I AM - BECAUSE YOU ARE

The moment I have been waiting for has arrived! This is the last wallpaper of 2019 and the last wallpaper I will be making for a while! I know that a few people are upset with me about this, but I am over the moon... Again, sorry, not sorry! December 2019

It's the second to last month of these god awful, boring, uninspired wallpapers! GAH! Yes, I know that one or two people are extremely annoyed that I am stopping these, but... I will say it again, sorry, not sorry! Truthfully, though, I have actually been finding my creativity again and living in Photoshop as much as possible these days, so yay! I even launched a new DeviantArt page after killing my old one. I will not be posting everything up there, as some of the projects are very personal, but I will put pieces up from time to time. I am currently working on a 3 panel set for the LO's big girl room but have not decided yet if those will be made public; probably not. I have had a couple of pieces stolen over the years and I don't feel like dealing copyright infringement at this point of my life. So, without further ado... November 2019 November 2019

I am not going to lie, I am so sick of making these!!! I will carry on through New Year's, because a few of you have asked, but then I am done! Working on a new monthly idea. Sorry, not sorry! October 2019

I'm not late, but I am also horribly uninspired. I am so overwhelmed with everything going on in my life right now that I barely had time to think about this, let alone put it together. My mood is very black and white right now as well, but I didn't want to reflect that for a whole month so I went with a muted yellow. September 2019 As year end is quickly approaching, I am playing around with other ideas for monthly wallpapers because these calendars are getting quite mundane for me. I rarely use them anymore, and I originally created them for myself! Happy back-to-school everyone!

I know, I know, I'm late! Well, technically not as today is August 1st, but I usually post well before! So without further ado, here are your August wallpapers! August 2019 August 2019 - Quote

It's usually just around now when I start craving a summer escape of some sort, but it’s always so complicated to plan! With medical appointments, conflicting work schedules, limited availability, lack of funds, and the sun and stars not lining up perfectly I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. Why didn’t I book sooner? Because… life? Not knowing work/travel schedules ahead of time? Waiting for appointments to be confirmed? Weather? Pick one! And so, with that, wanderlust became July’s theme! In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all…”, and it’s looking like the latter at the moment, but we will figure something out, I hope, because Mama needs a vacation!   July 2019 July 2019 - Quote (light) July 2019 - Quote (dark)

Anxiety is a chameleon; it manifests itself in different ways. It comes and goes as it pleases and often strikes without warning or reason. It is unpredictable, and just when you think you have it all figured out, you don’t. Going on the assumption that I have a form of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) coupled with generalized anxiety, I (along with my therapist and GP) decided to reduce my anxiety meds as we come into summer, but only slightly. I dropped the dose by ¼ with the intention of dropping to ½ by the end of next month. But, I am struggling. DH has been traveling again, work is work, things are piling up at home, and so on… but I am also facing some health/medical decisions right now that I have been relatively quiet about, and they are tough decisions to make; for myself, and for my family. Yesterday DH and I went to an information session at the hospital actually. About half way through I felt like I was burning up, I started fanning myself with the handouts and noticed I ...

It has been a crazy busy few weeks, that I haven't had a chance to write much about, but I was able to find some time to put together both a calendar and a quote wallpaper for May! May 2019 May 2019 - Quote

It appears that I am lacking  inspirational quotes these days, so just the calendar again this month! Maybe the start of Spring will bring back my creativity too. As always, if you have any suggestions you can forward them my way.  April 2019

March could not have come fast enough! You know that break I have been saying I need for quite some time now? Well it is finally happening! We have a little weekend getaway to our countries capital starting tomorrow, but later this month we leave for vacation and I couldn't be more excited! I may not look like I am, because I am too tired for that sort of energy right now, but it's there... deep down. As soon as my feet hit the Caribbean ground I will start dancing! And so, you get some travel themed wallpaper this month. No quote as none inspired me these last few weeks, but maybe next month. Enjoy! March 2019

I have never been a fan of Valentine’s Day and all the marketing gimmicks that go with it. I would play along, because... chocolate, but I always found it nauseating. The lucky ones find love surrounding them yearlong, even if it is not romantic love; they don’t need a Hallmark date. This morning a friend posted something on Facebook about romantic love that resonated with me. The article states that “We Only Fall in Love with Three People in Our Lifetime – Each One for a Specific Reason”. You can read the full article on Curious Mind Magazine , but the main points are summarized below: The first love happens early in life. This is the love you would die for. The love that is romantic, even dramatic at times. You think this is the love that would last forever, no matter how many people are against it or what comes on your way. You would do anything to save it. In this relationship, even your own principles become unimportant because you are certain that this is it, until you grow ...

