Sunday, March 17, 2013

Mid-March/St. Patrick's Day odds & ends

  • It is St. Patrick's Day... and I am thinking about my all-time favourite Irishman, my maternal grandfather (who was born in Minnesota, but whose paternal grandparents came from the Old Country). For years I used to send him a St. Pat's card. After he died, I continued sending cards to my mom & her brother. She's spending the month of March down south, though, so I decided there wasn't much point in sending her one this year. Feels a little strange. And sad. :(
  • I am not sure what my Irish ancestors would think of us celebrating St. Patrick's Day, since they were all Protestants, and some of them staunch members of the Orange Lodge, lol. My mother has my great-great grandfather's Orange Lodge songbook and yikes, talk about politically incorrect. Happily, times change. I think most of us these days think of St. Patrick's as a celebration of all things Irish.
  • Still bummed out about the impending loss of Google Reader (although I guess I have some time to find an alternative).  I was checking into Feedly, since many people have been recommending it... however, it doesn't work on Internet Explorer, which I have always used as a browser -- you have to use Firefox or your smartphone (I do not have one). :p  (A techie I am not.) The search continues. I am still extremely pissed off at Google. :p  
  • It was spring break last week in Ontario... quiet in some respects, busy in others.  Dh, who works a very busy, stressful job at the best of times, was doing the work of three people, covering for fathers who were off vacationing with their families. Perhaps those of us without kids should find a week where we too can leave the office en masse and let the parents worry about how to get everything done in OUR absence. ; )
  • The thought flitted through my head one morning last week that maybe I should head up to the Eaton Centre mall on my lunch hour. Then I remembered it was spring break. Needless to say, I spent my lunch hour close to my desk. ; )
  • It wouldn't be spring break without at least one ride on the commuter train (generally homeward bound, in the late afternoon after a long day of work) with a group of shrieking children.  (For the record, I had two.)  
  • I have seen Facebook posts from mothers who are chomping at the bit, waiting till their kids head back to school tomorrow (because they've been driving them NUTS...) ...and others from mothers who ADORE having their children with them ALL THE TIME and are mourning the arrival of Monday. Needless to say, I cannot relate, either way. I think I probably would have fallen somewhere in the middle. ; )
  • Spring break aside, I was incredibly tired and listless all last week. I think it was the time change, kicking my butt. :p  I didn't sleep very well. I made up for it somewhat by sleeping 10 hours last night!
  • I can't seem to shake the February blahs yet (and it's already mid-March...!). The weather has been up and down, work has been "meh." I think I need a holiday...
  • Maybe it's because there has been sad news all around me. :(  About three weeks ago, a high school classmate, M.,  contacted me via Facebook. Another classmate of ours, D.,  was engaged in yet another round of a long battle against breast cancer and needed some cheering up... so M. was contacting everyone she could who might have known D., asking if they would send her a card.  I hadn't seen D. since high school, but I remembered her as a warm and friendly person, and gladly sent along a card (and M. told me she was surprised and touched to hear from me).  I am so glad I did it, as she passed away late last week. :(   (If you ever get the opportunity to do something like that, do it. You will never regret it.) (I am imagining how I would have felt if I hadn't gotten a card off to her in time...)
  • Two FB friends -- one I knew in university, another a longtime online friend -- also lost their mothers within the last week or so. 
  • Really, aren't we too young for this to be happening?  :( 

8 comments:

  1. To answer you question, "No, apparently we're not too young." Sigh. But it all just gives me more reason to live life now - who knows if we'll make it to 60? (I know that sounds morbid, but it cheers me up! LOL)

    I loved your idea of having a "no kids week" when we all go on holiday. The malls would be full of people without kids, planes would be full of people without kids, etc etc (meaning, no kids there either) it would be great! I'm absolutely like you - I avoid the malls like the plague during the school holidays.

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  2. That's too bad about your HS classmate. We had a lot of deaths in the first 10 years post-reunion, but I haven't heard (yet) of any terminal illnesses.

    Do all the schools in the whole province really have the same spring break week? I'm floored by the idea. It's always been just some point in March for public schools and universities -- it's usually the same within a school district, of course, but that's where it ends. The girls go to parochial school, so they have a week set around Easter -- off Wednesday through the Tuesday after the holiday. I guess that kind of kills the idea of going to Disney over their spring break. : P

    (Christmas break did drive me a little crazy, but mostly because I work from home and this meant that I had work to do and considerably less time to do it in. Plus, after 4 or 5 days in a row of gift opening, parties, and sweets, none of us were on our best behavior! Oh, and the stomach flu. Not a good holiday.)

    Speaking of parochial school, I would love to see that songbook! LOL, I can only imagine!

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  3. I am in agreement with you: both at being pissed at Google, as well as having the blahs:(

    I tried Feedly, but it is so "fancy", with all the photos and tiling or whatever you call it. I just want a list, nothing crazy. Hubby cannot understand why I don't just bounce back after the time change. It really kicks my butt.

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  4. @Ellen K: Yes, so far as I know, all the schools in Ontario, both Catholic & public, have the same week off. It was also spring break in Nova Scotia, I know from a friend there. Manitoba's is not until late March. Not sure about the other provinces... I guess they have to stagger them a bit so as not to totally swamp Florida. ; ) But yes, it can get pretty crazy when everyone is off at once. The volumes of traffic going through the airport on the Friday & Saturday before break week are unbelievable.

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  5. I'm so sorry about your old friend and the February blahs.

    I've often thought that as friends have died -- that we're too young for this. Or when we've been to friend's parent's funerals. Josh was asked to be a pallbearer for one, and he came home stunned saying, "how is it possible that we're old enough that we're burying each other's parents?" I still feel quite young despite the grey hair.

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  6. I'm sorry about your old friend from school, and I'm glad you got the card out.

    The weather's been a downer here too. I think we're all ready for spring! Hopefully it won't be too far off now.

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  7. I love that you have ties to Minnesota! I spent my formative years there and have many fond memories.

    I'm sorry that time of year is a harder one. Between friends passing, losing parents and being reminded that time flows in only one direction, it's a bit much. I hope that with Spring coming, there is a wave of good news and cheer. Abiding with you during this time.

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  8. I'm giving Bloglovin' a try. So far, so good!


    You make me thing a lot about timing and time passing. On one hand, I'm so happy to see signs of spring. On the other, because of situations like the ones you mention, I am also acutely aware of the passing of time. Sigh...

    I'm glad you made contact with your friend in time.

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