Mo’s Musings

Today marks the third day of school for the kids (yes, they started last Thursday - a Thursday before a long weekend.  I sometimes don’t understand this school system).

I was all worried about mrE being in a classroom with none of his friends.  And the girls outnumber the boys 2:1.  But I really like this teacher and he seems to be having no issues.  I ask him every day who he played with at recess.  The reply is usually “no one, but I have fun being crazy all by myself”.  He’s doing well and is excited to do his homework tonight.  As for karate, he got his yellow belt after a VERY LOOOONG testing session with all ranks from white to black.  It made for a very long day at school and a very long evening.  No wonder I had trouble waking him up on Friday.

MissyB has had a bit of a rocky start.  She’s eating lunch alone and my heart aches for her.  I hope she’ll connect with some other girls in her home-ec and IA options.  I’ve also suggested she join a few groups and try out for some teams.  She witnessed/tried to defuse an incident of bullying on the bus.  It scared her so much that when she got off at her stop, she purposely walked the opposite direction until the bus was out of sight.  I talked to the principal on her behalf and he had a chat with some students on the bus.  She’s also sitting closer to the driver and is now feeling a bit more comfortable.  So far she likes her teachers and is trying to get used to the idea of moving from class to class.  I don’t doubt that she’ll hit her stride by the end of the week.

Now that the kids are gone all day, I’m seriously looking at getting a part-time job.  Ideally I’d like ‘mommy hours’ (9-3) but we’ll see what I can get.  I’d also like to find something that I see staying at for the long term.  I know, I’m dreaming but I need to put it out there in the universe before I can find something.

Went for a huuuuge grocery shopping adventure today.  Some friends and I are doing a colon cleanse (what?  TMI?) and the 7 day diet is quite restrictive.  I just hope I can keep myself from biting everyone’s heads off.  But it’s only 7 days and I’ve survived on less for longer.  I’m starting tomorrow so tonight we’re having lasagne!!

So, camping.  Yes, there was much angst and kvetching on my part.  In short, it was good, I had fun and I should be beat about the head with a heavy stick for making such a big deal out of nothing.  Unfortunately it is my nature to Chicken Little and I haven’t found the off switch yet.  I’m thankful to have such a patient husband and group of friends who put up with my many anxiety attacks over the whole affair.  Will I do it again?  Probably but now I will know a bit better and there are a few things I will add to the mix to make things even more enjoyable.

The kids start school this week.  I went to mrE’s school today to find out what class he is in.  Unfortunately, he has been split up from all his friends and doesn’t know a single boy in his class from last year.   I hope this is not a repeat of missyB’s experiences from when she was in grade 1 - 3.  She didn’t have a solid friend during those years and we spent many an evening with her crying.  I hope mrE keeps up with the other boys during recess and lunch hour but time will tell.

MissyB will start junior high (grade 7 - 9) on Thursday.  This is a HUGE school and she’ll have to take the bus.  It’s all new and scary and exciting.  Thankfully the school has the foresight to provide an orientation afternoon for the grade 7s (tomorrow).  They will meet their teachers, find their classrooms, get their schedules and desks and lockers.  Then they’ll be more ready for the full first day with the entire student body.  Thankfully she’ll be with kids she already knows since they’re following the ‘gifted’ program they started in elementary school.  I hope it all goes very well for her.

Thursday is also another big day for mrE.  Not only will it be his first full day of school, but he has been invited to test for his yellow belt in Karate.  He has only been doing the white belt for a very short time over the summer (remember, he’s been out of town for almost a month).  The teacher is impressed with his focus and dedication.  I just have to work a bit with him on memorizing his creed and let him know that it’s okay if he doesn’t pass.  It’s just thrilling that he was the only one called forward last night in front of his class and in front of a huge group of parents.  Wish I had a picture of that smile!

Now it’s time to raid the kitchen and cobble together some sort of meal before I must head back to the school to man the fundraising table at the Open House.

