That's What SHE Said!

Scene: At a BBQ party on our farm just this past weekend.

My friend was nursing her newborn baby when one of the little girls at the party peered over and asked, "Why is she sucking your ARM?!?"

"She's not sucking my arm", replied my friend.

The little girl curiously asked, "She's not?" and then did a double take and exclaimed, "EWWWWW!!!! WHY is she sucking your BOOBY!?!?!?!"

My friend explained, "She's drinking her milk. That's where milk comes from."

The little girl merely replied, "Oh!" and ran off.

That was one of the funniest stories I've ever heard. Kids are hilarious! :)

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

Check this out!!! Enter to win a free meal at Lake Huron Fish & Chips Co.!!!

If This Doesn't Give Me A Heart Attack, I Don't Know What Will!

I had just gotten home from work, the baby was miserable from heat exhaustion, we still had a lot of work to do on the farm and on the house, and did I mention that it's been sweltering hot here? It's unusual for this time of the year. I don't do well in extreme heat. I've learned that Little One doesn't either. She doesn't seem to be able to regulate her body temperature well and on her own yet. Poor thing. She was listless, weak, miserable and clingy. All traits that are very uncommon for her.

The phone rang.

Me: Hello?
Man: Hello. Good afternoon. May I speak with Ms. [insert my real name here], please?
Me: (All of a sudden feeling nervous for some unknown reason) This is she.
Man: Ms. [insert my real name here], I'm with Revenue Canada and we would like to conduct an audit on Tuesday.

Image found via Google Images

I don't know why, but I started to panic. Revenue Canada has absolutely no reason to audit us, so I don't know why I reacted that way.

Me: Oh? Ummm...okay.
Man: We will come by on Tuesday of next week. We will be sending a team of nine men and we'll need to see all of your farm books. Does Tuesday work for you?
Me: (checking the calendar) Hmmm...Tuesday? What's the date?

LAUGHTER.
Man: [insert my real name here], I'm kidding! It's [insert friend's name here]!!!

Right about then, I hear a SMACK! Apparently, my friend's wife didn't think that was a funny joke and hit him upside the head!

Can I tell you how freaked out I was?! I don't know why though. We are law-abiding citizens. We do things "by the book" all the time. I'm afraid to break rules. I blame it on my Roman Catholic upbringing. You know, that Roman Catholic guilt where if you do anything you're not supposed to, you'll be punished severely for it? Yeah, that guilt.

Thank goodness it was just a joke. Man, I don't know if I'd have all our books ready for an audit if we had one on Tuesday! I almost had a heart attack.

What's the best prank a friend has ever played on you?

And, They Call It Puppy Looooove...

Chance was my first baby. My first canine baby, that is! He entered my life back in October 2002. It was love at first sight. It may sound odd, but the moment I first held him, I felt so much joy and love. There's just something about babies (even furry, four-legged babies!) that melts my heart.

Though I vowed that I would never spoil my children, when I got Chance, that rule got tossed out the window.

Chance had pampering sessions at the groomer's twice a year. This included a wash, shampoo, hair cut, nails clipped, and Chance getting all primped and prettied up in a brand new bandanna (he refused to wear a bow).

I also spent a lot of time with Chance at the park and walks by the ravine. Yes, the ravine. You see, I lived in the city and unlike where I live now, we didn't have beautiful beaches close by where I could take Chance every day.

Chance also went everywhere with me. I took him on the bus and subway with me. He even accompanied me to New York once! Oh, and the shopping! Once a month, I'd take Chance to Pet Smart and I'd let him pick out a new toy.

Then we moved to an island and I married a farmer. Chance's city life changed forever. He was no longer the spoiled little canine baby he was in the city. Now he has hundreds of acres to run around on. He is free to play all day long and isn't cooped up in a tiny apartment. He gets to go to the beach and swim. He's constantly COVERED in burs because he likes getting into places he shouldn't be (like bur patches!) and he always looks so dishevelled and unkempt. He's a happy boy though.

He's even happier now that he has a little sister. Okay, she may be his human sibling, but he loves her nonetheless!

"Please don't lick my face! Please don't lick my face..."

"Ewwww! No face washes, please!"

"Here! Take my toy cow instead! Just stop licking my face!"

When I'm STRESSED I Do THIS...

Yes, it's pretty crazy. I completely clean out my fridge when I'm stressed out. I take EVERYTHING out, chuck all the old stuff, wash all the compartments and shelving down, sanitize and disinfect everything, and arrange everything with all the labels facing frontward. This odd practice usually takes place around 2 or 3 AM. These efforts often seem in vain, since the very next day, Hubby disrespects the "labels facing frontward rule" and the "milk goes in the milk spot", "no meat products go in there unwrapped", "please put the veggies back in the veggie compartment" rules. *sigh*

If I weren't crazy enough, I also did this...
I painted a growth chart onto our wall so we can keep track of Little One's growth on there. I know, I know. Way to encourage our toddler to NOT write on our walls, right?

