Day 30: Three wonderful things that happened this month.

Well, I'd just like to start off by saying that I am relieved that this November task is over. I was terrible at it. I am thankful for the comments people made on my blog and, to a point, I feel that I did get to express myself a little bit better, and maybe a person or two learned a thing or two about me...

Ok... so...

Day 30: Three wonderful things that happened this month.

1) I got to spend the first half (and a bit) with my bestie living in my house. What a great time! I was thankful she was here, our time together didn't feel pressured in any way. It was so relaxed and natural. It was wonderful when she was here, because it felt like she had never left. Yet when it was time to go, it felt like she was leaving forever....

She's not! She has family here and will be back for weddings and stuff, but it feels so final and absolute right now.

But on a positive "wonderful things that happened this month" note: it was a great time. 

2) I hosted supper with my family sans my mom, because she is volunteering at the Festival of Trees all week. I figured that because my dad would be in charge of suppers while she is occupied, there might be a lot of take-out at my parents' house, but not so! Apparently he went out and got a bunch of steaks and made a bunch of plans. However, I still had my dad, brother, sister, and niece over for supper, and I thought it went really well! We were a little cramped at our small kitchen table, but otherwise things went great! I'll have to plan another one for when my dad is out of town and my mom can come (because of space limitations)... and then there is christmas eve that I'm going to be hosting this year. Super fun!

3) Had a great sibling lunch at Cora's today! Such a great restaurant. I'm gunna have to take Roland and the kids there again. There are SO many things I want to try that it was tough ordering today. Think I'll wait until the crowd dies down a bit though. Opening week was a little nuts.

Yup, REALLY suck at staying on time with this...

Day 24: Something that makes me smile.

I'm realizing that my posts about these things are somewhat themed. But frankly, my day consists almost entirely of my daughter, so what do you expect?

Rosalie is guaranteed to make me smile at least once a day. Either with her own smile, or something silly that she's done, or something that she has learned that has made me so proud (today was standing on her own, with the assistance of her exersaucer, for a significant amount of time)

Day 25: The contents of my purse.

Mostly junk. But here goes... my wallet, cellphone, car keys, Burt's Bees Mango Lip Balm, sunglasses, coupons, kleenexes, gum, antihystamines, 2 letters that I've been meaning to get stamps for for the past week, 2 doggie baggies (because who knows when dog poo will jump out of nowhere?), and a crapload of receipts (which have now been thrown out)

Day 26: Something I'm looking forward to.

We are planning a family trip to Canmore and Edmonton for February Break. I am REALLY excited. I am looking forward to being in Canmore with my parent's, brother, sister, and niece for my cousin's wedding. I'm looking forward to having our own little condo there, that has access to an indoor pool and kids water play area. I'm looking forward to heading up to Edmonton to stay at the WEM Inn, where we used to go with friends to stay. I'm looking forward to going to the WEM waterpark and the Star Wars Exhibit at the Telus World of Science. It's going to be awesome! And I can't wait...

Day 27: A silly self-portrait.

Nope. Moving on...

Day 28: A skill I'd like to learn.

I'd love to learn conversational French. I've been saying that since I saw the movie The Rocket about Maurice Richard. I feel like a bad Canadian for not being bilingual. 

Day 29: Something I could never tire of.

Once again, back to the theme. I will never tire of baby giggles. BEST sound in the whole world.

21st, 22nd, and 23rd

Day 21: A self-portrait.

Nope. Next...

Day 22: What I love about my job.

Staying at home and raising a baby is the best job ever!! Not a career, mind you, but something if you have the means to do at least once in your lifetime, I highly recommend. For those who do not want their own children, nannying would also work I think. Watching this little person grow and learn so fast is amazing, their giggles are contagious, their smiles melt your heart... best ever.

Now, if you consider "job" as employment, then I have to talk about the jail... the best part about jail is... hmm... the paycheck and the majority of the people that work there. Most of them are fabulous, FABULOUS people.

Day 23: Eight things you didn't know about me.

Wow. Eight? Ugh. I'm a pretty open book, so this might be a bit tough. Especially because the people that know me are the ones that read this I think... Ok... here goes...

