Stylish Blogger Award, Season 2

May 17, 2011 by ·

Roll out the red carpet again – the Stylish Blogger Awards are back on Farewell, Stranger.

Leighann from The Endless Rant of a Multitasking Mumma has given me this award (again, because obviously she can’t see me sitting here in my workout clothes and ball cap). But style is about more than fashion, right? At least that’s how I’m going to define it. Style is about flair and honesty and humour. It’s about showing up when someone needs a lift or a comment on a tough post or a laugh at a weak attempt at being funny on Twitter (ahem).

So, according to those criteria, it’s my pleasure to award the following stylish women the Stylish Blogger Award:

Cristi from Motherhood Unadorned

Coleen from It’s Not The Good Kind

Sue from Cookie’s Chronicles

Jayne from Just Plain Jayne

Alena from Charmingly Chandler

Kim from Let Me Start By Saying

Sara from Periwinkle Papillon

Kelley from Kelley’s Break room

Nanette from Heart Baby Home

Amanda from The Kelly Family

Love you girls. So glad to have met you out here in the big, wide blogosphere.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: ,

Wisdom in Six Words

May 13, 2011 by ·

Today I’m joining Melissa from Making Things Up for Six Word Fridays on the topic of wisdom.

Lately all the pieces of my path are weaving together into something – I can see where it’s going, but not how I’m going to get there. I understand what this journey might look like, but can’t yet articulate it.

What I can do is express some of what I’ve learned lately, so here’s what wisdom I have in six-word increments:

Time to think is so valuable.

Ask for help when it’s needed.

Accept help when it is offered.

Friends are family, family are friends.

What you are feeling is okay.

Some days are better than others.

It’s true – everyone struggles with something.

Being painfully honest can help others.

If you’re open, there are signs.

You’re loved more than you know.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: , ,

Love Letter to My Middle Sister

May 12, 2011 by ·

Dear M.,

When we got married you gave Rich and I a gift. An intangible gift, but one you managed to capture in words.

“On this day, I can think of only one thing to offer.”

It wasn’t a present. It was a gift. A extraordinarily beautiful gift.

“You have given it to me. Others have received it as well. In fact it is given all over this great Earth. No one should go without it.”

I knew this, but not the way you knew it. You knew this, and among your many strengths this is one of your most powerful.

“It is something that, if properly maintained, respected and contributed to, will never wilt or disappear.”

You gave us this gift nearly seven years ago, and during the time since I have often felt I didn’t nurture this gift enough. I was never afraid it would disappear, but I’m not sure I contributed equally to its upkeep.

“Its value cannot be measured and is rarely appreciated enough.”

You’re right, it can’t be measured, though I’ve always appreciated this gift you so freely offer to those around you. But I’ve never, never appreciated the value of this gift more than in the last couple of weeks. I’m overwhelmed by it, and the fact that you have given it to us.

When you came over Easter weekend I was happy to see you. No, not happy. Really, really glad. Relieved. My whole family was here that weekend and it felt like a buffer. It felt like you were all standing around the three of us holding hands and blocking everything else out. When you all left, I knew that support was still there, but I felt a little bit more alone.

Last Tuesday, when I came downstairs in the morning and Connor said, “Auntie ‘Shell is coming over today,” I just smiled.

“I don’t think so, honey,” I said. “She went back on the plane. She’s back at home.”

I didn’t believe him when he revealed that secret, so when you walked into the living room I didn’t know what to think. How could you be back so soon? Why were you back?

But I knew why. And I was glad.

“It is not a one-way gift. It is hard to give and not get back.”

Over the last week and a half, you have given me so much more than you will ever know. I can never repay you for distracting Connor when I couldn’t do it. I want to package up time and sleep and give it to you when you need it in exchange for those mornings you got up with him so we could sleep. I want to give you everything I have – every nourishing thing, every comforting thing, every beautiful thing – for coming, without being asked, when I needed you to come. For knowing when I needed to talk and when I needed to be silent. For seeing in my son what I sometimes don’t. For seeing in me what I felt was lost. For just being here and bringing the most precious gift I have ever received.

“FRIENDSHIP. My friends are my family and my family are my friends.”

I couldn’t ask for a better family but I will never forget your gift of friendship when I needed it most.

xx

Mama’s Losin’ It

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: , ,

Master of The Zone

May 3, 2011 by ·

In the summer of 2006, I was nine months into my master’s degree program. It was a full-time program and I was working full time as well in a job I’d started six months earlier.

Then I started training for my first half-marathon.

Then we got a puppy.

It turns out the puppy was a bit much. He was adorable, energetic and loved chewing on socks, but he needed constant stimulation. We got him some chewy sticks but he refused to entertain the idea of chewing on one unless someone was holding the other end. It’s awfully hard to type graduate-level papers with one hand.

I figured it all out (toes work almost as well as fingers to hold a chewy stick, as it turns out) and felt busy, energized, and alive during that time.

I was in the zone.

I’d go to running clinic and whatever it was – hill repeats, laps at the track, sprints – I ran it. I ran in the sun and felt my spirit soar. Running was hard, and I loved it because it was hard. I got up at 5 a.m. on Fridays for workouts and gave up sleeping in on Sundays for long runs.