I did this too...
I made a second tutu for Little One. The original one I made was plain white tulle with blue and white ribbon accents. Attempt number two has pink and white tulle with pink iridescent ribbons. My little monkey just LOVES her tutu. She wants to wear it ALL DAY and wants to wear it when we go out. We had supper at our friends' and she wanted to wear her tutu to their house the other night!!

Either I'm nesting...or I'm just nuts to be doing all these extra projects. You know, since I've got so much free time on my hands. :)

Psssssssssst!!! I'm hosting an amazing giveaway on my reviews blog! Check it out!

Awww!!!

The lovely and talented Kady from A Mom's Word For It awarded me with this beauty:

Here are the rules for the "Sweet Blog" Award:

• Give this award to 10 sweet and friendly bloggers
• Make a post about the award including the picture and mention the person who gave it to you
• Put the award on your blog
• Let your nominated 10 know you've awarded them by leaving a comment

I'm passing this award on to these 10 amazing bloggers:

-Christine @ My Life (Rediscovering Me in 2009)
-Crystal @ Three Jewels in My Crown
-Cheaty @ Cheaty Monkey
-Calfkeeper @ Dairy Daze
-Sandy @ Momisodes
-Ellie @ Honeysuckle Hollow
-Trish @ My Little Drummer Boys
-Jackie @ Jackie's Art Quilts
-Rick Rockhill @ Palm Springs Savant
-Meal Planning Mama

My First

...My first ARTICLE for Mom Nation, that is!!!


That's right! Me! :)

I'm glad to be a member of Mom Nation, a social community and blog network for Canadians. I wrote my first article in a series on high risk pregnancies, bed rest during pregnancy, premature babies, and life in the NICU.

Check out the Mom Nation site. It's an ever growing community of fantastic writers and bloggers.

Life Unexpected: A Day in the Life of Mom

I honestly did not expect that being a mom would bring me so many surprises. On one hand, motherhood just seemed to fall into my lap naturally. From the minute I held my tiny baby's hand for the first time, all the Mama Bear instincts seemed to come from within. Remember, I was not allowed to hold her until she was a few weeks old, because she was born so prematurely. Hours after her birth though, I was able to hold her little hand (which was the size of my thumb nail!).

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I babysat a lot as a teenager and since my youngest brother is eleven years younger than I am, I was his second mom. I had no fears of not being able to be a good mom to my little one. I just knew I would be okay.

Now, it's the stumbling through motherhood that I hadn't thought of. I knew I'd be a good mom to Little One, but I didn't say I'd be a perfect mom. There are so many things I never even thought about.
I'm usually a very punctual person. In fact, I like being where I'm supposed to be at least ten or fifteen minutes early. Depending on the nature of the appointment, sometimes even half an hour to an hour early! I know. Pretty crazy. I just like being on time.

Now that I have a baby, I still try leaving early for appointments. For some reason, I always end up ten or fifteen minutes LATE! As organized as I can be, I always seem to forget something or the baby conveniently needs a diaper change as soon as we're about to leave the house.

Friends also warned me that one must "respect the nap"! I scoffed at this years before I became a parent. I never understood why my friends who had children could not just take their kids with them to the restaurant so we could meet up for brunch on a Sunday morning.

Though Little One can sleep just about anywhere, I have to admit that I am now very respectful of the nap! If she's sleeping, I don't want to wake her. My new motto is "Never wake up a sleeping baby...if you can avoid it"! This said, if she's already awake, she goes everywhere with me.

Friends and family warned me about the goose eggs and the poop, but I never expected having to actually experience some of mom's finer moments like these. The emotions one goes through in a single day are enough to write a screenplay or can even be considered...blog fodder! Who would have ever imagined!?

Little One was running around the house last week and ran right smack into the bathroom door. Depth perception at this age is a funny thing, it seems! She practically knocked herself out and ended up splayed on the floor with an instant goose egg. Of course, this all has to happen on my watch.

I can only imagine the look on my face. These little toddler accidents seem to happen in slow motion if you're a parent and seeing this happen. It happens so quickly that you can't really get there in time to avoid it from happening, yet all the actions seem to unfold in slow mo'!

Then we were supposed to go visit our friends SuperAmazingMommy and Maria from Notes from a Brown House. I had just given Little One a bath so she could be all fresh for her play date. What happened next took me by total surprise. I had heard about these things happening to friends, but I never expected to actually experience it myself.

As I was about to take Little One out of the tub, what should I see? Three little logs floating in the bath water! Ackkkkk! I'm the worst for dealing with stuff like that. It just grosses me out completely! Of course, Little One thought it was funny and was giggling away. Never in my life would I have imagined that many of my discussions would involve poop! Gah!

That little incident put us back a few minutes and threw my schedule off. The west end of the island is over an hour away from us. Remember, I like being on time!

All cleaned, changed, and ready to be put in her car seat, Little One was a happy camper. She was holding my keys while I strapped her into her car seat and as I closed the van door, I heard a click!

