The school year ended with much excitement. I managed to go on the end of the year field trip to Grand Pre and thankfully didn’t have to answer a single question about puberty! Spiderman and Bones received wonderful report cards and Bones received a Citizenship Award. As if that wasn’t enough, I was blown away a few days ago to read an email from St. FX announcing that The Tall Blond made the Dean’s List!!!! I’m surrounded by these amazing kids and can’t brag about them enough!
Posts: “Growing up… not so OK…”, “Here comes summer…” and “You can have your cupcake… and eat it too!”
Just a month ago we watched in disbelief, the Vancouver riots that followed a hockey game. While the events that night were horrid, embarrassing and had people talking for days… the folks that came out for the cleanup the next day and days after… inspired us. Brad Marchand, a local hockey hero, will be bringing the Stanley Cup to Halifax at the end of August to an excited crowd. I’m sure my kids will be delighted to see “The Cup” just as they were when Sidney brought it home last year. Speaking of Sidney, he just gave money to the IWK Foundation for a “Teen Center”… a great spot for young people to hang out while in the hospital receiving treatment. During his press conference, he happily sat down with Olivia (from my “Everyone’s got a story” post) and did a few “arts and crafts” with her! Hockey… hockey players… really can make an impact on our lives but time and time again we have to remember it’s only a game! (Oh… and if anyone can snag me tickets to the Bobby Orr event happening in a few weeks… let me know. I’d be my son’s hero for life!)
Posts: “What a riot…” and “Everyone’s got a story…”
My car was up for safety inspection and needed new brakes in June so I brought it in where I happened to know there was a special (I’d received a coupon in the mail just that week). Unfortunately, while I was at my daughter’s school field trip, I got a call listing a few other things that were wrong and was told it wouldn’t pass safety inspection! I panicked a little… but since I had no time to deal with it at that very moment and refer all of my car issues to my friend Randy Power at O’Regans… I told them to do the brakes only and leave the rest alone. The next day, stressed about how much more this would cost, I brought the car to O’Regan’s with the list of ailments and well… it’s a good thing I went for a second opinion because they couldn’t find ANYTHING wrong with the car! I’d been completely bamboozled!! Single mother with car walks into a garage for a brake job and… screw off!!! Visit my friends at O’Regan’s for your second opinions… better yet… just go there to begin with!
Post: “It’s all about the detail….”
Oxford Learning Centre gave away a great basket of goodies to one of the readers of “Curtains are Open”. They’ve been a big supporter of this blog from the beginning. Follow them on Facebook for lots of information on your child’s education.
Post: “A Giveaway from Oxford Learning.”
I wrote a post about the amazing adventures folks take and I’m forever amazed by the people they meet. It really is true that these connections we make are life altering… meeting people… putting yourself out there… seeing a “bigger world”… it makes us realize that we’re all so much alike and everyone is looking for a way to fit in to this world we live in. Don’t forget to contact Gail about buying hats and mitts from the women in Nepal… it’s also a great idea for fundraising! I’m currently in the process of planning my next adventure… at the moment it’s mostly in my imagination… but so far it’s sounding pretty amazing!
Post: “Hats off to the adventurous…”
The “most read” post this month was “My friends are crazy… period…”. Yup, my friend Crazy really did drop a tampon right in the middle of the Lower Deck then blamed it on me! What I didn’t tell you was that it wasn’t in its wrapper… nope… just a glowing white “thing with a string” on the bar room floor! I’ll tell you this… my friends… while they can be crass and undignified and wonderfully loud… they make me laugh every single day of my life and are the most amazing, supportive group of women I could ever dream of spending time with… even if, from time to time, they truly are an embarrassment!
Post: “My friends are crazy… period.”
