My #pandemicbaby is here!

April 14, 2020

Our beautiful second born boy has arrived!  Everything went incredibly smoothly for the scheduled c-section on the original date given. I wasn't surprised, I never went into labour on my own for my first born and didn't expect I was going to for this one.

The hospital experience was very well-managed, we felt. Our hospital had a rule of which entry door could be used with screeners at the door as you went in. We walked in, and some construction workers had just entered ahead of us so we were asked to wait in the outer vestibule until they went through the screening process and had moved along. Then, we walked in and were asked questions (any travel in the last 14 days?, any new or worsening cough?, any fever?, any exposure to a known or suspected case of covid-19?). Then, we were each given a mask to wear. We were sent down the hallway to the elevators -- we never saw another patient, barely anyone around at all, and there was one hallway for one direction and a different hall for the other direction. We got in the elevator by ourselves, and up to the maternity floor.

It felt very isolated, we felt we had zero exposure to any possible risks.  Our labour & delivery floor is only birthing unit, NICU, and pediatrics and there have been no positive covid-19 cases on this floor at all. We were taken into triage, we had to wear our masks the whole time, and they did my pre-op blood work and monitored the baby. Then we waited and were called in to walk to the operating room (there are two dedicated operating rooms just for labour & delivery).

Mr. Lock was taken to change to scrubs and I went right into the operating room. They sat me on the table while the nurses finished setting up, and then the anesthesiologist came in and got ready to give me my spinal. I felt a little woozy when this was happening, I kept trying to remove my face mask because I felt so hot suddenly, they kept shoving the mask back on, haha. Anyway, it was just anxiety and nerves and the panicked feeling passed and then I was laying down on the table and the rest of the surgery was set up.  I felt tugging sensations, and then the most amazing moment happened -- the loud cries of my newborn son! 

He will be our last baby, after everything I went through to get to this point we knew this, so I also had my last remaining Fallopian tube removed during this c-section. While my OB finished the surgery, they brought our little one around and let Mr. Lock hold him close to me.  When everything was done, I was wheeled to the recovery room for a couple of hours. We got to put the baby on me for skin-to-skin time while there. My OB came in and took Mr. Lock's phone and let us remove our masks for a bit and took family photos of the three of us.

We then were taken to our private room -- which Mr. Lock could not leave at all for the duration of our stay. We only ever saw the nurse on duty, and the food service people when they dropped a tray of hospital food for us three times a day. Everyone was in full masks and PPE. We really felt it was a very secure environment, we don't fear having any exposure risk to the virus.

We were able to be discharged by 6 pm the next day. We headed home to recover there. Our little one is now one week old. He's been eating well, sleeping well, and all systems seem to be good! He's certainly a hearty and healthy baby, like his big brother was. He's very relaxed so far.

We are adjusting well to being a family of four in isolation. All in all, my experience giving birth during this pandemic went very smoothly and while it was sad not to have my family visit, we were luckily not in the hospital very long anyway, so it really was okay. We had one small visit with my parents on Sunday, because we had to go pick our toddler up (he had stayed there for five days). It was wonderful to even get to see my parents once, before we head back into our self-isolation.

Social distancing seems to be working somewhat where we live, so we are hopeful if everyone continues to follow these directions we will be able to return to seeing at least some of our immediate family soon. We will look forward to that day.

Here's a photo of the little man!  My rainbow baby, my miracle, my #pandemicbaby.
(For the sake of the blog we will give him the pseudonym "Owen" which was one of the other names we almost gave him).

#PandemicBaby - Part 2

Trigger Warning: This post references fertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss. Please be mindful if these are topics that are personally upsetting or produce anxiety for you -- you are not alone.

So where did we leave off?  Since May 2014, I had been trying to become a mother. Three miscarriages, and then my amazing rainbow baby Nate was born in January 2017. In attempting to give him a sibling, we had another miscarriage and then I suffered a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and lost a Fallopian tube. But I wasn't quite ready to give up yet.

I went back to the fertility specialist I had worked with before having Nate. Running many tests, we once again could not determine reasons for my pregnancy losses. The only thing we discovered is that my egg count is low for my age -- and now that I had this test twice over a few years, he could see it was dropping at a higher rate than the reasoning to just be "you were born with less" or something of that nature. So we couldn't know for sure, but the best guess we could have was that my egg count being low could mean my egg quality is low and so it's genetic bad luck if it just isn't a healthy egg being fertilized.  I went back to taking co-enzyme Q10 (forgot to mention in my last post, I had taken that before my one successful pregnancy) as there's some research that supports it as a supplement that promotes egg health for women.

I then began the discussion about getting onto a waiting list for funded IVF. In our province, we can receive one government funded round of IVF (doesn't cover the medications, but my work plan would). It's a long waiting list, however. So, I wanted to be sure to get onto the list knowing it would be a year or more before we were called for our IVF cycle.  I wasn't ready to get pregnant too soon after the ectopic, I had some emotional stuff to work through, but I didn't want to miss a chance to be on the list sooner than later -- especially since the fertility doctor had concerns about my egg quality and how many he may be able to harvest.

He was also concerned that I was "flinching" too easily during exam and internal ultrasound. So, before he would put me on the IVF waitlist I had to go to pelvic physiotherapy first.  So I began some physio around February 2019.  I went for multiple sessions, and learned how to relax my anxiety related to gynecological tests and it was enough to satisfy the fertility doctor. So in April 2019, he added my name to the IVF waiting list.

I relaxed -- we weren't going to try to get pregnant naturally, as I was fearful of another ectopic pregnancy and losing my only remaining tube.  I was going to wait and attempt IVF, and if it didn't work we were going to throw in the towel and move on enjoying our lives as parents of an only child.

Fast forward to August 2019. Just after being home from a vacation.

Yes, we got carried away LITERALLY ONE TIME and didn't use protection.

And yes, I found myself staring at a positive pregnancy test at the end of August.

I was surprised -- one Fallopian tube and it still worked!  I was elated -- this is the best I could hope for, a natural pregnancy.  I was freaking out with anxiety.  I just hoped it wouldn't result in another ectopic or miscarriage... I didn't think I could take another one.

