Sentence Completion Meme

I Am… tired lately.

I Want… to work in a job where I feel secure, challenged, creative, valued.

I Have… so many gifts to be grateful for.

I Wish… I owned my own home again.

I Hate… intolerance. And bad service. And mint.

I Fear… anything bad happening to my children.

I Hear… the hum of the furnace.

I Wonder… what I’m meant to be doing.

I Regret… very little.

I Love… my family.

I Ache… in the sinuses. Can we get on with Spring already?

I Always… seem to be doing laundry.

I Usually… feel cold.

I Dance… in my mind.

I Sing… privately. Not even in front of the dog.

I Never… stress very much about things that are out of my control to change. The trick sometimes is knowing what those things are though.

I Rarely… buy myself things. But I need new sneakers because my feet just can’t take the old ones anymore, so this week I get to treat myself to something. Maybe.

I Cry… during a lot of Extreme Home Makeover episodes. Really.

I Am Not…very good at remembering anything with numbers.

I Lose… confidence. Often.

I’m Confused… by remote controls.

I Need…. a vacation. Away.

I Should be… engaging in more creative activities.

Farewell to another Hamster

Yesterday morning when I got up and went about the business of feeding and watering all the critters, I noticed that Dolittle’s hamster had finally gone to hamster heaven through the night. It was not unexpected. He was a very very old hamster — years and years old — probably defying hamster lifespan records the world over. And he had become blind and was sleeping a lot more in the months leading up to this.

Dolittle would like to have a funeral for CoCo.

So I found her a little gold chocolate box and she lined it with woodchips, carefully placed in a few of CoCo’s toys (which were actually chew sticks, but being blind I guess he thought they were toys and just played with them), and she went into the office because she wanted to write him a note and put it in the box with him.  Rainbow remained in the kitchen with me.

Rainbow:  Why is she doing this?  It’s a hamster.  Just throw him in the garbage and get a new one.
Me:  Well, CoCo has been her pet for a very long time, and sometimes a ceremony helps people feel better about their loss.
Rainbow:  So what is she doing now?
Me:  She’s writing him a note.
Rainbow:  Mommy… He’s dead.  He can’t read.  And even if he wasn’t, he’s a hamster.  It’s not like he’s the dog.

?!

So apparently the dog can read? Perhaps the ancient hamster isn’t the only critter breaking records in our house.

Burial arrangements for the beloved hamster are pending.

Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Ice

March Break

March break has ended and life returns to it’s normal hum of preparations… packing lunches, waking children, checking backpacks, sneeking chocolate eggs…

As usual, we didn’t go anywhere.  We lazed and amused ourselves with whatever was at hand.  But, although there were 11 days with no school, no taekwondo, and no musical theatre class, the time was not without event…

• we threw a birthday party for Rainbow (who turned 8 on St. Patrick’s day) and survived a total of 9 children and 4 adults in our VERY TINY house.
• we had a guest whom we were delighted to share our home with for a couple of days, though his visit was not for a happy matter. (Hugs).
• we broke our vehicle (my guess is as a result of a pot hole or two) and are temporarily driving the beater that we used to own.  I am amazed how hard it is to get used to a vehicle again when I previously drove it for so many years.
• we went to a movie (something we don’t do all that often).
• the kids went to the pool.
• and the Easter bunny came.

Before I knew it, the 11 days had gone.

Now it’s Tuesday, feeling like a Monday, and I think I need to sneek more chocolate eggs, to drink more coffee to get my day moving.  Isn’t it funny how sometimes short weeks feel like they go on forever? I’m not even at work yet and I feel like I want to go back to bed. 

Wordless Wednesday: Stray Confetti

Rocky Roads

One of the few things in life one can be assured of… as sure as the sun will rise in the morning, and as sure as the sun will set at night… weather fluctuations will bring pot holes to Prince Edward Island.

And this year is particularly bad.  The milder days counter the colder days and the result of the conflict is that roadways and parking lots look like battlefields.  G*d bless those who travel with a back-seat driver as it is practically impossible to avoid these craters much of the time as they are so frequently spaced.  My workplace has one that resembles an animal feed trough in both size and depth.  Do not even attempt to sip your coffee in your travels as you will soon be wearing it. 

