The Canadian Chronicles

Got Goals?

2012-02-09T08:24:00.001-06:00

I am living with a couple of physical fitness nuts. My husband and my second daughter are training for a 180 mile bike ride for charity in April. That makes them do crazy things like spin class at 6 a.m.. They are totally focused on when the next ride will be and how far it will be and how many miles they can log in a week. They have a goal they are determined to reach.

We have Marathon Girl living with us for a few months while she does an internship in Houston and she is training for the Boston Marathon. Needless to say, training for a marathon is intense. I would not know because running 3 miles would be a marathon for me and it is merely a warm up for Marathon Girl. Her goal is to train without getting injured in the process and run in Boston!

I am surrounded by people training for something. I am starting to feel like I should set a goal and start training! OK, maybe I'll start training to break 100 on the golf course. A goal that has eluded me thus far and on many occasions seems totally out of reach... until I have a good round and I feel like it is just around the corner. Lately, the corner has been all the way down the block though. Maybe I can train for our upcoming ski trip. Oops....too late, it's only two weeks away. Better do more wall squats to strengthen my quads and maybe ride the bike a little, I hear it helps on the slopes.  Something about that whole balance thing along with working the quads.

Obviously, I am not as goal oriented as my husband, my daughter or Marathon Girl. Goals are good, they give you direction. Guess I should set a few and get a little direction in my life. I did recently take a step to get closer to one of my goals. It is less of a physical fitness goal and more a mental fitness goal. I have wanted to take a writing course for a while, to learn some tricks of the trade and see where I lie on the Richter scale of writing. Many of the courses offered are just not what I am looking for. It is not my goal to publish the next great novel, I just want to improve my writing skills. I don't need a grammar lesson, some might disagree, but that is not what I'm looking for either. I found a course that comes close to what I am looking for, it isn't perfect, but at least I am going to jump in and get my feet...or in this case, hands, wet. The course begins at the end of February and to say I am already a bit intimidated would be an understatement! Someone else is going to read what I write and "grade" it for the first time in over 30 years, yikes! Writing for a semi-anonymous cyberspace public is one thing but writing and being judged by a professional and compared to other students is another thing. Will I be able to think of original material? Will my ideas seem elementary? Will I be able to stay awake for the entire class? ( It is from 1-3 in the afternoon, I remember sleeping through every university course I had at that time of day! The post lunch nap always won!) You can all look forward to riveting posts during the month of March as I improve my writing skills. Then again, I may not even have time to post anything on this here blog because I will be busy doing homework!

P.S. If you want to help my husband and/or my daughter reach their financial goals for their MS150 bike ride click here
https://secure3.convio.net/nmss/site/Donation2?idb=626110313&df_id=36770&36770.donation=form1&FR_ID=17896&PROXY_ID=8939766&PROXY_TYPE=20   Husband

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=6409494&fr_id=17896&pg=personal   Daughter

Redeeming January

2012-02-01T16:19:00.001-06:00

I found winter! It lives in Madison, Wisconsin. I visited it last weekend. All is right with the world!

I also found my awesome grandsons!

You have no idea how nice it was to visit an area that experiences "real" winter! I am so glad that I decided to take matters into my own hands a few weeks ago and made reservations to get out of the temperate south, at least for a few days! Grandsons can be a real lure too, especially when they are young and cute and changing every day. The thought of missing out on some of those wonderful moments is enough to attract even the coldest of hearts much less my warm heart. I could not get enough....of the grandsons or the cold weather!

This is Daniel playing with his train set

January may be redeemed after all. I will not fret about the seasonably warm temperatures predicted for tomorrow or the humidity because I can still feel the dampness in my snow boots from the weekend. Some people talk about the sand in their suitcases after a winter trip, I talk about the wet snow boots! Yes, I'm a little strange...from what I hear. I got to do some of my favorite things, like...

shovel a little snow!!!

play in the snow with my daughter and the boys!

or go sledding! So much fun!!

So I got to experience some winter and play with Daniel and Christopher. I even go to go to a hot yoga-ahhh class. All in all I would say it was ALMOST enough to redeem January.
I will just try to forget that it is February 1st and the thermometer says 80 degrees, maybe I should go outside and do some yoga!

How Do I Not Love January, Let Me Count The Ways!

2012-01-25T17:32:00.002-06:00

Last weekend it hit me....since we moved back to Texas I really don't like January very much! Count yourselves lucky that I have waited until almost the end of the month to start my ranting, you have been spared for over 3 weeks!

January is a month most people think of as a "winter" month (unless you live south of the equator). It is usually dark and cold. It is a month I used to hibernate and do things like read War and Peace or some other equally long tome because I had time to sit by the roaring fireplace and read. I like reading next to a fire. I also like being able to put on a coat and go outside into the cold fresh air and take a nice walk or ski or shovel ( yes, I like shoveling). I may be a bit on the crazy side but I really like winter, most of the time.

Well, it was 80 degrees here on Friday and 79 on Sunday. It is not winter in Texas! There was also about 90% humidity, enough to cause lots of frizzy hair, fog and wet sidewalks but not enough to actually rain...lovely. Yeah, just think of how sticky that feels! Days like that make me just want to scream, especially when they come in January. Another side of the winter weather coin are nights like last night followed by days like today. The winds were so strong that the power went out, at 2 a.m., several times and stayed off for over an hour while we lay awake listening to wind howl and our neighbor's alarm systems that were set off by the power outages. Today the torrential rain hit. That is what happens when cold northern air hits the hot humid Gulf air. One would assume that the cold front would eventually win and we would be gifted with "winter like" weather....not so much! Unless you call 65 degrees "winter". Give me 3 feet of snow and sub freezing temperatures please, after all it is January!

BRRR!

Another reason to not love January... it's a pretty boring month if you ask me. Christmas is over, the decorations are all put away and the visitors have gone home. There is a certain let down after the holidays. When I worked for Weight Watchers, January was our month, everyone and their overweight brother wanted to join and lose weight in January. It was a very busy month! Now it is just long and there are no holidays, unless you count New Year's Day which is over before we even realize it is January. Combine dark, dreary, warm and humid with boring and you get my new least favorite month of the year. I know...I have a bad attitude about this and it is very early to be calling the game... but really? The Super Bowl is not even in January this year!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take matters into my own hands. I booked a flight to Madison, Wisconsin. I leave tomorrow in search of winter and grandsons. If the winter won't come to me, I will just have to go to winter! I am also guaranteed that it will not be boring! I hope I get snowed in for a couple extra days and then January will be over.

Hello winter, I'm coming!

You Have To Try Really Hard To Concentrate

2012-01-17T21:26:00.001-06:00

While I was in my yoga class last week I had a thought. I know....I'm not supposed to think while doing yoga, I am supposed to breathe. I can't help it...I was thinking, sometimes I pray. I still miss my Mississauga yoga studio and probably always will because it was the best yoga studio ever!

The awesome Mississauga yoga studio was a bastion of peacefulness, it had beautiful new cork floors..that were regularly cleaned, low lights, a hot room (which I loved) and a regular room, mirrored walls, soft music and excellent instructors who mixed up the class every week. They were great! It was luxurious!

I go to a yoga class at our country club now... because it is there and does not cost me anything extra. It is in a gymnasium type room with icky wood floors. I have no idea the last time they were washed. In the room next to us there is loud thumping music and shouts from the instructor for the spin class that takes place at the same time as our yoga class. Our room is FREEZING cold when we get it because there is a step class before our yoga class and they like it cold because they are working up a sweat and need to cool off. When we come in the room the lights are bright, the fans are going at warp speed and the floor is grimy with sneaker grit, ahhh so zen. Our instructor turns the lights down, turns on some very nice music and tries her best to create a yoga worthy atmosphere.

You really have to concentrate to forget the whomping music and shouting in the room next door. You have to concentrate to avoid freezing your ass off before you are able to warm up. It takes a lot more time to loosen up your muscles in a freezing cold room, we all wear our jackets for the first 15 minutes of the class. We put our jackets on for the end of class too, otherwise we would shiver right through shivasana.

I still go to the frigid yoga and most of the time I enjoy the class. I must say though that there are days when I would just love to be back in Mississauga at my old yoga studio all warm and clean and challenging, sometimes I just try to transport myself there....mentally, I just have to concentrate really hard!

And Now A Word About Football

2012-01-15T22:13:00.001-06:00

I like football.... I really like college football, specifically LSU football! I am also a Saints fan and a recent Texans fan. Knowing these things you might conclude that this was not the best week in my life, as far as "my" teams are concerned. It is not the end of my world and there are not global consequences due to the unfortunate losses by ALL of my teams this week, but man, did it take the wind out of my spirited sails. Coming in second or 6th,7th, or 8th in a season might seem less than perfect right now but it is not bad for a season's work....I guess.

After watching LSU lose and the Saints lose, TJ and I decided to record the Texans game today and play golf. We thought the golf course would be wide open during the game, and we were right! It seemed like the entire city had gone in to watch the game, there was no one on the course and there were not even any cars driving on the roads, these people are serious about their football team. As it turned out, we are very happy we took advantage of the mild January weather and played golf instead of wasting an entire afternoon only to see our team lose the game in the final minutes. It was a good game and made even better by fast forwarding through the commercials! I guess we are going to be forced to cheer for the Giants?! Whoever we choose to cheer for is destined to lose.....

just saying.

All It Takes Is One Song

2012-01-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

One song on my ipod during a flight taken in January can transport me to Nova Scotia in a minute. It might be an Irish tune or some folk song by Spirit of The West or The Rankins but I can hear a song, look at the calendar and sigh because it is only 5 months until I get to live that other life...one completely different yet totally familiar....even unattended for nine months at a time.

While reading a memoir on the plane I wondered how my own memoir would read. This weekend would be in it and so would Nova Scotia. This weekend our youngest moved to NYC. I flew up to help her settle....at least into her apartment. I can't control everything! This weekend made me realize how sheltered I was at her age ( I would never have been as brave/savvy/talented/prepared as she is), maybe my memoir would mention that and how important we thought it was to expose our children to the world and broaden their horizons. This weekend will serve as a launching pad for our LG in her new life in the city...and when she feels lonely or lost or overwhelmed, at least her apartment will be an oasis, a home, organized ( it was when I left), unchaotic? and a place for her to just be herself in that awesome, crazy, busy city.

The Big Apple

The chaos....

Order?

Any way, another song, Dire Straits "Your Latest Trick" is playing on my ipod while I fly home and it brings me back to my first trip abroad at the ripe old age of 33. Back when you didn't have to strip naked to go through security and shampoo and toothpaste were not lethal weapons and were allowed to travel with you on the plane. I listened to that CD all the way across the ocean on that trip and did not sleep because I was so excited about finally realizing one of my dreams...going to Europe! I learned that the jet lag from not sleeping on the plane is monumental! To this day I can't hear that song without thinking of that trip!

What songs can transport you to another place and time?

The Last Week and the First Week

2012-01-02T21:11:00.000-06:00

The week after Christmas is one of my favorite weeks of the year. There is no gift shopping to do, no gifts to wrap, no pressure or anxious anticipation. It is the week that I get to actually enjoy Christmas! The house is decorated and full of life. The kids are still out of school. Many people have few work related responsibilities which means they are either home or home early. There is still a holiday to look forward to in New Year's Eve. Oh, and there are some really great sales at all the stores for when you return that hideous gift and get whatever you really wanted...for less!

This year the week between Christmas and New Year's has been one of the best. First, a little review of some of our holiday activities. We have adopted a Christmas Eve Eve tradition that involves eating out and going on a pub crawl (and responsibly taking a cab home). Be sure to mark this on you calendar for next year because it is one of the most fun nights of the season. In the past we have had the CEE pub crawl in Toronto, Madison and Houston. We could be visiting a city near you next year! We had a full crew that night but Michael had to go to Mexico for work on Christmas Eve, leaving TJ to fend for himself with all the women.

His future is so bright he's gotta wear shades? Cheers and Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas was beautiful and quiet, unless you are talking about the weather. It rained for 2 solid days. We all spent most of the day in our pajamas! Luxurious! Kelly managed to work pajama pants into three outfits.....it was just that kind of day, very comfortable.

Evening wear pajama pants

Sleep/morning wear pajama pants

Day wear pajama pants

The day was great and we all got a lot of reading done, I know we are an exciting bunch.

The week between was a lot of fun for some and a little work for others. Michael worked in Mexico, till mid week. Kelly had to go back to St. Louis for about 24 hours and watch all of her worldly possesions get packed and loaded into a truck for their trip to NYC. She came back to Houston for the remainder of the week to gather strength for her big move. We decided to go to Baton Rouge for a few days and visit the rest of the family. Maybe TJ just needed a little male companionship.

New Year's Eve ended up being a lot of fun. It was like Christmas Eve without the presents. We played games, we laughed more than humanly possible, we sang....badly, we went to a party at a friend's house and managed to get home before midnight and brought in the new year together....at home.

New Year's Day was spent much like Christmas Day, eating, drinking, playing games and being together.... in clothes this time instead of pajamas and the sun was shining.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-21T21:41:00.001-06:00

You came! Merry Christmas!

Here is a pictorial review of our year. All in one place, saving lots of paper....trees....branches!

January
A trip to New Orleans with good friends Bob and Donna! Laissez les bonne temps roulez!

February
We went to New York City (where Kelly will be living as of January 2012) with good friends Rick and Patty and found a
Chinese New Year's parade in Chinatown!

March
We went to Park City with friends and family...a good time was had by all!
(and no bones were broken)

April
TJ rode 180 miles in two days in the MS 150...again!
And it did not rain again in Houston until October....

April
We got to see Christopher and Daniel in Madison for Easter!

Early May
The Dixon sisters went to the Cayman Islands to celebrate one of us getting older.

May

Kelly graduated from St. Louis University!!!!

Way to go Kelly!

Later in May

We went to Nova Scotia and found our new sun porch...almost finished and tulips in bloom!

June
We waited for the garden to grow....and did a lot of work around the farmhouse!

July
We started harvesting the bounty from the garden!

August
Rachel, Matt, Daniel and Christopher came and spent their vacation with us in Nova Scotia!

And Grampy and Katie taught the boys how to dig up potatoes.

September
TJ and Lisa went to see London Bridge....still standing.

October
Michael and Jehnna were married in Boulder, Colorado

November

We visited the grandsons...and their parents, for Thanksgiving!

December

The tree is up, the house is decorated and we are waiting for Jesus.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, The Mahoneys

P.S. to read more about any month just click on the blue highlighted month name.

Bah Humbug

2011-12-16T14:17:00.003-06:00

Are you one of those overachievers who already has their Christmas shopping done, their cards sent, cookies baked and the house decorated? Bah humbug! Obviously, I am not....at least this year! I am finding it very difficult to actually get into the spirit. The 80 degree muggy weather might have something to do with my lack of Christmas spirit....just saying. I don't think I am alone in this either, until yesterday the stores seemed empty. Guess I'm not the only last minute shopper out there. At least the traffic online has been manageable, no parking problems or lineups at the cash register!

Maybe one of the reasons I am not feeling the spirit is because the little shopping I have done has been online. No hustle and bustle to get into my psyche, just a computer screen. No endlessly piped in carols playing in the background, no Salvation Army bell ringers, no pushing and shoving to get the perfect item, no over the top decorations to delight the eyes..... just my dirty floors, and dishes in the kitchen with the washer and dryer humming in the background. Hmmm, maybe that explains the lack of spirit I'm feeling.

