Jennifer's not a Trainee Anymore!

Hey, its Jen here! As most of you know, I have been working at M&M Meat Shops for about 4 months. To work at M&Ms, there is a crazy amount of both online and in-store training that has to be done. You must know about all of the products, how to handle customers and they even give you tips on how to sell merchandise. It is interesting, yet long . . . very long.

I am finally finished all of my training. Yay! I finally am going to be getting my own name tag that says "Jen" instead of "Trainee." It is all very exciting! The other day Jocelyne (one of the owners) brought me in to the office and said, "I got a big envelope with your name on it." In it was this certificate and a letter saying congratulations and that I had finished my training. I also got a pin that said "M&Ms Commitment to Excellence." The whole thing made me really happy and excited. I love my job!

So, to celebrate I bought myself mini cream puffs . . . and the whole household ended up 'celebrating' with me. Oh well.

Mom's Note: I know that Jen would appreciate you sending her your congratulations! It will take some of the pressure off me; I've said it too many times already!

Jamie's First Week at School

Well, the first thing you should know - trying to get information from Jamie about the details of what goes on at school requires a lot of patience and the ability to choose the correct questions for him to answer. The following represents four days of questions. Since I received many "I don't knows", I will try to fill in the blanks as best I can.
First - He has a teacher that is new to the school this year, and last year this teacher taught Grade 2. Her name is Mrs. Folino. Jamie seems pleased with her - she hasn't yelled all week! She started out the week with everyone sitting in alphabetical order going in a Z pattern. He has about the same number of students in his class this year as last year - about 20ish (his words).
Second - The other major thing that I found out was that she presented her "Me Kit" on the first day - it was very original! Some of the things in her kit were a bunch of movies, a bunch of pictures, a pair of running shoes (because she likes shoes and sports), a purse (because she collects purses), and a lot of other stuff.
Jamie had to bring in a "Me Item" for the second day of school - that he was to present to the class. So . . . Jamie chose to wear his Karate sweatshirt - it seemed like the correct choice since it was cold that morning and he could wear it and then talk about it! He then told the class about karate and the fact that he doesn't like the cold - that's it.
Third - Mrs. Folino did another interesting activity on the first day. The class pushed their desks out of the way, sat in a circle on their chairs, and then one-by-one, told her their names, how long they'd been at St. John, and told her something about themselves that she should know. When I asked Jamie what he told the teacher, his response was - I like quiet! That was it - he didn't explain himself or anything. The teacher's response was simply - okay.
Fourth - Jamie does not have a locker this year - he has a cubby hole! Yeah! His classroom is on the top floor, and it has a small hallway at the back of the room that has coat hooks (each student gets two hooks) and cubby holes(only one of these).
Fifth - Since the province has implemented 20 minutes of continuous physical activity for each elementary school student, Jamie's class does their 20 min. at the end of the day. This activity is called DPA! So far . . . they went outside and did suicides (running), stayed inside, listened to a work out CD, and tried to do what the exercises (Jamie - It was boring!, and on Friday the class did the same thing, but with a different CD!
Finally - All in all - not a bad first week! but not really a good first week either! I think that he misses his teacher from last year - Mr. Charlesbois. He was so awesome (according to Jamie).

The Girls First Day of School

Well, the girls were awake before me this morning and ready to leave for the bus at least 15 minutes early! Their uniforms were on, school bags were packed, lunches were made, and hair was suitably styled. I hope this continues for the rest of the year - I know, I'm dreaming, but it's good to have dreams.
I know that I shouldn't say it, but . . . the girls looked so cute! in their neat, new Marymount uniforms! I took these pictures as they were leaving to catch the bus.

Jen's Tonsils - or lack there of

On August 21, Jennifer and I drove to the Memorial Hospital to finally have her tonsils removed by Dr. Daniela Filipone. Those of you who know the family - know that Jen struggled with tonsilitis most of last year - she missed school, band practices, karate practices, and lots of other friend and family stuff. When we went to see the surgeon the first time, Jen hadn't had enough infections yet! We went back in three months - she now had had the correct number of infections in the correct amount of time - yeah! In fact, the doctor said, "I suppose this is affecting your quality of life." As Jen and I thought, isn't that what we tried to tell you three months ago!
Anyhow, we arrived at the hospital at 9:15am and left about 12 hours later. Why, you might ask? Well - all day surgery patients must arrive 3hrs ahead of time to get the paperwork and other stuff done, then the surgery occurs, then about an hour in recovery, and then because of the anesthetic, the doctor wants her patients to stay in the hospital for about another 4hrs. Thankfully, Jen and I came prepared - books, sudokus, and coloring pages! plus she slept a lot of the time!
The actual surgery took about 15 minutes of the entire day!
The recovery takes about three weeks! Jen did really well during the surgery and recovered nicely, but she couldn't believe how painful it was! She claims she'd rather go through appendicitis and the appendix surgery again than go through a tonsilectomy again. She was on serious pain meds (codeine) for almost a week - and she was quiet, very quiet. In fact, I couldn't believe how quiet the house was with her not speaking.
Instead of talking, she wrote notes - in tiny, little letters - in short form - and filled up pages of paper - I mean "filled" pages with her tiny little notes. She even got Meghan to make phone calls for her. Jen writing notes that Meghan spoke to whoever was on the phone!
Eating was another problem! For six days, she drank water and Powerade and iced tea. She ate popsicles, ice cream, and jell-o. Thankfully, she is now eating regular food again, but it will take awhile for her to regain her strength and the weight that she lost.

