Today's prompt: "What are you good at that nobody knows about?"
Answer: Nothing. When it comes to my talents I like to share them and don't keep them hidden, I guess.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Fallen Behind on the #BEDM Challenge
Unsurprisingly, my weekend away has led me to fall behind on the #BEDM challenge. I've missed the posts on "What's in Your Fridge?" (Friday), "Five Favourite Albums" (Saturday), and "Fantasy Dinner Party" (today). My initial plan was to write them all today and post, but I'm too exhausted to do this. I'm bummed that I didn't get to the top 5 albums post, but that one requires a bit of thought. Maybe I'll just use these topics when I have blogger's block in June.
My camping weekend with my Kenya group was great! We went to a farm outside of Mount Forest (rural SW Ontario) and spent the weekend doing various physical tasks and doing some prep work for our Kenya trip. It was a really great weekend. The weather was paradoxical: both really great and awful at the same time. It was an unseasonably chilly weekend, but really sunny. This was great for working outdoors: no sweating and no being eaten alive by insects. However, it was awful for sleeping. It was really really really cold at night... I think the temp went down to 2 degrees Celsius, and who knows how cold that actually felt. I'll admit it - I didn't survive sleeping outside. I moved into the house. I'll blame it on the fact that I had a tent to myself. If I was sharing with others there would have been more body heat and it would have been bearable.
Still, it was a great weekend. The group of students really bonded with each other and they are a great group of kids. My level of looking forward to Kenya has really increased after this weekend. I like all of the other adults who are going to. I took a break from work to go geocaching with one of the other chaperones, and it was fun. The owners of the farm were great people too; it's always nice to meet new people.
I got back to the city today at 3 pm, spent an hour decompressing, and then went for a run. This is some nice running weather. Then I had some dinner, and watched one episode of the new Arrested Development. It was really good... I so badly wanted to watch a second but I was too tired so I shut my eyes for what I thought would be a half hour nap, but what turned into one and a half hours. Then I caught up on some emails, called my mom, and here I am.
Blogging, but not catching up on #BEDM.
That's one thing about challenges in life, whether they be sleeping outside in freezing weather. You have to think about whether pushing through them is worth the payoff. With both of the challenges that I've reneged on this weekend, I really think that there wasn't much payoff. I could have gotten sick from sleeping outside, and I need to rest, not write.
That's life. But at least I didn't renege on running!
My camping weekend with my Kenya group was great! We went to a farm outside of Mount Forest (rural SW Ontario) and spent the weekend doing various physical tasks and doing some prep work for our Kenya trip. It was a really great weekend. The weather was paradoxical: both really great and awful at the same time. It was an unseasonably chilly weekend, but really sunny. This was great for working outdoors: no sweating and no being eaten alive by insects. However, it was awful for sleeping. It was really really really cold at night... I think the temp went down to 2 degrees Celsius, and who knows how cold that actually felt. I'll admit it - I didn't survive sleeping outside. I moved into the house. I'll blame it on the fact that I had a tent to myself. If I was sharing with others there would have been more body heat and it would have been bearable.
Still, it was a great weekend. The group of students really bonded with each other and they are a great group of kids. My level of looking forward to Kenya has really increased after this weekend. I like all of the other adults who are going to. I took a break from work to go geocaching with one of the other chaperones, and it was fun. The owners of the farm were great people too; it's always nice to meet new people.
I got back to the city today at 3 pm, spent an hour decompressing, and then went for a run. This is some nice running weather. Then I had some dinner, and watched one episode of the new Arrested Development. It was really good... I so badly wanted to watch a second but I was too tired so I shut my eyes for what I thought would be a half hour nap, but what turned into one and a half hours. Then I caught up on some emails, called my mom, and here I am.
Blogging, but not catching up on #BEDM.
That's one thing about challenges in life, whether they be sleeping outside in freezing weather. You have to think about whether pushing through them is worth the payoff. With both of the challenges that I've reneged on this weekend, I really think that there wasn't much payoff. I could have gotten sick from sleeping outside, and I need to rest, not write.
That's life. But at least I didn't renege on running!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
#BEDM - Compliments
"What's the best compliment that you ever had?"
I've had the day to think about today's BEDM prompt. I'm lucky: I've received a good number of compliments in my life. I think genuine compliments are important. It feels so good when you get one; and it's equally important to give them. I often resolve to give more of them to my friends, colleagues, students, and family.
Anyway, it's hard to choose just one best compliment, but I think the ones that are most important to me usually come from my students.
I've been an itinerant teacher for most of my career; this means that I didn't have a classroom of my own and I get shuffled from room to room during the day. Heck, I used to be happy if I had two classes in a row in the same room. It's so nice not to have to pack up all of your stuff and move in five minutes.
This year I've been lucky enough to be in one room for all of my classes. It's an older science lab, and not the prettiest room. The cabinets are old and an ugly shade of brown. Their doors are made of glass so you can see the older equipment inside. Old hotplates don't look pretty. The room is just plain worn, and there's not much you can do to make it look sparkly.
However, it's mine, and I've been able to beautify it somewhat. I've added some colourful science posters that I've collected over the years, and while one bulletin board at the room has info that we're required to post hanging on it (assessment policy, school rules etc.), I've turned the other into my Science Wall of Fun with all of my favourite science cartoons. I have some Sea Monkeys at the front of the room, which are an easy and surprisingly entertaining classroom pet. The sides of the room are usually covered with chart paper with students' ideas from some recent activity. I like that the topics on the side are ever-changing.
The point of this is that it's nice that I have a space that's mine, and I find that students have come to associate the space with their experiences in my class. The best compliment I get is when a student from last semester drops by to visit at lunch, or is passing by randomly during class and sticks their head and looks around the room and says "I miss this class".
It just reminds me that I'm pretty great at creating a welcoming learning environment for my students and that they enjoy my classes. It's not that they didn't when I was traveling from room to room, I just feel that it's nice this year to have a permanent spot that kids can come back and remember the good times. I just really feel good when they say that they miss my class. It's a great compliment. :)
I've had the day to think about today's BEDM prompt. I'm lucky: I've received a good number of compliments in my life. I think genuine compliments are important. It feels so good when you get one; and it's equally important to give them. I often resolve to give more of them to my friends, colleagues, students, and family.
Anyway, it's hard to choose just one best compliment, but I think the ones that are most important to me usually come from my students.
I've been an itinerant teacher for most of my career; this means that I didn't have a classroom of my own and I get shuffled from room to room during the day. Heck, I used to be happy if I had two classes in a row in the same room. It's so nice not to have to pack up all of your stuff and move in five minutes.
This year I've been lucky enough to be in one room for all of my classes. It's an older science lab, and not the prettiest room. The cabinets are old and an ugly shade of brown. Their doors are made of glass so you can see the older equipment inside. Old hotplates don't look pretty. The room is just plain worn, and there's not much you can do to make it look sparkly.
However, it's mine, and I've been able to beautify it somewhat. I've added some colourful science posters that I've collected over the years, and while one bulletin board at the room has info that we're required to post hanging on it (assessment policy, school rules etc.), I've turned the other into my Science Wall of Fun with all of my favourite science cartoons. I have some Sea Monkeys at the front of the room, which are an easy and surprisingly entertaining classroom pet. The sides of the room are usually covered with chart paper with students' ideas from some recent activity. I like that the topics on the side are ever-changing.
The point of this is that it's nice that I have a space that's mine, and I find that students have come to associate the space with their experiences in my class. The best compliment I get is when a student from last semester drops by to visit at lunch, or is passing by randomly during class and sticks their head and looks around the room and says "I miss this class".
It just reminds me that I'm pretty great at creating a welcoming learning environment for my students and that they enjoy my classes. It's not that they didn't when I was traveling from room to room, I just feel that it's nice this year to have a permanent spot that kids can come back and remember the good times. I just really feel good when they say that they miss my class. It's a great compliment. :)
***
I'm probably going to get behind on Blogging Every Day this weekend because I'm going camping with my Kenya group on a farm. There will be hard labour apparently. It's to allow for bonding/preparation for the summer. Wish me luck. :D
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
#BEDM - A letter to 13 year old me
Dear Young Christielli,
Be confident. You can do way more than you think you can. Take on challenges. Never hold back. Don't be ashamed that you are super smart.
Love,
You in 20 years
Be confident. You can do way more than you think you can. Take on challenges. Never hold back. Don't be ashamed that you are super smart.
Love,
You in 20 years
***
In other news, I have some SUPER nerdy news to share with you. It's no secret that I'm a nerd, who came from a family of nerds. Naturally, Jeopardy! was watched in my household every weeknight. My parents still watch religiously. I'm careful not to phone them between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm.
Back in November, I think it was, my parents told me that Jeopardy! was holding an online test for people who could potentially make auditions in Toronto. More to make them happy than anything, I signed up to do the test, and was online at my appointed time. The test consisted of fifty questions (not in Jeopardy! format) and I got 30 seconds to respond to each one. There were lots that I knew I got right, a few I made good guesses on, some I made ridiculous guesses on, and some I drew blanks on. I figured that maybe I got between 35-40 right. Anyway, it was fun taking the test and I completely forgot that I'd even taken it...
Until this evening. I got an email from the show saying that I'd passed the test and was granted an exclusive audition in Toronto in July! Oh my goodness! I feel smart that I made it to step 2! I'm totally going to do the audition. I'll have no expectations, other than it'll be interesting to audition for a TV show.
Anyway, that news kind of made my day. :) 13 year old me would be proud/mortified that I'd go on TV showing my nerdiness. 33 year old me is stoked.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
#BEDM - Dream Job
When it comes to reality, I think I do have my dream job. It's something for which I have the qualifications, and capabilities. I get to actually apply what I learned in university to my job, and it challenges me daily. I get paid a good wage with good benefits. I enjoy going to work each day. Yes, it has its frustrations (like how we've hit the point in the year where students are getting closer to summer and their attention spans wane), but overall it's a great career for me and I am thankful for it.
However, what would be my absolute dream job?
I think I'd have two part-time jobs.
One, for when I need downtime, would be working in an independent book/music store. I'd love chatting with customers about books and music, and just hang out reading during slow times.
My other job would be to write travel guides. Getting paid to stay in different hotels, try out different restaurants and experience different attractions. And then have some time to write about it. That would be great.
I think I would tire of all of the traveling and need quiet time, and that's where the book/music store job would come in. And then when my publisher would need a new travel guide, off I'd go.
However, what would be my absolute dream job?
I think I'd have two part-time jobs.
One, for when I need downtime, would be working in an independent book/music store. I'd love chatting with customers about books and music, and just hang out reading during slow times.
My other job would be to write travel guides. Getting paid to stay in different hotels, try out different restaurants and experience different attractions. And then have some time to write about it. That would be great.
I think I would tire of all of the traveling and need quiet time, and that's where the book/music store job would come in. And then when my publisher would need a new travel guide, off I'd go.
Monday, May 20, 2013
#BEDM - Newsflash
Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is to write about something in the news.
Well, I think the biggest piece of news for Torontonians is that there is supposedly a video of our Mayor smoking crack-cocaine with some drug dealers. This story was originally broken on the US website Gawker: apparently a couple of gentlemen invited the dude from this gossip site to view a video of Rob Ford smoking crack. They wanted to sell the video for six figures.
After the Gawker story broke, the Toronto Star published a similar article where two of their reporters saw the same video and were certain it was the Mayor in the video.
The next day, the Mayor's response was that the claims of the video were "ridiculous" and that it was just the Toronto Star going after him.
The story has made international news: CNN, the BBC, The New York Times, etc. Perhaps it's a surprise to the international community that the Mayor of North America's fourth largest city is being accused of smoking crack.
However, I think it's shocking to Ford-supporters and detractors alike here in Toronto, but entirely plausible. This is a man for whom scandals have followed him closely both during his days as a city councillor and as Mayor.
DUI and marijuana possession charges in Florida. Domestic disputes here in Toronto. Campaign finance irregularities. Calling 9-11 on a comedian. His denial of, and then apology for, shouting awful things at a couple during a Leafs game. (He blamed beer.) The fact that for a short while, his Mayorship was revoked by a judge for conflict of interest (however he won his appeal). Being accused of ass-grabbing by a former mayoral candidate at a party. Being asked to leave another party for being under the influence of something. And now this. His scandals have been summarized nicely by NYMag here. (Hey - if our Mayor is making so much international news, does this finally mean we're a world class city?)
When there's so much smoke, there's got to be fire somewhere.
If a video surfaced of PM Harper, who I equally dislike, smoking crack, I'd be highly skeptical. I don't agree with the man's politics at all, but he's fit for leadership. Our Mayor, on the other hand, is a different story. There's so much controversy and irregular behaviour. There seems like there is definitely a problem, and if he has addiction issues, it's time for him to go get treatment and leave the city in someone else's hands.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this scandal in the coming days... There is a crowdsourcing campaign by Gawker to raise $200,000 to buy the video. As of now, they are over $81,000 there. I'd hate for drug dealers to get that cash, but seriously, I think the video needs to see the light of day so that its veracity can be determined.
