I was talking to a friend the other day and she commented on how we were at the end of June. She wondered where it had gone to. I said are you kidding? I am still looking for LAST year's June. It has been more then the usual insane pace. I had staff training to get done, put a class together on Scottish Research, tried to get all my month end reports done at work as well as get things done to close the doors for July.
One of our granddaughters finished school and will be starting high school in Sept (3 grandkids in high school now eeeek) so we had her grad as well last week which mean the hunt for the perfect outfit for her!! Still waiting to see the grad pictures so I can post it.
Add to that our oldest son is getting married on the 4th so have been working on the bridal bouquets, corsages, centerpieces, boutonnieres etc. Then the 2 little Princesses here decided Auntie Jen NEEDED flower girls and I did honestly tell them that no she wasn't having flower girls. The 5 year old said "Nana, she is a girl, this is a wedding, and you always have flower girls, it's in the wedding rule book!| HUH? Ok that girl just hangs around me way too much. So Auntie Jen said if it meant so much for the girls to be a part of the wedding party it was fine with her. So when I told them what she said "I already told you that"...oh puhlease.
So that was last week, this week is our annual Canada Day Celebrations. Tomorrow I will pull out my boxes of red and white supplies and see what I have for prizes and decorations etc and then head out to get what is missing. Tuesday is baking day and food preparations. I am still thinking of what I am going to make that is red and white in keeping with the theme. Then that morning will be spent getting all the games ready, tables, volleyball net up, BBQ area etc..We are expecting about 40-50 people.
Thursday will be working on the bridal dress as my dear daughter in law has lost weight and it literally hangs on her so will take it in. Figured I would wait till after the dinner and fatten her up there first hehehe. Friday decorate the church.. do final touches on the centerpieces, gather up all the things that need to get to the church. Saturday, is wedding day, so pick up cake, food, get to the church on time and then a great afternoon meeting Jen's family and celebrating.
Next week will be shifting gears and rounding up all the reunion things; finish the video presentation, the huge scrapbook, the 15 generation pedigree wall chart, the garden stepping stone to complete, the family farm picture and grandparents portraits in the antique frame for the silent auction. Figure out what I can ship early and what I will have to bring with me. All the registration packages, the childrens' activities and paraphernalia, the sports equipment and of course my printer and enough paper. Finalize the menu and make up a grocery list for when I get there, Finish calling local businesses and ask for donations for prizes.
So it was an off and running June and a marathon July but I get to go home soon and see my entire family and it will all be worth it in the end.
Somewhere in there I need to get my flight booked and car reservation made. Now you know what I am more interested in looking for LAST June's then this one.. cause then I would have an extra year.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Long Lost Relatives
Everyone that knows me knows I have been doing genealogy from a very early age.. most of my memories of growing up involved my asking my grandparents about their lives, their parents, siblings where they came from etc etc. Yesterday at work I had a breakthrough on my dad's mother's paternal line!!! I had been searching for her grandparents for many years. I would search high and low but could never get past the names. As I had been going by my grandmother's handwritten notes, I took them as gospel law and whenever I would come across a name that was similar I would reject it thinking my grandmother must have known how to spell her grandparents names. After all I knew my grandparents names, birth dates, birth places etc.
Her last name which she had given me for her grandfather was Casimir Gibeault. But what I found was Gibeau minus the "lt". I was able to find his birth information, his marriage information, his death information and 2 more generations past him. I was ecstatic to say the least!!! When the person that came on shift to replace me at work last night, I was telling her all about it and told her I didn't have time to put any of my things away as I had a meeting to get to but would be back in a couple of hours. I came back to find she had never moved from where she had been 2 hours before and that she had found some siblings of Casimir and more dates!!!
When I found Casimir in the original census as a 10 year old boy with the last name misspelled I checked the enumerator's name and it wasn't a French name. And if Casimir could not read or write then the enumerator would have just written it as it sounded. At least now I can get the actual certificates to back up my finds and move on from there. Just 6 weeks before our big reunion, this was a big find to be able to place those names on my 15 generation pedigree chart that I am bringing with me. That line was looking pretty bleak compared to the rest of the lines.
It was a good day yesterday!!
