Medardo and Me

The following is a little conversation between Medardo, our Mexican student and me, a slightly deaf homestay mother.

Medardo: Do you have a map?
Me: A map?
Medardo: Yes a mop.
Me: Oh. A mop
Medardo: Yes
Me: I just have to clean it out because the water in there is dirty and I had to wipe up Sammy's pee yesterday and then I had to clean up the honey that I spilled on the floor blah, blah, blah, blah.
Medardo: Okay

Medardo waits patiently while I rinse the mop and fill the pail with clean water.

Me: Here it is. Fresh water with a little cleaner in it. I like to use the orange smelly stuff blah, blah, blah, blah. The mop is nice and clean and you can just leave the water in the pail because blah, blah, blah, blah.
Medardo: No words, just a puzzled look on his face.

Me: Is something wrong?
Medardo: You got that for me?
Me: Yup.

Pause

Medardo: I asked for a map.
Me: Oooooooooh. A map! Not a mop!
Medardo: Yes a mop. (Giggle, giggle)

Medardo's English is actually very good and my hearing isn't all that bad. To my credit, I always get really excited when someone in my household asks for a mop or a vacuum or anything that might be used for cleaning. I think I just got carried away because I was so pleased that he was asking for a mop. Maybe I need to improve my listening skills.

At least I have a nice fresh pail of water with a clean mop. I wonder what I should do with it?

Hockey Again!

Friday night we played hockey again. A bunch of women and a few younguns. Here are a few images of that night:

We threw our sticks into a pile and split into teams by dividing our sticks into two groups. That's Jayne, splitting up the sticks. We made sure that the 2 teens were on opposite teams as both of them were able to skate circles around the rest of us.

Yvonne's first hockey injury. She is looking just a little troubled here but actually she was quite proud of the fact that she is not yet too old to sustain her first hockey injury. That's me, her big sister, holding up her leg. For those of you who have never experienced real cold, you can see that my glasses are not just fogged up, they are iced up. That is one thing that sucks about cold. I wonder if you can buy ice scrapers for glasses?

One of our players, Linda S. actually broke the blade right off of her skate. Here she is carrying parts of her blade into the skate change area.

Six Weird Things About Me

Michele was tagged with this and even though I wasn't tagged, I'm going to share with you, my dear readers, 6 weird things about me. (My children would come up with, say, 60 weird things but I can only come up with 6)

1. Orange Pekoe Tea makes me feel sick to my stomach. When experiencing morning sickness many years ago I was told to drink a cup of tea before getting out of bed. If I were to drink that cup of tea, I'd have to do it while crouched over the toilet.


2. I love peanut butter and I love jam but never will I ever eat them together on the same sandwich.


3. I enjoy listening to opera at almost full volume in the car. I always switch the station so that nobody will discover this little secret.


4. I rinsed out disposable diapers before throwing them away when my children were young.


5. I take pictures of food when it looks particularly good. I personally don't think that is weird but my children do.
(What's so weird about this? Doesn't this stew look delicious?)

6. I wear wooden shoes when taking the dog out to do his business. They go on nicely over my slippers although they clunk loudly. Sammy didn't like them at first but he's gotten used to them. I wear them to honour my relatives in The Netherlands.

My Sister's Book

You must go over to Michele's blog to check out the most recent textbook she wrote. It is amazing. If I had textbooks like that when I was in school, I might have enjoyed History and Geography more.

I am so proud.

