Mission Accomplished

Goal: Under 2:15
Challenge goal: Under 2:10
Ultimate goal: Under 2:05

Actual time: 2:03:59

WE KILLED IT!

Apologies for the embarrassingly tiny images. I guess the marathon-photo people make the online pictures really small so more people will buy the big ones.

Rob was an awesome coach, he talked me through my negativity during the last 5K and let it roll of his back when I sniped at him that I couldn't do it, that we had started off too fast, that this whole thing was a stupid idea. Rob rules the school, in case you did not already know this.

The course was awful - the final 3K were uphill, and you couldn't see the finish line until you were practically on top of it. I hated that - I like to focus on the finish line and dig deep for a good long sprint at the end.

But, none of that matters. We crossed the finish line together, we soundly beat our goal time, life is good.

And of course, special thanks to Auntie Shannon and Uncle Shawn who wrangled Peej while we were off helping me achieve a life goal. They even showed up along the route to cheer us on just as I was hitting the wall. Best pick-me-up ever.

Trucking along...

Things are slowly but surely being crossed off our never-ending to-do list.

Rob built some temporary stairs to and from the back yard, that will tide us over until we build a new deck next spring.



The trim around the french doors has been completed. It will be primed and painted once the rest of the trim is in place.





The thing with the shelves is complete and primed, but not yet painted. That is our old TV that you see there, that I bought seven years ago at the Great Glebe Garage Sale for $10. We will eventually be replacing it with something slightly more spiffy and with up-to-date technology such as a remote control. Hee.



And, we have figured out our island solution. We didn't want anything that would overwhelm the room too much, so we decided to go with a butcher-block top table. We still are a bit undecided on this, so we might decide to tile the top to match the counter, but we're going to leave it as is for now to see how we like it.





We had a great summer of fun and relaxation. Despite my concerns of schedule-creep at the start of this project, I was glad we took some time off to enjoy life.

Patrick had an eventful summer.

He met his idol...



He did lots of playing in the water...



He got his first ever haircut...



And basically just enjoyed life. Life is good.

I am so it.

Evidently, in my absence, I was tagged. Therefore I am it.

* We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
* Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.

So, hmm. Eight random things about me.

1) I hate bananas.
2) I love my PVR more than is right or proper.
3) I am training to run a half marathon in October. This it the fourth time I have begun training to run a half marathon, however I have not yet actually run a half marathon. The first time I chickened out and ran the 10K instead, the second time I got pregnant and had to stop training, and the third time we started renovating our kitchen and training fell by the wayside. Here's hoping that the fourth time is the charm.
4) If I wake up in the middle of the night, it takes me hours to get back to sleep
5) By far the most useful class I took in high school was typing.
6) I find it really hard to come up with eight random facts about myself. Am I that boring, really?
7) I realized I was pregnant in an airport.
8) My idea of heaven used to involve snow, mountains, and skis on my feet, however this has changed. Snow, mountains and skis on my feet are all still very awesome, but heaven, actual heaven, is an empty house, a pizza, some bits n bites, and a stack of cheesy movies on DVD. Maybe even throw in an US or a People magazine for good measure.

Ok so now on to tagging people. How about :

Suzie
Pattyfaye
Jenn
Smarties
Chelle
Tamara
Monster
JL

And last, but obviously not least, here is a picture of Patrick doing what he does best. The answer would be 'Being cute', not 'Sticking his tongue out with crazyhair':



Thanks to Julie for the photo.

Alive!

Believe it or not, we are still alive!

We took some time off from kitchening to enjoy what remained of summer. But, with summer over, we have revived our kitchen work, and, hence, this blog rises from the dead. With fall barely begun we have already made some progress on the kitchen in the way of trim, and temporary stairs to the back yard before Project Back Deck begins in Spring 2008. Pictures to follow.

In other news, after abandoning our training for the Ottawa Half Marathon in May in favour of working on the kitchen, we have resumed training and will be running the Toronto Half Marathon in October.

Training is coming very well. We are running four days a week, with a mid-week hill training run, and a long run on Sundays. Our long run this week will be 18k. The following week will be 20k. The week after that will be 21k, with a rest week before race day.

I am already exceedingly nervous about the race. To help me overcome my race day jitters, Rob kicked my ass in a 10k race last weekend.





