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6 months, School, Some Shopping and Red and the Cowboy

6 months, School, Some Shopping and Red and the Cowboy.  Finally some stories and thoughts from in and around the Carrs for another Confession.

6 Months
May 17, 2013 was the last time I opened the file I use to edit and scribble the rough work of the confession pages.  It is certainly not because I have not felt the need to write. I have had spits and spurts of ideas and thoughts of things to share, but just never started.  At a gathering the other week, the topic of my blog came up, and around the room, there were a couple of people that have read the posts before, and I was genuinely touched by their positive feedback.  Not the least of which was Nathalie saying, “I guess nothing at all has happened in our lives since last May!”  And just last week, at work a colleague referred to me as a good writer.

I am not sure that I would call myself a good writer, but it sure felt good hearing others go on and on about me.  A guy could get used to it!  I think the idea of scribing an account of the comings and goings of my family, on a weekly basis, still caries some water, so I will maybe give it a shot again, and start to post a recap on Fridays.  No promises, but here it is for this, the second last week in 2013.

School
A lot has happened, with respect to school since May, and I will not attempt to recap it all.  But, I will say that both Jordyn and Julia are doing great in their respective grades and schools.  Julia is in grade 6, and working hard on each subject, and getting great and positive feedback from all the staff.

Jordyn is enjoying her first year at high school, and exceeding any expectations we had with respect to marks.  I guess the conversations of the first few days, have held true.  During the weekend, after the first week of classes, she said to me, “Daddy High School has changed me, I can’t wait for school on Monday” Not believing my ears, I asked, “What are you doing Monday that you are looking forward to?”    She said, “Making pancakes!”

Red and the Cowboyedit2_cowboy

Ever see a couple on a dance floor, so obviously and intensely in love, that no matter the number of people around them, or the lights or sounds of the room, their eyes are looking directly into each other’s souls?   I have had the pleasure.  That joy.  The shear enjoyment, that comes from watching this love live.  Red and the Cowboy loved this way.  In total sync, with every step and breath and with such an abundance of love, it often spilled over to those lucky enough to be around them.

It was my friend, the Cowboy that first told me the story of the lonesome cowboy and described the picture you see here.  Today in thinking about that conversation I can’t help but feel very emotional about it, as this cowboy has now lost his dance partner, the love of his life and his dear Red.

A friend of mine was just talking to me last night about being a little down, as it was the first anniversary of loosing a close friend.  I told her that I am a big believer in the, “Everything for a reason” philosophy, and although you don’t know now, and may not for a while, the “reason”, one day it will become clear.  I have no idea what the lesson it will be the Red has taught us, but for now I can only thank her for the dance.

 

 

Shopping
It is no secret that Nathalie is our little family shopping ninja.  Often leaving the store, with more than one should, having paid as little as she has.  I am truly the benefactor of this, may times.  The girls also benefit, not only because they get the clothing or the results of the shopping, but also, because they are learning how to shop as well.  A few weeks ago, Julia asked me to drive her to the store, so she could pick up a couple of Christmas gifts with her own money. (That’s another awesome success story as well, more on that later.)

Julia’s spin on the benefit is one that Nathalie should be proud of.  Julia bounces back in the car, happy to share that the stuff she wanted was on sale.  “Daddy, the shirts where 2 for $15.  I only needed one for Jordyn, but I got two for the same money.”  I told her that I was proud of her shopping ability!  She said, “only I am not sure Jordyn is going to like one of the tops I selected, but I love it… So I may just keep it!”  Ahh, now it makes even more sense!

In Closing
One night I was out DJ’ing so Nathalie made it a movie night with the girls.  It sounded so fun, that the two girls next door, also came over and Nathalie live tweeted the comments and conversations that 4 girls under 16 had watching her favourite movie Steel Magnolias.  And some of it was funny.  In fact she sent me an email, with the title “blog” recapping a Julia observation, she was suggesting for a future blog.

Remember the scene, where they are decorated the car with condoms? Julia says, “Condoms look funny blown up…the look like they have wieners on the tip of them!”  Got to love her!

Off to buy a lock for my drawer,

Thanks for reading, and have a great and safe week!
Jim

Mind Age, 1999 and Silent Seats

Mind Age, 1999 and Silent Seats, stories from in and around the Carr’s for this week in time, with No MSG added.