Friday Five (because I've only got time for 5)

1. I started a cleanse on Tuesday and just realized that I will be away this weekend. I have 2 options: Give up on the cleanse or take my own food. The food is usually pretty good but I suspect that there will not be too many things that don't include at least some of the fobidden foods. Taking my own food would require too much work on my part today so I think I'll just try to be careful this weekend. Perhaps I should take some red wine along to help rid my body of the toxins...
2. Wes, Sammy and I are attending obedience classes, Level 2 (he passed level one already, in case you were wondering). Sammy's having a great time. I think he enjoys having Wes and me all to himself, focussed on him, with nobody else demanding our attention.
3. Sammy heels very well in class but when he goes outside, it's like he's forgotten everything. I think he's trying to impress the cute female German Shepherd in his class.
4. Yesterday, Michele gave me a bowl of black bean soup for my lunch today. Yum yum! It didn't even need any salt. (I tend to add salt to my food. I know, it's bad but I don't have high blood pressure so I don't worry about it.) I'm eating it with Wasa Fibre Rye crispbread with black bean dip. Today is a black bean kind of day.
5. I read my first crime fiction type of book in a long time this Christmas. It is by Carl Hiaasen. On his official website there is a paragraph that reads, "Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column [for the Miami Herald], which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses." If you're interested, it's called "Basket Case." It was entertaining, well written and funny. I'm looking forward to reading some of his other stuff.

A Cleanse

A few weeks ago I began considering that I might want to do a cleanse. You know, the kind that's supposed to get rid of the toxins in your body. After Christmas, there were a lot of toxins although it's hard for me to think of all those delicious foods as "toxins."

It's funny because my sister was thinking about doing the same thing. And we didn't even talk about it until we both realized we were going to start in the same week. Weird eh?

I started Tuesday and things went well. Unlike Michele, I am taking some herbal formulas that will assist in the cleanse. I will try to drink 8-10 12 oz. glasses of water everyday and eat a healthy diet leaving out things like processed foods and red meat. It is suggested that if you have to drink coffee, you add 2 glasses of water for every cup of coffee you drink. I'm glad that one cup of java per day is good enough for me. (I promised my family that I'll be careful about not drinking too much water) I also need to avoid wine but when I was talking to a friend about cutting out wine she told me that we only need to avoid wine. Not cut it out. This is a friend who knows lots about cleanses and nutrition so I will take her advice and avoid wine this week, not cut it out. Whew.

No sugar, no white flour, no trans or saturated fats...

Then why did I make cinnamon buns yesterday?

Our Trip

Plans for our trip are coming along nicely. We have reserved a spot with a bicycle tour in Tuscany. We are borrowing some videos, CD's and books from the library so that we can at least ask "Where is the washroom?" in Italian. We are close to booking our flights.

We also thought it might be nice to do something else while we're overseas. So, I called my aunt, my mother's youngest sister, in Carlisle UK this morning to ask if we could visit for a while. She was thrilled that we would want to come and see her and her husband and told me she'd love to show us around.

I can't wait till September.

My Advice to Me

Someone once asked me the question, "If you could travel back in time and meet yourself as a young woman, what advice would you give her?" These are some of the things I'd tell her:

Take more chances
Don't worry about what other people think
Travel more

Don't let your fear of failure stop you from trying something risky

Laugh a lot
Develop your own sense of style
Don't be afraid to cry
Learn as many musical instruments as possible
Don't ever start dieting
Join the school band
Do some volunteer work in another country
Buy shoes that don't hurt your feet
Lift with your legs, not your back
Play your instrument for fun! Don't just practise.
Appreciate your body
See yourself as God sees you-beautiful and deeply loved
Pursue your passions

Anyone like to add something?

My Sabbatical

Many years ago, when I was a teenager, I read an article in a magazine written by an elementary school teacher. She asked her students (Grade 1 or 2) to write something about their grandparents and how they impacted the lives of their grandkids.

Many of the stories were typical.
"My grandpa always gives me peppermints."
"I like making cookies with my grandma."

But one story was different. A little boy wrote about his grandma and how she was funny, how she read stories to him and how she reprimanded his father. He talked about visiting her house and being allowed to touch all the interesting objects that she had. He mentioned how much she loved her family, and how much she loved him. He talked about the many people who came to her house daily to visit with her.

This may not seem like such a unique story coming from a little boy but what made this unusual was that the teacher knew that this boy's grandma lived in an iron lung for 23 hours of every day. No mention was made of the iron lung in his essay. It was as if he didn't see it.

