Jim Carr

Open house, the house, a party and some nuts, the week 21-Carr family blog is now officially online and now fortified with 10% of your daily dose of B12.

Busy week
This week we got to officially meet the girl’s new teachers at the school open house on Tuesday. The teachers are great and the girls love them, but what was so very nice were the comments each of them had about the girls after only 3 weeks of class. Both Nathalie and I where struck how they both seem to be very attentive students and for the most part, leave the “giving a hard time” to us at home, specifically in the morning. We also sold popcorn for the parent council and chatted with some of the other parents and aside from making it a little bit of a busy night, we had a blast.

Then came Wednesday, and the first parent council meeting, and because Nathalie could not make it (more on that in a bit), I filled in for her on the recording secretary duties. I appreciated her setting up the minutes in advance so I would just have to fill in the blanks and I thank the council for talking slowly so I would not miss anything important.

PINK
Thanks to her BFF – Wonder woman, Nathalie scored an extra ticket to the PINK concert at the ACC on Wednesday and her review was filled with words like “Amazing” and “Awesome” and “Incredible”. I do know this, when PINK comes back to town, I think I will have get tickets and check it out in person.

The House
I have not given a house update in a bit, so the progress this week goes something like this… We have a doorbell now! OK, I have done a couple more little things, but I am sure glad that when people come to the door, we have a ding, dong to announce their arrival. This weekend, it is finishing the kitchen, do a couple more of the electrical things on the list and if I have time, I would like to make the valance bigger but we will see.

Nuts
Two squirrels, after a busy day of collecting pass each other on the boulevard of a busy street. The smaller, younger one trying to make a difference in the world starts the brief conversation by boasting, “My nuts are bigger then yours are”. The older, wiser squirrel recognizes the little guys bravado, perhaps from his own youth and replies “yes, it sure looks like it, but did you hear that they now say that the health risks of both carrying around and eating the more mature nut is life shortening. The little guy looks up at the smart one and says “HUH?” Then he turns around not waiting for a reply and makes a b line for the tree on the other side of the street, stopping only long enough to see the tires of the oncoming car, far too close to his nose to avoid.

The moral of the story is A) Take a moment to listen to the advice of those who have been here longer then you have been and B) You should never brag about the size of your nuts. (Sorry, spent too much time thinking again, while walking the dog, and watching the animal activity in the neighborhood!)

In closing
Nathalie is one funny girl, and if you are lucky enough to be a Facebook friend, you would see her status updates, that are not only a great way to keep in the loop, but a good way to have a quick laugh and tonight I laughed. I am not sure how I feel about Julia attending her first “boy’s birthday party” tomorrow at Chuck E. Cheese. So when she asked the all important question “Nathalie is wondering what she should buy as a gift for a 7 year old boy-thinking Hannah Montana, LaSenza Girl or Webkins are just not going to cut it!” So far the responses seem to be leaning towards Lego and I guess that makes sense. In the morning it’s off to Wal-mart for some Lego and while I am there, I think I will drop by sporting goods department and look at guns, maybe just an air one. After all I don’t want to hurt the little guy, just make sure he understands that I am a protective father.

Have a great week and thanks for reading.
Jim

I missed last week and seem to still be a little busy trying to get on top of all things house and work, but felt a little like something was missing in my life, so I do want to write a quick Carr family update and here it is, the official week 21 blog.

A letter
Nathalie is a big fan of getting mail. Not the hundreds of electronic mail with promises of life altering enhancements we all get everyday, but the kind that arrive once a day in a little black box hanging outside our door. I never get too excited about the daily delivery, thinking it is mostly bills anyway, but today I enjoyed the little letter hand delivered by our mail carrier (politically correct or what?). It was not a personalized note from a long lost, caught in the analog world relative with long hand stories about their far away life, or even a sweepstakes “guaranteed winner” letter from Ed, but one from ADT security that made me smile and love it and I didn’t even have to open it. You see for all the letters received in the past just like it, this is the first “Current Homeowner” letter that is actually for ME and I have to say that feels pretty good. Even if the other thing in the black box is the negative balance bank statement!

The Bench
Is there anything sadder then the once vibrant flowers of the summer wilting and shedding their colours in the fall? That is where we are now. The fall. On the second official full day I found myself sitting by a window looking over a garden that I am sure could have been a prizewinner only a few short weeks ago. It was an unseasonably warm day but still a little cloudy and overcast so my thoughts drifted to a warm sunny place with a beautiful garden, a path and a little stone bench. I guess what I have to pull out of this, besides the nice image, is the silver lining. If not for the season change and the following winter months of rest, the spring re-birth and subsequent months of summer could never be as nice as they are going to be. We have to go through it to get there and I guess that is another one of those things.

