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.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Only at my house
Seriously someone better tell me these kind of things happen in their household even if you have to stretch the truth.. I would hate to think that these moments only happen to me :(
Today I have staff training to do at work and we are starting the evening off with a BBQ. I was bringing ribs so were browning the racks in the oven early this morning before putting them in the slow cookers. As I would take a batch off the grill I would cut them in smaller pieces then pop them in the cooker and get the pan ready for the next batch. I had JUST put the last of the pieces in the cooker and was very carefully taking the very hot bottom part of the pan from the stove to the sink as it was filled to the top with meat juices and marinade that the meat had been in. Just as I was twisting to turn this very loud bang came from 10 or so feet in front of me scaring the heck out of me enough to make me jump and drop this hot pan all over the kitchen floor. When I looked over to the front entrance way to see what the heck that noise was I could see this gallon and a half size jug squirting thick orange syrup all over the place.
We have a storage room that has our food staples and freezer in but in our front entrance way in the closet, half of the space has food shelves that I keep my every day staples in as well as baking pans etc. I'm not like most people that keep all their baking pans and stuff in bottom cupboards as most of the time I can't bend to get in them so all my every day things are on these shelves. Well on the very top one is where I store my bins of potatoes, onions, different flours etc. Right beside them for months now has been this huge jug of orange syrup that is very thick and concentrated that you use to make orange drink when you need large batches of drinks. Keith had gotten it for some activity he had been in charge of and he hadn't needed the 2ND jug so it has just been sitting there since last summer.
Do not ask me why all of a sudden it took a flying leap and hit the floor with enough force to pop the sealed lid off shooting it across the entrance and past me through the whole kitchen and end up in the dining room. It also had popped the silver foil cap that had been under the lid. You know the kind that you can never get off when you are opening a new bottle of something?? If that wasn't enough I noticed that the syrup was rapidly spreading all over the floor onto the floor mat there, into the shoes that never seem to get onto the shoe rack and also onto the hall carpet. I picked it up thinking it was only leaking from the lid but of course not. This is my life we are talking about, it would never be that easy. The side of it had completely split open and when I lifted it up even more syrup came gushing out.
I grabbed the garbage can from under the sink slipping on the hot liquid that still was all over the kitchen floor from the meat pan, and threw it in then grabbed some towels from the dryer that I had just finished washing I might add and started to wipe it up before it got more of the hall carpet. It was only then that I saw the walls in the entrance way. Have you seen that TV commercial where the little girl is talking on the phone with her dad and she is describing to him this mountain that had erupted with the experiment she had made with her mom and how it went all over including the ceiling? Yup that was me. Only my mother was not with me to clean it up nor was I smiling. It actually sprayed on the ceiling which is stippled I might add. All the shelves had syrup on it, all the food items, all the walls in the entrance way, the front door, all the bottom cupboard doors, the fridge, oven and dishwasher was covered, there was even spray onto the dining room carpet which is easily 20 feet away. Now this isn't liquid that is thin like water where you would understand it leaking every where. It is thick syrup like molasses!!
Now with my back there is one motion I can not do. I should not do. When I do it I suffer for a long time after. And that is a twisting motion. The kind of motion you do when you wash walls, windows, floors, vacuum etc. But yet there I was washing every thing down. I had 2 little girls watching this mess wanting to help and I kept saying noooo you guys go play outside. One of them says "Nana do we have to keep this a secret from Papa?"
I washed the kitchen and hall floor THREE times with soapy water and after the 3rd time I grabbed the girls, locked the door and went to my daughter's house. She came back with me after I had run errands so I could drop my things off first so I didn't have to carry them from her house and as she was walking on the floor her flip flops were making this sucking noise and she said oh mom this floor is really sticky then she said mom I am not laughing at you I am laughing with you. Uh huh... sure you are!!
But I can not wash it anymore I have to wait till Keith gets home to give it another really good scrub. I keep telling myself to go around the kitchen (which is a pass through to the rest of the house) instead of going through it but 2 minutes later I go walking across the floor to get something or go through and my feet stick and I think of Homer Simpson which I cannot stand but now know the reason why he invented the word DOH!!! It is about as safe a word as I can muster at this moment.
Only at my house does this happen.
Today I have staff training to do at work and we are starting the evening off with a BBQ. I was bringing ribs so were browning the racks in the oven early this morning before putting them in the slow cookers. As I would take a batch off the grill I would cut them in smaller pieces then pop them in the cooker and get the pan ready for the next batch. I had JUST put the last of the pieces in the cooker and was very carefully taking the very hot bottom part of the pan from the stove to the sink as it was filled to the top with meat juices and marinade that the meat had been in. Just as I was twisting to turn this very loud bang came from 10 or so feet in front of me scaring the heck out of me enough to make me jump and drop this hot pan all over the kitchen floor. When I looked over to the front entrance way to see what the heck that noise was I could see this gallon and a half size jug squirting thick orange syrup all over the place.
We have a storage room that has our food staples and freezer in but in our front entrance way in the closet, half of the space has food shelves that I keep my every day staples in as well as baking pans etc. I'm not like most people that keep all their baking pans and stuff in bottom cupboards as most of the time I can't bend to get in them so all my every day things are on these shelves. Well on the very top one is where I store my bins of potatoes, onions, different flours etc. Right beside them for months now has been this huge jug of orange syrup that is very thick and concentrated that you use to make orange drink when you need large batches of drinks. Keith had gotten it for some activity he had been in charge of and he hadn't needed the 2ND jug so it has just been sitting there since last summer.
Do not ask me why all of a sudden it took a flying leap and hit the floor with enough force to pop the sealed lid off shooting it across the entrance and past me through the whole kitchen and end up in the dining room. It also had popped the silver foil cap that had been under the lid. You know the kind that you can never get off when you are opening a new bottle of something?? If that wasn't enough I noticed that the syrup was rapidly spreading all over the floor onto the floor mat there, into the shoes that never seem to get onto the shoe rack and also onto the hall carpet. I picked it up thinking it was only leaking from the lid but of course not. This is my life we are talking about, it would never be that easy. The side of it had completely split open and when I lifted it up even more syrup came gushing out.
