I Don't Know!

I've been learning lately how very little I actually know. It seems to me that my kids are helping me learn this at an almost-daily pace. Here they are, looking at me to answer their (many, unceasing) questions, and half the time I don't even know the answer! It was so much easier when I kind of just "knew", but when it comes time to explain these things in simple terms, I am so often at a loss. For example, I really don't know why the frogs in the pond died. That didn't stop us from having an impromptu funeral service for them, complete with gravestones and singing, but I don't know why they died, and the kids want to know. (I actually want to know too). Was it from natural causes, or perhaps the winter was too cold? Aren't they designed to survive the winter? Or did the heat lamp we used to create a hole in the ice for our fish create some sort of unnatural event for the frogs which caused them to....well....croak? Maybe we'll never know.

I also don't know what caused the Black Plague way back in medieval times, although my 9 year old has learned that it was caused by fleas, which then spread to people. Truly horrible. But if you'd asked me anything about the Plague previously, I'd have had no idea. Maybe I don't need to know about this for my day-to-day life, but shouldn't I have learned this at some point? Did I miss that day of school?

It's true that I also don't know if the kids can have Alphabits for breakfast (they asked tonight, preemptively, I suppose), what's for supper tomorrow, or when am I going to bake cinnamon buns again? I know I'm supposed to be the grown-up here and have an answer to all these questions, but I'm sorry that I just don't.

Another thing I don't know (but was asked about at suppertime) is why the kids' school spent so much time and effort fundraising for the people of Haiti after the earthquake, and why no one is talking about Japan anymore at school (I assume this is not just happening at our school). Have we been so inundated with disaster coverage that we now block it out? Have we given all we want to give? Do we not care anymore? Do we think someone else is doing it? Have we decided that perhaps Japan has enough of its own resources, whereas Haiti did not? What happens when another disaster strikes? We can't have already forgotten about the floods in Australia and the earthquake in New Zealand, but each new disaster seems to cause us to forget about the previous ones. Is this the answer to the question?

My list-of-things-I-don't-know is growing every day, and I suppose I should be thanking my kids for giving me more opportunities to learn, instead of worrying about how very little I really do know!

Why I Love Football

I'm sitting in my office, drinking coffee, and scowling out the window at a blustery January day. The only problem is, it's not January! It's March!! Someone (ahem, Mother Nature) didn't get the memo about March arriving and March break being just around the corner. Last year we had bathing suit/picnic weather for March break - I don't think we'll be so lucky this year. I don't like to be a complainer, especially when there's nothing I can do about the situation, so please consider the above sentences to be a mere reporting-of-the-facts.

I've been thinking about football lately. Of course, you all know that the Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl last month, a source of much happiness at our house. However, many people (and to clarify, I mean girls) just don't understand what you might call my "football obsession." I prefer to call it a passion, but that's neither here nor there. I decided it was time to explain, hence the above title. I may not sway you to becoming a fellow football fanatic, but perhaps you'll begin to understand...

Confession number one: I'm a drama queen. Maybe not in the true sense of the expression ("a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions", which conjures up a tantrum-throwing schoolgirl who doesn't get her way, although I'm sure there are those who might disagree). What I mean is that I love drama. I need excitement and action and suspense. (And since I've been consulting Webster, drama is defined as "a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces"). Doesn't the definition of drama seem to be written for a sports context?

I thoroughly enjoy watching sports. I'll watch just about anything, at least once in a while, with the exception of curling. I'm sorry, I just can't do it. Every sport has an element of drama (I'm sure even curling does, but I just don't get it) which is why there are entire networks on TV devoted to sports coverage.

But when it comes right down to it, the only sport with enough drama and suspense to hold and keep my attention for an entire game and season, is football. (I do need to differentiate here between Canadian and American football - while I will watch the CFL, it's the NFL that is the recipient of my devotion). Football is truly a game of seconds and inches. An entire game of football can be determined by just a few seconds, or by just a few inches. A team who is losing may need those few precious seconds to either even the score or pull into the lead for the win. Or the game may be decided by inches - a team may come up short of a touchdown by mere inches, or a player may catch a touchdown pass with mere inches to spare, toes hovering on the sideline. I have spent many a Sunday afternoon or Monday evening literally on the edge of my seat, as the outcome of a game is decided by seconds and inches. Heart pounding, palms sweating, eyes glued to the TV, I am riveted, and have been known to either collapse in a heap on the couch or to jump jubilantly to my feet with whoops of joy (just ask my kids).

When you consider (and you really should) that the NFL season only lasts 5 months (including one month of playoffs) and that the teams only play once each week, you will (hopefully) understand the importance of each and every game. The drama and suspense build each week and culminate in true excitement as each game unfolds. There's none of this "8 games back" business that you might see in hockey as a team fights for its playoff life - that's half a season in football, my friends!

