An overnight in Fredericton

(I will miss this little guy when he is too big for the front of my bike!)

 Like everyone, we are trying to stay closer to home, especially with school being on the go and so much talk of a second wave. So we decided to do an overnight in downtown Fredericton, which is about 15 minutes from our house. We opted to bike there, which is about 21 KM on a trail that used to be the train tracks. We planned for about three hours for the bike ride, with lots of stops for snacks. And there is a gas station about halfway, and we had promised 7-year-old Cohen that he could get a Powerade there (highlight of the trip for him). The bike ride was super easy and flat. I was surprised by how good it went! We brought everything we needed (clothes, bathing suits, toothbrushes, water, snacks) on our bikes in dry bags. 

(snack break time)

(Will and I are all about the hot tub)

When we got to the hotel (which is right on the trail-super convenient), we checked in and stored our bikes in a room off the lobby. We hung out at the room, swam in the pool, and then headed to the restaurant beside the hotel for supper. That evening we laid in bed, watching tv together. I love that part of hotels so much!

(always elevator selfies)

(this sweet guy at our pre-breakfast)

In the morning Cohen and I woke up first so we snuck down for coffee and apple juice and playing uno. Then an hour later Will and Jon joined us for breakfast downstairs. A quick swim in the pool and some more relaxing, and then we headed home (by car). 

We had the best time. Weirdly (or not weirdly I guess), the hotel was super empty. This feels like a pretty good time to do some staycations right in our town. And it's nice to know we are contributing to keeping a local business supported. Also, where we live there are super good deals for locals to stay in local hotels. So I feel like we got a steal of a deal. Such a great time with our little family. 

October 2020 Library list

I read all these books in the last couple weeks and wasn't super into any of them. Let me explain:

Their eyes were watching god by Zora Neale Hurston. This was necessary reading for me. The main character's grandmother is the product of a rape by a slave owner. It's just really important for me to continue to read books by non-white people. 

God's Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd. I have loved a few other books by this author, but this one was kinda meh for me. It is the story of how Sue goes from being totally busy with young kids and church duties to finding solitude and meditation. Basically, meditating is a good thing and we should all be doing it. Still so excited to read more of her books. 

Think like a monk by Jay Shetty. This guy is a legit celebrity at this point. And he meditates for an hour a day! He was a full-time monk for three years before pursuing his current career. The idea here is that meditating is pretty much essential, and also we should all be living to help others. I am fully into that idea, but preferred this other book that he referenced a lot that I recently read. 

The last story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. Something about this story felt rushed. The same imagery was used over and over, and the last half of the book felt like it dragged on a little. Still, I will pass it on to my mother and sister. It was decent for sure. 

Stay sexy & don't get murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Pretty funny. I have actually only listened to a few of their podcasts, but in print they were super likeable and funny. It's always fun to learn about people going from struggling along to having success by doing the thing they love. Although for these two ladies, their idea of struggling was having their own cooking show and writing for a sitcom. Reading stuff like this makes me feel like LA is a whole other world. 

Right now I am two pages in to this book, and I am OBSESSED. I will of course review soon. 

Our haphazard master bathroom reno

After

We had been wanting to renovate our master bathroom since we moved in four years ago. The main issue was the bathtub. It was one of those huge ones with the jets, and the jets didn't work when we did the house inspection. We had a plumber come in before we bought the house to see how much it would cost to fix the jets. The plumber couldn't find the box that controls the jets, so he figured it was behind drywall. He said it would cost LOTS to fix it. But we wanted the house, so we had the seller knock $1000 off the price and figured we would deal with it later. 

The first quote we got was $50K, which is insane. Our house is small. This bathroom is small. Our home is a rowhouse, so the likelihood of getting back that kind of an investment when selling was not going to happen. Looking back, I blame myself for that insane quote. The designer who we had come in and look had made a bunch of suggestions, and I had said yes to everything. Jon and I just didn't really care or have major visions for this bathroom. So the designer had included things like all marble floors, a marble walk in shower with fancy glass inclosure, and a custom marble counter. Marble, marble, marble. I was so disgusted with that quote, that we put the master bathroom on the backburner for another year or two. 

The second quote we got was way more reasonable at $14K. This was from the local hardware store that also does full installs of bathrooms and kitchens. We were really excited to work with them. The catch: they weren't able to order any double sink vanity except the exact one we already had. The one we had was totally fine, but I was hoping for something with legs or floating. I couldn't wrap my head around getting thing big renovation but still being stuck with the same vanity. 

