pick

for some reason, today i started feeling very excited for éamon about daycare. i think he's going to do well there, will learn a lot and make friends. i feel confident about this new adventure. it's also nice because this optimistic feeling isn't coming from a jaded place in me. it's not like i'm sick of him, because i'm not. i just feel encouraged that it'll be a good change for us.

with the worry of daycare off my shoulders, i don't dread returning to work in july. i love the freedom i have now – a loose schedule, a loose bedtime, a loose wake-up time, not being in a hurry, getting to do whatever i want. but thankfully, as far as work goes, i like my job, and for the most part, i'll be happy to be there.

in july, we'll begin a new normal that will last for several years. the thought of diving into that new routine seems appealing. that said, i will reach a point when the novelty wears off, and it'll start to feel daunting. but i think i'll do a better job at protecting my time and energy, because i know how much better i feel when i'm not stretched thin.

my main regret is how far away my office is. i want to find a way to use that time well. or perhaps to even find out if it's possible to use my commute in a better way. what can be done with 23 minutes of sleepy-tired driving in the morning, followed by 23 minutes of work-tired driving in the late afternoon?

darling,
i'll be waiting here until these days are through,
and then i'll work some more.

holder

for some reason i'm growing tired of facebook. actually, tired isn't quite the right word, more like weary. it's not facebook itself, but i kind of miss the days when people had actual status updates rather opinion pieces. i didn't ask, nor do i care, why are you telling me this. what i am interested in is what you're up to lately.

i'm also a little increasingly uncomfortable when it seems a person is using facebook to fill some kind of emotional need. i think everyone has a legitimate need for connection and community, but it strikes me as sad when facebook is (or appears to be) the only means of relationship. i've seen people put extremely personal information (such as details of marital strife) on facebook, and it made me so sad because that's the kind of info that should be shared with close friends or family, not 260+ of your closest acquaintances.

and i think it also troubles me that i compulsively check my facebook (without conscious intention), even though there's never really that many updates in the course of a couple hours. yesterday i didn't check it all day until evening (which was what i'd do while working), and i was caught up in a matter of minutes, so it's really not necessary for me to check it so often.

all of this said, i think it's better for me to put a little distances between this tool that can both amuse and irritate me. during the lenten season, i decided to put restrictions on my use of netflix. maternity leave + nursing + netflix = a lot of wasted time. when i was a kid, my mom would let us watch an 1.5 hours of tv a day, and would regularly tell us that she'd rather we used our imagination, which i value. i don't really know how much time i was spending watching netflix, but i can be sure that i wasn't using my imagination or other forms of creativity or activities that i value. so i'm reverting to my childhood rules around tv, and have already found this a very rewarding discipline. i've been reading, praying, reflecting, and in general managing my time much better. so i think i'll keep to this schedule come easter.

i will not be a victim of circumstance.

mandolin

even though i shouldn't be surprised, i was struck today when i realized by how conversations with my girl-friends have changed. five years ago, while sharing a meal with friends, the conversation would've been about dating and men. but today, during brunch with shannon and scarlete, we talked about babies and finances. i suppose it's natural for discussions to evolve with life circumstances, but it still amused me some. it just emphasized that we're growing, changing and maturing into adults.

i'm sure i've mentioned this before, but spring always feels like my season. what i mean by that is that i feel so much more comfortable in my body and so liberated in general that it's a season i feel able to really thrive in. this afternoon, i left éamon at home with brendan and headed down to the grocery store. i was wearing my spring/fall vest, new pants (which are 3 sizes smaller than what i had been wearing), and a new bag that arrived today from etsy. i don't know if it was the freedom of my winter jacket, the fact that my pants fit me and didn't sag or bunch, or just the excitement of my long-awaited bag, but i was reminded of what it's like to be streamline and to feel good in my own skin. i feel like i've really come into my own. it's encouraging. plus, even though i know we still have a few weeks left of winter, these pockets of spring-like weather here and there will definitely get me through :)

i bought this ben howard album last spring. i remember not getting as hooked on it as i'd expected myself to at the time. there was part of me that wondered if my timing was just off and that i might've connected with it better in another season of my life. it seems that season is now. i'm hooked on it like it was brand new. it's funny how that is sometimes.

the river's cracked and cold.

the worst!

i'm still coming down from an upsetting incident this afternoon. so i thought i'd tell you about it so that i might feel a little better. to begin with, i'll just say that i got scammed.

this afternoon, while i was in the middle of making myself a salad, the phone rang. i was only really half listening when a man with a thick accent told me that he was calling from visa and that i'd been selected for a lower interest rate because of my credit history. i've always made a point of paying my credit card off each month so that i never have to pay interest, but whenever visa offers me perks because of my credit history i always accepted. so i was like, "ok", which then began a long back and forth of me confirming my identity with security questions, etc. it didn't take long for me to become frustrated because i was just about to eat and this guy was making me read the visa phone number off the back of my card (which i thought was weird, but now realize that was the first clue). while i was trying to get my credit card out of my wallet, i accidentally hit end, and he called back right away and defensively saying "why did you hang up on me?". in hindsight, his persistence and, at times, rude behaviour shouldn't been an indication that something wasn't right. actually, his poor grasp of the english language should've also been a tip off for me, because visa's operators are always clear and well spoken. 

he was soon badgering me for my credit card number so he could look up my account. i kept protesting, and even started to ask for his supervisor. but when he was able to tell me what my last payment was and for how much, as well as other information like my current credit limit, i became more trusting and did regrettably tell him my credit card number. but thankfully, i each time he repeated it back to me, it was always a few digits off, so i'm not sure if he really had it in the end. i really put up a fight all the way through our phone call, and kept saying i didn't want to give him the information he was asking for, but he kept displaying my hesitation and made me seem unreasonable. i suppose one of the main tricks of a shyster is to make you doubt yourself.

when he told me that they were going to charge me a one-time fee of $400 to lower my interest rate to 6%, i told him 'no way'. i demanded that he not proceed and that i didn't want, nor need a lower interest rate. then he started saying i needed to give him my email and facebook information so he could remove the charges, which i knew was B.S. so i hung up and called the customer service line. i was calling to complain (i had my suspicions that something wasn't right, but he'd provided some tangible reasons to believe him. i was very confused by the whole interaction). as soon as i told a portion of the story to the visa customer care rep, she told me that it was a scam and they were going to cancel my card right away. she also told me to cancel my email account too, which i didn't know how to do that, and i have lots of important (to me) emails. but when i spoke to someone in their security department she said that simply changing my password should be enough.

i called brendan as soon as i got off the phone with visa and immediately started crying. it's interesting that i was able to keep it together until i talked to him. before that my emotions came out in different ways, like aggression or talking fast. b could hardly understand what i was saying because of my blubbering, but he managed to calm me down. i'm hoping this is all behind me and that we (visa and i) caught it before my identity was stolen. i suppose it could've been worse, i didn't give out my SIN or my banking information. but i still felt so stupid. i'm not an overly trusting person, but he provided enough information to seem legit and he confused me enough through our back and forth dialogue. this whole thing really ruined my day.

the dark is light enough to see the ignorance of greed.

splash

when joy and tim bought a chest freezer, they said it made them feel like they were officially grown-ups. every so often they tease me and say i'm not a grown-up because i don't have a deep freeze, and i never argue with them about it, because i don't feel like a grown-up. or at least i didn't, now i do.

today i cried.
i cried when i realized i was a grown-up, and from here on in, things would be different.

i cried because it came out of no where, for the most unexpected reason.

i didn't feel like a grown-up when i got my first car, or when i got my job, or when i got my very own apartment, or when i traveled alone for the first time, or when we got married, or when we bought a house, or when we had a baby. i still felt like myself. like my life was my own, and i was happy with each new step.

but today, i knew i'd reached adulthood, when i realized that having this second car meant we couldn't take a trip to the caribbean. i knew i was a grown-up when i recognized that i couldn't do the fun thing, but had to do the responsible thing. it's not even that we can't go south, but it's that we shouldn't because we have other, more important things we need to spend that money on.

we got our new-to-us car on monday, and twice this week it wouldn't start in the morning. plus, we had to pay for the safety today, and the total came $666 – which i'm hoping is not a bad omen. i guess it helps that i know we need this car (i have no doubt about that), but that also kind of makes it harder. i'm used to being able to find away to do both, but i can't this time. and so i cried. i cried as a way of letting go. i cried as a way to mourn my old way of life (maybe even my carefree youth). i cried as i recognized the loss of part of my identity. i cried because deep down i thought i'd be able to avoid "settling down". i cried because it caught me off guard.

now, with that behind me, i can adjust my expectations and find a way to be the adult version of lesley. instead of going to the caribbean, we're taking a roadtrip to philadelphia for 5 days. and i'm happy to say, i'm really excited about it. we'll be able to keep it simple, but also get to see and do some cool things. i have said in the past that we'll do more north america travel once we have kids. i guess i thought that wouldn't be until they were a little older. i really wanted to take a trip to the caribbean to prove to myself that i'm the same as i used to be, and that my baby hasn't turned me into a fuddy-duddy. which is dumb, AND a terrible reason for doing something. as brendan pointed out, trying to maintain my 'freedom' would just make me super irresponsible, and it wouldn't be good.

