refresh me

ok - i have decided to post... it is 6 days past the end of mat leave & the counter started ticking UP not DOWN i am taking that as a sign... we are still alive.

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

1 day & counting

i am writing up lists for bb daddy: make sure to talk to him about the location of his nose & his toes; add eggs to his menu, & butter & whole milk; point to stuff; ask him if he would rather have peaches or blueberries or toast; encourage him to build a tower... breakfast, snack, playtime, lunch, nap, snack, music, then i will be home again (to see him eat dinner, have a bath & go to sleep)...

this little journey, this love affair, started not quite a year ago (i left work a week early simply because i could no longer remember my name & had trouble walking on my flip flopped swollen feet). hmm now that i think about it - that was the last week that bb daddy & i went out to a movie (argh)! so much (& so little) has happened since that not so tiny bundle pushed his way into the world (after some 42 hours of labour).

we started here:

each of us (bb daddy included) went on instinct & love & it just seemed to work for us (ok the hospital staff were awesome & having my sister here for a couple days saved our lives). the whole crazy thing (having babies & having babies in your 40's) seemed so natural & despite rocky first 2 weeks (dr induced *sigh*) we hit a groove & an understanding quickly.

maybe i'm romantizing the whole thing now that we have been through it; it just seems like it was pretty amazing & magical (no purple baby crying, or colic & we managed to sleep 3 or 4 or 6 hours at a time) so we count ourselves lucky.

it's just that now that we are here:

everything that made our lives easier - love & understanding & bonding - makes it so hard to leave. i literaly feel incomplete if i go out for dinner or to the store without my little appendage snuggly latched to my hip & arm. i automatically order food we can share & i cut up my sandwiches & fruit into little bite sized pieces...

i've been thinking about this blog ' a year of living differently' now that my year is over - do i continue writing? i guess the rest of my life will be lived differently because we are now three (or six if you count the animals); because we have a bb boy who is magic: with brilliant starlit blue eyes, who dances to r&b, & smiles sweetly to strangers & offers them his cookies, who is remarkably strong & lithe, who`s downy hair now golden, still whisps into a fauxhawk, who is curious & careful & fearless all at the same time (unless you baaa in his face).

i guess my life will be lived differently because i have this son who makes me think about beauty & bubbles & a better world & has made me a gentler person...

in your garden now

stop for a moment & step outside there is a garden full of wondrous surprises:

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

back to school shopping

no matter how many years have passed since my last real 'back to school' shopping days, i always get a little tingle this time of year (it may actually be a stronger tingle than the one generated by '15 shopping days till christmas' ads). whenever i see one of those ads with cheery kids in spanky new clothes & groovy pencils cases i just want to run (or skip) to a store & bury myself in piles of recycled 'au currant' coloured craft paper...

i have, on occasion, offered to take my friends kids or have taken my own niece & nephews to the store to go through the school provided checklist of supplies (you would be shocked who ends up having the best prices). this year i kinda feel like i AM going back to school & i can, finally, get excited about the toys & tools & supplies for my own desk... only 6 more days till i go back to WORK!!

i will admit to buying a coach bag the other day (i hardly even had to rationalize it) ok - i did - it was on sale & it fits my laptop (& the grandest rationalization of all - it also works as a diaper bag). i am not the first to discover the label laptop/diaper bag (coulda picked up th e louis vuitton)...

hmmm, gonna need some shoes too...

back to those last 6 days off...

it's red

it's red hot in portugal & the sun has burnished my first red ripe tomato.

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

flickr friday

just a little one this week - but lovelies nonetheless:

1. in the back room there's a lamp that hangs over the pool table, and when the fan is on it swings gently side to side, 2. fleurs, 3. dancing bokeh, 4. coffee, please, 5. The Race, 6. retreat~, 7. Untitled, 8. Tiny first BENCH MONDAY, 9. the ghost in you, 10. Untitled, 11. *HANABI, 12. misty morning from the balcony, 13. split tone, 14. Vancouver Pride Parade 2009, 15. sweetness follows, 16. 4 blocks back., 17. Viva !!!, 18. From Heaven ..., 19. storm trees, 20. Antiques and Cute Rainboots

cucumber recipe

i'm sure there are many many uses for & recipes containing cucumbers; this is the only one i could think of today:

1. get a clean glass, add:
2. icecube (1 or 3 - depends on the height of your glass)
3. pims (doesn't matter how much)
4. gingerale (canada dry eh)
5. cucumber slices (feel free to put the whole thing in if you want - this is a cuke recipe)

it`s not just a seagull

i have always had a soft spot for animals (pretty much all of them, birds included) & nothing pulls my heartstrings more than a lonely baby. we discovered a baby gull today standing on the sidewalk as we parked our car (no mom in sight).

hunter wandered over to him immediately & the little bird let out a big squawk - but didn`t fly away so we wondered if there was something wrong (aw). we offered him some of bb boy`s cheeri-o`s (whole grain organic rice, whole grain organic corn, sweetened with pomegranate juice - hah) they were a little tricky to pick up... so i offered him half an apricot & as soon as he was done he scooted straight over to the buggy for the other half & half a banana (likely beats the leftover french fries and seaweed his mom had been bringing him - still no mom in sight). he ate till he was full & politely refused more - wandered off to acquaint himself with his reflection.

