Every once in a while, we all could use a holiday, and boy, did I need one. So, I took a wee one and just had some summer fun with the Youngling.

Drawing,

I Love My Family Illustration by Youngling

picnicking,

Me Love Cookies! Yum! Yum! Yum!

taking pics of the Stanley Park wildlife,

Feed Me!

and going to Kerrisdale Play Palace (my pic’s blurry, I was laughing so hard! They should have a place like this for adults!).

Adults Need A Place Like This To De-Stress_Imagine the Fun!

We watched the moon rise over English Bay

Moonrise Over English Bay_It was A Windy Night_What Can I Say?

and enjoyed the Celebration of Light (Spain won BTW. Their theme was Heaven & Hell. Simply magnificent!)

Celebration of Light Grand Finale Fireworks_photo credit Tom Wiebe on Flickr_via Miss 604 dot com!

while listening to beautiful music, (this happens to be one of my most favorite pieces of music and one of my most favorite movies, A.I. . This was part of Spain’s music for the fireworks display. Click on the music link above to hear another favorite piece of music of mine that was also part of the display! And yes, you have seen the movie that made this piece of music famous — again. Nice pick for trailer music!)

suffered through a heat wave (we’re still suffering by the way!)

Said the Youngling to Me_Hey Mom we are roasting like a couple of chickens right?

— and let me tell you, Vancouver could be renamed Hades if it wasn’t so much fun — and visited the many spray and splash parks in Vancouver.

I am going to splash you Mom!

The Granville Island Water Park was the best and we will definitely be going there again next summer.

And, of course, I watched movies,

Are you surprised really?

and re-read my favorite books. (Are you watching Pillars of the Earth on Starz?)

My old beat up copy of Pillars of the Earth_Revisiting this book 15 years later I understand a whole lifetime more than I did the 1st time around!

I love this book!

I also managed to write, just a little. I even went to a wedding! (The first one in 6 years, WOW! And it was beautiful.)

I did all those things around the house that needed doing,(I love this book, too!)

Look inside if you dare!

I dreamed about taking a cake decorating course (fondant, YUM!),

Dont U just want to eat it?

and tried to enjoy the now and quiet my busy, frazzled mind.

This is not a good look.

And now I am back.

Happiness is writing and it is who I am.

I hope you had a wonderful time while I was away, and if you haven’t manged to take a break, try and take one — even if it is a wee one — I know you deserve it!

Never fear, Super Youngling is here!

Sometimes there are times when life can get too busy to stop and smell the roses. We forget to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. That is why we all need good friends to remind us to stop and have a moment to treat ourselves. Yes, sometimes we all need a good laugh!

My good friend Rosie sent the email below to brighten my day. It gave me much more than a little smile, RR! I was #ROFL! It looks like you typed this one up, too! Good on you!

Enjoy, dear Readers! This laugh’s for you!

~ The following was copied for your reading pleasure from an email I received the other day…..

~ A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah’.

The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to hell?’

The little girl replied, ‘Then you ask him’.

~ Followed by…..

~ A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work.

As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’

The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one knows what God looks like’

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’

~ …..and……

~ A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.

…..After explaining the commandment to ‘honor’ thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, ‘Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?’

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, ‘Thou shall not kill.’

~….and finally…..

~ One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, ‘Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?’

Her mother replied, ‘Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.’

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, ‘Mummy, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?’

See What I mean!!

~ From Rosie

“ Laugh often, Dream big, Reach for the stars!” ~ Author Unknown

You are the love of my life.

You know how they say the Universe conspires to bring you the things you desire? (The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho) I believe this to be true. (My Youngling is the most precious and beloved gift I have ever wished for and received.)

I believe that family may agree to disagree, love you flaws and all, and be your biggest fans and supporters. Family believes in you even when you don’t believe in yourself, and are there to pick you up off the cobblestones when you can’t walk anymore. (Did I ever tell my sisters just how fabulous they really are? What would I ever do without you? You, dear sisters, have been my rock and know my heart best.)

