Photo Wednesday

This week's photo is of darling daughter pretending that our new green bin is a shopping cart. "Shopping cart, shopping cart," is what I heard come out of her sweet little mouth as she was trying to push it around the house when we got it on Monday afternoon. The "shopping cart" is now at the curb, waiting to provide a deposit to the organics truck.

Weeks late, but it has arrived

There it was, glittering in the June sunlight, sitting quietly outside my front door, waiting for a warm welcome to its new home.

Finally, my green bin.

In the last week, I was losing hope that I was getting a green bin from the City of Ottawa. The letter from the city that stated I could order a green bin seemed like almost like a dream. And the email that arrived in my inbox stating I would be receiving a green bin in four weeks almost seemed like a farce. It was a farce. I should have known that you have to double any time allotment the city gives provides you.

But there it was, in all its green bin glory. A 47-litre green bin, waiting to be filled with organic waste.

Looking around the neighbourhood, I saw other green bins. I’m glad to know that I’m not alone in embracing the program, but I’m a bit disappointed that my immediate neighbours haven’t jumped on board. Really, if your tax dollars are paying for this program, you might as well use it.
I immediately grabbed my camera to document the moment. Yes, I may sound over dramatic, but I’ve been waiting for this moment for nearly three years now. I remember during my childless years when I was working for a community newspaper in the city where I wrote a column, praising the green bin program. I didn’t get a good response, as one reader thought it was ridiculous that people couldn’t use compost bins instead of the city rolling out an organics program. (Sorry dear reader, but not everyone can use a compost bin).

Unfortunately for the green bin, I had nothing for its inaugural deposit of organic waste. By late yesterday afternoon, all that was in the small organics bin is a plum pit, an old slice of pizza and a banana peel. Fortunately for the green bin, we eat a lot of fruits and veggies, including watermelon which creates a lot of organic waste.

The first pick up of my green bin is Wednesday. I’ll be excited when I see the garbage truck roll by my curb this week.

Why I run

Since running a 10k race more than two weeks ago, I've slacked off on running distances longer than 3k. And I've really slacked off on hill running. I haven't ran hills in nearly five weeks. But as I pointed out to dear husband this weekend, I'm still running. For the most part, I try to update my sticky note running journal. Every time I run, I write the date, distance and time on a sticky note and post it on my kitchen cabinet. It keeps me motivated. There are nearly 80 sticky notes on this one cabinet.

I thought today, to keep me motivated, I'd write the reasons why I run. So in no particular order, here is why I run.

Why I run

I run because I can release stress and frustration in a positive, healthy way.

I run because it helps me keep my sanity.

I run because sometimes it is the only "me" time I get during the day.

I run because it is fun.

I run because of the endorphin high.

I run because it helps me mediate and clear my mind.

I run because I can prove to myself that I can run.

I run because it gives me confidence and strength.

I run because the greatest feeling in the world is crossing the finish line.

I run because it keeps me in shape.

I run because it challenges my mind.

I run because it is very cool experience to run in a crowd of 7,500 people.

I run because it makes me sweat.

I run because it helps me to build stamina and endurance.

I run because not only does it motivate me, it motivates others.

I run because I breathe better afterwards.

I run because I can. And if I can do it, anyone can.

Going to the movies in the middle of the day

The following tasks are on my things-to-do list: buy knitting needles, drop off items to Goodwill, do laundry, cut up veggies, see a movie.

I haven't seen a movie since New Moon came out in theatres last November. The other day, dear husband was talking about his busy Friday, which included going to an Italian restaurant for lunch. The day before, he had a pork pulled sandwich at a chicken and ribs fest happening on Sparks Street this week.

Where is my Italian lunch? Where is my pork pulled sandwich? Where is my lunch hour? (Actually, what is a lunch hour? I can't remember what a lunch hour is. But I'm sure it doesn't consist of my child begging for food or brazenly stealing food from my plate, minutes after she's finished eating.)

Today is a daycare day. They've been happening rather occasionally over the last couple of months. Sometimes they happen once a week. Sometimes twice a month. The last daycare day I spent a good two hours washing down walls. Not exactly fun. I could have washed more walls. I could have started the shredding of a pile of personal papers that have accumulated in my recycling bin. I could have done laundry. But instead I got my purse, grabbed a sweater out of the closet and went to the movies. It was a nice distraction. I saw Killers. (Who knew there was so many assassins in suburbia?) I ate a bag of popcorn and laughed.