Miracle of miracles, the pregnancy continued on and progressed very well. I was nervous for EVERY ultrasound, but we made it through each one seeing a strong heartbeat and normal measurements. It was just like when I was pregnant with Nate -- things just seemed to go well. I showed much earlier, and had some pelvic pains and tension, and there was some additional work stress that I had to manage -- but everything else was going really well.

We found out at our 19 week ultrasound, after giving a post-it from the technician to our friends so they could help us find out in a fun way, that we were expecting a second baby boy.  Our second little miracle boy.

So now... we are excitedly looking forward to his arrival... and yet, we've been his with this Global Pandemic. A lot of hospital protocol has changed -- we have paid close attention to what we need to do. We have been staying completely quarantined since March 17th so we know we are not ill in any way before going to the hospital (if Mr. Lock had any exposure to a positive case, he would not be allowed in with me for the delivery).

So, my miracle pregnancy that was going oh-so-normal.... is now resulting in me delivering this baby DURING A PANDEMIC.

I get it, Universe. This was already going to be our absolute last pregnancy, but we really get the message now. We done!

Looking forward to being able to share a happy bit of news when baby boy #2 arrives -- any day now on his own (though I feel that isn't likely) or on April 14th when I'm scheduled for a c-section.

Fingers crossed everything goes well, and we can safely deliver our #pandemicbaby AND that Mr. Lock can stay with me in the hospital for my short stay following the c-section surgery.

#PandemicBaby - Part 1

Trigger Warning: I am going to be blogging about fertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss. I hadn't documented my parenthood journey on my blog before, and it feels like it's an important part of my life and history that I would like to write about. I recognize -- oh, I fully understand since I have been through it myself -- this can be a difficult subject for some to read about, so please take care of your mental well-being if this topic may trouble you.  Please just also know, you are not alone.

I suppose it's time to mention the Big Deal that's happening for my family during this pandemic. We're about to welcome our second baby boy into our family.  I have a scheduled c-section on April 14th.

Yep. I'm about to have a baby during a global pandemic. (Wut. OhGodWhy?!)

It seems almost fitting, so for this first post I am going to go back and describe my challenging journey into parenthood.

I have always wanted to be a mother. I was that little girl playing house and mothering my dollies, I was a caregiver to my young cousins at our family cottage, I was a local baby-sitter to neighbourhood kids as soon as I was 12 (um, do people trust 12-year-olds to baby-sit anymore??) I was always nurturing. I loved kids, and I always dreamed of the day when I was a mommy myself. I always wanted a big family -- 3 or 4 children.  I used to wish I could just be a stay-at-home-mom.  I love my career as primary teacher; with today's economy an at-home parent is not as feasible, but I do love my career and that I get to work with children so that works well for me.

My fertility journey, however, was not as simple as I hoped. Which is a familiar story for so many these days -- I'm certainly not unique in that.  I got married just before turning 29, and while we tried to get pregnant right away it took about nine months of trying before I got a positive pregnancy test.

However, unfortunately, that resulted in an early miscarriage at 7 weeks (it was a "missed miscarriage" -- I thought I would have been 9 weeks along, first ultrasound yielded the sad result). I had a D&C. Over the next year, I went on to have two more miscarriages (one at 10 weeks - which I miscarried naturally and painfully at home, and a very early loss at 5 weeks). I was now in the world of an identification of "recurrent miscarriage" and was sent to see a fertility specialist. We could never find a reason for the losses, so likely just some genetic bad luck (but nothing that came out on blood work for my husband or I that indicated specific genetic risks).  We worked with the specialist for cycle monitoring, and then in May of 2016 we got another positive pregnancy test -- and finally, FINALLY (taking baby aspirin daily and progesterone) this was a successful pregnancy.

My first, and much wished for baby boy, was born on January 30, 2017.  Fortunately very healthy, a very normal pregnancy with no complications. He was late -- so at 41 weeks I was induced.  Pushed and pushed and he wouldn't come out, so he resulted in a c-section.  We've had three awesome years so far with our very funny, intelligent, and curious little man. For the blog I will give him the pseudonym of Nate (it was our other baby name for him that we didn't end up using, haha).

Since the pregnancy ended up going so well, we were hopeful that maybe we would be able to add to our family naturally.  When we were ready, we were able to get pregnant again without returning to the fertility clinic (I had conceived naturally in the end there anyway just with cycle monitoring), and my own family physician prescribed me progesterone like I had used before and I began the baby aspirin. Things were going very well.  We got through to 12 weeks, no spotting, and having seen the heartbeat at 8 weeks and heard it in my doctors office at 10 weeks.  At 12 weeks, 3 days I had my next ultrasound.

Sadly, it was another loss. The baby had grown to 12 weeks exactly and then the heart stopped. I miscarried in the hospital with medication to induce it (misoprostol).  I was very scared to miscarry at home because of what I went through when I had the 10 week loss before, so fortunately at the time the hospital could admit me and let me go through the process there with some pain management ready if I needed it.  This was a very difficult miscarriage to work through emotionally, though I'd been down that road before. It was the longest pregnancy I'd gone through before miscarrying and it really seemed things were going well. Once again, we didn't have a reason for the loss other than a genetic abnormality that was poor luck and it just wasn't meant to survive.

Six months later, I felt ready to try again. I just didn't feel "one and done" -- I was no longer hoping for three or four children, but I did want to continue to attempt to give my son a sibling while I was within child-bearing years. I wanted to know I'd tried all of my options before moving on, so that I didn't have regrets years down the road.

I ended up having a strange occurrence -- I didn't think I was pregnant, but then my period was a little late. I had a faint positive pregnancy test, but I started to bleed like a period. It seemed very much like the third miscarriage I had before having Nate -- it was just a very early loss.  It was over New Years Eve, so I hadn't been to my doctor about it.

Then, on January 2nd just as everyone began to return to work (but I was home alone with an almost 2-year-old Nate, as I was still on school break from teaching), my bleeding changed and I began to have a sustained pain on my right side. The pain was getting slightly more intense, and I nearly fainted just after I had laid Nate down for his afternoon nap. I had messaged my husband to let him know something was wrong, but when I nearly fainted I called 911.

