SPT: Special Edition

/

One brown eye, one blue eye. Now that is EXTRA special!

/

Except that both of my eyes are blue. When I vectorized the photo my right eye turned dark because that eye is so squinty in pictures. I don't notice it when I look in the mirror, but I do see it in every single photograph! Go ahead, check out some past self portraits, it's all there (and there and there).

/

Now my mom (and this will probably sound familiar, you may have both heard and said these words), my mom taught me that my *differences* are what make me special. But do they make me EXTRA special?

.

(And will you ever look at me that same again?)

I clearly remember my first day of class. I remember wondering if I would I know anybody there. I remember standing with a group of students, some of whom looked as nervous as I felt. I wondered if my teacher would be a boy or a girl. Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday.

n

Um, that's because it was yesterday - I started swimming lessons last night.

..n

I'm afraid I'm abusing the "freedom from the 'self-portrait' guidelines" in Lelly's SPT challenge this week. I did "take the time to find those old photos" and as I looked through my old pictures, it wasn't a school picture that jumped out at me, it was this one:

n

n

I'm the one in the pigtails and the bikini (shocking!) and I've never really passed this level of comfort in a pool. I failed nearly every swimming lesson I took up until the age of 9, and then my parents stopped putting me in lessons altogether. I enjoy water sports like water skiing with the security of a life jacket around me, but I'm not a swimmer. I have happily spent the last 14 years in the baby pool, letting my children graduate up to the big pool in turn while I stayed behind with the next baby. That's not working for me anymore because Chloe learned how to swim this summer, and really, it hasn't been working for me for a long time. The fact that I can't really swim holds me back from certain opportunities for fun and recreation, and I'm tired of it. So for the next 14 weeks every Monday night I'm taking a swimming lesson.

n

I told one of my friends on Saturday night that I was starting swimming lessons this week. She asked me why and I told her because I can't swim. My answer caught her off guard and it really hit her funny bone, and we both had a good laugh. She didn't know I'm not a swimmer, so when she asked my why I was going to take swimming lessons she thought I was going to say something like 'because swimming is terrific exercise'. Well, it is. My lesson really took it out of me.

n

As far as last night goes, everything I said at the beginning of this post was true. I really did feel like a kid on her first day of school. There were 20 people standing with me on the deck next to the pool - way more people taking adult lessons than I thought there would be. When the teachers (both are boys, my teacher's name is Jon) came to divide us into two classes they said, "If you can't swim more than half a length come in level 1, if you can swim a length or more, go in the level 2-3 split." Well, I had signed up for level 2 based on the description in the program guide, but suddenly I felt really insecure with that decision, and several of the women around me were second guessing themselves, also. Ultimately 12 women entered level 1, all the men entered the 2-3 split level, and one other woman and I entered the 2-3 split. I hadn't tried to swim a length at the YMCA ever, but something inside of me decided I'd have to be drowning in the middle of the pool and rescued by my teacher before I'd go in level 1.

n

So once we were in our classes, my teacher asked us to each swim a length to assess where we were at. I wasn't crazy about swimming with other people watching me, but what did I think was going to happen at a swimming lesson? My real problem was that I was barely or maybe not even a level 2 adult swimmer, and I'd been lumped in a class with level 3 swimmers (who are just there to learn how to swim faster and get tips for races), and I didn't know if I'd be the only weak swimmer or what. I sucked it up and swam my length. That went alright, but then swimming another length to get back to the teacher was rough. When I got back to my starting point I looked around and saw we'd been joined by one more class member, someone in my social circle, in fact someone who had been at the wake on Saturday night. Remember my friend who thought my taking swimming lessons was funny? She is going to think that having this guy (a high level-3 swimmer) in my class is hilarious!

!

She swims with the fishes

The best way I know to cool down in the summer heat is WATER!

On Monday it was 31 degrees Celsius, which is about 88 F. Jaclyn and Steven had to bear the heat on the golf course during their golf camp today and Chloe had a play date, which left just Carmen and I to find a way to cool down together. It seems like Carmen is craving one-on-one mom time these days, and what's great is that she's getting it!

