Get Going With the Pink Bike and the Trailer

(Photo courtesy of my four year old and her knack for cutting my head of in pictures.)

I was THRILLED about the play date we had booked for this a.m. because it gave me a good reason to set up the bike and trailer and kick off using it this summer. I always wish I had more opportunities then I do each year to get it out! It will not be long before the kids are too big for it! Anyhow, play date was in our old neighborhood. I love this area for biking because of all the pretty cat walks. We had a lovely ride there but on the way back I was in a hurry, the wind was no longer at my back and the trek is up hill back home so I was pretty much warn out when we got back. I love my pink beauty but it sure doesn’t help that it has no gears at such a time.

CONTEST
Speaking of my beautiful ride, she needs a pet name! So I am putting it out there and starting a contest on both my blogs. If I get a good name idea, for my bike, from a reader I will send you a little something.

Align CenterHave a lovely JUNE day!

TTFN

Is Commitment Obsolete? (Marriage Monday)

(My man and I reading together on the patio.)

No.

I can’t tell you how commitment in marriage is doing all over the world but I notice what the media touts in our part of the world. The perception here is that it is indeed dead or near death, obsolete, or at least on its way out, and yet our media ITSELF wrestles with this idea… Our popular culture would like to say commitment isn’t important and isn’t relevant today but why would they be so horrified and blow so many horns when ever some one new fails at marriage?

Lets be practical… as long as people are being wrecked and broken thanks to failing marriages commitment is still important and for our own good.

I can never judge a couple who sticks it out despite all the odds or all the sins that can be brought into marriage and also I do not judge those couples who suffer a death of marriage… Even divorce does not make commitment obsolete but makes it more clearly valuable. The brokenness makes the whole so much more valuable… the dark makes the light all the more obvious and glorious… the suffering makes the victory so much sweeter.

Truth doesn’t die no matter how powerful and nasty the lie becomes and COMMITMENT is what makes marriage true.

First Monday of every month at Chrysalis

TTFN

Reading

I have been a insatiable reader since I was very young… it pleases me to no end to watch my children discover the joy of reading too… it amazes and excites me to watch my husband find the joy in it in his 30s FINALLY… Yesterday my kids and their cousin built a little nest of blankets and pillows in the living room, then laid down to read the books we had just found at the local library. I was able to make supper in peace at this time. The specialness of the moment didn’t pass me by.TTFN

Enter the Wimp

(The unusual apple trees we have in our yard are almost unnoticeable from the yard, because they are hidden by our row of healthy cedars… but leave through the back gate and have a look from the alley and you have something so much bigger then you would have thought… beautiful!)

Okay…

so let me get this straight…

I have to fight for myself…

with in the health care system…

I am sorry… I am writing these incoherent thoughts after a walk to try and clear my head… which came after a rant that didn’t help it make sense and all that after a day of trying to de-stress about it… which was needed after the second call where I was treated like a pain in the ass for asking for help and advice and some clarity from health care workers… which followed, of course, the diagnosis and wanting to know ‘what next’

To be honest… I am intimidated… don’t like the idea of ‘fighting for myself’ in this area…

The best I can come up with is perhaps cliché to some but it is all I’ve got right now… cuz I certainly don’t feel strong enough to fight at present…like everything else I am going to give this to Jesus and pray for his words and timing in relation to this and just trust… cuz this gut wrenching stuff is not even close to a healthy alternative…

TTFN

Weary

Not the only woman to feel and become weary and wish to stop thinking and feeling for a bit but I am gonna just keep loving even though it hurts, for my own sake as well as for others. I am actually physically warn out though… as a result of the mental run around going on and the throbbing heart in my chest…

I look at my kids and my man and my dog and I remember joy and peace.

I resolve this week to look past the pain and do what I do because I like doing it!

I am going to clean up my house and do my laundry with blaring pumped up music, like I always do on Mondays.
I am going to go out and socialize with people who invest in my soul, as I often do on Tuesdays.
I am going to explore a park and the market with my littlest two, as I look forward to doing each Wednesday.
I am going to hang laundry in my pretty back yard and back bread in my cozy home, as I delight to do on Thursdays.I am going to find a coffee or tea date for Friday, as I tend to do; as if to wrap up my week with a treat.
I am going to try a little something new this week, as my adventurous side gets excited about, and start jogging with my dog again, as my practical side urges me to do… I AM GONNA DO!

Lol, just keep swimming, just keep swimming… wasn’t it a little blue cartoon fish who spoke those words of wisdom?

Bring on the week, the work and the fun can blur into one if I am moving with joints lubricated with love and joy in the Lord.

TTFN

Sandra McCracken “In Feast Or Fallow” acoustic


This was my hearts cry when my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year and the Lord made him whole. It is now the song I think of if I over think my diagnosis of late.
TTFN

A Dog In Spring

My sister in law teased that the above picture of Riddick and I proves I am ‘one of those’ dog owners, he he he… I insist that he kissed me when I was leaning in closer just to get a picture of the two of us.

Anyhow…

As each season arrives with our first family dog in the mix we all notice the bonus to having him around. Spring is a great time of year to be a dog owner. I have to admit I was very tickled with him following my every move as I gardened, cut weeds and hung laundry to dry outside. When I was motionless for longer then a few minutes he was as good as gold about laying down in the grass close by.

He was like a puppy when we first ventured out to enjoy a morning in the yard. He ran circles around me and the kids and jumped about like a jack rabbit through the cedars and then threw himself in the grass and rolled and rolled till he found the perfect spot and passed out for a nap in the sun. “Spring feels good to him too.” I told the kids. They thought he was very funny.