1) The moment after I ate my first pomegranate seed, I was hooked. Just call me Persephone. I would SO be tied to the underworld for this. I am eating a pomegranate right at this very moment. Their not in season nearly long enough. I'll have to go into detox in the spring...

2) I have had MAJOR body image issues since Rosalie was born. I don't think I will ever be able to wear a bikini again and I am jealous of those who can pop out a baby and wear a bikini without having reconstructive surgery..

3) Before I had Rosalie, I thought I was a pretty awesome puppy mom to Boca. After she was born, I have become a terrible one. Now that it's winter, Boca is lucky if she gets walked 3 times a week, but more common is maybe once a week. I really do try and almost every day I plan to walk her, but a lot of the time it doesn't happen because other things end up coming first. Like laundry after Rosalie has had a massive, explosive poo...

4) Although I hate feet, I wash mine A LOT, and given the opportunity, I will give myself pedicures. I have the best kept, yet hated, feet in the world...

5) I enjoy playing Farmville WAY too much on Facebook. When Roland asked me why I bothered, I honestly had no explanation. I do not know why I like it but I do. At least I don't schedule my life around when I have to harvest my crops anymore. ;)

6) By bestie was living with us for 6 weeks and just went home a week ago and I cried when she left. I didn't think I would be as effected as I was, I mean, she's been living there since May, but this time hit me WAY harder when she left. Maybe it seems more permanent now. I know she will never come back to live in Saskatchewan, and that kills me a little, I think.

7) I have great intentions of maintaining contact with people when they move away, but I really suck at it. There are people that I absolutely love living all over North America and I barely email or talk to them ever. This makes me feel like a terrible friend.

8) I caved and read the rest of the 50 Shades of Grey series. I SO didn't want to, but I HAD to know what happened next. THey are stupid and awful and I would never recommend them to anyone, but I couldn't stop myself. I had intended on taking that to the grave. The only person that knew was Roland and my bookstore friend Sarah. Roland busted me reading them, and Sarah mentioned that she was reading them when he was around and he was like "Didn't you read all of those?"... after that I made him swear he would tell no one else. Ew. I feel gross just thinking about it.

Books to Read (and Before I Wake)

Well, another month long to read a book. I suppose this is going to be the norm for me for a while.

I thought it might be pertinent to this blog to post about my good intentions of reading. I have LOADS of books that I have every intention of reading, but for every one book I read, I buy another three. This has become a slight issue for space, and a slight hoarding problem.

THIS is my "Books to Read" shelf. You will notice on the bottom shelf that you can see a layer of books BEHIND the ones you can see. I don't even want to think about how many books are on this shelf. Many I have had for several years -- I am pretty sure there are some that I bought in my Coles days that are still on this shelf... I should also note that this does not even include most of the Kids and Young Adult titles that I have as well, they are still in a box from when we moved.

So... I have good intentions. Remember that...

~*~

They say there are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth. In Before I Wake, debut novelist Robert J. Wiersema cleverly introduces a multitude of voices to tell this astonishing story of loss, redemption and forgiveness. And the truth? Well, when miracles start happening around Sherry Barrett, a three-year-old girl in a coma, explanations of a rational kind no longer seem important.

Injured by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street, Sherry Barrett lies in a hospital where her doctors say she will never wake up. Her distraught parents, Karen and Simon, make the painful decision to take her off life support. But when they do, Sherry spontaneously begins breathing on her own, the first of many miraculous events to occur.

Henry Denton, the driver who struck Sherry, is haunted by the accident and attempts to take his own life, only to be saved by an unexplained force. Sherry’s nurse discovers that the little girl has the power to heal. When word of her gift leaks, the sick begin lining up to be saved and a mysterious stranger sets his sights on vanquishing the believers and the Barretts.

Before I Wake delicately brings together grandiose leaps of faith with the fragility of every day moments. There’s a fly-on-the-wall quality in Wiersema’s observations, as his realistically flawed characters struggle with guilt, self-loathing and belief while they go about their daily lives. The novel’s fractured narrative style is propulsive and unexpected at every turn, and succeeds in raising questions about times of great faith, and what happens when they happen to the most unlikely of people.

“I believe in miracles — we see them around us all the time,” Wiersema says. “I believe in not having the answers, in there being forces beyond our understanding.”

