Best Conversation of the Day:

Setting: In the car on the way to yuppy heaven, the farmers market

Regan: rant...rant...rant.... should just go to WAR and blow themselves up... rant... rant... rant
Christine: "Regan, calm down, little pitchers have big ears."
Regan: "Christine she doesnt even know what war is!"
Christine: "Are you so sure about that?? She just told you you were her 'assistant when she investigates danger.' "
Regan: "Isla, do you know what war is?"
Isla: "War?"
Regan: "Yeah war. What does the word war mean?"
Isla: "Well..."
Christine gives Regan the stink eye.
Isla: "It's this big big big beautiful bird. It's so so special and flys all around. Its big big but not so big and it flies to the pink Bella Sara horses...."

Best Eats in Winnipeg

So I feel as a Public Service Announcement I need to let all you wonderful people in on a incredibly delicious place Regan and I visited last night. Its a Lebanese quick service place in the North of Winnipeg (1783 main street) and oh my garsh they ever have some of the best eats I have ever put in my mouth. Baraka Pita Bakery is my new go to place for fast and ridiculously delicious and authentic food from out side the standard fare.
There is no decor to speak of and to be honest it looks rough around the edges. When I walked in my first thought was it was either going to be fantastic or very very scary. Luckily it was the former. What I saw as soon as we walked in should have been my first clue that we had no reason to fear. There is a large flame filled oven out of which comes the most gorgeous pillowy yummy pitas you can imagine. They alone make the trip worth while. Between us we tried the beef donair, the chicken shwarma platter and a fatire. All of which were so very very good. The meal with drinks came to just around $20.00 for two very hungry people. the portions were realy substantial (I couldnt best the platter) and everything was fresh and enjoyable.
All though its mostly a take out place there is about a half doze tables as well as a selection of Middle Eastern food stuffs. Check out this link to their menu
http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/menu/1433545
and give them a try. The people behind the counter are more then warm and welcomming, so in fact are their customers. While I was looking over the posted menue trying to choose between just a pita or the platter I had a woman come up to me and start preeching to me on the highlights on the menu (everything) and what I simply had to try. I back her up and say the Chicken Shwarma platter is for sure the way to go. Next time I plan on trying their Falafels and am already hatchign a plan for another visit.

Good Daddy Moment

Another piece of evidence that I married the right man to Father my children; The drive by kisses. Regan on his way to get our daughter from the bath goes into the living room and plops a kiss on our sons head. Those are the moments I fall just that leeeettle bit more in love with him.

Mothers Day Micro Blogathon

So be forewarned, today there might be many a blog post. Its mothers day which means my loverly family is giving me the best gift which is an opportunity to sit in my PJ's all day doing what ever the sweet heck I want. Which oddly enough is watching them, blogging and drinking cafe mochas. So by tonight's mothers day extravaganza at my own mothers house, I will be on a caffinated high and sporting a pair of nasty googly eyes thanks to excess amount of screen time.

Best conversation of the day

Scene; Snuggling in her bed talking about what we were doing that morning.

Isla; "Oh no Mommy."
Me; "Whats wrong love?"
Isla: "I missed it all. I missed everything! The suns out now."
Me; "What id you miss?"
Isla; "The meteor shower, the moon, the stars, the comets! I didn't see anything!"
Me; "Well heres the thing Isla, you'll be able to see them tonight, the sun sets every evening and then its night so you can see the stars."
Isla: (Sounding relieved) "Oh good... Now wheres Colin Mommy?"
Me; "Hes sleeping on Mommy's bed."
Isla: "O.K. I want 'Os' for breakfast Mommy, with milk and a spoon."

Later on as I walk down the hallway I hear Isla and Colin

Isla; (sounding very sad) "Good morning Colin. Sorry, but we missed the meteor shower, the moon, the stars and the comets. But don't worry, they'll come back."

A Fine Example of my Skewed Sense of Hunour

The above cartoons from http://www.xkcd.com have kept me laughing all day. I figured after the last post I should try to lighten things up. And yes, I do find The New Yorker cartoons just as funny. Thank you for asking.

