Honouring Women

Both my grandmothers passed away a little over a year ago, and at that time I wrote down some thoughts about these 2 ladies who played such a huge role in making me who I am today. In honour of International Women's Day, I want to share those thoughts with you. Keep in mind that these are my experiences and perceptions, so your mileage may vary. I in no way mean to negate or diminish the validity of anyone’s experiences that differ from my own.

December 2017

My grandmother passed away early last week. I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back to Toronto after coming down home for the funeral, and have been reflecting on the whole experience. My grandmother was a truly remarkable lady. I know I’m biased, but I really think she was. She had 7 kids, 14 grandkids and 15 great-grandkids (so far…). Most of us made it home, and it was wonderful to be able to catch up with the aunts, uncles and cousins, some of whom I haven’t seen in 20 years or more.

We’re a loud, rowdy, laughing bunch when we all get together. Gram would have loved every minute of it. There was a rightness to the entire weekend, as we laughed and cried together, telling stories that had everyone in stitches while also bringing tears to the eye because they reminded us so much of Gram and her impact on all of us. I come from a family of story-tellers. Gram herself could, and often did, spin a tale that would have all us grandkids totally spellbound and asking to go to bed early the next day so we could hear how it all turned out.

I also come from a family of musicians. Gram loved music – it was such an important part of her life. She wanted the grandkids to sing at her funeral, so we did. Even the ones who aren’t so musical, because you don’t say no to Gram. Not successfully anyway. All 12 of us that were able to be there put together a rendition of “Joy to the World” in 4-part harmony with musical accompaniment in about 20 minutes. That’s how we roll in Gram’s family. Then at the regular church service this morning (Sunday), it was so amazing to stand with all the aunts, uncles and most of the cousins and hear the harmonies as we sang, just as a matter of course. Knowing that we were all automatically blending and changing the lead and harmonies based on what the person next to you was doing and what sounded right. 

Last night, most of the cousins went to Patti & Adam’s place to hang out away from the “grown-ups” – though we’re all grown-ups ourselves, most with kids of our own. It was a lot of fun. Remembering things about our childhoods, talking about everything and nothing, and what the future would be like with our surviving grandfather and our own aging parents. We then realized that our parents used to do this exact same thing, going over to Uncle Murray & Aunt Judy’s across the dooryard from Gram & Gramp’s to have their own time away from the “grown-ups”. And they probably had the same kinds of conversations.

The visitation and funeral were unlike any other I’ve been a part of. While there was definitely an undercurrent of sadness, the dominant feeling was one of joy and celebration. People were laughing and sharing. The funeral was full of music and laughter. And tears, lots of tears, but they weren’t tears of despair or overwhelming grief. Gram wouldn’t have wanted that. She would have loved it. Seeing everyone together, talking and laughing and blubbering and eating (lots of eating!) and just being a big, loving, messy, imperfect, beautiful family. All in large part because of the amazing woman who taught us so much about how to live, and love, and deal with all the ups and downs and changes and monotonies that come with life.

I’ll miss you, Gram. You will always be an integral part of this family. Thank you for loving so fiercely and gently, so generously and fully, so truly unconditionally. You didn’t always agree with the decisions your family made, and had no problem letting us know when that was the case, but I always knew that you loved us. No matter what. In that way, you showed me what Jesus’s love is like in a very real, tangible way. He shone through you so clearly to me. I hope that someday my own family will look back on my life with the same adoration, respect and love with which we have spent this weekend looking back on yours. You lived a remarkable life, and I’m proud to be your granddaughter.

*****************************

March 2018

So, my other grandmother passed away a few months after I wrote the words above. It’s been a little over a month now since that funeral and I’ve once again been reflecting on everything. I have been so blessed to have two such different and yet equally wonderful women as part of my heritage and heart.

Big Grammy (so called because when my brother and I were kids, she took care of her mother who was a tiny, tiny woman and therefore went by Little Grammy) was all about her home and her family. She enjoyed the simple things in life – bright red geraniums, watching the deer and birds she fed, growing her tomatoes. I think she was happiest when taking care of the people she loved, something she did a great deal of over the course of her life.

