Life Lessons Learned

make your bed and be on time

May 6, 2013
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make your bed and be on time

Happiness is a funny thing. Sometimes it hits you just as hard as its arch-nemesis, sadness and/or depression. And then you don’t know what to do about it. You don’t want to talk about it, because then you’ll *JINX* it. You don’t want to celebrate anything too wildly, because you don’t want to seem boastful or like you are rubbing it in anyone’s face. And because of the nature of our often cruel and spiteful world, you hold your breath, silently enjoying your happy, while at the same time, constantly looking over your shoulder, waiting for that ominous other shoe to drop. But why should anyone feel ashamed of being happy? That just seems incredibly counter intuitive to the whole concept. Yet, there it is. I’d like to blame the Internet for this shame (or more specifically, Facebook), but that’s not quite right. The Internet, for all that we...

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Hitting {my} milestones

April 29, 2013
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Hitting {my} milestones

***As I was cleaning up my ridiculous draft folder full of half-written, what the heck was I thinking, random thoughts posts and I came across this one. I wrote it more than a year ago and can’t for the life of me figure out why I never hit publish on it. So here you go… Oh and look at how LONG my hair was!!!*** ~~~~~~~~~~~ Milestones. We all have them. Your first tooth. Your first haircut. Your first step. Your first day of school. Your first kiss. High School Graduation. Your first REAL job! Your first time. Your first vote. Your first love. Your first car. (Note to the guys that this is not the same as the milestone above!) And all of a sudden you are a full-fledged adult. You have a job, bills to pay, an apartment to clean, friends you can count on and perhaps someone...

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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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When the landscape changes, so must we

March 29, 2013
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When the landscape changes, so must we

I wasn’t going to read it. There has been so much in the news and on blogs and all over the internets about the Steubenville rape case that I was just not going to read another article that would A) raise my blood pressure to toxic levels again or B) make me physically sick to my stomach. Watching CNN’s Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow report on the verdict in this case nearly did me in! A few days ago, I reacted to a tweet by a local news anchor who had just read Barbara Amiel’s Maclean’s article, the one I was NOT going to read. I had already seen excerpts from it in a few posts earlier this week and I really did not want to read more of it and get upset again. But I had to. I had to give context to the tweet I reacted to...

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Choosing a better hill

March 17, 2013
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Choosing a better hill

There is no shortage of divisive topics in our world these days. Gun control, abortion, gay rights, how you feed your baby, team Jacob vs. team Edward… just to name a few. But the one that seems to get no less than at least a half a dozen mentions a day on my twitter feed alone, and that is nothing when you look at the plethora of dedicated Facebook, reddit and tumblr sites, is none other than the Great Leggings Debate!  Now for the record, and in the interest of full disclosure, I have been firmly entrenched in the “leggings are NOT pants” camp for quite some time. I did not wear leggings for anything other than the gym or yoga, I held off for a long time on buying any kind of jean that resembled a legging or hugged too tight (or was officially called a “jegging”) and even though I...

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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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