August 30-September 1 Labour Day Weekend

Truth be told, this doesn't feel like a summer update anymore, since the weather has cooled off, and we had a lot of rain during the week. And I caught another cold. The mornings and evenings are crisp, and it feels as though fall is here. Leaves are starting to turn too, though not as early as some years, when it's been dryer in the summer.

Friday night we had dinner out with Aunt Glynis, who brought us a lovely blackberry pie. The next morning, I took Anna to the dance studio in town to register her for ballet lessons starting this fall. She's been so into dancing, and has noticed other girls from her daycare get to go to dance classes... and she wants to go too. I never thought I'd have a tutu sort of girl, but she's aching for the whole outfit, and can't wait for her first class. She romped around the studio when we were there, checking herself out in the mirror. The class runs all school year, so we'll see if the interest lasts... it's a pretty long term commitment for this age I think. (Or heck, even for my age? Would I register for a yoga class that ran 10 months?) Then we got groceries and headed home, where Anna hung out with her friend from across the road, playing princesses and blackberry picking, and making sticky dough scones with blackberries, and a blackberry smoothie. We were somewhat exhausted by the end of the day.

On Sunday, we lazed at home until we had to leave for East Sooke. We went for one of our favourite walks--around Creyke point, and then to Ragley Farm for the 7 km Dinner. All the food had been grown or raised within 7 km of Ragley, and it was totally delicious, and super nourishing. It was a long dinner, and Anna met a little girl who just moved into our old neighbourhood in East Sooke. They checked out chickens and geese and cows together.

Monday we left early for the Saanichton Fair! It was a marvelous time, though I'd forgotten just how high up the Ferris Wheel is. Anna and I went on together. From the top, I could see my old Saanichton home (or at least the house that replaced the one I spent my first five years in), on the crest of the hill of Stelly's X Road. I was worried Anna would be scared, but she's such a daredevil--"I'm not scared," she said, and you know, she wasn't. Me on the other hand... Apparantly I've developed a bit of a fear of heights in my old age. I remember being not so scared on the Ferris Wheel before, but perhaps I'd been on the kiddie one. It wasn't until we were at the top of the wheel, surveying the land below us that I spotted a MUCH SHORTER ferris wheel on the other side of the midway. I'd taken Anna on the grown up one when we didn't have to. Well, turned out all right in the end. We saw Donna and Erin at the Parklands booth, where we got hot dogs. I cleverly avoided the cotton candy, thinking four fair visits worth already was enough for one season. We saw goats and bunnies and sheep and cows. Anna milked a fake cow. We saw a 12.5 pound zucchini and lots of other impressive produce and home arts, and so the day was nearly complete... just a couple of stops before home: 1, to Yarrow Point beach, just north of Cole Bay, my favourite beach in the world. I come once a year, now, and always at this time, as a sort of marker of the true new year. This year I didn't swim. The tide was out, and the day cool enough that the prospect of getting into my swimsuit wasn't appealing. The camera battery wore out before we got there, so no pictures of the ten or so seals that came to say hello... I'm totally serious. Damn camera battery. And then no pictures of Anna shucking the corn at Silver Rill farms on the way home, but she did--and we had a wonderful meal of peaches and cream corn from the Peninsula, truly the best corn on earth. Yum.

I had thought I would continue the weekend update posts until the astronomical fall, and document the next few weekends--the Sooke Fall fair next weekend (we're entering peas, photographs, felt pen art and a seashore arrangement!) or the weekend after, when we plan to take our last camping trip for the season. Or the final weekend of astronomical summer, when I'll be doing the Great Lake Walk (56 km around Lake Cowichan) with friends. Usually the last really nice day when you could stand outside in a tank top and be comfy comes the third weekend of September--at least it has for the last two years, because that's when we've had Anna's birthday party, and those were beautiful warm days--but not this year. And other years I've still been swimming in the ocean in September, but not this year. Now that it feels that fall has fallen, I feel the summer updates are done. Climatological fall is here, and with it my desire to turn inside, be cozy, and get back to work, too.

I set out in May to get the most out of summer, and I think I succeeded. There were about 50 things on my full summer to-do list. I managed all but about 12! I can enter fall and winter, the gray and the rain, with a full store of Vitamin D, and good summery memories. Time to go deflate the wading pool for another year, and pack away the bikinis.

