Author Archives: sulis303

daffodils…

23 Saturday Mar 2013

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sitting here looking at the beautiful daffodils that we received Monday at the office… I brought them home yesterday and they are still quite amazing… they were in support of the Cancer Society…

bright Spring daffodils...

bright Spring daffodils…

the sun was shining all day and it was light until nearly 8… both of which make me happy…

I have enjoyed a very rest-full day… made my mind up that I wasn’t going out and would take it easy…

packed up a few glasses to donate, watered plants, put chemicals in the hot tub, put a brighter comforter on the bed, read, and watched shows I had PVRed…

that PVR business is very very bad… but I got to watch lots of great shows…

there were other things I could have done, but my body was craving some rest, so that is what I focussed on…

then, to top it off, I ordered dinner from the Clay Oven… I sure do like Mobile Maitre’d…

of course, this means that tomorrow will be packed with things to get done, lol…

that’s okay…

shovelling…

22 Friday Mar 2013

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last week we had another good sized snow fall…

while I was waiting for my ride I went out to clear the sidewalk… I couldn’t believe how much snow there was… and of course the wind was blowing so lots of the snow came back to me, lol…  it is getting rather difficult to toss it as there is so much of it…

except when he was under orders not to, George did all the shovelling… for some of the time when he couldn’t shovel, we hired a young man who would stop by now and then to clear the sidewalks and driveway…  he never did the job to George’s satisfaction but the driveway and sidewalks were usable…

George taking are of business...

George taking care of business…

my job was to watch out the window and make sure there was something warm to drink when George was done…  he usually complained about it, but he loved playing with the snow blower and would often do other driveways and walkways for fun…

thankfully my ride arrived and I could stop with the shovelling… and luckily for me, my son-in-law stopped by later in the day and got rid of all the rest of the snow which made me very happy when I got home that night…

excellent exercise…

more birthdays…

21 Thursday Mar 2013

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thirty-five years ago today… it was a similar day, the sun was shining and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground…

I worked at Transport Canada, in the Quality Assurance department… I spent the entire day at my desk trying to get a project completed for one of the staff who was on a very tight deadline…  I left at four and arrived home and consulting with my doctor realized I needed to go to the hospital to be checked out…  Cyndi wasn’t due for another six weeks so we didn’t take a bag with us…

we got to the hospital around 4:30 and she was born 12 hours later… it was pretty scary as she was so early but everything was fine… my colleague felt very guilty as he thought he had overworked me, lol…

home to spend time with me last summer...

home to spend time with me last summer…

in 1978 March 21st was the first day of Spring and I get out of joint now when the first day of Spring is the 20th…

we came home from the hospital nine days later and there was no snow left on the ground…  don’t think that will happen this year…

the first day of Spring...

the first day of Spring…

it feels comforting to see George’s writing on the Polaroid…

today is my first day of Spring…

work it…

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

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participated in my first official photo shoot this morning…

it felt a bit odd… I have been taking pictures for years and have become more serious about it over the last few… just recently I even blogged about it for work…

but this morning, Ian McCausland was taking pictures of me…  I was the one listening to the directions to work it, turn this way, bend that arm, tilt the chin…

picture by Susan H...

in front of the camera, snapped by Susan Horodyska…

I was just one of a number of people who had participated and it was quite exhilarating and frightening to be the object of the photo as opposed to being the one taking the pictures…

although, I did that as well… it was great fun to take pictures as he was taking pictures… I got a couple of great shots… I also got to drool over his space and equipment… although photographing portraits is not my main area of interest it was quite eye opening…

a wonderful example of making great use of light and space…

since beginning my blog, I have tried to include at least one photo… so here is today’s…

watching the professional...

watching the professional at work…

was missing George tonight as I was wanting to share the experience with him…

time frame…

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

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was looking through the calendar for the past year for work and saw some of the various appointments and tests that I went through last year…

was a jolt to realize all the places I had to go and tests that needed to be done… all before my surgery in July…

buds on the trees March 25, 2012

buds on the trees March 25, 2012

it really is quite amazing how quickly we can forget some of that not-so-pleasant information…

as I sit here remembering walking through malls and stores, doing strenuous exercise like shovelling and swimming and how easy it is to do all those things now…

in the garden April 4, 2012

in the garden April 4, 2012

last year at this time, I looked like I was eight months pregnant and had to be careful about any activity so that my hernia wouldn’t get grumpy and I wouldn’t feel sick… the weather was beautiful then, we were in the garden in t-shirts and the trees were beginning to bud…

the garden this year...

the garden this year…

today I was talking with someone and noted that I feel lighter now that we have passed the one year anniversary of George’s death… seems odd but that is how I feel…  there will still be lots of things to be through, but maybe the worst is over…

birthdays…

18 Monday Mar 2013

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been thinking about what I was doing 33 years ago today…

I realized I had begun my labour and called George who came home about 9 am and picked me up…  my parents had come over to watch Cyndi and George and I headed to the hospital…  by now my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, but George really needed some cigarettes so we stopped to pick them up… Crystal was born right around noon…

my Grandma, Mom, Crystal and I...

