Remembering

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Sherry

Today is Remembrance Day here in Canada. In the U.S. it’s Veteran’s Day but it’s essentially the same thing. It’s a day where we stop for just a moment to think of all the people who fight for freedom and for our protection and to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us. I always take this time to not only thank all those I have never met and never will, but I thank my grandfather, Alan Richard Osborne, for fighting back in WWII.

Since November 11th is a very busy day for veterans the school has their ceremony on the 10th (though they still do the two minutes of silence at 11 am today) so that they can invite a couple of veterans to attend. Each class does some sort of a presentation for them, whether it’s a song, reading a poem, or doing a dramatic piece. I wasn’t there this year but I did attend last year and it’s the most moving thing I’ve ever seen in an elementary school. More than once I had to wipe my eyes and I would have been embarrassed but I wasn’t the only one. And the veterans were very emotional too, so I certainly wasn’t alone.

At last night’s meeting the principal told us that one of the veterans this year was a whopping 97 years old and after the assembly was over he said “I will remember this for the rest of my life” to which the younger vet laughed and teased, “well that’s not much longer at this point”. They were both moved though, and I’m glad that they come for the kids.

Today I found this video from the always amazing (and oh so very Canadian) Rick Mercer Report, a rant about remembering to remember. I love it.

Everyone has two minutes. If you miss the alloted time, apologize and take two minutes on your own. The most important thing is to just remember, to take a moment to honour those who have served or are serving now, and to be thankful.

And I know not everyone agrees with the different wars that are fought. I don’t love war, I wish it wasn’t a necessity, but I do think sometimes it’s just inevitable. Where would we be if we hadn’t fought some of the major wars in history? But it all comes down to this: I don’t care if you agree with the war or hate the war. I don’t care if you think it’s a sad necessity or if you’re a protesting pacifist. Whether you agree or disagree, I believe we all need to support every man and woman that stands up and fights. Hate the war if you want, but love the people who fight so hard to make sure you have the freedom to express that opinion.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

– John McCrae

Trick or treat!

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Sherry

Another Halloween has come and gone but it was definitely a good one. We got SNOW on October 30th, which caused me to utter many words that are not fit for repeating. I know I may be a Canadian and we’re supposed to be used to winter and all that but winter should not come about in October, sorry.

Luckily it wasn’t too much and most of it had melted by the time we were ready for trick-or-treating. It was quite cold but kids don’t always notice things like cold anyway so it wasn’t until they were almost done that they started realizing their fingers were half frozen.

Hayley and Breanna both chose easy costumes this year. Hayley wanted to be a cowgirl, which surprised me a little bit but she looked very cute. All it took was a pair of jeans, a warm shirt and warm coat, and one of George’s plaid shirts over the top of that (yes, the jokes are true; all Canadian Halloween costumes should be designed to fit over a winter coat, possibly a full snow suit). She topped it off with pigtails, some freckles like Jessie in Toy Story, and a cow~~boy~~girl hat and she was done. She had brought a horse but wisely chose to leave it in the car.

As for Breanna, she wanted to be a fairy. I scratched my head trying to figure out how to make her pretty yet warm, and ended up pulling one of Hayley’s pink, flowery summer dresses over her warm coat. She wore fairy wings, a tiara, and carried a wand. I also put a bit of makeup on her and she was very happy. Both girls had a great time trick-or-treating with their friends and it was fun for me to watch Breanna keeping up with the big kids this year, not needing (or wanting!) my help to go up to each door.

And me? I don’t believe in trick-or-treating without some sort of costume even I’m not the one going up to get the candy. Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year and I love to get dressed up. I usually dress as Hermione from Harry Potter but this year I decided to go with one of the more evil characters. I always said that if I was an actress I would have wanted to play Bellatrix just because she was completely insane. The role went to Helena Bonham Carter but that doesn’t mean I can’t dress the part a bit!

The principal at Hayley’s school is a very wise woman. Knowing Halloween was a Sunday this year, she took one of the floating ped days and gave the kids Monday off. No one wanted a bunch of tired and strung out kids still coming down from a sugar high sitting in their classrooms, so it worked out well. It meant we didn’t have to rush home and after trick-or-treating was done we got to spend some time enjoying ourselves at a friend’s house. Much better than trying to herd them off to bed at a decent hour!

