DON`T HATE ME BECAUSE I`M AN IDIOT !

Those who know me very well will not be surprised when they read the following.
You are almost immuned to it and often ignore me when I do it now.
The rest of you MIGHT be.
For the others, don`t hate me because I`m an idiot.

It started many years ago.
I was working for Stéréo Plus at the time, part-time being a university student.
Music always played in the store, 12 hours a day.
I loved working there for that and the fact that I was the only girl in the history of the store ever having worked there.
It`s less complicated working with men.

Anyway, here I was working at Stéréo Plus and when things were quiet I loved testing the speakers: putting on really good music, really loudly.
We had the best stuff on the market but I felt I needed to test them once in a while when I was bored.
There were mini living rooms in the store so you could listen and feel like you were sitting on your own sofa.
I`d pop a c.d in, crank up the volume, shut the door and dance.........alone.
The end result after a few songs was liberating, I felt refreshed, renewed and happy.
My co-workers would let me do it in peace and being the youngest employee would tolerate my habit without ever complaining.
They would be gracious enough to warn me when clients would set foot in the store.
I `m still thankful for that to this day.

A few years later I started working at ESJN.
Needing my daily dose of music, I would bring my MP3 player.
And yes the tradition would continue.
Now obviously, dancing to my MP3 is a daily thing for me.
I have strict rules I abide to, for example :
It is best done with moderation, at an appropriate time and place.
Avoid doing this in front of a crowd but choose rather a small group of co-workers you know have a sense of humor.
It is best done in front of co-workers who need to laugh.
It works every time.
Do it for 1 or 2 songs maximum, you wouldn`t want to spoil them too much, keep them asking for more.
Do NOT take yourself seriously and they laugh even more.
My favorite audience : Katherine Bourgeois, my sec.4 teachers in the office, the art teachers, line Hébert and René the receptionist because she believes I dance well.

I like to call it my Happy Dance.
My favorite time and place is when I don`t teach ( I NEVER Happy Dance in class, it`s just not fun ) and have to do my milkrun.
My usual Happy Dance milkrun consists of : the photocopying machine .
I have to add that the secretaries downstairs are so used to seeing me do this that they ignore me.
If I`m good and lucky enough, one of them will throw a " Maudit qt`es folle " , usually Lorraine or Marie-Josée. Love it when they do that !
Then I go check my mail and grab a cup of java in the teacher`s lounge .
If no one`s there , I do the Happy dance like there`s no tomorrow.
If there are people, I tone it down a little.
A girl just has too much energy sometimes and needs to spend it.
Works especially on a sugar or coffee rush.
Nothing tones down my hyper-drive more than a 3 -minute Happy Dance séance .

I`m tellling you it`s a drug.
I got addicted to the moral booster it produces.
Try it, but let me warn you, it is HIGHLY addictive.
Do people think I`m crazy ?
Sure.
Do I care ?
No way.
If ridicule killed, I`d be dead a loooooong time ago.
I truly believe it is a natural anti-depressant.
Dance every day and keep the doctor away, that`s my mojo.
And it doesn`t require much equipment: MP3 player and you`re all set to go.

I Happy Dance everywhere now: in my truck ( even when I`m driving ), at home( my kids ignore me now- unless I have a new move ) and even at the grocery store but only if there`s a good song on and despite my kids` " Ah maman là ! "
The only time I am not allowed to Happy Dance is at home when my kids`friends come over.
I figure I want my kids to actually KEEP their friends!
I do have limits, that and the funeral parlor.

So on that, I wish you some Happy Dancing of your own.
Try it and let me know.
GROOVE IS IN THE HEART AND ANNIE`S GOT HER GROOVE BACK !
Tata darlings,
Annie

JINGLE BELL ROCK...... AND SO DO WE. GOD HELP US!

BEFORE I go on, let me apologize for the tardiness of my new post, my reponses to your wonderful comments and to put it plainly, neglecting y`all. ( What am I southern all of a sudden?).

I am suffering from a very contagious bug or virus.

No need to see the doctor, ther`s is no cure.

I`m doomed.

" Doctor, doctor, give me the news, I`ve got a basd case of Facebooking."

Hey, it`s not my fault every time I open my e-mails I see little messages from my friends who left me a little note on my wall or inbox.

What`s a curious girl to do , ignore them ?

If curiousity REALLY killed the cat, honey, I`d be dead a long time ago!

