Paleo Resources

Posted in Recipes & Food, Yoga, CrossFit & Running by

These are some of my favourite resources for inspiration and recipe ideas, snack help and general guidance to enjoy when eating in line with the paleo diet. I’m trying really hard to keep to this diet*. I know that it will make me feel better, and it really, really does make me feel good when I am being strict. I find that when I eat a good breakfast, take proper snacks and avoid bread and other nutritionally deficient garbage, I don’t get cravings for a mid-afternoon piece of chocolate or a bag of chips, or a coke. The more I read about avoiding gluten, the more it makes sense to me. And, of course, avoiding processed foods and sugar is a no-brainer. So, the sites below are some that I check regularly for inspiration and encouragement.

*I know, I know. It isn’t a diet. It’s a lifestyle. Continue reading →

Being a Lady and Doing My Chores

Posted in Marriage & Relationships by

I’ve written a fair amount about what I think I need to do to fix myself: how to keep the house clean, take care of myself, eat better and exercise, be a better wife and friend. I feel like these are the usual subjects women my age discuss, and maybe rightly so. I’ve been thinking lately about what my understanding of what it means to be a modern woman, however gross that phrasing sounds, and how I can come to meet the expectations I have of myself in order to be the right woman. Here I mean right in the sense of being good for my husband, my family, friends, colleagues and myself.

Recently, when I was doing one of my bi-monthly house deep cleans, I realised that I like cleaning. Let me say that again. I like to clean. I like when my house is clean. I don’t mind picking up after my husband because he does other nice things for me, so that’s a fair breakdown of responsibility. I don’t need to be angry that I am putting his towels in the wash because I am a woman and he is taking advantage. I don’t need to be frustrated that I’m cleaning the bathrooms again because I am more skilled at noticing details like where the toothpaste drops are. I don’t need to grumble when I have to wash the dishes again because he makes dinner every single night. Most importantly, I don’t need to hate cleaning because I am a woman and it isn’t 1950 anymore, because it’s 2013 and men should do it too, or because ‘why do I have to do everything because I’m a woman?’.

Continue reading →

My 2013 Books

Posted in Books & Reviews, Lists by

Last year, I decided that I’d make a list of all the books I was going to read over the course of 12 months. I thought I’d even do book reviews, and tell you what I thought of the various books I’d successfully completed along the way. But, alas, I’m no great reader. I am determined, however, and I’m going to try it again!

First, though, to the books I read last year:

  • A Visit From the Good Squad, by Jennifer Egan
  • The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
  • The Lost Girls, by Jennifer, Holly and Amanda
  • Chavs, by Owen Jones
  • Wildwood, by Colin Meloy
  • Housework Blues, a Survival Guide, by Danielle Raine
  • Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles
  • Pure, by Andrew Miller

So, nothing impressive but not anything to be too ashamed of.
Continue reading →

Work Wisdom – Dealing with the Overzealous

Posted in Work by

I’ve been working at my job for two years now, and I have learned so much about how to be a professional and how to work hard and what to do to figure out how to succeed in a business environment. I’ve also learned a lot about other people and how to deal with people who I would never, ever, under normal circumstances, be friends with or socialise with. Or, in some cases, socialise with people who socialise with them.

I wanted to share a bit about how I feel like we, or more specifically, how I’ve been able to deal with people at work who we don’t necessary like, appreciate or respect. I think it’s important not to give up, because you’re never guaranteed that if you go to another job that you won’t have the exact same situation, or a worse one, and there is no way to avoid people we don’t like anyway, so we might as well figure out how to work around them.

Continue reading →

Compulsive Over-Sharer?

Posted in Uncategorized by

I started to write this a while ago and I assume that it was when I had one of those moments where I kind of blurt something out and then do a face-palm (sometimes in real life and sometimes just in my mind) because I’ve said something so honest and so completely without a filter that I’m not sure how the person I’m telling will be able to deal with it and because I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to deal with the person who I’ve just over-shared with.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an over-sharer. I tell people too much about myself and I probably do it too quickly. Then, people get a bit overwhelmed and I kind of seem like a creep. Or, at least that’s how I interpret the reaction of someone I’ve know for a very short time, but for whom I’ve powered through the entire story of how my parents met and my dad subsequently left, or something else that is equally awkward to share on what is more or less a first ‘date’.  Continue reading →

10 Things I’d Tell My 14 Year-Old Self

Posted in Confessions, Lists by

Oh Boy!

This is a good one. I mean, it’s a good topic. I’ve been reading Julie Klausner’s book “I Don’t Care About Your Band” and at the beginning of it she talks about being in junior high. I’d been planning to write this anyway, but it’s kind of reminded me of a few things.

  1. Don’t be afraid. Of course you aren’t too old to start taking dance classes, and who cares if the girls on the soccer team already know each other, and just because you didn’t pass Youth Theatre II doesn’t mean you can’t take it again!
  2. Pick up the phone and call people. Invite yourself along, make new friends, and try something. It isn’t interesting to sit in the house by yourself all the time.
  3. Read more books. It will be helpful when you go to university, but also it’s a good habit to get in to. 
  4. You can dress however you would like. If you want to dress like Audrey Hepburn, do it. People will be nice about it.
  5. Stop regretting things. There’s no point in it. Just learn from your mistakes and stop holding on to the ways you’ve “failed”.
  6. Loud doesn’t always equal funny. Just because it was funny once to run down the hallways screaming doesn’t mean that will still work outside of QEH as a comedic device. Also, it’s bad for your vocal chords.
  7. It’s ok to be good at things that other people aren’t good at. That’s what makes you special.
  8. The house you live in is perfect. No one’s house is any better than yours.
  9. It’s ok to disagree with MomKat. She knows a lot, but she doens’t know everything all of the time.
  10. Math isn’t hard. Stop being lame about it. And take more pride in your homework, because you might get a scholarship or something.

What would you tell your teenaged self?

xx
J

Families are Funny

Posted in Marriage & Relationships by

I think that families are funny. They’re a bit weird and they don’t always work and they make you happy and crazy and sad and you miss them even though they make you crazy and happy and they’re weird. They’re also hard. Really hard. And I don’t like that there’s so much pressure to be a “normal family”, although I think because when I was little I didn’t have a normal family, I feel pressure to do it properly when it’s my turn. Continue reading →