Stuff and Things and Misc.

Just for a bit of fun, and non-seriousness... Here are some random everyday things about me/us/going-ons. 

Toby is now more established on solids. He isn't a massive eater, but here are some things he's tried:

carrots, pumpkin, kumara (sweet potato), avocado, peas, corn, chicken, beef, pork, apple, pear, nectarine, peach, banana, prune, apricot, pasta, rice, oats, egg, custard, zuchinni (or courgettes), capsicum, spinach, broccoli, etc... sounds like a lot when I list it out... 

Toby has a sock monkey that he has to have to go to bed, along with his thumb. It is super cute but also means we have to make sure Socks is around. Now we have two. Thankfully Socks is a Beanie Baby and we found another him on ebay- yay for mass produced toys! 

I got a new USB drive for our photos the other day. Okay for Toby's photos really. I'm paranoid that our computer will crash and we'll lose them. Especially after losing our Christmas photos as I left my camera at the beach when we were on holiday- painful. I started loading them yesterday but I realised that just from 2011 (he was born in July), we already have 6GB of photos! Ridiculous. I mean, given I haven't really gone through properly and deleted the crappy ones... that's still a lot of photos. And I only got a 16GB thingy. 

Camera suggesions anyone? Just a basic easy-peasy kinda one. 

(This is Toby as a 'baa-baa black sheep' but it didn't really turn out great as he kept moving. Fair enough. I'm still proud of my other work where I made him look like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!)

Tomorrow I'm going to get a manicure with my friend C. The husband got me a voucher for Christmas and I'm excited to be using it. Plus I haven't hung out with her for ages and it is much needed. (Only bummer is on Monday I couldn't remember why I had such long nails, as I usually keep them short, so I snipped them all off. Then right after that I realised I was keeping them long for the manicure appointment so they could trim them nicely and so maybe I could maybe get French-tipped ones... OH WELL.)

You know how I like to shop? Well since becoming a mom I've lost all ability to think when I'm in a mall. I think I have so much pent-up shoppingness that when I get to do it, I just don't know where to start. Probably a good thing for everybody. 

The other morning I used my husband's toothbrush by accident. How? I don't know- it was a totally different colour to mine. He's got a new toothbrush now. 

I'm in dire need for a blog design lesson. I did some html stuff at university but that was like seven whole years ago! Ugh. Any tips on where to start? 

Last night I lay in bed thinking about this post, like what to write (yes I do that a lot), but I don't remember what I was wanting to say (do have a writing pad beside my bed for those brilliant moments but didn't use it of course) so that's me for today. 

Have a great weekend!  

Let's Talk About Something Else

If you want to read something totally different. Here's a post I wrote about money stuff.

Sweet Saturdays

Ok maybe not the best title for this post because I'm supposed to be keeping my sweet-tooth at bay for now. But is has been a nice Saturday so far, so... here I am!

Thought I'd better try and write a little something before I go and lie down.

1. TODAY- Feeling pretty proud of myself today. Got a few errands done this morning including going to the bank and getting a few gifts... including spending a Christmas voucher I got given- all for me! I got a necklace that has a pocket watch on the end. Kinda fun huh? It is a pretty brassy/gold old-look necklace, where the face cover pops open and the watch actually works! (Thanks C!)

(there it is!)

2. DISCOVERY- Yesterday I met a friend for coffee and I thought I'd be sneaky and try and check out a shop just beforehand, as I was early... BUT I can no longer walk quickly, so was a couple minutes late haha! The baby in my belly is starting to get a little prominent, so I struggled to get to the cafe on time! The things you learn. (And my shopping stamina has definitely waned...)

3. 28- This week we're at 28 weeks. Next week I'm turning 29 and I'll be in my 29th week! Fun huh? Just a little random fact for you.

4. PREP- Preparing for the baby has been good fun, though there still seems to be so many little things to think about... I keep putting some off but I'm realising I can't do that for too long haha. We attended our first ante natal class this week. Who knew we'd be sitting in a roomful of pregnant couples, us included? It is definitely weird to be 'on the other side' of where I was at, yet being still the very same person.

5. HMMM... It is interesting that like most other IF-ers, all I thought about for the last few years was how to get pregnant and stay pregnant, and it is hard to transition to thinking, "uh oh... how will I get this baby out?"...

