Homework

Don't panic - I am not giving you homework........I am though going to gripe about homework for a minute.

I get it.....I know homework is necessary, I may even concede homework is good for reinforcing learning, for the discipline of taking responsibility for your own learning. 

I have always parented by the understanding that homework is a contract between the teacher and the child and I have tried, for the most part,  to stay out of the fray.  I check in everyday about what is due and when and only sign off on work I see is complete.  When my kids have dropped the ball I let them work it out with their teachers.

Just lately it feels to me like homework is ruling our home and our family life. 

I don't know if it's that David is in a new school or that Grade 7 is just a normal jump in homework but he is consistently doing 1-2 hours of homework everyday and yesterday he pretty much worked 4-5 hours on a project.  He is done so his Sunday is free.

Lindsay is in a big hole academically in what we are calling "the post-France slump".....she got behind, got overwhelmed and is now working hours and hours on backlogged assignments and tests and quizzes she missed as well as trying to keep up on her current workload.  She will have worked over 8-10 hours this weekend.

And then there is Allan's double whammy - not only does he have piles and piles of tests and homework to mark, total and enter,  he also has a lot of  homework for his University courses.  I expect he will have worked 10 hours this weekend and he just told me he has to do 2 assignments while we are on vacation in  Hawaii. What!? 

So I am feeling pretty bitter about homework today. 

I feel like homework stole the weekend. 

Being the only person not doing homework this weekend I should have the least to beef about but I missed my family.  No adventurers with me.....I went shopping on my own....which was nice but would have been nicer with a sidekick or two......

I am hoping we can pull off a "Family Movie Night" tonight.  This long ago established event means "feast food" as our kids have always called it.  I make a variety of dishes and we put them on the coffee table and munch our way through a movie.  I think tonight we'll put on the fire and our PJ's and munch while watching Cars 2.......

Take that homework........ see you tomorrow no doubt......but tonight is ours!

A song for your Saturday

 Lyrics to This Is The Stuff :

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

45 in a 35
Sirens and fines while I'm running behind
Whoa

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff
Someone save me
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
And I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

Oh Oh Oh Oh
This is the stuff You use

Go Vote!

It's time to elect the people who decide how your neighbourhood will look, what transportation will be available, what public art will be created, what your property taxes will be, who will fight for better school buildings, better recreational facilities......these are people making decisions that impact you close to home....please don't be part of the 78% who blow this election off. 

I know we all have busy Saturdays but it won't take you long to go and vote. 

I know some people feel they don't know the candidates and the platforms - I know there are lots of people running and its hard to keep track of it all but 15 minutes on the Richmond Review or Richmond News websites will give you a good sense of who stands for what.

Regardless of their political stripe these are people who care enough about our City to spend mostly their own money and hours and hours campaigning to make it a better place to live.  They are our neighbours, friends, colleagues....they deserve, at the very least, the respect of us showing up and voting.

Hats of to all the candidates - elected or not - Richmond is lucky to have people who do this work.

If you really don't know how to vote by Saturday and you live in Richmond - call me.......  OK..... now no excuses!

GO VOTE!

Blog Madness

This blog is quickly approaching it's first birthday and I have been reflecting on it.  I truly did not have any expectations of it other than to chronicle our lives as our own digital scrapbook and also to give me a chance to write.

Some things I have found/learned/pondered/been amazed by:

1. I have written far more posts than I expected - it will be over 300 by the end of the year.  I can honestly say that I never struggled to find the topic or the words....the most surprising things came to me just when I sat down to write.

2. Finding the time has been challenging but doable. I often write late at night and post the next day but I have never written several posts ahead.

3.I write many blog posts in my head in the middle of the night that are so much better than the ones that I end up posting.  I need a direct brain to blog device.

4. I am over the panic of not posting for a day or two......if I have nothing to say or no time.... well.... no big deal.

5. I don't think I will ever be over my surprise at how many people read this - from across the globe.  Just yesterday the USA surpassed the Canadians as top viewers.  The list of countries from which people come is astounding......hello Bulgaria!

6. I will also always be surprised at which blog posts go viral and which are ignored....I have tried to guess.....and I am always wrong! 

7. I allow anonymous commenting on my blog - many don't - I get way more conversation on my blog via Facebook than on my actual blog and I know those people. There have been some touching and interesting comments this year.

8. I love reading back over my posts - it truly is a diary of my life and I love it for that. 

9. I have become a blog reader - I follow several blogs and sometimes just troll through blog land reading.  I am irritated by abandoned blogs littering blog land - if you are done, archive it, print it, whatever and delete.  I am blown away by the number and diversity of blogs.....there are a lot of people with a lot to say!

