A very small everyday miracle on an average Tuesday

I've been writing a blog post in my head since I got home at 5pm. I had all sorts of things to say but it's 9:10pm and I am tired and now I find myself staring at this blank page, unable to remember any of the witty, thought-provoking things I had been meaning to type 4 hours ago.
Since 5pm I have scoured fridges, cupboards and cookbooks seeking something to make for dinner with what we have on hand. It's 2 days till payday and grocery day and things are looking pretty empty. I settled on Empty the Fridge Nachos-a recipe recently invented by me ;). It involves dumping the contents of a half empty bag of organic, low-salt, gluten-free, blue tortilla chips on a baking sheet, toping it with the cup of black beans left over in the fridge from something else and covering the whole mess in mozzarella cheese. This goes under the broiler to get all nice and melty while I frantically root through the fridges looking for something (anything) to flesh it out with. I found one orange pepper which got chopped up and put in a bowl. Not everyone in this house appreciates the value of a crisp orange pepper so making it optional seemed like the right thing to do. Next I discovered a slightly brown half an avocado languishing near the back of the fridge in a forgotten container and (miracle of miracles!!) another whole, ripe avocado. That went into the food processor along with a glug of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, a clove of garlic, bit of chopped onion and salt and pepper. Voila! guacamole! By then the cheese on the tortilla chip-bean situation was nice and melty so I put it on the table with my loaves-and-fishes toppings of peppers and guacamole plus a half empty jar of salsa.
This whole meal started as a bit of a panic but ended up a success. The only thing left was a lone bean and a microscopic pile of crumbs in the corner of the pan. Not bad for no plan.
My son said the nicest thing about my guacamole (which he normally does not go for). He said he likes guacamole because it reminds him of summer and being at the cottage because we eat it so often there. I had no idea that was true! You spend your kids' childhoods providing them with all sorts of experiences and the thing they remember is something random like guacamole!
After dinner I dealt with dishes, a load of laundry, a herd of kids migrating in and out of the house and I knit one row on my daughter's sweater. Not exactly witty or thought-provoking stuff but it's real-life stuff and probably sounds more like a normal Tuesday than if I starting telling you my thoughts on how to achieve world peace.
Tell me, what did your Tuesday look like? Tell me the nitty-gritty details that made up an average Tuesday in an average person's life. Why? Because it's real and lets the rest of us feel like not everybody lives in a Pinterest board house with model children and a smiling spouse, washing dishes.

Gratitude Sunday: Seeking Signs of Spring

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

 Tulips insistently poking their heads up in my front garden. It has not been particularly warm here but the tulips know it's spring.

 I had to dig under the old, dead bits to find these little chive sprouts. This is exciting.

 Chive seed heads in the neighbour's garden.

 I know it's spring when my chair can come out of the shed and live on the front stoop again. (why, why, why do my photos tend to list to one side???)

A clever selfie taken in our front window.

Feeling grateful this week for:

::one last Etsy sale of a blueberry hat-a gift for a new baby.

::time to knit on The Em-ster's sweater. I'm about halfway done the body now and it's been the perfect mindless knit that I needed.

::helping out at a fundraiser for our church yesterday. It was very early and very cold but satisfying and fun. 

::other kids seeking my son out. We are always encouraging our Aspergian to go find some friends and how exactly he can go about doing that, it's nice to see other kids seeking him out.

::climbing into pajamas early every night. 

::my son serving communion at church this morning. We belong to the United Church and the tradition is that everyone is welcome to partake. Our minister asked him specially to help serve because he's working on being confirmed this spring and thought he would find more meaning as a server.

::more often being thankful for things in my prayers than needing to ask for things. 

Creativity

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.
~Sophia Loren

While I'm not looking for a fountain of youth or particularly concerned with defeating age at 38, I do know I feel more alive and awake when I tap into my creativity.
Ginny wrote the other day on Small Things blog about the importance of finding our own passions as moms and I can't agree more. Creativity makes us be the individuals we are rather than blending into the crowd wearing the same clothes as everyone else, watching too much tv and buying too much stuff to fill our houses and the empty spaces in our hearts that creativity is meant to fill.
I believe that every woman is creative in her own way. Creativity comes in all forms including knitting, sewing, scrap-booking, painting, gardening, making a home beautiful, cooking, singing and making music.

