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herbiggirlpants

~ the new reality of a "70 something"

herbiggirlpants

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at the beach

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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activity, at the beach, big girl pants, BSers, celebrate birthday, food, Johnees, The Boardwalk, Valentinos, Winnipeg Beach

happily finished work at 3 and headed home to gather up my stuff and make the rounds to pick up three of the BSers…

we hit the road at about 4:15 and arrived at The Boardwalk in Winnipeg Beach at 5:30 where we met up with the fifth member of the group…

a swim, stroll along the Boardwalk… dinner from Johnees and Valentino’s at a picnic table… a drive along the beach and a sleepover…

pretty fine way to celebrate a birthday…

birthdays these days are celebrated by the birthday person choosing an activity that we can do together… not like any of us need stuff…

usually food is involved:-)…

it’s been around 30 years since we met and we have been gathering regularly in all that time…

talk about being blessed…

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parents…

15 Thursday Aug 2013

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big girl pants, elders, enjoy the moments, life is short, palliative care, parents, spend time

have spent some time recently thinking about parents…

remembering that time in our lives when we were dealing with kids and parents who needed our support, and how difficult that was…

my dad died in 1988 and my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer about six months later… at the time I wasn’t working and so was able to spend the last four months of her life with her daily in the palliative care ward at Princess Elisabeth Hospital… a very difficult time but also amazing for me… my mom and I had not been close until after my dad’s death and those days we spent were wonderful and we got to really learn about each other…

it reminded me then, and has since then, how important it is to spend the time with your parents or significant family friends… life is so short, and you can’t get that time back…

I wonder how it is for my kids… if they are happy to spend time with me or if it is a chore they feel required to do…

our elders taught us so much… I think of the life lessons George and I learned from ours… his dad and mom, my parents, our dear friend Margaret…

we were blessed with time and the realization that the time with them was so special… even when some of the times were difficult…

enjoy the moments with your elders…

here are my Mom and Dad

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nearly blooming…

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

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big girl pants, Courtenay, dry waterfall, garden, mandevilla, nearly blooming, purple dahlia, purple hand blown float, quiet week, recover from excitement, water hyacinth

had a little wander around the garden tonight…

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white...

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white…

the mandevilla is just about ready to bloom… I had been hoping that it might have been open for the Bubble Party which was over a week ago and it is still waiting…

purple dahlia...

purple dahlia…

the dahlia has been getting ready for days but now I can see a few purple petals ready to burst open… it is nearly as tall as me… some of the others are just getting buds on them… I purchased most of them when I was in Courtenay…

dry waterfall...

dry waterfall…

the pond is still losing water, even with the waterfall turned off… got a few good pics of the fish and a great shot of my purple float from Seattle…

fish under the water hyacinth...

fish under the water hyacinth…

watered a few baskets and plants and then had a nap…

my hand blown purple float...

my hand blown purple float…

looking forward to a quiet week and weekend as I continue to recover from all the excitement over the last few weeks…

seeing and hearing, or not…

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

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better eyes, big girl pants, goldfinch singing, hot tub, meteor shower, miss my beloved, seeing and hearing or not, sleeping, sounds, waterfall turned off

last night I sat in the hot tub watching for the meteor shower, although it wasn’t very likely I would see it as it was in the direction of a very bright street light…

was thinking how George may have been able to see some activity in the sky… he had much better eyes than I and could always spot the satellites and shooting stars…

tonight I arrived home to a quiet backyard as the pond folk had been in and turned off the waterfall as they attempt to find the leak in the pond…

amazing how much one gets used to a certain sound… reminded me of the goldfinch that stopped by to sing for us as we were eating our dinner on the deck last night…

goldfinch having breakfast...

