I got a little tired of ciboulette.  I needed a new theme, a fresh start, something that really reflected my life now and that wasn’t too bogged down in all of its own history.

So.  After a few false starts, I think I’ve got it.  Behold: My Joy-filled Life.

Beware: it’s non-stop sugary-coated happiness!

1. Child care.  Who knew finding good child care could be so stressful?  Um, forty million moms, that’s who.  For the most part, what we have right now is pretty good and suits us fine.  But, there are a few hiccups which I don’t know if we can overcome.

2. My job.  The first semester will be over in 2 weeks.  With that, my contract ends.   There is a possibility it will be renewed for the second semester, but there is a very good possibility that someone with higher seniority than I will take it.  There may be other jobs out there for me, there might not be.  I could be on call.  I could stay home.  The uncertainty is not killing me exactly, but gnawing at my brain to be sure.

3. My cousin.  Last year my 19-year old cousin with Cystic Fibrosis had a double lung transplant.  To all it seemed a great success, especially to her.  Her oxygen tank that had been her constant companion was banished.  Her energy levels soared!  She started to put on weight!  She delighted in such a thing as being able to shovel the driveway.  Her parents glowed.

Two days ago I heard that she has to have another double lung transplant.  The wait time seems too long.  I’m hoping against hope that it’s not.

Thinking happy thoughts:

1. Sleep in.  CHECK!
2. Coffee x2. CHECK!
3. Laze in PJs.  CHECK!
4. Get a few things done, so as not to feel like a complete sack.  CHECK!
5. Long walk down a glistening lane.  CHECK!
6. Tea and cookies.  CH–!  Wait a second, Ryan ate all three of Steph‘s delicious cookies while I was at the grocery store.
7. Tea and half-eaten nut-bar from The Garage from yesterday.  CHECK!
8. A bit of internet goodness.  CHECK!

1.  Laugh.  I laugh easily–a trait I consider one of my most positive.

2. Write.  I can write coherently with relative ease.  I didn’t really realize how valuable a skill this is until I observed those who struggle with or are insecure about their writing.  Writing is something that I don’t have to stress about too much, and for that I am grateful.  Heck!  I even enjoy doing it sometimes.

3. Eat.  Man, do I know how to eat!  I love food and find any excuse to eat more.

4. Skate.  Skating is not an essential skill–when do I need to escape from a predator over a frozen lake or demonstrate my fluency on ice in a job interview?–but it is a nice thing to have in my back pocket.  Yes, I do show off a bit when, every few years, the occasion arises because it feels so good to be comfortable on skates.  You really should try it.

5. Family. I can’t take all the credit for this one.  It helps that my family, on all three sides, is pretty much great.  But, like all relationships, it takes work to keep everyone happy.   Ryan and I are committed to staying close with all of our family–they are important to us.

6. Type.

7. Socialize.  I’m realizing more and more as I age that I am fairly good at this one.  We like having people over in large and small groups.  I like to cook for others and we delight in giving people a good time.  I think I stay in good touch with my friends by seeing them and speaking with them often because they are some of the most important people in my life and they enrich it so beautifully.

8. Sleep.  Thank goodness I am good at sleep.  The few nights in my life I have spent staring at the ceiling really gave me a window into the hell that must be insomnia.  Don’t know why, but sleep comes to me pretty easily.

9. Save.  I have always been good at saving money, just ask my mother.  Saving for a rainy day is always a good idea, although sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as saving too much.  Why not splurge every once in awhile?   So I do.  Money is just money after all, it comes in and it is spent.  There is no need to get too obsessive about it.

10.  Making lists.  Hardy-har-har.

What do you do well?

This book, by Ami McKay, was our book club selection for November (yes, I am still behind).  It has also been recently picked to be one of the five finalists for this year’s edition of Canada Reads.  It will be championed by Debbie Travis in an effort to name it the most quintessential Canadian novel of the last decade.  (Personally I am very sad The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald did not make it to the shortlist.  It is my favourite Canadian novel of the last decade.)

My response: meh.  I know, eloquent.   Really, it was an easy read, it moved along nicely and kept me somewhat interested.  There were no “wow” moments, although I found some of it intriguing and well written.  Mostly it was good, although parts felt artificial.  For example, the main character, like almost all of the other people in her small, wartime, Nova Scotian town, do not ever leave the province in their entire lives.  Yet, suddenly, she takes a trip to Boston, does a bunch a few things not important to the story line and then returns home.  That bugged me.

