FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW...

HERE ARE UPDATES on some of my postings/MISE À JOUR

My aunt sold her house.  Youpi!  How WONDERFUL for her!!!  As to whether Saint Joseph can take the credit for that?  I will leave that up to you to decide.

Below is the piece of playground equipment on which that poor little kindergartner cut his head open, right between the eyes.  I still shudder thinking of the incident.  That day is one that I will n-e-v-e-r forget.  After I washed the blood off my hands, I proceeded to teach thirty-one five year old children, pretty much by myself.  Three students were absent, in what is a team teaching classroom.  Both teachers were out for training, so who was my team teaching supply colleague?  Bless his heart... a twenty-six year old, pony-tailed, tattooed, and ear pierced recent BA graduate, without a single, solitary day of TEACHER training under his belt.  (Doubt he was wearing one, either!)  Have I already mentioned that there is a supply teacher shortage?  He did his best, but I had to take the lead.  He couldn't take any initiative, because he was clueless, poor man.  Fortunately for me, the children  were ALL adorable, little angels and we had a MARVELOUS day together.  At the end of the day, a little cutie comes up to me, holding a lunchbox, and asks me if she can take it home to Tristan. Tristan is the little one who had had the accident in the school yard.  I asked her, "Why, sweetie?  Do you live near him?"  Her reply?  "Yes, he's my brother."  That is how I found out he was her twin!!! N+O+W who was clueless??

I finished that five hundred piece puzzle, which had been one of my January challenges. Doing the puzzle was a snap!    Figuring out HOW to get the puzzle OUT of the box, (one of those really tight, slide-out jobies), only took me three days to figure out.  T-H-A-T was the REAL challenge.

In closing, this update wouldn't be complete, if it didn't mention "poop" in some way, shape or form.  I inadvertently have been blogging on that subject, W-A-Y TOO much.  I promise this is my last "SHI*?!" story.  Vimy and I went out for a long walk late one night recently.  I usually stick to my immediate neighbourhood, but this time, I went further, closer to downtown.  It was after a storm and there were few people about. Remember my blog about feeling safe? Well, for a few seconds, I was a little apprehensive.  At one point I turned around, and saw that there was a tall, slim, hooded person walking behind me.  I slowed down, and stopped, letting Vimy do usual "pisse-minute" gig, all the while thinking, "What do I have as a weapon, if this person approaches me?"  All I had was Vimy's leash, and ANOTHER BIG BAG of dogie do!!  I figured if worse came to worse, I could swing it at him, trying to knock it about his head or something.  Ridiculous eh?  Thankfully, the dark stranger passed us by. Just like me, he was going home.

Did you know that...

brussel sprouts EXPLODE almost immediately in your microwave, when you try to warm them up?

you should always use a shopping cart in a store?  Don't load up your arms with bottles of Palmolive dish detergent.  Those caps aren't always on tight, and they leak.  All over!  All over your arm, your coat, and your hands when you try to clean up the mess. They don't have anything at the cash to help you to get those green gobs off your coat either.  You can even end up TASTING the soap, if you aren't careful and put your hands to your face.

you have to separate those green, perforated dogie do bags BEFORE you go out for a walk?   On a bitterly cold day, you need BOTH hands to pull on the perforation. Once separated, you need BOTH hands to open one end, IF you can see which end is the one you need to open.  Did I mention you have to take your gloves or mitts off? It is impossible to open otherwise. So by now BOTH your hands are frozen. You put your hand in the bag, to pick up the deposit, and realize the bag is TOO small.  If you succeed in picking up your dog's bomb, there is no room to tie the ends together, so you are walking around with an open poop bag.  Get my drift here?  DON'T buy these bags!

this little fancy, two pronged brush is meant to clean your dental appliance, and is NOT meant to clean the grime around your faucets?

You have a question? They have THE answer!

Even if you don't have a question, wee ones always have something to say.

Here a few memorable exchanges I have had in the last few months.

KINDERGARTEN:  Boys and girls, today you are going to music and phys.ed class.
                                  Aaden - "Are you sure?"

