This post would be more appropriate around the time of our anniversary, but with Valentine’s Day approaching I figured it was timely enough. And even if it isn’t, this is my blog and I can write what I want. Right?
A couple weeks ago Craig Cardiff was in town playing a small venue called The Company House. Last year when Craig was in Halifax we missed him because Robin failed to purchase tickets in advance like he was supposed to and we missed out; we were excited to have the opportunity to make up for that. Craig provided the musical entertainment at our wedding on Sept 3, 2006 – Labour Day weekend. We planned an outdoor wedding at my Dad’s cottage with absolutely no back-up plan in the event of unseasonable weather. We had a tent to protect guests from potential rain but none of us ever imagined that it would be a very crisp 12 degrees Celsius on a traditionally very warm weekend of the year. I’m not sure exactly who invited Tropical Storm Ernesto to our wedding, but it wasn’t me. Inclimate weather aside, it was really special for us to have Craig play at our wedding because one of our first dates was to a Craig Cardiff show where, in a folk music induced trance, I swooned over Robin and decided that I was sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It only took Robin another 2 years to decide he shared my sentiments. Our favourite Craig Cardiff song is Judy Garland, which we requested and he played at our wedding. I think it must not be one of Craig’s favourites though because we’ve requested it a couple since then at shows and he NEVER plays it. Heartbreaking. The Jan 24 show at The Company House was no exception and despite Robin’s shouted request from our table directly in front of the stage, the show ended without us holding hands across the table as we listened to the song that first we fell in love to. Okay not really, but we were mildly disappointed all the same.
A few days after the show I was driving home from work (late, as usual – see previous post) and I stopped into Sobey’s for something (not shortening this time) and as I was backing out of my parking space, the regular “One in a Row” spot came on CBC Radio One. I actually don’t normally listen to Radio One, Robin does. I listen to a mainstream, mind-numbing pop station. I guess I was feeling a little mentally under-stimulated that week, or perhaps I was still feeling guilty over the whole not-hearing-about-the-Haiti-earthquake-for-2-days-because-I-never-listen-to-any-reliable-news-sources thing or maybe it was my Spidey-sense; whatever it was, I was listening that day. The host started reading an email request from “Robin Stewart from Fall River” for Judy Garland by Craig Cardiff. His email went on at length about how Craig played at our wedding, why the song is special to us and ended with a little “this is a song that will warm up even the chilliest days” – she read the whole thing. They couldn’t find Judy Garland (what is it with that song?) but played something else by Craig. The song ended just as I was pulling into the driveway at home, kinda teared up a little, I’ll admit. Robin’s not the most romantic of husbands but he certainly has his moments. Never mind that it probably never crossed his mind that I’d be listening or that he made the request the previous week, intending it to be a plug for Craig’s show, I’ll take the romance when I can get it.
Feb 8, 2010
One in a Row
Feb 2, 2010
A Lesson in the 3Ps – Planning, Punctuality and Perspective
After leaving work 15 minutes later than planned, stopping at my aunt’s house to help her position and connect her new TV, and hopping back in the car to head home in time to whip up a batch of Class Buttercream Icing and (hopefully) have something to eat before leaving (on time) for Day 1 of Wilton Cake Decorating Course 3. Jody picks me up for our cake class and she really hates being late. In fact, she’s one of those people who shows up AT LEAST 15 minutes early for everything; one of those self-proclaimed “annoyingly early people”. At least she’s self-aware, but so am I. If I were playing the if-you-could-pick-one-word-to-describe-me game no one, not one single person who has ever met me for any reason, would say “punctual”. I’m not punctual, I know that. Most of the time I’m not even “fashionably late”…just annoyingly late. It’s not that I don’t respect other peoples’ time…I just demonstrate poor management of my own. I was late for my interview the first time I met my current boss. Anyway, I’ve digressed.