My heart tensed up. Panic struck me. OH MY GOSH! MY 18 MONTH OLD IS LOCKED IN THE VAN!!!

Of course, after tapping on the window and gesturing to Little One to "Push the UNLOCK button" on the key fob, I realized what I was doing was futile. She's only 18 months old (15 months corrected), for goodness sake! There she was, laughing and thinking that Mommy was playing a funny game with her. *sigh*

Hubby was doing a saw mill job in a town half an hour away. Ahhhh! I remembered that Hubby usually leaves his key for the van at home. Normally, I'd be upset that he leaves his key all the time. This time, I was thankful!

There you have it. All the drama that could unfold all before 9AM!

Meatless Monday #5

I don't know why, but I've been wanting CORN! I have no idea where I got the idea of making these little corn bake thingies. I've never made them before.

I thought they'd pair well with a crisp, refreshing salad.

They were delicious!!! Little One had TWO corn bake thingymabobs. Unfortunately, I don't think they made a substantial meal for Hubby. I keep forgetting that just because I don't eat as much as Hubby does, he NEEDS the extra calories since he works it off on the farm every day.

I bet he's wondering how long he'll be able to survive these Meatless Mondays! I bet he can't wait for the next meat-filled meal. Ahhhh...to be married to a beef farmer!

C's Corn Bake Thingies
Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 c milk
1 c cooked corn kernels, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 eggs, well beaten

Instructions:
In a pot on low heat, melt butter.
Add flour to melted butter. Mix well.
Gradually mix in milk. Keep stirring until the mixture boils.
Add corn kernels and creamed corn. Add salt and pepper. Cook until mixture is heated through.
Beat eggs and then add to mixture.
Pour into a greased baking dish (I used a muffin tray).
Bake 1t 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or until firm).

I served this with a salad. I think Hubby would enjoy this more as a side dish...with his meat and potatoes!!! :)

I like doing things in twos

Two fairy princess tutus. Check.

Two key lime pies. Check.The second key lime pie photo was taken before I put the topping on it.

Two days of meals. Check.

Laptop lunch: Waldorf salad, carrots, celery and dip, stone-milled multi-grain crackers, yogurt and strawberries + water.

Yesterday was a day like all others. In the morning, articles had to be edited for an overseas client. Mid-morning and much of the afternoon were spent running errands all over the island. I got to spend some time with my friend, Gadget Girl. Little One was with me for all the running around. She really is a good girlie. While we made a stop at the Espresso bar in town, she sat at one of the bistro tables, looking like a big girl and not a little 18 month old! She just loves going on excursions with Mommy.

As much as I LOVE coffee, I can't drink it during the day because it makes me fall asleep. The Espresso bar has the most amazing cherry smoothies I have ever tasted! If you're in town, make sure to pop by and try a smoothie...or a coffee!

I also got to hold a tiny baby yesterday. My lovely friend, Maddy's Mom gave birth to little Zozo the other week. Little One and I popped in briefly to bring Maddy's Mom a smoothie and give Maddy her "big sister present". I made her and Little One matching tutus! So cute! I just wanted to make something for the best buddies to have for play dates.

After holding a baby who is a week old, I almost forgot what it was like to be around a baby so little. Zozo is much bigger than Little One was when Little One was 3 months old (because of Little One's prematurity). Newborn babies smell so sweet! There is something about that newborn baby smell that I just want to bottle and keep! Toddlers don't smell that great. Well, maybe after bath time they do. Holding Zozo made me feel like maybe it's time to give Little One a sibling. Maybe.

After yet more errands, Little One and I rushed home to make supper (Waldorf salad) and lunch for the next day (curried chicken salad sandwiches on cracked wheat bread). Little One was fed and then off I ran to rehearsal.

When I returned from rehearsal around 10PM, Little One was sleeping. Daddy and Grandma did a good job!

Awwwww!

The lovely Kat from Kat's Confessions gave me this...

I was so touched and surprised to discover that Kat had thought of me! :)

Kat has a great blog. Go and check her out! I really like her Sugar and Spice Saturdays. Her last SSS post makes me want to make Garlic Salmon Linguine tomorrow!

What a lovely way to pass on some sunshine to some other fantastic bloggers out there! The rules for the Sunshine Award are simple. All you have to do is to pass this on to five other wonderful bloggers.

Now, the part I absolutely hate is having to choose bloggers to pass the award to. There are sooooo many amazing blogs I read!

Here are my five for today:
Deb @ Babalou always makes me smile. She's a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. She really is. She's refreshingly natural, honest, and just plain fun. We joke that we're long lost sisters.

Jen @ A Busy Mommy is just that. BUSY! She's one of the busiest gals out there! Oh, she's also more than just busy though! She's awesome! She's got a fabulous blog. Check her out!

Merinz @ New Zealand Links always makes me long for a trip to NZ. Her posts are so thoughtful and beautiful. I've wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia forever. One of these days...

