So what happened to.....

my car antennae when the garage door came DOWN on me and Jiminy Cricket? W-e-l-l, it didn't make a clean break.  It clung there for a week, until the night I came out of a meeting, late.  It was pitch dark and ONLY -25 degrees Celsius, when I found the antennae flopped down on my windshield.  I had no choice but to break it off, since my view was obstructed.  I had to twist it, like you would twist a green twig to break it off a branch.  I pitched the antennae in the back seat, thoroughly disgusted. When I went to the dealership the next day, waving the broken antennae around, I was told that I could have simply unscrewed it from the base. Like I had any idea! I haven't read the 350 page manual yet.  Since I never received one with the purchase of the car, and refused to pay $47 for one, I had the manual downloaded from the Internet, thanks to my awesome daughter-in-law.  This monster document has been sitting on my desk for the last month, awaiting hole punching and a binder. I WILL get around to it.  There are just too many other fires I seem to keep having to put out.

that job interview ?  I didn't get the job!  That means there is something better waiting for me around the corner, I take it.  You have to roll with the punches. In the meantime, I get to spend at least three days a week with 5 to 10 year old kids, laughing, having fun and learning! How lucky am I?

the offer on the house?  Fell through, but not before the potential buyers tried everything possible to get it for next to nothing, INCLUDING calling me personally after we had rejected their offer.   FURTHER to that, they had their agent send our agent another pie-in-the-sky offer that made no sense.  It never ceases to amaze me what people will do to get their own way, and for THE cheapest price possible. As I keep saying, nothing is ever simple when it comes to yours truly. We couldn't have just had a great, simple, cut-and-dry offer and acceptance kind of deal. Ho hum! That would have been way TOO boring, don't you think?

my new Wifi connection, done the morning I had an inch of water in my basement? W-e-l-l- ..... no surprise there. My Wifi is sketchy at best. I keep running around the apartment, double checking plugs, cords and whatnot because the troubleshooter keeps telling me my Wifi is disabled. DISABLED alright! After spending an hour and a half on Chat with Rogers, they have decided to send another technie out to the apartment, because my signal is weak.  Yup! Could it have something to do with all these concrete walls?  Nothing can ever get done right from the get-go, with me. Am I repeating myself when I say I have this electro-magnetic fieldl around me, or IN me, that just SCREWS up technology?

Have I forgotten anymore hanging threads in my life?  There are OTHER misadventures, but I can't blog about them.  I must protect the identity of the innocent and THOSE who would recognize themselves in my anecdotes. LOL

Hey, January is over.  Alleluia! The days are getting longer.  Life is good... in spite of ALL my misadventures.  Or maybe BECAUSE of them?  Who knows? Qui le sait? ¿Quién sabe?

PS: I wasn't able to attend mass these past two Sundays.  I hope the Guy Up Above is still watching out for me. 

I wanted to SCREAM....

with laughter when this happened in class today, but I had to control myself. It was S-0-0-0-0 hard though.

I was in a Grade One class.  The students were seated at my feet, sharing their "news" one by one. One little fellow said, with a grimace "I am going to ANOTHER wedding.  It will be my second". Before I could ask him a question, he declared vehemently "I am losing my nuts!"

Well, it took me a second to react, after I had picked up my jaw off the floor.  I am sure he wanted to say "I am losing my mind", OR "I am going nuts", however, that is NOT what came out of his mouth.  As I tried frantically to collect my thoughts and ask him where the wedding was, (Halifax, by the way!), I heard and saw the little girl behind him, point to her lap and say "I don't think he's talking about those things!"  OMG - I had such a hard time not rolling on the floor with laughter.

I spent the rest of the day laughing to myself, everytime I thought about it. It even kept me from getting upset when I discovered I had lost a 'humongous" filling from my lower right molar, seemingly overnight.  I don't know how THAT happened.  I never even noticed such a big chunk of filling fall out.  Come to think of it though, I did find my homemade granola extra crunchy yesterday morning.  Sorry.... I just couldn't resist saying that. I want to end this blog as I started it.  How? Laughing myself silly!

Mail box blues..... ongoing. Honest to God!

I couldn't get into my mailbox the week before last. Not because of my key, but because it was frozen.  I thought it might be my key (heck, you can't blame me for being paranoid!), but then I met other people trying to get their mail,  who were having problems as well.

So, I spent a half hour pressing, 1, 2, 0, whatever number, on my phone, to let a Canada Post service centre employee know that we couldn't access our boxes. She said it would be rectified immediately and they would let me know by email when it was done.  Of course, I said, "In the meantime, I haven't been able to get my mail for four days.  May I ask my letter carrier to give it to me, when I see her?"  I can see my box from kitchen window and I know the approximate hour she delivers. "If you show proof of identity, you may", she said.

