Hey, how are YOU getting through winter?

I find that such a negative question. I don't like it AT ALL. Yet, that was the question put to CBC radio listeners out in the streets of one of our southern cities recently.  Saint John maybe?  However, the same question was put in a very different and definitely MORE positive way,and was asked of people out-and-about on the streets of another NB city. Moncton, I think.   That question?  "How do you ENJOY winter?" Now THAT question is worth answering!

What do I DO to enjoy our long winters? WELL, the list is endless.  

First of all, If I can get out, I go outdoors as often as I can, to walk, snowshoe, toboggan or even shovel... every single day, more than once!  If I didn't have Vimy, I would add skating and cross country skiing to my activities. However, trying a "fat bike" is on my bucket list.  I go to yoga on those blistery cold days, attending a "hot" class.  Let me tell you, you appreciate the coolness when you exit THAT class. 

Winter is a great time to volunteer more.  There is nothing like helping others who are less fortunate, to make you realize how truly blessed you are. 

Some winter time indulgences? Reading that good book you have been meaning to pick up; enjoying a great series on Netflix; listening to podcasts that challenge your mindset; starting a new creative project; doing a thousand piece puzzle by yourself; phoning an old friend or two whom you haven't spoken to in a long time; Marie Kondo "ing" a drawer, closet or room even; baking up a storm and freezing it all, or prepping dinners ahead of time, and freezing them as well; researching your next "warm" travel destination; getting more involved with an issue for which you have a great passion, be it "climate change" or "child poverty" or "whatever" floats your boat.

The possiblities are endless, and winter doesn't last forever. It may just seem like it does. 

Mind you, it's all easy for me to say.  I don't live in Newfoundland, (photo below) where they have had almost eighty centimetres of snow dumped on them.  Nor do I live in Alberta where it has been -50 C for more than a bit!

HEALTH IS WEALTH - LA SANTÉ C'EST LA RICHESSE!

Don't I know that?  Eighteen days, nine boxes of tissues, mountains of mucous, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of Advil Cold and Sinus, and daily Neddy Pots later, I still have not gotten rid of a very bad attack of acute sinusitis.

I DO know that but I don't appreciate my health until I no longer have it.  I am not a good sick person: I tend to be very cranky and impatient.  I don't know how people live with constant pain, chronic illnesses, surgery after surgery, or a life threatening diagnosis.  They are true heroes in my books, because so many do not complain but continue to laugh, smile, and go on with life.  

Me? Add a very bad blister on my heel from snowshoeing with no socks in my boots, to my sinusitis misery and you would think it were the end of the world as I know it.  Kill me or let me kill someone else, kind of thing, to put me out of my misery, thank you!

A visit to the hospital this week to visit someone and pick up someone, reminded me of who the OTHER heroes are when we are sick.  Those heroes are the doctors, nurses, support staff, technicians and all who work in a hospital setting, day in and day out, and keep smiling.  They do not get to see humanity at its best, yet they smile, and give YOU the best care possible. We are indeed blessed to have universal medicare in our wonderful country. 


I believe a person feels more vulnerable when they are sick.  I know I do, because I can't do everything I normally do.  When I am healthy, I just keep enjoying life to the max. However, when I am sick my mindset is different. This past week is the first time I thought it would be SO nice if someone were here to bring me that cup of tea, or tuck me in, since Vimy hasn't learned to do that yet. :)


There is something that does give me a lift though, every morning and every night.  My backyard neighbours still have their Christmas lights up on their tree, bless 'em.  These "Fallopian Tubes" have been my bright spot this January.  Do you have a January bright spot?

B...U...M...M...E...R!!!

It's that time of year, after the holidays, with a long winter ahead of us, that finds me wallowing a little more in the murk than I should.  So this little rant/pep talk of mine that follows, is just my way of seeing NOT only the negative side of "s%?&" happening this time of year, but also seeing the positive.  There is ALWAYS a positive side: you may just have to look for it a little harder. 

I woke up in the middle of the night last week, and knocked over a glass of water onto my library book. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until the next morning. The front cover, back cover and many pages were water marked.  BUMMER!  I had to reimburse the library $27.00 for that book.  I was going to splurge on having the interior of Jiminy Cricket detailed. So much for that!  However, it was GOOD that I was able to donate the book to a senior citizen's complex, where some of the residents are voracious readers and are always looking for good novels.  There was the BRIGHT SIDE!

In my usual scurrying around one morning while tidying up, I accidentally dumped my portable speaker into a sink of dirty dish water.  Again, I didn't notice right away.  Well, I tried to dry it out in various ways, but I ended up throwing it into the recycling bin. BUMMER! So much for that! However, it was GOOD that I had just received my HST rebate cheque, (because of my single income :)) and was able to allocate some of those monies towards the purchase of a bigger speaker. There was the BRIGHT SIDE again!

