Binge Watching

One of my favorite days this fall was the Monday following our Britain trip when I came down with a nasty virus and spent the entire day in bed. Every teacher I know will appreciate how much I loved getting sick and not having to spend a single second thinking about what I'd miss at work if I wasn't there, whether or not to call in sick, did I have the energy to write up plans, bla bla bla. It's almost fun to get sick when you know that the best thing you can do for yourself is nothing, and that you can actually do that! The bonus is that you get well quicker when you are able to look after yourself, and when there is no stress piled on top of the illness. There's a lesson in that for all of us isn't there?
So what did I do for the day? Well, I couldn't read 'cause my head hurt too much, so no books, magazines, or iPad. It felt like the perfect opportunity to find something new on Netflix. After not much browsing, I settled on Scandal - it looked entertaining and not too heavy. The opener was awesome - engaging and fast-paced with an interesting cast of characters and just a tad of sleaziness to make it extra addicting. Each episode ended in a cliff-hanger, so several times that day I revisited whether or not I should really watch another episode, but answered yes every time. 7 times. I watched the whole first season and the beginning of season 2.
Binge watching is a great way to watch TV. You choose the time, take breaks whenever you need them, or don't take any and watch for hours! We've enjoyed many binge evenings since and we both love it. It's hard to imagine going back to a week between episodes and commercials! It's a whole new world of TV watching. I see no need to go back.
And I'm already looking forward to my next virus.

LGBTQ Video

In the spring of 2014, Trish and I were invited to be involved in an ETFO project, led by the provincial Equity department. Their goal was to create an information/support video about the experiences of LGBTQ teachers in elementary schools. The filming team went to 4 locations across the province to create the video segments, including Kitchener, where Trish and I took part.
It has felt like a long wait til the video release this fall! The finished product has been imminent for months now, however, the creation of supporting resources in both English and French held things up a little.
The big release was October 8 at ETFO's Annual Equity Leadership Summit and we were invited to be there. It was pretty exciting and nerve wracking to see yourself on a big screen! That was certainly a first for me! Anyhow, we both did well, as did everyone else in the video. The audience that night was very positive, however, we both confessed afterward that in the moment, we were much more focussed on ourselves than the overall effect! I was also on a discussion panel following the video. Here I am with Rico, one of the other panelists, Adam Peer from ETFO and Karen Shopsowitz, the wonderful film maker.
The video is now being released to locals across the province to use for teacher professional learning. There is an accompanying workshop for which I applied to be a presenter. Training is in December and workshops could feasibly begin in January. ETFO does such amazing work in this area - we are very proud to have been part of this project.
A little treat of this event was staying at the Hyatt once again - it is ETFO's hotel of choice for union events, so we've been there lots. This time, we got to stay in the Pink Room, where all funds are donated to breast cancer research. Every single thing was pink - it was so fun!
The next day, while Trish was at an equity meeting, I spent a wonderful day at the AGO. I took my time walking there, enjoyed a little guided tour of the main areas which I'd never done before, saw many of my favorite works, and appreciated every minute of the leisurely pace of the day. Now this is retirement!
Lastly, because of our involvement in this project, we received our own copies of the video in the mail the other day. We look forward to watching it again privately and perhaps even sharing.
Movie night anyone??

Anniversary Weekend

Our 6th Anniversary was October 3, just a couple of days after I got back from Britain. It fell on Saturday this year, so it felt extra special to celebrate on the same day of the week as we got married.
We spent the day in the Owen Sound area, an area we have visited before and always enjoyed. We had actually planned to spend the night at Waterview on the Bay at Colpoy's Bay near Wiarton, however, a booking screw up messed up those plans so it ended up being a day trip after all. We did have a lovely day though.

We started with a short hike in the Ingliss Falls Conservation Area. The colours weren't spectacular - we were a bit early - however, we really enjoyed the time outdoors.
Trish had done some research into the Owen Sound Salmon Tour, and had found out that the salmon head upriver each year right at this time and are quite a sight!
We didn't see any of them actually jumping, however, there were definitely salmon in the river and we spent quite a bit of time on a little bridge, as well as right on the side of the stream, watching them struggle through the babbling waters. It was really fascinating!
After our little hotel disappointment, we drove home, then cooked a deliciously yummy steak dinner to celebrate.
This salted caramel Baileys was our special after dinner anniversary treat. Oh, yum. A very nice, and well deserved treat indeed!

