One More Week....and then the inevitable!

Well, I can't believe it! One more week and then summer is over for another year. So much has gone on for us this summer, it's been a little nuts at times! So much moving, commuting, painting, organizing, and it's still going on. I am sad to report that we did not get the whole house painted before school started, which was our original goal...but it's our house, so we'll be here for a while and can do it whenever we get the urge (which will have to be more like a shove, because I've discovered that I really don't like painting...). But we are pleased to inform everyone: Dave has been accepted on the Simcoe County Board of Education's Supply Teacher List! We're very excited that it's happened so quickly! And hopefully he'll begin getting lots of phone calls so he can stop this ridiculous drive to Oakville everyday! So he's really excited about that! And I'm also excited about my new position....I get to teach the subjects I love and I switch kids often during the day so we get a break from eachother! I'm hoping for a very positive year! It'll be nice to get into a routine again, I think. I may be taking that back in a few months, but such is life! So I'm going to schedule in some serious relaxing and doing nothing time around my meetings next week and then go at it for another year!

L'eau

Every once in a while, a day comes along where you just get to do what YOU want to do.
Today was one of those days for me. (David). I had a day off from work. I could have done some work on the house, but an email from an old friend from college stopped any work from being done.
Instead I went golfing! And had a fine day enjoying a battle of the balls. The front nine, I lost. Quite horribly. But on the back nine I cleaned up until a snowman tragically stomped all over my score on the 18th hole. Until that snowman came, I was doing quite well. On the back nine.
Then I came home, and could have started working on the house.
But any work that could have been done, was ended before it began by the heat. A car without air conditioning makes a man think of the beach. And that's what I thought about.
So I came back into the house and said,
"Honey, put on your swimming suit, we're going to the beach!" Or something like that.
But first we had to walk through the mall. (to get to the licence bureau) I wasn't fully expecting to have to walk through the entire mall. In my bathing trunks. But I did. I felt a little sheepish. Especially with my wallet in my trunks. But that was over soon enough, and so Steph and I made our way up to Wasaga Beach.
That was quite lovely.
The sun had quite dissappeared by 5 o'clock. Rain clouds were brewing.
But I said, "We had better just get our feet wet."
And so we did.
And then steph got hit by a big wave and said that the water wasn't cold at all.
And she splashed me.
So then I got hit by a big wave. The kind that makes a man shiver. And so I got into the water.
When we were both in the water, we found that we liked it. And so we stayed in the water for a good while until we decided that really we didn't like being in the water so much anymore, and so we got out of the water.
Our bathing suits were wet, and so we walked up the beach a bit.
Until Steph said, "We had better turn around"
So we did.
And we got back into the car, got changed. That was weird. (especially with some guy getting into his truck next to us).
And then we left Wasaga Beach.
Really, it was a good day. I would like to repeat it, but I have to work tomorrow.
Why? Oh why?

Admissions

I didn't want to admit it earlier, but after talking it over with Steph, I thought maybe I could.
When Naomi asked me to put her to bed, which involved reading a story (or two), and then singing a song - I couldn't think of any children's songs to sing!
Adding insult to injury, the only song I could think of on the spot was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". But after starting the song, I suddenly realized that I hadn't sung that song in soooo long that I couldn't remember all the words to it!
I felt like a really bad uncle.
Her second song (her request) I had no clue about, and had to go consult with Katrina to figure out.
So for a while I've felt a little sheepish, until tonight, when I was talking to Steph about "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
She laughed at me. Then started singing it. And got the words messed up too!
Now I don't feel so sheepish.

Family Camping 2008

Last weekend was the annual Geertsema family camping weekend. It's really a great tradition to have....everyone makes an effort to be home for the weekend and then we spend time playing games and relaxing! Although we weren't quick enough to book a campsite this year, we had a good time "camping" at mom and dad's! In the end this arrangement was probably for the best since we could hang out inside during the frequent rain storms we had over the weekend. Anyways, it was a great time seeing everyone and catching up on our busy lives. There was lots of talk of new houses and renovating, since three of us are in the middle of such projects! And our two beautiful neices provided much entertainment over the weekend. Now that we're on high speed internet I can include pictures....horray! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of any of the settlers games, but you all know we play that obsessively on these weekends!

