Life's Whirlwind Adventures

In the spirit of becoming more consistent with my writing and dedicating time each day to this craft I've chosen I decided it was time to get more organized.  As I was walking through my local Walmart store I spotted their desk calendar display and this great family organizer calendar popped out at me. It's fabulous, just perfectly girly for me, and though it's designed for a family calendar I'm using it for my daily calendar of organizing my life.  I've got a section for workouts, for blogging, for photos, for writing (typing out the novel), and a Miscellaneous section.  It's great, but because it also has all these spots I can make the calendar into a monthly calendar for my blog ideas. So I've got my blogs all set up for the month of December, now they aren't completely written in stone, and some my have to be changed as I write and some other ideas may come up. I've divided the week into different sections so that I blog about a specific to...

So because I've become determined to finish my novel that I have written I've dedicated a blog to my writing.   Imagination Destination   is the blog title, it's where I'll post short stories, character sketches in the form of interviews, some time line sketches and writing prompts that get my creative juices flowing. If you would like to contribute to that blog, once I get it to brome a more consistent blogging platform, please let me know and I would be happy to get that set up. Here are some other author blogs that I read regularly! LisaAnn used to write at Kicked, Corner, Bitten and Chased but has upgraded recently to this website, I enjoy reading her posts, check it out.  http://lisaannokane.com/blog/ Mireille is a friend of mine from school. She's the first published author I know and I am so proud of her and all her writings.  I didn't know she had the same love for writing as I did back in school, wish I had known that I may have been inspired to s...

Someone asked me once if I loved my job, and I took awhile to really come up with an honest answer.  I mean the easy answer is (now) yes, (years ago) no.  But I really wanted to figure out why I loved my job, I want to quantify what it was about this job that made it a job I would be happy working at my entire working life should that happen. Now most of you know I have a Bachelor's of Education (Go Huskies) and I used that degree in the teaching field for approximately 8 years from 2003-2011.  I had temporary contracts and I had subbing positions and it was fine. I actually really enjoyed subbing because I could make my own schedule but it sucked because the work was inconsistent.  I enjoyed being a classroom teacher, I enjoyed teaching, I didn't enjoy the politics of teaching though.  Don't get me wrong, I know that all jobs come with their fair share of politicking, but with teaching I just didn't want to play that game, I wasn't interested in it.  I j...

Guilty pleasures, those things we relish and enjoy but know that they are either bad for us, or something that would get us mocked for it people knew we indulged.  I have a few guilty pleasures, surprising none of them are food. My guilty pleasures revolve around television.  I love television, if I'm home alone I watch television just to watch television and it's never any of those news programs, it's daytime television or some recorded television I happen to be watching at the time.  Now depending on the programming time of year my guilty pleasure can change, if one program is not on, I find a replacement for it. In the summer my guilty pleasure is Big Brother. I love Big Brother, it's hilarious to watch these groups of people fall into a mini community confined and excluded from all other life.  I think it's fascinating, and I also think it's fascinating that there are always different winners each year, sometimes it's with a lot of background help ...

I'm horrible for using chore charts. Translation, I don't use them, I just sort of assign chores at random.  It makes things a bit chaotic, and sometimes things don't get done and if the kids don't know they are supposed to do that chore, then they don't do it. Lil Man loves to help out around the house! He's all about the vacuuming, and sweeping and mopping and doing dishes. Granted none of these are done to a standard that would pass a health inspection but he does the best he can and that counts for something. My hubby and I disagree on this point, I believe that if a child puts in the effort to complete a task and they say its complete then you leave it, making notes in your head to show them next week how to improve that task.  My hubby is of the mindset that if they don't do it the way you want the first time, make them do it again, and if it gets too frustrating then you just do it yourself.  So because I'm me and I think I'm right, (maybe...

