Sesquicentennial

HAPPY 150th BIRTHDAY, CANADA!

(Bonne Fete, Canada!)

Sesquicentennial means 150th anniversary. Since my beloved nation is 150 years young today, I thought it would work as a blog title.

Things have been hectic with the end of the school year and just life in general. 

Son's last day of school was yesterday, and I didn't know that they had an awards ceremony for students in grades 5 through 8 who excelled in academics and sports during the closing. 

I only found out when Son's grade six teacher called me and invited me to attend.

You see, my son got an award yesterday, Greatest Improvement Overall for his class. He, along with a few of his pals from grades six, seven and eight, got the awards because they went from struggling to doing an amazing job in their studies. 

When Son's name was called, he didn't walk to the stage like every other student - he RAN! He was so excited that he was jumping up and down and hugging a lot of his fellow winners. 

He won a medal with the school emblem on it. It is gorgeous, and it'll be hanging in his room over his bed when we get around to putting it there. 

I'm really proud of him. His grade six teacher said he's a brilliant kid, he just needs a little guidance and a reminder now and then... He was also a joy to teach and have in her classroom this year. 

I've learned that exams are only given to Grades 8s, 10s, and 12s... So he's safe for another year! (THANK HEAVENS!)

He's now home for the summer, and we're making plans to do a few things. He wants to go swimming at the lifestyle centre, play video games at home, as well as go bowling in town, and take the occasional day trip.

I am still going to the track, but not as frequently as I would like. Son doesn't like the walking bit of it, so it's best I go without him. I am getting faster at doing a km, and I've even upped the laps to five (1250 m) a few times. I'm slowly getting more and more used to it. 

I'm not as heavy as I thought... I was weighed during an appointment with the centre that helps people who have that lifelong condition and I'm about 30 pounds less than expected. I still have a long way to go, but the amount I want to lose seems reasonable right now... It's a lot but it IS possible!

As for the writing, I'm not going to write at all this summer. I've decided that I have to clean up Dream On before I go near Fourteen and its rounds of cleaning, then start writing it again. I'm thinking a full rewrite may be needed. 

I don't know, I'll just have to see how I feel in September, or when Dream On is finally in the hands of my beta team. 

I may not post a lot over the next few weeks - real life and summertime fun with my family will probably dominate July anyway, if not August.

I wish all of you an amazing summer... Don't forget to wear sunblock if you're going outside a lot!

In the spirit of the day, I leave you with a song by one of my favorite Canadian bands, RUSH.... CLOSER TO THE HEART.

Where Did Summer Go?

A big WELCOME to all, and I hope you like the new look of my blog.

The background photo is one I took myself, on my brand new smart phone - which was a combination reward for reaching 2 years smoke free and early birthday present to myself. 

It's a Samsung Galaxy A5, and I LOVE IT. I also found a gorgeous case for it, it has a nebula on the back and it's all different colors. So pretty and so ME.

Love it!!

OTHER NEWS...

Three weeks.

That's all we have left of summer vacation. The last 8 weeks sped by, in a haze of writing exercises, zipping around the area with my son, tripping over the damn cat, and trying to figure out the best spots for updating my exercise regimen, preferably in a controlled environment - no bugs and little humidity in the summer, with no ice and warmer temps in the winter, and something that doesn't have only walking either, somewhere that has other exercise activities I enjoy.

I found a spot, and once school starts, I hope to start going there a few times in a trial run... If I like their facilities, I'm going to join in a full membership. They have swimming, a walk track, yoga, aqua-fitness classes, and if you like it, ice skating - not something I do, but others love it. There may be more in time, but so far it's looking like it's right up my alley. :) 

I have a brand new bathing suit that will fit me AND I actually *like* on order from an online retailer (it's hard to find really cool stuff in my tastes for girls my size), and I'm going to be getting a pair of yoga capris, along with a tee-shirt that's suitable.

Did I hear a few of you faint? *blink*

Yes, I hope to take some yoga too, so I need the damn pants. It's not easy to do yoga in jeans, especially the style I wear. 

As for swimming, it's one of my favorite activities. I just don't do it very often now due to lack of bathing suit that fits me properly. I hope the new one does, because I'm sick of being stuck on the sidelines while everyone else is having fun in the water. It's a great exercise all around, even for people with arthritis or other mobility problems. It gets the entire body involved, which is what I want. I like walking but swimming is FUN all around, and has been to me since I first learned how to swim at the age of 9 years old.

