Romance Is In The Spring Air

Porpoise Bay

Every time Scott and I drive off the ferry and onto the Sunshine Coast the world around us slows down, the colours become more vibrant and the air is a little more fresh.  Over the past five years we have visited Sechelt almost every Spring or Summer.  It is the one place that I can't get enough of and I take comfort in the familiarity of it. The laid back rhythm, small town feel and breath-taking scenery bring me back every year.  I crave it every Spring.  For me, and I think Scott, it the perfect romantic get-a-away that is long over due by the Spring.  You see we have no problem taking time to reconnect with one another in the summer, but once Sept starts so does the rapid everyday routines that we get stuck doing.  And by December we kick it into high gear with family dinners, parties, the crazed hustle and bustle of the holidays themselves.  Then we seem to gravitate back to the usual routines of going to work, make dinner, clean up and take in a few hours of TV.  The weekends are busy with chores and trying to slip in a few romantic dates along the way.  By Spring I need some quality alone time with my husband.  I'm sure most couples can relate to this and if you add in a few "ankle-biters" you are long over due for romance.

So this Spring I booked us in at Wildflowers B&B (not our usual place) but one I'm familiar with.  It is so fantastic- large manicured property with a duck pond, and gardens, with two private cabins away from the main house, which is a great place to really let your hair down.  The proprietors- Doug and Darcy, pull out all the stops when it comes to comfort and fine -dining quality food.  Each cabin contains a King bed, fire place, shower for two, soaker tub, private hot tub and more.  An added bonus is the intermittent Wi-Fi which really forces you to put down the devices and heaven forbid TALK.  We even kept the TV off while we were there.  Without the distractions we chatted for hours about everything.

Porpoise Bay

Porpoise Bay

Before we checked in we stopped by our favorite pub The Lighthouse and enjoyed a scrumptious lunch and discovered our new fav. red wine- Beso Di Vino- a Spanish blend of Syrah and Garnacha.  And as per usual we ended up coming back that night for dinner.  Later we donned our swimsuits and a had long soak in the hot tub.  While we were soaking in the warm water listening to the frogs croak we spotted a fox hiding in the grass by the pond.  He didn't say anything :)

Hot Tub Gazebo 

Our cabin at Wildflowers

The next morning we dined on eggs benny in homemade yorkshire puddings, fruit salad, and homemade croissants.  Normally after breakfast we would get on our hiking gear and visit the Schoocimchuck Rapids, but this time we just wanted to relax, so we had massages in our room in the late afternoon, after a few hours poking around Sechelt.

Our view from our cabin

We have never had massages in our own room before so I wasn't sure if they would be as good as going to a spa.  Well I have to say my massage was the best and it was great not having to change out of my robe afterwards and drive anywhere.  Instead Scott and I lounged around eating cheese and crackers and sipping wine before getting ready for dinner at our old haunt Rockwater.

View from ferry 

The next morning we packed up, ate banana and custard stuffed french toasts and headed back home to reality.  For 2.5 days we escaped our routines and just enjoyed one another's company.

I always think we need to do this more often but alas real-life seems to take the lead. :)

Leave Brookswood Alone!!!!

In the past week things in my life have turned upside down.  I was given information about how my community and the way I live my daily life could be destroyed all due to 10 landowners in my area.  I have attended a couple hearings and even gave a speech Wednesday night expressing my concern.  For those of you who were not in attendance here is what I said that night.

Mayor, Council Members and fellow Brookswood Families, my name is Margo Freeman and I live at 19721 41A Ave, right off the proposed expansion of 40^th Ave and 196^th street.

