Wilsonworld

Reality hits...

On Monday, i officially registered for my University classes.
I am now a student.
I have a time table and an exam schedule.

And a bill..which by the way it only took one minute to be posted to my account. Why is it that it took them 3 months to fix the errors on my transcript, but 60 seconds to bill me for courses that i won't take until September?

What am I thinking?
I have not been inside a classroom (as a student) in 15 years. It has been 21 years since i started University.
What if i totally screw it up?
What if i get into the classroom and i realize that money was NOT the reason that quit all those years ago.

Since i was lucky enough to only need 2 courses to complete my degree, I have chosen first year classes. Which means that 95% of the students that i will be learning with, were not even THOUGHT of when i first sat in those chairs all those years ago. So much has changed since then.
Twenty-one years ago, i was a stubborn, free spirited young woman, with no duties or obligations.
No husband, children or full time job.
No FIL who need care.
I was fresh out of high school and still in the "schooling" mind set.

Now..
I am 21 years older.
I have a home, husband and 2 children.
I have a Father in Law who is going to require more care-giving.
I have a full time job that may or may not allow me to rearrange my schedule so that I can go to school and still pay the mortgage.
I understand the ramifications of me not passing. No longer is it..well i will just take it next semester.
There is no "next time"
There is just now.
And I am scared.

But excited.

I am getting the chance to go back and finish what i started. As a parent, I cannot in good faith teach my children to persevere and finish what you start, if i am not willing to do it myself.

Three little courses.

Canadian Literature
Children's Literature
Religion and Culture

are all that stand between me and that little piece of paper that i can hang on my wall.
The 2nd most expensive piece of paper i will own (the first being of course the mortgage).

Is it worth it?

I hope so.

And now for something a little different....

This is for the the guys I used to sing with in the dungeons and stairwells. Dougie, who i have posted video of before, wanted to know a while ago if i still sang. i told him i did, but not in public, since my hearing loss. I can still sing, i just can't hear myself, so i have no idea of how it sounds. But..
I did this for him. SO he could hear me.
and remember
when we were younger.
and much braver.

this is Allison Crowe's version of L. Cohen's Hallelujah.

More stuff to keep you busy...

Real post tomorrow.
Honest.
But for now, to keep you busy, you should go here!
And you can see what i did there by looking right below this line....see ya tomorrow

Ps...thanks to Super Sub-Tropical Girl for the link!

Very busy with stuff I cannot talk about yet...but i have not forgotten you oh internets!

SO here is Lord Stanley with what i think sums up how I am feeling right now.....

At it again!

Some of you may recall i was part of a writing "exercise" in which 16 of us wrote a sci-fi story..with a few twists. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get the fingers on the keyboard..and we are doing it again, this time with a few differences.
No sci-fi this time. Real story..based during WW2 USA. Instead of a day or two, we have a week to write, and this time it has its own site for posting, rather than jumping around the blogosphere to read the next installment.
You can get there to read what we are doing by clicking on the link WRITE up there on the left.
The idea all comes from our fearless leader Nathan over at Polybloggimous...
Drop on over to his site, and then come back and head to WRITE. to see what we are up to now.

All my life's a circle

Once again
you ask me questions
and again
i answer.
Do you ever tire of the same questions over and over and over
Of course you don't.
to you
every question is new.
Every conversation started with
"I have never told you this"
or
"I am finally ready to talk about.."
But it isn't the first
the second
or the tenth.
Like a child
you marvel at things
we take for granted.
a smile
a laugh

a memory.

A memory
from you
excited to share.
You want to share it while you can still remember it

Until the next time it become new again.
Tomorrow.

It must be the warmer weather...

