Anything and Everything.

I have read many books this year. Some were so amazing I could make a blog post on each one, and some were so awful, I could also do the same. However, for the sake of sanity, I'll keep it narrowed down to one post. I had decided to break up the list into indie and non-indie, but changed my mind. To me, I don't care who  published the book, as long as it was engaging and kept me flipping the pages. The main character didn't have to be relatable as I've read so many books where the character is nothing like me. So what. If the writing is good, then I will keep reading. As long as the character grows, it's all good. :) One of the criteria for making my list, is whether or not I tell others about it. It could be random, or a face to face conversation where I tell someone they MUST read this book. Based on my loose requirements, because I read for pure pleasure and escape, these are my top five. Only the number one is my ultimate favourite. The other four round out

As I sit here and write, it's been a busy weekend. Usually I get my blog ready to go sometime on Saturday so I can easily do a quick read through and publish on Sunday. Yeah, not this weekend. ;) Too busy - too close to Christmas - too many other things to do. Life, right? But there are a few things I am thankful for. A back and forth email with my critique partner, where the focus hasn't been all Lucas & Aurora  but rather a real in depth of getting to know you. I think if we were to ever meet, we'd have so much to talk about, time would slip away quickly. I'm sure she'd agree. :)  Outdoor recess . Seems like such a trivial thing, but with the temperatures being so ridiculously cold, the kids have been cooped up inside. Bless the teachers, though, as there are only so many times you can play Simon Says, or put on a dance video to get them moving. They may have only gone out once when the temperature rose to -17C, but it was something. Hopefully the upc

I'm having a tough time - there I said it. I don't know if it's because of the cold weather, or people around me suffering through various illnesses and heartache or what, but I feel - bitter. I'm not depressed, I'm angry. Life is unfair, vastly unfair. It doesn't seem right that good people suffer and the bad people thrive. And I want to do all the things to make it all better, but I can't. Some things are out of my control and just being there - holding space with them - doesn't seem enough. So what can I do? Well, I try to be thankful for the good things in my life. There is always something there, sometimes one just needs to look for it. This week, I've struggled to find it, but I did. My top five things I'm thankful for: Saturday mornings . We all hung out together, all playing on our devices and yet still interacting, laughing and enjoying being in the same space together. We don't always need to be doing the same thing in t

Well, I can say I am honestly feeling a lot more in control of my feelings this week. I'm still using my cloak of invisibility, so I think that helps. I hide out and away, although I have been venting some feelings out into the twitter world. So what am I thankful for? Getting all things Christmas-y done. We put up our tree on Sunday and decorated up our living room. I addressed and started mailing out Christmas cards! First year I've had this done before December 1. Although I did get a twinge of sadness and shed a tear or two (or more) at having to NOT send my grandparents a Christmas card with pictures of the kids. They don't receive cards in Heaven, and Grandma's still in the hospital, barely holding on.  Haircuts for the kids. Such a simple thing, really, but them getting haircuts makes me feel better. Like I'm doing the responsible parenting thing, and making them look respectable instead of kids with rat's nests on their heads.  Helping my son w

To get caught up, you can read Part 1 and Part 2 My Journey to Parenthood Part 3  Well, finally, nine days after my estimated due date of November 11, I was having contractions. They began at ten am Saturday morning, and were intense on and off all day long. And night. And into the next morning. They were not regular, but enough to catch my breath and occupy my thoughts. They kept me awake, and hubs on occasion, when they were too painful to deal with alone. But as much as they commanded my attention, they hadn't slipped into that nice easy pattern the Labour & Delivery nurses wanted. Sunday we timed them as we were seeing that glorious rhythm - every nine to ten minutes, roughly forty-five seconds long. According to our labour cheat sheet - we were in labour. Yahoo. Finally. We walked; we rested; we checked in with the hospital. Because the contractions were not close enough together, if we came in for an assessment, we'd just be sent home. Not what we wanted

Part 1  is here, in case you missed the lead up. :) My Journey to Parenthood Part 2 I drove to hubbie's work, and called him on the way telling him in tears he needed to meet me outside. Poor guy thought I'd been hurt or in some kind of minor accident, but I couldn't wait until the end of the day to tell him. I pulled up and before I could even say hi I was waving around the positive pregnancy test. He was so happy, he cried. Not 100% believing the pregnancy test, I called the OBs office to book some blood work ASAP, and she faxed over a rec to the lab. Relief settled over me when I got the confirmation call back the next day - we were pregnant! Freshly pregnant. My HCG levels were very low. Another blood test a week later and our HCG levels had risen nicely. It was really hard to sit tight and not share this with anyone. Really hard. We'd been waiting for so long, we wanted to shout it from the rooftops. As luck would have it, we got a three-way call from

