A Million Bucks!

Now don't get excited. I didn't win the lottery or nothing. But, it feels that way. Some things are just that delicious.

For instance, a good day at the office, a nice meditative 45 minute trip home watching the sun makes it's way down the western sky, walking into a warm house, peeling off the work clothes, jumping in a nice hot shower until my skin tingles and all muscles relax, pulling on some fresh pj's - I never use to sleep in but use as lounge wear, putting my feet up in my lazy boy chair with my fuzzy blanket wrapped around me and my laptop on my lap while I punch away at the keyboard to share my day with you. 

Yup, it's absolutely delicious! And, sometimes, all of the above is the carrot dangling at the end of my day. 

I bought myself some new plants from a lady who advertised them on Facebook today. I bought 4 but ended up with 6 since she threw in a couple just because. Two of them I kept at my Peace River office, 2 I am keeping at home, and the other 2 are going to my Falher office. 

If I had a solarium I would fill it with plants, cozy sitting areas, Buddhas and soft music. I'm not much into the flowering ones but I love green plants, desert plants and tropical looking ones too. 

How about you?

Random Stuff

Ten whole days I've been away. Not away from home but away from my blog. As I've said many times before, I can't seem to do it all. I write here and I get lonely for my paper journal. I abandon my blog, spend more time with pen and paper, and I start feeling like I've neglected this and need to show up again. Sometimes I have a hard time to understand me.

The thing is, I feel disjointed when I jump back and forth from one writing place to another, or I write bits and pieces in two different places. It messes with my mind. I was never one who could have more than one journal going at a time like some people do. A dream journal, a happy journal, a sad journal, a travel journal. Geez! That would drive me absolutely bonkers.

Valentine's Bouquet 

Maybe it's just the way my brain works. It's a one track brain. It's the same with interactions with people. I enjoy and do fine with one on one conversations, but start adding people and the more you add, the less I hear, the more my head spins, and the less I participate. Hmm... maybe I do understand me and I quite okay with who I am really.

Oh, wait, I said I wasn't away, but I was away from home for a day or two. I made a quick, almost turn around trip to Edmonton and back to pick up our new chairs. Dropped in for a surprise visit and overnight stay at Karen's and got to see Jody and her kids who were down from High River to attend the Edmonton Silver Skate Festival. I went with Karen to the festival's evening story telling walk which ends with a fire burning ceremony. I enjoyed it, It was fun.

Jesse snuggling with Grandma

Carys snuggles with Grandma

Yesterday Andree and I went to sell our bottles in Mclennan, and decided to keep going to High Prairie and go to the pool. Once we were done swimming it was close to supper time so we went out for supper followed by a movie. It was a fun time.

Today, it was brunch at her son's place and when we came back home I went out for a two mile walk down the side road. My foot is still not 100% but it's getting much better. Tomorrow, it's back to work.

Silver Skate Festival Fire Burning Ceremony

From Oldest to Youngest

My last post was about my oldest grandson who turned 16 on Valentine's Day. This post is about my youngest grandson and youngest grandchild who turned 4 on Feb 6th.

It has been really hot and sunny in High River where this little man lives. Apparently all the white stuff has disappeared from his back yard and left things rather muddy. What do you think?

It wasn't as warm here at home but pretty warm just the same. I poked and prodded at the patches of ice on our front drive and got the whole thing cleared. The bricks are bare now. Ready for the next snowfall which the weather channel says might happen overnight or tomorrow sometimes.

I guess it's not spring yet but what a delight to see those daylight hours getting longer and longer.

Valentine's Baby

Tonight, I sit and reflect how 16 years ago, on Valentines Day, my first grandchild, and first grandson, was born.

Sixteen years ago, I had more time, or perhaps it was more energy, than I do now. I started writing letters to my grandchild the day I found out my daughter was pregnant. I am posting here tonight, the letter I wrote a couple of days after he was born.

Friday, February 16, 2001, 9:30 am

Dear Grandson Cole:

Here I am sitting beside you while your mom and dad are taking a nap. It’s been an eventful few days but well worth it, that’s for sure. 

You’re here! You arrived 2 days ago, on February 14th. What a beautiful Valentine’s present for everyone. Beats all the flowers and chocolates of a regular Valentine’s Day. You chose one of the stormiest days of this winter to make your arrival. It was somewhere around minus 20 with a strong north wind and blowing and drifting snow. None of this mattered a darn bit to you. You were ready and you were coming.