Paramedics arrived -- I think in the process of talking to the 911 operator I fortunately worked through some anxiety and I didn't end up fully fainting. They checked my blood pressure, and I explained that I was having an early pregnancy loss but this was different than I'd experienced before. I had already asked my friends who lived locally to please come to my house to help with Nate in case I had to go to the hospital, since it would take Mr. Lock about an hour to get back into town from where he worked. It was a strange experience. I couldn't just leave the house -- I had a toddler asleep upstairs -- but the paramedics weren't really helpful and just ended up asking me to sign a thing that I wasn't going to come with them, but they advised me to go to the emergency department as soon as I could.

Honestly, it was very odd to me (my first time ever having called 911 for help to my home) and I wasn't that impressed by these two men who seemed to know nothing about what to do about a woman talking about a miscarriage. It was not what I expected.

My friends got to my house shortly after the paramedics left. While her husband stayed home for Nate, my best friend took me over to Emergency and waited with me until Mr. Lock could get there. My mother-in-law came to stay at our house to relieve my friends of staying there.

In the end -- it was a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. I was bleeding internally.  I was taken into surgery that night, and lost my right Fallopian tube.

So now, I had a history of four miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy. I was beginning to feel it was becoming hopeless that I could have a second baby and give my son a sibling.

But I also felt resolved not to give up all options, because again -- I didn't want to have regrets a decade from now if I didn't make sure to follow-through on the different ways I could have added to my family IF it was possible during my child-bearing years.

Part 2 will follow up tomorrow... 

Vacation(s)!

I'm back from three weeks of vacation!

I spent two weeks in South Carolina.  I've been going there with my family since 1990, making this the 25th anniversary of my first visit to Myrtle Beach.  25 years!  Amazing.  We used to travel there with my grandparents, and since my grandfather's passing ten years ago I appreciate the memories we made on those vacations there so much.  This time around, I really missed him and remembered so many of the good times we had together there.  We visited an arcade that we used to go to as little kids, a place I hadn't been back to in many years (since we haven't stayed in a hotel in that area in awhile).  The place hadn't changed AT ALL.  I was a little overwhelmed with how much I missed my Poppa in that moment and with how fast the years have passed by.

I had traveled down South with my mom and youngest brother so we could have a full two weeks vacation.  This also gave my youngest brother and I time to bond, as we haven't spent as much time together lately as we used to.  The first Thursday of the trip, Quin flew down to spend a week there with us which was extra fun for me (and hard on my wallet, but the outlet shopping was SO GOOD!).   Saturday, Mr. Lock, my dad, and my middle brother drove in to join us for the second week of the trip.  We had amazing, super hot weather.  I loved being on the beach in the sunshine.  The ocean was 85 degrees Fahrenheit!  We went to some great restaurants, great shops, and I highly enjoyed playing four games of mini-putt!  The mini-putt courses in Myrtle Beach are so much fun.

We drove home after two great weeks in one of my favourite places in the world, and then Mr. Lock and I were off to the cottage his family rents each year for the next week.  It was very relaxing up at the cottage, cooler than South Carolina for sure, haha.  It was refreshing to swim in the cold lake, and I was able to read books on the dock, and just breathe in the fresh air and relax.  Gryphon seemed to enjoy the lake.  He LOVES the water!   He is a little nervous to swim when we have him in the deeper water, but he will go in to the shallow part of the lake quite willingly and loves finding a shallow spot to lay right down in the water and cool off.

So, I had a wonderful three weeks.  What a pleasure to have the summer off to be able to freely enjoy traveling when the opportunity comes up.  I can't believe I have another three weeks ahead of me before I'll be heading back to school.  It feels good, very refreshing after a hectic and somewhat stressful school year (kindergarten is a joy, but is also VERY difficult and tiring!).  I think I will be a better teacher in September after having this time to unwind and recharge.

Oscar Night 2015!

Today is one of my favourite days -- Oscar, Oscar!

I love watching the Academy Awards, and if you've been reading my blog in the past few years, then you might recall it is a HUGE tradition to watch the show with my family, and bet on the winners!  We all fill out a ballot, and I even have a special folder for keeping past ballots.  I've been a lucky winner before, but this year I'm not so sure how it will go!

I haven't seen that many of the nominated films, unfortunately.  We just haven't been going to the movie theatre as often.  I did see The Imitation Game, which was very good, and Gone Girl, and maybe some of the films nominated for other awards but not Best Picture.

I'm torn for Best Picture between betting on Boyhood or Birdman.  Both seem to be winning at other awards shows, and both have a good shot this year according to the "experts".... I may end up voting for Birdman since it won at a few awards that are usually quite "telling" for who will take home Best Picture at the Oscars.  Boyhood won at the Golden Globes, but Birdman did better at some of the other awards (Screen Actor's Guild, Director's Guild, and Spirit Awards, for example)... bah!  It is tricky this year!  Maybe we'll all be in for a surprise and a completely different nominee will take home the golden statue!

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting this year, and I think he will put on an excellent performance.  I adored Ellen DeGeneres hosting last year.  I've seen NPH host the Tony Awards, and he does a fabulous job and I love his sense of humour... so I think we'll be in for an entertaining night.

I'm off now to make my Oscar Night Cupcakes (nothing fancy, but it's just tradition that I bring cupcakes over on Oscar Night, haha).  I am really looking forward to another fun night with my family, with our little competition making things a bit more fun. ;-)

Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and a happy holiday season!

December 19th was the last day of school before the winter break.  This year, with Christmas Eve on the Wednesday, I haven't really felt like I've had a break!  We had such a wonderful time celebrating Christmas, but it feels like it is all I've been doing.  Even with some time to relax Sunday to today, it has still felt like this winter break is going by VERY quickly, and has been VERY busy.  I'm enjoying it; but I will admit, I prefer when Christmas happens right away on the winter break from school.  That way, New Years comes up quickly too, and there is actually time AFTER New Years to relax.

My Christmas was wonderful, though.  We saw my mom's side of the family on December 20th.  My cousin is currently pregnant, and it is very exciting for our family to welcome a new baby.  She found out just before our party that she is having a girl, so we cannot wait to spoil her baby when she is born in May.

