Laughing my life away

As my regular readers of this blog knows, my life has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for last 6 months or so, from our having to leave Trinidad, to returning to the UK, to selling our house, then having the house sale fall through, seeing good friends go through separations after years of being married, our big move to Canada, moving twice within a month, settling of our children into school, getting my work permit, changing the restrictions on my work permit, trying to get a licence to practice as a nurse here, volunteering at school, making new friends..... the list goes on. It's a wonder that I have not been committed as yet.

Through all of this, I seem not to have lost my ability to laugh at the lighter side of life.... perhaps this has been the saviour of my sanity.  Ok ok, maybe I have not been laughing as much as I am used to, but nevertheless I am still able to laugh at whatever challenge life decides to throw at me next.  I guess the proof of this is when people say I am funny. I am hoping they mean funny haha and not funny in the head, though I suspect a bit of the latter may well be true.  Daisy commented on one of my many status postings on Facebook that she thought she was funny till she met me and that I am so funny. I will take that as a compliment.  It's good to have a laugh, it raises the spirits, chases away the doom and gloom and apparently research has shown that people who laugh hardly fall ill!  This was claimed by one of my yoga teachers, Nash, I have written about his class in an earlier blog.  He is a truly inspiring person, and I go to his class for some spiritual uplifting, not for the weight loss that I so crave, I leave that to happen in a hot yoga class.

Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

This just an excerpt from the website http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

I know it doesn't quote the research behind their claims, but I am sure you could dig them up if you wished to.

Anyhow, in my last post I mentioned making a doll for a book launch, here is a picture of the storyteller I was asked to make.

Sorry, the image is a bit on the small side. I used the pattern for basic sack boy doll from Golden Jelly Bean, who I think is amazing, she's on youtube and has made videos teaching you how to crochet your own sack boy. Thank you Nikki for sharing your wonderful patterns.

sack boy and girl that I made 

I started off making the head and then the face, as I thought if I could not get the face right on the doll, it was not worth going any further.

It looked like it was going to be ok, so I continued to 

crochet the doll...

I know, it looks like a mutant at the moment, 1 more leg and two arms to make and....

beard and moustache of course.

Turban on, now shoes and pants left...

Hoja sitting happily on my bed

Viola! All done and he's sitting on my bed. Ms S was so pleased with him that she ordered another doll, and I was paid very handsomely for making them... here are the 2 dolls together, she calls them the twins..

You can just about see my smile behind them....Hoja number 2 has a different coloured turban, closer to the illustration, but it also meant me using a heavier yarn and so his head was not stable and was bobbing over, I had to make some repairs and stitch his beard down to make his head stay upright. 

So, all in all I am still laughing. I spent the day at school today and Mrs P and I always have a good laugh, poking fun at each other and winding each other up. Sue Wong, a fellow parent and volunteer extraordinnaire is such great fun too, all in all a day well spent. I was exhausted when I got home though, a day spent laughing sure wears you out, but is so very good for my soul, so very good.

I have not written about the lunches we have at school when I spend the whole day there, I will leave that for another posting as I did not take any pictures today. I will bring my camera next week as it looks like we're going to have a pot luck lunch!

A Glimpse of the Mother I Could Be

The time, 7.15 am, the day, Tuesday, the date, Feb 8th, 201. I had just finished making Jasmine's pack lunch and went to wake M and J up for school.  As Jasmine sat up and I asked her how she felt, as she was off school the day before, on her face was a moustache, it was an up curled one, drawn on. She was still full of cold, her beautiful face flushed. I look across at Mitch, who was stirring, and said," Did you use a permanent marker? " He said yes and tried to hide a snigger. I said, I am not amused. All this was done in a calm manner. I was cross with him and he knew, but I didn't raise my voice.  I had to get the moustache of J's face before school.  J was also surprisingly calm and not upset. Perhaps being unwell with her cold rendered her indifferent. Mitch made a quick scupper for the bathroom for his morning shower.

Similar moustache drawn on Jas but it was bigger

I got some cotton wool balls and some Aveeno skin lotion, it removed some of the ink, but it was still very visible. I then tried my Dermalogica make up remover, still visible, and then some exfoilator made from dead sea minerals, that worked but there was still a trace. Jas then suggested using nail varnish remover, which I was reluctant to use on her delicate facial skin, but it was out last hope. The last traces were removed, a good measure of moisturiser slapped on to help neutralise all the nasties we had to use to get the ink of.

Still very calm, we sat down to breakfast and then went to wait for our lift to school.  We were given a lift in by Sue and her children.  Sue and I were going to help on Pizza day. The children have an option to buy a pizza lunch every other Tuesday and I have been helping the school PTA get the baskets ready with drinks and snacks for collection by the classes.  I stopped doing this a few weeks ago due to some other commitments and also because I found the job rather tedious, despite being given some free pizza at the end. I felt my energies could be better utilised in the school library and also helping children with their reading skills.

