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.

One at a Time – WP Daily Writing Challenge

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….today Word Press is challenging us to write on any topic using only one syllable words

Sing, A Time of Love

Sing a song that brings joy

Make it full of whole long notes

High and low, soft and loud

Add a quick bar or two for fun

Sweet babes sing with glee

Dear Saint Nick is on his way

Hum, dance and dream

Of toys and sweet treats

Bless this day so near

Bring one and all home

to share and sing

Sing, sing, sing!

Children’s Poppies on Remembrance Day

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….we’ve been busy at school making all sorts of poppies to decorate the gym for our Remembrance Day assembly

Share Your World – Week 45

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….week 45?…. are there really only 7 weeks left in the year?

What is your favorite color?

Easy, peasy! Red

In what do you find the simplest of joys?

I find great joy in a good book, quiet time at the cottage, conversations with my husband, getting lost in creating new art and hugs from my students.

Would you prefer a reading nook or an art, craft, photography studio?

If I can’t have both I’d have to choose an art studio. I need a place where I can put out my supplies and leave them out and not worry about putting things away because company is coming or family is staying overnight and need to sleep where I currently do my art.

What is at least one of your favorite quotes?

I don’t know who said it first but I believe in “live in the moment”.

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

I am grateful for time with family. The memorial for my aunt and my daughter’s birthday brought together the family for two days. Some family members I see regularly but others only occasionally and it was nice having everyone together even if it was only for a couple of days.

This week I’m looking forward to our annual Remembrance Day service at school. Everyone has worked very hard to make the day special and if it’s anything like other years it will be a very touching and memorable day.

I’m also looking forward to spending some time with friends and going to another concert put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. On Saturday or Sunday I’m also entertaining a young man (J’s 7 year old nephew) by taking him to the ROM. It’s always fun taking children to the museum.

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

A Farewell Celebration Followed by a Birthday Celebration

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this weekend we fondly remembered my aunt and celebrated my oldest daughter’s 35th birthday

I don’t have a very large extended family. My mother only had one sister and my father had a sister who also passed away this year and he has a brother who still lives in Germany. In total I have five cousins. Three live in Germany, one in Florida and one in Hamilton.

I have two sisters and in total we have 7 children. My youngest sister lives in Calgary with her husband and two children and my middle sister lives in Chatham with her new husband. Her two children live, here, in Toronto. Of my three children, two still live in Toronto and my son now resides in London, England.

This weekend brought some of us together to celebrate the life of my aunt, my mother’s older sister. My own mother passed over 20 years ago at the young age of 61.

My aunt H had two children, late in life and when her husband died in his early fifties she moved to Canada to be closer to her sister and give her children a fresh start.

On Saturday my cousin arranged for a simple memorial gathering at the funeral home. She put together three boards of photos and brought along 5 or 6 photo albums of her mother’s life. While going through her mother’s possessions she found this amazing photograph. We think she was about 19 or 20 when this photo was taken.

Later that evening 15 family members went to a very nice restaurant for dinner together where we could spend more time together and reminisce.

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Today we had all my children together (including our son) to celebrate A’s birthday. I can’t believe that I have a 35 year old daughter. Our good friends B and W also came over to help us celebrate. My husband and daughter, G, made fantastic pizza rolls called stromboli. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of it but there is one at the link that I posted.

Later we had coffee and wonderful cake that J brought. The round things on top that look like rocks were called cake truffles (very sweet).

Six weeks before Christmas. There’s been so much food in the last few days that my husband and I feel like juice fasting. Instead we’ve decided to really focus on healthy eating and moving more. I’m actually looking forward to no sweets and carbs and eating more fruits and vegetables and simply grilled meats. Pass the water, please!

Happy Hallowe’en

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….a fun day at school but not so nice this evening for the trick or treaters

Day 5 of my Book Fair had to end on Hallowe’en. Getting dressed up, lots of candy, sick children and very excited children and last minute purchases made for a very exhausting day. Pretty much every child dresses up for Hallowe’en and so do most of the staff at our school. At the end of the day we have our parade where the entire student body walks through the school and then outside around the the property. Unfortunately it rained all day so we had indoor recesses and we tried to keep the children calm with a movie during lunch. The rain had let up a little bit towards the end of the day so we decided to brave it and take the parade outside.

My friend L and I led the school throughout the halls and then around the school. Every year we try to come up with new costumes and when I saw this idea on Pinterest I knew that it was the costume for us. It was also extremely easy to put together and we had fun making the kids and parents try to figure out what we were. We dressed up as the Black Eyed Peas.

Here are a some pictures that I can share with you. The parents do an amazing job decorating the school and many classes took the time to decorate pumpkins.

It’s almost 8:00 and I’ve only had one knock on the door. Even my husband’s fabulous pumpkin isn’t attracting children to come up our walkway. Too much rain. I guess I’ll be taking a lot of candy back to school.

