No Hammocks Allowed

Today is National Hammock Day, the perfect day to celebrate in the middle of July.

That is, if you don't live in my townhouse complex.

Allow to vent a little instead of "celebrating." We live in a townhouse complex that we were told was "family friendly." To me "family friendly" means, "we like children, allow children, and expect to hear and see children playing." Apparently our strata council has a differnt dictionary. A dictionary that seems to define "family friendly" as "we allow children to live here, but we don't want to hear or see them."

Their funky dictionary also has a differnt definition for "summer accessories" too. Apparently my idea of a summer accessory, namely a little inflatable pool that I fill with two inches of water for my daughter to spalsh in, and then pull in my house every night, is -- by the strata's definition -- not a summer accessory. In fact, their dictionary seems to define the idea of summer fun as a patio chair, a few flowers and a barbeque. Not exactly the kinds of summer accessories that make a two year old squeal with delight.

Hammocks then, to this nazi-run strata complex, would likely be frowned upon too. Why? Who knows. But I guarantee the'd find a reason.

Oh well, I'll swing on a hammock with my baby in my mind. At least that they cannot take away from me.

What have you done to celebrate today?

Tomorrow: National Hot Dog Day.

Raspberries, Lollipops, and Junk Food

The past few days (today included) in pictures:

(Raspberry Cake Day - Monday)

(Lollipop Day - Tuesday)

(Junk Food Day - Today!)

What have you done to celebrate life lately?

Tomorrow: Hammock Day (hmmm sounds nice...)

Yellow Pigs and Icecream

Yesterday was "Yellow Pig Day," a day set aside to honour the pot-bellied animal. So in honour of them, I chose to learn about them instead of devouring them like I usually do. Yes, sorry my pig lovin' friends, but up until yesterday I was much more in tune the many yummy ways to enjoy a pig, rather then getting in tune with the animal's nature. As it turns out, pigs apparently are very intelligent and can actually be taught to do tricks, etc. Who knew?

Today is a day I can really get into, and I choose to dedicate this day of celebration to my grandfather who lives and breaths the stuff. It's ice cream day! The perfect day to grab a treat form Dairy Queen, Island Farms, or what ever your local ice cream haunt is. My choice, if I could choose anything ice cream related, would be ice cream from Tillamook, Oregon! The bad news is, that we cant' get it here. The good news is that I will be there in a week's time and will be able to endulge then!

Until then, I choose to combine the two days of holidays into this interesting morsel we learned about not long ago. I'm working up the courage to find some and try it:


What have you done to celebrate lately?

Tomorrow: National Raspberry Cake Day; National Daquiri Day

Pandemonium, Cows, and Personal Chefs

Wednesday was an odd day on the random holiday calendar, and while the only person in our house that actually celebrated was our toddler, the choice of holidays made me chuckle all day. Ironically, Wednesday was both Pandemonium Day and National Nude Day. Imagine the pandemonium we'd cause if we'd all decided to go nude! ;-) Instead, we spared the world the site of our nakedness (your welcome) and left the festivities to our toddler who is more than happy to go nude and create utter pandemonium. Isn't that the defintion of a toddler?

Thursday was cow appreciation day, which immediately made me think of my 6th grade teacher - Miss Hultberg. An avid lover of the cow, we had many a laugh at her expense over the years for her extensive cow collection. From figurines to cow print aprons, you name it, she had it and if she didn't have it... she got it as a gift from a student! Here's to you Miss Hultberg!

Today's choice of holidays allowed me to celebrate by dreaming. Dreaming of what it would be like to have a personal chef (Personal Chef Day) who could whip up anything I asked him/her for. Like corn fritters, for today's "Corn Fritter Day!" Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about fixing a meal, planning a menu, or for that matter... grocery shopping?!?!? Oh to have a personal chef...

What did you do to celebrate today?

Tomorrow: Peach Ice Cream Day; Yellow Pig Day

Keeping in Simple...

Yesterday's day of "celebration" was all about keeping it simple (Simplicity Day). It was a good reminder for me to cut out what is not necessary, and focus on the simple, basic, unchanging truths in a world and daily life that can feel out of control at times. It also got me thinking about my blog... and how "simple" it was supposed to be to celebrate random holidays in an effort to remember to find moments each day to celebrate life. It has been simple, easy to celebrate these days... it just hasn't been simple to find time to write about it!