I know one thing that`ll calm my cravings: work AKA reality, you know the one that bites you in the patoot ( I love that word ) every morning before the shower.

And like I needed another addiction , along comes Guitar Hero and Rock Band under the Christmas tree.

Lord knows I had no idea I was buying myself a new addiction.

It looks so innocent in the box.

There should be a HUGE warning label !

You think I can get a Guitar Hero PATCH for my cravings.

I`d like to see my doctor`s face when I ask her next appointment.

Hey, I `m that desperate for a fix !!!

You start playing with those darn things and next thing you know 5 hours have whizzed by.

You heard me, 5 hours.

My kids were in bed and I thought I `d play alone a few minutes......

DOn`t worry, I don`t neglect my kids, I play with them a few minutes or when they`re in bed.

So they still eat 3 balanced meals a day, bathe and.......get their own fix of Play Station.

Well, to be very honest, I`m having so much fun during the holidays with my family and friends, I don`t miss school one bit.

I miss my kids, the teachers ......period.

It`s the rest I don`t miss, to the point where I don`t even want to mention them ( did anyone say schoolbell- yeurk !).

It`s honestly been the best holidays ever.

I hear my husband say : "you say THAT EVERY year ! "

Yeah, so what. It has.

As a new year`s resolution, I promise to be more consistent in my postings in 2009.

ANd I know for certain ,some of you will keep me up on it.

Keep in mind I have the da*&?%%$ reform on my plate this year.

See, one word and I`m depressed now.

The power of words: believe it.

Guitar Hero: aaaah, I feel much better.

So here are a few pics of my holidays .

Feel free to comment in English as you always do.

May 2009 rock your world.

Groove is in the heart baby !

Going to church : December 24th

For those about to rock, we salute you

Look ! Frohlich girls : Caroline, Heidi, Rose-Anne, Anna, Andréa

Rockin`down the house with TonTon Sébest,Matante Guidi . December 26th


Happy New Year 2009 !


Jamming in my jammies: life is good

JOY

Dr.MOM IS IN THE HOUSE, READY TO OPERATE !

This is ground control to the rest of the world.I have come in peace and here is my message :
Could everyone please leave their germs to themselves please ?!

Three weeks now since certain germs, viruses were admitted into my household, my sanctuary, my haven of peace and disruptred not just our family daily routine but our moral, our appetites, our well-being and testing my patience.
The little I have anyway.
We`ve had the stomach flu ( you know the one where you sleep with a bucket next to your bed) invading our home and it took its time attacking us one-by- one ! Two weeks, not that I`m counting......
Rosie was the last victim last Monday throwing up 11 times.
11 times, it ain`t an error.
I bought a RED bucket to make sure they wouldn`t miss it in the little hours of the night.
And when my kids throw up like there`s no tomorrow, who has the privilege of sleeping with them picking up the you know what and comforting the kids ?
Dr. Mom.
Where`s dad ?
Snoring in the other bedroom .
Who gets it next ?
You guessed it, the one and only.
I was praying I`d skip my turn , thinking there must be pardon for the moms who clean up the whole mess.
Don`t get me wrong, Pierre DOES help out.
It`s teamwork here.
Well it doesn`t work that way, life is not fair.
Then the common cold arrived, sneakily, cunningly, creeping up on us slowly, wickedly.
As usual, Félix-Antoine brings it home.
Germs stick to this kid like bees on honey.
Pierre gets it second ( confirmation that women are tougher than men ).
Usually Rose is next, then mom.
I have disinfected my house so well the hospital called to ask if they could operate on my kitchen table.
I declined.
But, nature is well done.
When you have kids, life prepares you for these situations GRADUALLY.
When my kids were newborns they would spit up after drinking milk.
then they`d poop in their diaper like there was an extra kitchen faucet in the diaper ( moms reading: you know what I`m talking about ).
Then when they started eating solid food, the spit up turned to vomit.
Solid food didn`t always agree with my kids.

So last Friday, after work, when the common cold crept up on me, I was a bit ticked off.
I `ve had it with germs.
Vitamins, disinfection, washing our hands till they crack open are now part of our routine. Anything to get my haven of peace back.
Hopefully soon, the sniffles, the red bucket, the coughing, the Pepto Bismol and Gravol are going to be just a bad memory.
I need the sleep.
I need the peace of mind.
I need a break.
On that ladies and germs ( just kidding ),
I wish you well, good health and take care of that immune system .
Did someone say brocoli ?
I`m off preparing a hot bowl of chicken soup, for the body but especially for the soul.
NO REST FOR THE WICKED.
Annie

P.M.S Does NOT Mean Pass Me the Salt !

