Along with the major changes that have occurred with my new job change, an even greater change has been at the centre of our family. As of June 1st, my mother retired from her career as a florist and closed the flower shop we have owned for the past 18 years. Along with this change came my sister's choice to return to school to pursue her career as a lawyer; a dream she put on hold 18 years ago to be an outstanding floral designer.
My mother was absolutely ready for retirement, and the choice to close the shop rather than sell it came down to pure emotion. We were not willing to sell a family name. We had a three week long sale and cleared out a vast amount of inventory. What was left over was moved to my father's garage for a giant garage sale. Simple idea, right? Not quite.
Our family is not very well versed in the art of garage sales, so preparing for the event took weeks. When all was said and done, each and every item was priced, packaged and displayed. After three separate weeks of sales, almost all of our leftover items were sold. It was an exercise in patience and tenacity, but it was well worth it.
So what's next? Well, as fall approaches we cannot wait to enjoy our first holiday together; a celebration that will not be contingent on other people's needs or schedules.
Though the future brings change for all of us, I cannot wait to see what is in store for the future!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Alive and Attempting to Kick- PART ONE
Well, to say the least, it has been a long time since I have posted. Truth be told, when life gets a little overwhelming I'm more of a head-down and plow through it silently kind of girl than one who shares it. So much has happened since March that I'm not really sure I want to get into it in detail. The fact is, I have kind of dealt with it and really don't want to rehash it much. However, I suppose I will address what needs to be addressed for posterity's sake and do so in the most direct and concise way possible... if there is a way to do so.
WORK
I have absolutely loved being an English and Drama teacher, however, for almost three years I worked to have my school offer a Dance program. When the province issued a special arts designation to the school I was finally able to achieve my dream and start my very own program from the barres and mirrors up. The new program was part of an effort to draw students from outside boundaries to our school. Though for a very long time we had been bursting at the seams (we had 635 graduates this year), we were now faced with a drastic enrollment decline thanks to a new school finally being built in a nearby town. Though I won't get into the short-sighted nature of school locations, the result of the reduction in the number of students coming to the school (this year will see only 155 grade 9's) has caused a school staff surplus issue the likes of which our school board has never seen. Last year the school lost 27 staff and this year the school said goodbye to another 17.
In the midst of all this chaos, I was personally having a crisis of profession. I was feeling disillusioned with the state of the teaching profession, the idiocy of the union, and the quality of education we were providing our students. When I changed professions and entered teaching, I did so with the express intention of making learning accessible to the students who were most at risk of failure and whose needs were not being met academically, emotionally, and psychologically. Though I was doing my best in a traditional school setting to meet my goals as a teacher, I found that the red tape and bureaucracy was really getting to me. I was hoping to have a spark reignited within me by starting the dance program, alas, I still found myself in a pretty dark place.
It did not take long for me to realize that there was also something very wrong behind the scenes in the enrollment department. Students were being called in to Guidance and being moved out of my dance course. Being the only certified dance teacher, I had been saved from being surplus and moved to another school because I was needed to run my program. However, no students in the course, no program. My program had become the target of student poaching for the livelihood of other programs. Within three days, and completely under my nose, I had my program erased and I was told I was going to have to move schools with the hoard of other teachers who were also leaving. I was devastated. The fact that I was the teacher primarily responsible for the entire Grade 12 College English program did not matter either. It was a seniority and union thing, I was told.
As if the speed with which this had all happened wasn't bad enough, I was told a school an hour away was interested in me because of my teaching specialties. "Please tell me you are kidding me, right?" now I'm being asked to commute for a decent job too? I was repulsed. This had to be a window opening and not a door closing. I was ready to quit teaching before this chaos, maybe this was the stiff kick I needed to get out.
Then in an awesome twist of fate (which I completely do not believe in) God had me bump into a friend in the grocery store. I knew the moment I saw her and spoke with her that God was once again proving my need for patience should be worked on. Long story not-very-short, she made me aware of a new location for my school board's alternative education program. And, it was literally going to be down the street from the school I was leaving. This information had yet to hit the press. There really were not any teachers willing to start the program at the site because of its location, and she suggested I speak to my principal. So that's what I did.
