Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?
A countless number. I am blessed to be homeschooling my boys so I have loads of opportunities to laugh with them through the day. I also do work that I love and have time with couples expecting babies. They laugh often as do I when we are all together.
Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?
I have two pairs. My regular, everyday sunglasses are a huge, black-rimmed pair. They block out lots of light. My favourite pair are brown-rimmed. Ahhh, brown. My favourite colour.
Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?
From the east coast of Canada to the west coast of Canada. My family has to come with me. I want my husband and children to see this fabulous and vast country.
Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.
My friends. Almost everyone I know in this community I know through the local LLLC Group. I was blessed to meet them when I first moved here. Friendships formed that have lasted since then. It has been an endless gift. LLLC in general has been a gift to me. Through them I have met most of my closest friends from all around the world (Maryland, Texas, NJ, Connecticut, Pacific Northwest - in Canada and US, Florida, UK, New Zealand, ALL around the world really).
Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?
Violet. Don't know why. Just think it would look cool!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday's Feast - on Sunday this time
Appetizer
What is your favorite beverage?
Generally I would say water. I love a cold glass of water. When I want a beverage of a different kid it depends entirely on who I am with and what time of day it is. With Doug I want red wine. With girlfriends I want martinis. On a summer day I want a gin and tonic. But at the end of it all I just want water. Pretty much never soda.
Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.
Desk? What desk? The kitchen table you mean? ohhhhh!! a fork. a knife. a spoon.
Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?
You're asking someone who helps womyn cope during labour about her honesty? It depends on the circumstances. At home a 9+. In a delivery room, sometimes a 3.
Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?
Kansas City, Mo. I would change it to Missouri City. Makes more sense to me. Shouldn't Kansas City be in Kansas????
Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down?
My children. for both. Other things that stress me out? Driving. People who don't seem to care about the environment. People who use paper towel instead of rags or dish towels. Lack of respect.
Other things that calm me down? Music. Making an effort to spend time reconnecting with people who mean a lot to me. Going for a walk.
What is your favorite beverage?
Generally I would say water. I love a cold glass of water. When I want a beverage of a different kid it depends entirely on who I am with and what time of day it is. With Doug I want red wine. With girlfriends I want martinis. On a summer day I want a gin and tonic. But at the end of it all I just want water. Pretty much never soda.
Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.
Desk? What desk? The kitchen table you mean? ohhhhh!! a fork. a knife. a spoon.
Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?
You're asking someone who helps womyn cope during labour about her honesty? It depends on the circumstances. At home a 9+. In a delivery room, sometimes a 3.
Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?
Kansas City, Mo. I would change it to Missouri City. Makes more sense to me. Shouldn't Kansas City be in Kansas????
Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down?
My children. for both. Other things that stress me out? Driving. People who don't seem to care about the environment. People who use paper towel instead of rags or dish towels. Lack of respect.
Other things that calm me down? Music. Making an effort to spend time reconnecting with people who mean a lot to me. Going for a walk.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
How do we glide?? Let me just tell you.
When Fergus was about three my BIL (Chris) was still at York University and playing hockey with the York Yeomen. He and Fergus thought that Fergus might like to learn to skate and so for Christmas or his birthday (I can't remember which) Fergus received a new pair of skates.
Chris took Fergus out onto the ice and patiently tried to teach my son how to balance on the ice. Fergus' issue at the time is one that I continue to suffer with. He wants to try a new skill after having had it described to him and then he wants to perfectly execute said skill. As you can imagine, if you have ever been skating before, it was not as easy as it looked -- or as he wanted it to be.
He hung up his skates after a few attempts and then Chris finished at York before Quinn got a chance to learn from his beloved uncle. We never thought to try as a family because Fergus had been so miserable about it.
In December Quinn was invited to participate in a weekly skating exercise with Alex, another homeschooled boy in town. I warned the adult taking them that Quinn had never been on skates before and so I didn't know how they would all fare. I had nothing to worry about. While Quinn didn't step onto the ice and immediately take off with perfect balance and beautiful cross-cuts, he did manage to have enough fun to want to continue on this path every Tuesday afternoon.
