2010 was a whirlwind, and suddenly it is 2011!  Here are a few favourites from the year recently passed:

(This is a blog entry from my flight blog at www.flyonline.weebly.com)

Educators are familiar with Howard Gardiner's theory of Multiple Intelligences.  In a nutshell, Gardiner argues that whereas traditional IQ tests typically measure only

Fellow parents will appreciate the lack of space or privacy when living in close quarters with children.  I love my kids dearly, but sometimes I need to just get away and be by myself.  This can be a bit of a challenge in a small apartment with no office!!

Today, overwhelmed with work on my to-do list, I did the unthinkable and

Ahhh... a glorious sleep last night (well, until about 4:30 a.m., when I awoke and started stewing about slow flight, stalls and various other flight matters...)

Sleep always comes more effectively and is more peaceful when I make liberal use of

We spent the day with the twins/triplets, eating turkey and delivering gifts from various generous donors.  What can I say?  Photos are worth more than my words – click the first photo to see enlarged versions with descriptions below each.

For more photos, see here…

Finally got around to downloading some family photos from the past few months this morning, and came across this recent collection of photos from a family with new twins we volunteer with:

It was just delightful to see the boys interacting with Benjamin and Oliver -- this was something we had been waiting for since our guys were small: the time when our children would be physically and emotionally ready to volunteer with us!

For more photos from the past few months, see here.

It's not often you see three sets of twins at one table, and even rarer is it to see only three sets of twins at one table, without any adults!

After four days of winter camp at Humber Arboritum, we took the boys out to dinner along with a fellow POM and her two, and the twins from the twins/triplets family we volunteer with.  It was the other mother's idea to divide and conquer:  The Jack Astor's experience supports noisy kids, so we got two tables -- a booth for the adults, and a big, round table for all the twins.  It was quite amusing to see the six boys carrying on and having a grand old time.  I think the highlight for them was when a Beyonce video came on the TV (we never watch this kind of thing at home) -- all eyes were on the swivelling hips, both on the screen, and also at the table!

While the wait staff tripped over each other to cater to "all those cute little twins", we adults enjoyed some relative "quiet" time at our booth next door.

Well, this is it, the 22.  The much-anticipated anniversary of my mother's death.  As I do every year, I set the day apart for myself, taking it off work, and building in some down time for reflection, some opportunities for service in her memory, and some self-indulgent "distractions" (this year, a flying lesson).

I suppose everyone is expecting some deep, serious, insightful blog from me today, but I am sorry to report, you are not going to get it.  :P

Despite my best efforts to sleep in, I woke up at my usual 6:45 a.m.  The dog is having an X-ray today to determine how many hundreds or thousands of dollars we will need to spend on him next week.  The boys are up, excited about the advent of Christmas Eve, and my brain is full of guilt for not having practised diligently enough for my guitar lesson this afternoon.  And, I am still lamenting the fact that I only got 97% success rate when I attempted a practise PSTAR test online late last night before finally going to bed!

So, it turns out, you can't summon grief.  It hits at the most inconvenient times, and is strangely absent when one might think it ought to be appropriate.  There are rituals I will continue to perform this month (and especially this day) every year, in honour of my mother, but today, 16 years after the event that divides my life in two distinct parts, promises (so far) to be just another ordinary day.

Strange.

Mozart's balls have arrived!

It's true -- each year my dear relatives (well, friends of my late mother's, actually) in Germany send me a little care package with such important and valuable items as Emser Salz Pastillen and Mozart Kugeln, an Austrian delicacy of assorted layers of sweets enrobed in 2 kinds of chocolate.

Die Echten sind die besten!

Although technically the shortest day doesn't come until Dec 21, this morning was pretty close! Typically my 6:45 a.m. walk with the dog includes the benefit of God's splendid palette in the morning sky, but this morning, the midnight blue of the early morning sky was barely distinguishable from the lake only a half shade darker below.

I stopped to watch the snow fall over the water; the silent lumps of feather clustered in bunches here and there along the water's edge didn't move -- long necks craned back and tucked under wings for the night, various geese and swans along the waterfront were not bothered by my footsteps along the path, nor were they plussed by Jasperbeagle's panting and sniffing.

Not until the very end, as I turned off the path to walk along Las Vegas Mimico, with its garrish holiday lights on every townhouse, did I glimpse the merest hint of pinkish light peeking up at the very edge of the horizon.