Check!

Another project complete. I picked up this Scrapbook Clock at Scrapbooker's paradise as well as the designer papers (well mostly, the orange background is SU!). I combined it with some other SU! colours, mixed and matched different shapes - and voila! A clock for my girlfriend Tania's newest arrival - Maya Natalia. I wouldn't say I am COMPLETELY pleased with it, but I'm satisfied. I may have to tweak it over the next few days.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

We had a fantastic morning at the zoo catching up with a couple of our good friends - Lil & Lexi. Lexi and Grace are exactly one week apart in age, and it's alot of fun seeing how similar, yet how different they are! Officially yesterday afternoon, Grace took off and has decided walking should be her primary mode of transportation. I stopped counting at 28 steps. So for the first time today, I was able to let her out of the stroller at the zoo to explore. Both girls had a fascination with chasing the Peacocks.

I brought my blanket I knitted to book club last night, as I felt like I had done it undue justice on my blog. It really isn't as unravelled as I made it sound.

And here is Grace, desperately wanting to be part of the photo shoot, and sporting her new haircut. In other non-baby, and non-blanket news, I signed up a for a few road races this morning. Check out the bottom of my blog to see what I will be up to come the fall.

Post #2 - Card Challenge #1

Here it is! My submission for this weeks card challenge. I just received the new SU! In Colors this past week and wanted to test out the green. It is really close to Old Olive but a little brighter - love it! I also got their new scalloped border punch (will be in the new catalogue) and was pleased with how easily it punched the edges. I matched it with their circle scallop punch, and some of their felt flowers and bling brads. Quite pleased, quite pleased.

A bit of a disaster.

There was a bit of a disaster last night. I googled how to do the crochet edging, and found out that blocking really only means to iron. So before heading to my running class, I hit Michael's and bought a crochet hook. Perfect. Got home and spent until midnight doing the crochet edging. I was so pleased with the result. Then I did the next step on the instructions - I washed it. I put it in on cold and on the delicate setting. I laid out some towels in the front room and asked Nate if before he came to bed if he could lay it out to dry. I woke this morning with Nate telling me that there was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing he said is that he remembered to lay it out, but the bad thing is that it looked a little damaged. After about 5 more minutes preparing myself for the disaster in bed, I went to take a look. Some stitches had unravelled, the centre was unspun, and the edges were severely curled. Le sigh. So I did the best I could do and pieced it back together. I feel disappointed, but it just gives it more of a homemade look. Grace doesn't seem disappointed with it, so why should I be?

After fixing the blanket I took Grace for some frivolous shopping at Walmart. Classy, I know. Laurie the dayhome provider asked me if Grace had her own chair. When I said no, she said oh, because she really likes it! So, I bought Grace her very own sofa this morning. I tend to think that the things I buy Grace have a purpose - a toy that will teach her language, or how to turn dials, push buttons etc. This, has absolutely no purpose. But the smile on her face when we tried it out in the store, was enough for me. So we now have a Dora the Explorer couch in our front room. I have to still find where it's permanent home will be. Oh and did I mention it also turns into a sofa bed? Yep, it's true, it unfolds into a bed. Oh my.

Since I haven't blogged about Grace in a little while, and because I am feeling particularly enamoured with her today, here is some Grace bits.

- Her new word of the week is banana. If you ask her if she wants some she'll say 'nana'.

- She can now sign the words 'please' and 'nap'.

- She is up to taking 15 steps at a time, and sometimes it almost looks like she's trying to run!

- We have now been off the bottle during the day for a solid week - woohooo! Check her out with her rubbermaid sippy!

Ready?

Drum roll please.....

I know, I know, it leaves me speechless too. Actually, I am really pleased with how it turned out, and I learned SO many things while making it. Such as how to do yarn overs, work on circular needles, knit with five little bamboo needles, and how to cast off in purl. I was worried that the blanket would be too small for Grace to enjoy now as it really is meant as a newborn welcoming blanket, but I think it will work perfectly on those fall strolls to put on her lap in the stroller, or in her carseat. Why is it still attached to a needle you ask? Supposedly the edge is finished off with a crochet hook which I have NO idea how to do. I need to make a trip back to the store to ask them what to do next. Then it needs to be washed and blocked (again, no idea what blocking is). So I guess it's not completely done, but at least now you all know it isn't a hat, nor just a big ball of thread. And, now you can see it actually is square, not circular :)

An award!

