Christmas...only 4 months away!

I LOVE Christmas time!! I know this will probably tick a bunch of people off, but I just had to say that I'm so excited to spend our first Christmas in our new home! We've already figured out the ideal place to put our tree. Haha...sad, I know. This doesn't mean I'm wishing away the summer...trust me, I enjoy our summer months (or is it weeks?) as much as the next person. But time sure does fly and it's something to look forward, I guess!

Tomorrow is a day I hope to get much accomplished. I have a hair appointment at 10, packing to do in the afternoon, and cooking to do for a supper at our friends place. Should be plenty to do for the next couple days!

Have a great weekend all!
Penny

Working Hard

Well, it's a lot harder to get things accomplished when you're working outside the home as well as in it with a baby...I'm learning this firsthand. However, we've gotten a lot done - Scott has moved along quite nicely in the home reno area. The crown molding is up (yay!) and the microwave range hood is installed and looks fabulous. He's also been quite busy in the bathroom reno...although so far we mainly see the results of the demolition. The window is out and is boarded up with plywood and the tub surround has been torn out and is stripped to the 2x4's. Yikes. Big work ahead. Kind of scary...especially considering that we're moving in LESS than 2 weeks! ARGH! I've managed to get a pile of boxes all packed up - they're sitting in the corner of the living room. I'll keep chipping away at it and hope that I'm ready to go next week!!

Ta ta for now...
Penny

3 Weeks & Counting

Oh boy, not much time left until we're on the move across the city! I'm going to miss my 5 minute commute to work. It'll soon be a half hour (probably at least) to get to the office/dayhome. But it's do-able. I used to work out at the airport and had around a 40 minute commute each way then, so I'm sure I can suck it up and do it again.

So...I'm back to work. It's going ok. I'd say the situation is less than ideal, but it's a job and I'm happy to be back with my foot in the door. Hopefully things pan out...I'd love to stay working here for a few more years. We'll see what happens!

Yesterday I was on the phone for most of the day. I booked movers (so excited to have movers), scheduled utility changes/hookups, etc., booked my car in for a tune-up, and picked up a huge load of reno supplies from the tile place. Boy was that a heavy load. My poor van was just about doing a wheelie! haha! Next week Scott is off work and he'll be working hard (poor guy...no vacation for him) at finishing the kitchen and redoing our bathroom. I'm going to try and cram most of my work hours into Monday and Tuesday so that I can take Wed/Thurs to help out as much as possible while Annika is at the dayhome.

We're double booked for birthday parties tomorrow (we'll be trying to attend both) and then I think we'll be jumping right into our renovations on Sunday, if we can. So much to do. Tonight I'm going to do my cleaning and maybe even try and get some packing done! Whew! Just typing it out exhausts me! LOL!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend...let's hope the weather picks up!
Happy Friday...
Penny

Happy Birthday Princess!

Annika turned 1 today!! Scott and I were thinking about how one year ago our lives were completely changed, when at 4:50 pm, our beautiful baby girl entered the world. She was so tiny and had a great set of lungs on her even then. It's hard to believe she weighed 7 1/2 lbs...it's so teensy compared to our almost 22 lb baby now.

She's a precious gift, our Annika. She was a ray of sunshine that broke through the clouds of despair and grief that had surrounded our family with the loss of my Mom. And although the pain of losing her is never gone, having Annika here has helped...she's been a constant distraction! I've spent some time crying these last few days...missing my Mom so very much. She would have been so thrilled with Annika. What joy she would've felt to see her little grand-daughter toddle around the room. Maybe she's taking little peeks from heaven...

I thank God for blessing my family with Annika. So...Happy Birthday to my little ray of sunshine!
Penny

I Owe, I Owe, It's Back to Work I Go!

Well, it's that time. Time to leave my baby girl with her little friends at the dayhome and head back to the ol' grind. I guess it's not so bad...I'll only be at the office 3 or 4 days a week, which is pretty good. I'm still a bit apprehensive about what lies ahead for me. I'm going back to a different role for a few months and I think it'll take some time to adjust to that on its own. Then there's the uncertainty of what's going to happen after these first months are over. We'll see what happens!

Today we had a family Birthday BBQ for our Annika. It was a lovely time...we had a pretty laid back meal (burgers/hot dogs/baked beans/salads) and I made her a little butterfly birthday cake. It was pretty amateur-ish, but it came out ok! I will post pics of our bash soon. Annika received some wonderful gifts!! Books, new clothes, toys....wow, she's a blessed little girl with lots of family and friends who love her.

Hope you all have a great week after a nice, warm long weekend.
Penny

My 100th Post

Wow...I've made it to my 100th post. I guess I've managed to come up with enough bits and pieces to fill up my blog. Hope you are all enjoying visiting every so often. This whole blog thing is a pretty cool way to stay connected with folks, that's for sure.

As a special 100th post, I am sharing with you some precious footage of our mobile little monkey! Look at her go!! She's walking short distances all on her own. What a big girl!

Hope you all have been enjoying a fabulous long weekend. We've worked on some housecleaning and been prepping for Annika's family birthday party. Today we had a nice afternoon out at Heritage Days...but boy, was it hot! Felt good to get in an air conditioned vehicle after we were done.

Have a great evening!
Penny