my Grandma, Mom, Crystal and I celebrating Crystal’s first birthday…

we had been up late the night before making a cake for Cyndi’s birthday which was just a few days away… friends had come to help with the project and we had produced a number 2 made out of cupcakes…  it looked great and George took it down to the freezer so that it would be fresh for the birthday party…

we heard a crash and I thought George was being funny, but, in fact, he had dropped the cake into the freezer… yikes… I was very tired from the whole process and ready to have a baby at any time and couldn’t believe the cake had broken, but it had… didn’t seem funny at the time but it has been one of our favourite stories about birthdays…

so, being as Crystal was born the next day, we ordered a cake that was shaped like a two and everyone was happy…

one of Cyndi’s presents that year was a little sister who came home on her birthday…

winner of a beautiful baby contest at two...

winner of a beautiful baby contest at two…

not sure Cyndi has ever forgiven us for that…

St. Patrick’s Day…

17 Sunday Mar 2013

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yesterday Tavin coloured a picture for me but didn’t want to give it to me… this morning he went and dug it out from where he had hidden it and gave it to me…

St. Patrick's Day picture...

St. Patrick’s Day picture on the far right…

then he proceeded to organize all the pictures on the fridge…

we had a lovely brunch with some of Crystal’s friends and the boys were very excited to feed the horses…  the horse was very delicate, and only took one small bite of the carrot at a time…  the pony took the whole carrot and dropped it on his side of the fence to eat at his leisure…

feeding the horse at The Gates...

feeding the horse at The Gates…

we went shopping for Crystal’s birthday present… once I got home I had a bit of a rest and watched some TV as my tummy hasn’t been feeling fabulous…

it has been overcast, snowy and windy for most of the day and apparently it will be like that tomorrow as well…

I am off to bed, thinking how George would have enjoyed the brunch this morning… like the boys, he loved bacon…

fun-filled day…

16 Saturday Mar 2013

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went shopping downtown with Crystal and Tavin and I found all kinds of things to buy…  I got an long purple coat for a steal, some new slacks and a number of tops…  they will go nicely with my two new jackets from Thursday’s shopping spree…

we ran into a colleague while we were shopping and we were guessing that many others from work were out getting new duds as well, as we are getting our photos taken professionally on Wednesday, lol…

Tavin and Crystal both brought me things to try on and both of them have very good taste…

we stopped for lunch and then headed to St. James where we found a few other items…

when the kids left, Tavin stayed with me for a sleepover…  we are getting picked up at 10:30 tomorrow morning to go to The Gates for brunch to celebrate Crystal’s birthday (on Monday)…

we’ve watched TV, a movie, scarfed down popcorn, and have just come in for a lovely hot tub… the stars were bright and we could hear the hockey sticks hitting the pucks over at the community club…  Tavin particularly liked how we could see the stars and lights from the planes…

now we have picked a picture of him with Grandpa in the hot tub and he is just about ready for bed, as am I…

April 2011 fun in the hot tub...

April 2011 fun in the hot tub…

we talk about Grandpa a lot, and were both wishing Grandpa would have been with us in Mexico and what fun he would have had…

clean bill of health…

15 Friday Mar 2013

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yesterday I had an appointment at CancerCare for a check-up… last time we were there the wait was over two hours… this time we were in a room within 20 minutes of arriving… waited for quite a while in the room before seeing the doctor… it is hard to feel peeved when you know that they could be giving someone devastating news or have been in an operating room saving someone’s life…

after the check-up the doctor advised that everything was fine and they would see me in six months…  they were pleased that I can no longer feel the mesh that was part of the hernia surgery, as many people feel it for a very long time… I had asked if I could have the check-ups with my GP instead of using up the space in the CancerCare system but was advised that it made more sense for them to see me, at least for the first two years…

made me think back to the few days that I was in hospital in July when I had my surgery… it was just four months after George’s death and two months since discovering the cancer… my time in the hospital was a roller coaster of bad reactions to pain meds and happiness that I had actually survived the surgery as well as huge sadness that George wasn’t there to look after me…

frst night at the hospital...

I have been wearing those big girl pants a lot since then…  when I think back I realize how I have grown in these months…

I think of my beloved every day and the impact of his loss on my grandchildren, my children and me…

and then I remember all the special moments in our lives…

George and Tavin...

George and Tavin…

fun times…

14 Thursday Mar 2013

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just had a lovely evening out with some of my colleagues…

we started the fun at In Ferno’s on Academy where we shared a few appetizers and particularly liked the butternut squash on crostini… yum…

butternut squash crostini with sage and balsamic reduction...

butternut squash crostini with sage and balsamic reduction…

then we headed next door to Redeemed, where we had the store to ourselves with the complete attention of Allyson who treated us royally, with snacks and great stories…

searching for treasure...

searching for treasure…

after lots of laughter, snacks and much changing, we all headed home with some special item…

found the treasure...

found the treasure…

what a lovely way to spend an evening… and what a great group to do it with…