10 Random Facts Friday

1. I must be the only person in the world who cannot ever get earphones to fit their ears. Maybe my ear canals are deformed?

2. As per random fact #1, I actually wear a hat in the winter.. not to keep my head warm... but to keep my earphones in my ears!!!

3. Whenever I go to parent/teacher interviews, I always assume that the teacher is much, much older than me... and much more serious. Oh yeah... I am also a teacher ;)

4. I have an addiction to black licorice covered chocolate and I don't care!

5. In my head, I am 27 years old. A 27 year old with some wrinkles and grey hair... but still 27 years old ;)

6. Considering I am not a big fan of royal families, I find it kind of odd that I seem to know a lot of trivia about them.... even the royal families of Belgium, Netherlands and Jordan. Hmmm....???

7. I kind of like going to doctors because I get to read every trashy magazine since 1998.

8. I can never find a pair of jeans that fit properly... sigh! My lower half is as deformed as my ear canals ;)

9. I can never get through the book "Love You Forever" without losing it. I dare you to try ;)

10. Yesterday, Oliver handed me a bag of marbles... for the next time I lose mine ;) True story ;)


Happy weekend to you all xox

My bag of replacement marbles ;)

Postcards from Montreal

Today, it is 6C and the snow is melting... I know that we will, most likely, have another good snowstorm or two but, in the mean time, I am enjoying the breath of spring. People are walking in the streets with their shoulders back and a smile on their face. It is almost like Montrealers finally realize that they just might have survived another winter... and that deserves some sort of self love and happiness ;)

Hope you enjoy the pics! No fingers were subjected to cold wind during the picture taking process ;)

Happy Sunday

Melting snow + warm sunshine = good day! Despite me kicking them off the PS4 to go outside (worst mother in the universe), the boys reluctantly started to enjoy the sun :)

xox

Glimpses of a Friday

Hello all! I am so glad that it is Friday :)

Here are some pictures of my day... Hope you enjoy xox

Small gratitudes... the post sickness/post sabbatical trip version ;)

Andreas is back from Denmark. He brought me lakrids (licorice) chocolate and my favourite interior design magazine. The boys feel better and they all went back to school. I went to work and didn't have to worry about having someone take over my class, rush out early or try to co-ordinate the boys' homework by text message :) I don't have to take the dogs out at 5:15 am to pee (Andreas' job!). On Thursday, it is supposed to go up to 5 degrees C. Sunset today was at almost 6 pm. Canada is in 4th place in the medal count at the Winter Olympics. It is 4 days until payday. March break is coming up soon.

Just the small gratitudes... <3

Happy week to you all xox

Saturday

Since the boys have been sick all week, I fell behind in a lot of home and work stuff so, today, I made myself a very long to-do list. It is filled with all sorts of important stuff like 1) correct manuscript for submission to journal, 2) prepare lecture for Monday's class, 3) finish folding laundry, 4) shovel balcony in back of house because I am sick of seeing all the snow on it, 4) take dogs out for longer walk because I was in no mood to do it this morning so they got stuck with a quick pee exit, 5) vacuum, 6) banking (because I am sure that I am late for something... just haven't had the time to figure out what yet), 7) organize trip to Netherlands (yes, Ageeth, I am still coming!), 8) sit with Alexander to get homework organized for Monday, 8) vacuum again because I am sure that someone has messed the house up since the last time I did it- see item 5, 9) have more coffee because the first pot will not be enough and 10) pick up Andreas from the airport (yes, he is on his way home... just in time to clean up the latest snowfall)!

Wish me luck! This list is about as high as our snowbanks! Happy Saturday to you all xox

Random internet image... but, oh, so true!

Blast from the past

I found this old picture of the boys. I think that this was from Nicka's graduation from daycare (5 years old). Alexander would have been 7 and Oliver 2. They look like some bad-ass biker gang ;) Yups... the trio of trouble in action ;) Things haven't changed much since then!

By the way, they are feeling better now. Nicka is going back to school tomorrow. Not too sure about Oliver yet. Alexander has a ped day so he gets an automatic day off.

2 more days until Andreas gets back....

Sick boys

I jinxed myself. Yesterday as I woke up, I told myself that the "busy" week was over. Ummm... no. Cleary not.

It started with Nicka coming down with something last Friday, which hung on through the weekend so I let him stay home on Monday. Then came the Monday early morning email from the elementary school, saying that there was a case of Scarlet Fever in Nicka's grade. Then, yesterday morning, came the call from the high school: Alexander was sick and wanted to go home. Then, yesterday afternoon, came the call from Oliver's after school daycare: Oliver was sick. I took them to the after hours clinic to get a diagnosis/medication (if needed) but, with about 5 million people in the waiting room and after 2 hours without even seeing the nurse, we left. I figured that some rest and time at home was better than hanging out there. Then, yesterday evening, came the email to my students, cancelling today's class (I could swear that I heard a woohoo in the universe!). This morning, we went to the pediatric clinic where the boys have their doctor and, after about 30 minutes, we walked out with a diagnosis of no Scarlet Fever (yeah!) but the flu (and from all the coughing in that waiting room, just like everyone else in the universe- boo!).

