odds and ends

I thought it was about time for an update.

So many good things have been going since the Christmas holidays that I haven't had the time to write or even think about what to write. So here is an update about what has been happening in the VW household, according to me. Because I'm sure if you asked M about it, he would have an entirely different opinion... he says, she says...

1) I had a great Christmas with my family. M had a great Christmas with his family in Lethbridge. Due to the freakish snowy weather in BC, flights were canceled, delayed, etc. Not to mention the roads and highways going to the Vancouver Airport were closed or hazardous. A look back here will serve as a reminder to how we West Coasters respond to driving on snowy roads. There is a reason this blog is named after the rain we get here, not snow...

So yes, I was in Abbotsford and M was in Lethbridge on Christmas. However, I do want to express my heartfelt (and almost desperate?) thanks to WestJet for their superb customer service in helping me change my flight. I shuddered at the thought of being stranded in YVR with Annie for any number of hours or, even worse than that, on a plane! like all those Air Canada people... thank you, thank you, thank you...

But I had a great day and the next morning I flew to the beautiful city of Calgary and then onto Lethbridge to spend a week with my out-laws, I mean in-laws. We had a good time with 15 adults crammed into one house. IT WAS COLD. IT WAS WINDY. IT WAS SNOWY. Needless to say we didn't venture out too much. Needless to say it reminded M and me of living up North. Needless to say we expressed our happiness at not having to go home to that kind of weather... I love the Valley. A good time was had by all... R&Cs to enjoy in the evening, lots of Settler games to play, crocheting to learn (yes, you did read that correctly) and best of all, family members to hang out with and spend time with and enjoy, not knowing when the next time we would all see each other...

Moving on...

2) I am now officially done the course part of my program and an knee-deep or wrist-deep in a practicum that I am thoroughly enjoying. I thought I would find the transition from course to work very difficult. To be honest, I was getting so stressed out from my course that I feared I wouldn't even enjoy the work anymore. Not exactly the best outlook after working three long years to finally reach this goal. But it is great! My supervisor is a wonderful lady who has nothing but good and encouraging things to say about my work! What a relief! And I love the job! All the new words get a bit tedious after a few hours and then I either take a break or usually it's late enough I just go straight to bed... but I'm excited to be almost done...

3) This past week has been gorgeous in the Fraser Valley. I know Vancouver has been shrouded in fog but where we live the sun has been shining gloriously. Which is another reason I haven't been blogging. When it's raining like it so often does here, there's no excuse. But Annie and I have been out walking almost every day this week. I almost think the calendar is lying to me saying it is only January 22. I can't say enough about it...

4) Singing with Pierce Brosnan. Now, I know the story line is a little on the sketchy side, but when you have been a fan of ABBA for decades like I have (thanks to the influence of an older sister) you cannot but like Momma Mia the movie. I watched it with my sisters last weekend. We did the sing-a-long afterwards... I loved it so much I want to organize a group viewing and sing-a-long. I fear that I will receive the same enthusiastic reponse as I did when I suggested a Sound of Music sing-a-long for a piano fundraiser for our church up North...

5) I did not mean for this to turn into a numbered list. I couldn't sleep last night because my mind was churning along at a million kilometres a minute. I could have produced enough electricity to power my street with all the synapses and processes going in there. So I did something constructive: thought about what I would blog about.

6) I've been checking out my friend Thelma's blog a lot lately. Clearly it is very cold there because she has been blogging a lot lately. This post, about artistry and domesticity not necessarily canceling eachother out reflects many thoughts that I have had about the exact same issue. As she puts it,

You have to understand that most liberal arts majors spend many hours imagining their lives as anything but 'domestic'... and by domestic I simply mean the daily chores of life which are unavoidable unless you wish to live in squalor. While we study all sorts of juicy stuff in university, moving steadily towards some vague, unspecified future, we know only one thing : our lives will not be ordinary.

We will travel. We will spend months in a tiny apartment overlooking the Seine, stabbing away at a cheap typewriter because we haven't sold a story in months and can't afford the electricity. We may marry (though it's unlikely) and if we do, he will be some misunderstood artist who insists on wearing a ragged black cape for inspiration while standing out on the balcony of some Swiss chalet, barefoot and freezing. We'll latch on to strangers as Muses, seek inspiration in the most unlikely places, so that when we win some obscure Canadian prize for our first short collection of poetry, we can offer some witty, esoteric anecdote to the literary student who interviews us. We will dress oddly, in a randomly thrown together yet artistically fashionable way, and try to have some trademark feature (massive white handkerchief, strange headpiece, messy hair pulled back into a bun, etc) so as to maintain our sense of mystery. And through all this, we will do whatever it was we studied so hard for in university. (Di has probably spit her coffee out twice while reading this, because she knows exactly what I mean.)

You're beginning to see how in all of this, things like doing dishes, folding laundry and preparing meals don't play a role. We'd be much too busy eating the petals of lilies so that in the poem we were writing we wouldn't be limited to touch, sight and smell in our descriptors.

Adjusting to reality in terms of being a successful writer/poet while living a regular life actually took a bit. I had it in my mind that no one living a simple life of hard work and ordinary chores (sans travel, eclectic husband and 'starving artist' experience) would even be considered for publication. Some editor would look at me in my jeans and tee-shirt (sans unique hankie, headpiece or wild hair) and grunt, "Nope. Boring life. Go away."

After four and half years of marriage and a having a child, sometimes the level of domesticity I have achieved shocks me. But it is an accomplishment and a blessing. And when I'm holding Annie in my arms and take in the scent of her sweet-smelling little head or take out a loaf of homemade bread from the oven I realise I revel in my domesticity as much as I ever did my artistry.

So.Odds and ends. Travel. Work. Holidays. Home life. Writing. Typing. Family. Friends. All part of living in West Coast Grace.