This Christmas break didn't start off as planned as I got hit with gastro or food poisoning the first night! But, aside from the usual holiday chaos and another leaky ear for the LO, things have been pretty good so far. Mostly quiet, which I need these days. In less than 3 weeks we are headed into surgery again to replace the fallen ear tube and have her adenoids removed as well in hopes of clearing up the issues once and for all. She has another follow up with her ophthalmologist too because we are starting to see her eye turn inwards again. Hopefully the surgery works well this time and her eye can be fixed with glasses alone and we can go on with our year not plagued by medical woes. Even if she does need another eye surgery, at least we know what to expect this time and it should be the last. A quiet night ahead with no chance of making it to midnight! Ever since we actually stood in Times Square for New Year's, over a decade ago now, the thrill of watching the ball dro...

So, I couldn't decide between my little mince tart wallpaper that I posted yesterday and a more generic holiday image, so you get both to choose from! Surprise! December 2018

Slowly but surely, I am starting to understand my detachment from the holidays in recent years. Growing up I was surrounded by numerous traditions that were carried out, primarily, by my grandmother; Christmas stockings filled by Santa, a big turkey dinner surrounded by stuffing balls, fruit cake, warm mince tarts, finding treasure in the plum pudding, and – of course - Christmas crackers! But as she grew older, those traditions faded away. And, with her passing, those traditions are mostly all gone now. Yes, I celebrate the holidays with my in-laws and extended family each year, but I honestly can’t help but feel like a foreign body amidst the chaos. But this year has been different. As I watch my LO grow, and get a better understanding of the holidays, I am remembering how important all of those traditions were to me as a child; so important that we need to start putting some of our own into place. For years I didn’t even feel like putting up our artificial tree (lazy, rig...

Its Halloween tomorrow, and the scariest part about it for me is that once it’s over it ushers in November, and the beginning of holiday madness - compounded by birthdays in this family too, argh! With the exception of my LO’s birthday (which is posing its own headache right now), I hate the period between now and early January! I work, full-time, in a job that is slowly sucking the joy out of me. DH travels, a fair bit, bringing about additional work-widow complications and stress. The LO’s medical concerns are at the forefront of my thoughts on a daily basis, especially during flu season. And, with birthday celebrations for both my daughter and niece, Christmas, and New Year’s back-to-back… let’s be honest, I’m left hanging by a thread most days! Let’s not even discuss the fact that (insert Game of Thrones music here) winter is coming! So the last thing I need is extra drama added to my already overwhelming to-do list while I keep up with the looming holiday shit show… but, the...

I am glad I live in a world where there are Octobers... and Starbucks, because I am obsessed with Pumpkin Spice!!! Here's your October wallpaper! October 2018

While we don't go into our new classroom at daycare until Tuesday, the bus and metro are full of kids going back to school. And, with that, I rarely have an empty office myself! So, in honor of back to school, I bring you September's wallpaper. Good luck everyone! September 2018

A couple of few weeks ago I started to go through my collection of images to work on the August wallpaper, but things got busy and I decided to put it aside figuring I had more than enough time to pull something together. Today, over lunch, I looked down at my office phone and noticed that it is already the last day of July! This month has gone by in the blink of an eye! Being work-widowed, pulling together DH's birthday picnic, a few trips to the clinic and hospital for the LO's recurring ear infections, a mini family getaway to our nation's capital and poof! Gone! I will find some time to write more soon, but for now here is August's wallpaper! August 2018 And for a lighter touch, Wallpaper 2.0! August 2018

Living in La Belle Province presents us with two long weekends back to back to kick off the summer; one for La Fete Nationale du Quebec (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day) and one for Canada Day. I like being around home for the latter, but prefer to be away for the former. Maybe because it is a “French” holiday, or maybe just because I feel the need to get away and can’t wait any longer! More than once we have been up north for this holiday, where the population is much more francophone, and it has been surprisingly quiet! I think they all leave their smaller towns and head out to Montreal and Quebec City to celebrate, or off to their cottages to party with friends. Either way, it makes the experience quite pleasant for us! Not that I have anything against French people, as I am half French myself, but I prefer serenity when I try to get away from it all. This year we visited Santa’s Village – his home away from the North Pole. There was a petting zoo, small activities like an electric tra...

When we moved into our home we we forced to tackle an overrun mess of tangled vines, bushes, hedges and everything that sprouted up in between. It took hours of hard labor to clean up and even more time laying down fresh dirt, grass seed, fertilizer and constant watering to make a backyard we could stand to look at. One this was done, I wanted nothing to do with our shaded front garden as 1) it was difficult to find appropriate plants and 2) who has time for that nowadays? I tore the whole thing out without a second thought. But there is something I have always wanted, always intended to plant...but I just haven't followed through. A simple, but vibrant, lilac bush! We had one growing up, and I remember it was the only thing, aside from the raspberry bushes, that I cared for at all. I love the way they look, their smell, and the colors as well. Every year at this time there is a street near us that is in full bloom with lilacs. I always remember my intentions, and then quickly ...