The Walk.

It slowly dawned on me just after Christmas that I would be for sure walking Rhys to and from school each and every day. That’s there (for 8:45) and back then there (for 11:45) and back. It’s roughly 1 km each way. So that puts me at 4 km’s a day…with Amelia being pushed, pulled, dragged or carried.

I didn’t really think about our proximity to community schools when we were looking for a house. Rhys was two and I figured that by the time he was five I would have a car, or he’d be able to take a bus at the very least. When I found out that his school was a ‘walking distance only’ (meaning no buses) school I completely freaked-out. Minor nervous breakdown. No joke. But Kindergarten was far enough away that I kept reassuring myself that I would have a car by then.

But, as I said, just after Christmas I realized that I wouldn’t have a car and I would have to walk. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE walking. I drag the kids all over the city making them use their big hobbit feet that the Good Lord blessed them with. I’m up for walking in nice warm sunshine, cool crisp sunshine, heck, even a slight drizzle is fine with me, but let’s face it, we live in Winnipeg! Nice, warm, cool and crisp are words that are only able to be used to describe a few months of our weather. Words more along the lines of blizzard, white-out, frost-bite, hazardous-to-your-health-to-be-outside-for-more-than-two-seconds are what we hear for the majority of the school year. This is what I was worried about. Well, I was worried about all of it to be truthful…but in trying to reduce my anxiety over our approaching situation the visualization exercises I performed would inevitably end with pretty little Amelia and I frozen into an ice block mid stride.

Yup, I was panicked. I prayed for a car. Then I prayed for a car again. I prayed and prayed and prayed for a car. It consumed my every thought. And then one day I stopped and realized that even thought I wanted another vehicle we can’t afford a second vehicle. It would be foolish to get a second vehicle and have to pay insurance and gas and maintenance just because I’m panicked about walking 4 km’s a day. My grandparents walked 8 km’s uphill each way just to get to school…at least I think that’s how the story goes.

So I decided to pray about my attitude. I prayed that maybe, just maybe, God could make me excited about walking Rhys to school. That it wouldn’t be such a big deal in my mind. That He would give me a peace about the whole situation. I prayed that and then forgot about it. A few months later I started thinking about the fast approaching school year and didn’t feel panicked. I actually thought to myself, “Hm, that’ll be some good exercise!” What?? I was looking forward to the walk? I was shocked to say the least. Something that I had been so anxious over was all-of-a-sudden the smallest thing in my mind. I remembered my prayer…not the one for the car but the one for God to change my attitude. I remembered my prayer and thanked Him for, yet again, being faithful in even the smallest things.

It’s true, I’m actually looking forward to the walk. I’m looking forward to the fresh air (even if it is during a blizzard), the exercise, the routine, and the walks home hearing about Rhys’ day and what he’s learned. There are some days that might be rushed and frazzled and, well, not so enjoyable but I’m sure it’s nothing that a warm cup of hot chocolate can’t cure. Ten more days and then we start.

Snapshots Of A Cottage Life.

Songs to bop your head to – Tighten Up.

I’m taking the kids and heading up to Victoria Beach for a few days of blissful cottage life; bakeries, ice cream, beaches and lazy napping afternoons. What more could you want in life? Nothing. Although, come to think of it, it would all be made just that much better by listening to The Black Keys while doing it. I’ll leave you with an amazing song from them called Tighten Up. If you haven’t heard of them before then you should fix your horrible run-of-luck right now by listening to this song. Their newest album, Brothers, is absolutely, start to finish, perfect. If you’re not into the whole Blues-rock thing then…well…I just don’t know what to say. My heart goes out to you I guess.

Today.

What happened today you ask?

Well…

I took one of these ↑

And then read some of these ↑

And then grated a whole shwack of this ↑

And then recruited one of these ↑

And then put on some music to entertain them ↑

While my hard work turned into this ↑

(zucchini bread, orange zucchini chocolate chip bread, zucchini bran muffins and zucchini cake…and I’ve still got 3/4’s of the zucchini left! it’s too bad james absolutely hates zucchini, especially in baked goods, because all of that pictured up there is d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!)

