Off to the Wilderness

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….makes me laugh when I say it because there’s more wildlife here in the city than at my cottage!

We don’t have these at the cottage!

I won’t be posting for a several days because I have no access to electricity. There is electricity on the island just not at my cottage. If K has his way there will never be electricity in our cottage unless we invest in a renewable energy source. More on that another time.

I’ll be at the cottage by myself. I’m hoping I’ll have time to reflect, re-energize and refocus on my weight loss goals. I’m holding steady at my 20 pounds plus weight loss but I need to move forward for the next 20 pounds. Long walks/runs on the beach, swimming, raking the lot and cleaning the cottage should help with the fitness goals. I’m bringing my kettle bell as well.

Cooking for myself and not worrying about other people’s dietary needs is helpful as well. The only problem is I tend to forget the time up there and eat at odd hours. I’ll be fine as long as I get in my three meals before it gets dark. I also have to make a concerted effort to stay hydrated. The spring water we draw from is excellent but it wasn’t working when I opened the cottage last weekend so I’ll be bringing large bottles of water just in case.

I do have a phone at the cottage and a battery powered radio so I’m not completely isolated from the rest of the world. And before you think I’m living the life of a hermit I do have neighbours and there’s always someone close by.

I need to get a move on. I still have to buy the water and propane to run the fridge and BBQ. Looking forward to a few days of R&R.

Cheers!

The Heat, the News, my Classroom

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Mama Cormier

.…. it’s all getting me down

I’m not used to being in the city this long at the beginning of the summer. I forgot how much the heat keeps me from moving. That depresses me. My classroom is taking much longer to clean than I planned on. That depresses me. The news about teachers is all bad and once again the ‘hate on’ for teachers has begun. That depresses me.

I worked in my classroom for about 4 hours today. We’ve hit record breaking temperatures again and my classroom is situated on the south side of the school and we don’t have air conditioning. I need to clear away as much as I can so that the caretakers can come in and clean the room. I’m feeling the pressure and I couldn’t get it all done today. I need to go back. Sigh!

When I got home today I was so exhausted from the heat that I fell asleep. I need to exercise and I can’t find the motivation or the energy to do it. A few degrees cooler would help.

Our teacher’s contract is up at the end of the summer and for months we’ve been hearing the word “strike”. The provincial government has basically come in and told us that there would be a pay freeze for two years. Most teachers are not upset about that. It’s all the other things that they want to take away that took years to negotiate that upsets teachers. What’s the point of collective bargaining if the government can step in and do whatever they want without any consultation or ratification? The school board hasn’t even gotten involved yet and they’re typically who we bargain with.

Of course the media makes the teachers look bad and all the teacher haters come out of the woodwork. It’s always the same old arguments. Teachers get 3 months paid vacation (we get paid for 10 months of the year), they have a great pension (which we pay heavily into) and they only work 6 hours a day (too bad they don’t see the hours after school and on the weekend that most of us put in).

Retirement is looking better all the time but I love teaching and I’m not ready to let it go.

The Cottage is Open!

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. very little evidence of mice or water damage.

Every year I dread opening the cottage because I don’t know what lies before me. In years past I’ve had coolers full of water and dead floating mice or acorns strewn all over the place because squirrels had inhabited the place over the winter.

For that reason I don’t like going up by myself to open the cottage. Since June was so incredibly busy at school and with my aunt being in the hospital, I didn’t have a chance to get to the cottage earlier this year.

My good friend L, drove up with me on Saturday. I picked her up before 9:00 in the morning and we arrived at the ferry dock by 11:00. The drive across the island was uneventful and we saw little evidence of new cottages going up. The lot next to ours has been leased for 3 years now but building hasn’t started.

The outside of the cottage looked fine. The lot needs to be racked and a few branches need to be cleared from the winter fall out. After we removed the plywood that covers our main door we carefully entered cottage. Surprise! It was exactly as we had left it. There was very little evidence of mice. I forgot that we left cloves all over the place so initially I didn’t know what I was looking at. Apparently rodents don’t like cloves and will avoid the areas where they’ve been left out.

I think some water may have come in after the snow melted off the roof but the bowls and coolers that we left out were empty. So far I’ve found no dead anything. L and I moved the propane fridge outside (I don’t trust it), set up the BBQ, emptied the water barrel, swept the deck and the outhouse and took all the cushions out of the plastic garbage bags and set up the couch.

When we had finished all of this we had a nice picnic lunch on the deck and then we headed for the beach for a nice swim. The weather has been so warm this spring and especially in the last 2 weeks that the water was actually swimmable. Georgian Bay is such a large body of water that most people don’t go swimming until August because it usually takes that long to warm up.Yesterday the water was refreshing and a nice break from the sweltering heat. It was difficult to pack up and leave.

