…. haven’t seen this much snow in almost 2 years
View from the backyard
View from the front door, early this morning.
…..sporting his new winter hat, busily shovelling the snow.
Snow in TO
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Tag Archives: husband
A Lot of Walking Today
….. 3 hours on the picket line, 50 minutes on the elliptical machine and 2k to dinner and back
I tossed and turned in bed last night and had weird dreams about being accosted on the picket line by an angry parent.
None of it happened of course, in fact, the day was surprisingly civil and we were met with a lot of positive support. For those of you who are unaware of what I’m talking about, let me explain. In Ontario today, 30 000 teachers walked off the job for a one day legal strike to protest Bill 115. In a nutshell, this bill has taken away our right to negotiate a new contract with our employer, the school board, and gives the government the power to determine our wages, benefits and working conditions without consultation or discussion. The minister would disagree with this statement but she has predetermined the conditions of these so called negotiations.
This strike is NOT about money. We have said that we are willing to take a pay freeze. It is about losing our democratic rights and the erosion of The Human Rights Code and our Labour Relations laws. If you want to take the time to read the following letter, it explains it much better than I can.
A Letter by a Member of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario
The media has said over and over again that teachers do not have the support of the public. After today I’m not so sure. Only one car in three hours gave us the thumbs down while dozens more honked in support. We had so many neighbours and parents come by with coffee, tea, water, soup and treats that our little cart was overflowing with the generosity and kindness of the ‘public’.
More food arrived after this picture was taken.
Even on the radio today, the media was extra tough on the Minister of Education by being more persistent in demanding that she answer their questions instead of side stepping the issues with pre-scripted statements that didn’t deal with the issue at hand. They are starting to put some of the blame for this mess into her court and are demanding that she take some responsibility for it.
I went to the gym today after walking for three hours, to work off the one Timbit, three homemade cookies and the 1/2 cup of hot chocolate I ingested. It doesn’t sound like much but when you haven’t eaten these things in a long time it seems like a huge indulgence. The scale shows that my weight is holding steady at a 32 to 34 pound loss.
We decided to go out for dinner tonight because neither of us felt like cooking. We walked to our favourite Indian restaurant and ordered and shared two vegetarian dishes, a plate of rice and an appetizer of chicken kabobs, nicely grilled and seasoned with lime juice. We had water as our beverage. We took the leftovers home and will probably add some of the sauce from the saag paneer to our eggs in the morning and one of us can probably have a light lunch from what’s left over. We walked home briskly after dinner to add about 2 more kilometres to my walking total for the day.
I have another appointment at the gym tomorrow for my last free personal training session and I also have an appointment for one more acupuncture treatment to see if it can alleviate my occasional bouts of dizziness. I’ll share my experience in a future a post.
Cheers!
An Old Fashion Christmas Market
….. Toronto hosted a great Christmas Market at the Distillery
The Christmas Market at night. Photo courtesy of http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297349897629_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x
One of my fondest memories of Christmas occurred when I was 11 years old. My father had a good year in real estate and decided to take the family on a three week vacation to Germany over the Christmas holidays to reconnect with family and friends that we hadn’t seen in almost 10 years.
My mother’s side of the family lived close to Frankfurt and we were treated to an evening at the Christmas Market in Frankfurt. It was magical. I remember that it was cold and there was a light covering of snow on the ground. I was in awe of the lights, sounds and smells. The entire event was hosted outside with vendors selling their wares from small wooden stalls. The treat that I savoured the most that evening was a small pink, green, or white confection made from coconut and sugar. To this day I can still taste the wonderful sweetness of those Kokosflocken. I’ve never been able to replicate those exact candies but I have sought them out, especially this time of year. I think I’ve come close to finding them but it’s never been the same.
Yesterday, my husband and I braved the cold and grey weather and made our way to the Distillery District in Toronto where Lowe’s was hosting this years Christmas Market. It was as magical as the one I remembered as a child. There were bier gardens, mulled wine stands and vendors selling everything from old fashion European ornaments, traditional German and Dutch Christmas baking to whimsical winter hats and mittens and children’s books. Of course Santa was on hand to have pictures taken with the kids and there were guest choirs singing classic Christmas songs. And if that wasn’t enough at the far end of the market there were rides for the whole family to enjoy.
After walking around for about an hour it started to rain and it came down hard. We quickly made our way to The Mill Street Brew Pub and stood in line with a mass of people who were also trying to escape the wet weather. We managed to put our name on the waiting list to be seated and to our surprise we were paged after only waiting for about 10 minutes, if that.
