Guest Blogger:Theresa of A Mountain Momma"Come from away Momma..."

Today I am pleased to present guest blogger Theresa of A Mountain Momma. She's a fellow Canadian eh? We even kind of share a mountain.

Theresa is the mother of two little girls and currently a stay at home mom. She has one month before she will leave the nest to start graduate school. Theresa began her blog to discuss issues pertaining to motherhood and writing, and to explore her own experiences as a parent. She also uses her blog to explore and expand her writing skills.

"I am a writer and I try to live it everyday."

She describes herself as a huge sap, which makes for some interesting posts. You can learn more about Theresa at her blog: This Mountain Momma

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Let's get to know Theresa better:

Hi, my name is Theresa and I live somewhere in the vast expanse that is Canada (hint...BC...). This is my first guest post and I am so pleased that it is here with Sue at Cookie's Chronicles!

Cookie has questions. I have answers:

Favourite word:

What kind of question is that? Outrageous!

Favourite time of day:

Witching hour, provided the kids are asleep. I love the quiet and try to write as much as possible when I can at this hour.

Favourite emotion:

This may sound strange, but I feel so much from sadness. I don't want to be sad, but it awakens something in me. Perhaps its an appreciation for the happier times or a fresh outlook on the world and my place in it.

Favourite book:

My favourite book is Swan Song, by Robert McCammon. I have read it at least 6 times since I was a teenager.

Favourite comfort food:

Mashed potatoes. I am from Prince Edward Island, so I think its the law that I crave them at all hours.

Favourite of my posts:

Double Rainbow Momma http://www.amountainmomma.com/2011/07/20/double-rainbow-momma/

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Come from away Momma

by Theresa of A Mountain Momma

This year marks a milestone for me. 

A halfway point, perhaps one where I stop belonging nowhere.

Where I find a home that is mine, where I live, where I belong, where I will stay.

I grew up on Prince Edward Island.

I am spending a month here with my children for summer vacation.

It is a picturesque place coated in rusty red fields and singing almond beaches that line its sparkling shore. A giant small town that churns out potatoes, lobster, and Anne of Green Gables aplenty. And otherness.

It’s not your usual brand of otherness related to colour, language, or culture. It is an otherness born out of absence. To be born somewhere else is to Come From Away.

My mother is from P.E.I., but met my father while working at Lake Louise in Alberta. They married and had my sister and I, before moving back to here. Once they returned to the Island they had my brother and settled permanently. 

They were back-to-the-landers. We didn’t farm on a large scale, but we grew our own vegetables, raised chickens, and lived the rural life. 

I had a wonderful childhood. Running wild through the woods, cooking up schemes in the tree house, crashing the waves all summer, and getting bug bites so bad they would make me cry.

But, there was always a little something in back of my mind. A sense of belonging that was missing. I didn’t realize till I was a bit older and my brother remarked, “Me and mum are the only real Islanders! You and Serra were born away!”

I had always felt some mystery surrounding the place of my birth. A mythical place called, “Calgary” that was emblazed on my birth certificate and baptism candle box.  A land where my father picked dinosaurs from the land and people spoke with great seriousness about The Depression. A place I had never seen.

Not many would remark on my status, but it was evident in the comments people made about those that Came From Away that I did not belong. No matter how long you live here, if you are not born here, you are not an Islander.

When I was 19, I left. I packed my bags, pointed my nose West and didn’t look for back for 5 years. I moved to Vancouver Island on the West Coast with my mother, brother, and sister. 

After living in Victoria for several years I travelled to China, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia. By the time I came back to PEI I had learned new languages, tried new foods, and set foot in buildings older than Canada could ever hope to be.

Coming back to the Island did not feel like coming home. 

Aside from a few close family and friends, most did not care much that I had returned and did not want to hear stories of the far away places I had been or sights I had seen. I felt a strange kind of disdain and disapproval that made me feel like a traitor, even though I had never been one of them in the first place. 

People would remark that I must think them small and their ways stupid now that I had seen the world.  Their statements said more about them than they did me. 

I still come back every other summer. I bring my children to see the beaches of my youth, to run through the green wheat, feet brick red on the bottoms.

This year I turn 38 years old. I was 19 when I left. 

I have reached a point in my life where I have been gone as long as I had been here. 

