Martini Momma

OK - time to weigh in...

 

"Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And Something you give away."

~Robert Fulgram

Closing out my week on BEING your Best and taking care of YOU, I thought I would end with an inspirational recap.  One of the conversations that we had at the Retreat got everyone thinking about what makes them tick.  As I mentioned earlier in the week - do what makes YOU happy. 

So, as various conversations were unfolding about love, serenity, and organization, from across the room, I heard The Coach.  This is why she is such a GREAT coach.  She softly said, I know what I need each day to make me happy.  I need FRESH AIR and GOOD FOOD.  I believe that she elaborated on what these things meant to her and what else she needed, but instantly, I thought..."Wow - that's brilliant."  She knows what she needs.

So, in between trying to settle the monkey that is in my head - swinging from branch to branch - I thought, "What do I need each day?"

And after a pensive week of wondering, I have come to this conclusion...

Each day I need to be active, that may mean taking the stairs or wearing ankle weights.  It may mean a run or just a walk...but I need to move.  Each day I need to be organized, if I am out of sync, I - am - out - of - sync.  I know it is anal and I am trying to let go of the 'NOT Necessaries" but still WANT them on my list, ready to tick off should time allow.  Most importantly, I need love every day.  I love my boys, I love my family and I love my friends.

A wise woman, once told me that certain people are brought to this earth to be a channel through which learning, love, inspiration are communicate with others.  I know that in order to be my best, I need TIME with my husband, I NEED time to snuggle my boys, to rub their bellies and to whisper in their ears how MUCH I love them.  I need my girlfriends to raise me up, to challenge me and to INSPIRE me.  I need to write, this blog for me, to be in sync.

When those buckets are full, all else is simply bonus.  I am thrilled to have home cooked food to nurture my body and now peace to quiet my monkey.  Yesterday Simone left a comment on meditation from this website and I am going to check it out.

So, here`s my conclusion on a week of being my best!

This week, I went to Hot Yoga at Moksha where I was quiet with myself, I went to bed early, I let the house be a little messy, I finished my article, I woke up early, I gave my entire nursery furniture to someone who needed it more than we needed money and I found myself reserving judgment.  Ok, now it's your turn to weigh in.  Did you honor yourself and DO something for you?

Book Club Booyah!

Another very entertaining bookclub (aka  - drinking of the minds) maybe this person has a point but we did discuss the book - very interesting read (Still Alice by Lisa Genova - a glimpse into early onset Alhzemier disease) and get some mega important LIFE issues sorted out!

1.  RUN to get this at Costco - It comes as a package together and is D-licious:)  We loaded up again and again until it was gone. 

2.  The word Douche, Super Douche, and Douche Bag are making a come-back  - join in now, try it on, have some fun!  ***Use sparingly for those such situations that REALLY are deserving of such a super cool word!

3.  3 is the NEW 2 ( ie.3 is the new black) Word on the street is 3 kids is the WAY to go - thankfully I have alwyas been a brown girl so I feel no need to hunt now the new black :) 

Always, good for a little book talk, at least one hot parenting topic debate, some silly gossip, LOTS of wine, and TOO much food

Love ya Book Club:)

My List

To all mommas and kristina,

Such a good question about books but it took me a while to complie my list, the kids were already in bed by the time i thought of it each night and turning on the lights to snoop through countless books didn't seem like a good idea.  I've included boy and girl books as we seem to read them interchangeably.

