Canadutch » Mom

30 Days of Truth: Day 24

Breigh — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:11:54 +0000

Ugh, I’ve been dreading this one. I’m really not a big music person… there are a lot of songs I can sing along with but ask me who sings them or what they are called? Forget it…

I’m not going to do a playlist for just one person, because I’ll never come up with the songs but I’ll just give the ones that come to the top of my head at this moment and who they are for, what they make me think of and the times they take me back to in my mind. Songs that will always be special to me for whatever reason.

That will have to do.

Whenever I hear the song The Best Day by Taylor Swift I think of my mother because the feelings in the song are a lot of what I have always felt about her, and still do of course.

I still sing along with The Joker by Steve Miller and think about the amazing times I had with my friends in college. Me and the girls sang this in the car many a night on the way out to the clubs.

The Friends Theme will always make me think of Tony D (middle) and the boys. Friends was at it’s most popular during my second year in college and one night at a party I shot this photo of a few of the boys imitating the ‘Friends Walk’.

The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel will always make me laugh remembering the time myself and some friends hung out with a busker outside the library in Halifax. We were all pretty drunk and I just remember standing on the little wall doing the big “PSSSH” when it came time for the cymbals bit. I think we sang a lot of songs with him that evening, but that’s the one that has stuck in my mind. We didn’t make a dime.

For as long as I live, the song Snowbird, and any other song by Anne Murray, will make me think of my grandmother. I’ll always love Anne Murray for that reason.

Growing up with a musician there are a lot of songs that remind you of them but Splish Splash by Bobby Darin and All I Have to Do is Dream by the Everly Brothers are my ‘Dad songs”, the ones he used to sing to me most and that are always the first to my mind when I think of him. I can still remember driving in downtown North Sydney while he sang “The Dream Song”, as I called it as a child, and taught me the words.

Any song by P!NK will always have a connection for me to my friend Penny, she loves her just as much as (maybe more than) I do, and we even went to see her in concert together.

Please forgive me, the next song is Celine Dion.

This is a song that I played over and over again while I was still in Toronto back in 1999. I sang, I cried, I wailed… and I missed Xander. This was my go-to song when I needed to let it all out as I was waiting to make the move over here. It wasn’t a long wait really, but it felt like forever.

I never, ever, want to miss him that badly again. My recent trip to Canada was the longest we’ve been apart in over 12 years, and that was only three weeks. What can I say, we’re clingy. I can think of worse things to be when you’ve been married this long!

Mom’s 60th Birthday Afghan

Breigh — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:02:23 +0000

In the spring of last year I had been talking to my mother about knitting, and we were sharing photos of things we liked. She saw a photo of an afghan on Flickr that she really liked and I noticed that the lady was nice enough to link to the pattern! I immediately set out to try to find some yarn that I could make it with!

It was a bit difficult as I hadn’t really bothered with specific types of yarn before, I’d just buy some and make something. This was special though, I had to get it just right! I found a great shop in a beautiful little village just south of here called De Schapekop where the ladies were incredibly helpful.

They helped me find the perfect yarn for this project! It’s called Drops Muskat and came in a wide variety of colors, which gave me a lot of options. I chose to go really colorful and bright, as the colors just made me feel happy and I hoped it’d do the same for mom.

The beginning of the process was making hundreds of these little circles. I made multiple sets of every possible color combination using the seven colors I had chosen. This got somewhat monotonous after a while but it wasn’t difficult, just time consuming.

I used a long knitting needle to hold them as I didn’t want them all over the place. I knew myself better than to think I wouldn’t end up losing one or two along the way.

This also made it easier for me when it came time to rearrange them, as I was sure that I had all of the colors where I needed them. I almost drove myself insane trying to make sure that the colors weren’t clustering too much!

Once I had the colors in the order I wanted them, they’d go back on the stick to wait to be assembled with the white yarn. This is when it really started to look like something!

The more the blanket started coming together, the more I loved it. I worked on it on and off from April – September 2010. This blanket really was a pleasure to make and I may even make one for myself at some point.

It was all totally worth it too, especially when I was in Canada and got to watch my mother open it! I was hopping in my seat waiting for her to get to my present. Which somehow got saved for last, so by the time she did open it I was practically squealing!

It lives here now, in my mother’s living room. Hopefully it will help keep her warm on some of the cold winter evenings and she will think of me! I was thinking of her every minute while I was working on it.

Love you mom!! xoxo

By the way, if you like this afghan or just enjoy crocheting with really vibrant happy colors, make sure to check out Attic 24, she has a lot of really awesome projects! I’ll definitely be making more of her stuff in the future.

A Sweet Proposal

Breigh — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:03:56 +0000

I just got back from dropping my mother off at the airport. I’m a bit down and I miss her already but I’ve learned over the years that if I let myself wallow I can sometimes not drag myself back out, so I try to keep myself occupied until it passes. When I got home I checked my RSS feed and saw the sweetest thing, it managed to make me smile even though I’m feeling so sad.