But, here is a simple recap on our past week of celebrations:

Thursday was Milk Chocolate with Almonds day. No problem. Nice and simple. And tasty too! ;-)

Friday was sugar cookie day. That sounded fun and I was all geared up to bake some cookies with my toddler... until the heat wave changed our plans and pumped our thermometer up to 30 C! No way was I turning on the oven! Sugar cookies will have to wait!

Saturday was the perfect weather for "Teddy Bear Picnic Day" and "Pina Colada Day." We ended up enjoying a picnic on Crescent Beach... minus (sadly, sniff sniff) the pina coladas!

Sunday we chose to abandon the "random holidays" and instead celebrate the final game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup! It was an interesting cup this time around, with the big names getting cut early and the surprise teams coming out on top. We were happy, however, with the conclusion --- Viva Espana!

Monday, as noted above, was simplicity day. Kept it simple with some quality time with my toddler, basic work and simple house chores.

And today is Embrace Your Geekness Day! I choose to embrace my geekness with the following:



What have you done to celebrate life of late?

Tomorrow: Bastille Day; Pandemonium Day; National Nude Day; Macaroni Day; Grand Marnier Day; Pick Blueberries Day.

Summer's Arrival

While we have been complaining that summer had yet to arrive on the west coast, it appears that it's finally here and here with some serious heat! With temperatures forecast to be in the 30s in our area tomorrow, I'm starting to turn my attention to the random holidays that allow for cool treats, shady games and indoor (air conditioned) activities.

The past few days of celebration have looked like this:

Sunday, July 4th, was of course US Independence Day, but it was also National Country Music Day. To celebrate, we watched a bit of a July 4th special on TV, just in time to hear Leanne Rimes belt out a country song. While not normally a fan of country, I took the opportunity to roll two celebrations into one. ;-)

Monday was workaholics day, which was fitting since I had to work. I'm finding it easy to be a workaholic when you work from home... the downside being that your work is always right there, begging for you to do it. I did more than my share on Monday as a result, which I guess is fine since that was the best way to celebrate a day that really should not fall in July!

Tuesday was Fried Chicken Day. Had we decided to picnic outside it he gorgeous sunshine I would have agreed to KFC simply so we could celebrate this...but with work and other duties calling we resorted to wading in our kiddie pool while daddy grilled chicken so that mommy wouldn't have to sweat in the kitchen! ;-) We 1/2 celebrated this day I guess...

Today's celebrations of choice are all food related: Strawberry Sundae Day, Macaroni Day and Chocolate Day. Hum... which one to celebrate???? ;-) While the heat of the afternoon will likely have me drooling for the coolness of a strawberry sundae, or even the coolness of a macaroni salad, I'd be crazy to pass up a day that would give me the legitimate excuse to indulge in some chocolate! ;-)

What have you done to celebrate of late?

Tomorrow: Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day; Video Game Day.

Icecream, Hot Pot, Forgetfulness and Mirrors...

Wednesday was Icecream Soda Day. We wanted so much to celebrate this, but in the chaos of the day we never got around to picking up icecream! The weather really has been calling for icecream either, so we sipped our sodas (sans icecream) anyway and dreamed of icecream.

Thursday was Canada Day and again our plans for celebration fell short. We had hoped to enjoy the festivities at Fort Langley, but with the munchkin sleeping late and the taking an unusually long nap, by the time we got to the Fort it had started to rain! Yes, this unusually cool, rainy summer strikes again! Instead, we turned the car towards Surrey to hit our favorite store - T&T - to load up on chinese buns and other goodies for hot pot that night. It felt odd to eat chinese hot pot on July 1st...

Friday was I Forgot Day, which comes in handy since I completely forgot to celebrate anything at all! I even forgot to look at my random holidays calendar to see what we were supposed to be celebrating! Ironic isn't it? I had a good laugh...

Today was Compliment Your Mirror Day. Odd huh? To celebrate, we had fun making faces in our household mirrors (our toddler's favorite pass time), kisses and waving to ourselves while giggling. After thinking it was an odd holiday... I have to say, it turned out sweet.

What have you done to celebrate lately?

Tomorrow: US Independence Day; Build a Scarecrow Day; National Country Music Day; Sidewalk Egg Frying Day (Ha! LIke that's gonna happen with OUR summer weather!!!).