Just Add Dharma

The following photographs depict an afternoon at Westwind, Oregon. We had a small amount of free time from our Buddhist retreat schedule so we spent it exploring caves and interesting tide pools along the shore.

 I will let my readers enjoy the bliss and ease of the life in the photos below.

*A little passage about a present personal struggle can be found after the photo series for any curious readers.

Tabitha--having spotted a hole in the rocks leading to secret tide pools.

Mistaya and friend.

Tabitha on her way to explore a magical path to the sea.

Miranda, Tabitha and Anemone explore tide pools.

Brilliantly coloured sea anemone.

Tabitha making her way through the cave to the ocean's edge where Miranda and Nem explore tide pools.

Me--the ocean is so cold at this particular spot on the Northwest Pacific Coast--just stepping in the water up to my knees for a minute caused excruciating pain. It's a very windy place on the coast and the current is from deep in the ocean. Thus, the water is much colder than that off the BC coast.

Nem, braving the water!

Nem and Miranda--hurrying to find their way back to the beach--we're late for the next retreat activity!

These photos depict a lifestyle much needed right now in my life. The first week back to school/lessons for my daughters is always exhausting. In the old days, parents didn't fret about providing each and every child with unlimited mental, spiritual and physical stimulus. Most of their kids were lost in the shuffle: clothed, fed, loved and at times ignored--families were big, life was hard.

Today we believe each and every child must have a parent's full attention to their every need. It's a balancing act. I am barely keeping on the beam with three children--I could not parent the way I do with even one more. I want no one to be left out in the shuffle of modern life. 

And then there is the constant struggle to get one of my children to eat a healthy diet. She is gluten intolerant, very thin and often gets sick. Her picky eating is a constant source of stress for me. 

Dare I cry the word HELP? I cry it, but in the end it involves me helping myself: trying, reworking, meditating, trying, reworking, meditating, never giving up trying to walk that balance beam.

My children's extra curricular week looks like this (and I know we don't do as much as many families!):

Mist: piano, 2 dance, school band.

Tabs: choir, soccer, piano and school band.

Pip:guitar, soccer and skating.

*As well, I plan to take them down hill skiing each Saturday when the season starts. 

**not to mention fitting in my own work/ exercise/ extra curricular schedule, and working around Peter's too.

And I like to have a family supper each night--this year we'll eat at about 7:30 to ensure we can all make it to the table. But since I am driving all over the city to lessons, I'll have to prepare our meal at about 2:30 each afternoon and put it in a slow cooker for the evening. 

This life style would work if I employed a cook/nanny/housekeeper. But I do not have one of those much needed persons. 

Modern Life? What's it good for? More Dharma please!

The Tango Tangle

Off to the Argentine Tango Ballet

Above pic is my girls and I just before we headed out to dine at the Bike Shop Cafe and then on the Ballet Kelowna's night of Grand Passion. Both were great. The restaurant was very accommodating to both our rushed time and my daughters' picky eating. The ballet was fabulous. I love to watch dance--very meditative for me. One particular dance, North Shore, reminded me of the modern dances by Pina (previous blogs). I did not straighten the pic as our shoes would have been cut off and the shoes always make the outfit!

A teeny tiny post as this week, this day, is crazy busy with appointments around the clock and not to mention I start my online Freelance Writing course at UBC today! Is the week nervous breakdown worthy? Perhaps! A month at a Buddhist retreat sounds perfect right now...

Peter is hosting a conference all week thus I am left to do all transporting of the children to their activities all evenings. Plus, I have so many appointments this week that I am rushing to. Meeting with an editor about my novel tomorrow--must have that ready for her too! And this week (and weekend) is the ZEN the entire house week: declutter and give away excess week. It is exhausting and overwhelming to declutter an entire home and yard, room by room, drawer by drawer. So this is where I am at this week. Much work, little play. A garage bursting before the excess is taken away. After this week is over, I hope to catch my breath and have some calm, mindfulness to share with you...

