Dear Jen,
Every time I think about how your baby was born on his due date that was the same due date for Gavin which was also the day he was born, I cannot get over the awesomeness.
Seriously, I just cannot.
Love, Jacqui
ps I don't think I have ever been so excited about someone else having a baby before! Maybe it's because this time I had the advanced pleasure of having my own baby to love these past couple months and I'm just so excited for you to enjoy your own little guy too! It must be like when I was a kid and I would get so excited for other people's birthdays I'd get sick to my stomach. True story. Anyway, hope you're getting lots of support so you can really love it!
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Fly Lady
Dear Jen,
I have come upon a new and exciting idea, and I thought I'd better write it down somewhere, so I have selected here.
Yes you should feel honoured.
Okay so this morning, at some random point of thinking about who knows what, a solution to my house tidiness problem came to me. It's actually a slightly more complex problem than that. The other component to it is that I've started feeling a little bad about how many days we spend just hanging around the house. Wednesdays we go to the park, and Tuesdays we go grocery shopping. Aside from that, I will on occasion take the children to the library, and actually starting probably next week I think Maggie's Place playgroups will be started up again. But anyway, probably too many days we lounge around, eat a slow breakfast, take a long bath, and I fret about the filthiness of the house, tidying here and there until suddenly it's lunch, and then naps, and then we're practically at supper and the day is virtually over.
So do you remember how this one time you lent me that Fly Lady book? I'll bet you thought I was horribly offended by it and never picked it up except to angrily peruse and then hand it back, didn't you? How wrong you were! She's got some good ideas! I'll admit, I mostly skimmed, and skipped over the parts I thought didn't apply to me--like, I am capable of cleaning my house, and I do clean my kitchen on a regular basis, and I don't get so depressed I can barely pull myself out of bed, and I am moderately acceptably skilled at motivating myself to tidy, you know. There are also a few things in her system that I already naturally do--like wiping out the sink. But I read enough to get the gist of what her system is, and I applied one or two things right away: remember my room basket? I had this wicker basket in my livingroom whose entire purpose was to deposit mess that would be dealt with later. It was actually a very effective tool for that space. Doesn't work so well for this very broken up space, however.
Anyway, the other things I picked up from the book I stored somewhere in the back of my brain as interesting information I felt didn't apply to me at the time.
SO, that information turned out to be the root of my epiphany. I am experimenting on a new system and I am very excited about it! Just started an hour ago. In a few weeks I'll let you know how it went. Here it is: Every day just after Gavin goes down for his nap I'll put the timer on for ten minutes, and do a quick tidy of the whole main floor. Then after supper we'll start doing our "After Supper Cleaner Upper" again, and that will finish up whatever I didn't manage in the afternoon. Hopefully it will create this beautiful cycle of general tidiness, in which the afternoon clean up makes it so there isn't too much to do in the evening, and the evening tidy makes it so that I can actually get most of the mess cleaned up in just ten minutes. And hopefully all of this makes it so that there is no need to look around at my house in the morning and think, "Guess this is going to be a stay at home and tidy up day", and instead I can think, "Nothing to do here--what can the kids and I do together this morning?" Extra bonus I just thought of: the more mornings we spend out of the house, the less mess there is to deal with in the afternoon!
See how it all could work together symbiotically to create a CLEAN environment forever after? See how this system, if it is successful, could revolutionize my life???
I'm kind of pretty stinking excited about it.
Doesn't solve the upstairs, or the playroom, and doesn't clean my bathrooms, but lately I've been having trouble ever getting to those issues because I'm too tied up spending the entire day tidying this stinking house (side note: I mean "stinking" in terms of an expression of my disgust, not "stinking" in terms of actual smell), so this should actually improve that situation too.
So just an hour ago to kick it off I did a special extra clean up. I gave myself ten minutes per room and did the kitchen (which I cheated to about 17 minutes), the dining room, and the living room. It was encouragingly successful. And in about an hour's time I'll have another ten minutes to do a bit more, and let the fun begin!
Be excited for me. I'm just dying for this to actually work out.
Love Jacqui
I have come upon a new and exciting idea, and I thought I'd better write it down somewhere, so I have selected here.
Yes you should feel honoured.