On Bakerella.com, one of my favorite (not to mention sinfully tempting) baking websites, a man contacted the blogger and asked for her help in proposing to his girlfriend. The blog entry starts like any other, with the recipe and instructions on how to make these darling wedding cake pops, but at the bottom it has the photo with the proposal. I gasped, I smiled, I cried and exclaimed loudly “HOW ROMANTIC!!!”. Yeah, I’m a little emotional at the moment, but better to cry over someone else’s happy day than my sad one.

I don’t know who Melissa is, but I read in the comments that she said YES!

Honestly, how could she not?!

The Finished Product

Breigh — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:34:37 +0000

Today my mother sent me photos of the tea quilt I made her after she got it home and put it up. It’s kind of exciting for me because this is the first quilt I’ve ever made for someone as a gift that is on display somewhere.

She hung it in her dining room, which is the exact spot I had in mind when I made it. I’m so happy she likes it because I really enjoyed making it for her.

I got a message from someone asking why I haven’t been posting much lately. I’m not really sure. I’ve been in a bit of a weird mood which could be chalked up to being sick last week an still having trouble with that tooth. We’ve also been playing a bit of World of Warcraft, which has been taking up some of my time.

I’ve always had highs and lows when it comes to writing on here. Sometimes I am on a roll, other times I just can’t be arsed. Don’t worry though, I’ll always be back!

The Best Pet Product to Ever Happen to Us

My Secret Project

Breigh — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:10:31 +0000

A few months ago I started working on a secret project. My parents were coming over and I knew my mother would be celebrating her birthday while they were here. I wanted to make something special for her. So I got to work on a quilt I had been wanting to make that I thought she would like.

It has taken me a while as I do everything by hand… and between the bedroom renovations and lack of immune system I ended up getting behind. It wasn’t finished when she arrived so I had to show it to her before her birthday so that I could finish it up while she was here.

It was a hit! She loved it! Sometimes it’s hard to tell with moms, because they’d say they loved a lump of your poo if you handed it to them proudly… but I’m pretty sure she really did like it.

I took a load of pics the day before she left so that I could FINALLY write about it and be able to still look at it and show it off when I feel like it.

It’s been hard keeping this from her. Usually I tell her all about things I am making and show her photos along the way. Not this time though. I had to keep it totally secret which meant no photos on Flickr or Facebook, no talking about it on my blog… Ugh! It was torture! So many times she’d message me on MSN during the day asking what I was up to and I had to make something up because I was sitting there sewing away.

Anyhow, it’s all done and I’m really proud of it!

If you are into quilting and would like to make it you can find the pattern here.

36 Years Together

Breigh — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:05:43 +0000

Today two of my favorite people in the world are celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary… my parents!

This photo was taken three years before I was born when my parents were almost 10 years younger than I am now.

I envy them because of all the people I know I’m one of the few who’s parents are still together. Like mine, their marriage has not always been perfect but they stuck together and conquered everything that came their way.

I love them both more than I could ever explain here and

wish so much that I could be there with them today to celebrate. I will have to take comfort in the fact that I will see them in less than 2 months!

I think no matter what age you are it’s always difficult to imagine your parents when they were younger. I remember my father when he was 40, but I can’t imagine what he would have been like when he was 17. I remember mother when she was 35, but I can’t imagine what she was like at 25 when she was a new mother.

I think if I could ever have a super power it would be time travel… and I’d go back in time to meet my parents before they knew me.

The Countdown Has Begun!

Breigh — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:28:20 +0000

Lordy Lordy, do I love me some x-mas deco! Only 29 days till Christmas and I’ve given up on the idea of waiting until Dec 1st to decorate. I want my Christmas deco nowwwww! Ok, I admit, I’ve already started. So what?! It’s just a few ceramic houses…

For the last two weeks since we got back from Canada Xander has been home with me. We’ve now been together 24/7 for the last 1.5 months, except for two days he was away for something. Not many couples could do that and not end up in a War of the Roses situation. He’s decided to make our spare bedroom into an office for himself so we’ve been busy moving furniture around. This is a good thing because now I get more room in our main living area and he can make as much of a mess in the spare room as he wants without me losing my shit about all his crap everywhere.

When I was home my mother taught me some basic knitting and crocheting so I’ve also been busy putting them into practice. I’ve crocheted a baby afghan and am knitting another baby blanket at the moment. Next I’m going to tackle making socks, because I’ve wanted to learn to do that for ages. I get the feeling I might need someone to actually show me how but in the meantime I’ll try it from a pattern and see what I can work out.

Another thing I’ve been doing is going through the gawdawful amount of photos I took while we were away. I figure I’ll just tack on photos to the end of whatever post and cover the Canada trip that way.

One of the places we took Xander to is the Miners Museum in Glace Bay. Coal mining used to be one of the main professions in Cape Breton, but that has changed a lot over recent years. They still have one mine open with a museum so that people can see what life was like for the miners all those years. Here are some pics.

No related posts.

Mommy’s Day

Breigh — Sun, 09 May 2004 19:09:05 +0000

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! Today is mother’s day and I got to spend it with my mother for the first time in years. We got up this morning and had a nice breakfast and watched Coronation Street, which she LOVES. I really must admit I liked it more than I imagined I would. In just that one show I found myself already wondering what will happen next. Good thing is we get it in Holland as well so I can actually watch it back home. Although it’s the opposite of shows from North America in Holland, we actually are the ones ahead of them this time.

