Coop Scoop - Pirate Party Particulars

had such a fun time in Virginia this past weekend! The day Ian and I arrived the weather was AWFUL. Humid. Hot. Gross. The day of the party was cool, a bit breezy, and sunny. (No bugs - woot!) Absolutely gorgeous weather. I like to think that Erik had a part in it! It really felt like fall almost - my favorite season... We couldn't have asked for anything better!

When I plan parties like this, the whole two I've done, I never really know how it's going to turn out. But as kids started to arrive I thought it would be good. Then I saw my sister surrounded by kids digging into the treasure pit! Some of my ideas turned out to be really good... Best of all - my sister scored a castle playset. It was the highlight I'm sure! There was a plank to walk, a photo prop to pose as a pirate, a pirate ship cake and some pirate tunes playing in the background. I think the adults enjoyed it just as much as the kids! I look forward to the next birthday party I can plan... probably for Max's 2nd or Cooper's 4th birthday. All I need is a theme and I can run with it! [As long as there is a rubber ducky that fits the theme~]

It was great to see my mom and the rest of the family. We're still ironing out plans... but I'm sure we will get together soon! Below is set of photos from the party - Arrrrr enjoy matey!

Quick DC Trip

y brother-in-law is a bit of a bad influence. While posing in front of the Washington monument, he said to Ian... "Turn to the side and pretend like it's your..." Yeah. And Ian did it! Bad Ian! Bad Derek!

The family - Me, Ian, my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and 2 nephews headed down to DC for a little bit. Emphasis on the little bit. After my last chiropractor appointment the right side of my back couldn't hold out for very long.... It was still fun! I'm not going to post the bad picture here... but this is a picture of Ian and I. =P

Choices Choices!

rrrrr.. Matey! We have a lot of decisions to make. (See how I'm getting into the Pirate spirit already!) Last Saturday Ian and I visited our dirt and future neighbor Alicia and then headed down to the design center. After spending roughly 3 hours looking at tile, cabinet and paint samples... we've made a few decisions. Please bear in mind that the pictures are not the greatest. Colors may differ in person. =P

Let's start with the kitchen - my area. Not that Ian doesn't have a say but I have a VERY clear vision in my mind. Specifically this one.....

I loved everything about this kitchen minus the fake decor. It just has this clean simple look to it. It's bright and airy... I may not copy it exactly but it will be pretty darn close! Below are the choices we made for the kitchen. From the left, dark gray granite with flecks of light gray and black. I think the edge of that sample piece is the edge we are going to go with - not 100% though. The floor tile in the middle is what will be throughout the 1st floor - foyer, mud room, powder room, hallway, dinette, and kitchen. It is mostly gray but with flecks of brown and blue (both super faint). It looks lovely paired with the hardwood, which you can kind of see up above the tile piece. The hardwood will be in the library and dining room. On the right is the cabinets - shaker style in white. The hardware is just going to be silver knobs for now... they looked the best.

Close up of the tile... again, really hard to see the colors in it.. but I love it!

Blurry picture of the hardwood. It will be made of ash with a dark brownish/reddish stain. The staircase will match sort of. The benefit is that the hardwood will not touch the staircase so they don't have to match. But at least Ian and I are on the same page that we want it to be dark brown but not too dark. The staircase is oak and will pick up the same stain differently.

Oh man... the BIG "discussion". We want to go with gray tones in our Master Bath or as these damn Canadians INSIST on saying... "ensuite". The cabinet will most likely be shaker style (not shown) in white. The floor tile is that bottom tile that has flecks of darker gray in it, the lighter tile on top of it might be the shower tile. The two pieces of caesarstone on the cabinet are where negotiations break down. The lighter piece... it's "okay". To me it blends in too much. The darker piece, which looks like coal in this picture even though it's not that dark, would stand out. I can just see it with a nice white sink and bright silver faucet. Ian's opinion is that the styling is too much like our kitchen. On one hand, I see where he is coming from and on the other, I think he is crazy. We also want to tie our "ensuite" to our master bedroom. Currently our bedroom furniture is brown. We would like to stick with it. We are thinking of having a green color make that connection. But... it's an ongoing debate.