Emotions run the gamut - from a high as the quarterback executes a perfect pass - a bullet - to his receiver who runs the ball into the endzone for a touchdown, to a low as the quarterback is sacked, fumbles the ball and the opposing team recovers it for a touchdown. Are you starting to understand just how much drama is contained in one game of football?

I always feel a void when the season ends each year, especially if my team had a less-than-successful season. The wait until preseason begins feels much too long, but it is one thing to look forward to as summer comes to an end. However, this year was different - the end of the season brought with it much joy and celebration as our team (the Green Bay Packers) became Superbowl Champions, a feat they hadn't accomplished in 14 years. As the proud owner of a large, bright orange foam cheesehead, and the displayer of a pair of fuzzy green and yellow dice in my van (a symbol of recognition for the neighbors), I was one pleased and proud Packers fan this year. Winning or losing are not the criteria for how loyal I am to my team, but a Superbowl win just makes everything that much more sweet.

My love of football does not mean I understand every aspect of the game (although I'd like to). I'm often slow to understand why a flag was thrown for a penalty, or how a certain play was executed. But this doesn't take away from the beauty of the game: the bullet passes, the impossible catches by one hand or by the fingertips, the agility of the running back as he dodges yet another defender, the sprint from one end of the field to the other as a kick-off is returned for a touchdown, the games played in any kind of weather and watched by die-hard fans,
or the game-changing play made by a surprisingly agile 350 pound player. My love of football has nothing to do with men in tights - one could just as easily go to the ballet for that - but rather a love of the drama and beauty of the game.

This drama queen can hardly wait for the season to begin!

Fabulous February!

In the midst of what feels like a long, cold winter, when the kids have occasional minor illnesses, it still seems to get dark a little too early, and summer still feels so very far away, it's nice to have a little something to look forward to. January can typically be a depressing month, especially with the Christmas excitement over. However, in our house, January was actually very exciting this year. Why, you ask?? Well, NFL playoffs, of course! Playoffs are always something we eagerly anticipate, but this year was definitely an exception, as our favorite team (the Green Bay Packers, for those of you not in the know) were slowly but surely marching towards the Superbowl. They seemed like unlikely heroes, having left themselves several must-win games at the end of the season. But each Sunday, we watched in nervous anticipation as they beat yet another "better" team, in yet another away game.

For those of you who don't know, I have loved football since highschool, and picked the Packers as my team probably in about grade 11. What can I say, I liked the color green! Fast forward to Sunday, February 6, 2011, and my/our team is actually in the Superbowl for the first time in about 13 years! It's hard to describe the joy we felt when they actually won the coveted trophy. I know it's "just football", but their win kept me smiling for days! I'm actually still smiling about it!

But there's more...

For Christmas this year I received, much to my surprise and delight, tickets to see Bon Jovi in concert. Again, for those of you who don't know, Bon Jovi has been my favorite band since highschool. They've been making music for about 27 years (!!!) and I'm still loving it! The concert was February 15, and Stefan and I made a date out of it. We got a babysitter, and I took the train downtown to meet him for dinner before the concert. I don't have a lot of concert experience to compare this one to, but suffice it to say that it was AMAZING! They put on such a great show and I was reminded just how many big hits they've had over the years. I would not hesitate to go see them live again. The icing on the cake was the opening song, where Jon sang from a platform just in front of our seats. Needless to say, I've had a pretty big smile on my face ever since.

Now, if I could just get spring to show up...

AFTER PHOTOS!!

Here, finally, are the AFTER photos of our renovation. I am sorry for the lack of order with these photos. Somehow, I have lost my ability to rearrange uploaded photos as I want them. I have searched all over, and cannot figure out how to do this like I used to. Sadly, it is probably something ridiculously simple, but in the meantime - here are the photos! The one of the office shows the wall before it was painted, but you get the idea. Our wall color of choice for the mudroom was called Celestial Blue. Sounds peaceful and calming, doesn't it? The last 3 photos show the completed lockers. We ordered them online from the States, and after a LOT of researching, and almost settling on something not-quite-right, we found these. The kids got to choose the color they wanted, and I think they look pretty good together. I have my own locker, for my purse, gloves, scarves, etc. These lockers are fantastic - especially in the winter when everyone has so much more gear! We are really loving all the extra space and organization. Money well spent!

Running, Renovations, Roadtrips and Raw Food

I really don't set out to come up with a title that alliterates, but these 4 items were on my mind. I know it's been a long hiatus from the blog, but September and October were utterly crazy. I think November is a bit more calm, now that we're almost half-way through, but I certainly don't expect December to go by unnoticed.

