nothisplace

here a list, there a magazine

2012-02-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

it is january end and my life this month has been one big cold call ;) making work experience university student placements by day and homestay family arrangements for international students by night means that there are lists of notes everywhere and a big stack of magazines to reward myself with. the light is visible at the end of the tunnel. which is good because that's where the writing is.

snow day turns into snow week

2012-01-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

well snow day turned into snow week and it wasn't the horror i expected. the kids and i had the week off in which to plug in the annual prospera sledding/snowboarding trek, homemade cocoa, a bit of work from home, and plenty of outside play alternating with everyone on their own piece of technology vegging the day away.
and the week ended with a miracle road snow melt just in time to be a part of a fundraiser for a family dear to my heart.
and now rest day continues -- always the perfect ending to every weekend.

new tagline to the top right of the blog disclaimer: my friends and readers will be suprised to know i am no longer a coffee drinker. i've been getting used to my newly found lifestyle restrictions, but taking it out of my diet seems to be working for me (along with another list of things i love -- citrus fruits, wine tipped cigarillos (i know, ridiculous -- but they go well with the occasional wine pairing ;), and milk. it's been an easy adjustment, surprisingly. i'm ascribing that to the relief of "something helps me feel better" and that i didn't dare break in the coffee machine no one seems to use at work ;)

you know i had to find a replacement crutch (something to write and read beside) and i have -- chai tea with vanilla rice milk. if you have delish coffee alternatives i'd love to hear them.

assorted crafting to learn and relax

2012-01-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

amid the socializing and resting that was the weekend, i did some more writing planning and a quickie-craft -- shadowbox do-over. the results sit on my family pictures plate rail.
right up there with smiling at sleeping children, is coming across their "teach the adults something" sunday school art. comics and verses scribed, they touch my heart in a new way.
it's another day job, after school sports running, trying not to panic about impending snow day.

see my previous crafty ode to the frugal source of "have a glass with dinner" in the background

it'll make a good story if nothing else ;)

2012-01-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

a few games of urban myth. (one of the middle schooler's Christmas gifts we told him we had to properly learn with our friends last night so we could best play with him today ;) so i owed the kids a few games today (and d owed me making lunch so as to avoid having to play all those rounds ;) it worked for everyone.

it's rest day so i continues to be reading and listmaking and hanging out as a family post church.

you know i'm all over it.

writing is off the ledger, but it's on the calendar

2012-01-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

the new year has been rung in -- wine tasting contest, dinner, countdown, sequins, and all...

now onto the new job which i am familiarizing myself with and loving already, the work from home stuff which promises to make january a busy month, and the writing which i am backburning into sketched notes and promises to myself.

even in time crunched times and in fact more so in them (nothing like being swept to another time and place to compartmentalize the to do list into its appropriate size) is time to take in some arts.

just finished and added to the home library both songbird and disobedience. now onto the englishman's boy and swann -- love to have a bit of a stack (or messy stacks mixed in with d's messy stacks -- whatever the case may be ;) going at all times. so that makes hitting thrift store and local independant book store's shelves with regularity essential. my quick pick guide -- 1. interesting cover, 2. back cover, a few random page openings to see if i like the prose. if it passes all three -- it's going in the buying stack. i also throw into my alibris wishlist book titles whenever i come across an article i particularly like, its author's latest book is usually lands up becoming one of my most loved non-fictions

on the film front (this is where netflix's ability to be come back to and left like a bookmarked book so as to fit in between household chores and running the kids around to their social life is key), took in the french coco avant chanel (love the history behind the designer) and the documentary mad hot ballroom. (the kind of inspirational tale that makes you want to run out and mentor kids in the arts)

new years 2012 with jen (fellow food and book and wine enthusiastic -- and the sort of girl i would ascribe BBF to if she was into that sort of thing ;) but she's not so don't tell her i told u ;)

it's still the weekend so we have some friends to see and relaxing to do... the words can keep for now

wrapping the year end up before the glitter starts raining

2011-12-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

a few games with little c, endless vacuuming pre and post the playdate circuit that is making its way through our house, and a few first aid issues -- the results of some trampolining, and when my linen closet contents are brought outside to help the brothers "fly" you can imagine. even my much beloved mini hoover got into the action. it can't die i need it too much.

good thing tommorow holds the promise of date night.

the ghost of Christmas present

2011-12-25T10:40:00.000-08:00

still reading. (i'm onto this one) this time among wrapping paper debris. little c awoke at 4:30am and told us about it and then waited patiently (shaking presents more likely than the couch sitting i was picturing as i slept) until 6:59. a minute before we told him he could wake everyone. the flurry has subsided, the coffee has been made, the middleschooler is back in bed, and the two youngest are on their second round of chess. i'm going to take that as permission to eat more chocolate and read more pages.

so thrilled to tell you i have acquired a job at the university i used to attend. the people are fabulous, the new schedule is amazing, and the work year coincides with the academic calendar which means i have calculated 2 months in which i can have 6 hour writing days and 2 months after that in which to do some old fashioned summer holidaying with the kids and d (when work can spare him)

i couldn't be happier. but will try not to get too pollyanna into the novel and wreck it.

ps. i watched The Christmas Carol this year for the first time ever -- i am glad it was this production -- it was amazing (i am often late to the classics -- took in Handel's Messiah for the first time live last year as well)

the list maker holidays

2011-12-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

we are holidaying, which means more crafts and reading.
my bookmark is currently in this
and i justed finished a fun dash through this one . those swell books always make me want to throw an impromptu dinner party
which i am probably always in danger of doing even without the aid of inspirational resources ;)

of holidays and dinner parties past, the best part always remains the friends that populate them.
even without the trimmings, time spent with them is swell.
it is with that i move into one of my favorite times of year -- celebrating the wonder of Christmas and the glitz and possibilites of another year upcoming

and because under the sequins (another one of those hack a dress into a skirt creations), faux leopard fur, tiara headband, and chandelier earrings (yes, that is my actual new year's garb -- when else can you wear this combo? ;) i am a geeky non fiction devouring, list making girl -- you know i am starting new notebooks to scribe away in.

needle in one hand, paint brush in the other.

2011-12-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

yesterday saw us host a 12 kid playdate at our house
and dinner with a hall-ful of family
today is decidedly less noisy
some stairs refinishing, last minute stocking stuffer creating (monster felt pouches for the various techno devices), and paper-routing.
Christmas is almost here...

writing is taking a back seat.

playing florist to relax

2011-12-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

i'm set up to see my rosedale girlfriends (of dinner party club membership) every second day for the next week. tis the season. last night was Christmas centerpiece making night (at the wonderful hostess with the mostess -- and the newest inductee into DP club -- it looked like house and home set up her functional shop workspace) i set to work making singularly themed arrangements. they may be basic but i like them.

today is biscotti making, stairs refinishing, notebook scratching... and trying not to adhere more shiny beads to twigs. love these ones.

regular menu resumes

2011-12-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

the dinner party for 18 is behind us. themed decorations put away, borrowed table and chairs ready to be returned to rightful owner, and 2012 schedule of dinner party club established. can't tell you how thrilled i am to be feasting with these great people once a month for the foreseeable future.
sunday was a bunch of reading and resting and d cooking both sunday meals (brunch and dinner) which was smart of him because after that entertaining i would have been ok with us all eating cereal out of the box for the day. it turned out to be greasy spoon at home themed which also worked for me (if i don't make it, the grease calories don't faze me ;)

still working towards laptop writing day. it's coming. i'm still promising myself.

advent midway through

2011-12-09T13:40:00.001-08:00

a little break in the day job in which i am wrapping up the rest of the boys' advent mailbox gifts (we started late so just numbered the gifts from now until Christmas Eve -- when the family chain of gift opening commences) last year i connected activities to the opening which was tricky (i need the visual reminder on my calendar of happenings which would ruin the surprise) so this year i decided to separate gifts from activities. the mailbox presentation was inspired by lizzy, but mine is tweaked for boys. (more whoopie cushion, less fabulously chic wrapping ;)
i also shamelessly nabbed this exact execution of Christmas carol lyrics from a blogger online and now cannot remember where to credit. they were on to something. white and black paint and a canvas. 1 stop dollar store shop. and easily whipped up while chinese takeout-ing.
i'm writing and reno-ing powered by coffee + eggnog + Christmas tunes in the downtime.

hope your day is seasonally pleasant too.

the list

2011-12-07T03:23:00.001-08:00

just like in my novel writing, i often walk around with selections on draft setting in my head, which is why you will notice they cluster in terms of blog post production. it's the same with my chapter formations. it's all good. and so it's why in short order, i bring you another. (plus, if you're up in the middle of the night working, you might as well do the things you will be tired enough to skip tommorow ;)
the ongoing shopping list on my fridge is my mother's legacy. she was a full workday, master of the crock pot kind of mom and the list grew out of us telling her things we wanted or things we were out of while she was busy doing something else, so she would give us a "write it on the fridge" which is what i do now. (i take it a step further and say i am not responsible for getting a thing that doesn't make it on the list -- always on the lookout for those mothering clauses -- you're welcome in advance ;) and while my list usually happens on some recycled elementary school art, and my mom's was an efficient dry erase board, the concept is the same. and deciphering the list while going in the fridge for coffee cream is always entertaining. looking forward to buying "wofols" -- easy brekkie, but totally not clued in to what "pac mixs" are. insight is welcome. ;)

it's another go go gadget day. today's writing is about editing and chapter structure. exciting stuff, i know

good enough

2011-12-07T02:54:00.001-08:00

this is how i craft. i know. you don't see where i have the space to do you. but it works. and why is my purse right there? (i am a bad putter-awayer & if i waited to put everything away first i would not get to the things i also want to do -- some relaxing crafting, reading, playing after dinner charades with the family -- which in my geeky little wanna be stand up comedy family last night included selections like "something from the periodic table", "packaging hard drugs in colombia", and "the statue of liberty" i can't even explain how hysterical these were -- you're just going to have to stop by and take part) and clearly i am also in the middle of making dinner (i think this may have been the night d made chicken -- see styrofoam container that didn't quite make it into the garbage ;) -- i ignore that sort of thing because a) see bracketed confession above & b) i am glad he cooks unprompted and don't want to throw a wrench into that ;)
how i will crowd myself into a space to work is a bit like how i crowd myself into my life scheduling. i've learned it's ok to for things to be full if i can keep my head & remind myself of the big picture -- taking time for others, doing my work well, recharging in body and soul, not short changing the many things that are going on. if two many balls drop, there needs to be a reshuffle. but i am a firm believer in good enough. you have to know though when you embrace good enough, you have to be ok with the a dust bunny here or there, or making do, or doing your best with what you have. it saves the time you would have spent obsessing about things that don't matter, or insisting you make another trip out to get things marginally better than the ones you already have, or dropping the whole attempt because things are not chugging along perfectly. good enough takes practice, but it is an infinitely more enjoyable way to live life. mostly because you don't have to be life's star. we are all good at different things, and sometimes it may come together so that we really shine at something, but the truth is, in order for everyone's gifts to have airtime, we need to also be ok with playing supporting roles. Which good enough does. It celebrates the people around us, making each one feel validated instead of competed with. Which, in the end, is more than good enough.

mistletoe and everyday glitter

2011-12-04T16:11:00.001-08:00

my tree has been up for a week. and we are a Christmas loving family. so it is no surprise little c has since acquired his own tree (and decorated it with a surprising amount of coffeehouse themed ornaments) the santa claus parade went right past our house, the gifts are wrapped (i like to collect them prior to december so we can spend the month outside of the malls and actually celebrate), and we are listening to seasonal tunes everyday. doing a bit everyday means when december is over we will be ready to move into 2012 and all the adventure it will likely bring. in the meantime, we are okay with being seasonally immersed.

tommorow the writing is occuring around home holiday staging.

