First Day of March Break

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..even though this is a PA day without pay it couldn’t come soon enough

The sun is shining, the temperature is warmer, I didn’t have to get up at 6:30, my husband made me a perfect omelet and I got out for a long walk with the dog and K this morning. Heavenly!

I leave for Calgary next week so I was hoping to get my hair cut before I go but when I phoned to make an appointment my regular hairdresser, who I haven’t seen in months, was booked solid until next Friday. Boo hoo! I’ve been going to a young woman just up the street and even though she does a pretty good job, the last time I went I wasn’t 100% satisfied. Well it must be my lucky day because the salon called back and told me that D had a cancellation. Yahoo!

Driving into town in the middle of the afternoon wasn’t bad and finding a place to park was relatively easy. I think a lot of people have already left town for March Break vacations. It was great to see D again. She was off for awhile planning her wedding and going on her honeymoon and that’s why I went elsewhere for a couple of cuts. The salon by the way is Brennan DeMelo on Adelaide St., if you’re interested.

As soon as D saw me see she knew exactly what I needed and could see why I wasn’t that happy with the last cut. The big news in her life is that soon after her wedding she got pregnant. She planned it that way just in case it took awhile to get pregnant. Well I guess it didn’t and she looks like she’s having twins, although the ultrasound showed only one baby. Her baby is due on August 28th which just so happens to be my birthday.

I’m happy for her but I was wondering if I was going to have to look for a new hairdresser when the baby is born but she assured me that she was coming back, even if it is only a few hours a week. I’ll really have to book in advance. I love my new haircut. It’s a bit shorter than the last cut. To fix the problem D had to cut more away but I don’t mind. I think the new cut looks great.

What’s next on the agenda. I’m not sure. We’re thinking about going to the movies tonight and tomorrow we’re hoping to go to the museum (ROM) and Sunday looks like a good day to check out the AGO (art gallery). The one thing I am sure about, though is going for long walks every morning as long as this nice weather holds out.

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Frame

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..every week Sue Llewellyn goes into her Oxford dictionary and randomly pulls a word that becomes the challenge for that week

The word this week is frame. I suppose you could take it literally and find pictures of frames or things held within a frame or one could go with the verb ‘to frame’.

A natural hand made frame made by a student in grade 3

A gate framing the entrance to a home in Dublin.

An arch framing the entrance to Dublin Castle.

A statue in Dublin framing my silly husband.

A tunnel framing Croagh Patrick in Westport.

To see more ‘A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Frame’ go to Sue Llewellyn’s site.

Spending Family Day With the Dogs

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….and my daughter and son-in-law

Today was another sunny but cold day in Toronto and it is Family Day. It is an official holiday in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. As the name implies it is a day to celebrate families.

Yesterday my husband and I went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) with out oldest daughter, A and her partner, J and saw the show, The Great Upheaval: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection, 1910 – 1918. I loved it. It’s not a huge show but it featured some amazing artists from the past, such as, Picasso, Kandinsky, Matisse, Chagall, Franz Marc, Kupka and Miro. There must have been at least 30 different artists whose works were on display. It was fascinating to see how this era of new technologies ( film, photography, planes, telephones, electricity, etc.) and the presence of World War I affected the art world. If you’re in Toronto the show goes till March 6, 2014. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed at this show so I don’t have any original photos to show you. The Great Upheaval.

After seeing the show we browsed through some of the other galleries at the AGO, where you are allowed to take photographs. Here are a few highlights of our morning.

: View from a small balcony above the gallery

: Lauren Harris

: Jean Riopelle

: Peterson Ewen

: New addition: The Italian Gallery

: View of the upper beams

Today, my husband, Frances and I arranged to meet our youngest daughter and her husband and Lucy at High Park. We took both dogs to the off leash area. We’ve had so much snow that all the paths are packed solid with snow and ice. Luckily K brought his cleats for his boots and our walk was relatively uneventful, falling that is. We did see a few people wipe out but no serious injuries happened.

Frances and Lucy had a great time, running and wrestling with each other. We got a good walk, as well, probably close to 4k. The humans got tired just watching those two dogs darting back and forth.

After looking at all this snow it’s hard to imagine that another storm is approaching us tonight and we’re expecting another 10 cm to fall. Sigh!

Cheers! Hope everyone had a great Family Day!

Walking for the First Time in Months

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….all the conditions were perfect this morning

Sunny, clear sidewalks and roads, very little wind and temperatures above -10 degrees celsius. I didn’t even wear my down parka but a hat and mittens were still necessary.

