I feel like a school girl again! Summer vacation has officially begun for both Storm and myself - I took the summer off!! This is a first....and it hasn't really sunk in yet. We're in another transition period though so it won't be a typical restful summer. My husband has been laid-off and we may be relocating so there could end up being a lot of things to accomplish....but there is still time to read:
Currently, it is Diana Gabaldon's Scottish Prisoner - one of the Lord John Gray novels but with Jamie Fraser having a central role. I miss Claire though who only surfaces through Jamie's memories of her.
Still, with the Jamie and Claire series having come to an end, I am delighted to find Jamie once again. I have been reading these novels since at least the early 90s - now that's hard to believe!!
The View from my Hilltop
February 4, 2012
It has been far too long since I last made a blog entry. Lots has happened over the last year - new jobs for both my husband and I. Our oldest started Kindergarten and the youngest daycare. We still have our two cats and two dogs although one has been quite sick lately. Up every night to let him out, at least once usually more, it is like having a baby in the house again.
I am still searching for that perfect job - rewarding, enjoyable, and one that makes a difference. I dabbled with trying to start my own bookstore last year and it was close but it did not happen. It wasn't meant to be I guess, at least not right now. Do you watch the Cupcake Girls on the Oprah Network? It's my new favorite show and everytime I watch it, my entrepeneurial fire flares up. Not to mention it is filmed on the west coast - I so want us to live there - next to the ocean, mild winter, majestic mountains. What's not to like? Well okay the housing prices are outrageous but you have to think of it as an investment. Buy now and the kids will inherit something substantial. Until then, I have to tolerate the cold, the snow, and the icky winter - icy roads, darkness, and being stuck inside until spring. Blah.
I am still searching for that perfect job - rewarding, enjoyable, and one that makes a difference. I dabbled with trying to start my own bookstore last year and it was close but it did not happen. It wasn't meant to be I guess, at least not right now. Do you watch the Cupcake Girls on the Oprah Network? It's my new favorite show and everytime I watch it, my entrepeneurial fire flares up. Not to mention it is filmed on the west coast - I so want us to live there - next to the ocean, mild winter, majestic mountains. What's not to like? Well okay the housing prices are outrageous but you have to think of it as an investment. Buy now and the kids will inherit something substantial. Until then, I have to tolerate the cold, the snow, and the icky winter - icy roads, darkness, and being stuck inside until spring. Blah.
July 19, 2011 A quiet day at home
A head cold has given me a day at home alone. Ahhhhh. The first few hours were nice, synced my iphone, found my BB, sent out an "update email" and some photos of the kids to friends and family (long overdue!), caught up on a few blogs, read some old emails - who said computers would make less work?
The thing is there are so many more things I could do but as I contemplate which to do first the day wears away....swim, read, clean, eat, write, cook, bake, get outside...what I should be doing is absolutely nothing - just resting which is all I want to do when the whole family is home. Now that I have the time I feel I need to make better use of it than resting......
The thing is there are so many more things I could do but as I contemplate which to do first the day wears away....swim, read, clean, eat, write, cook, bake, get outside...what I should be doing is absolutely nothing - just resting which is all I want to do when the whole family is home. Now that I have the time I feel I need to make better use of it than resting......
March 19 2011 - It is coming!
I spied tiny spikes of bright green today where the snow had melted away in the garden! Yes, it is coming - spring, summer, warmth, sunshine, bees, hummingbirds, wild raspberries and blackberries!!
With this warmth comes another change - a new job - starting Monday. I am excited but hope I am not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. It comes with a longer commute but a nicer builder and a bigger paycheque. Hunter is starting a new job in a week and Storm starts kindergarden this fall, so lots of changes afoot - but good positive changes.
With this warmth comes another change - a new job - starting Monday. I am excited but hope I am not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. It comes with a longer commute but a nicer builder and a bigger paycheque. Hunter is starting a new job in a week and Storm starts kindergarden this fall, so lots of changes afoot - but good positive changes.
December 5, 2010 - Passion
Watched Julie and Julia last night. Neat movie. Big fan of Meryl Streep, I think she did a good job as Julia Childs, not so easy to pull that persona off. Never really knew Julia through her cooking shows, I imagine you either loved her or hated her. Have to admire the relationship she had with her husband. Inspiring life too - finding your passion at nearly 40 (I'm nearly 40). I can empathize with Julie too, stuck in a cubicle to pay the bills when you know what your passion is, but you are unable to kindle it. So close, you can visualize the life you want to live, know you'd be happy living it, but unable to get it started. Frustrating - spinning your tires on ice when all you want to do is GO!
