Wilsonworld

Out comes the purple pen....

SO i am now on my four days off...that is the one thing i like about my job...I work 4 on 4 off...so it is like having a mini vacation every week.
I have received official confirmation aka "The acceptance letter"..so i can now shout it from the roof tops...

I AM GOING BACK TO UNIVERSITY!

I need two english courses...that is it.

SO to practice, I am working on my Novel...Talking to Dead People.....

This is what I am working on this afternoon...

It was not until one night, while lying in his hospital bed watching tv that I even began to think that maybe the doctors were right. It was the first time that he had even mentioned the words dying or death. We had been together for fifteen years, and even through all of the illness and close calls, I had never heard him allow those words to be said in his presence. So when he told me that night that he was afraid of dying, I knew that it really was happening.
“What do you think will happen?” he asked me as he played with my hair. It was one of his favourite things to do, twirl my hair in his fingers. Sometimes he would do it in his sleep and in the morning we would wake up literally in knots.
“When?” I asked dreamily, as his hair playing was also one of the things that truly relaxed me.
“When I die. What do you think will happen to me? Will I still be able to see you..feel you with me, or when I am gone is that it?” He sounded like a little child, needing reassurance. But I didn't know how to give it to him.
“I don't know. Lots of different people think different things Ger.” I offered, knowing that it would not be enough for him.
“But what do you really believe” he asked again with a hint or urgency in his voice. I could tell by that time in his voice that he was not going to let this go until he got the answer he was looking for.
“Well, I believe that when we die, we go to heaven. I think that heaven is a truly wonderous place, filled with beauty and joy. I like to think that the childhood stories of heaven being full of angels is true. The genealogist in me hopes that it is also true that you get to meet up with all of the people who have gone before you. That would be really cool. I would be able to meet up with all of the people that I have spent my life researching, and they could tell me if I got it right.”
“I also think that I heaven there is no sickness, no physical limitations, so for example, if you couldn't walk here on earth, you could once you got to heaven. You can do all of things that you couldn't do down here”
“I don't think that is fair” Ger muttered.
“Why?” I asked. “You'll be able to run and walk and not have to be stuck in that chair. You'll be able to dance,” I added, knowing that was the one thing he always said he missed about being in the chair.
“But the only one that I have ever wanted to dance with would still be down here” he said as he tightened his arms around me.
“But we can dance when I get there” I added softly, and closed my eyes in against his shoulder.

Summertime is never really far away...

Have been feeling much better,and i did manage to make it through my work week, only having to leave early once. But i still am lacking in energy, and i am not sure if it is due to being sick, or the lack of sunshine around here this week.
Spring arrived yesterday, and you know what that means...

SUMMERTIME is not far away!

Below is the youtube video of my friend Doug.

Doug is one of those people who is full of pure talent. He writes, sings, paints, draws, and is really musically inclined. I teared up this week watching his videos..realizing how far we had all come from the dungeons and stairwells where we used to sing together.

Thanks Duckie, for reminding me that summertime is never really far away....

The things you can do when you can't leave the house.

SO this whole week I have been stuck inside, sick. Other than the doctor app't, and the brief trip i made to the University to submit my paperwork for admissions...I have not even gotten dressed since Sunday.
While I am still not feeling great, I am feeling better and will be returning to work tonight. I have no choice...the kids kind of need to be fed and the bank has this silly idea that we should actually pay them to live here. SO it is back to work i go.

But in the week that i laid around and watched the Food Network, I came to a realization about our eating habits. They suck. Now I love to cook...could spend every waking hour of the day in the kitchen if someone paid me to (actually someone used to pay me to do that...but the money wasn't there). We had fallen into the trap of ready to eat foods. And not the good stuff either. Having given up all fast foods for Lent, we had started watching what we ate, but i was ready to take it one step farther.

Laying on the couch yesterday, i made up a menu for the next two weeks. Now, since Munch has been learning to cook (and doing a really good job at it) he has asked if he can cook one meal a week for us...with no help. And i am ready to pass the cooking torch...When i go back to school in September thiings are going to get even busier around here and if the rest of the family is willing to pitch in..i say lets start now.

Munch will be cooking two meals....BBQ Chicken burgers with honey coleslaw (courtesy of Rachael Ray) and Cowboy Casserole, which is a kind of baked bean/ground beef medley with dumplings on top. Keith will be cooking Spanish Rice.

Also....NOTHING will be from a box. All of the ingredients were bought fresh today, and the stuff that is able to be frozen is now comfy in our freezer.

I am looking forward to the Maple Glazed Salmon with grilled asparagus...Keith is looking forward to Meatloaf..and even Bug is going to cook for us. She will be cooking pancakes..with sausages and I am going to teach her to caramelize fruit for the top of the pancakes.

My hope is that in getting them to cook the meals, they will be more tempted to actually eat something other that...well...crap from a box.

That and the money i spent on two weeks worth of groceries today was the least amount that i have spent since i can't remember when.

If you could have someone come in and cook your favourite meal...what would they cook for you?

My answer to that would be Jamie Oliver cooking one of his wonderful Lamb dishes....and of course joining me over a glass of wine while we enjoyed the meal by candlelight. OR Michael Smith cooking me up one of his maritime fish dishes..again with a glass of wine. OHHHH the possibilities are endless!

Do not get sick during March break.

This is my friendly service announcement.
Do not get sick during March break.
There is no one to fix you if you are broken.
I was up at the crack of dawn this morning, so Keith could drop me off at the clinic when they opened. (My own doctor not opening until later). Bug and i waved as he drove away, and turned to open the door...only to read...