This story was such an inspiration to me. I seem to recall that this grandma was happy, had a great sense of humour and was very involved in the lives of her children and grandchildren.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. How does someone who is virtually paralized and who remains in one place all the time feel value? How could she come to terms with the effects of polio in her life and still embrace life and feel that she had an important part to play? She certainly impacted her little grandson and I would suspect many people. She sounded as if she enjoyed life and was happy despite her challenges.

Every now and then, I think of this story and this grandmother. She is probably dead by now but she impacted the life of a little boy. I'd love to meet him now and hear his memories.

My hope and prayer is that I too may impact the lives of the people around me and not allow the things that I think are insurmounable (my self imposed iron lung) to keep me from living a full life.

This post is entitled "My Sabbatical." Since last fall, I have stepped back from the work I had been doing at the church. I have decided to take some time to consider what to do with the rest of my life. I don't want to be 80 years old and feel that I've wasted my time because I've allowed fears, insecurities and other things to stop me from doing what I was created to do.

The woman in the iron lung inspires me. If she could live what sounded like a full life, engaged with her family and her church community while being confined to an iron lung, I think I can too.

The Man on the Corner

It is stinkin' cold today. It's around -24 C and with the windchill, it's supposed to feel like -48 C or so. How does that feel? I don't really know how to describe it but it's not really pleasant. I don't mind the cold too much but the wind makes it hard to deal with. There are 3 things that I hate about cold like this:

1. The warm breath coming out of my mouth finds it's way up to my glasses. It then freezes up and I literally "walk blind."
2. I have to wear a hat which results in hat head. I can be a little vain about my hair. I like it a little pouffy but when I stick a hat on it, it goes really flat and looks bad. Sigh.
3. Cold legs. I know, you might wonder why I don't wear long johns or snow pants. The problem is that when you get into the grocery store, it's hard to take those extra layers off and by the time I'm at the produce section, I'm sweating.

There are other things I don't like about the cold but I don't want to complain. Actually, we Winnipeggers tend to brag about the cold and about how we can survive and even thrive in this climate.

I was driving this week and saw the same man I've seen often before, standing at an intersection near the grocery store. He carries a sign that says something like, I'd rather be working but I can't get a job and this is my only option. On the outside, he looks "normal." He's dressed quite warmly and doesn't even look too shabby. What is it that makes this man stand on a corner, begging for money when it's really too cold to be outside? I'd like to know his story but I'm not yet ready to invite him into my car and go out for coffee.

Sometimes, if I've got a sandwich or some fruit handy, I'll open the window and pass it to him. He takes it and thanks me but I can hardly look him in the eye. At those moments I feel like I'm the one with all the power, the one who has everything going for her and he is reduced to a weak, needy man. I feel really uncomfortable in that situation. Maybe he doesn't know that but at those moments, I can feel really guilty about everything that I have going for me and I am keenly aware that life is not always fair.

I know that we all make choices, good and bad. I also know that an addiction, relationship or health crisis or a layoff is all that separates me from the man on the corner. I once had a friend who I will call Simon, who was married, with 2 children, a mortgage and a good job. He and his wife were having problems and I cared for their children many times while they attended marriage counselling. Despite their efforts, the marriage still fell apart and so did my friend. For a time, he disappeared and I heard that he had been living on the streets. During that time, he was unable to see his young daughters much because there was no place that he could call his own where he could take them. And he was a good dad who loved his girls. Thankfully, he was able to rise above his challenges and is now once again, gainfully employed and has a good relationship with his adult daughters.

When I see the man on the corner, I wonder if he has a community of people who know him, who love him and support him. I believe it was Simon's family, friends and faith community who helped him journey through his pain. It would have been easy for them to judge him and to tell him to "smarten up" but they stood by him, holding him up when he could no longer stand on his own two feet.

The man on the corner reminds me that I am not so different from him. He also reminds me that it is important for me to remain connected not only to my family but also to the community of which I have chosen to be a part.

And he reminds me that there are no easy answers because I still don't know what I should do when I see him on the corner.

