Happy New Year!

We just had a wonderful weekend with my younger sister Connie and her boyfriend Olli and the three kids. I haven't uploaded the photos yet (approx 560) so I'm loading photos from the past two weeks.

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog - it mostly has to do with the FANTASTIC new camera that Mike and my in-laws got me for Christmas - now that I have a working camera I've managed to take over 1,500 photos in the past three weeks! Going through them has proven to be a chore!

The other challenge is that I'm back at school and have had to get caught up on the marking - in the past week I've marked 25 fractions tests, 25 geography assignments, 25 health assignments, 25 french assignments and am 'currently' marking 25 English essays that are designed to 'support or condemn 24601's (Jean Valjean from Les Miserables) actions. Valjean was sentenced to four years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread. It's rather quite incredible what my students deem acceptable and unacceptable behaviour ~ and more importantly, why. But enough about work, onto the photos!
Cribbs family celebrating Rebecca's 6th (!) Birthday!


Lily LOVES bathtime. She has discovered our Irish Spring soap and wants to use it. It's a riot!


We went skating at the outdoor rink in Victoria Park with a friend from work and his family. Here is a picture of Mike showing Lily how to get herself back up after she's fallen. This was her first time on skates - she was awesome!
Mike and Lily sitting on the bench waiting for the 'Zimpony' to do its work.

Lily was treated to a story by my friend Alicia who took the time to visit us on her recent visit home to Canada. Alicia is currently teaching music in Sweden.

Lily is a mastermind when it comes to Play-doh!

Szala family on January 1st, 2009! Lily didn't like being taken away from playing with her cousins Kyle & Rebecca.

To help make learning fractions more palatable, I made 5 trays of Rice Krispie Squares for my students. They worked in groups of 5 and had to decorate the tray of RK according to my directions. Any guesses what the directions were?

Lily loves her trains. This is her and her Daddy after they set up the train set that Lily got as a Christmas gift from her Grandmama.

Enjoy your week!

PPS

Well said! ....

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Enjoy the ride; there is no return ticket....
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life !You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony.. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But! wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and make it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into ! your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3.Keep learning.! Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's family name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them , at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
And if you don't send this to at least 8 people - who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!


Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '...holy sh*t ...what a ride!'