Scoop of the Race

Well here I am .. the end of the race. It has been an emotional journey, a physically demanding grueling at times, physically painful most days but I persevered and was determined I was going to do it if it was the last thing I do. I was expecting to do it alone with Keith but then some of my children rallied around me. And that surprised me but will tell you why that was later. I picked up the run kits the day before and I noticed she put 2 t-shirts in mine and so I asked why I got 2, 1 of them pink. She said "Oh all survivors get a pink shirt". I looked her straight in the eye and said "In our family we are all survivors." She was stumped at that one.

We had to get up very early and be at the train station by 7:30am. Now you all know and have been reading how I have been training to do this 5K run in under an hour. I was so determined to do it. We had 2 little granddaughters who have been in training with me and they were determined to be doing this race. I thought that meant IN the strollers. Nah,... not so much. Anyway when we got there and although we were early somehow we were in the wrong spot at the beginning and when he headed off we were about 3/4 way into the group of over 13,000 people and it probably took 10 minutes just to get to the start line.

It also took us till about the 2K mark to get going. I really wanted to get moving but those little legs of the toddlers just would not meet my stride and they didn't want to go into the stroller. It was a RACE!! So the little girls actually did over 3K of the race on their own 2 feet.During the times that Keith and I could convince then to sit in the stroller with the promise we would run very fast, I would run ahead and then wait up ahead to wait for the others to catch up. At the 4K mark all I could focus was finishing under that 1 hour. I lost focus of why I was doing this. I lost focus of who I was with and what they had given up to be there with me. By the time these thoughts were coming up I was coming up over the Cambie Street bridge... as I crested over the bridge I saw paramedics doing CPR on someone. It brought me up very very short. They kept moving us along and when I got to the bottom of the bridge I told Keith I would wait there for the others and explained what had happened and how I was feelng. He said I would not be able to make my time and I said I already made my time. My children and grandchildren and my soulmate are here.. what's an hour in the grand scheme of things??

So he went off to the finish line so that he could film us coming across. I waited for about 20 minutes before I finally saw them coming down off the bridge. I felt sooo bad. Lareta was waddling like she was 9 months pregnant. When she reached me she told me how much pain she was in. I told her I had painkillers with me and said said she did too but it was in her purse in HER stroller that I had taken off with. I said why didn't you call me I would have come back but her cell was in the stroller was. In our stroller was our son's water bottles. I felt so incredibly bad. Here there 2 children had over come some HUGE obstacles to be there and I had not raced with them. But the race is over and I love them for being there. And next race I do and my family is there my goal is going to be walking arm and arm all in a row everyone finishing at the same time. So what was my time? 1 hour 24 minutes.



This was our team shot:
From far left: Senthia, daughter in law Linda with little Rosaleen in front of her.Son Jody with grandson Darien in front of him. Jody has special soles in his shoes and has incredibly bad knees and anjkes but he was there to do this race with his Mum. Then Linda said well if he was going to do it she would as well. Then it is me with Latitia and little Miranda in front of me. Keith beside me with our daughter Lareta holding baby Kloie with her and granddaughter Britnee on the far right. I had made shirts for some of the granddkids saying I support Nana and some with the same saying except saying of Nana and Gramma and their other grandmother died of breast cancer 2 years ago. Our children had I support Nana, Keith's said I support my Love and Soulmate.I made some for EVERY member of our family even for those that don't live here as I could not have done this without them. Ever.

Keith and I..if this ever happens agin hope you have a husband like Keith. There is NO GREATER love and supportive man then this one. None.

This is a picture of our son Jody, his wife Linda and daughter Rosaleeb


Pictures of our daughter Lareta and her children. I was so sad at the way I had left her behind :( She just had a newborn baby and had been on bed rest for about 4 months before the baby was born. She had dislocated pelvic joint which is still not healed and very painful and here she was to support me and I left her behind. I will remember that moment for a very long time.

tattoo that Rosaleen insisted i needed.. she called them Butterly Kisses :O








I racked my brain trying to figure out what kind of tshirt I could make for Kloie. She is so small nothing I wrote on the shirt would have worked then I thought UH HUH.. I transferred the pink ribbon on her little cheeky butt heheh



Time to go home and these kids were so tired. That was a long run for them!!





One of my mom's cousin who I had never met had written to me when she found out I was doing the race. She called me a Warrior Woman and so this picture was just for her :)







It's been months since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete

I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend I run for life

It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To waken when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all

And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more

Next year I will be training for the 60K race 4 day marathon. As well as the 5K one which I will do with my children and grandchildren and I will walk side by side with them and enjoy the blessings that come with being alive. And being with them. Hopefully you will ALL come join me for either of them. We need to end this disease. I will do it.. Will you do it with me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0myvLD0zpAM

Thank you so much for listening to me talk about this race for the last couple of months. It has made the whole world to me! Thanks you

Race wrap up

Sorry I haven't posted about the race. They took team pictures there but I can't get them till the 8th so as soon as I can upload them I will do a detailed account for the event. Stay tuned to tomorrow!!

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing items in a set called Keith and Sally. Make your own badge here.

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Wal Mart Super Centre

So Lareta and I finally got around to checking out the new Wal Mart Supercentre. I was supposed to pick up my runner kits but they weren't there yet so we decided to check the store out. We sis the tour of most of it.. then hit the tire section which made us both ill so we left that whole section away.

The bad points:
1. They had the air conditioning running at full blast freezing our buns off
2, The staff are not trained very well.. I asked one worker where they kept molasses and was told they didn't carry then.. weird.. then I end up finding it and showing him where it was

The good points:
1. It was great in the fact that we didn't have to climb in and out half a dozen times to go to different errands. Everything under one roof.
2. They have a choice for lunches other then McDonald
3.. They have a hair salon and a nail salon.The good points:
4. It is closer for me to drive there
5. Its closer then going to Guildford

Weould I ever go back. Probably not. I like my neighboorhood Safeway where they call me by name. I can walk there and it allows me to do just a few stuff at the store that I can carry hone. It would be a day truip in going and the would be able tio findhenn

Hallowe'en treats

I came across this info and thought some of you might find it interesting seeing as how all these treats are so temptingly displayed all over stores etc.. and if you are tempted after the actual Halloween to dip into your children's goodie bags for "just one treat" hehehe

I don’t mean to ruin everyone’s Halloween fun. It’s a great Halloween. And we all deserve a little treat now and then. And I’m not saying, “Don’t you dare stick that Snicker’s bar in your mouth!” I’m saying everything in moderation. Just for fun, let’s do a little math. Let’s say after your child comes back from trick-or-treating you raid his or her bag and gobble up four fun size snicker’s bars and a Reese’s Cup. Come on…you know it’s a realistic number. That’s a total of 400 extra calories in one night. Then, let’s say for the next four days you basically munch on the same amount throughout the day (darn those co-workers for bringing in their leftover candy)! Your excess calories for five days now amount to 2000. This is fun, isn’t it? Okay, a 135 lb person walking at a leisurely (think walking the dog) pace for one hour burns approximately 215 calories. So to cancel out the five days of candy munching, you will need to walk an extra 9.3 hours that week!

http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blhalloweencalories.htm

Those little Halloween candies looking at you from the bowl, little, bright colored and just jumping up with the sweet chocolate that you know that you love so much are very very evil. You know you want one, you yearn for one or two but as you try you just can not say no….or can you?

