Cape Escape 2009

A week ago I was happily settling into the quiet and welcoming surroundings of Cape Cod. The heavy salt air and sound of the ocean was the exact salve I needed after a challenging and busy few months.

I was so fortunate to be joined by a group of lovely ladies. Every one of these women I can call a close and dear friend. I know each one of them well, though, until last week, not all in person. They all bring something different and positive and thoughtful and challenging and happy into my life. A very diverse group, to be sure. I was sure everyone would appreciate each other. And they did! There was so much laughter and delight emanating from the house, I have no doubt the neighbours miss us now that we're gone.

I took a load of photos. Even visited places I had never been. After exploring the Cape for well over a decade there are still surprises. That has to be one of the most charming aspects of going to the same place year after year, the surprises in the ordinary: it is never the same holiday twice. Here is a picture heavy glimpse into our few days:



It was wonderful to take this opportunity to recharge before the frantic pace of summer holidays sets in. The days are whizzing by and the fun begins on June 25th. We have great plans and I'm anxious for the days at the pool, at the park, at the ice cream shop to begin.

But boy, was it ever nice to have a few days to decompress and relax with my friends.

Thank you, Beth

Do you remember my plea for help? Found here?

Well, my friend Beth (not to be confused with my sister, step-mother or aunt) came to my rescue and sent me TEN!

Thanks Beth! You're the BEST!!

Balance: Remembering Friends

I don't know about you, but in the winter I hibernate. Just like a big grizzly bear :) Part of my "living my word" for 2009, I realized I do not interact with others, except hockey parents, enough during the winter. Who knows, it might include all other seasons, but right now I'm focusing on the one I'm enjoying (!) right now.

On Monday, I joined Lorraine and Elaine over at Montfort for lunch. It was so nice to see them and catch up. Sadly, Lindy missed the fun as she was not feeling well at all, at all. We hadn't seen each other since a little before Christmas. I miss them every day.

Wednesday lunch was spent with my friend Lynne over at Stoney's. A delicious sandwich place on Kerr Street pictured above. I have a ton of photos of my surroundings and none of Lynne. (Since getting so many "no" responses to my 365 photos of "Faces I See" I am now afraid to ask!) We were hoping for a reunion of a few ladies from our Canadian Computer Vikings but the other three ladies were busy with other things. Lynne is one of my most favourite people and I was very happy to have her all to myself!

I know that part of living a balanced existence requires a lot of effort to do a lot of things. One of those things is to maintain friendships, of a living, breathing, physical entity (as opposed to those on Facebook and on this blog!). It is so much easier on line because I don't have to venture into the cold, but, boy, when I do, I get all warmed up with the pure joy of spending time with such wonderful people who bring such fun, laughter and kindness to my life.

Delightful surprises

I neglected to collect the mail yesterday so headed out this morning and found this:

a delightful surprise from my virtual friend, Heather. Not only is this special because I know she made it herself, but she never goes to the post office. In order to send anything to me, if you don't live in Canada, you have to go to the post office to fill in customs forms. I know this required more than your average effort. The tears in my eyes took me by surprise. Thank you, Heather, you made my day!

My 5 Questions

I really think that, as a meme, this is a BRILLIANT exercise. I'm all for interaction. Sometimes these blogs can talk "at" rather than "with". This is outside that mold.

I am so thrilled that I have six participants - and whether she likes it or not, I'm dragging Sherry along for the ride - so seven! My only criteria I used for formulating questions was that I would only ask those which I'd be willing to answer on my own blog. They are also personalized enough for each woman that I'd like to know the answer!

Michelle:
1. Who or what has been the biggest influence on your life? What is the one great lesson you learned?
2. You are seemingly always surrounded by friends and family - certainly children, when in your life have you felt most alone?
3. How has being a parent changed you? For the good and for the bad!
4. What traditions have been passed down in your family? What new ones have you made?
5. Given your full marriage, what advice do you have for young couples?

Andrea:
1. When did you first find out that you’d be a parent? How did you feel?
2. If you were to give anyone one piece of advice, one lesson that you have learned, what would it be?
3. If you were to change anything about your life, right now, this moment, big or small, which would impose profound change, what would it be?
4. What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you happy that you followed that path/regret that you did not?
5. Do you have a “best friend” and why were they chosen? What qualities do you look for in a close friend/confidante?

