All Aboard...

...The emotional train wreck that is ;)

I don't know if it's just the time of year, just me, or just the crazies that so obviously live inside my head (oh wait, are we not supposed to acknowledge our personal brain cavity crazies?) but this week has just been one on going, round trip excursion on the emotion train! This pretty much has nothing to do with anything I ever talk about, but since it's my blog I guess I'm allowed to post about what I want (right?) so here we go.

First it started with BLP finishing preschool. I know, right? All I did was spend the last eight or so months crabbing about show and share, coordinated shoe laces, and fundraising, I should be euphoric! But as I said before, everything was cool right up until pick up time when reality gave be a good strong back hand in the form of 'hey! this is the last time Meaghan will be small enough to be in this class... no more picking up lunches, plucking paintings of the drying rack, no more little purple car with her name on it from the coat room...' and next thing I know I'm madly trying to keep my composure long enough for Meaghan to say good bye to her teachers, empty her art folder, grab the painted titled 'Meaghan's last painting at preschool' (Thanks! Thanks so much, I was doing so well with my composure until this point...) and then go through the little class album to make sure there weren't any more pictures of her that I missed. I made it to the car and around the corner before I turned into a blathering idiot. Mr. Pretties was dumb founded. Ofcourse he shouldn't be, this is me, hello! That took a couple days to settle itself in my system and it was off to summer time mode - woohoo!

Until I logged onto the Children's Place site. I'm taking the BLPs summer clothes shopping this weekend and knew they had the monster sale on, so wanted to see what they had because I try to shop for the girls all at one store, being either Old Navy, Children's Place, or Please Mum. I was adding up my purchases when I see the 'Fall Fashion' and 'Back to school' or some such thing and then it starts again. It's only 10 or so weeks until BLP starts kindergarten. Big girl school. And Emma starts preschool. It's so cliche, but I remember Meaghan being born like it was yesterday (fortunately the rest of my body does not hold that memory like it was yesterday), I remember Emma being born like it was yesterday, and I certainly remember Ethan being born like it was yesterday and in 7 weeks time he'll be turning 1 year old! It's like time's been traveling at a normal pace up until five years ago and it's just flown by ever since. Ofcourse this snow balls into the whole 'My kids are growing up, next they'll be in highschool, college, married, and having children of their own... OMG!' along with the smaller 'Omg, we get report cards this year, parent teacher interviews, evening school plays, what if the kids are mean to her, etc... etc...' which is enough unto it's own for sure. But then comes a bigger issue, one that's sort of always there but not thought of too often. It's not always a well known fact that Mr. Pretties is 25+ years older than I am. This works fine for us, obviously, but there is always the looming thought that it's entirely possible that he will die before I do. Ofcourse in any marriage any one person is likely to pass on before the other, it's human nature, right? But generally (not always) the likely hood is a healthy 50/50, in our case the scales are slightly tipped. This makes me sad for any number of reasons, he's an excellent father, he definitely has his flaws (lets not go there) but he always seems to have an abundance of time to play pretend with the LPs, hide and seek, explain all the little wonders of our world, call to talk to them on the phone from work, and do a plethora of selfless things inorder to see that the LPs have the things in life to make them happy. He's also an exceptionally easy person to talk to, vent to, and sort problems out with (unless he happens to be that particular problem, then not so much) and to some extent I feel the LPs will be missing out on a lot in their future years if he's not there. I could go on and on, and yes, we obviously knew this was an 'issue' when we got married, but nothing ever prepares you for anything until you have children.

In addition we're taking Meaghan in to ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat) to have her tonsils and adenoids checked out, she's had a bought of tonsillitis on and off for a while, and her speech therapist is now thinking that a large part of the reason that she is miss pronouncing words is due to her exceptionally enlarged T and As, so the possibility of having them removed is high. I know that's totally not a big deal, it's basically out-patient day surgery I think, but just the mere thought of the whole ordeal makes me want to run and hide. If it were Emma I would be sad that she had to have it, but because it's Meaghan it's a huge deal because she is just SO, SO sensitive, I'm afraid she'll be entirely traumatized by the entire event.

So as you can see, something as simple as preschool ending has set off a whole series of emotional events. Well I can't blame the hormones exclusively, I think a big part of it has to do with just finishing The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (which me being the rock dweller I am, have just realized there is now a movie, which I must watch).