I grabbed the garbage can from under the sink slipping on the hot liquid that still was all over the kitchen floor from the meat pan, and threw it in then grabbed some towels from the dryer that I had just finished washing I might add and started to wipe it up before it got more of the hall carpet. It was only then that I saw the walls in the entrance way. Have you seen that TV commercial where the little girl is talking on the phone with her dad and she is describing to him this mountain that had erupted with the experiment she had made with her mom and how it went all over including the ceiling? Yup that was me. Only my mother was not with me to clean it up nor was I smiling. It actually sprayed on the ceiling which is stippled I might add. All the shelves had syrup on it, all the food items, all the walls in the entrance way, the front door, all the bottom cupboard doors, the fridge, oven and dishwasher was covered, there was even spray onto the dining room carpet which is easily 20 feet away. Now this isn't liquid that is thin like water where you would understand it leaking every where. It is thick syrup like molasses!!
Now with my back there is one motion I can not do. I should not do. When I do it I suffer for a long time after. And that is a twisting motion. The kind of motion you do when you wash walls, windows, floors, vacuum etc. But yet there I was washing every thing down. I had 2 little girls watching this mess wanting to help and I kept saying noooo you guys go play outside. One of them says "Nana do we have to keep this a secret from Papa?"
I washed the kitchen and hall floor THREE times with soapy water and after the 3rd time I grabbed the girls, locked the door and went to my daughter's house. She came back with me after I had run errands so I could drop my things off first so I didn't have to carry them from her house and as she was walking on the floor her flip flops were making this sucking noise and she said oh mom this floor is really sticky then she said mom I am not laughing at you I am laughing with you. Uh huh... sure you are!!
But I can not wash it anymore I have to wait till Keith gets home to give it another really good scrub. I keep telling myself to go around the kitchen (which is a pass through to the rest of the house) instead of going through it but 2 minutes later I go walking across the floor to get something or go through and my feet stick and I think of Homer Simpson which I cannot stand but now know the reason why he invented the word DOH!!! It is about as safe a word as I can muster at this moment.
Only at my house does this happen.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Creation and 5 year olds
So today I am walking to my daughter's with my 5 year old granddaughter. You know how you tend to tune out young children when they are rattling on and on about nothing in particular or at least nothing of interest to you then all of a sudden your brain registers something and you pay attention? Hence the following conversation:
Rosaleen: yadda yadda yadda
Me: uh huh, yes, uh huh
Of course in my defense at the time this conversation was going on we were on a very busy street and she has such a soft voice it was hard to hear. But in reality I was thinking of a garden stepping stone I had in mind to do.
Rosaleen: (tugging my hand) Nana you're not listening!
Me: Yes I was
R:No you weren't cause I asked you a question and you said yes but it wasn't a yes or no question..
uh.. what 5 year old knows what a yes or no question is?
Me: Ok ask me again
R: Do you know why God created Earth?
Me: Of course, we've talked about this.. He created Earth so we could come to earth to gain a body so we could return home to Him when we die
R: I know THAT Nana but do you know really why He created it?
Me: uhhh how about you tell me why you think He created earth
R: Because he was sad all the astronauts kept crashing into each other and into other planets cause He hadn't created light on the 2nd day yet. They kept crashing on the 1st day.
M: where did you get that information Rosaleen?
R: Nana everybody knows this..didn't you pay attention to your class in church before?
M:.. I guess I didn't.. maybe I was home that day
R: See Nana you should stop talking to Papa at church so you could hear what they are saying
uhhh Nana is usually stopping Papa from giving you guys wet willies or poking you!!! Am I the only one that missed that Sunday School lesson???
Rosaleen: yadda yadda yadda
Me: uh huh, yes, uh huh
Of course in my defense at the time this conversation was going on we were on a very busy street and she has such a soft voice it was hard to hear. But in reality I was thinking of a garden stepping stone I had in mind to do.
Rosaleen: (tugging my hand) Nana you're not listening!
Me: Yes I was
R:No you weren't cause I asked you a question and you said yes but it wasn't a yes or no question..
uh.. what 5 year old knows what a yes or no question is?
Me: Ok ask me again
R: Do you know why God created Earth?
Me: Of course, we've talked about this.. He created Earth so we could come to earth to gain a body so we could return home to Him when we die
R: I know THAT Nana but do you know really why He created it?
Me: uhhh how about you tell me why you think He created earth
R: Because he was sad all the astronauts kept crashing into each other and into other planets cause He hadn't created light on the 2nd day yet. They kept crashing on the 1st day.
M: where did you get that information Rosaleen?
R: Nana everybody knows this..didn't you pay attention to your class in church before?
M:.. I guess I didn't.. maybe I was home that day
R: See Nana you should stop talking to Papa at church so you could hear what they are saying
uhhh Nana is usually stopping Papa from giving you guys wet willies or poking you!!! Am I the only one that missed that Sunday School lesson???
Monday, May 18, 2009
Using my 5 senses
Today I am up very early..way too early especially because Keith is still in bed and I am up but it is also a holiday so should be back in there. But my body is telling me I can't lay on my sides or back anymore and to get up up UP before it starts screaming so here I am. It is spring over here so my allergies are back in full swing. I can not wait till the next life when our bodies will be perfected.. I live for that day!!!
But as I sit here with my face covered with a heat mask it reminded me of things I miss smelling. Which of course made me think of things I miss hearing and then seeing then tasting.. hey what can I say... My brain works like my mothers and my daughters.. we can go from no thoughts in our head to a marathon of thoughts in 2 seconds flat.
So here are some of the things that I miss using my 5 senses:
The smell of Johnson's Paste Floor wax. I wonder if they even make them anymore. I loved that smell. I would wash then wax my floors just before the kids would come home from school and they would be so excited when they walked in the door, as they would smell the wax and know they got to put on Dad's big socks and slide all over the floors while they got polished. I miss hearing that sound of laughter.
I miss the sound of sheets hanging on a clothesline where there was a little breeze and you would hear them snapping. I miss the scent of clothes coming in from outside. I miss climbing into bed that first night with clean sheets off the line and just smelling the sheets.
I miss our house on Hyland Road with all the fruit trees there. I could just go outside and grab an apple or a pear and bite into it tasting that crispness and taste of them. I miss getting a basket of fruit from the trees and bringing them in the house to make a pie with them, or can them for the winter months. I miss hearing my children saying "there's nothing to see" and my telling them to go outside and find something to eat.
I miss Sunday dinners with the Hunters and the Bells. I miss my excitement knowing they were coming over every week and planning what I was going to serve trying to make something new each time and just being together.