i guess circumstances catch up to you at some point. i just don't know how to identify with this new phase in my life. i guess i'll figure it out as i go, just like everyone else.

think of all the roads,
think of all their crossings.

chap

last night i went to bed feeling pretty discouraged about my physical self. dissatisfied with lots of different things – i need a haircut; my baby tooth is super close to falling out, but we don't have the funds to do anything about the toothless gap; after losing 7 pounds, i seem to be stuck at a plateau; yada yada yada. as i lied in bed, curled up to get warm, i thought about how girls in their teens and 20s, complain about their bodies, but are most likely in great shape – better shape than they'll be when they're older. i dunno, maybe that's not the case with everyone, but it was the case with me. it's silly that we always find flaws to fixate on. i was still feeling discouraged this morning when i got up. so i chose to make small gestures that would make me feel nice, as well as comfortable (comfort helps minimize feelings of awkward bulkiness). i felt a little better today. it's easy to get discouraged.

this afternoon we went for a tour of the daycare we'd like éamon to go to. it's just at the end of our street, and our niece goes there. it's interesting because i used to work at a daycare in highschool (as an after-school job). i usually take that experience for granted and forget that it's not assumed that i'm familiar with that environment. so it was interesting to have that comparison when touring the facility. we liked it. it's like a large house, which is cool. and we saw audrey, as well as noah and cambria, so that was fun. when the tour was finished the lady told me to call back in a month to find out if they have an available place for him. but then she called me a couple hours later to let me know that they did have room if we wanted it. so that's great! every so often, i get upset when i think about only getting to spend 4 hours a day with him. it's best not to think of it that way, because it seems bleak. now that we've seen the centre, i feel more comfortable about it. i think it'll be a good place for him, and us too.

i think i bought the moon.

turn

i think there's a bit of a social epidemic going around. i don't know if it's just my social circle, but it seems that every conversation i have, involves someone being worried about what other people would think of their personal life decisions – where they shop, how they parent, how green they are, what form of birth control they use, what church they go to. truth be told (and i mean this most sincerely), i'm sick of it! it's so unfair that women are feeling this way.

besides the fact that it's sad that people are feeling guilty because of imagined judgement (i say imagined because in most of these cases, no one has actually confronted them about their decisions). people shouldn't feel that they need to hide their choices from their friends – friends should be supportive! and they really shouldn't feel a need to hide their choices from strangers – who cares what strangers think!

i'm quite convinced that when a person is self-conscious of their decisions, it's because they still have some doubts in their mind. but for whatever reason (circumstances or limitations – whether financial, physical, time, energy, etc) this is the best solution they've come up with. i feel like sometimes we just have to trust each others judgement, instead of presuming we know better. it's so much easier being different when we're confident in our choices.

i also think it's way easier facing perceived judgment if we're transparent. often times, if i'm confused by another person's choices, their explanation can really shed light on the situation and i end up supportive of their decision. so let's be frank and forthright, instead of letting people speculate and jump to conclusions.

i don't know about you, but i'm going to take a bow, and not play that game anymore :)

so for the record...

• my kid has a soother. he doesn't use it a lot, mostly when we're out or when he's sleeping. i'm 100% ok with this.

• we're getting a second car. it's a gift from my father-in-law, brendan needs it for his job. you're welcome to borrow it outside of work hours.

• éamon sleeps in a crib. i'm glad. it means at the end of the day, we get to just be brendan+lesley. PLUS, i often wake up in the night, freaked out that our baby has gotten tangled in the sheets, but he's always fast asleep in his own bed.

• i usually flush the toilet, even when it's yellow. pee is stinky.

• i don't exclusively buy ethical meat. it's my ideal, but not always my reality. when i'm heading home, with my 19lb baby strapped to my chest, and i'm already at metro, it just doesn't make sense to walk 5 blocks out of my way, when i'm tired and just need to get home.

so that's that :) no one's perfect, and i don't expect it from anyone else.

the sun is out, the day is new.

vin

on the bus today, i sat in special seating area reserved for people with wheelchairs, strollers, walkers, etc. at first i started sitting there because i thought that people with special needs (including people with babies) were the folks those seats were intended for. but the sign actually says "reserved for people with mobility aid devices". i consider my baby carrier a mobility aid. anyways, so i was sitting there and this lady got on the bus. after she sat down i noticed that she was glaring at me. it was really awkward, but i told myself that maybe she didn't notice my baby (i'm wearing him in a hiking carrier these days because he's getting heavy). she kept staring at me, but i told myself not to be scared or worried. so i decided not to avoid her gaze, but to look back at her. so i did, but she neither broke her look away, nor did she speak. i started with a smile – nothing, so i tried saying 'hi'. then she started talking to me and was friendly and asked me all sorts of questions. in the end, it wasn't that she was angry that i was sitting in the reserved seating area, but that she was a troubled person and she was just staring.

on occasion i think that becoming a mom has matured me, or i've learned this or that. but then, i slip back into old habits of laziness and poor time management or negative self talk and being too hard on myself. and i realize i still have a long way to go.

taking steps is easy
standing still is hard.

shortening

when i think to the future, at the life i desire for éamon i consider a wide spectrum of things. but the one thing i always come back to is the element of loneliness. from my own experience and those around me, i feel that a life without loneliness is good – better than good. i feel like loneliness is one of the most crippling human experiences. it makes everything less enjoyable, less meaningful. it makes life feel like a waiting game, rather than something you engage in and embrace. i've been thinking about this for several weeks, and came across something in a book i was reading that affirmed that. i was going to quote it, but it turns out i just lent to the book to rach, so i'll have to paraphrase. basically, it talked about how loneliness runs deeper than surroundings. a lonely person could live in the most luxurious home, but without connection with other people, the comforts of home are empty.

when i mentioned to brendan that i want for éamon to not experience loneliness, b said that loneliness is what it means to be human, and i agree that that's true. i want éam to be empathetic and to reach out to lonely people, and the only way to be truly sympathetic is to have shared experiences. so i guess everyone needs to know what it means to be lonely, even for a short while, but hopefully not a long while.

it's cold now
but it's getting warmer.

onions

i know it's the weather – the intense cold and the piles of snow – but today is the first day that i've felt bored and wished i was at work. i don't really have anything to do around the house. i'm getting into a good rhythm of tidying frequently and chores don't take very long. immediately after coming up with an idea to crochet myself some new slippers, this thought came into my head: "is this really what my life has resorted to? finding myself hobbies to fill my time?". i totally know that's the weather talking, and probably some vitamin D deficiency too, because when i feel well-balanced and energized i'm content with hobbies. another sign that it's the weather is that i don't feel like i wouldn't have anything to say if someone was to pop by for a visit right at this moment.

éamon's fine. just playing and hanging out. he's a pretty low maintenance baby. he doesn't really need attending to either.

i will say this. b got me onto this singer/song writer laura marling. her latest album is the only new music i've really sunk my teeth into since i left work. it's usually hard for me to get into new music without listening to it on headphones in my cubicle. otherwise it's just background noise that i don't really take in. brendan first discovered laura through Q; he was attracted to her because she loves joni mitchell fan and it shows in her music. to simply say brendan is a fan of joni, fails to capture his full admiration for her as a person. i like joni, but we're significantly less acquainted, not enough for me to hear her influence in laura's music. instead (whether this is intended or not), i hear jewel. being a teen and 20-something during the height of jewel's career, i listened to jewel a lot. we started to part ways when she started leaning towards country. so, imagine my delight when i find something new that has a similar feel. the thing i like better about laura is that she's more confident, complex and substantial. jewel had a lot more angst in her music. or maybe it's just that when i listen to 1998-jewel, it brings to the surface everything that was insecure, superficial and flimsy about being 18.

well, my mom just called. sounds like she's feel bored and cabin-fevery too. another sign it's just the weather.

thank you naivety for failing me again.

stones

when i'm out and about with éamon, people like to talk to us. i've concluded after experiencing life with a baby has given me a glimpse into how kind and loving strangers can be. more times than not, people say "it goes by too fast", then tell me about their grown children. i got thinking about this yesterday, and i'm certain that it's not that it goes fast, but rather that it's so short. babies change really quickly because each phase is short and they're into the next one.

we started éamon on some brown rice cereal and banana this morning because today he turned 6 months. afterwards, i was surprised to feel a sense of change. we've had such a smooth transition into having a baby. éamon has been such an easy baby that his entry into our lives felt remarkably similar to how it felt before. but now at six months, he's getting more active (we can't easily take him a lot to stuff anymore), he's communicating what he wants more (he's waking earlier and making it clear that he wants to be up), and now i have to think about preparing food and snacks. don't get me wrong, all of these things are good, i'm happy that he's developing and changing, but it seems all of a sudden that things are noticeably different. last night i said to b, that it feels that the days of us being able to leave the house without having to plan ahead and/or bring a bunch of stuff with us, is sailing away on the horizon. those days are still fresh enough that it's like i can see see the boat sailing away. as time passes, and the memory of our past freedom is as faint as the mist from a long gone steam boat, this will seem normal. but for some reason, right now, i'm struck by this overwhelming feeling that the path ahead is beyond my scope of ability. i guess i just need to remind myself that the things we did and experienced in this last half year were new uncharted territory too. it'll be just fine.