Up next for the kitchen is remaining hardware, trim, plastering, and painting.

We think we have found an island solution, it remains to be implemented.

And, finally, the tiling of the backsplash has been put on hold for the time being. It will be plastered and painted, with tiling to follow at a later date.

That's it for now, I'll get some pictures up this weekend.

Great Googly Moogly!

Believe it or not, some real progress was made on the kitchen this weekend in between runs along the river, trips to the playground wading pool, and picnics on Bates Island.

We decided to put two drawers in the space under the microwave:


Almost all remaining handles are now in place, and the kick-plates to bring the cabinets to the floor have been installed!







Up next: Trim and under-cabinet lighting. Home stretch? Not yet. But close.

You thought you were home-free, I know. But what kind of Mother would I be if I didn't include a couple of pictures of my kid? Give me some credit, please.

Title Title Bo-Bitle

Despite not having posted in quite some time, we are still trucking, and the kitchen is still not finished.

There have been some minor steps forward.

The trim kit for the microwave has been installed, leaving plenty of room for another drawer underneath.



Other than that, we have been on vacation!

First we visited PJ's Grandparents and Great-Grandma on Manitoulin Island. Grandma got into Patrick's good books by giving him bites of pie.



Granddad went the route of allowing Patrick to operate heavy and dangerous machinery, much to Mama's dismay.



Great-Grandma was impressed with her one and only Great-Grandson.



Patrick learned to throw rocks into the water. Throwing rocks is fun!



We went to the beach. There was a big slide, and swings!









Then we headed to R&Js cottage near Otter Lake Quebec for some family relaxifying. We played in the water, went fishing, and had a fantastic time. Thanks R&J!









The Fleminskis arrived on the weekend and we had a great time watching the kiddoes play, and doing some playing of our own after the kids went to bed - bean game, anyone?





Thanks for sharing all your toys with Patrick, Sadie!



Now it is back to reality, and back to the kitchen. Let's get this thing done, shall we?

Trickle

Progress on the kitchen has slowed to a mere trickle. Rob says he needs a helper for a few hours, and a weekend with no interruptions to get things finished. Anyone want to put up me and Peej for a weekend so he can get it done? I'd really love to be able to answer "Finished!" when someone asks me how the kitchen is coming along... which happens approximately eight hundred times a day.

But there has been some progress. Rob got trim around the door started, but there is still some work to do to finish it, and it needs to be painted.



He also got valances in place to hide the under-cabinet lighting.





But most importantly, today we celebrated Rob's second Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, from your best girl and your best guy. We love you!

Baby steps

Not a whole lot to report in kitchen news.

Almost all of the remaining cupboard doors that we were waiting for have arrived, however we now find ourselves short on hinges. One would think that the correct amount of hinges would be delivered with the doors, however one would be mistaken. Nonetheless, things are really coming together.





We still have a lot of work to do: door handles, back splash, painting, and trim, not necessarily in that order. Despite the amount of work left to be done Patrick and I were thrilled that Rob took the day off on Saturday for a "Family Fun Day" with us. And fun it was! But next weekend it will be back to the grind for him.

In other news, the backyard now looks almost perfectly normal:



And, Patrick is still cute. I know you were worried.



By the way, does anyone know what this is? Is it a weed? The wonderful people from whom we bought this house planted a lovley garden full of lush, green things that require little attention from us (like hostas and ivy)... but we are not exactly sure what this is, or if it is supposed to be there. Help?

No miracle for us

Oh well. This just wasn't our year.

Thanks for a great playoff, guys! We had a blast cheering you on.

Gut check time

I am in a better mood today. The sun is shining.

In 2003 the Ottawa Senators were down 3-1 in their best of 7 series against New Jersey and fought back to tie the series and force a Game 7.

In 2004 the Edmonton Oilers were down 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals agains Carolina and fought back to tie the series and force a Game 7.

In 2004 the Boston Red Sox were down 3-0 against the Yankees and fought back to win the World Series.

Miracles happen.

I taught Patrick to say "I believe!" this morning. Frankly it sounds more like "Ba baleee!", but it is the thought that counts.

Blah.

So far not so good for our Senators in the Stanley Cup Finals.

But miracles happen every day, right?

Call me naive, but I still believe.