August 23-24

A weekend of birthday celebrations. Saturday was warm, and Anna and I went to Ragley again for yummy organic food, and snapdragon flowers. We headed to Sooke Pot Holes after that, where we walked up a new trail and checked out a beach we hadn't been to, yet. After, we headed home and I got ready to head downtown, for Glenda's birthday dinner at Pagliacci's. The bread is as good as ever, I'm happy to report.

Sunday was low-key, and pouring with rain. Anna decorated cards in the morning, and we headed out to Jaydon's pool party in the afternoon. It had stopped raining when we were back, so I got out and did a bit of gardening, then we walked down to the new walkway they've built along the bridge over DeMamiel Creek and threw pinecones and stones in the water. In the evening, I got back to scrapbooking--I actually completed Anna's 6 month old page for her baby book. I kept joking that my goal was to finish her baby book by the time she's in kindgergarten, but now I'm actually concerned I'm not going to make that.

August 16-17
August 16, Best of East Sooke Day. It was the perfect beach day. Anna and I headed to Ragley Farm first, where we checked out the amazing new flower garden there, and said hi to Josie. Then we stopped at Bill's Food and Feed for an ice cream, and then went to Aylard Farm Beach for sandcastling, wading, a *short* dip on my part--but still, the most I've ever swam there, considering how frigid it is normally, being open to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We saw sandpipers, a mink swimming in the water, and two weddings. Anna wished the first bride congratulations, and I had the experience of standing in my bikini while talking to a couple in wedding finery. surreal. Our final hour was accompanied by the sounds of waves and a string quartet! Very glad we managed to pack the sand bucket Laurie gave us in Ontario in our luggage--it makes for some superior castles indeed. Once home, I embarked on making a corn moon feast, complete with salmon, corn, padi pan squash, beet tops, and strawberry shortcake, with all produce courtesy of Ragley Farm (except the corn.) And watermelon.

On Sunday, a thunderstorm woke me up. Plans for a run were postponed, and instead we had a nice leisurely breakfast of Ragley Farm eggs and toast, and read stories. Anna napped that afternoon, and I mowed the insane back lawn, which had been well watered and not cut since we'd left for Ontario. A few of the pics of the garden show how overgrown it all is--the peas collapsed over the NEW stakes I'd put up, since the last ones were too short. Seems I need something ten feet tall if I'm going to grow the same variety next year. When Anna was up, we went to Witty's beach for a barbeque picnic. I packed hot dogs, the hibatchi, more watermelon--and as I closed the trunk, I heard an ominous rumbling. More thunder. But we drove through the rain and watched the clouds move past the beach. We stayed dry, right to the end. A bit too cool for the hoped-for swim, though. We'll have to try again. This morning, more rain--but then totally clear skies for 90 minutes, during which I got in a run around Matheson Lake. Beautiful! Now it's time to face my serious return to work... vacation's been grand. I look forward to the next one!

July 30-August 13 Ontario vacation 2008

We flew out on Wednesday, and went straight to the cottage. Boat rides, family visits, barbeques, games, swimming in the lake... an amazing new playground and great sand castle building at Innisfil Beach Park... Nicole came up for the long weekend and we had wonderful days of adventuring and nights on the patio, then a side trip to Ottawa for me (dang, forgot my camera, though...) where I visited first with Sarah, Andrew, Christopher and met Katherine for the first time, and then visited with Liz, Matt and Alice, and was treated to an amazing dinner at a gastro pub, and then a morning at a nordic pool spa in the Gatineaux. Ahhhh.... Flew home that night, then spent a couple days in Scarborough--took Anna to the Toronto zoo, paid a brief visit to the amazing spectacle that is the Scarborough Town Centre, and made my pilgrimage to downtown Toronto on public transit for a dinner out with Nicole (Banu, an amazing Iranian restaurant this time). Then we stayed the night with friends in their new home in Keswick, on the other side of Lake Simcoe from the Mitchell cottage. Then back to the cottage for our final weekend there, and Cindy and Colin's party at Cousin Laurie's cottage. We had a couple of relaxing days up there before flying home again on the Wednseday. Meanwhile, TiF was having a grand time at camp Glynis.

