Posts

Showing posts from December, 2010

The Traveling Curse

I am wondering if there is a traveling curse that has been put upon me.... or if God just has a cruel sense of humour that makes my trips always about sickness.  Yes I said it sickness.   First, I was upset about leaving, I knew I would be having a great time in Vegas, but I was upset to leave my little man behind for the first time in 410 days.  It won't be the last time I leave him for a holiday I am sure but it was hard and sad all the same.  So the trip started out a little sad to say the least.   Second, my sister woke me up an hour before I had the wake up call booked for. Why would she do this?  Was it because of excitement and anticipation for the upcoming five days???  If you thought, "yes that's what it must have been!" you would be wrong.  If you thought well she mentions sickness up in the first paragraph, maybe she wasn't feeling well, then you would have hit the mark on the head.  Yes my sister woke up feeling ill today, she had a sore throat,

Anticipation and Apprehension

So how is this for a conundrum: I am anticipating a fabulous holiday in Vegas with my sister, a GROWN UP holiday, yet I am super apprehensive about leaving.  Not because I have any fears of flying or any fears of anything bad happening while I am down there.  Nope super apprehensive about leaving Little Man alone for five days with his dad.  I have never spent the night away from Little Man his entire life.  I have wanted to, but it's just never happened and now that it is, I am upset about it!!  It's all silly.  It's all those irrational fears coming up and it is driving me crazy.   Here are some of the irrational fears I am dealing with.  Sometimes  think I am just nuts, but whatever.  So one fear is that maybe he will think I have abandoned him in the night and that I won't return.  I put him to bed tonight but I won't be there in the morning when he wakes up and that is definitely something out of the norm for him.  Or maybe he will forget about me when I am g

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

YEAH!!! I saw it , finally!!! And it was worth going to at the theatre!!! I was so excited with the movie and the way the director transferred the book onto the big screen.   And there was no noise over the voices and background that gave me a headache this time!! I truly enjoyed the movie and even though there were some changes from the book, I don't think they took away form the overall story.  There were some characters that were cut out and some scenes but they added other things into the scene that helped explain different aspects of the story. I am stuck as to what to write at this moment, because I don't want to give anything away, but there are parts of the story that I wish they would have kept.  One example is the first scene with Harry and his uncle and aunt and cousin.  In the book, Harry stumbles over a tea cup set outside his door.  He believes that Dudley had set it there as a practical joke on Harry.  As Harry and his family are getting ready to part ways, p

Friends:New, old and Lapsed

So with it being the festive season and all of us about to embark on many family gatherings, I decided to write a blog about friendship (again!) but in a bit of different mood than previous blogs on friends. So for many of us, the holidays are a time to spend with various family members and a time to really enjoy your extended family that you don't get to see as often as you would like.  Some of us have HUGE families and have more Christmas celebrations than I would know what to do with.  They really give a true meaning to the 12 days of Christmas.  Some of us have smaller families or families that are geographically separated by many kilometers so our Christmases are less extended but no less special. Some of us won't be spending Christmas with our blood relatives, but with friends that have become family because they rank higher up in our priorities or because they are geographically closer during this celebratory time.  Whatever the reasons for your holiday gatherings I ho

Movie going

So on the weekend I went to the Harry Potter movie in Sasaktoon.  We decided to go to Center Cinemas because it was cheaper and I didn't have much money. That was a HUGE mistake.  I am sure the Harry Potter Movie is great, but my viewing oof that movie was less than enjoyable. Unfortunately the theatre had some issues with thier sound system and all I heard for an hour and fifteen minutes was scratching noises over the talking.  I was so upset.  My two friends and I left the theatrea dn spoke to the the manager.  Her personal skills were less than desirable for her postiion.  After some pointed complaining though we were all given two movie passes and we left the theater.  Chandler and his friend stayed until the end of the moviesand they got one movie pass a piece.  So now I have ot go and see the Harry Potter movie on my own.  I have no one in Red deer to see it with.  So I have decided to go on my own, it will be my treat to myself.  I really want to see the movie so I guess

DAY 30 of the 30 DAY challenge!!!!!

