Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, K is for Kevin.

Kevin is my guy. What can I say? He doesn’t like me to talk about him, or share pictures of him, but I am going to do both here, briefly anyway.

We met in 1994. He was the sound engineer for a traveling revue show that I was playing bass in. Saskatchewan Express was the name of said revue show – every summer they did a tour and every December they did a two-week show (not really a Christmas show, although they did do Christmas music once or twice). I played that winter show for several years, but only did the road show once – and that is how I met Kevin.

We were on a dinner break, between a dress rehearsal and a show at a hotel in Regina. I had had to run out for something and when I came back I was alone in the room where dinner was laid out, so I sat to eat something when in walked Kevin. He sat with me and we talked. That was all. But as the tour progressed we began to hang out more and gradually became a couple, much to the delight of the woman who was in charge of the show – she took full credit for our meeting!

Kevin worked as an excellent sound engineer and production guy (I don’t know what’s his official title was, but he organized and ran music shows in bars, at exhibitions, on tours, etc.) from long before I met him until just over 20 years ago when he decided to go back to school and become an optometrist. And he succeeded in spades becoming Dr. Kevin, I think in 2016. Time means nothing to me any more…everything either seems like yesterday or a million years ago. When he graduated he found a job in Victoria and we moved out here – and we have now been here for 17 years. And he even eventually started his own clinic!

We both love cats (as you may have guessed) and BBQ and hanging out at home. We are not big travel people, preferring to relax in a beautiful city with great weather, and our kitties. And friends. And family.

This is Kevin, on the right, walking with his sister who also now lived in BC, albeit on the mainland. She was in town for Easter and I took the opportunity for a nice candid and yet non invasive shot.

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter K.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, J is for Jan van Eyck.

Jan van Eyck was my Masters advisor. He was the one responsible for the topic I chose to explore and research and write about, and the one responsible for keeping me engaged and picky and excited about the work I was doing. He also inspired me to begin teaching linguistics once I completed my degree – we talked teaching and linguistics and had regular coffee conversations for many years.

Jan is Dutch and moved to Canada to study Indigenous languages in British Columbia, coming here with his wife, Sonja, and their two sons, and living in communities, working with speakers, and developing close relationships. At some point after he finished his studies and PhD, he moved to Regina, Sask and began teaching Linguistics courses at what was then the Sask Indian Federated College, which eventually became First Nations University of Canada.

Jan was and is a quirky guy. He has Asperger’s syndrome, and is quite open about it. As a result he does not have a lot of social skills – those were handled by Sonja. She was so warm and invited students and faculty and neighbours and newcomers to Canada over frequently for meals and looked after everyone. At least that’s what I remember. Jan never drove, Sonja had to drive. Jan never trusted himself behind the wheel of a car and basically ran to and from work every day (they lived fairly close but it would still have explained how he kept in such good shape.).

I thought, and still think, of Jan as a mentor. His work ethic and ability to work with people of all kinds (although he had many opinions) and just to not engage in bullshit activities that often abound at universities, I have tried to emulate to an extent. He supported me to get into a PhD program and when I dropped out (part of my life as a quitter series) it took me a few years to feel brave enough to tell him. He understood much better than I thought he would and we remained friends, although I lost touch with him eventually.

Back in 2017, however, I went back to Regina to spend time with a friend celebrating her 50th and I toddled up to First Nations U to see if I could find Jan. To my surprise, as I was wandering the halls (his door was locked and no one was answering my knocks) I turned a corner, and there he was! He was shocked to see me but as we both recovered, we sat in his office for a bit then wandered off for a coffee for old times sake.

I was fortunate to find him as he was just getting ready to retire permanently. In another month, he would not have been there. His Asperger’s seemed worse, but part of that was likely due to the sad news that his wife, Sonja, had died. She had suffered for years with severe depression and after a few suicide attempts and various meds, her body was too worn out. His bedrock was gone. He was no longer teaching. His sons had moved elsewhere. So, his plan was eventually to move closer to one of his sons, but as of now I don’t know where he went. Jan was never on social media, nor does he probably have a personal email.

