Kally's Cauldron

I just wanted to add a quick post to let you all know that I'm still around. The boys and I all had awful colds last week so that kept me pretty occupied (it's hard to sleep when you have two little ones who are sick...actually having them around period makes it impossible to sleep LOL). This week is Boo's last "on-call" week so he's gone from shortly after the kids get up until after they're in bed which doesn't leave me a lot of time to get online. He's on parental leave for 4 months starting Monday so I'll definitely be back around then.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends south of the border!

So the providers of my hydro have kindly informed us that effective....well, sometime....if we use hydro during peak hours it’s going to be a significantly higher cost than to use it during non-peak hours. Ok, I get it. I’m all about going green. The problem I have is that non-peak hours are from 9pm-7am.

You see, there’s this thing that I do every day called laundry. I’ve spoken before about my cloth diapers and unfortunately, they don’t wash themselves (though if someone could invent self-washing diapers, I’d be all over that like white on rice!). Now, here’s a little riddle for you....if I’m washing diapers, it means I also have what? You got it! Children in diapers! Now for anyone who has or had children in diapers you know that by the time 9pm rolls around, you’re completely exhausted and the LAST thing you want to be doing is STARTING your laundry. Ok, fair enough. Let’s look at the other possibility...getting them washed before 7am. I rest my case.

Now, they’ve sweetly said that hydro will be at the cheaper rate over the course of the weekend. I appreciate this, I really do. Problem is the weekend is when we’re normally trying to do family stuff...ya know, since me and my boys don’t get to see my husband all week. Plus, this is the time I do those pesky chores that I have to be fully involved in...like cleaning bathrooms....while hubby has guy time with the boys. Combined with the fact that I only have enough diapers to last me 2ish days you have a recipe for a horrendously over-scheduled, exhausted mommy.

But, as the manager of my home, I need to keep our finances in check (by doing the laundry during non-peak hours to save $$$) and encourage green living (by doing the laundry during non-peak hours to reduce the greenhouse gases caused by the power plants). Just don’t expect me to be happy about it :P

At the beginning of November 1944, my great-grandparents received a letter from their daughter-in-law.


The letter reads:

My darling Mom & Dad,
So I have lost my darling – what have I done to deserve this parting. I can’t believe it – he was one of the best in the world and how I am going to face this world without him I can’t think. I received the telegram at 8:45am on Monday, Oct 23rd and it said they deeply regretted to say my husband was wounded and died of his injuries somewhere round about Oct 20th and that there was a letter following. I am at Yorkshire just now staying with another Canadian’s wife in the hope I will hear something about him. I received a letter from him this morning, Tuesday, saying he was hoping he would be home for Christmas and what he was going to do. I hope he did not suffer long but what hurts me most is that he went without saying goodbye and I was not able to see my darling. We were the happiest couple on earth and I just lived from day to day in hopes of seeing him one day. Now I have absolutely nothing left in this world that makes me want to stay. Don’t say I am selfish Mom & Dad. I loved him so and I can’t bear being parted from him. Why did he have to be taken? My thoughts are with you too – all of you – and I wish I could be with you to comfort you a little. Don’t let it get you down – he would have said “Keep your chin up” so do try although I know it will seem impossible just now. I can’t write any more now – will write you when I hear more news.
Your loving daughter
Eileen


She hoped beyond hope that there had been a mistake, but shortly after receiving this letter, my great-grandparents received a second.