Things I will always associate with Big Grammy: amazing fresh baked bread with homemade strawberry jam, her canned peaches, cleaning and sorting eggs, cooking with the wood stove even after getting an electric one, massive turkey dinners with all the trimmings and at least 3 kinds of pie and 2 non-pie dessert options, her chocolate cake with brown sugar fudge frosting, sitting at the kitchen table keeping an eye on things out the window, the hissing sound she’d make when the person driving the car did something she thought was a little dangerous, the smile on her face when you’d walk through the kitchen door for a visit.

The visitation and funeral were quite a bit different from my other grandmother’s in some ways, and very similar in others. Both were celebrations of a full life, well lived. Both were a chance to reconnect with cousins, aunts and uncles. Some of my cousins I hadn’t seen in over 14 years, back when they were 6-10 years old. Now they’re all grown up and going to university or working and starting families of their own. All 7 of the aunts and uncles were there, plus 12 of the 13 grandkids, and 2 of the 6 great-grandkids. The main difference is that this side of the family is a pretty quiet bunch, being introverts one and all (except Uncle Roy – we’re not sure what happened with him). We love one another, but without a lot of fanfare and with as little verbal communication as possible.

I was touched by how many people from the community came out to the visitation. I hadn’t really stopped to think about it before, but Big Grammy was very much a part of her community. She lived her whole life in Oak Point, raised her family there, and died there. Most of the people who came to the visitation, unless they were there to visit one of the family, were her neighbours. Her roots were so deep, so firmly entrenched in the place that was her home.

Over the course of the week, I was reminded of how very much I take after Big Grammy. I’m happiest when I’m at home, though I’m less particular as to where that home is, puttering about and taking care of my family. I’m not a big fan of going out, though I always enjoy myself once someone manages to drag me to something. I love fresh bread, and baking and cooking for my family, and take great pleasure from the simple things in life. Looking at the pictures that were put together for the visitation/funeral, I also look remarkably like her when she was my age.

I’ll miss you, Grammy. You were the solid, steady rock that this family relied on for so much. Thank you for the constant love and care that you showed in every way you could. You were always so happy when I came to see you, and always made me feel special and important to you. I’m so glad that God saw fit to make me as much like you as he did. I’ll do my best to “Be good, go to church, love God,” just as you did. Your life was one of quiet beauty, and I’m proud to be your granddaughter.

Nature vs. Nurture

Sunday is laundry day at our house. Every week, as soon as we get home from church, Dude goes down for his nap and I start on the mountain of dirty clothes that has somehow accumulated in what feels like the blink of an eye. On a good day, there are only 4-5 loads to do, so the last trip outside and into the basement laundry room is over by 7:00 or so. On a bad day, I'm not finished until well after I want to be in bed.

Fortunately, yesterday was one of the good days, so by 7:30 the last load was in the dryer and waiting to be brought upstairs and folded. I had left the laundry basket out in the living room, since Dude likes to play with it, so went to get it and head downstairs. Except it wasn't in the living room. Nor was it in the dining room or kitchen. After some searching, I discovered that it, along with the slippers I had been wearing for the trek outside, had been put back in our bedroom where they're normally kept.

My first thought on seeing this was along the lines of Again? Seriously? Why does he always do this?! You see, my husband is a compulsive neat freak. I cannot count the number of times I've gotten something out, and he's put it away before I even get a chance to use it. He is no longer allowed to touch my purse or anything that is even remotely connected to my work, since the memorable day he "put away" my work bag without telling me and I ended up being late because I couldn't find it. I therefore felt quite justified as I went to find TC to scold gently remind him not to put things away before I'm finished with them. Until he told me he hadn't touched anything.

As it turns out, it was our son who felt compelled to put the basket away, along with my slippers that had been sitting next to the couch waiting for the next trip downstairs. I couldn't believe it. Now I'm living with 2 of them!