I've never been to the movies alone, but if think about it, seeing a movie is one of those activities you can easily do by your lonesome. Plus, it is cheap! I only spent $6. Obviously, not everyone can sneak out of the house or office to go and see a flick in the middle of the day. But if you have the time and the means, I highly recommend it. Two hours by yourself, with no demands being made of your time, that is priceless at a fairly reasonable ticket price.

All shook up (not really)

Yesterday, everyone seemed to be riled up about the 5.0 earthquake that hit the West Quebec area. The downtown building that dear husband works in was evacuated. Reporters covering an NDP news conference scurried out of the room. A man I met on a street hours later told me he immediately left the building he was in when the ground started to shake. Everyone seemed to be talking about the earthquake.

At the time of the quake, I was reading my blog roll, reading recent posts. Moments before sitting down to my laptop, an electrical inspector popped by to inspect the electrical system. At first, I didn't know what was going on. I thought it was a big truck driving by because there was a loud rumbling and the house started to make strange noises. Either that or the electrical inspector was doing something really weird to my air conditioner. I don't remember any shaking, just noise. I figured it was an earthquake as when I looked out the back yard, I could see my back neighbour's picture window shaking. Nothing fell or got broken.

Once it was over, I peered outside. There were some people looking confused as me, wondering what the heck went on. After double checking that darling daughter was still asleep (and she was) I went back to reading blog posts.

The following makes me sound like a bad wife, but it never dawned on me to call dear husband to see if he was okay. This is likely due to the fact I didn't realize how big the quake was. Apparently the cellphone system jammed as people tried to contact loved ones. He called later, saying his building had been evacuated and he was waiting to go back inside.

It is weird that so many others felt the quake. I didn't. I just heard noise. So that's our quake experience. Not anything earth shattering. I'm just thankful no one was hurt or seriously injured.

Photo Wednesday

There are two photos this week, both of which feature darling daughter's posse. At the current moment, she cannot go anywhere without her beloved Care Bears and baby. They go with her for nap time, bed time, play time and snack time. In the above photo, she insisted that they come up with her as she got changed for the day. Below, they are lined up, watching her eat breakfast.

The Golden Age

I think I’ve hit a Golden Age with darling daughter. She’s at an age where everything is new to her. Bugs, sticks, sand, rocks, trees, birds, clouds, and even splash pads brings her pure delight.

We were unable to enjoy splash pads last year as she wasn’t walking until the end of August and I wasn’t about to let her crawl on concrete. Yesterday we got together with my friend J and her little boy. She suggested we head to a nearby splash pad to cool off and enjoy the beautiful weather. I won’t disclose the location of said splash pad because it may be the best splash pad in the entire city of Ottawa because it is so darn cool and quiet. And my gut tells me that not many people know about said splash pad so it is best keep it a secret.

Darling daughter had the time of her life, dashing in and out of the jetting water, squealing and screaming in delight. Her little friend was a bit cautious, likely due to an unfortunate incident where he was frightened by a big stream of water hitting him unexpectedly. He had great fun running through the splash pad when the water stopped, tempting fate so to speak. Regardless if they were getting wet or staying dry, I looked at darling daughter and her little friend having fun and concluded that this may be one of the Golden Ages of their childhoods. They are just getting to know the world around them. They aren’t exactly set in their ways because they get distracted easily (and depending how you look at it, that may be a con). And the simple things, like running or avoiding running through rushing water, brings pure joy into their lives.

As darling daughter ran in and around the splash pad, I documented her experience with my camera. Some of the photos are priceless. She has a huge grin in most of the photos, delighted with the rushing water gushing from the sprinklers below and above her.

There will definitely be more Golden Age days in darling daughter’s life, but the day when she first discovered the splash pad has already become a fond memory in my mind.

Father's Day

Yesterday, we were super busy celebrating Father's Day, so busy in fact that I didn't have time to write. Our day celebrating Father's Day was in stark contrast in how we celebrated Mother's Day. (Dear husband took darling daughter to an indoor playground while I watched a movie. It must have been a bad day. I remember that it was a rainy day). We kicked off the day watching dear husband run 5k for the Do It For Dad run/walk. After eating a pancake breakfast, we came home and packed for a picnic before heading to Gatineau Park.

The rest of the afternoon was as busy as our morning as we ate, chatted and then toured Mackenzie King Estates. It was a great day, not only celebrating Father's Day, but the day as a family. It was a great, memorable day.

Walking the line with the man in black

Move over Fred Penner, you've got competition.