I miss Northgate Bakery in Sask. We had a "deal" with the bakery who's claim to fame was that they only sold baked fresh that day items. We had gotten the scoop from our friends that you could go to the back of the bakery at 5pm and you could get everything left over for 40 dollars. The deal was 40 dollars flat. At times you got 2 grocery bags full other times we could not stuff the back of our vehicles there was so much stuff. But it was always 40 dollars. You got every kind of breads, rolls, muffins, danishes etc etc. The children would love Thursday nights as that was when it was available. That seems so long ago
I miss living close enough to see my family whenever I wanted to. Now I am down to once a year as I save my money hard to be able to make the trip back to see everyone. Even after 20 years I still get so homesick for my mom and my brothers and their families.
I miss Mondays at my mom's growing up. We knew that Mondays were laundry days but it also was bread baking day which meant for lunch we were getting "Petit Pains". The bread dough would always be hitting the first rise and as mom would knead the dough she would take pieces of dough roll them into a log then fry them in hot oil for a couple of minutes. We always raced home that day cause we knew what was coming. We could always smell laundry soap in our yards as the laundry was always on the line and we could smell the bread dough cooking. We would open these petit pains up and put butter and something in them. It could he jam or honey or peanut butter or real maple syrup in Quebec but eat them we did.
I miss getting that syrup from Quebec. Dad's family every year would ship us some maple syrup when they were tapping their trees and the day it came to the house we knew what we would get to eat. Dad would heat some of it up and then poach eggs in it. Ohhhh man you have never tasted TASTE till you tasted that. It was sooooo goood.
I miss the sounds of branding season on the farm. The sounds of the calves being branded, the sounds of my dad, uncles and grandfather talking and "yelling" to us kids to get certain calves or to get out of the way. I miss the sounds of my mom, aunts, and grandmother as they would talk while setting up the long tables that would hold massive amounts of food soon. I miss the smell of the hay up in the hayloft as we jumped from the loft down into the stacks on the ground, then waiting for the tell tale voice of our mothers yelling at us to not make a mess and to stay away from the bulls in their pens which always seemed to come just as we would be poking the bulls.
I miss the taste of my mom's head cheese. That would be part of our Christmas morning breakfast. She would slice them and I would put it in toast and then mustard and just keep eating till I was stuffed. One year I didn't eat any cause that was the year I mistakenly got up in the middle of the night for some reason and went to get my mom who was just taking a pig's actual head out of the oven. She had to explain to me why it was in there. That year I could not eat it as I knew where it came from but the next year I was so over it and dived into it.
I miss the sight of our community garden on the farm. All of the uncles and aunts, our parents and grandparents would have this huge garden area (well at least to me it was huge) and in the spring everyone would be there planting. Every summer we would always be there weeding and every fall we would all be there harvesting the crops. Our house would be crammed with dozens of cobs of corn or baskets and baskets of peas we had to shell into bowls and of course into our mouths, mounds of green beans to cut into pieces. Every body worked together and always talking while we worked alongside our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings of course.
Well I think that is enough remembering for one early morning. Some days I wish I was back there doing all those things again. But I guess we all have to grow up some day and become responsible adults and make new memories for our children and grandchildren. But still, those sure were the good old days.
But as I sit here with my face covered with a heat mask it reminded me of things I miss smelling. Which of course made me think of things I miss hearing and then seeing then tasting.. hey what can I say... My brain works like my mothers and my daughters.. we can go from no thoughts in our head to a marathon of thoughts in 2 seconds flat.
So here are some of the things that I miss using my 5 senses:
The smell of Johnson's Paste Floor wax. I wonder if they even make them anymore. I loved that smell. I would wash then wax my floors just before the kids would come home from school and they would be so excited when they walked in the door, as they would smell the wax and know they got to put on Dad's big socks and slide all over the floors while they got polished. I miss hearing that sound of laughter.
I miss the sound of sheets hanging on a clothesline where there was a little breeze and you would hear them snapping. I miss the scent of clothes coming in from outside. I miss climbing into bed that first night with clean sheets off the line and just smelling the sheets.
I miss our house on Hyland Road with all the fruit trees there. I could just go outside and grab an apple or a pear and bite into it tasting that crispness and taste of them. I miss getting a basket of fruit from the trees and bringing them in the house to make a pie with them, or can them for the winter months. I miss hearing my children saying "there's nothing to see" and my telling them to go outside and find something to eat.
I miss Sunday dinners with the Hunters and the Bells. I miss my excitement knowing they were coming over every week and planning what I was going to serve trying to make something new each time and just being together.
I miss Northgate Bakery in Sask. We had a "deal" with the bakery who's claim to fame was that they only sold baked fresh that day items. We had gotten the scoop from our friends that you could go to the back of the bakery at 5pm and you could get everything left over for 40 dollars. The deal was 40 dollars flat. At times you got 2 grocery bags full other times we could not stuff the back of our vehicles there was so much stuff. But it was always 40 dollars. You got every kind of breads, rolls, muffins, danishes etc etc. The children would love Thursday nights as that was when it was available. That seems so long ago
I miss living close enough to see my family whenever I wanted to. Now I am down to once a year as I save my money hard to be able to make the trip back to see everyone. Even after 20 years I still get so homesick for my mom and my brothers and their families.
I miss Mondays at my mom's growing up. We knew that Mondays were laundry days but it also was bread baking day which meant for lunch we were getting "Petit Pains". The bread dough would always be hitting the first rise and as mom would knead the dough she would take pieces of dough roll them into a log then fry them in hot oil for a couple of minutes. We always raced home that day cause we knew what was coming. We could always smell laundry soap in our yards as the laundry was always on the line and we could smell the bread dough cooking. We would open these petit pains up and put butter and something in them. It could he jam or honey or peanut butter or real maple syrup in Quebec but eat them we did.
I miss getting that syrup from Quebec. Dad's family every year would ship us some maple syrup when they were tapping their trees and the day it came to the house we knew what we would get to eat. Dad would heat some of it up and then poach eggs in it. Ohhhh man you have never tasted TASTE till you tasted that. It was sooooo goood.