Bertram's Beach

Family photo taken last month at my favorite Okanagan beach: October 2011

Here we are again! Me, Peter, Mist, Pip and Tabs.

I started my Friday early. After lifting weights in my home gym, I went to the doctor as I had been feeling so tired all week--not my usual energy. Thought I might have a bladder infection (a nasty down side to being a female). Good news is that I am fine but there is a virus going around that leaves people tired. 

So, I got a little paper work done (attempted to get in touch with my supervisor yet again--no luck and I am freaking out about this!) and then drove to the University to meet Peter for lunch. 

Right after lunch I attended Exam Invigilation training. Then, I sped home, changed into my dance gear and picked up 2 little dancers (Tabs and niece Nem) and off to ZumbAtomics we went. I danced my best but was noticeably more pooped than usual. My trick to teaching a class when my energy level is low is to smile a lot. If I look like I am having a blast, my students won't notice I am super tired.

After class I drove home for a quick supper--a bean burrito--and got ready for the Zumba dance party. Picked up a friend and off we went to find the party....looking....looking... looking...where's the party? 

Stopped at Oranj dance studio to borrow their phone. They were closed but a woman who was finishing up work was kind enough to let me in. 

Discovered the party was the next night--Saturday not Friday! Trust me to get the day wrong! So, instead my friend and I cruised down town looking for action ;) There was a hockey game on so parking was impossible. We finally found a  spot and stopped for a drink at The Greenroom. We were dressed for the Zumba party but at least I hadn't donned all of the neon junk I had in my car (the party was supposed to be a glow party).

After a good chat with my friend, I arrived home and called my sister's hotel. Theresa and my nephew KW had arrived in town from the Kootneys while I was looking for the party! My other sis Miranda, and my oldest girls (Mist and Tabs) were all ready at the Grand Hotel partying with her.

 I drove down town again to the hotel. The hockey game had just ended so I was lucky to find parking about a block away. I had a short but good visit at the htoel with my sisters and nephew. Tabs and I arrived home close to midnight. Mist stayed the night to hang with one of her best buddies on earth (her cuz KW) at the hotel as Theresa is renting a luxurious condo with two bedrooms and a kitchen! 

Unfortunately, sleep was not the luxury I received once home. My darling Pippi was ill with a horrible cough and sore throat and was up three times in the night crying, coughing and asking for help because she felt she couldn't breath. I felt worried all night and found sleep difficult. In the night I began to think my life is too crazy--I need to be home more. It seems I am always racing out to dance. I think if I keep weekends free--I'll feel OK. This weekend is unusual with the audition.

This morning my baby Pippi is OK but the cold she has is not pretty.

And now, I must get ready for an audition I have an hour away, in the close Okanagan city of Vernon. I must leave by 11 am and won't be back until 4 pm at the earliest. Tonight is the real Zumba party date but now I cannot attend as I am going out for supper to a new restaurant with my sisters. My sisters are great women. They are really smart, interesting, adventurous, fun and cool--just like me ;)

I hope this perkiness lasts me all day because boy oh boy do I need it today!

Apparently the big ski hills (Big White and Silver Star) open this weekend. But I won't be there. I have a feeling it will be a year of a little skiing but not our year to go crazy and be at the hill each weekend. Next year will be our go crazy year. 

Pumpkin Spiced Spelt Muffins

Pumpkin Spiced Spelt Muffins

1 c whole grain spelt flour

3/4 cup light spelt flour

1/4 cup crushed flax seeds

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c pureed pumpkin

1 egg beaten

1/4 c canola oil

1/4 c molasses

1/2 c maple syrup

1 tsp honey

3/4 cup walnuts (optional)* my picky eaters insist I don't add these!

1/2 cup raisins (optional)*or these!

