And now, the end is here...

Almost!! Only hours to go!! Though, essentially I'm done now. What? I don't think I quite understood that last sentence!  DOES NOT COMPUTE!! I'm what??? Done? Finished? Kaput? Over and out? Out to pasture?

                      RETIRED!!

TRULY? They're really going to let me leave? And continue to pay me? Is this legal??  'Cause it feels really weird - like I'm going to wake up and find out it was all a big practical joke!

Last night I dined at the parents of my graduating student, Alex. As a polish immigrant this woman knows how to cook! Pork roulade, chicken that had been marinated for 2 days, and salmon. Two kinds of slaw, potatoes, rice, her world-famous mushroom sauce, green salad, two kinds of dessert. Ooooof! I'm turning into a barrel!

However, I was so glad to leave! Oh my! Her husband said that he likes when they have guests because then his wife has to treat him a little nicer. Nice? You call that nice? The man can say nothing right - every time he started to say something she would interrupt him in her constantly LOUD and SHRILL voice - no, you're wrong....actually, it happened like this....that's not what I meant at all....the point is....no, no, no, let me tell the story...she overpowered him at every turn - I'm surprised he even opens his mouth at all. She insulted him constantly...I could barely stand it and it went on from 5pm til I managed to leave at almost 10pm! What an ordeal!

However, that is done and over so I will move on...tonight I am volunteering at graduation so I will get to say good-bye to many Gr. 12 students who were members of my Best Buddies club - there will be lots of tears. It will be closure for them and for me. Then tomorrow I will go in early one last time, sit at my desk with a cup of coffee...and remember..........then mass, a brief meeting and lunch at Aromas - a wonderful Portugese restaurant here in London. And then...

                      FREEDOM!!!

and then on to the Village Pub for drinkies with friends, pack up my truck on Saturday and hit the road on Sunday. Wow, is this really happening???   Just pinched myself - yup, I'm awake! It doesn't feel real yet, I wonder when it will?

Here are a few pics from my open house - I figure if I keep looking at images from all of the celebrations over the past couple of weeks maybe I'll start to believe it....

 Alex, we are both "retiring"...

 This is the best smile David could muster lol!

 Some of this year's gang - Natalie, David, Alex and Kianna..

A former student - all grown up! So handsome Rustic! and very tall!

 my pal Amanda, she is so very sweet:)

 Former student - Adam (we share the same last name so I always called Adam "my son by another mother!"

Former students and brothers Shawn and Gary - again, all grown up! (and handsome!!)

 Former student Agniezka and her dad - she gave a little impromptu speech and did very well!

 It took some tracking down but I found former student Jesse (her dad died  a couple months ago and she's now living with other relatives); she still loves to rub my head and say "porcupine hair!"

My AV guy, Jerry.  I got to hug so many handsome men that day :)

Cutting my cake - throughout the whole afternoon I only managed to eat a piece of blueberry cake baked at my request by my retiring student's polish mom - she sure can cook!!

 My super duper extra large sized card :)

My retirement pal -Fil - formerly the dep't head of Learning Services...

The staff and students put together a video - perhaps I'll post it one of these days - it was very emotional witnessing each student saying goodbye in their own special way...

good memories or as they say in Tignish - the very best!

the love of my life, former student Todd came to visit so we shared some cake :)

my bestie, Jules, stopped by, thank you my dear one!

 that cake I'm holding? I'm feeding it to Todd, I miss those times with you Todd... (Todd's mom to the left and his dad in the background with Jules...)

 Alex's best buddy - Melissa - they have shared some special moments over the years - they enjoyed dancing together to 60's tunes on Fridays...

the best EA ever and party organizer Michele behind me - thanks Michele!!

our big boy Paul and his mom behind me...

Paul loves to draw and drew some pictures of him and I as a gift - thanks Paul!!

 Some extraordinary best buddies!

It's difficult to see but I am holding a pink glass heart, engraved from Todd :) He stole my heart years ago!

 since it's too late to fire me I figured I could get away with sitting on Todd's knee one last time!!

Colin, a supply EA who spent most of the year with us thankfully, and Cristhian (a former street kid from El Salvador, saved by adoption and brought to Canada), an amazing young man:)

and what a thrill to see Lori once more, she's graduating from another highschool this year after being with me for 5 years. Due to family issues (her parents couldn't manage her behaviour so Lori had to move into a mental health facility which was not within the boundaries of my school). Now she's graduating and her caseworker is looking into a group home placement. Good luck Lori!

 Lori was missing a CCH yearbook from 2011-2012 (she has a mind like a steel trap) and I just happened to have one so I gave it to her. We got her former classmates to write in it so that worked out well :)

Such great smiles! It was the best day of my career seeing all of my students from the past and present together for one last time. Very emotional day...

If you made it to the end of this post - BRAVO!! I feel like I should have something amazingly deep and meaningful to say right now but I just feel exhausted, wrung out and in a daze. I really need a holiday lol!! I'd best get preparing for a long one!!  I have a long to-do list to help me get on my way so I better get cracking! TTYL!!

What a looooooong but absolutely fantastic day! It all began at 6am as we juggled time in the bathroom for showers, hairdos (Kazi's obviously not mine!), makeup etc. I managed to snap one photo of Kazi before her friend whisked her away to the university to pick up their regalia. About 30 minutes later Michael, our neighbour Alma (Kazi's adopted gramma) and I made our way to Western U as well. It was already about 30c (90F) and HUMID! I dashed around looking for Kazi as I had to hold everyone's purses during the proceedings. It took a while but finally I made my way back to Alumni Hall where the convocation was taking place. Kazi's boyfriend Steve had also arrived by this time so we took our seats and waited....

At 9:30 the grads and faculty processed in. See that blond head dead centre in the lower third of the above photo?  Yup, that's my girl!

Getting hooded...

 Ta da!  We did it!! Another major milestone reached!

 Then...out into the crazy heat for a few more photos of course!

 Proud momma!

 I get to show you Kazi's cute boyfriend - Steve!

Michael and Kazi - great smiles you two!

Showing off Western U's colours! Go PURPLE!

This is what $30,000 gets you?

My favorite photo of the day - I prefer candid shots. Oh, and that's the dress I helped pay for (that's what $250 gets you!)

She's not really that much taller than me...she had on platform sandals....it's true!

I'm stopping here for now as it's getting late...I'll let you know about the rest of the day tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day!!

Had to share with you my Father's Day Card.  This isn't the first time Kazi has given me a Father's Day card and I have to tell you it really warms my heart that she acknowledges the challenges of single parenting. 

My little baby is graduating from university on Tuesday! I'll post pictures of her in her $250 silk dress that I helped pay for. I gave her $150 towards the cost of the  dress - I decided to NOT give her the whole amount because if she's going to make such expensive choices then she needs to pick up part of the tab! 

It's rather ironic (or perhaps mystifying would be a better work, or stupefying) that she has developed such expensive tastes. For the first 10-12 years of her life all of her clothing came from second hand stores. Even as a teenager she would come with me to the second hand shops occasionally and make a purchase or two. But somewhere along the way (perhaps when I started buying her $100 jeans for her birthdays) she adopted the old adage of "PAY TWICE AS MUCH MONEY FOR HALF AS MUCH CLOTHING"!!

She now only shops at the best stores and buys only top quality items. Personally, I find that hard, no impossible, to do.  I was raised by parents who grew up during the great depression and learned to re-use, recycle, redevelop every item that they had.  Flour sacks were turned into quilts, empty juice cans held nails, nuts and bolts, scrap lumber turned into a chicken coop and so on. This generation is different - AND I do admire her "less is more" approach.  Instead of having 10 second hand dresses she has 1 or 2 really good ones.  Once I retire I want to practice that strategy...Anyhoo I digress....

