Can I just say...

That my kid kicked total butt yesterday at his Taekwondo testing!! Oh ya. He is the proud owner of a new red belt. He did great. He got through all his forms - both upper and lower rank. He did his self defence. He did sparring. And then he did his board breaks - both of them! I cried. Seriously. I was sooo relieved for him. He has worked really hard for this. So after his points come in sometime this week (he had to score 270/280 to pass), he will get his new red belt. Wow. Now begins a new chapter for him - harder form and harder board breaks, including a scary palm hand break and a funky jump side kick thing... I don't know if I can survive this. It is all too much for me!! hee hee

I am off to bake cookies.

Ciao all.

Sorry my friends

I am sorry if you have been trying to post a comment to me and my blog would not accept it. It seems that a setting was changed - strange... But now I think I have fixed it. Comment away - if you want. And thanks to Mona who pointed this out to me! I was beginning to think that I had bored you all to tears and you were tired of me... hee hee

Ciao

What I have been up to

So it has been all about design, again, at my house lately.

I have had this old bench in my garage for years. Literally. Before that it used to sit out in my garden at my old house. Then I think it used to sit under my deck at my house before that... Anyways, my front porch at my current house is huge and it needed something. I saw the bench just sitting in the garage and thought it would make a good mail bench. So voila. I painted it and stained it and distressed it, and now here it is. It has some decorative pillows on it and a barn star and the basket for my papers. Just what my porch needed.

Then I moved on to my bedroom. Never ending... I saw this new quilt set for sale at Linens N' Things and bought it. It is a gorgeous slate blue and cream and chocolate brown. Looks just fabulous in my room. And it came with two decorative toss pillows and two shams and two Euro shams. I must have at least a dozen pillows on my bed now. It is a bit obssessive. But then again, that is me.

Have a good week all. We have Red belt testing and plays and auctions this week. Busy, busy, busy.

Ciao

Zen Principles

No one has ever said that I lead a "Zen" lifestyle. Far from it! I am totally high strung all the time. I never sit still. My mind works a million miles a minute. BUT I do do something zen that I had no that I did. Here it is: whatever I do, I DO IT COMPLETELY. I put my mind on that one task that I am doing. I don't move on until I am finished. And if, for some reason, I have no choice but to move on to something else, I put away the unfinished task and clean up. And leave it for another time.

Zen example: If you prepare a sandwich, don’t start eating it until you’ve put away the stuff you used to prepare it, wiped down the counter, and washed the dishes used for preparation. Then you’re done with that task, and can focus more completely on the next task.

I soooo do this! I am always the last one to sit down at meal time because I have a need to clean up the mess made to make the meal before I can eat. This way, I can eat and not rush and know that I don't have a huge mess to clean up. Love it!

So today I challenge you my friends to DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY.

Ciao all.

ME at 37...

If I don't say it outloud, then it is not true... 37 years old. Where has the time gone?? I can't believe that I am almost done my 30's and my 40's are coming up!! Ahhh!! That is just not right... Seriously. I remember my mom at my age... But what has really changed between me at 27 and now 37. Let's see:

AT 27:
* I had only been married for 4 years
* I lived in a two bedroom condo in Whalley - not a great area of town (although we never had any problems)
* I drove a VW golf - diesel
* I did not have any children and did not want children yet
* I had just spent 6 weeks in Italy and was wondering why I had come back to Canada - I seriously wanted to run away and live in Italy and was trying to pursuade Marc that it was a good idea
* I was working full time for a firm downtown that was awful and was never home and that pretty much ran my life

AT 37:
* I have owned three houses and had the priviledge of building 2 of them from scratch
* I gave birth to 2 gorgeous children who are the lights of my life
* I drive a brand new VW Jetta with all the bells and whistles
* I put all my time and money into my house and don't travel much anymore - not a priority
* I work only 3 days a week for a tiny firm that is very understanding and the other 2 days I have "off" I spend time with my sweet Bella and we do "stuff"
* I have been married for 14 years to my best friend and I love him more today than I did 10 years ago
* I am a Taekwondo mom and a Ballet mom (never thougth that would happen!!)
* I scrapbook (again - never saw that one coming!!)
* I lecture and teach classes
* I am a leader at Church and at the children's schools
* I am blessed beyond measure with health and wealth and a wonderful life

Can't complain! Well, I can, but shouldn't!!

What hasn't changed?

