Podcast, anyone?

I have discovered podcasts.

I know I am late to the game – I usually am – but once I catch on to something, I’m like a dog with a bone and I just can’t let it go.

So, here’s the story. A few weeks ago, I tried to “borrow” an audio book from an online library. I was convinced that if I had an audio book on my iPod, it would pave the road for an enjoyable workout at the gym. If only enjoying a workout was that easy. Anyway, I managed to download the book to my computer but couldn’t get it onto my iPod, so, I didn’t even go to the gym. It was, of course, the audio books fault. “So”, I thought to myself, “what other interesting things could I listen to while I worked out?” I cruised around iTunes a little bit and found myself in the podcast section. There were podcasts from my favourite author, Diana Gabaldon, and they were free. So, I downloaded them, fully intending to listen while I rowed and sweated my way to a fitter, more wonderful me at the gym. Well, something else happened (I can’t even remember what, right now) but it was so important at the time, that I couldn’t possibly make it to the gym and I promptly forgot that I had downloaded all these wonderful podcasts.

On Monday, I remembered them. My iPod is full and I had to really mess around with it to get the music I wanted loaded and that’s when I rediscovered my lovely podcasts. I was at home, and I really needed to clean the house, so I popped in my lovely ear buds and mopped and dusted and vacuumed my little heart out while Diana Gabaldon talked to me about her books and the characters in her books and how her books come to be. I’ve never enjoyed cleaning my house quite so much and I highly recommend podcasts.

I’ve got some by John Cleese to clean with next week!!

By the way, I never did make it to the gym, but I have started running again. It feels so good. Donna Downey actually inspired me to get back out there. And this book by John Bingham. I may try listening to a podcast on a run one of these days, but right now my inspiration comes from It’s a Good Day by Will.i.am and Proud by Heather Small. This song is speaking to me right now, too. It's too bad I can't feel as proud of a Canadian politician as I do of an American one.

Have a great weekend. Leave me a comment, would ya?

Isobel's Tooth

Isobel lost a tooth today.



It’s the 9th one she’s lost so far, but what’s special about it is that it’s the first one that has come out without the aid of the dentist. We were at Grandma’s house and she was enjoying a Turtle after her dinner and **POP** she spit it out into her hand.

Other than that, we had a quiet weekend. The girls slept over at a friends house on Friday night so Dave and I went out for dinner and then to a movie. It was a nice change. The girls were exhausted on Saturday so we hung out around the house, raking leaves and such. Today they were still exhausted, so they watched a movie in the morning then enjoyed The Nutcracker and Christmas decorating at their Grandma’s house. I love weekends like this without anything specific to do. We just get to hang around the house and be together.

On another note, this is the wine I’ve been drinking:



I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the fact that it’s a screw top. I’m not a connoisseur of fine wines by any means and I like to be able to get it open easily and quickly. I pick my wines mostly by their label. So does my mother in law. She bought this one for me to try next:



Do you think she’s trying to tell me something?

Isobel, Isobel, Isobel

It’s all about Isobel today.

She really is a character. This is her bedroom door:



I don’t know how it got this way. Well, I do know how it got this way, I guess what I don’t know is how she managed to convince Dave and I that it was okay to plaster her door with random stickers. We’re both usually so anal about those kinds of things. The stickers on here range from Hannah Montana stickers, to the ones the dentist sticks on her shirt after fluoride to remind me she can’t eat, to the ones you always forget to peel off your new clothes the first time you wear them. We’ll definitely have to replace this door before we sell this house.

Here’s a note I found from Isobel to Meredith in Meredith’s room one day:



Apparently, Isobel wanted to read and play some Nintendo. At least she remembered to say I love you.

Crafts? Apparently Not Today

Today I tried to make this advent calendar. Why does it look so easy here? I will admit I’ve been procrastinating painting all those little boxes. I had no trouble shopping for the stuff to go inside them, but painting them was another story. I got the boxes out today and figured I’d just do it. Well, it quickly became obvious the boxes were going to need at least 2 coats of paint (maybe more). Plus, those little boxes are not easy to paint. I did half of one and had paint all over my hands. So, I quit. I put the paint away, threw all the boxes in the garbage and asked Dave to pick up 2 lovely Cadbury Advent Calendars while he was out. Am I a quitter? Hell, yes. Especially when I have so many other things to do that are so much more enjoyable.

