We've taken on a lot, and somehow managed to stay in tact. Living life now as a family of 4!

I had surgery yesterday. You don't realize just how vulnerable you are in the hands of strangers until you wake up 2 hours later than when you went to sleep with absolutely NO RECOLLECTION of what happened to you. Last thing I remember was a dr I have met twice previously holding my hand while telling me to breathe 100% oxygen deep into my toes so it was safe to go to sleep. Next thing I knew, the lights were so bright and my throat hurt, and no one would give me water, which is probably good because I would have thrown it up anyway. Anesthesia does not feel good, let me tell you. And I was only out for 2 hours. I can't imagine how much worse it would be if you had a longer surgery. Before I went under, I told everyone there that I should not be on the table. I am too healthy. My blood pressure rate is ridiculously good, especially considering the history of heart disease in my family. I have never had a cavity or broken a bone. I have not had any major illnesses and have no

Everyone, it is finally warm here. So warm, that staying inside during the school day is a crime that I simply cannot tolerate after the winter we had. I took every class I had today outside, and it was glorious. ESPECIALLY glorious, because there is something magical that happens when you give kids good books and then take them outside: THEY ACTUALLY READ. For extended periods of time. Even kids who normally won't read for love or money or even slurpees - you get them outside and all of a sudden they are on task and paying attention! Today was the second day in a row that kid D has been at school. This is remarkable because he hasn't come to school, despite us trying everything we know how to do, since about October of GRADE 8. Which is a year and a half ago. Every once in a while, during that year and a half, he would surface for an hour or two, or I'd find him outside the school building, but he'd never come inside and if he did, he didn't stick around for lo

Yesterday I forced myself to sit on the couch and read the final 40 pages of Orenda by Joseph Boyden. Usually, if I linger at the end of a book, it's because it's so good I don't it to end. This book, however, was different. I didn't want it to end not because the story was so well-told (although it was), but because the end of this book signaled the beginning of total domination of Aboriginal people's across Canada by the settling Europeans, which is a fact of history that breaks my heart on a daily basis as I watch my Aboriginal students struggle against nearly insurmountable odds, many of which are remnants of 400 years of colonial rule by those in power; indeed, that is still active policy today in many cases (although I'm not going to get into that here). This book has been quite controversial in Canada: it has scenes of unbelievable violence, it paints portraits of various characters of history (fictionalized, but based on real people) in stereotyped way

Everyone: NEW YORK IS AMAZING! You should all go. Immediately. For real. I am going to try to give you a snap-shot of what we did and how amazing it was, but really, there are no words. And plus, some of the best parts don't come through in type because I don't know how exactly to represent the full impact of a guy stepping onto the subway while loudly proclaiming 'Make some room, make some room. I gotta seizuh diso-duh, I haven't had any medication in fouh days; I'll have a seizuh on youh head, I don cahe'. Andrea and I met up in Chicago, picked up Heather in Newark and made our way to the big city where Hiu Yee had planned the most fantastic trip I have ever been on. It was 5 days of friendship, talking, laughing, looking, experiencing and EATING! Oh my word, the eating. We ate at some of the best restaurants in the city, and not just the little hole-in-the-wall kind - the REAL kind. My taste-buds are still not the same. I don't really

My life is a movie! From tomorrow at about 7pm till Tuesday till about 5, I will be living in a scenario that is usually only seen on the big screen. No joke, I can't believe it is here and it is happening. 15 years after we graduated from high school, my 3 dear friends and I will be painting the Big Apple all shades of red for 4.5 days. THIS IS AMAZING! I can't wait for all of the following: - SO MUCH FOOD! - SO MANY LAUGHS! - SO MUCH TALKING! About everything! - SO MANY ADVENTURES! - SUCH GOOD FRIENDS! Seriously, there should be a camera crew following us around because this is A-MAZE-ING! It's the kind of thing you talk about but usually never happens. And yet, HERE WE GO! WOOP WOOP! I love these women, and am so pumped to spend some time in their company :)

Ok, seriously, I know. In Canada, all we do is talk about the weather. It's the start of every conversation, and it dominates our psyche. Especially for those of us who live where the weather tends to be extreme. Look, I'm not going to go into this in depth, but I just need to say somewhere, for the record: OK WINTER, YOU WIN! I GIVE! UNCLE! WHATEVER ELSE YOU DEMAND I SAY! I was really good. For a long time. In October, I welcomed winter! Skiing! Skating! Pretty snow! In December, we got the skis and skates out and learned how to bundle for true -40 (toques in hot tubs are key at these temperatures. Otherwise your ears freeze and force you to go in before you're ready. If you have a toque, you can stay in the hot tub for HOURS). In January, I walked to work on days when ENTIRE STATES closed schools. I dragged my friends outside and to the ski trails. In February, it was getting a little old but the Olympics kept things fresh, and I was inspired to ski down the h

I was updating my resume the other day and tried to describe what it is I do. Mostly it falls under 'other duties as necessary.' For example: A few weeks ago a kid came in to register accompanied by his mother and a white-haired white man. This is pretty unusual, because we don't have a lot of white people in our school - especially not ones accompanying African students. As we learned more about the family, it became clear that this was a unique case that would take lots of time and advocating on behalf of this family. Very succinctly: the student who came to register was abandoned here in September by his father who drove him over the border and to his mother's apartment building, put him on the elevator and said 'She lives on the ____ floor. Good luck.' That is just one tiny part of the story. The student had been in his father's custody for 5 years prior, was schlepped around all over the world, and by all accounts, was treated pretty horribly by

I don't really know how to write about this, but it has become more clear to me that I have to. Keeping it inside is causing all kinds of angst in my soul that has come to a bit of a head this holiday; a time when emotions tend to run high and coping skills are maxed out anyway. It's hard to write about and talk about for a several reasons: 1. It's personal. So deeply deeply personal. But at some point, the personal private nature of it becomes a burden that only adds to the stress of the situation. 2. No one wants to hear about my sex life (nor do I really want to write about it), no matter how inadvertently. Especially considering a lot of my family members read this little blog (although I have not decided if I will post the link to fb - if I don't, traffic will be quite limited). 3. The last thing anyone wants is to be the object of pity. I also am not a huge fan of sympathy (bizarre, I know): it makes me cry, and I don't want to cry. I don't like being