6. BRAIN- So I have lost quite a few brain cells. I used to be such an unbeliever of 'baby brain' but I've had to eat my words. I still maintain that this is only funny because I am 'normally' pretty 'with it'... but we'll see!

 Here's a list of things I've done:
- opened the fridge and found a packet of half-eaten girl-guide cookies in there (no we don't store it in there)
- similarly, opened the fridge and found my big soya sauce bottle next to the milk (what was it doing there!)
- offered my husband a glass of water then proceeded to search for the glasses (I've lived here four years people)
- stood in the shower and could not remember if I'd already shampooed my hair or not!
- looked at the hand my friend held out to me, with his palm facing up, as we were agreeing on something, then SHOOK IT instead of slapping it (like a lo-five kinda thing). Oh that was bad, and didn't realise what I'd done til after!
- lost stuff (and I never lose stuff!)

so anyway... much more to say but I'm fading here at 3:30pm haha... took a photo of my new necklace but can't find the file from the webcam ugh. LATER!

Dream a Little Dream With Me

Since I ended that last post (though it was a week or something ago) on a 'shopping' thought... why not keep going with it? Plus my mad pregnancy dreams are still going strong, so let's combine them for something a bit more fun.

Some of you are mothers, while some of you are hoping to be... are there any items for a baby or a young child that you love that you had or you wish that you got/would like to get one day?

Just curious. Even things that are super-unnecessary but may be just look cool or very expensive but would-be-nice?

I realise I may or may not have that many opportunities to prepare for a baby... Why not dream a little while we're at it?

SO. I totally don't need one (yet) but I'm kinda obsessed about BUMBO chairs at the moment. Hahaha.

I think cos' they come in cute colours and are made of that weird squishy-foam/rubbery texture. Plus both my nephews had one so I think I just am associating it with cute memories of them!

ANYWAY.

Short one for now. Talk more soon.

Life Lessons from Sammy The Dog

1. Be consistent.

Poop in the same place.

2. Consider savings and investments.

Save for a rainy day and invest in quality things- Hide your bones in the dirt somewhere. (When you dig up the half decomposed yummy treat, they may be so 'pleased' with you that they keep the black and mouldy thing for themselves and give you a brand new one.)

If they anticipate that you'll bury the nice new bone and don't let you out, hide it in the couch when they are not looking. They'll never know.

(this cracked me up so much!)

3. Eat healthy.

Eat only what you need at breakfast and dinner. There's always gonna be more kibble, but work for the treats in between meals, that's the real deal.

4. Sleep well.

 Sleep as much as you can in the day, so you can wake up before them and start warming up for the morning walk a couple hours before the man is ready. Tip: Lie right at their bedroom door just in case they miss you when they open it.

5. Communicate clearly.

Lick, wet-nose nudge, lean all your body weight, roll over, put head in lap, etc... These are obvious techniques for getting them to know you would like a rub. Tip: Stare deeply into their eyeballs. That often works.

6. Be yourself.

They might be surprised by who you are at first but they will come round eventually. The lady needs to learn that she can teach me new things and I do adapt to my new home, but really I will come as I am. This is good training for her for the future of motherhood and adoption maybe.

What else have I been up to...

Thought to just blog about something random for today...

Cos' it is summer over here, last week was a lazy week for the husband and I as we had a week off (again! yay.) We didn't go away but we stayed around- which was good cos' the weather was mostly miserable.

We enjoy doing things around the house and so here are a couple of things I managed to accomplish, which is pretty huge for me.

I'd been collecting these retro mirrors and storing them in the garage...

... so I finally dusted them off and the husband helped me remove the original wood-backings they had on them, and we stuck them on the wall. Believe it or not, I used 3M Command Hook/Picture Hanger things. Yes, those sticky velcro things. I'm a big fan of them.

And so they are now my dining area 'showpiece'. Very proud.

Do you remember this bookshelf I organised with my pretty boxes?

Well I finally got round to painting it cos' it was just made of ol' MDF and getting a little nasty. White of course.

