spring has almost sprung

lately i have been remembering how the changing of the seasons are represented in a nursing home.

window stickies, dollar store banners, accordian-style 3d paper wall decorations, colourful themed napkins at over-the-top themed events and meals, the recreation board colour schemes and the bi-weekly crafts.

and this guy.

this guy whose dementia has rendered him always happy, saying 'yup' and walking circuits around and around the lounge. somehow the nurses got on to this thing where they would put themed headbands on him to spread good cheer as he walked around greeting folks around the home.

i will say here that i am not sure how i feel about this.
and i am not sure how he would feel about this if he was able to respond with anything other than 'yup.'

but thinking back on it, it does give me comfort that the holiday themed head-wear encouraged everyone to acknowledge him passing by, smile back, initiate a conversation about the season/holiday and be just as happy as him for a moment.

four heads

here is my latest (and last) illustration for the manitoban for awhile (as this will be appearing in the last issue of the school year.) the article is about the rather bleak election ahead of us.
the sub heading i was working with for inspiration was "federal election promises little change."

Skedoodle!

Gag Alert redux

Devon, if you can read this, I hope you're having fun in Mexico.

Curtis

monkey business

my latest assignment for the Manitoban.
check out the article (coming soon) about uncertainty in monkeys, a trait previously thought to be present only in we humans.

gag alert.

this one is pretty mushy so don't say i didn't warn you.

so, curtis and i occasionally leave each other love notes hidden for the other person to find in the morning. this all started back in montreal when we would doodle little pictures or write inside jokes on our kitchen chalkboard back and forth.

adorable and hilarious to us but most likely annoying to our anyone that had to live with us.

so because curtis is up and out the door before rowan and i get downstairs (he leaves around 7:20 am. ack!) i usually tuck love notes/drawings in to various stages of his coffee making (the can of coffee beans, the grinder or the bodum) or sometimes on scraps of paper laying beside the stereo (for when he turns on the radio) or scribbled on to bills stuck to the fridge.

i was particularly impressed with myself when i doodled a little devon saying "i love you" directly on the pizza box in the fridge and then put a leftover roast chicken over it so he would have to move it for the big reveal when he went in to pack pizza for his lunch.

then nothing.

no reply curtis-drawing or note.

turns out he ran out of time and saw it only at the last minute. then a couple more days went by with nothing. i assumed the moment had passed.

then to my surprise and delight at lunch today, i saw his pink sharpie love drawing of us on the pizza box.

naturally i had to draw a version of it for my second last drawing of the february series. so this was me yesterday on march 1, getting a kiss from curtis on our "date night"

it's a fair copy but curtis' drawing is actually way better. turns out; the tablet has nothing on the drawing texture of sharpie on pizza box, refrigerated over night.

pizza never tasted so sweet.

good-bye february, you jerk.

march is "in like a lion" here in winnipeg so let us all agree that it'll be out like a lamb.

so, at the risk of curtis seeing this, (who somehow believes that staying at home with your child is one big holiday), i did manage to have an enjoyable breakfast* at the "fresh cafe" with my lovely and adorable friend crys cole yesterday.

and so, this was me in the morning on monday february 28.
rowan and i shared a delicious smoothie, met a new baby friend named ambrose and then played the hell out of the stairs and some restaurant toys and crayons.

yesterday was also a great day because i woke up with a very pregnant belly!

it's been brewing for 18 weeks and 3 days, and was already looking bigger last week, but yesterday morning, whoa. it's here.

so i got to dress it!

i put on a cute new shirt i got with a bunch of anchors on it, my favorite cardigan (buttoned 'just so') and a great pair of very comfortable maternity jeans (thanks donna)

pretty alright.

*(note to curtis: this occurred just after the doctors appointment, filling a prescription and just before cleaning all the dishes, doing more laundry, cleaning the kitchen and sorting a bunch of mine and rowans old clothes and then going grocery shopping. SO THERE!)