Halloween candy is some of the worst stuff that you can eat. It is small so you do not worry too much about the calories (even if you eat 20), it is high in saturated fat, and there is so much around at this time of year that it is hard to avoid. In fact it would be hard to find an office building anywhere in america that does not have a few bowls of Halloween candy lieing around on November 1st.

Here are the calories for some Halloween candies:

Nestle’s Crunch - Fun Size 3 bars=210 calories
Peanut M&M’s - Fun Pack 2 bags=80 calories
M&M’s - Fun Pack 2 bags=180 calories
Snicker’s - Fun Size 2 bars=160 calories
Milky Way - Fun Size 2 bars=150 calories
Kit Kat - Fun Size 2 bars=100 calories
Hershey Chocolate Bar - Fun Size 1 bar=90 calories/ 5grams of fat
Reese’s Cup - 1 cup=80 calories
Butterfinger - Fun Size 1 bar= 100 calories
Twix - Fun Size 1 bar= 80 calories
York Peppermint Pattie - 1 pattie=70 calories
Twizzlers - 1 treat size pkg= 45 calories
Almond Joy - 1 snack size bar = 90 calories
Milk Duds - 1 treat size box = 40 calories
Butterfinger - 1 snack size bar = 100 calories
Milky Way - 1 snack size bar = 90 calories
SweetTarts - 1 treat size pkg. = 50 calories
1 Tootsie Pop - 1 pop = 60 calories
1 Tootsie Roll - 1 small roll = 13 calories

Note: Calorie content is based on 1 serving of Halloween snack or fun size packages, not full size servings found in the candy aisle.

If you are not worried about all of these extra calories over the next week that is fine, but if you would like to avoid Halloween candy and the calories that they offer here is a few tips.

1. Change the way that you think about the little Halloween candy. Most of us will associate these candies with childhood and that carefree feeling, instead think of them as something that will raise your blood sugar and make you jumpy.

2. Eat properly so you can stay away from Halloween candy. If you keep yourself on track for eating then avoiding the Halloween candy is easier because you will not be hungry.

3. Only buy the Halloween candy that you do not like. What may be tough for someone to resist may not be too hard for you to resist.

4. Decide what you are willing to eat ahead of time. Look at the list above, there are some good decisions that you can make that will stop you from making this a weight gain holiday by eating the right Halloween candy. I am a big fan of Tootsie Rolls and those are apparently OK to eat.

5. Just stay away. there is some willpower involved in not eating the things that we are not supposed to eat. Have some willpower and you can stay away from treats, it is only a one week holiday anyway, right?

Coolest invention in Tupperware

Ok .. now I don't normally go around giving free advertising to companies, well except for Epicure spices earlier, but these are the COOLEST invention since sliced bread. I was invited to a Tupperware show last year and went to check out for the social aspect more then I needed another plastic container. Well the rep demonstrated these so cool containers and how they keep produce forever. Well ok maybe not forever but for a long time, much longer then normal fridge crispers so thought what they heck. They had a special on buy one get one half price and another small one free or something like that so I invested in them.

No word of a lie they do save the produce for a crazy amount of time. Most of our produce would end up in the disposal as it would go bad before we could use it (thanks to my husband's insane addiction to Costco) but now we actually would use up all the produce. So I think great, next time I get invited to another one I am getting more. Of course I don't get invited. The smart thing would have been to just contact the company and buy some but then I would have been guilted into hosting a show and I didn't want to go there. Lo and behold a few weeks ago we went to a Baby Fair that one of our neighbors as an event planner was hosting and there was a booth from Tupperware! YEAA!!

I asked if they had these special containers and she said yes but only in the fall colors of yellow and orange.. hmmm mine are white and blue.. but thought who cares they are in the fridge so bought a bunch more.. now I just got back from the produce market and am going to happily store all my goodies in their own containers. What makes these containers cool is they have littel "flaps" that are either both closed, both open or one of each depending on what is stored in them. It's these little portals that allow the right amount of moisture in or not in that saves your produce. Check it out!

Last week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUw6zOuE0Jc

I hope that link works out. This is my last week in training for the run. I still am looking for family and friends to do the run with me or walk with me or push a baby stroller with me. Or stand at the end of the line and cheer me on. This is the first race I have been in and although I am not going to be anywhere near the front I know with all the extra training I have been doing I won't be last. This week I will aim to do my 5k's in under an hour. That is my goal. Under an hour pushing the stroller with a 40 pounder. I am going to do it. One footstep at a time. Come on everyone... I know you reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to do this with me :)

It's for a great cause. No one woman every wants to hear those words "I'm sorry but you have breast cancer". One in 9 women this year will be diagnosed. Those are terrible odds. We need to do this. Will you help me in this fight?

Families are Forever

Yesterday I got a great surprise in the mail! The fact that it was in the actual snail mail was a surprise in itself hehehe. But it was a hand addressed envelope with a return address from Saskatoon. Now I only know a handful of people from there and none of them came from that address. The name was vaguely familiar but couldn't place it. After a few minutes of trying to think of who it was from ( I know I know why not open the envelope? I already said it was a surprise to get an actual letter that wasn't from my mom and I was prolonging the anticipation) I finally opened it.

Inside was a hand written letter (again a surprise cause who still writes and not type??) from someone in my family that had been told of my announcement to do the Run for the Cure. I had to re-read it to figure out who this was and had to go to my genealogy to realize she was the daughter of a sister of my maternal grandmother. I think that makes us 2nd cousins perhaps??? But she wanted to send her support with her words and sent a donation along for me to include.

Now you all know I don't do the crying thing. I have what Oprah calls an ugly cry, face gets all red and scrunched up, I can't catch my breath then it comes out in these huge old wrenching sobs,,,so over the years I have perfected the art of biting down on my molars and insides of my cheeks when I feel myself getting to that point and it passes. Well I felt it was safe to let go reading this letter because I was alone and after all who would see this mug turn ugly.

I also got an email from another 2nd cousin.. this one I did know as we have been exchanging family history info over the last couple of years... she wanted to let me know that she took my original email that I sent her to let her know I was running and she posted it on that side of the family's web site. Blew me away. These are 2 women not even from my generation. I don't know if I have ever met either of them in person. If I did it would have been at my grandmother's funeral if they were there. But both of them came forward to support me. One said that this disease has really struck our family hard and how wonderful it was that someone was going to stand up to it.

