ups and downs

Sigh.... what a week... Our truck has died (how often does an engine just go on a well maintained, regularly-serviced, low-mileage 2005 vehicle?), the tax man is asking questions (all of which can be answered, thankfully) and - here's the biggie - it doesn't look like Steve is going to World Championships. Boo and blues... His knee has been getting better and he's started training more, but the coach has decided to not risk putting him on the 14-man roster in case he's not healthy enough to play come the big dance in a month or so. SO! The week has had its challenges. But... the glass is half full, and most of theses things are fixable - maybe expensive and disappointing, but fixable. PLUS, we've had some good things happen this week too. On Tuesday night we rushed rushed out of the house to the Dairy Queen in the Rideau Centre; Steve ran in for caloric ice cream treats while I parked, and we met on Parliament Hill - I had my arms full of blankets and he had his hands full of melty blizzards. It has been hot here, and there is no doubt that summer is still alive and kicking... it's been in the low 30s, but getting up there close to 40 with the humidity, ugh. Anyways, we found a spot on the lawn in front of the Parliament buildings and watched Mosaika, an amazing sound and light show played on the backdrop of the centre building. It was awesome! Awesome show, awesome to lie in the warm summer night on a blanky, and awesome to linger there until long after everyone else had left.


And I'm not too sure if this is going to fall into the good things/great things category, but it does match with productivity: last night, for the first time, we were kicked out of a store... a baby goods store. The good part of the story is that we learned more about strollers and car seats from the most knowledgeable salesperson I have ever met in my life. Pera talked for an hour about the features and pluses and minuses of almost every stroller in Kiddytown, and then did the same for every car seat in Kiddytown, and information flowed in and filled in the baby blanks upstairs. Her manager had to come around and tell us that the store was closing... and that we had to ummm errrrr, maybe come back another day? So, progress is slowly being made on the babins front. The second bedroom chez nous is almost empty enough for a crib purchase, and we're planning on making it to Ikea one of these days for a dresser that will double as a changing table. That is, as long as we have a vehicle to get us there and back. We have Steve's parent's voiture here now, but are returning it this weekend. Another trip to Toronto tonight - for a wedding tomorrow.... eee! I'm excited. Maybe not so much about the drive, but it will be good to see friends and family and hopefully get a few things sorted out vis a vis our truck. The little engine that could? We'll have to see about finding one of those....