a sad day in the neighbourhood

Two weeks have elapsed again since my last post. Pretty pathetic. Life seems to be getting in the way (and internet connectivity problems not helping either, arghhh).

I'd have so many fun and happy things to talk about. But an event here yesterday has overshadowed all of that. There was a fire at a neighbor's house. A huge fire. No one got hurt, thank God. It fills me with sadness. Its a house we went to over the years, where we had many happy moments filled with laughter. We never really got to know the new owners who have been here for the past 3 years or so. Needless to say, this event has led to a lot of talks in the neighborhood and in our household, many inquisitive questions from our kids.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. And praying that this never happens to any of you.

its a crazy world out there

You'll hear a news story on the radio and vaguely pay attention to it. Its normal. You live content in knowing that your world is not permeated closely by that situation.

Till it hits home.

There has been several incidents since September of prank 911 calls to local high schools with hoax threats of bombs and arms. It has created a multitude of lockdown situations. Yesterday, it happened at big sis' school. She stayed hidden behind a couch (she was in drama class) for THREE hours. Just imagine the range of emotions going through everyone's heads. Students and teachers alike. They had had drills and discussions about codes to be used in certain situations. Yesterday, they soon realized that it wasn't a drill. It was the real thing. The cops came. Went through the whole school. Checked classrooms one by one and students one by one. Ultimately, it turned out to be a hoax. Yet again, another distorted mind with nothing else better to do with their lives than seek a cheap thrill at the expense of others. Ruin a multitude of people's days. Instill unnecessary fright. Will they get caught? And if they do, what will happen to them? Protected under the young offender's act we'll never really hear much more of it. Does it make others feel like doing it too since there's no retribution after the fact?

As for big sis, she was freaked at first, naturally. She kept thinking of her siblings whom she hoped would never have to go through this (they just had received a notice that they will go through a lockdown procedures discussion next week). She was thinking of her friends in other classrooms. She was thinking of me at home and her dad at work who would worry about her. She was thinking of all the little wee ones in the daycare attached to her high school. But poor thing, she really really had to go pee and couldn't go to the washroom. So apart from her mental anguish, she was physically suffering. Plus they had all worked so hard to organize this Halloween party/dance that never ended up happening because of some lost distorted soul. A real bummer for them all.

As a mother, you always worry about your kids. Now just sending them to school, your worries are elevated to a whole new level. We hugged a lot last night and discussed this all over with her. Of course, as a mom I just want to keep them home where I know they are safe. BUT we must not let them live in fear of going places and doing things either. That is too paralyzing.

Let's pray that all our kids come home safely today and everyday.

from one extreme to the next

My last post was all about a fun-loving week-end of quality family time, tranquility, relaxation and appreciation of nature in all of its fall beauty. (By the way, no one seemed to notice that my first picture was taken from the air. Hubby and I went for a half hour flight on a Cessna from Rockliffe airport up towards Camp Fortune and back. Beautiful.) This post describes our past week-end which was fun-loving as well BUT adult-only in a bustling noisy metropolis, tiring with the amount of activities we packed in and the little sleep we got. (Blogger FINALLY let me post some pics!)

We went from one extreme to the other from one week-end to the next. Funny thing is, I REALLY loved both!!! Let's see what's in store for this upcoming week-end ;)

Terry Fox day

Today is the Terry Fox National School Run Day. All 3 of my kids are involved and I will be joining them later on today for a walk. Such a worthy cause raising funds for cancer research. Years ago, in a previous life it seems, I was part of such a research team, studying the fundamentals of cancer onset at the DNA level. It was such an intellectually stimulating and challenging period of my life, working side by side with some great minds and fun-loving people.

Thankfully up until now, cancer hasn't permeated our extended family. I pray it will remain that way.

As for Terry Fox, what a hero, in the true sense of the term. The Marathon of Hope, 1980. I so vividly remember following his day to day progress while preparing to enter my first year of university starting an undergraduate program in microbiology and immunology eventually leading me towards the aforementioned cancer research. Terry's spirit may have very well, in some small way, led me there.

But what is truly amazing, is how his dream is still living and strongly at that.

ode to september

September is such an expensive month. Back to school supplies, new clothes and shoes, registration for extracurricular activities and all the paraphernalia/equipment that comes with that, it certainly adds up. Worse than December it seems.

I'm sitting here at my desk gazing at this stack of papers. A stack that really irks me.

A stack of what you're thinking?

Fund raisers.

Why is it that everywhere you register they bombard you with fund raisers? Between the kids' 2 schools, gymnastics, badminton, hockey and 2 dance schools, I'm faced with a multitude of vending options: the ubiquitous chocolate bars, cookies and muffins, magazine subscriptions, cards and wrapping paper, gas coupons, labels, calendars, Christmas cards and decorations, tea and coffee, golf tournaments, walkathons for CHEO and Cancer research. Will I be harassing my neighbor and friends and family with all of this? Most probably not. I'm not comfortable with sending the kids door to door. I may approach a few people perhaps. Ultimately, I usually end up giving a contribution myself.

Want to buy something from me?

in memoriam

Life is settling down to some routines now that we are in our third week of back to school. Which is a good thing. I get to go back to the gym or do my daily walks more regularly and I even can throw in some "down" time to read a book and even the newspaper!

Two stories have caught my eye. Two people have passed away this past week. Two well known personalities, different genders, different life stories, different areas of expertise YET both have contributed in their own way to better the world we are in. What a great legacy to leave behind. Something we should all strive for.

First Luciano Pavarotti: that voice which enchanted millions of people worldwide. This particular song gives me goose bumps each time I hear it. His collaboration with countless of other singers broadened the spectrum of his genre of music. A true and unique virtuoso.