I'm here tonight to ask to you to vote NO to the proposed Community Plan.  My husband and I moved here five year ago from the over-populated, concrete slab, called Willoughby.  We were sick of the noise pollution, heavy traffic and lack of green space.  We left this hustle and bustle way of life to seek a quieter location, filled with clean air, and nature on our door step.  We thought we’d have to move to a rural town up North, but we were soon elated not only to find Brookswood but also our parcel of land.  Who could dream of a street where you can consider your neighbours your friends, where ancient cedars line the streets and shade your house from the beating sun? Where you can watch bald eagles soar overhead, and observe birds nesting in the trees?  We couldn’t believe we had found a street that is so nestled in that you feel secluded from the rest of the world and you can walk mere steps into a lush forest rich with wildlife and trails.  We had found paradise, and anyone who visits remarks on how lucky we are to live here.

I thought we’d plant deep roots of our own beside the firs and walnut trees in our yard.  We planned on building a life for decades here.  Why would we want to leave?  Every day when I leave the concrete jungle of Langley City and cross over the boundary into Brookwood it is like there is an audible sigh and relief and I have entered a small town.  I love that.

On 196^th street and 40^th it is quiet.  Children play in the street and their laughter lingers in the air.  There isn’t that constant truck and car noise pollution that would be there instead if this proposal goes through.  There won’t be children playing on a major road way.  Only noise.  I didn’t move to this street to live in a concrete world full of noise and dangerous drivers.  I don’t think any of my neighbours did either, especially the ones on 196^th and 40^th.  We enjoy having our space and privacy.  We thrive on the notion our street is safe.  If these plans go through we live next to a dangerous road with easy access for all sorts of people who may want to rob and harm us. 

We did not plan to raise families and build legacies mirrored off of 200^th and 72^nd.  If this plan goes ahead, everything we strive to protect, strive to maintain will be lost.  Our sense of community and our way of life will cease to exist.  You will destroy and devastate so many lives here.  Not to mention the environmental impact.  No more birds, no more rabbits, no more deer.  All gone.

Please Vote NO

If you feel the same way speak up and attend the Brookswood 

Rally on March 22nd at the Brookswood Water park at noon!!! 

 Don't Keep Calm, Keep Fighting On Brookswood!

Did You Say Nap? Sign Me Up

The other day my sister called at 5:30 pm just as my husband and I were about to have a nap.  I answered amusingly explaining how we were hunkered down on the couch with blankets ready for a quick snooze before making dinner.  My sister exclaimed she couldn't remember the last time she had a nap, let alone one at prime time (5:30) in a house where her two kids were running around waiting for dinner.  It was then we both realized our daily lives are polar opposites.  My sister has two beautiful girls -3 and 8 years old, and like most moms she is busy with them from the time she gets up to when they eventually go to bed.  It's a fine dance that she does well.  The more we talked about it the more we discovered the things I do an a daily or weekly basis are activities she dreams of doing when her two "mini-me's" go away on vacation to visit their grandparents.

So here is a top six list of regular daily things I take for granted because I'm child-free

1. Only having to get myself up and ready for the day.

2. Spontaneously go to the store to pick things up.  I don't have to bundle up kids and pack them with me to the store to pick up a bottle of wine or a stick of butter.   When I need to go out I just do.

3.Soak in a tub of bubbles and let the world melt away without any interruptions

4. Cook and eat whatever, whenever for dinner

5. Stay up late and not worry about getting up with little ones.  This goes along with uninterrupted sleep, which is a struggle for parents of young children.

6. Indulge in going to the gym or yoga class whenever I please for hours.


So after creating this list I thought of the things I don't get to do on a regular basis because I don't have kids.  I know I miss out in these things because I hear about them from my mom- friends.

1. Celebrate holiday traditions I grew up enjoying, like carve pumpkins (isn't not the same as an adult); dye and hunt for Easter eggs; and decorating gingerbread houses.

2. Building snowmen and fanning snow angels in the snow

3. Parking in the "parent" spot at the grocery store

4. Watching animated movies at the theater without strange looks

5. Early morning snuggles under a blanket while taking in some Sesame Street

6. Playing summer games like hop scotch, hula hoop, and draw with chalk in the driveway

So my sister and I have varying busy lives, but one thing is for sure we love chatting on the phone while cooking or washing dishes.