So we went with the third option, which was a contractor who had done a lot of work for a friend of ours. He told me what to order, and then he came in and installed. So I ordered the vanity from wayfair, the tub from the local hardware store, the faucets from ikea. What I liked about doing it this way was that I bought things little by little, and the contractor/handman gave me a bill for the hours he worked each week. So financially, it felt way more do-able compared to having to write one huge cheque at the beginning. 

Before

Jon and I just don't care that much about the details. Like, the contractor wanted us to go to the tile store to choose tile. We were like, please, just choose whatever you think. And really, we are so happy with the tile he chose. And then we had our painter come in and paint. He asked us what colour we wanted. We just didn't care. White, I guess? So he said he had a pewter colour he had just used on another home and it looked good. So we went with that. And I love it! 

After

These pictures are obviously not styled, but they show the changes. We are really so happy with our new bathroom. What I love the most is that the ceiling of the tub area was raised a foot. It makes the tub feel so much more spacious. I also love the open shelves instead of the huge cabinet that was built into the wall.

Before

Lots more books

Beartown by Fredrick Backman: Jon read this one first, and liked it, and so I read it after him. I felt pretty reluctant to get into the style of writing. Lots of the sentences are super short. I found it hard to get used to. And then at the end everything gets wrapped up in a pretty bow, which is something I used to love when I was a teenaged reader, but now I'm not so into. This book dealt with a lot of stereotypes and also rape. In the end I really did enjoy it, and I really want to read his other bestseller, A man called ove. 

When things fall apart by Pema Chodron. Oh my gosh. This one is amazing. I first heard about Pema on the Oprah podcast (my true fav). I can't gush enough about this book and this author. This book talks a lot about leaning into hard things. That just resonates so hard for me as someone who loves to avoid difficult decisions. I will probably read this book again in a few months. Also, we should all be meditating. 

To all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han. Now I need to check out the Netflix movie. This was a really light easy read, and I loved it. I have always wanted to write about teenaged love because it can feel so intense, and I feel like this author nailed it. 

The book of longings by Sue Monk Kidd. So this book was pretty intense. It is the story of Jesus's wife if he had a wife. I had to keep looking stuff up to see what was fiction and what was true. I know VERY little about Jesus, so I feel like I learned a lot from reading this book and then looking up parts from the book. I loved talking to Jon, who went to Sunday school every week as a child, about this book. Now I wonder if Jesus actually did have a wife. I always love this author's writing, and this book was no different. 

Rainbow shag cake and Will's 3rd birthday

I don't think about almost giving Will up every day anymore, but the memories were creeping in as Will's third birthday approached. Three years later, what sticks in my mind are those last five minutes or so before they reversed the diagnosis, and also the conversations we had with the higher ups at the hospital months later. The head of OBGYN at our local hospital was so condescending and dismissive, and sometimes I wish I had had better words to tell her how she could help us instead of what she actually said, which was so unhelpful. Sometimes I think about the geneticist who was rubbing her super pregnant belly the whole time she was telling me how hopeless the fetus in my belly was. I am clearly not over it completely, and maybe I never will be fully. 

But when my mind goes through all these moments, I always end with the very last meeting we had with the head of the hospital and the head of radiation. The result of that last meeting was that our hospital agreed to permanently change their practices so no one had to go through what we did. I felt so heard and understood, and I felt like these two super educated and busy and strong women were so compassionate. I learned a lot about how to listen in that meeting from these two doctors. So grateful. 

Anyways, this cake!! Will had been asking for a "paw patrol mission paw lookout cake" over and over again. And I wanted to try a shag cake. So I made this cake, Jon printed out a lookout tower, and we stuck it on top. Will loved it, though he later asked me where his real cake was. The shag icing was super easy to do. I just bought a two dollar grass tip, and kept changing the colour in my icing bag. 

If I'm honest, the cake didn't taste great. I find if the colours of the icing are bright like this, all you really taste is the food dye. And the shag made the icing extra crusty, which I found pretty unappealing. But I'm glad I tried it for sure. 

Will at three:

- He just started preschool three mornings a week. He never seems that excited to go, but then he goes right in with no tears. I think he likes it! 

- The potty training is happening. I would guess we are averaging one accident a day. For us, that feels pretty good. 

- He asked for a Barbie food truck for his birthday, and loves playing with it with his dragons and other toys.

- He answers many questions with "kinda." Like, did you have fun at school today? Kinda. Are you hungry? Kinda. Was Grace at school today? Kinda. 

- He loves eating tons of fruit. He can eat so many peaches, oranges, apples, pears. He is significantly less interested in supper.