Summer Days & Fall Nights

     Oh Summer how I love thee! Your long days filled with family and friends, sunshine, camping, swimming, cold drinks, roasted marshmallows, and that sense, that time, has simply slowed down.  But as the nights start to feel that familiar touch of damp I know, that very soon, I will miss you. The back-to-school shopping has already started (my sweet girl picked out an R2D2 backpack - oh yea!), I'm starting to think about making food for frozen meals/lunches, and I've started my new fridge calendar...yep, all sure signs that September is coming. There are three of us going to school this September...my daughter to kindergarten, my husband to work (as per usual...over a decade in), and me (after a 5 year break...feeling like it's not real yet). But I only have one foot out of summer's door. Still loving the sunshine and looking forward to more beach exploring, swimming, sunshine, marshmallows, and memories.

Lofoten, Norway

     Received a very cool postcard from one of my favourite Norwegian families yesterday! Thanks to Elias who did the writing (I think). I love it! I know I don't send as many postcards as I used to (sometimes it is hard to sit down and write when you have a couple of kids on vacation with you needing you every moment, or at least thinking they do) but wow, it was so nice to receive...I think I'll try harder - it was such a gift to see which postcard was picked out, imagining them there and reading their note to us! Wonderful. And doesn't it look like a beautiful place (hiking, swimming, viking museums - they had a lot of fun!).

Happy August, happy back-to-school, happy memory making, happy letter writing...

happy, happy, happy.

788/1000 My count is up by 10 - some packages, some notes, definitely some love.

P.S. working on a very cool pen pal project with a friend - stay tuned.

Mailbox Monday

Love this neighbourhood collection of wooden, painted mailboxes! Each little area seemed to have one of these - some with a two or three and some like this! It was hard not to stop and check them all out ("Who is that crazy lady taking picture of our mailboxes?") but wanted to avoid international scandal - haha! I do love the communal feel and rustic nature of this collection. Hegra, Norway.

Hope everyone is finding ways to stay cool in this warm weather. More blogging coming soon. Have a wonderful week!

Mailbox Monday

This is my friend's mailbox (on right) in Norway where I send all my mail and packages! 

Had to include it - love it! Just peeking past it at the garden, the house, even the cars makes me wish I was there. It was a lovely, relaxing trip (now my mail enjoys that journey lol). Wishing I was there for strawberry season - best strawberries I have ever eaten (all that sun!).

Have a lovely week everyone! Happy 1st and Happy 4th!

Enjoy some time with family and friends and be summery!

Sweet Summer Reading

     Yesterday, my husband and I had an Auntie/Uncle date with our three beautiful nieces (9, 11 & 13 - these are of course, their ages, we don't refer to them as numbers - lol). And we decided to take them to a very cool bookstore near us called Kidsbooks. The ladies are so knowledgeable and we were excited to take the girls in for an end-of-the-school-year-beginning-of-summer gift/book. So the girls were able to say what they liked, the staff picked out a few options and then they sat down and perused each copy and made a decision! Of course, you know, I just sent the store a handwritten thank you note because they are awesome!

To round out the afternoon we headed over to Menchies for a sweet treat (their first time!) and fully indulged our sweet tooths (teeth?). Just noticed they do fundraisers too - always looking for new fundraising venues (yum, frozen yogurt) - making a mental note about that.

    Summer and reading go hand in hand! I know I'm compiling my summer reading list right now and starting the stack to pull from.  I think we are going to head to the library in a couple of days to see what their summer reading program looks like and get our sweet five year old excited about that - brings back so many memories! Of course, libraries are great places for recommendations as well and love that you can also rent movies and take out magazines and more. Reading on the beach, on the deck, in a hammock, in a tent (with a flashlight) tucked in a sleeping bag, in a book nook, at Grandma and Papa's house, at a sidewalk cafe...reading has always been a big part of our summer and I hope that continues. All of those places are great places to read and write mail as well.

     Connecting with characters in a book is not so different than connecting with people via the written word (aka letters & postcards). In fact, one of my favourite sayings is, "We read to know that we are not alone." Some of the world's greatest people and mentors are characters in books - share that with your kids and give that to yourself as well! Some books even have letters and postcards inside them (The Jolly Postman & Meerkat Mail for the younger set and Griffin & Sabine for adults - full of beautiful mail and an intriguing story/series).

778/1000 Sent a couple of great packages to Norway, one to Piper's pen pal, and a couple of cards - making it 5 that I get to add to my count.