Sharon @ Mom Generations inspires me. She is such a positive person and so full of wonderful stories on life, love, family, and so much more. If I could go out for coffee with a few girlfriends right now, I'd definitely want her to be there. Her posts make me laugh, cry, and want to come back for more.

J @ Thinking About is one of the most spectacular women I've ever "met". Just being friends with J is sunshine enough.

Sooooooooooooo EXCITED!!!

1. My awesome blog buddy, CanineCologne and her family are coming to visit us in FIVE weeks!!! Canine was one of my very first blog buddies. I started blogging back in 2006 and the only people who read my blog back then were my family members, friends, and students. Back then, only two of my IRL (in real life) friends were blogging (Curiosity Killer and Fancy Pantsy Momma). Canine, Ms.Mamma, and Jane were the very first blog friends I had. They (and many other blog buddies) have become part of our lives and have been there through the whole roller coaster of events in the past few years. They've read as we got engaged, newly married, went through the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, bed rest during pregnancy, being transferred by air ambulance to Mount Sinai, and the premature birth of Little One. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It is going to be so exciting to hang out with Canine and her family, show them around this beautiful island I now call home, and...they're going to watch our performance at the Burns Wharf Theatre!!!

2. My blog friend, Cherry and her husband just welcomed their baby girl to the world. Congratulations to you and your family! We are so, so, so excited for you!

3. My wonderful friend from college and university (back in my Montreal days) and his wife are coming to the Island to visit us too! They (along with Fancy Pantsy, Dina, Dani, my family, other friends (IRL and in the blog world) helped me a lot through those rough first 70 days of Little One's life. AvoidEverything and his wife, LizzieLizard visited with me and sat in my hospital room with me while I was on bed rest and visited even after Little One was born.

I cannot wait to see them. Oh, and they are expecting their first child too!!! They will also be watching our performance at Burns Wharf. Both AvoidEverything and LizzieLizard were in the theatre program in university, so performing in front of them has me feeling a little bit under pressure! :)

4. My wonderful girlfriends, Dina and Dani are coming to visit us this summer too! I am sooooo excited! Dina, Dani and I were roommates when I lived in Toronto. They're bringing their adorable kiddies and coming for a visit sans husbands.

I feel so very lucky right now. I couldn't be happier!

I didn't hyperlink anyone's blogs in this post, because I'm too lazy tonight. If you reeeeeally want to check them out, click on my blogroll link and you will find them there!

All in a Day's Work

Rise and shine!

Must greet the barn cats "Good Morning"!!! Yes, this is what I do every morning. I don't have any idea why the cats are afraid of my "excited" squeal. I'm just so happy to see them every morning!
Breakfast time!
Look, Ma! No hands!

Just playing some music on my piano.
Baking cookies to take to our friend's house. I left a little surprise for everyone! Mom says I'm such a funny kid! :) She didn't even realize I put a toy cookie in the box of cookies we put together for our friend.
PIZZA! I love Hawaiian pizza. Can't you tell by to mess on my face? :)
Time to work off all that pizza!


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!! Nap time.

Ha! Ha! Mommy, it's only just after lunch! We've still got the rest of the day to play and undo all your cleaning!

Adventures in Mommyhood

You know something is definitely up when your 17 month old is being way too quiet.

I was busy doing dishes, but wanted to check on Little One. She is a toddler, after all...and she is a very busy little girlie. She's always up to something. This day in particular was no exception.

She sat quietly on the floor, happily emptying out her diaper bag. As I approached, I noticed this incredibly foul smell coming from her. It was a-w-f-u-l! As I got even closer, my heart stopped for a second or two. I almost had a heart attack! Little One looked up at me with this huge smile...COVERED in sticky, gunky, brown goop!!!

Ahhhhh! One of my worst nightmares becoming a reality! If you know me, you'll know how weak a stomach I have. The slightest hint of a foul odour will send my gag reflexes into overdrive and I end up in instant dry heaving. No joke.

When Little One has exceptionally odiferous diapers, I try to suppress the gag reflexes and pass her to Hubby and say, "PLEEEEEASE change her!!!"

In return, Hubby says, "Why me?!?"

The answer? "Because you're a farmer!!! You're used to horrible poopy smells!!!" :) He likes to argue that the cattle don't smell nearly as awful as our toddler though.

Anyway, the horrible stench and a toddler covered from head to toe in BROWN stuff made me panic. That sweet face looked up at me with this beautiful, huge smile...and face and hands covered in yucky brown muck.

I cannot tell you how relieved I was when I realized it was chocolate!! We don't let her eat chocolate or sweets, but she managed to find the chocolate that Grampy (a.k.a. The Spoiler) gave her.

She did poop, but at least she didn't cover herself in it. What a relief! I almost took her outside and grabbed the pressure washer to hose her off.

Meatless Monday #4

Well, it's that day of the week again!