Guess it's time I sharpen my elbows and go shopping. One can only buy so much online before you have to go to a real store. Get my earplugs, bah humbug! Next on the list....Christmas cards? We will see, I don't want to overdo it!

Hello and Goodbye

2011-12-08T18:09:00.001-06:00

This week I had the profound experience of saying goodbye to one life and hello to a new life. Within one week, a good friend of mine was taken from this world and a baby was born into our extended family. Life and death, opposite ends of this journey through life.

My friend had cancer, but in the end it was not the cancer that caused her death, it was complications from a fall... an accident. We all assumed that eventually the cancer would win but it was not at that point yet, so we were all caught a bit off guard by her passing. We were not ready. If you have gone to church lately, you know that many of the readings have been about keeping alert, staying awake, because we do not know the time or the place when God will come. "The day of the Lord will come like a thief." "Watch therefore---for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning---lest he come suddenly and find you asleep." These words remind us to do our best and live a life pleasing to God. Our friend lived her life to the fullest, she never let it get her down...for long. She was a force of nature with a raspy voice, who made you feel cared for and had an exuberance that was infectious. Even if we were not ready, I think she might have been and I am sure she is looking down on us from a much better place...and eating a little chocolate.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a baby boy was born. One life taken and another given. A precious, innocent, beautiful little boy was born. His life is before him. There is so much happiness and love surrounding him. So, while the world is less one wonderful woman, it has a new little boy to make us all smile and give us hope.

Welcome to the world Sam!

Football, Food and Family

2011-11-23T08:21:00.001-06:00

So....before November ends....I need to write one last post. Looks like November has been a boring month on the blog but really I have just been paddling like a dog trying to keep my head above the water! I have not forgotten you, so here is one last post of a lot of life and living before we enter "the holidays".

We started our Thanksgiving tour on the Friday before Thanksgiving week with a trip to Notre Dame. We met Rachel, Matt and Daniel and Christopher in South Bend for a little Notre Dame football.

Daniel and Christopher, tailgating at the Notre Dame game, they are pros!

The Irish treated us with a win, just barely...and it did not snow...but it was a bit cool! We walked all over campus several times and were greeted by collegiate traditions everywhere. It was like being in a stereotypical college movie, I loved it! We heard the glee club sing outside one building, then we saw "the team" heading into the Basilica for their pre-game quiet time. We saw the band, lead by the Irish Guard, march through campus and then heard them perform on campus before the game.

The Irish Guard, "step aside, make way!"

It was a weekend that we had several brushes with celebrity too! The band Chicago played with the ND band on campus before the game and then again at half time. We saw a huge long line outside the bookstore and asked what everyone was waiting for and then saw the sign...the recently retired Regis Philbin was inside signing his book! That was as close as we go to Reeg though, we had a 31/2 year old and a 2 year old with us, even Regis is not worth waiting for with them!

Our brush with celebrity.....

Then at the game, right on the field in front of our seats they introduced Jon Bon Jovi!! (sorry, no Bon Jovi photo )

We said goodbye to Notre Dame and spent a day and a half in Chicago on our way to Madison. TJ was working and I was getting into the Christmas spirit on Michigan Ave. with the bustling crowds and the chilly wind in my face surrounded by festive decorations. The shopping was a bit unsuccessful but it was a nice walk.

On Monday, I picked up our LG and drove to Madison for the rest of the week. Our LG had some exciting news on the drive....she has a new job in New York City! A piece of exciting and terrifying news all at once. I can't wait to visit her in the the Big Apple!

The rest of the week was spent preparing for the Thanksgiving feast, keeping up with the grandsons and watching football. Pretty much a perfect week. See?

Did you say jump? Christopher at swimming lessons.

Daniel aka Mark Spitz at his swimming lessons. Yes, he can swim!

Pucker up and give me a kiss!

This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like when you have a fever....so sad....

Feeling better and getting a haircut!

It was haircuts all around, Christopher found it a little hard to sit still for his haircut though so Aunt Kelly helped distract him.

So now we are all back to our lives. Our visit up north was great fun hanging out with the grandsons and getting to see them in their real lives. I love just being there in their world. They are too cute, not that I am biased or anything. So, I am thankful for grandkids and the time we get to spend together!

Blessings and Curses

2011-11-10T08:59:00.000-06:00

I found this post in my archives and thought I'd finally share it with you. It is something I wrote after a sermon I heard. It obviously made an impression on me. Since we have Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I might focus on things I am thankful for in my next couple of posts. Original right? Then I found this and thought maybe it would be a good way to get into the right frame of mind to be thankful. I am thankful for all those who have blessed me in my life.

Have you blessed someone today or have you cursed someone today?

A blessing can be as simple as seeing someone and noticing them. By sincerely paying attention to someone we bless them. Take time to talk to someone... or even better to listen to someone, it is a blessing. You can be a blessing.   Blessings can be simple... notice someone, give them your time and your attention. Make someone else feel loved and important. When a parent takes the time to sit down with a child and read a book for the zillionth time instead of doing something else, it is a blessing. When you are busy doing "important" things and you stop and take the time to really listen to someone without distraction, it is a blessing. Blessings feed others.

Curses are not necessarily using those words....you know the ones....they look like this sometimes *#@!*. When a person pulls out in front of you and you yell at them, curses....    When we judge others without knowing them or what is in their heart, curses. When someone asks you to do something and you ignore them, curses. When you tell someone to shut up when you are watching the TV, instead of listening to them, might be a curse. When you think of yourself and your needs above all else .... curses. Gossip....curse. Selfish behavior to the detriment of others....curses. Curses eat away at our soul and at the souls of others, little by little.

Next time you have a chance to be a blessing or a curse, be a blessing.  Make someone's day, and you will be blessed....and they will be thankful.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night.....

2011-11-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

It is only 3:30 in the afternoon but it feels like it is 8:00 at night! Why is that you ask? Because it was a dark and stormy night that included vomit, poop, howling wind, things that go bump in the night, nightmares and one sick, lost dog. I can't make stuff like this up!

The first "real" cool front blew into town last night around midnight. The wind was blowing, the chimes outside were clanging and the temperatures were dropping. Around 2:30 in the morning I woke up to the sound of furniture being banged or moved. Of course, TJ is out of town... perfect. I bravely got out of bed and see my faithful dog is not in the room to protect me. She is under the dining room table, surrounded by poop and vomit! What is it about dogs that makes them get sick on the nicest rug in the house? Our entire house is tile or wood floors, could she just get sick on the tile or the wood? NO! I cleaned up the mess, sent the dog outside to finish her business, let her back in and we went back to bed, this time with the dog door open for any future "episodes".

I tossed and turned and tossed and turned while Sadie smacked and licked and smacked and licked , the wind chimes clanged and clanged and the wind howled and howled. Nobody was sleeping in our house between 3 and 4:30 which was the last time I saw on the clock before I woke up at 6:15.

When I woke up I looked for Sadie and any other "accidents" in the house. No accidents and.... no Sadie! I looked upstairs, downstairs, in every room, even under the dining room table. I went outside and looked and called and then I saw it... the open gate on the side of the house. The yard man came yesterday and must have left it open, argh! So, at 6:30 in the morning, in the dark and the cold (well cool) I walked the neighborhood calling Sadie, then I drove one of our favorite walk routes looking for her but had no luck.

So....I went and played golf in the tournament I was scheduled to play. I know....I am a horrible person, but what could I do? I did leave the gate open and the dog door open just in case she found her way home in the light of day. We froze on the golf course, 48 degrees, howling wind, everyone's ideal golf weather. On the 7th hole the vet called and some nice person found Sadie stuck under their fence by her collar and brought her to the vet listed on her dog tags.

this is the image that came into my head when they told me how they found her.....

The last 2 holes were my best of the round. Sadie is a bit worse for wear and still hacking and spazzing out so she definitely got into something. Tonight she will be sleeping behind a gate....on a tile floor....far away from any nice rugs...with the dog door open and the gates securely locked and I will sleep! I figure bedtime might come early for both of us tonight. I took those damn chimes down too, I am serious about my sleep tonight!

this is what we are doing now....if only I had some camomile tea

A Run Down Memory Lane

2011-10-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

I took a run this past weekend on a well worn path from my past. It brought back lots of memories and was just as nice as I remember it being. If you are a walker or a runner you probably have your favorite routes. I am a creature of habit when it comes to my exercise routines. I map out a path of about 3 or 4 miles and have shortcuts for those "easy" days and long cuts for the "challenge" days. I usually have two or three different routes from my house, wherever that house happens to be. I have them here in Sugar Land, I had other paths when we lived here last time, I had my routes in Toronto and I had them in Columbus, Ga when we lived there. They all hold a special place in my heart because I do a lot of thinking when I run or walk, so it isn't just about the exercise.

This past weekend we were back in Columbus, Georgia. I found myself drawn to take a run almost as soon as we got into town. The beautiful fall weather and travelling for 7 or 8 hours might have had something to do with my need to get some exercise! I got my iPod and drove to one of my all time favorite places to run, Cooper Creek Park. We used to live a block from this park and I spent many hours walking and running the paths around that park. I had happy runs, sad runs, cold runs, hot runs, easy runs, challenging runs, wet runs, runs I wish would never end and ones I could not get through fast enough (or slow enough in my case). I watched my kids run cross country races on those paths. Wow, it was a very nostalgic trip around the park for me, I must be getting old! I also had a personal challenge to see if I could make it all the way around the park without stopping, like I used to when I was younger and thinner.....I made it! Won't say it was easy, but it was not as hard as it could have been. I cued up one of my old running mixes on the iPod and had an excellent run down memory lane!

Did I mention the beautiful fall weather?

We visited with old friends and picked up like it was last week instead of a year or two ago when we last saw them. When you live in one place for 11 or 12 years and raise four children in a small close knit community, you make a lot of friends... close friends. Thank goodness we still get to visit them every now and then. And thank goodness they keep welcoming us back!

Indulge me one more paragraph....

We went to mass at our old church this weekend too. As I knelt and sat, listened, sang and prayed, I found myself thinking of all the masses we attended in that church. Twelve years of Sunday masses, countless school masses, the occasional daily mass, 3 graduations and baccalaureates, four 8th grade graduations, 4 Confirmations, two First Communions and First Reconciliations, plus weddings and funerals for friends, it boggles the mind! That is a lot of praying and thinking in one place! I know there are a lot of people who have gone to the same church for almost their entire lives, do they appreciate what they have? What a special place that church has in our lives, it saw us through good times and bad. It was very cool to just sit and think about all of the praises and problems we handed over to God at that church during our time in Columbus. Amen!

We were more than happy to visit!

Everybody Is Doing The Houston Swat

2011-10-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

Today in my LEM class most of my students looked like they were doing some sort of weird pantomime. They were swatting the air around them, they were swatting themselves and even slapping the people sitting next to them. Yesterday, when TJ and I took Sadie for a walk TJ was doing the same pantomime and eventually ended up running home, leaving me to fend for myself. Today on the front page of the newspaper it was confirmed. We are in the midst of a mosquito epidemic! Just when it got nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the fall temperatures and maybe have dinner and drinks on the patio....we have been accosted by swarms of mosquitoes who are also enjoying the weather and eating out.

As you know or may have read here, we are in a drought. The good thing about that drought was there was no water for mosquitoes to breed and we have had a relatively bite free summer. Well....that 4 inches of rain we had (2 weeks ago!) was a good news/bad news situation. The good news was we needed the rain desperately and every growing thing is doing the happy drinking dance, finally! The bad news was it was just enough water to breed a wicked batch of swamp mosquitoes, who have been just waiting for that water to come to life and torture everyone in Houston!

So, to all my northern readers....send cold air! It is the only thing that will make this epidemic end! We want to play outside! Smack! Ouch! How do you like my new cologne? Deep Woods Off.... don't leave home without it!

Food For Thought

2011-10-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you already know that we are not home very often. Put it on the calendar, we (yes, that even means TJ) have been home for two weeks in a row! Whoo hoo! I realized this in the grocery store, of all places. Do you know how nice it was to be able to buy food and know that we would be home long enough to cook and eat it?

When I am "away" in Nova Scotia, I am actually in one place for about 3 months. We don't really go anywhere else when we are there. There is no kenneling the dog, no stopping the mail or the paper and no booking flights and rental cars and a lot of cooking and eating at home. I get to buy food at Costco plus we have a giant garden and ample opportunities to cook and serve all that food. When we are home in Houston, we really aren't "at home" that much. My refrigerator is proof. It becomes one giant science project. I go to the grocery store with good intentions of buying fresh produce and baked goods with plans to cook healthy meals at home. I end up cooking about one out of four of those well intended meals every week. Something always comes up! There is the occasional business dinner or TJ goes away on a business trip (and I eat popcorn for dinner) or I go out with friends or we end up playing golf and staying at the golf club for dinner (after all, who has the energy to cook after playing golf? ....that's my story and I'm sticking to it, don't say a word!) . Such is the life of an"empty nester". Whatever the situation, those well intended meals go uncooked, uneaten and fermenting.....

I am not complaining....as a matter of fact for the first 30 years of our 33 year marriage I would have gladly not cooked a meal every night. I would have been happy if we could afford to eat out once every month much less every week. Ah, those were the days....we had four children to feed every night so I have done more than my share of meal preparation over the years. I still find myself unable to cook for only two people, I learned to cook for six, it's hard to scale back. This often results in a lot of leftovers....and a few science projects in the fridge. This week it resulted in some delicious leftovers, that we actually finished! Looks like I need to go to the grocery store....again! Sometimes it is just fun to cook and sometimes it is fun to make reservations... no matter what is sitting in the fridge!

The Wedding, the Third and Final Chapter

2011-10-15T17:44:00.001-05:00

Say "hello" to Michael and Jehnna Mahoney

This might come as a surprise, but our family loves a good party. After the wedding everyone headed to the reception in great anticipation of eating, drinking and dancing! We were not disappointed. The wedding party arrived in more style than the rest of us.

The reception was held on a rooftop patio at an Italian Trattoria. We enjoyed the outdoors while we were somewhat sheltered and able to enjoy the indoors. It was a lovely evening. There were a few times when the lovely breeze became a swirling wind and started taking out centerpieces one by one but that was only a minor inconvenience. The crowd quickly rearranged the centerpieces at the bar and made a lovely display, safe from the wind.

The bride and groom made their grand entrance and went right into their first dance to Ray LaMontagne's You Are The Best Thing.

They dance well together!

Then Michael and Jehnna danced with their parents, there might have been a few tears involved but I'm not talking. After the initial dancing, there were a few toasts and dinner was served. Then the dancing started! Men, women and children hit the dance floor and we did not stop until they made the DJ shut it down and they started picking up the tables and chairs. A good time was had by all.

Two little ones who had a particularly good time were the flower girl and our grandson (the reluctant ring bearer). There were instant cameras set out on the tables for people to snap candid pictures and Daniel found one and he and Camille had their own private photo shoot! It was priceless to watch.

Vogue!

Crank up some music and enjoy the rest of the pictures, I suggest some Motown and then throw in The Mull River Shuffle just to get things really going! You will feel just like you were there!

The old man and the bride getting down...

Michael and his sisters

the kids getting into the action!

Thanks everyone for sending your pictures.....I must admit I did not take all the pictures for the wedding blog posts....I stole some of them from my family, isn't that what family is for?