I miss the sounds of branding season on the farm. The sounds of the calves being branded, the sounds of my dad, uncles and grandfather talking and "yelling" to us kids to get certain calves or to get out of the way. I miss the sounds of my mom, aunts, and grandmother as they would talk while setting up the long tables that would hold massive amounts of food soon. I miss the smell of the hay up in the hayloft as we jumped from the loft down into the stacks on the ground, then waiting for the tell tale voice of our mothers yelling at us to not make a mess and to stay away from the bulls in their pens which always seemed to come just as we would be poking the bulls.
I miss the taste of my mom's head cheese. That would be part of our Christmas morning breakfast. She would slice them and I would put it in toast and then mustard and just keep eating till I was stuffed. One year I didn't eat any cause that was the year I mistakenly got up in the middle of the night for some reason and went to get my mom who was just taking a pig's actual head out of the oven. She had to explain to me why it was in there. That year I could not eat it as I knew where it came from but the next year I was so over it and dived into it.
I miss the sight of our community garden on the farm. All of the uncles and aunts, our parents and grandparents would have this huge garden area (well at least to me it was huge) and in the spring everyone would be there planting. Every summer we would always be there weeding and every fall we would all be there harvesting the crops. Our house would be crammed with dozens of cobs of corn or baskets and baskets of peas we had to shell into bowls and of course into our mouths, mounds of green beans to cut into pieces. Every body worked together and always talking while we worked alongside our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings of course.
Well I think that is enough remembering for one early morning. Some days I wish I was back there doing all those things again. But I guess we all have to grow up some day and become responsible adults and make new memories for our children and grandchildren. But still, those sure were the good old days.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Grandmothers
I was doing some pictures tonight putting them in folders and some of them had my grandmothers in them. Today is Tuesday and at my house that means sleepover night with 2 of my granddaughters. We play house, we bake, we do crafts, paint, build things, go swimming..just lots of stuff. I remembered my grandmothers and the relationship I had with them.
Both of them were obviously french and my paternal grandmother or Memere as we called them both, refused to speak English. If someone called her on the phone that spoke English she would just say "call Roland (my dad)". She was all of 4 foot 11 if that but that never stopped her from raising 13 children. I remember one Christmas family dinner at the farm house, she took a chair and took it to the counter in the kitchen, climbed on it then stood on the counter top to get a platter that was on the top shelf. My dad saw her and grabbed her by the waist to get her off telling her with all the men there (who are pretty much all over 6 feet) she only had to ask someone to get it for her but she just whacked him on the head with the platter and said she might be short but this was still her kitchen and to put her down. :) She was a firecracker.
My maternal grandmother had a date with my sister Adele and I one year every Wednesday at 2:15. For some reason that year we both had a spare at school for our last class and instead of being in the library we played hooky and would go to our grandparents. It was a ritual. She would have laid out the table with the good china, would have baked something just coming out of the oven and my grandfather would make this pot of tea seem like an event!! He would pour us the tea like a grand master at the finest 5 star restaurant. We had linen napkins and fancy dishes, little spoons to stir our sugar in and tiny forks to eat the dessert. We talked about school, our parents, boys, listened to them giving us advice. We always felt like it was our little secret that they kept from our parents although I am sure Mom knew but to this day I never asked.
Every summer the 4 oldest in my family would go to our grandparents for an entire week. My sister and I would go to one farm, and my 2 brothers would go to the other farm. then on Sunday we would come into town for church and switch farms for another week. It was relaxing, no fighting, didn't have to share the house with a bunch of siblings although when we went to our paternal grandparents, because there was such an age difference between my dad and the younger ones, there were still some living on the farm. but they loved it as they usually were able to pretend "THEIR" chores were TOO old for us KIDS to be able to do and of course we would say no they aren't and go do them as they would think ahhh reverse psychology lol. Of course it only worked till Memere found out :)
Little did I know those years with my grandmothers would make such an impact on my life, the way I spend time with my grandchildren or try too. Today I am 52 and have a lot of grandchildren and I hope that when they grow up to have grandchildren of their own, they will have great memories and be able to pass down the traditions of sleep overs and tea time with their best china.
I miss my grandmothers very much and I truly hope that this reunion I am planning for my paternal grandparents this summer will be a tribute to her to thank her for making me the person I am today.
Both of them were obviously french and my paternal grandmother or Memere as we called them both, refused to speak English. If someone called her on the phone that spoke English she would just say "call Roland (my dad)". She was all of 4 foot 11 if that but that never stopped her from raising 13 children. I remember one Christmas family dinner at the farm house, she took a chair and took it to the counter in the kitchen, climbed on it then stood on the counter top to get a platter that was on the top shelf. My dad saw her and grabbed her by the waist to get her off telling her with all the men there (who are pretty much all over 6 feet) she only had to ask someone to get it for her but she just whacked him on the head with the platter and said she might be short but this was still her kitchen and to put her down. :) She was a firecracker.
My maternal grandmother had a date with my sister Adele and I one year every Wednesday at 2:15. For some reason that year we both had a spare at school for our last class and instead of being in the library we played hooky and would go to our grandparents. It was a ritual. She would have laid out the table with the good china, would have baked something just coming out of the oven and my grandfather would make this pot of tea seem like an event!! He would pour us the tea like a grand master at the finest 5 star restaurant. We had linen napkins and fancy dishes, little spoons to stir our sugar in and tiny forks to eat the dessert. We talked about school, our parents, boys, listened to them giving us advice. We always felt like it was our little secret that they kept from our parents although I am sure Mom knew but to this day I never asked.
Every summer the 4 oldest in my family would go to our grandparents for an entire week. My sister and I would go to one farm, and my 2 brothers would go to the other farm. then on Sunday we would come into town for church and switch farms for another week. It was relaxing, no fighting, didn't have to share the house with a bunch of siblings although when we went to our paternal grandparents, because there was such an age difference between my dad and the younger ones, there were still some living on the farm. but they loved it as they usually were able to pretend "THEIR" chores were TOO old for us KIDS to be able to do and of course we would say no they aren't and go do them as they would think ahhh reverse psychology lol. Of course it only worked till Memere found out :)
Little did I know those years with my grandmothers would make such an impact on my life, the way I spend time with my grandchildren or try too. Today I am 52 and have a lot of grandchildren and I hope that when they grow up to have grandchildren of their own, they will have great memories and be able to pass down the traditions of sleep overs and tea time with their best china.