Would You Like To Swing On A Star? (tribute to my Nan: Linda Smith)

Whenever I would visit with my Nan she would always sing these little tunes from a time and place I wasn't a part of.  They were ditties of her time well before mine.  My favourite one started with a question, "Would you like to swing on a star and carry moonbeams home in a jar?"  Her sweet voice would rattle off that simple, heavenly image and let it float around the room like a whisper- soothing, comforting.

As I grew older I'd find myself humming or singing just that phrase, while washing dishes, or folding clothes, and I'd think of her and smile.  When I had a tough day I'd think of my Nan and be reminded of the strong woman she was,  and I'd hear her gentle voice say, "Don't mind Duck (she called all twelve of her grandchildren and her five great grandchildren- Ducks)."  I'm not sure what 'Don't mind Duck' meant but it made me feel better.

On the morning of her passing, Saturday January 25 2013, feeling disillusioned, I sang the lovely words, "Would you like to swing on a star?"  And it was then that I realized this line was a lesson of hers.  I'm not sure if she intended it to be, but now I see it as one of the many things I learned from my Nan.  It's a ridiculous notion to think you could swing on a star and capture moonbeams to take home, but the imagery it creates is innocent and lovely.  I take it as a sign that we should find moments in our busy, mundane, lives and see some innocence, or take a simple break and picture something beautiful.

Unfortunately, I didn't grow up living in the same city as my Nan, so we didn't spend multitudes of time together.  Though when I went to Winnipeg to visit or she came here, we'd have fun together.  My Nan loved to have fun and laugh.  She had this hardy laugh that could fill a room and it was contagious.  She always had something witty to say.  We'd go shopping, eat fish and chips, watch movies, or play a game of cards.  Oh man, did she love a good card game. It might have been her competitive nature that made her love cards so much, but I think the real reason she valued card night was just spending time with people she loved.  I remember one summer at Matlock beach sitting with her in a screened in porch, learning how to play Rummy.  I think we played for hours while the sun baked outside.  This taught me the value of time with loved ones.

In continuing with  her lessons, I knew she was the matriarch of the Smith clan.  And like the song Ho Hey by the Lumineers, which states: 'Show me family and all the blood that I would bleed....I belong with you, you belong with me...", it's true.  Everything that made us who we are stems from Nan.  She created this wonderful, which maybe not be perfect, but we all know we can lean on one another and that we all belong.  We all bleed the same Smith blood.  She showed us what it means to be tough, but at the same time be empathetic, nurturing, warm, generous, and to just be yourself.  Also she lived by the motto, "please yourself."

Nan danced to the beat of her own drum.  Unlike most grandmothers, my nan wore bright, happy colours, and dyed her hair lovely different shades of browns and reds.  She spoke her mind, and stayed up late.  And as mentioned before, she liked having a good time.  She could make everyday events a little more whimsical.  I remember as a child she would make breakfast fun by cutting toast into strips and calling them "Toast fingers" to dip in your runny eggs.  I hated eggs growing up, but this seemed to do the trick.  She'd also make bed-time fun by giving us 'eats', which was a mishmash of little food, like cut up cheese, a handful of grapes, and a few rosebud chocolates.  I can still recall sitting on the back porch of a cabin, in my summer PJs, all fresh for bed, and my sister and I eating our eats from our little sectioned plates, as the sunset and the heat eased away.

Since we didn't live close by, Nan and I would write letters to one another, keeping up a strong correspondence.  She'd ask me about school and which picture-shows I'd seen recently.  She'd inquire about my friends and my hobbies.  I'm sure I asked her about bingo and the news of the family back East.  Those letters and a few pictures are the only physical pieces I have left of her.  And my memories.  So many...one that sticks out is the feeling of her strong, wrinkled hand, squeezing mine.  I can almost feel it.  She always squeezed my hand when I saw her, and she'd tell me how proud she was of me and how beautiful I had become.  The last time I held her hand was on her 90th birthday, three years ago.  Seems like a life time ago.