Image
Find a recent photo of yourself and post it. So I have given you two photos.  One is of me a little Man after the first snow.  We had fun playing with Jett and Krista outside, even if Krista hates the cold.  The second one is after I had my hair done in Saskatoon and we played with a partial up do for my wedding.  I think I am going to be able to do my own hair and make up for my wedding and save me a couple hundred dollars. YEAH!!! Also my cousin used to be a hair dresser so she said she would help me with my hair!!

Mineraleyez Make Up

Image
So here is a shout out to my friend Lexus. She has completed a few business school courses and started up her own mineral make-up company, Mineral Eyez.  She is now based out of Vancouver and had been doing many trade shows and exhibitions to get her make up line out to the public.  I bought a start up kit from her and have been using her make-up now for 6 months.  I find the make up easy to use and easy to apply and the pigmentation of the colours is wonderful. Here are a few close up pictures of my face all done up with the make up on.  So this is the whole face.  I am wearing foundation, blush, eye shadow and eye liner from Mineral Eyez. The lid shade is saskatoon berr-eh. The cheek colour is -40 Flush. All her products can be bought on line by visiting her website!!!  Here is the link Mineral eyez

Christmas shopping

So I started and finished my Christmas shopping today.  Sounds glorious?  No?  Well it was alright. We have opted out of buying Christmas gifts for family members this year, we are only buying for the kids.  So Adrian and I split that task. He will buy for Leigham and I will buy for Chandler.  I am buying stuff for Chandler in Vegas so I don't have to worry about him.  But we did have to get Santa gifts so I did my portion of the Santa gifts today. I may have one more to go out and grab, but I will get to that when I get to that.  It's not essential. I am getting that Christmas spirit more and more every day.  Even the crazy people in Wal-mart today couldn't even dampen my mood.  That is truly saying something, because they were crazy.  I have my Christmas tunes playing and I have such a mood to give and give and give.  I have two girlfriends that have had baby girls in the past three months and it was so hard not to buy little Christmas dresses for their babies.  I have

30 Day Challenge Day 29

Your opinions on the TV show GLEE Well to be perfectly honest I have never watched it.  Not one little episode.  It seemed to High School Musical-ish and just not my thing.  Do I think I have missed out on some episodes that have aired?  Yeah I have always said to myself "oh they are doing a tribute to (insert musician here) I should watch that show." and yet I have never done it.  If they ever come out with a DVD release of all their tribute episodes I may sit down and watch it, I think the music is great on the show, I just don't see myself sitting down for a weekly episode viewing.

30 day challenge day 28

Your first celebrity crush The earliest celebrity crush that stands out in my mind is Joey MacIntyre from NKOTB.  I just thought he was adorable, and I wanted to be his girlfriend.  I think that was my first celebrity crush but if there was someone else I can't remember who they would have been now.

December 8th

The morning light nearly blinded me as I woke up from a restless nights sleep.  Over the past 4 weeks my life had been in a constant state of upheaval so why should I expect to wake up peacefully or even get a restful night sleep.  I could smell the roasting coffee in the kitchen and it encouraged me to sit up and crawl out of the hide-a-bed in the living room.    "Good morning mom," I called as I stretched and reached for my slippers.  Chan was already eating cereal at the kitchen table and mom was surrounded by folders.  Some were open, some were stacked on the island of the kitchen but they all dictated a problem we had to deal with. "Good morning Jenny, did you sleep alright?" Mom asked as she quickly glanced up from the list she was making.  "It was ok, but I can't wait to get home.  So are we leaving tomorrow for sure then?"  I asked anxious to get home, living out of a suitcase was not a way of life.  Nor was leaving in the state of things

Science and Passion

I am not a science teacher, but I am.  This year part of my teaching assignment is to teach Grade Eight Science.  I am not the only Science teacher and I only teach one Grade Eight class so I don't know if my students aren't getting the same education as the other class.  I worry that maybe they aren't learning the concepts, but I am realizing that I have to stop comparing myself to the other teacher and just worry about what I am doing.  This is harder than it sounds since the school wants us to be using the same teaching tools and handouts for the students. In this struggle I have discovered some interesting facts about myself.  I struggle with teaching concepts I don't fully grasp, which I am sure is the same with everyone.  However, if I can see th practical application for a concept I can bring it to my students with avegence.  So I have decided to attack each concept I want the kids to learn with the "end in mind".  They teach you this in school but I

