Nifty Threads

Category Archives: Lifestyle

Looking Forward to Movies

Being the movie manic I am, I’m getting quite excited about the upcoming Annual Portland International Film Festival. Now in its 35th year, there are going to be a ton of different movies to choose from and I’m for sure not planning on missing out!                

It’s set to start in a couple of days’ time and run until February 25th.  Featured films will be from 36 countries and there will be 140 films on show – 93 features and 46 shorts – so there has to be something for everyone.  The trick is, to find something that both Daniel and I will be able to enjoy as a couple; that’s always a bit tough!  But you never know, with all those movies, there must be something!  I’ll keep you posted!  And in the meantime, I’m for sure going to see Breathing (the one that got the Canes Best European Film award).

Is Daniel Guilty?

So listen to this and tell me what you think.  Daniel like never buys me flowers.  He claims that I told him I hate flowers.  Now, it’s true that one time I said I can’t bear the fact that someone buys me flowers and then I have to deal with the whole thing and it becomes a task:  I need to cut the stems, find a vase and then, once they are dead, take them out of smelly, dirty water and wash the vase.  Plus, there are only a few types of flowers I like – for example I hate carnations.

Anyway, I digress. I probably have – since then, when we first got married nearly 7 years ago – complained that he never gets me flowers.  But that hasn’t affected his non-flower-buying behavior.  Until yesterday that is.  All of a sudden, there’s a knock at the door and this gorgeous bunch of large white calla lilies from Sammy’s Flowers arrives.  Now, Sammy’s Flowers is not just any flower store; it’s probably the best one in the whole of Portland.   

And it gets better.  The flowers arrived a gorgeous, simple, glass vase – just my style – so I didn’t have to do anything with them!  Now the test is whether or not Daniel will clear them away once they have died.

But, back to my original issue; I’m still wondering if Daniel is guilty of something.  I mean, why else do  men buy flowers?  Or, more to the point, why else would my husband, all of a sudden, after nearly 7 years of marriage, buy me some flowers when he knows I have all these issues with them?  All I can think of is that perhaps we are approaching the 7-year itch and now I’m paranoid he is hiding something (although you should know I totally trust him).  Watch this space.

Weekend Kids Fun

There were a bunch of family-kid oriented events going on in our neighborhood over the weekend.  I think there was some “family” theme going on.  On Friday night there was a classical concert that Daniel and I were going to go to but then we decided we’d rather spend the evening snuggling by the fireplace having put the kids to bed early.  So on Saturday, we decided to do something as a family, rather than staying under the covers and reading the weekend papers which I always find so tempting.  We went to Westmoreland Park playground where they had a Kidical Mass Ride which Jayden enjoyed a lot.  There was a guided tour too which was fun; we ended up at Oaks Park Roller Rink and I actually skated for the first time in about 25 years!  Ethan thought that was pretty amusing!  I wasn’t that bad, but, truthfully, I wasn’t that good either.

Saturday night we got a babysitter and Daniel and I went to the Hawthorne Hophouse to listen to Bitter Root which was a band I’ve never heard that combines funk, blues, rock and soul.  Not quite my thing but it was fun being out with Daniel without the kids who of course absolutely loved rocking out to the music.

So, that was our weekend.  It was nice.  I had a good time.  It was the perfect balance of resting, being with kids and reconnecting with the hubby.  What could be better? Now there’s just the laundry to get through.

 

Taking Ethan “Swimming”

Since we took Jayden to a friend’s hydrotherapy pool when he was 5-months-old for swim classes (well, actually it was really more like water-appreciation classes), we felt bad we hadn’t done the same for Ethan.  He’s already 15-months and it’s always been a priority for Daniel and me to not treat him like “second best” being a second child.  Problem was however, her pool closed a couple of years back and it is a bit tougher to get to the Children of the Sea Swim School.  Which shouldn’t really be surprising since the friend’s hydrotherapy pool was on our block.

I was certainly glad Daniel did finally make reservations for the class however, since Ethan had such a great time at his first class last night.  We signed up for an initial four classes.  Daniel said it was pretty similar to what Jayden had done – dunking the kids under water; singing with them; putting them on plastic horses, etc.  At first Ethan – perhaps not surprisingly – was a little cautious.  I mean, it’s not as if we could explain to him as we were putting swim diapers on him where he was going or that he was about to be submerged under water for around 5 seconds four times in 20 minutes.  Still, Daniel said that after a while he really got into it.  Since I wasn’t able to go (I did some stuff with Jayden) we didn’t get a photo this time but hopefully at some point we’ll both take both the boys (to actually teach Jayden to swim; right now he thinks he can swim which is the worst scenario) and then we’ll make it a fun family activity.

Anyway the staff at Children of the Sea is really excellent – professional, child-loving, caring and enthusiastic about what they are doing – so we think it’s going to be a great fit for both our boys.

Portland Parking

Not that I’ve exactly ever been the world’s best parallel parker, but I’m not all that bad either.  However, now that there are new laws on parking in my city, I may start “stressing out” as my husband so lovingly and encouragingly puts it.  The new laws are only going to be effective over the weekend though which shouldn’t impact me too much as Daniel usually does the driving then.  I try to avoid getting behind the wheel as much as possible so only drive to work and back and to collect the kids from preschool. 

Still, when I heard about the Friday night-Saturday morning parking ban in the city I wasn’t exactly thrilled. If we want to go out on a Friday night that’s going to put a bit of a damper on things although Daniel says it’s really not such a big deal as he has always been a lucky parker. But if he does take his chances and mis-parks, he could risk being towed at a $135 fee ($70 towing fee, $35 impound fee and $30 ticket).  Parking is now forbidden from 10:00pm Friday until 6:00am Saturday.

But then I was thinking anyway, I usually like to be in bed pretty early – even on the weekends – so we could for sure leave the city after an evening out by 10:00pm.  We usually leave around 10:30pm, so pushing it back half an hour or so wouldn’t exactly spoil our plans (although Daniel always complains at how early we go home as it is). 

Meanwhile, our great city has kindly put out a list of the venues people can park in the city, at no cost.  These include the Hadlock Field parking lot, all of the Portland Public School lots (except Reiche School), Munjoy and Wilson Street parking lots; and more.  Still, like I said, it hopefully won’t affect us too much as Daniel doesn’t stress about parking and this is only over part of the weekend when I rarely drive.

As my wise mother would say, “this should be our biggest problem.”