True joy

When I found this I had one of those "oh man, this is soooooooooooo true" moments, and I just felt I had to share.
I am not sure when I lost the "oh I man I can't wait for the weekend" or the "oh I can't wait for THAT party".....it just happened....just as my journey with being okay with myself. It was not just a huge BAM moment...it has slowly happened over time...not that I have not always been a happy go lucky type person to begin with...but lets be honest...we all have issues of some sort....and it's how we deal with them that makes our journey of life is so interesting.
I literally love everyday....even Monday's....I love that at any and every moment there could be a big moment...or that any moment I can MAKE that big moment....how awesome is that really....to be in charge of your life and to enjoy it all, even the bad shit....cause really, I get to decide how I am going to deal with it so it's all good, no one else does it for me!
So happy Sunday, my moments so far today have been pretty darn exceptional. Happy winter solstice too!

Giving feels so goooooooood!

So the hubster and I joined this years craze...which is a thing called Reddit...where you could sign up for an international or just in your own country secret santa gift exchange. The hubster opted for within Canada, and I opted for international. You could also choose to do just gift or do gift and card, each going to different places.
So today, hubster got his gift from somewhere within Canada, and my card exchange buddy (who was in California) got his card today.

Yup, I homemade a Christmas card for a grown ass man lol....but this is what he requested....a unique card, so that's what I was striving for. After all....it's not that often that a Canadian hand makes a Christmas card for some dude in California lol.
Hubster's gift came from Victoria....he got a beer stein, and remote control car thingy that he controls with his cell phone, and some chocolates. It was so cute and totally perfect for him.
I have yet to receive my card or gift as of yet....but I sit in anticipation of them. My gift that I sent out went allllllllll the way to Slovenia. I can hardly wait for that lady to open up her epic Canadian box!
We also sent out a pretty darn epic Germany box the other day too...I can hardly wait to hear about all the giggles and laughter when that special box gets opened by our loved one's over there.

I also handmade a bunch more cards and special treats for some random strangers I have never met or know but who attended the Shambala music festival....I had posted on their facebook page a note saying "hey, it's not too late...who wants to exchange homemade Christmas cards" and the response was awesome....so I crafted away this weekend and sent them out this week to strangers once again.....I just LOVE sending people stuff....cause really....who doesn't like getting stuff in the mail that makes them smile....I just wish people would do this ALL YEAR ROUND!!!

You tell me this NOW!

Let me start off by telling you about this amazing vegetarian restaurant in Calgary. It's called The Coup and it's completely dedicated to vegetarians and vegans...the other awesome thing is that my son's girlfriend works there! She too is a vegetarian, and so when we went to the city yesterday they took us there and it was FABULOUS. I have never been so excited to be in a place where I could eat EVERYTHING on the menu and the hubster and NOTHING to choose from cause there was no meat...but it was so great for him to experience the roll reversal and feel exactly like how feel ANYTIME we go out to eat...he's able to find something on the menu is 5 seconds and it takes me 5 minutes.

This place is my new favorite!

Three of my favorite humans ever!!!

the full monte

2 pieces of French toast stuffed with smoked tempeh, swiss & 3 year canadian reserve cheese, arugula & roasted pepper, served with a shot of seeded mustard maple syrup and organic hash

So once we got home from the city, I called my Mother back in BC to tell her about this great place and how it was catered to us vegetarians and how when they come out around Christmas we should go there so that Dad may have the same experience I did...cause he's a veg head too.
So out of the blue my Mother some how, for some reason....tells me some information that I have NEVER heard of before in my life.....she tells me that most of the people on her side of the family were VEGETARIAN......so after I picked myself up off the floor and could form words I began scolding my Mom lol.
I said...."did you not think to tell me this a long time ago....or least 2 years ago when I became a vegetarian?"....she just laughed. So her Mother, my Granny grew up in a Doukhobor heritage...now there were two kinds of Doukhobor's...the crazy kind and the normal kind lol....my Granny's were the normal kind...I'd go into further detail of the difference, but if you google search Doukhobor I'm sure you'll find some crazy shit...and that would be the other one's lol...not my relatives kind.
So in this heritage....for religious reasons....they did not eat meat of any kind...so I found it fascinating that all these relatives that I have history with, that I remember visiting as a child in Grand Forks B.C and in the Fraser Valley growing up...were all veg heads....WOW....this just seemed amazing to me for some reason....the the whole veg head reasoning has history...now there were some of those relatives on my Mothers side who "fell away from those beliefs" and chowed down on some good ol meat in their lives, but for the most part...they were fanatical about there belief in not eating animals for self pleasure....my Mom even told me that one of my great Uncles...Uncle Bill...wouldn't even eat at her house because she cooked meat there and he could not be sure if she would use lard or some other form of ingredient that has meat products in it...so only my great Aunty Polly would eat there!  Information like this I think I really should have been told about don't you think!!! So I called my sister immediately after this conversation to make sure I was not the only crazy one that did not know this....but she said she sorta remembered something about that in the history, but not to the extent that my Mother bestowed upon me in last nights conversation.
So...now I have discovered this new amazing history of my family...I have to begin the search of recipes that they had...that are probably all lost and buried some where to see what kind of vegetarian lifestyle they ate!
Feels good to know that there we others in my family before me that probably struggled a hell of a lot more then I ever will with not being able to eat out!!

