on my christmas wishlist.
I haven't really given too much thought to christmas gifts - mostly because I don't exchange gifts with too many people - but a girl can dream, right?
My year-long wish lists are found at amazon (livres) and etsy (check out favourite shops) and wishpot (baby registry). Favourites, of course, include handmade things (and I'm not just saying that).
I thought I would share this item though. It is so rad (but also completely unnecessary). I wish I had it when I was 8.
I will not be this parent.
I will not be this parent.
Cover of the New Yorker - November 2009
Happy Hallowe'en!
Grade 3 & 4 teeth.
Being the daughter of both a dentist and a dental hygienist, I tend to look at people's teeth. A lot. I've noticed a lot of teeth of 8 and 9 year olds over the past years. Their teeth are the funniest. Their adult teeth have pretty much all come in - and they are rather large, but they just seem too big for their mouths and they haven't really set. I totally have them in an awkward period. It makes me laugh.
This post is dedicated to the goofy toothy smiles of my grade 3s and 4s over the years.
Moolah in the classroom
This morning on the CBC they were talking about the extra money that teachers spend on their classrooms. They mentioned that the national (canadian) average is $450 of their own money (per year?).
This year I am proud to say that I have only spent 20 dollars on my classroom (on book boxes and post-it notes) and we are very lucky to have a well-stocked supply room. It is also worth the extra effort sending my incoming students letters in the mail during the summer requesting school supplies (if they can afford them).
However, over the past 5 years, I have spent well over $450 of my own money on my classroom. I have stocked my classroom library (French books seem to run about double the price of their exact English translation. I've easily spent over $500 on books alone.) I have also bought some drawers and shelves. I've purchased bright card stock and printer paper, fabric for bulletin boards, post-its, student mailboxes (shoe hangers from ikea), file folders, magazine folders, itunes downloads of French music, blank CDs & DVDs, tupperware containers for things like pencil crayons, binders, notebooks, lots and lots of printer ink, markers, two one-year French magazine subscriptions, plants, blankets, pillows, and did I mention books?
I was all worth it though.
Apparently suggestions have included giving teachers a tax benefit for their classroom spending, but so far only PEI has implemented this.
(photo is of last year's reading strategy menu - circa january)
back to TV
I didn't think that I watched a lot of TV - but there are just so many shows I love. Sadly in the summer when I have time to watch, they aren't on. But thank you TiVo.
I am looking forward to new episodes of:
GLEE - I. can't. wait. Rumours: Rocky Horror, Michael Jackson, Madonna part 2, britney, john stamos.... I really really really want to see a duet between Idina Menzel & Kristen Chenowith. They can somehow bring those two together to sing "For Good". Can't they??? (side random fact: The kids from Freaks & Geeks also went to a McKinley High)
Dexter - Rita. I still want to cry. If you haven't seen a preview for season 5. Go watch. now. wild. (and while you're at it, buy yourself a trinity killer bobble head).
Being Erica - If you've never heard of it- it's probably because you don't watch enough CBC. Come to think of it, I am going to rewatch seasons 1&2 before season 3 starts.
Modern Family (photo above) - I started loving this show late (but caught up this summer). I love love love this. So hilarious. I could rewatch these episodes over and over and over. Phil makes me laugh so hard. and Cameron. and Manny. and. and. and. sigh.
United States of Tara - Things are getting crazier and crazier. A new alter. Weird connections with Alice. Charm&Neil. i heart John Corbett. A wild season to come.
Gossip Girl - Chuck..... chuck??!?!?!?!?
Big Love - does anyone know if this is coming back? They revealed their family secrets on the season finale last year...
The Office - not sure if I will like it sans Michael. I just hope he doesn't get replaced. Dwight would make a perfectly hilarious office manager. No need to add new characters now.
This year I will truly miss Jack/Kate/Sayid/Sawyer/John Locke/Hurley/Jin/Sun/Desmond/Benjamin
popsicles are the new cupcakes.
no really. popsicles truly are the new cupcake. cupcakes are so... last year.
wouldn't you love to visit a popsicle store? yum.
(via my mid-century modern life)
i want a popsicle. i am going to get a grape one.
marshmallow love.
i will blog again soon. i can't find my camera battery charger, so my inspiration is out the window. i need to take photos for motivation.
but, i will leave you with this amazing treat by the wonderful color me katie. marshmallow faces with icing hair. {how rad are they?}
kindness.
(via oakhurstart)
I don't know what it is that I have done, but in the last little bit, I have been bombarded with kind words - and it feels great! I won't go into much detail about each, as to not sound like a braggart, but I did want to recognize these kind people and begin to thank them. Even the smallest recognition means so much.
