Too Tired to Draw or Write

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….falling asleep in front of the laptop

I was hoping to draw some more faces but I’m so tired that I am literally dozing off in my chair in front of the computer. So it’s off to bed for me and it’s only 10:00. I have to get up early tomorrow anyway for another basketball practice. The boys won their last game so they’re moving on to the next round on Wednesday.

Today I took 35 boys to a choir competition. I wasn’t slated to go but one of the adults supervisors was away so I volunteered to help out at the last minute. I rescheduled some of my classes and spent a couple of hours listening to the angelic voices of nine and ten year old boys. This was the first year that L entered a boys’ choir and they managed to secure a second place standing with a “gold” designation. Bravo boys!

Good Night! Maybe I’ll have more energy tomorrow for drawing and writing. Sweet dreams!

From Zero to Hero – Day 8

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Mama Cormier

DAY 8: MAKE YOUR “ABOUT” PAGE IRRESISTIBLE

I have to admit that it’s been awhile since I’ve updated my About page. When I saw today’s assignment I thought “why not?’.

The first week back at school has been a tough one. Everyone is exhausted. It’s been extraordinarily long and I thought Friday would never come. Today I went out for recess duty when it wasn’t my turn. I simply forgot that I had a made a change with one of my colleagues weeks ago. I went back inside because I did have a scheduled duty later in the afternoon.

I started my day with a 7:45 basketball tryout session with 32 grade 4 and 5 boys and I ended the day staying late, trying to figure out how to open up the report card system so that teachers could start recording their marks and comments. Normally it’s a pretty straight forward procedure but we had a few changes in staff recently and we had to call the help desk for some assistance. Of course the help desk was very busy as well so there was some waiting on the phone before we could talk to someone. Our problem wasn’t as easy to resolve as one might think but after a half hour on the phone, some running back and forth and paging a few staff members most of the glitches were fixed and one last problem, we were assured, would be resolved by the morning.

I have to admit that I am extraordinarily tired today. After cleaning up after dinner I have no energy for any extra jobs today, although I did pack up one more box of Christmas stuff. I got a little bit of exercise on yard duty today. I don’t like just standing around so I walk for the full 15 minutes when I’m outside, especially when it’s cold.

Check out my ‘new and improved’ About page.

Cheers!

The Christmas Spirit at School

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….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.

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.

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.

: Individual bags of wire, beads and ribbon

: The frames used to wrap the wire into stars

: A close-up of the nails

: The beads and snowflake garland

: Star with gold wire and glass beads

: Star with snowflake garland

: Star with coloured beads

: Star wrapped in gold wire

Weekly Writing Challenge: Multimedia Storytelling

Planting Tulips in December

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….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. 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!

Basketball All Day Long

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..starting at 7:45 and ending at 2:15

The girls all arrived on time for our last practice before the tournament today.

Practice was grim. Everything we taught the girls seemed to go out the window this morning. The adults in the crowd just shook their heads.

After our 30 minute warm-up, the girls put on their numbered jerseys, grabbed their coats, snacks, water and lunches and boarded one of two cars that transported them to our destination.

The school that hosted the tournament only had one gym which also doubles as the school lunchroom. Ten games, back to back, were scheduled for the day with 45 minutes off for lunch. We knew we were in trouble when our first game was delayed by 40 minutes. Luckily for us it didn’t affect the outcome of the game. The girls looked good and played well. They won with a score of 28 to 8.

We then had to sit out and watch two games before our next match. The delay with the first game threw the schedule off considerably so when it was our turn to play again the school lunch hour was about to begin and all the teams had to go to the library and wait until the lunch hour was over. Unfortunately that meant we had to play two games back to back with no break in-between.

We looked at rearranging the schedule but nothing worked so we agreed to shorten each half to 10 minutes and follow the schedule as it was originally set up. Our next game was against the school that we knew would give us our biggest challenge. It started out okay but as soon as the other team started to pull ahead the girls fell apart and we lost by a considerable margin.

Luckily the next two games went in our favour. In the end we finished close to the time that was originally scheduled and we won three out of our four games. We had to leave before the other teams finished playing but I’m pretty sure we came in second place. Not bad after the sorry practice we had in the morning.

