….this week’s prompts from Ronovan Writes are stag and noise
The Young Groom’s Dilemma
Noises from within
Hammered against his temples
Last night’s stag replayed
Rutting
The stag raised his head
declaring his win loudly
His noise heard for miles
….I don’t know how she does it but Cee keeps coming up with new questions each week
What do you do to make a living or during the day if you are retired. If you are a student what are you studying?
I’ve been a school teacher since 1976. I started out teaching Family Studies to middle school adolescents. I did that for about 15 years and then I did guidance for two years. I was toying with the thought of becoming a principal and I started taking a lot of leadership courses in the evenings. I successfully became a chairperson which is like being a principal’s assistant where you take on a few extra responsibilities while still teaching. For many people this is a stepping stone to becoming a vice-principal or principal. In the end I decided that this was enough responsibility for me and that I liked being in the classroom too much to give it up.
When I became a chairperson I was transferred to a junior school where I taught grade 5 and sometimes a 4/5 split. Five years ago I took a library course and qualified to become a teacher librarian. One year later the library position opened up at our school and I’ve been the librarian/art teacher ever since.
Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.
Three and a half years ago when I first started this blog I was determined to lose weight. At school I agreed to assist in a program called Girls on the Run and I started to walk/run with the girls twice a week for 10 weeks. At the end of the program there was a 5k run and at the age of 59 I participated in my first serious race. I did the whole thing and ran for most of it but I was so emotional at the end that a dread overcame me and I thought I was going to die. Of course I didn’t and I did the run again the next year. The second time around it was a little easier. Last fall I participated in the Railpath Community Run and I’m doing it again this weekend. This one I did with my daughter.
What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
My first thought is usually to switch my Jawbone Up from sleep mode to wake mode and then check on my phone to see how well and how long I’ve slept.
Complete this sentence: Look out behind you, it’s a …
…it’s your son. I often fantasize that my son and his fiancé pay me a surprise visit. They both live in London, England and I only see them once a year. A few years ago my son did come to Toronto for a convention and I was truly surprised.
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 visit from my daughter who now lives in Hamilton. I was especially grateful because she was 38 weeks pregnant and I didn’t think that she would want to make the trip and be that far from home. We went to my older daughter’s house and my good friend L and her mom joined us. They weren’t able to make it to G’s shower in the summer so they anxious to see her and bring her the gifts that they had bought. It was also the first time that L’s mom had seen A’s and J’s house. 
Years ago my daughter, A had volunteered to undergo testing and see if she was a good match for L’s dad who needed to be treated for C-dificile. It turned out that she was and her donation ended up saving his life. When L and her mom arrived on Saturday they bought her a gift as well. L’s dad is a very accomplished and renowned artist and they gifted my daughter one of his paintings. We were all very touched.
Later in the afternoon my girls and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood along Dupont street and stopped for lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant and checked out the interesting little businesses that have sprung up in the last few years.
I’m obviously looking forward to the birth of our first grandchild. We all took bets on when she would come into the world but we were a little surprised when our daughter went into false labour yesterday. She’s fine today and this baby may take her sweet time about making her official appearance. Her actual due date is October 4th.
I’m also looking forward to participating in the Railpath Community run on Saturday but I think this year I may do more walking than running. On Sunday some of my friends from high school are getting together again for another lunch. We’re hoping that CM from Thunder Bay will be able to join us this time.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. The first weekend of autumn looks like it’s going to be especially nice and warm in my neck of the woods.
Cheers!
….thank you Ronovan for this week’s prompts….start and hot
September
Hot, humid, sunny
This can’t be mid September
Fall starts in three days
….thanks Cee for coming up with four more questions
If you could have three wishes granted for you alone, what would they be?
I would wish that my daughter has a safe delivery and healthy baby so that I can enjoy being the best grandmother ever. My second wish would be that I win the lottery so that I could share my good fortune with my family and friends. My third wish would be that I remain healthy for at least another 20 years so that I can enjoy my grandchild(ren) and the money that I won in the lottery.
What is the most incredible natural venue that you’ve ever seen in person?
Long before I started blogging I went to Banff, Alberta on a skiing trip. The sight of the Rocky Mountains blew me away. I also worked in Bavaria one summer as a student and waking up to the Alps every day was also magical.
Is your hair short (total neck and ear showing), medium (covering ears and neck), long (below shoulders) or extra long (at least halfway down your back)?
My hair is medium to long. Currently it is just long enough to pull up into a bun. In this hot weather we’ve been experiencing I like pulling my hair off my neck.
List some of your favorite blogs.