I don't know how much I can do but I am pretty loud!! And I may be only one voice but I can usually out speak or out talk anyone so I think I can use that talent to move this forward. It made me realize this week that families are forever.. no matter if you are several generations removed, or you have never met... we are for all time and eternity, through sickness and in health... and for today.. this week.. I am strong, I am invincible, and I will run for the women in our family.

Thanks Therese and Claire... you will give me strength next week!!

Vancouver LDS Temple

it's taking wayyyyy too long :( I should send Keith over there to build this. It would have been done by now. Man the days of not going to Seattle anymore is so close I can almost taste it! Oh wait.. that was ice cream from dinner I was tasting!

http://www.lds.org/temples/construction/0,11437,1940-1-594-0,00.html

Make a Smilebox photobook

Book Review #2: Strong at the Broken Places

This book is from Richard M. Cohen

I had planned on reading this book last as I knew it would make me delve into the very locked part of me that never comes out. But I also know myself very well and knew if I did not read it next I would never read it. I meant to do the book review last week but was busy planning Keith's 55 th surprise birthday party, our staff training, then getting this nasty mouth and throat infextion where literally was not able to take for FIVE days unless absolutely necessary!

Anyway the book review:

ok.. I am not an emotional person. I do my crying in private and never lose control. When I get a hold of a book, any book I just sit and read till the last page. This book took me forever to read as I kept having to put it down. It made me realize I was human, I had faults, I was not alone in my illnesses, that others are worse off then I am but most importantly I learned that I have a very large supportive family and how very blessed I am. I should be ashamed for keeping them always at arm's lengths. Anyone that has a chronic illness or is a supporter of a family member or friend who is chronically ill NEEDS to read this book. Must supply own tissues.

Ratings out of 5 stars: *****

Word of the Week

So today is Tuesday... well ok it's after 2 am Wednesday but as technically I have yet to go to bed it is still Tuesday..so here is a conversation between 2 granddaughters tonight at dinner. Rosaleen is 4 and Miranda is 3. It's usually sleepover on Tuesday nights which is why they are here having dinner. Keith and I are done and are in the loving room watching tv. The 2 of them won't stop talking to even eat. At once point the conversation begins this new turn:'

Miranda: Nana I'm full
Nana: No you are not you hardly ate your dinner you need to eat more

dinner continues

few minutes later
Miranda: Nana my tummy hurts
Nana: Let me see your plate.... sees plate.... no you have to eat the rest of your yellow and green beans and half of your meat that you sucked all the applesauce off... away she goes back to table

Rosaleen: I know why your tummy hurts
M: why
R: Cause you have poopinjestion (Spelt as it sounded!!!)
M: what's that Rosaleen
R: It's when your food turns into poop
M:EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW no it doesn't!
R: Yes it does
M: Nana does food turn into poop?
N: Yes Miranda it does
M: as she looks at her plate.. this doesn't look like poop this looks like beans and meat
R: no it turns into poop in the tubes in your stomach
M: I don't have tubes in my stomach as she lifts her shirt up and says "SEEEE"
R: You can't see it but it curls around in your stomach and as you eat more food it pushes old food into containers like the ones in your fridge but these ones are soft and smaller

SIDE NOTE: Keith has a pillow stuffed in his face and tears running down his face and I have one hand covering my mouth and my other hand pinching my nose tight cause when I am laughing hard I do this nasty snort no one should ever hear

R:...then when the old poop gets shoved in these containers and you don't eat enough vegables and fruits even the ones you don't like and taste like poison that your mom and dad give you to eat you have to eat them cause they help to push the old poop out.
M:No they don't
R: yes they do
M: then what happens?
R: then the poop gets hard and that is when you get poopinjestion and then you can't go in any other people's bathrooms cause it takes too long to come out and it really hurts so you have to go home and go upstairs and sit there and make funny faces to push the poopinjestion out then you will feel better. You never want to get poopinjestion it's not nice
M: Daddy gets poopinjestion the other day

SIDE NOTE:Everything to Miranda is "the other day"

M: Daddy goes to the bathroom all the time and makes funny noises.. when I go home tomorrow I will tell him he has to eat his vegetables and fruit so he doesn't get poopinjestion anymore.

R and M: Nana we don't want to eat anymore.. as they come around the corner into the living room
R: PAPA!!!!!! STOP!! You are squishing the pillow on your face like on the movie.. stop it Papa
M: Nana Papa is crying he needs a kiss to make his owie all better
Me: Keith stop laughing hysterically you are scaring the girls as he slides off the recliner onto the floor finally being able to laugh out loud from having laughed into the pillow repeating the same word over and over again....poopinjestion...

you gotta have a sense of humour in this house or you would go slightly insane

By the way in case you wonder what I do in the middle of the night here is a pic of me that Keith took sneaking behind me scaring the daylights out of me.. notice the time? Always working on our big Seminar coming up on Oct 18th. Don't you just love my Pooh Jammies???

Question 2

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 ~

Last week's affirmation was the first of a three-part series. It began with my recalling having read somewhere or been told by someone that, when I die, I will come face to face with God and that He will ask me three questions. I have given these three questions a great deal of thought, and in fact I think about them at some point almost every day. I don't think the questions will be posed as a pass-fail, congratulations-you're-in or sorry-but-you're-outta- here kind of test, but rather as part of a "welcome home" conversation between God and me, an "I'm-so- glad-you're-finally-here!-Tell-me-all-about-it!" chat, the kind of excited, breathless exchange one might have with a family member after returning from a lengthy trip to faraway lands.

The first question was "What did you learn?"
The second is "How much did you love?"

I think that what God will want to hear is whether I came to understand that love really is what this life is all about, that it's everything, pure and simple.

Pure and simple. Love everybody. Nothing complicated about it. Yeah, right.

Love is the most important lesson we are sent here to learn, and it is far and away the most difficult. I struggle with it every day, as I'm sure most people do. Let's be honest here. There are a lot of people who are downright difficult - if not impossible - to like, much less love. For example,
just yesterday my neighbor...

Well, let's just say it's a good thing I don't have to have this conversation with God today (at least I don't think I do; today's not over yet) because I clearly have a long way to go in learning about love. I guess I can only share how much I have loved to this point in my life; after that, I will tell you what I hope to be able to say to God when I graduate from this cosmic classroom and finally meet the Head Master.

Let's see. How to begin. How much have I loved so far?

I have loved my husband like one can only love one's truest, best friend, the better part of myself, mirror of my heart, the one who has given my life passion beyond romance, my partner on this journey, the witness to my life. But I guess I don't need to tell You, God. You know the rest, and readers (not to mention our kids)
might find it a little icky.

