The Forgotten Carols

It seems like only a few days ago I was doing a post...wait, IT WAS! :) Well, our lives have been busy enough lately to justify another Zea update. Big 'E's Musical (The Forgotten Carols) went REALLY well. Here is a video clip of his part of the show. His was the only group singing without any kind of music in the background, not even to help lead them into their song. They did only one practice all together as a group before performing 3 times. Way to go guys! The whole performance was great, kudos to all who performed and directed and sang. Big E invited a number of people from school, but wasn't able to catch them before they had to go. He is looking forward to hearing their reactions on Monday. As enjoyable as the experience has been for him, he is grateful it is over and he can fully concentrate on his school assignments once again. His schedule lately has been quite hectic and this will be one major thing off of his plate. I too will be happy it is over because I hate to see him trying to struggle through his days on so little sleep! One of the men in the group is a dentist and so they had lots of time to talk about dentistry school, costs, schedules, costs, oh, and did I mention COSTS?! Big E couldn't fall asleep one night because rolling around in his head was the total cost of dentistry school (a mere $200,000), living expenses (he informed me calmly that we would have to sell the place we are in now and move into residence because with subsidy we would only pay $100/month), and the fact that they only accepted 33 dentists into the program this past year.

Now, I do admit that all of those things should be considered...eventually, but not yet! First steps first I reminded my dear husband. First the pre-dental program, THEN dental school. I didn't even bat an eye at the $200,000 estimate (not bad considering I was almost asleep myself and as a student's wife am pretty tight with the $$$ anyway). So, he has calmed down again and is ready to just focus on his courses right now, and has stopped worrying about the grand total. Whew. Honestly, too much dwelling on such large numbers is likely to give someone an ulcer!

Little E is continuing to be a lot of fun and VERY busy. It's a good thing he won't be an only child (soon I'll get to write about a Little B!!), he's just too cute and he'd get away with way too much! Time out's are kind of funny....for him, not for me. For some reason he thinks they're a hoot. I put on my no-nonsense-face and he laughs away. Heaven help me...what do you do with a child who thinks time outs are FUN!? I don't know, I've tried doing them different ways hoping one of them will make an impression....no luck so far. Corners, floor, special chair...nada, he still laughs. I used to babysit a little boy one month older than Little E and HE understood time out's, but not Little E. :) Good thing I don't have to administer them very often...and maybe that's the root of the problem.

I'm sure many of you are wondering about our condo and the current tenants. First, may I say that Ontario has some very wacky rental laws. I am moving back to London in March. Our tenants have been given their 60 days notice and are supposed to move out at the end of January. That may happen sooner as they haven't paid rent for the last 2 months...and I'm not expecting they will pay December's rent either. What a pickle, you are thinking, and you'd be right! They've got it pretty good, living in my lovely condo, for FREE! The management company has sent the paperwork to the rental governing body (the Tribunal), and what will likely happen is they will be given a date to get paid up. If they pay up by that date, then they will be allowed to stay until the end of January. However, if they miss the date and don't pay then the sheriff (for $300) will lock the door and they will be out. After all of this stress and stress, and did I mention STRESS, I'm not sure which to wish for....that they pay the money we really need them to pay...or that they move out earlier (and end up owing less). If they're kicked out I'm waiting for the local paper to pick up the story about some poor disadvantaged family kicked out of their house so close to Christmas and in the winter....and if they do, I want a chance for rebuttal....about the disadvantaged family going crazy trying to pay their own rent ON TOP of their tenant's rent....this poor little family with a toddler and baby on the way, who's husband is in school and working at 3am trying to make ends meet...well, you can see where I'd be going with this. :) Enjoy the video clip, and until next time dear reader...enjoy life!