I finished marking my last assignment, filed my final report and found myself looking up and around, seeing my life through different eyes. For while I am under contract, it is so overwhelming and all-consuming that it filters all that I do. I go through the motions of the every day with the ticker of work deadlines clicking away in the background. I am present, yes, and involved, yes, but there is a haze or a weight or whatever you want to call it that has wrapped itself around me and skews my happenings.

With that burden lifted I am free and light and can breathe deeper than I have in the last two months.

The two weeks off that I have laid before me are like this, I don’t know, gift that I’ve been given. Or something. I have made a list of all that I want/need to get done and while it looks a little overwhelming, I’ve had the distinct satisfaction of crosses items off of that list over the weekend.

If you are a Facebook or Twitter friend you know that I am suffering from a certain, uh, affliction. It’s something that only happens to women and occurs every, oh, twenty-eight to thirty-five days (or so)(for me). You also heard that said infliction causes enough pain that I (used to stay home from high school one day a month, and) take prescription painkillers for that One Bad Day. The pain is not eradicated, but brought down to a level where I am able to stand upright. (How’s that for TMI?)

Saturday was the One Bad Day and I did what I have figured out works best to help me get through it; I kept very, very busy. A large part of me would rather lay on the couch with a heating pad and whine about how much it huuuuuuurts. The problem is, spending that much time focusing on it makes it seem even worse than it truly is. So I cram as much stuff in that I can and keep moving, moving, moving. Tie this in with that nice long list I have sitting here and I was a woman on a mission.

The first order of the day was to tackle my closet and craft room. Not only were they in shambles, it was time to put away my summer gear and haul out my winter gear. In the process of doing so I pulled out every single article of clothing that I hadn’t worn in the last year. I now have two (TWO) large garbage bags of clothes to drop off at the ladies auxiliary. I went through Emily’s closet with the same force and she was left with a pretty barren closet. I sure hope that the US shopping outlets are ready for us next weekend.

The craft room is also back to pristine condition and you can actually see the floor. I was almost taken out by rabid dust bunnies but I pulled out my ninja moves Dyson and vanquished them. I thought about taking an “after” photo but it looks pretty much identical to what it did when I first set it up.

The Great Purge of 2009 had a brief intermission while we took Emily to ballet.

I keep telling myself that I don’t need to bring my camera every single week but then they are so cute and sweet and…sigh. I may have to buy a separate external hard drive just for ballet photos. That one was taken for me by Amanda while I caught our girls on the Flip. Video to follow this week (as part of my review), once I figure out what song to use. We watch from the other side of the glass which means that all you can hear is Graham telling story after story after story. That kid does not. stop. talking. I have no idea who he gets that from.

Upon returning home and finishing up the Great Purge of 2009 I crossed it off my list and moved onto the next task. I want to stock up my freezer with some meals I can whip out when I’m back at work. I much prefer a freshly cooked meal but sometimes it’s nice to just take something out of the freezer and fire it into the oven. I made a quadruple batch of Samosas, which we had for dinner along with plum chutney. I also made four lasagnas, one of which was our Sunday dinner.

To sum it up: I cleaned three bathrooms, attacked three closets and a craft room and made six meals to eat at a later date, all before 5:00 pm. Do I get a gold star? Or something?

Sunday was less, shall we say, insane. I went to church for the first time in two months, only to find out that we had to go to an event for Nathan. I didn’t get to go to service or see the bulk of my friends. But I was IN THE BUILDING, so at least there’s that. Or something. The rest of the day was more of a putter here and a sit in my bay window seat and read a book there and a walk to the creek kind of day.

Despite my, um, affliction it really was a great weekend. The past eight weeks consisted of my family going on grand adventures while I sat here chained to my laptop. I missed out on some fun times and also saw the pile of house things that needed to be done grow almost exponentially. This weekend was a whole new world again. It was nice to get stuff done while the kids played outside and Matthew worked on his shed addition. It was great to harvest the last bits out of our garden and to do a bunch of cooking (which I love to do). Sunday night Matthew and I talked about something that has been asked of me and while we had already thought it was a great idea, this weekend confirmed it.

