I just don’t get it.

How did we get so lucky? Or is it luck? Or is it grace. And mercy. And more grace for those tough times. Of all the people in our family (siblings, and spouses) we should be the ones struggling. And we have. And we do. But here we are. Still together. While others aren’t. I just don’t get it. I don’t think it’s that we’re trying harder…or more capable…or that it’s anything we’ve done, or not done. I can’t believe it’s that we’re just doot-de-dooing our way through life and not really paying attention….or we’re too lazy to realize when we’re struggling. It’s got to be grace – God’s grace – that has us still here. Still together. I see in one family how hard times turned out to be a turning point that led to a great new life. And yet I see more struggles in other families that don’t seem to be leading to anything but more heartache. I wish there was a manual. A list to follow for the perfect life. The perfect marriage. But there’s not. And even if there was, we wouldn’t be able to follow it perfectly. No one’s perfect. My DH’s not. And he sure didn’t get a perfect wife either. Guess we’ll just keep going. And believing. And trying our best. And loving more. And learning to live with each other’s imperfections. And learning to accept and embrace the grace that’s holding us together.

Sorry to be so deep. It’s that kinda night.
Cathy

 

Blog Tag

I got tagged by Maria

Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here goes:
7 Random Facts about me.

1. I’m tall. 6′ in fact.
2. Further to that….I have large feet. Size 12. They weren’t always (in my adult life) that big. They were size 10 until I started having babies….then they grew.
3. I have an aversion to socks. I would be barefoot all year long if I could be. Not possible in this climate, but as often as possible – they’re off.
4. I had my first baby in the front seat of our car. It’s a long story….but needless to say, she came extremely fast, and early.
5. I’m a hoarder of scrapping goodies….I buy and don’t use….I save some stuff just to look at (sad, isn’t it?)
6. I make the best bran muffins (an old family recipe from my DH’s side).
7. You’d think as a scrapbooker, I’d take more pictures….but I frequently forget my camera when I go to events. I need to have one surgically implanted so I won’t forget.

There you go.
I’m am tagging my new Clear Scraps friends:

Lisa
Michelle
Nichole
Julie
Laura
Terina

 

Karate Kid & Crazy Supper

Every once & awhile around here we have what we’ve dubbed “Crazy supper.” It doesn’t really matter what we eat (sometimes deepfry, like tonight, but sometimes it’s pigs-in-blankets, or leftovers, or just popcorn…) as long as we’re eating in the living room, watching a movie – that’s what makes it crazy….location, location, location.

Our kids had their own version of Festival Du Voyageur today at school complete with pseudo-dogsled races, taffy pulling, smooshing, snow-shoeing, crafts, bannock and hot chocolate. Needless to say, they’re exhausted. And me too ’cause I had to sub this afternoon instead of just working my usual 1/2 day (I’m such a baby when I miss my nap/afternoon to myself ).

So, the speed tonight is crazy supper, and a movie. We bought Karate Kid for our kids awhile ago and haven’t watched it with them yet. Is this not a blast from the past??

 

The glass 1/2 full side of being sick

My family’s been sick….colds and the flu and then more colds…etc….and all of that is NOT good. But the good part is that we’ve been kinda house-bound and therefore, more scrapping time for me Here’s one of my favourite new mini-albums. Check out my art blog for the rest of my weekend scrapping.

 

Breakfast time!

I’m trying out a recipe for breakfast this morning that Maria swears by: Creamy Crockpot Oatmeal. She got it from a blog of a lady who’s trying crockpot cooking for a year I think….I’m not that industrious….but if this works….I’m having this for lunch somedays when I get home from school!! I’ll let you know how it turns out!

