29 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on differently…
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Advent, big girl pants, differently, donate, grateful, new, widow
planning to “do” Advent differently this year…
have decided to spend time each morning choosing something to be grateful for…
and will put aside money to donate to an organization, not sure which one just yet…
I did get a parcel in the mail that I can open on December 1st…
lots of new things…
28 Thursday Nov 2019
Posted in life, loss, moments, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on viewfinder…
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, camera, camera hospital, happy, memory card, missed, moments, pictures, Technology, viewfinder, widow
my camera fell off a table at work at the beginning of November…
the viewfinder popped off… this camera doesn’t have the old-fashioned type of viewfinder, only the electronic version…
I tried to stick it back on, but the screen remained black… can’t really take photos when you can’t see what is in the viewer… was so upset that I didn’t even get a shot of the before, lol…
called the photo store only to discover I purchased the camera last September… so, no warranty, sigh…
then I called the camera hospital and sent it over by courier so that it could get repaired before the holiday season…
it has been a long time, but this morning it returned to the office… put my memory card back in and took a few photos right away…
so happy to have it back… I enjoy my iPhone camera but have really missed this one…
27 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in family, health, life, loss, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on credit…
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big girl pants, blog, credit, credit card, family, preparation, widow
was speaking with a married woman friend about getting her own credit card…
it reminded me of why I started writing my blog and has made me think that I will revisit some of my earliest posts where I shared some of the things I discovered when all of a sudden I was on my own…
every married woman really needs to get her own credit card! I cannot reiterate this enough…
if you’ve been using a credit card that is in your partner’s name, it means you do not have any credit… and if something happens to them, you are in trouble…
this is important…
24 Sunday Nov 2019
Posted in life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, decorations, friends, friendship, fun, memories, moments, purple, season, team, time, treat, widow
had a delightful afternoon with a dear friend…
she makes decorating for the season so much fun… both of us are team players and we work well together…
we did some of the usual set-ups and then tried something new… we hung a collection of wreaths together on the wall… looks good…
I can’t even say how many collections I have… more and more I am bringing out less and less… I think that January and February might be a good time to go through the boxes and pass many items along to others…
the living room looks lovely and spending time together brought out my holiday spirit;-)…
22 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, finances, journey missing, moments, planner, remembering, retirement, widow, work
I’ve been thinking about life a lot lately having to sort through the finances with my financial planner to make sure that I could actually afford to stop working…
thinking of how different our life would have been if my beloved were still here and we were doing this planning together…
missing him a lot these days…
this time was supposed to be fun for the two of us together, but now it will only be me and a new curve on my journey…
I’m looking forward to it but I sure wish that he was here with me…
the view out the window tonight…
20 Wednesday Nov 2019
Tags
beautiful, beauty, big girl pants, blessed, flowers, hibiscus, moments, nature, orchid, plants, purple, surrounding, widow
beauty is surrounding me… blessed…
first thing in the morning the orchids and hibiscus greet me… it is exciting to see which ones are getting ready to open… wondering how many might open at once…
at the office more orchids are blooming…
more are getting buds;-)…
12 Tuesday Nov 2019
Posted in garden, life, loss, nature, technology, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on lumps…
was in the basement doing laundry when I heard scraping sounds…
excited to discover that my shoveler was in the backyard clearing snow from the deck…
I knew he was going to come again this year, but wasn’t sure of what it would cost so checked with him while he was here…
wrote cheques for the season and chatted with him for a few moments before he left..
this year I will text him as soon as the city clears the street… and produces the pile of snow at the end of the sidewalk… they are fairly good with clearing the driveway but do not even attempt the sidewalk… if you don’t clean it up quickly it turns into blocks of ice that are very difficult to remove…
my visitors use the sidewalk, so our plan is to get ahead of the lumps of packed snow if we can;-)…
very happy that he is thinking of ways to make the shovelling easier…
11 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on left…
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, buddies, family, friends, left, memories, recipes, remembering, widow
on this Remembrance Day, I watched the Ottawa ceremony on tv, thinking of the members of my family and all the others whose service provided us with the freedom we enjoy… I also thought proudly of my sick son-in-law who was participating in the service I was watching…
then when I was in the kitchen I decided to make a few dishes from those who have left us…
I started with homemade coleslaw which I’ve been craving for a while… it is based on a recipe from a special woman who often fed large groups of people, so my well-worn recipe has a few different options for measurements, lol…
then I made chicken and dumplings, one of my mom’s recipes…
finally I decided on meatballs and sauce… I used store-bought meatballs but made my dad’s homemade sauce… the recipe is just in my head… I cooked spaghetti and packaged meals for lunches and suppers this week…
will share some of these meals as I don’t like to freeze things if I don’t have to;-)…
ended the evening with my BS buddies… I truly am blessed…
10 Sunday Nov 2019
Tags
aquasize, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, fish, food, French fries, memories, moments, oil, widow
made fish and chips for my supper recently…
the house smelled of cooking oil… triggered some lovely memories…
on aquasize night when I got home, there would always be fish and chips ready…
and my beloved made the world’s best french fries…
09 Saturday Nov 2019
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, Uncategorized
≈ Comments Off on gentle…
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, dad, family, father, gentle, memories, picture, remembering, soldier, special, strays, widow, work
been thinking of my dad a lot recently… his birthday was in November and he spent time overseas as a soldier, so during these days of remembrance it just seems right to look back at some lovely memories…
this photo is from Then to Now, the history of La Salle, Manitoba…
a gentle man, in all ways… he spoke quietly but if you were in trouble you knew it… not that you’d be in trouble very often…
he always saw the best in people, which made him particularly suited for his work with Canada Manpower where he helped individuals figure out what type of work they were best suited for, and then found them an appropriate position… in those days you might only have one or two jobs in your career…
at home, he took in strays… not animals, lol, people… we would often have someone staying with us who needed a safe place to regroup for a while…
he was wise and generous… one of those people who always had a thoughtful opinion when you needed it, although, only when asked… and would give you the shirt off his back, or anything else he had, if he felt it would help…
he has been gone for over thirty years but I can still hear his wisdom…
I miss you dad…
herbiggirlpants 