I used to say I was from PEI, but am I? I was never really from here in the first place, my bones salted and grown in a far off land of dust and badlands. 

When I think of home now I think of mountains and glaciers and trees tall enough to touch the sky.

The only thing that seems out of place is the dirt. The dirt of the West and most places, is gray, dull, and lifeless. 

If only the mountains struck themselves from the red clay. Then I would truly feel at home.

Guest Blogger:Deborah of The Monster in Your Closet"Mother, Child, Mother"

Today's guest blogger is another one of my most supportive blogging buddies, Deborah of The Monster in Your Closet. Deb always has the most interesting things to say. She's not afraid to tackle controversial topics or to voice a strong opinion. I admire her gusto, and her strength in light of some very hard times, including losing her mom to cancer - a path I have been down myself. Despite these challenges, she maintains the ability to see the positive and lighter side of things.

Deb lives in Los Angeles, California with her Baby Daddy, 21-month-old and dog! You can learn more about her journey through life and motherhood at her blog: About Deborah

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Let's get to know Deborah better:

Favourite word:

Gratitude

Favourite family outing:

Disneyland! I work a mile away, but that doesn't lessen its appeal one bit

Favourite emotion:

Gratitude (Sensing a theme here?)

Favourite song:

Brother Israel's "Over the Rainbow"

Favourite famous person:

Joss Whedon, hands down. Buffy alone would've made me say this, but Buffy and Angel? And Firefly? Win!

Favourite of my posts:

Six hands for lifting: on my mom, mental illness, fear & hope

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Mother, Child, Mother
by Deborah of The Monster in Your Closet

I used to like kids even less than I liked shopping. I enjoyed neither, but the margin between the two was wide enough to cozily engulf about a million planets the size of Earth.

What changed?

Some months ago, a girlfriend determined my wardrobe unsound and demanded I go on a shopping expedition with her.

I'm not sure why she did this. Sure, I'd had my son more than a year prior and most my clothes were baggy on me. Maybe, just maybe, they were not the most fashionable garments I'd ever worn in my life. But they fit! And they were, by and large, clean, given that my son wasn't spitting up on me every third second anymore. Did a toddler’s mom really need anything more from her clothing?

My girlfriend shot down my totally reasonable protest, so I set up a shopping appointment. I'm a professional, after all; if something's marked in my calendar, I can't very well miss it, can I? That's a very unprofessional thing to do absent mitigating circumstances.

Unfortunately, no mitigating circumstances presented themselves here. I was forced to go shopping.

I was just starting to get into the swing of things when my youngest sister, Mads, called. I didn't mean to be the girlfriend who goes shopping only to ignore her real-life buddy in favor of the phone, so I ignored the call.

Mads called again. I ignored her again. Perusing scarves in the checkout line, I told my girlfriend, "I have to pick it up if she calls back again. She never calls three times."

She called back. I answered the phone and grumbled a hello, only to have my sister launch into a long-winded story about going to the dollar store here and the grocery store here and--

"The point, Mads. Get to the point."

"I'm pregnant!"

Impatience fled the building. After 10 minutes of two-way gushing, I had to end the call nevertheless—shopping, buddy, and all that.

Fast forward two months. My precious little monst--erm, toddler--was tearing the house apart while I booked a hotel room on my land line. My cell phone beeped, so I picked it up and checked the beep's source. It was an innocuous two-word message from my other sister, Rache. Those two words read, "You up?" I knew, instantaneously, that what they translated to was, "I'm pregnant."

I mean, really. Is the mother of a 20-month-old up at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning? Please!

For the next three weeks, I was forbidden to share the news. Rache wanted to make it through her first trimester before she made her announcement. Understandably, she didn't want anyone else stealing her thunder.

Over the course of those three weeks, I had a lot of time to think about children. Generations. The circle of life. I remembered finding a "+" where I'd expected to see a "-" in January 2009. I remembered thinking life was over, and feeling distraught by an erroneous belief that my plans of pursuing a career change to medicine had been obliterated just as completely as they'd been built.

I recalled talking with Rache in July 2009. She told me our mom's doctor suspected Mom had cancer. I will never forget the way I felt I was suffocating when Rache told me the diagnosis had been confirmed, or how the world stilled in February 2010 when Rache wrote that our mom was really, truly dying. Now.

Sixteen months later, the grief of reliving these moments is overwhelming. And yet, there's one emotion that's stronger still.

