Ru ~ dig deeper

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 27}

• Gorgeous colors out – prismatic and surprising to the eyes after so much gray.

• Cheering up a little boy after a bad day at school. Laughter trumps tears.

• Games and cookies and cocoa. Song synchronicity – I started singing I Gave My Love a Cherry and he’d just learned it in music class that day and sang along.

• Curling up for late night classic movies.

• 843! 12 months ago

Forward, forward. We’re all up extra early this morning, ready for a productive day. It’s nice to be pulling out skirts and sleeveless shirts and sunblock finally, lying under the trees after school watching the kids play.

The current project continues to go very smoothly, so I’m focusing on that first and then hopefully I can blaze through the household stuff and have a nice outside afternoon. Oh, got my tax papers back yesterday, they were all fine, which is a relief.

Also planning for my new little niece or nephew who should be arriving sometime this weekend with a slight medical nudge. I can’t wait to meet the new little person in our family! Hmmm… I may require some very strong tea today.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Replenish bathroom supplies √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √
• Bootcamp: May entry
• Clear kitchen table - Started
• Figure out fb update issue ?

• Fill out & send hot lunch forms / $ √
• Continue memoir III : ¼ or more! √
• Finish March happiness entries - 2 days left!
• Start planning for new niece/nephew √
• Bust some hot spots √
• Dust some bunnies √
• Wash sheets & bath mat
• Start clearing Isak’s packed full closet (shudder) √ 2 boxes!
• Slather sunblock √
• Sunshine time! √
• Replace French press?
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• Relaxing evening √12 months ago

Ha! Cheers, that would be fun! I need to add “get my new landed immigrant card” to my list first, I don’t know if they’d let me back home without it, and I don’t know if I could wait that long without coffee! :) 12 months ago

I accidentally played Humpty Dumpty with the French press.

I think this qualifies as a goal emergency, because I’m fairly certain that without my magical java-bean elixir I’ll be hard pressed to accomplish any more goals.

^{In the meanwhile, I’m hoping I can send one of the king’s men to fetch that iced mocha I had my heart set on.}12 months ago

I’m afraid I beat myself up quite a bit about it, docking myself big mommy points on Mother’s Day. “No, take back these chocolates, I don’t deserve it…” I joke, but I really did feel awful. Guilty. Bad Mommy shame. It helped that Iris laughed all the way through the ordeal.

Hospital mistakes are scary – they’re so, so busy, I can see how it happens, but still. I know so many scary stories, both from personal/friends experiences and others where very simple errors can have very bad consequences. I feel fortunate this wasn’t one of those times, no matter where blame lies.

^{Note to self: Slow down. Never assume. Double check. Read the fine print. Smell things thoroughly before wiping them on your child.}12 months ago

Yes, I should probably elaborate on that. To make a long story slightly shorter, we went to visit my mother-in-law, who had been taken to the hospital (again, we hadn’t been informed until we got to the home, flowers in hand), so we were already discombobulated when we got to the hospital.

The nurse neglected to tell us we were supposed to be covered (gown/gloves) for our protection until they know why she’s ill, so I quickly went out to wash Iris’ hands, grabbed what I thought was a lemony fresh towelette but soon discovered was from a bleach wet wipe container that someone had forgotten to put a sticker on (the bulk containers look the same).

I got her washed off quickly at the nurses sink, no harm done, but jeez. I’m not sure if I’m more pissed at the hospital for neglecting the sticker or myself for not reading the micro print. I know they’re really busy there, but wow, there were a lot of dropped balls yesterday. 12 months ago

After a busy weekend full of Happy: anniversaries, birthdays, mommy celebrations, gorgeous weather, BBQ’s with friends, impending niece/nephew, deep sleep… and Not So Happy: communication glitches, unexpected hospital visits and worries, plan pitfalls, accidental baby bleaching, long drives and late night traffic jams beside extraordinarily fragrant fields (not in the good way – in the catastrophic cow caca way) with tired, cranky kids, frankly I’m ready for another weekend already.

