25 Monday Nov 2013
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feeling so much better… amazing how a headache can debilitate a person…
this morning I got this great shot of one of my African Violets at the office… the buds are just about open… I love this one because it is kind of lacy looking with white flowers edged in purple…
buds on violet…
the Christmas cactus continues to bloom, but it still looks a little off…
24 Sunday Nov 2013
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Tags
advent calendar, alone, big girl pants, death of parent, dying, loss, missing my beloved, project, remembering, ups and downs
spent a quiet day at home and got some chores taken care of around the house…
spent quite a while trying to find my advent calendar – 2 muffin tins with magnetic covers – which was very frustrating as I had seen it over the summer… did find the reindeer calendar, lol… will have to actually go through each of the Christmas boxes one night this week…
spent a lovely afternoon working on a project which is coming along very nicely…
thought about friends who have recently lost parents and remembering the loss of our parents… how slowly the process of dying can be, and then how quickly it happens… thinking you are prepared and discovering that you are not at all ready… the guilt of feeling relief that the process is over… the exhaustion…
I have been feeling a bit alone for the last while… missing my beloved more, rather than less, these days… working hard to remember all the special times with him…
last year at this time we were all focused on our family vacation to Mexico right after Christmas, and I think it helped me keep my mind off Christmas without him… this year I don’t have that distraction, so I am trying to live each moment, whether happy or sad…
finished off my fishy weekend with a lovely dinner of shrimp, left-over garlic mashed potatoes and Caesar salad…
shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes and Caesar salad…
23 Saturday Nov 2013
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worked around the house for a bit today…
got some things packed up to give away… cleaned out some baskets…
went to Sobeys with Crystal and wandered around The Forks… haven’t been there for years, but had a fun time checking the place out…
picked up the boys and came home for lobster dinner… a few weeks back I had purchased some whole lobsters and we decided to try them out tonight…
lobster for dinner…
too funny because the only pictures I took today were of food… fish and chips that we shared at The Forks and the lobster we had for dinner… really cracked me up when Crystal reminded me to take a picture, lol…
mine…
lobster was good, but a lot of work… we made the little boys pizza and then they watched a movie while we worked our way through the lobsters…
but we did have fun… oh and while we were out, we bought food for the fish…
22 Friday Nov 2013
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Tags
apps, big girl pants, Jupiter, mesmerizing, moon and planet, moon and star, Sky Map, SkyView Free, Technology, Venus
for the last few days I’ve been trying to capture a picture of the moon with the star/planet that’s been hanging around it at night and in the morning…
I’ve done some research and tried out a few apps – tonight I was using Sky Map and SkyView Free – and one of them suggested it might be Jupiter…
online research was suggesting it might be a different planet in the morning, maybe Venus…
don’t know which it is but is is quite lovely…
on my way out to the hot tub tonight I had to go back and get my phone and take a few pictures… this one is about the best although the star/planet is not very bright…
moon and planet/star tonight…
i took a few in the morning yesterday with the camera but they weren’t so great…
maybe I will get up early tomorrow and use the tripod and see what I can capture…
quite mesmerizing…
21 Thursday Nov 2013
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tonight I had supper at A & W with a colleague…
it was lovely to eat out, particularly since I’d been craving a Teen burger for a few days… I haven’t had much of an appetite lately, so this was a lovely treat…
we talked about our experiences with A & W over the years and having baby Root Beers when we were young…
I remembered how George would pretend to be the Great Root Bear when the girls were little as he danced along forest paths…
20 Wednesday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, dinner and FaceTime, Grandpa's birthday, missing my beloved, planning remembrance, remembrance
when we were together on Sunday we talked about how we would remember Grandpa’s birthday… Tavin and I had spent some time looking at the video from George’s memorial service… it was lovely as he was able to watch the pictures and think about Grandpa… he wasn’t able to do that at the service…
the boys decided on hamburgers and milkshakes from his favourite burger place and apple pie with ice cream… ice cream was included because some of us don’t really like apple pie, lol…
hopefully we will FaceTime or Skype with the kids in Ottawa… last year one of them was in Calgary and the other in Courtenay… it will be nice that they are together…
snowflake picture taken on George\s birthday, 2011…
not feeling well for the last few days has made me feel a bit sorry for myself, missing my beloved who always looked after me…
19 Tuesday Nov 2013
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last night on my way out for a hot tub, I got this picture of the moon with my phone…
moon rise last night..