The main bath styling was A LOT easier. Blue and brown. Easy cheesy. The cabinet is the one on the right - shaker style again in a dark brown. The countertop in the middle is just a plain countertop (no granite in this one!); it has flecks of brown, beige and blue. Very light... but very nice. The floor tile is brown; still having anxiety about it... but the wall color will be the one to make it come together. We really like that blue - second from the left. We have a shower curtain that will match perfectly.

If I can get the colors adjusted slightly, I really want this print for the bathroom. It's kiddy but my style.

Carpet... no pictures but we did decide on colors for the living room and upstairs. I think we will be happy with our decisions. Unfortunately, we won't know until it's all over with. At least we have a few more weeks to mull this over.

I have to give a frickin' HUGE thank you to our future neighbor Alicia. She supplied us with some photos from the Losani models. It helped SO much in our decisions. Even at our last appointment... I was able to just point to the picture of the staircase and say "Make it happen, cap'n!" - so thank you again, Alicia! She also took on the role of photographer at our dirt over the weekend. We hadn't gotten a picture of us in front of our lot sign. Please excuse the hair - a tad windy out in the desert!

And that's about it... Ian and I leave on Friday for Virginia. Very excited! Here is the latest picture of our dirt. You probably can't tell... but some rocks moved a little to the left. Awesome.

Uncle Onion Has Scurvy

[Not really. Against his wishes, I made him go back on Vitamin C.]

It's been a long few weeks. Actually, since the month is almost over, it's been a long August. Ian's work hours... filling my time with cleaning and prepping for Cooper's Pirate Party... work drama... making house-related decisions. Top it all off with heat and humidity. Meh. Not impressed with the month of August.

Ian's work hours. They seem to be easing slightly. A couple of days ago he got off around 6:30pm. That's really good! All I can say is I am thrilled he isn't working weekends.

Cleaning and Pirate Party Prep. I have stopped cleaning so much. Only went through one vacuum. The house is a little more tidy than normal. Today I need to go home and clean but it's nothing major. As far as the Pirate Party Prep. I am done! I shipped everything down to my sister except some ribbon and envelopes I can carry with me. It is going to be a great party I think...

Work Drama. The issue was really when I thought things were great. I got back the position that I wanted... everyone seemed happy... I was happy. But then it turned out everything wasn't okay. I had one of the worst week's I've ever had here. I kept thinking about the job I used to have and how much I loved it. Then on Monday I got the greatest news. News I had been waiting to hear since last summer. All I can say is, the cloud has lifted. I am positive the tides will turn and everything will be good again.

House-related Decisions. I know that from the outside it would seem that making these decisions is fun and easy. It is fun. Some are easy. Most are pretty hard though. When you tie in the fact that you are working with a budget, some the options cannot easily be changed, and that you have to compromise with your husband who thinks that if a hallway is tile that means the whole first floor will seem like tile....................................... It's hard. =] I'm looking forward to knowing that we don't have any more decisions to make. The house just needs to be built!

But August is almost over! Today is Friday. I have a half day due to summer hours (my last one!). I am going to head home and clean house. Wait for Ian to get off work. Tomorrow we are going to the dirt to meet up with our future neighbor Alicia. Then down to the Losani design center to look at all of our choices. I think our strategy is going to be to chip away at all of the decisions we have to make... just knowing how many options there are is a bit overwhelming. Ian and I fly out next Friday to Virginia. Gonna get our pirate on! Then we get to wait until the end of the month for our final design appointment.

I am so excited to see my nephews next weekend!!!! Max is out of the EHN I'M A NEWBORN stage and into the gooey baby stage. Lots of drool. Maybe some smiles thrown in. And then there's Captain Cooper. He is turning 2. 2 I say!!! Going potty and everything. Damn kid needs to slow down. Stop growing up so fast! But I can't wait to go! G-Ma, Aunt B and Uncle Onion are coming!

The Bang Lowdown: I am still on the fence. It's odd. But it hasn't bothered me much. I just can't decide if they look good. It is nice to do my hair the lazy way - put Curl Keeper in when it's wet, dry my bangs and leave the house.

It's Just Hair - Ian Edition

It was a perfect storm. Ian was sick... then he had some crazy work hours including the weekends... and then when he did get the weekend off, his hair stylist was on vacation. Thus, the mane grew. [Editor's Note: These photos were taken against the subject's will, hence the disgruntled nature of them.]

Before:

After:

Design Appointment

Yesterday, Ian and I raced down to Stoney Creek to our design center appointment. It was the structural and exterior decisions that we had to make. The designer was very helpful in guiding us where to use our dollars... She only gave us the salesman pitch on one item and that was worth $670 (damn you TV niche!!). It was nice to see some items automatically included. Example: if you buy granite for the kitchen, the price of the under-mounted sink is already included.

The one thing that really hit home with me is just how big the house is going to be. I really can't picture it... But I asked the designer to tell us how big the vanity is in the Master Bath. When she said 6.5 feet... I almost fell out of my chair. I'm not that great with numbers... or visualizing it... On the layout, I had guessed maybe 3.5, maybe 4ft. Coming from living in an apartment... that's HUGE.

Also, if you tell me something in inches... it's almost in one ear and out the other. We reconfigured our master bath to have a 60"x32" glass shower. It doesn't mean much to me. But they referred us to a new model home that just opened down the street from the design center. It had a newly built shower, hence the duct tape. I stood in it and it's so big!

Overall, I'm really excited about the house again. We got to see just how nice it's going to be. I think it's a true reflection of the hard work Ian and I put in to be able to afford a place like this. It helps ease the frustration that I've shouldered to move countries. I can't wait for our next appointment in September to pick the fun stuff like tile and granite colors! Here is the latest picture of our dirt. Still dirty.

Dear Fellow 401 Drivers

I drive 45+ minutes each way to work every day. This morning I worked my butt off to prepare for the afternoon... and then I was in meetings the rest of the day. After basically frying my brain over work, I want to release some of the frustration/energy/anger/whatever you want to call it. I know you can see me. I don't care. If I want to groove to some pop hip hop, I'm going to just that. If it looks like I'm dancing around a bit... it's probably because I'm choreographing in my head. If I want to sing the lyrics to some emo pop, like this:

...I'm going to do just that! Yeah, it looks a little weird... but the chances of us seeing each other again are pretty slim. I'm paying attention... I'm keeping up with the speed of traffic... Both of my hands are on the steering wheel (most of the time...) - in short, I'm driving in a straight line at 70mph (convert to kph yourself!) - there's no harm in me getting a little groove on. (This is even before the news that made my day? month? year?????? =])

It's Just Hair

I'm still surprised that I did it... But I wanted a change. Upgrade or downgrade?

Before:

After:

Out Of My Hands

I feel so relieved. The FBI finally got back to me with my criminal record - ALL CLEAR. It was just the final piece I needed. Now it is 100% out of my hands. All I have to do is sit back and wait. I also submitted my temporary work permit renewal today. My life is ruled by paperwork since moving to Canada. All I have left to do is wait for permanent residency to come through, get a permanent SIN, a permanent Health Card, and then I'm done! Any other paperwork I may have to do will be normal stuff... mortgage paperwork, etc.

This whole thing has been like a cloud hanging over my head... I'm fine with playing the waiting game... but not when it has an effect over something else. This issue combined with Ian's long hours, work drama, and general summer-related malaise has taken it's toll. We need a vacation! At least a trip down to my 2 adorable nephews will help.

This is me - both relieved and tired.

Prediction #2

I had to laugh... but I think Ian wouldn't be completely like this. He would probably be on the couch... LOL. Just kidding...