Life - full of changes

Well - time for change... many, apparently! So, here they are...

We sold our house. We have lived here for over 9 years, and it has been quite an adventure. This was our first home ever, and what a great home it has been. We are glad to know that another family will be moving in and enjoying it as much as we did.

That move, though it is time, will be hard. You never get another First Home I suppose!

But, I think we will get over it!

So, we bought a new home. Well, new to us. It is an O'Brien built home, which is nice. They are known for being very well built and long lasting. It is a large (nearly 2400 sf) home, and is in the perfect (for us) neighborhood. Lots of families, a neighborhood park and a pool club, not to mention that it is on a private cul de sac, so very safe for our kids...

Speaking of kids... we are expecting our 2nd child just after Christmas this year! I have been pretty sick this time, and have not been talking about being pregnant much because unfortunately I caught something called Fifth Disease from my students this year. This is a disease that can cause miscarriage up to 20 weeks, so every day that things go well is a good day. The Dr. thinks things will be fine as long as I can keep my iron up. I think things will be just fine, and I am looking forward to meeting this little jumping bean - at the last ultrasound, the baby was all over the place! Like it was a dance party in my uterus! Goodness...

Well, still not feeling well, so I am going to rest. If I have not called you lately, I promise, I will soon. School is almost out, then we visit the Soo for a week, and I will be better at catching up with my friends after that. Sorry about the distance!

Cheers,
C

No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth

There is so much going on these days, and I have been very bad about keeping up with the blog. Shame on me. I will get back to it soon, especially since I am almost done with school (yay!). Today is Fathers Day though, and I don't want to spend much time on this site, since I should be spending the time with Aubrey instead (and I have to get Dad's gift put together before we go to visit in a few hours). I promise though that I will catch everyone up after today. I just have a few things that I want to tell my dad today that I don't want him to learn through the blog (all good, no worries!)

Tootles!

The Golden Apple Award for Norma

I know that I wrote a while ago about Lanie's teacher Norma. She passed away back in January and left a big hole in all of our hearts. Recently, the daycare was presented with a Golden Apple Award in Norma's honor for being an amazing teacher. It was the first time an award of this kind has been given after the teacher has passed away. Lanie was one of the students who was asked to say something on camera, and she sang her favorite song that she learned from Norma when she was in her room. Please take a look at the link below to see the video of the newscast which aired today at 5:30.

http://rochesterhomepage.net/media_player.php?media_id=354131#

New Music if you like Reggae

On our trip last week down to SC and Florida, we were listening to Sirius/XM radio station called 'The Joint' (it is a reggae station - imagine that...) and this song came on called "Dem a Bleach" by Nardo Ranks. Poor kid - I mean really, NARDO? Anyhow, the song is pretty fun and kind of funny too. If you are interested, take a listen -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTWEgiOrSb8

Of course, after hearing that song, we listened to Michael Jackson - Rock With You - speaking of Dem a BLEACH!

Aubrey specifically thought you would enjoy this one Uncle Chris! By the way, when are you guys free to do lunch/dinner at Tantalus? Give us a call/email/blog comment (haha - I'll get you to respond to this thing someday!)

Ok. Off to clean the house and pack to try and get this place ready to sell!

Lanie's TV Debut

Today was a special day. Here in Rochester, one of our local news stations awards teachers who go above and beyond with something called the "Golden Apple" Award. Well, as you know, Lanie's teacher Norma passed away a short while ago, and we all loved her so much. Well, one of the parents at the daycare nominated Norma for the Golden Apple Award, and the station is awarding it to her!

It is the first time a teacher has been nominated for this award after the teacher has passed away.

Lanie was one of the children who was asked to be interviewed because of her relationship with Norma. She even sang her song "Pollito Chicken". It will be aired on May 19th and I will post the link to the video once I have it!

She was very excited. I can't wait to see it!

Peace

How much of our minds do we REALLY use?

I have always said that I can have a useless sense of ESP - I can't tell you what the lottery numbers will be, but I can often finish your sentences, or know what commercial will be on the tv during a break. Today it finally worked in a way that proved to be very valuable.

This afternoon we went to WalMart - the one that we call 'ghetto-mart'. We literally never ever go to this Wal Mart because it is so poorly put together and organized. However, after being unable to quench my need for a good game of pickleball, I convinced Aubrey to go with me to buy tennis rackets and balls to play at the high school (ok, so it is not pickleball, but it is the closest thing we have around here). We would normally go to Target or take the extra drive to the Wal Mart in the next town over, but Target is more $$ than Wal Mart, and I wanted to save some of our hard earned money.

We pulled into Wal Mart and parked on the left side of the large lot - we ALWAYS park on the right side. We went in and found the tennis rackets, tooled around in the camping gear aisle, and finally found a nice little express lane in the back of the store near the automotive section.