The Wedding- Part 2

2011-10-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

The wedding day started at 5:30 for some of us.... namely Daniel, Christopher and their parents. Luckily their parents took them out for a ride to the mountains so the rest of the house could get a little sleep. Thanks Mom and Dad! The plan for the day was to meet the some of the family at Chatauqua Park and go for a hike. It was a beautiful day! We all sort of met at the mountain and hiked...some to the top, some half way and some just looked at the mountain and saved their feet for dancing later at the reception. Some people are smarter than others. Michael and his best man, Justin, came and hiked with TJ, it was a male bonding experience that lasted until lunch time and well into the afternoon. A perfect way to spend the time before your wedding.

Let's go up there!

Grampy and Mark and Daniel (on Super Mark's back) hiking up the mountain

"No thank you Grampy, I don't want to walk, I like it up here!"

Then we headed home and ate lunch, the wedding is not until 4:30!

While we tried to get Daniel and Christopher down for a nap, TJ spent some time with Michael and Justin, doing man stuff like watching football, eating and drinking beer. The bride and her bridesmaids spent their day getting beautiful and making bouquets and bouteniers and centerpieces.

Beautiful Kelly, making a bouquet.....or a centerpiece!

The groom and his parents, pre-wedding

Before we went to the park for the wedding we stopped by to pick up TJ and see Michael. Those 2 little boys, "who were supposed to take a nap before the wedding so they would be in a good mood and ready to party", waited until the car ride to Michael's to fall asleep. Perfect timing! There were two hostages in the far back seat of the van....and rather than wake the boys up at our stop the hostages found other ways to entertain themselves while we took pictures.

"Super Mark" and Matt find refreshments to drink while they listen to the game and the boys sleep...

Finally, we got to the park for the wedding. When you get married in a park, you get to set the stage. The chairs were delivered and the trees were there, we all chipped in and set up the chairs and decorated. It really looked great, I think it turned out just the way they wanted. It was such a relaxed and laid back atmosphere, we all got to visit and enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather while we waited for the big moment. There are so many things to share and so many pictures but I fear I will lose the crowd if I share too much.

It was a beautiful wedding! It was true to the couple. Michael and Jehnna love the outdoors, they love their family and most of all they love each other. It was perfect for them and it was well done.

Mom and son

I think he sees the bride....and it takes his breath away.

Here comes the bride!

The vows.....

The rings and the prayers

You may kiss the bride!

Michael and Jehnna Mahoney!

Love!

The wedding party

And then there was the reception.....Part 3! Another day!

The Wedding- Part 1

2011-10-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

Boulder....a great place to get married.....or go to a wedding!

the ceremony in the distance....but we will get to that later!

There is just too much to cover in just one post so I'll start with the pre-wedding events and then save an entire post for the actual wedding! Two posts for the low, low price of one.

Some of us arrived in Beautiful Boulder on Thursday. (The bride got there at the beginning of the week, lucky girl!) We had work to do! Planning a wedding remotely takes a leap of faith... and the internet and maybe a phone. The leap of faith is the hardest part. I wanted to see where everything was going to take place and check out all of the venues. We rented a house one block from the reception venue and one block off Pearl St.. Who knew it would be such a stroke of genius to be in that location? Like I said, faith and the internet. The house was beautiful and a perfect fit for our needs. We only exceeded their capacity by 20 or 30 people, but don't let them know that! We were all very well behaved!

Like I said, Thursday was spent taking care of business! We waited with great anticipation for the guests to begin arriving. TJ had a major weather delay on his flight over because of rain in Houston! Go figure! No rain in 5 months and then it rains when TJ's flight is scheduled to leave town, of course. He finally made it to Boulder along with Rachel, Matt and the grandsons. The house was full and things were falling into place.

The grandsons were part of the house party. Did I ever mention that they wake up entirely too early for me? Well, 5:30 is still too early to be awake for me, but not for them....so their parents had to do their best to entertain the boys in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. When the hour was a little more humane, we took the boys out on Pearl St. for a little outside play time, it was a great idea. Climbing on boulders in Boulder is a lot of fun!

I love waking up at 5:30!

Friday was shower/brunch day and rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Michael's sisters had a bridal luncheon/shower for Jehnna. It was at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, a beautiful place!

Kelly in front of the tea house

Our table is ready!

I think she likes it!

After the luncheon (why did we eat so much?) there was just enough time to go home, visit with some new arrivals and get ready for the rehearsal. You know, the part where you practice getting married! We went to the park and scoped out the best location for the ceremony and practiced the wedding. This is when everyone gets a little teary and realizes this-is-happening.... Michael and Jehnna are getting married. We all laugh it off and pretend not to be near tears, but everyone knows better, we are all a little choked up. Weddings just do that to people.

Repeat after me....."I do"

Take Jehnna's hand and cradle it.....and repeat after me!

After all that practicing it was time for a drink! And it was time to eat....again! One of the best decisions of the weekend was to hire a chef to come to the house and cook dinner for everyone. Having the dinner at the house provided a casual atmosphere and an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other. Katie, the chef, was awesome! Can she just come live with me? Being able to mingle with everyone and not worry about preparing or serving a meal was priceless.

Katie the chef and her trusty assistant

There was more than enough food and it was all delicious. The rehearsal dinner was small, about 22 people which was about as many as we could comfortably seat in the house. After dinner we opened the house to anyone who wanted to come over. Well, not anyone...just the people invited to the wedding! We have our limits! A good time was had by all and a festive mood was in the air.

The porch was a great place to hang out!

The house was also a good place to hang out!

The head table, we actually got chairs!

There was toasting by Michael's youngest sister....and others! Cheers!

All 7 Mahoney siblings were there....this is the best picture I could get of them together that night...
getting Mahoneys to be still and all look in one direction is kind of like hearding cats, see?

And their devoted spouses! Who obviously know how to have fun!

All 7 siblings and their spouses get together about as often as we elect a new president so these pictures are historic! Now, for a minute, imagine being Jehnna marrying into this! This is only one side of the family... there are 5 siblings on my side of the family. We said they had a small wedding but really, how can it be small when you invite just family? There is nothing small about our families.

After the dinner was finished, the toasts were given and the family pictues were taken, we all called it a night! It was a great party and the BIG DAY was finally one sleep away!

A Little Louisiana in Texas

2011-09-28T22:36:00.001-05:00

I have not given my "home" state of Louisiana much air time here on the blog....sorry. Tonight was a little reminder to me about where I "come from". Tonight was a lot of Louisiana!
TJ and I went out to dinner, it is the night before we fly to Boulder for our son's wedding, so I was not cooking! We chose to eat at Rouxpour, a Cajun restaurant here in Sugar Land, Texas. The food is actually quite authentic, whoo hoo! I opted for the grilled tilapia and vegetables though (boring)....I have to fit into that mother of the groom dress this weekend! I did had some spinach Madeline (not exactly on the mother-of-the-groom-fit-into-the-dress perscribed diet) that rivaled my own, that's good cher! We were in a celebratory mood so we had a couple of drinks too. The TV's were tuned into sports, what else? Our conversation veered to sports and we were overheard by another patron who chimed in..... "Geaux Tigers"! One thing lead to another and soon we were in a deep conversation about LSU sports, college athletes and whether LSU should be #1 this early in the season or not. We think NOT, ìt`s too early...let us sneak up later in the season. The fellow we were talking to, or more accurately was talking to us, was from New Orleans, had played college football and had the biggest smile in the room. He was exuberant! He was happy to be talking to other Louisianians (we can relate)! He shared his football stories with us and we shared our enthusiasm for LSU sports with him. It was a match made in heaven. The conversation ended with TJ telling our new friend he should go into sales and there were smiles all around the table. Louisiana people are so friendly!
We head to Boulder at dark thirty in the morning for our son's wedding. It will be a Rocky Mountain High! I hope everyone else has a fantastic weekend.....we will, stay tuned for stories and pictures.

Back to "Normal"

2011-09-24T13:51:00.002-05:00

Life is back to "normal". Don't you just love September? As great as the summer was, it is nice to get back to a familiar routine. Part of that routine for me is my Learn English Ministry volunteer job. Last year I taught level 2 classes. To be in level 2 you must have a basic command of the English language. Which was good for me since I speak no Spanish and most of the student's native language is Spanish. We were able to communicate between their English and my minimal Spanish. Well....."the powers that be" decided to put me in level 1 this year. What??? This is a bit of a challenge, I have some people who speak NO English. Yikes! There are a few blank faces staring back at me now. Just to make things a bit more challenging, since it is the beginning of the school year, the classes are very well attended, it is free! As in any classroom there are several levels of ability from the students who speak NO English to the ones I feel are getting close to moving up to level 2. This helps a bit, the more advanced students can help translate to the ones who are just beginning. It is amazing how fast 90 minutes can go by with a full class of eager learners! I forgot just how much I enjoy this ministry. They are just so happy to be learning a new language, it is enough to make anyone's day!

Another part of the fall routine and being back "home" is reconnecting with our friends. Yesterday we reconnected with a couple who have a ranch not too far out of Houston. It was also the opening day of dove season, whoo hoo! You know I am all over that one! TJ managed to cram three different dove hunts into one day with three different groups of people. I almost said "men" but realized there were several women on the last dove hunt. The last hunt was at our friend's ranch. It was the first time I witnessed actual hunting. I try to avoid anything to do with guns, dead animals, heat, and the potential of running into a snake at any moment. This hunt was very civilized if I do say so myself. No, I did not hunt! My participation was limited to watching, taking pictures, eating, drinking and enjoying the breeze....all from the deck of the house, far away from any snakes. It was about as far away from London or France as one can get in two weeks!

TJ and Sadie had the time of their lives! Sadie being the ever faithful dog!

Sadie, doing her job and loving it!

The viewing deck!

After all the hunting was done we all sat on the deck and enjoyed a nice meal with the beautiful sunset behind us. I could not resist this beautiful picture. An iconic Texas shot!

Beautiful sunsets follow me wherever I go!

This morning when we were having our breakfast on the deck, the owner had just mowed the grass around his fruit trees that are fenced in to keep the deer and cows away from them. After he mowed, he apparently forgot to close the gate and about a half hour later this was the site.....

"YUM! This freshly mowed grass is the best thing we have eaten in weeks, maybe months!"

There were 3 cows inside the fenced in orchard just chowing down on the freshly mowed grass and the tender green weeds. (the orchard gets watered) Since we have been in a serious drought, they have not had grass this lush to eat in a while. The owner went inside the fence just to make sure they did not eat the treasured fruit trees and then gently herded them out, back into the crisp brown yard. "Drats!", they said. FYI, the longhorn is named Sirloin!

Speaking of the drought.....
While I was away for over 3 months, I had read about the drought in Houston and heard about it from family and friends but the severity of it slapped me in the face when I got home. This is a serious situation. The rain is just about the only thing anyone can talk about these days. They preach about it in church, they talk about it on the radio, it is on the front page of the newspaper and on the news on television. Remember this post? If you check out the last paragraph you will see the beginning of the drought, it is now September 24th and our rain total for the year is 11.9 inches, normal is 34.7 inches! We got 1 inch of rain so far this month and you would have thought it was manna from heaven. Add a month of over 100 degree days and you have brown crackly grass, dry lake beds, wild fires, water rationing, and trees that have turned brown and my never recover.

The "lake" in September....where is the water?

The same "lake" in April.....

They are not brown because it is fall, they are dying because they are thirsty!

So I leave you with hopes that it will rain buckets on us soon. I'm off to do one more of my favorite September activities....watch college football! Geaux Tigers!

Why are these two smiling?
Because they will be getting married in one week!

Stay tuned for pictures and stories!

There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home

2011-09-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

I kind of feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz after she woke up from that crazy dream only to find that she was happy just being home in Kansas. I'm not sure if after my summer away I have more courage, brains or heart...but I do have over 500 pictures and some great memories. When it is all said and done though, it sure is nice to be home for a while! Even though the the thermometer says 102 degrees and it still has not rained for months and I had to BUY lettuce at the grocery store instead of pick it out of the garden.... on the bright side, I have twice weekly garbage pick up, a garbage disposal (curb your enthusiasm!), air conditioning, my car, my regular Tuesday golf game, my book club, and a life. A life that has been somewhat neglected over the last few months....at least when Dorothy woke up she had only missed a day or two!

When I last left you I was lamenting the beauties of the shore and trying to hold on to that last bit of summer. It was not the perfect summer but it had some very special times and was my first to "stay on". I could definitely get used to "staying on". Last year, re-entry was postponed with a trip to New York. This year I managed to postpone real life another week by accompanying TJ on a business trip to the UK and Europe.

London Bridge is not falling down! It was quite lovely.

I sure hope there is enough paella for me to have some too! Covent Garden...food court?

This is the train station in Antwerp where I walked from end to end pulling my bag and looking for my platform, or at least the platform I thought I was supposed to catch my train at, with no luck. I started to feel like Harry Potter and expected to be sucked into the train to Hogwarts at any minute! I did eventually ask someone for directions and it turns out the train to Brussels is labeled.... Paris!? Duh!

Hogwarts....I mean Brussels. Where I walked approximately 20 miles and got to see a lot of beautiful buildings and gardens.

When TJ was finally finished with his work obligations we were lucky enough to go to France and stay at his sister's house. I know...can you believe she has a house in France?! It is in an ancient town near Dijon. If I thought being without TV at the shore was an adjustment, going to a remote French village with no TV, no clock, no phone and no internet was another thing altogether. This would be a perfect place for a quiet retreat. It took a bit to shift gears from London to remote ancient village in France! It was beautiful! We really enjoyed the surroundings and being transported to a different time.

A long way from the farmhouse....in time and space.

A place where you drive down the road and see things like this!

In addition to ancient castles, we also came across a horse parade. I guess these guys needed a drink at the cafe before the parade!

One way to make sure you do not miss the shore so much when you eventually get home is to go to a foreign country, live out of a suitcase for a week, have some gray gloomy weather, catch a miserable cold, spend a lot of time alone walking through large cities and find out that your French is only minorly passable as a means of communication. It puts everything in perspective!

Summer at the shore is over, everyone has gone back to their real lives, it is time to go "home". A place somewhere in between the laid back, fresh shore air place where everyone knows your name to the crowded, busy, urban city where you are anonymous to the quiet, remote, ancient village....."home" is somewhere that has a little part of each.

What is it About This Place?

2011-08-29T14:46:00.004-05:00

It's......
-hearing lawnmowers in the distance and the smell of freshly mowed grass
-screen doors slamming
-the wind blowing gently through the open windows
-the childhood memories of playing all day with your cousins on the beach or in the yard or in the cottage and providing those same memories for your children....and their children
-getting that feeling in the spring that soon you will be at the shore and starting to count the months/weeks/ and finally the days
-a sky so blue words cannot describe it and pictures cannot capture it
-seagulls, starfish, hermit crabs and occasionally jellyfish
-finding beach glass on the shore
-cottages that have been here for over 100 years
-that familiar landscape that never seems to change or get old
-the constantly changing tides and how life revolves around them
-some days so beautiful they take your breath away
-sunrises and sunsets with clouds aflame
-going places and always running into someone you know
-a rich history that will always be yours and it defines you
-feeling a part of something that very few can ever comprehend
-sunny warm days and crisp cool nights
-laying outside at night in a sleeping bag on the ground so you can look at the millions of stars in the clear sky and perhaps see a shooting star or two
-living among multiple generations...... generation after generation
-those last few days before you go home when all you want to do is absorb as much of this place as you can and hope it lasts until next summer when you return (it's never enough)
-having every summer be the same... and different at the same time

It's all of this and so much more, that is why we keep coming back!
Until next year.....a few more pictures....

June, we are all so happy to be here! Especially Sadie!

Even the stormy days are beautiful!

