It looks as though most of the Commission Scolaire de Montréal primary and secondary schools will be open by tomorrow. There are still a handful that have not been reviewed by the engineers. Here’s the round-up.

CSDM primary schools still closed as of 16:30 on 18 March 2008

Ahuntsic (but the annex is open as of 19 March 2008)
au Pied-de-la-Montagne (again, the annex is open as of 19 March 2008)
Baril
Barthélemy-Vimont (annex open as of 19 March 2008)
Bedford
des Cinq-Continents, pavillon Dupuis (pavillon Saint-Antonin open as of 19 March 2008)
Félix-Leclerc
Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur
Lambert-Closse
Saint-Clément
Saint-Marc
Saint-Nom-de-Jésus
Saint-Zotique
Victor-Rousselot

*****

CSDM secondary schools still closed as of 16:30 on 18 March 2008

de la Source
Jeanne-Mance et élèves de Père-Marquette relocalisés
Marguerite-De Lajemmerais
Rosalie-Jetté
Saint-Henri
Sophie-Barat, annexe (the rest of Sophie-Barat reopens 19 March 2008)

*****

If your child’s primary or secondary school is not in the list of closed facilities it has either reopened or will be reopening the morning of 19 March 2008.

All daycares are also open as of 19 March 2008 but those classified as CPE’s - Centres de la petit enfance - may still be closed: CPE Autour du monde, CPE Bilbo, CPE de la Côte, CPE Idée fixe, CPE La bottine filante, CPE Alexis le trotteur, CPE Carcajou, CPE Ami Soleil and CPE Au Galop are still closed.

Adult facilities are coming along. Most of the FGA’s - Formation générale adultes - are open as of tomorrow. Remaining closed are: Centre Champagnat, Centre de ressources éducatives et pédagogiques (CREP),Centre Saint-Paul, annexe Saint-Henri (annexe Saint-Raymond is open as of the 19th,) Centre William-Hingston, and Centre Yves-Thériault.

Among the professional training centres several are still closed:

École des métiers de l’image et des médias numériques de Montréal
École des métiers de l’informatique, du commerce et de l’administration de Montréal (ÉMICA) - Bellechasse location and both annexes
École des métiers de la construction de Montréal - annexes 1 & 3
École des métiers de l’équipement motorisé de Montréal - St-Denis & annex
École des métiers des Faubourgs-de-Montréal, annexe 2 only
École des métiers du Sud-Ouest-de-Montréal
Seracin (reconnaissance des acquis)

Please be patient if you have been trying to reach the CSDM web site. The great number of people trying to check on their school’s status is a big demand for the server and the school board has taken the rest of its site offline to ensure parents will be able to find the school opening information.

You can also check the status of your school by calling the hotline at (514)-897-4444.

Please remember, these listings were accurate as of 16:30 today but there may be more updates. It’s a good idea to verify just before bedtime, and again in the morning.

This is a much larger list than I usually post. Please let me know if you find any errors. The school board itself is always your best source of information. If you are unsure, confirm your school’s status with the staff at the board.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

This is just one of those days. I have a pile of work I want to get through, I’ve got all four kids home, and my mischief makers are getting into - well, mischief. This is one of those moments when I wish I had a soundproofed office with a Bioscrypt V-Pass Access Control System. (Between my forgetfulness and the fact that our children are kin to the key fenwick, we’ve pretty much concluded that anything short of biometrics is just not going to work for us.)

I can imagine that I’m sitting in my office getting all the tasks on my to do list done, blissfully oblivious to the racket the children are making while they are supposed to be cleaning their rooms. I can imagine that we have installed all the video surveillance equipment that we talk about getting, so that when I eventually leave my tranquil sanctuary I will know with a certainty which one of those beautifully innocent looking faces belongs to the culprit that dropped half a dozen eggs on my kitchen floor and only succeeded in making a bigger mess when they tried to wipe them up.

I could even imagine having an electromagnetic lock on the fridge door, to keep my little monsters out of the eggs. Or maybe a more intelligent system, with a magnetic card reader that only allowed the more responsible offspring access to the potentially messy foods.

OK, maybe I’ve been reading too much Anne of Green Gables! I’m imagining entirely too many things, too well. Maybe I should imagine a nanny too, while I’m at it
Seriously, though, with a child who is in fugue one does go through phases of wondering how to keep him in and safe. And when he also gets into things, there’s the added need to find ways of keeping those things safe. We’re (mostly) through our paper shredding phase - though library books sometimes don’t pass inspection and can end up with a few of his creative “alterations”…. We’re mostly through the food messes too (except for eggs….) But it seems the end of one phase always brings the beginning of the next. We never stop “putting things up” or hiding them away. It’s a long road….. Bring on the fortifications!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

Here’s a dish you can easily do with the kids. (Or bake it while they’re busy, so they don’t know they’re eating fibre!)

Ruby’s Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 10 - 14 apples, sliced
• 2/3 (about 160 mL) white sugar
• 2 tbsp (30mL) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon or apple spice
• zest of one lemon or orange (optional)

• 1 cup (250 mL) packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (125mL) butter or margarine
• 1 cup (250 mL) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp (roughly 1 mL) baking powder
• 1/4 tsp (roughly 1 mL) baking soda
• 1 cup (250 mL) oats
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) wheat germ
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped walnuts (optional)

I make this in my 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Core and peel the apples, and cut them up. Some recipes call for them to be sliced thinly but I prefer thicker pieces. I’ve also seen some folks leave the skin on, to boost the fibre content. I don’t much care for it this way myself, but do try if this appeals to you (excuse the pun!)

As for choice of apples, I like to use 2-3 types together if I have them on hand. Spartans are good for baking, as are Granny Smith, though the latter are pricier. Around here we get a lot of Cortland and Empire, which I quite like in my crisp. If you can get your hands on Ida Reds you can make a “Ruby Red Apple Crisp.” If all you have is McIntosh, these work just fine too.

You may need to adjust the amount of sugar if your apples are very tart or sweet. This is a bit of trial and error, but personally I find the topping is sweet enough and will sometimes completely omit the sugar in the apples. Mix the cut apples with the sugar, flour, spice and zest. Lay out in your baking dish. I often omit the flour, especially if I’m using the zest.

To make the topping cut cold butter into the brown sugar to distribute it evenly, then just stir in the other ingredients. If you really like spice you can add a touch to the topping as well. Pat it down over the apples.

You can use regular all purpose flour instead of whole wheat. We just prefer whole wheat in our house for baking. If you can’t get wheat germ or flax seed don’t worry. Your topping will be perfectly fine without it. Any kind of nut or seed could be used, instead of the walnuts. I knew a woman who used sunflower seeds, which I think would have been quite tasty if she had toasted them first.

Bake your apple crisp 45 minutes at 350°F (175°C.) Serve warm with a bit of heavy cream or vanilla ice cream. It’s just as good cold the next day, though. This is one of the few sweet things I’ll let the kids eat for breakfast when there are left-overs. It’s sweet, but between the apples and the oatmeal I figure it’s better than a chocolate chip muffin!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!