goes: Drop the to-do list, lose the cell, grab the flip-flops. The website furthers the sentiment by instructing its visitors to watch more sunsets because “every day there’s one less of them”. And really, that sums up ‘go slow’. It means to slow down your life. Appreciate the little things that we all take for granted.
Sit back and wait for that perfect wave!
Dave’s shirt is similar to this festive beauty that I found at Mad Gringo called the Bula Blue. With a cheerful, bright blue watery background, dotted with giant palm trees, this shirt would go great with jeans, shorts or even a bathing suit. It even has real coconut buttons!
I’ll have to tell Dave about this site so that we don’t always see him in the same shirt!
Thanksgiving Yummies
We drove into Montreal yesterday for my Mum's famous Thanksgiving turkey. And when I say 'famous', I simply mean that no one in the family would dispute that she was the very best cook in the world. Not least because she'd kick our butts, but anyway...
Turkey, mashed potato (no lumps! Well done, bro!), corn, beans, bread rolls, gravy, cranberry sauce... Too much to fit onto one plate! The answer? Have two plates, of course.
And then undo your pants and have someone assist in rolling you away from the table.
Actually, the funny thing was that I'd dressed Jake in some new clothes. He'd never worn the outfit before. Brown cords and a great shirt. The outfit was sized for a 4-year old and I thought that Jake, being a 3-and-a-half-year old, would be fine in it. But he's slim and the pants kept falling down. He looked uncomfortable and, to be honest, seeing it was driving me nuts. So I took his pants off and left him run around the house like that.
As we all sat around the table discussing how stuffed full of turkey we were and that we should be undoing our pants, we looked over at Jake and decided that he had the right idea.
Nah, just joking. We did not all take off our pants. But I wouldn't be surprised to hear that one or two of the family undid their top buttons. Don't tell anyone but I did in the car on the way home. Don't judge me!! It was a long drive!
Anyway, we had a really nice time except that Abby is still in that phase where she screams if anyone other than Stephen, Ruth, Jake or I looks at her. As you can imagine, she was a real pleasure. But she started getting used to everyone just before we left and she even smiled a few times.
2007 BP Solar Decathlon
“Save the environment”. It’s a vague term, but one we hear so often. What does it mean? How can we help? Here, at our house, we recycle, as most people do. But wouldn’t it be wild if we all lived in solar-powered houses and drove solar-powered vehicles? This could very well be the way of the future and it seems that students, scientists and businesses from all around the world are working to make that a reality.
The US Department of Energy, along with proud partners BP, have selected twenty teams from colleges and universities from all around the globe to compete in the 2007 BP Solar Decathlon. Each team will strive to design and build the most energy-efficient and most attractive solar-powered home.
Later this month, the teams will relocate their creations to the National Mall in Washington, DC where they will compete in 10 contests to determine the winner of the Decathlon.
Canada is represented by Team Montreal, made up of 40 students from three different universities around Montreal. I will be rooting for them, of course.
So if you’d like to join in the festivities and have a sneak peak at the houses of the future, head to Washington, DC between October 12th and 20th. The houses will be open to the public from 10 to 5pm on weekdays and 11 to 3pm on weekends. There will also be consumer workshops, educational exhibits and an awards ceremony. Check out the website’s Schedule of Events for details and directions.
Also, to keep up with how the teams are doing and to learn more about solar power from the very people who are designing these homes, check out the BP Solar Decathlon Blog.
This post has been sponsored
Autism - a Progress Report
Jake did really well at his weekly appointment today. In the past, as you know, we did the PECS thing - that's the Picture Exchange Communication System - but after mastering it, Jake soon decided to give that up. He's a stubborn little boy, and a bit lazy too, I'm sure, and he'd had enough of having to work to get the things he wanted.
J, his Speech Language Pathologist, turned instead to structured play. She created a timetable with photographs of the toys that Jake likes and then we work hard to teach him to follow the timetable and to understand that one thing is first and this thing follows afterward. As Jake finishes with one toy, it gets put aside and the photo gets moved over into the other column. We also teach him to sit down in "his" chair while he's there.
When we got there today, he ran to his chair and sat down. He looked over at the timetable and waited for his first toy. Clever boy. J sat next to him and I sat across from him. We helped Jake learn to share his toys by saying "my turn" and patting our own chests. We then take the toy from him, gently, and play with it for a few seconds, making all the appropriate noises for his cars. Jake sits back and watches intently, obviously longing to have the toy back.
A few seconds later, we lift his hand to his chest and repeat the sign and the words: my turn. Jake gets given the toy and play resumes.
When Jake grows tired of one toy, J will swing her hands in from of her, back and forth, and ask Jake "all done with the truck?" We get a bit of a blank look from Jake but he starts looking toward the toy box where the next treat will come from.
But today, as J asked "all done with the truck?", Jake swung his own hands in across the table in the same motion that J uses.
Could we be on our way to using a bit of sign language??
Jake even pushes the fire truck to J a few times, which is a fabulous new thing for him.
And when we repeated "bus" while Jake was playing with the bus, Jake repeated "buh, buh, buh".
Jake definitely has his limitations - now - but he will overcome them. I can see it happening.
We should be starting OT (Occupational Therapy) in November and I'm sure we'll see Jake come in leaps and bounds.
Virtual Makeovers
I have found that a website that’s kept me under its spell for way longer than I’d anticipated. I‘ve been to this kind of site before and the results are generally poor, so I never hang around long. But this particular site had me impressed, amused and addicted.
The site is MakeoverSolutions.com. You get to sign up for a free account, upload an image of yourself and then you move on to the really fun part: making yourself over. New hairstyle? Different make-up? A bit of punky look, perhaps? Add some earrings or a hat too! The sky’s the limit.
So I started by creating my account and then uploading the best, full-face image of myself that I can find. Then I followed through the website’s set-up wizard and marked the image with their pointers to determine where my eyes and mouth were, as well as the shape of my face.
After that, I chose hair and “tried on” a huge range of styles and colors, highlight and lowlights. Then I moved on to make-up. I ended up looking like a bit of hussy and had to tone it down a bit. It’s very easy to get carried away. I added a beautiful blue flower to my hair and voila! After a few failed attempts at making myself gorgeous, I finally settled on this lovely makeover. What a knock-out I am!
And if you check out their Makeover Gallery, you can see how other visitors have been made over.
On Friday, I’m getting highlights in my hair for the very first and I think I’ll play around with this site a bit more to see if I can determine which color I should go for.
Skype Phone
We've been talking about it for ages, but we finally did it. We went tp Future Shop in Ottawa yesterday and got ourselves an internet phone. The brand is Vtech. It works with Skype or can be used as a regular phone with our regular phone service. It is cordless too! All this means that we can make and receive free calls to an another Skype user anywhere in the world. For $30 a year, it also means that we have unlimited calling within Canada and the US. Cheap calls to the UK and countless other countries too!
So the phone has been charging for the last 15 hours, just like the manual said. Stephen will try calling England later with it. We're just hoping that the call quality is good.
I'll keep you posted...
