In our house, I am the primary house keeper. This entails, cooking, cleaning and laundry. I have delegated some of these tasks to my partner such as garbage and recycling as well as some loading and unloading of the dishwasher.
One chore I guess I insist on doing myself is laundry. I have a very specific modus operandus when it comes to laundry and I admit I'm just too anal to let anyone else do it. I have a theory about laundry. My theory is this. Clothes come out cleaner if they are NOT inside out. This is also a pet peeve of mine. Socks are the worst for this, I have matched socks that when one is washed and dried inside out, and compared to it's match that was right side out, the inside out sock was still dirty and worst of all, crunchy. GROSS! So I make it a point to turn everything the right way around.
I do however have ONE exception to the rule and that is sweaters. Reason for this, to minimise pilling. And not on all sweaters either, just the really soft pill prone type. Again, personal preference. So, where am I going with this, well let me tell you. Last night as I was moving the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer I notice a pair of jeans were inside out. UGH! I hadn't notice when I put them in because they are very light and inside looks like out side and so they were washed that way. Ok so one item of clothing missed my scrutiny. Oh well, Except, I made a comment.
You see the jeans belong to my partners daughter, and yesterday when she was wearing them I noticed they were dirty, being such a light colour the dirt shows. So I mentioned that before she goes back to her mom's that I wanted to wash her jeans so she needed to throw them in the laundry and she did. The thing is my partners kids are trained to turn their jeans inside out to preserve the colour. Ok, I get that, but, first these jeans are so light there is very little colour left, they were bought that way and second I think it was important for him to defend his daughter because I was slightly annoyed. Mostly I was annoyed with myself because I missed that they were inside out and wanted them to come clean.
You see, at some point in my life I heard or saw some "point of interest" thing that it was a myth turning your jeans inside out to preseve the colour, unfortunately I made the mistake of saying this out loud. And so the debate began.
My partner was adamant that he had known for years that you turn your jeans inside out to keep them from fading, I've heard this too, who hasn't? The thing is, I do not turn my jeans inside out, I don't think they come as clean when you do this. Also, if memory serves the example was two pairs of identical jeans washed in soapy water, rinsed and spun. The water was collected and the amount of dye left in the water was almost identical, so much so that the idea of turning your jeans was strictly a personal preference. Logically it made sense to me, you are submerging the material in the same soapy water there is no magical barrier that prevents the dye from coming out.
The thing is, I was adamant that it was a myth, poor choice of words I admit, what I should have said is it's a personal choice and personally I do not wash my jeans inside out. Well, my partner, rather than letting it go, which is what I was willing to do decided to consult the google gods to prove me wrong. Well every thing he pulled up said the same thing, wash your jeans inside out if you don't want them to fade as quickly. OK, so if you don't care then who cares? Right? Well apparently because I didn't bow down to the google gods and my partner for being right he decided that if the information isn't what I say it is, it's wrong. Well, no, I just don't agree, I can do that it's called free will.
So, now I'm mad. I'm mad not because google proved his argument. I'm mad because he felt it necessary to prove me wrong. Why would he do that? Is there something wrong with our relationship that he now feels entitled to take it that step further? What should have been a discussion of personal preference turned into an attack of character because I didn't agree. The thing is it's made me question my worth in the relationship. I know if he were to read this he's say I was overreacting and that somehow because I chose to defend my apparent misinformation that I'm in the wrong but will not admit it. OK according to google I'm wrong.
It comes down to this. I do the laundry, I decide how it gets done. I will not start turning jeans inside out because google says I should, I really don't care if the jeans I wash fade, they are not $100.00+ jeans and well, they generally wear out or are grown out of before they fade anyway. This will not change regardless of what his kids are taught, they can turn them inside out, I'll just turn them the right way around it's not like they will ever know their clean laundry mysteriously appears when they return, it's all good. If the theory of dye not washing out as easily when inside out is correct then logically neither will the dirt right? I would much rather have clean jeans than dirty unfaded jeans any day, thank you very much.