On a beautiful snowshoeing hike through trails in the woods, I observed dog deposits... some ignored, and some bagged, but left behind. BUMMER! If you are going to bother to bag the bomb, then take it out with you, please.  However, the GOOD out of this was that I had lots of extra bags, so I played the Poop Fairy.  The trails were now less sullied, so there is a bright side here as well.

There are trails just for fat bikes and snowshoes, but a LOT of people won't, don't, or can't read. BUMMER!  It isn't easy to snowshoe where the trails are all bumpy and lumpy.  I took photos to post on hiking sites online, as a GOOD reminder to people not to walk on these trails. The bright side is that sometimes people just need to be reminded.  

Since Boxing Day, I have been super sick with a really bad sinus infection. BUMMER!  So much for getting all kinds of things accomplished over the school break.  However, it has been GOOD, because it forced me to sit. So sit I did, and binge watched a wonderful series on NetFlix called "Bonfires of Destiny" or "Le Bazar de la Charité" en français.  In French, with English subtitles, it is loosely based on a disastrous fire in Paris in 1897.  It is a superb showcase of "la Belle Époque" in France, with strong female characters, and as a period piece, is glorious!  I have wallowed here... but not in the murk!

A great way to end a week that wasn't such a bummer after all!!

PS: On the advice of a friend, who wanted to look at my speaker, I fished it out of the recycling bin. Lo and behold, it works!! 

  

Christmases Past and Present

I think I finally understand why people become nostalgic at Christmas.  I experienced that nostalgia  for the first time this Christmas.  Why?  I believe it was because I was with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas IS for children.  Furthermore, it brings out the CHILD in all of us.  While I always say Christmas is anytime in December that you are able to be with your adult children, there is still NOTHING quite as magical as being with them and their family, on those actual days.  With the exception of enjoying my niece's two year old, one Christmas Eve two years ago, there have been no children in my Christmas celebrations for e-o-n-s.  This year was different and how t*r*u*l*y magnificent that was!! Time and again, my mind slipped back to memories of Christmas when my children were young.  Being with a wee one brought them all back.  Sweet indeed! 

However, I did not wallow in nostalgia the whole time. I had my adventures, and "first time" experiences, per usual.  Christmas Eve saw me get up early, and as I stumbled to the back door in the dark searching for the light switch, (needing to let three dogs out), my right foot landed in a very soft pile of .... don't you know it, a HUGE pile of doggie do!! I knew it was that before I even looked down! Thankfully, I was wearing warm woolen socks, so off came the right one, which I pitched in the laundry sink.  Could I find paper towels? No. Rags? No sir! The only thing I could lay my hands on was a large, empty dog food bowl, which I immediately tipped over the "DEPOSIT".  All I needed were three dogs trapizing through that mess, on their way out the door!

Later that morning, I enjoyed a parent-tot free swim session, complete with rubber duckies and universal changing rooms.  That was a first for me! I didn't see any naked men, thank you!

While walking Vimy and Piper that afternoon, Vimy spied a fat cat curled up in a driveway.  He ripped the leash handle right out of my hands as he barreled off after that cat.  Despite my yelling at him to return, he took his sweet time.  Then I noticed a woman backing up her car into this same driveway, but doing it ever so slowly. I wondered if she had seen Vimy chasing her cat, so, feeling a little guilty, I motioned for her to roll down her car window.  I apologized for Vimy chasing her cat but she just smiled at me and replied, "I don't have a cat!  I just didn't want to run over your dog." Whew!  I wished her a Merry Christmas, and went on my merry way.   


On Christmas Eve, I decided to indulge in a Christmas present I had recently opened... peanut butter cookies.  Oh... did I mention they were cannabis infused?  A good night's sleep is basically non-existant in my life, and I was told these cookies might work their magic. With some phone guidance from the giver, I ate a third of the cookie. It was quite scrumptious!  However, nothing happened so after an hour and a half, I took another bite, which amounted to a little over half of the cookie, all told.  Well, an hour later when I went to bed, still feeling nothing, I decided to read a bit. It was only when I got up to pay one last visit to the bathroom, did I realize I was well and truly stoned!  Not the best time to be high, when you want to go to sleep! Thankfully, I did fall asleep, and managed to fall back to sleep every time I woke up. That in itself, was quasi miraculous.  Next time, a half a cookie thirty minutes BEFORE bedtime should do the trick. My aim is to fall asleep and STAY asleep, NOT get stoned.  Or does anyone have other recommendations?