It's building a tub at low tide and waiting for it to fill up when the tide comes in!

It's showing your grandsons how to love gardening!

It's soup night with these great people!

It's having a rocky beach year and someone who builds us a path to the water!

It's days that take your breath away....

and nights that do the same!

The "Scotia Woman" Response

2011-08-24T11:13:00.001-05:00

After this post my friends/relatives showed up to dinner at the farmhouse last night dressed like this.......

In full Scotia Woman regalia, complete with their own artwork, hair put up using clothespins, wearing no make-up, carrying home baked dessert along with Scotsburn ice cream and donning the classic yellow slicker and rubber boots!

-Scotia Women have a great sense of humor!

You mean people really read this stuff??!!

Thanks girls!!!!

How to be a True "Scotia Woman"

2011-08-22T12:39:00.001-05:00

My sisters and I have an ongoing conversation about "Scotia Woman". We have spent many summers in Nova Scotia and since we were raised in the South there have been many qualities we have observed over the years as Scotia Woman characteristics. These characteristics are uniquely different from the typical Southern Belle (even though we really aren't typical Southern Belles) lifestyle and so they stood out to us over the years. After our many summers here, we have adopted some of the behaviors and can only hope that some day we too can be true Scotia Women! You may be a Scotia Woman yourself or know a Scotia Woman or even have Scotia Woman days, it's all good! Just in case you ever aspire to Scotia Womanhood, here are a few defining characteristics.

-Scotia Women don't wear make-up on a daily basis. Who has the time and anyway, who needs it? Sunscreen and bug spray however are applied frequently.

-Scotia Women have no problem with the weather. Rain, wind, sun, it's all the same, don't let it keep you inside!

It's a lovely day for strawberry picking!

Scotia Woman trainee picking berries!

-Scotia Women always have the right clothing for the conditions.

Almost perfect attire for rainy day berry picking, or just taking a long walk.

There are a couple vital items that are missing from this photo.....

-Scotia Women own at least one pair of rubber boots and the classic yellow slicker!

or a whole family of rubber boots!

For day or night wear!

Some Scotia women have been known to get up in the wee hours of the morning, throw on their boots and slicker in the middle of a blowing rain storm and go down to the beach to check on all the boats on the shore to make sure they have not floated off to sea.

-Scotia Women are very aware of the weather conditions and are always willing to help a neighbor in need.

-Scotia Women hang their clothes on a clothesline to dry. That's what sunny days are for! Clothes pegging is a dying art!

-Scotia Women like to be outdoors, for chores and recreation.

work and play

Perfect day for a Scotia Woman swim!

-Scotia Women are the do it yourself types. Whether it be organic gardening, canning, or baking bread! It all tastes so much better!
They can turn this-

Hand picked at the U-Pick

Into this:

Delicious strawberry jam!

-Scotia Women are also crafty.....some are hookers (of the rug hooking variety), some paint, some quilt or knit. I think this is due to the fact that winters are very long up here and the need to entertain yourself is high. Maybe they are just more talented and creative than most.

-Scotia Women are not wimps! I repeat, Scotia Women are not wimps!

-A Scotia Woman golfer is willing to play in the best and worst conditions at almost any time of day.

I've crossed over! Dew kicking golf.....check!

My sisters and I, along with our daughters (some who have been prominently featured in this post) have spent years trying to achieve true Scotia Womanhood. It is not something easily achieved by girls raised in the South aka GRITS. We like to dress in lightweight colorful clothes and wear makeup. We are used to living in the air conditioning and we buy our jam at the store. If we wear rubber boots they usually have Burberry plaid or some other equally trendy pattern on them. We are not used to braving the elements on a daily basis, the most challenging elements we face are heat and humidity and their hair frizzing ability. We only play golf when the weather is nice because you know if it isn't nice today it will be soon and that goes for all 12 months of the year. And if we hung our clothes out to dry they would end up stiff as a board and have a nice exfoliating quality when we wore them.

Spending 3 months living in a rural farmhouse has it's way of turning this southern girl into a Scotia Woman. Well, at least for the summer! Cheers to all the real Scotia Women!

Two Months, No Television....I feel smarter already!

2011-08-16T10:09:00.000-05:00

It's probably just me, but I have not watched any television in over 2 months and I feel smarter already! I am sure my vocabulary is improving. I just know I've added a few IQ points in the last two months! Don't get me wrong, I love watching TV. I spend many hours watching TV when I am home, in Houston (or wherever I happen to be living). When I am at the shore, I don't watch television. Why? Because I don't have a TV. Well, I have a TV, but I can't get any stations because I don't have satellite or cable. I do have a DVD player, and it has been used twice, by me, since I got here. It did see daily action when the grandsons were here last week! It was the only time they sat still every day, ahhhh.

How do you get a 31/2 year old and a nineteen month old to sit still for more than 5 minutes? Put in that Thomas the Train dvd!

What do I do instead of watching television when I'm up here? The short list is....read, watch the sunset, talk to my family, sit outside and visit with people, have dinner parties, play games and cards, think in complete sentences, talk some more, read email, think about things to blog about, and visit some more with everyone up here.

A few of us, not watching television, just waiting for the sunset!

Since this has been the longest amount of time I've spent here at the shore it will also be the longest period of time I've gone without watching television. I should be a genius by now......haha! I have friends who give up TV for Lent, can I just count this as my Lenten sacrifice? Probably not, because it hasn't even been a sacrifice. I am always shocked when I go home and turn on a television after my hiatus. When I watch it every day I become numb to the bombarding commercials and the amount of violence on TV. It hits me directly when I get home and try to watch something. Sadly, I become numb again until next year and my next TV vacation. If only I had all the great people from the shore and those beautiful sunsets at home, I might never watch TV again.....

Just don't take my computer and internet away!

Bathing Suits and Rubber Rain Boots

2011-08-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a summer of many seasons. Unfortunately, none of them have been summer. Last year, our summer was one of the best in the history of the world, if you are talking about weather. This year....not so much. One day we are sitting on the beach in our bathing suits enjoying a bit of summer and the next day we are trudging around in slickers and rubber rain boots. It seems so foreign to read about record breaking heat and drought conditions in Texas while my yard here is a giant mud pit and it is below 65 degrees.

Evidence of an entire day of rain, and many trips in and out of the driveway in the truck.

When we get a rare taste of summer weather the beach is full of people walking on the sandbars, reading in their beach chairs, building sandcastles and soaking up the sun.

The sun is shining, let's go for a sail.

The sun is shining, let's have the sandcastle contest!

The sun is shining, let's have our cousin party!

Everything seems so much more alive when the sun is shining. Everyone is outside playing and visiting.....and smiling! We are all happy people! But we have had very few opportunities to be those happy people this summer. Many of our days have been gray or overcast and lately they have been rainy. In spite of the inclement weather, we still get out and about, that is why God invented slickers and rain boots! Can't let a little rain get in the way of our activities.

It's raining, let's put on our boots and go visit Gigi!

It's raining, maybe we should go get some ice cream!

It's a rainy day, maybe we should ride around in the neighbor's mule and see what we can see!

We can't just sit at home and complain about the weather, we just have to go out and make the best of what we have. With a little patience and some time, eventually the sun will come out again and all will be right in the world. I do feel bad for the people who are only here for a short while. I have been here since May and a week or two....or three of rain don't mean my time here is a bust. If you are only here for a week or ten days and more than half of them are wet and rainy, your vacation might be ruined. There is always ice cream and playing games with your family though, so put on that slicker and those boots and go jump in the puddles!

Small Town Living

2011-08-04T09:05:00.000-05:00

Only in a small town can you go to the bank and find this......

"I'd like to make a deposit"

Things like this happen to me when I go into town to run my weekly errands. Town is a small Canadian town of about ten thousand people, who apparently all know each other and enjoy visiting with bank tellers while the line-up continues to build behind them. I went to the bank on Tuesday, big mistake because Monday was a holiday which made Tuesday banking day. My sister and I walked in and there was a man with Bouvier on a leash waiting in line. I think Bouvier is the town dog because every person who came into the bank knew him and went up to chat with his owner and pet the dog. OK, that's cool, the dog was well behaved, I'm a dog person so it was interesting to watch.

As the many people ahead of us continued to make their transactions and then commence to talk to the 2 tellers about their holiday weekend and what they did and who they did it with and what they ate and what time they went to bed, Bouvier was busy greeting the ever growing line of customers.

Finally it was Bouvier's turn at the teller. Owner walks up to the window, teller says hello and turns around and gets dog treats! for Bouvier and proceeds to hold the treats high up in the air while the dog jumps up for the treats. When a 120 lb. dog jumps up he is about 6 feet tall and makes quite the picture, but alas I did not have my camera! The owner makes his transaction and as we get nearer and nearer to our turn with the teller, after only 20 minutes in line, we overhear her asking the owner where he is going on his trip to the States, who is going, what they will be doing....can you see my foot tapping at this point? Deep breath......you are on vacation, what's the big hurry, relax.....tap, tap, tap.....

Finally, our turn came with the teller! Unfortunately, she did not have any people treats for me but did ask where we had a cottage, how long we are here for...yadda, yadda, yadda!

In other small town observations, there was a girl driving a small tractor/souped up riding lawn mower, down the sidewalk! Yes, down the sidewalk, not the street! No one seemed the least bit concerned.

A few things that would never happen in Houston!

Sunset Storm

2011-07-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

This was the scene tonight at 8:30. The day had been sunny and warm and everyone sat on the beach, for what seemed like the first time all summer! Then, after dinner, the wind started blowing so hard the trees were doing backbends. On one side of the house the sky was still blue and on the other side it was black and threatening.

There were even white caps, we don't get waves very often!

As the storm continued to blow and move quickly across the sky, I noticed a little pink glimmer on the horizon.....

The sun managed to peek out from under the clouds, just in time to put on it's evening show!

I stood outside, risking life and limb in the blowing wind to take these sunset storm pictures! I had to brace myself against the house just to avoid being blown over! It was truly a great show! So, here is one of my favorite things about summer in ten or less pictures!

Notice the haze in the sky! It was eerie!

Going down and getting prettier

Gotta have clouds for a great sunset!

Now we are talking! Still getting better! Wind still blowing too!

The last sliver of the sun.

The last sliver without the zoom.

The wind has stopped blowing and the sun has set and it did not even rain! That was super cool!

What is Your Favorite Thing About Summer? Comment-a-thon

2011-07-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

Things on the blog are picking up these days, if the number of followers is any indication. So, in order to get to know you a little more, and to take the easy way out of posting (because I am sooo busy doing nothing all day), I decided to get some reader input. You all know what my favorite thing about summer is.....

Amherst Shore, Nova Scotia! Sandbars, beaches, farmhouse and family!

I could go on forever, and sometimes I do, about how much I love coming up here for the summer. In order to give the blog a little dimension, I want to hear from you! What is your favorite thing about summer?

I went first, now it's your turn!

P.S. I did not even notice that the link I attached was posted exactly one year ago to the date until I reread the post and went to the link. What a coincidence! Cue up the alien space invader music....

Wow, I've Been Here That Long????

2011-07-11T21:24:00.188-05:00

Things have been picking up a bit at the shore lately! The calm, quiet, gray, dreary days of June have slipped away and now July is here and as I look at my countdown, or is it a count up, I find I've been here over one month and 2 weeks. The time does fly up here! I am finding it more and more challenging to sit down and compose complete sentences and post beautiful pictures with interesting storylines. How can that be? With so much material to choose from! Let me explain.

July 1, aka Canada Day, came and went. The 4th of July came and went, and so did Will and Kate. You all know this because you have read the latest post! As promised, my friend/ cousin/ field reporter/ provided some awesome Will and Kate pictures.

I just love this one!

Suddenly the population at the shore went from 6 to 56, in about a day! I am not exaggerating here. There are all sorts of people (aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, visitors, & strangers) arriving daily. When new people arrive we must welcome them. There are the usual, "how was your winter? how are the kids? don't you love the weather?" conversations along with the more probing, "how long are you here for? wow, you look great! Isn't it a beautiful day?" conversations to have with the new arrivals and that has kept me very busy lately. I know, it`s work, work, work! It only gets busier as the month goes on so I really need to carve out some time to sit and write, in complete sentences, with beautiful pictures because you really deserve a quality product. The pictures should not be too difficult, especially when the sunsets end up looking like this!

They just keep getting better and better. I am such a sunset junkie!

This summer I`ve found it a bit amusing when I take pictures of people. Many of my readers are friends, hello friends, and now they are starting to think /be very afraid, that when I take a picture of them it just might end up on "the blog". I am trying my best not to incriminate any of my friends/readers. I have joked that each of them will be asked to sign a release when I take their picture. Still, I'm trying my best to keep everyone anonymous, unless you happen to be one of my grandchildren or children or my husband... and then you are fair game!

On to reasons time flies up here. A few examples....in one or more pictures.

Time flies when you make jam out of delicious fresh strawberries!

Time flies when you cook and eat lobster for dinner

Time flies when you walk on the sandbars with your husband

Time flies when the sun comes out at Spinnaker`s Landing in Prince Edward Island

Time flies when you see the Highland Storm show at the College of Piping on PEI

Time flies when you watch the tide go out in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

A couple of friends of ours have been visiting over the last few days and we have been enjoying Nova Scotia like we were tourists! We spent a day in Halifax, enjoying theater, restaurants and the city life. We made a trip to Prince Edward Island and reveled in the beauty of the rolling hills, fields of green, blue waters and excellent entertainment. I must take a little break here to let you know how much I love bagpipes, they will be played at my funeral (I know, that is kind of morbid but I just love them)! We went to the College of Piping, yes there is such a place, and watched their summer show. It was a medley of drums, bagpipes, step dancing, fiddles and singing. We all loved it! I was channeling my distant Scotch heritage. Finally, today we headed down to Parrsboro, Nova Scotia to witness the tides in the Bay of Fundy. They are advertised to be one of the largest tides in the world. We really enjoyed the town, especially the seafood chowder we had for lunch while sitting outside across the street from the water. Can`t say too much about the joys of eating delicious food, outdoors, enjoying a beautiful view! We also watched the tide go out, and yes, it was remarkably quick. It has been very surprising that after all the years we have come up here that TJ has not been to many of these places. All it took was having a good friend of his come visit to get him out of the garden and onto the road! Thanks anonymous (you know who you are) friends! Now I can apply for that Nova Scotia tourism job!

A Royal Holiday Weekend

2011-07-06T21:49:00.003-05:00

My apologies everyone.....I did start this post on the 4th of July! It is now the 6th and I'm still working on it. Guess the holiday weekend lasted a little longer for me!

Today is July 4th, Independence Day in the United States. Happy 4th of July! I remember thinking how strange it was to spend the 4th of July in Canada when we lived here. First of all, Canada Day is July 1 and it is a big holiday weekend. So here I am, in Canada, and it is a holiday weekend, but it is not "my" holiday weekend....or is it? I attended both Canada Day festivities this weekend and 4th of July festivities, it was a very patriotic weekend....or 4 days!

The weekend was extra special this year! There were plenty of festivities to keep everyone busy, Canadian and American. There were parades and festivals and fireworks on Friday, Canada Day. There was no shopping....so I got to come straight home from golf that day and I was glad! Saturday I was lucky (gullible) enough to participate in a 10K Cross Border Challenge. We walked from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia on an absolutely perfect summer day. I would have liked to take pictures on the way but when you are walking 10K you just have to make a judgement call and I decided not to carry a camera! Sorry folks. It was a well run event and after 5K I was tired of walking and decided to run a bit and ended up running...and walking the rest of the race/event. I really enjoyed the festive Canada Day atmosphere along with the scenery. Maybe next year I will train and run a bit more...but then again, maybe not.