We paid for our gear and began to walk towards the front of the store. Suddenly I felt very compelled to look, really look at the people who were in the store. What would the chances be that my sister Loren would also be in the store? For those of you who don't know, she left her apartment two weeks ago today to go to the 'store', but never came home. Anyhow, I felt like I should really look at the people in the store in case one of them might actually be her. It was unlikely that she would be there, but it wouldn't hurt to look. I was looking so intently that Aubrey asked me to watch where I was walking! I wasn't even paying attention. Anyhow, I didn't see Loren. We went out to the car, got Lanie in to her seat, put the stuff we bought in the back and started the car. All of a sudden, Aubrey said "I'm not $h*tting you, it's your sister" and pointed directly in front of us. It WAS Loren. She was parked in the row in front of us and a few cars down. She didn't see us, but we just looked at her. Neither of us knew what to do. I know I was frozen - what should I do? What should I say to her? She saw us finally. I went over to her and hugged her, told her that I love her and that I am glad that she is alive, and that I hope that she takes care of herself.

There are days when I wonder if God hears me, or if God even exists. Could it have been just a fluke that we were both in the same place at the same time? I guess it could be, sure. But, then again, things may happen for a reason after all.

Loren said she would call me this evening. Though I hope that she does, I don't actually expect that she will. I am just glad that I was able to see her and know that she isn't dead somewhere. I know that sounds terrible, but the chances are greater each day she is gone that she would be just that much closer to the end.

If you are wondering, she looked like she had some weight on her, and she was showered and smelled clean. In fact, I don't even recall smelling cigarette smoke on her. Then again, who knows. She didn't look like she was out of her mind on drugs, and that is the positive light that I will hold on to for now.

Ever have a feeling...

That the words that come out of your mouth aren't necessarily the words you meant to say? Or at least that the meaning behind the words wasn't getting across correctly? Well, it occurred to me that I can be pretty negative when I don't necessarily mean to be. As an example, I went to dinner with a dear friend last night and her husband (Aubrey and Lanie were there too), and we were talking about teaching. As you may have noticed from an earlier entry, I was pretty upset about the disrespectful nature of some teachers that I work with. I don't mean to say that ALL teachers are that way, they aren't. I love what I do, a lot in fact. It is just that when I have the chance to actually TALK about some of the more negative things that I experience at work, I REALLY talk about them. That is due largely in part to not having anyone at all to talk to within my own profession. Hard to believe that is true since I work in 6 different schools - you would think that I have a TON of people I could talk to, but I really don't. I am not in one place long enough to really get to know anyone enough to talk to them in that way. So, if you are ever in a conversation with me, and I am coming across as negative, don't take it to heart. I truly love what I do, and I am so so SO grateful to have the job and career that I have.

Ok. I feel better now!

LANIE WROTE HER OWN NAME!

I kid you not, she did this without ANY help - we turned around and she said look - it says Lanie... and sure as the day is long, she DID IT! Man, she isn't even 4 yet. She is unreal!

She even wrote it twice - as you can see from the photos! I am a proud, proud mommy.

Rudeness in education

As a new teacher, I often find myself looking at how the other teachers around me behave. One would think that a teacher would naturally lead by example, and such examples would be good ones. However, I sadly find that many more teachers are not doing this, and are in fact, rather catty, clikish (no idea how to spell that one), and can be downright nasty. That is all too bad.

Here is my pet peeve though....

I am an art teacher. I have art supplies which I need to use in order to teach my students successfully. I expect, that when I walk into my art room, that my supplies will be there. Just as the teachers in the other classrooms would expect that their books, chairs, etc. would be there for their use in the room each day.

So, I went to one of my schools the other day and low and behold, ALL of my glue was gone. Someone 'borrowed' it and didn't return it. I needed it that day and it was gone. Of course, I didn't notice this until it was nearly time for my first class, and I didn't have time to go door to door to ask where the hell it was!

So, finally, I ask one teacher to ask around during her break while I was teaching her class. She found the glue, it was with another 2nd grade teacher. The glue gets returned, and the teacher NEVER even apologized for her mistake! So, on top of that, she was 5 minutes late getting her kids to art, as she FORGOT that they had art that day... not a shocker as she is ALWAYS late, but since I only see the kids once every 6 days for 40 minutes, EVERY minute is golden.

Still no apology...

When I got the glue back, I put it away where it was out of sight. I don't appreciate it when people use the supplies that come out of MY budget without asking at least. If they ask, I know where it is, and I can ask for it back if it is not returned. I had to refill all of the glue bottles DURING my class which took away from teaching time. I also gave this teacher a lot of supplies the previous week for a project that she was asking for help on.. I thought I wwas being nice! I was being used I think.