Snow day

Yup, I took a snow day from work today....it's not for trying though....I was up at 4:30am...started the car just after 5am...and left the house about 5:30am....only to be in a snow blind titlawhirl spin on the hwy ten min up the road. No I did not pee in the seat....I am ever so thankful that I pee'd before I left the house though....cause spinning on the hwy at that time of the morning in snow and ice is like...ummmm...there is no description for that shit...it's just shit and that's all there is to it!
So after calling work and getting my blood pressure down from the excitement I was not going back to bed....I was wide awake and ready to take on the world....the hubster....was not :-)
So I only banged around the house for an hour or so, and then I could hear that he fell back asleep...so I cruised the internet in blissful alone time and quietness....but that only lasted so long and then I was antsy again....that is when things got out of control....a whole large pot of coffee was made and all the xmas decorations came out.
So between bathroom cleaning, floor washing, box unpacking downstairs then coming back upstairs and being distracted by pretty xmas things again, my house got xmasfied lol.
So by noon my hubster was completely messed up by me being home and not at work he started drinking lol....and so in his drinking state he suggested that we put up the lights around the windows using the glue gun....yeah...that's what I said...WTF.....and so it happened....I got out the glue gun from the "oh this shit is from the 90's box" and he went to town on the windows and lights....and did a kick ass job frankly.

So although I didn't go to work, I managed to get a crap load of stuff done today AND I'm still up at 9:30pm at night WITHOUT having a nap and I have been up since 4:30am....did my hubster spike my tea? So now I have no clue what things we will get done tomorrow with being able to accomplish so much today....oooohhh boy....we might actually get shit that NEEDS to be done from like a long time ago done...whoa....crazy talk!
Happy weekend adventures to you all :-)

City visits that warm my heart

Another MMA fight night enjoyed with my daughter in Calgary

We were super close to where the fighters walked in and got lubed up...which was sooooo spectacular, I mean...who doesn't wanna watch a man get lubed up for the ring!

The cage that captures my insensitive side...the side that loves seeing grown men beat the crap out of each other for what seems like my sick pleasure lol.

This guy spent the entire night doing different self portraits of himself...it was rather entertaining....so we dubbed him "selfie dude"...we only wish we knew where he was posting or sending all these selfies too!

Saturday morning breakfast with my kids is always the best!!!

My son had the most epic breakfast out of all of us!!!

Media propaganda

Yesterday on facebook was HORRIBLE...in the sense that EVERY post was all about "Thank you troops for saving our lives" bla bla bla.....SERIOUSLY....am I the only on this is AWAKE on this issue? How can I be the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?
Fighting is not saving me....our country fights because we vote in needless leaders who media propaganda this idea to death and brain wash us into believing this shit...that magically we would all die if they did not send us to war....ummmm NO....the gov't makes money off of war, plain and simple...I will not stand by and become one of the sheep that sit back and thank the troops. If you are a troop, I feel so sorry for you and that you have lost your sense of self and awareness and that  you think it's okay to fight or kill.....and that you would do it all "in the name of your country"....well....don't include me in your country then....cause I don't believe in war...and I'm not some pot smoking, non bra wearing crazy 60's hippie freak...I'm just a woman who is NOT falling for the bureaucratic bullshit that everyone seems to be soaking up. Please...if you feel this thought process is invalid....I would LOVE to hear how you would reason that the war is right or good!!!!

November winter

There seems to be no denying it...it is here, to probably stay...not melt away. This week is a cold one...cold enough that I am wearing long underwear to work already and it's only November...sheehs.
Thank gawd I was wearing long underwear at work actually, as I blew the ass out of my work pants on Monday, on my FIRST delivery....yeah...that was a great way to start the day...and yes...I was the "butt" of jokes for the morning.
This fall has been a busy one, busier then usual I'd say...I'm not sure if it's because we are closer to cities now and there is more to do, or closer to family so that makes it feel busy too...or the fact that I'm just getting out and doing more...either way, it feels good!

Two weeks ago I joined a roller derby league in Lethbridge...yeah....it's kicked my ass....not the people...yet....but the fact my body is NOT used to purposely falling so that I know how to get up type falling while rolling on four wheels at great speeds....AND not using  your hands to do it....SERIOUSLY...I think the last time this was done by me was at the age of 8! lol....so for the last week I have felt like I was 80...and I did not go to last weeks practice due to a snow storm...so my body has one more week to recover, or should I say prepare for the next ass kicking on Sunday lol....and I can't even complain that I'm old, cause there are other women my age doing this that are older or same age...so I just gotta suck it up lol.

Last week my son turned 24....yup....I'm pretty sure that makes me some level of old somewhere lol....he also moved into a new place...which is very exciting, since he was in a apartment for the last 3 yrs that had no elevator and he was on the top floor...and this new place has a nice big back yard for gardening and hammocks!
When I went to the big city for his birthday, we had a great dinner together with my sister and brother in law and his girlfriend...and then we played laser tag...to which I have never laughed so hard in my life...between laughing and screaming, not sure which I did more of...but it was a blast...and the important thing is that I did not come in last lol.....second last, but not last lol.

So this last weekend I was invited for to a fancy day and evening of learning and cooking Ethiopian food....filled with AMAZING conversation with some super fancy ladies. It was really really great to be with such empowering, educated women around my age for a girls evening of good food and good convo!

This next weekend shall be filled with more fun, as I head to the big city of Calgary for some mother/daughter time. She is taking me to some more MMA fights....oohhhhhh yeahhhhh...I am sure we will both be drooling and screaming like lunatics....for we both love a good fight....and she's even gonna join a MMA gym to start training her self....more for the fitness effect, but hey....I'm pretty sure it's for the "atmosphere" of fighters lol.