Shirley:
1. How did you get into your line of work? Is it what you studied to do? If not, why didn’t you go into the field you studied?
2. You are always so incredibly positive: is there any one thing for which you would like a “do-over”?
3. What is your most favorite theme or subject for your photography? Is there anything you would like to learn to broaden your photography experience?
4. Do you believe in an after-life? If so, what is it like?
5. How did you meet Scott and how did you know he was “the one”?

Sherry:
1. What is your ethnic background? Does it have any influence over the traditions in your household? What is the most important and/or most misunderstood aspect of your ethnicity?
2. What was the most profound spiritual moment in your life?
3. If you were to provide one experience for each of your four children, what would it be? One experience for Marco, your husband? One experience for you?
4. You home school your children. (That way of life is intimidating and frightening to me – I am in no way a teacher.) What were the reasons for you to school at home? What is the best part and what is the worst?
5. If you had a crystal ball, what would it tell you about your future and that of your family?

Benita:
1. You have received an incredible gift: a kidney; what is the greatest gift you have ever given anyone?
2. You run a busy household, what is one or two of your “go to” recipes that makes everyone happy – kids eat, quick to make, easy to clean?
3. How would you like to be remembered? What is your legacy?
4. What is your favourite book and why?
5. What lessons has your work life taught you?

Monica:
1. Your son, Garrett, is the centre of your universe, how do you wish the world would change for him? How do envision his world when he’s your age?
2. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? In 20?
3. There’s a big wide world out there, what place calls to you? Is there somewhere you want to go for two weeks if money, time and childcare were no issue?
4. You are so incredibly talented what, if anything, would you like to do better? (You, my friend, are NOT allowed to give a modest answer!)
5. Growing up did you ever get into trouble? What was the worst thing you ever did? Did you get caught?

Lindsay:
1. Of all the wonderful traits Amelia will inherit, which is the one you want her to receive from you and what one from Chris?
2. What is the first thing you thought about this morning?
3. You stated your favourite guilty pleasures were: “Naps during the middle of the day, Scrapbooking weekends, blogging, photography.” My question: why guilty?
4. Your word for 2009 is “CHANGE”. What is one example of how this word was used in your life in January? If you could change ONE thing about your life now, what would it be?
5. How is your life different from the one you imagined?

I cannot wait to read your responses!

Boys are fun to watch

Caden and his Wolfpack team played in a hockey tournament in Toronto this weekend. Caden was thrilled to have been taken out of school on Friday in order to play their first game - which they, sadly, lost. Today they had two games at two different arenas in fairly short order. We arrived at the first rink for 6:45AM after a 45 minute drive and both games were completed before lunch.

We had a bit of time in between the games so we took ourselves off to Starbuck's where Martin and Helen kindly treated Caden and I to some goodies. Doesn't Starbuck's have the best lemon-poppyseed loaf? It was also good for the boys to drown their sorrows in treats as the first game this morning was a tight one, but our boys were on the losing side of the outcome. But Caden's buddy did get Player of the Game - good job! So, I prefer to look at our trip to Starbuck's as a celebration.

I'm going to say it here, right now, Helen needs a stand-up routine. We can call it: Helen on Hockey. She cracks me up. I'm not sure if it's her observations - or her observations with her British accent. Hysterical. In a good way :)

At any rate, to the point of this post, and the photos above: It always brings me great amusement to watch my kids interact with their friends. The whole body language, comfort and ease in themselves. Especially the boys. They seem to say absolutely nothing, a few grunts and a bit of sport chatter, but get along so well. Fascinating.

In the end, the boys won their last game of the day. A hard fought game where Caden played a version of EXTREME HOCKEY - part hockey, part soccer, part football and was covered in snow by the end of the game! Nothing like giving 110%.

Great Gifts: My scrapbooking buddies

Cyn, Char and I met up at Scrapalicious in Mississauga yesterday to spend the day scrapbooking. I think we did far more laughing and shopping than actual work, but boy was it ever a lot of fun!

Cyn has come up from Georgia to visit friends and family in her home town of Guelph. With everyone clamoring for her time, I'm thrilled that she was able to take the day to spend with Char and me :) Not only that, but she brought me this gorgeous gift for in my scrap room aka the Linar Studio:

And, can I just say how thrilled I am (since I no longer have a Pampered Chef lady - and ran out of time) that Char gave me a replacement for my chopper!

