lisamitchell

Inspiring happiness…

I have been watching these videos (see below); they are from a documentary released in 2003, called "Children Full of Life" (original Japanese title, "Namida to warai no happî kurasu: 4 nen 1 kumi Inochi no jugyôon"), directed by Noboru Kaetsu, on the Japanese school teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. 

He is an example of those individuals who are teachers by vocation (not because of their degree or job title); people who not only know how to facilitate and inspire learning in others, but in his case, inspiring children to live as a healthy people who know how to express their feelings in a healthy way ("emotional intelligence"), to stand up for what is important, for what they believe. To know their own truth, and to be heard, sharing it...in sum, to be happy and to live fully as human beings. 

Mr. Kanamori is an inspiration not only to teachers, but more importantly, to those of us who are “teachers by default”--us parents, transformed into educators via the birth of our children.

As mothers and fathers, we are free to choose the legacy we will leave our children in what they learn from us, from our example. There’s a quote I heard somewhere that captures this: “I can be my parent’s daughter, or I can be my child’s mother”.
The difference between the two is found in simply becoming conscious.

It's never to late to be the parent you truly want to be.

I hope you enjoy them. 

A focus on Gratitude...

So I was planning on a new blog post to coincide with the arrival of the New Year, but as you can see, that didn't happen! It's just been a steady flow of stuff to do, and somehow updating my blog gets pushed to the back of the line, and then just gets lost in the blurr...Arrggggh...hopeless!

But enough is enough, here I am...finally...back again!

So how ya doin'? Everything okay? I hope the new year, if anything, has brought a feeling of renewed hope to you in your life. A new year, which can mean a new start. A new chance to live the life you want...to be the best YOU you can be. And an opportunity for all of us to make things better.

And with these thoughts in mind, I think a good place to start is by trying to make a point each day to pause, and think about what's good in my life. Being grateful for everything and everyone that I have in my orbit...

So I think I'll "catch two pigeons with one bean", as they say in Italy, and update you on our end-of-the-year holidays activities while at the same time reflecting a bit on the things that I am grateful for in my life. How's that sound?

Okay, then. Here goes:

just before my birthday in December, I discovered that a new restaurant, "Tandoor2" had opened in our area, and they deliver! I'm such a happy camper!! Of course, we are now on a first name basis!

 having lots of fun making noise with my bombo drum in the Batukada (street percussion) group.

baking and decorating things that make the house smell good

watching my little girl on stage, "acting" for the very first time

proud momma with video camera :)

special evenings with my favourite tribe of Mommas

spending my birthday in the company of friends, both little and big

(we're decorating mini-christmas trees--ice-cream cones + icing)

I think they turned out pretty cute, eh?!

about to make a wish :) (btw: it was a pijama party-supper. I don't normally dress like that!)

and my wish came true...I have everything I need to be happy.    

6 kidlets, asleep in one living room ;)

 
Boxing Day breakfast (FYI: now you know what I look like when I wake up in the morning)

bon appetit!

with Maple Syrup, brought all the way from Canada ;)

all dressed up on Christmas Day...

 
Santa brought us a new board game, "Malefiz", from Germany, and a couple other ones too, so we've started to really enjoy having those "old-fashioned evenings", hanging out together and playing them as a family.

we had fun making this snowflake garland one afternoon, while Daddy had a nap ;)

  
I was adamant on getting a decent family photo of us this year. We clean up pretty nice, don't you think? :D

Well, that's about it for my holiday photos.  Oh, almost forgot: we have a brand-new nephew, Oliver, born on the 30th of December:

I took these of him the day after he was born.

Nothing like seeing the eyes of a newborn to remind me of how precious life is, of how much good there is in the world, and everything there is in it to be grateful for.

And on that note...Cheers to you and yours!...may this year 2010 bring you everything you need to make your dreams come true! bye for now :)

Lettuce and onions...

Hey, howz it goin'? It's been  a few days. Gettin' busy around here. 