I've probably shared this before haha but if you like home decor stuff too, The Nesting Place is my new favourite blog for little ideas here and there. We don't have a lot to spend around here, so I like to try and use what I have already, can recycle or what I can find cheaply. This blog shares a similar idea, as well as some other tips, which is fab. My friend KP and I ogle over it every now and then.

My friend Ruth recently shared this other link with me cos' we share the same love for lots of white and light. Beautiful! These kindsa blogs get addictive though, so I usually have to peel myself away from them eventually.

Along with home-type projects, I also love food. These past couple weeks I've made this twice- Thai Glass Noodle Salad... it is super spicy (lots of chilli) and always makes me cry like crazy but I love the hot and sour taste so much that I can't help but eat it all up!

This one was my second attempt, with beef and prawn and lots, like LOTS, of coriander!

My cousin all the way in England just mentioned something about having a slice chocolate cake on Facebook... ugh... why does chocolate cake have such a hold on me! Now I think I need to go see if I have the ingredients to make one... hmmm...

Sickie

I've been sick the last couple days... down with a kind of cold and just ol' sore-throat-pain-and-yuckiness. Trying not to splutter all over the keyboard. EW.

But hopefully I'm getting there. Being in bed or on the couch all day is no fun. It sounds fun but when you actually have to do it it is not.

What are you like when you are sick?

I'm:

- paranoid that suddenly everything is super dirty and needs a clean. I think I imagine germs multiplying as I'm sleeping and breathing on it. NEED TO NEED TO: Change the sheets (done), ask the husband if he can vacuum (haha), wash the dog, wipe the whole house down, etc.

- hungry for everything but not really. I think cos' your senses get dulled you just want to taste tasty things, but then when you eat it it isn't actually that great cos' you're not feeling great enough to enjoy it? I may be one of those people who miraculously gains weight while sick.

- wanting chicken soup. So I made some in the crock pot for myself (and the husband). Love the crock pot cos' it is so 'self-cooking'.

- too uncomfortable to be in one position for too long. Sleeping isn't fun, sitting isn't fun, standing isn't fun, TV is boring. Oh I'm such a joy to be around. Thankfully it has just been Sammy and I.

- consuming a lot of honey and lemon.

- wondering if coughing so much can give you good abs?

- not sure how I would do this if I had a baby. I guess you just do what you gotta do. Or ring grandma.

- getting a bit concerned about how the world is managing to survive without me! Haha.

But no seriously, being stuck at home recovering from something always makes me realise how much I need to trust God for my sense of worth, not the things I do or achieve.

- doing an announcement-thingy-about-IF/LOSS stuff tomorrow at church so hoping that I don't sound too much like I've been travelling in the desert looking for water and chain-smoking at the same time. Sigh. Timing can be funny... I'm sure it'll be ok.

Haha... Not a terribly exciting post for today. Hope you have a good weekend ahead guys!

What's Great About Now...

This weekend I got to spend some time alone at Browns Bay. It was nice taking a walk and have a nosey around the shops. Here is a pic I took while sitting on the bench.

(there were lotsa people and dogs out and about, but somehow they didn't feature in my shot... haha... oh well!)

Ahhh thankful for lovely days and gelato. haha. Yeah I had a double scoop of gelato- chocolate and hazelnut. MMmmmmm.

(Except it was a cash-only shop and I never carry cash on me these days, so I had to go and get money from an ATM, but I think the shopowners are pretty used to it cos' she let me have my ice-cream and trusted me to come back with the money. How nice!)

The warm weather reminds us that Christmas is coming up (yeah weird for some of you I know!) and I love it. What do you like about this time of the year?

I like:

1. Christmas and all its trimmings like ornaments, wrapping presents, food, etc.

2. Starbucks releases its Christmas-flavours of drinks! Yum.

3. Summer = warmth. (Though it might get hot and there are flies but besides that...) Having barbecues and hanging out outside.

4. Cos' it is warm, we will wear less layers, which means (theoretically) less laundry! haha.

5. Ice-cream/gelato/frappucino/milkshakes/smoothies, give it to me baby!

6. Music. Love Christmas music.

Last year my bro and sis-in-law got me Chris Tomlin's Glory in the Highest (if you can, listen to the 11th track by Audrey Assad, I love it even thought it isn't winter here... gorgeous! Reminds me I'd like to check out her own album... ) and Mercy Me's The Christmas Sessions for Christmas so I'm looking forward to playing it leading up to Christmas instead of after Christmas this time haha...

