Beginnings & Endings.

When I first started blogging, I wanted to do something akin to online journaling/scrap booking - keep track of what I was doing, thoughts on various things...

I used to journal a lot when I was younger. But as I got older, I found that if I missed some time, getting back into it always felt awkward. The longer it got left, the less inclined I felt to start again. What do you say? Address the length of time it's been since the last entry? Pretend the last two months didn't happen?

That is just ridiculous - the last two months have been so amazingly busy - my brother got married to one of my best friends, I have a job for sure in the fall (which is SUPER exciting - and makes for a significantly less stressful summer), I am going to Quebec next week... Do I spend a large amount of time recapping?

While I may be a little bit older, my blogging habits are exactly like my journaling habits. The longer I do not write anything, the less excited I am about writing something new.

So I am unsure about what to do with this blog - it has served me well as a outlet for the past few years, but I think it is time to try something else. I might get it printed into a book. I might not.

At the urging of my principal I have been experimenting with twitter to keep me in touch with the education community and news, and at the urging of my friends I have become a bit addicted to Instagram to record little moments throughout my week. If you've enjoyed reading anything I've written, you can find me on either of those platforms under the moniker "thegingerjohnsn" - a nod to the nickname my MUN students gave me.

Thanks, blogger. It's been fun :)

Open Letter.

This is just something I needed to get off my chest.

An open letter to Michael Sam:

Dear Michael Sam, 

First off, congratulations on your recent NFL draft. I wish you nothing but success in St Louis. 

And thank you, for unintentionally holding a gigantic mirror up to our society in the process. 

The way you have been treated by some in the industry suggests that the worst possible thing someone could be is gay. Threats of boycotts because you are a terrible role model for our children? Of course! However, let's open the door and make room for all those convicted felons and abusers. We should judge them on only their raw talent, of course. 

Having a gay man in the NFL is a huge affront to societies ideals of masculinity, ideals that are becoming a more and more obvious problem. Men are expected to be all sorts of macho, paragons of virility, and if you don't measure up there is something wrong with you. This past weekend's events in Isla Vista, California, reveal the terrible consequences of this distorted view of masculinity we are teaching our boys. 

A virgin at the age of 22? Shocking! Apparently, that is the worst thing that could happen to a person. (Second only to being a gay NFL player, I suppose.) 

When a man's worth as a human being is tied to his sexuality, then women become commodities rather than humans. Don't believe me? Read through some of the #YesAllWomen on Twitter. Or, ask your friends, sisters or wives about their experiences. Then again, maybe not. Most women are afraid of speaking out because of the culture of victim blaming that has sprung up around us.

(By the way, truly nice guys respect a woman's decision not to sleep with them. Sure, it might suck and he might be sad, but if his reaction is violence, he was not a nice person to start with. Pretending you are nice to get people to sleep with you is just vile.)

Whether or not the killings in Isla Vista were a mental health issue or the result of an extreme misogynistic world view, in some ways makes no difference. When the discussion is brought up that "not all men" think like that, it completely misses the mark that a large number of men do. In much the same way that people who "aren't homophobic", but don't think they should be concerned with helping gays seek equality, are missing the boat. If you are male, you enjoy a privilege because of that. Straight? Privileged. White? Privileged. Do something with that.

A large number of straight men, like Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen, have spoken out in support of your coming out, rather than reflexively going the easy road of negativity. I only hope that men of a similar vein are willing to openly discuss consent and women's rights in the same way. 

Thanks for being such a positive role model. 

Denver.

Having a lovely time in Denver so far. True, our luggage arrived about 10 hours after we did (impressive given the flight is only 2.5 hours) but the weather is gorgeous, the water does lovely things to my hair, and my family here is awesome. 

I wanted to make a pie to say thanks (because none of them are big cooks) but I didn't count on how hard it would be to actually find the lard to make the crust. Two grocery stores didn't carry it, although one disgruntled Safeway employee tried to convince me that butter flavored Crisco is the same thing. 

So I made a pie with the softest (non-butter flavored) vegetable shortening ever, but it actually turned out better than I thought it would. 