Sunday was crossover day. The Canada Day fever was waning and the 4th of July festivities were beginning. The day started with a golf scramble and ended with a party. The decorations were all red, white and blue. Today was the big day in more ways than one. As far as Canadians are concerned, today was just Monday and back to work. I did hear many references to 4th of July on CBC radio today and several programs were dedicated, in their own Canadian way, to their neighbors to the south. I went to a traditional BBQ, with hamburgers, potato salad, beans and fireworks for dessert!

Canada Day and the 4th of July did take a bit of a back seat this year to the Main Event!!! The Royal Couple.... Will and Kate, visited Canada and more specifically, Prince Edward Island, practically across the street/strait! Canadians everywhere are basking in the glow of their royal newlyweds. I must admit, I am just as taken with the Royal Couple, they are truly a beautiful couple. I had the option to go to PEI and witness their Royal Beautifulness but decided that sitting in the backseat between two car seats was not worth taking a few pictures so I sent my field reporters with strict instructions to get PICTURES! I had them all sign a release so I could use their photos on the blog! See?

Don't want to risk being accused of using material without permission!

My reporters did not disappoint me! Not only did they get a nice picture of the Royal Couple, they were interviewed by the BBC, CTV and NBC! Guess I should have taken that ride between the car seats after all! The Duchess even pointed at her head and told my friends/world famous interviewees/millinery experts that she liked their hats.

"I like your hats!"

If you want to view the interviews by the most excellent milliners you can see them here. The girls in the amazing hats are my friends/most excellent interviewees/millinery experts. How exciting, to be interviewed by not one, not two, but three major networks and to get a shout out from the Duchess herself! Yeah, should have taken the ride between the car seats!

P.S. I still have one reporter/friend/cousin who has a picture for me....but since she is also the one that the 2 car seats belong to, thus the two children also belong to, she has not had time to get the picture to me just yet. I promise to post it as soon as I get it. I know you will all love it!

Before and After

2011-06-27T19:36:00.002-05:00

This post was the result of the last week's projects. I was going to post a few pictures on Facebook with before and after shots of a few projects going on around here and then stopped myself and said, "Wait....this would make a good blog post! Why use it up on Facebook? The ~~thousands~~, ~~hundreds~~, tens of people who regularly read my blog deserve this more!" Sorry Facebook friends but you had to come here to experience the latest transformations around the farmhouse. I will probably post way too many pictures on FB soon enough and you will be able to see more than you ever wanted, but thanks for stopping by the blog!

You may have gathered that the weather around here has not been "ideal" during the month of June. If you did not know that, then let me be the first to inform you, it has been lousy! As for me, I have not minded... much, I am not in the 100+ degree Houston summer weather and that is awesome in my book! One thing about the dreary weather around here is that you must find ways to entertain yourself, or you will go crazy, or develop a serious drinking problem.

On with the projects!
The stairs.....

Oh, stop...they aren't that bad! Well, maybe they are! But they are coming out....some day.

After a few ~~days~~, ~~months~~, years of looking at these ugly stairs I decided, one dreary day, to do something. What the heck? I can't ruin them, right?! So I found some Flexrock paint/texture I used to cover up some ugly wallpaper in a bathroom one year and thought....hmmmm, maybe it would cover up ugly stairs too. Could not ruin them, right? You be the judge.

After! Good way to spend a day and a half! It worked!

My peonies have been teasing me all month! Those buds have been getting bigger, and Bigger and BIGGER, but no flowers....

Before.... almost there!

AFTER...Three peonies from the garden today!

We built a sun room this year, but we have not had much sun. I told our builder that next year I'm building.... a mudroom! Still, there has been the odd sunny day and when I sit in the sun room, this has been my view.

Before......view?

I thought, one dreary day, "I know someone who can do something about those bushes in the way of my view!" All it took was a phone call and a few days and my view has improved significantly! I must include a few pictures of the process though! Indulge me...

First you need an excavator!

Then you need someone who knows how to work an excavator. Not me!

After....much better!

There is only one thing that would make this post better. What's that you ask? It would be a picture of an amazing sunset, taken from my sun room with it's new view! If you insist.....

Through the screen window, it's going down....

AFTER, yes same camera, same sunset, amazing! Pink sky at night....sailor's (and I) delight!

You've Got Mail?!

2011-06-22T21:42:00.000-05:00

Yeah, the check is in the mail!

Canada Post workers along with Air Canada workers are/were (Air Canada settled) on strike up here. I think the sun has also decided to join them and go on strike as it has not made an appearance in a week! I guess the saying, "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds" has no meaning up here! Every day I pass my idle mailbox and wonder if there are cards and letters just sitting somewhere waiting to be delivered. I was very excited when I got my first personal mail up here this year! Now it looks like that one day delivery was a fluke. No mail for me....or anyone else in Canada until "they" settle the strike.

I cannot imagine the US Postal Service shutting down! (But I guess it could happen) I know the days of snail mail are closing but there is still a need for the postal service. You cannot "virtually" mail a package. There are many small businesses that depend on the postal service to provide a low cost means of sending their products. Even if you order something online, it still needs to be delivered and private couriers are not the most cost effective delivery option, although they do get the job done. But I want my birthday cards people! Get talking and let me get my mail before it is time for me to go home.

I've seen two picket lines so far, one at the Moncton airport, Air Canada workers and today at the post office in town. Don't see too many picket lines in Houston or Sugar Land, Texas. At first I thought the strikers in front of the post office was a group of friends meeting for lunch! oops! My bad!

This strike gives a whole new meaning to the words, "the check is in the mail". People who have never paid a bill online are now forced to get with the program and pay bills online. The crafty postal workers could just be striking their way right out of a job if they are not careful.

In other news.....be cause the fact that there is no mail being delivered in Canada is not enough news, it RAINED in Houston today and it was SUNNY all day here! Yes, the weather tide is turning and the sun has found Amherst Shore and the dried and cracked earth in Houston is finally getting rain. I think my little summer solstice party made all the difference. We dressed up in traditional dress and did our best sun dance and chanted for a sunny summer! Well, we did wear clothes and we talked about the weather, does that count? Regardless, the sun was shining today up here and the rain was falling in Houston, I think I need to have another party!

Clouds and Crafts

2011-06-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

If you read blogs regularly then you know there are about a trillion craft blogs out there. This is not one of them. So, if you are looking for that awesome craft blog to find great ideas for using recycled garbage to make beautiful and useful art, you won't find them here, sorry. If you are looking for a great way to enjoy three or four cloudy, dreary days with your daughter in a remote rural farmhouse then it is your lucky day! You have hit the big time!!!

Kelly was here for five days and six nights, it was much too short a time. We managed to fit in some of the classic Nova Scotia "must do" list in that short time though. We "must" walk on the sandbars with our dog. We "must" eat lobster. We "must" have at least one or two dreary, rainy days in which we find interesting ways to entertain ourselves. We "must" have beautiful days and amazing sunsets at which to marvel and vow to return again next year. DONE!

The arts and crafts part of this post started on one of those perfectly sunny, amazing, Nova Scotia days that we all love when we are here. Kelly wanted to make a mosaic. OK, no problem. First, find something on which to craft the mosaic. We had many old pieces of furntiture just jumping up and getting in line for their make-over. This end table, made out of a door, was the lucky winner.

Kelly sanding the winning table on one of "those" days!

After Kelly sanded the table she decided it needed to be painted to coordinate with the planned mosaic. So, she painted and she painted and she painted. It took several coats of paint to turn this brown door into the palate she wanted.

The formerly brown and old table is now white and navy.....

I got the most awesome job of breaking all the tiles into mosaic size pieces. We bought ceramic plates for the brighter colors because the hardware store in town did not have any tiles in the bright colors we wanted. I loved my job breaking the tiles into pieces, talk about a great way to work out any stress, smash, smash, smash! I did wear safety glasses so don't worry, my eyes are fine!

Kelly was in charge of all creative aspects. First she drew the picture to scale, then she layed the tiles on the drawing so she would know where everything belonged. Then, she put down the glue on the table, placed the tiles to make the design and waited......for the glue to dry. The next day was grout day.

Grouting is a messy job! Halfway there, hope this stuff comes off where we want and stays on where we want!

Kelly managed to do the entire job before she left. It came out really cute and will be perfect for our new sun porch. I am in charge of sealing the grout because you never know when someone might use this table at one of our wild parties and accidentally spill a beer, or a glass of milk....hahahaha! I am waiting the perscribed seven days before I seal the grout but I would say the formerly boring table has been transformed into a very Nova Scotia piece of art, signed and dated by none other than our LG!

A great way to spend some of "those" days and some cloudy days!

It's All About the Food, Isn't It?

2011-06-10T07:44:00.001-05:00

Yummy lobster roll in Freeport, ME

As I sit here eating my breakfast and start thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner tonight I am struck by the fact that life around here revolves around food! I just returned from a trip to the States to pick up my daughter and our dog and was treated to 3 days of eating out! This was a nice little break in the farmhouse life of no eating out! I did not have to think about what I was going to cook, or how I was going to cook it and I did not have to do dishes...the old fashioned way! It was a lovely break. I think we still started thinking about what we were going to eat for dinner while we were eating breakfast though! Yes, it is all about the food!

One day last week I was struck by how different meals are up here compared to home. When we sit down to eat, and often there are many of us at the table, we are not distracted by the TV being on or by the events that we have to rush off to after dinner or by people at the table texting and are seldom even interrupted by the phone ringing. Meals are also often a communal event. Since there are no restaurants around we take turns inviting each other over for dinner. It gives us an excuse to cook a great meal and in return we get a night off later in the week!

The conversations at the dinner table up here are far different than those back home. When was the last time you just lingered at your dinner table and chatted about.... current global events? Local issues such as when the bridge down the road, which has been under construction for over a year, will be finished? Whether the local organic farmers are going to make it and how we can support them? Your long lost relatives and where they are and how they were back in their day? When will the sun shine again? We have good conversations around our tables, without distraction most of the time. It is a lovely way to spend a couple of hours! Is it all about the food.....or is it about the meal?

How long before this can be on my dinner menu? Although I don't even know what it is, I'm just babysitting the garden.

As much as I enjoyed eating out for a few days, I am really looking forward to the days that I can just go outside to the garden, pick whatever is ripe and create a meal. This month will be a month of patience as we weed and watch the garden. The faces around the table will be an ever changing cast of characters and I anticipate the conversations will be as varied as the faces. The dinner table is one of life's simple pleasures and should be enjoyed, even if you do have to wash the dishes....the old fashioned way!

Happy Anniversary to Us

2011-06-04T08:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was TJ and my 33rd anniversary. We spent the entire day alone together. We did not go out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, we did not take a long walk barefoot on a white sandy beach or stroll the city streets in some far off country. We did walk 4 miles on a rural country road in the drizzle, not as romantic as it might sound. We were perfectly content to just hang out together at the farmhouse and do our fixing up and organizing. The sun did not shine all day, very much like our wedding day 33 years ago!

We were not in Italy like we were on our 30th anniversary.....

When I think back 33 years ago, we spent our first night in our very small, old, apartment before heading out on our honeymoon. You could fit four of that apartment in this farmhouse! We started out with not much more than a hope and a dream....some common sense, a good work ethic, an education, good families behind us, a sense of humor ( which has probably been one of the more useful tools in our marriage!) and love and respect for each other. We still have all of these things and so much more!

TJ and I never came up here to the shore before we got married. As a summer shore person for my entire life, I knew I could never marry someone who did not love it up here. A trip to Amherst Shore is one of the tests when considering marrying someone, if they don't like it here, they are out! But then again, who does not like it here? I guess there have been a few. Our first trip up here came at the end of our first year of marriage and I was pregnant with our first child. We were nuts (naive)! We flew to Boston from Baton Rouge, then got on a bus for the 18 hour (11 by car) ride through every small town and village between Boston and Amherst, Nova Scotia. I still swear we were delivering the mail because we stopped at every outpost on the way. My back was never the same after that ride for the rest of my pregnancy.

The best part of the trip was when we arrived in Amherst and TJ looked at me and asked how we were getting out to the shore. Oops, I forgot to make any arrangements to be picked up in town! My bad. This was in the dark ages before cell phones, or even telephones in cottages....what to do? I called the corner store by our cottage and asked it they could go and get my cousin and give them a message to call us back or just come to town and pick us up! The pony express! My cousin got the message and called us back and came out to town to pick us up! I have only found out recently what TJ was thinking during that long wait at the bus station in Amherst all those years ago. First would be...."my wife is an idiot!" second might be "What am I getting myself into?" and finally might be "I have entered a time warp!".

I was a bit nervous on that trip. It was my first time to come up here without my family, I was a married woman (yikes!) now and on my own. I was also wondering if TJ would love this place that was so important to me. Well.....he took to it like a duck takes to water, literally, because it rained 9 out of 11 days we were here! And he loved the place! If you can love this place in the rain you will really love it on those breezy, sunny, warm days. So yesterday when we had the same weather we had all those years ago, TJ was as happy as ever. He was doing the same thing he did that first rainy summer. He worked on an old house, this time he owns the old house instead of working on someone else's house. A lot has changed but a lot has stayed the same. I'm glad he loves it here as much as "I do".

It's Me Against the Dust

2011-05-31T21:21:00.000-05:00

screened in porch in the making.....future fun

One year I will arrive at the farmhouse, walk in, turn on the light, unpack my suitcase and be done with it.... but not this year. When you are renovating a house over years and years, every time you show up it is an adventure! I have begun to hate sheet rock dust. It's me against the dust and the dust is winning. To add to the sheet rock dust, this year I have the pleasure of being here for pollen season too! White dust mixed with yellow pollen, such a lovely touch! Go ahead write your name on any surface in the house, because you can! Who needs post-it notes? We have pollen and dust covered tables to write messages to each other!

I doth protest too much, it is great to be here! Today was as good as any mid summer day can get and it is only the end of May. I hope this is a sign of weeks to come. They say they have had tons of rain and it is a late spring so we need a little sunshine and warmth. Bring it on! I left a drought in Texas, maybe it followed me here. We don't need a drought either though, TJ has spent the last 2 days planting the garden and it needs water to produce the mass quantities of vegetables he is expecting. So mostly sunny and warm with a couple of days (or nights would be better) of rain each week would be perfect. I'm asking too much?

The lilacs are blooming and the sun in shining, it was a good day!

I continue to be amazed at my ability to fill the days while I am here. There seems to be an endless amount of work to be done every day. If we ever finish this place I won't be able to come here any more because I will have no idea how to fill my days, there will be nothing to get done! Good thing that time will never come! This place is a double edged sword. I love the renovating and fixing, painting and cleaning but I would also like a few days when I could look around and live in the finished product. Will it ever be finished? Probably not! Two steps forward and one step back.

Need dirt delivered? No problem!

I have been enjoying the small things these days. Life is so much simpler here. A sunny day and a hard day's work are all you need. We wake up, work or maybe play a little, all day....eat a great dinner, because dinner is always great when you are starving after a hard day's work, and when we go to bed we are totally exhausted! Exhausted in a way we do not know at home. This has got to be good for you....it just seems like it is the way life is supposed to be lived. The way people used to live before things got complicated. I really never saw myself as a "country girl". I love the creature comforts but life here is a rare and precious experience that is lost in most of our lives.

The Canadian part of the Chronicles is Here!