set out for a great adventure.

liable

lately, i've been feeling more selective about what news and social media i'm exposed to. as i do my daily scan of google news for items that interest me, i often come across things that cause me to go like this "really? why is this news? why should i care about that person's private life?" i even tried adding a filter so i wouldn't have to read about people like lindsay lohan, but all that did was add her to my google alerts :S

they say that women often become out of touch when they have a baby. while i wouldn't say that's completely true for me, i will say that my tolerance for non-relevant, hollywood gossip and sensational news stories has gone down significantly. i just feel like there's way more important things in the world that need more attention.

it's funny because i don't feel isolated, but being at the mall last week with shannon, and seeing all the latest fashions was eye-opening. i don't know anyone who dresses like that. thankfully i'm happy to say that i'm content being out of touch. fashion trends and celebrities are things i can live without.

i think this means i'm officially a grownup.

i need something more
just a place to be alone.

flight

just got home from the dentist. i had two cavities filled. they were these mysterious (to me) 'in between the teeth' cavities. *shrug* i really wasn't looking forward to it (not like anyone would), but i was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. i ended up concluding that it was mildly uncomfortable compared to éamon's birth. man, giving birth is the gift that keeps on giving :p even the fact that my mouth is still frozen isn't so bad. i just hope my feeling returns by dinner time.

since i discovered i had these two cavities (which are caused by not flossing), i mentioned it to joy (or probably more accurately ranted at joy), and she told me about this easy dental flosser that's like a toothbrush. i picked one up for 3 bux, and since then have been flossing every day with no difficulty. it takes between 30 seconds to 1 minute. and i do it right before i brush my teeth at night. it's a good system. i never imagined flossing could be so easy. the dentist mentioned that he saw some warning signs of another cavity, but if i keep at flossing i'll be able to keep it at bay. i plan to :D

for some unknown reason, i've decided that i want to drink fennel tea after dinner every day. i've started fixing my tea (letting it steep) at the beginning of dinner so it's ready when i'm done eating. i'm not some what is compelling me, but i like the idea of this routine. it's only been a few days. i tried to buy some fennel tea at tara food's on saturday, but it cost $8! thankfully i didn't buy it because i found some at the bulk barn for $1.50. i love fennel tea. i think it's the perfect after dinner treat. sometimes i want to drink it in the afternoon, but i feel like i should just save it for dinner time so it continues to be something i look forward to.

dark before the dawn is the darkest that you know.

fennel

this afternoon i went out on my own for what was supposed to be a short errand, and found that i was enjoying myself so much that i took a few detours and added a few stops. i'd fed éamon shortly before i headed out, so i knew he'd be fine for a while. the only trouble was letting b know that i wasn't coming directly home. but once i found a telephone, i gave him a quick call, then was free from feeling rushed.

i never get tired of spending time with éamon. he's not a tiresome person to be around, neither is brendan for that matter. but every so often, when i get the chance to go out sans baby, i always enjoy myself immensely. i find that encouraging it suggests that i won't mind returning to work, since i'm comfortable on my own as long as i know that éam is ok.

during this solo outing, i started reflecting on how it feels being independent now compared to before i birthed this baby and became his mom. and the thought i kept coming back to was the word 'tough'. i feel tougher – stronger, more confident, more dauntless. i feel more sure of myself, i feel grounded and more empowered. and it's a great feeling. it's not like i was super insecure before, but i did often feel uncertain or unsure of myself. this is a nice and unexpected development.

we've come too far
to give up who we are.

insular

it's 6:40 in the morning, and i can't sleep. i woke up with éamon at 5:17 for a night-feeding, and i haven't been able to fall back to sleep :S

so anyways...

we have a tradition of spending new year's eve at the erb's place. sometimes we play board games, some times we talk the night away, last night we talked then b and jase broke out into a spontaneous jam session at 12:30 at night while rach and i chatted in the living room. éamon was there too of course. we took him from his crib at 10:00 to go over to the erbs, where he slept in his chair in the kitchen until he was rudely awakened by us singing in the new year ;) it was fun (and he was a real sport about it, he just stayed up til we went home after 1).

i've been thinking about things that are on the horizon for 2014.

we've been thinking of going to cuba in april.

in june-ish, we're going to go visit beckie in quebec city

in july, i'll go back to work and éamon will start daycare
also in july, i'd like to go camping for a weekend with a+s
in august, we're planning on going camping for a week in ithica, new york

in september, i'm probably going to atlanta on a business trip, so b and éamon will come with me

in october i might go to houston with work, but i'm kind of hoping i won't be needed. but if i am, i'll figure out something so éamon can come too.

at some point in the spring, we'll probably buy a second car. just something small, used and inexpensive. b needs a car for work. although, he'll probably use the CRV and i'll use the small car, if it's better on gas. i don't love the thought of having two cars, but we can car-share after work hours, so at least that would make it worthwhile for more than one reason.

so that's what my year is looking like, but you never know what else might come up. on the whole, i'd say it's likely to be a pretty nice one.

well, it's now just shy of 7 am. here's hoping i'll be able to fall back asleep.

the cold can bleach us out
and freeze our doubt.

cribbage

it feels funny that it's 2014, doesn't it? i'm not sure if i ever got used to the fact that 2013 was a real number, heck, i don't think i've ever really grown accustomed to our years starting with 20something.

i've been thinking a lot about new years resolutions. well... not resolutions exactly, just things i'd like to change this year. i've already mentioned that i've decided to stop wearing make-up (not that i wore it very often, but it's nice not thinking 'should i put make up on?'). i was going to throw it out last night when we got home from the erb's place, but i found that i had more than i realized, and one can never know when make-up will come in handy for a costume or something. so i've just stashed it all away for the time being. maybe i'll eventually give it to friends.

other than that, i'd like to...

1) eat better. i find eating healthy was easier when i worked, because i can only eat what i have with me. but at home, i can eat whatever, and whenever i feel like it. i've also noticed that i'm drawn to chocolatey treats, and so i want to re-train my tongue to like plain treats instead of indulgent treats. now, i'm aware that lots of people start off the new year planning on eating better, and don't stick with it. but i'm just looking at it as a year commitment (like the make-up thing) as an experiment. that's not to say that i won't have chocolatey treats, but i'll make my normal practice be one of better choices.

2) improve my posture. i believe this will go a long way to improve my body image. when i see myself slouching in photos, i find it terribly unflattering, and i'm convinced it adds the appearance of extra weight. i even notice a difference when i straighten my shoulders in front of a mirror, and it makes me feel better about myself.

in general, giving up make-up is pretty easy, because it doesn't actually require anything of me. the eating better and improved posture ones will require more effort. lastly....

3) give myself permission to write less. this might seem like a weird one, but the other day, i felt so disappointed in myself for not blogging as frequently as i have in the past. it bothered me so much that i considered (briefly) retiring from the blogosphere. i can't keep up with my former writing habits, and blogging is kind of passé now. but then the thought occurred to me, that that's lame. why do i think it has to be every day or nothing!?! every day that passes without me writing, i feel guilty, and i've had enough of that. yes, i wrote more when i was single, and the reality is people spend their time differently in each stage of their lives. there's nothing wrong with writing less prolifically now. the other day, jill wrote a blog entry. she writes only a handful of times a year, and i love it each time she writes. if anything, it makes me more excited when i see she's posted something. so i'm just gonna go ahead and write irregularly. when i feel like it, when i have something to say, when inspiration hits me.

four new year's resolutions seems like a tall order. but really two are 'out with the old' and two are "in with the new".

seas between us broad have roared.

onward

i started 2013 with a strong desire to be authentic. i wanted to move forward discovering who i am in light of new experiences and not turn into someone else. to navigate life as myself, and not feel compelled, required or coerced into behaving or decision-making solely according to what other folks think is best. i'm grateful to say, that so far i feel good about how i've achieved that.

i've noticed on facebook a number of people saying that 2013 was a real stinker. but for me it was the tops. i had a great year. in the first half, i did a lot of traveling (berlin, greece, arizona). FINALLY making it to berlin was a huge highlight in itself, but i also had a nice time there (in spite of the comedy of errors that i had my first day). plus, i got to travel business class and getting to come home to b was also pretty nice.