On Christmas Day I thought I was attending a French mass at 10:30 am , only to walk in on a High Mass in ENGLISH, which had started at 10:00.  It only ended at 11:18, so as my dear mother quipped the next day, "You were there long enough then, in spite of being late."  An elderly gentleman who was the soloist after communion, sang "O Holy Night", but really struggled to reach those high notes. Just as I thought he was finally coming to the end, he burst into the first verse of the French version of this hymn, "Minuit Chrétiens!"  I figure he threw some French into the mass just for me, bless him! 

I couldn't remember ever NOT having turkey on Christmas Day, but I didn't this year.  I couldn't remember ever going for a long walk in a public park on Christmas Day, but I did this year, a wonderful stroll in Point Pleasant Park. Christmases Present need NOT be ghosts of Christmases Past. 

In conclusion, to cap off a wonderful holiday road trip, I managed to back up Jiminy smack into a big, utility pole, quite hard, on Boxing Day morning, as I prepared to return home. THAT pole was totally in my blind spot. It's no biggie though. Now Jiminy has a cracked bumper, to match the cracks in his roof. 

BONNE ET HEUREUSE ANNÉE 2020!

      

MORE days in December...

On the eighth day of Christmas... I followed an annual tradition and traveled further north in our beautiful province, to help dear old friends of mine set up their treee.  Not only had they done most of the work themselves, before I got there, but my dear friend served up a DELICIOUS turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Around the table were three other guests; an international student, along with two   neighbours. What a wonderful evening we had, enjoying the food, ambiance, and good cheer, followed by a few rollicking games of cards. ISN'T this what Christmas is all about? 

On the ninth day of Christmas, while walking Vimy, I observed a father outside with his young daughter, in their back yard. What were they doing? She, who is no more ten years old (I know because I have taught her!) was helping her father make an outdoor rink... the daughter, NOT their son. How awesome is that?

On the tenth day of Christmas, I attended a Christmas party put on by an organization for whom I am a volunteer.  My seatmate was a VERY lively eighty-three widower, who was a TOTAL flirt. I gave up trying to avoid his flirtatious ways, when I realized HE would be a great companion for my MOTHER! I showed him her picture.  I didn't get his phone number yet but I am in cahoots with someone else, and we are hoping to arrange some kind of discreet meet-up in the New Year. Don't tell my mom!

On the eleventh day of Christmas, I was out walking Vimy on a late, freezing cold night.  I saw a man coming around the corner towards me.  The snow banks prevented me from seeing him fully until he rounded that corner.   He was wearing SHORTS!   As we crossed paths, we both started to address each other, but then we BOTH spontaneously burst into laughter and kept chuckling as we walked in opposite directions.  

The twelfth day of Christmas saw my almost 86 year old mother bake up a storm, box up two or three different sorts of cookies, go to the post office and mail off a Christmas care package to her oldest grandchild in Alberta, MY thirty-seven year old son.  Now that is love! What did his mother (me!) do?  I sent him a dual themed Christmas box - cannibis and novelty sex things.  Hey, he's only been married a little over a year, and cannibis is legal now. Plus, he didn't need any homemade Christmas baking. Grandmaman took care of that very nicely!

The thirteenth day of Christmas saw my family getting together for a Games Night.  There was lots of fun and laughter, even if they didn't know the rules of the Black Magic game.  Do you? It's not called the Black and White game!!

The fourteenth day of Christmas saw me reflecting on ALL of the above. I have run out of time. Christmas is just around the corner.  What have I noticed about this most wonderful celebration of the year?

I have noticed how lonely people are, especially at this time of year. Loneliness is one of THE biggest social issues facing our society today. Loneliness is an epidemic. While not limited to any particular age group, loneliness is deeply felt among our seniors.  My one wish for this new decade, (which we will soon be entering) is that we all try to reach out to others MORE.  Not through technology, but in person.  Talk to someone, engage with someone, listen to someone, hug someone, and above all, care about your fellow human beings. It won't cost you anything at ALL ... except a little bit of your time. It will warm your heart and you will never know what a difference you may have made in that person's life, THAT day.   

To all my readers, may this new decade bestow upon you all of life's blessings... love, laughter, good health, hugs, kisses, family, friends and a good night's sleep! Joyeux Noël et Bonne et Heureuse Année.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Il faut rire! We all need a few laughs...

so I am reposting this, as it is well worth a few chuckles if you missed it before Christmas.  

Being in a Kindergarten class MAKES my day, TOTALLY!

As it happens, I have been in Kindergarten classes quite a bit lately, and that age is a treasure trove for one-liners, questions, remarks and ponderings that never cease to brighten my day!

"I live in this class!" one exclaimed excitedly to another child across the hall. 

I was about to read a story to a K class, but first I read them the blurb on the back cover, by way of piquing their curiousity about the book. When I asked if they knew why the author would write a little bit about the story, on the back cover, one super bright little one answered, "So you don't have to open the book?"