There are too many blogs to mention them all but my current favourites are:
‘wanderings of an Elusive Mind
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 tumour wasn’t cancer. It turns out that he has something called BOOP. When the doctor told us this we both asked ‘What is BOOP?’. He laughed and explained that it’s a build up of cartilage in the bronchiole tubes. It stands for Bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia and is a very rare lung disease. After the surgery the lungs looked pretty good in the x-ray so the doctor recommended that we take a wait and see approach rather than prescribing steroids which is the usual treatment for this condition.
I’m also grateful that the first nine days of school have gone pretty smoothly. I’m hopeful that we settle our contract soon so that we don’t have to escalate the conditions of our ‘work to rule’. So far in this new school year the children and parents haven’t been affected by our strike action.
I’m looking forward to getting together with my daughters and my good friend, L, on Saturday. My youngest daughter is only two weeks away from her due date and I’m happy that she is still willing to make the drive to Toronto for a visit. I’m also looking forward to creating more art and finishing some knitting projects for the baby.
…..thanks Ronovan for this weeks prompts
Tears and Wine
She looks at his glass
Only drops of wine remain
Her tears flow freely
#2
Rage tears through her core
The wine unleashes a fury
of raw emotions
…..more great questions from Cee
Was school easy or difficult for you? How so?
School was always pretty easy, especially in elementary school. I did well in school right up to grade 10 and then I was more interested in the social aspect of school. I always managed to miss the honour roll by 1% in the last three years of school. I excelled in math but after grade 10 I started to struggle and in my last year I had an English teacher whose mantra was to make his students sweat and make life as difficult as possible. The grade average in English was 50% and I sat right on the 50% line. I almost had a nervous breakdown that year.
What is your favorite animal?
My favourite animals have to be dogs. I love most of them. In the wild I’m fascinated with Panda bears and the red panda.
If you had to have your vision corrected would you rather: glasses or contacts?
I need glasses for distance and for a long time I wore contact lenses. When I had difficulty reading things close up with my contact lenses I switched to glasses and took them off when I wanted to read a book. It’s only been in the last year that I’ve also needed reading glasses.
List: Name at least five television shows (past or present) you enjoyed?
Survivor, Amazing Race, Friends, CSI (all of them), Grace and Frankie (on Netflix)Grace and Frankie
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 husband is recovering nicely from his surgery and that he has continued to can tomatoes. I’m also grateful that my daughter and daughter-in-law finally came up to the cottage last weekend. We had a wonderful time. Every time J comes to the cottage she becomes more and more comfortable with our rustic lifestyle. She announced that next year she wants to come up for a week. Yay!
This week I’m looking forward to getting my own car back (it’s been in the body shop) and celebrating my birthday with the family. My husband is planning a BBQ for Saturday.
…..didn’t I just do this
Are you a collector of anything?
About twenty years ago I started to collect teddy bears. I wanted vintage bears or bears with a vintage feel but family and friends bought me all types of bears. It soon got out of hand and I didn’t have the space for more bears. I’ve asked people not to buy me bears anymore and I’ve even given some away.
What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)
I have two phobias. The first one is standing at great heights. I think the actual fear is the fear of falling. I could never jump from a plane or go bungee jumping. I don’t know where the second fear comes from. I’m terrified of bears. I’ve never had an encounter with bears. My aunt, who recently passed away, did buy me a book many years ago on bear attacks.
Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?
I like looking through table top books but I love reading fiction.
Complete this sentence: If I Must Be Reincarnated, In the Next Life I Want to Be…
I can’t imagine being any kind of animal so I think I would like to come back as another person and probably as a woman again.
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 to my oldest daughter and her partner for putting on a wonderful shower for our younger daughter, G and her husband. I came back early from the cottage to help with the preparations but the girls did most of the work. I made the lemonade and brought over the china cups and saucers for the coffee and cake and I purchased some nice disposable dishes and cutlery from Costco that we can actually reuse. I’m also grateful that my father and his wife made the trip from Oshawa along with my sister from Chatham. It was a bit of a family reunion and when I dropped my Dad off at the train station he told me that he had a wonderful time and felt like the ‘king of the world’.
The shower was a bit different from a normal baby shower in that we had a ‘taco bar’ that we had catered. We played a few games and people painted onesies with special messages for the new baby. There were about 19 people in attendance and almost the same number of people sent regrets because they were away on holidays. This is the one downside of having a shower of any kind in the summer.
This week my husband is having his surgery on his lungs. I’m looking forward to a full and speedy recovery.
For more Share Your World stories check out Cee’s blog.
….thanks to Ronovan for this week’s prompts, must and bust
August
It must be August
The fields glow with Queen Anne’s Lace
Ripe seed heads bust free
…..I’ll try to get this in before Week 32 arrives (tomorrow)
Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?