the second half was particularly special, and i'm not just meaning the baby. being off work has been SO WONDERFUL. i can't even express how good it's been for my soul. experiencing a significant break from my 8-4:30 routine has been such a breath of fresh air. i've never felt so much freedom or relief, and i'm so grateful for it. but i suppose it's not just being off work. this afternoon as i prepared my 2014 calendar, and looked through my 2013 calendar for birth dates, i saw with fresh eyes how WAY TOO over-commited i was. i had WAY TOO MUCH on the go. no wonder i was feeling burnt out and in over my head. i was guilty of not giving myself enough breathing room, or cutting myself enough slack. 'slack' is still something i struggling to define and evenly distribute, but i'm going to keep working at it.

my favourite thing about being off work is the fact that i can stay up as late as i want. if i'm reading or knitting or chatting or watching sitcoms, i don't have to hit the hay until i feel like it. it's the best. i think the freedom i've felt has gone hand in hand with this whole authenticity thing. not having to squeeze myself into a pre-determined schedule, and not having to squeeze out all the things i wish i could be doing, has been a nice change.

sometimes, no wait, scratch that... many times i've felt guilty for not writing as often as i used to, or not keeping in touch with friends as well as i used to, or going out as often as i used to. but once again i should cut myself some slack and remember that i'm not defined by my 'used to's, and that everyone changes over time as circumstances change. i guess i just have to adjust to that and let go of the expectations i have of myself.

so highlights of this year include:

• (for fore mentioned) trips to berlin, greece (particularly meteora) and arizona

• volunteering at KGH

• ultrasounds, midwife appointments, the praying womantises, belly blessing and belly casting

• an adult gap-year from work garden planting

• ottawa roadtrip with b on a weeknight

• music festivals

• a hard-fought birth followed by my dream baby
• part one of my adult gap-year from work

• camping with a newborn

• wednesday afternoons with b + é

• blue jays baseball game

• next retreat

• skeleton park with handrew

• thursday walks with sherri

• sunflower seeds, cider and king of the hill

• re-learning to sew
• new appliances and home improvements

i dunno, there's lots more, but where do i draw the line? so i'll just quit here :)

it's not like years ago.

tiny

we're home again from our christmas sleepovers. one night at nancy's place, and one night at joy's place. everything went really smoothly and we had a really peaceful and fun time. i like that my family all sit around in the living room on christmas afternoon with our books and read silently (plus liam playing his DS beside me). éamon was napping.

on christmas morning i got to have a bath in nancy's jacuzzi. it was a really nice start to the day. i just kept giggling with delight :)

all in all, i'd say it was a really lovely holiday.

when we got home today, as i waited for my ipod's OS to update, i started searching all-inclusive trips to bermuda. that's been our plan for the spring of 2014. a simple trip that requires very little planning to get our toes wet for traveling with a baby. but when i got looking at the prices, they were more expensive than we want to pay, so i did a random search and found trips to cuba for 60 to 70% less. so i think we'll go that route instead. we mostly just want a trip, and didn't have any particular reason for going to bermuda.

she says give her the things that money can buy.

slippy

i feel like this year in particular, i've really enjoyed giving christmas gifts. we put a lot of thought into our gift selections, and so far, they've been very well received.

on friday night, we had a house christmas party with andrew and shannon. we ate a delicious feast, exchanged gifts, and baked cookies. it's a fun tradition celebrating with them. shannon made me a 2014 calendar – 'a year of shanno and les'. it was super fun looking over the calendar, and some of the photos made me laugh to the verge of tears. i love homemade gifts.

this year, i wrapped a total of 46 christmas gifts. that sounds far more outrageous than it actually is. i've realized recently that b and i are, what one would call, 'fiscally conservative'. we don't spend what we don't have, and have a budget for everything. so the 46 gifts are mostly small gifts (and within budgeted) for our ever-increasing family. we're not giving each other anything, and we didn't buy anything for éamon, other than a few little things he needed anyways, but i'm keeping for this stocking. i think we'll always aim to keep christmas-giving modest with him.

rach told us about this clever gift giving approach: something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. i think that's just FANTASTIC! after giving it some thought, i think we'll use that for birthdays, and for christmas we'll do pajamas, something he wants and something homemade, every year. someday, when éamon's bigger, and we have a larger house with a playroom, i'm going to make him a play tent/teepee. i'm pretty excited about that. i love imagination play. this year we gave audrey a superhero costume. i made the cape, and we randomly found a matching eye-mask and wrist cuff at a toddler store. i think it'll be loads of fun :)

thankfully the weather is much more placid that it was this past weekend. we'll soon head out into the world and enjoy the fresh winter air.

let young hands build you up,
and carve your face in honest rock.

feather in my ear

i had a great birthday. b made me breakfast, we went to see the hobbit, then when b headed to work at 4, i tidied the house while éamon napped, and i had some friends over in the evening. it was really nice!

it's funny because, for several months now, i keep forgetting how old i am, so i kept thinking i was 34, and even told people i was 34. so it doesn't really feel like i've turned a new age. 34 is going to feel like a long year :p for some reason, i have an easier time remembering even-numbered ages.

i've found over the years, that it's much easier aging when one has accomplished the things they wanted to do by each age. so i feel really comfortable with this new age, which i'm really thankful for. that peace of mind.

without a doubt though, this year is noteworthy because of the massive fire on princess street. what crazy event, and amazingly no one was killed or injured. it'll be interesting to see what happens with that empty space. it's such a shame, since it was the first step in the williamsville revitalization program. but, i suppose it's better to have burned down now, than for it to catch fire after people were living in it.

i also discovered that i have the same birthday as pope francis, which is cool, because i really like him. 

we didn't start the fire,
it was always burning.

volcano

i need to hurry up and go to bed. my birthday begins in less than an hour, and i need to be firmly in bed, falling asleep by then.

33.

thirty-three.

it's been a great year. i don't even know if i can, or should, put into words what a great year this has been for me. but i can say this... it's been one of those red letter years that i'll look back on as a time of great significance. and for that reason, i feel reluctant to begin a new year. i'm not ready for this time to be over, but i suppose experiences, significant or not, are not limited by a specific window of time. so it's not actually over. this feels like a very special time in my life, and i'm super grateful for it.

i've learned a lot about myself, my partner, my relationships, my friends and family, this city, and many, many unknowns. i feel like all these things, and life in general has been cracked open a little more. and i've really enjoyed it.

thankfully there's still much more to experience. still many rich and full adventures to enjoy.

and so with that... i say good night.

what was it like?
to be young, strong, stupid and drunk

nightlight

i've seen several articles and videos on the website 'upworthy' lately about bodies. how even the most beautiful models are drastically touched up. cindy crawford is quoted for saying that she wished she looked like cindy crawford. this, paired with david's sermon last week about bodies and the cultural obsession with bodies, has got me thinking (this is separate to my post-pregnancy reflections on my body) about my face. since éamon was born, i haven't worn much make-up – mostly because of time. i still wear it on occasion, and i feel torn about whether i should make time for it more often. i'm usually aware of it when i see myself in photographs. i've always believed that i wear it for myself, which is true because brendan prefers me without make up, and he tells me that all the time. so i've decided i need to re-train my brain to get used to seeing my face without make up. i didn't start wearing any make-up until my mid-20s. all through high school and college i had a naked face and i preferred it that way – until i started getting insecure and felt a need to improve my face.

so my new year's resolution for 2014 will be to go a year without make up. it won't be a choice, so i won't constantly be thinking i should improve myself. i haven't been wearing make-up lately, but the option is always there if i had the time. so to make it official, on january 1 i'm going to throw the remains of my make-up in the trash. that way, it's not there, and i'd actually have to make the effort to buy more if i felt tempted to improve my face again. i never notice make-up on other people (unless it's bad), so i don't imagine that anyone else will notice it's absence on me.

i think this is an important step for me. the world would probably be a better place if everyone just loved who they are.

lo, how a rose e'er blooming
from tender stem hath sprung.

pedal

i've gotten really into making soup lately. i LOVE homemade soups, and i love that it's relatively easy. i have this fantasy that when i go back to work, that i'll make soup once a week so i have homemade soup for lunch each day. i don't know if that's going to be possible, but i'd like to start by making soup once a week until then. i got started a couple weeks ago making cauliflower soup for our small group. it was so easy and delicious that i wanted to try another. so a week later i made a tomato soup. i think my next one will be a carrot-coriander soup. MMmmm, Mm. sounds delicious. brendan is always telling me that i'm a good cook. sometimes it's hard for me to hear that because i've always believed so adamantly that i'm an awful cook. but i suppose that even things that are hard to hear are important to listen to. his word are slowly helping me build my confidence.

i really like the idea of making soup each week, but i'm really not a routine person. i can't stick with a routine for more than a few weeks before it bores me and makes me feel trapped. but i think there can be a lot of beauty in routine. and practicing something over the long term can be very rewarding. that's definitely something i'd like to experience. so i'm going to try, little by little, to become more comfortable with a schedule. i know that my work schedule has often irritated me, but since it's not something i have a choice about, i was able to stick with it until i can to discover the benefits. i'm hoping i can do that with soup. not that soup is that important, but it would be a step forward.

nothing is wrong its what she did.

locked

tonight when i went out to the car, i felt a cold breeze on my back. it spooked me out. it reminded me of how fearful and superstitious i used to be.

