Share Your World 2016 – Week 8

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks Cee for another set of great questions

What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?

I absolutely hate cleaning the bathroom but it’s the one room that I can’t stand being dirty. Go figure!

What was the last URL that you bookmarked?

I don’t bookmark anymore. I use Pinterest instead and the last URL that I pinned was a recipe from Jodi at Life in Between. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but the last one I pinned was outstanding.(Amish Oatmeal Raisin Cookies)

Close your eyes. Listen to your body. What part of your body is seeking attention? What is it telling you?

My waistline is screaming for attention. It’s telling me to eat less and exercise more.

Would you rather have a two-bedroom apartment in a big city of your choosing or a mansion in the country side in the state or country where you currently live?

I’m not into big homes. More to clean. I would, however, love a modern well decorated two bedroom apartment in the city from Monday to Friday and a small country cottage for the weekends.

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 day spent with my granddaughter and her mom and dad. I also had a short visit with the newly weds and enjoyed a cup of coffee with them. I’m also grateful for WhatsApp because it lets my entire family keep in touch with each other from Hamilton to Toronto to London, England at any time of the day, free of charge. Almost every day we send messages and share photos.

I’m looking forward to doing a drawing assignment for my on-line art class. I haven’t been keeping up with the assignments the way I had hoped but hopefully that will change this week. Tomorrow our primary choir is performing at Kiwanis and I’m looking forward to hearing them sing.

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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.

Happy Birthday, Valentine’s Day and Family Day

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….for my friend Maria all the good stuff comes together in less than a week

This week my friend Maria celebrated her birthday and was finally well enough to have company. She recently had her hip replaced (her second one) and didn’t recover as quickly as with the first one; however, this week she was finally receiving visitors. In honour of her birthday I decided to bake her some cookies and bought her a nice new mug, some tea and candy. I also collected some of my favourite novels that I’ve read in the past year or so and put them in a bag for her to pull out and read at her leisure.

Over at Life in Between my blogging friend, Jodi posted a wonderful recipe for Amish Oatmeal Raisin cookies and I was very eager to try it. The instructions were easy to follow and the recipe made four dozen very large cookies. My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies and the only fault he found with these was that there weren’t enough raisins. Easy solution; just add more next time. I, however, found the amount to be perfect. This recipe is a little different from most oatmeal cookies because it has molasses in it and that’s why the colour is darker.

I packed a dozen cookies into a small disposable loaf pan and placed it inside a special translucent bag with hearts on the outside. I then placed them into a square basket that I had purchased and placed the other items (tea, mug, candy) next to the bag.

Before making my way to Maria’s house I decided to make her a card. I took some watercolour paper and watercolour markers and created a simple design to acknowledge her birthday, St. Valentine’s Day, Family Day and a speedy recovery.

In the end I had a very nice visit with my good friend. Her husband spoiled us with wine to start, a plate of cheese and then before I left he made us tea and we enjoyed some of the cookies that I had baked.

If the cookies interest you be sure to check out Jodi’s recipe over at Life in Between.

Cheers and have a wonder Valentine’s Day!

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 5

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Mama Cormier

…..thank you Cee for four more thought provoking questions

If you had a shelf for your three most special possessions (not including photos, electronic devices and things stored on them, people or animals), what would you put on it?

I don’t own many family heirlooms. My mother was very much a bare bones kind of person when it came to decorating the house. She, herself, didn’t own a lot of special possessions because so much of what they owned was lost in the war so growing up the only things I remember my mother cherishing were her photo albums. When I got married my grandmother gifted me a blue decanter that she managed to save from the bombings and when my mother passed the only thing that I wanted was an old silver serving spoon with the date 1909 stamped on it and the initials WS. The third item would be a collection of things my children made over the years, such as, paintings, photography assignments and hand made toys.

If you had a box labelled ‘happiness’, what would you put in it?

I would fill it with photos of my family, music, paintings and art supplies and books.

What do you want more of in your life?

I want to travel more, spend more time painting and take classes to learn new art techniques. I also want to spend more time with my family. If I had unlimited resources I would travel with my family and visit my family across the ocean.