I have been asked if I would be interested in returning to work full-time in January. Details haven’t been hammered out yet but I told them that I was indeed interested. I would return to the office and regain that sense of normalcy that I got a taste of this weekend. Matthew would return to Daddy Daycare and have the chance to cross some of the house projects off of his list. He is more than willing to work full-time but the initials behind my name means that I make almost triple what he can. When I went back to work part-time in the spring I loved the freedom that it gave me from the weight of work. When I walked out of my office door, work was behind me and my family was before me. Anyone who is self-employed knows that while there are benefits (Working in your yoga pants, for one) there is also the feeling that work is never done.

I think it will be good for me, for him, for all of us.

Wow. I sat down to write a quick post and ended up spewing some verbal diarrhea. It felt good though, just like my weekend did.

How was your weekend?

I have mentioned before that I have one of those annoying Type A personalities, as does my husband.  We are organized, we make lists, we multi-task (Well, I do. His multi-tasking skills are weak, at best), we have a strong work ethic.  We may or may not be a little smug in all of our anal-retentiveness. Until we realize that it has its downsides as well.

When I have work responsibilities they always seem to hang over my head. Being self-employed has its perks, yes, but it also has its negative factors. All-day access to the snack cupboard is one of them.

The major problem that I have encountered is my lack of ability to separate work from home. There is always an assignment to mark, emails to answer, posts to write.  Even while I am not working, I am thinking about the work I have to do.

No rest for the weary, or something other inane quote.

Matthew and I discuss this often, for it is yet another thing that we have in common. We feel as though we never get a true break because our work is always waiting for us. The separation of home and work is hard when you work is in your home. We know that we need to widen the gap between the two in order to be better people, better spouses, better parents.

We have been making strides in this department in the past few months.

I worked hard on Friday, and got up early (yawn) on Saturday to work. By 10:30 am, I was all caught up.

I shut my (shiny, pretty) laptop and got busy.

Matthew had taken the kids into town to run errands so I worked out for half an hour, put laundry away while I cooled off and then had a shower and made myself presentable. I whipped together lunch just before everyone arrived home.

After lunch the boys helped me start my Christmas baking while Emily napped.  She woke up, all warm and curly-haired, and then we went OUTSIDE. Yes, I live in Canada, but our fall has been reletively mild. Now that I typed that, it is totally going to snow. My bad.

I mentioned the other day that my photo-taking has been stagnant due to all of the work that I have on the go. This whole “compartmentalizing” of work and play worked in my favour this weekend. I walked around, camera in had, and captured my three lovelies.

I also took a photo of my other, um, lovely?

At least he wasn’t wearing his red lumberman’s jacket.

You may remember me modeling those sweet safety glasses in this Flickr photo.

Sunday was more of the same. More Christmas baking, more time outside, more time spent together as a family and NOT WORKING. (I also wrapped Christmas presents.  Yes. Yes, I did.)

This “balance” thing might actually be happening, if only a little bit. I am starting to be able to leave the work of the future back in the (home) office and focus on living in the here and now.  It is all sorts of awesome.

I hope it lasts.

A year ago today: Festival of Lights

I am not referring to the bedroom life shared by Matthew and I. While it is all fine and good (Spectacular, actually. This is the part where my children read this entry in the future and run away screaming), my husband is a pretty shy and reserved fellow. To talk about our intimate times (*blush*) might make him die a little inside. And possibly implode.

I think he is kind of neat. Him imploding would pretty much suck.

The “busy” that I refer to is this thing that I call Life.

I am a Type A personality by nature, and operate more efficiently when I have a number of things on the go. I find that lists (mmm…lists…) make life a little more organized. They make me feel like I have a handle on the chaos that is my life.

In the past few months I have gotten a little lazy with the list. Arrogant, even.

Lists? Pshaw! I can keep track of everything IN MY HEAD. Lists are for pansies!

This pansy has thrown in the towel. I need lists to help keep my stress level to a minimum. Without lists, I feel like I am wandering in circles and not accomplishing much of anything. If I write lists down on paper, then I no longer need to have random facts/ideas/thoughts bouncing around in my head. They are written down. My head can be (somewhat) clear.

I spent over an hour on Sunday afternoon getting organized. Pen and paper are my tools of choice.

I have a Polestar calendar which I have been pretty good at keeping up with. All family appointments and meal plans for the week get jotted down.  There is also a “To Do” column which I plan to start using in earnest.

I have one notebook that I use strictly for groceries. After Matthew and I decide on the meals for the week, I make grocery lists based on the menu plan. This is nothing new.

The extra thing I did on Sunday was to step beyond the basics of meal planning.

