No News is Healthy News...

...and that is my positive spin on not updating my blog for eight months! Indeed, I blame good health for keeping me busy and away from the keyboard. So you can thank my current cold for the update; I have taken my first ever sick day as a teacher. Having miraculously made it through back-to-school without succumbing to my students' germs, I finally succumbed this week. For more about my workplace worries and wins, head on over to But I'm a Teacher! (where the updates have been just as infrequent, I'm afraid).

Meanwhile, here is a summary of what I've been up to the past three seasons:

I Know What I Did Last Summer 

I love my job very much, but the time and energy I'm currently devoting to it takes away from spending time with friends and family. As I work towards finding a better balance, I've come to count on my time off in the summer to reconnect with loved ones.

That was why we were so grateful to spend even just a weekend in Ottawa last June, with gracious hosts Allegra and Chris and their daughter Sofie treating us to riverside bike rides, tasty treats in their back garden, and lots and lots and lots of catching up. It was a glorious getaway that left us asking, why oh why is Ottawa so far away from Toronto?

Even briefer but no less sweeter was our time that same weekend at the Roots Music Festival in Elphin, Ontario to enjoy some tunes with more dear friends: Tara, Derek, and their daughter Vienne. So long has it been since we'd gotten together that Derek and I did a double-take in the parking lot before recognizing each other! After that, it felt just like old times.

Meanwhile, hearing of Derek's musical activities and experiencing the amazing musicians at the festival inspired me to once again try my hand at learning on Jeanette's guitar. While trying to tune it, I broke a string. *sigh* I've since turned to a video game to try to get me going, and so far it's been better than anything else I've tried to get me practicing (plus it has a tuner built in -- no more broken strings).

I was not the only one lured by the siren song of the guitar. The instrument was also irresistible to little Eric, son of our dear friends Chad and Janice, who, along with their newest son Toby, dropped by from Vancouver to spend a leisurely summer afternoon catching up. Eric was fascinated by the guitar in our living room and enjoyed hearing the sounds the string made. Although his songs were pretty avant garde, I like to think he'd have titled one "Why oh Why is Vancouver So Far Away?"

With late summer came our coveted week away in cottage country. My sister Leighann and her partner Marianne flew in from Halifax and together we drove up to Muskoka's Bondi Village, which Leighann and I know well from our childhood. Last year's trip was somewhat marred for me by sunny day's lost in the Huntsville Public Library applying for jobs. That inconvenience was a walk in Algonquin Park compared to Marianne's experience this year: she contracted a bad case of swimmer's ear a few days in and spent the rest of her time bed-ridden. Jeanette and Leighann are already nervous that it will be one of their turns for misfortune this summer. We're keeping our finger crossed, doing some chanting, sprinkling some holy water, and generally wishing and praying for a spoiler-free summer this year.

Not long back from the cottage, Leighann and I closed out the summer by attending Fan Expo Canada where we got our geek on along with 80,000 other nerds. The programming was stellar, and we enjoyed seeing such sci-fi icons as Michael Biehn (Cpl. Hicks from Aliens), Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from Battlestar Gallactica). Star Wars nerd that I am (remember my pilgrimage to LucasArts?), the discussion I most enjoyed was with Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz. He was refreshingly frank about struggles he faced while producing the film, including logistical challenges and dealing with the creative disagreements between George Lucas and director Irvin Kershner. I'm a sucker for ancedotes about the creative process.

Fall Back into Routine

By autumn, I was full steam ahead again with teaching. Nevertheless, we found family time whenever we could, including joining the Williamsons for an afternoon of family photos on the farm. Krystal and Mike hired a local photographer to snap some shots of us in the rustic setting of a friend's farm. In addition to getting great photos, we also gained a memorable day in the great outdoors, complete with a tractor ride through a beautiful wooded area. Not a bad way to spend an autumn afternoon.

Of course, our niece MacKenzie steals the show in all those photos, and she did so again, almost literally, when she came to spend a weekend with later in the fall. While Mike and Krystal treated themselves to a hotel and some couple-time on the town, we hosted our favourite niece and took her to see Seussical at the Young People's Theatre. She was so enthralled by the Suess-inspired sets, the creative costumes, and the actors' antics, that she often enthusiastically shared her observations well within earshot of the performers! Fortunately the YPT players are pros at entertaining little ones with big voices and didn't even bat a false eyelash. It was a fun way to welcome the holiday season.

The Winter of Our Discontent

The arrival of winter also coincides with the frenzied peak of being busy at work for Jeanette and me both, and it is always a blur. This year was no exception. Working retail, of course, meant that Jeanette was at the store right up until closing on Christmas Eve. From there we headed immediately to Ayr for a quiet, restorative diner with my folks, followed the next morning by Christmas Day celebrations with the entire Diener family! It has been a few years since the Wichmans and Dieners were able to get together on Christmas, as we did every year of my childhood, and it was heartwarming to have that feeling back again. Although we missed having Leighann and Marianne, we were grateful for some time to catch up with the Diener clan, especially the west-coast contingent of Lara and Neil, whom we don't get to see nearly as often as we'd like.

No sooner had we unwrapped some gifts, then we were on the road again heading up to Harriston. We had another day and a half to visit with the Williamsons and Krystal's family before Jeanette had to be back at the store. Once home again, I was able to finally slow down and enjoy some time off, catch up with Toronto friends, and generally recharge my batteries. Jeanette, however, had another week of sprinting to the finish line as she dealt with Boxing Week madness. By the time she was able to slow down and take some time for herself, I was heading back to school. And so go our winters...

Although we are both enjoying our jobs, we look forward to a Christmas someday when we can enjoy and savour the season rather than zombie-walking through it due to exhaustion. Other than that point of discontentment, we really can't complain. The milder winter has meant clear driving and we've been able to host a visit from Jeanette's parents (a rare trip in February!) and a visit from sister (even rarer for February!) who was in town for a conference. Mom joined us for that visit too, while Dad was golfing it up in Florida with his buddies.

Spring in Our Step
It has indeed been a mild winter, but we're still looking forward to spring. Crawling out of our caves is a hallmark of the season, and in that spirit, my change-of-season resolution is to get out into the world more often. I think you'll agree that all work and no play makes "But I'm an Aries!" a dull blog.