when i was a kid, the world was a scary place. i was terrified to walk my dog by myself, even in suburbia. looking back, it feels like my fears were huge, and largely unfounded. i think it's because my mom accidentally taught me that evil deeds and evil people lurked everywhere. i might even say she was unintentionally a fear monger. we lived a sheltered life, but she helped lead a 12-step group at our church, and as a result, knew a lot of really hurting people and she wanted to protect me. sometimes i'm tempted to believe that the world is not as bad as i thought it was, but then i remember all the other terrible things i didn't know about as a kid. so perhaps it's not that the world is less bad, but that i'm just less afraid than i was as a kid.

long lay the world in sin and error pining
till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

combo

this evening, andrew, shannon, b and i went to upper canada village for its 'alight at night' event. it was a crazy adventure. éamon was pretty out of sorts, and cried almost the whole way there. then he cried a bunch while we walked around. but eventually he fell asleep and we enjoyed walking around and seeing the lights. at 8ish, we decided to take the train ride (which usually costs extra, but was included with our ticket). we had to wait a little while, because one left just as we were arriving at the station. but eventually we all got aboard and were ready for some train-riding. about 10 minutes into our ride, the train started making loud, strange sounds, and it started to become clear that something was wrong with the car in front of us (we were in the front seats of the second car). the people in the car seemed completely obvious, which just contributed to the strangeness of the incident. eventually the driver stopped and we were able to see that the back wheels of the car had derailed. no information was given to us. we waited inside this strange christmas tunnel beside a snowman and a mechanical elf for at least a half hour. eventually, they drove us back to the main centre. thankfully the gift shop and cafe were still open, even though the village itself was closed. all in all, it was super bizarre and memorable :p

another highlight of the day is that we got a new stove! i love that the knobs are at the front instead of on the 'headboard' (i don't know the stove equivalent name). i'm looking forward to cooking on it tomorrow!

we built this city, we built this city on rock and roll.

stitch

i've been thinking a lot about post-baby bodies. well, when i say "a lot" i mean, it comes to mind frequently. to be honest, it's not something that really occurred to me pre-pregnancy. and even though when i was pregnant, i said to b "my body will never be the same again", i don't think i really understood how true that was.

my body wasn't perfect before éamon. there were things i wanted to change about it, and changes i was working on prior to pregnancy. so i wouldn't have expected my discomfort to be unfamiliar. i think one of the strange things for me is that i can't remember what my body was like before, i just know it was different. and not even really the shape, but rather the skin. how my skin feels, looks, it's shape – which is probably the weirdest change i can think of.

one friend of mine talks about how giving birth gave her a whole new respect for her body. and that she loves it now more than ever. i'm really hoping that someday i'll feel that way. i find though, that i feel more frustrated with my body than respectful. because i wasn't able to push him out, i feel like i didn't truly give birth to him. and i blame my body for thwarting my plans, my desires, my rite of passage.

the funny thing is that i have no regrets about my cesarean birth. i don't question the turn of events. but i do think, in time, i'm going to have to somehow reconcile with myself that missing link. maybe it's just a matter of re-framing what birth is, or what it means to me. i'm not upset about it, i just haven't been able to close the issue in my mind yet. it went like this > pregnancy, labour, _________, baby. i just wonder how much that blank is affecting my relationship with my new body.

at the midwives clinic, they have a poster in one of the rooms of the belly project. i really loved looking at it, and seeing all the different types of post-baby bellies. it was both encouraging and interesting. it especially helps when we're at swimming lessons when i see some of the other moms wearing bikinis and i'm wearing what feels like the equivalent of a swimming muumuu. but what i'd really like to know (instead of what other belly's look like) is how other mom's feel or felt in their post-baby body. this is probably the main/only issue that i feel unfamiliar with and as such, i feel unprepared. it might be my unfamiliarity that's making me feel unrestless. sometimes i lie in bed at night, sliding my finger back and forth across my scar in hopes that i'll become more accustomed to this new feature. i want to feel attached to it, like the scar on my face, or the tattoo on my wrist. it's part of me, and i want to feel like i earned it, and that it belongs to me. but instead it feels like press on nails or a temporary tattoo that's lasting longer than i expected. it's not just the scar though. that's just one aspect.

has no one else come out the other side to find that her body is a stranger?

let's get a silver bullet trailer
and have a baby boy.

chains

well... yesterday i was struck by the stomach flu. at first i assumed it was something else, because i haven't been in direct contact with anyone who's had a stomach bug. but eventually, after i threw up a few times, there was no denying that i'd been hit by a virus. it was fairly sudden, except the night before my tummy wasn't feeling so good.

b was very good about it, and took care of éamon really well. that kid didn't even noticed that i was out of commission. as i was barfing my guts out, he was giggling away with brendan on the living room floor. we were supposed to be helping with clean up at special meals, so instead b went on his own and we called ben and meg to see if one of them could come be with éamon while i lay in bed. that worked out very well. b was only gone an hour, and ben did a good job as éamon's very first babysitter.

i don't know about you, but i've noticed that every stomach flu is different, and it takes some time to figure each case out. after my third barf, i'd figured out that it was triggered by me moving. i'd lie still for quite a while and think i was feeling back to normal, but then i'd change positions or get up and end up throwing up. so by 10:00 i'd developed a plan where i'd just stay still for the rest of the night. except, i'd slide myself up into a sitting position to feed the baby. this, of course, would mean brendan would have to bring me the baby. and for the most part, nursing worked out just fine. i kept my torso still for the next 5 hours (moving my arms and legs to get more comfortable) and eventually, that seemed to do the trick, because i didn't throw up again.

i can't remember when i had a virus like this last. in recent years, vomiting has been triggered by things other than an illness. i swear, i've barfed more this year than the last 10 (maybe 15) years combined. morning sickness, cough-barfing, childbirth barfing, and now this. at least with a virus, it provides some relief and i feel temporarily better.

i'm definitely still recovering. my stomach is still not 100% and i still feel weak. the house is kind chaotic (partly because i'm crocheting éamon a christmas stocking, and my yarn is scattered all over the floor in the den), and i feel guilty about just sitting on my ass all day. but i suppose there's no other way of getting over the stomach flu than waiting it out.

let them see you through
all the hard things we've all gotta do.

condense

there's something about today that feels like winter. i haven't even been outdoors yet, but the sounds from outside, the feeling in the house, it just has a cozy feeling to it. i kind of like it. sometimes i forget that winter has it's nice moments too. there are fewer things i like about winter, but it has its redeeming qualities.

on saturday b and i took a mini road trip up to the hartington library so i could get the third book in the divergent series. have i written about that series yet? i've formed many blog entries in my head about it, but maybe they didn't make it onto the screen. joy lent me the first two books, which i burned through (although i paced myself with the last few chapters of insurgent because i knew i didn't have the third book yet). it was nice having an addictive book again, and i tried waiting patiently to get the third one from a friend of joy's. but when i discovered it was at the hartington library, i decided to drive up there. i haven't done as much reading as i'd planned since i picked it up, but i'm sure i'll read a lot today (it's b's long work day).

the divergent series has got me thinking a lot about what faction i would join. and what my greatest fears are (basically, the characters are forced to face their greatest fears). it's quite fascinating really. they're making a movie out of it, when we watched the trailer b said "it doesn't look very good". i dunno, i thought it seemed pretty good.

speaking of books to film movies... the hunger games catching fire is out. both b and i really want to see it (we re-watched the first one on friday). i've felt pretty intimidated about taking éamon to the movies (i don't want him to disturb people). but b discovered that there's a 3:00 matinee on wednesday (his afternoon off), so we're going to go! i had to cancel a dentist appointment that i had scheduled for that afternoon, but we're gonna go. i'm glad. we haven't let anything else stop us because we have a baby, and where there's a will, there's a way. we have these little baby noise ear muffs that we'll take, and i'll just nurse him til he falls asleep. if we're in the very back row, we can stand with him (if necessary). i think it'll be fine. besides, we heard recently that taking your baby to the movies is good practice for taking your baby on a plane.

you look like a movie star from this angle

send

when brendan and i were first married, he felt that i used too many drinking glasses. this especially bothered him because he washed the dishes. so he told me to pick one glass to be my water glass. so i picked my biggest glass – a coca cola cup that held 2 cups of water. i can't remember where i got the glass, but it was probably a gift from my early 20 days when i drank a lot of pop (specifically coke). eventually, i bought a metal straw to with my drinking glass, and together i was able to down 2 cups of water in less than a minute.

i don't know about you, but glassware tends to break around our house. and i've often worried that my water glass could meet an unfortunate end. several times it got knocked over, but always sustained the fall. i was relieved.

last night, at 4 in the morning i was awoken by the sound of glass breaking. i shot up in bed. brendan on the other hand, slept right thru it (even though he's a light sleeper, he becomes quite disoriented in his slumber and doesn't register sounds or talking). almost instinctively, i knew what it was. my loyal water glass had met it's end. and sure enough, when i came thru to the den, i found it shattered on the ground. our diabetic cat had struck again. often when pekoe's water bowl is empty, he'll go searching for other water sources and frequently finds my water glass. and now he's gone and broken it. yet another reason why i'm annoyed at his existence. first he made our basement floor his personal toilet, and now this.

i suppose that if i'd thought to check his water supply before bed, this wouldn't have happened. because when i returned to bed (planning on cleaning up the mess in the morning), i could hear him drinking the spilled water. so i got up and filled his bowl, which then meant i had to lie there listening to him drink the entire bowl for the next 20 minutes.

to be fair, the glass was poorly designed because it was top heavy (having the coke bottle shape). and sometimes i found that 2 cups of water isn't enough. i've recently seen even bigger water glasses, which got me wishing mine was larger. so today i'll go to value village to scower their glasswares section in search of a replacement water carrying vessel :S

did you push us when we fell?

stream

éamon has started petting our kitties.

a few weeks ago, pekoe came close when i was holding éamon and i stretched out his hand and petted his fur. his hand went from a fist to an open hand as we petted the cat. but now, when he's sitting in his chair, or when we're holding him and pekoe comes by, éamon reaches out and pets him on his own, all by himself! it's super cute. it makes me proud of him. every little thing he does makes me proud :)

hello my friend,
yes it's me.

mahogany

last night and this morning i stained a homemade shelf unit that we have in our kitchen. this morning, as i used varsol to remove the stain splatters from my arms, hands and face, i was amused thinking how normal that was for me. it got me thinking back to my first memory of using varsol, i think i was around 7 or 8 years old. joy and i had just finished taring the driveway. hahahaha. even writing that makes me laugh, because it seems so weird, but it was completely normal for us and i didn't think anything of it at the time.

i was talking to my dad on the phone the other night and he was telling me that my niece isn't a hard worker and that when her younger brother is outside raking leaves she doesn't help. he found this very strange and said "when you were little, we did everything as a family. we had you helping out with everything", which is true – including taring the driveway. i tared the driveway by myself for the first time when i was about 12. it was boring and my mom was at work, so i painted L E S on the driveway before i painted over it. for years afterwards, on the right angle i could still see my name written on the driveway even though i painted over it. i also remember that same day, when i was taking a break that a man arrived at my house and offered to finish it for me. i think he was looking to pick up some odd jobs, but i was just a kid and didn't have any money to pay him with, so i declined his offer.

i remember helping my parents strip wallpaper in the family room when i was 3 or 4 years old. it's one of my earliest memories of that house. we're going to be the same way with éamon, involving him in everything. it's a good way to teach a kid to do things, but it's also nice to include them on family projects. truthfully, i didn't always like helping (i especially hated raking leaves), but doing necessary things we don't like is part of life, and doing it together makes it fun. i also like that i built up my confidence. there is little i'm afraid to tackle around the house.

it's a family affair.

tasty

its always slightly disappointing when i see our mail-carrier walk past our house without delivering any packages.

lately i'm starting to feel more comfortable with my extra weight, ever since i figured out how to dress to suit my body. it's a subtle difference, but significant enough that i feel better about myself. it tones down all my problem areas. sometimes i ask brendan if what i'm wearing looks ok. he always says yes (sometimes without even looking), so i have to remind him that i'm asking him as a citizen of the world and not as my husband.

last night i tried baking those chick-pea peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. they turned out ok. i'm not sure if i'll make them part of my regular baking repertoire, but they're not bad. the thing i find most surprising about them, is that since they're mostly beans, they're remarkably filling.

when i take naps, i sleep on brendan's side of the bed. i must be subconsciously missing him. i like that his pillow smells like him.

i could drink a case of you.

bobbin

on wednesdays, éamon and i go swimming at the YMCA. each week i'm running late and each week i forget something (we've gone 5 times). this week i was determined that i would have everything we need and that i would leave in plenty of time. for the first few weeks we drove the car, but last week we took the bus and it worked out just fine, except i was rushing. so this week, i aimed at leaving around 9:30 (or at the very least be getting our coats and shoes on). before we left, i opened the door to check the weather, and found that it was super chilly. so, i got us both bundled up in warm clothes, and headed out the door. by the time i was half way to the bus stop, i realized that i'd forgotten our swimming bag (with our swimsuits and towels in it) and the diaper bag. i'd literally walked out the door with nothing other than the baby. thankfully, i was able to rush home, and make it to the bus stop with a couple minutes to spare. *eye roll*

i considered avoiding facebook on monday. last year i found remembrance day almost unbearable on facebook because people make extravagant statements about our freedom, which makes me cringe. however, i ended up forgetting and longing on as usual, but thankfully i didn't let it bother me as much this year. instead, i just skimmed past the statements i disagreed with. sometimes there's no sense in debating because people just become more set in their opinions.

on a similar topic... one of my cousins shared my grandpa's WW1 recruitment paperwork. it was very interesting and i'm looking forward to showing it to my dad. i was less interested in the military side of things than i was from a personal point of view. it had his full name (i didn't know his middle name), his mom's name (annie) and their address in hamilton. it made me want to look it up on google maps street view. my grandpa died before my sister and i were born. as a kid, i'd wonder what he was like. i remember making a comment once about how it would've been nice to know him, and my mom remarked back about how he wasn't that great. now that i'm an adult, with a kid of my own, i can understand how sometimes there are relatives who your kid is better off not knowing.

songs are like tattoos.

stud

neither brendan or i am very festive people. we don't really get into holiday cheer and all that. regardless, we're not going to do santa claus with éamon. we can't imagine telling him that a fictional character (with such a superficial back story) is real. i don't really know what the value to that is. i suppose people think it's fun, but i can think of loads of other fun things. besides, gift giving and christmas is fun without santa. my parents didn't pretend santa was real with us, and we still had stockings and all that.

i'm thinking of this because it occurred to me that the santa claus parade is in a few weeks. we won't be taking éamon to that. not because of santa, but because it's a lousy parade. i'd taking to the toronto parade, but the one in kingston is just a bunch of cars with advertising on them. in the past, when andrew and shannon lived on princess street, the four of us would sit at their window drinking beer and critiquing (mocking?) the floats – looking for the worst ones. we once witness a lovers quarrel that we found moderately entertaining. it was a fun tradition. it's really the only downside to them living upstairs now.

it's hard for me to understand, no not even understand, but fathom, why people get so excited about santa. to me, it feels like the equivalent to eating topsoil or something. but i'll strive for a 'live and let live' attitude on this topic, because there's no right or wrong.

i find myself knowing the things that i knew.

poppy

this afternoon while éamon was napping, i went for a walk to john's deli for a few items by myself. i like that i'm deeply connected to him, but don't feel lost without him (it probably helps that he's in good hands with b AND he was sleeping). just as i expected parenting to rock my world more than it has, i also expected my identity to become more scrambled by having a baby. i'm pleasantly surprised by this.

transitioning into this new experience has been remarkably similar to my transition into my relationship with brendan. before there was just one (me), but when i joined my life with brendan, my circle grew larger and it encompassed us both. then there was two (us). our circle has expanded yet again to welcome another person who will live and grow with us, and will eventually grow away. he's definitely his own little person, and i'm excited to learn more about him as he grows, but my life isn't just him, nor is his life mine. now we are three.

this said, relationships tend to blur the line between where we begin and where someone else ends. i like that éamon has reveals parts of me that i never knew where there before. a tender side i didn't know i was capable of. it's nice.

the saltiest sea knows its own way to me.

dreamer

when people talk about how much weight they lost after they had their baby (i.e. 40lbs in 3 months) are they including the weight of baby and other pregnancy related stuff? because i feel like it's going to be impossible for me to lose 40 pounds in 3 months. that said, if we're counting the weight evacuated by birth then i've lost 25 pounds. if not, then i've lost zero pounds, and i'm kind of annoyed by, it since éamon and i walk almost every day. however, i do feel like my legs are more muscular than they used to be from all the walking, so maybe there's muscle mass gained. i've started measuring my waist instead. bah! it's so frustrating. anyways...

i've been feeling pretty hard on myself since i had a difficulty finding pants that fit me comfortably at value village today. since then, i've been on a roll with criticizing myself. i cooked dinner tonight (which is something i don't usually do). i made a meatloaf for the first time ever and roasted acorn squash. in spite of my enthusiastic start, i became convinced that both were going to be utter failures. surprisingly enough, both turned out well.

i'm currently on my first period since i stopped taking my placenta pills. i think my hormones are kind of out of whack. ugh. i don't like it. i look forward to this passing.

i am progressing abominably
and i do not know my own way to the sea.

shingles

over the last few months, i've been watching the show 'king of the hill'. i've grown into quite a big fan, and often find myself waxing poetic to brendan while we drive in the car about what makes it such a good show. i'm now on the final season – season 13. i've discovered a funny thing. i'm pretty sure that over the course of weeks upon weeks of watching this show, that i've classic conditioned éamon into associating the theme song with nursing. when he is fussing because he wants to eat, he immediately starts to calm down when he hears that song playing.