2011-05-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again. The annual migration to the north is upon me. I will be spending the summer in Nova Scotia.

As my days here wind down I find myself thinking about all the things I will miss when I am gone. Don't get me wrong, I like my life here and now! I have my routine and I like my routine. I love my French classes and Madame Tres Chic and I enjoy my golf games (surprisingly). I love my book club and my bunko group. These will be things I will miss and I wonder if things will be different when I return. If I leave it for a long time, can I just pick up where I left off? I hope so! I will miss my church and miss my sister and her family. I will miss going out to eat. There are not many restaurants at the shore and we hardly ever eat out while we are there. I will miss shopping! I love to shop! Oh... Canada has stores too? Awesome! Never mind.

I also find myself thinking about the material things I will miss. I am going to miss my car! We drive TJ's old Ford F150 truck at the shore and it is not quite the sweet ride that I enjoy down here. My back is bracing itself as I write just thinking about the bumpy roads in the man-truck. As I pack my clothes I sadly look at my closet and say goodbye to some of my favorites that just aren't making the cut. Can I really go 3 months with what I can pack in one....or two... suitcases? Remember, I will need warm clothes and cool clothes, that takes up a lot of suitcase real estate! I know that when I get there I will probably wear the same pair of yoga pants and the same fleece when it is cold and the same pair of shorts and a t-shirt or a bathing suit when it is warm so what am I worrying about? Bye bye clothes. Bye, bye shoes. I will also miss my dishwasher! No DW at the shore.....and airconditioning. On those hot muggy days, AC would be nice. My king size bed! Well, you get the picture.

Of course, I will not be missing the heat and the humidity. Even though we get our share of humidity in Nova Scotia too. I will not miss the scorching days that are Houston in the summer.

There are many things that will fill my days and nights at the shore. I am not worried about being bored or anything while I am there. I love that place and this is something that I have looked forward to for most of my life. Spending the summer at the shore. I just hope the participation exceeds the anticipation!

And just in case you are thinking of coming by our house and taking all of our valuables while I am away, think again. I have hired armed guards to watch over my dryer lint collection and my 8 track tapes so step away from the door before the swarm of flying monkeys gets you! Seriously, TJ (aka armed guard) will be home and the neighbors (aka flying monkeys) are on high alert so go find your own dryer lint collection and 8 track tapes!

Stay tuned for the "real" Canadian Chronicles!

The End of An Era

2011-05-25T00:03:00.000-05:00

Our last child has finished school! My LG graduated from Saint Louis University last weekend and if you add it all up, starting with our oldest's first year of kindergarten and ending with the final graduation last weekend that makes 28 years of kids in school! I must say, we ended on a high note. We partied like it was 1999!

The happy, excited and beautiful graduate

We ended our schooling years on a high note with almost all of our family and all of LG's friends. The weekend was a test of our stamina! How many consecutive days can you wake up really early and stay up really late ( we are talking single digit A.M. hours here) and still look stunning, be social and stay awake for all of the commencement ceremonies you attend? We managed at least 2 out of 3 for both days.

I must say, I am going to miss school. It has been the best 28 or 44 years of my life, if you count the years I spent in school myself. What will we do next semester? No classes, no tuition bills, no exams....we might just enjoy it all!

LG and her SLU of friends

obligatory parent/graduate photo

She graduated and now she is escaping?

The weekend was a testament to LG and her SLU of friends. They are an exceptional group of people (but of course everyone says that right? But really they are!). Such a unique blend of kids from the academic to the musical to the creative to the technical. We were all treated to a slide show at the post commencement party for LG's group of friends. The slide show was put together by a few of the guys and it featured photos and videos of all of the group from the beginning of their years at SLU until graduation. The slide show made us all realize how close this group of kids has become over the last 4 years and that college is so much more than classes. It is sledding in the snow, costume parties, spring break trips taken together, boyfriends and girlfriends, service projects, laughter, tears, late nights and early mornings, music and dancing, sports events, being silly and being serious and thrown in to the mix are classes, studying and learning. I dare say they had the time of their lives. So it was an end of an era for all of them as well.

LG introducing one of the creators of the slide show

The weekend was amazing, the last 28 years were more amazing. It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. What's next?

It Was Like a Corona Commercial

2011-05-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

Just chillin' on the beach in the Cayman Islands

Does this not just cry Corona commercial? I never knew this place really existed!

Take a white sandy beach with crystal clear blue water, add 4 sisters and one good friend, top with abundant sunshine and nice breezes, provide a few really good laughs, insist on happy hour every day on the beach, eat some really good food, swim with the tropical fish, and add a little peace and quiet, mix well and what do you get? A sister week to remember! I am one of 4 lucky girls who have sisters who enjoy a good time together. We try to do this once a year and we are successful most years but other times life gets in the way. All the planets aligned this year and we had a great trip.

Our friend Karen came along and with her she brought party favors! She is so much fun and adds a lot to the trip!

Including cheezy coozies and visors specially made for us!

Here is Karen's special visor, notice it is black and ours were white! She continues to crack me up!

She also made her own cover-up with special artwork. Did I mention that my sisters all look like Barbie?

Yes, Karen and I were on a tropical island with Sporty Barbie, Suntan Barbie and Snorkel Barbie. A girl needs to have her self image fully intact to go to a tropical island with those 3 bikini clad Barbies! Karen and I survived by wearing our "I'm with the Barbies" (she brought an extra for me!) cover-ups! I think Karen will now be Crafty Barbie and I will be Bighair Barbie because this is what happens to my hair when left to it's own devices.....

Lots of hair + salt water + wind = Bighair Barbie

Other names we took on during the course of the trip were from Gilligan's Island. Gilligan, Skipper, Ginger, Mrs. Howell/Lovey and Mary Ann took a half day boat ride into the Caribbean. Now I am not a boat person.....I find that whenever you go on a boat you are at the boat lover's mercy and no amount of time on a boat is too much for a boat lover. 15 minutes is usually too long for me to be on a boat. It is not because of any seasickness issues, that is not the problem. I think the issue is being trapped on a small watercraft and not having any control over what will catch the boat lovers interest for the next hour or more. So the Barbies took the show on the road/water and went on our "3 hour tour" which turned into a "5 hour tour" because Snorkel Barbie and Crafty Barbie along with our most excellent boat driver/lover/owner/tour guide kept finding interesting things to do in the clear deep water. The first hour was a bit rough and I thought I might just have made a huge, colossal, monumental mistake in judgement by agreeing to go on this boat ride. Then he stopped the boat and put the anchor down, ahhhh. We all jumped in the water wearing our snorkel gear and proceeded to see some of the coolest tropical fish ever! It was like being in an aquarium.

Bye land, see you later...I hope!

The pirate flag should have tipped me off!

The next fun event was Stringray Island. We got to swim with the stingrays....if we wanted to. I did get in and touch the stingrays and experience it but then was relegated to passing out squid to the people in the water to feed to the stingrays. Snorkel Barbie is also apparently the Stingray Whisperer.

Nice stingray....shhh

We pretty much had to drag Crafty Barbie, Snorkel Barbie and our captain out of the water to get them to go back to land. Sporty Barbie and Suntan Barbie were about to commit mutiny unless they got back to shore....and fast! They have both been cured for any future boat rides should the opportunity ever arise again.

The rest of the trip was non-eventful unless you count eating at a restaurant with Suntan Barbie wearing a hot pink blinking sash that said Birthday Babe. Not that we do not already call attention to ourselves without blinking sashes!

As always, we had to do the Formation (so nicely featured on Crafty Barbie's coozies) again, we've still got it! We also invented a new Formation. Yeah, no attention drawn to us doing that! Ha! and I have go to hand it to Crafty Barbie for her perfect selection of beachwear for that event! Touche'.

Formation #2

Sporty Barbie wearing Crafty Barbie's beachwear!

This has gone on way too long so as your reward for reading this far I will now give you some beautiful pictures! Go get a Corona and enjoy the pictures!

the beginning of a beautiful sunset

The middle of a beautiful sunset

The end....of the sunset

Get that Corona!

A little wild life on the side of the road

Goodnight, moonrise at sunset.

Football and First Communion

2011-05-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

Football and First Communion....because they go together! We were in Baton Rouge this past weekend and attended my nephew, Luke's ( who shall be referred to as The Football Master from here on out) , First Communion. We had a great visit in Baton Rouge.

I always envied couples whose parents lived in separate cities. Why? Because when you visit either one you are not torn as to which house you will stay or who you will eat lunch with or who you will eat dinner with or how much time you spend with each. When we visit BR we are always torn between two families. We were there this weekend specifically for the First Communion and to see our California family members. But....this was Mother's Day weekend too! Needless to say, we did a LOT of visiting! Not complaining because it was fantastic to see so much family in one weekend but we have got to keep moving if we want to fit it all into one weekend! Luckily our two sisters are very accommodating and manage to host everyone at their houses to cut down on the traveling.

The First Communion was lovely. I just loved seeing all the kids in their white clothes all looking so full of anticipation and hope. We could all learn something from them. Wouldn't it be perfect if we had that same hope and excitement every time we received Communion? We should....but speaking for myself here...we don't. They were the perfect picture....just look for yourselves.

That is Luke/The Football Master in the front with the light blue jacket and white pants on between the two girls.

After the First Communion we all went to The Football Master's house for a crawfish boil! YUM! Check out this feast!

I LOVE Louisiana!

They slaved away in the heat to cook that feast!

Meanwhile, The Football Master, showed us his skills. All he wanted to do was play catch, you know football season is only 3 1/2 months away, gotta practice! The videos were shot with the camera sideways and since I am not a technical wizard, I can't figure out how to rotate it after downloading it so you will all have to turn your computers sideways to view the video. Go ahead.... I'll wait. Turn that computer on it's side..... and witness Luke, The Football Master in action!

The kid has a future as a receiver and his passing isn't too bad either! Maybe it was all the crawfish and then again maybe it was the First Communion. Great day!

Hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. We were very lucky to see both of our Mothers on Mother's Day and some other very special mothers in our family. Have a great week everyone!

Anticipation vs. Participation

2011-05-03T23:13:00.001-05:00

My mother used to tell us that anticipation is better than participation. This statement was usually in reference to premarital sex and was one of her ways to encourage us to....wait. I guess she figured our imaginations were much better in the sack than it was going to be in real life. Why ruin all those great fantasies with that awkward first time? Thanks Mom.

If you think about it though, how many big events in your life have you anticipated with great expectations? The first day of school, that first kiss, high school graduation, college, the first day at a new job, your wedding, the birth of your first child, your first grandchild, moving to a new place, visiting some exotic land, my golf game on Tuesdays? How many of these experiences created serious fluttering in your heart and kept you up at night before you actually lived them? How many of them actually lived up to your expectations? How many of them disappointed you? Some of them might have exceeded your wildest dreams! Those are rare and exquisite experiences that need to be treasured.

On the flip side, sometimes we anticipate with dread. Final exams, leaving someplace you have grown to love, breaking up with someone, going to the doctor (or is that just me?), any science class (just me again?), going to confession, surgery. These anticipations can also be greatly over exaggerated in our imaginations and turn out much better than we expected. Sometimes they are just as bad as we thought they would be and then sometimes, and hopefully seldom, they are worse than we thought. Such is life.

I am currently anticipating the month of May. There are so many things to look forward to. I am going to see family I haven't seen in a long time. I am going to travel to places I have never been to before, I will see my youngest child graduate from college and finally, I will be heading to the shore for what might be the longest stay I've ever had there. I anticipate these events with my usual positive spin....everything is going to be great! But am I setting myself up for disappointment? Will the real things live up to my expectations? Will anticipation be better than participation? The thing about anticipation is that it lasts for a long time and as far as participation goes, when it is over, it is over.

May Maddness

2011-05-01T22:04:00.001-05:00

Has anyone noticed that May is possibly the busiest month of the year? I seem to remember that every May was craziness when my children were younger. There were end of the year projects due, banquets to attend, final exams, and everyone tried to fit into May whatever they forgot or neglected during the rest of the school year. May was always "fully booked". I think that month might be June if you live in Canada. Life according to the school calendar. I figured that once I had no one in grade school, May would be just another month in the calendar. No such luck. I just got back from an.....awards banquet! Go figure! May is shaping up to be a month of madness.
I have counted the days I will be in Houston in May... 13. Less than half of the month will be spent elsewhere. Lucky me! Maybe. I might just be the most exhausted mother with no school projects under my belt during the month of May. Today was the ESL (English as a Second Language) banquet. I've crossed over from mother to teacher and still have/get to go to the end of the year banquet. It was a lovely and humbling experience, I am so proud of all of the people there. They are all taking positive action to improve themselves. That being said, I'm just glad French class is not having an end of the year party, graduation or banquet that I know of.

May 2011 will include an awards banquet, a First Communion, a graduation and a significant birthday celebration for someone very close to me. I probably have an end of the semester French project due that I have not been informed of yet too! Like always, the question is...how many things can you fit into the month of May? I guess we shall see....

In other breaking news...the month of April passed in Houston with .11 inches of rain (basically none). We are now 7 inches below average for the year. This may not seem significant for those of you who live in California or Arizona or New Mexico, but for Houston, a month with absolutely no rain is big news! Yes, it is dry out there. Dry does not mean not humid unfortunately. We have had plenty of humid days but no rain. It is getting to the point that when it does actually rain here there will be people dancing in the streets! Churches all around are praying for rain, the radio stations are telling people to pray for rain. Things are getting serious. Predictions are for rain tonight or tomorrow, at this point I will believe it when I see it. Good month for golf just glad I'm not a farmer. Let it rain! (you won't hear that from me very often)

A Tale of Two Brothers

2011-04-28T12:37:00.000-05:00

What do a "broken" arm, climbing, blue foods , family and Easter all have in common? Nothing really, except for this past weekend. That is about as good as I can do right now, I'm hoping that as I get going these will all come together and make sense.

I'll start at the beginning. The "broken" arm. It happened in yoga class of all places. One too many reverse planks or maybe it was the 2 minute reverse plank, but the once broken left forearm became useless with shooting pain from my wrist to my elbow.

Do not try this at home, could result in injury!

So much pain that I, of all people, went to not one but 2 doctors. It was not broken ( I did not think it was), just a strained tendon or something that rendered my left arm useless. A few medications for inflamation that have made me sleepless and puffy but in less pain were perscribed. No yoga for a bit, sad face, but getting better every day. One problem was that picking up grandkids was near impossible for the first few days and there was that one night I was reduced to a blithering mess because of the excruciating pain or the lack of sleep but other than that things are gradually improving. It did make playing with the grandsons a bit challenging though.

On to the important stuff! The grandsons!

Christopher is a climbing machine. He is a tiny, powerful climbing monkey! When he walks up to something his first reaction is to lift his leg and hurl himself up onto whatever is in front of him. I have evidence.....check this out.....

Christopher hanging out in the grocery cart

on the bench at the playground

hey mom! Do you think I can get on top of the car?

I really prefer playing on top of the table instead of next to it

He is possibly one of the cutest and best natured little boys around, not that I am biased or anything. If only I had his metabolism, I too could eat twice my weight in a day and remain tiny....or become tiny. It was great fun seeing the change from Christmas, he is talking and does just about anything his older brother does, which causes the older brother great distress at times. Welcome to sibling rivalry.

As for Daniel, he is quite the 3 year old boy! I think I remember the 3's being what the terrible 2's were advertised to be. That whole free will thing flares it's ugly head. Testing the boundries at every turn, I am convinced it is a sign of great intellegence! I love being with him and being able to do more and more every time we visit, he is sooo much fun, he just "gets it" and is never at a loss for enthusiasm. He is starting to understand things like the Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg hunt and we get to enjoy those childhood thrills all over again.

