Uncle Fester and the topiary

Dear Uncle Fester,

Well it's Sunday evening and I'm going to update you on the week's activities:

1) we've received confirmation from our insurance company that they will pay for my car to be fixed; now we are just waiting on the body shop to call us for an appointment. I have to admit that I'm looking forward to it being fixed. Ever time I look at it I wince. I really want my bumper to be replaced soon.

2) we went to the Montreal Botanical Gardens today and checked out the topiary exhibit. Really cool. It is amazing to me that someone could plan these things to grow out so nicely. Anyway, some of the pieces were absolutely fantastic. It would be worth it to go back in September before the exhibit closes to see what it looks like.  Even better, Emma came with us and she was not snotty:)  Actually she was really very good considering she probably didn't want to go. Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day with no humidity and it would have been a shame to have wasted it inside.  I'm glad we went.

3) Back to running: I've been back to running for the last couple of weeks and watching what I'm eating and I'm starting to feel the results. I feel like my belly is getting smaller and that I'm getting stronger. I'm still doing intervals (6 run / 2 walks) and my last shot I actually ran 11 minutes... realized when i came home that I am almost doing 5K in 45 minutes which is a quite acceptable time.  YAY ME!!

4) OMG I am sooooo tired of taking the train.  About 4 times this week the train was late and/or delayed - totally fed up.  I really need to find a job that is closer to home.

5) Brushing Ronnie's teeth is becoming easier - electric toothbrush (avengers themed); my little pony toothpaste and a bunch of craft sticks stuck together with duct tape to keep her mouth open... sounds weird but it actually works and, once we have her bundled up like a burrito, it works well.

At this point in time Uncle Fester I can't think of anything else... talk to you soon.

Uncle Fester and a hot weekend

Dear Uncle Fester,

Well it's Sunday evening and it heralds the end of a beautiful weekend. The last couple of weeks have been cold, rainy and downright icky. This weekend seemed to bring everything that is Montreal in the summer together and explode it. It was a beautiful hot weekend with lots of sun and not too much humidity. Now for the weekend update.

We brought the car to the body shop and are now waiting to hear back from the insurance company to see what they will cover.  We went out to Restaurant l'Academie last night for Kathy's birthday (her 50th no less). It was nice. Brian and Emma had a choice of padtas without meat to choose from (ironically they ordered the same one), Ronnie had fettucine alfredo and I had muscles with fries. It was very tasty but rich. They also had the most amaxing carrot cake; the icing was fabulous. Oh and I got to embarass Kathy:) which was fun.

On Sunday we filled up Ronnie's pool and she had a blast splashing around in it. One of the hallmarks of her syndrome is a love of water and man did she prove it. She had a total blast.

Did I tell you I died my hair? Actually I ended up putting in highlights but there are alot more if them than I anticipated. I like it just surprised me. I guess I can now act like a dumb blonde...

That's it for now.

Uncle Fester and my broken car

Dear Uncle Fester,

It's just around 5pm on Friday afternoon and I've had a busy day. Well, it was supposed to be a quiet day with me getting my hair done and then just buying groceries but it started off a little differently than anticipated.

Why? Well first off Brian woke me up but saying "don't panic but" which is never a good thing. Apparently a city crew was on our street shredding branches and, as the driver tried to get around the crescent to leave, he backed into my car. It's not a huge dent but it is a dent and scratch. So the city crew had to call the police and get a police report so we can claim the repair. The good news is that this should also fix the passenger side bumper that I dented a couple of months ago. Brian didn't want to claim that accident as I wasn't insured on the car. In order to repair this new dent they will have to change the bumper. YAY

Then I went and had my hair done. I go it highlights which I really like. It's fun to get something new done like this.

Then Emma and I went out to pick up a few things at the organic food store. Ended up having a conversation with the woman about food supplements for Emma and I think we picked up something that should be good food her digestion, which she says is acting weird. I'll say; she went for a B.M. and it was very twiggy.

That's it for now. Just waiting for the BBQ to heat up. I'm having steak. Yay!!

Uncle Fester and the boring days

Dear Uncle Fester,

It's Wednesday evening and I have to admit that I'm getting tired. Got up at 5am this morning to go for a run. Felt a little self-righteous about it this morning but now it's finally catching up to me. I'm going to try to make it through Iron Chef but there is no guarantee.