Going to a hockey game today, playing tourist tomorrow and Monday, and planning on enjoying some of the beautiful outside weather before going back to my little icy corner of Canada. 

Security.

It has been a long week... Parent teacher interviews are exhausting. 

I am sitting in the airport, waiting to go to Denver to visit family for Spring Break. Have already seen 4 students in the airport who are also heading stateside for the week. 

I didn't get felt up by Security... That always happens to me... Feels like my airport experience is missing something. 

Lacking that element of danger. Although my mother did inadvertently try to take some apples across the border. 

Customs agent: Do you have any fruit? 

Mom: No

Thirty seconds after walking away she says: Should I have told him I have two apples?

We turned around and promptly surrendered our apples. 

Pi Day in Pi Month?

Not only is today Pi Day (3/14) it is also Pi Month! Time to celebrate the inner (and in my case, outer) math nerd. Plus, I love pie.

As March 14 is also Einstein's Birthday, I decided to celebrate by starting a course on Special Relativity with WorldScienceU, the new project of Brian Greene. As I don't have tons of time to devote to it (semester is zipping by, and wedding related things are coming up quick) I am doing the theoretical, not math based course, and opted out of being graded. I've taken both Relativistic and Quantum physics courses in the past, so this is a for-fun refresher!

Overtime.

We have been streaming Olympics on the large TV in the cafeteria at school. This was the scene today, when we effectively canceled block 3 when the women's gold medal game vs USA went into overtime.

Although this was before overtime started. It got really full! Practically the whole school turned out to watch! It was a cool experience to have everyone groan and cheer together (and groan really loud when the feed froze and the action stopped!)

I wish I could share the video of the cheer that erupted when they scored the winning gold! The whole group chanting CA NA DA! CA NA DA! and then the crowd goes wild!

One of our foreign exchange students took a similar picture to me, stating "this would only happen in Canada!"

Prepared?

Instead of prepping to take a group of students to a conference over the next three days, I have spent the evening watching vlogbrothers videos. Productive? Not really. Awesome? Yes.

Olympics.

I love watching the Olympics. When else will the average person get super into biathlon?

We had a little Pre-Valentines/Olympics watching party last night, followed up with a little Wii Olympics competition. 

I followed Cupcakes and Cashmere's lead and rimmed some glasses with colored sugar, and attempted to decorate the borderline disaster of a cake  with Olympic rings as well. Since the top layer of the heart-shaped red velvet had already migrated beyond repair... It just made sense for the skiers to make an appearance. 

#SochiProblems

Invalid.

So... I sprained my ankle last weekend.

For the past week, I have been incapable of putting on actual shoes, going down stairs slower than 90 year old men, mooching rides off friends and coworkers  (hello, yesterday's ride home in a Jag...) and being generally laid up.

It's particularly hard for me to stay off my ankle. Don't get me wrong, I love to rest, relax, and be lazy with the best of them... But only when I want to. When I have to?? It drives me nuts. 

Hasn't been too bad at school all week, but a weekend at home with no car? Sheesh. I did all kinds of things around the house today when I probably should have been sitting with my foot up... I realigned the drawer under my stove... Checked the fluids in my car (coolant is low)... Did three loads of laundry.... Rearranged some of the pictures on my walls (which included moving these prints by the art teacher at my school into the hallway where they can be appreciated more than in my room)....

Many more days like this and I will have all my Spring cleaning done... in the dead of winter. 

Ice.

We have been having some really, really unseasonably warm weather. Sunny, up to +5 several days in a row, +8 one day. (And in the States they were freaked out about the polar vortex. Bah. The weather where you are on a particular day doesn't translate to a climate trend! AH!)

One of the consequences of  all this nice weather, is melting. A LOT of melting. And the problem with lots of melting when you've had lots of snow, is that the water doesn't have anywhere to go. And the roads turn into giant skating rinks.

Icy roads are okay. Sanding crews come out, roads get bladed, drains unblocked... it sucks, but it is nothing, NOTHING, compared to the icy sidewalks and residential paths.