As I continued to work on the laundry, I found myself wondering whether this was something Dude had learned from his dad (nurture), or if he came from a long line of neat freaks and therefore has a genetic predisposition towards neat freakishness (nature). The interesting thing about adopting is that we'll never really know, since "General Neatness" doesn't seem to be a category in the biological parents' standard histories. :) It's funny how many characteristics Dude shares with us, which has led me to believe that either: a) nurture is a lot more influential that I originally thought, or b) we have a lot in common with Dude's biological parents. Or maybe both?

In any case, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll be spending the rest of my life looking for things that have been "put away". *sigh*

Lessons from Dude

This is Dude - my 32 lb. energetic bundle of laughs, mischief, slobber and curiousity. Since he came into my life a little more than a year ago, he has taught me many, many things. Things that I thought I already knew, but really...I had no idea.

Lesson #1 - Free time is a rare and precious thing.

Every now and then, I go back and read old posts on this blog. I did so recently, and laughed at how often I complained about being too busy. Then I wanted to reach back in time and smack myself on the head. I had so much free time!! Other than the 45-ish hours a week spent at work, and the 50 or so hours spent sleeping, my time was completely my own to do with as I pleased. That's a little over 70 hours every week!

Now? Free time exists only in the hours that Dude is asleep or being looked after by someone else. Ask any parent of a pre-schooler, and they will confirm that if your child is awake and in your care, you will get little else accomplished beyond ensuring their relative health, safety, entertainment, maintenance, etc. So, taking into account work and sleep, the amount of post-Dude free time is reduced to around 30 hours/week. Assuming he sleeps normally (see below). And because society frowns on the practice of leaving sleeping children alone, I cannot go anywhere during those 30 hours unless another caregiver is in attendance.

Thankfully I have someone in my life who shares the responsibilities of parenthood and is willing/able to take on solo care-giving duty for a while. This gives me a little extra time to squeak in luxury activities like going to get groceries by myself, or going out to eat with friends. However, should I want to engage in such activities with this other person, we fork over big $$ for a babysitter.

Lesson #2 - Uninterrupted sleep is a subcategory of free time.

I.e. - it is a rare and precious thing, only possible when Dude is also asleep. Fortunately for us, Dude has always been an excellent sleeper. Bedtime comes, hugs and kisses are exchanged, Dude is put in his bed, and that's it. He sleeps. And unless he's sick, overtired, or in a strange place, he usually manages to stay asleep until it's time to wake up. I cannot express to you how thankful we are for this child.

That being said, he is still a child. So there are still nights that are less than restful for all involved. And I never know when those nights will happen. Unless I decide to stay up late (and by "late" I mean anytime after 10pm) to indulge in a free time activity, like reading a book. That will invariably be the night that Dude develops a cold and ends up coughing all night, or has a nightmare at 2 am, or wakes up for some unknown reason and cannot get back to sleep without significant effort on my part.

Lesson #3 - Privacy is optional.

Not only is my time no longer my own, my space has been greatly diminished as well. Being alone while using the bathroom? Thing of the past. Eating my own food, and only my own food? Not anymore. Sitting down without serving as an interactive jungle gym? Rarely. Toddlers just don't understand the concepts of privacy or personal space, so Dude has full access at almost all times. And you know what? It honestly doesn't bother me.

Lesson #4 - Cleanliness is highly overrated.

This one probably doesn't require a whole lot of explanation. When you only have 30 hours of free time every week, you swiftly come to realize what your priorities are. I was surprised to realize how far down the list house cleaning is for me. As long as things are clean enough that no one's going to get sick, I'm good. There are other things I'd rather do with my oh so precious time. :)

#5 - A mother's love is unconditional.

It's true. I love this kid more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and my family, but it's different from the way that I love Dude. And I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. There is absolutely nothing he could do, nothing, that would change the fact that he's my son and I love him. The main goal of my life now is to make sure he grows up to be the best version of himself that he can possibly be.