Son loves it too so y'all know he'll be tagging along occasionally, if there isn't school on certain days, or if we decide to go on a weekend. Things are easier for me to do now, I'm more mobile for the first time in years, and I love it. 

I'm hoping to get back into the writing routine when I'm not at the Centre this coming school year. I'm starting to get ideas for some of the stories I have on the go - I have THREE WIPs right now! - and I'd love to get back into at least one of them. I do hate leaving a story unfinished...........

Son is excited about school starting in three weeks. We are now officially DONE school shopping, and I'll soon be digging out his bookbag and school supplies to organize. We are going in for a tour of the Grade 6 wing and the rest of the Junior High end of campus the day before school starts, so Son can get his bearings, see who his teacher and the TA will be, and maybe even meet a few of his classmates that are special needs from the one feeder school that has their grade 6 class go into junior high. 

Today is also World Photography Day... Here are a couple of photos I took myself in celebration:

The first few are of my favorite beach, taken the other night, and the last one is of Amber who was on my chest. That's literally what I see when she does that.

Thank you to all who sent me birthday wishes so far, that was very kind of you. 

Since it is my day, I will leave you with something I love.... My favorite cover of all time.

Everyone, please enjoy "The Sound of Silence" from the album "Immortalized" by one of my favorite all time bands, DISTURBED.

Namaste everyone. 

"God Invented Days Like This for Drinkin'"....

HAPPY 149th BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!

Credit: FirstCovers.com

July 1, 1867: Under Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victoria, taken from the British North American Act...

"We do ordain, declare, and command that on and after the First day of July, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-seven, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, shall form and be One Dominion, under the name of Canada."

Henceforth, my gorgeous nation was born, and my amazing province of NOVA SCOTIA was one of the original four provinces.

Yes, I love my nation, and I'm proud to be Canadian!

Since summer is now official going, a quick update about Son...

He has graduated into Junior High school (Grade 6 on his campus) with ALL As and Bs, including an A in his most hated subject, French.

I kid y'all not. An A in FRENCH of all subjects.

Baffling, eh? LOL 

I think my best pal fainted when she read that in Facebook the other day!

He had a fantastic last day of elementary school. He played with his friends, raised hell with his classmates and was awarded "Classroom Greeter" award for his sunshine every morning.

It was made even more bittersweet knowing he wasn't the only one moving on.

His old resource teacher, Mr. R, is leaving the school.. Moving upwards in the system. Mr. R has been promoted to Principal of my old elementary school. 

The students at PRCE are VERY lucky. Mr. R is a fantastic teacher, and a really nice guy all around. They are going to thrive with him as Principal.

As sad as seeing him leave the campus was, maybe it's best if he's not there. Son won't look for him as much, and will probably have an easier time adjusting to the new building with NEW teachers, and of course, a new Resource Teacher. 

We're gearing up for the start of school even though Summer Vacation has barely started... 11 weeks can go by so damn fast. Thank heavens we already have a good chunk of his school supply list purchased already - leftovers from Grade 5. LOL

Plans include visiting my mother in law, hopefully seeing my mother a few times, hanging out with Hubby's brothers and Tim (at live music shows and other places), trips to our favorite beach, day trips to our favorite spots in the western half of the province, and other fun things.

I can't remember if I posted this on the blog or not for my readers, but here's something to make you laugh... Hubby was changing the litterbox last week and she kept making dives for the door. Amber wasn't impressed when I held her on her back with her paws up in the air and her tummy exposed for KISSES!!! She looked so disgusted I *had* to grab my phone and snap a photo of it! 

Who's a PO'ed puddy tat?? LOL Hope it made you smile!

I leave y'all with the FIRST OFFICIAL VIDEO from local classic metal band WHOM GODS DESTROY, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Invented Days Like This For Drinkin'"... A perfect anthem for those hot, long summer weekends. Enjoy!!!!!

Have a fun and safe LONG WEEKEND EVERYONE! Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians, and Happy 4th of July to my American friends and family! (I am part American for the record, my great grandmother was born in BOSTON of all the places!)...

The Final Countdown...

It's the final countdown...

Countdown to summer - two days away - countdown to Father's Day - Tomorrow, and lastly, the countdown to Son's last day in Grade Five....

Which also means his last day in Elementary school.

Thursday. Thursday, June 23rd is the last day Son will be an elementary school student, he will be graduating from the little school into Junior High and the "Big School" on June 29th. 

The countdown to saying goodbye to his elementary school autism team has begun too.

Some members like Cathy from the Autism Centre will be traveling with us to the next level, so will Barb from Assistive Technology, but we will leave his current Resource Teacher, the Vice Principal, and lastly his Teacher's Aide behind as he takes a giant leap from one level to the next. 

