according.to.kim

Rising temperature

This winter has been awfully wintery. We've had bitterly cold temperatures for the past five weeks, with very little relief, and quite a bit of snow fall as well. Last night, the wind chill hit -53 C (-63 F) (actual temperature -40 C) and it wasn't much better during the day. This is getting very old! Thankfully, the forecast for this weekend is great... highs at zero (32 F) or near zero for the next four days! It will feel so warm by comparison.

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• flexibility in my job (I took the afternoon off today with little notice)
• my warm coat, hat, scarf, and mittens
• Neil (everyday!)

Change of plans

Today did not go as expected...

Georgia started vomiting at 7:30 a.m. and it lasted for a couple hours. Although fairly frequent, she didn't cry at all, and barely spoke a word the whole time (which is unusual for her); however, by noon, she was back to normal and you would never guess that she'd been sick. She was happy and chatty all afternoon, and by suppertime, had a huge appetite.

Also, we were planning to go to Yellow Grass today and have supper with my parents, then to Weyburn to visit my Aunt Colleen and Grandma this evening. We planned to stay overnight in YG and then go for a horse-drawn sleigh ride Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. The windchill today was severe (-45C) and highway travel wasn't recommended. Furthermore, the forecast was just as bad for Sunday, so we decided to postpone the trip. Grandma was relieved we wouldn't be traveling today.

We may still go tomorrow if the weather shapes up (the forecast is improving) -- AND no one else comes down with the stomach bug. Fingers crossed! If we can't go tomorrow, it'll be at least a month before we can all get together for a sleigh ride on a weekend afternoon. The girls were very excited about it, and very disappointed when we decided not to go.

***
Why does Sick Kids have to advertise on Teletoon Retro? I know it's a very worthy cause, but I kind of wish they wouldn't. I'm just not sure children need to learn about sick and dying children while watching The Smurfs. (Are they supposed to pester their parents to make a donation?) The commercials are very sad. Sophia doesn't like seeing them and I can't blame her; one of the ads (about a baby girl with a heart condition who couldn't be saved) made me cry a couple weeks ago. I encourage the girls to leave the room or turn the channel when those ads come on, but they don't bother, and Teletoon Retro is one of their favourite channels so they see them fairly often. (Hmmm, maybe they should watch less television... yes, but it's been so bloody cold outside for the past month!)

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• shelter from the cold
• hot running water
• all the medical advances that do save children

A blustery Friday

We're having a little winter storm here, but it didn't stop us from running some errands today. Actually, it wasn't too bad within the city this afternoon, and it's warmer than it has been the past few weeks.

The girls are very busy right now working on more Sticky Mosaics they purchased today at Chapters with Christmas money. (Sophia received one kit for Christmas which was their introduction to this craft.) All three enjoy this activity, and Georgia is surprisingly accurate with her placement of the little foam squares. (Don't worry; she seems to have no interest in seeing if they'll fit into her nose!)

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• vacation days
• snow tires
• no-hassle returns (we returned our electronic keyboard to Best Buy because we could save $100 on exactly the same thing (plus a cord) at Costco.ca; too much of a difference to let it go!)

First snowfall

This was the scene here at 7:45 p.m. We had just gotten home from our big family supper after the celebration of Great Aunt Elsie's life, and the girls were extremely eager to play in the fresh wet snow. They were allowed to go out for only five minutes, so they just grabbed mittens, a hat, and slightly more appropriate footwear than they had been wearing, and headed out to make snow balls. Bare legs kept them from arguing too much when their five minutes were up!

No highlights tonight. I'm beat. Hopefully tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fresh braids and rain, finally.

I love fresh clean hair that's neatly braided, don't you? Madeline has been wanting her hair braided lately, and I'm very happy to oblige. Sophia wears her hair down almost all of the time, and occasionally uses a hair band to keep it out of her face. She rarely puts it in a pony tail or braid though. I was very pleased this evening when she brushed her hair thoroughly after bathing and then asked me to braid it for her. Once both girls had their hair braided, I had to get a photo! It's just so unusual. I chased them around for a bit and didn't get a whole lot of cooperation. Then Neil opened the back door to check the weather and the girls rushed over to see too. What a sight for sore eyes! A long overdue rainfall, and lovely braids to boot. (It has been so dry and windy lately, the rain is very welcome. I hope it's a good one.)

Georgia update

Thank you for all the nice comments and email messages about Georgia's fracture. She's doing well. Yesterday afternoon, she started getting around on her own and is walking amazingly well on that cast. The only problem is sometimes she gets going too fast and then trips and falls because it's so awkward.

Completely off topic... did you hear they're forecasting a high of 26 (C) on Sunday! Wow.

Random stuff

I need storage solutions for hair bands, play jewellery, and teeny tiny doll accessories -- among a gazillion other things.

I have a new appreciation for Webkinz since the girls' birthday parties. Webkinz have NO packaging, other than one little tag (most toy packages are like Fort Knox, and so wasteful); and they are ONE piece; i.e., they don't come with a bunch of things that are easily lost or scattered all over my house.

