Gratitude

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ JFK 

After a weekend full of family and good food, I am stopping by to wish you all a happy thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for!!

Sometimes Life is Like That

There are some days when everything goes smoothly and some days when I feel like I accomplish nothing. With little S2 on the way, my to-do list seems to be like the population of China walking by (the rate of population growth is such that the line would never end)...my mom sent me a blog post that quoted the last two lines of a poem and it made me realize how quickly time flies. My little baby is rapidly growing in to a little girl before my eyes. They are only little once, and I have to remind myself that the to-do list is not as important as making memories and cherishing moments. Easier said than done some days.

Conclusion of March Photo-a-Day

 I completed the challenge. While I enjoyed the daily themes, life just gets so busy, and I would rather take photos at my leisure than feel stressed to get a photo with a specific theme taken each day. Maybe I will try again in a few months, but for now I will leave you with these. Happy April, friends!

March Photo-a-Day #1: Up

Today a friend and I went to the art gallery. 

Farewell, 2011

Christmas has come and gone. A surprise visit home from my sister who has been in Africa for the last six months was the best present ever. We spent our holiday with family and friends and it was wonderful. 2011 has been good to us. We watched Medea grow and change, moved to a new home, and have made many wonderful memories. I am so excited to see what 2012 has in store for us!! Happy New Year all. May this year be the best one yet.

Moving.

The time has come for us to say goodbye to downtown living. Our apartment has a great location and killer view, but it is just too small for a growing family. We found a new place with three bedrooms, and an open basement with potential for a playroom or gaming den. Plus, it has a dishwasher and in-suite laundry.
Russ can take the train to work, and while it is a bit farther to Medea's day home, it will be a less insane drive.
We have been living downtown for ten years, and it will be hard to leave. There is something to be said for being able to walk to the grocery store, or High Street for shopping, but there is also something to be said for having room to breathe...

Jim Henson Was a Wise Man

"The attitude you have as a parent is what your kids will learn from more than what you tell them. They don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are."
~Jim Henson

Grateful.

This weekend was spent enjoying the food and company of family. Once again I am reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.

Everybody Get Together, Try to Love One Another Right Now

Taking public transit always reminds me to be grateful for our little car.  Today was no different.  I had Medea with me, in the stroller, so we were at the front.  The bus was quite full.  An older gentleman got on, and as the bus started moving, he lost his balance and fell into a fellow sitting across the aisle from me. The older gentleman quickly regained his footing, apologized, and took a seat by me.  The fellow sat for a moment, busy with his iPhone, then, very loudly said, "What? You're not even going to f****** apologize for crashing into me? Really? What? It wasn't your fault? The bus just happened to lurch and you fell? Cummon!"  Everyone around them let out a collective gasp.  Had we seriously just heard that?  The older gentleman looked very embarrassed and apologized again, saying he had lost his balance when the bus started moving.  The fellow (wearing Ed Hardy laceless sneakers) scowled, muttered more expletives under his breath and went back to his iPhone.  I felt very badly for the older gentleman, and wondered what made the fellow feel like he needed to be so awful to a perfect stranger. As I exited the bus, I wondered why people feel the need to be so awful to one another.  Sigh...

All the Hats

Once again, I have failed to regularly update this blog of mine. Part of the problem is finding time. Between chasing a toddler and working part time, as well as (kind of) maintaining a home and trying to have some semblance of a social life, this space has fallen to the wayside. The other part of the problem is the struggle I am having with figuring out where to go and what I want this place to be. Which hat should I don to write my posts--the mama hat? The artist hat? The writer hat? The random hat? Perhaps the Cat in the Hat?? Maybe I should wear all the hats at once! Did you know that there is an Argentinian band called All the Hats??

Meet Squirmy...

It's probably about time to announce that Russ and I are going to be parents! Yay! And yikes! Exciting and scary all rolled up into this tiny little bundle.

And So Another Chapter Ends....

...as a new one begins. I finished my last shift at the bookstore on Saturday. It was very bittersweet. I met so many super awesome people working there, but I am soooooo ready to be done working retail. I welcome a giant change with this new job. I will be working regular hours, which means more time with Russ, and the pay is nothing to complain about.
Yes sir, things, they are a changin'!

A Much-Needed Escape

Last night Russ and I got home from our week-long excursion to Vancouver Island. We drove down last Sunday and drove home yesterday. It was a fantastic escape, and I'm sorry it went by so quickly, but I am grateful for the many memories we made, as well as the chance to get to know some friends better. I celebrated my birthday while we were there, and I've decided that since we were in a different province, it doesn't count. We also attended the wedding reception of our friend Morgan. He met his wife in Kenya while working there for a year. He spent two years trying to get her into Canada. In February he went back to Kenya and they got married. She is finally here in Canada, and so his mom held a reception at her home in Lake Chowichan to celebrate, as well as provide an opportunity for friends and family to meet Besho. It was a wonderful day. The Island is a beautiful place, and it is incredibly tempting to relocate. However, right now, there are too many things to keep us here in good ol' E-Town, so in Edmonton we shall stay.

