oh oh, another mental health day ... and my heart sings

so we have had a rough few months, namely with DLU. i haven't talked much about this because it is serious and makes no sense in my life ... i have been trying to work thru it ... anyway, its a long story and i am only going to give you the bones of it (if you know me, you already know the whole story as i dont usually hold things back ...)

just before christmas my daughter got in some trouble at school - nothing serious but her punishment was having her electronics taken away; upon receiving her phone i found some pictures and info that lead to even more serious concerns . she was grounded until we could determine that her decision making skills were improving. things were ok until just after semester 2 started then the shit hit the fan and DLU ran away for 4 days ... it was awful! the police were involved, our family and friends were involved; they were all amazing ... when she was apprehended she was taken to emerg and assesed and released back to us.

the week following was rough and i am thankful for our family and friends for their unending support and to my boss and friend Hope for a few necessary mental health days ...

the past few months have been very difficult - lots of talking and crying and crying and talking ... it took 7 weeks for the children's mental health unit to see us (YES, 7 weeks!)... anyway we have been working thru some things with the help of lots of friends and family and our wonderful peadiatrician ...

in the past few weeks things have really gotten alot better! DLU has really opened up and been more engaging and things are looking up. she seems more like her old self xoxo



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so, as you know, we are a HOCKEY family. its tryout season! CRAZY CRAZY shit goes on! anyway DLU said awhile back she was going to quit and not play next year. ok. (well not really but, ok)

well what are you going to do then, young lady?

so we have been discussing options and alternatives (in my house you DO something outside of school - becoming a vegetable is not an option!) so last week - ONE WEEK BEFORE TRYOUTS - she decides that she IS going to tryout for hockey after all .. YAY, right? well, yes, except that when your kids' plays rep, you kind of start looking at coaches and teams and options a couple months before tryouts ... you also have coaches come out to look at your kid before the end of season (maybe, just maybe you can wrap everything up early, get a committment and then coast thru the end of season knowing where you are going next year without entering CARZYLAND...)

anyway HappyHappy and Buddah were a sealed deal before tryout season arrived and i am SOOOO happy to tell you that DLU is also nicely settled into a new team for next year! she went to tryouts for 2 different teams in our club and last night she got an offer for the team that was our first choice! GOOD WORK DARLING!!!!! by the time we got thru the 90 min skate and the waiting and the offer and the PAPERWORK and the celebratory McD's after, it was 12:30 am!!

so today was our MENTAL HEALTH day! it was the best mental health day i've had so far this year! my heart sings!!!



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A Note From My Local Music Rental Place ... and My Response

So the copy of the email below is what i received from the company we rent our sons TUBA from ...

{ yes, my kid plays the TUBA. Apparently he was the most gifted of children to pass the TUBA TEST in 6th grade (oh, YES! there is a TUBA test ... sigh)... our middle school REQUIRES that we rent an instrument in the 7th and 8th grade so all students can participate in the music program ... AND this past year our teachers have been on a job action which prevents things like band, choir, and music night ... its a bit of a doble edged sword, i am afraid ... ANYHOOOOO ...}

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Hello from XYZ Music,

It seems like the start of the school year was only yesterday but there are now only a couple of months to go and summer is coming up fast. We sincerely hope that David is doing well in music with the Baritone Saxophone you have on rent from us.

We're writing today to let you know that rental extension season is almost here and soon you will recieve a letter from XYZ Music outling your options to extend or buy out your current rental contract. In the meantime we'd like to present a special EARLY BIRD purchase offer. This great opportunity is available ONLINE ONLY. If you've been thinking about purchasing your rental instrument, the time to do it is now! Not only will you get the benefit of your accumulated discount from rental payments but for the FIRST TIME EVER we're going to discount the price of the instrument by a further 20%. Never before have we offered such BIG SAVINGS on contract buyouts.

To take advantage of this special offer, plese visit our online rental manager at http://XXXXX and follow the instructions.
note: if you haven't previously registered at cosmomusic.ca, you will need your 'Cosmo Customer Number' (which is DCO005)

Best wishes for the rest of the school year and please keep an eye out for your extension letter which will arrive in your mailbox later this month.


Thank you.
The XYZ Music Rental Team

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And my response...
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Dear XYZ Music

Over the past 3 years we have spent a small fortune renting musical instruments from you. This is a huge cost imposed on us by our school and not by our own choosing.

With this years current teachers' job action, we have actually NOT been able to see our child preform at all.

We currently do not have a son named David and he doesn't play the baritone sax. And I am sure his account # password of DCO005 would be better off disclosed to his actual parents.

I am going to suggest that you might want to go in and change the passwords to all your clients accounts forthwith as it would appear you have possibly disclosed hundreds of passwords to the wrong clients. And I would also suggest a conversation w the employee responsible for this (rather large) slip up.

DCA

Thankfully, Hockey Parents Can Put a Few Pints Back ...

so this past weekend we were in Ottawa for Provincials ... HappyHappy's hockey team made it to provincials so off we went last Wednesday!

it also happened to be my birthday.

well, we had a great time!! the girl's played some of the best hockey of their whole year and (thankfully) the hockey parents and coaches can put a few pints back!!!

i got to catch up with a few old friends also which was wonderful! the girls and i and a few other parents even got in a great walk in the SunShine yesterday!

i think the best part of the whole weekend tho was when HappyHappy's team sang HB to me after their 3rd game in the dressing room ... what a great group of girls! thanx! xoxoxox