1999
When I use to blog on a regular bases, I recapped and reviewed the comings and goings of our little family, and in doing so, I always marked significant events with some kind of “document the history” story.  It occurred to me last night, after talking with a young house guest – Amy, that in all 180 pages, and more than 87,000 words in the confessions to this point, I have yet to recap the day we first met the cutest baby we have ever seen. So I take you back to this week, 14 years ago, the day Jordyn was born.

bentjorscrIt was 1999 – the turn of the millennium.  The year, us children of the 80’s felt was so far away, thanks to Prince and the Revolution.  I was 3 years married, and a full-time job was so close I could feel it.  We were living in a small 2-bedroom apartment in Toronto, with a great set of neighbours and a crazy little dog named Bentley.  But life was about to change.  It was about to get a little more challenging because we where bringing into this world, another human being who, at least for the first little while, would look to us for everything.  But the truth is that living for someone instead of just with someone, is all that more rewarding.

We had a busy weekend.  Nathalie attended a work function on a cruise ship on the lake, and apparently danced up a storm. Would have been quite a scene, at 9 months pregnant, I am sure.  Sunday was a trip to visit friends in Mississauga and hang by their pool for the day.  When we arrived home that afternoon, Nathalie was tired and said she wanted to lay down for a bit, so I took the time to go downstairs and hang out in the garage in our building; a popular thing to do at our old place.  Then, the call came from apartment 313.  “Jim, I think my water just broke!”  I don’t ever remember in all my 7 or 8 years living in the building on Tinder, running up the stairs to the apartment, but I did that day.

We had the bag packed, and surprisingly, calmly made our way to the car and the short trip to North York General.  Only to find out, that although Nathalie was having labour pains and some contractions, she was not dilated enough to make the call for admitting.  We decided to wait a bit, and walk around the hospital halls, and after an hour or so, the nurse made the call that we might as well be admitted.  That was around 7 or 8 PM.  We realized that we remembered the music and the clothing, and the cameras, and even the “focal point” (a little bear) we only forgot the hospital issued log book that we where suppose to use to track the contractions.  So, we called our own Kramer type neighbor Jefferson, who thankfully made the trip with the book.

It seemed like the night progressed well, and the nice music playing, the dim lighting and the trips to the hot tub, seemed to make the pain less, at least from my comfortable, no labour pain chair. The nurses where great and we had a couple visits from Dr. Brown through the night, and during his morning one, he surmised that it was a very big baby, and he figured he would have to plan for a C-section at noon.

Then everything changed, and it seemed like a whirlwind kicked up in our little room, starting with water breaking and ruining the Dr.’s shoes, and the staff starting piling in, and grabbing trays of tools and equipment.  It was like watching a pit stop at a race.  Everyone had a job, and knew it, and no instructions or details needed to be shared.  I remember this young intern introduced himself, and asked if it were ok if he stayed for the birth, citing it would be good experience for him, in his training.  I can still see his face and the “deer in the headlights” look when he saw Jordyn’s head crowning.  His face said what I was feeling.

Some other things I remember from the next few minutes:  Getting yelled at 3 times by Nathalie for, first squeezing her IV arm too tight, loosing my count when helping her to breath, and wanting to her insisting on not bringing a child into this world to Shania Twain’s “Woman in Me”.  I changed the CD, and it was Joshua Kadison playing in the background when I cut Jordyn’s umbilical cord.  But the thing I remember above all was making the first proud Dad call to my Mom, and not being able to say anything more to her than, “It’s a girl” and completely breaking into tears.

Silent Seats
I wrote this next story last December, but never finished it.  A couple of weeks ago, I thought of it again, because it was yet again, another last week of the semester. One of my favourite times of year as a teacher is exam week.  Now before you call me some kind of sick bastard for wanting the stress and anxiety on behalf of my students that comes with proving your worth in the form of practical tests, the truth is for the last 5 or 10 years, I have become smart at work.  Just about all of my marking and assigning of work to this point in the semester has already been collected and marked. So in fairness, this week for me is a bit of a break and just time to tidy up.

It is fun sitting in my classroom, just looking around and listening to the echoes of laughs from students past, coming from the empty chairs in room S2026.  The classroom is going to be renovated at the end of the summer, so things will start to change in the memory bank, but I will be listening even harder for the sounds from the past.

In closing
In my absence of blogging over the last year or so, I have been still sending myself blog ideas, in the form of one line email’s, and although I can’t remember much of what it was that I wanted to say about any of the idea’s in my inbox right now, the one that I felt was somewhat relevant, given the birthday theme, was one called “Mind Age”.  Now from what I remember, it was based on a text conversation I was having with a friend, about your age and how it differs from your mind age.  Now it’s not the age you think you are in your mind I refer to, but rather the age you see yourself as.  When you dream, or catch your reflection in a mirror or remember most fondly, a time from your past, at what age are you?