2011-11-30T07:09:00.001-08:00

storylines on the page and in life are both unfolding like mad. not a bad thing. going along for the ride. on my to do list is a trip to starbucks with my laptop to write in peace for a bit. (have it on the calendar already to keep me motivated) until then i'll be writing on scrap paper. and of course some Christmas baking. the only thing better than making gingerbread cookies is not having to make the dough first. love gifts from bake-happy friends

the avoidance of tinsel and the cutting of potatoes

2011-11-28T06:55:00.001-08:00

a weekend of photo ordering: a shutterfly book of memories and Christmas cards and framed works by the talented ADV
and some celebrating (a good friend's 50th birthday -- which incorporated a pig roast -- which suits this sometimes country girl, always omnivore just fine)
some jumping the Christmas gun and putting up the tree and making and eating a gingerbread house already.
hosting some great friends and wrapping the weekend up with a few playdates for the kids and some father son bonding while cooking time. you know i love it.

today is the usual storyline to do list shuffle

first some link, then some ornaments

2011-11-24T11:20:00.001-08:00

fighting the urge to set up the Christmas tree. the last week of November is almost here.
i can cave then.
getting the to do list tackled and the day job done before the story gets to page. looking forward to seeing the middleschooler make like this guy and play this for the school talent show tonight. (it's actually a beautiful instrument. never get sick of hearing it. ok, only when his brothers are yelling "shut up" from their beds when he's practising too late ;) but that's another story for another time...

that's where i'm at.

of boys and storylines

2011-11-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

it is precisely at moments like the other night on the couch when i looked up from where i was sitting reading, pretending to be into the family tv viewing choices, and saw my middlest, a half year away from middle school knitting something for his great grandma and accomanied by his plastic rifle to which he had added my exercise stretchy bands and his 10th birthday telescope to make it have a scope, that i love being the mom of boys. that mix of sweetness like a layer of icing on something much messier and noisier. so it is no surprise that i am thrilled my leggy blond sister in law gave birth yesterday to another little sweet Vandepol boy. the middleschooler couldn't wait to rush to the hospital to welcome him. yes, we were a family of those annoying visitors only a few hours after the actual event. i would feel worse about that, but she is the type to offer you her chair when you come in, and be home quick as a wink and then out galvanting with the toddlers in tow two seconds after that.

today is a tackle that to do list day, more storylines (more mother and teenage girl drama dialogue) arrived in my head this morning while dashing out for treats for the kids' lunch. so you know i will make time to scribe those down too.

the food and drink that makes the to do list easier to tackle

2011-10-31T06:30:00.001-07:00

ticking off item to do lists

makes way for family activities like

taking in a fun fair night at church and watching the middleschooler in his youth group's seasonal drama production.

(so fun to see one's kid on stage in his element. when kids are little, as a parent you are so by their homework and studying word by word but as they get older they have whole pieces of their world you are not privy to unless they happen to think to mention it. the lines were like that for me. i'd hear him off studying them but it felt like someone else's kid up there getting into his role so thoroughly)

making apple fritters before

bedtime.

they turned out suspiciously similar to oliebollen which i have a huge weakness for (but the kids don't like raisins so we'll just call them donuts ;)

d and my dating this weekend consisted of a night with friends (all themed up and dressed up -- great fun, thanks rebec!) and some more lower-key stuff like errands au deux and sharing a bottle of wine while we putter around in the house doing our own thing side by side (reading a stack of mags and altering clothes and figuring out a new program on the computer -- i'm thinking you can guess who is who respectively)

week's forecast is a bit more to do list and some scribing thrown in.

i'll try not to make any more deep fried goodies, but i'm not promising anything.

if you know a little girl who has an american girl doll or this adorable canadian equivalent, (i have two nieces unwrapping them this Christmas) don't just be limited by the offerings in their brand specific shops. this weekend found me ordering the cutest little knee socks here

why we fall for comfy fall marketing

2011-10-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

latest quick projects. a canvas inspired by things spotted on my recent trip to granville st with heidi. -- because it's for a kid space. it's brighter and less polished than the original. but i love the motto. and because i cut up an ill fitting tee to make it wear worthy, i was left with fabric strips to bracelet up (it looks super cool next to chunky bling)

the middlest has the best comfy slippers in the house

a week where writing was done everywhere from the car to scraps of papers tucked in novels. anything but something regular.

the fall has been like that. some day job and parent volunteering at the kids' school, the middle schooler's rehearsals for his youth group's upcoming play, the middlest and little c keeping busy with their friends swapping one friend for another until i am sure they are seeing each other more than their blood relatives. it's been steady and not a day has been like another.

d and i have been homebodies when we can for most of the month. until last night when we got together with friends and apparently had a lot of catching up to do. i still didn't regret the 4 hrs 10 min sleep (i count it because i'm thrilled i at least logged that) even when i had signed up immediately following to take the kids to free family movie day at the local cinema (those 3D glasses make for some good sleeping anyways)

the rest of the saturday is chugging on as per usual -- birthday boy middlest celebrating with friends. me logging some organizing and laundry folding time around their noise. waiting for d to come home so we can be tired together and hang out in our pjs.

i want to be rested to properly enjoy rest day.you know a stack of reads is waiting

focusing on the blessings that fit into surprisingly small frames

2011-10-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

i was in church this morning.

singing a song so familar it is easy to sing on automatic pilot

when i remembered it was a favorite of my mother's.

during long sit still services, as a little kid, i played with her rings and rubbed the tips of her shaped fingernails non-stop.

which as a mom, i think of and give her kudos for.

i am tempted to do silent "talk to the hand" when trying to do the everyone sit still, every sunday ;) in fact i'm sure i have.

once they run off to sunday school and i celebrate surviving with coffee, i have a little more breathing room to enjoy them. (similar to watching them sleep, and wearing my favorite bracelet, and scrapbooking memories with them -- all the sweet smiles minus the naughty bits) it's probably why parents grow up and become grandparents and only remember

the sweetness and successful bits. ;)

it was a weekend punctuated heavily with playdates.

the shuffle of trading one kid for another meant the number in the house wasn't down, but the entertaining sure was.

so a few more pages got read, plans got made, coffee was had.

tommorow is a early wake up call for the day job

but the writing notebook is standing near by.

to do list in cork and black bean soup

2011-10-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

(two of my favorite colors)
traded a gym visit for a laundry room redo today -- touched up the missing bits on the wall and cupboards, treated the floor to a paint treatment, and hacked up a rug in basement storage into a motley of throw rugs. the only thing missing is a DIY version of this. but i put the rest of my creative energy into journal pages of novel scenes while watching the tail end of a sappy movie.

it'll have to wait until next time.

double servings of pumpkin pie and family

2011-10-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

i don't like picking one family per holiday so we hit them both.
( the my-mom-is-one-of -9-siblings-and-we-still-get-together-with-all-the-cousins-hall-rental-types and d's much more subdued but no less delicious family affair)

my belly and heart are full

ideas always collect on weekends like this where there is not enough time to write them down

i will try and scribe as many as i can tommorow

this past weekend

so as to stay near the boys

i read coffee cup and toast in hand

painted more on the library while the two littlest made punk cross-stitches beside me

and started a under the sea mural with little c in his room partly to redeem his graffiti-ing of benjamin moore's poolside blue and partly to keep him occupied over the long weekend.

this mothering thing is more of a crooked ongoing line than a straight forward list.

thankfully, i like it like that

weekend like you mean it

2011-10-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

my 25cent score of the week -- little shelf the exact color of d's smokeroom -- love when things match from one room to another for rearranging purposes. i am slowly killing the orchid but have plenty of fakes to replace it when the time comes

the weekend has sped full force by
3 kids at different venues friday night (the kind where you have to leave a dinner party in full swing to do teen pick-up -- but then return for more fun him in tow) exactly why i would finish our basement if nothing else -- to have a place to stash the kids during our entertaining. ;)
saturday that started with pics of the boys at my favorite park with this great photographer (fellow mom of three boys so she didn't get rattled at the mayhem of it all) the last photo session we did of "just the boys" only included the oldest two and was 9 years ago so it was about time
then speed shopping with my blond sister
BLTs with the family (organic family grown produce -- i produce 1 small tomato for every 20 of d's dad's + maple bacon on marbled cheese bread -- the kind of pairing you could have a stack of. (if you weren't fighting off the rest of the family ;)
7 year old birthday partying with little's c's bestie
and then a chill night where d cooked in exchange for my starbucks run.
i'll be plotting next week's writing schedule around my reads today. rest equals reading here

writing time search

2011-09-23T18:36:00.001-07:00

there are times when my writing outpaces my list making and times when my list making outpaces my writing.
day jobs in their various forms and timings (in conjuction with the kids getting back to school and the new must-dos that that brings + the volunteerish type stuff on top) means i need to rethink where i reposition writing into my day in order to get it done.

when i was writing mother mexico and working three gigs from home that was at 3am -- which d was supportive enough to wake me for -- i whine upon waking and it was costing us to publish that book so i knew he did it morning after morning when i said "set the alarm for 3" but then fell back asleep when it did go off that and he had to rewake me because he loved me and my dreams) and it is exactly why when i was dating a boy a million years ago and we were discussing dreams like kids do and i said i wanted to be a writer and he said "couldn't you be a secretary?" i knew i had to keep looking until i found my d.
our life isn't perfect. but i don't know a soul's whose is -- no matter how well presented their FB page ;) but i've learned that it is in the embracing the stuff that is working and letting go of the stuff that isn't -- the not keeping track -- that is the stuff my happiest married friends have going for them.

this year, filling in the gaps of story on the novel on the go, i know he would do 3 am wake up calls again. but truth be told, i'm going to look for something a little less drastic ;)

i'm off to paint the library some more. little c moved in some furniture the other day so i might be stepping around it.

if you haven't visited houzz before.(do it now -- like my friend jen said all bossily) you might never buy a decor mag again.
visit me too :) http://www.houzz.com/user/mishvan

the home stretch of the upstairs library

2011-09-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

d and i have dreams of wall to wall bookshelves with a library ladder, but it won't be in this house. but we do have a lot of books. so i have moved a bunch into the tourquoise cabinet (they look super cool behind the wineglasses -- love all the colors going on) and decided to make the top of the stairs a bigger deal than it was. it used to be a large closet (aka as the gift closet and my "thrifty chicks" (online store) storage) but when i pulled the front of the closet off (thankfully one of the few things that wasn't plaster in this old house) and started wildly painting (this is my third color attempt in the space) and topped it off with an antique plate shelf (found it in the basement) held up with brackets from creekside. (thanks, installer dad :)

when i'm not reading (one of mel's picks) or writing (today's character is attempting group therapy) you know i will be painting

on dishes and aprons for the fun of it

2011-09-19T06:48:00.001-07:00

every time i look at my kitchen i feel like messy debbie travis ;) paint treatments are fun + i am not the sort of person who feels sick to my stomach to leave dishes in the sink til morning. i'd rather tackle them when i have a lull in my day the next.

the little bambi pictures have been claimed for little c's room. i am attempting to edit it so that it lacks the destructo-decorator quality he insists on putting upon it. i'm thinking reading nook (a la his favorite spot at the library) might ensure the closet at least looks good ;)

still wearing my cute apron that matches my favorite pjs (which is essential because let's face it -- pjs are a large part of my indoor wardrobe repetoire don't get me started on pj wear outdoors tho) around the house + admiring the flowers from my cousins' greenhouse. to order your own to make your house happy, click here

off to write for a few minutes. the house is still quiet.

a million little pieces of workday

2011-09-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

a story that breeds other stories.

that's what the day's brought

and some heat

and some mess

and some to-dos

they all work together to burn daylight

and i don't mind at all.

current craft on the go is these vintage bambi storybook pictures i have framed in all white for the library. to hang opposite to the dog portrait little c gave back to me. like cabela's for the anthropologie market

excuse me while i jump up and down in celebration

2011-09-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

i never get sick of this wake-up bedroomscape

the boys finally captured two days into the routine

it turns out staples is right
this is the most wonderful time of the year ;)
we have found our rhythm as a family this september.

of course, it could be the end of the summer where everyone starts feeling on top of one another and antsy for change.

that is making this seem smoother flowing.

not to mention, i keep checking if it's ok to be this relaxed while doing errands, not having to break head locks mid transaction or anything.