Colby
This week, I have talked to my little sister a couple of times, and aside from giving me a hard time about not posting a new blog last week, we talked about the kids and how they are making it through their new classes at school. Her two boys are doing well, as are my two girls, but then it was a story that she told me about her littlest man that made me smile. Colby, the youngest of all the cousins in our immediate family was watching over her shoulder while she was looking at my Facebook profile, and seeing my picture on the computer told her “That is uncle Jim”. “Yes ,Colby, that is uncle Jim”, Janey confirmed and then Colby asked the all pressing question “Do you think he remembers me?” You see, my sister and her family moved more then 2500 kilometers east of here last December to a little town 3 hours north / west of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

To that I say… Colby, I remember the first day I met you at the hospital the day you where born. I remember the first sleepover you had at our house when I truly learned the meaning of the expression “bouncing off the walls”. I remember your birthday parties and all the family events, and I remember one Christmas Eve party and a funny red hat when you made me laugh. When you are in someone’s heart, you are also in their mind, and you can never be forgotten. No distance will ever change that; it’s just the way it is.

In closing
On Sunday night, the girls playing with two of the little girls on our street, decided to use up the entire roll of art paper they found among there still un packed stuff in the basement. With markers in hand, they preceded to artfully create a mural as long as our driveway, declaring their love of our street. The house is about 90% of where we wanted it to be, by September 1. So in the interest of motivation, and inspired by the mural, I decided to poll the household on their favourte part so far of life on the mews. Here I present to the findings of my detailed, KPMG sanctioned censes:

Jordyn – “My room”
Julia – “My room”
Nathalie – “That it is a new beginning”
Jim – “The lighting, decorating, the kitchen and all the floor”

So there is something for everyone I guess.

Have a great week and all the best!
Jim

Look who’s back!
I am back to my weekly recap of the comings and goings of the Carr clan and man do I have a lot to say. Actually, I have lots to say, but little time to say it, so this one post will likely not equal the 4 weeks of missing content and that’s a good thing I would think. Who wants to go that far back anyway?

I will give you an idea of what has taken me away from my laptop for the missing 42 days in my Confessions blog and it starts with an H and ends with a ohh my god my back is sore. We got the keys to our house on the 30th of July and started what has turned from a 15-day mad renovation job to a whole lot of extra work with a handful of things still to be complete. The house is certainly livable and for the most part we are thrilled. TIRED and sore but thrilled!

The Nail
As the sun is setting on a warm July day, the workers are getting ready to call it a day. Construction on the first planed community in Ontario is going well, but the truth is with only 3 months into the project, the work will still be here tomorrow, and the day after that and for more then 4 years to come. 1,200 hectares of barren farmland converted to a large mix of residential, schools, industrial and shopping complete with parks, two man made lakes and a path way to connect it all.

Work is going well in phase 1 including work on a little street with 22 houses on it. Tomorrow they put the floor on two or three of these brand new homes, but for now they can call it a day. As a distant radio, tuned to CHUM, plays Bad, Bad Leroy Brown the workers do a quick sweep up. The guy with the longest hair reaches down and rescues a nail from the garbage and as he puts it in his pocket, says, “That’s the first one I will hit tomorrow”.

Things you think about when you are the removing 35 year old nails from the floor of your new home to run new wire to all your outlets and pot lights. Sometimes during the task of this massive renovation, my mind drifted about other inanimate objects sharing their life story with me… if only the walls could talk.

First day of class
I love the first day of class. I hate that it means that the summer is over, but I love the energy and excitement that a new group of students brings to the school and the smiles on the faces of returning students seeing their class mates, sometimes for the first time in months. First day of school is certainly exciting for the students but yes, for the teachers and staff too.

As for the girls, they love their new teachers, and aside from missing a couple of their best buddies in different sections of their grade, they are very happy to be back.

In closing
My favourite part of Julia’s new room is the care she has taken in arranging all of her most cherished items on her little bedside table. In fact, Jordyn has the same table in her new room with a carefully arranged array of items as well, but it is the little card on Julia’s table that makes me smile. You see in the summer, one of her best little friends left for new home and school in Milton and after her little summer “I miss my friends party” she gave Julia a hand made card that says “Don’t forget me” on it, and Julia has put it in such a place of hounour I don’t think she will ever forget. I think that is good advice!

Don’t forget to read my blog if you get a chance, and sorry I was away for a bunch of weeks.

Have a great week and all the best.
Jim