Power outage

Today was a pretty boring day for me. I woke up after another night where it felt like I was awake more then I slept. I don't like nights like that. I'm sure I did actually sleep more then I think but it was that kind of night. Also, kitten decided to sleep on my face.

I got out of bed and looked outside. I couldn't believe how high the tide was. The water was covering most of the spit and all of the big rock on the beach. We have never seen the tide so high. I took pictures and will have to put them on here so you all can see just how high it was. Apparently it's suppose to be just as high tomorrow. Tyler wants to park the car at the end of the spit so it looks like it's floating on water.

I was eating my granola and surfing the internet before Edmonton noon news came on. Once all the tops stories were finished, I started on the few dishes from last night. I did dishes 3 times yesterday and still had to do them today and I don't know how that happened. I'm convinced Tyler goes through the cupboards and just uses dishes so I have more to do the next day :)

I sat down and started to read a new book. I picked up "The Five Love Languages" again just for something to read to Baby J. The points the author touches on are insightful and educational but I'm finding it's not well written. Maybe I'm just not use to his writing style but it's kind of tough to read because I feel like this author almost talks to you like you are 10 years old, like you don't understand the point he is making so he has to give so many examples just to drive it home. It's annoying.

I took a shower about the same time Tyler came home but was done soon enough to enjoy lots of time with him. He said his day was like every other day, just trying to keep busy while passing the time. It's never very busy for him when the weather is windy and gloomy. He went back to work and I tried to figure out how to spend my afternoon.

I did my work out while once again watching the outside world go by. I wasn't in the best of moods today so I spent my time trying to figure out what was up and trying to cheer myself up. Maybe I'm not getting enough vitamin d because we haven't really seen the sun too often. Maybe I'm slightly anxious about getting home. I'm not sure but I wrote in my journal while snuggling with Kitten.

I had the tv on as background noise while I surfed the Internet some more. I was looking up baby stuff and that made me happy. It usually does. I love seeing how the little peanut is growing. My favorite thing is that if Baby J decides to come any time now, it has a very good chance of surviving. Of course there would need to be medical interventions but at least it would survive. That brings great comfort. We are 100% sure it won't come that early but you never know.

I started to make dinner which was smoked salmon BLTs on bagels. It was super easy to make and oh so good. I also gave some salmon to TK who had been outside all day so I know she didn't eat anything.

Tyler came home and we ate our dinner. He got called to work shortly after we sat down but we finished our meal before he went in. It wasn't an emergency.

Once he got home again he had to study. He wasn't motivated at all but knew he had to so he went into the room. I was cross stitching and watching my favorite Christmas movie "Elf". That made me feel really great. Soon after Tyler went into the room, the power flickered off. And then it came back on again. And then off and on again. And then it went off for good. Tyler came out of the room and we lit some candles. We continued to study and cross stitch by candle light and we also brought out a wind up lantern that we bought for times like this.

Our friend Jessica was going to come over to watch some Thursday night tv with us but now we weren't sure if she would show up.

We waited until 8pm and heard a knock on our door. She had come over because what else there to do by yourself when the power is out. She had a salmon bagel and we sat and talked for a while. We decided that we would play some phase 10. We moved the candles to the dinning room and started our game. We did more talking then playing. It was a great evening and it really turned my grumpy day around.

Jessica just left and now we are getting ready for bed. Still no power and no heat but it's not that cold yet. Kitten is running around but we are sure she is just playing and not trying to keep warm. I'm sure she will be joining us in bed tonight.

I hope the power isn't off for too long. I don't remember what items are still on so if the power comes on in the middle of the night, who knows what will happen. I'm sure the tv is off so at least there won't be noise.

It's off to bed now. This is all typed on Tyler's phone so hopefully there isn't any misspelled words.

Sonja

November 23, 2011

Last night, I had probably the worst game of yahtzee in my life.  I just couldn't get any of the dice to do what I wanted.  I had to resort to cheating once just to get my large straight and I wasn't even ashamed of that.  I don't mind losing, but when I put up no challenge then I feel like Tyler might as well be playing by himself.  So, Tyler won 2 out of 3 games and will probably win again tonight.