But…

It’s Monday, so it’s make a list and get the gumption going time. Spectacular sunshine is exploding outside. I’m down to my sleeveless T and shorts, smiling and focusing on external speed and internal stillness. Ready for strength in the new week.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Bathroom hotspots √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √ X3
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √ Worked on photos
• Bootcamp: May entry
• Clear kitchen table

• Start memoir III : ¼ or more! √
• Check-in: family health issues √
• 15 minute post weekend clean/pick-up in each room √
• Sweep, clean, vacuum floors √
• Restock change table √
• Touch base with 3 friends √
• Let in lots of fresh air √
• Dig up the sunblock (and pamper my poor shoulders) √ X4
• Sunshine time! √
• Transfer new photos √
• Figure out fb update issue - Nope…
• DVR watch & delete: 1 hour √
• Take a minute for some deep breaths and calm thoughts √12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 26 (#1600!)}

• Back to school! Lots of excitement.

• Getting new keys cut from a quirky couple running a small store shaping metal and cobbling shoes.

• Taking a new way home – trails and alleys with reflective drippy drops, hopping spring robins, cautious new flowers, old folk art wind vanes…

• Dollar store mini-eggs. Nom.

• Isak’s dye infused daffodil experiment.

• Iris pulling herself up on the coffee table and doing a silly Madonna dance, even though she can barely stand.

• A long, steamy, page turning bath that beat the body chill of another all-nighter. 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 25}

• A long, long family hike along the beach from Berry Point to the Penzance Trail, along the train tracks, up by the oil refinery and beyond. Beautiful day, delicious air, wonderful adventure, perfect exhaustion.

• Searching for beach glass, sea shells, new flowers, chalk faces, and inukshuk.

• Visiting our tree.

• Relaxing at home, bath fresh, a cold pint, and the Mad Men Premiere (Zou bisou bisou… still stuck in my head…). 12 months ago

To everyone who is a mother, has a mother, loves a mother, misses their mother, or wishes to be a mother.

Endless gratitude overflows for my own lovely mom and two beautiful kids who make me strive to be a great one too. It’s almost painful sometimes, the amount I cherish the love in my life, even on the hardest of days. I’m so, so grateful. 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 23}

• Friday! Friday! Friday! Files are finished, the sun is out, and I’m ready to relax!

• Tiny, solar powered toy cars.

• Giant sweet potatoes and sugar peas.

• A blissfully bombed bath. It was lilac colored and sparkled profusely.

• Catching an odd late night flick (Where the Buffalo Roam) from 1980 with Bill Murray playing Hunter S Thompson. I’d never even heard of it…

• Up all night (but slept in this morning).

• Going for a hike along the Trans Canada Trail and around New Brighton Park. Beautiful as ever, but even more so when you add sunshine and freshly growing things.

• Little black ladybugs and big eagles.

• Binging on low fat popcorn and Mad Men. 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 20}

• The first official day of spring, apparently somewhere on the other side of our misty, still visible breath.

• Soccer in the park – we warmed up quickly.

• Peppers, princesses, and peacocks (and coming inside for warm, jasmine baths).

^{March 21}

• A light dusting of snow brightened everything; pretty as icing sugar (but I feel for the nipped-in-the-bud daffodils).

• Putting everything aside for a half hour catnap; feline rechargeable style.

• Isak heading off happily for an overnight with my parents.

• Curling up exhausted for a couch lounging movie with M.

^{March 22}

• Surviving sleepless night #3.

• M. got a raise and a big bonus!

• Dawning accent comprehension on a difficult memoir transcription.

• Isak’s sick, but I managed to get his fever down and he’s sleeping sweetly with his old teddy bear, caught somewhere between little boy and big. 12 months ago

I’m feeling much better today, though I’m still weak and my balance is way off – I did a bit of yoga this morning and had to stop 10 minutes in or risk falling over. I’m on the mend though, and I could do without feeling that awful again. Thank-you for all the cheers and well wishing, I appreciate it. x

It’s M. and my anniversary today, which I think will now be celebrated in a very low key way, but that’s fine. We don’t need to be swinging from chandeliers to pat love on the back, a quiet, appreciative night in will do nicely.

It looks to be full of sun out, so I’m looking forward to a morning walk, and will then try to paddle my way through the rest of my latest project, I unfortunately lost a day and will need to focus to get it in on time, but it’s going smoothly, so I’ll get it done.

I’m so glad that it’s Friday. I’m so glad that this isn’t yesterday morning anymore.
Happy weekends!

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Spot clean kitchen spills √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √
• Bootcamp: May entry

• Extra rest and liquids √
• Pick up gatorade √
• Finish, polish & send memoir II √
• Download new project √
• 10 minute clean/pick-up in each room √
• Dust √
• Clear kitchen table
• Sweep, clean, vacuum floors √
• Sunshine time! √
• Transfer new photos √
• Gentle anniversary celebrating √12 months ago

I’m pretty sure I didn’t have “get so ill that you lose 5 pounds overnight” on my list and I’ll spare the gory details, but suffice to say I had the roughest dozen hours in recent history with no warning at all. I don’t know if it was food poisoning, a virus, an obscure form of migraine, or the devil stopping by to curl up and party inside me for the night, but it was truly brutal, and I’m feeling as weak as a kitten.

Today the usual list will be replaced by this:

• Re-friend my body √
• Get my liquids and electrolytes back up √
• Try to eat something other than banana flavored baby crackers √
• Rest as much as possible √
• Have a refreshing bubble bath √
• Thank M. from the bottom of my heart for taking the day off √

Tomorrow I hope to return to regular scheduling.
^Blechh.12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 19}

• The first day of spring break, which amusingly started off with flurries of the fattest snowflakes I’ve seen for a long time. Beautiful, if a little surprising. We debated over sleds vs. bowling balls.

• We went with the bowling plans and had a fantastic time meeting up with other friends from school. By the time we left the bowling alley the snow was quickly melting in the decidedly springier sunshine.

• Fresh sushi eaten with luminous chopsticks.

• Releasing the red ribbon on my Lush gift box and relaxing into a delicious bath.

• After8 cocoa + coffee = heaven. 12 months ago

Halfway through the week already, today is blustery and bright; blue skied with heavy wind that pulled at the kids and I as we walked to school, petals whipping past and branches bending. I wished I’d worn a tighter weave around me, but it woke me up even before the morning coffee hit. Sunlight through the window is constantly shifting as the clouds move through the sky like the fast forward button is on – it’s an odd feeling day so far.

I need to send yesterday’s completed file and make headway on the new one, there are piles and piles of baby clothes to deal with, and then hopefully this afternoon I can dig up some windbreakers and we can all enjoy the fresh air, regardless of how fast it’s moving. It may be a day for kites, tightly fitting hats, and hot tea.

• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum: walk, yoga, Wii fit+ √
• Basic house maintenance: dishes, garbage, recycling, compost √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Clean fridge (purged yesterday) √
• Laundry: wash, sort, put away √
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game / adventure √
• Me time: bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √
• Bootcamp: May entry

• Polish & send memoir I √
• Start memoir II: aim for half √
• Sort next batch of baby clothes (in) - Started
• Sort next batch of baby clothes (out)
• Present for birthday party √ + card.
• Sunshine time! √ Lots of outside time!
• Bubble baths for all! √
• Trim kid claws - 1 down, 1 to go…
• DVD/popcorn w/M 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 18}

• Taking a beautiful, stormy drive to an area we love, to home hunt; to dream.

• Vintage shopping – I found a delicious mossy green chiffon dress, then Isak found the match (he backtracked across the entire store) for a missing shoe I’d been admiring. I bought both. Now I need somewhere to wear a lovely, wispy garment…

• Rainy day library time.

• Finding my camera, which I thought I’d lost.

• Fire walking before zombie indulgences. Popcorn on the side.

^{And silly monkeys.}12 months ago

It’s another gorgeous spring day, warm and bright – my whole body feels like a sigh of relief.

My plan is to finish off a few thing at the house (I’m almost finished my current file) and then get out into it. The birds are delirious, cherry blossoms are snowing pink petals down everywhere, it’s glorious. This is not an inside day.

• Basic house maintenance (dishes, garbage, recycling, compost) √
• Laundry √
• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Wipe down cabinet doors √
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game
• Bath, bubbles, book √
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √
• Bootcamp: May entry
• Yoga/Wii fit+

• Pack stuff for show & tell √
• Finish file 1 of new project √
• Open all the windows! Let in fresh air! √
• 15 minutes on ANYTHING in garage √ Returned play gym!
• 15 minutes cleaning Isak’s room √
• Compost fridge dregs √
• Put away clothes √ Started…
• Sunshine time! √ Lots!
• FB connection √
• Joynotes √
• DVD/popcorn with M. √

^{Note: Made last minute hangout plans with a girlfriend and her daughter to meet at the playground after school and then have tea – had a wonderful time! It’s been a good week for seeing friends.}12 months ago

No, we didn’t create it ourselves, but we helped. To celebrate the grand opening of the first Lego store in BC (the 4th in Canada), they had a LEGO Master Builder poohbah come in to construct an 8 foot tall R2D2, and us all being fans of the mighty brick (particularly Isak), we showed up Saturday and joined a huge, huge hoard of other Lego lovers from all walks of life.

They passed out laminated instruction cards for different parts and had specific color tables set up. When you finished your bit, you’d give it to the master builder who would give you a slip to trade for a certificate of achievement. Very cool, especially since we’d seen the fellow interviewed on a news segment the day before.

They also had an unlisted Q&A where you could win prizes and Isak won a great watch, and proudly took both that and his certificate to school for show and tell this morning. Well worth braving the chaos! We’ll be heading back to check out the rest of the store when there aren’t a thousand other people squeezing in. I ♥ Lego. 12 months ago

We had a truly fantastic weekend – swimming, a moonlit campfire, playgrounds, to-do list strikethroughs, a picnic with a friend, the master builder event, relaxing at home, we packed a lot in. Now a previously gray Monday has exploded with warm sunshine.

Today I want to hit a balance between work and outside time. I have a 2 part project due by the end of the week, but I want to space it out to allow lots of fresh air. We’re also aiming to get back on track with schoolwork this week, and have an overnight next weekend (which is also M. and my anniversary.)

Feeling very up today, both in mood and motivation.

• Basic house maintenance (dishes, garbage, recycling, compost) √
• Laundry √ X2
• Eat well, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins/supplements √
• Exercise/movement for 1 hour minimum √
• Flylady Mission of the Day: Clean stove top √
• Reading homework with Isak √
• Family game
• Bath, bubbles, book
• Downtime w/M √

• Continue March Happiness entries √ Worked on photos
• Bootcamp: May entry

• Yoga/Wii fit+ (Went outside for the afternoon)
• Fill out school forms, read list, CPSP√
• Work on new project, aim for half of file 1 √ Almost done!
• DVR watch/delete √
• Post weekend clean-up √
• Sweep, spot clean, vacuum floors √
• Sunshine time! √ Lots! SO warm today!
• DVD/popcorn √12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 17}

• Saint Patty’s Day! Stormy and sunny and intense. We went for a long wander around Lonsdale – everything seemed saturated with light and color. Hail with rainbows.

• Glossy purple crocuses, burbling fountains, saffron colored flags, iridescencent windows.

• Going to the Book Warehouse farewell sale. We said goodbye and got some insane, insane deals. I’ll really miss these stores, they were a page buying staple. I like the convenience of e-books still prefer a good old fashioned tangible read.

• Old buildings being given new life while maintaining old flavor.

• Mashed sweet potatoes and ale in tall green glasses. 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 16}

• Friday. It felt like the weekend when the weekend began rather than sometime Mid-Sunday when it’s almost over.

• Rain sun rain sun rain sun… the final verdict was SUN.

• Crows and seagulls eyeing each other suspiciously.

• A smattering of flowers are showing their faces.

• Rich, chunky chocolate ice cream and Mad Men. 12 months ago

Last night we celebrated the super moon by driving out to one of our favorite spots on the North Shore and having a campfire & weenie roast. Surprised by clear weather and happily finding the entire spit empty, we made a stone circle, built a fire, and roasted smokies and washed them down with cold Dr. Pepper as the big, bright moon came up from behind the hill. We attracted a flock of curious Canadian geese and the conductor waved at us as his train passed by but other than that we were wonderfully alone.

Our favorite super moon is still the one just before Isak was born – walking along the Sea Wall hand in hand, my belly seemed as big as the moon (which was extraordinary!), knowing we were about to be thrown into an amazing new life beyond just the two of us.

It felt just right to be out enjoying it again, family in tow. Very memorable.
My hair still smells faintly of smoke and lunacy… 12 months ago

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus – Art Spiegelman

A fantastic library find! I have both the original Maus comics, which I thought were brilliant, both then and now, but I hadn’t even heard about this and was excited to find it on the new books shelf. A beautifully put together book (+ multimedia package), though it seems I’m going to have to wrench it away from M.

Very much recommended, particularly if you are a fan of the original Maus.

^{”Visually and emotionally rich, MetaMaus is as groundbreaking as the masterpiece whose creation it reveals. In the pages of MetaMaus, Art Spiegelman re-enters the Pulitzer prize-winning Maus, the modern classic that has altered how we see literature, comics, and the Holocaust ever since it was first published twenty-five years ago. He probes the questions that Maus most often evokes – Why the Holocaust? Why mice? Why comics? – and gives us a new and essential work about the creative process. MetaMaus includes a bonus DVD-R that provides a digitized reference copy of The Complete Maus linked to a deep archive of audio interviews with his survivor father, historical documents, and a wealth of Spiegelman’s private notebooks and sketches. Compelling and intimate, MetaMaus is poised to become a classic in its own right”. – Publisher.}12 months ago

Slowly but surely, I’m catching up…
Aiming to be in the present sometime this month. 12 months ago

Bonus food experience yesterday! A girlfriend and I went to another friend’s home to learn how to make some of her yummy raw dessert recipes and we ended up making this too!

Similar to Japanese sushi, Korean kimbap (or gimbap) is short grain rice and various ingredients (we had fish cakes, imitation crab sticks, eggs, sausage, spinach, carrots, danmuji, and a few other things) rolled up in dried & pressed seaweed (using a bamboo roller), then sliced into tasty bite sized bits… it’s beautiful, absolutely delicious, nutritious, and addictive. 2 years ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 14}

• An invite to a fellow school mom’s home to use her internet (ours is still out). I packed up my laptop and trudged through the torrential rain with the kids. Once we got there our combined gang of kiddiewinkies played beautifully, especially our wee girlies (who are a month apart). We all had a very nice visit and I got my file in on time.

• M. picked us up after work, a bonus, because by that time the rain was a heavy veil and the puddles were so wide I thought we might have to build an ark to get home.

• Iris has a hilarious belly slide she’s using to get around.

• Boisterous music and really, really silly dancing.

^{March 15}

• The internet has been reconnected! The break was nice, but after nearly a week I was getting antsy and feeling out of touch.

• Watching the sky shift rapidly from gray to blue.

• The fire alarm at the school was a false alarm. I’d been alarmed when I heard sirens and arrived to find all the kids nervously lined up outside without coats. The fetching firemen seemed sympathetic.

• Catching up with old friends until the phone ran out of batteries.

• Good days fueled by intrinsic joy.

• Cowboy dinner. Yei haw! 12 months ago

^{Retroactive happiness…}

^{March 10}

• Tylenol. Always welcome to thieve my headaches.

• Discovering a new hub of free downloadable e-books!

• Milk-chocolate smothered hazelnuts and coffee.

^{March 11}

• Picking up a great Lego game for 1/5 the original price.

• Hiking in the woods before hitting the playground at Belcarra. It was a dim gray day but we still had a worthwhile family adventure.

• Iris is 11 months old! She’s decided she enjoys slides, sock shunning, and squashing tomatoes between her fingers.

• School photos – everyone looked so fresh faced and excited. School photos days always seemed memorable when I was a kid.

• Day 700 on my Wii Fit+!

• The internet has been down for days but I managed to connect for long enough to download an important work project.

• A dramatic windstorm that made the power shudder for hours.

^{March 13}

• Tirelessly indulging in board games, one after another.

• Snap peas and ginger beer – a fresh and lively snack.

• Surreal dreams, remembered in confetti like pieces. 12 months ago