Anyway. That's me for now. What about you?

Sunday night here. Better head to bed. Have a good day!

Ten Things at (not really) 10 am (more like 12pm)

The fastest way for me to post is to list. So here I go. This is a jumbly list of things.

1. This weekend is a long weekend for us here in NZ- Labour Day. It has also been quite sunny! Loving it. Yay for warmth!

2. However, I haven't been feeling all that wonderful. I'm not sure if I have allergies or am just run-down. I'm yawning by 9pm and crawling into bed by 9:30pm! Grrrr. Thankful for not having to work tomorrow though.

3. I have started to get quite depressed about supermarket-ting. I used to like it but now it comes with such dread! (Maybe because I'm terrible at writing a shopping list... cos' it all depends on what is on discount! You know what I mean?)

It is such a big job... walking your socks off, pushing big bafoony trolley/cart around, dodging other shoppers and avoiding aisle-rage, spending a TON of money that doesn't look worth your wares, loading it into the car, then unloading it all, stocking the pantry, then doing it all again in a couple weeks.

Now I make sure I buy ONE SNACK THING as a reward, cos' I'm often starving from all the mental, physical and emotional energy I've invested into the trip... so I eat it when I've loaded the car and got in my car and BREATHE. Then start the journey home.  Yesterday I ate a banana. Not very exciting I know but still good haha...

4. My friend Ruth mentioned making cards recently on her blog... this inspired me to make some the other day. I'm not very hard-core (like not at all a proper scrapbooker-type) about it but I just make the most of random things I have, like fabric.

(as you can see, i like hearts!)

There are lots of birthdays (and a wedding) that have been going on this month. I'm already late for some, ugh terrible I know. This is also a good money saving thingy (which I'm trying to do!) as I can get super carried away buying cards and gifts, etc.

5. My blogger friend Grace and her husband are adopting and waiting for their child to come home to them. She finally has just heard some good news... it is possible that she will be able to bring him home from Korea in 6 to 9 weeks. SO STOKED FOR THEM!

6. Heather at reach in, reach out, reach up posted about some myths about infertility. This is a great post... I myself may have said stuff like this to others before experiencing infertility myself and I understand that with IF and loss, sometimes there really is never anything to say that is good or helps... but at least avoiding the really bad ones is a plus. (At the moment one of the hard ones for me is wondering if people think that adoption is our new fertility treatment. It is not.)

7. My super friend C has been celebrating her birthday this weekend! Happy Birthday!

8. I'm running a half-marathon in a week. I have to admit I'm quite worried about it. Am I prepared enough? Will I survive? Have I set too high of a goal? AHHH... I'm also raising money while I run, for the Heart Foundation. If you'd like to donate, click here. (Don't laugh, I've been pretty laidback about the fundraising.)

9. IF stuff never leaves me... I often randomly count the number of people I know who are pregnant. Do you? I hate that I do this as it is just plain ol' torture... but I can't help it. It is reaching the point where 80-90% of my friends are either pregnant or have kids or are 'trying'... I wonder if you ever get used to it.

10. Right now, the husband is vacuuming. Yes! I am so thankful for him. haha.

Have a good weekend.

Hello There!

(not my bear)

Hi there to everyone who's coming by via IComLeavWe (International Comment Leaving Week) October 2010! This is my first time participating, so I'm quite excited.

If you'd like to know about my IF stuff, you can go to My Infertility History.

If you'd just like a gist of everything, you can go to Welcome/Quick-start.

Here's some random stuff about me:
1. I'm writing this from a fitness centre in Auckland, New Zealand. I've lived here for almost 10 years though I grew up in Singapore and am from Singporean-Chinese background.
2. I'm married to a Canadian.
3. This morning we forgot to feed the dog- the husband thought I did and I thought he did.
4. The dog has been a  lot of work, though we really like him... but that's for another post.
5. I love Japanese food... I just love a lot of food in general.
6. I flinched when I heard that Alicia Keys had her baby, cos' I didn't know she was pregnant. And I double-flinched when I heard that Beyonce is now pregnant*. Totally jealous. Sigh... Secretly don't want to listen to their music to 'punish' them for being 'fertile'.
7. I just wrote two posts related to how much I LOVE shopping (one here and one somewhere else) which is so hilarious because in real life the husband and I have had talks about 'finances' just this week and shopping is SO NOT ALLOWED. Well he didn't say that but I think that is a probable conclusion.