Speaking of kids, I have loved my children with an unconditional, fiercely protective, overwhelmingly joyful and sometimes deeply painful love that no one but a mother could understand. I would literally give my own life to save theirs. Oh, yeah. For a minute there, I forgot. That's how You love us. And You did that, didn't You?

I have loved my family and my friends, even though this one was really hard sometimes. I mean, do You remember that time my brother...oops. Sorry.
Look who I'm telling!

I have really, really tried to love everyone, God, but just yesterday, this woman at the post office...

Okay. Now you see how far I still have to go. Better skip right to what I hope will be my answers to the question "How much did you love?" by the time I am called upon to answer it. Here is what I believe He will want to hear:

I have loved my neighbor as myself, and I have learned that everyone is my neighbor. I have loved every person who has ever hurt me, and I have loved them hard, because You taught me that love in the face of anger and terror is the most powerful, unstoppable, undefinable force in the universe.

I have loved countless scroungy puppies and kittens and old, tired, sick dogs and cats and every precious creature that lives and breathes upon this earth. When I have witnessed cruelty to any living being, I have stepped up and done everything in my power to end it because that is love in action, and love without action to back it up is, well, not love.

I have loved this planet, our Mother Earth, that sustains us, and I've made every effort to learn how to care for her and live in a way that gives back to her more than I take.

I have loved this life You have given me and been blissfully and gratefully aware of every breath I have taken, every sunrise and sunset, every shooting star, every spring, summer, winter and fall, every, every, every...

I have loved my body because it is the temple of my spirit, the house I live in, my transportation and armor on this journey. I have given it nourishment, activity and rest and cared for it as I know You wanted me to. I have had to learn to love it although it causes me great grief and a lot of pain on any given day and just when my limits up of how much I can handle with my body I get slammed with something else. I mean seriously, who else do you know gets infected with Lyme's Disease, Fibromyalgia, debilitating disc disease and now Cancer. Am I still to believe that I can handle everything I am given? But I knew it was my temple and I had to take care of it, I started exercising, eating healthy, lost 150 pounds, all good stuff and still I struggle. But I try and take care of this temple the best I can.

I have loved the unlovely and the unlovable, the hated and the hateful. I have loved
with no second thoughts, no regrets.

Perhaps hardest of all, I have learned to love myself. You know what that's all about, Lord, so I guess I don't need to explain.

But You, God, You I have loved without measure, and my fervent prayer, now that I am at last in Your presence, is that I have lived my life as a small but worthy reflection of Your love for me.

Training Update

First of all I want to stand up and take my hats off to all of you that have emailed me, called me, sent me cards and flowers of support, have pledged donations of support and especially to those of you who will be by my side on October 5th. My heart and soul are so overwhelmed by this outpouring of support it blows my mind away.

I never expected this kind of response.. I was thinking a few "way to go's" type of thing but not this. I am blown away I don't know how to explain it. The tears are almost constant these days... especially so in my training... every time my knees start hurting from going too far, that picture of the women in my life goes right in front of my heart and soul and I keep going... when my spine feels like it is about to give away.. that picture is right in front of me.. when I think my muscle cramps from the fibromyalgia is going to stop me from getting dressed and getting my butt out that door, that picture propels me forward.

I am doing the 5K part of the run and every day I am doing at least 5k's. Most days I am pushing my granddaughter who is about 50 pounds plus a 25 pound stroller which usually has my purse some books for her and several water bottles (reusble I might add hehehe) and away I go. This week I have a sinus migraine which I have never had in my life. They are refinishing the hardwood floors at work and the smell makes me so nauseous I was throwing up halfway through my staff training 2 days ago.. yesterday the pain in my face kept getting worse so went to the walk in clinic. He went to touch my face and I threw up in his lap.. very lovely of me I might add!!! but the pressure of him just barely putting his fingers on my sinuses was too much. He gave me medication to take but has not kicked in yet.But that will not stop me.

So today and every day for the next 2 weeks , I will be doing 10K's a day broken down into 2 separate runs.

I don't want to be last at the finish line. So I will do the first one early in the morning and then the second one later in the day. It is Keith's birthday and our anniversary today and as I head out the door as soon as I log off here I will go while it is dark and peaceful and run for my mom Pauline, my sister Adele, my aunts, Cecile, Lucienne, Winnifred and Irene (who was my godmother) all other then Pauline have died from cancer, I will run for Lareta, Mary, Linda and Jen so they don't lose THEIR mum, I will run this morning in the dark for Senthia, Britnee, Latitia, Sinead, Amber, Rosaleen, Miranda, Aisling and Kloie so they will still see me on THEIR wedding day.....''

This morning I will run in the dark for Keith, Douglas, Kim, Eugene, Jody and Curt so they can support me so I don't trip on the curbs. Today I will do that 2nd run for Terry, Dallas, Darien and Regan so they have someone in their corner rooting for them when their moms get on their cases for annoying their sisters.

Today I will run a 2nd run for my brothers Claude, Daniel, Richard and Norman so that they won't lose another sister to cancer






Today I will run that 2nd run to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary with Keith so that we have 27 more reasons to keep going. But mostly today I will run that 2nd run just because I know I can stand up to cancer and not let it get a hold of me.

First of 3 Questions

"I didn't know I had a quarrel with him."
~ Henry Thoreau in answer to the question,
"Have you made your peace with God?" ~

I don't know where or even whether I heard this or read it, but at some point in my life I came to believe that God and I really will be having a face-to-face conversation one of these days and that I need to be prepared to answer three important questions. These three questions, I believe, if answered truthfully and thoughtfully, can pretty much sum up for Him what I've done with my life. Of course I know that He already knows what I've been up to down here, but He wants to see if I know, if I've really "gotten it."

I believe the first question I will be expected to answer is "What did you learn?"

I'm pretty sure this question doesn't have anything to do with algebra. I hope this question doesn't have anything to do with algebra. I think He's going to want to know what I've learned from living this strange and wonderful life I've lived. I think about the question every day, and I think about my answers every night. Some of the answers get tweaked now and then, but here are a few of the ones I've prepared so far:

*We can't unbreak eggs, but we can make one magnificent omelet out of that mess.*We grow and learn during the tough times, not the easy ones.That must explain why I'm so big and smart - just kidding, Lord :)*God has a sense of humor.*Eat lots of fiber every day.*Sometimes eat a little ice cream.*Someone should invent high-fiber ice cream.*Your mother can always tell if you're lying.*Don't lie, ever.*Nothing is permanent except the human spirit, so stop worrying about the stain on the carpet.*Sometimes we do get more than we can handle, but God doesn't give us the bad stuff; God helps us handle the bad stuff we get from "other sources."*The right tool for the right job.*Put Dad's tools back where you got them.*The "Big 'C'" stands for "Big Courage."*Whatever your heart desires, do it now.*Walk every day.*My scars are beautiful; they are the brushstrokes in the masterpiece that is my life.*When in doubt or fear, hit your knees.*I will never look like a supermodel, but I have really beautiful feet.*You must do the thing you think you cannot do, and every time you do, you are stronger and braver than you were before.*Even if I cannot walk, my soul can dance.*There are really only three things I have to do every day: breathe in, breathe out and say "Thank you!"*Be infinitely kind and compassionate because everyone you meet is hurting in some way.*Celebrate the sunrise.*The supper dishes can wait; time with my family won't.*A brave heart is the most powerful weapon in any fight.*Never underestimate the power or the potential of the human spirit.* Statistics cannot predict any single outcome.*Wear sunscreen.*We are here to take care of each other.*Every human being has worth and value, and if I can't see it, then I need to look again through my Father's eyes.*Dream big for there is little power in little plans. *Ride every carousel you see.*