Love.

After receiving my sister's message about my mom dying, I flew up north with my then five-month-old son. I stood at my mom's doorway and wondered if she would recognize her grandson. Would she have the energy to hold him? To smile at him? I was frozen with fear for what seemed like an eternity, but I opened the door nevertheless. 

What greeted me was a kind of love that's greater than pain. It's larger and more enduring than cancer, which only lasts as long as one's physical body. Love, by contrast, persists in the hearts and minds of those who have shared our lives with us. In the moments after I opened my mom's bedroom door, it took this form:

My mom passed away three weeks after I took this photo. Cancer stole her body, but it couldn't touch the love that remained after her breath departed. Nor could it touch the gratitude in my heart that "when people plan, G-d laughs."

I didn't mean to be a mother, but it's being a mother that's brought me closest to my mom since she passed away. As I wrote in this entry:

As my son’s cries gradually tapered and his body melted against my chest, I was stunned by the revelation my mom’s life wasn’t all tragedy. It wasn’t the sum of its highlights. [ . . . ]

There were karate chickens and thunder thighs. There were oddball thrift store and garage sale finds she delighted in passing along to her children. And there were, I saw finally, moments of peace amidst the chaos. Many years ago, she held me, nursed me and rocked me to sleep, knowing the incomparable joy of being everything to me. Later, she did the same for my sisters. My brother. Much of her life might have been spent scrambling to fulfill obligations she never seemed to get on top of, but that didn’t negate those precious moments where she was able, simply and sweetly, to be all she wanted to be: Mom.

It took being a mom myself to see the beauty of these simple moments and to understand ignoring them would be working further disservice to her.

As I rocked my son to sleep that evening, I felt my mother in me. I felt how I am a continuation of her, and how my son will be a continuation of both of us.

I rejoiced.

After I laid my son down, I sat at the head of his crib and watched him sleep. I sat there till it was too dark to see him, then rose with a smile.

If I’d never meant to be a mother, I could not have been gladder that G-d meant otherwise. But for failure of my plans–not to mention contraception!–there is so much I would have missed.

Someday soon, I won’t need to explain this feeling to my sisters, because they will know. They will hold their precious babies in their arms and understand the incomparable joy of being everything, in these moments, to them. My sisters will feel rocked and embraced even as they themselves rock and embrace.

And me? You can bet I'll dismay at shopping just as much as I always have, but my dismay has departed where children are concerned. I know now something that I didn't before. Kids may bring a lot of poop--literal and otherwise--but they also bring hope, and the joy of knowing that all the powerful, unbreaking love we've shared will continue to shine long after our bodies perish.

Try buying that at the mall!

Guest Blogger:Rachel of Cool Bean Mommas"Relax, Just do it..."

The August Guest Blogger Extravaganza kicks off this week with one of my favourite blogging moms. I met Rachel of Cool Bean Mommas early on in my blogging life and we became fast friends. She's just so cute and fun, and her food posts inspire me to eat something other than toast!

Rachel is currently living in Quezon City in the Philippines with her husband of almost seven years and three kids ages twenty months, four, and six. 

"We originally lived in the US but have since traveled far and wide to find a cure for motherhood. We then discovered the “nanny” in the Philippines and life just gets better. We’ve now set up shop on this beautiful island and who knows, maybe we just might stay. You can read more about me and our crazy adventures at Cool Bean Mommas."

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Let’s get to know Rachel better:

First and foremost, I would like to thank Sue for giving me the honor of gracing her wonderful blog with my awkward presence =) She was one of my first blogger buddies I met while tweeting. I was interested in reading her blog because at first I thought it was about cookies, and it was. Her son Cookie. Ever since then, we’ve grown into a beautiful budding bond of bosom blogginess…whatever that means.

Favourite treat:

Brownie Fudge Sundae at Braums. Oh, how I miss thee.

Favourite family outing:

Anything that involves the water: beaches, water parks, hot springs, or even just a swimming pool. I, as well as my children, really love the water. I may have been a mermaid in another life…

Favourite book:

The Chronicles of Narnia. There’s so much symbolism and theology as well as fantasy and adventure in these stories, that it keeps you intrigued until the very end. Plus I love the story of the author. C.S. Lewis, who was once an atheist, tried to disprove the Bible as well as the existence of God. But while on his pursuit he actually found God and converted to Christianity. His faith and beliefs are intricately displayed in The Chronicles of Narnia. 