December is always a "full tilt" month, ain't it? I mean, once fall arrives, you're trucking along..."chino chano" as they say here in Spain. And October comes and goes, November cruises by...
Then all of a sudden you are in December and everything speeds up! Christmas concert rehersals, work suppers, group get-togethers, and all sorts of other surprises, not to mention "Xmas present manifestation". It's all in 5th gear!!

Christmas here in Barcelona is always a bit odd for me, mostly cuz there's not a whole lot that says to me "hey, it's WINTER". It's sort of by inference, you know? There's no snow, and everything else that goes with snow (all the good parts, and frustrating parts, and force majeure parts) are missing from the picture. So it's kind of always, well...weird for me. Like "pretending" it's Christmas.

However, I'm feeling a little more cheery now that we have our tree up and the house decorated:

  

Annie made herself an advent calendar, which I think totally rocks:

And of course is getting excited about the eventual arrival of presents from Santa:

I think her work has a certain Dr. Seuss air, don't you agree? Not bad for an almost-five year old!! :B 

 And I suppose that sunsets like this compensate for the lack of wintery temperatures:

And so does growing lettuce and onions in December outside on our terraza:

...It's never the December I grew up knowing, and never quite feels like Christmas when it comes. 
But I sure can't complain, cuz life is pretty good, no matter how you look at it: snow or no snow.

    ....Wouldn't you agree? :D   

Holy Holidays, Batman!

Well, here we are and it’s been over a months since I’ve posted. Can you believe that?!?

I’ve been hankerin’ to put together an update for days now, as I don’t like my blog getting so darn dusty. However, the time factor has been a bit tricky since we got back from holidays, what with the unpacking and the piles of laundry and shrapnel to deal with…and subsequent tidying up from that epic process! And the readjustment to an 8-hour time difference and just the general heat and humidity and day-to-day-ness (Daddy was already back at work before us gals came home)…

And of course I had to carry out a complete overhaul cleaning of the entire apartment!! (Doesn’t that happen to you when you get back from holidays?!?). Yep, you heard it right: I spent the entire first week cleaning…!! It’s that feeling of being disconnected from your house when you get back, like nothing is yours…and I just looked around and saw so much clutter and really needed to lighten the load just a wee bit! Feels much better now! :)

And of course, the day-to-day routines with my 4.5 year old, of: what to do all day, of who can we visit (her cousins and playmates are all away at the moment), and who has a pool...or waiting for later in the day to head to the beach. And me trying to avoid having to make meals…HAR HAR! (well, it’s summer holidays, right?).

Another factor was my needing to include visuals in whatever new post I create. And THAT meant going though and selecting photos from the thousands taken over the course of a month in Canada. And tweaking them (inevitable!) so they look all purdy!

So finally, last night, I put the mermaid to bed, said goodnight to Mr. Right...rolled up my invisible sleeves, cracked open the corresponding folder and whipped up an appropriate potpourri of visuals, which I share for your viewing titillation here below:

Our holidays in Canada (part 1…I am sure there will be more!).

I hope you enjoy it!

We spent a month (2 weeks of which was without Daddy as he had to come back to work after 12 days off, so as to save the rest of his holidays for the Fiesta Mayor in his hometown at the end of this month) in my hometown of Lumsden, Saskatchewan (Canada) in order to (among other priorities) attend the wedding of my 2nd youngest brother.

It had been a full 2 years since we had been back to my hometown, so you can imagine the excitement from both sides of the family equation! Annie was very pumped to see her Grandpa and Grandma and Auntie Kiera once again. And me, just plain ecstatic to be back home, back on the prairies, back to my roots, back with “my peeps”!

This gift of this trip for me was a great deal of renewal on many levels: the obvious presence of my immediate and now new political family, as well as cousins, aunts/uncles, dear friends and neighbours…and of course, bestest buddies! But it was also time with a few others with whom I hadn’t spend much time with in past visits...these unexpected meetings also rejuvenated and inspired me in many ways.

Thank you to Everyone, both Family and Friends...who made time for us while we were back!!

I carry you all in my heart-pocket.

