Category Archives: Celebrations

My Twin Babies Turned 32 Yesterday

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….a hectic but fun day

The day started early with a visit to Sherway Mall to look for a winter parka for Az and a birthday present for my son. I had already purchased his sister’s present long before Christmas but we didn’t know what B needed or wanted so I waited until his arrival to Canada to find out.

It turns out that B really needed new shoes. It was his lucky day. Between his fiancé, Az and me, he ended up with three new pairs of shoes, 2 casual and one dressy. We also found a warm and stylish winter parka for Az, which will come in very handy when they go to Montreal later this week. It’s always colder in Montreal.

After our shopping spree we headed to Costco for gas and groceries. Az wanted to prepare an Iranian feast for us and what better time than for a birthday celebration. We were expecting 10 people for dinner and even though they had picked up a load of groceries at the Iranian grocery store (who knew) we still still needed a few extra items to round out the meal. One of the things we bought was a birthday cheesecake for B and G. I know that’s not very Iranian but it’s a bit of a birthday tradition in our house. Turns out that more desserts were brought by others and I have a lot of cake left over.

The girls hard at work.

The girls hard at work.

Once we got home Az and our daughter, G started to cook and cook and cook. When Az told me that 1 kg of rice wasn’t enough, I was shocked so when I picked up our other daughter, A, her partner J and our son-in-law we made another stop at a store to purchase more basmati.

The green olives were the best I've ever eaten. They were purchased at the Iranian market. The marinade included ground walnuts and it became a great dipping sauce as well.

The green olives were the best I’ve ever eaten. They were purchased at the Iranian market. The marinade included ground walnuts and it became a great dipping sauce as well.

When all the guests arrived the place was buzzing with activity. I noticed that Az was not happy with one of her dished and was quite upset. I tasted it and I thought it tasted wonderful. I passed it around to a few more guests to sample and they all agreed that she needed to serve it. Ignorance is bliss. It really did taste devine but I’m sure if it had turned out the way she wanted it would have been better but we didn’t have anything to compare it to. The whole meal was an explosion of taste in the mouth. I’m sure I could never recreate it on my own but our daughter G has a little more experience and hopefully I don’t have to wait for another visit from B and Az before we can experience this meal again.

Of course there was way too much food, especially desserts. My husband is hoping we don’t have to go grocery shopping for awhile. My fridge is jam packed with leftovers and the cheesecake is sitting outside in a cooler bag on the deck where it is frozen solid.

Thank goodness there aren’t anymore major birthdays now until the summer. My waistline can’t afford more days like this.

Cheers!

Things I’m Grateful for in 2013

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….despite a few ups and downs we’ve been blessed this year

Health

My husband continues to be ‘cancer’ free. His scans have been positive and for the most part is blood work is good. He’s suffered from shingles again but he’s on the mend and we’re waiting hear about surgery for his thyroid in the New Year.P1030973

I’ve been healthy this year. My weight goes up and down but I’m still more down than up and all my tests have come back with good news. Even my eyesight has improved to the point where I don’t need to wear glasses for driving anymore. I ran another 5k this year and I improved on my time from the year before.

My father has fully recovered from his fall this summer and is back to his daily walks with the dog.IMG_0066

Family

We visited with my husband’s family in Ireland this summer and met up with our son who we hadn’t seen in a year and a half. We also met his girlfriend for the first time.

This Christmas all my children and their significant others, including our son and his girlfriend spent Christmas Eve with us. On Christmas Day it snowed some more so Az truly experienced a white Christmas.IMG_0041

My sister in Chatham has been preparing for her wedding in January and we convinced my father to attend the wedding. We booked and paid for his train ticket and we will be going with him the day before the big event.

My brother-in-law surprised my sister in Calgary, on her birthday (Christmas Day) with a visit from her two sisters (me and C from Chatham) this coming March. He’s paid for our plane fares and is planning some more surprises when we get there. This is as much a surprise and treat for the two of us as well.

The biggest surprise happened Christmas night when my son announced that he proposed to his girlfriend, Az. My husband and I were the first to be told the joyous news but the phone calls to Iran, the U.S. and the sisters in Toronto soon followed.P1030978

Avoiding Disaster

This summer Toronto experienced an overwhelming amount of rain and thousands of homes were flooded. We, luckily, stayed dry and weren’t inconvenienced. This past week we were hammered with ice and again we were safe and warm and not in the dark. Thousands of homes around us (literally over 250 000) were affected with power outages and temperatures well below freezing. For many families the power still hadn’t come back on for Christmas. As of today there are still over 35 000 families without power (one whole week).

Doing a Job That I Love

Even though I could have retired almost two years ago, I continue to teach because I love it. I love the kids, I love what I teach and I love the people I work with. My colleagues and many members of the community have been so supportive and caring. They are like a second family. Thank you all for making coming to work a joy.

Friends, Old and New

This year I’ve continued to stay connected to old friends from high school and I’m ever grateful for all of my friends. It takes effort to stay in touch when you move or change jobs but it’s worth it. Thank you for all the dinners, movies, canoe trips, concerts, walks, yoga classes and long talks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

My Blogging Friends

I couldn’t possibly mention all the people that follow me but I am most appreciative of those that take the time to write to me on a regular basis. I love hearing from you and the encouragement you give me to keep doing what I’m doing. When I started on this journey I had no idea where it would take me or how long it would last. It’s been almost two years and I don’t see stopping anytime soon. Thank you Mark, Viveka, Leanne, Mary, Beth, Dorothy, Rosemarie, Paul, Ann, Anne, Lee and Baz. I’m sure I’ve one or two of you but please be assured that your comments are always appreciated.

Happy New Year everyone! All the best in 2014.

My Favourite Decorations

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…..homemade are always the best and then those that have been lovingly gifted by a special friend

As I decorated my tree this year, I discovered that I was more particular as to what went on the tree. One of the reasons for cutting back on the decorations had to do with the size of the tree. Every year for the last few years I’ve been down sizing when it comes to choosing my tree. I used to look for one that was tall and full but in my little house that really didn’t make much sense and as the family has grown to include significant others space has become an issue. This Christmas Eve we had 11 adults over and when it came time to open presents the living room was jam packed with bodies.

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I digress, however, so back to the topic that I started with. Decorations. As a child I used to love the glass ornaments that my mother brought with us from Germany. They were brightly painted and very delicate and more than once I remember breaking one or two because I chose to play with them when they should have been left undisturbed on the tree. Some of them were in the shape of instruments and actually played a tuned when you blew into them. Oh how tempting for a six year old to remove them from the tree and try them out. Sadly all these beautiful ornaments have disappeared over the years.

When I married I started to collect ornaments for my own tree. Over the years my friend AB gifted us unusual and beautiful ornaments to adorn our tree and in my crafty days I made numerous objects to hang on the tree. One of the simplest ornaments that I made was a walnut sprayed with gold paint and adorned with a red bow. I’ve had a box of these for over 20 years.IMG_0009 When my oldest daughter left the nest she also started to make ornaments for the tree. Her choice of medium is felt and she has created some very unusual pieces, including a human heart (she’s a medical illustrator by profession). One of the first ornaments that she gave us was a cute felt squirrel because she knows how much my husband loves (NOT) those pesky little rodents.IMG_0005

 

 

 

 

 

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Over the years my collection has grown partly because of my friend, AB who I have known for over 35 years. She has made it a tradition to give me ornaments every year. I’ve received little fans, wooden angels, apples, and numerous other glittery and mostly red ornaments.

I’ve met some very talented people over the years. One of them is a neighbour who used to paint beautiful characters onto fabric and then sew around the painting and stuff them. They were small enough to be hung on a tree and I have saved and cherished her work for many years. Another neighbour and good friend has a sister who also used to sell her handiwork and one of her Santas has become one of my favourites.P1040004 P1030998

 

As my collection grew I started to give away some of my ornaments to my children, especially ones that I made.  It’s nice to know that they have good homes and maybe some day will be passed on to other generations. One can only hope.

Hope all of you had as happy a Christmas as I did. The celebrations continue at our house.  Boxing Day with my father, a trip to Niagara Falls, and a birthday celebration for our twins (going on 32). New Year’s Eve will probably be quiet but you never know.

Cheers!

Can Barely Keep My Eyes Open

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……last day of school before the holidays

Today, Thursday, was our last day of school. Normally we go till Friday but the government wants to save some money so they made Friday an unpaid PD day. Now most teachers were happy to be off one day early but today when our pay checks arrived we received an unwelcome surprise. Our net pay reflected the day off that we haven’t even taken yet. Ughhhh!!!!!!! Why our board couldn’t spread it out over the year is beyond me. The difference was significant. The timing couldn’t be worse.

That aside, the atmosphere at school was electric today. The kids were crazy and the teachers were barely hanging in there. Last night we had our staff party and even though most of us didn’t stay late some of us went out shopping after we left the party. The party by the way was one of the best in all my years at this school. It was exceptionally well attended and everyone had a great time. Lots of laughter, fun and games, good food and great company.

When I got home, after doing last minute shopping for my library helpers and the support staff at school, I stayed up to wrap the gifts. I think I went to bed after 1:00 am. This morning we had an assembly, where we recognized outstanding students for the month of December, listened and watched some outstanding student talent and sang a few Carols. There wasn’t a lot of teaching going on in the morning or in the afternoon for that matter. I did have an art class in the afternoon and one library class.

At the end of the day, I stayed in the library for awhile to clean-up and organize some of my art supplies and my library office. I didn’t leave till after 4:30 but it felt good to leave my space tidy and organized. When I got home I checked my emails and my husband heated up some soup for dinner. It’s not even 8:30 and I’m already falling asleep at the computer. I have a feeling it’s going to be an early night for me. I’ll need all the rest I can get. Even though I’ve done a lot of my shopping, I now need to spend some time on my house to get it ready for my son and his girlfriend and for family and friends who will be here for Christmas Eve.

Good night!

Cheers!

Dinner With Life Long Friends

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…..not my oldest friends but friends for the rest of my life

Many years ago, a group of us worked together at the same school. After eight years, one by one, members of our group started to venture out and took positions at other schools. Our friendship, however, was so special that we never let separation from the work place interfere with our special bond. Eventually all of us left the school where we first met each other. We decided that we needed to get together on a regular basis so for the last 17 years we’ve come together for dinner several times a year. We’ve also made trips to Bala for the Cranberry festival, attended gala fundraising dinners and gone to concerts.

One of our favourite evenings happens just before Christmas when our good friend L hosts our special Christmas dinner where she does all the cooking. Such a lovely treat. Our friend K, also celebrates her birthday at the same time so we have two reasons to get together.

L and her mom spend days setting the table, decorating the living room and prepping the food for this special dinner.P1030903 P1030919 P1030917 P1030913 P1030911 P1030910 P1030909 P1030906 L does most of the cooking but her mom makes the desserts, usually a traditional English trifle made completely from scratch. Everything is fresh and beautifully made and healthy.

Dinner consisted of grilled tomatoes, roasted beets, green beans, steamed spinach, and roasted chicken. Colourful and delicious!

P1030899 P1030900 P1030904 P1030920   Of course the best part of dinner was spending time with good friends and getting caught up on the news in everyone’s life. Our friend C was given a cute fascinator from the the One of a Kind Show that she showed off at dinner and L insisted that we wear the paper hats from our Christmas crackers. P1030927P1030924 P1030930 P1030931 P1030932

Before the evening ended we arranged to meet again in a week for dessert at C’s place so that we could see her new renovation. The parties never seem to end.

Cheers!

The Christmas Spirit at School

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….what a perfect topic for my 500th post

For weeks the boys and girls in the junior choir have been learning and fine tuning the songs that they performed at last night’s concert. For several years now the choir has paired up with a local men’s choir, The Queensmen, at Christmas time to put on a joint concert. One of their favourite songs is Santa Fever and this year and last year the Dads or a significant male figure in the children’s lives were invited to join the choir for this show stopper tune. This year “Santa” joined in on the fun. The concert was one of the best I’ve ever experienced with this choir.

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The next day most of the girls from the basketball team arrived for the early morning practice. The girls have learned so much and are really starting to apply what they’ve learned to their game. It’s a joy watching them play. They’re having so much fun.

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Tomorrow is Craft Night at our school. The kids and the parents love this evening. All the teachers pair up and come up with a craft that families can work on together and complete in about 15 minutes. Every year there’s a different theme. This year the committee decided on Winter Wonderland.

Each teacher is given enough money from the parent council so that about 50 to 100 projects can be produced in each class. Most families can complete about 4 crafts in one evening. I’ve paired up with my friend L and we’re making wire stars with a snowflake garland. For a while we couldn’t find the garland so we came up with a few other options, like creating a beaded garland or using gold wire to embellish the star.

All week I’ve been cutting wire, making samples, measuring out the garlands and bagging the materials into individual baggies. I was exhausted after putting together about 60 kits. Tomorrow when I’m at the basketball game, L will take over and complete the remaining 40 kits and cutting 60 more wires.

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Weekly Writing Challenge: Multimedia Storytelling

Planting Tulips in December

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….temperatures warmed up enough to get a shovel in the ground

Sunday, December 1st…the first advent of the Christmas season and I’m in the garden planting tulip bulbs. About three weeks ago a parent at school kindly gifted me 40 tulip bulbs and advised me to plant them that weekend. I told her I had problems with squirrels digging up all my bulbs in the past so she also brought me a small bag of hen poop. Apparently they don’t like the smell. We’ll see.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the bulbs in the ground when the weather was warmer and the soil was still soft. Life just got in the way. Last weekend when I had some time I pulled out the trowel and almost broke it when I tried to turn the soil. It was so cold that the ground was frozen solid. Winter had arrived early.

This past weekend we were having the kids over for our annual pre-Christmas goulash and mulled wine party. I wanted to start decorating the house to get in the festive mood so I pulled out the outdoor lights. After testing each string and hauling the ladder out from the garage I started to drape the yew in front of the house. I noticed that the ground was pretty muddy so I decided to take advantage of the conditions and get my bulbs into the ground.

So there I stood in the drizzling rain, bent over and digging holes in the garden. My neighbours must have thought that I was crazy.P1030767 Once all the bulbs were in the ground I continued to decorate the tree with the outdoor lights. It was still raining as I was literally tossing the strings over the branches. I made several trips into the house and I noticed that I was tracking in a lot of mud.

With only a couple of hours left before the kids arrived I got out the pail and mop and washed the floors, cleaned the mud from my shoes and set the table for our meal. I then drove up to the liquor store to buy the wine for our mulled wine or gluewine as we call it. My husband was in charge of making the goulash.

When the kids arrived we enjoyed some appetizers and cups of mulled wine while the spaetzle cooked. I underestimated the amount of  German noodles that I needed to cook but there was more than enough of the goulash to go around. Everything was delicious. After dinner our son-in-law brought out the board game we bought him for his birthday and we all learned how to play Small World: Underworld from Days of Wonder. When the rules were being explained to us I really didn’t think I’d get the hang of it but once we started to play I was on a roll. In the end I tied for second place. My son-in-law, the game board master, was impressed with my standing.

Less than three weeks of school left before we’re off for the holidays. The Hundertwasser projects are coming along nicely and hopefully I’ll be able to post some of the finished projects in the next day or so. I’d better get off to bed. I have to get up early for more basketball practises. We play in the semi-finals next week. Till later.

Cheers!

Christmas Shopping On-Line

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…..easy if you know what you want and don’t go for the first link

More and more I’ve been shopping on-line for Christmas presents. One of the reasons is that my adult children post everything they would like on-line with links as to where one can purchase the items. It really makes it easy but I have discovered a few glitches along the way.

First of all, when you’re ordering from Canada the free shipping claim is often null and void. By the time you pay the shipping you’re not saving very much money, if any. This is true for Amazon. com. The shipping charge was more than $16.00 for one item and the Canadian taxes hadn’t been added either. When I went to Amazon.ca the same item was initially a little bit more expensive but even with taxes in and no shipping charge the final price was cheaper than the American price. So Canadians beware.

Amazon.com  and Amazon.ca are offering free shipping for a month on all items but after that you will be charged a $79.00 fee for the rest of the year. Personally I rarely shop on-line after Christmas so it doesn’t make sense to sign up for the free offer. If you’re willing to wait a few extra days for delivery you can get free shipping anyway. The lesson here is to read the small print.

If you use Paypal you can get a 5% discount back on all your purchases that you make for the next little while. I think its just from now until the first week in December but every little bit helps. I wish I could use Paypal for all my on-line purchases.

This year we used Elfster to organize our gift exchange. It’s been fun and it’s forced me to think about what I would really like for Christmas. At first I found it extremely difficult to write down what I wanted. I just couldn’t think of anything that fit within the $100.00 limit. I never have problems knowing what I’d like when I actually go shopping but the reality is that I probably don’t NEED anything. I did, however, come up with several items. Once I started I was on a roll and before I knew it I had nine items on my list. Some of them are over the limit but my husband doesn’t have to stick to the limit. The gift exchange doesn’t include significant others. I’m still responsible for getting my husband gifts and vice versa.

The best part of on-line shopping is having the parcels arrive at the door in a few days. It’s like Christmas opening the parcels, even though you know they’re for someone else. I think there’s some truth in the saying ‘It’s better to give than to receive’.

Cheers!

P.S. We’re finally having our gift exchange party tomorrow, even though we all know who we’re buying presents for. My husband is starting to feel better as he recovers from his shingles and is finally up to preparing his Gluewein and Goulash dinner.