No one was sure how many teams move on to the semi-finals but if it is only the first place team then we’re done for the season. I should know by tomorrow or on Monday at the latest.

The one good thing about coaching girls is that if they lose they always see the bright side. They didn’t focus on the one game they lost, rather they were proud of the three that they won. They were so eager that they were prepared to come to another practice tomorrow morning without even knowing if they move on or not. I needed a break so I begged them not to come tomorrow morning.

Thanks to the parents for their support and my fellow coaches for coming out to all the morning practices. One of my colleagues helped me with the coaching and two student teachers volunteered their time. It was great having so much help and input from these wonderful people. A special thanks to Mr. S who accompanied us to the game today and gave the girls a lot of moral support and great advice during the games. I loved his running commentary throughout the matches. He kept me smiling all day long.

Cheers!

Sports, Shingles, Supper and Shopping

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..my week so far

Basketball

Last week, after a flurry of tryouts, we chose the girls’ basketball team. We had to go from 40 girls to 12 when choosing the team. Every morning since we’ve had early morning practices starting at 7:45. Tomorrow is the tournament. Yikes! I know that the season has been short but we literally didn’t get any information about the season until people started to ask when and where the teams would play. My friend, L swears that we’re going to win but I know for a fact that some schools have been practising for over a month compared to our seven days. Anyway wish us luck. If we win, however, it means more early morning practises and another tournament.

Shingles

No, not the ones on my roof. I’m talking about the painful kind that affects adults who’ve had chicken pox when they were children and no, I’m not the one who is suffering with it. Shingles is an infection of a band of nerves and results in a rash along that band. The pain can be moderate or severe. In my husband’s case, unfortunately his pain is severe and feels like stabbing pains under the skin. This is my husband’s second bout with this horrible infection. He’s on some antiviral medication that should help with the healing process but he’s already at day 10 and only today is he starting to feel somewhat better. There is a shot to prevent shingles but it costs about $200. for one dose. If K could take it, he says he’d pay $1000.00 to be pain free but because his immune system was compromised by his cancer he doesn’t qualify for the treatment. If you want more information about shingles click here.

Supper

My brother-in-law from Calgary called on Sunday and told us he was going to be in town on Tuesday on business. He wanted to get together and grab some dinner before he checked into his hotel. Not knowing how well K would be feeling we left it open as to where we would dine. I also didn’t know if I’d be having dinner because I already had made plans to have dinner downtown with a group of friends from work.

It turned out that my dinner was cancelled so when I got home I was able to join them. GS literally arrived a few minutes after I walked through the door and at that moment in time K wasn’t feeling too bad. So we got back into my car and drove over to the Junction to catch up with what was going on in GS’s life while we enjoyed a light dinner at the Indie Ale House. The evening went well but I could see that K was starting to fade so we had to call it an early night. I sure hope these shingles are gone before Christmas.

Shopping

Now I know that I told you that I didn’t need to shop for a long time but I can’t resist a great sale and I mean great. The doors were only open to family and friends and as a friend I couldn’t turn around and invite some of my friends. I did, however, buy some great gifts for my family and, well, I just couldn’t pass up a good deal, I picked up a few things for myself. How can you say no to $100. sweaters for $15. 00 and designer blue jeans for $15.00.

Tune in tomorrow to see how we performed at the tournament.

Cheers!

An Emotional and Fruitful Week

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..said goodbye to a good friend and colleague today and packed up a very profitable book fair

The week started with emergency surgery for Lucy, five more days of book fair, an all day workshop on Tuesday, report cards, Halloween, and ended with an assembly and tearing down the book fair. There was so much going on that no one had time to think about CR leaving us and moving to Portland, Oregon.

When she did come by after school today to say a personal goodbye I was stunned and unprepared, even though we had taken her out for dinner the week before and presented her with a farewell gift.

Eight years ago I sat in on the interview for a new grade 5 French teacher. I was so glad that CR accepted the position. She was young and inexperienced but her French was good. She fit in immediately and the students, staff and community loved her. It turns out that she is the same age as my youngest daughter and she had gone to school with my daughter’s best friend. Over the years I saw her blossom and become an amazing teacher. We went on numerous overnight field trips, and coached soccer and Girls on the Run together. She’ll tell you that she learned a lot from me but I learned as much from her.