Off to Britain Again!

Last fall, Mum and I travelled to Scotland over Thanksgiving weekend for Kirstie and Andy's wedding, and, although it was wonderful, it was a little tricky figuring out how to get the time off work. No problem any longer!  Travelling in the 'off' season is definitely one of the benefits of retirement!
This year, Mum and I returned to Britain in September and spent a spectacular 2+ weeks in Aberdeen, Bristol and London. I have to confess, it was pretty nice spending the first week of school getting organized and packing for a trip!
Last year, I created a travel blog to keep in touch with family and friends, and keep a record for ourselves. We decided to use the same blog this year. I posted pretty much daily while we were away. Check it out at this link > http://wattatrip.blogspot.ca. I hope you enjoy sharing in our travel adventures!

The first day, reinvented.

After 19 years as a student followed immediately by 35 years as a teacher, today is the first day of school in 54 years that I am not 'going to school'. True enough, I had 2 maternity leaves that allowed me to be at home in a September, and one deferred salary leave, however, those were temporary times off. Because I knew I'd be returning each of those years, my mind was very much still 'in the game'.
This year feels quite different. I confess I've thought of almost nothing else, so clearly I haven't let it go quite yet, however, I feel an increasing separation from the reality of education this fall. Some of it is purely practical. Instead of back to school shopping, I've been doing British holiday shopping (I leave next Tuesday!). Instead of classroom prep, I'm making packing lists. I didn't help Trish set up her classroom this year. Part of it was timing, but another part was quite simply school avoidance. I'm not having back to school dreams. Bliss. The most interesting thing I'm experiencing is a growing sense of leisure. Pace of life and anxiety were big reasons for retiring, so feeling relaxed is welcomed! Even today, when I had to set my alarm way earlier than I wanted to make a breakfast date, it was actually fun getting ready and I knew that I could walk out of the house with keys and my little purse - not the bazillion bags that would normally weigh me down on the first day of school....and I'd still have forgotten something! And no thinking about lunch - hallelujah!
So, more about the breakfast date. Four of us who are newly retired teachers met at Langdon Hall for champagne breakfast. It was glorious. Conversation was about recent and upcoming trips, recommended reading, watercolour painting classes, our kids and our parents - and hardly a word about work. Retired teachers are a happy lot.

Here's a wee taste of the retirement version of the first day of school...

The beautiful Langdon Hall.

My first helping.

My second helping.

Yes, the Mimosa.

Katie, Sue, Christine and me. Cheers!

Bucket Lists and Fairmonts

Trish and I returned a few days ago from an amazing week in beautiful British Columbia. The trip was most importantly about visiting Judi - it's been too long since our last f2f and there was a lot of catching up to do! Judi has been living out west for a couple of years now - first a summer stint in Banff, then working at Big White in Alberta, Whistler and now Vancouver. She's had lots of amazing experiences (Judi's blog is incredible - check it out here!), however, lucky for us, she still has a B.C. Bucket list, so our trip also became an opportunity to help her check off a few more things on this list, with us in tow! Judi was able to take 3 days off work, which, when added to the weekend, gave us 5 days to explore and adventure! Honestly, we were happy just to be there, and with Judi in the travel industry after all, we let her plan our time and make most of the bookings! And wow - what a week we had!

For starters, who knew that there are FIVE Fairmonts in Vancouver (we stayed at 2 of them)? We also had one night at the incredibly beautiful and historic Empress in Victoria. Best. Beds. Ever. Oh, and I don't know what they stuff their pillows with, but they are magic.
I've jumped ahead. Trish and I actually had the first day by ourselves to wander Vancouver while Judi worked. We spent the afternoon at the Vancouver Art Gallery (wonderful!), walked to the waterfront and eventually to Gastown where we had dinner. It was a beautiful evening - the food at Chill Winston's was scrumptious and a couple of hours of people watching from our streetside table was fascinating. We will never forget the throngs of white clad rich folks carrying heaps of white food, tables and other accessories heading to Diner en Blanc. Strange but true.