Okay so this morning, at some random point of thinking about who knows what, a solution to my house tidiness problem came to me. It's actually a slightly more complex problem than that. The other component to it is that I've started feeling a little bad about how many days we spend just hanging around the house. Wednesdays we go to the park, and Tuesdays we go grocery shopping. Aside from that, I will on occasion take the children to the library, and actually starting probably next week I think Maggie's Place playgroups will be started up again. But anyway, probably too many days we lounge around, eat a slow breakfast, take a long bath, and I fret about the filthiness of the house, tidying here and there until suddenly it's lunch, and then naps, and then we're practically at supper and the day is virtually over.
So do you remember how this one time you lent me that Fly Lady book? I'll bet you thought I was horribly offended by it and never picked it up except to angrily peruse and then hand it back, didn't you? How wrong you were! She's got some good ideas! I'll admit, I mostly skimmed, and skipped over the parts I thought didn't apply to me--like, I am capable of cleaning my house, and I do clean my kitchen on a regular basis, and I don't get so depressed I can barely pull myself out of bed, and I am moderately acceptably skilled at motivating myself to tidy, you know. There are also a few things in her system that I already naturally do--like wiping out the sink. But I read enough to get the gist of what her system is, and I applied one or two things right away: remember my room basket? I had this wicker basket in my livingroom whose entire purpose was to deposit mess that would be dealt with later. It was actually a very effective tool for that space. Doesn't work so well for this very broken up space, however.
Anyway, the other things I picked up from the book I stored somewhere in the back of my brain as interesting information I felt didn't apply to me at the time.
SO, that information turned out to be the root of my epiphany. I am experimenting on a new system and I am very excited about it! Just started an hour ago. In a few weeks I'll let you know how it went. Here it is: Every day just after Gavin goes down for his nap I'll put the timer on for ten minutes, and do a quick tidy of the whole main floor. Then after supper we'll start doing our "After Supper Cleaner Upper" again, and that will finish up whatever I didn't manage in the afternoon. Hopefully it will create this beautiful cycle of general tidiness, in which the afternoon clean up makes it so there isn't too much to do in the evening, and the evening tidy makes it so that I can actually get most of the mess cleaned up in just ten minutes. And hopefully all of this makes it so that there is no need to look around at my house in the morning and think, "Guess this is going to be a stay at home and tidy up day", and instead I can think, "Nothing to do here--what can the kids and I do together this morning?" Extra bonus I just thought of: the more mornings we spend out of the house, the less mess there is to deal with in the afternoon!
See how it all could work together symbiotically to create a CLEAN environment forever after? See how this system, if it is successful, could revolutionize my life???
I'm kind of pretty stinking excited about it.
Doesn't solve the upstairs, or the playroom, and doesn't clean my bathrooms, but lately I've been having trouble ever getting to those issues because I'm too tied up spending the entire day tidying this stinking house (side note: I mean "stinking" in terms of an expression of my disgust, not "stinking" in terms of actual smell), so this should actually improve that situation too.
So just an hour ago to kick it off I did a special extra clean up. I gave myself ten minutes per room and did the kitchen (which I cheated to about 17 minutes), the dining room, and the living room. It was encouragingly successful. And in about an hour's time I'll have another ten minutes to do a bit more, and let the fun begin!
Be excited for me. I'm just dying for this to actually work out.
Love Jacqui
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Cancer Research
Dear Jen,
You know how they tell you to boil soothers before using them?
...yeah...they should tell you not to boil them while you're sitting down to feed your baby. Actually there should be a warning label on all products that new mothers might buy, telling them not to try multi-tasking EVER. I'm also pretty sure I have cancer from all the toxic fumes I inhaled while trying to bring the disaster under control. Fortunately Brad had temporarily removed the fire alarm last fall when something we were cooking kept setting it off, so we didn't notice the problem until the stench began permeating our living room--at the other end of the house.
Yup.
Oh and also I ruined a pot. I mean the plastic is mostly scraped away, but I'm just that picky, I refuse to eat food cooked in a pot with even a little bit of plastic in it.
I know--I'm crazy.
Worst part is, now I have to go out to the store again to buy soothers.
Life...
Love,
Jacqui
You know how they tell you to boil soothers before using them?
