Summertime, and the living is...

With no disrespect to Gershwin, summertime does not equal easy living. Maybe it's easier not to have to bundle up with several layers of innerwear, outerwear, footwear and the like; but I fidn myself constantly dashing out the door to work, soccer games, board meetings, interviews, daycare drop-offs, day camps, summer school...there's nothing easy about it.

Updates: Hubby got a job. Woot! He'll be baking; but he starts at 4 am. Before the buses run. Yeah, nothing easy there.

J is doing awesome with soccer. He's had about six games so far; and this past week, he was the goalkeep for the first time. Despite the rain and wind (we were soaked to the skin) he did an amazing job! There were probably about 25 shots on net (the other team had a couple of kickass forwards - this is U7, remember!) and he only let in four goals! The overall score was 4-3. He was proud of himself and I was proud too!

C is...well, when it comes to terrorism, she could give any Islamic fundamentalist a run for his/her money. She is my beautiful girl; but, being 3, she's quite convinced that her way is best, and seems to have boundless energy to expend in defense of her position.

The thing about our kids is that they got a good dose of stubborn from each of their parents. :) It will definitely serve them well in their adult lives, but right now, it certainly requires us to parent creatively! I say this with all love and good humour.

Board meetings & interviews: I was honoured earlier this spring to be invited to join the board at Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, where I have volunteered for a couple of years. I attended board member training just last night; and I am feeling energized and enthusiastic about the group of women I'll be serving on the board with. Also, SACK is hiring a new volunteer coordinator, and I am on the hiring committee; so will be helping conduct interviews with candidates. This is a pretty exciting time for the organization, bringing in new energy and a fresh perspective on the group! It's all good!

J will be going to a summer school-type daycamp later this summer, put on by the school board. He did an AMAZING job this year of bringing up his marks. We were absolutely thrilled with his final report card - almost every single mark was brought up; where he had a B- last term, he had a B this term, and so forth. I don't want him to regress over the summer, particularly with his reading and writing which were his biggest challenges. So he'll be going for two weeks and hopefully that will help prevent slipping.

Coming up: Hubby's sister and her husband will be celebrating their 10th anniversary next month with a party at Korner Stone Kastle, a beautiful B&B in Verona owned by our friend Steven Johnston. I am helping her plan and organize the event; and hubby is catering. Check out Steven's website here. If you're looking to stay in a B&B in the area, the Kastle is a gorgeous early 20th-century home with two wrap-around porches, a beautiful, relaxing garden, and nicely-decorated, comfy rooms. (Steven's not paying me to say this, honest! :P )

So - sorry, George; but I respectfully disagree with your assessment of summer living. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)

Report from the jungle

It is hot. And humid. While I'm not enthralled with it, my plants sure seem to be. They have jumped up several inches just in the last couple of days while it's been rainforest-like here. Hooray! My little back garden has tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and sugar snap peas. I have 3 front gardens; one has larkspur, portulaca, cosmos and sweet peas. One has foxglove, lavender, portulaca and something else I planted and can't remember the name of - it's a tall slim stem, with a purple spiky flower at the top, sort of like a clover but a bit more sparse. And the other has foxglove and portulaca. Along my back fence, I have planted some morning glories for privacy, as our property backs onto a alley which runs behind the university stadium. There is quite a bit of foot traffic through the alley - people out for exercise, people cutting through to reach their destination more quickly, kids loitering. I also have some sunflowers planted out there as well. Yay! Within a month or so things will be really jumping. :)

Life has been a little harried here lately; DH took a job in Westport as a head chef, but yikes. It wasn't for him, for many reasons; not the least of which is that it was an hour commute one way. He didn't stay. Today, however, he has his first "real" job through his personal chef business, booked through his website by someone who found him on Google! Yay!

Money has been tight and it's been a bit scary with B not having a steady job. Somehow I'm not that worried. I don't know why - I should be. I mean, yeah, it's there in the back of my mind, but I'm not freaking out. Maybe I've become desensitized to it; it's pretty much been the story of our lives for a good 18 months or so.

Kids are great; C is a little pissy with the humidity (like me) but that could also be because she's 3. J only has a few weeks left of school and then he'll be off for the summer. He's really looking forward to his time off. I don't think B is sharing his enthusiasm, though. :P

And as for me, I'm doing okay. I have just completed a week of holidays, which were really nice. Spent lots of time with B and the kids, and just relaxed. Slept in late a few days and enjoyed the week. I have been invited to join the board at the non-profit organization where I volunteer, as well as joining the Human Resources committee (hiring new staff, dealing with current staff), and that's quite an honour. :)

I have nervous tulips

Okay. What is with the weather? It's April 12 - and we've had more days with snow this month, than days without snow. Last fall I actually got my arse in gear to plant some bulbs (tulips, crocuses; I think maybe some hyacinths? I guess I'll find out), and they have poked their heads up, but every time they start to stretch up a bit, they get snowed on. They're scared to grow; and, frankly, I don't blame them!

Last weekend I put up a little green wire fence around my bulb bed, as I noticed people walking through it. My attempt was half-arsed at best and the fence had fallen over within a few hours. My neighbour, with whom I share a walkway and the flower bed, has been good enough to put up a nice little white plastic one to keep people out. Thanks, Brad & Jenn! (Yeah, not that Brad and Jenn, obviously)

Hubby and I have a date night tomorrow night. Woot! We desperately need it. I think we're going to go see Blades of Glory and then hit a restaurant.

Meet Jack Shrapnel

As mentioned in a previous post, my husband's band, Jack Shrapnel, won a battle of the bands event last Sunday night. The following is a clip of one of the songs the band performed that night.



The band website is located at www.jackshrapnel.com

Can I get a whoop whoop!

Hubby's band (which I manage) entered a battle of the bands. The competition was Sunday night. They won!! Won a few hours of recording time and a "trophy", which is an acoustic guitar with an engraveable plaque.

Whoop, whoop!

Hope it'll open some doors. :)