On Wednesday morning, the 3 of us picked up our rental car and set out for Tsawwassen and the ferry over to Vancouver Island. It was a beautiful day and a luxurious ride in our brand new Taurus! The 2 1/2 hour ferry ride was lovely! We spent the afternoon at Butchart Gardens and the evening in Victoria. Judi found us an awesome Tapas restaurant for dinner, right in the vicinity of the Empress. It was a short stay in the city but lovely.
Although we all could have remained melted into the Fairmont bedding, we did drag ourselves up early the next morning and headed out to begin our island adventure. Tofino (#BCbucketlist) was the eventual destination, but we had food, shopping and sight seeing stops in Nanaimo and Port Alberni along the way.
I was a little nervous about how the drive would be. You see, there is only one road which crosses the island - following a river valley through a mountain range. But, it was a wonderful surprise - the roads were awesome! Very well marked, lots of guardrails, speed signs and warnings and all of the drivers were respectful and sensible. Whew. Great trip! And we arrived in Tofino by late afternoon and checked in to our awesome room right on the water - palm trees and mountain view from our deck! Another amazing find Judi!
Our dinner that night has a great story. A few years ago, Judi wrote an article about a food truck turned restaurant in Tofino called Sobo. She even has a copy of their Sobo cookbook! So we ate there (#BCbucketlist) and I'm not kidding, it was the best meal of my life. Judi and I both had their maple dijon glazed, cedar plank roasted, fresh pacific salmon (moan), scalloped potatoes with yams that were 'to die for', perfect broccolini and fresh off the cob corn. I was sad when my plate was empty. Licked empty.

Friday morning, Trish and Judi headed out to Surf Sisters for surfing 101 (#BCbucketlist) (this is another great story about a Surf Sisters article Judi wrote after skyping with their owner Chrissy, whom she met today!!) This was a pretty thrilling morning for the surfers! They had a lesson, then surfed at Cox Bay, one of the nearby beaches, for 2 hours! They were both very proud and very excited!
No, I didn't surf. I remained happily on shore, cheering them on and taking some pics of random surfers (random, 'cause I couldn't pick Trish and Judi out in the waves!)
For the remainder of the day, we visited the Roy Henry Vickers Art Gallery, wandered thru town, did a little hike to Tonquin Beach, had dinner at the Wolf in the Fog, did a short evening hike and saw a gorgeous Tofino sunset (#BCbucketlist) - beautiful!
Saturday, we were a little sad to pack up and leave Tofino. It's such a gem of a place and it's just far enough out there that you know you won't be back anytime soon. Well, Judi might - it's one of the only places in Canada to really surf!
That morning, we woke up to rain and overcast conditions. It turned out that there had been quite a bad storm with strong winds, power lines down and significant damage in the Vancouver area and mainland coast. We didn't know this of course, but started to see evidence of branches and debris as we got further down the road. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of beaches - wow, big waves! We also stopped at a Tourist Station near Ucluelet, in Port Alberni, Little Qualicum Falls and eventually Coxon, where we caught an evening ferry across to Powell River (#BCbucketlist) for the next leg of our adventure!
Judi found us a great room with kitchen and 2 bedrooms right across from the water. Since it was a late check-in, we picked up yummy Mexican food and brought it back to our room with us.
Sunday morning, we headed out on the road - and not just any road, the famous Sunshine Coast (#BCbucketlist) Highway. There was still lots of debris from the storm, and sadly, when we got to our Sea-Kayaking (#BCbucketlist), they were closed due to strong currents on the water. Boo.

Luckily, we found an alternative in Sechelt and had an amazing afternoon on the water. Trish and I shared a kayak, Judi had her own and we all loved it! We saw incredible wildlife and took tons of pics.
One of the thrills was seeing a family of seals very close to our kayaks. One of them climbed up on the rocks and gave us a good staredown, as you can see! They were so adorable!

Sunday evening after our last of 4 ferry rides, we made it back into Vancouver and spent our last night at the airport Fairmont for our early flight out the next morning.
Seriously, this drawer was where we found our wine glasses. Fairmonts really know how to spoil you!
We said a sad good-bye to Judi at the airport. Not only had we thoroughly enjoyed our time together, but this holiday was packed full of experiences, meals, scenery, locations and adventures that we likely would never have had the opportunity to do without Judi's connections, knowledge and research.
Thank you Judi for having a #BCbucketlist and letting us tag along! It was all amazing! Thank you thank you thank you!!

Another first for us on this trip was flying out of Kitchener! WestJet doesn't fly directly to Vancouver (not yet anyway!), so we flew to Calgary, then a switch in planes and on to Vancouver. We loved the convenience of being 10 minutes from the airport at home!
The flights were fairly overcast sadly, however, we did get a quick glimpse of mountains just as we left Calgary on the way home.
Amazing trip all around!