Christmas Season

Tis the season to be... baking.  Apparently in my house, this is what I am doing. I LOVE baking though so it makes the season so much more fun!!! I love to bake, cooking and I don't see eye to eye all the time but the baking concepts that's where I excell.  I should have gone to school to be a baker, because I love working with dough and creating new desserts.  I made maple cinnamon buns this weekend. They were delicious. I like my cinnamon buns plan, meaning no nuts or raisons.  But I like to experiment with differnt tastes and add things in that I think would be a little tasty.  And the maple cinnamon buns were exceptionally tasty.  I also made regular cinnamon buns and bread this weekend.  I have my Great Grandma's bread recipe and it is a phenomenal recipe. Adrian made chocolate chip cookies on Saturday.  They were pretty tasty but I still think mine taste better.  I may be a biased judge though.  The house smelled delicious all weekend. There is something complet

30 Day Challenge Day 27

Share your three favourite girls names, boys names and pets names Girls: 1. Auroura 2. Tacia 3. Kalleigh Boys: 1. Chandler 1. Leigham (it's a tie because I wouldn't want either boy to think I prefered one name to the other ;)) 3. Ryleigh ( this is one of my son's middle names the other has the middle name Michael, I like Ryleigh more than Michael, but Michael is in honour of my father.) Pets 1. Lexus 2. Sasha 3. Ninja

30 day challenge day 26

Name one place you would like to visit and why I would love to visit Greece. I have been in love with Greece since I was in grade 6. It stems from my passion in history and my passion for mythology. I want to go and explore all the areas that the stories and myths talk about. I want to see the culture to see the seas, to travel the narrow roads that climb up on steep banks. I can’t wait until I can get there and it will be one day soon!!!

30 day challenge day 25

Tell us about the last book you read The last new book I read was The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. It was a great book, I so enjoyed it. But the last book I read was Marion Keyes’ The Other Side of the Story. It’s a story of miscommunication and the interlocking lives of three women and their struggles to overcome their obstacles in their personal lives.

30 day challenge Day 24

Tell us about the last movie you saw in theatres The last movie I saw in theatres was Morning Glory. I loved it. It was such a cute movie and it will be the last movie I see in theatres for awhile that’s for sure. Too broke and not enough time, although I do want to go see Harry Potter, I have to see that movie in theatres and i can’t believe I haven’t gone yet.

30 day challenge day 23

YOur opinions on Lady Gaga I do not like Lady Gaga or her music. I find her shock value outfits and I couldn’t be bothered to really pay any attention to what she does. I am definitely not a Little Monster.

30 Day Challenge Day 22

Do you play a sport?  If not talk about a hobby you have. I don't actually play any organized sports.  I would like to play soccer or ultimate Frisbee in the summer, but I have never really pursued either of these as a team sport.  I would even play softball if I could find a team that wasn't worried that I was afraid of the ball.  ( I have been hit with the ball too many times not to flinch when it comes at me) As for hobbies, I love to read and write (blogging, poetry, short stories, beginnings of novels (I say beginnings because I usually run into writers block and can't finish the story)).  I also love to do scrapbooking, and I have found a new love for digital scrapbooking, it makes things much easier, and it's not as messy as the other way.  I also love to bake, it's definitely a hobby, I would never do it professionally, I think that would be stressful, but maybe one day I will take some baking and decorating classes and branch out into the world of my own

30 day challenge day 21

Your favorite subject to study I have two favourite subjects, and I cannot differentiate between which is actually my favourite.  My first favourite is English, I love reading and writing and I just love everything there is to love about language.  I find so many small joys in books and I find that books are a way to reach so many different people at one time.  My other favourite subject is History.  I love history and I love learning about the impacts of events on the lives of the citizens.  I think that Social Studies and Current events are also very interesting but I like to look back to see why things that happened thousands of years ago are still relevant today.  To be perfectly honest I just love learning. If I won the lottery I would quit my job and I would become a full time student I would probably end up being a professor at a university or a guest lecturer on many subjects because I love learning then imparting that knowledge to other eager or not so eager learners.

30 Day cHallnege day 20

Do you wear glasses? If so what for? I used to wear reading glasses, but since I have finished school my eyes have corrected themselves and I do not need glasses anymore.  I still have my reading glasses and if I get a headache I will put them on but the eye doctor says I don't need them anymore.

