It is the Tuesday morning after the long weekend and the house is quiet. PJ and Tee have gone to work and I am getting ready soon to start my day as well. The long Canada Day weekend was glorious. PJ and I invited his brother and his wife and PJ's sister and her husband for the celebration on Sunday afternoon. It was really fun to see them again since we do not get together often. We also were expecting the usual gang of Tee's and Coco's friends that attend our long weekend bonfires throughout the summer. One particular couple were bringing new baby, Cheeky Pie, for the first time. Cheeky Pie is so named due to her enormous cheeks, brilliant blue eyes and constant grin. This kid is happy to sit with anyone, chatter to everyone and giggle and smile at anything that passes her line of sight. She was the star of the day and we so loved having her come see us. She acquired a few new "aunts" and posed for a commemorative pic with her red cowboy hat! Too cute for words.
Prior to the weekend, we were trying to think of something that would kind of bring the group together so I decided to try a Canadiana quiz. I researched a lot of facts about Canada and threw in a few fakes. We got some goofy "prizes" from the dollar store and I am pretty sure everyone went home with something. I will publish a bunch over the next few writings so you can test your Canadian knowledge. Here is the first group:
1) The border between Canada and the U.S. is the longest border between two nations. Is it:
A - 7425 miles
B - 5525 miles or
C - 3752 miles
2) What year was the current Canadian flag adopted by Parliament?
A - 1958
B - 1960 or
C - 1965
3) Canada is the second largest country in the world. What is the first?
4) What year did Newfoundland become a province?
5) True or False - Canadians, on average, live longer than Americans.
6) What is Canada's official sport? (Hint: It's not what you think!)
7) True or False - Basketball was invented by a Canadian.
That is just a sampling for today. Here are the answers:
1 - B, 2 - C, 3 - Russia, 4 - 1949, 5 - T (81 yrs vs. 78 yrs), 6 - Lacrosse, 7 - T
I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We had a few fireworks after the sun went down and a little bonfire, as per usual. It was a great night for it.
I also wanted to say thanks to Big Daddy for his sweet surprise that night too. Love those dimples; another one who is too cute for words.
Love from Lulu xxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Living in the era of TMI
I was somewhat saddened to see a post on Facebook a couple of days ago declaring, "It's a girl!" I was not saddened to see that the new baby is a girl, but that the parents chose to have that info disclosed to them by the scan tech. You see the baby is not born yet, so any excitement of the speculation of blue or pink has been dashed. The couple, T & C, who already have the handsomest little man in town with the sharpest blue eyes I have ever seen, are excited about their new coming arrival. T is one of the bevy of beautiful girls that work with Coco at the daycare and everyone is very happy about the new baby, but I am of the old school that says you wait til the day to find out. With both of my kids, there were tantalizingly long months of speculation, measuring, eyeing, groping and even the spinning wedding ring during my pregnancies and everyone had an opinion. My father dreamt of a blue blanket and was absolutely positive that Coco was to be a boy, although, his "wee Coco" was his pride and joy. My mother waffled between the sexes depending on how I looked any particular day. A friend was positive I was carrying a girl based on the size of my butt and another friend was equally positive it was a boy because I carried low. Two of my cousins, sisters, were also pregnant so it was a high time for the guessers that year. And like I said, everyone had an opinion. I even dreamt that my older cousin was going to deliver on the 14 of February, which was actually my due date - Coco decided not to come til March 5! The funny thing was that my cousin actually delivered on the 14th, but January instead.
When I was pregnant with Tee, the speculators were on a bender again. By this time my dad was gone, but Mom made up for it. She was absolutely sure it was another girl. Even Coco was old enough to enjoy the wait and the suspense of not knowing. She used to sing about "her" baby. I don't recall her having an opinion on whether it would be a boy or a girl, but I know that when he arrived she was thrilled to be the first to see him, bragging that "I saw him before Gran and Daddy! He's HUGE!" Not only was he a boy, but a very big one at that! He also was very content where he was and did not have any intention of stirring from his cozy hibernation, so, after nearly a month of waiting, the doctors decided that we had to go Caesarian. Thank goodness; he was over 10 lbs! I often wonder if that was what set the stage for his great love of his bed to this day, sleeping around the clock if given the opportunity.
