Good-bye is such sweet sorrow... you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Bittersweet.

When I looked up it's meaning this is what I found:

bittersweet
1. when something is good but there is a bad part about it
2. a mixture of two opposing feelings.  One is good and the other, which is bad may be pleasurable but cause pain or discomfort at the same time.
3. A love-hate type situation, having equal parts that are good and bad.

Today was what I would call a bittersweet day.  It was a day to say good-bye; and yet~ it was also a day to say hello to something new and exciting.

More specifically, today I said good-bye to some awesome people that I have loved working with over the past seven months.  It is not that I won't ever see them again, but in my heart I know it will not be the same as seeing them everyday when I go into work.  It is amazing how quickly people can form friendships when they share a similar passion for the people they are serving, even when they have distinctly different positions. 

For those of you who don't already know, I am a school secretary.

It is hardly what I consider to be a 'job,' but if you must call it that I believe it to be the best job in the whole entire world.  I am so blessed to have found something to fill my days that I love so much~

But I truly don't believe in good-byes.  I believe that whole dealeo that people cross our paths and are in our lives for as long as we need them and vice versa.  Kind of like one of my very favourite movies as a child, Pete's Dragon.  Elliot stayed for as long as Pete needed him and then, at the end, he moved on to another boy that needed him more. 

Life is funny and annoying like that. 

Whenever you are happiest; working with amazing people that are funny and smart and just awesome to be around, it becomes time to move on. 

And so it is bittersweet; as I am looking forward to the future (that I know will be full of new awesome people) I will also remember fondly those I am leaving behind.  But in reality we are only a field and a phone call away so I refuse to say good-bye.  Instead I will say "I will see you next year.." but next year seems so very far away.


I hope I can have my cake and eat it too, because that is my plan.

Sucky Mother Post

Yup.  You read right.  This post is titled correctly; no typo.  And no, I'm not drinking.  Yet.  Perhaps when I'm done airing my laundry though...

So my daughter's birthday has past; on January 9th, 2013 she turned nine.  Hard to believe and bittersweet of course-- words heard from every mothers mouth on a way-too-often basis.

So the last two birthdays Claire didn't even get a party with her darling little friends and it's entirey my fault.  I would actually like to blame Christmas (as it occurs two weeks prior to her birthday) but I expect I won't get away with that.  The stores have not too much left on the shelves for the month of January and many folk are all shopped out come this month.  It is tough to be born near Christmas.  For her seventh birthday she was so upset that it was not warm enough to have her birthday outside like her brother's (his birthday is at the end of June and there is always sunshine) so we decided to postpone it and wait for the nicer weather.  Well, March became April and April became May and May become June and that was the wettest month of the year I swear. Last  year there was just so much going on; our beloved mom and grandmother had passed away in December and the thought of having a party without her here was completely unbearable.  We are very fortunate that my sister has a wonderful large family so whenever we get together to celebrate our birthdays it is just like our own amazing party and (in my mind) that was her party the last couple of years; with her cousins and family that matter the most. 

But the last time her friends helped her blow out her candles was when that nine was upside down; which is entirely too long.  So when she chose The Lorax as her theme for her long-awaited party with her friends how could I say no?  After feeling like the sucky mom of the past couple of birthday-years-past I was not able to (without feeling guilty) ask her to choose an easier theme and so Dr. Suess' The Lorax it is! The date has finally been choosen to be February 2nd; late but not too late; close but not too close to Christmas.  It is perfect and they are (of course) predicting sunshine. 

To blog, or not to blog, that is the question..

The thing about blogging is, in order to be effective you actually need to post stuff or else what's the point?  If you post every six months or yearly (like me) you lose the interest of your readers and, if you're super unlucky like I am they have since changed their email address since your last message.  So what's the point in blogging?

Honestly, I'm not sure.  I think the point is to get those random, not-worth-writing-a-book-about thoughts-that-you-just-need-to-get-off-your-chest out there; into the random empty hole that is the internet.  Whether you have 'followers' or people who read your stuff isn't necessarily the goal.  While I'm not sure what the goal is exactly, it feels good for my fingers to be moving their 68- ish words-per-minute and typing about... nothing.

There is a lot going on in my crazy mind; things that may or may not be of interest to you but here is the place I will type them anyways... of course 'anyways' is not a word, my son reminds me regularly.  I don't understand why it is not a word.  It seems to fit into so many of my conversations better than 'anyhow' does.  So to whomever decides on what words are legitimate and which words are not (now what a fun job that would be) I would like you to reconsider yo ur decision on the word 'anyways' as it brings me great happiness~

And isn't that really the point of life; to be happy?

'Anyways', onto a more interesting blog post about my suckiness as a mother...