Dear God, thank You SO much for giving me a full scholarship to this cosmic schoolroom called "life" and for being my teacher and ever-present companion as I make my way through the joyful lessons and the awful ones. Sometimes the learning curve is really steep, and I am afraid to even try, but with Your guidance and patience, I am able to move from lesson to lesson. Be with me today, Lord, and every day of my life as I have so very much more to learn.
Amen

Run For the Cure

This post comes after a long time of soul searching. As most people that are reading this know I was diagnosed with breast cancer about 9 months or so ago. I had to have surgery and have more to come later this year but for now I have a clean bill of health. I have spent this year keeping busy, keeping my head buried in the sand thinking that if I don't think about the Cancer I really can pretend it isn't there. And it isn't about not having enough faith in God to keep me safe. There is not a woman out there that doesn't feel that terror in her when she founds a lump and waits for results, or a woman out there that doesn't 100% believe doctors when they say they got it all. After all if that first cell got in their body the first time then it can get in again.

I saw a commercial at the beginning of this year for the Weekend To End Cancer for the Labor Day Weekend but did not want to register for it as we had a grandchild that was due at that time. But the CIBC Run for the Cure is on for October 5th and after spending last couple of weeks thinking about it I realized that I want to do the run. I need to do this run. It would be so easy to continue saying I am fine, I will be fine, I have faith. But I know I need to do MORE, something more.

Anyone that knows my family knows we have been touched by cancer many many times over. The survival rate for cancer isn't the greatest and there is usually a couple of us at any given time dealing with this disease. I have a picture up on my living room wall of my mother, daughter, daughters in law, and 8 granddaughters, plus a now one month old granddaughter who was born after that picture was taken. And I was sitting in the living room just starting at that picture and it became very clear what I needed to do. I needed to raise awareness for this disease. I needed to do something to make my voice heard. I needed to do something to raise money for research. I needed to make sure I did something so the females in this picture would not have to go through this again.

On Friday I watched a show called Stand Up 2 Cancer. The stadium where people were held 60,000 and all seats were taken. The host had everyone stand up, then asked those that either are a survivor of cancer or has someone in their life that is struggling with cancer to sit down. It blew me away. There were few people that were remaining standing. It was celebrities that were doing this show and they pledge a % of their income for the next year to Cancer research. I knew then this had to be done.

I looked at that picture on my wall again and thought of those 13 females that got affected by this disease, that because of me, their chances of inheriting this disease just jumped.It is no longer time to sit with my head in the sand. I will stand up to cancer. I have registered with the CIBC Run for the Cure marathon that will happen October 5th of this year. I have been training for it for the last couple of weeks so that my legs and spine are strengthened.

Please check out this website www.cbcf.org/run/ where you can see where my goal is how I am doing. I am asking for your help if you can. You can either be part of my team and run at the same time in your city (there are cities all over Canada). Pick the one closest to you. If you get registration cost of $40 in by September 19th we can get our team logo on our t-shirts :)

Or you can help by pledging a donation. This you can do by donating in a secure fashion online or I can put it on my pledge sheet. I do guarantee you I will finish this race and I will do it with pride and honour. Please do not feel like you have to donate hundreds of dollars (although I will never refuse that hehehe), anything you can at all will help. Just think if they were just 100 dollars away from finding a cure or a new medication that wasn't chemo or radiation for treatment!! How much better our lives would be without this disease.

I have lost my Father, my only sister, and 4 aunts to cancer. I won't be another one that my family has to watch die. Please visit this site:

www.cbcf.org/en-US/home.aspx

as soon as possible or just email me and let me know you would love to run/walk/ push a baby stroller/join me here in Vancouver or else run with me in the city where you live. When you click on the link it will give you a list of cities that have runs going on at the same time. You can do the 5k or the 1 K run. I would love to have this SMILESONLY team as my team. Together we can make a stand. We CAN stand up to Cancer. You and I. Together.

My Co-workers gave me a necklace when I had my surgery and this is what is engraved on it. I wear this necklace nearly every single day since I received it. It is my mantra and I repeat it every morning when I wake up:

What Cancer Cannot Do:
It cannot....
invade the soul,
suppress memories,
kill friendships,
destroy you,
conquer my spirit,
shatter hope,
cripple love,
corrode Faith,
steal eternal life,
silence courage

And it will not take me away from my family, from my husband, from my 5 sons and my daughter and my daughters in law that I consider as daughters, from my grandchildren, those here now and those yet to come to our family.

This race will be for you. If you at this time of your life can not help out by doing the walk or by monetary donation, I would love to have your prayers and thoughts with us on that day. I have started a journal since I was diagnosed and any emails I have gotten this past year that has words of encouragements in it, I have printed them and put them in my journal. Please know that support is also important to me. Your prayers have gotten me through this past 9 months and continue to get me through this.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul.

Election season

#1. When I become President of the World I am going to abolish election signs plastered all over the boulevards and yards.

#2. When I become President of the World I am going to make it illegal for politicians to bad mouth the other parties.. instead they will have to actually talk about what THEY are going to do not what their opponents are going to do

#3. When I become President of the World I am going make it illegal for offices to call me and ask me who I am going to vote for.. HELLOOO!!! What planet are you from? Do you not realize that here we have SECRET ballots for a reason?? Because I DON'T want to tell you who I am voting for. Especially considering the fact that I don't even know who you are and you want me to tell a complete stranger something very private???

#4. When I become President of the World I am going to set up an electronic buzzer to my phone and if the person calling (see note #3) calls me at dinner time or right in the middle of a really good plot in a show I am watching you will get a buzz that will make you sing!

#5. When I become President of the World I am going to work it out so who I vote for will actually win every time :)

Rude Rude and then there are Richmond youth

As most of you know I had major surgery in March and every 2 weeks I have had to go to Vancouver to see the surgeon. Most of the times I took the bus then the train then another bus. But at times when my back would be very sore I would take a different bus from Surrey with only 1 transfer but I then go through Richmond. I noticed something the first time I took that 2ND route. Now I take the bus every where I go if it is car far so I am used to the lack of courtesy youth give to adults but nope not on this trip. When it happened every time I took that route I realized it wasn't an isolated incident but in fact the Asian youth that actually have manners.