I have a few more Halloween pictures up over here if you’d like to see them.

*******

I’m doing NaBloPoMo again this year, which means you can expect to read a new post here every day throughout the month of November.

Thankful

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Sherry

This past weekend was Thanksgiving up here in Canada* and with Hayley being off school for the Friday and the Monday we had a wonderful long weekend and there was a lot to be thankful for by the time it was over.

We basically spent Friday getting to know our new dog, and we took her for her first walk in the woods. On Saturday our friend was the unknowing guest of honor at her surprise birthday party and that was a lot of fun. I went over early to help decorate and get everything ready, and we didn’t leave until midnight. I had such a good time that I may have to re-think my stance on surprise parties. I’ve always said I wouldn’t want to have one, even though I enjoy attending them for other people, but maybe it would be fun for someone to throw one for me too after all.

Even though Monday was technically Thanksgiving day, a lot of people celebrate with the big dinner on Sunday since many people have Monday off (and can thus recuperate from all the turkey, stuffing, and pie!). We went over to George’s parents’ house and visited with them, as well as his sister and her husband. We had a great time and enjoyed a huge meal.

George’s sister suggested that after saying grace we should go around the table and have each person share something they’re grateful for. When it was my turn I said that I spent my whole life having big family meals for holidays up north at my grandmother’s house but since she passed away several years ago, I don’t have that now. I said I was grateful that I still had the good luck to be a part of that with George’s family.

The kids both fell asleep pretty easily that night, which was a good thing since I got a phone call from one of my friends on Monday morning. She said she was going with our other friend to a big nature park with the kids and they wanted to know if we’d like to join them. I’m so glad I was able to say yes. It was a beautiful day – possibly one of the last before winter hits – and we spent a wonderful three and a half hours walking around, looking at the trees, petting goats, checking out farm animals, having pony rides, and eating a picnic lunch.

By Monday night everyone was pretty much wiped out. There’s something wonderful about being completely tired because you had so much fun over the past four days.

You can see the full Thanksgiving set over here and all the photos from the nature center over here.

*I mentioned it being our long holiday weekend over on JoliePittWatch and thanked my readers for their kind wishes. Hilariously I had someone email me about how I’m an idiot for thinking it was Thanksgiving because DUH, that’s in November. I had a fun time replying that although the Internet is very US-centric, many of us actually live in other countries, and thus have different holidays. I included a link explaining Canadian Thanksgiving and implied that perhaps it takes a bigger kind of idiot to have no clue about the world outside their own little dot on the map.

To every mother

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Sherry

I want to write about my Mother’s Day and the whole weekend surrounding it, but I’m so tired that I’ll wait until tomorrow. Instead I’ll re-post something I originally put up in May 2005.

Happy Mother’s Day to every mother out there.

To every mother of a biological child. To every mother of an adopted child. To every birth mother who has ever given a child up. To every mother who has ever taken in a foster child to try to help make one person live a happier life. To every mother-to-be who is counting down the days until birth. To every mother who has ever lost a child. To every mother who has ever lost the baby they never even held. To every mother who has taken a negative pregnancy test and tried again and again and again, forever hoping for two pink lines. To every surrogate mother who has selflessly carried a baby for another mother. To every mother who is somehow perfect and in full control of everything. To every mother who is floundering and living in chaos. To every mother who weeps tears of joy on her newborn’s head. To every mother who weeps tears of postpartum depression and wonders when it gets better. To every mother who screws up and dusts it all off and tries again tomorrow.

To every woman who is or wants to be a mother in any way, happy Mother’s Day.

I hope you had a wonderful day.

So long 2009, hello 2010

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Sherry

It’s so strange that it’s New Year’s Eve already and that we’re not only starting a new year very soon but a whole new decade. I don’t know where the time has gone. Isn’t it weird how time seems to speed up the older you get?

