Q1 craft update

Since its the end of first quarter (Q1) I thought I'd review the year so far. Can you tell I'm in the financial services industry?

Knitting

• Knit baby blanket for Martin (or someone else) - likely to complete
• Did about 7-10 inches. Progress is pretty slow.
  
• Knit Toy, I don't have a specific one picked out - 50/50 chance to complete
• Did one knit zebra puppet at the beginning of the year.
  

Cross-stitch

• Snow family cross-stitch - likely to complete
• Finished.
  
• Teresa Welzer dragon, I doubt I'll work on this - ha ha ha you a crazy lady
• Nothing
• Sea Animals number sampler, I will pull this out again soon, and try to do a little each week. There isn't much to go, only about 25-30% to go. - 50/50 chance to complete
• Good progress. Have finished numbers 5,6,7,8 and half of 9.
  
• Lightening McQueen cross-stitch for Oliver - 50/50 chance to complete
• Nothing
  
• Cross-stitch ornament for Paulina, as she is coming for Christmas this year - likely to complete
• Nothing
• Christmas stocking for Martin, I think this will take 2 years - little chance to complete
• Nothing

Crochet

• Crochet Pooh Bear - ha ha ha you a crazy lady
• Nothing

Photography / videography
I'm going to try and work on this one day a week.

• Website, I will keep if fairly up to date - likely to complete
• Have been fairly consistent. Not great though.
  
• Videos, wonder how many I'll get done after the first one - 50/50 chance to complete
• Nothing. Need to be better
  

Decluttering

• Have done a little bit, but nowhere near what I need to do. Have given away the smallest baby clothes and some infant paraphernalia.
  

Monday Craft update

Had to study for my driver's test this week, so didn't get as much done.

Knitting
Did about 1.5 hours on the blanket as I was talking on the phone.

Cross-stitch
Worked on the French Ocean numbers kit. Finished the "9" in the number 9 about half the seagulls.

Crochet
Read the pattern I want to make and got some internet help. Haven't started yet.

Photography / videography
Nothing.

Decluttering
Nothing.

Sundays in Singapore

On Sunday, the Family Assistant has the day off (well for the ex-pat families, for the locals, she usually works most Sundays). Since we have no one to cook (or more importantly clean up), we've taken to take out. We usually get chicken rice, and eat outside with our neighbours. It's a really nice way to end the weekend, Oliver gets to play outside, we get to relax before the bedtime routine starts, and enjoy chatting with our friends.

Driving license woes

So I went to convert my driver's license today. I passed the theory test and then waited 90 minutes to be served. I had all my paperwork ready. One of the questions is "Do you have any defects in your vision?". I ticked "yes" as I wear glasses. She then asked my if I'm colour blind or have a lazy eye. Well, I have a lazy eye. So now I have to go and get my vision checked out by some specific doctor to say whether I can get a driver's license or not. So freakin' frustrating!!!

Plus it turns out I probably wouldn't have got my license anyways as I don't have a NETS card (a debit card but applicable only for certain banks) or a cash card (which you use in your car and as I don't drive, I don't have a card!).

I was just so frustrated. Joe said that he said "no" for vision defects as he doesn't view wearing glasses as a defect in vision.

So now I have to go to some eye clinic (at least an hour of my time) and then go wait in that freakin' line again. Bah Humbug!!!

Oliver's first trip to the Dentist

Oliver had his first trip to the dentist this week. It went really well, as it lasted all of 5 minutes where he looked at his teeth and proclaimed all was good. He thought the spacing in his teeth was good, but I said, that won't last as genetics are against him. Though Joe never had any work done, so maybe we'll save some money.

We also had doctor checkups. The doctor is really pleased with both boys. She's impressed that Oliver knows his colours so well (I'm surprized by that, he's known them a while) and she said we should start teaching him letters.

She also thought Martin was physically acting more like a 8-9 month old (he's 7 months), she's pleased with his weight gain, and we were both impressed with how little he cried over his shots. The first one, he didn't even cry!

Oliver funny from tonight:
"I have a rubber band. I'm going to put it on". He puts in on his wrist. Then you hear the "snap!". "Ouch! That was painful".

Some of life lessons you need to learn on your own.

Oh that's funny

huh, that's odd. I had written an Easter blog but didn't publish it. I now published it and it's underneath the Monday craft blog, so scroll down for a new blog.

Sorry.

Monday Craft Update

I was addicted to cross-stitch this week. Again.

Knitting
Nothing

Cross-stitch
Worked on the French Ocean numbers kit. Finished stitching 8 and the octopus. Only 2 numbers left. Seagulls for 9 and starfish for 10.

Crochet
Bought a really really cute toy book. Then went and bought yarn. Perhaps $60 worth of yarn and crochet hooks. It's my reward for finishing the French Ocean numbers. Once it's done, I get to do this, before starting another big projects. I think I need more fun small projects.