The Empress Hotel in Victoria

Pier in Sidney, BC

Morgan and Besho


The Legislature Buildings in Victoria

In Remiss...

Oops...so apparently I haven't posted anything in almost two months. Please don't think that it's because I'm boring. I'm really not...I just have had no time to blog. This summer promises to be chock full 'o bloggy goodness though, what with two weddings, a trip to Victoria with my lovely husband, and our first anniversary! The weather is finally starting to look springy, (it should, it IS MAY, after all!!), and I'm ready to start running again. I've even broken out my inline skates. When you live thisclose to the river valley, it would be stupid to not take advantage of it!!!

Escape...

I've had the last four days off from work, and it should have been the perfect time to run about getting things done and being ultra-productive, but alas...no such thing has happened. Instead, I went to my sister's basketball game on Saturday morning, where they lost a very close game, but went on to win the next one by a long shot. I then didn't leave the apartment for the next three days. I sat around and read, baked, and slowly made my way through my latest boxed set. Not that I sat on my bum all day, but aside from some yoga, a sculpting dvd, and Wii Fit, I didn't do much. I am quite enjoying the advanced reader's copy of this exciting new release, though!

Another Year...

The new year is always a time of reflection, as one year passes and another one begins, a sort of death and rebirth takes place. People always try to reinvent or improve. Some stick with it past January, some don't make it through the second week. While I avoid "resolutions", I definitely reflect on the past year. 2008 was actually a pretty great year. I got to marry the most wonderful man I've ever met. We traveled to Hawaii. My dad celebrated his 50th birthday. Of course the year also held the usual (and unusual) issues, complications and problems, as well as some real tragedies, but what is important is that we survived. I look at each new year as an opportunity for change and to venture into the unknown. Who knows what 2009 has in store, but I'm interested in finding out...

In the Deep Freeze...

One of the wonderful things about living in Canada is the glorious Arctic cold fronts that move in and camp out, plunging temperatures well into the negative digits (centigrade), as well as dumping delightful piles of crunchy snow everywhere. As delightful as all this wintry weather is, it has angered our car Max, and Max now refuses to start. On top of that, our apartment building was bathed in the warm glow of a fire last night. No big deal--fire in the garbage room, which filled the halls with smoke and forced the residents to wait in the cold for 20 minutes, but a neat little bit of excitement, to be sure. Oh well. Only a few more days until Christmas, and only ONE more day of work until a bit of time off and getting to spend time with family!!

Merry and Bright

Temperatures are plunging and snow is falling...the most wonderful time of the year? In spite of the icky weather, all is well. I'm nearly done gathering my gifts, and am looking forward to spending time with the fam! The mall is crazy, and people are frantic to get everything done. I refuse to be sucked into the vortex of stress and instead, attempt to remain an outside observer. I refuse to allow stress to get to me, and I shall emerge from the frenzy, cool as a cucumber. I can't wait!

Touching.

This broke my heart, and I had to share.

Surreal Awakening

Have you ever had that creepy feeling, when you're asleep, that there is a spider on your leg or something in your hair? Well, this morning, I had this feeling that there was something brushing along the top of my head and along my face. I woke up, and looked over to see a snake slithering it's way along my head.

Silly me! I'm not awake yet!! I should wake up now! I think.

Wait...

I AM awake. That's not a snake...it's the cord from the Christmas lights that frame the window above the bed. But if it's the cord, why is it moving?!

It is at this point I begin freaking out, and wake up Russ.

"What THE HECK IS THAT?! SERIOUSLY!" I'm beginning to hyperventilate.

Russ grabs his handy dandy flashlight that he keeps by the bed, because he's ever-so cool, and shines it on the moving cord...which is, in fact, a freakin' SNAKE.

The snake had slithered in through radiator pipes, and since we have a futon, it ended up on my pillow, rather than under a bed, if we had had a real one. Russ, being the hero that he is, grabbed the snake and put it in a cooler until we found a cardboard box to put it in. He put the box by the mailboxes with the following note taped to the top:

HI I'M A SNAKE IN A BOX!

I'M PROBABLY SOMEONE'S PET, BUT I ENDED UP ON APARTMENT 6'S PILLOW, WHERE I AM UNWELCOME! (ESPECIALLY AT 6:00AM)

LOVE
CREEPY PILLOW SNAKE

The box remained unclaimed. I was leaving to meet a friend for lunch, when the crazy guy from across the hall comes out and asked if I knew what was in the box. I told him it was a snake. He said I couldn't leave it there because someone would trip on it. I said it wasn't mine, and not my responsibility, because it was enough that we didn't freak out and kill it or throw it outside. As we were talking, the girl from upstairs shouts down, "Did you find a snake?!" I said yes, and she came running down asking where it was, so I grabbed the box and handed it to her. She apologized profusely and thanked us for not freaking out and killing it. She said it was very friendly and doesn't bite. I just hope it wasn't dead after sitting in a box by the door for hours.

And, so that is the strange story of the snake on my pillow.