Talk about time flying by!! Chandler, my little Chandlerman, is sixteen years old.  He's going to get his drivers license soon!! He's in grade 11, he's got a girlfriend, and soon he will have a part time job!! Life is flying by, not at a rate where I don't see it but when your first baby hits their first major milestone, it's humbling.  I mean this is where I'm at, Chandler is 16, I'm sure I posted about this on Facebook ad nauseam.  Chandler is a pretty amazing kid, he's had some hiccups along the way, he's made some questionable choices but has handled the consequences with a maturity you don't usually see in 16 years old now a days.  He's becoming a man and someday soon he's going to be a legitimate adult and that's scary. Chandler had a simple birthday party.  He had his girlfriend and his friend Eli over for supper. I was going to make it for him, but I got sick, like fever of 102, chills, sweats, sore throat.  I was n...

Ok I know that I said I hadn't wanted to become a hockey mom, I know I said it, and now here I am almost weekly posting about how I am a hockey mom and almost bragging about it!! The truth is I can't help it, I just can't help it!  I am so proud to see my Lil Man doing something that he has such passion in, that I can't not write about it or show videos and pictures of him doing what he loves!! in canskate lessons He started out the season barely being able to skate, he was, in his own words, "skating like a penguin".  He would just take baby steps on the ice and was a frequent faller.  He would 'skate' two steps and fall, then he'd get up and 'skate' two more steps and fall.  He always got back up though, he never cried, he never quit, he just kept on trying. (I'm sure I've said this before too) Last weekend while the team was practicing he was playing in the net with the goalie. I think he wants to be like his uncle Nels...

Where has the time gone?? My baby is six months old! SIX MONTHS OLD!!! Time is going by way too fast and soon he'll be moving out of the house!! But Prince T is 6 months old today (as I write this not as it's posted).  He's such a joy to have in the house.  He loves his routine, and his routine is very workable, he has a short nap in the morning, is awake over lunch then a longer nap in the afternoon.  He still doesn't sleep well through the night, but it's not horrible, he'll usually sleep for 6 hours from between 7 and 8 until 1-2.  Although, last night he was up every two hours to nurse, seriously, he doesn't eat that often during the day, but at night he's like a leech.  (Don't tell anyone I'm sort of ok with it because it means we get to snuggle) Prince T has some definite preferences right now!  He likes his exo-saucer and jolly jumper.  He likes listening to stories and hearing lullabies.  He likes food, but not pureed food.  He'...

This is a hard post for me to write, because I'm going to have to admit some secrets that I'm not really sure how people will take, but I'm also going to give some advice to people because somethings need to be said. In my youth I played with all sorts of girl toys and lego. But the way I played lego and the way a boy would play lego were vastly different.  I made houses and cities, they made guns.  I made families and used the little two blocks as imaginary people because then you could make more people.  I played video games in my youth as well, Mrs. Pac Man, Mixed Up Mother Goose Rhymes, Kings Quest, but they were more strategical then killing stuff. I also played a variety of sports, volleyball, basketball, figure skating, baseball.  But at 15 I stopped all sports, not because I wasn't interested but because I was working and didn't have time. My new sport was learning how to drive. At 19 I was a girly girl.  I got my hair coloured and cut, I even had ...

Let me tell you about my greatest fear!  It's one that if I ever give it any thought I immediately start to cry.  It's not heights or spiders its the death of a loved one. It can be anyone that is close to me, friends, family, but especially my children. The thought that one of them could be taken from me through death is heart-stopping terrifying for me.  My breath gets caught in my throat, my heart beat increases, my palms sweat and immediately my eyes well with tears. I know that this happens, I know that sometimes it's unavoidable, I know that people live through this nightmare every day, but nonetheless it is still a NIGHTMARE and my worst one!! So let me tell you a story.  This is a story of a dream I had the other day, that terrified me and caused me to sob upon waking. But thankfully it was only that, for I don't at this moment possess the strength to carry me through something like this. I was in a bungalow and I was walking back and forth.  While I...