December 21st, we went to Quin's & Mac's house for our Sitcom Group of Friends' Christmas get-together.  Quin did a great job preparing appetizers, and we enjoyed relaxing together and seeing one another before the holiday craziness with our families began.

This year, Mr. Lock and I spent Christmas Eve with his family and then Christmas Day with mine.  Both events were really fun, we had great food and received plenty of fun and useful gifts!  Everyone was very generous.  We are actually getting a puppy (more on that later!), so many of our gifts were PetSmart gift cards -- which is SO appreciated!

On Boxing Day, we went to my grandparents' house to spend time with my dad's side of the family.  It was good to see them, and we played our favourite card game (Canasta) and had MORE delicious food.  While I would have liked to see a white Christmas, the clear weather for travelling was appreciated.

On December 27th, we went skating at a rink that Mr. Lock's godfather rents every year.  Then, off to their home for a potluck dinner with lots of my in-laws friends.  MORE delicious food and treats; good thing we spent an hour skating, hopefully we burned some calories!

I've now been trying to accomplish a few tasks around the house; and clean and prepare for our New Years Eve celebrations!  This year, our Fancy Dress House Party is at our house.  It is really fun to be hosting.  I'm excited for ringing in another New Year with our best friends.

I'm just glad I have amazing Norwex products to make cleaning my home a project I actually enjoy! haha.  I'm off to dive into that job now...

Have a Happy New Year, friends!

This Christmas...

Another winter break from school is soon coming to an end!  What a winter break this was... 

We had quite the Christmas week, I feel happy about all the time spent with family, but it sure did feel like "The Christmas That Never-Ended".   My vacation began on December 20th with Mr. Lock's work Christmas party in the afternoon, and then we had all of our friends over for our annual Christmas get-together -- the last one in our condo.  An ice storm was coming into our area of southern Ontario, but we only had rain where we were fortunately.  I had a great time at Mr. Lock's work do... but that evening, just as we were starting dinner with our friends, I felt incredibly ill.  I ended up with what must have been food poisoning, not a stellar start to my winter break! 

Fortunately, I felt a bit better on the Saturday (phew!).  However, the ice storm had changed some of our plans and my family Christmas party was rescheduled to the 28th.  Mr. Lock and I signed our mortgage paperwork for our house on December 21st, but other than that I mostly laid around and tried to get some strength back after being so sick the night before.

That evening, the ice storm caused quite a few power failures... fortunately, not for us.  However, Mr. Lock's parents ended up losing power from Saturday, December 21st... until Christmas night.  By Christmas Eve, we convinced them to come stay at our condo and we went to stay at my parents house.  We had a really nice Christmas Eve with my family, full of the usual traditions (and a brief visit with some very good friends before dinner).  Christmas morning, Mr. Lock headed back to our condo so they could have a make-shift Christmas morning as a family, he was coming to get me again that evening for dinner at his Aunt and Uncle's house.

Well, Christmas just wasn't meant to be for the Locks.... what a fiasco!  Christmas morning, rather than opening gifts and having their traditional brunch, the Locks had to go to Toronto and help out Mr. Lock's brother and his wife -- who had returned from a trip to New York, only to sleep for a couple of hours and then have the radiator burst in their apartment!  What a mess!

We were able to have a really nice Christmas dinner that evening, and were happy when we discovered that the power was restored to the Lock residence that evening by 8 pm.  They slept in our condo for one more night so their home could warm up, and went home on Boxing Day.

Also on Boxing Day, Christmas continued for Mr. Lock and I as we went to my paternal grandparents' house for Christmas with my dad's side of the family.  We had a wonderful day, good food and great company, but we were sad to learn that my dad's uncle had passed away on Christmas morning.  He was older, and ill and in hospice, but we were still sad for the loss of course.  My grandma will miss her brother, as her family was always very close.  The funeral is this weekend, so we'll be back together with family again to celebrate and honour my great-uncle's life.

Then, December 27th came along... it was time for another tradition for the Lock family, a skating party with Mr. Lock's godparents.  It was really fun to spend an hour on the ice, since I don't skate as often anymore as I did growing up.  The 28th, we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for my mom's side of the family Christmas party... glad for better travelling weather compared to the weekend before.  

Then, on the 29th, we were able to get together with Mr. Lock's parents and brother and sister-in-law so that we could have a meal and finally have the Lock's Christmas presents opened that they missed on their mixed-up, crazy, Christmas morning.

It was such a hectic week... full of great food, great company, and an overall wonderful Christmas.  It was just a strange one, lots of events had to be moved around and we needed to make up some family time after the ice storm and power failure.  It was definitely not a traditional Christmas, but as someone getting married and needing to change the Christmas traditions a bit to balance family commitments, it was probably for the best to get us all ready for next year.

28-Years-Old: A Super Boring Update Because Life Has Just Been Normal and Great

Well, that three-times-a-week blogging thing didn't happen yet!  Oops!   Life has just been fun-but-relaxing, so I haven't really had much to say, I suppose?  Not much good blog fodder lately.  Ah well, here's what's been up with me lately.

Last Sunday (July 14) I turned 28-years-old.  Yes, I'm crawling towards the big 3-0.  Unlike when I turned 27 and felt a bit funny about it, this year I felt fantastic on my birthday.  I have SO MUCH to look forward to at age 28.  We will get our house, we will get married, AND that permanent teaching thing!  WOO!  28 is fabulous and it has just begun!

I celebrated turning 28 a few ways.  On Friday the 12th, we went out for dinner with Quin, Mac, Dr. McVet, and Rick.  Quin and Mac treated me, which was very nice!  We went back to their house for a bit after, and just happened upon "Sharknado" on TV.  I don't even... well. It was quite the film.  Even the movie poster just says the tagline, "Enough said!".  They don't even know what to say about it!

On the Saturday before my birthday, Mr. Lock and I visited my parents and had a BBQ at their place (they have a pool, it is heaven).  Talk about gorgeous weather!  It was a perfect weekend to be outside.