Her last name which she had given me for her grandfather was Casimir Gibeault. But what I found was Gibeau minus the "lt". I was able to find his birth information, his marriage information, his death information and 2 more generations past him. I was ecstatic to say the least!!! When the person that came on shift to replace me at work last night, I was telling her all about it and told her I didn't have time to put any of my things away as I had a meeting to get to but would be back in a couple of hours. I came back to find she had never moved from where she had been 2 hours before and that she had found some siblings of Casimir and more dates!!!
When I found Casimir in the original census as a 10 year old boy with the last name misspelled I checked the enumerator's name and it wasn't a French name. And if Casimir could not read or write then the enumerator would have just written it as it sounded. At least now I can get the actual certificates to back up my finds and move on from there. Just 6 weeks before our big reunion, this was a big find to be able to place those names on my 15 generation pedigree chart that I am bringing with me. That line was looking pretty bleak compared to the rest of the lines.
It was a good day yesterday!!
Long legs vs short leg
Princess Rosaleen and I are out walking yesterday for our regular walks. I find by the time we are on the return trip the arm that she is attached to my hand is really strained from her walking so slow. She stops dead in her tracks and pulling on my hand says:
"Nana do you know how long your legs are?
Yes I do Rosaleen I have had these legs for a very long year
Well Nana do you know how short my little legs are?
Yes I do Sweetheart
Well then Nana you should know that you can walk FASTER then me with your LONG legs and I can only walk as far as my little legs can go.
I'm sorry sweetheart I will try and be better.
yadda yadda yadda
Nana were you not listening about our talk before about legs?
yes and I listened to you and slowed my walking down
No Nana you might be slowing your walking down to walk with Papa but you are going to have your geass in reverse for every 3rd foot so I can keep up.
I was not sure what that exactly entails but said yes I would try and better. I told her though if I went any slower I would be tripping over my feet cause I would now be going backwards.
"Nana do you know how long your legs are?
Yes I do Rosaleen I have had these legs for a very long year
Well Nana do you know how short my little legs are?
Yes I do Sweetheart
Well then Nana you should know that you can walk FASTER then me with your LONG legs and I can only walk as far as my little legs can go.
I'm sorry sweetheart I will try and be better.
yadda yadda yadda
Nana were you not listening about our talk before about legs?
yes and I listened to you and slowed my walking down
No Nana you might be slowing your walking down to walk with Papa but you are going to have your geass in reverse for every 3rd foot so I can keep up.
I was not sure what that exactly entails but said yes I would try and better. I told her though if I went any slower I would be tripping over my feet cause I would now be going backwards.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Green Earth Organics
For the last 9 months or so we have been using this company for a lot of our organic grocery shopping. After I had been diagnosed with cancer I was more conscious of eating even healthier then I already was. I like having my food delivered to my door every week or so.
This month they are celebrating their 11th birthday so Happy Birthday Green Earth!!! Thanks for making my corner of the world a little greener!!
https://vancouver.greenearthorganics.com/about/
This month they are celebrating their 11th birthday so Happy Birthday Green Earth!!! Thanks for making my corner of the world a little greener!!
https://vancouver.greenearthorganics.com/about/
Friday, June 12, 2009
All types of Prayer needed today
Hello Everyone...no funny conversations today between my grandchildren and I, no household mishaps, no falling over trying to get into bed at night, no being up all night long... all this is ...is a request for prayer no matter who you pray to, who you worship, i ask each of you that today (Saturday June 13Th) you find it in your heart to pray for the family of one of my uncles.
It has made 2 very long years that my cousin Darrell Cloutier went missing from his home in Nassau Bahamas. He was there to work on a project at a huge resort PCL was building. He had 2 weeks left and had actually met with the man who was going to replace him. Two little weeks before he was coming back home to his family. But the next day all they found was his home open, groceries on the floor and in his car, but no sign of him anywhere.
A few days later a woman was picked up using his credit and debit cards to extract cash from ATM's. But 2 long years later they are no closer to finding my cousin. As a parent I can't even begin to imagine what my uncle and the rest of his family are going through right now. As a human we always have hope even if it is a little tiny bit hidden deep into your heart. When someone dies no matter the age or if it was a tragic death you are sad, you can grieve, you can have closure. But when there is no body, no tell tale signs that someone is even there, how do you find closure with that?
It's going to be a very very long day and again I beg each of you that read this, to say a prayer for Darrell, for his father Raymond, for his brother Stefan, his sister in law Jaime and their children. There is a hole in the world tonight.
