My Creatively Random Life

This month's book is 'Alice the Fairy' by David Shannon. Despite the fact that I am reading several different books, the only ones I have actually finished are the shorter ones I read to the kids at night before bed.  There are many of those that I really love but this one is new to our house so it get picked for me to talk about.  (also I love fairies) We spend a lot of time in book stores, usually before or after movies, and as we have kids and know kids we usually gravitate to the kids section.  Live in the GTA and see two occasionally well dressed adults reading each other books  and giggling in a bookstore that's probably us.  If these books are good they usually find their way into the collection of one of the many children in our lives.  If not our own then a niece or nephew, a friend's child or a birthday party gift. This one came home to Cat because I loved how fun it was.  I am a big fan of books that make kids want to read and be si...

This is a picture of me and my grandmother from roughly 1983, I find myself missing my grandmother a lot more with every small milestone the kids pass.  So with Cat's fifth birthday pressing on me and Ace about to "graduate" from Grade Three she is constantly on my mind. How much she would have loved to see my kids, how much Ace reminds me of her.  Would she have approved of the values I am trying to instill in them?  Would she see the same resemblances in them that I do?  My great uncle's nose?  My sister's attitude? I don't have a lot of pictures in my house, a few of the kids that really need to be updated and this one.  Because it's one of the few pictures I have of me and my Nanny.  The woman who taught me everything about what being a good person really means.  Who taught me that there is nothing so bad that it won't seem better after a cup of tea and a cookie. The kids roll their eyes when I break out the camera to take pictures...

I have used karma  in a previous A to Z challenge but it is a topic that I have a deep connection to.  I have a deep belief that what you put out into the world does come back to you and I try to live my life as much within that philosophy as I possibly can.  I don't want to put anything out into there into the world that's going to come back to bite me in the butt.  It gets a little easier with age. The theory is that good intent and good deeds lay the way for good karma and future happiness whereas negative intent and bad deeds create bad karma and future suffering.  In some religions it is tied to the concept of future lives so what you do in this life effects what happens to you in future lives. Karma is difficult to define because there is so much diversity in the views of the different religions but it does seem to share common themes.   One of the main ones being that like deeds cause like effects, the effects of karma are not necessarily immedia...

I received this product as part of a review panel. I was a little skeptical of these nails when I first got them because I have had less than great experiences with fake nails. I thought the packaging was adorable and I loved design; as Cat pointed out purple is my favourite colour. The directions were super easy to follow and it really was as fast as promised within 10 minutes I had beautiful looking nails. The thing that impressed me most about these was that they lasted so long.  I work in a dental office and wash my hands a million times a day so that these held up to that for the five days before I took them off is outstanding.  Some of my nail polishes don't do that. I got so many compliments on my nails I would definitely use these over going to get my nails done for a party.  Way less time out of my day.

Fan Expo last year marked an exciting time for me, it was Cat's first time experiencing a con.  I didn't get to take Ace to his first con so I was very excited about this.  Sadly I spent most of the day brutally sick, so most of what she experienced was playing with her shield to amuse herself while Mommy tried not to let her know how bad she was really feeling. We started off the day having at look at the Star Wars stuff, Cat was all entranced with R2D2 when this guy here came up and tapped her on the shoulder.  Want to see a little kid freak right the hell out?  Do something like that.  I was carrying her FOREVER before she calmed down. This was my big excitement for the day, sadly when you only go with a four year old there is no one to take pictures of you.  I suppose you could always ask someone, but I was not at that point yet last year.  Now I wouldn't have so much of a problem with it. Cat's favorite part of Fan Expo was the Lego ...

This is one of the pictures I keep at my desk, it's of Miss Cat when she was just she of her 1st birthday.  Now that she is just she of her 5th birthday it sort of makes tears well up in my eyes every time I look at it because she it growing up so fast.  Where does the time go?

The second book in the Sword of Truth series is Stone of Tears. This was this first book I originally read of this series, the one that got me hooked and still after reading all of them many, many times I think it is one of the best.  It really develops the characters further...it gets to the heart of them one might say. One of my favourite things about this particular universe is that everything and everyone in it has a purpose that eventually comes to pass and the smallest actions that seem irrelevant at the time make these huge ripples chapters later.  Or in some cases books later. So it really does feel like it requires a second walk through once you get all the way to the end because you have the questions about whether or not things happened the way you think they happened.  

As I am sure you know I did not complete the A to Z Challenge on time this year, not even close.  That being said though I am still planning to finish eventually.  Just a little slow.  My computer is in the process of dying, it works for a bit and then it just randomly shuts down and work restart for hours.  Super fun. Anyhow, I will be going my fellow A to Z participants in take a tour through the blogs that participated and making some new friends.  (unlike them I will also be finish up my posts) Check out the official post  here  on the A to Z Challenge site.  Happy Road Trip!

Slowly but surely I am catching up on my blogging, and posting random stuff in between.  I feel positive about getting on track and getting stuff out into the world.  Now to find and dump my camera for all the ComiCon and Cuba pictures. February 26, 2014: Dinosaur postcard for my collection from my pen pal. February 27, 2014: A shot of my very messy living room. February 28, 2014: Like my new hairband? March 1, 2014: The boy gave me a new hat.  I must say he has good taste. March 2, 2014: Cat's flower tree painting. March 3, 2014: Valentine's Day treat. March 4, 2014: A gift my wonderful coworker Marion brought me back from South Africa.

Jesters were entertainers in medieval times who were employed to entertain nobility or entertain commoners at fairs and markets.  They employed a wide variety of skills including music, storytelling, acrobatics, juggling and song usually in a comic style.  Many jesters made jokes about people or events known to their audience.                1) Use of the word "jester" in the modern sense did not begin until the mid-16th century.                2) Jesters served both to amuse and criticize their master/mistress and their guests.                3) They enjoyed a privileged status in a noble household.                4) Jesters could give bad news that no one else dare deliver.

This may be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard, in fact when my sister told me about it I thought she was joking.  She said it reminded her of me because I said I don't like Cat watching 'The Little Mermaid' because I feel there it pushes changing yourself for the sake of someone else a little too much. Somehow I don't think not wanting my kid to immerse herself in something and wanting them to ban a book are the same thing. Anyway, the  story  is that patrons asked the Toronto Public Library to remove copies of 'Hop on Pop' by Dr Seuss from it's collection because it supposedly promotes violence towards dads.  Thankfully the Materials Review Committee opted to retain the book in their children's collection as it is a well loved classic. The other six books on the list that came before the Materials Review Committee in 2013 were: Killing Kennedy: The End Of Camelot A Kiss Remembered Complete Hindi Flesh House That's My Bo...

So there are some pretty silly holidays out there and every day is a chance to celebrate something weird and wonderful.  I am a big fan of the silly and weird and of celebrating in general because as I have learned repeatedly over the last few years, life is short and can end any minute. So part of my goals for 2014 was to blog more (which I have totally blown so far by getting sick and faltering during the A to Z Challenge which I will finish, eventually.) and as part of that I am going to incorporate posts about stuff I find interesting.  So monthly holiday posts are in. May 1 is Mother Goose Day.   May 2 is Baby Day and Space Day.  (Space Day is the first Friday in May) May 3 is Lumpy Rug Day May 4 is Star Wars Day (like I was going to say anything else) May 5 is Oyster Day May 6 is No Diet Day May 7 is National Tourism Day May 8 is No Socks Day May 9 is Lost Sock Memorial Day May 10 is Clean Up Your Room Day May 11 Twilight Zone Day May ...