Okay I'll stop here.

Thanks for stopping by!

*Edit: Hold your horses... I've been told this might be a rumour only.

New Favourite

I love new home ideas, even though I have so many they are coming out of my ears (or stuck in the garage) and some will never be fulfilled... always like looking at pictures and other people's ideas too. Here's my new favourite blog/site thing- Nesting Place.

Ahhhh!!!! Gorgeous.

Hello Monday

It is back to work for me today after a week off. Hope you had a good weekend too?

(Got to soak in a bit of sunshine this past week.)

Resuming life after time off always tends to give me like a small panic attack so I'm gonna take a few mins to reorganise my head after this post (and pray!), haha. It is also crazy that it is like 12 weeks to Christmas or the end of the year. Mad. Maybe I should put my tree up now so that'll be one less thing to do?

There were a few beautiful days here in Auckland (yay!) and I got to catch up on some goofy movies- Grown Ups, Date Night and Despicable Me (loved it). Yes, somehow I have to watch light and funny movies at the moment. I can't handle anything too sad or too serious. Even animated films can get the tears flowing so I'm staying away from anything that's actually intense. Silly all the way is good thanks.

Anyway here are a couple links to some posts that caught my eye:

• When we just don't know the words to pray, by Holley at Dayspring- sharing this cos' I often feel like this when someone shares with me about stuff in their life, and
• Why its really worth it to tell your secrets, by Ann Voskamp- sharing this cos' I really like this and often wonder about the idea of vulnerability and the goods and bads of being open about your life...

They each have a blog too if you scroll through the article you will find it. Both are part of this website, (in)courage, which often has some posts that speak straight to the heart.

Why do days-off always go by so fast? I hardly got anything on my 'list' crossed off. Typical! Sigh. Haha... Have a great week.

In Real Life

I just realised that this blog is about eight months old! I do enjoy blogging. I do get nervous about some of the things I put out there about my life, but overall I do like keeping this going and all. Here's a shout-out:

Thanks for reading my posts and commenting on them, etc. I appreciate all you folks who are dropping in and checking this out. It means a lot.

Some of you have mentioned that my blog is 'pretty'. Why thanks! I do like it too. It is actually just a blogger-template, which means I didn't do anything, I just picked it and it appeared haha...

Some of you who read this know me but some of you don't, and as it is hard to know what I'm like just from my blog, I thought I'd do a small IN REAL LIFE list:

In real life,

1. I am not so great at verbalizing my thoughts and feelings. Okay. 'Not so great' is an UNDERSTATEMENT. I'm terrible. (I'm sure even the husband uses this blog as a reference to how I may be doing this past week. Things to work on, yes.)

2. I like neat and tidy but I'm not neat and tidy. I'm clean but messy. Unless you say you are coming over, then I make sure it is neat and tidy, where possible.

3. As much as we try, there is always soapscum to be scrubbed, dishes to be done and more laundry to be loaded. I really admire friends whose houses are always looking fab, but I also know I need to just get over it.

4. I read too many books at the same time.

I love 'knowing bit more' and tend to over-research initially, and then have to go back re-read everything cos' I read it too fast the first time. (But I'm getting smart enough to underline or dog-ear parts that I like so I can go back and just focus on those.)

5. I'm insecure. Can you tell? I think that's why I explain things too much too. Just so you don't misunderstand me. Heaven forbid you misunderstand cos' then it may lead to you not liking me. How can you not like me? I wouldn't be able to handle that. Sigh. Seriously. Full of issues. Reading a book about it of course.

6. If I have some time to chill, I like to sit around and drink tea- and just do not much.

Ok. That's me for now.

Ten Things at 10am

There's a lot going on.

I'm keeping it light for today. Here are some random things I'm up to...

1. I went out and bought a new pair of shoes- wedged heel sandals, in preparation for warmer weather haha... ahhh feels so good. I don't often see shoes I like at Number One Shoe Warehouse but I did and they were $29.99, which is pretty cheap around here. (I think this is my first new pair of shoes this year? Could that be? Quite an accomplishment I think!) Only problem now is nasty toenails... here's a pic of them without feet.

2. Our study was not being well used so I de-cluttered the study a little... sold my desk that I wasn't using (it ended up just as a paper-holder) and bought a taller bookshelf to store our books instead, moved stuff around, tried to get organised, etc.

I found some cute boxes at a Japanese-goods store and using it to store my stuff on our small bookshelf instead of just piling it on the desk. I'd like to paint the shelf but that'll be another day... (This 'organised-thing always works for a short while and then somehow a magic mess appears again! Note: I just don't take pictures of the mess.)



3. This week coming up we're having a break! No work for a week. We have been looking forward to this for a while. We're not going away but being home and just trying to relax will be nice. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with some friends too... we also have a few house-things to get done... lots of books to read...

4. Finally tried making this coffee cake today.

Looks good and tastes okay... but is icing was a bit overkill. Thankfully the husband is a sweeter-tooth than me so he will be good help eating it.

5. I wear these around the house sometimes just to laugh at myself. I got them last year when we went to the Universal Studios in Gold Coast, Australia with some great friends to start a new adventure. I don't actually watch that much Spongebob but I just thought these were funny.


6. This is something I'm casually keeping my eye out for- a printer's tray or drawer. Okay, I don't need it, but it'd be kinda cool for home decor stuff one day. I missed this auction on TradeMe the other day and was so frustrated. (This other one was also for sale but looks like they want more...)

7. My friend shared these random YouTube clips with me the other day. It came out of a conversation on how, in general Asian music videos, whether from HK or Taiwan or Korea, are so overly sappy but quite intriguing to watch! (Check 'I Am Woman' by KISS out if you want a sample. Beware it is eight minutes long!) High cringe factor but I sorta love it.

For a more fun and sugar-sweet pop feel, watch 'Nobody' by Wonder Girls, another Korean clip. Quite hilare.

8. We had a couple warm days here this week. Even though I was at work for some of the sunny afternoons, it was nice to be reminded of what summer feels like again. Funny how you sorta forget.

9. This was Sammy a few minutes ago. (It was his birthday yesterday, he's now officially three... but we weren't great dog owners, we didn't really know what to do. Do they eat cake? We gave him a couple venison treats that he liked and uh... had to leave for work. He did get some good rubs though.)

10. I need to go. I'm meeting someone in ten minutes. Wow I'm organised. I guess that's what happens when you tre and get stuff done on Saturday mornings.

Have a great weekend.

(Sort of) Hanging On!

**Rant ahead**
Man, how I hate the two-week-wait. I hate it so much. I think it is kinda like 'peeing on the stick' but doing it and then waiting 14 days (or 336 hours) to look at the result. Or for some of us (infertility-types) it may even feel like you pee-ed on it three years ago... and you are still waiting for the result. I'm not sure.

It is agonizing and excruciating and every other synonym of 'painful' and 'stupid' you can come up with. I detest how so much hangs on it and how it makes me feel like I'm going insane. Days like these, infertility stuff just plain ol' sucks big time. I want to hammer it out of my life or chuck porcelain plates at it!

'nuff said.
**Rant over**

I should talk about something else before I infect the rest of you with my oozing anxiousness.

Breathe.

If you get the NZ Herald (physically not digitally), go check it out! There's an insert in it that's a magazine about Auckland and while I was flipping through it at work, I suddenly noticed that I'm on the cover. (On the cover like a cover-girl? um... no.)

Let me clarify. There's a crowd on the cover and I'm in the crowd- by my friend Alice. haha. How random is that? Kinda fun though.

(Not the best angle but, see red-singlet-girl at the lower end? That's me. My friend Alice is to the right, not sure if you can see her, a couple of heads away.)

It is from Round The Bays 2006 (I think... years ago anyway) so I'm not sure why they didn't use a newer one, but hay, I'm happy with it. Makes it kinda exciting for me. Too bad no one really reads the (physical) paper much anymore, even we don't. (We're only reading it at the moment cos' we got a subscription recently, as there was a deal with it where you get free movie tickets every month! Yeah they came to our door and bribed... and we caved.)

So. Nice to have a giggle about that. Thank you God for random little things.

Thank you God that you are also God of the big things...

My cousin C has been keeping tabs on me through this blog. Today she wrote a note to me and encouraged me with a verse:

My God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You.
Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.

Psalm 25:2 (Amplified)

So hard to do though huh?

Feeling pretty helpless today I have to admit. The husband is a big fan of sci-fi and I watched some Fringe episodes with him yesterday. The idea of a parallel universe or a way to fast-forward to the future definitely looks appealing. Some days it feels like 'anywhere but here' might be easier to handle.

Oh Lord I need you so bad!

How to Heart a Hardware store

Marriage takes a deeper plunge too when you are dealing with infertility and loss. I have learnt a lot about how I know very little about the male psyche and how it functions, but miraculously we eventually do get to conclusions together (probably more by the grace of God than by normal resolve haha)... but I'll leave that for another day.

The husband and I are trying to make sure we spend time with each other. Like everyone else, life is busy and it is easy to let things go with the flow, then suddenly you realise you haven't really connected for a while.

Yesterday we were supposed to go for a walk outside, but because it was raining (when is it not?), the husband convinced me to go to the hardware store with him instead, since he had a small list of things to buy. His thought was that we could do our 'walk' there. (Right.)

Anyway. I went. He had good intentions and it was something to do together which is always nice, especially these days when things can feel a bit doom-and-gloom-ish.

But, it also gave me an idea. Here's a list of things you can do if you find yourself at hardware stores too, and believe me, I'm a pro. (I married a man who has car projects, yard projects, home projects- some my fault, don't-throw-away-that-I-can-fix-it projects, that have gone for longer than a year simultaneously, and yes, we have had meals in the garage.)

Here in NZ we have Mitre 10 Mega and Bunnings Warehouse- I think these are a close equivalent to Home Depot?

THE (girly) WIFE'S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO HARDWARE STORES

1. Wear comfy shoes, you never know how long you might be there.

2. Bring your phone- could be a good time to catch up on texts in between waiting for the husband to select the right kind of rivet.

3. If you are the academic kind, memorise what they have and where everything goes, it might make it faster to find something for the next time round, because you will probably be back.

4. Take note of things to get him for birthdays and Christmas. This is a hard one but yes, pay close attention.

5. Find the sections you like and go to them every time you go there so that you don't have to go where the husband goes, where everything looks the same- nail-like.

I personally enjoy looking at 'storage solutions' (plastic boxes, laundry baskets, cupboards, shelving), kitchens (for ideas), bathrooms, doors (could make a headboard out of a door), wood moulding (someone's framed a mirror with that stuff), plant pots (giant teapots are my favourite), etc. I don't really like power tools, hardware, gardening, lighting, etc... but that's just me for now.

6. Keep walking. Might as well get a bit of exercise while you are there.

7. Sometimes they sell massive bags of washing detergent/random other cleaning product like that- why not calculate if it actually is cheaper to get those than the smaller portions you get at the supermarket. That's one I've been meaning to do.

8. Ask someone for help if you or the husband need a hand. There might be a small scuffle between the two of you because either one will always claim they don't need help but it saves time (and your marriage)- that's if you can find a staff person in the giant land of metal shelving.

9. If you are feeling brave, there often is a child-proofing section, so you can plan what you'd buy there one day, or how you'd be such a great parent that the sound of your voice would turn them away from the doorknob so you wouldn't need that stuff. Of course, if that is too overwhelming to daydream about, which is often is for me, then please don't. Take that as a warning instead- so if you see baby-gate, run.

10. If you lose the husband, don't bother looking. It never turns up any finds and he's probably not ready to go anyway- still figuring out which type of wood is best. Maybe go buy some saws and sculpting tools so you can use them in the kitchen for baking like on Ace of Cakes. (Love.)

11. The paint sample cards can be semi-fascinating. They are free so you can collect a few everytime you go past and make them into some craft project at home like a piece of art (like this dress) or design your own greeting cards.

12. If all else fails, turn to food. Some stores now have cafes in them but if not, there are bags of lollies at the checkout counters, or sometimes there are sausage sizzles going outside so go have one, or two.