we came back to our parked car an hour later & he was sleeping in a corner with his beak leaning up against the beak of that fledgling seagull in the reflection (aw)... he`s just a seagull - but i really hope he makes it ok.

breakfast is the most important meal of the day

chicks<8000clicks>chicks

left is ~t~

right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between two chicks

flickr friday

mostly moving, sometimes delicious

1. & dessert..., 2. summer colors, 3. So good to be back!!, 4. 215/365 I hope you dance, 5. the breakfast of champions, 6. clip, 7. To live is to fly, 8. 17.30, 9. hydrangeas against sky, 10. All Mine..., 11. 30 down, 12. *Jog :), 13. get well soon! : (, 14. Hydration, 15. from city to country, 16. ripe, 17. bedroom, 18. flatiron flare, 19. Untitled, 20. vintage, 21. Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!, 22. childhood summer, 23. under the pier, 24. IMG_2476, 25. window light, 26. builders' grapes, 27. trapeze thriller, 28. Escape for a moment, 29. Bench Monday:Jump!, 30. finding joy, 31. a halfway moment..., 32. and the wind came through, 33. Sunny Spot, 34. 193/365 - Sundress and Urban Gardens, 35. *, 36. Bella the Explorer

19 days & counting

how is this done? how is one supposed to leave everything they have become accustomed to for the past 365 days & make this drastic change (leave my bb behind?). hmm. i guess i asked myself the exact same thing at the other end of my mat leave - how do people do this? have a child - change the many years of carefree life for a future of being depended on & putting yourself last? the thing is - i can hardly remember anything else but this life.

bb boy is 11 months old today! he has changed so much but there are little things that are him that have been him since the beginning... the way he sees with his hands - he touches everything - when he is nursing he searches for my hand - touches my fingers, my palm, my wrist (like he knows who he touches & how to find comfort)... he listens to every sound (from his first hours in the hospital he held his head up cocked, his eyes (seeing so poorly then - were wide open) now he bobs his head to music, to the repetitive hum of a boat or the tweeting of nearby birds & he grins widely.

where is dada?

where is kitty?

where is hunter?

where is the bird?

he looks around expectantly until he finds exactly what is looking for & he grins widely (i cheer)... how can i leave him when there is so much more for him to learn (& so much more for me to understand & so much more for me to cheer)?

chicks<8000clicks>chicks

today marks the first day of what we hope will be our weekly hug across 8000 kilometers. two girlfriends, once inseperable, now living two very different lives - one in vancouver & one in the mountains of portugal... this is 8000clicks between two chicks.

summer harvest

left is ~t~

right is ~d~

fireworks

i have always been a fan of fireworks & in vancouver, the hsbc celebration of light competition has been going off since 1990. i went to the first ones & have since seen the display with friends and family from almost every angle imaginable:

- a roof top deck in kits point

- the beach access point at cornwall & macdonald

- on a point grey hill

- a sailboat

- the beach

- the bard on the beach tent

- the grassy slope along english bay

- a high rise near city hall

- standing on pacific street

& the boathouse restaurant

** one day i will see them from my outrigger canoe & perhaps from a heli

i have lived on english bay for 12 years (most years i wait until the last test explosion is done then i walk straight down my street - three blocks - stand in the throng & then wash home with the flood of humanity to sit comfortably on my deck while tens of thousands stream by for the next hour). since hunter has come to live here our fireworks evenings consist of lots of patting & consoling as he trembles uncontrollably (since we can clearly hear the explosions all we can do is turn up the tv & comfort him).

this year we watched via katcam (this is the webcam bb daddy uses to check the winds before windsurfing) - we are sitting here giggling - listening to the booms & taking webcam shots:

beach acres

early this week we packed our bags, packed the bb & headed out for a quick vacation - two days at the fabulous beach acres resort... yes there was a heatwave going on, yes we had to wait in the ferry line-up (only 37c at that point) - but we were so looking forward to a few days away (we have been trying to organize a quick trip for awhile - when i was asked to take some photos of the resort we jumped at the opportunity)!

our cottage was on the bluff overlooking the ocean & gorgeous beach (i'm pretty sure that is the best of both worlds; close to the ocean & close to the forest). i'm sure one could just sit for days looking out to sea listening to the rustle of the magestic arbutus trees on the cliff.

one could sit for days but there is just too much to do - walk down to the beach for a swim, run to the market for breakfast, wade in the river & have a picnic, do some beach combing, pick pine cones in the forest, play in the pool, build a sand castle, bbq on the veranda, walk through the woods, play tennis, then back to the ocean for the sunset (any random order of these & numerous other activities would do!)...

top 5 trip fun

1. cool winds on the ferry
2. bb boy in the shallow waters of rathtrevor beach
3. watching the sunrise @ beach acres
4. goats on the coombs market roof
5. walking in water above englishman river falls