Also important was the chance to spend time with the little ones (some of whom I hadn’t even met yet!) of relatives and friends and folks around my home-town. This was particularly important for me, as Annie really had the opportunity this time to experience what it feels like to be Canadian (i.e. Canada Day at the Burlocks!! ;). And I am so grateful that things came together for her to experience that!

So...much to be thankful for. And yes, I was homesick for it all after I got back. It’s hard to leave so much big sky...and that prairie breeze...and my gosh! a land so GREEN (from all the spring rain this year)! And all the people and things dear to my heart (and stomach!).

But I bring it all back with me (in the form of thousands of photos!!). This trip gave me a great amount of peace of mind and heart, much love and joy felt and shared…renewed friendships...inspiration, wonder…

And what with a whole TON of books from Chapters, and even more crap from a trip to Michael’s!!...I’m a happy camper!!

Life is good. And I am darn grateful for that.

I hope these summer months have brought you lots of sunshine (both external and internal), good times, rest and relaxation...Time to enjoy friends and family, and a few wonderful, unexpected suprises!

ps. I'll be updating the information on the Workshops with Nathalie Kalbach (there are still spaces open!) and a couple of new workshop events coming up for October!

 ...Talk to you soon!

Fluffy white stuff...

Good evening! How are things going? What's up in your orbit?
Me, I'm coming out of the other side of a long weekend. In Spain where I live, there is this nice double holiday that falls on the 6th and the 8th of December: the 6th marks Constitution Day and the 8th corresponds to the religious holiday of the Immaculate Conception. Or, the Immaculate Constitution for short, heh heh. At any rate, it makes for a very nice long weekend when it falls on the right days of the week. This year, however it was a bit bungled by being half on the weekend. Nevertheless, we all had Monday off, so we still got the extra day. Around our place, we decided it was high time Annie saw some snow. I mean, with her being half Canadian and all, it would be pretty embarassing back home to have her almost 4 years old and still unable to perform a triple sowcow or a backhand slap-shot from the centre line. And who ever would have imagined that I--the one who complained, swore and griped throughout the entire winter for most of my Canadian life--would be so darn excited to get her butt wet making snow angels? Awh, I must be getting old and sentimental or something ;)
Of course I knew it was for a specific amount of time (1 day)...and not for a freaking SIX months a year! ;)
We decided to take a little day trip up to the lower Pyrenees to a small ski resort called "Val de Nuria". It's a quick 90 minute drive from where we live (the Mediterranean coast just south of Barcelona). That is one of the great things about living here: there's the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you have the sea and beach just a 10 minute drive from our house. On the other, in just a couple of hours, you can be skiing in the Pyrenees. Those Greeks and Romans were no dummies--they wouldn't have set up camp around here for so long if there weren't a good reason for it. They knew the fishing was great, the soil idea for vinyards and that there was some pretty serious snowboarding potential just a short chariot ride away.
To reach the resort, you drive up to a certain point and park and then take the "zipper train" the rest of the way up the mountain. It was fun for the kidlets, and grown-uplets too. Once off the train, we toddled down to the snow, rolled around and eventually were inspired to create the compulsory snow-person: I sculpted my person rendition of a Picassoesque "Dama de Elche", complete with the Princess Lea coif. Took a few photos, threw a few snowballs and called it a day. Headed back down to civilization around 3pm, where we trekked over to a nice old hotel restaurant for lunch (which was more like Canadian supper cuz, as finished our meal just before 6pm) and then headed for home. The crappy part was, as it turned out,
about a hundred thousand other people all had the same thinking about the long-weekend migration: to head home a day early to avoid the traffic on the flip-side, so we were stuck in some fairly gross traffic jams most of the way home. At one point, we were backed up 30 km. So the 90 drive ended up being 3 hours. Oh well, all in a day's fun. Seeing Annie's face and how she was flopping around in the snow was totally worth the effort.
The remainder of the weekend we mostly spend hanging out around the house in our pijamas, putting up the Christmas tree and generally kicking back, enjoying some "quality family time". Amen! S'about time :)