merry, happy, joy, joy
We made it y’all!
The year that felt like it would never end is actually coming to a close. Someone asked me when the next Winter Olympics are this past week and I had to remind them and myself that it was THIS year!
To say this was an exhausting year is a rather large understatement and I think we are all feeling it. I mean, I am not advocating face tattoos, but Post Malone’s “always tired” ink might be the most on point thing of 2018.
All that being said, this past month I’ve embraced the Holiday season with gusto! Decorations went up on the first of December and Christmas threw up in the most beautiful way all over my house.
The #upstairstree
I may have gone a bit overboard with gifting this year, but it’s so hard when you keep finding THE perfect gifts for people from so many of my favourite local shops. I spent a fair amount of time shopping along 124th street this year and at my yearly visit to The Royal Bison show.
Check out Studio Bloom in 124st when yoU get a chance.
I’ve mentioned my new found craftiness in an earlier post, and after many dance classes and soccer practices with my craft/knitting/stitching bag in tow, last night I finally finished my last project. This one was for me and I think it’s pretty “on brand” for who I am and what I want to continue to be in 2019.
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa, and all the best for a less exhausting 2019!
Love and peace to you all, and thank you for continuing to read my stuff, and sticking with me through the years!
#professioNalenthusiast
sweaTer inspiration from @linguafrancaNYC
XOXO,
n~
strings and needles
In the past couple of weeks I have turned into my some kind of super crafty person. I mean, I am not going to go all Pinterest mama on you, but I’ve surprised even myself with all my crafting!
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It all started last year when I had a lot of time on my hands while also sitting on my butt recovering from my knee and hip replacement surgeries. Before I was post-operatively house-bound, my dear friend took me to the craft store and got me stocked up and started on some cross-stitching. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I found a few patterns, figured out the basics, and then I was hooked. There is an indescribable satisfaction to creating a picture from mere string and needle. And also something beautiful about the repetitiveness of the process of stitching, you lose track of time and it becomes a kind of meditation.
I made this.
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Earlier this month during the US Midterm Elections, a writer I follow on Instagram posted a picture of herself in a gorgeous cashmere sweater embroidered with the words “I miss Barack” on it and I immediately HAD TO HAVE ONE! I located the company website and found the sweater I wanted. I then saw the price tag and my heart sank. At $400 USD, it just wasn’t meant to be, and I let go of my desire for a fancy WOKE AF embroidered sweater. A week later, it hit me. I kind of know how to do some basic stitching, and I had an old cashmere sweater that I put in the “clothing swap” pile because I hadn’t worn it in over a year, AND you can literally find a tutorial for pretty much anything on Youtube these days. A week later, a couple of mistakes, and a few trips to Michael’s for more supplies, I had embroidered my first sweater. For about $40. And you can bet that I am going to be making a few more of these for myself (and perhaps a few lucky people too).
#thepersistence
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The truly crafty one in the family is Ten, and after seeing an easy and quite beautiful “Minimalist Christmas” inspired craft, she decided she wanted try to recreate these items and sell some of her handiwork at our community Holiday Kick-Off event this coming weekend. She recruited a couple of friends, and on the weekend they made a whole rack of these great little Christmas wreaths. I helped a bit, but the design and bulk of the assembly was done by them. I’ve got to say that I am quite proud of my girl and her crafty and entrepreneurial spirit. I think it may be were I get it from. ;)
It even smells like Christmas!
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Today I finished knitting my first toque. I’ve known how to knit since I was a kid, and have taken it up a few times over the years. I made each of my kids a baby blanket when they were teeny bébés, and I made my husband a neck warmer for Christmas last year. Michael’s was having a “buy two get one free” yarn sale, and on a whim I decided to stock up and make all the cousins neck warmers this year. Seeing what I was doing, Ten asked if I would also make her a toque. So, off to Youtube I went. It’s a VERY basic knit and purl pattern toque, but I made it for her and that feels good and I really hope she likes it. And of course, I’ve started another one for (almost) Twelve too.
Grandma Helen would be so proud. These are her needles.
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I’m not sure I have a point to this post other than show you and tell you that with a little help from Youtube, those pesky sale emails from Michael’s, and some basic supplies, you can make beautiful things with a little string and some needles.
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by checking out these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo
#PDDayMOM
My kids had (ANOTHER) PD day today.
At 7:30 AM everyone came piling into my bed asking to immediately hit their electronics. I said no. Too early. At least get dressed first. Eat some breakfast.
My husband got up and ready for work and came back to give us all kisses goodbye and get us out of bed. The kids, who not 5 minutes earlier wanted to be playing Fortnite and watching TroomTroom videos, whined and said, “But it’s a PD day, we want to sleep in.”
And then my daughter said :
“Oh Mom, everyday is a PD day for you.”
And that is when I realized that I will never win.