My Mom gets upset when I say that I don't always feed my husband and daughter meat. "[Insert Hubby's real name here] is a farmer! He needs meat and carbs! He works hard and uses that energy. You can't not give him meat!"

It's true. Hubby is a farm boy and he does work very hard on the farm. He is also a meat and potatoes guy. It seems that many people in the countryside have a diet that consists of meat, potatoes, homemade bread, and sometimes two veg choices. Usually that's corn (which I don't count as a "vegetable" vegetable) and either peas or carrots. Meals in Hubby's family are usually followed by dessert. This is something I don't do unless it's a special occasion. If we have dinner guests or if it's a party, I'll make something for dessert. Other than that, it's fruit or yogurt.

In theory, eating a hearty meal like Hubby is used to is good...if you're going to be working it all off.

Hubby and I were talking and discussed the expression:

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."

We're going to try to adopt this practice. It seems that in my family's background, breakfast is often overlooked, lunch is skimmed or ignored, and supper is the biggest (if not, the only) meal of the day. This is sooooooooo bad! It's so hard on the body, organs, metabolism, etc. Being in the age group we're in, Hubby and I are trying to shed a few pounds.

Hubby and I make sure we eat breakfast, lunch and supper and we make sure none of our meals are too heavy. This is what's for lunch!
Asparagus and Zucchini Crudi
Recipe from one of my favourite Food Network chefs, Giada De Laurentiis!

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini, trimmed
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce shaved Pecorino Romano, for garnish

Directions

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini into long thin strips. Thinly slice the asparagus on a diagonal. Toss the slices together and place the salad in a serving bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and drizzle over the vegetables. Toss to coat. Garnish with the pecorino shavings. Serve.

C's Easy Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of chick peas
1 can of lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups baby spinach
1 or 2 cups water
*optional* 4 or 5 slices of bacon cut into small pieces

1. In a large soup pot, cook bacon pieces.
2. Sautee onions with the bacon once bacon has started to turn golden brown (if you are making this a vegetarian meal or do not eat bacon, omit the bacon and use a bit of extra virgin olive oil).
3. Add tomatoes.
4. Drain and rinse lentils and chick peas and then add them to the pot.
5. Add a bit of water (depending on how chunky or how 'liquidy' (another made up word!) you like it.
6. Let cook for 30-40 min. Add spinach at last minute.
**Since this is Meatless Monday, do not use bacon in this recipe.**

Chocolatey Goodness

Check it out here...

Happy Momma's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mommies out there! Hope your day is a very special one.

I wasn't joking when I said that all I want for Mother's Day is for Little One to continue to be the happy, healthy baby that she is.

Really. That's all I want.

I have enough "stuff" and don't need anything more. Trinkets of Hubby's affection and appreciation aren't necessary. Little One is too young to understand what Mother's Day is. When she's older, I'm sure I'll appreciate a painting or drawing that she made on her own.

Photo taken last summer (2009) at Providence Bay

Perhaps she'll adopt the tradition my brothers and I practiced for our mom on Mother's Day of every year when we were kids. We (with the help of our dad) would bring my mom breakfast in bed. We'd excitedly burst into her room with a tray that held toast, eggs, bacon, fruit, coffee and orange juice. We showered her with presents that we made at school for Mother's Day and we'd give her cards that we had made and flowers that we had picked. It was usually lilacs or daffodils, because that's what was growing at our place at that time of the year.

Now that I think of it, my mother must have loved us tremendously. She humoured us by being so excited to receive our gifts and breakfast...even when she was not a morning person and never ate breakfast! To this day, she cannot eat before noon! All those years, she entertained us because that was our gift to her and we were so excited and pleased with ourselves.

I'm sure she's kept a lot of the trinkets we made her when we were in elementary school. That jewelry box I made in grade 4 (out of a gold spray painted tissue box and decorated with macaroni and pasta shells) was the coolest thing on earth back then. Now, it probably looks gaudy. Moms appreciate their kids' creations and love their little presents for the treasures that they are.

Photo taken last year (June 2009). Little One was 7 months old.

Again, Little One is only 17 months old. She's a happy, healthy, funny, and busy little girl. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Being a mother is a gift.

I Must Be The World's WORST Farmer's Wife EVER!!!

While Hubby was working off-Island today, Little One and I had a little adventure on the farm. Why does it seem like every time Hubby is off the farm, things seem to go awry?

While Little One sleeps in the morning, I usually get my some writing done and get chores done. When she's awake, she's just so busy. It's hard to get anything done when she's up. She's a very active girlie.

As I sat at the computer, editing some documents for a student in Japan, I looked out the window and saw something unbelievable. There was a COW staring at me through the window! She was right by our front door, near our patio!

Little One was napping on the floor and I didn't want to wake her up. My general rule is to never wake up a sleeping baby if I can help it! I also didn't want to leave her in the house on her own, since I knew that if she woke up while I was at the barn, she'd totally wreck the house! She'd turn it upside down and inside out! C'mon! She's 17 months old. Getting into everything is what she does best.