Next, I decided Meredith and I would make a button tree. I’ve been searching for weeks for more Christmas coloured buttons but decided I would just use up my stash and see how it went. Here’s our tree:





Can you believe there are 200 buttons and pins on that? And it’s not even close to being done! I do have a few more buttons to put on (we ran out of pins), but I think I’ll have to put it away and hope I manage to collect some more buttons between now and next Christmas.

Today is just not my day for crafting. I’m going to finish my book now.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

This is the view I woke up to yesterday morning.



Snow, glorious snow. I know I am in the minority but I do love this time of year. The red cheeks, the cold hands, the hot chocolate! It’s the perfect time of year to snuggle up indoors by the fire with a cup of something warm and a good book or a movie. It is a great time to indulge in an afternoon of scrapbooking or a Christmas craft. And now that I have my Christmas shopping all done, I can do that!

Here’s a page I did earlier this year in one of my many Jessica Sprague classes:

I’m off for a walk. Enjoy the weather, if you’re in a snowy climate. It’s here and it’s not going anywhere. Better to embrace it than to fight it. It’s not a fight you will win.

Stories in Hand

I am taking this Stories in Hand class with Jessica Sprague and while I really haven’t managed to get much of the work done so far, it has made me think. There are so many things that happen on a daily basis that are worthy of remembering but so few of them are remembered. So few, get recorded. They are ordinary moments that happen everyday and often are not really memorable the same way Christmas or milestone birthdays are memorable but rather because of their extraordinary ordinariness. I know for me, when I think back to my childhood there are all kinds of details I just don’t know. What did I do after school? What did we do on the weekends? Or in the evenings after homework and dinner were over? I know they aren’t big things but as a mother I’d like for my children to know this stuff. To know what our life is like now. To know how much I love them and how much my life depends on them. To know how perfect I feel they are. I know there will come a time in the not too distant future when we may not get along as well as we do now, and I need to know that they will be able to look back and know that they are loved. Whatever they do, however they behave, they will always hold my heart in their hands. The stories need to be recorded. In a notebook, in a blog, in a scrapbook, anywhere really. It’s not important where they reside just that they have a home.

Messes, Christmas Lights and Some Calendar Pages

The girls were tired yesterday and we just hung around the house. They played in the leaves and cleaned their bedrooms, but other than that, they hung out in the house. They built a city out of dominos and glass beads (I wish I had a photo of that), and watched a movie in the basement. I took advantage of that and worked on my blog and did a little scrapbooking. I really didn’t realize how long they were down there. This is the sight that greeted me when I did go down after they’d gone to bed.

It’s funny. A sight like this would have made me angry a couple of years ago, but today, it just makes me happy. I love to see them being creative and playing with their toys. They don’t have the time for that as much these days between homework and their various electronic distractions.


Don’t worry, though. They cleaned it up today. But then, of course, they had friends over and messed it up again. Oh well, I tried.


While we were inside busy playing, Dave was outside doing this:

I know it’s early but I know if we wait it will be cold and miserable. Better to get it done now. Easy for me to say, I didn’t have to do it.

I haven't had the time to do many digital pages lately. I did these little calendars for my fridge recently. All supplies by Jessica Sprague including the template.

Halloween And A Perfect Fall Day

This was the first year Meredith did not trick or treat with us. A true sign that she is getting older! Before we left Isobel decorated the front door with these little notes. She loves her little notes.

The costumes this year were both homemade. Isobel went as a fairy princess but most people thought she was a bride.



It’s so good to see my bridal veil being put to such good use. Meredith wore it one year when she was a princess bride and it also gets worn often around the house. I wish I was so uninhibited that I could wander around the house wearing a bridal veil!

Meredith dressed up as a cat in a tree.



She saw the idea in a magazine a long time ago and never faltered. It was a beautifully mild night with lots of leaves and crisp fall air. A very perfectly spooky Halloween.

The girls frolicked in the leaves today. We have a lot of them.



