family

Happy Mother’s Day. No, really….

May 11, 2013
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Yes, here it is. The Mother’s Day post. Now before you roll your eyes and click over to some other link, just hold on…. I will not be bombarding you with sappy stories of motherhood and heavily filtered “candid” shots of me kissing my kid through a sheer curtain. There will be no, “these are the lessons my mother taught me” huge revelations for you to get all teary about. And I promise not to bore you with a ridiculous list of household chores I wish someone else would take care of for one day. Nope, none of that here. What you are going to get is a dose of reality. It may be only MY reality, but I am putting it out there because I am not completely convinced that I am alone in this. Do you know what I really want for Mother’s Day? NOTHING. Absolutely nothing....

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On motherhood: the ultimate vulnerability.

April 22, 2013
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On motherhood: the ultimate vulnerability.

I had coffee with a friend the other day. A pregnant friend who is in that “second-trimester, starting to feel uncomfortable in her own changing body, slightly grumpy about the restrictions it is placing on her” friend. We are relatively new friends (and yes, we did “meet” via social media), but our stories are quite similar. She could be me seven years ago. A woman in her mid-30′s with a burgeoning career, life experiences and accomplishments that she is proud of and someone who is pretty sure of who she is in this world. And she is afraid. Afraid of what becoming a mother means. Afraid of losing herself to this new role in her life. Afraid of following in the footsteps of the mothers in her life, who became wholly consumed by motherhood and whom she feels lost all of who they were before then. So I told...

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Cookies before dinner.

April 11, 2013
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Cookies before dinner.

You tell yourself you are just going to try it. To see what all the fuss is about. I mean its free, right? So there is no harm done there and besides, all your friends are trying it too. It’s pretty fun actually. You have a good time, play some silly vampire vs werewolf games, find out your stripper name, poke some people, catch up with old friends and even find some new ones. You start doing it more and more. You start adding pictures of your life. What you made for dinner, what you did that day, funny shots of the kids. You like more of your friend’s stuff and your ‘friends’ like your stuff too. Soon you are sharing all kinds of things with all of these friends. Things that you like and things that you think they will like too. And they do, they really, really...

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the ordinary life of a {closet} loner

April 2, 2013
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the ordinary life of a {closet} loner

This is what I love doing. I am sitting alone at one end of a dining room table that can easily sit 10-12 people. A cup of tea to my right and the Tar Beach Lullabies playlist from Songza playing on my iPad to my left and my sleeping pup at my feet (keeping them warm). The lights are mostly off and I am writing by the glow of my laptop and the still light dusk of a Northern Alberta spring night. Today, I took my children to a birthday party at one of those jumpy castle play place establishments that are all the rage these days. I knew most of the parents and kids at the party and while it was nice to visit with everyone, I felt this strange urge to escape from this social situation. I wanted to hightail it out of there and run off for...

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#40SilverLinings: Happy Easter!

April 1, 2013
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#40SilverLinings: Happy Easter!

I did not post one every day, but having the thought of my #40silverlinings posts in my head, made me focus more on the good things going on in my life. It was a good exercise in positive thinking, in seeing the happy moments in days that can sometimes seem overwhelming. So here you have my last list to wrap up all 40 of my silver linings for Lent. 31. A hot bath after a long day, a real book (I don’t do e-readers) and a husband who brings me a glass of wine after I am all settled in the tub! 32. The “Oh My Darling” twisted London fog tea latte from my neighbourhood cafe. Darjeeling tea, almond milk and coconut flavouring. It just makes everything better, I swear. 33. Date night. The best bowl of Pho in the city followed by chilling at what my husband is...

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The book.

March 28, 2013
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The book.

My son LOVES dinosaurs. He always has. His second and third birthdays were Dinosaur themed and by the age of 2.5 could recite all of the names of the dinosaurs in his Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs book that at the time, was almost heavier than he was. He has multiple dinosaur books, numerous figurines, every Playmobil dinosaur ever created and a custom dinosaur quilt as well. Our visits to the library involve him parking himself in the aisle with all the dinosaur books and devouring them one by one. And every day he talks about and asks me when are we going to go to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller again. He likes facts about dinosaurs. He needs to know as much as he can about the dinosaur-du-jour and I get asked on a daily basis a minimum of 10 questions about dinosaurs. Mom, How long is 5 meters?...

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An interview with Lesléa Newman: Feminism, diversity, freedom

March 24, 2013
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Last night, my husband and I watched the movie, Jeff, Who Lives at Home.  It is a poignant little film that explores the concept that everything happens for a reason, something that I have long believed in myself. A few weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to interview Lesléa Newman before her upcoming Visiting Lectureship in Human Rights at the University of Alberta. I’ll be honest, I did not know who she was before receiving this email. An extensive google search and a visit to the library changed all of that and then I got VERY excited about this opportunity! Lesléa Newman is a prolific writer, poet, and human rights activist. She is the author of over 60 books and edited collections including the groundbreaking children’s book Heather Has Two Mommies, the first children’s book to portray lesbian families in a positive way, and the award-winning short story A Letter to Harvey Milk....

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#40silverlinings: Catching up on a weeks worth!

March 17, 2013
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#40silverlinings: Catching up on a weeks worth!

OK, fine, almost two weeks. #22. A massage. A beautiful hour and a half all to me, about me and for me! And I booked another one too!! #23. My slow cooker. Coming home to a meal that is cooked and ready to eat is the BEST THING EVER. Now if only I could get more organized and on this for more days in the week. #24. 2.5 pounds. That is how much weight I have lost in the last couple of weeks. It’s not a lot, but slow and steady is going to win this race. #25. SCHMUTZIE!! And Palinode too! A night out in real life with two of my favourite internet folks. They is good people yo! #26. My new front teeth. I am the only one who really notices them, but I feel damn sexy with these new chompers! {And the ability to eat apples...

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Sharing

March 13, 2013
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Sharing

In an effort to become a more organized and cohesive family unit, my husband and I have started sharing our iCalendars. We now know exactly where we are at all times, what activities the kids have, when any and all appointments are, and, as of last night, when my menstrual cycle starts. Yes. You read that right. My menstrual cycle is now in my husbands calendar and “in the Cloud”. The past few weeks have been particularly tough for me and I honestly couldn’t figure out why. I have been extremely moody, irritable and VERY emotionally volatile. I mean, I almost burst into tears at soccer registration because C has to play on the Under-8 team and not the Under -6 team with all his school friends. That incident alone should have clued me in to what was going on. But no, I just kept thinking I was staring...

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#40silverlinings: Vet bills, zombies and Taylor swift

March 4, 2013
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Some days the silver linings are harder to see. I haven’t posted anything since last week. We have been busy. The kids had Thursday and Friday off because of teacher’s convention and we had a lot going on. I know the silver linings were there, I just had to look really hard for them through the fog of the migraine that I had for two days and a road trip on my own with two kids. #17. A new vet who actually gave me some answers and proper treatment for my poor puppy’s infected ears! #18. My kids deciding to sing along to all songs on the radio these days and how cute C sounds when he is singing Maroon 5′s ‘Daylight’ and the hilariousness of my 4 year old daughter belting out “We are never, ever, ever, getting back together!”. #19. Getting to know my step-mother (my late...

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