Petra loves tractors! She kept making "vroom" noises until she got a ride!

The annual sand car.....although it's usually built without her in it.....

She's growing up so fast!

Her uncles like to do crazy things with her and she loves it!

Checking out the baby afghan book for the new baby? Or was that a decorating magazine....I can't tell....

Just chillin'! She is hilarious and very cute!

What a great smile!

Standing close to the food....always a good idea!

We're not working!?!?!?!

Quelle Vacance?

I know that my french stinks, but that means "What Vacation?"... perhaps in franglais....
This week has been my first official 'vacation' of any extended time (one week) since Steph and I went to the Dominican a year and a half ago.
So what have I done with my vacation time? Work. And inhaled toxic fumes. No, I haven't started smoking. Although if you step into our garage you might think so. No... Steph and I have been painting. And lots of it. And we're not going to finish in time!
So far we've painted our Living Room:









And our office:










And our bedroom:










But our bedroom turned out a little too 'Purpley' for our liking. Oops!
Still we think its a big improvement - scroll down to our first pictures of the house and see if you agree!
A big THANK-YOU goes out to all our family members who came out to help us get started. Right now, I'd probably still be staring at the walls figuring out where to start if it weren't for you!

The Psychology of Lighting a Fire

The other day I watched as my brother-in-law proceeded to light a campfire. He bundled up the wood. He made sure he had a lighter. He made sure he had gasoline. He dumped gasoline on the firewood. He lit it on fire. Presto. Bonfire.
This process of lighting a fire intrigues me because it is so unlike the way that I prefer to light a fire. The way I like to start a fire, well, I think my brother-in-law would call 'anal' - as though he knows anything about Freudian Psychology.
And yet, it probably is.
I like to think that my way of lighting a fire is the more skilled. It requires more finesse. More woodsmanship.

I like to light a fire by splitting wood into small slivers, then stacking wood (teepee or log-house style) around the shavings, and then larger wood ontop of that, and yadda yadda yadda.

My way takes a lot more time.

His way is much shorter.

Both result in the same thing. So neither one can be said to be better. Unless you consider environmental issues of lighting up gasoline.

I don't know why I'm bothering to write a blog entry on lighting fires. But it just intrigued me that the way you light a fire can reveal something about the kind of person you are. Psychology's finest moment!

So what are you? The quick-and-easy pyro? Or the highly skilled woodsman?

Suddenly, I felt Old.

Okay, we just bought paint, which is a big deal, to make our new house (also a big deal) feel like our house, which is a big deal.

We saved a huge amount on the paint, which is a great deal.

And the amount we saved on paint could, potentially, be used to put a new floor in the living room to be rid of any lingering pet smell, which would be a big deal if we could get rid of it.

But I'm going to talk about a bigger deal. At least in my personal opinion.

You see...

Lately, I've been more conscious about my receding hair line. Kindof a big deal. It's not that I particularly care about my hair, but that I can never get a hair cut that looks good for more than a week or two before it starts to emphasize my receding hair line. At least... in my opinion.

So the other day, we were cleaning up our brand new house (yes the bushes in front are a trimmed down), and then we cleaned up the egg that was thrown at our kitchen window (welcome to Barrie, eh? here's an egg omelet - on the house...!)(thanks)

and then I walked around to the front of the house and my mother-in-law said

"Oh my! David! I've never really seen that before!"

(my curiosity was piqued)

"When you just walked around the house there, for a minute, you looked JUST LIKE YOUR DAD! I never really saw that before, but I honestly thought you looked just like your dad right there"

Oh... Well now I feel a little more conscious about my receding hair line. And I'm watching my belly again. Maybe I'll have to start working out.