Please watch this video when you get the chance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdvOTR2-at0
I am part of a very large extended family and I know they will be surrounded by family this weekend. But they need to be surrounded by a lot more to be able to get through this. Please help. Prayer is a powerful tool.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
It has made 2 very long years that my cousin Darrell Cloutier went missing from his home in Nassau Bahamas. He was there to work on a project at a huge resort PCL was building. He had 2 weeks left and had actually met with the man who was going to replace him. Two little weeks before he was coming back home to his family. But the next day all they found was his home open, groceries on the floor and in his car, but no sign of him anywhere.
A few days later a woman was picked up using his credit and debit cards to extract cash from ATM's. But 2 long years later they are no closer to finding my cousin. As a parent I can't even begin to imagine what my uncle and the rest of his family are going through right now. As a human we always have hope even if it is a little tiny bit hidden deep into your heart. When someone dies no matter the age or if it was a tragic death you are sad, you can grieve, you can have closure. But when there is no body, no tell tale signs that someone is even there, how do you find closure with that?
It's going to be a very very long day and again I beg each of you that read this, to say a prayer for Darrell, for his father Raymond, for his brother Stefan, his sister in law Jaime and their children. There is a hole in the world tonight.
Please watch this video when you get the chance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdvOTR2-at0
I am part of a very large extended family and I know they will be surrounded by family this weekend. But they need to be surrounded by a lot more to be able to get through this. Please help. Prayer is a powerful tool.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Maple Syrup
Hello from the province of Quebec.. and no I am not there as much as I would love to be :) But my taste buds sure are. Keith and I and one of our grandsons went on a hiking trek this past weekend up on Capillano Mountain. It was a wonderful experience. On the way home we stopped at a farmers market in North Vancouver. There was an organic farmer there so I stocked up on some much needed stuff. One of the things they also had was Maple Butter. Now I have maple syrup many MANY times but never maple butter. They said to use it on crackers or toast but to use it sparingly. At the cost of it I knew it would be VERY sparingly. Well I had some on some toast when I got home and awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww it was to die for!! OK you wouldn't want anyone to die let alone for maple butter but oh man it was sooo incredibly good. I had one more cracker tonight for a bed time snack and I keep thinking oh I could have half a dozen crackers without batting an eye. But after eating one, the gag reflex kicks in and I stop. That and the fact that one should be wary of eating anything that does not come with a nutritional panel on the container. You just know that has more calories then one could ever wear off unless you had a trainer named Bob or Jillian!!
And Quebec is not in my 100 mile challenge but I have family still living in Quebec and it's within their 100 miles so in my french brain that works. Well at least that is my story and I am sticking to it... yummm~~~
It made me think of this dessert my mom and grandmothers used to make. I am sure some of my cousins reading this will have a smile on their faces :) It was called Sucre a Creme. Sorry I don't know how to do french accents on here. Basically it was brown sugar, thick real cream and butter.. yup really good thing on a high cholesterol diet... but we never had to worry about that in those days. So they would bring this to s boil till only they knew when and then we would have it as pudding... oh oh oh.. my mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
My paternal grandmother when she knew I was coming down for a long weekend she would always make a jelly roll cake using the Sucre a creme as a filling. I would pester her with questions about her family history and we would sit around her table eating this cake and having tea in fancy tea set. Great Memere and granddaughter bonding moment! I will never forget those moments.
And Quebec is not in my 100 mile challenge but I have family still living in Quebec and it's within their 100 miles so in my french brain that works. Well at least that is my story and I am sticking to it... yummm~~~
It made me think of this dessert my mom and grandmothers used to make. I am sure some of my cousins reading this will have a smile on their faces :) It was called Sucre a Creme. Sorry I don't know how to do french accents on here. Basically it was brown sugar, thick real cream and butter.. yup really good thing on a high cholesterol diet... but we never had to worry about that in those days. So they would bring this to s boil till only they knew when and then we would have it as pudding... oh oh oh.. my mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
My paternal grandmother when she knew I was coming down for a long weekend she would always make a jelly roll cake using the Sucre a creme as a filling. I would pester her with questions about her family history and we would sit around her table eating this cake and having tea in fancy tea set. Great Memere and granddaughter bonding moment! I will never forget those moments.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Family Relationships
Last night was the 6th week out of 9 weeks of a Family Relationship class that Keith and I have been attending. Originally we took it because we thought our children would take it and this way we could learn to communicate with our children and grandchildren better. Unfortunately for their own reasons they chose to not attend and we ended up still taking it. I had signed us up for it so followed through my commitment.
