Boxing Day

Molly and I hit the road for some Boxing Day festing, feasting, and revelling...  The first order of business was to tuck Shelly in for the day for some much needed rest and recovery.  Then we were on the road to Clinton to meet up with a few fine folks on the Macaulay side of the family tree.  It was to the Fish'N Game....

(Scott & Alden)

(daughter & dad)

There was a super terrific meal waiting for everyone - a small group actually of about 15 people I suppose.  Anyhow we all had a few drinks and got caught up on the year's happenings.  Molly just hung out lazily for the better part of 2 hours before waking up and wanting to eat.  She got fed and changed, then she was ready to go for the rest of the day - Oh, and she got sick all over me....  Maybe a touch of too much to drink.

From Clinton we hit the road out to Molly's first visit to the Wright's - Boy was she at home there!  My associates Joel, Trista, and their two, as well as Bob and Sally of course, were home celebrating their own traditions and received the two of us with open arms - Molly was fast asleep.

We all hung out and rumbled about 2010, knowing what a great year it had been.  We all shared quite a lot - with our Rossland adventure, Port Dover'n in June, rat'n in July, and all the tires we threw...  So ya, Molly and I kicked around out there and by the time I had a drink, a left-over turkey sandwich, fed and changed Molly again, it was about 7:00 and time to hit the road to see what was shaking back in Goderich.

Joel does have a magical touch with babies as he had Molly smiling and nearly laughing for the first time.  Seriously - she was grinning from ear to ear and quite content to be in such capable arms.  

So it was another great day - Shelly got feeling better, but was still under the weather by the time we got home after eight o'clock or so.... 

Merry Sickmas

In the past 72 hours either Shelly or myself have been battling a bit of the seasonal illnesses - I didn't feel like my typical self on Christmas Eve and had to shut it down quite early, and Shelly felt much, much worse then me on Boxing Day....  Molly has been hanging in there - not too much has thrown off her routine of some eating, sleeping, washrooming, a bit of screaming, and return....

Nevertheless it has shaped up to a wonderful time of year...  We have seen nearly all of our imediate family, minus Trevor, Tara, and their munchkins, and Shelly's grandmother is in the hospital recovering from just old age and those things that 94 year-olds get.  Other then that anybody who's in the know made an appearance - Far too many names or pictures to mention.  But that really is what is good about this time of year - seeing the family.

On Christmas Eve Shelly, Molly and I had a few appointments.  We started the night over at the Coup's house for a drink, snack and a hello with those fine folks, and the Pottroff/Goddard's were there too.  Then we went over to my dad's for dinner.  His clan, as well as Marsha, Jeff, Loch, and Alden were there too.  We hit the road by 9:00 and illness quickly set in - Not because of the food or drink, but just a sore throat and headache....  Shelly dropped Molly and I off at her parent's house and she went out to her aunt's for some more Christmas cheer. 

On Christmas morning I woke up feeling much better.  Shelly's dad and I chored for an hour and got the livestock settled....  Shelly and I opened a few gifts (nice life-jacket Shelly!... she is easily pleased) and by 11:30 or so her brothers and their families were on the way over.   We all had a huge scoff and opened a few gifts....  By 3:00 the three of us were on the road to the next gala.

We went out to my uncle Larry's for the rest of the day.  At one given time there were something like 30 people out there...  4 of which were very small kids under 2 years old...  Plus there was a 2, 3, and 4 year old as well.  At any rate, it was a great get-together and everyone had lots of different reasons to be happy and joyous this time of year...

Christmas With The Mother-In-Law's Family

They are truly animals on this side of the family...

They are nice, you know, but they eat while standing up and from a trough, wallow in their own waste, expect others to wait on them hoof & hock - err, hand and foot.  It was a crazy time with the Gawley's....  Oh, the holiday season....  I got a few pictures, but nothing turned out that great.  These pictures are from Norman and Velma's farm outside of Kincardine.  I don't suppose they mind being displayed on the internet (the horse and cows).  The other pictures I snapped are of Shelly's cousins' and brothers' kids - I should have asked permission to post their pictures on this site - But since I didn't ask, I will hold off.

But seriously, they are great people, those Gawleys.  Great, generous people who have welcomed me and provided Molly with another amassment of baby belongings.