I miss my grandmothers very much and I truly hope that this reunion I am planning for my paternal grandparents this summer will be a tribute to her to thank her for making me the person I am today.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Screaming for Ice Cream
We have this new ice cream place that opened up in Surrey not that long ago called Marble Slab Creamery. They make their own ice cream on premises claiming they use only top grade products and able to control the quality. So on the weekend Keith and I were out for a walk in that area and decided to pop in for a cone (good thing we walked all the way there and were walking home let me tell you). Well no small feat. They have about 30 odd flavours and that varies from day to day as they make it fresh every day so a flovour that isn't popular they won't do it again. You tell them what flavour you want and what size you want. They then scoop it up and place it on a scale to make sure you get exactly the amount you asked for. They then take it to a marble slab (hence the name) and you get to choose from a very large selection of mixins, what you want added to your ice cream. This ranges from fresh fruit, M&M's, different nuts, candy bars, candy etc etc. They will at this point mix everything up and kind of how you would knead bread dough although they use a trwoel of sorts. Then you get to choose what kind of waffle cone you want it in. They make all their cones right on the premises right in front of you and they only do waffle cones. You can get a plain waffle one, a sugared one, a white chocolate dipped one, a regular chocolate dipped one, a chocolate and sprinkles/nuts covered one etc. You get one free mixin item then every other one is .75 each.
Not knowing which was what, we each chose the smallest size and only 1 flavour of ice cream. Keith had Peanut Butter (like that was a surprise) and I had Pralines. He had just a plain waffle cone and I had a white chocolate dipped one, again no surprise there. I guess in my brain I can pretend that if it is white it is pure therefore it has no calories hehehee. He added sliced almonds to his and I asked for brownies and kit kat bar. Now I was busy talking as I usually am and didn't really pay attention to what the clerk was doing. I was trying to get Keith to try something OTHER then peanut butter. So when I turned around to watch, I saw the mound of brownie and asked the guy how much he put in there and he said 2 squares. I asked the size of the square and he showed me and I just knew we were going to have problems (each was about 1 1/2 X 1 1/2"). By the time he was done adding my 2 things in, it would not fit in my cone so he put the extra in a container which still filled half the container. I was about almost 1/2 way through the cone when I told Keith I was getting a really bad sugar headache and needed to stop. He said to just take it home but I said no there was no way I wanted that in the house. I thought for sure after he ate his he would eat mine but he never touched it.
I was very sick to my stomach and had a nasty migraine for 2 days afterward. Today I finally got around to checking the calorie count of that ice cream cone. Thank goodness I never finished the whole thing is all I can say!!!
So here is the total count.... drum roll please...926!!!!!!! If I ever go back again as a treat with one of the grand kids it would be for no cone and no ice cream, just the non-fat, no sugar added frozen yogurt in a cup although I am sure friends would say if I do that I will be no fun...
Not knowing which was what, we each chose the smallest size and only 1 flavour of ice cream. Keith had Peanut Butter (like that was a surprise) and I had Pralines. He had just a plain waffle cone and I had a white chocolate dipped one, again no surprise there. I guess in my brain I can pretend that if it is white it is pure therefore it has no calories hehehee. He added sliced almonds to his and I asked for brownies and kit kat bar. Now I was busy talking as I usually am and didn't really pay attention to what the clerk was doing. I was trying to get Keith to try something OTHER then peanut butter. So when I turned around to watch, I saw the mound of brownie and asked the guy how much he put in there and he said 2 squares. I asked the size of the square and he showed me and I just knew we were going to have problems (each was about 1 1/2 X 1 1/2"). By the time he was done adding my 2 things in, it would not fit in my cone so he put the extra in a container which still filled half the container. I was about almost 1/2 way through the cone when I told Keith I was getting a really bad sugar headache and needed to stop. He said to just take it home but I said no there was no way I wanted that in the house. I thought for sure after he ate his he would eat mine but he never touched it.
I was very sick to my stomach and had a nasty migraine for 2 days afterward. Today I finally got around to checking the calorie count of that ice cream cone. Thank goodness I never finished the whole thing is all I can say!!!
So here is the total count.... drum roll please...926!!!!!!! If I ever go back again as a treat with one of the grand kids it would be for no cone and no ice cream, just the non-fat, no sugar added frozen yogurt in a cup although I am sure friends would say if I do that I will be no fun...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Rude Rude and then there's Rude
So here is the scoop. Yesterday was the first day of the largest shoe sale in BC. It's an annual event that every woman who loves shoes lives for. Shoes that normally run in the hundreds of dollars are down to 29.99 or lower etc. Lareta and I went last year but it wasn't on the first day and there wasn't great selection left so we figured we were smart this year and would go on the first day.
Not finding a parking space should have been my first clue but we got one and away we went. I knew it would be incredibly busy.. I mean seriously this is shoes and women how could it not be busy. I got that part and I was ok with it but I was not prepared for the behavior of women. I never go Boxing Day shopping. Especially at an electronics store. People shoving all over the place, people yelling etc. I figured never for me but this is shoes and women and we are more dignified then that. Or so I thought.
Man was I mistaken!! The store had nicely set up some seating areas away from the shelving so people could sit down to try on their shoes. Wonderful. What wasn't so wonderful were women who had a cart or basket etc and scooping up ARM FOLDS of shoes into their carts without care of color, shape, design.. nothing just scoop them all for themselves. Then they would go sit down try them on and instead of putting them back when they did not want them they would just throw them everywhere.
At one point the store manager made an announcement on the loudspeakers telling the customers to PLEASE be PATIENT. That although some of the shelves were bare there were thousands of pairs of shoes available and that the store staff were working as diligently and as quickly as possible to gather up all the shoes on the floor, re-mate them and then put them back on the proper spot. The shelving were very well marked of shoe sizes so it wasn't like you had to check every shelf for your size. But then I found a pair for me under size 6. now I haven't been a size 6 since I was 5 years old I'm sure but I saw them and thought man that is a long 6 so checked and sure enough it was an 11 and narrow to boot! Most 11's are wide. So people were changing their minds and instead of putting the shoes back on the proper shelf they would just put them where ever. So I thought gee I better check all the shelves then. WRONG!!!
I finally had to put my 5 year old granddaughter in my cart as she kept getting ripped from my hand and I had to finally snap at some woman to watch where she was going that she was trampling this little girl. You know her comment? "Get out of my way!". My granddaughter looked at me and said "Nana she was rude and she needs to go for a time out." I agreed.