We have settled into all our regular routines around here. School is going well for the kids, and they are busy with sports, piano, birthday parties and all that other fun stuff that kids get to do. I've been trying to keep up with my running as regularly as possible, and I've done a few races to keep myself motivated and focused. Connor and I ran a 5k race together in October - we had a great time running together, and I was very proud that he was able to run the whole time! He hadn't trained at all, so I was very impressed with him. I hope we can do some more races together in the future. It's likely only a matter of time before I have to work to keep up with him, so I should enjoy this while I can! This is a great time of year for running - the temperature is perfect most days, it's not too wet, and it's so peaceful running through the forest on a bed of fallen leaves and watching more leaves gently falling. The added bonus is soaking in the hot tub in the chilly air right after a run.

So, on to renovations! I have added before pictures to the blog, but don't yet have the during and after photos. I will be sure to post those once I have them ready. We had decided that we'd like to knock out the wall that separates our office from our laundry room/mud room, and move it over to create more space in the mud room. Our office was huge, and even now that it's smaller, there's still plenty of space. But we found ourselves feeling very crowded in our mudroom, with kids and backpacks and bags of groceries and shoes and jackets and laundry all getting in the way! So, the wall was moved over (not by us, of course), and the tile floor ripped out and replaced with cork flooring and the walls repainted, and now we have a much improved space! All we have left to do is to add "lockers", which come with seating, hooks, and shelves, and we should be completely organized. Those should arrive in the next couple weeks, and we're very excited to see the finished product. So far, I'm just enjoying all the extra space when doing laundry, and not having anyone getting smashed in the head by the door! (My kids have a habit of sitting down to take their shoes off right in the path of the opening door).

I was pretty lucky and got to take two vacations in the month of October. The first was by myself, for 6 nights, to BC. I spent a night in Vancouver with my cousin Frieda, and we ran the seawall together. Something to cross off my bucket list! Then I spent several days with my sister and her family, and we did a roadtrip to Oliver to visit my folks. It was great seeing my niece and nephew. I had a very fun morning (too short, of course) with my lovely friend Corina, and then I ended the trip by hanging out with my BFF, Carla. It was a fantastic holiday - so great to see everyone and to see the sights of BC (happy to visit, but Ontario is home!).

I was home about a week, and then we ventured out on a family roadtrip to Chicago, with my mother-in-law along for the adventure. We were gone for 4 nights and we had such a fun time. It was great exploring a new city, and between the Navy Pier, downtown Chicago, Soldier Field and the Lego Discovery Center, there was so much to see and do. I highly recommend visiting Chicago if you ever get the chance - it's a beautiful city.

Finally, (and I'm trying to give you the Coles Notes here) - raw food. I was asked recently if I have gone raw yet, and the question got me thinking. At first, I felt like maybe I had failed a bit, as I certainly do not eat a completely raw diet. But then I wondered, did I ever really plan to do that? Perhaps I saw it as the ideal to strive for but did not consider the feasibility. However, I feel like maybe I have succeeded after all. No, I do not eat 100% of my food raw, and I'm guessing that I never will. I have done enough research and reading to understand a lot of different perspectives. Some are very rigid and legalistic, others much more flexible and thus, more doable. One of my favorite perspectives on this subject is given by the writer of a blog called Choosing Raw, who doesn't advocate for eating 100% raw. She does, however, eat 100% vegan. I love her clarity, honesty and knowledge on this whole subject area, and have come to respect her opinions. Check it out if you want to know more.

I do feel that I have succeeded, though, in dramatically increasing the amount of raw food that I eat on any given day. While dinner is rarely a raw meal, breakfast almost always is (usually a smoothie) and lunch often is raw or partially raw, and snacks are usually raw. Other changes I've made are to cut back on the amount of meat my family eats, to add a lot more fresh fruits and veggies to our diets and to slowly cut back on processed food. Some people may accomplish these things cold turkey, but in our family, the gradual process seems to be working. It's easier to get everyone on board this way. I'm thankful that my family is receptive to the positive changes, and I make sure to regularly talk to them about the choices we make. I am realizing that perhaps "going raw" isn't my ultimate goal, but rather, "going healthy" is.

On that note, I'm going to drag myself away from the computer and get to bed for some healthy sleep! Thanks for checking in!

Raccoon Update

Thanks to a good set of pruners and the neighbor's saw, our tree, now looking a little naked, should no longer be an accomplice to raccoons getting onto our roof. Keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping the raccoons haven't done any damage already.

So I was breathing a sigh of relief, as this was yet another potential disaster averted, when my next-door-neighbor (who lives alone and is currently a little out of commission with a fractured ankle), phoned me. I have run a few errands for her already, getting her mail, picking up a prescription for her, etc. I was happy to help when she said she needed something from the grocery store, even though I wasn't planning to go there. Then she mentioned she needed dog food. Odd, I thought, as she doesn't have a dog. I thought maybe she meant more cat food for her many cats, so I was trying to come up with a time I could help her out. Then she dropped the bomb that she needed this giant bag of dog food so she could feed....wait for it....the RACCOONS!!!! She said she had enough for tonight but not enough for tomorrow. I just about fainted. I knew she feeds them already with her kitchen scraps, which we most definitely do not like, but she actually spends money on domesticated-pet food to give them??!? Truly unbelievable. I have since phoned her back and let her know I can't make it to the grocery store. I refuse to help with that. If she needed, you know, food or medicine, or toilet paper, I'd be glad to help. But since we just likely averted raccoons (see previous post) from getting into our attic (which would likely cost somewhere in the range of $1000, no joke, to remedy), I refuse to encourage those animals. I know they'll come around regardless, but I am not going to be a part of that. I'm just sayin'.

So, do I have a right to not help her based on what she asked me to do? It's probably not illegal, but it is stupid, in my (and many other peoples') opinions. Would I have said no if she wanted me to pick up cigarettes for her, or something else along those lines? It really does not sit right with me. Anyway, that was my day!

'Coons on the Roof, or, Why My Husband was Hanging out the Window Holding a Water Gun in the Middle of the Night

It's 11:11pm. I've turned out the light, a little later than I might have liked, but 8 hours of sleep should be just fine. I'm tired after working today and getting ready for the kids to be off to school in the morning. It doesn't take long for me to drift off to la-la land, not really awake, but not really sleeping yet. My eyes pop open at 11:23 as I hear the pitter patter of little feet walking nearby. I look to see which child has come into our room, but there is no one. In fact, it is extremely rare that any of the kids come into our room at night.

And then I remember, as my mind clears away the fog of dozing off to sleep, just who is making those footsteps. Just a couple weeks earlier, we had heard this same noise as we were falling asleep, and had finally thought to look out our bedroom window at the roof that is just below. We had stared straight into the face of a raccoon, just 2 feet away, not the least bit concerned that he'd been found. I ran straight to the open window, and looked out just in time to see a raccoon creeping carefully beside the drainspout, down the roof. I made a scary noise (at least I thought it was scary) at it, but it just looked dolefully at me and kept walking.

By this time Stefan was awake, but the raccoon was now out of sight. How I wished I'd had a spray bottle to spray in the critter's face. I went and rounded one up while Stefan kept an eye on things from all the windows. (We actually have windows facing 3 directions in our room). The spray bottle turned out to be pretty wimpy, so I ventured out into the backyard, hoping no raccoons were going to leap out at me, and managed to round up a couple of the kids' water guns. Stefan was now looking out, or rather hanging out, the front window. The raccoon had started around the back, and was now at the front. He was watching not one, but two raccoons, as they used the tree beside our driveway to get onto our roof and the roof of our neighbor's garage. At least now we knew how they were getting up there - previously a mystery. While I was getting the water gun filled, Stefan had thrown the spray bottle at the raccoon that was slinking across our driveway, and had hit it, likely scaring the cr*p out of it.

But there was still one raccoon on the roof, carefully trying to stay out of water gun range. Stefan kept shooting, but that was the last of the raccoons that we saw. It was actually quite hilarious if you could have seen the two of us, prowling around our open windows, armed with dangerous water guns, just waiting to attack. We eventually got back to bed, but I didn't fall asleep until well after 12. So much for getting a restful night's sleep. We are getting very concerned that these critters are trying to get into, or have already gotten into, our attic. That would be a disaster, and very expensive to remedy. From now on, those water guns are loaded and ready to go by the window at night and hopefully that will be enough of a deterrent. Oh, and Stefan is going to do some pruning this evening as well.

I tell ya, last summer it was the snakes that always seemed to be hovering around. This year I've hardly seen any, but the raccoons are now hovering around brazenly. It certainly doesn't help that my neighbor treats them like pets and feeds them on her back deck. These creatures should be a little more afraid of people, but they're not.

I've had a very successful summer of gardening, and am already starting to rip out some of the plants that are done. I'm still having a bounty of tomatoes, chard, spinach and kale, but the cucumbers, corn and lettuce are done for the season. My carrots never amounted to anything, but I'll try again next year. I will post a few garden photos, most of which were taken at the end of July, so you can see how much it grew in just one month. I'm already plotting out next year's garden.

Two out of three of the kids are back to school today. Connor is off to grade 4 and Taya is off to grade 1. Logan has a (very slow) gradual entry over the next week and a half. It's a little quieter around here without them - I sure hope they're having a good day. Taya's teacher seems very nice and I've heard a lot of good things about Connor's teacher, his first male teacher. Can't wait to hear all about their day! Tomorrow is the start of piano lessons - Taya's first one! We'll see how that goes!