It felt like ‘old times’ with my husband and I taking Frances for a walk. There’s still a lot of snow in the park and on peoples properties but walkways have been cleared and there are lots of packed down paths in the park. Frances loved running back and forth on the rugby pitch and exploring the creek (luckily it’s completely frozen over). We stopped to get a coffee but the Tim Horton’s on the campus grounds was closed for reading week.

We decided to take a bit of detour and go to Rabba to pick up a few items for breakfast at home. Good decision. We made a pot of coffee and cooked up some eggs and sausages and served them on a wrap with tomato and avocado slices. Delicious!

A great start to a beautiful day. By the way our walk covered 4 kilometres.

Happy Valentine’s Day to My Sweetie

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….an early morning surprise

Usually my husband wakes me every morning with coffee in bed. Today, for Valentine’s Day I set the table the night before with a couple of little surprises for my husband to enjoy. I went to Rabba and purchased a couple of nice fresh buns, a big juicy tomato, some havarti cheese and slices of oven roasted chicken. One of my husband’s favourite breakfasts is a German frühstück.

Can you guess what’s in the bag?

: How about now?

Hope everyone who celebrates Valentine’s Day has a special one.

From Zero to Hero-Day 14

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Mama Cormier

Assignment: Blogger’s Choice

It’s been a crazy couple of days. Yesterday I had book club and didn’t get home till quite late. I tried to add a blogroll but it was taking too much time. Nothing seems to work when you’re in a hurry. Now that I know where to find the help I’ll attempt it again at a later date.

Today I got a phone call at work from my daughter. She called K at home and discovered that he had fallen on the ice and was in a lot of pain. He bought me a new iPhone for Christmas but forgot to put my new number on his contact list. Why he didn’t phone the school was beyond me. Anyway I phoned home and he asked me to come home right away. That’s saying something.

When I got home he was mobile but I could tell he was suffering. I checked his back and there were no bones sticking out or even any inflammation but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry so off to the hospital we went.

The emergency department wasn’t too busy when we got there and we went from triage to the admitting nurse to ambulatory care pretty quickly. We didn’t have to wait too long to see a doctor and he quickly assessed the situation and orders a series of x-rays. Now the wait began and the place quickly filled up.

To make a long story short, after 3 1/2 hours we left with good news that there were on broken bones and a prescription for Tylenol 3. There was also one other bit of new that we weren’t expecting. Apparently K had suffered a broken rib sometime in his life. When, where and how is a mystery to us both.

When we got home I took the dog out and then drove up the street to have the prescription filled and to pick up some dinner. Despite his pain K was hungry and of course nothing had been prepared because of his injury.

Today’s Zero to Hero assignment is the blogger’s choice. I decided to reply to comments made on my last post and to check out the one blog I wasn’t familiar with. Other than that there really hasn’t been enough time for anything else.

Last day of school for me tomorrow. On Friday we take the train to Chatham for my sister’s wedding (hopefully K will be feeling better and will still be able to make the trip).

Cheers!

From Zero to Hero – Days 9 and 10

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Mama Cormier

Friday’s Assignment: Follow five more blogs and/or topics.

Saturday’s Assignment: Add and customize two widgets. For this task, you’ll add two widgets: one that adds a text-based feature, and one that adds something image-based.

On Friday I did search out some more blogs and I searched the topic From Zero to Hero. I came across some interesting new blogs and left a few comments along the way. As a result I’ve had some new visitors to my blog. When I first started blogging I routinely went to the Reader section and checked out at least ten new blogs a day. At one point it was suggested to me by a random blogger that to increase your readership all you have to do is click on the like button without even reading the post. I soon discovered that when people don’t actually go into your site and just click the like button it doesn’t register as a ‘view’. I couldn’t understand how I could have 10 likes and only 3 views on the same post. I have since made it a personal policy to only click like button after I have opened the post and actually read it.

Today I added a gallery widget to my already full sidebar. I love taking macro shots with my camera so I made a photo gallery of some of my favourite subjects, insects and flowers. I also updated my Milestones widget. I decided to make the topic this challenge, From Zero to Hero and my two goals for the month of January.

Day 10 – Task for the day

Other than cleaning the kitchen yesterday which is and should be a normal daily task, I decided to devote my time to spending an evening with my husband. No computers or extra cleaning tasks. After a nice meal we enjoyed a movie together, something I haven’t done with him in awhile. We decided to watch Rainmaker. It’s an older movie but we hadn’t seen it before which is surprising because my husband is a huge John Grisham fan. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a very entertaining legal drama, infused with just the right amount of humour from Danny DeVito’s character, plenty of well thought-out characters, brought to life by talented actors and interesting subplots. The reviews that I read were mostly positive. They weren’t outstanding but overall satisfactory.

