Wordless Wednesday - Welcome Fall

Photos from last year but still make me smile. 'Tis my favourite time of year.

Milestone

It's just us girls here this weekend. Laura and I get to spend some nice quality time together. So far we have cruised the farmer's market in Perth, had lunch out and played a glowing game of mini-putt. It's been great so far, except I can't quite relax into it 'cause this is the first time Owen has been away (without me or my husband, not with a relative kind of away) overnight.

It's Cub Camp. He couldn't be happier. He gets the Mr. Enthusiasm boy of the year award for all things Cubs... when everything is going as expected. Then there is the Mr. Hyde part of the personality that comes out when he is tired, overstimulated or when the food isn't quite right. Now that won't happen overnight with a cabin of 9 year old boys in the rain, will it?

I keep trying to reassure myself that the leaders are quite capable of handling him, even if they are not me. God, it's hard to tame my Mama Bear instincts right now! Anyway, we can all handle pretty well anything for 24 hours, right? *Deep Cleansing Breath*

What might happen is that he will come home happy - a little taller, prouder and more independent - because I let him go. It is a milestone for both of us.

Sisters and Sisterhood

I am blessed to have a wonderful friend in my sister.  It was her birthday yesterday and we met for lunch, sharing, laughing and tearing up like we often do.  There are many inside jokes and memories we have that spread across the years.  As time passes, our interwoven lives only make those sisterly bonds grow stronger.  I am so blessed.

Some of my sisterly relationships also come from those I have with friends.  I came across this quote today which sums it up. 

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves."  ~Anonymous

We spend so much time being so much to so many.  I my case I am a mom to two wonderful kids, a wife to a great partner, a volunteer, and much more.  I love every bit of it… most days, but I get tired of the giving. When I need to recharge, there is nothing quite like spending time with sisters and sisterhood friends. 

Reading Turtlehead’s blog today reminded me how much I miss and need sisterhood.  It takes time to build those deep-rooted friendships that are woven together so well.  I’m still working on it here in my new digs.  It will come, I trust.  It came with my eclectic group of friends in my old town.  But the face-time we had with each other is so rare now with our busy lives.

I am so aching for more group-friend time. Sure summer was great and all that but where were my long lounges on patios with drinks in hand, friends to laugh with and not a care in the world?  Where was my freedom to just be myself, casting all those daily roles aside?   Now fall has rolled around without a girlfriends weekend in sight. My kindred spirits are spread far and wide and I just can’t seem to get schedules together to make my dreams of group plans happen. 

Hmmm.  Time to shift priorities.  My me-time needs some top billing.  We deserve it.  Anyone up for a Girl’s night out?  How about a weekend escape?  Excuse me while I go make some calls….

Birthday Bliss

It is far from a perfect birthday day today.  My dearest husband had to go out of town through no fault of his own.  My daughter starts dance lessons tonight and I am chauffeur.  There are dishes and other delightful chores to be done by me.  I am also having a bad hair day and I weigh far more than I should. 

Luckily I have a wonderful friend in Allison who so kindly swept me away to Le Nordik Spa in Quebec to bliss our day away whilst the kidlets were in school.  Here is the pictorial evidence of this day. 

This was me before we headed out. (Note dark circles under spacey eyes and bad hair.) :

And this is me after: (Coffee in hand, big relaxed smile, still bad hair but with that post-spa fluffiness.)

And this is how I got that way: (Note angelic aura)

And this is the lovely spa (photos from the website) where we dripped in saunas and dripped in pools and lounged in Muskoka chairs by wood fires, sipping green tea followed by a delicious lunch.  Really, does it get much better that that?

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday me.  I am a happy camper.

Oh!  And I got my toes done this week with some pretty little nail art on it.

And a couple of my sunflowers which I had given up on, bloomed for me this week.

 

I guess this means tomorrow will suck. Totally worth it.

 

Blog-blocked.

Alas. I have sat down numerous times, trying to find some creative words. There are none. I can't seem to complete a grocery list lately, let alone some insightful writing. I have too many disjointed thoughts and numerous distractions pulling at me. So I suppose the answer is just to begin, such as it is. I like writing this blog-thingy, even if it is simply for my own amusement. Do bear with me, if you happen to stumble here. It will get better eventually.

I did have one blog-ish complete thought yesterday. I was playing a board game with Laura and I found myself making sure she won, even if it meant bending the rules in her favour. I'm not sure what this does for her. Avoid disappointment? Make her happy? Make her feel superior to her silly ole mom? Do I really do her a favour letting her win 90% of the time? She's 7. Her friends aren't going to let her win it all. At what point do we stop protecting their feelings all the time and let them experience the real ups and downs of the world? Any thoughts?

Wordless Wednesday - Some old castle thing

And to think last week at this time I didn't have my passport yet.

It's been an amazing week visiting Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the view from our hotel room - Edinburgh castle on the hill, National Gallery across the street. Yep, this will do nicely.
(More to come when I can see straight.)