Well quite a bit of time has gone by since the last update. The month of March is a busy time at work, and since Jon and I both work at the same place, we've both been busy!
He's somehow found the time to install hardwood floor in the living to make it a liveable space again, and he's installed the dishwasher. So even without a working sink, the dishes are getting done and I'm really, very relieved about that.
Having the living room back is nicer than I thought it would be. Yesterday, as I was getting supper ready, Philippe went over to his bin of toys and played happily by himself and it was just..... normal. And normal felt really good. It was peaceful and happy. Jon and I both noticed it and commented on it. To have a couch and to be able to sit and look out the window is really nice too. I never really realized how good it is to just sit on something other than a bed. Jon also commented on that. I am realizing so much as we start getting back to a sense of normalcy. How a lot of the stuff we have is for our enjoyment, and how when we enjoy our living environment, it allows for some breathing space and relaxation. But that is still a luxury. I never thought of having a couch as a luxury, or having space as a luxury, but it is. I feel a lot more grateful for the things that we have now, and don't have to look at what's on sale and wish that we could redecorate just to be modern. Not that I really had that tendency before, but once in a while there's the urge to get something newer looking than what you have.
No, now I just feel good sitting on my couch and having space for Philippe to play.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
flooring, glorious flooring
Well, we weren't planning on it, but we put in our kitchen flooring over the weekend. This gorgeous black hardwood floor that you can slide on and enjoy the smooth, clean feeling under your feet. It looks pretty hot too with our new cabinets and painted walls and black appliances. Oh yeah!
Jonathan's parents came up on Saturday and took Philippe out while we worked on the floor. And then Jon was able to finish it after supper. Then on Sunday, he place the other cabinets on the wall accross from the fridge and stove. Now we're at the counter stage. I can't believe it! I'm going to have counters one of these days soon! And then after that I'll have a sink, and then after that I'll have plumbing to USE the sink! And then I'll have the most amazing kitchen ever!
And for now, I'm happy taking a run and sliding on my new floor. :)
Jonathan's parents came up on Saturday and took Philippe out while we worked on the floor. And then Jon was able to finish it after supper. Then on Sunday, he place the other cabinets on the wall accross from the fridge and stove. Now we're at the counter stage. I can't believe it! I'm going to have counters one of these days soon! And then after that I'll have a sink, and then after that I'll have plumbing to USE the sink! And then I'll have the most amazing kitchen ever!
And for now, I'm happy taking a run and sliding on my new floor. :)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Scrub a dub dub
You know how when you go to get a bath ready for your little one, you say you need to rinse the tub out?
Well, yesterday, I had to take a scrub brush and go at it for 5 minutes to clean out the paint flakes and dried on food from washing dishes and rinsing paint brushes and pans.
When these renovations are done, life is going to be EASY! .... ok, maybe not, but easiER anyway.
Well, yesterday, I had to take a scrub brush and go at it for 5 minutes to clean out the paint flakes and dried on food from washing dishes and rinsing paint brushes and pans.
When these renovations are done, life is going to be EASY! .... ok, maybe not, but easiER anyway.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Recipe from my new kitchen!
Last night, I cooked in my new kitchen for the first time! We have one side of the kitchen finished, so the stove and fridge are in place, with cupboard units surrounding the fridge and then 2 drawer units on either side of the stove.
I told Jonathan he brought out the chef in me cause I cooked an amazingly delicious meal! Maybe because it wasn't pasta with sauce from a jar that it tasted so delicious, but I thought I'd share it anyway, just cause that's how good I feel.
Stir-fry and rice, in the most delicious way possible:
The rice was basmati, and I did 1 + 1/2 cups in 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of white wine. Delish!
In my stir-fry, I had onions, leeks, celeri, red pepper, bok choy, chicken and would have like mushrooms but they had gone bad. But next time I'm putting in mushrooms.
For seasoning while everything cooked, I put salt, pepper, basil and teragon. I splashed some lemon juice on everything as well.