i spy writing time

and it excites me

one of my latest thrift store jaunts (have to keep the online store stocked, you know...) found this adorable hostess apron which matches so well with my clearance rack cardi that i am tempted to wear them together for the everyday (maybe good foodie stories would result? ;)

and while taking in the lives of the queens and kings of england with history enthusiast d, i have been working on this kitschy little kitchen art (i'm working on a more polished version to give my friend jen, of fellow food and drink enthusiasm, for her beautiful housebuild in progress)

this is what the denial of summer's end looks like

2011-09-05T10:30:00.001-07:00

the only writing that is getting done is list making.

one last day to distract the boys from trouble making til school gets back in.

projects recently completed -- blackberry picking mission (perimeter of local park) and subsequent muffin making & frame bedazzling (to broken glass what lemons are to lemonade)

d's home, and we're on back to back computers -- the way we often veg, the boys keep running to the trampoline (giving thanks for the net surround as they practice their self-titled "ninja gymnastics"), and i'm sure i can scare up something to read while they're all occupied.

some sun sparkle, some artificial bling

2011-08-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

the tail end of summer

has been about more memory making (fishing and boating as a family yesterday -- i love this pic of the middlest and his little adoring cousin -- definitely will be framing it --,

just hanging out most of the time) and crafting (see my take on this stella and dot brooch. the library is also getting the rest of its coat of paint) and very little actual writing. i'm waiting to blitz when they all go back to school ;)

those crazy girls who swear off shopping

2011-08-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

i've become one of them

a long time ago i borrowed the book animal, vegetable, miracle (about a family who goes a year without shopping) from my soccer friend anne. and it resonated with me (not so much that i was willing to forgo buying everything, including growing all my own food, but still there was something appealing about it -- for the interesting and more everyday aware life it provided) add to that all the bloggers who were tracking their month without spending and i started giving it more thought. so i did it. here's how it went:

1 month no spending. conciousness experiment, savings booster. (allowed -- groceries, gas, necessities and experiences but not STUFF)
day 1: started on the middleschooler's 14th bday, already had his gifts but nothing to wrap them in. settled on sketched on lined paper, turned out cuter than store bought wrap.
day2: finding the hardest expenditures to give up are the little ones -- no mini reno supplies, magazines (even thrift store ones), dollar store makeup
day3: dreamed that i had gone out shopping -- panicked upon waking up (clearly this is deeper seated than i thought ;)
day6:forgot and invited a friend to go thrifting, she couldn't so i avoided trying to get out of it after the mis-invite, having a writing and home renovating surge of creativity (glazed the kitchen cupboards using stain and rags i already had on hand) tackling my magazine obession by reading DIY blogs
day7: surprisingly, the absence of the shopping distraction has spilled over into constructive long term planning and short term bill cutting (brainstormed and reconfigured hundreds of dollars of budget room in only a couple of days) everything from banking fees to digital cable holiday pause. sent e-cards to friends when i thought of them, bartered to get what i wanted.
day8: i've never been a fan of telling the kids when payday is -- like setting them up for a paycheque to paycheque mentality -- so we never have. so they still haven't clued in that we're through week 1 of no spending
day9: yesterday i feigned errands and went to the library by myself and read an hour's worth of new magazines. i also keep having book buying urges so i have pulled out the books i have bought in the past for their acclaim or interesting covers that didn't grab me from first read and am attempting them again with fairly good results
day10: a friend asked what i plan to do without my regular thrifty chicks sourcing. i said i have a bit of a stockpile to rotate through and plan to purge my personal stock as well. started doing some of that for today's listings.
day11: looking through catalogues and magazines usually enables me to write long lists of things that i want to acquire, a third of the way through this experiment, i'm finding i'm less interested in doing the lists. also, delaying gratification has been better for life planning across the board (less impulsive decisions and better thought out ones that are more efficient)
day12: i'm finding the spending i am doing is lifestyle based -- the kind i usually try and cut back. the truth is stuff can be acquired by recycling (today's project was a wreath using supplies i already had on hand, in this month i also tweaked the closet with an old shower rod, and made a new valance out of old curtains)what i have and tweaking hand-me-downs, but spending on doing things and entertaining -- that's where memories are made and abundance is felt.
day14: when talking to friends about books (and keeping in mind my dwindling pile of reads), i thought of joining the quality paperback book club. if i wasn't on the 30day plan, it would be an impulse even though it doesn't line up with my plan to cut down monthly spending committments (lower bills etc). but i usually wouldn't put the two together. on the plus side, i am having a way easier time not throwing in doo-dads, makeup, or magazines into the shopping cart when grocery shopping so the pantry pickings are that much better.
day15: cut flowers on the table beats another knick knack for feel good factor
day16: good for my magazine compulsion, i inherited a few stacks of decor magazines from my aunt. while reading the color for my upstairs library occured to me (a light lemonade) so i painted test strips with blended acrylic and wrote the "buy the paint" date on the calendar. lesson: delaying gratification hones the look you really want. i always pass on the magazines when i am done and my girlfriends do the same.
day18: a friend with a newly reno-ed house gave me her discard can of paint, (she didn't like the way it turned out) a few shades darker than the yellow i had first conceptualized for the library. as i was painting it (not shopping makes more time for house fixing), i realized that same space has been painted with others' discard paint by me two times already -- both times the results were less than i had hoped. third time's the charm.
day19: there are many items i put on my list that i researched with the intent of buying them at month's end, that i land up crossing off. had it not been "no spending month" this month, they probably would have been impulse purchases. lesson: delayed gratification means having a better picture of what i wanted. often that meant something more specific to me or an experience i could treasure longer than the thrill of new stuff.
day20: resurrecting an old promotion for the online store (enter a coffee gift card draw with your donation) means a steady stream of new stock for thrilled customers. also, my reorganizing stock (i had to move it out of the library area in order to paint) and relisting meant older stock un-noticed the first go round also sold.
day24: my book wishlist is growing, (specific ones i've read reviews on) but i haven't run out of reads like i'd feared i would -- friends have lent me good ones and i found ones i have previously bought but not read (i am not a library checker-outer -- i always accrue the giantest of fines that would have been better spent funding the dream library d and i want -- the kind with the tall ladders and too many books to count)
day26: not buying stuff meant filling my time in other ways -- i took the kids to the ocean, a new waterpark, hosted girlfriends and playdates and sleepovers. i also have worn more of my jewelry i had already but had not worn and found new ways to wear outfits i already had but consistently wore the same way.
day30: organized the boys' backpacks, shoes, in house school supplies, and found out where we still have to fill in the blanks. love that we don't have a big shopping tradition as a family -- more time for memories that don't take place in a mall ;)
post script: loved this experience more than i thought i would. more for the efficiency realization (using what i have, saving the shopping time), shopping purposefully, and for spending on experiences a bit more of the time.
(also realized i love the 30 day format and all it's applications -- organization, increased writing, exercise... it gets addicting)

moving things around when you can't move the words around

2011-08-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

the organizing thing that strikes me more often in back to school season than in springtime means the house is getting rearranged (think closets as opposed to furniture)

i may have added even more do-dads to the kitchen wreath

taken pictures of tidied areas

jumped up and down over these baked goods that are waiting for some girlfriends to come over and help me inhale them in celebration of a friend's birthday

started planning next new year's outfit (you know i love to) now that i have the earrings on order (to source your own fabulous earrings, book your own stella and dot trunk show-- contact this great girl: julie degroot at juliesjewels@telus.net )

i'm hoping notebook scratching is to come once the troops have scurried to their respective rooms

bad day start good day end

2011-08-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

it's ok that my battery recharger is no where to be found when i am contemplating a beach day because it's almost my birthday and starbucks has informed me they are sending me the annual free drink, i have a stack of mags and books to read, the sun is out, and there is salad waiting to be picked in my garden. i'm thinking on the things that are good and lovely ;)

that said, if said recharged wants to show itself, i'd be most grateful ;)

happy weekend to you.

i'm at the "not going to get any real writing done this summer" realization. goal setting set for september. reason #101 i don't home school ;)

post script: thank goodness despina brought her snap happy camera and self. beautiful shots of our first trek to centennial beach -- only a bit of a drive, but like a world away...

plenty of sunshine and the potato in a few forms

2011-08-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

it's sunday post church and post sun delighting, so you know d is whipping up culinary delights (double deep fried hand cut potato wedges + corn on the cob) and i am reading everything in sight. (wrapped up the pact and continued on hungry for life) tommorow AM's writing plans begin.

everyone in charge of their own whirlwind

2011-07-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

sunday

i am convinced that a true measure of love is hearing d lead little c away from my room with a "leave mom alone, she's having a nap." while i am laying in bed reading in the middle of the afternoon.

it reminded me of this.

and made me tres petit sentimental.

it's not my traditional writing day so i am tucking away the storylines that come to me for tommorow. for now i am wandering around in a messy house looking for the next thing to read.

monday

the middlest is not aware of the irony of his room. he doesn't have time to look into it, having moved on from this am's paper knife making to sewing a cape in the living room to making homemade donuts. and yes, leaving a messy little trail behind himself. lucky for him, i am too wrapped up in reading, writing, and kitchen wreath making to care. it'll catch up with us later

back to back goodness

2011-07-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

the cat is engaging in the lazy days of summer. as are we all. a day off today that consisted of a morning starbucks date (thanks leanne), followed by an afternoon cherries and diet pepsi date (thanks clarinda), followed by sitting in a friend's backyard watching the kids play in the pool (thanks charlene) one of those fabulous days when spur of the moment plans back each other up all fun like.

the middleschooler is newly obsessed with lattes. he made his own syrup yesterday (make your own: 3/4 c white sugar, 1 c water, 2 tsp spices, 1 tsp vanilla -- boil, turn to min and simmer and stir until thick, cool, store in washed out wine bottle in the fridge) and is frothing milk to accompany nearly every meal and snack. hopefully he loses interest before my espresso maker does ;)

my friday night date consisted of bbq venison chops a la D (i'm getting lazy about vegetable making and am simply opening the mixed green salad box every night to accompany the meat and potatoes) followed by an ice cream run (bribing the boys with said "i scream" run made for a very clean kitchen) and a magazine stack read through.

today's writing was good flowing but ultra short. maybe a little something more tommorow...

there's a hole in your curtain, have a spring roll

2011-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

the master bedroom improvements (ruched valance, revamped girlie closet) and the notebook scribblings are due to the latest creative experiment (will blog about details when the month is over) + fuelled by vegetarian spring rolls.

little c continues to drive me crazy with his room improvements. which depending on the day might include cutting a corner out of the curtain for a blanket for his stuffys and giving himself a room number like other rooms in the house. i'm going to write his destructo-decorating into the budget as a fancy arts camp (i have never purchased so much paint for one room) to be fair, his project ideas turning into instantly executed projects all impulsive-like is something i'm model-ing nearly every day. and while i love my project results, he is similarly smitten with his. plus, he has recently acquired a degree (likely from that fancy arts camp) who can argue with that? ;)

writing continues, attempts to balance with summer life and the to do list. it's an ongoing thing.

summer monday

2011-07-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

summer continues to run by.

d and i insist on having wine and cheese nights at home even if we are surrounded by laundry.

little c is still gradually moving the contents of the house into his room so it looks like a cool apartment (when i tucked him in last night he had set up a cash register nightstand and a fully stocked wine glass bookshelf. this reminds me of when he did the foreshadowing upon my grandmother gifting me with some of her beautiful old crystal -- little c: "thanks, grandma. we broke a lot of our old ones" i would have taken pictures but the place was closed ;)

the middlest is still making things -- guns with sliding safetys out of discarded pizza boxes and the like and if you thought i was lenient with the crafting -- on sunday afternoon i awoke from my nap to find him taking apart two computers "dad said it was ok"

i'm further relaxing the to-do list into a set of must do priorities and then leaving the rest

boy 1 and boy 2 are taking over the family shedule with their early morning berry picking employment so i'm predicting stories written in the afternoon

a variety of things from a variety of sources

2011-07-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

the garden is growing, so are the weeds (i go out and pull a few every day so i don't feel bad about them. i'm not a weed killer kind of girl but the world is definitely prettier without them)

little c is at a sleepover at his grandma's with the middlest (before that he was drawing pictures of his much loved new sock monkey) they're there because today i am the mother of a 14 year old (i wrapped the presents last night before crawling into bed and all i found was some previously sketched on lined paper -- it turned out like i might want to recreate from time to time -- the best kind of recycling is also easier than new consumption) he and his friends are attempting their annual all nighter. you think i would be writing right now, but i'm reading stacks of magazines instead.

