Valentine’s Day Scrooge

I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a Valentine’s Day Scrooge. Please don’t assume that because I’m no longer married, that’s the reason I’m a Valentine’s Day Scrooge.  I am partnered with a wonderful man.  I just don’t understand Valentine’s Day, and here are some of the questions that run through my head every year:

• Why are we expected to pay more attention to our significant others on one specific day of the year?  Shouldn’t we be making those we love our priority all the time? Personally, I spoil my kids on Valentine’s Day.
• Why does society view buying flowers, chocolate, jewellery, and dinner and a show for women as a demonstration of a man’s love for her?
• Why does it usually rest on the man’s shoulders to prove his love? Are women “not allowed” to be the one to spoil her man?
• What about same-sex couples? Is there an acceptable “standard” as to who is the one to demonstrate their love?
• Why do we prioritize relationships over being single? Why is it “better” to be married than single?
• Why do we forget about the BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT relationship we will always have…the one with ourselves?
• Biggest question of all…why does everything cost so much more??!!!!

Having said all that, I will admit that I look forward to the day AFTER Valentine’s Day…to break my New Year’s Resolutions with all the chocolate that’s on sale.

 

Motivational Monday – Think Too Much?

I know that I do this often (and am working on that), so it’s always a good reminder. Something to definitely keep in the back of your mind when figuring out menus and travel logistics for the upcoming holiday season, no matter what you are celebrating (personally, we celebrate Christmas). 

Nothing needs to be “Martha Stewart acceptable”. What’s important is spending time with those you love.

 

Fill in the Blanks Friday, with a theme…ugh!

Ugh. This week’s “Fill in the Blank Friday” from The Little Things We Do has a theme, to honour their 4 year wedding anniversary. Officially, congrats!  I remember those days of being happily married. I sometimes even miss those days. But if you’ve ever read my blog, you know my feelings towards being out of my marriage, so this is a tough one to complete.  I’m not really a “reflect on love and relationships” kind of girl.  My man and I “work” because neither of us are interested in getting married again, nor do we feel the need to define our relationship. We just “are”, and we “are” very good together.  So, here goes…

1.   Love is completely blind, and not just because there’s a famous saying that says so (who coined the phrase anyway?). When you are in love, you are blind to someone’s weaknesses or even worse, to your reactions to them…and hopefully that isn’t a dangerous thing. You need to trust yourself and your instincts before you can know that you are truly in love – wow…that almost sounded wise.

2.   Being in love feels like comfort. Knowing we are there for eachother, for good things and stressful situations.  My man stuck around and supported me through the months leading up to, the day of, and recovery after my first surgery.  I learned tons about him and his character throughout that time…he’s definitely a keeper!

3.  My favorite quote about love is…hmmm, honestly, I had to Google “quotes about love”. I’m not very “girlie” about love. My belief is that you either are in love, or you aren’t. No need to discuss it at great length. You either smile when you see his name on your call display or in your inbox, or you don’t.  If you roll your eyes when you see his name pop up, it’s past the time to finish.  So, in my 2 minutes Google search, I came across a quote from Marilyn Monroe that made me smirk: “A wise girl kisses but doesn’t love, listens but doesn’t believe, and leaves before she is left”.  Yup, I’m cynical…but at least I admit it, and my man accepts it (plus, he may be a bit cynical too…so that helps).

4. The most important thing in a relationship is not something I have figured out yet. I could say the standard “communication”, “respect for eachother”, “make eachother laugh”, and also knowing yourself, but I haven’t actually mastered it…mind you, my man has stuck around for a while now so either we’re both bad at it together, or I may have inadvertently done something right in the last year, but I don’t want to jinx it.

5.  A “deal breaker” for me in a relationship is abuse. Does it really need explanation beyond that?
6.  The way I show love in my relationships is between my man and I, plus there’s the occasional surprise delivery of Coke…makes him happy.

7.  I love …do I really need to say it?  He knows who he is.

 

30 Days About Me: Day 7 – Photo Happiness

Day 7- A Photo That Makes You Happy

So many to choose from…my kids are really cute, if I may say…   Here are some that always put a smile on my face.

My kids’ first picture…8 week “blobs” of pure amazing!

 

 

 

 

My kids only hours old in the hospital.

