Sunny Whistler

Waiting for the ferry in Nanaimo heading to Horshoe Bay. They are doing some construction so along the whole temporary walkway they had this whole underwater scene painted. Abby couldn't wait to show the picture to her grandpa "peep".


From the top of Blackcomb on 7th Heaven. :)

Abs taking a few of her favorite "runs" her preferred activity over skiing.

Ah Yeah!

Endorphins are endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during strenuous exercise [1], excitement, listening to some music and orgasm[2]; and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. Endorphins work as "natural pain killers", whose effects may be enhanced by other medications.

Why the above? Because I'm feeling it. Today I ran the farthest I've ever run on my own accord, my own will, without my high school soccer coach yelling at me to get my a.. in gear. The ipod said 4 miles, amazing. A year ago I would have laughed if you would have told me I would run 4 miles because I wanted to. I do not have a runners body or good running form or talent for that matter. This is pure gut and determination on my part and for that I say..... Ah Yeah. (Plus I can see how you can get addicted to those endorphins, especially in light of my astrological sign- right Mark?) Ha-Ha.

Whistler, B.C.

The weather here is beautiful, spring skiing, people in t-shirts and tank tops. We all have decided we've never been this warm skiing before. The snow is lovely, the mountains and the sun brilliant. Will post some pics when we are home. Enjoying good food, hot tubs, pools, drinks and even some napping- amazing. Why can't we be on vacation and have this blissed out feeling more than 2 weeks a year? No wonder those Europeans are so damn happy. :)

Birthday bowling- the kids had lots of fun!

Dressed up in some of her birthday gifts eating MORE cake!!

Finally some snow here, enough to do angels but not quite enough for a snowman. Bummer.

Never Too Old for this !

Abs and her Papa going for a ride. :)

Loss

Dedicated to all of those strong women who have lost.

The water stung my skin
As I saw red running down
How I cried
How I wanted you to stay
The cramping like labor
I drummed you a beat on the shower wall
To show you the way out.

Barack Obama

This video is beautiful. I may be too idealistic sometimes but I feel this is what being on this earth is about. The collective will to do good and well by people, for the people, to all be here in harmony. Watch it.
http://www.dipdive.com

February 5th, 2003

After laboring for literally "days", in and out of the tub, bed, walking, and bathroom. Finally at 5:42 am Abigail Nadene was born. It took her what seemed like forever to breathe and cry. I remember my midwife telling Joe to talk to her as we were rubbing her all over to get her to take her first breath. Then finally she did as she lay on my chest. I was so tired I hardly heard or cared if she was a boy or girl, I still can feel that relief that she was out and my body wasn't screaming for relief. I looked down at her and her eyes were as open and intense looking at Joe and I peacefully, like she was saying- "Hey, its you, nice to see you."

5 years later she is her own beautiful girl, with her own will and determination. She knows what she knows and sometimes I am amazed that she is only 5. She is strong and a snuggler at the same time. Right now she sleeps in her bed looking so big, it is just so hard to believe it has only been 5 years. I feel like she has been with us forever...... Happy Birthday my girl.

The "Back" Dance

Ballerina by day..... rocker by night?

For breakfast?

We are loving all of these things lately. Stay warm everyone!

Books

Is she our kid or what? THIS melted my heart.

Questions

What if our religion was each other
If our practice was our life
If prayer, our words
What if the temple was the earth
If forests were our church
If holy water - the rivers, lakes, and oceans
What if mediation was our relationships
If the teacher was life
If wisdom was self-knowledge
If love was the center of our being.
Ganga White


I do the nursery at our church once a month. Sometimes we go more, sometimes we do not.
Sometimes it feels right and sometimes it doesn't.
Today I asked Abby while she was in the tub, " do you like going to church and talking about God?"
She shakes her head no but quickly says, "well, I do like church but I wish we could just talk about, (pause)..... animals or something."

Gardening in January?

Well this is a little hard to see in this smaller pic but Mt. Baker was out and beautiful and today
I attacked the sunflower patch. It was looking like something out of the dinasour age.

This is what doing no fall clean up looks like. It was actually not stormy, windy or rainy today so I bailed outside and attacked part of the beds around the house.





Here one side is looking MUCH better!











This sweet fairy who has been lost in the sunflower patch is now taking residence in an area that our dogs keep laying and digging so hopefully she will whisper to those dogs to stay out since my scolding doesn't seem to do a thing. :)

Material

Does anyone know of any good online fabric shops. As we are a bit isolated with only Joann's to chose from in the fabric department, i'm wondering about online shops that have good material?

The Knitting Circle

I just finished reading this book that caught my eye at the library in the New Books section. It is called the Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. It is a gut wrenching but lovely book about life, grief, and moving past it. The one thing that really hit me in this book is how women need each other. We can have supportive partners, families and kids but we NEED other women period. What would the world be like if every woman had a place to go to be themselves, be creative, at the same time feel supported no matter what was going on in their lives. It used to be women got together to quilt, what do we all do now? I guess we have coffee. :) I've said this before but we are too isolated in this society, we're all afraid to depend on each other. This life is as beautiful as it is horrifying, anyone out there up for a knitting circle?