(The perfect grassy spot.)
(My friendly furry shadow.)

The kids favorite part of the morning with our dog was when we moved the sandbox across the yard (to a spot more visible at all times for me) and he bounced around us nipping at our heals as we haled it. It was as though everything we did was to entertain him. When we stopped and put the sandbox down he instantly jumped in it and stood there wiggling all over as if to say “Is this for me? Oh boy, oh boy! What is it??”

(The sandbox got so much more attention once we moved it to a sunny part of the yard.)
(The kids had great fun breaking out the bubbles they where given as a gift only days before.)

Just the other day my youngest daughter and I where at the pet store for a peek and couldn’t help but melt at the sight of all the puppies… but I had no problem walking away… fact is I have gone down the puppy road and as cute as they are I appreciate Riddick and his older dog loyalty far more then the energy and cuteness of a pup. I think I will continue to make it my goal to adopt older dogs in the future.

TTFN

And On A Lighter Note, ADVENTURE!

Moose Jaw Saskatchewan is the cutest little city ever! My best pal Mirelle and I had another girls escape this past weekend, in honor of mothers day, and went to this sweet towns famous mineral spa.
Oh it was fabulous to float around in the warm waters every day! The only other main focus we had for the weekend was to eat well, coffee often, and shop.

(The best part is swimming out to the deck and sitting in the warm water while it was raining outside!)

Shopping went well, we found something for each of our kids and got the one item we both focused on for ourselves; wallet for Mirelle and spring/summer purse for me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the leather bag I have had since I was 12 but it is a hot heavy tot and not the nicest in the warm weather. I was hoping for a vintage-esk bag in a pretty color with the clasp that opens the top WIDE… you know, kinda the style you used to see the oldest lady use on the show ‘golden girls’… anyhow, with a modern flare.

(FOUND IT! The purse that is, in one of our favorite coffee shops of all places!)

Oh I can’t tell you my favorite part but I was very thankful we continued our crepe tradition/obsession and found a place that made them fresh.

(We found our crepe fix at a wonderful formal tea house! We returned there the next morning too as we couldn’t imagine going for breakfast anywhere else after our first experience there.)

(My morning rooibos tea never looked so formal!)

I was too excited ordering room service for the first time ever; pizza and gingerale in bed while watching a girl-y film. Dressing up to have a drink, one of the nights, in the hotels beautiful and sophisticated lounge was a classy affair and I could go on! This posts pictures will share much of my favorite moments and more!As always, with Mirelle and I, it was a weekend of relaxation but plenty of good talks. I am still amazed at our ability to just flow with one another. Although I might not have been the best buddy this time round, being a little raw with everything going on in my real world, I found her as patient and trust worthy as ever.

(Dining out at HOPKINS, a big beautiful Victorian home, was a great way to start our weekend. It was amazing to dine in what appeared to be the houses old ball room!)

I am home now and more then happy to be here but I love to think about the fun we had and always will enjoy these kinds of breaks from mommy reality. Here’s to more adventures!TTFN

Not Special

Attention, when it comes to my health, makes me beyond uncomfortable. I had a hard time announcing my pregnancies in person and usually got my husband to do it…

Born with a birth defect I have spent much of my life trying to be included in the normal category… I soon realised that there is no normal and that we are all broken in some way. This made me decide invisible was a good choice. I worked hard, in my youth, at being unnoticeable and thanks to the in-obvious nature of my birth defect I was really successful at not being pointed out for this fact of my life.

I started to share about the birth defect with more people once I was older, because I really do see the miracle in it all. Based on the diagnosis my mom was given when I was born I am a walking talking miracle… It was painfully soon that I learned to hold back on the amount of information I gave. People got WEIRD in their reactions and responses. Some would all of a sudden treat me as fragile, others would make jokes… and although I don’t mind slip up comments about my birth defect I am not big on being mocked with jokes about it… and all so often I got very judgmental comments about being content in living with it.

Well… after years of trying to be indistinguishable amidst my circle of acquaintances I have recently been diagnosed with another reason for attention. While the specialists wondered how I felt about being saddled with a genetic disease I was only thinking about one thing… oh great, now I have to figure out how to painlessly tell everyone…. As far as I know, the other kids in the family from my generation have all had negative results for the gene.

All I can say is I am not special! We are all broken, we all die of something at some time and we all pass on and are passed the death gene by our parents.

The final thing I want to say is my God is good, all the time, Jesus is GOOD.

TTFN

A late ‘Marriage Monday’ on Moving

Beyond applicable, I have to say! My brother and his family are in the middle of moving a couple provinces away. From observing their experience, and remembering ours, I have points of view to draw on that include children in the mix. However, I think my tip is good for even the grandparents in a move or the childless couples out there.

The biggest thing I can advise is YOU LET THEM COME TO YOU! Everyone who you feel you need to really connect with before you leave needs to come your way. Let them know and then let it go. It is far to frantic a time for you, to disrupted and strange for the children; the remedy to ease that chaos is to really internalize your gaze to your little family and let everyone come to you. Don’t sweat the goodbyes as there are no real goodbyes now a days with Internet, phones and skype. Hold your little family together and find all the time you can to give your spouse and your children direct and patient attention at this time. Everyone else can either join in or butt out, and I mean butt out in the most friendly manner possible:)

Just my two cents.

First Monday of every month at Chrysalis

TTFN