This event occurred last night basically at bed time, and I was soooo mad I was having a hard time falling asleep. He on the other hand, feeling vindicated I suppose, had no problem driffting off to dreamland. I had a decision to make, apologise for defending myself and let it go, or steam all night long and loose sleep. Silly, I know but this is what I was faced with. So being me, I ate crow, woke him up and apologised, his response was, "well you do the laundry so you're going to do it your way anyway, no big deal." OMG! are you serious? I was all worked up for nothing? Could he have not said that when we were debating it? OR at least agree that I will do it my way regardless as I had said earlier? Here I was all worried that he was mad at me for putting up such a fuss about it being a myth that I was going to loose sleep over it. Well, now I know, keep my big mouth shut, on all accounts.
I thought about searching the Internet for the example that stuck in my head but I think it was pre-www so I'm probably out of luck, I'll look but I'm not holding out hope. The bottom line is, I do the laundry, I will continue doing it my way, if there's a problem with this then I will only do MY laundry and everyone else in the house is on their own. The one point that I don't get, why do we really care if our jeans fade? In this technological day and age have we not improved the dying process to prevent this? Not to mention, I have a new pair of jeans that are quite dark and I have to tell you I can not wait for the dye to wash out I'm tired of my hands turning blue from touching them.
As I was typing the last sentence I recall years ago when I move back to Vancouver with my first husband, we had cream coloured furniture. Being pre-microfiber this was a cotton blend and not easily cleaned. The spot on the couch were my ex consistently sat was stained blue from his dark jeans. Now you tell me, would you rather your $40.00 jeans fade or your $600.00 couch end up ruined because you were told to turn your jeans inside out. Maybe another argument for doing it my way. It doesn't really matter, again it is completely personal preference and to defend either side will only end up in a fight so, why bother?
Needless to say, I though about posting some sort of survey on my facebook to see how many people turn their jeans inside out or really don't care if they fade. I may still just as a point of interest. Really though there is no right or wrong. If your doing your laundry then it's completely up to you if you want to wash your jeans inside out. I wouldn't recommend drying them that way though. They tend to get dryer lint stuck to them more so when inside out. OOOHHH another argument for not turning inside out...soap residue. Gets caught on the inside and when the outside is the inside, ya, you all know what I'm talking about. I win! LOL
With much love, light and faded jeans.
Tammy.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Constant State Of Confusion
I have blogged about my son in the past and although there really is nothing new to add; my reason for blogging now is more a form of record keeping. I don't have the best memory, I can recall that I wanted to discuss something with his pediatrician but not necessarily the details. His appointments are so far apart, if I don't write it down I will likely forget.
As I have mentioned before, I am taking my kids to Disneyland for spring break. I had wanted to keep it a secret from my son because I felt he couldn't deal with the excitement. Well, I was wrong. Unlike Christmas, this sort of trip does not happen every year and being that we have never been my son has no idea how exciting this should be. Instead it has him extremely confused, and maybe a little excited, maybe.
When he first found out we were going he was upset with me because this meant we were not going to visit my parents. Then the whole spring break schedules threw him off. My niece is on spring break from March 15 to 19. My son at the beginning of March told his teacher that he was going to be off school for three weeks because he thought we were going to Quesnel for one week then California for two weeks. Even though I carefully explained it to him, he still drew his own conclusions.
Now, trying to figure out the timing of events is not a difficult task. You can take a look at a calendar and see how many weeks or days until an event occurs. My son is eleven and a half and he still gets confused naming the months in order. Just last night he was trying to figure out how long until my birthday. He asked what month we are in now, I challenged him to figure that one out on his own, he got it. Then I told him to name the months until he reaches December and count them on his fingers. No brainer right? Not for him, he mixed them up and forgot a few. Eventually with my assistance, he made it to December but forgot to count on his fingers. We started again, and he wondered were March went. He's eleven and a half. Why does he not know this?