Some of my other favourite shots from our vacation is on Tim's Picasa site, here: http://picasaweb.google.com/tim.mitchell/OntarioSummer2008
To view mine full size, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/thepaperhat/

July 26-27

(Thanks to Glenda for supplying me with some pics from this weekend!)
Saturday Anna and I headed into town to meet Everett and Glenda for a day of fun. Sadly, I forgot the camera. We started out at the mall, where Anna got her hair cut and we had lunch with Everett and Glenda, and then we went to the bug zoo. After that, we went to St. Ann's and Beacon Hill Park for Luminara. The kids were total troopers about walking all the way back to the parkade way past their bed times after that! As for Sunday, Anna was off having an adventure with her Nanas, and Tim and I hiked Peden Ridge with Aunt Glynis, which is up from the Sooke Potholes. Then we went out for lunch on the patio at Fuse. Glynis' pics of the hike are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/keesha.d71/PedenRidgeHikeJuly2708

July 18-20

Friday Anna went to her Nanas' for a sleepover, and Tim and I worked and then went to Sombrio for our first solo camping trip since Anna's arrival. I packed like we were going backpacking, strapping everything to our pack, taking small amounts of things and completely dismantling our camping "go" box for the purpose. Tim decides to look up the distance between the parking lot and the beach, and finds out its only ten minutes long! I had remembered it longer. The good news is, this means we can bring two beer each. Ever since hiking the Juan de Fuca trail end to end in 2002, when after a couple of days on the trail we came upon people camping at Sombrio with coolers, etc. and we had just our dried noodles and water filtered from the creek, I have fantasized about drinking a beer at Sombrio beach. The beach is one of the most beautiful in the world, without a doubt. We were blessed with excellent weather. We walked the length of the beach when we arrived, and gathered pretty stones, and Tim tried out a rope swing on the south end. We explored the little suspension bridge to the next part of Sombrio, then got the wood for our beach fire. We had an amazing supper of chorizo sausage and instant noodles sitting by our fire in the sand, and slept so well there, too. We had a leisurely morning with a huge breakfast and head out for a hike up to Minute Creek, then back to strike camp and meet Anna back at home. Sunday we stayed home, but in the evening I headed out for the Victoria School of Writing reception, which kicked off my week of workshops in creative non fiction with Rita Moir, which was amazing.

July 14-17th, half days of summer fun

This week I worked just in the mornings, and Anna and I headed out for an adventure every afternoon.

Monday - we met Linda and her son Jake at Matheson Lake, and the kids had fun despite the coolish temperatures. Windy, and no one went in the water. Bizarre after our Saltspring weekend of scorching hot weather.

Tuesday - Sooke Pot Holes. Anna and I took a picnic to Sand Pebble Beach, and explored a trail for a bit before heading down to dip in the water and relax on shore. Tim met us a little later for some pothole fun.

Wednesday - Bought swimwear. Ventured into the bikini territory. Figured I'm 35, it's a now or never kind of thing. This year, pot belly be damned, I'm wearing a two piece, and enjoying it. And I have been! We met Dana, Jake and Darcie at an old favourite beach on Cordova Bay, just south of McMorran's. The water was deliciously warm, and I swam, and played with Darcie and Jake in the water, though Anna was still reluctant to get wet. Up top, the playground has been totally revamped and is much nicer. On the way home, we went to Kelsey's for dinner. They bring Anna a brand new package of three crayons, which she can keep, to colour her place mat. I had a childhood favourite dinner--barbequed ribs, coleslaw, and root beer. Turns out that's tastier when you're 12. Go figure. But Anna really enjoyed her mini hamburgers.

Thursday - Anna and I headed to China Beach, where I backpacked her down to French Beach, a 2.5 km hike. Not long, but she's at my maximum pack weight now, so it was a good workout. The beach was wonderfully breezy and warm at the same time, and we soaked up some sun before heading up again. We stopped at the French Beach store, now reopened, for ice cream--we made it just in time, but we were shooed out by the owner who needed to gate the entrance at the road. All in all, still a good end to this mini-vacation.

July 12-13

Terrible to wait until Friday to get the photos up and post... but here we are. One pic in here is of my annual start-of-sandal-season pedicure, which I had done at Le Sooke Spa. It lasted a month! Very impressed.