I had my first Transition Meeting with the Grade Six team on June 7th... They all seem like great people and some of them can not wait to get Son in their class! The Junior High Resource Teacher is very excited to be teaching Son this coming fall, and can't wait for summer to get over. She's already making plans for his time with her, and even has ideas on ways to help him if he's in the middle of a "stuck" episode (where he can't move on to the next activity), and get him even more interested in scholar pursuits. She's high energy, which is what Son needs. 

I hadn't met the Grade Six teachers yet but I like them. One even asked me if we can get some instrumental heavy metal songs for his reading time, because she puts "yoga music" to help the kids concentrate on their reading... Which would set Son off. He HATES anything other than heavy metal and rock - yes, that is MY influence, OOPS! (NOT!) -  so we're now looking at instrumental pieces by Disturbed and other bands he likes so he can listen to it on his school tablet with the ear phones and not have to worry about him taking a meltdown.

What really made me happy was meeting one of the TA's for Grade Six. She's a former school mate of mine! She was a year ahead of me in school, but her brother and I were in the same grade from Primary upwards... And BOTH of her parents taught me. Her mom was my grade 4 teacher, and her dad was my grade 5 teacher. I loved both of them, and they are two of my favorite all time teachers to this day. I wish either or both of them were still teaching now, so there was a chance Son would be lucky enough to be in one of their classes........... It was a relief knowing I already know one of the TAs somewhat (it's been years since I saw her, but we did recognize each other!).... That reassures me Son is in AWESOME hands, even though Mrs. T won't be with him next year - she helps out with Elementary students only (poo! :( )... However, he's allowed visiting her once in a while at the Little School, same goes for all of his old teachers over there. 

Orientation night for ALL parents and students entering the junior high - grade six for our school, grade 7 for the other feeder schools - was on June 13th. We didn't go on the tour because Son already knows where most things are over at the big school - he takes Music, sometimes Gym class, and eats lunch in the Cafeteria there - and we will be getting a personalized tour the day before school opens in September. It was the Resource Teacher's idea, and I'm glad she asked about it, because if she hadn't, I was going to. LOL 

As for Son, he's pretty excited about moving forward... Although I don't think it's really sunk in to his brain what's really going on this coming fall just yet. I don't think it will until he's actually *there* in the classroom on the first day of school, in a new building with new teachers, a new TA, and new faces from the Grade 7 wing staring back at him. I think it'll sink in then and we'll have a few really rough spots.

I hope not. I want him to enjoy his school years. I hated mine, because I was the fat girl and bullied from Primary to my graduating year.

I'm just grateful he's only moving from one building to another on the same campus. When I started junior high - ironically at the same school complex, but another building, the current building was built in 1997, I graduated into high school in the late 80s - I had been at one of the feeder schools, and my class was only 30 students, compared to the 50 plus that had come from the elementary end of the complex. 

He already knows the majority of students that will be in Junior High this coming fall, thank heavens.... Our neighbor's daughter will be there, she's in Grade 8 this coming year, she and her friends were always good with Son, probably because they knew he needed help with some things, and they are great kids. I thank my lucky star that she's still there, and will be for Son's first two years of Junior high.

Yeah, busy times. I hope things go smoothly. Wish us luck! :) 

So........ I've been doing more work on an older manuscript that was started a couple of years ago, but never finished. "Away to Me" kind of took over the brain halfway through writing this one manuscript, so it was set aside. 

Although it's been on my mind a LOT, I really didn't think I'd ever finish it. Well, I've looked at it, did a lot of revisions, and I'm considering MORE once school starts up again in the fall. I may rewrite it - or the premise of it at least - or I may leave it as is but just edit and do a LOT of revisions and polishing to get it "just right". 

Peapod and I have been discussing things in regard to it, and although I'm not "overcome" by this one again, just looking at it is good enough for me. It goes to show I'm not dead in the water with the writing, and it shows that maybe "Away to Me" and "Hearts Remembering" will not be the only stories I write. I hope I can write again anyway..... If not, I may wind up shooting someone..... 

It's also countdown to "TWO YEARS SMOKE FREE"... Today marks ONE YEAR, ELEVEN MONTHS SMOKE FREE! :) My reward is going to see LIVE MUSIC thanks to Troubled Waters, they are holding an event in town again on the 24th. It's a release party for Flesh Cauldron's album "Lightening Leather", and it features them, WHOM GODS DESTROY and other local metal bands. 

