Who Knew?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….how much work it is being part of a studio audience

The fact that I came down with the flu the day before probably didn’t help. For weeks I had been looking forward to being part of a studio audience for the Steven and Chris Show and after arranging the time off (that’s another story) I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. I medicated myself with cold and flu medicine and made sure I got a good night’s sleep.

I parked the car in the car park about 1.6k away because I missed the walk with the dog this morning and last night I had to pass on the walk. At least I got one walk in yesterday. After walking back to the car I got a total 3.3 k in. Happy about that!

My view on the way to the studio.

Once in the studio, we had to rehearse how to clap and cheer and keep smiling. Do you know how hard that is? The show was entertaining but my friend D who came with me had it right when she said that the hosts talk more to the TV audience than to the actual audience in the studio. At times it was difficult to see what was happening on the floor because there were so many cameras in front of us.

Between vignettes there were lots of prop and scene changes. During that time staff members from the show kept us entertained with draws, games and interviews with audience members. Chris, one of the hosts, was also sick and I felt for him. He was a trooper but he avoided contact with the audience at the end of the show. All in all we were there for about 2 1/2 hours for a one hour show.

Would I do it again? I’m not sure I would go back to the same show unless I knew they had a special guest coming. Apparently if I follow the show on FaceBook they make those announcements ahead of time. I would go to different show. I’ve already applied to be on the Marilyn Denis Show. This show airs Friday, April 5th.

After lunch I walked back to the car and I really started to feel achy again and the cough started up again. I phoned into work and asked them to retain my supply teacher so I could take one more day off. When I got home I went straight to bed. I’ve also started my lemon tea and honey regime. Rest, rest and more rest.

I wrote this post last night but didn’t publish until today because I couldn’t upload my photographs. Has anyone else had this problem? No problem today. Hmmmm?

A Cacophony of Bird Noises

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Mama Cormier

… at 6:30 this morning

My Happiness File: Day 12

Finding things to be happy about this week has been tricky. The first day of Spring arrived but the temperatures were cold and it snowed all week. Our dog Frances has been feeling somewhat under the weather so I didn’t get out for our evening walks this week.

Today Frances woke me at 6:30 to take her outside. When we stepped into the cold March morning we were greeted by birds squawking, screeching and making quite the rukus. It was so loud that Frances just stood there looking off in the distance trying to see where the noise was coming from. She never did do anything and after standing there in my pyjamas in the cold I decided to bring her back inside. I knew that this cacophony of bird sounds was a sure sign of spring so I found myself smiling despite the cold.

Later that morning my husband decided that we needed to take Frances to see the vet. Earlier in the week she suffered with vomiting and constant diarrhea and today she couldn’t go at all. When we got to the vets’ office she was full of vitality, not the same puppy we had experienced all week. Anyway, $200.00 later, armed with special gastro intestinal food and antibiotics we left the office with one happy dog. Update: she hates the one medicine, loves the ‘canned’ food and appears to be back to normal.

The upside to her feeling better is that we went back to our evening walk. I really did miss it and I feel so much better for it. Happy!

The other happy moment (yesterday – I didn’t finish this post last night) is that the sun came out. I was checking some studies about how sunshine and happiness are related and apparently people in countries where they don’t see the sun as often as other parts of the world are actually happier overall. I have my own theory about that. When Canadians and other more northerly countries actually do see the sun we’re so grateful when it happens that we become doubly happy. I can imagine that in countries where the sun shines all the time people tend to take it for granted.

Here is the perfect song for the end of winter.

Enjoy the sun. Cheers!

Three Reasons to be Happy!

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Mama Cormier

It’s Friday!

Yeah the weekend has arrived!

Hope it’s a good one for everybody.

Cheers!

Day 11

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..here are 3 pieces of art that I finished today

Doing art puts in me in a zen state of mind. I’m totally into what I’m doing and I lose all sense of time. I like to create examples of art that I can share with my students or leave for supply teachers to use when they have to cover one of my art classes. There have been times when I’ve gone to school despite being sick because the art project we were working on was too complicated or too messy for an occasional teacher to have to deal with.