spent quite a bit of time in the tub as my head was very unhappy…
this morning I got this shot of the moon with my camera on the tripod…
moon set this morning…
head is still not happy… gonna try the hot tub again…
18 Monday Nov 2013
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Tags
big girl pants, Canada Manpower, candies in his pockets, gone for 26 years, lovely mmemories, organization, remembering my dad, taught me life lessons
today would have been my dad’s 91st birthday… he’s been gone for 26 years…
he was an amazing man who taught me many life lessons… he was always my sounding board… for many years I drove him to and from work and he introduced me to some amazing people… he worked for Canada Manpower and spent his days helping people to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives… we spent a few years in the north where he opened Manpower offices and taught me to help set them up and organize them… maybe that’s were I got my love for organization…
throughout their marriage I never heard him be rude or raise his voice to my mom…
he looked after her for many years as she spent nearly half of each year in the psych ward and he looked after us on his own during all that time…
a rare photograph of mom and dad…
when the girls were little they could always find candies in his pockets…
some lovely memories today…
17 Sunday Nov 2013
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big girl pants, blooming, boots, dim sum, hot tub, little dusting, shovelling, smartphone gloves, snow, winter tires, yoga outfit
well, I was wrong… that little dusting of snow turned into a lot of snow… although, as a number of people have mentioned, it did look beautiful…
here’s what I saw when I got up this morning… and isn’t that cactus just blooming away..
lots of snow out there…
the snow fell all day and finally quit around 4…
we went for dim sum and because my winter tires weren’t on yet, and I didn’t feel like putting on the big girl pants, Crystal and the boys came and got me… we had a lovely time and the boys even tried a few new things… they didn’t really like them, but did try…
then it was off to find some boots and three pair were discovered and purchased… I got some purple gloves that can work my phone and a yoga top and pants… a few groceries and then home…
while I put stuff away Crystal shovelled the sidewalk and the driveway, with a bit of help from the boys… she ran across and shovelled a neighbour’s sidewalk and had a little visit with her…
winter tires on the car… not as pretty as the all purpose ones…
when Jeff got here, he and Crystal put on the winter tires for me… yay…
Jeff and the boys had a hot tub… which now means putting on slippers, taking out a towel for the steps and wearing toques… what a difference a day makes, lol…
Sunday dinner with everyone…
we enjoyed a very nice supper and all the boys helped clean up before they headed home…
I am very happy about the winter tires as I will be driving to work tomorrow as I have a late meeting…
a lovely day, all in all…
16 Saturday Nov 2013
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Tags
bedroom, big girl pants, decluttering, early rising, hot tub, obsession with rocks, snow, thinking of George, tidying
spent most of the day in the bedroom, changing bedding, cleaning and reorganizing… ran a couple of loads of laundry and got it all put away…
put on the blanket on the bed that George loved… will be thinking of him when I climb into bed tonight…
took my time and watched tv and read as well so that I wasn’t worn out…
decluttered by getting rid of some books, clothes and a few bits and pieces…
mementos…
moved my rocks/gems/shells to a different container – actually a winnowing basket from an event in 1993, and got my little fountain going… looks very nice… not sure if I’ve mentioned my obsession with rocks/stones… from my visits to Cyndi and Ron’s in BC I have brought back a good portion of Goose Spit, lol…
am always happy when I can get rid of stuff and be happy in the process… hope to continue on a bit tomorrow in the dining room…
added chemicals to the hot tub throughout the afternoon and was headed out there tonight when I discovered that the deck and ground were covered with a dusting of snow… the young man next door is having a party and I don’t usually go out but had decided it would be nice before bed… when I discovered the snow, it just seemed like a sign…
so, am writing my blog and going to bed… looks like the snow might be gone by morning so I will have a tub when I get up, which hopefully won’t be at 6 am like this morning…
herbiggirlpants 