fun stuff: daring greatly

five days after christmas...

and i'm here with my knitting (yes...i've started another scrap blanket)

and the book that mesmerized me for at least a month.

i discovered brene brown through a friend who shared her TED talk 

on her facebook page.

have you seen it yet?

like always i am five years behind everyone (when it comes to social media)

this came out ages ago...and i've just stumbled onto it !!!

it's powerful writing...ms brown has done such a thoroughly amazing volume of work.

and guess what i got for christmas?

a non-library copy...yes, my very own copy so i can highlight 

as much as my heart desires...of her book daring greatly

read it, if you haven't yet,  guaranteed you'll be mesmerized !!!

erica

xoxo

joining small things and frontier dreams

laundry day

clothe yourselves with

compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness

and

patience

                     -colossians 3:12

it's a big mountain i'm climbing this morning...

the last time i was in our laundry room was two days before christmas 

(before all our guests arrived and all the festivities began)

thank goodness for our drawers full of extra underwear and socks !!!

the sun is shining here today and the two week forecast is for the same to continue.

this is wonderful news because i have this thing about hang-drying 

my bedsheets, at least once a month.

after tackling the everest mound of laundry...i'm spending the day reading and knitting

and later, folding and sorting and left-over snacking.

it is going to be a lovely, lovely day...

wishing you all the same

erica

xoxo

p.s.  thank you to my sister and her family for my beautiful 
sea glass laundry day reminder...

HO HO HO

HO HO HO !!!

these crazy photos where taken six years ago...we had all just gotten 

our eyes checked that week when i found these silly glasses at the dollarama.

i still get a good giggle every time i look at them...

i think they make up for the fact that my kids have never and probably 

never will - have their pictures taken on santa's lap.

but most of all, i love them because they remind me 

of the beauty of our imperfections, our brokenness, 

and how through all of it, we are growing an able-ness, a willingness, a strength 

to embrace each other in our most vulnerable true-est level. 

as a new mom, i remember dreaming and trying to grow a perfect family 
especially after birthing a beautiful, beautiful boy
 and then the most adorable baby sister for him.
now, as a mom of teens, i'm truly seeing the craziness and impossibility
 of that old dream and instead i am starting to really see the beauty 
of embracing the imperfections and the messiness of our life together.

HO HO HO!!!

before i sign off for a few days... 
in order to sink deeper into the chocolate almond bowl and the holidays,

i wanted to extend 

sincere and warm holiday wishes 

to all of you.

erica

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

solstice light up

solstice came to our little corner with hardly any light this year... 

it was dark and gray and stormy and wet alllllll day long.

after a very successful cross-things-off-the-christmas-list morning, 

we came home and lit up for a solstice celebration.

we had been to an annual solstice party the night before, 

so we were still in the celebratory mode.

we loaded up the cd player with our favourite christmas cds, prepared a roast and some potatoes and veggies for dinner, then sat around enjoying the glow of candle light.

it's amazing how festive one can feel, 

once chocolate and eggnog gets into your system !!!

we had so much to celebrate this solstice evening:

* from now on, the days are only going to get longer and brighter,

* family, from far and farther still, have descended and will continue to arrive

 on the island to celebrate christmas with us,

*although it has been a very stressful work and school term, we have all survived and  learned some valuable coping mechanisms in the process, 

*once we tackled the christmas list, the grinch inside us/me seems to have 

left our/my constitution(s) for another year,

* ian's roast just gets better each time he makes it !!!

harlow doesn't like the rain (especially torrential downpours)...

harlow loves his pillow...

so here is harlow celebrating solstice.

he was definitely dreaming about the roast !!!

erica

xoxo

christmas lush

my friend said, 

come and get it if you want it, 

i simply have no room for it !!!