I am sad that I have once again lost touch with him, but the years I spent learning from him, studying with him, being mentored, getting support for teaching – well, I will never forget everything he did for me, and I hope wherever he is, he is living well and content, enjoying some quiet retirement.

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter J.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, I is for Instructional Designer.

It’s what I do for work. I was going to say what I am, but it is definitely not what I am, just what I have been doing for work for the past almost 30 years. Sometimes officially called an instructional designer, sometimes just called that as describing the work I do while holding another institutional title that doesn’t mean a lot.

What is an instructional designer, or ID as we call it? Well, we help faculty design their instruction. Many faculty at post-secondary institutions are well versed in their subject area and not so well versed in how to teach it or how to assess it. That’s where we come in. In my case, the kind of work I do is with faculty using technology to support their teaching, right up to faculty teaching completely online. And I am not just talking about emergency remote teaching, which is what happened in March of 2020, but actual well planned purposeful online teaching which has been going on since the 1990s.

I became an ID in 1998 after working as a language lab tech for 7 years developing and designing language lab computer lessons. The Internet was fairly new and the Internet browser had become a thing and there was this online course platform called WebCT which was developed out of the University of British Columbia that my institution adopted. Now, when I applied for and got the job of ID in the distance learning unit at my institution, I did not just work with online courses, but also with televised courses as the main kind of distance learning going on was televised – an instructor would teach in Regina to a small group of students and be broadcast live to groups of students at colleges across the province (Saskatchewan). We ran classes this way for years – probably still do (it’s been awhile since I worked there). But as time went on I worked more and more with online classes, mostly asynchronous, but as technology advanced, also with synchronous (or like live web conferencing).

I worked there until 2007 when Kevin became an optometrist and we moved to BC. In Victoria, I found a job at the University of Victoria (never underestimate sending emails to everyone asking if they need an ID contractor…). I worked there for five years, a couple as a contractor and then as an actual employee. When the wind started to shift (political assholery by the institution), a colleague and I jumped ship to our current institution where we have been since 2013.

One of the nice things about my current position is that we are considered faculty. This means many more perks (pay, professional development, vacation), but also more respect from teaching faculty because, yes you know it, being “faculty” puts you on equal footing in many of their eyes and not just a support person who can be stomped on. I won’t digress down that rabbit hole. Suffice it to say, I do like this new status in work life.

I still work with faculty to use tech to support their teaching and to teach online. But my current passion is Open Education, which I am hoping to devote more time to. After 30 years of supporting teaching with technology I am a bit sick of it. Tech is always changing and faculty do not like change. It often feels like an uphill battle every day, and if I hear one more time how online learning is not as good as in person learning I will do something drastic. It’s NOT the mode that’s the problem, it’s the way faculty teach. Period. I have, and I know you have, experienced in person learning that left you sleeping at your desk or skipping classes or just wondering what the point was. In person does not make better learning. And that is enough of that.

So there you have it. Instructional designer is my job (even though my Masters is in Linguistics), and likely will be until I retire. It pays the bills and is sometimes kind of interesting, and you do get to work with some great people.

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter I.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, H is for Hellebores.

I never used to know what Hellebores were. Then one day a work friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to Helleborganza with her and her daughter – their annual trip to SaltSpring Island and Fraser Thimble Farms where they had a great Hellebore sale every year. I said yes and now, many years later, Hellebores bloom happily all over our back and front yards.

If you don’t know what Hellebores are, they are also called Christmas roses (well one variety is called Christmas rose) and they typically start to bloom in December or January and keep blooming for a long time. Mine are all in full bloom now and show no signs of stopping.

Here are some pictures for you.

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter H.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, G is for Gladys Angley, my piano teacher.

I started piano lessons when I was 5. My teacher for many years was Gladys Angley. I didn’t know anything about her, Miss Angley, except the bits and pieces I learned over the years. She had taken care of her parents, as single women often did back in the day, and never married. She had a brother. She had arthritis so bad, her hands were twisted. She was very patient although there were times I know I wore that patience pretty thin especially when I wanted to play with the various ornaments and things she had in her studio rather than play the pieces I was supposed to.