Which is why it honestly doesn't matter that I have no free time, have developed permanent bags under my eyes, can't pee without an audience, and live in a pig sty. If that's what it takes to make sure he's happy and healthy, then I'm glad to do it.

I'm back!

Did you miss me? I'll spare you all the "sorry it's been so long" blather - suffice it to say that there have been some major changes taking place in the Blooming household that have made blogging time virtually non-existent. The best kind of changes :)

For those who haven't already heard, TC and I were placed with a beautiful baby boy way back in October, and life has been quite a trip ever since! In three short weeks (which was the amount of notice we had before we brought him home), The Dude managed to completely alter life as we knew it. And I wouldn't go back to the way it was for all the chocolate in Belgium!

I'd love to post a picture of him here for you to see, but because the adoption hasn't actually been finalized we're prohibited from putting his image anywhere on the internet. The entire process is almost done - we're just waiting to hear back about when our court date will be. Then we go to court, watch the judge sign a piece of paper, and he's completely ours! I'll be keeping you updated now that I'm back at work and caught up from my parental leave.

Hooray!

Now That's Class!

Any guesses as to what these are? I'll give you a hint. We were visiting Brother G and his wife V last night, and they were telling us about their recent trip to South Carolina to visit TC's folks who rented a condo down there this winter. While there, the MIL & FIL insisted that they visit Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.

At this point you're probably thinking "Oh, so these are the cheesy souvenirs from that visit." You're partly right.

Apparently, when you order wine with your dinner at the Dixie Stampede, it comes in these white, plastic cowboy boots. Which means that sometime during the design of this establishment, someone thought this would be a good idea. And enough of the people in charge agreed with them to make it happen.

The mind boggles.

Happy Birthday BB!

On this day, many years ago :), a baby boy was born to a young couple living out east. The years passed and he grew up to become a great guy - quiet but thoughtful, a lot of fun with a wacky sense of humour, hard-working and hard-playing, an all around nice guy. And an awesome big brother who put up with quite a bit from his loud, bossy, easily irritated little sister :)

Today I'm thankful for that guy.

Short & Sweet

This one's going to be short, but oh so incredibly sweet! What am I thankful for this week?

I'm going to be an aunt :)

I know it's been a while. Life has exploded since September started. I don't even really have time to be writing this, but I'm going to anyway! Here's a quick run down of what's been going on:

• We had a great time visiting with a couple friends from university who came up to attend the U2 concert last week. It's fun being a tourist in your own city!
• Work has gone absolutely crazy. My boss is steps away from having a breakdown, and the rest of us aren't too far behind. There's just too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. But we have to get it done anyway.
• I now have to carry a blackberry around with me wherever I go, so that I'm always available should a work-related emergency come up. Boy am I thrilled about that.
• My brother is getting married in less than 2 weeks. Last week he sent me an email asking me to play the piano for the wedding. We still haven't picked the music :)
• TC has started back at school, and will be teaching a Shakespeare course for the winter semester. Which means he's now Professor TC. At least for 3 months.
• It's been so busy that I haven't gotten groceries in over 3 weeks, other than picking up a necessity here and there.
• I'm almost done the mystery crochet project that I've been working on, which means I'll hopefully be able to post pictures of it soon.
• Our home church has started up for the year, so we've been attending various elders' meetings, training sessions, and kick-off events. It's good to get back into things though.

Right now the pace of our life has picked up to the point where I'm starting to feel like all I can do is dig in and hang on for dear life. The good thing is that I know this will pass, so I'm not as stressed out as I would have been a few years ago. In the meantime, I'm going to keep trying to laugh at life and enjoy the ride.

A little something to help with the laughter:

Yummy Recipe Alert!

My folks have been up visiting this week, and it's been great! Mum flew up on Tuesday night, and then my dad, because he's a crazy person, drove the 1492 km (he counted) and arrived Wednesday night. Just in time for a heat wave and a garbage strike :)

I love it when they come visit, which doesn't happen nearly often enough. If you've been reading this blog for very long, you know that one of the things that bothers me most about living in Toronto is that my family is so very far away, so it means so much to be able to share this little bit of life with them. Unfortunately I couldn't take any time off work, for various reasons, but I have been able to leave early each day, and then there's the weekend to look forward to.

