Nice Potatoes

I don't have a lot of time today, but I felt like updating since I haven't logged on since we got home earlier this week. 

It feels like we were gone forever. I will spare you all gory details of my absolute horror when we pulled up in front of the house. Instead of seeing my cute (to me, at least) little house, with its tidy, happy little garden,  there weeds close to two feet tall all over the front lawn. The garden was almost 90 percent weeds. Everything was either overgrown or dead. Not the welcome I had hoped for, but in Eric's defense, he was wounded for the two weeks prior to his arrival in Thunder Bay, so I suppose gardening/mowing was the last thing on his mind. Still, I almost wanted to take a picture of the lawn, but realized there is no need. The scene in burned into my brain forevermore.  

I spent the next few days, unpacking, cleaning and weeding and now things are more or less back to normal. 

Now that Kieran is going to  daycare two days a week, I decided to partake some more in some of the programs offered at our local Early Years Centre. We walked over on Tuesday to the Centre down the street...the one, I have mentioned that is located inside a Long Term Care facility. The building is under total renovation and the Centre, which used to be located in a nice room off the lobby has been relocated (temporarily, but for at least a year) to a former residents room in one of the wards.  The relocation happened while I was gone, so it took me forever to find the new room and can I just say, I was sort of creeped out. 

You can't really tell this from the lobby, but Long Term Care really isn't a happy  "retirement residence." No, it's more like a hospital. An old hospital. One without air conditioning or enough nurses.  To get to the new room I had to wheel my stroller past all these rooms full of old people lying in their pyjamas on hospital beds. It didn't seem very kid-friendly any more. The new room is OK, but I felt sort of uneasy and I think Kieran sort of felt it too.

So yesterday since we were trapped in the house in the middle of yet another rainstorm, I packed up the kids in the car to go the other EYC (the one with all the Filipino nannies and the mommies and their BMW SUVs.) They have also done a remodel. Now, there is Starbucks inside. Not a real Starbucks (which would be far preferable), but a little storefront complete with Starbucks logos, cups and laminated menu cards. I can now go up to a four-year old barista, invariably named Bella,  and order my own pretend Venti Sumatra Decaf Extra Bold No Foam. Shudder. I think I prefer the creepy hospital setting. 

Is maternity leave over yet?

One last note: after dropping off Kieran at daycare today I made a run to the grocery store as we have out-of-town friends coming over. Kaya was in a good mood and was happy as a clam in her carseat as I shopped. Happy, smiley babies always get lots of attention, so I wasn't surprised when an older lady veered out of her way to come over to peer into my cart where I had the carseat resting. I'm all set to start rhyming off the baby particulars (she's 4 months, her name is Kaya, yes she's a pretty good sleeper) when the woman says: "Nice Potatoes!"

"Uh, thanks. They're local..." I sort of stammer and the woman continues on her merry way. 

Sorry Kaya, they WERE nice potatoes.