A bus, a road trip and some turkey

A bus, a road trip and some turkey, the yummy, very tasty and completely tryptophan free Carr family blog for week 22 is online.

The Bus

The other day I chanced to meet
An angry man upon the street —
A man of wrath, a man of war,
A man who truculently bore
Over his shoulder, like a lance,
A banner labeled “Tolerance.”

I don’t remember much from grade 8 (maybe even grade 9?), but I do remember those lines from a poem and I thought of it the other day. Now, I did not “chance to meet” an angry man, but I did sit behind a girl on the bus that was crying. Not sure what it was that was that was making her so upset but it involved a text exchange. I felt so sorry for her and wanted to ask her if she was ok or if there was anything I could do to help but thought I would just sound like a creepy old guy, so I did nothing but think. Think about what I would have said if I was going to say something and this is what I came up with. “If you are crying because of a guy, I can tell you that he is an idiot. Boys at that age are not the brightest and I am sure whatever he said or did was because he is not able to think clearly. I know, because I did not start thinking clearly until I was almost 30.”

I guess if it was something else that was going on in her life to make her so upset, besides a boy, the advice would not apply, but I bet it was a boy.

Thanksgiving
Besides the great food, the day off, and time spent with family, there is another thing that I like to do every year around this time. Thanksgiving for me is a chance to stop and take stock in my life and remind myself how lucky I am and this year, I think I am the luckiest I have been in years. No, I have not cashed in on a secret loto jackpot without telling everyone, or been able to finally jog all the way around the block without stopping, but this year, I can finally say that we are homeowners. We have always had a roof over our heads and good jobs, and great love to share with great friends and family, but for us, finally being homeowners is a big thing and we are so very happy. We are not finished all that we want to do with the house, and it sure is getting hard to find the time we need to “get’er done” with the normal settling in to our schedules but we will when we do and for that I am very thankful.

I would also be a little remiss if I did not give thanks to my wonderful girls and my beautiful wife for making me so thankful this year because I have got to be one of the luckiest guys in the world.

A Road Trip
The Carr’s are on the move for Thanksgiving. We are off to Deb and Guy’s cottage for Sunday afternoon for the annual turkey dinner potluck (our first!). I will have a full review next week on the blog, but I can imagine the following will happen. The girls will be good in the car on the way there. We will have fun seeing family and friends. We will likely eat a little too much, and at some point have a laugh or two. Ohh and the girls (all of them) will sleep the whole way home. I will let you know how close I am, next week!

Neighbours
Do you have good neighbours? We lived at our last home for about 7 years, and only got close with one family and after 3 years, they moved and where never replaced. A couple of friendly waves on a walk with the dog, but we never learned their names or had more then a passing “hello” with anyone on our old street. In our new house and on our new street, in a little more then 2 months we already know the names of so many of our new neighbours, their kids names, and in some cases what they do for a living.

We are a little worried however. There seems to be a little bit of a shortage of available houses in the real-estate market in our neighbourhood and it looks like some on our street are trying to help out. In the last month, three houses have gone up for sale on our street and one has already sold. We are very happy that the sale actually means that our property value has already gone up by more then 40 thousand dollars, but very said that in November we will have to say goodbye to two of the nicest people we have ever met. The ones we call the street gatekeepers are moving and it will be great to have someplace to stay in Gaspe, PQ if we want to take a trip, but the street will just not be the same without them.

In closing
I am often quite amazed at my parenting ability and the incredible command I have over the girls. I need only simply call their names and with military precision they come running, prepared to action my request. Well OK I guess if you have seen me in action, you know the truth, that it sometimes will take a couple of calls, of varying loudness to get action in the Carr household, but I am so happy that it is only that way at home. When the girls go to their friend’s house or are when we are visiting with friends and family, people often comment on how good the girls are. I guess I can handle the trade off as long as they do what is asked, on the first ask with someone, I am happy. It would be amazing if I, like in my dreams had the incredible command at home that I have in my classroom with my students. Who am I kidding, it is way worse at school!

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment and have a great week
Jim