This book has a lot of aspects that contribute to a very captivating novel. There is a clear divide of good and evil, there are characters that I loved and hated, a fantastic storyline and there is always hope, and hope seems to be a very central theme to this novel. 

All and all, it wasn't really a book that was aimed at me. I didn't read the back of this book before I read it, I just went on other's recommendations. I probably wouldn't have read it if I had read the description that is printed above. This book is really aimed at a Christian audience. In fact, I would say that it is basically a Christian Fiction novel. I am pretty agnostic, so this book was a little hard for me to swallow. 

That being said, if all of the Jesus-y, Christian Myth stuff was taken out of it, it probably would be one of my favourite books. It has an excellent writing style and story telling ability. Many of the characters were flawed, but there was enough good things about them, or good people to balance out the bad that it didn't make me hate the book, like I have with others. I enjoyed the perspective on afterlife that wasn't completely rooted in Christian myth. I cried at a few parts (which is always a sign of a good book) that were totally family related. It had a happy ending, which is something I generally prefer. It really was an entertaining read and I would recommend it to others with the disclaimer of the religion stuff.

Day 20: Something that Means A Lot to Me

The support of my friends and family.

It seems to me like a lot of people try to bring others down than trying to help bring them up. It seems like whenever anyone posts anything on facebook telling people about an accomplishment, someone always seems to be there saying that they did it better, or that it's really not an accomplishment at all.

I have so many supportive people in my life I am in shock most of the time. When I need someone to be supportive of a decision I've made or need someone to tell me I'm doing ok, there is someone there. Or if I need advice there is someone there to give it to me without judgement or criticisms. I think these people know who they are, and I can't thank them enough for it.

I Kinda Suck at This...

Ok... I've got a few days of catch-up to play...

Day 14: Style inspiration for the season.
 I have absolutely no sense of style. I don't even really understand what this is asking me to talk about... moving on...

Day 15: Three blogs I always read.
I have them all listed on the right side of the web version of this blog. They are all pretty great. You should read them. Go nuts!

Day 16: Someone who inspires me.
My mom. If I end up exactly like my mom I will be a VERY lucky woman. But it's not looking good. She's more active than I am, she's more social than I am, she's way cleaner than I am... She is a fabulous woman that everyone loves. She was so involved in my elementary school that people still recognize me as being the "milk lady's daughter" 

Day 17: My family.

... Is awesome? I don't really want to post pictures. I'm not really into that. But they are extremely supportive and wonderful. I have a great husband who I feel that I can talk to about anything, even if we disagree. Most of the time we can talk out our issues without even getting angry. It's really great. We don't fight that often, but when we do I think the walls might shake. My two wonderful kids, who I totally live for. My parents, sister, and brother, who will always accept me for who I am, and are always receptive to a visit at almost any time of day. Whom I have fun with at any family occasion. A little niece that is so sweet and reminds me to smile as much as possible.

Great family. Couldn't ask for better...

Day 18: What I wore today.
So, because I forgot to do this yesterday, I'll just post a picture of what I wore today...

T-shirt. Yoga Pants. Puppy socks. Boom.

Day 19: Myself, one year ago

I was pregnant. I was still living at our old house. I don't remember much more than that. It's weird how much being pregnant takes over your life. I honestly can't remember anything else going on in my life... weird, eh? Facebook didn't even help. Apparently I'm lame.

(P.S. The formatting, particularly the spacing, on this post really bothers me, but I'm not sure how to fix it with Blogger. Some of it showed up as double spaced and other parts showed up as single. If you know how to fix this, please let me know)

Kinda fell off the wagon...

Day 10: A favourite recipe.

Lemon Roast Potatoes

4 lbs potatoes (8-10)

1 cup water

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup melted butter (or Olive Oil)

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp salt

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp pepper

Peel potatoes (optional) and cut into cubes. Place into a 9"x13" baking pan (I just use a cassarole dish normally) Whisk together water, lemon juice, butter, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Pour over potatoes, turning to coat evenly. Bake at 325, gently turning occasionally to keep potatoes moistened for about 90 minutes or until potatoes are very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Makes 8 generous servings.

I half this recipe regularly, because with only 3 of us the full recipe is too much. But for potluck's it's great! It also goes with pretty much everything, so it's a good go-to side dish. :)




Day 11: Three years ago today.

