Sorry for neglecting you, Dad.

(sitting in my parents living room, Dad watching hockey, me on my laptop)

Dad:  What are you looking up?

Me:  Nothing.  Just reading blogs.

Dad:  You haven't been blogging much lately.  I understood when you were working out, but now that you're not...

Me:  We only took a break for a week - we're back at it.

Dad:  You should have written that - how were we supposed to know?

**********

Sorry, folks. Apparently I've been leaving you in the dark.  P90X update - Sean's bout with BPPV was minor and short lived, thankfully, so we've been back at it for a couple of weeks.  Three weeks left!  I did take the disc and workout in my hotel last weekend, but we also left them at home this weekend and are just skipping them completely.  In the ultimate compliment, my mom said my shoulders are looking like the boys' - my wiry nephews.  Made me laugh. 

In other thoughts, here's a thread from the blogs I was reading that resonates with me.  It's along the lines of what and how we think of ourselves.  Seth Godin had a post last week called Turning the habit of self-criticism upside down.  Why do we put ourselves in the best light possible when dealing with teams and bosses, but beat ourselves up in our own heads about all kinds of things?  He suggests taking responsibility for the things we 'learned from' at work, and, what struck me was be more supportive of yourself. 

In the same vein, my friend Jackie has been posting lately about making changes in her life - she wrote a post about how thinking about the things you are working towards is far more effective than the black hole of focusing on the negative things you are trying to move away from.

Focus on what I want to be & where I want to go.  Be supportive of myself & encourage myself that I can do it.  Life ends up being so much more positive... these are reminders I need again and again.

good things come in threes

On Tuesday, Madeline had her Battle of the Books.  BotB is where teams from a bunch of schools have to read the same 10 books from January to April, then compete to see who knows them most thoroughly.  Her team did very well - 5th out of about 20.  To make this event even more fun, they had a bunch of door prizes for the kids.  M won one of them - a nice bag full of goodies.

They also had two door prizes for spectators, and I won one of them!  Hooray for great books - I got one that I just finished reading and really enjoyed, and I already have plans for it... just don't tell my book club - they might all fight over my offering knowing I'm bringing the Hunger Games to our year end book swap!

This weekend I went to Saskatoon for a writer's conference.  They had door prizes, and I won again.  They had lots, and I think just about everybody took something home.  But still, I came away with something that I will actually use in my house.

Along with my registration, I send in an entry to the writing contest; a short work of prose, 2 pages, that included 4 specific words.  They announced the winners after lunch; I came in second.  Yay!  I even made a bit of cash for that.

So there's my run of three - it's been a good week!

10 000 Hours

I experienced a parenting fail again this morning.  A parenting fail is where the kid goes out the door to school and she doesn't have a smile on her face and on this side of the door, I'm thinking, "Why?  Why do I lack patience?  Why do I frustrate her and why do I let her frustrate me?  When will I learn???"

This happens too often for my liking, but thankfully, not as often as it used to.  And the negative effects didn't even last too long, amazingly, because I remembered something I read recently.  It was the "when will I learn" question that did it - that gave me the answer.  10 000 Hours.  That's the answer.  If you want to be good at something (like managing mornings with children??), it takes lots of practice and hard work.

I read this quote in Michael Hyatt's post on Why Real Creativity Requires Significant Work: "In his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the “10,000-Hour Rule.” The basic idea is that success in any field is, to a large extent, the result of practicing a specific task for 10,000 hours—or more." That has stuck with me all week, and rather than being a downer and causing me to think that I'll never get there, it has proven to be a motivation.  Keep trying, keep practicing.  Yes, I'll fail, but then I get a clean slate to try again.  To keep working on it, whatever the 'it' of the moment is.

I hope this encourages you.  Lots of what we do in life is hard work - keep at it.  Keep working hard at the things that are worth doing well...

I felt like myself.

Yesterday morning I went with a handful of other women to serve at the Chili for Children program.  We had a fun time getting to know each other over setting up and chopping veggies, walking over to the second location and finding a hobbit door...  None of these women had been to C4C before, and they were all quite impressed with the people who ran the show, the children that they were able to serve, and excited about the possibilities of doing this again.

