Monsoon Season Strikes Again....

So, you know how I was talking about all that rain we've been having and the little pitter-patter that I was hearing dripping from the ceiling?? Well that has officially turned into a giant whooshing and gushing sound in our sunroom! We are flooding like crazy and of course it has to hit it's worst point in the middle of the night. Last night Zach got up randomly to check on Aubrey and I casually asked him to check on the buckets in the sunroom because a HUGE amount of rain was forecasted and I did not have a good feeling about it. Sure enough I hear a very panicked "JEN!!!" and go running to find that EVERYTHING was soaked. Now this would be bad normally with random furniture, etc. but the sunroom just happens to be Zach's office....with all his papers.... and the laptop.... and printer.... needless to say he was NOT pleased and a little more than worried at this point. To make a long story, well, long it seems, we were up from 3am until 6 just trying to clean up, set up buckets(which we had to steal from the neighbors.... good thing they're friends) and figure out where to put all the wet stuff and the dry stuff to keep it safe. Not to mention trying to fall back asleep after that.

Best part is, they are forecasting ridiculous amounts of rain again and predicting some of the worst flooding in NJ history.... oh did I mention that the landlord didn't fix anything when he came this morning just cleaned out a drain and called it good........ awesome.

What the office looked like the morning after we did the quick clean out in the middle of the night.

Set up for night.

Aubrey insists on wearing my rain boots!

(isn't she the cutest?!)

Cleaning....ummmm, no thanks.

So I'm sitting here during Aubrey's nap, staring at four laundry(heaping, might I add) baskets of clothes that need folding, dusty...well...everything, floors that need vacuuming/washing and dishes in the sink and I have absolutely ZERO desire to do any of it! Why is it that when you have the most to do you have the least desire to do any of it? I decided that at this moment it was crucial that I do a blog entry even though I have nothing really to write about. Well, that's procrastination at it's finest, isn't it?!

It's raining outside, the kind of rain we normally get on the west coast and our wonderful (please note the sarcasm), generally forgetful, landlord decided that the leaks in our house(five of them in various places) are not something that he needs to come back and fix. So I sit amidst buckets, tupperware and pretty much anything that I can find to catch the drips. Did I mention that we live in a multi-family home and we have the MIDDLE apartment?!? How are there leaks you ask? Well, the place above us is vacant and given the super construction of this home and the quality roof fix(that was apparently "just fixed"), we are getting second hand leaks from the upstairs. I don't even what to know what it looks like up there. They joys of living in a place with "charm";) But to be honest, we shouldn't complain because a lot of other people in this area have homes under water or are with out power.

Zach doing another crazy rotation, commuting to Queens this time and well, that means he's MIA during the week. Just me and the Aub-meist.... it's fun, but draining at the same time. It's hard when Zach gets home at 8, on a good night, and he's tired and not pleased that he hasn't seen her and I'm tired from being at home all day....with no car either! It's just taking some adjusting(we have 6 more weeks of it). Luckily, before this random monsoon season set in, we had some amazing weather. Aubrey and I and our friends downstairs went out for walks and wanderings almost every day. Spring is here and I'm so pleased! This is the time of year when not having a second car doesn't bother me because we live a half hour walk from Montclair center. Did I mention that Montclair has an Anthropologie and an Urban Outfitters?!? Enough said!

I guess that will be all of my ramblings for now. I'll leave you with some shots of my helper that I'm thinking of enlisting after she gets up from her nap.....

Life lately...

So, I'm not going to even talk about how long it's been since I've posted. I'm just going to pretend that I've been keeping up with it and I'm not going to give any excuses(mainly because there aren't any;)).

Life's been moving along in our neck of the woods. We went to Canada for Christmas and Aubrey and I stayed on for two weeks after Zach left and I'm pretty sure that might have almost killed him! He and Aubrey are so close these days and that time apart was hard on both of them(and me too!). So I'm not sure if we can do a long stint apart like that again.