I went outside to see where the cow went. She went around the to the side of the house. I just wanted to make sure she didn't head up the lane way toward the highway.
I ended up going back inside and putting her in Little One crib so I could leave her for a few minutes to take care of a delinquent cow. To my surprise, Little One didn't wake up. Thank goodness!

I quickly ran out to try to get the cow back into the barnyard, but the most incredible thing happened! The cow was nowhere to be found! It DISAPPEARED! How was I going to explain to my husband that I LOST A COW!?!?

Yes, it's true. I must be the worst farmer's wife ever!

Who Inspires You?

People sometimes ask me why I blog. I never really know what to answer. I started blogging just to keep friends, family, and students up to date on our life on the Island. We live far from most of my loved ones, so the blog was an easy way to keep everyone connected.

Little did I know, the blog would turn into something completely different. It's been a place where I could express myself and a place where I could network. To my surprise, I've made some wonderful friends through the blog. One of my closest friends is someone I met through the blog. It feels like Maddy's Mommy and I have known each other forever, yet we only "crossed paths" in the blogosphere just days before I was sent to the hospital by air ambulance when I was pregnant with Little One.

The fabulous husband and wife duo from PhotoCaptiva also turned out to be a special part of our lives. It's amazing how people come into your lives and you cannot imagine life without them in it.

It comes to no surprise that one would "meet" inspiring, creative, and giving people on the net. I used to be very apprehensive about meeting virtual strangers, because the net can be a place where creepy, dangerous, just plain weird people dwell. It can also be a place where like-minded people gather. It can be a place where enriching friendships and connections can be made. It can be a place where we find inspiration from the stories and lives of others.

One blogger in particular comes to mind.

Chantal and her Oma Mary have taken on an amazing cause. They make receiving blankets and proceeds go to helping the less fortunate.

"All proceeds are used to make blankets for children in need. We work with organizations to provide blankets to traumatized, neglected, and impoverished children. While you wrap your beautiful babe in our blanket, know that we are wrapping those less fortunate."

Chantal and Oma Mary have entered a contest to win $10,000 so that they can fulfil their dreams of helping others. So far, they've sent 65 blankets to Haiti!

Please show your support and help Chantal and Oma Mary reach their goal. Check out their video on YouTube, and join their Facebook Fan Page.



Hubby and I want to teach Little One that it is important to support a cause and take part in something that is larger than us. We're involved in and support various charities (Heart and Stroke Foundation, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sick Kids Hospital, and a few others). We will now be supporting Chantal and her Oma's cause.

People who make it their mission to help out others inspire me. Who inspires you?

The Foodland Couple and their Baby

A few months ago, Hubby and I were at the local Foodland with Little One to pick up a few groceries. Little One was happily riding in the cart, looking at everyone and everything. While in the produce section, a woman I had never seen before just smiled and started talking to us. This isn't unusual, because everyone on the Island is pretty friendly. What was unusual about this incident was that the woman (like myself) was neither Caucasian nor Native.

Trust me. On the Island, you notice these things. It may sound silly and a bit trivial, but this is a pretty rare find here. Cultural diversity on the Island is not like it is in Toronto, Montreal, or New York. When I first moved up here, people spoke of this "Oriental" girl that moved to the country. Oh, right. I guess that would be me. New friends spoke very slowly and asked me if I understood English. I had to laugh, because I don't speak, read, write or understand Chinese (especially since my father's dialect is an uncommon/old one). I understand a bit of my mother's language, but can't speak it. I understand bits and pieces and will answer in English if someone asks me a question. Usually, I get things half correct. There was a time when I was in the Philippines for two weeks and my cousin and I were scouring all the stores for a fly swatter. The sales people had no idea what we were looking for. We tried gesturing what we were looking for by pretending to roll up a newspaper to "swat" a fly. They looked at us as though we were trained circus monkeys. The kicker was when we tried to explain in Tagalog what we wanted. Our words, instead of "It's something you use to kill a fly" ended up coming out as "The fly is dead! The fly is dead!"...as we buzzed around and pretended to be dying flies.

So, there! English is my langue maternelle and French is my second language.

I smiled back, and the lady started up a conversation with us. We were both so very excited to have found each other! We talked about Caribbean fare and all kinds of things we missed from the city. She made me laugh because she said, "I'm surprised I've never seen you here before. It's not common to find flavour on the Island".

Not that the Island is bland or anything. It's just refreshing to have some diversity. To me, differences and diversity enrich a population. We learn from each other. We teach each other new things. The world and its people have a lot to share. It sometimes amazes me when people tell me that they've never been out of the country, let alone the province!

I'm happy to have met this new friend. I'm looking forward to roti and curry nights together!

Meatless Monday #3

Funny how Mondays have a way of creeping up on us! Not that weekends are much different from weekdays around here, since the farm is a 24-7 job. No days off. No holidays. No rest for the wicked.

