Monday, January 23, 2012

Taking a Sick Day

Last night, my girl was not feeling good. She was quiet all day when we were with friends, and she was in bed by 7:30 pm so I knew she was not feeling good.

When she went to bed, as usual, I went with her, tucked her in, crept in beside her to get cozy, warm, and have a little chat.

As I brushed the hair away from her face, two thoughts flooded my mind and took over me. First I thought about a time when Haley didn't get "regular" sick. She was on antibiotics for the first few years of her life, so I didn't deal with the ear aches, colds, flu, nothing like that! I was lucky. But, I also knew that if she had a fever, I would be going to the Children's Hospital Emergency. It usually meant that she had a bladder infection, and always, I was on alert that it could be something worse. That is just how things were at that time. That was our time of discovery of so many things that could be yet to come.

With each spike in fever I would wonder if this would be the time that they would do surgery to correct her bladder reflux. Once that surgery was eventually done, she had been infection free for about six months. It was a Friday and she had a fever, and I felt the knot in my stomach tighten. I hated when fevers came on a Friday, because if I went to your doctor, I knew test results were not going to get back to me until after the weekend, and I would be wrought with worry all weekend. The alternate was going to the Children's Emergency and plan for at least a 6 hour wait. This time I went to her doctor, and I remember being so thrilled that it was just strep throat! I realized, this was the first time she was sick with just something "regular"I was so excited that it was just something like that, simple! I remember those times, every time she feels under the weather.

The second thing that came to mind was taking a sick day. As she was falling asleep, I thought about how great it was, that I didn't have to make a call to get someone to open my store, cover my shift, or do the tasks that needed to be done in my day. You know that every mom who runs a business, works outside of the home in some capacity, has that dread of making arrangements, not because they are sick, but because their kid is sick. We just work when we're sick, but you can't do that when you have a sick kid. I was thankful in that moment, this was the first time since quitting my job that the situation arose.

So, having had these thoughts, inspired a post on my other blog, A Pinch of Creativity. If you have not checked it out yet, please do so here at A Pinch of Creativity.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week!

~Tannis~

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Forgiveness

If you look in the dictionary, this is an example of what you may find for definitions of the word forgive:

Forgive
1. to cease to blame or hold resentment against (someone or something)
2. To grant pardon for (a mistake, wrongdoing, etc.)
3.  to free or pardon (someone) from penalty
4. To free from the obligation of (a debt, payment, etc.)

Is forgiveness something that comes easy to you?

I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness these days, and I wonder how we all find the act of actually forgiving someone else, different from forgiving ourselves. Do you feel a difference? Is one easier than the other?

We can likely all agree that each circumstance is different for every person, how we go about forgiving, and the timeline we follow is different for everyone as well. Sometimes, it’s just not as easy as we would like.

I could give you a really big challenge here and ask you to write down all of the people and the reasons why you need to forgive them. What about yourself? Are there things you need to forgive yourself for?

It’s tough right? If we have faith, we know forgiveness is something that happens. That does not always make it so easy. Do you forgive the father who never learned to be a dad, or the mother who never built you up and praised you for all of your attributes? Do you forgive the kid who bullied you on the school ground year after year? Do you forgive your first love for breaking your heart? Do you forgive the man who raped you and took away your trust and your innocence? Do you forgive the person who broke into your car, your home? Do you forgive that boss who was the most horrible person you knew, the co worker who took credit for your idea?

How about ourselves? Do we forgive ourselves for the chances we didn’t take? Do we forgive ourselves for not honouring our bodies, not loving someone the way they deserve to be loved? Do we forgive ourselves for working too much, loving too little, making the wrong choices? Do we forgive ourselves for not taking the leap and moving away to that big new city to attend University?

Forgiveness is a big word, a larger act, and is something we always do. I choose to believe that even though it may not always be easy, love is what always wins in the end. Self love, and the love of others. Big message for a wednesday afternoon, I know!
Thanks for taking the time to visit!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January, is that really you?

Today, Haley and I went for a walk. I admit, it is not something I would normally do on a January afternoon. I like snow, but when it comes to the cold, I am a suck! The cold makes me want to wrap my arms around myself, put on fluffy socks, crawl under a thick duvet cover. If I had a fireplace, I would lite the fire, and sit in front of it, entranced by the flames until they turned into embers. I hate the cold, it makes me, well, cold!

I also hate to wear a hat or a hood, or anything of the kind on my head. If it is too cold to go out with a bare head, I don't do it. I didn't as a kid either. I always took of my toque and shoved it in my bag. As a teenager, I just never wore one. I know this will come back to bite me with my own daughter, I know! Today though, oh it was beautiful, January temperatures at a wonderful + 3 degrees, and I needed the walk to clear my head. What always helps, is the sun was shining. I love the sun. The sun shines down and the snow is filled with tiny flecks of diamonds, which totally grab my attention and behold, a wonderful moment is captured.

 We walked and we walked, until we found a park near the frozen river.  We spotted the swings and just wanted to have a quick little ride. We had the dog with us, so he was wrapped around a pole, and we were swinging! It is one of our favorite things to do. Being on the swing mesmerizes me, and if there is a beautiful view, all the better. I did not bring my camera today. I don't know why, I usually do. I suppose I didn't think we would see anything much or take the time to pause for a photo opportunity. I should never do this, because I know there is always a photo opportunity.

Instead, I took the time to swing, to talk to my girl, to be present and I was able to clear my mind. I started to think about how nice it would be to live somewhere beautiful, to always be surrounded by beauty. How amazing would it be to look out your window at home and see water, or a forest, or a field of flowers? How wonderful would it be, to know that no matter where you walked, someone would stop to say hello, that every breath you took, you could smell fresh, crisp, clean air? How brilliant it would be if there were white lights, twinkling in the dark outside, hanging lightly from the trees and bordering houses, candelight flickering inside.

I was thinking today of all of the fine fall days we had this year, and the fact that I missed so many of them, from working in my craft room, getting ready for my shows. The weather is going to be nice for the next few days, a gift we are being given, since Winnipeg is never this mild in January. I plan to take full advantage of them, and go for some walks. Just me, the girl and the dog! It won't be as beautiful as a warm, breezy, colorful fall day, but it will be nice. I hope that you will take some time to enjoy the wonderful weather as it comes!

Happy New Year!

~Tannis~