Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/48/danishposter.jpg
I had a wonderful celebration of feeling better last evening by going out on a “hot date” with one of the most beautiful young women in Western Canada. (I say “one of” only to allow the other male readers of this blog to imagine that they, too, go out with attractive women, however, I only do so with the confidence that I was escorting the loveliest young woman in Western Canada!)(This is not mere testosterone speaking. I have thirty years experience as a Western Canadian. I know!) http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/media/48/poster_hermionevictor.jpg

Anyway, the date had been arranged earlier in the week and I was most fearful that I would have to cancel because of my flirting affair with “Flu.” However, the trollop finally left me mercifully during the day on Friday and I celebrated with a walk in the fresh air with Mocha & Latté. The Rev is most correct in his description of “Flu” as I barely had the energy left to follow through with my commitment. However, given that this was such a special young woman, I truly girded my loins and prepared for an exciting evening on the town! http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/media/48/poster_harrymadeye.jpg

I have never been to an opening night prior to last evening. Amazing! I am a true Harry Potter fan, but remember, dear readers, that I am past that half century mark where such occasions as opening nights seem less imperative than they did when I was in my twenties. Baited by the beauty, brilliance and loquacious nature of my companion, I energized myself to fully participate in the festivities. I could have worn my robes….never entered my consciousness. I even wondered about the frequent sightings of the same coloured scarves – I even found them strangely familiar – they were the Gryffindor colours! There were people of all ages (though none quite as advanced as my own) in varying states of costume in line from 5:15 (when I arrived to pick up the pre-purchased tickets) for the 7:00 PM show. http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/media/48/poster_cedriccho.jpg

The mood was truly festive. The personnel at the movie theatre were extremely accommodating and made frequent announcements to ensure that we realized that they would seat us in the order of our arrival and that we need not worry. We were also encouraged to make sure that there were no empty seats so that no one had to be separated from those with whom they came to view the movie. It was a new experience for me. http://www.mugglenet.com/gallery/data/media/48/viktorposter.jpg

Now of all the Harry Potter movies, this really was the best. I disagree entirely with the movie critic in the local paper that the movies get increasingly lamer. Well, I can’t say that I ENTIRELY disagree with him. Harry is increasingly looking like a KD Lang impostor. As well, I would have to agree that one would not enjoy the movie much if one had not read the book. However, that is part of what made the experience so good!

The story came to life on the screen. Additional aspects like that of the Noel Ball, and the boat upon which Viktor Krum arrived, were fun, though unnecessary. The effects were amazing and Ralph Fiennes was dastardly perfect!

Anyway, a great movie, a wonderful evening! The only thing that would have made it better was if my daughter hadn’t had to work so early the next day, we would have gone out for dinner afterwards. Even so, a fun night! What a way to celebrate getting better!

ComingUpToRetirement?

So I now have the flu.

Perhaps I should reword that:

So I have had the flu for the last 8 days and I am really sick and tired of being sick, tired, achey, grumpy, sleepy, lethargic, etc. I truly thought that going to the doctor would be all that it took to get rid of the darned stuff. After all, I went right home, to bed, drank lots of fluids, and got rest. So why am I not better?

"Sometimes we just have to ride these things out."

where does the "we" come in? Surely not at the Dr's office. Kevin has to ride it out with me.

All the people at school have to ride it out with me because they have to pick up the slack (like "slack" is any kind of appropriate word!) while I am away.

"Call me Monday, if you're still not feeling well."

MONDAY! I'll need a medical certificate by then. I'll call, alright.

So how much fruit juice is possible without giving oneself the runs? (Another possibility of the flu, though I luckily do not yet have those!)
How many hours of sleep can one get before it becomes a habit?

And, sorry Martha, but one more of your shows and I will start with the gastro-intestinal upset (another symptom I have, so far, avoided).

There are too many things that need doing around the house and I have no energy to do them. I watch the laundry pile up, the dust gather, the dogs laze, and I just watch them. I even cancelled the haircut tonight because I have no energy to go. Bev would have cut m hair in spite of the flu! They are too nice there!

Well, I get to rant and rave in public - even though I am fairly certain that my readership is limited to two others and myself. I still love you both!

Well, enough. All this typing has exhausted me!

100 things about me

100 things about me that you probably don’t know…….

1. I once sang professionally at the Hotel Negresco, on the “strip” in Nice, France.


2. This isn’t nearly as easy as I thought it would be.


3. As a strategy for keeping my brother and me in bed when we were little, my dad told us that the “Man in the Moon” would get us if we got out of bed.


4. I didn’t realize that the man in the moon was fiction until I was about 10 years old.


5. I once got a sliver through my knee that was about 10 inches long.


6. I thought I was pretty stupid up to the age of about 35 – when I got my master’s degree.  Even then, I was pretty sure that I had somehow pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes.


7. I didn’t realize that I was ADHD until well into my 40’s – even after being diagnosed and taking medication for a couple of years.


8. Being ADHD helps me tremendously in doing my work with children.


9. Being ADHD is the greatest gift! – Right after Kristen, Heather, Kevin, & Sara.


10. I love to sing as much as I love to ski.


11. I am not a confident person.


12. After living for 52.5 years, earning a B. A., an Med, and a PhD, I am finally beginning to believe that I am not stupid.


13. After living for 52.5 years, earning a B. A., an Med, and a PhD, I am finally beginning to build self-confidence.


14. I am worried that I really don’t know how to change things in my life to restore more vigorous health.


15. I can not do my job without trying my very best – even though “trying to do my very best” might kill me.


16. I love my daughters more than they realize.


17. When Heather was born, her mother and I did not let them put silver nitrate in her eyes – something else (I can’t remember what) and because of that, she could see.  She and I stared at each other for about an hour, until she fell asleep.  That was when she established power over me.


18. Heather has no idea, I think, of the power she has over me.


19. Kristen has done and said things that have hurt me more than anyone besides Kevin.


20. The people I love the most intensely have the power to hurt me and they do so mostly without realizing it.


21. I try not to let the ones who I love know when they have done or said something that has hurt.


22. For some reason, I can tell Heather that she has done or said something that has hurt.  It has only been a short time since I have been able to do this.


23. My mother is beginning to realize that she has Alzheimer’s.


24. I love the work I do, but feel that I need to quit my job.


25. I still feel guilty about the evening when Kristen – at age 1.5 – fell and caught her tooth on the edge of the rocking chair and it came out.


26. I was sitting in the chair at the time and I figure I should have seen it coming and should have prevented it.


27. Coming out was probably the most difficult and scary thing I have accomplished in my life.


28. I still feel guilty about the pain I caused Sara when I came out.


29. When I met Kevin for the first time, I thought he was sort of cute, but that he wouldn’t like me.


30. At the end of that first evening, when I met Kevin, I was already intrigued and wanted to see him again.


31. I passionately believe that children are our most valuable resource.


32. I love to watch men who dance well.


33. I still have ideas that I haven’t tried and am feeling an urgent need to do so before I retire.


34. I really need to go away somewhere and refresh and recreate.


35. “Taking a Strip off” another person is a concept I do not understand.


36. I also can not understand how anyone could EVER really need that?


37. I do not understand why people make decisions before gathering ANY information about the issues surrounding the decision.


38. I do not understand how a parent can be too busy to answer a crisis need of their child.


39. I sometimes try too hard to meet the needs of children – often trying harder that the parents of the child.


40. I have little-to-no compassion for people who abuse children.


41. I HATE it when my nose runs.


42. I sometimes take too many medications to get my nose to stop running.


43. I try to stay away from school when I’m sick so that I won’t ruin what I have worked so hard to create by making some stupid mistake because I am not feeling well.


44. I over identify with the children who find school difficult.


45. When they hurt, so do I – sometimes more than they do.


46. I always want to be sure we have tried everything in our power to help before I will refer a child on to the next step in the system.


47. Not only don’t I have all the answers, oftentimes, I feel like I don’t have many or any.


48. I miss seeing friends who have retired and moved away.


49. I miss seeing my daughter every day, or being ABLE to see her.


50. I think I am more Canadian than American these days.


51. I still love my country of birth, but I truly believe that they are so self-destructive that it is no wonder so many countries detest the politics of the nation.


52. Canadian political scandals seem so tame next to the ones in the states.


53. I think I am becoming immune to political outrage.


54. Local things bother me more.


55. Racial prejudice is something I can not understand.


56. I can not understand how anyone can adequately dehumanize a child to the point that they could be tortured or killed.


57. I would like to solve the problem of homelessness in North America.   It seems so pointless and avoidable.


58. I believe that we have the capacity to eradicate AIDS from the world.


59. I wonder why we do not have the will to do so.


60. I am getting tired of cooking for the homeless – I’ve been doing it monthly for five years – and wish that our provincial government would step up to the challenge of solving the issue!


61. I hate lying awake in bed at night trying to go to sleep.


62. I love going out to the mountains.


63. If I could, I would live where I could get to the mountains as easily as getting to the sea and then would have two of my favourite places near enough to be there whenever I wanted.


64. I would love to write children’s books.


65. I love reading children’s books.


66. This is much more difficult than I thought it would be.


67. I work with some of the best teachers I have ever known.


68. I still get frustrated with them and want them to be better.


69. There is a place inside me where I want to be cruel to someone.


70. I sometimes think very unpleasant thoughts.


71. If it weren’t so destructive, I would love to gossip.


72. I don’t understand why people want others to support them in being less than they are.


73. Sometimes, I want to be taken care of as well as I take care of others.


74. I need a massage.


75. I am NOT a reckless spender.


76. I am not a good record keeper.


77. I hate the accountability measures being imposed on public educators, not because I don’t think I should be accountable, but because they take so much time away from the work that really needs doing.


78. Sometimes, I wish I would be fired.


79. I tried to kill myself once.


80. I am really glad that I didn’t succeed.


81. I play too much spider solitaire when I can’t sleep.


82. I hate power struggles.


83. I wish I could be closer to my parents.


84. I sometimes think that I am missing some of the most interesting parts of life because I am too busy at work.


85. I sometimes realize that some of the most interesting parts of life happen at work with the children with whom I work.


86. I enjoy reading.


87. I believe that we are truly spiritual beings.


88. I believe that our spiritual lives came before our human ones.


89. I believe that my human life is finite, but my spiritual one goes on forever.


90. I believe that when my human life is over, I will join a much more pleasant version of a spiritual collective than represented by the Borg.


91. I believe that when Jesus lived on earth, he understood this but knew that most people wouldn’t be able to grasp the sense of an infinite ambiguity.


92. I wonder about other religions and would like to know more.


93. I am coming to believe that the whole spiritual collective is God, not separate from God.


94. I wonder why we agree to forget our spiritual lives in order to have a human experience.


95. When I totally trust in God, I sleep better.


96. I wonder why I don’t always turn that trust and worry over to God – especially when I believe that God is infinite.


97. I wonder why some see the glass as half empty.


98. I find life a whole lot more enjoyable and worry free when I see the glass as at least half full.


99. I wonder if the rainbow connection is working with children.


100. I really wanted this list to be profoundly self actualizing, but found it really wasn’t easy to do and that it took several days to complete.