Let me explain. Anytime the bus would pick up elderly passengers regardless of the sex, Asian youth (male and female alike) would stand up automatically, bow and give up their seats. Any time a female regardless of age or race came on the bus the male youth would automatically give up their seat. Many weeks I took this route and every single time it happened. Without even looking at street signs I knew when we had crossed the boundary into Richmond. Here I thought courtesy amongst youth on the transit system had disappeared.

Now fast forward to this past week...I had been out with my 4 year old just before the weekend and on the way home she had fallen asleep in my arms while we sat on the bus stop. There is no waking this child when she has fallen asleep. So here I was lugging her, my purse and my bags getting on the bus. All the seats were taken and although there were youth sitting in seats that are designated "assistance needed" seats no one got up.

Monday, to help out our daughter who had been really ill on the weekend, Keith and I went and got their kids school supply lists and went to Wall-Mart to get the rest of the supplies they still needed. What a mess!!I went to ask one of the clerks if they had supplies in another area of the store and was told no just by the door.. a cramped very small area that was made worse by 60-70 backpacks all over the floor, an older teen was reaching up on the top shelf to get some duo-tangs and brought the whole box down scattering them all over the floor.. she just picked up the ones she wanted and left the rest. Because I had a cart I couldn't even get around the aisles, I finally left to ask a clerk if they could send someone over to clean the mess as you could not get around. This was what I was told "Well if you didn't wait to do your shopping till the day before school started you wouldn't have this mess and I'm not cleaning it up or sending someone to clean it up we never made the mess". Then the other day, I am out for my walk pushing my granddaughter in her stroller just boogieing along. We stopped at a red light and this young adult comes up to the same stop, looks at us both then looks at me and says "Isn't she a little old to be still in a stroller?" Uhhhhhh aren't you a little young to be wearing your father's pants out in public as they can't possibly be yours they are hanging around your ankles!!! Idiot.

There has been a lot of talk about Asian gangs out here and a lot of shootings, crimes etc involving Asian gangs.. but after watching these Asian youth on the bus system every 2 weeks for 3 months and then watching the youth out here all I can say is.. the Asian transit gangs obviously needs new recruits and more members!

Breahe In Breathe Out

Before cancer, many of us go through life pretty clueless. I know I did. I worried about things that seem trivial now: a petty difference with a co- worker, irritation over a spill on the carpet, too many things to do and too few hours in the day to do them. I spent my days running around and making myself crazy over the smallest details.

After my diagnosis and throughout most of my treatment, I went back and forth from borderline hysteria to resignation and depression.

Then one day, for the first time in many months, I was feeling physically strong enough to take on a few errands by myself. I went to
the post office to buy stamps.

As I stood in the long line - a little weak in the knees, and more than a bit queasy in the stomach - I began to feel rather proud of myself. I thought I have been through so much in the last year. I have been sicker than I ever thought a human being could be and still be alive, but here I am. I'm still standing, I'm doing things for myself again and,hey, this feels pretty good!

Then I noticed that two women ahead of me were becoming very agitated and vocal about the long, slow-moving line. They began complaining loudly that they had "better things to do" than wait in line at the post office "all day."

I thought about that for a minute and then asked myself Do I have anything better to do today than what I'm doing right this minute? Do I have anything better to do than just be alive and grateful? And then the answer: Nope.

That's when it happened. I felt myself begin to glow. Today I tell people that it was either an epiphany or the mother of all hot flashes, but whatever it was, it was powerful and life-altering. So I just stood there, basking in its warmth, and I slowly began to understand some important truths: This moment is all I have. And in this moment, there is nothing I really have to do except breathe in, breathe out
and say "Thank you!"

I wanted to say something to the two women. I wanted to ask them if they had any idea how lucky they were to be able to stand there in that line, if they knew how many people would gladly change places with them, if they even had a clue what a priceless gift it is to be able to stand in a line and buy stamps all by yourself!
But of course I didn't.

Many people argue that there is nothing good that comes of the cancer experience. I disagree. I believe that, if we allow it to, cancer can bring us many gifts. One of the gifts of cancer is the gift of patience. I no longer "sweat the small stuff." I don't allow petty differences with co-workers to even happen. If there are people who are confrontational or negative, I can choose to keep my distance from them. A spill on the carpet is laughable. My response to most things is, "So what? In the grand scheme of things, how important is it really?" Most of the time, the answer is that
it's not important at all.

Dear God, help me to remember that this moment is all that any of us has, whether we are cancer survivors or not. Our lives are in Your hands, and every day we are alive is a gift filled with new possibilities and opportunities. All we have to do is open Your "present". And please help me to remember that there is nothing I have to do that is more important than breathing in and breathing out and thanking you for the fact that I am alive today.

Capping off the Summer

Honestly I still am looking for the month of May!! Where on earth did the entire summer go? I tried thinking last night about what I did all month but it seemed I was oblivious to it all. But then I went through my pictures and realized I guess I was busier then I thought I was. I did end up having to go back to my mom's in July unexpectedly for a family funeral. Although that is never a good thing by any stretch of imagination it was good for the reason that I got to spend some time with my cousins.. some I had not seen in over 20 years! It was really funny listening to all these children calling my cousins, moms, Grammas, Memere (French for gramma) and think that they had grown up as well. Although seriously Elphie still cracks me up as a grandfather as he ever did as a kid lol Some men just never grow up :)


So here are some pictures of my summer. I wish I had the talent of my dear friend
Carm who is able to put pictures all in one square instead of posting all individuals like I do but maybe she can slow down one day and teach me (hint hint lol)

First we had Canada Day in our backyard with our children and their families as well as some close friends. Everyone had to bring food that was red, white or red and white. It was pretty cool the different dishes we had to eat!! We played volleyball, badminton, had tug a war which the men cheated at of course, egg races and other races.. It was a lot of fun. Our oldest son and his bride to be brought fruit and juice over to make smoothies.. YUMMMMM He was kept busy making those things. He used cranberry juice instead of orange which I normally use and it brought a whole new meaning to the taste!






Keith and I went to the Cari bean Music Festival in Maple Ridge one day and that was a ton of fun!

We also took one of our granddaughters to China town for a private time then went to an ice cream place that has over 300 flavours!!! Can you spell indecision?

We had a couple of picnics, and I took the Little girls to the water park a few times and then the summer was over!




These were taken at my brother's cabin when I went to Mom's in July. My sister in law and I are in what you call the Saskatchewan's idea of an outdoor pool :)





So sad.. it has been raining for the last week for the most part and I hate it. Oh yes... I also have been working in my little garden. I do container plantings and we got about 10 meals of potatoes yummmy!! lots of salads with fixings and now my tomato plants are heavy with tomatoes so am waiting to harvest those soon. I lost one of my green pepper plants though so had to make do with only 1 plant but I got about 11-12 green peppers.

