Mundane dreams

My dreams of late have been about everyday life. Kind of boring, but confusing too. I do not know if certain things I am remembering actually happened, or if I dreamed they happened. My husband says I am going crazy.

For instance, I do not remember if my daughter told me about some fake fish, and a fake aquarium in her class, or if I dreamed she told me. Her teacher has been using various reward, and discipline techniques with the students, often using symbols. If the children are doing well, they are on the green traffic light, for example. They also have a bee hive which fills with checkmarks when they are caught doing something good. The class theme is Bees. I do not know if these fake fish are another form of reward.

The reason I am concerned about this is because we just had a meet and greet with the teacher a few days ago, and I forgot to ask about the fish. I do not recall seeing fish images in the class, but I was not thinking about them at the time, so I was not keyed into seeing them. My conversation with my daughter came back to me the next day, but now I am questioning whether she told me about these fish, or did I dream she told me?

Maybe I am going crazy? I suppose I could just ask her if they were learning about fish. I need to get some more exciting dreams! Although, I have been dreaming about wrestlers lately. Not sure if that is more exciting, or, if I should stop watching wrestling with my husband. Unfortunately, this is all he likes to watch on tv, and if I want to spend time with him, after the kids have gone to sleep, we end up watching wrestling together.

I really need better dreams!

 

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What do you want to be when you grow up?

What were your hopes, and dreams as a child or teenager? What did you think your life would look like? Did it turn out the way you expected? Did you find something else along the way that excited you, and became your new passion? Does it did matter if you followed your dream?

I do not remember what I wanted to be when I was little. I probably said I wanted to be a nurse because my mom was a nurse. This quickly changed when I would be apprehensive, in swimming lessons, about learning artificial respiration. I nixed the medical profession, as a career, early on. I enjoyed playing my clarinet, and being part of Concert Band, and Community Band in high school, but my father discouraged a musical career/education, and I did not push it. For a while, I fantasized about being a professional photographer, but that was more of a dream of glamour.

A few years back, I thought if I could do it all over again, I would have trained to be a jazz singer. I was taking a singing course at the time, and felt inspired. Also, there were several women with science or engineering degrees who were making livings as singers. Every now and again I think, maybe I could write some quirky children's songs, like They Might Be Giants, but in French. I have no song writing experience though.

I enjoyed university, eventually. I started off in engineering, but realized it was not for me. I liked my biology courses, but only found my stride after I graduated with my science degree, and came back for an unclassified semester. I did well in Forestry, but there were few job opportunities when I completed that degree. I enjoy being a teacher too, but cannot seem to find permanent work. If I could teach a group of highly motivated, hard-working students, I think it would be my dream job, but a class like that is hard to find nowadays.

So, I struggle to find something satisfying to do with my life. I enjoy cooking, and nutrition, but would these be a career path? Would working with food destroy my love of it? I suposse the same could be said about many passions. I love being a mother to my children, despite how infuriating it can be at times, but my son will be starting school soon. Then, what do I do? My current irrational work fantasy is being a chocolatière, with quirky combinations in my truffles, and locally sourced ingredients. I need to come up with something I can actually do.

 

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Brrrr, It's Cold

September 18, and I finally turned the heat back on. We had a few warm days so far this month, but Fall is really digging in its heels. I don't think we broke 6°C today. I sent my daughter to school inadequately dressed for the weather. We didn't realize how cold it was until we were running to catch her bus. I probably wasn't the only parent guilty of this. The weather report said it was going to be warmer, but it was downright miserable out there.

Tonight it is supposed drop down to around 0°C. We've already had frost (Sept. 10), but with all the rain, I am worried we might get ice. Seriously, snow could have been a possibility, if it weren't supposed to clear up. A month ago we were still in the sweltering heat of summer. September comes around, and it's all over so suddenly.

We rarely get to experience the gradual cooling off period of a temperate autumn. I loved Septembers in Vancouver. It was usually one of the best months of the year. The rainy weather had not yet socked in. We still had sunny, somewhat warm days. I used to go camping, or on kayak trips in September in B.C. We were spoiled last year in Sudbury, with an unusually warm ninth month. Not so much this year. Fall is here, and Winter is just around the corner.

Any bets on whether this is going to be a mild winter, or a cold one? You'd think having grown up in Manitoba, I'd be used to bitter, cold winters. My biggest problem is that I have Reynaud's. My hands go bone white, and lose circulation when I get cold. It takes a lot of movement to get blood flow back into my digits. Winter is not my favourite season. I am going to have to start wearing mitts soon.