 

 

 

 

Sibling love when the kids were 3 years old, and our first Snow Day of that winter

 

 

 

 

 

The kids and I at their graduation from Senior Kindergarten.

 

 

 

 

 

Great day at Marineland this summer, watching the whales underwater (hence the blue)

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last photo that doesn’t include my kids…my hunny and I at a wedding this past summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I’ve spent hours pouring through photos, I’m all warm and fuzzy with the memories.  Would love to see your favourite photos!  Post them on your blog and link them back here in the Comments section.

 

21 Questions to Ask Your Kids

 

I stumbled upon this questionnaire at Randomosity and thought it would be cute. Unfortunately, since my son is still working on being able to verbally answer questions, he couldn’t offer any answers so my daughter’s responses are included below.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Being good, with D (her brother) 

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Yelling and screaming

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
By tickling us

5. What was Mommy like as a child?

The same as me

6. How old is Mommy?
Umm, I forget but much younger than daddy (you had better believe it! Lol!)

7. How tall is Mommy?
Bigger than me, and tall like my big sister.

8. What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do?
Hug me and type on the computer. (Busted!) 

9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?

Go grocery shopping. (Such an exciting life I lead!)

10. If Mommy becomes famous,what will it be for?

• Painting, like when you were a child. (umm…what?)
• Making jewels (again, umm…what?)
• Being the best mommy ever (aawwwww!!!  I have the cutest daughter EVER! I didn’t even bribe her to say that!)

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Giving me hugs and taking care of us. (Woohoo!)

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
I don’t know. (wow! Didn’t even pay her to say that!)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?

• Giving people presents (cool! If anyone wants to reciprocate, my favourite colour is “sparkly”…lol!)
• Helping people
• Computer typing

14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?
Chocolates, hotdogs and pizza (ok, I’ll agree that pizza is close, but the others are my daughter’s favourites.)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Picking me up from school, and giving me hugs (I’m sensing a theme of hugs…)

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character,who would she be?
Spidergirl, because she’s so pretty. (Awwww…)

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
We hug and have cuddles, and go to the park together.

18. How are you and Mommy the same?

• Because we have strawberry blond hair. 
• We look the same but you don’t wear the same clothes as me. 
• We both have freckles but I don’t have as many as you, mom.

19. How are you and Mommy different?

• Because mommy has more freckles than me.
• Bigger ears than me. (umm…okay…)
• My favourite fruit is strawberries and hers is mango.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Because she says I love you.

21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?

• To the park (again, apparently she’s confusing her favourite things with mine)
• To the library
• Starbucks

If you post the same thing in your blog, please leave the link in Comments below so I can read your post.  I’d love to see what your kids have to say!! 

 

Things that make you go hmmm…

 

Of all the things I love about Twitter, one of the things I enjoy is reading the inspirational quotes that are aplenty each and every day.

 

Recent ones I’ve enjoyed are:

• “You are important!! You must believe this!! You were created from greatness…let your brilliance shine!” ~ @DrMommy
• “Focus on the people who show that they truly love and care about you. Forget about the ones that don’t.” ~ @SimpleLoveTweet
• “Self-care is preventative care. Take care of you now to ensure a healthy body, spirit and mind. Self-care is never selfish. It’s survival!” ~ @CafeSmom (for the record, I’m still working on this one!)
• “Don’t be afraid to believe that you can have what you want & have what you deserve.” ~ @TheNotebook

 

It only takes a minute or two to scan through tweets to find something that inspires me.  Sometimes I make it my Facebook status for the day, sometimes I retweet it on Twitter, but either way, I want to share them so, I thought I would share one that @Rambling_Writer posted earlier this week.  She posted a picture of the wallpaper she just put on her cell phone that reads:

I am beautiful

I am important

I am smart

I am enough

 

And can be viewed here… http://twitpic.com/5s2zn5.

 

It reminded me of the words I have told my kids every night since they were born, when tucking them into bed:

Good night sweetheart

I love you

Sweet dreams

Dream big

 

Before I go to bed, I also read the Daily Essay from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book: Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy.  It allows me a few minutes to myself, to calm my brain and refocus from the chaos of the day, which also allows me to sleep better.

 

So my question to you is, where do you find your words of wisdom and inspiration?