What's Up, Doc?

There is no time like the present to begin to blog again.  I think I will start off with an easy task: providing a snapshot of the past nine to ten months.  So what have I been doing for the past months?  Well...

I learned how to row and I competed in a few regattas.
(***Regatta is a fancy word for "races".  Rowers use a lot of fancy words.)  It was fun, although I question my club's choice of jersey.  Horizontal stripes?  Really?

Our very first regatta!

I took up rowing primarily because I can no longer run due to a foot injury. The learning curve is extremely steep.  But it is a reasonably fun activity, and you do get a good tan.

FYI, when I say "row", I mean rowing, not dragon boating.  Remember the Winkelvoss twins in The Social Network?  They rowed.  That's what I do, except without the creating of social networks and subsequent suing and so forth.

Note the medals around our necks.

I taught.  And taught.  And then I taught some more.

I continue to teach at two different universities.  It is exhausting.  It is wonderful. 

Here is my favourite student quote from this past year:

Student, in an essay on the American de-segregation case Brown v. Board of Education, consistently cited the case as "Brown v. Bored of Education".  

Freudian slip?  I hope that I was not responsible for this error.

I had terrific classes this year.  What terrific students!  What a blessing to teach these intelligent and energetic people!

I got a new (to me) car.
In January, some guy totaled my car.  The car was parked on the street, minding its own business.  This chap drove into My Pretty (my car's name) at a high speed.  Apparently, he perceived my car to be a thoroughfare.  The result was vehicular carnage.

You cannot see the full extent of the damage here because of the snow.  The front end was badly damaged.

But no one was hurt.  And I am supposed to take solace in that.  "It's just a thing," said some stranger who witnessed the demise of My Pretty.

"It's just chattel," I remind myself.

But it was my chattel, my thing, My Pretty.

Farewell, My Pretty.  You served me well.  You deserved better than this.

***Please observe a moment of silence for My Pretty.  Thank you.***

With the demise of My Pretty, I found myself in the market for a new (used) car.  I fancied a pick up truck.  I remember the truck my Dad bought me so long ago: a 1986 Sierra Classic quarter-ton.  What a beautiful truck!  The body of that truck was so beautiful that the dog was not allowed to ride in the truck bed, but was required to ride in the cab with me lest her nails scratch the paint.  Oh, how I have missed driving a big ol' pick up truck!

Me, Rex, and our truck.

But as much as I would have loved to get a pick up, at a certain point, reality caught up with me.  My life has changed.  There are kids in my life now.  I can't drive around in a pick up truck.  I need a back seat.

So I settled for a 2011 Mazda 3 Sport Hatch.  The car only had 12,300KM and was in pristine condition.  I have named this car "Fly Boy".  I hope we have many adventures together.

But sometimes, at night, I miss my beloved '99 Jetta.  My Pretty: gone, but not forgotten.

The kids.

Did I mention that I got some kids?

No, seriously.  I did.

And no, not "kids" as in baby goats.

This is not my kid.

Perhaps the best, but also the most tragic, part of the past 10 months involves the kids.  My sister, Barb, and her husband, James, had two children.  Barb passed away on June 30, 2013.  Sadly, James unexpectedly passed away on April 20, 2014.  He had been in the hospital for a few months at that point.  We thought he was on the road to recovery, but things turned very quickly when he contracted a virus.

James and I putting on our skates for some pond hockey.  

And so there are two kids, J. (aged 18) and R. (aged 15).  And I am helping to raise them.  I am now part of an unconventional, modern family.  The kids are in the care of me and L. and K.; L is the cousin of J and R, and K is her husband.  So we have three adults, two of whom are married to each other.  We have three kids: J. and R., and baby W.  Baby W belongs to L and K.  He is an unusually tall six month year old.  I like him, and I'm pretty sure he likes me, too.  He calls me "Aunt T".  Well, when he can talk, that is what he will call me.  Or maybe he can call me "Aunt Dr T".  Heh heh.

Baby W, who is very tall and has a taste for giraffes.

Life has brought us together for the time being, and we consider ourselves a family.  Sure, a modern, odd-ball type of family, but a family all the same.  I guess what we really mean is that we are committed to working together to give the kids as stable and as healthy and as loving an environment as possible.

I never really wanted kids, but now I have two teenagers on my hands.  Having the kids, well, it was unforeseen and, to be honest, two years ago, I would have said "No way!"  But something changed, and now having these two kids is the most important thing and the best thing in my life.  Yes, the best thing.  As in, I like it.  I like them, even though there are times when I think "WTF?!"  I'm sure they think the same thing about me sometimes (or a lot).

I wish that the circumstances were different for them, that they would have two parents or even one parent who was alive and there for them.  But they don't, and I am here and L and K are here.  It is tragic that the kids have lost their parents.  We are in mourning and we are in shock.  But do not think for a minute that I am "sacrificing" anything by taking on a central role in the lives of the kids.  Do not think that I am doing anything noble.  The truth is that having the kids in my life is one of the best things to happen to me.  So there is beauty amid the ashes.

I am going to write a lot more about all of the above.  So I hope that you'll stay with me.  Oh, I have had adventures!  Care to know about those adventures?  Want to hear the exciting story about how the police caught the rascal who hit my car?  Would you like to know what my awesome TRN 425 seminar gave me as a parting gift?  Want to read about how I am learning to decode teenager communications?

Are you desperate to know what de poesen have been up to?

Dave dreams of world domination.

I hope so.  Please stay tuned...