So Carmen and I hit the old swimming hole that's about a 10 minute walk away from our house. Today Carmen was a crocodile.

She tried to catch some tadpoles, but that's tough to do with bare hands. We'll try again soon with a bucket and a net.

I am a much more outdoorsy person than I would be if I weren't a mother. If I weren't a mother I'd fight the heat in an air conditioned office and an air conditioned mall and an air conditioned movie theatre.

It is really a different feeling to swim in a creek with tadpoles bumping into your legs the whole time. Nothing like the chlorinated YMCA swim we all had later Monday evening.

~

I guess swimming with the fishes is better than sleeping with the fishes.

SPT Computer Geek

I've been a very content computer geek with my blog, but the SPT Challenge this week motivated me to learn something new. I decided to try out a mini website that I could embed into my blog by Leafletter.

So check out the family reunion pictures organized by Leafletter in my post below, and then come back here to comment. If you double click on one of the small squares in the first page it will take you to a new page of pictures except for the last square which will only take you to an empty grid. I tried a couple of times to fix that last page, but I couldn't get it.

Guess I'm not enough of a computer geek yet.

In the book by A.A. Milne titled Now We Are Six there is a poem that relates to our SPT challenge this week:

Solitude

I have a house where I go
When there’s too many people,
I have a house where I go
Where no one can be;
I have a house where I go
Where nobody ever says “No”;
Where no one says anything – so
There is no one but me.

A.A. Milne

*

Honestly, sleep has been my only chance for solitude and peace lately. In the summer when all the kids are home, that's just the way it goes. So here I am, dreaming of how I'll spend my time in September when all my children will be in school full time. My baby is six now, you know.

*

Happy Birthday Chloe!

*

Howdy!

It's just about time for the Calgary Stampede and for a pre-stampede event our church held a city wide western party for teenagers ages 14-18 this past Saturday. I was there as a youth leader running the barrel racing event. I brought in 3 barrels and timed the kids who raced piggy back style against the clock. It was a blast! Here I am all duded up for Stampede.

SPT: Chloe's photography

I hope this isn't how Chloe sees me - I did take her to the optometrist before she started kindergarten and he didn't prescribe any corrective lenses. Is it time for another visit to the eye doctor?

Figuratively, maybe Chloe does see me this way. If this picture were in focus I'd see all the little flaws I'm not so crazy about. At five years old Chloe doesn't see my flaws, and it is great to have someone in my life who thinks I do everything right, I know everything, I can do anything, and who thinks I've got it all figured out.

I don't think as adults we need to see our parents as perfect or flawless like we did when we were five, but can I say I do think we need to cut them a little slack. I know this take on SPT isn't what I was asked to reflect on, but this subject has been on my mind lately, and I think it's important. And I think a good question to ask ourselves is are we so sure that we see our parents or our history with them accurately and clearly? Maybe we need to correct our vision.

SPT - a Canadiana on Americana

Oh, I was stuck on this SPT, but then I made a visit to The Alberta Birds of Prey Centre on the weekend, and voila!

______________________________________

*

I found an American symbol in my own back yard.

*

They let me hold the owls, but not the bald eagle - I guess there was a chance he'd break my arm with the strength of his talons.

So this is as close as I got. He's a very striking bird, and fits my image of America much better than a turkey!

Welcome home Michelle!

SPT: Name that color

Lelly asked: so, hey, "what's your favorite color?"

Maybe it's juvenile, but I do have a favorite color. The problem is figuring out what to call it. Some of my favorite things have come with the name of the color printed on the label, some haven't.

Santana Album Cover:

Turquoise

My bedroom door nob sign:

Aqua

Christmas gift from Kelly:

Abalone Blue

Carpet by the patio door:

Danube Blue

Police Concert Shirt:

??? 'Police Concert Shirt Blue' ???

Mary Jane Crocs:

Seafoam

YW binder:

Peacock

YW bag:

Robin's Egg

Throw Blanket:

Ocean Spray

What would you call it?