On my actual birthday, we went downtown with the Sitcom Group of Friends and saw our good friend, Tobey, perform in the Toronto Fringe Festival.  He's a part of an improv troupe, and they performed all week at the Fringe.  Very cool.  Their show, called "Tomes", was hilarious.  Essentially, they have a box of nerdy, fantasy novels that none of the performers has ever read.  They have an audience member choose one of the books, then they look at the title, front cover, and read the blurb on the back cover.  Then, they improv the story based only on that information.  It's pretty fantastic.  Mr. Lock and I stayed downtown afterwards for awhile because the weather was gorgeous, we walked around and then had dinner, and then a quick visit with his brother and sister-in-law.

Then life at 28 began.  I went up to my parents' place on Monday for a swim and dinner visit, because the weather was so beautiful.  I love having full use of a backyard pool in the summers.   They only put in the pool six years ago, it was a fantastic investment if I do say so myself.  I'll be even happier next summer when I only live five minutes away, rather than half-an-hour like now!  Tuesday night Mr. Lock and I were back in Toronto, having dinner and drinks with friends of his.  Wednesday I was hanging out at home, cleaned my condo some, avoided the sweltering heat outside.

I'm really taking it easy this summer.  I'm enjoying spending time with friends and family and just relaxing and enjoying the sun.  This weekend we have a wedding to go to for one of Mr. Lock's friends from elementary school, so that will be a nice reunion for him.  I'm enjoying taking each summer weekend as it comes, and I'm trying not to rush the summer away.  I'm also reading like crazy, I've finished three books this summer so far!

Now it's time for some lunch, and then I'm off to see my family again!  Reading by the pool if the weather holds up and there's no rain yet... ahh, so lovely!

 

M is for... Mom

Today M is for Mom.  It seems a simple word.  I am just so fortunate to be so close to my own mom.  When I was a kid, I was a daddy's girl all the way... but as I grew older, though I retained my close relationship with my dad, I really did grow a lot closer to my mother.  Now, I am able to go to her with anything.  She and I have a very open, adult relationship and I understand what it means for mothers and daughters to become friends.  I love how much we laugh together, how she comes to me for help and support just as I can always go to her.  I just love my mom, and appreciate her in my life very much!  I hope to one day be the mom she was to me for my own kids, and I hope I can develop the same strong relationship with my future children that she has with hers.  Love you, momma.

A Mish-Mash on a Friday Night

I'm having a lazy Friday night tonight, and I am happy for it!  The first week back to school following March Break was a good one, but I am definitely exhausted!  We've been building bridges out of uncooked spaghetti noodles and white glue to launch our structures unit for science... it made for a messy and hectic week!  Very fun little project, though... for the kids, anyway!

So, tonight, I am planning to just veg out on the couch, drink some tea, watch some old episodes of The Nanny on Netflix... I love re-watching old sitcoms, especially getting to see them in order since I used to just catch random episodes back in the day.  Fran may have a super annoying voice, but darn it... The Nanny is very cute and funny.  I've also been enjoying catching old eps of Boy Meets World off of ABC Spark... not afraid to admit it, I will definitely be watching Girl Meets World when it airs... for the nostalgia!  I am loving how "into it" Ben Savage (Corey) and Danielle Fishel (Topanga) are... haha.  I will love Corey and Topanga forever.  Ah, being a child of the 90s.  Loved it.

In other random news, two of my cousins, who are particularly fantastic singers, are auditioning for MuchMusic's Covers contest for 2013.  This is a link to their video, it would be awesome if you'd give it a listen, and then go back and vote for them... you can vote once per day until April 21st.  I'm really quite proud of them!

And then final random thing... which may need to become a post all on its own... is that we emailed Target, which has just started opening stores in Canada, to see if we could potentially set up a donation table outside one of their stores, to raise some money for our upcoming charity walk for The Weekend to End Women's Cancers (a huge charity event for Toronto, for the Princess Margaret Hospital's Campbell Family Institute, a TOP FIVE worldwide research centre).  This sort of thing is called a "tag day" by the charity, and they recommend trying it.  We've bought pre-made pink ribbons and would have some baked goods and pink lemonade available for donations of loose change and such.  Their response was apparently very rude, Quin was the one to receive it.

She said they compared our request to politicians soliciting votes?!?  Something ridiculous... I need to get more details, but to be honest.. I was thinking of visiting a Target this weekend to check out their new Canadian stores... and this has soured that for me.  Even if they don't want "tag days" to happen outside of their stores (places like the LCBO, Walmart, other grocery stores allow them so we just thought we'd ask), they could at least reply respectfully considering we are working to raise money for cancer research for a very legitimate and massive event in Toronto.  Makes me mad when a company can't just speak respectfully back to you, all they had to say was a simple, "Sorry, our policy isn't to allow fundraising at our doors" or something so easy and yet polite.

So, I need a few more details from Quin to hear their whole response, but we are quite upset with Target Canada right now, or at least the person who replied to us who works for them.  It's very discouraging that as a new business in our neighbourhoods, they wouldn't want to build a sense of community through at least respectful communication with their customers!  I for one am not as interested in visiting their new stores as I once thought I was...

Well, have a very nice weekend, everyone!  I'm going to sort a bit of laundry and brew my tea!  Peace and relaxation, and Nanny Fine and Mr. Sheffield, here I come!

Vegas, Baby!

It's March Break... I don't know where this school year is going!  I am so exhausted, though, so I'm certainly glad for the break.  I need to recharge.. and my students definitely need some time apart, as they are beginning to drive each other crazy (which usually begins to happen around the spring -- too much time spent together every day).

I am off to Las Vegas tonight, until Thursday!  I'm tagging along on a family vacation with my parents, grandmother, and youngest brother.  They were going March Break anyway, and asked me to join them for only the cost of my plane ticket since I'm off work anyway.  Yes, please!

We are doing a few different things than I did with my friends in the summer.  My dad will have a rental car, so we are going to go to Hoover Dam one day.  Also, my mom and I have tickets to see Celine Dion in concert... a concert which has been on my mom's Bucket List, but one which she hasn't been able to see over the years for various reasons (she'd be going to Vegas, and Celine's show wouldn't be running because Celine was sick, or was on her own vacation, etc).  This time, the stars seem to be aligning and my mom will finally see this show!  Yes, I've just knocked on wood.