Right now, you’re all wrapped up in little blankets and lying on the couch while I’m sitting at the coffee table in front of you writing this letter. Your dad and Friskie, the cat, are snoring away on the next couch, and your mom is having a well-deserved rest in bed. Hopefully they will get a good sound sleep while I’m here to help out.

I couldn’t wait for the day you would arrive. It seemed like the day would never come and now that you're here, it’s hard to believe you are. It all happened so fast. You woke your mom at about 5 am and she called me at 7:30 to give me the news you were on the way. 

I got to your place around 8:30 thinking I would stay and help out as much as I could until the midwife arrived. By the time, she pulled up the drive, it was 10:30 am. When I asked your mom if she wanted me to stay, or go, and come back later, she asked that I stay, and that’s how it came about that, two hours later, at 12.35 pm, I witness you coming into the world. 

To see the look on your parent’s face when you arrived and when you were placed on your mother’s tummy, was priceless. I wish I would have had a camera to record this for you but there was too much going on and everyone was caught up with just living the moment. We couldn't believe that you were finally here and the miracle of birth that had just taken place. 

As soon as you were born you curled yourself up bringing your knees up to your tummy and a warm towel was draped over you. Your mom held you on her stomach and kept saying, “My baby, my baby, I had a baby,” while your dad kept looking you over making sure you were all right. 

There was a few minutes where the two midwives, myself, and your mom and dad were breathing sighs of relief that you were here and everything had gone well. But, all this time a big question was still floating around unanswered. 

It wasn’t until the mid-wife, Kathy, said, “Who will do the honors; should we find out?” that your mom got a huge look of surprise on her face and blurted out: “Oh my God, we don’t even know what it is!” A quick check revealed the big news, and your mom exclaimed, “It’s a boy!"  

You’re such a good baby so far. We hardly ever hear you. I don’t think you’ve even had a real cry yet. Tonight, your two aunties, Jody and Brenda, are driving from Calgary to come to meet you and I know they are super anxious to get here.

So, it’s true. I’m an official grandma now. It’s been quite the day and I feel privileged that I was here to experience it. I look forward to having many happy hours spent in your company.

Love,

Grandma

Here he is having a birthday breakfast with his mom at the High Level Dinner

Happy Birthday Cole

In The Silence

"In your silence, when there are no words, no language, nobody else is present, you are getting in tune with existence." Osho

Silence, invites a quiet time of reflection and contemplation where the many questions and thoughts about life come forth and the wisdom that emerges from the shadows can be heard.

Silence awakens me to life and the many gifts it holds. In the silence lies my many truths and vulnerabilities.

In the silence I find my true existence.

An entry from an old journal:
Nov. 21st, 2000

What’s moving into my life now is a lesson that says I need to set aside my fears of being a voice in the wilderness, call what I see, stand in my truth, walk my talk, and live my calling (if I can call it that). The unanswered question is, how?

What I want is the ability and the capacity to convey the art of Oneness. 

I would like to dive deep within me. To pull out pearls of wisdom to share with others to help them on their own journey. 

What do I have to bring, to give or to draw from?

 Compassion, caring, understanding, examples of my own life, the ability to step into their shoes, the wisdom that silence brings, a loving from a soul level, a sense of connection and of Oneness that each one of us can embrace and hold.

Sunny Day - Moon Lit Night

I went for a 20 minute walk this morning in a snowy blizzard, complete with a biting wind that had me wishing I was walking in the opposite direction. I was thought of snapping a picture but the thought never got past first base. It was too cold to take my mitts off and dig my phone out of my pocket and I was using my mitts to try to shield my face.

This afternoon I went for another short walk but this time under a blazing sun and hardly a breeze to speak of. It was a very different and welcome change from my morning excursion.

Tonight, I didn't go for a walk. Instead I did a lot of stepping up to the window to witness the waning gibbous moon slowly making it's way up the Eastern sky. What a beauty she was rising above the trees and playing peek-a-boo in and out of the clouds.

My friend Marcel has been spending time making a lot of new friends at his place down by the lake. Today he managed to take some shots of how a group of chickadees have come to trust him.

He's been feeding them out of his hand for the past 3 days. I think it's absolutely amazing. Don't you?

On another note, my tail bone - lower back area, has improved quiet a bit already with 2 visits to the chiropractor followed by a massage. However, my ankle with a stretched Achilles tendon, has not been giving me much reprieve. It feels like my tendon was shoved in a clothes dryer and shrunk like a wool sweater.