Today we took turns chopping up the ice on the porch, stairs, walkway and sidewalk. It was considerably warmer today, well above freezing but the rain and warmer temperatures actually made the ice slicker and more dangerous. Once again we didn’t go for a walk in the neighbourhood. We did, however, drive over to the Junction and did a little bit of shopping for dinner. When we got home it was my turn to chop and clear some ice. K’s hands are pretty sore from the constant pounding of the spade onto the ice. He didn’t notice it at first until he went out a second time to do some more clearing. I will probably feel it in the morning.

Tonight I chose to clean one of the counters in my kitchen which had become quite cluttered and to organize the lower corner unit where I store a lot of food containers and vases.

: Before

: Before

: After…neat and tidy

I’ve boxed a number of bottles and old Tupperware containers that I don’t use any more. I’ll be making another trip to the thrift store tomorrow to drop them off.

I’m already into day 11 but the assignment won’t show up for awhile. Time to go to bed. See you in the morning.

Cheers!

Things I’m Grateful for in 2013

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….despite a few ups and downs we’ve been blessed this year

Health

My husband continues to be ‘cancer’ free. His scans have been positive and for the most part is blood work is good. He’s suffered from shingles again but he’s on the mend and we’re waiting hear about surgery for his thyroid in the New Year.

I’ve been healthy this year. My weight goes up and down but I’m still more down than up and all my tests have come back with good news. Even my eyesight has improved to the point where I don’t need to wear glasses for driving anymore. I ran another 5k this year and I improved on my time from the year before.

My father has fully recovered from his fall this summer and is back to his daily walks with the dog.

Family

We visited with my husband’s family in Ireland this summer and met up with our son who we hadn’t seen in a year and a half. We also met his girlfriend for the first time.

This Christmas all my children and their significant others, including our son and his girlfriend spent Christmas Eve with us. On Christmas Day it snowed some more so Az truly experienced a white Christmas.

My sister in Chatham has been preparing for her wedding in January and we convinced my father to attend the wedding. We booked and paid for his train ticket and we will be going with him the day before the big event.

My brother-in-law surprised my sister in Calgary, on her birthday (Christmas Day) with a visit from her two sisters (me and C from Chatham) this coming March. He’s paid for our plane fares and is planning some more surprises when we get there. This is as much a surprise and treat for the two of us as well.

: G, B and Lucy

: B and Az

: My oldest daughter A and her partner J.

The biggest surprise happened Christmas night when my son announced that he proposed to his girlfriend, Az. My husband and I were the first to be told the joyous news but the phone calls to Iran, the U.S. and the sisters in Toronto soon followed.

Avoiding Disaster

This summer Toronto experienced an overwhelming amount of rain and thousands of homes were flooded. We, luckily, stayed dry and weren’t inconvenienced. This past week we were hammered with ice and again we were safe and warm and not in the dark. Thousands of homes around us (literally over 250 000) were affected with power outages and temperatures well below freezing. For many families the power still hadn’t come back on for Christmas. As of today there are still over 35 000 families without power (one whole week).

Doing a Job That I Love

Even though I could have retired almost two years ago, I continue to teach because I love it. I love the kids, I love what I teach and I love the people I work with. My colleagues and many members of the community have been so supportive and caring. They are like a second family. Thank you all for making coming to work a joy.

: Teaching Art

: Art on display

: My number one helper!

: My Boss

: Community Event

: Running Buddies

: What a good sport!

: Working together to make it a success.

Friends, Old and New

This year I’ve continued to stay connected to old friends from high school and I’m ever grateful for all of my friends. It takes effort to stay in touch when you move or change jobs but it’s worth it. Thank you for all the dinners, movies, canoe trips, concerts, walks, yoga classes and long talks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

: My girls and AB.

: Enjoying first breakfast at the cottage

My Blogging Friends

I couldn’t possibly mention all the people that follow me but I am most appreciative of those that take the time to write to me on a regular basis. I love hearing from you and the encouragement you give me to keep doing what I’m doing. When I started on this journey I had no idea where it would take me or how long it would last. It’s been almost two years and I don’t see stopping anytime soon. Thank you Mark, Viveka, Leanne, Mary, Beth, Dorothy, Rosemarie, Paul, Ann, Anne, Lee and Baz. I’m sure I’ve one or two of you but please be assured that your comments are always appreciated.

Happy New Year everyone! All the best in 2014.

