Check this Out

This poor guy slammed into one of our front windows on Friday afternoon. And by slammed I mean SLAMMED. It was so loud that it sounded like a boulder being thrown at the window. Look at his talons. Fierce!

Alas, it wasn't. It was this Broad Winged Hawk.

Paul went out to check him out. We thought he would die. He didn't. It took a few hours but he was eventually well enough to fly away. Check out his poor beak. Looks like it got broken on impact. Hopefully he can still rip apart his prey. Lovely thought.

News Break

We interrupt this blog with a Yoga News Update:

Today I was able to go into Upward Bow. (Urdhva Dhanurasana) for the first time since my surgery last September. Woo Hoo!

On another note, Paul practiced my 75 minute Yoga Conditioning for Life class with me this morning. And he completed it all. And he did pretty well at it too. And sweat dripped off of him onto the mat.

Two things to say about that: Yuk! and I am glad that he bought his own mat and didn't use mine.

Early Winter

Snow fell again last night and into this morning. Not a lot, but enough to make the highways slippery and to make one little girl happy!




This may be the earliest time of year she has donned her snow suit and played outside in the snow. Prior to this she had been playing with her blocks. When I went to get the camera to snap a few pictures of her, I encountered this scene.

Her Duplo people peeking out through the patio door, watching her play. Too cute. The weather is supposed to warm up significantly this weekend. Enough to melt the snow and finally give us some sweater weather. This is great news! We can finally give the windows a wash before winter really sets it.

Yoga Update:
Paul has started practicing Yoga with me. I know, I can't believe it either. I have been pestering, or shall I say, suggesting, that he do it for years now. Being a man he said "Only if we do nude yoga." Of course that didn't happen. So now that he has ulterior motives and a definite goal in mind, he is finally on the mat.

We started out with simple stretching asanas and now he has graduated to Rodney Yee's Yoga Core Cross Train. We did it together the other morning. Note: I do not particularly enjoy boat pose. He is coming along nicely but his hamstrings are so tight. Really really tight. But as Sri Pattabhi Jois has so wisely said, "Practice and All Is Coming." Yes indeed.

My practice is coming along nicely too. Feeling stronger. Revolved Triangle is still a struggle these days and I haven't attempted Upward Bow since resuming my practice. But I will soon. Practice and all is coming.
Namaste.

Giving Thanks

Canadian Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday and I get to celebrate it twice this year.

We drove down to Regina on Sunday and stayed with Paul's sister Mona. Almost the entire family was there. It was so nice to see everyone and catch up. Paul has three brothers and one sister and the boys ain't so good at keeping each other up to date on their lives. After dinner was over they busted out the PS2 and we took turns singing Karaoke. What fun. Great for laughs. I couldn't help but take a picture of all of the teenager shoes in the front entrance. It made me smile.

My three girls, and my little girl will be celebrating another Thanksgiving on the 24th. It was the soonest date that we could all get together. When you have adult children who live in different cities it becomes more of a struggle to get together but then too, more of a joy.

But anyway, a few things I am thankful for this year, in no particular order are:

My husband. Great guy. He drives me nuts at times but I love him still.

My baby Athena. Growing by the day. Seeming more grown up by the week.

My daughter Jen, son (in law) Jordan and my granddaughters Abby and Josie. Love them all. Abby and Josie love their Papa like mad. LIKE MAD I tell you. Not as fond of me. That's life.

My daughter Jess. Don't see her much. She's very busy. The calls on the phone are basically what we have and I look forward to them.

My daughter Jill and my granddaughter Eden. Jill too is busy. More so than normal. And Eden. Ah, Eden. A little handful that one but she's so unique.

Living in Canada, the greatest country there is. Health Care. Safety. Freedom. Beauty.

A steady income and the ability to stay home and do what I do.

My extended family and Paul's too. As I was looking around on Thanksgiving, I recalled how we were when we were all teenagers. Time has truly flown by.

The Tudors. The only TV show I watch.

That manufacturers are printing labels on kids clothes so I don't have to cut tags off of everything. (I do not like tags)

And I am thankful for the women in the blog world who continue to inspire in so many way.

Happy Days!

11 Days In

Things I have learned 11 days into the school year.

* I can get a lot done in the morning before we have to leave at 8:35

*The walk to school from our front door to her door is 450 steps. Exactly.

*Athena does not eat that well on school days. Partly because she is given only 15 minutes to get her lunch, unpack it, eat it, clean up and go outside. Not enough. Not for this girl.

*She is poky. Last to come out of her classroom. When she does come out she has her school shoes still on. (Send her back in) Where is your backpack? (Send her back in) Did you remember your mitts? (Again, send her back in)

*When we are out of the school and I am sure she has all of her things, she RUNS. Runs across the school yard, through the breezeway, down the street and around the corner until she is home.

*She is getting into the routine of washing well with soap and water as soon as she gets home.

*Although she has school full days (every other day) she has only used the school bathroom once.

*On school days she is over active when she gets home. Too much having to sit and listen for a girl with her kind of energy.

*She sleeps well. Very well. 11 hours most days. Then she'll do a 12 hour once a week.

*She is learning a lot of not so good stuff at school. I am teaching her to differentiate between the good stuff and the bad. (the stuff she is learning that is not so good is from other kids)

*They sing Oh Canada every morning. Great! I am a die hard patriot. They also say The Lord's Prayer. In public school. Not sure what I think about that.

*She misses me a lot and I miss her too.

* I still hate leaving her there. I still think about homeschooling. Almost every day. Almost.