10. I want and need to spend more time exploring the "blogger" platform - I have a sense my blog could look better and be more streamlined - I think that will be my goal for the second year of my blogging.

11. Blogging had made me a better photographer.....I love capturing the ordinary, everyday moments and I think it will be cool for my kids to look back on ordinary days as well as big days and vacations and special moments.

12.  I don't think my writing has really improved or deepened in skill or creativity and maybe a blog isn't the right place for that.  I am pleased to be in the discipline of writing often.  Now I need to hone my skills.  There is still a book in me somewhere.  I just hope there is an Editor equal to the task!

13. I am humbled by the people who read what I write - I feel at once deeply grateful and somewhat embarrassed or shy.  It still takes me aback when I am telling someone a story and they interrupt me and say "Oh I know - I read it on your blog".

So thanks for being on this journey with me...I appreciate you and I'd love your feedback.....

Wordless Wednesday - Stormy Day - Safe Harbour

The weekend of 11-11-11 in review

Weekend Top 11 review

1. A slow start to Friday.  Allan was a robotics "thing" at Science World all day.

2. I got the backyard cleaned up and the furniture stored for the winter. And everything secured before the coming wind storm.

3. Was driving around in the midst of a feirce windstorm - got some amazing photos (See Wordless Wednesday this week).  Actually had a pretty photo focused weekend (pun intended)

4. Dinner at my parents - a lovely meal - great conversation (and luckily electricity!)

5. An eerie drive home through many dark subdivisions where the power was out - no street lights or traffic lights.

6. Not having to go out in the pouring cold rain to soccer on Saturday (I am so thankful Allan took David)

7. Circle Craft Christmas Market- humbled by the talented people out there who create such amazing, beautiful and ingenious things.

8. A new restaurant - Nuba - Lebanese food - interesting but not as good as our beloved Habibi's in Portland.

9. My first time at the Steveston Winter Market followed by a wander through the village where I got craft supplies which alluded me all weekend, veggies, a few more Christmas gifts and a very good coffee.

10. One photobook completed, good progress on another one

11. A lovely roast dinner cooked by Allan followed by another episode of "Once Upon a Time" which continues to be interesting to watch and this week had lots of shots of our little piece of the world.

Now into a crazy busy week......

MmmmmMuffins

After a stormy, windy day yesterday today is the kind of grey, cold, soaking wet day that Vancouver is so (in)famous for in November (and to be fair we have had relatively few this Fall so far). 

We snuggled in bed as long a possible before the chores of the day could not be ignored any longer. 

The boys had to go off to a soccer match in Burnaby and will be soaked and freezing when they get home.  Lindsay and I had an unsuccessful time trying to find some supplies for Christmas presents we are hoping to make ourselves.

As I have previously established in this blog I am craft-deficient - I have great ideas, great plans but am easily discouraged when things don't go as the You Tube tutorial video showed!!  Today we just could not find two crucial ingredients and I am frustrated.

My children may not, in their adult years, be able to recall much of my baking.  Here too I suffer from a deficit and am not overly adventuresome in the baking department.  Although in my own defence I have pulled off a couple of epic desserts in my time (with equally epic portions of stress and anxiety!).

But I am counting on the fact my children will remember Mom's Cheese Muffins......we fondly call them Mom's Best Ever Muffins.....ok........ I make them call them that!

Its a recipe out of a magazine that I cut out about 20 years ago and glued into my "Recipe File" when I was an idealistic young homemaker.  sigh.  I even wrote "excellent" next to the recipe......

I have made them so often now I know the recipe by heart.  Its a basic recipe that can be changed up in any number of ways.  Today I have 4 different kinds of cheese in them, most often I do cheddar and rosemary.....

So when the boys get home there will be warm Mom's Best Ever Muffins and a warm pot of tea to take the chill off and warm them up before we head downtown on the train to the Circle Craft Christmas Market which we love!

Oh.....you want the recipe?  OK!


210 g flour
30 ml sugar
15 ml baking powder

Sift into bowl.

Beat together
190 ml milk
80 ml oil
1 egg

Make well in centre of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredient and mix until just combined.

Here you can add the cheese/s, rosemary, cranberries, chocolate chips........whatever you like.

Will make a dozen small muffins - I like to make 8 bigger ones - 2 for each of us and none left over - they don't keep very well anyway!

Enjoy your Best Ever Muffins