Until then, you can have lots of fun playing who said it? Mayor Rob Ford vs. Diamond Joe Quimby.
Well, I think the biggest piece of news for Torontonians is that there is supposedly a video of our Mayor smoking crack-cocaine with some drug dealers. This story was originally broken on the US website Gawker: apparently a couple of gentlemen invited the dude from this gossip site to view a video of Rob Ford smoking crack. They wanted to sell the video for six figures.
After the Gawker story broke, the Toronto Star published a similar article where two of their reporters saw the same video and were certain it was the Mayor in the video.
The next day, the Mayor's response was that the claims of the video were "ridiculous" and that it was just the Toronto Star going after him.
The story has made international news: CNN, the BBC, The New York Times, etc. Perhaps it's a surprise to the international community that the Mayor of North America's fourth largest city is being accused of smoking crack.
However, I think it's shocking to Ford-supporters and detractors alike here in Toronto, but entirely plausible. This is a man for whom scandals have followed him closely both during his days as a city councillor and as Mayor.
DUI and marijuana possession charges in Florida. Domestic disputes here in Toronto. Campaign finance irregularities. Calling 9-11 on a comedian. His denial of, and then apology for, shouting awful things at a couple during a Leafs game. (He blamed beer.) The fact that for a short while, his Mayorship was revoked by a judge for conflict of interest (however he won his appeal). Being accused of ass-grabbing by a former mayoral candidate at a party. Being asked to leave another party for being under the influence of something. And now this. His scandals have been summarized nicely by NYMag here. (Hey - if our Mayor is making so much international news, does this finally mean we're a world class city?)
When there's so much smoke, there's got to be fire somewhere.
If a video surfaced of PM Harper, who I equally dislike, smoking crack, I'd be highly skeptical. I don't agree with the man's politics at all, but he's fit for leadership. Our Mayor, on the other hand, is a different story. There's so much controversy and irregular behaviour. There seems like there is definitely a problem, and if he has addiction issues, it's time for him to go get treatment and leave the city in someone else's hands.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this scandal in the coming days... There is a crowdsourcing campaign by Gawker to raise $200,000 to buy the video. As of now, they are over $81,000 there. I'd hate for drug dealers to get that cash, but seriously, I think the video needs to see the light of day so that its veracity can be determined.
Until then, you can have lots of fun playing who said it? Mayor Rob Ford vs. Diamond Joe Quimby.
#BEDM - Traditions
This post is a day late, as I was visiting my parents in Stratford over the Victoria Day long weekend. (I'm back now.)
It's ironic that the topic of traditions came up over the long weekend. Most of my traditions are related to Christmas - work friend gatherings, family traditions, and high school friend gatherings. However, even though the ultimate May 2-4 tradition only happened when I was in high school, i.e. over a four-year period more than 15 years ago, I can't have the Friday of this long weekend pass by without thinking of this tradition.
And that is my friend Sandee's legendary May 2-4 pit parties.
They haven't happened in eons, but I feel that on the Friday of the long weekend in May, I should be convincing someone of age to buy me a lot of booze, and getting a ride somehow to my friend Sandee's place, way out in the country. These parties grew by the year, and I barely remember them, but they were part of my teenagehood.
This year, I had a small bonfire with some of my high school friends last night. We didn't drink much, nor reminisce about the old days, but I guess as long as some of us get together over the long weekend, the tradition is kept.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
#BEDM - Best Friends
This is going to be a quick post, because I gotta catch a train this morning!
I'm really lucky in life because I have many awesome friends from different places.
I have a great circle of friends on work, on whom I can rely on for anything, whether it be for professional or personal reasons. One thing I notice about my circle of friends at work: we are all passionate educators, who are in the profession for the "right reasons" (to quote the Bachelor/Bachelorette, ha-ha). It goes to show you how people with similar energies attract each other. Anyway, they are awesome and I am thankful for them.
I spend a lot of time from my friends from university days. Even though some of them have moved away (like my BFF Becca T) we still get to see each other and keep in touch. I find that sometimes I don't get to see people as much as I'd like to (damned adulthood) but I'm thankful for birthdays and other occasions that bring us together. I'm lucky to have my friend Mathew from my university days as a close friend too. He's the type of guy who will drop by my house to talk to me when I need a friend even if he's hit his head at a volleyball game and might have a concussion.
Likewise, I love my friends from high school. I still travel, run, and hang out with many of these women. I always think that high school me would be absolutely shocked that my buddies and I are running 10K races in our 30s. (I couldn't run 0.5 km in high school.) This weekend I'm heading home to Stratford, so I'm looking forward to seeing some for dinner/drinks.
I love my friends from blogging too. I had a great summer last year getting to visit with lots of them, and would love if I could win the lottery and travel about visiting people when I need it. That'll be the dream.
Also, I have to say that my mom is an awesome friend these days. Long story short: I've always had a good relationship with my mom, but there were areas of my life that I didn't share with her. I was closed and very selective. However, in the past year or so, I've been more open with her and it's been awesome.
This long weekend is going to be friend-filled. Last night I had a monthly date with my pal Elaine (we joke that we're once a month friends... which is significant actually) and my work spouse (BFF from work) called me 'cuz she needed to get out of the house. I invited her to come out with my pal Elaine and I, and Elaine brought a friend, so it was fun. Tonight I'm seeing my friend Vern, and tomorrow night I have drinks with various Go9 people. Mathew and I are going to try to catch the Jays' game on Monday.
So yes, I'm super blessed with many best friends. :)
I'm really lucky in life because I have many awesome friends from different places.
I have a great circle of friends on work, on whom I can rely on for anything, whether it be for professional or personal reasons. One thing I notice about my circle of friends at work: we are all passionate educators, who are in the profession for the "right reasons" (to quote the Bachelor/Bachelorette, ha-ha). It goes to show you how people with similar energies attract each other. Anyway, they are awesome and I am thankful for them.
I spend a lot of time from my friends from university days. Even though some of them have moved away (like my BFF Becca T) we still get to see each other and keep in touch. I find that sometimes I don't get to see people as much as I'd like to (damned adulthood) but I'm thankful for birthdays and other occasions that bring us together. I'm lucky to have my friend Mathew from my university days as a close friend too. He's the type of guy who will drop by my house to talk to me when I need a friend even if he's hit his head at a volleyball game and might have a concussion.
Likewise, I love my friends from high school. I still travel, run, and hang out with many of these women. I always think that high school me would be absolutely shocked that my buddies and I are running 10K races in our 30s. (I couldn't run 0.5 km in high school.) This weekend I'm heading home to Stratford, so I'm looking forward to seeing some for dinner/drinks.
I love my friends from blogging too. I had a great summer last year getting to visit with lots of them, and would love if I could win the lottery and travel about visiting people when I need it. That'll be the dream.
Also, I have to say that my mom is an awesome friend these days. Long story short: I've always had a good relationship with my mom, but there were areas of my life that I didn't share with her. I was closed and very selective. However, in the past year or so, I've been more open with her and it's been awesome.
This long weekend is going to be friend-filled. Last night I had a monthly date with my pal Elaine (we joke that we're once a month friends... which is significant actually) and my work spouse (BFF from work) called me 'cuz she needed to get out of the house. I invited her to come out with my pal Elaine and I, and Elaine brought a friend, so it was fun. Tonight I'm seeing my friend Vern, and tomorrow night I have drinks with various Go9 people. Mathew and I are going to try to catch the Jays' game on Monday.
So yes, I'm super blessed with many best friends. :)
Friday, May 17, 2013
#BEDM - Walk to Work
For today's Blog Every Day in May post, the assignment was a photoessay of our trip to work.
I left my house at 7:35 listening to Andrew McMahon's Pop Underground EP.
I take the bus from my apartment to Eglinton Station. I wasn't able to get a picture of this part of my journey because my neighbour was leaving at the same time and we had a nice chat. He and his family used to live in the apartment next to mine, but moved to a different unit recently. I had no idea they'd moved.
I hopped off the bus at Eglinton Station and used my Metropass to transfer outside the station instead of inside, since it shaves about 3 minutes off my travel time.
Here's a photo of all the crap I was carrying with me today. Giant black Lululemon bag that fits my laptop, gym clothes, and etc. Lunch in the flowered bag. Clipboards from yesterday's field study in the red bag. (I went straight home from the site instead of coming back to school.... hence more to carry.)
Today I was on one the TTC's newer trains. Subways aren't as packed on Fridays as on other days of the week.
I have to change trains at Bloor station.
I arrive at Dufferin station, which is under construction right now. All of the tiles are new, but there's still lots to be done. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks upon completion.
Next stop is Tim Horton's for coffee. (How Canadian of me.)
Then I have to jaywalk across Bloor Street.
Last, here's a picture of the tree-lined street I walk down to get to my final destination.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
#BEDM: Pampering
Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is pampering: what is your ideal way to pamper yourself and relax.
Three words. Treat. Yo. Self.
I don't say that I'm pro at something unless I am. And I'm pretty pro at treating myself.
The BEDM question is what is your ideal way to treat yourself. I have to say that I agree with Donna and Tom on this one: clothes, fragrances, massages, mimosas, fine leather goods. Treat yo self.
I must admit that perhaps last Saturday was Treat Yo Self 2013 for me. (Who I am kidding... I don't limit Treat Yo Self to one day.) My pal Heather and I spent the day treating ourselves before the big race on Saturday.
15% off sales at Anthropologie? Treat yo self. (Two new summer tops.)
New book at Indigo? Treat yo self. (Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris.)
New black Toms at The Sporting Life? Treat yo self.
Going for a beer with my personal trainer?* Treat yo self.
Indulgent Italian dinner at La Vecchia with two more beers and dessert wine? Treat yo self.
That's pretty ideal pampering. I think Heather and I did a great job.
*My personal trainer has moved to Calgary! I'm pretty sad because I liked the guy. I get a new one though, and I start with him tomorrow. He seems nice, but maybe more intense (in a serious way) than my old one. I feel that my old one left at a good time: he got to see me lose 20 lbs, cut 6 minutes off my 10K run time (heck, I am still impressed that I can run 10K again), and for our last session on Tuesday, I ended by rowing 1000 m in 4 minutes and 44 seconds which blew away my old time.
Anyway, he was having a going away party so we dropped by for a beer which was nice.
Three words. Treat. Yo. Self.
I don't say that I'm pro at something unless I am. And I'm pretty pro at treating myself.
The BEDM question is what is your ideal way to treat yourself. I have to say that I agree with Donna and Tom on this one: clothes, fragrances, massages, mimosas, fine leather goods. Treat yo self.
I must admit that perhaps last Saturday was Treat Yo Self 2013 for me. (Who I am kidding... I don't limit Treat Yo Self to one day.) My pal Heather and I spent the day treating ourselves before the big race on Saturday.
15% off sales at Anthropologie? Treat yo self. (Two new summer tops.)
New book at Indigo? Treat yo self. (Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris.)
New black Toms at The Sporting Life? Treat yo self.
Going for a beer with my personal trainer?* Treat yo self.
Indulgent Italian dinner at La Vecchia with two more beers and dessert wine? Treat yo self.
That's pretty ideal pampering. I think Heather and I did a great job.
***
*My personal trainer has moved to Calgary! I'm pretty sad because I liked the guy. I get a new one though, and I start with him tomorrow. He seems nice, but maybe more intense (in a serious way) than my old one. I feel that my old one left at a good time: he got to see me lose 20 lbs, cut 6 minutes off my 10K run time (heck, I am still impressed that I can run 10K again), and for our last session on Tuesday, I ended by rowing 1000 m in 4 minutes and 44 seconds which blew away my old time.
Anyway, he was having a going away party so we dropped by for a beer which was nice.
***
I've also been having a really nice week at school. This week was the big dissection (fetal pig) for my grade eleven biology class. They did such a great job. It's really fun having an activity where your students are highly engaged in learning. They get right into it: making incisions, unraveling the intestines to measure the length, walking around the classroom with various organs in hand, and performing brain surgery. It's kind of gross, but really fun.
Today I spent the entire day outside and the weather was beautiful. I took my grade 11 environmental science class on a field study where we collected bugs from the bottom of a river to assess the health of the river. Again, it was so fun to watch kids so engaged in learning! They loved putting on hipwaders and going into the river, and we saw lots of "wildlife" today: they caught some crayfish, found a frog and spotted a weasel. Moreover, they spent over an hour staring into buckets of water to find and identify teeny tiny bugs. It was great.
I got high praise from one student: "Miss, I won't lie to you. Yesterday I thought this trip was going to suck and I didn't really want to go. But you know what, it wasn't bad!"
