Thursday, March 28, 2013

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.







Wednesday, March 27, 2013

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
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.


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

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!!!!

 













Thursday, March 21, 2013

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.














Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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.















Saturday, March 16, 2013

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.



 photo H54Fbutton-triangle_zps678b65ba.jpg


Thursday, March 14, 2013

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.





Wednesday, March 13, 2013

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.












Monday, March 11, 2013

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?


Sunday, March 10, 2013

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.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

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.






Tuesday, March 5, 2013

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.