I was oh-s-close to finishing contract work and being free last Friday, on the 11th. A day I'd waited for for quite some time--but I simply couldn't do it. I got material too late in the week to finish edits, and so we scrambled, me working until 2:15 when we had to leave at 3 to catch the ferry. The house looked like we'd been robbed, but we were packed, and on our way to Salt Spring, to Ruckle Park, where we camped for two nights. I can't describe how wonderful it was--the weather was hot, and we got a wonderful site right on the beach at Ruckle, where we sat the first night and watched the ferries float by, and the colours change with the amazing sunset. I must have taken a hundred photos, trying to capture it. That first night when we got there, I played on the beach with Anna while Tim did the multiple treks from the car to get our camping gear to our site. The smell of dry grass, the salt water, a bit of decaying crab, all rolled together with the sandstone and the calm waters took me back. The east coast of the Island, and the gulf islands, have such a different character from our new home in Sooke, I kind of forget what it's like. Until I'm back. And then I get a little home sick... not for Victoria, but for the peaceful beaches.

In the morning we met our friends at the amazing market, and I was instantly overwhelmed by the many ways to spend money on crafty things and local food. We bought some treats, and salt spring cheese, and some collard greens and fresh fish and other things for dinner. We picnicked at the top of Mt. Maxwell, then back to our site for a gourmet meal with our friends. They left to catch a post-supper ferry, and Tim, Anna and I trekked around the Ruckle Point trail trying to find geocaches. We were 50% successful.

On Sunday we went to St. Mary's Lake for a dip (well, I dipped, but my landlubbing family preferred to stay on shore), then caught the ferry and tried to right the mess at home. It didn't last.

July 5-6

Friday I undertook the enormous task of cleaning out the garage. Don't know exactly what possessed me - maybe wanting to have the car out of the sun when it gets hot, so we wouldn't bake every time we hopped in to go somewhere. Tim and I had appies at Stone Pipe, since Anna was out with her Nanas. Saturday Anna and I went to the lantern workshop, and made a lantern that we'll take to the festival later this month. Then we went on an epic shopping and errand expedition, returning home after supper. Sunday was relaxed. I went for my annual pedicure, and we hung out in the back yard (Anna had her "big friends" over,) and I made a picnic for us to take down to the river, which we did. I made hummus, grilled chicken spinach salad, and baked cookies! It was such a peaceful ending to the weekend. I stayed up late Sunday night, cleaning up, and listening to music. Nice to have a low-key weekend here, since we're headed out next weekend for our Saltspring adventure!

June 28-29 & Canada Day

Friday after work/daycare Anna and I headed out for our Friday ritual: our end of week "date." We usually go to a coffee shop and have a hot chocolate for Anna, and a coffee for me, and often a treat of some description. But now that it's hot out, we didn't want the usual. We went to the drug store to pick up antihistamines for me (my naturopathic remedies failed me once grass season hit with full force,) and a treat. Well, Anna was some pleased to find they make cotton candy in a bag. Now, we don't even need fairs, or summer. We could have cotton candy sitting around the fire on Christmas Eve! That evening, Anna and Tim hung out while I went to my friend Linda's for a girls' night. We stayed up until 1:30 (honestly can't remember the last time I did that!) around the camp fire, and camped on Linda's gorgeous Metchosin property, with a glimpse of the sea and lights at night and a beautiful sunrise. Waffles in the morning.

Saturday we hung out in the back yard, soaking up the sun. Anna and I developed a game that involved throwing a lot of water balloons on the trampoline and then jumping on them.

Sunday, pancakes for breakfast, and then to the river for a paddle. Anna's first time in our little inflatable boat. It took some convincing. We saw the most interesting stick bugs in the water, crawling along the bottom. And I actually got submerged, though the river was still pretty cool to swim for very long. The afternoon and evening involved more hanging out in the back yard, more swinging in our hammock, in fact, an entire half hour nap in the hammock. For me, not Anna. She's given up her nap. I'm still recovering from my summer cold. I bark like a seal. It's quite unbecoming. The current combination of antihistamine/sinus medication/nasal steroids/Ventolin/Flovent don't seem to be kicking it. I tried working in bed all day Monday.