You can always turn to Crayola for a little bit of help from their current crayon color chart.

Even more fun is the Crayola Color History.

SPT

So you want a look inside my purse? Right now my bag is weighed down by War and Peace. I took Amy's challenge to read it (she's done) but I had a really hard time getting into it. I'm a one-book-at-a-time kind of reader, and because I wasn't enjoying War and Peace, I (semi) gave up reading for a little while there. Well, I'm not a quitter, and around page 400 I finally started to appreciate the book. The characters are now showing some growth, and that's making a big difference for me. I don't know that I'll whiz through the 700 remaining pages, but at least I feel like I'll enjoy them.

-

My self portrait this week is me at the high school convocation of 4 girls from my young women's group at church. I was very pleased to be invited, but I was expecting a long boring morning, and I thought I'd get in a little reading. As it turned out, the speeches from the class president and valedictorian were highly entertaining, and I had a really good time!

I didn't think of it till I looked at this picture I took, but where are the caps? I remember at my own high school grad we were under strict orders not to throw our caps due to concerns of injury from the pointy corners, but it appears they've been abolished all together at this high school. Do they still wear the cap with the gown where you live?

-

Annalisa, I added it just for you: my summer bag - light turquoise with red and tan trim.

-

SPT - but it feels like Monday

I'm just coming out of a long weekend here: Victoria Day weekend. We went away with our family down to Grandma and Grandpa's home away from home near Waterton National Park.

I took the kids to Waterton while Ken worked on a project back at 'the ranch'. I got in my self portrait with an old friend: Cameron Falls.

The kids and I hiked up Bear's Hump and went on a guided horseback trail ride, which was so fun I was grinning like a fool the entire ride.

Ken's project (creating a dog run for Flex) didn't take nearly as long as he'd thought it would, and it turned out he probably could have finished the dog run and still joined us in Waterton. Too bad for dad - he was mowing while we were horseback riding.

We should never take our old friends for granted:

The last time we spent a long weekend at 'the ranch' I had the best surprise of seeing an old friend of mine at church in the nearest town. I was really hoping to see her again this weekend, and I wasn't disappointed! My friend Heather lived in Calgary a little more than 10 years ago, and I got to know her by serving as her visiting teacher and also I was her counsellor in our ward primary. Heather was really my mentor and example in those days, and just chatting with her in the lobby of the church this Sunday gave me a boost. I got her address and phone number this time, and I'm going to use them both. Hooray for National New Friends, Old Friends Week!

SPT: Like Grandmother, Like Mother, Like Daughter

It is so interesting to notice the ways I am like my mother, and thereby, her mother. We have the same hands. I remember sitting next to my grandmother in church and playing with the veins on the back of her hands, and then noticing the same blue pattern on the back of my mother's hands. Now my hands are the same, and my daughter likes to play with my hands.

It occurs to me that this might be a little creepy to some people, so please stop here if you might be easily creeped out.

I can't believe I'm sharing this!

Here's what my daughter does, and what I so clearly remember doing to my mom and grandma:

She pushes the vein across my hand, where it will stay if I keep my hand still.

And then she moves my fingers, which makes my vein slide back across my hand to where it started.

Smaller than a deck of cards

With all the self portraits I've been doing, I'm a little embarrassed not to have one on the designated day - sorry! So Lelly's challenge was:

*Show & tell one of your most treasured items. the catch is (YES, there is a catch)... it must be smaller than a deck of cards!*

I want to show this paint chip card holder I made awhile back from the instructions on Design Verb. You should really let the original site do the 'tell' on how to make this. I will tell you that it took me a whole evening, which is why I've only made one, but revisiting Design Verb has me inspired to try again.

How is this a treasured item? It represents my return to making, building, creating, and crafting. All work and no play - no more!

That 70's Show

We're leaving soon for the corporate retreat. Jaclyn asked us to leave the camera behind so that Grandpa can take pictures of her at an awards ceremony on Thursday night. I'm going to try to figure out how to take pictures with my new Chocolate cell phone, but just in case the cell phone pictures didn't work out, I did a little SPT of my 70's outfit. Ken found it in a dress up box at a friend's house while he was looking for 70's clothes for himself. I am totally sucking in for this picture - polyester jumpsuits are very unforgiving. I'll be wearing control top hose under this outfit for sure!