Which when you read it will make no sense to you what-so-ever, because things like that only make sense in my own brain. Clearly. And no, I don't get any kick backs from Amazon.

Sorry to dump this all out there in the blog-o-sphere, but as a result I feel marginally better!

I think to an extent all moms go through this emotional bit with kids starting/finishing school, some more than others. I hope. There's a knock at the door, let's hope it's not the men with the white coats...

Curiousities?

Thanks to my 'Antiquing for Dummies' book I now know that back in the day (centuries ago) etc... there was no such thing as 'antiques' but there were 'curiosities', and thus the 'curio' cabinet was born, to house your curiosities ofcourse! Very interesting (to me. obviously) I love little tidbits of info like that!

Things haven't been overly eventful in the Pretties household lately. We've got some family in town visiting from Bermuda, so we're going to stop in and see them Friday morning and have lunch with Aunt Pretties, so that'll be nice. We went to a BBQ this past Sunday which was super fun, this might be a scary thought to some of you out there, but, there is another Jenn. Not just like your class list 'Jenn A, Jenn C, JenniferZ, etc...) no, there's another me, and her name is Jess. She loves Aberfoyle almost as much as I do, and on Kijiji we often pick out the same things to buy (fortunately, this hasn't turned into an issue because we're both so sweet and nice. Hahahaha) and our kids are similar in age. It's a nice set up, I like it, I like it a lot! Her husband is also a bit older than her, and Mr. Pretties is definitely older than I am, so we don't feel like freaks on display when we go there for a visit which is super nice. Plus this means I have someone to go antiquing/junking/garage saling with who doesn't whine, complain, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. It's a blessing. Unfortunately we live 40 minutes apart so we don't get to do it regularly. Thank god for email and free long distance plans ;)

We haven't even bought much around here! We picked up that dresser I posted about a few days ago, it's adorable ofcourse but Mr. Pretties and I are at moot point right now. He wants to leave it the way it is (stained and au naturel) and I want to paint it. Ofcourse. So now it's sitting on our back deck because I have no ambition to deal with finding it a place to go (all furniture purchases require an entire household shuffle in order to find an appropriate space for anything), eventually Mr. Pretties will see this and digress about the paint, I'll just wait him out. We're also supposed to go pick this circa 1930's table up this weekend:

We don't need another table (I'm selling our round pedestal to make room) but something about it just speaks to me. I think I'm a huge fan of anything 1920-1940, it's all just so adorable! So hopefully that pick up works out (you never know with Kijiji sales)

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet. Mr. Pretties is on vacation this coming week so hopefully we'll get in some day trips and stuff with the girls (and LBP), and if luck holds out there'll be a new camera as well. Because if there isn't, I'm not going anywhere. Since the introduction of the digital camera it's become imperative to have a camera on all outings in order to document them, if this is not possible then we can't go out. Sad, eh? I better check out a self help book for that situation...

I think everyone else out there in home decor/junking/antiquing/shabbying blogland must've known about Southern Hospitality and Rhoda's Tuesday Thrifty Treasure Finds Mr. Linky parties! If there is anything I enjoy more than junking/thrifting/garage saling/antiquing, it's reading about other people doing it and seeing what they found! I cannot believe this existed and I had no idea. Believe you me, when we're back in digital photography land, Meaghan-Marie's will be right in there on that thrifty party, I LOVE doing show and tell (ask Mr. Pretties. He on the other hand regards show and tell as an old estranged smelly uncle. Take that as you will) and many family members and friends (I say many because I'd like to believe there are many...) have been forced to endure show and tell at my house, it's a genetic illness. Seriously. My grandma does it, my aunt does it, I believe my father even does it (in his own way), and I never really 'got it' until we had our own house (by our own house I mean someone else's house that we happen to live in. Yeah.) and stuff that I wanted people to see. So, yeah, if you've been under a rock like me and didn't know this existed - enjoy! And if you did - What the heck?! Someone should have thrown a little info this way... *Sigh*

This weekend is going to be a garage saling/Aberfoyling extravaganza so I should have something to share then :)

Blanket Anyone?