• Parts and the sequel More Parts  (funny, boy humor)
• Cloudy witha chance of meatballs ( my fav from my childhood and now, my kids)
• Too Many Toys (true to every parent out there, can't say enough about this book)
• If I were a lion
• Alice the Fairy (We even read it with the snotty little princess voice)
• I'm Gonna Like Me ( Have lost this book and am planning to purchase again, I like it that much.  I may even read it to junior high students)
• Fancy Nancy
• The Jolly Postman
• The Gruffalo (smart book, kids both love it)
• Jazzy and the Jungle (Daddy reads with crazy voices)
• I know a Rhino (girl looks like Maggie, so I ADORE this book)
• MY FAVORITE Sometimes I like to curl up in a ball
• How I became a Pirate
• Freckleface Strawberry
• The Giving Tree (cry every time and love it)
• I Love it When you smile
• The Party (tattered, its been read so many times in our house and pictures from Barbara Reid are so fun)
• Wild Things (yeah, movie opens on Ty's birthday)
• Brooke Shields book on being a big sister is GREAT

2 special Books

My mom and I read at Grandparents Day together a book called DREAM.  I was pregnant with Ty and she was about to be a grandparent for the first time.  Her whole being swelled with pride when I waddled into Maple Leaf School to share the book in front a packed gym with my mom's staff and many visiting grandparents.  She wrote me a note in a copy of the book that I will cherish for the rest of my life.  She could not wait to be a grandma and she was a GREAT grandma.  The following Grandparents Day, my mom had already passed away, but my mom's school called me again.  I did not read for them and I didn't even attend, it was too painful.  They delivered a book to my house, The Gift of Being Grand.  It is the most wonderful book about being a grandparent and the joy that experience brings.  It's smart, funny, and incredibly moving.  I tear up every single time.  My mom would have loved it, just like me.  My copy of the book sits in the nursery on a shelf, a message from each of her staff written just for me about my mom and the joyful memories they shared with her.  What a treasure!

I also LOVE the book SOMEDAY and give it to all expectant mom as gifts.  That book also makes me cry, a theme I enjoy in my readings.

Garcon, there's a fly in my soup!

Come on, I know you are wondering how my soup was.  Yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I dusted it with parmesan, ground flax seed and cracked pepper and it was d-licious.  You should try it.  I threw diced carrots, onions, parsnips, zucchini, tomatoes, GF chicken soup stock, roasted chicken, fresh garlic, basil, and oregano in my crock pot and poof!  Seriously, easy, nutritious and delicious.

Also begging to be chopped or diced or baked in my kitchen these days are these...

I think a apple cake with cream cheese icing a la Mollie's post on Monday may be a bit adventurous but I could definitely tackle a GF Apple Crisp....

Wednesday where the hell did you come from???  Focus is all in my world these days.  I had mentioned on Monday that I was choosing two things that HAD to get done each day.  Today I have to READ, READ, READ or I will not finish my book for tomorrow's BOOK CLUB!  I have missed my book club friends and am so anxious to catch up with everyone.  And, I have to focus on EATing Chocolate.  I have an industrial sized bar of Bernard Chalebaut Dark Chocolate begging me to devour it.

Speaking of reading, Kristin, you had asked for fav books for wee ones...  Here is my list.

• Miss Nelson is Missing
• Stella Luna
• Where The Wild Things Are
• Bob and Otto
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Click, Clack, Moo
• Farmer Duck
• Goodnight Gorilla
• If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
• I Love You Sticky Face

How's that for starters?

Equillibrium? I am afraid not.

 

I finished A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.  Seriously - did it really end like that?  I absolutely grew to love the book and the characters seemed to dwell within these walls by the end of the summer.  I could see them in my head and wondered about the next day of their life, never mind the next year or eight years!

My general impression was that the story was a beautifully written portrayal of life in India.  It was very sad at times and a true testament to the human spirit, especially the strength to endure.  I loved how the author wove words from other languages into the cloth that was the story.  I completely loved the metaphor of seeing one's life through the patches in a quilt.

But...I refuse to believe that it ended this way.  In fact, I stayed up until 12:30 in the morning last night anxious for a happy reunion or at least a faithful ending.  One in which I could put my book into the archives and smile knowing within the pages of this book people triumphed.  I don't know... what did you think?

Don't look now, there's an angel behind you.

Our MM January 2009, book club selection was The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson.  I was please when we had selected this book for many reasons.  I loved that it was written by a Winnipeg author.  I loved that the author received one of the largest signing bonuses for a first time Canadian novel in many decades.  I also loved that the book has fantastic artwork on the cover which lead me to believe the novel would be risque.

Our "meeting" was fantastic and racy but had nothing to do with the book.  We got carried away with fondue, wine and sleep training.  Just as we were leaving though, Kath, Nicole and I had a brief discussion in which both of them brought alternative perspectives to my version of the story.  Kath mentioned a variation that her MIL (Monica) had - which I think I will adapt as my own.  Very cool.  And Nicole had a similar but equally paradoxical version.  I enjoyed my evening immensely but came home with a burning desire to know more about this book.  Nicole, thank you for hosting.  You are a smart, witty, techie, raw person whose writing I love and I really appreciated seeing you in your comfort zone.

Back to Andrew, yes I am on first names basis with him, I started googling him.  He's weird, for sure.  But so interesting.  His novel took him 7 years to write.  Thank God, that's a time line I can work with - inspiring.  He claims that he met one of the characters in his mind and couldn't shake her.  She kept hounding him to be written until he broke down.  He needed a narrator to tell her story, but right from the started envisioned her hair and even her eyes.  She looked at him.

So, now I'm thinking that either I am not weird enough to write or not creative enough or maybe I don't drink enough.  Do all author have characters following them around?  The only personalities that follow me around are: a pirate, a black and tan pooch, and a wee pudgy one who demands "night, night" so that he can be in his crib with his soother.  Side note: I shit you not, I have created a monster.  G asks to go to bed several times a day now because I have trained him that soothers are for bedtime.  Is there a training manual on that one? 

Alas, I press on and I write and perhaps one day I will be alone with my thoughts (when I am retired) and a character will come to me and demand to be written.  Until then, the job search continues as does the quest for personal greatness.  However, like everything else worthwhile in our world, it is effort to be the best.  Occasionally I catch myself tempted to apply for a job where I could get up every day and perpetuate crank, but when that happens I kick my own ass and think, "What would our Life Coach say?"

Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society

This is an enduring story that is set in London in 1946 post Second World War.  Juliet Ashton is a writer who is looking for a plot for her next book when she receives a letter from a man that she has never met.  In corresponding with DawseyAdams, she finds a literary society that came together during war times.  The society befriends Ashton and through many personalities and stories, the idea for her book is born.  The members of the society begin writing to Juliet.  The entire book is in letter format.  That being said, it does not take lengthy prose to learn of hope and love, hardship and sorrow.  There are lessons of friendship and love and the camaraderie that comes with tough times.

I really enjoyed the book.  I personally think I did myself a disservice by reading it slowly.  The letter format made it too easy for me to put it down and read it in a manner that was choppy.  That being said, the story is filled with history and is written in a way that engulfs the readers.  The beautifully depicted landscapes really appealed to me.  I think there are parts of this book that will touch everyone that picks it up.

I definitely recommend it and don't believe that it needs much discussion so don't feel it is limited to book clubs.  One last thing to mention is that the lead author passed away before the book was completed.   Her niece finished out the project.  It is really unfortunate that Mary Ann Shaffer didn't see the successes of this novel.

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

I picked this book up initially because I had read another by the same author, Mrs. Kimble and quite enjoyed it.  Jennifer Haigh has not written a ton of novels but she is incredibly bright (much more so than I) and I find that her writing style is quite academic - which I really enjoy.  Her vocabulary is vast and always challenging me.

The Condition is a character novel about the McKotches.  They are a complex family with their share of issues and dysfunctions.  The novel is set in Massachusetts and detailed so well it makes you want to go there on vacation.  The story is told from everyone's point of view which is interesting.  There is a little bit of each character that is identifiable and human which makes them all believable.  I felt that their lives were in fact very realistic. 