Ken found some sweet 70's clothes for himself. The pants are brown polyester, and check out the platform boots! Ken remembers the wedding where all the groomsmen wore these boots with their baby blue tuxedos.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Around here recycling is Steven's chore with one exception: I recycle the paper. There are a couple of reasons I've hung on to this job myself. First of all, the paper needs to be taken to the community bins more frequently than the rest of our recyclables. Secondly, I don't want the kids to see everything that hits the paper recycling. A heavy amount of paper comes home from school on a regular basis, and I'm just not going to save every math booklet, and I don't want to negotiate with the kids over what stays in the house and what goes to recycling. So secret paper recyling is my most frequent earth saving (and clutter saving) action.

Though I feel that commercial industry has the greatest impact on the health of the planet, I do want to do my part. My favorite verse that helps me avoid waste is:

Fix it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Or do without!

SPT

Next week I'm going away on a corporate retreat with my husband. I have to go. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm going to have fun, but not going wasn't an option. I'm going to go play the corporate wife for a few days. Ken's in a new job, so I haven't really met the other executives' wives - but I keep picturing something like this:

So this week, if I had an extra $100, I'd probably spend it on something for the corporate retreat. Golf clothes? Oh, dear, you don't know me well enough, so I have to be clear: I am totally joking about these particular clothes. Look at that cap! Look at the golf cart on the sweater!

Maybe I'd take my hundred buckaroos and mosey on down to the nearest western store.

Buy me a cowboy hat for the western-themed evening on the retreat.

Or, plan 'C', I could blow the $100 at a thrift store to outfit myself for the 70's-themed evening. Well, maybe that wouldn't take the full $100.

I do seriously need to do some shopping before I go away next week. Which event do you think I should shop for?

If you have no Easter bonnet, how can you put frills upon it?

Lelly, an Easter bonnet would have been a real time saver on Sunday morning - I wouldn't have spent so much time on my hair before church!

With no Easter bonnet I had to put my frills elsewhere, like my Allsorts banner:

My paper bunnies on the mantle:

Ceramic Easter eggs from Pier 1 Imports. I love how heavy they are, and how they feel in my hand:

We always dye Easter eggs, but this year I found these cute kits at the dollar store to paint the eggs:

Chloe arranged our finished eggs in bowls. She lined the bowls with yellow paper put through our paper shredder to make the bowls look like nests:

I loved the carrot motif for Easter this year. I got the idea for the cutlery and napkins from Family Fun:

And I copied Cindy's idea (cheesies in disposable cake decorating bags) for treats for my neices and nephew at Easter dinner part II on Monday - I figured they'd had enough sweets by the time the weekend was over:

We were out of town for Easter, so Carmen and Chloe set out this carrot arrow on my parent's side walk to let the Easter bunny know where to find them:

This seemed funny to me at midnight on Saturday night, but I kind of regret it now - munched up carrots and bunny droppings (raisins) were what was left behind on the side walk when my girls checked in the morning. They thought the bunny leavings were way too funny, and wouldn't stop talking about it:

Easter chocolate is a very important frill:

I have never before bought Peeps, but after reading so many of your blogs that raved about them, I gave them a try. My 3 year old nephew and 2 year old niece liked them - they were a garnish to Sunday dinner - but my own kids weren't crazy about them. They may have been a one time thing for us:

What we really look forward to when it comes to Easter food are my mom's Hot Cross Buns. My American girl friends, who went to BYU and married Canadians, and ended up in Canada, tell me that Hot Cross Buns are a Canadian thing. I actually think they're a British thing, and Canada has held on to many traditions from our British heritage. My mom makes her usual roll recipe and adds cinnamon and raisins. She slashes the cross symbol in the top of each roll, brushes the rolls with butter, sprinkles them heavily with sugar, and then bakes them so that the sugar is crusty and yummy on top: