...the more they change, apparently. Typepad sure looks different than it did, oh, over a year ago the last time I posted. But that's ok, it looks nice and user friendly.
After a long wet nasty winter, summer is here! It is so nice to see the sun, especially now that I am on holidays for 2 months. Yeah. Two unpaid months, unfortunately, but hey, at least I am home with my two beautiful and mostly not annoying children. Here are some pics of what things look like around here right now!
Does anyone else find it hard to come up with clever titles for their posts?
As I mentioned in my last post, I am working with my English 9 students on strengthening their writing skills. I am using a program called "6 traits". The idea is that there are 6 basic traits of good writing, and if you work on each trait individually, you can improve your writing. The 6 traits, if you're interested, are: voice, sentence fluency, conventions (meaning grammar, spelling etc), word choice, ideas and content, and organization. Right now, we are working on voice. I had them listen to some very different styles of music and analyze the lyrics, then read them a few different passages that are full of voice and discussed them. Then I gave them an assignment to write their own piece of writing, they could choose a poem, song lyrics or paragraph, using their 'voice' as much as possible. I was surprised how many of them came up to me and said "I don't get how to do this." So this weekend, I decided to write my own passage and try to make it full of voice. It was actually harder than I thought! I eventually decided to write about my kids ~ I had suggested to the students that they write about something very personal ~ and just write as though someone asked me to describe them. I was actually pretty pleased with the results, and here they are!
I have two kids, Brodie and Chloe. Brodie, also known as “the big one” when I’m in a hurry and I can’t remember his name ~ hey, I’m a teacher, I have a ton of names to remember ~ is eight and a half, the size of a twelve year old, with the attitude of a fourteen year old. He is super fun to hang out with; he likes soccer, snowboarding, biking and swimming, to name a few things. We have air-hockey tournaments after dinner, the best of seven. He always gets to be the Canucks, though, and I get stuck being stupid Toronto or Edmonton. Yuck. He usually wins, too. Brodie is way to smart for my own good, and likes to play tricks. On Valentine’s Day, I left my Facebook profile open, and he changed my status to “is In Love”, with capital letters. Embarrassing! My friends left messages on my wall like “Aw, how sweet!” I don’t even know how he knew how to do that. Monkey. My other monkey, I mean kid, is Chloe. She’s “the little one.” She is two and a half, the size of a one and a half year old, with the attitude of a twenty-year old. She thinks she rules the roost. And she kind of does, actually. She is so incredibly cute that it is nearly impossible to say no to her. “Mom, can I have candy for breakfast?” Bats amazingly long eyelashes and smiles with full-on dimples. “Um, ok.” She is also very smart, and I’m sure will be messing with my Facebook profile as soon as she figures out how. So, those are my babies, challenging but loveable. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Well, another long hiatus. Merriam-Webster online (love it!) defines a hiatus as "a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted". I don't know if I can actually call my FORCED (more on that in a moment) hiatus from Yummy Mommy as such, as there hasn't really been any continuity to interrupt, has there? I say the hiatus has been forced because my poor old computer is broken AGAIN. And my husband, a computer guy. *sigh*. That's really almost a cliche though, isn't it? I know brilliant mechanics who's cars are heaps, and I guess I am somewhat of a cliche myself, being an English teacher currently doing a unit on writing with my grade 9's, who never writes. And it's not entirely true that I have been completely computerless, as my husband has been bringing his laptop home from work everyday ~ which I am currently typing on, as my computer is STILL broken. There has been progress though, as he has had a look at it, and purchased the program online that he thinks he needs to fix it. He just has to get around to downloading it on to his laptop, putting it on a disc, and installing it on my computer- a monumental task, really ~ however, and this is embarrassing, I couldn't quite remember how to sign in to Typepad to get to Yummy Mommy, as my computer just remembers when I go to my favorites menu. I am such a non-computer person! But I finally decided enough was enough, and went to Typepad, and after only 6 or 7 tries, managed to remember my user name and password. I do that thing that they tell you not to, and use one of only 2 or 3 user names and passwords for everything, so by process of trial and error, I can usually get the combo. So, no more excuses for not blogging!
The time off did give me some time to think about the whole blogging thing, and what I am doing it for. I had a vision when I started Yummy Mommy. I thought it was going to be about me, and my struggles to remain yummy in the face of motherhood, marriage, career etc. But... as old what's his face said 'the best laid plans of mice and men' and all that. Not that I am a mouse, or a man, or had a particularly well-laid plan, but Yummy Mommy has most definitely strayed far off that path! I mostly talk about my kids, strangely enough. I even thought for awhile I should just close Yummy Mommy down, as I am clearly not all that dedicated. But I decided, in the end, to keep plugging away at it when I can, and not feel too guilty when I can't. After all, it's not rocket science, or as my friend who owns a restaurant tells herself when they are in the weeds "it's not Kosovo". Thank goodness. Yummy Mommy is just an online diary, and will be so much fun to read in 20 years, if it still exists, and I hope it does. It's great if people read it and make comments, but if they don't, oh well. It's therapy for someone who has no time to see a shrink.
... snow, that is. I actually managed to fanagle my life so that I could spend a couple of hours on our local ski hill snowboarding today. It was beautiful up there, a nice change from the incredibly crappy weather we have been experiencing lately. Check it out!
Lovely!
I am going for one of those awards people are always getting for their blogs. The one I am after is very special: "Most sporadic blogger!". Can't wait to see that button on my blog! It's not that I don't have lots to say ~ quite the contrary, just ask my husband. It's having the time/energy to sit down and do it that's the problem. You know you've got it bad when life gets in the way of your blogging!
If that's true, then everyone must LOVE Yummy Mommy. I don't know what happened, my last post was December 13! It's not like I've been any busier, in fact I've been off for the holidays, so theoretically, I should have had more time to blog. I do have to admit that I am totally addicted to Scramble on Facebook, so lately when I have stolen a few minutes to myself, that's what I find myself doing. Basically, I just haven't felt inspired. I guess my life is just boring.
The holidays were lovely, though, and as usual, we all got spoiled with the gifts, privileged people that we are. We really did try to not go overboard for the kids, but it is hard! One of my favorite gifts was a handmade one, by my dad. I had the worst pressboard, cheapo, ugly dresser that looked like something you would find abandoned outside a frat house at the end of the school year, and my dad made me the most beautiful, solid wood dresser you could imagine. Check it out:
Notice the dovetailing on the drawers? I love the salamander hardware. Anyway, I feel like I've gone from a rusted out Pinto to a brand new Mercedes!
Chloe got these adorable sunglasses:
For some reason, she insists on wearing sunglasses upside down ~ that's my girl, got to do it her own way!
How were your holidays?