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