Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Weekend Update: Fabulous + Glorious Edition

I had low expectations for this weekend.

There. I said it. But here's the thing... I've been feeling the full effect of living with chronic illness. Geoff was scheduled to work nights all weekend (oh, the joys of loving - and living with - a trauma nurse). And, of course, we have a toddler. She's lovely, but SHE'S ONE. And therefore, a lot of work a lot of the time. Not exactly the ingredient for a super fabulous long weekend.

On Friday afternoon, I snuck out to cheat on my hairdresser. Oh yes, I did. And it was FABULOUS. I'm in love with my hair right now and I will be back. Scandalous! The only downside was that I had foxy hair and nowhere to go... But I think the mini-makeover (especially when coupled with my new glasses) set the stage for a much better weekend than I had originally anticipated.

Later that night, I invited a friend over for tea after all our kids were in bed. She came just after 8 and it was so much fun to have company on a night in Geoff's rotation that's sometimes pretty lonely. We had some great conversations and I crawled into bed feeling happy and relaxed.

The next day, Briony + I hit up Starbucks and the playground before heading home for lunch and a nap (for Briony, not for me... funny how that works). Anja came over in the afternoon and had a perfect afternoon of catching up and hanging out. After Briony's nap, we packed up the baby and the puppy and made another visit to the playground. Briony *loves* Anja's dog and was fascinated by the whole 'walking the dog' thing. When we got home, she wanted to try and proceeded to walk Luna around the living room - cutest thing ever ('come, woof' 'good!' 'over here' 'nice dog').

Just before 6 pm on Saturday, Briony asked to go to bed. Apparently, the two trips to the playground did her in... She was sleeping before Geoff left for his night shift and stayed sleeping all night. BIZARRE. I ended up watching a movie, talking to my brother, starting and finishing the laundry, eating a cupcake, cleaning up our bedroom, having a bubble bath, and finishing a fun book. Oh my gosh, what a fabulous night... It is my greatest wish for ONE of those nights every month. I felt positively HUMAN! It was glorious.

On Sunday, Briony + I headed out to Falcon Lake to spend some time with my parents and a couple of friends who joined us for the day. We stayed overnight and came back to the city after lunch on Monday - returning home just in time to leave Briony with Katie and head out to Assiniboine Park for a quick dinner and a movie with Geoff (we saw 'The Switch' and it was better than I'd expected... one of my favourite movies this year, actually).

So it was a good weekend. A really good weekend. And I'm realizing - in retrospect - that it was good because I chose to MAKE it good. It would have been perfectly valid to sit at home and be grumpy that my husband was working through an entire long weekend. But that's not the life I want to live, and we ended up finding some great little pockets of family time and snuck in some great memories with some great people all over the place.

I went to bed last night feeling happy and relaxed and ready for whatever this week will bring out way. I'd call that a successful weekend, by anyone's definition.

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Friday, August 27, 2010

Briony's First Fishing Trip

Falcon Lake (August 2010)


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Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Birthday at the Lake (in photos)

Geoff gave Briony a bite of brownie on the way to the lake... I didn't notice until I looked back and - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This is after I'd already used an entire wipe. Gah. I am *so* not the fun parent. And this is photographic evidence to explain WHY:



Fun with Grandpa + Dada:





Crazy almost-naked baby on the loose in the camper...



We're on a boat!








Fun on the beach:




Crazy deer who is not at all afraid of humans (note that this particular human is definitely afraid of IT, or more specifically that it might bite, lick, or get within ten thousand feet of my daughter):



Briony + Grandpa:



This is our official 'after' photo from the drive home :)

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Friday, July 02, 2010

Full of Love

Today was kind of incredible. I'm still making slow and steady progress - I'd say my pain has now been cut in half from when I started on my meds again, though I'm dealing with some pretty frustrating side effects. What made my day incredible was the support I felt from so many people. Geoff had to work today, but my friend Kathy came and spent the day with Briony + I. Then my friend Christine came and took the evening shift. During the day, yet another friend emailed to see if she could drop off any groceries for us. And I've had *so* many encouraging messages hit my inbox. There is no way we could be doing this on our own. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to feel this level of love and support from our friends.

Now I'm getting ready for an extra-long weekend at the lake - four days beginning tomorrow. Four days set aside to heal my body and celebrate my birthday with the people in this world who are most important to me.

This Monday, I am having my last birthday ever (the last one I'll ever admit to, anyway). Turning 29 feels strange, but only because it's the last birthday before I turn 30. And 30 scares me, but not for the reasons you might think. I'm actually really excited to begin my 30s... But the year I'm 30 will also be the year I 'celebrate' 20 years of living with a chronic illness. Crazy, isn't it? There are *so* many emotions attached to that, and even more given the events of this past week. We're toying with the idea of doing something BIG to ensure that it's a true celebration, because there really is *so* much to celebrate in my life... You'll be hearing more about this as the time approaches, I'm sure.

In some ways, it's scary to celebrate a birthday in the middle of this mess. It kind of makes me wonder what we're in for this year. In other ways, it's okay because - no matter what happens - my life is so very full of love. And really, what more can a girl ask for?

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day at the Lake

This past Sunday, the portion of my family that still resides in Manitoba spent a day at the lake to hang out in the incredible sunshine and christen my dad's new pontoon boat (and my parents' new seasonal campsite).

There's just something about the lake. I swear, as soon as we turn off the highway and start heading into town, my entire body takes this slow deep breath and I can feel right down to my toes. Awesomeness. Can't wait to spend lots more time out there this summer.




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