A Memorable Day!

Congratulations to Will & Kate! An historic day. Beautiful wedding. Unfortunately, I did not get up at 1 a.m. to watch the whole wedding but at 5:15 a.m. I was able to see a lot of the repeats and the 'kiss' of the day as it actually happened. The rest is repeats and discussion about 'this' and 'that' and how it will all turn out but I guess we just have to wait and see. I am betting that like every other marriage, it will have it's highs and lows but will do just fine!



One of the cakes from 2010 event

 We have an event of our own to attend this evening. It is the annual Shepherd's Care Foundation 'Cake Walk' which is put on by the Friends of Shepherds Care and is a fundraiser for them.  http://www.shepherdscare.org/

Last year, there were some beautiful cakes and the event was lovely as it was held in the newly opened Edmonton Art Gallery.


A beautiful dining experience as well.

Over 100 cakes went up for auction and these were just two that I took pictures of. It was quite the evening so I am looking foward to this year's event! There's always room for cake!


So many to choose from!


Well, the sun is out and I am looking forward to a high of 15C.  The grass is starting to turn green after our rain last night and there are sprouts from my perrenials beside the garage which certainly indicate Spring is coming.

Have a great day and enjoy the Royal reruns!

So Much Change

I have been getting emails from my granddaughter who is 8.  It's hard to believe that she is actually 'typing' and knows how to 'get around' on the Internet (especially when I am still learning how to do it myself)! She already plays with her webkins 'on the net' and has a bunch of sites that she visits to play with her 'puppies' and cyberfriends! Her emails are always colorful and have plenty of little icon buddies  that she includes. Most of them 'move' as well! I am not sure where she gets hers and almost don't want to ask for fear of being 'not with it'! Although...she likely would feel pretty smart if gramma had to ask her something about the Internet!!  These moving ones I just found this morning!!

It's amazing what kids know at a young age now. I started taking typing in Grade 9!! How old was I? Well, I would have been 14! She's 8 and has been on the computer since she was 6 years old. Her younger six year old brother has been on it since he was four!! I started typing on an electric typewriter when I started working when I was 18! I know electric typewriters were out before then but... "I am just saying" ... technology is getting too much to keep up to.  I feel sorry for our older generation. It must be mind boggling!

I guess we just have to 'learn as we go' and not get too frustrated with things. It's not that it's so hard to learn, it's just hard to find someone to 'show you' or 'teach you' when the opportunities arise. I think getting a computer helps us get into the 'computer age' (it sure helped me) and makes us more 'savy'. Having said that, I do not have a blackberry or a whiteberry or a redberry (if there is such a thing!) or anything electronic. Oh...I do have a cell phone which I never turn on. Well... never say never, as the other day I guess I did have it on and forgot to turn it off. I was surprised to hear it ring   and can you believe it....it was a wrong number!!! Last week, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the shopping center, I got a call from someone on my cell phone who I didn't even know had my cell phone number!!! How do people find out these things.  Guess they are computer savy!!

Computers do take up your time, especially when you are blogging!  Not that I don't enjoy blogging, but with all the information you can access, it does lead you from 'one thing to another' and before you know it....an hour has passed!
 

Speaking of which...it is time to go have breakfast before it is lunch time! Enjoy your cyberspace!
 

Mornings...I Love Them

Happy Easter! Great choir song in church on Sunday morning - check it out !
What a Beautiful Grace! http://youtu.be/G3Slc5-5ji8

What are the signs of Spring for me?
- the sparrows and chickadees are singing outside our bedroom window at 6 a.m.
- we finally uncovered our deck chairs yesterday to sit & enjoy the 17+ weather
- John is raking up the leaves which fell off the willow tree during winter 
- John is spreading the remaining snow on the ground to help it melt
- the sun is up earlier and I notice it's more northerly location and ...
- I just feel good!

Happy Monday!

Good Friday?

Wow, excellent Good Friday service this morning. Music was moving and everything about it redirected your thoughts to what special day it is. There's something about 'Good Friday' that became very real today. Good Friday is for us! For anyone who wants to accept the free gift that was given.

'Good' Friday, meaning the cruxifiction, is really an oxymoron, isn't it? When you read what Christ endured for us, how can that be good? Yet it was and is. Without it, we would be lost!

As bad as it is (or, I guess, as good as it is), I prefer Easter Sunday with the Resurrection. It's the icing on the cake! It's what we believe, or else, there's not much point in it all!

Waiting in anticipation for Sunday... It's Friday....but Sunday's coming!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRiIpsbJW8o&feature=related

Another Year

The Easter Musical is over. Four nights of actual presentations with three nights of rehearsals. It was very good (as usual) and I think everyone who saw it felt the same. There is always so much more work involved than what the passerby sees but I guess that is the way it is for all things.  Just know it took a lot of planning and work on behalf of everyone involved. Special koodos to Pastor Bernie Stein who celebrated his 25th year of presenting this great Passion Play.


