Sean and Megan's Blog

Long time no bloggy

2007-11-28T22:45:00.001-06:00

It was brought to our attention that we haven't updated our blog in a long time. I actually forgot about it and Sean has started up his political blog again, so we've neglected this one. This is my attempt at reviving this thing so that you, our loyal readers (are there any out there?), can read about the daily excitement of our lives.

Sean is in the final stretch of school. He should be finished around the beginning of January and enter the workforce. He has accepted a job with his advisor, working at the university again, and will be working on an industry partnership project. After 9 years of university, it will feel good to be working instead of doing school stuff.

It's now 3 months into the school year and I'm busy getting to know my new students and staff members. The Grade 7/8 Arts Ed and Keyboarding courses that I was so petrified about over the summer have turned out to be a lot of fun. I still find it odd that I don't have to guide them through absolutely everything like I did with my kindies last year. Whaddayamean, the 7/8s don't like Robert Munsch?? And they can occupy themselves for 10 minutes without my assistance?!

The weekday evenings are generally pretty busy. Sean and I have started taking music lessons on Monday nights. Sean is formally learning how to play the guitar and I've picked up piano lessons again. This teacher is different from my previous ones; she is very particular about my technique and analyzes a song in incredible detail in order to play it perfectly. I originally just wanted to get back into it for fun but I'm enjoying the challenge it brings. I've gone back to grade 6 songs in order to practice the technique, then I will tackle grade 8 and 9.

Tuesday nights involve a fiesty curling game with Chad and Nicole. We're curling at the Nutana in an open league, which seems to be more of a superleague some nights. This is Sean's first year curling and I'm somewhat peeved since his skills are going to surpass mine soon. I'm enjoying doing this "couple" activity.

I've also joined the NDP Wanuskewin executive with Sean. I figure I might as well join since we have the meetings at our house anyway. Sean does much more with the executive than I do.

The Saskatchewan Down Syndrome Society was looking for people to join their executive and education committee, so I decided to join them as well. I have two, soon to be three, students with Down Syndrome and I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot about DS and how to teach these kids. We're organizing a conference for April that will focus on communication. Our keynote will present a reading program that works well for kids with DS, and we will also have a couple of SLPs talk about speech, language and oral-motor skill development within the regular classroom. I'd also like to find someone who could present on sign language.

The last thing I've joined recently is a book club with two other colleagues. We're reading the book "Trauma Through a Child's Eyes", by Peter Levine. It's an interesting read, though it makes me realize how easily a child can be traumatized and how much of a responsibility parenting is. The book applies to adults too, so people who don't work with kids may find it a good book too. I highly recommend it!

So all in all, life is busy and fulfilling. I promise that I will TRY to maintain this every once in a while, so stay tuned!

Ya, ya, we have been bad bloggers!

2007-09-18T09:36:00.000-06:00

Has it been three weeks already?

Okay a quick run down of our developments since last we posted:

1. Megan and I are teaming up with cousin Nicole and fiance Chad starting October 2nd to curl in the Tuesday evening 840pm Open Curling League at the Nutana Curling Club. Every Tuesday night from now until March will be spent throwing rocks down a cold sheet of ice.

2. Last night Megan and I started (well Meg started weeks ago) are respective weekly guitar and piano lessons at Long and McQuade's Education Centre.

3. We finally received our final piece (for now) of furuniture from Leon's. We are the proud owners of a new TV Credenza....

4. Megan is busy, busy, busy with her new job, though stressful at times as proven to be a great step up from her last position in Invermay.

5. Just today I accepted a job offer for big $$$$ and believe it or not I have decided not to enter the world of mining consulting, instead I will be staying in academia as a Research Associate for at least the next two years. The good news is we will remain here in Saskatoon for the foreseeable future.

6. House buying plans have been discussed, however, we are currently leaning to waiting things out for 6-12 months to get our money in order and figure out a game plan. I am voting for a place in one of Saskatoon's core neighbourhoods as I don't want to contribute to the horrible and ill-planned urban sprawl currently griping this city.