on the home front

2011-07-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

the writing is happening this pm because the day was taken up by the to-do list (but it had some fun stuff on it too like am coffee that drifted into lunch with a friend (insta-playdate for the kids), a shopping trip to the thrift store to try and find art for the laundry room (instead i found this adorable dog painting for little c's room), and then a flurry of home project activity (sanding and staining the harvest table and chairs, glazing the kitchen cupboards -- the recent grey made a great base, and doing up the mini bulletin board to match my front door which also matches little c's dresser -- when i have paint on hand in colors i like i use them everywhere ;)

now to not make all this evening's characters DIYers...

we all have our projects

2011-07-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

summer holidays. freeflowing days where it feels perfectly acceptable to read during nearly every waking moment. between that we're in the middle of a weeklong of celebrating the middleschooler and little c's back to back birthdays with each side of the family and their friends. (they had the same due date 7 years apart)

just as reading has been taking over my spare time (this weekend's reads were shopgirl and still alice), fort building has been taking over little c's. first it was the living room. (d and i left on our date the other night while the boys were watching a movie over a living room wide fort no one saw the need to take down ;) then his room and the upstairs alcove (where if i'm missing any knick-knacks i know to look for them there) and always he insists smokey is part of the fun. (you can tell from the picture, smokey is long suffering and cooperates)

while my goal is to up the written word count (this morning early am, i was half dreaming in paragraphs suitable for the current scene which you know is some sort of scribing withdrawal) i'm not going to guilt myself out about it. that would defeat that glass of iced tea relaxed vibe that summer provides (even if the sun is nary about)

a laugh, a re-read, a sleep-in, repeat

2011-07-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

i've been a sore ear girl (annoying ear infection) and i've had some time off and the kids are on holidays so i've been indulging in a few sleep in days in a row (which plays out like this: wake up with d's alarm, run out and make coffee, grab book, crawl back under covers, fall asleep book in hand, wake periodically, pretend i am still reading, re-read same two paragraphs, fall back asleep) my mom is worried i am not slowing down enough to get better. the truth is, i was not even ready to leave the house til my gym appt at nearly noon (she also laid into me for that (apparently working out while sick is the equivalent of going outside with wet hair -- at 33 i still catch heck from her about that too ;), but i told her my patience wears ever so thin when i am under the weather and my happy place going was not working anymore so i had to escape les garcons for a teeny bit -- which is good because the rest of the day held playdate hosting, paper routing, park jaunting, thrift shop haunting fun ;) i know i probably will love my brood in the same pattern when they grow up because that's what happens. of course, by then they will probably have wives to protect them from me ;)

i've gone on before about how i love that some of my closest friends are also my relatives (my sisters, sisters-in-law, cousins, d's cousins) makes for this kind of story. phone my mom. phone is busy. phone my cousin instead, we make plans. get through to my mom who was in fact on the phone making plans with that cousin's mom. (the odds are impressive that the right mother daughter duo was in play here -- my mom is one of 9)

i'd use this quiet house time to write, but i've made myself sleepy with a petit glass of chocolat shiraz & some black licorice so you know i'm off to read the same two paragraphs again (current novel is one in a long line i've read about the kennedys) i'd count down the hours til writing time, but i have a feeling this is going to be one lazy week

ran across this poster on tumblr. it made me laugh. i'd show u pics of my cute growing garden but my camera card bit the dust. so later then.

juggling isn't just for books

2011-07-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

last year's little planter bit the dust :( will have to source another like it

you guessed it, i have another stack of books to read. i pick one up read for a bit, do a chore, take the kids somewhere, come home, pick up another etc. i loved when tara told me her mom did this and it was a childhood memory of hers: 3 reads always on the go: one for morning, one for afternoon, and one for evening.

finishing up painting (which now that you mention it, is not unlike the 3 books i have on the go -- there are always a variety of on-going projects to pick from ;) and lest i don't have a craft to interrupt them, i found a $1 clearance rack dress to alter into something i saw and wanted that was $200. (it makes more sense to me to put the difference in our vacation fund)

the stories continue to chug along. it'll be hard not to inject a whole lot of summer days into them, because summer just takes over like that. heat, mosquitoes, fans, swimming, bbq, salads... there's a lot to write about.

don't argue with the process

2011-07-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

i am all about things with cute names. slap a "baby arugula" label on some salad and i will eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner. ok, maybe not breakfast. that has to be something sweet to go with coffee ... but you know what i mean

plus when the weather is even the slightest bit warm, i get tres lazy with my cooking. like telling the kids this giant watermelon i just picked up on the way home is dinner. it seems to work. of course they seem to be constantly scheming to hit me up for pool trips and icecream so they're likely picking their battles. it seems to work too.

i've just discovered the antique lock off the kitchen has a monogram on it. adding to the need to find out more about this house/invest some time at the local museum archives. i'm thinking fall...

stories are wanting to come out all inconvenient like. i am tired and would rather listen to podcasts with my feet up. (i am an all over the place listener, anything from npr to cbc to roh) so maybe a little of the words for a little listen. it seems to work too.

summer day recipe, take another book off the stack and stir

2011-07-03T17:50:00.001-07:00

in the middle of a "how not to parent teenagers" manual that i am loving. (thank u, church library for hip practical read {if i sound suprised it's because of the dated front cover ;}) finished the first half on the deck, the second bit watching little c run around the nearby spray park, and finishing up the rest with my feet up.

not checking into the weather forecast in case it has something to say i don't like. i'm going to go ahead and look forward to more long sunny days like this one, writing, stepping over kiddie strewn craft supplies, and coralling the cat when he escapes outside through the perpetually left open door.

timing, murphy's law, and a little bigger little black dress

2011-06-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

i've been sourcing everywhere for one of those adorable maxi (read down to the floor) sundresses. you know i did the eco-friendly thing and sourced all the thrift stores first, but no luck. so i went to the mall. and i found the cutest long black one (i'm even giving it credit for making me feel all bohemian and writing more than usual) and wore it for the rest of the day (including traipsing in and out of the doctor's office to rule the middle schooler's nose not broken (from previous martial arts class) so he can attend his upcoming classes

then d came home. i might have been preening and expecting copius compliments ;)

d: what is that?

m: maxi dress, they're super hot right now

d: i like minis better.

i'll be indulging his favorite trend soon enough, but in the meantime i should probably wear my story producing frock non-stop

which works because i stumbled on a new writing process. like interviewing and then fleshing it into an article, but for fiction purposes. of course, its discovery coincides with the boys being home for the summer. so it is likely back to super early morning start times. which is probably not a bad thing on the writing discipline front. ;)

the summer daytime i'm reserving for a stack of books and a notebook to jot down ideas while keeping an eye on the crew.

you know it won't go quite that smoothly, but i'm ok with that.

(d has springcleaned the computer and it's like someone messing around in your kitchen -- i can't find a thing;) so pic is of flowers little c picked for me last summer)

never underestimate the power of a well placed ruffle

2011-06-27T23:25:00.001-07:00

it's officially summer holidays which means i am notebook writing. today that happened beside a pool while my kids swam. the stories (of which there are several intertwining) are collecting in several notebooks that also contain lists of projects to do and groceries to get and freelance bills to send off.

of those projects, the latest was executed this previous saturday (i get tired of other projects i start -- currently kitchen cupboard painting -- and do mini crafts between so as to not lose my head) the ruffled lampshade. this $2 crystal working lampstick has been the latest find i love sitting in the bright blue hutch i love. as soon as i spotted this ruffled do it yourself lampshade online, i knew it would be a perfect fit to girlie up my kitchen harvest table. the blogger who did it first used a sewing machine and glue gun, but not wanting to pull either out, i did it up with handstitching.

steps for the interested:

1. locate a lampshade (if you find an ugly paper one with tassels attached like mine it will likely set you back as mine did, 50 cents)

2. cut 1-2 inch wide lengths of fabric to make ruffles out of. (i used vintage tablecloth i also plan to make matching dishtowels out of)

3. do a simple in/out stitch the length of, pull to gather.

4. stitch or glue to lamp starting with the bottom layer.

5. when the bottom layer is full, lay the next ruffle a layer up, making sure to overlap for ruffle effect.

6. complete layers

7. enjoy

tommorow will likely bring more of today, feeding the kids easy summer stuff like salad, corn on the cob, and grilled cheese so as to maximize the writing time.

hallmark has nothing on little c

2011-06-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

who else could whip up a father's day card equal parts hysterically funny and tearjerkingly sweet?

it is good that he has such gifts

because they offset the six year old tantrums that he is also occasionally gifted with

in a similarly mind wiping way, d and i finished up our uninterrupted movie au deux to discover little c and the middlest mid chess game (little c is so intrigued with the game he is likely to walk up to old men in starbucks and suggest game strategy, which while embarrassing is also very line 1 above)

you really can't properly have one without the other.

less than 12 hours til the next writing session. (i might be forced to address the weird life stage in which one realizes she is the mother of a teenager writing exams. i'm sure her delusions of teenagehood being a mere second ago will make for good entertainment for others. it's all about the common good after all ;)

i'm a bit of a faker when it comes to flowers

2011-06-16T12:39:00.001-07:00

the whirl that is june means that a girl is well within her rights to celebrate to do list end with flowers for herself. even better if said flowers are the kind that stick around for a while and have been previously sourced on a variety of shopping trips so she can throw them into a pot with one eye on the canucks sad defeat ;) (sources: trivet: linen and things; yellow pot, thrifted hand made; faux peonies, poppies, and grasses -- dollar giant; feather cocktail pick, objekts; blossom twigs, creekside)

a few scenes blocked out for the afternoon. you know i'm brewing more coffee for the occasion. (even tho i send my sleep deprived d to work armed with green goodness instead ;)

june means cardboard 'nucks cars + other paper crafts

2011-06-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

i've been switch-hitting between painting the kitchen cupboards and writing novel, but even i (the type of girl who talks while other people are trying to watch) watched the game.

due to the end of the end flurry that is june our family's crafts have been the speedy kind (quick made cards that fill my kitchen kept correspondence box because when you want to send a card, time is of the essence), a sketched out quote (in this case a scripture quotation) for the master bedroom dresser that took as long to write out and frame as it did to dust the dresser top. the only one who is spending time on his crafts is little c (which no one minds because when the 6 year old is occupied, things are a lot quieter ;)

yesterday i left one of the novel's couples camping where they are currently struggling at the picnic table to come up with things to say. let's hope today is less awkward.

