heart set on pilgrimage

mama monday: week 33 "womanhood, and all that is a woman"

2011-09-26T17:33:00.000-04:00

In case you're wondering why I have ceased to post various fruits and vegetables that represent Baby Gaz's growth, it's because the growth at this point is difficult to document using fruits and vegetables. Even websites are becoming more obscure in their offerings: your baby is the size of a Chinese cabbage! A jicama! A crenshaw melon! Be assured that Baby Gaz is growing, Baby Gaz is

mama monday: Week 31

2011-09-12T15:27:00.000-04:00

Going through old post drafts, I came across this one from Week 17. PROOF THAT I MEANT TO BLOG THROUGHOUT SECOND TRIMESTER. Despite being a little outdated, the list entitled Stuff I Didn't Know still stands as a reminder of how weird all these pregnancy symptoms can be. * * * Here we are at Week 17 already! Baby Gaz is approximately the size of a pear, I look more like

foto friday: hot time, summer in the city

2011-09-09T09:16:00.003-04:00

Here are a few shots snapped over the past three months. Hand-picked, rinsed and presented for your viewing pleasure! * * * Back when the weather was at record-breaking heights and I was scheduling my life by moving my pregnant bulk from one air-conditioned environment to another, my friend Jessica and I spotted this charming employee of The Good Neighbour on a break. Yes, he

wifercize wednesday: hormones and hand sanders

2011-09-07T10:00:00.004-04:00

Andrew has been such a dear in keeping up with his hormone-flooded wife. The downsides have included fits of frustration (generally nesting related or sleep deprivation related) followed by a gush of tears. A few months ago I decided to tidy the first floor of our house. AND I HAD TO DO IT RIGHT. NOW. Coming across a few pairs of Andrew's shoes in the hallway, I asked him if he would like me

mama monday: week 30

2011-09-05T15:02:00.000-04:00

One would assume that after having whined and complained openly and publicly while we waited to become pregnant that the very least I could do was to blog as frequently about the process of pregnancy once acquired. But second trimester has come and gone and, for reasons unknown even to me, I didn't feel the urge to post. Not. One. Post. I guess I was having fun just...being pregnant. No

mama monday: heartbeat, part 2

2011-05-30T12:21:00.000-04:00

The milestones of Week 15: and Week 16 (four whole months!) have come and gone without much drama - in fact, almost all the drama of pregnancy so far compacted itself nicely into the first three months. PRAISE BE. My heart goes out to all the mamas who feel the effects of nausea throughout their entire pregnancies. There are elevated positions of honour reserved for you in heaven. Rob

foto friday: in memory of 518 jane

2011-05-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

Now, from the archives of my iPhone's camera app... A few weeks ago, my good friend Nicole Evans was wed in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Nicole has starred in my blog before, as we once were roommates at the best apartment in all of apartmentdom, 518 Jane: Where Life Is The Party. This is the diner where we all ate breakfast. A full breakfast in Sunbury was $3.49. This was the incredible wall

wifercize wednesday: the new domesticity

2011-05-25T13:46:00.000-04:00

One of the blogs I follow, Pacing the Panic Room, recently featured a few guest posts by the author's wife, Cole, here and here. I've been in love with this blog ever since Ryan (a photographer) began posting shots of his wife's pregnancy and I've been hooked ever since. Although I usually scan the blog for pictures I found myself reading each. and. every. word. of Cole's Q&A session because a

foto friday: something out of nothing

2011-05-20T11:43:00.000-04:00

Near the subway station where I live there once was a blank wall under a bridge. I featured part of this blank wall before here. Over the past few months, however, someone has been commissioned to make the blank wall less blanker and with something other than rust stains. I took these photos during production:

wifercize wednesday: husbandry fail

2011-05-18T17:50:00.000-04:00

I like gardening. It is not to be assumed that I am good at gardening. Like I enjoy painting but generally with my hands and instead of for the purpose of art more for the purpose of getting messy. For a few weeks little envelopes would show up at our house addressed to Andrew from various locations around the world. The States. Thailand. At first I thought he was buying magic beans, like

mama monday: ok already

2011-05-16T11:28:00.001-04:00

Over the past weekend, three separate people kindly reminded me of the state of my blog. Principally: not updated. Shout out to Helen, Rebecca, and that wonderful girl that Andrew bumped into at a Starbucks near Orangeville. Since last we met, Baby Gaz and I graduated Week 13: And Week 14: Week 14 is here represented by a 3.5 inch jalapeño pepper which, trust you me, I am not in the habit

wifercize wednesday: don'ts for wives

2011-05-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

While enjoying an extravagant dinner and witty banter with our friends Ben and Sarah, I found (and read) these two books while in the bathroom. Correction, I did not read the two books cover to cover. In fact, I skimmed the first few pages, became uneasy about the amount of time I had been missing from the meal, and took the books with me. They are now on lend to me to write this special