shannon and i went on our yearly outing to the casino this evening. we did quite well for ourselves each (more or less) doubling what we went in with (5 and 10 dollars). not too shabby! as usual, we got lost on the way there and spent at least a half hour trying to re-route ourselves. next year we'll either bring directions or a GPS device. this year in particular, i started noticing the other folks there. we usually change machines every few minutes, but no one else seems to move places. they all seem perfectly settled in like they'll be there a while. so i decided to start peaking at their screens to see how much they're making. most folks were around 19 to 22 bux, while others were at $279 and even so high as $394, which is especially impressive since they were on 2¢ slot machines.

it was my first time truly going out without éamon (other than just going to a friend's house after he was in bed). i kissed him good-bye and left him with b to put to bed. he did great. at one point i wanted to call b just to make sure everything was ok, but more to make sure b was ok and not try to soothe a crying baby. but there was no cell phone reception, which turned out to be fine because everything was fine :)

if there's no music up in heaven then what's it for?

nanaimo

i've made some solid progress since sunday. all of a sudden our kitchen feels so inviting. i like just sitting in there on the counter. it has a nice feel to it.

for some time now, i've been thinking about hanging a little curtain over the open cupboard space in the kitchen. when we moved here, we took the cupboard door off. we had a nook like that at the maxipad, but for some reason i haven't liked the nook here quite as much. there's something missing. i felt it needed more colour. it also looked messy. so yesterday, after an outing to fabricland, i cracked open my new/old sewing machine and set to work.

it took some time for me to refresh my sewing machine memory. as a teen, i was quite eager to learn to sew and make things. i even took a sewing class in high school. my first project turned out less than stellar in my teachers eyes and she criticized it in front of my classmates. ironically, before i was told how crappy it was i was really excited. this inevitably took the wind out of my sails. after that, from time to time, i'd try again, but eventually quit trying since i would break the needle every time i touched a sewing machine.

but i've concluded that unlike knitting and crocheting, which don't require practice (once you've learned those skills you're set), sewing is more like learning an instrument or sport, which has a greater learning curve. so i'm going to work on basic projects until i've got the basics figured out. so far i've broken 2 needles, BUT i bought 4 more AND i'm learning from my mistakes.

my first project (the shelf curtain) turned out fine. and in fact, it looks very nice. it really adds something to the room. i've also put all my postcards on the cupboard doors like i did at the maxipad. it's starting to really look and feel like our space, instead of some generic kitchen. i've very pleased.

she had her mind made up fast.

sow and crow

it's easy for me to spiral into worry about the future.

this is completely silly and relevant to us right now, but i've been worrying lately (the last 24 hours) about down the road when we have a second kid. our house isn't realistically suitable for 2 kids and 2 adults, and that only occurred to me yesterday. since then, this abstract reality has been plaguing my mind. because i love our house, having a+s upstairs, living on main street. thankfully we're nowhere near to having a second baby, so it's not an issue we'll have to face anytime soon.

as i was out for an autumn stroll today, i concluded the best way to minimize worry about the future, is to focus on the present. we have long-term plans with our current home, so we can keep investing in it. and it will be several years before we have another baby, so i can put my anxiety about moving on the back burner. i told a friend the other day that i've decided to stop borrowing worry. so instead, i'm going to turn my attention to current things.

so i've decided tomorrow, éamon and i will take the bus to fabricland and i'll work on learning to use my sewing machine. and i'll dig around in the basement for our twinkle lights to hang in the den.

i was outside working in the garden today. it's truly a shame that autumn is the best gardening weather. the humid heat of summer doesn't inspire me to be in the sun weeding. anyway, i concluded that this year's garden is a true testament to that parable of the weeds choking out the plants. terribly unfortunate. the soil we used this year was riddled with weed seeds. it was a losing battle. something to keep in mind next time.

a one of these days your heart will just stop ticking,
and they sorta just don't find you till your cubicle is reeking.

freebie

i've been doing a lot of thinking lately about alternate paths for my future. i'm still returning to work, but i've been imagining what it would be like if i didn't. i love being off work right now, and if it was a real possibility i'd definitely consider not returning. but ultimately, i don't thinking not working would fully satisfy me. i guess it would be nice to work part time.

anyways, i've started thinking about a second career. i still have over 30 years of work ahead of me, and i'm not sure if i want to be an office worker for the rest of my working days. for quite some time now, i've been feeling a desire to be in a helping field. nursing, caring, tending to people – specifically sick people. and i think i have a knack for it. so i've kind of concluded that if circumstances change at work (and truth be told, in my 10 years with bbd, there've been many times that our jobs have been in questions because of restructuring and what-not), i'm going to re-train in a new profession. i feel excited about this. it gives me a new sense of possibility.

after working in the middle of nowhere for a decade, i've been really enjoying spending my days downtown. i like frequenting local places and spaces on a weekday. i like seeing people out on their lunch breaks. i've been struck by the taste of a totally different pace and experience, which has gone me interested in exploring other vocations, in different locations.

i was in another lifetime,
one of toil and blood.

roadmap

all of a sudden, my house feels cold. it's chilly almost all the time, and coldest at night when i get up to nurse the baby. sometimes i have to remind myself that last year it wasn't so bad because i was pregnant and my body was just naturally warmer. so this year i have to adjust my expectations.

lately i find myself not wanting to get upset about things. i'd rather plod along, doing what i can, instead of getting worked up about things i can't change. i don't want to expend my energy on things beyond my reach or dive into conflict. it strikes me odd that there was a time when i did. it's hard to know if i'm just being lazy, or perhaps apathetic, but i don't think it's either of those things. i think i've just reached a point that i realized... if it's not this, it's that. i have to pace myself or this world will eat me alive. so i'm just going to work at staying calm.

i've been troubled today with the news of one my friends from work just had a major brain aneurism and it doesn't sound as though she's going to make it. this is on the heels on her 31 year old son dying suddenly from complications of cancer in july. i feel awful for her daughter, it's just too much. teri is a very warm person, we used to talk about books like we were gossiping about people in real life. while she's still living, i know that she's gone, and i'll never get to talk with her again. there's been too much death lately. especially related to work. but i suppose i shouldn't be surprised since most people at work are baby boomers. i guess that in the not so far future, the office will be a very different place to when i started there, because folks will start retiring soon too.

this entry seems much heavier than i feel. i'm well, and while i was out walking with b and éamon today, i was reflecting on how happy i am. maybe my vulnerability is coming out because i'm hungry. b's just finishing up cooking dinner.

take what your heart can take.

four/one

it's almost midnight and I'm sitting in the dark. my two guys are in bed, presumably asleep. I just downloaded a calorie count app for my iPod. I used this last fall when I was hoping to lose 15 pounds but got pregnant instead. now I have 30 pounds to drop before even reaching my previous starting line. I'm kind of discouraged. b keeps reminding me that it hasn't been that long since I had eamon, but I think my actual frustration is that it feels like I'm constantly losing weight, then gaining weight, then trying to lose it again. it's super annoying. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but for some reason I thought that breast feeding was some magic weight loss solution (this probably isn't a surprise to anyone else), but it's not.

besides that, I have a c-section belly. if you haven't had a c-section you probably don't know this, but not only does it leave a scar, but it also leaves a fatty shelf. I've been watching it shrink, but just learned that it will never completely go away :S

hence my discouragement.

well... I'm sure this app will help me. at the very least, I'm sure I'll think twice before I eat things like cake because I'll have to add it to my calorie counter.

the house is cold. I guess we're really into autumn now! it's only just going to get colder.

Sent from my iPod

rampage

i'm not always the most tactful person.

and often i feel badly about that later.

a older lady and gentleman just arrived on my doorstep to talk to me about the bible. it was awkward because i go to church and read the bible, so i'm not really the intended demographic (at least i don't think). because of that, i tried to keep it short as to not waste her time. in hindsight though, i probably could have been kinder and warmer. truth be told, i get my back-up about such interactions. she was clearly nervous and i'm sure she was out there knocking on doors because of her personal convictions. afterwards it occurred to me that she's probably someone's mom, and i imagined my own mom out there trying to encourage people to read the bible. while i wouldn't agree with it, i wouldn't want anyone to be rude to my mom.

i sincerely wasn't trying to be rude, but i wasn't trying to be loving either. instead, i was trying to be quick because she caught me in the middle of something. b said i should go out there and try and find her. maybe i should :S

come in, she said, i'll give ya shelter from the storm.

nothing

tonight i went to a neighbourhood meeting about the development of friendship park. it was down at rideaucrest home. for the most part, it was a good meeting. i've never attended such a meeting before, it made me feel like a very engaged citizen. i even asked two questions. it sounds as though these proposed plans are still in the early stages. they're replacing the tennis courts next summer as part of a city wide tennis court upgrade program. but the rest of the park won't be revitalized for several years. that's probably fine with me since none of the prayground equipment seemed targeted to babies or pre-schoolers. i quite liked both options. one thing i didn't vocalize, that i kind of wish i did, is that i think it would be smart and most effective, to make this park distinctly different to mcburney park. there's no sense in offering similar features. personally, i would like it if there was some kind of shelter for picnics in case of rain. but the park is so small that that's not really an option. i'm glad i went though.