At some point, she gave up the studio she had at the Conservatory and began teaching out of her home. Her piano was set up in her living room and I would come in the front door, and walk past the stairs going up to the second floor, into the kitchen, and around into a room that was probably a dining room at some point but was now set up as a waiting room. I remember there being a lot of stuff in the rooms, chairs and couches and books and just stuff. I would wait until she was finished with the previous lesson, then go in and start mine.

Miss Angley taught at home because she wasn’t able to get around any more. But teaching had become her life. Eventually I stopped taking lessons, but she kept teaching even when she had to leave her house and go into a care facility. She still had some students come in. When the day came that she couldn’t teach any more, she passed away.

Years later I tried to find her house where I had taken lessons, but I couldn’t remember which one it was. I don’t know if it is still standing or if it has gone the way of so many other old houses to make way for progress.

I don’t play piano any more, but we do have mom and dad’s piano in our house, so maybe someday I’ll sit down and listen for Miss Angley’s voice telling me to curve my fingers on the keys.

I said earlier I didn’t know much about her, but I googled her today and found this…I wish I had taken the time to talk to her more about her life and to hear her story. She was one of those people who have an influence on your life, but you forget that they also had a life with people who influenced them.

——

ANGLEY, GLADYS B. (1912-1989)
Educator

Gladys Bethel Angley was born in Radisson, Saskatchewan in 1912 and moved to Regina in 1916 when her father, Frank B. Angley, became manager of Regina Pharmacy.   She received her early academic and musical training at Model School, Central Collegiate, Qu’Appelle Diocesan Girls’ School and at Regina College.  She studied piano with Sister Agnes, S.S.J.D., William M. Buckley and Dr. Lyle Gustin, theory with George Coutts, and Fred Killmaster and vocals with W. Francis.  Gladys received an Associate degree from the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1931 and a Licentiate diploma from the Royal Schools of Music in London England in 1932.

She began teaching piano in public schools from 1931 to 1933, and taught piano in the Qu’Appelle Diocesan from 1933 to 1941, the Regina Conservatory of Music from 1941 to 1958 and the University of Regina from 1958 to 1980 when complications, due to rheumatoid arthritis in 1955, began to hinder her public performances.

Public performances between 1931 and 1956 included solo recitals, performing as a guest artist and as an ensemble member of the Buckley Piano Quartet.  By local radio Angley entertained listeners on the Prairie Network and the Canadian Broadcasting System, know now as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (C.B.C.)

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter G.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, F is for Fire Table.

A few years back, I believe in 2019, we finally after much debate and searching bought a fire table for our deck. One we could plug into the gas outlet so we didn’t have to rely on propane all the time. You may have seen pictures of it here before, but I’ll add some later in the post, don’t worry.

We are really lucky here to be able to not only bbq all year round (which we did in Saskatchewan too, but only to -30C) but also to be able to sit outside comfortably most of the time. The fire table has not only made those times even more comfortable, but made the less comfy times (when it gets “cold” here) welcoming to deck times.

One thing about the fire table is that it did not come with glass around the flame area. It was just open. I don’t know about you, but when the wind picks up I would prefer not to catch on fire because I’m leaning a bit too close to the flames, so Kevin adding the glass component was a good call. And it looks nice too.

There is nothing like sitting by the fire table at the end of a long day with a glass of wine and maybe some bbq appies while Kevin cooks the main part of our dinner. It might not send off a huge amount of heat (although the awning it is under does help trap it a bit) but just sitting next to the quiet flames is a happy place. Wish you could be here too!

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter F.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, E is for Earrings.

I love earrings. Dangly earrings, hoop earrings, little tiny earrings. Love them all. But I never used to have pierced ears. I didn’t get my ears pierced until I was, well, I guess in my 30s.

I remember getting them done one day on a whim and then showing up to teach my class that day or the next day and regaling my class with my adventure in later in life ear piercing. I think they were in awe, or maybe just concerned that I would put a question on the exam about it.

I didn’t wear any of my fun earrings for over 18 months while we were in lockdown and then while my workplace was closed for in person work. Then for awhile after that while we were still wearing masks cause masks kept pulling my earrings out. I lost a couple of nice ones before I smartened up.

But then once we didn’t have to wear masks, I began showing off the danglies whenever I went to work or eventually to concerts.

