Truthful Tuesday - Open Minds

I work for a private Christian school in Chicago that embodies the spirit of the city. I love the progressive, forward thinking of this school and of Christians in Chicago on the whole. See, I came from living for 9 years in a place where there is not as much diversity.

Recently, a teacher at the school where I work shared that when she decided 3rd/4th grade was what she wanted to teach, she read the entire Harry Potter series. It's what kids that age are in to. In Tulsa, there was so much anti-Potter sentiment when the first movie came out, it was even 'preached' against from the pulpit of our church. J and I decided we wanted to learn about it for ourselves and to not just take what 'they' said.

J's sound booth in Tulsa was in the middle of 2 gym floors. He played a song with Eastern style music. J witnessed a lower elementary child jokingly pretend to be in a yoga position. The P.E. teacher told the child yoga was of the devil. Needless to say, when we learned one of the classes in the Christian school where I teach (and where Motor Mouth attends) did a model Chinese home, complete with a Buddha, we were floored and impressed. How best to teach a Christian worldview than to share the religious beliefs of others in the world and those they will come in contact with in Chicago? I should mention we often run in to Motor Mouth's teacher after her evening yoga class.

Since moving to Chicago, I've met Christians who love Jesus and are - get this - Democrats! For 9 years, I did not realize you could be destined for Heaven AND vote for a Democrat. This is not only a Tulsa phenomenon. Clearly, there are red states and blue states. This was just my experience. I'm Canadian and therefore neither Republican nor Democrat. I have to say, I did love me some Reagan and some George W.

The thing I love about politics in Chicago is that you can have differing opinions and still be friends with someone. You can have differing opinions and still have a decent relationship with your family. They won't accuse you of living in a Godless city because people are allowed to have their own thoughts and their own opinions - especially after much study.

What I've struggled with a lot over the last few years is the number of my Tulsa acquaintances suddenly getting divorces because this one was cheating on that one, or friends who have $50K - $100K in credit card debt, or knowing some people have strap ons hidden in their homes but they act morally supreme, or they get fired because they are abusing prescription drugs or they are closet alcoholics, etc.

So when I came to Chicago and on one of the first Sundays we were in church here, a guy got up and talked about his porn addiction in front of the whole church, I knew we weren't in Tulsa anymore!! I missed it, but a previous week a guy talked about his struggles with homosexuality and I've heard women talk about their formerly promiscuous lifestyles.

Are people in Chicago perfect? Absolutely not. But I believe that in being honest about your struggles, you can face them head on and work through them. Is everyone in Chicago just voyeuristic and share their yucky life stuff? Nope. But in doing so, it helps other people to face and deal with the yuckyness of their lives. You can have a group of people who care about you supporting you and helping to keep you accountable. God is a god of light, not darkness. What we hide can eat us up inside. If we bring it in to the light, we can get help and live in the freedom God designs for us.

Although this may sound like a bash Tulsa entry, it is not. I love the friends I made there and value my friends. I'm merely reaffirming why I love living in this big city. And why I felt like I was dying in Tulsa. Why I had to get out of there before my soul shriveled up and died.

Karate Kid

I'm so proud of my big boy!!

Motor Mouth is a YELLOW BELT!!

He is growing so fast, I told him he can use his Gi as dress up clothes. By the time we resume karate, he will be too tall for his uniform. Last year, I had to roll up the cuffs twice!

What I Know For Sure

Life has been in a state of flux for several months. It is a major relief to know I'm finally getting some things finalized. There is still a really big unknown out there that could effect much of this. But for the most part, it is nice to 'know' that:

Both kids are going to a fun-filled summer camp with lots of activities and trips to great places in the city

Starting this fall, once again our 2 kids will attend 2 different schools with 2 different schedules and 2 different calendars and in 2 different parts of the city. We made it through last year. It seems doable again.

I will continue to work at Motor Mouth's school

We are staying in our loft another year

I will be PTO secretary for a 2nd year at Mini Me's school

All 4 of us love living in Chicago and are excited about what this summer and upcoming year will hold for us.

Great Party

A few weeks ago, I went to a birthday party for MAM's little girl. I felt so comfortable there. Why? Because I had met everyone before. Of the 5 or so couples present, I had met them all, except for the boyfriend of MAM's babysitter - and I might I have him before or just seems that way from conversations with her babysitter.

There are very few places I go these days where I know all of the players and they know me. And not that pseudo knowing that comes from following each other's blogs. The knowing that comes from breaking bread with people.