We jokingly call him 10 second Tom, a character from the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates. The thing is it's not funny anymore. This is serious and I fear if we don't get answers fast he's only going to get worse. We couldn't figure out why he would insist on watching a move a second time, sometimes right after he just finished watching it. I think it's because he honestly doesn't recall what he just saw. There are times were he will watch the same movie three and four times over the course of a few days. Annoying for anyone else, but not for him.
I know for a fact that he thinks in pictures. This became apparent when he was learning how to spell with flash cards and he would as he explained it "take a picture" of the card and then repeat what he saw in his head. Give him the exact same list days later, and he's likely to not recall how to spell the word. He is a master Lego and Bionicle builder, the instructions are all pictures. He struggles with reading, and after completing the T & E Centre he is now at level 40 which is about the grade four level. This is fantastic considering he started eight weeks ago at grade one. We read every night, and for the sake of flow, I give him the words he struggles with, and generally they are the little ones. Big words seem a little easier for him.
So were do we go from here? We are still waiting for our appointments with the psychiatrist and the B.C. Autism Society, I don't know if he's autistic, I do know there is something very different about him. Aside from his ADHD which is confirmed and his LD also confirmed, what other set of letters are we going to pin to this child? I really don't care that there might be the addition of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) or whatever, I just want him to get the help he needs. Yesterday, he commented that he wanted his LD to go away, I told him to read absolutely everything he can set his eyes on. He gets that. He asked how he gets rid of ADHD, I told him he will likely grow out of it. I hope I'm right. My sister did as did his dad. He may just be high energy, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the LD, well, that's a little scarier.
We have hope for his future. His dad is a finishing carpenter and when our son is old enough he can work with him during summer holidays and learn that trade. He could potentially graduate (I hope) and step into a $25.00/hr finishing carpenter job. He's would certainly be successful because of the visual aspect of it, and with his dad being in the union, he will get in no problem. I know his future will be ok, I worry about getting him there. He has already been taken advantage of by an older child at his school who was using my son for his own personal gain. I quickly put a stop to that so called friendship. When my son confronted this kid, the kid admitted he was only using him. A tough lesson but one I hope he can recall if a similar situation presents itself. Fingers crossed.
Now that I have this in print, I can re-read it before his next appointment and relay this to his doctor who hopefully will have an answer or something. Until then I will continue to research mental disorders and maybe something will present itself so I can arm myself with the tools he needs to be successful. He's got both parents rooting for him, along with friends and family. He's going to be ok, if it kills me he's going to be ok.
With much love, light and fingers crossed.
Tammy.
As I have mentioned before, I am taking my kids to Disneyland for spring break. I had wanted to keep it a secret from my son because I felt he couldn't deal with the excitement. Well, I was wrong. Unlike Christmas, this sort of trip does not happen every year and being that we have never been my son has no idea how exciting this should be. Instead it has him extremely confused, and maybe a little excited, maybe.
When he first found out we were going he was upset with me because this meant we were not going to visit my parents. Then the whole spring break schedules threw him off. My niece is on spring break from March 15 to 19. My son at the beginning of March told his teacher that he was going to be off school for three weeks because he thought we were going to Quesnel for one week then California for two weeks. Even though I carefully explained it to him, he still drew his own conclusions.
Now, trying to figure out the timing of events is not a difficult task. You can take a look at a calendar and see how many weeks or days until an event occurs. My son is eleven and a half and he still gets confused naming the months in order. Just last night he was trying to figure out how long until my birthday. He asked what month we are in now, I challenged him to figure that one out on his own, he got it. Then I told him to name the months until he reaches December and count them on his fingers. No brainer right? Not for him, he mixed them up and forgot a few. Eventually with my assistance, he made it to December but forgot to count on his fingers. We started again, and he wondered were March went. He's eleven and a half. Why does he not know this?
We jokingly call him 10 second Tom, a character from the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates. The thing is it's not funny anymore. This is serious and I fear if we don't get answers fast he's only going to get worse. We couldn't figure out why he would insist on watching a move a second time, sometimes right after he just finished watching it. I think it's because he honestly doesn't recall what he just saw. There are times were he will watch the same movie three and four times over the course of a few days. Annoying for anyone else, but not for him.
