A LONG Overdue Update

My apologies in not updating in so very long. I know it’s been long and I’ve felt guilty about it almost daily. Not guilty enough to do anything obviously but I hope it makes some of you exasperated out there a little more forgiving.

Work, home, life — everything — has just been horribly busy. When it’s not busy; I haven’t felt like writing. I’ve felt like lying on the couch doing nothing. I’ve felt like reading escapist novels. I’ve felt like sleeping. So that is what I have done. I was so bad about blogging. I have even avoided opening my blog to check for messages, partially because I was afraid there would be a slew of messages from friends/readers who wonder why I have dropped off the face of the earth and partially because I was afraid there would be none. (as an aside; Katya saved me from that fate. Hi Katya).

Life has been busy but for the most part good.

Work has been absolutely, completely, totally insane. From about a week before I wrote my last entry until ummmm… today. Every time I thought a break was around the corner – oops fooled ya! There have been good parts to it all and bad parts. I wrote some pretty significant speeches — nationally broadcast speeches shown live on our news networks, speeches quoted on news broadcasts, speeches given entirely the way I wrote/edited them, speeches that I was proud of. Career enhancing.

I sweated blood and tears to write some others that were then changed so completely before delivery (the pretty much used the first 500 words of a 3000 word speech) that I wondered why they even asked me to write them in the first place (they were good speeches they just didn’t fit their political purposes). It burns more because they were GOOD speeches and it’s really hard to work that hard on something — to create a work of art in some respects – and know that only ten people or so will ever know what you did. Still, it’s not that anyone EVER knows what I do – the hallmark of a good speechwriter is your invisibility but I want people to experience my craft anyways. I told SUCH good stories. It wasn’t easy at all and it took a great deal of time — unpaid overtime. Ah well.

We had an “emergency” writing session one night where I ended up taking a cab home at 3 am for a bunch of speeches that while used were hardly Shakespeare. (it takes on average a week and a half to write a ten-minute speech properly. In an ideal world, we would have at least 17 days. We wrote these, beginning to end in about 11 hours) It wasn’t exactly a Shakespearean debate though – yawn. It did earn us personal notes of thanks and chocolates from the Minister though.

Anyway, we had too much to do and not enough time and our entire team (there are 5 of us) logged a lot of uncompensated overtime and lugged a lot of work home with us. You do that for a time and people start getting sick. That is EXACTLY what happened. All of us worked though some pretty serious colds that would normally have us home on the couch so then Mother Nature stepped up the challenge a little. I went down with Step throat. I have two colleagues out this week with various kidney ailments. Insane I tell you. The strep throat knocked me on my keister and kept me home from work for two days although I worked two days with a fever (pre-doctor visit) because I had no choice. That was last week.

This week work has slowed to a manageable, even pleasant, pace. I’m crossing my fingers that we can get through Christmas without the necessity of a major announcement.

On the home front, Daniel has been amazing. He has had to be. I couldn’t juggle everything and I dumped a lot on him. He nursed me and both kids through sickness last week and he’s kept the household limping along since the end of October without much help from me.

The kids are doing wonderfully well. They really enjoyed Halloween. Kamryn was Superman for her school Halloween party and Spiderman for trick or treating. I was so proud of my little superhero for her independent spirit. I saw a lot of princesses this Halloween but not one other little girl dressed as a superhero. She wouldn’t even have considered being a princess. My first instinct when she declared her costume preference was to push her towards something a little more girlie but I’m glad my inner voice intervened and told me to let her be whatever she wanted. She’s not a tomboy; she’s just Kamryn and I really admire that. She’s a lot like I was as a kid which I find a little bizarre but makes me smile nonetheless.

Sam was a chicken (using Kamryn’s old costume) for Halloween and he had so much fun. I got crappy photos because I couldn’t get Sam to stay still long enough to actually get a picture. He was just too excited.

Here are a few belated and out of season pics.

Kamryn and Sam at her school Christmas Party with Kamryn's teacher. Yes, they are wearing pyjamas. They think there the coolest pyjamas on the planet and would wear them 24-7 given the chance. Kamryn had a mask but not for the photo.



After Pumpkin carving. The table is covered in newspaper to protect it from Pumpkin guts that in the end there weren't much of.


And just before they left the house to beg for candy that I would later have to throw away. lol

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Kamryn seems to be doing well in school. She speaks highly of her friends and she is beginning to talk increasingly about her day, which I appreciate. She seems to be learning well and fits well in her class. The other kids seem receptive to her. Her teacher tells us that she is friendly and respectful and listens well (a shock to her parents lol). I visited her class one morning for her day at “show-and-tell.” Lordy, her teacher has patience. Kamryn did very well and I was so proud of her. The kids had to describe their favorite room in their house. Kamryn described her bedroom. I sent her with a couple of pictures to show (I took a bunch of photos for her and had her pick the ones she wanted me to print) and one of her favorite stuffed animals. The kid who followed her – wow — her mother must have been up late working on her presentation (I was disgusted not impressed). She had a big poster board with flower appliqués all over it and photos with fancy little drawn frames around them. Uh hunh, its show-and-tell for jr. Kindergarten people! How did this kid benefit from this? Where was her input into it all? Anyway – tangent, back to the topic at hand.

Oh first some pics of Kamryn giving her presentation. The first picture is a 1000 word essay on why I could never teach kindgergarten. See how they are all paying careful attention to what is going on? :)





Okay they aren't great pics but I was trying to listen AND be inconspicuous.

I’m looking forward to parent teacher interviews which should be next month for a true picture of how Kamryn is doing but I really have no concerns. (Edited to add: We got her report card tonight and she did swimmingly! I was so impressed by her language skills (remember she is going to school in her second language) where she has met and/or exceeded ALL the goals for this year. Her only "needs improvement" is fine motor skills. THis is something I have seen on my own. No real worries my first report card said the same of me. Santa will bring some helping tools I think.)

Sam is Sam. He’s getting somewhat easier to deal with. He can be reasonable when he’s not being “two.” And it’s a pleasant surprise how often that is now. He still has his meltdowns but it’s all within the normal range. His language is continuing to just blossom and his sentences are getting more and more complex although he’s still very difficult for me to understand. I’m not sure if it’s because he IS difficult to understand or if its because he mostly speaks in French and well two-year old French is hard for an Anglophone to understand. Dunno, not worried.

His grandmother, FINALLY (after almost a year) made it down for a visit. Although, she disappointed me a little. She came down with her new boyfriend. They arrived around 3:00 pm and visited with us until around 5:00 pm, then they had a dinner commitment with friends. We joined them for breakfast the next morning and then they wanted to go shopping (It was pretty clear NOT with us). So ya she’s seen him once in a year and didn’t really seem to want to spend a lot of time with us. He remembered her though which was a big relief to me because I didn’t want to deal with her emotions if he didn’t remember her (we show him pictures of his birthfamily almost nightly). She says she will visit again in the Spring but after the past year I’m not holding my breath.

Took both kids to see Santa last week. It was the worst year ever. We have never had a problem getting Kamryn to sit on Santa's knee. She isn't a shy kid and never has a problem with others. This year for some reason she was terrified. Wouldn't approach the stage, wouldn't even LOOK at him. Sam went and that didn't move her one inch. I REALLY wanted a photo. We have had a photo with her and this particular Santa every year of her life.

So there I sat on the side of the stage behind most of the set just trying to get her to look at the man because I figured if she looked she would see that there was nothing to be scared of. Wasn't going well - Daniel walked away from me really annoyed (okay I was being a bad mother he had cause but I just wanted her to look and then decide she didn't want to do it). Then Santa came over - with pictures of him and Rudolphe as well as his dog and his cat. Kamryn, the animal lover, was hooked. Santa asked if she wanted to see some more photos and she went a long with him quite happily. I was stunned (also a little wary at how easy she was to turn). We got our picture though and then had a long talk about strangers and about Maman or Papa always having to be there. Lol

I didn't have high hopes for a good picture or even a picture at all of Sam. Last year he wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the big scary guy (and I don't blame him lol). I started bribing him right up front telling him how he would get a gift from Santa (a colouring book). We got there and he marched right up. He was obviously out of his comfort zone (no smile!) but he sat for his picture and chatted with Santa all right. After Sam's trip, Santa offered him a colouring book for his "little" sister.

As we are leaving the stage, Sam is repeating something in Sam-speak over and over again. I couldn't figure out what he was saying. Then I realized he was telling me we forgot to get his Christmas present from Santa. He expected Santa to have his Christmas gift all ready for him. No waiting for my little guy. Although we tried to explain, he is still totally confused as to why he didn't get it.

Here are some Santa Pics.






Ummm… okay I think I’ve droned on endless about our lives enough here. Still awake? I know there are probably relevant things that I want to/need to write about but I’m tired of writing and you’re likely tired of reading. This entry will have to sit on my computer one more day while I collect some pictures to plug into it. Here after I will try to post once a week. Posting is a habit that I obviously fell out of and need to fall back into. I like writing – it clears the mind and leaves a record that I did indeed pass this way. I miss it. I’ll be seeing you.