I Don’t Know How I Managed!

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….getting ready for an overseas trip following the last week of school was insane

As I’ve mentioned many times before teaching in June is insanely busy. The week before leaving for Italy I had the following to do:

• attend a birthday party for a very special friend

I’ve know AB for 40 years. In fact she was my first teaching friend and colleague and she quickly became a member of our family. She was there when all my children were born, she spends every Christmas with us and most birthdays. She attended the weddings of our daughters and held Winnie soon after she was born. We’ve been there for each other, through thick and thin, in good times and bad. Last year she made a big move and the family rallied behind her to help in any way possible. I was thrilled when all my family came out for her birthday, especially since we were all preparing for Italy.

• MC the farewell celebration for the grade 5 students on Monday

• clean the library and attend the staff party on Tuesday

• on Wednesday run the final assembly of the year, with the help of two friends, for the entire school.

• on Thursday attend the last staff meeting of the year and then clean up the library office before the end of the school day

Trying to clean and organize my office was probably the most stressful day of all. Knowing that I only had a few hours to get it done and having to say good-bye to two colleagues who were retiring left me very emotional. At one point I actually had a melt down when friends wished me a great trip and gave me Euros to treat myself in Italy. I think it was all too much. I had put such high expectations on the trip and my husband wasn’t 100% well. I really worried that things would go wrong and that the trip could be one big disaster (luckily it wasn’t).

• Friday became packing day and transporting the birds to my niece’s place

Friday, July 1st was the first day of my holiday and it was Canada Day. That meant that next to nothing was open because it was a national holiday. If anything went wrong today there wasn’t much I could do about it. Well of course something did go wrong. The shoes that I had planned to take to Italy broke and were unwearable. I couldn’t get them fixed in time and I had no other sandals to replace them.

We also got a phone call from a very close friend who was suppose to be on his way to Norway for a very special presentation that he was doing. Well it turned out that when he got to the airport his passport, although not expired, was going to expire in a couple of months and the airlines wouldn’t let him fly. Would we verify to officials that he was who he claimed to be so that he could have a new passport issued to him? Well of course we said yes but we weren’t sure how he would manage that seeing that all government offices were closed.

• Saturday we packed the car and drove to Hamilton to drop off the dog and pick up our daughter and granddaughter and then drove to the airport

I decided to quickly drive to the mall as soon as they open and pick up a new pair of sandals. I was successful and in fact I ended up buying two pairs of shoes that I packed for the trip.

Our friend called and had made arrangements to meet with someone from Immigration Canada and we had to be on call to answer any questions that they might have about him. I quickly asked about his height and weight and the colour of his eyes. Even though we’ve known him for over 25 years we weren’t sure about his eye colour. His hair is dark so we assumed they were probably brown but we were wrong. His eyes are blue.

By the time we left for Hamilton we still hadn’t heard from the immigration people and of course they tried to call us while we were driving. Luckily they tried several times and we did eventually connect and were able to answer all their questions to their satisfaction.

Later that day we all made our flights and our journey to Italy began. Maybe next time I plan a trip to Europe I’ll give myself a week at home before I leave. Stay tuned for our adventures in Venice. Ciao!

Share Your World 2016 – Week 20

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World

When do you feel most connected with others?

I feel most connected to people during those quiet one on one conversations over a cup of coffee or tea. I like that intimate personal time with people where you can really get to know them.

Tea and Panettone

What daily habit would you like to introduce to your life?

I would like to do one creative activity every day. I paint and read sporadically now but I’d like to be more consistent. I’d also like to do some volunteer work.

What one mini-little-adventure would you like to have in the coming week?

This week I’d like to visit the art gallery or the museum. It’s a long weekend here in Canada and sometimes it’s a good time to visit places in the city because so many people head north to open their cottages.

List things or events that changed your Life: It could be as simple as a book or meeting a certain person?