Daily Life List: What do you do on an average day? Make a list of your usual activities you do each day.

My husband wakes me up at 6:30 and brings me a cup of coffee.
I shower and get ready for work.
I eat breakfast.
I leave the house between 7:25 and 7:50 (earlier when I have basketball practice).
I arrive at school between 7:45 and 8:10.
I have another cup of coffee and socialize with colleagues before the school day begins at 8:30.
My first period is usually a prep and then I have my first library class of the day.
During recess children help me in the library putting books away.
After recess I have another class or I do library administration work (labelling books, ordering books, putting books away, straightening shelves, removing damaged and old books for recycling, etc.)
Lunch is at 11:15 and I usually bring a lunch from home.
Lunch ends at 12:10 and my afternoon is usually filled teaching library and art.
3:00 the school day ends but twice a week I do bus duty at this time.
3:15 to 4:00 I work in the library or during report card time I’m in the office printing and reprinting report cards for the staff.
Anywhere from 4:30 to 5:00 or later I leave for home.
My husband usually makes dinner so when I get home I have a cup of tea or coffee and we talk about our day while he cooks.
At this time I’ll also check my emails.
Dinner is usually around 6:00. Afterwards I usually wash the dishes or we do them together.
My husband goes to watch TV and I spend time on the computer reading and answering more emails and writing new posts for the blog.
On certain nights I will watch some TV and I have started to knit. I also like to read so if there isn’t anything I like on TV I’ll read a book.
At some point in the evening I take the dog for a walk
Anywhere between 11:00 and 12:00 I get ready for bed.

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 day spent with my granddaughter. The weather has been warm and there is no snow and on the weekend I managed to get in 30 000 steps over two days. I’m also pleased that I’ve finished proof-reading report cards. On Sunday I met up with 7 friends from high school and we had a great lunch at a Thai restaurant. Then two days later I went out for Winterlicious and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of South American fusion food.

I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. I’m hoping to relax, buy a dress for my daughter’s wedding and clean a small corner of my bedroom. The thing I’m looking most forward to is the wedding which takes place next Wednesday.

Tea and Panettone

A gift from Australia

Discovering her toes

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

Photo courtesy of: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pLhK1Bdg8bo/TyRVQ12Ym8I/AAAAAAAAAKo/IYyhEqfPNbA/s1600/angel+cards.JPG

A Christmas First For Me

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….the weather continues to hover above freezing and it’s almost the end of December

Today was our last official Christmas party with the extended family. I woke up early to put the turkey roll in the oven and then I started to clean up from the previous two days. Presents had to be put away, the table needed to be reset, the bathroom needed a touch up and a few more presents needed to be wrapped.

I don’t know why I always find more things to clean when I have a short time line to get things done. I think because people were arriving in the afternoon I felt that any grime I had missed would show up more in the day light. So I started to wash the glass ware and wipe down the shelves in the kitchen.

The weather has been so warm that the spiders have been unusually active and I noticed more webs between the windows and the window screens. I took down the screens in the kitchen and bathroom and started to clean them and I knocked the spiders onto the deck outside. I also took down the patio door screen to clean it but because it is so large I took it outside and leaned it up against the deck rail to wipe it down. As I was doing this I realized that I was outside in my nightgown with a sweater and bare feet. It was so mild that I wasn’t the least bit cold. I can honestly say that I’ve never gone barefoot outside on the 26th of December in Toronto before today.

It hindsight it might not have been a very wise thing to do. You see I’ve been suffering with a head cold and laryngitis for the last three days and I may have made it worse. As I write this I’m drinking my Neo Citran and I hope that it will relieve me of my headache and stuffy nose. I’m sure a good night’s sleep and no more pressure to entertain for a few days will help. Oh did I mention that on the 30th my twins will be celebrating their birthday? My son is here from London, England so we’ll probably have another family get together on Wednesday.

As much as I love Christmas and having family get togethers I’m glad for a few days of rest. The temperature also looks likes it’s dropping a bit so there won’t be anymore trips outside in bare feet.

Cheers!

