From Success to Disaster Within 24 Hours

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….finished my first oil painting or so I thought

On Sunday I stayed up very late to finish my third assignment for my on-line course with Karine Swensen. It was the first time I’ve ever used oil paints and I was really enjoying working with this new medium. After two hours I was ready to call the project complete and I took some photographs to share with my fellow colleagues who were also taking the course. I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that I didn’t get to bed till sometime after 2:00 in the morning and I had to get up early to go to work. I usually don’t have problems dozing off but that night it felt like I was never going to sleep. I looked at the clock at 3:00 and then again at 4:00. I guess I fell asleep shortly after that but I had to get up at 6:30.

It is surprising to me that I was able to function with so little sleep. I didn’t check on the oil painting until later that night and to my horror I discovered that the oils had run down the painting and that the entire centre appeared to be crackling. I have no idea how or why this happened. Maybe some of my artist followers can give me some advice so that this doesn’t happen again. I took a rag and wiped away the drips and a brush to remove some of the cracks in the paint.

This morning when I looked in on my painting again I discovered that it had dripped some more and the crackling appeared worse. The perimeter of the painting is fine but the centre is a mess.

Here is a photo of my painting before it started to fall apart. The first photo is the watercolour sketch that I took my inspiration from.

The larger photo is the painting before it literally started to ‘melt’ on me.

Here are a few photos of what the painting looks like now after I tried to fix it. I think that there was too much oil in my paint. Maybe some of my artist followers can give me some advice on how to avoid this in the future. As you can see I’ve lost some of the detail in the bottom of the painting and some of the highlights have disappeared. Oh well, live and learn. I think I’ll let it dry before I do anything else with it.

Frustrated!

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….blogging shouldn’t be this difficult

I’ve always sung the praises of blogging on WordPress. A couple of years ago, I tried setting up an account on another blogging site and didn’t have much success. My sisters and I were the only people who read it, which at the time was fine but not very satisfying. When I started with WordPress I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and I started to garner a following pretty quickly.

Several months ago I experienced my first problem with WordPress. For some reason I couldn’t publish my post. I thought I had successfully published it. It showed up on my Facebook page but the next day when I didn’t receive any responses from readers I discovered that the post was still in a draft. I don’t know what I did but eventually it was published. I asked for advice and one of my followers suggested that I close all other windows before I push the publish button.

That seemed to work until this week. It took me over an hour to write my post “Mexican Delights”. When I went to post the article it showed up in its entirety on the screen but when I checked it on Facebook only the first two paragraphs were there. None of the photos or links appeared. Fortunately I was able to find it in one of the many drafts that appear below the text box. I saved the draft again and published it a second time.

I can’t tell you how many times I had to do this. I closed all previous windows but that didn’t seem to work. After a couple of hours the post finally published and stayed that way. As much as I love blogging, I don’t have the luxury of that much time to waste on rewriting and reposting my stories.

That’s the main reason I haven’t posted much this week. I was very frustrated from the last experience. So I’m asking again if anyone else has experienced the same problems and how did you resolve it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Cheers!

The Media Never Gets it Right

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. and the public only hears what they want to hear

It’s never been about the money or more PD time or discontinuing extracurricular activities. It is about taking away years of negotiated benefits at a moments notice, no discussion, no vote….just a quick passage of Bill 115. The ability to negotiate a fair and equitable contract between teachers and their boards has been removed.

In the first meeting the unions were met by solvency lawyers, with no Ministry people in sight. The government was unwilling to discuss rules and parameters for negotiations. As a result, ETFO, the elementary teachers’ union walked away from the table. The attitude was take it or leave it. ETFO always said it would return to the table if there were clear rules and parameters.

Talks between unions and the government are short and problems remain unresolved and yet the minister of education leads the media to believe that teachers are not willing to talk. In recent weeks, a meeting occurred with Ministry people, including the deputy minister but Broten shut that down.

The media has been brutal with the teachers. According to them we are to blame for the province’s entire financial mess. Radio talk show hosts clearly have a ‘hate-on’ for teachers. The scenarios and misinformation that they broadcast to the public is shameful and unprofessional. They whip up a frenzy of hate calls from their like-minded listeners and anyone who supports the teachers is quickly dismissed and their calls are cut short.

At our school we have continued with most of our normal, daily activities, including extracurricular activities. The students and community, up until this past Monday, probably haven’t witnessed any strike action by the teachers and yet according to the media all teachers have stopped offering extracurricular activities, extra help and refuse to write report cards. Not true!

As of Monday we have gone on work to rule and every board across the province is participating in rotating one day strikes for the next two weeks. Of course the media is trying to create a crisis by making it all about the ‘poor’ students. Why then is it all right for parents to take their children out of school regularly for extended holidays, competitions and tournaments? I don’t hear the media chastising the parents for doing irreparable damage to their child’s education when they miss days and sometimes weeks of school.

Don’t get me wrong; I know that for some parents finding daycare for their children will be difficult. Tomorrow the parents in my board will be given 72 hours notice so that they can make alternate arrangements for their children. We as teachers, however, have to take a stand, not just for us but for everyone. If the government is allowed to violate the charter of rights and freedoms act and the right to negotiate fairly under the labour relations act who will they target next?