I love taking pictures but every once in awhile I’d like to be in them. It seems that the photographer is hardly ever in any shots unless you ask someone to take a picture with you in it.
Where do you like to vacation?
I like to vacation at my cottage but I do like to travel overseas. A couple of my favourite places or countries are the Netherlands and Ireland. I’d also like to see more of Canada and hope to take a trip to the east coast in the near future.
If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be?
Yield. I’m always slowing down and doing things for others before I can move on.
List at least five favorite first names.
Girls – Claire, Elizabeth, Michele, Emily (Emma), Abby, Andrea, Gaelan, Kate
Boys – Brendan, Michael, Mark, Christopher, Kevin
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 husband and our daughter, G, were able to come to the cottage for three days. It’s the first time all summer that family members have found time to visit.
The week is almost over but I am looking forward to G’s baby shower later today. I told you in an earlier post that I’d reveal the gender of her baby closer to her due date. Here’s a baby hat that I knit when I was up at the cottage. I bought the wool before we were told if the the baby was a boy or a girl. I chose the colour because I knew based on our genetic make-up and regardless of the sex that this would be a complimentary colour. I added a couple strands of another colour so that the public wouldn’t need to ask is it a boy or a girl. Is this enough of a clue?
For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s blog.
….a whole week without internet and I feel I’ve let you down
When I go to the cottage I like to spend some time at the local library to catch up on my emails and post an article or two and some photos. On my last visit to the cottage I made three visits to the library but was unable to connect to their Wifi. It was frustrating but maybe someone was trying to tell me something.
Now that I’m home I’m overburdened with hundreds of emails and can’t seem to get to them because of other commitments. Has anyone really missed me? Probably not but none the less I still feel somewhat guilty for not replying to comments and writing new posts.
My contribution to this week’s Share Your World is a bit later than I like to post because next week’s questions are only a day away.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Initially I wanted to be a nurse, like most little girls of my generation, but when I was 12 I knew decisively that I wanted to teach Family Studies. My teacher at the time asked me to demonstrate some sewing skills for an open house we were having and from that moment on I was focused on my goal to teach.
What was your favorite food as a child? Do you eat it now?
I loved many foods as a little girl but one food that stands out for me was a meat sauce that my father made with ground beef and peas and the base was made from a roux of flour, butter and beef stock. This is what we served over spaghetti until my mother learned how to make an Italian tomato based meat sauce. I’ve never made the original meat sauce with peas again but have made the Italian sauce numerous times.
If you were invisible, where would you go?
If I were invisible or a fly on the wall I would love to hear and see what goes on in the private chambers of some of the world’s leading politicians. We might be surprised at how much some of them struggle with day to day decisions that they have to make and we might be shocked at some of the corruption that occurs in the name of democracy.
Would you rather forget everyone else’s name all the time or have have everyone for your name all the time?
I’m not sure I understand this question as it is written. I’m assuming you mean ‘or have everyone remember you name all the time’.
I’m not good with names either but I don’t think I want to forget everyone’s name all the time. I’m often surprised how some names come back even after decades but I’m very uncomfortable when someone remembers me and I can’t think of their name. This happens often when students come back to visit me and I can’t for the life of me remember who they are. I can feel their initial disappointment but eventually I remember something about them and we can carry on a conversation. It helps when I explain that I have taught 1000s of students over the last thirty some years. When I taught middle school I used to teach every student in the school. In one school that was over 600 students.
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 week at the cottage. I wish that my family and friends from the city could visit me up there but I have good friends and neighbours on the island that I spend time with. I’m very grateful to my friend’s son, DM, who helped me transport a bed and a beautiful old oak cabinet from my girlfriend’s house to the cottage. Without his van I would never have been able to get it up there.
This week, which has mostly passed I cleaned up the cottage and had friends from the island over for a wine and cheese party and some supper. I loved gathering flowers for the tables and preparing dips and plates of goodies.
I was also looking forward to yesterday’s final women’s soccer game against Brazil and Colombia. I was a bit disappointed in the overall game. It certainly didn’t feel like a gold medal game. Brazil won easily over the Colombians, 4 to 0. In the first five minutes of the game I couldn’t help but compare this game to the one I watched two weeks ago with the Canadian women. It made me wonder how the Colombians had advanced so far and weren’t able to play a better game. Their shots were wild and they only had 8 shots on goal compared to Brazil’s 120 shots on goal. I don’t know how accurate these stats are but according to my husband that’s what he saw on the scoreboard. Sitting between Brazilian and Colombian fans was quite the experience. They’re loud and exuberant if nothing else.
Mama Cormier 