So, said teacher comes back in to my room and asks if she can borrow the glue again...

still no apology....

takes the glue, comes back later and never even says thank you!

Why don't I say anything about this? Stupid tenior (sp?)... I have to wait until next year for that. Then I can say something.

Aren't politics stupid in that way?

Ok - sorry this was a rant. I wanted to get it out of my head and into the blog... I feel much better now ;-)

Cheers!

Good-Bye Norma. We all loved you so much.

A little after 1 today, I received a phone call at school to tell me that Lanie's favorite teacher at her daycare, Norma, had passed away.

Let me tell you a little bit about Norma. I met her over 3 years ago when she came into the infant room at the daycare where my child goes. She used to come in to visit with the kids, and was always so kind and wonderful with my daughter. Norma truly loved Lanie. I believe that Norma truly loved ALL of the children in her life. She used to tell me (she worked in the 3 year old room) that the hardest part about her job was that she had to wait 3 years before the little ones got to her room!

I remember the day that I found out that Lane would be moving up from the 2's to the 3's room (they separate by age). The day had FINALLY come that Lanie would go to Norma's room! Lanie was so excited, as were we. She learned so much from Norma, and she especially loved learning to speak Spanish from her (Norma was from Puerto Rico).

Norma had an amazing talent with children. Sadly, she was never able to have her own children, and always said that the kids at the daycare were her kids (and she loved them as such). It is such a pity that so many unfit people have children, yet Norma, who would have made a better mother than most women, could not. This broke her heart, but she poured her heart into the kids she worked with each day - work... I have a hard time even saying that... she suer made it look easy.

She told wonderful stories, and sang songs, played games and taught the children to be kind and respectful.

Often times, Norma would show me the artwork that she had done. She was so proud of the flowers she would paint on nails, or the faces she would draw. She practiced so much and so hard, and always was proud to show me. I loved the look in her eye when she would share these things with me. I sure wish I could see it again, though I am sure that she is already watching the art classes I teach, learning more and more about how to do art in heaven. She was already an angel here on earth, so I have no doubt that she is truly an angel now.

We have not told Lanie yet. Tomorrow, they will be telling the children at school, and I will be there for that. Lanie loves Norma, and I don't know how she will take the news.

Norma was 44 years young. She was a friend to us all, a lover of Tinkerbell and of all of her children. I miss her already, and will have her in my heart forever.

Fun on Facebook

I have to admit, I love Facebook. I love the fact that I can find old friends, many family members are on there, and it isn't nearly as 'catty' or childish as MySpace. I don't like the fact that random people can 'befriend' you on MySpace. It seems that Facebook is not a place that you can do that.

Anyhow, if you are reading this, and you don't have a Facebook account, maybe you should give it a shot!

A New Tattoo and One Silly Kitty

When I knew that Ellie was truly nearing the end of her days, I made the decision to try and keep her memory as fresh in my mind as I could. One day, while sitting outside with her on a blanket in the back yard, I made a print of her paw - just a little black ink and some card stock. Nothing fancy. Ellie died later that week. When I had the energy to begin looking, I went to tattoo studios around Rochester to see who could offer me the best options for using this print as a tattoo. So many said that they could take me immediately, and wanted to charge upwards of $150 for a 'custom' tattoo... something to watch for... if someone says they can take you immediately, how custom is it really going to be? Also, $150? For something so small?

Anyhow, I went back to a group of artists that I had checked out many years ago and found exactly what I was looking for. I came across Dawn Kelley's art at Lucky Lotus Tattoo Studio http://www.luckylotustattoo.com/ and knew right away that she was the exact person I wanted for this tattoo. Take a look at her work if you like by clicking on her name above. This was back in September...

Today was the day. Time for the ink! So, I nervously went down to the city to meet with Dawn - I had no idea what she would look like - though I assumed she would be much older and a bit more 'hardcore' based on her work that I had seen... I was really surprised to see how young she was, and how comfortable I was with her! You never know what you will run into at a tattoo studio! She was great. She made me feel very at ease and worked quickly and quite painlessly (as much as possible when you have a needle poking you a zillion times a second...). Before I knew it, she was finished, and when I went to pay for the work, she only charged me $50.00. That is less than I paid for EITHER of my other two tattoos, AND this one was completely custom. I am so pleased that I chose her, and that I have this lifelong reminder of my Ellie with me.

I have another appointment with Steve Shales (also at Lucky Lotus - if I am correct, he owns the studio) this coming March to do some work to cover a tattoo that I got without thinking much about it. I got a tattoo a few years back because I wanted to have something in common with my sister Loren - so I got the same tattoo that she had. It is a simple kanji symbol... one that I have seen on a dozen plus people now. Anyhow, he is a master of cover up work, and I think that I will get something a little more me. At this point, I think that I will have him do a sea turtle - something that we really enjoyed while on our honeymoon in Maui - not to mention, something that was also in the movie Finding Nemo - Lanie's first movie ever that she saw...

