Writer's Workshop - An Easter Memory

Growing up,

we didn't really do Easter.

But since Ethan,

we try to make Easter

special.

Our last Easter in Dar,

or rather Tanzania

was fantastic.

My mate, Lara,
organised a bunch of us to go up to
Lushoto.
It was stunning.

The kids played football.

We went for walks.

Got close to nature.

Went hiking.

It was truly
a memorable Easter.

Lover at Last - JR Ward

The wait is over!

Qhuay is here!

And it was sooo worth the wait.

Now I know I have some mates

still reading,

so I'm not going to spoil it for them.

For those who have no idea

Lover at Last

is book 11 in JR Ward's

Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

I received the book

on Tuesday

and was utterly giddy.

I had serious plans

to not start the book until Friday.

We're driving up to Kafue,

3 hours to read

where I planned to spend

the rest of the day by the pool reading.

But then,

Tuesday afternoon,

I thought 

just one chapter.

Which turned into reading until

2am.

Here's my issues.

I've been waiting

forever

for this book.

And I realise the entire book

cannot be just about Qhuinn and Blay.

I'd read a chapter,

have an OMG moment

and decide I needed one more chapter.

But the next chapter

would be about Xcor

or Assail.

So then I would need 

one more chapter to return

to Qhuay.

You see the pattern.

But I read it.

And loved it.

Nuff said.

The Happiness Project - Week 3

I woke up this morning 

with a smile on my face.

And it's not solely

due to the fact

that Easter/spring break

begins tomorrow,

But,

at 6:30 this morning,

I opened my Kindle

and watched this

upload.....

I cannot wait 

to get started!!!!!

Happiness is remaining calm

and being prepared

for Quay!!!!

 

Blood Shadows - Tessa Dawn

I love The Following.

But I have a hard time

going to bed after an episode. 

Last night at 10:30

I was slightly creeped out.

So I decided to read 

just one more chapter

of Blood Shadows

before going to bed.

That one more chapter

lasted a few hours

and was more than 

one chapter.

I finished the book.

You know it's a good book

when you devour it.

Blood Shadows

is the 4th installement in the 

Blood Curse series. 

It begins a few months after 

the last. 

Nachari Silivasi made the ultimate

sacrifice.

He went into the Valley of Death and Shadows

to save their king,

Nathaniel.

But something went wrong.

And while the Vampyr king is home

Nachari is not.

His body remains with his brothers

in Dark Moon Vale

but he is in the Valley,

being tortured,

tormented,

burned and beaten

every single day.

Meanwhile,

for the last 3 months,

Deanna is haunted by dreams.

And her art.

She sketches her dreams.

And in her dreams,

a gorgeous man

is in Hell and being tortured.

Determined to find out if she's going crazy,

Deanna makes her way

to Dark Moon Vale

just in time to learn she is 

Nachari's destiny.

Now, can the brothers help her see this?

Can they do this before the Blood Curse?

And will Nachari ever return to them?

Writer's Workshop - 10 Things

10 things you don't know how to do 

I was having lunch

with some colleagues

earlier this week,

and one mentioned all the

awesome

sewing projects she's been up to.

Wow!

Another colleague makes

incredible Indian food.

Amazing!

In all my wonderfulness

I will admit

there are a few things,

I cannot do.

Shocking.

I know!

1. Sew 

 I'm pretty sure I owned a sewing machine a few years back.

What happened? 

I have no idea.

2. Cook

Baking is not cooking

and cooking I cannot do.

3. Play an instrument

Once again,

I did take piano lessons,

guitar lesson,

recorder.

And yet,

I cannot read a note.

4. Play pool.

My brother loves it.

Scott can play.

I have no clue how to hold a cue.

5. Make jewelry

I have some amazingly talented friends.

If you ever need some cute rings or necklaces

let me know.

I can send you to the right person. 

6. Complete an assignment ahead of time.

I wait until the last minute. 

Even if I pretend it's due a week earlier

to get it done earlier,

I know it's a fake deadline,

so I won't do it.

7. Write poetry

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Writing poems

Is hard to do.

(oh! maybe I can!)

8. Say no to a cute pair of shoes

I just can't.

I'm sure it's something in my genes.

And if it isn't

I'm saying it is.

9. Go a full day without sending a text message.

I get withdrawl symptons.

My fingers get fat and flabby.

10. Say no to a Coach bag.
Or Kate Spade.
Or a Gillie bag.
Or any cute bag,
to be honest.

The Happiness Project - Week 2

In a couple of weeks,

the Easter Bunny will make his appearance.

And thanks to Tyler

he'll have a place to hide

Ethan's treats.

Yes, Tyler did it again!

With Easter coming up,

Afrikolor had another activity.

This time it was bunnies.

When I first saw the picture,

I thought the kids would make

some kind of garden gnome.

But these are no gnomes. 

The kids got to paint

these really cute bunnies.

It's a place for the Easter Bunny

to put some cute eggs.

After that,

it's a cute cereal bowl for Ethan.

Can't wait to see what they look like
when they are all done.

Happiness is getting ready for Easter.

High Five For Friday

My mate, Sarah,

has the sweetest blog.

If you haven't visited her yet,

you should. 

Today, she posted a cute meme. 

You could check it out here. 

And since it was inspiring,

I've decided to join in.

Basically,

it's five things you've loved

from the past week. 