Photography / videography
Nothing.

Decluttering
Nothing.

Easter party

We had the kids Easter party on Saturday. It was a beautiful day until about 3:30, when the sky started looking ominous. I helped set up and went to hide the eggs for the hunt, but Oliver insisted on coming with me, he kept saying "I like you Mommy" and then all the kids started following me, like I'm the Pied Piper or something.

The party started at 4. We had two craft stations. One with paper eggs to decorate with glue and different shapes and the other my egg dyeing. Oh, let me tell you about the eggs. We bought 50 (they come in packs of 10 - I don't know why either - they are metric I guess), out of that only 30 were good enough to colour. During the cooking process many of them cracked. So not good for colouring but good enough for eating, so I had Basil make Deviled Eggs.

I had elastic bands for the kids to put around the eggs (to get stripes) and they all set out to decorate. They had a lot of fun at both stations. Then it started to really look like it was going to rain, so we sent the kids on the egg hunt. During the egg hunt it did start to rain, so one of the neighbours was generous enough to open her doors, so we all grabbed the food and ran in there.

Inside, I tried to keep the kids occupied, we played "Mack, Mack, Chick Hicks", which is Duck, Duck, Goose but with Cars names, and Little Einsteins (which I made up on the spot also - kind of like I spy).

The rain was a serious cloud burst, and it just "chucked" it down (as the British would say) for a good 90 minutes. Overall though the party was a big success, and everyone had a good time.

That evening the adults came out after dinner for conversation and drinks.

I'm so happy to live where we live. I just love this type of stuff.

Happy Birthday Kate!!!

Happy Birthday Kate!!!!

Today is Kate's birthday. Kate is great for many reasons:

• She's lots and lots of fun
• She can play the violin
• She's good at building things (like bridges)
• She's energetic
• She's funny
• She's smart
• She's a beautiful girl, inside and out.
  

Happy Birthday Kate!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

It's Mom's birthday today (or today here in Singapore). When she was here a couple of weeks ago we celebrated with an early birthday cake, so that was nice.

We had a really nice day of shopping when she was here, that reminded me of the days we used to go down to Minneapolis for back to school shopping. Though, no turtle necks or cord pants anymore!

Mom has been an excellent role model for not only on how to be a parent but for being a person. Mom always puts her family first, from apparently acting as a make shift toilet when we were young, to sitting on an airplane for too many hours to count to come and see us , to always making s our favorite meals and cooking us picky eaters something separate.

Happy Birthday Mom!!! We love you and miss you.

Thank you Paulina for making the beautiful page for Mom.

Living in Asia

I have to admit, that Singapore is very easy living and I often forget that I'm in Asia. Oh I remember, but often it just feels like I'm in Toronto, with better weather and worse TV.

When it comes home is around Western holidays. Christmas is kind of big but from a shopping point of view. Not many people put trees up in their homes, and Santa doesn't have a big throne in the mall, but Santa's expat friend come and stands in for him.

It's the same for Easter. We are having an Easter party here tomorrow, and I want the kids to dye eggs. Well, there are no Paz kits (or whatever the brand is). But, that's okay, I'll make homemade dye, according to the internet it's not that hard.

I did find an Easter bunny. It's really small and cost $8. But it is Lindst, so that's nice.

Television without Pity

I read a website called www.televisionwithoutpity.com it does synopses of TV shows, mainly reality TV shows but some regular ones as well. It doesn't do comedy shows as they are difficult to recap.

It is a very enjoyable site, and even if I've seen the show, I always like to read what the writers have to say and read the comments on the forum.

Monday Craft Update

I was addicted to cross-stitch this week.

Knitting
Nothing

Cross-stitch
Worked on the French Ocean numbers kit. Finished stitching number 5, and have stitched the number 8 and am about a quarter done the octopus. The end is in sight, so I'm very keen to finish it.

Crochet
Nothing

Photography / videography
Nothing.

Decluttering
Nothing.

More about Martin

Yes, another Martin post. Hey, if you don't like the subject matter, go to a different blog!!

He crawled today. Forwards, traditional crawl method. And is working hard on pulling himself up into a standing position when possible.

Happy 7 month birthday Martin!!

Today Martin is seven months old!! How time flies.

Today, he pulled himself into a standing position in his crib. He's still not really crawling, but can get around.

He's got a very busy social life already. Today his friend William is coming for lunch and then he has Ashley's birthday party tonight. His social life is better than mine.

Happy Birthday Martin!! We love you.

American Idol

Yes, I know, another post about AI. For someone watching it for the first time, I sure think about it a lot.

What is up with their stupid theme song? For a music contest, the theme is pretty lame.

Simon and Paula seem to be in an abusive relationship.

Okay, I'm watching right now. Jim Carey is dressed up as Horton. That poor man.

