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.

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 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!

Share Your World (2014) – Week 51

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….thank you Cee for another week of great questions….will there be a week 52 or do we start with week 1?

Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?

I’d like something in the middle. A little snow (maybe one good blizzard) and when there’s no snow I’d like mild temperatures. We had a lot of snow back in November but for the most part by the time December rolled around most of it had disappeared and we ended up with a green Christmas. Today is Dec. 31st and we still don’t have any snow but it’s become bitterly cold. I like to walk but when the wind blows and the temperature drops it makes for a bone chilling experience. What a difference from last year!

So, you’re on your way out and it’s raining. Do you know where your umbrella is or do you frantically search for it all over your apartment/house?

Rain? The umbrella is always in the car. A lot of good it does me when I have to run through the parking lot at school in the pouring rain to get to my car.

Do you prefer your food separated or mixed together?

I like both but when it’s separated I’m not one of those people who can’t stand to have the different foods touching. That’s just weird. Sorry to those people who feel that way. I also love casseroles, soups and stews. When I need comfort food the latter mentioned meals hit the spot.

…..filled with lamb and a side of fesenjoon (ground walnuts with chicken)

What is set as the background on your computer?

On my computer my background is a photo of the city of Toronto that I took from the park west of the city. This is what I see every day when I walk to the park with Frances.

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 for having my entire family home for Christmas and being able to spend another Christmas with my Dad.

This week we celebrated the birthday of my twins and I am looking forward to going to my friends 60th birthday levi on Thursday and bringing the family together one last time on Saturday before my son and his fiancé fly back to London, England.

Happy New Year, everyone. All the best in 2015!

Birthday, Brunch, Books and Best Buys

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..Dec.30 is the birthday of my twins, G and B

Today we celebrated a birthday. Thirty-three years ago I gave birth to two healthy children, a girl and a boy. We celebrated at G’s place where she treated us to a wonderful brunch of homemade bread, homemade ricotta cheese, jams, honey, coffee, fresh fruit salad, kale and goat cheese frittata and a delicious green salad. Everyone contributed to the meal but the bulk of the work was prepared by G.

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Gifts were exchanged earlier in the day and then again at the brunch. Our son loves books and our daughter collects cookbooks. Yesterday G ordered B a very special cookbook that he had expressed an interest in and surprisingly it was delivered while we were there. Now that’s service!

After brunch we (our oldest daughter, our son and his fiancé) drove north on Yonge St. and stopped at Super Khorak to purchase some special food items for dinner. Our future daughter-in-law is Iranian and we wanted to purchase some authentic Iranian food. My son and my husband literally cleaned their bowls and the food containers with the flat Iranian bread that we bought. There wasn’t a morsel of food left over. It was definitely a ‘best buy’ today.

New Flower, Dec. 30, 2014 – Red Rose

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….Happy Birthday to my lovely twins….I can’t believe my babies are 33 years old

Share Your World 2014 – Week 50

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Dawn over at Lingering Visions for coming up with this week’s questions and to Cee for hosting Share Your World

Do you have a signature dish? If not is their one in your family?

My signature dish changes every couple of years. Right now I’d have to say that my go to dish is a Kale, Pomegranate, Walnut and Feta Cheese salad. The recipe calls for wild rice as well but I change it up with Israeli couscous or faro and if I don’t have walnuts I might add another variety of nut.

Do you have a favorite board game?

I think my favourite classic board game is Scrabble and my favourite new game is Ticket to Ride.

Is there a household chore that you enjoy?

I’d have to say No! But wait I don’t hate all chores. I enjoy baking and some cooking and I don’t mind doing laundry.

What is one thing you will never care about?

One thing I will never care about is hockey or American football. These two sports just leave me cold. Too much fighting and physical contact for my liking.

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’m grateful for two very different Christmas parties that I attended. The first one was the staff party and it was good to see so many from the staff turn out. It was fun and festive and it looked like everyone was having a lot of fun. The second party took place on Saturday and it was a very quiet affair with just a few good friends. Every year now my good friend L has the same group over for dinner. it was so relaxing and the food was outstanding. With her mom and daughter joining us there were seven of us around the table….the perfect size for good conversation.

This week I’m looking forward to Christmas and time spent with family and close friends. My son and his fiancé are arriving from London, England on Christmas Eve. Our big celebration is on the 24th and then we also do a Christmas dinner on the 25th. Boxing Day will be a day of rest and then the day after we will pack up two cars and all of my family will drive to Oshawa to visit with my Dad and G.

Wishing all my blogging followers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukka. Be safe and enjoy your family and friends during this festive season.

The Ninth Street Santas

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….on Dec. 6th, western Christian children celebrated St. Nicholas Day, New Toronto had its Santa Claus Parade and Ninth Street residents inflated and lit up their Santas

A week ago, Saturday, my husband and I were walking Frances over to the park when I noticed a very unusual sight on Ninth Street. Giant inflatable Santas popped up all the way down the street. Now it’s not unusual to see Christmas decorations this time of year and the inflatable variety are becoming more common but it seemed like every other house had a large inflatable Santa on their lawn.

On the way back from our walk we purposely went down Ninth Street from the top of the street and I counted the Santas. There were 16 of them in one block that were all the same size and design. There were a few smaller ones in between and there was one lonely Frosty the Snowman.

Later that night I went back to Ninth Street to see the Santas lit up. I parked the car and saw two people on the street. I approached them and asked them if this display of all the same Santas was a coincidence or if it was an organized event. The latter was true. Apparently someone on the street went door to door and suggested that everyone put up one of these Santas. They were at Walmart and were on sale.

I asked if the person with the snowman didn’t get the message. It just so happened that one of the people there was the owner of the snowman and she protested very loudly. I calmed her down and concluded that Walmart must have sold out of Santas and that’s exactly what happened. A few more Santas have gone up since then.