By the winter holidays Fergus' curiousity was piqued. He thought that he may, too, enjoy whiling away some of his time on the unforgiving ice surface here in town. Cool! He and I set off for the second-hand skate store. (As unlikely as this may sound to some of you in the south this *is* Canada after all. There are TWO of these types of stores in our town. I know. I didn't believe it myself until I was looking for a store in which to buy inexpensive skates.) We each managed to find a pair of hockey skates. No toe-pics. That was going to be a bit of a challenge for me but hey, I hadn't been on skates in (dare I say it) probably 20+ years so the lack of toe-pics weren't going to be my only hurdle.
We went out a couple of weeks ago and Fergus had a GREAT time. By the end of the first hour his feet hurt and his knees felt weak but he was ecstatic! He had had a wonderful time. By the end he was managing to glide for short distances and wasn't feeling the need to hang onto the wall. What a wonderful change in such a short time.
This past Tuesday Fergus and I planned to skate with Quinn and his friend, Alex. Unfortunately we were not home from my MIL's ophthalmologist appointment to make it worthwhile to pay to skate. Since Quinn is only 6 he skates free so we popped his skates on for the last 20 minutes. I promised Fergus that he, Quinn and I would skate the following day (Wednesday) when we would have a chance to spend the whole 80 minutes on the ice. My MIL, Christena, was with us while Quinn was skating and loved watching the kids on the ice.
Christena used to be something of a seasoned skater herself, when her children were young. She did ice dancing and all kinds of other, more technical moves. As soon as she saw Quinn on the ice you could see her starting to become excited about the prospects of moving about on frozen water.
Well, Wednesday dawned bright and early and by noon all of us were psyched about heading to the arena. The boys and I were settling in to eat some lunch before leaving when Christena came up to visit. (Given she lives downstairs, these brief visits are normal and expected.) She asked if I would take her to the second-hand skate store so she could get some skates. She had been thinking about it all night and really wanted the chance to join us on the ice.
Off we went. She walked into the store (try to imagine a store -- much like a grocery store -- with rows of shelves lined with skates), saw a pair she liked, tried them on and bought them. We were in and out of the store (including time spent sharpening the blades) in less than ten minutes. It was really funny.
She helped me get the boys laced up and we were on the ice by 1:00. She took one hesitant step (not having been skating since Doug was a young boy) before pushing off and skating comfortably and confidently. She isn't jumping . . . YET! It will happen in the next couple of weeks I bet.
She and I alternated helping each of the boys back and forth over the 80 minutes we skated. With the focused concentration the boys received we were able to help them make massive improvements in their skills. Fergus was flying around the rink (relative to how he had been circulating the edges the week before) by the time we had to leave.
Christena plans to come with us every week and the boys are so excited that she wants to do this with us. (Me too!)
Chris took Fergus out onto the ice and patiently tried to teach my son how to balance on the ice. Fergus' issue at the time is one that I continue to suffer with. He wants to try a new skill after having had it described to him and then he wants to perfectly execute said skill. As you can imagine, if you have ever been skating before, it was not as easy as it looked -- or as he wanted it to be.
He hung up his skates after a few attempts and then Chris finished at York before Quinn got a chance to learn from his beloved uncle. We never thought to try as a family because Fergus had been so miserable about it.
In December Quinn was invited to participate in a weekly skating exercise with Alex, another homeschooled boy in town. I warned the adult taking them that Quinn had never been on skates before and so I didn't know how they would all fare. I had nothing to worry about. While Quinn didn't step onto the ice and immediately take off with perfect balance and beautiful cross-cuts, he did manage to have enough fun to want to continue on this path every Tuesday afternoon.
By the winter holidays Fergus' curiousity was piqued. He thought that he may, too, enjoy whiling away some of his time on the unforgiving ice surface here in town. Cool! He and I set off for the second-hand skate store. (As unlikely as this may sound to some of you in the south this *is* Canada after all. There are TWO of these types of stores in our town. I know. I didn't believe it myself until I was looking for a store in which to buy inexpensive skates.) We each managed to find a pair of hockey skates. No toe-pics. That was going to be a bit of a challenge for me but hey, I hadn't been on skates in (dare I say it) probably 20+ years so the lack of toe-pics weren't going to be my only hurdle.