My dear Mom, Dad & family,
I have received the letter from the Padre. I was praying that it all was a mistake and my darling was spared but now it is so definite. Now Mom and Dad, I know you will be heart-broken at John’s going but please be brave – although my people are trying to comfort me by saying it is all for the best. I fail to see it at the moment. Life is so empty now – no letters to write to him and even now I wait for the post hoping against hope. The Padre said John was brought in the base hospital at 2pm on Oct 18th and he was dangerously ill with abdominal wounds, there being no hope for him, the Padre said prayers and he died Oct 20 in the early hours.
He is laid to rest in Antwerp cemetery and the Padre gave me his grave no and what row. He also sent me his sympathy and God’s blessing. I was hoping John would have sent me a last message but evidently he was too ill. Poor darling he wanted to live so much – we had planned and planned and now I am alone. I feel absolutely lost. Why has such a good living boy to go – and why should he give up his life for the sake of a few greedy imbeciles. I wish I could get away from all this horrible war and uniforms – for me the war can go on forever. Maybe I sound bitter and Mom & Dad I am, but you will understand. I hope I can come to Canada if not to stay, to visit you as I know he would have wished it. I think this is all for now – I will let you know any further news – am expecting a letter from some of John’s pals telling me how it happened. I have been wondering if Annie could come over and then I could travel back with her – is it possible do you think? Keep your chins up and please don’t grieve too much. Forgive me for being such a poor comforter but maybe when I have got over my great loss I will be able to see reason. Please write me as often as you can even if it is only a few lines. God bless you all and keep you safe.
Ever your loving daughter,
Eileen


Both Eileen and my great-grandparents received letters from the chaplain telling them where John had fought and how he had been killed. He had fought in various parts of France (including Dieppe) and pursued the enemy into Belgium which is where a Nazi’s “Flying Bomb”(V1 bomb) landed in Canadian lines. He had been wounded with shrapnel and died from those wounds a little over a day later. He was only 25 years old.

I learned all of this information in the past two weeks in emails from my dad’s cousin. As a mother to two small boys, I can’t tell you that I didn’t cry seeing these photos and hearing this story. We must never, EVER forget the sacrifice that was made for us and that our troops continue to make for us.
On this Remembrance Day, I keep my thoughts on three very special people. My grandmother and grandfather who were both involved in the war and have since passed on and my great-uncle who I never had the pleasure of meeting.

My grandmother and her brother’s grew up on a small farm in Saskatchewan.

This particular story follows that of her younger brother, John, here shown with my great-grandmother.


During the Second World War, both John and my grandmother were stationed in England. John was a foot soldier and my grandmother was a telegraph operator.



While in England, John met the love of his life, Eileen. Despite it being war-time, they were married in 1942.


They spent two blissful years together before John was sent to the Front Lines........

For all of the unromanticedness (ok, I made that word up) of our meeting, Boo made up for it ten-fold with our engagement.

The company I was working for at the time owned a box for our local OHL team. Typically it was used to schmooze with clients but once a year our big bosses brought all the staff and paid for all the food and booze we could handle. We, of course, were welcome to bring a guest. Boo came along and we had a great old time with my co-workers. At the end of the evening, the girls and I convinced our bosses to hit the bar with us (do you notice a theme here??) Boo declined the invitation but told me to have fun. We went although didn't stay out late because, let's face it, by the time the hockey game was over, we were pretty much done anyway. I went home (we were living together by this point) and went to bed.

Roughly four hours later, Boo woke me up and told me to pack a bag and get my passport because I was being kidnapped. Obviously, the first thought I my head was "Haha, funny," but as it turns out, he was serious. So I rather begrudgingly packed a bag (and passport) and we set off. Boo told me I could sleep for a bit, so naturally, I did.

He woke me up about an hour later because we were about to cross the Canada/United States border. After crossing, he handed me the directions. Final destination: New York City! I was soooo excited.
We arrived countless hours later and checked into the Dream hotel. It was incredible! We settled in a bit and then headed out to dinner. I can't remember the name of the place we went now but the food was fantastic! After dinner, he suggested we walk through Central Park to burn off some of our supper.

We got to the park and after strolling around a bit, he told me a trip to New York wouldn't be complete without a carriage ride. So we found a carriage, hopped in and settled back to enjoy the ride.