One fine morning this week while my kids in Sec.2 were preparing their oral, I had two young men talking and asking me questions while they were working.
We were talking about the subject of our project ( legends and other scary stuff ) when P.M.S came about.
" Annie, do you get S.P.M ? "
To that I honestly answered " Well I don`t get S.P.M but I do get P.M.S though "
They candidly asked me if I would get cranky during P.M.S and I told them like any normal woman, I would get very cranky sometimes. It wasn`t always pretty.

It`s amazing what kind of questions I get sometimes.
I think it`s hilarious , very interesting and cute.
My kids ask me all kinds of stuff : the worst thing I did when I was in high school, the stupidest thing I `ve done ( Do you have an hour ? ), best memories, if I wanted kids all my life, why did I become a teacher etc.
I love answering those questions because the questions reflect the student or the person.
And I figure it takes some guts to ask certain questions ( like the P.M.S ones )to your teacher , you might as well answer them honestly.
And I always wonder : if he`s asking about P.M.S, is it because mom at home is P.M.Sing and it`s not pretty, is his new girlfriend in that period at the moment and wants to know will it ever stop one day.
I kind of rained on his parade with my answer huh ?

I often tell my kids in class " boys, write this down: Never ask a woman 3 things :
#1- Her age
#2- Her weight
#3- " Could you be P.M.Sing ? "
Unless you want a bloody nose.
And as my two boys were complaining about girls and their P.M.S, I answered : " At least WE have a good exxcuse for being cranky, us girls are still waiting for yours...."and I grinned from ear to ear.
They smiled back ( not too convincingly )and that was the end of that conversation.
The subject was quickly changed.

So for you boys.
Here`s more on P.M.S.

13 Things PMS Stands For:

1. Pass My Shotgun
2. Psychotic Mood Shift3. Perpetual Munching Spree
4. Puffy Mid-Section
5. People Make me Sick
6. Provide Me with Sweets
8. Pimples May Surface
9. Pass My Sweatpants
10. Pissy Mood Syndrome
11. Plainly; Men Suck
12. Pack My Stuff
and my favorite one.
13. Potential Murder Suspect

And remember: Money talks but Chocolate SINGS !!!
No rest for the wicked
Annie
( and yes I am ....)

IS IT JUST ME OR ........?

Is it just me , my hormones , my age, my thyroid gland that is going crazy or is the daily routine stuff just too much to handle lately ?
I am seriously questionning my sanity.
Here are my symptons.
Do you want the whole list or the top 10 on the billboard ?
Here we go:
1- Get headaches more often
2- Having a hard time getting out of bed.
3- Have a major attention deficit ( what was I saying ? ).
4- Am so grumpy I can`t stand myself ( P.M.S 30 days out of the month )
5- Put the dirty laundry in the garbage and the trash in the dirty laundry basket ( seriously, I did that last night ) ! THANK GOD PIERRE WASN`T THERE TO WITNESS THAT.
6- Can`t focus more than 3 seconds.
7- I could sleep under my desk, the recycling bin left in the school corridor.
8- I run all the time like a dog running after its tail.
9- I repeat myself.
10- And finally, I repeat myself.
You get the drift.

So I Googled my symptoms because I will Google ust about anything and got a phone call from my doctor:
The diagnostic is mixed:
According to my doctor, my thyroid gland is going nuts..... again.
And according to Google : the fall blues.
I`m so happy I am not alone.
I listen to many of my co-workers and students and the fall blues is extremely virulent this year.
I sympathize soooo much.
We need sun, vitamin C and artificial sun ( lighting ) to combat it.

And I would add, a good laugh.
There`s nothing like a good chuckle to chase the blues away.
Try it.
I swear, lately, a stupid joke is the best remedy .
Five minutes of laughter is the way to cheer up and revitalize your spirit.

Well, since you`re here, click on the following links and tell me it`s not hilarious and did not soothe your soul.
The first one is in French but the other ones are in English.
Enjoy !

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=nVpO26t61fU
Make sure you watch up to the 59 seconds mark.
HILARIOUS !

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WrpaCOb_BGk

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=vT9wAUKGrO8
my kids` favorite and mine.
In my opinion, people falling is just the most hilarious thing in the world, if there are no injuries involved, of course.

