However, bringing a new puppy into the house did not come without it’s complications… Otto went on a hunger strike for about 36 hours, it was to the point where he was puking bile and would only eat food from our hands while Madik was locked in the other room. But they’ve been together for two months now and are turning into great buds!

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The process for prepping the cones can be long and pokey but it’s worth it. I soak the cones in my kitchen sink with really hot water and a form of detergent. This year I used Fantastic and bleach and it worked well. Soaking them in detergent helps to prevent mold and gets rid of all the creepy crawlies in the cones. Next, I cover cookie sheets with tin foil and lay the wet cones on the sheets with plenty of space between them to open up. I set the oven at about 200C and let the cones warm up. Pine cones operate with humidity so don’t fret if you’re looking for cones and they’re all closed up. It’s because the humidity in the air is too great and it’s not optimal conditions for the cones to release their seeds. Warming them up in the oven helps them open up as well as letting them sit out in your warm house for a few days. I find that in the oven the bottom scales will open right away but as you get close to the point it takes a little  more coaxing. There’s a reason patience and pine cones start with the same letter.

I rotate the cones ever couple of hours, be careful not to leave them in the oven too long because they will get a little black. The sent of sweet pine resin alone is worth the work.

The one I made for my parents was just plain cones, this year I decided to jazz them up a little and took a trip to my amazing local dollar store. I glued on all the cones first, if you like puzzles you will love this project. Try your best not to get any kind of pattern going, just fit them together as best as possible. Oh and lots for hot glue. With patience and perseverance you will get amazing holiday wreaths.

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Now that I don’t live with my parents I still wanted to keep the tradition so I set to knitting stockings for Batman and I. Unfortunately, I’d taken on too many projects that needed to be done for Christmas so this one didn’t get done until after and I still have to make myself one. Next year, we’ll continue the tradition.

I used Valley Yarns Spotten Christmas Stocking pattern but modified it a bit by using Lion Brand Thick and Quick yarn, 7.0mm and 6.5mm double pointed needles. These materials make a nice large stocking but not overly huge. The first think Mr. Kent did when I gave it to him was kick off his slipper and try it on. He has about size 9.5 feet and it was just a tad too big for him.

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I  believe that society, with economic times and growing technology, has come full circle and we are getting back to out roots and the basics for survival. People want to know how it’s made and want to try to make it.

What do you think? Is there a “too young”?

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But that still doesn’t leave much time for a social life. This is where I reiterate that I LOVE RAVELRY.  I joined the local knit group on ravelry where I found women my age who also love to knit, we coordinated an evening where we meet at the local pub, drink beer (or pomegranate ciders), eat, knit and visit. We are inspired by others ideas and projects and the conversation is never boring.

I look forward to my weekly Stitch n’ Bitch! See you Wednesday Ladies!

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This holiday seasons I was spoiled rotten. I’m not much for the gift giving at the holidays, I’m more of a birthday person, where we celebrate the individual, but this Christmas was a good one.  My finace got my a new laptop that I love, it’s a Lenovo Ideapad and it’s awesome. I’ve already gone through etsy and am thinking of purchasing a vinyl decal to put on it. These are the two I came up with:

copyright heckfire

copyright bubbaanddoodle

My awesome brother got me an ipod touch. I freakin’ love it! I was looking for some sort of PDA that would sync with google calendar so I wouldn’t have to buy anymore paper day planners to keep myself organized.  Not only does it do just that there are tons of other free applications that are extremely useful.  There’s an app for etsy and facebook, there’s also apps for knitting to help you keep track of your stash, rows and stitches on projects. There’s a yardage calculator app for sewing, the possibilities go on and on! I’m pretty much glued to the thing.

My finace is a huge computer geek and I am very thankful for him. Only hours after receiving my ipod, he had it programmed to control the home automation in our house. I can turn lights on and off from it, boot up our home theater system, browse movies and T.V. shows, select music to play. Amazing, sometimes I feel like I’m living with Bruce Wayne. If any of you have techy partners at home, my fiance, a.k.a. Batman, blogs about his technological endeavors at blog.mybarachois.com.

Other great gifts I love and love the people who gave them to me; Magic Bullet blender, Lulu sweatshirt, new drinking glasses, sushi set, cutlery, moose hide slippers, beautiful calendars of France, a GPS watch for my walks with Otto. And it wasn’t only me who got awesome gifts, pretty much everyone in the family did well, which brought us to postulate the reason why. My Mom and I concluded that perhaps it’s too often that Christmas comes (we haven’t done gifts the past couple years) and that gift giving should only happen every three years.

It’s just a thought, we all know the holidays are not about the material gifts but the gifts we cherish in our loved ones. It’s about visiting with family, being joyous, celebrating good fortune and giving to the less fortunate, and above all, love.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

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I love the idea of a New Year’s Resolution. Setting goals is a huge part of being human. Goals further one’s self and build confidence not only in yourself but in others. Allow me to elaborate; everyday we set goals that allow us to get through the day, things as simple as making a list or accomplishing tasks at work. Goals don’t have to be huge, planned out schemes, they can be simple things like ; write a thank you card, plant the front flower pots, knit a gift for someone special; and when you accomplish these things, they make you feel good and confident in your abilities. This confidence translates to others, they are either recipients of the goal or onlookers, either way they are influenced by the act and it usually motivates them to set simple goals.