Yesterday's class was on Dealing With Anger; what to do when your children make you angry; what to do instead of saying "you make me so mad!" We talked about the 4 stages of anger. I knew about the 5 stages of grief but I didn't know there were stages of anger. I learned that there was such a thing as Internalizing Anger and as I was listening to that I thought hey she is talking about me. I would have never said I was an angry person. People are always commenting on how stable a person I am, how I never over react, I never let life get me down even under circumstances like my cancer etc but as she was talking about examples I had a HUH moment and realized a lot of what was going on in me. It was a very profound wake up call.
It was like when I had been taking the weight loss program with Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss Solution. He tells you that it is in your head and if you don't fix your head of why you eat what you eat when and where you eat it, you will continue to do the same thing the next time you are in the same situation. Going through his book I would have never said I was an emotional eater. To me someone that did that would eat every time they were sad or angry or upset etc. As I never really get those stages I had always said I wasn't an emotional eater. But as I learned more I realized I was. I related everything to food. Every family gathering had to revolve around the food. Our children could not come over without my having food for them. Every thing revolved around food. You could not come and visit with me for the afternoon without there being food involved. I did realize I was an emotional Eater. I realized that when I was surrounded with family/friends that made me very happy and if I was happy then out came the food. Does that make sense?
Once I realized that I fixed my head for the most part, lost the 150 pounds 4 odd years ago and have kept it off all those years. And now we come to Internalizing Anger. I realized that a lot of times I do get angry but it remains bottled up inside. It causes me health problems, it causes me so many problems but I let it just simmer inside for very long periods of time and usually at a wrong possible moment it explodes out at usually a very innocent thing. As I mentioned it was a "huh" moment. We were sent home with homework that you watch yourself for signs of the different kinds of anger, how you react or respond to it and what the outcomes were.
Although I work on Thursdays, go to the class right after work, it makes for a very long day. But I learned a lot more with this class. Wish with all my heart it had been around when our children were very young. But I can not change the past but I can certainly use my new skills with my grandchildren to make their lives and their relationships with us better.
Yesterday's class was on Dealing With Anger; what to do when your children make you angry; what to do instead of saying "you make me so mad!" We talked about the 4 stages of anger. I knew about the 5 stages of grief but I didn't know there were stages of anger. I learned that there was such a thing as Internalizing Anger and as I was listening to that I thought hey she is talking about me. I would have never said I was an angry person. People are always commenting on how stable a person I am, how I never over react, I never let life get me down even under circumstances like my cancer etc but as she was talking about examples I had a HUH moment and realized a lot of what was going on in me. It was a very profound wake up call.
It was like when I had been taking the weight loss program with Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss Solution. He tells you that it is in your head and if you don't fix your head of why you eat what you eat when and where you eat it, you will continue to do the same thing the next time you are in the same situation. Going through his book I would have never said I was an emotional eater. To me someone that did that would eat every time they were sad or angry or upset etc. As I never really get those stages I had always said I wasn't an emotional eater. But as I learned more I realized I was. I related everything to food. Every family gathering had to revolve around the food. Our children could not come over without my having food for them. Every thing revolved around food. You could not come and visit with me for the afternoon without there being food involved. I did realize I was an emotional Eater. I realized that when I was surrounded with family/friends that made me very happy and if I was happy then out came the food. Does that make sense?
Once I realized that I fixed my head for the most part, lost the 150 pounds 4 odd years ago and have kept it off all those years. And now we come to Internalizing Anger. I realized that a lot of times I do get angry but it remains bottled up inside. It causes me health problems, it causes me so many problems but I let it just simmer inside for very long periods of time and usually at a wrong possible moment it explodes out at usually a very innocent thing. As I mentioned it was a "huh" moment. We were sent home with homework that you watch yourself for signs of the different kinds of anger, how you react or respond to it and what the outcomes were.
Although I work on Thursdays, go to the class right after work, it makes for a very long day. But I learned a lot more with this class. Wish with all my heart it had been around when our children were very young. But I can not change the past but I can certainly use my new skills with my grandchildren to make their lives and their relationships with us better.
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