Some women seeing you were behind them or when I would say "Excuse me" so I could get around would literally stand feet apart and arms out to prevent me.. are you kidding me???? I don't even need to get that size I just need to get around you. I "accidentally" then ran over the back of her heel and said ever so sweetly "Oh I am so sorry". I then plowed my way through the mass to get over to where Lareta was. I told her I had had enough and was going to go to the children clothes area so off we went. She wanted to check out the women's clothes so I put the other granddaughter in my cart with the other one and said I was going to go to the children's shoe department to look for kids shoes. That was better controlled. It was so NOISY that I could not hear my cell ringing over and over again. After I was done I went to find Lareta and saw her coming to me in a panic. She didn't know I had picked her daughter and that I had her with me or where I was going. I guess she hadn't heard me or seen me take her and I couldn't hear her madly calling me.
She found 3 very very nice pair of shoes, I stopped after 2 pairs of dressy summer sandals and I did find 3 pairs of kids shoes for my grandkids in AB and we went and did a bit of regular shopping but then we left. All day I kept thinking of my experience. That was just insane. I thought women were better behaved then that. I could understand young adults acting that way when they want to get a new gaming system or tickets to a concert etc.. but this was shoes and as much as I love shoes and i love lots of them, I didn't understand the behavior of some of the women for shoes. It was pure greed. It was pure selfishness. It was pure childishness. It was insanity. Next year if I go again I will go without grandchildren and I will bring Keith with me as he would have no problem in making a path for me to where I am going. Or keep women from taking the shoes that I had already picked out of my cart when my back was turned.
Or maybe I will just stay home next year and remind myself I am a better woman then that. I will remind myself that I really don't want to be associated with women who lower their standards to behave like that. Or worse.. associate with women whose standards are already like that. No shoe is worth that. None
Not finding a parking space should have been my first clue but we got one and away we went. I knew it would be incredibly busy.. I mean seriously this is shoes and women how could it not be busy. I got that part and I was ok with it but I was not prepared for the behavior of women. I never go Boxing Day shopping. Especially at an electronics store. People shoving all over the place, people yelling etc. I figured never for me but this is shoes and women and we are more dignified then that. Or so I thought.
Man was I mistaken!! The store had nicely set up some seating areas away from the shelving so people could sit down to try on their shoes. Wonderful. What wasn't so wonderful were women who had a cart or basket etc and scooping up ARM FOLDS of shoes into their carts without care of color, shape, design.. nothing just scoop them all for themselves. Then they would go sit down try them on and instead of putting them back when they did not want them they would just throw them everywhere.
At one point the store manager made an announcement on the loudspeakers telling the customers to PLEASE be PATIENT. That although some of the shelves were bare there were thousands of pairs of shoes available and that the store staff were working as diligently and as quickly as possible to gather up all the shoes on the floor, re-mate them and then put them back on the proper spot. The shelving were very well marked of shoe sizes so it wasn't like you had to check every shelf for your size. But then I found a pair for me under size 6. now I haven't been a size 6 since I was 5 years old I'm sure but I saw them and thought man that is a long 6 so checked and sure enough it was an 11 and narrow to boot! Most 11's are wide. So people were changing their minds and instead of putting the shoes back on the proper shelf they would just put them where ever. So I thought gee I better check all the shelves then. WRONG!!!
I finally had to put my 5 year old granddaughter in my cart as she kept getting ripped from my hand and I had to finally snap at some woman to watch where she was going that she was trampling this little girl. You know her comment? "Get out of my way!". My granddaughter looked at me and said "Nana she was rude and she needs to go for a time out." I agreed.
Some women seeing you were behind them or when I would say "Excuse me" so I could get around would literally stand feet apart and arms out to prevent me.. are you kidding me???? I don't even need to get that size I just need to get around you. I "accidentally" then ran over the back of her heel and said ever so sweetly "Oh I am so sorry". I then plowed my way through the mass to get over to where Lareta was. I told her I had had enough and was going to go to the children clothes area so off we went. She wanted to check out the women's clothes so I put the other granddaughter in my cart with the other one and said I was going to go to the children's shoe department to look for kids shoes. That was better controlled. It was so NOISY that I could not hear my cell ringing over and over again. After I was done I went to find Lareta and saw her coming to me in a panic. She didn't know I had picked her daughter and that I had her with me or where I was going. I guess she hadn't heard me or seen me take her and I couldn't hear her madly calling me.
She found 3 very very nice pair of shoes, I stopped after 2 pairs of dressy summer sandals and I did find 3 pairs of kids shoes for my grandkids in AB and we went and did a bit of regular shopping but then we left. All day I kept thinking of my experience. That was just insane. I thought women were better behaved then that. I could understand young adults acting that way when they want to get a new gaming system or tickets to a concert etc.. but this was shoes and as much as I love shoes and i love lots of them, I didn't understand the behavior of some of the women for shoes. It was pure greed. It was pure selfishness. It was pure childishness. It was insanity. Next year if I go again I will go without grandchildren and I will bring Keith with me as he would have no problem in making a path for me to where I am going. Or keep women from taking the shoes that I had already picked out of my cart when my back was turned.
Or maybe I will just stay home next year and remind myself I am a better woman then that. I will remind myself that I really don't want to be associated with women who lower their standards to behave like that. Or worse.. associate with women whose standards are already like that. No shoe is worth that. None
Monday, April 20, 2009
False Advertising
Last night we were watching tv and I could not believe how many commercials are stretching the boundaries about truthfulness and out right deception. I also noticed that at the bottom of each commercial there was usually small script stating "dramatization". Well DUH!! Why bother then? I mean seriously what woman is going to believe if she gets Stilletto Mascara her eyelashes are all of a sudden going to be long enough to reach her forehead? Why demonstrate a product saying "cellulite disappears" on a woman that looks to be 20 years old and in top shape? Why not show someone who HAD cellulite and how it disappeared after using your product?
Hair colour: they all say "up to" 30 days of freedom from grey... is 2 days considered up to 30? But you assume when you use it that you will get the 30 days?
Cars: Drivers are speeding away like mad dogs popping "u-wies" on the highways and yet we all wonder why speeders crash their cars into poles or each other. Gee on tv they never crash
Fitness Equipment: You too can look like this when you use this multi-facet in home gym! Again they use perfectly shaped models to show off toned bodies.. why not show someone who was overweight and in bad shape and the transformation to the new them?