I also believe that true and dear friends (who I also consider my family) come into your life to help you grow and broaden your horizons. They perform unexpected acts of service that come from the heart with no desire or expectation for recompense. They may even help you to sprout wings you didn’t know you had and fly. (Thank you friends for being the extended family I always hoped for but never dared to dream I could have.) They also share great books with you. (Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Connected Parenting by Jennifer Kolari)

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I also believe that there are people who touch your life only briefly but have profound meaning and messages to share. Today someone I will always remember, though I may never see them again said something to me that changed my life. (In regards to how my Youngling feels about me: “You are the love of her life.” Thank you for that, because I never thought of it that way. You are an amazing teacher.)

I believe I have been truly, truly blessed and fortunate in my life. So today I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes with you, dear reader. A quote from one of the people on the list of things I believe in. May it be as profound for you as it was for me, and make as much of a difference for you in your journey as it has made for me today.

“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe that today was truly a wonderful day. What do you believe in?

Teletoon Retro

DISCLAIMER! The following material is intended for a mature audience and may be offensive to younger and/or readers sensitive to frank speaking/writing. Reading discretion is advised!

Every once and while, I like to sit with my Youngling and watch Teletoon Retro. I greatly enjoy sharing with her the animations of my youth which brought great joy to me. They still do, and to see her laughing just as hard as I did waaaay back when I was Youngling myself, just shows me that these cartoons were really funny. Anyways, I digress.

Trojan Man!

On one such recent occasion (tonight, actually), a Trojan Man commercial appeared, to my great dismay. Completely chagrined and totally terrified that my curious and bright 5 year old might ask me, “Mama, what’s a condom?”, I reached over and grabbed her. I crushed her little head to my bosom, effectively cutting sound off to one ear, while one of my hands covered her other ear, and my other hand covered her eyes.

Raccoons TV Show

Now, this frantic move on my part to shield her usually elicits more curiosity than there was in the first place. Now she knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that there was something going on that I didn’t want her to see or hear. So now it would be her mission to figure it out by ferreting the info out of me with an endless round of questions, and the declaration that I promised to always tell her the truth! To which I would theoretically answer, “I don’t want to tell you right now. I will tell you when you are 14 or so.” This kind of I don’t want to tell you right now, I’ll tell you when you’re older answer, usually satisfies her. But if I do the dive and shield from all evils move, this answer won’t suffice, and she will be ever vigilant and more determined than ever to discover the truth. Why oh why is there a Trojan Man commercial on during Raccoons? And on a Sunday, no less!

Now, I’m fairly liberal, but even I draw the line at Trojan Man advertisements on a network devoted to cartoons! My 5 year old is already impressionable enough as it is. She’s constantly trying to convince me that I need the Ab Circle Pro to get the ‘sexy hips and thighs I’ve always wanted’. I don’t need her trying to convince me that I need Trojan Man condoms because ‘it feels like there’s nothing there!’. Oh, the horror!

I mean, I do plan to be open with her about topics like sex, drugs, and rock and roll when the time is right. However, in my estimation, there is nothing right about hearing the word condom uttered by a 5 year old; I don’t care how liberal of a parent you are. That being said, I have no problem answering certain questions she has. We have a pact between us where I have promised to always tell her the truth. And if I don’t want to or simply can’t tell her the truth, I’ve promised I will tell her exactly that. For the more, shall we say, embarrassing or delicate questions she presents me with, admittedly, I do break out into uncontrollable laughter. I’m not laughing at her, I am always quick to explain so as not to discourage her from coming to me with whatever she needs. I explain that it’s simply due to my own nervousness, shock, consternation, and embarrassment as the reason for my inappropriate giggling. That is usually followed by a heartfelt apology just to put her at ease and get a hold of myself. The things 5 year olds can ask you when you least expect it, but no one ever warned you about, are endless. And trust me, that is a whole other post altogether! Giggling is how I handle the shock. It could be worse.

Oh well, I guess it was after 8 o’clock, and shouldn’t Younglings be in bed by then? Most definitely, however, this is a long weekend here in Canada, so I’m letting her stay up a little later than usual. My bad, I guess. So, I suppose I will have to exercise my right to:

a) change the channel

How Kelvyn Got His Name

b) turn off the TV and read How Kelvyn Got His Name to her, or

c) leap like a mad woman to shield my innocent child’s eyes and ears.

Oh no! Gotta run! Here’s that Trojan Man commercial again!

~P.S.~ Am I the only person on Earth not watching #Lost tonight? Thank goodness for DVD sets. No commercials!