Oh well, only six more months until Spring. Three more months until the days start getting longer, and then we start all over again.

 

 

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Becoming Famous, in a very slow way.

I was listening to the first episode of the new season of Spark on CBC this Wednesday, and Michelle Parise read my Facebook comment aloud, on the air! My name was mentioned, and finally, my words sounded somewhat intelligent. You see, this is not the first time I have had an email read on CBC. It is all part of my master plan to become famous by having CBC hosts read my comments on air.

The last time was a few years ago on a program called Freestyle. They must not have had many people write in because my email was not very good. It was too long, and rambling. No one bothered to edit it before it was read. I cringed, as I heard it come over the airwaves. In this particular email, I was reminiscing about the 90s. Kelly Ryan read it during the afternoon radio program. Maybe it was picked because I mentioned yet another CBC program called Realtime, with Leora Kornfeld.

Realtime was this amazing show from the mid 90s. They would often ask opinions, or have polls, and listeners could call in, or email their answers. This was when all I used was my university email account, before Hotmail and the other web-based email formats. I used to participate quite regularly. It was kind of like posting a comment on someone's Facebook status, or tweeting a reply, but in this case, the question would be asked over the air, via radio, and the comment would be the email. In fact, when I finally called into the show, they recognized my name from my weekly responses.

Once again, 15 years later, I heard my name mentioned on a national CBC radio program. It is fitting because Spark is all about technology, and society, and what's on the cutting edge, and Realtime was a pioneer for using Internet chat, and email to interact with the listeners. Now, I just have to keep up the regular comments to Spark, to continue getting noticed.

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/episodes/2012/09/07/188-gentrification-communication-restoration/

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Movie remakes

I guess we've run out of original ideas. Really, there are a finite number of stories to be told. Romeo and Juliet has been remade, and reimagined upteen times. Pride and Prejudice appeared as Bridget Jones' Diary, and was given a Bollywood twist in Bride and Prejudice. We need to rely on Woody Allen to come up with an original screenplay, and in the end, he is probably telling his same story over, and over.

I just watched Death at a Funeral. The original is a British film, but it was redone recently by Chris Rock. I have not seen the remake. I do not understand why people remake films in the same language. Maybe it is different for Canadian culture versus American culture because we have sensibilites closer to the British. Do Americans really not get British humour? When is the American version of Love Actually coming out? Or, was that Valentine's Day?

Reading reviews, most preferred the first Death at a Funeral, but some liked the second better. Maybe it is "demo"itis. You know, the phenomenon when you like the thing you see or hear first. I am a bit of a snob that way. I often try to watch the original, and tend to prefer it. I especially dislike American remakes of French films. I preferred La Femme Nikita to Point of No Return. Three Men and a Cradle was infinitely better than Three Men and a Baby. I did, however, only see the American version of A Dinner for Schmucks. Maybe I will like it better than the French film, since I saw it first.

I understand why Americans remake foreign films, though. They are trying to make the film more accessible to their audience. The majority of North American movie goers do not like to read subtitles. Most dubbed films are horrible, so redoing the foreign film in English is the next step. Plus, people are more likely to see the movie if it is starring famous Hollywood actors. Like I said, I prefer to see the original film, but I know I am probably losing some of the nuances in the text translation, and missing some of the visuals while reading.

And, why are older films being redone? It is a similar problem, but instead of cultural differences between countries, we are dealing with cultural differences between generations. The Russians are no longer a threat to us, so why would anyone relate to the original Red Dawn. Of course, we all fear the North Koreans are going to take over our country. Hmm, bad example. The thing is, the film makers needed to pick an enemy they did not think would truly be capable of harming our country. Considering the reactions in the Middle East this week, they were probably safe in picking North Korea as the Big Bad in Red Dawn redux.

Why was Total Recall remade? Colin Farrel is better looking than Arnie? Special FX technology is superior now, and the movie can be a lot prettier. Maybe it is such a good story, it needed to be told again. How many other 80s movies should they remake? Goonies? Back to the Future, where they go back to Back to the Future? That could get a little confusing. The Breakfast Club! I guarantee you someone is out there pitching these old stories to movie executives. They'll hire Judd Nelson as the principal.

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Making their own friends

My daughter has just started SK (Senior Kindergarden). This is her second year of full time school. She seems to be doing well so far, and has not forgotten everything she learned last year. She goes to a small school, but it is getting bigger. This year there are two Junior Kindergarden classes. Because of increased enrollment in her school, there are also two SK classes. They mixed up the two JK classes from last year to make the two new SK classes. A lot of the students she played with last year, ended up in the other class. In fact, everyone she invited to her birthday party at the end of August are in the other class.

I remember reflecting last year on how she is making her own friends. Before, her friends came out of circumstance. They are the children of my friends, or people we met through playgroup. When she started school, she began meeting children without their parents present. She chose who she would play with. Often she would get off the bus, and ask to go to this girls' house. Sorry, but mommy does not know your friend's last name, phone number or address. We did not get around to making a playdate.

All summer, she never saw her "best friend" from school. I even sent an email, but did not get a reply. The girl is in her class again this year, thankfully. My daughter has been playing with her often. But, there are "new" children in her class now. I do not know if her friend already knows some of these new kids. There is always the chance other friendships will develop throughout the year. This could be true of my daughter as well. The dynamics of school relationships are tricky, and I worry about my daughter. Often friends come about through seating arrangements, locker placements, or whose class you are in.

I did not have one best friend throughout my school years. I had some good friends, and maybe a best friend for a year or two, but things changed, and people grow apart. I was younger than most of my classmates, and had friends in the lower grades. In grade 4, I lived in France for a year. I had a best friend there, but when I came back, all the girls in my class were in their cliques, and I had a tough time fitting in. My younger friends had also moved on. I did not enjoy school in grade 5 or 6.

In grade 7, we were in junior high, and the kids from the other elementary school were in our classes, so I met some new people. I had a best friend in grade 7, 8, and 9, but she moved to Australia, and dumped me a several weeks before she left. Moving to Australia made her cool, and I was not part of the cool group. The remainder of my school years, I had a group of friends, but not one "go to" person. However, I am still in touch with that group of women, and we see each other almost every year.

I actually have a lot of close friends. They are usually people I lived with during university, or when working abroad. Unfortunately, because I moved around in my youth, many of my dear friends do not live near me. The invention of instant messaging, and now Facebook, has enabled me to stay in touch with most of my friends, and we are able to pick up where we left off whenever we see each other. It will be interesting to see how my daughter develops friendships over the years. One of my closest friends, I call her my best friend, I have known since Kindergarden, but our friendship developed the year after we graduated high school.

I know there is not much we can do for our kids at school. I hope my daughter is well liked, and not as shy or introverted as I was. In the end, I turned out to be a fairly good egg. I am sure my daughter will have trials, and tribulations. She will come home crying about how she hates her friends. But, I need to give her the strength to move on, and keep going. Or, it could be smooth sailing for her for the next 11 years. You never know.

 

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My Summer Garden

After seven years of trying to grow tomatoes, I think I have found what works in my yard. This year, I planted cherry tomatoes, and regular tomatoes in large, plastic storage bins (like Rubbermaids) full of topsoil. They actually thrived. The two plants in my flowerbed were not happy this year. I had to pull one out early July, and the remaining one gave me one tomato.

It probably did not help that we were away more than three weeks over the course of the summer. It rained during our August absence. We also left the beginning of July, during a heat wave. My whole garden was just starting to bloom, and look great when we left, but it turned into a scragly mess. My coneflowers were tall, and skinny. Many of my plants did not survive this week of neglect. My peas all fried, just as they were starting to produce pods. This was the first year I planted the peas early. In fact, I was almost too early as we had frost at the beginning of June.

My bin tomatoes were another story. They were doing fine, and by mid August, I had more tomatoes than I had ever seen in my garden. Unfortunately, just as the cherry tomatoes were starting to ripen, we were leaving home for another two weeks. I offered up my garden to friends, but most people have tomatoes of their own, with much better harvest yields.

Imagine my surprise when most of the cherry tomatoes were still on the plant, and looking great. Keep in mind, August was a cooler and wetter month. However, neglect appears to have worked this year. My regular tomatoes are not as large as my mother in laws'. She could feed two families with one of her tomatoes. But, mine are a nice red, blemish free, and very tasty. The cherry tomatoes were super sweet. I am the only family member who eats tomatoes raw, so I got to enjoy all of them. Yum!

Maybe next year, I will be a little kinder to my garden, and hire someone to water it while we are away. My mom used to have a massive vegetable garden when we lived in Manitoba, and we often took long summer vacations. She must have asked the neighbours to water her plants. I guess we need to get to know our neighbours, but that is another post!

After two weeks of neglect

Now that September has arrived, I have to worry about frost again. We had frost last night, but I think my bins are in a location where I do not have to worry. At least, they looked okay this afternoon. I really hope there is not a second frost tonight, but looking at the clear sky, the temperature is probably going to drop. Ugh! Barely three months of a growing season.

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