Puss (2004-2010) - October 18, 2010
I lost a good friend this weekend. We buried him down the road under some coniferous trees in a spot touched by the morning sun. He loved to lay in the sun. His friend Max watched our procession down the hill. Did he know his friend lay curled up in the plain brown box my husband carried? My little girl cried, I cried, I think even my husband was sad. We didn't say any words as we lay him in a deep hole my husband dug. No words were needed, our tears said it all. We tossed in his favorite treats and his red ball and two purple flowers. My little girl wanted to know if he needed water to drink too.
We shovelled the dirt back over him - to keep him warm and safe we told her. After a few silent moments we turned and made our way sadly back up the road toward home.
You were a good cat Puss. I'll miss your evening visits and your attempts for attention while I lay reading in bed; the way you'd thrust your head under my book looking for that chin rub and how you'd purr so loudly in contentment when I finally gave in.
I'll miss everything about you, I already do.
We shovelled the dirt back over him - to keep him warm and safe we told her. After a few silent moments we turned and made our way sadly back up the road toward home.
You were a good cat Puss. I'll miss your evening visits and your attempts for attention while I lay reading in bed; the way you'd thrust your head under my book looking for that chin rub and how you'd purr so loudly in contentment when I finally gave in.
I'll miss everything about you, I already do.
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| Puss tolerating his friend Max |
Looking at 20 years, no parole - August 10, 2010
Yesterday was a day of mourning for me - it was the official end of a year reigning my own little queendom, a year of freedom (well somewhat... but that's a long story about an even longer road and no car), my one on one year with Baby Breeze - yes, the end of my maternity leave. It's all gone now for the most part. I have returned to life (okay, I won't be melodramatic, it's really only a 20 year sentence) in A CUBICLE. I refuse to say "reality" because life in THE CUBICLE no way resembles how humans were meant to live. Prisoners have more freedom.
I walked into a space the size of my kitchen island, looked out a window that was so covered in murkiness I couldn't see the grimy rooftops below. I breathed in and choked - stale, warm air; I looked around at the dirty carpet and chased crumbs from their hiding spot underneath the monitor.
My neurons were rebelling and refused to fire - a meeting within the first hour! I tried to dredge up program history from the web-infested recesses of my working mind. I tried to focus on the upcoming deadlines, all urgent, all life threatening (my life that is). I couldn't. I didn't want to be there. My mommy brain was waging war with my working brain and it was no contest. I wanted to be outside, walking my baby down the hill, picking wild blackberries, breathing the fresh hilly air - my usual morning routine back home. Heck, I'd rather be changing a corn-infested, highly potent poopy diaper than be there.
My freedom is gone - no more games of chase and tickle with Baby Breeze, no more baking on impulse, catching a few minutes of TV, reading the newest blog postings, pulling a few weeds in the garden. All the spontaneity of life at home is gone.
BUT, I knew I wouldn't be able to face THE CUBICLE and all of its confines five days a week after 13 months at home so I am doing it slowly, no cold turkey for this gal. Home today and tomorrow the mourning starts all over again. On and off like that over the next few weeks until I can bear a full-time return. But all the while I will be planning my escape.
I used my year wisely...I did some soul-searching while the baby napped :) I found out what truly makes me tick and how I can combine my strengths with my interests to break free from THE CUBICLE. It's going to take time but when you are doing 20 years without parole (no more children for us and 20 years until retirement) time is all you have!
I walked into a space the size of my kitchen island, looked out a window that was so covered in murkiness I couldn't see the grimy rooftops below. I breathed in and choked - stale, warm air; I looked around at the dirty carpet and chased crumbs from their hiding spot underneath the monitor.
My neurons were rebelling and refused to fire - a meeting within the first hour! I tried to dredge up program history from the web-infested recesses of my working mind. I tried to focus on the upcoming deadlines, all urgent, all life threatening (my life that is). I couldn't. I didn't want to be there. My mommy brain was waging war with my working brain and it was no contest. I wanted to be outside, walking my baby down the hill, picking wild blackberries, breathing the fresh hilly air - my usual morning routine back home. Heck, I'd rather be changing a corn-infested, highly potent poopy diaper than be there.
My freedom is gone - no more games of chase and tickle with Baby Breeze, no more baking on impulse, catching a few minutes of TV, reading the newest blog postings, pulling a few weeds in the garden. All the spontaneity of life at home is gone.
BUT, I knew I wouldn't be able to face THE CUBICLE and all of its confines five days a week after 13 months at home so I am doing it slowly, no cold turkey for this gal. Home today and tomorrow the mourning starts all over again. On and off like that over the next few weeks until I can bear a full-time return. But all the while I will be planning my escape.
I used my year wisely...I did some soul-searching while the baby napped :) I found out what truly makes me tick and how I can combine my strengths with my interests to break free from THE CUBICLE. It's going to take time but when you are doing 20 years without parole (no more children for us and 20 years until retirement) time is all you have!
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