Music and my Aging Ears

I asked for, and received an MP3 player for Christmas. It holds about 120 songs and can receive FM signals.

I thought it would be good to have at the gym as the music there is TERRIBLE! I know I sound like my mother but did my music, when I was a teenager sound that bad to her? It couldn't have. At least there were lyrics and melodies and you could sing along. With the music they play at my gym, either I can't hear the words or they're so bad, they make me blush. What's more is that very few people are younger than 30 when I am at the gym. I'd guess that most of them don't like the music either.

So, I thought having my own music would be good.

There are a few problems though. I don't know very many songs or musicians. I downloaded 10 songs yesterday but I gotta tell you that Bach's "Air on a G String" or Debussy's "Claire de Lune" don't really help me get my heart rate up. They tend to slow me down. I need something fast and peppy.

There are televisions at the gym too. I guess they are supposed to help us pass the time. If you tune into a certain spot on the FM dial, you can hear what's on TV. Did that this morning too with little success. The headphones don't block out sound very well so I was listening to the TV while the "music" was pounding loud. My heart rate was going up alright, along with my blood pressure.

I think I sound like my dad.

Maybe I'm just too old for an MP3 player. They say that as you age, it becomes more difficult for you to block out and ignore background sounds. I'm finding that's true for me. It's no wonder that the older people complain about noise more than the younger ones. I'm beginning to understand. I hear the music on my player but I also hear all the other sounds too and it can drive me nuts!

I haven't given up on the MP3 player yet. I'll try to download some of my kind of music that will help me get movin'. I filled in and submitted one of those suggestion cards at the gym so we'll see if we get anywhere with that.

I'll keep going though. It's been almost a year since I joined Shapes and it has been good for my physical and mental health. I guess I'll just have to work out a little harder to get the stress of being at the gym out of my system.

A Great Sport

There is nothing more Canadian than lacing up your skates and going out to the pond. When I skate, I just glide around the ice and don't bother to play hockey because it has never really caught my interest. I don’t care to watch it unless it’s the Olympics or the Stanley Cup playoffs

However, last week, I actually played hockey. Twice.

I have skated since I was a little girl but never did I play hockey. In the opinion of many people in the 60’s and 70’s, hockey was for boys. In more recent years, we have gone skating with friends and what tends to happen is that the men and children (boys and girls) play hockey while the women skate around. This has suited me just fine because it seems to me that playing hockey with men and boys over the age of 10 can be very dangerous.

The first time I played the game was at Pinewood Lodge. This is a lovely place in Whiteshell Provincial Park on the shores of Dorothy Lake. In addition to the indoor pool, hot tub and steam room, there are lots of outdoor winter activities to be enjoyed. There is a pond which is available for skating and ice hockey, a small tobogganing hill, trails for walking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling. One afternoon, a number of our group decided to play a game of hockey. Last year when we played, a goalie was needed, so Chelsea and I volunteered. Because we didn’t have sticks, we used snow shovels to protect the goal. We only let a few in. I had such a good time that this year I decided that I would join in the game with a real hockey stick. It was pretty dangerous but I managed to remain uninjured and even scored a couple of goals and assists.

The second time I played hockey was Friday night when a friend of mine organized an informal game of hockey for women only. What a blast we had! We were not very good. We’d miss a perfect pass; we’d be 2 feet in front of the goal and miss; some of us had trouble stopping so we’d just glide into the boards. We cheered for every save and every goal as well as any good pass that happened. We made a lot of noise. There was a group of people (all male) playing around with pucks and sticks. When there was a break in our play, all we could hear was the swish of skates on the ice and the sound of wood hitting the puck from the other group. When we started playing, there was laughter, cheering and all sorts of noise. There was also a lot of good natured competition.

We all agreed that we’d like to do it again. We also realized that our skating improved while we were playing. By focusing less on our skating, our bodies began to do what felt natural. What a great sport. I think I’ll start watching “Hockey Night in Canada” for pointers.

Here is our group photo:

Happy New Year!