I had just started working at the jail, so I was probably in training. If you want this to go from Remembrance Day, I was probably not working because of the holiday, and I think we watched Valkaryie that year...  




Day 12: The last item I purchased.

Yesterday I bought groceries, I think the last thing on the conveyer belt was the Christmas Oranges... but if you want something more fun, the last fun thing I bought was online. I bought a Christmas outfit for Rosalie, and she is gunna look DAMN cute in it, and I also bought a couple of sleepers because they were dirt cheap from the same site, including her christmas sleeper, which she will also look DAMN cute in :)




Day 13: Something I'm proud of.

It's hard to just pick one. I am proud of so many things in my life.... so I am gunna stick to three...

1. I am proud of my little girl, who grows so much every day, and I am convinced she is going to be a genius.
2. I am proud of my stepson, who has come such a long way since coming to live with us and coming from such a crappy situation.
3. I am proud of my puppy, whom I love to bits and is being so good with having Rosalie around, even if that means she misses the occasional walk.

Remembrance Day Traditions

A few years ago I decided that I needed to do more to appreciate what Remembrance Day is all about. Prior to this, I felt that it was always great to have a day off, but I had never been to the ceremony at Sask Place, in fact, if I wasn't in school either as a student or teaching, I didn't go to any ceremony at all. But I also don't really think that's for me. I didn't think it was the best way to honour veterans or consider what some wars have done for us. For some it is, for me it is not.

When I was 17, I saw Saving Private Ryan in the theatre with my sister because she had just turned 18 and could “escort” me to 18A movies. We decided on Saving Private Ryan on that fateful day. I spent the first half hour crying and peeking through my fingers at times. To this day, I still consider it the scariest movie I have ever seen. That first scene at the beaches on D-day was done a little too well I think. I honestly may have had PTSD after watching it. I had never really understood the importance of honouring our Veterans before seeing that movie. It changed my whole way of thinking. And also made me not want to watch war movies ever again.

After coming to the conclusion about needing to appreciate Remembrance Day more, I came to think of that movie, and that day, and how I felt. So in order to Remember something that I had never experienced first hand, I decided I would watch a war movie every year on Remembrance Day to make myself consider what we have gained and lost, as well as what our veterans have gained and lost. It's not really an enjoyable task for me, but they make me consider, they make me “remember”

Over the years I have watched Saving Private Ryan again, as well as Passchendaele, Valkyrie, Inglorious Bastards, Sophie's Choice, Billy Bishop Goes to War, and Schindler's List.

This year we are watching Full Metal Jacket.

I'm not really a Stanley Kubrick fan, I thought A Clockwork Orange was just messed up, but maybe he does war movies well. Maybe they are supposed to be a little messed up. Anywhoo, we'll give it a go and see how it works out.

If you have any suggestions for future years, please post them! I'm always looking for suitable movies for Remembrance Day!

Lest We Forget.

Day 09: Close up of my day

OK, I think this just means that I record the times that I do everything today. I felt like today wasn't very exciting, yet is was kinda typical? But kinda not? I don't know. Sorry this is kinda boring...

8:35 - Woken up by Rosalie
8:37 - Change diaper and feed Rosalie
8:50 - Go downstairs, put Rosalie in her exersaucer. Continue to Wake up
9:00 - eat breakfast, read the paper
9:27 - Phone call from mother-in-law
9:45 - Feed Rosalie 
10:06 - Computer time (Rosalie plays on her mat)
10:24- Play with Rosalie on her mat
10:41 - Let Rosalie play with my phone
10:47 - Shower
11:08 - Relieve Brayden of his big brother duties and feed Rosalie
11:55 - make lunch (pancakes for us, carrots for Rosalie)
12:20 - Eat lunch
12:50 - Feed & nap with Rosalie
2:30 - Head out with Erin and Rosalie to Centre Mall
4:30 - Home! Feed Rosalie
4:50 - Attempt to keep Rosalie happy and entertained (unsuccessful)
5:45 - Hand Rosalie off to Roland
6:10 - Make supper. (Perogies for us, pear for Rosalie)
6:30 - Eat
7:00 - Feed (nurse) Rosalie 
* drawing a complete blank. I think I used the bathroom in this time? I may have cleaned up supper dishes? Procured a head injury? I am honestly drawing a blank*
8:30 - bedtime routine (diaper change, sleeper on, bedtime story, sleep sack on, nightlight on, big lights off)
8:45 - nurse Rosalie
9:00 - Rosalie asleep!
9:05 - drink heavily j/k! Sit down for what feels like the first time today and love it. Computer time!
9:25 - Rosalie wakes up. Feed her again.
9:40 - Back to "me" time.
10:30 - Post this entry and read for a bit until I'm sleepy!
 