We went out a couple of weeks ago and Fergus had a GREAT time. By the end of the first hour his feet hurt and his knees felt weak but he was ecstatic! He had had a wonderful time. By the end he was managing to glide for short distances and wasn't feeling the need to hang onto the wall. What a wonderful change in such a short time.
This past Tuesday Fergus and I planned to skate with Quinn and his friend, Alex. Unfortunately we were not home from my MIL's ophthalmologist appointment to make it worthwhile to pay to skate. Since Quinn is only 6 he skates free so we popped his skates on for the last 20 minutes. I promised Fergus that he, Quinn and I would skate the following day (Wednesday) when we would have a chance to spend the whole 80 minutes on the ice. My MIL, Christena, was with us while Quinn was skating and loved watching the kids on the ice.
Christena used to be something of a seasoned skater herself, when her children were young. She did ice dancing and all kinds of other, more technical moves. As soon as she saw Quinn on the ice you could see her starting to become excited about the prospects of moving about on frozen water.
Well, Wednesday dawned bright and early and by noon all of us were psyched about heading to the arena. The boys and I were settling in to eat some lunch before leaving when Christena came up to visit. (Given she lives downstairs, these brief visits are normal and expected.) She asked if I would take her to the second-hand skate store so she could get some skates. She had been thinking about it all night and really wanted the chance to join us on the ice.
Off we went. She walked into the store (try to imagine a store -- much like a grocery store -- with rows of shelves lined with skates), saw a pair she liked, tried them on and bought them. We were in and out of the store (including time spent sharpening the blades) in less than ten minutes. It was really funny.
She helped me get the boys laced up and we were on the ice by 1:00. She took one hesitant step (not having been skating since Doug was a young boy) before pushing off and skating comfortably and confidently. She isn't jumping . . . YET! It will happen in the next couple of weeks I bet.
She and I alternated helping each of the boys back and forth over the 80 minutes we skated. With the focused concentration the boys received we were able to help them make massive improvements in their skills. Fergus was flying around the rink (relative to how he had been circulating the edges the week before) by the time we had to leave.
Christena plans to come with us every week and the boys are so excited that she wants to do this with us. (Me too!)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Friday's Feast
Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?
Marie. It is a name that is common in my paternal blood line so no, I wouldn't change it. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that I was named after my grandfather (NO his name was NOT "Samantha." He was Sam, just Sam, nothing else). If I was to change my name at all I would probably just be Sam. It falls out of the mouth more easily.
Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?
Organic Bamboo and Organic Cotton. There is nothing like wearing cotton and bamboo. They are the two most soft and comfortable natural fabrics I have ever touched. Of course, synthetic fibre just isn't (shudder, shudder) an option for this "natural womyn." As for colours, I am an "earth tones" kind of gal. Love brown, orange, sometimes green, not-white light colours. NEVER (did I yell that??) pastels. And clean, simple lines. I hate sequins (for me), embossing, decorations, fancy stitching. Just simple and plain. Oh yeah, and I would rather go naked then wear pink or purple.
Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?
Dusting. There just isn't any obvious visual that it's done. With tidying you see a cleaner floor. When dishes are done the counters are clear. With bathrooms, well . . . you get what I mean.
Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?
Fire. Both of my maternal cousins were killed in a house fire when I was 5. I still remember the phone ringing in the dead of night and the sound of my mother's voice as I sat on the stairs and listened to her receive the news that her sister's children had died. It will haunt me forever.
Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.
At the kitchen table (in my "office"). I can see my children writing "thank you" cards for the holiday gifts they received. I can see the "Pirates of the Caribbean" Lego ships that Fergus has put together (I should post a picture of that). I can also see the new/used skates we got so that we can all skate together at the daily shinny at the local arena. (I am surprised at how fast some of it comes back . . . although I miss the toe picks of old since I am now using hockey skates).
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?
Marie. It is a name that is common in my paternal blood line so no, I wouldn't change it. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that I was named after my grandfather (NO his name was NOT "Samantha." He was Sam, just Sam, nothing else). If I was to change my name at all I would probably just be Sam. It falls out of the mouth more easily.
Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?
