A new year

Good afternoon 2012! We didn't make it to midnight last night (ha!). I fed little man around 11pm, then we all passed out, hubby too. An appropriate beginning to the new year I guess, with a priority on sleep and snuggles. We did have some good food and wine tho, and reflected happily back on the year - a baby!

A beautiful, awesome baby. 2011 was also a lovely pregnancy - I enjoyed it for the most part, and stayed well and happy. The whole thing flew by fast. As usual, always interesting to read back on last year's NY post.

The store did well, we did a big trip to visit family in the states, and lots of cottage, city, and family visits. D made a lot of music, but alas I did not. Which brings me to...

Resolutions for 2012 (such a futuristic number)... read! read! and read! Sitting with a nursing or sleeping babe for the majority of my waking hours is prime reading opportunity... must take advantage of these quiet, plentiful times. One can only type emails one-handed, read up on "baby milestones", and research never-to-be-made elaborate recipes so much. I also aim to frequent the local libraries more often and "get into" books... as in, even read about what books to read. I miss them. What's reasonable? Maybe an easy to reach goal of a book every 2 weeks? Surely that's doable.

I also want to get into making dinner again. We've been eating lots of rice and cans of Jyoti, bagels and cream cheese, wraps, etc.

Reading and eating. That sounds good. Oh, and exercising...... at least trying to move more often than not. Music, we'll see. Maybe music with D.

2012!

solo dayz

D left for the Sound again to visit relatives again, soon heading back to England. He's been into the 'stuff you should know' podcasts recently and so Josh and Chuck have become good company in the evenings. With D gone, I hung out with the two for awhile and learned about government experiments, witchcraft, and now 'can you control your dreams?' is queued up. Sitting by the fire, sleeping pets, wine. The lovely, always appreciative of it, usual.

The big wedding stuff is finally sorted and we're now onto dotting i's and crossing t's. The fun details that make planning a big bash kinda fun. It's really real to think D and I will be officially together forever in just four short months. I'll be a WIFE! GOOD GOLLY!

D got carded at the beer store yesterday (he's 34). Just wanted to document that - it happens all the time, despite his grey patches. It's kind of awesome.

Spring is sprunging - I got to walk around Toronto in sneakers the other day. That felt good. I walked all the way to Princess Margaret where they told me all is well. Kinda skipped back to work. Massive, massive, massive relief.

This weekend is wide open. I got books out of the shelves, piled and ready, if I want, whenever I feel like it. Ooo... maybe I'll finally get a card at the Bobcaygeon library.

switch

bought a snowblower and a mini-tiller. and night-time reading is an ontario government booklet called "pasture production".

settling in

been meaning to write more but've been distracted by the tangible. tho life is slower here, it always feels like there is something to do and the time goes by quickly. in the city it was like shifting gears, always on the go or recovering from being on the go, but here it is an easy and constant pace... a tempo i think i'm most happy at. also enjoying spending time with d and roommates. living with my love is a healthy switch as i'm confronted with smoothing over my rough spots (idiosyncrasies blindly developed while living alone). i laugh, learn, and love daily... it's so nice i can hardly recall why i was so attached to living solo.

highlights of today include buying terracotta and cool little pots from the dollar store and baking some vegan chocolate chip cookies. gearing down. exhibits a and b:



notice am becoming person who snaps pics solely for blog purposes. getting the swing of this.

started michael pollan's "in defense of food" and although i'm only just into chapter two, it's already got me pausing mid-grocery-store-isle, product in hand, thinking. more on this later.

although i mostly do the vegan thing, have been perking ears to the fishermen (usually /fisherwomen too but have yet to see one) of the area. they're everywhere, settled along the shores of georgian bay. on a walk past the harbour last evening, i quizzed a resident fisherperson on the whats and hows (to which i received a "yr not from around here, are ya?"). rainbow trout, bait on a hook. this morning i asked jp's friend for more detail and apparently fish eggs in a sack, sunk with styrofoam is a popular bait. huh! interesting.

i guess dad put rods in our hands as soon as we were able to hold things so fishing warms me like any proud, happy, recurring, life-evolving childhood staple would. plus i'll admit an attraction to the primitive, connecting with nature, catching food from the wild thing. took a small bite of d's salmon the other night. hm, not sure yet. i sort of remember how to clean a fish. and that trip with uncle h and my bro deep in algonquin, along the robatai river... spinners, frying pan, butter.

warming the chill

blizzard outside. coffee and warm socks inside.

i've been spending a little time exploring other people's blogs and my new love for google reader has kept me organised and up-to-date with the ones i've found. it's strange to decide to sort of make friends with someone without their knowing. maybe i'll come out of hiding someday and sprinkle some comments. till then... sorta fun to see the fruits of another human also pausing a moment to take notes. so far mostly gardeners; somehow the plants forge a universal kinship amongst us.

got a great real estate agent for the kawartha lake area. she sounded energetic and down to earth on the phone. "the people are so friendly here and it's beautiful!" looking forward to finding a home with her. i think it will work out. the muskoka agent has basically disappeared and i'm unimpressed. if i choose to get cosmic about it, it could be some sort of sign... that and there's a lot more to choose from in my price range in kawartha.

mom's coming to visit next sunday/monday. would like to help pack (aw) and get a dose of the city before her daughtaire ditches the place. my bro m was here earlier this week and i took tuesday off work to hang out with him. went out for a delicious breakfast, tried to find me a winter coat (found one at MEC but in too-small a size so just ordered a larger one online), and went skating at nathan phillips square. (who's nathan phillips?... wikipedia tells me a toronto mayor). we both rented skates that turned out to be super dull but it made for a hilario clownish time.

d arrived wednesday, on his reading week, and is staying till the weekend. so nice. as much as i'll miss living solo, i feel like i've done a good stint (a few years) and having company is/will be a nice change.

back to work.

things in the mail

am checking the mailbox excitedly these days... expecting some stuff.

seed order from william dam:
Campanula Meteora
Chaenorhinum Summer Skies
Lettuce Mesclun Salad Mix
Cucumber Salad Bush Hybrid
Petunia Fantasy Mix
Tomato Totem Hybrid
Lettuce Baby Star
Agrostemma Contessa Pale Pink
Everbearing Strawberry Temptation
Tomato Black Krim 'Organic' 1
Zinnia Deep Red
Statice QIS Formula Mixture
Coreopsis Early Sunrise
Gypsophila Covent Garden
Zinnia Sunshine Mix
Nasturtium Jewel of Africa

winter jacket from MEC

two books from amazon:
"Burpee The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener: A Guide To Growing Your Garden Organically"
"Living in the State of Stuck: How Assistive Technology Impacts the Lives of People with Disabilities" (work related)