Zach just got back from a week in Grenada. He went because he and a few other guys won a research competition with the school and they got to go down during the faculty meetings and present their papers....all expenses paid! Not too shabby. I do actually wish that I could have gone(*gasp*!!! Who knew I'd want to go back already?? Not me), I'm ready for warmer weather(not to live in forever, but in a vacation situation) and would have loved the time with him. This winter has just seemed so long and I miss my perma-tan!

Aubrey is doing great these days, growing like crazy and slowly getting some hair;) She's talking a mile a minute and it's actually making sense. She's saying unassisted please and thank you's and it just warms my heart! She's on a kick where she is praying for everyone and everything and it is so cute. She shuts her eyes really tight, folds her hands and says, for example, "Pray, Dada, work, amen."! So cute, but most of the time her prayers consist of Barney, Calliou, Elmo and going on walks.... you know, the really important things in life! They always start with "pray" and end in "amen". She loves going for walks, playing with her dolls, and reading-mainly her Curious George books. She's become quite the ham and loves to make Zach and I laugh. She's just a great little kid who is so easy going(perfect for me when Zach is gone for a week!).

Well, here are some pictures from the last few months....

Aubrey and Asher were inseparable while we were in Canada!

Helping Grammie(as she calls her now) in the kitchen.

Playing with uncle Gord.

Astrid and I finally convinced my parents to go out for breakfast!

Kliewer family at my parents 40th wedding dinner! (Zach and Noah are missing in the picture...well Noah's feet are between mine and Taylor's, but that's a long story!)

All the grandkids together for Christmas!

14 in all(so far)!

Astrid and I went to Vancouver for a night with Aniya!

(left Aubrey with Grammie and Jacob and Asher with Oma and Opa)

Back in NJ and playing in the snow after a massive blizzard.

Just a cute shot!

Splashing in puddles while out on a walk with Dada

We had a warm day on Monday and decided to go for a walk. We didn't even have to bring our parkas!

Trying to carry a stick bigger than she is:)

Too much of a good thing...

In my opinion, it's quite possibly the best time of year right now. Being here on the east coast it just becomes more and more clear every year! There is something about having Thanksgiving in the heart of fall and all the hype here in the states, it just can't be beat. Being a Canadian, we celebrated Thanksgiving in October and it just isn't the same. We had all the turkey, stuffing and festivities, but it always felt like something was missing. Now we had the perfect Thanksgiving setting and we are missing the family aspect. I guess you can't have it all;) But this year we can, Tom and Marcy are joining us for ten days and arrive the day before Thanksgiving and now we have the family to celebrate with, perfect! I'm in such a Fall mood these days, pretty sure our house looks as though Fall threw up on it, just the way we like it! But we are also starting to get into Christmas. Now our only problem is trying to transcend to Christmas(the best holiday of all!!!) when we are heading to Canada for it. We've already started listening to Christmas music(restraining ourselves and waiting until November 1st) and watched our official Christmas Kickoff movie, Elf! I guess it'll just be a case of having the Christmas tree up with all the fall decor, worked last year I guess. Who ever said to much of a good thing was bad?! I am (apparently) all for it!

5 am...

The new time I will be getting up for the next four weeks. Why, you might ask, am I this crazy? Well, it was not my doing, I can tell you that much. Zach is doing a general surgery rotation in Manhattan and he was planning to drive in. Well, yesterday, after the 45 dollar parking charge(yes you read correctly, 45!!) that he was supposed to be able to get validated, we decided that was just a little on the stupid side... okay, a lot on the stupid side. So after a long hard look into all the options, or should I say lack there of, we were left with just one; Aubrey and I getting up and driving him. No trains run at that hour and the option of taking a bus would have him leaving home at 3am... and I'd have to drive him to the bus station!

The drive is not so bad, 30 minutes max one way(no traffic at that time!), but stressful still. A lot of random turns to be made while battling taxis(why they have so many out then is beyond me) and the ever loved Lincoln Tunnel(why is it so narrow??). At least this way I've done something on my list of 'random things to accomplish'--drive in Manhattan:)

Garage Saling.....