Back in my day, the surprise at the end of it all was worth it, but I will say my heartiest congratulations and all my best wishes to my friends, T & C, and I look forward to meeting the little blue eyed boy's new sister!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
When I was pregnant with Tee, the speculators were on a bender again. By this time my dad was gone, but Mom made up for it. She was absolutely sure it was another girl. Even Coco was old enough to enjoy the wait and the suspense of not knowing. She used to sing about "her" baby. I don't recall her having an opinion on whether it would be a boy or a girl, but I know that when he arrived she was thrilled to be the first to see him, bragging that "I saw him before Gran and Daddy! He's HUGE!" Not only was he a boy, but a very big one at that! He also was very content where he was and did not have any intention of stirring from his cozy hibernation, so, after nearly a month of waiting, the doctors decided that we had to go Caesarian. Thank goodness; he was over 10 lbs! I often wonder if that was what set the stage for his great love of his bed to this day, sleeping around the clock if given the opportunity.
Back in my day, the surprise at the end of it all was worth it, but I will say my heartiest congratulations and all my best wishes to my friends, T & C, and I look forward to meeting the little blue eyed boy's new sister!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
Monday, 27 May 2013
Butterfly Kisses
I am sure that many of you know this song. It was very popular a few years ago by some country singer (sorry, I'm not a follower). And I am also sure that at least one of you knows (Coco, are you paying attention?) how much I hate that song. I despise it and must change the channel if I hear it on the radio or tv. Now, what you don't know is WHY I hate that song. Every time I hear it, I cry uncontrollably. It makes me think of my little doll when she was younger and how I miss those days. Possibly becuz I wish I knew then what I know now and how I would have done things very differently. I was a working mom from the time she was 4 months old til she was 8, when we moved up here. During that time I also was going to night school at least 1 night a week, often 2, so there were many nights that I missed out saying goodnight. There was also missed opportunities for us to spend real girl time together. Not to say it didn't happen. My mom reaped the benefit of that, spending many Saturdays with Coco, riding the subway, shopping and going out for lunches. They were a great team. When I was studying and PJ was working a Saturday, Coco and Mom would take off for the day. To this day, I really am not sure where all they went! LOL Anyway, I have said all that to say that no mom does it perfectly and even Martha Stewart made mistakes, I am sure. It doesn't really matter if there are nannies and private schools and wealth, or just day to day working parents, everyone can be a star and I believe that every mother has certain regrets about things she would have changed. An older mom once said that she thought she did a good job bringing up her numerous kids "cuz none of them are in jail"! Wow, there's a standard! When the bar is set that low, everyone is a winner.
So, moms, and would-be moms, don't spend any time fretting over what you shoulda or coulda done. Kids are very resilient; they learn what they live and if you do your best to raise them with love and encouragement and guidance and morals, then you've done all you can. I wish I could say that I did that every day but I didn't. I made lots of mistakes that can never be taken back, unfortunately. But my kids still turned out okay, remarkably, some might even say extraordinary. And I love them more than anything else.
But please don't play that song.
Love from Lulu xxxxxxx
So, moms, and would-be moms, don't spend any time fretting over what you shoulda or coulda done. Kids are very resilient; they learn what they live and if you do your best to raise them with love and encouragement and guidance and morals, then you've done all you can. I wish I could say that I did that every day but I didn't. I made lots of mistakes that can never be taken back, unfortunately. But my kids still turned out okay, remarkably, some might even say extraordinary. And I love them more than anything else.
But please don't play that song.
Love from Lulu xxxxxxx
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Please hold...............