On that, have a great rest of the week and as promised, Iwill post new pics very shortly.
No rest for the wicked,
Tata darlings,
Annie

SÉBASTIEN

Who is the handsome young man following me around school lately ?
That`s Sébastien Duhaime, my student -teacher, my rookie, the relief pitcher of the future ( man I`m poetic this morning ).
But he`s not just that.
He`s also an ex-student of Jean Nicolet, graduated in 2004.
He`s a musician in a band .
Watch him on Musique Plus after Christmas.
He`s from St.Francois Du Lac.
He`s very friendly and soft-spoken.
He laughs at all my jokes so I like him.
An English teacher who plays in a band ?
I love musicians so if he teaches English on top of that,how can I not like the guy ?

He looks very quiet and calm, which he is, don`t get me wrong, but the guy has guts too.
He actually pleasantly surprised me last night.
As some of you know, last night was the Grade 6 visit at school.
Every year grade 6 students and their parents of the school board come and visit our great school.
We teachers present tons of stuff we do at school to our guests.
I , like every year, present the English Concentration Program to the parents in the auditorium while my English co-workers present the program to the students.
I always prepare my 10 -minute presentation in advance.
Sébastien was going to be there for the evening at the auditorium not knowing he would actually take part in it !
Keep in mind you are talking to hundreds of parents in one big room while you`re up on the stage .
It can be very uncomfortable for a rookie !
But I had warned Sébas yesterday that I would push him out of the nest very soon to test his wings and flying skills.
I did reassure him that I would be there to support him and pick him up if he crashed.
But he thought that wasexclusively for the classroom.
Little did he know I would push him out of the nest right on a stage.
Obviously, I knew he could handle it, I`m NOT that mean !

So anyways, I show up at school at 6:00 p.m , all ready and share the presentation with him.
First thing he says :
" You`re not thinking of making me talk in front of all these people are you ? "
You should of seen his face : deer in the headlights look.
And to that I answer : " Well kind of, I`ll go grab some coffee downstairs , I`ll be back in a few minutes and we`ll talk about it "

I figured 3 things :

1-He`ll run and won`t be ther when I come back.
2- He`ll be crying when I come back.
3- He`ll smack me behind the head and then ask me what he has to do in the presentation.

None of those happened
We sit down, I show him my outline of the presentation.
I ask him if he could talk about a specific point and he agrees to do it.
After a few minutes of dicussion he tells me with a mischievious smile and a twinkle in his eye :
" It `d be fun if we did a little skit or something ."
" You mean like a mini-play ? "
" Yeah, like that " he says.
Keep in mind , it`s 30 minutes BEFORE we get on stage at this point.
" That`s a great idea ! " I say.
And we worked on our skit .
30 minutes later, we were presenting it at the auditorium.
I thought I was going to surprise HIM with having him aprticipate in the presentation, but as it turned out, he surprised ME with his guts to go all the way !
And he was so good during the skit too.
He improvised a little and almost had me crack up during the skit so much he was funny.
So ladies and germs, he`s not just cute, he`s got brains and guts and he`s my student-teacher.
Mommy was proud of her rookie.

So Sébastien will teach my kids this week .
I thought of having him start gradually on Monday but you know what, he`s ready for the major leagues now .
He proved it.
Oh, I`ll be on the side ( side-show Annie ) watching, but after yesterday, he proved me I may not have to pick him up in little pieces after class.

Here`s the link to Sébastien`s web site for his band.
Go and listen :
www.myspace.com/fictioninmotion


Sebastien is the last one on the right in the picture.
Lucky me, I got the c.d of their music to play in my truck.
Thanks Sébastien.
Love the name of the band by the way.
Enjoy.

Here`s AC/DC official website :
http://www.acdc.com/home.php


I`ll have pics this week to post so swing by later .
No rest for the wicked.
Tata darlings
Annie

PS : Sec.4 : November 27th
Muséee d`Art Contemporain de Montréal
Exhibition: Sympathy For The Devil
We leave at 8:30 and come back for the buses 3: 45.
My helpers : Katherine Bourgeois, Paul Lachance and Pierre Bergeron.
Can`t wait.