Seventeen years ago, after three years of wedded bliss, hubs and I thought it was the right time to start building a family. After a year of trying, we were unsuccessful. Another year passed by and still no pregnancy. We hadn't told anyone we were trying, because there's nothing quite like everyone asking  all the time when would we get pregnant. We were already asked often enough without announcing our intentions! After another six months of trying, we bit the bullet and I booked an appointment with my doctor. Having dealt with ovarian cysts since I was sixteen, I suspected something was up. That appointment with my family doctor yielded no surprises, but I now had a consultation with an OB. Always one to be prepared for that appointment - six months down the line - I read everything I could. The best book I read was called Taking Charge of Your Fertility . I joined an online group on Fertility Friend and connected with dozens of people going through similar problems. My l

It's been quite the week. I'm mentally exhausted. I have a blog post coming about feeling invisible because I've been battling that. Then today I got two pieces of terrible news, one only slightly worse than the first. Cancer claimed an amazing guy today. :( However, in his spirit, I'm trying to stay positive. But it's so damn hard. This one is for you, Colin.  For Parent-Teacher interviews. Since I don't work at the school my eldest child attends, it's nice to be able to sit down with them and discuss my child. It's also a blessing to hear he's a good kid. :) For walks to the park, to escape the stress and embrace the playfulness as a family. Our second night, the snow started and it was wonderful to stand under the shelter and watch it fall. For book club. Attended my first ever event, and it was just the librarian and I, but still really awesome. We discussed Terry Fallis' Poles Apart at length for over and hour. I took away s

A quiet week in comparison to some, but still there is lots to be thankful for. For baking my Family Famous Chocolate Chip muffins. I've altered the recipe so much over the years, it's hardly recognizable. It's a healthy muffin made with no sugar (applesauce instead), whole wheat flour and flax seed. My kids eat them up, and I'm happy with the good stuff they're ingesting.  For an evening at the park. We spent the day adding kms to our PokeWalks, battling in gyms (for the record I suck so bad, I still need 36 revives to help my fainted pokemons), and collecting pokestops. After a nice supper, we headed over to the park and played, climbing and running and swinging. The temperatures outside are still unbelievably warm (today was  +8C) so we need to make the most of what we get.  For finishing up my first book for Book Club at our local library branch. I'm so excited to have finished and I get to share my opinions and thoughts with others. I'm stoked.

Okay - readers of my blog & my lovely followers on social media. I've written two blurbs for an upcoming novella but I can't decide which one to choose, if any - maybe I need to go back to the drawing board? Here are the choices: Blurb 1 All Aurora wants is a happy-ever-after with Nate. But a teeny-tiny problem stands in her way. She’s terrified of vehicles, and fights daily with staying clean from a prescription drug abuse problem. Plus, her and Nate broke up. Upon learning of his planned retirement, she believes it’s all because of her.   Nate can’t leave his love for her, and she’s refuses to let it happen. She needs to conquer her fears, and push herself harder than ever before. In order to succeed, she needs to believe in herself. Of her body and her mind. It’s a scary battle between determination and terror. And she has nine weeks.   Stepping out of her comfort zone, she enlists help from the one man she trusts implicitly.   Lucas has a special ski

It's been a fun and busy week, but there's always something to be thankful for. This week I'm thankful for the following, in no particular order: How my brother and youngest child texted back and forth discussing breakfast foods. It was really amazing to watch the interactions from one side anyway. I hope my kids have a life long relationship with my baby brother.  For amazing Twitter interactions this week. It's nice to make 'friends' over social media, especially when you've got something in common.  For four mornings out of five with no disagreements over who gets to toast their waffles first, or who's going to use the bathroom first. If you're a parent, you understand what I'm talking about. An 80% happy morning start is win-win for us all.  My favourite black pants. There is nothing special about them; they're a black velvet type material that fit really well. Everything goes with them, and when I wear them, I feel super confide

