Christmas looms like an elephant. Dh keeps opening candy containers and we keep indulging. The trees are up and the new bath is almost ready for occupancy. My little sis is coming from Montreal to visit and that was a nice surprise! I've shovelled out the spear room and the MIL will be arriving Christmas Eve. Woo Hoo!
The guest room will always be the spear room. During a move we were using second hand boxes supplied by the movers. Therefore we have no idea who labelled it 'spear room', but that name stuck with us. It just makes sense, don't you think? I really need to find a spear for the wall. Maybe a nice spear rack?
I should be panicked by now over the terror of the unbought present. You know, the one in the nightmare where a dear friend or relative arrives and you don't have a thing for them. Or perhaps you're doling out the family presents and there's a hand out and you have nothing for it? I have those fears. I just don't let them out to run wild.
Today I was useful at work! I'm always useful in a worker sort of way, but I knew how to solve a problem. Someone with a rather expensive Pfaff called in. They had been cleaning the bobbin case and suddenly had an extra piece of metal in their hand. Of course I can't see what she is looking at and she can only describe it so much. I popped the needle plate off a similar machine and emailed her a picture. She ran down to her computer and could see the piece easily! It popped back in place and I was brilliant! Doesn't that just warm your heart? It's a small thing, but I was happy.
Monday, 17 December 2012
Sunday, 9 December 2012
The last of the serious stuff.
Want to feel like you're doing nice things while in actual fact - surfing the net? Put one of those charity sites as your home page. Go to Preferences and copy the link you want to 'home page'. I use http://www.thehungersite.com. When I open my browser I click on their Give link and I feed someone via their sponsors. It also gives you links to other donation sites. Now all of these links are American focussed, but I like to support the third world countries. If you know of a good Canadian site let me know.
I'm chatting with a former student last week and she just grabbed my heart and squeezed. We were working on a writing assignment and it was to be a personal topic. She decided to write about a time when she had been teased by another student. The look on her face was all you needed to see to know how deeply this had affected her (several years later). She wasn't looking to strike out in anger, she was just remembering the deep hurt and confusion this time had brought her.
I was teaching her and the other student at that time and remembered the incident/s well. I was more concerned with the other student then as this little victim was only part of the carnage, and in fact the aggressor was a sad, frightened little person trying hard to improve. I did try my best with her then and spent some more time with her last week. Picture the look on this little brave and mature beyond her years face, and speak up for reduced class size and teacher supports such as teaching assistants, psychologists, speech therapists, art, music, social workers and on and on. When we put our best efforts into our children, well if you're not sure why we need to (and that would make me worry), think of your pension. You want your best work force working on it. Drug lords don't pay taxes.
Now I'm off to decorate my trees. There's the regular tree, the cat tree, the basketry tree, the doily tree, etc. It takes some time. I just stuck a candy cane in my Wayne Gretzky green tea to ramp up the mood! Very festive!
I'm chatting with a former student last week and she just grabbed my heart and squeezed. We were working on a writing assignment and it was to be a personal topic. She decided to write about a time when she had been teased by another student. The look on her face was all you needed to see to know how deeply this had affected her (several years later). She wasn't looking to strike out in anger, she was just remembering the deep hurt and confusion this time had brought her.
I was teaching her and the other student at that time and remembered the incident/s well. I was more concerned with the other student then as this little victim was only part of the carnage, and in fact the aggressor was a sad, frightened little person trying hard to improve. I did try my best with her then and spent some more time with her last week. Picture the look on this little brave and mature beyond her years face, and speak up for reduced class size and teacher supports such as teaching assistants, psychologists, speech therapists, art, music, social workers and on and on. When we put our best efforts into our children, well if you're not sure why we need to (and that would make me worry), think of your pension. You want your best work force working on it. Drug lords don't pay taxes.
Now I'm off to decorate my trees. There's the regular tree, the cat tree, the basketry tree, the doily tree, etc. It takes some time. I just stuck a candy cane in my Wayne Gretzky green tea to ramp up the mood! Very festive!
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Fruitcake
I discovered a new dish tonight. You may be in the mood someday, so here it is. Sprinkle chocolate chips on a plate. Tear marshmallows in half and place the sticky side down on the chips. Microwave for 20 seconds. Watch the marshmallows puff through the microwave windows. Scoop and enjoy!
You really need to be in the mood.
I think my house phone has been broken for a week. I'm not sure. It's been quiet. I thought it was just peaceful, but we seem to be lacking a dial tone. I'll look into that someday.
The recent fire in the clothing factory that killed at least 112 people concerns me. What are we thinking? We need thneads (Read The Lorax. It's an important book) it seems. Dr. Suess saw this a long time ago, and we continue on regardless. Our lust for a cheap and constant feed of new things demands the exploitation of others. We can have no concept of what that means in this country. We can pause for thought. Where do you go with those thoughts?
It seems my DH likes fruitcake. I hadn't planned on that. I made 2 and we're currently nibbling our way through the last one. Now I know why that recipe called for 4 cakes. I'm getting a fruitcake belly! It's very festive. I think I'll put up my tree tomorrow to celebrate it.
You really need to be in the mood.
I think my house phone has been broken for a week. I'm not sure. It's been quiet. I thought it was just peaceful, but we seem to be lacking a dial tone. I'll look into that someday.
The recent fire in the clothing factory that killed at least 112 people concerns me. What are we thinking? We need thneads (Read The Lorax. It's an important book) it seems. Dr. Suess saw this a long time ago, and we continue on regardless. Our lust for a cheap and constant feed of new things demands the exploitation of others. We can have no concept of what that means in this country. We can pause for thought. Where do you go with those thoughts?
It seems my DH likes fruitcake. I hadn't planned on that. I made 2 and we're currently nibbling our way through the last one. Now I know why that recipe called for 4 cakes. I'm getting a fruitcake belly! It's very festive. I think I'll put up my tree tomorrow to celebrate it.
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