Month: December 2015
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a countdown to 2016. part five.
We are getting ready to leave in less than a month. In less than a month, we will be leaving our home for two months. This will be the longest amount of time that we will be away from this house. When we spoke with the house sitter today about our plans and our expectations, he…
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a countdown to 2016. part four.
This is probably one of the most important lessons that I try to keep in the forefront of my mind when things happen outside my control. And as a mother of five, a lot of things happen outside of my control. A couple of days ago, one child hurt another child’s feelings by vandalizing an…
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a countdown to 2016. part three.
This is a picture of my new Labradorite bracelet. My good friend, Amy, opened her new shop, Beloved Crystals, about a month ago. Today we met for coffee and talked about family life, dreams, new endeavours, fears, and of course, her beautiful creations. According to Amy’s description of the bracelet, “labradorite is a protective and grounding…
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a countdown to 2016. part two.
Today we spent the day in Niagara Falls. After stopping briefly at an outlet mall, we spent most of our day in a hotel room overlooking the falls. There were about 20 people in the room – cousins, aunts, uncles, my mother, my brother, my stepfather, and my grandfather. My grandfather turned 97 today. I…
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a countdown to 2016. part one.
We left the house in a hurry on Christmas Eve. We were running late and had just finished machine sewing the last of the gifts in the nick of time. The house was covered in scraps of wrapping paper and fabric. We finally returned home late last night after a full 24 hours of Christmas…
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december 25.
My Book of Hours advent calendar prompts officially ended yesterday but here is a bonus one: Write a ONE WORD intention/theme for the upcoming year. Today is Christmas and there is this partially obscured full moon surrounded by a purply pink haze. This week I am reflecting on this past year and some possibilities for…
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december 24.
Today’s prompt: Right now I am at my in-laws house. It’s just us and my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. I am going to take a moment to take a deep breath before the rest of the guests come. And then I am going to take a moment before we leave at 8:30pm to…
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december 23.
Today’s prompt: List the traditions that you LOVE. This Christmas I have had to give up a few traditions that no longer fit our family. Traditions that have lost those initial feelings of comfort, security, rhythm, and connection. I have finally let go of traditions that worked for a family with littles but too difficult to…
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december 22.
Today’s prompt: What act of generosity can you do right now? *** This is what it says on the little sticker above in my Book of Hours entry: wonderful day Dazzling because of the sun. For awhile close eyes then open it because I’m dizzy for a moment. *** The act of generosity was from…
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december 21.
Today’s prompt: Meditate. Take 10 minutes to sit in stillness. Breathe. Let go of all holiday expectations. Things always become clearer when I stop and think. I reacted strongly to my children silly singing a Christmas song. I felt offended and I didn’t quite know why. My irritation was visceral. It felt like they were…