Valentine's Day

I had a nice Valentine's day and I was happy to celebrate 19 years with my beloved. I hope that yours was good too.

This post is about my total lack of understanding about the celebration of this holiday for small children. My 2 yr old is in school 3 mornings a week. I got an email about Valentine's day and was sent a list of the names of the kids in his class. I thought, "You cannot be serious, they are 2?" But I was wrong, yes, my 2 year old got many a Valentine, with gift of pencils and small pads of paper, oh and candy. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but WTF! Personally I see it as a waste of paper and time. Since my son cannot have milk, most of the candy was not available for him. He was not that interested in the pencils. I admit that he did do some art in one of the pads. Am I scrooge or do others think 2 is too young for this? This is just a make work project for the parents. Now I did send a treat of carrot muffins for the class to share, but individual gifts? No thanks. I will wait until my son is old enough to get the idea and participate in the gift giving.

101 Things Update for Month 1

I have made quite a bit of progress. Yeah me!

General

01 Make this list √

02 Do a monthly list evaluation (1/34)

Car

03 Clean the inside of my car (1/30)

04 Drive 5 km/h slower to reduce emissions. Started this. Sorry for those of you who are behind me.

Charity

05 Do work for a charity

06 Write to my foster child in Africa

07 Write to my foster child in SA

Family / Personal

08 Ask directly for what I want

09 Believe, think, talk and act positively I have tried this.

10 Decide what to do with my frozen embryos

11 Get closure on evil Uncle K

12 Have a family outing once a month (1/34)

13 Have more contact with my oldest sister

14 Have my mother over once a month

15 Make birthday dr appointments for boys

16 Plan fun things to do in the summer

17 Say “Please” more

18 Update my medical alert bracelet

19 Wear makeup everyday for 2 weeks

Health and Fitness

20 Buy a new weight scale I have decided against this. The one that we have is consistent, even if it is 5 lbs off.

21 Do months breast exam

22 Do more yoga (2x week)

23 Drink more water I am trying!

24 Get a massage once a month (2/34) YES!

25 Get my eyebrows done 3x (1/3)

26 Go a week without sugar

27 Go to bed before 11 at least 4x a week

28 Monthly massage Duplicate here. Changing this to ?

29 Reorganize my weekly schedule

30 Try pilates

31 Work on posture (stretch for 5 min every day) Not doing great on this one.

Food / House

32 Bake once a week (4x so far)

33 Create my own cookbook of things we like to eat.

34 Eat more organic foods

35 Clean kitchen before bed 5x a week Hmm, well, I am close on this one.

36 Clean out 3 kitchen cupboards

37 Do a clothing purge I tried on every blouse that I own and got rid of quite a few. Pants are next.

38 Do more gardening

39 Finish configuring new laptop . Done!

40 Follow cleaning schedule

41 Get dataloc for my laptop

42 Get pda connected to new laptop

43 Get rid of old VCR tapes

44 Go back on cash only for a month

45 Learn how to bake the hearty bread that I like to eat

46 Paint deck

47 Patch holes in family room wall. Started. Need to be sanded, primed and painted.

48 Purge desk

49 Purge furnace room

50 Put up whiteboard

51 Rearrange laundry room

52 Replace downstairs bathroom fan

53 Replace downstairs toilet

54 Replace Master bathroom fan

55 Replace Master toilet

56 Replace toilets

57 Replace weatherstripping on front and side door

58 Stop using plastic grocery bags

59 Touch up paint in hallway

Kids

60 Become a foster parent

61 Open bank accounts for boys

62 Potty train LB

63 Read book on parenting boys

64 Read book on praising boys

65 Sign up kids for swimming

66 Start teaching my youngest french

Leisure

67 Blog once a week (average) I am on track for this one.

68 Buy a new winter coat (one my size). Done

69 Create scrapbook for BB

70 Date my husband once a month

71 Donate excess yarn

72 Finish kids journal

73 Finish scrapbook for LB

74 Fix kids journal db

75 Fly both of my new kites

76 Get a dog

77 Get a singing prayer bowl (in C/ root chakra)

78 Get my Irish passport

79 Go to 5 hockey games

80 Go to the Opera

81 Have an outdoor family vacation

82 Learn 2 new Harold Arlen songs

83 Mediate 3 times a week

84 Piano lessons

85 Pick up french again

86 Post 10 books on BookMooch

87 Read a nonfiction book every month

88 Read Reggio Emilia book

89 Register the birth of my sons in Ireland

90 Start having something to do while watching tv

91 Start knitting again

92 Take a pottery class

93 Visit Portland on vacation

94 Work on family tree

95 Write an email to a friend once a week

Work

96 Do certification exam 1 (If I am ever going back to work then I need to keep up.) Taken and Passed!

97 Do certification exam 2

98 Do certification exam 3

99 Do certification exam 4

100 Learn Java

101 Write Java exam

Racism and Elections

I have to admit that I have found all of this talk about Ob.ama and is America ready for an African American fascinating. Although I am Canadian, I lived in America for 10 years. For the most part, I loved living there. Americans must be the most friendly people on earth. I found America's obsession with race interesting. (I had to be told that Mexicans were not white.) Canada usually takes a polite, "How interesting" attitude towards culture and race. While Canada is not free of racism, we are open to expressions of different cultures. We often even pay for them, with our taxes no less. America strives more for an obedience to the purity of the perfect American culture. Deviations are frowned on. My DH told me one of his coworkers was ashamed when his parents spoke German in public. I don't mean to say that all Americans are so closed to deviations from the perceived norm. So all this "Is America ready?" questioning by the pundits seems a tad bizarre. What is America ready for? Would electing Ob.ama mean that Americans are accepting all races as equal?

Of course, I cannot claim to be free from all racial stereotypes. I have to admit that I have chuckled over jokes about Asian drivers, oh and H.ondas too. I do live in an area of town where 30% of the population is Asian, many first generation. I moved here knowing that and I can't say that I regret the lack of whiteness. Many stores around here have multi-lingual signs and Asian foods are available in the grocery stores. I like the food and the people. It is a good place to raise a family.

Update on the list coming soon.

Note: After thinking about this, I want to say that I was not trying to suggest all Americans are race obsessed. I think it is more just that racism is so strange. Of course, Canada has not had a Black Prime Minister. We have had a woman, Kim Campbell, but she lasted a very short time. Maybe, I didn't have a point.