Otto's latest trick is to "stand" everytime he does it he stretches higher and balances a little longer.

What I’m trying to say is, keep it simple. I think the simple goals go way further. As for a New Year’s Resolutions the title itself can be daunting, but if you can find one that can be broken down into simpler goals it can be very rewarding.  This year my goal is to blog at least once a week. Now that may mean I do 5 blog posts in a week but then skip a couple of weeks of blogging. By this time 2011, I will have at least 52 new posts, simple right?

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

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In grade 4 I told my English teacher that I would like to also be a teacher… that was probably the first and last night I ever said that. In grade 10, I realized I would like to be a massage therapist. My parents recommended, that since massage is not all that well known (aka doesn’t make a lot of money) that I should explore the realm of physio therapy. “Ok,” I thought, “I’ll go to University, study biology and kinesiology and get into physio. Good idea parents!” Long story short, I was better at chemistry and French and did that with no goal in mind. About my 3rd year at school I ran into my grade 4 English teacher at a coffee shop, she asked what my brother and I were up to now, I told her my brother aspired to be an astronaut and I planned on staying on the planet, but that was my only plan… I needed a goal… grade 4 English teacher… I’ll be a teacher.

So here I am reflecting on my experience in an Education Program. Unfortunately, teaching is a “learn-by-doing” type education and of the 12 months it takes to get certified, 4 of those months is your practicum.  I could cut into the program, say it’s a waste of time, the classes are useless and the instructors have not been actual teachers in such a long time that they are giving meaningless information… most of these statements are only half true.  I found about 1/2 our/my time was wasted daily, about 1/3 of the classes to be very useful, the majority of the teachers were awesome (65%).  Oh and it is HORRENDOUSLY expensive. This comedian pretty well sums up my education to be an educator. (FYI while writing this I was apprehensive about being completely honest in fear of hurting feelings, another thing the Education Program taught me, sensitivity).

From here on out I’m going to list my reflections;

1. The best thing the University did was let my do the French Immersion/FSL methods as well as the Math/Science methods. This is one of the reasons I have a job right now. MAKE YOURSELF MARKETABLE!

2. Future Practicum Students: Seek out what you want to teach, DO NOT just go with what you were given. If I did that I would have been teaching Biology 11 and Chem 11… do what is comfortable and what will get you ahead. I went and found the only French Immersion Science Teacher in the school and asked if he would have me as a student teacher, he did and I have a job because of that.

3. Get involved! I was in Homework Club every afternoon after school and it was awesome! You build trust with even the most difficult students and that’s the most rewarding. Plus, the only sport I know is baseball so that doesn’t help when there’s no baseball team at the school.

4. See and get involved in classes that are outside of your specialty. One of the french immersion student teachers also taught  cooking and is that much more ahead because of it.

5. Work hard and be noticed.  Fortunately for me, I’m a morning person. I was at the school everymorning at 7 or earlier and my lonely car in the parking lot got me noticed. The principal would poke her head in when she arrived to say good morning.

6. Do what you’re told. Your sponsor teacher will make suggestions on how to improve, this is a teacher’s way of telling you what to do! Do them, you won’t regret it.

7. Sharing is caring. I’m a firm believer in karma and collaboration. Collaboration to me is working together, not necessarily sitting down and making lesson plans together but sharing materials and making them you’re own. If other teachers take and don’t reciprocate, don’t worry, karma’s waiting.

8. See other schools, a couple of student teachers actually TOC’d for each other one day, arranged with their sponsor teachers and the principals to switch places and see how it would be to go off someone else’s lesson plan. Good learning experience.

9. I did my practicum in a high school so I had no middle school experience, I arranged with the middle school to spend a week there after practicum where I observed and taught one lesson to a group of grade 7s. This also helped when it came to job hunting.

As for finding a job;

1. Make sure you know how to apply and what you need. Writing a resume and cover letter is a long process so get started early.

2. Get business cards. I recommend moo.com the website is easy to use, all materials used at 100% recycled and the designs are endless to suit your personality.

3. contacts contacts contacts. I personally send my cover letter and resume with a short email to the HR manager of the district I was applying for. When postings came up on the website, I would apply and also send and email to say that I had applied.

4. When it came time for my interview, it was more like a “Here’s what you’ll do” instead of a “Show and Tell session”. They’d basically already decided they were hiring me and that made the interview much easier.

5. Do what you’re told. The HR manager told me to go to the ProD days the week before school starts and hand out business cards. He also told me to contact the principals of the school, ask if you could participate in some of their school’s activities the week before. I did both of these things and they were incredibly influential at getting my name out there. (I was called to TOC the fist week of school)

6. Be friendly, flexible and get involved. Even if you’re TOCing for a day, hang out in the staff room. Talk to other teachers, CEAs and maintenance workers. It makes the day much easier.

7. Don’t sell yourself short, on interview day, verbal diarrhea (with a filter) is best.

I hope some of you found this post useful. If not, I apologize for wasting your time but ultimately you could have stopped reading. You always have choices, remember that.

I’ll keep reflecting and see if I can add to the lists. If you have questions contact me through the comments. Thanks and have a great day!

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