Come on, y'all KNOW I can't resist live metal music, especially if Whom Gods Destroy is playing! LOL 

Can't wait!

Have a great weekend everyone! I leave you with photos of Amber, lazying in the sunlight on top of my monitor. 

*waves* 

The Grass Has 'Riz....

Another month has passed, and things are changing again...

It's hard to believe we are almost through yet another school year, and this time, we will be saying good bye to a very special group of people. 

Son will be graduating from elementary school this year, and going to junior high/middle school in the fall. Students at the school's complex graduate after grade five, while other feeder schools tend to go until grade six. 

Sad to say we will be saying good bye to Son's elementary school team, and one member has been on it since the beginning in 2010, his resources teacher, Mr. R. Mr. R has not been there just for Son, but for Hubby and I as well. He's been a great source of support, knowledge, and wisdom. He's been more than a teacher to Son, he's been his friend.

It's not like Son will be leaving the complex completely though. He's just moving on to the junior high building, and has already asked if he can visit his former teachers and his pals in the elementary end of the school. I think it would be good for him to do that, it would make the transition into a different building a little easier for him, even though he's already taking classes like Music over there, and eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The month of June will comprise of an orientation for parents of students entering Grades 6 and 7 - which I hope includes a tour of the Grade 6 wing in the school; as well as a Transition Meeting for me where I meet all of Son's Grade 6 teachers, the Principal, and any new members of his Mainstreaming Education Team; and his Grade 6 orientation. 

Yeah, it's going to be a wacky month. 

This weekend is Son's 12th birthday, and he's asking for Star Wars stuff. I'm so proud. *smug grin* 

With summer on the way, that means warmer weather and BUGS. We just had the peak of black fly season last weekend, the Victoria Day weekend, and as they start to go away (thank heavens), I'm seeing more mosquitoes around. Yuck all around.

But that means the flowers are blooming, and a lot of trees are in full blossom. I've been snapping photos of various trees and shrubs as spring has progressed.

I do have a new camera, well new to me at least. It was given to me by my longtime pal and corgi addict, D. It's a gorgeous camera and takes great photos, see for yourself....

The last two are of apple blossoms on a tree near Son's morning bus stop. Aren't they pretty?

I've also been capturing Miss Amber on "film", just because....

She's laying on her TARDIS blanket in the first photo, on my son's lap in the last two. Yes, her fur is really that glossy!

My exercise regime continues, even with me suffering from one hell of a chest cold (thanks to Son for giving it to me, grumble!). My pal D and I decided the bugs were too bad last week to go for our four mile trek outdoors again, so we decided to check out an indoor track at a local sports complex. 

It was awesome. I did a full five laps - which is a kilometer, one lap is about 209 meters - and she did a full seven laps, a whole mile, or 1.6 km approximately. No bugs, climate controlled, and best of all, we didn't have to cross the Fisherman's Memorial Highway (also known as Provincial Highway #103) to get to the road with the beaver dam. 

It was nice to be able to take a walk without worrying if I was going to be inhaling flies...

I've noticed a few things, like how I'm able to go for much longer without needing to rest or even getting winded... And the other day, the bus came very early. I wasn't even outside yet! I ran out of the house and to the bus stop in record time, about 300 yards from our driveway, all without breaking a sweat or getting winded. My only problem was that I'm big busted, and well, things were bouncing a lot. I think I'm going to have to invest in a proper sports bra if I ever take up jogging or running... It was NOT pretty!

I'm going to be going back to that track again, either by myself, with D and her mom, or with Son. He's been to the complex several times with the school and he loves the walk and run track. 

I've been doing a few exercises writing wise too, nothing that actually goes into a story. This is to get my mind into the mindset of writing again, as well as see how far my creativity can go. So far, it's not easy but hey, I've been sick and I'm now just starting to feel well enough to try again. 

When I'm not doing exercises for writing, I'm reading. A LOT! I've read two more books on the Kindle App for the tablets, and I'm going to get MORE when we get somewhere with Wifi, hopefully this weekend.

I also have two *new* Star Wars books, one of the "Legends" and one of the new canon books, it was released last year just before "The Force Awakens" hit theaters. I haven't finished the Legends one yet, but the other one was an immediate hook, and I finished it the day it came in the mail from Amazon. Yeah. Leave it to me to read something that quickly!

I think I'm going to get a few of the SW Legends books on Kindle, the ones I haven't read yet... Or I may just get the actual books. I haven't decided yet. 

I leave you with the newest music video from Whom Gods Destroy, the hard rock version of their country song, "God Made Days Like This for Drinkin'". Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone!