Life In The Kingdom Starts Now

This weekend has me filled with a renewed excitement about my faith, my church, my life and my ability to relax in the middle of the craziness. Tomorrow marks the launch of a ten week series on Life In the Kingdom that will include Sunday sermons, a book study and weekly small groups. I'm hopeful this shift of focus will help put my faith right back in the centre of my life where it belongs and that I'll gain valuable insight and inspiration to live it out every day no matter what my environment or circumstance.

Today is a day of preparation for the upcoming 10 weeks. It's a day of prayer and fasting and I also have the privilege of being a part of the worship team that will be leading our congregation tomorrow, so today we get to rehearse, which is just a big bonus for me. This morning's biggest challenge was getting up and not pounding a giant mug of coffee with cream and sugar - probably my biggest vise. Instead I've opted to get through the day drinking herbal tea. I was surprised how relaxed I was about it... I'm usually just mean when I don't have my coffee, but I guess God's in the house ;)

It seems the last few months have seen me get busier and busier as I delve into some areas of exploration in my life. It's good to take a step back and spend some time focused on what really matters. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Sweet Serenity

Big-man has taken mini-man on his first guys weekend. They've gone with a friend of ours and his two boys camping at Cultus Lake. Big-man is much braver than I; the thought of taking a not-quite-two-an-a-half year old camping for 3 nights scares the you-know-what out of me. It sounds like WAY more work than I'm interested in taking on, but then I've always been a little on the selfish side.

While they're off galavanting around the lake, the woods and the water slides, I get a weekend to relax and recharge my mommy batteries.

Today is Friday evening and I have enjoyed sitting to watch the evening news while eating take-out sushi (the sushi isn't unusual, but the news is - big-man can't stand watching anything to do with what's going on outside our apartment... I have yet to figure out why that is). I have also completely cleaned up and re-arranged mini-man's room, gotten rid of a garbage bag full of my old clothes, cleaned and moved a few large toys that I'll take to a friend this weekend, and listened to Hillsong United with Brooke Fraser singing Hosanna over and over again:



Tomorrow I plan to sleep in until at least 6am and then do whatever I want for the rest of the weekend :)

Anniversary Weekend

August 14th was our 4th wedding anniversary. We were married on the anniversary of our first date, 5 years earlier, so it's really easy to remember yay! This year big-man surprised me with a lovely overnight away to the most unusual spot: The Silver Reef Casino just outside Bellingham, WA. I actually think it's technically in Ferndale, but that doesn't really matter. You might think that sounds like an odd plan, but for us it was perfect.

It was a simple plan: son at the mother-in-law's, drive down Saturday morning, enjoy some spa treatments, a little gambling, a nice dinner and some more gambling and more spa treatments, and then back on Sunday. It was very well planned and I have to give props to big-man. He's never been good at surprising me with anything. In 9 years he's never managed to actually surprise me on my birthday, Christmas or our anniversary. This, at least, he had planned entirely up until about two weeks prior when he finally broke down and told me the plan haha... yeah, we're still working on the *surprise* element of gift giving.

So here's how it went...

We left our place about 8:00am Saturday. Given we're up daily by 5am, that was no big deal. We had coffees in hand and a few things packed. It was a beautiful morning so we took off without the front panels on the Jeep (we have a hard top 4-door Jeep like this one where the top pieces just above the front seats come off independently from the rest of the hard top) and left them at home (more about that later).

Here's how it looked coming in to Vancouver from the North Shore:



And this was me all excited taking a pic of myself - yep I'm a big dork:



We then proceeded to accidentally follow Granville all the way in to Richmond instead of switching over to Oak to get on to Hwy 99... oops! So we had a nice little tour of Richmond before we finally hit the last stretch to the border. At the border we hit the duty free for big-man's necessities (read: booze & smokes) before we got to join the 90-minute queue of travellers trying to navigate their way to the U-S-of-A.

Anyway, after the 90 minute wait, lots of pee-pee breaks, the odd tweet and some good quality time, we were through the gates and on our way. We stopped for a quick breakfast at Jack In The Box and then arrived at the hotel at about 11am. Perfect timing.



Actually, the timing was good. They had our room ready even though check-in wasn't until 4pm or something. We had an executive suite on the top floor so there was a little extra security - you had to have a key to a 6th floor room to get the elevator to go there. Big-man had even managed to get the hotel staff to pick up a bottle of sparkling wine he knew I'd like and a long stemmed rose and have them leave it, with a card he sneaked in to them, on the bed in our room. Nice touch.





Pardon the bottle of tequila. That was from the duty free. Newest favourite drink is Blue Agave Full Throttle with tequila *mmm*.

So 11:30am Saturday the first item on the agenda was a couples' massage at the spa. It was good. The massage itself was good, anyway. The guy who was working on me started talking about how he divorced his wife for her putting her cold hands on him to warm up. A little inappropriate given it was our anniversary, but whatever. The Silver Reef is certainly not high end, despite what they'd like to think. At least the price isn't high end either lol.

After the massage we shared our bottle of sparkly. That's all I'm saying there...

Around 1:30 we went for some lunch at Panasia. The thing we started to notice about this 'resort' (and I must use the term lightly, it is actually a hotel and casino in the middle of a series of fields on a native reserve...) is that no one knows anything about anything that isn't part of their job. The hostess knew nothing about the beverages offered, nor did she know anything about the voucher thing we got with our room key. All she knew how to do was seat people at the table. The server on the other hand, knew about the beverages and the voucher, but didn't know what came with our food. We ordered a spicy duck dish that was supposed to come with little pancakes to roll it up in and she was very shocked that we would imply there should have been something else. No harm done. The food was okay. Not great; but okay.

After lunch I quickly threw $150 in the toilet. Well, I might as well have done so at the rate I lost it at the casino. At that point I wasn't having much fun, but big-man was enjoying himself, so we stuck around. When he was up a little, he gave me another $100 which I promptly handed over to the 4-card poker dealer. My excuse is that I was training for Las Vegas when I go to Blogworld next month. Meh. Truth is, I was training my self control from that moment on. I draw the line at $250 without winning a single hand.

Big-man made up for my losses at the tables and we got all prettied up and went for dinner at the Steakhouse.



Big-man, having spent many years in the restaurant industry in both the front-of-house and the back-of-house, was excited about table-side food prep. We ate Caesar salad (prepared tableside), he had a pepper steak (prepared tableside) while I had a lobster bisque and, for dessert, we had bananas foster (you guessed it, prepared tableside). Big-man bitched about the wine service (his glass emptied twice without being refilled promptly or, better still, beforehand), but over all he's just a tough cookie to please. I thought it was fine.

After dinner we returned to the casino where our final tally was me down $300 but big-man up $600. I took a photo of him rolling in the cash on the bed (which is pretty funny) but given he was in his underwear by that point, I figured I'd spare him. Some things are better left private. After deciding to quit while we were (collectively, anyway) ahead, we went for a swim and a hot tub before retiring to the room to watch the Olympic coverage on TV.

Sunday morning we got up and had some really bad coffee. Okay, admittedly I'm a coffee snob. We use a French press at home and use 5 heaping scoops of espresso roast for two mugs of coffee, so hotel coffee just can't do it for me. Big-man had decided to have another massage Sunday morning given he'd enjoyed the first one so much. I, on the other hand, decided to drive in to Bellingham to look for some real coffee... a Starbucks perhaps?

It was then that I realised it was raining. Remember that nice weather I'd said we had? Remember how I said we'd gone with the tops off the Jeep? Remember how I said we'd left them at home?! Yeah. Nice. So I'm driving down I5 towards Bellingham in the rain, with my hood on, in search of the happy green circle. I finally spotted one Starbucks just as I was passing it with absolutely no hope of doubling back. I kept going to Bellis Fair... found a McDonald's but that was definitely not what I wanted. So I decided to drive around some more...

I found the strangest thing: right beside Cost-Cutter was Christ The King Church. No joke. A big church in a mall... it was really weird. I'd planned to miss church that morning, being out of town and all, but then I felt compelled to drive right by the front door... 8:30am service. I checked the clock: it was 8:27am. Now I know when God is talking to me. "Don't miss church. You soooooo need a little godly influence don't ya thing?! You already threw away the money I provided for you playing stupid gambling games, don't you think you ought to think about me just a little while you're immersed in all things worldly? Besides, you'll like it." Yes God. I went in.

It was like violins started playing... as I walked though the door the first thing I saw was an espresso bar. Sweet. Then, I met a woman who works in the children's ministry and gets espresso vouchers for doing so. She was happy I'd dropped in and gave me one. Score! Thanks again, God. I finally make my way in to the sanctuary, wondering if people were frowning upon my attire: yoga pants, a hoodie and flip flops (my usual any time I'm not at work), just in time to see the pastor come in... wearning flip flops. FTW!!

After the service I had just enough time to get back to the hotel, get changed and have a swim and a steam before my mani/pedi appointment at the spa - my final pampering of the weekend.

The drive home was quick; just 10 minutes at the border. We were home by just after 3pm sitting by the pool at the mother-in-law's hanging with our mini-man, who we missed dearly.

It's really important for us to take time away from the hectic pace of everyday life. This was a nice break. Thanks babe... I love you. Now if we can just focus on not killing each other before we do it again, that would be fantastic.

A Mommy Milestone... The Play Date

Wow. Someone actually left their kid with me... that was a very new experience for me. I don't think I've been responsible for someone else's kid in over 10 years at least, and at that time it was my ex-boyfriend's kids. Anyway, big-man decides to go out shopping for a new flat panel HDTV with a friend of his. Well his friend has a 3 1/2 year old son... anyway, he left his son with me while they went out. I was terrified lol!

Actually, when they left I didn't even know how old this kid was. I knew his name, that was it. I didn't know if he was potty trained or not, though I assumed he was - and very much hoped he was. I didn't know when he had last eaten, whether or not he had any allergies... oh man, was I nervous! Mostly I was scared that he was going to freak out and want someone who knew him and there would be no one around but me to deal with it.

The two boys quickly settled into playing together and had a great time. It didn't hurt that I basically imposed no rules lol, but give me a break here, I'm a first-time play-date-er.

Sidenote: Please disregard the state of my coffee table; I assume it's easier to just sand off the junk when my kid is older than to try and keep it free from stains, markers, spilled food and beverages etc. Besides, I like that the stains on the table offset the large quantity of play doh that is currently gluing the carpet fibers together beneath it.

Trucks, cooking utensils, duplo blocks and play doh... all were a hit. Then they got a little unruly and had a hard time sharing the coveted play doh machine that squirts out any number of noodle-like shapes. So I figured what better way to entertain two small boys than a couple of knives...

Okay, for those people who also worried about my parenting skills after reviewing my "Mama's Mean" video (some people worried that my son would try and drink anything out of a squirt bottle because I'd allowed him to suck on a water spray bottle once), I'll add a caveat: these are toddler knives and there's not a sharp edge to be found.

That said, I just read a great post on The Art of Manliness called "Quit Coddling Your Kids" and found Gever Tulley’s lecture on “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do", which suggests that letting your kids play with knives is a good thing.

Anyway... my first play date was a great experience. Little buddy didn't eat a thing, though he did accept a glass of juice during his stay. He turned down a couple of my suggestions to use the bathroom, but turns out he was wearing a pull-up, so no harm done. He was sad to leave, which I suppose suggests his afternoon didn't suck entirely... turns out his parents don't know any other people with kids his age as they're new to the area, so mini-man's first experience of having a friend over to play was a good one for both of them.

While over all the experience was positive, I am more certain than ever that I need to replace my 780 square foot apartment with a large house... preferably before the next play date.

Champions "Social Night"

I'm not much of a socialite. I'm a little more socially-awkward, nerdy girl with a strange combination of Type A personality and shyness... it's hard to explain. It often gets mistaken for UBER-snobby, but really I just don't feel comfortable making conversation with people I don't know very well unless it's for business and we have something specific to talk about.

So Thursday night at kickboxing I was reminded of the planned "Champions Social Night" by a few equally unsure individuals who asked if I was going, presumably to know if there would at least be someone there they didn't feel horrified to try to have a conversation with.

I've been training at Champions for something like 8 years now. I've basically lost count. The truth is, though, that although I've known the people I train with for that time, I've not truely gotten to really *know* any of them. Those I did get close with don't train anymore. To make matters worse, in the last 3 years I've taken a collective year and a half off, so friendships have formed and tight-knit clicks abound.

A few people asked me if I would go (the self-critical me figures it was likely out of politeness only) and so I reluctantly agreed to step in and check it out. I arrived WAY too early; I thought it was to start at 7:30 or 8pm... yeah, checking the details would have been a good way to go, but that's just not my style these days. So I arrived at 8:30 thinking I'd be there late enough to at least be inconspicuous as I enter. Not so. I was the first person there other than Champions staff... nice. That doesn't make a wall-flower type cringe at all...

Thank GOD for small miracles, one of the gals at the club I've been closer to in the last few years showed up relatively soon after I did, so we had a lovely chat. I came to find out she's got a regular role on Stargate Atlantis, so I now have to watch it even though I don't like science fiction shows, but it's just really cool seeing someone you know on TV. Anyway, I digress...

I ended up having a super fun time, more to drink than I'd like to admit, and didn't get home until 2am even though Mini-Man gets me up well before 6am on a daily basis. Other than being a little tired today (okay, well... a lot tired) I felt pretty good. Not like cardio-class Saturday good, but able-to-drag-myself-and-my-toddler-through-Superstore-for-our-weekly-grocery-shopping-trip good. So at least that was something.

I cringe at the thought of some of the photos that were taken. Something about drinks and dancing makes you feel likely more attractive than you really are. I don't really want the reality check, thank you very much.

