Briony + I spent the day here while Geoff was at work. I hit a bunch of client + volunteer deadlines. Briony had a nap + played + coloured + 'helped' Grandpa with home renos (FUNNIEST TODDLER COMMENTARY EVER).
It was just a really good day.
Today is also Day 15 of this new journey to reclaim my health. And I have not cheated on this diet, not one single bite. I'm super proud of that. It's been really tough. I'm still feeling so many yucky fibro flare up symptoms - and I'm EXHAUSTED - but I'm doing this and it has finally started feeling like positive progress over the last two days or so.
It only gets better from here... And that makes me happy, because I want my life back. And I want to ENJOY it fully.
I made Pumpkin Spice Muffins today. Without gluten, dairy, or refined sugar. And they're actually pretty good. You may bow down and worship me now.
Our beloved babysitter Katie has her arm in a cast, and I *may* have momentarily panicked when I got her text. Which is hilarious, because her original text was immediately followed by a second text that said LINDSAY, DO NOT PANIC. Am I so transparent + predictable? :)
My parents are chock full of awesome. They went grocery shopping last week and stocked up on things like vegan butter and honey and organic brown rice so that I can come and visit - and eat while I'm there. I can't even find words to describe how much it means to have them supporting this freaky eating thing I'm doing right now.
I had to un-follow a bunch of girls on Twitter this week - fellow chronic illness babes who were just WAY TOO NEGATIVE. All the time. Yikes. I totally understand how hard it can be, but I still believe that life is more good than not and I just don't want to dwell on the 'not.'
Remember the creativity course I took this past fall and was all fired up about? Well, real life reared its ugly head and I didn't end up finishing due to flare ups and client deadlines and just general ickiness. The artist who runs the course knew this and offered me a spot in the class re-run this winter - for free. Is that not the coolest thing EVER? I sobbed when I got her email. Just finished my first assignment (again) and I'm SO EXCITED for a second chance.
Two separate people have attempted to headhunt me for high level marketing jobs this month. Of course, they're full time and I needed to say no. But talk about a boost in self-confidence :)
Briony called me Lindsay today for the first time ever. She's been occasionally calling Geoff 'Geoff' for a loooong time, but it took her this long to attempt 'Lindsay'-ing me. And so it begins.
It's probably not a huge surprise that I'm less than loving this whole reduced-income thing in the aftermath of that whole pre-holiday job loss thing. The part that's bothering me the most? As the person who provides 'bonus' income into our family's finances, I was The Savings Person. And you know what's been decimated? The account that holds some funds for vacations + trips out to the west coast. It did its job and got us to NYC and back, with virtually the entire trip pre-paid. But it's in a sorry state right now, and IT'S HAUNTING ME.
I read a fabulous little tip on TodaysParent.com this week and implemented it immediately. It's super simple... Every time you login to your online banking, take a look at your primary account balance and then transfer the amount that would round that down to the nearest 5 or 10 into a savings account. So if your account had $11.75 in it, you'd move $1.75 into savings and have a new balance of $10. You'll never move more than $5 at a time - not enough to even notice that it's gone (unless you're the unfortunate soul in my example there... he should probably hang onto that pocket change for food).
It's not much, but it has the potential to seriously accumulate. It's not getting us back to NYC anytime soon... But it's helping me feel like I'm doing SOMETHING.
It's going to be quiet for another day or two while we continue to soak up as much Christmas-related family time as we possibly can. It's been a great Christmas so far, and I can't even begin to choose words to describe the MAGIC of celebrating the holidays with a two year old.
OH. MY. GOOD-mess :)
Hope you were all able to enjoy some downtime full of new and old traditions and memories with the people you love most. I am painfully aware that Christmas isn't merry for everyone, but I hope yours was full of JOY.
A pre-baked, pre-assembled gingerbread house that comes with icing in a bag and an assortment of candy that's all ready to use?
YES, PLEASE.
I picked one up yesterday and thought it would be a fun addition to our list of family advent activities - and a fun little project for Geoff + Marilyn + Briony + I to all do together today. I totally underestimated how much Briony would enjoy it... She was ALL OVER THIS.
Mama + Dada were a little bleary eyed post-vacation, but we had a great time putting it together - with Grammy serving as photographer - and it was a fun little family holiday memory. Briony *loves* her new 'cookie house' :)
Isn't it lovely? It makes my heart smile that it looks like a two year old went to town on it... :)
Check out all the fun our little munchkin had at home with Grammy while Mama + Dada were off gallivanting...