Daniel doing a great job of coloring those Easter eggs!

Daniel and Grampy planting Rachel's garden

Daniel taking the capital by storm, that same one that was the focus of the massive protests only a few weeks ago

The Wisconsin State capital building

Yes, you are in Wisconsin....cheese capital. At the Saturday morning Farmer's Market!

Farmer's Market is a Saturday morning tradition at the Lee house. Just love the flowers!

We were at the Farmer's Market when I discovered Daniel's love of blue foods. Are there any blue foods you ask? Aside from blueberries. Well, there is every child's favorite.... blue ice cream! Then there is blue popcorn. ICK! Daniel is in the process of toilet training and with that process comes a few rewards here and there for "performing". For his first reward he got an ice cream, blue of course. He is working on his second reward. We were buying some yummy popcorn at the Farmer's Market on Saturday and it was all we could do to convince Daniel that we were not going to buy the blue popcorn, please...don't make me buy the blue popcorn; carmel corn, cheese popcorn, herbed popcorn, anything but the blue raspberry popcorn. All he could talk about all day was the popcorn, specifically the blue popcorn. As a compromise and a little motivation, Daniel's next reward will be that delicious blue popcorn at the Farmer's market. The power of blue food coloring!

Sunday was Easter and we were all up bright and early for the great Easter egg hunt. The boys were ready to roll! They were good egg hunters. Christopher was at a distinct disadvantage from the beginning. His parents put him in yellow rubber boots that were at least a size too big for him and kept falling off him every other step. Find an egg, fall down, lose a boot, put the boot back on, pull yourself back up and stumble on to the next egg while brother Daniel charged ahead and found egg after egg. Christopher did not seem to mind the hardships and both boys had a great time.

And they are off....

there is one, cleverly hidden in the daffodils

This picture cracks me up! Look at how many eggs are in Daniel's basket and look at his face, then check out Christopher's basket and his face!
In his defense, Christopher decided to hide his eggs under the grass in his basket!

Finally, here are a few more moments from Easter Sunday.

Time to finger paint....in our church clothes....such a great idea!

Don't let these droopy eyes fool you, I am not tired, Daniel is painting and I am going to paint too!

He has a rake and I am going to get a rake too!

This special moment came at the end of the day. The boys were having dinner on the deck and Daniel proceeded to feed Christopher, and he let him. It was priceless!

Our weekend ended and everyone went back to their regular lives. TJ and I drove down to Chicago for our flight and had one last special treat. I love traveling with him, we always seem to find interesting places. We wanted to have a nice lunch in Chicago before our flight and searched around and found this delightful little area in Lincoln Park. The food was delicious, the street was so cute and it was very convenient. We get lucky sometimes.

Nom!

A little treat at the end of the trip

Happy Easter!

Spring and Easter

2011-04-23T18:05:00.000-05:00

Today is a celebration of new life! It is Easter!
We are in Madison visiting our daughter and her family. Spring is budding all around us here. We left summer in Houston and have been treated to spring again. Daffodils are in bloom as well as crocus and the trees just popping their leaves. The grass is getting green and the weather is very cool, comparatively speaking. I think I will be lucky enough to see three springs this year. First in Houston, now in Madison and by the end of May when we go to Nova Scotia it will be spring once again. I love spring!

Perfect for our Easter celebration. He is risen and there is life all around.

We are also doing a lot of playing with grandkids. It is so great to see how much they have changed since Christmas. I will be sure to post interesting stories and pictures when I get home and get to my own computer. Until then....Happy Easter!

Weird Weekend

2011-04-17T23:40:00.000-05:00

The first weird thing about this weekend is the lack of blog traffic. I admit it, I check to see how many visitors I have on a regular basis. Where has everyone gone? Did everyone give my blog up for Lent? Not even a "next blog" cruiser this weekend. It is a conspiracy. I am trying not to take this personally but am completely baffled, I think my blog has evaporated into thin air in the blogsphere. Don't tell me everyone is out enjoying their own lives and just don't have time to spend on the computer reading my attempt to write something curiously enjoyable. I am not buying it! Maybe my stat counter is broken, is anybody there?

Austin, TX

The slogan says, "Keep Austin Weird". I had the pleasure of going to Austin this weekend and did my best to enjoy the weirdness that is Austin. Daughter #2 accompanied me on this trip. We were on a mission to pick up my husband after he finished the MS150. A two day bike ride from Houston to Austin to raise money for MS. This is his 5th time to finish this ride and he really loves all 180 miles....why? I have no idea, maybe it is spending 2 days on a bike, maybe it is sleeping outside under a huge tent with hundreds of other people, maybe it is using portable toilets for 2 days, maybe it is all the conditioning it takes to be able to finish in one piece or maybe it is one way he can do a little good and get a lot of exercise. My contribution is minimal, my job is to show up on Sunday afternoon and drive what is left of him back to Houston. After a couple of years of driving to Austin and back on Sunday I got smart and decided to go to Austin on Saturday, spend the night and enjoy the city and be well rested on Sunday for my drive back to Houston.

TJ at the finish line!

Finish line with a view of the state Capital

While TJ was outside at the halfway point on Saturday night at the world's biggest campout, enjoying a few beers and sleeping on a cot, freezing his tushie off (yes, it was a bit chilly at night this year), daughter #2 and I were exploring Austin. Our first order of business was to trek a mile and a half, uphill, to a yarn shop. I don't knit, but my daughter does, so I humored her and hiked up to the shop. It was only 17 blocks! I noticed on our walk that Austin is a young city. Must be that little school they have there, University of Texas. I felt like I upped the average age everywhere we went by a factor of at least 2. The other observation was that there are more tatoos per capita than any other place I've ever been! I felt so out of place...so pure and unadorned... uninked. Weird.

Austin is a great city! So many great places to shop, eat, drink and listen to music and it is pedestrian friendly. It also just so happened to be one of the most beautiful days of the year on Saturday! Chamber of Commerce weather. After our walk uphill, we were parched. We made the rest of the evening and night our own personal progressive dinner. We had appetizer and drinks at one place, dinner at another, after-dinner drinks at another place and finally the cheese course and more wine at another place. It was a great night. It is so nice to have grown children to go out with and have interesting conversations with while exploring new places! At least I had fun, hopefully daughter #2 was having fun too. What do you think?

wine tasting at Cru

It was nice to visit a city that has a vibrant and interesting downtown. Houston is not one of those cities. Austin is! So for the low price of FREE, I encourage everyone to visit Austin if you are looking for a weird and wonderful weekend. Austin can thank me next year when I go back to pick up what is left of TJ after next year's MS150!

As an aside, Texas is in the middle of a severe drought. Usually our drive to Austin is blessed with fields of bluebonnets. This year the fields were all brown. There are wildfires all over the state. TJ said that the dust was so bad at the halfway stop that they all felt like their noses were full of dust. I truly enjoy dry weather, not a big fan of humidity but even I have to admit that we need some rain. I snapped this photo with my phone last week on a bike ride. Usually this lake is full to the grass but if you notice all the exposed dirt, we are very low on water! Let it rain!

Madame Trés chic and The Absent Minded Professor

2011-04-13T15:55:00.002-05:00

I have a new French teacher. She is about as different from my last teacher as possible. My last teacher, Monsieur George, (now read that again and this time with a French accent!) was from Romania. He has a PhD in Philosophy, il est tres intellegent. He is what I would refer to as an absent minded professor. Brilliant! Scattered! Slightly awkward. He was a good teacher for me because I think linearly. Is that a word? I could follow him in the book! He focused a lot on grammar and conjugations and wrote everything on the board for us to note if we wanted. He was covered with chalk dust by the end of the class and occasionally got frazzled because he had so much in his head that he wanted to get out. I enjoyed his class and hopefully I learned some French.

My new French teacher, Madame José, (again, with a French accent) is the epitome of a French woman. She is petite, elegant, animated (ok, that might not be typical), and trés chic! She is always dressed impeccably. Heels, skirts, lovely blouses and sweaters, lipstick....always. Her hair is pulled up in a slightly messy yet elegant chignon, with matching jewelry and the occasional scarf tied to perfection, the way only French women can tie a scarf! Is it genetic? How do they do it? I feel so large and pedestrian sitting next to her! Maybe it is my blue jeans! She sweeps into class with a cheerful, "Bonjour!" From the minute she enters the class until the class is over she is chattering in French. She rarely writes anything on the chalkboard. Mechanics are not the emphasis yet, maybe she assumes we already know it. The conversations in class are personal.... "Describe your dream house, what did you do last weekend, have you been to Paris, what did you do there, tell me about your family....all in French and in the correct tense!" The textbook is a secondary tool used for reference as opposed to the class guide. She has a real French accent, not a Romanian French accent. She is merciless when it comes to pronunciation! Yikes! I am sooo in trouble here. She definitely has everyone speaking which I am thinking is a good thing.

I think between Madame Trés Chic and Monsieur Absent Minded Professor I might just learn some French. If I'm lucky maybe I'll learn how to dress too!

Where is My Invisibility Cloak When I Need It?

2011-04-08T16:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went into the mall and was reminded why I am beginning to hate the mall. I remember when I could freely stroll through the mall and window shop or daydream in peace. Now it is like an obstacle course of kiosks and their aggressive hawkers. When did it become OK to attack innocent shoppers weilding hair straighteners and hand lotion? I now have to go to the mall armed with my "leave me alone" face. NO, I don't want to sit in one of those back rubbing chairs....stop looking at me with that face, I don't need a new phone or a new phone plan, or revolutionary hand cream that I am sure will make my hands look 10 years younger, I don't want a hair straightener (can't you tell I already have one....NO? darn!) , those nuts smell good but if I want some I will ask you! I go through the gauntlet of kiosks looking everywhere but in the eyes of the hawkers. I look at the floor, I look the opposite way, I have even pretended to be talking on my phone, apparently the only way they will not come up to me and ask, "can I show you something?". I want to walk with one hand up, shaking my head "no" and using my "leave me alone" glare. I am sure these kiosks are bad for business for the adjacent stores, who wants to dodge and weave their way through the aggressive kiosk hawkers just to get to a store? Where is my invisibility cloak when I need it?

I actually visited one of these kiosks on my last mall visit....I was looking for sunglasses and they do have a good selection for a good price. I probably would have bought the 2 pair for a ridiculously low price except for the kiosk worker who ended up creaping me out. There I was, trying on sunglasses and this is how the conversation went...

KW: (in a slight german or northern european accent) you look very serious
Me: not really.... (ignoring him, just trying on glasses)
KW: so, you are not a big talker, you are very quiet
Me: uh huh (wow, this guy is so perceptive)
KW: I bet you are a mother
Me: yup (what gave it away? my age, my wedding ring, my ability to ignore 20somthing annoying boys?)
KW: I'll bet you are a stict mother
Me: ?
KW: Yes, you are a strict mother, are you German?
Me: No
KW: Really, no German, not even a little bit?
Me: Nope, no German (can I just try on glasses?)
KW: Hmmmm, where did you get the strictness from? My mother is German but she was not very strict...just look at me! (working in a mall kiosk selling sunglasses?)
Me: From my father, he was the strict one. Well, thanks, but no glasses today....bye (those ones with the white frames were soo cute, ugh)

I am surprised he did not try to tell me my life story! Invisibility cloak please!

State of Life Address, One Year Later

2011-04-06T17:52:00.000-05:00

Life is a bed of roses!

So I have spent my entire day thinking profound thoughts, how about you?

A year ago I was coming back to the life I knew a couple of years earlier. Can you go back? The age old question. I wondered myself. The answer, yes, but it won't be exactly the same and if you are lucky it might just be a bed of roses. After moving for the fifth time I am glad we moved somewhere we had a history. I was getting tired of starting all over. I did not go back the the same old life but there are certainly advantages to having old friends. I have even made new friends!

So as lovely as these roses are and as sweet as they smell they also have thorns. An analogy for life? You betcha! Life is good and looks all pretty and perfect from a distance but if you get close there are thorns. You can all attest that maybe my biggest thorn living here is.....the weather. Big surprise! No, I can't complain now, April is spectacular! I have the luxury of leaving for most of the horrible time anyway so it is not such a big thorn. I would rather focus on the flowers for now.

Family is a huge full flower here. We get to see two of our kids on a regular basis. We get to live near my sister and her family! We are close enough to drive to Baton Rouge and see our parents and even more of our siblings and their families. That is a huge fragrant flower in our life here. We were somewhat isolated in Toronto, at least from our immediate family. We did have some awesome cousins and friends who adopted us as surrogate families and we will always be thankful for them. Good news is that we see them every summer. But there is no substitute for your immediate family.

Church here is an inspiration to me. I missed this church when we lived in Canada and am so happy to be back. I have this church to thank for getting me involved in the Learn English Ministry. What would I do without my Monday and Wednesday morning classes? I had no idea how much I would enjoy teaching and how special these people have become to me. They are fertilizer in my bed of roses. They make me grow.

One main reason for us moving down here was TJ's mother. I have avoided mentioning her in my blog because....well....I was not sure if it was the right place. But here I go, jumping in with both feet. His mom has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Last year she was in an assisted living facility. She was not a happy camper there and her husband was not a happy camper with her living there either. While she has Alzheimer's she still knows us and knew where she was and basically hated living there. TJ is a good guy, one of the best. He just felt it was better for her that we live closer to her and it would be much easier for him to help care for her from here. He is a smart guy sometimes....well, most of the time. She is now living at home, with in home care, and both she and her husband are much happier. This makes everyone in the family much happier too! We are able to visit them every 4-6 weeks. We would not have been able to do this from Toronto. I love her attitude, she sees the roses and not the thorns, even though she has Alzheimer's. She is looking through rose colored glasses and always has. Her family is perfect in her eyes and we could all learn a lesson from her.

Just another day in the rose garden

The State of Life is good. I am sure that if I had written this on a dreary, cloudy, hot, humid day where I had nothing to do and nowhere to go that the State of Life would be a little less rosy. That is just me. But today was lovely, I was busier than busy, and loved every minute of it. If you had asked me a year ago if this is what I anticipated, my answer would have been a bit hesitant. Shows you what I know!

Stop and smell the roses.
Tired of rose analogies?
I can go all day....

Happy Anniversary

2011-04-06T08:28:00.000-05:00

One year ago, today, I drove from St. Louis to Sugar Land, TX for our big move back south. You know what that means? It means it is time for the State of Life Address. Time for serious, and not so serious, reflection and pondering on whether things are better than they were a year ago. Exhausting....let me think about it for a while and I'll get back to you this afternoon. Right now it is time to go teach English and then play a round of golf in the beautiful, not too hot or muggy, sunshine. I promise to think profound thoughts all day and maybe take a few pictures to post along with this State of Life Address! Pressing "save" until this afternoon. It could be a two post day, lucky you!

BINGO

2011-04-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

I thought in honor of April Fool's Day I would post a little amusement for everyone.

This hilarity comes from my ESL class. Our class meets in a community center and shares a space with a group of senior citizens. We sit on one side of the room around one or two tables and they sit on the other side of the room and use 3 or 4 tables, think small cafeteria. We all gather around 9 a.m. and go about our business for about the first half hour, they play donimos and we teach English.

