still here

and nothing's happened to the house in the last 3 weeks... well, you could count the plastic if you really want to. this is what living in a ghetto house looks like...


nope. not impressive is it? and this was taken 3 weeks ago. the only difference, like i said, is that there is some plastic hanging down from the front above the window (it was raining in through the window casing when the snow was melting one day), more plastic hanging down in front of the door (as water was coming in through that wall too, which lead to rather damp carpeting in dh's office) and a small bit of framing where the new angled bit will be just in front of where the door is now.

and its been windy. so the tar paper flaps on the side of the house where it has come loose. and the siding flaps and bangs where it is untacked. add to that the flapping of the plastic, and we have a 3 piece band gracing us with percussion while its blowing.

pathetic.

and unbelievably frustrating.

which is probably one of the biggest reasons i haven't posted anything for a while. its just too darn depressing.

moving on. because that's the only thing that's getting me by right now...

went to cranbrook last week for work, and had a super evening with the Gladdy at the b&b i stay at. she is one heck of a super lady, and when i pulled up that day, she bounced out the door and exclaimed - "good! you're here! you've got 10 minutes, we're going to a party!" LOL gotta love her. and it was a great evening out!! went to a VIP grand opening party for the east side mario's that is opening there. met the mayor of cranbrook. met the guy that oversees the franchise openings. and they were serving ceasar's, which of course is fitting for the clamato rep!! met alot of other great people, we had samples of their menu items, and wine, beer and ceasar's.

afterwards, we headed off to one of the local pub's (it was st. patrick's day) and my gf Jenny came to meet us there for a couple of drinks. it was great to catch up with her, and we're planning on getting together for a long weekend, maybe may will work for us.

so that was a fun trip, and nice that i was lucky enough to be included as a VIP!

other than work, and the disaster of a house, we're waiting to hear back on a couple of quotes for kitchen cabinets. the last quote from my dad's "guy" came in at a staggering $17, 000, which to us is completely out of the question. so there are 2 other contenders at the moment, and one of the fellows has been a dream to work with so far. he gets what we want, and he knows he needs to be competetive.

and then i asked dh why we need to be concerned about waiting for the outside addition to be done before we start on the inside. well, apparently, we can start on the inside as soon as we get our cabinets arranged. so that makes me happy. at this rate, we could have the kitchen done and over with before the addition is even near completion. and that would actually be a good thing if you ask me. we're just so darn cramped in there, its not even funny. we spend so much time in the kitchen area with friends and family, more than 3 people and no one can move. keep your fingers crossed for me!

puttering around with photoshop tonight, i came up with this:



its using one of the templates courtesy of scrapbooks etc. i'm not a photoshop whiz by any means, and i liked that this actually worked with a bit of fiddling. i'm working on getting started on our latest holiday mini album, so trying to find some fresh ideas to work with my pictures instead of just my usual format that i use.

hope you're all having a great day out there... maybe some new house stuff will be ready for posting next week!

ides of march

well, you'd think that spring may finally arrive here...

nope...


its not here yet!!

and yet, i'm still hoping! and waiting patiently! and my patience is wearing thin... we've had highway closures, school closures, more snow and bone-chilling temps in the last week. i have a cold i'm fighting off without much luck, and i'm just plain tired of winter.

we popped out to banff for the past weekend, left early saturday morning, and came back sunday afternoon. it was a good quick getaway with the kids. and the hotel we chose was just fabulous! the fox is a smaller, newer hotel right on banff avenue as you drive in to town. the best part was the grotto hot pool that is built based on the old cave and basin hot springs. we were doing our part to help the economy for the weekend, and we did enjoy our stay very much. we did the walk down the banff touristy corridor, and bought some fun and funky winter hats for the boys. dh got his own "sock" hat - will have to post pics of them wearing the goofy things. somewhat regretfully, we didn't take any pictures this weekend. it was just so darn cold out, and i didn't lug the camera with me on our travels. we had a nice dinner out at one of the pubs, and had a wonderful sleep that night. (dh and i needed that - we had a late night on friday!) sunday we went for a fabulous brunch at the banff park lodge. i remember going there with my parents the odd time we went to banff for a weekend. there were crab legs, smoked salmon, made to order omelets, and all sorts of yummy desserts (just the things i need for my behind LOL). we also stopped in canmore on the way home, and poked around in the shops there. not as touristy as banff, but all the same it was nice to be away for a couple days. what did surprise us was the distinct lack of people in banff itself. it was very quiet, even though its starting to get into the shoulder season. but that was nice too, not often do you get to walk down the street without feeling claustrophobic!

so this is where we were at with our house last wednesday. the floor joists for the addition were put in, and as of friday afternoon the subfloor is on as well. that, however, now has a good 4 inches of snow on it thanks to the wild weather on saturday night. oh - and look! no snow!! it had almost all melted at that point!



and check it out! my christmas wreath is still on the door LOL! there is now also a garbage bin on the other side of the yard as well.


so, its finally starting to move. thank goodness.

on to the fun stuff: my quebec trip...
while i didn't take alot of pictures, i did enjoy alot of what we saw. on saturday we headed to ottawa from my aunt and uncle's to visit their daughter, my cousin, and her family. i haven't seen them in years, and it was nice to see them there.

this struck me as a good funny - we were down at the market area near the parliment buildings, and the $12 french fries sounded like a great idea!! inside the market, there were all kinds of shops, but for someone on a diet - this was far too tempting!

outside there were all sorts of vendors, and lots of hats to choose from. i was thinking of getting the kids each one, but it was just too hard to make a choice. so i didn't.

my aunt and uncle were having a great time despite the chilly weather!





oh the cheese... it was all about the cheese. and so many kinds!! i was drooling!
on our return trip, we stopped at montebello for a quick coffee and dessert on the way home. it is a beautiful hotel, unique that it is constructed entirely of logs.

what i wouldn't do for a fireplace like this one...

say cheese! enjoying our coffee and desserts.


and apparently, this hat was something i *had* to wear to be chic while there... my aunt told me she had purchased it directly at the manufacturer's years ago, for a stunning $60 or so. in the gift shop i could have picked one up for a mere $275. go figure!


continuing on our way, there was an accident, and we turned around to access a river crossing over the ice. this wasn't in the plans, and it added about an extra hour to get back home for the night.
buddy behind us was giving me the thumbs up when i took this pic - too bad you can't actually see him through the window though!
but what a stunning sunset we were able to see on our way across!

just down the road from my aunt and uncle's - this little grouping of signs caught my eye...


and then, mont tremblant...
we arrived late on monday evening, in the dark, so i didn't really get to see where we were, or where we were going. loved the little cabriolet to take people from the very base of the hill, up over the buildings to the base of the ski hill. it was very pretty! and cold!


i never did end up doing the activity that was planned - a 10 minute walk turned into an hour hike that ended up with us in totally the wrong place. laurie (another gal from work) and i took that as our excuse to run and go shopping in the boutiques for a bit. and then a hot tub was needed to warm up the frozen bones!

a quebec tradition - maple syrup on the snow - a sweet treat, and it sure looked yummy!

this was from the top of the boutique area looking down the hill. what a pretty place! i would love to visit there in the summer when its not so cold out!

so that's it... it was a great visit out east, but boy, i would have been much happier had it been warmer! i did have a fantastic time reconnecting with people i haven't seen since last year, and also meeting some new ones as well. (its amazing what a bit of time at the pub does! LOL)

have a great night :)