About 10 minutes into the ride, he handed me an old ring of mine (a la Walmart) and told me he'd found it when we were packing to move and thought I might like it back since it was my favourite. It made him sad that I didn't wear it because it turned my finger green (told you it was cheap) so he had had it re-made so I could wear it all the time. At this point, he got down on one knee (yes, in a moving carriage) and asked me to be his wife. I can honestly say that this was one of the few moments in my life when I've been speechless. I just sort of nodded and the poor guy had to ask me "Does that mean yes?". I managed to squeak out a tiny yes and he put an exact replica of my favourite ring on my finger made of real gold and diamonds.

We stayed in New York for 3 more days and enjoyed countless lovely meals, shopped till we dropped at Macy's and went to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. It was romantic, fun and just incredible.

November is a special month for Boo and I. We started dating in November 2005 and got engaged in November 2006.

We met through a mutual friend. She was my supervisor at work and she and Boo were part of a regular group of bar-hoppers. For Halloween 2005, they all decided to hit the club but this time she invited me and another of our co-workers. We all met at her place to “pre-drink” and it was here that I met Boo. Apparently he was interested because he came over and we chatted for most of the evening until we left for the bar. We danced a bit but, frankly, he was far too short for me (I typically only dated guys over 6’...Boo’s about 5’7”). My co-worker and I left early.

A couple weeks later, the plan was to go out again and so my supervisor gave Boo our emails so he could include us in the planning loop. He sent me an email telling me that we weren’t allowed to leave early this time. We emailed a bit back and forth but I didn’t think much of it until my supervisor told me that Boo had been snooping around asking her questions about me. I still wasn’t 100% sure how I felt since he was nothing like the guys I normally dated, but he was cute and built (Why yes, I was that shallow!) I decided to just go with it and see what happened. Since Boo had an apartment downtown at the time, I asked if I could stay at his place after the bar so I wouldn’t have to bus and then walk home (I was much braver and stupider in those days). He agreed. Now I know what you’re thinking...unfortunately, I can’t really answer the question of what I was expecting to happen that night or if I was even planning on anything happening. I guess it was part of my "winging it". Apparently, it worked. We returned to his apartment after a great night (a little too great maybe) and in his highly inebriated state, he asked me if I’d be his better half. Not exactly the most romantic, but it worked.

The next morning, I wasn’t entirely sure what to say. I didn’t know exactly how drunk he’d been so wasn’t sure he even remembered anything from the previous night. Being the brave and stupid person I am, I just asked. He, in fact, did remember but apparently didn’t know the precise words he used (actually, he didn’t know them until I was regaling some of our friends with this story later on).

And thus began the story of Boo and I.

It doesn’t happen often, but I really hate having to do a load of laundry twice. Friday’s are laundry day in my house and so I ran up and down stairs all day changing loads from basket to washer, washer to dryer, dryer to basket and then back upstairs for folding.

The first load was Munchkin’s clothes. I typically have enough of his clothes to do his own load and today was no different. I washed them and then into the dryer they went. As I was putting them into their basket after drying, I noticed an empty peanut butter package at the bottom of the dryer....you know, the kind you get at the restaurant. Weird. Then it hit me. Crap. A quick glance at the clothes didn’t reveal anything so I shrugged it off figuring the wash cycle probably cleaned it all away anyway. I was wrong. As I pulled out each item of clothing, I noticed small smearings of peanut butter over every single article. Needless to say, I was highly irritated. So I started thinking to myself, “How does peanut butter get into the wash anyway?” Munchkin is 2 and doesn’t even know he HAS pockets, let alone what to do with them. I called up Boo at work. “What brilliant mind put a package of peanut butter in Munchkin’s pocket?” We thought for awhile before Boo figured out that it was probably his mom (my mother-in-law) while we were at breakfast with them this past Sunday.