Kristin posted a couple of weeks ago about putting her goals in writing. I was inspired and have done the same. I am not sharing them here (no offense), but I might share them when and if they are achieved. I am just excited that I took the step to write them down.

SLynnRo posted last week about all that she plans to accomplish in November. I was inspired to do the same. Again, I am not sharing the lists, but they are documented in those notebooks above and will be (Gleefully!) crossed off when completed.

I have lists for stuff to do personally, for stuff to do around the house, for stuff to do regarding Christmas (NEXT MONTH. CRAP.)

It feels so good to have everything written down on paper and to have it OUT OF MY HEAD. I will be busy getting items crossed off my list, yes, but each strike through will fill my heart with joy.

(Yes, I am a dork. Not that you did not know that already.)

In other busy news, I signed up for NaBloPoMo.  I KNOW.

I asked for your thoughts on participating and had mixed reviews. I, personally, have had mixed feelings. I have done it the past two years, but did not think I could pull it off this year. I have three kids who require a lot of time, I am working, I HAVE LISTS TO CROSS OFF.

I write two days a week over at Work It! Mom. To write an additional seven posts a week over here might just kill me. Or at least cause bodily harm. I emailed Eden (Grand Poobah of NaBloPoMo) to see if my Work It! Mom posts would count. They will, as long as I link to them from here (Which I do!)

I could say that I am participating because I want to further my writing skills, blah, blah, blah.

The truth of the matter is that I am a lemming. Go me.

So! Let me know if you are participating, and I will do my best to encourage your efforts. I have decided to add the “A Year Ago Today” feature at the bottom of each post. I am getting a kick out of it so far as I have a hard enough time remembering what happened last week, never mind what happened last year.

For the rest of you, I apologize in advance for cluttering your Feed Reader. Please forgive me.

A year ago today: NaBlahBlahBlah (Ironic that I am announcing this on the exact same day, no?) (See also the photo of Emily as a newborn. Sigh.)

Those of you who are old hats at casa Dutch Blitz know that every fall we somehow manage to take a family photo (That includes all of us. Including me!) This photo is then sent out in the MAIL with Christmas cards that I MAKE BY HAND.

I really am crazy.

Last fall we did a family photo shoot that was a disaster of epic proportions.  Don’t believe me (or want to click the link)?  I have photographic evidence.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Wow. She really was bald.

Oh, the difference a year makes.

There was not a single family photo that I deemed worthy of sharing from that photo shoot so we used this photo from the summer. Click on it and see what difference a year has made in my children.

The weather here for the month of September has been beyond amazing. The mornings are chilly but the afternoons are downright balmy.  I thought we should get the Family Photo done before the snow blows in and we start wearing parkas.

I asked my brother to meet us at the Lake after work so I could hand him the camera and (hopefully) get a few shots that might be worthy. We beat him to the docks and did some exploring.

Um. RAWR. Dude gets hotter as the years go by.  Seriously.

He + them = Awesome.

I love these three more than I ever thought would be possible for a human heart to bear.

We would have loved to stand on the edge of the dock but the sunlight was still quite harsh.  If we waited to take the photos during the golden hour around sunset it would have collided with bed time and it would have been a complete and utter gong show.  See the above photos from last year.

We rolled with it and found a nice place in the shade.  Honey thinks they are all fine photos (As in: Dude hates having his photo taken).  It is up to me to pick. Here is where you come in.

Do we use the photo that has the lake and mountains in the background?

Or this one where we are a little bit zoomed in?

(If you choose this, you might be crazier than I am.  Hi! We are the ALL CHEESE family!)

Or should we go for the ultra zoom?

(Looking at my dark hair I feel like singing, “One of these things is not like the other“.)

Decisions, decisions.

Thoughts?

I grew up on the north coast of British Columbia where the majority of “fresh” fruit to be found were waxy Granny Smith apples and rock-hard bananas from the local grocery store.  Our selection of berries in the summer consisted of rubbery strawberries and tasteless blueberries.

There were wild berries that grew around town called “salmon berries”.  They neither looked nor tasted like salmon and were actually quite sweet.  I have no idea where the name came from; maybe they went well with all of the salmon available for consumption in a fishing town?

When I moved to Vancouver there were numerous markets that sold real fresh fruit from out in the Valley. The berries burst with flavour, the peaches were juicy, the apples were not coated in wax.  The only downside was the cost.  The prices made purchasing the good fruit a treat for this starving student.