Yup.
Oh and also I ruined a pot. I mean the plastic is mostly scraped away, but I'm just that picky, I refuse to eat food cooked in a pot with even a little bit of plastic in it.
I know--I'm crazy.
Worst part is, now I have to go out to the store again to buy soothers.
Life...
Love,
Jacqui
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
What's Brown and Sticky?
Dear Jen,
I don't know whether it had been established before I moved how challenging lunches are for me.
I have developed a hatred for lunches.
I'm just not interested in anything lunch-oriented, and incidentally, neither are my kids. I have three staples that I know they'll eat, none of which I really want them eating on a regular basis: hot dogs; Kraft Dinner; grilled cheese sandwiches (alright that one's not the worst. Still--not enough protein for my liking!). Above that, I have struggled to find anything that they (or I) will actually put in their mouths.
No more, Jen, NO MORE! I have discovered the answer! And, as they usually are, it was so simple. What is it, do you ask?
TOOTH PICKS.
Tooth picks are the answer, my friend. I'm just rubbing my fingers together thinking of all the things I can tooth pick! I'm thinking PB&J may be getting a new look in our house!
So excited! For the moment, I am saved from the lunch-time drudgery.
...that is until Madamoiselle Master of the Universe decrees that tooth picks are passé...
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Is there a class on post-partum breathing techniques?
Dear Jen,
Can you believe that it has already been over a month since the last post??? I don't know if your life has been as incredibly crazy, although considering you at least had a one-week vacation on Thetis Island in that time, it may very well have been. My how time loses all meaning when something like this:
Can you believe that it has already been over a month since the last post??? I don't know if your life has been as incredibly crazy, although considering you at least had a one-week vacation on Thetis Island in that time, it may very well have been. My how time loses all meaning when something like this:
(this is him sneezing--he did not love that gavoche tube)
comes into your life unexpectedly early!
I realized today that it has been almost four weeks since our family has been on our own--almost four weeks since I've done my own dishes or taken care of my children alone. It passes quick, and yet it seems like it's been a lifetime! Today I drove my mother to the airport to catch her flight home, and that was officially the end of our official help. I said to her, "Now I have to take care of my own family!" and wondered how I am going to manage that.
One day at a time, right? Not to brag to a still-pregnant lady or anything, but it is truly incredible how much energy my body can have after a night of constantly interrupted sleep. It's probably the number one thing I love most about not being pregnant: human levels of energy! No no, SUPER human levels of energy. For the first few weeks, anyway.
We'll figure it out, I suppose. Deep breaths!
Plus this looks like a pretty good start, 
right?
right?
Love,
Jacqui
Friday, 15 June 2012
Dear Jacqui,
Well, my MIL is scheduled to arrive in the next little while... My house is a pretty big mess (think dumped out board games, craft cabinet, buttons and train track), my children are dirty (though they are dirty because we spent 3 hours at the park today - MOTY), Masen is wearing no pants and has marker all over his face, my floors (despite my intentions of washing them) look like someone HAS eaten off them, and there is pretty much no evidence of the vacuuming and bathroom cleaning I did yesterday as a result of the park adventure. (Darn sand!)
You know, this week has been a little tough... rainy weather, Masen's breathing issues preventing him (ME) from getting any real sleep and a UTI that has been pretty much the most painful thing I have ever experienced in pregnancy... other than the actual event of giving birth. (Umm... but even if you want to, you can't get an epidural for a UTI... not that I asked or anything.) LIFE has prevented me from doing all the things I usually like to do to basically pretend I am a better me than I actually am. (Though for the record, usually I like the me I am just fine.)
And though I tell myself that no matter the effort exerted, there is no chance that my clean house would ever measure up to the standard it will be judged by, I still find myself in a place where by human standards, I feel completely inadequate.
None the less, I am choosing to try to choose joy... be thankful that Masen actually napped today and that after a week of rain we enjoyed sunscreen weather. That being said, if you wanted to send me a little message to let me know that I am not the worst mother in the world and that losing my baby in a pile of laundry is actually considered a rite of passage, I'll receive it full of gratitude.
Until then, I'll be on the sofa reading Romans 8, reminding myself that we aren't starving children in Africa and hoping for the rapture.
