mercredi 30 décembre 2009

On this, the second last day of the year...

Yup, lifting Barb's title from her last blog entry today (http://www.scrappinbarb.typepad.com/) : I know that she won't mind ! In this blog entry, I will endeavour to resume 2009, not an easy thing as it was such a heavy year. Lots of happy memories, some sad ones but also lots of difficult situations in our family life and a very busy year to boot. I feel like I never had any time off. I am very tired. I am also hopeful, positive and I'll keep going. It's been one thing after another this past year. My time-off was always filled up with appointments and errands of all kinds. My hobbies of photography and scrapbooking have been put aside - I'm hopeful that I will be able to resume them this coming year. This was year 2009 for me and I've lived it as best as I could. I've learned lots from all of my 2009 experiences. This is what the Universe had in store for me for 2009 and I feel blessed and thankful about it in many ways ... I am hoping though that 2010 will be lighter ! ;)

So, here's a random sampling of my 2009 memories (a bit long but it will be useful for me to scrap about, sometimes in 2010) :

- Great memories of my work as a teacher, having awesome teaching experiences with my students and my colleagues
- Creating new displays with my students for my school's art gallery in the main office
- Introducing scrapbooking to my class of grade 6 boys after they asked for it (they wanted to do a scrapbook like my grade 6 class of girls were doing) and then taking to it in an incredible way
- Transforming our son's playroom into a library last March : the change was great visually and the best of it was seeing my book-loving son and nephew reading even more, spending loads of time in the library, either sitting comfortably in my late in-laws comfy chair or on their stomach over a big ball. It also made it more pleasant for me to go play the piano so that I resumed playing piano almost daily !
- Putting up our home in Hull for sale in mid-July (a little heartbreaking for me as we have loved living there for the past 20 years but also happy to buy a smaller home, closer to my family and our friends)- and all that comes with putting up a house for sale (leaving at specific times to allow for visits, keeping it spic and span all the time, etc)
- Shopping for homes in Orléans during the 2 last weeks of July : we looked at so many houses on the internet and visited so many homes (sometimes 7 in the same day) that our life was consumed by it. A whole other kind of life, let me tell you ! It seemed like it lasted 2 months instead of 2 weeks. All the while maintaining our Hull home in a pristine condition for potential buyers' visits.
- Buying a new home in Orléans that we absolutely love after visiting so many that didn't appeal to us : what a blessing to have found this one in a neighbourhood that we love !
- The packing of our stuff over several weeks ; renting a small U-Haul trailer 4 Saturdays in a row; the multitude of extra trips I made from Hull to our new home in Orleans during most week evenings after DS had fallen asleep, with our car filled to the brim to then unloading it all in our new home and organizing our belongings right away so that we'd feel more at home after our big move later on ; our many trips to the red box to donate some of our stuff all the while having to keep our house always ready for people visiting our home to buy ; packing all of my art stuff (boy, do I have a LOT of it) and moving it personally in plastic bins so that I wouldn't have to pack them in boxes (more work) .
- My being dreadfully sick for 10 days in August, therefore missing our Montréal trip (DH, DS and nephew went and had a great time). I spent most of those 10 days in bed or on the couch.
- Two new great friends entering my life in the fall.
- The shopping to select wood-flooring and paint for our new home in between appointments and DH's and my work in October ; finding people to do those renovations right after we got the keys to our new home - not a small feat ! No more carpet in our home ! YES !
- Our son improving his crawl abilities while taking swimming lessons in September-October by bringing him to practise 3 nights a week in between his lessons
- Spending a night at CHEO on Halloween's Eve with our son to learn that he had H1N1 influenza virus and then spending a couple more hours after 1 a.m. to find a pharmacy that was able to fill up his prescription. We arrived home past 3:30 a.m. DH and I were literally white with exhaustion.
- My DH taking over for his boss during his medical leave.
- Our many trips to the Shawarma restaurant in Hull during our moving months (Oct. & Nov.) : we love the food at that particular restaurant and we had limited time to cook. YUM !
- Learning at the end of November about the Gatineau's Learning Disabilities Clinic after I told her that I was sure that my son had learning disabilities but that no one had put their finger on it yet.
- Having our furniture and most of the rest of our belongings moved to our new home by professional movers on Saturday November 27th, including my piano. The first thing I did after the movers had left at 3 p.m. was to play on my piano ! So thankful that we had moved lots of our stuff in the previous 6 weeks so that we didn't have to live with mountains of boxes !
- Traveling with my colleague in her car every morning to go to work : great conversations and good laughs !
- DH and I meeting the Director of the Learning Disabilities' Clinic on December 2nd (that date is etched forever in my mind) to talk about our son, knowing that we had finally come to the right place (team of multidisciplinary experts) to help our son after searching for more than 5 years.
- Our son being evaluated the next morning by the first specialist at the Learning Disabilities Clinic and finally having more information about our son's learning disabilities coexisting with his giftedness and epilepsy at a subsequent meeting with the LDC's Director.
- The Christmas student concert that I participated in with my colleagues at school, playing on the new school keyboard. That concert was such a smashing success !
- Creating many musical parts for the above-mentioned Christmas concert. It was great for me to reconnect with music after so many years of doing nothing musically ! LOVE that ! It was so good for my soul !
- Celebrating Christmas with my family (father, brothers, sisters, etc) on Dec. 18th
- Our son having a 24 hour ambulatory EEG on Dec. 22nd to get more information about his epilepsy. It went very well and he was such a trouper. I call him my champion ! The hardest part was seeing him suffer when the specialist was removing the "glue" from his head afterwards. It was very painful for him. We finally opted that he keeps the white "glue" on his head and he had it unglued in the warm shower afterwards. We celebrated the patience of our son by going to his (and ours) favorite Thai restaurant, Royal Thai, in downtown Ottawa for lunch. Yummy !
- Our son's happiness in receiving the Nintendo DSi for Christmas, his two Lego boxes (airplane and helicopter) and a few books (some on his favorite animals, the penguins).
- Our little family of 3 celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25th in a relaxed manner in our new home, all cozy.
- Our little fun trip to Montréal after Christmas ending with our wonderful visit with Nathalie and her family at their place : they were truly the highlight of our trip ! Thanks again !
- Organizing our home - it's a long process but I am enjoying it as I love organizing our home.
- Our many trips to IKEA : buy, return, check the AS-IS section, etc. We have eaten quite a lot of their hot dogs for a quick meal since the end of November ! We also got some great deals in their AS-IS section, amongst them a couple of great bar chairs for DS's worktable, a CD unit and my new scrap table.
- The joy in my DH's face in finally buying a new high-tech television a couple of weeks ago and picking it up last night !