Though I was blessed with great goodies, my great gifts are these two friends. I'm grateful and privileged to have them both in my life.

So, though we traveled in this slop on the way home:

The weather wasn't the worst we've seen this year, but it was very slow. At least everyone was cautious, only a couple of crazies. I think it took Char almost 2 1/2 hours! It was well worth it!

I was lucky to get home in time for Cole's late (8:50PM) hockey game against Caledon. So proud, he scored the only Ranger goal of the game. Not for lack of effort, our boys looked great on the ice, but we ended up with a 1-1 tie.

All in all, a wonderful day!

Christmas Lunch with the Ladies

The ladies and I make every effort to get together on a regular basis but more often than not, there is just way too much time in between lunches. Yesterday, with Lindy organizing, we met up at the Snug Harbour restaurant in Port Credit.

Lots of hugs, laughter, stories, well wishes and a gift exchange. We managed to eat a lovely seafood lunch. The setting is lovely and the ladies enjoyed the view (I have the view daily, so mine was that of the restaurant - being a people-watcher, that was just fine with me!)

Truly love these women. I learn a ton from them. Who knew Lorraine didn't like Oprah? I'm still shocked!

I miss them already and am looking forward to our next lunch.

Gratitude: Day 18

I have a great group of girlfriends. I really need to get a photo of all of them together in one place!

(The figures above is a representation since the program I used has no women with short hair - or glasses. Huh? How is that accurate, eh? So imagine a couple of brunettes and some ladies with shorter hair and glasses!)

My friends are diverse, opinionated, kind, opinionated, funny, genuine and engaging and, oh, opinionated. I met them through the kids schools, sports, after school activities, neighbours, other friends. I am so fortunate to have them in my life. We don't spend nearly enough time with each other. All of our kids are active, all of our husbands are busy, all of us lead fulfilling lives - calendars are full to bursting!

I'm in the middle of trying to figure out how to fit in a lunch here, a dinner there, a coffee somewhere in between! Something more than a quick phone call or chain e-mail!

Today, I'm off to lunch with Donna, who I met in the scrapbook aisle at Michael's a few years ago, and I'm so thrilled to have been able to finally set something up. I'll enjoy every minute of our time and no doubt start to miss her company before we even have to say goodbye.

A quick aside: Over the years I have come to realize that those proverbial "birds of a feather" indeed hang out together. I'm happy for my flock :)

I am not ready

On Saturday night, Claire organized that we were to meet Tyler. Claire has spent plenty of time with Tyler on MSN and refers to him as her "boyfriend". I have been assured by those who know better (you know, the mums who have older kids and more experience than me) that this is not to be confused with my definition of boyfriend - which fills me with a certain amount of relief!

They have both been very respectful and kind to each other. Claire made it clear to us a couple of weeks ago that it is important that we not only like her friend, but like his parents. Good news: we already know and like his parents and Caden is buddies with his little brother who was on his baseball team this past summer.

We treated the Soares men to dinner and then back to the house for pie and hockey. Yes, a typical Saturday night in the Ouellette house! Chloe ran downstairs and snapped a photo of Claire and Tyler.

Even with all of the mature behaviour from the kids, the exchange of phone numbers and e-mails by the parents and the outline of the "rules", I'm not ready.

Really.

Not ready.

At all.

Wow! What a start to the weekend :)

An overflowing box of scrapbooking goodness! I'm an astounded by the kindness and generosity of the incredible woman who sent this surprise to me.

The other day, I left a Twitter Update which read: "It doesn't take a lot to make someone's day - just be kind: thoughtful and generous of spirit. Pretty simple, really." and I do believe that to be true and do live my life, every single day, that way.

The other day there was someone in need and, as is my nature, I stepped in to see if I could help.

Sometimes that is not a smart thing to do. As often as not, my stepping in has been met with some pretty hostile, jealous and petty responses. And, sometimes my stepping in is met with genuine gratitude and thanks. I am relieved that this is the case this time. I truly would have been heartbroken if it had been any other way. So much more fun living in the land of adults :)

I am so exited to start working with so much delicious new stuff! I've never seen some of these products before - on line or in stores. I can't wait to figure out how it's all going to make my pages look better than ever. I'm on a scrapbooking roll lately. Loving this new Cathy Zielse (she so rocks!) course at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The best $99 dollars I have ever spent. Ever. All of the layouts are posted on my new scrapbook blog: thelinarstudio. Leave a comment, let me know if you agree!