The following day I walked into the principals office and asked about the proposed location. Once he confirmed it, I told him that that was where I wanted to be moved. Now, in most cases of teacher surplus in my school board, administrators trade teachers like an NFL draft to meet the various needs at different schools. In the case of the alternative school, they do not enter into the draft with other schools because, as you can imagine, if an unwilling teacher were placed into this program, they would not be very happy. Well, far be it for me to be part of the norm!!!! Within three days of being surplus from my school, I made to choice to join the staff of Archbishop Romero.
I will now be working at a suspension/expulsion school for students who have been removed from school do to various reasons (most of which have legal ramifications), and I could not be more excited! I realize that with the giant size of my school board I am SO VERY LUCKY to have a job in the face of surplus. Our board guarantees a job somewhere, no matter what. So many of my friends who are in small school boards have been surplus and find themselves jobless. Further, unlike so many others, I had a choice of where I ended up.
It has taken my family a bit of getting use to the idea of me teaching in a suspension/expulsion setting. I have assured Dave that contrary to his worst imaginings, I will not be waring a Kevlar vest to work everyday. The school has various locations as oppose to only one site, so I will learn the ropes at one of the existing sites and then I will move into the new location where I will be the one responsible for starting up the new branch of the program. The stark reality of this particular job is that there is a very high burnout rate due to the nature of the role. However, before I make a choice to leave the profession of teaching all together, I knew I needed to finally be immersed in the job I first entered teaching to do. No doubt this new chapter in my life will provide many stories to blog about in the the future.
WORK
I have absolutely loved being an English and Drama teacher, however, for almost three years I worked to have my school offer a Dance program. When the province issued a special arts designation to the school I was finally able to achieve my dream and start my very own program from the barres and mirrors up. The new program was part of an effort to draw students from outside boundaries to our school. Though for a very long time we had been bursting at the seams (we had 635 graduates this year), we were now faced with a drastic enrollment decline thanks to a new school finally being built in a nearby town. Though I won't get into the short-sighted nature of school locations, the result of the reduction in the number of students coming to the school (this year will see only 155 grade 9's) has caused a school staff surplus issue the likes of which our school board has never seen. Last year the school lost 27 staff and this year the school said goodbye to another 17.
In the midst of all this chaos, I was personally having a crisis of profession. I was feeling disillusioned with the state of the teaching profession, the idiocy of the union, and the quality of education we were providing our students. When I changed professions and entered teaching, I did so with the express intention of making learning accessible to the students who were most at risk of failure and whose needs were not being met academically, emotionally, and psychologically. Though I was doing my best in a traditional school setting to meet my goals as a teacher, I found that the red tape and bureaucracy was really getting to me. I was hoping to have a spark reignited within me by starting the dance program, alas, I still found myself in a pretty dark place.
It did not take long for me to realize that there was also something very wrong behind the scenes in the enrollment department. Students were being called in to Guidance and being moved out of my dance course. Being the only certified dance teacher, I had been saved from being surplus and moved to another school because I was needed to run my program. However, no students in the course, no program. My program had become the target of student poaching for the livelihood of other programs. Within three days, and completely under my nose, I had my program erased and I was told I was going to have to move schools with the hoard of other teachers who were also leaving. I was devastated. The fact that I was the teacher primarily responsible for the entire Grade 12 College English program did not matter either. It was a seniority and union thing, I was told.
As if the speed with which this had all happened wasn't bad enough, I was told a school an hour away was interested in me because of my teaching specialties. "Please tell me you are kidding me, right?" now I'm being asked to commute for a decent job too? I was repulsed. This had to be a window opening and not a door closing. I was ready to quit teaching before this chaos, maybe this was the stiff kick I needed to get out.
Then in an awesome twist of fate (which I completely do not believe in) God had me bump into a friend in the grocery store. I knew the moment I saw her and spoke with her that God was once again proving my need for patience should be worked on. Long story not-very-short, she made me aware of a new location for my school board's alternative education program. And, it was literally going to be down the street from the school I was leaving. This information had yet to hit the press. There really were not any teachers willing to start the program at the site because of its location, and she suggested I speak to my principal. So that's what I did.
