katiemae_days

5:30 am again....

I want a haircut. And its waking me up...at 5:30 am. Well that and all sorts of other ideas and dreams that just sort of pop-up in my mind in the wee hours of the morning. Early morning brainstorming, my new alarm clock. I thought about last night's dinner that was so dang good. Mine was a slight improvisation that rocked our dining world (I veered from this recipe and used cabbage rather than brussell sprouts and chicken sausage instead of pork because that's what I had in the fridge). And then I thought about the "Curriculum Night" we attended last night at my girl's school and how I am going to make an appointment with her teacher to get a better handle on where oh where has second grade gone in our first-ever split class experience (grade 2/3).  I thought about work I will need to get done today. And I even thought about the laundry and dinner tonight and how I'll have to cook dinner before soccer so we can eat right when we get home. And how tonight, my girl will need to zip in and out of the shower and get to bed early since tomorrow she starts choir before school at school and well getting her to bed early only makes MY day easier since we have a better chance then fending off the morning grumps that can come roaring in some days when we've let her stay up too late reading. Deep Breath.

I wanted to sleep more this morning, you know rest more because I stayed up too late visiting with my neighbors over a glass of sulfite-free red wine. My first real glass of wine in weeks. And seriously, there's not much better than rich conversation about education, good friends and good wine. Which leads me to get up from my chair, get dressed, make some gluten-free oatmeal and greet the day and my family. And oh yes get a haircut or at least schedule one. Then maybe tomorrow, I can sleep until 6.

Any glaring and not so glaring grammatical errors and awkward sentence structure, I'll chalk up to stream of consciousness writing in the wee hours. 

food glorious food......sort of

Every year as labor day approaches, I feel the urgency to savor the last drops of summer. And then with a bang, I say hello to fall, a few rain drops and the back-to-school routine.

The new school year marks always marks for me a new significant place in time. Perhaps its the lazy days of summer transforming into a little Fall fervor. And somehow in the energy of seasons soon turning, I often set out to create something new. This year on the Monday before Labor Day I launched a new project on eating. The impetus: I'm tired of stuffy sinuses and yeast in a different body zone.  

So with the help of a clinical nutritionist all around health guru dear friend in Victoria, BC, I embarked on new journey with food. I did the same sort of program this time last year but with less drive and commitment. This time I'm all in with flexibility.

I start my day with a glass of baking-soda infused water. Took me two days not to gag as I drank this stuff down. And with that, I take a couple of supplements and a drop or two of herbs. That lovely combination, I enjoy three times a day.

The eating  part of the plan is much better.

Goodbye to gluten once again to support my stuffy sinuses. And along with gluten, I've said au revoir to dairy. Really, the only dairy I typically drink or eat is a bit of cream in my coffee now and again and an occasional yogurt. But since I've nixed coffee from my menu for awhile, who needs cream!  Anyway, I've discovered the delicious taste of decaffeinated Chai tea with a splash of rice or almond milk. Definitely satisfying.

I suppose the biggest change in eating comes with my kiss-off to sugar. I'll admit it. I'm a big fan of cookies and a piece of dark chocolate here and there. Well no more cookies for a while and with that goes most fruit, pastas and all things processed.  Yeast loves sugar and from what I gather goes forth and multiplies when any sign of the magic sweet stuff enters the body. 

Thankfully, brown rice is still in the game and quinoa. And oh yes a piece of dark chocolate every few days if i want. And I do but I haven't yet. I'm waiting until my 9th anniversary celebration tomorrow for that bit of decadence.

I'm back to cooking in my favorite cookbook "The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook" and have been making all sorts of great meals. Cuban Black Beans and brown rice, Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole and dairy free Cream of Cauliflower soup.

I'm 8 days in and feel lighter and more clear each day. I get hungry and have been making a habit of eating smaller meals more frequently. Rice cakes topped with almond butter are my new go-to snack or freshly made hummus with celery and cucumber. On the suggestion of my nutritionist friend, I'm going to buy an organic gluten free protein shake that will help with those moments of big hunger. 