Fast food restaurants: Ok I know I rarely eat hamburgers but even I know that the meat NEVER overhangs past the bun! Nor do my salads look like theirs.
I think I watch too much tv!!
Hair colour: they all say "up to" 30 days of freedom from grey... is 2 days considered up to 30? But you assume when you use it that you will get the 30 days?
Cars: Drivers are speeding away like mad dogs popping "u-wies" on the highways and yet we all wonder why speeders crash their cars into poles or each other. Gee on tv they never crash
Fitness Equipment: You too can look like this when you use this multi-facet in home gym! Again they use perfectly shaped models to show off toned bodies.. why not show someone who was overweight and in bad shape and the transformation to the new them?
Fast food restaurants: Ok I know I rarely eat hamburgers but even I know that the meat NEVER overhangs past the bun! Nor do my salads look like theirs.
I think I watch too much tv!!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Can it really be spring????
so here is how I know spring is either here or almost here:
1. my doors and windows are open in the house to air it out and I am not freezing
2. I can hear the kerthunk of hockey sticks as kids play in the driveway
3. neighbors are mowing their lawns at 8 in the morning and you go outside and smell that new cut lawn smell and don't care if it sets off your allergies
4. I go outside and smell meat barbequeing
5. I realize how dirty my windows are cause the sun all of a sudden is shining inside
6. neighbors are hanging around on my patio yakking
7. winter coats are packed away one LAST time
8. I get blisters between my toes from wearing my flipflops for the first time since last summer
9. I haven't been on the computer ALL DAY long and never missed it
10. my back yard all of a sudden is wall to wall kids
11. there are chalk outlines of hopscotch all over the driveway and the older kids are using it as their hockey lines
12. I never want to see a piece of black clothing as long as you live
life is good today :)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Haysom's Earth Hour
You will be happy to know Keith and I participated in full with our Earth Hour night. We not only turned every thing off we unplugged everything other then the fridge and deep freeze.
We didn't go into the fridge at all during the evening nor did we use any electronic device even if it was not plugged in. That had been my choice. In case you are wondering what I am talking about..just google earth hour for all the information but the gist of the matter was every single person was to turn everything off by unplugging for one hour.
Keith and I got the emergency candles out throughout the house and then we got our Domino game out. We played in the candlelight and had a blast!! and even when it was past the hour we kept going. It was nice for a change, no TV, no computers, no cells or phones ringing 24/7.
But do you know what saddened me the most? Was the fact that we have treated this planet so badly that we now have to do this to try and put a band aid to over the owie. I think this Earth Hour needs to be advertise more and earlier so others can participate. But all I can do is do it myself, help my family do their part and go from there.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Blue Jeans
Ok I am so fed up with trying to find blue jeans it is maddening! I love wearing blue jeans I could wear them every time I went out if I could but I have one pair. ONE.. tons of shoes and purses but one pair of jeans. Why you may ask???? well cause designers can't get it through their thick heads that one size does NOT fit all.
Ever see those women's magazines where they have an article that states "Perfect fitting jeans for every size"? Well they lie. They never have any that fit me. Let me state the problems in getting jeans for me:
1. I have 36" inseam which is pretty impossible to get women's pants past 34" if you can even find them in the first place never mind with 36" legs.
2. My waist is actually on top of my hipbone. That's not possible you say. Yup it is. Ask those who I have to prove it to - ask any salesclerk that has argued with me that it isn't possible.
3. My waist line is a lot smaller then my actual hipbone measurements so to have them fit properly across my butt so I can actually sit down in them, they leave a big gap at the small of my back which annoys me
4. I REFUSE to wear low risers. That is just gross and I will not lower my standards by wearing pants that show the end all be all of my backside
Get the idea? When I was first starting to lose my weight I didn't want to keep buying brand new clothes as they would be too big in a month's time so I started shopping at Salvation Army (which has AMAZING clothes!!). Lo and behold if I don't come across a pair of jeans that I must have made in my previous life!! They still even had the tag on it so obviously someone had bought them then got rid of them without wearing them but they had obviously been made for JUST ME!
The inseam is exactly 36 inches, the back does not gap, the top of the inseam sits perfectly where it is supposed to be, they never ride up, I never have to hitch them up cause they are sliding down and they are the perfect shade of faded blue. Well after 4 years of wearing them almost non stop I have known for some time that I need to replace them. Not very easy. I thought fine they are made by the Gap so I can just go there and buy them. They are quick to tell me they no longer make that kind as not enough sales were made to warrant them continuing the line!
Are you kidding me???? What happened to all the ones that did not sell? Are they sitting in some warehouse somewhere? Can you check please? I don't know, I don't know and no I can't check for you. Good thing I am not a Gap customer cause service like that I can do without! I finally found a pair the other day that were almost long enough (almost being the operative word )and fit across my hips and today I wore them when out with my daughter shopping. And the afternoon was spent, tugging them up, pulling my shirt down to cover the gap at the back, pulling at them down my legs cause they kept riding up every time I sat down.
Sigh... back to the drawing board :(
Ever see those women's magazines where they have an article that states "Perfect fitting jeans for every size"? Well they lie. They never have any that fit me. Let me state the problems in getting jeans for me:
1. I have 36" inseam which is pretty impossible to get women's pants past 34" if you can even find them in the first place never mind with 36" legs.
2. My waist is actually on top of my hipbone. That's not possible you say. Yup it is. Ask those who I have to prove it to - ask any salesclerk that has argued with me that it isn't possible.
3. My waist line is a lot smaller then my actual hipbone measurements so to have them fit properly across my butt so I can actually sit down in them, they leave a big gap at the small of my back which annoys me
4. I REFUSE to wear low risers. That is just gross and I will not lower my standards by wearing pants that show the end all be all of my backside
Get the idea? When I was first starting to lose my weight I didn't want to keep buying brand new clothes as they would be too big in a month's time so I started shopping at Salvation Army (which has AMAZING clothes!!). Lo and behold if I don't come across a pair of jeans that I must have made in my previous life!! They still even had the tag on it so obviously someone had bought them then got rid of them without wearing them but they had obviously been made for JUST ME!