I was going to do a retrospective but really I don’t need to. For me one of the best parts of 2009 was going to Halifax for three weeks. Halifax is my dream home, the place I’ve wanted to live since I was just transitioning into my third trimester with my now-seven-year-old daughter. Being there for three weeks was bittersweet because it made it even harder to leave in some ways but I’m so glad we got to go. Seeing my sister, being in her wedding, spending time with George’s family, touching the ocean again, it was all amazing.

Other than that, one of my biggest feats of 2009 has been to beat down the panic attack issues that I have. They’re still there, I still get them on a regular basis, and I’ve explained before what it feels like to go through one. No matter how many I have, no matter how rational I try to be, they’re still as scary each time as the first time.

However, this fall I made a choice to try very hard to not let it control my life. I stepped way outside of my normal comfort zones by joining the PPO at Hayley’s school and becoming a part of the Governing Board. I’ve participated in Movie Night, the toy sale, Terry Fox Day, Pizza Day, Bread Drive, attended assemblies, and gone to a Governing Board workshop. I’ve also become a volunteer for the Breakfast Club, arriving there at dark o’clock to make sure all kids have a chance at a healthy and filling breakfast.

It’s not perfect. People probably can’t tell to look at me but I’ve had the odd mild panic in the midst of some of those things, but between the Rescue Remedy I carry with me at all times (hell, I even carried it inside my bouquet in my sister’s wedding), conversations with the Big Guy upstairs (so to speak) and sheer determination I fought it down and won.

It will probably never go away completely but I’m proud of myself for refusing to let it win all the time.

Overall, 2009 could have been better but it sure as hell could have been a lot worse. I’m not sad to see it go but I’m eager to see what 2010 has in store. Hopefully good things. Maybe a winning lottery ticket. I promise to donate a ton of it to charity if I win a big one.

I know people scoff at resolutions, and of course you should make them at any time that you feel a need to change your life for the better instead of just at the flip of a new calendar, but I’m the person who always makes resolutions. It’s a compulsion of some sort and I’m unapologetic about it. None of my resolutions are massive lifestyle changes anyway. Sometimes I keep them and sometimes I don’t but it’s a good way to check into what I need to focus on.

For 2010, in no particular order:

1. Start figuring out a plan to get to Halifax. Not just a vacation, figuring out a plan to GET TO Halifax. It’s been over seven years after all, it’s time.

2. Balance out work a bit better. Working from home is all wonderful and delightful but I need a better way to balance work, home, and life.

3. Learn more about photography. The fact that I’m now writing over here regularly and over at DPS occasionally (I don’t think I ever mentioned that I wrote a post about cold weather photography at DPS) means that I have a good reason to push myself to learn and share those lessons with others. This year I went through a weird slump where I just had no desire to take any pictures, not even snapshots, and it was frustrating but I know now that it goes away eventually. I love taking pictures and want to keep getting better.

4. Tell stories. Somehow this blog has become sort of “dear diary” where I yap at everyone about my day (or days if it’s been awhile). There’s nothing wrong with that and I don’t want to stop. This blog has been a great way for me to keep track of the little things in my life. I could write it in a paper journal but I suck at keeping up with that. I’ll still write the “today I…” entries but I want to write more. I want to tell stories instead of just recaps. Two of my (many) favorite bloggers are incredible storytellers and every single time I read an entry they’ve posted I think to myself, “I want to write like THAT.” I want to tell stories to you.

5. Make the effort. My good friend came up with this all-encompassing resolution years ago because she isn’t fond of specific resolutions. She decided that “make the effort” was a sentiment that could be applied to a lot of things throughout the year. I can think of some things I’d especially like to apply it to – things like getting fit for health and mental health reasons, learning calm and patience, staying on top of things better – but I don’t want to bog it down with too many specifics. I’ll just go with it as is.

What are your resolutions?

And now I have two excited kids who are determined to stay up with us until midnight (Hayley for sure, Breanna, well, I’ll see if she can make it). They’re drinking 7Up in wine glasses and I’m about to pour some real red wine in my own glass. We’re going to listen to some music then hang out with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square to watch the ball drop. I hope that 2010 brings you all the best life has to offer.