I am not happy. I was just re-routed to another Bell service rep only to be cut off. The first rep took about 35 min to answer then he sent me to another rep which after waiting for about 10 min, clicked off and I got the busy signal. !?@!??!*&?!! BTW, have you heard their insipid "hold" muzak? UGH!
PJ and I are at a cross roads. We both have cell phones; his is a work based, mine is a personal, so we are really having some tough discussions about whether or not to retain our house phone. My cell provides all the same services that the house phone does at a lesser cost and even if he loses his phone (if and when he retires), we can still do a family plan and he will have a personal one attached to my bill.
Here is the dilemma: We have our Internet service and our TV service bundled with the phone service, so does that mean that our bundling discount will be invalidated? And if so, should we consider something else? Or if they reduced our phone service charges to something ridiculously cheap, should we still retain the house phone? OH, it is all just too much for me to think about.
The funny thing is that we never had so many things to consider over the past few years as we seem to have this year! Will PJ retire? Or will they make it too desirable for him to go? Also, our 40th anniversary will be happening on the 3rd of November this year, but he will also be celebrating his 65th bday on the 3rd of December. What to do? A combined celebration somewhere in the middle? Or a tropical beach getaway? Or maybe just a quiet family do? We are also considering a new vehicle - my divine heap is 10 years old now and worth not much more than the paper that the ownership is written on; his is a newer truck that can still fetch a decent trade-in value, so do we trade up? Or just keep it? Like I said, it is just all too much for me right now. I just want to enjoy my summer! Lounging in the pool, planting my garden, hosting BBQ parties, going on our annual shopping excursion to Penn!
The weather is finally becoming summer-like and we have been out on the deck a couple of nights. We have also been enjoying the "boys of summer", my fabulous Blue Jays. One of the most endearing memories I have is the sound of a baseball game on the radio on a hot summer afternoon while my parents were bbqing in the backyard. It is like the onslaught of 60's Beach Boys music that would be filtering out of every car window beginning in July (pre factory-installed air conditioning as a standard option). Ahhh, the good old days. I also cannot pass a rose bush without smelling it to re-live the scent of my mom's gorgeous red rose climbers that surrounded their front door. I think as Canadians, we survived the winter just to be able to experience the wonders of the new summer each year. Those long, lazy summer vacations from school, when we thought that 2 months was more like 2 years; the oh-so-horrendous summer camps that meant being separated from your best friend (or summer love interest) for 2 whole weeks; the relatives that came for the week (or 2) that wanted to visit every tourist trap in Toronto; the week that we got to go to the cottage (a rental - different place every year) and spend the day in the lake and the night swatting mosquitos! I wish we could have really drunk in those days and absorbed every smell and taste but they were fleeting and gone too quickly and there was always "next" summer.
Love from Lulu, xxxxxxxx
PJ and I are at a cross roads. We both have cell phones; his is a work based, mine is a personal, so we are really having some tough discussions about whether or not to retain our house phone. My cell provides all the same services that the house phone does at a lesser cost and even if he loses his phone (if and when he retires), we can still do a family plan and he will have a personal one attached to my bill.
Here is the dilemma: We have our Internet service and our TV service bundled with the phone service, so does that mean that our bundling discount will be invalidated? And if so, should we consider something else? Or if they reduced our phone service charges to something ridiculously cheap, should we still retain the house phone? OH, it is all just too much for me to think about.
The funny thing is that we never had so many things to consider over the past few years as we seem to have this year! Will PJ retire? Or will they make it too desirable for him to go? Also, our 40th anniversary will be happening on the 3rd of November this year, but he will also be celebrating his 65th bday on the 3rd of December. What to do? A combined celebration somewhere in the middle? Or a tropical beach getaway? Or maybe just a quiet family do? We are also considering a new vehicle - my divine heap is 10 years old now and worth not much more than the paper that the ownership is written on; his is a newer truck that can still fetch a decent trade-in value, so do we trade up? Or just keep it? Like I said, it is just all too much for me right now. I just want to enjoy my summer! Lounging in the pool, planting my garden, hosting BBQ parties, going on our annual shopping excursion to Penn!
