Tante Lorette

I was going to blog about a scarf in progress, but quickly realized that I'm not really thinking about knitting, I'm thinking about the recipient of this little scarf I'm making.

Tante Lorette is my father in law's cousin. They share a grandmother, now dearly departed. She is in her early seventies - I know this only because she mentioned her oldest child is 52 years old now (or 53, is it?) so I'm sure she's in her 70s. I just don't have the guts to ask, some things are better left unsaid.

What makes Tante Lorette ageless, at least to me, is her attitude towards life. She amazes me constantly, with what she has accomplished, and with what she still does today. She raised four children, taught grade 2 for 30 years (including my husband's 7 year old mind), buried a husband far too young, lives in a house on her own, traveled to europe and Eygpt in the last few years, and just genuinely amazes me. She babysits the little girls on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Tante Lorette has incredibe energy. She just goes all day and never seems to tire. She's francophone, and speaks French so beautifully and just..correctly...it's a privilege to have her as our girls' first educator. I could tell when she first met Katja, she started thinking to herself, "I can't wait to get my hands on that kid, they think she's smart NOW...wait'll I'm done with her". And she's right. Katja has learned songs, done crafts, learned so many important words and phrases that I sometimes struggle with, and has learned to cooperate so much more (also coincidental somewhat with her just approaching 3 years old, but I know largely it's Tante Lorette's influence).

She's just *grown up* at an incredible pace since I went back to work. I also think some of that is that she really is being educated during the day and that I am also able to relax and give her more attention and to put in the energy she requires to be happy. Katja's not going to just let you come home and read the news, she demands 100% of my attention from the minute I get in the door. Rightly so, I think, and the ability to focus on her is an incredible thing. I think she's a lot lazier when I'm around too, because I just anticipate her needs so well that she isn't doing enough for herself - I'm always a step ahead of her. I think having to articulate her needs during the day to caregivers who maybe don't understand what she's really in need of has really improved her overall demeanour with me.

Anyway, I digress (greatly) with that - what I mean to say is, Tante Lorette amazes me. She has a fabulous, positive attitude. She's the kind of person you just want to have around you. I hope one day if she needs to live in a supported living arrangement of some kind that she would consider living with us. I just adore adore adore her. So do the girls, Katja's face just lights up when she talks about Tante Lorette. She rushes to please Tante Lorette. She misses her mama, but Tante Lorette is probably the most perfect substitute.

So when I knitted up this little scarf, and she watched me knit it, I hoped she noticed that it was a complex little pattern, and that it needed my attention, and that I couldn't really watch TV and knit this properly. So I knit a little here, and knit a little there, and just kept knitting along, and all of a sudden, I'm on the last two rows. I can't wait to give it to her. I have no doubt she will know exactly how special a gift it is, because I spent probably an hour winding yarn, comparing the different weights and colours, taking note of her usual range of colours in her clothes, looking at patterns for each different weight of yarn...it was a labour of love. I hope she enjoys it.

We arent (that) worried about the flu

Great CBC article here - http://tinyurl.com/yk3m3f4

At last someone has the information I'm looking for - how deadly is this disease, really? How safe is the vaccine, really? How has it been tested?

He says there is no reason to panic. Yes, tragic deaths happen, but they do every year. The media focus on these stories is absurd.

We've decided to relax, take care of our bodies by reducing dairy and sugar intake, make sure we're taking lots of vitamin D and probiotics to support our immune systems. We are sleeping a lot more. Taking time off when we get sick and recover fully before resuming activities.

(I'm not a doctor. Don't sue me if you do these things and die. If you're following some random blogger's medical advice instead of making your own informed decision, you're in a lot more trouble than you think anyway)

We're all sick here anyway and I'm hoping it's h1n1 (since 90%+ of flu out there is 'the' flu, we think this is it, especially since the under 5's have no real fever.

So without further ado, I give you

*Flu 2009 update* (insert news music here)

Meredith is almost 100 % other than being tired (she got sick Saturday night). I am keeping her home most of the week in case it's h1n1 as they asked @ hospital when we were there with katja to do that. We don't believe this is a huge deal, this flu, but we don't want to be 'those people who are minimizing and putting everyone at risk', either.

Max is very tired but not barfing. I went to bed at 8 because anika was up barfing last night at 4 a.m. And sure enough she's barfing again, so I just threw a load of laundry in at this hour. Brutal. Did I mention that my dryer is broken? Did I? OMG I verily vibrate with stress when I even think about that.

I was feeling tired and under the weather all day, but in a 'I need a hot shower and a nap' kind of way, not a 'oh God I'm not going to make it through this day' kind of way.

Dan (got sick Friday) is also almost better, with just the fatigue left and some stomach upset.

Katja (got sick monday so 1 week ago now) still has diarrhea and is a little tired (she goes from her normal self to a tantruming mess in 3 minutes flat - I think she tires herself quickly). She is otherwise herself.

Anika threw up last night a little and was a little fussy today, her stomach was cramping a bit, I think, and she had diarrhea. She just got up and threw up a lot, twice.

Max went to bed on the couch then up to his bedroom at 8. He was up listening to podcasts for a while but has basically stayed in bed. No puking yet. He hasn't eaten since lunch so I'm guessing his stomach is a bit upset.

And big mama is hanging in there. I was really worried about getting super sick today but I held it off and meredy was well enough to do stuff like sit with anika while I put katja to bed (she wanted to go to sleep at 530 omg but I got her to stay up til 7:00 stupid time change)

I have a trial tomorrow and important witness meeting as well. And a trial and take your kid to work day Wed, so really I'm not available til Thurs for the flu anyway.