Did you hear?

I got a new pair of boots!

Ethan had a playdate on Monday.

He and his mate

baked cookies.

And not just any cookies,

ninja cookies!

We had a five day weekend.

Friday was Women's Day

and Tuesday was Youth Day.

And while I had some course work to do,

I took the time to do something I haven't 

in a long time.

I read a book!

During the 5-day weekend,
I dyed my hair.

And finally,
my newest obession is
chocolate covered almonds.
My mum always told me
almonds are great for your brain.
She never said they couldn't be
covered in chocolate.

One Grave at a Time - Jeaniene Frost

I think I need to dye my hair red

so I can pretend to be Cat.

Here are a few reasons 

I love this series:

1. Cat

2. Bones

3. Their hilarious side kicks

4. Their scenes!

5. Ian

Yup,

I think next Halloween

I'll be Cat.

But I digress.

One Grave at a Time

picks up after Cat's uncle Don

passes away,

but cannot pass into the other side.

This time,

Cat has two pains in her arse.

There's Jason Madigan

who has taken over Don's office,

demoted Tate

(I know, can you beleive it)

has some stash of vampires

he's holding prisonner

and a huge pain in Cat's side.

Then there's the ghost of 

Heinrich Kramer.

He's a ghost.

He use to burn women

whom he accused of witchcraft.

Now, 

every Halloween

he's able to solidify

and murders and tortures

three women.

It's up to Cat

to kill a ghost.

And you were wondering

why I want to be her

for Halloween.

The Happiness Project - Week 1

When we lived in Dar,

Ethan had tons of playdates.

I felt well versed in playdates.

But.. for some reason..

Ethan tends to go on playdates

more than he has them.

We've had a 5-day weekend.

Ethan and one of his classmates,

have been playing together a lot.

They played well last year

and had some playdates,

but something happened this year.

Anyways,

they've enjoyed each other's company recently

that mum and I arranged a playdate.

At first,

I was nervous.

Do I know what I'm suppose to do?

In case this went sour,

I planned a baking activity as backup.

Things did not go sour.

But Ethan and his mate

were eager to bake.

Happiness is baking ninja cookies with your mate.

ShoeGate 2013

Every Christmas

we go home

to winter.

And the cold.

And snow. 

And every year,

I want to buy myself a pair of boots.

I don't have any.

I usually wear an old pair

of hiking boots,

or just some booties.

I never buy any.

It just doesn't make sense

to spend tons of money

on boots that will be worn 

for 3-4 weeks in a year.

At the end of October,

I saw a cute pair of booties

online

and on sale.

I thought,

since they were fairly cheap,

I could order them

and have them sent home to 

Canada.

That way,

I'd arrive to a cute pair of boots.

Only,

in my excitement,

I didn't check the mailing address

and had them sent here.

It was then December

and we were heading home.

My boots hadn't arrived.

And thus

ShoeGate happened. 

While shopping at Walmart

a few days before Christmas

I bought myself a cheap pair of boots.

I had no clue

that a part of my Christmas present

was a gift card to Aldo's 

to buy a pair of boots.

ShoeGate!

I used my Aldo card

to get myself

2 cute pairs of booties. 

Fast forward to this weekend.

We've all forgotten about

ShoeGate.

I head to Mercury

as I'm told I have a package.

My father-in-law sent some mail.

I got a care package from a mate in the US.

Oh, and a cute pink box.

My boots!!!!!!

ShoeGate 2013 has come back!!!

Aren't these the cutest?
How could something so small
and so cute
cause such an issue?

Have a New Kid by Friday - Dr Kevin Leman

Shortly after Christmas,

some mates and I were chatting

about our angels,

and how they aren't always angels.

A couple mates mentioned 

having read Dr Kevin Leman's book

Have a New Kid by Friday.

And since Ethan and I battle

often,

I thought I'd check it out.

For the most part

this book makes sense.

It's fairly common knowledge

just stuff I'm not good at following through with.

You know,

saying things only once,

following through with consequences,

not getting angry.

Will it change Ethan in 5 days?

Not sure.

But it was a great reminder

that I'm a good mum

and Ethan is a good kid.

I just spoil him a bit too much.

So...

I'm learning.

Not to get angry.

To say things once.

To follow through with what I say.

To give him more independance.

And to remind him

how much I love and

respect him.

Writer's Workshop - Shopping!

If I gave you $500 today, but you could use it for only

one purchase, what would you buy and why?

So, I saw this prompt

from MamaKat

and thought..

Oh, the possibilities!

So then I thought

what would I do with $500.

It's really not enough to travel with.

Then I thought of a shopping spree.

But it's one purchase.

Does buying many things from 

one place count?

And then I thought,

well really Tima,

if you could pretend to

buy anything

what would you splurge on?

Yup,

you guess it.....

Legacy Leather Large Duffle by Coach

Oh wait....

maybe in blue.

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 52

This week, Ethan began a new Unit of Inquiry;

Making Sense of It All.

It's about the five senses.

And since he began a new unit,

it means he finished a unit.

On Friday,

Ethan's class held their work share day.

Parents are invited to the classroom. 

Students show off the work they have done 

in this last unit.

I love work share day.

Ethan reads his days of the week story.

His art work and poem about seasons.

His math word problem.

His rock cycle

Happiness is seeing the learning

that goes on in school.