I kid you not, darling daughter is a Johnny Cash fan. She loves him. His Greatest Hits CD is one of many in our CD collection in our car. Well, darling daughter will say, "song, song" demanding we put on the CD. She particularly enjoys Get Rhythm. Likely due to the fact that dear husband used to sing her the song when she was a baby and she was crying. The other day, she was getting fussy in the car and I immediately put on the CD. Instantly, she was smiling and bopping away in her car seat to Johnny Cash's voice. Who knew?

I guess if we ever take any long road trips we've got to get our hands on some more Johnny Cash tunes. I wonder if she'd like Willie Nelson?

Photo Wednesday

This photo was taken at last Saturday's Barrhaven Run for Roger's House. As part of the race kit, I received a T-shirt. Unfortunately, I didn't like the cut of the neckline. Fortunately for darling daughter, she loved it. She wore it the night before and during the race. We've also found the key to keeping her happy and entertained during running races: bring the wagon instead of the stroller. That way, she can climb in and out when she wants to.

The magic of magic looping

This post is for all the knitters out there who hate using and fiddling with double pointed needles. If you haven't already ditched those darn needles for magic looping, you should. My friend K got me onto magic looping. She had mentioned it to me and her tip came in quite handy when I was making a sweater. For whatever reason, I couldn't get the sleeves right with the double pointed needles I was working with. It looked like there was a run down each side of the sleeve. After a quick magic loop tutorial on knittinghelp.com, I got those sleeves done. And I was hooked.

Basically when it comes to magic looping you are knitting small diameter knitting projects on a long cable needle. When you get the hang of it, the technique is is quite ingenious as well as simple. It looks a bit complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is quite addictive. I've magic looped two longie legs at the same time. I've magic looped sleeves. I've magic looped the legs, arms and body of a sock monkey. Right now, I'm magic looping a small baby hat. It is much easier than using double pointed needles. The other day I had to add more length onto a sweater. Instead of using the cable needles I used to knit the body of the sweater, I had my long cable needles handy (same size as the smaller needles I had used) and started magic looping.

Although I still occasionally have to use double pointed needles, my dpn usage has been cut down significantly directly because of magic looping. My new knitting motto is when in doubt, magic loop. You can never go wrong when you magic loop.

Who is going to drag me across the finish line?

This was my punishment for being too cocky: running a 10k race.

Since crossing the finish line at Race Weekend, I’ve been dragging my feet when it came to running the 10K Barrhaven Run for Roger's House. I found the 5k on Race Weekend to be difficult to complete. How was I going to run 10k? I can’t even remember when I signed up for this race, either. It must have been done in an fit of euphoria after finishing a good long distance run. Damn those endorphins.

The day before race day, I contemplated switching from the 10k to the 5k. I was even going to ask to make the switch when I picked up my race kit. But since the line was so long, I didn’t get a chance. Volunteers were rushing to hand out kits to people standing in line. Obviously, it wasn’t a good time to ask. Then I thought about not running at all after reading the course wouldn’t be closed to traffic. When darling daughter woke up Saturday morning and we discovered her dotted rash turned into massive red welts, I thought there was no way I could possibly run when my child was suffering. Turns out she wasn’t suffering at all. No major illness. The rash continues to be an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. According to the doctor, if it isn’t bothering her, she’s fine.

Out of excuses, I decided to put up, shut up and run. If I was going to run a 10k race in June, Saturday was the day to do it since it wasn’t too hot or too sunny.

I put the following plan into action: survive and cross the finish line upright on my own two feet. Since I wasn’t running with anyone, having someone else drag me across the finish line was out of the question. So it was all on me (and my Sauconys) to get it done. I also told myself that I would take a walking break at the 5k mark to refuel and get some much needed water in me. I’m starting to learn, and appreciate, that walking breaks may be helping my running in terms of improving time.

As the air horn sounded the start of the race, me and about 350 other runners were off and running. By the time I hit the 1k mark, my pace was a bit too fast (six minutes). At the 2k mark it was back to my normal pace time and at the 5k turn-around point, I was on target at 33 minutes. Lately, I’ve found that the second-half of my runs turn into crap, so a walking break was needed. Once I found a good place to start walking, I got out the fuel gel (which was disgusting) to replenish my electrolytes. I had a three minute walking break, got to the water station, got more water into me, and dumped about three cups onto my back. It felt glorious.

At the 7k mark, I was still on target, but things got a bit iffy at the 8k mark. I took a small one minute walking break before getting back to the task at hand. Once I got to the next water station, I walked a bit to get water into me as well as to dump more water on myself before running to the finish line. I was glad to see the giant blue arch marking the end of the race route.