K and I enjoyed a lovely lunch together in the warmth of this very popular restaurant and we watched the rain come down from the window next to our table. It rained off and on all day but it didn’t stop the crowds from wandering around the market. My friend L, was there much later and it was still crowded after 5:00. I look forward to going again next year. Maybe I’ll go in the evening so I can enjoy the lights. The only other thing that would have made it perfect would have been a light dusting of snow and a bag of pink and green kokosflocken.
One happy husband, after a warm, healthy meal.
Spreading a Little Joy
….I decided to save my rant for another day
One of my new followers inspired me to write about events that bring me joy or in her words ‘what delights’ me. Earlier today I started writing about political issues that I feel passionate about but after my delightful afternoon with my husband I decided to put that piece on hold and share with you some of the happier events that I’ve attended in the last two weeks.
My youngest daughter has been working with a friend to promote their blogs and businesses. Earlier in the year I wrote about the stamp making workshop that they hosted. This time around they created a workshop around creative Christmas wrapping and featured numerous ideas for creating your own ties, tags, embellishments and paper. As always they were highly organized and personable and offered their eager clients all the materials they would need to experiment with. My daughter also made some delicious shortbread to serve with a variety of teas.
The group enjoyed the evening so much that the owners of the art store where the event was held allowed us to stay an extra half hour to finish our projects. Some of the things people made were package toppers, tags, bows, tree ornaments and stamped paper. Unfortunately the battery in my camera gave out and I didn’t get any pictures of the finished projects.
The next day my book club had their annual Christmas dinner. Since the book we were discussing was Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts and was set in Berlin, we decided on a German theme. I was in charge of dessert so I brought a tray of German stollen and other festive cookies and chocolates. I posted a review of the book earlier in the year. In the Garden of Beasts: A Book Review On average the group gave the book a rating of 4 out of 5, much higher than what we gave his last book, Devil in the White City.
A week later another group of friends got together for another annual Christmas dinner. We lovingly call ourselves the “Over the Hilltop’ gang because we worked together at Hilltop Middle School over 15 years ago and continue to meet three or four times a year. My friend L hosted the party and cooked the entire dinner. What a lovely gift. Again the food was amazing, the company warm and joyous and presents were exchanged.
The Sunday before this last dinner my husband and I treated our daughter, A, and her partner to a day of wine touring and dinner. We managed to visit 6 wineries, each unique in its own way. The winery that intrigued me most was the one called Organized Crime. The owner explained to us that years ago in the area there were two orders of Mennonites, a traditional ‘old’ order and a more modern order. The traditional order didn’t like that the other order played music during their services so in the dark of night they got in their buggies and stole the organ from the modern church. Hence the name ‘Organ’ized Crime.
The day before the wine tour I found myself at a fantastic craft show in the city. The crafters were all local and predominately young, although there were a few people there closer to my age. The crafts were original and beautifully made and displayed. The show was held in the Great Hall and in two other stores, all in the same block on Queen St. W.. I spent hours browsing and buying.
Today K and I attended the Toronto Christmas Market but I think I will save this experience for tomorrow’s post. Till then, cheers!
Stressed to the Max
… I wasn’t worried until I got the phone call
I always feel that no news is good news. It had been two weeks since my surgery; I was feeling good; the doctor who did the surgery hadn’t call me.
Then on Tuesday night when I got home from work there was a message on the phone to call my family doctor. It could only be one of two things; something showed up in the pathology report after the surgery or something showed up after my mammogram.
The next day from my office at school I called the clinic to find out why I had to see the doctor. The problem, however, is that you don’t get to talk to the doctor or even a nurse for that matter when you call the number they give you. All appointments are routed through a main switchboard and you speak to a phone receptionist who is nowhere near the actual clinic.
I know that you shouldn’t “shoot the messenger” but it was so frustrating trying to get any information from the receptionist. I knew she didn’t have access to my files and all she could tell me was that the visit had something to do with reviewing the results of the surgery.
The next problem was setting up an appointment that didn’t require me taking off an entire day or even part of a day to see the doctor. As I’ve probably told you before I’ve lost all my accumulated sick days because of a provincial government bill and I’ve already used up 3 of my 10 days for the year. The other complication is that my so called family doctor has moved further away to an area that is a little sketchy and the clinic he did work from has shut down.
