Monday. Unlike the rest of the planet, I LOVE me some Monday.
Monday is MY day. Me, me, me all me.
Every other Monday I send my kids to spend the day with a lovely little grannie down the street, and I get down to business on making our lives a better place.
I clean, do laundry, often make soap, do errands, sometimes see a girlfriend for coffee. Yes, I could do this stuff while the kids are here, but it gets done oh so much faster, and I accomplish oh so much more when they are off having their own fun, instead of me getting angry at them for tramping on my clean kitchen floor or making a mess of (fill in the blank) while I clean around them.
They have fun, I make magic in our home, everybody wins.
And I do it (mostly) guilt free. Some days I feel bad that I need someone else to do half of my job (caring for the children) while I do the other half of it.
But when they come home on Monday nights to a Mama who has spent some time taking care of the home, AND taking care of herself (OH so important!) and everyone is happy, then I know it was worth while.
So I'm off to make Monday magic - hope you enjoy your day!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Ka-blooey!
I know, I know, you're probably thinking "WTF, woman, haven't you had enough big changes for a while?" And the answer is HELLS YES. But there was one big piece of the puzzle missing, and I took a big step to fix it yesterday.
My job. I like my job, but I hate hate HATE that it keeps me away from my family for such long hours of the day. We leave the house at 7am, drop our kids off at 7:30am, and pick them up TEN hours later. We rush home, shove food in the boys, fight about dragging them into bed, read a quick story, and then goodnight. There is no time for anything else. It royally sucks.
Griffin had a difficult year in school this past year. I don't really want to get into it all right now, but suffice it to say that my head and my heart have been telling me for a LONG time that my boy needs more. More of his Mama, more time in his own home, in his own space. More time to sleep in the morning, and decompress at the end of the day. More snuggles, more undivided attention, more love. Just more.
And so yesterday, I told my employer just that. I need to be HERE, in my home, for my family, more. My job is great, my benefits are great, but they are not my primary responsibility - my kids, my husband, my family is.
Let the chips fall where they may, let the universe do it's thing, but I did what I had to do, and boy does it feel good. Feels right.
Peace, mes amis!
xoxox
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Weekend of Awesome
After all was said and done, I christened this past weekend the "weekend of awesome."
Because it was.
We had a few friends up for the day on Saturday with their fantastically cool "toys" - a remote controlled helicopter with a camera attached, which they use to make spectacular films. Between choppers and sitting on the lawn and swimming in the local swimming hole and a feast on the bbq, it was just about everything a girl could ask for on a Saturday afternoon. We welcomed some more guests as the day wore on, and carried on around a wee fire as the sunshine faded into night.
I love bringing people up here, and seeing them "get it." Get why we packed up and moved without hardly a thought, to this magical place. People come and go from the yard through the day and into the evening like we do it every other day...and that's because we pretty much do. This place is a true community, something I've been yearning for over the past 7 years, since I left my theatre community in the city.
Some day perhaps I'll grow weary of telling you about how amazing this place is, but I sure as hell hope it's not any time soon.
Choppers in the yard:
Corbie gets a lesson:
Pond of my dreams:
Happy swimming, brownie eating campers.
Here's hoping you enjoyed your very own weekend of awesome.
Because it was.
We had a few friends up for the day on Saturday with their fantastically cool "toys" - a remote controlled helicopter with a camera attached, which they use to make spectacular films. Between choppers and sitting on the lawn and swimming in the local swimming hole and a feast on the bbq, it was just about everything a girl could ask for on a Saturday afternoon. We welcomed some more guests as the day wore on, and carried on around a wee fire as the sunshine faded into night.
I love bringing people up here, and seeing them "get it." Get why we packed up and moved without hardly a thought, to this magical place. People come and go from the yard through the day and into the evening like we do it every other day...and that's because we pretty much do. This place is a true community, something I've been yearning for over the past 7 years, since I left my theatre community in the city.
Some day perhaps I'll grow weary of telling you about how amazing this place is, but I sure as hell hope it's not any time soon.
Choppers in the yard:
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
War on wildlife
Don't get me wrong, I love wildlife. It's one of the reasons we moved here. We've been so happy to see deer almost daily, all kinds of crazy birds, butterflies, and so on.
But there are a few critters I could do without.
The racoons are one.
Never ever in all the years that we lived on the roof, did we ever have a problem with racoons and our garbage.
We've had more racoon-related incidents in the past 4 weeks than we did in the past 7 years.
