The Next Wave of Snow is Upon Us

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..last Monday we saw more snow than predicted but still no ‘Snow Day’ in Toronto

Luckily everyone else stayed off the roads so driving to work on Monday wasn’t as bad as it could have been. About one third of our students stayed home and made their own ‘Snow Day’. All the other school boards around Toronto closed schools for the day. We only cancelled buses. It’s funny how conditions for school buses are too dangerous but it’s okay for teachers and parents to get out in their cars to get to school. Go figure!

Anyway, I didn’t intend to rant about last Monday. Today we’re experiencing more snow but I’m not sure that we’re going to get as much as predicted. I’m trying to get out and walk more so late this afternoon, when the snow started I went out for a walk and on my way home I took a few photos. They’re a little grainy because it started to get dark but some of that graininess is the snow that’s coming down.

I went out again a little while ago to walk the dog but she wouldn’t go further than around the block so I think I’m going to be about a thousand steps shy of my 10 000 step goal. Maybe I’ll go out one more time without her and shovel some of that snow.

some of

Share Your World 2015 – Week 5

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..it’s already February and week 5

Do you prefer shopping or going to a park?

Why do I have to pick? I like them both. I like a balance of activities. I love to walk and I need to do more. January has been a tough month on the exercise front. I also love to shop and I didn’t much of that either in January. Okay February, time to up my game on both fronts.

If you were a shoe, what kind would you be and why?

I’m all about comfort now. I love my new hiking shoes and my ‘Blundstone’ style boots. Both work well when I’m walking and the boots are versatile and are somewhat fashionable.

What’s the story behind a time when you got locked out?

The last time I was locked out it happened at school. My swipe key was starting to break so the office administrator applied for a new one. Little did I know that the moment she applied for a new one the old one was declared null and void. That night I had to go back to school for a meeting and I couldn’t get back into the school. I walked to the front doors and they were locked so I walked around to the side entrance and then all the way through the school to get back to the library. It wouldn’t have been so bad but it was bitterly cold. The next morning I couldn’t get into the school again but when I finally did, the office had my new key ready for me.

Do you prefer eating foods with nuts or no nuts?

I love nuts and any food that contains nuts. When a box of chocolate is presented to me I always look for the chocolate with the nuts first. I love marzipan, Italian almond cookies, M&M Chocolate Covered Peanuts and almond bark.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week my husband had his post op appointments with his doctors and the surgery was successful. He still has to have iodine radiation done but no more surgery for the time being. We walked to a restaurant close to the hospital that I’ve always wanted to try and we had a wonderful meal together.

I’m grateful for time spent with my children. We all got together to deliver a desk to my oldest daughter and her sister made homemade empanadas for us to enjoy for lunch. I’m also happy to have finished proofreading report cards.

I’m looking forward to printing up the final copies of the report cards for all the teachers on staff. I’m also looking forward to working on more art projects and receiving the next art assignment from Carla.

Here are a couple of warm-up doodles that I created for the class.

Cheers and If you’d like to see more “Share Your World” posts head on over to Cee’s Photography and join in on the fun.

Crazy Hair Day

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..fun day at school

Last Thursday we had Crazy Hair Day. I wish I had more photos but my iPhone ran out of juice. The kids love it when the teachers play along. A couple of scrunchies and presto you have ‘crazy hair’.

Many of children used the spray that adds colour to your hair and some of them discovered that the colour runs when it gets wet. During dance class a few students had coloured sweat running down their foreheads and a couple of students stayed in during recess because it had started to snow and they were afraid that their hair creation would run onto their snow suits.

Share Your World, 2015 – Week 4

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Mama Cormier

Where did you live at age five? Is it the same place or town you live now?

At the age of five I lived in Toronto. The following year we moved to Oakville, which is about a half hour west of Toronto. We only lived there for four years before we moved back to Toronto. I have lived in this great city most of my life.

View of the city from Centre Island.

You are invited to a party that will be attended by many fascinating people you never met. Would you attend this party if you were to go by yourself?

I’m not sure I would go by myself. If I know someone at the party and I’m assuming that the person who invited me knows me I might go for awhile. This summer I went to a neighbour’s party but I didn’t stay long because there were a lot of people there that I didn’t know.

Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?

I guess you figured out that I grew up in a big city. In fact, Toronto is the biggest city in Canada. I can’t remember not liking it. We had a park, skating rink, tennis courts and swimming pool right across the street. In the summer I swam every day and in the winter I was always at the rink. In the summer we used to go to Centre Island for picnics and we always looked forward to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibiton) which signalled the end of summer.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

My first memory of what I wanted to be was a nurse (me and every other little girl in the 50s) but at the age of 12 I decided that I wanted to be a Family Studies (Home Ec.) teacher. That dream didn’t waver much. Sometimes I thought I might want to become a doctor but I always went back to teaching. I studied to become a Family Studies teacher and for 17 years that’s what I taught. I have been a teacher for 34 years and I still love it.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I answered this question on Sunday so nothing much new to report here.

