Tanya's Journey

Christmas used to be beautiful and magical to me. And then I grew up. And thought, "Wow. Who cares anymore?" Christmas has gotten to be SO commercial and I resent that. Of course, spending time with the family was always a plus side to Xmas - we were *Making* time for what was important. Then . ..  I had kids. And this Xmas they were old enough to understand its magic. As we entered November and as the snow began to fall. As the Xmas music started and the lights went up, I felt my childlike wonder and excitement mount, ready to burst. I remembered my favourite tradition of putting up the tree with my father and siblings as we sang to the instrumental bell he always turned on. I actually found myself a similar bell, because, well, that's where my fondest memories were. I don't know who was more excited for the tree to be put up, and for Santa Claus to visit, but I do know who enjoyed it all the most (ME!) Now I'm excited for next year to arrive, next Christmas Time...

End of March will mark 8 years since the death of my grand-mother. Even after all this time, I miss her like crazy. She was a beautiful kind-hearted soul whose health had been failing for some time. And, although the pain of losing her is still very intense, I know she's happier now. Christmas time had been her time of year, she was a family-oriented woman, and really, that's what Christmas is all about. As I stand in my kitchen, baking, cooking, my thoughts are with her, wishing I could hug her one last time. I wanted to share something I wrote soon after her death. RIP, Mimi She’s dancing with Elvis       We called our grand-mother Mimi. She was a spectacular woman; emotionally strong, stubborn to a fault and she had thoughts and ideas that she loved to argue with conviction. She also had a heart as big as the vastest of oceans. My Mimi faced many challenges throughout her life; her physical condition could certify it. In her youth, she had measured an imposing five fee...

A couple years back, I participated in Nano, which stands for National November Writing Month. One month to write 50 000 words. I was game. But then I became pregnant with my 2nd child and got really sick so didn't write more than 2 000 words, which was a great start. This year, I was up for the challenge. But was it ever a challenge! Here in Quebec, we dealt with daylight savings time on the very first weekend, which meant my kids were waking up before the birds. Which meant that my writing time (slated to begin before the birds as well) got shot down. By the time naptime arrived, I was dead to the world. This went on for over a week. Then my kids got sick on the second week. Anywho, you get the gist of it. My total word count at the end of the month was almost 15 000 words. And I am SO proud of myself. Because I persisted. Because I discovered things about my writing style I hadn't known about. Because I made new 'friends', and a new writing clique. So I consider this...