Can I get an ‘AMEN’?

A friend had posted this on her FB page and I just had to share it! Enjoy.

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and 20 wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife’s car was open, and so was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, break fast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs,stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.  He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.

As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys thrown over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and tooth paste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went..

He looked at her bewildered and asked, ‘What happened here today?’

She again smiled and answered, ‘You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?’

‘Yes, ‘ was his incredulous reply.

She answered, ‘Well, today I didn’t do it…’

Blank Stare.

{While riding the bus}

Little girl, about 8 years of age, gets on the bus and comes all the way to the back bench to sit beside my kids. She seems pleasant enough with her pretty purple butterfly dress, slightly endearing lisp and more…er…robust size.

This is the conversation that ensues.

Little Girl: What are your nameth?

Rhys: I’m Rhys and this is Ammie.

Little Girl: Do you go to thchool?

Ammie: We’re going to Jen’s house for lunch!

Little Girl: I live jutht over there. If you go behind that thtore and a few blockth that way. That‘th where I live.

Ammie: (proudly holding up her fuzzy white kitty) This is my titty!

Little Girl: I’m a vampire and I can thmell dead people. Are you guyth vampireth?

Blank stares from both kids.

Little Girl: I’m going and theeing my vampire friendth. Are you guyth vampireth?

More blank stares.

Little Girl: Oh, that’s the dithco party. I’m going to the dithco party. Can you guyth thmell dead people?

Blank stares.

Little Girl: I’m cool becauthe I’m a vampire.

Ammie: We’re going to Jen’s house for lunch!

Off to the thrift store we go!

After much thought I’ve decided to thrift again. Not that I ever really stopped seeing as visiting thrift stores gets my blood a-pumpin’. But I’ve felt the need to simplify and redo this exercise of removing myself from the throngs of clothes-obsessed consumers. I think that my rules with change a bit this time around and my time-frame will be Rhys’ school-year. I have two more purchases to make (a fall sweater and rain boots) and then I’ll be good to go! Expect to see me at your local thrift store come September…anyone want to join me?

I’m not 20 anymore…

I’m closer to 30 than I am to 20…it’s true. This has become more and more apparent to me this past year as I’ve journeyed to the age of 27. Things like my ever-growing preference for buying jeans from Reitman’s with word’s such as ‘comfort’ and ‘classic’ in the description of cut rather than ‘skinny’ and ‘extra-low’ and ‘young-supple-body’ have made it obvious that I’m growing-up. I now enjoy healthy helpings of fried onions, goat cheese, wine and various tasty cereals that are high in fiber instead of Slurpee’s (haven’t had one this summer) and Lucky Charms. Gone are the days of late nights without bags under my eyes….gone are the days of late nights in general. You know you’re growing-up when you not only say that you’d like to go to bed at 9:00 but you do go to bed at 9:00. I’ve found that I can no longer have coffee in the evenings without feeling the effects at 2:00 in the morning in which I’ll inevitably then stay awake thinking of all the bills that need to get paid and appointments that need to get made. I now have a preference for button-up shirts that will hide my little roll of extra skin, a reminder of both bundles that I’ve carried around, instead of logo t-shirts that let everyone walking past know that I’ve got an opinion about something or someone or that I’d rather be a vampire. My eyes have already started the ‘I can’t believe kids these days’ roll, more evidence of the drift from the desirable early twenties when you’re no longer on the receiving end of these. Heck, I’ve even started buying Christmas gifts mid-summer! I must be growing-up!