For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s Photography.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 3

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..more questions brought to you by Cee

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

I’ve saved this question for last because I’m finding it the most difficult to answer. I would be worried about having someone I don’t know over for dinner. Is the house clean enough, are my things up to par, will they like my cooking, will I say something stupid and insult them or will I find them completely boring and be let down by the experience? When I have people over I want to enjoy the experience so I tend to invite people who know me well and won’t judge me. Therefore I’d have to say that I want my best friends over for dinner.

When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

The last time I sang was at the percussion concert we had last Thursday at school. I sang with the audience. I like to sing in the car when I’m by myself. I can’t remember the last time I sang to someone. Sometimes I’ll break out in song when I’m reading a story to the younger boys and girls in the library. I sang in a German choir for 27 years and after that I was a guest chorister with a fantastic church choir. I did that for a few years.

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

I wish I could eat like a person who is healthy, enjoys food and doesn’t struggle with weight. I’m healthy and I certainly enjoy food but my weight has been a life long struggle.

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

I think joking about anything that is tragic is taboo. Joking about someone’s loss or pain is just plain tacky.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful that my reports are written, that I produced some fun art and that I got to hear the children perform on the percussion instruments after listening to them practise every day for two weeks. I’m grateful that I was able to visit my Dad today and help somewhat with his moving dilemma. He is moving from a house to an apartment and between him and his partner G they have at least two apartment’s worth of belongings.

This week I’m looking forward to producing more art and starting the second part of the assignment that I was given last Thursday. I have till Feb. 8 before I receive the next lesson.

Year of the Spark

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….another great on-line art class with Carla Sonnheim and Lynn Whipple

In December I signed up for a year long on-line art class with two great artists, Carla Sonheim and Lynn Whipple. The class is called Year of the Spark and twice a month each teacher presents a lesson and several fun assignments. So far the assignments have been designed to get our hands moving and look at art and drawing in new ways.

Carla’s first class had us drawing dozens of one line sketches of animals, flowers, and houses and then choosing one favourite and drawing it again using many different types of drawing tools. We had to choose one finished piece in the end and frame it. Here are some of my one liners and my framed piece.

As much as I liked my dog drawings I decided to elaborate on my birds.

As you can see these drawings are intended to be fun and whimsical.

This week Lynn introduced us to pattern drawing and creating cards using people from old photos and a multitude of shapes of cut up papers. I’ve played with the pattern portion of the assignment but I haven’t yet started the card assignment.

The pattern assignment is a warm-up activity but I’m so addicted to this random doodling that it’s taking me hours to finish one page. Tomorrow I’m going to have to try to work faster and maybe use only watercolours to create my patterns. Keep it simple.

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A New Milestone – 1000 Posts

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..I can’t believe it

Thirty three months ago when I started this blog I couldn’t have imagined writing 1000 posts. When I first hit the keys I wanted to record and track my weight loss journey, write about my past, share recipes and have a platform to air my feelings about retirement. Well here I am almost three years later and I’m still going strong.

My focus has changed somewhat. I managed to lose 32 pounds and today I’ve kept a good chunk of it off but it’s a struggle every day. I don’t share many recipes. Others do it much better. I’m still working and I don’t bring up retirement very often. My colleagues won’t hear of it but I have to admit that I am getting closer to that day. I don’t talk as much about my past and most of my personal posts reflect what’s happening in the present.

What is surprising is how my blog has morphed into an art and photography journal. I started teaching art to more classes shortly after starting the blog and I started to share my student’s work.

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I also started to do more of my own art and I took a number of on-line art classes.

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I’ve always liked taking photos but recently I discovered that I was pretty good at it. I enjoyed experimenting with my little digital camera and later my iPhone and I started to participate in a lot of photography challenges here on WordPress.

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I also started to dabble in writing poetry. For someone who hated poetry in school I’m somewhat surprised that I enjoy writing free verse and Haiku as much as I do. I guess I like writing in general.

When I look back on my first dozen posts, I wonder what kept me going. There wasn’t a lot of feedback. Many of my first posts had no likes what so ever. Reading over them I couldn’t fault the writing but there were only a few photos in the beginning and I didn’t always ‘tag’ those pieces. Some of them I wrote for my children so they would have a record of their mother’s past (here, here, here, and here).