I found my way back to Etsy this morning and I can't believe I forgot how much I love it!! I think I might even re-open Meaghan-Marie's again for the summer (I don't know, for some reason I'm only clippie inspired during the pleasant weather...), I see Michael's has some fabulously fun spring/summer themed ribbon on sale this week, and the LP's are running low on clippies, so I think I'll hop to it.

And like most people now that the warmer (I say warmer, not warm, because so far warm weather has forgotten to show up thus far...) weather has arrived and I have an extreme need for knitting a blanket. What's that? That's only me? Figures. That could be a normal statement (minus the summer part) for most, except for the part where I don't know how to knit. Huh. Okay, I can knit basics (you know, adding a few rows here, taking a few away there, ending up with something even Grandma can't sort out) but I can't cast on/off or do anything that looks pretty. So, I'm going to teach myself to knit, and knit well. In the summer. With handspun wool because I can't ever just do anything normal. I know when I tell Mr. Pretties this he's going to be all 'Why don't you just go to Wal Mart?! Why does it have to be wool? Why hand spun? Why is the sky blue? and Where are my keys?' you know, the usual. But sometimes he just doesn't get it, I have to be different (or so I tell myself). As I was browsing through Etsy I saw this hand spun beauty:

Isn't that gorgeous? Like butterflies, fresh cut grass, daffodils and pansies all mixed together? I can already imagine how wonderful it feels!! And doesn't this look fun?!

Now I'm searching out a pattern (do you use 'patterns' for knitting?) that'll make a neat blanket, not just an 80's style afghan. We'll see how this pans out, if not, everyone's getting scarves (or what I'll be calling scarves) for Christmas this year ;) Let's all cross out fingers because no one wants that.

This hole wool/roving/handspun deal might actually fit into TNLP (the new life plan) that we're currently planning. I've had an epiphany and it involves things like this:

Or

I'm not sure which 'theme' we're going with for TNLP, but one of this should do it. It also involves things like this:

(Note: Don't Google chickens... it's not pleasant... and this photo is linked to it's original site.)

And things of this nature. We're thinking we need to move out on to some land, plant some fruits/veggies and have ourselves some chickens ;) Ofcourse this will only work in a completely adorable little town where everyone knows your name (sing it with me now!) Harrowsmith Country Living is the magazine you see at the check out counter at the mercantile (yeah, a mercantile would be way great) and where we live in an adorable old farmhouse with a huge veranda, great stairs and a scullery :) Obviously the plan needs some work, but it's a big deal for us and we're going to bust rear to make it happen. Hopefully. Soon. No doubt you'll be forced to listen to me blahing more about TNLP in the near future. Sorry.

Our latest find in the shabby/antique side of things is this little guy:

For $30 I'm crossing my fingers that the seller keeps his word and doesn't sell it before Saturday morning when we can pick it up. I'm doubtful to say the least, but we can hope! It'll be another cutie for the LP's room. Or my room. Or whatever, who cares where it goes, it's sweet I'll find it a home :)

I came across this picture while cleaning up our memory card, I think it sums up our year end preschool trip a few weeks ago:

Have a happy Thursday!!!

I Was NOT MIA This Time!

We have been sans internet and phone for four weeks. FOUR. WEEKS. Painful. Do you know what life is like without Kijiji, MapQuest, 411.ca, and Google? I wont even tell you, it's far too dreadful. I had to go garage saling, stop going places I don't know how to get to (FYI, that's a lot of places), use a big yellow phone book, and go weeks wondering about various things, recipes, home remedies, etc... The phone I don't mind not having, I am not a phone personality. At all. There are very few people I enjoy talking on the phone to, mostly because on phone convo involves more discussion between me at the LP's than me and the unfortunate soul on the other end. That, and I'm a phone-o-phobe ;) Mr. Pretties makes the phone calls in this house...

What a month. I spent days with thoughts popping into my head like 'Omg! I wonder if Wendy got her referral from Korea, I might have missed it!!' or 'I wonder how little Gabby's doing, and how Cam's dealing with preschool coming to an end' and 'I wonder what new words Mamalicious has added to her vernacular, that I must then in turn add to mine??' I'm all caught up now though, whew!

