Ottawa’s weather decided to throw us all a bone and give us a full day without clouds or rain.  A.maz.ing.  It also gave me a good excuse to crack out my new sunscreen - Baby Aveeno SPF 55.  (Why baby?  It was on sale and it said it didn’t have any scent - true!)  This stuff really works.  My beak stayed burn free from the time we stepped out back to BBQ our lunch and see the Snowbirds fly overhead, to our lazy lounging on the front porch eating watermelon,  to the trek for gelato in the afternoon on Preston Street.  Awesome.

We baked up an Aussie meat pie from the Harvest loaf for dinner, spent more time relaxing with our feet up (and hello, why do Coronation Street’s storylines suck so badly right now??) and then trotted to the park on Somerset to watch the fireworks.

The baby seems to be enjoying making me look as large and awkward as possible - shifting to one side and bulging out.. then shifting to the other side.    Thanks, kid.   And you know how some people look like they’re hiding a basketball under their top and it’s all cute and petite?  Not so here, I look like I’m proofing dough - lumpy dough.  Again, thanks kid!

Bus victory this morning - got offered a seat and I took it!

Now, if I could only go back in time to yesterday during our severe thunderstorm when I was walking home and got so freaked out by a *huge* clap of thunder that I was inches away from doing “stop, drop and roll”. It was loud!

Dear 8 people sitting directly underneath the new “Please give up your seat” advertisement in the priority seating area of the #40 bus this morning,

7 months pregnant = give up your seat.

I was even wearing my ridiculously clown-like maternity top that gives me the proportions of a pumpkin with legs.

Seriously.  Next time I’m going to sit on you.  And I’m gaining weight rapidly these days.  Look out.

Is there any store downtown that sells stuffing?  (For stuffed toys… not the Stove Top variety.)  Help!

Bus route #8 from Gatineau on Friday afternoon.  I happily sat in an empty spot in the “priority seating” section - sure it was next to an old dude who reeked of beer, but hey, I got a seat in the special area!  Special!  The bus makes a stop at Les Terraces and I see a blind woman boarding the bus.  There are no seats left in the “priority” area and no one is making any movements to give her a seat.  Luckily, there were seats at the rear of the bus, so I moved to the back.  No big deal.  But I mentally fumed about how rude and oblivious some people can be for the rest of the ride.

40 degrees with the humidity tomorrow?  Where is the nearest mumu store?

What would our kitchen look like if we removed some of the cupboard doors like these examples from Apartment Therapy?

Oh yeah, our mugs and water glasses aren’t all matchy-matchy. Hmm.. maybe it’s time for a trip to Ikea.  Then again, do I really want to give up using my Switzerland or McGill mug for the sake of matchy-matchy open cupboards?

Deep thoughts.

Some random observations from the first week in June:

• At 26 weeks pregnant I have been offered a seat on the bus 2 out of the last 5 working days. I’m pretty round.
• Buy your cloth diapers as soon as they arrive in the store. Do not hesitate or you will be left with the fugly colours to choose from. Seems to be a lot of demand here in Ottawa.
• Plant more cat grass so the cat doesn’t get withdrawal.
• Still managing to pass people on the walk home. Woot!
• Enjoying these tips for city gardening.  Last year I made weekly trips to the hardware store for soil and used bungee cords to strap them to my bike.  Luckily, I had enough left over for this year.  PHEW.

I should apologize for the lack of posts - and I’m shocked to look at my stats and see that people seem to keep visiting.  So, here’s the rundown of the last six months in bullet format:

• January:  found out we were pregnant!  whee!
• February / March: ate a lot of smoothies, slept a lot, felt all around ooky and green, switched jobs
• April: Baby crafting in high gear - learned to knit during the ‘ooky’ months.  No longer cringe at the sight of food magazines or blogs.  Start house hunting.
• May: Still house hunting.  Do not want to buy a car.  Aiming to be ‘eco-parents‘.
• June: Hello, where did the spring go to?  And for that matter, goodbye waist!

I’ve been giving some thought to blogging again here - maybe about trying to live in Ottawa with a baby and no car.  I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I say we don’t want to own a car.  I’m curious to see if we can manage.

1. Where could someone find chestnuts in Ottawa?  The closer to Centretown the better.
2. Can I get over the fact that chestnuts look like mini brains?