 

OK, back to work

I took a sick day yesterday to get over this flu…and the forecast this morning was for -37 with a windchill of -49 but that never really materialized (It’s Only -35 here today)so….it’s back to work. Fortunately…it’s Wednesday!! The one day a week when I get the van in the afternoon due to some tricky piano-lesson-shuttle-maneuvers “for the kids” after which I get to go to Maria’s for coffee. This is my 2 hours of sanity/week. A place someone understands my addiction to scrapping; where I don’t have to answer to, “mommy, mommy, mommy” or “teacher, teacher, teacher”; where there’s no laundry or phones or ironing or anything really…..just a good friend and a good cup of coffee. Thanks Maria!

 

Mother/Daughter retreat

Mica & I got to spend the weekend together at Red Rock this weekend for a Mother/Daughter weekend. It was really, really fun. Although I had the flu and had to spend some time teaching the craft sessions on Saturday – we still had lots of fun, sliding down the tube slide, snowshoeing to the island across the lake, and decorating cakes with our team of other moms & daughters (ours was so bad it didn’t even rank even though 5 cakes tied for 2nd place).

I love this girl. She’s so ME in so many ways that it drives me crazy and drives me to tears at the same time. I’m really hoping that I’m being the Mom I need to be for her sake. What a learning curve this parent thing is.

 

Lent, an update…and a little help needed

I haven’t blogged in forever, it seems. So much for that New Years’ resolution

An update? We’re all good. Work carries on as usual and I love my EA job. I seem to have some kind of cold thingy but I’m taking antibiotics and it should be gone soon. I so didn’t want to be sick for the Red Rock Mother/Daughter retreat. As much fun as that’s going to be leading the craft there….I’m really excited to take Mica along. Every women’s thing that comes up has her asking, “Can I come, can I come??” and finally I found something to say YES to.

Lent started yesterday. I haven’t fully gotten my brain around what that all means in my life but I am fasting today (from Breakfast and Lunch) and praying about something kinda specific. And I’ve decided that for health reasons and also Lent as a kicker, I’m giving up eating at bedtime. There’s no reason for it really….it’s purely social eating. We’ll see. I’m hoping that as the season of Lent goes on it will take on more and more meaning for me. It’s been such a Catholic-only thing in my mind for so many years that to have it even mentioned in my protestant church is something I need to wrap my brain around.

Also….please forgive my feeble attempt at a blog header. I have an old Photoshop 2.0 that I’m playing with….and if anyone can tell me what I did wrong or how to fix it, I’d really, really appreciate it. I’d love that header to spread across the whole top and be deeper too. Maybe today I’ll have more time to experiment.

Blessings today!
Cathy

 

Back Scrapping too!

It’s been awhile since I’ve scrapped….I mean more than a couple seconds here and there. Working full time has really been cramping my style

So here is one of my newest, “favouritest” projects:
I found this wooden box at a thrift store….actually, a friend who knows my fetish for all things alterable, found it and bought it for me, saying, “I’m sure you can make something out of this!” Thanks Lynette! I’ve been saving it until I had Valentine-ish paper because it screamed mailbox to me. This is one of the projects I just completed for my January Scraphoria DT work. If you want to see the rest of my projects this month…..check out my Art Blog.

It’s amazing to me how utterly SANE and at peace I feel after an hour of creating. Thanks for looking.

 

Back in the swing of things…and goals for 2008

I’m back at work after Christmas break. And lovin’ it. I absolutely love being in my kids’ school even if it’s not them I’m working with. My 3.25 position has stretched to 3.75 and I think it may, in the future stretch even further to 4.25. That’ll be good for the previously-stretched-too-far bank account that we need to fix. Hopefully this extra hour will help get my kitchen renos further along too.

And goals for the year?
I’m not huge into resolutions…but I do have a few things I’d like to do this year.
I’d like to pray daily for my husband and my kids. When life is good and we’re coasting, I forget sometimes…..but that’s my goal.
I’d like to scrap every day and get past the DT-only work so that I’m catching up on my boxes of pictures too.
I’d love to get my Spring Cleaning done by Spring. I have a list – 2 pages long – of jobs broken down into do-able, short jobs that I’d like to tackle throughout the next couple months.
I’m sure there’s more but for now that seems like a list I can still tackle.