Then Anita Roddick: mother, environmentalist, entrepreneur, visionary, humanitarian, founder of the The Body Shop and actively involved in countless charities worldwide. Truly inspirational.

suburban incident

Now, I don't live in the burbs having traded that years ago for life in the countryside. But most of my friends do. One particular couple and their children moved into their brand new dream home in a brand new suburb a few months ago.

A few nights ago, they were all sleeping peacefully when at 2 am the front door rang. Alarmed and groggy, the man of the house went downstairs to find a neighbor (who just returned home from work) holding onto a teenage boy! Apparently this boy was caught breaking into the family van parked outside. The boy, all of 14, was squirming and complaining that they were holding him too tight and they were hurting him so they loosened their grip. Mistake. The kid took off on foot. A few minutes later, the cops came and they all went searching for him and found him along with a buddy in crime roaming the streets. The cops actually KNEW him having been caught a few times before.

This story has had me enraged for the past few days. First I feel for my friends who've had to go through this. But my biggest questions are: where were these kids parents? what are 14 year olds doing roaming the streets at 2 in the morning? shouldn't these parents be held accountable for their kids' actions? how come these kids get away with this type of behavior? they've been caught before, but nothing gets done about it and they get to go back home and glow in the knowledge that they got away with it and most probably getting a rush out of it intensifying their desire to do something else again. There's something wrong with this Young Offender's Act. If they're old enough to think out such crimes, they are old enough to suffer some consequences: a fine to be paid by the parents? community work? a day or two in jail? something!!!

art attack part 2

As part of the year end frenzy,I found myself organizing some special artsy surprise gifts for some very special teachers at my kids' preschool.

First off, we got all the graduating kids to meet outside of school and create this most amazing piece as a thank-you to the school director whose vigilant and loving direction helped our kids grow and blossom over the past 3 years. The kids had a blast doing this and were very good at keeping it a secret up until the final reveal! It is already prominently displayed on one of the school's walls.

One of our teachers was leaving for good this year, going on to open a similar school in another part of the country. As a special parting gift, I collected money from all the parents and commissioned this beautiful piece from a very special lady whose art I absolutely love. What a perfect scene for a preschool teacher. She was so thrilled with it and will cherish it for years to come.

This kind of gift giving is so good for the soul.

career paths

The funk is dissipating. Thanks for your kind comments, especially kate5kiwis "i think it's a good thing to listen to our body and have a day-or-two retreat at the beginning of our monthly cycle. good for you having a wee nap, i usually do on day one or two." Wise words to keep in mind for next month!!!

Last night, big sis came home with an interesting homework. They had to go on this online site and answer a multitude of questions which would then direct them to a list of careers that would suit them. Each career had a job description, salary range, "interviews" with people in that field. Her top five were criminologist, music teacher, elementary/high school teacher, web designer and actress. Nothing really stood out much. Guess her interests are quite diverse right now and she really has no clue what to go into. What a great tool though to get these 12-13 year olds to start thinking about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. What a daunting task too. Some people just "know" early on where they are headed and can clearly see the path ahead of them. How admirable. Hubby was like that, knew what he wanted to be from a real early age, 6-7 years old. Yet so many others don't know or change their mind. Who knows where life will bring you. Happiness in what you do is key though at the end of it all.

So for fun, I did the test too. And guess what? My previous job came in as number 2!! Right after illustrator and before taxidermist, architectural technician, pharmacist and interior designer. But no where in that list of careers do they have "mom" ;)

a good day

That's what it was. Accomplished lots of little things AND got lots of good news.

Accomplishing lots of little things (too many of them so trivial to even list) means crossing off items on my ever-expanding and never-ending to-do list. How rewarding. So just for today, I'll dwell on what I did and not what I still need to do. Will worry about those things tomorrow ;)

Lots of good news means a good jolt of happy juice for the soul. That little baby boy is doing much better and they are talking about him returning home this coming week-end. Yeah!

After months of agonizing about which school to send the twins to next year, I finally reached THE decision. Was kinda forced into it, but sometimes that's a good thing. The deadline to order uniforms for one of the school choices was today. SO I dragged the twins there tonight after school. Their first time in their new school ever. The first person we ran into there was their current teacher, which immediately put them at ease. She was there to get uniforms for her two boys who go there as well. baby boy and baby girl were ever so patient and cooperative trying all sorts of garments to figure out sizes and helping me fianlize the order. And "Oh. My. God." how cute they were in those little uniforms!! Gave them a quick tour of the school and we all left happy, me mostly, finally having reached a state of peace of mind over this issue. And that is definitely good news.

Last, but definitely not least, the news that TWO of my bloggy friends (you know who you are) are pregnant. One big yaba-daba-doo ( a la Yogi bear).

Yep, all was well with my little world today.

And I just had to stop watching the Sens play, I had no more nails left to bite...

need prayers

A friend of mine gave birth to her fourth child, a baby boy last Thursday, 4 days ago. He was 2 weeks early but still weighed 6lbs 6 in. He went home after two days. He has now been back to the hospital for the past two days fighting for his life. He has meningitis. Please pray that the antibiotics he's on work and that God doesn't decide to take this little soul away from his family. Extra prayers for the parents, the pain they must be going through is inconceivable.

Happy New Year!

To all the people dear to my heart, close and far away.

My hopes for the New Year?
World peace, of course.
Loads of good times with family and friends.
Enjoying every moment that comes my way.
Happiness and health for those I love.

And of course,
the eternal "this is the year I'll be in great shape;)"
Not a resolution. Nah.
Just a commitment to myself.

Cheers!