If I am a stay at home parent, every day is a PD day and apparently all I do is “go shopping and out for lunch and to the gym”. If I am a work out of the home parent, then everyone complains that I am not home enough and spending too much time away from the family. If I want to do anything to further my writing or professional life in any way, it’s up to me to fit it in to the family schedule without disrupting the status quo. Balance is a myth, having it all is a myth, personal fulfilment in this life dichotomy is a double-edged sword and the pointy end is always aimed at my heart.
I know I am in the VERY privileged situation of not having to work, and believe me, I do not take that for granted, but I am not sure where I have gone so wrong that my kids think that literally EVERYTHING I do is akin to an all-day-every-day-free-for-all-grown-up-PD-day.
I’m not going to list off all the things I do here, because if you are a woman and also a mother, you know what that list looks like. You have THE LIST. It’s a devil’s list. You know, one where you never ever cross off all the items on it, because more things just keep getting added to the bottom and it is never ending! AND, apparently, this list and all of the items you’ve crossed off and accomplished are also invisible to the people in your life.
And people wonder why mothers become these uber-pinterest or Instagram perfect moms. UMMM, HELLO!!!! IT’S BECAUSE WE NEED SOME RECOGNITION FOR ALL WE DO AND WE ARE NOT GETTING IT AT HOME!
Case in point: I have spent the last 3 months looking for the perfect winter season duvet cover for our master bedroom. Last week I finally found it, bought it, made the bed, and posted a picture of it on Instagram and it was the most liked thing I’ve posted all month! On the other hand, the response from my dear spouse was, “Why did we need a new duvet cover?” and from Ten it was, “Well, it’s not very festive.” So you see… LITERAL STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET CARE MORE ABOUT THE THINGS I DO TO MAKE THIS HOUSE A HOME THAN MY OWN FAMILY!
So next time you see a mom post before and after pictures of her messy/tidied house, her clean and folded laundry, or her redecorated family room YOU WILL LIKE AND <3 THE CRAP OUT OF THAT POST BECAUSE THAT WOMAN NEEDS TO BE SEEN AND APPRECIATED! Next time a mom posts a long list of all the errands she ran and the seemingly small yet many jobs she got done that day, YOU WILL CONGRATULATE HER AND GIVE HER A VIRTUAL HIGH FIVE AND TELL HER WHAT A GAWTDAMN ROCKSTAR SHE IS!
We’ve got to do this for each other ladies. Because contrary to popular belief, even that of our own little flesh and blood sweet baby angel children (demons), MOMS DO NOT GET PD DAYS!
I SEE YOU SUPER MAMAS!
Eff everyone else.
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by checking out these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.
full of thanks
In the spirit of American Thanksgiving (or you know, the cultural genocide of a whole indigenous people WHO WERE THERE FIRST DAMMIT!), here are a few things I am thankful for this week:
I love my bedroom so much! #myliteralhappyplace
Clean sheet day combined with new duvet cover day! I can’t wait to go to bed.
Spending about $100 less than usual on groceries because I went to the Real Canadian Wholesale Club for the first time tonight and I think it may be my new favourite place for food shopping because they also have other cool things like mega packs of post-it notes and more vegan options than Costco and both my other regular stores!
Buying well made clothing from local companies like Gus Sloan, because Lauren is amazing and she let me come and try on all the LBJs (Little Black Jumpsuits) until I found the perfect one for me! Pics to come shortly - because I am short and needed it hemmed! Until then, check out her website and if you are on the hunt for an easy to dress up outfit for all those upcoming holiday parties, the Limited Edition Holiday LBJ is the perfect solution to this problem!
All the Black Friday emails from every list or shop or whatever-have-you I have ever subscribed to - BECAUSE I AM UNSUBSCRIBING FROM IT ALL ON SATURDAY!
A solid plan for Christmas celebrations with both of our families, that includes everyone and, fingers crossed, keeps everyone happy! (Now to get a certain someone on board with my need for a new “upstairs” tree! I’ve got my eye on something like this!)
This one from Michael’s would be PERFECT!
Now, I hope all your dinners went off without too may hitches, no one got into a fist fight over politics, you hugged and laughed and loved all of your peoples, and everyone realized how very fortunate we are to have the things we have (food, shelter, loved ones).
Now, I am off to that gorgeous bed to snuggle my gorgeous partner and sleep a glorious sleep!
Goodnight.
XOXO,
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by checking out these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.
soul medicine
Music takes me to good places.
Places where I move, and I am moved, and then cry, and love, and remember, and then cry some more.
Music can also gets me out of a bad place, and for various reasons, this week, I’ve been in some bad places. Sad places, mad places, places that make me want to curl up and not participate in the regularly scheduled program that is my life. (You get that these “places” are in my mind right?)
Today I wanted out of those places.