Upon reiterating my name, which they already knew, one little says, "I almost called you Mrs. Zuchini!"  Not to be outdone, another one pipes up, "I almost called you Mrs. Cucumber!

Do you remember me from the last time I was here?
Sadie - The last time you were here, it was awesome!   (Now if THAT doesn't make your day, NOTHING does!)

Audrey- Do you know what I want you to get me for Christmas?
Me - (Trying to keep the laughter out of my voice) No, tell me.
Audrey - An LOL doll.

GRADE ONE:

I wanted them to count some items in French, in a Grade 2 English class.  One little fella says, "This ISN'T a French Immersion class."

Chloe, reading her story on planets, "There was a solar cliff..."

I was relieving the music teacher, who asked the Grade One class coming in:
"And how are you going to treat Madame today?"
They ALL replied in perfect unison, "BETTER than our mothers!"

When I told one sweetie that he rushed to do his work, he replied, "No, I was being quick!"

Issac: There are NO snacks?  GOOD GRIEF!

I was speaking French to another teacher. Piper asks, "Are we in French class?"

"I live in Piksuite Falls."  I racked my brains for a minute, wondering where that place was, when I realized he meant "Nepisiguit Falls".

GRADE 5 - LAST BUT NOT LEAST

I was helping Grade 5 French Immersion students do some research on Canadian provinces.  I typed in "symboles Saskatchewan", and "symboles sataniques" is what came up on the screen. The child, on seeing all the Satanic symbols, innocently says, "Are these BIRDS?"

LITTLE THINGS mean everything!

We often bemoan the fact that "good service is a thing of the past."  Do you agree?  I don't.  Certainly NOT based on what I took note of recently, in my dealings with service I received in my fair city and its surroundings.

I was looking for NB, Canada and pins from my city, last fall, to take with me on my travels.  Canada and my city were fairly easy to obtain, but NB pins were rare indeed. When I visited my MLA's constituency office, I ended up having my MLA himself  rummaging around his office, trying to find me some.  How THAT came about would be a whole other blog in itself.  Suffice to say, he even went out to his car, and dug around in there. I swear!!!  He found me one, which I, of course, kept!  It is not every day that you have your Provincial Minister of Education working EXCLUSIVELY on your behalf!!  I may even frame that pin. :) NOW THAT IS GREAT SERVICE!

I waltzed into my local PHARMA SAVE, and was given my annual flu shot right then and there.  I didn't even want one! NO, JUST KIDDING!! I didn't need an appointment.  I was in and out of there in five minutes flat, pricked and paid for!   Isn't that great service?

I also sailed into my local bank, WITHOUT an APPOINTMENT, again and I was able to have some papers signed, sealed and delivered, so to speak, in a matter of five minutes.  I could barely believe it, because I would not be the first to say that banks give great service. However, I received
GREAT SERVICE that day.

At a reflexology appointment, I was offered a wonderful cup of tea, and allowed to bring Vimy IN with me, where he was more than warmly welcomed.  MORE great service!

At my local Mazda dealership, they took Jiminy Cricket  r-i-g-h-t back in, and fixed something else that I hadn't mentioned was an issue, until AFTER they told me my car's servicing was done.  I know... "Nounoune!"  Plus, the service person is a hiker, like me, and spent a good 15 minutes showing me how to access a certain part of the Mi'gMaq Trail.  Above and beyond great service!

At my physiotherapist's office, they offer free bottled water, coffee and tea!  All part of MORE GREAT SERVICE!

