Once upon a time, I was an adventurous girl. I travelled with a backpack, I slept in forests unknown, and brought big souvenirs home from countries that I loved (my hubby!). I look back at photos from those times and I don’t recognize that girl at all. Not one bit. If I look around, I can see that most of my fellow [...]
Archive for the ‘Tales’ Category
August 21st, 2010
A Conversation with my Grandmother
Me: Hi Gram! I got a new car! Gram: Oh, that is good, dear. What colour is it? Me: Black. Gram: *crickets* Me: You don’t like black? Gram: No. I don’t like black or green. Me: Really? Those are my two absolute favourite colours. Gram: I like red. Me: Yes, Mom has a nice red colour car, doesn’t she? [...]
July 25th, 2010
Postcard from Jonesport, Maine: Are Fishermen Lonely?
We had had only one criterion for our holiday: an ocean view. So I simply searched the internet for all cottages that met this criterion and then booked the one at the best rate, which happened to be in a small fishing town called Jonesport … [to read more, please click here to read the full post on Life As [...]
July 18th, 2010
When will he learn?
We’d hardly cut into the long drive ahead when my hubby asks if we could pull into the Canadian Tire he’d spotted. I knew what he wanted. “Oh, come on,” I pleaded, “We really don’t need a bike lock. Your bike is the only one worth anything and we can bring it into the hotel room if we have to.” [...]
July 7th, 2010
Here’s how you can tell if a working mom has a big report due the next day
If you were a fly on a wall, you’d easily be able to tell whenever a working mom has a big day ahead of her in the morning. This is what you’d see: 11:30 pm: Shutting down computer after putting some finishing touches on a report. 1:00 am: Youngest child wakes up. Mom makes sure everything is okay, puts in [...]
July 3rd, 2010
Camping lesson #1: If there’s no nature, it’s not worth it
In an attempt to bring ourselves back into the camping spirit now that we have children, we bought a pop-up tent trailer this spring. I admit that we swallowed our pride when we parked it in our driveway. It really put a damper on our camping “street-cred.” Just as we defiantly swore we’d never buy a minivan just because we [...]
June 23rd, 2010
Who wears short-shorts?
Do you dare wear short-shorts? If you’re my age and can pull off short-shorts, all the power to you. If you’re a young woman with long tanned legs you want to show off, all the power to you. But please — let’s not dress our young girls in short-shorts. {click here to see why I’m such a prude about [...]
June 21st, 2010
Commercials are bad for my mental health
Lately, I have found myself watching commercials more consciously. And it seems that pretty much everything about me is simply not good enough — not my skin, my body shape, the way my house smells, or even my own role in my family. This constant barrage of criticism can’t be good for my mental health, can it? Even though I [...]
June 18th, 2010
Stuff that happened this week
I didn’t get around to posting anything on my blog this week because my husband has taken to making these beautiful after-work drinks called Brandy Lime & Soda. Mmmm… they are such a refreshing summer drink. But trust me that you will lose any desire to be productive after having one (which isn’t such a bad thing of course, but [...]
June 9th, 2010
There are some things I wish she hadn’t had to learn
For a recent grade 2 project, my daughter was to create a poster. In my era, this poster would have been along the lines of “Don’t be a Litter Bug!” or “Help Smokey the Bear and be sure to put out your campfire!” You know, that kind of thing. The title of her poster reads: “Oil Spill: Sea Animal Nightmare” [...]
May 28th, 2010
Bike safety: More than just a helmet
Keeping your children safe while biking requires more than just making sure they’re wearing a helmet. Give yourself a refresher course on bike safety.
May 24th, 2010
The Joy of Reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Bathrobe
For as long as I can remember, it’s been common for people to observe that Stella is “Daddy’s little girl.” They don’t mean that he spoils her, but rather that she just loves to do whatever he is doing. And as a result, they have now cultivated a mutual passion for the outdoors that is really beautiful. But something else [...]
May 19th, 2010
Oh, why do they have to grow up?
When I was 13, I was blessed with a baby brother. Sure, some days I wasn’t too pleased as a teenager to be sharing a home with a “terrible two,” but just like a mother of a child, you grow to love this tiny little person so crazy-fierce. Which is often how I feel about my baby brother (and the sister who followed); as [...]