Share Your World – Week 35

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….can’t believe that it’s already week 35…check out Cee’s Photography for more great posts of Share Your World or join in

Have your blogging goals changed?

I think they have. I started as an incentive to lose weight and record stories from my childhood. I still do a little of both but now it’s become a venue for sharing my art, photography, and life’s adventures and challenges.

If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do?

I don’t know why this came to my head first but I thought clown. I’m not a big fan of clowns but I do like to make people laugh.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?

I would tell myself to pursue my interests, take risks. I was very practical and played it pretty safe at 18 but I was also somewhat romantic and probably naive. My biggest piece of advice would be to put aside money for retirement and not touch it. I’ve been lucky to have a job with a great pension plan and to own a house in the city. Not everyone is as fortunate and sometimes I think we could have been better prepared.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

My favourite comfort foods are ice-cream and cheese. Not at the same time. When I want something sweet it would be ice-cream and for my savoury moments it has to be cheese.

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 a wonderful birthday week with family and friends. I spent the day with one of my oldest friends at the spa earlier in the week. My good friend L took me to the nail place and she treated me to a pedicure. My aunt and cousin sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, my sisters sent me gifts through the mail, my son called me long distance from the Netherlands, my daughters and I spent time together at the CNE, my husband cooked a magnificent meal for six of us and my dear friends at the cottage prepared a birthday lunch with cake done in the BBQ and gave me a set of beautiful earrings. WOW!

I’m looking forward to using my new Jawbone Up (a gift from my family) to record my fitness and sleeping patterns and learning some new songs on my ukulele from the ukulele book that my sister sent me. I’m also looking forward to going back to school (believe it or not) to catch up with my colleagues and meet my new students. Getting the library up and running is number one on my priority list. I just hope I get some help doing it.

My broken birthday cake. It didn’t travel well on my husband’s bike.

Things That Can’t Be Carried on a Bike

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I follow a blog Urban Simplicity that regularly posts Things That Can Be Carried on a Bike

Well last week we discovered something that definitely doesn’t travel well on a bike. As you may know it was my birthday and my husband was in charge of the meal and the birthday cake.

The meal was a fantastic five course Indian spread that K made completely from scratch. It was fabulous and there was enough left over for another meal for two. The only problem was with the cake. My husband is also a good baker but time ran out so he rode his bike to the local Italian bakery to buy a German Black Forest cake. I know….Indian, Italian, German?

Anyway San Remo makes wonderful birthday cakes and it’s always our go to place when we don’t have time to bake. K didn’t think carrying the cake would be problem because he has a flat carrier on the front of his bike and he was able to strap it in place so it wouldn’t slide around.

I guess the ride must have been a little (or a lot) bumpy because when he got home and opened the box this is what he saw:

As you can see he was a little embarrassed. No need. It was delicious just the same.

Have you experienced anything that CAN’T be carried on a bike?

Share Your World 2014 – Week 33

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….check out Cee’s blog for more posts about Share Your World

Do you believe in ghosts?

I do actually. I strongly believe that a ghost stood by my bed years ago. I woke up and screamed. My poor husband woke up but didn’t see anything. I’ve always felt that the ghost was my mother and that it was a warning to me. Our son who was 19 at the time wanted to travel to Mexico and hitch hike through the country by himself. I begged him not to go and told him about my ghostly visitation. He reluctantly agreed and later confessed to me that he crossed the border for one day and felt very uncomfortable and that my fears were probably somewhat justified.

Irregardless of your physical fitness, coordination or agility: If you could play any sport professionally what would it be? Or if you can’t picture yourself playing sports, what is your favorite sport?

If I were to play a team sport it would be volleyball. I’ve always loved the game. I don’t even know if there are professional volleyball teams. If not I’d choose baseball. If I were to compete in an individual sport it would be rowing. When I turned 50 I joined a group of women and learned how to row in the 8 man boats and then the 4 man. I loved it.

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?

Even has I get older I prefer my hair on the longer side. I’ve worn it really short and very long and I like it somewhere in the middle. The notion that long hair makes you look older doesn’t hold true for everyone. I have an oval face that lends itself to lots of different styles but when I look back at my photos of myself I like the medium length cuts best.

If you were on an small island, who would you want to be with? And where is it? How big is it?

If I were on a small island I would want to be with my husband. It would have to be somewhere warm and with lots of resources to build a shelter, make fire and of course have drinking water. The size of the island wouldn’t matter as long as it had interesting places to walk and explore. How long are we staying on this island, anyway? Is it inhabited or not? I may have to rethink these answers.

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

I am grateful for a wonderful weekend with my husband. We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate we ignored the rain and enjoyed each other’s company (check here).

This week I’m looking forward to no more doctor’s appointments for awhile and going back up to the cottage with our daughter A and her partner J. This may be the last time I go up before school starts. I haven’t decided if I’m going up for the long weekend. If I do it will be for only a day or two to partially close the cottage. Every year I say I’m going up in the fall and then I don’t until it’s time to close it up for the winter. Maybe this year will be different.