Missing In Action

I've been totally MIA for the last few weeks. We've been super busy!
Firstly I have been trying to secure a small business loan for my business, Snaps & Snails. Which has actually proven to be much more headaches that I had anticipated with the company I chose to go through. Which is ironically a national company that is supposed to be there to help small businesses, ah well, c'est la vie I suppose. It's just annoying, because they gave me this little fill-in-the-blanks business plan to fill out. And I came back 2 days later with my own 30 page, 5 year business plan, which was above and beyond their expectations, but I am obviously the only one who is on the ball here, as it has been almost two months and I have heard nothing, and I call back nearly every day. I love how when people want money from you, there are all over it, but as soon as it comes to them giving it to you, they take their sweet time.

We've also been very busy helping my mother and brother in-law re-building a home they bought in New Brunswick. They bought a foreclosure and it is very obvious why. When we got there, there was no running water, no heat, no electricity, no toilet, no appliances. There were holes in every single wall, the tiles on the kitchen floor with glued on with wood glue, there was garbage stuffed into the holes in the wall. There were scratches in the wall paper, and it was just a mess in general.
My father in-law was called down to help with the plumbing as he is a plumber, so that helped a lot. He also helped with getting the electricity back on. And after he left, Merlin and I got to work while Grandma took baby out for fun and brother in-law went to University. (They moved to this dump so he wouldn't have to stay in student res like every other student in the world.) Anyways, we knocked down walls, put walls up, ripped out cabinets, put new ones in, ripped up floor tiles, layed new ones down. Tiled walls, ripped down wall paper, put new wall paper up, painted, cleaned, put in new light fixtures, put in wainscoting, helped them move their stuff inside, and now it's fairly nice and liveable.
There are still some smaller things that need to be done, we need to build a closet in the bathroom, put the trim around the floors and windows and put up crown molding in the living room, but it's turning out to be a nice little home finally.

Merlin has also started his own little business of picking and selling wild mushrooms. Something he's been doing since he was a little kid. And baby and I love it too. It's exciting when you find a big mushroom, and it's such a great reason to get out of the house and be active as a family. The dogs love going out into the woods and being able to be off leash. It's pretty win/win, as we are actually making some money off it, so it's a little more rewarding than simply hiking.

I'm also going to be heading to Regina, Saskatchewan for Thanksgiving, to get a little break and see my family there. Merlin has decided to sit this one out and spend it with his family in New Brunswick. I'm a little apprehensive to go on the plane with my almost 11 month old! It was A LOT easier when she was 1 month old (our first flight) and again when she was 4 months. As she didn't move much and was still breastfed at those times, so she nursed the whole flights. If anyone has any tips for flying with an older baby it would GREATLY appreciated, let me know in the comments!!

I'd also love to hear how you guys stay active with your families!!

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