Here are some of the earrings I’ve been wearing lately. Note that I have a lot of amazing earrings, some given to me by mom and dad, but a few months ago Oliver trashed my jewelry box and while I have since purchased a more Oliver-proof case, I have not taken the time to move everything over. While I was taking some pictures today I was going, wow I forgot about those, and those, and those. So I’m looking forward to changing things up in the next few weeks!

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter E.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, D is for Defense of Thesis.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a Master of Arts in Linguistics which I completed, well, a really long time ago. Part of the process of getting a Masters degree is defending your thesis, a long paper that is usually not as long as a PhD dissertation, but longer than your standard course essay. Mine was long. Longer than normal because of what I worked on, which I am not going to go into here. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t seem important to this post.

Anyway, the defense. Another one of those war metaphors that we like to use in English, like battling cancer or being on the warpath about something that you don’t agree with. We do like our fight expressions.

My thesis defense consisted of all the professors in my area, plus another one outside of my area, the head of the Graduate Studies department, or I guess the Dean or some such personage, as well as someone who was an expert on my topic from another institution. I was really lucky in this last as I got the true expert to come up from the states, and I don’t think anyone else getting a Masters in Linguistics was granted that privilege after that. But I could be wrong. I only know I was lucky.

The defense started with me being pulled out of the room by the Graduate Students dude to give me a pep talk, which didn’t leave me feeling very peppy. Then I went back to the room and gave a short presentation. I was told ahead of time that I had 20 minutes (I think that was the amount of time) and if I went over, I would be shut down. I was SO nervous. I have never been so nervous for anything and my voice shook – I’m surprised anyone could understand me. There was no PowerPoint back then, it was just me and my notes at a podium speaking to a room full of straight faced men. I don’t think there was another woman in the room, come to think of it.

I finished my presentation and sat down at the head of the table and the questions began. I think the external dude asked the first one, and I answered it! I remember the relief washing through me as I realized, hell, I knew what I was talking about!! All those years of study were actually still there in my brain.

And then I was ok. I was questioned for, well I don’t remember for how long. One hour? Two? But the moment I remember the most was when one of my professors (not my advisor, but another one) asked me a question about something he had asked me to change in my thesis before hand that I refused to change because, well, he was wrong about it. He asked, and I was about to answer when the external expert chimed in and said “Actually, Emily is right about that.” Boo and Yah! I wanted to fist bump right then and there, but I maintained my decorum only grinning to myself inside.

And then, it was done. I had some things to revise, they threw a party for me, and I got my Masters. Almost a let down because the adrenaline had been pumping for so long, and I spent so much time working on the damn thesis, that now I felt like I had nothing to do. Luckily having several jobs and beginning to teach classes took care that that feeling.

So that is the story of my thesis defense. I want to thank myself for taking me back through those lows and highs. Glad I have no intention of ever doing this again!

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter D.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, C is for Cats.

Yes indeed, and I have had a lot of them. Or really, many cats have deigned to cohabitate with me over the years.  As I work on my memoirs, each cat will have their own chapter (or chapters!)

We got our first cats when I was in grade 6. Some friends of mom and dad had Siamese cats who had kittens, and we got two of them. My brother and I each had one, you know, in the name of fairness. Mike imaginatively called his Sy (mom quickly changed this to Cyrano), and the little girl I called Taya. While they had the run of the house during the day, mom and dad shut them in the basement at night so they wouldn’t bother everyone trying to sleep. I never thought about it at the time, but now it seems weird that you would not invite kittens to drive you crazy while you are trying to sleep. Sy and Taya lived long lives – until 18. I was gone and back from university and had met Kevin before they were both gone.

When Kevin and I met, he had a little street cat (well he was a street cat when Kevin brought him home) named Luther. Luther never warmed to me, except one time when I was really sick and he decided to take care of me. Or maybe he was waiting for me to die….I will never know. Luther had feline Leukemia and while it was I remission for awhile, he died at four.

