A New Challenge!

Posted by Ian On June 5, 2009

I'm pleased to announce that I have started my own little company - mare ad mare, which is latin for 'sea to sea' and part of the Canadian motto (check the cover of your new passports). Our goal will be to build a fresh new brand of clothing for Canadian (and wannabe Canadian) girls. I will be using this blog, much as I have in the past - to continue showing people around the globe (over 50 countries now!) what it's like to be a Canadian girl, tracing the footsteps of our 3 girls as we explore more of this great place we call home.

Un petit baiser

Unique shirt for Canadian girls

'Gimme a little kiss' - says it all. Now for big girls! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

JUMP IN!

Fall shirt for Canadian girls

A big pile of leaves for you here! As a Canadian summer turns to fall, the leaves change colours and then fall off the trees. Kids rake them up and play! So go on, Jump into Fall with this Orange T. Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Pass the Marshmallows!

Summer shirt for Canadian Girls

Summer in Canada is the time for camping, camp fires and of course - Marshmallows! Get ready to go roast some in this summer yellow T. Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Spring...Finally!

Spring shirt for Canadian Girls

After a long Canadian winter, spring can never arrive too soon! Pull on this Spring Green T and go planting girls! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

It's not ALWAYS cold in Canada...

Winter shirt for Canadian Girls

How many times have you had to tell someone that it's not always cold here? Well, sometimes it is cold - but to make your point, grab this little winter blue T and let them know that it's not just snow and ice up here all the time! Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Un petit baiser

Unique shirt for Canadian girls

'Gimme a little kiss' - says it all. Girls, grab this little white T, and go get your kiss ;-) Check www.mareadmare.ca for more details. All designs copyright of mare ad mare.

Showing posts with label Basement Rec Room. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basement Rec Room. Show all posts
Another report from the front lines of being a Dance Dad...
The girls had a dance competition last weekend, actually - the weekend before last...(i'm REALLY behind!) right here in Ottawa with CANDANCE, and did amazing!
When we first arrived, we had heard some of the scores the ELITE dancers were getting and it seemed we were in for a rough weekend...but it turned out pretty good for Meghan and Emma.

Emma's first competition!
This was Emma's first competition, and was really excited to be going up with her Tap and Jazz group routines.  She was the one that got to scream out the 'Ready...And!' to get the rest of her team set to go, and off again.  They did really great, bringing home gold awards (btw - it goes bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond) and first place in both, and Emma brought it!  Sorry, no pics... or vid... but she had the biggest smile on, and had sooooooo much energy in both routines.  So much so, that following the competition, the Studio director offered her the chance to do her own solo at the next competition - which is only a month away - 99% of the time, they start learning the routing in September and have MONTHS to practice...  She was very happy, and really excited.  She's had one lesson now on the routine , and has been practicing daily.  She loves it so much.

Diamond Meghan
Meghan had a great weekend too, racking up platinums and firsts in all of her group items and a few diamonds in the large group routines too.  The big one for her this weekend, was her Novice Jazz solo.  She was the ONLY ONE in the Sunday morning session to get a diamond award!  Later at the overall awards, we were half-expecting her to get an overall award for her routine, only to find out that  a 17 year guy had a diamond routine later that afternoon...and he won the overall.  Rigged.  ;-)

Overall - a great weekend for the girls.

After the dust cleared...
Not the dance dust, the basement.  I'm finally making some progress.  Had my dad down for the week to help put up drywall.  It wasn't exactly smooth - I'm no pro with framing, wiring etc... so found a few things that I won't do next time!  Basements are a pain, in that nothing is square.
Different heights, walls are rounded, pipes and ducts everywhere - makes it challenging.  But the drywall is 90% done, and I'm actually taking a breaking from the sanding to write - too much dust, can't see or breathe!
Through the magic of me not publishing until I get some new vid ready - here is where I'm at:



Tonight I'm going to head over to a friends to tell him not to do what I did, as he starts work on his basement...  Seems in our 20's, we helped each other move every year or two - now we help each other drywall.

There better be beer there...

Puppy vs Salami
One last thing, found another clip I had made awhile ago with our cocker spaniel.  I like to - let's say - challenge her at times.  No cruelty, just for my own amusement ;-)
You'll see...



I need to finish the basement rec room!

After my company graciously provided me with more free time, I got right on it - cleaned it up (which is no small feat with kids stuff everywhere) and got a plan of action drawn up. Put blue tape on the floor to mark where the walls were going to be, so that I could get the go ahead on the project... From there, I ripped off all the old insulation, bought up a bunch of wood, wire and electrical goodies and really went at it.

But now I'm stalled.
I've got all (well, almost all...) the walls done, the insulation is in, it's wired up with outlets, lights (or at least crap lights to get the feel and the wiring done), light switches...etc so moving along pretty good. Take a look.



I shot most of that video over a month ago. I did finish up the lights after that, but it's pretty much the same. If you watched it to the end, you'll know why I'm stalled...

So what's the problem?
Drywall. I really don't like doing drywall... First, I don't have a truck to get it here, so I'll have to get delivery. Then it's a pain hauling the sheets down to the basement - drywall isn't light, and we've got a bad stairway setup that doesn't help. Then there's putting it up - it's not a one man job. So I'll have to bribe someone to help. (anyone?) And then there's the mudding, taping, sanding... lather, rinse, repeat.
Really - it's just one big mental barrier.

Time to get back to it...
I told myself that if I write about where I'm at, it will give me the motivation to get back at it and finish the thing so we can actually enjoy it!
I'll let you know if it does.

Lil Helper
btw - i've had a little helper for some of the work. Emma really enjoys doing things, whether its baking with mom, washing cars, whatever - maybe she just liks to hang out with mom and dad while they're doing things, which is great. Anyways, I have a few outtakes of her helping me on the basement.




    About Me

    My photo
    It's not about the money you make, the toys you have, the clothes you wear - it's about the life experiences you go through, the challenges you face and the stories you tell... Having just moved back to Canada (after almost 8 years in the U.S and Germany), we have lots to show our girls and our friends around the world about Canada. We're going to be telling our stories, hope you enjoy our adventures. Mare ad Mare means 'sea to sea' and we want to show the world, from Sea to Sea - this is what it's like to be a Canadian Girl!