My official chip finishing time was one hour, nine minutes and 25 seconds. Not bad. I’m not about to complain. I did it. I finished what I set out to accomplish and that is good enough for me. I’ll worry about improving my time at a future race. I’ve also decided that I won’t be running any more races until the fall. But I think I may have talked dear husband in running a 5k next weekend. It will be nice to cheer from the sidelines for a change.

The ear infection that won't go away

Last week, I blogged about darling daughter's second ear infection, her second infection in less than a month. After a follow up check up yesterday with a lovely nurse practitioner at my doctor's office, I learned that it will take a month for the fluid in her ears (which became infected and caused said ear infection) to be reabsorbed by her body. Until that happens, there is a chance that the fluid will become reinfected and cause another infection. A quick check of darling daughter's ears showed that one of them was still red. Since were almost finished with the amoxicillin prescription she gave us last week, she decided to extend it for another five days in hopes the medicine would clear up the redness in one of the ears.

Hours later that same day, darling daughter broke out in a rash from head to toe. Was it measles? Chicken pox? Or some kind of childhood disease? Or did she encounter something at the playground? Only another trip to the doctor's office (our fifth visit in a month) would give us a concrete answer as to what was causing the rash.

The culprit: amoxicillin. Apparently around day nine or 10, kids who have an allergy to the stuff can break out in a rash. Although she is showing a mild reaction to amoxicillin, she can't have any more. And other than giving her Benadryl and Motrin, we weren't given an alternative for the amoxicillin. I have my fingers crossed that the ear infection will go away. But with our recent track record, I doubt it.

Darling daughter still has her rash and I'm hesitant to take her out of the house. I know it is from the medicine, but I don't want to get strange or dirty looks from parents who will likely automatically assume she is sick with something. As well as being stuck in ear infection hell, we are also in self-imposed quarantine from dirty looks. As my friend T would say, good times, good times.

52 weeks: a photo essay

Recently, dear husband sent several photos of darling daughter to his parents. After they received the package, my father-in-law thanked dear husband for the photos, but he had a question: where was I in the photos?

I wasn't included in any of the photos as I hadn't taken any photos of me and darling daughter together in months. This is likely due to the fact I've been in group photo withdrawal for the last four months.

I've been meaning to blog about this project for months, but the subject slipped my mind. Anyway, photo Wednesday seems like the perfect opportunity to blog about it. In February, I finished my 52 weeks with darling daughter photo project. I should preface that this wasn't my idea. I got the idea from an online moms group. The premise of the project is to take a photo of you and your child (or children) once a week for a total of 52 weeks. They can be posed photos. They can be photos of you reading together, or playing in the park. The possibilities are endless. At the end of the project, you have a treasured keepsake. And it is a way for moms to get photos of them and their little ones together as moms are usually the photographers of the family.

I started the project when darling daughter was nearly six months old and it ended when she was 18 months. I have photos of us doing laundry together, her watching me knit, blowing out the candle at a family gathering to celebrate her first birthday, reading stories, playing with toys and at the park, craving a pumpkin at Halloween and decorating the Christmas tree. While a good majority of the photos were taken by dear husband, some of them were taken by myself.

While I was happy to finish the 52 week project as it took some work, I was a bit sad to see it come to an end. Obviously, I wasn't that sad to pick up the camera and start on 104 weeks with darling daughter. I'd like to do it again, but I'm not too sure when. I wonder if darling daughter would be willing to participate in the 52 weeks with darling daughter -- the teenage years?

Kleenex and sand

Yesterday wasn't my best laundry day. I needed to wash my running gear, so I threw it into the washing machine, not thinking to check pockets for Kleenex. When I went to retrieve my laundry to dry it outside, everything was covered in mini bits of tissue. After shaking each garment to get them as Kleenex-free as I could, I threw them back into the washer for a quick rinse cycle.

I thought the problem was fixed until I went to retrieve my laundry. Grabbing my shorts and a shirt, I found that they were covered in sand. Sand?!? What the heck? I didn't see a grain of sand after the last wash. So back in the rinse cycle they went. So after one wash, shaking and two rinse cycles, my laundry was finally free of both Kleenex and sand. Not too sure what was going on with the laundry gods yesterday, but at least my running gear is clean.

Another running reality check

Yesterday I ran 11k. And what experience it was.

If you live in Ottawa, you'll likely remember yesterday as a pretty miserable day with rain and cool temperatures. The night before, I firmed up running plans with my friend and coach, C. We decided to meet at our usual running spot and make a judgement call if the rain was too bad to run in.