Someone has to go back to work this week

2007-08-27T09:13:00.000-06:00

Megan is officially back at work today, though the kids don't arrive until Thursday. I am still spending 8 hours a day in front of my computer screen trying to write paper #2 (Paper #1 was submitted last week, horah!).

This past weekend was our first low-key (i.e. no plans, no shopping for apartment stuff) since getting back from the BC honeymoon three weeks ago, and it was great.

We have finished the Thank-you cards from the wedding and shower, they are right beside me hear at work, and will be off in the mail pronto. However, there are still a few that we have not figured out addresses for.

We are currently plotting how to knock-off our next door neighbours dog who seems to think it is kosher to bark at everything that walks, runs or blows down the street. We are happily accepting ideas.......

True story: Megan and I were sitting down to dinner with Tyler this week and telling him how we had the Civic advertised for 2 weeks in the paper and not a single person had called about it when the phone rang. It was someone asking about the Civic they saw in the paper, but we told her we were no longer selling.....sigh....oh well.

Things you do while NOT writing your paper

2007-08-21T09:43:00.000-06:00

1. Search for new music from your favourite bands:
Nothing to report but here are a few albums currently in high-Sean-tation:
Ryan Adams - Love is Hell Pt. I & II
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Lucinda Williams - Live at the Fillmore
Matthew Good - Hospital Music
The National - Boxer

2. Search for new books from your favourite authors:

Douglas Coupland - The Gum Thief (Sept 25, 2007)******
Anne Michaels - The Winter Vault*****

(* - denotes level of "Yeah" for each item, on a 5 "Yeah" rating)

3. Search for new movies to download:

Everything's Gone Green (written by Douglas Coupland****
Fracture
Zodiac
Mr. Brooks
The Lookout

4. Search for new TV series seasons to download:

Weeds
Californication
Big Love
The Tudors
Rescue Me
Six Feet Under

Oh yeah, on the Meg and Sean side of things:

1. Meg and I started writing out our mountain of thank you cards last night....coming to a mailbox near you soon.

2. We have purchased the following items since the last blog post:

Coffee Table
TV Stand
Micro DVD Entertainment centre (DVD, CD, MP3, etc...)
Queen Size Bed
Steak knifes
Travel mugs
Sheets
Comforter

Just the bedroom remains in a state of student-furniture.

3. We are not selling the Honda anymore, instead we will buy winter tires and see how things go this year.

4. Sean was in Vancouver last week for a 3rd interview with a local consulting firm....fingers crossed everyone.

Wedding and Honeymoon Pictures coming!

2007-08-08T15:52:00.000-06:00

Just in the process of re-vamping the wedding blog into the new Sean and Megan Shaw blog. You will notice the Flickr photo-montage on the sidebar, in the near future this will direct you to our archive of wedding and honeymoon photos...

So give us some time and you won't be dissapointed!

Thank You Everyone from Team Shaw!!!!!!

2007-07-23T07:18:00.001-06:00

The wedding was amazing, perfect weather, perfect guests, perfect dinner and a perfect party for the rest of the evening.

Thank you to everyone who attend, sent their regards and shared in making it a perfect day for the both of us.

The generosity of your support and gifts was overwhelming and I doubt we could ever thank you enough.

We are headed off for a two week honeymoon tomorrow morning, so pictures of the wedding will probably not make it up for your viewing pleasure until mid-August. However, we will put something together ASAP!

If you have pictures/video that you would like to share with us, give us an email or a phone call, we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you a thousand times over and we will see you all when we get back from B.C.

TEAM SHAW

Problem Solved

2007-07-14T14:35:00.001-06:00

Tables and chairs have been found.

A big thanks to Rick Macauley of Whitefox, the same person/place we are getting our toilets and tent from.