Love, Jen
Well, my MIL is scheduled to arrive in the next little while... My house is a pretty big mess (think dumped out board games, craft cabinet, buttons and train track), my children are dirty (though they are dirty because we spent 3 hours at the park today - MOTY), Masen is wearing no pants and has marker all over his face, my floors (despite my intentions of washing them) look like someone HAS eaten off them, and there is pretty much no evidence of the vacuuming and bathroom cleaning I did yesterday as a result of the park adventure. (Darn sand!)
You know, this week has been a little tough... rainy weather, Masen's breathing issues preventing him (ME) from getting any real sleep and a UTI that has been pretty much the most painful thing I have ever experienced in pregnancy... other than the actual event of giving birth. (Umm... but even if you want to, you can't get an epidural for a UTI... not that I asked or anything.) LIFE has prevented me from doing all the things I usually like to do to basically pretend I am a better me than I actually am. (Though for the record, usually I like the me I am just fine.)
And though I tell myself that no matter the effort exerted, there is no chance that my clean house would ever measure up to the standard it will be judged by, I still find myself in a place where by human standards, I feel completely inadequate.
None the less, I am choosing to try to choose joy... be thankful that Masen actually napped today and that after a week of rain we enjoyed sunscreen weather. That being said, if you wanted to send me a little message to let me know that I am not the worst mother in the world and that losing my baby in a pile of laundry is actually considered a rite of passage, I'll receive it full of gratitude.
Until then, I'll be on the sofa reading Romans 8, reminding myself that we aren't starving children in Africa and hoping for the rapture.
Love, Jen
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Giving Myself Permission to Think What I Think and Feel What I Feel--SO THERE.
Dear Jen,
I'm not so sure I want that dream to remind you of me! Kicking you when you're down? Sounds traumatic...
As for myself, this morning I was awakened (as now happens on occassion) by Brad's pained writhing at 3:30 am. We had a short exchange that went something like this:
Me: "Do you have your drugs up here?"
Him: "No."
Me: "Do you need me to go downstairs and get them for you?"
Him: "No I'm going to have to go down and lay on the couch anyway, I think."
Me: "Are you sure?"
Him: "Yes."
And then he promptly fell asleep.
I, on the other hand, being pregnant, have once again begun losing my ability to drift off to sleep after waking up at any time of the day or night. I actually have to be very careful about moving my limbs too much or thinking too clearly when I get up to pee or all could be lost for up to an hour. Verbal exchanges, though, are clearly my doing-in, because after 1.5 hours of tossing and turning, I finally gave in and headed downstairs to write a little updatey-poo in my far-too-neglected (considering my exciting life right now) journal.
One of the things I wound up doing was making a list of all the things I liked about Chilliwack. See, I was writing about how Brad and I had officially agreed that we would like to return to the area after school is done. I`ve been very strongly resisting the desire to say so because don`t we always feel that way about the last place we lived when we`re new somewhere? It hasn't even been a year here. But you know, I think it's alright for me to feel like we just didn't get the opportunity to get all that we could out of the place yet--and there's so much to get out of it! Plus I summed up my feelings more or less this way: I am very satisfied with my life here, and I'm happy to spend two more years, but I just don't think we're going to stay.
Anyway, my mind has been plagued by these thoughts of Chilliwack, so although the book is now all the way upstairs and I am not going up again until my bread is out of the oven and I am going to SLEEP, I will try to replicate the list. Here are the reasons I want to move back: the friends; the outdoor activities; the church ward; the community; the programs; the facilities. I want to come back to Sardis Park; blackberry bushes; Rotary Trail; Player's Guild; Leisure Centre (pool; play ground; spray park; everything in between); Vancouver Zoo; Go Bananas; Krause Farms; Party in the Park; Chilliwack Lake; gold panning; Othello Tunnels; the list goes on.