I've said this before and I'm going to say it again. I'm really grateful to MAM for opening her life and her heart to me and for making my transition to ChiTown much smoother.

Mommy's Girlfriends

The other day, Mini Me made a comment about 'Mommy's girlfriends'. I was curious who she would say were my friends so I asked her. I thought for sure, she would say MAM, or Maddie's mommy or JuJu's mommy. After much deliberation, Mini Me could not come up with one name. How sad is that?!!

It dawned on me that most of my girlfriend time comes when the kids are in bed, with their dad, or at school. My knitting/crochet group is on evenings when they are getting ready for bed. When I go visit MAM, it's usually just me. And she probably thinks play dates with Maddie's mommy or JuJu's mommy is for them - she doesn't realize she gets to play with the kids because I'm friends with their mommies.

I'm not the greatest at calling friends or going shopping with them (I hate shopping), or just hanging out. I think having friends when we all have kids is different. You both have school events, kids' bedtimes, husbands, work, volunteer commitments. I'm not great at hanging out or talking every week, but I do keep in touch via social media and texting. Every now and then we'll get on the phone and talk for about an hour.

Shows like SATC2 and Desperate Housewives, make me long for a core group of women I see all the time. But then I watch Housewives of Orange County, or New York or Atlanta and I am thrilled to not have to deal with that drama!! LOL!!

I have a great core group of ladies that I love to be with and share our lives with. Fortunately, they are as busy as I am and don't seem to mind that we have to fit each other in. But as a female, I need to model good, strong female relationships for my daughter. This is something I need to work on for my friends, for my daughter and for me.

Just Drive

On Saturday, we got in the car and just drove with no destination in mind.

Beautiful old cemetary

Me. Me. Me.

Beach

Throwing rocks

Someone's dress got really, really wet...

Playground!

Fallen soldier cemetery - some died in 2010

Another beach!!!

Beautiful walk

Reminds me of my home - the Niagara Escarpment

Dinner

A good time was had by all!

I love our lives. Crazy. Unpredictable. Perfect.

Separate Vacations

About 2 years into our marriage, J and I went on separate vacations at different times. What an uproar that caused!! Not with us, but with a bunch of people we know.

J and I had been working at the same place, less than 30 feet from each other. We drove in to work together, saw each other often all day, had lunch together, drove home together, and spent all of our fun time together. We are best friends and enjoyed each other's company. It was nice.

But then my parents were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and J had something going at work. I went to visit my family in Canada alone. My youngest niece asked if J and I were divorced! Haha. Nope. Just practical.

J wanted to go visit his friends in Missouri but I wanted to get a few things on our house knocked out. For our wedding anniversary that year, I arranged for J to stay with friends. He was surprised and thrilled!! Some people thought J and I were having marital problems because he went without me. But when he got home, I had a surprise another for him. I had enlisted the aid of friends to wallpaper and paint parts of our home.

Since then, we have taken a few trips without each other. Most of those were in 2008 when we went different places to clear our minds and get refocused after the lay off. I took the kids to Canada by myself 2-3 times that year as it was so close to just drive up on a whim.

I would highly recommend separate vacations if you spend a lot of time with your spouse. Or if your idea of a vacation is laying out on the beach but his idea is to climb mountains. With kids, it is nice to get away from the kids for a weekend or a week.

Happy vacationing!!

Blueberries

This is awesome!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqEeP1acj4Y&feature=player_embedded

Do You Want The Full Scoop?

Okay, if you are a faithful reader and want the scoop on what I can't write on WidneyWoman, then please e-mail widneywoman at gmail dot com with your e-mail address with the Subject: I'm IN. I will send you a private invite to my other blog.

A Fine Ending to a Great Weekend

It has been raining or cold or

we've been out enjoying our city.

Today was perfect to take the kids out on their bikes.

It's all fun & learning until....

And so ended our family riding lesson.

Baby Girl trying to hold it together...

FYI, the nose scrape has nothing to do with the elbow scrape. We do not know how Mini Me got the nose scrape. It is a mystery to us. It just appeared about a week ago.

Family Weekend - Summer is HERE!!!

We had the most amazing weekend with our kids. It's one of those weekends that reminded us (not that we needed it) why we love Chicago so much.

FRIDAY Evening

Adler Planetarium to see

Members Only pre-screening of new movie.