I know for a fact that he thinks in pictures. This became apparent when he was learning how to spell with flash cards and he would as he explained it "take a picture" of the card and then repeat what he saw in his head. Give him the exact same list days later, and he's likely to not recall how to spell the word. He is a master Lego and Bionicle builder, the instructions are all pictures. He struggles with reading, and after completing the T & E Centre he is now at level 40 which is about the grade four level. This is fantastic considering he started eight weeks ago at grade one. We read every night, and for the sake of flow, I give him the words he struggles with, and generally they are the little ones. Big words seem a little easier for him.
So were do we go from here? We are still waiting for our appointments with the psychiatrist and the B.C. Autism Society, I don't know if he's autistic, I do know there is something very different about him. Aside from his ADHD which is confirmed and his LD also confirmed, what other set of letters are we going to pin to this child? I really don't care that there might be the addition of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) or whatever, I just want him to get the help he needs. Yesterday, he commented that he wanted his LD to go away, I told him to read absolutely everything he can set his eyes on. He gets that. He asked how he gets rid of ADHD, I told him he will likely grow out of it. I hope I'm right. My sister did as did his dad. He may just be high energy, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the LD, well, that's a little scarier.
We have hope for his future. His dad is a finishing carpenter and when our son is old enough he can work with him during summer holidays and learn that trade. He could potentially graduate (I hope) and step into a $25.00/hr finishing carpenter job. He's would certainly be successful because of the visual aspect of it, and with his dad being in the union, he will get in no problem. I know his future will be ok, I worry about getting him there. He has already been taken advantage of by an older child at his school who was using my son for his own personal gain. I quickly put a stop to that so called friendship. When my son confronted this kid, the kid admitted he was only using him. A tough lesson but one I hope he can recall if a similar situation presents itself. Fingers crossed.
Now that I have this in print, I can re-read it before his next appointment and relay this to his doctor who hopefully will have an answer or something. Until then I will continue to research mental disorders and maybe something will present itself so I can arm myself with the tools he needs to be successful. He's got both parents rooting for him, along with friends and family. He's going to be ok, if it kills me he's going to be ok.
With much love, light and fingers crossed.
Tammy.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Patriotism At It's Finest.
Funny bunch us, the quiet northern neighbours of the U.S. Or at least that's what the rest of the world thought, well we showed them didn't we?
The latest hot topic has been the overwhelming show of Canadian patriotism as a result of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am proud to be a Canadian, I am proud of what Canada stands for and how we are now viewed by the rest of the world.
We Canadians know we live in a great country, and to us it's the greatest country on this planet. I know we are not alone in our thoughts of greatness, every other country's citizens feels the same way about their respective homeland. The difference with Canada and Canadians is we never really bought in to the whole idea of our greatness at least not until we were on the world stage and were given the opportunity to bask in all out red and white glory and did we ever.
When ever I hear our national anthem I get a little choked up, I don't know why, it's always been that way. When I was watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and had a damn hard time remaining composed. I love everything Canada stands for, I love our maple syrup and smoked salmon. I love that when push comes to shove we step up and throw our hats in the ring we do our part to ensure world peace. We are the quite northern neighbours who when fired up will defend our honour and that of our friends vehemently.
Admittedly I was not a supporter of the Olympics, I didn't really care either way, I resigned myself to the fact that there was very little that could be done to stop it once it was awarded, and over the years leading up to the big event the odd report on the cost and complications were met with sarcasm and doubt. My personal take on the whole thing was somewhat non committal. As long as it didn't interfere with my morning commute, then whatever. Then February 12th happened and my thoughts and feelings were forever changed.
I hopped on the bandwagon went for the ride and it was fantastic, so much so I was saddened to see it end. I do look forward to the Paralympics but it's really just not the same for me. This experience has renewed my interest in the Olympics, which over the years has wained. It has also prompted a new found curiosity in the Canucs, mostly because of Luongo and Kessler but it's more that just the "play-off" fever, I'm actually watching regular season hockey, something I have never done voluntarily.