I have always thought I eat well and for the most part whole. But in this new practice, I notice what it is to be more conscious of what I eat and make more empowered choices for me and my body.  

I made a commitment to this new path and with that promised myself not to be rigid. That is I'll treat myself to coffee now and then and the aforementioned chocolate and of course a glass of red wine on occasion, sulfite free of course.

What are you eating these days?

I love Bubbe....

inspiration comes in all forms.....

New Years Day 2010 a friend emailed me to share a few new blogs she'd stumbled on that very morning including one written by Christine Kane, a coach, artist, musician whose blog will surely become part of my weekly read. She offers the opportunity to create for ourselves a "Word of the Year". There's a short video you can watch where she talks more about "Word of the Year" and from there you can download a "Word of the Year" tool.

Rather than come up with a list of New Year's resolutions that for me can go by the wayside for no other reason than I have a million things on my mind and sometimes those resolutions get scattered about like when tiny beads spill and then roll about in every corner of the living room floor. Not that that has ever happened around here.

Anyway, like the saying goes or something like it anyway: they told two friends, and I told two friends and so on and so on and so on. And a beautiful idea presented by Christine has caught on in my world of friends. When I listened to her video and read her posts on "Word of the Year", Christine Kane's brilliant "Word of the Year" idea well, I got excited, inspired and downright purposeful about coming up with my word for 2010.

At first, I found it  hard to narrow down to one word, I mean there's quite a bit I want to work on. There always is! I knew quickly though for me this is a time where I want to work on following a direction and most importantly committing to it. So my first run with this resulted in "committedirection" I created my own word for pete's sake. I dropped the second "d" and thought about this as one fluid word. I went so far as to start playing with typefaces and logos for my little word. The more I said it out loud and played with the design, something wasn't working for me. The sound? The look and feel? I don't know but something didn't resonate any longer and I thought I must chuck this one and keep on listening from the inside. I knew the concept was spot on but the words didn't match how I was feeling. I journaled and brainstormed and played with so many words and combinations of them all late into the night. By the next morning, I landed on focusandgoforward. In true rebel form, I dared to meld three words into one. The more the day went on and the more brainstorming aloud I did with dear friends who were also coming up with their word, it became clear that what is inside me is most about is F O C U S. Once focused, I do go forward. So drum roll please, my word for 2010 is Focus. I love it, it rings true, syncs with my soul. Focus is about creating some structure to those scattered dreams that live deep inside me and call attention to them, bring them into focus and go forward with them.

I can feel the word in me, of me if that makes any sort of sense. The word has become inspiration for me both physically in completely giving an organizational overhaul to parts of our home to being knee-deep in creative projects with my girl that have sent me soaring.

The inspiration started with my word perhaps and then tangent-ed to a Sunday afternoon learning to decoupage with a dear mama friend and her girl who is a good buddy of my girl's. Let it be known, I love collage. Collage is a passion. I love looking at it, making it, dreaming it. Don't think it wasn't a contender for my word of the year, it was.  I make almost every card I give and generally they are collage creations from scrap papers and whatever other fun paper sources I can find. On this day, collage became three dimensional. We decoupagedd initials for ourselves. While I was waiting for parts of my "K" creation to dry, I decoupaged a canvas collage for my girl.  The thing I love about collage, beauty grows from mistakes and well there aren't many ways to mess up because if you do, you can layer over what you don't like. I love that we used up junk and odds and ends that otherwise may have found there way to a landfill. I love that we sat there our two six year olds and us and were glued sometimes literally to the art table for hours. That same afternoon, I decided to buy an old dresser from this same friend to use in my girl's room to store her art supplies. I'm not one to do a whole lot of pre-planning on whether something will fit in the room or not, I just go with my gut.