I love my MIL. She’s a sweet woman with a wonderful heart. We’ve had our share of head-butting when it comes to parenting, which is understandable since we parented in entirely different generations (although I haven’t always sounded so sweet about it). But honest to goodness, what would compel her to put a package of peanut butter in a 2 year old’s pocket? (In my defence, I know I’m partially to blame here since I didn’t bother CHECKING his pockets first....but as I said before he doesn’t even know he HAS pockets so why would I?)
Anyway, I got the clothes clean without much fuss but I learned a valuable lesson. Despite how redundant the task may seem, do it anyway! Or never trust your mother-in-law! (j/k)



On a completely un-related note, I had to post this link as it pertains to my rant from yesterday. The awful example of journalism has been rectified and she has accepted the cloth diapering communities’ challenge to try cloth. Although I would happily pick apart the blog entry, I won’t. I’m happy to see she’s open to seeing the other side and I wish her nothing but the best of luck. I’ll be watching closely to see what she thinks about the dark side :)

I’m a cloth diaper convert. Munchkin was in disposables until he was 2 and shortly after his birthday, a girl I know was selling her cloth diapers and so I bought them from her. Bean has been in cloth since he was about a month old (technically 2 weeks if you count the time we were using the trial pack from our local baby store). I LOVE cloth! They are easy and cute. It’s also fantastic to know that I’m no longer sending hundreds of disposables to my local landfill where they will spend the next however-many-hundreds of years decomposing.

I write about this now because CBS put up this piece of garbage segment about Cloth vs Disposables. Now, admittedly, I’m no journalist, but watching this kinda made me wonder if the woman doing the interview had even studied journalism. Frankly, I would have assumed there would be a little more research done. And I can’t say much for the paediatrician either. I’m sure she’s great at being a doctor but her knowledge of cloth diapers is practically non-existent so I would maybe have interviewed her on something a little more related to her field...how to prevent the flu perhaps?

To me, a real VS segment consists of two sides. They should have spoken to someone on the cloth side of the fence and one on the disposable side of the fence...ya know, people who had actually USED the products??

That’s not to say that I look down on people who use disposables...as I said at the beginning, Munchkin was in them until he was 2. But it infuriates me that this type of journalism is passed as fact.

One comment after the video wondered about the “diaper origami” that the paediatrician performed and I have to say, she’s right. Cloth diapers come in many shapes, sizes, colours and prints....including all-in-ones (AIO) that are just washable disposables (these are what I use on Munchkin now). Practically no one uses the fancy folds she was doing and I have yet to meet a cloth diapering mom who uses pins anymore (maybe there’s some out there but I haven’t met them).

Alright, I’ll step down off my soap box now.

If you’re looking for good info on cloth diapers, here’s a great website you can check out.

Well, today would typically be Web Wednesday but I've felt for a few weeks now that I'm over-organizing my blog. I want to provide useful information but I'd also like it to be my musings and so for the next little while, it's probably going to be a little disorganized over here, so please excuse the mess.



I have a few ideas in the works so it's just a matter of putting some substance to them and getting them posted!

Stay tuned.....

What do you think about my new template? I wanted something with a little more colour. There were sooo many to choose from but I decided on this one for now.

Well, well, do I ever have a bit of catching up to do! First off, I received a most lovely package on my doorstep last week. I had won some beautiful products over at Mrs. B’s 31 Days of Halloween from The Sacred Oak. Here are a few pics:





Samhain weekend was very busy but didn’t end up at all as I had originally planned. We enjoyed both of our playdates, the second of which ended up lasting until past midnight on Halloween. That being as it was, we weren’t able to do a family ritual or dinner. I can’t say I was disappointed though because we had a wonderful time. Hopefully next year we’ll stick to a plan, but sometimes the unexpected can be so much fun!






Finally, I need to send a BIG thank you over to Loopy at Wandering Along Loopy’s Life Path for sending me my very first blog award!




The conditions are as follows:
Link back to her blog – done
Choose 10 other blogs that I love and let them know I’ve given them the award.

So here are 10 of the blogs I really enjoy reading:
1) Hedgewitch Hollow
2) Witchy Godmother’s Cottage
3) Ramblings of a Newbie Pagan
4) Mother Moon
5) Dancing with a Spatula Wand
6) Rue and Hyssop
7) The Whimsical Cottage
8) A Witch in the Tea Closet
9) Kitchen Witch’s Wicked Ways
10) The Deepest Well

Please pass it on to your 10 favourite blogs!!