Yesterday when I came home after work, I discovered these on the kitchen counter:

One major benefit of having Mum come to visit! These are rhubarb biscuits, and they're the yummiest thing I've had in quite a while. And because she's a sweetie, Mum gave me the recipe :)

Mum's Rhubarb Biscuits

Biscuit:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk
butter

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until it's about the size of small peas. Stir in the milk, and then roll the dough out into a roughly rectangular shape (approx. 12" long). Spread entire surface with butter, being sure to get the edges too.

Filling:
3 cups rhubarb, very finely chopped
3/4 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp. flour

Combine the rhubarb, sugar and flour in a bowl. Sprinkle mixture over biscuit, and roll it up. Using a sharp knife, cut it into 1" thick slices and place in a 9x13" pan.

Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups boiling water

Stir sugar and water together until dissolved, and then pour it over the pan of biscuits. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Happy Weekend!

This and that

Where on earth does the time go? I feel like I just sat down and wrote the last post, and it's already been a week! Yowza. On the bright side, I've been crossing things off my ever-growing list like mad, and it's finally looking manageable :)

On a different note, I learned this week why I've been hobbling around on my left foot for the past couple of months. Apparently I have plantar fasciitis, which is kind of like tennis elbow, except in your heel. Painful, but treatable by wearing proper footwear and stretching. I was glad to find that out, since we're planning on doing a lot of walking in France and I didn't want to have to contend with something more serious.

Speaking of France, our trip preparations are in full swing. I've started my packing list, and am gathering the items that we'll need but don't already have on hand (i.e. Euros, emergency numbers, etc.). Our friends JP & KP, who we'll be visiting in Nancy, have asked us to bring them a power bar, caesar salad dressing, soda crackers and chapstick in the black tube. Apparently these are hard to come by over there :) Eight days from now, we'll be on the plane. So exciting!

Another exciting development - my dad is going to be in town for a few hours on Friday while he's between flights, so I get to have dinner with him. Yay! That also gives me the opportunity to send my mum's Mother's Day gift home with him, although I don't yet know what it's going to be :)

That's all I can think of to update you about for now. Between the last paragraph and this I spent three hours running around the office with a couple of maintenance guys, moving stuff - or rather explaining why they were moving stuff to everyone who walked by and just had to know - so I'm pretty much wiped. I'm going to head home in a few minutes, cook some stir fry and head out to a friend's place for games night. Ciao!

To Do This Week:

1. Re-pot my houseplants that have outgrown their current homes.
2. Pick up the clothes that have erupted all over the floor and wash them.
3. Listen to old mix tapes and determine if they're worth keeping.
4. Order a shampoo bar - Sherrie, do you make those? Or know someone who does? I want to try one to see if they work.
5. Order some books from Chapters with my gift certificate (thanks for all the wonderful suggestions, folks!).
6. Plan crocheting lesson for a friend who wants to make a baby afghan.
7. Start making list of what to pack for our upcoming trip to France (17 days and counting...).
8. Arrange for someone to cover my shift in the nursery the Sunday we're away.
9. Buy a pile of non-electric pencil sharpeners. Did you know that many African children become infected with HIV because the only thing they have to sharpen their pencils with is their father's old razor? A friend is going to Africa next week and has asked everyone to bring in as many pencil sharpeners as we can.
10. Pick up one more skein of yarn to finally finish the latticework afghan.
11. Photocopy some sheet music and return the originals to their owner (I know, I know - I'm a criminal).
12. Get milk.
13. Look into sources of local, preferably organic produce this summer.
14. Come up with an idea for celebrating mother's day that doesn't require buying gifts (any suggestions?).
15. Book a massage at the spa.
16. Charge the batteries for our camera so I can start taking pictures again!
17. Call the folks.
18. Randomly select winner of mystery gift from previous post and send the gift.

That ought to keep me occupied! Have you all been out enjoying the glorious spring, even summer weather? TC and I went for a walk last night to pick up the soil for item #1, and it was lovely! The grass is green, the trees all have leaves, and some have started to blossom; daffodils and pansies and tulips are everywhere - it's a beautiful time of year.

Along the way to the hardware store, TC got ice cream while I got some sour gummie bears, which reminded me of all the summers I managed to beg a dollar from my mom to spend on penny candy at the local convenience store. Good times! We got home exhausted, TC from carrying 10 lbs of dirt for half an hour, and me from forgetting that it was 30 degrees out and over-dressing.

It's a warm, rainy day today - the kind that makes the earth smell delicious, and the worms come out to play on the sidewalks. A puddle-jumping kind of day. I'm going to have to find one on my way home :)

Family History

I remember reading somewhere that women are the guardians of family history, mainly because our brains are hardwired to assign value to and remember all connecting stories of the different branches of our family trees. I don't know if that's been empirically proven, but I know that it's generally true as far as my own experience is concerned (the one notable exception being my dad, who is definitely our family historian extraordinaire). In any case, I can say with all certainty that I love hearing stories about the people from whom I am descended. There's something special about it - a sense of connectedness with the past, a rootedness that helps me to better understand both myself and the people I love.

One of my favourite stories is about the lady you see pictured above. That's my great-grandmother (don't you love the top hat?), and her life story has always been an inspiration to me. I'm a little fuzzy on all the details, but she grew up in early-20th century rural New Brunswick. She met and married her first husband, who turned out to be a cad and left her with several children and syphilis. With the help of a kind doctor and his wife, she was able to get herself together, and eventually met and married my great-grandfather - the fastest potato-picker in the county :) Unfortunately he was also quite a drinker, so they were never very well-off. He died of lip cancer when my grandmother was quite young, leaving my great-grandmother on her own with far too many children to support.

I can't remember which happened first, but two events took place that must have just broken the poor woman's heart. I think that first she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, a disease which at that point in history was difficult to treat. It was also highly contagious, so she was forced to give most of her children into the care of others - either in orphanages, or with relatives. Can you imagine what that must have been like? She stayed with and was cared for by her aunt, with only my grandmother staying with them, though she was not allowed in to see her mother. Instead, she would sit under her mother's bedroom window, and listen to her sing hymns and pray. Eventually her condition deteriorated to the point that they moved her to a sanitorium in the city, where she stayed until she died. My grandmother was then adopted by a very loving couple who had been unable to have children of their own, but she was separated from the rest of her siblings.

Why do I find that story inspiring? I guess the main reason is that through all that adversity, my great-grandmother persevered. She had the strength of character necessary to pull herself together and get back up each time life knocked her down, accepting help when it was offered, and making do without when there was none. She provided for her family as best she could, and never gave up believing that God loved her. Her faith was a testimony to my grandmother, who has in turn modelled that same faithfulness to my mother and to me.

That's not such a bad heritage to leave your family, is it?

Comfort Week - Place

I had to give a lot of thought to what I would consider to be the one place where I am the most comfortable. Memories of my parents' brown couch that was in the basement family room came to mind, where I'd often fall asleep in the intense heat from the wood stove while listening to the snap and crackle of the burning wood, but that place is no more since they moved into their new house so that won't do. Where, then, am I currently most comfortable?

Well, it's still a warm place - a place where I know I am loved, and where I could spend an unlimited amount of time if I was able. It's a place where I feel safe, and where I am most free to be myself. Where is that place? I know it may sound a bit cheesy, but the one place where I am most comfortable is in my husband's arms.

[Edit: I just noticed that today is National Hug Day in the US - how appropriate!]

[Edit Again: I forgot to mention that if you want to check out the other participants in comfort week, you can find them here.]

Highs and Lows...