30 Day Challenge Day 19

What are the initials of your crush? Well the first and most important crush is ALR, or as I more commonly refer to him AGB.  After that celebrity crushes are now so few and far between it is hard to even remember them sometimes.  But here is the top three list. 1. SM 2. JD 3. PW Can you guess who they are??

30 Day Challenge Day 18

Do you drink soda more often then milk? I would love to say I drink milk more often than soda, but that is just not the case.  I hate milk.  I will maybe have a glass of milk once every two to three weeks.  I do enjoy Soy milk, but I am not in the habit of drinking milk with meals so that makes it hard to finish the Soy milk before it goes bad.  So even though I have cut down my soda drinking (I used to drink at least 500 ml a day, yes it's sick I know I had an addiction) I will still have a glass or two of soda a week.

Teaching with Passion

I have been posed with the question whether I was passionate about teaching or not.  This is a self posed question and I have had to think about what my answer would be.  After careful consideration this is the answer I have composed. My passion lies in the shaping of young minds. My passion lies in finding new opportunities to learn from the subject at hand and the students in my class.  My passion lies in the words and art and dramatizations.  My passion lies with the look in a students eye when the concept becomes apparent.  So am I passionate about teaching, yes I am very passionate.  However, I am struggling to convey that to my students.  I think they see glimpses of my passion but I am struggling to convey this passion on a daily basis.  You may ask why. Well the reason I find I am struggling is my internal perfectionism.  I am a perfectionist at heart and I do not like to lead my students down paths that are not perfectly smooth.  I love presenting labs to students because

30 Day Challenge Day 17

Your Thought on Ugg boots My honest opinion.... well I don't like them. I can say they look comfortable and cozy and I am sure they would keep my feet warm on a cold day, but I just don't like them.  I find them too bulky for my liking. I am sure it is my only personal demons coming out to hate these boots, but when you are built like I am (or think you are built like I am) pants tucked into boots is not a great look.  I am not even sure leggings are a good look for me unless it is with a super long sweater, one that comes to my knees.  I feel very awkward when I have them on, like I am the fat girl trying to be skinny... I am also not a fan of flat shoes.  I have some flats, but not very many, and no flat soled boots at all except for my snow boots.  So there are some strikes against the Uggs for me, but to each there own.  I have seen Uggs look great on some people, but on me I just feel like it's not an option.

Ok I have a question for the mom's out there...

I have a very serious question that has been haunting me since my youngest was born.  I tend to have many thoughts running through my head at any given time, and sometimes I kind of whisper those thoughts out as I am doing something.  But I have noticed something that has become more apparent since my youngest son was born.  So the question is this.....Do any of you moms out there find yourself talking to yourself as you go through your day?  I had gotten into the habit of narrating all parts of the day to Little Man as I interacted with him.  They say that it encourages speech and helps the baby learn to speak faster.. not sure if there is any truth behind it, but I didn't mind doing it and as he has gotten older I have started talking with him more. So today as I am going through my daily chores I realize that I am talking to myself dictating out loud all the things I have to do and how I am going to explain them later to Adrian when he gets home.  I am not saying them loudly,

30 Day Challenge day 16

Image
Your favorite Disney Princess movie In respect to Disney Princess movies this post is written in pink!! Without a doubt, my favourite Princess movie is the Little Mermaid.  I loved the story before they created it into a movie, but I also believe it was one of the first Disney Movies of the new era.  It was one of the first really musical Disney movies that went main stream.  All Disney movies incorporated singing, but not to the extent that they did when they made The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Pocahontas, etc. etc. 

30 day challenge day 15

Tell us your favorite junk food My favourite type of junk food is any junk food. LOL just kidding. If I had to pick a favourite of all time it would be a tie between Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and Pepsi. Both unfortunately for me have become comfort foods. I will crave them when I am feeling down or missing my dad. There is a definite tie to my father with both these items as he always kept me in supply in the summers when I came down to visit. Ask any of my California friends, they will tell you, if they came over to my dad’s they would open the fridge and find a pepsi and in the cupboard beside the fridge was a box of Reese’s. I don’t eat or drink much junk food anymore, but when the cravings start those are my first two choices.