life is like a morning walk. You just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
I shot this picture as I walked along Lazo road away from my Dad's house and towards the beach in the early morning hours. I had a lot on my mind and needed some time alone to think and pray before heading into my busy (but wonderfully busy...) day of breakfasting with friends, exploring a local riverbed and feasting together with four girlfriends and all of our mothers at an impromptu dinner party.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Just Incase I forgot mine at home!
My mom is the queen of organization. This is a picture of the contents of a drawer in her bathroom. Another drawer is filled with diapers. There is a deep drawer filled with spare rolls of toilet paper and there is always a stack of clean face cloths and hand towels beside the sink (in matching shades of grey and burnt orange...)
In contrast, my friends come to visit my home in search of basic neccessities.
Where do you keep your extra rolls of toilet paper? (Oh yeah, I need to buy some... Do you mind using this paper towel roll!)
Do you own any face cloths or hand towels? (Umm... yeah... just a sec... I think they are all in the dryer.)
Where do you keep your juice glasses? (mmm... we don't actually own juice glasses. Do you mind pouring your juice into this coffee mug.)
People often buy us housewares after coming to visit because they simply can not believe we can live without such neccessities.
We now are the proud owners of a new face cloth and a set of six glasses. But if you are planning to come for a visit you might want to bring some toilet paper.
In contrast, my friends come to visit my home in search of basic neccessities.
Where do you keep your extra rolls of toilet paper? (Oh yeah, I need to buy some... Do you mind using this paper towel roll!)
Do you own any face cloths or hand towels? (Umm... yeah... just a sec... I think they are all in the dryer.)
Where do you keep your juice glasses? (mmm... we don't actually own juice glasses. Do you mind pouring your juice into this coffee mug.)
People often buy us housewares after coming to visit because they simply can not believe we can live without such neccessities.
We now are the proud owners of a new face cloth and a set of six glasses. But if you are planning to come for a visit you might want to bring some toilet paper.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Isn't he cute???
It has been a few months since this photo was taken. I was at my favourite coffee shop for a long overdue visit with my friend Ann. I love going to this coffee shop with Eli because they make such a big deal about how cute he is. If I attempt a coffee run without him there are always dejected looking faces behind the counter. I do realize there are other cute babies in the world but it sure feels good to be told he's the cutest!
When Your Baby Pees on Your Boss it's Kind Of Hard to Look Like You're Under Control!
Yesterday, I took Eli into the bookstore where I worked before I went on maternity leave. I dressed him up in a cute little outfit. His hat matched his shirt which matched his pants. He was wearing his favourite pair of Robeez slippers and I had made sure to clean the snot and drool off his face.I like to think that I am a fairly organized, consistent person. I like to think that I've got things under control, and at the very least I like to appear that way to others!
When you become a parent "faking" control becomes that much more difficult. Yesterday, I took Eli into the bookstore and proudly passed him around from co-work to co-worker. Towards the end of my fairly lengthy visit, my boss was holding Eli. Because he was getting restless she was letting him pretend to walk (which means, thankfully, she was holding him away from her body). Suddenly, a very large puddle of pee appeared on the floor.
I said, "Oh my goodness, his diaper must have leaked." I took Eli from my boss and realized that this was not the case.
As my face turned a brighter shade of red I said, "Oh my goodness, I forgot to put a diaper on him!"
As I laid my seven month old son on the floor beneath a colleagues desk to give him a fresh diaper and to change his pants, my boss (looking professional in a silk blouse and slacks) exclaimed in a calm voice, "It's a good thing he didn't pee on me because I don't have a change of clothes!"
She was very nice about it, but I couldn't help feeling a bit like my fairly organized, consistent personna had once again been stripped away in an instant.
When you become a parent "faking" control becomes that much more difficult. Yesterday, I took Eli into the bookstore and proudly passed him around from co-work to co-worker. Towards the end of my fairly lengthy visit, my boss was holding Eli. Because he was getting restless she was letting him pretend to walk (which means, thankfully, she was holding him away from her body). Suddenly, a very large puddle of pee appeared on the floor.