So yes, I've been also treating my students to some fun learning experiences this week. :) It's important to not only treat yo self, but the other selves in your life.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
#BEDM - Life's A Lesson
Today's #BEDM question is "What is the single most important lesson you have ever had?"
My honest answer is that I'm not sure. I feel there are some lessons that life keeps trying to teach me that I don't learn and I keep repeating the same mistakes. These lessons would be:
a) Listen to your gut (especially when you don't want to) --> I tend to ignore my gut when it's telling me things I don't want to hear. I'll make mistakes full on knowing that I am making them, but hoping against hope that they aren't mistakes. This has never worked in my favour, and I really should stop doing it but I can be stubborn.
b) Live in the present --> Again a lesson I understand, but I don't practice. I can spend way too much mental energy focussing on the past (which I can't change) and the future (which I can't control) and don't enjoy the present. Living in the moment is so much more difficult that you'd think.
c) Quit being so hard on yourself --> I am my worst critic. Even though I've been having some awesome victories this year when it comes to fitness, I'm still engaging in far too much negative discourse in my head. If anyone spoke to me the way I think about myself, I'd tell them off. Ugh, I need to get better at silencing that awful (and harsh) inner critic. It's not productive.
I feel like with these lessons, I'm like the kid who can get an A on her chemistry test but cannot perform an acid-base titration to save her life. (Actually that was me in high school.) It's all theory, but no practice.
But one lesson I've learned that I do practice is humour is a pretty awesome antidote, so I'll stop this post with a hilarious chemistry cartoon that relates to my nerdy analogy.
Oh Dubstep Kitty. :)
My honest answer is that I'm not sure. I feel there are some lessons that life keeps trying to teach me that I don't learn and I keep repeating the same mistakes. These lessons would be:
a) Listen to your gut (especially when you don't want to) --> I tend to ignore my gut when it's telling me things I don't want to hear. I'll make mistakes full on knowing that I am making them, but hoping against hope that they aren't mistakes. This has never worked in my favour, and I really should stop doing it but I can be stubborn.
b) Live in the present --> Again a lesson I understand, but I don't practice. I can spend way too much mental energy focussing on the past (which I can't change) and the future (which I can't control) and don't enjoy the present. Living in the moment is so much more difficult that you'd think.
c) Quit being so hard on yourself --> I am my worst critic. Even though I've been having some awesome victories this year when it comes to fitness, I'm still engaging in far too much negative discourse in my head. If anyone spoke to me the way I think about myself, I'd tell them off. Ugh, I need to get better at silencing that awful (and harsh) inner critic. It's not productive.
I feel like with these lessons, I'm like the kid who can get an A on her chemistry test but cannot perform an acid-base titration to save her life. (Actually that was me in high school.) It's all theory, but no practice.
But one lesson I've learned that I do practice is humour is a pretty awesome antidote, so I'll stop this post with a hilarious chemistry cartoon that relates to my nerdy analogy.
Oh Dubstep Kitty. :)
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
#BEDM: Food, Glorious Food
Today's post is about food. I'm going to write about some favourite meals of late.
1) Favourite recipe: Chipotle-Glazed Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
About a month ago, I had bought some chicken breasts on sale and had some sweet potatoes lying around. I had to figure out something to do with the chicken before it went bad, so I googled recipes using chicken and sweet potatoes and came across this.
Glad I did because it's really yummy and fits my diet! It's so good. I'm not sure if I'm using the chilis that are called for by the recipe... I just found minced chipotle chilis in a jar in the produce aisle and they work perfectly.
The rub that you make for this recipe is so yummy. I often increase the ingredients by 50% so there's a little bit more sauce.
When I first tried this out, I was so excited with the results that I texted my friend Fea to tell her that I was bringing her some for lunch. However, half an hour later she got a text saying that I dropped hers on the floor. :/
I made it again though, so she got to try some! Then, I made it a third time to bring some leftovers in for my pals the Alans.
2) Pre-Race Meal
On Saturday, my friend Heather and I went to an Italian restaurant (La Vecchia) in my neighbourhood for a carbalicious meal. It had yummy bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (is there anything better?). I had a pasta dish with a tomato-cream sauce, feta, and chicken. It was so good. For dessert, I got the creme brulee, and my friend Heather got the tiramisu. We shared. This was honestly the best tiramisu I've ever had. I also had some dessert wine. I'm loving dessert wine these days.
3) Post-Race Meal
For our post-race meal, I took my pal to what's becoming my favourite neighbourhood pub: The Granite Brewery. The brew their own beers, and I really like their Ringberry Ale, which is slightly fruity. It's becoming something I crave. I had a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. They have really great sweet potato fries. The cheeseburger was a little bit over done, but after running 10K in the cold, one doesn't care too much about these things.
Of course, now I'm back to my diet and eating lots of fruits, veggies, eggs, etc etc. Oh, I cannot wait for my next cheat meal! :D
1) Favourite recipe: Chipotle-Glazed Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
About a month ago, I had bought some chicken breasts on sale and had some sweet potatoes lying around. I had to figure out something to do with the chicken before it went bad, so I googled recipes using chicken and sweet potatoes and came across this.
Glad I did because it's really yummy and fits my diet! It's so good. I'm not sure if I'm using the chilis that are called for by the recipe... I just found minced chipotle chilis in a jar in the produce aisle and they work perfectly.
The rub that you make for this recipe is so yummy. I often increase the ingredients by 50% so there's a little bit more sauce.
When I first tried this out, I was so excited with the results that I texted my friend Fea to tell her that I was bringing her some for lunch. However, half an hour later she got a text saying that I dropped hers on the floor. :/
I made it again though, so she got to try some! Then, I made it a third time to bring some leftovers in for my pals the Alans.
2) Pre-Race Meal
On Saturday, my friend Heather and I went to an Italian restaurant (La Vecchia) in my neighbourhood for a carbalicious meal. It had yummy bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (is there anything better?). I had a pasta dish with a tomato-cream sauce, feta, and chicken. It was so good. For dessert, I got the creme brulee, and my friend Heather got the tiramisu. We shared. This was honestly the best tiramisu I've ever had. I also had some dessert wine. I'm loving dessert wine these days.
3) Post-Race Meal
For our post-race meal, I took my pal to what's becoming my favourite neighbourhood pub: The Granite Brewery. The brew their own beers, and I really like their Ringberry Ale, which is slightly fruity. It's becoming something I crave. I had a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. They have really great sweet potato fries. The cheeseburger was a little bit over done, but after running 10K in the cold, one doesn't care too much about these things.
Of course, now I'm back to my diet and eating lots of fruits, veggies, eggs, etc etc. Oh, I cannot wait for my next cheat meal! :D
Monday, May 13, 2013
#BEDM: Go Green
Since I've become a teacher (almost ten years now), the environment has been a topic close to my heart. Perhaps it always was, but I didn't really realize it until I started teaching science units about ecology, and talking to my classes about humans' impact on the planet, and simple everyday things we can do to be kinder to our planet.
I can find trying to be green frustrating sometimes: I simply can't afford to take every sustainable action out there, especially when it comes to food. And, I do enjoy consumerism far too much. I buy too many things that's for sure. I find sometimes that I can be hyper-critical of my lifestyle, but then I step back and remind myself about what I tell my students: that small actions to add up, after all, the ocean is made of drops of water, which in themselves are made from billions of tiny water molecules.
Even though I'm far from perfect, here are some the actions I take every day to be greener, kinder, and more sustainable.
1) I stop every morning at work for coffee at Tim Horton's using my favourite reusable Starbucks tumbler. (They don't mind me crossing companies like I do.) That adds up to 190 fewer paper cups being used a year. (And I save $19!)
2) I take transit. People complain far too much about the TTC. I've taken it to work for nearly eight solid years and been late only once due to transit. (I do live on a good route though.) I'm at the point in my life where I could afford a car, and I'm less terrified of driving in Toronto, but I stick to transit mainly for environmental reasons.
Ironically, I'm writing this from a Starbucks right now because I was on my way home from work, and my train was turned back because of smoke at Davisville station. Instead of standing on the platform waiting and grumbling, I've decided to chill here and I'll walk home (it's about 25 mins from here). I find being relaxed and willing to find a Plan B is key when relying on transit, because delays do happen.
3) I've been using re-usable grocery bags for years, even before it became common-place.
4) I've started eating less processed foods for health reasons, but eating whole foods and things you've cooked myself is kind to the planet as well as to my body. It takes a lot of energy to make, transport, and package those foods laced with sugar, fat, salt and other chemicals, and I'm glad that I stay away from them.
5) I try to buy local, and/or organic where feasible, practical, and affordable. In addition, I try to buy fair trade items when I can (chocolate, coffee & tea) because I also really believe in the importance of paying people a fair wage. In addition, companies who are fair trade tend to be more environmentally responsible too.
6) I drink only tap water. I loathe bottled water with every fibre of my being. All that unnecessary plastic. All that energy needed to transport something around that you can get out of your trap for free. Ugh. Bottled water is the worst. It also puts a price on something that's a basic human right.
7) I recycle, of course.
8) I educate. I moderate my school's environmental club. I teach environmental science. I weave the environment into every course I teach. And students do respond (moreso than adults a lot of the time). It warms my heart when I have a student tell me that she's taken her family to a farmers' market to buy local food, or starts using a reusable water canteen, or shows me an email she's sent to PM Harper about her concern over rising levels of GHGs in our atmosphere, and the list goes on. (This is probably my most important environmental action.)
9) I vote with the environment as one of my priorities when choosing a candidate.
I can find trying to be green frustrating sometimes: I simply can't afford to take every sustainable action out there, especially when it comes to food. And, I do enjoy consumerism far too much. I buy too many things that's for sure. I find sometimes that I can be hyper-critical of my lifestyle, but then I step back and remind myself about what I tell my students: that small actions to add up, after all, the ocean is made of drops of water, which in themselves are made from billions of tiny water molecules.
Even though I'm far from perfect, here are some the actions I take every day to be greener, kinder, and more sustainable.
1) I stop every morning at work for coffee at Tim Horton's using my favourite reusable Starbucks tumbler. (They don't mind me crossing companies like I do.) That adds up to 190 fewer paper cups being used a year. (And I save $19!)
2) I take transit. People complain far too much about the TTC. I've taken it to work for nearly eight solid years and been late only once due to transit. (I do live on a good route though.) I'm at the point in my life where I could afford a car, and I'm less terrified of driving in Toronto, but I stick to transit mainly for environmental reasons.
Ironically, I'm writing this from a Starbucks right now because I was on my way home from work, and my train was turned back because of smoke at Davisville station. Instead of standing on the platform waiting and grumbling, I've decided to chill here and I'll walk home (it's about 25 mins from here). I find being relaxed and willing to find a Plan B is key when relying on transit, because delays do happen.
3) I've been using re-usable grocery bags for years, even before it became common-place.
4) I've started eating less processed foods for health reasons, but eating whole foods and things you've cooked myself is kind to the planet as well as to my body. It takes a lot of energy to make, transport, and package those foods laced with sugar, fat, salt and other chemicals, and I'm glad that I stay away from them.
5) I try to buy local, and/or organic where feasible, practical, and affordable. In addition, I try to buy fair trade items when I can (chocolate, coffee & tea) because I also really believe in the importance of paying people a fair wage. In addition, companies who are fair trade tend to be more environmentally responsible too.
6) I drink only tap water. I loathe bottled water with every fibre of my being. All that unnecessary plastic. All that energy needed to transport something around that you can get out of your trap for free. Ugh. Bottled water is the worst. It also puts a price on something that's a basic human right.
7) I recycle, of course.
8) I educate. I moderate my school's environmental club. I teach environmental science. I weave the environment into every course I teach. And students do respond (moreso than adults a lot of the time). It warms my heart when I have a student tell me that she's taken her family to a farmers' market to buy local food, or starts using a reusable water canteen, or shows me an email she's sent to PM Harper about her concern over rising levels of GHGs in our atmosphere, and the list goes on. (This is probably my most important environmental action.)
9) I vote with the environment as one of my priorities when choosing a candidate.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
#BEDM - Collecting (& update on SL10K)
Today's BEDM topic is collecting. Probably my most significant collection (other than books and music) are my Starbucks mugs from places I've traveled.
I started my mug collection in 2005 when I went to Australia and picked one up in Sydney (1). I liked the mug because it had an image of the Harbour Bridge. I don't think I realized that collecting these mugs was going to become my thing, because I would have picked up others when I was in Australia. I do remember they had one for the province of Queensland, which I visited. If I'd known I was going to become a collector, I would have gotten the Queensland mug.
My next two Starbucks mugs were purchased in the summer of 2006 when I went to the UK. I got Wales (2) and London (3).
In summer 2007, I went to Vancouver and got the Stanley Park (4) mug. Then, I went to Seattle (5) and got a Pike Place mug that commemorates the first Starbucks. In the fall, I went to Montreal (6) and got a mug.