Creativity helps us work through the dark places in our lives either by expressing it or allowing our minds to wander while our hands are busy, working through the issue.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that Thursday nights are my night off from parenting and cleaning duties. Most nights I come down to my corner of the basement and am seized by the need to MAKE SOMETHING. I don't know what that thing is but I do know I need to make it. One of my favourite quotes that I found on Pinterest says "I wanna make stuff even if no one cares". That's me.
I've been poking around the blogosphere the last few days and keep coming across the same angst, the same searching from souls everywhere looking for SOMETHING. Isn't it funny how we're all searching? Spring seems to bring that out in us doesn't us? Everyone is fluffing up their feathers and nests, turning in circles looking for the comfortable place to settle down into again.
The message I keep getting is "Follow your Passions". I'm taking it as a sign to focus on getting creative and getting outside. In two month's time we open our cottage for the season. It is my very favourite place on the earth.

So I too am searching for a way to combine my passions and see where they lead me. I am also seeking to reinvent myself as an entrepreneur and that certainly involves creativity and using some muscles I didn't even know I had.
Are you feeling the universal restlessness? Are you often seized by the soulful need to MAKE SOMETHING? What are you doing about it?

Yarnalong:Nature, Knit, YO, Repeat

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Yup, still reading The Nature Principle. When you only get to read a page or two a night it takes awhile to get through a book ;) I've been feeling restless the last month or so like so many other people this time of year, I'm finding. I was beginning to think that maybe it was time for us to consider a move. Somewhere in the country with lots of trees and fields and a place where I could finally have chickens. One gets a bit tired of living in the city and searching for green places to go for a walk. Richard Louv wrote a chunk on essentially blooming where you're planting. Look around your own neighbourhood for the green places that are there that you don't see. I did and remembered 2 tracts of land within walking distance that I should definitely be utilizing better. Bloom where you're planted. A good lesson I often fight the learning of.

The Lorelei scarf is coming along nicely. I finished another chart repeat last night. I'm supposed to do one and half more repeats then bind off, do it all again and Kitchner stitch the two halves together. I have my doubts that the scarf will be long enough to wrap around one's neck if I do that. I might perform Knitter's Rebellion and do my own thing. I'll let you know how that goes.
I loved the comments I got last week from other knitters who also knit like crazy on Tuesday nights so they have something new to post for Yarnalong. Thanks to Ginny for the incentive! (Like we needed one!)

Gratitude Sunday: March Break

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

 We went for a walk in the woods this afternoon. On one side of the trail is the Conestoga River and the other side is a man-made canal called the mill race. Back in the day the water from the mill race was used for grinding grain. Now it just looks nice and makes for a good walking path between the two. Lots of people use it and enjoy feeding the birds in the winter. Whatever gets people outside is great in my mind.

 As you can tell by the down jacket and return of the woolies, it was cold today. I feel silly complaining it was cold when it was only -5C.

I knew I should've brought my Canon along for this walk. The chickadees were so tame and we could've taken so many great pictures with a good camera. Instead all I had was my ipod. As long as I don't make this photo big, you can't tell it's out of focus ;)
Feeling grateful this week for:
::some warm and sunny weather that melted a lot of our snow
::a break from making lunches, worrying about people having clean clothes for school, being on a schedule
::The Em-ster getting a break from her brother and some special time with her grandparents
::a solo 2 hour drive to pick her up with time to check out a yarn store on the way
::poutine at Harveys. They make the best this side of Quebec in my mind. Feel free to argue with me, Canadians ;) Some people go on butter tart tours, I'll start the first poutine tour!
::a 2 hour drive home, just The Em-ster and I.  A rare thing to be sure. We had some good conversations about life and money, hopes and dreams. I do love 10.
::making progress on her sweater. I'm onto the body now and miles and miles of stockinette stitch. There is something comforting about knitting stockinette stitch-enough change to keep you from losing your marbles but enough the same that you can do it anywhere and not have to really pay attention.
::a part time job I can knit at when it's slow. I usually get a few rows done before and after the lunch rush.
::the first day of spring. Thank God!! The sun is warmer, the snow is melting and the kids are busting out of their houses and onto skateboards, roller blades and bikes. Love it.

