That's a picture of me and my nearly-six-year-old daughter, drawn by same. It's the most common theme of her prolific artwork: pictures of me and Mommy. And each one is lovingly inscribed: "to mommy". Most days I enjoy the tributes, give them a few days on the fridge honour roll, and then help them find their way into the recycling.This one, though, I haven't got my hands on yet. That's because I'm far away from my little girls, helping my Dad and sisters with our round-the-clock hospital visits with my Mom. Please don't get me wrong: I wouldn't dream... More »

Okay, who here was with me the first time I lost 50 pounds? Hey, good to see you...For those who weren't, why not check out my posts on weight loss? At one time I had a lot to say on that topic...in fact, that's how my blog originally got its title.So...here's the thing. Basically, my life has been shit for the last six months. My mom's battle with cancer has been very difficult, I've been consumed with coping with my older daughter's behaviour and we're only now finally getting a handle on what the issue is, after many assessments and... More »

My Mom has cancer. What more to say? Cancer sucks. It's scary and unknowable. When someone you love has cancer you enter a world in which time doesn't flow in the same way it does in the rest of the universe. You spend endless time waiting, waiting and waiting, only to enter periods where time is accelerated and events come crashing down on you with frightening speed. You feel unbalanced and out of step with the rest of the world, yet somehow more focused, like you had gotten used to watching analog TV and suddenly switched to the HD channel.... More »

I'm here visiting my parents at their home in the idyllic setting of Ontario's Georgian Triangle. I'm here to help them out as much as I can (making meals, cleaning up, driving to hospital) but I'm also here to refresh myself. To step away from my own life and take a few weeks to get rooted again, with the people who helped me send down those roots in the first place.I find my parents' home (dubbed "The Mountain" by my neice, because it's perched near the top of Talisman Resort on the Niagara escarpment) to be utterly grounding. I used... More »