Medicine Hat is Canada’s sunniest city.  But the rain rain rain came down down down in rushing, rising riv'lets till the river crept out of its bed and crept right into Piglet's places it totally shouldn’t be.
That’s right. Southern Alberta is flooding. The South Saskatchewan river which runs through town is racing. We’ve watched 30 foot trees just flowing down the river like twigs in a game of “Pooh sticks.” Creeks all over town have flooded. Roads have been closed. Some neighborhoods, parks, golf courses, and storage facilities are flooded. And it’s supposed to rain tonight.
We’re not the only town to be soggy. In fact, part of the Trans Canada highway between here and Maple Creek is simply gone.

There’s not anything we’ve been able to do to help thus far. Though I am keeping an eye on the new Facebook group where people are posting requests for items to replace things they’ve lost to flooding. We still have a lot of baby clothes, a stroller, a sling, and some toys and such that Lucy has outgrown. So hopefully we’ll have a chance to help somebody out, even just a little.
If you’d like to see more photos you can visit the Facebook page {some of my own photos are posted to the group}. Our own home isn’t in any danger. The lab were Adam works may flood if the water levels rise much more but hopefully the worst is over. We’ve been told the levels aren’t rising and have actually gone down but who knows what will happen after the predicted rainfall. So, that’s what’s happening here. I have more {unrelated} things to tell you all about but figured this was a higher priority. Weather man, it’s crazy. I hear there’s epic weather happening all over North America, so if you’re in a bad area stay safe.

Do you have a new, baby blog? Are you thinking of starting one? Then you’re going to have to strike the delicate balance between anti-social butterfly and busy bee.

Case in point? Me.

See, usually when I’m brainstorming post ideas I find myself thinking Holly, you nerd, you have to have a life to have things about which to write! But today I found myself thinking Holly, you need to spend at least part of the day at home so you can write!

Needless to say, I’ve done a lot (relatively) the last day or so. Yesterday I walked 5K to the nearest pool to take Lucy for a dip {without the stroller which got left in our car which Bear takes for work}. We probably spent less than an hour in the water before Lu got cold and tired. Then I walked another 5K home in very windy conditions. It was good Lu didn’t want to play in the water very long because if we had left later I probably would have gotten caught in this:

Today we went out once again {with the stroller this time}. First I walked to the new educational store in town. Then I headed over to the mall {because why not? Plus, malls = air conditioning}. We left the house at 2:40 and got back at 8:00. So…yeah, spent a lot of time away from my beloved lappy and the interwebs today. Hence, the late post.

My feet? They hurt. But I got a hair cut {FINALLY}! Aaaand I promise a better post tomorrow, OK? In fact I promise a post that really is about writing a blog that will appeal to those of you with baby blogs or blogs in embryo. ;)

Well, it was a pretty uneventful Independence Day here in Canada. What a surprise, eh? Bear had to work so I actually spent most of the day alternating between extremely bored/lonely and completely stressed out due to a certain somebody having never ending fusses.*

We started the day with American flag cereal.

{Kashi GoLean Crunch, Cheerios, bran flakes, and corn flakes}

And we might have ended with leftover key lime pie from Canada Day if the pie had not leapt to its death earlier in the week (this is what it looked like after cleanup).

But at least we had “fireworks” provided by Mother Nature. An excellent storm rolled in during the evening complete with thunder and lightning.

How was your 4th of July? What did you do?

*Not nearly as enjoyable as the Neverending Story.

Well, now that I'm an official permanent resident of Canada it seems I'm seeing its true color. And that color is white.

It's June, people! JUNE! Last June we were boiling alive. This June? Not so much. Truly, this is the "Great White North."

On an unrelated note: You may have noticed that I made no post yesterday. Friday is Saturday around here. And by that I mean that Friday is Adam's day off. I'm not planning on making posts on Fridays. But I am making an effort to post the other 6 days of the week. So there should be plenty for you all to read (and tell your friends and family to read*).

*What? Too shameless? It's kind of hard to maintain any shame when fishing for readers.

If I ruled the world...

• The max MCAT scores would be in the thousands instead of forties because a test that big deserves scoring that feels more impressive.
• Blogger would have a wysiwyg template editor so I could finish and install my new design sometime in the next decade.
• I'd be allowed to leave the country without fear of being denied re-entry.
• Target, Ben & Jerry's, and a decent Mexican place would all be available in Medicine Hat.

If I ruled the world and had supernatural powers...

• Hogwarts would be real and I'd be a graduate.
• The weather would remember that we're in spring now so it's OK to be warm.
• The nutritional value of a food would be directly linked to its yumminess.
• Time could be manipulated.
  

What would you change if you ruled the world?

Yesterday: Picnic at the park.

Today: Snow.

Me: Annoyed.

Lucy has been testing the limits of my sanity this week. Suddenly stopped sleeping the usual amount. Prefers crying about being hungry to actually eating. Fusses and whines a lot, even in her sleep (which, truth be told is heart-breakingly adorable).