This weekend I'm off to the rink and the rink, oh, and the rink. I'm hoping to fit some of this creating in at some point. Wishing you all a fantabulous weekend and I do hope you get to indulge in your great passion as well.

New Thermometer Required

We had such an incredible day yesterday with my friend, Char and her family. Sean, her husband is lovely. I believe he was somewhat hesitant to visit though I believe he went home happy and relieved. Her son, Jonah, was happy to meet his mum's "friend in the computer". I know my kids were thrilled and have already put in requests for younger siblings. I have declined those requests! Louis really enjoyed having a "little guy" around and realized just how much our kids have grown up in just a couple of years.

You can read Char's brilliant entry about the day: here.

My only addition to her fabulous words are:

1. Don't plan friends over when your husband has to be up at 5AM to convene hockey until after noon! Poor guy is absolutely blotto today.
2. If you have a great camera, which I do, use it! I have NO PHOTOS of our day yesterday. I cannot believe it. Grrr.
3. Always have a back up thermometer. Not only did the one I have not work, it broke so the meat was a bit well-done. Ooops.

Mind you, Louis is happy for the sleep deprivation and really enjoyed the company as he was equally as hesitant as Sean! He was burned terribly last year and still uneasy about socializing too much in a more than superficial kind of way.

Char is right, we did venture into a couple of "taboo" areas of conversation. As couples we are polar opposites - well, when it comes to politics, for sure! How fun it is to share opinions, have a discussion, embrace the differences, not necessarily agree and still enjoy the day. After all, how can you have an opinion if you can't see both sides and choose the one you're on?

My kids, who all stayed up too late - a good sign - are already asking when we're going to do it again. I do hope soon.

Hope all my Canadian friends are enjoying their Thanksgiving weekend! We have a lot to be thankful for, indeed.

What a day!

When I invited a few friends to a mid-week lunch to celebrate my middle age, I was expecting to be sitting down with two or three ladies. Five were able to show. Three had to cancel last-minute and some were simply unavailable.

The best part of that is we can always reschedule - who knows, I can have a birthday lunch or dinner to make up for the missed one all year long!

What I wasn't expecting were these gifts:

(The photo is a bit fuzzy, sorry. I'm not sure if it's the camera or the photographer!)

Not only was the packaging and wrapping incredible:



Notice all of the wine bottles. Gotta love friends who know me :)

I also received:

My favourite gummy treat!

Aren't my friends hysterical?

And, a few weeks ago a lovely woman, my virtual friend, Martha (in Colorado) sent me this:

which I haven't been able to find here, and is the "official" gift from my kids! I'm so excited. I haven't even snuck it out of the box to test before actually opening it! Thanks Martha, you're the best!

Actually, you're ALL the best.

Thanks so much for making my day so special :)

Ribfest ... with Caden

Oh my goodness!

SUGAR anyone?

We spent the day with friends at Rib Fest in Burlington. We got there in the early afternoon so as to avoid the lunch and dinner crowds. This is our second visit to this annual happening and something we've been looking forward to all summer. It is less than 10Km down Lakeshore and on a regular day and easy drive. Not today: clearly everyone had the same plan we did to avoid the crowds!

Every time I turned around, Caden had gone on an adventure with one of our kids or our friends' kids and returned with a treat.

Our boy certainly has a sweet tooth!

Good thing Rib Fest is only once a year. We made it home at close to 10PM and he crashed. Big day for our boy. Big day for all of them. It's now 10:45PM and I am the only one still up and about.

Enjoy your holiday tomorrow!

I am spoiled

I was terribly spoiled yesterday. When Char first arrived she handed me a massive, really MASSIVE bouquet of gorgeous flowers! Beautiful? Absolutely jaw dropping. I love having fresh flowers in the house and these are a spectacular addition.

After Cyn and Char visited (with Marcy) last month - was it only last month? - my iPod speakers in my scrapbook studio just did.not.work. Since then I've been using the earbuds (which makes for some interesting moments when my kids come up behind me)! As of yesterday, I have speakers ... that work! Thank you ladies!

Cyn may not have been with us in person, but she certainly was there in spirit. We had taken a trip to Scrapalicious on her last visit and I saw these big jars of the Heidi Swapp florals in pink and red. I asked about white. I LOVE WHITE FLOWERS - on my pages as well as in my garden! Cyn remembered and around lunchtime the UPS man drove up with a box filled with goodies. Those goodies included THREE jars of the white flowers I coveted.