In 2008, I got a Central Park (7) mug in NYC. I went to Texas and got ones for Austin (8), San Antonio (9) and Dallas (10). My Dallas mug has a small crack in the handle now. I once mentioned this to my friend Fea, who had a friend going to Texas for business. As a nice surprise, Fea got her friend to buy me a new mug. However, she thought it was my Austin mug that was cracked, so I have a second Austin mug. (I keep it at work. It reminds of good friends, rock 'n roll, and Austin which was my fave Texas city anyway.) In the summer of 2008, I picked up a mug in San Francisco (11).
I went to NYC again in 2009, and got a different NYC mug (12). If I go to a location and they have a new/different mug, I will buy it to commemorate a new trip. 2009 brought me to Paris (13) and Scotland (14).
In 2010, I visited Paris and Nice, so I got the France country mug (15). I went to Boston over the summer and got a mug there (16).
In 2011 I added Barcelona (17), Niagara Falls (18) and Chicago (19) to the collection. Becca T (who also collects these mugs) and I had a tough time finding the Barcelona one, but we did it!
In 2012 I visited Paris again and they had a new version of the Paris mug so I got that (20). Also, I was going through a rough time, so my pal Claire mailed me the London/England demitasses in a care package. In the summer I picked up a Twin Cities mug (21), I got a new Vancouver mug (22), and Vancouver Island mug (23).
I have a friend at work who also collects Starbucks mugs from different locations. He doesn't care if he's been there, so whenever I go somewhere I usually pick one up for him. I have different rules for mine: I have to have visited the place myself in order to get a mug. When I went to Texas, AlieMalie brought me the San Antonio mug, even though we weren't originally going to go there. However, she had a work emergency, so we did end up driving to San Antonio for the afternoon and validating the mug, phew.
My friend from work went to Amsterdam this summer and brought me back a mug. It was sweet, but in my head all I could think is that the rule has been broken! However, I know I will go to Amsterdam someday (it's on my list), so the mug will get validated. I will not use the mug until then though. However, when I have a guest visit who's been to Amsterdam, they drink tea out of that mug.
Finally, in 2013 I've added Washington DC to the collection (24).
So that's my collection in total: 24 validated Starbucks mugs, one set of demitasses, 1 extra Austin mug, and 1 unvalidated mug from Amsterdam.
I like my collection even though it means that most of my kitchen cupboard space is taken up by mugs (some are on my desk though). It's something fun and uniform to get from each travel location, and I use my mugs on a rotating basis when I feel like thinking of a certain place. Or it's fun to just pick one randomly. However, not all of the locations I've visited have mugs. When I visited Ireland in 2006, they didn't have a mug yet. No mug for Cuba, obviously. No mugs either for the Maritime provinces, Cape Cod, Winnipeg, or Utah. Maybe I should buy plain Starbucks mugs and paint them for those places, ha-ha.
I started my mug collection in 2005 when I went to Australia and picked one up in Sydney (1). I liked the mug because it had an image of the Harbour Bridge. I don't think I realized that collecting these mugs was going to become my thing, because I would have picked up others when I was in Australia. I do remember they had one for the province of Queensland, which I visited. If I'd known I was going to become a collector, I would have gotten the Queensland mug.
My next two Starbucks mugs were purchased in the summer of 2006 when I went to the UK. I got Wales (2) and London (3).
My first mug from Sydney, and my Wales mug. They are from a very early collection of Starbucks mugs. I love the Wales one because it has the word Wales both in English, and in Welsh (Cymru). And since my paternal grandfather was Welsh, the Welsh dragon is a special symbol for me.
In summer 2007, I went to Vancouver and got the Stanley Park (4) mug. Then, I went to Seattle (5) and got a Pike Place mug that commemorates the first Starbucks. In the fall, I went to Montreal (6) and got a mug.
Pike Place mug. The blue & white version of City Mugs is my least favourite.
In 2008, I got a Central Park (7) mug in NYC. I went to Texas and got ones for Austin (8), San Antonio (9) and Dallas (10). My Dallas mug has a small crack in the handle now. I once mentioned this to my friend Fea, who had a friend going to Texas for business. As a nice surprise, Fea got her friend to buy me a new mug. However, she thought it was my Austin mug that was cracked, so I have a second Austin mug. (I keep it at work. It reminds of good friends, rock 'n roll, and Austin which was my fave Texas city anyway.) In the summer of 2008, I picked up a mug in San Francisco (11).
I went to NYC again in 2009, and got a different NYC mug (12). If I go to a location and they have a new/different mug, I will buy it to commemorate a new trip. 2009 brought me to Paris (13) and Scotland (14).
In 2010, I visited Paris and Nice, so I got the France country mug (15). I went to Boston over the summer and got a mug there (16).
In 2011 I added Barcelona (17), Niagara Falls (18) and Chicago (19) to the collection. Becca T (who also collects these mugs) and I had a tough time finding the Barcelona one, but we did it!
Some of my favourites from Europe.
Some U.S. favourites.
In 2012 I visited Paris again and they had a new version of the Paris mug so I got that (20). Also, I was going through a rough time, so my pal Claire mailed me the London/England demitasses in a care package. In the summer I picked up a Twin Cities mug (21), I got a new Vancouver mug (22), and Vancouver Island mug (23).
Summer 2012 in mug form.
I have a friend at work who also collects Starbucks mugs from different locations. He doesn't care if he's been there, so whenever I go somewhere I usually pick one up for him. I have different rules for mine: I have to have visited the place myself in order to get a mug. When I went to Texas, AlieMalie brought me the San Antonio mug, even though we weren't originally going to go there. However, she had a work emergency, so we did end up driving to San Antonio for the afternoon and validating the mug, phew.
My friend from work went to Amsterdam this summer and brought me back a mug. It was sweet, but in my head all I could think is that the rule has been broken! However, I know I will go to Amsterdam someday (it's on my list), so the mug will get validated. I will not use the mug until then though. However, when I have a guest visit who's been to Amsterdam, they drink tea out of that mug.
Finally, in 2013 I've added Washington DC to the collection (24).
So that's my collection in total: 24 validated Starbucks mugs, one set of demitasses, 1 extra Austin mug, and 1 unvalidated mug from Amsterdam.
I like my collection even though it means that most of my kitchen cupboard space is taken up by mugs (some are on my desk though). It's something fun and uniform to get from each travel location, and I use my mugs on a rotating basis when I feel like thinking of a certain place. Or it's fun to just pick one randomly. However, not all of the locations I've visited have mugs. When I visited Ireland in 2006, they didn't have a mug yet. No mug for Cuba, obviously. No mugs either for the Maritime provinces, Cape Cod, Winnipeg, or Utah. Maybe I should buy plain Starbucks mugs and paint them for those places, ha-ha.
***
Speaking of collections, I added another race medal to my medal collection today. Today was the Sporting Life 10K, which I've really been looking forward to.
I was supposed to race with my friends Jolene and Heather, but Jolene sprained her ankle so it was only Heather and I. Heather took the train in from London, ON for the night, and we had a nice Saturday shopping, going out for dinner, and going to bed super early.
This morning was really cold and windy. Not the ideal day for a race. Spring, why have you forsaken us?
This morning was really cold and windy. Not the ideal day for a race. Spring, why have you forsaken us?
However, I warmed up quickly once I started running. I had a great run! I was almost 6 minutes faster than I was last year! My chip time was 1 hour 3 minutes and 34 seconds. I was elated. I was hoping to make it in at 1:05 or 1:06. Super proud of my hard work! It was a personal best by far. I'd personally like to thank Yonge Street, for being so down hill.
In addition, my friends and family supported me greatly and I raised $270 for Camp Ooch by running today. Here's an excellent article from the TO Star about why it's such a great charity. I'm so glad that I was able to run for such a great cause today. 27 000 people registered for the race, and it was so awesome to run down Yonge street with so many people.
Stole this picture from the Nike Running Canada Twitter Feed. It's awesome being in a crowd of so many runners. This is the part of the course where you are heading downhill just before Mount Pleasant Cemetery (my usual training grounds).
I am definitely going to run the SL10K next year. I'm hoping that next year I will finish in under an hour! Better get back to training!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
#BEDM - Book Love
Today's Blog Every Day in May Topic is book love. I have a lot of book love. Here are five books that changed my life. Well, perhaps they weren't so life changing as they have been integral parts of my life.
1) The Twits by Roald Dahl - I got this book as a Christmas gift from my much older cousin when I was in grade 4 or so. I remember reading it twice the day I received it, and laughing myself silly. My cousin had a beard at the time, and there is a whole chapter that basically disses men with beards, so I thought it was hilarious that my cousin bought me a book that poked fun at him. This is one of my few items from my childhood that I keep in my own home (the other is my Care Bear) because it's such a fond memory for me. I consider this book life-changing because I think it's the first truly funny novel that I'd ever read, and it turned me onto the work of Roald Dahl, who also wrote Matilda, which carries the important message that being a smart book-ish girl is an awesome thing.
2) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - I never really got into any of the other Anne books, but I read the first book of the series over and over again. This is book that I've read the most times in my life, and I feel it belongs on this list as such. Anne is such a lovable and strong heroine, and the setting of Prince Edward Island so vivid and beautiful, that it won't leave your mind.
3) The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy - I spent a lot of my teenage years devouring the work of Maeve Binchy. This was my favourite novel of hers. Perhaps her books didn't quite change my life, but reading a Maeve Binchy book makes me feel safe, secure, and pleasant and it's nice having that out there.
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - This is the Harry Potter book where shit gets real, and that's where the series goes from being for kids to being for absolutely everyone. When I finished this one, I knew that I was hooked, and that I would be at any store at midnight when the final three books in the series came out.
5) Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright - I think this is still one of my favourite novels ever. It takes place in Toronto during the Great Depression, and is written as a series of journal entries and letters. I loved this novel because it vividly depicts the Toronto of long ago, and is an interesting, rich and complex narrative.
1) The Twits by Roald Dahl - I got this book as a Christmas gift from my much older cousin when I was in grade 4 or so. I remember reading it twice the day I received it, and laughing myself silly. My cousin had a beard at the time, and there is a whole chapter that basically disses men with beards, so I thought it was hilarious that my cousin bought me a book that poked fun at him. This is one of my few items from my childhood that I keep in my own home (the other is my Care Bear) because it's such a fond memory for me. I consider this book life-changing because I think it's the first truly funny novel that I'd ever read, and it turned me onto the work of Roald Dahl, who also wrote Matilda, which carries the important message that being a smart book-ish girl is an awesome thing.
2) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - I never really got into any of the other Anne books, but I read the first book of the series over and over again. This is book that I've read the most times in my life, and I feel it belongs on this list as such. Anne is such a lovable and strong heroine, and the setting of Prince Edward Island so vivid and beautiful, that it won't leave your mind.
3) The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy - I spent a lot of my teenage years devouring the work of Maeve Binchy. This was my favourite novel of hers. Perhaps her books didn't quite change my life, but reading a Maeve Binchy book makes me feel safe, secure, and pleasant and it's nice having that out there.
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - This is the Harry Potter book where shit gets real, and that's where the series goes from being for kids to being for absolutely everyone. When I finished this one, I knew that I was hooked, and that I would be at any store at midnight when the final three books in the series came out.
5) Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright - I think this is still one of my favourite novels ever. It takes place in Toronto during the Great Depression, and is written as a series of journal entries and letters. I loved this novel because it vividly depicts the Toronto of long ago, and is an interesting, rich and complex narrative.
Friday, May 10, 2013
#BEDM: Travel Dreams
Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is: "If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would it be?"
Tough question. I really want to answer this question by listing a bunch of different places. I mean I'd love to go visit Claire in London or Becca T in Paris right now. I miss those girls. Or, it'd be great to be able to jet off to visit friends in Vancouver, Victoria, or Winnipeg. Or even experience the glamour of Missouri (ha-ha) to visit my pal AlieMalie.
But, let's just say I won a contest and I pick anywhere in the world to go, where would it be?
Hmmm.
Tough.
Europe? Africa? (Probs not since I'm going there this summer.) Asia? South America? Antarctica? Other?
You know, I think I'd like to go somewhere exotic. And far away. And beautiful.
I'll always remember really wanting to go to Bali after reading "Eat, Pray, Love" years and years ago. I'd love to stay there for a month, ride my bike around the island, and get some sun and swim. See beautiful beaches. Climb a volcano. Meet a komodo dragon.
Yeah, I'll go to Bali.
:)
Or anywhere. Seriously. I'd go anywhere. I haven't travelled anywhere in 5 months and I can feel the bug in me just itching to go somewhere. But 2.5 months until Kenya, right? That's not long at all!
Happy Friday!
Tough question. I really want to answer this question by listing a bunch of different places. I mean I'd love to go visit Claire in London or Becca T in Paris right now. I miss those girls. Or, it'd be great to be able to jet off to visit friends in Vancouver, Victoria, or Winnipeg. Or even experience the glamour of Missouri (ha-ha) to visit my pal AlieMalie.