Then when it was almost done, I added 1 full tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter (possibly the equivalent of 2 normal tablespoons), 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce, with about 1/4 cup of water and a few spurts of soya sauce. I'm pretty sure I have solved the mystery of what kind of sauce to put in stir fry. Jonathan and I used to just put a whole bunch of Soy Ginger salad dressing in, but I prefer this other one.
It was also the first time trying bok choy, and I really enjoyed the crunchiness it brought to the mix. Kind of like water chestnuts.
If you try it out, let me know what you think - even if it's bad.
I told Jonathan he brought out the chef in me cause I cooked an amazingly delicious meal! Maybe because it wasn't pasta with sauce from a jar that it tasted so delicious, but I thought I'd share it anyway, just cause that's how good I feel.
Stir-fry and rice, in the most delicious way possible:
The rice was basmati, and I did 1 + 1/2 cups in 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of white wine. Delish!
In my stir-fry, I had onions, leeks, celeri, red pepper, bok choy, chicken and would have like mushrooms but they had gone bad. But next time I'm putting in mushrooms.
For seasoning while everything cooked, I put salt, pepper, basil and teragon. I splashed some lemon juice on everything as well.
Then when it was almost done, I added 1 full tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter (possibly the equivalent of 2 normal tablespoons), 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce, with about 1/4 cup of water and a few spurts of soya sauce. I'm pretty sure I have solved the mystery of what kind of sauce to put in stir fry. Jonathan and I used to just put a whole bunch of Soy Ginger salad dressing in, but I prefer this other one.
It was also the first time trying bok choy, and I really enjoyed the crunchiness it brought to the mix. Kind of like water chestnuts.
If you try it out, let me know what you think - even if it's bad.
Monday, February 23, 2009
What a difference a weekend makes
Well, after spending an entire weekend painting, we are nearing a very exciting point in our renovations: we're almost ready to install the kitchen cabinets! Another couple coats of red (yes that's right, RED) on the closet and one wall in the kitchen, a coat of paint on the ceiling and another quick coat of grey everywhere else and we'll be good to go with the cabinets.
You know, we've definitely experienced the expression, "when it rains it pours" but I'm finding that we're experiencing quite a big of good stuff these past several days. It's like the extremes come in bunches. It's quite the roller coaster!
You know, we've definitely experienced the expression, "when it rains it pours" but I'm finding that we're experiencing quite a big of good stuff these past several days. It's like the extremes come in bunches. It's quite the roller coaster!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Reflections
Since things are put on hold, I'm going to take this time to reflect a little on how Jonathan and I have been acting and reacting to this huge project.
I've noticed that timelines are no longer an issue, whereas when we started, we were quite specific on when everything was to get done. There's just no point! At least that's how I think. Jonathan still believes he can put a 2 week deadline and think it's realistic. He'll mention a deadline and my automatic reaction is rather pessimistic, thinking, "yeah right, look how long everything else has taken".
We're definitely learning about each other's personalities. He is definitely the more positive thinker (maybe it's to motivate himself), whereas I like to think of myself as realistic (but Jonathan calls it being pessimistic). I just don't like setting myself up for failure, and trust me, if I were to have stuck by the deadlines we started with, I would be devastated and would not be handling this situation very well. I'm the type of person that, if I'm counting on something, it better be concrete and legit or else I'll be VERY disappointed. I guess that's why I have the attitude of not counting on too much in life. It's a survival tactic.
Jonathan on the other hand, thinks anything is possible and will tackle these huge mountains that I look at and think, can't we just have a picnic at the bottom? He thrives on designing how the rooms will look MONTHS in advance, he'll talk about light fixtures and paint color before we've even begun to demolish anything. He'll lie in bed and I can almost feel his thoughts pounding in his head (I never need to ask him what he's thinking about!). We'll be driving in the car and all of a sudden he'll say, "I just had a crazy idea!" and then he'll go on to explain a frame built into a wall with contrasting colors, but what would that color be? And where to put the bathtub and whether or not we need a linen closet in the hall, etc. He jumps from one thing to another so fast that I barely have time to TRY to imagine what his first topic was when he's on to his third point.