Today, Canada Day. A slow morning, watering things. It's been hot. We walked down to the Sooke flats after lunch, and were just in time for the national anthem, and free cake. Then, well, you'd *think* Anna would be sick of cotton candy, but... no. So we had more. Then Anna got to stump Kernel Popcorn (KP: what animal balloon would you like? A: An elephant! KP (face fallen, completely crushed) I can't make an elephant out of balloons. How about a kitty?) Then the magic show, and not one, but two different bouncy castles. We had lunch no. 2 and Anna tried a Spiderman popsicle. The dog agility show held less appeal for Anna than in previous years, so it was off home for more trampolining on water balloons, and ordering in pizza. Now we're just waiting for fireworks. Again this year, I don't have the heart to wake Anna for them, so I think Tim & I will just watch what we can see from the yard.

Summer Solstice Weekend

I have just been informed I need to dial ten digits to make a local call. Around here, we still give our phone number in four digits, so this is just kookybananas. I don't like it.

It occurs to me some of these weekend reports aren't terribly interesting blog reading. But they're serving a purpose for me--I stopped scrapbooking. I just haven't been able to find the time lately. But coming here and being able to read a little reminder of what we did, with pictures, is nice. It's taking the place of scrapbooking, although what I liked about scrapbooking is that it got me away from the screen. I'm going to have to find some happy medium. I can't spend a lot of non work time on the computer, as my shoulder/neck situation just won't stand for it these days. I've bought a new chair, new keyboard, foot reast and forearm support, and remind myself to sit properly, but I still end up with knots in my muscles. Go figure.

Friday night Anna and I hit the flats for the start of the bluegrass festival, burgers and dogs. Yum. Then Tim and I stayed up a little later than the light, but not by much. Saturday Anna and I head to Sarah & Jurgen's place in Otter Point to have a last play out there (they've moved to Victoria). We took the girls to Gordon's Beach to climb on the rocks and have a little picnic, then back to play in their empty house! After, Anna and I went to the flats to listen to some more bluegrass, then home for chili with Brendan and Kyle, and a game in the evening. I think I got too much sun, though no real burn, on Saturday. Sunday I woke up with a cold. I finally put away all the mittens, scarves and toques (we got our Christmas lights off just the other weekend... so summer's really arrived! long story--i was afraid to go back up the ladder, and tim's not fond of heights either). We had pancakes, and Anna and I went to the flats one last time to take in the last part of the festival (and more lemonade-discovered anna likes the cherry kind). Early bed last night, and this morning, I'm a little suffering.

:)

I love this, below. First, because I've had the exact same question in my head when composing email to those I figure will take my use of emoticons not as a sign that I am a lousy writer, but that I'm merely having fun. Second, because I love the Chicago Manual of Style's dry-humoured response.

Q. My question is, is there any standard for the usage of emoticons? In particular, is there an accepted practice for the use of emoticons that include an opening or closing parenthesis as the final token within a set of parentheses? Should I (1) incorporate the emoticon into the closing of the parentheses (giving a dual purpose to the closing parenthesis, such as in this case. :-) (2) simply leave the emoticon up against the closing parenthesis, ignoring the bizarre visual effect of the doubled closing parenthesis (as I am doing here, producing a doubled-chin effect :-)) (3) put a space or two between the emoticon and the closing parenthesis (like this: :-) ) (4) or avoid the situation by using a different emoticon (Some emoticons are similar. :-D), placing the emoticon elsewhere, or doing without it (i.e., reword to avoid awkwardness)?

A. Until academic standards decline enough to accommodate the use of emoticons, I’m afraid CMOS is unlikely to treat their styling, since the manual is aimed primarily at scholarly publications. And the problems you’ve posed in this note give us added incentive to keep our distance. (But I kind of like that double-chin effect.)

Heh.

non weekend related post

“Thirty five is a very attractive age;
London society is full of women who have of their own
free choice remained thirty-five for years.”
Oscar Wilde

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your significant other? Tim
3. Your hair? graying
4. Your skin? tanned
5. Your mother? sense-missing
6. Your favorite thing? beach
7. Your dream last night? dollhouse
8. Your favorite drink? cosmopolitan
9. Your dream/goal? book
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? why?
12. Your fear? heights
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? backyard
15. What you're not? tall
16. Muffins? pumpkin
17. One of your wish list items? art
18. Where you grew up? victoria
19. The last thing you did? email
20. What are you wearing? jeans
21. Your TV? cableless
22. Your pets? TiF
23. Your computer? here
24. Your life? good
25. Your mood? impatient
26. Missing someone? yes
27. Your car? compact
28. Something you are not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? munro’s
30. Summer? yes
31. Where? vancouverisland
32. Like someone? yes
33. Your favorite color? #8B00FF
34. When is the last time you laughed? breakfast
35. Last time you cried? ?
36. Who will/would re-post this? Penny?
37. Whose answers are you anxious to see? anyone’s!

