Oliver keeping an eye on Jordon

Last night

Jordon is working some weird and crazy hours this summer so today is his weekend.  We left last night and went to the cabin for the night.  We are getting to the point where enough stuff is up there and we don’t have to bring a bunch of stuff up.  We brought up our new fire pit which was made from the inside of a washer machine (it cost me $8 and it worked) and the microwave.  We need to put up some interior shelving but the cabin is coming together.

Our fire pit worked about as well as we had hoped but we need to bring up an axe or a hatchet to split some firewood.  We did learn today that Mark has to start going to bed at an earlier time.  He was having a hard time paying attention to instructions today. 

Last night Jordon, Maggi, and Mark went down to the lake and it was disgusting.  The algae was in full force.  Jordon was joking that the lake was calm because it had turned into a kind of algae jello.  Not quite accurate but it was pretty ugly.  I know it doesn’t do this for long and according to this it is phosphorous (and not nitrogen) that causes it but it was kind of gross.

On the way home we stopped in Cymric for some cool drinks for the ride home.  Jordon commented that his Diet Coke tasted funky and you don’t want to know how out of date it was.  Diet Coke can and will go bad if it sits for long enough.

We are back for a week next week.  I can’t wait.

A decade

It was a decade this weekend that I told my parents that I had been sexually molested for an extended period growing up. It was by more than one person and it played a big part in who I was when I was younger. I had been married to Jordon for about 8 months when I told him. We had gone up to Waskesiu for a weekend to relax and get away from the grind of life. I kind of dropped this on him one night and he reacted as I had hoped.

Later on I told my parents and in just under a year our relationship was pretty much ruined.  I am told is kind of normal in these kinds of situations. In hindsight, many days I wish I had never told them but I was tired of living a lie.  Living that lie for so many years altered not only me but many of my relationships.  People have angrily told me, “You have changed!” to which I say, “I know but this is closer to who I really am.”  Sadly not everyone has been that open to Wendy 2.0 as I had hoped.  I think I have gotten used to the idea of not being connected to my family anymore but Mark is already having questions of why he has no grandparents around. While I know it doesn’t have to be this way, it is this way and there isn’t much that I can do about it now.

If there is good that came from it, it was the idea that I can choose those that are close to me and there has been a lot of wonderful friends that have stood beside me through depression, miscarriages, and a rather tough birth of Oliver (who was supposed to be born this weekend btw). Not only have they been there for the bad times and the good times but for all of the times in between. It also told me that water can be thicker than blood.

Jordon has been there for me as well.  It has been a tough decade in spots for him.  A couple of times the depression has told me that we would be better divorced or maybe it would be better off for him if I lived on the street in a box.  He ignores that and just makes me get an appointment to get my medication checked and helps me through it.

So how does one celebrate an anniversary like this? I don’t know but my to-do list has me looking for some tires for our vehicles. It’s a glamorous life I live.

A little too small for our family

Here is a cute little 64 sq foot house that seems a little two small for a couple of a dog to call home.

Mighty Junior

I don’t know how many of you have seen this but Mighty Junior is a fun weblog.  It is basically a shopping weblog for those of us who have kids.  Some sample posts

• One Year Old Birthday Guide
• 14 Perfect Father’s Day Gifts
• Must Have List for Traveling with Babies and Tots
• Camping with Kids Guide

Around here

It was a nice week around the house.  Here are the highlights.

• Oliver continues to put on weight.  He was five pounds four ounces on Monday when he was weighed at the clinic.
• I found a fire pit for the cabin.  After looking at spending over $100 for one, I started calling some used appliance places to see if they had any washer drums.  I found one for $8, it is heavier than a regular fire pit and with some spray paint, it looks not too bad.
• The cabin has a sofa bed in it which is pretty comfortable as a sofa (I haven’t slept on it yet).  It doesn’t really go with the decor of the cabin but at the same time, there is some other stuff I wanted to get first before worrying about the sofa.  Tonight I was at XS Cargo and they had some great sofa covers for cheap.  We found one we really liked and it is almost like getting a new sofa for nothing
• I have had a bunch of e-mail and (now deleted) comments asking me when I was bringing Oliver to Brandon to see family, the church, and stuff like that.  The simple answer is I am not.  It is just the way things are right now and have been for a decade.
• This is kind of silly but the big news is that Jordon found some shoes that he can wear into the lake this summer.  Since the diabetes and the neuropathy hit, he can not walk barefoot anymore.  Down in Bahamas, he was fine to walk in the fine sand of the ocean but he tried to walk across the street to their townhouse and could not, he had to stop and put on his sandals.  He says that it doesn’t really hurt but kind of really, really, really bad pins and needles.  Even with sandals he can’t walk to the water.  We have looked at some water shoes but they don’t seem to make any larger than size 8.  He found some size 13 today that were on sale as well.  It also means that after soaking Jordon with his Super-soaker, Mark can’t run for the safety of the beach anymore.
• Mark has discovered the Internet.  He is allowed to go on www.hotwheels.ca only if he asks and he loves it there.  Obviously the site designers knew what they were doing.
• At the Community Centre, they love playing Wizard.  Jordon is horrible at it and they mock him mercilessly about it.  Jordon handles this about as well as you could imagine and refuses to play.  While “No Means No” in many situations, for his coworkers, it mean’s “Deal him in”.  On top of this, Jordon is a terrible dealer.   Last night while running an errand, he bought a deck of Wizard cards for the lake.  I am not a big card player, cards were always discouraged when I was growing up but I guess I will have to be the one that stomps all over Jordon and makes fun of him.  It’s a hard job but someone has to do it, even on his days off.
• To say it has rained the last couple of days has been an understatement.  I never knew the Saskatchewan had a monsoon season but apparently it now has.  All I know is that the farmers will be happy, those at the Taste of Saskatchewan, not so happy.