We still seem to be able to communicate with each other, which is what's keeping us from going crazy. He'll respect moments when I feel overwhelmed and need space or help with cleaning up and I try to let him work on stuff as much as possible without complaining or making it difficult for him to leave. It's hard for me to help, 1 - because of Philippe and 2 - because tools just aren't made for my size. I've heard of a line of tools made specifically for women though! Not that I could afford my own tools, but it's still a cool idea.
I've noticed that timelines are no longer an issue, whereas when we started, we were quite specific on when everything was to get done. There's just no point! At least that's how I think. Jonathan still believes he can put a 2 week deadline and think it's realistic. He'll mention a deadline and my automatic reaction is rather pessimistic, thinking, "yeah right, look how long everything else has taken".
We're definitely learning about each other's personalities. He is definitely the more positive thinker (maybe it's to motivate himself), whereas I like to think of myself as realistic (but Jonathan calls it being pessimistic). I just don't like setting myself up for failure, and trust me, if I were to have stuck by the deadlines we started with, I would be devastated and would not be handling this situation very well. I'm the type of person that, if I'm counting on something, it better be concrete and legit or else I'll be VERY disappointed. I guess that's why I have the attitude of not counting on too much in life. It's a survival tactic.
Jonathan on the other hand, thinks anything is possible and will tackle these huge mountains that I look at and think, can't we just have a picnic at the bottom? He thrives on designing how the rooms will look MONTHS in advance, he'll talk about light fixtures and paint color before we've even begun to demolish anything. He'll lie in bed and I can almost feel his thoughts pounding in his head (I never need to ask him what he's thinking about!). We'll be driving in the car and all of a sudden he'll say, "I just had a crazy idea!" and then he'll go on to explain a frame built into a wall with contrasting colors, but what would that color be? And where to put the bathtub and whether or not we need a linen closet in the hall, etc. He jumps from one thing to another so fast that I barely have time to TRY to imagine what his first topic was when he's on to his third point.
We still seem to be able to communicate with each other, which is what's keeping us from going crazy. He'll respect moments when I feel overwhelmed and need space or help with cleaning up and I try to let him work on stuff as much as possible without complaining or making it difficult for him to leave. It's hard for me to help, 1 - because of Philippe and 2 - because tools just aren't made for my size. I've heard of a line of tools made specifically for women though! Not that I could afford my own tools, but it's still a cool idea.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Slowly
I've been thinking of painting for almost 2 weeks now and I'm still waiting. The thing is, Jon hasn't been feeling well, so there was no progress. Over the weekend, he got some work done, which is nice, but it's such a slow process that it almost seems like not much has been done. It must be quite frustrating for Jon. He's vocalized his dislike for drywalling a number of times, and I completely understand why.
My dad is coming by tomorrow to take a look and possibly smooth things out a little, maybe even get things ready so I can start priming while Jon's away.... oh yes, he's away for the majority of this week. I have these dreams of him coming home and all the painting is done and he's all happy and we can move on to other more noticeable things, like a kitchen! But then my realistic (which Jon calls pessimistic) side kicks in and tells me that there's no way that could happen and that if it's just READY for painting, it will be great. And then as I'm writing this, I secretly hope that I can achieve something between the two extremes.
We shall see.
My dad is coming by tomorrow to take a look and possibly smooth things out a little, maybe even get things ready so I can start priming while Jon's away.... oh yes, he's away for the majority of this week. I have these dreams of him coming home and all the painting is done and he's all happy and we can move on to other more noticeable things, like a kitchen! But then my realistic (which Jon calls pessimistic) side kicks in and tells me that there's no way that could happen and that if it's just READY for painting, it will be great. And then as I'm writing this, I secretly hope that I can achieve something between the two extremes.
We shall see.
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