About Me

James Blue and Overcast Grey

,10:51 am

A couple of months ago, I decided to re-paint our ensuite bath after living with the same serene blue for almost fifteen years. I love this blue, chose it carefully after repeated trials with countless paint chips. Nothing too heavy, nothing too grey, just a deep, clear blue, the colour of dusk in a late […]

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Love Amidst the Refrigerator Magnets

,6:52 am

When I wandered into the kitchen for my ten thirty coffee break, I was stopped in my tracks by a carefully written message on the refrigerator door. There, fighting for space among the computer-generated grocery list, the parent-teacher interview sheet and assorted wisdom from fortune cookies, shone this little gem:   My fourteen year-old-daughter wrote this […]

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Driving Lessons

,7:02 pm

Not much points up how different my husband and I are than the way we approach teaching our kids a new skill. Take driving lessons for example. My older daughter has just turned sixteen. She is, in many ways, her mother’s daughter, that is, methodical, studious, careful.  Neither of us can look at anything in […]

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Keeping it in the Family: Taking our Daughters to Work

,9:57 am

  (McKenzie NewsWire) Lisa James, President and CEO of Lisa C James Professional Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of Lindsay E.J. McKenzie as Executive Vice-President, Employee Benefits. In her new position, Ms. McKenzie  will assume administration of all extended medical insurance claims including out-of-country expenses for the firm’s sole employee and her family […]

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Life on the Bandwagon

,9:14 pm

    It’s been three weeks since I last posted. Holy falling off the bandwagon! That’s backwards actually. I haven’t fallen off the bandwagon, I’ve been driving it non-stop, ferrying my teenage daughters everywhere they need to go. Take today, for instance. I picked up my moppets from school at three p.m., scooted down the street to […]

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Tea Biscuits

,10:54 pm

I made tea biscuits from a store bought mix once. Just add milk. They weren’t nearly as good as this recipe from Juney. The mix version had a cakier quality and dissolved into a crumby mess with the first bite. I figure that if you have to eat a biscuit with a spoon, it ought […]

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Rituals and Raspberry Afros

,11:12 pm

  You never know when your kids are going make an important disclosure, or share a troubling feeling. More often than not, it is in the car. “I am not comfortable with Dad’s not being at Grandma Ann’s memorial service,” my daughter says, seemingly out of nowhere.  We’re driving to her boyfriend’s house. “I know […]

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Road Testing the Mood-o-Meter

,8:30 am

“Are we speeding?” Lindsay asks. I take my foot off the accelerator, the engine audibly slowing as the van moves uphill. The speedometer arrow drops from seventy to fifty (that’s kilometres, by the way). A beat passes. “No we’re not speeding,” I say. “Mom,” she says, her voice measured and serious. “We were speeding.”  At […]

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Mom, Can You Hand Me _____________?

,8:01 am

    I am driving my dust-coloured mini-van. I keep my eyes on the road and one hand on the wheel. The other hand flails about searching the glove compartment/my purse/the floor of the van. Mom, can you hand me the IPOD antenna? The baby wipes. A napkin. A bandaid! The bottle of water rolling around […]

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A Furor in the House

,9:54 pm

 Photo by: Sarah McKenzie, artiste   “We’re going swimming next door!” my daughter Lindsay announced yesterday afternoon. “Really,” I said. I caught hint of dubiousness in my voice too late, slapped myself inwardly for not sounding more enthusiastic. Lindsay didn`t seem to notice.  “I was too shy,” she said, her voice light as a feather, […]

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