The inseam is exactly 36 inches, the back does not gap, the top of the inseam sits perfectly where it is supposed to be, they never ride up, I never have to hitch them up cause they are sliding down and they are the perfect shade of faded blue. Well after 4 years of wearing them almost non stop I have known for some time that I need to replace them. Not very easy. I thought fine they are made by the Gap so I can just go there and buy them. They are quick to tell me they no longer make that kind as not enough sales were made to warrant them continuing the line!
Are you kidding me???? What happened to all the ones that did not sell? Are they sitting in some warehouse somewhere? Can you check please? I don't know, I don't know and no I can't check for you. Good thing I am not a Gap customer cause service like that I can do without! I finally found a pair the other day that were almost long enough (almost being the operative word )and fit across my hips and today I wore them when out with my daughter shopping. And the afternoon was spent, tugging them up, pulling my shirt down to cover the gap at the back, pulling at them down my legs cause they kept riding up every time I sat down.
Sigh... back to the drawing board :(
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
temperatures
Ok I am so seriously tired of this weather and obviously so is everyone else according to all conversations with family and friends throughout Canada and US lately. You know how you always hear that no matter how bad things are things are always worse elsewhere? Well I decided to google temperatures and right now in Vostok, Antartica it is -61 degrees without windchill!!!!! Hmmmm not so bad here anymore!!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
saga of the eyeball
All right so here is the scoop of my eyeball. For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about let me bring you up to speed. About 3 weeks ago in the middle of the day I started getting bright constant flashing in the outside of my left eye. I usually get 'Auras and ziggly lines" before a migraine so assumed I was going to get a whopper although I have never had flashing lights. Remember the parties from the 70's that had strobe lights? Now don't pretend you are too young to remember those!! But all of a sudden after about 5 hours or so of this constant flashing, it stops to be replaced with a black splotch in the middle of my eye. I thought I had some old mascara still on my eyelashes so washed my face but nothing. By the next morning it was still bugging me so I went to the walk in clinic to get it checked out. She felt there had been retinal detachment so suggested I went to the ER.
So off I go, they checked me out and sent me to see an opthamologist. He checked it very carefully and explained to me that there had been no tears in the retina and that I been very lucky. He said the black splotch was actual debris from the membrane and that my body would reabsorb it and it would be all fine.
Fast forward to this week and I had my doctor send me to see a 2nd opthamplogist for another opinion as my splotch was still there. I knew my eye strained was still there and added headaches. He did another through check and this was his explanation:
When you are young the back of your eyeball is the consistency of a tennis ball. When you get older the consistency turned to something like jello or jello pudding. Still solid but kind of "sloshey" that if you had it in a box and walked around with it the contents would be sloshing around in the box. Eventually what would happen is this pudding consistency would weaken and start pulling away from the back of the retinal wall at the back of your eye. When you really are getting older this what was once a tennis ball is a pool of liquid. He said it upsets him when other peers say debris will reabsorb leaving patients thinking in a couple of days you will be all and when it doesn't happen they get upset.
Basically he said there is nothing he can do. They will not go in to remove the debris. I said I have to wait for this "middle stage" to work and turn into liquefaction (no word of a lie that is what it is called). He did say that my left eye has perfect vision, better then perfect vision actually. My right eye has not so good and has astigmatism really bad what every that means.
So now I have an eyeball that used to be a tennis ball now is a bowl of jello pudding and am waiting for it to get a water ball.
How as your week?
So off I go, they checked me out and sent me to see an opthamologist. He checked it very carefully and explained to me that there had been no tears in the retina and that I been very lucky. He said the black splotch was actual debris from the membrane and that my body would reabsorb it and it would be all fine.
Fast forward to this week and I had my doctor send me to see a 2nd opthamplogist for another opinion as my splotch was still there. I knew my eye strained was still there and added headaches. He did another through check and this was his explanation:
When you are young the back of your eyeball is the consistency of a tennis ball. When you get older the consistency turned to something like jello or jello pudding. Still solid but kind of "sloshey" that if you had it in a box and walked around with it the contents would be sloshing around in the box. Eventually what would happen is this pudding consistency would weaken and start pulling away from the back of the retinal wall at the back of your eye. When you really are getting older this what was once a tennis ball is a pool of liquid. He said it upsets him when other peers say debris will reabsorb leaving patients thinking in a couple of days you will be all and when it doesn't happen they get upset.
Basically he said there is nothing he can do. They will not go in to remove the debris. I said I have to wait for this "middle stage" to work and turn into liquefaction (no word of a lie that is what it is called). He did say that my left eye has perfect vision, better then perfect vision actually. My right eye has not so good and has astigmatism really bad what every that means.
So now I have an eyeball that used to be a tennis ball now is a bowl of jello pudding and am waiting for it to get a water ball.
How as your week?
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Taking Chance
I don't normally post movie reviews as there usually isn't a whole lot of worthy movies out there these days but last week Keith and I watched one. It is a true story called "Taking Chance" by Keven Bacon. I am including a trailer but it is by far the MOST ABSOLUTELY MOST heartbreaking, tear jerker movie I have ever seen in my entire life.
It begins with a soldier's dying in combat in Afghanistan. Then it continues with the transport of the body home and the steps that goes from death to being returned to their parents continents away.
There is one scene that all of a sudden a trucker drove by the hearse with the Lt. Colonel in with the deceased soldier and all the other drivers knew that was a dead soldier in that hearse and he passed the hearse and went around the corner with his lights flashing at every car coming towards the hearse and one by one they turned all their headlights on and turned around to follow them back to the hometown to give me a soldier his welcome home. I don't want to give more of the movie but if you don't watch any more movies please see this one. You will regret not ever seeing it and it will touch your entire life if you do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehWAxdLSoQM&feature=related
It begins with a soldier's dying in combat in Afghanistan. Then it continues with the transport of the body home and the steps that goes from death to being returned to their parents continents away.
There is one scene that all of a sudden a trucker drove by the hearse with the Lt. Colonel in with the deceased soldier and all the other drivers knew that was a dead soldier in that hearse and he passed the hearse and went around the corner with his lights flashing at every car coming towards the hearse and one by one they turned all their headlights on and turned around to follow them back to the hometown to give me a soldier his welcome home. I don't want to give more of the movie but if you don't watch any more movies please see this one. You will regret not ever seeing it and it will touch your entire life if you do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehWAxdLSoQM&feature=related
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