10 Sunday May 2026
Posted in garden, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
17 years, big girl pants, blessed, conversations, garden, hot tub, memories, moments, Mother's Day, mothers, widow
this morning I went out for a Mother’s Day hot tub…
it has been 17 years since the first day of hot tubbing in the garden which was on Mother’s Day in 2009;-)…
amazing to think of all the laughter, deep conversations, and fun, shared in this little tub of warm water…
always a wonderful reminder on Mother’s Day…
06 Wednesday May 2026
Posted in business, garden, life, moments, nature, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
allium, big girl pants, growing, kaleidoscope, memories, moments, nature, plants, purple, The Leaf at Assiniboine Park, widow
just after I took this photo of a beautiful allium, a visitor asked me what it was…
then I had a lovely conversation with another visitor who was telling me about the allium that grew in her garden outside of the city… she said they grew six feet tall and took over the garden…
made me laugh as I shared how this was one of my beloved’s favourites and no matter what we did, they would not grow for us…
we ended the conversation noting that, in our experience, some plants will or won’t grow for certain people, lol…
11 Saturday Apr 2026
Posted in family, life, moments, nature, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
cleaning the pumps in the fishtanks is not one of my favourite things to do… my beloved took care of this job… then for a number of years, my son-in-law looked after the task, lol…
now, it is up to me…
once I get started it isn’t that big a deal and doesn’t really take that long…
and to top it off this week, I scrubbed the algae from the glass front…
always happy when all the cleaning is complete…
and I think the fish like it as well;-)…
08 Sunday Mar 2026
Posted in family, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, colleagues, family, flowers, friends, International Women's Day, making me, memories, moments, strong, support, widow
today, on this International Women’s Day, I’ve spent time thinking of the many women who have influenced my life…
I wrote these words in 2017:
whether they are family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, or those I’ve seen from afar…
whether they are alive or dead…
whether they know it or not…
they have had a part in making me me…
I am blessed…
now, more than ever, in these difficult days, we need to support others as they move forward;-)…
06 Friday Mar 2026
Posted in business, family, food, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, burgers, family, floats, food, fourteen, grandson, memories, moments, Technology, time, widow
last night we celebrated my beloved who departed fourteen years ago…
as always, some days it seems like yesterday, and others so long ago…
hamburgers and floats were eaten here and via the internet…
so thankful to have family around for these celebrations;-)…
02 Monday Mar 2026
Posted in family, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
always with me, beloved, big girl pants, blessed, family, memories, moments, passed, remembering, widow
it is the beginning of March and I realized I hadn’t remembered that this week marks 14 years since my beloved passed…
at first I felt bad because I hadn’t remembered, but then I realized how often I think of him during each and every day and no longer focus on the day he died…
10 Tuesday Feb 2026
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
Tags
beloved, big girl pants, blessed, family, flowers, food, hearts, memories, moments, romantic, time, treat, Valentine decorations, while, widow
yesterday morning, I spent a little while wandering around the house and adding in Valentine decorations…
in the living room (adding to the table which I did a few days ago), on the stairs…
in the bathroom, and the den…
on Valentine’s Day, I will make something special for my dinner, not sure what yet… my beloved and I would maybe have had steak and lobster or some special treat…
he was very romantic and always got me a rose and some little present to celebrate the day…
I’m always happy to do a bit of decorating around the house, and then spend time thinking about him on Valentine’s Day… I have been so blessed;-)…
01 Sunday Feb 2026
Posted in business, food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized, weather
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, food, friends, lunch, memories, moments, Pho Hoang, sugarcane, treat, widow
had lunch out on our way to the theatre the other day…
went to Pho Hoang, which was one of our favourites when we used to go to aquasize at Cindy Klassen pool during our working days, lol…
as always, it was delicious;-)…
I had shrimp salad rolls and sugarcane shrimp…
25 Thursday Dec 2025
Posted in family, health, life, loss, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, blessed, Christmas, Christmas Eve, face-to-face, family, memories, moments, Technology, treat, video, widow
all the jobs were done and the living room set up for our morning video call when I went to bed at 11 pm on Christmas Eve…
put my head down thinking I might nap for an hour and then have a Christmas hot tub around midnight…
woke up at 5:15, yikes… apparently no hot tub for me…
laid back down, didn’t really sleep, and got up at 6:30, lol…
made tea and texted a video of me banging pots and slamming doors, (possibly like I used to do when the families would be here overnight, so they would get up), to the kids in Ottawa…
we met and had a lovely time opening gifts and enjoying all of the loot…
what a gift to be able to meet with them face-to-face…
such a lovely Christmas morning;-)…
13 Saturday Dec 2025
Posted in business, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
big girl pants, colleagues, commemorated, memories, moments, retirement, Technology, widow, work
Facebook reminded me that yesterday commemorated my last day of work six years ago… it was a special and fun day…
I spent the day saying farewell to my colleagues and had lunch out with a former colleague…
surprising to think that so much time has passed… and how much I have enjoyed these past years of retirement;-)…
herbiggirlpants 