Sick sick sick

I'm too tired and feeling too crappy to even try to come up with a song lyric for the title. I took the afternoon off, partly so I could take Rylee to the doctor but also because I felt like crap. Got Rylee in to see the doctor on call (our family doctor doesn't see patients Wed afternoons, but is part of a family health care group so there is a doctor on call outside of normal office hours) Turns out she not only has croup, she also has an ear infection. So we're both hacking and coughing and she's in pain in her poor little ears on top of it all. Sammie is also coughing quite a bit. Hailey was but seems to be better. Ryan also had it, but seems to be mostly over it, and just felt nauseated tonight. We're a sad little bunch in my house. I'm going to bed now. Here's hoping I actually get to sleep through the night tonight.

Pump up the volume

My life needs a soundtrack.

This thought occured to me the other day. I was getting Rylee's dinner ready, and Ryan had the iPod going, and I think it was even Pump Up the Volume that was playing. I started dancing around the kitchen as I got Rylee's food, and realized that a) it would be great exercise if I danced around like that more often, and 2) it's alot more fun when you dance to cheesy tunes. I'm not sure what the soundtrack of my life should sound like (although I could definitely soundtrack certain eras/events - my Finland trip is mostly Queen with a bit of U2, some Euro techno-pop and Mrs. Robinson in Finnish, for example) but I definitely think I would enjoy the mundane stuff more with music that gets me moving playing in the background.

What's the soundtrack to your life?

Lest We Forget

I had all kinds of thoughts on things I would blog about a couple of days ago, but I forget most of them now. And I'm tired, and should be working on my report cards, and a million other things, and Rylee will be up from her nap any minute. So just a short post about today.

My grandmother served in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in World War 2. She was very proud of her service, and remained involved with the CWAC throughout her life. This is my first Remembrance Day without her, the first one where I'm remembering her. It's been tough. At school on Friday, I fell spectaculary apart during the Remembrance Day assembly. Fortunately, it was while a video was on (it was the sight of the veterans marching in the video that caused me to finally lose it) and the gym was dark, so few if any students witnessed it. However, I went back to class afterward and a student asked a question about poppies, and I started crying again. Fortunately (again), this was with my homeroom class, who are a wonderful group of gr 7 and 8 students. I did my best to explain why I was so upset, and they did their best to cope with the fact that their teacher, who is normally quite in control of herself and the class, was having a mini-breakdown. I doubt any of them are reading this, but if you are, you handled it beautifully.

We took the girls to the cenotaph after Mass today for the service there. We've actually managed to do this quite a few times in their short lives, what with one or the other of us being on parental leave and Remembrance Day falling on weekends. They were awesome, and the ceremony was as moving as always. As we were leaving, we saw a veteran sitting in his wheelchair, and almost everyone who went by him was shaking his hand and thanking him. It was beautiful.

My sister-in-law married an Army man this summer. He's leaving for Afghanistan in January. My friend Janet married an RMC grad five years ago. He's leaving for Afghanistan in January too. Remembrance Day has a whole new meaning for me this year. I just hope next year I'm not remembering Jeff or John, and the sacrifice made by Jan (and Hailey and Emma) or Rosalie.