Do you have a 5 year plan?
That's my big question these days. What is my 5 year plan. What is our family 5 year plan?
It's quite possible and probable that in 5 years my oldest son will be serving a mission for our church in 5 years. 5 years. That's it. We have 5 years left as an intact family before the big kids start making plans and decisions for life that extends beyond the walls of this house.
5 years. What is my 5 year plan.? Where do I want to be in 5 years.
What do I want my family to look like in 5 years?
What do I want to accomplish in 5 years?
Where do I see myself in 5 years.
5 years isn't all that long.....
Those are the questions we are asking ourselves right now. We want to set really concrete goals and work towards them....easier said than done.
I'm going to determine what I envy in the lives of those around me....if what I envy is good (ie. phsyically active children.....or family travel experiences) then it ends up on the 'possibilities' list...and we'll go from there. If what I envy is material (ie. a boat....or a house on the ocean....) then perhaps it'll end up in the "not really practical" list.
5 years. We are going to make a fluid 5 year plan.
Where exactly do I want to be in 5 years?\
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
SAH in Suburbia
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Kindergarten orientation - already! Sigh.......
Blogging on the ipad is sucky. Pictures are too big.
I'll have to fix them when I get to the laptop. Ugh
First world problems, right?
Friday, April 25, 2014
A bit from 2008.....
A repost from 2008......
Victoria Day weekend is fast approaching. Happy Birthday to Queen Victoria and the reigning British Monarch. It's a Canadian stat holiday. You should read up on it - lots of stuff I didn't know. This weekend brings back particular memories...some that I like and some, not so friendly.
Back in grade 13, my final year of high school, I was dating a cute boy and we were getting along well. We were both Christians (of different faiths but that's a whole other story), held the same values regarding premarital sex, weren't in to drinking, came from good families. Yup, we got along really well. But, each Victoria Day weekend this boy went away to a church youth conference. I have nothing against such conferences. In fact, I LOVE these conferences but why do they have to happen on a long weekend when generally the weather is really great and there are fireworks down town.
Bugger. I was always left to find my own entertainment. This boy and I usually had a car when we went out together. I DID NOT like to be dependent on others for transportation because then I could come and go when I pleased and I never found myself in an uncomfortable situation because I could always go home. It was an effective strategy.
This one Victoria Day weekend, I must have been 18 and my boyfriend was away at the said conference. We were going downtown on the Sunday night to see the fireworks. (I have now realized that we are probably the only place in the country that still has any kind of big celebration for the ole Victoria's birthday). A girlfriend picked me up and I saw no harm in going to sit on the grass to watch a spectacular light show. We ended up down on the Byward market at a friend's sister's house and we congregated until discovering that the fireworks were canceled due to rain. I thought we were going home but the general consensus was to go bar-hopping (clubbing) in Hull across the border in Quebec which is a jaunt of 10 minutes.
Not my thing. No car. You see the dilemma.
I casually mentioned that I'd just call my dad to come and pick me up because I wasn't really interested in going. Silence. Shoe dropping silence.
I tried to make it a 'no big deal' because it wouldn't have been. My dad would have come in an instant to pick me up even though it was a full half hours drive. Darn that boyfriend for going to that conference and leaving me alone to fend for myself...ha ha.
The group hummed and hawed and couldn't decide what to do and I just told them all to g'wan ahead and I'd just give my dad a jingle....see how casual I was about it all?
More humming and hawing and major discomfort. I think that the rest of the group didn't want to look like heels for clubbing in Hull because my dad would have known. I think my best friend didn't really want my dad to come because then perhaps her parents would have found out...man, was I causing trouble when I wasn't intending to but all I knew was that I wasn't going. Not then. Not ever. Call me a prude. I wasn't going.
More humming and hawing. Finally, a friend and my best friend decided to just hang out down town with me at the parliament buildings while the rest went clubbing for a few hours....just so my dad wouldn't have to come and get me. All because I didn't happen to drive that night.
The pressure was tremendous. I still wasn't going. Just not my thing - especially on a Sunday night. That was 17 years ago. I remember the silence - so thick, you could cut it!
Eventually, that memory was replaced by a sweeter one. My husband is from the west and I am from the east....I came out west while we were dating and my trip happened to cover Victoria Day weekend.
Yawn. My husband (then, boyfriend) and I went downtown Vancouver and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why there weren't any celebrations. We had a nice relaxing evening strolling the Vancouver streets. I guess fireworks only happens in Ottawa where the government is more free with tax payers' moolah!!
So, as this gorgeous Victoria Day weekend approaches, memory is a powerful thing.
Victoria Day weekend is fast approaching. Happy Birthday to Queen Victoria and the reigning British Monarch. It's a Canadian stat holiday. You should read up on it - lots of stuff I didn't know. This weekend brings back particular memories...some that I like and some, not so friendly.
Back in grade 13, my final year of high school, I was dating a cute boy and we were getting along well. We were both Christians (of different faiths but that's a whole other story), held the same values regarding premarital sex, weren't in to drinking, came from good families. Yup, we got along really well. But, each Victoria Day weekend this boy went away to a church youth conference. I have nothing against such conferences. In fact, I LOVE these conferences but why do they have to happen on a long weekend when generally the weather is really great and there are fireworks down town.
Bugger. I was always left to find my own entertainment. This boy and I usually had a car when we went out together. I DID NOT like to be dependent on others for transportation because then I could come and go when I pleased and I never found myself in an uncomfortable situation because I could always go home. It was an effective strategy.