Kevin swore he didn’t want cats again any time soon, but one month later we found two black kittens in the newspaper (yes, before Kijiji there were paper want ads) and thus Simon and Bailey came into our lives, followed a short time later by Finnegan, the yin to their yang. They hated Finnegan for awhile, and while Bailey never did like him, he and Simon became friends. We moved from the apartment to our first house with these three. Bailey left us at 10, and then we moved Simon and Finnegan from Regina to Victoria when Kevin got his first optometry job here. It was traumatic for them because I stayed behind for a month to sell the house. But they adjusted. After we moved to our first house here in Victoria, Finnegan, who suffered from urinary tract disorder for years, succumbed to it at 13. Simon was alone.

But not for long, as we adopted Dexter to keep Simon company, not thinking that a 13 year old cat and a wild kitten might not be the best mix. And thus Nicholas entered our lives to keep Dexter company. Nico was a feral kitten and never did like to be around us, but he adored Simon and played with Dexter. When Simon died a couple of years later, It was just Nico and Dexter. But again, not for long.

In 2011, we brought home Jasper. Kevin had been googling Savannah cats and wanted one. Jasper fit the bill. A month later we traveled up island and after meeting a huge, tattooed, Latino mobile hairdresser who raised monkeys and Servals, we brought tiny Elliot home (half Bengal, half Savannah) to join our crew. Four cats, but I assured myself that two cats per person did not crazy cat people make.

In 2012 we uprooted the lot and moved the to our current house. Dexter left us suddenly in 2015, and last summer Jasper got cancer and our sweet sensitive angel was also gone.

But you all know that we love lots of cats, so Kevin, cruising the Kijiji net, found our latest family members, Lucy and Oliver. And so, the adventure continues.

Simon

Bailey

Finnegan

Dexter

Nicholas

Jasper

Elliot

Lucy and Oliver

Small, Medium, and Extra Large (Elliot, Jasper, and Dexter)

Jasper and Elliot

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter C.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…

Welcome to my April 2023 Great and Powerful Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

I’ve revealed my theme (My life in first drafts), but this year, instead of pretending there were ever plans, I am unashamedly blogging my theme letters on the fly.  So, here goes nothing!

So, without further ado, B is for Bass. String bass, that is.

Many years ago, although at the time I felt quite old (meaning mature…hah!), I began to play the bass. I was 19 and in Pre-Veterinary medicine, although I had been a musician all my life. I started piano at 5, flute when I was in grade school, and then began singing at 16, But I had wanted to be a vet since I was in Grade 5. It wasn’t going well, and I wanted to learn another instrument. I don’t remember why, but I wanted to play the viola. But the Principal bass player in the Regina Symphony convinced me to take up the bass. It would give me more opportunities to play somewhere, and hey, I thought, why not??

Thus began my bass journey. Nine months after I started playing bass, I was in the Regina Symphony, and had switched my major from Pre-Vet Med to Music. A year and a half after I started playing, I headed off to Kingston, Ontario to join the National Youth Orchestra for the summer (I did that for three summers in a row, the last summer was when I decide to move to Ottawa to get a Masters in Music).

I have played in a few orchestras in Regina and Ottawa, and when I moved back to Regina having not completed my Masters (this is part of my Life as a Quitter series), I began playing jazz bass with my brother and ultimately with a lot of other great musicians in Regina. Eventually I found my way back into the Regina Symphony, and I played gigs and symphony until I left Regina in 2007 to move to Victoria when Kevin finished Optometry school and got a gig out here.

I never did try to find a place to play out here. Thought about it, but I started to enjoy a life where I only had one job and didn’t have to haul a bass all over town to gigs during the evenings and weekends. Eventually I sold my bass and while sometimes I miss it a little, I just let myself enjoy listening to the music I used to play.

People think I miss it, or maybe think I should miss it. I really don’t. It’s another closed chapter of my life and I’m totally ok with that. Add it to the pile of things I did and eventually moved on from.

This was my bass, before I sold it. It was my third bass and while it was cracked and old, it served me well for a long time. I hope the person who bought it (a car salesman who wanted to learn to play upright bass) enjoyed it too.

Thanks for visiting my 2023 A to Z Challenge – Letter B.  You can find links to more blogs participating in this challenge at Letter A, A to Z 2023 Challenge Master List (Google Docs).

Guess I’m kind of a rebel too…although I do like using the “official” letters…