Monday Funday

Whew, we are being Rained. Out. here in what is typically Sunny Manitoba. Since this spring was such a slow melt (ie. the snow took it's time to melt in slow stages) we had minimal flooding and everyone thought they were off the hook. Now we've been deluged with stormy weather and these prairie plains are not equipped to handle this much moisture in one weekend. Between the wind and the rain there's been quite a lot of damage around these parts.

Just outside of Brandon, MB

Cottonwood Campground (Treherne, MB)

Outside of Virden, MB

 (source: Facebook)
 

Although Manitoba does have many freshwater lakes, these areas are nowhere near them. This is all farmland that has been flooded.The wind has been clocked at everything between 74 to 96 km/hour all over the south of the province. Rural homes everywhere have been without power for a few days now, Winnipeg homes are experiencing brown water problems, Brandon is declaring a state of emergency, and it's all just a big wet mess.

However, Big C and I are very lucky compared to some. We are experiencing wind and rain, but it's relatively 'dry' here (our village is located in the hills, not a valley), we have no water in our basement, our power stayed on and we're snuggled in our home, safe.

On Saturday, Big C had plans to help my Dad get the steam engine he adopted ready for the Threshermen's Reunion at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum (this is a whole 'nother blog post) but when the rain started, they decided to postpone until it was dry. We stayed indoors and just hung out for the most part, watching movies and playing with Little C.

That evening the rain had let up and I took Little C with me to a book party. It's like a makeup or jewelry party, but for book nerds! A friend was putting it on for an acquaintance of hers who is selling children's 'Barefoot' books. After ordering 6 books (and winning one more) I had to curb my shopping impulse, chat with the other women who came, thank the hostess, and leave. It was a fun evening and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

On Sunday it was storm day, so Big C and I hung out inside. He parked his bum on the couch to watch an 'Animaniacs' marathon (even 30 year olds need to revisit their childhood!) and I caught up on some blog posts. We played with Little C while he was awake, and while he was napping, brought out our new juicer to learn how to make fresh orange juice (FYI it's really easy). Using the juice, I whipped up 2 different concoctions for us to enjoy! The night ended with us starting to sleep train Little C (which basically involves not rocking him to sleep anymore, just cuddling for a bit then putting him down and letting him go to sleep on his own). We're very lucky with Little C, he's an amazing sleeper and he just talked to himself for about 30 minutes and then fell asleep. No crying involved! Still, it tears at my heart that our little baby is not so little anymore. Every step of independence is a step away from me, and I'm not quite ready to give in to that yet!

Hope everyone has an amazing week! I'm off to plan a little Canada Day party for tomorrow!

Monday Musings

This weekend was all about R & R!

On Saturday the day started out warm, as +30 C temps rolled into our village. Big C and I went for a walk in the morning with the baby and the dog to check out what was new around town. We stopped at the local grocery store for weekend ingredients and then made our way back home to do a few indoor chores.

After lunch we all went outside to enjoy a backyard bonfire while relaxing on our canopy swing. As it was the summer solstice, I wanted to commemorate it with a fire. We managed to weed part of our garden in between enjoying the flames and feeding Little C. As we were up so late the night before, watching movies and eating popcorn, and up so early with Little C, this night we were in bed by 10:30pm.

Sunday we all woke up later than usual and enjoyed a lazy morning. Once we were all up and dressed we hopped in the car and drove East to Ma's Drive Inn, located in Elm Creek. The owner is an acquaintance of ours and every year he hosts a fundraiser, where 100% of the weekend's profits are given to a great charity, 'Children's Wish'. This charity raises money to grant children aged 3-17 who are terminally ill a wish they desire. By far the most popular wish is a trip to Disney World.

 Little C enjoying his first Drive Inn experience with his Grandpa C, who drove out from Winnipeg to lunch with us!



After spending a few hours at the drive inn and visiting with friends, we made our way to my parents' house, as they were puppysitting Peggy Sue. We had supper and visit with my family and drove home at about 8pm. By that time the bathtub was calling Little C's name to splish splash, and then hit the hay!