Late Night Post

I probably shouldn't be writing a post this late. When the end of my day goes late into the evening, and I decide to write, I often end up making mistakes I don't see until the next day. That's often why I don't post. Tonight I said to myself, what the hell! Just write whatever comes and let it go.

I started work early this morning, had a break mid-day, then had appointments until 7:30 pm and didn't get home until 8:30. That's when the paper work starts. How much more pleasant work would be without the paper work.

Saw the chiropractor today. It was a costly but worthwhile visit, I think. At least he sounded hopeful to have me functioning better within a few treatments. Hope he's right. According to his findings, there's been a compression and jamming together of several bones at the bottom of the spine and into the tail bone which has been causing the pain. The stretched tendons in my ankle, he figures, is also the result of the my battle with the ocean wave. He thinks he can fix that too. Would be a plus.

Grabbed some take out lunch today and went and sat by the river, in my SUV. Too cold to sit outside even though it warmed up some compared to the frigid temperatures of earlier this week. It's not sitting outside kind of weather yet, but sitting in my SUV and facing into the sun works for me.

 A few weeks back the river was still flowing nicely. Not so this week. There's a huge mix-mash of ice blocks covering the water now. It looked like an artistic sculpture in some places. Good place to sit and enjoy a quiet lunch.

The Wonder of Nature

I don't get it! How in the world do those tiny little black-capped chickadees survive when it's so damn cold? I am a million times bigger than that little fellow and I need to put on 50 lbs. of clothes in order to survive out there, and even then, I don't last all that long.

Coming in for a landing.

Look at this guy. Weights practically nothing, a few fluffy feathers and tiny little legs the size of a piece of spaghettini and it flies around as if it nothing was. Doesn't make any sense in my head.

Ahh...jackpot!

Sure, there's all these explanations on the internet about how they survive and how they don't freeze, but still, when I look at this little thing that fits in the palm of my hand and I compare it to how big I am, how come I'm the one who's freezing? It's hard to wrap my head around that.

Scrumptious.

Today was a stay at home and stay in kind of day. Oh wait, I did run out this evening to plug my vehicle in so it will start in the morning but that was the only time I stuck my nose outdoors.

Okay, I'm full. Time for a nap.

I hope the weather smartens up and my tail bone starts feeling better soon so I can go out there and get back to walking. I miss that.

All photos courtesy of my friend Marcel

Tomorrow I'm going to try getting an appointment with a chiropractor and see if maybe that will help things move along quicker. That's my hope anyway. I have to get in shape for a BC bike ride that's in the works for June. I wouldn't want to miss that for sure.

Grasp The Moment

That's what I've been practicing lately. Grasping the moment and going with it. Today was a prime example of that. More on that later.....

First, look at who we were babysitting for two days this week. Peaches. He's so sweet when he stretches out and sleeps beside you but watch out after he's had a good nap. He turns into a little devil racing around the house chasing everything and anything in sight back and forth from his toy mouse, to a ball with bells, to a piece of Chiclets gum, he bats around the kitchen floor.

His owner, Nicole, says she might get another one and call that one Cream. Then Andree and I can babysit Peaches and Cream and we'll both have one to cuddle with on our chair.

Oh yes. I was going to write about grasping the moment. On the way home from doing a cleaning job around noon or so, I asked Andree, "Do you have any plans for the remainder of the day?"

"Nothing, that can't be changed at a moment's notice," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason. I was just wondering," I said.

So we had lunch and went about our day. I shoveled some snow, went for my first short walk since I've injured my tailbone, and did a few other odds and ends, as did Andree.

At 3:30 my phone rings. It's West Edmonton Mall calling saying my glasses are ready. It's too late for them to put them in the mail today. It wouldn't happen until Monday and not sure when they would get to my place. Andree and I look at each other and nod to one another.

I answer the guy at the other end of the line. "What time are you open till," I ask.

"Nine pm."

"Hold them there, we'll go pick them up."

By 4:00 pm we were on the road and tonight, I sit at my computer with my new glasses! I preferred the ones I lost in the ocean, but nevertheless, I'm so ever grateful to be have my eyes again.

Woohoo! no more off and on, off and on, with reading glasses and lousy distance vision. Grasping the moment can lead to truly wonderful things!

Heading back home tomorrow.