Not to be rude, but...

light + testosterone = malicious playfulness

2009-10-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

My husband and a laser pointer. the ultimate exercise in annoyance. I'm trying to fold laundry and he thinks it's hysterical to grab a laser pointer and get the cat to destroy everything in site. I can barely hear myself think over the cackles of vicious laughter, not to mention I have to refold everything now and there is a good chance it is covered in fur!

such is his way.

aren't we self important

2009-10-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I finally got this tweetin' twitter thing figured out. well at least I think I've got it started. so now I have to remember to tweet, blog and facebook every time I do anything of any interest or significance. Seriously, is there anyone that interest in my daily pursuits that all of these technologies are necessary? Or do I just think so highly of myself that I need to write and journal everything that I do.
Let's see, today I listened to a keynote address by the Kielburger brothers. That was pretty awesome. I was very inspired. Then I presented a workshop on the Life Before Profit initiative I started in our school to a group of educators from all across the province. That part was cool. I worked on my paper for my specialist certificate. This is through the university of Western, Ontario. Then I started some preliminary watercolour sketches for a friend who wants me to illustrate her children's book. this is a project that has been in the works for some time now but is just finally started to take off. We shall see where it goes. I'm working on knitting a blanket for the Project Linus - blankets for sick and needy children. I am avoiding working on it though because I don't really have a pattern and I'm probably going to make a horrible mess. hopefully it doesn't end up as one my many unfinished knitting projects. ugh- it's just such a slow tedious process. I always think I am going to finish- and it seems like such a great idea at the time.
Tomorrow I drive home from Toronto. I am supposed to stay and go to an award banquet to receive the Michael Carty award for my proposal, but I am up here by myself and checkout of the hotel is at noon. I don't want to hang out until 6p.m. to go to a dinner by myself where I don't know a soul. So i will just go home instead and they can courier the award to me. Not that I don't appreciate the accolades, i just am way to introverted to go through all those motions.
blech.
i guess i really should pay more attention to this blog. I would prefer to use it a diary, but I don't want to let those thoughts, feelings etc. public.... tempting... but way too incriminating! yikes

another day...

2009-04-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

funny finding things that are so much like yourself in the ones you teach. Students are crying their eyes out at the same anguished English that I myself find such humour in! Love it when you find a kindred spirit. Botched translations and pathetic notes that excuse children from school are always good for a guffaw.

I guess my mood is lightening with the weather.

Would much rather be on a patio or in the backyard with a tasty margarita...but I digress.

Time for some parent/teacher interviews....

life is grand

2009-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Can I just tell you that today there was an incident report for me to sign...

it was from my daughters' school. and let me just say, that parenting ones' self is not an easy task.

turns out my daughter received an injury in the form of a pinch on the cheek from another little girl.

Upon investigation, it turns out that my daughter received this pinch because she informed the other child that her hair "looked terrible"

I have to tell you ... not to be rude, but... your hair...

apples don't fall far my friends!

She is so spicy!

ouch

Ineptitude

2009-02-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

wow
i am always shocked by how some are in positions that would seem as though they would require not only some type of education requirement, but also a maturity, sense of vision, compassion etc... still lack basic logic.
perhaps more I am astounded by the lack of care, compassion, moral conscious in other individuals.
What kind of an adult would feel gratified by bullying - perhaps they are emotionally stunted. Maybe they failed to develop a mature sense of self and need to rely on the acceptance of others. I don't think i should try to rationalize others implorable behaviours. But I feel a strong urge to try to protect those who are being hurt, undermined and steered in the wrong direction because of a person's concern for themselves and the prestige. Truly there will be justice forthcoming- doesn't it always come out in the end~ or is that just another faery tale?
we shall see...
on another note, have I mentioned that the Thesaurus is one of my favourite books.
also it is interesting that I was gossiping yesterday with a friend
She was telling the tale of a couple who is drowning in debt, asking for help, but yet unwilling to make any changes...
again my theory that adults are just aged children.
truly- if your credit card debt is greater than your annual income- it is time to say No to vacations and other luxuries- especially for the sake of your children's future.
Such selfishness~ I can't believe that I am even wasting precious minutes of my life worrying about someone elses' poor choices.
It's not as if I don't have enough on my plate- especially since I am starting another AQ course in May. However I just can't ignore the implications that this persons decisions will have within her relationships and the future.
agghh- i guess my s/o is right- i should just be ignorant to all the philistines out there.... use your thesaurus!