I married Matthew, got my designation and we moved to the Okanagan. Orchards are EVERYWHERE.  From May until October the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables at your fingers (for cheap!) is astounding.

That very first summer I did something that I had never done before. I canned peaches.

(Side note: Why is it called “canning” when you use jars?  Should it not then be called “jarring”. Though I guess “jarring” sounds less cozy and domestic and a little more, well, jarring.)

I used my friend Google to see what supplies I needed and how to go about preserving those tasty treats. I blanched, I peeled, I cut, I boiled and at the end of the night I had a counter full of preserved peaches. I was so inspired that I also canned applesauce and salsa. Two winters in a row I added antipasto to the mix (fresh ingredients not required).

This continued for a few years but then I started popping babies out left right and center and could not seem to get it together in order to do some canning. This year, I vowed, would be different. Matthew promised to help me.  We bought a twenty pound box of peaches and let them ripen.

On the day that they were perfect for canning Matthew had to attend a meeting in the evening.  No problem, said I. You go to your meeting and I’ll can the peaches after the kids are in bed. Then when I am finished I will do the laundry and edit some photos.  After that maybe I will spend some time on the Internet.

I am completely delusional. Obviously.

I started on my quest to can the blasted peaches and Twittered about it. Before I knew it I was cursing Matthew under my breath elbow-deep in peaches and thought I should vent on Twitter. I logged in and saw a reply by my friend Buzz Bishop where he recommended I watch this You Tube video by the Presidents of The United States of America.

Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.

I was instantly snapped out of my grumpy funk. Matthew arrived home shortly thereafter. He rolled up his sleeves and jumped right in while I bossed him around. I played the video for him and we worked as a team.

Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.

(Sorry. I’ve been singing it for DAYS.)

When all was said and done and the jars of peaches were lined up like little soldiers on the counter I felt good. Great, even. I had preserved a little bit of summer for us to enjoy when we are buried in snow and cursing the cold.

Despite my bad attitude I think it really is worth it to preserve the good stuff.  Have you ever tasted canned peaches from the grocery store? NASTY.

Next on my list is a plum chutney recipe from Karen that is so amazing that words cannot give it justice. I might even make applesauce, salsa and antipasto.  Matthew promises that he will help from the start this time.

Do you have any canning recipes that you do every year, or that you would like to share?

Or do you think I am a crazy lady with way too much time on her hands?

Wait. Don’t answer that last one.

I have mentioned numerous times that we have been renovating since we bought this house seven years ago.  I like to keep it simple and tell people that we have been renovating FOREVER, which is what it feels like.

I highlighted our laundry room a few weeks ago and now that another room is pretty much complete (Go Honey!) I thought it was time to post some more photos.

First, a bit of history.

We moved into this house in the spring of 2001.  The first room(s) we thought we would tackle were the kitchen and living room combo.  We live in a split-level house (Ah, the Seventies) and so the kitchen and living room are basically on their own floor.

In the kitchen the cupboards were oak, the floors were a nasty linoleum and there was a half-framed-in “dining room”.  The living room had blue carpet, faded white walls and some nasty Seventies paneling on the wall dividing the two rooms.

I would scan photos from then but I have more than enough photos lined up for the second makeover we gave the room.  Plus, I’m lazy.

We (Matthew) knocked out the wall, built new cupboards and an island. We (again, Matthew) turned the big picture window in the front of the house into a bay window with a window seat (because I had always wanted one of those).

The kitchen/living room combo was now referred to by the official name of The Great Room.

When we first moved here we were huge fans of log homes and so we made the walls look like they were the inside of a log home. After the room was complete, I forbade Matthew from doing the same to any of our other rooms because HOLY WOOD OVERLOAD, BATMAN.  We have done wainscoting or wood beams in the rest of the rooms.

My dislike for the wood on the walls grew greater and stronger until I finally beat Matthew into submission Honey saw my vision and agreed with it.

Before I show you the “Before” photos (which are technically also “After” photos), I need to make some disclaimers as to the qualities of the shots:

1. I was walking out the door to spend the day at the beach with the kids when Matthew mentioned that he was going to start tearing the wood down.

2. I was too lazy to set up the tripod and take proper shots because the kids were yelling at me to HURRY UP AND TAKE THEM TO THE BEACH ALREADY.

3. I thought I would add my wide-angle attachment (which I had never used)(which also should have be used with a tripod), and though I could see that the shots were not what I wanted it was TIME TO GO.

