Therapy

The last couple of days I feel as though I have been a complete grouchy pants. Caught up in the busyness of life I let "nasty Krista" slip out and into view. I have said things, perhaps not out loud, that were unnecessary and uncalled for and do not communicate the person that I would like to be. But here, if it is not too haughty to say so, here...in this space, I find a strange kind of therapy. There is beauty here. There is clarity which is hard to find among the hustle and bustle of the everyday, running from one appointment to the next and there is music...
(And here I can choose my words before they spill out onto the screen.)
And in this moment, instead of bitter words spoken out of the lack of sleep that is pulling at me, I choose to share joy.


Here is where I find joy...

okay, I feel better now.

Faure's Requiem

This past weekend Ben had tea with Irene Besse. His mother was soooooo proud. And why would she not be. Ben has come a long way from the greasy skater that tormented his parents as a disgruntled adolescent. The occassion for such a visit was Faure's Requiem, conducted by nonother than Ben Ewert. The Organ is one of the features of this breathtaking masterwork. Organs however are becoming a little hard to come by. So to make a long story short, Irene donated the newest organ to the Roland family for the performance. Ben did an amazing job, joined by the Wildrose Chamber Choir and Academy Chamber Orchestra. I don't think he will be coming down from this high anytime soon. Good job Ben, we are so proud of you!

Simple Pleasures

I lead a simple life full of simple pleasures.

I have always said that the day I got a new kitchen I would buy myself new tea towels.
This statement however, was similar to, "When I move I am going to buy new couches." Ben and I have moved 3 times and only recently have acquired new-to-us couches for a case of beer.

Well lets just say, at Christmas time we did a few renos to our kitchen (the room where I literally spend about half of my waking hours...if not more) and up until a couple of days ago had yet to follow through on my promise to myself. But while experiencing sensory overload at Homesense I spotted this...

A mini-muffin tin. Because everything tastes better when its mini.

9 Month Checkup

Ben and I have this awful problem of over committing. Life is always a whirlwind of rehearsals (of which I should be taking some pictures), work and the other but Spring is so close you can almost taste it. So on Friday, to savour a moment in our son and daughter's so temporal childhood, we took some time.

The snow has almost disappeared from our backyard and our firepit is calling out. It is just a reminder that time is passing, and as much as we long for June when most of our commitments will be fulfilled, we need to stop and take inventory of the blessings we have been showered with. Ella had her checkup with our family doctor today. Ella is the only patient he has had with Down Syndrome, but to be frank, she is a lousy example. She is 17 lbs plus and almost 27 inches which puts here above the 70th percentile for both height and weight on the DS chart. It also means that she is in the 50th percentile for normal children. Quite average and holding her own. She has been sitting since she was about 7 months and is getting ready for crawling. She babbles with her favorite phrase being babababa and of course dada but once and a while, in a special moment I get a mama.

She got her first taste of rice and beans yesterday and enjoyed it very much and has yet to refuse one of the many concoctions I come up with.

Jakob is a going concern and is needing the snow to leave room to roam and explore....OUTSIDE. He tried to do this the other day in the house and tipped over my full flat of freshly planted sweetpeas. It is amazing how on a day like today you realize how far he has come. I hope it is safe to say, fully potty trained. Saying , "Mommy, may I have some Gummy Bears please?" Now how can you say "no" to that. And learning how to put his own DVD on. He's getting to be a big boy and is better brother than Ella or I could have hoped for.

For many reasons...

Changed my mind. Just pictures instead

Delusion, Romanticism or Optimism

So many people I know create beautiful things to add to their beautiful life...or least that is what their blog seems to communicate. Others seem to do only beautiful things - take walks on the beach, create fabulous Italian meals listening to miles davis while sipping an beautifully aged syrah, drink lavender earl grey tea and savour the morning sunshine. Well, wait a minute... I do those things, why does my life seem not as spectacular as theirs sounds?
I suppose some people just have the ability to take the mundane and make it beautiful and a thing to be envied. And my question is why not? Why not see the beauty in the otherwise dirty waste that the snow melt leaves behind. Is it a bad case of disillusionment and they just need to come to grips with the reality of dirty dishes, dirty diapers and mornings you don't feel so inspired? Or is it simply romaticism - imagining something that is not? Or is it optimism, something I have always had to work at. Although, many of us won't check back ten years from now to see what our facebook statuses/stati? held for 2009 I would like to think that I could look back and it would bring a smile to my face. Why not remember the good, the beautiful and the times I was inpired, encouraged and felt like the best version of myself.

Green Thumb

I have always helped with the gardening. My grandmother had/has a huge garden and it is always full of the most wonderful veggies, fragrant flowers and sweet delicious fruit. I, however have never had a garden of my VERY own...beyond the planters that took over the balcony of our serene condo in Ladner. But THIS IS THE YEAR... the year I plant a garden to call my own....maybe. As the sun penetrates the icy tundra and melts away the Alberta cold to uncover...dirt...a lot of dirt I am inspired and so I will act like this will actually happen. I have just ordered a crap load of seeds so I am going to have to do something with them. The only thing is that I have to start from scratch. My yard has no garden...as of yet and so my plan is, vegtable by vegtable to master the art of gardening. And if that goes well, then I will move on to Root Cellaring...if only in part because I LOVE the term root cellar. (Don't ask me why, but if I had a coffee shop, it would be called the Root Cellar.) I have my doubts and have already settled in my mind that if this ideal of an abundant garden does not work out that I am sure there are many with green thumbs out there that would love to get their hands on some organic seeds but until I am proven otherwise, here I go. Help and advice are welcome,

The Aspiring Gardener,

Krista


PS-Part of my inspiration comes from an organization in BC called a Rocha. When Ben and I lived in BC we would volunteer there every once and a while. After a morning of fresh air and planting they would serve lunch to all the volunteers and it was a beautiful thing.

Ave Verum Corpus

We are in the Lenten Season and Easter is rapidly approaching. Ben and I are planning the Good Friday service for the town and know that although it will genuinely reflect the essence of our Savior's sacrifice it will offend some and leave a distaste for others. Isn't that the truth for so much of the Gospel when not watered down. This piece by Mozart will be a part of the service...

Ave, Verum Corpus
natum de Maria Virgine,
Vere Passum immolatum
in Cruce pro homine,
Cujus latus perforatum
unda fluxit sanguine,
Esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.

Hail, true body
born of the Virgin Mary,
Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man,
Whose pierced side overflowed
with water and blood,
Be for us a fortaste
in the test of death.

Falling in Love...all over again.

I just read this and was inspired. Their story sounds much like ours...much like so many stories of people who were suprised by joy. We are nearing on Ella's 10th month and I am falling in love all over again.