I’m not sure if most of the things are due to the fact that I’m growing-up or that my kids are growing-up. While it’s probably a combination of the two, part of my slow realization that I’m now more woman than girl has been brought about by Rhys starting school. I ran into a friend a little while ago that was saying she had a hard time believing that ‘we’ are old enough to have kids in school (she doesn’t have any kids). It’s true, I’m not the norm these days (in the circles that I run with at least). I even look around at the people who I graduated with and just now are most of them getting married and having their first child. James and I will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary soon…just after our son becomes a student. I might be alone in the ’27 with school-aged children’ category and yes, there are days where I feel quite young to be dealing with a 5-year-old, but I have to confess that I feel a certain sense of relief to see myself growing-up. I’m happy to be leaving the self-conscious, self-focused twenty-year-old ‘the world is my oyster’ mindset behind and opening-up to a more mature understanding of myself, my job and my life…granted this is a continual and ongoing process. I find that I am becoming more and more satisfied with tilling the little plot of land God has provided us with (figuratively and literally) and falling asleep halfway through the paragraph in a good book. As I’ve inched my way closer to 30 I’ve begun to feel my heart blossom and I’ve witnessed this slow opening of my hands to what He would have me do.

I’ve heard it said that when you are in your twenties you discover all of the little bits and pieces about yourself, when you are in your thirties you are figuring out how they all fit together, and when you are in your forties you behold the puzzle and live it. I’ve never been thirty or forty so I can’t really say if this is accurate or not but I have very much felt that my twenties have been all about tromping through the jungles of my heart. There have been months, years even, where I’ve journeyed through the dark and lonely and dangerous places but I’ve also experienced the opposite; beautiful and wondrous to behold and discover. It could be that I’m nearing the end (or at least this leg) of this great expedition and am coming out on the other side with a deeper understanding of who I am. I still don’t know how everything fits together but I’m finally starting to feel comfortable in my own skin. I’m starting to appreciate different things about myself…like them even. I’m starting to acknowledge that I am good at certain things and that there are other things that I am not good at, and that’s okay.

No, I might not be able to party until 2 in the morning wearing a hot pink tube dress throwing back drinks with names that sound more like romance novels than something you should be consuming but I’m 100% okay with that. 100%. I’d much rather be baking in my kitchen or sewing at the table or curled-up on the couch reading an Amelia Bedelia book to my children.

I’m growing up and I’m okay with it. I love that I can sit with my husband and think back through our years together and feel like there is a history there. My children love asking questions and hearing about us. Being young or appearing young is such a desirable thing these days but I think it’s a bit overrated. Sure I’m slightly jealous of the fact that 16-year-old’s don’t have to watch what they eat for fear of a sudden onset of IBS but hey, now I’ve got some funny stories…..right?

Today.

{i don’t even know what to put here…the picture speaks for itself.}

{on monday i went and picked apples from my mom’s tree. i’ve been processing most of them into bags of apple pie filling to go into the freezer but today i decided to make some baked apples stuffed with an oat and raisin mixture topped with cheddar cheese and whipping cream. delish.}

{apparently this is what i look like today.}

{trying to get everything organized for camping this weekend. praying for good weather.}

{one of the many reasons this blog has been a bit quiet lately is due to the fact that i have my nose stuck in a book (currently the third book) in between every little activity throughout the day. i’ve been reading at meal times, reading while standing-up doing things in the kitchen, reading in the truck while i wait for James to run errands, and even reading while the pictures loaded onto this post. i just can’t help it…i’m completely sucked into the story. i’ve read it before, i’ve seen the movies, i know what happens but they’re just. that. good. read ’em if you haven’t!}

Thoughts on Twilight.

First of all I need to mention that I haven’t seen the Twilight movies or read the books. I have no intention of doing either of them but I know that tons of people have been swept-up into this new, seemingly innocent, ‘vampire’ culture. It’s bizarre. Twilight has even infiltrated the craft blogs that I read; you can have a Twilight Party and serve Vampire Cupcakes while drinking your Cullen Drink while working on your Edward Silhouette needle-point pillow. Get real.

What I do like is Mark Driscoll. Truth mixed with humor is always a good thing. In this short clip Mark addresses this whole Twilight phenomenon. Have a listen and leave a comment, agree or disagree? Some people say that because it’s fiction (because Vampires are obviously fiction) it’s okay. What about Narnia and LOTR? They have witches, wizards and a necromancer…so what’s the difference? I have my thoughts but I’d love to hear yours.