The weather is finally becoming summer-like and we have been out on the deck a couple of nights. We have also been enjoying the "boys of summer", my fabulous Blue Jays. One of the most endearing memories I have is the sound of a baseball game on the radio on a hot summer afternoon while my parents were bbqing in the backyard. It is like the onslaught of 60's Beach Boys music that would be filtering out of every car window beginning in July (pre factory-installed air conditioning as a standard option). Ahhh, the good old days. I also cannot pass a rose bush without smelling it to re-live the scent of my mom's gorgeous red rose climbers that surrounded their front door. I think as Canadians, we survived the winter just to be able to experience the wonders of the new summer each year. Those long, lazy summer vacations from school, when we thought that 2 months was more like 2 years; the oh-so-horrendous summer camps that meant being separated from your best friend (or summer love interest) for 2 whole weeks; the relatives that came for the week (or 2) that wanted to visit every tourist trap in Toronto; the week that we got to go to the cottage (a rental - different place every year) and spend the day in the lake and the night swatting mosquitos! I wish we could have really drunk in those days and absorbed every smell and taste but they were fleeting and gone too quickly and there was always "next" summer.
Love from Lulu, xxxxxxxx
Monday, 20 May 2013
My Recent Absence
I got a scolding from Coco the other day about not posting to my blog and that she has been periodically checking and not seeing any new items, so I thought it best to explain a few things. I also thought it was kind of cute that she was following my posts. Anyway, I have not been in the greatest of moods lately because although I had initially great success at my weight loss project, it has now stalled out and I am, frankly, a little ticked off about the whole thing. I have been very conscious of my food choices over the last 3 months and have been eating the "good" foods in abundance. Yes, we have had an occasional chinese food buffet and 1 or 2 pizzas, but overall, I am eating primarily whole foods, veg and chicken and fish. I am currently, officially, 1 lb. less than when starting, which means that I actually re-gained 7 of the first 8 lbs. lost. Great!#@!!@##!
Now, let's move on to more fun stuff! We had our Annual May 24 Weekend Start the Summer bonfire on Saturday. It was so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the evening. Many of T's and Coco's friends came over, which was wonderful. I also was finally privileged to meet Coco's new boy, Big Daddy. He is wonderfully attentive to her and has a quietly sweet way. He also has the most shocking blue eyes that immediately draw your attention. I just have to get him to shave off that beard so I can see the dimples next! LOL
I had a little catch up with Barbie, who has been having some personal problems. Sadly, she has had to deal with some really hard decisions of late and hopefully, things will turn around very soon. I wish nothing but the best to her and her gorgeous family. I also was surprised to find out that one of T's close friends and his gf had moved. Those two are doing great and have a great future ahead of them. Another of T's friends, who calls himself "Moves" (a reference I think, to his dancing skills LOL) serenaded us with his super guitar skills with a guitar provided by his band mate, the "other" T, the one almost as cute as my T. We did have a bit of an emergency when Muffin's friend, Star, tripped and sat on a wine glass. Incredibly, it sliced right through her skirt and created a profusely bleeding gash on her left butt cheek. Coco and Muffin made the decision to send her to emerg for stitches but who could drive her as we had all had more than a few drinks? Thankfully, another friend had not had anything to drink as yet and so whisked Star off for 25+ stitches and staples. :( Poor thing, we heard she was pretty sore yesterday.
PJ was away this weekend with his golf buddy down to Ohio. I was so glad to see him go since he has not been golfing for a couple of years due to a shoulder injury. They had been talking about going for a few years and PJ just could not do it last year, so I am hoping they are enjoying themselves. He is due back today. Now, I just have to figure out how to explain the bloodstains on the step!