I am very PROUD of my daughter. It couldn't have been easy having an absentee father. She has never complained about that, instead she acknowledges the fact that I've been both mother and father to her. I've been working on a MEMORY ALBUM for her as I have saved every scrap of paper she ever wrote or drew on, every art project, every report card, every award, every EVERYTHING she's produced or received over the past 21 years. I thought one album would be sufficient but I've filled the whole album and have only gotten as far as GRADE ONE!! YIKES!! So I purchased some insert pages so I can at least get to highschool by her convocation date!

These two photos were taken Friday night. Can you tell Kazi didn't want her picture taken?? The young man she is with is Michael's son, Dane. He kinda forced her to get her picture taken...she can be a bit of a grumpus from time to time lol! She reminds me of my mother who never wanted her picture taken unless every single thing was perfect: hair, makeup, clothing, lighting, angle etc etc!! My poor dear - she doesn't realize that she's absolutely breathtaking even first thing in the morning with NO makeup, NO hairdo, NO amazing outfit! 

Anyway, the step-siblings usually get along great and even though he works as a firefighter on the airbase in Trenton they stay in touch by texting and calling. He's a lovely young man and was raised in a single parent family too - Michael was the main custodial parent so both kids grew up as only children of single parents - and they have turned out just FINE!!  thank you very much! (That's a slam against all the studies that show kids from single parent homes grow up to be serial killers!)

I sure am rambling on and on today. What was my point?? Oh yes, Father's Day. Celebrate the men (or women!!)  in your life and appreciate their vast contributions to our lives. Even the negative experiences can be great teachers. 

What are you doing to celebrate Father's Day?

Friday Folderol

folderol - Trivial or nonsensical fuss, nonsense, or a useless trifle.


Feel free to pass on by this post. It is mere folderol! 


Top Ten Thoughts on My Mind Today (TTToMMT):

1. I'm thinking about buying Michael a chainsaw for Father's Day. Copp's Buildall has electric ones on sale for $99.99! Hmmmm, might need an awfully long cord though to reach into our little forest!?!
2. Giant Tiger has my brand of hair clippers on sale. Currently Michael and I share my old one. When he discovered he could achieve the same effect as his barber did with the clippers for FREE instead of $30 + tip every couple of weeks he was CONVERTED!  By doing our own hair we've saved thousands of $$$$$!
3. It's GIRL'S NIGHT tonight!!  What should I take to drink??? I'm leaning towards a bottle of rasberry Sourpuss and 7UP, a drink I was introduced to at the Albert and Crown in Alberton last summer. A nice tart summery drink - YUM!
4. As it's my bestie's birthday today (mine 2 weeks ago and my other friend's in a couple of weeks) I've decided to offer them a beach day next week as a gift (neither of them own a car). SO.MUCH.FUN!
5. Don't look don't look DON'T LOOK!  Oh crap, I looked....I'm going to have to do some weeding today on my back patio. Lots of little weedy plants are growing up between the concrete patio stones.....
6. The Euro Cup starts today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go England!!!!!!!!!!!!! (note to self: find and install St. George Cross flags on the car)
7. What should I eat for breakfast? My choices are: Vector cereal on vanilla yogurt, sour dough rye toast with PB, oatmeal, eggs and chicken bacon. 
8. Three weeks tomorrow morning I'll be headed east to PEI!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. Twenty-two years ago this week I graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an Honours degree in Visual Arts. I was seven months pregnant and Kazi kicked up a storm all day long; soon she will be receiving her own degree from the same university. Momma's so proud!
10. Visited with one brother yesterday and the other one this afternoon - I love my bro's!