Lots and lots and lots of them. I like them and the girls like them but I don’t think Dave does. He’s the one that has to rake them all up.





Isn’t this tree beautiful? It’s in our front yard.



This one is in our neighbour’s front yard.



I love this time of year with all the leaves changing colour and the coolness in the air. Today is a perfect fall day.

Ear Piercing and High School Musical 3

What a Saturday it was today in the Woodiwiss household. We got Isobel’s ears pierced and went to see High School Musical 3. Woo hoo!!

First the ears.



Isobel has been asking to get her ears pierced since Meredith got hers done 2 years ago. When Meredith got hers done, I told Isobel, she could do it in Grade 2. Boy does time ever fly. She still seems too young to do it, but I didn’t want to go back on my word. We had agreed she would get them done after her birthday, but then she got sick and I didn’t want her doing it when she was all snotty and full of germs and goo. So we waited. One day last week, she asked me when we were going to pierce them. I have to admit, I was kind of hoping she would forget. Fat chance. I told her it needed to be her decision, not mine, and when she was ready she needed to remember to mention it to me on a weekend. Well, she remembered. Here she is before the piercing:



During the piercing:



And after the piercing:



She knew it was going to hurt but I don’t think she realized how much. She did tell me earlier in the week that she knew the second ear would hurt more than the first. Because with the first you weren’t anticipating it like you were with the second. I thought that was a pretty grown up concept to understand. However, she did tell me afterwards that it was actually the second one that hurt the most. She’s fine now and was fine very shortly after. She says she doesn’t regret it, even though it hurt more than she thought it would. Now I just have to be diligent in the care of her newly pierced ears and ward off any potential infection.

Then, we were off to see High Musical 3.

Both girls enjoyed it, although Meredith was a little put off that Troy and Gabriella actually kiss. Five times. She counted. She was a little disgusted.

I certainly don’t remember high school being anything remotely like that. No one danced so well, or dressed so nicely. And I really don’t remember many people wearing 4 inch stilettos. Anyway, as always, these boppy, dancey, movies leave me really wishing I could dance. No such luck, though.

Meredith has gone off to chocolate making class with her friend. I’m hoping she brings some home for me!!

Books, books and more books

I am a book hound. I can admit it. It’s been building for a while now but I finally realized it was out of control when I noticed I had 8 books on the go at the same time. Some were due back to the library in 2 weeks and couldn’t be renewed while others had been renewed twice already. I had to take a bunch back and decide which ones I really wanted to read. The others have been entered onto my list with the page I was at duly noted. I don’t think it’s been this bad since I was in high school. I have very clear memories of secretly – or so I thought – reading in class. I would balance the book on my lap and pretend to be working hard. Now that I think back on it, I can’t imagine that my teacher didn’t know what I was doing. I can also remember reading entire Sydney Sheldon books on a Sunday. I’d stay in my pajamas and read in my room until I could barely see. I’m not quire sure why I wasn’t going out or didn’t have any homework.

Right now I’m really enjoying anything by Jodi Picoult. I find her books to be enticingly deceptive. They always twist and turn in ways I hadn’t expected and keep me looking forward to the next page. I’m also reading the teen vampire series by Stephenie Meyer. I really gobble these ones up. I’m on Breaking Dawn right now, which is somewhere around 700 pages, but I bet I’ll have it done in a week. I know they’re teen novels and they’re about a young girl who loves a vampire, but for some reason, I really enjoy them. Perhaps it’s because I can read them so fast, or perhaps it’s because they really are so far from reality, it is true entertainment.

I’ve got a long list of books I want to read on my blackberry. I am pleased to say Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are on that list but for the most part I like trashy novels. The trashier, the better. I am just thankful that I’ve reached a point in my life where I have the time and the desire to read. When the girls were little, my ability to read almost totally disappeared. Not only was lack of time an issue, but also my capacity to focus and retain what I’d read just wasn’t there.

There’s nothing quite like a nice cup of tea and a good book on a lovely fall day.

Gotta go. Breaking Dawn is calling me.

A New Class for Me - and for you???

Enrollment for the newest Jessica Sprague class is today.



