Saturday Musings!

In the quite space of time…

I daydream of  the ocean, feeling the hot sand between my toes.  I recall listening to the children at play laughting as they folic in the waves.

Then, I begin to think about how much I enjoy looking out our window and seeing the ever-changing riverview.

 I think of all the people who gazed out at this scenery, and sigh.  Although, they are likely enjoying another view from wherever they my be at the moment, I experience a sense of connection with them still.

Spring needs Color

At this time of the year, I feel like summer can’t get here soon enough, everything is beige and muddy looking.   The new bird sounds and longer sunny days; Spring is a welcome sign.  I know summer is around the corner. Still, it was a long winter. 


I am so ready for summer. Hot, sunny, summer!

Since today is my day off, I decided to get my hair styled with nice summery highlights.  Having my hair styled is really a wonderful booster and does make me feel good.  The place I go to get my hair styled is an amazing place, new, modern, and stylists who you can tell enjoy their job.

Now all I have to do is wait a little longer for summer, but I don’t mind it one bit because I feel great!  


Interesting, how just doing this can change my perspective on things.  

Please Check!!!

After watching TV she checked
and she found it in her breast,
golf ball sized; she cried.
If diligent, she’d have found it sooner.
Alone she tells it go away, go away
And whispers thank God for TV.




This is a Sunday 160 challenge dedicated to all women.   

• Surgery was a success, the cancer did not spread and Rose's healing journey begins.  Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. 

March 1st. Up-date 

• Doctor has confirmed Rose is 100% cancer free, and no further treatment is required.  Yay, Rose! 

May11th Up-date 

• Further tests confirm more than one type of breast cancer, high risk of returning, therefore Rose started Chemo today as a prevention.  Keep the prayers coming. 

August 28 up-date 

• Still undergoing chemo therapy, started green juicing! 
• Watch this video of Rose speaking to a group against Alberta oil sands.  

Finding the Key

I am in Montreal, well actually, Dorval.  I am staying at a heritage house, which has been converted into executive suites.  My entrance is at the rear of the house.  The suite is pleasantly appointed, not really my taste, but it’s sufficiently agreeable.  This has been my home away from home for the last couple of weeks.  I plan on walking around later to take some pictures. As my good fortune would have it, Hubby came to visit over the weekend and made sure I had wireless connection.  Yip, no being tethered to the wall for me.  yay! 

I am enjoying Montreal's French culture .  It’s part of Canada but it does have a unique cultural and heritage.  I’ve noticed people here although predominately French speaking, are willing to respond in English to us, and with a smile to boot!  In fact, I am finding the people here super duper approachable.   

I’m here because my son is taking a course to help develop his gross motor skills.  He has never been athletic because his core strength has always been an issue.  And as a growing teenager his strength deficient continues to make him physically awkward.  Simply, how this was explained to me is that because of the undeveloped gross motor skills he was experiencing some difficulty with processing information.  Kind of like being out- of- sync with the world around him. 

 And, this may very likely be the reason he is reluctant to speak in public.  He has always been an uncommunicative student.  This perplexed and frustrated teachers because although they knew he was a bright student, to access him they required him to be more communicative. Understandably this also impacted on his social skills and with connecting with his peers.   However, at home he is a different child, talkative, energetic and sometimes he could be a royal pain in the you-know-what.  When his friends come over there is no issue in how he related with them.  Obviously, this was a puzzle for us. 

I believe we’ve found the key that will unlock this puzzle.  In just one week I have noticed significant changes in him.  He is speaking more not just to me but also in public.  He orders his own food in restaurants, even going so far as ordering his desserts in French.   Furthermore, I’ve noticed he has more strength and focus as he runs. This is an enormous leap forward.  Yay! 

What I will say though, before we embarked on this road I had reservations on how effectively it would work.  I am delighted with the results thus far; I guess the actual test will be to see how this translates when he goes back to school.  And to think it all began when I discovered “The Brain that Changes itself” by Norman Doidge. M.D.

Life can Suck!

One thing we know for certain is that we are going to die.  But the thing is we don’t know when or how we are going to die.  ­­­­And because of that we are sometimes lulled into a false sense of thinking that we are invincible.  Living as though we are immortal beings. But life has a way of reminding us that we are indeed mortal and often in a cruel and insensitive way.  In fact, there is no other way, is there?

A week ago, my sister told me she may have breast cancer.  She actually found the lump almost a month ago after watching a program on TV about cancer, right before Christmas.  Can you imagine the anxiety and turmoil she endured without support because she decided not to tell anyone?  Her reason, she didn’t want to spoil anyone’s holidays.  That is the type of person she is, always thinking of others.  

Since I heard this horrible news we have been in touch, my sister and I.  She lives on the other side of the country from me making contact somewhat difficult but texting is an ideal way to keep in touch.  As we talk I am amazed at her strength and how well she is taking this news.  She went for her biopsy last week and because she lives some distance from a city hospital the results will take almost a week.  I can’t imagine in this day of technology why there is this kind of delay.  Surely there must be ways to get the test results earlier than having to wait a week.   

Meanwhile, she waits.   Waiting is difficult for anyone, especially if you are waiting to hear news about your health, and it must seem like time is standing still with plenty of time to think.  My brave big sister has decided to be positive.  She said that she feels happy to be healthy and alive.  It struck me as an odd thing for her to say given her situation.  But she quickly said," at this moment I am healthy,  not experiencing any pain, and I am alive.  I will be grateful for today."   Of course, she also said that there are moments, burst of tears, anger, and bewilderment, which is understandable.