And so this day is brought to you by two albums I have been listening to on repeat all damn day long.
The first is the re-imagined soundtrack of The Greatest Showman. A beautiful movie, incredibly well-done, about a super-duper problematic white dude who abused and exploited many of his performers and animals.
AND RIGHT NOW I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT, because I LOVE this soundtrack. These reimagined tracks, recorded by various wonderful artists is SUPERB! I am particularly in love with the Panic! at the Disco version of “The Greatest Show”, Pink’s ‘A Million Dreams” and the Missy Elliot/Kesha/Keala Settle version of “This is Me”. I mean, talk about personal theme songs!
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Album number two is of course, the soundtrack from A Star is Born. I mean, come on! THIS MOVIE! I cried so much and I loved it so much and I want Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine to be my personal folk/country/rock singer boyfriend FOREVER! I literally fought with my music industry professional brother-in-law this past weekend when he deigned to try to tell me that Bradley didn’t play the guitar in the movie or sing and record the vocals live. I TOTALLY WON THAT ONE - because no one messes with my make-believe, messed-up, drunken, country/folk/rock singing, guitar playing boyfriend!
And GAGA was a GAWDAMMN phenomenon in this movie. A vision, a star, a freaking super NOVA. Umm, yeah, so…
I’m a bit of a fan-girl.
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It worked.
Like it always does.
Music is like medicine for my soul and today I needed a big IV bag full of that medicine delivered straight to my insides. (via my lovely Bose noise-cancelling headphones - good gawd do I ever love these things!)
Happy listening people.
Remember to take your soul medicine!
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by following these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.
#thepersistence
I am mad today. And I’ve been vague-stagramming on my IG stories.
Because shitty men continue to be shitty.
Case in point:
Last week the Canadian magazine Maclean’s, published this front page cover.
AKA Canada’s mediocre white frontmen.
I mean, have you ever seen a more tone deaf and fucking WHITE AF cover? I think The Beaverton put it succinctly in their satirical post about it…
“ ...we are hoping that by appropriating a term currently used to describe disenfranchised communities trying to fight for their survival and instead applying that term to a bunch of powerful politicians who are doing their best to make the world burn, we can once again really show people how out of touch Maclean’s truly is.”
The internet dragged Maclean’s quite mercilessly over it, AS IT SHOULD HAVE, and you can read some of the best of the tweets and one-liners in this article from Vice. One particular response and reimagined cover photo from Janet Eremenko, the NDP candidate for Calgary-Elbow, was particularly inspired and oh, so, true.
True because while everyone was recoiling from calling a bunch of rich, powerful, white dudes The Resistance, this may in fact be the most honest thing said about them. Because they ARE resisting. Resisting the waves upon waves of PERSISTENCE (particularly that of women) that keeps coming and coming and coming. Relentless, unwavering, unstoppable, PERSISTENT. Nevertheless and always.
And I am not sorry to say this, (and you knew it was coming)…
{this kind of} RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
I was so inspired that I made this. Me. The not-very-crafty one. (Truth - I made a ton of mistakes, had to redo the P and correct a typo, yes, A TYPO. But yeah, I MADE THIS!)
I wore my newly embellished sweater today and felt those waves of persistence building in me. And then I checked the internet and stumbled across this article in the Atlantic titled The Nancy Pelosi Problem and felt those waves getting even bigger and stronger. You’ll have to read the whole thing, but here’s just a taste of what the “problem” is:
“The more successful Pelosi is—the more she outmaneuvers and dominates her male adversaries—the more threatening she becomes. And the easier it becomes to tar the male Democratic candidates who would serve under her as emasculated yes-men. Which makes it harder for Democrats to retake the House.”
It is not that Nancy Pelosi is not qualified to do her job, if anything, she’s a bloody genius as a House Leader and Speaker. The “problem” is that she is a woman in control. A woman in control of men. A WOMAN WHO PERSISTS, while all around her, people keep trying to make her feel and seem less than she is. And she refuses to let them. Look, I don’t know everything about Pelosi and her politics and there may be many reasons to not like her, but her being a woman who has climbed to the top and realized her ambitions and worked her ass off, is not one of them.
Ladies, (yes, I am talking to only the women now, men, go scroll through The Chive or something) It’s not just the Nancy Pelosis and the Hilary Clintons and the Elizabeth Warrens and the Rachel Notleys of this world who have to fight this “resistance” of men who are threatened by the very same attributes they value the highest in themselves. It is you and me and all of us. Fighting the messages that we are “less than”, or “not enough”, and all the other garbage that we are fed a steady diet of from birth until death because of our gender. (And FYI, this goes double for anyone who identifies outside the binary of male/female, POC and LGBTQ2S folx).