At the beginning of November I contacted a friend of mine to help me set up a personal training schedule that I could do at home and that would help me train for the Seawheeze in August.  I know that I can do this half marathon, but I need to strengthen my body to be able to complete my goal and goal time.   So I know it will take a lot of work and determination and discipline. So she came over the other weekend and helped me to set up my training schedule.  We are doing 6 days a week, which after a week may be a bit of a lofty goal, but I completed it and I plan to stick with it.  (my only set back being getting strep throat on Sunday so I've had to take two unscheduled days off ) I have two leg and ab days, a day for chests and triceps, biceps and back, a shoulder day and a run day.  So we are working all the major areas, it usually takes me 30-45 minutes to complete minus my little cardio which is a run.  I'm in desperate need of a treadmill now th...

It seems that gone are the days when every birthday party was the same.  From 1-4 you had family over, opened presents, ate some cake, took some pictures and let the kids do what toddlers do.  Then from 5-8 you played simple games like Pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs or pop the balloon, cake, presents and then home.  9-12 you might have sleep overs and watch movies, eat popcorn, maybe even go to a hotel or the city for a special trip.  Then in the teen aged years it was really whatever you wanted to do, movies, parties at the house, but you were old enough to start planning them yourself and parents were able to take a glorious backseat and just finance the excursion. photo by TripleTenPhotography Now birthday parties are to the extreme!! And I've fallen right into the trap, each of Lil Man's birthdays have been envisioned and executed with meticulous planning. We had a pumpkin patch theme when he was one, I made Pumpkin like cupcakes with snoopy ...

In my worst nightmares I was a hockey mom.  Up early to get to practices, giving up every weekend of the winter for games or tournaments.  Taking out second mortgages on my house to pay for equipment and hotels during tournaments.  Having to deal with the politics that hockey inevitable has; who makes what team sometimes regardless of ability and skill.  Seeing nepotism that I could do nothing to help avoid because I don't know the sport so I'd never be out coaching, assistant coaching or anything like that.  So being a hockey mom was never something I was going to do, but I realized having boys I might fall into this label. I enrolled my kids in soccer, soccer I understood.  I didn't play it growing up, but I played in University and I enjoyed it.  Chandler started playing soccer when we moved to Red Deer, he really enjoyed it. It was a youth rec league so it wasn't highly competitive but they still played games, they still won medals, and most im...

In Flanders Field  by    Lieutenant Colonel   John McCrae . In Flanders fields the poppies blow       Between the crosses, row on row,    That mark our place; and in the sky    The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,    Loved and were loved, and now we lie          In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw    The torch; be yours to hold it high.    If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow          In Flanders fields. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields This is my favourite Rememberance Day Poem!! Enjoy Remembrance Day (Veterans Day) and remember that we are incredibly lucky to live in this great nation th...

I love early mornings, truth be told I'm a morning person and I've always been a morning person.  Seems to me I've got a little one now who shares my love for mornings so having quiet hours by myself in the morning are going to be rare commodities in the future.  But it is so peaceful and serene to sign in my house while the boys sleep, traffic rolls by creating a peaceful beat as the furnace kicks in and my coffee brews in the Kuerig. Today the baby is up, but he's happily playing on the floor.  He has learned to crawl over the past month and takes every opportunity to get around and find things I thought I had picked up.  Chandler and Lil man are still sleeping, Lil Man thought getting up at 6 was an idea, but I told him we still had to sleep, so I laid still in bed until his breathing evened out.  After his breathing evened out, I stole from my room with Prince T and we came downstairs to sit in the solitude of the morning. Unless I want to get up at 5:30...

It has been a dream of mine to be a published author, this has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school. The idea of making a living by creating worlds and characters that other people connect with is such a fantasy. I've imagined it for years and years but I've never really done anything about it. Nothing really concrete. I've written countless short stories, and I have started countless novels. They are all safely tucked away in drawers or on flash drives but I've never shared them with other people. I've started putting them on flash drives in the hopes that I would send them out to be self published in and epub or something, but I've never moved past the typing them into my computer. I find when it comes to my dream of being a writer, aside from this blog, which is hit and miss, I've never done any consistent writing.  I've never set aside time each day to devote to my writing or writing activities and it seems to me that this may be the...