Looking out my kitchen window yesterday morning, all I saw was rain. Did I really want to run in rain? Did I even want to run at all? (Answer to both questions was an empathic no). I called C, got her voicemail and left the following message:

Hey, it's me. I notice it is raining outside. Is it too heavy to run in? I know you said you are getting over being sick and I wouldn't want to get sick again or God forbid, develop pneumonia. Let me know if you still want to run. I'll be here for the next 30 minutes before I head out to our meeting spot.

Thirty minutes passed and no phone call. Looking out the kitchen window again, I noticed the rain had picked up. Damn. I do not want to run in this crap, I thought to myself before picking up the phone and making one quick phone call to C. Again, my call went to voicemail where I left the following impatient and crabby message:

Hey, it's me again. Really, the rain has picked up and I really don't want to run in this weather. And who would, unless you're a duck. Since you aren't answering your phone, I'm going to go ahead and meet you at our meeting place. But I still don't want to run in rain.

To be honest, even if it had have been sunny, I still wouldn't have wanted to run. I've lost my running mojo. I think it disappeared during Race Weekend last weekend. Maybe it disappeared when I crossed the finished line. Or maybe it disappeared somewhere in the massive crowd in Confederation Park. I don't know what happened, but I think I've hit the wall, so to speak.

Being the great and encouraging running coach that C is, she decided we should run. And she even brought me a rain jacket. After prolonging it as long as I could, we ran. The number of runners running on the pathway was sparse, but there were lots of ducks. We ran from one side of the canal to the other. Since I have a 10k run on Saturday, I needed to get a long run in. By 8k, I was done, but I made the decision to keep on truckin' and go another 3k. I don't think I was ever so happy to see the finish line. My feet were sore. My butt was sore. And I was soaked.

I apologized for the crabby message and C accepted my apology. She said that once she may have sounded just like the message I left. I love running, but sometimes it is hard to talk yourself into hitting the pavement. But does it ever feel good to cross the finish line, especially in the rain.

Reviving my Swiffer mop

Since purchasing my Dyson, which sucks up everything, including toddler socks, my poor Swiffer has been relegated to the back of the broom closet. Why buy Swiffer cloths when I can simply plug in my Dyson and vacuum the dust bunnies to my heart's content?

Last week I was browsing through the blogs I follow. One blogger mentioned she had knitted Swiffer cloths. Swiffer cloths?!? You can knit them?!? Holy crap! Why didn't I think of that? I immediately logged into Ravelry and voila! Swiffer cloth and dry dust mop cover cover patterns suddenly popped onto my screen. And best yet, most were free patterns.

One of the reasons I wasn't using my Swiffer was because I had run out of disposable cloths to use. Although the cloths are great, I hate using them because they end up in the garbage. Why spend money on something you are going to throw out anyway? Since I've got a bin filled with cotton yarn (so addicted to the colours) I found a ball and quickly knitted this pattern. I made this cover in less than a day. It is super easy and it would be a great pattern for those who are learning to knit. The only thing I would change is making the pockets a bit deeper by half an inch. Also, they work perfectly. Once you are done, then can be thrown into the laundry to be washed. So, hello Swiffer mop and goodbye to Swiffer cloths.

Photo Wednesday

I took this photo after darling daughter and I lined up her Little People along the dining room table this morning. She'd bring one to me, I'd say the name of the character (ie: sheep, boy, cow, pig), and then I'd ask her to say the character's name. Obviously, we repeated this several times. She is very partial to the sheep. Also, she thinks the horses are cows. Oh, soon-to-be two year olds are funny and cute little creatures.

A new month, a new ear infection

For the third time in less than a month, we made another visit to the doctor's office this morning. The first visit happened in early May, where the doctor politely informed me that she was suffering from an ear infection. The second visit occurred two weeks later when darling daughter began to exhibit ear infection symptoms: a persistent cough and runny nose. It turned out it wasn't an ear infection, but fluid in the ears. I was told to use a saline nasal spray to help flush out the nasal passages in hopes of relieving congestion. Once the congestion was relieved, the cough would disappear.

Despite the fact she hates getting her nasal passages irrigated, the saline solution did help. But on Sunday, the persistent cough started up again. So once again, we made another visit to the doctor's office this morning. The nurse practitioner confirmed what I already knew once she looked into her ears: ear infection. And a raging infection in both ears at that.

So a big cheer for Amoxicillin. Although she only has had one dose, it seems to be working. And after we've successfully beat this infection, here's hoping no more ear infections for awhile.