Houghmas 2017

(all photos can be enlarged with a click)

No snow?  No problem.  Santa will still come!

It is possible that there was no Houghmas 2016 post.

To make up for that, today I give you the Houghmas 2017 Extravaganza!

(insert your own festive gifs here!) 

(or better yet, go look one up, like the one of Buddy the Elf shouting, "Son of a Nutcracker!")

(Go ahead, I'll wait.)

(pause - I just Googled it myself)

(aaaaand I'm back)



First of all, the obvious needs to be stated:  London is not Ottawa.

For some reason, giant pink flowers bloom here at this time of year. 
The getalong gang thinks it's pretty neat.

Here we are on December 22nd, enjoying a nice warm afternoon at the park.  Green grass, green trees, and the green pathway behind Tamsin is covered with nice green moss.  People plant in December, their "spring planting".  I almost approached a gardener to tell him that it would never work, but it looks like I'm wrong.

And here they are, 5 short days later.  We arrived in Ottawa late on Boxing Day, and when we awoke the next morning, the kids begged to play outside in the snow.  It was -28.  "Stupid cold", by anyone's definition.



However, what mother, two days after Christmas, could possibly deny her offspring to get the bleep out of her house?  "Dress warmly!" I said, tea in hand, jammies still on, and away they went.

 I was trying to capture the ice on her eyelashes.

Tamsin lasted 20 minutes (5 more than the requirement for hot chocolate when it's -28).   The other two played outside in that cold for almost 50 minutes!  (Evidently, and unlike their parents, they have not gotten soft over the past 5 months.)

We spent a day and a half at grandma's, with a delicious turkey feast with aunt, uncle and cousins, complete with cookie decorating and wii tournaments, then off we went to visit our cousin Kaiden and his very gracious parents.

On the menu:  STEAK.  Delicious, Alberta steak.  We were so excited that there was a rugged man around, willing to brave the f-f-freezing temperatures so that we could have a great meal!  We salute you, you manly man, you!

Study in Canadiana, Part 1:  Things you don't see in London:  barbecuing steak at -25. 

Kaiden looked like he had no idea what kind of festival was coming to his house, but I like to think that he'll miss the x-treme excitement of Hufflings on Holiday.

From there, we went to a fantastic wedding at Calabogie Peaks because SEAN GOT MARRIED!!!!


FOR REAL!!!!

TO AN ACTUAL GIRL!!!


His brilliant and gorgeous bride and beautiful son will keep him on his toes.  It was an amazing party, as expected. 


The kids made tons of new friends, and the girls will be (s)talking about their idols and style icons, Emily and Grace, for the next year, at least!

Canadiana, Part 2:  You may have to zoom in, but I wanted to get a picture of very specific Canadiana:  the view of a Poutine truck from the drive-thru of a Tim Hortons.

Canadiana, continued:  stuck behind snowplows on the highway.  It just feels right.

The next day, we braved arctic temperatures (only -25!) and the bunny hill!  Chris and I are now rocking our lift passes... they unfortunately say "Carpet" in large black letters, but I'll own it.  This selfie was supposed to include the kids on the carpet lift behind me, but ... uh ... didn't.

 I always tried to explain to Chris why, in Medicine Hat, I'd bundle up on a winter day with a bright blue sky.  In the prairies, a blue sky is a warmer day, but here in Ontario, it means STUPID COLD.

Apres-ski, with pink cheeks and smiles all around!  The two graduates of ski school are in the back, and the daredevil/natural is in the front.  They are all looking forward to strapping on the skis again in February, when we head to Austria for (yet another) school break!














We flew back on the red eye, so the kids could sleep the whole time whole family could become almost hallucinogenic with how insanely sleep deprived they are.  The next day, severely jet-lagged, we staggered to the park for a lengthy introductory ping pong session in fresh air and sunshine.  Turns out that Vaughn is a natural!*

Home again, home again, warmity warm.  

Real life starts again tomorrow.  All in all, it was amazing, busy, exhausting, and too quick.  We were so happy to see the few people we could see, and look forward to everyone else coming to visit us here!  We hope that everyone else had as happy a holiday as we did, and that 2018 is full of laughter and health.

Cheers to all, and to all a good night!






* Although was possibly a hallucination.

Urge for Going

I get the urge for going/
When the meadow grass is turning brown/
Summertime is falling down and winter's closing in.

Ah, Joni.

This is the last post, Hat-side. The packers come tomorrow, and the movers the day after that.

It's not as easy as it would have been last year, or even six months ago; with each day that passes, our roots grow deeper, and we create more memories with the friends we have made, and the eagerness to rejoin "civilization" -- as we've been calling it for the last three years, almost entirely due to the selection of restaurants -- is tempered with sadness: it's bittersweet.

We left Ottawa as newlyweds, which is different from best friends. We packed up and Went West, like you are supposed to do, on our Grand Adventure. We're coming back now, as best friends, and with two very permanent souvenirs, very much changed from the people we were.

We've learned that starting over is hard, but not impossible.

We've learned that great people are everywhere, and you can build friendships and bonds over the smallest things.

We've learned that cable is actually a good thing.

We've learned that we can survive on a whole lot less sleep than we thought possible.

We've learned that a baby can physically spit up more than 6 times what went in.

We learned that one good friend can get you through.

We've learned that a house becomes a home very quickly when you bring a baby home from the hospital.

We've learned that life went on, without us (gasp!), and that the Ottawa we're returning to isn't the one we left.*

But we've also learned that it's where we want to be.

So cheers to all who participated and shared in our Grand Adventure, making it so Grand. We look forward to this next one.



*For example, Vanier is now an "up-and-coming" neighbourhood. (see also, Dowisetrepla)

You can check out anytime you like...

Woo.

We've been keeping this pretty quiet, despite the Great Excitement and Newsworthiness of it all: we're moving! There have been cryptic references throughout the postings for the past few months, and finally, finally, finally, everything was, well, finalized, so we got comfortable telling people the big news:

We're moving back to Ottawa!

This has been in the works since January, in an on-again/off-again way. Unfortunately, the last time it was "official", which was June, it was repealed within 2 days, and we had to deal with a bunch of people calling us to tell us they heard we were moving, and we had to tell them all that, actually, we're not. (Not to mention, we hadn't told anyone that we were moving, and it's a bit upsetting to have to deny a rumour that you really, really wish was true, all the while wondering where the heck it started...) And then hearing that it was officially ON again, but not from the people in charge: no, from a friend who heard it from another friend.

So, understandably, we kept the lid on it this time as well...but with a move date 15 days away, understandably, we were pretty confident and ready to go and spreading the news quietly. Not a big, bellowy "We're Outta Here!" Nope, just telling one friend at a time. Giving notice to our beloved daycare. Cancelling important things like phone, heat, and cable. Telling everyone that it's supposed to be a temporary move, and we should be back within 2 to 3 years, and would they, by chance, like to buy our house? (http://www.mls.ca/PropertyPhotos.aspx?propertyID=9843484&PhotoNum=15)*

Until this morning.

So, we're moving back to Ottawa...but it turns out we're NOT going anywhere anytime soon. And the way we found out? Our relocation agent (a rant for another day) told us that the bookings (packers, movers, cleaners, and flights) that were supposed to be done last Friday didn't actually go ahead because we're not moving for another 6 weeks... or so.

Um, what?

What I don't understand is why nobody thought that it was important to let US know that. Sure, two young kids, me barely holding it together with lack of sleep, stress of a move and now a pulled muscle/pinched nerve in my neck (joy!)...why, what's another 6 weeks (or more) of stress? Oh, and Fis is holding up about as well, too.

So yes, we're moving to Ottawa. When? No idea. I'm not going to commit to a date, although I'm sure I'll hear about it through the grapevine.

I have to say, I can Pollyanna through just about anything, but I'm tired. I'm tired of having to regroup and wrap my head around a new reality every few weeks, and have to be ok with it. I'm tired of all the crap we've put up with over the past three years, and that we're expected to smile about it and accept it. I'm tired of the small-town gossip mill, of knowing that everyone knows my business before I do. I'm starting to believe that people don't move to Medicine Hat and stay here because they like it, but because they just can't leave.**

Oh, and the conditional offer on our new home expires tomorrow.