Planting Tulips in December

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….temperatures warmed up enough to get a shovel in the ground

Sunday, December 1st…the first advent of the Christmas season and I’m in the garden planting tulip bulbs. About three weeks ago a parent at school kindly gifted me 40 tulip bulbs and advised me to plant them that weekend. I told her I had problems with squirrels digging up all my bulbs in the past so she also brought me a small bag of hen poop. Apparently they don’t like the smell. We’ll see.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the bulbs in the ground when the weather was warmer and the soil was still soft. Life just got in the way. Last weekend when I had some time I pulled out the trowel and almost broke it when I tried to turn the soil. It was so cold that the ground was frozen solid. Winter had arrived early.

This past weekend we were having the kids over for our annual pre-Christmas goulash and mulled wine party. I wanted to start decorating the house to get in the festive mood so I pulled out the outdoor lights. After testing each string and hauling the ladder out from the garage I started to drape the yew in front of the house. I noticed that the ground was pretty muddy so I decided to take advantage of the conditions and get my bulbs into the ground.

So there I stood in the drizzling rain, bent over and digging holes in the garden. My neighbours must have thought that I was crazy. Once all the bulbs were in the ground I continued to decorate the tree with the outdoor lights. It was still raining as I was literally tossing the strings over the branches. I made several trips into the house and I noticed that I was tracking in a lot of mud.

With only a couple of hours left before the kids arrived I got out the pail and mop and washed the floors, cleaned the mud from my shoes and set the table for our meal. I then drove up to the liquor store to buy the wine for our mulled wine or gluewine as we call it. My husband was in charge of making the goulash.

When the kids arrived we enjoyed some appetizers and cups of mulled wine while the spaetzle cooked. I underestimated the amount of German noodles that I needed to cook but there was more than enough of the goulash to go around. Everything was delicious. After dinner our son-in-law brought out the board game we bought him for his birthday and we all learned how to play Small World: Underworld from Days of Wonder. When the rules were being explained to us I really didn’t think I’d get the hang of it but once we started to play I was on a roll. In the end I tied for second place. My son-in-law, the game board master, was impressed with my standing.

Less than three weeks of school left before we’re off for the holidays. The Hundertwasser projects are coming along nicely and hopefully I’ll be able to post some of the finished projects in the next day or so. I’d better get off to bed. I have to get up early for more basketball practises. We play in the semi-finals next week. Till later.

Cheers!

Christmas Shopping On-Line

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..easy if you know what you want and don’t go for the first link

More and more I’ve been shopping on-line for Christmas presents. One of the reasons is that my adult children post everything they would like on-line with links as to where one can purchase the items. It really makes it easy but I have discovered a few glitches along the way.

First of all, when you’re ordering from Canada the free shipping claim is often null and void. By the time you pay the shipping you’re not saving very much money, if any. This is true for Amazon. com. The shipping charge was more than $16.00 for one item and the Canadian taxes hadn’t been added either. When I went to Amazon.ca the same item was initially a little bit more expensive but even with taxes in and no shipping charge the final price was cheaper than the American price. So Canadians beware.

Amazon.com and Amazon.ca are offering free shipping for a month on all items but after that you will be charged a $79.00 fee for the rest of the year. Personally I rarely shop on-line after Christmas so it doesn’t make sense to sign up for the free offer. If you’re willing to wait a few extra days for delivery you can get free shipping anyway. The lesson here is to read the small print.

If you use Paypal you can get a 5% discount back on all your purchases that you make for the next little while. I think its just from now until the first week in December but every little bit helps. I wish I could use Paypal for all my on-line purchases.

This year we used Elfster to organize our gift exchange. It’s been fun and it’s forced me to think about what I would really like for Christmas. At first I found it extremely difficult to write down what I wanted. I just couldn’t think of anything that fit within the $100.00 limit. I never have problems knowing what I’d like when I actually go shopping but the reality is that I probably don’t NEED anything. I did, however, come up with several items. Once I started I was on a roll and before I knew it I had nine items on my list. Some of them are over the limit but my husband doesn’t have to stick to the limit. The gift exchange doesn’t include significant others. I’m still responsible for getting my husband gifts and vice versa.

The best part of on-line shopping is having the parcels arrive at the door in a few days. It’s like Christmas opening the parcels, even though you know they’re for someone else. I think there’s some truth in the saying ‘It’s better to give than to receive’.

Cheers!

P.S. We’re finally having our gift exchange party tomorrow, even though we all know who we’re buying presents for. My husband is starting to feel better as he recovers from his shingles and is finally up to preparing his Gluewein and Goulash dinner.