i, the rescuer of all 

things-so-beautiful-but-somehow-has-made-it-to-the-discard-pile,

was there in an instant

(or did she deliver it to me?- i can't remember now)

my house is smaller than hers, yet the norfolk pine found a corner to call home

good news:  i rescued the chartreuse christmas balls yesterday during another thrifting
expedition while visiting with my mom-in-love.

who could resist the whole-lot-of-sparkle-for-a-dollar deal?

bad news: so far, chocolate is the only thing i've crossed off my christmas shopping list.

never the less,

i know, i feel, it is going to be a great day.

i am off to an early start.

wishing you all a lovely solstice monday

erica

xoxo

december storm

fate whispers 

to the warrior

"you cannot withstand the storm"

and the warrior

whispers back

"i am the storm"

                         

              -unknown

90 km/hr winds came whipping through victoria last weekend

and our usually calm oceans showed its other personality.

however ...there were a lot of storm lovers/warriors out there (with their cameras),

taking in her howling and moaning winds, 

her crashing and slamming waves, 

her ANGER, her POWER and BEAUTY.

eventually, she calmed down

and we picked up... the broken fallen branches.

don't you love it when nature teaches/wakes you up by mirroring?

erica

xoxo

pixar does e i ...

our emotions need to be as

educated as our intellect.

it is important to know

 how to feel,

how to respond,

and how to let life in 

so that it can touch you.

                          - jim rohn

have you watched pixar's inside out yet?

if you haven't, do it (with your kids)...it does an awesome job 

with explaining emotional intelligence.

emotions run pretty wild around our house...especially during exam time 
or work deadline time or last minute Christmas shopping time 
and last, but not least...my favourite: 
time to clean the house because company is coming time !!!

after a friend told us about it, 

we (all four of us plus harlow) took a break from busy and watched it.

definitely, a two thumbs up

(yes, even my two teens loved it)

no spoilers here...

erica

xoxo

the twinkle is ON

                 not slowly wrought, nor treasured for their form

              in heaven, but by the blind self of the storm

 spun off, each driven individual

     perfected in the moment of its fall.

                      -howard nemerov, "snowflakes"

yes...i'm finally getting into the spirit of the season.

our tree went up this past weekend and the twinkle is ON.

with nana mouskouri singing in the background, my kids and i spent the afternoon
stringing these thrifted snowflake ornaments i found last year.

buried and hidden in the corner of a local thrift shop, 

was a whole basket of these delicate crocheted beauties 

selling for a nickle a piece (can you believe it?????)

what is even more incredible...is that, in this hand crafted collection, 

there is very few doubling in design...almost like real snowflakes !!!

there is very little chance of snow in our little west coast island for this holiday season.

so you can imagine how these snowflakes...are purely magical for us.

isn't it wonderful to find magic in something so delicate...

as a snowflake,

or a twinkle?

erica

xoxo

wanna know a secret?...

( i haven't started my christmas shopping yet)

naomi's poem

the art of disappearing

when they say don't i know you?
say no

when they invite you to the party
remember what parties are like
before answering.

someone telling you in a loud voice
they once wrote a poem,
greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.
then reply.

if they say we should get together
say why?

it's not that you don't love them any more.
you're trying to remember something
too important to forget.
trees, the monastery bells at twilight.

tell them you have a new project
it will never be finished.

when someone recognizes you in a grocery store.
nod briefly and become a cabbage.

when someone you haven't seen in ten years
appears at the door.
don't start singing him all your new songs
you will never catch up.

walk around feeling like a leaf
know you could tumble any second
then decide what to do with your time.

                               - naomi shihab nye

isn't it beautiful?
I've been trying to put it to memory and reciting it to myself during this intense period of christmas parties and get-togethers and ho ho hos
i'm just realizing that i'm becoming more introverted as the years pass...

yes...i'm writing as if i haven't been on this blog for weeks now
but i'm not quite back to my blogging self yet...and i so wanted to share this beautiful poem for all you introverts out there.

for just a little bit longer, i'll be cabbage-ing at the produce aisle.

erica
xoxo