“…Me Time is a myth. It is an unattainable, always interruptable, never satisfying piece of junk psychology. Me Time, by its very name, suggests that who we are during the daily grind is not who we truly are. It begs us to search for fulfillment outside of the titles of “wife” and “mother.” It accuses precious little ones and God-given spouses for suppressing us. It reduces motherhood to a disease in which little dirty faces and endless monotonous tasks slowly suck the life out of us. It says we can never be refreshed by spending time in the presence of those we care for day in and day out. It points out a perceived hole in our world that needs to be filled, a tank that must be refueled, a monster that will swallow us if we neglect to feed it… Me Time.”

Amy Roberts

She started showing up at family gatherings on my cousin’s arm shortly after Jon and I got married. The other girls in the family quickly adopted her and she had everyone charmed in very short time. I have a sneaking suspicion that she is my Grandma’s favourite… she definitely has a way of bringing people together and making them welcome. Apparently I don’t really share that gift, and I can be pretty wrapped up in my own stuff, because it took us awhile longer to become any more than acquaintances.

It was actually my jealousy that finally made me take real notice of this newcomer. I heard second hand that she was starting to take MY little sister on dates. I can partially credit her relationship with my sister as the beginning of my own grown up relationship with Sarah. It jolted me into realizing that I was missing out on a closeness and friendship I could be having, because she had been growing up while I wasn’t paying attention. And then there was talk of emails with MY dad and her vocal appreciation of him? What? What?

I can’t really pinpoint exactly when she moved from being Greg’s girlfriend/wife to my friend. But my admiration of her has been growing and growing and growing from those early days. For several years it seemed like there was a new person at each one of our family gatherings, because when you become Janine’s friend she adopts you into every relationship she has. This in particular is such a beautiful gift. She doesn’t just love on you with her whole heart (though she does that!), but she brings you into her circle, includes you, uplifts you, praises you, prays and cries for you, until everyone she knows loves you too. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. And being a recipient of it… wow.
She posted a quote on my Facebook wall recently, but I’m almost embarrassed because it describes her so much more accurately than I…

“there is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves. It is not my nature”
- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

And lest I get too sappy… can I also say that her love of food endears her to me as well. Her tastes are more refined than my own (I’m almost strictly a comfort food girl while she likes gourmet treats), but I enjoy the joy that food brings her and getting to share the wonderful things she bakes! And I admire the restraint she can exercise, considering the size of her appetite when she lets loose!

I love having a friend who shares my love for books and words and bookstores and expansive home libraries.

I love having a friend who has the same favourite t-shirt as I do, though she managed somehow to get it in a better colour…

It’s super fun having a friend who has hair that you will NEVER STOP BEING RIDICULOUSLY JEALOUS of.
Oh yeah, and one who can handle a little sarcasm. Though I speak the truth, I will never stop wishing I had her hair. I was almost angry when she chopped it off to give away. But it grew back, so I forgave her.

It’s wonderful to have a friend who loves my family. Blesses me in countless ways.

Justus wants me to say to you:

“I love you. Because you are very nice.” (Words don’t come easy to 5 year old boys, he struggled for quite awhile to express the enormity of his love for you. I know the feeling.)

Juno wants me to say:

Well… she would say something lovely, but she is currently crying uncontrollably from Janine induced candy overdose. She thinks you are pretty special. You are Penny’s mom after all.

I love having a friend I can sit and talk with late into the night and find in her a kindred spirit and true understanding.

And a friend who will bring cheesy dill popcorn and watch weird, old movies with Sarah and I.

and
and
and

You are a treasure Janine Gordon, to everyone who knows you. Love you MUCH!

Happy Birthday!

Juno’s birth day!

1!

2!

3!

Pictures of 4 to come…

Happy Birthday darling, cuddly, adventurous, spunky, hilarious, one-of-a-kind girl of ours!

A sweet, friendly little Robin mama laid and hatched these creatures right above our back door…

Hideous, aren’t they?! That third egg still hasn’t hatched, but they are starting to get more feathers.

Got my hair chopped off…

It was really really long. And now it’s not! And I love it. Takes about 10 minutes to “fix” as opposed to the previous 25-30. SO worth it. Plus it won’t go up in a ponytail and with my not curly-not straight hair type it looks awful if I don’t “fix” it. So lazy, gross hair days are over. That 10 minute time investment is a must, which is a good thing for this lazy girl’s husband.

No reason for this picture except that this girlie is ridiculously cute and fun. Rascally, for sure, but precious beyond measure.

Yeth, Juthuth lotht hith front tooth! Right above the bottom one he already lost! When we wear our track pants and rain boots we now totally fit in with the Strathroy Wal*Mart crowd. (Don’t mind my man laugh in the background.)

A couple weeks ago we made a big switch in the kids rooms and put Justus and Juno’s beds in the same room, and all their toys in the other. Justus hates being alone and we were finding him sneaking into our bed nearly every night, no matter how many times we asked him not to. If he rouses at all in the night he just can’t stand being alone and finds his way between us or snuggled at our feet. Junie with her apnea issues has a lot of nightmares and general restless sleep. She doesn’t need a lot of comforting after a nightmare, just doesn’t like to be alone as she falls back to sleep. So basically, Jon and I weren’t getting too much shut eye ourselves, I’m sensitive to sharing breathing space. I can never face the same direction as someone else, so like every time Jon rolls over, I do too. But when there are 4 people in our queen size bed I spend the whole night desperately trying to find fresh, non-previously-breathed air. (once early in our marriage I woke up in the middle of the night to find my face approx 1 inch from Jon’s and I was breathing in his air. I’ve not gotten over that moment of horror to this day.) Thus, the combining of rooms. They are the bestest buddies anyway, so we figured they could be each other’s company and we might all just get a bit more rest. IT WORKS! Not once since the move have we shared our bed with little people! And they LOVE sharing. It does take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours for them to fall asleep still, reading, talking, laughing (the occasional bed jumping)… but it’s worth it for all the glorious zzzz’s after that.

It feels slightly weird to own a 4 bedroom house and then make your 2 kids share one room… but I DO love having a playroom! Excuse the dark nighttime photo and lack of decor…

And now tomorrow begins a new week of school… we’ve taken a few weeks off and been pretty slack for a good month or more now. But the summer is looming, so we are going to get down to business so that we can enjoy LOTS of time off when the nicer weather arrives! Plus! Our curriculum for next year arrived, including an extra cursive practise book. So cursive writing starts tomorrow! Pray for me and my perfectionist little man.

Oh and I’m giving up coffee for 1 week for this week’s monday resolutions (though I started Sunday this time). 2 days in and I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss it. I’ve been getting some mysterious stomach pains recently, and I think it might be too much coffee. So I’ll take a little break, but life is kind of an empty void without it, so my guess is it won’t be long term…

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This is something my husband challenged me on recently… that my schedule is becoming unhealthy and peace-stealing for myself, for the kids, and the effects reach him too of course. He is 100% right. My good intentions and spur of the moment decisions are not in line with what I say are my priorities. Sigh. Back to the schedule making and routine following (on monday of course, all new things must begin on mondays).

I thought that there would be a little more downtime.
That’s a good one.

I believed that at some point rather early on, a quiet confidence would inform me, and it did sometimes. But I was stunned by how afraid I felt all the time, too. My friend Ethan says that being a parent means you go through life with the invisible muzzle of a gun held to your head. You may have the greatest joy you ever dreamed of, but you will never again draw an untroubled breath.”

-Anne Lamott