40 going on 17

There !!!
I said it !
I `m 40 !!!!
40 !
Forty !
30 + 10
25 + 15

After years of lying about my age ( only Pierre and my doctor knew),
deceiving my students, avoiding the question, I`m coming clean.
I even threatened Pierre NOT to organize ANY surprise party for the big 40 this summer.
After many threats, Pierre and Caroline, my sister , cancelled all the plans they had going since the previous November.
I had no intention of celebrating such a number.
You celebrate 18, 21, 30 but anything after that you simply want to drink a lot of Jack Daniels or tequila and get it over and forget about it.
I had dreaded the birthday in question when I turned 39, last July.
I tried to forget about it as much as I could .
Only when I had trouble getting up in the morning, or getting up period would it cross my mind.
Last June, Caroline tells me many teachers were asking if she was the oldest or me.
That my friends pleased my ego !!


And this summer, my thyroid gland was working overtime so I had tons of energy, jogged every day,sometimes twice a day, cleaned the whole house EVERY DAY, moved the furniture around in the house, went to bed at 1 o`clock in the morning and woke up at 7:00 a.m fresh as a rose.
40 ?
I can`t wait for 60 !!
But lately, I `m telling you, I feel like I`m 70.
My back is killing me despite treatments, my thyroid gland is too slow despite medication, I could sleep like a newborn baby and need so much more make up in the morning !!!
I need WD40 in my joints and plastic wood to fill up the cracks .
How much is Jigaloo again ?



But that`s physically.
Mentally, I feel like I`m 18 with the wisdom of a wiser woman.
Would I go back to 18 ?
No way.
I was soooo naive and earned minimum salary at the time !!!
I truly beleive we make more money when we`re older only to pay the facial creams and the more expensive make up you need to use.
They don`t call it Clinique make up for nothing. Call the doctor.



This summer, I took a small holiday with my sister and gal pals and told them :

Me : I `m turning 40 in a few weeks, I should start acting my age and not like a 15 year old !
The girls : why ?
Me : because I should act my age NOT my shoe size .
The girls : you couldn`t last an hour even if you tried.
Me : I know, I tried a few days ago and didn`t last a day.
The girls : don`t do that, we love you like that.
And THAT ladies and germs was the best birthday gift ever ( besides giving birth to my healthy kids ) !!!

So besides the fact that the mechanic reminds you of your age once in a while, it`s really not the end of the world.
I `m having more fun than when I was a teen , my twenties and thirties altogether.
I`m dead serious.
I sometimes look like an idiot but I learned a long time ago that ridicule does not kill.
If it did, I`d been dead a loooooooong time ago.
My siblings can vouch for that.
So my kids are more mature than me sometimes.
So I embarrass them at the store whenever I can, ( " Mommy, stop doing that ! " ), hey, it`s payback time.
They `ve embarrassed me in public when they were younger more times than I can remember.



How immature am I ?
I had to renew both my driver`s license and my medic card.
Had to have my picture taken.
Go to the government office to get the official picture taken, just 2 days before my birthday.
Now, I hate having my picture taken.
Before I go in, I figured, let`s make it a picture to remember.
Let`s freeze this darn 40 in time.
Let`s make a stupid picture.
So I stand there, ready to have my picture taken.
When the lady isn`t looking, I give it my best supermodel pose, my Zoolander look like I like to call it.
But at the last minute, I choke when I see the lady looking at me with this awed look on her face.
Too late.
Flash, click, I `m an idiot.
You should see the picture on my id cards !
Paris Hilton, step aside honey.
The only downside to this is that I `m stuck with that picture for 2 years.
Last thing I want now is getting pulled over by the cops and show them proof of my insanity.
Next time though, I `m getting my hair and make up done, wear a new sweater and won`t choke.
I `ll go all the way , life is too short.


If you want to see the picture in question , just ask, I have no shame.
Ask me to show you the one on my Costco card, even funnier.





For your information, AC/DcC have a new album coming out next Monday : Black Ice
If the album is as good as their single, I`ll be deaf by the end of October.
I am no longer allowed to play Rock N Roll Train at my house.


My kids`eyes roll over inside their heads and make strange noises.I must admit I did go a bit overboard and loud with it.
Less is more sometimes.


Want to listen :


http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/08/28/listen-to-acdcs-rock-n-roll-train/


Crank it up .
Warning : content highly addictive when listened to loudly.





So I`m off on the runaway train, looking for some Black Ice.........
No rest for the wicked .


Here`s a pic Pat Bernier took during the race.
I was at first aid helping out .
Looks more like I needed the first aid.
Paris Hilton pose: school version .