Organic Bamboo and Organic Cotton. There is nothing like wearing cotton and bamboo. They are the two most soft and comfortable natural fabrics I have ever touched. Of course, synthetic fibre just isn't (shudder, shudder) an option for this "natural womyn." As for colours, I am an "earth tones" kind of gal. Love brown, orange, sometimes green, not-white light colours. NEVER (did I yell that??) pastels. And clean, simple lines. I hate sequins (for me), embossing, decorations, fancy stitching. Just simple and plain. Oh yeah, and I would rather go naked then wear pink or purple.
Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?
Dusting. There just isn't any obvious visual that it's done. With tidying you see a cleaner floor. When dishes are done the counters are clear. With bathrooms, well . . . you get what I mean.
Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?
Fire. Both of my maternal cousins were killed in a house fire when I was 5. I still remember the phone ringing in the dead of night and the sound of my mother's voice as I sat on the stairs and listened to her receive the news that her sister's children had died. It will haunt me forever.
Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.
At the kitchen table (in my "office"). I can see my children writing "thank you" cards for the holiday gifts they received. I can see the "Pirates of the Caribbean" Lego ships that Fergus has put together (I should post a picture of that). I can also see the new/used skates we got so that we can all skate together at the daily shinny at the local arena. (I am surprised at how fast some of it comes back . . . although I miss the toe picks of old since I am now using hockey skates).
Jan 11 and no snow
Well, I was telling some of my sisters (an online community that I am all but blood related to) that the weather here has completely changed. Since I was so fast to post images of our wonderful white winter-ness outside the front door last week, I thought I should be equally quick to show you how grey, brown and dismal winter looks this week.
According to Environment Canada our area received "hurricane force winds" two days ago and as a result the downtown core of Toronto was shut down for the afternoon and evening. We didn't see much here though other than the displacement of neighbours recycling bins as the flew through the air with the greatest of ease.
I hope, for the sake of my children AND of myself, that we are back to winter weather soon. That said, this thaw did give me a chance to plant the bulbs that I had hoped to plant in the fall but forgot.
Happy Friday to you. The Friday's Feast is coming soon.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Playing in the snow is a gift!!!
This will be an "image intensive" entry. (I didn't know that phrase existed until I was reading Suna's blog and learned that an entry with loads of pictures and less text is considered "image intensive." Most of my entries tend to be like that.)
Yesterday we spent some time playing outside in the snow. This year, as I think I mentioned yesterday, we have more snow than usual. So we have been piling the snow from the driveway into the yard. I took time to build the boys a bit of a fort, which they have been working on too. Now they are off out to carve cubby-holes in the walls (for storage) and windows and everything. I remember playing in the snow like this when I was young and it is great to do this with the boys too.
Hope the snow stays though. They are talking about the weather climbing to +13*C next week. It is currently -14*C and therefore COLD!!! If the fort is well packed down then a few days of rain and/or warm weather will not do too much to break down the walls. Makes everything icy though.
Have a wonderful and sunny day wherever you are reading this from!
PS - Lee, I have a Tim's AND a donut for you last night!!!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
It's 2008!
Where does the time go? In a flash we leave the heavy emotions of 2007 behind and focus on carving a new path in 2008.
We attended our annual New Year's Eve party with the same group of friends as in years past. This was our 9th time connecting for the festivities. The boys decided at 6 pm that they wanted their hair cut for the party so that they could look "cool." So, I dug out my shears and clippers and set to work cutting their hair before we left. Funny how influenced they are by holidays.
Upon returning home, around 1:00 a.m. EARLY the morning of the 1st we all snuggled into Doug's and my bed. Doug and I have a king-sized bed so there is room for all four of us. I asked everyone what their resolutions were for the new year. After defining the word "resolutions" for Quinn he was the first to tell us what he resolves to do.
Quinn: I resolve to write thank you cards for the gifts I received over the holidays (he came up with that ON HIS OWN!!)
Fergus: I resolve (after I buy the PSP game I have had my eye on) to save my money this year.
Doug: I resolve to be happier (and for a guy who has had a really crappy 2007, I suspect that he will be successful)
Sam: I resolve to make more time for my family to spend time with them and do new and different things with them.
And, with these resolutions voiced, we settled down for a long sleep. Upon rising yesterday we discovered a different world than when we had gone to bed. We found about 4 inches of new snow lying over everything. I had a breastfeeding consultation to go to so that meant Doug and I got to start the day by shoveling. It was heavy snow underneath so the lifting and lugging was harder than we initially thought it would be.
