the weather…

29 Friday Mar 2013

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wasn’t going to do anything today… a day to rest, as tomorrow and Sunday will be busy…

last night before bed I took some nice shots of the moon through some trees behind the house… I had been on my way to bed but it was so beautiful that I had to run and get my tripod and camera and take a few pictures…

moon through the trees...

moon through the trees…

so this morning when I woke up to fog, I took some pictures of that as well…

had a lovely time cleaning out a portion of a closet…  it was great fun to pack stuff up to give away, dump things into the recycling and garbage and find some space…

then I called and booked an appointment for a hair cut and purple and got in right away…  took my camera when I headed out because there was gorgeous hoarfrost on the trees…

the house with the lonely tree...

the house with the lonely tree…

after my hair appointment I drove through Assiniboine Park and took some pictures… later I spent quite a while on the computer uploading the pictures and organizing…

trees covered in hoarfrost...

trees covered in hoarfrost…

driving through the Park reminded me of the fun George and I would often have there… I took pictures of some trees that we often stopped at…

it was a lovely day… very re-creational…

UCC information…

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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Tuesday I received the UCC pension information in the mail… now this may seem like a normal thing, but I have been trying to get this information since about a month after George died…

Kingfisher Spa Massage Hut on the beach...

Kingfisher Spa Massage Hut on the beach…

I have spoken on the phone with a number of people over the past 10 months or so…  every one of them tells me they will request the information and I should get it in six to eight weeks… no, nobody said anything about six or eight months…

my last call was two weeks ago and a lovely man told me I would have the information within two weeks or he would give me a call back to clarify any issues which might cause a delay…

on our way home on Tuesday, my colleague and I were talking about the UCC pension plan and I was laughingly telling her she might never get the information that she was asking for (on behalf of her mother)…

when she dropped me off, I opened the mailbox and there was the envelope, lol… apparently we should have talked about this sooner…

now for my finance guy to review it and then we will decide what the next steps are… this is the last piece of information we have been waiting for as we have received all the other pension information about my options…

we have transferred his pensions over to me and moved money from this place to that… now we will figure out what the possibilities for travel and retirement are…

cruise ship off the beach in Mexico...

cruise ship off the beach in Mexico…

George would have liked to retire and travel… thanks to him, I will have a better opportunity for those things… already I have been to Mexico… and in a couple of months will be cruising to Alaska…

amazing how one’s life can change in a breath…

in the moment…

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

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well, this morning I put on a spring coat and wore my sandals to work…  I have worn sandals at work all winter, but wore boots to and from…  but this morning the sun was shining and it was supposed to go to 0 degrees, so I decided it was time to move into spring…

the sandals might have been a little early, but it was wonderful to have them on instead of boots…

a little chilly on the toes this morning...

a little chilly on the toes this morning…

was talking with someone who mentioned George’s memorial service… I don’t remember much about it because I was dealing with a health issue at the time and was focussed on that, and not fully on what was happening around me… maybe that was a blessing…

It did remind me of the fact that last March I was afraid to walk down the street because I might have a problem with my body…  I had spoken with my doctor and we were in agreement that I needed a hysterectomy and I was waiting to get in to see a specialist, but it was a very stress-filled time…

what a difference a year makes, in so many ways… I am healthy and can do most anything these days without any worries…

I miss my beloved but each day I am learning strategies to move forward on this new journey…

smells…

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

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in the shower the other day, I picked up a different shampoo than the one I usually use, because I wanted to smell the scent that the house radiated after George had a shower…  when he got out of the shower the house would always smell of berries…

apparently it wasn’t the shampoo he used, but one that the girls have bought to use when they are over, so it didn’t smell at all right, lol…

when he died I gave his clothes away as I didn’t need them as a reminder of him… it was very hard on Crystal… she took home his sweats and a sweatshirt and that helped her hold him close…  for me, it has been the memories, although not so the other day, lol…

whenever I smell roses, I always think of George…  he always got me roses, for whatever the occasion was, or for no occasion at all…

one of the roses from the bouquet the kids sent this year on our anniversary...

one of the roses from the bouquet the kids sent this year on our anniversary…

a young friend made pillows for each of the kids from his sweaters, and she wrapped them all individually before she made them, and after as well, to be sure they still smelled of him…

pillows for the kids from George's sweaters...

pillows for the kids from George’s sweaters…

she had a difficult time when she was sewing as she came across a sweater that George had worn for a visit to her house…

everyone appreciated the pillows and they were a lovely remembrance of George… when he wasn’t running around without a shirt, he would likely be in one of his sweaters…

what lovely memories I have…

 

 

in the moment…

25 Monday Mar 2013

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had a very interesting discussion regarding the purpose of work tonight… what is work for those of us who are still in the work force… what is work for those who have reached retirement…

what are the special moments in our life that keep us mindful of why we do what we do…

how do we live in the moment…  who can help us with that…

I am looking forward to the snow melting and being able to sit in the garden and enjoy the moment, lol…

enjoying the moment in the garden summer 2012...

enjoying the moment in the garden, Summer 2012… picture by Tavin…

maybe I will come up with some answers to the questions…

busy day…

24 Sunday Mar 2013

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knew it was going to be busy and it was…

first thing I went out and had a very nice hot tub… there was a bit of a breeze but as I sat there the squirrel came by to find some snacks in the tree…

then did some laundry and learned how to use Dropbox on the computer…  huge snowflakes came down for a short period…

huge snowflakes falling this afternoon...

huge snowflakes falling this afternoon…

then off to get some pants hemmed, all the way to Transcona with Crystal… picked up the boys and went grocery shopping at Safeway… home to make tacos for supper… yay, the boys love tacos…

huge snowflakes falling...

huge snowflakes falling…

after dinner there was some game playing on the iPad and iPhones, some of it in French which was great fun, particularly listening to Gray repeat the words…

English and French word games...

English and French word games…

everyone headed home and I watched TV for a bit, tried to share a folder in Dropbox again, then finished my blog and am heading to bed…

it really was busy… but lots of fun…

 

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…