Inspired by my friend (Maria), I started participating in Meatless Mondays. I didn't really start it because I wanted to take part of a new food revolution or to kibosh meat all together. I am, after all, married to a beef farmer and raising cattle is part of our livelihood.

No, I decided to join because I feel as North Americans, we consume far too much meat. Portion sizes have gotten out of control. I know my husband loves a good burger (double patty with bacon) or a good steak. Meat is fine and all, but like anything else, in moderation.

I guess that in essence, I joined Meatless Monday just because I wanted to make a conscious and concerted effort to make sure my family eats properly. It fits into the "barely any processed-boxed-canned-frozen-pre made-convenience foods" idea that we believe in.

Today, I made a variation of my Mediterranean salad. This time, I didn't have any feta cheese. I also added baby spinach just for some extra vitamins.

C's Chickpea Salad
1 can chickpeas
1 c quartered or halved grape tomatoes
1 c black olives, sliced
1 c cucumber (I cut each round into quarters)
1 c baby spinach
whole wheat macaroni noodles, cooked
olive oil and balsamic vinegar as the dressing

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss. Add cooked macaroni, toss and make sure to coat all ingredients with dressing.

This recipe was insanely easy to make. How could you go wrong with a recipe that calls for only seven or eight ingredients?! You can add herbs, salt, black pepper, etc. I find it tastes great on its own like that though. I sometimes add more tomatoes, since I really want Hubby to eat lots and lots of tomatoes.

Tomatoes are an excellent source of Lycopene, which is said to be a major agent in preventing certain cancers. In the past few years, both Hubby and I have lost loved ones to cancer (of different types). I'm hoping that if we continue to eat a healthy, balanced diet like the one we currently have and continue to do manual/physical labour (we live on a farm, remember?), this will all help. Of course, sometimes even if one does everything possible to prevent cancer, that's not even enough. At least we can try though.

Another Mommy Brain Moment

Oh, dear. It happened again.

A few days ago, I was talking to friends about BBQ techniques. I was pretty adamant about putting steaks on the grill frozen and how it makes for juicy, tender steaks. I insisted that Hubby's frozen steak on the hot grill technique was the best.

My friend's husband is a BBQ king. He mentioned that in all the BBQ cookbooks he has and on all the BBQ websites he peruses, frozen steaks on a hot BBQ grill make for dry, tough, and awful steaks.

Later that day, I returned to Hubby and told him that he didn't know what he was talking about and that his technique was flawed.

His retort?

"I never said to put frozen steaks on the BBQ!"

Wow. I could have sworn I heard him tell me the opposite. We all had a good laugh at my Mommy brain mishap.

Another Mommy brain mishap? Two weekends ago, I had promised to host a dinner party at our house on Friday. It was our friend's birthday and I agreed to host a get together at our house. We always have get togethers at our house and our house seems like party central all the time. After a week of hardly being at home, I was exhausted. We were off-island on Monday for Little One's neonatal follow-up. I had a meeting in Tuesday. There was rehearsal on Wednesday. We visited a friend on Thursday. There was playgroup on Friday. We had family from out of town on Saturday. We had church, lunch, and the ballet on Sunday. I was so swamped and had no time to clean or even think of a menu for the party.

When my friend called on Friday and asked what time everyone was coming to our house, I said I couldn't possibly host a get together and that I was sorry, but I was totally wiped out. I felt badly, but then felt sort of proud of myself for finally learning to say no for once.

At church on Sunday, everyone was wishing my friend a happy birthday and I sort of froze. It didn't occur to me that I had promised to host her birthday party on the Friday!!! I TOTALLY forgot! Imagine canceling a birthday party that you agreed to host?! Ahhhhh!

It completely slipped my mind!

I don't know where my brain has gone these past few months. Perhaps I'm overdoing things and taking on too much. Maybe I'm a bit distracted and preoccupied lately. Maybe I'm just struggling with working (albeit, freelance work from home), helping my husband on the farm, taking care of the household and raising our toddler.

In response to an article stating that Mommy Brain does not exist...BAH!!! I can assure you that I was never this scatterbrained before. I just really don't know where my brain has disappeared to.

If you find it, could you let me know? Thanks.

Taking the Toddler to the Ballet

Friend: You have got to be kidding! You're seriously thinking of taking your 17 month old to the ballet?

Me: (puzzled) Why not? I took her last year and she slept through the entire ballet.

Friend: That was last year! She's a toddler now. You've got to be crazy! (giggling) I'd never even think of taking my kids to anything like that. They wouldn't sit through it. It would be a disaster.

Me: Well, my niece is expecting us to be there to see her perform. She's playing Peter Pan in the ballet "Peter Pan". It's a pretty big thing! Family events like this are very important to us.

Friend: You wouldn't think of leaving her with your parents for this?

Me: Well, I'm sure she'd have a blast with Lola and Grampy! We just wouldn't think of leaving her unless we absolutely had to. We don't go anywhere without our daughter if we can help it.

