Update

Well we're nearing the end of the month, and I have a few things to write an update on.

Aunt Olga passed on Thursday, January 24th. It's sad, but I'm glad she's no longer in pain. I felt a lot of guilt for not keeping in touch with her over the years, but it's made me realize I still have a chance to renew my relationships with other members of my family. A lot of my family lives far away and although I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to, I can still keep in touch in other ways. I'm going to be making that more of a priority.

We move in two days, so things have been a bit hectic around here lately. I'm not looking forward to actually packing and unpacking the truck. I'm hoping the boys take care of most of that. I'm not sure why, but that part has been stressing me out more than the packing itself. I'm actually excited to start unpacking in the new house. There will be so much space for everything! Finally, space!

Anywho, I should probably get back to packing now :)

For aunt Olga..

I received news this evening that my mum's aunt Olga may be in her last days. She is 84 years old and quite sick in the hospital. I obviously knew this day would come, but now that it has I find myself quite unprepared. 

She doesn't live near me, and I haven't seen her in a few years at least. I tried to recall the last time I saw her and I'm quite sure it was almost 4 years ago. I had an opportunity to visit her in July of last year, but didn't. For that I feel incredible guilt. I thought I would have more time. Well to be honest I didn't really think at all. 

It may seem odd to feel so distraught over someone so distant. I mean, she's my mum's aunt, how close could we have been? The truth is we used to be quite close.

When I was a kid we lived about an hour and a half from Burns Lake, BC, where Olga and my grandparents lived (not together, just in the same small town). We'd visit my grandparents a lot and in the summer me and my cousins would spend a lot of time there (looking back it feels like weeks but I don't actually know to be honest). Olga was always around, she'd come over to their place for lunch or dinner and she always had little presents for us. Usually fancy little perfume bottles or some other trinket. We loved her, she was so much fun.

I remember watching her make sauerkraut one summer. It was quite disgusting actually, but fascinating. 

My first year going to Ootsa Lake Bible Camp I was excited but nervous and maybe even a bit scared. Right before going I was staying with my grandparents and I developed a large boil on my thigh. It was painful and horrible and I had to take antibiotics and clean it every day. I can't remember how old I was but definitely not old enough to be relied upon to do all that myself. Thankfully aunt Olga was the nurse at the camp that year, so she took care of me. And not just my leg. Whenever I felt uncomfortable (I was a socially awkward kid) I'd go find her and we'd sit in her medical room and just talk. It was so long ago but I'll never forget it.

I wish I had kept in touch with her throughout the years. She is such an incredible woman and I always meant to write to her and let her know how much she meant to me.

I hope she has family and friends with her right now, and I hope she is at peace. She will forever have a very special place in my heart. 

A perfect world?

I always think of weird and crazy ideas to blog about while I'm driving or shopping or cooking or otherwise unable to actually do anything about them. Then I either forget about them entirely, or I decide they're much too silly to actually allow out of the confines of my skull.

Well here's one of them, silly or not:

Wouldn't it be really neat if everyone in the world could do exactly what they wanted to do? With everyone talking about the "end of the world" last year (and for years before that I suppose), it always got me thinking about what would happen if life as we know it no longer existed. What would everyone end up doing? Obviously that's not an ideal scenario but it's how this line of thinking got started.

Then I wonder how many people out there could be truly great at something if they were given the right opportunities. Maybe there are people out there who would make amazing doctors or scientists or who knows what if they were given the chance. And not just that, but musicians and poets and writers and so much more.

I wonder how much happier the world would be if at least more people could just do what they wanted to do. If the proper education was made more available. What would I have done if I could have done anything? I'm not entirely sure actually, I'd have to give it some thought.

What would you do if you could do anything?

MOAR blogging!

I need to update this more. I'm a really terrible blogger. So, that's my (late) New Year's resolution.. to blog more. That will likely mean some really boring blog posts about absolutely nothing in particular, but that's okay.

Want to know something funny? I started my blog because I like typing and wanted a reason to. I've been saying lately that I really don't ever want to go back to work but if someone were to offer me a job just typing all day, I would do it. And I'd love it. That would be my ideal job.. typing all day.

Everybody: Meet my new house! It's mine and I love it and I can't wait to move into it in 2 weeks! It'll be great to finally have some space, and my own yard. We've lived in this apartment for over 7 years and it's time (it's been time for a while..) to move on! I'm glad we waited until we could buy something we'll really enjoy and that will suit us for quite a while though.

Anywho, time to get my little monster to nap so I can watch some tv and avoid packing!

And the waiting and hoping begins..

We put an offer in on the house this morning and have heard back from them a few times already. They countered, we countered.. and so on. We're within the limits of what we can afford, however we may run into problems because the house was appraised for less than what the offer is at now. The bank may not want to let us pay that much for the house.

I have an issue with getting my hopes up too soon, and I try not to but I can't help it. I end up being crushed when things don't go the way I'd hoped. I'm trying to stay positive. So far things are going good. I just have to wait it out and try not to think about it too much.

Time for bed. Hopefully we get some good news tomorrow.

House hunting..

Well to be honest it wasn't much of a hunt. My realtor sent me a list of 49 places and I narrowed it down to 6. We looked at all 6 today and immediately discarded 3 of them and fell in love with one. That one is at the top end of our possible price range, which could potentially be a problem. Tomorrow we're going to look at it again (I went by myself today, Denis is coming tomorrow) and hopefully attempt to make an offer from there.

If we can't get that one there are a couple more on the list I'd be interested in but that one is perfect. I'm very excited :) I can't wait to see how this all pans out!

Sleep pattern success!

I'm so proud of my little boy. He's finally turned what seems like a permanent corner in his sleep pattern. Since about mid July he's consistently gone to bed between 7:30 and 8pm (unless we're in a situation where this hasn't been possible, out for dinner, etc.) without hesitation. There have been a few exceptions but I can't even remember the last one.

Around 7:30 (or a tad earlier if he's been grumpy) I tell him it's time to get ready for bed and we go into his room to put pajamas on. I give him a clean diaper if needed, put pajamas on him and then we go back out to the living room where he hangs out with daddy for a few minutes while I get his bottle ready. If he's in a good mood I sit him on the floor to "help" me put his toys away. Mostly I put them away while he watches and/or takes them all out again. If he's grumpy we skip right to the bottle. We say goodnight to daddy and I take him to his room, feed him his bottle and we cuddle for a minute or two. I then put him in his crib, turn on his musical seahorse and say goodnight. I turn the light off and leave, closing the door behind me. And that's it. He goes to sleep on his own, every night. Sometimes he talks to himself for a few minutes before falling asleep but he doesn't cry. Bed time has become non-negotiable and I love it! I don't know how long this will last but it's been going on for a while so I'll take that as a good sign for now!

Naps have also been getting better. Most of the time I can just lay him down in his crib, say goodnight and leave, and he goes to sleep on his own. We're not quite 100% in the nap department yet though, he still sometimes protests. Usually the morning nap goes well but the afternoon one has to be timed just right and the timing is a little harder to figure. If he's not quite tired enough or if he gets too tired he fights the nap.

Progress is being made though, and life is good!