The Ten Year Challenge

One of the perks of my husband’s job is that we often get invitations to private screenings for popular movies; on Saturday we headed out to see the new Star Wars. Facebook memories had let me know that five years ago we went to The Force Awakens, and is there anything that inspires a person […]

In the cold November…snow

Today and yesterday have been beautiful and mild, but they are the exception: in general, it is now the season of cold, dark, and snow. I spent no small amount of time yesterday putting fuzzy flannel sheets on the beds and laundering and storing the regular sheets, my heavy-duty winter coat is getting much more […]

I took the restrictor plate off the Red Dragon; this thing’s not exactly street legal *

This morning, a complete stranger gave me a very kind compliment, right out of the blue. It brightened up my already-pretty-bright morning, and I’ve been smiling all day, thinking about it. I’m a person who loves to randomly compliment people, from people I love to people I’ve never met. If you think something nice, why […]

Leaning in to the Sexy Librarian Look

You people who don a cozy sweater and scarf and then head off apple picking, whilst sipping your pumpkin spice lattes and kicking around leaves? I envy you. Well, not the pumpkin spice latte part – pumpkin spice is NOT my jam, I am, as we all know, a mint chocolate girl – but the […]

Girl’s Blouse and the Forward March of Time

I was walking the dog the other day when I ran into one of the young neighbour girls. She’s the youngest of three and the last to fly the nest; she told me that she was headed to university in Ottawa at the end of the month. I cannot even begin to tell you how […]

Empty Nest

The week following the last day of school has been certainly mixed, weather-wise. We have had the occasional cool-but-sunny day interspersed with many cold-and-rainy days; the weather is never predictable in this city but so far summer has been completely missing. As is our tradition, we went up to my parents’ house for the Canada Day […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The June/ “Why Is This Week So Weird” Edition

What is it about the last week of school? The month of June – well, and April and May – flew by, but now this last week is taking an age to get through. It doesn’t help that I feel like I’m in a constant time warp, what with today being a PD day, and […]