mama monday: weeks 9, 10, 11 and 12

2011-05-02T20:29:00.001-04:00

First, let's answer some fan mail. Yes. My intention, once I announced our pregnancy to the world, was to update Mama Mondays weekly with information about how far along I was, etc. In fact, the intention behind Mama Monday itself was to post about pregnancy and motherhood. But first trimester had other plans. Each day of my first trimester played out the same as the one before:Wake up after 10+

mama monday: +

2011-04-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

That's right, my patient little pumpkins: all the missed posts and writer's block can finally be explained. I happen to be quite knocked up. Oh yes, there is much more to the story. Too much for one post so I'll have to keep you coming back for more over the next few weeks. I'd have thought announcing our pregnancy to the world would feel more glamourous but it's hard to feel glamourous when

wifercize wednesday: absence makes the heart grow fungus*

2011-03-23T15:54:00.000-04:00

* A moment of silence for The Barenaked Ladies of the 90s [...] It's been four nights apart, but it feels like much longer. For three years of marriage, Andrew and I have not been apart for longer than one night - partially circumstantial and partly by choice. We're fortunate to both work in the same city at jobs that rarely require travel (or, at least, are flexible enough to allow us to

mama monday: mamacita!

2011-03-21T10:51:00.000-04:00

Since last Tuesday I have been in México, first for five days in Cancún with Andrew (here) - which, by the way, was such a welcome romantic retreat for both of us that I'm having a hard time enjoying the luxurious hotel in which I now sit since a) Andrew's not here, b) it's not Cancún, and c) Andrew's not here - and now the next seven days will be in Cuernavaca with the rest of the pastoral team

mama monday: brood

2011-03-14T16:41:00.000-04:00

I'm now receiving friendly reminders from people on Facebook: So here's the thing. Now that I work from home I have approximately 60 extra hours a week that I haven't had at my disposal since...infancy. It's been wonderful to eat when I want, nap when I want (AND I WANT), read when I want, clean when I want, and write when I want. Which is the problem. I don't often feel like writing. Or,

foto friday: I'M ALIVE

2011-03-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

Here's proof that I have not deserted you. I'm apparently just perfecting my skill of writing drafts. In fact, most if not all of the drafts that I've written recently have been typed, deleted, re-typed, deleted again, and onwards in a never-ending cycle of indecision. If only soul searching didn't act as as a costive block for my writing. And now I've likened my writing to a bowel movement,

mama monday: mormon blogs

2011-02-21T15:24:00.000-05:00

My apologies for last week. While Andrew and I completed a multi-ring circus week, you may have wondered what happened to my posting schedule. I had time. I did. I just didn't have the inclination or inspiration. Typical writer mumbo jumbo, but it's true. Thank the Government of Ontario for Family Day. So, where were we? Mormonism? Andrew sent me an insightful (and witty) article from

foto friday: bachelors and hipster restaurants

2011-02-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

Today, a sneak peak into two lovely design spaces: first the one-bedroom apartment of our good friend, Paul Kalvaitis (who, I'm sure, thought I was joking when I said I would feature his apartment on my blog), and second is a quirky restaurant on Ossington called Delux. Paul is one of the coolest bachelors I have the pleasure of knowing. He's an accountant (NO WAIT! DON'T CHECK OUT), an avid

wifercize wednesday: crushes, part 2

2011-02-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Part 2 of my discomfiting chronicle of grade school and high school crushes. Your comments are not only appreciated but necessary to the purging process. Don't leave me hanging. Now, where were we? Grade 11? My obligatory crush on a poster boy for the 90s (long, greasy hair, wore plaid shirts, rocked out to Green Day and Nirvana) came in the form of Blair Brandon. On Valentine's

(grand)mama monday: scarves, aprons and hankies!

2011-02-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, in order to understand motherhood, it's helpful to go back a generation. To grandmamas. I grew up quite close to my mother, who became a sister-mom to me in later years, in a way that many girls-with-only-brothers do. Other than mom, and Dodie, I had few other close female relatives. My paternal grandparents (along with an uncle and aunt) lived in Halifax and visited annually,

wifercize wednesday: crushes, part 1

2011-02-02T18:34:00.000-05:00

After watching Easy A (three times in two weeks) and then Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (which is arguably the best movie ever filmed) I began to recall the angst of high school days, and high school crushes. You know the kind: the relationships that launched, flourished, and terminated without ever materializing outside of your own contemplations. The crushes you (still) refer to by their First

mama monday: rent-a-baby

2011-01-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

This morning Melissa, mother of Noah, called up and asked if I would like to babysit Noah for a period of two hours this afternoon. WOULD I? I managed something to the effect of, "Well, if it would help you out, by all means..." since I didn't want to creep her out with my enthusiasm. I will chronicle my Adventures With Noah here on Mama Monday. 12:55 p.m. Oberon and I excitedly await

foto friday: recap of the last month or so

2011-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Update on my first week of freedom: conveniently enough, Andrew is free during the mornings this week (it's exam season at school) so we've been enjoying sleeping in, having long breakfasts with tea, catching up on our readings, watching TV shows, and BOOKING A VACATION TO CANCUN. We're going for March Break - our first vacation since our honeymoon! After spending some time on my MacBook, I