But, let's just say I won a contest and I pick anywhere in the world to go, where would it be?
Hmmm.
Tough.
Europe? Africa? (Probs not since I'm going there this summer.) Asia? South America? Antarctica? Other?
You know, I think I'd like to go somewhere exotic. And far away. And beautiful.
I'll always remember really wanting to go to Bali after reading "Eat, Pray, Love" years and years ago. I'd love to stay there for a month, ride my bike around the island, and get some sun and swim. See beautiful beaches. Climb a volcano. Meet a komodo dragon.
Yeah, I'll go to Bali.
:)
Or anywhere. Seriously. I'd go anywhere. I haven't travelled anywhere in 5 months and I can feel the bug in me just itching to go somewhere. But 2.5 months until Kenya, right? That's not long at all!
Happy Friday!
Thursday, May 09, 2013
#BEDM: Favourite Social Media Channel
Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is my favourite social media channel.
I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, FourSquare, and Goodreads. I think that's it. I don't do Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine or any others.
If I was only allowed to have one form of social media, I'd stick with Facebook. I find Facebook is a great tool to keep in touch with all of my friends from around the world, and it's really helped in keeping up friendships from my high school/university days. I'm a member of some secret groups, and I love that I have a place to safely vent feelings among close groups of friends.
I also enjoy some of the various pages you can like on Facebook too. My absolute favourite is "I fucking love science" which is a great page to find out new cool science news, and to find hilariously nerdy jokes. It's a great tool for a science teacher, although I can never directly show students the page since I can't say the name in class.
Facebook definitely has drawbacks: people who over-share (but you can hide them), annoying ads, a crappy mobile app, game updates, ever-changing privacy settings, and the creepiness factor. (Once I changed my relationship status on Facebook and the next day I was getting ads for engagement rings I kid you not.)
However, since it's the form of social media that the vast majority of my friends use, and it's has helped me keep up with friendships, I'll say it's my favourite.
Twitter's fun, and I love following bands on Twitter, but fewer of my friends use it. Twitter is great for keeping up with breaking news and TTC delays. However, I wonder if communicating in 140 characters or less is affecting our ability to think in depth.
Instagram is fun. More of my friends are using Instagram these days. I don't really have a desire to see tonnes of strangers' photos though. What's the point? I just mainly follow people I know and a few bands.
I like getting points for checking into places on Foursquare. It's pointless but fun. It turns life into a bit of a video game.
Lastly, Goodreads is fun to connect with other book lovers and to track reading.
I do enjoy social media, but I have to say I am looking forward to getting away from it when I go to Kenya this summer. Three weeks with no social media will be a great challenge.
I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, FourSquare, and Goodreads. I think that's it. I don't do Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine or any others.
If I was only allowed to have one form of social media, I'd stick with Facebook. I find Facebook is a great tool to keep in touch with all of my friends from around the world, and it's really helped in keeping up friendships from my high school/university days. I'm a member of some secret groups, and I love that I have a place to safely vent feelings among close groups of friends.
I also enjoy some of the various pages you can like on Facebook too. My absolute favourite is "I fucking love science" which is a great page to find out new cool science news, and to find hilariously nerdy jokes. It's a great tool for a science teacher, although I can never directly show students the page since I can't say the name in class.
Facebook definitely has drawbacks: people who over-share (but you can hide them), annoying ads, a crappy mobile app, game updates, ever-changing privacy settings, and the creepiness factor. (Once I changed my relationship status on Facebook and the next day I was getting ads for engagement rings I kid you not.)
However, since it's the form of social media that the vast majority of my friends use, and it's has helped me keep up with friendships, I'll say it's my favourite.
Twitter's fun, and I love following bands on Twitter, but fewer of my friends use it. Twitter is great for keeping up with breaking news and TTC delays. However, I wonder if communicating in 140 characters or less is affecting our ability to think in depth.
Instagram is fun. More of my friends are using Instagram these days. I don't really have a desire to see tonnes of strangers' photos though. What's the point? I just mainly follow people I know and a few bands.
I like getting points for checking into places on Foursquare. It's pointless but fun. It turns life into a bit of a video game.
Lastly, Goodreads is fun to connect with other book lovers and to track reading.
I do enjoy social media, but I have to say I am looking forward to getting away from it when I go to Kenya this summer. Three weeks with no social media will be a great challenge.
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
#BEDM - My First Job
So, my first job was....
...at...
...McDonald's.
Very trite and cliche, I know. I spent some of my 20s being mortified that I work there (for three years and a summer, natch). As I became more socially conscious, I realized that I put a lot of hours working at one the corporations that the socially conscious likes to turn their noses up at.
But, I did work there. For awhile. I've started not to avoid the topic just recently. Students will often ask me about my first job, and I'll tell them. Or when they mention they work there, I'll sympathize with them.
I got my job the summer between grade 10 and grade 11. There aren't too many places that will hire you with virtually no job experience (save babysitting for my best friend's little sisters a couple of times), and my best friend worked there too, so I put in my application, faced my first job interview and got hired.
I started on cash, and moved up the ranks. I was trained on breakfast, birthday parties, drive thru, as a Ronald Ranger (supervising the PlayPlace... I spent a lot of time putting balls back into the damned pit), and as a crew trainer. I never actually cooked the food though.
Despite the fact that I would come home smelling of the place, and the fact I had to buy new shoes every three months, it wasn't the worst first job I could have. (Those floors are really hard on shoes. The soles of mine would be cracked and falling apart after three months... and then there was the fry grease in the shoelaces. Yuck.) I made lots of friends there, and they were pretty understanding about hours. My mom wouldn't let me work late on school nights, and they were fine with that. I would always take exam week off too. However, not all McDonald's are that understanding to their teen employees as I know from talking my students now who work late shifts or can't keep their jobs.
Drive-thru was a big "promotion" for me. That's where they put their best employees and getting trained there was like being put in the cool club. I also ascended to the ranks of the string of employees that they would put on D/T when the people from head office came in to assess our store. And yes, I did on occasion (most likely hungover from some party the night before) accidentally ask a customer through drive through if their order was for here or to go.
I became a birthday party pro. I remember there was one month where I did something like 20 birthday parties out in the store's birthday party caboose. So many Happy Meals to assemble.
My promotion to crew trainer was a bit deal. I got a $0.25 raise, an engraved name-tag, and a different colour of shirt/visor. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty good at training staff. I also took it upon myself to overhaul the training materials at our store. I made new instructional handouts and quizzes for my trainees. When I told my manager I decided to that, she was cool enough to get me paid for the hours I spent at home on my Windows 95 PC typing stuff out. Is it surprising I became a teacher?
I also remember on the day I got my promotion to CT, I walked to the local record store and bought Veruca Salt's album "Eight Arms to Hold You" to celebrate the occasion.
I never became a manager since I couldn't work late on school nights. However, one of my friends did and when she would phone me at home, I'd have to ask her whether she was calling from work or home. If she was calling from work, then I was too sick to come in for an extra shift, but if she was calling from home 'cuz she wanted to hang out, then I was up for that.
I worked there during grades 11, 12, and OAC (Ontario's Grade 13). I came back for my first summer after university. However, I was adamant for my second summer, that I was going to find a different summer job. I was tired of early mornings, late nights, sore legs, and scraping fry grease off of things. I gave myself three weeks to find something new before I came crawling back, and I got a job at the local art gallery just in time. When I started spending my summers in Toronto, I lucked out and got a government job at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
I haven't been inside of a McDonald's in months, since I'm eating clean these days. Even though I worked there so long, I never got grossed out by the food. When I do crave fast food, that's where I'm going to go. However, I can't help but critique my server - are they assembling my food in the proper order (hot drinks, cold drinks, salads, cookies, pies, sandwiches, fries, ice cream*)? Are their cones two-and-a-half twists high? Did they smile? Did they double-fold my to-go bag? Did they complete my order in 60 seconds or less?
*The fact I can still remember the order of assembly is pretty scary, no?
...at...
...McDonald's.
Very trite and cliche, I know. I spent some of my 20s being mortified that I work there (for three years and a summer, natch). As I became more socially conscious, I realized that I put a lot of hours working at one the corporations that the socially conscious likes to turn their noses up at.
But, I did work there. For awhile. I've started not to avoid the topic just recently. Students will often ask me about my first job, and I'll tell them. Or when they mention they work there, I'll sympathize with them.
I got my job the summer between grade 10 and grade 11. There aren't too many places that will hire you with virtually no job experience (save babysitting for my best friend's little sisters a couple of times), and my best friend worked there too, so I put in my application, faced my first job interview and got hired.
I started on cash, and moved up the ranks. I was trained on breakfast, birthday parties, drive thru, as a Ronald Ranger (supervising the PlayPlace... I spent a lot of time putting balls back into the damned pit), and as a crew trainer. I never actually cooked the food though.
Despite the fact that I would come home smelling of the place, and the fact I had to buy new shoes every three months, it wasn't the worst first job I could have. (Those floors are really hard on shoes. The soles of mine would be cracked and falling apart after three months... and then there was the fry grease in the shoelaces. Yuck.) I made lots of friends there, and they were pretty understanding about hours. My mom wouldn't let me work late on school nights, and they were fine with that. I would always take exam week off too. However, not all McDonald's are that understanding to their teen employees as I know from talking my students now who work late shifts or can't keep their jobs.
Drive-thru was a big "promotion" for me. That's where they put their best employees and getting trained there was like being put in the cool club. I also ascended to the ranks of the string of employees that they would put on D/T when the people from head office came in to assess our store. And yes, I did on occasion (most likely hungover from some party the night before) accidentally ask a customer through drive through if their order was for here or to go.
I became a birthday party pro. I remember there was one month where I did something like 20 birthday parties out in the store's birthday party caboose. So many Happy Meals to assemble.
My promotion to crew trainer was a bit deal. I got a $0.25 raise, an engraved name-tag, and a different colour of shirt/visor. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty good at training staff. I also took it upon myself to overhaul the training materials at our store. I made new instructional handouts and quizzes for my trainees. When I told my manager I decided to that, she was cool enough to get me paid for the hours I spent at home on my Windows 95 PC typing stuff out. Is it surprising I became a teacher?
I also remember on the day I got my promotion to CT, I walked to the local record store and bought Veruca Salt's album "Eight Arms to Hold You" to celebrate the occasion.
I never became a manager since I couldn't work late on school nights. However, one of my friends did and when she would phone me at home, I'd have to ask her whether she was calling from work or home. If she was calling from work, then I was too sick to come in for an extra shift, but if she was calling from home 'cuz she wanted to hang out, then I was up for that.
I worked there during grades 11, 12, and OAC (Ontario's Grade 13). I came back for my first summer after university. However, I was adamant for my second summer, that I was going to find a different summer job. I was tired of early mornings, late nights, sore legs, and scraping fry grease off of things. I gave myself three weeks to find something new before I came crawling back, and I got a job at the local art gallery just in time. When I started spending my summers in Toronto, I lucked out and got a government job at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
I haven't been inside of a McDonald's in months, since I'm eating clean these days. Even though I worked there so long, I never got grossed out by the food. When I do crave fast food, that's where I'm going to go. However, I can't help but critique my server - are they assembling my food in the proper order (hot drinks, cold drinks, salads, cookies, pies, sandwiches, fries, ice cream*)? Are their cones two-and-a-half twists high? Did they smile? Did they double-fold my to-go bag? Did they complete my order in 60 seconds or less?
*The fact I can still remember the order of assembly is pretty scary, no?
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
#BEDM: Pets
Today’s #BEDM is about pets, and eff it, I’m going to run down my entire pet history. Wish I had pictures of all these fine creatures, but most of the pics (if they exist) are at my parents’ house.
1) Belle (Collie) - When I was born, my first home was a farm outside of Mitchell, ON. My parents lived there until I was three, then they moved to Stratford (the “city”). Our dog on the farm was a beautiful collie named Belle, and even though I don’t remember her, I remember looking longingly at pictures of little me and her when I was older and she was gone. When we moved to the city, she ran away, probably wanting to go back home to the farm and we never found her. We never got another dog, but my parents would buy lots of stuffed dogs so I had about thirty of those.
2) The dog that my Grandma's crazy friend dognapped for me - I actually remember this dog, so this happened awhile after Belle disappeared. My Grandma had an eccentric friend (who volunteered for the Human Society) who brought a dog over to our house and said “I found your dog roaming around! It must be yours. The paws are all worn down!” and drove away leaving us with this poor dog-napped dog. I was elated; it’s wasn’t my dog, it was a male for crying out loud, but a dog nonetheless and I missed my dog. My mom was horrified; this was clearly someone’s pet who the lady stole. She called the local radio station to broadcast that a missing dog was “found”.