We are also going to see Terry Fator, who was a winner of America's Got Talent, and who is a ventriloquist and impersonator... I've heard his show is really good, and so this is one my family is all going to together (so, something for Scooter, as he is only 14 and can't gamble and such, haha, he loves Vegas though, this is his third time going!).

All in all, I am looking forward to this break, a chance to just relax and not worry about school (though  I will, because I think about it constantly, haha).

Viva Vegas!

How Full Is YOUR Bucket? A GREAT book for classrooms, and families!

I am such a proud teacher, I really do love my job and love to say that OFTEN.  The best thing is, what began as a stressful school year (because it's a split class -- new to me, and TWO new grades at that) has become more routine and happy now!  We are sailing along and learning so much, and best of all my kids have really learned to treat each other with respect.  There is a lot of good stuff happening at school, and a lot of the stress is disappearing.  Hooray!  It just takes getting into a routine, and then all is well.

One of my favourite things to do is to build a sense of a "classroom family" within my classroom.  I absolutely LOVE the book "How Full Is Your Bucket?" -- I discovered it a couple of years ago.  This is in no way a sponsored post, if you're wondering, I'm just seriously passing along something I really enjoy using in my classroom.

I read "How Full Is Your Bucket?" to my class early in the school year, within the first two weeks.  We discuss the concepts found in the book - that we all have this invisible bucket, and we are either bucket fillers or bucket dippers.  We fill other peoples buckets in various ways (my class and I brainstorm how to fill a bucket), and we empty (or dip) into each other's buckets when we are disrespectful or unkind.  The kids REALLY get this concept.  Many teachers in our school are beginning to use this book, and even the kindergarten aged children are understanding much more about being nice and being a good friend through this idea.  It's very powerful!

The next thing I do with my class is introduce them to the idea of leaving appreciation statements for one another.  I have a large bucket outline drawn on chart paper, and the kids fill out these small rectangular pieces of paper that have a template on them for sharing what you appreciate a peer for.  So they say:  "I appreciate _________ because _____________ .  From: ____________".  The kids fill in the blanks (obviously the blanks are bigger).  They leave the statements in my mailbox, and I put a sticker on them and then tape them to the large bucket outline, just outside our classroom door (because they like to appreciate kids from other classes sometimes too).

At the end of the month, I'm taking down the appreciations and creating a Wordle out of them.  I'm then able to post these Wordles on our classroom wall for the whole school year, and we can have fun tracking the main reasons we have appreciated others -- which leads to great discussions about even more ways we can do nice things and show respect and friendship.  This is my first year doing the Wordle, but our first one from September and October appreciations is amazing, so I think this will be a powerful add on to the appreciation statements.  The kids get to take home the appreciations that were written to them.

Our September/October appreciation Wordle

One of the best parts of this, which happened quite naturally but which I am so very proud of, is that my kids have begun to appreciate others anonymously.  Rather than leaving their name, after "From: ____" they are beginning to write "a friend", "a mystery man", etc.  The cool part of this is, they are learning that they can appreciate others without needing someone to thank them back, or without needing someone to in turn write an appreciation to them.  This is so powerful, and shows this project moving towards intrinsic motivation for kindness.

It feels good to fill a bucket, as much as it feels good when someone else fills yours.  That's another concept in the book - by filling others' buckets, we fill our own too.  My students this year are REALLY getting that idea, and I just love this easy way of building a caring classroom community, and a positive climate for learning.  Give it a try for yourself!

I bet you could even do something like this in your household amongst your children and family members if they need to learn a little more about showing appreciation and recognizing ways to appreciate others (family members or even strangers -- "I appreciated the person who held the door open for me at the mall" is just as nice, it stretches their positive thinking when they recognize the positives in the world!).   You could make a bucket template for your fridge, and stick appreciation statements on it with magnets!  It would also make for great conversation topics over the dinner table.

----------------------------------------
Speaking of great things for the family and kids, Disney/Pixar's Brave is out on Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack TODAY!  I have FOUR copies to give away... so enter on this post here for a chance to win!  Contest ends 12:01 am on November 23rd!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr. Lock and I enjoyed a turkey dinner with my family yesterday, and we are off again soon to visit and have a big family dinner with his side today.  I'm certainly thankful for the wonderful family that surrounds us. There is so much love in our life, we are so fortunate for all we have.

I love Thanksgiving and autumn and everything this time of year brings!  Best wishes to you and yours!

Love,
Ms. Key

Dog Sitting

This week and next I'm staying at my parents house to dog sit while they're on a holiday in South Carolina.  I love my pup, she is turning 6-years-old this Friday.

Chelsea, up at Rick's cottage a couple of summers ago!

Fortunately, my 23-year-old brother is living here too.  He's been really helpful, taking Chelsea out for an afternoon walk while I'm at work.  This is a HUGE help, because I otherwise feel very stressed about getting out of the school building fast enough to be home early.  Dogs are definitely a huge responsibility, and one that I'm not as used to now that I live in my own place.   It's a big difference too, going from a 4 minute commute (from my condo to my school), to a 30-40 minute commute to my parents' house.  I used to commute from here everyday, but now that I've been living elsewhere for over a year -- well!  I certainly got used to the shorter drive.

I used to never be able to stay home alone here, even as an adult.  My anxiety would flare up so badly at night. The one thing I love about having the dog around is that I can be here alone at night, and feel comfortable.  For that reason alone, I think I'd like to have a dog my whole life (once I'm back in a house rather than a condo).  When the dog is calm, I am calm too.  I just feel safer too, and even the distraction of having a pet to care for helps keep the anxiety at bay.  I'd like to have a dog for other reasons too, but honestly this is a big reason for me.  Having a dog around is definitely an anti-anxiety strategy of mine!

So, for two weeks it's me and Chelsea Bun, and then back to the condo.  While it's a bit of a pain to be here, I do love this puppy so!

Oscar, Oscar!

I won!  I won!  My family and I always have a bet on picking the winners for the Oscars, and this year was my year!  I got 15 out of 24 categories correct!