Mostly, I'm deeply thankful to have my family and friends in my life and our health. Those are truly the most important things in life. I never forget it, this year more than ever.

I'd love to hear about your 2009 year, the joys and the challenges of it ! In the meantime, this gal has more areas to organize in our new home and some laundry to do while the boys are out at Canadian Tire to get something to hang our heavy mirror in the entrance and donate some Christmas decorations at the donation center in Orléans. Hurray for more simplicity in our lives ! Take care !

Danielle
xoxo

vendredi 25 décembre 2009

Joyeux Noel, Bonne Année à tous et à toutes !

Je prends un petit moment dans cette belle journée de Noel pour vous souhaiter une merveilleuse journée avec votre famille et vos amis !

Taking a moment here to wish you all a wonderful Christmas Day with your family and friends !

Danielle
xoxo

dimanche 20 décembre 2009

Unrelated subjects.

Well, yes they are unrelated subjects, but then I could have them all in one category which would be the one called LIFE. ;)

At the school where I worked, we presented our music show this past Friday and it was a huge success ! Everything went really well ! It was our first music show in years, and it was just wonderful ! Everyone left in high spirits ! I had a great time, I loved accompanying most of the classes on the brand new keyboard, playing with the father of one of my colleagues. He played guitar and he also did the spoons in a Canadian french folkore song to which my colleages sang to.

Yesterday, I worked all day in our house, organizing stuff. Our new home is coming along very nicely, thank you very much ! I love organizing it and knowing me, I won't stop until it's done !
Last night, we went over to one of my brother's home to celebrate Christmas with my other siblings, my father and a few friends. A great time was had by all ! DH and I almost forgot our camera, since we haven't taken many photos since last May. It was almost odd to bring it with us. I really miss taking photos and I predict that in 2010, I will take more photos than in 2009. Not hard to beat ! LOL

Today, I spent a big portion of the day putting away my scrap stuff in our basement. It took a looooooooooot of time because I deliberated where to put my most used stuff in such a way that it would be more practical than in my previous scrap room. I am almost done - so happy about that ! The floor and my new worktable are now cleared. I had placed different stuff on the floor to put together same things (tags, etc). It took me quite a while to organize the existing cabinestry because I wanted everything related in the same corner. In my previous home, for example, my letter stuff (stickers, chipboard, rub-ons, etc) were in at least 4 different spots in my scrap room - so I always forgot that I had more option to choose from - and use my stuff. Now, everything letter is grouped together, everything words is grouped in the same corner, etc. Makes me realize even more how much stuff I have. How much, you ask ? Too much ! But I'll have fun using it, creating with it and sharing it ! And the scrap shopping has stopped for quite many months already. Almost exclusively, some Martha Stewart punches have made their way in my scraproom this fall.