In other news: Kung Fu Panda is a really, really cute movie (I heart Jack Black). Bear is doing well in school. One of my sisters-in-law is pregnant with a little girl and her due date is today (fingers crossed)! Winter needs to GO AWAY (I'm trying to exercise, really I am...but running on ice = disaster waiting to happen). Oh, and having a bucket seat for Lucy is everything I dreamed it would be.

When a girl has got to get out, she's got to get out! No mere cold-weather phenomena is going to stop her! She's going to bundle up her baby and herself. She's going to enlist the help of her hubby. She's going to strap on her tire chains for shoes. And she's going to go for a walk dagnabit!

The topic of "things to do in the snow" was recommended as a post for NaBloPoMo. But the moment I read it I knew I had to do the opposite. So without further ado, the top 5 things that should not be done in the snow:

5. Run. It's slick, wet, cold, and makes your throat burn. Running should be saved for nicer weather. Though, apparently there are some die hard fitness fanatics that haven't gotten the memo.

4. Drive without winter tires. Unless of course you don't have any winter tires and there isn't a single store in town that has any to sell you. Not that I have any personal experience with that or anything.

3. Wear dress shoes. Even if you are wearing flats (and thereby avoiding the added danger of icy surfaces + high heels) dress shoes do not adequately keep the snow out. And no matter how cute your dress shoes may be you won't feel cute when your foot is sloshing around in melted snow.

2. Be employed as a mail carrier. My heart aches for the unfortunate employees of the USPS, Canada Post, and mail delivery services everywhere (and by "everywhere" I mean "everywhere but Hawaii, Jamaica, Tahiti and similar locales").

1. Sunbathe.

So...here I am, about to tell you all about the amazing storm we've had and I have not a single picture to post. That's what happens when your camera batteries are out of juice and you can't find the charger. So you'll just have to believe me when I say, it's beautiful out there!

It's also a death trap.

Apparently the city of Medicine Hat has some sort of bias against salt...and snow plows...and common sense. The roads are terrible!

Needless to say we've been staying home as much as possible. Though we did go out tonight so we could attend the Ward Christmas Party...no way we were going to miss out on a turkey dinner (especially one we didn't have to prepare)! It was excellent. Though we left early because I was uncomfortable (I've been having mild, irregular contractions) and I was tired. It takes a lot of energy to eat as much food as I ate.

I'm going to weekly doctor's appointments now, which also forces us to go out on those dreadful roads. Seriously...is it so much to ask that my city plow the roads a little better, even just the main ones? I understand why no-one has gotten around to plowing our tiny, out of the way, little street. But geesh...a decent plow job and some salt would really help me not feel like I'm gonna get in an accident any time I have to go somewhere.

At least I get to spend most days in the house, watching the snow fall (probably have 6+ inches now) and avoiding the cold (currently -13F). Yesterday was quite windy. In fact, it was so windy the snow managed to get blown into the opening for our upstairs bathroom vent and we ended up with some dripping in the bathroom! Took us a minute to figure out what on earth was happening.

So, long story short: It's beautiful looking outside. But if you have to actually go outside watch out!

ETA: So, Blogger decided to get all wonky on me and isn't loading the pictures correctly. To see them in all their glory you'll have to click on them. Sorry.

A lot has been going on recently. So here's a random collection of mini-updates and pictures.



Here's a shot of the "apple pear" I got at Safeway. I'm not exactly sure if I ate it "correctly" (am I supposed to wait for it to get soft like a pear?). The texture was OK but the flavor was pretty bland. I'd rather just have a regular apple or a regular pear. But at least now I can say I've tried one of these newfangled hybrid fruits.







Here's a close-up shot of the craft area. The lump on the left is my semi-functional sewing machine with a pillowcase to keep it dust free. This window looks out on the front


To the left of the desk is the closet (the only walk in closet in the whole house...too bad it's not in the master bedroom).


It's still pretty messy in the closet but I figure it doesn't really matter at the moment. We keep our linens (towels, rags, sheets, etc.) and my fabric for sewing in the drawers.


And here's one more shot of the bed. I just wanted to make sure you got a good look at the beautiful quilt Adam's mom made and gave to us as a wedding present (she also made us an incredible pottery set). At some point well get a bed skirt for the bed and put some storage underneath it. But the room is done enough. We've been making progress throughout the house but more needs to be done before I post pictures of the basement, kitchen, master, bathrooms, and Lovey's room.

I've spent the last two days or so baking...but not in the traditional sense. It's gotten hot again! So I'm the one being baked! The current temperature is 34 C (that's 93 F for my American audience). At this point I'm relying on fruit juice popsicles, cool baths, and moving as little as possible to get by. Last night was the worst because we had a power outage for about 4 hours. You know what that means? That means no fan, and no humidifier (which is a cool mist model so it helps cool things down). Needless to say I didn't sleep too well.

The frustrating thing is that the heat makes doing anything productive about twenty times harder (on top of my aching hips making doing things more difficult). My grandmother sent me a recipe for chocolate cake that she says is the best she's ever had. Seeing as I am a chocolate cake addict I have been incredibly anxious to make it. But on top of not wanting the body heat the effort will generate I really don't want to be turning on the oven unless I have to, nor do I really feel like standing over a hot stove to make the frosting.

The good news is that it's supposed to get progressively cooler throughout the week with possible rain on Thursday.