Lately I’ve across some interesting, fun and very doable projects that I can leave for a supply teacher. Here are the samples I’ve been working on. The first one I’m actually doing with some of my classes right now. It’s a still life that the students outline in crayon and then fill in with watercolour. The wax crayon creates a resist which prevents the paints from running into one another. The idea came from Be Creative Mary.

The next two projects are perfectly suited for a supply teacher. Both ideas came from Artisan des Arts

If you need instructions for any of these projects check out the blogs where I got therm from. Cheers to creating art!

Grade Two Masterpieces

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..children’s art always puts me in a happy mood

Happiness File – Day 10

Today in my grade 2/3 art class we critiqued the art work done by the grade 2s. You may recall seeing some of the finished monochromatic abstract art pieces that I posted a couple of weeks ago. We discussed what worked and where some of the pieces could use some tweaking to make them better. Many of the students took their pieces back and added some more detail and then signed their work. Here are some more of their masterpieces.

Two of my happy moments happened today in my art class. The first was how willingly my students listened to the critiques and then actually took some of the suggestions to heart. The second moment was watching my students tackle the drawing assignment I assigned. Some found it difficult but after showing them some simple techniques they started to create some very beautiful designs. I’m really looking forward to their finished still life paintings.

Tonight I had book club and we discussed the book The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I love the time spent with good friends. We don’t always agree on how much we enjoy a book but the discussions are always lively and friendly as we defend our positions. I enjoy the circus and I really liked the book so I tended to give it a higher rating than some of my fellow book club members who don’t like the circus and weren’t as enamoured with the book as I was.

If you like fantasy and magic, I recommend this book. Reading a good book can increase your happiness quotient.

Cheers!

My Happiness File – Day 9

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. back to work … March Break is over

Some people may think that there isn’t much happiness in going back to work. As much as I loved the time off to rest and spend time with my husband I really do like my job and as soon as I walked through the school doors this morning I was greeted by people that I really care about.

The grade ones who came to see me this morning love being in the library. It makes my job so much easier when they’re enthusiastic about hearing a story and taking out books. It makes me smile when some of them want to do my job and scan the books in and out of the library. Today a small group of them worked very cooperatively together and there was no fighting over who got to use the scanner.

This afternoon I decided to bring my art class to the library. I really wanted to do print making with the six grade fours in the 3/4 class. I need water for this activity and their portable classroom doesn’t have a sink. The library on the other hand does have one in the office and there is a section of floor that is tiled so if ink gets spilled it’s easy to clean up. The grade 3s in that class are still sewing their quilts so they were able to spread out in the library and find a quiet spot to do their stitching. It wasn’t a perfect situation but the grade 4s finally produced some great prints and the oohs and aahs that came from their mouths when they pulled their plates made the experience worth the effort and the chaos we had to endure. I’ll post some photos of their prints tomorrow.

Finally I got to see the finale of The Biggest Loser tonight. I’m a big fan and I really liked all the contestants this season. It was great seeing how well all the players who had been eliminated early in the game had done at home. Gives me hope in my own weight loss journey.

Cheers!

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. this bread made everyone happy today

Happiness Files – Day 8

I was prepared to add raisin and currents to my bread today until I read that traditional Irish soda bread has only 5 ingredients: flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and buttermilk

4 cups (1000 mL) all-purpose flour

1tablespoon (15 mL) sugar

1 tsp. (5 mL) salt

1 tsp. (5 mL) baking soda

2 cups (500 mL) buttermilk

1. Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Nothing is worse than biting into a clump of baking soda. Make a well in the middle.

2. Pour the buttermilk into the centre and then using your hands move the flour into the liquid and mix together until all the ingredients come together.

3. Using your hands gently knead the dough a couple of times until you form a nice smooth ball.

4. Place the loaf on a lightly greased cookie sheet and with a sharp knife cut a deep cross through the middle of the loaf.

5. Bake the bread in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes. Cool on a rack.

6. Slice and serve with butter.

Dinner today consisted of a beet, wilted greens, and feta salad. I used the beets and steamed greens that I prepared last night. I added feta cheese, a splash of olive oil and freshly ground pepper and salt. I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant enjoying a gourmet salad.

