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Hello! It has been a while! But then again, what is new?

Just wanted to write a little about what is going on with me. Of course. So, last time I wrote I said I was working on a Christmas wreath, so, I’ll put a little picture here. Not very “spring/summer-y” of me, but I haven’t been here in a while and I want to show that I did the thing.

I continued- until just this week- to be in therapy twice a week and have worked through a lot of the stuff about my dad. Finding his medical records and finally understanding everything he was going through was helpful. I am hoping to get access to some other paperwork but I don’t know if I legally can.

I continue to work on myself, even without a therapist, and trying to understand myself and my issues. Right now I am working on being less emotionally sensitive. I can be reactive sometimes and if I understand why, I can probably become better at regulating my emotions.

I want to apply for my American Citizenship soon- but I need to gather all sorts of paperwork- it will be time consuming. I would also like to get Savannah her Canadian citizenship, which is a less strenuous process but the wait time is very long at the moment due to Covid.

I recently started attending grad school, and hope to have my MBA in a couple of years. Grad school is tough, it’s not that the work is hard, specifically, it’s just that it is labour/ time intensive.

I want to talk about how I am feeling, but it’s all just very intense and I think I need to save it for another time. But, I decided to take a break from therapy after going twice a week for over a year now- I know I need some type of help, but if I am not feeling better, I don’t see the value in it. I have decided instead to focus on things that made me happy in the past. Connecting with people, focusing on self-care, trying to keep/ adopt healthy behaviors like eating healthfully, making sure I am taking my vitamins, meditating, and exercising. It’s not easy to keep up with these things when you’re feeling sad, or deflated. But I am pretty good at forcing myself through things, I guess I just got used to that part of life.

I want to put some cute pics of Savannah in here, since, as a mom, I am basically just so proud of her at all times. She is doing so well! I know I have mentioned, if not on here, at least on Twitter that she has a speech delay and she works with a speech pathologist 3x/week. She is getting really good at trying to say things and she has most of her numbers now, one through five and she tries to say eight and can say ten. She says ‘open’ and ‘hippo’ and has ‘pink, purple and blue’ pretty good.

I hope you like them. She is my favorite.

I have a lot to look forward to, despite my general mood. We are all going to Atlanta in August, the flight is only an hour long, so it will be a good “test” to see how Savannah flies. If she does well, I will bring her to Canada next time I visit. If not, we may have to wait until she is a little older. My husband and I are also going to Vegas in August, it will be a hoot. Celebrating ten years. Can you believe it?

Anyways, I just wanted to do a little update. I enjoy writing, and I probably should do it more often. I hope you’re having a beautiful day!

Hello friends,

This is just a little check in post. I am still alive, and I just want to talk about what’s been up!

Baby is enjoying some solid foods, here she is eating avocado toast, like a true child of Millennials.

We have been spending lots of time together!

I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is growing up so fast!

We planted a winter garden: garlic, turnips, onions and Brussels sprouts.

I have taken up making Christmas crafts. I am a huge fan of the farmhouse decor look and especially the black & white check pattern.

I made this diorama, and I am working on a “JOY” sign and a Christmas decoration made from a miniature bench I got from “At Home.”

I am excited about the final products. I am going through a crafting phase 😝 Been inspired by YouTube videos.

Just wanted to post something here since it has been so long. I am still around 🙂

There are a lot of things I could tell you about my dad. He lost part of his hand in a terrible accident at a local furniture manufacturing plant when I was a very young child. Before he lost his hand, he made these for me.

He went on to work at that same factory for another 20 years. He had his share of difficulties in life. When my grandmother was pregnant, she contracted the measles, this resulted in some intellectual disabilities, which meant that he had difficulties with reading and math, and also with problem solving. He never really developed the ability to assess people or their motivations, which made him quite gullible. I definitely was quite naive myself, well into my 20’s. I only saw things from my own perspective: I’m a nice person who wants good things for others, so other people must also have my best interest in mind. Growing up, he always had my best interest in mind.

I remember that he didn’t have a lot of money. But that was okay, because my whole family didn’t really have a lot of money. I can’t count the number of times, that he gave me his last $5, knowing that I was literally just going to spend it on candy- I could always count on him to send me home with a belly full of food and a little bit of cash to brighten my Sunday.