I would love to say that seeing six of the nine "Best Picture" nominees paid off.  That's probably not true though.  I just took a lot of great guesses.  Most of the time I guessed Hugo or The Artist to take a category, and they did.  I didn't even see THOSE two movies.  I guess I should sometime, though!

It was a fun night.  Mr. Lock and I went to my parents house.  We played a board game with my dad and youngest brother, had dinner, and then settled in for the show.  I always love when Billy Crystal hosts, and honestly I found last night's Awards very entertaining.

I was upset that they didn't perform Man or Muppet (nominated for Best Original Song) live.  I was hoping to see that, but oh well.  It was overall a great show and a very enjoyable evening!

Plus, I won!  Hooray!  Fourteen whole dollars!  Whatever will I do with my new riches?!

Do you watch The Academy Awards?  I've been watching them for as long as I can remember, begging my mom to let me stay awake to "just see one more segment? Please?".  When I was 12-years-old I stayed up to watch the entire show for the first time, watching Titanic win its 11 awards (my most favourite movie at the time).  Ever since then, I've watched the show in its entirety annually.  It's a big tradition in my house for us to use Oscar ballots from the web to pick winners and see who can get the most right, we always bet $2 each on it to make it more interesting.

My goal is to have a house that's great for hosting events one day, so I can move the annual Oscar party there. I'd love to invite a few more friends and have ballots at the ready for everyone who wants to participate in "picking the winners" and friendly competition.  It really makes for a fun evening!

Super Bowl Sunday!

My father is a massive football fan.  His team is the Green Bay Packers, so last year the Super Bowl was extra exciting at my parents house.  He has loved football since he watched the Packers win the Super Bowl when he was 4-years-old in 1964. The rest of his family is hockey obsessed and though he enjoys hockey, football is his most favourite sport to watch.  He played as a kid and on his high school teams, and now he coaches my youngest brother on his rep football team.

It was a miracle for my dad that my youngest brother took to football as much as my dad has.  I'm pretty sure that my dad is thrilled he and my mom had a surprise kid ten years after they thought they were done having children just because of how much football has become prominent in our lives.  My middle brother enjoys football, but played hockey growing up and always had other interests aside from watching Sunday games all day with dad.

Scooter, age 13?  He is obsessive with the sport.  He chose his own favourite team when he was very little, the Seattle Seahawks, and really enjoys having a rivalry with my dad.  They play the football video games together, they watch NFL Sunday Ticket all day and then catch the Monday Night Football most weeks.  I already mentioned that my dad coaches Scooter's rep football team, that's been going on for about five years now.  Scooter is in football camps starting in January, plays for a summer team and a fall team, and has a break for pretty much the month of December only.  That's they way HE wants it though, believe me.

Suffice to say, Super Bowl Sunday is a Big Deal, with two football fanatics in the house.  Mr. Lock and I will be visiting my parents to catch the game, and eat my grandmother's delicious chilli for dinner.  We don't have a specific team to cheer on this year, though I think we're supposed to cheer for the Giants because they're in the same conference as the Packers.

I honestly couldn't care less about football through most of the season, but I just cannot miss a Super Bowl Sunday.

Today is Family Literacy Day!

Think About It:  What do you do to make Family Literacy Day meaningful for your family?  How do you make every day Family Literacy Day in your home?

Click over to my post at The Blog at KahootKids.ca for a few tips!

Also visit FamilyLiteracyDay.com.  There are even some great tips there for adult literacy and financial literacy!

My Sisterly Duty

My mom's side of the family has a Christmas get together the Saturday before Christmas.  This is the tradition for as long as I can remember.  My mom has six brothers, and my family is massive, so getting together on Christmas Day itself became too challenging.  Last year, I didn't attend the family party for the first time EVER because one of my aunt's switched to two Saturdays before Christmas, and I had already made plans.  Otherwise, I've always attended the party - most years, the party is hosted at my mom's house but some years it switches to one of my aunt's houses.

This year I was looking forward to attending the annual event.  It was last night.  Mr. Lock and I arrived early, and we enjoyed catching up with my aunt and uncle and greeting the rest of the guests as they arrived.  My dad, 13-year-old brother and grandmother arrived a little later than expected, just after 6 pm.  My mom and 22-year-old brother ("Miles"), were unexpectedly absent.  My dad pulled me aside, not wanting to wreck the party for all, to tell me that my mom just took Miles to the emergency room.

Apparently he was in the basement, and started screaming for my mom.  It was his head, he was in intense pain.  They didn't know what to do, it was so sudden, so they rushed him to the hospital.

We were waiting for an update from my mom.  She finally called to tell my dad that they were doing a CAT scan.  Of course at this point I'm feeling incrediby anxious and worried.  Finally she calls to say that they didn't see anything on the CAT scan, but they want to do another test to check his spinal fluid for blood.

Miles was refusing the test.  He heard there was a slight chance that if they missed they could hurt his spine and send him in to surgery.  He was scared, anxious, worked up... by this point more of my extended family at my aunt's house was worked up over the news of where Miles was and what happened.  They were all pushing for him to have the test... it would tell us if he had an aneurism or burst anything in his head.  My mom and dad wanted him to have the test.  But, he's 22-years-old.  If he tells the doctors no, then there's nothing his parents can do.

Miles and my mom have a long history of arguments.  Miles is as anxiety-ridden as I am, but has a lot less self-awareness and has a lot more difficulty coping.  He struggles, often, with certain situations because he also has Learning Disabilities and ADHD.  When he's having trouble coping with anything, I am the person he turns to.

I was at my aunt's house, ready to continue to enjoy my family party, but I was sudden so worried about my brother.  I knew I needed to go to the hospital, I knew he needed me to calm him down, to convince him to make an informed choice -- to do the very commonly done test to ensure he was healthy, before walking out of that hospital.

My uncle drove me to the hospital, and I ended up staying there for nearly 3 hours with my brother and my dad.  I calmed Miles down, we talked it out, he chose to do the test.  I was able to stay with him, and help him cope with another few hours in the ER.  He was angry and beligerent at times, but it was the right thing to do.  He needed me, I'm his go to person when he's scared and is trying hard not to show it to others.

