Then & Now #1

Holly Then:


Holly Now:

Obligatory News Years' Resolutions Post

I'm throwing myself headlong into some resolutions this year. Some are old favourites (lose 20 pounds), and some are new. I'm sure that I'm doomed to fail, but I'm going to give it the old college try anyway. So here they are in no particular order:

Resolution #1. Lose 20 pounds.

Yes, this one has been on my to do list for about 20 years now. In fact I really need to lose 50 pounds, but 20 pounds would be a good start. How do I plan to achieve this Herculean task? Well, besides cutting down on chocolate and bread a bit, my diet doesn't need to be changed all that much. My main plan is to exercise more. Which leads into resolution No 2...

Resolution #2. Get back to ballet class.

You wouldn't think it by my rather rubenesque physique, but I am an avid balletomane. I was big on ballet in my mid-teens. I started too late to be a professional dancer (the boobs didn't help either) but I was pretty dedicated anyway. By the time I was 20 I'd had enough injuries that ballet became less regular exercise for me, and I would only drift back to it occasionally. Then four years ago I broke my foot and it healed all wrong, and now my right fifth metatarsal is too short. This means dancing of any kind is very difficult and very painful. But dancing, and ballet in particular, is the only exercise that both my body and mind enjoys, and I miss it greatly. So along with painkillers, and and some orthotics, I plan to get fit for ballet in Barre Fitness class and take beginner ballet classes at the community centre. This leads into resolution #3...

Resolution #3. Do more creative things.

Life as a mum has seriously curtailed "me time" and of course this means creative stuff has gone by the wayside. Who can paint a picture when the dishes need doing, your daughter is clawing at you to play with her and you still have a million hours to make up on your paid research work? Still, this year I will make more time for me. To paint pictures, to play my cello and to get to ballet class.

Resolution #4. Baby # 2: To be or not to be?

So many of my friends have had, or are having, a second child, and everyone keeps asking Jaime and I whether or not we will have a second. We would like to but have so many reservations, money being one huge obstacle. But I'm determined that if we are having another, it will be next year, so by next December I should either be pregnant or have sold off all of Holly's baby cloths and gear. Of course being pregnant makes resolution #1 null and void.

Wish me luck!!!

Comments and cajoles are most welcome

Holly has figured out the new Hipstamatic App

What does a Christmas tree need? A Dinosaur riding a reindeer!

and of course, blocks...

All Christmas Trees need Dinosaurs riding Reindeers from Jaime & Shannon on Vimeo.

Holly's Spoken Word Art

"I got Dinosaurs On

I got Pants On

Toys

Stars"

"It's a Starfish

Hello Starfish

What are you doing?

I'm doing Oh Canada"

One Week To Go

So with a week to go before Christmas let's see how I've done so far...

• 30% of Christmas cards sent out
• 70% of presents bought. Alas, several of them were bought online and now I get to play the "will it make it in the post before Christmas" game.
• The tree is up!
• This year Mum and I will be making perogies* for the first time. We're hoping we've figured out the recipe from watching Nanna adding a "dollop of this" and a "pinch of that". Family recipes are very hard to write down.
• I've actually managed to get quite a few hours of work in this month, so hopefully I can actually do some relaxing and have some"off" time during Christmas.

*Polish potato and cheese dumplings

Sad

I'm trying to get my Christmas cards in the post in time for them to make it by Christmas, and I am sure I'm already too late. But today, for the first time, I am addressing an envelope to just my Nanna and not my Grandpa. Even though he passed away a few months ago, it was this act that really made it hit home me that he is really gone. How I feel can only be a mere hint of how my Nanna must feel this Christmas. To lose your partner of 65 years must leave a hole that nothing can fill.

It is times like this that the distance between continents seems greater than ever.