Where does the time go???

I woke up this morning at the blessed hour of 5:15 with my dear little boy singing "Happy Birthday To Meeeee!" Both endearing and annoying at the same time.

Owen is 10 today. A whole dacade old already. This is not possible. Why it was just a little while ago that I walked him to kindergarten, worrying about how he would get along without me. Not long before that when we would carry him around in his backpack perch for a forest hike. Yep, I'm a wee bit nostalgic today.

I miss the wee lad that he was, looking up to me for reassurance. He was our precious baby boy, well worth the three days of hospital labour and c-section. Time does blur the rough spots, and many there were. Much like looking through photo albums and scrapbooks, we see the sunny, happy moments frozen on the page. I wouldn't change a thing.

We celebrated large for this 10 year birthday. He had his own box at an OHL Ottawa 67s game, surrounded by family, friends and pizza. The home team won and we got a "This is the best day of my life!" exclamation for him. Well worth it. Happy Birthday Owen.

WW - Totem Kids

...And then the beak opened up and swallowed them all. You should never mess with a totem pole. At least Laura's travel buddy (Ella the bear) has an adventure to write about for school.

Vacation?

My husband is off this week and home and it is completely messing up my schedule. Sure, it was all very well on day one. We had a great day-date (watching a 3-D Surfing movie and having lunch at the Snug Pub in the Market). Things have gone downhill fast.

This is day three. I haven't been able to get on the computer for my morning "fix" of blogs and Facebook. I am still doing all the stuff I always do such as dragging the kids to school in the morning and making gourmet, or at least, passable dinners for the lot. And, of course, we've run out of small talk. I'm not used to thinking of intelligent conversation before sundown. It is all very strenuous.

Day four tomorrow and I need a plan. Maybe I could break something around here and send him to the hardware store for an elusive part. Perhaps we could head to the mall with a gold card handy to get stuff we don't need. Or maybe, I could suck it up, read up on how to talk to adults and go for a skate on the canal with him. At the very least, he gets to pick up the kids at school when it's 40 below.

Milestone Playdate

Laura has had plenty of playdates. She's friendly and happy to go along with her friends in all their activities. She goes to birthday parties of classmates and picks up and plays with kids in the park. All stuff many of us take for granted.


Then there's Owen. He's awesome but maybe only seen through the rose-coloured glasses of a mom. The last classmate birthday he went to was over 2 years ago. He is clueless on social skills in most settings (a classic Asperger's trait) though polite and happy to play with his own imaginary friends and games with his own rules. You might think he just doesn't need peers - not so. He is lonely and has no idea what to do about it.

Yesterday was different. Owen had a friend over from school to play. He was so excited that he couldn't stop bouncing around the room. His eyes shone when his friend arrived and he was a great sport when his buddy won at Monopoly. I was overjoyed.

I hope it is a start of more peer relationships for our wonderful guy. He needs it, and if others take the time to get to know him, quirks and all, they are in for an interesting time.

Inspiration comes in many forms

I had lunch out yesterday. A mini-bus pulled up to the restaurant from a local seniors home. I am not proud to say that I watched with my prejudicial thoughts waiting to see just who would be coming off the bus. Would they be able to handle the spicy food here as they escape the cafeteria at the Lodge? Hell yes!

Out came eight, beautifully dressed women topped with stunning red and purple hats. It was the local Red Hats Society crew, sharing friendship and food on one of their many outings. These women ranged in age from perhaps 70 to 95 and they obviously put friendship high on their calendar of priorities. I should aspire to be half as outgoing as these women were.

On another note, I'm totally blog-blocked lately so do forgive me if I blither on, looking for inspiration as I attempt to write. With any luck my mind will return soon. Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday - December reflections

I'm having troubles writing anything lately. Thankfully it is Wordless Wednesday and I've got some pics. Hopefully my brain will return soon. Happy New Year! (A little late on that one. Methinks my quit procrastinating resolution isn't working so well. )