Now the Papa has been out of town, and well I thought this is the perfect time to get crazy and rearrange my girl's room. He'll do this kind of stuff but can often be the voice of concrete thinking that well frankly can distract me when I'm on a roll like this. His nature to be concrete of course comes in very handy many times many days. But on this day, well ahem, I was glad to have a little space to be anything but concrete. I didn't measure, I just moved. My girl was amazing helping figure out where to put things,  purging more toys and books she'd outgrown and being my cheerful cohort in this adventure. By 7 pm, we sat down to dinner and by the time she laid down in my bed since her room was in chaos she asked me if I could try and have her room ready by morning to which I replied oh yes this will be my Sunday night fun. And it was. I dusted, cleaned, recycled bags full and found a wonderful stash of materials for our future collages. We found a place for everything using the furniture we already had and this sweet old new to us dresser. Though I'd always loved my girls room, I have to admit there was too much stuff on the floor even in storage containers, it was hard to find anything. With purging and rearranging, her room took on a whole new feel. When she woke up in the morning and went to her 'new' room, she was beaming. She loved it. So do I.

And re-doing her room inspired me to reorganize my office a bit. No furniture moving there, but lots of purging and revamping storage. I did the same in the Papa and my room and a little in the kitchen. I have dreams and plans for more but that will include some carpentry and paint and remodeling and we'll just have to wait until that can make the budget.

So there you have it, my word for 2010 in a nutshell. Focus. What's in a word? A whole lot of inspiration.

What's your word of the year? I would love to hear.

Happy 2010 to you all.

twas three days after Christmas...

 

Yep three days after Christmas and I am down with some nasty virus thing that I am determined to not let take over the rest of our vacation week. I am resting today about to watch "The Tudors" on Netflix Instant download while I drink tea and balance my checkbook. My girl is off playing with a friend and the Papa is doing his thing to make sure I'm staying vitaminized and quenched in the fluid department.

We had a fantastic holiday and days leading up to Christmas. A day trip skiing, and another to our big city to see the lights, ride the holiday carousel and visit the Science Museum. We had an Italian-themed potluck here for one night for several families in and around our hood. I made two pans of eggplant parmesan experimenting with different recipes and then made one big pan of lasagna. Friends brought salad and antipasti and dessert and plenty of wine. I loved this night so full of fun and wonderful people and conversation. The kids ended up putting on a play for the parents later in the night. They drew set designs, donned wears from our dress-up stash and kept us well-entertained when performance time came.

I love the days leading up to Christmas, the staying up late wrapping and the putting on finishing and starting touches on some hand-made gifts. I love turning my office into my own little elf workshop in the wee hours of the night. I love the time the Papa and I had feeling excited together about Christmas morning for our girl and the time we spent watching a couple of movies late into the night while our girl snoozed away dreaming of sugar plum fairies and Santa's sleigh I'm sure.

On Christmas Eve, we baked batches of cookies and passed them around to a few neighbors and nearby friends and of course sampled more than a few ourselves.

More to come on Christmas and the rest of Christmas Eve but for now I must stop writing and take a nap or who am I kidding get back to "The Tudors" and knock this yuck out of me.In a nutshell, we had a joyful, peaceful and beautiful holiday. Quiet, tasty and lovely. We hung out with two sets of good friends who were visiting their families here. Good long walks, a swim in their hotel pool and well a night of Rock Band and Guitar Hero now that perhaps deserves a post of its own. 

Hope you have enjoyed your holidays so far too doing just as you want to do.

gratitude from the heart...

We recently had dinner with some new friends and on their table was this book:"A Grateful Heart" edited by M.J. Ryan. I loved the book and the idea of leaving it on our table.

We say a blessing most nights and in our blessing we give thanks to the farmers who grew our food, to the earth and sun. We give thanks for our families and friends and send a special prayer for those confronted by struggle. And my girl, always closes the blessing by giving special thanks for our cat Sasha.

I love our evening blessing. The quiet moment of taking pause before we dig in. I went ahead and bought this book on a weekend away I had this last month and it now graces our table. Each night one of the three of us chooses a blessing to share. I have loved every one so far. My girl delights in being the one to choose and takes great pride in reading the words and then altogether talking about their meaning.

Last night she chose this by e.e. cummings:

I thank you God for this amazing

day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes

May you have a lovely day and evening.

in the name of action.....

Not much action in the writing department this last week. I think because I have a lot to say but not the mind space to get it out.

