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Tag Archives: blessed

currency…

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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beloved, big girl pants, blessed, currency, life insurance, money, peace of mind, pension, RSP

had a few conversations about money recently…

brought back some memories of when George died and I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep the house or have a life…

George did a good job of ensuring there was sufficient money available for me… there was life insurance money and RSP money and pension money… all of which enabled me to continue my life without any great difficulty… truly I have been blessed…

like others, I am more likely to spend some of it now, as opposed to waiting till I retire, because who knows whether I will be healthy in five or ten years, or even alive…

in January I took all of the kids to Mexico, thanks to some of the life insurance money that I received… I was able to take the Alaskan cruise with some of those funds as well…

now I have slowed the spending pace down a bit, but am thinking about what trip I will take next…

I think about all I learned after he died and I had to deal with insurance companies, credit card companies and government agencies… sadly, if you make any mistakes in the process it can take a very long time to get things sorted out…

but money isn’t everything, as I have seen with a few friends who have lots of it… it doesn’t really bring happiness or health, although it does provide some peace of mind…

there is also the currency of friendship, and health and caring for others…

remember...

remember…

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…

memory stone…

04 Thursday Jul 2013

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amazing friends, blessed, donation, Duck Pond, ducks, Memory Stone, stone laid, touched, word puzzle

I have the most amazing friends…

at Christmas I made a donation in their honour and had a memory stone produced…  last year Cyndi and Ron had two made and it was just such a lovely gesture…

a colleague at work, who is exceptionally good with words, helped me to get the wording just right… there are only a certain number of lines and a certain number of letters on each line… bit of a puzzle really…

then I sent off the money and wording and waited… I didn’t mention anything to the two groups of women because I wanted it to be a visible surprise for them…

just recently I was thinking that I hadn’t heard anything about when the stone was being laid and the very next day I received an email confirming that it had been installed at the Park by the Duck Pond…

email re stone placement...

email re stone placement…

went over and found it very easily… the last ones were quite difficult to find, lol… had a bit of a giggle because of all the stones in the area, it was the only one that had been blessed by the ducks/geese…

view of the Pond right next to the stones...

view of the Pond right next to the stones…

took some pictures and sent a note to my friends to let them know where they could see it and letting them know how important they are to me…

for my friends...

for my amazing friends…

don’t know if anyone has seen it in person yet, but many have been quite touched… as was I to be able to do this for them…

 

Father’s Day…

16 Sunday Jun 2013

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big girl pants, blessed, dinner on the deck, Father's Day, marathoners, missing George, moving forward, planting flowers

spent the day planting flowers… listening to the drums at the Park as marathoners went past, heard birds singing, lawn mowers going and geese flying overhead…

 

planters around the deck...

planters around the deck…

took breaks, but worked until the kids came for dinner just after 3… got 6 of the 9 planters around the deck done and numerous pots…

planters around the deck filled with lobelia and allysum...

planters around the deck filled with lobelia and alyssum…

still have a few more things to plant, but they will have to wait for another day…

dinner on the deck...

dinner on the deck…

had a lovely dinner on the deck – ribs (thanks to Crystal for barbecuing them) and Caesar salad were the request so that’s what we had… then Jeff went out and mowed the front yard…

mowing the grass on Father's Day...

mowing the grass on Father’s Day…

this morning I was missing George a fair bit, but as I worked away in the garden, I spent my time remembering what great fun we had in the garden and with our kids… I thought back to last year on this day and today was much better… that day was the worst day since he died… glad to be moving forward…

truly, I am blessed…

 

the game…

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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blessed, Charleswood, enjoyed, George, Googled, Nanny and Grandpa, pond, soccer, the game

got to spend an evening watching my eldest grandson play soccer… had never heard of the field where he was playing but it was in Charleswood and we found it without a problem as Crystal had Googled it…

had to take a few shots of the pond...

had to take a few shots of the pond…

was a bit windy and for the first half of the game we were looking into the sun, but the second half we could see better…

running toward our goal...

running toward our goal…

the field is huge… but it was fun to get some action shots as the game went on… Nanny and Grandpa were there as well so we had a great cheering section…

middle of the action...

middle of the action…

we were kind of cool by the end of the game but it was lots of fun… was thinking how George would have enjoyed the evening…

watching intently...

watching intently as the sun goes down…

way to go Cobras…

grandson in motion...

grandson in motion…

I truly am blessed…

visitors…

08 Wednesday May 2013

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blessed, blog, Canada, holding hands, Japan, making new memories, Republic of Korea, travelling a new road, UK, US, visitors

it’s been interesting to see where the people who read my blog come from…

besides those in Canada there have been folks from Germany, the US, UK, Japan and the Republic of Korea… I have found blogs from the UK, Australia and India that I enjoy, so I guess it makes sense that people could peek at a blog from just about anywhere…

visitors map...