Did I tell you that we only went up for the day. We caught the 4:00 ferry back to the mainland and drove back to Toronto so that we could attend our book club meeting.

A Moveable Feast: the Restored Edition

The book that we were discussing was Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Most members in the club hated the book and rated it very poorly. L and I, on the other hand quite liked the book and had a completely different perspective. As it turns out, the two of us read the restored edition that was published in 2009. This new edition had new chapters added, chapters moved around and sections of the book were replaced with Hemingway’s original drafts that the editors in the past had changed.

This restored edition is apparently how Hemingway wanted the book published. During our discussion it became clear that the two books are considerably different or at least different enough to give the reader a completely different perspective on the man himself. L and I quite liked the Hemmingway we read about and the rest of the group despised him.

Earlier in the year we read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. I loved the connections I could make between the two books. McLain’s book is historical fiction and based on Hadley’s and Hemingway’s marriage and life together in Paris. In the restored addition of A Moveable Feast, it was abundantly clear that Hemingway truly loved Hadley. The group that had read the original version did not share the same conclusion.

I rated the restored addition of A Moveable Feast 3 1/2 out of 5.

The De-cluttering Has Begun

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. my husband laughed at my attempt to declutter

It’s a good start. I have to admit that I haven’t really dealt with what I’m doing with many of the items I have removed. Some are going to the cottage tomorrow (books, art supplies, some clothes) and I have started a recycling bag and a garbage bag.

Unfortunately much of what you don’t see has been pushed to the other end of the room that you don’t see. K says that we need a dumpster at the bottom of the window on that side of the room so that I can just push it right out the window. Anyway I have given myself till the end of the month and every time I have a spare minute or two I sort through more stuff. While I was waiting for these pictures to upload I managed to hang a few more things in the closet and throw some more things into the recycling bag.

My mother would be mortified if she were alive to see me post these pictures. I find it therapeutic and if it helps me get the job done, then so be it. It’s like losing weight for me. Talking about it on a blog and sharing it with whom ever reads it keeps me on track and honest.

I apologize in advance to my children and immediate family if this embarrasses you. Trust me, in the end it will have been worthwhile.

Before After

Reached My Goal and Beyond

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….yesterday I was 1/2 pound below my goal but was hesitant to share with you

As often happens when I reach a weight loss goal I go up the next day. Because of that I was hesitant to share my joy with you. I’m ecstatic today. When I got on the scale this morning I was down another pound, for a total of 21 1/2 pounds.

My next goal is another 20 pounds for a total of 40 pounds. I hope I can reach that goal by the end of the summer. It is exactly 8 weeks before my next BIG birthday, nine weeks before Labour Day and 11 1/2 weeks before the end of summer.

The last date is probably the most reasonable date to choose for my goal. With 18 1/2 pounds to go, Labour Day is also doable. I don’t want to jinx myself so I think I’ll just leave the actual timeline open for discussion.

I’m keeping today’s post short. I have to go into school to continue the clean-up and then I’m off to see a new doctor this afternoon.

Cheers!

Happy Canada Day!

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. a beautiful, hot day with lots going on in the city but very quiet at this end of town

No one was free to go to the cottage this weekend and I didn’t want to drive by myself so I started on my bedroom. I’ve even bought the paint. I think renovating and gardening are very Canadian things to do on the long weekend, next to going to the cottage. The streets are pretty quiet but Home Depot was busy.

Of course I can’t paint till I’ve removed the clutter. I’m starting at one corner of the room and working my way out. The problem is that the things I’ve cleaned up are spilling into the hallway. I need to decide what to do with the items I’ve removed and find a new home for them, preferably Good Will.

De-cluttering is a bit like losing weight. You have to stay focused and not stray from the goal. Don’t bring more things into the room than you take out (calories in vs. calories burned), celebrate the small accomplishments and don’t beat yourself up when you have an off day. Recruit help along the way. My blog family has definitely kept me on track with my weight loss. Now I need to find someone to help me remove the clutter from my life. Anyone interested?

I’ve started at the easy end of my bedroom, the side that I frequently organize so that when you walk by my bedroom it looks pretty good. The difference is that this time I’m removing even more items than I would normally. It’s when you take a couple of steps into the room when you really notice the chaos.

Oh well, I shan’t perseverate. On with the job. I’ll let you know of my progress when it’s noticeable.

Cheers!

Happy 145th Birthday Canada!

The Piece of Art I Was Gifted

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. a while back I told you about a piece of art a friend took off the gallery wall and gave to me to keep.