Some days we are quiet and some days we are a little more lively depending on how many people show up and what the mood is in the group. The seniors are the same, sometimes loud and sometimes a little louder depending on how many of them can hear I guess. Anyway, we use them as an example in our lessons sometimes like when we are teaching superlatives, we are loud and they are louder! They are the loudest ones in the room. See? Everyone in our class gets the idea. The seniors usually start playing Bingo around 9:45, after dominos and exercises. I think they love Bingo and as a bonus they win food when they Bingo! It is a great program for them as this may be the only decent food they have all day.

Meanwhile, we are trying to teach English on the other side of the room. Competing for air space amidst B-5, O-52, N-24....called out in a very LOUD voice with a serious southern drawl. One of our students, I'll call her Porque, because (porque)she says that word between every phrase! Like some people use the word "like", she uses porque. She is a funny lady and the class clown, she cracks me up regularly, she is infectious with her twinkling eyes and occasional scattered brain-ness. She is always sincere though and we all love having her in class.

Anyway....one day we were minding our own business and doing our lessons. The 9:45 Bingo game was going along and the louder the caller called the letters and numbers the louder we had to talk. It sometimes becomes a competition, she is loud and then we are loud because we can't hear anything if we aren't louder and then she is even louder... Still working on the loud, louder, loudest lesson? Bingo caller lady shouts B-4, then maybe O-50 and so it goes, and out of the blue....from our side of the room, Porque shouts...."BINGO"! Our entire class cracked up, we were trying to hide the fact that we were howling with laughter from Bingo Caller Lady but I know she heard us! Porque sat there just snickering with that little twinkle in her eyes! I think most of the seniors had no idea what was going on but I'm sure Bingo Caller Lady heard and was unamused. Maybe the reason she shouts the letters and numbers is because most of the seniors are hard of hearing, but then again it could be because we are loud too. Now, Porque only whispers "Bingo" to our group, and we all get to have a little private snicker amongst ourselves. Hope you snickered too, Happy April Fool's Day!

My Confession

2011-03-30T14:33:00.004-05:00

I have a confession.....I really don't like Confession.

As I was driving today my thoughts went to our church mission. (Many Catholic churches have what they call missions during Lent. The mission usually involves a visiting priest who gives inspiring, thought provoking and spirit renewing talks on several nights during one week in Lent). I went on Monday night and really enjoyed the talk. I was thinking about going again tonight and then I remembered something being mentioned on Monday about a Penance service in addition to the talk on Wed. night. My immediate reaction was...."hmmm, maybe I won't go". Instead of thinking ....."great, what a good opportunity to cleanse my battered soul", I thought, "run the opposite direction!" This has been my reaction to Penance, Reconciliation, Confession....call it what you like, since about the 2nd or 3rd grade. See? I told you it was my confession.

I went to a Catholic grammar school and we were required to go to Confession every Friday ( maybe it was once a month but it seemed like EVERY Friday to me). For some reason I could never remember the words you were supposed to say as an introduction or the prayers you were supposed to say. I remember distinctly going into the haunting confessional box and stuttering and fumbling with the words and being told by the grouchy old priest to go back out and not come back in until I knew the words. Well.....that was it, I was permanently traumatized. This is aside from the fact that every Friday I had to come up with my list of sins and they sounded like a broken record to me; I lied, I disobeyed my parents, I was mean to my brother and sisters.....nothing too serious, after all, I was 7!

As an adult, I know I should get over this. I've talked to priests about my fear and trepidation over Confession. One particularly kind priest friend heard my story and told me he would be happy to hear my Confession as we walked outside at a school retreat (I was an adult chaperone) and it didn't matter if I knew the right words or the right prayers, that he would say it all with me and it would be just fine. What a kind man! That should have cured me!

I still find myself with what I consider a trite list of sins which makes me think I am in need of some serious self examination. Believe me, it is not that I am so virtuous, probably the opposite. I was thinking about this post and did a little research. This site is eye opening and worth thinking about, I especially find the chart with the virtues and vices interesting, and the descriptions of the seven deadly sins is good self examination material. It also makes me think if I do go to Confession tonight that I might be in there for a LONG time! I need to change my focus and look at this as an opportunity to lighten the load and take it as the gift it is meant to be, instead of the torture I have made it to be all these years. Maybe this post is just one small step towards that end.

The Lost Paragraph

2011-03-27T09:26:00.000-05:00

As I reread my latest blog post last night I noticed that my favorite paragraph was gone! I'm sure when I posted it that the paragraph was in there but last night it had disappeared. I started wondering if the subject of the paragraph had snuck into my blog and deleted the paragraph. I tried to recreate the paragraph but my attempt came up short. I included it anyway but am not pleased with the writing.
The lost paragraph was a rare combination of wit, vocabulary, and subject matter that comes along once in a while when I write. I was so disappointed when I tried to rewrite. The moment was gone and the brain just wasn't in the same place. Sad for all of you who are going to miss out on some "good stuff" (in my humble opinion). You might be able to read the last post and figure out which paragraph is the new but not improved paragraph. The lost one had phrases like "caffeine induced exuberance" and told the story so much better but alas I can't recreate so I included an attempt, a second rate paragraph that only halfway describes the morning madness of the last post.
If I find the culprit who deleted that most excellent bit of writing I will wrestle him/her to the ground and demand that it be given back. Honestly though, I must have inadvertently erased it when I attached the photo....that is what I get for writing late at night. Wit and mistakes.

Spring Break Part 2 and Morning Madness

2011-03-25T19:08:00.022-05:00

Rocky Mountain High

Part 2 of Spring Break has been spent in Park City, Utah. Our last taste of cool weather for a while and I am enjoying every minute of it! The first part of the week we had an interesting cast of characters. One of my sisters, one of my friends and one of my cousins were all here. When you put 4 people together who have never traveled together you take a gamble, things could work out well or they could go horribly wrong. We must all be living right because it went better than we imagined! We each had a ski buddy and the laughs never stopped.

We each had our role, my sister was the chef and made sure we ate well and had great happy hour refreshments every afternoon. A key ingredient to a successful day of skiing! We would all ski and then limp our way home and head directly to the hot tub for a little therapy. We made lot friends in the tub... we are a chatty bunch and people like us, that was my friend and my cousin's job, make friends. They also provided much comic relief and did the dishes. I'll refer to them as Tort and Retort. Their 5 days were spent playing off of each other and one upping each other, we did pass the buck every once in a while and picked on a different person from time to time just to make it fair but most of the time the comments were aimed at my friend or my cousin. They threw them back at us most of the time too.

TJ arrived on day 3 of the trip. We were all doing our usual "not that early in the morning" routine for a few days and then things changed. Loud Morning Man was in the building. On his first day TJ tried his best to sleep in but was wide awake at 6:30 a.m., thankfully he decided to go out and find other early risers to have a cup of coffee with and read the newspaper. When he came back an hour later we were all just beginning to stir. Since he was already 2 cups of coffee ahead of us he started to make breakfast. He was talking on his cell phone, in his cell yell, and cooking sausage. I guess in his caffiene induced excitement he cooked the sausage on high and the smoke set off the smoke alarm....all before 8 a.m. I am sure our neighbors were thrilled with us! We had rare inside blackened sausage with our eggs that morning...but we were all awake! We fully excpected ot hear his famous line...."we are burning daylight" at any minute that morning. We made it to the slopes in record time and a good time was had by all.

the gang is all here, loud morning man is in the red coat

We had a fantastic day with the 5 of us and then my sister, Tort and Retort had to go home to their real lives. It was sad and quiet when the left. We did however have reinforcements arriving. TJ's brother arrived the same day the friends and other family left so TJ and I did not have to spend any time alone together...unless we wanted to!

It has been great running into all of our "new friends" here and there. We sure do love the laid back atmosphere and spending the day outdoors in the snow. Pretty nice life, if your knees can hold out. So far so good. Tomorrow is our last day and I am almost ready to go back home, even though it will be the beginning of the heat and humidity. But more about that later. Right now, I'm going to enjoy my last Rocky Mountain high.

The perfect end to the perfect day!

Spring Break, Part 1

2011-03-19T00:58:00.005-05:00

Spring Breakers in Dallas....you are never too old for Spring Break!

My March break began last weekend in Dallas. Every spring break should begin with 3 days of eating, drinking, laughing and fellowship! I call it the "warm up" weekend. I spent 3 days in Dallas with my cousin and her friend ( and mine too). One Canadian and two Americans, who love Canada. We were treated to perfect spring conditions, sunny skies, moderate temperatures and lots of wind! Gotta love spring in Texas. If you are ever hungry or thirsty you should visit my cousin! That girl knows how to entertain. I am sure I gained weight, even though we were diligent and did much walking on Sat. and Sunday, I don't think we came close to breaking even. The weekend was a great warm up for things to come.

Those things were.......

my niece and nephew

There are other people in the world besides me who need/want to take vacations and two of them are my niece and nephew's parents. They wanted to get away so badly that they entrusted their two children to TJ and me! I know..... All kidding aside, we are taking care of the kids while mom and dad enjoy some ....mom and dad time, because all moms and dads need to get away sometime. After being empty nesters for the last 4 years, going from 0-2 kids is quite the adjustment. When they are yours things gradually build, first there is one and then there are two and you just get used to it all. Going from none to two in one day, after 3 days of pre spring break frivolity in Dallas, is an adjustment. I was definitely up to the challenge! We are going to have some fun this week!

The first item on our adgenda was the zoo. Tuesday was absolutely the quintessential spring day, perfect for a trip to the zoo. Apparently that is what everyone else in Houston thought too. We could not get within a mile of the zoo in our car, the traffic was so bad and the parking was non-existent! We/I decided to excercise plan B. The rodeo! Conveniently in town for Spring Break. Since everyone else in Houston was apparently at the zoo, the rodeo and livestock show was relatively free of crowds. We got to see chickens hatching from eggs, baby sheep being born, rabbits and calves. Almost as good as the zoo, but better! There is also a fair at the rodeo with overpriced rides for everyone. Niece and nephew were ready to ride! They got to ride the rides and each won a very nice stuffed animal, take that overcrowded zoo! We win! It really was a ton of fun and the kids loved it too.

Day two was spent playing at the park. Playground dynamics are very interesting to observe from my perspective now. Did I see these things when my kids were young or is it only out of my more experienced eyes that I see the dynamics? I love sitting to the side and just watching everything unfold. Making friends out of strangers. Kids are just so innocent and precious. Both kids made "friends for the day", I even overheard a conversation between my nephew and his new friend about meeting at the park tomorrow! Sooo cute! We went to Target and bought a few things and yes, I spent a little cash on the kids, just to make sure I spoiled them a bit! We bought a puzzle and spent the better part of the day after lunch putting the puzzle together. How fun is that?

an afternoon well spent!

As if the park and the puzzle were not enough, we went to the rodeo that night and got to see the entire show! They even do bucking broncos, bull riding, calf roping and the calf scramble. The kids loved it....so did the adults!

The next day I decided to brave the crowds once again. Not the zoo this time but the Children's Museum. This is an awesome place if you are a kid! I know my own children are as smart as they are because we brought them to places like this when they were young. Kid nirvana. So much to see, touch, explore and learn while having fun doing it all. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. We stayed until we were starving and the only reason we left was because we were each fading due to starvation.

Today we just had a low key day. You know...play, walk the dog, build leprechaun traps, do another puzzle, swim, play on the trampolene, fish fry at the church and a sleepover with Katie. This is the point at which I collapsed for a bit. Ahhhh, the kids are at a sleepover, time for me to have some downtime. I truly forget how much time and energy it takes to be a full time mom. I did it and still have forgotten. Shout out to all you full time moms!

check out the horns on this guy!

Mom and Dad get home tomorrow. I am not sure who had more fun, the parents or the kids! I hope the kids had a good time. I had fun. I will head to the mountains for a little break of my own next week. I only hope it is not a literal break as in body part break, only a spiritual and mental break in the mountains with some friends and family. Stay tuned for some lovely mountain photos!

My Blessings

2011-03-15T23:12:00.000-05:00

A blessing is when you notice someone for who they are, pay attention to them in a positive way, treat them in a special way or pray for them. Have you been a blessing to anyone today? We should all bless someone every day, pay attention to them, treat someone special or pray for them. When we bless someone, we are blessed too so I guess it is a win/win situation! Right?

I had a little personal realization tonight driving home from my late night French class. I have the pleasure of watching two special children this week. My niece and nephew are staying with us for the week while their parents take a much needed and deserved vacation. It only hit me tonight after our day together what a blessing this is for me. I could look at this week as extra work or an inconvenience but instead it hit me tonight that I am sooo lucky to be able to share time with these kids (without their parents) and get to truly know them. I am young enough and have enough energy to keep up with them, well.... I'll get back with you on Saturday night and let you know if I have enough energy...but so far I'm doing fine. I have the opportunity and the will to really pay attention to them, treat them special and just be with them for a week. What a blessing!

I also have about 41 blessings and counting. 41 followers! Wow! If you are out there and you really read all this stuff, make a comment and let me know what your blessings have been lately! You are one of mine. I'll be playing with the kids this week so might not be writing much....or then again, I might just be totaly inspired! That would be a blessing too!

A New Season

2011-03-09T19:16:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we attended an all day retreat at our church. The title of the retreat was Becoming Who You Are. Don't worry I'm not going to tell you how to be who you are or how I am going to be who I am. The retreat was a good one and an opportunity to think and reflect. One of the talks I listened to was about the seasons in the Church, which brings me to today's topic......Lent. Don't hang up yet....stick with me here, it's Lent.

Lent is the 40 days before Easter. It is one of the seasons in the Church. Did you know that Lent is 40 days long but the Easter season is 50 days long? Did you think it was just one day? Guess it makes giving something up for 40 days not so bad, if you are going to celebrate for 50 days afterwards. Just a thought.

Are you giving up anything for Lent? A question circulating all around this week. I jokingly said this morning on Facebook that I was going to give up Charlie Sheen for Lent... anything written or spoken by him or about him and we would both win. Now that I think about it more, it could be a great idea! Why clutter my brain? Thinking about things I've given up in the past is an interesting exercise. There were a few times that I gave up drinking. It was definitely a sacrifice especially since my significant other did not do the same. I still remember one time when our pastor found out that I gave up drinking for Lent and he asked, "Why would anyone do that???" Cracked me up!

One year after the "give up drinking" years, I decided to be proactive for Lent. I joined Weight Watchers for Lent. I had always secretly wished whether I gave up drinking or gave up desserts, that at the end of Lent I would also be about 10 lbs. thinner. It never happened, guess God did not think I needed to lose weight. Anyway, one year "I" thought I needed to lose weight and joined WW for Lent. I can do anything for 6 weeks, so that is what I did. Now I digress, just hold this thought for a paragraph.

Today at Mass, our priest was talking about Lent and the 3 things we are asked to focus on; prayer, fasting and alms giving. The fasting part was particularly interesting to me today. Fasting is a sacrifice of the flesh. It requires discipline. There is temptation all around, believe me I know, as I did my grocery shopping today and found a free sample on every aisle that I had to walk past while I was trying to fast. His point was that when we are fasting we are self disciplined and maybe during this process we become open to other things that might have gone unnoticed. I like that.

Back to the year I joined WW. What started out as a selfish venture ended up being a life changing experience. I found that while being more disciplined about what I ate I was much more productive in the rest of my life. I was also more disciplined in other areas and felt better. What started out as a 40 day commitment ended up being my place of employment for the next 8 years. By giving something up I opened myself to a life changing experience, God had plans for me and I found them by doing something for Lent.

I leave you with this thought. If you are giving up something or doing something special for Lent, let yourself be open to the new opportunities you find by living a more disciplined life, it is not always a bad thing!