A family came over the next day to retrieve their dog. I was heartbroken since I was too young to really understand that a crazy friend of my grandmother dog-napped this dog from some other kids, so it was wrong for me to have the dog. The family came over and thanked us for finding their dog and taking such good care of him. It turned out that the dog had some sort of condition for which it needed daily medication, so it was a good thing that its family listened to the radio. The poor thing probably would have gotten really sick in our care if they hadn’t heard my mom’s missing dog report.
Also, how small-town 1980s is this story? Finding a missing dog via radio bulletin. Awesome.
3) Flopsy (rabbit) - I think I spend ages 3 through 9 begging my parents for a pet. My dad was a complete hippie. When I was kid, instead of having a proper job, he just took care of farms for older couples who wanted to keep their farms but were too old for chores. Anyway, he had a contact in the rabbit business (who doesn't?), and gave me a white rabbit for Easter one year (much to my mother’s chagrin). I named her Flopsy, but then she turned out she was a dude but the name stuck.
My dad built Flopsy a cage that was kept on the backyard deck, and constructed a rabbit leash for Flospy so we could tie him to the backyard tree and he could enjoy some freedom. Often we’d have to shoo Patches, a neighbourhood cat, away from Flopsy, but it was mainly good times with Flopsy. He ran away a couple of times, but my neighbourhood BFF at the time (Karl) was a fast runner and could always catch him.
4) The Snapping Turtles - My dad found snapping turtle eggs near his work-farm. He brought them home in a jar of sand and we watched them hatch. After they hatched, we transferred the turtles to a bucket on our backyard deck. This was at the same time we had Flopsy, so my backyard was *the* place to be for neighbourhood kids. A rabbit and baby snapping turtles? Instant kid hot spot.
Now the problem with baby snapping turtles (if that’s what they really were) is that they grow into grown-up snapping turtles. One day they were gone, and I was told that my dad brought them to the river so they could grow up in their natural environment.
A few years later there was an issue with snapping turtles attacking some of the swans in the river. My parents would always torture me by joking that those were my murderous turtles wreaking havoc. I’ve never been quite sure if it was my turtles or not, but I’ve always felt guilty about the damage caused by my potential former pets.
5) Butterscotch: The best boy cat ever (so as not to offend Miss Rilo) - My mom would not allow Flopsy to become an indoor rabbit when the fall rolled around, so he moved to live in the pig barn that my dad was taking care of. He had free reign of the place, and hopped around happily, understanding to steer clear of the pigs.
Around the same time as Flopsy moved to the barn, my dad decided to get a good barn cat, and that’s where Butterscotch came into the picture. He and Flopsy became fast friends, and Flopsy would spend hours chasing Butterscotch around the pig barn. I loved when my dad would take me to the barn so I could visit the two of them. (I didn’t want to visit the pigs though, just the rabbit and cat. Pigs have always made me jumpy because my first memory is of being chased by a giant sow.)
A few months later, the couple who owned the farm decided to sell. Flopsy moved back to the rabbit farm, and, much to my mother’s chagrin, Butterscotch came to live with us. I was elated. Finally! After a runaway dog, a night with a dog-napped dog, a short-term rabbit, and a bucket of baby snapping turtles, a real pet to call my own.
And Butterscotch was a high quality cat. He was very friendly. In fact, he spent his day wandering around the neighbourhood visiting the neighbours, who quickly learned that his favourite treats were Tender Vittles and kept them on hand. (He was a very economical cat to have.) He liked to spend weekend afternoons watching Karl and his friends play road hockey. Even though he was a neighbourhood cat, he was mine at the end of the day. He’d always come home at about 2 pm and wait for me on the front porch to come home from school. He was a great cat.
Unfortunately, his wandering ways were his demise. He got hit by a car one afternoon on the way home. Some neighbours witnessed it, and came and told my mom. My mom didn’t want to deal with the body, but was worried that I would see it and be traumatized (I was in grade 9 at the time), so she asked them to cover him with the recycling bin, and my dad could deal with it when he came home. My dad came home before me (thankfully) and saw Butterscotch’s tail sticking out from under the blue box. “Silly cat,” he thought and picked up the box. So my dad was the one who ended up traumatized.
6) Carter (the rebound cat) - When Butterscotch died, I begged my parents for new cat ASAP, and we found Carter in the newspaper. It was 1993, so naturally I named him after Joe Carter, who had hit the homerun that won the Blue Jays their second world series.
Carter was a scaredy cat. We didn’t have to worry about him meeting Butterscotch’s demise because he was too nervous to leave the property. If another cat came by, he would start screeching and we’d have to chase the cat away. He was pleasant to us though. Unfortunately he was rather sickly, and we had him put down when I was in grade 12.
7) Cat (a borrowed cat) - During our last year living together in our apartment on Charles Street in university, Becca T and I got saddled with a cat courtesy of our roommate (and friend) Alison. I still don’t understand the reason why Alison’s aunt asked us to take care of Cat, whose given name was Patches. There were four or five different stories that I heard explaining why she had to stay with us.
Cat was old and grumpy. She didn’t much care for Alison, who was supposed to be her caregiver. When Alison would walk into the apartment, Cat would hiss at her. Also, Alison got a boyfriend and was never around so Cat’s care became the job of Becca T and me. That’s how her name changed. We had recently watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and decided Cat was a better name for her. Cat had the worst sounding meow, so whenever we were out of soft food, her meow would send one of us to the convenience store to shut her up. She also threw up a lot. But, she did enjoy a Timbit or some fries from McDonald’s every now and then, and it was entertaining to feed her junk food, so she wasn’t the worst. Here's a photo of a photo of her looking grumpy when we bought her a dollar store Christmas costume. (No wonder she was grumpy here.)
.JPG)
When university was over and we disbanded as roommates, Cat went to live out her last days at Alison’s grandparents’ farm. Becca T and I would like to think she spent her twilight moments hissing at geese. That would have made Cat happy.
8) Miss Rilo Kitty: The best girl cat ever - And that brings us to Miss Rilo, who you all know and love. I’ve had Rilo for almost five years now, which means she’s probably about 9 years old, but she’s a very youthful 9. I adopted her from the Human Society and she was just skin and bones. Her tummy was shaved because she'd just been spayed.
Rilo is cuddly and has no sense of personal space. For example, if a guest is eating dinner at my place, she sees that as a perfect opportunity to climb on their shoulders. My parents love Rilo. My dad is counting down ‘til late July when she’ll stay them while I'm in Kenya. Even my mom, who is usually chagrined by my pets, loves Rilo. She is a special cat and I’m lucky to have her as a buddy.
Here's my favourite picture of Rilo ever. She's got the best green eyes.
This has turned into one of my longest blog posts ever, but I have to say that I really enjoyed writing it. Going through my pet history has reminded me of childhood memories that I haven’t thought of in years, like the dognapping, the turtles, Flopsy & Butterscotch’s unlikely friendship, my old pal Karl, poor sickly Carter, and grumpy old Cat.
Thanks #BEDM.
1) Belle (Collie) - When I was born, my first home was a farm outside of Mitchell, ON. My parents lived there until I was three, then they moved to Stratford (the “city”). Our dog on the farm was a beautiful collie named Belle, and even though I don’t remember her, I remember looking longingly at pictures of little me and her when I was older and she was gone. When we moved to the city, she ran away, probably wanting to go back home to the farm and we never found her. We never got another dog, but my parents would buy lots of stuffed dogs so I had about thirty of those.
2) The dog that my Grandma's crazy friend dognapped for me - I actually remember this dog, so this happened awhile after Belle disappeared. My Grandma had an eccentric friend (who volunteered for the Human Society) who brought a dog over to our house and said “I found your dog roaming around! It must be yours. The paws are all worn down!” and drove away leaving us with this poor dog-napped dog. I was elated; it’s wasn’t my dog, it was a male for crying out loud, but a dog nonetheless and I missed my dog. My mom was horrified; this was clearly someone’s pet who the lady stole. She called the local radio station to broadcast that a missing dog was “found”.
A family came over the next day to retrieve their dog. I was heartbroken since I was too young to really understand that a crazy friend of my grandmother dog-napped this dog from some other kids, so it was wrong for me to have the dog. The family came over and thanked us for finding their dog and taking such good care of him. It turned out that the dog had some sort of condition for which it needed daily medication, so it was a good thing that its family listened to the radio. The poor thing probably would have gotten really sick in our care if they hadn’t heard my mom’s missing dog report.
Also, how small-town 1980s is this story? Finding a missing dog via radio bulletin. Awesome.
3) Flopsy (rabbit) - I think I spend ages 3 through 9 begging my parents for a pet. My dad was a complete hippie. When I was kid, instead of having a proper job, he just took care of farms for older couples who wanted to keep their farms but were too old for chores. Anyway, he had a contact in the rabbit business (who doesn't?), and gave me a white rabbit for Easter one year (much to my mother’s chagrin). I named her Flopsy, but then she turned out she was a dude but the name stuck.
My dad built Flopsy a cage that was kept on the backyard deck, and constructed a rabbit leash for Flospy so we could tie him to the backyard tree and he could enjoy some freedom. Often we’d have to shoo Patches, a neighbourhood cat, away from Flopsy, but it was mainly good times with Flopsy. He ran away a couple of times, but my neighbourhood BFF at the time (Karl) was a fast runner and could always catch him.
4) The Snapping Turtles - My dad found snapping turtle eggs near his work-farm. He brought them home in a jar of sand and we watched them hatch. After they hatched, we transferred the turtles to a bucket on our backyard deck. This was at the same time we had Flopsy, so my backyard was *the* place to be for neighbourhood kids. A rabbit and baby snapping turtles? Instant kid hot spot.
Now the problem with baby snapping turtles (if that’s what they really were) is that they grow into grown-up snapping turtles. One day they were gone, and I was told that my dad brought them to the river so they could grow up in their natural environment.
A few years later there was an issue with snapping turtles attacking some of the swans in the river. My parents would always torture me by joking that those were my murderous turtles wreaking havoc. I’ve never been quite sure if it was my turtles or not, but I’ve always felt guilty about the damage caused by my potential former pets.
5) Butterscotch: The best boy cat ever (so as not to offend Miss Rilo) - My mom would not allow Flopsy to become an indoor rabbit when the fall rolled around, so he moved to live in the pig barn that my dad was taking care of. He had free reign of the place, and hopped around happily, understanding to steer clear of the pigs.
Around the same time as Flopsy moved to the barn, my dad decided to get a good barn cat, and that’s where Butterscotch came into the picture. He and Flopsy became fast friends, and Flopsy would spend hours chasing Butterscotch around the pig barn. I loved when my dad would take me to the barn so I could visit the two of them. (I didn’t want to visit the pigs though, just the rabbit and cat. Pigs have always made me jumpy because my first memory is of being chased by a giant sow.)
A few months later, the couple who owned the farm decided to sell. Flopsy moved back to the rabbit farm, and, much to my mother’s chagrin, Butterscotch came to live with us. I was elated. Finally! After a runaway dog, a night with a dog-napped dog, a short-term rabbit, and a bucket of baby snapping turtles, a real pet to call my own.
And Butterscotch was a high quality cat. He was very friendly. In fact, he spent his day wandering around the neighbourhood visiting the neighbours, who quickly learned that his favourite treats were Tender Vittles and kept them on hand. (He was a very economical cat to have.) He liked to spend weekend afternoons watching Karl and his friends play road hockey. Even though he was a neighbourhood cat, he was mine at the end of the day. He’d always come home at about 2 pm and wait for me on the front porch to come home from school. He was a great cat.
Unfortunately, his wandering ways were his demise. He got hit by a car one afternoon on the way home. Some neighbours witnessed it, and came and told my mom. My mom didn’t want to deal with the body, but was worried that I would see it and be traumatized (I was in grade 9 at the time), so she asked them to cover him with the recycling bin, and my dad could deal with it when he came home. My dad came home before me (thankfully) and saw Butterscotch’s tail sticking out from under the blue box. “Silly cat,” he thought and picked up the box. So my dad was the one who ended up traumatized.
6) Carter (the rebound cat) - When Butterscotch died, I begged my parents for new cat ASAP, and we found Carter in the newspaper. It was 1993, so naturally I named him after Joe Carter, who had hit the homerun that won the Blue Jays their second world series.
Carter was a scaredy cat. We didn’t have to worry about him meeting Butterscotch’s demise because he was too nervous to leave the property. If another cat came by, he would start screeching and we’d have to chase the cat away. He was pleasant to us though. Unfortunately he was rather sickly, and we had him put down when I was in grade 12.
7) Cat (a borrowed cat) - During our last year living together in our apartment on Charles Street in university, Becca T and I got saddled with a cat courtesy of our roommate (and friend) Alison. I still don’t understand the reason why Alison’s aunt asked us to take care of Cat, whose given name was Patches. There were four or five different stories that I heard explaining why she had to stay with us.