I didn’t know how difficult it would be to say good-bye. Even as I write this my eyes are starting to well up. I will miss you Claire.

As I said earlier, the book fair was extremely successful. We surpassed our goal and the library and school will receive 70% of the sales in product from the book company. I thought it was originally 60% but because we booked early we received an additional 10%. I pulled books for all the teachers to use in their classrooms and had my library helpers deliver them after school. I just hope that I didn’t miss anyone.

I’m looking forward to the weekend. I have to proofread some report cards but other than that I’m free to enjoy my neighbours annual turkey dinner on Saturday. My daughter and her husband will be returning from their cruise vacation on Sunday and will pick up Lucy from our place. I’m hoping to finish reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and if the weather holds out I should start putting the garden to bed for the winter. At least I can put the patio furniture into storage until next year.

As my friend P says, “Keep it fun!”

Cheers!

Hooray for the Weekend

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….my week at a glance

I can’t believe that 5 weeks of school have already passed. I’ve already been on a three day trip to the outdoor education centre with the grade 5s. We’ve had a community BBQ, curriculum night, our first school council meeting, and Terry Fox Run. Our cross country team has been out running for the last five weeks and on Monday 120 students are going to the first of three meets. The girls’ and boys’ slo pitch teams and flag football teams have been practising for at least three weeks and the primary and junior choirs have been singing up a storm getting ready for the Remembrance Day concert in November.

On Monday of this week I went with the grade 4 and 5 students to the McMichael Art Gallery where we toured the gallery for half the day and saw work from the Group of Seven, Norval Morrisseau, Inuit artists and Edward Burtinsky. In the second half of the day the students were engaged in a hands on watercolour painting session. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera but one of the mom’s took lots of pictures. Hopefully I can share a few in a future post.

On Tuesday we had our first Future Ace assembly where we honour students who have demonstrated outstanding character traits, such as kindness, respect or sportsmanship. It was also the launch of the school magazine drive which raises money through the sale of magazine subscriptions. After school I made a trip to Arts Junction but left with very little in the way of art supplies but I did buy my husband his birthday present on my way home.

On Wednesday I taught two double periods of art to two of my grade 3 classes. I’m starting to feel better about their Norval Morrisseau style paintings. Last week I lamented how some of them weren’t getting the concept. I made a sample for the children to model from and I’m pleased to announce that they’re starting to understand the concept of ‘x-ray paintings’. This lesson from Kinder Art helped put the lesson into a perspective that the students could understand.

Here are a few of the paintings that are starting to show some promise:

After school on Wednesday my husband and I celebrated his birthday. Thursday was uneventful and today we started the day with a special breakfast to celebrate World Teachers’ Day. The shirts for the cross country meet arrived today and B and I opened up the report card program on the computer for the teachers so that they could start preparing for the progress reports which are due in three weeks.

This weekend I hope to get the farmers’ market again. We’ve been invited to a surprise birthday party on Saturday and on Sunday the family is getting together to celebrate K’s birthday. Hooray for weekends!

Back to Running and Back to Work

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….running is like riding a bike, once you start again it’s like you never stopped

On Sunday I started running again. I didn’t plan on it, it just happened.

My husband, Frances and I started on our usual morning walk but we barely left the house when my husband started to run. Frances kept putting on the brakes when she didn’t sense that I was right behind her so I started to run as well. And I kept running and running and didn’t stop until I hit the 4k mark.

We stopped at the Tim Horton’s in the park, where I bought a small coffee, asked for a cup of water and used the restroom. K wanted to run some more so I agreed to take the dog and the two of us walked the remaining 2k home. I was amazed that I was able to run so far after not running for about two months.

Today we started with a walk and started running at the entrance to Col. Sam Smith Park. Again, once I started running, it felt so natural and comfortable that I continued to run until we reached the point, turned around and ran all the way home. Another 4k of running and 1k of walking.

If someone had told me 18 months ago that I would become a runner I would have scoffed at them. I remember trying to run with my husband when I was in my 20s and put my back out. I was about 50 pounds lighter than I am now and I just couldn’t get into it. So why is it easier now? Shouldn’t it be harder? After all I’m 30 some years older and heavier.

