Celebrate the Good, Forget the Bad

I have, once again, been worrying about Jamie's performance at schoool. Final exams are coming up, I'm seeing very little studying, and my offers to help are quickly dismissed. With some of his marks being borderline, a bad exam could mean the difference between passing and failing the course.

I think as parents, we all want our kids to do well, to be happy and engaged in life. It's hard for me to hear Jamie talking about how stupid school is, and how stupid he is. Nothing I do or say seems to make a difference.

Today, I ran into a woman who I used to spend a fair bit of time with, but whom I hadn't seen in several years. Her son, who has ADHD, struggled throughout his childhood. He's now at Yukon College, and failing every subject he's taking. He never did graduate from high school. In my friend's words, "Life sure doesn't turn out the way you expect." And yes, by many accounts, her son might be considered a failure. But there are the positive things too: he's living on his own. He just got a part-time job. He spent a week at home with his family over Christmas and everyone held it together. Those are no small feats for someone who doesn't fit the mold.

Life is hard sometimes. Things get thrown at you that you need about as much as you need a hole in the head. People disappoint. Curve balls come at you from an invisible and strong armed pitcher. But my friend's words were a good reminder to me that the best thing you can do is fiercely celebrate the good in as many ways as you know how, and say 'to hell' with the bad.

Taking the No Complaint Challenge

You may have heard about the movement to go 21 days without gripping or complaining. It's something that was started by a minister in Kansas City. People wear purple wristbands, and every time they complain about something they have to switch their band from one wrist to the other. It's a way of bringing attention to their grumbling, and hopefully stop or at least reduce it. This small gesture, started in one church, has really taken off. Apparently the church has received requests for more than 300,000 wristbands from people all over the world. Of course this isn't meant to stop people from raising valid concerns and issues. Rather, it's to address all the snipping, gossiping, and general grumbling that creates so much unncessary bad energy. Yesterday, in a particularly foul mood, I found myself in a place I didn't want to be, behaving like a person I didn't care for one bit. So I've decided to take the 21 day challenge. Actually, I'll be happy if I can get through one day without complaining. If I manage that, then I'll set my sites on longer periods of time. Wish me luck!

Feel Like Daaaan-cing....

Last night was our post Christmas staff party. Below is a (not very good) photo that someone snapped of Joe and I.

For me, it was not really a relaxing evening. I was MC, plus I was the one who had arranged the location, food, door prizes, entertainment, etc. One of these days I'm hoping that someone else will take on this job. However I feel pretty good about how things went - I got the sense that people had a good time, and that's the important thing.

Oh, and Joe won an iPod, so that was a bonus!

Dreaming of Summer

I am missing my garden. Walking to the bus stop today, with a bitter wind hurling itself at me and with a dark and rather barren landscape in front of me, I decided I have had quite enough of winter. I am craving green growth, warm dirt and a friendly sun. Peering at my backyard today, it's hard to believe it looked like this not too many months ago.

Disappointment in the Skies

Hmmm - I wonder what I did wrong. Last night at about 10 o'clock, my blanket and I settled into a chaise on one of our back decks. I was gazing skyward to see the much talked about meteor shower. According to CBC Radio, I was supposed to watch for peak activity around 10:40, looking to the east/north-east. However it was a bit of a disappointment. I did see four or five streaks across the sky, but that was about it.

Apparently other people captured it though, including the folks from SETI. Here's one of their photos:

And Then There Were Three

We are once again a household of three. Iris flew back to Toronto yesterday and Alan returned to his place last night, after spending a few days at home recouperating from his operation. He's still pretty sore, but I think he'll be fine.

Now that Jamie is an only child again, he asked Joe and I if that meant we would be spoiling him. While we promised to lavish him with love and attention, we suggested he shouldn't hold his breath waiting for a deluge of material goods any time soon. I don't think that's exactly the answer he was looking for!

Winter Scenes, Inside and Out