* No, seriously. Buy our house.
** Apologies to friends from here: I'm sure I'll be less bitter tomorrow, but today, this is all I've got.

Orange you glad THAT's over with? (for now, anyway)

First things first: did you know how much fun oranges are? Neither did I!

Whew! Well, we had a rough night's "sleep" (well, an "awake" would be more fitting) while we were in Ottawa - somebody was cranky and screamy for no good reason. The next day, whilst having my hand gummed, I realized that it was, in fact, being chewed...with a TOOTH!!!

Vaughn's first tooth showed up on Tuesday, June 16th, at 5 months and 1 week. Well done, sir!

Later that week, after procuring and administering Tempra every evening, the angel had another super screamy night, which we didn't know how to fix or what to do... and to our surprise, we found ANOTHER TOOTH on Saturday morning! What a week!

Mr. deMille, I'm ready for my closeup!

And my X-TREME closeup!




Hey, you know what else is super fun, besides oranges? Funny dog sounds.
Good thing Mommy didn't have much dignity to begin with.

Weekend at Bernie's

We kicked off our trip to Ottawa with a stay at my parents' place. It was wonderful to see them, and Vaughn got to experience a whole gamut of fun things...

It didn't start out too well; he had to help with the laundry.

Things soon looked up, though. He learned to express himself through music.
He got to experience fine wine.

He was exposed to fine literature.

And, last but not least, he got to associate with the ladies! The V-man LOVES the ladies.

The rest of the week, spent downtown, was awesome, too. We were able to see lots of different friends (Kris, Lisa, Andrea and Danielle, we'll definitely meet up next time!), eat at fabulous restaurants, and go for lovely walks around the Hill, over to Quebec, and along the canal, too!

Boy, do I miss Ottawa.

It was really, surprisingly, nice to come home again, though. We seem to have settled in here quite well, and are so happy in our little house!

3 months old and full of smiles!

Life is getting back to normal again, after a last-minute whirlwind trip to Ottawa, where we spent 2 1/2 days downtown and 3 in North Gower. As always, the little guy travelled like a champ, and impressed the people on the airplane to bits. He also was very happy to meet friends and coworkers from RCMP and PCO, as well as birthday breakfast friends and other revelers! And Grandma and Grandpa agreed, again, that he's a really good baby. Go Vaughn!

I'm so sorry to the people that I was unable to get in touch with or meet up with, but I promise to do better in June, since I have more notice, and email access too! (So mark your calendars for mid-June: 11 - 21st, I believe)

Here, Vaughn and I are dressed in our Easter-appropriate clothing.

As you can see by our faces, we think it's awesome.

Below, the V-man gets double-teamed for bathtime in the kitchen sink. Also awesome.

And finally, getting into nice fresh jammies and having his hair fluffed, just so. Awesome.

Note: his hair actually does this on its own, to a slightly lesser extent, and I have such a limited window of making him look silly and fluffy, so naturally, I can't resist.

Meet the Fockers!

Well, Vaughn has now met the whole fam damily.

Chris' dad stopped by for a quick visit on our first day home from the hospital. Needless to say, we weren't in any shape to entertain, but I propped myself semi-upright... it's not like he was there to see me, anyway! I'm resigning myself to the fact that I'm now just "Vaughn's mom", and not a person that people want to see alone anymore!

We went to Ottawa during the last week of January/first week of February. He was an angel on the flights, sleeping almost the whole time - and proceeded to stay up, angry, till 6 am, to make up for it. Mom was great, and sent me to bed at 3 am, so I got a few minutes of sleep, but when I heard him still screaming at 3:40, I felt bad for her, so I went out to take him...and she had gone to bed!

My mom holds a sleeping (thank goodness!) Vaughn.

My dad is tickled pink with his new grandson.

Seriously, though, it was lovely - I'd feed the little guy, then Mom would take him and send Chris and I back to bed. Just what I needed! In between cuddles, he napped in a beautiful cradle, which Dad had made by hand for my nephew Logan!

Logan and Jodie (my sister's kids) got to meet their new cousin, too! (I'm just to the right of Logan, smiling, since I thought I was in the picture, too. Guess not.)