Love to all, Lulu xxxxx
Now, let's move on to more fun stuff! We had our Annual May 24 Weekend Start the Summer bonfire on Saturday. It was so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the evening. Many of T's and Coco's friends came over, which was wonderful. I also was finally privileged to meet Coco's new boy, Big Daddy. He is wonderfully attentive to her and has a quietly sweet way. He also has the most shocking blue eyes that immediately draw your attention. I just have to get him to shave off that beard so I can see the dimples next! LOL
I had a little catch up with Barbie, who has been having some personal problems. Sadly, she has had to deal with some really hard decisions of late and hopefully, things will turn around very soon. I wish nothing but the best to her and her gorgeous family. I also was surprised to find out that one of T's close friends and his gf had moved. Those two are doing great and have a great future ahead of them. Another of T's friends, who calls himself "Moves" (a reference I think, to his dancing skills LOL) serenaded us with his super guitar skills with a guitar provided by his band mate, the "other" T, the one almost as cute as my T. We did have a bit of an emergency when Muffin's friend, Star, tripped and sat on a wine glass. Incredibly, it sliced right through her skirt and created a profusely bleeding gash on her left butt cheek. Coco and Muffin made the decision to send her to emerg for stitches but who could drive her as we had all had more than a few drinks? Thankfully, another friend had not had anything to drink as yet and so whisked Star off for 25+ stitches and staples. :( Poor thing, we heard she was pretty sore yesterday.
PJ was away this weekend with his golf buddy down to Ohio. I was so glad to see him go since he has not been golfing for a couple of years due to a shoulder injury. They had been talking about going for a few years and PJ just could not do it last year, so I am hoping they are enjoying themselves. He is due back today. Now, I just have to figure out how to explain the bloodstains on the step!
Love to all, Lulu xxxxx
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Spring???? I don't think so!
Don't worry, I am still here. Yes, I know it has been too long since I have written and I really have no excuse other than the fact that winter is lasting far too long and I am so anxious for spring. And Mother Nature is playing tricks with the weather! We had a few days of warm sunshine and higher temps only to be accosted by more snowy days again and again. My front lawn is still completely covered in snow and I am soooo over it. Being encouraged by that little spat of warm days, I bought some new seeds for my garden this year. I really want to extend the garden and have some ideas about some new areas as well. The seeds are a rather unique radish that is called watermelon radish as it is white on the outside and bright red on the inside and some lovely green peas. I can't wait to get out there to get my gardens started and I am envisioning where I will plant everything. I have a rectangular shaped plot on the south side of the garage that gets sun all day and so have always planted tomatoes there. I would like to enlarge that area but I still need to keep it to the plants that like the all day sun. I would also like to create a plot under our bedroom window which will have some shade from the tree growing there but will still have lots of sun as well in the afternoon. Not sure what to put there. I also want to create a sunflower "wall" with some lattice that could also support some morning glories. I just have to wait until I can actually put some of these ideas in action. Hopefully, soon!
So here is the bad news: I went to the doc's today and discovered that I have gained 5 lbs. WHAT????? Yep, it is true and I am not happy about it. Not sure what my strategy will be to counteract this but I am defo considering vegetarianism (at least for lunches). I can't wait to get out to work on my garden and I am sure that this will be an esteem boost whenever the snow is gone. I know that I must be smart enough to get past this hurdle and move forward. Thankfully, PJ is so supportive and has suggested some ideas to get past this. Don't know what I would do without my fam to support me in everything I do. Even when I am not so successful, I can still rely on PJ and Coco to encourage and boost me through the bad times. Tee is not so involved but he is still my cheerleader when I am down.
Now I need to buck up and do the right thing. Stop fooling around and get to it!
God bless those who stick with me. I appreciate your being there.
Stay tuned!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
So here is the bad news: I went to the doc's today and discovered that I have gained 5 lbs. WHAT????? Yep, it is true and I am not happy about it. Not sure what my strategy will be to counteract this but I am defo considering vegetarianism (at least for lunches). I can't wait to get out to work on my garden and I am sure that this will be an esteem boost whenever the snow is gone. I know that I must be smart enough to get past this hurdle and move forward. Thankfully, PJ is so supportive and has suggested some ideas to get past this. Don't know what I would do without my fam to support me in everything I do. Even when I am not so successful, I can still rely on PJ and Coco to encourage and boost me through the bad times. Tee is not so involved but he is still my cheerleader when I am down.