The following day I walked into the principals office and asked about the proposed location. Once he confirmed it, I told him that that was where I wanted to be moved. Now, in most cases of teacher surplus in my school board, administrators trade teachers like an NFL draft to meet the various needs at different schools. In the case of the alternative school, they do not enter into the draft with other schools because, as you can imagine, if an unwilling teacher were placed into this program, they would not be very happy. Well, far be it for me to be part of the norm!!!! Within three days of being surplus from my school, I made to choice to join the staff of Archbishop Romero.
I will now be working at a suspension/expulsion school for students who have been removed from school do to various reasons (most of which have legal ramifications), and I could not be more excited! I realize that with the giant size of my school board I am SO VERY LUCKY to have a job in the face of surplus. Our board guarantees a job somewhere, no matter what. So many of my friends who are in small school boards have been surplus and find themselves jobless. Further, unlike so many others, I had a choice of where I ended up.
It has taken my family a bit of getting use to the idea of me teaching in a suspension/expulsion setting. I have assured Dave that contrary to his worst imaginings, I will not be waring a Kevlar vest to work everyday. The school has various locations as oppose to only one site, so I will learn the ropes at one of the existing sites and then I will move into the new location where I will be the one responsible for starting up the new branch of the program. The stark reality of this particular job is that there is a very high burnout rate due to the nature of the role. However, before I make a choice to leave the profession of teaching all together, I knew I needed to finally be immersed in the job I first entered teaching to do. No doubt this new chapter in my life will provide many stories to blog about in the the future.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Curious? No... It's more than that
Being that it is mid-term time and I am up to my eyeballs in marking, I am going to make this post short and sweet. Below is a series of photos that have been taken of bananas that Dave bought three weeks ago. They have been in the same sunny place for three weeks, yet they remain green. Like, WTF?
You may ask, why would we buy green bananas in the first place. Well, because even though we like bananas very much, our house has a crazy climate in which our fruit ripens at a rate similar to that of a country on the equator. So, if we would like to enjoy our bananas without them going black by the end of the week, we must buy them green.
I AM DESPERATE FOR A BANANA!!!! Yet, still I wait.... Way to go Del Monte organic bananas, way to go!!!!
You may ask, why would we buy green bananas in the first place. Well, because even though we like bananas very much, our house has a crazy climate in which our fruit ripens at a rate similar to that of a country on the equator. So, if we would like to enjoy our bananas without them going black by the end of the week, we must buy them green.
I AM DESPERATE FOR A BANANA!!!! Yet, still I wait.... Way to go Del Monte organic bananas, way to go!!!!
Week One- I am so hungry....
Week Two- I can feel the potassium leaving my body...
Week Three - I know bananas will be extinct in 20 years, but right now, I really can't remember their sweet goodness...
For some reason these pictures added a yellow tinge to the fruit, but I can assure you, there is no yellow yet. None at all.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
March Break - Activity # 3
As per usual, we have used our holiday to do home renovations. The first goal on Dave's list was to tackle the spare room. Or rather, the Barney room as we had aptly named it. You see, when we moved in, the room had been a little girl's bedroom. And for some reason, perhaps because this sweet 6 year old had been able to choose the colour, it was the colour of a popular large dinosaur from the early part of the decade. To say the very least, it was offensive.
There is something to be said for a man who has a thirst for painting. Look at the sense of satisfaction he has as he rolls the last bit of primer over the abomination that was the purple walls. Pure joy I tell you; that is pure joy!
I have a bit of a commitment issue when it comes to paint colours. I know how absolutely temporary they are, but I still break into a sweat having to make the final decision in the paint store. Inevitably, I always hate the colour for about two weeks after it goes on the wall. Here is the final result of our spare room.
So, armed again with a giant pail of primer, Dave happily began to tackle this room as the next room in a series we like to call The Olden's Paint Everything.
So far, we had painted the main floor powder room and the dining room and the study. The powder room, if you remember from a past post, was the room with the lovely teal textured walls that needed to be sanded down and Greco-Roman light fixture that smoked from the halogen lights that were in it.
This is it now:
The print on the wall is from one of my favorite Canadian artists, the late Norval Morrisseau. He is considered the "Picasso of the North" and as an Anishinaabe artist his works feature the beauty of Canadian Aboriginal spirituality and mysticism. This particular work is entitled A Branch From The Tree of Heaven.
Though not nearly as well known, Dave is also a skilled artist with a paint brush. In later posts I will show the final result of the study and the dining room, but here, I actually managed before and after shots of the Barney room, so I figured I would post them ASAP.
There is something to be said for a man who has a thirst for painting. Look at the sense of satisfaction he has as he rolls the last bit of primer over the abomination that was the purple walls. Pure joy I tell you; that is pure joy!I have a bit of a commitment issue when it comes to paint colours. I know how absolutely temporary they are, but I still break into a sweat having to make the final decision in the paint store. Inevitably, I always hate the colour for about two weeks after it goes on the wall. Here is the final result of our spare room.
It has all the furniture from the spare room in the old house (a.k.a. my old university furniture) , so I think maybe it is throwing me off, but it has only been a few days, so I have miles to go until I love it. The main thing is, NO BARNEY!!!! And that's what counts isn't it?
And as I type, Dave is filling the walls and sanding in the laundry room and bathroom. I suppose I should get back to him. It is, of course, The Olden's Paint Everything, so that means both of us...
March Break - Activity # 2
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| Our egg tree on the foyer table |
In fact, it is my absolute favorite holiday of the year (All Hallows Eve being the next runner up). Faith aside, and believe me, most of the reason I love this holiday has everything to do with my faith, I think it is the most beautiful and hopeful holiday of the year. In the colour department it is absolutely the most pretty, and in the season department it brings Spring. Who couldn't love Easter?
On the faith side, Easter ultimately means that we all have a new start. We can brush off the dust and crap like the Winter leftovers that remain from the thaw and like an Easter egg, we are given a chance for a fresh start at beautiful new beginning. Easter and Spring bring us re-birth like a cuddly baby little lamb after a long time in the barn. That's Easter to me.
My birthday is in March, and as a result, all my life I have received gifts that somehow had a connection to Easter. At some point people began giving me bunnies and it became a birthday trend that turned into an homage of seasonal decor. It also doesn't hurt that the scent of Easter lilies and hyacinths is the best smell on earth (next to a freshly tilled garden) and it is also my birthday smell, if you will indulge a person to have a birthday smell. So, as a result of combined celebrations, I have embraced this holiday season by filling our house with all the Easter things I love. Dave just smiles with that, "look how I managed to domesticate the wild one" look as I participate in these sorts of things.
This year I was determined to have an Easter egg wreath for our front door. Dave humored me as we went on a hunt (no pun intended) for this egg wreath. We searched high and low. I think I may have been in every shop in our town to find one, but to no avail. Those I found were either ugly or too small. Then it dawned on me! Why not just make one? So I did...
I decided that the best place to make this project was at my family flower shop. For 16 years I have had the luxury of easy access to supplies of the trade at my finger tips. Though this was not at all going to test my floral skills, it gave me the excuse to hang out with my sister while I dipped my cute little eggs in the hot glue pan.
There was a need for me to scout out just the right eggs for this project. The right melange of eggs is key to ultimate curb-appeal once on the door. These were two sizes, some glittery and some beaded.
This is the standard wicker frame I decided to use. Not too heavy but nice and strong.
This is the pile as I take a break from gluing. They started off as eggs on a metal pick, so thanks to Max, I did not have to cut a million eggs off their wires! That's love I tell you.
Here is the final product on our front door. Gone are the very yellowed Christmas containers and greenery. Now we have a festive little purple urn with artificial forsythia and the ultimate egg wreath.
I am thinking I might need to scout out an Easter door mat though, don't you think? I pulled out our summer one and it's just not doing it for me. The hunt continues...
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A Pre-Break Culinary Adventure
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| Just one more bite Davey... you can do it! |
For over a year it has been a small goal of Dave and mine to dine at Nick and Nat's Uptown 21 in Waterloo. Early on in our relationship we realized that we might be what one calls a 'foodie', however Yuppie that may sound. The reality is, we love to eat, we love great food, and we are super critical...ok, maybe not critical, let's say discerning, and we are not afraid to try anything. In fact, for years we have thrown around the idea of writing our own critical reviews for hungry couples. Wow, I just realized the multi-layered context with which that last sentence could be interpreted!
Anywho, back to the subject at hand, Nat and Nick's. Dave and I were cursed with never finding the time when this cute little secret of a restaurant was open to partake in its awesomeness; then it happened, last weekend we finally ate there! And let me tell you, it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT.
To begin, we sat at the chef's bar which makes you practically a sous-chef in the kitchen. You are literally on the other side of the counter. This may be the most deadly seat in the house as you can watch the entire menu as it is prepared. If you have a hard time choosing your meals, this will not make it easier! We had not planned on going anywhere for dinner that night so we were dressed in our usual weekend uniform of jeans and hoodies. Of course I was wearing my purple Wellies . It was a busy Saturday night and we stuck out like sore thumbs, but by the end of the night, I'm sure they were happy they seated us.
We started off with our appetizers, both of which were fois gras based. Dave's croquette was divine as was my terrine plate.
As our seconds, Dave enjoyed the mussels in a tomato and olive based melange that payed respect to the awesomeness of layered fresh herbs. My salad was a testament to the greatness of freshly grated cheese on anything.
Our mains did not disappoint. Dave had the lobster and shrimp dish and I had the steak. The fish was to die for and the delightful rub on the steak was a perfect frame for the care taken in its aging and preparation. We could not drive the option of the homemade squash ravioli from our minds, so we also shared a half order of them and did not regret our choice!
It should be noted, that at this point in the meal I reminded Dave that there was no shame in turning to our Greek / Roman forefathers in our time of need. Dionysus / Bacchus had a suggestion for dealing with the 'can't eat another bite' feeling. Dave simple looked at me with an unimpressed look. Good golly, it was just a suggestion! Instead we rested and digested before our final selections.
Dessert for me was tempura apple dumplings. Dave had the creme brule. We also shared the homemade berry gelato. When we were done nothing but a sprig of mint remained!
The price for our meal was well in keeping with the dynamic changes that are being seen in uptown Waterloo with the addition of higher end dining options. There is no question that the value and quality of our meal more than justified the price (which really was not outrageous). It also helped that it was annual bonus time for the Olden family!
We cannot wait to go back. In fact, we have already begun to plan our next menu choices. Since it is and ever changing menu of local produce, I suppose we will need to make it soon; poor us! ;)
Monday, March 14, 2011
March Break - Activity # 1
There are a variety of activities that Dave and I will be undertaking this March Break. As per usual, they will revolve primarily around home improvement projects. There were plans that we might actually take a honeymoon, but why on earth would we do that? We would rather continue to be frugal and mature with our earnings and deprive ourselves of fun in order to be debt free (please feel free to wipe up any extra sarcasm that may be getting on you).
Alas, my primary goal now is to have a number of posts up regarding the break as it unfolds, but for now, please enjoy a few pictures of the only member of the family actually enjoying the break... Miss Le Fluff herself.
Here Humphery is watching The Westminster Kennel Club finals. No, this is not a set up, it was actually on and I was listening to it while I was sewing in the other room. I came in to find her in this position.
Here she seems to be quite struck by Ladybug, the Portuguese Water Dog. Later on Humphery would go on to tell me she thought that Ladybug only won her Best In Breed because she is the same breed as the Obama's dog.
Here Miss Le Fluff is caught red-pawed watching the final awarding of Best in Show. She later reported that she felt that the winning dog, Hickory the Scottish Deerhound, was much deserving of the award. She felt it was high time that Hickory get time in the spotlight as she would be retiring after this year. I personally think Humphery was a little geriatrically empathetic and bias.
Alas, my primary goal now is to have a number of posts up regarding the break as it unfolds, but for now, please enjoy a few pictures of the only member of the family actually enjoying the break... Miss Le Fluff herself.
Here she seems to be quite struck by Ladybug, the Portuguese Water Dog. Later on Humphery would go on to tell me she thought that Ladybug only won her Best In Breed because she is the same breed as the Obama's dog.
The Olden family would like to congratulate Hickory on her win. Bravo, Hickory, Bravo!
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