I know that the media will be highly critical when we walk, especially since we are the largest school board in Canada. I need to stop listening to the radio for a few days. I find myself yelling at the box in the corner when ‘they’ get it wrong. They don’t want to hear the truth. It doesn’t make for ‘good radio’.

Gaining Weight After Surgery?

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. sometimes I feel like my body enjoys tormenting me

I was very excited about my progress in the weight loss department. It seemed like I was finally moving in a positive direction again. The morning of my surgery I was down another 2 pounds for a total of 34 pounds. I actually thought I’d be down another pound or two after the surgery. Ha!

Wednesday morning I wasn’t allowed anything to eat or drink before being admitted to the hospital. The first food or drink that I had was about 5:00 that afternoon. I figured that I took in 800 calories for the whole day. Thursday morning I was up 2 pounds. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m the only person I know that gains weight when prepping for a colonoscopy.

I took it easy on Thursday. I had oatmeal and berries for breakfast, 2 slices of pizza and salad for lunch and for dinner I made spaghetti squash and a vegetable stew. The next day I was up another 2 1/2 pounds.

On Friday I picked up my activity level and walked 5k and continued to eat sensibly. Still up 4 1/2 pounds this morning. Oh my! What would any sensible person do? Why shop of course. That’s what I do when I’m feeling somewhat down.

First I went and had my hair cut. Great start. Then I discovered that a new Marshall’s opened up around the corner from my hairdresser’s salon. There’s nothing like retail therapy when you’re down because of your weight. The good thing about it was that trying on clothes wasn’t a chore but was actually fun. Not buying clothes from the Plus section is a huge boost for my ego. I’m actually trying on dresses these days and like how I look in them.

When I got home tonight I finally took 3 garbage bags of my ‘fat’ clothes to the Goodwill. There’s no going back now. I can’t afford it.

I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine with my fitness journey. It looks like tomorrow will be a nice day. Frances, K and I will start the day with a nice long walk and later in the afternoon the huge piles of leaves on my front lawn will be bagged and put on the curb. Today K took a great picture of the fallen leaves on the trail where we walk Frances.

Most of the leaves are down.

Who Looks Forward to Going to the Doctor?

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. apparently I do!

It took me over a year to find a new doctor when the last one I had decided to retire. Not that I begrudge anyone the decision to retire. Quite the contrary but when both your doctor and your husband’s doctor decide to leave the medical profession at the same time (no relation to each other) it makes the search doubly hard.

My husband was definite about wanting a male doctor and I didn’t care one way or the other. My former doctor had her own business but for some reason no one wanted to buy it from her and consequently all her patients had to look elsewhere for a new medical facility to meet their needs.

My husband’s former doctor on the other hand was quite young and we’re not quite sure why he left the profession. His office was in a clinic shared by numerous physicians. It was always curious to me why his patients weren’t divided up amongst the other partners.

More than a year after losing our family doctors I went into a tail spin and started to panic about not having my own personal physician. I know that the walk in clinic up the road would do in a pinch but there’s nothing like having a doctor that knows your personal history and recognizes you when you walk in the door.

You may recall my experience of having a feeling of dread the day after my first 5 k race. I felt like I was about to die. It turned out to be an anxiety attack but it spurred me on to find a doctor for each of us.

I called the clinic where my husband used to go on the off chance that someone in the office had taken on some of Dr. S’s former patients. They hadn’t but they did have a new doctor that was taking on new patients and another clinic down the road was also taking new patients. I couldn’t believe my luck.

My husband got his male doctor and I chose to see the female doctor in the other clinic. We both had appointments the following week. Our experiences were quite different, even though both clinics were part of the same organization. We were interviewed by our new doctors and my doctor arranged for me to see a specialist right away for a minor problem that I’ve had in the past. My husband was given numerous tests right away while I had to make another appointment for a full physical.

After one cancellation by my doctor I finally made arrangements to take the day off for 2 separate appointments that were to take place today. When I got home last night there was a message on the phone from the medical clinic’s head office. Not a good sign.

I couldn’t believe my luck. Not only was my appointment cancelled again but this time it happened because the clinic closed down on the weekend for good. No one could tell me if my doctor was relocating or even continuing to practise medicine. After voicing my disappointment I made some inquiries as to whether my husband’s doctor was still taking patients. Apparently he was so I booked another appointment with him for later in the day.

I called my principal and we decided to cancel my supply teacher. I still had my second appointment with the specialist but it was scheduled over the lunch hour and I could easily get to that appointment and back again without too much disruption in my school day. The new appointment was after school hours.

At the end of the school day I attended a budget meeting and then I headed over to meet my newest doctor. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t get my physical today but I knew that I had to get the process started again.

Dr. V is very young. I’ve always felt that the next doctor should be younger than me so that I wouldn’t have to worry about him or her retiring as I enter into my twilight years. Did I really say that? Anyway the first words out of his mouth were that he wouldn’t be staying at that location for much longer. I was gobsmacked but the good news according to him was that with this organization I could go to any of their clinics and would be looked at by anyone of their doctors.

I was and still am dismayed. The whole reason for this journey to find a new doctor was to establish a personal relationship with one individual who would know me as a person, not as data on a medical chart. The other kicker was that before I can make an appointment with him I have to find my old medical records and bring them with me to my next appointment…. if he’s still there.

What am I to do????????????