My frustration on the phone was obvious and the receptionist, to her credit, was trying to help me find a solution. Apparently it doesn’t matter which clinic you visit your records can be accessed by any of their doctors. After being close to tears, we finally figured out that there is a clinic much closer to home and that I was able to get an appointment on Friday after work.
When I hung up the phone I turned around to find a small group of my library helpers standing at my door looking a little concerned. They told me I sounded a little stressed. What an understatement. I smiled and assured them that I was fine and gave each of them a job to do.
On Friday I left school early (4:15 instead of 6:00) and drove to my appointment. My friend, L, made me promise to call her as soon as I found out what the problem was. I thought I had left myself plenty of time to make it to my appointment but I ran into some unexpected traffic and I arrived 15 minutes late. It didn’t seem to matter though because the doctor was running late as well.
I had made reservations to meet friends for dinner that night for 7:00 and when I still hadn’t gotten in to see the doctor by 6:00 I started to fret about being late. I tried to call my husband but my phone had died so I hooked it up to the doctor’s outlet while I waited. As soon as I had enough juice to make calls I started calling my husband but he wasn’t picking up anywhere. Another thing to worry about.
When the nurse came into the room to see me she asked me why I was there. I explained the phone message I had received and she looked through her records. She then asked me if the appointment was for the breast screening results. There had been no mention of that before, so now I started to worry that maybe something had shown up on the mammogram. She repeated the same question and when I told her that I didn’t think so she told me that the doctor would be in to see me after one more patient.
I think that the next 15 minutes were the longest 15 minutes of my life. It’s funny how you think the worst and how many bad scenarios take hold of your mind. What will I tell my friends at dinner that night? Will I have to take more time off of work or will I just retire early?
Finally when my ‘new’ doctor arrived he put me at ease immediately. He went through all my charts, the letters from my surgeon and the breast screening results and couldn’t find any reason for me being there. The surgery went well, the mammogram was clear and I appeared to be very healthy. He double checked everything and couldn’t figure out why my last doctor underlined and question marked some of the details of the surgery. He asked me if there was anything else he could do for me while I was there so I had him give me my flu shots.
When I finally left the office I had 10 minutes to get to the restaurant. There was no time to go home first so I called my husband for the 3rd time, still didn’t get through to him so I left another message and told him to meet me at the restaurant. When I got there our friends were already waiting and the restaurant owner offered to called K again. Still no answer. A new worry! Eventually we did connect with my husband and he finally joined us at the restaurant but that’s another story for another time.
At least I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening and I didn’t have to tell people that I had a new health issue. I’m not sure I could have stayed quiet if there had been a problem. Unfortunately I forgot to phone my friend L back and I caused her some stress for a good chunk of her evening. She did eventually reach me at the restaurant and she figured out that everything was okay.
So what did I learn? …..that no news is good news!
I wish I could have been as relaxed as this little guy was while sunning himself outside my kitchen window this morning.
A Gift….a Beautiful Day in November
….. November 11th, Remembrance Day
As we prepared to go for our walk this morning we had no idea how beautiful a day it would be. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm. Here are a few of the sites we experienced on our walk.
I know that you may think posting a Tim Horton’s sign is odd but we’ve been waiting for months for this place to open. Being able to pick up a coffee on our early morning walks is a special treat, especially since this location is right in the middle of the college where we walk every day.
“Hurry up and finish that coffee, Carol!”
I pass this tree every day. Today was the first time I noticed what an unusual shape it has.
- A few final blooms.
My Son is Home for a Visit
….. and it was a great running and walking day
Last night we picked up our son from the train station. Well actually, we parked the car and waited for him in a pub near by. Union Station in downtown Toronto is currently undergoing renovation and it’s difficult to find a place to park and pick up people from the train station at the best of times.
Our son, B, has been living and working in the Netherlands for the last 9 months. He had an opportunity to attend a conference of sorts in Montreal for 3 days and he decided to extend his stay for an extra 4 days and come to Toronto to reconnect with family, friends and business associates.
I’ve really missed B and it’s great seeing him again, even if it is only for a short time. While he was sharing his plans for the next year or so I found myself feeling a little melancholy. His plans of course didn’t involve moving back to Canada anytime soon. When the plate of fries arrived at our table I found myself indulging way more than I had planned. Usually I’m satisfied with a taste or two and then I can stop. Last night I probably ate as many fries as my husband and my son. That darn emotional eating…. it got the better of me last night. Those were the first fries I’ve had in over 6 months and they weren’t that good.