In my husband's family, his youngest brother was diagnosed with leukemia when we was 10.  Thankfully he is just fine today but it was a very tough ride when he was battling the disease.  The Condition is not about cancer, it is about Turner's Syndrome, but the storyline is familiar.  A disease which severely affects a family and especially individuals all in completely different ways. 

I would say though that right up until the end of the novel, I felt as though something greater was coming.  I personally felt as though each character had their own 'condition' which contributed to a good story and certainly a worthwhile read.  My only disappointment was how Random House and the author set up the reader.  The jacket says: "At that moment he (the father) knows a truth that he can never again unknown something is terribly wrong with his only daughter. The McKotch family will never be the same." That is true. My belief is that many things change families.  Life changed these characters and that was enough for me.

Going Glutenfree

I am writing this post late at night.  I just got home from our first Bookclub Kick Off Meeting and it was hugely successful.  I think anyway.  It was intellectual, funny and therapeutic.  Dotted with good wine and lots of snacks.  Thanks ladies.  Details for next book coming from Coach, aka Kath.

One thing that I thought was very interesting to come from last night was a openness, almost a vulnerability, real women, with real stories to tell.  Maybe that's what I'll call my first book.  I like it. 

Yesterday I found out that my love affair with Mr. Sleeman is over and so is my life.  Just kidding, I have Celiacs.  I think I am still a bit in denial but working towards a positive outlook and new meal planning.  But, yes sadly, I will have to end my long time relationship with BEER.  Boo.  I have a few deliverables on this new diagnosis.  I need to find out how the hell to even tell if Gluten is an ingredient.  It is hiding in so many things.  And, I need to figure out how to eat fast quick Celiac approved meals!

This week is flying by.  Work is very busy.  Brent is golfing early tomorrow morning so I am sure something will hit the fan.  Crys and I are getting together tomorrow night to start working towards the wedding.  We are doing a slide show and a speech, so we have to be creative.  I am thinking a few margaritas can help out in that department.  Stagette is this coming weekend - stories TBA.

Oh yeah and tomorrow is the first home game of my team, The Bombers.  Go Blue.

Shaken Not Stirred

Back into a good routine this week with my husabnd home:)  We missed him....I love my boys. 

Harris paid me a nice but very wierd compliment last night.  As he was falling asleep he quickly told me "I was a good mom and a really good driver"...not sure where that came from but I will take any compliment. 

I thought I might be bordering on a lunatic mother after I spent 20 minutes telling him the day before about how chicks grow up to be slaughtered and eaten. 

His pre-school class has been caring for eggs which recently hatched into chicks.  I asked him if the chicks were still at school.  He told me "no, they have gone back to the restaurant"...I clarified "the farm?"..."Nope, restaurant"....Figuring that as I good parent I should spend sometime making sure he was ok with the circle of life I broke into a whole rant on how chicks grow up and we eat them....he looked confused.

When I dropped him off at school yesterday I joked with the teachers about how honest they were and that I was a bit taken aback that they would discuss this whole eating animals at such a young age.  They burst out laughing...the chicks when back to the University...which Harris somehow replaced with restaurant...aghhh.

My friend Cath just had a baby boy - Reid...He is so sweet and they are great.  I went to visit them in the hospital and although I loved holding him I did not get the baby itch.  A good test! 

What else is on?  I am reading 2 books at present while waiting for the bookclub book to arrive.  One is Lessons to My Younger Self....I thought is was interesting, advice women would give to their younger self in the form of letters.  Let's face it - we all learn the real truths of life as we get older and especially after seeing things with a child.  Can we say Grey's Anatomy last night? 

Evy is good - she deserves a post onto herself coming soon....My Wild Child...The book If I were a Lion was for sure written about Miss Thing..... 

Happy Weekend!

Remember the Teddy Bear's Picnic is on Sunday:)

Anyone interested in starting/joining MSA  (Marble Slab Anonymous group)

I have been there twice this week and might be addicted to the White Chocolate Raspberry Almond Creation....mmmmmmmmmmm