Here's to the fall, Halloween, decorating the outside with fall things.

Punishment fitting the Crimes

Yesterday I was on the elevator heading to the skytrain platform and tried valiantly to not touch anything or even breathe for that matter as it was so filthy in there. As I stood on the platform waiting for my train I was thinking of writing to the newspaper editors asking why there isn't something done about the sanitation of these train stations. Then I thought if I was in charge what would I do to fix the problem as I knew the city would say they didn't have enough man power to clean them.

Then I thought of the old days when people went to prison for crimes committed.. they worked on "chain gangs, work crews that worked from dawn till dusk. There was none of this sitting around watching TV all day, playing pool and basketball. Then I thought of how the prisons are filled with repeat offenders so why not start making punishments fit the crimes. Here are some examples:

1. Someone gets caught defacing, littering etc any skytrain station, instead of getting a fine and a slap on the wrist they would be (under police supervision) they would be made to clean the stations and surrounding areas every day for an indefinite period of time

2. If you got caught spraying graffiti you would be fined and then be made to paint buildings for an indifinte period of time

3. If you got caught stealing or vandalizing cars you would be fined and be made to wash cars in car sales lots over and over

4. If you got caught doing a home invasion of a senior you would be fined and your punishment would be to spend time at a senior's home where there are armed forces vets there and speak to vets about why they faught for our freedom and after an indifinte amount of time write essays of why these seniors are our real heroes

5. If you got caught littering whether when walking or throwing things out of your car window, you would be made to clean ditches picking up trash at the sides of roads and highways or in bad areas of town where litter is the new decoration

In some eastern countries if you get caught stealing you get your hand cut off. I bet they never think more then twice to steal something. Last week in the news here, someone had been caught stealing and this was the EIGHTEENTH time that he had been arrested. Are you kidding me??? What part of repeat offender do you not understand? Obviously this person's punishments don't fit his crimes. But if he was made to come into stores after closing and stock shelves and clean floors of large box stores like Costco over and over he'd never want to walk in a store again.

What do you think?

Newest Family Member

Here is our newest granddaughter:

KLoie Elaina Shaelynne
Born August 13th at 4:02 am
Weighing in at 7lbs 10oz and is 21 1/2" long

In this picture she is 2 minutes old you and can already tell we are related hehehe her mouth is open and already making noises :)

Computer Grammar

*

Log on - Make the wood stove hotta.
*

Log off - Don't add no more wood.
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Monitor - Keep an eye on that wood stove.
*

Download - Getting the firewood off the truck.
*

Floppy disk - What you get from trying to carry too much firewood.
*

Ram - The thing that split that firewood.
*

Hard drive - Getting home in the winta.
*

Prompt - What the mail ain't during the winta.
*

Window - What to shut when it's cold outside.
*

Screen - What to shut during black fly season.
*

Screen saver - Duct tape for the torn window screen.
*

Byte - What the black flies do.
*

Bit - What the black flies did.
*

Megabyte - What the BIG black flies do during trout season.
*

Chip - Munchies for TV.
*

Microchip - The crumbs in the bag after you've eaten the chips.
*

Modem - What you did to the weeds growing in the driveway.
*

Dot matrix - Old Dan Matrix's wife.
*

Lap top - Where the beer spills when you pass out.
*

Software - The dumb plastic knives and forks they give you at McDonalds.
*

Hardware - Real stainless steel cutlery.
*

Mouse - What makes the holes in the Cheerios box.
*

Main frame - What holds the house up, hopefully.
*

Enter - The only way to win those magazine ad sweepstakes.
*

Web - What a spida makes.
*

Web site - What's found in the corners of high ceilings.
*

Cursor - Someone who swears.
*

Search engine - What you do when the caa dies.
*

Home page - Map you keep in your back pocket in case you get lost in the woods.
*

Upgrade - Steep hill.
*

Server - Waitress.
*

Mail server - Male waitress, damn few in Maine.
*

Sound card - One of them technological birthday cards that plays music when you open it.
*

User - The neighbor who keeps borrowing stuff.
*

Browser - A problem moose in the garden or blueberry patch.
*

Network - Mending holes in the fishnet.
*

Internet - Complicated fishnet repair method.
*

Netscape - What haddock do when you don't do your network.
*

Online - Good sign there'll be clean clothes this week.
*

Offline - The clothespins let go and the laundry falls to the ground.


BACKUP - What you do when you run across a skunk in the woods.
*

BAR CODE - Them's the fight'n rules down at the local tavern.
*

BUG - The reason you give for calling in sick.
*

BYTE - What your pit bull dun to cusin Jethro.
*

CACHE - Needed when you run out of food stamps.
*

CHIP - Pasture muffins that you try not to step in.
*

TERMINAL - Time to call the undertaker.
*

CRASH - When you go to Junior's party uninvited.
*

DIGITAL - The art of counting on your fingers.
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DISKETTE - Female Disco dancer.
*

FAX - What you lie about to the IRS.
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HACKER - Uncle Leroy after 32 years of smoking.
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HARDCOPY - Picture looked at when selecting tattoos.
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INTERNET - Where cafeteria workers put their hair.
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KEYBOARD - Where you hang the keys to the John Deere.
*

MAC - Big Bubba's favorite fast food.
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MEGAHERTZ - How your head feels after 17 beers.
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MODEM - What ya did when the grass and weeds got too tall.
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MOUSE PAD - Where Mickey and Minnie live.
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NETWORK - Scoop'n up a big fish before it breaks the line.
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ONLINE - Where to stay when taking the sobriety test.
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ROM - Where the Pope lives.
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SCREEN - Helps keep the skeeters off the porch.
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SERIAL PORT - A red wine you drink with breakfast.
*

SUPERCONDUCTOR - Amtrak's Employee of the year.
*

SCSI - What you call your week-old underwear.

Relearning your ABC'S

ABASH: A high school graduation party.

ABDICATE: To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

ACCOUNT: A Countess's husband.

ACRE: Literally means the amount of land plowable in one day. So in my case it would be four feet by four feet.

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

AMNESIA: condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to have sex again.

ANTIQUE: An item your grandparents bought, your parents got rid of, and you're buying again.

ARBITRATOR (ar'-bi-tray'-ter): A cook that leaves Arby's to work at Burger King.

ATHEISM is a non-prophet organization. -- George Carlin

AVOIDABLE (uh-voy'-duh-buhl'): What a bullfighter tries to do.

BALDERDASH: A rapidly receding hairline.

BARIUM: What we do to most people when they die.

BATHROOM: A room used by the entire family, believed by all except Mom to be self-cleaning.

BEAUTY PARLOR: Places where women curl up and dye.

BOSS: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.

