From Zero to Hero – Day 1

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..new goals for January

When I signed up for the Zero to Hero challenge I didn’t realize that it was meant for people just starting out on their blogging journeys. I’ve been blogging for almost two years but when I read the description I thought that I could learn something from this challenge so I signed up.

Our first task is to write about me. Hmmm! What can I say that I haven’t already said. Well I’ll start with the fact that I’m not in my 20s, 30s, 40s, or 50s. I was 59 when I first started blogging and celebrated my 60th birthday and a 30 pound weight loss after documenting my journey for five months. Initially the blog was a platform to record my weight loss, the trials and tribulations of my journey and a way to keep me on the straight and narrow. I thought that if I put it out there for the whole world to see I would remain focused on the goal.

It worked for awhile. I’ve managed to maintain the weight loss but I haven’t been able to lose more. I quickly became interested in many different aspects of blogging. I started to experiment with my camera and loved posting photographs and taking part in photo challenges. I posted some recipes and the blog became a venue to post my art and the art that my students produce.

Occasionally I write about issues that I feel strongly about but I try not to make my blog too political, even though I’m very political and have been involved in numerous election campaigns, working on behalf of other people. This blog has also become a venue to record everyday and special events in my family. I have a son who lives overseas and a sister who lives across the country and I know that they check out my blog to see what I’m up to.

I’m learning so much through blogging and reading other people’s blogs. I’ve tried numerous recipes that have become favourites in our house. I’ve learned how to recycle old clothes and make them into new articles of clothing. I’ve been inspired by other people’s successes with weight loss and running. In the last 18 months I’ve run two 5k races, something I could never have imagined just 2 years ago. I started taking photographs and experimenting with different settings and posting my results. I’ve become a huge fan of the macro setting on my little camera. I just received a new iPhone for Christmas and I’m told I’ll never go back to my camera. I doubt that unless I can figure out how to take macro shots with it.

What do I hope to achieve by following this challenge? To be honest with you, I haven’t been moving very much in the last couple of months (partly due to the fact that I’m on this computer so much) and I never seem to get to things around the house that need to be done (also partly due to being on this computer so much). So I was hoping that my Zero to Hero challenge for the month of January would be to get out and move everyday. I love to walk so my main activity would be walking but it could take on the form of yoga or going back to the gym (I still have a membership that is woefully underused). By the end of the month I hope to be back in form to start running again.

I never seem to find time to do the extras around this house, like reorganizing cupboards, purging closets of old clothes, painting my bedroom, reading (except when I’m under pressure to get a book read for discussion), and working on my painting and drawing skills. Yesterday I made a list of things that I hope to get done. My goal is to work on one small ‘extra’ job everyday. By the end of January I hope this will become a habit and I can start feeling better about my environment. When I’m away I’m going to bring books and sketch books with me and take some time to work on my hobbies.

Day 1

I actually started walking again yesterday. It was cold but I managed to walk 4k with the dog. Today, however, was another story. Both my husband and I bundled up and started on our walk with Frances (our dog). We could tell that this would be a challenge today. With the wind chill factor we were facing -30 celsius temperatures and the wind coming off the lake was pretty strong. The waves were high and because the water temperature was warmer than the air today a fog settled over the entire lake. The city skyline was completely non-existent today.

Half way through the walk I had to readjust my scarf to cover my mouth and nose but in doing that my glasses fogged over and I couldn’t see where I was going. After about 1k into the walk we decided to turn around and come home. It was just too cold today.

When I got home I decided to tackle cleaning out the refrigerator. We’ve had so much company over the holidays and prepared so many meals that we lost track of what we actually had in the fridge. When new items were bought some of the older items were pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten about. Needless to say I found some pretty unsavoury and unrecognizable food items at the back of this ice box. After a couple of hours of throwing out spoiled or expired food items, washing out shelves and reorganizing the shelves I felt elated to have completed one task on my list.

One day down and 29 to go.

Cheers!

Daily Prompt: Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Mama Cormier

Imagine, in great detail, an invention that could help reverse pollution — describe for us how your invention works and how it will help save the planet.

The inventions are already out there and the technology to make them happen also exists. Pollution is reversible. We can see it in our own backyards.

Twenty years ago, one could not swim in Lake Ontario because of the pollution. Today more and more beaches are once again open to the public for safe swimming in the summer. I think the beaches are probably even cleaner now than they were when I was a little girl in the 1950s. I remember the water being brown and filled with algae and seaweed.

Twenty years ago you couldn’t eat the fish from Lake Ontario because of the high mercury levels in the fish. Today fish from the lake is once again edible.

Twenty years ago air pollution from coal burning plants choked many European cities. Today harmful emissions have been greatly reduced and air quality has improved.

Twenty years ago many lakes in northern Ontario and other communities across Canada were suffering the affects of acid rain. Today these same lakes and bodies of water are coming back to life and supporting new growth of plants and fish populations are returning.

Does all of this mean that all is well on this Earth and that no more can be done? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. The good fight needs to continue. Many developing countries in the world continue to produce unacceptable levels of pollution that ultimately affects the entire world. Even the super powers need to do a better job.

