Beetles, Tomato With a Nose and Too Much Salt

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. great party but up 2 1/2 pounds since yesterday

I know that the weight fluctuation has to be water but 2 1/2 pounds!!!!

My daughter, A and her partner, J hosted a family BBQ to celebrate J’s 30th birthday. I wasn’t too worried about my food choices but I didn’t count on the salt content of the foods that I chose to eat.

As you can see from the picture there were healthy choices but the BBQ’d meats were loaded with salt. No sense in dwelling on the past. I drank mostly water but did have 1/2 glass of cider and a sliver of birthday cake. Started the day with eggs and K made sure that there wasn’t any salt in them at all.

While sitting in the backyard, we enjoyed the garden and discussed successes and failures of our own gardens this summer. I learned some new tricks on trimming my tomato plants.

One of the things that I like about living in the city, where your neighbours live in such close proximity to each other, is the sharing that happens. During the party A’s neighbour leaned over the fence and handed her some of the vegetables he had harvested that day.

One of the tomatoes, literally had a cute little protrusion that looked like a nose.

On the fence, the other neighbour’s Rose of Sharon had some blooms spill over into A’s yard. Well into the party J became agitated by what she saw sitting in one of the flowers. Upon closer inspection I could see that a very large beetle was the cause of her anxiety. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a couple of pictures of this lovely beetle. Does anyone know what kind it is?

My Abundant City Garden

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….lost all track of time while I worked in the garden yesterday and my plans to head up to the cottage vaporized

I love the garden but it is a huge commitment and requires love, care and TIME.

I had packed my clothes, shopped for the necessities to bring back to the cottage BUT I needed to do one more little thing in the garden before I left…..

Well that ‘one little thing’ turned into many little things and before I knew it I was on a roll and couldn’t stop. It felt good to tidy up the weeds, trim the hedge (again!), cut the grass and pick the ‘fruits of our labour’. That evening I sat outside with my husband enjoying a lovely dinner of grilled vegetables and salmon fillets. Looking over the garden from our deck gave me a great deal of satisfaction and a feeling of pride.

This morning I walked around the garden and took pictures of the flowers and some of the vegetables that will be ready for harvesting in the coming weeks. If you remember my post from May where I showed you the beginnings of this garden I think you’ll agree that it’s come a long way. NOT BAD for a garden in the middle of Toronto.

Raised vegetable bed, ready for planting, May 21, 2012

My Garden in the Morning, July 22, 2012

The Heat, the News, my Classroom

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Mama Cormier

.…. it’s all getting me down

I’m not used to being in the city this long at the beginning of the summer. I forgot how much the heat keeps me from moving. That depresses me. My classroom is taking much longer to clean than I planned on. That depresses me. The news about teachers is all bad and once again the ‘hate on’ for teachers has begun. That depresses me.

I worked in my classroom for about 4 hours today. We’ve hit record breaking temperatures again and my classroom is situated on the south side of the school and we don’t have air conditioning. I need to clear away as much as I can so that the caretakers can come in and clean the room. I’m feeling the pressure and I couldn’t get it all done today. I need to go back. Sigh!

When I got home today I was so exhausted from the heat that I fell asleep. I need to exercise and I can’t find the motivation or the energy to do it. A few degrees cooler would help.

Our teacher’s contract is up at the end of the summer and for months we’ve been hearing the word “strike”. The provincial government has basically come in and told us that there would be a pay freeze for two years. Most teachers are not upset about that. It’s all the other things that they want to take away that took years to negotiate that upsets teachers. What’s the point of collective bargaining if the government can step in and do whatever they want without any consultation or ratification? The school board hasn’t even gotten involved yet and they’re typically who we bargain with.

Of course the media makes the teachers look bad and all the teacher haters come out of the woodwork. It’s always the same old arguments. Teachers get 3 months paid vacation (we get paid for 10 months of the year), they have a great pension (which we pay heavily into) and they only work 6 hours a day (too bad they don’t see the hours after school and on the weekend that most of us put in).

Retirement is looking better all the time but I love teaching and I’m not ready to let it go.

After the Rain by the Lake

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Mama Cormier

My Computer is Sick

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Mama Cormier

….. we have an appointment to see the computer doctor tomorrow morning

Today was K’s last chemo treatment. The girls and I decided to surprise him and join him for lunch at a nice restaurant on Roncesvales. He was really pleased to see us walk through the door. While we were in the restaurant an old friend of ours walked through the door. I don’t think he recognized us right away but we invited him to join us. It was nice to catch up with him. He told us that he had an art show next to the restaurant and invited us to look at his paintings.

In the coffee shop, next door, there were about a dozen small colourful abstract paintings done by Sam. After admiring his work the strangest thing happened. He asked us which ones were our favourites and then he pulled them off the wall and gave them to us. I tried to pay for them but he wouldn’t take any money. When I get back on my own computer I will post a picture of the painting he gifted me.

I might have to take a break from posting stories for a few days until I get my computer problems sorted. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. I also need my computer to work on my report cards. I miss it already. Stay tuned.

Time to Celebrate

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. so many things to be thankful for, but the best is that “there are no more cancer cells to kill” according to K’s doctor.

The day started off with a 1/2 pound weight loss on the scale and I can now say I’m officially down 13 pounds. Not as much as I had hoped for but I’ll take it.

I took the day off work to be with K for his first day of chemo in this last round. He rode his bike to the hospital and I drove to school to drop off a few things that needed to be dealt with today. When I got to the hospital my husband had already had his blood work done and the doctor decided to wait for me before she shared the good news.

All K’s organs are normal again, the lymph nodes have shrunk significantly and there are only a few small nodules here and there that don’t seem be a concern. We couldn’t believe it when she told us that this would be the last round because there were no more cancer cells to kill.

Apparently there is no permanent cure for CLL but K’s quality of life should be significantly better for some time to come. After this round it will take him about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks to feel better. We are over the moon with joy. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I didn’t get out for a walk this morning with Frances but I did go for a long one after dinner tonight. I love the route we take and I brought my camera to share with you what we see on our walks. These are 2 more things that I’m thankful for: being able to walk 5 to 6 km and love it and for living in one of the most beautiful areas in Toronto.

Life is good! Enjoy every minute of it.

Yesterday was a “piece of cake”!

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Mama Cormier

No need to worry……….

I guess I was too slow getting ready for our walk yesterday so I ended up going on my own. There’s something very zen like when you walk alone. It gives you time to reflect.

I also increased the distance on Saturday and went for 3.6 km and for 1/10 of it I ran. When I got home I mapped out a 5 km distance on g-pedometer.com. Maybe I’ll give that a whirl today. It looks like a fantastic day, weather wise.

The party was not an issue, food wise. I had 3 shrimp, no wine and I didn’t even see a cake.

Later in the day I took Frances for a short walk. We always start in the park, about 50 m down the street from the house. I’ve posted some pictures of the great view I’m blessed to see everyday. I don’t care what others say about Toronto, I think I live in one of the best cities in the world. The entire walk probably added another km to my total walking distance today.

I think I’ve figured out what’s going on with my pedometer. After walking 4000 steps yesterday and probably more I noticed that the little gizmo had reset itself back down to 0. It happened again later in the day. I guess you get what you pay for and since this this one was given to me for free I can’t really complain. Time to visit the Running Room and invest in a better one.