thankful

I just updated my Facebook status, "...is thankful for a slower Sunday, my family, my garden, my neighbourhood, photography, and popcorn." I should also add "and Eureka."

After yesterday's stress-filled day, it was nice to slow down. We went out for brunch (actually dim sum) this morning to celebrate a birthday and from there, things slowed down even further; we lazed around for a couple of hours before walking Kiddo to a birthday party. The party was held in a small playground just a few blocks from here -- I had no idea it existed before today!

Since the playground was at the edge of this month's Grid, we wandered a little further, trying to track down the house where I was born (alas, I didn't get a photo because I thought it was the house on the right, not the left of the landmark, Doh!) and found another park I didn't know about. Peacock Hill Park isn't much to look at, but the view... is astounding. While looking for more information, I found this panorama. I will definitely be walking back up there again.

Home again to process the photos we took. After retrieving Kiddo, I spent some time in the garden, harvesting some carrots and tomatoes and checked on the spinach and other fall/winter crops. Hubby made a lovely dinner, including some amazing ginger-glazed carrots while Kiddo watched Kung-Fu Panda. After dinner, we tidied Kiddo's room, did a few other chores, and then I curled up to watch a few episodes of Eureka with a big bowl of popcorn.

And so that was Christmas....

=Phew=

Down to three of us again. As Christmases go, this was a good one; it's so much easier without having to bundle up, load the van and drive to one house or another even if the trade off was cleaning, cooking and re-arranging furniture.

Hubby did all the cooking (thank you!!!) and I pitched in with clean-up and whatever else I could do (including shovelling a lot of snow and slushy ice off the road outside so that family had somewhere to safely park). We managed to (over) feed everyone and the gifts overflowed. I'm very thankful for everything I received -- including some Skull-candy headphones, an iPod touch, dvds, an LG Rumor cell phone, and a Fabricland membership that doesn't expire until the end of 2011. I am spoiled.

Kiddo put herself to bed not long after everyone left and is soundly sleeping while we watch some gifted DVDs and play with our toys.

I hope your Christmases were as pleasant as ours!

Happy (second) Thanksgiving

Greetings and well-wishes to readers south of the border; up here, we celebrated Thanksgiving in the midst of our move back in October. That will not stop us from having a turkey dinner tonight, though -- something we started a few years back because (a) we like turkey and (b) we actually do have a lot for which to be thankful.

Here are some things (outside the obvious -- friends, family, food, water, shelter) for which I am thankful this year.

For technology. Yup, I have a love-hate relationship with it -- the internet, all the gadgets and all the constant change -- but without it, Hubby and I might have to work retail (shudder).

For Victoria. Another love-hate relationship but when we started looking elsewhere for a place to live, nothing measured up. I'm happy we stayed, and I'm happy to still live in the City of Victoria with all its political dysfunction.

For my muse. Whatever weird influence it is that comes and goes but that fuels my creativity, I'm thankful. I get lots of positive feedback about things I create -- writing, knitting, sewing, painting, and so on -- enough that I know it really is what I want to do "when I grow up."

For you. Yes, you! Thanks for reading, even if you don't comment.

Birthday Thanks....

While my actual birthday isn't until tomorrow, we went out for brunch today (which was lovely) and I was spoiled with many gifts. Among them, two new books -- Roger Ebert's Your Movie Sucks and Craft, Inc -- a polarizing filter and a flash attachment for my camera, the first three American Pie movies, some makeup, some specialty foods, a new MEC shoulder bag, and gift certificates for Value Village.

This afternoon, we went to see WALL-E, which I very much recommend.

I'm very thankful to everyone for a lovely day and the thoughtful gifts.

10 Things + Karma = Silver lining?

I've been pretty grumpy all month... so I thought it was time to take karma into account, stop bad-mouthing everything around me, and focus a bit on some positive stuff.

So, in the spirit of 10 Things, here are 10 things for which I am thankful and/or that made me smile in the past few days:

10. a night away from all the dust and disruption of home renovations
9. room service
8. the random discovery and purchase of four Star Wars Mighty Muggs.
7. a kid who can use the word emphatically correctly in a sentence and still be amused by giant footsteps:

6. Stash Teas (specifically White Christmas)
5. Picture-perfect Island scenery:

4. a good excuse to purge expired medicines from the cabinets

3. recently purchased movies: Zodiac, Infamous, The Desk Set, Sunset Boulevard

2. a new episode of SNL at last

1. Hubby, Kiddo, and Max the cat who share my life under this roof.

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(now, karma, if you're listening, can we have our health back, please?)