Springing along

The Nanking cherry blossoms in our yard are making a gorgeous display here! Here's a close up that the professor took. Everything is "greening up" nicely and we are having some gorgeous sunny weather after a week of clouds and rain.

Normally a little spring rain is "good for the flowers" but we have very serious flooding in our province right now. This happened because of a combination of factors--a lot of precipitation in the fall and winter, for one thing. However, so far, here in Winnipeg, we have very high water in both rivers but are doing fine with the help of some sandbags here in there. In other parts of the province, folks aren't so lucky. (over 3,000 people evacuated so far)

I mention this because some of those close to us read our local news on occasion and it does sound like Armageddon if you read or listen to the news. To reassure you, we are pretty darn sure we can still cross the bridges necessary to get to a hospital in time. :)

I am now at 36.5 weeks pregnant and doing a lot of resting. The doctor has indicated that it could be "any time now" and that most women with twins who give birth to healthy babies at this point do not have to worry about prematurity issues too much...usually they can go home from the hospital with the babies at the same time. That is good news!

However, the fetuses inside me seem perfectly comfortable (I am not!) so I am being patient for now.

The other big news of the week is that for now, our big fix-it projects in the house seem to be complete. The professor put on a last coat of paint on a wall on the 3rd floor last weekend--and we think that is the end of the ice dam/roofing/insulation mess that started in January. (Finally complete!)

The other big fix-it was our front door lock. You see, one of the charming parts of having old house is that sometimes, everything in it is, well, OLD. Our front door lock was roughly as old as our house. Just shy of 100 years old. Last year, we had a problem where the temperature shifted abruptly from very cold temperatures to warmer ones--and the lock wouldn't work. We found the locksmith in town who could help. They came out, reconditioned our old lock, and put it back together for us. It worked again.

The fix came with a warning...this lock lasted a good long time. Don't expect it to last forever.

This winter, we had the same problem and the professor suggested I just wait for spring and it would work again...who needs two exits from a house? (Uhh, our house is wood...in case of fire? I do.) The difference? I was now pregnant with twins and trying to imagine getting out of this house with my lumbering pace, only one dependably working door lock and two dogs in a dangerous situation worried me.

We again called the locksmith. This time, they did a temporary fix and recommended getting a replacement lock. We ordered one from the USA and discovered when it arrived that every measurement would fit in our (original) door but one crucial measurement. Since replacing the door as well didn't sound good, we decided to return the lock.

Guess what got damaged in the post? $400 plus dollars later, we're waiting for that claim to be settled. In the meanwhile, the locksmith helped us find a perfect solution, and the new (but old looking) lock was installed on Friday. It looks beautiful. This is the photo of the new lock so you can see it too!

Should I mention that everyone has admired the old lock? It had been repaired at one point and it was a beautiful welding job. It was worn, but it served us very well. It has been hard to part with that old lock.

How long did that repair project take? Well, I think I last wrote about it in March...about two months total, perhaps.

We're hoping that in the next few weeks, the only thing likely to shift, change, fall apart or re-structure itself might be me! We'll keep you updated on the baby front as best we can.

Thanks for all the lovely emails and check-ins--I'm mostly resting (and eating) these days. We'll tell you when something changes!