Ode to the drama...

2009-02-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

Oh cathartic blog...
can they not realize that a creative mind needs time to be still.
An avalanche of upcoming achievements, finished projects and new ideas
are raining heavily
while one is still tying up loose ends and mourning the end of the last beginning.

crap... there goes the next bell.

Fortitude- the virtue that challenges us to be courageous

2008-12-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Why is it that fortitude is so often overlooked or condemned to be politically incorrect?
When did it become rude to speak an intelligent, informed opinion? It seems to me that nowadays if you have a different thought or an idea that opposes another persons' idea it is considered wrong, adversarial or wrong.
I believe that if you arent' truthful (not to say you can't be tactful while truthful) then you are disingenuous. I would prefer to be around those who had the fortitude to disagree with me and make their opinions known than those who cower and choose to just agree rather than think about a situation and have a voice of their own.
The latter situation recalls the tale of the Emperor's New Clothes.

hmmmmm....

2008-11-14T12:00:00.001-08:00

2 THINGS I CAN'T APPRECIATE, UNDERSTAND OR TOLERATE:
1 apathy
2 wishywashy-ness (aka doormatism)

Life is just too short for these things, and furthermore, what kind of life are you living if you embrace these traits?
blech

To say or to keep my mouth shut

2008-10-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

So I have this friend. She has been my friend since I was 9 years old. I have to say that I cherish our friendship, although we both have our own lives and families and only get together a few times a year. We talk about once a month or so - always with promises to get together soon, but i have to say that the times are getting further and further apart. Let me just say that my friend has always struggled with her weight, and I believe because of that her self esteem. You wouldn't really know that she struggles with her self esteem though because it's not something she ever talks about. My friend has always been a bit heavier and when she was growing up her stepdad would continually make comments of the rude variety about her size, her eating habits or whatever- it didn't help. Friend met her first boyfriend in grade nine. He was a few years older. They liked to party, hang out and eat. Years later, when they married, they were both the heaviest I had ever seen them. I suppose looking around at people nowadays, this is a pretty common thing. But in my small confined community of family and friends it is not. A few years after they had their first child, both husband and wife decided to get healthy. I started going to the gym on a tri-weekly basis with my friend and we were having a lot of fun. We were in our late twenties and we had lots of time to do what we needed to get in the best of shape. Friend was overjoyed when she no longer had to shop at plus sized stores. things were good in the world. Shortly after I got married, started having kids of my own, moved out of the neighbourhood and thus don't see my friend on a daily basis anymore. My friend switched careers within the same healthcare field and is now working in a weight control help centre. Oddly enough the new place of work has had an opposite effect on her as both her and her husband have been putting on weight again. Last year my friend called me completely distressed. (Have I mentioned friend very rarely lets any of her true feelings out? She is a bottle waiting to burst!) She had her husband at the doctors office. The dr. told her that they needed to get husband to the hospital right away. Apparently they discovered during a routine procedure, that his blood pressure was through the roof. I mean practically at stroke level. I couldn't believe the news. So, what was the diagnosis? What was the course of action? Lifestyle change of course. No more booze, no more red meat. plenty of excersize etc. and of course, pharmaceuticals. So husband took the pharmaceuticals (of course) and for a month or so laid off the booze and bad food. That was it. I never heard about it again. Every conversation was about the last restaurant they ate at or the drinks they had etc etc. Never again did I hear a peep about the illness or blood pressure or the lifestyle adjustments they were supposed to make. Now I spoke with friend the other day. She mentions a dr.'s appointment that she has gone to for sleep apnea. I am troubled by this. I ask her, and she says she has been having trouble sleeping and she has gone to a sleep disorder clinic and they tell her that she has sleep apnea, but not to worry because it doesn't have anything to do with weight. (At this point I don't know what to say because it is fairly common knowledge that sleep apnea is associated with weight and it can be cured with weight loss- something I am sure that she knows, but is somehow either avoiding or denying) Of course it is now 2 months later and I have not heard anything about this ailment again. It's as if it has totally disappeared. Plus she has been having issues over the past couple of years with swollen ankles and now her knees are starting to bother her as well.
The real purpose of this post is to A) be cathartic and B) figure out whether or not I should mention something or just let it lie.
In the past I have always let things lie. My thought behind this was that if she wanted to discuss things, she would bring them up and I would provide an ear to listen. I know that she knows I will always be an ear for her and that I wouldn't judge her. I know this because shortly after my first child was born there was an issue where she either thought her husband cheating or he actually was cheating. We don't know for sure, but there was a rough spot in her marriage there and she called and we spoke for a time. of course, true to nature, this too was soon passed over and never spoken of again shortly after a few poignant conversations.
I don't know if I need to add that this is not my personal method of dealing with things. I am the "up front" and transparent type of person. I like to confront, discuss and deal with things either before or as they occur, so I am at a loss even in terms of understanding the passivity of her nature.
What is one to do?
Am I a good friend to stay in silence?
Just my thoughts on this issue. I don't want to be apathetic, but I don't want to intrude where I don't belong either.