The Lady Kina & Finding Fulfillment

This morning I asked myself what I would really like to do today and I answered that I would be knitting the Lady Kina sweater come hell or high water. A funny turn of events considering my resolve of wednesday not to start anything new until my Lorelei scarf was done or my daughter's That Weasley Girl sweater.
The wool has a story. A friend was cleaning out some bins awhile back and brought them to a gathering of crafty women called Sew Be It (or Knit Be It, or Crochet Be It, or Sort-Through-Your-Photos-So-You-Can-Begin-Putting-Them-In-Albums Be It). Among the stuff she was giving away were 2 hanks of soft, fluffy wool from China of unknown content. My friend Karen and I each perked up at the offering of free wool but there was some debate over who would get which skein. One skein was pink (the one I ended up with), the other was a sagey green. Since neither of us could decide which one we wanted we were each thrown a skein and our friend went back to sorting through outgrown children's clothing. Karen and I decided the way to resolve this was we'd each knit the other a sweater out of the wool we ended up with.
Phew! That was a long-winded way to get me to this strange chinese wool of unknown content and how I'm going to justify knitting the Lady Kina when I already have projects on the go. You see, I need to knit Karen this sweater before the momentum gets lost and all the better if I finish mine first. Perhaps I'm a little competitive.
In other, more thought-provoking news I read Ginny's post on Small Things today and it struck a cord with me. She writes about how a friend of hers comments on how "weird" she thinks she must be for needing to pursue passions outside of the domestic life. Things like knitting. And how she doesn't find child-rearing, laundry, cooking and schooling to be all-fulfilling.
I love my kids very much and do the best I can with what I have to raise them well but I've got to admit, I'm not one of those moms who finds being a mom the be all and end all of existence. I need something else to stimulate my mind and get that sense of fulfillment. Raising kids is a bit like knitting a really big blanket. You knit and knit but it takes ages before you see any progress, and it's years before you ever finish the blanket...if you ever really do.
I used to think I wasn't doing it right or putting in enough effort or somehow less of a mother because of my feelings but I've come to the realization that this is who I am and that's perfectly ok. When I pursue my passions I feel alive and happy and I parent better and I feel better as a human being.
My favourite times of day are in the mornings when the kids leave for school and I've got a stretch of time ahead of me to do what I want and at night when my kids are in bed and the house is quiet.
My passions are knitting and being outside. Gardening, sewing, reading and painting fall in somewhere there-after.

Does it always have to be about money???

I'll warn you now, this is going to be a bit of rant. Remember: you were warned ;)
Being March and all, Grade 8 parents everywhere are preparing for graduation in June. Grad photos have been taken and ordered for my son and the first post on Facebook about the search for a dress appeared yesterday. A part of me snapped a little this morning when I heard about this because I know what's coming: the perfect dress/shoes/jewellery, up-dos, parties and make-up. Someone will order a limo to take the proud graduate to the ceremony. And over the top it will go.
I feel like the Lorax right now standing on my tree stump yelling "Won't someone think of the trees?" but in my case I will be the lone parent yelling from atop my reusable shopping bin "Does it always have to be about the money??"
WHY... does everything end up being an excuse to spend large amounts of money on things kids don't need??? The average 13 year old does not need a designer dress and shoes to graduate from public school. The average 13 year old does not need her nails done.
Why are we teaching our children that the most important part of the fact that they have successfully completed public school is that they must look good, must look like a model to do so?