8 days left

2007-07-13T16:37:00.000-06:00

Okay, so it seems we are really getting married....mmmmm...and things are pretty much in place:

Food
favours
guest list
dinner schedule
tent
toilets
decorations
in-case-of-rain contingency plan

Though there are still a few things to sort out, not the least is the latest development of not enough tables and chairs (everyone, bring your lawn chair just in case!):

Booze (still have to buy)
people to staff the booze table (we will be calling soon!)
tables and chairs
designated drivers
getting Meg's car ready for my family to use

We really can't thank Meg's mom, Aunt Robin and Twyla enough for all there help putting this together (I know there are probably more then that, so sorry to everyone I forgot).....so keep your fingers crossed for the weather, bring a chair and an appetite....we will see you all on Saturday

Time minus 4 weeks and counting

2007-06-25T10:13:00.000-06:00

More plans coming together to report:

1. We picked up our wedding rings last weekend
2. We have rented a tent and 2 port-o-potties for the big day (just in case on the tent and out of necessity on the toilets)
3. Megan has decided on and bought the supplies needed for those small gifts that seem to be at every wedding you goto
4. Our number is approaching, if it hasn't exceeded, 100 guests already
5. We just found out that my other sister, Kate, is indeed coming back from S. Africa for the wedding, and I know Megan is really excited to finally meet her.
6. Wedding gifts have already started to trickle in, we are honoured by the generosity of our friends and family, because really, we never really expected to recieve gifts just for getting married.

On other SeanMegan2007 news, Megan has indeed accepted a full-time, permanent, teaching position in Borden (about 1/2 from Stoon) as a learning resource teacher. So now it is up to me to find a job in town so we can stay in the province, but we will at least be here until next September.

Finally, Megan and I had a big merge and purge session in our apartment as she will finally be moving-in this coming weekend.

We are looking forward to July 21st and can't wait to see all of our family and friends together in one place.

All Coming Together...We think

2007-06-04T23:25:00.001-06:00

Megan and I traveled to Carrot River this past Saturday to tie up a few loose ends on the wedding day front.

First we hit the local florist and planned out the flower situation (blue for Megan, white for the bridesmaids, no flowers for the guys, parents have the option). Then we had lunch (Gloria's makes an excellent Turkey Club! oh, and poutine). Then it was off to Grant and Robin's farm to sketch out the setup.

So now we know where we will have the ceremony and determined that our backup-in-case-of-rain location (the still being finished tractor garage!, and no it isn't as bad as it sounds) that we hope never to use. We also decided that we would rent a tent to use for some shelter if it doesn't rain and as an awning infront of the before-mentioned backup location if it rains (So we can have the doors open and some natural light).

After that I got to spend some time learning how to seed a field, there are pictures of this city-boy in a tractor! It was fun, but very different from what we learned (or remember learning) in my grade school days (old Macdonald certainly doesn't apply to today's farm machinery).

On other wedding news, our guest list is about to burst through the 100 mark (the list to the right is obviously lacking some names, bear with Megan as she updates it soonish). The Ontario guests have all booked their travel plans and are getting geared up for the fun that is the 2.5hr drive between Saskatoon and Carrot River (Saskatoon to Wakaw is terrible).

Rumour has it Megan will be having a bridal shower sometime in the future (early July?) and has been trying to figure out a list of gifts to post (apparently you get gifts at that event as well....we really don't need gifts, honestly).

Finally, the honeymoon plans are coming together nicely and now include Calgary/Okanagan Valley/Vancouver/Ucluelet, thrown together with good food, wineries, hidden gem locations, ferry rides, hiking, kayaking, surfing, whale watching, more food and hopefully seafood galore.

Wedding ring fun

2007-05-14T17:32:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Sean and I bought our wedding rings. What a stressful process - you want to pick a ring that you'll like forever (and one that will go with my engagement ring) ... sigh. But we checked out a few stores and decided to go with rings from People's.

What else did we do this weekend? We talked a little more about the honeymoon - where we're going, where we're staying, etc. Checked out prices on the internet and made a few calls. Sean's better at the whole traveling process so I think I'll let him take the lead on this one. I'll be in charge of the wedding stuff.

Oh, and we got our new dining room table! It's beautiful... stay tuned for pictures!

Today when I got home I called a few hair salons in Nipawin. Only one salon was open at 5:00 and she only has 2 hairdressers there, so I'm not sure if that will work since the bridesmaids need their hair done too. I called another place and a deaf old lady answered the phone. Apparently her daughter does hair but again, that's only one stylist. Anyone know of a good salon in or around Nipawin?

Honeymoon Plans

2007-05-10T09:09:00.000-06:00

So I think Megan and I have pretty much settled on a destination for our "honeymoon".