G'night!
 

UPDATE: As of 10:55pm Rosalie is awake again. It is now just after 1am, and she is NOT cooperating. I am one frustrated mama. My day just ended really poorly...

Day 08: Three Inspirational Quotes(?)

This one is tough for me. I don't generally remember quotes. I've heard some good ones in my day, but I sure can't think of any right now, not even song quotes... jeesh... So the ones I pick, which are guarenteed to be a little lame (although awsome to some of us geeks) will take a little explaining...

1) "Do or do not, there is no try" - Yoda

Ok, you ALL knew that there would be a Star Wars quote in here, so if you just rolled your eyes at me, then please, move on to the next quote.

This quote is all about believing in yourself and if you believe you can do something and put your mind to it, then you will succeed in some form or another. If you let negativity and doubt cloud your thoughts and judgements, then yes, you will fail. Believe in yourself. You are your best cheerleader!

2) "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

If you just rolled your eyes again, then you probably shouldn't be reading my blog. You don't know me at all. Either move on to the next quote or close your web browser or head back to facebook or something...

Professor Dumbledore says this in Goblet of Fire in order to inspire his students to band together rather than letting their differences tear them apart when they are all in a time of need, and may be in danger. This is sort of like "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" type thing, but way classier and with way less negativity.

3) "All you need is love" - The Beatles

... Because really, if you've got that, then you have a lot more than most.


Ok... that was a tough one... Sorry it was kinda lame for most of you...

Babies are pretty amazing... (and a song or three)

I've found that raising a baby is a bit of a conundrum sometimes. Many parents gave me the "Carpe Diem" type advice when Rosalie was first born. The type that tells you to treat every minute sacredly because before you know it they are all grown up and you wonder where their newborn, infant, toddler, or child stages went. I have the great advantage of living in Canada, where I get to stay home for a year and really grow with my baby, so I have no problem taking advantage of time spent with her. At the same time, many parents tell me to get out of the house without her once and a while, to go on dates with Roland so we don't lose one another, and to just get time to myself so I don't end up going crazy. I'd like to think I have that pretty balanced. I leave her with her Dad to just run out to the grocery store, sometimes as just an excuse to collect myself. We have gone out to a movie or two, but the whole movie I am checking my watch wondering how she's doing and always am riddled with guilt when I find out that she was ok for the first half hour, but then screamed the rest of the night. So instead we make a point of watching a few television shows together once she's gone to bed for the night. I get the occasional social life to myself, but she's still not great with Roland (I am the buffet after all!), so the night ends up being cut a little short sometimes. But I have no complaints about how this works out for us. Most of the time I would rather take her with me than leave her at home or with a sitter. I've loved these first 6+ months where I get to watch everything she does... which brings me to my next conundrum...

They grow so fast. I have trouble believing that just over 6 months ago she was half the weight she is now, that I had to get up with her every hour and a half in the night, and that she slept most of the day away... As much as I want this to slow down and let me savour it, I am constantly pushing her to move forward. When she's rolling around the livingroom, I am holding toys out in front of her, just out of her reach in an attempt to make her crawl toward it. At the end of swim lessons I hold her hands to get her to "walk" out of the pool. I am surprised and SO proud when she does something that is considered a milestone for her age (like when I creep up behind her when she's looking in a mirror and turns around to look at me because she no longer "thinks I'm in the mirror", or how she looks for the source of a sound, because she knows it has to come from something). So I want her to stay young yet I am pushing her to learn faster and grow... figure THAT one out...

I've also discovered that the choices I make, as a parent, to give her the best opportunities possible blow my mind when they are already showing results. How at swim lessons, she no longer panics when she gets water in her mouth, how she doesn't really mind getting her face and ears wet or being dunked in the water...