Now, you don’t have to go far to hear folks complain about the situation of the pavement.  It’s even made it to the news on a number of occasions.  So, I’ve been thinking that there might be a creative approach to this… a turn lemons into lemonade kind of thinking… and this is what I’ve come up with…

First, I thought, forget fixing them.  We can just let them get worse, then market ourselves as one big amusement ride.  Like a province wide roller coaster.

But then I got a better idea.  An idea prompted by elephant rock.  If PEI can use a naturally formed rock formation as a tourist attraction… why not pot holes.  They’re naturally made.  All we have to do is find ones that look like someone famous… like Elvis, or Jesus, or Anne, or Dumbo if need be.  Create a map of the stars like you might find in Hollywood.  Maybe even get some “constellations” of stars like our scenic drives and ba-da-bing… something people might spend a day on… maybe more with the likely car repairs.  I’m just sayin’.

So, any ideas on the pot-hole above?  It’s right outside my driveway so I’m sort of anxious to get in on this idea.  I’m thinking Peppermint Patty…

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Small Things

At the girls’ Taekwondo test last weekend, I noticed that some parents (mostly those of white belts testing for their yellow belts) did not take their cameras.  It would have been the child’s first Taekwondo test, maybe the parents didn’t know they could take cameras or didn’t have one readily available, or for whatever reason, they were only there to watch.  Now some parents I didn’t know because some people just drop their kids off and never stay, but some I did, just from a visual nod type of perspective (we just watch and don’t interact much really).

So, thought I, sitting on the floor in a prime front seat with a camera, wouldn’t it be nice if they had a picture of Little Johnny or Little Jane getting their shiney new belt?  And, if I knew of the child from class, and knew who the parent was and they didn’t have a camera, I took it upon myself to take a picture of their child being awarded their belt so I could print off a picture for them.

Now I went home and printed off the photos… not fabulous quality for sure, but better than nothing… and in the time that followed test and next class reconsidered a hundred times.  I am, in fact, probably too shy to go up to someone and say “Would you like a photo of your kids recent accomplishment?  It’s really low quality, but I thought you might like it.”  In the end, though, I decided it would be a nice thing to do, something I would appreciate if someone did for me, and they were printed off already anyway so what was the harm.

And each mom was delighted to have the picture.  Really pleased.  But then the oddest thing happened…

After giving out the pictures, I went back to my bench to watch the class and one of the moms walked over to me and asked me “Do you want something for this?”  I think I may have laughed out loud.  On one hand it was funny, because I could have said, “yes, give me $2 million dollars for that crappy quality photo of your kid,” but on the other kind of sad that people would even think that the only reason someone might do something nice for them was to get something in return. 

Maybe it was nice of her to ask… like a way of expressing appreciation?  Or maybe it is a sad observation that people expect there to be a motive for random kindness?  Maybe it’s both.

Sleepless in Sockville

Last night I had insomnia.  Isn’t it funny how you can be up all night and manage to feel more rushed in the morning than if you had fewer hours to work with? 

 Anyway, I needed to get the kids dropped off at school and was not finished getting myself ready for work, so I decided to run them over and just come back home to finish up.  So out I go with my wet hair, and no makeup, and basically looking like I had just crawled out from under a rock. 

 The girls use different doors, being in different grades.  So first I let Dolittle out.  Then I drove a smidge further and got out to open Rainbow’s door.  But there was ice.  And soon my under-a-rock-looking self was sprawled all over the pavement for the world to see in a none too graceful heap.

Two hours later they closed the schools because of the freezing rain warning.  The fact that Environment Canada has been issuing warnings for days was apparently not clue enough that kids were perhaps safer at home.  Parents too apparently.

And now I’m developing a small lump on my wrist and searing pain… surprising pain really, considering how small the darn thing is.  Loads more painful even than the blow to the dignity suffered in the initial incident.  I can barely type.  I’m thinking I must have done something to attempt to break my fall and instead just rendered my hand less effective.

But with any luck at all, something for pain will bring ellusive sleep.

Protected: Movin’ on up

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