Odds + Ends

I promise to get better at blogging, I really do.

Finley starts her music class on Friday.  We are looking forward to it.  I think she will really like it.  I will be taking her to the class and participating with her.  Penelope will come half the time and play in her stroller while the other half will be Greg's Friday off so she will hang with her daddy.

Penelope starts her first swimming lessons tomorrow.  We do ours through the City of Calgary because it's the cheapest around.  Finley can't take anymore lessons until she turns 3 and she is waitlisted for those that she can take.  Penelope will be taking the class with Daddy every Thursday at Southland Leisure Center.  I am pretty sure she will enjoy it much more that Finley did since she loves the water.

I was inspired by Greg's mom Gail's homemade cards so I decided to take up a hobby of doing just that.  I have completed 2 terrible ones (sorry Don + Tanner) and one that is just ok (Sorry Grandpa Don) and one that turned out pretty good (it's a surprise!).  I also decided that I needed a craft corner so to speak so for the last week, I have been busy re-doing our basement.  We are using the space much better and I have a cool crafting area for Finley + I.  I will post photos once I have finished it completely.  And I am happy to say that the inspiration for our basement came from a pin on Pinterest.  I couldn't do exactly what it showed but it's close enough!

We finally heard back from AHS' Preschool Speech Language Services Program and are waiting to hear back from them so Greg and I can take the How To Build Language With Pre-Schoolers class.  It will be 2 classes in the evening at South Calgary which is where we are also on the waitlist for Finley to see a speech pathologist.  Her speech has grown leaps and bounds since we spoke to our Doctor but there is still improvement to be had.  Everyday she surprises me with things she says.  She is one smart cookie and once she gets over the speech delay, she'll be an even smarter cookie!

I bought new bedding for the master bedroom since I absolutely hated the stuff we have had for the last couple years.  It makes our bedroom so much nicer!  I also want new bedroom lamps for the bedside tables.  I found ones that I liked at the HomeSense grand opening at Macleod + Heritage back in August and when I went back the next day to buy them, they were gone.  After looking at Winners and HomeSense all over Calgary + Okotoks, I found them in Balzac.  I brought them home and they were way too big.  I was devastated.  By accident I found a pair of super cute white lamps at Walmart (surprisingly enough) brought them home and they were too small.  It seems I can't win.  I have looked at Walmart, Zellers, Ikea, Jysk, NOOD, Urban Barn, HomeSense, Home Outfitters + Winners and no nice lamps.  I am seriously discouraged.

We are going to see Pearl Jam tonight.  I am so excited!  I have loved Pearl Jam since I was 12 years old and got their record Ten on cassette for my birthday.  For some reason or another, it has never worked for me to see them live.  Greg has seen them like 6 times already but even he is excited for tonight.  Cameron Crowe just debuted his PJ20 Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival and I can't wait to see it.  They also have a book that just came out marking this event.  I am not going to lie, when I heard about the 20th anniversary of Pearl Jam, I felt old.  Very old.

I have been on a cleaning spree the last few weeks.  I am trying to re-organize and de-clutter and decrapify before winter sets in.  I went through all my Easter, Christmas, Halloween + Valentine's decorations and transferred them from paper boxes to rubbermaid boxes which works much better in our storage room.  I also have sold and gave way or thrown out tonnes of stuff that I really didn't have a purpose for and were generally just taking up space.  I felt so much better after doing so.  I only have a few more areas to do and then I am home free!!!

I am also trying to create a cleaning schedule that I can stick to so I don't end up neglecting stuff and doing SO MUCH in a 2 day period completely wearing me out and making me grouchy.  Does anybody have one that they stick to??  Let me know, because I need all the help I can get!

Almost 2 weeks ago, we  had professional photos taken by Sweet Ginger Photography.  She posted a sneak peek on her blog and an additional photo on her Facebook page.  She did an absolutely amazing job - I cannot wait to see the rest.  Her work continually blows me away.  If you live in Calgary, you should definitely check her out - you won't be disappointed!

When we were at The Disney Store we saw costumes for Minnie + Jessie - two of Finley's favorite creatures.  Minnie's was like $50 and the whole Jessie ensemble was close to $100 which I absolutely refuse to spend.  So I checked on eBay where the costumes were just as expensive.  Not holding much hope, I went to kijiji and there were 0 Jessie Costumes but a few Minnie ones.  One of the Minnie costumes was the Disney Store one without the shoes and they lived in Evergreen - Bonus and it was only $20 so I bought it. She loves it.  Good thing she gets to wear it lots!!

I think that's all for now.  Hopefully I will more to blog about in the future