goldfinch…

still in recovery mode from all the recent activity here and after I ate my dinner I spent the rest of the evening sleeping…

going out for a short hot tub and then back to sleep for the night…

when I went to write this blog the computer wouldn’t connect to the internet and, rather than get rattled, I tried a few things and all of a sudden it was working again…

those darn big girl pants, lol…

oh how I miss my beloved…

ReImaginers…

12 Monday Aug 2013

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big girl pants, Celtic August celebrations, dinner from Homer's, fill us up, hunger for, insight and depth, laughter, ReImaginers, safe place, taking down decorations, topped up the gas tank, wonderful evening

raced home from work, although I did stop to top up the gas tank… it was on less than a quarter of a tank, which makes me nervous… all filled up now… didn’t even seem like that big of a job, as I continue with those big girl pants I am getting used to some of the things that I had never done previously…

even this morning when I drove downtown and parked in a different parking lot and used my credit card to pay for the day I didn’t worry about it at all…

got home and put out the cushions on the chairs in the garden and the first of our group arrived… tonight there were six of us… we can go up to 11 or 12…

had a lovely dinner from Homer’s on the deck, with delicious mini cupcakes from the Cupcake Corner, yum…

dinner on the deck and then we moved inside for our program...

dinner on the deck and then we moved inside for our program…

we read about Celtic August celebrations and talked about what we hungered for and what filled us up…

these wonderful women continue to amaze me with their insight and depth… when we are together there is always laughter, and often tears, but this is a safe place where we can be our true selves and no one judges… we are there to support one another in whatever way is needed at the time…

the garden was admired with the new pond and the plantings, as well as the bubbles around the space from the party… now I will take the decorations down and hopefully have it all done over the weekend…

wonderful evening… I am filled up…

ready…

11 Sunday Aug 2013

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big girl pants, cleaned up from party, laundry done, mirrors and bubbles, missing my beloved, ready, tomorrow's company, travellers arrived

well I’m as ready as I’m going to be for tomorrow’s company for dinner and the evening…

it has taken quite a while to get everything cleaned up from the party… but it was fun as I remembered different things that took place while we prepared or during the party…

deck tidy and ready should we decide to eat out there...

deck tidy and ready should we decide to eat out there…

the dining room is ready, the kitchen is tidy and the deck and garden look lovely…

mirrors and bubbles hanging as a reminder of the party...

mirrors and bubbles hanging as a reminder of the party…

I spent a bit of time out there watering and reattaching some of the mirrors that had come down…

sadly I noticed one of the glass balls broken in the bottom of the pond…

pond beautiful for its debut with this group...

pond beautiful for its debut with this group…

got laundry done as well as napping and TV watching… lots of resting amongst the getting ready, lol…

the travellers have all arrived, some to a hotel in Ottawa and the others back home from camping…

tomorrow the cleaner comes so not only will it be tidy, it will be clean…

missing my beloved today… he would have helped me make sure everything was perfect for tomorrow and we would have talked about how great the party was as we put things away…

 

easy day…

10 Saturday Aug 2013

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blessed, champagne and chocolate, chemicals in hot tub, dismantle chocolate fountain, easy day, George, gorgeous sunset, Lake Superior, playing tunes, rest-filled day, watered plants

took it very easy today…

got up and then watched TV for quite a while, in between naps… then I cleaned up the kitchen from the party, family dinner and kids being here… just a bit at a time… playing some tunes as I went about the clean-up…

moved on to the dining room and dealt with quite a few things… put away bowls and dishes and tidied up sparklers and glow-in-the-dark sticks… and various other things…

cleaning up dining room...

cleaning up dining room…

spent quite some time trying to take apart the chocolate fountain… I think George was always the one who dismantled it… eventually I figured it out and got it apart and clean… will put it away in its box in the morning…

watered some plants outside and put chemicals in the hot tub…

had a glass of champagne and a few chocolates when I took a break this afternoon…

one set of kids have made it to their next destination on their trip to Ontario and sent me a picture of Lake Superior, and the others sent me a picture of a gorgeous sunset…

a lovely and rest-filled day which reminds me of how blessed I am…

quiet…

09 Friday Aug 2013

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clean car, Gerber's, lonely, quiet, quiet weekend, tidy house, vacuum

well I was right… it is very quiet and maybe a bit lonely here…

got home, slept for a couple if hours… had some leftovers from last night and then slept for another couple of hours…

going to have a little snack and then go to bed, lol…

Cyndi and Ron have arrived at their next destination and Crystal and all the boys have set up their spot at the lake…