Favourite pastime:

Dancing. Anything from salsa to ballet, ball room to hip hop and everything in between. I also like to choreograph. My first paid choreography gig was when I was 12 years old for a University.

Favourite comfort food:

Does the whole buffet line at Golden Corral count?

Favourite of my posts:

Mommy Evolution. If you don't believe in evolution, you will after reading this.

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Relax, just do it, when you want to get through it (the days of busy motherhood that is)

by Rachel of Cool Bean Mommas

As I often visit Cookie’s Chronicles I noticed Sue’s unacknowledged fondness for lists. Whether this is true or not, let’s just say it is for the sake of my illustration. Inspired by Cookie’s Chronicles’ recent post on Meditating Mama, I figured I would compile a list of ten ways to help women, especially Moms, relax. We do too much, ask for too little, and our beauty sleep has been reduced down to pimple-faced power naps and dark-circle snoozes. This is the ‘Relax, just do it, when you want to get through it (the days of busy motherhood that is)’ list. Yeah I might need to work on the title a bit, but without further ado…

1)            Breathe deeply. This signifies inhaling in all that is good and exhaling out all that is bad, such as: frustration with the kids, anger with the husband, discontent with yourself, burnt chicken in the oven, etc.

2)            Drink Green/Herbal Tea. There's nothing more calming then the soothing flow of warm liquid down your throat. It's not only good for your mind but also body. And if drinking tea works for a peaceful, enlightened monk in China, then it should do wonders for a frazzled, somewhat confused mom in Suburbia.

3)            Get a Beauty Treatment. There's something relaxing about letting someone fiddle about with your hair and face. If you have the time and money go get a haircut, or spa. I'd even settle for a makeover from my 4 year old!

4)            Laugh Out Loud. As they say, 'Laughter is the best medicine'. Watch clips of funny videos on YouTube or read a book of jokes. Watch reruns of I Love Lucy!

5)            Strengthen Your Facebook and Twitter Addiction. There are hundreds of things to do on FB and Twitter... you can look at everyone's photos, post on everyone's wall, play Farmville and every other kind of 'ville', tweet at strangers, retweet friends, tweet till you twittle your tweeps!

6)            Go Shopping. Or what I like to do is 'pretend' to go shopping. We've all been guilty of it, taking dozens of outfits to the department store fitting room just to try them on and have a mini fashion show. Then walk out and tell the counter lady "They didn't fit" or "Not what I was looking for". And in this case you wouldn't have to stress about how much you spent!

7)            Workout. Working out helps relieve stress and directs your attention to focusing on the fitness regime. I prefer mindless workouts like Zumba or swimming. Otherwise for more meditation based workouts try Yoga or Tai Chi.

8)            Watch a Movie. Whether in the theaters or at home a light hearted cheery movie will always help you relax. Just make sure you don't watch a thriller or a horror...then you'll just end up being paranoid on top of everything else. "Who's behind my shower curtain?!?"

9)            Eat Healthy Comfort Food. And I do stress HEALTHY. Eating can be very relaxing as well as comforting. Which probably explains why some of us look 'very relaxed' =) But go ahead and grab some fresh fruit, cereals, yogurts, nuts....snack away!

 

And last but not least....

10)            Do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! You can be sitting or lying, staring off into an oblivion, pondering odd questions like "what if I shaved my head?",whatever you want just as long as you accomplish the simple task of relaxation.

August Guest Blogger Extravaganza!

Yes, I said extravaganza!

I'm taking the month of August off. Well, ish. You may still find me poking around Cookie's Book Club, commenting on guest bloggers' posts, or participating in Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks to some fabulous Twitter friends - who also happen to be fabulous bloggy-friends - I have a spectacular guest lineup to keep you entertained in my absence. I am so very grateful to these ladies for allowing me this break! I hope you will stop by to greet them and show them some love.

