I'm just going to put it out there. I like Christmas songs but I hate slow Christmas songs. Normally around the holiday season I'm sleep-deprived and slightly stressed because on top of all the stuff I normally do, there's the Christmas stuff too. By the way, wrapping presents is like deciding to paint your own house. It seems like a good idea at the time but about two hours into it you're all "What the f*ck was I thinking". I know you're not supposed to swear when writing about Christmas but really? Wrapping? With all
My friend Alison and I were talking about the use of ... in writing. Both of us are guilty as charged and while my use of smiley faces and LOL are an addiction, one I'm currently trying to break using a punishment/reward program that consists of elastic bands and Baileys, I stand by my use of ...
Because they aren't just three periods in a row. Those ... are a pause.
And pauses are a necessary part of my writing… it’s how I control you, the reader.
I've called this meeting because something very disturbing has been happening which we need to discuss.
It has come to my attention that someone in this family has been taking the pens from my desk and not returning them. I'm sure whoever "took them" had a very good reason to "borrow" one of my pens and simply "forgot" to return it because that's the kind of person I am. I like to give people the "benefit of the doubt".
Son No. 2 is very much into reading because Son No. 1 is so into reading and sometimes the gods of awesomeness decide to smile upon me and have the younger copy the older’s good habits instead of the bad. But for a long time, Son No. 1 didn’t like to read. We read stories with him, bought him books, got him his own library card all to no avail. He didn’t like to read. As an enthusiastic reader and a writer it was a little frustrating for me.
Finally we just said screw it and stopped trying to force him to read.
When the email popped into my inbox, I knew I had to go.
It was an invitation to go jump at the newly opened Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park. There's a bunch of them in the U.S. but this is the first one in Canada. Owner Caroline Irving has five kids so she knows all about the need to bounce off the walls to burn off energy.
I'm reading this incredible book right now called "The Minds of Boys". It talks about how boys brains are are wired differently than girls and how they learn in a completely different way than girls.
I didn't really need a book to tell me that, I see it every day. More importantly I think the differences between boys and girls can be narrowed down to one word.
My kids aren’t on the computer much. They don’t have Facebook accounts and for the most part, when they go online it’s to feed their Puffles on Club Penguin with me in the room as they earn coins and build igloos. The reality is though, there is going to come a time when they access the internet and I’m not there.
It’s a pretty safe assumption that they will eventually google me.
This past weekend Son No. 1 had his first speed skating meet of the year. First, I'm going to preface this by saying he didn't sleep well the night before and had to be up at 6:00 to be at the rink for 7:30 a.m. Second, it's a really long day at a speed skating meet. We were there from 7:30 until 5:00 and he skated four races. It's adrenaline rush followed by sitting and waiting.
I'm not making excuses but these were definitely factors in what ensued.
Are you getting the picture that this isn't going to a good place?
My inlaws. My sister-in-law. My brothers-in-law. My husband's business partners' parents (did ya even understand that one?).
These are the hard-to-buy-for people in my life. Not because they're difficult by any means but because (a) they already either have everything or (b) I don't know them well enough to buy them that perfect gift.
So each year they end up getting wine or chocolate which essentially screams "I had no idea what to buy you".
I spent a large portion of my life in Winnipeg - from the time I was in elementary school until I was an adult. When I was a kid, the cold winters didn't bother me. There's something about being a kid that deflects any feelings of cold. We would spend hours outside building snow forts, making snow angels, skating and sledding. Our cheeks would remain pink for hours after we returned to our warm house.
I try to plan meals. Not always successfully but for the most part we have a flow to our week that makes mealtime making easier.
Monday I went grocery shopping with the boys after school. Not the best of scenarios because they're both tired and grumpy but sometimes a girl's just gotta do what a girl's gotta do. List in hand, I was prepared to go all Jersey Shore cast member having a one night stand and get in and out as quickly as possible. There would be no deviating from the list this week.
While at Blissdom Canada last week I had an 'aha' moment. It didn't come from a session or a panel or a key note speaker, it came from a dinner date.
I don't sleep well in hotels. It's a curse. I get a night or two to myself in a big bed with fluffy pillows and a heavy, warm duvet and I'm up looking at the clock every hour.
I was going to write about all these lessons I learned from Blissdom Canada. How attending a panel on monetizing your blog made me realize I don't want to monetize Speed Skating Mom. How inspired I was by people I admire.
You’re juggling right now, aren’t you? Not in a circus-like way with balls or flaming batons but real life juggling - your family, your friends....maybe work too. You’re trying to keep on top of the laundry while helping your kids with homework. You’re changing a diaper while on hold with the doctor’s office. You’re cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring.
We moved into the house we're currently living in 3 1/2 years ago. While I love it, the one thing that bums me out is that our basement isn't finished. We had finished the basement in our old semi-detached and having that extra room where the boys could hang out and play was beyond fantastic. Not to mention it kept the mess on the other floors of our house to a minimum.
Hi All! Here it is - if you signed up (and even if you didn't) it's the Blissdom cheat sheet. And yes, there's a possibility that you're listed as someone another attendee wants to meet. So check it out! Yowza!
Ten years ago, shell shocked, exhausted and swollen, I left the hospital, toting a newborn in a car seat. The car seat we spent hours installing, then had checked at the local police station to ensure we had done it properly. My entire pregnancy had been dedicated to eating the right foods and reading the right books. Every step of the way I knew how big my baby was, what was developing each week and that pregnancy was, in fact, ten months and not nine.