Cat was old and grumpy. She didn’t much care for Alison, who was supposed to be her caregiver. When Alison would walk into the apartment, Cat would hiss at her. Also, Alison got a boyfriend and was never around so Cat’s care became the job of Becca T and me. That’s how her name changed. We had recently watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and decided Cat was a better name for her. Cat had the worst sounding meow, so whenever we were out of soft food, her meow would send one of us to the convenience store to shut her up. She also threw up a lot. But, she did enjoy a Timbit or some fries from McDonald’s every now and then, and it was entertaining to feed her junk food, so she wasn’t the worst. Here's a photo of a photo of her looking grumpy when we bought her a dollar store Christmas costume. (No wonder she was grumpy here.)
.JPG)
When university was over and we disbanded as roommates, Cat went to live out her last days at Alison’s grandparents’ farm. Becca T and I would like to think she spent her twilight moments hissing at geese. That would have made Cat happy.
8) Miss Rilo Kitty: The best girl cat ever - And that brings us to Miss Rilo, who you all know and love. I’ve had Rilo for almost five years now, which means she’s probably about 9 years old, but she’s a very youthful 9. I adopted her from the Human Society and she was just skin and bones. Her tummy was shaved because she'd just been spayed.
Rilo is cuddly and has no sense of personal space. For example, if a guest is eating dinner at my place, she sees that as a perfect opportunity to climb on their shoulders. My parents love Rilo. My dad is counting down ‘til late July when she’ll stay them while I'm in Kenya. Even my mom, who is usually chagrined by my pets, loves Rilo. She is a special cat and I’m lucky to have her as a buddy.
Here's my favourite picture of Rilo ever. She's got the best green eyes.
Here's a picture of Rilo I snapped this morning before I left for work. I do envy her life somedays.
***
This has turned into one of my longest blog posts ever, but I have to say that I really enjoyed writing it. Going through my pet history has reminded me of childhood memories that I haven’t thought of in years, like the dognapping, the turtles, Flopsy & Butterscotch’s unlikely friendship, my old pal Karl, poor sickly Carter, and grumpy old Cat.
Thanks #BEDM.
Monday, May 06, 2013
#BEDM: Bank Holiday
Blog Every Day in May is UK-based, and today's prompt is about what you will do with your Bank Holiday today. We don't have a holiday in Canada today, but Victoria Day is two weeks from today. :)
I'm at work today. If today had been a long weekend, I probably would have visited my parents and returned to the city this morning. I would have used the extra day for running, marking, and cleaning.
But, I'm at work, spending my lunch blogging while missed test writers write missed tests.
Happy Bank Holiday to my UK friends!
I'm at work today. If today had been a long weekend, I probably would have visited my parents and returned to the city this morning. I would have used the extra day for running, marking, and cleaning.
But, I'm at work, spending my lunch blogging while missed test writers write missed tests.
Happy Bank Holiday to my UK friends!
Sunday, May 05, 2013
#BEDM: Fit and Healthy
Today's topic for BEDM is what I do to stay fit and healthy. As long-time readers know, I'm on a health kick this year: I've hired a personal trainer, cleaned up my diet, and have committed to running a couple of races (a 5K in April, a 10K in a week).
Fitness has always been a huge challenge for me. For about the first 27 years of my life I did not enjoy exercise very much. I think that being the last kid picked in gym class probably contributed a lot to this. I was good at every thing else in school, so why worry about the one thing that I wasn't good at? After taking the last compulsory gym course of my life in grade 9, I figured that I was done with sports and exercise for good.
But then there were the societal pressures to look good, and like most teenage girls (unfortunately), I wasn't happy with how I looked. I remember that three of my friends and I once joined a gym for three months in high school. However, I didn't use my membership very much because that was the gym that all of the hockey players used, and I was too intimated to go.
Years went by with little physical activity and eating lots of crap food. I didn't worry so much about my lifestyle. In fact, since I was a city dweller who got around a lot on foot, I actually considered myself active, so I didn't worry whatsoever about my diet.
However, something clicked when I was 27. I was tired of feeling badly about my body. I have a degree in biology: I understood that what I was doing to my body was extremely unhealthy and that I needed to change.
I cleaned up my diet. I started to exercise slowly but surely. I'd go for one hour walks five times a week. So those walks turned into jogs with walking interspersed. I even joined a dragon boat team. That's a sport; my goodness! Weight started come off of me. November rolled around and it was getting too cold for outdoor exercise. I decided to join a gym and have been a member ever since.
Since then, my battle with fitness has had its ups and downs. I've gone through periods where I've slacked off at the gym. My diet last year was especially horrible. However, at least now I have the tools to get back on track, and I've found something surprising: I don't hate exercise anymore. If you'd told high school me that I'd be exercising five times a week and running long distance races in my 30s, she wouldn't believe it.
I feel that 2013 has been a banner year for me with health and fitness. Here's a summary of the guidelines I've been following and having some success at. Heck, there is about 18 lbs less of me now than at the beginning of the year.
1) Clean Diet
I eat very little white sugar. I gave it up cold turkey in January but I'm a bit more lenient now. I had some frozen yogurt today at lunch. However, I try to avoid it as much as possible and feel best on a day with no sugar.
I don't eat grains. It's an easy way to cut down on carbohydrates. The only carbs I eat come from veggies and fruit, and I do allow myself starchy tubers in moderation. I've read about the havoc that today's wheat can have on your system, and I feel fine without it.
I eat things mainly with one ingredient. That means unlimited fruit, veggies, nuts, eggs, meat, fish, dairy, etc.
I don't eat processed foods. I cook from scratch way more than I used to.
As a result, I feel so much better than when I was eating all of the food all of the time. I haven't had fast food since January and I don't miss it.
Also, I am enjoying keeping to this diet. Just eating whole foods and eating when I feel hungry is so much better for me than a program where I have to journal everything I eat and count calories and points. Easy-peasy.
2) Build Strength
Last year all of the exercise I did revolved around running. I did build up some endurance and get faster, but lost no weight when I was training because of my crap diet.
I began thinking about how I'd really like to start lifting weights, but had no idea how to do it. That's when I sort of fell into hiring a personal trainer. When I first signed over a good deal of money, I wondered if I'd been swindled.
However, as soon as I started training in January, I realized that it was a great investment. After only one month I could see changes in my body. I felt stronger. My clothes were getting looser. It was great.
At this point I'm getting addicted to how much stronger I am, and how much endurance that I have. It used to kill me to hold one plank for a minute, but now I can easily do so after a circuit of some intense exercises. Then I can do it two more times. I love it!
I see my trainer two times a week. On top of that, I try to get two cardio days in. I usually run to train for my races. I also try to do a weightlifting class once a week for a total of five days in the gym. That's my optimal week, and I don't always make all of the sessions every week, but I do make it more often than not.
3) Rest
I've been trying to sleep more. It's hard, since I'm naturally a night owl, and often there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I also listen to my body when it's tired. For example, I was really tired this weekend, so I took Friday and Saturday off of exercise. The result? I was super rested this morning and ran a personal best 10K! Rest pays off.
4) Indulge a bit
My trainer suggested that I add one cheat meal a week to my diet. Thank goodness. I think without that weekly carte blanche indulgence, I would have fallen off the wagon a long time ago. I really look forward to those meals, and I definitely enjoy them more than I did back when I was eating all of the food all of the time.
In addition, I'll let myself have a bit of dark chocolate or red wine. Both are heart healthy, and after a day where I've worked hard, and eaten clean, I deserve a bit.
So that's what I'm doing this year to stay fit and healthy. It's working and has been worth the hard work and the extra financial investment. I can't wait to see where I'll be at the end of 2013!
Fitness has always been a huge challenge for me. For about the first 27 years of my life I did not enjoy exercise very much. I think that being the last kid picked in gym class probably contributed a lot to this. I was good at every thing else in school, so why worry about the one thing that I wasn't good at? After taking the last compulsory gym course of my life in grade 9, I figured that I was done with sports and exercise for good.
But then there were the societal pressures to look good, and like most teenage girls (unfortunately), I wasn't happy with how I looked. I remember that three of my friends and I once joined a gym for three months in high school. However, I didn't use my membership very much because that was the gym that all of the hockey players used, and I was too intimated to go.
Years went by with little physical activity and eating lots of crap food. I didn't worry so much about my lifestyle. In fact, since I was a city dweller who got around a lot on foot, I actually considered myself active, so I didn't worry whatsoever about my diet.
However, something clicked when I was 27. I was tired of feeling badly about my body. I have a degree in biology: I understood that what I was doing to my body was extremely unhealthy and that I needed to change.
I cleaned up my diet. I started to exercise slowly but surely. I'd go for one hour walks five times a week. So those walks turned into jogs with walking interspersed. I even joined a dragon boat team. That's a sport; my goodness! Weight started come off of me. November rolled around and it was getting too cold for outdoor exercise. I decided to join a gym and have been a member ever since.
Since then, my battle with fitness has had its ups and downs. I've gone through periods where I've slacked off at the gym. My diet last year was especially horrible. However, at least now I have the tools to get back on track, and I've found something surprising: I don't hate exercise anymore. If you'd told high school me that I'd be exercising five times a week and running long distance races in my 30s, she wouldn't believe it.
I feel that 2013 has been a banner year for me with health and fitness. Here's a summary of the guidelines I've been following and having some success at. Heck, there is about 18 lbs less of me now than at the beginning of the year.
1) Clean Diet
I eat very little white sugar. I gave it up cold turkey in January but I'm a bit more lenient now. I had some frozen yogurt today at lunch. However, I try to avoid it as much as possible and feel best on a day with no sugar.
I don't eat grains. It's an easy way to cut down on carbohydrates. The only carbs I eat come from veggies and fruit, and I do allow myself starchy tubers in moderation. I've read about the havoc that today's wheat can have on your system, and I feel fine without it.
I eat things mainly with one ingredient. That means unlimited fruit, veggies, nuts, eggs, meat, fish, dairy, etc.
I don't eat processed foods. I cook from scratch way more than I used to.
As a result, I feel so much better than when I was eating all of the food all of the time. I haven't had fast food since January and I don't miss it.
Also, I am enjoying keeping to this diet. Just eating whole foods and eating when I feel hungry is so much better for me than a program where I have to journal everything I eat and count calories and points. Easy-peasy.
2) Build Strength
Last year all of the exercise I did revolved around running. I did build up some endurance and get faster, but lost no weight when I was training because of my crap diet.
I began thinking about how I'd really like to start lifting weights, but had no idea how to do it. That's when I sort of fell into hiring a personal trainer. When I first signed over a good deal of money, I wondered if I'd been swindled.
However, as soon as I started training in January, I realized that it was a great investment. After only one month I could see changes in my body. I felt stronger. My clothes were getting looser. It was great.
At this point I'm getting addicted to how much stronger I am, and how much endurance that I have. It used to kill me to hold one plank for a minute, but now I can easily do so after a circuit of some intense exercises. Then I can do it two more times. I love it!
I see my trainer two times a week. On top of that, I try to get two cardio days in. I usually run to train for my races. I also try to do a weightlifting class once a week for a total of five days in the gym. That's my optimal week, and I don't always make all of the sessions every week, but I do make it more often than not.
3) Rest
I've been trying to sleep more. It's hard, since I'm naturally a night owl, and often there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I also listen to my body when it's tired. For example, I was really tired this weekend, so I took Friday and Saturday off of exercise. The result? I was super rested this morning and ran a personal best 10K! Rest pays off.
4) Indulge a bit
My trainer suggested that I add one cheat meal a week to my diet. Thank goodness. I think without that weekly carte blanche indulgence, I would have fallen off the wagon a long time ago. I really look forward to those meals, and I definitely enjoy them more than I did back when I was eating all of the food all of the time.
In addition, I'll let myself have a bit of dark chocolate or red wine. Both are heart healthy, and after a day where I've worked hard, and eaten clean, I deserve a bit.
So that's what I'm doing this year to stay fit and healthy. It's working and has been worth the hard work and the extra financial investment. I can't wait to see where I'll be at the end of 2013!
Saturday, May 04, 2013
#BEDM: Five Blogs I Love
I love more than five blogs.
I love more than five dead/rarely updated. I miss the blogs written by my pals rawbean, mattinwpg, Katie, AlieMalie, Jason @ imaginationland, and Wes (aka quietgalapagos). Also, Miss Ash, The Grunt, Aaron @ The Void, and eatmorechocolat are awesome bloggers whose blogs I love but don't update as much as they used to. All of these great people are now my friends outside of blogging, via various forms of social media or actual real-life meetings, so those friendships are still alive and well, but I do miss their writing.
To narrow it down to five, here are five regularly updated blogs that I adore. Also, I'm excited because I think the #BEDM challenge will allow me to connect with more bloggers too. Yay!