I saw him every weekend for years. We played the original card set of Magic The Gathering when I was 7, then when I got a little older we moved on to Axis and Allies. He once bought a white table, and painted, by hand, the entire board onto it so we would have a larger tile on which to place our pieces. Anyone familiar with the game knows you can hardly fit anything in those tiny “country” spaces- especially if you place a factory there! We would watch public access television, and movies like “The Princess Bride,” and play the game for hours. If we didn’t finish, he would leave it set up so we could play the following weekend. I hated how he always called me “Pumpkin” back then, but I kind of miss it now.

There’s something else you should know about my dad: Last weekend, he died. He had a pain in his leg, and went to walk it off- the autopsy confirmed that this was a blood clot, and it travelled to his heart- he died nearly instantly. He wasn’t even in his mid-50’s yet.

My favorite thing about my dad was how he never judged people. He would always be a good friend to you no matter what. He wasn’t trying to figure out what you could do for him, yet he was more than happy to go out of his way for you. He shared his home and his time with all who would accept him for who he was in return. He was always able to find the good in everyone. My closest friends know that he has passed these gifts on to me: any kindness, empathy, generosity, you see in me, these all can be attributed to the man who gave me life. I am grateful that his legacy will live on through me, and his future grandchild.

I remember the last time I saw him, back home in Canada. He just looked at me like he was so proud of me. I always knew I was the most important thing in his life. Andy told me, one time when I left the room, he made him promise to take care of me. “She’s my only daughter,” he would always say that. I know that he died knowing I would be okay. And that that would have been of great comfort to him. He was always there for me. I knew that no matter what, I could count on him.

My father will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

I was born to a teenage mother in a small town outside of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I enjoyed the first three years of my life, living with my French-Canadian grandfather, and my mother in my childhood home. My first memory is of eating pablum. Please don’t feed that to your children- or at least add some sugar. It literally tastes so terrible that I had an emotional response so strong to eating it that it was embossed in my tiny baby memory. 

I remember pulling the dials off the old radio, chewing on them, them and basically anything else I could get my sticky, chubby hands on. I am glad that led paint was no longer being used in kids’ toys by then. You can see the radio in the background. It is at my head-level. And here I am, perched on my favorite unicorn. 

I remember climbing up on the kitchen counter and pulling the powdered chocolate out of the cupboard, making a huge mess trying to mix myself some Nesquik, and trying in vain to clean it up prior to hearing my grandpa’s footsteps coming down the stairs. 

I remember lots of toys, and visits from grandma and grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles… and then I remember moving boxes. Moving boxes piled so high that you could climb on top of them. So, I did that. Then, the gigantic pile of moving boxes collapsed under the weight of my three-year-old body. And a few days later, my mom, my dad, and I moved to a tiny apartment a few miles away. 

We had hamsters, that my mom did not particularly like- since their cage/ tubes were difficult to clean and maintain. So, they were given away only a couple of months after we got them. RIP Poto & Koto, I hardly knew ye. There was a park a couple of blocks away. I remember asking my mom if I could go. She said “maybe later.” When my mom says maybe, it’s really no. I learned this from a very young age, about the same time I noticed that Santa’s handwriting was the suspiciously similar to mommy’s handwriting… So, I went to the park. It was only 3 blocks away, and just as I was about to cross the busy, 6-lane street- and I was totally going to make it- suddenly some big man grabbed the back of my overalls and picked me up by them! And that was the first time I was ever in the back of a cop car. He drove me home- and I still didn’t get to go to the park that day! 

Anyways, I just wanted to share a tiny sliver of my childhood with you. I am going to keep sharing- on here and on YouTube. I hope you enjoy my journey. 

Hello World!

Welcome to my new website! I have another blog www.lululemonexpert.com where I write about Lululemon, mostly. This blog will be where I tell you about my YouTube channel, videos I’ve created and the inspiration behind them, and will be where I provide sources, additional information and inspiration when I can! I hope you can get to know me, and enjoy the information and entertainment I hope to provide.