What I'm Learning as I say Goodbye

These past few weeks have been tough. I am in the process of loosing a woman who meant a great deal to me. Though I haven't seen her in years because of distance she continues to be a massive influence on who I am and what I do.

She is in fact part of a team of strong, smart, powerful women who have shaped my view on things as varied as political ideals, propriety, feminism and femininity, marriage, environmental awareness, and what it takes to through a good party. (If any one cares its copious amounts of liquor - Drambuie and Southern Comfort - and Disco, preferably Bonny M and when its closing time, a few melancholy songs from 'back home' with a wee bit 'o pipes)
Last week I wrote her a letter explaining how much she has formed who I am and I hoped she heard it. Tonight was my time to say good bye and I love you out loud.

I realized as I waited for the nurse to pass the phone over that there is no social protocol when it comes to saying the long good bye. There is no "How are you doing?" We know that answer; not good. Theres certainly no "How are you feeling" because we really know that answer and "Talk to you soon" just seems cruel. So I said Thank you, I love you and I am sorry I wasn't around more and I love you again. There was so much that I wish that one 45 second conversation could have held. But through tears those three things were the only ones I could get out. In return she told me not to cry, that all she wants is for us to have a big party in her honor and for us to dance. She told me she enjoyed life and she hopes I do to.

After each of us had our turn to say good bye my two sisters and I met at my parents house. It only seemed right. We got together and cried. We got together and started to refile through our parents closet in search of our life story and stories of the ones we have lost and are now in the midst of loosing. After the command for us to enjoy life the three of us decided tonight was a fitting time to look back and celebrate what our lives have been thus far. We found our stories and our celebration in boxes and boxes of photos.

This emotional walk down memory lane was done in the middle of our parents bed surrounded by hundred (thousands?) of images of tens of thousands of great moments and memories. Sitting there, watching our family being formed and grow in photos of weddings, Christmases, Christenings, camping trips, birthdays, dog walks, trips to the cottage, Bar-B-Qs, proms, anniversaries, showers, school plays, bike rides, etc etc etc I began to understand that right now, in my life, is the best part. It dawned on me looking through the images of those who mean the most to me, raising me, that right this moment I am sitting in the middle of what I am positive will be the best part of my life.

So much of the time I do my thing, parenting, wifeing (theres a new word for you...) even sometimes working, that I forget that as hard, tiering, financially difficult, stressful, and emotionally draining things are right now they are also so much fun. Even as a rather bizarre teenager I knew the home I came from, the family I had, was equal to a big win on a lotto ticket. I have people, I have roots and even still I thought I had to go above, go beyond. To do what, I wasn't sure, but I was convinced I should be doing something more. Yet here I am and it blows my mind that things have managed to get even better without not even one noble peace prize, oscar nod or book deal. In the finding of my partner, and the raising of my children I have found a way of reaching back to that golden time of my own childhood and realized that life is so much more then a set list of should dos and need to dos. My house may be filled to the rafters with the detritus that comes with young children and pets but it is also filled with more adventures, more fun and more love then I would have ever dreamed possible as a painfully awkward teenager. There is no number of banal distractions that should cause me to forget to appreciate that.

So today as what is possibly the last gift my Grandma will give to me me; she taught me the lesson that right now, even with its dirty cat boxes, dish filled sinks, piles of laundry and burnt dinners is what I will be holding tight to me decades from now. Because the on other side to that chaos and work are moments like I just had, holding my baby boy, warm and peaceful to my breast. Watching him dream and then sneaking a peak at Isla, limbs helter-skelter over top, around and under toys and pillows and bed clothes, talking in her sleep about horsies and rainbows. With the everyday comes the sublime, the adventures and the oh so (almost) sacred memories that make up what it is to be alive.

Today may not have been extra ordinary other then my all too brief phone call and the emotional evening with my sisters. It was a day filled with nursery school runs, lunch with a dear friend, an adventure with two kids, no map, a 40 minute drive and fierce determination to pick up a used baby carrier I scoped out on Kijiji. All of that followed by a experimental dinner invented on the spot. But each of those things, are the types of things that makes this life, a good life, one that I can enjoy, just like I was taught.