In any case, it was an okay book, almost good.  I actually gave it an 8/10 at our meeting, so, in hindsight, I guess I quite liked it!

Again: please hire me as your articulate book reviewer!

Great-Grandma with her little-ist charges, Charlotte and cousin Aidan.

Me and my beloved, touring the Olympic city.

Charlotte and good friend Ollie, sharing a swing.

A late summer bbq with our new good friends.

Ah.  Santa.

A slideshow of many other great moments can be found here.

8. Strawberry Fields — Marina Lewycka (book club) (not finished)
7. The Outcast — Sadie Jones (book club)
6. The Elegance of the Hedgehog — Muriel Barbery (book club)
4. (tied) Half of a Yellow Sun — C. Adichie (book club)
4. (tied) Cat’s Eye — Margaret Atwood (book club) (3rd or 4th reread)
3. The Glass Castle — Jeannette Walls
2. The Birth House — Ami McKay (book club)
1. The Book Thief — Marcus Zusak (book club)

Almost all of these books were good reads, except for Strawberry Fields, which explains why it remains unfinished. I would recommend the other seven. However, The Book Thief is in a class of its own. It is by far better than all of the other books, and if I could I would read it for the first time again and again. Amazing.

Here are a few of my previous, lengthier, book lists:
2009 2008 2007

J. heard about this restaurant from his older sister and tried to remember the address — off of Broad and Fort — by thinking of “Broadfoot,” whatever the heck that is.  “Clubfoot” made more sense to me.  We wandered lost for awhile, through the downtown, trying to locate the place.  Now I wonder how we didn’t stumble over it immediately!  And I remember looking at the pictures on the wall, of all of the celebrities who had been there and signed their pictures, praising the food and the experience.  Mel Gibson’s photo was front and centre –I think that’s one of the only thing’s that’s changed about the place.

Time travel does exist, if only for unpredictable split-seconds.

As expected, this Christmastime has been busy.  But, busy in the best kind of way. There have been grand dinners with different loved ones on at least five separate evenings.  There has been the sharing of cookies over tea while little ones tear around the house.  There have been late night chats with brothers and long distance phone calls from grandparents.  There has been one surprise birthday party for Laurie, conveniently coupled with the most delicious Indian dinner.  And there have been early mornings with Charlotte, with the usual business, of course–diapers and laundry and food prep–coupled with a bit of an unshowered laze, a housecoat cocoon. Today, Ryan and I dropped Charlotte off with her grandparents and enjoyed an afternoon out on the town: bread and pasta at Pagliacci’s and an afternoon ballet.  There’s even been a trip to Ikea!  And a bit of reading!  Gasp!

I have even managed to fit in a brunch-time coffee date with a high school friend I haven’t seen in at least 10 years.  We gabbed at The Garage about our past, our present and our future.  We spoke about high school, of course, and all-night parties which, in our crew, were always twelve-hour coffee-a-thons ending with something as bizarre as pre-dawn tennis or a David Lynch movie.  We found we could still be friends in this age of spouses and jobs and responsibilities.  She doesn’t live on the Island, but her in-laws do, so there is a possibility of seeing her again, something I look forward to.

I hope you have had a fulfilling holiday too, and I wish you all the best in 2011!

That snowman is me this Christmas.  Phew.  Between working and caring for my family it’s hard to work in the extras like decorating the house or baking some Christmas treats, nevermind shopping for gifts or–even more difficult with a toddler around–wrapping them!  Egad!

I love Christmas time for many reasons and I’m trying to jam them all in to a day with too few hours.  I like to browse shop windows, I like to roll out gingerbread and cut it into the shapes of trees and stars and little men, I like to have the tree all set up and lit every evening, I like the carols on in the background.  The browsing of shop windows this year has turned into more of a frantic scan for present ideas and then a jog to the next one.  The time spent rolling out gingerbread has been coupled–nay, tripled–with a phone on one shoulder and a runny-nosed toddler on the other.  Gift wrapping has been tucked into the incredibly small space of time between Charlotte’s bedtime and the hour at which my brain turns to mush.  Really, there’s about 5 or 10 minutes there.

But, since we got the tree up, it has been lit every evening and I have enjoyed more than a few moments with Charlotte as we gaze in wonder at this thing, tenderly touching the branches and pointing out different ornaments.  I have managed to get the carols on and then sat on the floor with Charlotte while she does her be-bop dance–a combination of arm-swinging, head-banging, and booty krumps–to O Holy Night.

It’s a new experience, being a mom at Christmas, and like all things that I do with this new title–”Mom”–I wouldn’t change it for the world.