The decisions I have made about introducing her to solid foods is part of what prompted my post today, and it's kinda a long story (short, if being told orally, but written it seems long), so bare with me. It all started when Rosalie was about 5 months old and I was preparing to get ready for when she was going to start solids. She had started to show the milder signs, like being very interested in what we were eating, but not the certain signs, like grabbing food off of our plates. I called a friend that owns the maternity store Mother's Melody to see what she had for starting baby food. She said that she normally had the "BLW" book but she was out right now. I didn't have a clue what BLW was, but I told her that was ok and when she got more just to let me know. She then asked a couple of questions about Rosalie and what I was looking for, once I told her, she said that she wouldn't feel comfortable selling me anything until I had taken the Vitae Baby Food Basics course. So I took the class and it was amazing. BLW stands for Baby-Led Weaning, and the class was all about how you really don't need to puree foods in order to feed it to your baby, if your baby is ready to eat solids, they are ready to eat SOLIDS. She pointed out that babies have an extremely overreactive gag reflex, so solid things that go any further past where their first molars will be they gag. This is extremely useful when trying to NOT choke on solid foods, however if you start them on pureed foods they lose that gag reflex before they get to real solid stuff, so then they are more likely to choke later. Also, one of the few things your baby has control over is what goes into his or her mouth, so what better way to assert your baby's independence than to give her foods that she can feed to herself! If you give foods that can easily be cut into french fry like strips (foods like bananas, cucumbers, avocados, apples, sweet potatoes, etc) then she can hold it herself and feed herself. With pureed food they are dependent on you to feed it to them, not to mention it's WAY messier... There were about a million other things that I learned in this class, but that's about all that's relevant to this post, so if you are interested in taking the course, let me know. I'll give you all the contact info and stuff... Or if you just want to read the book about the principles here it is!

So... the amazing thing: I had gotten a free sample of rice cereal sent to me when Rosalie was about 4 months, so I put it in the cupboard to use it when she was ready, but then I took the class and changed how I intended to feed Rosalie, so it was somewhat forgotten. Even though it wasn't part of my plan, I really didn't want to waste it, so I decided to feed it to her at lunch today.(Side note: Chelsea, the girl that taught the baby food class, said that these types of cereals really aren't useful, they have a bunch of preservatives and sugar in them, but they are iron fortified, but if you start on meats early enough you don't really need that either). So I made it up and got Rosalie all in her chair to eat it, and I put some on the spoon and moved it toward her face... but her mouth stayed shut tight and she reached for the spoon. So I pulled it back and tried again. NOPE! She reached for the spoon again. So I gave her the spoon and she totally feeds herself! Mind you, not like an adult or a grown child would. She was sorta putting the spoon sideways into her mouth (so vertical rather than horizontal), but she would suck off all of the cereal by herself. Then I would take the spoon and put more on, she would eat it, and then she started handing the spoon back to me when she wanted more! Only a few months ago I had to squish my boob into her face in order for her to eat and now she barely needs me any more! It is just SO amazing how fast they learn, and I love that the approaches I have taken are working for her. Granted, I won't be handing her the bowl of mush and the leaving her to it (MAN that would be messy), but I love her independence and watching her learn. LOVE IT.

Ok, now Part II...

DAY 07: A song for the day

So, when I read over this list before actually committing to do it, I thought the song I would pick would be one by The Zolas off their new album Ancient Mars, because that is what I had been listening to in my car lately. So it came down to two of those songs: Observatory and Local Swan. Observatory has a line that directly relates to me ("I want to read your book, but I don't want to break the spine...") but Local Swan is always the one that is stuck in my head when I get out of the car, even if it wasn't the last song to play ("When all your lights are starry blurs, will you remember me? When all your friends are photographers, will you remember me?")... So I picked Local Swan, but you should listen to Observatory too if you like this one..