This one brought the biggest grin in the world to my face (and a tiny little tear to my eye). It's SO SPECIAL that these two had this time together. We are *so* grateful to Marilyn for her willingness to come here and take such good care of our precious B so Geoff + I could enjoy a little time out... I think it was just what ALL of us needed :)
Last week, my mom and sister and I spent a day getting our Christmas baking started. We got two MEGA batches of cookies done - a minor miracle considering we had two toddlers 'helping' us all day :)
I'm hoping to finish up our Advent Calendar this weekend. It's not going to pretty (not like Nicole's... HOLY MOLY, it's awesome!) but it will work - and we can worry about pretty next year :)
Instead of candy or chocolate, we'll be choosing a special family activity every day leading up to Christmas. Some of them will be Christmas-related, and some of them will just be about making memories together.
I have a pretty good list started, but I'd love to hear more ideas - things that you've done with your kids, things you remember from when you were a kid, things that you haven't tried but think are neat-o. Thanks in advance for your ideas! I can't wait to hear about your family traditions.
This song has been rolling around my head today...
It's the first snowfall of the year - the absolute BEST part of living in Winnipeg. It's too beautiful for words.
It's today's news that my grandma is officially cancer-free. (I TOLD you to stop messing with the women in my life, Cancer. They're too strong for you. They will crush you like the snivelling little bitch you are.)
It's Katie being 'home' in Winnipeg again, and listening to Briony giggling her with upstairs. It feels like having part of our family back.
It's spending the week working on a client project that I am completely passionate about - a rare opportunity to actually do something good for the world through advertising.
It's FINALLY feeling like I just might beat this cold that's been hanging on so tightly.
The world just feels so fresh and new... I love it. I can't stop smiling today. I've missed this feeling of HOPE. It feels like the beginning of Christmas :)
And you ask me what I want this year And I try to make this kind and clear Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings And designer love and empty things Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words And sing out loud Cause everyone is forgiven now Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I need someplace simple where we could live And something only you can give And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive And the one poor child who saved this world And there's 10 million more who probably could If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
So take these words And sing out loud Cause everyone is forgiven now Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I wish everyone was loved tonight And somehow stop this endless fight Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words And sing out loud Cause everyone is forgiven now Cause tonight's the night the world begins again Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
It was a birthday fit for a pig. A rather FABULOUS pig named Olivia. And an equally fabulous little girl named Briony who's been a part of our little family for two years now - two magnificent, adventure-filled years.
On Saturday morning, a collection of friends and family helped us celebrate two whole years with Briony. Here's all the photographic evidence...
And here come the details...
I went a little overboard with some of the detail photos + info here because I know how incredibly difficult it was to find good Olivia birthday party ideas online. Hopefully some other mom of some other Olivia-loving kid out there will find this someday and breathe a sigh of relief :)
My friend Amber designed the email invitations.
The cake was made by Erin at Sweet Serindipity Cakes.
The Olivia plates, napkins, and foil balloons were ordered from BirthdayExpress.com (awesome site, by the way... practically everything we needed came in a box delivered to our house).
Olivia colouring pages were free to download and were a hit with our littlest guests.
We picked up containers of red play-doh at Toys R Us and used the toys that Briony already had to set up a little play-doh table for the kids.
The kids went home with balloons + treat bags.
We managed to find lots of great Olivia stickers for the treat bags on eBay and added red play-doh, star studded bouncy balls, and red lollipops. The clear bags were also from BirthdayExpress.com and Michael's had lots of PERFECT red and white ribbon options to finish them off.
This has been one of the hardest weeks I’ve had in a while.
I’m not even sure why. We started out with such wonderful intentions. But work EXPLODED for me this week - to the point where I cried about it. Kind of a lot. And then Briony’s been higher maintenance than usual. And then I flared up to the point where walking became incredibly difficult. And then Geoff’s recovery kind of took a baby step back in terms of pain. And then I got sick - real, old fashioned cold + flu sick.
Oh, and did I mention that this weekend is Briony’s birthday party AND Geoff’s birthday? OF COURSE IT IS.
I’m not really proud to admit that I crumbled. The other day just before dinner time, I ended up in bed in the dark, sobbing and seriously considering never getting out of bed again.
But I did.
