Never easy

We are still here :)

Touching the bugs:

Riding a bike (into the sunset)

Touching more bugs:

I have had no inspiration to write, as perhaps writing in turn inspires introspection. This year a read over a hundred books, baked only a couple of times and made a trip to Ukraine. Since September we have swimming classes, gymnastics and a dance class. Life is busy and, often, absolutely wonderful. Here is hoping that I can get back into blogging a little more and plan ahead a little better. On that note, have you started you Christmas shopping yet? :)

Accomplishments... or not?

It takes so little and so much to be a good mother, wife, homemaker... It also takes a lot to compromise and settle, challenge yourself and push yourself. Yesterday evening, after we got home from work and had a little reconnecting time with my little one I managed to make dinner, bake a loaf of banana chocolate chip bread, unload and load dishwasher, clean up the kitchen, put a kiddo to sleep, make lunches, unload dishwasher yet again... I also accomplished a shower and some *just us* time with my better half. All in all - I must be a superwoman, as this is a lot of work. And yet - tonight I'll get to do most of it all over again.... How do people manage? I'd rather curl up with a book and not make the lunches, but then my morning will be rushed, crumpled and nervous. Choices are to be made - every night.

A Hard Day's Night

I have been trying to keep my perspective, and stay positive! That's the best I can say about the last week or so. I constantly need to remind myself to stay positive, as I slip into my usual sarcastic self. I still haven't done any sewing, but I got out my knitting needles and actually knit about 20 rows just to get a feel of the new bamboo needles and the cotton thread. Something new, although might not be very exciting. I got my glasses out and am trying to be okay with wearing them :) So silly to be self-conscious about wearing glasses, but I guess I am not the wisest of them. A conversation with a friend made me get my guitar out, but guess what - I didn't play, my daughter did. She loved mama's guitar, and kept telling us how pretty the instrument is. At the end of the day, even if the only accomplishment is to make Sophia happy, it's totally worth it. But not only that, my son suddenly got all excited and asked me to teach him to play acoustic. My dear husband laughed that mommy needs to learn herself before she can teach anyone. True , of course....

On the baking topic, I made a PW's Chocolate Sheet Cake and it is FANTASTIC! Make it, you won't regret it!

I also survived taking my son to his swimming lesson and entertaining Sophia on the playground for 45 minutes (If you didn't know, in that specific time frame a 2 year old girl can climb- with mama's help- and go down the slide approximately 45 times!). Soccer practice next night was a piece of pie after that, as there were no high structures to climb in the proximity of the field.

Have a Happy Turkey Day (if you are in Canada) and let's remember to be thankful for what we have, as often we concentrate on what we don't :) Hug your kids, kiss your spouses, and send a prayer into the Universe asking for some of that for everyone.

30 day Back to Self Challenge

I came across this wonderful idea in one of my favorite magazines.

The idea is to do something for just yourself every day. The examples are read a novel, drink your water, do your yoga, go for a jog... Do something that you enjoy.

Since I'm a bookaholic I suppose I've been doing that for a while now, but still it is important to recognize that you need to do something just for yourself. Your mind, body, soul, you very essence require nurturing just as much as those around you. Oh crap.. I forgot to feed my turtle this morning....

So for me - yoga class today. Training sessions tomorrow and on Thursday. Since my car battery is dead - recharging the battery might count as a self-nurturing, right? Otherwise, how will I get to the library? Horrors!

As for the water - how many of you have a water bottle, but don't have it with you? I'm like that. So one more thing for me to do this week - find my Sigg bottle!

If you are stopping by to read this - please share what are you planning to do for yourself? Can you keep it up for 30 days? :) I dare you!

New beginnings

I am a person who likes to begin things. And I am also easily discouraged by failure and loss. but the thing is - it's not who I want to be. I want to be ME. Strong, courageous, beautiful, clever, insightful, kind... I want to be all those things to be able to show my kids that one doesn't have to be perfect to the view of the world but just to oneself. If I can accept myself as such person, won't I be able to accept that my failures are okay? I may still want to improve, but shouldn't I still love myself even if I fail? Enough of that. You see my point - I need to start being me, even if I don't know who that is.

Step 1. I joined Toastmasters. If you never heard of such a thing - look them up. Public speaking is not my forté, so it's a good start. My first assignment is my Icebreaker speech. Subject of the speech - ME. But of course. Do they think I know who I am? Do they actually believe that it's the easiest topic out there? Nevertheless. Once I'm done with the speech I may post it on here, but for now, I just keep writing it in my head. Obsessively.

Step 2. I started going to a yoga class. *gasp*
I"ve now done two classes of easy beginner yoga and I love it. The fact that simple stretching excercize can make me ache for 3 days afterwards is alarming, but the pelasure of feeling my muscles do something is definitely worth it.

Step 3. Maintain the house. No longer I have a Mount Washmore (aka laundry) in my third bedroom. It's folded. The sink is clean every night before I go to bed. Dishwasher is working. Lunches are made in the evening, so that mornings can be dedicated to decaf coffee, my little Sophia and some cuddles. Shower would be nice too :)

This is not it. I need to get back in with cooking, exploring my new cook books (hey Jamie, did you miss me?), reading that photography book and of course - getting some use of my fan-frigging-tactic sewing machine. But for now, I'll take it slow. Baby steps.

Request permission....

Last week was just not good. My daughter was sick with high fever, pediatrician appointment was long and draining, my cupcakes as expected were horrendous (illustrations to come...)

Canada lost almost in every sport there is yesterday, and the only good result was in the figure skating that I wasn't able to watch. Apparently curling can be very exciting- who knew! Canada lost to China yesterday and that's after the Canada-USA hockey game, that I guess everyone knows ended 3:5. I'm not a face-painter, no-no-no. But still, bobsleigh, speed skating, hockey, curling... ugh... I guess I got caught up in Olympic fever...

And to add to my annoyance I keep getting those bot-requests to add me to someone's contact list in Trillian - by dozen! Request denied! Permission will not be granted, go away until the Olympics are over, until it's summer, or at least spring, until my pile of laundry is smaller than my empty bedroom, until I get enough sleep. Seriously! I need someone to make me a dinner, I need to sleep in, and please can someone fold my laundry, just please...

Questions...

Question of the day - what is the conceptual difference between angel food cake pan and bundt pan? I think I want to (to ruin) PW's recipe of the Pop Pound Cake and I only have the angel food pan...

Today I tried to make a soup. I wanted something warm, but not thick, something satisfying but not too heavy. No pics, but the recipe involved roasted carrots and sauteed onions, baked potato, a little roasted bacon and a lot of red kidney beans. Surprisingly enough the soup came out pretty decent, probably because I used chicken stock and added some fresh tomato in there for a bit of a fresh taste.

Now to feel accomplished I just need to get my behind off the sofa and go fold laundry. And make sandwiches. And cook some more... Ugh... Being a good mom is a hard job, did you know that?