Saturday was our Friendship Day.
Although we have our Wedding Anniversary in April, we still celebrate the day that was our anniversary before we got married. After all, without that day..we wouldn't be here now.
So 18 years ago, we went on our first date, which was a drive in the county. We thought we would head off into the county again, this time of course with the children, to spend the day in our "backyard" so to speak. The problem was, the county was closed.
Seriously.
Because most of the places have summer and winter hours, and June didn't officially start until Sunday, that meant that the places we went to would have been open if they had been on summer hours. But not on May 31st.
We made the best of it, had a lovely drive, and I bought my 2008 summer hat.
Keith calls it my old ladies hat, but i have learned something about this hat.
The wind CANNOT blow it off my head.
The weather was extremely windy, yet the hat stayed firmly on my head. the secret? The floppy brim.
The wind will blow the brim, but the hat stays securely on my head.
And i love it!
Here I am in the car, demonstrating the hat's ability to not move, even with all the windows down and the sun roof open.
On Sunday, with the winds finally having died down, we headed down to the riverfront to watch the Red Bull Air Races.
Holy Cow are they ever cool!
I would love to have been able to get a ride in one of those planes. Or even in the psycho helicopter that was filming the races. I think the pilot must earn extra danger pay for filming that race, 'cause he was EVERYWHERE!

I tried to get pics of the planes, but they moved really fast..so here are a few attempts. If you click on the Red Bull link you can find out all about the races and the planes.

When i snapped the picture there WAS a plane in the frame. It was flying sideways through the pylons.













Tried it again...really there were planes flying on the river....
I was beginning to think that i would never catch one of the plane sin action..but then..

It's a bird, it's a plane....it's..no it IS a plane.












Finally I caught one.

It looks like it is going to hit the buildings in Detroit, but I assure you it was heading right into the river. Those pilots were nuts!












One more, to show you that there was more than one plane!

It was a great day, sunny warm and just a bit breezy..and yes, MY hat stayed on all day.

I don't know why i waited so long to get one of these hats.











What did you all do this weekend?

Apparently it is all in my head

I met yesterday with the specialist to find out why i have lost my hearing in my left ear. This has been a problem for a few years now and my own doctor finally said she was done and we needed someone else to step in. After poking me and prodding me and shoving things up my nose...
***have you ever had a nasal scope? I would rather go through Munch's birth again...TENFOLD!******
He has decided that there is nothing wrong with my ears. Or my sinuses. I suppose that is a good thing as it rules out all sorts of bad things that of course cross your mind when you don't have any answers, but the original question still remains...

Why am i losing my hearing?

As it turns out, he thinks it is my jaw. I am an obsessive teeth grinder. All of my dentists can vouch for that, as usually the first thing a new dentist says is.."OH MY...you have...no back teeth...they are just..gone."
It is not unusual for Keith to hear me grinding my teeth when he is on another floor in the house. I have done this since birth, as does my mom.
Anyways, Dr A (i am not even going to TRY to spell his name..to many consonants) assures me that I have wonderful ears and sinus cavities, and that he feels it is the final breakdown of the jaw joint beside my ear that is the problem.
I just need to stop grinding my teeth.
HA!
I have tried for 40 years to stop.
I have tried all of the home remedies, and the mouth guards.
Nothing works.

He has set up yet another hearing test, and i have to go see an orthodontist.

Just what i wanted ...more Doctors.

Stay tuned, cause later this week i get to take "the girls" for yet another meeting with a stranger who will take their pictures, and probably NOT buy us dinner.

Boy, OHIP is really paying off this week.
So far (and it is only Wednesday) this week...

• Chest xrays for Papa
• CAT scan for Papa
• Specialist for me
• Nasal scope
• Doctor's for Munch as his new inhaler does not seem to be working and the bark is back worse than it has ever been

I am really beginning to think that i should have gone into medicine. Lord knows i am spending enough time on it.

So...how is your health?

The big day is over...the cake is all gone...

A pretty white dress, new shoes and a long white veil.
This is what she wore on Saturday as Bug made her First Communion. She said she felt like a princess. I think she looked like an angel.
On her head, she wore a little piece of the women in her life. My mother wore the head piece on her wedding day and when I got married I wore it as well. My Mother in Law (Faith) re-finished it for me on my special day and added in my sister in law's veil, and a piece of material from herself. So Bug on her special day had the power of 4 women in her life wrapped around her to keep her safe. She has said she wants to save it and have her own daughter wear it when she makes her first communion. I think that it is a wonderful way to honour our past.

