Goin' Up The Country

Last Saturday Sean and I left the house together, without the Boodge. I think this has happened a grand total of 2 or 3 other times since he has been born. The occasion? We went to the credit union to sign and initial here and there and everywhere to get our new mortgage, line of credit, back account, insurance, tax bill. And that's only the beginning of the paperwork--we still have to meet with the lawyer. What began with house hunting in Ontario has ended with the purchase of a house with a shop and 15,000 square feet of land in Mission, BC.





What do we know about Mission? Not much. There's a Mission there, atop a mountain of beautiful, old growth forest. There's a raceway, too (Me: Ugh. Sean: YAY!). The town's 35,000 people have a median age of 36. According to one website, it was built to resemble a small Ontario town, and the main drag there does remind me, vaguely, of the ones I've seen in Renfrew and Belleville. There's one yoga studio that I can find on the web, and one natural foods store. Some of our friends told us "It's redneck out there, you'll see." Others say it's the Bible belt. We figure there have to be lots of good, everyday people out there that we can connect with.

At first we were alternately scared and excited. We have been swimming in a world of mortgage brokers (when he pulled out his own shoe horn at the end of the visit and slickly slipped into his shoe, I knew we couldn't work with him), bankers, lawyers, inspectors, and figures. Now we are moving through rooms of boxes and half packed cabinets. Home improvement shows are suddenly interesting. We are about to take on a responsibiity that we anticipate will be like having a child, in that it will be a ton more work, but will also gift us with amazing growth and pleasure.

I'm going to plant a garden. Ardan is going to run in the yard and dig in the dirt and make friends with bugs and worms and raccoons and flowers he can pick because they're in his own yard, not the park. We're going to learn about plumbing and flooring. We may even be landlords, because the house has a one bedroom suite that can pay almost half our mortgage payments. That is, once we change the carpet, re-floor the kitchen, and paint the whole thing. Painting with a toddler could be fun, right? Right???

One of the best things is that there is space for visitors to stay a while and be comfortable. I am dreaming of having family and friends visit and stay for a while, enjoying good meals, playing games, and having peaceful space for themselves. I dream of creating a warm, happy haven for ourselves and others. So make my dream come true everyone, and come experience Mission with us. Our spare bed will be opening in March. Oh, and don't forget to bring your painting clothes.

Waking Words

Well, we hauled ass out of bed at 6am today--me reluctantly, the Boodge with his usual great enthusiasm, undampened by the cold he acquired overnight. I'm taking the opportunity to spend some time with "Mama Buttons" (my computer, as named by the Boodge). It's a gamble--so far he has come over already a couple of times to ask for "Five Monkeys!", but I've been able to divert him back to his "Baby Signing Time" video which is on TV.

If any of you out there have a babe in your life around 1 year old, I can't recommend these "Baby Signing Time" videos enough. They teach babies to sign useful words using songs, images of other babies signing, and cute cartoon animation. The Boodge is great with language, and I credit Baby Signing Time with turning on the light that showed him the possibilities of communication. He LOVES his babies, and "Rachoo!" (Rachel, the developer and star of the series). Often, he has surprised me by pulling out a word like "cereal!" or "moon!" (yes, he says everything with an exclamation point) that I know he could only have learned from Rachoo. And the fact that he signs the word too helps me understand the difference between "Na na" (banana) "Ni Ni" (night night) and "Noo Noo" (noodles). Anyone looking for a gift for a one year old, look no more, this is the ticket.

Um, that's not to give the impression that I let him watch YouTube and DVD's all day...we limit him to one Baby Signing Time a day, except on special needs days. You'd be amazed what I can do in that half hour. But I do join him for the final song, which is always a sweet parent-child love song that can bring me to tears even after 38 listens.

And it seems my time is up. Urgent requests for "Mango!!" are coming my way. Rachoo is done singing and signing. So we're off to start another day. Hope you all have a good one.

Oh, to blog again....

It's not that I don't want to blog. I think about posts all the time, I write them in the shower, I write them while nursing the little dude, I write them while running errands with the stroller. But I don't write them when I have time to sit down and write them because there always seems to be something more pressing to do. That, and the computer itself is a bottomless pit of distraction, what with all those other bloggers to read, and the endless news, recipes, advice, curiosities, just a few clicks away. It seems since I became a mom, I've been practicing divided attention so much that my neural pathways are laying down all splintered. Didn't I used to be able to sit down for hours and hours working on something, becoming totally engrossed? Now, even when I have a couple of clear hours, I find my mind and body still moving in all directions.

But what matters is that I come back. So here I am again. I'm working on 2 things to get better at blogging. First, not wasting time on TV and the Internet. Sure, there's lots of interesting stuff out there...but does any of it really matter? Does it excite me and inspire me and clear me out like writing? Nope. Second, I'm going to stop trying to make every post "something"--some nicely wrapped up piece, some in depth exploration of what I'm going through. I'm just going to post. It's not like anyone who reads this isn't directly related to me through blood, friendship, or facebook.

The truth is, my attention is divided, and my time is scarce. We're moving in a month, so there's all the packing and phone calling that goes with that. At nap time, I can blog or do yoga for my pleasure, or do chores for the good of everyone--so blogging has some fierce competition. Not to mention I joined a writing group to develop my thesis ("Counsellors' Experience of the Ethical Dimensions Involved in Social Justice Advocacy"--catch title, no?) into an article for publication, and that is a nice big SHOULD over my head all the time. But I'm going to try to come here more often because it makes me feel good to write, and I really do want to document the changes in myself and my family.

And that is all for today, folks, in the interests of learning how to not make it "something". Happy New Year everyone.