Did I Really Let Nearly Two Years Go By?

Squish finished of Grade 8 by winning the
Drama and Arts award for her Dance Presentation

According to my blog roll, the last post I made on this blog was April 24 of 2016.  I let two years go by without updating you all on Life with Banana and Squish.  So here goes...

First day of school - GRADE 9!

Banana and Squish are 14 now.  They'll be 15 this July.  They started high school this past September and settled in quite nicely.  Their grades aren't all that bad, but I do wish I could convince them to study just a little bit - not because I want them getting straight As.  We only expect them to try hard and do their best.  But studying helps maintain their grades and maybe improve a little.  We've never put a huge emphasis on grades, but we have put an emphasis on learning and challenging themselves. It seems to be a losing battle, but I'm going to keep trying (FIFTEEN MINUTES!  THAT'S ALL I ASK!!)

Cadet Banana at the Aurora Santa Claus Parade

Banana joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets last year (140 Aurora Squadron), and this is now her second year in her Squadron.  She's now a Flight Corporal, in Level 3 and joined both the Marksmanship teams (my kid can shoot a gun) and the Band (snare drum).  She'll be going to her Band Competition next weekend and about a month ago, she went to the Marksmanship competition, where she did not too badly for a kid who didn't get a lot of practice time (along with the rest of the team) and had never been to competition before.

Her favourite activity is gliding and she was bummed when she found out that Band Competition and Gliding were on the same day.  Then she found out that the band would be bussed from the competition to the airfield for their chance to glide.  Here's hoping the weather holds for them (the fall gliding session was cancelled because of weather, and as I write this, we are experiencing a nice Spring ice storm).

Cadet Banana heading off to General Training

Through Cadets, she also gets to go to Summer Training, which is held on various military bases.  The Cadets have to apply to go to summer training and their Commanding Officers and Instructors also have to recommend them.  Last summer she applied for General Training and that's where she went (she applied for two others, but she was offered GT).  She spent two weeks at CF Trenton in their Cadet Training Centre.  One of the great things about these programs is that parents can come and visit any time during the week after training.  So from 4:30-8:30 pm during the week and all day on Sunday.  Because she was in General Training she was not allowed off base on the Sundays, so we brought a picnic lunch, and at one point, wound up making a McDonald's run.  We only visited her on the Sunday because Trenton is about 2 hours from home and during the week, we couldn't get there.

This summer, she got her dream offer and will be spending three weeks at Base Borden, about 45 minutes from home, and participating in Basic Survival.  She states that her desire is to go into Search and Rescue as a career.  This will definitely be a stepping stone towards that goal.  I can't wait for her to go because she is so excited about it!

Cadet Banana and some of her Flight from Summer Training

We are very proud of the young lady she is becoming.













Squish is completely different from Banana.  She definitely marches to the beat of her own... Bass guitar.  Squish is my little rockstar, and I say that with no irony.  She has been studying Bass guitar for about 3 years now, and she's really good!  She learns most music by ear and while she also has taken piano lessons and has a keyboard that she plays around on sometimes, her real love seems to be Bass.  She has been taking lessons through Rockstar Music and initially started out in "Group Jams" and had private lessons - so she was taking music twice a week.  This year, she's only going once a week, but gets a 2 hour Group Jam where, evidently, they are also learning to write their own songs.

Twice a year, the school puts on a rock show and we get to see and hear the talent from these kids.  They take kids in pretty young, so we've seen 4 or 5 year old ukelele players and 16 or 17 year old drummers and guitarists show off their talents in the showcases.






Squish has also joined the Gay/Straight Alliance at school (Banana did too) and has gone to a couple of workshops, has participated in fundraisers and awareness days at school.

Those aren't real bruises.
That's makeup!

Her passion is still Special Effects Makeup, and she is taking Aesthetics as one of her elective courses.  At Hallowe'en, they learned some special effects makeup techniques, and during the rest of the year, they deal with regular types of makeup, including day wear, evening wear and theatre makeup.  They also do hairstyling and she's learned how to use different types of curling irons and I gave her permission to have her hair dyed.  She also has my permission to have her hair cut if ever needed as part of a project/lesson.  She's a smart kid - she won't let someone with no clue touch her head.

Last month, she participated in a fashion show at school, and Banana took video of it for us to see.  My kid looked great.  The kids picked their own clothes to wear and the theme was supposed to be 'futuristic',  Squish picked some great outfits.  A dress she 'made' (by altering a dress she already owned) and part of a costume we bought for her for Fan Expo here in Toronto.

That's another one of her passions - Fan Expo.  We go - Banana, Squish and I, every year on at least one day.  Squish and I go for the Walking Dead panels (hoping, of course, that there IS a Walking Dead panel, since last year the only panel was on the Saturday, and we usually go on the Sunday).  And Squish and Banana like to go for Anime panels (last year we went to the Women in Voice Acting panel for Anime).  They always hope there will be an opportunity for them to meet some of their favourite Anime voice actors.  This year, I'm sort of hoping to volunteer at Fan Expo and hoping I can get the girls in one, or two days.  We miss a lot of the Expo because we focus on the panels and on the North Building, where vendors we like are.  We do go down to the South Building, but often, there aren't things for the girls that they like.  The convention floor in the South Building is a lot of comic retailers and other types of merchandise that they aren't interested (like Artist's Alley) as well as displays by various media companies, and if it isn't Walking Dead or something Anime, they aren't interested.

As for me?  Well, I had some interesting news this past January.  I found my birth mother.  Most people who know me, know I'm adopted, and some knew I'd actually started looking.  Well, I finally applied for information through the Government and was sent a copy of my Adoption Order (which my parents had and had given me a copy of), and my Statement of Live Birth.  Through those documents, I learned my birth mother's name, her address at the time of my birth, and her birthday.  Through a Facebook page, I got a "search angel" who tracked her down through Facebook and while she doesn't seem to want any contact (I keep saying 'she wants nothing to do with me,' but that's not really fair), I did get some medical information and a little bit of background (in as much as apparently I come from a long line of 'strong, independent women'.  People who know me seem to be shocked - LOL!)  She has pictures of myself and the girls and she has my email address.  I also sent her a little note through my search angel and let her know that I would be interested in an email conversation - that I'm not looking to replace my current family and I'm certainly not looking for a 'new mom'.  I let her know that I have never held against her her decision to give me up for adoption (although I know the reasons but my search angel said she hadn't wanted to hurt me with the information.  I actually guessed it).  I'm hoping maybe one day she'll reach out.  I might send her a message asking her about her parents.  Her dad fought in World War 2 and I'd love to be able to honour him on Remembrance Day.

I think that pretty much you all caught up.  Enjoy a cup of ice cream.  Like the girls are in the picture below.  Ice cream solves everything.  Even coffee withdrawl ('cause you know, coffee ice cream)

XXOO

Gayla