Of course, in light of my recent blogs, this blog would NOT be complete, if it weren't a little shitty. (Sorry!)  I recently had a very old friend be diagnosed with colon cancer.   His cancer was detected with what I call the "poop" test.  His "poop" test came back positive, so he subsequently had a colonoscopy, and from there, with a confirmed diagnosis of cancer, was treated.  He is now well and recovered. Well, I wanted to avoid a colonoscopy at ALL COSTS, so I too opted for the said "poop" test.  Seven months later, my doctor cannot find the test results.  Actually, my doctor is on maternity leave, and HER sub cannot find them.  So, we decide that I will go for a-n-o-t-h-e-r test. While this test is DEFINITELY less invasive and unpleasant than a colonoscopy, it is still a major PITA!  I carry the lab authorization in my purse for a month, as I cannot go during regular office hours.  I finally get to the lab on an off day.  The lab technician there is such a sweetie, always smiling and just so darn PLEASANT.  I decide to mention how I had already taken this test, but the doctor couldn't find the results. W-E-L-L, she found them in the system, after searching for a few minutes.  However, she was NOT authorized to give me the results.  I was willing to go down on bent knee, but she still said "no" so sweetly.  I then suggested she just tell me whether I needed this SECOND test after all.  She still shook her head "no."   WHAT she did next was to give me GREAT SERVICE!  Off she went, into the bowels (Sorry, but I just had to use that word!) of the medical clinic, and emerged ten minutes later with my doctor in tow. She proceeded to show him how to access the results.  HE told me the results were negative.  Since I couldn't jump across the counter to hug her, I grabbed her hands and shook them,by way of thanks, and blew my doctor a kiss. OUT OF THERE!  Was I a happy camper?  No shit!   (Sorry!)   THAT technician could have just ignored me, and given me the paraphernalia for the poop test, but she went ABOVE and beyond, by giving GREAT SERVICE!

Service is everything.  Maybe some cynics would say that these types of businesses are simply pandering to we older folks, but I prefer to think that it is JUST good business practice, period! All customers, patients, clients... should be valued and appreciated.  We may forget what people say to us, but we tend to remember HOW they made us feel.

PS:  There is an important message in this story.  If you are are over fifty years of age, a colonoscopy is recommended.  Go for a "poop" test first.  (Otherwise known as the "FOBT" test - fecal occult blood test.) It may save your life!!  

There is a LOT to be said for cocooning ...

especially in the month of January, on the east coast of Canada.   With -35 Celsius temperatures, blizzards, weather bombs, treacherous roads, 45 degree temperature change in the span of a week, flooding, freezing rain and flash freezes, who wants to venture outside unless they HAVE to.

I DO, even when I don't have to!  I make a point of trying to embrace SOME of winter.  Getting outside in the fresh air can cure what ails you.  It clears the cobwebs, and is so good for both your physical AND mental health.  Of course, having a dog to walk really helps motivate you and get you OFF  the couch. That, and a HUGE dollop of good,old Catholic guilt.  Plus, when you come in, you can treat yourself to a hot chocolate with Baileys.  Maybe even add a dollop of whipped cream.

Vimy was less than thrilled to be going out decked out in his latest winter wardrobe recently, to go snowshoeing.  Dressing him in his fancy ADIDOG coat and bootees, took me l-o-n-g-e-r  to do than dressing my two preschoolers back in the day.  Once out there, he DID NOT come bounding behind me, when I called him, as he ALWAYS does. I had to put his leash on him and drag him down the driveway, poor thing.  Do you think he was maybe mortified by his getup?

I enjoy the month of January.  While I try to remain active and embrace the outdoors, I also take this month to COCOON!!  I see it as my time to reflect, re-energize, redo, reorganize, replete and relax!!   I take this month to indulge in some great series on Netflix, devour lots of good books, bake bread, throw together soups, stews, ragouts and chili, take a woodworking course, tackle a five hundred piece puzzle, clean out closets and drawers, and even do some spring cleaning.  Now is the time to do the latter.  I want to be outside when spring comes, NOT inside! 

So far this month, I have T-H-O-R-O-U-G-H-L-Y cleaned out my freezer, my fridge, and my stove. It is so marvelous to NOT have the fire alarm go off every time I turn on a burner, or the oven.

When I cocoon, I tend to stay out of trouble, or trouble doesn't come looking for me. BRR!  It's too cold!

Some things are SO easy to forget....

Late one night this week, Vimy climbed up a high, six foot snow bank in a neighbour's driveway, to make his deposit.  He had picked up their dog's scent, wouldn't you know.  Right at the top!!   I therefore had to scramble up that snowbank, mostly on my hands and knees, in order to retrieve it.  The snow was hard as rock, and I scraped my knee coming down, since I wasn't dressed for poop climbing, for crying out loud. There was NO WAY I could have "forgotten" that one!   I would never not SCOOP, even at the risk of injuring myself, and regardless of whether a neighbour 👀 is looking out his or her window, witnessing Vimy's misdemeanour.