The one thing that I was pleased about was that many of my early followers are still with me. Hats off to Michael Lai, oneanna65, Domestic Diva, MD, Uthamz, The Ranting Chef, Lesley Carter, Ellis Nelson, Conor Cullen, Dorothy, Anne, Paul. Beth, Baz, Dina, Island Traveller, Bert, Lee, Jeanne, Maia, Frizz, TK Morin, Masqua,Leanne, Art Expectations, Rosemarie, Viveka, Donna, Michael, T.J., Melissa, Ann, Neal, Woolly, Mrs. Euken, Dan, Mark, Brenda, and in the last year many more followers have come my way. Here are some of the regulars: Cee, Megan, Lisa, Ab, Jennifer, Joe, Rachel, Chris, Geraint, Miranda, Trisha, Janaline, Hello, Fig, Elizabeth, Marsha, Ayse, Folly Girl, Judith, Sarah, Ronovan, Seb, Audrey, B, Kimmi, Conrad, CJ, Boeta, Peggy, Debbie, Colline,……

A special thanks goes to the people who like to comment on my blog, a lot,……Dorothy, Viveka, Rosemarie, Leanne, Colline, Judith, Cee, Elizabeth and Mark and my sister Chris. I know that my FaceBook friends also read my blog and when they comment it’s usually on FaceBook. I’m sure I’ve missed a few people and for that I apologize. I am about 40 people shy of reaching 1000 followers and I hope by my 3rd anniversary in April I can reach that goal as well.

Cheers!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 2

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for 4 more great questions

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?

I don’t come from a family of huggers but I’ve learned to hug over the years. I actually enjoy hugging family and friends but I’m a little put off by strangers who want to hug you. I’ve also become more careful as to whom and when I hug, especially students. Most children love to hug and usually initiate the action but over the years I’ve noticed that some just aren’t comfortable hugging and I have to respect their personal space. Unfortunately for male teachers it’s more risky to hug students and most of my male colleagues are very careful about any type of physical interaction with students

What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor?

I love all flavours of ice-cream but If I have to choose I’d say cinnamon or coffee flavoured ice-cream.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?

I love a bit of both but lately I think I do more exercising of the mind. I play scrabble daily and love the puzzles in the newspaper, especially Sudoko. When the weather isn’t too cold I love to walk and I do enjoy restorative Yoga.

Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Why?

I’ve owned both cats and dogs but I am definitely more of a dog person. We currently own a dog named Frances and in the past we owned two Golden Retrievers for 23 years (back to back, not at the same time). I’m not sure why but all our dogs are and were females. As much as we loved our cat, the dogs were always more active and demanding of our time. For many people that would be a reason to prefer cats but the dogs get us out and walking and enjoying our surroundings. They also bring neighbours together. We may not know everybody’s name but they all know the dog’s name.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful that my husband’s surgery is over with and that it went well. He’s home now and is recovering quickly.

This week I’m looking forward to going back to work and do more of my art assignments for Year of the Spark. So far I’ve only done a few of my one-line drawings and I’m anxious to elaborate on some of them.

Share Your World – 2015 – Week 1

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..wow a new year of Share Your World with Cee

How do you get rid of pesky phone calls from telemarketers?

If I hear dead air for a second or two after I say Hello I know it’s a telemarketer and I hang up. Simple!

What are you a “natural” at doing?

I don’t know if anyone is a natural at anything. I know that people might think I’m a natural when it comes to art or public speaking but it wasn’t always that way. I had to work at it to gain confidence and even now I still have doubts about my abilities but I am always willing to try new things and take some risks.

How often do you get a haircut?

When my hair is short I try to get it cut every 6 to 8 weeks. When it’s longer it might be every two to three months.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?

Fun for me is creating art and being around friends.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful for having my entire family home for Christmas and having everyone together to celebrate B and G’s birthday. I also loved visiting and spending time with friends.

This week I’m looking forward to some quiet time with my husband before he has to go back for more surgery on his thyroid next Monday. I’m also looking forward to starting a new on-line year long art class with Carla Sonheim and Lynn Whipple called Year of the Spark.

I can’t upload my Year of the Spark poster that I made. How frustrating!

Small Stones – Jan. 4, 2015

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..Becca Givens writes a Small Stone is “short piece of writing (any style) that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment for you. The process of discovering small stones is as significant as the finished creation. Searching for small stones encourages you to keep your senses on the “alive and alert” status. Involve yourself with a new set of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, feelings and mind. In short … OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!”

Here is my attempt at a ‘small stone’

A New Day

The rain shatters the morning quiet

Darkness shrouds my bed

I lie there forcing myself to rise

Today is the day I dread

My son leaves us and

Returns to his new home