The coons are out to get my garbage, and scatter it all over the driveway. No matter what I do, bungie cords on the lids galore, and they still manage to get in.
The other day, Steve came face to face with a baby racoon who managed to get IN to the garbage can, but couldn't get out. Yesterday I found all the garbage lying on the driveway in the morning, with the lid still on the can, and a tiny slit where they had managed to pry the lid open enough to get into the can, shred all the garbage, take as much of it out of the can as they could, and then get out again.
And then there is Chimpy.
Chimpy is what we've christened the cute little chipmunk that lives under our deck. Or at least we thought that's where he lived. Yesterday a friend was over and mentioned that he watched Chimpy go into a corner and then UNDER the cedar shingles that clad our house, and then UP.
Where was he going? I had no idea, but I didn't feel like getting into the corner at the time to investigate.
Until today, when I came home, and went into Corben's room to grab a fan, and caught a glimpse of something scurrying across the floor.
Chimpy.
Chimpy in the front yard and under the deck is cute. Chimpy in my 2 year old's bedroom? Less cute.
I don't know how he got in there, but you can bet your booty that I'll be investigating that corner this weekend, and filling up any holes in the floor and in the walls and in the anything else where there are holes!
I mean, I like wildlife enough, but I'd prefer it to remain OUTdoors.
That's all.
xoxox
Me
But there are a few critters I could do without.
The racoons are one.
Never ever in all the years that we lived on the roof, did we ever have a problem with racoons and our garbage.
We've had more racoon-related incidents in the past 4 weeks than we did in the past 7 years.
The coons are out to get my garbage, and scatter it all over the driveway. No matter what I do, bungie cords on the lids galore, and they still manage to get in.
The other day, Steve came face to face with a baby racoon who managed to get IN to the garbage can, but couldn't get out. Yesterday I found all the garbage lying on the driveway in the morning, with the lid still on the can, and a tiny slit where they had managed to pry the lid open enough to get into the can, shred all the garbage, take as much of it out of the can as they could, and then get out again.
And then there is Chimpy.
Chimpy is what we've christened the cute little chipmunk that lives under our deck. Or at least we thought that's where he lived. Yesterday a friend was over and mentioned that he watched Chimpy go into a corner and then UNDER the cedar shingles that clad our house, and then UP.
Where was he going? I had no idea, but I didn't feel like getting into the corner at the time to investigate.
Until today, when I came home, and went into Corben's room to grab a fan, and caught a glimpse of something scurrying across the floor.
Chimpy.
Chimpy in the front yard and under the deck is cute. Chimpy in my 2 year old's bedroom? Less cute.
I don't know how he got in there, but you can bet your booty that I'll be investigating that corner this weekend, and filling up any holes in the floor and in the walls and in the anything else where there are holes!
I mean, I like wildlife enough, but I'd prefer it to remain OUTdoors.
That's all.
xoxox
Me
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Blissful
I came home from work early on Friday afternoon, after a bit of a week from hell. Or a week in the circus, more like it.
Complete with monkeys, of a sort.
Steve was working on the steps to the cabin, which my Mom was about to move into for two nights, in about 3 hours from then.
And I walked in the door, and hugged my children, and then the rest of the weekend just sort of fell into place from there, like going with the flow of a nice lazy river...(complete with rose coloured sund glasses...)
There was the market, and some quiet time for Mommy (laundy at the laundromat, hey, I'll takes what I can gets) while Oma watched the kids.
There was a concert across the street, in the maple panneled community hall that is the main attraction out our front window. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we both knew in the moment of it that it was going to be the three day highlight, even though it was only Saturday night of a long weekend. The music was spectacular -jumping and jiving, waltzing and polka-ing like only a band called Tuxedo should do.
The fact that it culminated with everyone on the front porch of the hall, watching "fireworks" and singing? Just took it over the top that extra notch.
And then walking home, across the street, when it was all done?
Awwww yeaaaah.
Sunday saw the arrival of the posse - my best girls, and their families in tow. 7 kids, 8 adults, all responsible and cabeable of handing half, if not all of them on their own. So we just took turns. Thank you village, for raising my children.
Chill in the shade for the afternoon. Cook dinner. Feed the masses. Spark up the campfire. Feed the masses again. (Marshmallows this time.) Pile the lot in the car, and take them to fireworks. Put them to bed. Start up fire again. Few more drinks, and to bed.