Last night I went out on the Love Lives Here bus with 13 great people from church.  The bus hits the streets of North Central and the Core, offering warmth, food and drink and Jesus' love to anyone who needed it - there were a good number of 'divine appointments' and our crew got exposed to a whole range of what the crew sees on a regular basis.  None of these friends had been on the bus before, and by the end of the evening their eyes had been opened to a whole new side of life in our city; a side where spiritual forces do very real battle, where prayers and our availability and Jesus' name are powerful weapons.  Many of these friends are interested in going back; all were grateful for the experience.

These were two of the projects offered through our Westhill Serves weekend, and having just been to three of them (our whole small group went out to paint at the camp today), I am fully content that the reasons we put on this event is sound, and was met in a very successful way.  We do it because serving is one of the three main purposes of our church (Love God, Love Others, Serve the World), to give opportunities for people to serve, and to expose them to new ways to serve.

I was also struck by something else.  Feeding hungry inner city children is great, and I'm glad there is a group who does that; it's not my thing.  Loving on the street workers and gang members is important, and I'm so glad to know this bus is out on our streets while I'm safe in bed.  It, however, is not my thing either.  My thing - my thing - is getting other Christians to go and serve there with me - my thing is taking people to places they have not been, exposing them to what more there is in life and faith.  I want to see Christians 'get it' - to know how they can live an abundant life, fully loving and serving, fully experiencing all that God has for them.  I'm thankful for the chance I had to go on those projects yesterday; I'm trusting that the friends I took along were changed by God because of their experiences.

Sometimes I forget, in the details, that this is the part that fills me.

I'm thankful for this reminder of who I am meant to be.

On Hold

Our P90X workouts have been put on hold.

All those downward dogs and other movements and positions have given Sean a case of BPPV - Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.  He's got a good case of the dizzies, and we're going to take a break for a week to let that sort itself out, then get back to in.  Hopefully it will be gone before then.  We went in to the clinic Thursday after the second morning of waking up to the room spinning; he's got an appointment with our doctor this Thursday, so we'll see where it's at then.

We did just take our two month photos, and there are definitely some changes from our day one shots.  I'm trusting the short break doesn't get us too far off track.

Hmm... maybe since I'm not working out right now, I should go find some chocolate to eat instead...

Stuff & Materialism

I hate waste.  I don't like when I have to throw out leftovers; I'm uncomfortable with starting the shower or the vehicle early to warm it up.  (Yes, my ride came with a command start: yes, I sometimes use it.)  I don't buy a lot of clothes, and even at the grocery store, I usually only buy what's on my list.  Only the stuff we need.

My main reasoning for this is a sense of justice and awareness of what life is like around the world.  We in North America are consumers.  We take and eat and use and buy and throw away and replace, and think nothing of it.  It's normal.  It's sad.

I got a new phone this week.  My old one was not dead yet, and I was fine to keep it longer, but we went to the store just to browse...  The latest, greatest was on sale *free!* (because the other company just had a $0 promotion); they even threw in a $100 gift card.  How could we pass that up?  (And it was only on for one more day!)  So I got it.

I'm not opposed to getting stuff.  There is a time and a place for all kinds of different things.  But needs vs. wants comes into play, as well as the questions of where was it made and with what and by who, and were they paid enough?

I write about this because I have a need to sort out my thoughts on the subject, and maybe to see if anyone else thinks this way.  Partly, too, it's to encourage more people to think this way.  Do you need that item?  Does all your money go to stuff, or are you spending any of what you have to make life a little easier for those who don't have what they need, let alone what they want?

Some things to consider.  As for me, I will enjoy my new Blackberry Torch in its shiny blue case, but I will also stay aware of those in the world around me who don't have, and do what I can.

The Week That Was

Books - I just devoured book two in the Hunger Games trilogy.  So good.  If the library wasn't already closed when I shut the cover tonight, I might have run right out to see if I could find the third...  I saw it last week on the new 7 day renters shelf, but hadn't got the second book yet.  I picked it up yesterday and yeah, devoured is the right word for it.