If all goes well, planning to follow this weekend, we will head west in our car to beautiful Victoria Island, via the Okanagan Valley wine region, and up to Ucluelet (near Tofino and National Rim Park) for a couple of weeks. We will wine, dine, stay in hotels and camp along the way (the luxury all depends on the amount of money I make doing some consulting work these past few weeks).

So if you have any suggestions of places and/or people to see along the way please drop us a line!

The Domestication of Sean and Megan

2007-05-10T09:05:00.000-06:00

Well Megan and I bought our first piece of real furniture last weekend, a dining room table from Leons. The sad thing, or as I term it "the domestication of Sean", is that I (and Megan was too) was excited about a new table.

No that isn't me signaling cold feet, its more along the lines of I can remember a time when a new table wouldn't be as exciting as this event turned out to be.

Anyways, entering my ninth year of university, it is nice to have real furniture in a real apartment. It goes along way to making us feel grown up. So if you are lucky an invite to our first dinner party that doesn't involve eating off your lap might be in the cards in the next couple of months.

No high heels for this woman!

2007-04-22T16:51:00.000-06:00

We've slowly been receiving RSVPs since sending the invitations out a week or so ago. Don't forget to leave a comment, email us or call if you plan on attending.

What else have we accomplished lately? Hmm... we picked the bridesmaids' dresses so now I feel much better. Bryan's is a great store - both the bridesmaids' dresses and my dress came from there. Oh so inexpensive but they look really nice!

I was going to wear a pair of Nicole's high heels with my dress, but when I put them on and stood beside Sean we discovered that we're the same height. Apparently this would wound Sean's ego if I was the same height as him so I have to wear flats (or at least shoes with a little less heel). I'm thinking of wearing flipflops. Is that tacky or smart?

In the mail....well most of them...

2007-04-15T22:45:00.000-06:00

Dropped a big bunch of invitations into the ol' Canada Post mailbox today. I was also busy earlier this week hand delivering invites to USASK friends.

Word from the Wolowski network is that most major details are coming together for July 21st. Food, decorations, tent and general setup are almost all decided. Megan and I will be heading up to Carrot River in two or three weeks to check things out in person and probably meet up with the Marriage commissioner (what else is there to do during weekends in Invermay!).

Updates, Updates...Finally

2007-04-12T15:42:00.000-06:00

So this week we finally sat down and put names/addresses/stamps on the wedding invitations. Megan had the fun job of stuffing the envelops while Sean got to prep the inserts (invitation, directions and gift registry card). Fun was had by all involved, the bonds of love were but strengthened.

Also, word from Carrot River is that we have found a tent that will fit 60 people for cheap. So the headache of how to design/build and deal with the infamous "tarp-tent" appears to be in the past. FYI, a tent for 60 people rented in Saskamatoon would run around $1300.

So we expect the RSVPs to start rolling in and the list to the right to grow with each passing week.

Next up? A visit to the marriage commissioner, and apparently blood tests! I swear Megan and I are not related, scouts honour....

On the funny side, apparently our good ol' PM will write you a letter to congratulate the happy couple on their day, for those of you who know me you will find this fact funny, for those who don't I have 3 words that will clue you in (NDP Riding President). One wonders if the PM will send a letter to same-sex weddings?

Wedding Invitations

2007-03-17T19:16:00.000-06:00

We started addressing the invitations today. Unfortunately, we don't know many people's addresses. The internet is a wonderful thing, but you just can't look up box numbers online. We're hoping to send them by mid-April.

We also discovered that there is a difference in how people from Saskatchewan and people from Ontario give directions. Saskatchewaners give directions based on distance and direction; Ontarians go by street names and left/right. This makes it pretty difficult to describe where Grant and Robin's farm is as it is on a grid road that doesn't have a name or number. Megan says people will figure it out; Sean isn't so sure.

Once we have received your RSVP, your name will go on our list to the right. Please let us know if you don't want us to post your name on this blog.

Welcome to our blog!

2007-03-10T16:21:00.002-06:00

In this technological age, we decided that a wedding blog would be great fun. You can check here for wedding updates and to RSVP to our wedding.