sorting the mess out by reading in the middle of the night

2011-06-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

wishlist tray from anthropologie

i grew up with a supermom. she would balk modestly at that label, but she was the epitome of what current culture looks up to -- high powered job, neatly dressed kids, clean house, dinner on the table and a loving and supportive husband. but, thank goodness, she has always been forthright with me about what it takes to "have it all" 110% of yourself, too blessedly close to burnout (the truth is, you can't. not all at once and you will always have to make individual choices to get there, oftentimes sacrificing things not considered popularly important -- hobbies, time for oneself, etc)
so there was no mystique to me.
and i married someone like my dad. someone who took for granted i'd work like his mother did and supported my dreams as to what that would look like and what i would do.
but what i underestimated, especially this last year, when my youngest was safely ensconced at school, was my dream of that coming together into something utopian.
what i wanted was what the majority of women want. something fulfilling and well paying while the kids were at school so i could resume what i want as much or more than professional success during the hours they're home -- to revel in being their mom and then after they went to bed -- hanging out with the man i fell in love and made this life with.
but it was something that was hard to discuss. there is a general cultural feeling of exhaustion -- of how "this is just modern life" this rushing around and biting the heads off the ones we love, and never quite getting the balance right. but just like a recent discussion with girlfriends in which i said i refuse to settle for friendships that are as deep as a puddle, i felt conflicted about the work life i was moving towards.
it's not that i am without options. i have a decent chunk of university coursework to transfer, a supportive spouse, and the model of many great women around me, a mother who did working motherhood exceptionally well, parents who respect my professional choices, and a bulk of bills to pay to make earning a supplementary earning for my family motivating.
but as i looked closer at the women i respected professionally i didn't envy the look of their everyday. and that was hard both to see and to fail to discuss. working motherhood is so polarized that it is the conversational equivalent to the breast vs bottle debate -- no one wins except for the ones who stay out of it ;)
so the last year was spent realizing i am happier with a whole host of unimpressive part-time jobs done from home that support the life i want than to rush the workplace gun and regret it later. (career transition has been postponed 3 more years by which time i will have been at home 17 years and still able to do work i love over 25 years after that DV)
what i realized a while into it, is that while modern day men have been raised to see women as their equals, they in their support of us might talk us into a faster workplace inclusion only to the surprise that family life isn't as cushy as it once was or that we as women are resentful in having to do the bulk of the second shift at home. (not because our modern men won't pitch in but because of the popular opinion that we have higher standards for what the finished job looks like ;)
so it was with great pleasure i consumed danielle crittenden's "what our others didn't tell us: why happiness eludes the modern woman" it offers, like the best books not across the board solutions, but an insightful helpful intelligent sorting of priorities and politics.
is it possible that someone somewhere might think i'm a ridiculous throwback? most likely ;) but i am convinced it is a better life than the one we think we have to settle for -- a lack of investing in the things we know deep down that matter, and a rushing to the next stage of life without savoring the first.

sometimes resting is a discipline unto itself

2011-06-05T20:28:00.001-07:00

some summer weather -- finally!

makes up for having to hold my garage sale in the rain last weekend

i am an irish tanner so you know a school waterslides day, tree farming, and a beach day added up to a little bit of pink ;)

and my cupboards got only dribs and drabs done on them

because i am not about to waste the vitamin D opportunity

a night out with d yesterday and a late afternoon nap today means the kids have had plenty of opportunity to grow piles of mess in my absence. which makes for both words and stuff to put into place. trying to read and take cute pictures of the cat and make the most of rest day while it's here which means i am taking every stacking short-cut known to woman ;)

it'll still be there tommorow.

less than 12 hours til my next writing appointment with myself.

i can't wait.

where i'm at right now

2011-06-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

in the midst of painting my kitchen cupboards a dove grey

needing to do last night dinner's dishes

craving coffee

i keep going to look at the class pictures that just came home so cute

a big stack of post workshop homemade cards in my purse prettier than what i come up with on my own ;)

in the middle of reading shop class as soul craft except that i've temporarily misplaced it which probably means i should de-wardrobe my bedroom floor ;)

off to pack lunches and do the day's to do's

and after that

writing a scene about a mother daughter arguement

(i don't have current life material, but i was enough of a teenage twit to my mom to not run out of past material for quite some time ;)

a few stripes, some flowers, and a little sun

2011-05-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

me spying on d and little c while pretending to do laundry. they're so cute

these sunny days are definitely making me add some outside to-do's to my list. if only to nab some vitamin D while it's around. (am so looking forward to a whole bunch of summerish days in a row!)

on the inside to do list, i scratched off some mismatched DIY roman blinds (made from dinner napkins. stitch two together on one side, hang and fold and pin, attach another to the back for opaqueness and use the remaining one from the set for the other side -- have to make room for the cat to sit ;) for the kitchen and hanging a cross-stitch from my grandma in the hallway. (reminds me of cath kidston)

off to garden and day job and to write a smidge too.

weekends are made for this

2011-05-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

these canadian geese broke up traffic in front of my house the other day

i'm a fan of cute gardening gloves, but can't handle wearing them myself so thankfully little c wanted these so i had an excuse to purchase ;)

the garden, teeny mite that it is, is planted.

the garage sale has been held,

library in progress/thrifty chicks stockroom cleared out. and i am tired.

but the good kind of tired.

and i have no where to be but at home with my boys.

who thankfully have a bunch of library books to keep them busy. little c has been rabidly checking them out (he is obsessed with his self-checkout pin, forgot it the other day and reset it before officially checking out on his own ;)

while movie-nighting with d, i have my writing notebook and another for all the brainstorming i intend to do -- middleschooler's room overhaul, yard sketches, and pantry supplies breeding schemes (am considering properly learning to preserve this year) wish me luck.

any smartie pants suggestions on the above most welcome.

everyday bling with extraordinary purpose

2011-05-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

i'm rocking out my new necklace today, made by Leo in Haiti. if you're looking for some fair trade jewelry that does something more than just what it appears to do -- make your outfit cute ;) check out the amazing work of the apparent project

"
The "Un-Orphanage"

Haiti is known for being the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, the victim of this century's worst natural disaster, and home to almost 500,000 orphans. The ApParent Project is responding to these needs with a desire that Haiti become known for its unique beauty, the incredible strength and ingenuity of its people, and the deep faith and hope that has sustained them through unimaginable difficulty.

The ApParent Project is addressing Haiti's orphan crisis at the root by responding to the needs of families before they are at the point of desperation, driven to give their children to an orphanage because of exteme poverty. After all, the vast majority of Haiti's "orphans" have not been orphaned by parental deaths, earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods, but are children of living parents who gave them up simply because they knew that the orphange could feed their child. Lagging adoptions, overcrowding, and lack of accountability has made many orphanages less than adequate homes for children, who often develop severe emotional problems such as reactive attachment disorder. This is why we are an "un-orphanage." We are finding creative ways for Haitians to be self-employed so that they can take care of their own children with dignity and joy. To read more about our mission click here, or begin to learn about our artisan program here. "

a few lunches to make, words to write, work to do, places to go, rooms to putter around in at home. that's what today is made of

a few less words and a few more tears -- that's what today was made of

2011-05-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

happiness is sitting down to watch a long western en famille and watching your middlest shoot the screen with his toy pistol in a fight of boyish excitement and watching his father smile at his antics like his heart was bursting at the seams. i know the feeling. my cup runneth over

i'm head over heels for this family of mine. and it's a nice feeling after an emotionally wrought out day. being witness to childhood friends' (my favorite reader and her blog suggesting sister) say goodbye to their beloved father, being reminded again how fragile life is, and how we as a human race are often rushing along busy doing the very things life isn't about at all. it was a blessed thing to celebrate a life well lived. and an encouragement to live life out true, shiny bits falling where they may, as the priorities align.

...and we're back

2011-05-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

i've conquered the long weekend camping laundry mountain (great family trip with friends of ours and their kids out of cell phone range -- so nice when you're married to someone who has a crackberry ;) even got some novel scenes into the on the go notebook and built some rustic garden beds out of a free side of the road wood pile the middlest and i picked up a while back for just this sort of thing (imagine them untaped and filled with soil and herbs and surrounded by gravel to get the future picture) now i'm roaming the house to find space for all the kids' camping souvenirs (heart shaped rock gifts to me, found fishing do0-dads, and sticks shaped like backscratchers) did i mention how i loved the technology break? ;) but you guessed it, i'm only too happy to tuck the kids in and watch a movie with d tonight.

more maiming of clothes followed by freshly baked cookies

2011-05-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

there are lots of times i'm glad i don't pay retail. if i hadn't only shelled out a loonie and 2 quarters for this shirt, i probably wouldn't have cut the collar off the polo shirt at little c's request to try it. it worked and now is one he will actually wear instead of one that will look cute sitting in his overstuffed drawer. (off to school today paired with his cute wearable monkey he made while i was coffee-ing with my blond sister this weekend-- she finds the best distractions for him ;)

it was one of those 7 am cookie baking for lunches days (my go to recipe -- gourmet mag's 4 ingredient PB cookies -- 1 c PB, 1 c sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp baking soda. 350 for 10 min)

i'm folding clothes for thrifty chicks, playdoh-ing it up with a little house guest, and putting some scene on page. hope the characters do something interesting.

a few pink lace flowers and some kid made pottery

2011-05-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

it's the weekend. the house isn't ready for any kind of company. we're all in our pjs and i'm working on the project du jour. a maxi dress. love them but being a short girl, it's best if i tailor my own to me so it's not too swimmy. i've decided against a tutorial as my steps so far have included destroying 2 cotton shifts and 1 skirt and piecing them together multiple ways, and sewing on embellishments before the actual piecing together. it's all a bit random, but i plan to keep at it until it's wearable. maybe to wear here in the coming weeks.

before the boys vacate the living area to their respective bedrooms, (enter hand stitching dress time + movie with d) i'll be puttering around the house arranging things like the new gr 8 art class pottery mother's day gift on the mantel and my mini plant with the cocktail swinging inn sign. i've already broke the news that dinner tonight is cheerios. (i'm good at rest day) ;)

12 hours til the next writing session...

if you're looking for something honest and helpful on marriage click this blogger's post

scenes from an ordinary wednesday made better with the anticipation of cupcakes to follow

2011-05-11T09:57:00.001-07:00

top: d's opa gave me a baby from his striped cactus -- thought a suitable home for it would be by the family wall -- it is strong enough to endure my lack of indoor gardening skills. (you know the only surviving kitchen plants are the fake ones i was smart enough to buy ;) middle: little's c art from the library pj story time, bottom: months ago little c took over our family bejewelled accounts (which makes for the best brainteaser coffee breaks) and made us a mis-spelled koala family. no one bothered to change it back

i've been waiting a week to give my mom her mother's day loot. we're finally celebrating tonight with the family and i'm making this talented foodie blogger's cupcakes to serve. and i can't wait to try her spin on sushi this weekend.

some writing, some day job, and some work on the library to follow.

sometimes a silver lining is a marked up ribbon someone else won

2011-05-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

today's shiny bits: vintage tablecloth that i'm turning into a stack of tea towels of this variety, wine bottles with labels so cute they're hard to recycle, and the way little c is ok with accepting others awards as his own ;) -- i'll have to cut the bottom off and put each half in each brother's album after i have a talk about earning our own awards not nabbing our brother's

i'm all about seeing the silver lining in the everyday. when we look for them across all the lives of the people we know, we see the amazing shiny exciting blur that the big picture makes. growing up in a small town where your life story interconnects with everyone else's you know and some you don't often surprises me. but doesn't freak me out like it did when i was younger. providence is easier to see when you look for the connecting threads between all our lives.

looking for the silver lining is more challenging some days than others. enter the gratitude journal. because it makes you live aware and in the writing your blessings of the day in it, makes you break the cycle of self-pity and admit that grace as well as hardship has been given to you this day.

i've gone on about it before, that filling a page of blessings. and i think i might be late to the movement, but the best selling author of 1000 gifts is on to something. can you imagine coming up with 1000 things you're grateful for. start googling for people's 1000 gift lists and read with amazement. you know it's on my can't wait to read it list.

blogging can be another form of gratitude journal. be prepared for some people to balk at it and find you a bit of a pollyanna. it's a small opportunity to explain what you're up to.

as for today, my notebook is sitting next to the counter where i'm making lunches so when the last lunch bag is zipped, my coffee and story will be waiting.

labor love balance

2011-05-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

scenes from a weekend: roses from a lovely secret pal, art installation little c called his tree house, message from the counter while doing dishes -- the water spots made this exact configuration when i lifted up the crockpot, lego building -- this set from Christmas was finally built

i spent the bulk of this weekend with my mom at one of those spiritual retreats where you do a lot of crying and hone the vision of how you really want to live your life out. (more big picture, less fleeting stuff) it was great. (once i clued in not to wear mascara the second day ;)

also part of the weekend was appys and wine with good friends, mother's day celebrating with family, lunch made by d, those made at school mother's day cards from the boys. working more on the library upstairs. love all that stuff.

as enamored with working from home as i am (and how it fits with the above) you know i am also intrigued by pre-retirement living (which is not what it first sounds like -- to sit on one's laurels early -- but to get the balance right and work to live, not live to work) one of the featured profiled guys had this to say:

What does Pretirement mean to you?