Pastor Gary, Caiaphas & Jesus waiting to congratulate Pastor Bernie



















25 years of giving to his community in this great presentation

There will be a Good Friday service on April 22nd 'Beautiful Grace' and Easter Sunday will be 'What a Difference a Day Makes'. Should be an excellent finale to a wonderful week.
Thanks to everyone who helped out in any way, shape or form. It was all appreciated!
Happy Easter!

In the Midst of Living...

...there is death.  That is what Pastor Dave said when he gave his sermon yesterday at the funeral of little Brooklyn or 'Brookie' as she was affectionately called.  Just as you are going along 'living' each day...death becomes part of your day.

Little Brooklyn was full of life - the slide show presented a beautiful, young, warm hearted, energy-filled, fun-loving, little girl. A tomboy, according to her Opa, all dolled-up in a pink Princess dress. She was adorable! Her blond hair and striking blue eyes were 'show stoppers'...perfection...God's handiwork!

What can you say about the life of a five year old? How long is five years and what can you do in that short time? What can you accomplish?  Well, for this little sweetheart, she accomplished quite a bit. She won the heart of everyone she met. She was a 'bring together' of people. She was an attraction in herself with a heart for people and animals. She loved all 'living' things, even spiders (if they are called 'baby spiders'). It's all about perspective!

It's difficult to comprehend that she is no longer with us. But the message is clear.  She is alive somewhere else! She is with the One she believed in and talked about. Her purpose, whatever He intended for her, was accomplished whether we totally understand it or not and she has returned to Him. The after effects of her life will linger on for eternity in the hearts of those who met and loved her.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Luke 18:16

More Snow

I'ts snowing. Again! Hopefully, just for the day according to the weatherman. Nevertheless, the grass is covered, our back deck is under a white blanket and even the BBQ has a layer of snow once more!  Unfortunately, the wind is blowing too so it really does feel like winter. There is a 'snowfall warning' on the weather network. That sounds like LOTS of snow if there is a warning but they are only showing about 5 cm today with another 1-3 tonite. Oops I see there are scattered flurries tomorrow morning where yesterday they said only snow today. I guess they don't really know either!




Backyard in white blanket again!




The roads and sidewalks were clear last night!


I was at the church last night.  It was the 2nd night of rehearsals for our Easter Production and things were progressing smoothly - in other words, everyone was wondering how it was all going to come together in time!! But... it always does. No worries here. After 19 years of being involved in it, it's amazing to see how much effort everyone puts out! I am looking forward to hearing the new music!  Here's a sneak look at the set...



Colourful and dramatic!

I have to go to the church again tonite for a makeup and dress rehearsal for the production. I hope the roads have improved by then and the wind has died down. It would be nice if it stopped snowing too ~ that's not asking for too much, is it??

Anyway, it is a good day to stay inside for awhile and catch up on the ironing.  Drive safely if you go out there and try to have a good day. Spring IS coming!

Questions, questions

We are getting new windows for our house. I know they are going to look great but I am now thinking about the inside of the house. Oh boy. They will all have a border (I need to confirm how wide that will be) and I think I will be having a problem with our venetian blinds on the living room and dining room windows. I belive they may have to be removed and put back on again. That always leaves holes and marks etc.etc. I am not 'Sarah 101' or 'Candace' or any of the home renovation show hosts. To me....this will prove to be a challenge (not a problem) just to keep a positive spin on things!

I am thinking perhaps NOW is the time to change drapes. Oops. I hope John did not hear that! Nothing too extravagant, dear, just simple. Although..."Simple" sometimes can turn into expensive! I guess that means I should be looking at or at least thinking about some variations before the windows arrive. I know it means the verticals will be coming down and I will need something to at least offer as an option.

Tick, tick, tick....

Pretty and Tasty Too!

I went to a Spring lunch last week arranged by Lisa. It had a lot of thought put into it and it was definitely a Spring wingding! It was really nice that someone went to all the trouble and made the environment so springy!  It's nice to feel Spring in the air. They are whispering about possible snow on Thursday but ... today... it's Spring!



Cake made by Charlene - all edible too!




Lisa's picnic basket - filled with goodies!




The spring dinner table - complete with uninvited guests (ants)!

 The ants were (thankfully) just plastic to add to the Spring Picnic experience!

All Talk, No Action

So, the fingernails are clipped short and with a lot of handwashing, they are pretty much back to their normal colour. One fingernail still has a blue trim to it but otherwise I am no longer one of Blue's Clues!

Since the distraction yesterday, I did get a chance to look at my spare room and try to figure out how to set up my office. That's about it too. I looked at my spare room and am still 'trying to figure out how to set up my office'. Some things never change!!

I realize that I need a bookcase of some sort as I have lots of books and files. I need them accessible to me in there. However, I have found that I do watch the tv while I am working sometimes so that would mean I would have to leave the room and go to the living room to watch it. Perhaps not being near the tv would speed up my work. I will have to try out that concept!!

I have a dresser in there which was mine when I was a little girl. Say, 8 years old. That means......well, over 50 years old anyway. I guess that makes it an antique. IT...not me! I love that dresser and really don't want to get rid of it. I know it serves no real purpose other than being a cute little girl's dresser but...I am nostalgic. It matches the old fasioned upright 5-drawer one which is there also. Perhaps I need to think of selling both of them as a set. I wonder if anyone would really want them? The one dresser has a large round mirror. Maybe I should take the mirror and throw out the dresser? See? That's where I am at. One question brings about another question and both have no answer.

