A happy place

backyard view on a snowy day

I'm sitting here at the big dining room table (in the room we call "the porch") with a big mug of King Cole tea, a KitKat Chunky, and silence. Outside I can see the snow really coming down; finally making this place look like a winter wonderland (one of the ways I love it the most).

The 5 year old is outside making snow angels on the deck and shoveling all at once (it is possible!). She's patiently waiting for Daddy to emerge from the garage to build a snowman and then go for a trek in the woods with the walkie talkies! The little man is in his crib for a nap.

This moment, right now, is my happy place. I have others: going for a mosquito free walk on a summer's evening with the ipod and a camera; a long drive with a Tim Horton's coffee and my camera ready to snap anything that may seem the remote bit odd or interesting; standing at the back of a hall in the backwoods of Cape Breton listening to a fiddler really drive'er on some tunes (well, and dancing a square set to those tunes); being at my husband's childhood home looking up at the night sky which always seems to have that little extra touch of magic for some reason; seeing the lightbulbs go off for students in my class when they've found something particularly frustrating; sitting at the edge of my seat in the third period of a really good, rough, nail-biter hockey game (that one just came to mind compliments of the Little Man in his crib hollering "hockey!" -- go to sleep, mister)...

My happy places don't consist of much. They're not something money can buy; they are moments . They don't usually last long, but they are mine.

Cheers to you and your happy place...

Soundtrack of My Life

Every year I do this little project with my 6th grade classroom music students; I ask them to think about their lives thus far -- the milestones, important moments to them, etc. Then we take some time looking at movie soundtracks & how they really help to tell the story. The whole unit culminates with them creating the soundtrack of their lives (which is only 12 years, but it's as cute as hell!)

So, why not? Here's the soundtrack of my life thus far: (a few more than 12 years worth)

1. Theme song to Mr. DressUp: my earliest memories as a child are watching Mr. DressUp everyday and wanting to be able to draw as well as him
2. Tell My Ma -- The Rankin Family: Growing up in Cape Breton made the Rankin Family a staple cassette in the car. That, and our upbringing with copious amounts of fiddle music, step- and squaredancing!
3. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun -- Cyndi Lauper:  a simple summation of my elementary & junior highschool years; Great Friends, many sleepovers, good, clean, giddy fun!
4. To Be With You -- Mr. Big and/or Unloved -- Jann Arden: ugh. Unrequited teenage love, broken & mended-the-next-day hearts, too many tears, too much wasted time.
5. Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town -- Pearl Jam:  first boyfriend in university, good parties, "man these guys can sing", just love this song and the memories of being on my own it holds!
6. Fast as I Can -- Great Big Sea: When hubs and I started dating, I was 18 & he just turned 25. It was a whirlwind of emotions, grown-up emotions, and learning how to find myself in the chaos of my life at that point. Thinking about it all makes me smile.
7. I Love You Period -- Dan Baird: Aside from being an English major in university, I really thank, and do believe that if it wasn't for me dating hubs at that time, Lord knows what path I would have taken in my life! Plus, my soul-searching led me to get an education degree as well!
8. Feels Like Home -- Chantal Kreviazuk: Our first dance at our wedding
9. 45 Years -- Stan Rogers: The other song we wanted to dance to at our wedding, but the DJ didn't have it... so... we play it every year on our anniversary. I once even had it played for him on CBC Radio on our anniversary.
10. Butterfly Fly Away --Miley Cyrus: Although this is a new song, everytime I hear it I think of my first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage. My little butterfly...
11. Daughters -- John Mayer:  It took a lonnnng time to finally get pregnant again & meet our daughter. Wow. Life has never been the same. (And I can thank her for introducing me to the Miley song above; serendipity?)
12. You Are My Sunshine -- For 6 months, this was the one thing that could make DD stop crying. WEIRD!
13. Taladh Na Beinne Guirme (The Blue Mountains Lullaby) -- Jeff MacDonald: My minor in university was Celtic Studies / Gaelic Language. My friend, Jeff, is one of the people I look up to the most when I think of me learning the language. He wrote this lullaby in Gaelic & hubs and I played it nonstop for DD when she was going to bed each night. It's truly beautiful, even if you can't understand what he's singing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvh3wrPc78
14. Bog a'Lochain / Athole Cummers set -- Ashley MacIsaac:  Again, my love of traditional fiddle music and my Cape Breton upbringin shines through here. When DD wasn't listening to the above lullaby, she was listening to fiddle music. This particular tune Bog a'Lochain has become her favourite; she calls it her tune. And nothing warms my heart more than when she & hubs sit down with their fiddles playing tunes. While she can't get the notes right yet at only 4 years old, I can tell you that the music is in her (as the old folks would say!) http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000007QX7/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_006/176-1867206-0058811?ie=UTF8&track=006&disc=001
15. Come Rain or Come Shine -- David Francey -- While this is a love song, so to speak, when I hear it I think of the tiring nights and days leading up to & following DS's birth. He wasn't a great sleeper & I would be so frustrated, and tired, and at my wit's end, that I would sing this over and over; cuz we all know that even though you're so tired and done, you can't help but look at the little face of the bundle you're holding in your arms and feel such love.

So, these are my moments thus far in my life. This is my soundtrack of my life.

Cause these are the days worth living
These are the years we're given
And these are the moments
These are the times
Let's make the best out of our lives -- The Calling