We're back! It was a doozy of a trip, involving a cancelled flight, an overnight stay in the Montreal airport, hurricane force winds, 2 days without power, visiting with as many of our family and friends as we could manage, eating way too much food, and just generally having a wonderful time :)

What was the highlight of our trip? The incredible opportunities to watch and interact with nature. There's a spot not too far from TC's parents where a flock of chickadees live who are so tame that they will come and eat out of your hand. All you need to do is stand still with your hand extended (filled with bird feed, of course) and all of a sudden you feel a little grip on your finger and there's the cutest little bird watching you out of the corner of its eye as it gulps down a seed or two before flitting off to the bushes. The wildlife was a little larger but no less amazing at my parents' place, where they're visited by four or five deer every day - sometimes close enough that you could reach your arm through the window and touch them (though they'd never allow you close enough to do it). They're such beautiful creatures.

And the lowlight? Definitely the innumerable amount of comments from the MIL and FIL about their lack of grandchildren. Seriously, I'm hard-pressed to think of a two hour stretch in which some type of comment wasn't made - even if we were in the company of other people. Actually, now that I think about it, especially if we were in the company of other people! "And I told Mildred that if I had a granddaughter *meaningful glance in my direction* I'd have bought her that little dress...", "We'd like to have grandkids while we're still young enough to enjoy them...", "Well if you'd just forget about the pyjamas at night, it might help things along..." - this one was said while at a church pot-luck. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. The MIL's last words to her son before he left for another year were "Keep making those babies." Nice.

But we're home now, and starting to get back into the swing of things. I've even come up with my goals for 2009, but I'm saving them for another post...

Joyeux Noel!

Merry Christmas everyone! We're currently at home, visiting family and friends, with very limited access to the internet, so I probably won't be on here again until January, but I wanted to wish you all the very merriest of Christmases and the happiest of new years!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey folks! I'm going off the radar for a little while, so I wanted to wish you all a "Happy Thanksgiving!" beforehand. I'm leaving on a jet plane first thing tomorrow morning to visit sunny Saint John and spend the weekend with my parents. It's also my grandparents' 60th anniversary this weekend, which probably means a family shindig of some sort. 60 years - can you imagine? My grandmother just had double bypass surgery a couple of weeks ago, so I'm incredibly thankful that I'm able to go home this weekend to see her.

What about all of you? What's something that you're thankful for?

Oh where, oh where has my posting time gone...

Hey folks - sorry about the derth of posts. Life isn't leaving me a whole lot of time for it at the moment. Work is the busiest it's ever been, and the MIL is visiting for a while, which can be both fun and frustrating.

On a brighter note, TC won some soap from SherrieG in honour of her blogiversary the other day, and on Friday we received four lovely bars in the mail:

A bar of delicious pumpkin pie soap, which I'm seriously have to keep myself from covering in whip cream and devouring.

One of peppermint poppyseed - TC likes soap that exfoliates (or as he calls it "scratchy soap") - and the poppyseeds are great for that.

One bar of oatmeal, milk & honey soap - doesn't that sound decadent and good for you all at once?

And finally a bar of coffee soap, which is great for using in the kitchen since the coffee tends to absorb nasty odours like onion.

I can't wait to start using them - thanks SherrieG!

(I haven't had time to dig out my camera, so these photos are all from Sherrie's etsy shop, where you can buy your very own Birch Bark Soap - which I highly recommend you go do right now!)

Hello Oak Point!

I don't have as many pictures of the second half of our vacation, which we spent in New Brunswick with my parents. Well, that's not exactly true, it's just that most of the NB pics are of people, and I'm not willing to post recognizable pictures of people on here. But here's what I can show you :)

The front veranda of my parents' new house. We spent quite a bit of time out here, chatting, reading and looking at this...

That's my grandmother's house in the foreground, and the mighty Saint John River behind it. It was pretty windy and beautifully sunny most of the time, and there were always sailboats and powerboats and seadoos out playing on the river, which was fun to watch.

This is the side view from the new house, with the old barn where my grampy used to keep his cows and their hay. Now they use it as a garage.

