I have not been a steady blogger, but I blame the holiday rush.

My goodness, Christmas begins in November! So November to the end of December is Christmas (and Remembrance Day). Then New Year. Return to school for children and then the return to routine. My goodness! By now, we’ve lost 90 days?!

If your family is like mine and many we know, the holidays mean logging many kms (or miles) of travel to visit relatives. Be them near or far, visiting is a big deal. We travelled several provinces over and enjoyed relative media isolation. It was paradise!

I hope you had a marvelous last 90 days or so. I was inspired by my Mother’s many back issues of Martha Stewart and bookcases full of recipe books. Check out my Instagram! @me_wees_thee_emily

October and I have a romance of sorts.

I have always loved October. The leaves are changing, the blustery wind is back, the mums are in full blossoms and pumpkins are ubiquitous! It is simaltaneously BBQ weather and comfort food time! You can still hang clothes on the line at the beginning of October, have a bonfire with friends, and do yardwork in relative comfort. The decorations and sweets are to die for and (if you live on Canada) we get two of the best holidays in one month! As the cherry on top, I gave birth to 2 of my children in October. It is a great month for me!

My favourite month has finally come and so I am ready to rock! Baking cupboard is full, the freezer is packed and my Husband has a request page of dishes and desserts! Bring it on October!

Do you have a favourite month? Tell me!

Alright, I’ll be forward about something with you, reader. I have a finished and unpublished children’s book on my hands that I can’t bring myself to query. Query letters are harder than writing the damn story was.

I did. I am. It didn’t take me long. I think of him everyday and I named my son for him. He even looks like him when he smiles…I will always have a reminder of him in my life. And an impetus to write!

I can’t bring myself to write it. I am doubtful of my process and am unsure in following the creative process. My urges to write as an adult were not encouraged until my Grandfather’s death. He told me, one of the last times I saw him, ‘Write. Just write and write, write, write, write.’

So I have some finished works! I stare at them wide-eyed every few days and then get scared. Close them and work on my social media presence or play with my kids. People in my life think they’re great but it’s still terrifying.

I had a revelation last week that betareaders exist! Resources exist to help me! Professionals (or semi-professionals) read stuff like mine! Even freelance editors! I’m sure even other people. Ahh, but another stepping stone to traverse. Or to think about endlessly!

Any thoughts on this are appreciated! I am going to think about this a bit then go play with my kids. Too scared to make a move today.

This has been the first week back at school.

How many posts, tweets, insta-s and so forth are out there on this topic right now? I bet everyone is growing tired of them!

I have seen so many little critters (hey! That’s a term of endearment – Mercer Mayer) with their school boards in their pictures online. First day of school. It’s a milestone at any age, I suppose. These pics broadcast quite a bit of personal information over social media. It’s frightening! I could find all these babies if I wanted to! I understand why they are posted, we are all proud of our children, but it creeps me out!

That is not to say I didn’t take thoee pictures of my kindergartener. No, I certainly did! But they did not make it to the internet. And let me clarify – far be it from me to tell another person what to do. I am just vocalizing my nervousness regarding privacy and children and those who cannot consent to the dissemination of their information online.

We live in a small area and chose to send our child(ren eventually) to the village school. The bus ride is short on the highway and the teachers are wonderfully friendly. I am comforted knowing my child is in good hands while they are not with me.

I.hope if you are sending or have already sent your kids to school, you are feeling positive as well. Now I am off to study lunch-prep blogs. If I find any good ones I will post them!

Is there any place like a childhood home?

We travelled by car for days to make the summer trek to my childhood home and then another day and a trip on the High Seas to return to my Hub’s childhood home.

My children were enthralled by the ferry ride across a small portion of the Atlantic! The girls yearned for a mermaid sighting and the infant napped as only the innocent can really rest! I bought magnets and necklaces, as per vacation regulations and wished exceedingly that I could buy the breakable ceramics but alas, no breakables in my house for a few years yet.

I miss the water. We aren’t completely landlocked where we live now but we are not 5 minutes from the shore or ON a lake or river. The sound and smell of water makes me calm. As a person who is aspiring to the mantle of kid’s author, I wonder about the inner workings of the child’s mind and find myself wondering about childhood memories today.

