The dawn of a new reality

Did you all like that one post I put up this summer?  It was awesome, wasn't it? Yeah...

Well, I did write many more of them in my head, usually at 2 am, but obviously none of them made it into the computer.  I even took photos specifically for blog posts, and then sort of shuddered at the thought of opening Photoshop and ran outside.  And that is where I spent pretty much every day this summer - outside (see photos above)!  With the boys, of course, and family either Out East or Out West - and yes I realize that my life is kind of ridiculous, and I am spoiled absolutely rotten.  I thought I would throw together a few of the look-how-awesome-my-summer was shots into one big clump to get them out of the way. :)

My comeuppance has come this week, as both boys start full days at school.  Suddenly I am none too fond of Mr. McGuinty and his full-day kindergarten (the very thing I was crossing my fingers for when I was a working mom paying for childcare).  It's like the end of the most glorious, happy, unbelievably-amazing vacation - a two-year vacation at that.

Two years of being at my kids' every beck and call, of crafting, colouring, drawing, breaking up fights, kissing owies, twisting the chicken timer on the time-out spot, and developing an amazing respect for the phenomenon called 'quiet'.

Two years of days at the park (feeling incredibly guilty as I facebooked and instagrammed my brains out), listening to toy cars discuss red lights versus green lights, denying TV, and then binging on 10 episodes of Max and Ruby (usually with a chaser of Caillou).

Two years of tantrums at the grocery store, book store, cafe, halfway to the park, halfway to the car, in the car, outside the car, upstairs, downstairs, and especially on the time-out spot - many of them thrown by yours truly.  Two years of spontaneous hugs, puzzles, stories, bike rides and snuggles.

You get the idea.  It only hit me last week that days like these will now be confined to two months in the summer, if they still want to hang out with me that is.  For the rest of the year I will have to make due with those fun hours around dinner and weekends, like regular folks.  It was a tough realization to come to terms with, but being grateful for those two years really, actually (Cam's favourite word) did help.  There some sobbing, gulping-for-air tears (all mine) last week to be sure.

But this week things seem to be shaking into some sort of new reality.  I am trying to take it easy on myself and not demand that I find a job STAT (which is how I feel).  I am happy to report that I am still gunning to do interior design, I will keep up with the marketing consulting, and the encaustic project is still a go.

So there you have it, my life in a nutshell.  I am sure you really didn't need to read it, but for some reason I needed to write it!  I seem to have been putting off blogging until I had all this stuff squared away, and now I hereby give myself permission to get back into it. :)

Strawberry-Picking in New Brunswick

I just returned from a month in New Brunswick and while I had the best of intentions of posting regular updates, I was too busy living them to even download them from my camera. These shots are from our first full day at Nana and Grampy's, at the very end of the strawberry-picking season.  We drove (and ferried) over to the Kingston Peninsula to see what was left at Bates Landing.  The berries were pretty picked-over, but the boys and Nana had fun, and I just soaked in the New Brunswick air and admired the view.  I also ate a few strawberries. :)

It was the perfect beginning to the perfect holiday. :)

Don't fence me in

I am pretty sure my back yard is cursed - first the fence fell over in a wind storm, and we ended up replacing all 3 sides.  Then the neighbour's tree fell smack into our yard, narrowly missing our then-2-year-old and smashing down the back fence.  This past weekend, our glass patio table, which we have had for years, spontaneously combusted.  As in, I was standing just inside the screen door when I heard SMASH (tinkle tinkle tinkle) and looked out to see this:

Nothing fell on it, there was no big wind, the cars were not too heavy, nothing.  Thank heavens the boys had finished playing with their cars and had gone inside!  It was quite a mess, and took two of us to shopvac up over a few days (it was raining a lot!).  But that makes three backyard catastrophes, and I am hoping now the catastrophe gremlins will take off for good.

We now have to get a new table, which is not as easy as it sounds, as most patio tables are sold in sets and our chairs are fine (one may be a bit splattered with spray paint from one of my DIY projects, but whatever...)  We wanted to get a table slightly bigger than the one we had, which was great for the four of us, but pretty crowded when we had visitors - and we like our visitors!  Having done the online search-and-compare, I think it will be this one from Home Depot:

Not terribly exciting, but pretty much the only thing I could find, and it fits in our non-existent budget (It's $65).  It does not fit, however on our existing (teeny tiny) patio.  So we have reluctantly begun to talk about how to make it bigger - a full wooden deck?  Just continue with the interlock we have and extend it?  Take it out and put in bigger tiles?  No decisions yet.  You can see how it looks below.

I am sad to remove any grass but we do have a lot more at the back now that the tree is gone and we get some light.  

The other thing is that the house next to us (that shares the driveway) is being fully gutted and renovated, and they are building a back deck and repaving the whole driveway.  So with the advent of new neighbours (our last neighbour was an elderly woman who rarely came out back), we are thinking about putting in a privacy screen.  And it just so happens that the contractor is going to be digging posts for a privacy screen on the other side and offered to do some for us if we want - and he is going to repave the whole thing.  So idle discussions about a fence some day have ramped up pretty quickly!

I know, I know, those are some pretty fancy photoshop skills, eh?  This is more or less what we agreed on for the position of the fence and the size of the patio (still not sure what it will be made of).  I had been tempted to push it over to include what used to be our back porch, but this keeps all of the pavement area for the kids and their various plastic monstrosities, and makes it possible to tuck them up against the fence out of sight from the street.

Did I mention the plastic monstrosities?  Yikes.  And every single one of them acquired on the side of the road.  You can see the neighbours fence on the one side, so having one on the other will make it feel much more secluded.  

But the BIG questions is: What kind of fence?  

Below are some options I like, although they don't match the rest of our fencing - do you think that matters?  Which do you like?

Of course there is the regular lattice option as well, which would probably be the cheapest and easiest, but I want to take advantage of an opportunity for a little style!  What do you think?  Any advice or opinions?

A Trip to Fundy National Park in Photos

I love Fundy National Park.

Target wants you to have a Big Honkin' Summer

I love these big, punchy, graphic, and colourful advertisements for Target.  They are so happy and cheerful, and noticeable while still being consistent with their usual branding.  Their agency also did a great job of recreating the spirit of the campaign in-store.

Their first stores are set to open in Canada in March/April of next year.  Are you excited?  Or is part of the charm of Tar-Jay that it is always linked to a cross-border adventure?  I know that I still love Crate & Barrel, but J. Crew is a bit of a disappointment for me.  I was watching a report on the National last night that was projecting what the arrival of big US companies like Target would mean for Canadian companies like Jacob and (American-owned) Sears and The Bay.  Do you ever consider nationality when you shop?  I know sometimes I will go to Canadian Tire before Home Depot when I am feeling nationalistic, but am usually lured by the price above all.

Agency: Target iH

Sr. CD: Jason Langer

CD: Jon Baugh

Sr. Art Director: Allan Peters

Jr. Art Director: Emily Reile

Writer: Anna Stassen

Illustrator: Tom DiTolla: Spectrum Studios

Found via Design Work Life