In our house I am celebrating the fact that this boy who could barely make it through a day of school without a parent being called at the age of 6 has completed all the requirements of our public school system to graduate with his friends and go onto high school.
What a momentous achievement for this Aspergian!
I am celebrating the fact that he understands now what is expected of him in a classroom and can meet those expectations.
I am celebrating how well he has learned to self-advocate for his needs in a (mostly) polite and appropriate way.
I am so proud of this boy and all he has achieved, the marks he has earned, the friends he has made and the connections with the adults in his school life that he has forged. Incredible.

And none of this has anything to do with how much money I choose to spend on his graduation from Grade 8. Because, although it is momentous it is also only grade 8.
It's important to keep this in perspective.
As parents lets keep the focus on learning, celebrating hard work, growing up and marking the passing of a milestone. Not on how nice your daughter's nails look or the label inside your son's shirt.
But I digress...

Yarnalong: Proving Progress in one's Knitting

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong.

 This post looks like a repeat of the past 2 weeks but I am making progress on both knitting and reading fronts. I'm about half way through Richard Louv's The Nature Principle. One of the most interesting things I've read so far is this:
"Our research shows that maintaining bio-diversity levels is important..not only for conservation, but also to enhance the quality of life for city residents," said Richard Fuller of the Department of Animal and Plant Science at Sheffield. In related work, researchers...report that exposure to the natural environment leads people to nurture close relationships with fellow human beings, to value community, and to be more generous with money. By contrast, the more intensely people in the study focused on "artificial elements," the higher they rated wealth and fame. Another reason to go outside-it makes people feel more generous and focus on the good stuff in life!

 The Lorelei scarf is coming along slowly. Believe it or not, it's about 2" longer this week than last. I made a conscious effort to knit more on it over the past few days so when I took the pictures for this post it would look at least a little bit different than last week! Do any of you regular contributors to Yarnalong find yourselves doing that?? It's a good incentive.

I was sorely tempted this week to drop everything and start the Lady Kina sweater. It's been on my Pinterest board for awhile and I found it on Ravelry the other day. Someone has knit it in a bright mustardy yellow that appeals to me very much. I feel like I would look like the dog's breakfast in mustardy yellow but I do like how it looks over a stripey navy tee. Perhaps I can split the difference and find a grass green colour. I desperately crave bright green clothes in March.
However with great amounts of self-control I have not started the Lady Kina, remembering this scarf and the sweater I still have to finish for The Em-ster. Sigh.

Empty Nests and Husbands

Just a quick post this Tuesday night. I've been sitting here at my kitchen table working on some corrections for the other blog I write (link here:Shop Local in Waterloo if you're interested...) when a lazy thought occurred to me that maybe this is what it will be like when the kids are older.
The house is quiet, it's just my husband and I right now as The Boy is out with his Oma and The Em-ster is away for a few days over March Break. I've got some laundry on the go and I should probably deal with the dishes but there's nothing pressing on my time really. Life is temporarily not on fire as it so often seems to be these days.
So, I thought to myself-"Gee, this is what it must be like when the kids grow up and move away"
Then my husband shows up in the kitchen door and breaks into my thoughts with something along the lines of "You won't believe what I just saw on YouTube!" and proceeds to tell me about a magician with this swirling disk thing and then you look at the guys face and it disappears and another one showing a montage of guys hurting themselves.
Huh. So this is what it's going to be like when the kids grow up and move away. I think I hear Paris calling....

Gratitude Sunday: Signs of Green

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

 Tulips poking through the warm earth this afternoon

 Hostas reaching for the sun

 Can't remember what this is but it's green!!

Tapping our maple tree out front.

Feeling grateful this week for:

::melting snow and green things poking up. It's still early yet in the season and we haven't seen the last of the snow but this gives me hope.

::celebrating my Grandmother's 90th birthday with family. Families are funny things but no matter what they're still your family and share part of your history. I find comfort in that.

::figuring out something we can offer my Grandma to brighten her day. It's all well and good to want to do something but it's so much better when you figure out that one thing you can do. She isn't overly mobile anymore and hasn't left her building in months but bringing her food in to share perks her up so much. I can do that!