See you (wait for it) next year!

An extra Christmas

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Sherry

In some ways I wish that I could see everyone I need to see on Christmas day. Growing up, my sister and I went up north to my grandmother’s house.

Isn’t it an amazing house? Hard to believe it’s a grocery store parking lot now, but I’ll refrain from ranting since it doesn’t change anything.

My dad’s mom would come over on the 24th, have dinner, then attend church. After that, she’d come back and spend the night. That house was more than big enough for everyone and we would all go to sleep, waiting for morning.

My sister and I shared a room (and that went well, yep, not really) and we’d often wake up by 6 am. Then we would be amazed by how slowly time could crawl by. We weren’t allowed to get up until my grandmother got up, turned up the heat, lit the woodstove in the kitchen, and then turned on the Christmas music on the radio.

We’d all go downstairs and my whole family – me, my sister, my parents, my grandmothers – would open presents, hang around the house, and have Christmas dinner together. It simply never occurred to me that we were atypical and that most people didn’t have Christmas that way, that most people juggled family and spread Christmas out.

I’ll admit that it took me awhile (years) to get used to how different this all is now than the way it was for me growing up, but in a way I like our new way now. It means that Christmas lasts longer because we see my family on the 26th, and it’s good for the kids because they don’t get quite as overwhelmed by too many gifts all at once (and have fewer meltdowns).

This year was unfortunate because we weren’t able to go on our usual day, which had me bummed, but there was nothing we could do. The weather was terrible with freezing rain and ice pellets making it too dangerous to risk driving (hell, I didn’t even walk the dog past the end of our walk because it was a skating rink out there). We did get to go on the 27th though, which made me happy.

My parents spoiled us in a wonderful way. The kids got lots of great toys (fairy houses, horse & carriage, art stuff, a farm, a remote control car, and (my favorite) a finger puppet theater which is seriously awesome. I got a beautiful sweater, a much-needed set of pajamas, a salad spinner (don’t laugh, I’ve wanted one for ages, and if you’ve ever patted lettuce “dry” with paper towel you’ll understand why), and some other great stuff.

We also had our gifts from my sister and brother-in-law that they had mailed to my parents’ place and Amanda knows me so well. She got me a super-fancy high-tech corkscrew because she knows I enjoy red wine (I’d better see if I can use it!) and she got me Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography, which is the autobiography of Benazir Bhutto. I can’t wait to finish up my queue of books so I can get started on it; it’s been awhile since I read a book about the Middle East and anyone who knows me well knows that’s one of my favorite types of books to read. The fact that I admired Bhutto so much and found her fascinating makes it even better.

After opening gifts, we just relaxed and chatted while Hayley played with her new car and the kids followed the cat everywhere she went; I went to scoop up all the discarded wrapping paper at one point and ended up getting smacked good and hard by a little grey paw because it was apparently her hiding spot from the kids.

My mom had made spaghetti and it was amazing to watch how much of it Breanna shoveled into her mouth. It’s her favorite meal in the world and I fully admit that my mom’s spaghetti sauce is WAY better than mine (and mine is pretty darn good so that’s saying a lot). We had cupcakes for dessert and I got my dad set up on Facebook for the first time. After that it was time to go, but we had a really nice day while we were there.

And when we got home, Pearl was very happy to learn she had gotten some presents from my parents too – she loves her rawhide bones and soft plush bone!

I must say, it was a very good Christmas holiday indeed!

Post-Christmas slump

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Sherry

Usually I get a really blah-worthy post-Christmas slump or let-down. It’s because there’s so much excitement and stress leading up to The Big Day that by the time it’s over I’m left wondering how it’s over already and the lack of festivities leaves me kind of blue. It never lasts long but it’s there.

Last year I didn’t get that because I had Christmas morning with George and the girls here at home, then we spent the day with his parents, and my family came for dinner – with my sister and Neal too! – on the 26th. On top of that we gathered at my aunt and uncle’s house with my cousins and their kids on the 28th and it was the first time in over ten years since we had all been together like that. When my uncle passed away a few months ago I was very grateful to have had that one last visit with him.

