Most of March was "break". All of the kids who live at home had break from school from March 7 to March 24. They were (of course) thrilled. Caden started his month at a volleyball tournament that brought us to Welland. It's a good luck facility for our boys as they fared very well and came in 4th! Even more fun was coming home to dinner with friends at the Oakville Club. Big Brother Canada started and the kids are enjoying it almost as much as they did the first season. My Desire Map book club has changed format somewhat with one meeting each month and one "field trip". Great group! Cole went to the Young The Giant concert in Toronto with his friend (nope, not that kind) Charlotte. We headed back into the city for Caden to go to "The Two Worlds of Charlie F" at the Princess of Wales Theatre with Cole while the rest of the family hung out at Auntie Beth's place mid-town. That was followed by a fabulous dinner at Scaramouche with Grampy. Chloé had her very first pedicure. Pretty pink toes hopefully make up for painful ingrown nails. I had my final "sleep" pod and am now enjoying "metabolism" pod sessions. Well, not so much enjoying as I can't imagine anyone actually liking 80*C for 40 minutes at a time! We were back to Auntie Beth's to deliver Caden for a sleepover. He and his cousin left for Florida the next morning with Grampy. While Caden was gone I went into a "file frenzy" collecting every scrap of paper in my home and putting it in the right place. HUGE project, glad it's done. Well, almost done, paper is always a work-in-progress. The truck was DEAD! So happy to have a great relationship with our mechanic (Caden's former hockey coach) and he bailed us out with a new battery. I managed to watch all three seasons of Scandal via internet - and almost hit our bandwith limit! Cole, Chloé and my friend Jill, joined me at Art Battle 103 at Q. E. Park Community Centre at Claire's suggestion. It was fabulous and Chloé bought a painting! Cole and I watched "To Sir With Love" and it is he who thinks it should be mandatory watching at school. Good idea! Chloé had a great lunch in Burlington with girlfriends she met at OELC last summer. We went to collect Caden in Toronto and Cole went off via VIA Rail to visit Claire at Queen's for St. Patrick's Day in Kingston. A bit of a change of pace had Auntie Beth and family visit us out in the 'burbs. So fun! I am proofreading resumés for Claire and Cole who hope to finding jobs this summer. Sad news was received that a new friend is moving due to a business transfer. Plans are in the works to stay in contact. Caden managed to spend HOURS on one game system or another and had friends keep him company :) Cole started P90X and all I know is he's a sweaty mess each evening. I admire his dedication and ability to self-motivate. Chloé is a beautiful girl and has (finally) fully embraced that she is not like other girls and that's okay. A huge bag of clothes was donated. Spring is almost here! You know how I know? Baseball evaluations were held and Caden participated. I adore my kids, but no one was happier than I was to have them back in school and my return to some semblance of routine. A singing recital with Chloé and Cole performing, was held at Walton United in preparation for the Peel Music Festival. Upon his return to school, Caden was given the "Little Mermaid" script - he has been cast as King Triton in the middle school production in May. This is going to be great! All of the blog for 2013 was "slurped" to Blurb and I'm in the process of turning it all into a book. 306 pages so far! Further proof was provided that "school colours" - the equivalent of MVP - is an arbitrary award and has nothing to do with merit. Disappointing. The last tournament before Provincials was in Stouffville and I can hope it means they've worked out all of the kinks for the upcoming tournament in Waterloo. It took some convincing to get me there, but I did enjoy attending the World Accord Gala at LeDome. There was enough of a thaw, finally, that the Christmas lights were finally put away. Up to Brampton for the first Peel Music Festival performance. Lots of work on the calendar to juggle new rugby, new softball, and new pilates schedules.
In the lives of the kids:
Claire | Played host to Cole for St. Patrick's Day in Kingston. No one can know how incredibly proud I am that my kids get along with each other. I know that this concept is normal in most families, but not in mine. It makes my heart happy.
Cole | A misplaced passport, not seen since his return from the Senior Arts Trip to New York City in November made for a busy break getting photos taken and forms filled. He's off to Europe this summer and needs his paperwork completed and ready to go!
Chloé | She finally agreed that wearing a uniform all day then changing into sweats once home is just not working for her. So? After a bit of research, she decided GAP was the look she wanted so we went to Mapleview and I waited TWO HOURS in the change room for her to pick out new clothes. So cute!
Caden | Sings when he's on his computer. He sits at the dining room table doing work (or playing games) and all of a sudden you hear riduculously low, kind-of-melodic-droning sounds. It takes a while to recognize the song, but when you do it's clear he is singing at least an octave lower than the song was written.
Life in general:
Weather | Late in the month we finally climbed into positive temperatures. We had freak storms dropping 15cm+ of snow upon us the day after Caden few to Florida. The underground garage is still slick, covered in ice.
News | Our Canadian loonie dropped below 89 cents U.S. for the first time in years. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and we're waiting for the fallout. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing. Seriously. The resulting "search" just proves how big the world really is and how much fiction is the ability for security forces to really keep an eye on everything. Kind of comforting. Olivia Chow entered the race for Mayor of Toronto. Huge mudslide in Washington State. Heartbreaking.
Sports | Appleby won silver at the OFSAA hockey tournament which is amazing given that they won only one game the whole regular season - the girls won bronze at their tournament. March Madness is not a big thing in our home, but for Mercer to beat Duke? That was a big deal. Watching a lot of golf and using the telecasts to warm our souls.
Discovery | I can order from Staples online and have big file boxes and other office supplies delivered directly to my home. Fantastic! I can manage to acclimate myself to 40 minutes in 80*C without gasping for air. I will never live without a wireless printer ever again.
Looking forward, goals I want to keep at the forefront include:
Work | March Break was not condusive to getting much done! I'm looking forward to dedicating real and productive time to Marie Forleo's B-School in April since no time was spent on it in March!
Health | I'm in a pretty good practice: eat well, drink plenty of water, metabolic pod, daily meditation, pilates 2x week. Now I need to add in some walking once the sidewalks are less icy! Daily stretching is also something I have to do.
Home | Its coming together as the decorative columns are (finally) scheduled to be removed!
Fun | With the better weather should come more opportunity for fun outside. Certainly it brings lots of sports to watch and cheer: softball, rugby, baseball, and dragonboat.
Me | My theme lately has taken on a "let go" and "get real" vibe. I'm liking it! Thoughts and beliefs that no longer serve me are being left behind without explanation or apology.
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A couple of years ago I consistently wrote up posts summing up the month that had just past. Then life got both complicated and overwhelming, so much so I was just going from day-to-day in complete survival mode. With this new year I'm getting back into the practices of my past that I have missed.