::my daughter spending a few days with my parents up north for a change of scenery and a break from her brother. Plus the chance to have her grandparents to herself and be the centre of attention-I am grateful for this opportunity

::seeing my brother after 6 months overseas. I miss not having him in the same province...or country. 

::getting our taxes done yesterday and not having to pay. A refund this year will be a welcome thing to look after this house and garden.

::coffee and bacon.

When this Knitter Turns 90

My grandmother turned 90 today. She lives in a nursing home now and hasn't been able to knit for a few years due to the arthritis in her fingers. Arthritis is making it extremely difficult for her to walk and from what I understand she gets around in a wheelchair most of the time.
While I only live about an hour away my work and my family's schedule keep me from visiting her. I wish it was otherwise because I know she won't be around to wait for me to be free or my kids to be older and able to keep themselves occupied without tying one another up or setting fire to things to see what would happen.
I feel sad for her that she can't knit because I know she deeply misses it. When I go to see her I make sure to bring along something I'm working on and show her pictures of my Etsy creations. I hope it helps. I know she likes to know that I'm knitting.
Tomorrow my extended family is getting together at her home to celebrate her 90 years on this earth. It seems to me like 90 demands something more than coffee and cake, 2 hours in the party room of a nursing home. To be honest I am struggling with the scope of this event tomorrow. In my heart I think someone should have made reservations for the lot of us at her favourite restaurant or invited everyone related to her and had a really big party. However I am the grand-daughter. I only see her every couple of months and don't know the struggles of getting her comfortably in a car. I don't oversee the daily and weekly care and I am not in contact with the staff of the home to make sure everything is alright. I am trying to be open-minded and understanding and look beyond what I think and feel. But it's hard. Please excuse me.
Today at 38 I think I would like a big party when I turn 90. I would like to see everyone who is important to me (who's still alive anyway) at my party. I want to eat things I'm not allowed to eat and drink too much (snort-like 2 drinks). Arthritis won't dare take away the functioning of my fingers and I will be waving a knitting needle around to emphasize my point as I tell the same story yet again. I will be that old lady with a yarn-bombed walker and elegant long silver hair in a braid. I will wear bright coloured dresses that will make my kids roll their eyes just like when I was 38. I want to hug my great-grandchildren on my 90th birthday and I want them to know who I am. And when the party is over and all the guests have gone home I will sit in my chair and let the memories of the day wash over me, mixing with the memories of life lived as best I could.

Yarnalong: The Nature Principle and Chickens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

 Reading: Still working my way through The Nature Principle by Richard Louv. I've begun adding little sticky notes at the parts I found most compelling. It's amazing how therapeutic going outside is. I've always known I feel my best, the most myself but studies actually prove the benefits of spending time in nature.

Knitting: one last chicken mitten before I close the Etsy shop at the end of March. This pair needed to be an extra-large men's pair and required some trial and error and modifications to the pattern. I first searched Ravelry for a pattern but couldn't find one that was compatible with the wool I have and my 2 needle preferred method of knitting mittens. I don't know why I didn't just modify the pattern in the first place. Lack of confidence I guess. It's working out but man are these mittens big!
The wool is Cascade 220, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. I don't know what the name of the colour is but I do know it's the only wool that looks like your average whitish chicken.

Mama's Notebooks-an Interview with Heather Wood

Today I bring you a little interview with Heather Wood, creator of the Mama's Notebooks line of planners and organizers. I've wanted one for myself for awhile so in a "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained" sort of attitude I asked Heather if she would be willing to trade a couple of months of advertising space and a blog review for one of her notebooks. I was thrilled when she agreed and I've really enjoyed using this book. I like having a big space to plan my week that includes room for menu planning plus the facing page to make notes and to-do lists on. It's a brilliantly simply system. I love to hear the story behind things and I'd like you to know about Heather and how the notebooks came to be. So without further ado:

Tell me, how did Mama's Notebooks come into being? Did you begin by designing one for yourself and then find that other moms wanted one too? Tell me about the progression of the product to the point it's at right now?
Yes, I made Mama's Notebooks for myself at first. The first one that I created was the weekly planner. I had just had my third child and moved across the country for my husband's job. It was a joyful but organizationally challenging time for our family.