- my aunt Lynda devoted an entire post to me and my Enthusiasm
- our Operation Respect leaders (Ann-Marie, Kim, Shelley) dedicated the virtue of Excellence to me
- I found the mushy letter my dad wrote to me when I was going into University in 2000 about how proud he was
- Sweet Marie from SWAMP posted on my FB wall with plenty of compliments about my teaching and art
- Regular long emails from three dear friends Meghan, Kristy and Kyle with inspiration and humour
- The many people's reactions to my Etsy shoppe (ha ha. shop)
xoxo thank you all.
another flickr board.
1. wood x-mas tree, 2. Vintage thermoses, 3. Jan Eleni, 4. Watercolor butterfly specimen box, 5. Untitled, 6. Artist Quotes, 7. birch trees, 8. stinkin' pink, 9. pink lockers, 10. boys, 11. lunch*tray*lovin, 12. Inspiration 12, 13. my latest obsession. , 14. red's in this season, 15. pink&red, 16. Plane Tree place name, 17. beyond the sea, 18. Untitled, 19. Rainbow Flotsam & Jetsam, 20. Lather, rinse, repeat, 21. Couldn't give a fig, 22. Cori Kindred, 23. better than a basket, 24. breathing deeply, 25. hem
she&him: part deux
i am very excited that she&him (zooey and m.ward) are coming out with a second album. yahoo!
listen to it in it's entirety at npr. i have been listening all morning.
musicfest 2010.
As some of you may or may not know, I play the trumpet. I played all through elementary school and highschool. I played in the city of Guelph Concert Band, and I now currently play in the Port Elgin Community Band (the town in which I work). This weekend, the Community Band went to Collingwood for Musicfest.
Although we did get a gold standing yesterday, that wasn't the excitement for me. My nostalgia kicked in, and I longed to be at MusicFest with my high school band. sigh. The set-up was the exact same as I remember from 15 years ago in Leamington with Miss Hopper (and later in London and Toronto with Mr B...) You put your stuff in the gym, then move to the holding room, then move into the practice room, then onto the backstage, then onto the stage and then the room with the adjudicator. It was surreal. I could picture Mr B yelling "We got a Gold standing!" to all of us in grade 9 - amidst a crowd of people.
I found this photo during the move into the new house. We were in grade 10 that year (because my sister is in the photo too). It captures the fun we had so perfectly. My one regret - why the heck did I switch instruments with Heidi for this photo??!? I loathe the clarinet.
(for a zoom-in on the photo, see my facebook or my flickr)
march one.
Shavasana. It gets me every time. For those who are not familiar, it is aka the corpse pose at the end of each yoga class. It sounds so simple -- you just lay there on your back with your eyes shut and relax. The real challenge though, is to still the mind. I sometimes find myself running through my "to-do list" of things I'll accomplish when I leave yoga. Sometimes I am really good. I listen to K and follow the instructions and my mind becomes still... for a while. Then fragments of thoughts keep messing with my stillness.
Tonight is the perfect example. I find myself in corpse pose. For the first 3/4 of shavasana I am still. I watch my breath in my mind's eye. But then, I find myself comparing the different living rooms of my old favourite sitcoms. Seriously - where does this stuff come from? I was comparing Growing Pains and Who's the Boss. Both houses you enter the front door at the left of the screen. When you walk in the door, the stairs are immediately to the left for the characters. Move inside a bit and it is the living area, and then (and I am almost certain here) you go through a swinging door into the kitchen which is at the right of the screen. I thought about this for a while. I also remember the Golden Girls and Mr Belvedere having a similar set-up. and I think Out of this World did too. Do you think they reused the sets?
Coming home, I promptly did a living room search for these sitcoms, but I surprisingly couldn't find any screen shots. What I did find was something quite rad. Someone on the same wavelength as me perhaps. I love it.
Go!
own the podium.
8 years ago Canada men's hockey team won gold at the olympics against the US. I was in my second year of university, living in Mac Hall at Guelph. I had band practice that night, and the buses didn't run late on Sunday. While the girls in residence were watching the game, I was walking downtown.
Canada must have won when I made it to the 4 corners at Quebec Street. What seemed like the entire city of Guelph was out in the streets running and screaming and yelling and cheering and singing oh Canada. Flags were being waved and drinks were being clinked. What an amazing feeling to walk through the celebration. In retrospect, I probably should have skipped band and joined the party of strangers. But if anyone knows me at all.....
I imagine downtown Guelph is full of the same pride again after tonight's win - eight years later. I am smiling.
I don't give a rat's ass about hockey. I am much more excited about the other Olympic sports and wins - but I will admit that I am quite excited that the canadians won the gold on home soil in the last opportunity of the Olympics. Bittersweet I think.
14 gold: 7 silver: 5 bronze. What an amazing showing. So many records broken.
Our home and native land. I will miss you vancouver2010.
xoxo
ps. I hope you enjoyed the win in the quinzee, Jake!
