Anything and Everything.

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 ...

Making up chore charts has been something I've done for my kids since they've been old enough to read. Afterall, I have my own chore chart (aka - my to-do list) hanging on the fridge that I must follow. ;) I like to change it up, make it interesting and fun. We're all part of this household, so we all need to pitch in and keep it clean and tidy. My children do not earn money for their chores. We tried this and it was an epic fail. They didn't care. My children, ages 8 & 11, do however, earn electronics time. They do not get time during the week, I'd rather they play outside or read or both. Their time to play with these coveted machines is on Saturday & Sunday mornings, since they get up at the crack of dawn, and I'd much rather sleep. ;) Now, with them playing their DS's, X-BOX games, computer games, what-have-you this mom gets to sleep in and they get to play. Win-win. For all of us. So... I wanted to make the chores FUN and I like giving the...

Another what makes me smile post. Sundays. Sundays are truly wonderful days in our house. First of all, I typically get to sleep in! Yeah! Then, lately at least, we've been having breakfast at home. Bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and coffee. But it's not the breakfast that makes me smile. It's the conversations at the table that warm my heart. Today was no exception. My hubs and I recalled memories from when our kids were younger and some of the funny things they said or did. They LOVE hearing these stories just as much as we love telling them. There were lots of laughs and giggles, and no one was in a hurry to leave. Breakfast was devoured without an issue (we have an anti-egg eater, but today, he ate up with a smile.) It was an awesome way to start our day. Then we all pitch in and clean the house, because to me, a clean house is happiness. Laundry is done, ironing finished (usually while watching NASCAR), and everyone is calm, cool and collected. Tonight we...