Greetings from a Waving Corrina!

I have hardly touched the computer in the last week. Dave has been keeping the seat warm as he has diligently poured himself into creating, well more perfecting, a board game (he loves to MAKE shareable art). But, i have kept my fingers busying working on crocheting projects. As the air cools down, the trees bear their naked branches (makes me want to be naked too.. too much info? tee hee), and September passes away i pull out my yarn and books. Now, i am a faithful crocheter, but only because i find it easier and more pleasing to me. I love knitters though, and hold no animosity toward those with two hooks. I think knitters and hookers can live peacefully together. I am uploading pictures of one of my creations. Some nights my mind is filled with all the crafty things i want to create: shoes, shoes, cards and shoes. He he. I don't know why, but i have been addicted to footwear, for Corrina, this season. I guess because shoes provide the perfect place to show off my button addiction.
First: my excitment! I get to fly home to BC to visit my dear mom and introduce Corrina to her uncle Eliot ( i love my brother's name!) and her Grandpa Warne. I am so excited for my dad and brother to met Corrina. I think she will blow them away!

Second: Corrina! Oh my, does she love to eat eat eat. I have been working hard to introduce new foods into her diet. I have to admit that i have long harboured a fear of her choking, but i am letting go of that and giving her chunky things, like little pieces of peach, grape, beans, bread, baby cookies (which she shoves in her mouth in a hurry. Very scary for the choking worry mommy), sweet potatoe... and for the first time she ate what we ate for dinner: Spag squash with tomatoe sauce and ground turkey. She LOVED it.
She is such a busy girl, dragging herself all over the apartment in search of the tv, dvd, and vcr remote controls (wow, north americans love to abbreviate things eh?)! She has been learning to pull herself up, again, in search of remotes, and has courageously had a few baskets fall onto her. But she didn't mind because, well, they held the remotes! Sweet sucess. The cutest crawling episodes occur when i leave the room to grab something, or to hit the bathroom, and she comes following me, down the hallway, whinning because i have left the room. Oh, how quickly i run to her, pick her up, and make her giggle. She is a little darling!
She has most certainly hit the separation anxiety stage which means there is no one like mommy! We are working to assure her that the people we know are friendly and can be trusted. We make sure she is comfortable with people before handing her off. Usualy if she is comfortable, and i am out of sight, she is fine in others arms, but as soon as i reappear she gets very upset that i am not the holder of the Corrina. Oh dear. I think despite this phase that most babes pass through she will be a very extraverted little girl.
Sleeping through the night seems to have held, however Dave and i are not smart cookies. The clock has been ticking twelve most nights by the time we are snug under the covers. We are both into our projects so deeply in the evenings, then we have to demakeupify (not dave!), brush, wash.. blah blah, and then READ! Both of us have made it such a habit to crawl into bed and get lost in a book. I like this habit, but i need to head off for reading time earlier. I will learn, one day, maybe... But hey, Corrina is sleeping through the night.. and still napping two times a day!

I can't get the fact that i get to go to ikea off my mind. I have been taking in the online catalouge and deciding which items i will purchase, and how much suitcase room i will have to leave for the treasures to make it back home with me! Tickled Pink am I.

School: when i think about returning to school i have very mixed feelings. While i know this is a step i need to do for myself, and our family, i also know i will dearly miss my lazyer days at home with Corrina and the spare time i have been treated with on mat leave. I am a little fearful of papers, readings, and tests, but i have always been able to accomplish great marks in the past, and i am sure after some time warming up i will be able to do it again.
But i love school, and i love learning, classrooms, and teachers! I also look forward to being further trained to serve my community as a social worker. I see such pain, deterioration, and hopelessness around me and i beleive that i have been called to serve the Lord through Social Work.
I also know i need to do this because it will not only empower me as a person, but also dave; if i do not return i will be creating unequal opportunities for him in life. If i don't go to school for more education i won't be able to work and earn a high enough wage to support our family and this means that i will be forcing Dave to work to do that, plus i will be taking away his opportunity to return to school (animation or art school), something i believe God is calling him too, this would be very satisfying and honor God. Dave has dreams too... big dreams! I also want Dave to have just as much opportunity to be with Corrina and our other kids in the future, which would mean maybe both of us working 20 hour jobs, so we can both raise and teach our children (of course this is 'ideals' talking here, and i know things may not work out this way). I think that this would be the most God honoring choice for our family, for me, and for Dave. We have choosen to set part our frame work for our marriage on egalitarian principles, and my return to school and responsibility to take part in providing for our family is a part of that for us. This excites me ALOT! I know that as i beging to feel more fulfulled by scholastic learning and eventaul serving, that Dave will also be filled with joy for me, and I for him! That is, i think i need to get out of the house!I Love Pumpkins!