Fall Interlude

Things have felt so hectic lately around this house although nothing out of the ordinary has really been happening. Thank you for your comments so far on my design dilemma. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head and would love to add some more ideas to the mix.

I am truly too worn out for any thing more today, so here are a couple of shots of the fall we have been enjoying on our new porch.

Desana is always trying to make a run for it, but if she goes off the porch unaccompanied that means we go inside right away (and the whole street hears the tantrum - hi neighbours!)

I haven't mentioned this lately (because I didn't want to test my luck?!) but this little munchkin has been doing pretty damn good with the toilet training. She's in panties all day now, usually manages without no accidents. I gave up trying with the potty but when I moved the baby gate back past the bathroom door she started showing interest in using the toilet - and it seems that being a 'big girl' who goes on the toilet has been motivation enough! Maybe at this rate I will avoid having the three year old girl who isn't toilet trained.

I like... 31 Days

October is going to be a great month for blog readers and I just had to share. It's a little funny for me to say this since it hasn't even started yet, but I LOVE the concept behind this! A lot of you have probably already heard about this, but if not I'm telling you about it now. Eight lovely lady bloggers have all made a commitment to blog for the 31 days of October about a specific topic. I think that there is probably a little something for everyone in this group.  

• 31 Days to Stress-Free Entertaining from Sandy at The Reluctant Entertainer
• 31 Days to a Better Photo from Darcy at Life With My 3 Boybarians
• 31 Days to More with Less from Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• 31 Days of Autumn Bliss from Melissa at The Inspired Room
• 31 Days of Living Simply from Emily at Remodeling This Life
• 31 Days to an Inspired Table from Kendra at My First Kitchen
• 31 Days to a Less Messy Nest from The Nester at Nesting Place
• 31 Days of Grace from Emily at Chatting at the Sky

Although I will probably check out all of the above I am most interested in:

  

You can read more about this over at the Nesting Place.

Which blogs do you think you will be checking out?

The generousity of strangers

This morning I spent a few hours with my best friend. That's always a recharge for me (hopefully not too much of a drain for her) as I get to talk to someone who 'gets' it. I'm not entirely comfortable with telling everyone when I am struggling with depression, because the reality is that I struggle a lot! I try to put on a brave face and she has told me in the past that once I start complaining about something, it must be bad. It's just nice to have someone to complain to!

I'm feeling grateful today because one of the things I put out in the universe has come back to me, in this case I've received much more than I gave! Back during the free giveaway weekend I decided to put out several bags of baby/toddler girls clothes since although I had been trying to sell them on kijiji, they weren't moving. A lady from down the street came by and picked them up. Since then my Mother-In-Law picked up some secondhand clothes for Desana while she was on vacation, and today Shawna brought over TONS of clothes that she was given by another friend. She sorted through and chose what she wanted, then I went through and picked what I wanted, and there were still enough clothes left to go to another family.

I feel so grateful because Desana is outgrowing everything again, and it's nice for Freya to have a few pieces that are 'new' to us. It also helps me look at what we have with a new eye. Reality is, unless you only do your laundry every two or three weeks, your child probably doesn't need two dozen short sleeved shirts, two dozen long sleeved shirts and two dozen pairs of pants. It's a difficult concept for us to grasp these days, but a person can get by with only a few pieces of clothing.

Don't the experts say we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time? I think that probably applies to children's clothes as well. I know I have my favorites, the colors I love or love to see them in, the pieces I find particularly adorable. So many things just get passed over, but there they sit hanging in the closet, or buried in the back of the dresser drawer when they could be used by another family, another child.

Something to consider. Are you struggling to find clothes for your kids to wear just because there's way too much in their closet? Pay it forward. Although I always appreciate receiving new clothes for the girls, I honestly prefer to receive hand-me-downs or buy second hand because it is such a huge saving, and the little money I do have or receive could be put towards other things. My kids don't wear rags, but they don't wear princess dresses all day long either and that's just fine.


Image source: Nanagyei

Design Dilemma: Dining Room

Brace yourself, this isn't pretty. We moved in to this place in July 2004, that's - count 'em -

1 2 3 4 5 6 whole years ago.

Unfortunately it's not a joke, the now shot really is the most cringe worthy of the two. Then is how the previous owners had the dining room set-up for viewing when the place was for sale. It was obvious the area was small as they angled the table to comfortably fit four chairs, but until you're actually living in and using a space you just don't get it.

If you think you can bare it (just remember, it's my house, not yours! you can close your browser and it all goes away) here's some more of the gruesomeness.