I went to work every day and even though it wasn’t my dream job I was finally in a job in the field I wanted to be in.

And all through this I was doing coursework – researching, writing, thinking about things that changed my whole understanding of what I wanted to do in the world.

As for the puppy, he was by then firmly ensconced in our family and was a source of joy and laughter. This despite having to be let out in the night to pee. And then having to be convinced to come back inside. And having to be trained and socialized and taught it’s not okay to bite one’s mother, canine or otherwise.

I was tired, but figured early workouts and middle-of-the-night pees were helpful training for having a baby.

I was so steeped in the newness of it all that my life felt full, but not to overflowing. I did well at work and then changed jobs a few months later when I was offered my dream job.

I moved through the courses for my degree – learning and developing relationships with people who, five years later, are more family than friends.

I met my goal for the half marathon in the fall and enjoyed every minute and every mile.

By the time I graduated with my MA in 2007, I was seven weeks pregnant with Connor and a new chapter in my life was about to begin. When I walked across the convocation stage I felt good, but when I met up with my parents after the ceremony and saw the looks on their faces, I realized how proud they were of me. Which seemed fair, because I was – and am – proud of myself.

____________________

This post is in response to a prompt from The Red Dress Club: “Tell the story (without any trivialization or modesty) of something in your life that you are proud of.”

Note: this post contains a paid link, because I think education is important and finding the right master’s program changed my life.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With:

A-Z and Back to Bed*

April 25, 2011 by ·

So I’m trolling around the Interwebs today and I come across this meme. I normally don’t do memes, but I kind of like this one. (*Note that you have to be Canadian for the title to rhyme, so just humour me and read it that way.)

To give credit where credit is due, I stole this from Just Plain Jayne who stole it from The Sweetest who found it at Mean Girl Garage. She stole it from Lex at Lex in the City who stole it from Jen O. from My Tornado Alley who stole it from Bored Mommy who found it at… Oh, forget it. I love following a trail but I suspect this one could go on forever.

A. Age: I always have to think when people ask me this question. I’m going to go with 36. I think.

B. Bed size: King, but lately I mostly sleep in a double in my sanctuary room.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning tubs and showers. Floors. Except vacuuming. I love vacuuming.

D. Dogs: We have a 5 year old Wheaten Terrier named Finley. He’s totally a daddy’s dog, but sometimes he comes and cuddles with me. Puppy therapy is the best.

E. Essential start to your day: Brushing my teeth and checking email and Twitter, which I now do before eating breakfast. Most unusual.

Alphabet on Sand by Stephen Rees

F. Favorite color: Used to be blue, but now it’s red. A really deep red.

G. Gold or silver: White gold. Or silver. But I don’t do yellow gold.

H. Height: 5’9”, most of which is in my legs making it a giant pain to find pants that are long enough.

I. Instruments you play(ed): I took piano and flute lessons when I was younger and then I think my mom accepted that being musical is not one of my many talents. <sarcasm> I think I also played the recorder for a bit. Oh, and I played the triangle for a school concert once. That was truly a high point in my musical career.

J. Job title: Internal communications director. Mama.

K. Kids: One feisty almost-three-year-old. There’s another one lurking in the metaphorical wings if I can ever kick this PPD crap.

L. Live: Is this “live” as in “live life”? Or “live” as in “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Either way, I like to live life when I’m not battling something that makes me not want to. And I’m not really big on live shows. Plays, yes. Concerts, not so much.

M. Mom’s name: Mom. Mama. Momita. Grandma (which used to be Gandala).

N. Nicknames: Robs. Bobbin. Mama. Daddy. (Sometimes he gets confused.)

O. Overnight hospital stays: Two. Appendix when I was about 11. C-section when C was born. How come I get all the horrible abdominal stuff?

P. Pet peeves: People who chew with their mouth open. People who pay no attention to anyone around them and stop suddenly right in front of you. People who hit “reply all” to emails when it’s really not warranted.

Q. Quote from a movie: “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” – Dead Poets Society

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty. Except when I’m shuffling cards.

S. Siblings: Brother and 2 sisters. I’m the oldest. 2 half sibs also (older than I).

T. Time you wake up: Whatever time the toddler tells me to wake up. Except lately because I’m all doped up on sedatives and am finding it incredibly easy to sleep until past noon. And then want to go to sleep some more.

U. Underwear: I do wear them, but my son’s insistence on going commando makes me wonder if underwear is overrated.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Um. Hmm. I like most of them so let’s go with the old standby: Brussels sprouts.

W. What makes you run late: The kid. Apathy. Losing my car keys. Always forgetting that traffic on a certain part of my route is ridiculous and there’s nothing I can do about it because I don’t own a car that can drive over all the others.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth. Hands. Broken toes. I’m sure there are others… I tend to be clumsy.

Y. Yummy food you make: Good curries. Pretty good chili. I’d love to make more soup (yum) but my husband doesn’t eat soup. I know. He’s a freak.

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Giraffes. When I saw the petite lap giraffes and realized they weren’t real, a part of me died.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: ,
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