the mind is a funny thing

Joe's away for a few days; he drove up to Banff for a conference. I'm sitting here in bed reading, and I just heard a car go by. Immediately my heart beats faster and I think "oh, maybe that's Joe"... the mind is a funny thing how it can know something in one sense, ie I know Joe won't be back until Saturday, but not know it in another sense -- and still think that the car outside might be him. Strange...

And speaking of trips, I'm off to Ottawa next week, back just in time for A's birthday. Then Hallowe'en, and on Hallowe'en night and the following day I'm hosting a friend who's coming to give a talk at the university. I'll be glad when October is over, it has just been far too hectic!

projects...

I've found some great new projects to work on! First of all, I'm almost done the sweater I started; it just needs a bit of lengthening. I should have added 3 inches to the length, but silly me I thought that the longest length would be enough. Oh well.

I've finished the handwarmers I thought were pretty nifty -- four pairs in total -- and I'm starting a "divine" little cardigan for Andra.

And here's the latest large project: the cutest little dresses ever, one for each girl. They're pretty ambitious, but hey; I need a challenge :-) No, these are not pictures of my kids; I "borrowed" the pictures from the online patterns (click on the pics to link back to the patterns).

K and A are taking dance class on Thursday nights, and it's amazing how much I get through while waiting for them! Most of the other parents leave their kids there, but Andra's pretty little and I wouldn't want her (or K) to come out and be looking for me and have me not be there. Last year there was one class where K's teacher brought her out of the class with a huge lump on her head; she'd smacked it on the floor and had quite the bump! So I just work on my projects. It's kind of nice to be able to do that and not feel like I should be working, but I keep reminding myself I need my time too.

With Joe at school my work is really suffering. I try to take the weekend off so that I can feel fresh and "regenerated" on Monday, but that's not going to be feasible any more. I'm really behind, and with this new course I'm teaching (which is opening up new research interests) I have a stack of reading to get through that's about (no exaggeration) two inches thick. And I can't just sit down and read it; I find that in order to retain anything I have to take notes on it, or *do* something with it, so that is fairly time consuming. Andra has really noticed that we are much busier now, and of course K is in kindergarten so although K loves it Andra is not too pleased. So I'm trying to leave work fairly early to spend time with her, and take one day a week to do something special with her. I feel so guilty for not being able to do more and I feel so guilty for cutting short my working hours -- can't win.

Ok, back to my projects; the whole point of them is to take my mind off this!

capoeira

I've started taking Capoeira; I wanted to get back in to Karate but I just couldn't afford the time requirements they want (two nights each week). Capoeira is just one night, although it would be fun to do it more. Here's a few links to some info about it, in case you're curious:

• capoeira a tough workout (from capoeira online)


• wikipedia on capoeira

giving thanks

My daughter came home last thursday, and said to me over lunch: "Mum, can you tell Granny how thankful I am for her?" It was the first time that she had ever expressed an idea like that. And so I am seeing my little girl grow up, and at the same time reminded by her that this is a weekend for giving thanks.

I am thankful for my healthy children, for my healthy parents, and for my supportive friends. I am thankful for a job that allows me to keep my family well fed and well clothed, and provide a roof over their heads. But my reason for writing this is that I am thankful that I have a loving, caring husband who cares a lot about me. I recall this summer he was put on night shifts, which was very trying for us. On one of his days off I remember he stayed up all night and made us hot cinnamon buns, from scratch, to have for breakfast. It's those little things that are worth remembering, and holding on to, and that make life worth living. Thank-you.