I have a beautifully clean car thanks to Cyndi and Ron, which is lovely… usually it is tidy but after I had that little plant purchase and filled it up completely it has really needed a good vacuum and I haven’t had the chance to get it done…

looking forward to a quiet weekend of putting the house back together so it will look great on Monday when a group of friends will be over for the evening… and enjoying the Gerbers that had been in Cyndi and Ron’s room…

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packing up…

08 Thursday Aug 2013

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big girl pants, family dinner, lonely tomorrow, packing up

rushed home from work to get a chicken stuffed and in the oven for a family dinner… last night that Cyndi and Ron are here so we wanted to all be together…

they had taken the boys out for the afternoon while Crystal and Jeff got some shopping done…

last night I made the stuffing and a very nice gazpacho for our Souper Club at work so didn’t have to do too much tonight… made a Caprese salad, organized mashed potatoes and then Crystal cut up the chicken while Jeff mashed the potatoes…

all the family together for dinner...

all the family together for dinner…

some hot tubbed, some relaxed outside and some relaxed inside… dinner was very nice out on the deck and we toasted with some champagne…

hot tub fun...

hot tub fun…

great way to end the “too short” visit, although they have stayed here longer than anywhere else on their journey, lol…  we three girls spent some time discussing what to do with George’s ashes… it was interesting to see where each of us was for this discussion… one felt the ashes in a box just wasn’t right, another felt that putting some here and some there

as I write this Cyndi is moving around gathering things to be packed up so that they can leave first thing in the morning to reach Thunder Bay tomorrow night…

Ron has uploaded new programming for my computer and is also beginning the packing portion of the evening…

gonna be lonely tomorrow, Cyndi and Ron leave for Ottawa and Crystal, Jeff and the boys head out for a birthday camping trip…

the day after…

08 Thursday Aug 2013

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beautifully decorated, bubble machine, bubble wrap, champagne, Champagne Bubble Party, do it again, her big girl pants, hot tub, photo booth, the day after, tired today, yummy food

pretty tired today… worried that I was going to fall asleep on the way home from work, but I didn’t, lol…

got home, said hi to the kid who was here and had a good nap… got up and had a hot tub and then Cyndi arrived home from her visit with a friend…

we had a lovely rehash of last night’s Champagne Bubble Party… it was a success and we enjoyed every moment… as always, we learned a few things and would do a couple of things differently next time…

we had a photo booth and had talked about putting someone in charge which we didn’t end up doing… that was a mistake… we think if someone was looking after it they may have encouraged more people to have their pictures taken…

we made six by six inch bubble wrap bits which weren’t in quite the right spot so they didn’t get played with too much…

the garden was decorated beautifully with balloons in champagne colours, round mirrors of different sizes, clear glass ball ornaments, disco balls and lots of flowers…

I was busy and didn’t take many pictures… luckily Cyndi got a couple of shots that actually showed some of the bubbles floating up from the machines…

fun blowing bubbles and jumping in the boat ball pit...

fun blowing bubbles and jumping in the boat ball pit…

the children had great fun blowing bubbles, jumping into a boat filled with coloured balls… and running around the yard, up and over the decks… they were enthralled with the various bubble machines and kept going over to them to see what the bubbles were doing…

Champagne bucket and fixings...

Champagne bucket and fixings…

the adults enjoyed visiting and trying the champagne with various fruits and juices in it… everyone brought a bottle and we now have quite a lovely collection of bottles which we didn’t drink…

yummy food to eat...

yummy food to eat…

food was great and everyone enjoyed the beef sliders, meatballs and Caprese salad and the chicken balls (which we ordered from a local Chinese Restaurant)… a fruit ball and chocolate fountain, along with mini champagne cupcakes and cheesecakes filled out the menu…

bubble gum, gum balls, cheese balls and M&Ms rounded out the snacks…

a great event… now, when can we do it again…

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beloved big girl pants birds blessed chocolate Christmas cold delicious dinner family fish flowers food friends fun garden George grandson happy health hibiscus hot tub light lunch memories moments morning glories nature orchid photos pictures plants pond purple rain remembering shopping sky snow sun sunshine supper Technology time treat trees walk water weather widow

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