Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Family Memories & My Week's Reflections

Today's Blogs....

Welcome To My Reality – Week Twenty Eight

7. Tell us about your week. What were the highlights and lowlights?

First off, I want to wish my American friends a Happy Independence Day. It is also Phil-Am Friendship Day as well, so I wish everyone that as well because friendship is vital and important to all of us.

For me my day started a little slow. I did manage to do 30 minutes of yoga to get in my three 30 minute yoga days this week. I also have 2 days of 20 minute yoga sessions, so I am pleased with that. I have also managed to get in more walks and added some hills into them for the extra challenge. Monday I went for a hilly bike ride with my husband. One would think with all this extra exercise I would be down in my weight, but I swear my scale has a mind of its own and believes I am a certain weight regardless of what I do - that is, until I blow my eating and then it jumps up just to spite me. Damn thing.

School is out and I am feeling a little lost. Supply work is over for the 2013/2014 School year. There are things I need to do - like update my resume and look for teaching postings, but I can not seem to get motivated. They have changed the application process for the Long Term Occasional Positions, claiming you need to be hired on to a special list to apply - I missed out getting on that list partly because my last principal was retiring soon and did not give a lot to the process. You were not able to chose a different Principal as a reference. Principals were to submit a number 1 - 10 on how they found you, in order to get an interview. If they gave a low score, you were not granted an interview. Each Board of Education decided to do this process differently as it was not set firmly into place. This was around the time McGinty, our Ontario Premier was being an idiot and then decided to step down - but I'm not bitter!!!!! Enough about politics.

Okay, back to that lost feeling. I have been writing more. That is a good thing, but I always feel a little guilty that I should be doing something more productive, even if it is cleaning my house. I will find a balance, it just takes a bit of time for me to orchestrate a new routine and feel good about it.

Thiis morning I cleaned off the patio furniture and washed the back windows before bringing my laptop out to work. I also have laundry going. This way the day will feel somewhat productive.

Next week will be more focused. This week has been Canada Day festivities on Tuesday and then today's American holiday also plays on me. Next week will be the first week of summer without a long weekend. I am expecting good things.

Blog City – DAY 123

Prompt: What was your favorite family outing? Did you go somewhere? What made it special to you?

What comes to mind here is one of those spring walks I took with my mother. The one year we went hiking on mother's day and dug out 4 or 6 cedar trees from the bush. We lugged them home and replanted them in our back yard. I think 2 of them didn't survive but it was a fun day. I am not sure if it was allowed, but we were still Northern Ontario bumpkins. New Liskeard did not have nurseries or greenhouses for public sales of plants; it had a government farm where anything grown there was for farm research. People did not go out and buy plants to landscape their property - we often built in and around the vegetation that was already prevalent.

Southern Ontario is different. There are greenhouses and nurseries all over the place and people actually employ companies to landscape their property. Not knowing this, we went and hoisted our own from a nearby forest. We probably trekked a good 20 miles that day walking back and forth to get those trees. They were good trees.

My mother and I never thought anything of all that walking. We did not have a car until I was 17, so anywhere we went was on foot express or by city bus. We lived in a new residential area that was away from the established bus lines as well, so even taking the bus added a twenty minute walk to the closest bus stop. Those were good times. Even getting caught in a rain storm with groceries, my mom and I trundled through the puddles with happy smiles on our faces. We were just living the experience. It's no wonder people from Southern Ontario thought we were nutty. We didn't rightly care.

30 Day Blogging Challenge

Here's our prompt: July 4 Prompt - What funny things I remember on this date?

Remembering things for a this date is not something I would recall but if I make the date July 1 and Canada Day I could - so I will do that instead.

I was almost twelve years old when my mother and I moved to Guelph. Guelph is an hour away from Toronto, Ontario (and a mere 400 miles south of my hometown). My hometown of New Liskeard did not do fireworks so this particular Canada Day in 1979, my aunt and uncle and my new cousin, Mikey (only 4 months old) took my mother and I to see the fireworks display at Ontario Place in Toronto.

I was amazed at the colours and the sounds. Awesome in its flare and delight. To experience it first hand was so cool. I had only seen the ones on The Wonderful World of Disney's TV show before that. I expect I did a lot of ooohing and ahhhhing. I also probably just sat there spell bound. I am sure my aunt and uncle were so happy to give me this first time experience.

I have seen many firework displays since then and each one grabs me with delight, but that first time had to be a marvel.

** Just an aside. As a kid I don't remember Canada Day celebrations so much as my Grandparent's wedding anniversary. It was a family event with lots of people gathering and camping on their property for the better part of a week. Their were probably no fireworks because it was still a working farm and who wants to give the cows a heart attack! They were married on June 26, 1926. These celebrations started on their 50th wedding anniversary. We did something every year until my grandfather passed away. I believe they had 61 years together by then.