To “work on living not living to work”

How are you living Pretirement?
It’s definitely all about lifestyle. I have a very flexible work schedule, with only a few months in the winter when I am really busy. The great thing is that what I call “work” most people would consider recreation. I work for a small boutique style heliskiing company doing all the sales, marketing, advertising, branding and media. To me it’s not work. My heart is so far into it that I get excited everyday about something that is going on in the business. If we skied all year round I would probably become a work-a-holic but even in the busy season I still have breakfast with my kids, pick them up for lunch and take a day off each week to ski in the winter or dirtbike in the summer. I make my own hours and pretty much come and go as I please, but I still “make it happen!”. I was Mica’s first employee hired by the owner the first year he started the business. Now Mica Heliskiing is the leader in boutique small group heliskiing, known world over as the best skiing on the planet. SKIING Magazine awarded Mica “Best heliskiing” in their annual ‘best of’ resort guide for 2011. This is a big accolade for a small company who is only 2.5% marketshare. (toot toot, plug LOL).

What was your life like before Pretirement?
Stressful! Busy busy busy, never home always traveling, all work and little play. Not much time for the family and a lot of stress trying to pay bills, get the nicer car and the better house..high pressure jobs, never comfortable…it was a rat race and I was sick of being a rat. Too much uncertainty when you work for companies, the only security, financially and mentally for me is to be my own boss.

What are your Pretirement plans for 2011?
More of the same! A lot of family time, camping, traveling, dirtbiking, friends, food wine & living the dream!

What is your key piece of advice to anyone considering Pretirement?
Go for it! Just do it…take a chance! Don’t be fooled by this materialistic world we live in, you can work less and live more, simplify, downsize and create your own priorities. Get a life now, why wait until its almost over to retire?

if you're looking for kitchen inspiration this week, this may be my favorite over-haul i've read about to date

work made better

2011-05-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

the beauty of working from home is that no one is around to keep a tally on the pots of coffee you brew, it's ok to bribe yourself with magazines mid-day, or arrange wildflowers (starbucks take out cups make the cutest vases -- little c stumbled upon this first, i must confess) or dress shirts on your lunch break (the hanging on the door system is my solution to the middlest's inability to find a button up shirt come sunday morning)

i am smitten by the card he gave me nearly a week before mother's day. you know i'm likely to frame it. i understand his inability to wait. i had my mom over today and almost got up and got her mother's day present a handful of times. but i made myself wait. it's harder when you're 10.

today's main character is laundry folding while her mind whirrs. (good opportunity to show reader her backstory/inner dialogue) i am taking my notebook along to the women's conference i am attending this weekend so we'll see what happens to the story there. i ♥ taking notes and having multiple notebooks on the go (some fiction, some non) is my fave. it does something good to my brain.

speaking of good things...

this email today about Mother Mexico from a reader did something good for my writing heart.

"I've read it twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it both times, the descriptive language and the way the characters seem so real makes it a great read."

words like that are like a valentine to a writer. you know we love them.

when in doubt, do another coat of paint

2011-05-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

dresser stylings: the clock little c nabbed from his brother, the mirror he nabbed from me, the stick owl that used to live in the living room, the bowling trophy someone else won and he purchased at the thrift store.

remember how i had said i was stopping trying to fix little c's room. well, i'm bad at it, it turns out. cleaning his room led to getting rid of the stuff he didn't play with (but kept dumping out) which led to painting over the worst of his graffiti (i have now bargained with him that if he manages to not art up his walls i will keep him in an overstock of canvases, which he was all for, so we'll see. and if you see us hosting a gallery opening in the future, you'll know why ;) getting him to help me rearrange the furniture kept him busy between dinner and bedtime. i did have to throw in some of my own decor as negotiation. (which explains why the promotional beer mirror now hangs over his dresser -- at least it goes with the color scheme ;)

easy peasy pillows were whipped up after he went to bed. the beauty of being an imperfect and impulsive crafter means that supplies are whatever you have on hand in whatever way they turn out. (underneath cushions are two long vinyl outside pillows which i wrapped in spare standard pillow cases and stitched the edges of and one square throw pillow for which i cut off the excess of the curtain and wrapped like a present and stitched shut)

i have some work to get out of the way and then have my character's work to get to page. happy wednesday to you!

for fun and my personal inspiration, if you have a sec, let me know what crafts you've done lately with what you have on hand. i can't get enough.

real life as it is pictured in magazines

2011-05-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

some people don't like ads in magazines. i know this because in my thrift jaunts, i once picked up a copy of one of my favorite magazines that a previous owner had scribed "not worth it. all ads" on the front cover and then signed their name like a superstar. i bought it for that entertainment value alone. ;)

but the truth is the collective ads tell us the trends like a $5 stylist. the unimaginative will run out to get whatever specific item the ad is hawking, but you can be more intentional. the trick is to find the specific things in the picture that speak to you.

it might turn out that you are not after an entirely new kitchen and the construction mess and bills that accompany it, but a few potted plants, a clean sweep of clutter from the counter, a fresh coat of paint, a clever chalkboard with a pithy quote on it, and a few bottles of fancy water might do the trick.

or you might look at a footwear ad, like it so much you rip out, and then realize you have sandals in waiting that will do the trick once paired with the nailpolish pictured you fell for. $2 later, the close-enough look is yours.

the peony bunches snapped in the current house beautiful making that overpriced room look beautiful, are yours in 3 bunches @ $1.25 at the dollar giant.

easy peasy instant gratification with the dollars left over to save for the big ticket things of life (often less exciting, but if we have had our few dollars fun we're ok with that) the truth also is that in the putting together the things that speak to you for home or wardrobe and being imaginative in the sourcing of them, you are more likely to pick up your own style. and being able to shop free of a buy the whole outfit or room mentality is a smart girl skill you will love having taken the time to acquire.

for some no cost house freshening up or overhauling follow this brilliant nester's advice

for help ridding yourself of your attachment to stuff go here

when i wasn't pretending the dentist office was a spa today, i was collecting things to write about. due to the day's overpiled to-do list, you know i will be writing them down while i movie night with d tonight

there are some things even all nighter cheeseburger chips can't Rx

2011-05-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

the stitched family picture is done. finished it up watching "the corporation" with d. (accompanied by a little shiraz and too many all-nighter cheeseburger chips -- my food achilles heel) loved it. (the insights and info, not the horrible goings on)

if you want to make one of your own family, find the tutorial here. warning: it may not make you cuter than you are in real life. love how i look like a cruella de ville type and the entire family looks like they've undergone lip injections at a reduced group discount. ;) but i also find it funky and different and had a fairly realistic expectation of my stitching as art skills before i started out and was ok with them.

i'm off to wake the kiddos up. it's going to be a writing-heavy day.

sometimes 4-6 hours drying time is code for 46 hours of drying time

2011-05-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

mid saturday i finally addressed the kitchen floor that was killing me. our 70 year old house has all original hardwood flooring -- which is one of the things that made me beg d to also fall in love with it (which was marketing itself as so dirty inside and pink on the outside -- he did it out of blind love for yours truly and tried not to hate it ;) so we could buy it.

so when i moved in and found out that the flooring on top of the kitchen wood floor (three layers of industrially glued 40s, 50s, and 70s lino) wouldn't rip out in an hour like the carpet did, i panicked on the inside while pretending to love ripping up inch squares of floor with a butter knife on saturday afternoons. i will do anything to not have to hear "i told you so" in desperation, i did have a guy come in to do a quote once (he worked on getting up one of those square inch parts of the floor & immediately quoted me $1200 for the one room! so it was clear i wasn't the only one who didn't want to do it ;) so you know that when i finally got the last bit removed on saturday (may or may not have been crying in joy and thinking about cake to celebrate) i was so pysched to stain it and complete the rustic farmhouse floor i'd been mini stepping to completion (multi layer floor removal, rough sanding, painting with benjamin moore's black bean, sanding again, then staining with black walnut) it said 4-6 hours drying time, but i think someone at the factory meant 46 hours drying time. so i may have to write the experience into the novel so i can consider it worthwhile experience.

thank goodness, i can craft to relax. current on the go project is a family picture stitched onto canvas. you can do it too.

steps for the interested:

1. black and white photocopy a family picture -- enlarge if need be. (15 cents at the local library)

2. buy a 8x10 wood framed canvas (a loonie + a quarter at the local dollar store)

3. thumbtack the paper picture onto the canvas and poke stitching spaced holes around all the detail you want to include. (it's a bit finicky -- eyes nose, etc)

4. take the picture off and backstitch the detail to create a one of a kind portrait. (best fuelled by easter chocolate stash -- thanks secret pal)

i'm doing my writing later today. voting comes first!

when your mind empties at week end to make room for the next one

2011-04-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

yesterday i had a discussion with some women at my thursday morning group about knowing when to slow things down, take something off the schedule, have a nap, read something worthwhile, have that put-off discussion with a loved one. i'm finally getting better at it. part of the to-do list/life balance is lining it up with the priorities which make sense for your own life -- not someone else's. so even if i really respect someone and have the same core priorities, but we're in different places in life or have different challenges, our day to day life should reflect that. it's all those zen words you hear thrown about -- being intentional and the like -- the truth is when they are put into practice they are something authentically yours.

currently reading the backwoods of canada between fashion mags and notebook story scribbling. you know i love hearing how they did life back when.

also finally watched born into brothels. it broke my heart and made me want to adopt a whole gaggle of kids.

someone asked how my week went at the end of it. not sure what it means that i had to refer to my calendar for what happened (day job, middle schooler social life chauffering, introducing a girlfriend to thrifting, hosting friends and being hosted, movie and wine night with d, kitchen floor refinishing and the like) ;)

lollipops and lazy hairdos

2011-04-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

even tho little c is blurry i know not to push my luck making the boys sit still for multiple shots of them with their easter goodies (yes, i caved and doled them out on good friday already ;)

turns out if you want to get some stuff done, you should try not washing your hair a bunch of days in a row. ;)

this was my first ever week of that. my friend despina at knockouts, fresh out of stylist school, did my first ever blowout {great shampoo and fancy pants blowdry (without the bad chemicals you sometimes hear about) that you just put into a top of your head ballet bun at night and take down the next morning multiple days in a row without needing to wash it in between} (if you book quick, you can get her current-will-go-fast promo price of $15 -- say i sent you)

the week of day job + scribbled writing (plus scads of socializing that would throw off the work/life pie chart if there was one ;) made the week go fast. and now we're prepping the house for easter with d's family tommorow. (on the agenda: lots of treats and an egg hunt in the park)

but first i'm off to drink the glass of shiraz d just poured me and to tell him that it doesn't make watching him play video games any more palatable. ;)

you know it was a fun weekend when you'd like to wear bonus bling on monday too

2011-04-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

whirlwind weekend (this funny bridesmaid of mine got married in a gorgeous Indian way)

recouped yesterday thanks to bonus sleep + church + coffee with my blond sister + cooking via D. in time to do some early morning freelance editing this morning and now one of my favorite days of the week awaits...

maybe i'll read some of my stories in progress to the budding window sill herbs to encourage growth impressive one was purchased like that and you know i'm a sad little gardener when buying faux herb pots appeals to me ;) and source some more canvases for little c who is painting up a storm when he is not hanging up his collection of spiderman posters (he may need the repair work of a master plasterer when he is done ~~destructing~~ decorating his room ;)

happy monday (and in the case of two of my SILs (one via d's real brother, one via d's best friendship that lives out like brotherhood ;) happy bday) to you

things that make me laugh in the night

2011-04-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

nothing bumps up the night-time tuck in rounds like a few funnies thrown in. the cool dude balloon was cute (more of little c's gallery in the background), but what really sent me running for the camera was how the middlest and le chat were chillaxing pre bed made. middlest had his earphones in but he and smokey both turned their heads the same angle to check out mom coming in.

more notebook jotting today.

i better not read any more magazines for a bit b/c my bulletin boards can't take anymore ripped out inspiration ;)

nothing says spring like free tacos

2011-04-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

it might not always be warm outside, but the spring flowers and the easter goody stash feel like spring.

to do check-listing and thrifty chick conferencing and kidlet entertaining... that's what wednesday is made of

i'll be making story notes standing up at the kitchen counter.