• meeting my husband 43 years ago

• the birth of my children

• graduating from university and becoming a teacher

• the death of my mother

• meeting my best friends AB in 1976 and LC in 1989

• learning to drive when I was in my 20s

• my first art class where I learned how to paint with watercolour

• building a cottage next to my good friend DM

• the birth of our first grandchild

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 being able to continue on my weight loss journey and for the support of my husband and my friends at work. My husband has lost 26 pounds and I’m down 18. My new passport arrived this week and I can check off one more thing from my to do list before I go to Italy in July. I’m also grateful that my photo isn’t the worst passport photo that I’ve ever taken. I have to live with it for the next 10 years.

For the rest of the week I’m looking forward to our girls’ soccer tournament on Friday, visiting our daughter and her family in Hamilton on Saturday and seeing my older daughter on Sunday or Monday. Since it’s the long weekend here I’m also looking forward to planting some things in the garden and firing up the barbecue for a meal or two. It’s also suppose to be a spectacular weekend, weather wise.

Here are a few photos from this past week.

Share Your World 2016 – Week 19

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thank you Cee for some very unusual questions this week

You win a pet monkey but this isn’t just any old monkey. It can do one trick for you whenever you want from getting a pop out of the fridge to washing your hair. What would be the trick?

When I saw this question I couldn’t help but think about the Ikea monkey and all the grief the owner went through for owning a monkey. Washing my hair? Never! I’ll think I’ll pass on this question. I could never own a monkey regardless of the talent it may have.
What caring thing are you going to do for yourself today?

Today I went to see a chiropractor. In the last two weeks I’ve had chronic pain in my upper thigh and the side of my hip. It all started on the day that I walked 18 000 steps. I thought it would go away on it’s own but the pain persisted. I discovered that I have bursitis in my hip as a direct result of that long walk. I was tugged at, pushed and pulled. It hurt! The good news is that it felt better when I was done. My homework is to do some exercises, apply ice and not start any new exercise program. No running or long walks. With a few more visits my hip should be ‘all cleaned up’ before I go to Italy in July.
What color do you feel most comfortable wearing?

Believe it or not I love wearing bright colours like royal blue and red. I also like white, peach and periwinkle.
Complete this sentence: When I travel I love to….

….check out quaint little shops, markets and art galleries. I love outdoor cafes and restaurants that the locals eat at.
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 Mother’s Day weekend. I drove to the finish line for the Sporting Life 10k Run that my oldest daughter, her partner and her brother-in-law participated in. All three finished in great times.

We then drove to Hamilton where we met up with my husband and our youngest daughter and her little family. We had a great time playing with the baby and enjoyed a wonderful meal together.

It’s been a great week at school. The children did really well at the West Conference track and field meet and many of them are moving on to the city finals. All the plans for our Forest of Reading book club celebration are now in place and the silent auction contributions from the classes have been completed by the students and are ready to be fired. Here is the platter that my grade 3 class designed and painted. I did the black lines. I can’t wait to see what it looks like after it’s been fired.

The other thing that I’m grateful for was the amazing lunch that the parents put on for the staff for ‘Teacher Appreciation Day’. They really go all out. They used the library and came in the night before to set it up and decorate it. The food was over the top and there was so much left over that we had a second meal the next day. I also appreciated the fact that there were lots of things that I could eat and still stay on my ‘diet’.

I’m looking forward to a great day on Friday when the students who earned their 12 reading credits come to our Forest of Reading Celebration. We have an author coming to talk to the students, a drama workshop and a hands on journal making workshop plus a pizza lunch for the successful students and the staff who participated as expert readers.

I’m also looking forward to creating more paintings. I’ll write more about that in another post in the next few days.

Cheers!

Four Years and Still Going Strong

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….yesterday was my 4th anniversary with WordPress

If I didn’t check my notifications side bar today I would have missed it.

