Just a quick post from my phone. We arrived yesterday and love, love, love it so far. The weather has been great, we have walked miles exploring and end our days looking out the window at the stunning view. The sun does not set until 10:00pm so it is a treat.
I will write more soon but just wanted to update the blog!
Interesting Vancouver tidbit: the metro runs on an honor system so no one checks your ticket!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Where's the table, mommy?
The movers are taking it to Canada, sweetie.
This picture was taken this morning. My cousin took our patio table for her new house, so we had one day with no table. Julian noticed pretty quickly. He is a creature of habit though because he plopped himself down right where the table was. That was when I found myself feeding my son yogurt in a tin tray on the floor...LOL
It is now the night prior to our flight. We have seven check-in items (OnePass Gold Status saves us again!) and three carry-ons. It amazes me to think about how many of our parents came to this country with absolutely nothing and practically no money. I always think about that during our tough times the past few weeks, which isn't even tough if you think about how we had 3 men pack up our house and how my husband's company paid for the move. I'm definitely more excited than nervous or sad right now...I think it'll hit me later though.
We got an update today that we will probably clear our stuff through customs Friday or Monday and then our goods will be delivered within 24-48 hours. That means, one more week of living on the floor. Stay tuned as I won't have internet until after that!!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Our Life the Past 2 Weeks
The past couple weeks have been tough. Living off take out/fast food and 2 Aerobeds and a Playpen as furniture - not fun. These are some of the highlights from our life the past couple weeks, as we prepare to leave the country.
We had the following conversation maybe 10 times:
Coleen: Do we really need this? Should I pack it?
Melvin: Yes
Coleen: But we haven't used it since we got it. I forgot we even had it.
Melvin: I know, but we might need it
Coleen: I'm not packing it
Melvin: Okay
We had the following conversation maybe 20 times:
Melvin: What do you want to eat?
Coleen: I don't know, what do you want?
Melvin: I don't care
Coleen: Neither do I, just pick something
(mind you, delivery in the suburbs consists of chinese or pizza)
Questions from Julian:
Where's my stool?
Where's my bed?
Where's my bed?
Where's my train table?
Me on the phone with Dry Ice, Corp:
Coleen: Hi, do I need to reserve some dry ice to be picked up?
Man: No, we don't reserve, but what is it for?
Coleen: I have to check-in my breast milk on a flight out to Vancouver
Man: Well, how much do you need?
Coleen: Well, I don't know, I have about 50 ounces in bags. (awkward)
Man: Are you sure the airlines will take it? We sell a minimum of 10lbs
Coleen: Yes, I've confirmed about 3 times already
Man: Well, sometimes we have it in stock, sometimes we don't
Coleen: Well, I really need it or my supply will be ruined (sweat is running down my forehead)
Man: Well, come by tomorrow, you should be fine
Coleen: Okay, thank you (UGH, they better have it!!)
Here's another one:
Melvin: How am I going to work without my desk and our kitchen table?
Coleen: Let's pull in the patio furniture!
Coleen: Let's pull in the patio furniture!
Melvin: Good idea!
All of us, including Julian, everyday after we pulled it in: DAMN ANTS!!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Good Timing
Ran into this article today: Canada's economy is suddenly the envy of the world
Go Melvin and Go HSBC! LOL
On another note, Father's Day was fun...Julian and I took Melvin to the Subway Series and checked out the new Yankees Stadium. Garlic fries and cold taro bubble tea were "my" highlights - Mets lost 4-0 and Julian had a meltdown before bedtime because he was overtired from missing his nap. Fun day with friends and Papi though!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
New Vocabulary
In addition to Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Julian has added a new song to his repertoire....Birthday Sex.
Birthday Sex by Jeremih
Hmm, next time we'll have to change the radio station quicker! Our trip to the store was quite comical with Julian singing this song at the top of his lungs.
Birthday Sex by Jeremih
Hmm, next time we'll have to change the radio station quicker! Our trip to the store was quite comical with Julian singing this song at the top of his lungs.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Rants & Raves about Moving...
Three men showed up at our doorstep on Friday, June 11th with a huge moving truck at 7:45 a.m. Mind you, the time window they gave us was 8:00-10:00a.m. so needless to say, we were not ready for them! Julian was the only one that was excited to see this truck so early in the morning
Even though these three guys were doing the packing, lifting and moving for us, it did not "seem" easier. We still had to set aside items for a family of four (including 2 young kids) to live off of for two weeks. That means, I had to remember to set aside the following and then some: breast pump (check), bottles (check), butt paste (check), pack n play (check), fluoride vitamins (check)....Gosh, life was so much easier when it was just Melvin and I.