On another note... what the heck is wrong with this kitten? You have to understand... I had the time to find my camera case, take the camera out, take the lens cap off, turn the camera on, focus, get close enough and snap TWO photos of her like this... this cat is NOT normal! Totally cute though!

Holiday get together and a visit from Sinterklaas and Fart Piet

I just wanted to share a few photos from a family visit the other weekend. Dad, Paula, Shawna, Garret, Cassie, Zachary and Trevor all came out for dinner and gingerbread house making with Lanie. All of us enjoyed playing a few rounds of Rock Band (who doesn't love that!) but most of all, it was nice to have everyone together. It has been a long while since we had seen everyone!

We also had a get together this past weekend with some of Lanie's closest friends and their parents (our friends!). It is amazing to watch the kids grow up. We have known Lucie since she was only maybe 3 months old, and Anthony when he was maybe 6 months old... The kids were really surprised to receive a visit from Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (Lanie pronounces it Fart Pete). They didn't actually SEE them come, but before the night was over, the kids found that their shoes had been filled with candy and toys. After all, it WAS December 5th...

I should be putting more photos up on the blog throughout the holidays. We have a number of family events coming up so stay tuned for more!

Hi Uncle Chris!

I know that you read this, and I just wanted to say HI!

;-)

Why are horses put together so wrong

Rest my friend. Rest.

When God made horses, I think he was still practicing. I am of course not judging the Lord at all. I just still don't understand how it is that they are so huge, so majestic, and yet so frail. One wrong move, and a horse is gone. Sadly, this is the case with an old friend. My friend, a great horse, and the partner of one of my closest friends has passed away as of this morning from an infection. A stupid infection - how is it that such a thing could become systemic and lethal in such a short amount of time? How is it that these huge, majestic and beautiful creatures become so crippled by such simple things? My sweet Bay, the little farty mouthed boy that you were, you are already so missed. I don't know of a kinder horse that side of the thruway, Mav, and I am so sorry that we won't see you again. My heart goes out to Vicki right now... I am so sorry.

I am SO EXCITED

I just found out that my artwork was on the news!!! Take a look at the link below for the newscast!

http://rochesterhomepage.net/media_player.php?media_id=109361

I am really pleased and had to share this with everyone!

A cute link to a Dutch store

Hema

Click on the word HEMA above and take a look at their newest ad campaign. I used to LOVE this store when I was living in Holland. I thought this was really cute - cute enough to add it to the blog.


Just another mention... I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY AT THE BLASIO HOUSEHOLD! WOOWOO! Just a little shout out to my girl Kate... :-D

Congratulations!

I just wanted to say congratulations to the Sun City Senior Softball Champions! My Dad (and his teammates).

Nice job!!!

The mural is complete

This is the Public Safety Building where the mural was painted

This is the mural that I painted. It is about 6'x6'

This is me taking a photo of the image being projected on the wall (with my profile too)

Not that it was too difficult to do, but here is a photo of my first paid job as a mural artist. They may be calling me to add more to it if they get permission to add the emblems for their partners (I believe the partners are : DEA, FBI, CSI ... there may be more, but I don't know what they are). That would be great to be able to paint more and get paid for it! I still can't believe that I got paid to do this! It did however take a lot longer than I thought it would. I thought it would take 2-3 hours, but I was way off. It took me closer to 8 hours, but still, very worth the money.

Sooooo.... if you know of anyone who would like me to paint a mural for them, let me know! I am starting to get the hang of this!

Boy, I will tell you that it was an interesting experience being within the inner confines of the police department. I heard, saw and smelled a lot of things! Yes, smelled... at one point, the overwhelming odor of marijuana filled the air. Apparently they had brought in some pot plants and they were in the room next to the one I was painting in. What a strong smell! I mean, it was EVERYWHERE... must have been one hell of a plant! Some conversations I heard were pretty hard to listen to. One was about having to tell a family that the death of someone they cared for was being treated like a murder... then there were all kinds of conversations about heroin deals and drug interceptions. What i found most interesting though was the 'creed' that was posted inside of the elevator - something like 'maintaining a level of integrity at all times'... yet, I heard the word f*ck used in so many ways, it was, at best, uncomfortable! Nonetheless, I personally was treated very well by everyone there. One of the federal agents made sure that I didn't go hungry - every time I turned around there were more Thin Mints for me to eat! All in all, it was a great experience. I will actually miss going down there, even only after just two days of painting.