Christmas Delights

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…while many of you are busy preparing for Christmas dinner I’m having a little down time

Our big Christmas celebration took place last night on Christmas Eve. My husband has long enjoyed the German tradition of opening gifts on the 24th since we first met 42 years ago. Now that our children are grown and have significant others we only prepare Christmas dinner every other year and this is that year. Later today we will be driving to Hamilton to enjoy a dinner prepared my daughter and her husband.

I thought I would take this time to share some of the highlights of this years Christmas season. As many of you know I’m a teacher librarian/art teacher. I essentially teach every student in the school for library and I have four classes that I do art with.

The week before Christmas I started receiving gifts from students and their families. There’s always one gift that stands out for me and this one brought a huge smile to my face and I couldn’t wait to share it with my colleagues and friends.

One of my grade one students brought me a small box that he had clearly wrapped himself and very proudly handed it to me. When I unwrapped the paper I discovered that the box was from Juicy Couture. When I read the name out loud, T very quickly declared that the box had nothing to do with what was inside. When I opened the lid I couldn’t help but smile for inside the box lay an angel that he had clearly made himself.

He used masking tape, paper and marker to create this little gem. Today it sits prominently on my Christmas tree, just below our angel tree topper. Aren’t kids wonderful?

Hopefully I’ll have more stories to share throughout the week.

Merry Christmas to all and happy holidays.

Carol

Share Your World 2015 – Week 48

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..it feels strange to have missed a week so I’m glad to be back to answer Cee’s questions for Share Your World

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?

I’m definitely a hugger. I like bear hugs from family members and close friends. I’ve read recently that hugs can reduce your stress and the longer the hug the more effective it is for calming you down.

What is your favorite toppings on pizza?

I love kale and sausage (no tomato sauce) and mushrooms, bacon, caramelized onions and cheese (with tomato sauce). My husband makes fantastic pizza.

If you were the original designer of one existing corporate logo, which one would you select?

I love the Volkswagen logo.It is so recognizable.

Complete this sentence: Where I can seek my solace is…

….anywhere where I can paint and/or read. The place that comes to mind first is my cottage.

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 my father finally got to meet his first great grandchild. My daughter and her husband made the two hour trip to my Dad’s place. My husband and I picked up lunch and joined them and we enjoyed a simple meal together. I think that this photo says it all.

I’m also grateful for perfect walking weather. I’ve averaged about 12 000 steps a day. My principal was gifted a Fit Bit for her birthday and she has made it very easy to get in my steps for the day. Every spare minute in our day she asks me and anyone who will join her to walk around the school. It really helps. Thanks M!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 33

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Mama Cormier

……thanks Cee for four more great questions

What are some words that just make you smile?

Ice-cream, babies, wine, family and friends are some of the words that will bring a smile to my face.

You’re given $500,000 dollars tax free (any currency), what do you spend it on?

I would pay off the rest of my credit cards and then take some of that money to renovate my house and cottage. I’d also put some money aside for travelling. That would still leave me with a nice sizeable chunk and I couldn’t enjoy any of that money knowing that my children also have debts so I would probably give each of them $50 000. and put the rest away for our retirement.

What subject would you like to study in depth, if given the time to do so?

I’d love to study visual art in depth. I’ve contemplated going back to university after I retire, just for the fun of it.

Would your rather be stuck in a small plane with bad turbulence for 2 hours or be a passenger in a car racing the Daytona 500?

I’d rather do neither but if I have to make a choice I think I’ll put up with two hours of turbulence. But wait! You did say ‘in a small plane’. Hmmm? Maybe being a passenger at the Daytona 500 would suit me better. I don’t know! I’m a terrible passenger in a car that is travelling at high speeds.

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 my husbands surgery is over and that the prognosis looks good. Will know for sure in a couple of weeks. I’m also grateful that our youngest daughter was able to spend some time at the cottage last week.

I’m looking forward to spending the weekend at the cottage with my older daughter and her partner. It will be the first time that they’ve made it up to the cottage this summer. I’m also looking forward to spending some time with our friends D & D, who I haven’t seen much of this summer. Hopefully the weather will be good so that I can get in some swimming and of course lots of walking. Maybe I’ll even start running again.