And the best part? It’s free and you don’t need to be a scrapper to take it. She talks about the class here on her blog.

I am really feeling the need right now to record as much as I can of our daily life. There are too many unexpected, unexplainable things that can happen. The more I read, the more I need to record the little details of our daily life for Meredith and Isobel. I don’t remember much of my daily life as a child and it bothers me. I know I could just call my mom and talk to her about it, but it’s just not the same. Why don’t I remember? That’s the bigger issue for me. I suppose I’m pushing my own issues onto my children but I feel the need to do this as much for me as for them. At least I can admit that, right? Anyway, I’m hoping that someone one out there will join me. It’s free, it’s crafty and you don’t have to be a scrapper to take it! Anyone?

I’ve been working very hard to get caught up on my paper pages. If you know me, you know how rigidly structured I can be. I know the ‘in’ thing in scrapbooking right now is to work non-chronologically, however, that just doesn’t work for me. I’m working on April 2008 and I’m hoping to get up to date before November. I’ve got about 14 double page layouts to do, plus a handful (or more) digi pages too. Am I crazy? Probably. I’ve got some Christmas gifts I’d like to make plus my cards so I’d like this done before I feel the need to start working on them. Of course, I’d also like to have all my Christmas shopping completed before the end of November as well, but, whatever. Who needs to sleep, right? (Actually, I do. I’m really not good without my 9 hours!) Perhaps it’s eating I should give up!! I’ll get it done somehow; however, I may need to explore the crops at my new local scrapbook store to get it all done.

Well, enough of this blogging for me. I need to get this house tidied up and get working!!

What Was She Thinking?

I’ve been walking Isobel to school. I know, it’s crazy. We live across the street. I really need to cut the umbilical cord. Anyway, this morning I decided it’s soon going to be too cold for me to drag my sorry ass out of the house so I suggested she walk by herself. She’s done it before and is quite happy to do so. It makes her feel very grown up. So, off she goes. She gets to the school and the bell rings. She’s at the playground. And what does she do? She continues to play. Hello, I’m thinking, the bell has rung. She starts chatting with her friends and they hang around for a while. Are they discussing the merits of going to school? I watch patiently (or not so patiently) and wait. Eventually, they decide going to school is a good idea and wander over to the door. What’s up with that? My youngest definitely has a mind of her own. We’ll have to have a wee discussion about that when she gets home tonight. I couldn’t believe it. What is it that this group of seven year olds are discussing that is so engrossing that they miss (or disregard) the school bell. I can only imagine!!

WOO HOO

I've got an ad on my blog. How cool is that?

A trip to the Dump? Yup.

Another belated blog entry for me.

Here’s my last page from the Type + Writer class.



Supplies include:
Papers: KPertiet-LetterBoxBirdWatcher4, KPertiet-KingMePaper-6, Floral Overlay, JSprague_TW_BrownSolid
Fonts: Ma Sexy, Seeing Stars, Designer Mixed
Template: This is the Story by Jessica Sprague for Type + Writer

Meredith read it and declared it “romantic”. So cute.

Yesterday, we pulled apart our shed. This seems to be a bi-annual event for us. For some reason when we take things out, we never seem to be able to put things back in their rightful spots. We managed to get our patio table, 6 chairs and glider in as well. Of course, it helped that we were able to throw a whole bunch of stuff out. We even hopped in the car and made a trip to the dump with some of our bigger stuff. Such an exciting day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my place in life right now and what I like to do and what I wish I was doing. Scrapbooking is right up there, of course, as is playing around with my computer. But also reading and writing. I really wish I could find some way to combine all these things into a career for myself. I think the only way I’m going to be able to return to full time paid work is if I manage to do something from home. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to give up the freedom I have right now. Nor am I willing to be absent from the lives of my children. I know it is possible to find work that fits into their lives, but I don’t want or need it enough at this point to go out and search for it. Anyone else out there struggle with this? The desire to work and the desire to be home battling it out within your heart? I know I do.

The birthday week is done.