when i left her yesterday (while waiting in the car while the kids placed their free taco orders and i wrote on receipts), one of the novel's main girls was goofing off at work

the spring of my concoctions

2011-04-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

when i was a kid, concoctions meant my mom was making dinner. she was brilliant at doing her work day and then coming home to throw together whatever was in the fridge. it was always delicious (minus that advent of the cooking season with those newfangled waterless pots which shall remain untalked about ;)

my concoctions are sometimes those sort, but of late have been much more assorted

for example

my current go to starbucks: grande cafe misto + 2 splenda packets + a few shakes of vanilla (like a $2 pseudo vanilla latte)

my current go to mid-day snack: cucumber slices + creamy natural PB -- the kind you have to keep in the fridge (like celery & PB kicked up a crunchy notch)

my current daily makeup: assorted bottles of near empty foundations found in my makeup bag + my moisturizing sunscreen blended into something custom (and you know this type of use it all makes me tres happy -- there are few things that make me more ill than throwing away useful things -- also why i ♥ reading pioneer and depression era stories as they had such clever ideas for this sort of thing)

this week will find me doing some day job, co-planning a sprinkle (like a shower only smaller -- a glorified girlfriends coffee/baby meet and greet) for a few recently baby-gifted friends, fuelled by coffee, working on word count, and throwing my hands up and conceeding defeat to little c's decor ideas which are definitely messy and list making oriented. (update: art wall has spread to a multi-media gallery installation on our second floor)

his grandpa artist's painting (copy of renoir's "chestnut tree in bloom" with the addition of me and d and the two oldest boys and grandpa's dog in mini) looks great by the living room's shot of color. perhaps that's part of what is inspiring little c ;)

if you're looking for a sunday read, laura from piece of cake is a frequently brilliant blogger and this post does not disappoint.

mondays start with m and wrap up with knitted finery

2011-04-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

another monday that didn't disappoint. breakfast date with d, the to do list whacked away at, and a knitted bangle gift from my middlest. (if i don't start an etsy shop at some point, i might help him start up his)

the notebook is getting more words in it all the time (and it's not just because i keep putting found paper slips in it ;)

if these were a china pattern i'd call it "garbage day fiesta"

2011-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

i'm not the type of girl to have a china pattern, but apparently i am now a collector of old lady lotto wreaths. (i'm sure these are set to inspire a book character) i came across the one on the right a while back and thought it was one of a kind. when i came across the even brighter one today i tried not to jump up and down -- thankfully i was with the middlest who saw the cool factor with me(totally different town and thrift store) you know i will be checking out alternative craft markets (source anyone?) for more ;)

to celebrate the return of the kids to their places of learning next week, we hit some kid-friendly stops today and i have a night out with a girlfriend and a D&M date on the calendar for the weekend.

for all my talk, i'm sure i will miss them on monday. ok, maybe not monday -- you know how i like my mondays, but tuesday for sure ;)

my family will understand when we sit down to easter dinner on a bare wood table

2011-03-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

spring break afternoon -- mid week of running the boys to hang out with their friends here and there and hosting kids myself i took a stretch of day for myself. it wasn't the 20 min nap (i read somewhere that sleep cycles are 20 minutes long so will only take them in timed 20 min intervals) they might still upset circadian rhythms as evidenced by my posting this tutorial in the middle of the night ;) but they make a girl feel rested (plus block out spring break brother on brother madness) but it came right after it.

i've been wanting to continue the sewing a dress for the next occasion, whatever it might be saga -- this time in 2011 spring trend cream lace so you know when my grandma was throwing away her lace tablecloths i saw them as more than table finery (plus i'm a plain jane linen for the table girl) so i started in on the dress. (which is waiting for more fabric store supplies so will likely get finished next week as i can't picture the boys volunteering to hit fabricland this week or myself volunteering to take them -- they might craft it up from time to time, but also are apt to choke hold one another next to sewing notion stands ;)

it was all pinned up and then i realized i still had some great cream lace remnants laying around so you know i thought how about a shirt? pulled out a stretchy nude cami and handstitched away.

easy peasy how to:

1. pin a layer to the top seam, folding to cover raw edges and letting the machine finished seam hang down, sew

2. do the same thing on the bottom edge of the cami

3. try on

4. strategically layer the remaining lace somewhere in your midsection for whatever layered look you are going for (i settled on tying rosettes to the one strap, letting it drape on a diagonal and then securing with stitching to the bottom hem)

5. know there is no wrong way to do it -- it's your one of a kind shirt

still working through the stack of books i scored at the friends of the library sale last week --clever of them to call it that --it did make me want to be their friend -- 12 books (not all for me -- i shared with d and the boys) for $3

& adding notes and found scrap paper scenes to my lovely notebook. the sewing was a fun distraction, but the words will be where i will be focusing my attention for the rest of the week(when i am not sorting out my taxes -- the only time of year it is annoying to be self employed in multiple ventures ;)

preoccupations

2011-03-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

who knew a girl with tomato in her name would be instrumental in getting the novel worked on over the kids' spring break? ;) yesterday, the mailwoman delivered the cutest package including a handmade notebook (and a party banner which is on my kitchen bulletin board and an owl keychain little c claimed for his summer birthday so it's lying in wait in the gift stash) which is already holding a few scenes. so much more fun than writing story on receipts lying around. so you know i'm grateful to her because my old house has been distracting me. (i added some tourquoise to my living room and started painting the bottom half of my kitchen cupboards grey for that unfitted look i adore)

i'll be switch-hitting between paintbrush and pen today. wish me luck

easiest tapanade recipe i made and jarred yesterday: 1 can black pitted olives, garlic & herbs pressed, 1 tbsp canned kale chopped with blender and stirred in with oil and served with rice crackers

what's a little strategy among friends?

2011-03-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

i love working from home, but i miss my 9-5 girlfriends when they're at work. (of my girlfriends a healthy proportion are relatives so either means my family rocks or i'm a little weird; -- my sisters, my cousins, d's cousins -- the combination of girlfriend and relative makes for a lot of shared experience and feel like bonus sisters) so it will not surprise you when i tell you that one of my BFs -- my teacher sister is nearly done her spring break and i am already missing the little holiday we have had -- jaunting about in the middle of the day, hitting the gym during workhours, and meeting up for coffee and when we don't feel like making the effort -- just talking on the phone. will have to make her a sappy card to commemorate.

speaking of sisters, my splurge ones were the usual laugh so hard your cheeks hurt special last night. nothing like going home to your regular drives you crazy sometimes life after dishing about it with girlfriends who understand.

the sun keeps shining all cooperatively which i love and the boys new ♥ of the martial arts is making us all happy campers. except for little c who keeps pointing out the shrimp ring has not yet been produced. he's making such a big deal of it i think i may have to tablecloth up the table for the presentation ;)

writing today will be on the down low. i can barely type emails without fellow house members being in my face ;) but if i am wandering the house with a notepad no one's interested in me. crazy how that works.

more of everything

2011-03-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

spring break is flying by all by the seat of our pants like so we might have to be more deliberate about getting the things on our list in or we'll run out of break.

day jobs are fitting their way into in the fun

novel writing not so much.

the fodder keeps piling up though

as is little c's artwork ;)

where i am

2011-03-21T16:44:00.001-07:00

the kids are on spring break so i might be hiding in my closet reading magazines. good news is i'm up on spring trends. bad news is little c's room is getting more and more destroyed by his creative genius (he is hammering into the plaster as we speak -- his latest installation called "art wall"-- i'm a bit worried what two weeks of spring break will mean for it. (of course, it does buy a lot of time in which i might be able to write a short novella)

whatever it takes

2011-03-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

little c doesn't always love his glasses (as indicated by the notes he leaves around for me to find) but even he missed them when they went missing for weeks. i suspected they may have been removed for a wrestling match a la freres and then misplaced. so he did without and then wore his old pair (with the one bottle glass lens for a while) in desperation, when scouring the house didn't work and before panicking and running out to get a new pair, i promised whichever son found them would receive an economy sized bag of chips of his choosing without the need to share. it took another week, but little c found them a couple hours past his bedtime on a school night. you know i was so excited i made good on my promise immediately and took him straight to 7-11 ;)

to do's and thrifty chick shop stocking almost taken care of. the stories of the day are on stand-by. will try not to get too sidetracked e-window shopping. (it's hard when there is stuff like this to look at ;)

if you want something wonderful to read make it this

lovey paper pieces on hastily refinished furniture

2011-03-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

i am in love with the new whiskas commercial because smokey is our family's baby like that. it's ok. you can laugh. we will not be shamed ;)

i am debating throwing a collage on a new novel contributing notebook so the creative juice doesn't solely flow into the kiddie's scrapbooks and the furniture redoing i can't seem to get enough of. (you know i like efficiency so the scrapbook pages are likely whipped up with pictures inserted later -- you think it won't work but it does -- see snowboarding page for example -- free yourself from the alignment of pictures prints and supplies and time handy -- just do it out of order and be done with it)

note: "the wanted-- high scores" layout uses my junk mail letter sourcing technique -- a rant against the dangers of type II diabetes has never looked so good ;)

and the drybrushed to antique table and it's color matched but solid glossy sister (because i'm not a fan of matchy-matchy) were done with a custom acrylic paint blend -- basically black and brown, but blend sounds better, don't you think? ;) super fast paint jobs hurried up by the realization that my blond sister and i both had the day off and my kids were in school so we had time for a costco run and a gym visit before glossing the tables with a varathane and setting out the after school snacks (or letting the kids forage for food whatever the case actually was ;)

middlest is still writing poems which means i haven't yet run out of snacks

looking forward to another movie night, a day of rest, and then one of the mondays i love to follow that. it may be predictable, but it's our predictable.

maps of places we know well

2011-03-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

i am manically redoing furniture and rooms

i think it is nesting for spring's arrival

this year i plan to have a bigger garden

and throw some more summer dinner parties

before then i plan to make some necklaces i refuse to pay full price for

(tutorial to come)

and write some more novel.

it sounds optimistic to me because i'm tired and it's only 9:45

(altho it could be d's penchant for coming home and cranking the heat until i'm nearly passed out from heat exhaustion ;)

before i head off to read through my bedtime stack of magazines.

i thought i'd share little c's maps.

his teacher told his class to think of any kind of map for homework

he thought up this "map of my hart" (in which my favorite are separate mentions of God and God's sun ;)

then he realized other kids were doing geographical places and realized how uncool it was

so he did up this map of the backyard (map may or may not be actual size of backyard ;) (in which my favorite is mention of the "nabers")

good thing -- because now i get to keep the sappy one.

(in sappy news middlest has taken to typing up original poems -- you know i'm giving him better than average snacks to ensure i keep getting them ;)

i'll take the sap while i can still get it -- middleschooler's version of hanging out includes things like today's mockingly speed walking beside me while i jog. (he might be unwittingly sacrificing snack quality ;)

i'd tell you how long until morning writing time, but then i'd be inviting 8 hrs of sleep a night lectures. and you know how i like to keep coffee companies in business.

listmakers we all

2011-03-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

you know i'm still list-making (i typically have three on the go: 2011's happenings, daily to do, and a spending tracker where i write down our household expenditures as they happen, rounded to the nearest quarter -- daily worth and gail both recommended it and it is an eye opener)

and i'm not the only one. as i've been furtively planning to keep the kids busy for their two weeks of spring break, little c has been doing the same. love his phonetically spelled list that gets me off the hook with little more than a shrimp ring and a trip to dollar giant. (and to think i was foolishly looking up cool museums ;)

today is a to do list, coffee swilling, treadmill hopping, word popping out wednesday. and i'm meeting up with my soccer girls tonight so you know i'm excited about that.

DIY en famille

2011-03-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

good thing he didn't punch through the barcode. once you've seen his self conceptualized lanyard you know little c likes the library. we are not the sort of family that doesn't rack up any fines so usually it is cheaper to just buy our books outright. but when the local library came up with a new year's program in which kids could read off their library fines, little c went to work. with his 0 balance card, the library is his new favorite destination (i give myself mommy back pats for the puppet show i have to sit through every visit in the children's section ;)

there's some sun for the second day in answer to my severe craving for it. and a to do list a mile long. i want to take time out and make a book like angelina la dawn tomato's to house it, but i should get some actual work done first. in novel news: the title has changed mid car drive the other day and the scenes are continuing to oblige me by making it to paper.

it's monday so you know i'll be alright.

bottom pic: i'm loving the self made pokemonesque trading cards that kept the biggers busy last night.

the good, the bad, and the better

2011-03-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

one of my girlfriends gave me this card on sunday.

you know i love it so much i make other girlfriends read it.

and am seriously thinking about photocopying the front

and mass distributing it to them.

love how it sums up real share your life friendship

the only kind i feel holds appeals to me as i move closer to 34.