So that afternoon I arrive at my box just as Brenda is getting ready to leave.  I am a-l-r-e-a-d-y on a first name basis with my letter carrier. I have been since Day 1. Who wouldn't be, with all the problems I have had?  I quickly try my box, and lo and behold, my key works!  I tap on Brenda's window, and when she rolls it down I ask her if I WOULD have been able to get my mail.  She replies, quite indignantly, but not upset with me, "NO, OUR supervisor told us we could get FIRED for doing that! She just told us that this morning."

Well, this is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. When I relay what the service call employee told me, Brenda says, "Wait right here.  I am going to call my supervisor right here, right now, and you can tell her what they told you at the service call centre."  I persuade her to relay the message as I am standing there in the bitter cold.  I don't want to get between an employee and her supervisor! No way!

So, my problem is solved, once again!  NOT A CHANCE!

This past week I once again can't get into my box.  By now, I don't EVEN get upset anymore. It is just, "Ho hum, what next?" However, in my mailbox by my apartment door, is a delivery notice of something which I have to pick up at a postal station outlet at Jean Coutu. What do you think I was handed when I went there Friday?  You guessed it, if you are reading for comprehension and retention. LOL Sorry, the teacher in me couldn't resist.

Did you think keys? Correct once again!!! MY FOURTH SET OF KEYS FOR MY MAILBOX! The fourth set in less than two months.  Apparently the keys everyone had did not work.  No kidding!  So they were replaced for everyone at those three Superbox units. 

The Jean Coutu employee couldn't figure out why the keys were sent to them to hand out, and not to the main postal station in town. I can answer THAT question! It is because those employees were tired of seeing my face. :)

Any dibs on my getting yet another set of keys before the end of the winter?

Kindergarten grounds you! La franchise des petits en maternelle.

Two glorious days spent with five year olds, were made memorable by the following:

Emma -Madame, I found this cube on the floor.
Me - You can put it on my desk.
Emma - That's not your desk. That's Ms. M's desk!

During our Body Break dance exercise, one tiny, little girl crossed her arms during the entire routine. When I asked her why she didn't participate, she replied "It's annoying".

At recess they were going outside and it was bitterly cold. I told the wee ones they could eat their snack in the warmth of the classroom when they came back in.  One bright little one chimed, "We don't do that. Ms. M says that is a waste of classroom instructional time!"

I continued laughing with my next assignment, Grade 5 French Immersion.  These are ten year olds. I had chosen one to captain a team, and choose his batter line-up to play a game of baseball, not literally, but in the classroom, as a kind of spelling bee by another name.  He was having a hard time getting his batters up, and as time was precious, I asked him, nicely, to get his batters organized.  A member of his team said, with such wisdom, "'Madame, you have to understand. David operates in another dimension!" 

Why can't things ever be SIMPLE?

I always think...hope... and pray that my life kind of starts to slow d-o-w-n at some point.  Instead, it just seems to pick up speed!

I have come off of an eight day roller coaster ride. Believe me when I say that I don't blog about "EVERYTHING" that happens in the course of my life.  For example, I never blog about POF, and I could write a book JUST on that subject. If you don't know what POF is, I am not going to tell you because you don't need to know. :)

In an eight day period I taught every day, different schools, different languages, different levels, and had one snow day. On that snow day, I spent it in my basement mopping up the guck from the kitchen drain pipe backup, and mopping, scrubbing and forever sanitizing the corner of the basement that was used as a kitty litter by the previous tenants. Two months later it STILL stinks!!

I prepped for and went to a job interview. Furthermore, after umpteen phone calls, I got an appointment with a specialist after being on a six month waiting list. THANK YOU NB for universal Medicare. However,  if you want things to move along, you can't wait for them to call you.  YOU have to be call, follow-up, ask questions, and insist. No one cares more about your health than YOU!

I also spent seven long days dealing with a house that is for sale, with the agent being in Denmark, (yeah, the country of Denmark!)  my ex in one city, me in another and the potential buyers in another. The logistics alone of trying to communicate offers and counteroffers, are enough to drive anyone around the bend. I actually Face Timed with my agent at 2:00 am in the morning her time. This should NOT be so complicated. T'was all for naught too!

Meanwhile, my dishwasher is falling out of the wall, and the fluorescent light fixtures in the bathroom have blown.  I am not tall enough, even on a chair, to change them and the ladder is too big for the size of the bathroom, so I have to wait three days for the super to come. My expected company arrives in the fray!  My dear walking partner from The Camino, who lives in Michigan, arrives for a five day stay, to spend time with her mother who lives nearby, in a retirement home. We spend the first night reminiscing about Our Camino, and drinking wine until 3:00 am in the morning! Not smart!  The wine and the 3:00 am part, anyway. I also advise her that if she wants a shower in the morning or evening, when she is here, it will have to be done IN THE DARK!

So, it is finally the weekend. I have to fax a very important document like y-e-s-t-e-r-d-a-y, so I dash off to the library, where it gets faxed. I take a break to visit my mother and have  a game of Scrabble. Four hours later I get a call that the document hasn't been received. HOW CAN THAT BE?  I have the confirmation slip showing it went through.  I was in the process of changing to go snowshoeing, so those plans went out the window, as I had to dash back to the library, before it closed in an hour, in order to REFAX that document.  Why o WHY didn't I just go to Staples in the first place?