* I still listen to my music VERY loud, all the time - my mom could hear me coming down the street last week when I went to pick up Bella...
* I sing all the time to the tunes on the radio - as long as it is not Country, Christian, sappy ballads/love songs, thraser metal, or rap - not for me
* If I am singing a song, you cannot talk to me
* I still love Depeche Mode and U2 and the Beastie Boys - and I mean LOVE
* I can still shop you under the table
* I am still a shoe snob
* I am still a hand bag snob
* I am still an education snob
* I am still loud
* I am still opinionated
* I still see the world in black and white - there is right and wrong in everything

Happy Birthday to me!
Hee hee

Ciao all

Creative Energy

I had some this weekend. It was quite shocking. I managed to do all 3 layouts on Sunday while listening to Conference. Funny what you can accomplish when you know you have the next 2-4 hours to just sit and listen and not run around the house and distract yourself with other things.

So I am all caught up again. Hmmm... What to do?? I may venture into scrapping some photos of Marc and myself! Shocking! I know!! My birthday is on Saturday and so I thought I would get Marc to take a pic of me and then I will scrap it for the children's books. Kind of a "what is going on in my life" page for the kids so when they are my age (GASP!!!) they can look back and see what I was thinking/feeling/doing. This getting old thing is a hard pill to swallow...

Ciao all.

My Saturday

Consisted of ballet lessons, our second year, and re-organizing our master closet. I would say very successful all around.

Oh, and if you are wondering what the pile of clothing is all about - that did NOT make it back into our closet. That became two huge garbage bags that went to the Salvation Army. I am a huge believer in purging and organizing on a constant basis. And even if you think that you don't have anything that can be recycled, you are wrong. If I have clothing to go to recycling, you sure do!! My motto: if something comes in, something must go out. That is how I keep my closet looking so great, and so organized and clean! But I did learn something new about myself while re-organizing - I only own three colours - black, grey and brown/tan. That is about it. And you think that now that I have seen this, I will be more conscious about diversifying my wardrobe. Ummm, no. I guarantee you that if I went out tomorrow, I would buy another pair of pants in black or grey; I would gravitate to skirts that are black or grey; I would pick up black sweaters or a blouse; and I do need more black t-shirts... Sad. I know. I blame it on my genes! I think there is nothing more elegant than a woman dressed in black with some gorgeous sun glasses on, and that handbag by her side... hee hee

Ciao all.

Just Because...

I was on Etsy and came across this chair for sale. I totally *heart* it! It is being sold in LA. Hmmm, I am a bit too far away to have it shipped... Sigh. Now, this totally does not go with anything that is in my house. My hubby even asked if I was smoking something - this is so out of left field for me. But I have come to realize that true design is personal. This would be a fabulous piece in my formal living room. It would just be that one WOW item. Every house needs a WOW item. It is what makes your home distinctive. So I want y'all to know that IF I could pick up this chair, I would, in a heart beat. So today go out and find something that you would never have thought would fit into your style and show me!

We are off to ballet now.

Ciao all.

From Easter

Some pics from our annual hunt. The kids just crack me up! Love them!!

Ciao

In the mood...

To cook - that is! Marc has started a new health routine and I am really REALLY proud of him! He is up every morning an hour early and exercising and watching what he eats. So now I am inspired to make more interesting meals for us. So tonight we are having Chicken Fajita Tostadas. Yummy! I love these high flavour, very low carb meals. The recipe calls for corn tortillas, 6 inch. I will use whole wheat tortillas in place of the corn ones and that will really cut down on the carbs. The rest is onions and peppers and corn and fresh salsa and chicken! I will let y'all know how it turns out.

Not much else going on. Well, not what I consider much anyways. I have a quilting project I am doing tonight after dinner at church. We have been asked to make quilts for the Salvation Army. They are building a transition house in the Langley area and these quitls will be for the people who go through. I have never quilted before, so this is a learning experience for me. We gather the first Wed of each month and quilt. Kind of cool.

Ethan has finished building his Kub Kar and the Rally is next week. He built a rocket car. It is awesome. Now Marc has to figure out how to insert weights in the body of the car. It is all about speed... Boys will be boys.

Bella begins ballet this Saturday, again. This is our second year of ballet. It is great. She loves it. It provides me with awesome opportunities to take pics. It is all good!

And finally, Ethan has the opportunity to test again for his red belt in just a few weeks. We are working really hard on board breaking - especially front kick board breaking. That is what held him back last testing cycle.

I am off to vaccum and do some shopping. Ciao all.