13 of my Favorite Pictures

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Oops I Did It Again...

It's so not my fault! I have no idea how I got into that fabric store. My car must have been possessed or something. I didn't see it coming and bang! I was pushing a cart with 3 new fabrics, cut, ready to be paid. I didn't want to make a scene, so I paid and left.

Maybe I've got multiple-personality disorder? Because there's a 45 minutes I can't remember. Seriously!

So tonight I did what I had to do for Hortense (my seamstress personality): I prepared my fabrics and tomorrow, I'll sew... Did I really have a choice?

Oh, and I taught Miranda to knit tonight. Purl is for tomorrow... My life is so complicated... :-)

Snowman, Santa Claus and Polar Bear...

A little before Christmas, Miranda did a little painting. I adore the fact that my darlings take advantage of the material available at home. For me, having stuff to do arts and crafts, to paint, to sew, to draw is essential. So we have interesting stocks scattered all over the house. There's a lot of stuff in the index cards desk saved from trash by a good man (ours, of course!). We have a complete wardrobe filled with pearls, boxes, sturdy cardboard, canvas, gouache, brushes, fancy scissors, markers, pebbles, shells. In the basement we also have boxes of wrapping paper (very useful for crafts), ribbons (new, leftovers, recycled pieces -hurray for 2nd lives!). I have loads of fabrics (a full dresser), papers (an indecent quantity, I swear), acrylic paints, glues of many types (a full basket). I didn't mention yarns, stickers and scrapbooking, stamps, embossing, calligraphy material. For a fraction of a second, I'm ashamed of myself. Pssshttt, it's gone, already. Guilty doesn't stick probably because «it's our hobby», it allows us to create, to invent, to please, to learn more about ourselves, to put a little beauty here, there, and there too. Anyway, if I have to cut on something, I'd rather wear the same clothes for a couple of seasons and put my creativity at full throttle. It's a choice. I can deal with it. Easily...

13 Lists

This morning on the radio, there was a discussion about lists.
What, how, why? It was inspiring...

Here some of the lists I do, I like, I need.

1. creative projects I plan to do in my little black book. Once they're done I crossed them out with a marker and never tear a page to remember the creative things I do...
2. 5 things I’m grateful for, every day. Been doing it for a year and a half now.
3. groceries and errands to run
4. in an address book, I write down the movies I watch (cinema + DVD). I also write the main actors, the year and an appreciation.
5. in another address book, I also write down the books I read (I include the date this way I know how many I read every year)
6. when I travel, I write about things I see, places I went in a mini journal that I fill with mementos (leaves, business cards, pieces of shopping bags, museum tickets, etc.).
7. my daughters’ friends phone numbers (this list now includes cell phones!)
8. important numbers to remember (health, social, life insurance, etc.)
9. birthdays in a lovely book
10. cities I’ve been, visually organized in Facebook
11. things to do for work in a notebook. I draw a box in front of each item that I check when done. Gives me a feeling of accomplishment!
12. blogs I'm addicted to in Google reader
13. addresses of my postcard swaps friends

By the way, there’s a new swap organized by Chookooloonks. E-mail her before January 16th if you’re interested. The theme is «Love». Couldn’t resist to that!

Calender 2008

Last year I made a calendar for Alizée. Here is 2008's:

Xmas Skating

Today was the traditional skating activity, right before Xmas holidays at Miranda's school, where I taught for 8 years. Parents are invited to help with the skates and some join on the rink. Not my case this year, I took a few pictures and chatted with some of my former colleagues, t'was really cool...

The only minor problem, my niece fell and hurt her chin. Her dad who's a dentist took care of everything. It was too cute to see her twin brother worried by the incident, he felt so bad for her...
So my little one skated for the last time with her primary school. Next year will be a very different thing. I am not too nostalgic, I know that when a fantastic moment is over, it makes room for other great moments...

Latkes

T'was sooooo delicious...
A tradition during Hanukkah.
Thanks Emily!

Oh Xmas Tree, Oh Xmas Tree!

I experiment with lots of things, including our Xmas tree!




Oh, and sweet baby Jesus was brought by Miranda on her last shopping spree :-)
Mystery solved!

13 Things that Make our Xmas Tree

1. a little tree
2. tiny blue lights
3. fuchsia snowflakes
4. beaded garland
5. a crown on top of the tree (looks amazing!)
6. flashy green ornaments
7. sequins on metal wires
8. sparkly turquoise bows
9. a blue pashmina to cover the foot of the tree
10. a gift under the tree
11. baby Jesus on a golden bed (we still don't know who brought it home, it just «appeared»!)
12. a pine cone I received from Angela
13. lots of love (hey, it's tough to find 13!)

Bitter Sweet

My daughter introduced me to Bitter Sweet. Too cool...

The Miniature Earth

I've always liked this comparison...