After that we had some lunch and got ready to go out. We went to the flea market at the Sydney Shopping Center to look at the crafts. I swear I wanted to buy every single Cape Breton crafty thing in the place!

Then we went to see Man on Fire with Denzel Washington. What a GREAT movie! I had no idea it was a true story when I was watching it and was shocked. The story is about a retired assassin who was a drunk and had pretty much given up on life who ends up with a job as a bodyguard for a family in Mexico. He gets attached to the little girl and she is kidnapped and he goes back to his old assassin self trying to avenge her death. I really liked it a lot! Oh and I gotta say, in the scene where Denzel goes to the rave and he’s got that outfit on with the bandana on his head, he looks soooooooooo HOT!

Canada, Baby!

Breigh — Fri, 07 May 2004 19:03:33 +0000

I’m in Canada, yay!! I’m really tired so don’t know how much I’ll have to say. “Project Baby” was a no-go yet again *Sigh* Everyone who says trying is fun lies.. sex is fun, sex with a purpose other than an orgasm is not. I’m trying not to get too obsessed about it but it gets tiring every month wondering and getting the what if’s just to end up disappointed.It’s so awesome to see my family again. So far we’ve just seen mom and dad. They had to work yesterday and today so Xander and I have basically been hanging around getting adjusted to the time and watching all the TV shows I’ve missed. Tomorrow the fun will begin. We’re having people over for dinner, etc for my birthday. Can’t wait for that! I haven’t -really- celebrated my birthday in yeeeaars.

The travelling home was long.. about 24 hours total from our house in Holland to the house in Canada. Pretty brutal! I almost killed one stewardess but I can’t be arsed getting into it now. She was just some British tart on our flight from Amsterdam – London with British Midlands that pissed me off. More on that another time

My mom looks unbelievable.. she has been dieting ever since my father’s heart attack and has lost almost 90 lbs. She went from a size 20 to a size 12. I’m so jealous, when I look at her I see what I could be if I had even an once of motivation or willpower, which I don’t. Walking and exercising would give me something to do when I go back to Holland though.. since I’m pretty sure I’m going to quit that GODAWFUL job I had back there.

On Wednesday I get my lisence renewed, it expired when I was in Holland. Cannot WAIT to drive again!

Whew I’m even boring myself with this.. my brain is still mush.

Psycho Hubby

Breigh — Mon, 03 May 2004 18:56:37 +0000

The sun is shining today in Holland and I can’t be arsed to do anything. I’m feeling soooo lazy.. not that this is a rare occurance of course. It’s pretty much a constant state, but I mean where would I go? Getting groceries can only get so exciting. On the plus side, they have chocolate there.. which I am craving like mad. I don’t know why, I mean I usually love some chocolate but the past few days I’ve wanted it so bad I’ve been tempted to just take a spoonful of the chocolate sauce for ice cream. Gah!

Omg, the wierdest thing happened last night. Xander fell asleep way before me and I was reading a little to make myself more tired. Just as I laid down to go to sleep I heard him mumble something so I opened my eyes. He sleeps with this thing wrapped around his head to cover his eyes and he lifted it up and rolled sort of onto his side, looking straight at me. He held his hand up and opened it finger by finger, as if he was counting to five. Meanwhile he had this really psychotic look on his face.. it was like One.. two.. three.. four.. five seconds until I KILL YOU!! Then he laid back down, put the thing over his eyes and went to sleep.

God I have the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! I’ve never been afraid of Xander before but last night he frightened the shit out of me. I woke him up and asked him what the hell that was all about.. but of course he had no idea what I was talking about. If he can look that psycho in his sleep.. what stops me from thinking he could like, chop me to bits in my sleep? Oh god I swear it was so freaky.. thank GOD I’m a light sleeper!!

Two sleeps now till I leave for home. Finally got all the laundry done, which is great. Although I’m sure my mother would be all excited if I brought it all back their dirty for her to wash. She’s weird like that, she loves to clean up after people and do their laundry and stuff. It’s like her own little way of saying I love you… She really ought to quit her job and become a maid, I’m sure she’d be great at it.

Crap.. I’m so weak. I just caved and did the spoon full of chocolate sauce thing *sigh*

Anyway..

Xander got me a book I’ve really really wanted to read on the plane. It’s been sitting on the dining room table for the past two weeks and it’s been soooo hard not to read it. I’m gonna crack it open the minute my ass hits the seat(s)!!

This is the book

Mike Gayle is my favorite author EVER! I’ve read a lot of books but none flow as well or are as entertaining to read as his books. I’ve not read one yet that wasn’t a “cover to cover” deal! I’m not going to rant on and on about how great his books are because I know I rarely listen to people when they tell me about authors they like, so why would I fool myself into thinking people will read his books just because I say so. SO, that said, if you are interested (which is cool!) click on the book to learn more about him and his books. If you’re not interested, well.. you’re a dumbass and I have nothing more to say on the matter!