I’m so done with this shit. I am done saying what I have to say while coddling the feelings of the men who may not like to hear the truth so plainly put. I’m tired of people making funny “feminist” jokes around me, because they know I’m the LOL Stay at Home Feminist. I’m tired of doing the all too familiar workaround of convincing men of a course of action by manipulating the conversation to make it look like it was their idea all along. And I am so very tired of stunting my emotional growth to accommodate anyone else’s schedule.
Oh, and you know what else I am tired of? Shitty men, being total harassing douchebags to women and thinking that in this day and age they are gonna get away with it. #TIMESUPMOTHERFUCKERS
THESE WAVES OF PERSISTENCE ARE GONNA CRASH HARD AND THEY WILL WASH THIS BEACH CLEAN! (I don’t know, it’s a metaphor, just go with it.)
Like I said.
I am mad.
I think this is my baseline from now on.
Deal with it.
Join #thepersistence.
We have cool sweaters.
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by following these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.
Board-Approved Non-Instructional Days
Our school system has established this weird “November Break” where the kids are off for a total of 5 days (including the weekend). It’s a bit frustrating actually. It’s not quite long enough to take a full on vacation (although quite a few folks I know do and just take the whole week anyway) and it is also not short enough to just be a super long weekend kind of thing. Nearby places to take off to (ie, the Rocky Mountains in Jasper or Banff) are in the shoulder season and while you can find some good deals on hotels during these times, many restaurants and shops in these towns are closed and the weather is completely unpredictable - some years there is enough snow and ice to do winter activities, other years you can hike the more popular trails easy peasy and with far less tourists around.
I am sure if I had my shit together, I could have figured out something for us to do, but in the end, I said “Fuck it, we are just staying home and chilling this year”. Probably because I am kinda tired of being the planner of EVERYTHING and also….
Hmmm….
Nope, actually that is it. I was too damn tired and fed up to book anything and have it all on me to be the family travel agent. AGAIN.
So we’ve been staying home, watching movies and Netflix shows (we are all totally into The Dragon Prince right now), the kids are probably playing WAY too much Fortnite and Roblox, and I am trying to maintain my regularly scheduled activities and giving them some independence while I am at it. Oh, and my friend Marissa also gave them a job this week and they have been delivering handbills all over our neighbourhood for the AMAZING #MadeinAlberta On the Spot Pop Up Show happening this weekend in Edmonton. (They were motivated to do this mainly because one of our “Family Gaming Rules” is if they want money to buy anything from an App or Game, they have to earn it, it can not come from their allowance.)
Go to this and do ALL your Christmas shopping this weekend!
You’d think with all of these “days off” I would’ve had plenty of time to write and keep up with #NaBloPoMo. Well, you’d be wrong. Days off for kids ACTUALLY means days ON for parents. I mean, I know I should not complain TOO MUCH about them wanting to hang out with me. I know this phase won’t last much longer. And yes, I am digging the past few lazy mornings cuddled up in my bed and their dad coming to give us all kisses goodbye as he heads out to work. But I am a Capricorn people! Order and routine are my JAMS.
Come to think of it though, I’ve actually accomplished quite a few things in the past few days, with some help from the kids and my handy dandy paper To Do lists. I picked up what needed picking up, returned what needed returning. Finished a template/sample of a new crafty thing I am working on. Made a trip to IKEA - IN AND OUT in under 45 minutes - WINNING! And rearranged the whole basement in order to make us a new workout/practice/home gym space.
If I build it, I will come (use it). Right?
I really have no point to this post other than, LOOK, I wrote all these words just to tell you why I haven’t been getting my posts written and up on the blog, But, look, LOTS OF WORDS. And I am about to hit publish.
So there.
I only missed three days.
I am NOT throwing in the towel on this thing!
XOXO,
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog {almost} every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by following these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.
sassy dragon says go to bed
Life is busy.
Kids have dance, and sports, and music, and school.
Grown ups have meetings, and social commitments, and sports, and the gym, and driving the kids to and from the list above, and that is not even including work.
Today was one of those busy days for us.
One kid was just DONE by 7 PM, and showered and in bed, completely passed out by 7:30.
The other one shortly thereafter.
We grownups watched a movie on Netflix, and literally forced ourselves to keep our eyes open for the last 32 minutes of it.
In hindsight, I probably should have gone to bed at 9 PM myself.
It was a busy day, but a good day. We spent it with family and friends. I wanted us to go and do one more thing, but in the end, that didn’t happen.
I’m happy that we have such a full life.
And I’m happy for my new piece of art courtesy of my nephew.
The best part is that the googly eye moves and if you tilt it a certain way, this dragon is a total sassy-pants!
Sassy dragon says it time to say,
Goodnight my lovelies.
N~
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I’m taking part in National Blog Posting Month, which means I’m posting on this blog every day throughout November. You can follow along and see who else is posting this month by following these hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter: #NetPositiveBlog and #NaBloPoMo.