Homemade Food

Today, Claude and Miranda prepared great homemade food, most of them being traditions such as meat pies, donuts (Noëlla's recipe), potato pie (a childhood memory), egg rolls, Parmesan fondues and stuffed rolls. We'll eat meat pies at my in-laws' party. We started eating the donuts (an excellent desert, especially with a touch of Nutella!). The potato pie is already gone and we'll taste the other food soon...

Thanks you to our cooks... xx

13 Holidays Traditions

We still call it «Christmas», but since there's no religion involved for us,
we'll talk about holidays...

1. Decorate a Christmas tree (a couple of years ago, we started doing a mini instead of a big one).
2. Do a winter scene puzzle.
3. Eat homemade meat pie and donuts (by Claude and Miranda).
4. Watch «24» episode after episode.
5. Play boardgames (to please the girls).
6. Go to the «boxing day».
7. Watch, «Lord of the Rings» (trilogy), again.
8. Wear pajamas all day long, at least once or twice.
9. Go to Claude's family party in Drummondville.
10. Read, do arts and crafts.
11. Sleep, lots and lots of sleep...
12. Eat differently (everyone decides what they'll eat and when they'll eat, usually leftovers).
13. Go to the movies (this year: National Treasure 2, L'Âge des ténèbres, Breakfast with Scott...)

Hours of Pleasure

You know about my passion for fabrics... Well I've been on the production mode for a couple of weekends. I made 3 aprons including a cute red and white one for Miranda ( for a Xmas play at school). I also made 3 tote bags; one I use for work, one Alizée needed for her phys. ed. clothes and a last one for a gift exchange at Claude's office party.

This weekend, I need to focus on my godchildren's presents, I don't know what it will be yet, probably aprons made of funky fabrics. Oh, and Miranda asked me for a tote bag as well.

I love doing projects I can complete in a day. It' so different from the quilts that take forever. And, as always, no pattern, I just look at different models and there I go. Too cool!

Moving Forward

Alizée is having fun with Photoshop.

She does stuff like this. It's great, it's her.
She's good, isn't she?

13 Reasons I'm on Facebook

Yes, I'm on Facebook. Started a couple weeks ago.
Didn't like the concept at first, but I'm enjoying it more and more now.

1. I don't have too many friends yet so I don't feel overwhelmed.
2. Someone I worked with a long time ago and who lives in London contacted me and we're sharing about our everyday life.
3. There are silly things: some make me laugh, some make me smile.
4. I love the visual bookshelf application (books, CDs, DVDs on display).
5. I enjoy updating my profile (recently discovered I can post about my favorite singers, groups).
6. You can write a short sentence about how you feel at the moment, what you're doing (status).
7. You have a word to say about the people who want to be your friends (you can deny them your friendship. That's funny, don't you think? I feel I'm back in high school, well, no, elementary school :-).
8. It's a collection of networks. I don't see how big it can be yet, but it is.
9. When someone contacts you, it sends a message to your email (so you don't have to check there for messages too).
10. You can even have a Christmas tree on your profile!
11. There are so many gadgets, it's a world of discoveries...
12. It's new, everybody's talking about it and I wanted to understand the «thing»
13. I think there's something there...

Photo Swap Surprises!

And here we go! Photo swap kits are on their way... Received my first kit the day before yesterday from Ani (photos, sweet recipe, drawings, kind note) and a second from Nina today (photos, postcard, ready-to-send card and envelope, personal note). I'm so happy I discovered swaps through blogs. I started with postcard swaps and then, one day, Ani suggested a photo swap +1 (with a little something as a bonus!). On top of looking for original ideas, we don't suffer the performance syndrome, we're just having fun. And we don't even know each other «for real»! Well, I tell you that and then I realize I kind of feel I'm getting to know them through their blog, their photos on flickr. What a nice idea. I'm delighted when I think of future swaps. What will it be? I don't know, we'll see! One thing for sure though, I'm ready, anytime for those who might be interested!

13 Discussion Topics

In the car with my daughters, we discuss lots of things...

1. places we want/ will travel
2. credit cards (a concept to understand for the younger one, a new step for the older one)
3. future career
4. school stuff
5. music we listen to (High School Musical for Miranda)
6. a video of my daughters when they were much younger (very funny)
7. weekend projects
8. stuff we need to buy (clothing at the moment)
9. films seen, to see
10. next year (high school for the younger one, cegep for the older one)
11. friends
12. cars (Miranda is learning the brands, Alizée is learning to drive)
13. and oh, we say silly things too. Sometimes, lots of silly things :-)

Snow

Oh, don't think I'm the kind of person who likes winter. Nah... I don't like winter but snow is so beautiful. Beautiful snowflakes falling down. Of course, we're only at the beginning of the snow season, I was working from home, I was not freezing and snow was still white, not yet gray/brown/black. Well, it was lovely here. And with the morning light, it was simply magnificent. The trees were heavy from the ice that covered the branches, there was still a bit of snow, the contrast between the whites and the sun, wow.I was afraid to be late for my meeting in Montreal, but I really wanted to have pictures so I asked Miranda to take a few for me. The one above was taken from her bedroom window. I love the reflection of the sun, it looks like decorations in a Xmas tree.