The ring that you see on her finger was a gift from Auntie Jo. She came over in the morning of the Communion and gave it to Bug. It belonged to Faith, and Jo wanted Bug to feel Nana's love on that day too. Even though she is no longer with us I can still feel her love, stronger than ever, and on Saturday Bug added to her love by honouring her memory with the ring.


My own Grandmother Nora broke down and cried during the ceremony. It seems she had forgotten that Munch is an Altar server. So on top of the emotions of watching her great grand daughter make her Communion, the same way she did 84 years ago, she watched her great grandson attend the service.
Gramma will be 91 this year. She still attends Church almost every day. My children adore her and understand that what she says goes. ALWAYS!

I get my strong Faith because of her. I get my love of family and of the Church from her. I also get my strong Irish temper from her as well....not always a good thing.







Four generations of Feeney women. There is a whole lot of Irish temper in this picture. One of the reasons I wanted this picture taken was because I have a picture of my Gramma Nora at her First Communion with her Grandmother. I am going to hang them together, in an attempt to honour the generations past and present.









Lastly, one of us with Bug on her special day.

After Mass, it was back to the house for lots of food and presents....after all it was a party!

But now like the song says, The big day is over, the cake is all gone....

All that is left is the memories..

and lots of love.

Always there is Love.

Happy Victoria Day!

I would not be Canadian if i did not use the May long weekend to do something around the house. And since Bug is having her First Communion next weekend, the long weekend could not have come at a better time!
We started out on Saturday looking for THE DRESS. Now, I have had my eye on a dress for a while, plain simple but beautiful...perfect for Bug. We went to the shop that I had seen the dress at a few weeks ago, only to find ALL OF THE DRESSES WERE GONE! Serves me right for waiting. I ended up at a store I did not want to go to, but as a last resort...and paid wayyy to much.

BUT..
It is perfect, and fits like it was custom made for her. She twirled and primped while trying it on, and i had a flash-back to the future. Bug, standing in a long white gown, with veil, but this time on her wedding day.
That is all it took for me to agree to pay a small fortune for a dress she will never wear again, although she says she is keeping it for her daughter to wear....we will see.

After getting shoes and the little things that a princess needs, we headed home to start on our plan of attack.
Here is what we finished up this weekend....

• cobblestone walk-way is completed in back yard. Next year we will extend it all the way to the house, but we are pleased with how it turned out. Building it included breaking up the old concrete, and also digging out the several tonnes of concrete that had been buried underneath.
• Picking up ceiling.
• Installing ceiling in the kitchen. Keith put the last piece up, and we just stood there staring. We have not had a ceiling since last August, and it really changes the sound in there. We have opted not to paint it until after Bug's Communion. We don't want the whole house to smell like paint. But it is up.
• Weeded out front and back gardens.
• Bought plants to go into said gardens.
• Actually planted those plants.
• New mulch for front and back.
• Planted Herb garden. I bought the herbs last week, but hadn't found the time to plant them. I was hoping to build a little spot for them in the back, but i fear it will be too shady, so right now they sit on the front porch.
• Mowed and weed-whacked front and back lawn. This is the first time that Munch has done this on his own. My baby is growing up!

On top of all this, I found time to meet my new cousin for the first time. I posted a picture on yesterday's post...He is an interesting gentleman, having done work for the Apollo missions for NASA, and worked in Nuclear Power. He is now semi retired, but seems to be just as busy. I loved hearing stories of him and his Mother (my Aunt) and those of him spending time with my Father as a child.

Busy week ahead, including of course work, a muffin baking marathon, and trying to do the last little things for the party next weekend. 30 people for dinner so i will be busy! AND it is supposed to be warm and sunny all weekend, but i am sure that will change....

How did you spend your long weekend? (if indeed you celebrated one)