
Well, here goes, and let's hope lj doesn't eat my entry yet again.
Fairly good, productive day, though I don't like the afternoon h/s thing, especially on Friday. I don't get enough time to get my own school stuff done in the morning, don't like driving down to the school and signing Daniel out, and between choir and swimming we don't get much of a chance to do any other learning. Although Daniel has a pretty good time because I just generally fill in the between-activity time with games.
I'm also rather worried that I can't find Daniel's homeschooling journal. He was writing some neat stuff in there. Sure hope it comes up.
***
Tomorrow's agenda: skiing. yay.
I would probably be a lot more enthused about this if it wasn't for the fact that it's something organized through Chris' workplace. Since the residents are doing training on Saturday, because they just don't spend enough time working/studying/on call otherwise, the hospital is taking them out to Camp Fortune where they can ski after the all-day training session. And they can bring their spouses/families too! Yay! And the kids will get free babysitting! Bonus!
Or not. Apparently the babysitting is lame and nothing that could possibly keep children from going stir crazy, so I'll get bugger-all done at home and instead be out at Camp Fortune on my own with the kids while Chris attends to his Very Important Career. Hold me back or I might explode with enthusiasm. I so dearly love being an appendage to a Big Important Doctor. So very glad I went to Queen's for five years, because my B.A.H. and B. Ed. have given me nothing compared to the glory and exalted sense of self-worth I get from my hard-earned Mrs. Dr. degree.
Besides which, I hate skiing. Brings up way too many painful childhood memories; years and years of being packed off every Saturday for skiing lessons that I hated with hopeless passion. Never getting past the Beginner level. I've gone skiing a couple of times since reaching adulthood, and grudgingly managed to enjoy it (and even advance to Intermediate!) but I would still never choose to engage in it wholly voluntarily.
Funny, this summer when my aunt Gilda was here, she found out I'd never taken the kids out skiing. (Gilda lived in Ottawa for a huge chunk of my childhood, but moved back to Chile when I was 14). She was a little scandalized; how could I be bringing up children in CANADA and not take them skiing?! Blasphemy!
We don't really have time, I answered.
Oh come on! You'd make time!
I wouldn't want to anyway, I said.
Why not?! You used to go skiing every weekend!
Yeah, and I hated it.
??!!
She was totally floored. Hadn't suspected. Thought I was one lucky kid, the whole time, and never had a clue that I was doing it only because my father had decreed that I had to and I had absolutely no choice in the matter and it didn't matter that I cried and asked to not be sent off and dreaded it starting around Wednesday every week and breathed a huge sigh of relief when the snow melted and begged to not be made to go the next winter.
Huh.
***
I've been missing my mom a lot lately, as her 61th birthday has steadily approached. A few weekends ago when I saw our friends from Montreal, Heather (mom), whose dad died of cancer a few years ago, mentioned that it's odd how the grief process isn't a smooth thing. It gets much better, and then it gets much worse. And then much better again. It's years later for her, and sometimes she still misses her dad as much as she did right after his death.
There's been a lot going on lately that I really wish I could talk to my mother about. She would've had decided opinions on a lot of stuff, and I wouldn't necessarily have agreed with her, but it would have given me food for thought and it would have been nice to share them with her. And there's also been a lot of stuff going on that I think she would have been thrilled to hear about.
Oddly, some of my musings in the last few days have had to do with L&O:TBJ. People have been looking forward to/dreading it, because of Jerry Orbach's final performances on it (and may I just say I find the NBC promos re. the subject remarkably crass?), but to be honest... I haven't really felt much about it. I know he died. I know that was sad. I know his fans are still feeling grief over it. But personally, my own thoughts/feelings last night when he was onscreen? "Oh, wow, he doesn't look bad. For a guy who was dying of cancer, he looks remarkably good, and strong. Sure wish my mom had looked more like that in her last months. Sure hope Guy can look that good after he's been in chemo for a while. Hm, how am I going to deal with telling the kids about Guy? Christ, they're going to freak out. Oh look, there's Candace Bergen."
Which probably makes me a bit of a heartless bitch, but there it is.
***
Well, that was remarkably pointless. Funny how sometimes writing it out can clear things up for you... and other times, not.