So is there an invention that can put a stop to pollution or reverse it significantly? Like I said earlier, the inventions are already there. What we need now is the will and financing to make those changes and implement the technology that already exists. What we need are politicians and bureaucrats that are willing to take a leap of faith and make these things happen. It requires money to get these things off the ground. Fossil fuels are cheap but they won’t last forever and renewable energy is costly to start but once it’s in place and running the benefits will far outweigh the initial cost.

Wind Power-courtesy of Twin Wind Power. com

What we need is a machine that can reverse ‘conservative’ thinking and thinkers. A machine that will make each and everyone of us to see the benefits of reducing carbon emissions into our atmosphere. A machine that convinces our politicians and naysayers that developing renewable energy sources is the way to go to producing a cleaner and healthier world.

In the meantime we can continue to do what we’ve started and build on our individual efforts. Recycle, reuse and reduce. It sounds so simple but it’s a start and it’s something that each and everyone of us can do to make a difference.

One thing that my husband and I do, when possible, is get on our bikes to do our grocery shopping instead of using the car.

This post was inspired by Daily Prompt: Necessity is the Mother of Invention

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

Daily Prompt: Learning Styles

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Mama Cormier

Results from a teachers’ hands-on workshop.

What’s your learning style? Do you prefer learning in a group and in an interactive setting? Or one-on-one? Do you retain information best through lectures, or visuals, or simply by reading books?

I learn best through visuals and hands on activities. Long before I learned about different learning styles, I knew that I needed to be shown how to do something or at least have a visual that explained the process.

Many years ago my parents invested in knitting machines to be sold in their wool and fabric store. They asked me to learn how to use the machines so that I could give demonstrations to some of their customers. They handed me a cassette tape. I just laughed. Even then I knew that I couldn’t learn how to operate this piece of machinery by simply listening to a tape. My middle sister, however, jumped at the chance and became very proficient with the machines. She was also a lot better at learning languages than I was. My friend, L, teaches children to memorize words to songs by simply making them repeat the words. I’ve tried but I need that piece of paper in front of me to help me with the process.

Over the years I’ve learned to use a variety of teaching techniques to accommodate different learning styles. What works for one child may not work for another. This week in one of my art classes, I had students come to me individually when they were ready to start a new project. I had pictures and samples in front of me and I explained the process when they arrived at my desk. After showing several students what to do I asked one student if they could see from the examples what needed to be done. He had no clue. He needed to hear the instructions. He was clearly an auditory learner.

As for me, give me a demonstration, a video tutorial or a hands-on workshop. I’ll come away inspired and ready to try something new.

Learning by doing

Rewarded by success!

Haiku Challenge – Day 5

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….Black Friday is starting to make its way into Canada

Black Friday

Insanity reigns

as shoppers flock for bargains

Merry Christmas, all!

This is the end of the five day challenge. If you’d like to see more of the Daily Post Challenges check out http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/

Haiku Challenge – Day 4

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….wishing all my American friends a very happy Thanksgiving Day

The Thanksgiving Turkey

Crispy, golden skin

over succulent white meat

and chestnut stuffing

****

Dark meat or white meat

legs, wings and breasts to choose from

Heip yourself to all

****

Cranberries, carrots

sweet potato mash, gravy

Seconds, anyone?

****

Pumpkin pie with cream

the perfect ending before

a well deserved nap

*****

For more Haiku entries check out:

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/

Haiku Challenge – Day 3

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….this year I’m spending a lot of time with kindergarten children

Kindergarten

Day one, tears, fears, babes

clinging to mom, rules unknown

Is it home time, yet?

***

Day ten, learning rules

sitting, singing, playing, loud

friendships develop

****

Month two, confident

centre of attention, look

at me, look at me

***

December, learning

wants more, no longer afraid

I am exhausted

***

For the weekly writing challenge go to: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/

Haiku Challenge – Day 2

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..winter has come upon us quickly this year

Usually winter approaches us gradually but this year the temperatures dropped below freezing overnight and we were totally unprepared for the icy temperatures. One day the ground was still soft and mushy and the next it was like a block of ice. So much for getting my tulip bulbs planted this year. Maybe we’ll have a bit of a warm spell like they had in Calgary this week.

Ode to Winter

Cold winds bite the skin,

dampness chills you to the core

Warmth awaits indoors

****

Frostbite nibbles cheeks,

and shows little mercy to

ears, fingers and toes

****

Clouds of CO2

emerge in foggy pillows

with each breath taken

****

Old man Winter blows

upon unsuspecting towns

frigid and ruthless

****

For more Haiku check out the Daily Post Challenge at:

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/

Hundertwasser

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. a Haiku challenge

Today in art class I introduced Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s art. The children are creating their own landscapes in the Hundertwasser style and are loving the assignment. I’m looking forward to seeing their final works of art. This was my inspiration for todays Haiku.

Hundertwasser, art

where lollipop trees abound

whimsical and fun