I had been using a simple calendar to organize our lives but I knew that I needed something more extensive. But I didn't want to have a calendar, a meal planner, and a list pad. So, I used my scientific background to create a weekly landscape chart where it all fit. I started stapling the charts into a notebook so that I could write lists on the bottom page, trying to ignore the fact that the lines were going in the wrong direction.

The stapling week by week allowed me to tweak the chart until I had exactly what I wanted. But it was a sloppy system and began to frustrate me. My husband suggested that I make my own bound planner and offered his help with the technical side of things. He also suggested that I put it up for sale. He was seeing how much it helped our family, and had confidence that it would help others too.

So I prettied the notebook up and got it ready for print. It was fun to work with him on it and to brainstorm the most useful back pages and layout. The charts and pages in the back are further organizational tools that I find really useful for food shopping, meal planning, cleaning, and daily routine.

The main page with calendar above and a whole page below for Lists and Goals

(One of the extra pages-this one for Go To Meal Ideas. I add to it everytime there's a meal my family loves with reference to which cookbook and page it's found on.)

After I made the weekly planner, I started to look for other areas of our family life that could use some organizational help. I had been frustrated with budgeting on the computer for a long time, my data kept getting lost, spreadsheets were good for planning but not tracking, and sitting down at the computer and focusing was not a reality with three small children. So I started a similar process with monthly budget sheets and the budget notebook developed.

I am an avid knitter and crocheter so I made a design notebook/ project tracker for that. I used graph paper for the design aspect and put in reference and measurement charts, as well as places to plan out goals in the back.

I have three children, so I made a little planner for new Mamas, just to get them through those first few months caring for themselves and baby.

And, I was just starting to get serious about preschool with my children so I developed a notebook for that too. One notebook for unit/monthly planning and one for weekly planning. This allowed me to track all of my resources and plans in one neat space as well as tracking all of our goals, accomplishments, and fun trips.

I chose notebooks instead of binders because they fall apart less, are compact, and are easy to carry around. I can't stand losing sheets and having to try to tape them back into a binder. And I love to take pictures of flowers so I used them as my theme for the covers. Except, of course, the knit & crochet notebook, that one had to have beautiful yarn!

(I colour-code mine with highlighters and wool)

What challenges did you face? What surprised you in your journey?
The most challenging thing was the usual technical difficulties that come with designing something and setting it up for print. Layout issues can cause a lot of stress! But I had my husband's support, ingenuity, and endless patience for all of that.

I was surprised that everyone that I gave one of my notebooks to loved them and found them useful. Every time that I was feeling frustrated with the whole process, some one would tell me how much one of my notebooks had made their lives better, and it helped me get through whatever difficulty I was currently facing. I just love that I'm helping other moms!

What do you see waiting in the future for Mama's Notebooks?
I have a new notebook in the very beginnings of development but this one is going to take a little while to get just right. It has to do with helping start our little homestead here. I am very particular about my products being finished and useful before they are sold.
Other than that, I hope to just keep helping families by taking some of the stress out of their lives. The notebooks certainly are a blessing to me and I hope that they will continue to be to others as well.
To check out the full line up of Mama's Notebooks you can click the link below:
http://www.mamasnotebooks.com/p/all-products.html

They were there but now they're gone

You may have noticed the ads on my blog over the last couple of weeks. It was something I wanted to try to see if it would bring in a bit of money. So many other bloggers use them so it must be worth it, right?
Not so much.
I didn't like the way it cluttered up my blog. I felt like I was selling my soul to the advertising people in exchange for what amounted to coffee money. I don't like the tricks people play to try to get you to buy things-the upselling, the mind games etc. If people are going to buy something with their hard earned money they should want it and actually need it. I thought if I could control the ads then it would be ok but it hasn't sat right with me.
So I am staging a one woman Rebellion Against Media and have canceled my Google AdSense account. They can take their $1.52 and go buy their own coffee. I'm good thanks.
Now, if a business I believed in asked me if they could place an ad on my blog I would still say yes. Helping people to live their dream of creating and selling a product or service by saying this thing you have created is awesome, I support you and y'all should check this thing out is different and I'm all for doing that.
It's about simplifying things and being true to your values.