I'm looking forward to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and I'm rooting for Munich to get them in 2018 because out of the three countries veing for them I'm most likely to travel to Munich to cheer on our athletes. By the way I heard the Federal government is promising 17 million to our athletes, correct me if I'm wrong. That would be a huge boost for our athletes, it could mean the difference between a silver and a gold, and although we didn't own the podium during this Olympics, we kicked butt in Gold, and broke two records to boot. Good for us.
So, there you have it, my rambling for the evening. nothing earth shattering, just getting it in print that I think we did good and I'm glad I was a part of it and having to pay for it over the next who knows how many years is ok because it cemented my love for my country, the greatest country on this planet. I am Canadian and a very proud one at that.
With much love, light and once again Canadian pride,
Tammy.
The latest hot topic has been the overwhelming show of Canadian patriotism as a result of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am proud to be a Canadian, I am proud of what Canada stands for and how we are now viewed by the rest of the world.
We Canadians know we live in a great country, and to us it's the greatest country on this planet. I know we are not alone in our thoughts of greatness, every other country's citizens feels the same way about their respective homeland. The difference with Canada and Canadians is we never really bought in to the whole idea of our greatness at least not until we were on the world stage and were given the opportunity to bask in all out red and white glory and did we ever.
When ever I hear our national anthem I get a little choked up, I don't know why, it's always been that way. When I was watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and had a damn hard time remaining composed. I love everything Canada stands for, I love our maple syrup and smoked salmon. I love that when push comes to shove we step up and throw our hats in the ring we do our part to ensure world peace. We are the quite northern neighbours who when fired up will defend our honour and that of our friends vehemently.
Admittedly I was not a supporter of the Olympics, I didn't really care either way, I resigned myself to the fact that there was very little that could be done to stop it once it was awarded, and over the years leading up to the big event the odd report on the cost and complications were met with sarcasm and doubt. My personal take on the whole thing was somewhat non committal. As long as it didn't interfere with my morning commute, then whatever. Then February 12th happened and my thoughts and feelings were forever changed.
I hopped on the bandwagon went for the ride and it was fantastic, so much so I was saddened to see it end. I do look forward to the Paralympics but it's really just not the same for me. This experience has renewed my interest in the Olympics, which over the years has wained. It has also prompted a new found curiosity in the Canucs, mostly because of Luongo and Kessler but it's more that just the "play-off" fever, I'm actually watching regular season hockey, something I have never done voluntarily.
I'm looking forward to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and I'm rooting for Munich to get them in 2018 because out of the three countries veing for them I'm most likely to travel to Munich to cheer on our athletes. By the way I heard the Federal government is promising 17 million to our athletes, correct me if I'm wrong. That would be a huge boost for our athletes, it could mean the difference between a silver and a gold, and although we didn't own the podium during this Olympics, we kicked butt in Gold, and broke two records to boot. Good for us.
So, there you have it, my rambling for the evening. nothing earth shattering, just getting it in print that I think we did good and I'm glad I was a part of it and having to pay for it over the next who knows how many years is ok because it cemented my love for my country, the greatest country on this planet. I am Canadian and a very proud one at that.
With much love, light and once again Canadian pride,
Tammy.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sputter, Sputter, Stall.
So I sit and wait. Dead line passed and nothing. I'm not discouraged though, I know my plan will leave the ground, I won't give up I won't let this go. It's all about timing, and I'm justifying this temporary stall as such, timing.
The plan was to teach a simple course on meditation. That's still the plan, just the dates have changed. The plan was to start on February 26th, it's now March 2nd and no one signed up. I'm not worried, we got the ball rolling on this one smack dab in the middle of the Olympics. We had no idea that interest would be drawn to the winter games as much as it was. I'm guilty too of being smitten by my new found or rather re-discovered love for my country and well my focus certainly wasn't on anything else going on around me as much as it was on the games.