I received an award today! My first EVER blog award!

Isn't it pretty? Look at all the nice things Alicia said about me:

Carmen at About a Girl - Her blog is full of one of my favorite people, Grace! But she also writes very honestly and passionately. She is a great friend, both in blogging land and in real life! She has a lot of adventures with running, knitting, card making and cake decorating! She has so many neat interests to read about and is so freakin talented! Go check her out.

Thanks Alicia! You rock! This may be a little different, but I'm passing the award onto a woman whose site I have been lurking for a few weeks. Her name is Sophie and she posts about her lovely three little girls, one of whom was born with a congenital heart disease. I am in awe of how she goes about her day to day while caring for her daughters. I also love the sewing projects that she does, and enjoy looking at the new creations she posts up. So Sophie - thanks for your blog and the inspiration you give me through your sewing projects!

Check back later for post #2 today. I am SO close to having Grace's blanket done!

Piece by piece...

First the hat (except mine is brown):

Then the skirt (also brown):

And finally the shirt:
Can you figure out what Disney character I'm shaping into? Stay tuned over the next few months, it is only going to get better :) Erin, shhhh, don't spoil the fun ;) I picked up the skirt at the Tech Shop, and the woman working there was so excited I was trying to get pieces for my costume, that she called me at home later this afternoon, to tell me she could order me in the yellow tank! I guess it pays for being an overly chatty person. I am quite excited about the yellow tank and chocolate skirt. Even not as part of a costume I think they are quite smashing and colours that work well together. I'm excited to give them many a test run before the actual Goofy Race.

Yarn Monster

I have a yarn monster living in my house. She is about 30 inches tall, with 7 and a bit teeth, and loves to get a hold of yarn to yank and pull until it is knotted beyond recognition. I have done my best to try to steer the yarn monster away, but she attacks without notice, and bursts into fits of giggles when titled as the 'Yarn Monster'. As a result, my knitting is taking MUCH longer. See that chaos above? No, not my actual knitting project, but the strands of yarn going every which direction?

Here's my progress:

Yes, it's a small miracle, that is a picture of the border! I'm working on the border! My poor husband and friends that think they have lost me to knitting, will soon have me back. Nate claims it looks like a rastafarian hat, and poor Erin who came by to visit on Saturday, actually spent at least an hour chit chatting with me while I knit, and rocked, in a chair. At what point will someone step in and say they are concerned? I even informed Nate on Friday that I think I'm getting a knitting injury! But, I'm on a mission to get this blanket done by Wednesday, and I'm oh SO close. Problem is that I still have four more rows of that green and purple to go, and each row has at least 400 stitches on it now. It takes a long time to get a row done so progress is getting slower and slower.

What isn't getting slow is my running - which kind of concerns me. Friday night I went out for a 3K tempo, and had to stop and walk at 2K. Then I realized why - my pace was at 5:30 min/K! Eeek! Time to slow it down. But my legs didn't want to - they just wanted to go and go and go. Fine, I took one more walk break at 3K and chalked it up to a Tempo run. However, this morning I headed down to Edworthy for my 10K and same thing happened. Despite how much I tried to watch my pace and keep it around 7 min/K I couldn't help but run at a pace close to 6:15/K - again, Eeek! These are paces reminiscent to training paces back in 2004 when I was preparing for Vancouver. My mind and muscles are obviously not communicating that there is the huge mountain of a task coming up this fall to prep for a total weekend mileage of 63K in the New Year. That, my dear body, cannot be run at a 6:15/K pace. At least my mind doesn't think so.

Before I forget to mention, if you scroll WAY down, you will see at the bottom of my blog I have added in my upcoming or potential races. I appreciate all comments of craziness, cheerleading, and support.

Happy Dance!

Since last night I have been doing a happy dance about tooth #8 having cut through. Grace is not a good teether - runny nose, crankiness, food throwing, tantrums, bum rash - with the tooth finally cutting through I'm hoping some of that list will end. I am quite pleased about it's appearance. What scares me is that molars will be next.

Talking about dancing, I was watching SYTYCD this past week. Erin helped my confusion about why Comfort was still on the show when I thought she had been eliminated. But what I don't get, is the Snuggle cam happy dance. Seriously why would you want to do dance so badly on public TV? Just to be on TV? Sometimes I just don't get our reality TV crazed world.

