Lovely Night, Girls

Lastnight was great. Tiana was in town for just a day or two before a short course and another deployment with the US Navy. I am so glad we could all meet up for sushi at Festival Japan. It's been 4.5 years since she left, but it's as if no time has passed when we get together. We were also out celebrating Jessica's birthday. Girls, we must do something other than sushi next time. We must diversify our palate. I so wish that I had browner skin. The flash is bouncing off of my white skin. Ick. You are blessed, Tiana.

Otherwise, the week has been slow. Eric was out of town for a while and I got a head cold. Oh - and the laundry pump broke and flooded our basement. Thank goodness for good friends who helped me out in a pinch. I hate breathing through my mouth while I sleep. BIG pet peeve. The boys are good. We went to see the Ottawa Puppeteers Group yesterday. They performed 'Stone Soup' and a few other fables. My parents bought the old farmhouse on Manitoulin Island lastweek. They'll be moving at the end of next month - probably. AND we are finally painting and updating the house a little. It's about time. Nina tore the wallpaper off my front hall last fall. The plans are there - we just have to get it done.

So much to say...

Easter Weekend is over. Here's the recap. We all drove up to Barrie Thursday afternoon. When we got out of the car along the 400, we could not believe how cold the wind was. And then there's the snow. Barrie is known for snow, but it didn't stop for days. We hadn't had such a snowfall in Ottawa this entire winter. Unfortunately, I didn't plan for blizzards. No boots, mittens, or hats. Oops. We got to spend some time with the in-laws and a lovely visit with Jen C. and the kids at her mom's home in Barrie. She's becoming larger with child and due to have another babe in...??? (I don't remember).

Eric and I got a night away. Yes, just the two of us. This is an event worthy of record-books. We had a wonderful time. We checked into the Westin Trillium House at Blue Mountain village. It was nice and they still have ski runs open. Can you believe it? Skiing or snowboarding on Easter Weekend. Not I, though. This was a spur of the moment thing and I was not equipped for a ski weekend. We didn't ski, but we certainly spent some time in the outdoors at 'Le Scandinave'.



The baths were excellent. I loved the hot pools, the Norwegian steam room but did not love getting into the cold pools of water. Eric was crazy and got into the 51 degrees Fahrenheit pool. Yikes. It was great sitting in the hot pools of water with snow falling on your face. Lots of fun. It reminded us of Sorenson's cabin on Lake Temiskaming where DW introduced us to the tradition of 'Russian slapping'. There was absolutely no slapping going on this weekend.

The next day, we travelled from Blue Mountain to Cambridge to see Jason and Julie's new home AND to eat an Easter dinner, of course. Plus, Grandma and Poppa Jakob had our children so there were many reasons to hook up in Cambridge. Eric and I stopped at a small teahouse in the village of Hillsburgh. It was great. I had a cucumber sandwich with butternut squash soup. Classic tearoom fare.



We had a fabulous day at Julie and Jason's home. The kids had an Easter Egg hunt outside and then the traditional Easter meal of steak. The night was pretty rough. Konrad vomited at 3am (too much chocolate, too little food).

THEN we travelled to Dundas to visit my sister Lisa and family. We had a nice visit and ate the more traditional meal of turkey(the most traditional being ham or lamb, I suppose). The dinner was fabulous... altogether yummy. The best part was... I think we'll be buying a new dining table soon. Our table is something of a hazard. I apologize to my friends before sitting to eat, just in case the table spontaneously collapses onto their kids. Once Eric saw Lisa's table, he decided it's time to buy a new Mennonite-made STURDY table from St. Jacob's. Let's hope we get this table in the house before there's an accident.

THEN, we drove home. We made it from Dundas to Ottawa in less than 5 hours. The kids were asleep within the first 5 minutes. Eric and I talked most of the way home - we even argued for about 45 minutes. At least it helped the time pass - even arguments are welcome if they pass the time.

Happy Easter to all!!!

Happy Fool's Day!

I haven't updated for two whole weeks, I think. Not much happens, though. Eric's parents were in the Honduras. They had a great time - Klaus did some zip-lines that were super-long. Heather enjoyed being pain-free for the week. Eric's in Florida right now golfing. Nice for him. I'm here with the kids all weekend. We're starting to get bored. We have routine during the week but the weekend can be a little long. I'm glad that Tandice and Jessica came over Friday night. We're getting pretty excited about France. Speaking of France, Angelina is in Paris this weekend with Cecile Mines. An impromptu trip to paint Cecile's friend's new apartment in Paris. The perks of being an esthetician, I suppose. Reminding me, that Eric went winter camping last weekend in Val-des-Bois. They all had a great time and there was still lots of ice and snow for skiing around the lake. My biggest concern was their toilet situation. I don't want to go up there next month and find treats underfoot.

I just found out that 12,000 people wrote the exams for the foreign service recruitment. That's crazy. I can hope for the best but I have absolutely no expectations. I've been working with a new trainer the last couple of weeks. We're doing hour-long sessions and she is kickin' my body. Afterwards, I am sore for 2-3 days (but loving it). I meet wth her every Monday morning - I tried to do some push-ups Wed morning but my chest was still pretty sore so I gave up. My weight is still decreasing BUT I must remain vigilant. I need to keep calorie-counting just as a measure to ensure that I'm not overeating (or eating the wrong foods). Food can be very deceiving but yummy.

The kids are enjoying their swim classes. Dovercourt is a wonderful recreation facility. They are both enjoying playing outdoors again. There's only so much one can do in the wintertime. Now that the snow is gone, they can pretend to fish in the ditch, play basketball, ride their trikes, play hockey and golf. It's great. I'm loving it. I can't wait until I can start gardening.