So in Nan fashion I sign off by saying God Bless xo xo
I love you Nan

Breathe: New Word For 2014

Imagine you are stuck in a traffic jam, late for an appointment.  You sit there stewing or verbally assaulting imaginary people because you are late and angry. Or you are rushing around all day trying to accomplish one task, but can't seem to get it done.  And before you absolutely lose it you say to yourself "Just Breathe."  And after that breath, everything calms slightly.  It's a simple phrase but one that works.

Last year I decided to give up 'New Years Resolutions' and instead adopt a word or a phrase that I would focus my life around.  Last year's word was detoxify; a very weighted word.  One that many people felt was harsh.  Regardless I think I was successful in eliminating the negative people, and toxic self-talk out of my life (for the most part.).  This year's


word is breathe...

A simple, euphonic word.  It is not just the inherent need to fill my lungs with oxygen, but also a metaphoric desire to put life in perspective.  In the Autumn of 2013, I met with a personal coach, who helped me with many aspects of my life; the biggest of which was focusing on what is most important in my life and live honouring that.  Yes, regular, everyday chores and work need to get done, but not at the price of neglecting my inner -self and the ones I love.

So how does this tie into breathing?  Well, I have taken to listening to my body more and have noticed what I crave is inner-peace.  I want to be healthy and reduce stress, and oxygen helps with both.  So instead of forcing on a type of exercise I don't enjoy (which I've been doing for a while now), I have focused on practising yoga as a means to find a balanced, healthy lifestyle.  My favourite part, but most challenging is the Shavasana (the meditation and deep breathing portion.)  I find it hard to calm my thoughts most days, as I spend my days teaching, which requires a jugglers mind- a handful of thoughts working at he same time. Yoga is teaching me to slow my thoughts and quieten them from time to time.  I also find that after a class I feel light, and airy, not a care in the world.

I've also decided to forgo the "I need to lose weight" adage and adopt the " I want to be healthy." This outlook can only be achieved by breathing.  In times of stress and frustration I breathe.  In times of uncertainty I breathe.  To ward off illness I breathe.

Will this work in every moment of everyday, probably not- I'm human.  But I will try to breathe as deeply and as much as I can in 2014 and hope I find a happy, healthy and balanced year.

What is your word or resolution this year?

That's So Old School

Lately I've been rereading the letters and cards I've saved from my Nan over the years. Up until her ninetieth year I'd still get a Christmas Card from her, and I'd know without even looking at the return address on the envelope that it was from  her.  Her distinctive handwriting is as unique as her soulful smile, and it amazes me how much you can tell about someone by how they loop their letters together.  It's an art form from the beginning of time.  An old school skill that is almost extinct.

In an era where students spend their days blogging on iPads and reading e-books there are basic skills that have been pushed to the wayside because in today's modern society they are deemed archaic. Handwriting or cursive writing is not valued as an essential skill to teach so it has been cut from the BC curriculum, to make room for designing wikis and other "technology" IEP's.  In the past ten years I've noticed a significant decline in the neatness of printing, to the point where I've asked students decipher their own work for me.  As a person who values the weight of a pen; the crispness of blank paper; and the scent of dusty books, this has been a difficult pill to swallow.  The gravity of the situation didn't hit home until my niece (aged 8) innocently informed me she will never be able to read Nan's letters and cards because she can't read cursive.  Her comment alone makes me wonder if we educators have thrown the baby out with the bath water, so to speak, when we decided to focus on technology instead of fundamental skills.  Now don't get me wrong, I see the purpose of technology in the classroom and in my daily life; I love my iPad and laptop.  But give me a blank journal and a new pen and I get giddy.  There is something that transforms inside me when I put a pen to paper- my ideas flow.  This hardly ever happens when I type on the key board.  All of my blog posts and creative endeavors start with the old school tools.