I am still waiting for Ender's Game, which is our next book club read.  We meet this coming Thursday, so I hope it comes soon!  Another futuristic youth science fiction...

Movies - We saw two movies this week.  Sunday night Sean & I watched The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.  It was fast paced, kept you guessing and wondering, and had some good surprising twists.  I quite enjoyed it.  Last night the three of us went out to see a show, and took in Hop on opening night.  The previews were inappropriate for the age of kids that were there, and lots of the humour in the movie itself was too old - I know they make these movies so that the parents will get some laughs, too, but if I take my kid to a movie, I don't want to be hoping she doesn't get some of the jokes.  It was a silly movie; parts of it were cute, and parts of it did have me laughing.  Overall I'd say don't waste your time and money, and play a game together instead. 

Disappointment - I talked myself into signing up for a triathlon this spring (a super short rookie women's event), and had the registration opens date of April 1 in the back of my mind for a while.  Friday rolls around, I think "Ok, I'm going to do this" and then see this: Registration for the See Jane Tri for the Cure is NOW CLOSED. Thank you for the quick sell out!!!!  Sigh.  On to other options, I guess.

Have you read those books?  Seen those movies?  Liked?  Disliked?  I'm curious to know what you think.

Ever Feel Blue?

I just read a good post from Michael Hyatt about things to do to get yourself out of a funk & thought it was worth sharing.  Hyatt is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers, and blogs almost daily with lots of quality stuff.

I hope you find this helpful, but really, I'm posting it here just so I can find it again when I need it.

Layouts

I finished these Monday night while Sean was out golfing...  Enjoy!

 

Made by M

Our first Sunday with no indoor soccer... a long glorious stretch of hours with no demands on our time.  So nice.  I decided to get my week's groceries then instead of Monday as usual, to make today a little easier, and left M playing in the kitchen.  This is what she made:

 

Yep.  Sushi.

She got a kit for Christmas and has been waiting for time to use it; yesterday was the day!  We had some crab in the freezer for her to use, and she put in some cucumber.  They were really good.  I'm proud of my little chef.

If Winter Persists, Buy Mittens

My red Canada mitten from the Olympics last year are falling apart.  There is one hole in the lining, and now one hole in the outer thumb.  I will fix them up, but I was thinking that I will have to get some new ones for next year - sigh... I have a hard time finding stuff like that that I love.

Yesterday we went to the home show with Sean's parents, and in the midst of all these home improvement booths was this colorful booth full of stuff from Ecuador.

I saw these mitts.

It was love at first sight.

They came home with me.

I will enjoy the last few cold days of this year with my new handfuls of happiness, and then tuck them away to surprise myself with next winter.

Package of Happiness

Do you shop online?  I rarely do, unless it was getting textbooks from Amazon, but I check out some scrapbooking steal sites on and off.  Since I rarely shop for scrapbooking supplies (only when we travel to somewhere that has a shop), and since I found a few things that I would use at good prices, I decided to just do it and placed an order with Crafty Steals.  That was February 18.  On Friday I got my package!  Yep, March 25.  I wasn't a patient waiter at all...  And the irony is that in that 5 weeks of waiting, Carla and I went to Saskatoon, I bought a bunch of stuff and have already made stuff with it. 

I'm happy to have this and someday soon will carve out some time to play.

The Waterfall Tree

I picked M up from her Grandpa's this afternoon and had to pull out the camera to capture this - the tree by the front porch has been collecting all the drips off the roof and the branches have become host to a cascade of icicles.

It was a nice week of plus temperatures and the snow is sinking; the side roads are still horrendous, though, and I look forward to the consistently plus temps, the clear roads, the green emerging.  Spring is here!

One Thousand Gifts

This is the book I am reading: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Carla surprised me with it after I had been enjoying it in Scott's Parable in Saskatoon. I visit her blog once in a while and enjoy her style; having her message in book form is great.

Watch the video, and if you want to borrow it when I'm done, let me know!

