Happy Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend, ours was a blast!  As usual it was a jam packed weekend full of sun, rugby, family and homework.  I coached a highschool girls rugby team in a tournament this weekend, and honestly I couldn't be more proud of the girls after what I saw this weekend.  We didn't win one game, but that didn't matter one bit, my girls went out there and played their hearts out and enjoyed every second!   In the end we won the sportsmanship award, and the girls deserved it!  Seriously, they inspire me to be a better coach, and really, a better person.  Never have I met such a fantastic group of kind-hearted and determined individuals and I am so lucky to be able to coach them!

We spent most of Sunday with my mom, my sister, her boyfriend, Anique and three dogs.  It was nice to spend time with family, we all  (almost, my brother had to work) went for a walk to the park on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  Three dogs, a kid, and a play structure make for a pretty rambunctious afternoon, so I wound it all down with some 'on my own' shopping.  To be honest its been ages and ages since I've been able to go shopping alone, and it was really nice, surprisingly nice.

I am really amazed that yesterday was already my second mother's day and I can't believe how much Anique has changed in that short amount of time.  She astounds me with her expressions and how she can communicate so much with so little. I could spend all day just watching her roll her eyes at me; or smiling and laughing with the biggest grins ever; or yelling 'PUPPY' and taking off to try and grab a handful of Brunswick.  There are days and nights that are tough, temper tantrums and thrown soothers abound, but the smiles and giggles nullify all of those tough times.  Some days I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed being a mom, I never saw myself as super maternal (though maybe my nickname of "mom" in highschool should have been a clue) but I truly have enjoyed almost every second with Anique.  Being a mom is a part of me. I still play rugby, I am finishing school, I still gawk over architecture magazines and books, I paint and draw, and I'm a mom.  But, being a mom isn't all that I am, and I am totally okay with that.  I want to teach Anique balance in all parts of life, something that has taken me a lot of years to learn and something that I am still learning.

Keep smiling Anique, I'll always be there to smile back.  I love you.

Pictures of the Week

We had some beautiful weather this week, and so we took some time out of our days to wander around the city and go on a playdate.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a fantastic Mother's Day if you celebrate it!

The Never Ending Project

Sometimes there are days where I don't listen to my own advice and sometimes it works out great, and other times it results in that one project that just won't end.

A year ago I fell in love with a chair, I spent more than I had intended and I brought it home.  I loved it, but it was in bad shape, really bad shape.

The legs were broken, it was stained badly, it creaked, it wiggled and it had screws in all the wrong places.  But I loved it.  So I told myself I was going to fix it, I was going to paint it, I was going to make it all better.  That was a year ago.

And so I've been slowly plodding along with this chair, working at it from time to time, and I am finally getting close to getting to the point of painting and upholstering it.

I can work with wood, I can make new furniture, I can build architecture models, I can make stuff.  But, I have never worked with old, beaten up wood.  Thankfully my father in law is a wood carver and has an amazing knowledge of wood and how to fix it.  So he has been instrumental in helping me along thus far, and always has great suggestions for what products and techniques to use to fix everything on this chair.

So far I tried to strip off the bad stain, but the wood is in such bad shape that it isn't worth trying to salvage.  I did strip the stain off the metal patch, which I love and am going to keep for sure!  I've also used a wood epoxy to fix up some of the decor that came off.

Slowly but surely it's coming along, now I need to pick some fabric, I was looking at patterns originally but I'm thinking maybe a really bright solid would be nice.  Still haven't fully decided, I need to go shopping I think.

Sorry for the crickets

It has been a bit quiet on the blog lately, unfortunately last week was a bit rough as I ended up with an awful head cold and sinus infection.  I'm not sure what it is, but the second I get sick I just can't even think about be coherent.

So, most of my week was spent lying on my couch, moaning for more soup and tea while knitting and watching 'Being Human' on Netflix.

This last weekend was spent on the rugby pitch, both playing and coaching.  It was a good weekend, though with lots of rain and a tad bit cold.

As the weekend ended I was left feeling a bit sad, and couldn't quite figure out why until I really sat down and spent some time thinking about it all.  There has been a lot of negativity in my life lately, and this blog is really my place of sunshine and happiness, its hard to write happy things when negative stuff is bringing you down.

Last week I was dealing with a rough client, one that tends to deal with things in quite a brisk and negative manner and it just kind of left me dreading the idea of work.  Add in some really negative coaching stuff, a couple bullies, plus some bad weather, and you pretty much have a recipe for sad.  For the most part I try to let that kind of stuff slide off of me, turn the other cheek and all that, but sometimes I let my inner mean girl out and it isn't very nice.  I hate walking away from an experience thinking, "wow, I didn't deal well with that at all."

I know better, I know how negativity breeds more negativity, how it just sucks the life out of you. I've seen it. I've lived it.  I'm tired of it.  I need to remind myself sometimes that compassion and sensitivity breed the same, and I'm pretty sure its a lifelong lesson that I'm constantly going to be relearning.

I don't want to walk away from my life thinking about the negative,  I have some fantastic shit going on around me.  I'm 27 years old (almost, anyway), I have an amazing husband, wonderful little girl, my own company, and some pretty fantastic friends and family.  I have my health, I can run, play rugby, knit, paint.  I can do all the things I love, and that's pretty damn incredible.

I don't have to let negativity ruin my day, or my life.  Compassion and joy breed the same, I need to remind myself of that, to pass those gifts along to others.

I need to smile more, love more and give more.

Superheros really do have it right I think,  you can use your powers for good or evil, that's really up to you.  But if you use your powers for evil you can't expect to get good things in return.

Unless your Dr. Horrible, in which case bad things happening to you actually helps further your horribleness, but that's a really finite case I think.

I'm going to leave you with some of my favourite faces, because honestly, 99.9% of the time they make me happy.