-sift together dry ingredients

-in  another bowl mix wet ingredients

-fold wet into dry and stir until just combined

-bake at 375 o for 18 minutes :)

- A personal note that made the making of these muffins extra special for me. I went on a tour of a natural spice plantation near Penang, Malaysia last year and purchased fresh nutmeg in the shell.  It was fun cracking open the nut to extract the little meat inside and grating it for these muffins. I was pleasantly reminded of my South Asian adventures.

Busy day today. Must get going. Here is my very dull list of my day plan this Sunday. Can I do it all? Wish me much luck:

-go for run up the mountain with my dog Fernando right now!

-bath dog with special soap to help his hair loss problem.

-finish formatting my thesis and send it to my supervisor for the very last time! :D

-plant all ten shrubs that need to go into my back yard sloped garden (this requires the digging of sizable holes through cement like clay :P)

-plan and reserve all flights/hotel for Portland USA on Dec. 8-10 *Dance training with Gina Grant!

-take Pip on promised date out for "coffee" She gets hot cocoa :)

-grocery shop.

-do 2 loads of laundry.

-bath dog second time with special shampoo.

-if still awake after supper, go to movie with hubby: Johnny English.

-Oh yes, email UBC to let them know the key to the ball room still doesn't work and they must get a work order to have the chairs and tables put away each Thursday night before I teach Zumba. (I pulled a muscle in my shoulder/neck and pinched a neck nerve stacking and moving chairs last week) 

***Thank-you all of my dear readers and friends for your generous support :D

 I am in second place! 

btw, if you haven't voted for me today yet, please press the 'Top 25 Circle of Moms' button up and to your left. Then scroll down until you seeModernista Mama and vote. Thank-you so very much my friends :)

The Fairies of Balsam Wood

My girls and their cousins and friends.
I have caught a cold from Tabs and Pip. It's the first day of sore throat and upset stomach.
My MA thesis is in Digital Fiction (studying identity within new, unrecognizable [in the traditional sense] online ficiton)--it is a Fine Art thesis. I realize I can talk at writer's conferences, e-conferences. I am excited at the potential. I am so happy that I pushed my boundaries, the boundaries of graduate studies and explored switching to an MFA. I learned a lot. Mainly that my MA thesis is an MFA thesis and it provides me so many opportunities ahead for my writing career. In addition, it clarified for me just how passionate I am about literacy, and writing.
I astounded myself, realizing that the thesis I have chosen, is really one of my most creative endeavors to date.
I am not ruling out a PhD in digital fiction at some time in the future. But for now, I am determined to learn all I can about my subject, get my MA, speak at a few conferences and leverage my MA to get all my fiction published.
I am going to supplement my writing career by selling my nature paintings. A travel painter--traveling to all the sacred, natural places in the world (mainly BC) and sharing what I find with the world through my paintings.
I truly feel blessed that I have struggled and learned all I can from my experiment.
I would not be nearly as educated in my choices had I not tried the MFA.
I believe that in following a straight path, one misses too much. It is in the zigs and the zags that one gathers knowledge. At least, I have proven it in my own life's quest.
I have to be in 4 places at once tonight: make that 5: Tabs has her final soccer practice, her first day of Youth Choir and a parent teacher interview all at 5 p.m.. Mistaya has to be at school for the Social Justice Club Pot-Luck, which she is helping and performing at. I already declined the pot-luck, however, I'd love to see her and her friends perform "We Can Dance."
How can I do this? I cancelled soccer, I will take Tabs for a little choir and then rush all of us (Pip, Tabs, Mist and Me) to Tabs school. I guess I'll have to drop Mist off early for the Pot-Luck--before 4. But no one will be at her school at 4--so I don't really want to do that. I guess then, she'll be late--it's safer to be late. Though I'll have major tears to listen to!
And to top it all off I have a hair appointment at 2--I'll be running non stop until probably 8 tonight. HELP!
All of this and I feel like crap with this cold :P