Our Athlete... in Action

Madeline is having her wrap up indoor soccer tournament this weekend; it's her first year at this, and she's enjoyed playing. I've been taking pictures at soccer and basketball for the last couple of months, but I've been waiting to post some until I got some good ones. I don't have any more chances to take some, so here's a couple at least to show you the girl in uniform.

She's the one in black in the fight for the ball.

Eyes on the ball!

Last weekend she got two goals in her game, bringing her season total up to three! Pretty exciting stuff. Next up for #6 is outdoor soccer in about 6 weeks.

The Commandments... In Rhyme

I was making a little progress decluttering and came across this poem I had copied out in a class while my professors sang it.  I will share it here with you, but you'll have to come up with your own tune, or track down Paul Beckingham and ask him to sing it for  you.

The Ten Commandments

Thou shalt have no God but me, 

Before no idol bow thy knee.

Take not the name of God in vain, 

Nor dare the Sabbath day profane.

Give both thy parents honor due, 

Take heed that thou no murder do.

Abstain from words and deeds unclean, 

Nor steal through thou art poor and mean.

Make no willful lie nor love it,

What is thy neighbour's, do not covet.

May some of you find this useful as a fun tool to teach your kids the Word.

PS - Spell check did not like 'decluttering' and instead, recommended cluttering, sputtering, fluttering or muttering.

Layouts

 

I have a thing for lined paper.  I used glimmer mist on the yellow paper before I cut out my letters.  I like the effect.

 

 I had fun digging through my stash for this one.  There are colored staples holding on the ribbon, a heart from a wedding favor, a few buttons, and some stripy brads in the middle of my cut-out patterned paper flowers.  That journaling card was a perfect match for my photo, and I love the bell bottom letters I cut with my cricut.

 

I used a paint chip underneath the pictures in this one. The title was a little wonky, but putting a date stamp after 'exciting' ended up lining it up better on that side.

We have a craft social coming up next week, and Carla and I hit a couple scrapbooking shops in Saskatoon this week, so I have a bit of a new stash to play with.  You may see a few more soon!

 

A Day Away

• Hearing a middle aged Asian man reading English with a 30ish tutor in the downtown public library in Saskatoon as I write.  I applaud people who make time to help people learn.
• The chocolate bar Sean tucked in the pocket of the perfect black messenger bag he got me for my birthday was decadent.
• I'll pick up Carla from her conference in an hour and a half, and we'll probably take in a movie to make the most of our day and a half away from our families.
• Scott's Parable was an easy hour of browsing; Tim Horton's sandwiches for supper were just right after we had spent too much time browsing.  Our bellies were still happy from our Fuddrucker's lunch, anyway.
• The library is closing in 15 minutes; I'm have to find somewhere to kill another hour.  This has been a worthwhile stop - I've read a writer's magazine and a triathalon magazine.  I'm neither a triathlete nor a writer, but maybe when I grow up... 
• Earlier today I had the prettiest latte I've ever had, in an empty local coffee shop, made by a man with a long gray ponytail.

Virtual Garage Sale

Because we were doing a kitchen reno last fall, we got some nice new kitchen stuff for Christmas.

Because my parents came for a visit on the weekend, I had to finally clean up all the 'kitchen leftovers' from the basement.

Because some of it has to go, I decided to do a virtual garage sale.  Have a look at the photos below and if you need or want any of it, make me an offer! 

Fun New Breakfast

Sean found this idea online & we had a go for Sunday morning.  They turned out pretty good; I might try putting a piece of lunch meat like a liner next time, because the egg wasn't the easiest to clean out.  They tasted yummy, though!

Muffin Tin Omelettes

Spray a 12 cup muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350.

Chop some meat (I used turkey breast lunch meat I had on hand)

Cut up & saute your veggies (Onions and Green Peppers for Sean's, Mushrooms for M & I)

Grate some cheese

Add meat, veggies & some of the grated cheese to the cups.

Beat 12 eggs in a large mixing bowl, then pour into cups.

Top with remaining cheese, and put in the oven for about 15 minutes.

I started watching at 10 minutes, but they took about 17 or so.