Everyone still alive? Everyone still accounted for? We didn't lose the baby?
Good. Carry on.
Today saw the departure of the remaining company, the start of this blog post with my laptop on the porch, while the small people napped. An afternoon swim and bbq at the "neighbourhood swimming hole." And then some more fireworks, with some pretty special peeps.
A full weekend, to be sure.
And in all those moments, on all of those days, we constantly thought "Wow, this is really special."
And it's been 5 weeks of hard work. Heck are we tired. We're all sleeping like logs, it's genius.
And we're all drinking lots of water, and eating really good food, and spending lots and lots of time outside. Porch, river, backyard, park, pond, and so on.
And it's kind of awesome to be this busy, and still have the energy to do it all, but then to take the time to do just the opposite as well. There are equal moments in work, as there are as in play. Balance. Hmm, maybe that's what it's all about, isn't it?
We've been 7 years trying to find our groove, get it on, so to speak (our groove, that is.) And we never really got into it. But maybe we're finally on our way.
Someone said to me the other night at the concert the other night that struck me. She said "for all the things I am grateful for, I am most grateful for where I live." She's right - the community that we live in, in the geography within which is lies, in this province, in this country, it's all pretty effing amazing.
*** *** *** ***
So, just to recap, here's what we've learned so far: Balance is key. Water is good for you, and so is sleep, and so is good food and sunshine. There is goodness in everyone, and good people are everywhere. My home rocks.
And a few more things that we can talk about later.
Hope everyone had a blissful weekend!
xoxox
Complete with monkeys, of a sort.
Steve was working on the steps to the cabin, which my Mom was about to move into for two nights, in about 3 hours from then.
And I walked in the door, and hugged my children, and then the rest of the weekend just sort of fell into place from there, like going with the flow of a nice lazy river...(complete with rose coloured sund glasses...)
There was the market, and some quiet time for Mommy (laundy at the laundromat, hey, I'll takes what I can gets) while Oma watched the kids.
There was a concert across the street, in the maple panneled community hall that is the main attraction out our front window. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we both knew in the moment of it that it was going to be the three day highlight, even though it was only Saturday night of a long weekend. The music was spectacular -jumping and jiving, waltzing and polka-ing like only a band called Tuxedo should do.
The fact that it culminated with everyone on the front porch of the hall, watching "fireworks" and singing? Just took it over the top that extra notch.
And then walking home, across the street, when it was all done?
Awwww yeaaaah.
Sunday saw the arrival of the posse - my best girls, and their families in tow. 7 kids, 8 adults, all responsible and cabeable of handing half, if not all of them on their own. So we just took turns. Thank you village, for raising my children.
Chill in the shade for the afternoon. Cook dinner. Feed the masses. Spark up the campfire. Feed the masses again. (Marshmallows this time.) Pile the lot in the car, and take them to fireworks. Put them to bed. Start up fire again. Few more drinks, and to bed.
Everyone still alive? Everyone still accounted for? We didn't lose the baby?
Good. Carry on.
Today saw the departure of the remaining company, the start of this blog post with my laptop on the porch, while the small people napped. An afternoon swim and bbq at the "neighbourhood swimming hole." And then some more fireworks, with some pretty special peeps.
A full weekend, to be sure.
And in all those moments, on all of those days, we constantly thought "Wow, this is really special."
And it's been 5 weeks of hard work. Heck are we tired. We're all sleeping like logs, it's genius.
And we're all drinking lots of water, and eating really good food, and spending lots and lots of time outside. Porch, river, backyard, park, pond, and so on.
And it's kind of awesome to be this busy, and still have the energy to do it all, but then to take the time to do just the opposite as well. There are equal moments in work, as there are as in play. Balance. Hmm, maybe that's what it's all about, isn't it?
We've been 7 years trying to find our groove, get it on, so to speak (our groove, that is.) And we never really got into it. But maybe we're finally on our way.
Someone said to me the other night at the concert the other night that struck me. She said "for all the things I am grateful for, I am most grateful for where I live." She's right - the community that we live in, in the geography within which is lies, in this province, in this country, it's all pretty effing amazing.
*** *** *** ***
So, just to recap, here's what we've learned so far: Balance is key. Water is good for you, and so is sleep, and so is good food and sunshine. There is goodness in everyone, and good people are everywhere. My home rocks.
And a few more things that we can talk about later.
Hope everyone had a blissful weekend!
xoxox
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