Another week has passed by, another week to be thankful for all my blessings. Things I'm grateful: (in no particular order) My "nephew" coming for supper. He was once a baby that I took care off (along with his older siblings). For the first seven years of his life, I was a daily fixture in it. We did everything together, and he even attended the school I taught at, until I had my own children. He's like a big brother to my kids, and the fun reaches stratospheric heights when we're all together. I love it - and love him. I affectionately call him my 'first son'. It's easier than the-boy-i-used-to-take-care-of. ;)  Hubs taking a day off. He took a weekday off, and after I attended to some 'at home' work, we had a nice leisurely lunch at an "adults" restaurant. We spent the child-free day together and reconnected. It was nice and unexpected, as he didn't make the decision until Thursday night.  For a working vacuu

It's been quite a week. :) The five things I'm thankful for, in no particular order, are:  My Critique Partner. She's going through That Summer with a fine tooth comb, and I can't be more excited. She's wickedly awesome, thorough and picks apart scenes letter by letter. I get so excited for her emails & tweets, wondering what she's gong to say next. No matter how tough she is, I know it comes from the heart. She's not doing it to be mean, she's doing it to make my story the best it can be. AND, she's available to edit your novel. My local library. We're regulars at our local branch. We're there every two weeks at minimum for a program they run - Evil Genius Club. The librarians know my kids (they're usually the only ones at the programs) and they know me. Because of the strong connection I have with one of them, she asked me if I wanted to join their upcoming book club (umm, yeah!). She mentioned it would likely be jus

Another crazy busy week, but also loaded with lots of fun. Why not? If life's not fun, then it's time to find out what makes you happy. Five things I'm grateful for this week: 1 - A trip to the mountains . To be within a four hour drive of something so picturesque. We spent some time walking around Pyramid Lake Island (and if any of you follow Amazing Race Canada, it was a check-in spot on the first or second leg). Here is a pic I took of the bridge that takes you to the island. The skies were broken cloud, but the lake was calm. Reflective even. 2 - Good friends to travel with. I spent the weekend surrounded with males (hubs, kids, and another couple) and never felt safer. :) Our friends are fun, and we're very like minded, so it makes hanging out easy and relaxing.  3 - Seeing Bill Nye. We travelled to Jasper, and got to spend a couple of hours listening to Bill Nye and his brand of comedy. Although his talk of choice was to focus on Global Warming and

My Week in Review: October 2 - 8, 2016 Two exciting things happened this week. My birthday was on Thursday. I won't tell you how old I am except to say I'm now using the term 30 something. I won't tell you what the something is in numbers, as I hate the number I'm at.  My birthday is always been bittersweet. Five years ago I buried my best friend on it. Losing her has been one of the hardest things I've had to deal with. There are still things that surface that slap me across the face, and knock the wind out of my sails. Time has healed the rip in my heart, but there is still a huge scar. So for that reason, I don't really celebrate it. And that's okay. I'll see my parents, get lots of text/email/FB/twitter messages (for which I'm very grateful), but I don't celebrate it with a huge party. Not my thing. I'm more of a small gathering, intimate kind of gal. :) Another exciting thing happened this week. I finished writing  That

Tonight I listened to Garth Brook's When You Come Back to Me Again to drown out the horror of Stranger Things my hubs watched on Netflix (it's too scary for me to even try to tune out, I need earphones and loud music). Anyways, one of my favourites come on, and I instantly flash to my two main characters Nate & Aurora , from Duly Noted . For anyone who's read the book, they may agree that this song with it's lyrics is perfect. It's their love song: There’s a ship out on the ocean, At the mercy of the sea. It’s been tossed about, Lost and broken, Wandering aimlessly. And God somehow you know, That ship is me. ‘Cause there’s a lighthouse, In a harbor, Shining faithfully. Pouring its light out, Across the water. For this sinking soul to see, That someone out there still believes in me. On a prayer, In a song, I hear your voice, And it keeps me hanging on. Oh, raining down, against the wind. I’m reaching out, ‘Till we reach the circle’s end. When you come bac

I was designed and destined to be a mom, and had known from a very early age that that was my purpose in life. In the last eighties (or early nineties) I used to watch an old Access TV program on VBAC births. Who knew I would need to recall that info years later with my second child? Although it took years (and that's another blog post in itself - see the Journey to Parenthood post here ) my first pregnancy was perfect. I had nothing to complain about, and just adored being pregnant and feeling this beautiful life grow within me. I had waited many years for this, and was taking the pregnancy day by day, enjoying each new milestone. I loved being pregnant!  I wasn’t even upset by the fact that I was well overdue until my niece was born (who was supposed to be born after my child). Holding her, I desperately wanted to be holding my  precious baby. Sure enough the next day I went into labour. :)  No prenatal class, no book, no TV show prepared me for what I was about to g