Thoughts on Glamour

About a week after I gave birth to Little C I developed a blood clot in my thigh. It's a risk of pregnancy and was brought on by the trauma of delivery. I was more prone to the risk because I have one copy of factor V, which is a blood clotting disorder. I had gotten phlebitis about 7 years ago when a friend of mine died and a bunch of us drove out to Alberta for the funeral.
(I live in the MB part, basically where the blue dot is)
 Being stuck in the back of a truck for 19 hours there and 19 hours back brought it on. With the drama of that experience, I learned what to look for in case it ever happened again.

Ta-daaa.

Ok, so when I saw the red circle and felt the sore leg, I called the Dr's office immediately and was brought in same day to get an ultrasound done. It was a bit of a runaround, 20 minutes there, an hour and a half here, an hour back, but the long story short is the clot was 1 cm away from being a DVT and I was put on warfarin pills and fragmin shots. It was very dramatic at the time but things have settled down now. I go to the hospital and get my blood INR tested monthly to make sure my blood is therapeutic (ie. not too thin and not too thick).

Today I hadn't showered, I wore pants that hadn't been washed in quite some time, a shirt that 'fit' (although it feels too short) and a teal sweater. I only have one pair of black flats that feel comfy so I wore those (carrying a baby around is hard work). My hair was down except for the front part being pinned back. I felt frumpy but I was in a hurry.

After my blood was taken, I walked down to the nurses station to say hi to my mom (she's a nurse there), and one of the nurses complimented me on my outfit. Something 'are going somewhere fancy? You're all dressed up' came out of her mouth. I kinda didn't know what to say, so what came out of my mouth is "umm, these pants fit. And this shirt is clean. I don't know why I'm wearing a sweater, it's hot outside har har har...but thanks for the compliment!".

So I guess it just goes to show that glamour is in the eye of the beholder. She thought I was dressed up fancy and I thought I was dressed 'ok'. I made a conscious effort to wear makeup (which I will try to do more often) and that's just a confidence booster.

Glamour in Manitoba is almost laughable. Canada is such a multicultural world that it has no place for a one size fits all, pigeonhole 'glamorous' model. Manitoba, especially, seems like a big fashion drought. We're not Parisian, we're not beach babes, we're not boho-chic, we're not exotic. But... somehow we take a smidgen of this and a dash of that and accept everyone's style with a grain of salt. I imagine most of our style is 'American' but even that's not entirely true. Canada, especially the Prairies, should, and does, have it's own unique brand of style and I hope I can find it.

Making the best of things

When I first moved here to our little village, it was a hard transition because I missed my dream job (in a library), I missed my friends and I missed the convenience of city life. My new job sucked, Big C was working a ton so I hardly saw him, and I'm pretty shy so it was hard to make friends. Plus, I grew up in a small town and had no intentions of going back to that kind of lifestyle. 'WHY THE HELL DID YOU MOVE THEN?!' is the question I can hear being asked. The answer is as lame as it is a classic. I was in love with Big C and I wanted to be with him. We'd been dating for 2 years and it was time to commit to each other. I had just graduated and now had the freedom to move. He has a great job out here that paid more than mine, so it made sense for me to come to him, rather than the other way around. Etc, Etc.

So, after a few months of moping and getting used to my sucky job with my sucky supervisor, I decided to get over myself and make the best of things. I drove to the nearest city once a week and had some cafe au lait in a coffee shop. I spent time in craft stores and looked at pretty things. I went to the mall and bought nice clothes to wear at the office (because the first step to feeling good is looking good, or so they say.) And I scrapbooked. I scrapbooked the shit out of my life. I took a picture a day of something good (or funny, or meaningful, etc) and I scrapbooked. It forced me to focus on the good in my life and it marked many a special occasion that I can look back on with alarming accuracy.

 

My scrapbooks (under a beagle calendar, of course)!

This is something I want for Little C. I want him to be able to look back on his life and see happiness. I want him to know without a doubt that we cared about his life and experiences. That we love him. I mean, I know he'll know that, but I want him to have something tangible to remember us by. Having Little C shoved my own mortality in my face. Someday, if the gods are kind, he will bury me and his dad when we die of old age (rather than the other way around) and rather than have 'stuff' (ie plates, knicknacks, etc) to remember us by, I'd like him to have our memories. I already write letters to Little C, but sometimes pictures are easier to trigger memories.

I received a scrapbook from one of Big C's cousins, so I'll start with this. When Little C is napping, and when Big C is spending time with him in the evenings, I can use these minutes to scrapbook. Here's hoping we get some decent pictures!