12 in 12

I am thinking about taking some time for me and enjoying the upcoming holiday season. For the first time my parents will be coming to MY house for the holidays (yeah!! no car trips with a baby and a dog), plus my husband and I will be travelling to Mexico for a colleague's wedding over New Years. Double fun.

As we lead up to the holidays, however, things have turned ugly here in Ontario, Canada. We have been fighting legislation by our government since the summer that removes teacher's (and many unions) right to strike, we have had a contract forced upon us by the provincial government with no opportunities to negotiate. The legislation itself has 2 clauses written in that put it above the law and make it illegal to appeal using any of our Human Rights or Labour Relations laws. Scary stuff.

So here we are, in December. My union is on work to rule which means that we are not participating in any voluntary activities at school outside of our contractual obligations to teach. No sports. No clubs. No meetings. No lots of stuff. There are also rotating strikes throughout the provinces for all of the different school boards.

And yes, it's still the holiday season.

So this may be my last post until 2013. Maybe.

I want to be positive. I want to create cute stuff. I want to share my ideas.

But it's hard to look forward with any sort of positive feelings right now. I know this will pass. I know it will get better. Or not. But it will end.

For right now though, looking back on 2012 seems like a lot more fun.

12. Favourite movie you watched:

So hard to say...I used to watch so many and now I watch so few.
I definitely loved The Hunger Games.

11. Favourite TV series:

Modern Family! Laugh out loud. Every time.

10. Favourite restaurant:

Hmmmmm...again that's a hard one. There's a great italian place here in my town that I've only been to once but it was great.

9. Favourite new thing you tried:

Running. I've lost a lot of inches, had to buy new clothes and feel great.

8. Favourite gift you got:

I will be getting an amazing purple leather purse for Christmas. It's that soft, buttery leather that smells soooo good.
I can't wait!

7. Favourite thing you pinned:

Anything to do with my knitting! I have more projects than I will ever be able to finish. 
That and crockpot oatmeal. It changed my life. 

6. Favourite blog post:

Interactive Reading Portfolio...the numbers on the post astound me. 

5. Best accomplishment:

Being a working mom. Running a 5k. Changing grades. Again.

4. Favourite picture:

3. Favourite memory:

Any moment I spent with my daughter.

2. Goal for 2013:

Baby #2?

1. One Little Word:
choose joy
(it's 2 words, but hey, it's my blog!)


Here's to a happy new year for all. 

More information on the situation in Ontario, for those who are interested:

The Letter I Can't Send to My Students

Battle with Government

Bill 115 Unsupportable

Attack on Civil Liberties