Jordon and Oliver at the Cabin

Just after we had gotten to Arlington on the weekend, Jordon helped settle Oliver down while everyone was scraping the outside of the cabin.  Rather than being freaked out, Oliver seemed fascinated by the action.  Of course it is easy to be calm when Jordon is chilling out beside you.

Weekend at the lake

Last week Gloria phoned us and said that her, Jerry, and the Camplins wanted to know if they could paint our cabin for us since our summer didn’t seem to go as smoothly as planned.  We were blown away by the offer and made plans to join them at the lake.

Jordon who spent the early part of the week helping out with the evacuations of Sandy Lake and Pelican Narrows had more than enough hours in to take some of Friday off work and we got up there in the early afternoon.  He was so tired that he barely made it out of Saskatoon before saying, “You drive, I need a nap”. 

By the time we got up to the lake, the Reimers and Camplins had started scraping the cabin down and were joined by the Loewen’s who are just down the road from us.   I took Oliver in who was fascinated by the noise of the scrapers and people on the roof of the cabin.  While they did that, I introduced Oliver to a steady stream of people from Arlington who came by to visit.  One thing that happened when I was struggling tremendously in the later days of my pregnancy is that Gloria had people at Lakeview pray for me and word spread to Arlington as well so a lot of people were thrilled to see Oliver doing so well.

We got the cabin scraped down on the outside by time to have a good spaghetti dinner at Camplin’s.  While Dennis, Jordon, and Jerry headed back to the cabin to finish up some things, trim a tree, and haul away some stuff to the dump, I had a more relaxing evening with Wilda and Gloria.

The next day they started painting and painting and more painting.  I think it took four and a half gallons of paint but in the end it looked spectacular and was a lot of work by everyone.  During this time, Reuben came over with a new aluminum screen door that was to be given away for free and after performing some carpentry miracle, made it fit perfectly.  Jordon and I had bought some paint for the inside door but realized that it was oil based and we didn’t bring up any turpentine so it will wait for our next trip to the cabin to paint.

I made some progress on the inside of the cabin as well.  I had purchased a used table at Value Village, refinished the top with white melamine paint.  Since our car is a little packed with kids, the Reimers brought up the table top for us in their car.  Once up there I got it all together and for kitchen storage, I bought some great rolling containers from Jysk.  The table holds the convection oven, buffet range top, and other kitchen gear while giving me some space to work.  I managed to rearrange the master bedroom which made me happy but confused Jordon and donated some stuff to the Looney Bin, which a dollar store at the lake.

Saturday night was spent watching the sunset over the lake, hanging out around the fire, setting up Mark’s tent in total darkness enjoying the quiet that the lake brings.  The other really interesting thing that the weekend brought was the we drove home in the worst rainstorm that I have ever seen.  Cars were hydroplaning and some actually hit the ditch.  We were fine but at one point Jordon felt us slide a bit as well and we we were not going that fast as well.  The thunderstorm didn’t last that long but it was the most intense one I have ever seen.

Thanks to the Camplins and the Reimers for a wonderful gift.   It may have been the coolest thing that anyone has ever given me.  It was also a lot of fun seeing a bunch of old friends up at the lake as well.  A combination of life settling down and me feeling better has me thinking already of heading back up there.

I have posted some more photos here.

Maggi and Oliver

We were a little worried about Maggi being around Oliver.  Not that Maggi is mean but she is a big powerful, clumsy dog who is kind of like having a bull in a china shop.  When I brought Oliver home, Maggi walked gingerly over, took a long sniff and left.  Since then her whole demeanor has changed whenever Oliver is around.  Maggi quiet, gentle, and cautious, three characteristics I didn’t think she had.  She still wanders over to see Oliver but gives her these gentle sniffs and little licks on the face every once in a while as opposed to drowning me in slobber at times.  She sleeps in sight of Oliver’s playpen and seems really, really protective of him.  If Oliver is upstairs sleeping and someone stops by, Maggi generally stands on the stairs while I open the door now which is brand new.  She obviously is dedicated to keeping the newest member of the pack safe from harm.  As far as Jordon, Mark and I am concerned, she still uses her body weight to go where she wants to go but around Oliver, she gentle rules the day.

Oliver at home

I haven’t really had time to blog about this but Oliver is at home now.  On Canada Day they sent all 4 pounds, 6 ounces of him home with a very excited Mark, Jordon and I.  After taking him by Jordon’s work so they could all see him, we headed over to the Reimer’s where Gloria, Jerry, and Kristi all took turns holding him and offering opinions about which one Oliver liked better.  Since then Oliver has been doing pretty good.  He has been given a tour of the neighborhood, checked out Lawson Heights Mall, and gotten to know the dogs a little better.  Maggi who is generally like a bull in a china shop around us, is extremely gentle around Oliver.

Here are some photos of Oliver’s last full day in the NICU and a photo of Oliver heading home.