As soon as I arrived from work, I rapidly took my camera and toured the yard to capture exceptional scenes. It smelled great, fresh crisp cold air, everything was white, I enjoyed the "crunch crunch" of my footsteps in the snow. Yes, it's slippery, the stairs are covered with bumps made of snow/slush/ice, it's freezing outside and winter eventually gets on my nerves, but between you and I, isn't snow fantastic?

13 Songs that Make me Dance

Some recent, others, well... Still, they make me dance (sometimes even sitting on my computer chair!).

1. I Will Follow / U2
2. Breaking the Habit / Linkin Park
3. Numb / Linkin Park
4. Pictures of You / The Last Goodnight
5. How Far We've Come / Matchbox 20
6. World Hold On / Bob Sinclare
7. Into the Ocean / Blue October
8. In Between Days / The Cure
9. Vogue / Madonna
10. I Miss You / Blink 182
11. 1 2 3 4 / Feist
12. Move Along / All American Rejects
13. That Girl is Poison / Bell Biv Devoe ( Because of Scrubs)

Portfolio

Meeting with Tanja tonight to continue working on our book. What a great experience, an incredible opportunity to work on our own, and then together on such a nice project.

Because of this project, I've re-discovered my old collages and painting exercises, my little arts 'n crafts pleasures. I have many portfolios to keep my stuff, and once in a while, I like looking at them. When I do that I realize I like what I've done, that they're more beautiful, more to my taste then when I created them. Right after collaging (is this a word?) and painting, I have the tendency to see all the little details that don't make my creation as perfect as I wanted to.
On top of working on our book, we did a few artsy things tonight. Nothing big, just girly stuff while listening to Electrolove, Regina Spektor and... Diane Tell! Yes, Diane Tell! Well, to be honest, we were singing too loud to hear her... Too funny to find out that Tanja and I have another common interest!

5 Things to Do to Be Happier

Last week, Stuart Knight suggested us 5 things to do to be happier, more motivated.

Here's the list:

1. Let go of fear. (Do it!)
2. Decide to have better conversations. (Easy! I'm not really good with small talk, anyway...)
3. Take responsibility. Stop making excuses.
4. Let go of what I can't control. (Getting better at this...)
5. Be the absolute best you can be (no more, no less).

SPEAQ 2007

Usually I don't talk about work. Today is an exception. Last week, I was at SPEAQ and I had such a great time. I saw fantastic people (some I knew, some I got to know) with whom I had great conversations.

I've attended quality presentations and I learned lots of stuff, especially about technologies. As a good learner, I've already reinvested to make sure I remember about them: I've created a del.icio.us account (adore), a Facebook account (don't really like it yet, but we'll see) and as soon as I can, I'll try the wikis...

I've also listened to great conferences, very lively and motivating. Fresh air is always welcomed when comes a season like fall: Thursday evening, an energizing hyperactive, Friday morning a moving "preacher", Saturday morning a colleague who makes great links between technologies and learning and a man who inspires anyone who meets him...

Miniatures

I was living with Françoise the year I studied at Ottawa University. She was a very funny woman from Belgium, and with her I laughed like I never laughed before. Sometimes I miss her... I often wonder what she's become.

Françoise had many miniatures on an old armoire and I was fascinated. I wasn't 20 and she was a great friend. Françoise was a little older than me and I learned a lot from her (Brel, food, how to have lots of fun). When I left, she offered me one of her miniatures. I still have it. It belongs to a collection of useless knick knacks decorating my kitchen.

In my collection (I've always collected stuff from as far I can remember, I guess it's part of who I am), are ducks from Martine, a flower from my love, a handmade bird made by Alizée, a fishing thing (don't know what it is, really) found in Bar Harbor, a jug brought back from Greece by my sister Valérie, a few pebbles (Washington, Percé, Forte dei Marmi), teeny-weeny shells, a «#1 teacher» frog (gift from a student), Claude's pocket knife, a toy green monster found in San Diego and some more...

I don't buy miniatures, they simply come to me. And these little treasures remind me nice things, great moments, important people of my life. That's precious!

13 Signs We're Close to Winter

1. I now wear socks everyday
2. Gotta wear a coat even when it's sunny
3. Winter tires are being installed
4. Trees don't have leaves anymore
5. My car sleeps in the garage
6. Gotta heat the house once in a while
7. There are good TV shows to watch
8. Winter clothes have replaced summer clothes in my wardrobe
9. I'm giving training sessions again
10. We're thinking about going South (West?) to run away from cold for a vacation
11. Hockey and football seasons (and I'm definitely not a fan)
12. We don't drive with the windows rolled down anymore
13. We change time this weekend...

Regina Spektor

My last musical crush (discovered on one of my idol's «Myspace»): Regina Spektor. Go visit her website and view, listen to her music videos. Divine moments!

Driving with the CD playing is one of my little pleasures these days...