I’m finding I don’t have the let-down this year either. I do have the post-Christmas slump but this time it’s not due to feeling deflated – it’s a physical “holy crap that was fun and now I’m exhausted” slump so it’s been a good one.

The 24th was pretty busy. We took the kids to see Santa because he actually hadn’t been there the day we first went. They were very happy to see him right before he had to dash off to start delivering gifts around the world.

Once we got back home I baked cookies with the kids (just Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies, nothing fancy) and while we waited for them to finish up in the oven we tracked Santa on the NORAD site. They LOVE that.

I was very smart this year (and it only took me this long to figure this out). Instead of waiting for the kids to go to sleep and then having George bring the gifts over for us to wrap – something which stresses me out since it’s always after 11 pm – I went to his parents’ house and hung out with them, wrapping everything in their kitchen (his mom did most of the work). That meant George only had to pick them up and bring them here at night, much less stressful for me.

On Christmas eve the kids got their traditional pajamas that they unwrap and wear to bed. They may be two of the very few kids who actually look forward to getting pajamas. Then we set up the milk and cookies for Santa (and Cheerios and water for the reindeer) and they went to bed.

Breanna is a sleep fan so despite the fact that it was the night before Christmas, she was out like a light in about ten minutes flat. Hayley didn’t give in to sleep until after 11 pm (so I was definitely happy that everything was wrapped already!), but it helped that I noticed on NORAD that Santa was in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She knows EXACTLY where that is and it put her into enough of a panic that she fell asleep about five minutes later. Whew. Thank God I had gotten her up at 7 am that day because otherwise she might have never fallen asleep.

George and I always divide and conquer with the kids on Christmas eve so that we don’t have to worry about the kids sneaking into the living room at 4 am. He and Hayley camp out in one bedroom while Breanna and I sleep in the other. Apparently Hayley woke George up with a loud stage whisper at three in the morning. I don’t think she went to sleep until well after 4 am, which explains why Breanna and I woke up at 8 am on the 25th with the two of them still conked out.

It was good though. It was all really good. The kids opened their stockings where they were very happy with their little gifts. Then they moved on to the Santa gifts. They only ever ask for one thing from Santa (or in Breanna’s case she wanted this OR this) which is something I like because it means we get to give them cool gifts too. This year Hayley wanted a Fur Real dog that walks and barks and sniffs a rawhide bone, and Breanna wanted a rocket ship (or a truck).

Hayley got her dog and apparently it was exactly the right one. Meanwhile, Breanna nearly peed her pants because not only did she get a rocket, it was the rocket that was attached to Buzz and Woody in Toy Story, one of her favorite movies. She was so excited to get them all.

From us Hayley got Mousetrap and a Barbie horse spa, and Breanna got a Littlest Pet Shop set (the Get Better Center Playset) and an art easel because she loves drawing more than anyone I know.

Meanwhile we also got them a couple of joint gifts by giving them a big set of Barbie furniture and we downloaded Mario Kart for the Wii. They were pretty happy.

We went to George’s parents’ house for the morning and later for supper and the kids got a lot of nice clothes, some Polly Pocket stuff, and some My Little Pony things, as well as a couple of games. I also got some beautiful clothes so I was happy!

Supper was the usual “I’m going to die happy” meal of turkey, stuffing, squash, pigeon-peas & rice, steamed veggies, and ham, not to mention the pumpkin pie that I didn’t photograph because I was too busy shoving it into my, well, pie hole.

It was a great, wonderful, very happy day and once the kids went to bed (pretty easily), George and I settled in for our tradition of watching a highly inappropriate, very non-Christmasy movie. This year it was The Last House on the Left and good lord I was happy we don’t live in the woods in the middle of nowhere after watching that. Yikes.

Overall, a very good day. I haven’t gone through my photos from our day at my parents’ house yet so I’ll save that story for tomorrow! In the meantime, you can see the full set of Christmas photos thus far over here. I’ve started to put some photos as friends & family so if you can’t see all 35 photos, feel free to add me over there and drop me a line.