Mailbox Monday

Visiting a store in Trondheim and came across this wall of post boxes - love them! Probably the only person in the world who stops to take photos of mailboxes on a trip but I thought they were lovely (not even sure which colour I would choose).

Mailbox Monday

Nothing says 'rustic' like your mailbox nailed to a tree! Love it!  

You'll notice a Norwegian theme for the next few 

Mailbox Mondays - this is in Leksvik.

Home Again, Home Again...

     I feel like I just went on a Flat Stanley adventure…mailed myself off to a friend’s house in Norway (transatlantic flights are definitely akin to being a little squished for 7+ hours – from my house anyway). What a lovely break, adventure, time to relax and hang out with my wonderful friend Bente and her family.  And now I have three lovely boys to write to (might be using Google Translation – lol) & send fun Canadian things. I have to compliment Elias (age 11) on his incredible English and thank all the boys for teaching me some Norwegian (cheese being my very favourite word!). I think one of the things I loved to do most was wandering through the grocery store - drooling over the chocolate and loving all the different products/packaging. It never got old - I'm just unique that way.

Another bonus to going away (besides the awesome travel itself) and then coming back (besides being picked up at the airport by my husband, hugs and kisses from my wonderful family, and a sweet boy who said, “wuv you too” for the first time to me) is that there is a little stack of mail waiting just for me! It’s kind of fun when it piles up – a sweet birth announcement for a beautiful boy, a silly letter from one of my nieces, a fantastic ‘old school’ note from a friend and a few other fun pieces. Let's all go "old school" and send out some notes to our friends!

And now I look forward to writing many cards of thanks for my hosts and for the people who took care of my kids and husband while I was away. Feel so blessed to have such amazing people in my life who love my kids as much as I do! What are your best ideas for sending Canadian items to my three new Norwegian friends (age 11, 8 & 6)? Leave me a comment.

773/1000 Adding two to the mix.

Beautiful Fall Day

I always thought that being a letter carrier would be a great job - good exercise, sense of accomplishment and being out and about on a day like today. It is a beautiful, crisp, sunny autumn day out there. The leaves are swirling and crunching under foot but I can still hear the odd lawn mower making the rounds. For me, fall is all about anticipation, things happen slowly and time stands still some days but big things are coming. We are on the cusp.

I've sent a few things over the past few months but not quite as much as I would have liked (thanks loyal fans for tuning in, even when updates looked like they may never come). Adding to the count: South Korea (6), Ontario (2), and the rest was either business or it has slipped my mind at this very moment. So that brings the count to:  125/1000

And what exactly was keeping me so busy you might ask? Well, this monkey to the right, among other things.

But wait there's more...I've been packing up a a rather large box, a Christmas package in fact, that I am sending to...South Korea (1) (note: I am sending the package by surface so it should come in 8 to 10 weeks) and since I am going to the post-office I may as well send a couple more little things to South Korea (2), and a thing or two or five to the rest of  my "little" world: Surrey (2); Yellowknife, NT (1); York, Ontario (1); and Hegra, Norway (1).

Some things are even being sent in my recycled magazine page envelopes (for something a little different).

Newest, most recentist, up-to-date-ist total: 132/1000

Oh Happy Day!

I hear footsteps on my stairs, the doorbell rings and then, I think, someone running down the stairs or jumping? Nicky, Nicky Nine Doors? (or is it Knicky, Knicky Nine doors?) Either way, I peer through my peephole and no one is around, not even a single niece hiding in the very corners of my front porch with a shoe or scooter giving her up...hmmmm.

Ever so cautiously I crack the door to solve this mystery and lo and behold I see something tucked under the corner of my snowflake welcome mat (note to self - time to put away Christmas welcome mat). I swing the door back and scoop it up in delight - a package! a package! a package! Now, had I been a little bit more together, I would have taken a photo of said package under door mat for this post but alas, I was caught up in the glory of a brown paper wrapped parcel that was hand addressed to me, that had traveled all the way from the breathtakingly amazing Norway ~ and I knew this even before I saw the stamps or the return address because I recognized the handwriting (so cool). I ripped it open :)

Nothing cooler than crazy awesome chocolate bars from other countries.

In fact, these ones taste like those bugle snacks - does anyone remember those savoury delights? Maybe they are still around but they remind me of parties from my youth and by that I mean, house parties my parents had when I was little. Yummy! So while there were other equally amazing gifts wrapped up in that box I thought I would share these sweet joys with you.  And hey, if you are thinking of sending a package to someone across the world, consider sending candy/chocolate that is only made in your country and not available anywhere else - it is such a wonderful but simple gift to share.

Thanks Bente - you are a rockstar!