Winter wonderland...??!

So to update, I've just been hired as a part time Raw Food Chef apprentice; I'm finally feeling fit enough to ride my bike whilst pulling Mayana behind me on a trailer up the hills of Saltspring; and I've now officially separated (amicably so!) from Mayana's Papa.

However, in true life's irony, all I'm craving right now is coffee and hot soup; there is snow a foot deep all over Saltspring; and I'm suddenly feeling horny as heck for the first time since birthing Mayana!

Ah yes, the life of a Scorpio never ceases to be colourful...and perhaps a recount of this past weekend's shenanigans proves it perfectly...

It all started on Friday afternoon. I headed to my first day as a Raw Food apprentice for an excellent 3 hours of preparing desserts for a "Sweet Treats" workshop the next day. As we vita-mixed, soaked, dehydrated, and generally "un-cooked"...my Mum watched Mayana and took her for a long walk. "Watch out, its going to snow- its cold enough" my Mum warned when I returned. "Yeah, yeah" I scoffed...thinking, geez, its only November.
Later, San watched Mayana as I did an acting workshop with the ever-amazing Nicola Cavendish. She has acted in, and written, a number of Canadian plays, including one titled "It's Snowing on Saltspring". Without a doubt Providence took centre stage later that night as we had to rush off early from the workshop due to heavy snowfall!
By the morning, we were engulfed in a brilliant, beautiful blanket of white...and totally snowed in.
And 20 minutes past 8am, we also lost all power.
Its amazing how survival skills kick in for a group of people who are used to electric heat and hot water on demand. Firewood was whisked into the dry cover of the hall entrance, a fire was made, and blankets were rounded up. We even managed to make a pot of coffee on a camping pot on the fireplace (priorities please!).
With coffee having warmed our bellies, I donned Mayana's first ever snowsuit(!) and out we headed. She thought it was wonderful...chattering to all the new shapes made by the snow, and the birds twittering and dancing among the whitened branches. Wonderful that is...until she touched it. "Waaahhhhh!!!"...oh right, sorry darling, I forgot to mention, its REALLY cold!!

We got lots of video, and plenty of photos, and it was amazing to watch her as she giggled at the deer families walking delicately to search for food in our garden of trees. The computers were out, and the 2 teenagers in my house learned to drum, read books to us, and helped to make dinner by candlelight on the fire! Its true "Papa" and I are still getting used to our new status, but we totally worked together to keep the fire going, and to make warm beds in the living room where we all ate, talked, played, read, and slept for the next 48 hours.

Family is so unique for all people, but this past weekend, I felt a strong sense of family. My roommate who usually lives above the garage, also spent the nights with us, and it was lovely to get to know him better...and I know Mayana considers him Uncle John now that he's read her a book!

Now the power is back on, the boys are back upstairs in their rooms, and I don't have an excuse NOT to make a wheatgrass smoothie for breakfast instead of hot coffee! I still have an excuse not to bike pulling Mayana up the hill behind me!...but I did manage to go to the gym to workout yesterday.
And my peaked hormones?
Perhaps the snow reminds me of days of yore where I would snowshoe with a handsome love interest, and then return to the warm to snuggle with hot chocolate and Baileys in hand. Winter can be a very "cosy" time! Perhaps it is simply that now Mayana is 10 months old, my physical body has been able to take one of its first steps back to stand as a woman, and not just nursing mother. Or perhaps it is the new changes in my life bring feelings of excitement like a new love...healthy shifts are sexy!

Winter wonderland? Oh yes...a true weekend to symbolise the first year of parenting...we are tired, the house is a mess, we are busy organizing everyone, food is less than brilliant in its presentation...but my goodness, can it get any more magical?