They boys now have a great mountain of snow in the front yard to play in. In fact, I think I will send them out there right now!! I can't remember when we last had a winter with this kind of snow in the Greater Toronto Area. Lots of places west and/or south of us here get loads of snow. Not here though. We received more snow in December 2007 than we had ALL winter last year.
Anyway, we were to travel to Kitchener for our annual New Year's Day dinner with Kelly and Chris (LONG-TIME friends) but with the blowing snow here I couldn't take that risk. I have a client due on Jan. 10 who has been going regularly for extra doctor's appointments re: the baby so I couldn't take the chance of being storm-stayed in Kitchener. They often get lots more snow there than we get here.
It made me sad not to be able to go and see them but I think Kelly, who is currently pregnant herself, understands. We will see them again at the end of the month instead. (That's when we both had spaces available in our schedules.)
Because we were staying in town we decided to spend some time at one of the many hills (here in Halton Hills) to go tobogganing. The boys love tobogganing and Doug and I do too so this was a great family activity. I think Quinn was still somewhat worn out from the previous night's activities (and the celebrating of the previous few weeks) that he could only go up and down the hill half a dozen times or so before he decided that he was a better observer than participant this time around.
We finished our activities off with a stop at the most traditional of Canadian establishments, Tim Horton's! Everyone enjoyed a hot chocolate while we discussed our best runs of the day.
HAPPY NEW YEAR one and ALL!!
We attended our annual New Year's Eve party with the same group of friends as in years past. This was our 9th time connecting for the festivities. The boys decided at 6 pm that they wanted their hair cut for the party so that they could look "cool." So, I dug out my shears and clippers and set to work cutting their hair before we left. Funny how influenced they are by holidays.
Upon returning home, around 1:00 a.m. EARLY the morning of the 1st we all snuggled into Doug's and my bed. Doug and I have a king-sized bed so there is room for all four of us. I asked everyone what their resolutions were for the new year. After defining the word "resolutions" for Quinn he was the first to tell us what he resolves to do.
Quinn: I resolve to write thank you cards for the gifts I received over the holidays (he came up with that ON HIS OWN!!)
Fergus: I resolve (after I buy the PSP game I have had my eye on) to save my money this year.
Doug: I resolve to be happier (and for a guy who has had a really crappy 2007, I suspect that he will be successful)
Sam: I resolve to make more time for my family to spend time with them and do new and different things with them.
And, with these resolutions voiced, we settled down for a long sleep. Upon rising yesterday we discovered a different world than when we had gone to bed. We found about 4 inches of new snow lying over everything. I had a breastfeeding consultation to go to so that meant Doug and I got to start the day by shoveling. It was heavy snow underneath so the lifting and lugging was harder than we initially thought it would be.
They boys now have a great mountain of snow in the front yard to play in. In fact, I think I will send them out there right now!! I can't remember when we last had a winter with this kind of snow in the Greater Toronto Area. Lots of places west and/or south of us here get loads of snow. Not here though. We received more snow in December 2007 than we had ALL winter last year.
Anyway, we were to travel to Kitchener for our annual New Year's Day dinner with Kelly and Chris (LONG-TIME friends) but with the blowing snow here I couldn't take that risk. I have a client due on Jan. 10 who has been going regularly for extra doctor's appointments re: the baby so I couldn't take the chance of being storm-stayed in Kitchener. They often get lots more snow there than we get here.
It made me sad not to be able to go and see them but I think Kelly, who is currently pregnant herself, understands. We will see them again at the end of the month instead. (That's when we both had spaces available in our schedules.)
Because we were staying in town we decided to spend some time at one of the many hills (here in Halton Hills) to go tobogganing. The boys love tobogganing and Doug and I do too so this was a great family activity. I think Quinn was still somewhat worn out from the previous night's activities (and the celebrating of the previous few weeks) that he could only go up and down the hill half a dozen times or so before he decided that he was a better observer than participant this time around.
We finished our activities off with a stop at the most traditional of Canadian establishments, Tim Horton's! Everyone enjoyed a hot chocolate while we discussed our best runs of the day.
HAPPY NEW YEAR one and ALL!!
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