i've been working really hard this week to be active. my belly has shrunk since giving birth, but i would really like to see quicker results. i suppose it'll take time, but with plenty of exercise and healthy eating, i should be able to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. but i'm afraid my poundage remains unchanged. it doesn't help that our weighscale is super inaccurate. however, i feel like my legs are getting more firm/muscular. i can't remember when i did this much walking regularly. i'll just keep at it and try to be kind to myself. which isn't always easy.

you can have your cake and eat it too.

hair dryer/hand dryer

it's hard to believe that it's nearly the end of another week.

i'm super excited. yesterday éamon and i started swimming lessons! the little splashers for babies between 3 months to 18 months. i've been looking forward to this since i was pregnant. he LOVES splashing in the bathtub, so i figured he'd enjoy swimming too, and he did very well. it was SO FUN! we started with some songs, then putting faces in water. the teacher said it's important for babies to get used to putting their face underwater because if they don't do it until they're older, they're likely to be afraid to do it and it's harder to overcome. so she told us to blow in the baby's face so they scrunch up their nose, eyes and mouth, then to dunk them. so i did! and he did SO WELL (sorry, i'm going to brag a bunch, because it was really fun and i'm super proud of him). after we'd done it about 3 times, i looked around and noticed that none of the other babies hair was wet. so it seems he was the only one to do it. we did it a few more times. after that we did starfish on the front (basically him lying on this tummy in the water with his head up), then starfish on the back. then he 'swam' across the pool with a pool noodle (this was to practice kicking, which again he did really well). then we went back again on his back. then finished him the babies jumping into the water. since éamon was the youngest baby, i just lifted him in and out of the water. but by 18 months he will be able to jump into the pool. i can't wait til next week!!

my swimsuit arrived on tuesday. i ended up not getting either of the two i posted. i came across another one that i liked. it's a swimdress. it doesn't look as good on me as it does on her, but i like that it covers my bikini line since i gave up shaving that with my legs. i like it. it's very practical and comfortable. but it does remind me of the swimsuits that old ladies used to wear when i was young. it makes me feel like i'm turning into those women. those women who seemed so old.

whatever colors you have in your mind.

sour apples

hm, it's been a while since i wrote. unintentionally. it's funny that sometimes i have too much to say so i don't bother writing, and other times i have nothing to say, so again remain silent on the blog front.

to get quickly up to speed, i'll throw some random words out there:

• thanksgiving

• birthday

• beckie

• game night

• thanksgiving dinner

• barfing baby

• fridge

• swimsuit

on sunday, brendan turned 25 years old. while 25 is widely considered a milestone age, i was particularly excited about this event. when b and i first met, he was super young. when we started dating, he was still young, but now at 25, he's kind of plateauing off and just seems like a regular adult age. all that said, he never looked or acted young, but was still numerically young nonetheless.

i should probably go. i have some things to do around the house. i'd planned to start swimming with éamon today, but it turns out that's on monday and wednesdays, not tuesdays. i think i got it in my head that it's on the first day of the week so i thought it was today. but in the meantime, i'll go pick up my new swimsuit at JUST HIFI (which is oddly, also a sears drop-off location).

oh! one last thing. remember how i was thinking about cutting my hair back in august? well... i'm super glad i didn't. instead i've been wearing it in braids for 2 months. yesterday i felt like a change so i just put in a low ponytail and discovered that my hair is getting super long. it's probably the longest ponytail i've had in years! i love it! i'm gonna keep growing it :)

it's nice being able to encourage other pregnant people. my old housemate bonnie is overdue and is going to be induced on friday. she's really scared about that. when i shared with her my experience (that things didn't go as planned, but it was still very positive), she felt relieved and encouraged. being able to inspire hope to other people is another wonderful surprise from my birth experience.

you used to feel like a forest fire burning.

firmer

so far i've done my online aerobic routine twice, and MAN is it effective. in spite the fact that my ability is limited and i can barely keep up, i still break a major sweat and my face becomes very flush. i'm pleased and feel like i've really had a good workout. just doing the eliptical for a half hour has a significantly less impact. i always judge the quality of my workouts by whether or not i have to shower afterwards. so far i'm convinced that if i can keep this up, i will see results in no time. the only downside is that i look completely ridiculous to anyone who can see me thru the window.

last night éamon and i took the express bus to marilyn's husband's wake. it felt like the first time in a while that i'd been out and about after dark, and i was struck by the fact that almost every house that i passed that i was able to see in side, there was a person sitting near the window at a computer. i don't really know what that says really, but it made me a little uncomfortable. the ironic thing is that anyone passing by our house right now would see me doing the exact same thing. it was really a lovely evening to be out. the weather was ideal. after the wake, i sat on the curb waiting for b to come pick us up on his way home from napanee. i bet éamon that daddy was going to come from the left, and so by default he guessed that b would come from the right. he came from the left, so i won.

just a side note: i'm getting a roller blind installed on the den window :p

good times never seemed so good.

oatmeal

for most of my adult life, i've experience waves of weight loss and weight gain. shortly after i turned 24 (and a rapid, unexpected weight gain), i decided that i was going to take charge. i'd been to enough aerobic classes in college (just for fun) that i knew what to do, so i began doing aerobics in my bachelor apartment. and it worked. i did my half hour improvised workout regularly at home, and the pounds started coming off. eventually i joined a gym because i reached a plateau, but it was a good starting point, and was effective. i'm growing a little tired of my baby-weight and it's making me feel kind of crummy. after my last experience of getting a gym membership and having to pay for a year in full up front (then eventually flushing half a year down the drain), i know that paying to be fit is not a good use of money for me. so, i looked up a fitness program online tonight, and found one that i think will really work. it's very similar to what i used to do, but i'm a bit rusty so i wouldn't be able to lead my own routine, which is why i like this one. if it wasn't almost midnight, i would start tonight! i watched it though, and surprisingly found that i was sweating. haha. i'm excited. i think it would be really good for me, and i'm motivated. currently currently i'm a size 15. it would be nice to at least be a size 12 again, but ideally i'd like to be a size 10 – which is what i was aiming for before i got pregnant. ten years ago i got down to a size 8, but i'd be happy with a 10. i have a pair of jeans i've been keeping for just such the occasion! i THINK most of my extra weight is just in my belly area. i might be wrong, but from my angle in the mirror, my face looks unchanged.

i'll try to set realistic goals. therefore, i'm going to try to be a comfortable size 14 by christmas. then maybe size 13 by the end of february?

just nod if you can hear me.

spit

while i'm disappointed that my period has returned so soon after éamon's birth (i was seriously hoping it would be over a year), i'm delighted that i no longer have menstrual cramps. what a wonderful bonus! it's like my body is saying "wow, that was nuts! here's a little peace offering to make up for it". also (so far) i haven't had any PMS either. that said, i'm still finishing off my placenta pills, so maybe that's part of it.

earlier this week, when i was starting to come down with a cold, i was short on kleenexs, so i would grab the closest receiving blanket instead. afterwards, i realized that that must be what it's like to use a handkerchief. so know i'm on this handkerchief kick. i've been looking on etsy, but am not convinced it's the best option. maybe i should just buy some fabric and make my own. after all, i've been wanting to learn how to use my sewing machine.

for the second time in one month, brendan and i have just bought a new fridge. the first one was for andrew and shannon, but this one is for us. the seal tore around the door and now it won't stay shut. when it first happened i called the fridge doctor, but he advised me that considering the make of the fridge, it's not worth repairing. so we started all over at looking for fridges. i'm pleased with the one we got, and it was on sale. i'm hoping that it's slightly bigger than the one we have, but won't really be able to tell til they're side by side or we put food in the new one. it arrives on thursday. i've been wanting to clear out the fridge of expired stuff, so this is a good excuse.

well, i knew that i could not say.

flours in my hair

in the past, i've often felt like i just need a good solid break from my regular life. many times i've wondered just how long of a break would i need before i'd be completely unwound and fresh. i've been on maternity leave for three months now, and i can safely said that i feel completely relaxed. it's really lovely. lovely lovely lovely. i love that. i'm glad that i still have many months to go. and i'm hoping that i'll be able to carry forward some of this freshness.

i've decided to ask my boss if i can cut down to a 36 hour week when i return to work so that i can have wednesday afternoons off. b has wednesday afternoons off and i love having that time with him. sometimes we do errands (like appliance shopping), sometimes we take outings (like trips to westport or the wilton cheese factory), somtimes we do chores and sometimes we just hangout. today we took a long walk downtown and ate at the farm girl food truck in city park. we were going to go to 'seed to sausage' but they're closed on wednesdays in their off season. i really think it would be beneficial for me to have one afternoon off a week. i'm optimistic that she's approve it. especially since 35 hours is a common work week in canada.

all i really want our love to do
is to bring out the best in me and in you.