So we stalled, and that's all it is, a stall. Being that this is a four week course, and I'm going away at the end of March the timing just isn't there until after I get back. This is a blessing in disguise because that give us four weeks to make sure the word is out that this is available. When I get back my focus can be set on this course and the subsequent courses in the series. I'm looking forward to teaching what I think in this day and age is an important tool for individuals to be able to self assess their well being, bring balance and serenity to their lives and give them a method of meditation which does not require any mats, balls or strange contortionist poses. Not that there is anything wrong with those things I just know it's not for everyone, me included.
Meditation is and always will be the perfect way to "go inside" oneself. This is a great tool for balancing and energizing the mind and body. I have been using meditation for years to do just that, balance and energize. It's a wonderful experience if done properly, and that's the key. You can read all the books you want on meditation, unless you have someone to monitor your progress you will never know for sure if you're doing it right. I know I made a few mistakes before I joined a group with an experienced teacher.
So why do I think I can teach this to others? Well my answer is two fold. First because I feel very passionately that this is a wonderful self assessment tool and second, I was born to teach. I have over the years written manuals that describe in detail exactly how to "do the job" now granted they were usually related in some way to accounting, but the fact remains they were effective and well received. Can this translate to meditation? Absolutely, my hope is that when an individual finishes my class, they can go home and teach it to their family's. That may mean fewer students for me and that's ok there's enough for everyone.
I have a very clear vision of this path, and I intend to take it. But first, I'm taking a vacation. I think it's necessary so I will be in top meditation form when the class starts. And it will start, this I am sure of. My instruction manual is written, the dates are reserved the advertisement and website information are all in place, now just to gather students. I've put it out there, and I'm waiting to receive. I have hope and I have faith and this is unwavering.
With much love, light and purpose,
Tammy.
The plan was to teach a simple course on meditation. That's still the plan, just the dates have changed. The plan was to start on February 26th, it's now March 2nd and no one signed up. I'm not worried, we got the ball rolling on this one smack dab in the middle of the Olympics. We had no idea that interest would be drawn to the winter games as much as it was. I'm guilty too of being smitten by my new found or rather re-discovered love for my country and well my focus certainly wasn't on anything else going on around me as much as it was on the games.
So we stalled, and that's all it is, a stall. Being that this is a four week course, and I'm going away at the end of March the timing just isn't there until after I get back. This is a blessing in disguise because that give us four weeks to make sure the word is out that this is available. When I get back my focus can be set on this course and the subsequent courses in the series. I'm looking forward to teaching what I think in this day and age is an important tool for individuals to be able to self assess their well being, bring balance and serenity to their lives and give them a method of meditation which does not require any mats, balls or strange contortionist poses. Not that there is anything wrong with those things I just know it's not for everyone, me included.
Meditation is and always will be the perfect way to "go inside" oneself. This is a great tool for balancing and energizing the mind and body. I have been using meditation for years to do just that, balance and energize. It's a wonderful experience if done properly, and that's the key. You can read all the books you want on meditation, unless you have someone to monitor your progress you will never know for sure if you're doing it right. I know I made a few mistakes before I joined a group with an experienced teacher.
So why do I think I can teach this to others? Well my answer is two fold. First because I feel very passionately that this is a wonderful self assessment tool and second, I was born to teach. I have over the years written manuals that describe in detail exactly how to "do the job" now granted they were usually related in some way to accounting, but the fact remains they were effective and well received. Can this translate to meditation? Absolutely, my hope is that when an individual finishes my class, they can go home and teach it to their family's. That may mean fewer students for me and that's ok there's enough for everyone.
I have a very clear vision of this path, and I intend to take it. But first, I'm taking a vacation. I think it's necessary so I will be in top meditation form when the class starts. And it will start, this I am sure of. My instruction manual is written, the dates are reserved the advertisement and website information are all in place, now just to gather students. I've put it out there, and I'm waiting to receive. I have hope and I have faith and this is unwavering.
With much love, light and purpose,
Tammy.
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