Monday Listicles...

Thanks to Stasha for hosting.  This week's topic is...

10 THINGS I WILL REMEMBER THIS SUMMER BY- (being fair, we split it 5 a piece)

W - Being on stage for graduation kicked it off - a bittersweet day.  I am so happy to see them move on but miss seeing so many of them.  My students really are some wonderful people. 

W. - Spending some quality time in China...yep, Shenzhen was one interesting place.      Looking forward to go back again next year.  

W. - Travel to Canada...it is always nice to my my home and native land.  I may even have some true patriot love for it.

W. - Sunset pool fun always works for me...

W. - Just hanging around Charleston...come on.  I live in one of the most beautiful cities on the planet.  It definitely works for me.  This is what my trip onto campus looks like.  Pretty sweet no?

H- Trips to the beach... especially when we only live half an hour from the ocean

H- Canada Day in Canada... our US friends missed our Canada Day BBQ, but getting to spend Canada Day at home with family is priceless...

H- US 4th of July Fireworks!  Two celebrations in one week :-)

Sanity breaks at Monkey Joes... 

Getting to see the Barenaked Ladies - from my hometown - perform in my adopted city:

Monday Listicles

Thanks to Stasha for hosting this week - her topic is 10 ‘OH NO YOU DIDN’T’ MOMENTS



Since we're sharing the blog, we thought we'd share 10 ‘OH NO YOU DIDN’T’ MOMENTS from our kids... both the biological ones and the ones Wayne teaches... and a few of our own.

W - My favorite student story is one time I overheard two students talking about my wedding planning course:
Student 1: "Did you hear Dr. Smith is teaching a Wedding Planning Course?"
Student 2: "Dr. Smith's not gay..."

H - All of our kids have had speech impediments and most recently, Erik has been talking about going to the Aquarium see fish... the only problem is it sounds like 'b**ch'.. oops

W - Another student story comes from an advising appointment:
Student: I can't do classes before 10 am
Me: What happens when you get a job in the real world and they expect you to be at work in the morning?
Student: I'll just marry rich.

H. I got so worried about another speech issue several years ago... Liam came home from school when he was about 4 years old saying what sounded like "I'm a retard"... that of course caused a flurry of discussion with his teachers and staff at the school until his teacher heard him and realized that he was saying "I'm a race car" - he'd just started watching Cars...

W - I bash students, but I was also once a dumb student, so I should share one of mine... I had just answered a question in a Rec and Leisure class and the professor just looked at me and said "Smith, are stoned or just stupid? I hope you're stoned, because you can't be that stupid." Unfortunately, I wasn't stoned...

H - Robyn had speech impediments too, but no really funny stories other than the fact that her name is Robyn Loucks and she couldn't say Rs or Ls... so she'd Elmer Fudd her own name Wobyn Woucks... luckily with a little speech therapy in third grade, she was able to overcome and say her own name.

W - Going back to my dating days, I once invited a woman over to my place, cooked my 'special fried chicken' and had a lovely meal.  After dinner, we were watching a movie and I made a move.  She looked at me and said "I thought you were gay". I got the friend speech after that.  I am sensing a theme... perhaps my fabulous sense of style, good grooming and ability to cook one meal well give people the wrong impression.  

H - Robyn's other Oh No You Didn't story comes from a sad place, but it proves that sometimes kids are way more matter of fact than we adults are...  As some of you know, Robyn came to live with Wayne and I when she was 3, because her mother, Wayne's sister Shellie, had passed away.  When she moved in with us, she needed some new clothes so I took her to the local store... she sat down at the provided kids table and played while I shopped... the store staff person came over and asked Robyn where her mom was and she looked up and said matter of factly "My mom is dead." and went back to playing.  The poor staff person looked stricken and had no idea what to say next.  

W - My last one is a Heather oh no you didn't.  We were lying in bed one day and she announced "Don't forget that we're going engagement ring shopping today"  I didn't think we'd even discussed getting engaged, I know I'd never asked her... 

H - Rebuttal: We had discussed it - Wayne was planning to move to the US for his masters and if I was going with him we'd have to be married, so we'd discussed it and I thought we'd made the decision to go ahead and get married - and we'd also discussed shopping but he remembers it differently... then again, at least I didn't think he was gay...  We did find a lovely ring set that day and we were walking back to the car when he threw the box at me and said "I guess you want this now..." oh yes he did.

Monday Listicles - 10 Favourite Meals

If you sense that this listicles has a different vibe it is because Heather and I (Wayne from Touristic) has decided to share blog space. As such, you getting both of our views on the world. Now, we may not always split up every post but this week seems to be right down Heather's alley. Thanks as always to Stasha for hosting Listicles. So onto talking about food...

10. W - Any meal that doesn't involve children constantly fidgeting, complaining and ending up screaming down the place has to go in my top ten list.

9. H - Any meal that involves me not cooking, preferably with Robyn babysitting the boys and Wayne and I at a table for two...

8. W - Anything with whipped cream. Yeah, dessert is part of a meal right? I excel at dessert. It is even better when whipped cream is served late night after the children have gone to sleep...hint. hint.

7. H. - I'm not as big a dessert person... I usually prefer fruit or ice cream to heavy desserts... and I'm definitely not a big fan of Whip Cream...

6. W. - I do very much like most food Mexican in origin. The problem is - that Mexican food tends to not like me back. Heather and I do not share a room on those evenings. P.S. I have a special place in my heart for enchiladas - my colon, not so much.

5. H. - I prefer Indian food - curry, tandoori - mild, hot ... yum!  These are a few of favorite make at home recipes - Curried Chicken and Mango Salad, Butternut Squash Curry, Curried Rice with Apricots, Curried Shortbread.

4. W. - I can make a mean North Americanized Shepherd's Pie (I tend to use moo instead of baa). On a cold day it is a great mixture of food that warms the belly as well as the soul.

3. H. - My favorite comfort food is homemade Mac & Cheese - a simple white sauce, lots of cheese and elbow noodles... and I just realized that I've never put up my recipe... I'll take pics the next time I make it...

2. W.- Anything that answers the 'What do you want for dinner question?' each night. Seriously, this must be a question asked about five times a week and the answer is 'I dunno' until one of us gets frustrated enough to just blurt something else. I am tempted to just do a weekly calendar of dinner but I am just not that organized.

1. H. - Anything new - I love to try exotic foods and different combinations ... other than the chocolate and coffee that I'm allergic to, I'll try anything once...

PS - I am also posting a great round-up of yummy pizza recipes today that you should check out if Pizza made your top 10 and if you just want to browse the recipes on my site, click here

Monday Listicles: 10 FICTIONAL FACTS ABOUT YOU

This week on Listicles the choices were 10 Things James Bond/Spy or 10 Fictional Facts about you... well... I went with the 10 Facts about little old me... now one of these is true... can you guess which one?


1. I have hazel eyes

2. I am left handed

3. I have a masters in Medieval History

4. I have never dyed my hair

5. I have more fans on Facebook than on Twitter

6. I absolutely love Pinterest

7. I had each of my children by a different method

8. I am currently attending night school to learn webdesign

9. I've read 3 complete books today

10. I love to clean my house.

Which one is the truth?

Monday Listicles

This week's Listicles Topic is: TOP 10 AUTUMN MUST HAVES

Instead of making a list this week.. and yes I know it's called Listicles... but I thought I'd share my top ten favorite Handbags that I've found so far... and you can find all the links on my pinterest board