The Marymount Barbecue

Well, it's that time of year again - less than a week before school starts. And so, this means that it's also time for the annual pre-school Marymount barbecue. It is an occasion where the girls get to pick up their schedules, talk with teachers in an informal setting, and enthusiastically talk to their friends. The staff of the school flip burgers, hand out drinks, and generally, reacquaint themselves with new and former students. In fact, it's a very loud - happy - huggy - few hours of madness for the girls and bewilderment for the parents. This is my 6th barbecue and it still amazes me how the girls are so glad to see each other - even if it's only been a few days!
Today, Wednesday August 30th, Jennifer, Meghan, and I headed to Marymount for about 11:30am. I never get a parking spot in the parking lot - always on the street - way down the street - I think every girl that goes to the school must go to the barbecue! As usual, Jennifer saw some friends and headed off with them. Meghan and I headed in to the building to find out where to pick up the Grade 7 schedules.
Meghan and I braved the crowds to find some of her teachers at the far end of the cafeteria. We met a couple of her teachers (they seemed nice enough) and picked up her schedule. It looks like a typical high school schedule, but she's still only in elementary school. No spares! She then headed off to find her friends and Jennifer's friends. Britney, Meghan's best friend, is in her home room and in all the same classes! Thank goodness for that - Meghan says she would have died if they hadn't been in the same class. As well, Emily Herbert (Corrie's friend Al's daughter) whom she's known for about 4 years and went to a different school is in her class - nice surprise! And, one of the girls from Enrichment, Mariah, is also in her class - someone else that she gets along with. All in all - Meghan had a good time!
Jennifer picked up her schedule and her grades. She didn't bother to pick up her report card at the end of the school year - or I didn't drive her in to pick it up - I can't remember which. Her grades dropped from her mid-term marks, but she still did okay. She plans to do much better this year! Jen's schedule was a little more interesting than Meghan's! Jen has Anatomy first thing in the morning and then Biology right after that. She'll be scienced-out by lunch and ready for Music which is right after lunch. Her last class of the day is a "spare". Now that she's in grade 12 - a senior - she can have a spare. It looks like this semester will be a tough morning, but a good afternoon. I hope this means that she will actually complete her correspondence physics course this semester! On the social side, many of Jen's friends were at the barbecue, so she was busy comparing schedules and getting caught up with gossip. She chatted with all her favourite teachers including Mr. Van, Mr. Russell, Miss Simpson, Mr. Beaton, and Miss Massimiliano - to name a few. She's behind me giving more names, but I think this is more than enough - you'll get the picture.
The most important thing about being in grade 12 at Marymount Academy is "the gallery". This is a hallway which overlooks the gym and cafeteria, and is exclusively for the grade 12 girls! It is like their special domain - they get to look down on the rest of the girls and laugh, and remember how it used to be when they first started at the school.

Jamie's Summer Hair

Last year, Jamie decided he wanted to colour his hair since both his sisters and his mother got highlights in the last few years. Since only normal colours are allowed during the school year, he waited till school finished and got his hair dyed green. He matched the grass in our yard perfectly!

What he really wanted last year was blue - but we couldn't find a good colour. This year, Kelly (our family hair stylist) found a perfect blue! and on the last day of school, he got the "blue do". He is quite impressed with this summer look. I have to admit that I like the colour.

Our First Entry

Well, the three children and I are huddled around the kitchen computer trying to decide how to start this entire blog thing! I guess - to get started - each of them will give me a little something to introduce themselves. By the way, I am Melinda - the mother of these three charming children, and usually the author of the blogs - no, you won't hear much about me - my life is boring!

Jennifer - I am the oldest and am going in to grade 12, and it's a little scary. I love all things music and am sometimes called a "band geek" - to which I reply, "Thank you". I play the flute in the band and guitar everywhere else. The only sport that I participate in regularly is karate, and I actually feel co-ordinated when I'm there, unlike when I'm on a bicycle. Mom says I talk a lot and worry about my friends too much. I guess I do talk too quickly, but I really don't think that I talk too much.

Jamie - I am the middle child, but luckily, the only boy! I like all things "Bob". Go Bob! I don't really want to be thinking about things to write - I do much better at playing video games. I definitely talk the least in the family! but I am funny (or so I'm told). Let's see - I like karate and swimming. My favourite subjects are math and science and I'd really like to make video games for a living. How's that??

Meghan - I am the youngest child, but I'm totally the best! I am starting grade 7 at a new school - Marymount (all-girl, Catholic school) this fall and am really excited about it! I don't do karate (too much discipline); I don't play an instrument; I am horrible at video games (crash way too often). I am the greatest camper ever! I love guiding and camping and if I could, I'd sleep in a tent every night. The sport I like is swimming. School is boring - enrichment is fun!