So here I am in the car, headed home at 4:35pm. Jody will be at my house at 5:50pm; she said 6:00 but I know better. The traffic report announces that commuters are experiencing the “usual delays” across the city, including the ramp detour on the 102 at the new Larry Uteck interchange. Crap, that’s me. Now my usual 23 minute commute is probably going to take 30 minutes and I really NEEDED that extra 7 minutes to stop at the grocery store to pick up shortening. Because not only have I not made the Class Buttercream Icing in advance, I don’t even have all the ingredients. Things are looking bleak for getting to class on time on Day 1. Marilyn already shoots us a reprimanding scowl every week when we show up 2 minutes after class has started...I can sometimes feel Jody’s blood pressure rising. Marilyn shares Jody’s values on the topic of timeliness, has low tolerance for lateness (or even non-earliness) and isn’t afraid to make you feel bad about it. It’s a good thing I can make her laugh, otherwise I’m pretty sure should would have kicked me and my $22.50 out of Cake Decorating 101 by now.
Stay with me, here comes the point of the story: I get to the detour, the car in front of me is slowing down…a lot...in the car beside me the guy looks like he’s going to have a seizure because he wants so badly to get around the slow car in front of him but the slow car in front of me is keeping both of us at a 60km/hr crawl. The visibly anxiety of the guy next to me is starting to make me feel anxious and I start having flashbacks to my commuting days in TO when if the traffic report announced that commuters were experiencing delays, I knew in the best case scenario my 1:15 commute would probably take closer to 2 hours and I wasn’t making it home in time for dinner, and in the worst case scenario I might be better off pulling over and sleeping in my car then driving back to work from wherever I was in the morning. As I approached the detour at the construction zone the car in front of me pulled into the right lane; there was no one in front of him. Apparently “the usual delays” were really just caused by having to slow down to 80km/hr from 100km/hr in the construction zone. The Haligonian definition of “delay” never ceases to give me an appreciation for the power of perspective. I cannot tell you how happy I am that my commute can no longer be described using words like “401”, “Across the Top of the City”, or even “Express” or “Collector”…
With those 7 precious minutes reclaimed, I rushed into the grocery store to get my shortening and made it home in time to make the Class Buttercream Icing, clean up, change, play with Caleb a little and have all my stuff waiting at the door for Jody’s arrival. We made it to class before Marilyn, but not in time to get seats next to each other (!!!), and so Day 1 of Course 3 ended (mostly) happily ever after.
Dec 28, 2009
Choo Choo!
Nana and Papa Phaure gave Caleb some trains for Christmas...
And Grandma and Grandpa Buhlman gave him a train table to put them on...
Oct 5, 2009
18 Month Check-up - Stats
We took Caleb for his 18 month well baby check up last week. Everything looks good - he's walking and talking and growing as expected. He's 86.5cm (34") long, 12.22kg (27lbs) and his head is 47cm (18.5"). His height to weight ratio has progressed from the first percentile at birth to the 49th percentile...so basically he's starting to look less like his dad and more like his mom :P
Caleb has about 15 words and another 10 or so signs that he uses consistently and in the right context...he's picking up more every day but STILL (to my continued disappointment) has not managed "mommy". Robin is "deeda" and thanks to Aunt Jane's efforts he's now got "nana" down, just in time for a visit to Ontario to see her. He's very outgoing around adults and always eager to impress and entertain but is much more reserved and shy around other kids. Robin is taking him on Saturday mornings to Kindermusik, where the ages of the kids range from 18 months to 3 years, making him among the youngest in the group. He stands to the side (often sucking his thumb) waiting for his turn to participate. He loves music and dancing (signs music and says "dance") and seems to really enjoy the class, but we think just needs to feel a little more sure of himself around other children before he'll take part on his own. It's only been 3 weeks so far, hopefully he'll gain some confidence and show some more independence in the coming weeks.
Helping Dad out in the yard...
Playing on his new slide...
Hanging out in the pool with pal, Jack...
Hanging out in the pool with Aunty J...