"How many are you in this class?" I said, actually really just thinking out loud.  One little good listener immediately replied, and with great certainty, "Twenty-five to a hundred!"

Jackson replies "I don't know." to EVERY question you ask him.  When I asked him why he always replied that way, since I knew he was a smart young fellow, he replied, "I REALLY don't know nothing." 

Liam, waiting in line to go to the cafeteria, informs me "Hunter is ANNOYING us!" 

"Madame, when are we going to the Book Fairy?" (She meant the Book Fair.)

What is the date today?  One reply? November Two Zero.

"Why is your snowsuit ALL wet?"  "Because I was pwaying in the snow with the BIG kids!"

After greeting the children as they came in the morning, and giving them my name, one looked up at me with a quizzical look, "Your name is Madame Cookie?"  (Close enough!)

I ruffled one little boy's hair in passing. He looked up at me in indignation and exclaimed, "Don't mess with my hair! I just got it done! 

Finally, this response to a question, really left me totally GOBSMACKED!  One little busy boy wasn't being respectful during the playing of O'Canada, despite repeated admonishments to do so. I slipped behind him, and whispered in his ear, "How would you like it if I sent a note home in your agenda, telling Mommy and Daddy that you aren't making good choices in class?  "My Daddy's in jail! was the prompt response, as he scampered away. I must admit, I was NOT expecting that answer.

My seven days of Christmas...

are the first seven days of December.  While these seven days do not involve what "my true love gave to me", because I don't HAVE a true love, they do reflect what I saw, heard, touched, did and felt.

On the FIRST day of December, my witching SIL and I did another volunteer gig again at Daly Point Nature Reserve, but as Winter Witches this time, in a fundraiser for our local SPCA.  It was called Santa Pawz. People brought their pets to have his/her picture taken with Santa.  Since I am so NOT shy, I had no trouble roping in a newly arrived immigrant family of five, who have only been in Canada a little over a month, to come in to have their FIRST picture taken with Santa, even if they DIDN'T have a pet. We welcomed them to Canada with heartfelt hugs. It was a TRULY beautiful and heartwarming moment.

On the SECOND day of December, I was walking Vimy on a cold morning, when suddenly this little chihuahua came out of nowhere, dashing up to Vimy, and barking at him furiously.  Just as suddenly a man appeared on his back porch and started yelling at his dog to get away.  This man was bare chested, wearing only bright, red Santa motif pyjama bottoms, slung w...a....y too low on his hips. OMG!  Not only had he forgotten to get dressed, he had forgotten his teeth, because I could tell from the way he was yelling at his dog, that his was no ordinary lisp. The faster Vimy and I walked, the faster that pooch ran after us, and the more his owner yelled at him.  I hustled away chuckling and shaking my head.  That was a TRULY sorry sight!

On the THIRD day of December, (which if you believe all media hype, was designated "Giving Tuesday!"),I decided to be an elf, and sans costume, I helped out a fellow colleague who was feeling overwhelmed with the demands of our profession.  I spent an hour and a half photocopying booklets for her.  It was a mindless, but necessary task that freed her up to do more important things in her classroom and for her students.  Not all gifts have a pricetag, nor are they bought on Black Friday. :) TRUE story.

By the FOURTH day of December, I had been told by more than three people that they would be alone this Christmas. That is heartbreaking! 💔 No one should be alone on Christmas day.  It isn't JUST another day.  Who doesn't have room for one more person around the table for Christmas dinner? How TRULY sad.

On the FIFTH day of December.... my friend and I had so much fun running around, shopping and buying items on a child's wish list for this Christmas. He's not very demanding, this little 10 year old fellow.  He needs a winter jacket and gym pants, and asked for a Fidgit Spinner.  Heavens, they are passé. We bought him a brand new snowsuit, TWO Fidgit
Spinners, treats, a game and the latest little fad toy, a Tech Deck.  Imagining HIS joy upon opening his 
Christmas presents, is THE biggest thrill of all, for me and my partner in the spirit.  ALL represent the TRUE meaning of Christmas. 

On the SIXTH day of December, I replaced a Kindergarten teacher, knowing ahead of time that I would continue preparing her students for the upcoming Christmas concert.  I got to coax them along in their song, "One little, two little, three little Reindeer", and prompt them with their bell ringing.  PURE, PURE heaven! I wish I could show you the video of the practice.  I shouldn't even be paid for this privilege. TRULY MAGICAL!

On the SEVENTH day of December, I went to buy tickets for "Comment le Grinch a volé Noël!", a superior production put on by a local dance company. I will be taking my mother next Sunday.  The songs are in English, but the spoken is in French. How VERY representative of  New Brunswick, as Canada's only officially bilingual province, and of course, TRULY unique!

J'adore 💖💖💖💖 le mois de décembre!