Sam’s gift to us. It was completely spontaneous on his part and very unexpected on ours.

The medium is acrylic paint done on a 12 x 16 canvas. Thank you, Sam!

Down 19 1/2 Pounds

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. I’m half a pound away from my goal and then it’s time to set a new goal

I wasn’t going to announce my weight loss until I reached my goal but I realized that I haven’t been writing too much about my weight loss journey in the last two to three weeks. I didn’t want people thinking that I was taking a break or worse had quit.

At the beginning of my journey I lost the weight pretty quickly but in June the weight loss slowed down. As I’ve said before, stress is a huge factor for me when it comes to losing weight and June has to be one of the most stressful months for teachers (at least it is in our school).

Now that school is over for the summer, no more excuses about stress. In fact the last pound and a half came off in the last 2 days. In the past I would have given up when the weight didn’t come off. This time I can’t even imagine stopping. I have a long way to go but setting smaller attainable goals works for me.

At school I’ve started cleaning out my classroom because a new teacher is taking it over in September. I don’t know if you can even imagine how much stuff I’ve accumulated over the last 13 years. It’s time to purge and it feels good getting rid of stuff I know I won’t be using again. I don’t have much choice because I have to move all my belongings to a small office in the library.

At home it’s time to purge as well. I want to pack up all my big clothes and give them away. I never want to wear them again. In the past I always hung on to my ‘fat’ clothes just in case and just in case always happened. Funny how I never hung onto my ‘skinny’ clothes.

Time to Treat Myself

… and I don’t mean with food. Over the years my bedroom became the dumping ground when my family members didn’t know where to put things. Laundry, papers, books, bills, etc. were deposited in various parts of my room. Unfortunately my bedroom was the one room I never got to when I cleaned the house for company.

Don’t get me wrong I did dust, vacuum, change the sheets and put away my laundry (eventually) but I never found the time to organize all the clutter. I’ve actually taken before pictures of my room and hope it will spur me on to finally organize my space.

Once that’s done I’d also like to paint my room. It’s the only room in the house that still has the original coat of paint when we renovated the house over 20 years ago. So not only do I need to purge at school but I’m ready to do it in my bedroom. My goal is to have it done by the end of July. Stay tune for the updates.

Swimming

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. a fun day for the grade 5s and somewhat relaxing for their teachers

The day started out overcast and grey despite the forecast of warm and sunny. None the less we herded 55 eager boys and girls onto the yellow ‘cheese wagon’ and made our way to the outdoor pool in Mississauga.

When we arrived the lifeguard confirmed with us that we were participating in the ‘Swim to Survive’ program with some recreational swimming. Thinking it was the same as every other year but with a new name we said agreed and sat back and watched the most amazing program unfold before our eyes.

The children were divided into 3 groups according to their swimming ability and the lessons began. What surprised us the most was how many grade 5s couldn’t swim or had difficulty swimming. In a country like Canada where we have so many lakes, rivers and cottages we all felt, as teachers, that knowing how to swim was not only important from a recreational point of view but also for safety concerns.

The good part of the program was that the children had fun while learning how to swim or improving on their existing skills. They also got a real good workout. After the formal lesson they were allowed to play in the water and use the toys and slides. Included here are a few pictures of the morning’s events.

Two More Days

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. the worst is behind me

I think that today was the last big stressor for the school year. The Farewell Ceremony! For a number of years I’ve been the MC for the event. It gets a little bit easier every year but I still have at least one stumble. Covering it up with humour helps.

I came to school this morning knowing that I had to write two speeches for the afternoon. Fortunately I work really well under pressure. The words came easily. I loved presenting the special awards. My principal cursed me for making her so emotional but she got through her presentation as well.

After the ceremony, the grade 4 parents served refreshments. I have to say that I wasn’t the least bit tempted by the cake and other sweets. After mingling with the parents and posing for pictures with some of my students I did munch on some delicious vegetables and hummus.

The report cards are stuffed into the envelopes for tomorrow, copies have been filed and I’ve signed off on the OSRs. The only thing left to do is the grade 5 activity day (Wednesday) and the Future Ace assembly on the Thursday. Friday is our last PD day which involves a staff meeting and time to clean our rooms.

At the end of the day my husband called me from the car to tell me that he had my aunt with him. She was released from the hospital and they were on their way to her house. I met them there and had a nice visit with her. We’re a little concerned about her medications and the fact that she lives alone. I think we will checking in on her a lot more often.

I’m looking forward to getting back to walking/running again once this week is over. I still haven’t gotten over that 18 pound hump. It’s late and I need some sleep before another busy day gets under way. TTFN!