There was a lot of work to be done in the library, we had a lot of new books to process and get out on the shelves.The job for the day was attaching the spine labels on the books, which we had already bar coded and entered onto the library database. We had to type the call numbers onto the call number template, print them on stickers and then stick them on the spines, completing the process but using a length of book tape securing the sticker down. I know, I know, tedious stuff, but rewarding nonetheless, knowing that the books would be out there ready for the children to use, to read and borrow. I also learned how to process the birthday books. All parents are asked at the beginning of the school year if the want to participate in the birthday book programme, you donate $15 per book, and the school will purchase a book appropriate for your child's age,  stick a label in it stating your child's age this year and your child will be the first person to borrow that book. I think it's a great idea.

The day passed quickly, we processed the pizza forms, that were in a bit of a mess, making sure we got the orders right for every class, as inadvertently,  we get the same things wrong every week, as the person in charge of the pizza orders does not seem capable of sorting the mistakes out. This is another reason I have withdrawn from helping out on pizza days.  I know I could do a better job, but I don't really want to, therefore, I have no right to moan, better stay out of it.  Anyhow, at 11.30, all baskets were put out by 2 other parent volunteers, and helped them fill it correctly. The pizzas arrive and we take some orders to the classes on the ground floor, they are the lower grades and the kids are too small to carry the pizza baskets themselves.

Back to the library for lunch, which was a vege pizza.  I had brought the sackboyz, shrooms and luma that I had crocheted to the library to show the library knitting and crochet club.  Ms S who had written a book asked me when she saw my dolls, if I was able to make her a doll for her book. It was a Turkish man, quite chubby, with a white beard, Turkish traditional clothes and curved slippers. I said I would give it a go, and she said for me to quote her a price for the doll. He looks a bit like Jasmine's father in Aladdin, Disney's version.

I thought if I made a basic sackboy doll, but no need for the zip in its body, I could probably crochet all the other bits needed to  dress him up. How about that for ambition?? LOL
Here are the pics of my finished sackboy and sack girl, and some of their friends.

Maybe I should admit defeat, my dolls look nothing like Jasmine's father!

Back to the title of this blog. I was really proud of myself for not shouting at M for drawing on his sister's face. My usual form of parenting involves a lot of shouting, display of anger and disappointment, followed by apologising to the children for losing control.  Yesterday, I felt in control, I just said to him that his behaviour was unacceptable as it was a school day, and Jasmine would have had to go to school with the moustache still on her face had we not been successful in removing it. He had said to me when I said he was really silly for using indelible maker that it would wash off. Well, he was right, but it took several goes, and Jasmine's skin is quite delicate especially on her face.  I thought about what his punishment would be, considered grounding him or taking away PS3 and computer time, but decided as no damage was done, to leave it.  I felt he knew he was wrong, and had done it because he was a big fat meanie (direct quote from Mitch). I think he did it for a laugh, had always wanted to do something like this to a friend when they were asleep and having to share a bedroom with J gave him that opportunity.

The funny thing was that he told Mrs P and Sue at the library after school, where we were meeting as we were getting a lift home with Sue.  He also apologised to Jasmine in front of them and Sue's children. Samantha is in M's year and Christopher in J's year but in different classes.

When Dave got home from work and was told the story, he couldn't stop himself from laughing.... BOYS! This upset Jasmine a little, but then we all had a good laugh about it and that was the end of that. Mitch knows that if he ever does anything like that again, the punishments will be dished.

Feeling emo

Deep sigh, what am I doing in Canada???

Feeling very unsettled today, despite having fun making some toys for the kids and baking some bread.

Try as I might I cannot shake this cloud over my head.... I am hoping it is just emo week.

I have asked Dave if he could cope if I returned to England, to work, earn some money to pay for the house at home... would the kids come with me or stay with him? He said he would cope but did not want me to leave him......sigh..

I am not in a very nice place at the moment. Maybe it's because it CNY and a time for family and we have no real family here.... I have no real family in the UK either, apart from my in-laws, which is Dave and the kids real family. At least they would have their family. This is the life I have chosen for myself. Choice eh?

I could say, I had no choice, I had to come to Canada, though this is not strictly true. We had to come as it was where Dave's job lead us. Had to come?? Of course not, we had a choice.... we could have found him another job, we could have gone back to England and faced a huge tax bill, I could have stayed back in the UK after the summer, got my old job back and put the kids back in school in Beeston.... of course we had a choice.  Whatever we do, we made that choice.

To say one has no choice would be wrong.... one holds one's own destiny in one's own hands.  Most choices are the right ones though some choices made are the wrong ones and hopefully one learns from the experience.  Long life learning- formal, informal, learning through experience, being open, looking at life and embracing it completely.

Why worry? It's time and energy wasted and it makes me feel bad. What's the worst thing that could happen??? Would I be able to pick myself up from that happening? What could I do to prevent it from happening....then  I could stop worrying?

Being totally irrational but not able to snap out of it... it must be emo week!