Two more sleeps

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Sherry

Now that I’ve officially purchased everything that I wanted/needed to for Christmas (shopping today was AWESOME, the store was all but empty and I was in and out in under 15 minutes), I’m feeling very excited. I’m a little thrown off because in the past I’ve often done the final wee leg of shopping on the 24th, so part of me feels like Christmas should be tomorrow.

There are still a few things that need to be taken care of. We went to visit Santa today but apparently he was up at the North Pole to check on the workshop or some such thing because he wasn’t there today. Boo! But I was able to find out that he’ll be there on the 24th at 11 am so we’ll just go right when they open. We’ll have plenty of time to get ready for that since I have every intention of getting the kids up at 7 am. I know Breanna would sleep tomorrow night even with the excitement, but Hayley’s not fond of sleep on the most boring of nights, let alone Christmas Eve. I figure anything I can do to tire her out will only help me.

I also still have to wrap but I’m hoping to take a different approach this year. Usually we keep the gifts at George’s parents’ house in their basement until the kids (finally) fall asleep. Once they’re out cold, George drives over to pick them up, brings them home, and then the wrapping starts. Since this is usually all around 11 pm I’m not thrilled with it. I’m often more stressed about the wrapping than the shopping itself.

This year I’m going to find out if George’s family will be home tomorrow (they should be, as far as I know). Then I’m going to go to their house while George occupies the kids and I’ll wrap over there. It will be less stressful for me and I’ll get adult conversation as well. Granted, I can get adult conversation by wrapping at home but at that hour on the night before Christmas usually means my adult conversation is peppered with a lot of swearing.

The only other thing we need to do tomorrow is bake a quick batch of cookies so we have some to leave out for Santa. I still don’t have any eggnog at all (gasp) so hopefully I can grab a carton of that as well so I can eat a few cookies with that too.

Why don’t they sell eggnog in bags like they do with milk? Now that would be a marketing plan!

Brrrrrr

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Sherry

You know that song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”? It takes on a whole new meaning when your windows look like this.

It’s been pretty cold the past few days; today our high was only -21C with the wind chill. Luckily it doesn’t look like it will be quite so chilly over Christmas.

Speaking of the big day, everything as far as major purchases go has been bought and is waiting to be wrapped. It’s such a relief. George went and got the last few things today and I just need to go out for some minor stuff tomorrow but I’m not anticipating any stress with that.

I think I’m just about ready to put my feet up and wait for Christmas day! Hmmm, wait. I may have to also stop for some eggnog at the store, THEN I’ll be ready!

I survived but I'm not done yet!

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Sherry

Today George and I headed out to drop Breanna off at her grandparents’ house so that we could go shopping, finally! The first place we hit was Toys R Us and for the first time ever in my time shopping there my jaw dropped open as I saw the lines. It was kind of nuts. In the end it wasn’t as bad as I thought, the lines did move pretty quickly, but it was still shocking. We had sort of figured that most people still have to work up to the 23rd, so we were expecting an emptier store. Yikes.

We also hit Wal-Fart and Zellers. I don’t like Wal-Fart on a good day, let alone a holiday shopping day so I nearly took George up on his offer for me to stay in the car (he knows how much I hate going in there) but I sucked it up and went on in. It wasn’t too bad.

We ended up going to two more on the other side of town as well, searching for just a few more things. Unfortunately we didn’t get it all finished yet (which is why I’m just grateful I wasn’t shopping on the 24th!), but we did get most of it. We need one more thing for Hayley, one joint gift for them, and possibly one more for each. We also have to get the gift for George’s sister and her husband, but it’s going to be easy to pick up. There are two kid gifts that are proving annoyingly difficult and it was ticking me off.

I also have to brave the dollar store and I’m hoping we can do all of that tomorrow. I’m not sure whether we can drop Breanna off again, it depends on everyone’s plans, but if we have to take her too then we’ll take turns at the different stores with one person shopping and the other walking around with her. Whew.

I’m looking forward to the 24th. I usually still have to do all the wrapping then, but at least I won’t have to go to the store!

Chaos Theory

Category Archives: Holidaze