Gratitude Sunday: Sparkles

Joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A chance to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

I know I said I would not post any more winter pictures because we were SO DONE with winter but it was a glorious day and we headed to the conservation area for our annual winter picnic.
This week I am grateful for:
::confidences shared. It makes me feel good when someone trusts me enough to share something personal about them self.
::a good long chat with Kathy Stowell of Bliss Beyond Naptime and Mama Bliss Coaching school fame about my next steps as an entrepreneur. She helped me sort out my priorities and gave me some great direction for some of my ideas
::chatting with a woman at work on Friday who fairly sparkled. Do you know that feeling when you meet someone you are almost instantly comfortable with, a kindred spirit? She sparkled. That's all I can say.
::payday. I am always so grateful for payday!
::bringing lots of healthy food into the house again on grocery day and planning meals for the next 2 weeks.
::a walk in the sunshine yesterday all by myself
::today's winter picnic. We shared a little snack and some hot chocolate then took a walk to a hill where the kids sledded and threw snowballs onto the ice.
::my kids getting along and dare I say it-acting like friends rather than mortal enemies. They seek each other out sometimes and sit in the same room together in peace.
::The Em-ster playing well with a friend this weekend. Sometimes this is a huge challenge as she can get irritable and is pretty good at self-advocating but not so good at putting herself in other people's shoes sometimes. I can see her learning and growing and it makes my heart glad.

Yarn Swift and Spastic Gerbils (in my head)

Am I the only one on the planet that thinks a swift is a beautiful thing? My loving husband bought this for me for Christmas this year and I am so grateful for it.
Another order for Chicken Mittens:

came in on Friday so I stopped off at my LYS for some more Cascade 220 in chicken-appropriate white and grey marl. It was so much faster to use the swift rather than my usual frustrating method of looping it around a chair and standing there winding and un-knotting it every 5 seconds! Imagine what I could do if I had a mechanical ball winder?! I'm sure it would make me a better knitter ;)
Today there are birds singing and snow melting. It is finally above 0C. I took a walk around my neighbourhood and through the green space and I DID NOT wear my down parka! I wore several layers of fancy outdoor gear plus lots of woolies but NOT my down parka. Liberation!!
It is amazing what a brisk walk outside can do for a person's soul. I feel calmer and my thoughts have (temporarily, anyway) stopped racing around my head like a spastic gerbil. I am ruminating on the crossroads I find myself at in terms of employment and the direction my blogs and ideas should take. It is an interesting, somewhat frustrating time. I'll keep you posted :)

Yarnalong: Nature and Knit On!

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

From the pile of books I brought home from the library on Saturday I decided to begin with The Nature Principle by Richard Louv. He wrote Last Child in the Woods, and coined the term "Nature Deficit Disorder". Something about this topic stirs my soul and I just want to read everything I can get my hands on. I believe that kids belong outside as much as possible but I forget that grown ups need to be outside just as much as kids. This book is full of studies and statistics (but presented in an interesting way) about the benefits to us all of spending more time outside. A point he brought up in his first book, that has stuck with me is how can we expect our kids to play outside if we're never outside?
 Thunk...woah...duh.
I am terrible at hibernating in the winter time and just being a bad example to my kids. I love to be out from April till October but come winter I need a shoe horn to get me out that door. I like that Richard Louv's books aren't all doom and gloom and are written in an encouraging, non-judgemental tone.

 Thank you for all the comments weighing in on whether I should keep on knitting the Lorelei Scarf in this crazy sock yarn or frog it. Survey says...knit on! So I have been and glad of it.

