and where have I been?

Things have been unseasonably hectic this past week, heck, this past few weeks. I'm preparing for another business trip and a vacation, work is crazy and for the first time in a while I am excited and feel creative, focused, and engaged about the things we are trying to accomplish. I will be meeting a part of my family that I thought would be lost forever and the anticipation of that is wonderful. Will they be amazing? Will they be strange? Will I like them? Will they like me? I will explain more later, the story is series of coincidences that managed to fit together as if planned.
My emotions on other matters have also been in turmoil and earlier this week, for some bizarre reason, all of that settled in my head and the anxiety disappeared. I have no idea why, but peace and a calm decisiveness seems to have arrived and everything seems very clear to me. The soft, warm breeze is back and I feel a love for me that has been missing for a while.
I am ready for some change and to accept some loss, I am ready for a change and accepting that I am not an island.
I'm ready, let's go.

Sick (Pollyanna style)

I don't get sick. Ok, I guess I should say I rarely get sick, almost never. Normally I start to feel a scratchy throat and a bit crappy, I take two Tylenol, go for a long run, wrap and scarf around my throat and go to bed and I wake up feeling better. Refusing to accept the sick goes a long way to staying healthy. This week, however, it got me. I tried to run it out, but the next day I just felt woozy and weak and achy, with that cotton head feeling and a cough. On Wednesday I gave in to it and spent a huge portion of the day letting the sick win. Whenever I do this, I feel like I'm six and I remember my mom taking care of me. I invariably go back to what made me feel good then.
So, without further ado, the things I like about being sick:
Oranges
My mom used to buy a bag of them when I got sick, or tangerines, or clementines, and she would peel one after the other for me to eat. That tangy sweetness made me feel sunnier, warmer, happier. I cannot be sick without them, although I do have to peel them myself now.
Sleeping on the sofa with the tv on
The other treat was camping out on the sofa all day. Lots of pillows and soft warm blankets, and the tv tuned to whatever channel had Sesame Street. I'd burrow under the covers and close my eyes listening to Big Bird and drift off, mixing dreams with the dialogue from the tv, feeling heavy and just barely conscious. In and out, waking up sweaty and cloudy and throwing off a layer of covers and falling back to sleep. Today, I will put in a Pride and Prejudice DVD, but the sleep is the same.
Hot showers
Ok, so this one isn't from when I was a kid, but the feeling of hot water pouring over my clogged head and breathing in the soothing steam is heaven.

Park

 
 

The ants come marching in

It's Spring, and that means flowers, sunshine, and the return of all things creepy and crawly. I spent a couple of years in Florida, so I know about all kinds of bugs, disgusting bugs, bugs that show up in such great numbers that you wonder why they do not control the earth. I have lived with them, squished them, drowned them, bombed them, and accidentally swallowed them. I like bugs, outside. I am much less pleased with them in my house, and in particular, in my kitchen. Imagine my thrill when I walked into my kitchen two weekends ago and saw a big old ant crawling across the floor. Then another. Then another. I live on the second floor, so I'm not exactly sure where they are coming from, and I didn't have any last year. My housekeeping skills are not stellar, and the little buggers seemed quite excited by the smarties Naomi dropped on the floor a while back. I got my shoe, took care of the ants, disposed of the smarties, vacuumed, washed the floor, killed a few more and tried to figure out exactly where they were coming from. I still haven't found out yet. I had a couple of ant traps, so I put those down. Every day I am still finding a couple, but they show up in random places and they always seem to be alone: the counter, one on the stove, in the dishwasher, by the cat food bowl, and this morning I found one trapped in the sugar bowl, which scared the heck out of both of us.
The next step is removing everything from the pantry and wiping it down and putting it all back making sure that it's all properly sealed in containers and ziploc baggies. That, and maybe dumping a big pile of sugar in the back garden. Until they are willing to pay rent, they are not welcome. This is war....

bowl roll

bowl roll
Originally uploaded by dina the m and o

Naomi has interesting technique.

A little shopping

My daughter's grocery list: Milk, salami, cherries.
It's for a pie.....

A glorious weekend

Montreal had a little taste of summer for the Easter weekend. We were all shocked and overjoyed when the lovely meteorologists informed us that we would have temps over 20C for three days! Global warming, schmobal warming, this rocks! I did some work Friday, and then went with a friend to Rapids Park in the late afternoon and spent time there watching the water and enjoying the heat and the sun with the other happy people who were also there enjoying it with us.


This is an amazing time of year because city folk get so caught up in the promise of the summer that we end up walking around with smiles and temporary good will to our fellow Montrealers. This lasts until the traffic, heat, and crowds of the numerous festivals harden our hearts again.
Saturday started with a nice long run and then I had plans for fish pedicures with Libby and Melissa, but Libby got sick and stayed in Toronto. Melissa and I went and had a great time having some lunch, catching up, getting our feet nibbled, then groomed and polished, and then we each found a great little summer dress on St Denis.



The temp got up to 26C and the clothing was scanty on the Plateau. We came out from our pedis and even in our modest summer outfits had a sexy strut up St Laurent. Melissa was telling me that in Vancouver (she lived there for several years before returning), men don't stare because they tend to get ridiculed by the ultra-feminists. I'm so glad that is not true here. In Montreal, men know how to look at women, and for the most part the Plateau guys are less leery "how you doin?" and more intense momentary appreciation. I think it's harmless and it always gives me a little extra wiggle in the caboose. Later in the evening, I headed over to Verdun and hung out with Maggie and the family visiting for Easter supper. The vodka and tonic was flowing as we sat out in the back garden and then the kitchen.



Sunday started with another run, then I picked up the kids, got Nomi into her Easter dress, and we headed for the townships to see my folks for Easter and to celebrate my dad's birthday. It was warm and sunny again, so we were able to have an egg hunt outside. The kids ran all over the place, we ate, I even managed a short nap. We got home late, but the kids are off tomorrow, so we'll have a low key day and collect ourselves for the rest of the week.
There were so many reasons to love this weekend - I hope yours was amazing too :-)