Nathalie talks about it all the time, and her mind age is 22.   Her Mom’s is 30.  Mine is 25, and I think that may be older than most guy’s, but I just remember being 25, and just graduating from college, and finally figuring out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  At 25 I was, for the first time in my life, doing what I felt I should be doing, and I was invincible.  25 seems so long ago, but the truth is, that in the blink of an eye, I can be right back there and remember, thanks to my mind age.  So, what is yours?

Off to channel my inner 25 year old!

Thanks for reading and have a great and safe week.
Jim

Marks, Volunteering, Old Friends and a Tickled Lip

Marks, Volunteering, Old Friends and a Tickled Lip, stories from in and around the Carr house for another few weeks.

Marks
In Ontario these days, they don’t send report cards this time of year, opting instead for a “progress report” and we are so happy to report that our girls are progressing very well! In fact, Jordyn has been excelling in things that she had struggled with, what seems like only months ago. She is now bringing home projects and test in the A to A+ range. And what we love more than the great marks is the awareness of the accomplishment in both of their minds and the pride they show when talking about their accomplishments. I think Nathalie and I have always tried to encourage both girls to work as hard as they can, and always tried to remind them that if they put in the effort they will always get something out of it, and we just couldn’t be more proud that they are now realizing it.

Volunteering
This week during a parent teacher meeting, I had a Daddy pride moment, when the teachers talked about how much Jordyn’s social skills have advanced this past year. Not that she was a wallflower or anything, but this year, while doing well with her academics, she is also doing well with the other part of school – the social side. She is on student council, singing in the choir, helping out in the library and an active volunteer for extra help around both the classroom and the school. Both Nathalie and I have spent a lot of time volunteering at school, and we always try to lead by example, but it is just now we see the effect it has had on the girls.

Old Friend
Sometimes I look at the girls hanging and playing with their school friends, and I wonder what it would be like to run into the people that completed my circle when I was in grade 8. Thanks to Facebook, we have WAY more access to the people from our past, but like the saying goes, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!” Sometimes, it only takes a couple of minutes with an old old friend; to remind yourself your paths diverged for a reason. I have only had a couple of friends from any of my schooling over the years, that I have stayed in touch with for any great length, and one of those from College, I had lunch with this week.

It has been a couple of years since I have seen him, and although we have talked on the phone a couple of times, over that time, we sure had a lot of catching up to do. Do you have those old friends that you may see every couple of years, but when you do, it’s like you where never apart? From the first couple of minutes, we where laughing and joking like it was 1990, and the biggest worry we had was figuring out reasons to skip an English class. It was great to catch up and I left with a reminder that no matter the length of time apart from someone, a good friend is a good friend. Do yourself a favour, and look up an old one today!

Lip Tickle

“How you doin’?”
It is the first week of November, and popular in these parts, it is the start of Movember – the practice of men growing facial hair, specifically a mustache, in support of awareness of men’s cancer. Last year I did it and raised 75 bucks, and grew what I like to call a crazy 70’s porn stash. It was not the popular in the Carr house, and I almost thought about doing it again this year, but woke up on the 1st and completely forgot and shaved. I got to work, taught a class and then checked out what’s going on in Facebook world, only to find out that Nathalie had had a little photoshop fun, and started her own anti facial hair campaign. I just had to post the picture here, and since the support for her campaign was high, I opted NOT to grow it again this year. But, please do find a way to support Men’s Cancers!

In closing
Had a laugh this week, during a quick shopping trip to No Frills. Ever run into the strange guy that just feels the need to have a conversation with you? In my 90 second meeting with a crazy haired guy with what looked like a turtleneck and you guessed it a tweed jacket complete with the elbow patches, I found out he was Comedian and a Novelist. He wrote “the” book about the 911 conspiracy; and that is how he said it, “the book” as if I should obviously know about it. And if that wasn’t enough, he shared a joke he wrote with me, and said I could use it if I wanted to. So, when you are given this kind genius comedic license, one must use it. “Did you hear about the new Mike Tyson restaurant in downtown Toronto? It’s called: Friends, Romans and Countrymen, lend me your Ear!”

Off to look online for what must be a riveting book by my shopping buddy!

Thanks for reading and have a great and safe week!
Jim