Now to running - I have been putting alot of thought into what type of costume I'd like to wear for both the half and the full run in Disneyworld next year. I have never run in costume, but I know I will want it to be light, not cumbursome. I have had ideas such as Tinkerbell, Daisy Duck and one of the mice from Cinderella cross my mind. Any suggestions folks? This weekend, as I mentioned in a previous post, I am scheduled in to run a 10K. I think I will do my best to get out on my own and run it, rather than trying to meet up with a group. I'll load up my ipod with some new groovy tunes and head to the river. What are your favorite songs to listen to when running? Anything I should put on my MUST have Running list?

Hope you all have a fabulous sunny weekend!

Bits & Bites

The silly things she does:

And then there were three:

Progress :

Progress slightly more unfolded:

Not to feel neglected, slightly slower progress:

Breakfast of Champions:

Bits & Pieces

Here are three things I was told, overheard, or read today:

1. When getting my slurpee at 7-11, some young guys came in. They were talking about the slurpee flavours and one read out loud 'Crushed Banana'. His friend said back to him 'That sounds painful'. I had to not giggle out loud.

2. Driving down Crowchild Trail I read this on the back of a Dodge Truck "Dodge the Father, Ram the Daughter"

3. Buying my slurpee and smarties at 7-11 (yes, indulgent, I know) the woman at the counter told me 'That's how I taught my daughter colours'. With smarties? I guess whatever works.

Today is a better day than yesterday but I feel emotionally drained and physically drained. Physically drained due to my Tempo run last night with my Running Room Group. We were scheduled to do 5K and ended up doing 5.6. Tara and I pulled it off at an average pace of 6:11 min/k which we were both happy with. This weekend is my first that I will actually be able to do a long run with the group and the first weekend Tara won't be there. The other two women I could run with were saying last night that they did their past runs at a 6:41 min/k pace despite that they did that same pace last night for their Tempo. My motto for the long run is, the slower the better, and I'd rather not run with people that are keeping one eye on the clock and trying to push their legs to go faster. We will see what I decide to do come Sunday morning - perhaps I may join up with Erin's clinic who supposedly have more people that do a long run at around a 7 min/k.

Ok, now here's a confession. An article yesterday in a parenting magazine caught my eye. It was written by parents whose daughter was born with a birthmark. Many of you know that my daughter Grace has two hemangiomas. Grace's are deep hemangiomas and they didn't appear until she was 8 weeks old. Anyways, the parents in this article said that they hid their daughters' birthmark with hats, tried to only take pictures of her 'good' side... basically they were ashamed about how it made their daughter look. I told myself early on after we first met with the Children's Hospital, that I would not be that type of parent. I would show all sorts of pictures of her, birthmark or not. This article brought to my attention that I have been doing exactly what those parents have been doing. I will have a really great photo of Grace but will never post it up or show it to people because her birthmark is in it. I'm tired of people asking me if Grace fell and hurt herself when they notice the bruise on her jaw. I'm ashamed that I'm tired of having to explain her condition to people. My true confession is that yes, I wish that Grace had a perfect smooth back like the rest of her friends do. But, it isn't on the outside that makes us perfect and Grace is beautiful no matter what. I need to remember that ALL of her sides are perfect. So, here is a picture of my beautiful little girl, showing her BEST side.

Retail Therapy

I'm not having a very good day. I was delivered some hard news this morning, had a few conversations with my family, and am now having an even harder day. After a good cry on the phone with my Mom, I decided I needed to get out of the house. Knowing that Nate probably wouldn't approve of a retail therapy shopping spree, I took Grace out instead to the Starbucks and then to the Fabric store to check out potential fabrics for her quilt. I know I know, after the post yesterday I really should not be venturing out into yet another project. But, it was a good distraction and it was fun trying to imagine up which colours to put with which for her room. In the end, I am still in love with fabrics by Amy Butler and think once I have the pattern, I will just order my fabric online rather than at the store.

I hve my running clinic tonight and think it is schedule to run 5K straight - gulp! I think a run tonight could do me good, despite that running for 5K straight honestly seems rather daunting.

Since I haven't done so already, I want to send out a HUGE congrats to Erin for doing amazing on her trail race on Saturday. It was her first and in true trail running fashion, she got covered in mud.