The main course was the Guinness Irish stew and a dollop of champ (mashed potatoes with sliced green onions) that my husband made. It was amazing.

Before dessert we took the dogs, Lucy and Frances, for a nice long walk to help burn some of the calories from the stew and make room our fresh berries and cream and hot steaming coffee.

Here are 5 more reasons why I had a happy day today. Bringing people who love each other together to enjoy a meal, regardless of the occasion, is always a happy moment. Sharing food with people who appreciate your efforts is very rewarding. Hope you had a lovely day, whether you were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or just enjoying a regular Sunday.

Kevin enjoying a Guinness with his Irish stew.

Cheers!

My Happiness File – Day 7

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. one step closer to getting my life organized

Being organized and having a place for everything makes me happy. Today I cleaned out every drawer in my dresser and filled a garbage bag with clothes that have gotten too big for me or I just don’t wear anymore. Even my husband let me bag some of his old clothes. Amazing!

We did a huge vegetable shopping today. I’m reading an interesting book that recommends you cook all your vegetables the day that you buy them and then they’re ready for the entire week. It was a lot of work but my fridge is now stocked with prepared side dishes for seven days. I roasted a head of cauliflower, 2 bunches of broccoli, 6 beets, 2 sweet potatoes, and 1 winter squash. I cleaned and steamed a bunch of kale, beet greens and dandelion leaves and with the stems, leaves and cores I made a pesto. Very satisfying. I love trying new things. The book is called An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler.

: Steamed greens

I bought my husband a new wooden cutting board today. Our old one had split in two and K really misses having a large wooden board to work from. When my husband is happy, I’m happy.

Cheers!

My Happiness File – Day 6

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….why does food play such an important role in making me happy?

I don’t think it’s the food itself but the social aspect that surrounds the food. Two of my happy moments today occurred at meals.

The first event that made me happy today was taking my youngest daughter out for lunch. We went to a nice little restaurant in uptown Toronto close to where she lives. It was easy to make healthy choices and the food was delicious but more importantly I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We both write blogs and we discussed how her DIY wedding blog and business were coming along and she gave me some tips on how to resolve some issues I’ve been having with my blog.

Today the sun finally came out and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. When I took my daughter back to her apartment we decided to pick up her dog, Lucy and head over to the off leash area over at Sunnybrook. Watching her dog run along the path into the woods with such joy and freedom made me smile and getting some exercise and fresh air put me in my happy place.

When I got home tonight my husband wanted to go out for dinner. I wasn’t sure that going out for two meals in a row was such a good idea but he seemed really keen on going out so I agreed. It turned out to be a happy evening and again I was able to make healthy choices for my dinner. I ordered grilled fish and a side of perfectly cooked beans and broccoli and started with a grilled radicchio and arugula salad. The fish was grilled with bones in so it forced me to eat slowly and carefully to avoid choking on a fish bone. At the end of my meal my husband actually applauded me. He said it was like watching a perfectly executed symphony. His analogy put a big smile on my face.

My Happiness File – Day 5

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..spending the entire day with my husband brought many happy moments today

Today was my first day off the detox cleanse and I was able to enjoy my first coffee in four days. Heavenly!

My husband took the day off work today so that we could spend the day together. After our walk this morning and enjoying the first solid food I had in over three days we got into the car and went for a day trip north of the city. We had a great time checking out the Apple Factory and buying a few vegetables and some specialty items for our Irish dinner on Sunday and then we made our way to Spirit Tree where we had a nice lunch. I’ll write more about our experience in my next post.

After lunch we started driving around looking for the Cheltenham Bad Lands. K set his GPS on his new phone and off we went. We got so lost. I’m sure we drove 20 k in the wrong direction before we turned around. We did eventually find it. For the rest of the afternoon we found our surroundings pretty uninspiring. The one thing that did amaze us was how much snow was still on the ground just 30 k north of Toronto.

On our way home we decided to stop at the movie theatre and take in a show. We ended up seeing Zero Dark 30. I really liked it and I didn’t think I would. Before the show started I made K set his phone so I could play the interactive pre show on-screen game. I came in second and won a slice of pizza that I will probably never redeem. Made me happy anyway.

All in all it was a great day.