June 14-15 Father's Day

This weekend Anna hung out with her Nanas on Saturday and we had a visit with friends Tikki & Jeff, who are having a baby soon. Then Tim and I took a lovely hike up DeMamiel creek in our water shoes. The water was just not quite warm enough yet for a dip. But soon! Then headed to Homer's for a burger and fries drenched in malt vinegar and salt. I made a largely fruitless errand run to Langford--unwise given the price of gas. Sunday Anna & I surprised Tim with french toast in bed, and we spent the day catching up on laundry and getting things ready for a barbeque here in the evening, while Anna played in the backyard (in swimsuits, with water balloons and water pistols and new waterslide, despite the chillyness) with her neighbourhood friends. We had salmon done on a cedar plank, and coconut cream pie, and lovely shiraz. . Mmmn... All I can say is, that weekend went FAST.

pics coming soooon...

June 7-8: Summer, where'd you go?

Anna passed Salamander this weekend! She had her last lesson on Saturday morning, and next time she'll be a Sunfish. Yay! The pool is shut down for three weeks, sadly, so we won't be able to go practice her new skills for a bit. Saturday afternoon Anna and I went to the museum, it being a kind of indoorish day, then out for dinner. Sunday was Oak Bay tea party time. The kids were shivering on the beach, so the picnic part of the experience really wasn't what it was last year. But the kids had fun on the rides, and consuming the fair delicacies of mini donuts and cotton candy. That evening another dinner out, this time a friend's birthday. Then, an early bed. We were all exhausted. Anna and Tim have colds, but are recovering. The weather is playing tricks on us. Poured rain this morning. Hello, summer? June? Where are you?

Summer has arrived

Okay, it’s been a really long winter. Now that summer is here, I’m makin’ a Summer To Do List, to make sure I squeeze in as much summery goodness as possible.
1. camp at Sombrio
2. have many, many picnics.
3. Take Anna to Saltspring market (Saturday afternoons - and maybe camp on Saltspring too)
4. find a sunscreen I like.
5. swim outside, lots
6. explore potholes further than last year (maybe see leechtown site)
7. have a supper picnic at Witty’s Beach and swim in the evening
8. make a sandcastle
9. play at French beach
10. make homemade berry shortcakes
That's really just a top ten. There are many more.

In fact, I’m going to celebrate summer every weekend, and report on it here. With a picture.

I’ll have to backtrack a bit, because I’ve just had three awesome summer weekends.

May 31-June1

We headed out to Bamberton, on the lovely Saanich Inlet. We camped overnight there, and spent two afternoons picnicking on the beach, and swimming (well, I swam), and exploring the water's edge with its apparently thousands of little crabs. Anna saved a few from the beach, too, and now she's their hero.

May 24-25

Last weekend, after Anna’s swimming lesson, Anna and I went to Witty’s Beach with Glenda and Everett. Had a lovely picnic with pasta salad and kiwi fruit. Tried out the beach umbrella. Poked in the sand, checked out crabs in the water. I was three when I spotted a large crab at Witty’s Beach and I ran screaming to my grandmother who was sunbathing on the shore. This is a pretty strong early memory for me. So when my three year old daughter spotted a large crab, surely as big as the one I saw that day 32 years ago, and wanted to bend down and touch it--I was amazed. Totally impressed. My daughter is very cool. I did the worried mom thing though and told her to just look—those pincers still looked pretty damn big. The crab was blowing bubbles. We thought maybe it wanted back in the water, and moved it into a tide pool. Sunday was the big half marathon and brunch day. I’m still a tad sore, but not as bad as I thought I was going to be. We won’t discuss the time. Turns out I’m the slowest runner in Sooke. We went to grandpa’s new pad after and played with an enormous bottle of bubbles.