So it has actually been pretty quiet and not too much has been going on - No epic stories or milestones to note.  We are all just getting through the days.  I hit up work and put out those flames without too many problems - Shelly and Molly are doing their thing around here;  they get out for walks, sleep in, pick away at different things around the house.  Wrap my Christmas gifts - NOT!

Things will start to rock on Friday around here...  More family, food, fun, & festivities.  Marsha and her family are flying in for a few days.  I'll cross paths with many cousins and inlaws.  There will be a lot of young babies around and pandenmonium will certainly eventualize!

So stayed tuned and hopefully there will be a few good "Christmas Vacation" moments.  Until then, Molly pretty much looks the same.

Her first smug look...

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We have been well settled and adjusted to life on Quebec Street....  Yes, there has been a lot of changes.  But that is the way it goes I suppose.

Sure there have been sleep issues and cranki-ness, but Shelly was usually like that anyway...

Molly is hanging in there like a champ - She has pulled a few great sleep sessions, eating well, not too fussy.  All in all it is probably pretty normal 5 week old behaviour.

One of the biggest adjustment is all of the extra "stuff" around the house.  We have and incredible amount of clothes, blankets, onezies, and the like = It would seem like were raising a brood like the Octo-Mom or Kate Plus 8 does - But alas, it is just Molly and she has drapery that is outlandish.  While saying that, 95% of it has been gifted or donated, so we are very thankfully to the generousity of our friends/co-workers/relatives who are so thoughtful.  But WOW!

Deer hunting ended this past Sunday.  I was shamefully skunked.  This past Tuesday I turned on a doe that was about 20 feet away from me and through some trees.  We locked eyes for 20 - 30 seconds....  Its innocent looks had no effect on my decission to pull the trigger of the Mossberg 930.  As I raised the gun, it unbelievably stood still...  I fired and missed.  I fired again, and missed again.  Shame.

Periodically I went out again through the week.  There were no sightings.  On Saturday and Sunday morning I went out with Bill, Ted, and Larry.  We hit an area hard, only to be let down even harder with no sightings.  Larry and I would go out once more on Sunday night.

Just before 5:00 I heard rustling in the bushes 110 yards across the field.  10 minutes later, a nice buck ambled out in the open.  It was pretty far away, but walking towards me.  It was sniffing the air and I raised my gun.  The flourescent bead was fixed on my target.  It plodded more slowly, but still in my general direction.  My heart was racing a bit, but nothing to great because of my overall fitness and superb cardio-vascular stamina.  In haste, I took my shot.  Another miss.  The buck was gone.  Deer hunting season is done.

Well after a very busy weekend Molly and I were very tired so we hit the couch for a bit of a rest.  She doesn't eat meat yet anyway...

Home Sweet Home

I have written a few good "returning home" posts...  The first was in September of 2010 after the 23 day motorcycle adventure which took 8000km, 5 provinces, 3 states....  Awesome trip.   Then it was March of 2011 when I returned from my 80 day, two and a half month, down hill ski, hockey, and brother visiting trip out to Rossland, BC.  Another terrific adventure....

But this time I am happy to write about Shelly's return home.  She was gone for about 35 days in London... Her and Molly arrived home Wednesday at nine o'clock.  There is no place like it = home.

So yes, the brass at the hospital seemed to think that Molly was good to go.  I had about 24 hours notice...  So that ment a lot of last minute scrambling to organize, set up, put away, and get my head around the idea of the girls return.  It wasn't too much of a big deal after all. 

The big surprise here was the overall revitalization of the house.  That included painting mostly everything, new furniture, and new rugs.  I got a new furnace, hot water heater and central air.  There was the gas dryer in the basement that needed to get hooked up - so that was done too.  Three guitars and the ukelele got hung on the wall and I moved the piano, amp, and micro-phone too.  The aquarium is gone....  I got the ducts all blown out and cleaned....  Washed curtains, scrubbed the floors, painted all of the cupboards......  The only thing that is the same is the cat is still here.  There was quite a bit of stuff done while Shelly was away.  She was pretty surprised when she returned home. 

And for the truth - My mom and John did quite a bit of it all...  Quite a bit....

So anyway - the first few nights are under our belts.  The weekend has been going well.  There has been plenty of visitors stopping in and saying welcome back....  Molly is decently adjusted as far as I can tell.  No big meltdowns or moments of insanity.  She either wants something to eat, to sleep, to be changed, or to be held.  That is pretty much it so far.

So most of the immediate family members have had a visit, hold, and a picture.