Life

Last night, I found out that an old friend of mine had passed away. I met her when I lived in Calgary in the early 1990's, during a period of my life where I did a lot of stupid-early-20's stuff. My friend was the type of person who called me out on bad decisions, supported me in the good ones and stood by me no matter what. She was no bullshit, feisty, loyal and tough-loving. I learned a lot from her...
Over the past 15 years or so, we sort of lost touch. I cannot remember how we started communicating again but I am so happy that we did. She was a big part of my life at one time and I was glad to reconnect.
She knew that she was dying but didn't let it on. After the new year, I found out from a good friend of hers that she had terminal cancer and wasn't expected to have much time left. I will always appreciate finding this out because I was able to talk to her on the phone and to write her a letter to tell her how much she meant to me, how much I loved her. It was so important to be able to do this while she was still living and not on a memorial page.

Lesson learned: Life is short.... make the most of it while you can.

Au revoir, my friend.  I know that you will continue to kick ass.... xox

Sparkle on!

Since this past summer, Oliver has been asking for a sparkle car. This request started at the time that we bought the Honda (which he thinks is his because we first saw it on his birthday). In the beginning, I asked him if it were painted with a special colour. No... that wasn't it... Did it have stickers on it? No. Was it a police car (the lights)? No. Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about (but that happens often) ;)

Earlier this week, we had to go back to the Honda dealership to visit our lovely mechanic... again... but that is another story :P Oliver asked again if, one day, we could buy a sparkle car. Trying to get to the root of it, I asked him to show me what the heck a sparkle car is. He pointed to the next door dealership. Finally, I got my answer:

He means Subaru!!!! I told him that maybe he can buy it with his allowance when he is 18. It seemed to satisfy him ;)

Keep on Sparkling! ;) xox

New friend

Today, I bought a new friend. I can talk to it and it doesn't talk back. It silently sits, calmly and patiently. It is prickly so you have to handle it carefully... just like me ;) My new friend hung out with me all day, while I worked at my kitchen table. It didn't give me attitude, nor did it ask me for chips. It matches my red kitchen. What more can you ask for!

Wishing you all a great rest of the day! xox

Shift

Over the last few days, I am noticing a shift in light during the day. When I get home in the afternoon, there is still sunshine... OK... maybe not sunshine, but it is not looking like midnight yet ;) That is good enough for me ;) The quality of light is changing. Does that make any sense? Maybe it is just a defense mechanism but I am feeling optimistic for spring.... Now, don't burst my bubble! ;)

Happy Tuesday to you all xox

You kids need to be outside more! ;)

Tease!

One of my pet peeves is seeing spring time clothes displays in shop windows when it is super cold outside. Hey mannequins! If you had to be outside right now, you surely wouldn't be wearing those clothes so effortlessly ;) You would be freezing your plastic butts off! What a tease! ;)

Wishing you all a happy Friday! xox

Two years....

Today, my blog is 2 years old!!! Wow!!!!

I have to admit that I wasn't sure that it would last beyond 2 weeks ;) I had a previous blog and I think that I got in about 10 posts before it fizzled out. Although my initial idea was to do one blog post per day, I realized at about the 3 month mark that that was nuts. Kudos to all of you who can manage that! Respect!

Thanks for these 2 years... your visits are so appreciated :) Sending you all virtual champagne to celebrate xox

Nine years....

Tomorrow, our darling middle son turns 9. He is so excited for his birthday that he has been counting down every day for the past month (if not more!). I am excited for him.... even if it means that he is getting older ;)

So happy that your day is finally here, baby boy! We love you!

Wishing you all a great week! xox

Resolutions

I always like to make one New Year's resolution. It has to be a personal challenge and something that I can do for the "bigger" picture. This year, I am focusing on happiness as a choice....
We spend too much time blaming outside influences for our happiness: if I lost 5 pounds, I would be happy. If I made more money, I would be happy. If my boys cleaned up after themselves, I would be happy. If my husband listened to me more often, I would be happy. Anyway, you get the picture ;) The thing is that, even if you get what you wished for, you still might not be happy. There will always be something else. Another thing or event or person that keeps you from your happiness. I have decided this year that I will first be happy and everything else can happen. It is a choice... and one that I have to work on. This is my resolution....

Wishing you all happiness... that you make yourselves..... xox

I don't know who originally drew this or where I even got it from but it works ;)

Being in academia

If you have ever heard the expression "Publish or Perish", trust me, it is true. Being in academia is all about stressing over grant applications or stressing over publishing or stressing over research or stressing over teaching or stressing about how much coffee you have left in your desk drawer and whether it is enough to get through the day. Actually, the last one is my personal addition ;) I have children on top of being an academic so coffee is very important ;) Please don't get me wrong....  I still love my job but I can totally understand why most senior academics have a lot of grey/white hair ;)

Wishing you all a happy day!

Back to the routine

Well, it was back to work again yesterday. Honestly, I could have used another week to "shift gears" and get organized but it is kind of nice to be back in a routine. Let's see how long it lasts before I am writing to say how excited I will be for Spring Break ;)

Last night, Andreas took the tree down and, while it is nice to get a big section of our living room back, I have to admit that I was a bit sad to see it go.....

Happy Friday to you all (now that I remember what day of the week it is again!) xox

In my head

I remember when this picture was taken... it was SO warm out. Good beer on the terrace kind of day. Today, when it is -20C,  I will close my eyes, go to my "happy place", and pretend that I am there..... You are welcome to join me ;)

Wishing you all a good night xox

Rule?

If I got these chocolates as a Christmas present, that means that there are no calories, right? ;)

The boys started school today and I had a meeting with Aladdin. Please note that I did not eat ALL the chocolates in the box by myself. That could be considered over the top ;) I did have SOME help over the holidays ;)

xox to you all!

Last bit of vacation

Warning: this will be a photo spam post ;)

Yesterday, we all went to Mont Tremblant to celebrate the last bit of the holiday vacation. The boys are starting school again in the morning so it was bitter-sweet. We had a good time, hanging out in the snow (**disclosure: while I am not a big fan of snow, I don't mind it SO much when the temperature is hovering around 0C. I just cannot stand snow AND cold. That is just wrong!).

Tomorrow is back to the rushing around-lunch making-school clothes washing-picking up crabby kids at the end of the day-homework supervising. I have to admit that I am a tiny bit looking forward to getting back into the routine (I kind of like knowing what day of the week it is) and somewhat healthy eating (What? Wine and chocolate are not a real food group?), although, this has been a much needed break from it all!

See you back in the day to day ;) xox!

A bit of family cosy, without the clock

I have to say that I have really been enjoying the pace of the holidays. There is no need to rush to go anywhere... no need to hurry bed time... no need to hurry dinner time.... ahhhh! We just get to hang out with each other, minus the eye on the time.
School is starting again on Monday and it will be hard to go back to time watching. As much as, during fight times, I reminded the boys of their eminent return to school, I will probably miss the holidays more than them.

Have a great day xox

Welcome to 2016

We celebrated the start of the new year with a bit of neighbourhood sledding. The "mountain" had so many little boys on it that it looks like it was an ant hill ;) The weather, even though it was snowing, was quite warm and pleasant. Did I just say that??!!??? Anyway, we had a fun time that ended with hot chocolate in a Lego mug. Later in the afternoon, our lovely neighbours came over for tapas, sparkling wine and home made chocolate cake (my neighbour... she is more talented than I am ;) ). It was a great welcome to 2016!

Hope your day was a good one xox