And we’re doing our best over here. Fortunately, our incredible friends and family have stepped up and helped ‘our best’ be more than enough this week. My mom came and did laundry, a few people surprised us with food, and Emily took me grocery shopping last night (and even unpacked it all into my fridge + cupboards when we got home).
Briony’s party - and our modest little birthday celebration for Geoff - won’t be *quite* everything I hoped and dreamed they would be. The house isn’t going to be as clean as I’d like it to be. And that’s okay. I’m looking forward to this weekend, and celebrating the two people in this world who took me from ‘just me’ to a full-on little family - and make every day totally worth getting out of bed for.
I just got home from driving Libby to the airport. It's going to take some effort to make sure that this doesn't turn into a sad day. It was just an absolute pleasure to have Libby living with us these past two weeks and a bit and she did so much to help us navigate this situation to find our temporary new normal in the middle of all the chaos. It made a huge difference in my world to have extra help around the house and she provided so much stability (and FUN) for Briony.
We'll miss her. I was incredibly sad to say goodbye today. And I'm kind of dreading when Briony wakes up and realizes that her 'Wibby' is gone.
But it was so special to have her here, and to have a chance to get to know her on her own. My nieces were all in high school already when I met them for the first time - and they're all full-fledged adults now - and it's been such a privilege to start getting to know them all as adults. The past two weeks have provided some fabulous memories for all of us.
As an aside, here's Reason #7829 why I love living in Winnipeg. I got up at 5.15 this morning to make myself a little bit presentable. I made coffee and helped Libby finish packing. We got her stuff out to the car and drove to the airport. I found parking there and we got her all checked in, then I stayed until she was through security. I paid for parking, walked back to my car, drove home, came inside, and made myself a cup of tea. When I sat down at my computer, it was 6.15.
Accompanying my mom + grandma for my grandma's scan (to check and make 100% sure that they killed all the cancer). Spending two and a half uninterrupted hours having coffee with my mom while we waited. And then hosting them at our place for lunch. They are two incredible, cancer-destroying women. I have formidable (and hopefully cancer-free) shoes to fill.
Welcoming the holiday season. Christmas came to Starbucks today, and I had my first Caramel Brule Latte of the season. My new barista friend was seriously thrown for a loop when I failed to order the usual on the first day after we established my usual. I suppose I'm allowed to be wild + crazy in one area of my life, right? :)
Spending the afternoon walking up and down Academy with Libby, shopping as we enjoyed some incredible sunshine and fine company. I even found a new blouse that is a great candidate for work AND a couple of nights out in NYC - and a polka-dot scarf that I'm a little bit in love with.
Opening my 'thank you' package for the creativity class I attempted this fall. I haven't finished yet - I'm doing it at my own pace after all our recent drama + setbacks + general chaos - but these fab prints will find a very special place in our home. Most likely in my office. YAY.
For dinner tonight, we used a gift card to a local Italian restaurant that Aaron + Cait had delivered to us when Geoff had his accident. (Wow, that was an unnecessarily complicated sentence...) We all feasted on calamari + fried parmesan bread + cannelloni + some seriously garlicky linguine that involved asparagus, chicken, and red peppers. DELICIOSO.
Oh, and Briony is now addicted to calamari. 'MORE BABY SQUID. PLEEEEASE?'
Sharing the journey that has taken me from being a single girl in the advertising agency world to a married mommy running my own freelance writing and consulting business (and every random adventure in between).
THINGS I LOVE: Thunderstorms, power ballads, princess camping, exploring new cities, Jon Stewart, greatest hits CDs, clever ads, packing for a trip, George Clooney, impractical footwear, movies about spies, Starbucks, reading an entire book in one sitting, a house full of friends, movies about spies, buying presents, a perfect French manicure, warm modernist architecture, getting flowers for no reason, being faux brunette, Mary Poppins, making lists on Post-It notes, decorating for Christmas, having a brilliant middle-of-the-night 'aha!' idea and then actually remembering it in the morning / THINGS I HATE: People who whine, wearing sweats in public, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, birds, American tourists in foreign countries, taking down the Christmas tree, poems that rhyme, the misuse of semicolons, being lied to, unpacking after a trip, being closed-minded, naming your kid something common but then spelling it stupidly, cowboys, overly cautious drivers, fake curse words, ridiculously long surnames, strangers who start awkward conversations with you in places you can't readily escape