4. You will at least get an idea of the old look.

Without further adieu, BEFORE:

That would be Matthew hiding behind Emily’s Little People doll house. That would be Emily on the coffee table.  Matthew built it when we first redid the room but he now hates it and plans to build a new one.  We will be offering it for free, to a good home.

Take a look at the hearth.  The blond brick has to be the most boring shade of brick on the planet. The fireplace itself consisted of some nasty brass and you can’t see from the distance, but there were hummingbirds etched in the glass.  Classy.

I should point out that the wood floors are not laminate.  They are real wood from a mill, which Matthew installed, sanded and coated.  He is amazing.

Here I am panning left.

Wood!  Wood everywhere! Nobody light a match!

Now the view into the kitchen:

That’s my Step Mom at the sink.  She was visiting to help with the kids as I left for BlogHer the next day.

Are you ready for the “After” photos?  I sure was. Here they are:

Matthew bought special paint and covered the brass.  He also had new glass cut.  Good-bye, hummingbirds!

Matthew did all  of that rock work himself.  The alcove that was on the left before was completely useless. We bought the shelves from IKEA and Matthew built the rock around it.  I need to add a few more photos on the right shelf above the wood but I always take forever to decide what should be included.  I do know that I will hang a large print off this year’s family photo above the chair on the left, once we actually take said photo.

Panning left, we have the bay window.  Nothing has changed, but thought you’d like to see the pine trees out the window.

We really do live in the sticks.

Panning further left we get the armoire that Matthew built.  It houses a TV and other electronics.

I haven’t finished deciding what to decorate the shelves with, but you get the idea.  The walls on either side house 16×20 prints of this photo and that one.

Panning left again we have the dining area. The chairs are from Pier One but the table is the oak one we got as a hand-me-down from Matthew’s parents when we moved here. He just bought the wood to build a new table. Woo!

The final pan to the left:

I think that the whole room is so much brighter now that the paneling is off of the walls. It also seems less tacky.

I also think that the room finally lives up to its name of The Great Room.

My favourite part is the hearth.  It is no secret that I hate winter, but with the fire roaring, a good book and a hot cocoa (or hot toddy) in hand, I think I could be pretty cozy there.

Care to join me?

I know that I have whined and complained about work these past few weeks. Poor me, I have a job.  LIFE IS SO ROUGH.

Work is done (for now), so I can get back to complaining about being a Mom.  Poor me, I have THREE KIDS.  I should really get over myself.  At least I am not dealing with sixteen of the hellions creatures.  Or not having any of them at all.

I was at the beach yesterday morning with the kids and our friends. We swam in the lake, ate Goldfish crackers and fought over toys (Um, they did.  I had parked myself on a beach blanket.  TOO TIRED to fight over the toys).

We came home and made lunch together. After lunch we put Miss Emily to bed for a nap and the boys built Transformers out of Lego.  Matthew and sat down to assess (not asses) our situation.  His work is slow, yes, and he was dealt a major blow while I was away all morning.

He started to wonder if he was in the wrong industry, or if he should go back to school.  He could also work out of the house like a regular person.  Leave home at 7:30 am, be home by 5:30 pm.  I could do the same.  Thanks to my initials I would have a full-time job in an office instantly, should I so choose.

We don’t want that for our family.

We bought our house seven years ago before the market went nuts and made some wise decisions after the fact.  We barely have a mortgage.  We are Dutch, which means we are cheap frugal.  We do not need to be raking in the dough.

The plan is to keep on as we have been.  For Honey to work as hard as he has been.  For me to take on work when we need me to.  For the both of us to be as involved in the daily minutiae of our kids’ lives as we can be.

We spent the afternoon at the lake as a family.  All five of us.

This is a definite perk to being self-employed.

After supper Matthew had to attend a meeting.  I had no qualms as I have been the absentee parent for the bulk of the last month.

I pushed the kids on the swings, played hide-and-go-seek, pitched baseballs.  Events that I had missed out on for many a night in the past four weeks.

The sun started to set and I asked the kids if I could possibly take a few photos in the magical light.  They obliged.

Graham:

Nathan:

Miss Emily:

Then I thought I would get all artsy:

Ish.

It felt good to reconnect with my husband.  To reconnect with my kids.  To reconnect with my camera.

I plan on doing more of the same this weekend.

And you?

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