He packed up our entire kitchen all by himself...impressive.
Amidst the morning madness, our sweet Amélie fell asleep in her pack n play. I made sure to put a post-it note indicating "do not pack" on the pack n play, don't worry. Soon afterward, the kids and I escaped to my friend's house for the day as I couldn't take the madness any longer. It was a good thing too because they did not roll down the street until 9 hours later.
Now we face the challenge of living with limited clothes and shoes, no furniture, pots/pans, etc for the next 2 weeks. I'll let you know how it goes!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
We (heart) NY
Today we were in the city and I was saddened by the fact we have not taken the kids to NYC's major landmarks yet. We're just going to be too busy to do so before we leave and I feel we're not savoring this wonderful city that we often take for granted.
It'll always be the best city in the world, in our eyes....
Melvin said we can just show them the sights when we visit. Well, that's just what I was afraid of...I don't want them to feel like foreigners. Melvin responded by saying he'll just show them their birth certificates, so they can remember where they are really from.
A little list of things we'd like to do with them during our many returns.
1) Empire State Building
2) Central Park (Amélie)
3) Statue of Liberty
4) Citi Field & Yankee Stadium (Julian will be going here on 06/18/2010, but we'll have to return with Amélie)
6) Bronx Zoo (Amélie)
7) Christmas Spectacular at Radio City (gulp, mommy doesn't know about doing this again!)
8) Blue Ribbon Bakery (mommy's fave restaurant)
9) Pizza Shop on Dyckman Street (papi's fave)
10) Tram to Roosevelt Island
11) Rockefeller Center during Christmas Season (Amélie)
12) Dim Sum in Chinatown and a visit to Nha Trang (mommy's fave Viet restaurant down there)
13) Coney Island
14) Chelsea Piers, for fun stuff and to show them where our wedding reception was
15) Museum of Natural History (Amélie)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Movers are coming tomorrow!!
Moving is hard....especially with two kids.
That's all I have to say about that.
That's all I have to say about that.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Skype Mobile
Download Skype Mobile onto your phones (http://www.skype.com)...Select Verizon Wireless phones now have access to Skype Mobile and you can speak to other Skype users for FREE anywhere in the world!
- Motorola DROID
- Motorola Devour
- HTC Droid Eris
- Blackberry Storm
- Blackberry Storm 2
- Blackberry Curve 8330, 8530, 8830 World Edition
- Tour 9630
Friday, June 4, 2010
Nursery University
www.nurseryuniversitythemovie.com
Early last year, my husband and I watched this very interesting documentary called Nursery University, which is based in Manhattan and discusses the competition of city children applying and getting into (or not) a decent (or any) pre-school. This referenced children about 3 years in age. After the movie, our reaction was both the same - "that is absurd". Last night, I found myself in a very "crazy mother" state, similar to the parents in that movie. As we are prepping for our move, the next question on our minds is where will Julian go to school. Well, guess what? Seems Vancouver is very similar to Manhattan and every pre-school that exists has a wait list of about 400 kids or more for this September. I came across articles that there is a shortage of daycare and preschool programs in the city....wonderful!!
He currently goes to a daycare/pre-school and is in such a structured environment five days a week that I didn't want to take that structure away from him. However, the question remains...does he really need all that at the age of 2? Very long story short, we found a couple spots at Montessori schools, but decided against it.
At the end of the day, myself and my husband both did not go to pre-school at age 2 and neither did a lot of our friends. I did a pre- program at age 4 but again, he's only 2, so why am I acting so crazy? We came out alright, didn't we?
I got some very sound advice last night from a dear friend: "We are their first and best teachers."
Tell me, did you go to pre-school as a toddler?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Second Beach
How cool is this picture? This is a public pool 5 minutes from our new apartment, located within Stanley Park. I'm so jealous my husband is on the way to the airport to Vancouver now leaving me with the kiddies (no offense Julian & Amélie, but mommy needs a break...and some sleep). He'll be there for a couple days "setting up" our new place, picking up the keys, opening a bank account, and running a bunch of other errands I've listed out for him :)
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