And the back yard, with the old hen house and dad's garden way up the hill by the truck (which I hope has really good brakes!). People here in Toronto wonder why I laugh when they talk about their big back yards :)

We made some scrumdiddlyupmtious strawberry jam while we were home. Well, sort of. "We" hulled the berries, and then Mum and Dad made the jam, but I still consider that a group effort. There are now 4 bottles of it in my pantry - yum yum!

TC took this picture of the table he set for the supper we had the night my brother and his girlfriend came to see us. Very summery!

That's it for NB pictures, folks. We did do some pretty fun stuff, but I just didn't think to take the camera. One day we went to the Saint John City Market, which is a must for me whenever I come home. I picked up some dulse, and Mum and I had tea and sweets at the Infusion Tea Room just north of the market while TC scoped out the local second-hand book stores.

We also got a chance to visit our friends SherrieG, Adam and little Mr. P, who happened to be vacationing near us - what are the odds of that?

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation. I'm so thankful we were able to go.

Only 155 more sleeps until we get to go back...

Hello Yarmouth!

At long last, here are the pictures from our vacation - or at least the Yarmouth half of it :) They aren't an exhaustive account of the trip, but they definitely hit most of the highlights!

One evening we went for a walk with our friends Blogless Annie and M. I love the fact that you don't really need sidewalks in rural Nova Scotia :)

Some pretty scenery:

Does anyone know what kind of flower this is? This one was standing all by itself in a sea of green just off a back road behind the in-laws' house. Isn't it gorgeous?

I like this picture because it shows how foggy it was that night. It was pretty foggy almost the entire time we were in Yarmouth, which was ever so appropriate :) This little stream bed was part of TC's tour of his childhood haunts.

Then we went on a treasure hunt, and found...

A peanut butter jar, shoved down inside the middle of a log in the middle of the woods behind the in-laws' house.

Apparently, people with GPS's run about the countryside with a set of co-ordinates for these caches, and once they find them they take a 'treasure' from the cache and put a new one in along witha little note. Pretty neat, I think! We didn't take anything, but we left a coffee coupon and a hair elastic and signed the little log book.

This is a lovely place to buy yarn and soap-making supplies in downtown Yarmouth, where I bought some gorgeous wool yarn and the needles to attempt knitting my first pair of socks (thanks for all your help Blogless Annie!), as well as some dirt cheap essential oils.

The rest of the time we spent out at 'the camp', which in Ontarian is called 'the cottage'. It's a beautiful spot...

TC went for a swim...and then a little visitor waddled up on the lawn...

What a cute little duck! After I took this picture, she came back with her 6 little ducklings - so cute! I didn't get any pictures of them, though.

Our last night in Yarmouth was the MIL's birthday, so we had a little shindig at the camp for her, which ended with some fireworks which we picked up a local grocery store.

Next stop: New Brunswick!

Happy Canada Day!

Or rather, happy belated Canada Day! I hope you all had a wonderful one (at least those of you who live in Canada). Ours was pretty ideal. We had some friends over for brunch and then went out in the beautiful sunshine to practice some volleyball. TC has joined a rec league, so he and another player wanted to brush up on their skills. I ended up participating and managed to give myself six bruises and a sunburn - good fun! Then we spent the rest of the day napping, relaxing and reading. It really doesn't get much better than that!

The view from my parents' house

Now that Canada Day has come and gone, I've given myself permission to start thinking about our trip home, which is now a mere 3 sleeps away. I can hardly wait! Even TC is excited, and he generally doesn't let himself get excited about things :) I'm so looking forward to visiting everybody, and finally being able to see my parents' new house. Seriously, it messes with my head that I can't picture where my parents live. When I talk to my mom or dad on the phone, I can picture them sitting in a particular chair but that chair is always surrounded by empty black space. But not for much longer!

Another thing I'm really looking forward to? Open green spaces, with nothing surrounding me but grass, trees and wildflowers. And the ocean, with its salty spray and the smell of seaweed. Being enveloped in the quietness of nature that is better than silence.

3 more sleeps.