Update on Oliver and Martin

Oliver

Oliver is doing pretty much the same. He's a pretty sweet guy. The past couple of nights he has helped me bathe Martin, and will rinse him off with the shower hose. He also wanted to read Martin stories one night, which actually meant that Oliver held Martin in the big chair and I sat on the kiddie chair and read stories.

He also got Tiffany and Sofya (9 year old neighbours) to bathe him one night and kept telling them "one at a time!" (He must have learned that at school) and he got both girls to wash his bum!

Martin
Martin is still a pretty happy baby. I haven't seen him crawl yet, but Basil said he did today. He likes to play with his toys on the floor. He isn't sleeping well (he's awake right now, after 3 unsuccessful attempts to put him down), and is waking up multiple times in the night. I really need to dig out the baby book on that one. He's started rice cereal, not sure if he likes it, he cries a lot during feeding, but when you do manage to get the food in him, he seems to like it.

He's still super cute.

Monday Craft Update

Not a great week, as I had a bit of a social life and had to do work one night.

Knitting
Did several rows on the baby blanket. Even when I'm working on it I'm slow....

Cross-stitch
Worked on the French Ocean numbers kit. Working on number 5, did 4 out of 5 fish, and need to do the number. Need to do, 5, 8, 9 and 10.

Crochet
Nothing

Photography / videography
Loaded up new photos and read a bit of the video editor manual.

Decluttering
Got rid of 8 shirts and 1 skirt. About equal to what I brought in from shopping earlier.

Cross-stitch

I've always liked backstitching. It's when the project comes alive for me. I usually save it all for the end, unless it makes sense to do it as you go (i.e. it's a solid block).

There must be people out there who don't like it, as I see patterns in magazines that state "only cross stitches!" and no other types of stitches (like a half cross-stitch is so hard!).

Here is a cross-stitch before the back stitching:

And after. Behold the power of backstitching!

There are now expressions on the snow people, the scarves, mittens, etc, as better defined, and the whole design just pops now.

What a difference one strand of DMC 310 makes.

Summer "vaction" booked

For those that need to know, summer "vacation" is booked. I say "vacation" as 11.5 hours + of flights within Canada doesn't seem like a vacation.

Next year, we'll come over the Pacific, but you have to meet us on the West Coast. We'll rent a place for a couple of weeks and you can join us there. I'm only half kidding. Think of it.

I'm not sure how travel agents will stay in business in the long run. We saved at least 25% by booking the tickets ourselves.

American Idol

So I decided to watch American Idol this season. I've seen pieces of episodes here and there and know how it works (it's not rocket science). What I didn't realize was what a huge time commitment the show is. I mean, it's three hours this week alone! And that is it cutting back. Not sure if I'll be able to convince Joe to watch that much. Think I'll be watching in the bedroom, which means no cross-stitching. But it does mean knitting, so not all is lost.

Happy Birthday Laurie!!

By a fluke, I happened to see on my Treo that it's Laurie's birthday today.

Happy Birthday Laurie!!!!

We'll pretend this is Martin and not Oliver, since I've decided everyone over the age of thirty that I know isn't aging this year (I can't seem to stop the kids from aging though).

Hope it is a great year!! Come visit. Miss you.


P.S. New photos for February, March and Crafts are up.

I always feel like

somebody's watching me! And I ain't go no privacy. Whoa-ooo-ooo.

So due to my recent bout of spam comments, I added a counter, and can now track my stats. It is somewhat interesting, but also a bit hard to understand. Like, it just lists people by their IP address, which frankly means nothing to me. So I still don't know who you are!

Monday Craft Update

Knitting
Nothing.

Cross-stitch
Worked pretty steady on the French Ocean numbers kit. Finished the number 6 and 7. Working on number 5. Need to do, 5, 8, 9 and 10.

Crochet
Read the instructions for the Pooh Bear kit, not sure if I understand it.

Photography / videography
Nothing.

Decluttering
Nothing.

A very nice visit

We had another good weekend. On Saturday, we took it pretty easy, as the weather was bad. Went to Din Ta Fun for lunch, but they ran out of the the won ton's that I like. Most odd. Oliver then played at the playground at Paragon and Mom and I did a spin around Banana Republic.

That night we went to the Night Safari at the zoo. We saw the Creatures of the Night show (which I really wanted to see) and did the tram ride. The Night Safari, is right beside the zoo, but it is a separate zoo. It is really well done, and the deer exhibits have the deer free range.

On Sunday, we went on the Hippo Tour, which is a double decker bus tour of the city. We did the Heritage Tour which went through Chinatown and Little India.

On Monday, Mom, Dad and Joe came downtown and we had dinner at the Fullerton Hotel. It was really nice, it's a beautiful building.

It was a really good visit. Have a great flight back home!!

p.s. Talk Lana, Brent & Marysa into coming!!