It has come to my attention that I have written some very hurtful things in this blog awhile ago about people I didn’t quite know very well at the time.  For that I truly apologize.

These people did not deserve my venom.  I know I tend to ‘lash out’ when I’m feeling lonely and insecure and depressed.  However, this is NOT an excuse.

I truly hope I can repair the damage that has been done.  If not, then I wish nothing but the best of karma towards those I’ve offended.  They are not at fault here.  I am.

In the future I will attempt to rethink my writing before hitting ‘post’.  My new mantra will be never write anything or talk about anyone that you wouldn’t say to their face.

To say this summer has been weird would be a huge understatement.

The weather has been off. Lots of rain/cooler than normal temps in July. The after-sunburn-tan I got in June has almost completely faded. August has been off as well. Several hot days together (setting records ’cause we get hot, just not that many days in a row!) and then days like today that are depressingly overcast and chilly enough to make me search for a pair of hand-knit socks.

And being left alone has been disconcerting. I was truly alone with the dog for a few days while the kidlets were off with the grandparents and hubs was on the eastern side of the country on business. Then he was back home and at work during the day while my children were still gone. I’d like to say I was amazingly productive without them here but to tell the truth, I was a sloth. I could have painted or cleaned or rearranged or even shop but I lost any and all drive to do anything (even eat sometimes!). This is not something I expected nor enjoyed learning about myself. Left to my own devices without any requirements from me and I turn into a slug.

Hubs had some scheduling changes made to his art class and told me to drive off by myself to pick up the children. I made a quick out and back trip - drive out on Wednesday, visit on Thursday, drive back on Friday. Hubs packed himself up while we were gone and planned on heading out west with the kids in tow, to visit with his parents and help them build a bit on their house in BC. I opted not to go for a variety of reasons. So again, I’m alone and nothing got done. Sheesh!

But everyone is back again and I’m feeling a bit better. We went shopping for school supplies yesterday and finished nicely. Now to check out the clothes and they’ll be all set.

My knitting has even taken a huge hit. I cast on for the Rogue hoodie (cardiganized version) and knit and knit and knit. Well into the body I realized I’d made mistake #1 - using a twisted SS for the hem facing does not lend itself well to flat knitting. Oh well, I thought, I can deal with that. Then, as I was starting the bust shaping cable section I recognized mistake #2 - over 13 cables twisted the wrong direction. Oh well, I can live with that. I ran into some problems trying to figure out what the directions meant for the next part so I left it for a few weeks. Came back, figured it out and started the back arm hole shaping decreases. Mistake #3 - one too many stitches after 22 rows of decreases. DAMN! I don’t know why I have one too many stitches but this is really starting to bug me. I think I’ll count it back to see where I made the mistake but I’m almost to the point of frogging the whole damn thing and starting over. sheesh.

In the midst of this, I thought I could knit a sock from a sockaholics club kit. I’ve now cast on that one sock three times. Double DAMN. I’ve then tried to turn my attention to some spinning. That went well enough to have two good sized balls of singles. I’ve been trying to ply them. Triple DAMN. What the hell did I do to piss the fiber goddess off? And THREE things during my summer of solitude? Dude! Not cool!

Yeah, so, it’s been awhile. Not quite sure why - just got busy and distracted and writing became a very low priority.

My parents came the end of the first week of July and helped me set up and run a garage sale. Wowzers is that a whole lotta work!! The ad in the paper said Friday & Saturday from 1 pm to 8 pm. Dad and I didn’t even put out our signs until about an hour before ‘official’ opening time. We’d sold most of our stuff Friday before noon (people were stopping by and browsing while we set up and I just didn’t feel like turning them away). We did get rid of a lot of stuff and made a bit of money in the process. But we still had at least three car-full loads of leftovers to get rid of on Monday morning. Now I have most of my garage back and we plan to set up some storage systems this week so that both cars can fit in there again.

After the weekend mom and dad stuck around for almost two weeks. Dad’s two brothers, one sister and mother all live in the area so he had lots of people to visit with as well as checking out his regular ‘thrift store’ shops. Mom baked and washed clothes and cleaned and generally was a huge help around the house. Hubs and I even got the chance to go out for a nice dinner and a movie to celebrate our wedding anniversary (17 years!).

Last Thursday my parents left for home, taking both children with them. Also, hubs had a business meeting in Ottawa and decided to stay for the weekend to check out some galleries while he was there. That left me and the doggie to our own devices for four days. I met up with a couple of fellow knitters, took the dog to the off-leash park, surfed the internet, rented some movies, watched a lot of TV, stayed up too late and woke up even later, barely ate, dealt with a migraine and generally lazed about. It was nice but a little disconcerting after a few days.

Hubs came back on Sunday night and although he works during the day, he’s home at night so there is at least some semblance of a routine again. He’s shifting his holiday ‘off’ time potentially to start this Thursday and we plan to head out next week sometime to pick up the kiddies. After that - we have no idea what we’ll do. Maybe take a side trip somewhere for a few days before heading home? I still want to check out an exhibit at the museum and also head to the exhibition/fair to check out the trade show. Add into that some shopping trips, maybe a carpet shampoo and some dyeing experiments and then I’ll have todrive off to pick up my offspring.

I’ll try to post more now that things are very quiet but I won’t make any promises. Hope your summer is going well!

The problem with having your birthday in the middle of summer vacation is that you will have very few friends around to help you celebrate on the actual ‘day’. This being mrE’s first year in school, I decided to plan ahead and have an “Almost 6 Birthday Party” this weekend. MrE chose to celebrate at the dojo (karate studio) where an instructor would take him and his friends through some warmups, stretches, movements and games before the cake & presents. It was a good time and a perfect party for a group of rambunctious little boys. Evidence as follows:

Channeling the Karate Kid.

All I want for my birthday is my two front teeth!

MissyB looking a tad exhausted from running around with the crazy little boys.

Moi! I don’t like pictures of myself (seriously? I look like that?!?) and this shot is no exception. I’m trying to get over it.

The party was on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was rainy and hubs and I had a dance lesson in the afternoon. MrE got a great haul of gifts from his very generous friends so spent most of the day playing with missyB while we were out. In all it was a very fun and relaxed weekend.

I had signed up awhile ago for a Mix & Match swap and was paired up with the talented Malin. My goodies just arrived the other day and I can say that I definitely made out better in the deal. Just look:

Here’s the wool. Two skeins of a beautiful purplish hand coloured wool from Gotland sheep. I’ll have to bring this to my knitting group to show off and I think I have the perfect shawl idea for it. Then three skeins of Lett Lopi Icelandic wool. I’m already dreaming of using them for some mittens or maybe even a toque. Gorgeous stuff, all of it!

Here are the wonderful edibles. Frankly, this is why I’m posting this now. I can’t eat any of it until I take a picture and post it and some of that stuff is making my mouth water!

There are Pepparkakor - beautiful biscuits/cookies. I’ll have to fight the kids for my fair share of these (missyB loves the ones we buy from Ikea). Then three different LARGE bars of Marabou chocolate. Honestly, one of the best chocolates out there and with nuts - how can you go wrong? Two types of licorice = a sweet and soft licorice ‘toffee’ and salty variety. I’ll definitely try them and if I don’t like them, my hubby certainly will! And then there is the dried meat. I’m assuming this is Elk or Deer jerky and I loves me some jerky. Now I can’t wait to open up all the packages and get a taste of Sweden.

Thanks Malin! You’ve chosen wisely and I appreciate all of the thought and effort that went into the box.

We’re now entering the last full week of school. The following week is just a half week of cleaning up and finishing off. But ye gods are they trying to pack a heck of a lot in those last few days.

MissyB has the worst of it. This being her last year in elementary school they seem to be giving them a difficult time before leaving this school. She has five exams over the next five school days - four of which are three hour long provincial achievement tests. Blech. But they’ll be rewarded with a final field trip to Chinatown next Wednesday (I get to chaperone) and then a wind up party at the WEM Waterpark. She was also selected to attend a special Mayor’s Breakfast this Thursday (she’s excited - I wonder how excited she’ll be when we have to be at the school by 6:45 am!!). Luckily I think that’s the end of the projects and therefore, the end of homework for this school year. Let’s hope ’cause that girl is more than ready for school to be done.

MrE has an easier time. They’ve been doing a few crafts and studying about the pioneers and Native Americans (they even helped decorate the full scale paper teepee set up in the classroom). Tomorrow we’ll be heading to a special museum to experience life as a pioneer. I’m sure spinning and knitting aren’t on the agenda so I just may bring my own gear (’cause I’m a brat!). After school today we met up with three other moms & kids and played at the splash park. I got burned (of course) and we’re a bit tired but lots of fun was had by all. We’re hoping to keep in touch over the summer months and I’m crossing my fingers & legs & toes & eyes hoping that these kids will stay together in grade 1. We’re a unique group of moms who all get along and our boys all play together quite nicely (I’m still not used to being the ‘oldest’ in the group!). It’s sad that it has taken us most of the year to finally get to know one another and realize how much fun we have together. There are plans in the works for a regular Tuesday meeting for those who can make it and a ‘girls only’ camping trip at the end of August - just before school starts. Guess I’ll just have to suck it up to join in all the fun(?).

Now I need to help get MrE off to bed and nurse my rather nasty sunburn. At this rate I’ll be crispy fried before summer vacation even starts!

Almost every day I go through my blogroll and read the new postings. I love reading all the witty and poignant and thoughtful posts. But over the past week I’m finding things a bit disorienting to read. Why? The weather has been nuts and it seems to be the number one topic of most posts.
There are my friends in Sweden who are dealing with icy rain and cold temps (after last week’s heat wave). On to the DC area where they’re trying to cool off with dips in the pool and finding decent A/C. My friends in Portland are reporting snow advisories and resisting the urge to turn on the heat. Then the various south eastern states with their hot weather and a bit of news from wherever the Harlot is blogging. As for local bloggers - we’ve been dealing with quite a bit of rain and yesterday we were under tornado warnings/watches for most of the afternoon (it did hail in a few areas and a twister did touch down west of here but we didn’t see much of anything except an intense 2 minute downpour or two). I’m glad I don’t currently read anything from more remote areas of the world. I think my head may explode!

(yes, I’m blogging and therefore survived kindercooking. Note to self: do not wear black jeans when you’re dealing with flour and a group of six-year olds!)

We had our last dance class of the session last night. I swear, every time we hit June, the numbers fall off. Hubs and I bet each other how many couples will show up. He won with three couples for level 1 and three couples for level 2. It’s okay - makes for a more relaxed class and I’m glad we didn’t have a lot of material to cover. Our next session starts sometime in September. Things are very much ‘up in the air’ about what the format will be and I guess I’ll just have to wait until things get sorted out. Doesn’t help that there will be a new director in place within a few weeks. I forsee more boring meetings and more re-hashing. Sigh.

Went to the library to meet up with a knitting group this afternoon. We were told to keep the noise down because there had been several complaints. Ya, right! I can tell you exactly who complained as she sat at a nearby table and glared at us for over an hour. There was a kindergarten class in a nearby room screaming, babies crying and other people talking. Guess she was offended by yarn! Got some help from Rebecca with my spinning. I’m still not very good at it but it helps if I draft a lot before starting. Also finished my secret project (pics as soon as item is delivered) to many admirations. Now to finish the child’s orange cabled sweater (moss stitch/cables for the hood, block it, sew it up and place buttons) and I can start something new. I was hoping to cast on for a sweater for myself but I just got the first installment of a sock-of-the-month kit. Decisions, decisions…

Tomorrow I volunteered to come into mrE’s class and help the kids make bannock. Sigh. I may end up with no hair at the end of it all but I know the kids appreciate it so I should console myself with that fact. I’ll try to blog again as soon as I recover from the experience.