I've been enjoying the Aberfoyle season to the max, and if I were a smart individual my seasons pass would have paid for itself by now... except for the part where I didn't get one... I know. But I'm also finding that the weather a few short 20 minutes away is almost always extremely different than here, which is frustrating when you don't have Weathernetwork.ca or the Weather channel! We went at the beginning of the month and I think we're just all now recovering from the hypothermia we got from the frigid temperatures and excessive wind! No joke it was 25 here, a lovely balmy Sunday morning, we pile into the car in our capris and T's (I did bring our spring jackets because it does tend to be slightly windy there due to the open fields) only to get there, get out of the car and have my nose immediately start running and my lips turn blue! I was the only one who braved it that day, Mr. Pretties and the littles stayed in the car while I did a run through. The second time we went was alright, not too extreme either way, but still a bit chilly (we've been having pathetic weather here lately... someone needs to page summer weather ASAP) and then this past Sunday I dressed us all in two layers and packed out winter jackets because it was 16 here and windy like mad. We get to Aberfoyle, and, surprise! it was 23, Sunday, and not a whip of wind in site. Seriously. I don't know why I've never noticed in the past, but it's a little crazy!!! Then again I find Aberfoyle usually has 1 of 3 weather options: Raining and miserable, cold and windy, or stinking hot. Usually one of the first two though, what's up with that?!

We drove by a church sale last weekend and did a walk through, and found this ugly guy:

He was painted the worst brown you can imagine. It's no wonder that after Mr. Pretties and I left the sale (without him) that when we decided we could use it after all and went back four hours later at the end of the sale, he was still there for $20. Obviously he couldn't stay like that, that was out of the question! But he's a well made fellow, dovetailed throughtout, keyholes galore (that I happened to find a key for at Aberfoyle!), hand planed sides, and the original back. After introducing him to a fresh can of French Cream paint and a little hand distressing I think he looks far more attractive, and maybe even worth the $20 price tag LoL It's funny what a different a little colour makes! Plus, he holds as many clothes as our enormous long dresser did! I especially love the wee knicker drawers at the top, something about that just strikes me as fab!. Here he is all spiffied up in our bedroom(PS. I just went to take a better photo, dropped my pink camera and now it needs to go in to be repaired. Crap):

We also just bought that chair beside the fireplace. I'm in desperate need of chairs (Or so I tell myself. And my 18 other chairs in my house...) just because it was the right colour, kind of interesting, and because I have a problem (mostly because I have a problem. Obviously).

I did a redo of the previously black washstand, it is no Penelope Pink (as in white, but let's pretend it's pink) and I picked up an old Eastlake chair at Aberfoyle last weekend that I'm recovering the seat in a B&W toile (I was just testing the fabric out in this picture... it's going to be a balloon top, so ignore all the extra fabric in there, and up close that chair is MEGA cool, all carved and detailed. I hate it when I take sucky pictures AND break my camera so I can't fix them). Oh I painted our old depression era dresser too, but alas, since I just managed to kill my fairly new camera, I can't photograph it today. Ignore all the crap in my bedroom too. It's currently the 'catch all' for the extra furniture in our house ;) We need to switch some rooms around, but it hasn't happened yet.

Preschool was done on May 27th, no one thought to inform me that the last day of school (I suppose it may only apply to grades like Preschool, Kindegarten, graduations, etc...) is as emotionally stressful as the first. Thanks guys. I was all about the last day of school, sweet, no more rushing around, baking cupcakes, etc... and then it came. And then I realized 'Hey! This is the last time we'll be in here, the last time we collect our snack and back pack, the last time I grab a painting of the easel (Incase you haven't noticed, I'm HUGE on 'lasts' they kill me)' and after I managed to get out the door and to the car I had myself a wee cry. Mr. Pretties has himself a large laugh. Go figure. But it makes sense if you think about, the first day of school is monumental, omg, my child is going to school/grade/etc... but then the last day is like 'Omg... my child is too old for -----' it's like another step away from babyhood... I know kindy and preschool aren't that far apart, but I'm just an emotional fool ;) At first I was totally disappointed that the preschool wasn't doing a graduation like some of the other ones (as in the one that LLP is going to this year) but now I'm greatful, I don't need to attend an event coordinated simply to make me cry like a baby LoL God help us next year...

This was BLP on the first day of school and the last day, and yes, those are even the same pants! Trust me, she's changed SO much in just a short time :(