We've made a whole lot of nadda worth of improvements to this particular little area of the house. Well, we removed the yucky fake plastic baseboard the previous owners installed, that stuff came unglued when the vacuum cleaner bumped in to it, and now our toddler is gradually dismantling it in the rest of the house. I literally gave birth to Desana in this little area of the house, then about a week later Matt built, assembled and placed his fishtank stand (which almost three years later he has yet to complete...). Frankly, I think because Desana was exposed to the sound of power tools at work as a newborn that is the reason why she can sleep through anything, whereas Freya wakes up when the cat meows, or I step away from the crib. But I digress...

It's bad people. It's real bad. Orange is right at the top of my list of least favorite colors (that's a rather short list too). Chocolate brown was the main color in the living area when we first moved in, but as I think I've mentioned previously, after living with it for so many years I'm over it. This little corner has escaped my paint brush for now.

The fish tank(s). One the one hand I support my husband in having a hobby (fish keeping... fish keepery? fishery? fish husbandry?!), but on the other, I'm a homemaker and this monstrousity just ain't doing it for me. If it was complete maybe I could get over it, but it takes up probably about 1/4 of the space in the area, and it's ugly. Worse than that, it's fugly.

As for the furniture, well, the reality is we have different requirements than the previous owners had. They were married without kids, whereas we have two. Kids come with certain needs such as somewhere to sit to eat. That means a high chair. We've never had an abundance of money so our dining room 'set' is a hand-me-down table from Matt's cousin, and I'm fairly sure the three chairs (did we ever have a fourth? where'd it go?!) are hand-me-downs from Matt's old church.

There is but one redeeming feature to this little area, and that is the gorgeous framed picture of the Bogey Hole in my hometown of Newcastle. We swam there in the days leading up to our wedding, and afterwards, and when my Mum and her partner flew over to visit us before Desana was born, Mum brought the picture with her.

I have a great lack of pictures of home in my house, but this is a lovely one.

Ok, so there you have it. It's terrible, and I need your help. Please comment and share any thoughts or suggestions you might have for me, and I'll follow up with some things I have in mind... and maybe even implement some of what you suggest.

Help me dear reader, you're my only hope! ;)

Who is up for some design brainstorming?

Anyone up for brainstorming some creative solutions to my design dilemna? I'm thinking of blogging about it tomorrow, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this clue...

Those of you who have actually seen or been to my house before will know what this is. Yes, it's bad... I can't stand looking at it any longer!

Triple Chocolate Muffins

Yesterday I whipped up a batch of these chocolate muffins, thus bringing to life my fifth revision of the recipe. They are pretty yummy now, but as with everything in life there is always room for improvement!

Triple Chocolate Muffins (Makes 6-12*)

Ingredients

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup baking butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray the muffin tray with cooking spray.
2. Melt the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of butter together in a small saucepan over low heat, mixing regularly. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
3. In a small bowl lightly beat the eggs. To the eggs add the chocolate-butter mixture and mix with milk, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until well combined.
4. In a large bowl, stir together flour, soda, salt and cocoa. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the remaining cup of chocolate chips. Spoon batter in to the muffin tray.
5. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick or fork inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tray from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before placing muffins on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cooled.

*Yesterday the batch I made was 10 small-regular sized muffins. You could probably make 6 large muffins and bake them for an additional 5 minutes, or make 12 small muffins and bake them for 15-20 minutes. Just remember the smaller the muffin the less cooking time, and vice versa.I like to convert my bread and muffin recipes to mini-muffins as they are a great snack size for kids, and the cooking time for them is significantly less.

My preference is to eat the muffins fresh out of the oven while the chocolate is all melted, or to reheat them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. I do the majority of my baking using whole-wheat flour, which hardly makes up for the pure chocolate wickedness of this recipe but I thought it was worth mentioning. ;)

I would LOVE to hear if you try my recipe and any suggestions or changes that you made!

P.S. I will still hopefully find the time to share my design dilemma with you, if not today then definitely tomorrow.

Something Borrowed: Body Type - Typographical Tattoos

I've been fascinated by tattoos for longer than I can remember. My love of typography goes back to my teenage years when I had an online diary thats design contained a mix of lines from songs that expressed who I was at the time. It was an expressive and personally intriguing art form that has appealed to me ever since.

With the growing cultural acceptance of tattoos so has my interest grown in permanently recording something that may be otherwise invisible to the naked eye. When I stumbled across the book Body Type by Ina Saltz I added it to my huge list of book requests from our local library, and it came in a few days later.

It is filled with pictures of text tattoos and little descriptions on the stories behind them. One thing I realised as I looked through it was that although I've considered getting various tattoos I've always been more focused on the image or words than what font would be used. I definitely have some decided tastes about that now.