I am at the end of my rope by now. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.  In TOTAL frustration, and despair, I lose it and drop the "F" bomb THREE times, yelling and screaming it at the top of my lungs. I know my neighbours on each side are gone, so I can really give 'er.  Then I see my poor Vimy!  The first "F" bomb, he just skittered away. The second one, he tried to hide under the table, and the third one, poor thing, he took off upstairs. He has never seen me like this.   I must admit though, that I felt so much better after I let it all hang out!

Apparently even our pets know that you shouldn't swear and do NOT like it when you do. So I won't be doing that again any time soon. I promise Vimy.

 

My life is one STEEP learning curve!

I have had a garage before. I had one for seven years, actually. I never had any problems. I know how a remote garage door opener works.  Or at least I thought I did!

I backed out of my garage this morning, after opening the door with my remote. We had a blizzard yesterday, but I had already checked the night before.  I knew the plow had cleared the driveway so it should have been clear sailing.

I heard this CLICK, CLICK sound as I am backing up, so I stop.  I don't see anything behind me. I continue to back up, ever so gently, and I still hear the CLICK, CLICK!
So I stop and look up. OMG - the garage door is CLOSING above me and my little car. It is only the antennae that is stopping the door from squashing me and Jiminy  Cricket. With my heart racing, I go forward, back into the garage, and the garage door pulls up.

What happened? Well, I was in a hurry; I was late for work, as I had received a very late call to come in.  So, I had picked up the remote in my hand as I was backing out, (thinking I was saving time), but it must be some SUPER sensitive. It triggered the door to start closing, although I know I NEVER clicked it.

At least my antennae didn't snap off! It's still there, on the roof. I don't know if it works or not.

Yet another lesson learned!  DO NOT pick up your remote unless you intend to use it.  Or better yet, clip it to your visor, which is something I hadn't even thought to do yet in the six weeks I have had it. I will do that.  TOMORROW.... first thing!

PS: Now I remember. There is no clip to clip it!

Teaching can make your day and break your heart.

There are days you wonder why you are still teaching and other days when you thank God that you are.  Yesterday was the latter for me.

I filled in for a French Immersion teacher.  The mini-prof of the day (a student) went around asking six other students how they were."Comment ça va?"  Regardless of their answer, it had to be justified.  When one little sweetie said "Ça va bien! and the mini-prof continued with "Pourquoi?",  the former replied "Parce que Madame Duguay est ici." I have seen children sob, upon hearing that their regular teacher is absent, so for me, this was a supreme vote of confidence. 

At indoor recess I was on supervision. In one classroom, every time I stopped in, someone would run to me complaining about the same student "He pushed me.  He hurt so-and-so. He won't be nice".  I could see that the young fellow in question was beginning to feel targeted; he was getting upset.  It is easy to tell when he puts his head down dejectedly on his desk.  So I quietly asked all the class to leave him alone, to stop picking on him; to cut him some slack, in other words. I then called him out to talk to privately and what he said broke my heart.  "I am sorry Madame.  I couldn't take my pill this morning, because they were none left."

This child was having a terrible morning, because he couldn't control his impulses and he wasn't able to take the medication he NEEDED to function.  How sad is that?

The moral of the first story? Be GRATEFUL for life's small, sweet moments. 

The moral of the second story? If you have to take a pill, literally, take it!  And be GRATEFUL that you can.

Where was I... when I last blogged?

Oh yeah, it was LAST year, 2015.

Happy New Year to all my readers. Bonne et Heureuse Année! ¡Prospero Año Nuevo!

So... the inch of water in my basement laundry room?  I can thank my dufus landlord for that.  When he painted the first floor of my apartment back in November, he cleaned the paint brushes and rollers in the KITCHEN sink; not the laundry tub in the basement. Hence the nickname Dufus.

Consequently, the kitchen drain became plugged and backed up the drain pipe in the laundry room, spewing guck all over the floor.  I had already complained to the superintendent before Christmas vacation, that there was water on the laundry room floor, water that had NO business being there.  What did he do? Taped up these ancient hoses and told me that would probably fix the problem.

The morning after my arrival back home, my apartment had more men coming in and out of it, than Grand Central station !  Between the super, the cable guy, my neighbour putting up my drapes (God bless him!)  the clean-up guy... it all got fixed.  Thank goodness it WASN'T a question of sewer backup. I still don't know what those black specks are all over the floor, that I have yet to clean up.

In conclusion, in an attempt to get that EVIL ELF off my shelf, (he who parked himself there upon my return from The Camino), I have made a New Year's Resolution.  That resolution was to start attending mass again, and which I have done.  I need to get the Big Guy upstairs on my side. :)

So far.... so good.  Ten days into the new year, things are looking up!