Anniversary Number 42 - May 4, 2019
(If you’ve read “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, you’ll get the joke. I haven’t, but laughed anyways!)
So on Tuesday, Laur and I celebrated our 42nd Anniversary very successfully – we stayed out of each other’s hair (what remains of it.)
For Laur the greatest gift in the world is to be able to stretch out with a good thick science fiction book. For me, it’s laughing my face off with other people.
Tuesday Morning - Laur:
Reading “Tiamat’s Wrath.” Volume 8 of The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey. 531 pages.
Tuesday Morning - Jan:
Reading with Senior Kindergarten kids at Jelly Bean Happy School. OK, in this new program we don’t actually read with kids. My orientation was quite funny to me. In Arizona, in order to read with or not read with kids, you have to take an intensive two day course and be fingerprinted.
In this program in Ontario, I arrived and our leader said. “The program is different this year. Instead of reading with the kids, we are just trying to get them interested in books.” That turned out to be no problem for my crew of jumping beans. (And a safety note – we are never alone with the kids.)
Our books were about 1. Kids cooking Mexican food and 2. Animals in the Amazon Rainforest. Here are some highlights:
-The first two kids I had were lads and one wanted to give me a demonstration of every animal and some of the cooking equipment. “OK, little snake, time to get back in your chair!” “Wow, what a good little mixer you are!” He told me he is a twin. I simply can’t imagine… And then the next group had his twin. I was relieved he was assigned to a different reader.
-This school has kids who have come from about 27 different countries. “My” seven kids today came from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, and Syria. What I stressed is that we all come from somewhere and WE ALL BELONG IN CANADA! One little girl told me that her Mom was still in _____ and she looked quite sad. (Oh dear!)
-The Mexican food book had a recipe for breakfast. So I asked the kids what they had for breakfast. One lad said, “Pancakes!” I said, “How wonderful!” He said, “Miss, I live in a motel. That’s what there is.” One of the many things I love about this school is that they have apples and granola bars in the office for kids that didn’t have breakfast and arrive too late for breakfast club.
-One little girl pointed out that another little girl has a hair moustache (as opposed to a hot chocolate mustache as shown in the book.) I said to her, “You have a moustache too!” She said, “No I don’t!” And I said, “Yes you do. It’s just that your face hair is lighter.” And then I added, ”I have a moustache.” She was able to see mine! I emphasized that moustaches on women are normal. By the time this child gets home my point will be understood as “My teacher says that girls should grow moustaches!”
-My favourite comment was, “I was late for school today. The line at the Tim Hortons was so long!” She has a mother after my own heart. Kids come and go, but Tim’s is always there for you!
(Off to the pool to get ride of some of those jumping beans that seemed to have made their way into me!)
Tuesday Early Afternoon Laur:
Reading “Tiamat’s Wrath.” Volume 8 of The Expanse series.
To be fair, he did load the dishwasher and take down the garbage and recycling. And he does the majority of the housework. If he waited for me to do it we’d be using paper plates, half the kitchen would be garbage, and our feet would be stuck to the floor!
Tuesday Early Afternoon – Jan:
After lunch, I saw my chiropractor who I have not seen for a long time. Like a year. If I don’t book appointments well in advance, my calendar fills up and so does hers.
She said there was not one part of my body that isn’t “tight” and recommended yoga. I had to laugh. I had actually done a yoga class (BodyFlow) the day before and I find it a form of Medieval torture. Every time we strike a pose or do a stretch, I think “When will the torture ever end?!” At the end of the class there is an opportunity to rest on your mat and meditate. I take that as the opportunity to escape while my instructor is not looking.
Don’t get me wrong, R is an amazing instructor. Always smiling, continually encouraging. And the positions she can hold and the stretches she can do are, to me, unfathomable. I teased her after class. I said, “Yoga for me is a form of torture. But at least you’re a nice torturer.”
Tuesday Mid Afternoon Laur:
Reading whatever. And having a nap in a quiet apartment i.e. I’m not there tapping around and talking constantly.
Tuesday Mid Afternoon – Jan:
I went for coffee with a gal pal. She has just come through some very serious medical challenges. And I really wanted to be a listening and encouraging friend. And for the first bit, I could be, but then the caffeine from my Tim Horton’s decaf hit and I became, I think, a babbling idiot. Thankfully my friend is calm – having worked at a crisis centre. By the end of my extra large, I likely should not have been driving - I was so sped up!
*****
If you’ve made it this far in the story, you are probably wondering when Laur and I are going to do something together – it is our 42nd Anniversary after all… I suggested we go out for Korean food, which we both love. Our favourite place is closed on a Tuesday so we tried a new place.
We sat at the front beside an abandoned piano, at a formica style table. I have no idea what this place used to be. There was K-Pop music playing loudly in the background. And the place was doing a very good business for a Tuesday night.
It reminded me of eating at a mom and pop shop in S. Korea because it had minimal décor and a buzzer at the table to ring when you wanted service. It was unlike S. Korea because it took a while for our order to be taken and to arrive – which we truly didn’t mind as it gave us a chance to talk. And the food was excellent – we both love bibimbap. Our new “vegan trespass” is that we no longer ask the kitchen not to put an egg into our bibimbap. It just confuses things. It’s like ordering a hamburger and asking to have the bun without the burger.
“Happy 42nd Anniversary” I said to Laur. “Why’d you pick me?” Laur said, “I saw what was out there and then I saw you. You were who I wanted.”
Laur then said, “Why’d you pick me?!” And I said, “Because you reminded me of my grandfather and I really loved my grandfather.”