Friend: You'd enjoy it a lot more if you didn't have to worry about her having a meltdown in public or behaving badly.

Me: She's actually pretty good when we're out. Hasn't had a meltdown or behaved "badly" in public. Sure, she sometimes makes a little noise if she's tired. Other than that, she does what a toddler is supposed to do. She does enjoy music and dance though. We'll see. Plus, I don't think Hubby or I would enjoy a family outing without our daughter.

Friend: Consider it a date or some time just the two of you.

Me: Nah. We're going to take her to the ballet. I think it's important to give her the opportunity to enjoy the arts and learn how to behave in public. She needs to learn that going to functions like these are things that are normal for us and hopefully she'll enjoy it and learn to appreciate it.

Friend: Call me tonight and let me know how it goes. Good luck!

Actually, I do realize that Little One is older now and doesn't sleep through concerts, movies, church, or other social events anymore. This was sort of a trial run though. Hubby, Little One, my Mom, my friends, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and nieces are coming to see the musical I'm in this summer. I wanted to see how Little One would fare at the ballet before Hubby brings her to the play. If she totally couldn't handle being still or quiet for the ballet, maybe my Dad could babysit her and Hubby could enjoy the play.

We were sort of (but not totally) surprised that Little One was amazing during the ballet. She was a bit "bouncy" (she kept jumping up and down with the music) and our arms got a good workout. All in all, she was really well behaved for a 17 month old at the ballet! She was mesmerized by the music and dancing. We were in the front row and she had a great view of all the dancers. She didn't even make any noise. Not even a peep!

Little One clapped at the end of each act and for the standing ovation. It was so cute! She saw that everyone was clapping, so she clapped too. Hubby and I are really proud of our little girlie. Okay, relieved too. Very relieved.

Poor kid went to bed way before her normal bedtime! We were out late last night because we spent time with Hubby's family. We were out all day today with church this morning, lunch with friends, and then family time and the ballet in the afternoon. Hubby keeps reminding me how very blessed we are. We do have a pretty good kid. I have to remember this every time she throws all our clean and folded laundry all over our house or shreds all the Kleenex and newspaper in Hubby's office.
Have a listen to some songs that have been entered in the Manitoulin Tourism Association song contest. They reflect how truly beautiful "the Island" is.

If you haven't entered the "Read to your Bunny" contest yet, there's still time. The contest closes tomorrow and the winner will be announced on Tuesday!

The deadline for the Iams ProActive Health contest is still open. If you've got a special four-legged family member of the canine variety, enter for your chance to win a free bag of dog food!

Changes

“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify!”

- Henry David Thoreau

The past few weeks have been an eye opener for me. My husband and some of my good friends have pointed out that Hubby and I just do too much. We're both involved with several committees, groups, and organizations. It's not that we feel we need to be crazy busy all the time, but because we feel it enriches our life and our community. On top of this, we've got the farm. The animals, farm chores, equipment breakdowns, and everything else keep us busy. We both have work off the farm too. Hubby has taken on a few jobs off the farm to support the farm. I've taken time off teaching so I can raise our toddler. Hubby and I believe that it is important for me to raise her/take care of her at home for as long as I can. I've been busy working from home doing freelance work, and just as well. I don't know how I'd be able to help with the farm, help my husband with other jobs (wood orders, running around the Island retrieving parts for broken down tractors or finding a circuit board for a saw mill that wants to be fussy), take care of the household duties, take care of the baby and work full time outside of the house. As it is, it's already a lot for me to handle.

Part time/occasional teaching would suit me just fine for now. I've spoken to some of my other mommy friends (who happen to be teachers, government workers, nurses, social workers, etc) about this very topic. For me, teaching is a very important part of my life...but my daughter is more important. When she's a little older, I would definitely work out of the home full time again. It's just that these early years of our daughter's life are so very important. They go by quickly, and it's such a small fraction of their lives. These are times one can never get back. I don't want to miss this. Plus, I believe the first few years lay the foundation of our child's development and what kind of person she may become. That's why they're called the formative years.

With all the changes, we're trying to simplify our lives. We live in a life of excess. We live in a life of "too much". We have too much "stuff". Our house needs to be purged of all the things we don't need. There really is a difference between wants and needs. We just have to recognize what it is that we actually need. We have too many things we're involved with (groups, organizations, committees...). We have too many obligations to other people and not enough time for us as a family. I spend a good portion of my time with Little One, but between Hubby and myself, we're both so busy that we rarely spend time as a family...just the three of us.

Of course, Hubby and I are both unable to say no to people who need our help. This often results in us not getting our work done in a timely fashion. I hate to say this, because it's totally not something I believe in or feel I can do, but sometimes I think it would be easier to just be selfish.

Since we're working on simplifying things, I've also stripped the blog of clutter and unnecessary details. At first, I thought the new make-over looked kind of plain and blah. I actually kind of like it this way though.

Simple.

Clean.

Purged of all the clutter and unnecessary "stuff".