Also a note to Alicia for the outstanding job she did re-painting her house on Saturday. It looks smashing in the photos.

Off for more therapy - this time it involves knitting. House cleaning can wait another day.

Quiet Monday Mornings

With Grace now in the dayhome half days on Monday, my mornings are rather blissfully quiet. However, I try to jampack them full of a million things to get done, so I can spend my afternoons blissfully lounging around with Miss Grace. So this morning here was my list of possible things to accomplish:

Mow lawn

Weed flower beds

Clean Kitchen

Unpack from weekend away

Clean Grace's room

It is now an hour from when I need to go pick her up and what have I accomplished??? Just the last three items. I should realize that cleaning Grace's room always takes me longer than anticipated. Mostly because I end up spending time oohing and ahing over her little items - especially her clothes. This morning I spent an hour packing up the clothes she has outgrown and taking out clothes she will be growing into. When I was expecting Grace I would spend HOURS in her room organizing her cute little outfits. Nate has no idea how I could possibly spend that much time in one little space, but it's far too easy. Best part - ok two best parts. One I found a Gap gift card in her closet this morning and two, I need to go shopping for her for the fall - woohooo!!!!! Anybody want to join me for a shopping spree for Miss Grace?

Ok, here is the progress I made on my knitting this past weekend. I apologize for the bad photo - I took it last night and was too lazy to re-take the image this morning. Because it is on circular needles I can't lay it flat to show you how big it is now, but I'm working from the centre out. The white square is the centre so at least you can see how far out one side of it is knitted. I hope to finish it this week so check back for the finished project!

Talking about projects I have a million. I decided last night I really should finish some of them before starting more. Here's my list:

Baby Cards for Candace

An H for Hailey

An M for Maya

A growth chart for Ellie

The blanket above

My ever ongoing afghan

Grace's 3-6 month scrapbook

Grace's 6-12 month scrapbook

I'm sure there's more. Enough you think? Yeah me too!

Back from the 'Big Z'

My Dad has always referred to Zealandia as the 'Big Z'. Despite having to drive 10 hours within a span of three days, it was a great weekend away catching up with family - some that I haven't seen in over ten years. I heard that there were 97 descendants of my Grandma and Grandpa Ashton there, and a total around 240 from my Great Grandparents - Edward and Evelyn Kidd. It is astounding really that I am related to all of those people, and furthur astounding that that is only a small drop in the bucket. Many weren't able to attend. Friday night we had a memorial service for my Aunt Shirley who passed away in January, at the Zealandia Cemetery. I had never been but it was pretty neat to see. Burried at the cemetary are not only my Grandparents, but also my Great Grandparents, and quite a few other relatives I never had the privelege of meeting. Saturday saw us playing bocce ball, doing kids races, eating pancakes, doing a potluck dinner, and as we always do, a family talent show. So here is a joke from my family reunion - to you.

One of my family members gets up on the stage and is pretending to drive a car (yes, we have a stage at the Zealandia hall). An 'officer' pulls him over and asks for his name. The driver says Fred. The officer wants his last name but 'Fred' explains that he doesn't have one. The officer obviously wants an explanation. So Fred says that his name used to be Fred Dingaling. The kids made so much fun of him at school that he stuck to himself and studied. He ended up going to Medical school and got his degree so his name became Fred Dingaling M.D. Pretty soon he got bored of being a Doctor and went to Dentistry school. He graduated, got his degree and became Fred Dingaling M.D. D.D.S. Again, he got bored and fooled around with his assistant. He became Fred Dingaling M.D. D.D.S. with VD. The Dentistry Board (I believe he used the acronym CCA) found out about the VD and took away his DDS. That left him with his name being Fred Dingaling MD with VD. Pretty soon the medical board found out about the CCA taking away his DDS so they took away his MD. That left him with Fred Dingaling with VD. Then the VD took away his Dingaling which is why his name is only Fred. Har har har.

I hope you all also had a fantastic lovely weekend!

Procrastinator Extraordinaire...

It is 20 to 11 at night, and I am still not completely ready for tomorrow. I try not to blame things like being late to a meeting for instance, on my daughter. But in the case of packing, I have to say it is that little lady that takes up so much of the cargo room! It is amazing what you have to take with you for a one year old, even just for a weekend away!

Last night was my knitting class.... and I have to say I'm pretty close to saying it's an evil knitting class. Last week I hurried home and did what I needed to first so I wouldn't forget how to do it, and second so I'd be ready for last nights class. We moved all of our knitting stitches off of the five bamboo needles last night and onto one circular needle. Sounds nicer, but it really isn't. I am only now, many rows later since moving onto one needle, not cursing it. Not to mention I made quite a few mistakes last night on the blanket and was so frustrated Nate finally just told me to go to bed. He knows me well enough that I would have started ripping it apart, and that wouldn't have accomplished anything since seriously, I would NOT have been able to start over again. Anyways, I managed to rectify the blanket today and am actually really loving it (for the time being). Here's a snapshot of my progress - oh and those fancy little beads, those are my markers for each side of the blanket (everything should have a little 'bling'). I'm taking it with me this weekend, so I will post a new pic up on Monday of how much I managed to accomplish!

Tomorrow 9 am my parents are coming by to pick up my little clan and we are headed off to Sask. This is Nate's first trip to the East of Alberta. I hope he sees the beauty that I do in Saskatchewan's wheat fields and the beautiful flat prairie.

A side note that this is my LAST weekend away for the next couple. I am looking forward to some R&R at home next weekend on my back deck :)

Any Lurkers out there?

I know that there are people that read my blog, because they comment on it in person, but never leave feedback here! Are you a blog lurker?! I'd love for you to come out from the shadows, drop me a friendly hello, and let me know you are visiting my space :)

Yesterday was Grace's first day in the dayhome and things went phenomenally well - for her. Ok, they weren't bad for me either but I did feel a little empty handed. When I went to leave in the morning, I picked up her diaper bag then remembered it had to stay. Then when I walked into the house I felt like I had forgotten something in the car. I got busy around the house and then actually had a moment where I thought Grace was napping. By the time 12:30 rolled around and I had to go get here I was feeling pretty antsy to get going and kept watching the clock so I wouldn't be too early, or too late. Geek, I know.

This coming weekend is my family reunion in Saskatchewan. Zealandia to be exact, just outside of Rosetown and only about a block long. If you'd turn your head away from the road just for a minute, you'd miss it. For those of you that know me, you know I have a big family. Nate conceeded last night he didn't realize how big... and I think he's a tad scared for what is coming up in the next few days. My Grandparents on my Dad's side, my Grandma had 10 brothers and sisters. She and my Grandfather had 9 children, the youngest being my Dad. Now they each got married and had at least two children each, usually three, who then had children etc. etc. This coming weekend from my Grandma alone, there are so far a total of 93 people attending. However, this is a reunion for all of HER brothers and sisters and THEIR families also. So, another ten families of descendants will be there as well. I am sure it is going to be pure, absolute, amazing chaos. I'm excited. For those of you now feeling badly for Nate, I will let him know he is not alone.

I finally decided on the quilt pattern I want to make for Grace's bedding. She is still in a crib right now, but will soon be moving onto a twin bed (by soon I think probably around Christmas). She's a bit of a monkey and loves to climb everywhere. I'm waiting to hear the thud as she falls out of her crib one day. Anyways, it's called 'Bento Box'. I really like it, and for my first quilt, should be fairly simple to do.

Spectacular Weekend!

I had an AMAZING weekend spent with some lovely women. Saturday morning we met at Sara's and headed off to Banff for a night away. There were five of us total, all with babies born within a span of 3 months of eachother. Did I say already what a great weekend it was? At 1 in the afternoon we headed to Mountain Spa and were treated to such things as facials, a body wrap and a pedicure. Lil took the opportunity while the rest of us were being pampered and went shopping. So the body wrap. I had no idea what to expect. I got kind of curious when I was told I would get pretty wet and was handed some disposable underwear. Yes, just as sexy as the ones given to you in Labour and Delivery. Ok, not quite that sexy - but close. For those of you who haven't had that experience, L&D underwear is see through mesh and are quite large. The spa ones looked like they really should have been a surgical mask. Nice. Anyways, so I lie down on this bed and she uses a brush to paint on the lotion. Then she wraps me up in plastic and covers me in towels and blankets. I'm left for 20 minutes. Now here is where the experience could have been a bit better. I think some nice music while I waited would have been quite nice, but rather I could hear all the conversations in the hallway between the staff members. Then she came back in and unwrapped me, hosed me down with a Vichy shower hose, and then turned on overhead Vichy sprinklers. It felt SO great. Then she massaged in some lotion to finish it all off. Would I have one again? Probably but I still love pedicures. I think the ultimate experience would be having a wrap or scrub and THEN getting a pedicure or manicure to finish everything off. That would feel SO great! Ok, then after the spa we hung around Banff for a bit, had something to eat and drink then headed back to the resort to take a dip in the pool (which was covered in kids). Then we lounged around some more, cooked up some very tasty dinner, and chit chatted some more. In the am we made a run to Starbucks, made some waffles, went to the Candy Store, hit Lulu, then headed home. I walked into Lulu, saw the first table with some super soft hoodies, and splurged to buy one. I actually wore it around the store until I purchased it, and despite it was mid 20's yesterday wore it home and around the house. It feels like you are wearing a blanket and I'm in love with it :)

What else made this weekend so spectacular? Grace Lillian took her first steps! Nate was there to witness it on Saturday, and said he almost cried. On Sunday, she took a total of two steps and can now often be found trying to stand up in the middle of the room unsupported. Nate and I are both bursting with pride and we love watching our baby learn to 'toddle'.

New office & New Job!

So I'm back at work today. It is my first day doing my official new job as an Evaluator, and my first day in our new office building. I managed to find the office tower this morning and a Starbucks so I was off to a good start. I have a beautiful view out of my TWO windows (woohoo!) of the Chinese Cultural Centre and the pathway system - love it! The actual office space though... feels a little unhomey. I am used to two floors, and smaller floors. We are all now on one, with three kitches, a library, who knows how many copier rooms, and I feel a little lost. It is almost pointless to try to walk the floor to find the person you need, so I had to quickly find my phone directory this morning. I'm sure it will start to feel cozier soon though once I figure out my way around.

Ok onto knitting! Knitting class on Wednesday was not what I expected. First, I had to Google what 'dpns' were before I went to class. They are double pointed needles. No problem, sounds good. Oh no, not good. I am now knitting on four little bamboo needles with a fifth one in my hand. Sounds challenging, and yes, it is. First we had to start by crocheting and then knitting onto that, and finally I had my sixteen stitches on, and damn, I dropped a needle and had to start all over again. Since that experience I am now pretty protective of where my stitches are on the needles (have to keep them near the centre) and my project is definetely out of Grace Lillian's reach. I think I may have signed up for more than I can chew. A little background for you all though - I learned to knit from my Mom, who is self taught. Supposedly I knit backwards, so that has also proved a tad bit complicated for both me and my instructor. I am lucky there are only three people in this class as I need all the one on one help I can get.

Last but not least - its 7-11 day today! Don't forget to head to your nearest 7-11 to get your free slurpee :)

Tomorrow I am off with my 'Mom' friends for a weekend away in Banff. Our pampering starts at 1 with spa treatments. I am trying something new and am getting a body wrap. I'll let you know how it went on Monday.

And as for my list of lost items - I have now found my debit card, but Lily Mae is still missing and so is my scan disk to upload photos. I called the hotels we stayed at as well as Celebrity Cruises so we will see if anything turns up. This is now the life of a Mom - calling to try to find a lost toy. Love it.

Lost.... & Hopefully Found?

We did pretty well on the trip with not losing things, but the things that are lost are rather important. As of this morning here is the list:

1. One of Grace's Geox shoes (luckily found after I cleaned out the rest of the car).
2. My Debit card.
3. My ScanDisk card so I can upload photos from my camera onto my computer. Not good.
4. Grace's LilyMae frog. I have to say this I am the saddest about.

I am glad to say that all the laundry has been done, everthing unpacked, and grocery list compiled. Now all I have to do is wait for Grace to get up and go shopping. Amazingly the grocery list isn't as long as I thought that it would be after having been gone for 2 1/2 weeks.

Then tonight is my knitting class. Lacey posted back and asked if it was at Make 1 Yarn studio - it is! I have never been there but am looking forward to it. I will report back tomorrow on how it went.

Hope you all get out to enjoy some of this lovely weather today!

Not Guilty.