I have three tattoos concepts in mind now, with as yet no actual drawing to accompany them.

• A tattoo that symbolises my dual Australian and Canadian citizenship (once I become a Canadian citizen). My initial idea was to get a tattoo in the shape of Australia with Tasmania being in the shape of a maple leaf.
• A tattoo that symbolises me as a mother, something inbetween the national breastfeeding symbol and venus of willendorf.
• A tattoo that is much like this blog, a quote on Happiness. I haven't decided on the specific words yet.

I used to enjoy watching shows like Miami Ink and LA Ink, but lately LA Ink seems to be more about the interpersonal drama with less focus on the tattoo art form and the stories of the people receiving them. Gotta love scripted 'reality' tv!

How about you? Is getting a tattoo something you would ever consider, or do you already have one?

A Day at the Zoo

Over Matt's holidays we took one day to head to the zoo with the girls. It seemed like a chilly day but with all the walking around it ended up quite warm!

Desana was most excited about the lions and kept asking to go see them again for days afterwards. "See lions today?"

Since I've started blogging regularly, everything seems like a photo opportunity.

After getting over her initial fear of the slide Desana loved it. Matt tried to sneak her past another slide later on but she wasn't having it! "Whee!"

Despite the majority of the zoo being closed to the public due to renovations, it was a nice day out. It's a lovely walk through with the kids, we only wish we lived closer!

Surviving severe morning sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum)

Before I share my tips and suggestions with you, let me give you a little bit of background story on my experiences.

Unless you have suffered from severe morning sickness, or Hyperemesis Gravidarum, it might be difficult to imagine what would lead any woman, let alone a woman who has struggled with infertility for years to consider terminating a pregnancy. Having been that woman I can see how it is possible.

With both my girls I suffered pretty severe morning sickness. With Desana I probably should have been hospitalized, but at the time I was still going through the immigration process of getting my Permanent Residence in Canada, therefore I had no medical coverage. A stay in the hospital would have cost us thousands of dollars. One day I was fine, then the next day I woke up and that was it. When the morning sickness peaked at about 9 weeks I remember laying in bed and wishing that either myself or the baby would die. I’d never felt so sick in my entire life. I've heard it compared to suffering from food poisoning - that lasts for weeks or months. I spent all day every day being violently ill. I spent months in bed or just lying on the couch watching television with a bucket on the floor next to me. I would have to guzzle down water between heaves to keep from dry heaving or throwing up bile. I lost 18 lbs. The morning sickness finally lessened at around 16 weeks.

Now I do of course love Desana to pieces, but the experience left me feeling very worried about what would happen during my next pregnancy, especially as I knew I would be working. One of the first symptoms that I was pregnant with Freya was sudden nausea one evening when I was about a week past ovulation (three weeks pregnant). Within three days I just knew, and tested for confirmation. The next morning I called my midwife and told her right away, so that if I needed medication to deal with the morning sickness I would be able to get it.

At four weeks even the morning sickness started. I spent one day being violently ill and I knew that if that kept up I would not be able to work. I think Matt had somehow forgotten what it was like when I was pregnant with Desana, because he told me if being pregnant made me that sick we were done having kids. Thankfully that was the only day I was that extremely ill and from then on I was able to be sick before my morning bus ride, hold it for the 20-30 minutes then be sick at work. Over and over again! To this day I have no idea how they didn’t figure out I was pregnant until I told them! With Freya I lost 13lbs. The morning sickness peaked at about 15 weeks, lasted until about 20 weeks then lessened to where I was only sick about 3 times a week, not 5+ times a day for the duration of the pregnancy. It was less violent than with Desana, but much longer lasting.

Now that you've read my 'credentials', let's move on to the part where maybe I can help someone out there. Taking note that I’ve not yet used medication for dealing with morning sickness, I do not believe that there are any absolute cures. However, there are a number of things that can help.

Here is what helped me.

• Ginger tea – Stock up! The morning after I found out I was pregnant with Freya I went straight to a health food store and bought a few boxes of ginger tea. Ginger tea is good for motion sickness and morning sickness. It helps settle the stomach. Also ginger cookies or ginger flavored hard candy if you can find any. The best thing about the tea is that it’s not unusual for anyone to drink tea, so if you’re drinking it around other people they aren’t automatically going to jump to the conclusion that you are pregnant. Interestingly enough my doula made me some ginger tea during my labour with Freya once I started feeling nauseated during transition. She gave me sips from a spoon in-between contractions and I ended up avoiding being sick.