.... I just hear the words and smile. I blame this on my friend Lisa; it's her fault that I am the way I am. Around this time last year she started showing up at home(they live in the apartment below us) with car loads of treasures and it got me curious. Where did she find all these wonderful things?... beautiful chests, dressers, frames, mirrors...? How could she afford it(students, like us)? And that's when she told me two words that will forever change the way I think about a saturday morning: "garage sales". How could a person not fall in love with a type of shopping that could get you a beautiful armoire for $30?? A cute teapot for two bucks, books for 50 cents, a kitchen for Aubrey for $3... yes, you read correctly, $3!!! The Menno in me shouts "hurray!" at theses prices! And so does our budget. Now Lisa, she's in a league of her own, you see, she's been doing this for years and has also found a way to turn a profit, a real pro. Me, I'm just in it for a good deal, a bargain... a morning to myself with a coffee and a twenty in my pocket. Sometimes I find nothing, but then there are times when you find a jackpot, like the little side table that I got yesterday morning for a fiver! But the point is, you never know what you are going to stumble across and all these things add up to an interestingly furnished apartment, garage-sale chic ;), and a very happy me!

Another update post...

Well, here I am, blogging once again and feeling quite guilty for the lack of blogging that I've been doing... again. It always seems to be the same story, blog for a few days, fall behind, feel guilty, and repeat. When I do remember, it feels as though it's going to be too big of an undertaking to start up again. So the circle continues! Well, here's my attempt at getting back into it again. We'll see how it lasts, I'm not making any promises:)
Our summer has been jam packed. Aubrey's grown, we travelled to Canada for five weeks, Zach wrote another board exam... pretty much the same thing we do every year, the exception being Aubrey of course! She is keeping me busy as ever and on my toes. She loves to get into things and chat's my ear off every day(although I have no clue what she'd saying). She's become such an outgoing kid, she's constantly waving and saying hi to other people, especially the elderly. She has a way with old people, it's just too cute. It's as though she knows that they love it when little ones talk to them, clever kid!
Our trip home was great. Time spent with family and friends was awesome, but the only down side was not being to see everyone as much as we'd have liked. Five weeks sounds like a long time, but it flies by. Aubrey really got to know her Oma, Opa and Grandma and she's head over heels for all of them and was in her glory when she was with them! She spent a lot of time with her cousins and she got so used to having someone to play with, these last few weeks at home have been kinda rough in that aspect. I need to get her out more and that's when my tendency to be a homebody is not going to cut it!

This summer we also got to attend our friends Sean and Kristin's wedding in Alexandria Bay NY and it was amazing! The ceremony was in one of the most beautiful locations, the St. Lawrence River, and now we've been ruined for all weddings in the future:)

This fall is shaping up to be quite a busy one, we have three sets(plus possibly one more couple) of guests coming to visit and it's going to crazy, but great! The great thing about people coming to visit(other then actually getting to see people) is that we get to see more of the beautiful area that we live in, not just the daily stuff. Fall and Winter are mine and Zach's favorite times of the year(Grenada ruined summer for us!) and the East Coast is, hands down, the best place to be during those seasons. So lots of trips in to The City and many day trips are in our future. One in particular is a weekend in October where Zach, Aubrey and I are heading to Philadelphia because Zach's writing yet another board exam(actually, it's more of an oral exam) and we've never been there, so we decided to make a weekend of it. It will be a well deserved break for us all because Zach's starting a four week long General Surgery(translation--awful hours) rotation, in Manhattan at Lennox Hill Hospital, this coming tuesday. Good times all around... sure, right. After this rotation he has a few slacker ones so that will be a nice change. And now for some pictures!

Having a picnic with Grandma in Harrison.

One of many shoulder rides with Oma.

Random cute shot!

One of my favorite shot ever with Opa. If you know my dad even a little bit you know it is next to impossible to get him smiling in a picture!

Aubrey with Auntie Marcy on the day of her Nursing Graduation. We went to White Rock after the ceremony!

Sean and Kristin on their wedding day!

Father's Day

Aubrey with one of her favorite people, uncle Dennis.

Another Oma shot:)

The view from Sean and Kristin's reception(blogger's being weird and I can't figure out how to move this picture up by the other wedding shot).