Lurve…

and all kinds of wrong:

First, there’s the whole “Should-the-Olympics-Really-Be-Here?” question. Second, these toys are from a place Vanessa and I affectionately refer to as “Satan’s Palace” aka, McDonald’s. Third, is it really emotionally healthy for a 32 yr.old to love the mascots so much? the jury’s out on all 3 counts.
Nevertheless, I DO love the mascots. They trigger some association with Hello Kitty (whom i loved as a child, and secretly still do as an adult), they are appealing (to me) on every form of merchandise onto which they have been pasted, and I even broke my “I do not go to McDonald’s” rule to procure these first toys (they’ll be a set! of course they will!) for myself AND mes enfants.
guilty as charged.

Question o’ the day: what something do you secretly (or not so secretly) like that you’re a bit ashamed to admit to?

been gone gone gone, i’ve been gone…

okay, not for that long, but compared to the posting of the early years, it’s been a while. i just have to say that it’s not intentional. you haven’t done anything wrong. it’s not you, it’s me. the school life thing has really divided up my life into 1 1/2 hr. chunks, making everything just a little more…time sensitive, i suppose the phrase would be. all of that aside, i do bring to you today some rare photos of the wild and roaming small people which inhabit this milley abode. getting them to hold still for pictures often proves a herculean, or more appropriately, a Sisyphean task (had to look up that form of the word. yikes.)
first, i give you “The Toothless Wonder”:
more of those pearly whites are wiggly; pretty soon i think she’ll look like she’s been in nasty fight with pirates.

then, there’s Monsieur Coy:

I do love this one, however:

And lest you think i worship my children far too much, a more humble and humourous portrait i was able to capture this morning:

Thank you for indulging me. as for tidbits of life, there’s not much. I’ve been reading again (yeah!)– “Wicked” and “Wide Sargasso Sea”–but am still a little disenchanted with fiction. (shock. horror. awe.) We’re all gearing up for the Olympics, and alternately thrilled and terrified about what it’s going to mean to commuting and getting around in the city. Jaegen and Agatha are super-keen about it all; edmund has no real idea, and i’m reserving judgment (largely so i do not draw towards myself the vitriolic anti-olympic feelings which seem to be floating about).

as for deeper, more contemplative thoughts, i haven’t had many of them lately, and, as you probably have deduced by now, i keep my darker moments off the internet as much as possible. I was given pause yesterday, however, when my 9 yr. old niece turned to me and observed, quite quizzically, “You laugh a lot.” It took me by surprise for an instant, and then I thought, “Yes! That’s true. It must be great to be me.” And I realized, quite by accident, that it is. Not in a “Aren’t-I-great” sort of way, but more in a, “I-am-pretty-fortunate-right-now” sort of way. So, with a good measure of humble thanks in my heart, i send out to you my sincere wish for more laughter in your lives, too, and for the ability to see and appreciate the good times.

Really Obvious Question of the Day: What was the last thing that made you laugh so hard you thought you might burst?

bookage

Here is a list, for no particular reason, and in no particular order, of some of my favourite books. not ordered, since it would be impossible for me to choose, and “favourite” as opposed to “best”, since these are books chosen because of how they make me feel, rather than for their literary merit (as vexed an idea as that is). though, it should be duly noted, they are themselves, as far as *my* critical assessment is concerned, really well written…………

“Unless” by Carol Shields
“White Teeth” by Zadie Smith
“The Hours” by Michael Cunningham
“What We All Long For” by Dionne Brand
“The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
“Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell

i’m sure there are more; these are just the ones i’ve been thinking about this morning. my “Best Books” list would also include:

“A Room With a View” by E.M. Forster
anything by George Eliot
“Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
etc.

these books are amazing, but they just don’t make me *feel* like the books on the first list, if that makes sense.

Question o’ the Day:
What’s the last book that you read that would qualify as a favourite or best?