A Woman's Place ... is in her union

We spent last week at ETFO's Annual Meeting. This gathering of delegations from every local across the province is held each August in Toronto, alternating between convention centres; this year it was at the Westin Harbour Castle. Trish and I have been attending AM as Waterloo delegates for several years and look forward to it every summer. It is an amazing opportunity to see our union in action and be part of the decision-making regarding policies, procedures and priorities for the upcoming year. This was also an election year for positions on the provincial executive, so there was extra buzz in the building as we headed into the Wednesday votes. It was a great week, once again - a week of meetings, hours of debates on resolutions, passionate conversations - all in all, it's exhilarating and exhausting, but it is an annual experience of which we are proud to be a part.

Trish and I decided to go down a day early this year to give us a chance to enjoy some time in the big city. That was a great decision! Check-in was smooth on Sunday (unlike the fiasco of last year!) and we were floating in the pool by mid-afternoon! We walked the boardwalk in the evening and had dinner at a lovely casual Italian restaurant right on the water. The smile on Trish's face reflects how we both felt!
The first meetings of the AM are Caucus meetings for special interest groups during the day on Monday. We attended the Equity Caucus (an annual event for us) and I decided to attend the 'Black Members and Supporters' Caucus for the first time. My involvement as a presenter for the 'Rethinking White Privilege' workshop this year is what inspired me to attend. The White Privilege workshop arose out of a discussion at this caucus 3 years ago, so I was very curious to meet the group and listen to their discussions. I took a few notes; here are some of my take-aways from the Black Member caucus:

• the energy and passion of the members of this group are second to none - very impressive and inspiring!
• white privilege affects how our lawyers, accountants and other professionals advocate (or don't) for our members - many of us in the majority group haven't really considered the implications of this
• there is a disproportionate number of teacher allegations toward racialized members and the vast majority are dismissed - this was shocking to hear
• it is so important that the members of our executive, and ideally all attendees to AM, and educators in general, are able to examine issues through a cultural lens - this is something we can all become more sensitive to 
• many women's issues and resolutions have implications for racialized members
• in discussing the upcoming election, we were reminded that equity work is a life-long passion - not a quick statement on promotional materials or in a speech - we were encouraged to question candidates on their commitments and action toward equity issues

Obviously, I was in the minority group at the Black Member Caucus. There is a lot for any of us to learn from being in that position. It is so easy to get lost in your own perspective and to see things through your lens of privilege. I really valued this opportunity at AM. In retrospect, it was that hour during the week that had the most impact on me this year. I was thrilled to meet so many passionate and articulate members and will certainly hold close many of the aha's that I experienced during that discussion. I am also very excited that Karen Brown earned a released position on the provincial executive that Gail Bannister-Clarke gained an executive position seat. These are two strong women members who will bring a lot to the team! This is also historic for our black members and is reason to celebrate ETFO's commitment to equity and inclusion.

Wednesday was election day and we were all thrilled that Sam Hammond's position was not contested, so he will remain our provincial president. He is an amazing leader - strong, motivating, kind, equity-minded - I continue to be so impressed with the unique ability Sam has to be a caring and compassionate human being alongside demonstrating great strength and commitment as our leader. Our local president Greg Weiler was elected to the provincial executive - you can see we had a little celebration party in our hospitality suite that evening! He will make a great addition to this group, along with Nathan Core, President of our local OTs, who also gained a position on this provincial team.

Wednesday evening's banquet was great fun - look who shut the house down at the end of the event!!

On Thursday, all of the delegates wore red shirts for solidarity with our union as we listened to Sam outline the particulars of Phase 2 of the job action for September, as well as share his perspectives about the upcoming return to bargaining. There was energy in the house!!

As the week came to an end, I felt a little ache coming on as I realized that this was my last ETFO Annual Meeting. My place in the union has been a valuable and rich experience and I will miss this involvement tremendously. Sam gave a shout-out to 'last time attendees to AM'. Here I am trying to keep it together as the group applauded us.
As a young teacher, I threw my passions into family and music teaching, and my connection with my union was from the sidelines. That has certainly changed. Over the past few years, my ETFO involvements have been front and centre. And they will leave a hole - not only in my calendar, but in my heart.