I didn't have a good sleep last night.  I woke up at who knows what time because I thought someone grabbed my foot, and since Tyler was sound asleep beside me I could only assume that someone had broken into our house and was now hiding at the foot of our bed.  Lucky for Tyler, I was awake enough to know that that in fact wasn't true because Kitten was still sound asleep beside me.  She would be the first to wake up if someone came into our place.  So I didn't wake him up but I remained awake for about 2 hours.  At one other point, I thought I saw something in the dark but I figured that if someone was going to rob us or hurt us, they wouldn't be hiding under the bed first.  They would just do what they came to do and since nothing was happening, I was safe enough to not have to wake Tyler up.  Kitten was being super cute this morning though so while I hated being awake, at least I was being moderately entertained.  She was sleeping on her back with her paws up in the air and every once in a while she would stretch and all 4 paws would go sky high and then relax again.  Only cat lovers would really understand how that could be so cute.

I did eventually get back to sleep.  I woke up when Tyler's alarm went off but quickly fell right back into a strange dream.  I love being able to just get right back to sleep.  Once I got out of bed, I made some pancakes and watched a bit of tv before Edmonton news came on.  I watched  bit of that while playing on the computer and making sure Kitten didn't scratch herself while she cleaned beside me.  I did the few dishes and cleaned up the kitchen a little.  I also made Tyler a sandwich and prepared his other lunch foods for easy eating when he got home.  He always eats a banana and a nutrigrain bar after his sandwich so it's easy enough for me to put that out on the counter.

Once Tyler got home, I joined him while he ate his meal and we chatted about our trip and Christmas and how his day was going so far.  I enjoy our time together.  We usually have a great time talking about everything.

He left back for work and I headed out to the store.  While preparing dinner yesterday, I noticed that our garlic which we bought last Saturday had a green fur growing on it.  We have no choice but to buy a package of 3 garlic bulbs and there was mold in between 2 of them.  It was really gross to not notice that before we actually ate some.  I took the garlic back to the store where they said I could go grab another package of 3 and they would deal with the one I brought back.  I checked all the packages of garlic to find that they all had this green mold on them.  So instead of buying another package, I got my $1.30 back.  And besides, who needs 3 bulbs of garlic.  We certainly don't eat it all before it starts to sprout.

I got back from the store and worked out a bit.  It's always nice to work out and look out at our view.  Today, most of the afternoon was sunny and clear but windy.  I watched as the giant coast guard boat left the dock and watched all the other sea traffic that was going by.  It's so beautiful here and I can't get over it.

Once done my workout, I sat and cross stitched and let Kitten go coneless for a while.  She fell asleep beside me.  Soon, it was time to start making dinner.  Tonight we had chicken with skillet gravy.  It's a meal I've made many times and every time it's really awesome.  I started at about 4:30 with the potatoes. I wasn't going to start cooking the chicken until Tyler came home because that doesn't take long and I didn't know if he would be home on time.  It turns out, Tyler had to stay late and he came home at 5:50pm.  I started up the frying pan and soon enough dinner was ready to go.

We sat down and enjoyed a tasty meal while talking more about Christmas and our days.   It will be super tough to shop for any one this year because we just don't have time to go out and buy it.  I'm sure we will get it done but it's causing me to over think just how we will get that done.  I'm sure it will work itself out.

After talking for a long time, we are now sitting on the couch, Tyler is studying and I'm blogging.  I'm going to be cross stitching right away.  Kitten is laying in the hammock that Tyler made with a blanket between his legs.  Baby J is training to be a boxer or a wine maker, either my bladder is being used as a speed bag or Baby J is stomping on it, trying to get every last drop.  What a turkey.

I can't believe how quickly this baby will be here.  It seems like it's all going really fast.  Every pregnant person I've ever talked to has said that it seems to last forever but I haven't gotten to that point yet.  I know that after Christmas is over and the new year is here it will probably slow down but I'm liking this speed.  I can't wait to meet this baby.

Sonja

Last night was kind of a rough night for me.  We went to bed and I was tossing and turning and couldn't get to sleep.  I just started to doze off around 11:45 and then at 12:10 the phone rang.  It was off to work for a less than appreciated midnight call back.  I was only slightly irritated because I had just got to sleep after having trouble getting there.  I went in and was there for half an hour before coming back home.  But of course when I got home I was hungry and not so ready to go to sleep anymore.  So I ate a nutrigrain bar and tried to go back to bed.  I didn't get back to sleep until close to 1:30.  Once I was out I was asleep until the alarm went off.  I didn't even hear the guy upstairs' alarm go off.

