Mac Heaven

My Mac is dead. At least its hard drive is. A couple of days ago I was busy finding a new pot roast recipe when all of a sudden my screen went gray and a spinning wheel appeared. This is the way my computer has stayed ever since. After a bit of a dissection from a techie friend, the prognosis is not good. It appears that my hard drive has crashed and all is gone. :(

I would be about 1 million times more upset if my handyman hadn't been his usual "safety 1st" self about 2 weeks ago where he suggested putting all the pictures that I have saved on my computer onto our media center as well. Just in case, he said. Well...here we find ourselves in just such a case. All the pictures we have of our house building project, and MUCH more importantly, Colin...from our first ultrasound up to a few days ago, were housed on the very same mac that has gone to mac heaven. Had we not copied them to the media center, they would be gone forever. I cannot even imagine how upsetting that would have been. Yes, I lost recipes, addresses, bookmarks (I love my bookmarks!), and many, many lists, however none of those matter. They are all replaceable. I can find new recipes, re-bookmark my bookmarks, and work on recreating my lists, but the pictures, well they are just far too special to imagine losing.

Technology is amazing and digital cameras are obviously far more logical than traditional film cameras. However, there is something to be said for taking pictures the "old fashioned" way. The only person I know who to this day chooses a film camera is my Grandmother. Even though she has a digital camera that my Grandfather used to use, she continually chooses to load & develop her film. From this day on, I will never question her method as I know the memories she is capturing will never be lost on a laptop and will never disappear to technology heaven. Today's brush with losing all those pictures was a little too close for comfort & from now on I will never balk at my handyman's suggestions to transfer files & pictures to another location.

I am a converted computer backer-upper from this day on.

Conclusion.

When I started this blog, its main purpose was to document the process of building our house. I knew that there were many people, both family and friends who would not be able to see the house as it developed and wanted them to be able to experience each stage with us. The title of this blog "Clarence Road Project" was really that - the project of building our home. Since moving in, and the addition of our little man, this blog has taken on another life and another purpose.

The project we know as Clarence Rd is still ongoing. Cupboard doors will be installed soon, the garage is still progressing and the fireplace wall has a long to-do list. The basement isn't finished and there are about 4 rooms waiting for tile. And don't even get me started on what awaits for us when the snow melts outside (hint - about 4 acres of clud (my word for the clay/mud we have the joy of working with)).

As we were busy with our home, a new project arose and has monopolized this blog ever since September 1st when a 7lb 11 oz baby boy rocked our worlds. We have now set forth on a new project...the project of parenting, of growing a family, of getting older...basically the project of our lives. I love that even though this blogs purpose, and the majority of its contents have shifted gears somewhat, the title still makes complete sense. This is our Clarence Road Project but it now extends far beyond this house and its progress.

The project is now us.

Ink.

Tomorrow is my Grandpa's birthday. Even though he left us this past summer, parts of him continue to feel present, day in and day out. Grandpa was a writer. A very good writer. The type of writing that you have to read slowly in order to fully grasp his message. Mostly political pieces, where his opinion came through very strongly and you never had to guess what his true feelings really were. They were there, in ink. I admire so much his ability and willingness to publish his thoughts for all to read, even though they were sometimes not the most popular amongst his readers. I think it is so fitting that I am here today, writing more than I have ever before. It has always been something that I like to do, and now, with this blog, I have the capsule to do it in. I think he would like that.

I also think he would like this home. The wood in this house makes me think of him everyday. In addition to being a writer, he was also a gifted handyman and carpenter. He spent hundreds of hours in his workshop at the lake making countless gifts for all his children and grandchildren. There were jewellery boxes, card holders, reindeer plant holders, just to name a few. They were all perfectly crafted and stamped with his personal touch. I still have many of the things he made me and they are all in near perfect condition. Just like the memories we have of his gentle spirit and joyfulness, the pieces he created will never tarnish, never break, never age.

The quote that appears as you enter our home actually came from Grandma and Grandpa's wedding book. It was said at their wedding and it is read each and every day here. Without love, this house is simply a structure, a combination of wood and steel and concrete. Love creates the magic that we experience every day while watching our family grow and enjoying time together. Love makes the tough times easier, the great times fantastic and the every day more special that I could have ever hoped for.

Boobies

From an 85 year old man, to an 85 year old woman....at least some parts look like an 85 year old woman.

Just in case.

I often ask my Mom or my mother in law questions about whether or not their kids went through certain stages as an infant. Questions like when they sprouted their first teeth, how the slept and whether or not they "played strange" are samples. Understandably, their answer is often "I really don't remember". After all, it was a minimum of 20 years ago or longer since our mothers were in the stage that my Handyman and I are in now with our little man. I can completely understand their lack of memory for the small details as even I have a hard time remembering what it was like 4 months ago when we first brought him home. I know I was up a lot in the night, I know I was tired, but the specifics have definitely vanished from my memory.

So just in case I ever forget this time, at 20 weeks old today, here it is in writing, for everyone to see and for me to remind myself of later....this is hard. At times I feel like someone has switched babies with me. Where we once had a good nighttime sleeper and decent daytime sleeper, we now have a restless baby 24 hours a day who seems to be all over the map when it comes to sleep. By doing some reading, I know that this is all because of the huge developmental milestones he is working through right now, becoming aware of his surroundings, moving & depth perception, however, that does not make me any better rested. Not that books know it all, but where they say we should be at 3 naps a day, we somehow find ourselves still at 5, sometimes 6 and none of those are what I would call "quality". When he was born, my Mom told me that just when you think you have things figured out, everything changes and this is no exception. Let's hope the next change is one for the better as figuring this stage out is proving to be the most difficult yet.

I guess the motto continues....this too shall pass.

It better :).

From this day on.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the annual Kitchen & Bath show at the convention centre. More specifically, I was able to attend a presentation by Sarah Richardson. For those of you who don't know who that is, please get to know her. You will not regret it. Sarah has a variety of TV shows on HGTV dealing with home design and renovations. I have followed her for the past 3 or 4 years and absolutely love her sense of style and humor. She is one of those designers that even though there are things she does that I would never do, nor would ever put in my house, they are ALL still beautiful. Her choices have inspired many of my choices for our home and continues to help pick some of the finishes we still need to select and complete.

Although I loved the hour I spent with her, I left feeling a little deflated, knowing how much work there is still to be done on our home and that realistically, it won't be done for quite some time. I so desperately want our house to be completed mostly because I want everyone else to experience just how beautiful it will be. Currently, that beauty is only in my imagination and I am so excited to be able to share that with all our friends and family.

It wasn't until today that I finally had to give my head a shake. Finished or not, this home is amazing. I do not deserve it and it serves us better than we would ever really need. There is a place for everything and we are all warm and protected. It cooks our meals and cleans our clothes. It is a place to play, to relax and to visit. It is all we could ever need...at this exact moment and forever. Things will simply be completed in their own time and that is that. We have better things to focus on these days like growing little people and wonderful puppies who both make me smile countless times a day.


From this day on, I will simply appreciate and admire. I will relax and enjoy. I will explore and utilize every inch of this amazing home. I will look forward to what is to come, but I will also remember that we have all the time in the world to complete each space. For now, I will just be young and in love with the most amazing boys a girl could ask for. I think I can live like this forever.

Mini Handyman