Healthy.  We take our health for granted.   Just imagine what it would feel like if it could all be taken away with one test, what a frightening  feeling.  Therefore, in this trying time I take comfort in my sister's outlook to be grateful for today.   Being positive and grateful does not negate  that we are human and prone to severe illness.  It important that we take pause to enjoy life one moment at a time and being grateful for those in our lives. 


She wants to live.  She will live.  She has to live.  God, I hope she lives for years to come.                     

Good bye 2010 you were Fabulous!

 I enjoy reviewing my blog and remembering all the magnificent things that make up my life as the year draws to an end. Truly, this is the main reason I maintain a blog.  It is a perfect tool, which allows me to go back at any point and glimpse the souvenirs of my life. When my son was younger he would often say, “I am going to remember this forever” of course he didn’t always. The best way to ensure that you do remember the special events in your life is to record it.

January, I made one resolution and almost immediately broke it. But some remnants remain throughout the year. Like, whenever I go to Starbucks I calculate in my head how much I’ve spent in a given week.  Not that this stops me from getting my fix of my daily latté.  Oh no, I need my treat. And about that the clutter on my counter, well it must leave seeds that germinate because each time I’ve removed the stacks of paper, it reappears.

February, our good friend and neighbor died. Another friend is renting his house, but we still refer to it as Frank’s house. Frank continues to be missed, especially, on Sundays.

April, I read my first horror book in a long time. I could not sleep for weeks after reading Joe Hill’s Horns. Highly recommend this book, it is a wonderfully written, if not a scary read. We took our first trip to NYC!  It was our son's idea and we had an amazing time. The entire time was spent doing as much tourist stuff imaginable in four days.  I'm wondering if we should make it a tradition, Spring in NYC.

Also in April the best possible discovery was green smoothies, it rocked my world. I recommend to almost everyone I meet to try it at least once.  A good way to consume green leafy vegetables.

June, we had an earthquake that truly rocked my world for the longest 25 seconds of my life.

July was one of the hottest ever. Easy to enjoy when you have air-conditioning! Alas, again this year we had no swimming pool. Maybe next summer we will be able to splash around again.

August, Hawaii, I will never forget you. We had three glorious weeks in paradise. Even now I can feel the glow of Hawaii. As I sit and look out at the frozen river I can imagine the Hawaiian sun on me. We enjoyed fun on the beach, in the sea, and discovered shaved ice a Hawaiian treat. I will be back there, again, and again. Absolutely. BTW I was there on business but all I remember was the pleasure part of being in Hawaii.

The fall was beautiful. My little garden was harvested and put to rest, went to farmer’s markets, and hubby bought himself a nice hot red sports car. We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.

December was filled with celebration, party, laughter, and visiting friends and family out west.

No resolutions this time.  Instead, I've given myself a 365 day Challenge.

Happy New Year!

Christmas is a Feeling

  Whew, it is Christmas Eve and I survived the month of December intact.

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I traveled to Edmonton on business and then went to Fort McMurray for the pleasure of visiting family in what seems like ages ago but in reality was only a week since.  Every moment was spoken for by someone or by an event or two. 


I took Andrew out of school a couple of days early so he could accompany me to visit family.It is important to me that he sees my elderly mom at least a couple of times a year as she is advancing in age.  Not to mention how much she enjoys seeing him grow.  I spent the whole afternoon visiting my mom and brothers and that made me so very happy.

mama
  

I had an interesting experience while in Edmonton for a Board meeting.  Our chairman, Wilfred, celebrated his 80th birthday a few days prior, knowing this I requested the assistant buy a birthday cake for him.  When the meeting concluded we presented him with a cake, candles a blazing that read, “ Happy 80th Birthday Wilfred” and we all broke out in song. (Well most of us sang, I can’t follow a tune but I mouthed it.)  Wilfred blew out the candles and then sat quietly as we watched.  Then he said that this was his first birthday cake ever!  Andrew asked why, and he responded, because they were poor and he never celebrated his birthday.  No one in his family did.  And throughout his life he never acknowledged his birthday choosing to spend that day as if it were just another ordinary day.  Can you image that? I am a big birthday freak.  It holds so much importance to me because without that special day we would not exist.  The miracle of birth should always be celebrated or at least acknowledged.


And of course, a  visit to my niece and her family for a few hours is a must.  I love visiting her, and I always feel so intensely connected to family when all you have are a few stolen moments far to infrequently. Truly my niece is wonder-woman, really.   What stuck me is how beautifully decorated the house was with all the Christmas trimmings. Being in her home filled me with so much Christmas Spirit I could have curled up by the fireplace and waited for Santa.  No doubt her home will be the first house he pops into on Christmas Eve.


I also had a wonderful bunch at my hotel with my girlfriend and her four beautiful children.  She later wrote, “ I hope it was not too overwhelming” meaning her four children.  But because I come from a large family of 16 the more the merrier, I say. 

 In Fort McMurray we did more visiting.  Really there was not enough time to see everyone.  However, I was fortunate to be there for my sister’s annual sisters Christmas dinner.  This provided me the opportunity to visit with my aunt, cousins, sisters and lady friends all in one sitting.  

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This was too beautiful!
My cousin, Judy, baked me a yummy birthday cake.      

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An amazing party! Thank you Mary, you know how to throw a party.  BTW the mashed potatoes were the best!

For me Christmas is a feeling.  It’s about the feeling we get by spending time with family and friends.  The feeling we get by thinking of others and wanting to make them happy. The lasting feeling when renewing family relationships, old acquaintances, and way too much eating, laughing and merriment.   

Merry Christmas!