I'm so glad you could stop by. This is my personal blog of daily life and my journey through life. You will find a strong emphasis on family and friends as well as finding my ancestors through genealogy. Unlike my other blogs this blog is more of a catch-all so any topic is fair game.

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Love


The ability to love, give love and share love has to be one of the greatest blessings and yet one that is not always appreciated and goes unnoticed so many times. It surrounds us but is often very subtle. I'm reminded daily of how very blessed I am to have a family to love and one that loves me in return. It's an unconditional love, giving and taking, always growing!

Today I watched one of my kids bid a tearful goodbye to their significant other, soon to be spouse. My heart broke for both of them. They will not see each other in person again until mid January. They are waiting for the necessary paperwork so our kid can legally enter the US at which time they will wed. Immigrating to the US is not as easy as it would appear even with the intentions of getting married. So far they have been waiting since July. We've watch their love grow and become stronger despite the obstacles. At the same time our love has grown as we've supported them. We've had the opportunity to get to know the soon to be newest member of our family. We are very blessed that they have allowed us to share this chapter of their lives.


Saturday, November 24, 2007

Hot Flashes :)


It's time for a little humour and in case anyone is wondering, I can find a lot of humour in my own life. It's not exactly like I'm a spring chicken but I'm young at heart so that counts and it's not like I'm exactly old neither as I haven't hit that four score and something mark yet. The current source of humour here is known as hot flashes. Hey you had to figure that eventually that topic or some reference to it would come up. I am a little concerned when walking to the car on these chilly mornings surrounded by a cloud of steam of my very own production and that's while wearing a t-shirt and shorts! It's discerning to see our house is surrounded by fog when the neighbouring houses are nice and clear with no fog in sight. Seriously I am just "this close" to becoming a nudist and then I would still be too hot. Yep, I can just see the looks on my kids face when they show up seeing me in my birthday suit, stretch marks and all! They would just roll their eyes and give that look "Mom's on a new kick." while silently wondering how long before it passes. Now that's a good question because I'm wondering how long hot flashes last myself. Seriously they can't last longer than a year or so, can they? Well if they are going to last for any length of time, I'll best make the most of them. They are too good to pass up!

Why I love hot flashes:

  • No heat is required in the house ever. Trust me I can produce enough heat to heat the house in a blizzard and then some!
  • I now have a beautiful, glistening glow. It comes and goes but hey it is cheaper than make-up.
  • Sleeping is simply an option freeing up more time for playing online! Who needs sleep anyway?
  • I'm saving a lot of time and energy on cooking food by strapping pouches of food to my waist during the day. By dinner time the food is nicely steamed ready to eat!
  • They are cheaper than either a sauna or hot tube and just as beneficial.
  • Grandma (aka me) makes a good slip and slide :)
  • I'm my own de-wrinkler - clothes and otherwise and I work reasonably well near curtains too.
  • My husband is thrilled I can pop corn on my tummy while watching tv.
  • Border patrol has classified me as a hot spot! They hover over our house to the point I'm going to need a tin foil hat but that would hold the heat in :(
  • I love saying "Honestly officer, there is only me in the car." as they eye up the steamed windows while I'm sitting in the parking lot.
  • They taught me a new game - "Covers on, Covers off".
  • My husband has to put on the fog lights just to get out of our driveway. Thanks to me, he knows those lights work!
Stay tuned for a wonderful side effect of hot flashes called mood swings. Apparently, mood swings are a bit more noticeable to those other than me. They don't bother me in the least so I'll have to get the opinions of others to post a follow-up.


Friday, November 23, 2007

Buy Nothing Day 2007

buy nothing day 2007
Today is Buy Nothing Day in North America. The event is also celebrated in the United Kingdom on November 24 this year. Buy Nothing Day began in 1992 in Canada as an initiative by Ted Dave. He was working in the advertising world and wanted to perform an act against the constant appeal to over consume. His motto was: Enough is enough! Buy Nothing Day highlights the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries constitute 20 % of the world's population yet they are consuming over 80% of the world's natural resources. This causes a disproportion level of environmental damage and an unfair distribution of wealth. Buy Nothing Day is meant to raise the consumer consciousness in the hopes of encouraging a life long commitment to consuming less, recycling more and challenge companies to clean up and be fair. The idea has been adopted by several countries with Buy Nothing Day activities in at least thirteen countries this year. Participation is easy. Simply buy nothing the entire day. You can also organize an event, hang a poster in your window, blog about it and tell others.

Buy Nothing Day is a good time to reflect on what you buy and how it impacts the environment and developing countries. We've all heard of brand loyalty but does that company really deserve your loyalty? Sure they might produce the product you want but at what cost? Do they have a firm environmental policy in place? Do they pay their workers a fair salary? How do they treat their workers? How do they produce their goods? Are they producing toxic waste during production? Are they using cheap labour in developing countries where the workers are not protected? What about packaging? Are you buying the product because of advertising or because you really need it? Advertisers want us to believe we have to have the product. After all, that is their job. What aren't they telling us? There are so many questions!