BUT THEN, I popped in my iPod after bringing in the Zolas CD to put onto iTunes (yes, I am still one of those people that buys actual CDs), and Ellie Goulding came up. I LOVE Ellie Goulding's voice. And I knew who she was before they started playing her on the radio here... and before she was the "wedding band" that played at Prince William and Kate Middleton's reception... This one's called Under the Sheets

AND THEN, I was looking at the songs that other people had chosen, and Dani had picked a song from Cinderella. This made me realize that if I wanted to pick a song that would make people think of me, I should pick an Alvin and the Chipmunks song. I LOVE Alvin and the Chipmunks. This one was on Chipwrecked, so it came out after my wedding reception... so it wasn't part of the game we played ;)

So I cheated and picked three songs... sue me. :)

Days 4, 5, & 6

Day 04: A friend I adore.

As everyone says with this question, I have so many people to choose from... yadda, yadda, yadda... I have so many friends that support me... yadda, yadda, yadda... Hate to only pick one... Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. 

BUT, I'm gunna pick one anyway. If I do this next year, I'll pick someone else.

The fact that this friend is currently living with me (for only 12 more days *cries*) she is the reasonable choice this month. The friend that I adore is my best ol' buddy Erin. She was my bridesmaid in my wedding. She is my go-to girl with any of my worries and woes, and also my excitements and achievements. She is the best friend a girl could ever have. I can't imagine my life without her. It's weird to think that if she hadn't dated a buddy of mine, I would never have known her. So crazy. Clearly, I picked her when they broke up ;) 

Having her live so far away now is tough. Often times I when I feel lonely, that distance seems greater, even with Skype. I know that BC is the best place for her, and if the multitude of phone calls with job offers are any indication, she is also the best for BC. She is a phenomenal girl, and BC is lucky to have her.

I seriously can't say enough good things about her.

LOVE YOU SWEETIE! (Yes, I realize I am breaking my rule about no photos of myself again...)

Day 05: My hometown.

S'TOON! And it probably always will be. As much as I get sick of the cold dry winters by January, I can't imagine living anywhere else. I love that we actually HAVE seasons! Unlike places like Hawaii (as much as I love it there), where it is always summer. Almost no difference between January and July. Almost all of my family is here, and I can't imagine being far away from them. Especially when there are new members being added now. Must be around to watch them grow!

Day 06: A book I'm reading.

Before I Wake by Robert Wiersema. You'll hear what I think of it in a few days. I'm almost halfway done. 

November Fun

A friend on another blog posted this "30 Days of November" list, and I figured, because I am finding that I feel pressured to post, but don't know what to post about, this will be a good option for me. Some posts may be shorter than others, but whatevs... I'm a couple days behind, so I'll do a few of them today...

Day 01: A place I'd like to travel.
Day 02: A favourite movie.
Day 03: Something I never leave the house without.
Day 04: A friend I adore.
Day 05: My hometown.
Day 06: A book I'm reading.
Day 07: A song for the day.
Day 08: Three inspirational quotes.
Day 09: A close-up of my day.
Day 10: A favourite recipe.
Day 11: Three years ago today.
Day 12: The last item I purchased.
Day 13: Something I'm proud of.
Day 14: Style inspiration for the season.
Day 15: Three blogs I always read.
Day 16: Someone who inspires me.
Day 17: My family.
Day 18: What I wore today.
Day 19: Myself, one year ago.
Day 20: Something that means a lot to me.
Day 21: A self-portrait.
Day 22: What I love about my job.
Day 23: Eight things you didn't know about me.
Day 24: Something that makes me smile.
Day 25: The contents of my purse.
Day 26: Something I'm looking forward to.
Day 27: A silly self-portrait.
Day 28: A skill I'd like to learn.
Day 29: Something I could never tire of.
Day 30: Three wonderful things that happened this month.

OK, so...

Day 01: A place I'd like to travel...

Bora Bora. Mostly because I want to stay on one of those condos out on the water where there is a window in the floor and you can see the fish. Plus it would be fun to jump off of your deck into the ocean... and boat up to your front door.

I was looking into planning a trip for Roland and I to go last November, but then I found out I was pregnant with Rosalie, and I didn't feel comfortable flying while pregnant, or going anywhere outside of North America for that matter... actually... outside of Canada. I would NOT want to go into labour in the States. THAT would be so expensive and ruin the positive parts of having a baby. I probably would have gone into denial, and then tried to hold her in and that would have just made a big mess...

Day 02: A favourite movie...

