i got my snow day

I had a 9:00 meeting this morning in a room without windows. As I was walking to the meeting it started to snow. 60 minutes later I walked out of the meeting room and saw a winter wonderland.

I walked back to my office in my west coast-issued high heels and fall jacket and got all set up to start working. Then Greg called — worried about how I was going to get home. I had driven our truck in, which is terrible in snow, and he had the CRV, which is awesome in snow. After some discussion we decided that I’d drive up to his office, work there, and we’d drive home together in the CRV, leaving the truck at his office (much better than leaving it in a parking lot downtown).

We got a call from the kids’ daycare asking us if we’d pick the kids up early so they could send their staff home before it got dark. No problem. Then we offered to pick up a friend’s son from his downtown school as they would have had to come in from Thetis Lake. So we ended up leaving work at 2:00, prepared for a bit of a trek home. It turned out to be no problem — as I said the CRV is good in the snow, and we didn’t come across any idiots. Well maybe one, but he was well ahead of us.

So. I was home by 2:45, the kids were home just after 3, and Elliot and I spent the next 90 minutes outside. I shoveled the driveway while he played in the backyard, then he hopped on the neighbour’s slide and I pulled him down to the boat park with our neighbours. Along the way we slid down a small hill together. On the way back, as we were walking up the same hill, he told me that had been his favourite part of the day, sledding down the hill with me. I asked him if he wanted to go find a good hill to toboggan on, and he was game. We headed over to the middle school and found a perfect Elliot-sized hill. Steep enough to get some speed, small enough to not get too much, and no obstructions. After two or three slides, he told me this was also a favourite part of his day.

I loved seeing how much fun he was having. And not only did he slide down on his own, he insisted on walking back up the hill, pulling the sled by himself. I actually got cold because I was doing no work, so I started running up and down the hill beside him. We headed home after about 30 minutes and I pulled him along in the sled on the road — the road was super-slick and great for running with a sled behind you. Again, he was having a great time. And so was I. My work day was cut short and I’m going to have to make up the hours at some point, but it was so worth it.

tomorrow is a new day

Concert? Check.

Dinner and games night? Check.

Dinner and birthday party? Check.

Baby shower? Check.

And now I’m exhausted. There is no possible way I could keep this pace up and be a reasonable mother to my kids. I had NO patience today and that was reflected in my parenting. I think I made both kids cry at least three times each. And I was only with them for about half the day.

On the plus side, all the activities were lots of fun, I just can’t pack them all in to a 72 hour period. I’m too old.

depressing topic

A friend of mine lost a friend of hers a couple of weeks ago. He was married with two kids aged five and seven, and he died of a sudden, massive heart attack. He was 44 years old.

I’ve never met this man, but as I spoke to my friend about his death I broke out in tears. There are so many people affected by this. His wife, his relatives, who live out of the country and haven’t seen him in years, and his co-workers and friends who greatly respected him. But what I can’t stop thinking about is his children. His children will likely not remember him. Not as a person. Not as a father. Only as a picture and a handful of vague memories. And that breaks my heart. When I go to that dark place and imagine myself dying young, that is what I panic about. That my kids will not know me. That they wouldn’t know what I liked, what I disliked, what made me smile, how much I loved them.

It is one of the reasons I am glad I blog. It’s not much, but regardless of when I leave this world, my children will always have at least a small, personal part of me to keep.

snow day

It’s about 11:30 pm and the snow is falling. I’m crossing my fingers that it will stick for a few hours in the morning so we can go outside and play with the kids. As Elliot said: “I’m so ‘cited”. I am too. I’ve never lived in a place that got lots of snow, apart from my first year of university in Quebec, and I truly think I would love it. Of course, those of you who have been through it and now live here probably think I’m ignorant, or at least nuts, and perhaps you are right.

For now, I’ll just enjoy looking out the window, and the first thing I’ll do when I wake up tomorrow morning is check to see if any of it stuck around. And then I’ll get my boots on.

what I did tonight

Sitting at Hermann’s Jazz Club waiting for Wil to start playing. It’s our first time here and it’s not what we expected. Full-on restaurant, tables, chairs. Too bad we had a big sushi dinner already. We’re hoping a server will appear eventually so we can put in a drink order.

I can’t publish this now as Greg’s “smart” phone can’t get a data signal. I’ll post after the show.

————

Taking a short break. Wow. Endearingly unpolished. Modest. Funny. Talented. Accessible. Personable. And absolutely awesome. We are loving it. Very happy that I am sharing this night with Greg.

————

Home now, after one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. And within minutes of him finishing I was able to walk up to him and shake his hand to thank him. Talk about intimate.

moods

It’s funny how quickly your mood can turn around (both for the good and the bad). Elliot had a major meltdown earlier this evening, the first of it’s magnitude in a long while, thankfully, and that started my downward spiral. Then both kids were kind of off until we sat down for dinner. And then there’s the usual getting them to bed, kitchen clean up and lunch making that needs to be done…none of which I felt like doing. Then I snapped at Greg a few times, because hey, he sure deserves it. And that always makes me feel GREAT after the fact.

So I sat down at the computer to do my daily blog post (something else I really felt like doing), and as soon as I logged in I got an IM from my wonderful friend Beth telling me that “Movember” 18th has been declared “Have Sex With A Guy With A Mustache Day”. And it made me laugh. And that’s all it took. I’m no longer in a pissy mood.

Thanks, Beth. 🙂

my love affair with food

I had lunch today at Pigdog, Pig’s latest venture. As my co-worker and I were walking back to the office we were talking a bit about our enjoyment of food. I have to admit, my life is enriched by the food I eat. I can remember specific meals in my life (like the outstanding maple pork roast I made last month, and the amazing meal I had at a winery in NZ almost two years ago) and often my mood will improve during the day if I remember we’re having something particularly good for dinner.

Along with appreciating the taste, I can put back a fair bit of it too. Thankfully I have a metabolism that supports this (and in my own defense I DO exercise, occasionally). I’ve been asked by a restaurant servers, on more than one occasion, if I really want to order as much food as I’ve just ordered. Yes, I do, and I’m going to eat it all, thank you very much for your opinion. Now go make my food!

I’m not sure if the love of food is a learned character trait or if you are born that way. I come from a family that appreciates good food, so I have certainly been supported in my journey. And thankfully I married a husband who is of like mind. It makes eating out fun.

And now I’m starving.

live in the moment, and a bit beyond

My mood improves immensely when I have something to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be much, just something a bit out of the ordinary. And I’ve got lots to look forward to over the next week or so:

– a concert with Greg
– a games night with another couple
– dinner out with another couple and an adult birthday party after that
– The Wizard of Oz with a good friend and her two teenage girls

I’ll fully admit that these are all non-young-children events and that’s part of why I’m looking forward to them. It’s nice to get a break, and it’s definitely nice to connect with my husband without the kids around.

This also means I may have some blog material…a nice side effect.

supportive older brother

It’s very windy out right now — the house is shaking — and the kids have just gone to bed.

After a particularly big gust:

Amy: Wind ‘cares me Mum.

Me: It’s just wind Amy. It’ll blow the trees around and there will be lots of leaves on the ground in the morning.

Elliot, calling very cheerfully from his room: You like leaves, don’t you Amy?