I've been learning some very valuable things here: one is how to do charitable service. People are incredible here at impromptu, un-asked-for, kind and genuine service. I'm going to make sure to learn that, and take it with me wherever I go to show other people. Most other places I've lived people are much more tied up in the business and routine of their lives to comprehend how one even begins to be charitably-minded all day long (you being the uncommon and inspiring exception). The other is how to make friendly with total strangers, or acquaintances, or anyone else. Around here, you can have a full conversation with just about any person who catches your eye. And once someone has met you one time, you are as good as best friends after that! I have a theory that people are actually confused by social timidity, and I'm realizing that if I'm not talking to someone I want to talk to, that's my fault because they certainly don't ever have a problem with it! So I'm learning not to divert my eyes when someone catches me looking. Instead one must smile and possibly start a conversation--whether you know the person or not! And I'm certain more lessons like this will come. I see my time in Truro as having the potential for being rich and full of learning and growth. In fact, my addressing challenges with the local branch of the church and participating in a positive way have already lead to great personal growth and strengthening in the few months I've been here! So, you know, I like it here in Truro--I really do. And I love the people. And I know I haven't even come close to discovering all this city and province have to offer.
But I want to move back to Chilliwack!
I'm not so sure I want that dream to remind you of me! Kicking you when you're down? Sounds traumatic...
As for myself, this morning I was awakened (as now happens on occassion) by Brad's pained writhing at 3:30 am. We had a short exchange that went something like this:
Me: "Do you have your drugs up here?"
Him: "No."
Me: "Do you need me to go downstairs and get them for you?"
Him: "No I'm going to have to go down and lay on the couch anyway, I think."
Me: "Are you sure?"
Him: "Yes."
And then he promptly fell asleep.
I, on the other hand, being pregnant, have once again begun losing my ability to drift off to sleep after waking up at any time of the day or night. I actually have to be very careful about moving my limbs too much or thinking too clearly when I get up to pee or all could be lost for up to an hour. Verbal exchanges, though, are clearly my doing-in, because after 1.5 hours of tossing and turning, I finally gave in and headed downstairs to write a little updatey-poo in my far-too-neglected (considering my exciting life right now) journal.
One of the things I wound up doing was making a list of all the things I liked about Chilliwack. See, I was writing about how Brad and I had officially agreed that we would like to return to the area after school is done. I`ve been very strongly resisting the desire to say so because don`t we always feel that way about the last place we lived when we`re new somewhere? It hasn't even been a year here. But you know, I think it's alright for me to feel like we just didn't get the opportunity to get all that we could out of the place yet--and there's so much to get out of it! Plus I summed up my feelings more or less this way: I am very satisfied with my life here, and I'm happy to spend two more years, but I just don't think we're going to stay.
Anyway, my mind has been plagued by these thoughts of Chilliwack, so although the book is now all the way upstairs and I am not going up again until my bread is out of the oven and I am going to SLEEP, I will try to replicate the list. Here are the reasons I want to move back: the friends; the outdoor activities; the church ward; the community; the programs; the facilities. I want to come back to Sardis Park; blackberry bushes; Rotary Trail; Player's Guild; Leisure Centre (pool; play ground; spray park; everything in between); Vancouver Zoo; Go Bananas; Krause Farms; Party in the Park; Chilliwack Lake; gold panning; Othello Tunnels; the list goes on.
I've been learning some very valuable things here: one is how to do charitable service. People are incredible here at impromptu, un-asked-for, kind and genuine service. I'm going to make sure to learn that, and take it with me wherever I go to show other people. Most other places I've lived people are much more tied up in the business and routine of their lives to comprehend how one even begins to be charitably-minded all day long (you being the uncommon and inspiring exception). The other is how to make friendly with total strangers, or acquaintances, or anyone else. Around here, you can have a full conversation with just about any person who catches your eye. And once someone has met you one time, you are as good as best friends after that! I have a theory that people are actually confused by social timidity, and I'm realizing that if I'm not talking to someone I want to talk to, that's my fault because they certainly don't ever have a problem with it! So I'm learning not to divert my eyes when someone catches me looking. Instead one must smile and possibly start a conversation--whether you know the person or not! And I'm certain more lessons like this will come. I see my time in Truro as having the potential for being rich and full of learning and growth. In fact, my addressing challenges with the local branch of the church and participating in a positive way have already lead to great personal growth and strengthening in the few months I've been here! So, you know, I like it here in Truro--I really do. And I love the people. And I know I haven't even come close to discovering all this city and province have to offer.
But I want to move back to Chilliwack!
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