Instead I took action in other ways.

Gardening. Lots of it in the rain and shine. I put straw down to cover the now mostly bare dirt in my vegetable beds. Chard and spinach continue to sprout up now in between the straw.The golden hay says Fall to me and I love how it blends so beautifully with the reds and gold foliage abound in the other beds and trees around.  I shoveled mulch in a couple of more beds to try and put some weeds at bay.

An interview. I wasn't necessarily looking for work formally but my neighbor friend forwarded an announcement to me. I applied. Got an interview. I don't have a lot of say at this point. Is it one of my dream jobs? No. Right for my schedule and goals. Not so much. I'm feelin like they probably won't call. Who knows. Nice to be relaxed about it that's for sure. Good for me to write a letter and head in for an interview and feel good about what was coming out of my mouth. And perhaps get a little more clear.

And finally action in the name of actions. Photoshop actions that is. I've been playing with a fabulous set compliments of Doug Boutwells Totally Rad Action Sample pack.

this one's called Lux(hard)

Boutwell's magical glasses(I think)

 

no action run here, just a shot of our adopted chicken I call her Bunny

And finally action in the name of kids at play. Hopscotch. Chalk Art. Joy.

And that's about it before the weekend. Hope you have a lovely one.

a week of firsts part deux

I don't speak more than a few words of French but oh how I love the sound of this language. And as I thought about what to title this post, part "deux" just seemed to roll right off my fingers as they type away.

Happy to say, i gained a little more freelance work this week:  Proofreading/Copy Editing. I loved it plain and simple. I love sitting at my dining room table working away paging through this particular piece of work finding not many issues but enjoying the exploration.

Many to do's lined up for this coming week in the way of must get to the design and build of my own website;  the design of my business cards. And all the while remember: work at my dream to work from home. work at my dream to work from home. One step at a time.

And in my attempt to get back to "a week of firsts", I wanted to share the other major component in our beautiful week of firsts. In real time, nearly two weeks have passed since our week of firsts began...Without further ado, two weeks ago today, I purchased (well if an 18-month/same as cash plan counts) my first DSLR. After a year of dreaming and saving, I did it. I bought a DSLR. As far as purchases go, signing away on this camera feels as big to me as buying our couch or my old Volvo. I researched cameras for months, interviewed friends and random strangers holding cameras to find out how they liked their beloved DSLRs. I wavered between the Nikon D series and the Canon Rebel. And in the end in a surprise to even me, I went with the Canon. Surprised only because I was completely sold on the Nikon until the very end. Both cameras are wonderful. I think it came down to the Canon because I was familiar with Canons given how hard I worked my point-and-shoot-on-steroids Powershot A610. Rarely shooting that baby on Auto once I discovered the joys of Aperture and Manual Settings, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a bigger camera.

I will share with you this, once I did that is get my hands on a DSLR, well I haven't been the same. I'm all aflutter. I'm in love. In love with my camera. I know it may sound a little bizarre to talk about a camera in these terms but its just how I feel. I  want to shout it from the rooftops. Taking pictures with this new camera, talking to my friends who shoot with a DSLR, trying to soak up as much practice and knowledge as I can, well I am over the moon. So here are a few glimpses into my first few moments and days with my new baby.  I didn't take the time to edit much of anything but here goes:

teabags never seemed so interesting

 macro setting,  just trying to capture those sweet little beads of condensation

ahh, sunflowers rising to the sky

So yes, I have much to learn about my new camera particular adjusting for light correctly. But that's all the fun. The learning and experimenting.  And while I'm sure I would love the Nikon just as much, I am thrilled with the Canon.

And there it is a wrap to a big week of firsts. Happy Weekend to All.

nature unfolding...

taking time out to notice what's blooming

fairy's fronds dance in the breeze

love abound for all to see

eye-poppying texture

wa ay ting is the hardest part....

Meet Sasha. We met Sasha when we moved into our home almost three years ago. We say, she came with the house.

On our moving in, Sasha showed up at the back door and we fed her whatever we had. Cans of sardines, salmon, turkey scraps, all delicious to her. Then in a step of commitment towards becoming full-on pet owners, we started to buy real cat food.