(i wish the number was bigger so i could impress you with it ;) growing up i always laughed at my dad because he would regularly add 5 years onto his age to round it up to something even and weighty {because who do you know who does that? so weird ;) }, but then when i find myself addicted to reading more magazine, i realize it do it too. which you know made me laugh)

yesterday was a good writing output day (read: lots of scraps of paper lying about) and i got together with my friend jen (which you know means we had equal piles of reading for each other) so on the word front my weekend is looking pretty full.

happy friday to you

of superglue and tissue flowers

2011-03-02T12:36:00.001-08:00

today i entered a improve my kitchen contest whining about how one of the drawer fronts consistently falls off and then i looked through the other 900 entries and decided i might not win and may in fact just may need to source some superglue and get over it.

and i found out who my secret pal (source of year of thoughtful gifts and heart warming cards) was -- it turned out to be this great girl with the cutest little family who made me some chalkboard painted herb pots (which i have been wanting, but had not got around to doing myself) and a magazine full of ideas for more things to wear on date night.

even her gift wrap was adorable (which explains why i now have tissue paper flowers on my bulletin board)

i'm off to write stories on bits of scrap paper between the must-dos of the day

the apples do not fall far from the tree

2011-02-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

i am one in a family of list makers and creative types. d and i keep reading the middlest's found literary works on the down low in d's smoke room and returning the notebooks from whence they came afterwards. even more thrilling than a kid writing a fairly good story and then running to show mom and dad is when he doesn't because stories are so commonplace and just something that have to come out of him. it must be the family kiss of the blarney stone.

in other artsy fartsy news -- little c continues to be interested in learning to play the piano, has made a link inspired outfit for his pet lemur lemie (who has displaced monkey as his only child), and middlest's room now contains chalkboard wall bubbles inspired by these.

love this girl's documentation of her thrifted wardrobe. because it's the snowy type of day -- the kind of one likely to make me photograph the inside of a closet or take pictures of my off to church outfit. brooch -- easy to make (vintage butterfly backed with some onion bag mesh) -- you get a taste of my mid-day, mundane as it may be.

more writing has been happening on paper than keyboard lately -- i must be revving up for spring break (writing is the mommy equivalent to being on the phone -- a magnet for interrupting kids -- if they have no idea it's going on (for all they know i'm drafting lists of chores to divy up ;) everyone stays out of the way.

in even more excitement an adorable parcel is in the mail for me

it's slippery stuff, that writing time

2011-02-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

it's been a proD day for the boys

so you can guess how much writing i've done

thank goodness

i'm ok with being the geeky girl

that writes her friday night away

jump drives are the new diamonds

2011-02-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

anniversary dinner was wonderful in a cup runneth over with the family i love way (kid friendly decor + 3 loud boys + d&i + dinner delivered by my parents who love on us lots on anniversaries in the way of food) not terribly romantic unless you count d&i rolling our eyes at each other re: the boys' antics. ;) at least we think the same.

romantic to a writer girl though is the fetching of a new jump drive for her novel in progress. d has it covered.

i love how when tidying up the boys' rooms yesterday (i swore i never would because d's mom would get fed up with his mess and do his and so he still is a clothes dropper -- not that i can talk ;) but now that i'm a fed up mom, i know why she did it, and so do i. (d has inherited his spontaneous dinner making from his dad so hopefully the boys will take it another generation and that will similarly save their wives from getting mad about dropped socks) that i come across more novels in progress. they remind me of all the stories i used to hoard in my orange duotang when i was little. also making me smile is the hockey stick up high in the middlest's room (d's from an era bygone that still gets a workout whenever middlest needs it) and the amazing bit of sky as viewed from my laundry room.

i'm still typing out those handwritten scenes. you think i would learn to not let them accumulate.

i had no idea one could pick out lego colors in bulk until i read stacey's post. now you know i want to go visit my friends and family in calgary even more and stop here our collection is such a multi-themed thing it's nearly impossible to just build something bright and basic.

how to best say i'm glad we're in this together

2011-02-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

i know you are tempted to do a bling intervention on me. i'm out of control. key ring sports leopard print key, canadian tire; juicy couture sparkle guru a gift from my little look-a-like sister who deemed it too ugly for regular use; and recently thrifted leather heart. my right hand rings are from ardene (thanks, secret pal) and the dollar giant.

i am knee deep in anita shreve's sea glass. love the variety of characters who transport me to another time and place on to do list breaks. (that to do list today consists of thrifty chicks listings, entertaining a cute loaner kid while her mom is at work, some writing, and some cat in the hat style picking up and putting away -- have always wanted the picture of him in his cleaning up machine for my kitchen ;)

that's what novels do best.

and the fun thing is, when i am typing the scenes i've written down in the past into the current project's manuscript i don't even remember writing them. it's like reading someone else's book. which is good, because in writing and rewriting one, one reads the same scenes over and over.

the celebration of the everyday is going on today. it's our 14th year to the day of being marrieds and we're marking it with lasanga and a movie at home because that's how we roll. i feel like this is one of those occasions that one should do an academy awardesque speech -- i'd like to thank God, and our families and our loving friends ;) -- because being married and especially happily married is not easy. the toys you trip over and bills that careen through your chequing account and the bad moods that you wake up in or the snarky comment you give or get try their best to take a chunk out of happily ever after. the trick is to beat them at their own game. (looking at the picture your life is with the same deliberate blindness you practiced when you first fell in love) and do similar happy support for your friends. like when you pass on the compliments they say behind each other's backs. (because let's face it we all forget to tell the ones we love the things we love about them)

less than 8 hours til d gets home. if i was the lipstick type, i'd put it on stand-by ;)
(in the meantime, there is that pesky to do list) happy tuesday to you.

the antidote to february and other monday morning secrets

2011-02-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

will have to make another cardboard bubble soon. i love this one. the quote to me is such a freeing thing. the gift of yourself is always enough, in the max quantities you can give it, work and household maintenance and all. it doesn't need to be over the top -- just a hang out with me and we'll get our stuff done. childhood memories are often the things we think are too small to mention.

little c's elementary school is celebrating the 100th day of school. you know i'm looking forward to it. have this weird vivid memory of 100s day in grade two (i brought 100 mini marshmellows or buttons or some such -- ok, so not so vivid ;) -- but the vibe of the day lives on in my mind.)

i've been burning through books one after another. so much so that yesterday's dinner was baked potatoes with all the fattening trimmings followed by dessert. no one complained. they must know i need my antidote to february. d & my 14th anniversary is tommorow. you know i have a few surprises up my sleeve. and some words to get to page

you guessed it -- another dress tutorial

2011-02-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

the valentine's dinner dress

easy peasy this one
makes a no waste, size 10 petite dress from 1 metre fabric. adjust for sizing accordingly
click on the tutorial pics to enlarge them

steps for the interested:

1.fold material in half over wide measured elastic which you knot above bust to form top of dress 2.sew straight stitch below elastic to create pocket for it
3.leave bottom of dress unfinished if working in taffeta, or hem, your choice
4.turn inside out and pin up the side,
5.cut up on a diagonal in the inner layer (when turned to outside, outer) to allow actual walking ;)
6.arrange triangle fabric (attached by one corner) into a ruffle on one hip, sew into place
7.ruche & dart on bodice & take in material on lower back
hand stitching means you can keep tucking and stitching til it is a comfortable fit
8.wear
9.do not take pics with the man you are married to who always make you laugh hysterically.
you will have fun, but walk away from the evening without a single frameable pic of the two of you.

it has a cheesy cover and some two year scribbled in it, but it's one of my favorite books

2011-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

my gratitude journal has been a part of me for so long i had forgot how i even started it.

then today i opened it to write a pageful (that's the rule about the gratitude journal -- you have to write a full page when you start one) and i saw that my friend corrine had started me on it way back when over 11 years ago.

that made me wish i had a "suggested by" tag on every good idea i have in my life. you have no idea how grateful i am to corinne for bringing the concept into my life.

start one and see yourself. it's a life changer.

to combat discontentment or stress, commit to doing it 30 days in a row. no repeats. you think you won't be able to, but you will. no matter who or where you are.

the beauty of the journal is that the more you look for things to be grateful for (you have lines to fill, you know ;) the more things you will see

and as you get practiced at giving thanks in whatever circumstance or day you find yourself in, the better you will get -- seeing a whole 'nother layer of the world most people are walking around missing.

reading through from the beginning is the best. oftentimes it is the hardest days that we most need the reminder of journalling the good stuff. so when i look at my book-ful of mountains of multi-sized blessings i can vividly remember the stress of the day, even though it all worked together for good in the big life picture. that's how tommorow and the next and the next will go too no matter what's happening. (more thoughts on teaching gratitude to the next generation here)

it's an activity affirmation of one of my favorite quotes up in the kitchen that reads like this

"the crisis of the day will change, but the big picture will not"

i'm off to do the mindless tasks that seem to breed ideas like rabbits. and then i'm going to write them down.

halfway through W, another hill to climb

2011-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

mantel stylings: rough bowl + mini wooden suitcase, thrifted; green plate, objekts; compass, dug out of the back yard; willow tree family, grahams gifts; mini white vase, thrifted; faux foliage + home letters, dollar store

more than a few things to organize
and the kids walked right out the door and onto the bus
that's how skin of the teeth the morning was
but morning coffee will make a difference
and then typing out notes
until new words come.
that's what some wednesdays are like

let the chocolate clearance begin

2011-02-15T06:08:00.000-08:00

after the decrescendo that is the day after valentine's day (the annual occasion of the overinflated expectation ;) you know chocolate everywhere will be on sale. (which is a matter of rejoicing in itself ;) D and my holiday revolves less around something to unwrap and more around romance and good food. so how brilliant that it lined up with our all day date monday. and even better that we have more D & M celebrating next week.

while the corner of the dining room that holds our beach memories is making me crave a longer day. (my FIL was telling me yesterday by what proportion each day gets longer this time of year but i already can't remember the number because i was so busy being distracted by that's not enough! ) i am loving the things that are this time of year -- lovey notes to add to the kitchen inspiration board, little c wrote every member of our family a valentine but forgot his class cards in his back pack -- i'm not sure what the aversion was to handing them out. i warned him that if he did not (as he said he was not going to) that he might not get any himself. he said don't be silly. they give you them anyways. and he was right ;)

my beautiful posies from my secret pal (at church us girls do a secret santa-ish program all year which is a clever motivation for getting out of bed early on sunday mornings when your bed is a tempting alternative to get there so your presents don't die on top of the church mailboxes. ;)

and if you like me failed to make the valentine's cookies you promised your kids yesterday you could whip up some heart shaped jiffy toast goodness this morning and hope they forget until the discount chocolate materializes.

some writing and craft-time on the horizon today. i am surrounded by folded laundry piles which never fail to say good job to me (and thereby aleviate any other housework guilt) you know i'm going to leave them where they lie until something big happens in today's scenes.

the bad with the good and the chocolate covered

2011-02-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

usually, my writing takes place when i sit down to do it

but occasionally

it also occurs in my head

when laying down to sleep

or driving the car

i had some of that this week

also, i had an unsettling dream in which

large parts of our house were stolen and pulled into the street

the next day i was mini robbed

thankfully not in the house breaking proportions

my dream might suggest

also, thankfully as antidote i've had cupcake making, friend breakfasting,

and chocolate covered coffee bean popping (thanks, lorene)

and you know i loved it when my middlest made this pop out knife out of paper

i'll leave you to your valentine's celebrating this weekend

say a prayer for those whose hearts are otherwise occupied.

i think particularly of this sweet family who need your prayers.