I certainly gave my daughters a memory today – driving aboard a ferry and walking the deck with my MIL. The wind in their curls was enough to make my eyes well up with tears – they won’t be young like this forever. But hopefully they will remember the time Mum took them on the ship and we looked for mermaids and dolphins on the choppy Bay of Fundy. This Bay that is part of their heritage. I am proud to say, all my children have their ‘sea legs’!

As I am in a more rural area ATM, we are relying on septic tanks for waste.

I am getting some great writing done, stretching my muscles so to speak. Got a new plotline going, started labouring on query letters (which I find completely shattering) and wrote some potty humour.

For those gentle followers who frequent cottage country, you may be familiar with the rules surrounding septic tanks. These are delicate systems. Nothing but toilet paper is supposed to be flushed or it can cause serious z backups. It is every cottage owner’s nightmare and can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Sewage leaking out onto the lawn, possibly into the lake and onto your cars or other items if you have stored things on the septic field (this is a mistake).

I have read many a hilarious ditty posted in cottage bathrooms and thought I would try my hand at it. Thusly, I present to you, my vacation potty humour:

If you are reading this
You have some time to sit
And ruminate
On rules of Lake
And what can go amiss

If guidelines in the water closet
Are ignored whilst making deposit
While it may seem
A tad unclean
A topic to discuss

We ask of thee
Think carefully
Just toilet paper please

And for those of you making a quick jaunt to the water closet:

Paper only
Or this pony
Will buck
And we’ll be outta luck

Now that these rhymes have been burned into your brain, I will say that it is my hope you find these funny and choose to come back to the blog! Potty humour and so much more!

I think I may embroider the latter one and give it as a gift! Think: potty sampler! What would you think of that? Let me know! Any other ideas or feedback would be very interesting.

Have you ever read the old books with long chapter titles like that? I adore those! Almost like little summaries of the entire chapter before you even hit the first paragraph!

So as described I am holed up in a hotel. We are on a family road trip in my NEW VAN. The purchase of my sweet new van (aka Party Bus II) is a story for another post but suffice it to say that the bodywork could not entice us to keep the old clunker.

Especially in light of this trip! We are Canucks and regularly make the Hoosier Haul halfway (perhaps 1/3 realistically) from SW ON thru QC to the Maritime provinces. Easily 2 days and with 3 wee ones 4 and under. We needed a guaranteed safe vehicle to take everyone through on those busy highways. For those readers from outside of Canada, Quebec, one of the provinces we will be driving through is majority Francophone (French speaking) and while I am bilingual, it is a different accent and one could even argue, dialect. Avoid the stress = buy a van.

Next for the understatement! Canada is really quite large. I will not take this time to launch an educational campaign but after a long first day of driving, we had to split off into 2 rooms and parent hack our way to sleep. I took the infant as no one else could breastfeed. He is currently passed out and I am wide awake. Bleary-eyes, wide awake, blogging and searching Amazon for a baby monitor bc I forgot ours.

Send me strength, gentle reader. I have 3 hours before the hotel breakfast begins and am very hungry. I see crackers and chocolate covered peanuts in a a bag nearby….we all know what the ellipsis means. I don’t want to eat those but without your benevolence and willpower to help me, I may well gobble peanuts. At 3 a.m. Ugh.

Would that be such a bad thing? Or is that the start to a wicked vacay?

There’s nothing like car trouble.

Car trouble with little kids and a baby is sucky.

Nearly a month ago we were rubbed up against in a parking lot. I was lucky enough to come upon the incident while the person was examining their handiwork and we exchanged information.

The children were with me. Explaining the delay, the interaction, and the entire process which has followed to my inquisitive kindergartener has been an added stressor. I have wished several times I could let my freak flag fly and really let loose some cuss words rather than trying to model adult, patient behaviour. ‘le sigh’. But alas, I cannot.

This really had been a very humane process to be honest. I am thankful for our insurance, that no one was hurt (on both sides) and I feel for the person whose insurance rates have gone up. Our situations were quite similar based on what they told me. But I needed to ignore the human side of it and focus on getting back on the road.

So nearly a month later, after the reporting centre, quotes, insurances emails and phone calls, I am currently sitting waiting for a rental to arrivee and having my van fixed.

Vehicles are an enormous investment and a 2nd home for some. We have been looking at getting a new one altogether. This one just keeps falling apart and this rental may underline the benefits of a new one. I love a used vehicle, the value or normally great! But this one has been a hassle and I cannot wait to see the back bumper of it.