Sep 7, 2009
Pictou Wedding
We were invited to the wedding (on Aug 1) of a good friend from Robin's youth that was being held at the Pictou Lodge in Pictou, about an hour and a half drive from Fall River. We decided to make a nice weekend away out of it. For anyone considering visiting Nova Scotia I think Pictou is a must-stop! It's really lovely little town and the Pictou Lodge turned out to provide more than just adequate accommodations. For one thing, the accommodations were more than adequate, but there was also so much to do at the resort for adults and younguns alike.
We had a beautiful view from our cottage:
The wedding was really unique and the ceremony was beautiful. Both the bride and groom are musicians (flutist and percussionist, respectively) and they played a piece as part of the ceremony. Caleb was mesmerized. After the ceremony the wedding party picked up various instruments and began to lead a little parade. All the guests had pop cans filled with rice under their seats, meant for joining in:
Aug 29, 2009
Out and About at Home in NS
Besides traveling and weddings, we've been up to a fair bit this summer on the weekends. The weather hasn't always been seasonal (except for the past few weeks) but we've enjoyed a lot of what there is to do around Halifax and home, in Fall River.
Greek Fest is a big deal in these parts and, having lived in Greece for a while, Lori was anxious for the nostalgia the event would provide and to share some of her favourite Greek-isms to Caleb.
Double forking it while enjoying some of Auntie's favourite Greek fare:
At Taylor Park between our house and friend Jack's house:
I played rugby this year for the first time since (apparently semi-) retirement back in 2004. I played with a team that's local to Fall River called Riverlake and had a fun time, despite being 8 or 9 years older than my next oldest teammates. We didn't do much winning, or even much scoring, but it was satisfying to give one more year to the sport. I'm now quite certain that my body is too old for such an aggressive sport. Perhaps next summer I'll find a nice soccer team or something.
Getting used to walking on uneven ground (he's an old pro by now):
Celebrating Jack's second birthday. I think this is a funny picture because it looks like Izzy sharing something super-important with Caleb and Jack over cake:
Checking out what Jack's Nanny and Borris (the dog) are up to down in the backyard:
The tall ships came to Halifax this summer and it was a pretty big deal. We took at Saturday to go check out some of the festivities and board a few of the ships. Jody, Brian and Jack came with us and we really lucked out weather-wise because the whole rest of that weekend was rainy and foggy.
Auntie Tina's Wedding in Ontario
Again this year we spent our summer vacation in Ontario and this year we had the added fun of being there for my sister Tina's wedding on June 27. The trip was a little shorter than we had planned since I went back to work on June 1 to a new job and didn't think it would be appropriate to take 2 weeks off after only 2 weeks of working, nor did I really feel the need for a vacation just yet! The wedding was beautiful and we had a chance to spend some time with lots of family and friends.
Sitting with Grandma during the ceremony:
Taking a break with mom in the shade:
Giving Auntie Tina our congratulations (isn't she pretty?):
He was so good all through dinner and the speeches...he spent some time with everyone... Uncle Jeffrey and Grandma:
His cousins (my cousin Ted's kids) Liam and Ethan:
Tina's wedding cake that I made:
Showing cousin Emma how this eating this is done:
Back at the cottage we invited friends to visit on Sunday...
We saw lots of other friends that day too but I just got too busy to keep taking pictures of everyone :S
Monday we took a quick trip to Toronto to visit a few people...
Visiting and having a snack with Hannah...
...and Autumn:
Meeting Ava for the first time (and visiting mom's friends Melissa and Jeff):
Pooped:
Last day in Peterborough, checking out Papa's boat:
Swinging with Nana and Papa on the deck:
Back in Ottawa, visiting Molly, Fred, Nick & Etienne:
And eating their sand:
We spent 5 very busy days there together and then the boys stayed on in Ottawa to visit with friends and family while I returned home to go back to work. This also conveniently provided the perfect opportunity to bring a bittersweet end to nursing.