It is a chorus of coughing (actually, hacking) and sneezing at our house.... and I am frantically washing my hands every 2 seconds! Wish me luck! xox

Waiting for the clinic to open

Poor buddy!

Our email from the school. Everything but the rash...

Snow, snow, snow...

Usually, Andreas takes care of the snow removal. That was a deal because he had an ongoing battle with the snow removal guy for years... years of Andreas hiding behind the blinds, checking when the tractor arrived (or didn't)... years of Andreas not satisfied with the service (in defence of Andreas, the service was pretty sucky)... years of Andreas grumbling about how he could do a better job. Anyway, a few years back, Andreas bought a snow blower and decided to do the job himself.... at least, when he is home... and, at this moment in time, he is not... and it snowed... a lot... ;)

To keep a long story short, there was a point today where I found myself begging the snow blower to start again and get out of the road. Yes, I had an aloud conversation with the machine... Finally, after digging it out of the snow (I am guessing that is not supposed to happen), Alexander and I managed to get it going again and promptly retired it back into the garage. We found 2 shovels and started the task ourselves. I think, at some point, I had offered him an amount of money that equalled one of our mortgage payments but, being the nice kid that he is, we decided that Pappa would pay him $20 when he gets home. Fair deal so I agreed ;) Plus, the "something nice" that Andreas owes me for his 2 week "vacation" has now gone up to a "something very nice" category. Oh yeah, I also ended up with an unintended workout ;) Bonus!

During my shovelling adventures, the snow removal guy passed by in this tractor and I could swear that he was laughing at me! Yups... something "very nice" ;)

Wishing you all a good day xox

Please note the yellow snow blower back in the garage again ;)

Yes- $20!!!

At least the shovel doesn't stall in the road!!

Done! Unfortunately, it will probably last about 2 hours before I have to do it again ;)

Early morning inspiration?

Disclosure: This, in no way, is a criticism of the project itself. Oliver thinks it is fabulous so mission accomplished. My post is intended to make fun of how darn seriously I take it ;)

The project: as a conclusion to an ongoing animal project, bring in a sandwich that represents the student's assigned animal. The students, then, will eat lunch together.

Oliver loved his animal (river otter) and thought that the social event (ie: getting together to eat a sandwich that looks like your animal) would be the BEST THING EVER!!!! To be honest, when Oliver told me about this sandwich assignment, I thought that he had misunderstood something and asked him to clarify with his teacher. Yups... he did get it right... and, apparently, we had gone through this same project when Alexander was in this particular teacher's class. Considering that my memory is beyond sucking (see here), I had/still have absolutely no recollection of ever having made an animal sandwich before... and I am absolutely positive that Andreas didn't take this off my list of things to do 😉

Anyway, after polling some of my friends who have children in the same class as Oliver (thank you, Gabrielle, for humouring me 😉 ), I put a game plan together (ie: shopping list) and, this morning, I got up early to make the River Otter Sandwich. Let me tell you, it was NOT easy. Firstly, Oliver is the world's most picky eater (see here) so that was a challenge. No olives for eyes... bread and butter was OK, cucumbers are OK, salami is OK but only a little bit. Luckily for me, otters like fish so Goldfish crackers were usable. So, yesterday evening, after a busy day at work, after rushing home like a mad person, during a week where Andreas was enjoying beautiful Copenhagen (in case you missed this tidbit, see here), I found myself wandering around the grocery store trying to figure out what best made an otter sandwich. I dared not ask the employees of the store for fear of being locked up 😉 Anyway, I found some supplies... including chocolate... not for the otter but for me (after this, I deserve it, no?) and made my way home to think up strategies with Oliver.

Voila! See the final product below.... Does it look like an otter? To me, it looks more like a mouse or an ear-challenged cat... but, heck, it is as good as it gets 😉... and Oliver likes it, which is- ultimately- all that counts. Hope he has a good lunch!

Happy Friday to you all! xox

Thursday morning state of mind

A while back, Oliver asked me to put his Lego fish in water (see here). Do you know what I found myself doing this morning? I actually changed the Lego fish's freaking water!!!! Just as I put the "fish bowl" down, I realized what I had just done and had to laugh at myself. Sad, I thought, as I poured myself another cup of coffee ;)

Do you ever catch yourself doing something that deserves a big WTF!? Yups... for me, it is a pretty regular thing ;)

Happy day to you all! xox

At least the water is clean ;)