4 Year Anniversary Achievement
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 4 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

It’s hard to believe that four years ago I started this blog to help me lose weight and get healthy. Four years later I’m still trying to lose weight but I’m healthier than I was then. I’m thankful that I didn’t gain back all the weight that I had lost (32 pounds) but it was getting painfully close when I finally started back on my weight loss journey. So far it’s been easier because my husband is doing it with me. I’m down 10 pounds and my husband is down 11.

My blog quickly morphed into a eclectic mix of photography, art, memories, recipes, teaching moments and my life experiences with my friends and family. I’ve met more than 1000 people who now follow me. I’m sure some have fallen by the wayside but many have stuck with me and comment regularly. For that I am truly grateful.

In the last four years you’ve seen me and my family change, grow and experience the ups and downs of life. I ran my first 5k, lost 32 pounds, turned the big 60, stood by my husband as he battled one illness after another requiring 4 separate surgeries and then I shared my son’s accident with you just last December when he needed surgery. I also shared with you my aunt’s prolonged stay in the hospital before she passed and how my 89 year old father fell, not once but twice, but lived to talk about it. I’ve spent way too much time in the hospital.

Not all hospital visits were for sick people. Last October I became a grandmother for the first time. That was the best hospital visit ever. IMG_2885-2

When I started this blog only my youngest daughter was married. Since then our oldest daughter got married a couple of months ago and our son is getting married this summer. Needless to say it’s been and continues to be a busy year.

Taken two year Christmases ago when they first got engaged.

I’m still teaching. I thought this blog might help me prepare for retirement but I loved my work and my colleagues too much to even consider it. Now, I can say for certain that retirement is just around the corner and I look forward to my last year of teaching starting next September.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing my students’ art work on this blog and they love knowing that people really like what they’ve done and that they make comments about their work. I can always tell when my viewing numbers are really high that my students have found their way to my site.

One of the things that I’ve grown passionate about is photography since I’ve started this blog. I participate in a number of photography challenges and I take my camera everywhere I go. I’ve enjoyed sharing photos of our cottage and the beautiful parks in our neighbourhood and photos I’ve taken on our vacations.

Before I close I’d like to thank all of you who follow me and all those who pop by once in awhile for giving me a purpose to write. Knowing that people read my words and look at my photography gives me incentive to continue with this blog. Here’s to the next four years!

Cheers!

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge -Week 16 Behind

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….each week Hugh has a new photo challenge

This week Hugh’s challenge asks us to find pictures of things we stand behind. I’m always taking photos of people walking in front of me.

Share Your World 2016 – Week 7

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for hosting Share Your World

What are you a “natural” at doing?

I think I’m a natural at teaching art to young children and reading stories to them.

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Would you prefer a one floor house or multiple levels?

I like multiple levels in a house. I find climbing stairs helps keep me fit. Maybe as I get older I’ll prefer a one floor house.

What was your favorite subject in school?

In school my favourite subject was Family studies. I’ve always loved practical hands on classes.

Complete this sentence: If only the rain..

….would happen only at night.

What are you grateful for from last week and what do you look forward to this week?

I’m grateful for my daughter’s wonderful wedding a week ago today. It was a beautiful and simple ceremony at City Hall. Afterwards we walked to a very nice bar down the street and toasted the girls with Prosecco. Dinner wasn’t until 6:00 so we stayed at Drake 150 for about an hour and then we headed to Terroni’s for the reception. The guest list was very intimate with only 26 family members and very close friends in attendance. The food was fabulous and a wonderful time was had by all.

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On Saturday I paid a visit to my friend Maria and brought her some goodies for her birthday, Valentine’s Day and Family Day. On Sunday my husband treated me to a very nice lunch at Snug Harbour in Port Credit to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The meal was fantastic.

This week I’m looking forward to pyjama day at school, the dance for the kids on Friday and hopefully seeing my granddaughter on the weekend.