Week 1
Rachel of Cool Bean Mommas - Relax, Just do it...
Deb of The Monster in Your Closet - Mother Child Mother
Theresa of A Mountain Momma - Come from Away Momma

Week 2
Kimberly of Mama's Monologues - Fairy Tale Life
Mandi of Smile and Mama With Me - Hand in Hand
Robin of Farewell Stranger - Love in a Grain of Sand

Week 3
Jen of Runner Mom - These are the Moments
Abby of Mommy Moments With Abby - Losing Yourself in Parenting
Leighann of Multitasking Mumma - Big Girl Bed

Week 4
Rach of Life With Baby Donut - Knitted Together
Samantha of MEDTOPICWRITER - The Nuts and Bolts of Bike Safety
Brittany of Changing Diapers and Taking Names - Thoughts on Motherhood

Week 5
Christine of The Aums - What Goes in Must Come Out
Carri of Mommy's Little Monster Blake - My New Normal
Closing Thoughts from Cookie's Mom 

My Family is Growing!

You may recall that we recently welcome a new addition to the family, Jack's friend monster (aka Carl). Carl's been around for a while, and mostly he's pretty good about picking up after himself and not taking up too much space.

A couple of weeks ago, Jack visited his grandma with dad (mom stayed home). Lucky for me, monster left his mom behind to keep me company. When Jack returned home, Jack introduced me to his new friends - plural. In no particular order, here are the newest members of our family:

Turtle - Okay... turtles are harmless enough. I can handle a turtle in the house.

Mantis - this new friend kind of gives mommy the squeemies.

Lion - so far no humans have been digested by this new guest.

I'm hoping Jack's lion friend looks like this:

and not like this:

Each of Jack's new friends have to give me a hug in the morning before Jack gives me a hug. Picture me with my arms wrapped around air 4 times in a row. The things we do for our kids.

I had a brief conversation with Jack about just how many new friends I might expect in the future. I asked him where they all slept and if there was room for anymore. He assured me that they could all fit in his bed, except for Lion. Lion sleeps on the couch. And then he decided that there might be room for one more, but no more than six altogether. I guess we've forgotten all about monster's mom by now. I'm okay with that, and happy to know that we're almost at capacity.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few invisible friends and one flesh and blood human to read to before quiet time, and some of them are not very patient!

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I'm linked up at Bruna's Let's Bee Friends today!

Cleaning House Collage

Today I'm linking up with Mama Kat for her Pretty Much World Famous Writer's Workshop.

The prompt that inspired this post: Share a favorite craft or game that will keep your kids busy for at least 20 minutes.

Cleaning house Collage

Keeping a bouncy preschool boy busy AND out of trouble for more than about five minutes at a time is one of my greatest challenges.

Playtime with friends will occupy my son for long periods of time, but what to do when we’re home alone together and I have work to do or phone calls to make? 

It’s not just me right? You’ve probably experienced this too. You tell your child, "I need to make a few phone calls. I’ll be about 15 minutes.” Two minutes into the first phone call, your child is pulling on your leg (if you’re lucky – stomping on your foot if you’re not) and screaming/singing/making wild animal sounds as loudly as possible.

Sometimes, you just need to occupy your child long enough to get that one thing done without distraction and then you can go back to your usual multitasking supermom ways.

Sure, I could plunk him down in front of the TV, and sometimes that’s a necessity. Too much of that though and I’ll have to give back my Mom of the Year Award. Alright, I don’t really have a Mom of the Year Award, but pretending that I do is a real confidence boost. It makes me a better mom!

So here it is, my gift to you. This recently discovered activity keeps my child busy for long periods of time AND helps clean my house. I'm a piler. That is, I collect magazines and papers of all kinds in piles. Unfortunately, I don't enjoy cluttered spaces. I resolve this internal conflict by purging my piles pretty regularly. 

Jack recently discovered scissors and LOVES to cut things up. When it's time for a pile purge, I rifle through the magazines and papers setting aside any articles that I want to keep and then hand the rest to Jack. He then sits at his table with a large piece of craft paper, the magazines, scissors and a glue stick and collages to his heart's content. Here's his latest work:

Pretty cool, huh? It looked like so much fun that I just had to try it myself:
  

We moms need our creative outlets too!

Part of the reason that this works to keep Jack occupied is its novelty. I fully expect this craft to be utterly boring some day soon, and I will have to come up with a new quiet activity. Until then, I set supplies aside and ration them a bit. I have a little craft box full of goodies that comes out just on special occasions (i.e. when I need a moment of peace).

Here's to our children's creative energy. May it be used for good (fun collage crafts) rather than evil (child-inspired home renovation - aka vandalism).