It's Dilovely

{Actually, I make no guarantees that the segues will be brilliant. But whatever.} My last post was a downer, I know. But now! I am able to lighten up for the following reasons: 1. I have awesome friends/family/Di-hards. THANK YOU for your sympathy and support, and offers of help. I hope I haven’t worried you [...]

Seven years ago, in my second year of teaching, I taught at a Catholic elementary school. I’m not Catholic, but French teachers are often in short supply, and I was in no position to be picky about jobs. Sometimes I was a bit uncomfortable being a Quaker inside the Catholic bubble with all the unfamiliar [...]

You may be thinking, Wait, Dilovely, aren’t you that crazy smitten ukulele fan? Yes, I am indeed. But I also love the banjo. Sometime when I was in university, I remember being at home with the family and we were listening to an old vinyl record of Steve Martin’s standup comedy. He was doing a [...]

On Friday evening, Sean and I had the good fortune to see ukulelist James Hill in concert with his cellist fiancee, Anne Janelle (Davison)… in the company of our not-quite-four-week-old Baby A. We had debated about whether to go, since we would have to buy our baby a ticket, and then there was always the [...]

Hey there, fellow Di-hards. Auntie Em here. Most of you probably know me, or at least know that I am Di’s sister, live in the basement, and look after E pretty often. During the school year, we spent at least one day a week together while Mummy was at school with the other kids. Sometimes [...]

{So far, Mr. A is winning: I’m pretty sure “Di-hards” is my favourite suggestion regarding club names to make us sound more cool. (Well, he suggested it along with “fans”, but I’m just not sure I pull that off.) To me, you’re di-hards because you rock no matter what. You’re here for the funny stuff [...]

You know how sometimes, people suck? You know those days when you look at the world and go, “How did we even get this far? We’re shallow and violent and self-centred. We hurt each other and we waste and we destroy and WE SUCK.” Then there are those other days: the days where you’re reminded [...]

Today, I was whooshed back in time to my own kindergarten experience – twice. I was a homeschooling kid. I went to public kindergarten, but only a couple weeks of Grade 1 between that and Grade 9. My memories of kindergarten are few, but seminal. I often wonder which are the moments my students will [...]

I find the more I listen to Snacktime, the Barenaked Ladies’ album for kids, the more I want to listen to it. When we look for kids’ music in our household, our main criterion is that it be fun to listen – for us. It’s not that we don’t care whether E is entertained; it’s [...]

Today was the first day this NaBloPoMonth that I’ve felt completely uninspired to write. I think it’s because it’s been pissing rain and (perhaps consequently) I’ve had a nasty headache… the kind that squashes creativity. So I’ve decided to use other people’s creativity instead. Sean and I don’t have any TV channels at our house, [...]