Share Your World 2016 – Week 6

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….this week’s questions were suggested to Cee by Bridget from the The Happy Quitter

What is your favorite word?

My most favourite word is ‘love’. It’s what makes the world go round, conquers hate, looks beyond your imperfections, accepts you as you are, melts your heart and “love has no age, no limit; and no death”, John Galsworthy
What is your least favorite word?

My least favourite word is so offensive to me that I can’t even print it. I absolutely hate the word Cee u next Tuesday. I find it so demeaning to women.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Long walks through the wilderness and along the beach and quiet moments at the cottage give me inspiration to be creative and reflect on life.

What turns you off?

Gross consumption of anything is a turn off for me. I hate excessive behaviours of all kind.
What is your favorite curse word?

I don’t normally curse but occasionally the sh*t word comes pouring out from my mouth, especially if I’ve messed up or hurt myself.
What sound or noise do you love?

I love the sound of birds singing in the morning and the pitter patter of a light summer rain.
What sound or noise do you hate?

I don’t like sirens, horns and traffic in general.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I’ve often wondered what kind of doctor I would have been.
What profession would you not like to do?

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be a lawyer.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Welcome Carol, your art studio awaits you.
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 good friends and a wonderful husband. After finding a dress for the wedding my husband treated me to a dinner at a new Middle Eastern restaurant called Paramount. The food was fantastic and we had enough left over for another lunch this week.

Tomorrow is our daughter’s wedding so of course that is what I’m looking forward to the most. Everyone is excited about meeting the baby, some for the first time and having a fantastic meal at Torrone’s.

Share Your World 2016 – Week 4

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..a cave or glass dome, focusing on today or tomorrow?….just two of the things that Cee has me thinking about today

What one thing are you really glad you did yesterday?

When this post first came out and I started to think about this question I was really glad that I made the effort to get in my 10 000 steps. Unfortunately I wasn’t as diligent yesterday and today isn’t looking much better.

Are you generally focused on today or tomorrow?

I like to be in the moment but I have to admit that I can’t help but think about tomorrow.

Would you want to have as a guardian angel/mentor? What would they tell you right now?

I believe that I have a guardian angel that looks out for me. Years ago I had a nasty fall from a 10 foot drop and came away with barely a scratch. Someone was definitely looking out over me that day. I think that today they would tell me to enjoy my family, take care of my health and don’t put off till tomorrow what I can do today.

Would you rather live in a cave house or a dome house made out of glass? (photos of the houses found on google search)

I think I would like both if they had the following:

Cave House

• enough natural light so that I wouldn’t feel claustrophobic

• dry smooth walls

• in a warm climate – the cave would be nice and cool

• a deck or porch where I could sit outside

Glass Dome House

• a room where I could get away for some privacy

• situated high up in the trees for privacy from the outside world

• window coverings to keep out the hot noon day sun or a canopy of leaves

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 that I was able to finish my report cards last Friday during the PD day. It was nice and quiet at school. I don’t like taking home my work if I don’t have to. I was also able to spend an hour at the Olympian pool and watch a former student compete in a synchronized swimming routine. I had never been to one before and I found it quite interesting.

I was also happy to spend some more time with my daughter’s family and I was very grateful for the time my son-in-law spent with me to help me with some of my issues with the new camera. I also got all my Christmas decorations put away and I did a thorough cleaning around the main floor of the house. I always feel so good when my house is company ready.

I’m also grateful for all the photos my daughter sends me of Miss Winnie. She’s growing so quickly.

Share Your World 2016 – Week 2

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thanks Cee for this week’s questions but I can’t help but think that I’ve answered one or two of these before

Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets?

Absolutely. I think it would be pretty arrogant to think that we are the only race of beings to inhabit the universe.

How many places have you lived? You can share the number of physical residences and/or the number of cities.