Dave's birthday was first. For as long as I've known him and as long as the girls can remember, he's always talked about having a Porsche. Chances are it's never going to happen so I rented him one for his birthday. Here it is



Here are the girls behind the wheel. I'm not sure who was more excited -- Dave or the girls. He took both of them for a spin. They said he went crazy around the corners. Ha. I'm not surprised. Isobel particularly enjoyed sitting in the front seat.



For Isobel's birthday, we had a special breakfast celebration in the morning and went to Dairy Queen for dinner. She had her party with her friends on Friday. We had 17 kids at the house for Sportball in the backyard. Everyone had a good time. We had hotdogs and cake and lots of happy children.



I'm still working on my Type + Writer pages, even though the class is officially over. I'm having a tough time with some of the pages. They're just not the pages I would usually do. Here's are a couple of my recent pages:


Templates for both pages were provided by Jessica Sprague for Type + Writer as were all supplies. I know I have more to say but I'm too tired and if I don't get off this computer soon, I'll never get to sleep!! Good night.

Another digi course for me

I am taking another Jessica Sprague course that is sucking up my time again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m really enjoying it; I just wish I had more time to put towards it. It started on Monday, today is Sunday and I just completed Thursday’s assignment. I’m only 3 days behind!! I guess that’s not too bad.

Anyway, the class is called Type+Writer and it is a journaling/typography class designed to help you achieve “inspirational journaling” and provides you with instructions “for setting your words in beautiful, evocative type.” Every day we are supposed to ‘free write’ for 15 minutes in a journal. Every other day we have a journaling assignment and are given a specific topic to write about and then the next day we complete a page based on that journaling assignment. We are provided with templates for the pages, which makes them nice and fast, but I’m still managing to learn some new techniques, which is awesome. I’m enjoying the 15 minute free write every day. It’s amazing what comes out when you sit down and just write. Things seem to flow out of the end of my pen that I wasn’t expecting.

For the first assignment I did a page about our recent family trip to the EX.

Supplies include:

Paper: JSprague-TW-BlueTapestry; JSprague-TW-DkBlueSolid; JSprague-TW-GoldDots; JSprague-TW-RedTapestry; JSprague-TW-WhiteStripe; KPertiet_KingMePaper-3; KPertiet_LetterBoxBirdWatcher-4; KPertiet_Serenity-8; JSprague-TW-BlueSolid
Fonts: Pea Sarah Cute; Century Gothic; Georgia; Santana
Hi-Res Watercolour Brush Set
Template by Jessica Sprague for Type+Writer

The second assignment was a page about me. I don’t really know how I feel about these. On the one hand I know it’s good to have myself in the scrapbooks. I’m so rarely there because I’m always behind the camera. I never hesitate to do a page about Dave or the girls, but I really feel self conscious doing a page about myself. I guess taking these courses forces me to do one every once in a while. Here it is:



Supplies include:

Papers: JSprague-TW-BlueSolid; JSprague-TW-BlueTapestry; JSprague-TW-; KBlueSolid; JSprague-TW-GoldDots; JSprague-TW-RedTapestry; Trishjones_tnc-radientesence_paper7
Fonts: Justus ; Charms
Template by Jessica Sprague for Type+Writer

Thanks for looking. I’ll post more when I get them done.

Dinosaurs? Hmmm . . .

Well, we made it through the first week of school without any mishaps. Meredith seems to really like middle school, with rotation and her new locker. She’s walking there and back on her own and she really likes that too. On Friday though, she called me on her way home to ask for a ride. They had to run in gym which was last period and she said her legs were too tired to walk home. Poor baby. I’m a sucker. I went to get her. Isobel hasn’t really had much to say about school but she certainly isn’t giving me any trouble about going so I have to assume its all okay. I know she likes her teacher. She is insisting on walking by herself in the mornings. She sees Meredith do it and wants to do it too. I am slowly becoming redundant. That seems to happen eventually no matter what type of work you do. I’ll need to revamp my skills and seek a promotion

Today we went into Toronto to visit the ROM. We got ourselves a family membership, which is a fantastic deal, and that’s going to be our ‘don’t-know-what-to-do” activity for the next 12 months. We had a great time, but the Dinosaurs disturbed me a little bit. I mean, when you really think about it, doesn’t it seem a little too much like a bad movie that these larger than life creatures existed? And really, how do you know they actually did? What if paleontology is actually a secret society dedicated to perpetuating the myth of the dinosaur, just like some of the myths parents tell their children? All the information there is quite detailed about how aggressive they were and what they ate and how they lived. But I just don’t know how we can know this stuff for sure. I’m not sure I really believe it. I think I’m a bit of a skeptic. It just got me thinking and that is never a good thing!