Kiddie Coaster

It’s been a week of small things: small things that frustrate, and small things that bring joy. i think that’s my favourite kind of week, actually. it’s a bit like riding a kiddie roller coaster: little spills and chills, and nothing that permanently rearranges your insides. (p.s. btw, i actually like REAL rollercoasters to do the latter. the bigger the ups and downs the better.)

inelegant analogy aside, there was some midwinter loveliness in our house. My oldest orchid decided to bloom, beautifully, after a full 5 yrs. of nothing doing.

I made up a couple of successful knitting patterns, and created a scarf and handwarmers for myself. believe it or not, i found it very tricky to actually make something for ME. i agonized in the yarn section of michael’s for a full 45 min., picking up and rejecting a multitude of skeins, trying desperately to plumb the depths of what I would actually want.

okay, so i wasn’t entirely successful in shopping just for me. i bought enough yarn for Agatha and i to have matching scarves and more handwarmers.

On the kid front, Agatha (finally!) lost her first tooth, a ‘pre-loosened’ one, that has been swinging in her gums for a few months now. The tooth fairy dutifully came, and, according to Milley tradition, left a loonie in the bottom of a fairy-dusted glass of water. needless to say, the little toothless wonder was thrilled, and edmund ran into the room bearing a kleenex, begging for someone to pull out his “first loose tooth”.

today, we have agatha’s first ever ballet lesson at a new community centre. she informed me last weekend that she wanted to take, quote: “real ballet” this time, not one of those classes where “we just run around to music”. we’ll see whether the repetitive structure of “real” ballet actually suits her…. oh, and edmund starts “Tiny Tot Tumblers” gymnastics on Tuesday. pretty excited for that as well.

Had many good visits with friends this week: selena and barrett, lisa and aurora, les rigolos and riva, the milne-martenssss. feeling pretty fortunate to have such good friends, and to look forward to seeing more of you soon. went a little crazy for the knitting ladies, and made a very tall cake (thanks, rigolos, for the butter, and laura, for the cake recipe.) turned the new recipe into a white cake as well, which worked out better than i expected.

As for the “little spills” of the week, the things that didn’t go so well, well, at the moment, since i’m reliving all the good times, i can’t really remember them very well. which, like i said before, is possibly the best measure of a week.

Question o’ the day: did you make any New Year’s resolutions, and, if so, what were they? how are they going?

januaryness.

is that like the infamous ‘Mondays’? i think so. all the christmasy busyness and cheer has ebbed out, and a new year has washed back in, bringing with it all the usual tasks and schedules. makes one feel a bit blah. okay, so it makes ME feel a bit blah. vancouver’s perpetual grey drizzle never helps. sniff sniff. but, enough with the whinging. i am actually writing this post to try to generate some creative energy and good feeling; not just for me, but for all of you, too.
in that spirit, i’ve composed a little midwinter quiz, based around the ‘Question o’ the Day’ type thing. here it goes:

Midwinter Find-Some-Favourites Quiz

1. If you’re going to escape into a fictional universe, to what genre or author do you most naturally (even shamefully) turn?
2. What is your favourite kind of tea of a winter morning? or evening? or both?
3. If you were going to have friends over for an evening of fun times, what board or video games would you want to make them play?
4. At the same evening, what kind of treat would you want to indulge in? a dip? a bag of candy? ???
5. Describe your ideal scarf. do you currently own it? do you want me to make it for you?
6. what artist or album keeps showing up on your current music player?

there. i could go on, but then all of you would be too daunted to answer at all. i hope that even the mental exercise of these questions gives you some amusement and warm fuzzies. now, i’m off on a bracing walk in the damp air, a very Georgian, but still effective, remedy for all that ails the spirit.

pre-christmas cariboo caper and milley manicure morning

don’t you wish i would just stop all this alliteration already? i do.

First up, our trip to mes parents’. I call the following collage “Sledding”, for obvious reasons:

and, some more excitement. the local firetruck came over and emptied its ample water tank onto my dad’s carefully constructed, half regulation size, backyard rink.

and then, as if that weren’t enough, agatha and i (upon our return to the city) were treated to a lovely breakfast and manis, courtesy of Mama and Papa Milley. (the gents will be going to a Giants game in a few days, just in case you were worried that they might be left out.)