I think the difference is that this time I started out slowly. Literally, I started with only running 50 metres on the first day and then going 100 metres the next. Slowly I added more distance and as the weight came off it became easier. The other difference is that I had a goal. I was coaching young girls to run and we were all training to do a 5k run. My goal was to finish the race and try to run half of it and walk the rest.

My first 5k wasn’t pretty but I did finish. I was exhausted, emotional and anxious about my health, all at the same time. When I realized that I wasn’t going to die from running, I continued to run periodically for the rest of that summer and in the fall I ran with the cross country team. It got easier and easier. During the winter, when running became too difficult my husband and I walked regularly in the evenings despite the cold and the record breaking amounts of snow that we encountered last winter.

I agreed to coach the girls at school again this spring and we worked toward completing another 5k race. This time I wanted to run the entire race without stopping and in under 45 minutes. It turned out to be a very warm day and I needed to stop 3 times, once for water and then again a couple of times to re-energize. Each time I walked I went for about 100 metres and then started to run again. I finished in 47 minutes and ran most of the 5k.

My plan was to run over the summer but for some reason it just didn’t happen. I did a lot of walking, especially when we were in Ireland and we continued to walk when I was in the city but for some reason when I went to the cottage I didn’t run at all and some days I didn’t walk very far either. As some of you know, we’ve had bears inhabit our island this year and even though I’ve never seen them I do know people who have. My biggest phobia in life is meeting up with a bear. I don’t know where that comes from because I’ve never had an encounter with a bear but I think the possibility of meeting a bear in the woods or on the beach kept me from wandering too far from the cottage.

This fall my goal is to run with the cross country team again and I think it’s time to search out another 5k race this fall. I started back to work today but I got in that run before I left for school. Next week it won’t be as easy to do that because I have to be at school earlier but I know in the first week back the gym teacher will start recruiting the students for this years cross country team. I’ll be right there with them at 7:45 every morning.

Girls on the Run 5k

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….today was the day

I woke up early, 6:07 to be exact. I put on my running clothes and made my way downstairs to make coffee. I checked my emails as I enjoyed my Crema and protein bar. It was lovely and quiet in the house, just what I needed before heading out to meet my fellow coaches, L and C.

We had decided ahead of time to meet at L’s house and go together in one car. There was very little traffic at 7:30 on a Sunday morning so we made good time getting to the race venue. The race this year was being held at the Vaughn Mills mall. When we got there, there was already a sea of pink t-shirts.

Our school was assigned a flag where our girls had to meet us. We handed out their numbers and safety pins and the moms and dads pitched in pinning the numbers to the fronts of their shirts.

It was great seeing so many parents get involved, not just by being there but also registering for the run so that they could run with their daughters.

There weren’t as many pre-race activities as last year but some of the moms had brought along coloured hair spray so that the girls could have racing stripes put into their hair. Even some of their teachers got into the spirit.

I’m not sure how many times I’m going to have to wash my hair to remove the pink dye. One mom, who’s a hairdresser, said that it might take three or more washes. Hmmmm!!!!!

Two hours after arriving at the mall, the race finally started and about 1000 little girls and their coaches and parents started on the 5k run.

I had set a goal for myself to run the 5k without stopping and try to do it in 45 minutes or less. Last year I think it took me about 55 minutes and I walked at least half of it. It was very warm and humid today. Before I left my husband asked me not to overdo it and to be careful not to get caught up in the excitement of the race. I know that the recent heart attack of a very close friend who lives out west was leaving him feeling a little apprehensive about me running today. I have to admit that the our friend’s heart attack was also in the back of my mind. The attack was a mild one and she’s doing much better but she’s the last person we would ever have suspected of having a heart condition.

I set a very reasonable pace for myself and was able to run the first half without stopping to walk. When I did stop it was at the water station but I started to run again almost immediately. The heat did bother me and I walked a couple more times but never for more than a minute. In the end I finished in a time of 47:27, 2 1/2 minutes slower than I hoped for but this year I felt so much better than I did last year. I didn’t experience those moments of dread like I did last year and I wasn’t as emotional….no tears.

Now that I have an official time I can work on getting that number down. I should plan to do another 5k sometime this summer. It’s good to have a goal.

Time to work on my art piece.

Cheers!