I had a bit of a doozy of a fall on some ice by my house last night. Body went one way, foot went another. Hobbling around today like an old person. I can walk upstairs just fine, but I had to take the elevator down at school three times today.

My father loaned me an old, retractable cane he had floating around that used to belong to my grandmother.

Touche.

Popcorn.

I admit it.

I have been avoiding blogging. 

Regardless of what I post, blogging causes me to think about what's going on in my life and reflect. Which is what I like about it. 

However, right now I am facing some serious job uncertainty, which causes all sorts of panic inducing, sweaty palmed stress, so I am avoiding thinking about it. There are only 15 days until my contract expires, and I know nothing either way. Not blogging helps me not think about it, and prevents the gut-wrenching anxiety. 

In other news, my father got a fabulous popcorn maker for his birthday, and I am addicted to homemade kettle corn. Seriously... Making it all in one pot? Genius.

Routine.

It's January 2nd and the holidays feel like eons ago. Strange how quickly you slip into a routine... It's utterly bizarre school will be back in in about 4 days. 

Quick trip to Ikea with Michelle today... it rained, in a bout of unseasonal mildness. The snow was perfect today, so her little man and I made fist sized snowmen in the slushy stuff after. 

Time to take down the tree, make healthier eating choices, and ponder if I want to make resolutions beyond my usual long term goals for 2014. 

Knitting.

We have a bit of a tradition of spending New Years at the cabin. Warm cozy visits inside, brisk cold weather outside, and a kick butt party to ring in the new year. 

I'm sitting in the back seat of my parents car. The windows are a bit too frosted to see out (not much to see anyways. Hazy grey skies... hazy white fields...) so I'm knitting. 

Pretty.

I'm not huge on New Years resolutions, but #1 on my list is to learn how to knit something other than a head band or a scarf. Since I learned this year how to knit using  circular needles, this seems like a good step in the direction of self improvement ;)

Yup... not much to see.

Wishes.

My mother is turning 60 today. I wanted to do something a little more special, so I contacted as many family and friends as I could, and asked them to send along their favorite memory of my mom. I got a great response, and the result is a very fat envelope full of little thoughts, hand written notes and pictures.

Inspiration.

A beacon of hope has gone out. Thank you.

Snow.

This was a coworkers car after school today (she's getting over the flu so I brushed it off for her while I was leaving). So much snow!

We've had strange weather from a balmy week last week, this huge drifting snow day,  to the crazy fog that lead to a 40+ car pile up on the highway (makes this fog look tame). 

why pictures? why must you be so blurry?

But enough of the weather.

Busy weekend, lots of birthdays to celebrate, and Christmas decor to put up. Trying out some new recipes. Nothing I'd write home about yet. Working on my tacky Christmas sweater (more on that in the future). You know. The usual. 

One Of These Days.

One of these days I hope to catch up on my marking. And maybe have some semblance of a life on top of school?

At the very least, I hope to catch up enough on Doctor Who to watch the 50th anniversary special I got my parents to pvr for me. 

Until then, this little guy is going to watch me do my marking.

"Educate! Evaluate!"

Adulthood.

Being an adult is weird.

It sneaks up on you, and pounces when you least expect it.

I have been feeling like an adult a lot lately... buying a condo didn't do it. Paying taxes doesn't do it.

My weird brushes with adulthood correspond to doing things I never saw myself doing when I was younger... like cleaning the humidifier... replacing the batteries in the smoke detector... troubleshooting the short in my Christmas lights... removing hard water deposits from the sink...

Weird.

Celebration.

Today we are having a party to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday! The actual day isn't until December, but it's hard to do birthday  things when Christmas festivities loom over the whole month.

Put up Christmas lights in my classroom yesterday. Took down Christmas lights on my patio (need to buy new ones that work... grumble grumble...). The huge dump of snow I shoveled off the porch is making me feel festive!

Winter.

Lovely weather we've been having lately. This is Monday's view as I left school.

Happy to be back from the break, but it makes it so hard to get into a routine! Not much time between now and Christmas break to get everything done that needs to be done! Urk.