August 26th, 2003 - Tuesday

Busy bees

This weekend was the sort that makes up for weekends where you have nothing in particular to do. Friday night was quiet for me. George had to help one of our friends with a few things, so I got Hayley in and out of the bath and then popped her into bed. She fell asleep pretty easily so I packed up her diaper bag for a full day's outing and straightened up a bit.

Saturday we headed up north to visit my grandmother. My parents and sister were also up. The village that my grandmother lives in has a bylaw that dictates that you can only have a garage sale twice a year, and on specific dates. Since my grandmother is the last living relative in her family (she had a lot of sisters), she got all the dishes, knick knacks, and etceteras left behind so she was trying to sell them. My parents also had a few things to get rid of.

We went up partly to see my grandmother anyway since she hadn't seen Hayley since the weekend of my birthday, but it was also handy because I wanted to check out a few of the garage sales within walking distance of her house. I was on the lookout for a safe but cheap baby gate. We have a really good one for her room, the kind that screws into the door frame and has a pressure lock. However, I wanted a simple one that expands and can easily be moved from one location to another so as to keep her in the living room or out of the kitchen, and so on. Unfortunately I didn't find a gate, but there was a woman about my age selling a ton of baby things. I found the cutest little black leather shoes that zip up for four bucks. They'll fit her by the time she reaches the age that she can walk in shoes and in the meantime they fit just well enough that they can keep her socks on for walks and outings when it's cold out. I also got a whole bag stuffed full of clothes and socks for two bucks, and my mom bought her a snow suit for five dollars. What I was most excited about though, was the little sled, also for five dollars. I can hardly wait for some snow to try it out!

We came home after supper and had a normal Saturday evening. Hayley was tired by the time we got home so she didn't even need her usual pre-bed bath. I just put her into her pajamas and she was ready for sleep.

Sunday was really nice. Our friends were baptizing their daughter and we went to the church in the morning, followed by a reception back at their house in the afternoon. I enjoyed the service tremendously. It was held after regular church, so it was just the baptism service itself. The priest was great to listen to and had a really good sense of humor which was a good thing, since a lot of us had young children who weren't exactly quiet (Hayley and a baby a couple of weeks older than her started blowing raspberries at each other across the pews - hilarious!). We won't be baptizing/christening Hayley so it was interesting to see the process.

The reception was great - they had a ton of food and people and we all just hung out enjoying the day. It was beautiful and sunny and it had finally cooled down, thankfully. Hayley wasn't able to nap on her own because of all the commotion but at least I got her to snooze for about 45 minutes in the sling. Again, by the time the day was over, she was pretty tired. She slept really well both Saturday and Sunday nights because of all the fresh air she was getting, combined with the short nap sessions.

It was great to spend so much time with family and friends. I don't necessarily always want to pack so much into two days but it worked this time!

When we were on our way to see my grandmother, we passed through the small town where Audrey de Montigny - one of the Canadian Idol finalists - lives. She isn't my favorite. She has a good voice but she's third on my list. Still, it's nice to have someone from Quebec in the finals, and it's also nice that she comes from a tiny little town that not many people know even exists. It was really nice to drive through her hometown and to see all the posters. There were little signs in business windows saying "Go Audrey, Go!" and "Votez Audrey, Bravo Audrey" as well as billboards along the road.

It's nice to see so much support.

And speaking of stuff along the side of the road, since when is this the normal style of farmhouse?!

I remember that farmhouses are supposed to be modest, made of wood or brick, and to look like they belong next to pastures and crop fields. That's, um, quite a spectacular house to be fifty feet from a barn full of manure. Wow.