Pain and other things

I picked up my son from school today and as we were stepping down from the curb, I kinda forgot the actual ‘stepping’ part and twisted my ankle! Shocking right? I know… I was shocked as well, given my usual graceful disposition and everything! And just as a side note, if you’re ever in this situation, you may want to avoid driving immediately after!

So, we’re in the car, my 5 year old and I…

me: Arrrrrgh, kid! Oh My God!!! This HURTS!!
5 year old (slightly scared and whispering almost): Is it because of me?
me: Awwww honey, of course not!
5 year old (almost pissed off): Well, why are you telling me then?!!!

Umm, ok then, I am so glad my kids are growing up with such empathy!

In other news, I am doing NaBloPoMo this year again, even though last year I failed miserably! This time around, I have a plan, I am going with photos, haiku, recipes, and other fun little tidbits. Also, I am doing some random giveaways, but only to subscribers… so if you would like to be notified of the giveaways, please subscribe here.

On love, life, and friendship

More than a decade ago when I left the place of my birth, I left feeling confused and scared, but also somewhat excited at the possibilities, with hopes of amazing adventures and new experiences. What I didn’t expect was the sadness that didn’t seem to go away. I remember my first day at university, I was lost, overwhelmed slightly, and as I looked around at all the strangers that surrounded me, I felt completely alone.

Today I stumbled upon old, forgotten letters and cards from the friends that I left behind. I read them with a mixture of sadness and awe. I read them and knew that the the thoughts they held within got me past many of my fears and helped me find my smile on more than a few occasions. Sadly, I am certain that I have never thanked any one of them for thinking of me.

Eventually the letters stopped coming, we all moved on, we found friendship elsewhere, but I am sure the love and the memories will always remain.

My life in Canada has surely been awesome, I love almost everything about Canada, but there was never a time that I didn’t feel the emptiness. At 30, I am learning that friendships can last a lifetime, and no matter where we go and what we do and who we end up with, the people who grew up with us, shared our secrets, encouraged us, supported us, and truly loved us, will remain in our hearts forever.

(guess which one was me!)

Talk to me and the hypocrite within

I like to think that I am an honest person, and most of the time I am, but sometimes, on particularly frustrating days, I think to myself, if my blog readers can see me now, they would probably feel so betrayed! Please accept my apologies for that, I don’t mean to misrepresent myself, it just happens.

In many ways my blog identity is my true identity, I’ve chosen to be my ‘real’ self online which does have its advantages, but also its challenges, and one of the biggest challenges I face is living up to being the mom that I write about in my blog, you know, the mom who can entertain her kids and not get frustrated, the mom who knows how to work from home efficiently, the mom who cooks everyday, the well adjusted wife even.

A while ago I made a decision to try to be inspirational on this blog, to try to help other parents, to add value where I could, and if I had to rant, it would be to open the topic up for discussion and hopefully get to a point where we can all benefit from potential solutions. This meant that on days when I just wanted to scream about how crappy being a mother was, I was forced to write about the more positive aspects, which in general worked out well because it helped me to get over the difficulties and focus on a solutions instead, but did have the distinct disadvantage of making me into a hypocrite at times.

My husband is on a 2 day business trip, and this morning I had the wonderful job of getting all 3 kids fed, cleaned, and dressed so I could take the eldest 2 to school, sadly, I completely lost it and started screaming for them to stop running around with only one shoe and concentrate on what they were supposed to be doing! It was not that it was particularly stressful, but I didn’t take my own advice about routines and schedules, being late was my own fault, being unprepared was my own fault, and ultimately, I didn’t “do as I say”!

I know that most of you would consider me to be a good mom, but at times I feel so unworthy . Do you find that it’s sometimes hard to live up to your parenting ideals or follow your own advice?

Feel like making some street art?

I was doing some stumbling tonight and I found this really cool little web app to create graffiti… I am most likely late to the game, but thought I would share it with those of you who, like me, didn’t hear about it yet! Now, go off and create your own graffiti! Feel free to send me your creations, or leave a comment with the url.

Haiku Ijumaa

Jennifer has a Friday Haiku thing going on, and today her theme was Ijumaa (meaning Friday in Swahili), so I thought I would play along…

Happy Friday, Yeah!
Jumaa, pizza, lots of fun
Celebration day!

Friday, or Jumuah, is a very special day to Muslims, it’s a day of blessings and celebration, also a day that special prayers are said in congregation, called Jumuah prayer. Obviously, it’s also a special day for non-Muslims as well… TGIF and all that! So, Happy Friday everyone!