• Saltines – Tried and true, they really do work. I had them stashed everywhere – my bedside table, purse, desk drawer. The only disadvantage being that they make lots of crumbs – both my work desk and my bed ended up filled with them! But that’s preferable to the alternative.

• Hard candy – Having candy to suck on is a big help. I’ve heard people suggest a peppermint flavor. However I do not recommend choosing a type of candy or flavor that you already love because you are going to associate that flavor with morning sickness for the rest of your life. Trust me, and no thank you but I’ll pass on the strawberry campinos!

• Sea-Bands – These are wrist bands that you put over an acupressure point on your wrists and it is supposed to lessen nausea, dizziness or morning sickness. The only difficulty with these is that since they are worn on your wrists, it is not at all discreet. Depending on what season it is when you are experiencing morning sickness you may be able to wear long sleeves to hide them. I only wore them for a short time because they are so tight that I would end up with bruises by the end of the day. However, once you find the pressure point you can apply pressure to it yourself. During my first labour my midwife did so and it helped relieve the feeling of sickness.

• Eat frequent small meals – Literally graze all day. As a pregnant woman your appetite is all over the place. For me personally I could go from being fine one minute to ravenously hungry the next. If I let myself reach the point where I felt that hungry, I would be sick. Keep lots of small healthy snacks handy so you can avoid reaching that point.

• Avoid your trigger smells/foods and have your love ones avoid them too – With Desana it was meat, specifically pork & sausages, with Freya it was red onions, and non-specific meats. On a related topic, avoid acidic spicy or citrus foods i
  f you struggle with heartburn during pregnancy. Or if you crave them like I did, drink as many glasses of milk as it takes to keep the heartburn at bay!

• Wear versatile layers of clothing so you can remove layers when you get too hot, or bundle up when you are cold. Heat was an extreme trigger during my last pregnancy. Having to ride the buses in early winter, with the heat blasting and a heavy jacket for outside, I nearly fainted on several occasions and was very sick afterwards.

• Get lots of sleep – Easier said than done, especially if you already have little ones. The best thing you can do is give your body the extra rest it needs. I know by the end of your pregnancy you feel like you aren’t getting any rest at all, but do your best.

The Help HER - Hyperemesis Education Research website is an amazing resource. If you think you may be suffering from HG, please speak with your caregiver. Do not suffer in silence. If your caregiver dismisses your concerns, seek out another opinion or head to an E.R.

Storage solutions: Hidden shelving

Back at the start of the month Matt had a couple of weeks of holidays. It rained and rained and rained so that pretty much canceled the idea of getting anything done outside. Happily for me that meant that some inside projects got done! That included adding shelving to an underutilized corner of the closet in the girls room.

Since we only have the two bedrooms, and now the two kids, storage is at a premium. I have a fairly low tolerance for having toys everywhere, so I wanted to be able to designate a set area for the toys, which would also help us set a limit on just how many toys they can have. If they outgrow the space, some toys need to be passed along to other children. This can also help us work on the one-in one-out rule.

I felt this was the perfect place to put in some shelving. They are at just the right height for Desana to be able to reach everything, and the exact depth to be able to fit the photoboxes that I use as toy boxes! Plus at the end of the day I can just pull the curtains shut and everything is out of sight.

It's kind of cute, sometimes Desana sits in there and plays with everything! When she wants to play with something from one of the boxes she can bring them out to the living room.

Were you wondering what is kept in the boxes?

• O.R.E. Originals Bath Learning Shapes, we don't use them as bath toys but they are great for Desana as she learns her letters and numbers. She loves lining them up and building towers with them, so they are quite versatile
• A variety of HABA and Plan wooden blocks - stacking blocks, mixed shapes and colors, sensory blocks - literally hours of entertainment building things, learning shapes and colors
• Mr. Potato head. I wasn't a big fan of this toy initially because of all the pieces, but being able to keep it all in one box sure helps. Desana loves making crazy monsters!
• Green Toys - Tea Set - I can't tell you how excited I was to get Desana her first tea set! We have lots of fun imaginary play with these toys.

I have another basket on the dresser in the girls room, and two baskets in the living room that hold the toys that are being played with out here the most often. I'm setting that as the limit, and with birthdays and Christmas rapidly approaching we'll have to figure out if they really need anything, and what those things might be.

Now I just need to find a few more out of sight places to add some shelving to!

DIY Dry Erase Glass

A couple of weeks ago Winnipeg had the twice yearly giveaway weekend when you put all the stuff you want to give away for free out on the boulevard and people can come by and take what they like. I put tons of stuff out! While I was searching in the deep dark corners of the basement I came across a sheet of glass that I believe used to cover a fishtank canopy. I held on to it because although I didn't have a use for it at the time, I knew that I could do something with it. It didn't take long for me to figure what that something was.