This is a great day to write that letter to telling them why you won't be buying their product because of . So please spread the word. Hang a poster. Write a letter. Blog about it. Talk about it. Participate by not shopping!


Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Wordless Wednesday - Mallard Duck Visit


Mallard Ducks
Nov. 18, 2007


Monday, November 19, 2007

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Many Blessings

blog your blessings Sunday

To participate in Blog Your Blessings Sunday click here.

Last week was slow paced and pleasant despite a couple of dreary, cold weather days. I busied myself with a couple of winterizing projects. The wind was quite strong a few times but that was a blessing for helping me detect drafts. This house is quite solid so there isn't near as much sealing or winterizing needed as our last house. In fact the house is so well sealed and insulated we have not raised the thermostat higher than 19º C (67ºF) and that was only for a couple of hours as I had a chill. Right now 18ºC (65ºF) is a comfortable setting. This unexpected bonus is a nice, much appreciated blessing as well.

Thursday was busy as I got the call to pick up our half of pig, another blessing that came about from a farmer giving up pig farming so the price was well below market value. Since moving here, my second chest freezer is smaller than what I had at our last house. It is new and energy efficient though and it has forced me to be more conscious of my freezer space, all blessings. That meant I had to do some freezer reorganizing as well as get things ready for the weekend. It also meant I had a few pieces of meat to do a bit of canning with as well but that would have to wait until after the weekend.

Then it happened, every drain in the lower level backed up Friday night! Just perfect when Saturday was my husband's monthly poker game that we host and the kids with grandbaby would be home. We thought we had the problem solved only to discover the furnace room flooded Saturday morning! We figured out the pump was not pumping the water/sewage from the reservoir up and out but if we unplugged the pump and switch then plugged it back in it worked (would need repeating until we could repair), another blessing. So my husband used the some of the kitty litter I had for my door snakes to soak the water and odour and we got on with our entertainment plans.

I watched grandbaby (a real blessing!) while making various appetizers for the crowd. What a little sweetheart! Grandbaby is walking now which is really cute but I have to tell you this little one can climb stairs faster than Grandma can. I'm really tuckered out but in a good way.

My husband cleaned out the furnace room this afternoon preparing for the needed repair. Unfortunately a few things had to be discarded. The rest of the kitty litter was spread out to soak up all the water so that will be scooped up later this afternoon. This was a good reminder (a blessing) to keep a large bag of kitty litter on hand and install a water alarm. It's important for anyone with sump pumps and even more important in cases as ours where sewage water could be involved.

So all in all last week was good and even in the midst of problems there were blessing.


Thursday, November 15, 2007

Wordless Wednesday - Geese at Sunset

geese flying overhead at sunset
Geese at Sunset
October 21, 2007


Sunday, November 11, 2007

Remembrance Day 2007


My Great Uncle

[updated 12:oo pm]: Did you go to a Remembrance Day Service? If not, why? What could possibly be your excuse for not going? Give me your best shot. I will tell you now that unless you were infirmed or deceased, you as a Canadian have no excuse for not attending! You have no excuse for not showing your respect for our fallen soldiers and those still battling for our freedom. Sorry, you do not have an excuse! It doesn't matter if it is drizzling, snowy, pouring rain, in the midst of a blizzard or so cold your toes freeze while standing at the ceremony.

This year is the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-14, 1917). At least four of my ancestors fought in WWI and two of them were at Vimy Ridge. I grew up in a home were all family members were involved in one way or another in the military. Just about every one of the male members and some of the female members of my biological family (different from home I grew up in) were in the military. My European ancestors were fighting wars from the time they landed in Quebec, my English ancestors under British rule and my native ancestors well before then. All these efforts have made Canada the country it is today. I know my family stories, how the wars affected our family and yet time over time again, our family has enlisted defending our country. Our chests have been inflated at the honours, deflated at picking up the pieces and our hearts have been broken at burying our dead. Men barely out of their teens, still babies themselves buried. They had no excuse but gave freely with their lives.

What possible reason could you have for not paying respect?


Thursday, November 08, 2007

Do You See the Baby?

If you can't see the baby in the picture, don't give up.
It's really cool when it actually appears.
This is not a joke and ~ NO ~ Nothing is going to jump out at you!



You have to have an open mind.
Don't look for a Baby, and you will see the Baby!
Once you see it you won't see anything else!!!

This is so cool. Do you see the baby?

author unknown, image source unknown
If you know the author or image source, please let me know so I can acknowledge accordingly.


Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Wordless Wednesday - Sunset Through the Clouds


Sunset Through the Clouds
November 5, 2007


Monday, November 05, 2007

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - The Miracle of Life


Grandbaby
ETA April 5, 2008

What better blessing to celebrate than the miracle of life. We are closely watching the development of this little wonder sharing the milestones in vitro and sharing the hopes and dreams. It is a true blessing to share this with our kids as everyone prepares to welcome a new bundle of joy into our lives. Once again our family is growing. This little one like those before him or her will be surrounded with a lot of love and supported unconditionally by family.