I’m still a little freaked that my days as a stay-at-home mom are coming to an end. It’s so very strange to be returning to school after so many years of being at home. Odder than that, prior to be being at home with my kids, I was an instructor at Mount Saint Vincent University so I was in front of the class lecturing rather than the one being taught. It’s scary… totally terrifying in fact… but I’m sure I’ll make out just fine. It bugs me a little that this blog is getting so popular and I feel a little like I may have missed my calling as a writer. Then I read some of my old posts and pick up typos and grammar mistakes and realize that no… it’s probably best I never went into this professionally after all! In the meantime… what the hell… I’m in the process of writing a book and who knows… I might turn into an author someday! For now, I’ve school ahead of me and hopefully I’ll be able to keep up my writing and learn some new skills as well. Oh… and keep the house clean… and the kids happy… and the dog fed… and food on the table… and the laundry clean… and the floors washed… and the bills paid… and OH MY GOD I’M FREAKING OUT AGAIN!!
Post” “Final Countdown…”
There were five days in a row that I didn’t post… and boy oh boy you let me know! A fickle bunch you are! I had emails and phone calls and Facebook messages to find out if I’d dropped off the face of the earth! Nope… I’m here… just had stuff going on… and love that you missed me while I was gone.
Post: “Here come’s summer…”
Bones nearly lost her mind when she saw her doll bunk beds stating “they’re a bit bigger than I thought” which was perfect because apparently she was nervous that her doll wouldn’t fit. When I told her that myself and Spiderman, with much help from my Dad, made the masterpiece… she was absolutely shocked, threw her arms around me and told me that they were “more special” because they were made with love. She then thanked and hugged her brother like I’d never seen before making me feel fabulous about the entire experience. Each night, she tucks her little doll in tight… deciding first if she’ll sleep on the top or bottom bunk that night! While she’s away at camp this week, I’m making the bedding to match her bedroom… and can’t wait to see her reaction when she comes home!
Post: “Make your bed…”
I haven’t been back to play tennis with Spiderman though I did greatly enjoy myself. My hip was sore for a couple of days and just yesterday I went to the doctor to see why it’s taking so long to heal. I’ve an xray scheduled for Monday for my hip and chest. My chest… well… I have some rattly thing going on in there for the last two months… referring to it as “the croop”… so it’s time I checked that out too. I’m a bit of a walking disaster these days!
Post: “Love…”
Rumor has it the beaver was shot!
Post: “Beaver… dam…”
I scared a few of you with my post “The curtains are closed…” as some of you thought I was shutting down my blog! Nope. This blog is forcing me to experience new things and providing invitations to events I would never have been invited to before… and I’m having a ball! I quite like being included in a party and happily will attend anything I’m invited to! (As long as it’s on a weekend when I’m not with my kids!) So… go ahead… ask me to come to your party! Oh… and expect that I might drag Gib, Prada, Little-One, Crazy, CA, Red, my Tweeps or other non-nicknamed friends along with me… possibly all of them at once! Also, if anyone can snag me two tickets to the Bobby Orr event being held in Halifax in a few weeks I’d be greatly appreciative… did I mention this already?
Post: “The curtains are closed…”
There were a few tweets back and forth between myself and Ms. Jill Barber after I wrote the post about her this week. She’s simply adorable… there’s no other way to describe her. I made sure she realized that saying she looked like an ostrich in her party dress was a compliment and she responded with “I’m less French Maid and more Feather Duster.” See… adorable!!
Post: “Oh my my…”
Also… the crowd at The Bicycle Thief seemed quite pleased with my review of their restaurant and commented on their Facebook site that “One should never laugh quietly – it’s simply not good for you!” They’re looking forward to the next time we drop by and fully blame me if folks start requesting to be seated at the “pig table!”
Post: “The Bicycle Thief.”
So… that’s it for another “Queen’s Update”! Click on the links to visit the posts you didn’t get a chance to read or re-read the ones you really enjoyed. When you’re done, click on Like, Tweet and Share so I know you like what I have to say and you can share it with your friends! Oh… and don’t forget to comment!
Enjoy the rest of your summer my friends. The next time I update it will be a few short weeks before I’m heading to the classroom for further adventures and …. I’M FREAKING OUT AGAIN!!!
Queen
xo