Little did we know that in 42 short years we’d be Granny Jan and Grumpa Laur.
So on Tuesday, Laur and I celebrated our 42nd Anniversary very successfully – we stayed out of each other’s hair (what remains of it.)
For Laur the greatest gift in the world is to be able to stretch out with a good thick science fiction book. For me, it’s laughing my face off with other people.
Tuesday Morning - Laur:
Reading “Tiamat’s Wrath.” Volume 8 of The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey. 531 pages.
Tuesday Morning - Jan:
Reading with Senior Kindergarten kids at Jelly Bean Happy School. OK, in this new program we don’t actually read with kids. My orientation was quite funny to me. In Arizona, in order to read with or not read with kids, you have to take an intensive two day course and be fingerprinted.
In this program in Ontario, I arrived and our leader said. “The program is different this year. Instead of reading with the kids, we are just trying to get them interested in books.” That turned out to be no problem for my crew of jumping beans. (And a safety note – we are never alone with the kids.)
Our books were about 1. Kids cooking Mexican food and 2. Animals in the Amazon Rainforest. Here are some highlights:
-The first two kids I had were lads and one wanted to give me a demonstration of every animal and some of the cooking equipment. “OK, little snake, time to get back in your chair!” “Wow, what a good little mixer you are!” He told me he is a twin. I simply can’t imagine… And then the next group had his twin. I was relieved he was assigned to a different reader.
-This school has kids who have come from about 27 different countries. “My” seven kids today came from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, and Syria. What I stressed is that we all come from somewhere and WE ALL BELONG IN CANADA! One little girl told me that her Mom was still in _____ and she looked quite sad. (Oh dear!)
-The Mexican food book had a recipe for breakfast. So I asked the kids what they had for breakfast. One lad said, “Pancakes!” I said, “How wonderful!” He said, “Miss, I live in a motel. That’s what there is.” One of the many things I love about this school is that they have apples and granola bars in the office for kids that didn’t have breakfast and arrive too late for breakfast club.
-One little girl pointed out that another little girl has a hair moustache (as opposed to a hot chocolate mustache as shown in the book.) I said to her, “You have a moustache too!” She said, “No I don’t!” And I said, “Yes you do. It’s just that your face hair is lighter.” And then I added, ”I have a moustache.” She was able to see mine! I emphasized that moustaches on women are normal. By the time this child gets home my point will be understood as “My teacher says that girls should grow moustaches!”
-My favourite comment was, “I was late for school today. The line at the Tim Hortons was so long!” She has a mother after my own heart. Kids come and go, but Tim’s is always there for you!
(Off to the pool to get ride of some of those jumping beans that seemed to have made their way into me!)
Tuesday Early Afternoon Laur:
Reading “Tiamat’s Wrath.” Volume 8 of The Expanse series.
To be fair, he did load the dishwasher and take down the garbage and recycling. And he does the majority of the housework. If he waited for me to do it we’d be using paper plates, half the kitchen would be garbage, and our feet would be stuck to the floor!
Tuesday Early Afternoon – Jan:
After lunch, I saw my chiropractor who I have not seen for a long time. Like a year. If I don’t book appointments well in advance, my calendar fills up and so does hers.
She said there was not one part of my body that isn’t “tight” and recommended yoga. I had to laugh. I had actually done a yoga class (BodyFlow) the day before and I find it a form of Medieval torture. Every time we strike a pose or do a stretch, I think “When will the torture ever end?!” At the end of the class there is an opportunity to rest on your mat and meditate. I take that as the opportunity to escape while my instructor is not looking.
Don’t get me wrong, R is an amazing instructor. Always smiling, continually encouraging. And the positions she can hold and the stretches she can do are, to me, unfathomable. I teased her after class. I said, “Yoga for me is a form of torture. But at least you’re a nice torturer.”
Tuesday Mid Afternoon Laur:
Reading whatever. And having a nap in a quiet apartment i.e. I’m not there tapping around and talking constantly.
Tuesday Mid Afternoon – Jan:
I went for coffee with a gal pal. She has just come through some very serious medical challenges. And I really wanted to be a listening and encouraging friend. And for the first bit, I could be, but then the caffeine from my Tim Horton’s decaf hit and I became, I think, a babbling idiot. Thankfully my friend is calm – having worked at a crisis centre. By the end of my extra large, I likely should not have been driving - I was so sped up!
*****
If you’ve made it this far in the story, you are probably wondering when Laur and I are going to do something together – it is our 42nd Anniversary after all… I suggested we go out for Korean food, which we both love. Our favourite place is closed on a Tuesday so we tried a new place.
We sat at the front beside an abandoned piano, at a formica style table. I have no idea what this place used to be. There was K-Pop music playing loudly in the background. And the place was doing a very good business for a Tuesday night.
It reminded me of eating at a mom and pop shop in S. Korea because it had minimal décor and a buzzer at the table to ring when you wanted service. It was unlike S. Korea because it took a while for our order to be taken and to arrive – which we truly didn’t mind as it gave us a chance to talk. And the food was excellent – we both love bibimbap. Our new “vegan trespass” is that we no longer ask the kitchen not to put an egg into our bibimbap. It just confuses things. It’s like ordering a hamburger and asking to have the bun without the burger.
“Happy 42nd Anniversary” I said to Laur. “Why’d you pick me?” Laur said, “I saw what was out there and then I saw you. You were who I wanted.”
Laur then said, “Why’d you pick me?!” And I said, “Because you reminded me of my grandfather and I really loved my grandfather.”
Little did we know that in 42 short years we’d be Granny Jan and Grumpa Laur.