So you remember that Brian works at the Vets Hospital, right? Well they seem to be in the middle of a transfer to the provincial government and he seems to be in a good place to maintain his position. That is very good news indeed. Although he has been the acting captain for the last couple of months and that seems to be working well as well.

As for me as much as I like my job there are a lot of changes coming up. One boss is stepping down and the other will be stepping up as interim director. I'm not worried; Laura and I get along fine but it will be different. I'm also feeling a little isolated. I'm not sure why. Humm...something to think about.

Day camp seems to be going well and tomorrow's they have their first outing. Should be interesting to get some feedback on that.

Emma is good. I'm still trying to figure out the whole Gabriel thing. They seem to be good friends but if there is more she ain't admitting it. We don't really have an isue but if she would come right out with it...

Sorry Uncle Fester, I don't have anything interesting today. Maybe tomorrow.

Uncle Fester and the mysterious laptop

Dear Uncle Fester,

It's Sunday evening and I'm staying up late because I can. Stupid right? I don't have to work tomorrow so despite how tired I feeloing to stay up late. I'm actually sort of watching a movie. I say sort of watching because I've now  watched the first hour but it seems to contain a lot of scenes of Halle Berry screaming and escaping from an asylum. Not very good and frankly there are only so many movies that can be saved by Robert Downey Jr.

Anyway Uncle Fester I thought I'd give you a run-down of our weekend. Nothing spectacular ; just the regular stuff. Brian and I did the groceries on Friday which allowed Emma and I to do some shopping on Saturday. On Sunday we went out to Hawkesbury for supper. First time taking the new car out for a drive that was longer than 15 minutes. I think everyone enjoyed the ride even Ronnie, especially  when she discovered she could reach me through the headrest. Every now and again I'd feel these little fingers tickling the back of my neck. It was very cute.

Anyway this is where the mysterious laptop fits in. Before he retired, it seems that Robert had bought himself a laptop thinking he would be working from home. Anyway it seems that he never really used it. In fact he admits he never really turned it on. Looks like he had some difficulty in setting it up so rather than have someone with know-how take a look he just put it aside. He made his granddaughter very happy by giving it to her. Emma was extremely happy. Now we just have to set it up which should be fairly straight forward.

Oh, lastly Ronnie is fully recovered from her dental procedures and Emma's babysitting was very successful. Looks like Marcy will be giving her call again during the summer. We are very proud of her.

That's it. Have a good one.

Uncle Fester and sharepoint

Dear Uncle Fester,

Have I ever told you how much I hate Sharepoint? I have to use this software for work and it is so NOT user friendly. I use it like twice a year, for the principal's prize and the lifetime achievement award, and I had to work with it today to finalize the access levels and it took me like 25 minutes to figure out how to remove access for people who are no longer on the adjudication committees. Uploading the dossiers is fine and easy; granting access to individuals is another matter and the access is selective so it is a total pain in the butt:(

Anyway, Ronnie's first week of day camp is done and she seems to have recovered from her dental surgery fairly well. Emma has also recovered from her babysitting duties. At least we didn't get any phone calls of her (or the kids) crying. Marcy and I were talking this morning and apparently she made quite the impression on her daughter Linden. She has been telling stories about "Emma did this and Emma said that". She said they might call Emma back during the summer to see if she is willing to sit the kids again. 

I'm very proud of her!!

I must admit Uncle Fester that I am very tired so I will be signing off. I want to eat some popcorn and drink my hot coco.

'til next time.

Uncle Fester and a day of firsts

Dear Uncle Fester,

We were up very early yesterday, 4:30am to be precise, for Ronnie’s dental surgery.  Actually, truth be told, Ronnie woke us up at 12:30am as she was a tad upset: you would be a little upset as well if you had to push out 2lbs poops on a weekly basis:)  Anyway, Brian crawled into bed with her in the hopes of settling her down but she was very fussy after that; frankly who can blame her?