I went to work and had a very uneventful day.  I did little annoying jobs around the lab and filled my day with that.  Very very boring.  It wasn't very busy patient wise, which didn't help the day go by any faster.

That being uneventful, I will just skip to when I came home.  At lunch I came home and had a sandwich waiting for me to enjoy it.  And I did.  While I was eating that Sonja was watching the deck cats play and fight with each other.  After I was done work I came home for supper and Sonja also had that ready for me.  We had roasted red pepper soup for supper.  It was good but not very filling as it was just soup.  It turned out to be not very much soup for the two of us to share.  So popcorn is in the near future.

After supper I studied a bit and we listened to the Oiler game on the internet.  They won 6-2 in what sounded like another great game.  I just wish we could watch more of them.  Soon we will be able to as our time home is coming closer.  Sonja also made some cookies tonight, while I studied.

No plans for tonight.  Just have some popcorn and enjoy the evening and hope I don't get call in at midnight again.  Hopefully that doesn't turn into a trend, otherwise it might be a long month.

Tyler

November 21, 2011

I can't believe that we will be half way home in a month, although I'm pretty sure we will still be driving at least we will be close to where we will be staying that night.  I'm so excited to be coming home.  I'm sure that December wont go as fast as November seems to be because we have something to look forward to, actually we have a ton to look forward to in the next month.  Can any one else believe that Christmas is right around the corner?  It wont feel like Christmas until we get home because we aren't decorating or having a tree out here.  And there probably wont be as much snow as there is back home.  I'm excited for getting home and seeing all the usual decorations that have always been put in the same spot.  I'm excited for the same 6 CD's of Christmas music that will be playing non-stop, including that awful rendition of "Angels we Have Heard on High" that always gets skipped.  I'm excited for seeing all sides of the family and friends.  I'm excited for the meals and the togetherness, the laughs and the fun times.  It's going to be a great time.

But since there is still a month till that all happens, let's get into today's adventures.  Maybe if I call them adventures today wont seem as boring as it really was for me.

Tyler is now on call for a month so he got to sleep in until 8.  He got out of bed and fell back asleep for another hour and a half.  I got out of bed, ate some tasty breakfast and watched some news from Edmonton.  I didn't know what I had in store for myself today but it wasn't looking super promising that anything exciting was going to happen.  The weather was gloomy and windy, the kind of wind you would expect if the Wicked Witch of the West was coming to visit.  Calico and TK came for their food and were soon gone again.  I'm being used by them but it's okay, they are so cute.

I did the dishes and made Tyler some lunch and then went to go watch some Vancouver news.  Tyler came home for lunch and enjoyed his sandwich and we enjoyed some conversation about his morning.  I made myself some tomato soup and ate that while Tyler headed back to work.  I also did a load of laundry - bed sheets, towels and a few clothes that were spilt on in the last few days.

I was feeling pretty unmotivated to do anything so I curled up on the couch and was reading a book to Baby J, which I slightly censored because babies don't need to be hearing some of the things those characters were saying.  I think I'm growing a reader because my belly was moving the whole time and I loved it.  Baby was also moving a ton this morning and right now.  It's pretty much the coolest feeling ever.

Once I was done reading, I put on a movie for some background noise and worked on my cross stitch.  It's starting to actually look like something now and I'm nearly finished.

I started on dinner, which was cheese topped steaks and mashed potatoes, and soon Tyler was soon home to enjoy it with me.  I'm not a huge fan of when he's on call only because I like to have dinner ready for 5 and I have no idea if he will be on time or late coming home at the end of the day.  It's not a big deal if he is late, he can't help it.

I went onto the deck to feed the deck cats the fat and really pink portions of meat leftover from our steak.  They really enjoyed that.

After dinner, Tyler sat down to do some reading while I worked on my cross stitch.  Tonight is Dexter night and we were just about to watch it when Tyler's on call phone started ringing.  He is now at work and says he will be home shortly.  In the mean time, I'm going to try and get this garlic taste out of my mouth.  I think a piece of Toblerone will do the trick.

Sonja

Today I was able to sleep in again and it was pretty great.  I got out of bed at 9:30 and did some internet surfing and a little bit of studying this morning.  Sonja started out the morning when she woke up by doing some dishes, before making pancakes for breakfast.  So we had a few pancakes and then I made some more sausage mcmuffins.  They were again delicious and it was a very good breakfast altogether.

After breakfast I pulled the fridge out and cleaned underneath it.  I have a feeling that we will be getting new flooring soon so I figured I would help them out by cleaning behind there so they don't need to.  Plus there was dried meat juice from when I'm assuming the power went out in March.  So now its all cleaned up and ready to be replaced, whenever that happens.  I also took out the recycling so we can start the pile all over again for the next week.

After breakfast Sonja did some DDR to loosen up her hips and to get baby moving a bit.  While she did that I did some internet shopping for Christmas.  It is really difficult to do any shopping when you don't have a real store.  I think I got some pretty good ideas of what to get Sonja and to wish for myself.

We decided to go to the store and finish up getting our groceries for the week.  We came back and were going to have our own heart making party this afternoon.  We soon realized we had no ruler and were therefore unable to do that.  Unfortunately we had tons of food cut up and ready to snack on this afternoon.  So instead of making Christmas hearts we had a table full of food to eat while we watched the football game.  Unfortunately we only made it until midway through the second quarter before the Eskies stated to loose badly and we shut it off.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxed.  We just watched some tv and enjoyed the afternoon.  We played a round of Yahtzee, which I was able to win.

We had an uninspiring supper of popcorn and it disappeared quickly and soon we were looking for more food.

Starting tomorrow I will be on call until we leave.  It is by choice as I wanted to ensure I was able to get enough banked time to not need to worry about my 10 weeks off.  It is also 1 month until we start our long travel home.  

Tyler

November 19, 2011

I'm very uninspired today about how to make our day sound even kind of interesting but I will try.

Our alarm clock kitty woke us up at around 7 to 7:30 but I was able to get back to sleep.  She spent a few hours with us last night, sleeping on my side looking down at me.  She is so cute so I usually let her do what she wants.  But she was running around like a crazy cat this morning which is hard to ignore.

Tyler got out of bed at around 9:30 to do some studying and I just stayed in bed for a bit.  I didn't get back to sleep but I laid there just thinking about what I had to do today and a variety of other things.  I got out of bed at about 10 and started with the day.

After eating some honey nut cheerios for breakfast, I did the dishes right away.  I just wanted to get all the chores out of the way so we could just enjoy the day without having it hovering over us.  Once the dishes were washed and put away, I folded the laundry that was left in the dryer last night.  Of all the chores I get to do, folding laundry is my least hated one.  I'm not sure why I kind of enjoy it but there is something about organizing everything that makes it at least tolerable.  Also, I did the cutest load of laundry today.  I washed a bunch of baby clothes.  The great thing about those clothes is that since they are so small, you can wash more of them.  It was such a cute load.  We have been donated a bunch of baby clothes so after they were all washed, we put them in a suitcase ready to be taken home.  I just hope our baby fits them or else we will be making a desperate plea for bigger clothes.

I had started on our grocery list yesterday so it would be a huge task today so I finished up the rest of the menu once clothes were put away.  It always takes so long to make that list.  I have to make sure Tyler will enjoy the meal so I'm not stuck eating all the leftovers while also keeping the week's meals somewhat original.  We have about 7 recipe books but we like to use the same meals often.  I like trying new things but Tyler is a little less enthusiastic about it so I have to have a balance of new and old.

Once the list was done, we headed out to the store, knowing full well  we would be back tomorrow to finish it up.  I was surprised to find that we were able to get most of the items so it wont be a big trip tomorrow.

Back at home, we unloaded the food and continued on with our day.  It's a bit of a blur only because we didn't do too much.  I don't really remember everything but I know I fed and watched the deck cats.  TK is starting to learn that if she meows in her tiny kitten voice I usually will put food out for them.  She is just such a sweetie.  I also know that Tyler wrote his test and thinks he did pretty good on it.  He's a smarty pants so I know he's right about that.  We also ate a few times.  It's wasn't a memorable afternoon.

We just finished played another game of yahtzee which I lost.  Tyler created a spreadsheet on his computer that acts as our score sheet.  We play 3 rounds of yahtzee each time and today, I just didn't show up.  Tyler was getting great scores all over the place when I couldn't get anything.  It's not as much to lose like.

I spent a bit of time cross stitching, which I'm almost done.  This project was supposed to last a lot longer then it is but oh well, I guess I'll have to start something else soon.

We threw together some food and called it dinner but I'm sure there is an apple in my stomach's future.  Any some yogurt.

Baby J has been hanging out in the front of my belly today and it's really cool to be able to feel limbs.  Last night, Baby creeped Tyler out.  I told him to press on a certain spot on my belly and after he did, he retracted his hand with a disgusted look on his face.  He got to feel a limb and Baby J moved it when Tyler pressed on it.  I thought it was funny but I guess Tyler isn't used to that.  He said it made it really real that there actually is a baby in there.  But, today Baby J was hanging out in the front.  It made my belly hard and made me off center.  It made my belly look HUGE and I liked it.

I've been thinking a ton about our trip home.  I'm a little nervous about driving in the winter so I could use some prayers for clear roads, a safe trip home and for me to be calm about it.  If we could, we would travel some other way but there just aren't any other options for us.  So, pray for the weather to cooperate with us so we make it home in time for Christmas.  It should be an interesting trip.  We will be taking a few things home with us that we wont be needing just to make our next trip home easier.  We have to come back to Alberta again in May for Tyler's practicum so we want to take as much stuff this trip when we don't have a car seat taking up the back seat.  Kitten will like it.  When we moved out here, she had very little room to roam around.  This trip, we don't anticipate having our back seat filled to the top so she will be more comfortable.  We also will be taking many many blankets.  I'm afraid Kitten will turn into an icicle while we are on the ferry.  She has to stay in the car down at the bottom so I want to make sure she has a nest to sleep in to stay warm.  Also, blankets would be a great thing to have if for whatever reason Baby J decides to come into the world on the side of the road.  I really don't think it will happen, but we want to make sure we are ready for anything.

That post was longer then I thought it would be.

Sonja

Finally Friday.  I woke up kind of rested this morning, which was weird because I didn't get to sleep until after midnight.  It must have been my floor nap last night.  I went into work and was cold by the time I got there.  It was below zero and the wind was ripping down the channel from the north.  So it went through my hoody pretty quickly.  I don't usually wear a coat to work because it is only a 30 second walk until I am there, so there isn't much point.  Plus the winter is pretty balmy to what we are used to.

Today was slow, as I could have predicted when I woke up.  People here are pretty soft when it comes to cold weather.  As soon as the temps dip below +5 the down winter jackets, toques and mitts come out.  So with the wind howling and temps below zero, people just seem to shut themselves in.  So with the lull in activity, I was able to get some studying done, on top of the other daily tasks and make work projects that I found.  The down side to being able to get some studying done is that the day seems to drag by a bit and I find myself growing increasingly more tired.  The good news is that I only work until 4.

4 o'clock rolled around and I came home to Sonja.  We went out to make sure that car starts and rock it off where it is parked so we will be able to leave this rock in 32 days.  It fired right up and nothing was seized up or frozen except for the wipers, which are easy enough to unstick.  We came back in and had supper.  It was leftover night.  Nothing new and exciting to eat.  Just cleaning out the fridge so we can start all over again next week.

After supper we played a few rounds of yahtzee.  They were the last rounds that I will play.  I am sick of losing that game to Sonja.  She has won the last 9+ games so it really is no fun.  But while we were playing we had some candles burning.  Kitty decided she wanted to jump up onto the table and play yahtzee with us.  However with her forcefield on 'the cone' she knocked over one of our candles, sending hot wax all over our coffee table and almost the floor and us.  At lunch I was saying we should change her name to Dozer because she never looks where she is walking and will just walk through whatever happens to be in front of her.  After tonight, I think that is officially her new name.

I am glad its finally the weekend.  I have been pretty exhausted this whole week for really no reason.  And now I can sleep in.  Plus we have a pretty sweet breakfast planned.  Sausage mcmuffins.  So I have no plans for tomorrow.  I don't need to wake up for anything, I can study a bit in the afternoon and just relax.  I am pretty excited.

Tyler