May 17-19

The first was my birthday weekend. Got that inaugural sunburn on Friday while sitting out on the patio working on the laptop. Went to Japanese dinner sporting said burn, and then out for drinks and cake. Little issue with coming home and car insurance, but we’ve overcome that. Saturday was all about buying some shade and garden supplies... patio umbrella (since part of our old one is still hostage at the old house) and a beach umbrella. Luxton Fair with Anna, and she rode the carousel and got some long awaited cotton candy. Game night that night, and birthday cake. Sunday we hung out in the back yard all day, in the hot weather, and I built a lovely raised garden bed, and Anna played with a neighbourhood friend with a sprinkler under the trampoline, and we blew up the baby pool. Anna’s pretty big for it, now.

Monday, I ran 20 km and turned 35. Hung out with friends on the patio eating mousse cake. Ordered an obscene amount of takeout for a three person family in the evening, drank a cosmo, went for a walk, and collapsed at home for a rather early bedtime. Sleep is good.

Spring photos

A wee selection

Nursing Anna

Nursing at Beechy Head, 2005

First: It's funny I was writing about how stunned I was about snow at the end of March, when it snowed (and REALLY snowed) just this past weekend, in the latter half of April.

But I have something else to come here and write about aside from complaining about weather.

I nursed tonight for the last time. The decision to complete nursing has been coming for a while. I didn’t set a date ahead of time, because I didn’t want to build up any stress about it. We’ve been weaning for a long time, and we were down to just that little one before a weekend nap, to help her get to sleep, and one before bed – a quick one with the lullaby. Nursing is no longer her most prized thing, though it was for years. So tonight, I don’t feel I’ve taken anything away from Anna. Instead, I feel that I have finished giving her an amazing gift—a little over three and a half years of breastfeeding.

Anna never asks for nursing now until it’s the bedtime routine, and it’s just as much a part of what we do as reading three stories, or singing her lullaby—the one I made up and have sung to her every night since she was not quite three months old. And on weekends when she’s home, she’s starting to give up her nap. So stopping nursing now means I will be taking out something from our evening ritual—I expect it will meet with as much resistance as taking out one of three stories, or not singing the lullaby. But those will continue. And I will continue giving her what she needs—my arms around her, my voice, my kisses, my devotion that has kept me with her every day of her life. I have never been away from Anna a whole day, and that is partly because of nursing—it has kept us close, and for that I am glad. We have started on a path of closeness that I hope will continue—but a path that must find its own different way as she grows older.

It’s amazing to me to look back on the past years and remember all the nursing moments—from the first time I nursed her outside at the park in Sooke centre, to nursing at Beechy Head, or the day we hiked alone to the coast trail along Park Heights trail and nursed at the sea, or nursing her to sleep on the banks of the Sooke River—to all those days spent quietly, tending to her needs, nursing on the comfy chenille couch and staring out the window at the canopy of cedars when we lived on Coppermine. Nursing her to sleep on our bed when she would sleep with us. Nursing on Christmas eve. Nursing to reunite after coming home from those long days when I started back working at UVic. Nursing on planes. Nursing in restaurants when she was a baby in a sling. Nursing to sooth a frustrated toddler. Nursing her through sicknesses. Nursing her to say good morning.

It’s amazing to me that I once lay in bed and wonder if my breasts would ever serve the purpose they were made for. And it’s even more amazing to me that we made it through those incredibly difficult first few weeks, when I cried and swore I wouldn’t be able to continue through the pain and problems we had. I remember saying that to Tim—when she was two weeks old. I look back on a diary I kept of our nursing difficulties through October and November of her first year and I am so proud of sticking it through. We nursed three years, 6 months, and 24 days.

It’s Earth Day today. It will be easy to remember our last time. It’s spring, despite the dodgy cold weather, and light was coming in around the edges of her curtains. I was wearing my new brown sweater, which just arrived today. I’ll think about tonight every time I put it on, now. I will remember the way she nearly fell asleep tonight in my arms just like when she was a baby, as we rocked in the chair that, amazingly, still holds us both.

it is the 27th of march, right?

from February, Anna and Everett being monsters at Saseenos playground

It's been snowing for two days, off and on. nothing's sticking to the ground, but it's disturbing nonetheless. normally, i'm all for snow--love it, seek it out--but this morning all i can think about is how i went to my last class in a sundress one march at uvic, sandals, no sleeves, brilliantly hot day. i sure hope we have a decent summer to make up for this madness.

oh, and the following looked like fun, so i'm going to answer, too:

What were you doing ten years ago?
frantically finishing my thesis, a novel, for my MFA at UBC, wrapping up things at PRISM, writing a manual for the next exec editor, looking for a place for tim and i to live in victoria, working on a contract to put a handbook into a cd-rom (wow, html of ten years ago), and feeling like i could barely stand another day in vancouver.

What were you doing one year ago?
waiting to hear if i had the job at the sooke library. working there casually, while trying to finish up a contract with the ministry of advanced ed. and looking forward to moving into our new house.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. donate money to climate change research (not just because it's snowing here right now)
2. buy some land with a water view and put two or three tiny houses on it and go live there- one tiny house for living and eating and sleeping, and one each for working
3. take weekend trips to visit friends scattered across the country
4. work full time on the diary book until it's done
5. hire someone to clean my house

Five bad habits:
1. procrastination
2. eating way too much chocolate
3. being messy
4. intense self-criticism
5. putting my appointments just in my dayplanner and not writing things down on the big calendar so Tim doesn't know I'm doing something that day and we get double-booked

Five things you like doing:
1. going swimming with anna
2. reading in bed
3. mixing bartinis
4. playing games with tim
5. writing

Five things you would never wear again:
1. pink tracksuit
2. double denim
3. small orange bikini (so why is it still in my closet? See bad habit no. 4)
4. a perm
5. the dress custom made for me when i was 20, at age 33, to a wedding (unless I wanted to repeat the experience of holding the thing closed at the back for most of the evening)

Five favorite toys:
1. new laptop
2. iPod
3. new mp3/cd player in car
4. blocks (making towers is soothing)
5. pasty cutter

wedding albums

Anna's taken to browsing through the wedding albums we keep in our bedroom. Conversations usually wind around to where she was during the event. She's not happy with my answers.

Me: There's Daddy. There's me.
Anna: There's grandpa. There's Grandma!
Me: Yes! And Auntie Cindy...
Anna: Where's me Anna?
Me: You weren't born yet.
Anna: I want to go to the wedding.
Me: Well, if you were born, we would have invited you. But you were just an egg.
Anna: I was trying to get out of my egg! I wanted to eat cake.

early january

Mom, you're a goof. (hat swapping, Jan. 7)

Anna and Sylvia hanging out

So I would like it to either get really cold, cold enough to snow, or just warm up already and stop raining. Enough is enough.

xmas tree pics

1999

2000forgot to get a picture of both of us in 2000.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

obsessed with how cute our 1 year old looks in pictures in 2005, we forget to do the family shot...

2006

oops... forgot to do a shot of us dressed up in front of the tree. but here's anna in front of our tree:

2007
Happy New Year!

summary of 2007...
It started with snow, and readying the house.
I left the McPherson,
we sold our house,
joined a book club,
bought our sunriver house,
worked for Paper Hat full time,
then worked at the Sooke libe as a casual and at Paper Hat contracts,
we moved from east sooke,
i started full time as the sooke libe supervisor,
i turned 34,
there were trips to Ragley farm,
a trip to Frnech Beach for camping in the hottest period of the year,
there was yoga, dwindling running, but a new running partner and routine began...
anna sets foot in a hospital for the first time in her life (croup scare),
friends visited - mel, kaya and sean, sash and soph, liz and matt and alice
tim went to golden for a burger,
anna turned three.
a wedding!
a whirlwind of stress in october,
left the library,
back to the bosom of uvic and open school, but different this time -
paper hat takes a curriculum writing focus,
carved 5 pumpkins,
recognized magic,
anna spends her first night away from home,
i experienced osteopathy,
get togethers with glenda and marthese,
a quiet christmas, some tears under a cedar tree,
and the lights at butchart's with 3 year olds running circles in the cafe,
buzzing on hot chocolate

videos

The picture above was taken New Year's Eve, when we went to Butchart's Garden to see the lights with Anna and Everett and his folks. I swear the train they're watching was far more fascinating than the light displays to them. We had to tear them away for hot chocolate.

So in absence of any actual posting of late, I'll put up the link to our videos:

http://www.vimeo.com/user292888/videos