A Life Less Ordinary.: Lego

A Life Less Ordinary.: Lego: "What is it about those little Lego men that we all love so much? Is it that they seem to live the perfect lives? How many of us ..."

Lego

What is it about those little Lego men that we all love so much?  Is it that they seem to live the perfect lives?  How many of us can rebuild and redesign our homes or cars whenever we like?  How fun would that be?!  As I recently stumbled across a small colony of these little guys in my house plants, I couldn't help but smile; they inspire a creative spirit and have brought joy to many a home for so many years, it's no wonder they have won a spot in our hearts. 

With the love of Lego there comes many a storage issue.  Plastic totes and shoe boxes overflowing with those loveable little building blocks is bound to be a recurring problem us parents should have dealt with yesterday!  I'm pretty sure that anyone with kids will confirm with me that stepping on one of those 1x2 blocks is liable to make you keel over in pain and curse the little pieces that for some reason we still adore.  Here's what we have done to keep the cursing to a minimum in our house:

1) Jars.  Who doesn't have jars laying around in their kitchen cupboards?  We've filled them with pieces, (easily sorted by color) which not only makes it easy to find *just* the piece we're looking for but makes it a cinch to put away leftover bits from projects.  Nevermind the fact that they look great lined up on the bookshelf...

2) Rubbermaid totes of all shapes and sizes.  Yup.  You guessed right; this is another way to store unfinished projects, complete with instructions for finishing either never or some distant month in the future;-)

3) Shelves.  OK.  So seriously, your kid has built something like one hundred little models; where in the world do you store them all?!  Shelves is one of the only practical answers.  We like the shallow shelves for the cars and the smaller projects but also have some deeper ones.  The nice thing about the added depth is the kids can 'play' with their masterpieces on the shelves themselves, kind of like a little table that ensures no pieces will end up in your path. 

4) Seating with storage.  We have been so lucky to have tracked down some half size piano benches at second hand stores and from good friends.  The fun thing about them is the seats themselves are so simple to recover that they fit into any decor.  The best part about them = the seat itself lifts off to reveal storage underneath.  Nevermind that they are unique, cool looking and a great addition to any room.  PLUS they are perfect to pull out whenever extra guests show up at your house for an unexpected (but welcome) visit.  We like to store completed instruction manuals and those tempting Lego magazines that keep showing up in our mailbox every month or so.

5) Picture shelves.  OK so I *swear* those little Lego guys are breeding like rabbits.  Tossing them all in a plastic tote or jar just seems wrong; after all they are SO.DARN.CUTE.  Nevermind the fact that hopefully I'm not the only Mom who has picked up a set just because I liked the little person on the box.  You know the shelves~ Ikea and Jysk sell them; they are about 2.5 to 3 inches deep and have a little ridge on them to display pictures and art in an interesting and easy way.  Perfect for lining up all those little men and ladies and that protective little edge keeps them from falling over in a drunken stupor.

How do you store and sort your kid's Lego?

Lego storage ~ a dream come true?  Perhaps.  But no matter how organized and fun they look displayed and stored, those teeny, tiny, little building blocks kids (and adults) have adored for decades seem to end up under our feet.  Darn.  Good thing they are cute.

Snow or SPRING?

Now let me start by saying I ADORE the snow.  Truly.  There is no one who likes the snow more than I, and aside from one measley (but appreciated) snow day in early January we have had next to nothing more than a few glimpses of my favorite white stuff.  I can almost hear you snow haters telling me to stop talking about the snow; but what's not to like?  Here are my top 10 reasons why you should reconsider and share my love of the snow:

1) It's an excuse for being late
2) A reason to kick your kids outside to play for hours on end
3) You can see your kids whereabouts because everything is white and they are typically brightly colored    OR, if you are 'fortunate' enough to have a teenager they are a lovely contrasting black color.
4) It hides the garden beds you forgot to clean up before fall hit
5) Snowball fights!
6) Snowmen (need I say more?)
7) Friendly neighborhood conversation
8) Sledding!
9) The kids fall asleep early from exhaustion
10) It's just soooo pretty

That being said, the power of the sun over a person's attitude is clear to me as I happily walked to my post office box on my lunch break.  Today the sun was out almost all day, WOW!  (Honestly, I kind of forgot what it looked like).  It's 5:15 p.m. as I type this; waiting for the water (but not watching it) to boil for dinner.  And while the sun has gone down over the mountains (that luckily surround me) when I look outside at the budding spring flowers and the snowdrops poking out of the ground I can see that the seasons are changing before my very eyes.  After all, the groundhog did not see his shadow and so we're supposed to get an early spring, right?

Either way, I am thankful for the unexpected happiness that the sun brought today and the possible predictions of snow for tomorrow.  Yes, it is safe to say that I LOVE living in a place where four seasons do indeed exist.