So Long, Farewell

Yesterday marked the official end to my unofficial "Christmas holidays". True, as a stay-at-home Mom, I do not receive a true holiday from my "work". However, the last three weeks have been different from the norm. First, it was the Christmas season. Life was busy with purchasing gifts for loved ones, putting up decorations, buying good eats (I hardly bake, except muffins), and spending time with family. Second, my sister, her husband and son came to visit us from afar. Good times. Yesterday, they returned home via airplane.

Now I must say farewell to the past and move on with the future:

1. Farewell to R & M. It was absolutely wonderful to have them visit this frigid land during Christmas. We enjoyed riveting hours of Settlers of Catan (Seafarers version); frantic Christmas shopping followed by leisurely gift openings; consuming good food (too much food!); relaxing moments of conversations (as well as stimulating debates on politics); and joyfully watching our kids interact with each other! Of course, I had my usual crying episode after I returned home from the airport.

2. So Long Christmas Diet. I had finally returned to my pre-pregnancy weight before the festive celebrations (it took me nine months to put it on, and nine months to take it off). BUT, all the Christmas suppers; sinfully delicious chocolate; yummy baking courtesy of friends and family; and perpetual snacking has taken its toll. Plus it has been wretchedly cold, therefore making it difficult for me to face the wind chill and go for a walk. That's it! Things need to change! No, I will not embrace some crazy diet! I will just return to drinking lots of water, eating more fruits and vegetables, and getting more exercise. I think I may join a step class once a week during the winter months so I could eliminate at least one day of walking around the block.

3. So Long, Farewell Procrastination. There was one thing I hoped to accomplish during my maternity leave: do some high school calculus. Okay, I know this may shock some people. It may even cause some repulsive reflex reactions on your part. WHY would anyone like to study calculus in their SPARE time? Well, I do. Because, I happen to enjoy Math (shocker!) and I feel I need some intellectual stimulation other than baby talk. In addition, I do not want the Mathematical side of my brain to go to mush!

Gotta go drink a glass a water and find my calculus textbook...

Popular posts from this blog

Is God Good?

During "at home learning", I helped my daughter design an experiment on plants. She set up four identical pots with the same amount of soil in the same location on our deck (controlling her variables, right?). She planted two bean seeds in each pot. She watered three out of the four plants with various amounts of water (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup). The fourth plant only received whatever water naturally fell from the sky. At the end of one month, her hypothesis was partially verified. She thought the 1/4 cup water plant and 1/2 cup water plant would grow the best, which was true in the end. On the other hand, she guessed the others would not germinate at all. Interestingly enough, while the one that was drench in water (1 cup) did not germinate, the one she did not water at all actually grew! It germinated late but had the most steady growth. Is God good? I have been thinking about this question a lot these days. A global pandemic is still raging over our planet decimat...
Read more

Daunting {But Not Impossible}

I rarely watch the news. I catch up on the world's happenings -- where often the horror is reported -- via Google News. Or the brief blurb before classic rock on our favourite radio station. But very occasionally, at the end of the day, I take in the images of national and global headlines. Yesterday I watched the masses trek across Europe, searching for a safe haven away from war-torn Syria. I witnessed little kids crying as they tried to rub away tear gas sprayed by unrelenting border police. The message? You are not welcome in this country. I choked up as a father and his son fell to the ground after being tripped up by guards. The look of desperation on people's faces was heart breaking. Our country is nearing a Federal Election in October. Many voters are curious how the next Prime Minister will address the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Here is an excerpt from The Globe and Mail : Mr. Mulcair [NDP] and Mr. Trudeau [Liberal] condemn Mr. Harper [Conservative] for lacking...
Read more

Banking in the Now

This month we are trying something different: banking in the now instead of the tomorrow. Oh, it is nothing new, really. I used to operate like this in my single days. But then the lure of credit cards with reward programs persuaded me otherwise. While I never gave Visa the joy in collecting any interest payments from our bank accounts and I always payed our credit card bill before the 21 days of grace were up, I probably spent more than I should have some months. Why? Because I didn't have to pay for it immediately . It was not until last year that my credit card habits started to bother my conscience. Up to that point, I felt proud of the fact that the credit card company was paying me to use their plastic. I received stuff for free, even after paying my annual fee. Free fuel. Free flights. Free hotels. Free is good, right? My perspective started to change after I read a blog post penned by my sister. Her and her husband cut up their credit cards after a series of events, o...
Read more