I am a naturally guilt ridden person. I tend to worry about everything and feel guilty about most things. I have decided I am no longer going to feel guilty about being a Mom, or about that Grace is the center of my world. Other things are definetely in the centre as well, but she is a big part of it. And, that's ok. Last Saturday at the wedding, I noticed that the other woman in the wedding party who had a child, never spoke her name once that entire day, nor did she see her. I will admit, I talk about Grace alot. I probably spoke about her alot that day, and Nate did bring her by to visit. I also went and saw her once in the dorm room when there was a break. Someone said to me that day that my face lights up whenever I talk about her. Why wouldn't it? Why shouldn't it? I am trying really hard to find new 'loves' in my life such as running, but Grace will ALWAYS be one of them - and I don't feel bad about that, and I have decided to stop apologizing to people for it.

Why this post right now? I am back at work on Friday, just one day a week, and on an hourly paid basis. But, another woman who was just on mat leave has returned full time. And oh how much easier that would be for the company. Yes, I started to feel guilty at all the trouble I have caused them. Coming back part time, then two months later having to take a leave, yada yada yada. Nate said this morning, then why I don't I see if I can come back full time too? My answer was that I wanted to also be with Grace part time. His response? Then if that is what I want, don't feel guilty about the choices I have made. I can already hear my brother saying to me "Who is the one person you are responsible for?" Yes, that would be me. So, today at least, I will not worry about what other people are doing, or what other people think of me. I will just be me, and will be loving my little girl to bits, thankful for the gift that she IS.

Mr & Mrs. Knowles!

Here is a wedding report for you all, and my last post until we are back in Calgary!

The entire celebration was absolutely breath taking. I didn't cry while Allie was having her hair done, or while her make up was being put on. But once we got to the castle and they took her dress out of the bag, that was it - I teared up. What surprised me actually was that I let a few tears out when Pete was saying his vows to Allie. I am absolutely overjoyed that they both have eachother, and that Allie has such an amazing man to spend her life with. I just know he loves her completely and I couldn't ask for anything more for my dear friend and sister.

Here are all of the bridesmaids on the rehearsal night. Left is Shelley, then Krystle (Maid of Honour), myself, then Joanna. Allie gave us all earrings and necklaces to wear, as well as Starbucks mugs engraved with their wedding date and our role, as well as little black purses that said 'I'm a bridesmaid' on them. On Saturday morning we stopped to fill our mugs at the Oak Bay Starbucks, and after seeing we were a bridal party, we got our coffees for free!

Look at that hair! No, have no fear, it didn't stay like that, but it did give me some amazing volume.

Here's the outcome. Nate brought Grace by to visit, and here you can see a good profile view of my hairdo :)
Onto the wedding! We had a few sprinkles of rain in the morning but it cleared up to be absolutely beautiful. Allie was bagpiped in, walking with her Dad. Didn't she look beautiful!?

Of course it wouldn't be a wedding without the groom. Here's Pete, the great guy who married this great gal! What's with Grover you ask? I guess it was one of Pete's baby items and Allie passed it to his Mom before the wedding, and they dressed him all up in a matching tux.

I have to say I am a tad tired today, but it was all worth it. Congratulations Pete & Allie Knowles!

7K in 10 minutes!

I ran 7K in 10 minutes on the cruise ship - or so says my Garmin ;) Then it ran out of batteries. All I can figure is it had something to do with the ship moving, me moving in circles, and it got all confused. But I like how it sounds - times like that MUST make me an Olympian! But, as a result, I have since been running based on time spent on my feet rather than distance since I didn't pack my charger for the Garmin. Yesterday Nate gave Grace breakfast and I headed down to the Breakwater to do my run. I love it down by the water, and since I seem to only get to Vic now once a year, I decided I should do my run where I used to love to run the most. It was absolutely gorgeous. I did a total of 22 minutes. I'm assuming that is at least the 3K that I had to do and perhaps close to 4. I have yet to do one of my 7K long runs as last Sunday I was driving and this Sunday I will be recuperating and attending a gift opening.... but, here's to the possibility that it might happen.

Last night was Allie & Pete's rehearsal dinner. Let me tell you that Hatley Castle is ABSOLUTELY breath taking. Gorgeous - absolutely gorgeous. They are getting married in the Gardens. If you click on the link, they are getting married in the gardens first photo on the left. Stunning isn't it. After the rehearsal we went back to their place for a BBQ. Given I don't know many other people in the wedding party, I really enjoyed sitting around and visiting with everyone and getting to know how they know Pete & Allie.