DH and I went to pick up our son at a friend's place this afternoon around 4:30. He was there since 10:30. He had a great time, spent most of his day outside on the ice. The friend's mother told me how she enjoys listening to my boy talking as he has a wonderful, rich vocabulary. DS played on his cousin's DSi - and came back saying that that is what he wants for Christmas this year. He doesn't want a big Lego box or anything else. The DSi is his first choice. I guess that means that I'll have to return the LEGO kit I bought him on Friday. Then we went to do a few returns of merchandise to two stores then went out for dinner at the restaurant Boston Pizza on Innes Rd. Yum ! Since I hadn't stop to really eat breakfast and lunch (grabbed a few oranges and a bran muffin before leaving home to pick up DS), I eagerly ate a slice of pizza and some of DS' steak and mashed potatoes. Yum !

Back home, after DS was asleep, I finished clearing out my new worktable, then sat down at my computer to check out some sites. I'll soon be in bed though as my eyes are just wanting to close. Tomorrow, DS has an early appointment at his dentist in Hull. Then we're going to our house in Hull to counteroffer the offer we got yesterday for our home. It will be interesting to see where it all goes !

Hope you had a great day and that you found time to enjoy the last weekend before Christmas is upon us ! We haven't gotten our tree yet, but will be doing so sometimes this week. DS insists on it - if not, DH and I wouldn't have one this year - too busy with stuff to do with our new home and our home in Hull !

I'll be sure to post some new pics sometimes this week ! Take care !

mardi 15 décembre 2009

music, music, music ...

I have lots of music singing in my head as we're preparing for our school December music concert. I have been having so much pleasure out of playing on the new keyboard that my principal bought. In fact, I spent most of today playing on it, even though I work only mornings ! Turns out, I realized today, that I'm accompanying on piano all of the classes except for the 2 kindergartens. How fun ! I composed most of the arrangements also so I've been having a ton of fun ! I am enjoying playing music SO much ! I haven't done anything music-wise in the past 15 years at least ! It does a lot of good to my soul to get reacquainted with my first love, music, which is so ingrained in my soul.

Today, I created a musical score on the keyboard for the song that one teacher wrote with her husband and that she taught to the grade 1 students. Now I'll have this tune in my head for the rest of the night ! ;) I wrote down the score (I usually invent and memorize, never write them down) this afternoon so that I could give a copy of it to the teacher : I believe that she'll appreciate having it written down ! The song is about having 2 holes in the nose and how to clean it. Super well written, words-wise and tune-wise. The teacher who taught it to her grade 1 students did an awesome job, including the gestures that accompany the words to the song ! They are just adorable and the public will get a chuckle at the end of the song ...

I came back home with a cold, feeling feverish, so I'll be sure to be in bed earlier tonight that the last 2 months' nights ! I usually work late in the night, putting touches to our home. Also, I am really excited about finishing putting away my scrap and art stuff in our basement. I'm almost done but it will have to wait for the weekend probably ... unless I feel better Friday. Too much to do at school before then. DH assembled the IKEA Alex storage piece today (he stayed home, he's nursing a cold) and I was so pleased to see it just besides my scrap table when I came downstairs to admire my DH's handiwork ! I already have ideas of what the 9 drawers will house ! Man it takes so much time to organise a home after one has moved ! Incredibly time-consuming but at the same time, so exciting for me that loves to organize stuff (and musical shows !).

Dinner's ready : barbecued steak ! Yum, gotta go !

xoxo

samedi 12 décembre 2009

Thankful ...

... for so much in my life right now :

- First of all, my husband and my son.
- My family.
- My dear dear friends Mance and Hélène and others, including the new ones that the Universe sent me this fall in the persons of Jeannine and Anne : so so grateful for them !
- My health.
- Our new house where we feel so much at home (hurray for smaller houses !)
- The new wonderful keyboard that the principal at my school just bought for me : I'll be using it this coming Friday at our Christmas music show.
- My really awesome colleagues : I love them !
- For our great new neighbours !
- The learning disabilities specialists that have identified this past week 2 learning disabilities in my son - diagnoses we've been looking for for the past 5 years. Not many people know that giftedness often coexists with learning disabilities. In fact, the more gifted a person is, the more chances that he or she will also have learning disabilities. Dual exceptionality is what it is called in professional jargon.

Today on the agenda :

- emptying more boxes
- measuring our son's bedroom window to order some blinds - his window has been covered with a blanket for the past 2 weeks, since we moved in.
- finishing re-assembling our bedroom furniture (DH)
- assembling the ALEX storage unit that I bought at IKEA several weeks ago to store my favorite punches (DH)
- dropping some toys and children furniture at Boomerang Consignment store
- refining the musical arrangements that I created to accompany each class in my school for the Christmas music concert. NOTE TO MYSELF : I need to write down all of those arrangements so that I'll remember them next year !
- getting a haircut, which I desperately need !
- addressing bought Christmas cards for friends
- enjoying every moment of my day

Have a great day everyone ! Much is awaiting me !