Today was a new day and I was determined to have a better food day. It was also the cross country city finals for all elementary schools in Toronto today. We had 33 students who qualified to go the city finals. It was my job to walk back and forth from the start line to the finish line for each race and take pictures and keep track of where the students finished. I did this for 5 races and walked over 6000 steps (according to my pedometer) before I had to return to school.
The ‘bunny’ that lead the kids through the cross country trail.
The students did really well. One of our grade 2 boys placed first, one grade five boy placed second and two of our grade 3 girls placed 4th and 8th.
Tonight I left work a little bit earlier than I normally do. When I got home my husband wasn’t back from a business meeting north of the city and it was still daylight so I decided to take Frances for a long walk. We started off on our normal route but I added a few extensions along the way. When we were about 3/4 of the way home it started to rain so I ran the last 1k. A year ago this wouldn’t have been possible. Today it felt perfectly normal and it didn’t hurt or leave me breathless.
I checked the distance on the computer when I got home. On top of the 6700 steps I had walked earlier in the day, our walk added another 4k. It felt pretty good even though I did get wet. I made a great salad for dinner and now I feel rejuvenated. So all in all it was a great running day for the kids and a great walking and running day for me. I need to do this more often.
Cheers!
Reflections on What I’m Thankful For….
…. as the Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close
It’s been a wonderful weekend with family and friends. I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to.
I’m thankful for:
• the support and love of my 3 adult children and their significant others
My son is coming home for 4 days this month – something else I’m thankful for.
Thanksgiving dinner at our house.
• for being able to celebrate my father’s 86th birthday this weekend
• for my husband’s renewed health and the strength to fight his cancer
Celebrating the end of K’s cancer treatment.
Middle sister, CJ and baby sister, CS
• for the freedom to spend time with my friends
• for my new healthier body and the commitment I have to keep going on my weight loss journey
• for having a job that I love
• for a roof over my head, food at the table, clothes on my back and the freedom to voice my opinion
• for this new adventure called blogging and all the new people I’m meeting as a result – it’s literally opened the doors to the world for me
…. and finally
I’m thankful for 37 wonderful years with my husband and best friend. We have our ups and downs like many couples but it’s mostly ups and when it’s good it’s great.
My new favourite picture of the two of us.
Deep Frying the Turkey
…. no splatter burns or fireballs in the sky
Once we decided to deep fry our turkey this Thanksgiving we started to have reservations. The warnings on the deep fryer were ominous. Improper use could lead to serious burns, fire, explosion and potential death.
K spent a good part of the day assembling the propane burner and pouring water over the turkey and then measuring it to see how much oil we would need to cover the bird. I think the final total was 18 litres. The oil cost more than the bird.
My daughter G and her husband B arrived early to watch over the operation. The week before B kept showing us Youtube videos of grease fires and explosions from turkey deep fryers. He was certain that K was going to make him lower the bird into the hot oil as payback but my brave husband did the deed.
Everyone took turns watching over the pot.
One hour later. Done to perfection.
The advantages to deep frying your turkey are:
1. The short cooking time – 1 hour instead of the normal 4 to 5 hours for a 16 pound bird.
2. Very crispy and flavourful skin if you’re not worried about the calories.
3. A very moist bird. It wasn’t at all dry.
4. The social aspect – everyone standing around watching the fryer.
5. A sure fire way to get your husband to cook the turkey.
Colours of Autumn
….. summer left by the back door
It seems like yesterday when we were experiencing warm sunny days. I was still wearing my sandals to work and by noon sweaters and jackets were abandoned because of warm temperatures.
Today, cold winds and grey skies firmly established that summer is no more and that winter is not far behind. On our daily walk we now step over smashed walnuts and chestnuts and push through multi-coloured fallen leaves. The dog’s tail is picking up burrs and she’s finding the most disgusting things to roll in.
It’s the colours of autumn that I am enchanted with. The red of the sumac leaves against purple wild flowers and fading green to yellow grasses excites my senses and makes me want to get out my paints and play with colour washes.
Today, on our walk, I purposely looked for colours from foliage not often photographed when one thinks of autumn. The soft textures of tall grasses and milkweed pods to the spiky thorns of burrs and seed pods is like a magnet for my imagination and camera lens.
Enjoy!
My husband and Frances. They were always ahead of me because I stopped so often to take pictures.
Mama Cormier 