Now I need to buck up and do the right thing. Stop fooling around and get to it!
God bless those who stick with me. I appreciate your being there.
Stay tuned!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
WHOO HOO! The Good News
My last rendezvous with my doc was not exactly, shall we say, happy. He pretty much threatened me with more meds should I not be successful in getting the pounds off. In some ways, one could say that he was motivating, possibly a bit inspirational, but I still was leery about how successful I could be at this daunting task. I diligently ate my veg at every opportunity, opting for salads and steamed veg for dinners, stayed away from bread products, as well as pasta, and had a breakfast of some design every day. I drank water all day with a couple of herbal teas thrown in and limited my coffees to the weekends. I also limited most, I must be honest here, but not all of my wine to the weekends too and have found, as I posted previously, a new love for fizzy water, creating wine spritzers. This I thought was genius as I still get to enjoy my wine but I am literally cutting it in half with each glassful. I also am appreciating the vegetarian lifestyle a little more as I really do prefer veg and dip or salads for lunches, with an accompanying bit of cheese. I have also gone back to a childhood delicacy in sardines.....don't look at me like that and uncurl your lip! My mother introduced me to the delights of sardines when I was very young. She would make sandwiches of sardines and chili sauce. Yum. I prefer them straight out of the can, personally. Interesting that the "foodies" are all so enamoured with them now and their wonderfully nutritious qualities. Coco has introduced me to a rather odd but strangely yummy combination also: warm peanut butter with pea pods! I know, I thought that too! I think it is the savouriness (?) of the pb and the super sweetness of the pea pods that make such a lovely pairing. Deelish.
I really am lucky to have my cheerleaders cheering me on and continuing to encourage my smarter choices. PJ is benefiting from it all too; he is feeling much happier having his salads for lunches. And when he is shopping for the veg and fruit, he is very discriminating, looking for the best buys and freshest produce. He and Coco are shopping ninjas on Saturdays, armed with their flyers and ready with the items circled to ensure they get their price! Tee, of course is oblivious to it all and just eats whatever is in the house. Including his dad's no sugar fruit muffins and my low cal cereal. Brat!
So I have told you all this to say that I had good news at the doc's today! I have lost 8 1/2 pounds! Now, don't get too excited; I have a very, very long way to go. 8 1/2 pounds is a drop in the bucket compared to the 100 that I want to lose. The doc has given me a challenge of 25 off by June, so any ideas you want to share would be very much appreciated. Or you can just stay tuned for the next installment!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
PS - I found an interesting website, http://summertomato.com/ that talks about eating healthy and seasonally. If you are interested, check it out.
I really am lucky to have my cheerleaders cheering me on and continuing to encourage my smarter choices. PJ is benefiting from it all too; he is feeling much happier having his salads for lunches. And when he is shopping for the veg and fruit, he is very discriminating, looking for the best buys and freshest produce. He and Coco are shopping ninjas on Saturdays, armed with their flyers and ready with the items circled to ensure they get their price! Tee, of course is oblivious to it all and just eats whatever is in the house. Including his dad's no sugar fruit muffins and my low cal cereal. Brat!
So I have told you all this to say that I had good news at the doc's today! I have lost 8 1/2 pounds! Now, don't get too excited; I have a very, very long way to go. 8 1/2 pounds is a drop in the bucket compared to the 100 that I want to lose. The doc has given me a challenge of 25 off by June, so any ideas you want to share would be very much appreciated. Or you can just stay tuned for the next installment!
Love from Lulu xxxxxx
PS - I found an interesting website, http://summertomato.com/ that talks about eating healthy and seasonally. If you are interested, check it out.
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