1) Claire - I'll start with Claire since I connected to the Blog Every Day in May challenge through her blog. Claire has become a dear friend of mine, and although we've only met each other three times (but each time for a few days), I feel like we've been friends forever and have spent more time together than that. Claire is kind, warm, thoughtful, and funny and her blog is the same. Read it!
2) Jabba - Jabba is my kindred spirit in Victoria, BC. We have cats that could be siblings they look alike. We both love books and crafting (although Jabba crafts more than I do). I've had the pleasure of meeting Jabba twice in real life (both times last year) and just like with Claire, I feel a close friendship with her. Her blog is creative, and I love when she includes cartoons that she's drawn. Read it!
3) Siobhan Claude Van-Damme - I met Siobhan in real life BEFORE I read her blog. She's friends with Claire, and I think I've been able to catch up with her each time I visited Claire. She's a music-phile like me, and I love her Music Mondays posts. She's also super styling, and I usually drool over her fashion posts, but cannot buy the stuff she posts about since it's all UK fashion. I definitely need to make another trip to London, for socializing AND for shopping! Read it!
4) Jocelyn - Jocelyn lives in Chicago and I love her posts about the city. She gave me some great restaurant/coffee shop when I visited Chicago last summer, but sadly she wasn't in town so we couldn't hang out. She's an avid crafter, and I love her posts about knitting. Also, she takes some of the most beautiful photography out there. Read it!
5) wigsf - There are many things that wigsf and I disagree about: the CBC, cars, climate change, the fact that there has been good music released in the past twenty years, and lots about the city of Toronto. However, we still have some common ground when it comes to the Simpsons, love of travel, and food. His food posts are great, and his posts about his father Carmine are hilarious. And, even though we don't agree on a lot, we're still blog pals. Read it!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm so glad that I started blogging because I've made a lot of great friends through this medium. Really great friends who are always there for me through text, Twitter, email, or a phonecall. It's awesome that I've been able to meet so many great people from afar through blogging. Yay blogging!
I love more than five dead/rarely updated. I miss the blogs written by my pals rawbean, mattinwpg, Katie, AlieMalie, Jason @ imaginationland, and Wes (aka quietgalapagos). Also, Miss Ash, The Grunt, Aaron @ The Void, and eatmorechocolat are awesome bloggers whose blogs I love but don't update as much as they used to. All of these great people are now my friends outside of blogging, via various forms of social media or actual real-life meetings, so those friendships are still alive and well, but I do miss their writing.
To narrow it down to five, here are five regularly updated blogs that I adore. Also, I'm excited because I think the #BEDM challenge will allow me to connect with more bloggers too. Yay!
1) Claire - I'll start with Claire since I connected to the Blog Every Day in May challenge through her blog. Claire has become a dear friend of mine, and although we've only met each other three times (but each time for a few days), I feel like we've been friends forever and have spent more time together than that. Claire is kind, warm, thoughtful, and funny and her blog is the same. Read it!
2) Jabba - Jabba is my kindred spirit in Victoria, BC. We have cats that could be siblings they look alike. We both love books and crafting (although Jabba crafts more than I do). I've had the pleasure of meeting Jabba twice in real life (both times last year) and just like with Claire, I feel a close friendship with her. Her blog is creative, and I love when she includes cartoons that she's drawn. Read it!
3) Siobhan Claude Van-Damme - I met Siobhan in real life BEFORE I read her blog. She's friends with Claire, and I think I've been able to catch up with her each time I visited Claire. She's a music-phile like me, and I love her Music Mondays posts. She's also super styling, and I usually drool over her fashion posts, but cannot buy the stuff she posts about since it's all UK fashion. I definitely need to make another trip to London, for socializing AND for shopping! Read it!
4) Jocelyn - Jocelyn lives in Chicago and I love her posts about the city. She gave me some great restaurant/coffee shop when I visited Chicago last summer, but sadly she wasn't in town so we couldn't hang out. She's an avid crafter, and I love her posts about knitting. Also, she takes some of the most beautiful photography out there. Read it!
5) wigsf - There are many things that wigsf and I disagree about: the CBC, cars, climate change, the fact that there has been good music released in the past twenty years, and lots about the city of Toronto. However, we still have some common ground when it comes to the Simpsons, love of travel, and food. His food posts are great, and his posts about his father Carmine are hilarious. And, even though we don't agree on a lot, we're still blog pals. Read it!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm so glad that I started blogging because I've made a lot of great friends through this medium. Really great friends who are always there for me through text, Twitter, email, or a phonecall. It's awesome that I've been able to meet so many great people from afar through blogging. Yay blogging!
Friday, May 03, 2013
#BEDM: A Day in the Life
I was going to try to take pictures for this post, perhaps showcasing each hour of my day, but let's face it: a day in my life is a bit too busy for this so words will have to do.
6:15 am: Alarm goes off. I have an obscure 90s song by a band named Starkicker as my wake up. It's the perfect wake up tune, but so obscure it's not even really on YouTube. I only remembered it about a month ago and added it as my wake up. Anyway, it's a good wake up song. I hit snooze.
6:24 am: Phone goes off again. Cat is whacking me in the face with her paws. She wants treats. Out of bed.
6:45 am: Cat is treated. I've eaten breakfast. Fall asleep on couch for 15 minutes. My 7:00 am alarm wakes me up again.
7:36 am: Out the door, catch a bus, a train, and then another train.
8:20 am: Once I get to my final stop, I walk to my regular Tim Horton's. Line is insanely long. Won't be able to get my morning coffee and make it to school on time. It's gonna be a rough day.
8:25 am: Stop in staffroom. Pick up attendance and check mailbox. Oh good. I have to cover my friend's computer class during my prep period.
8:40 am: Grade 9 science. Most of them leave on an English field trip to see Romeo & Juliet. The remainders work on an assignment as I catch up on marking.
10:10 am: Grade 11 biology. We review a lesson on cell division, then they do some practice work on the lesson.
11:25 am: Lunch. I check my email and mark in my classroom as a few missed test writers write missed tests.
12:15 pm: Grade 11 environmental science. Test review game day. We play Jeopardy! and my headbands game. Headbands is where I stick a key work on a kid's head and the others have to make them guess their word without using the word itself. It's a fun class.
1:30 pm. Done the instructional portion of the day. Go to my friend's computer class (grade 10, most of whom I've taught), take attendance and give them their assignment. I should be working, but it's really hot in the building and I'm tired so I will blog instead. I will pay for this 30 minutes of procrastination this weekend.
2:13 pm. My colleague is here to relieve me. Must go photocopy and knock things off my to-do list.
2:50 pm. School day over. I am going to take some students to do volunteer community gardening in the park across from the school.
4:00 pm. Pack my bags to leave. I have piles of marking to do this weekend. Argh.
That's a pretty average teaching day for me. Tonight I'm going to have a laid back Friday night where I maybe have sushi, get groceries, go for a short late-evening run, and do some housework. That's about it.
6:15 am: Alarm goes off. I have an obscure 90s song by a band named Starkicker as my wake up. It's the perfect wake up tune, but so obscure it's not even really on YouTube. I only remembered it about a month ago and added it as my wake up. Anyway, it's a good wake up song. I hit snooze.
6:24 am: Phone goes off again. Cat is whacking me in the face with her paws. She wants treats. Out of bed.
6:45 am: Cat is treated. I've eaten breakfast. Fall asleep on couch for 15 minutes. My 7:00 am alarm wakes me up again.
7:36 am: Out the door, catch a bus, a train, and then another train.
8:20 am: Once I get to my final stop, I walk to my regular Tim Horton's. Line is insanely long. Won't be able to get my morning coffee and make it to school on time. It's gonna be a rough day.
8:25 am: Stop in staffroom. Pick up attendance and check mailbox. Oh good. I have to cover my friend's computer class during my prep period.
8:40 am: Grade 9 science. Most of them leave on an English field trip to see Romeo & Juliet. The remainders work on an assignment as I catch up on marking.
10:10 am: Grade 11 biology. We review a lesson on cell division, then they do some practice work on the lesson.
11:25 am: Lunch. I check my email and mark in my classroom as a few missed test writers write missed tests.
12:15 pm: Grade 11 environmental science. Test review game day. We play Jeopardy! and my headbands game. Headbands is where I stick a key work on a kid's head and the others have to make them guess their word without using the word itself. It's a fun class.
1:30 pm. Done the instructional portion of the day. Go to my friend's computer class (grade 10, most of whom I've taught), take attendance and give them their assignment. I should be working, but it's really hot in the building and I'm tired so I will blog instead. I will pay for this 30 minutes of procrastination this weekend.
2:13 pm. My colleague is here to relieve me. Must go photocopy and knock things off my to-do list.
2:50 pm. School day over. I am going to take some students to do volunteer community gardening in the park across from the school.
4:00 pm. Pack my bags to leave. I have piles of marking to do this weekend. Argh.
That's a pretty average teaching day for me. Tonight I'm going to have a laid back Friday night where I maybe have sushi, get groceries, go for a short late-evening run, and do some housework. That's about it.
Thursday, May 02, 2013
#BEDM: Spring is Here!
My favourite thing about spring is the longer days with more sunshine. And flowers. The picture above is of some daffodils in front of my school. My environmental club planted them in the fall and it's nice to see that they've finally come up. Anyway, I love all of the light and colour that comes with spring.
I have a busy month of May planned. This weekend will be all about spring cleaning and spring marking. I have a pile of stuff to mark that is overwhelming. I gotta get through it.
Next weekend is my 10K run. I'm crossing my fingers for nice weather. My friends Jolene and Heather are visiting me to run the race, and I think we'll have a fun time hanging out the night before the race. I'm really looking forward to that weekend.
The following weekend is the long weekend, and I plan to head to Stratford for a belated Mother's Day/my mom's birthday celebration. They fall within days of each other. It'll be nice to see the 'rents, but I'm also hoping to catch up with some friends.
For the last weekend in May, I'm going on a camping trip with my Kenya group. It's at a farm, and they are going to make us do some work, sort of to prepare us for the school-building experience in Kenya. I'm hoping for good weather that weekend too.
And after that, it will be June and it will be almost summer. I guess that's my favourite thing about spring: it means summer vacation is coming soon!
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Blog Every Day in May: 5 Lines
My dear friend Claire's blog alerted me to Rosalilium's challenge: Blog Every Day in May. My first thought was "impossible! I can't do it!" but then I realized that's been my first thought about many things I've done in my life (running 5K, 10K, doing the Grouse Grind, reading 52 books in one year). Clearly, this means I should attempt it.
And since I can't sleep after an awesome Tuesday: good day at work, finished a big project at work, a great training session, yummy dinner with 12 amazing friends, AND even got in some marking. Oh, and I've now fund-raised $250 for Camp Ooch for my upcoming 10K run. That's enough to send a kid with cancer to camp for a day! That made my day extra awesome. So after a great day, I figured why not start my blog project now?
Each day in May I will write a post according to a prompt. Today's prompt is 5 lines.
Introduce yourself or sum yourself up in just 5 lines. Include a photograph that you are proud of.
***I'm not sure of the definition of "line", and since lines change from draft to post, so I'm going to interpret the word line as sentence.***
I'm Christielli and the most important things in life to me, in no specific order, are building/maintaining relationships, knowledge & learning, music, books, and kindness. As I grow older, I've found that I really like to challenge myself to do new things, go new places, and to be the best version of myself that I can be. Hence, some of my focuses in 2013 are to be physically healthier, visit Kenya to build a school, and well, now I'm trying this blog challenge; hopefully it will get me to write more.
This is a picture of my friend Jolene and I at the Sporting Life 10K last year. I'm proud of it because Jolene has been my friend for almost 20 years, it was my first 10K race, and that I've kept up with running for another year. :)
And since I can't sleep after an awesome Tuesday: good day at work, finished a big project at work, a great training session, yummy dinner with 12 amazing friends, AND even got in some marking. Oh, and I've now fund-raised $250 for Camp Ooch for my upcoming 10K run. That's enough to send a kid with cancer to camp for a day! That made my day extra awesome. So after a great day, I figured why not start my blog project now?
Each day in May I will write a post according to a prompt. Today's prompt is 5 lines.
Introduce yourself or sum yourself up in just 5 lines. Include a photograph that you are proud of.
***I'm not sure of the definition of "line", and since lines change from draft to post, so I'm going to interpret the word line as sentence.***
I'm Christielli and the most important things in life to me, in no specific order, are building/maintaining relationships, knowledge & learning, music, books, and kindness. As I grow older, I've found that I really like to challenge myself to do new things, go new places, and to be the best version of myself that I can be. Hence, some of my focuses in 2013 are to be physically healthier, visit Kenya to build a school, and well, now I'm trying this blog challenge; hopefully it will get me to write more.
This is a picture of my friend Jolene and I at the Sporting Life 10K last year. I'm proud of it because Jolene has been my friend for almost 20 years, it was my first 10K race, and that I've kept up with running for another year. :)
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