Play time!

Just a couple more hours and it's the weekend! Yeah, it's 5am and I am already counting down to the weekend. I got up extra early to finish cleaning up for the arrival of the two little ones and my Auntie Mireille (they are staying in my room so it had to be child proofed). I also have a little exam today that I want to be all studied up for. I am quite stoked for this weekend because of the arrival of family and because I get to hang out with Boy. I'm also trying to get back into the study groove so hopefully that'll happen as well. Mind you that may not happen for an other week or so. I'll probably be too distracted by my little cousins and I'll be building forts, reading books, baking, going to the beach (in Winnipeg there's no Ocean.... so we get to go see the OCEAN :) and collect shells and stuff!) and all sorts of things that make being a kid fun!
Oh... my eye is better... ish. It no longer hurts a lot. It just hurts a little. There's bone pain lateral to my eye that can be felt in my ear and jaw. I think I am on the mend!

Eye am confused

On Tuesday, I was surprised to find that my eye hurt every time I touched it. It felt sore... kind of like it was swollen. After looking at myself in the mirror a couple of times, seeing that there was no swelling and having friends look to see if they could spot anything abnormal... I figured it was just something strange and it would go away when I went to sleep that night.
It didn't. I woke up with troubles seeing out of my right eye. I could still see but it was fuzzy as heck! If I didn't blink my vision would SLOWLY return to normal but... well try to stop yourself from blinking. Not going to happen. I asked the Dean what might be wrong (because Dr. J is on vacation and he's the next best thing...). He figures it's something to do with the drainage of my eye. He suggested to do some lymph drainage. So I spent any free time during the day lymph draining and icing the right side of my face and neck. By the end of the day my vision was so off that I had trouble grasping things, writing on a line, I was walking into door frames and I had a head ache (most likely because my left eye was working over time).
Today isn't any better... I hurt myself this morning, got teary eyed and my left eye drained (so it didn't look like I was crying) but my right one didn't. My eye and around is so tender that if I accidentally touch it I kind of want to yelp. My ear and jaw are kind of sore now too. I guess I should go to the doctor... but I really don't want to.
Ok I am done complaining :)

I have a favorite new smell!!

And it happens to be what my purse smells like! After school I swung by Gourmet Warehouse to pick up a couple special things for the cake I am making for Sophia's birthday. I am quite proud of myself because I didn't buy more then I had to... ok so I did a little bit more then I had to but it was all for the cake and it was all within reason. I bought the most perfect dark pink, light pink, beige and white birthday cake candles (what?!?! if I was going to make a pretty cake I don't want ghetto dollar store candles on my cake), pink sprinkles, fuschia food colouring, orange blossom water and vanilla beans. On my way home I kept getting whiffs of a beautiful smell and it wasn't until i got home and reached in to get my keys that my nose was assaulted with a big waft of vanilla and orange blossom! Mmmmmmmm :)
I really like the smell (and taste) of orange and vanilla, it remind me of cream sickle but I decided that for the cake change it up a little bit... because little girls normally aren't into whacky flavours, I'd just put a hint of orange blossom water in the custard to give it a bit of an orangy and floral flavor. That way the main flavour will be vanilla with a lingering floral flavour that adults (and maybe kids) can appreciate.

Spring!

Over the past weekend the crocuses peeked out from beneath the earth and our garden started to look a little more alive. I took this as a sign to pack up the winter gear and take out the spring jackets. Today I left the house with only a sweater and a wind breaker but by the time I got home, it was snowing. Darn! Now I am going to go curl up in bed and warm up.

A bite of reality

Since my break up with Justin, I've been looking at who I am and what I want from a relationship. This is never something easy but I think it's part of becoming a better and more well rounded person. I'm Queen of Commitment. I'm not afraid of long term relationships and would much rather be in one then be in a bunch of flings. However, what I've learned over the past month or so is that if the going gets tough... I get going. Or I stay, shut down and end up resenting it once we're actually broken up. Now this seems like a red flag... something worth working on. So I did. I am.
I decided to finally pick up (I bought it about a year ago and it's been sitting on my bookshelf in the "too girly to read" pile) the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I spent my morning cuddled up on the couch reading it, captivated by the resemblance of my life and hers (well our emotional states anyways... I am not going through a divorce but I am learning about myself and where I stand in a relationship).
The following is a part of the book that hit home for me. While reading it a lump formed in my throat and I started to feel slightly ashamed and embarrassed. It was me. A part of me that I never really wanted to admit, yet there it was in black and white, staring back at me.

"I disappear into the person I love. I am the permeable membrane. If I love you, you can have everything. You can have my time, my devotion, my ass, my money, my family, my dog, my dog's money, my dog's time - everything. If I love you, I will carry for you all your pain, I will assume your own insecurity, I will project upon you all sorts of good qualities that you have never actually cultivated in yourself and I will buy Christmas presents for your entire family. I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check. I will give you all this and more, until I get so exhausted and depleted that the only way I can recover my energy is by becoming infatuated with someone else."

The only differences here... replace dog with cat. And at the end of it, when I am exhausted and depleted, I shut down or I leave the relationship and replenish my energy stores with things I love to do (salsa dancing, yoga, cooking etc.).
Anyways that's more food for thought for me... and I thought it would be worth while sharing. So while I am completing my program at UA (11 weeks to go!!) I am also working on how to be a better person and balancing a new relationship of my own (nothing serious but it's good while it's lasting and I am learning a lot about myself in the process).
And on the plus side of all of this... I've decided that the next relationship that comes along (maybe not this one... unless we decide that it has long term potential... but for now it's got a specific end date... September) I am going to work on it and I am not going to run away scared. I am also going to be more of a balanced partner and less of a "here's all my love!" kind of partner. We'll see how that goes :)

Zee French

I was on the bus today when I noticed two young kids sit down behind me. Both were jabbering away to each other in English about the difference between an immersion program and a cadre program (two french programs in our education system). Then they started conversing in French as well and in English. They were carelessly switching from one to another with such impeccable ease that it was something that I admired. It wasn't until I got off the bus that I thought... wait a second! I am bilingual too! And I am darn proud of it :)

*Image is the Franco Colombien (English: Franco Columbian) flag... yes even us French Canadians from BC have their own flag :)

Amazing cakes!

I was snooping around the internet for added inspiration and found this website. Most of the cakes are quite unique and beautiful! I like it! It's not kitsy or tacky but rather classy and creative! Well done :)

*My favorite cake! And yes, I did look through all of the images :)