Matt recently bought a set of giant toolboxes and he's keeping them in the corner just outside our bedroom door. Yeah, let's not even go there today! On one of the walls in the corner the previous owners left behind a wavy ikea mirror. With the toolbox being there you can barely see it anymore so it's kind of redundant. But I realised the four screws and plastic holders that held the mirror to wall would be perfect to hang the sheet of glass in the bathroom, and turn it in to a dry-erase message board.

I figured above the toilet would be a good place to put it, firstly to replace the shelf that used to be there, and secondly since it is a room that gets used multiple times a day it'd be a fun place to leave messages, quotes or reminders.

In typical Amy style I made a bit of a mess hanging it up but I'm ok with not being perfect! There used to be a hanging shelf there but it fell and broke one day when I was dusting it. There were two big holes in the wall, and not knowing where the proper stuff was to fill the holes, I improvised with diaper cream! I know, that's pretty out there.

Perfect for leaving inappropriate messages for your significant other.

Or super lame messages....

Or maybe just a little something sweet.

To get a more finished look I could put some pretty paper backing behind the glass. Also discover how to alter my handwriting at the advanced age of 26. Some things to consider for another day!

What have you re-purposed in your home lately?

I am participating in:

Wherefore art thou, alone time?

I need more time to myself. People often ask mother's about their kids sleeping habits. People are always pretty astonished when I tell them my kids, in general, don't nap. Sure Freya does but because of Desana running around I can't put her down in their room, so she usually naps in my arms or on the couch next to me. Desana only naps if she's incredibly tired, but we're working on the concept of quiet time. 

I'm the kind of mother that will put up with the kids destroying a room out of sight, for a few minutes to myself. That kind of patience is not necessarily a good trait.

Freya is napping at the other end of the couch, secured by a big ol' pillow with a blanket over her. Suspicious noises are coming from the girls room where Desana is. I guess this is as close as it gets to peaceful.

So, Autumn is here. I was feeling pretty grumpy about it but now I guess I'm starting to embrace it. Across the street there is a large tree that is doing the whole autumn colors and falling leaves thing. It's neat to look at. It puts me in the mood for hot chocolate and snuggling under a blanket. I've also decided that I will most definitely be making pumpkin soup this year, regardless of Matt's not liking the texture (pffft). Yes, I will be sure to share both pictures and recipe when I make the soup. :)

Five minutes of alone time, then Desana came out naked and covered in you-know-what, and Freya heard her and woke up with a wail and 'Mama!'. Such is life. :)

Oh, you know another fabulous thing you can do in the fall or winter? Make apple cider using the epicure spices! It makes your house smell so wonderful. Though sometimes I sprinkle a little cinnamon in to a pot and set the water to boiling for a few minutes to replicate the smell. 

Did you see the ball in the tree? I don't think it's coming down until the tree does.

When I was up last night between 4:30am-5:30am nursing kiddo #2 I was doing some browsing and came across this:

 

I had been thinking of doing something with post-its since I found a downloadable photoshop brush, but as seems to often be the case these days, no original ideas here! It seems like most of the people who link up for 'PINT' write their whole posts in post-it style. Not my style. Post its are for LISTS people! Or things you jot down quickly or for reference. Anyhow, here's my post it, in my style.

Rainbow Bookcase

Recently I was inspired by my new blogging friend Kelly's post on Bookshelf Styling. Now she's probably going to think I am a crazy stalker, but moving on...

In the ongoing saga of finishing the master bedroom, one of the last things I had left to do was put all the books back on the recently relocated bookcase. You may remember that about this time last month I blogged about a few features of our work-in-progress master bedroom.

Since then I swapped the short dresser with the tall one from the girls room, which left the bookcase part homeless because there was no way that was going in their room.

So to my side of the bed it went. Once again this is probably one of those tasks best tackled when not accompanied by a getting-in-to-everything toddler or a baby who is pulling up on everything, but what can you do?

So while Desana continued her maniacal plan of driving me crazy by playing with three electric tooth brushes at once (the day after she kept me up until 3am that was working very well), and Freya risked bodily harm by pulling up on the bookcase, I was very happy when Matt came home from work sick. Happy for me, not for him! At first glance he informed me I was going about it the wrong way (he was right), there was indeed not enough room for the tallest books on the top shelf, and I had to switch some things around. But temporarily child-free I got it done.

Being completely frank here, I am not sure anyone would even notice that the books were sorted by color unless it was pointed out. I wonder if this look is best achieved on a much larger scale or with the inclusion of fake book jackets created with bright colors in mind.

But anyhow, here it is. I want to sort the color sections a little bit more so there is a consistency in height, but from top to bottom here is how it goes (in case it's not obvious): Blue, Green, Yellow/Cream, Black, Grey, White, Purple, Pink, Orange, Red, Brown. Or close enough! What most surprised me was just how many of the books had black or white spines!

Now be honest, you are squinting at the picture and trying to read some of the book titles, aren't you?!

Sticking with the theme of working with what you have, and finding or creating beauty from the ordinary, I believe this fits right in. If nothing else I get a little satisfaction from seeing the pretty colors next to my bed.

Something New: Fashion Tees

Wednesday night was girls night out with my best friend Shawna. She was heading out of town first thing the next morning but chose to spend her evening hanging out with me instead of worrying about packing - aw! We hit up the local mall (a world of excitement! - no, not really) and spent some time browsing, and a little bit of time buying. 

My favorite clothing store Ricki's just opened up a new store called Ricki's - Revolution. The concept behind it is that the Revolution store has more casual clothing while Ricki's is geared more towards business wear. I'm quite familiar with the clothing that Ricki's carries, and frankly I didn't really see that much of a difference between the stock in the two stores, except perhaps Revolution's options were slightly more trendy. 

 Since I'm on maternity leave right now I'm more focused on casual wear than business war. Ricki's has what I think is a great range of Fashion Tees. I think plain tees are just a bit boring, so I love their tees with prints on them! I imagine in a few years they might be considered so this decade, but I love them for now! 

They were selling them for $18.50 each or two for $29.50 (plus taxes - so roughly $33). I already know my Ricki's size so with Shawna's opinion on what color to purchase, I picked up a purple tee, of course, and a red tee.

What I love about them is that they are just a bit more interesting than plain tees. Also I love their fit, they are figure flattering without being too tight.

My commitment at the start of summer to not buy new bottoms until I hit a certain magic number still stands. As a result my jeans are incredibly baggy, but I'm sticking with it. Also, headless pictures because I snapped them not long after waking up and my face is not presentable!

 So there you have it, that's my something new. Since I'm not really in the position to be buying lots of things new right now I might not always have a new item to show you so much as a new habit. We shall see. 

What's new with you?

In my dreams

Image source: Barbara Cannela

1pm. We just enjoyed a good lunch and the girls are down for their afternoon nap. I clean up the kitchen dishes, check on what is for dinner then settle down in front of the computer to do some catch-up work on my blogging e-course. Then I read some blogs, answer some e-mails and make some progress on some projects that have been in the works for way too long.

It's 8pm. Both kids are sound asleep in their room. I snuggle under a comfy blanket on the couch, sipping from my large mug of hot chocolate and enjoying a cookie or two. The perfect time to catch up on some pre-recorded tv or immerse myself in a good book that deserves my complete attention.

It's any darn time I feel like it. I get to close the bathroom door, turn on the fan for some noise and take a long luxurious pampering shower with no knock on the door, no distantly heard screaming or wailing.

Uninterrupted.

It's... a few months from now? Freya is easily walking and able to express herself enough to clearly indicate her wants and needs. The girls play happily with each other, easily entertained and safe to leave alone for more than a few minutes at a time.

In my dreams people, in my dreams.

A few months back as I started therapy, I started investigating who I was as a person, and what it was I was interested in, independent of the mother and wife gig. I asked an online group of women who I consider close friends, what it is they do that is a hobby. Almost without exception, they replied they don't have time for hobbies, motherhood is all consuming (my words, not theirs).

Motherhood is not an easy gig. If they warn you of that before you are a mother, you don't believe them. Or you do, but until it happens, you can't really comprehend it. You are on call 24/7. If you don't place priority on maintaining some sense of self, apart from your external roles, it can all get very overwhelming.

Desana has been waking up before me, and since she can open doors now even with the kid lock on, she gets in to all kinds of trouble. Recently I had put some teabags out on the counter in a nice little container to remind myself to take the time to enjoy some tea once in awhile. I no longer had the package and didn't know what flavour it was but the scent reminded me of roses and was absolutely divine.

That was until Desana made some for me.

Ingredients: 1 unsupervised two year old

two dozen teabags

glass cup

tap water

dishwashing liquid

Yum yum yum!

Reality is that it is 2:15 am and I am only awake because Desana is. Apparently midnight is morning in her books. I tried everything to get her to sleep but everytime she heard our door close she started wailing. So I took Freya out of our bed so there was no risk of her falling off with only Matt being there, and we've been hanging out ever since. Freya is still asleep, Desana is not. Me? I could be. Oh how I could.

I figured I owed you a blog post anyway. Wish me a sleep-in! I'm going to need it.

Blog Button

For those of my readers who are fellow bloggers I thought I would draw your attention to a new addition to my blog sidebar, a blog button! Please feel free to stick it on your blog if you'd like to share my blog with your readers.

As well as being a permanent feature of my sidebar I'm embedding it in this post for you to be able to see it right away.  Here it is!

<a href="http://www.journeymum.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b480/journeymum/journeymum_120x120.jpg" border="0" alt="Journey Mum" /></a>

Thank you for continuing to support and read my blog, your comments mean so much to me.

Happiness, in a corner

The master bedroom is the one room in the house that I put most of my effort in to keeping tidy (if not clean). Since it is where we retreat to at the end of the day, I believe it should be a retreat! I'm also trying to be more aware of my needs and looking after me. Having that room to retreat to is very important.

Changes continue to be ongoing! Because we have the king size bed the room is a tiny bit crowded. I mentioned before that we had the long dresser on Matt's side of the bed, and how a tall dresser would be nice. While I was playing around with reorganising the girls room I came to the startling realisation that we had a tall dresser already! So I moved our long dresser in to the girls room, and their tall one in to ours.

The dresser is a hand-me-down and needs a little TLC, but it works. Moving it in to the room also spurred me on to two other little projects that I'd been procrastinating. The second Uppercase Living quote and the earring organiser.

"Happiness is a journey", being both the theme behind this blog and the words I like to remember as I go about my day I thought it was only appropriate that it be one of the first things I see in the morning, and the last thing at night.

You might get the idea that I like purple. You would be correct! The earring organiser is another little present from my Mum. She has one on her gorgeous dressing table in Australia. I won't even tell you how long it took me to figure out how to put the earring holder and its stand together. It's too humiliating.

I've never been to the house my Mum is currently living in, as she and her partner moved after I had relocated to Canada. I always think of them as living in the last house that I saw them at. Recently Mum had her partner take pictures of EVERYTHING, so now I have a better idea of where she is when I'm talking with her. My Grandmother is literally the only close family member who hasn't moved since I left the country. It makes me sad that everyone else has because I like to be able to visualise where everyone is. I'm glad I know where my Nan is!

Mum lives in a rented house but she's really made it hers with all the furnishings and decorations. She has such beautiful things. She told me it's because she's SO OLD. Pfffft. I'm on a quest to get her blogging too because I think she has a lot to contribute in terms of her design aesthetic, the things she likes and enjoys, her life perspective... we shall see. I'm sure based on the picture above that some of my readers might like to see more. Should she write a guest post? Anyone?

Back to me!

I consulted with Matt over whether to put the quote here or by the door, and this was his recommendation. Happily he says it looks good! I do feel a little sorry for him with all the girly stuff about. Maybe he should start wearing necklaces? Then again, maybe not. :)

Speaking of necklaces, here's one last thing for you. You might remember this post, Artful necklace display. After my friend Shawna read it she cracked open a brand new package of beautiful Ikea coathangers, and she gave me one!

My necklaces now look even more lovely.

You might think from all my posts about jewelry that I am really really into it. I am actually not at all. I'm a fairly clumsy person by nature and find it very easy to break jewelry. Fact is that most of the stuff I've posted about used to be hidden away in boxes in the cupboard under the bathroom sink. But I think that everything is so pretty, it's nice to have it out on display. It adds a little brightness to my day (especially since I don't have any flowers around!) and I think I will appreciate the splashes of color that much more once we are hit with the fabulous never-ending winter that's coming our way.

Oh Canada, indeed.

How to be Happy (when you are not)

Living with depression (for me) is like permanently suffering from PMS. When things go wrong my emotions can spiral wildly out of control. I am in a place now where I can recognise this. I put myself in 'time out' and spend a few minutes acknowledging the feelings, then grounding myself. Things are never as bad as they seem, once you put things in perspective.

These points are all personal to me, but perhaps you can find some way to relate them to your life.

1. My maternity leave is up in three months. I have three more months at home with my beautiful girls. Three months is a very long time. Imagine if someone told you they were going on vacation to a beautiful island for three months. Three months!

2. I have a job waiting for me to go back to after my maternity leave is up.I have a job when many people do not. A job that I do well, and am paid well for doing. I am paid well, when many people are not.

3. I am overweight. I have more than enough food in my house to maintain and gain weight (should I chose to).

4. My clothes are falling off me. My clothes are falling off me! That means I've lost a significant amount of weight.

5. Sometimes I feel really smothered by the 'clutter' in my house and I just can't stand it. I have been blessed with enough money to buy things I no longer need or have room for, and with friends and family who think of me. In turn, I can bless others with these things.

So you see, even though there are a whole lot of things I could feel unhappy about (you better believe there are more than 5), if I think about it, maybe the things that are troubling me are really blessings in disguise.

I am not a naturally optimistic person (although I married one), and I have a tendency to think of the worse case scenario for any given situation. I am however a work in progress. Life is a whole lot more enjoyable when you chose to see the things you've got going for you.

It turns out life is pretty damn short... and I'd rather it be sweet.

(image: Sterlic)

Something Old: Nanna Cannon's Recipe Book

When I moved to Canada in early 2004, I left behind in Australia all of my worldly possessions except for the clothing I brought with me. In December 2007 I received all the boxes of the things I'd packed almost 4 years before. I was roughly 37 weeks pregnant with Desana so unpacking boxes wasn't at the top of my priority list. Now after the birth of my second child I'm finally getting around to really unpacking and looking through everything.

My rule is to look at and deal with just one box at a time, that way it (hopefully) won't become too overwhelming. It is amazing the things you forget about when you haven't seen them in over 6 years. It is amazing how much the sentimental part of me tries to cling on to those things despite my inability to remember their significance or who gave them to me.

The last box I sorted through was a book box. Lots of books from my childhood and teenage years. I had a very difficult time sorting through it because on the one hand, these were books that I loved enough to decide to keep when I packed everything up and sold the rest. On the other hand I don't remember most of the plots and can't see myself re-reading them since I've decided life is too short to waste on bad books. What to do, what to do...

I did find a few treasures, one a published recipe book filled with many of the foods I grew up eating (and haven't had in years since they aren't made in Canada) and the other a handwritten recipe book by my Great Grandmother, Nanna Cannon. For the first five or so years of my life my Great Grandparents were living in Tamworth (which is, I believe where both my Grandmother and my Mum were born).

I have quite a few mental snapshots of memories of the time we spent in Tamworth when I was about five years old. I remember sheep on a hill that we saw from the train. I remember finding the skull of some animal in a tree in the backyard of my Great Grandparent's house and that being the first time someone told me 'you never see cats skeletons in trees'. I remember looking at some toys at a corner store and wanting to stay and play with the little girl whose parents ran the shop. I remember all the beautiful trees with autumn colors, something that you don't see too often where I'm from. I remember playing on one of those spinning playground toys (what are those called?) in the same park with the trees. I remember playing in a water fountain, climbing up on the kitchen counter to reach the container with licorice in it (that's where my love of licorice came from), watching sesame street on the small tv on top of the piano that they would later give to us.

circa. 1989 (I'm the one in PINK!)

Isn't it funny the things we remember and the things we forget?

Nanna Cannon's Recipe Book is full of fairly simple recipes and lots of thrifty tips, many of which make me smile.

I have no idea when she would have written everything that is in this little book as there are no dates any where.

You have to admit it is a lovely keepsake. The idea of making some of these recipes for my girls just makes me smile. I'm sure Nanna Cannon would be so pleased.

Here are a few little things from the book for your perusal.

Cough Mixture

In saucepan   1 cup cider-vinegar

1 1/2 cups honey

Juice of 3 large lemons

Heat, stir till dissolved. Cool. Bottle. Use as required.

Home-Made Chicken Soup

One dozen chicken wings

2 large carrots

1 large parsnip

2 larger onions

celery, beans, peas

Cover with water, bring to boil. Cook 1/2 hour.

Add 3 packets chicken-noodle soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

Cook further 20 minutes. Serve.

Melting Moment Biscuits

Cream together 1/2 cup margaine & 1/3 cup icing sugar

Add                    1/2 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup cornflour

Bake 12 minutes

• Paint men's old boots, with enamel paint. Fill with soil. Useful plant-pot.
• Vaseline keeps eyebrows in line.
• New floral tea-towels make attractive cushion covers.
• Screw tops of screw-top-jars under cupboard shelves. Jars can be used for all small items, to be kept tidy.
• Left-over wallpaper makes attractive hard covers for books. Cover over with plastic.
• Soapy washing water, is good to toss over citrus trees. Helps to wash the bugs away.
• Water is a good cheap window cleaner. Use with newspaper, dry with newspaper.
• Keep broken biscuits separate from the others. When children visit, they enjoy a tin of broken-biscuits.
• Cardboard box, covered with contact or wall-paper, is useful under child's bed, for toys, or shoes.

Aren't those some neat tips? Now I'm off to find some vaseline...hah!