It was a huge relief when the test results came back.  The spinal fluid was clear, so it must have been a migraine -- though it's apparently very rare for a migraine to hit that hard and that suddenly at my brothers age (according to the doctor).  We were so relieved, though, to know for sure that it wasn't something worse.

Miles was relieved too, and I know that even though he was scared to have that test done, he was able to sleep easier leaving the hospital knowing he was okay.  Today he called me, apologized for "acting like a jerk" (his words), and thanked me for coming to the hospital last night.

I may have missed the family party again this year, but if my brother needs me, I will be there for him.

(Mr. Lock, I should add, was a rock star.  He came with me to the hospital, but then I sent him back to the party.  He had only met some of those family members ONCE before, but he had a great time with them singing and playing guitar, he made a great impression.)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Click here to enter the first of three contests to win a set of 4 movie passes to an early screening of Beauty and the Beast (in Disney Digital 3D) at Silvercity Yorkdale in Toronto on January 7th at 10:00 am! 

When the Kids Become the Parents

Okay, this isn't really The Post That One Day I'm Bound To Write About My Parents Being Senile and Elderly, but this title is still fitting.

Recently, and only recently, my mom finally started to independently get on the computer and use email.  I KNOW.  I'm talking... maybe a MONTH ago this happened.  She's only 50 years old, it was time she learned how to use a computer.  She types amazingly well (years of secretarial work on a type writer), but hasn't been in the workforce for 13 years, and even then for a few years there she wasn't doing anything that required learning to use the computer.  So, she never learned and never wanted to bother.

Finally, I convinced her she needed to get connected.  Her high school friends have begun reconnecting because of "The Facebook" as they call it, and they were beginning to ask her for her email address.  I know she was starting to feel more and more embarrassed over not joining the computer age.

Now, she's able to turn on her litttle netbook and independently check and send email.  She can use the internet for simple things, mostly she gets to Google and then searches for what she wants to look up.  She still gets a bit confused sometimes, but she's doing well.

Right now, my parents are on vacation and I'm staying at their house to care for the dog and keep my grandmother company in the evenings after work (and because my brothers are here too, but they barely need me anymore).  Tonight, a telemarketer calls.

My grandmother informs me that my mother is entering "all sorts of those contest things on the computer", and now they are getting FREQUENT phone calls looking for a "MARY" (not her full name!).  My grandma is fed up with the phone calls.

I suddenly feel like this is "when the kids become the parents" type of moment.  I'm going to have to talk to my mom, and explicitly teach her critical thinking and appropriate Internet use!  I will try to do this without being condescending.

The thing is, my dad is really bad at this too.  He can use a computer very well, but he won't listen when you try to explain that Not Everything Online Should Be Trusted.  They are entering a billion contests because they've read those magazine articles about the people who "Win All Sorts Of Amazing Things Just Through Internet Contests!!!1!1!!!".  They don't seem to get that not EVERY so-called "Contest" site is legit!

I think the thing is... we learned about this in school, we were taught over and over again how to be diligent and careful in the Online World.  We are much more tuned in to this sort of thing than our parents are.  Our parents are making mistakes, and now we need to tactfully (!!!) figure out how to tell them to S.T.O.P. STOP!  Use their BRAIN!  Stop trusting everything and giving out your personal information!

It's pretty interesting to be in this position.  I wonder what technology will come out when I'm my mom's age that will have my future offspring blogging (maybe? from a device the size of my baby toe?) the same damn thing about me. 

"MOM IS SO DENSE!  Everyone KNOWS you don't pump OLD FASHIONED GASOLINE into your FUEL tank in the FLYING CAR v2.0! GAWD!"

Teaching Update, and My Mom's Birthday Bash Madness

I am so happy to report that today was my LAST DAY OF SUPPLY TEACHING for this school year!

Tomorrow, I'm back in grade one, in a long-term assignment, at the school I know and love!  Wheee!  I am SO GLAD!  I will get to finish off the rest of the school year for one of my former grade partners, so I already know her students and the upcoming units we're teaching... phew!  It's going to be awesome.  Plus, that school is four minutes from my condo, which is an awesome commute.

- - - - - - - - - - -

My mom's 50th birthday is coming up on May 12th.  She's a social butterfly, so I couldn't let her 50th pass without a big birthday bash.  The party is happening on May 7th, and I'm keeping it a surprise.  We only set the date a couple of weeks ago, so it's been a bit of a rush putting everything together (however, my mom is away on a holiday the weekend AFTER her birthday, and the following one is the May long weekend, so we had few options left).  Fortunately, I have an aunt who was able to call around to a bunch of family members for me to handle some of the invites... but mostly, I'm handling this entire shindig on my own (though Mr. Lock is being helpful in any way he can, just another reason why he is an awesome boyfriend) (PS -- thanks for the name idea for him, SciFi Dad!).

I'm feeling very accomplished today.  I ordered 50 Pink Flamingos for the front lawn on the day of the party, from a local company who does that sort of thing (because I'm going large, loud and fun with this party).  I also made an appointment for tomorrow evening with a catering company (my dad and grandmother are helping me fund the party).  We're going to get some platters from a grocery store, but we're looking to have the hot stuff and the main meal food catered (mostly just with finger foods and substantial hors d'oeuvres).  I've also been in touch with my mom's favourite bakery, and know that I just need to order the cake a week before the event.

I have my plans for decor, and will be going out with Mr. Lock on Thursday to purchase some fun, "50" themed items to splash around my house.  Every guest has been invited, and I'm only waiting on a couple of RSVPs.

I think it's going to turn out to be a very fun party, and the best part is that my mom isn't expecting it at all.  I think she'll really appreciate the effort being put into it, and will love having her family and a few close friends celebrate such an important year with her.  It's going to be about 40 guests, mostly because we have such a massive family (my mom has six brothers, who are married, with children)!

If you guys have hosted any big parties and have any advice, feel free to share it in the comments!  Otherwise, just wish me luck with this big undertaking!  I'm really loving planning it, because I think if I wasn't a teacher I would have LOVED to be an event planner.

And... grade one!  Tomorrow!  HURRAH!