This one Victoria Day weekend, I must have been 18 and my boyfriend was away at the said conference. We were going downtown on the Sunday night to see the fireworks. (I have now realized that we are probably the only place in the country that still has any kind of big celebration for the ole Victoria's birthday). A girlfriend picked me up and I saw no harm in going to sit on the grass to watch a spectacular light show. We ended up down on the Byward market at a friend's sister's house and we congregated until discovering that the fireworks were canceled due to rain. I thought we were going home but the general consensus was to go bar-hopping (clubbing) in Hull across the border in Quebec which is a jaunt of 10 minutes.
Not my thing. No car. You see the dilemma.
I casually mentioned that I'd just call my dad to come and pick me up because I wasn't really interested in going. Silence. Shoe dropping silence.
I tried to make it a 'no big deal' because it wouldn't have been. My dad would have come in an instant to pick me up even though it was a full half hours drive. Darn that boyfriend for going to that conference and leaving me alone to fend for myself...ha ha.
The group hummed and hawed and couldn't decide what to do and I just told them all to g'wan ahead and I'd just give my dad a jingle....see how casual I was about it all?
More humming and hawing and major discomfort. I think that the rest of the group didn't want to look like heels for clubbing in Hull because my dad would have known. I think my best friend didn't really want my dad to come because then perhaps her parents would have found out...man, was I causing trouble when I wasn't intending to but all I knew was that I wasn't going. Not then. Not ever. Call me a prude. I wasn't going.
More humming and hawing. Finally, a friend and my best friend decided to just hang out down town with me at the parliament buildings while the rest went clubbing for a few hours....just so my dad wouldn't have to come and get me. All because I didn't happen to drive that night.
The pressure was tremendous. I still wasn't going. Just not my thing - especially on a Sunday night. That was 17 years ago. I remember the silence - so thick, you could cut it!
Eventually, that memory was replaced by a sweeter one. My husband is from the west and I am from the east....I came out west while we were dating and my trip happened to cover Victoria Day weekend.
Yawn. My husband (then, boyfriend) and I went downtown Vancouver and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why there weren't any celebrations. We had a nice relaxing evening strolling the Vancouver streets. I guess fireworks only happens in Ottawa where the government is more free with tax payers' moolah!!
So, as this gorgeous Victoria Day weekend approaches, memory is a powerful thing.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
My little book worm.
Our latest birthday/anniversary purchase. We pooled all our moolah and got it on sale (the kayak, not the kid!) Man, our deck need some spring cleaning....can't wait for a stretch of hot weather and a free Saturday, ya right!!
SAH
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Happy birthday baby girl!
The easiest yummiest cake ever. Staked ice cream sandwiches...layered and iced with cool whip.
9 years old already!!!
The most beautiful time of year.
SAH in Suburbia
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Date night!
A date night - few and far between. We went to see "The Drowsy Chaperon" and it was AMAZING!!!
Thanks Granny for babysitting!
SAH
Monday, March 24, 2014
I miss you......
Dear Opoe,
On this day, 8 years ago, you died. I wasn't there with you. I didn't really get to say good-bye except for a brief phone conversation a few days earlier. It all happened so fast that I really didn't have time to process your departure.
Eight years later, I still struggle with the fact that you are gone. I think it's because I don't live in the same city as you did. Each time I visit 'home' and I go to your house, I wonder why you aren't there and the wound is fresh. Those living at 'home' have had 8 years to wrap their minds around the fact that you are gone. I have been 'home' only 8 times since your death so it feels like I've only had a such a brief period of time to fully understand and grieve your death.
You would love my children....they are happy, energetic Dutch souls that eat meatball soup. I have taught them all about you and our Dutch heritage. I think of you every time we go to a Holland Shop or I get to enjoy a Dutch treat. I appreciate the sacrifices that you made for your family and in turn, my family.
I miss you. I miss your laugh. I miss your voice. I miss your instruction. I miss your presence at family functions. I have a new charm on my bracelet - mittens - that will forever remind me of your kind heart and your endless hours of knitting mitts for the children of inner-city Niagara Falls who were coming to school with cold hands.
I wish I could visit you - just for a day. Have some meatballs and boiled potatoes....chat for a while and just remember what it feels like to be near you.
I love you Opoe. I feel you died before your time.
Please watch over us from heaven.
Your granddaughter.
On this day, 8 years ago, you died. I wasn't there with you. I didn't really get to say good-bye except for a brief phone conversation a few days earlier. It all happened so fast that I really didn't have time to process your departure.
Eight years later, I still struggle with the fact that you are gone. I think it's because I don't live in the same city as you did. Each time I visit 'home' and I go to your house, I wonder why you aren't there and the wound is fresh. Those living at 'home' have had 8 years to wrap their minds around the fact that you are gone. I have been 'home' only 8 times since your death so it feels like I've only had a such a brief period of time to fully understand and grieve your death.
You would love my children....they are happy, energetic Dutch souls that eat meatball soup. I have taught them all about you and our Dutch heritage. I think of you every time we go to a Holland Shop or I get to enjoy a Dutch treat. I appreciate the sacrifices that you made for your family and in turn, my family.
I miss you. I miss your laugh. I miss your voice. I miss your instruction. I miss your presence at family functions. I have a new charm on my bracelet - mittens - that will forever remind me of your kind heart and your endless hours of knitting mitts for the children of inner-city Niagara Falls who were coming to school with cold hands.
I wish I could visit you - just for a day. Have some meatballs and boiled potatoes....chat for a while and just remember what it feels like to be near you.
I love you Opoe. I feel you died before your time.
Please watch over us from heaven.
Your granddaughter.
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