I am overwhelmed.

Thank you. Thank you both, so much.

Definitely a fun day

(Sorry for the blurry photo ... I've done something to the camera! Gasp!)

Blurry or not, I had to let you know the best way to start your week: spend 12+ hours in a scrapbook room with a friend swapping stories, discussing relationships and politics and sharing plenty of laughs!

What a brilliant day. If you ever get the opportunity, you have to promise me you'll meet my friend Char. She offers such a fresh perspective. She is very forthright in her opinions which are informed and thoughtful and refreshingly different and sometimes surprisingly similar to mine. She has certainly offered me much to think about throughout the course of our day ;)

So MANY of you were in our thoughts and conversations. It would have been wonderful to magically transport our good friends right here into the studio to play with us today! The list grew as the day wore on.

I hope you all had as lovely a day, or are planning one in the very near future. It helps to have a husband who will deliver a mystery lunch from Stoney's, a daughter who will attempt tea making and another who will simply not stop talking (sorry Char, again!). The boys dropped in occasionally to check to see if we were still breathing and to give their mama a warm hug and a shy "hello" to Char.

What a brilliant day!

Huge THANKS!

To all of you.

But, especially to Sherry and Amy who found the shoes. I have templates and more pics and everything. My mind is spinning with fun ideas!!

So, if you want the template, just let me know and I'll send it out to you.

Thanks ladies. YOU ROCK!

Paper Shoes: Help!

I'm looking for your assistance.

There are a number of talented papercrafters who read this blog (thank you!), I am hoping one of you may have the pattern for these paper shoes.

I received them last summer as part of a "secret sister" thing at a retreat and gushed over them. I was so thrilled to receive them! I immediately asked for the pattern. My daughter Claire flipped over them when I brought them home as she immediately thought "party" and "invitations". I knew she would be equally interested in making them. Unfortunately no pattern was forthcoming. I asked again in January. I resorted to google and some scrapbook sites but I have found nothing.

Yes, I can tear them apart and make a pattern but I am loathe to do so. It seems kinda disrespectful, know what I mean? After all, I've kept them on a high shelf in my studio to keep them safe from all the curious hands in this house!

So, if any of you brilliant and creative women have a pattern you could send to me, leave a comment and I'll e-mail you my address, if you don't have it already!

Thanks in advance.

What a great day!

(Cyn & Char leaning on rail, Marcy & Lee on couch)

Yesterday was incredible. What a great bunch of kids. They got along famously. My Chloe and Marcy's Noah have been pen pals for about a year and it was such a thrill to set up their first in-person meeting. I was surprised by my boys and their behaviour toward Marcy's 15-month old twin girls ... I woke up this morning to many requests to have a few more babies of our own. (That is so not going to happen!) You would think having eight kids in the house would be overwhelming, but they really did get along well. The babies didn't get much sleep with all the activity going on much to Dan's chagrin.

Marcy and her husband Dan were lovely. Very relaxed and easy going. It was great to see them. Cyn just cracks me up, her energy is so inspiring and kind spirited. Char is a trip and a half: truly, soul mate material owning it and all! Louis was somewhat reluctant about this gathering (and really, who could blame him?) but in the end he really enjoyed himself.

My scraproom is freezing but warms up with good friends! Though Marcy had to leave early (8:30PM!) to head back to the U.S., Cyn and Char didn't get home until the wee hours after much laughing and swapping stories. Not much scrapping got done, but I was able to unload some stuff I'm not using!

I'm so looking forward to our next meeting ... hmm, maybe a trip to Skyline is in order. What do you think, road trip?

Counting the minutes ...

The Moe is almost going out of her skin in anticipation of our guests today! This event has been in the works for months and it is finally the day. I do hope it is all she has been looking forward to.

I've done my part - all of the barbeque ingredients are waiting (and marinating) in the fridge, plenty of treats are in the freezer, watermelon will be cut up, sprinkler is set up, games organized, a field trip to Frozen Ropes (and the scrapbook store) planned.

This has become a whole family event with Daddy staying home from work and Claire ready to be babysitting assistant. No doubt Cole can be called upon to organize a few games of street hockey and manhunt. Caden, well, he'll just do what he needs to do, and have fun the whole time.