This one is kinda tough, I'm tempted to go with a classic and try to look all high-brow, but that would be lying. So Across the Universe it is! It's a musical. A story told by Beatles music. And it has my Hollywood Boyfriend in it (Jim Sturgess *swoons*)

Day 03: Something I never leave the house without...

I almost said "Rosalie", but that's not true. Roland keeps her sometimes... when he's home... which is rare. So I'm gunna have to go with the lame answer of "Cell Phone". Even when I just take the dog for a walk around the block I take it with me for the flashlight, just in case ;)

More to come! Stay tuned! :)

Casting a Book Aside

This is not something I do lightly. I believe that every book has it's place, even if you hate it, you may learn something from it. It may reaffirm the things you like in a book, which the one you hate may lack or recognize attributes of a book to avoid in the future. Also, I generally find it easier to finish a book and never think about it again rather than stop in the middle and wonder if it got any better. But that's just my personal experience.

There are certain situations and benefits I give a book before it gets tossed (or more likely given away). The following are things I think that anyone should consider before giving up on a book. I will also give examples of books I gave up on because of these reasons.

1. If you don't enjoy anything about a book once you are 100 pages in: In that 100 pages a lot can change and happen. Even if it's a slow read, by that time you should have enough character development to understand a character's motivation. Also in that time, you should be getting a bit of plot so that you know where the story might be going, but not how it will end... unless it's based on history... then you might know already. There are very few books I have given up on entirely. One was The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein. This has put me at odds with many of my bookstore coworkers. I found the writing pretentious and annoying. I gave it 150 pages and I still thought it was stupid. I wasn't through the dancing and singing in the woods by this point so I said “screw it” and just watched the movie. And in the movie, that stupid dancing and singing was just narration by the wonderful Cate Blanchett and only took about 10 minutes. I stand by my choice. This is also an advantage to abandoning a book that has a movie adaptation, you can generally find out if it is worth going back or reading or not from the movie. I felt Lord of the Rings was better as a movie and left it at that. Done and done.
   
   
   
   
   
2. If you aren't in the right “head-space”: Sometimes, a particular book topic or plot line is not cohesive to your life at the time. It may be a wonderful book when you are in a different place in your life. If a book is making you depressed or angry or frustrated, maybe now isn't a good time to read it (unless you want to be depressed or angry or frustrated). I was reading The Stand by Stephen King, which is a peri- and post-apocalyptic book. I tried to read this while I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy. This was not a good choice. There was even a girl in it that was pregnant through all of this, but I could not read it at that time. The concept of epidemics and pandemics fascinate me, but for some reason I have yet to find a post-apocalyptic book that I enjoy. (I also read The Road by Cormac McCarthy a few years ago and I didn't like that one either, but I did finish it). I have had SO many people tell me they loved The Stand and that it's Stephen King's best, but I couldn't handle the concept of the world coming to an end while I was carrying a baby that I had high hopes for in the future. I may try reading this one again when I'm done having kids.
   
   
   
3. It doesn't fit your lifestyle right now: This is something I have to take into great consideration right now, while I have very little time to read. Sometimes there are days between when I get back to a book I have started, and if it takes too much brain power, or has too many things I need to remember, or there are no good places to stop within 10 pages, it really won't suit my lifestyle right now. I have just decided today to put aside Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This made me really sad because I was really looking forward to reading this one. The movie came out last weekend and as mentioned in prior posts, I prefer to read the book before going to the movie. But this one is not working for me right now and I'm only about 20 pages in. This is a book that takes brainpower. I'm sure I will love it when I try to read it again, but right now, in the first section of the book, the language (a journal in a 18^th century, I think, dialect) is too much for me. I have quite the conundrum with the movie because of this. Watch it first? Or wait until I can read the book first?
   
   
   

There can be many more determining factors for different readers and different books, but I think most of my “nay” books can fit into one of these three criteria. Especially the first, that one is kinda a catch all since I always give it at least 100 pages.

I suppose in short, if you wanted a summery of this post, I would say treat your books like you should treat relationships... Give them a try if you think you'll like them, but if they aren't meeting your needs don't be afraid to cast them aside and try something new that you may suit you better... (but the better thing about books is that you can enjoy more than one without a moral and ethical issue on your hands ;) )