10 Power Questions

2008-10-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I have been referencing this book lately for my class. It's called: "How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci". Although I haven't read this book in its entirety, I have been browsing sections. Last semester I used the 100 questions activities with the grade 11 students so I could get them to understand how to work on a theme, it worked because they wrote down the first 100 questions that came to mind, then grouped the questions into themes, decided which themes were most relevant to them at the time and then began their print design based on the theme.
Now I am reading a bit further into the book and I have discovered the 10 power questions. Keep in mind that all of these questions are to be used to help develop creativity. I think they are quite powerful and I am hoping to use them with the students soon. Anyways fyi, here there are:
When am I most naturally myself? What people, places and activities allow me to feel most fully myself?
What is one thing I could stop doing, or start doing, or do differently, starting today that would most improve my quality of life?
What is my greatest talent?
How can I get paid for doing what I love?
Who are my most inspiring role models?
How can I best be of service to others?
What is my heart's deepest desire?
How am I perceived by: my closest friend, my worst enemy, my boss, my children, my co-workers etc.?
What are the blessings of my life?
What legacy would I like to leave?

Gotta run ...

now I have a venue, but my thoughts escape me!

2008-09-25T06:24:00.001-07:00

I find it so interesting that finally I have a venue to air all of my thoughts and opinions and I am all of a sudden at a loss for words. Perhaps it is due to lack of sleep. Prior to having children, when I suffered from insomnia, I found that it fuelled my creativity, now I am finding lack of sleep sucks the creativity away! This is an interesting fact as far as I am concerned.
There are so many topics that I'd like to touch on , but i know the real reason i am even sitting here is because I am procrastinating doing other things that need to be done. Nothing relevant or exciting mind you... of course, perhaps that is why I am procrastinating!!! If there were things I needed to accomplish that were exciting, i would be doing them. not dreading getting them finished.
I am curious about how much I write might be able to remain anonymous. i suppose anytime you publish your words, you are putting yourself out there. Best to keep a harness on some of my thoughts- but not all.

Okay, let's begin at the beginning...

2008-09-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me just say, I truly don't have time for this type of self-indulgence. Honestly. But for some reason I am compelled to let the rest of the world know my opinions on the mundane day to day.
I will post more, but my video for my sisters wedding just finished rendering.
until then-
not to be rude, but... why is it that most people have such difficulty navigating a four way stop! This is a subject I must touch on when I have a few minutes!!!