Vimy and I were returning home from a long walk Friday, the temperature a balmy 11 degrees outside, when friends driving by in their truck stopped to chat.   My friend's husband rolled down the window, and we had quite a long chat, with me leaning in at times, so I could better see my friend, the passenger. Vimy was getting restless and had pulled on his leash to the extent that it came right off.  It was only when that happened, that I realized I had "forgotten" something, AGAIN! I had been standing there ALL this time, with a bag of doggie doo right there in my left hand, (contents hot off the press too!) right by the open window and basically UNDER the driver's nose.  I have little to no sense of smell, which can be a blessing at times... and a bit embarrassing at times. 

While driving home from snowshoeing, and cruising down a hill, I spotted something green nestled between my hood and my windshield. "Sh%?!  What is that?" was my first thought. Then I realized that THAT WAS exactly what it was.  I had picked up Vimy's deposit shortly after we headed out snowshoeing, returning and throwing it quickly on Jiminy's roof.   I didn't have time to dig around for the keys to my locked car, and figured I would pick up the bag upon my return. OF course, I TOTALLY "forgot about it" and jumped into the car.  Well, the strong winds that day, must have pushed the bag off the roof and onto the windshield. That is where the bag of poop stayed lodged, while I drove home very slowly.  The last thing I needed was a bag of S?&% flying around.

I think I am going to have to train Vimy to attend to his needs in his own yard.  This is too much stress!

IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT....

I started my day at school, before the bell even rang, with my hands FULL of blood.   I hadn't seen that much blood in a long time.  All of which I had to wash off before starting my day of work.

It didn't matter that driving home, my roof antenna was encased in a chunk of ice, bent completely forward and banging AGAINST my front right windshield, ready to SNAP off!

It didn't matter than when I got home from work, the town plow had blocked my driveway NOT with a foot high wall of  lovely white, fluffy SNOW, but with chunks of ice and more HUMONGOUS BOULDERS!

WHAT DID MATTER?

The little fellow in Kindergarten will be fine. He fell on a piece of playground equipment, and hit this forehead smack between the eyes.  He was kneeling in the snow gushing blood, by the time I reached him.  Dabbing at the geyser with a tissue did N*0 good. It was immediately saturated with blood.  While trying to him lead out of high snow banks, into school and to the office, AND yelling for help, blood continued to pour out of his wound.  Out came out a THICK wad of tissues I had fortuitously shoved into my coat pocket that morning.  It was actually the entire BOTTOM of a kleenex box. I held that to his forehead, all the while continuing to now YELL an EA's name.  She finally heard me and another EA arrived as well. The latter immediately took the Kindergartener to the office.  I had to stay outside; I was still on duty. The little one will have stitches, but the wound was not a HUGE V- shaped CHUNK out of his head, as it had appeared to me, but rather a straight little line between his two eyes.  The snow is piled so high, that the upper parts of playground equipment which normally WOULD NOT be at a child's eye level, now are.   Dangerous!

I was driving on a busy thoroughfare, when my antenna started banging on my windshield.  I decided to pull into the closest parking lot, and DISLODGE all that ice TOUT DE SUITE!  I had already broken ONE antenna.  I didn't want to spend $75 to replace another one.  How FORTUITOUS again, that I happened to be right in front of the NBLC.  I had been debating earlier whether to stop in and buy some wine on my way home, and had decided, "NAH!", but .... S-I-N-C-E I was right there in their parking lot, WHY NOT?   I thereby killed two birds with one stone right there!

I parked my Jiminy in the street, and by shoveling for twenty minutes, was able to clear a space wide enough for him to squeak through into my driveway.  Vimy romped around while I was able to have some great cardiovascular exercise.  It was wonderfully mild, ( a balmy +5 degrees Celsius, as opposed to last week's -35C).  That's ONLY a forty degree difference.  My neighbour came along and dislodged the ONE, GIGANTIC boulder of ice and snow, that I had not been able to budge!  AWESOME I SAY!!!

All in all... another GREAT DAY!