The grudge match - evenings in North Gower are pretty quiet, so we filled the time by playing Killer Bunnies, and, of course, table hockey. (???)

Last week, Chris' mom came up from Vegas for a visit (we were supposed to go down there, but there were issues with getting a birth certificate and passport in time), and then we drove her up to Edmonton to spend a few days with Chris' brothers - Vaughn was a hit with all of his aunts and uncles. And his cousins on that side (Odin the Great Dane and Teddy the Papillon) didn't eat him, so the visit can be considered a success!

Chris' mom with her first grandchild.



Uncle Rob soothes the screaming beastie.



Uncle Ryan gives great cuddles!

New photos / Homeward Bound!

Well, it's been 2 1/2 weeks and I can honestly say that this parenting thing is a breeze.

Or I'd be able to say that if it were opposite day, which I don't think it is.

The little pooper was on a nice, 3-hour schedule of eating, being diapered and sleeping (all of his own volition!) until a few days ago, at which point he decided that it's more fun to be awake and squawking incessently and inconsolably than asleep and looking angelic.

I think he's started his "3-week" growth spurt, which just means, as far as I can tell, that he's extra cranky and hungry all the time. BUT, we did have a nice hour of awake and happily alert time this morning, which almost makes the following 7 hours ok. Mumble grumble. Mommy needs a nap.

But Vaughn's growing and changing so much by the day - he's focusing his eyes on us a lot more, and although he's not smiling on demand yet, he's definitely got a great random smile!

Hey, we're heading to Ottawa tomorrow! I'm very much looking forward to introducing Vaughn to my parents (and two extra pairs of hands...) and to everyone that can make it to Chez Lucien on Saturday. We're hoping to fulfill our craving for The Works at some point, too, so for those that we don't see on Saturday, we'll send an email about the second opportunity to see us!

Either way, it will be a bunch of firsts: the first time Vaughn's been on a plane, the first time I attempt to nurse in public (I assume he'll have to eat at some point), the first time I cry on an airplane (aside from July's PS I Love You fiasco, I mean), etc. Let's hope that the passengers around us are understanding/deaf/like babies!

Girl's Wine Night

The fish and I had a great time. We both send our love to the Ottawa Girls for their virtual support on Saturday night...though they were no help with the bottle of wine! It was a rough go, but I finished the whole thing.

Go me.

Hic.

Winterlude 2007

I heard an expression once from a comedian, and I can't think of it in any other way, now. Winterlewd. Heh.

Here I am, skating on the Rideau canal. You can see me just about to go under the bridge - I'm the one in the tocque.

How's the ice, you ask?

http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16299-10080-10081&lang=1

Just made it through the first weekend of Winterlewd (hee hee) 2007. The weather was great for strolling through the Market (on my way home, or on the way to the gym), dodging tourists (with skates swinging from their shoulders), stopping for poutine (after too long at the Brig), and passing by a BeaverTails stand (again, 2 blocks from my house). The plans to go snowboarding on Saturday were quickly downgraded to plans to rent a movie and order pizza... because, at minus 6, it was pretty chilly, and probably chillier up on a ski hill.

Come to think of it, my usual efforts to Embrace Winter!TM have sucked pretty badly for the past two years. I used to bundle myself up and go for walks, go skating, and try to do as much outside stuff as possible, in order to step outside of my warm, hot-chocolate-filled cocoon (happy, happy, warm cocoon...). To Embrace Winter!TM, three years ago, I would walk 45 minutes to go meet a friend for tea. Two years ago, I took snowboarding lessons, which meant that, every Wednesday, come freezing rain, minus-20-degree weather, or... actually, it was only those two conditions, alternating without fail... where was I? Oh yes. I was inside with a book.

Last year, I went skating once. ONCE! No skiing, no snowboarding, no walks through beautiful Gatineau Park. What's changed?

10 guesses, and the first 9 don't count.


Ah, relationship comfort. If I may, let me look back at my past Embrace Winter!TM attempts, and see them a bit more clearly. In fact, instead of Embracing!TM, I think you could also label my outside activities as ones designed to Impress Boys!TM.

The truth is hard to swallow. This mug of hot chocolate goes down much better... especially with a wee bit o' baileys...