Sasha is a sweet girl, patient to no end, allowing my girl to hold her, rock her, even play drums with her paws(gently, mind you). Sasha likes to be heard and has a rather loud meow, some say its because she's part Siamese. Her previous caregivers told me she has anxiety for being the smallest in her litter. We continued to feed Sasha throughout the Summer and into Fall and winter but never brought her inside until winter really set in that first year in our new place.  Looking back, I'm not sure why. I grew up with a cat for a pet along with dogs and fish. The Papa he grew up with no pets. Maybe it was just something about bringing her in that felt like a big commitment. But if it was that, I think now that would have been a rather silly notion since for pete's sake we'd already committed to her just by feeding her. Making sure she was healthy and warm was the next step. So one night during this dance of non-committal, we had friends to dinner, all cat lovers and well after more than a few "awww she's so sweet and awww but its so cold out there.." we brought her in. We knew we were not taking anyone else's cat, she was her own girl, a sweet alley girl and she was sure to find comfort in a bed of old blankets and woven rugs. Next came the kitty litter and bowl, collar and bell, shot updates and check up. Yep, she was family now.

From that winter night just over two years ago, Sasha resides most of the day sprawled on the Papa's office chair or in our bay window soaking up the sun. She runs out to play a couple of time a day and visit her sister who lives across the alley and attend any cat parties that happen around our hood.

Sasha is our family. We love her. My girl, thinks of her as her little sister, always making sure she is well-loved.

Last week, Sasha went out for her usual mid-morning stroll or hunt or coffee for all I know and she didn't come home that day. Or the next. Or the next. It is not actually unusual for her to disappear when we are away and friends come to care for her but with us around, her not coming home was highly unusual. She hadn't mentioned any cat festivals to which she might be attending or camp outs. We called ner name over and over, whistled as we normally do. We walked the alley and up and down other streets in search of our girl. And made a sign. My girl made one too in school.  Then out of the blue, I heard her cry, her loud "hey I'm up here". I called and called and then saw a black and white cat on our neighbor's roof. I wasn't sure if the cat I saw was Sasha or her sister. I know that probably sounds ridiculous but Its true. Her face looked different to me.  Sasha and her sister actually have very similar markings. This cat looked anxious and that made her face look different...really.I tried to help her down from the roof but couldn't quite reach her. And at that point, I had to run to pick up my girl from school. We came home just as the Papa did.  And we heard the cry once more. This time, the Papa who has better eyesight than me confirmed that indeed this cat hopping from rooftop to rooftop was Sasha! The Papa climbed enough to reach her. Relief. Our girl was back.

We loved her and cuddled her and fed her the fanciest of fiests--sardines, turkey, salmon scraps. My girl thinks she got lost and subsequently scared and just wasn't sure how to come home. Our dear house-guest who happened to be visiting during all of this thought maybe she was unsure of having someone new around. The Papa and I think she went out as usual, got scared by something and found her self not necessarily physically stuck on the  roof next door but maybe emotionally stuck--ok the Papa said nothing about her being emotionally stuck--that was me!

Anyway, we are so happy she is home. She is genuinely relaxed again, snoozing in her chair, warming herself by the window and chowing on treats delectable to her.

Waiting on Sasha. I didn't panic. I did feel sad and at one point sick thinking something could have happened to her. We waited though and she came home. Waiting sometimes sucks. Waiting with a little worry on top...really sucks. We kept moving though...forward to find her. Taking action can help to melt the worry...a little.

A seven year old I have come to know said something to me so profound this weekend -- a shining gift to me this week. Out of the blue over a snack of sliced apples and cheese, she turned to me and said worrying isn't healthy. I asked her to tell me more. She said "Well, i just don't worry. its not good for you."   She said "well, I don't worry because I have a good life and I am safe. She then added "well, sometimes I do worry about the whales that come up on the beach....that makes me sad." 

Her words, a gift and reminder again...to look at what is.

Welcome back Miss Sasha, we sure are happy to have you home.