Back to School is Here

Apparently I’m not very good at keeping up with this blogging thing. I seem to be full of wit when I don’t need to write anything down (in my mind, anyway), but now that I have this blog, I don’t know how to fill it. I’m also not convinced anyone is even reading it so, for now, I’m going to treat it like a sort of online diary for myself.

Dave ran his half marathon on Monday. I am extremely proud of him. I know it wasn’t an easy thing to do. He had to do his training runs either at the crack of dawn or in the blistering heat that comes late in the day. In case you’re not aware, a half marathon is 21K. Holy crap. I don’t like to drive 21K, let alone run it. Way to go Dave. I know you’re hobbling around right now, but not many people can say they’ve done what you’ve done.

The girls both started school yesterday. Being the neglectful mother that I am I did not take a single photo. Meredith started middle school and I wasn’t even able to record the moment. Perhaps I’ll fake it on Friday and take photos on the front porch and pretend they are Back to School photos. The both seemed to enjoy themselves. Meredith informed me that lockers are indeed “all that they are cracked up to be.” I think she likes it. I think she also really likes walking home with her friends instead of her mother and her little sister. And walking to school by herself. Isobel is in a split class and there are barely any girls. She says it is too noisy. Other than that I think she likes it.

I have managed to get out of bed before 7am which is a huge accomplishment for me. Other than that, so far, I am working on getting all those things done that I have neglected over the summer. I’m hoping to be able to start having some fun next week. Maybe I’ll even manage to come up with some fascinating blog entries. Wouldn’t that be great? Perhaps I’ll even branch out and come up with a Scrapbooking blog too.

Today was the best kind of Tuesday

It was a Tuesday that felt more like a Saturday or a Sunday.

Dave took the day off and we all went into Toronto to The EX. The girls got a “Ride All You Want” wristband and they were off. It used to be so much work to do days like this. We had to pack up a knapsack with snacks and emergency supplies. We always took a stroller or a wagon just in case someone got too tired to walk. There were the temper tantrums when someone was too small to do a ride they really wanted to do. This year, all I took was my little black purse with some band aids in it, some money and cards and my phone. The girls chose their rides and got into the line ups all on their own and rode them all on their own. Dave and I were basically there to pay and make them stop for lunch. One day we’ll go and they’ll take off on us, I’m sure, and I’ll miss enjoying it with them.

For us, the EX marks the end of the summer. We’ve gone for 3 years in a row now. I can’t believe school goes back in next week, and I have to admit, I’m going to miss my girls. This has been a great summer. We’ve done lots of things and had lots of fun and spent a lot of time together. There was a couple of weeks of adjustment back in July when we all had to get used to it, but since then, we’ve managed quite well.

I'M BACK

I can't believe I finally figured this out. Summer is almost over and I haven't been able to update to this thing the whole time. Now, of course, it is almost 10:00 and if I don't get off this computer soon, I'm not going to be able to get to sleep.

I'm going to start with a brief recap of today, because I wasn't expecting to get in here and I have nothing else planned. I woke up late - nothing new there - and grumpy - also not new. The girls and I had breakfast and proceeded to attempt to clean up this house. They were both amazing and helped out with lots of chores. We had an early lunch and walked Isobel to her friend's house then I walked Meredith to her friend's house for playdates. It was my intention to scrap the afternoon away, but of course, I just couldn't ignore the messy kitchen, the laundry and the sticky kitchen floor. I managed to finish a page that has been sitting there for days but that's all. I picked Ally and Meredith up and took them to the pool. I read while they swam. Then we got Isobel and came home. All three girls played outside until supper.

That pretty much sums up my day. I'm very excited to be allowed back in here and will do my best to post more interesting stuff tomorrow. This is so exciting!!!!