Grace came with us last night and actually got so fed up sitting on my lap, she stood on the grass - all night! This is a small miracle. Lately what I hear so much is how close to walking she is, or that it's ok she's not walking yet because it isn't until 18 months until I need to worry. Last night I was even told she isn't walking yet because she is still slightly flat footed. I love people and their opinions. My daughter will walk when she is good and ready - thank you very much.

Must keep busy....

For some reason I am a person that must be busy. Even in my 'down' time I tend to be doing something. I can't seem to sit idle. So, with my cake class being done, I was searching before I left home for another class to take - this time involving knitting. I came across a knitting store in the NE that had a baby blanket class that sounded perfect for me. Not introductory, not advanced, but I would learn a few new tricks. Nate called last Saturday while I was already on the road, and got me a spot. I am so excited! My first class will be the first Wednesday back from Vic - July 9th and the class will run for three weeks. I am hoping I master the pattern for this baby blanket as I'd love to be able to give Mom's-to-be a blanket when their new wee little ones arrive.

So back to the Vic front, Nate and I had a mini date night last night and it was splendid. We hardly ever get out on our own so this was a real treat. We stopped and picked up a coffee (ok, I got a coffee) then we headed down to one of 'our' beaches. When we were dating Nate and I spent alot of time sitting on beaches, throwing rocks, and chatting. When we are in Vic we try to find time to be able to do that again. We were joking last night that we should have had a list of blind date questions to ask eachother. It is hard for us to find things to talk about other than Grace as our date nights are so infrequent. However, we did master it and it was nice to have the time alone. I guess date night #2 is on Friday night and I have been told I need to wear a nice dress!

Oh, and can't miss out on this! Miss Grace walked across the kitchen last night pushing a chair! It was absolutely delightful to see. Adorable. Absolutely adorable. Go Grace!

Glorious Day #2 in Vic

So today was as great as yesterday. Allie came by this morning to pick up the ribbons for the cake, and brought me a caramel macchiato as a treat. YUM! Great friend I tell you.

Then after Grace had her nap, Nate, Grace and I headed downtown to do some shopping. This was really quite tremendous of Nate since the shopping was for make-up for Saturday as well as hair accessories so that I'll be set for my hair consult tomorrow. So the make-up I got from Clinique and really like - since the wedding is at 4 it will be slightly dark and sultry but hopefully oh so pretty. Then the hair accessories all have a little bit of bling to them - a headband as well as some bobby pins. Whatever the hairdresser decides not to incorporate tomorrow, I can easily return - excellent! Then, Nate has been bugging me that I need to spend some money on myself since he realizes that that makes me happy. I am pleased to report that I bought myself a new pair of Guess jeans as well as a shirt. I currently own a pair of Guess jeans but have never bought a shirt from there before. I am quite pleased with the entire outfit and might wear it for the rehearsal on Thursday since it's a BBQ event.

All in all a very excellent day. Tonight Sue and I are going to attempt to fix the dress. When I spoke with my Mom this morning and told her about the dress and my not enough boob issue, all she could do was laugh at the image of my dress falling down during the ceremony. Wouldn't that be a sight! But the darts in the dress and the pinning of the dress to my bra should do the trick. Operation dress repair here we come!

Allison Lee MacLeod

I thought I'd type that out because on Saturday, my dear friend Allie is marrying her best friend Pete. It didn't dawn on me until yesterday on the ferry, that she will no longer be Allie Mac.

I have been friends with Allie since Grade 7. I got an e-mail a few weeks back from the gal doing her speech asking if there was any stories about Allie we could send her to be included. How do you possibly sum up 16 years of friendship into one story?? Impossible really. I still haven't responded to the e-mail and the wedding is in just 4 days.

So today I spent my entire morning and afternoon with Allie and her family. I helped her sister Meg wrap up 90 favor boxes, I went shopping with Allie to find a few last minute things she needed, and just finished sewing beads onto ribbon for her for their wedding cake. I also tried on my bridesmaids dress and found a bra with some extra 'oomph' so that it fits a little better. It is still a tad big so Sue (Nate's Mom) is going to help me out by putting in some darts. Last thing anyone needs in a castle wedding is a dress falling off a bridesmaid. In anycase, this was not the traditional way I tend to spend Canada Day - with hiking, a picnic, and usually a run. But it was absolutely splendid spending it with one of my truest friends and my 'adopted' family.