Having fun playing without

lots and lots of kids around from

Me & Mini Me in a 'kids only' space.

Fog rolling in on our city

King of the World!!

Walk along the lakefront

Hancock Tower

Buckingham Fountain

2 years, 1 month, 3 days

That's how long it took for us to get here!

And......SATURDAY

We took a cab

to Navy Pier

Sailed on Windy, a Pirate Ship!

It was wonderful and educational

Walked to the end of Navy Pier

Rode the Ferris Wheel

Saw the skyline

We drove home along Michigan Ave with

windows down and Carsie Blanton CD playing

We love Chicago!

Knowing Me, Knowing You - May '10

Time once again for that monthly interview project, Knowing Me, Knowing You, created by The Fairy Blogmother.

1. Coffee or tea?
In theory, I love tea. I collect tea pots. I don't looooove coffee. I do love a chai tea latte. And in the fall, I love a pumpkin spice chai tea latte. And yes, I know chai and tea are the same thing but I promise you, they don't make it the same at Starbucks if I don't say 'chai tea latte'.

2. Are you watching Glee? Have I asked you that already?
Yes, you have asked and no, I don't. I saw maybe part of show once and I thought I'd go insane if I had to watch that every week.

3. Do you sing?
I do. Terribly. I have sung to my kids since they were babies. Poor things.

4. What's your favourite John Cusack movie?
Sixteen Candles. That was the last John Cusack movie I ever watched. I actually had to IMDB him to see what movies he has been in. I don't think I've seen any of them. I don't even remember hearing about most of his movies.

5. Burger or hot dog?
Burger, please.

Please head on over to The Fairy Blogmother to see her answers and to play along!

2 Years Later

It was January 2008. J had been laid off from the media department at our church. We knew there was nothing for J in his field in Oklahoma (not just Tulsa, but all of Oklahoma). The biggest possibilities were Atlanta, Chicago, and Pensacola.

Almost 2 months later, when we were flown to Chicago for our interview weekend, J and I fell in love with Chicago. And with each other again. We officially began a new chapter of our lives on Friday, April 18th, 2008 when we moved all of our belongings to Chicago.

For as long as I could remember, J and I had talked about moving to New York or L.A. one day. We wanted to live downtown in a big city. We had even looked into living in downtown Tulsa.

I'm a Toronto girl. My first memories are based in Toronto. We moved to the burbs when I was a kid. When I was old enough, I ran to Toronto. I loved living in the big city. Each time I've tried living in suburbia or small towns, it felt like parts of me shriveled up and died. The first time J took me to the woods where he grew up, I was miserable. My hair kept getting caught on tree branches and the bugs ate me alive. I realized then that I truly 'I AM a city girl'.

J has always been a big lights, big city person. We both wanted to live in lofts with brick walls for as long as we could remember. People were always shocked J was from a small town. They always saw him as a big city boy.

J's career has taken off since the move. Chicago has afforded him so many opportunities to share his work on a national and international scale. He has been published in magazines and has spoken at conferences. It's a great side effect of a big city.

We love how our children have developed a broader worldview as a result of living in Chicago. They get to go to world class museums and see original art and sculptures. They have made friends with children of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The schools they attend are amazing and simply not available everywhere.

Moving to Chicago was like going home for me. Many of the products I had gone without in Tulsa were in Chicago. In abundance! I was only an 8-hr drive away from my family for the first time in almost 10 years. We had a huge selection in radio stations again. And a Great Lake. I had lived next to Lake Ontario for almost 30 years. World class museums and attractions. People with foreign accents and ethnic pockets throughout the city. Not only could I visit Chinatown and Greek town, but there is an actual restaurant that serves Trinidadian food. Like I said. Home.

Two years later, Chicago is still one of the very best decisions we ever made for our family.

Mother's Day Montessori Style

Mini Me's class has a big Mother's Day celebration in the classroom each year. This is an opportunity for the children to show their parents around their class, taking them to their favorite stations and explaining what all goes on. I'm so thankful to my co-workers for covering for me so I was able to make it!!

She certainly loves the liquid soap!

It's funny her favorite station is one that I remember most from touring the school. Montessori is big on real life learning and growing the whole child. Pouring water from one container to another is actually a pretty important developmental stage for children of this age.

Mini Me is so smart!!

She was able to put the cards in order in no time.

The children read us a story & sang songs.

A gift for me!!

(Those are hand prints, not marijuana plants)

My big girl. I'm so proud of her!!