CANTALOUPE: Gotta get married in a church.

CAR SICKNESS: The feeling you get when the car payment is due.

CATALOGS: Rails used to build cow fences.

CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.

CLASSIC: A book which people praise, but do not read.

CLOTHES DRYER: An appliance designed to eat socks.

COFFEE: A person who is coughed upon.

COLLEGE: The four year period when parents are permitted access to the telephone.

COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

COMPROMISE: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

CONFERENCE: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

CONTROL (kon'-trol): A short, ugly inmate.

COURTESY: The art of yawning with your mouth closed.

DERANGE: Where de buffalo roam.

DICTIONARY: A place where success comes before work.

DIPLOMAT: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

DIVORCE: Future tense of marriage.

DOCTOR: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.

DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.

EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS: Police station, Fire Department and Places that deliver.

Etc: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.\

ETERNITY: The last two minutes of a football game.

EYEDROPPER (i'-drop-ur): A clumsy ophthalmologist.

EXPERIENCE : The name men give to their mistakes.

FABLE: A story told by a teenager arriving home after curfew.

FAMILY PLANNING: the art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.

FANCY RESTAURANT: One that serves cold soup on purpose.

FATHER: A banker provided by nature.

FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

FLABBERGASTED: Appalled over how much weight you have gained.

FULL NAME: What you call your child when you're mad at him/her.

GOSSIP: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.

GRANDMOTHER: A baby-sitter who doesn't hang around the refrigerator.

GRANDPARENTS: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.

GROCERY LIST:. What you spend half an hour writing, then forget to take with you to the store.

GUM: Adhesive for the hair.

HAIR DRESSER: Someone who is able to create a style you will never be able to duplicate again. See "Magician."

HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.

HEARSAY: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

HEROES (hee-rhos'): What a guy in a boat does.

HINDSIGHT: What one experiences from changing too many diapers.

HORS D'OEUVRES: A sandwich cut into 20 pieces.

IMPREGNABLE: A woman whose memory of labor is still vivid.

INDEPENDENT: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.

INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

KISSING: A means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other.

LEMONADE STAND: Complicated business venture where Mom buys powdered mix, sugar, lemons, and paper cups, and sets up a table, chairs, pitchers and ice for kids who sit there for three to six minutes and net a profit of 15 cents.

MISER: A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

MISTY (mis-tee'): How golfers create divots.

MYTH: A female moth.

MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.

NAIL POLISH: Part of an assortment of make-up items such as lipstick, eyeliner, blush etc. which ironically make Mom look better while making her young daughter look "like a tramp."

OPPORTUNIST: A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.

OVERSTUFFED RECLINER: Mom's nickname for Dad.

OW: The first word spoken by children with older siblings.

OYSTER: A person who sprinkles their conversation with Yiddish expressions.

PARADOX (par'-u-doks'): Two physicians.

PARK: Before children, a verb meaning, "to go somewhere and neck." After children, a noun meaning a place with a swing set and slide.

PHILOSOPHER: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.

POLITICIAN: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.

POLYGON: A dead parrot.

PRENATAL: When your life was still somewhat your own.

PRIMATE (pri'-mate'): Removing your husband from in front of the TV.

PRIVATE TUTOR: Someone who doesn't fart in public.

PROFESSOR: Someone who talks in someone else's sleep.

PSYCHOLOGIST: A man who watches everyone else when a beautiful girl enters the room.

PUDDLE: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.

QUIET: A state of household serenity which occurs before the birth of the first child and occurs again after the last child has left for college.

REFRIGERATOR: Combination art gallery and air-conditioner for the kitchen.

RELIEF (ree-leef'): What trees do in the spring.

RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife.

SCHOOL TEACHER: A disillusioned person who used to think thhe liked children.

SEAMSTRESS: Describes 250 pounds in a size 6.

SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.

SELFISH: What the owner of a seafood store does.

SHOW OFF: A child who is more talented than yours.

SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

SMILE: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

SPOILED ROTTEN: What the kids become after as little as 15 minutes with Grandma.

STERILIZE: What you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it.

SUBDUED (sub-dood'): Like, a guy who, like, works on one of those, like, submarines, man.

SUDAFED: Brought litigation against a government official.

TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.

TOP BUNK: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman pajamas.

TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

TWO-MINUTE WARNING: When the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.

VEGETARIAN: Old Indian word for bad hunter.

YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.

YAWN: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

VUJA DE: The Feeling You've Never Been Here.

WITHDRAWL: To remove money from a bank down south.
(Submitted by Pericak.)

WRINKLES: Something other people have. You have character lines.

ZUCCHINI: Vegetable which can be baked, boiled, fried or steamed before kids refuse to eat it.

Book Review #1 When Ghosts Speaks

Ok here it is.. my first official book review. I wanted to get this one done earlier but I ended up going back home unexpectedly last week for a family member funeral. And of course I unknowningly packed the book in the checked in bag. By the time I realized it, it was too late so I did the next best thing and went to the airport book store to get a book to read. There in front of my eyes was the latest political thriller. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE kind of book to read. Yeah I know.. I'm weird what can I say. So of course by the time I landed in Sask I was hooked into the storey line and had to finish that book so it took longer to get this review done.

When Ghosts Speak by Mary Ann Winkowski

This book was on understanding the world of earthbound spirits. It focused on the fact that when a person dies there is a light that the spirit needs to cross into. For some reasons (which she goes into), some spirits don't cross; some are because they hear their family members saying "Please don't leave me I need you" so they stay; some are just spiteful and want to expend revenge; some just get caught up in the newness of it all and miss their opportunity to cross over. The light is only available for a short period of time.

I knew a lot of what she spoke about having gone through a lot in my years. But there were some good points, some weird points, and some points that made me think hmmm. Then there were the points that made the hairs stand up on your neck. She did touch on health issues that made me reread that chapter several times although if I went into my doctor's office to tell her the reason I am not getting better is because I am surrounded with spirits and they are feeding off my negative energy, would probably be enough for her to check me in the nearest psych ward.

She spoke of unexplained headaches, intestinal problems, trouble sleeping - either going to sleep or continued waking up (DUH have you been peeking in on me?), Fatigued even when supposedly rested, even being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia meaning the more energy a ghost takes from you the less you have, unexplained anxiety (hmm OCD), inappropriate anger or irritation (I wonder if that includes lack of patience with others), vision problems (who has ever heard of a 45 year old having to have cataracts removed from both eyes) and etc.

She concludes by saying that after reading the book, we should know when we die, crossing into the white light is unquestionably the right thing to do. We all have the choice whether or not to do so. She explains what to do when you run into ghosts and how to tell if you have one or more in your home or life. That is about it?

How was it? Did it entice you to read it? Make you rethink our relationship? :) She does have a website if you are interested in learning more:

www.maryannwinkowski.com

Onto the next book...........