Whistler Weekend 2008

So I finally made it out to my friend Mrs. Little's annual Whistler Girls' Weekend... what a fun time! Who knew I'd still enjoy squeezing 17 women into 3 hotel rooms for a weekend of silliness in my 30's? I also finally spent some real time with my new-found half sister - I mean, more than just going for coffee, which was nice. I met her last year after searching for my birth mother and it's been very cool getting to know her; she's a fantastic girl and I really admire her.

Anyway... we got to Whistler about 4pm on Friday the 27th and proceeded to ditch the car with the valet. No need for it when you're staying a stone's throw from everything in the village. We found our rooms, settled in a little and proceeded to socialize around the penis-shaped chip plate as the ladies arrived until our dinner reservation at 7pm. Dinner was awful lol... I mean I didn't really care much, but Mrs. Little herself was mistakenly served a beef burger when she's a vegetarian. EEW... she wasn't at all impressed. The bellini's were good though.

I'm not sure if it's a function of age or something else, but I honestly have no recollection of what took place after dinner on the Friday night *shrug*.

Saturday we got up, got cleaned up, had coffee (no shortage of great coffee shops in Whistler) and went shopping. I spent some good money that I don't have on things I don't need, so all in all a successful shopping outing. After shopping we hit the pool with some refreshments in hand and got friendly with a series of sexy white loungers. The afternoon was made complete with a nap and another shower before attending the pre-bar party...

The pre-bar party began at 6pm with more refreshments, a rousing game of "pass the purple penis", party favours and "how dirty are you" style drinking games... you'd have thought someone was about to be married, but no... this was all just for fun. After the pre-bar party we went to Buffalo Bills for some more refreshments and dancing. The music was awful but we made the most of it...

Those of us no longer used to the bar-star party life left the club at a rediculously early hour and went back to one of the rooms to order pizza and have civilized converstation for the rest of the night. I spent a short but not insignificant amount of time worried about New Young Sister and whether or not she was out on the town alone or if she had a room key, but all was well... she stumbled in at 2am and the photos showed she was well and had a great time...

Sunday morning we all pulled ourselves together and with comfy clothes as the order of the day, made our way to the closest coffee shop to soak up the last of the sun (not to mention caffeine, and ginger ale for those less-fortunate) before piling into our caravan of carpool arrangements to make our way to our final stop - breakfast at White Spot in Squamish.

I arrived home around 1pm on Sunday to hugs and kisses from both Big Man and Little Man. My two greatest loves. Life is good.

Can't wait to do it again next year...

First Grouse Grind in 3 Years

Well today was the day. I haven't done the Grouse Grind since before I got pregnant with mini-man, nearly 3 years ago. Life is different than it was back then, and I'm in WAY worse shape lol. Now that the grind is open for the season, I figured I might as well try and work this in to my regular life.

I've decided to try and do the grind once a week for the summer. That would make my complete exercise regimen one Grouse Grind, one 90 minute hot yoga class and two kickboxing classes each week. I never was a big fan of going to the gym with all the other gym rats, so I have to keep things fun.



Anyway, I started out at 12:10pm today - had to take advantage of nap time in order to fit it in. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be, despite people looking at me oddly given I kept stopping to take photos. I realized that I didn't have much in the way of Grouse Grind photos to use in my work, so I might as well take some. Who knows if they're any good. Posting them here will be the first glimpse I get of them.

Here's the view from about half way up:



So I'll shamefully admit my time was roughly one hour and 16 minutes. It's a far cry from my pre-motherhood days of 53 minutes, which I'd thought was still relatively slow. And there was this guy who was much like a gazelle who kept bounding up around me and then waiting for his friends... I'd pass him while he waited and then again he'd spring up and past me taking what seemed like 3m leaps. Crazy. I'm not built like that, and I never will be, but that's okay.



Here's hoping this Mother Nature's Stairmaster can whip my booty into shape this year.

Finally Friday

I have to say I'm quite stoked that today is Friday. The night before last the mini-man was up half the night crying. Every time I'd put him back in bed he'd be quiet long enough for me to lie down and start drifting off before he'd start in again. By midnight I was ready for the funny farm, but he finally fell asleep thank God!

Yesterday Daddy took off work to stay home with him and get him to a doctor. I had strep throat last week, so I knew what was happening to him immediately. So I'm grateful for answered prayers in that we got him started on antibiotics the same day he started complaining of pain... I didn't get any until day 3 and by then I wanted to die, so I'm grateful mini-man didn't have to go through that kind of pain - not to mention there would have been no sleep for the duration either.

So with mini-man happily munching chewable amoxicillin and seemingly back to his regular night time sleep routine, I'm excited today's Friday. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful weather, and it's Lynn Valley Days so we're going to have fun watching the parade tomorrow morning. My band is also playing in the morning before the parade and having a year-end wrap party in the evening that I'm really looking forward to. Perhaps will get my stuff together enough to post some photos at some point.