I haven’t lived in too many different places. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany and when I was one we moved to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. Soon after that we boarded an ocean liner and moved to Canada where I have lived most of my life in Toronto. For a period of four years, when I was 6 to 10 we lived in Oakville (a bedroom community close to Toronto) and when I went to university I lived in the town of Guelph.

If you given $22 million tax free dollars (any currency), what is the first thing you would do?

I would pay off all my credit cards and then give each of my children $1 million dollars, so they could pay off their debts and own a home. After that I would probably put aside enough money to live on comfortably and afford a couple of vacations a year for the rest of my life. Then I would share the rest with my sisters and friends and donate to different charities every year. Spread the wealth!

The Never List: What are things you’ve never done? Or things you know you never will do?

I will never and have never done the following:

Jump from 10m tower into water
Go bungee jumping
Go skydiving
Do drugs
Climb Mt. Everest
Smoke

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 that my son has started to heal from his surgery and that he returned safely to London, England on Monday night. Before he left we spent some quality family time with his siblings and our granddaughter. Last Saturday, B, A, J and I drove to the Aga Khan Museum and spent a couple of hours perusing the artifacts from the middle east. It was fun watching my children take in the displays and actually taking the time to read the text that explained the history of the different ceramics, books and articles of clothing.

After our experience at the museum we drove to Hamilton and met up with my husband and younger daughter and her family. There was a whirlwind of activity in the kitchen as homemade meatballs were being prepared by the two of them while the rest of us took turns holding the baby and entertaining her. She is so curious now that she doesn’t want to sleep. The dinner was fabulous.

On Sunday I drove my son to the AGO to meet up with one of his good friends and to see the Turner show. I enjoyed our time together but I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of Turner’s work. I liked his small watercolour studies but his large pieces were too dark and gloomy for me. I am, however, very curious to see the movie on his life. I think he was one very strange man.

Later this week I’m hoping to figure out how to transfer photos from my new camera to my iPhone and computer using WiFi. So far transferring my photos onto the computer and onto my phone has been a challenge to say the least.

Hopefully I can sort out my photography problems so that I can continue to participate in photo challenges.

Cheers!

Angel Cards

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….years ago my good friend AB introduced me to Angel cards

I love my friend AB. She was the first friend I made through teaching. She’s several years older than me and she quickly became a mentor for me when I started in the teaching profession. She was the art teacher and I was the family studies teacher and our classrooms were next to each other. That was over almost 40 years ago.

AB is like a sister to me and an aunt to my children. In fact she is my oldest daughter’s godmother but she has always called all my children her godchildren. She has an unusual but great sense of style and she has always been open to new age practices. She’s fascinated with astrology and numerology, tarot cards, meditation and natural cures for illness. Over the years we have received astrological readings, spirit cards, homemade bath products and interesting books.

A few years ago AB gave A and J a set of Angel cards. Last night I paid them an unexpected visit. I had spent the entire day at the hospital with our son and I needed a change of scene and a cup of coffee. They weren’t expecting me but they greeted my warmly and invited me in. On the table were the Angel cards that had been gifted by AB and they had just finished picking their cards for the year.

The idea with Angle cards is that you meditate on what you hope to accomplish or change and then look at the overturned cards. You’re suppose to be drawn to certain cards because of the energy they exude or how they present themselves to you. Based on that you choose up to five cards. Each card has a word on the reverse side and you interpret the meaning as to how it applies to you. Here are my five words:

Faith

Compassion

Creativity

Clarity

Purification

Over at Chris’ Journaling Journey, Chris has written a post about choosing one word to live by for the year. I like this idea so I’m thinking about choosing one of the words above and focusing on working on that aspect of my life to nourish and expand.

It is also interesting to me that I was thinking about my painting goals, personal health strategies and relationships with my family and friends before I chose the cards. I’m leaning toward the word ‘clarity’. I’m hoping this year I’ll come closer to being ready to retire and moving on to a new path in my life. When that becomes ‘clear’ to me I’ll be ready to make this life changing decision.

angelcards