Anyway, yes we were up at 4:30am and out of the house by 5:45am. Arrived at the Montreal Children’s Hospital at 6:30am and Ronnie finally got called in just after 8:00am.  I have to admit that although we’ve been through this a couple of times with the girls it is very stressful situation to watch your child being wheeled into an operating room no matter the reason. You wonder (at least in this situation) how much Ronnie understands. We explained what was going to happen and I know she understands more than she can communicate but stil…

Fast forward to 10:15am and we got the call that she was done. Four cavities were filled, two teeth were extracted (with one stitch) and her front teeth have been filed down to fix the broken tooth and the fissures that were starting in the other tooth. Oh, and her teeth have been cleaned. She has white teeth again.

We got around at 12:30 and Ronnie slept until about 4:30pm. The poor kid was so out of it, it’s kinda funny but not really. We gave her some advil to help with the pain (she was practically chewing her arm off) and I think it helped.  I know she’s OK but I’ll feel better when she’s back to being herself.

On the flip side, Emma had a great time baby-sitting. Her day went really well and she had fun and the kids like her. Liam, the boy, started off by asking her what detention was like? Kid has an interesting future ahead of him.

Oh, and we got our new (old) truck. Brian and I finally laid the Saturn to rest and bought a 2003 Mazda Tribute. Cool... now Brian can actually wear his seatbelt. Who knew?

Must go to my next meeting Uncle Fester; 'til tomorrow.

Introducing Uncle Fester

So I’ve decided to resurrect this blog but I need to change its focus. The point of starting this was for me to have somewhere to write about how I feel, how I am doing, how my family is doing, our struggles, our failures, our triumphs and our laughter…for me to feel connected and to celebrate the little battles we win on a daily basis. And for me to bitch about the battles we lose ‘cause Lord knows we do some of that as well. 

In order for me to be able to do this with consistency and I hope some success, I cannot write for an unknown audience; it just doesn’t work for me. I need to have an intended recipient even if it’s an imaginary one.  I think I will name this journal Uncle Fester. Why Uncle Fester? I’ll get to that one day. But that day is not today.

So buckle up my sweeties; we are off to the rides.

Dear Uncle Fester,

Today was my first day back at work from a week off. Dare I say it? Why not: I was actually happy to be back at work; weirdJ  Actually, I do enjoy my job. Obviously there are some aspects I enjoy more than others but overall I like working. Having time off is fun for the first couple of days but after that I get lazy. I find it hard to get motivated. For example, I was hoping to clean up the front garden that you, dear diary, are named after but I didn’t get to it. Well, in my defense it was pouring rain for most of the week but between you and me, I fear that even if it had been sunny, the garden would still be weedy. Anyway, I do like working and I like the people I work with.

Today for example Laura (one of my bosses) and I went on a field trip. My other boss (Cynthia) is stepping down from her post in a couple of months and Laura and I are in charge of finding a gift for her. She really likes jewelry and has an artist she visits regularly for handmade pieces. Anyway Laura and I got to step out of the office for a while and meet with her. She had actually made something special for Cynthia which at first I don’t think Laura and I were too thrilled with but the more we looked at it, the nicer it became. I think Cynthia will really like it. And university business was conducted as Laura and I reviewed some work stuff on the drive there and back so it was a win/win. I do so appreciate the fact that I have reached a point in my career that my opinion and comments are listened to – doesn’t always happen when you are an assistant.

Anyway, once we got back to the office, we got to eat cakeJ as it was Mariela’s birthday. Then I stayed to listen to a presentation on her major project and frankly Uncle Fester, I was bored out of my mind. Big mistake; ugh. It’s so boring I don’t even want to tell you about it.

Anyway, tonight I have a meeting with the Board for Ronnie’s day camp. We shall see how the first two days of activities have gone, especially today as I think we were expecting a full house and we are not sure how this coordinator is working out. I think he is a little out of his depth (I’m being polite).

Tomorrow should be an interesting day as well: Ronnie is having dental surgery to repair her cavities and fix the broken front tooth and Emma will be babysitting four kids. I know, four of them – that’s just crazy. Bless her heart that she has agreed to take this on for her first real babysitting job. Ok, so they are not that young (2 x 11 and 2 x 8) but still it is four kids. I hope it goes well for her. And she gets to make a bit of money which she’s happy about.

I actually feel really bad that we won’t be around to provide support or see her off. The kid already feels like she can’t ask anyone for help (long story) but I’d like her to know that she has our support and that we are so very proud of her despite what she may think.

My stop on the train is coming up Uncle Fester so I think I must end this first missive.  Until tomorrow.