Question O’ the Day:
What’s been the most special moment of the holidays for you so far?

Sunglasses and Travel Mugs

the two items i lose (or break) most frequently. it’s to the point where jaegen won’t even bother picking me up a new mug as a present, since i have about a 3 month trajectory from happy and excited to receive to dejected and inconsolable at the loss of a loved item.

does that stop me, you ask? no. of course not. Jennifer “A Bit Much” Milley could never be kept down for long. that, and she loves coffee and cool shades far too much. fortunately for me, i buy cheap sunglasses (nothing over $20. ever.) and now, i think i might have found the appropriate chalice for my morning libation. Since, in one fell swoop, it solves two frustrations: it was cheap ($16.45) AND even more exciting, it’s CERAMIC!! (the usual frustrations being that a good travel mug is mucho deniro and that they’re metal, which, i feel, gives the coffee an unfortunate metallic tangy flavour.)
i give you: TheGreatMilleyMug of 2010. May it last longer and purvey more potent caffeine savour than its less fortunate predecessors!

Question o’ the day: what item or items are you most likely to break and/or lose?

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night.

hey. this is just to say, “merry christmas!” , if you celebrate it, and to say that i have photos that are queuing up to be posted, and i will get to them sometime soon. may your days be merry and bright.
j

birthday blog and pageant post

Agatha’s 6th Birthday Party (aka, the Weekend to End All Weekends)

It began peacefully enough. jaegen and the kids trotted off to KitsPageantPractice2009, and i, left to myself, went for a run, had a nice shower, and began party prep in earnest.

We were in full swing, however, by about 3 pm, and rather than give you the play-by-play, I here post a few collages of the main event. (please click on the collage to view it full size)

KitsChurchChristmasPageantfest2009

We were all up bright and early sunday morning for our annual church christmas pageant. agatha had a speaking role this year, as “Angel #2″, and spoke her line beautifully at the appointed time.

Then, it was off to: MilleyBirthdayFest and WaffleExtravaganza

A fun time was had by all. And, last but not least, the kids let me take pictures of them for the first time in a long time. Of course, candy canes help. In fact, the candy canes led to these hilarious pics, wherein the JMilley children look like serious thugs:

many, many thanks to everyone involved for all the giftage, love, and practical help this weekend. it is my sincerest wish that agatha will one day fully appreciate the overabundance of love that has always surrounded her and that has blessed our family so profoundly.

Question o’ the day: what candy or treat do you like in your stocking?

Dear Snow,

We have a troubled relationship, you and I.

As a child, I anticipated the day when you would still normal life to a crawl, covering everything with drifts of white, making school impossible. Snowmen, quiet walks, streetlights casting luminous shadows, i loved it all. it seemed like magic to me, and whenever i thought of you, in snowy season or not, my heart filled with with romance.

Then, last year, in what could only be termed a fit of excess, instead of dusting our small streets, or creating playful drifts, you buried our city. for 5 weeks. You and your friend Jack Frost took turns dumping and icing, icing and dumping, until we were overwhelmed and housebound. Did we do something wrong? Does the climate change have you so irritated? Did i hear your muffled laughter as we made futile attempts to drive cars, visit friends, or even get food?

Please, snow, tell me how our relationship can be mended. As you begin to fall today, on this cold day in December, let us reconcile. Give us your glorious white, but spare us the debilitating excess. Thank you for making winter truly “Winter”, and let’s leave it at that, okay?

Yours Sincerely,
Jenn m.

p.s. thanks, meg fowler, for teaching me about modern apostrophe, (as in, the “addressing some dead or nonexistent thing as if it were present and could understand” although, technically, i think this whole writing-to-Snow thing is perhaps a bit more pathetic fallacy than anything. but, i’ve been out of the literary analysis game for a long time now, so don’t quote and/or trust me.)

Question o’ the day: How do you feel about snow?