Penmanship is not the only skill lost in our high- tech society; being able to read an analogue clock, and how to use a dictionary are among other basic skills not taught.  Of course you don't need these skills to survive the modern world, but what we have lost with these things is how to be patient, and the satisfaction of discovery.  Most kids are used to getting information literally at their finger tips; they don't have to to think about an answer; they just Google it.  They are not taught how to wait or persevere when things get tough. Qualities like being introspective, patient and having good manners are being weeded out in this high paced society.

Maybe I should have been a teacher from the olden days so I could instill the value of penmanship, good manners, accountability, and how to make a friend.  Yes, I said how to make a friend.  This year alone I have had handful of students express their desire to make friends but they don't know how.  It's a skill that didn't need to be taught until this generation.  We have enabled these kids with social media, video games and technology but they don't know how to socialize face to face.  They need to master some basic social skills, like making small talk, before we let them text away.

I'm not saying we have to stop progression, but I think we need to place some value on the old letters our grandmothers wrote to us that sit in the bottom of a drawer.

Another Step On My Writing Journey

Last Friday I was surrounded by a community of writers at the Surrey International Writers' Conference held at the Guildford Sheraton.  Never in my life have I felt like I truly belonged in a large crowd until now.  When I've attended conferences in the past I'd always felt uneasy, awkward and out of place.  This time, with the exception of one volunteer, I didn't know a soul, and yet I felt a part of this amazing tapestry of writers.

For a writer this is an odd feeling as so much of what we do is in isolation.  Most writers are private about their writing until they think they have something worth sharing, and as a result they write alone with no connection to others.  I'm no exception.  Besides my blog I keep my writing close to my heart, only allowing a select few in to read.  I've been working on my novel since the summer of 08, but no one really knew about it until 2010.  I think the secrecy behind my novel has more to do with me.  Up until last week I'd always felt strange explaining what the novel was about to people I know.  I'm not sure why.  It might be the fact I'm my own worst critic and think the content isn't engaging enough. Now after two pitches and countless conversations with other writers about my project I feel a bit more confident about it.  I'm guessing if an editor wants to see my first three chapters when the whole manuscript is ready then I have something worthy to share.

Yes that's right, an editor wants to see my writing!  It is still shocking and I don't want to get too excited about it; this is only the first step to getting published.  Just because they want to see something doesn't mean they'll like it.  I feel honoured just being asked as it has been a long and strange journey with my novel thus far.

When I started writing this 200 page manuscript one summer night in Shuswap my intention was just to write a short story.  This 5 page story inspired the novel.  From there I wrote my first draft, which has been transformed many times over.  Each new version surpassing the former in skill and technique.  Just when I think I've mastered it my dear editor Alyssa always comes back pushing my limits again toward achieving success.  Alyssa is not an editor by trade; she is a friend from work who has graciously been reading my novel for the past few years.  We get together from time to time to discuss my characters and plot, brain storming ideas on how to make it better.  What I love about Alyssa is that she tells it to me straight; I appreciate that as I'm sure any publisher, agent, or editor who reads my work will be just as tough, if not tougher.

So right before the summer I actually read my novel from the beginning to the end in one shot.  Up until then I had only read it in chunks and just "fixed" them.  Well my immediate reaction was to delete the 101,247 word document as I hated it.  In my eyes there were so many holes in the story- the protagonist seemed flat and I finally understood what Alyssa meant when she said that she didn't understand why the protagonist loved who she does.   I felt defeated; almost five years of hard work and nothing to really show for it.  Luckily I got advice from a fellow writer who told me to take a break and come back to it later.  I did just that.  I took three weeks off and then up at Shuswap I found my muse again.  Then I spent the rest of my summer revamping and reorganizing my novel.  I even changed my title; Marbles and Wine rolls off the tongue better than Its Like Holding A Marble In My Mouth. What a mouthful, ha ha. Pun intended.

I know I still have more revising to do, but after listening to accomplished authors last week about their first novels I realize that it takes time and not to worry.  Writing is a process and it takes time to prefect it.