I said, "Oh my goodness, his diaper must have leaked." I took Eli from my boss and realized that this was not the case.
As my face turned a brighter shade of red I said, "Oh my goodness, I forgot to put a diaper on him!"
As I laid my seven month old son on the floor beneath a colleagues desk to give him a fresh diaper and to change his pants, my boss (looking professional in a silk blouse and slacks) exclaimed in a calm voice, "It's a good thing he didn't pee on me because I don't have a change of clothes!"
She was very nice about it, but I couldn't help feeling a bit like my fairly organized, consistent personna had once again been stripped away in an instant.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
My Life As An Essay (and I need a bit more time...)
Have you ever had to write an important essay or work on a big project that you knew you could do really well, but that you also knew would be extremely difficult?
So you have this project and you spend a lot of time thinking about it, and an equal amount of time avoiding it because it involves some really hard mental work that you don't feel prepared for.
Finally it is the week before it is due and even though you have had four months to work on it you are just now sitting down to force yourself through it and to give it the serious thought that is required.
You read it over and over again as you drive to school, flipping pages at red lights (I don't really do that!!!) and when you finish it and feel satisfied you can change it no more, you hand it in the day after it was due (because you pleaded with your teacher to give you an extension because you had to work, because you had the flu, because your pet hamster was sick and you needed to nurse it...)
You wait anxiously for the paper to be marked, and you feel almost satisfied with the A- you receive. You determine within yourself that next time you have a project this big you will give it the time and energy it deserves ...and then you will really do well, and you will reach your full potential.
(My life feels a bit like this essay right now. Could you give me just one more extension? Thanks!)
So you have this project and you spend a lot of time thinking about it, and an equal amount of time avoiding it because it involves some really hard mental work that you don't feel prepared for.
Finally it is the week before it is due and even though you have had four months to work on it you are just now sitting down to force yourself through it and to give it the serious thought that is required.
You read it over and over again as you drive to school, flipping pages at red lights (I don't really do that!!!) and when you finish it and feel satisfied you can change it no more, you hand it in the day after it was due (because you pleaded with your teacher to give you an extension because you had to work, because you had the flu, because your pet hamster was sick and you needed to nurse it...)
You wait anxiously for the paper to be marked, and you feel almost satisfied with the A- you receive. You determine within yourself that next time you have a project this big you will give it the time and energy it deserves ...and then you will really do well, and you will reach your full potential.
(My life feels a bit like this essay right now. Could you give me just one more extension? Thanks!)
Monday, June 06, 2005
Aunt Gladys and Her Plunger are Coming For The Weekend...
I met a woman the other day who remembered an aunt from her childhood that would sometimes come to visit. This aunt was a tiny, little old lady and for the most part quite normal and conservative. What made her memorable to the woman I met was this...
The aunt (I'll call her Aunt Gladys because it fits the era she would have come from...) would bring a plunger with her whenever she went visiting family or friends for the weekend.
One person, upon hearing this story being told said; "I don't even want to imagine the experience that would have led your Aunt Gladys to bring her plunger on holidays with her..." (which of course made us all immediately imagine exactly the kind of experience that would lead Aunt Gladys to bring her plunger along!)
Another person said, "I really don't know how I would respond if Aunt Gladys showed up on my doorstep with her own personal plunger..."
Myself, being the marketing type and looking for a good business proposition thought, "mmm... I wonder if I could manufacture portable travel plungers? There could be a market for this!"
The aunt (I'll call her Aunt Gladys because it fits the era she would have come from...) would bring a plunger with her whenever she went visiting family or friends for the weekend.
One person, upon hearing this story being told said; "I don't even want to imagine the experience that would have led your Aunt Gladys to bring her plunger on holidays with her..." (which of course made us all immediately imagine exactly the kind of experience that would lead Aunt Gladys to bring her plunger along!)
Another person said, "I really don't know how I would respond if Aunt Gladys showed up on my doorstep with her own personal plunger..."
Myself, being the marketing type and looking for a good business proposition thought, "mmm... I wonder if I could manufacture portable travel plungers? There could be a market for this!"
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