Financial Uber Notes (FUN):

1. For Kazi's graduation I am doing the following: helped her pay for her new silk very expensive dress, putting together a memory album dating back to her time in daycare, buying her flowers and taking her out to lunch after with her boyfriend, her uncle, our neighbour who has been like a gramma to Kazi since she was 4, Michael and myself. Oh yes, and at her suggestion I'm letting her use the car next Tuesday to take some friends to Canada's Wonderland.
2. I have paid in full the cost of my new fridge and stove for PEI, and have paid off our new TV before incurring any interest charges. I just need the cheque from school to cover curriculum materials I purchased and my credit card will be back to ZERO! I love the feeling of a zero balance!
3. The one area I am struggling with this month is gas for the car. I (no WE) have used almost two week's worth of gas money in ONE WEEK and I don't get paid again until the 15th. My dear daughter said she would put gas in last night but she didn't so I'll have to remind her and she hates that! Oh well...
4. We are under in the food budget by $16 so I'll direct that to the gas fund. We are also under in electricity by $2 and natural gas by $2.  That ain't much but I'll take what I can get! It's better than being OVER budget!
5. The only misc item purchased so far this month is a journal (for me) and a memory album and extra page inserts for Kazi's gift. (and icecream-shhhhhhh!)  I am really trying to rein in my spending, so far so good.
6. From my next pay I will have $1200 to allot to savings. It will go into my PEI Maintenance Fund to help with costs that may occur while in PEI this summer like any small repair or rebuilding our fence.
7. Next months savings will rebuild my Christmas/Birthdays fund in full ($1500) and the rest will go towards rebuilding my TFSA. (I owe it close to $20,000 after paying off my line of credit - it will take me til at least the end of this year to repay that account!) 
8. I have no other EXTRA expenses this month to worry about - thank goodness!  May was a killer month! June looks to be "steady as she goes".  I noticed that Mr. Murphy is at B-Kat's house so the coast looks to be clear for the rest of us!

And that about sums things up. I have $$ in my wallet plus another $160 in my account for any misc items that may pop up. Like that chainsaw. The sale goes until the 17th so I have a while to think about it. If I can tighten the belt even more and save in some other areas (food), then maybe. 

So what do you think I really had for breakfast??

May is Toast!

There are more than just a few of us who are glad to see May quietly disappear.  Just a few days into  May I was already overspending. And what with my birthday and a weekend away, new car license sticker, renewal of passport, new fireburner, new fridge and stove for PEI, new fans for the early summer heat, some new clothing and shoes...well, let's just say it's time to pay the piper and pull the belt a wee bit lot tighter for the month of June.

Thankfully it was payday today so I took $1300 and paid off most of the fridge and stove which was sitting on my President's Choice Mastercard. Don't worry, it's only been sitting there for a few days. I've had the card for several years and have yet to pay a penny in interest charges. However, the cash back has provided me with several hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise and groceries. It's a great little system as long as I keep good track of purchases and pay them off quickly. I usually check my credit card purchases daily online and pay them off then and there.

June SHOULD be a fairly frugal month except for one occasion and that's my daughter's graduation from university on the 19th. I'll be taking her out for lunch after with her boyfriend and family members but I don't know what to get her for a gift! Her boyfriend bought her a big gold watch.

It seems that girls wearing huge men's gold watches is all the rage right now. Ok, so now, how do I compete with that?  I'm on a fairly tight budget this month and I didn't plan for this purchase, yes, all my own fault. My daughter is hard to buy for, she only likes certain things and being her mom I don't know what those "certain things" are, because I'm like, NOT COOL!

For example - she is looking for a dress to wear UNDER HER ROBES during graduation and to lunch after. She has shopped, so she says, in every store in London and there is NOTHING suitable. Nothing. In the entire city. There is not a single store in London that sells the certain type of dress that she wants. So I'm a bit stymied. Obviously I can't go out and buy her a dress. Just the fact that her MOM picked it out would mean she wouldn't like it even if she DID like it. You see how hard this is?

So I've asked her to think about what she might like as a gift. I'd love to give her a weekend away somewhere like we used to do BEFORE boyfriend. She thought that might be nice but WHEN??
Hopefully it will all work itself out, it usually does but not without the requisite amount of sighing and angst!

Are you as glad that May is over as I am?