I miss my big camera. It's been gone for four weeks now. The little one is good, but it's just not the same.

I need to create something. I need a project. I was much too busy in January, but I hope to find time in the near future. I still want to do some sort of regular feature on my blog.

I'm dreading income tax time. I wish I could just do it myself and get it overwith, but 2007 was much too complicated (esp. re: farm partnership wrap-up; I don't know the implications). I hate gathering the info, handing it over to accountants and then having no idea what's going on or how long it'll take.

I should get cracking on the business of school Valentines so we're not doing it the night before.

I want to know what you think of the show "Lost". Neil mentioned it as something we might try to watch during the writers' strike. Thanks to friends' blogs, I know there are many other good ones we could try too (e.g., Damages, Dexter).

I'm half-way through my temporary position and I'm having a career crisis. I may write more about that sometime.

I have come up with a pretty good solution to help me consume more water -- at work anyway. I have purchased four 700ml bottles (four for the price of one, I might add), so I always have a clean one to take to work. I fill it up at the beginning of the day and I must drink it all before I leave. (I know that's not a lot, but it's more than I used to drink!)

I'm looking forward to summer. Actually, any temperature above zero will do. (For those not already intimately familiar with our current weather in Saskatchewan, it feels like -52 Celsius outside today.)

Daily pic: 16 Dec 07

Sherlock prefers to stay outside almost the entire day when it's nice out (i.e., not bitterly cold). When it was snowing this morning, he stayed here, curled up under our huge spruce tree. He will often make a little nest for himself in the snow or dirt. At 11.5 years, Sherlock isn't very active anymore. I just recalled, he became our dog 11 years ago yesterday.

Daily pic: 15 Dec 07

Frost on the Mugo Pine in front of our house. It was quite foggy out today, resulting in a lovely coat of frost on everything. The temperature was nice and mild too.

Madeline and I went to our last dance classes of the year this morning. I'm enjoying my class very much! I've already learned the Reel and Light Jig (though I'm far far far from perfecting them), and today started learning the Single Jig (which, surprisingly, bears more resemblance to the Reel than the Light Jig). After my class, the students from my class, those from the more advanced adult class, and our teachers met at Bushwakker for lunch. Great food! I enjoyed getting to know my teacher and some of the other ladies a little better. I learned that my teacher's parents both grew up in Ireland, but met here in Saskatchewan after immigrating. Just thought that was interesting.

Daily pic: 06 Dec 07

Just a quick one of my kidlets bundled up in their winter gear. They certainly need it these days. It's been awfully cold here the past couple weeks with wind chills in the minus 30s.

P.S. Snowsuit flashback to October 17, 2004.

P.P.S. As of yesterday, I have actually taken a photo every day for one year! But that wasn't the deal, was it? No worries; I won't stop now. The plan was to take one every day in 2007.

P.P.P.S. Sophia really started reading English tonight!

Daily pic: 21 Nov 07

Guys, I'm tapped. Well, almost tapped. I'll make it, but it seems like I've taken pictures of everything around here! I played volleyball this evening, I'm tired, and the last thing I felt like doing when I got home was wandering around my house looking for something to photograph. So, when Neil said we have a couple episodes of The Next Iron Chef to watch, that's all I wanted to do. And that's all I could think of for my daily pic. I'll try not to make a habit of photographing the TV!

I only watch three shows right now (always recorded; I never watch when they're aired): Heroes, Kitchen Nightmares, and The Next Iron Chef. Love this show! Suspense, drama, food, and even Alton. What's not to love?

P.S. The roads were terrible tonight! On my way to volleyball, three cars were in the ditch along the Ring Road near the university, and then on Arcola, two more cars were on the boulevard and the car in front of me slid off the road too. It took me 30 minutes to drive what normally takes 15. I was late, but so was everyone else.

Daily pic: 18 Nov 07

I took this one while Georgia, Neil, and I waited for the Santa Claus parade to begin this afternoon. (I love taking pictures in natural light!) Sophia and Madeline were on the Girl Guides float in the parade, so we had to be there an hour and 15 minutes before the parade started. Lots of waiting. The temperature wasn't bad today, but the wind chill made it necessary to bundle up.

How 'bout those Riders?! Off to the Grey Cup. Good stuff!

Daily pic: 08 Nov 07

First (or second?) snowfall of the season. It's the first one I saw anyway. The weather has been quite nice this fall; we often have more snowfall before this date. All of this snow has melted already. I only had the opportunity to take this photo because I stayed home sick today with an endless, seemingly drug-resistant sinus headache. I'm tired too. I slept in until 8:00, then went back to bed at 9:30 and slept until 1:00 p.m. In addition to cold and sinus medication, I'm trying Cold FX for the first time. It may be working, but it's hard to tell, isn't it?

Daily pic: 24 Oct 07

The pretty sunset from our front yard at 6:07:50 p.m. What a gorgeous fall day! I hear the temperature reached 25 C. Too bad I was in my office all day.

Daily pic: 29 Sep 07

Sophia and Madeline at the Corn MAiZE this morning. The stalks were so dry and bent over that I could see over them, but the kids couldn't -- especially Madeline. Being able to see over the corn didn't mean I knew where to go though! Madeline was kind of scared at first because she thought we were really lost, but she eventually got over it and had lots of fun too. We'd like to go a month earlier next year (if they have it again) when the corn is greener and taller. A touch warmer would be nice too. That wind seemed awfully cold and nasty by the time we left (just before 1:00 p.m.). Glad to have had sunshine though! We were there for three hours because we went through both mazes and then the Sparks and Brownies had a wiener roast for lunch. Sophia and Madeline were among a handful of girls who received "Campfire Sing-A-Long" badges because most had left before the singing started.

Daily pic: 25 Sep 07

My Sparks. Their motto is: "I promise to share and be a friend." Madeline really didn't need mittens; it was a lovely evening!

Daily pic: 16 Sep 07

Sophia found an interesting caterpillar in our back yard today. And what a gorgeous day it was! The temp reached 31 C.

Daily pic: 15 Sep 07

When the temperature dipped to minus five two nights ago, our Elm trees dropped a lot of their leaves. And when we were getting ready for the wedding Friday morning, Sophia was not happy that we wouldn't let her rake them. Bathing took priority. So, as soon as she was dressed this morning, Sophia was out there raking leaves. Is there any way I could bottle this enthusiasm for yard work and save it for when she's a teenager? I know I'm gonna need it then!

We had another eventful day. Within an hour of getting up this morning, Georgia threw up a couple times then went back to sleep for about three hours. She was totally fine after that. I'm surprised but SO glad! I'm sure Neil was very relieved...

Neil stayed home with Georgia while Sophia, Madeline, and I went to the Hotel Saskatchewan for Rich and Melinda's gift opening. Afterwards, I helped take some family portraits of my Grandma Mantay and her six daughters in the hotel and then in Victoria park. The weather was lovely! And it was a stroke of luck that a friend of mine was in the park too and she offered to watch the girls while I took photos.

From there, the girls and I headed to the museum for Sophia to attend a birthday party. It wasn't easy (tears were shed), but I managed to convince Sophia to let me leave the party briefly to take Madeline home. (I wonder when Sophia will out-grow this behavior.) I headed back to the party before too long and was there for most of it. Oh well. Sometimes it's good to be reminded that your kids aren't the only ones who wipe their hands on their shirts.

Meanwhile, Neil and Georgia watched the Rider game. Madeline had better things to do. Neil isn't too happy after today's CFL results. I'm sure he's not alone.

We put the kids to bed fairly early. Madeline was so painfully tired from staying up until midnight the night before and then getting up shortly after 8:00 a.m., that everything in the world was devastating to her. For example, she was looking at her first year scrapbook tonight and when she saw our old area rug in photos, she cried hysterically because we gave it to Auntie Laurel for her basement -- last fall. OK. Bedtime!

Daily pic: 20 Jul 07

When it comes to packing, my procrastination knows no bounds. This afternoon when I should've been packing for our trip to South Dakota, I felt compelled to hunch over my laundry sink and scrub several pairs of the kids' shoes and boots -- many of which were heading for the retirement (too small) bin, not the suitcase. Oh well, it was a good day to do it; the hot sun on our back step dried the shoes very quickly.

Speaking of heat, a major heat wave is just beginning in the central U.S.:

NOAA FORECASTERS WARN OF BUILDING HEAT IN CENTRAL U.S., THEN EAST -- NOAA urges people in the Northern Plains and Midwest to prepare now for a heat wave expected to plague the region during the last 10 days of the month and possibly into August...The heat's location and intensity make it a dangerous threat to people, crops and livestock.

Grrrreat. The forecast for Rapid City (where we're going to be) for the next week is: Saturday 103, Sunday 107, Monday 105, Tuesday 103, Wednesday 102, Thursday 103, and Friday 98. (In Celcius, that's 39, 42, 40, 39, 39, 39, and 37.) Hmmm, I like hot weather, but that might be a bit much -- especially when we're camping this weekend! I guess we'll really appreciate the hotel we'll be staying in while attending the International Bison Conference next week.

Well, I'd better get back to packing... Do you know how painful it is to pack for five people (one in diapers) for a vacation that includes camping (well, tenting overnight, but not full-scale camping), sight-seeing (in scorching heat), swimming (indoors and outdoors?), and attending a conference (presumably in air-conditioning -- I'd better take a sweater)?!

Anyway, I'm sure the next few pictures I post will be much more exciting than this one!

Daily pic: 06 Jul 07

We actually, finally, started putting stuff back into our house this afternoon*. We only brought in about half of our furniture today. Each piece took some time as we cleaned it and applied felt pads to the legs to protect our floor (or placed special cups under wheels). Spaciousness and serenity gave way to clutter and chaos. I hope I can weed out some of this stuff soon. There's just too much. But first I need to finish painting the front entrance and the trim. It will help to get the paint supplies and other tools out of here.

*Sadly, we had our front door propped open all afternoon on the hottest day of the year (so far). It was 36 C or 96 F today. I'm sure the heat contributed to our slow pace as well.