It's a pretty easy pattern to follow although I keep forgetting to yarn over at least once, get to the end of the next row and realize I'm one stitch short. I'm getting very good as tinking back to the point of my error. If only I could get better at paying attention to what I'm doing and not forget in the first place. When I knit my mind wanders far, far away and hence the missing yarn overs. I think this is why I failed so miserably at the Kirin Shawl I wrote about here and here. I will knit it yet...when my kids go to university maybe...

Simplicity

I'm working through the worksheets for the Mama Blog to Mama Biz e-course by Kathy Stowell and one of the exercises is to identify 3 values that I stand for, find a quote that speaks to each value and write a blog post on it. So. Here I am and here is quote #1:
The best things in life are nearest-breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
There are days when I think I should just sell out and move to the wilderness. Forget trying to look after this house and all this stuff. Forget everything school requires of me and kids. I imagine life in a cabin to be simple. My only cares to keep warm, look after the few necessities we own, and make sure bears don't eat us. The kids would be outside all the time, calmer and sleeping better. We would be the picture of health.
I crave simplicity.
But a part of me knows I can curate simplicity in the suburbs.
::I can donate anything I don't know to be useful and beautiful.
::I can streamline my cleaning routine or lower my expectations of myself and my house.
::I can plan our days better, taking into account when our energies are low and planning less or taking advantage of those times when we can manage more (but not too much more).
::I can revisit my beliefs-dinner together every night, whole foods, not buying into every want, whim or fad my children talk about, being authentic to myself about each request on my time.
::I can also write into our schedule (in black pen!) time to be outside.
Ultimately it is my choice.
Gratitude Sunday is a blog post I try to write every week so I can remember how grateful I am for the simple things like fresh air, sunlight, bread, the privilege of looking after this house I have been blessed with, the privilege of serving customers healthy food at one job and enabling folks in a small way to get outside at my other job.
I think as moms, many of us take for granted "life's plain, common work as it comes". Dishes, laundry, cooking dinner, bathing babies are as plain and as common as it gets. Those of us who manage to see it not so much as drudgery but as sacred moments in a day are tuned into the simplicity of our lives. Does simplicity manifest more simplicity until through the process of elimination we are left with what really matters?
All I know is there are a lot of blogs out there with beautiful pictures of laundry hanging on the line, dinner simmering on the stove, favourite pottery mugs on sunlit countertops.

Gratitude Sunday-Manifesting Abundance

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday. A time to look back at the week that was and reflect with gratitude.

Feeling grateful this week for:
::a sense of abundance in my life. I've been really focussing on paying attention to all we have instead of what we don't have. When I focus on lack of money or time or what's missing in the fridge I feel poor but when I consciously notice and thank God for what we have I feel pretty content. It's like the more I notice it, the more of it comes our way.
::wool. Not in my knitting this time but in my clothing. It's been a cold week and I am thankful for all the long underwear and fleeces I own that make life bearable here.
::the effort my daughter is putting into getting along with her brother. I know it's hard for her to let things go and I appreciate her trying. It brings much needed peace into this house.
::report cards from both kids showing improvement in many areas. I am so proud of them both for overcoming many of their challenges to shine academically and be productive members of their classes.
::Tasty Chicken from Fix It and Forget Cookbook for Entertaining. That was last night's dinner and was it ever good!
::progress on the scarf I'm knitting. I love knitting with variegated yarn and how the knitting seems to go that much faster when the colour is changing every 4 rows. I must have a short attention span.
::March 1st and the hope that brings with spring coming. I always feel in March that I can begin to hope, that the end of winter is in sight and I am going to make it after all (cue Mary Tyler Moore theme music...)
::church this morning-the rhythm of the service, hymns that were a joy to sing and snippets of sentences that spoke to my soul.
::the joy in my daughter's face and heart when she asked for a Betta fish and instead of saying "Let's think about it" or "We can't afford it right now" I said yes. We'd been wanting to get her a pet for awhile and had some money put away for the purchase. Abundance again.
::looking forward to speaking to Kathy Stowell of Bliss Beyond Naptime fame about some next steps for turning my dreams of working from home into reality.