Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And never brought to mind? 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And auld lang syne! 

For auld lang syne, my dear, 

For auld lang syne. 

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet, 

For auld lang syne. 

Ok, the weekend away didn't go quite as planned, but we still had a great time together :)
Before my son (sick as a dog) called at 3:30am Saturday morning and we rushed home to take care of him, we ~
did a bit of shopping ~ Ray found a jacket and a couple of great sweaters on sale....
We checked into our hotel, and just relaxed and watched some TV, ok we napped some too ~ LOL
We had 8:30 reservations at the restaurant downstairs, and got dressed up for that.
It was a New Years Eve special menu a 4 course dinner that was scrumptious.
While eating, we decided to list good things that happened in 2010?

1. we got his family back
2. we got a new trailer
3. Josh has really come around, warming up to Ray more, respecting him as a step-dad
4. we had a great summer in the US for 3 weeks just chilling out with no worries
5. this was the first time in many, many years both of us looked forward to and got excited about Christmas
6. Josh got to go to Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama
7. We spent 4 days in Whistler with good friends and had a great time with them

Then we talked about the bad things 

1. losing Mary was of course #1 ~ what a huge loss for both of us

and really the only one we could think of ~ we both had a pretty good year with lots of good memories. 

God Save Our Queen

God save our gracious Queen,
long live our nobel Queen,
God save our Queen.....
Sung by Canadians Everywhere ~ or is it??

We saw an ad for a 3D special on Queen Elizabeth on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) and I begged my husband to go to the post office and get our free 3D glasses ~ which he did reluctantly :)

I say to my son (16), it's going to start, come watch it.

Why he says?  Why would I watch that ~ she's not my Queen.

*GASP*  What??

She's not my Queen Mom, she's England's Queen ~ and we are Canada.

In shock I say Josh she's been Canada's Queen since before I was born ~

Mom, we left England a long time ago ~ and she's the Queen of England ~ not Canada.

Josh, have you heard of the commonwealth?  We're a part of it, and she may not have the authority she once had in Canada but she's still our Queen.

No she's NOT!!

Josh how can you say that?  Do you not sing God Save The Queen??

NO...I haven't even heard of that song...never mind sing it.

My husband and I simultaneously burst into song

God save our gracious Queen
long live our nobel Queen
God save the Queen

He has his hands over his ears begging us to stop

but we keep going :)

send her victorious

happy and glorious

long to reign over us

God save the Queen

not because we like the song ~ but we love to torture our 16 year old ;)

The more we talked about it, the angrier I got...

Josh telling us that the Queen is nothing more than a rich woman who sits on her ass and rakes in more money.

That she is not Queen of Canada....

So I go online and I read from Wikipedia about the Queen's role in Canada ~

Josh says ~ oh yea mom, and everything you read online is true...

Now I'm raising my voice....she IS Queen of Canada and she IS your Queen!
Look at any Canadian coin ~ who's face is on the *heads* side??
Queen Elizabeth...

Who's face is on some dollar bills?? ~ Queen Elizabeth..

Who's gets on live TV every Christmas morning and wishes us a Merry Christmas and tells  us the outlook for the year ahead?? Queen Elizabeth....

Who's portrait is hanging in all government buildings and if he goes into the office at school I'd bet he'd see a picture of her there too??  Queen Elizabeth

Why does Canada have a national holiday on May 24th?? To celebrate Queen Elizabeth's birthday.

After all of this info ~ all this talk ~ you know what Josh says to me??

OK mom, stop ~ I'll ask my socials teacher tomorrow ~ before every class he asks "Does anyone have any questions about Canada?"

WHAT?? My word isn't good enough??

Then he disappeared and Ray and I watched the 3D show...which was quite interesting most of it shot in 1953 when she was coronated to be Queen.

Tracey & Ray in their cool 3D glasses ;)

I know he's young, but I find it all very say sad that he and his generation are missing out on all the excitement of the pomp and circumstance.  I'll never forget staying up all night watching in awe as Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married.


He came home today and the first thing I ask him ~ so what did your socials teacher say??

Well, I didn't ask he says shyly, not looking at me

Why not? I boldly ask ~

He looks me straight in the eye and says with a huge grin on his face ~ because today he didn't ask if anyone had any questions about Canada.....

You're a chip off the ol' block Josh, a chip off the ol' block ;)

Even Winston wanted to see HIS Queen in 3D :)

Skip a Rope

Skip a rope skip a rope listen to the children while they play
Ain't it kinda funny what kids all say skip a rope.....
Sung by: Jimmy Dean




I have a 16 year old ~ For the most part he's a great kid/teen/man.  He has his moments and I find it quite interesting how he can say the smartest thing one minute and the dumbest the next.

For a couple years he was *between* kid and teen and I think he used this state to his full advantage.  One minute he's telling me he is old enough to do this and then the next not old enough to do that..... I'd remind him that just 2 days ago he was telling me one thing, and now he's telling me the other.

We'd hear an off colored story on TV or on the radio and he'd giggle ~ and I'd question him ~ what is funny about that??  I wanted to see if he was laughing because he heard me laugh or if he actually got the humor of it ~ I quickly stopped quizzing him, realizing he was getting the humor.

I'll never forget how we sat and watched Shrek, a movie we'd both watched together numerous times ~ and he turned to me and said ~ HEY, when did they put that in there??  Meaning an innuendo geared for adults, so they can watch these shows with their kids and stay focused and interested in it. I laughed and said Josh it's always been there ~ you were just too young to get it.  And then I watched as he listened to it more closely, making sure he didn't miss more of the adult humor.

Lately I've noticed he's started to pepper his conversations with swear words ~ nothing serious or terribly bad, but swear words all the same ~ damn, ass and pissed off are big ones these days and I let he use them but once and awhile I've had to let him know that's enough ~ he's crossed the line. How much you let him venture out and how much you have to rein him in, sort of like flying a kite.
We're a very open family, he can and does talk to me about anything ~ but from time to time I let him know it's inappropriate to talk like that..

Once and a while we laugh and comment at a story we heard and it gets way off track and goes too far and I stop and wonder ~ should I be talking and laughing like this with my son?? It's that very fine line ~ but don't you eventually have to give up being a parent and become his friend? It's all very weird and sometimes uncomfortable, and I have to Say OK, OK STOP ~ I'm your mom, not your buddy and please don't say anymore.

I remember being 16 and in some ways I was so much older than Josh is at 16 and in some ways I was not as mature as he is at 16 and I was definitely not as smart as he is at 16.  It was a different time and world ~ I didn't grow up with computers in the house, and TV's in every room, never mind being able to rewind, fast forward or even record that TV.  And speaking of TV ~ I can remember like it was yesterday the first time I heard the word *bitch* on a TV show and it wasn't beeped out!! I remember being shocked and wondering if I really heard it ~ now they say much worst than that and no one blinks an eye.

I know he will grow into a good man ~ he will make his mistakes and do stupid things and get into trouble he shouldn't be in ~ but didn't we all? Isn't that life lessons and learning how to play the game?  I know I did and I'll be the first to admit, I'm a SLOW learner ~ the lesson will bang me upside the head time and time again ~ but once I get it, I get it.  I just hope and pray he gets it quicker than I did!

Love you Josh ~
Mom