CLINIC IS CLOSED UNTIL MARCH 17.
(that is the day that March break is done)

Great, now i am sick, and am going to have to walk home..and then wait for my own Doctor's office to open. Bug expressed her concern...and then we did what any sick mom would do...we called Daddy.
He was still driving down the road, and so he turned around, came and got us and dropped us off at home.
I got on the phone as started calling around to find a clinic that was open....apparently there are few.

When i finally got through to my own Doctor's office....I was told she was away..for March break. Now in her defence...she never goes away and is always there when i need her...but she picked NOW to go away? The receptionist told me about a clinic that was open..so Bug and i made our way there.

At the end of it all....

I am sick.
Respiratory infection, sinus infection and infections in BOTH ears.
And, she said if she was to guess, the pink eye i had a few weeks back was probably from my sinuses...which were bothering me then.

So i am now armed with drugs in pill form, spray form and liquid form.....hope Bug feels like watching movies today..i have a feeling i won't be doing much of anything else.

March Break...already?

Today is the first day of March break for the kids. I don't understand why they even schedule school for March this year,as they will have only had 12 days of actual school. Between March break, Easter Holidays and Snow days...March has been, well, not the most educationally stimulating month.

And in the spirit of family time...we have all decided to be sick together.
Bug has her lingering cold, Munch has the cough and sniffles, and i have..whatever the hell i have had for the last three months.* It just keeps coming back. Sinus-y, sore throat, coughing, sneezing can't-lift-my-head type sickness.
I called in sick to work last night..but after sleeping for 14 hours I am feeling better...now it is all in my chest.
SO today..we are doing nothing.
I am lounging on the couch..need to save energy for work tonight (i cannot miss another night). Kids are playing games on the computer and we have a movie or two to watch this afternoon.

If your kids are on break, how did you spend your first day?
Hopefully with a little more excitement than we did.
But at least we are together.

* Note that Keith is not included in this list. He was sick yesterday..for about 3 hours. He has that kind of immune system. Last fall when he got sick and actually really was sick for two weeks..was one of the only times in the 18 yrs we have been together that i have seen him actually sick. He doesn't get sick, and he can eat whatever he wants.....if i didn't love him so much i would have to hate him.

Parents know best?

This morning as i was reading through my morning musts, i had the chance to read THIS little gem, thanks to Mark (good morning Mark, are you feeling any better today?).
I had to read the first part of it twice as i could not believe what i was reading.
Parents are not qualified to teach their children?
The state of California has passed legislation to make it illegal for parents to home school their children without teaching credentials.
While it does say in the article that they do not believe that things are really going to change in the homeschooling arena, I am concerned as to what this is saying about the ability of the government to decide what is best for our children.
Now, i do not live in the states, but I am a parent, who has made the choice to send her children to school, but at one point i had considered homeschooling. When Munch was small, and the school system was failing him, i had considered keeping him home and teaching him myself. Obviously that did not happen, and in working with the teachers and school we found a solution that worked for Munch, but i was ready to teach him if that is what it was going to take.

What do you think?
Should parents be allowed to teach their children without having teaching credentials?
Don't we as parents KNOW our children better..and be able to teach them better on a one to one basis, as opposed to crowded classrooms..where they can easily become lost in the cracks of the system?

I see dead people.

Today, in a repeat of yesterday, i spent WAAAAYYYYY too much time on the computer looking for dead people. Talking to dead people. Yelling at dead people.
I was doing some genealogy research and i am coming up against some dead ends.
People, do your future generations a favour. DO NOT name EVERY male child John, James or Robert.
It makes it a bit difficult when you are searching for someone and everyone has the same name.
I might as well be searching for Bob Smith.

Since i have nothing to say today (unless you were born in the late 1700's or early 1800's..in which case i have some questions for you to answer)..please go check out John Scalzi at WHATEVER. THIS post in particular....made me smile today when i was busy playing the historical version of Where is Waldo.

Tomorrow...no dead people. Promise.

Holy Crap..or...How i hope the hubby doesn't notice i used all the ink in the printer.

Um....
I wrote a book.
Yes, you all know that i did Nano this past November, and that i want to start going back over it and rip it apart and marvel at the mistakes.
Today, just now as a matter of fact..I printed it.
The whole thing.

Holy crap i wrote a book.

It is one thing to see it on my computer screen, bathing in the blue border that is WORD.
It is another thing entirely to see all 50 thousand plus words on a page.
A real page that i can feel in my fingers.
I can smell the ink, turn down the corners, and hold it in my hands.

WOW.

I fiddled with the font size so as not too use up too much paper, and it still comes in at 100 pages.
Of my own words.
On a page
Where i can read it.

And attack it with my purple pen and yellow highlighter.

Now i know what they all feel like.
(not really as no one will actually have this book, but the fact that it is on paper and it is my own)
What a great feeling!

I can still hear your voice

I can still hear your voice
calling to me
soothing me
urging me

I can still hear your voice
telling me
that it will be ok

I can still hear your voice
telling me the things
i needed to hear

that i couldn't hear anywhere else.

Can you hear me?
Can you see me?

You always seemed to know
before i did
what was in my heart
in my mind

And you do still

But now you cannot tell me

For although i can hear you
I cannot HEAR you.

It is a pain that i thought would go away.
I was wrong.

(hey, can you still see the games..your team is going down...and once again you have the last laugh...my jersey hangs in the closet..waiting for you to fulfill your promise..And for the first time you can never keep your word.)

i miss you

Rest in peace my friend.
Jeff Allen, March 2 2007.