visitors map…

I have been writing for those, like myself, who may have lost a loved one, and are travelling a new road… sometimes I feel very alone and sorry for myself, but most days I am glad to be alive and making new memories…

I know that George wouldn’t want me stuck in a sad and unhappy place and I don’t want to be there either…

just looked up from the computer to see George and I walking in the park, holding hands… some days I am amazed at how normal it seems to be alone…

in the garden…

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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birdsong, blessed, Courtenay, Filberg Park, garden, hot tub, magnolia, wonderful day

was reading a blog tonight and saw a beautiful magnolia flower which reminded me of some great shots I got of magnolias when visiting Courtenay, BC a few years back…  they were in Filberg Park and were spectacular…

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful...

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful…

Magnolia blossom...

Magnolia blossom…

spent a good portion of today dealing with the hot tub… had a lovely time in it first thing this morning watching Juncos and Sparrows… then I turned it off and let the water drain…  takes quite a while for that step… during which I took back an ottoman and had lunch out at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant with my nephew and his girlfriend…

in the garden this morning...

in the garden this morning…

then home to clean and fill the tub… now it is heating up – slowly – and I am hoping that by tomorrow night I will be back in it… I took some pics of the process but my daughter stopped by and borrowed the camera, lol…

while sitting outside I got a bit of sun, but put on lotion and then stayed out of it… easy to forget how strong the sun can be early in the season… heard a variety of birdsong and also the wonderful sound of the Canada Geese flying overhead… someone new has arrived in the neighbourhood but I haven’t figured out the song just yet..

what a wonderful day… I truly am blessed…

great evening…

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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be together, blessed, celebration, healing, hugs, insights, laughter, powerful sense of home, reading, ReImagining, sharing, tears

Monday night I had dinner and spent time with my ReImagining friends…

it is always wonderful when we gather…  we take turns hosting, some more than others, depending on our current situations… someone looks after the dinner and someone else leads our program… there are lots of hugs, deep sharing, lots of laughter, and often tears…

we had a lovely chilli with all kinds of toppings, salad, ice cream with chocolate sauce; checked in around the table; had a short program, and then we finished reading our book…

we lit candles in celebration of Candlemas and Valentine’s Day…

lit candles...

lit candles…

then we looked over a number of offerings for our next read…

we have moved from programs that were on a variety of topics, and took a fair bit of time to prepare, to simpler gatherings…  the important thing is to be together and so recently we have been reading out loud and discussing guided questions…  no one has homework, and we get done what we get done… often a simple question will take us off into a wonderful discussion of life… what insights we share…

these women have been part of my life for at least twenty-five years and provide a powerful sense of home when I am with them… after the last week it was very healing to be with them…

really, how blessed am I…

Music, music, music…

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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band concert, blessed, music, wave of sadness, wonderful adventure

attended a lovely band concert tonight…

first band performance...

first band performance…

I took a number of pictures and in the process, a wave of sadness came over me as I thought of how much George loved attending the kids concerts…  some of the pictures are quite fuzzy as I was trying to get my equilibrium back…

once I got home I spent a few hours getting the 3000 plus pictures we took in Mexico down to a reasonable couple of hundred for a slide show of our wonderful adventure…

life is full and I continue to be blessed…

sunset on the plane ride home...

sunset on the plane ride home…

Christmas…

25 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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a good day, abundance, blessed, chocolate tree, missing, playing, presents, wonderful times

it was a good day…

early morning tree...

early morning tree…

I slept fairly well and, of course, was the first to wake up… at 8 I started to move around the kitchen, sort of encouraging others to get the heck up…

stockings were full...

stockings were full…

we opened presents and then Skyped with Cyndi and Ron and opened a few presents with them…

everyone received an abundance of wonderful gifts (a lot of electronics this year) and we spent a good part of the day learning how to use them…

new tablets...

new tablets…

Jeff made us all breakfast and we continued playing with our toys…

we all came home in time to pop the turkey into the oven, have a snack, and play some more with all the fun things we’d received…

fun with the Leap Pad...

fun with the Leap Pad…

spoke with family and friends on the phone but wasn’t able to wish anyone a Merry Christmas… maybe I will be able to do that next year…

we've been waiting since the start of Advent to eat this tree...

we’ve been waiting since the start of Advent to eat this tree…

we had lots of fun… after supper we broke the chocolate Christmas tree and ate some of it for dessert after Jeff and I had a lovely hot tub… once the kids left I had a short nap and am enjoying the quiet house…

thinking of all the wonderful times we have celebrated Christmas in this house over the years, and how blessed I am even now…

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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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