Sitting at my dining room table, I am able to look at my dishes in the china cabinet. Many of those dishes belonged to my mom and her mom. They are old but beautiful. I love the pink, square pettipoint one and the hand painted casserole dish. It is orange and yellow with a lovely scene of a lake. Of course, there are also my many tea cups. Each one a different colour and flower.  I love flowers. I am not much of a gardener but I can definitely buy things with flowers on them! My grandson told me "You sure have lots of stuff, Gramma!"




Love this black/pink tea cup too!



Hand painted casserole dish, cup/saucer/candy dish!



Pretty in Pink!

 Alright, I guess I have not solved anything - only shared. Somehow I feel like I can now go back to moving things around some more and perhaps I will come up with some solutions.

Until next time ....

Some Advice

Here's another example of doing too many things at the same time.
I was working on the computer and decided right there and then that I needed to make a space in our spare room to set up 'my office'. However, on the way to the spare room, I got distracted.  I recalled that I had wanted to somehow remove the blue deodorizer that changes the color of the water in our toilet tank. I was tired of seeing the blue drip down the inside of the bowl after it was flushed. So....I thought - now is the time to do that.  I first put on a pair of rubber gloves and got some towelling and a plastic bag to put the blue gel object into. I lifted the lid off the tank and it of course was all dark blue. As I rummaged around in there (to try and find the gel stick)  I realized that it had disintegrated (more or less) and I simply held the handle down and let the clear water come in and went about rinsing out the blue water.  Note:  the water is very cold (even when wearing a plastic glove).

I thought I was quite smart in doing all of this prep work, even though it turned out I did not need the paper towelling or the plastic bag. I did, however, encounter a second issue.  As I was cleaning off the plastic glove in the sink, I took my hand out of it to rinse it better and wouldn't you know it .............the glove had a hole in it (some little hole somewhere...) and of course, my hand was blue!!!!! It did not rinse off like it did in the toilet bowl. It did not go down the drain like it did in the sink. No....it is a part of my right hand, outlining my ring and my finger nails!!

I did a lot of cleaning with soap, etc. but it did not totally remove the blue. I guess it could be worse than it is.  The plastic gloves are in the garbage but what do I do about my right hand!!!

Busy Week

Yesterday was another busy day. We are 'gearing up' for our Easter Musical production (see http://www.mwpa.com/ (click on Contact us; Upcoming; Easter Musical and click on it for video clip). We were highlighting the scripts for the indivdiual cast and choir members. It only took about 3+ hours as there were five of us and then after an hour, it dropped to four of us! However, this year they wrote down the pages that each person appears, in the script so we did not have to flip each page and read to find a person's name. That made things much faster. Thank you Emilie!! It is a good social time with the girls while we work as well. Sometimes you never get the time to just sit down and chat (while you are working)!!

In the afternoon I made another trip to the chiropractor who made some adjustments (which my body refused to accept as helpful!)  I came home and put some rubbing ointment on my sore spots and actually took two Ibuprofen (400 mg each) and thought I would 'close my eyes' for a few minutes which turned into over an hour! It was amazing to wake up thinking I just had a few winks! I was feeling better as now my headache was only 'in the background'.

I got ready to go to my ladies night out which was a quiet evening of talking, sharing and lots of laughs (as always). It is nice to see women I don't always get opportunity to talk to at length. It is a small group of us but we enjoy our time together.

This morning I am relaxing and reviewing the things I have to get done for next week. There is always something. I have a baby shower this afternoon which thankfully I got the gift, wrapped it and did the card on Thursday so I would not have to worry about it at the last moment. What a revelation!! Plan ahead!

The weather is overcast and kind of gloomy but it's Saturday and the Dog Whisperer is on so that makes it a good day in my books.

Silence

The kids have been gone for a day now. The house is quiet except for the sound of the washer and dryer! Lots to do as far as towels, sheets, etc and the buildup of our own clothes in the clothes hamper. Still, things are quiet.

I got an email from Alicia so they got home safe and sound. Boring drive she said. It is a long 12 hr drive - remember when you used to move around in the car? I remember my dad made a 'step-thing' for the back seat and laid a plank on it so that we had the whole back seat to play on. We put a blanket down with our pillows and we could play or sleep on it comfortably. We  often crawled over the seat to the front and back all the time - well, maybe I did and my brothers watched. Guess that was the advantage of being the youngest and the smallest! Nowadays, kids have to sit, strapped into their car seat. No moving around. BORING!!!

Anyway, back to our routines. Sun is shining and thankfully, we missed all the snow that Calgary got yesterday. It feels like Spring here although there is no guarantee that we won't get snow again!

Just a few reminders of our visitors. They may have left for home but we are still thinking of them.



Alicia and her cousin, Rebecca making buildings out of dominos





Sleeping Beauty (Gracie)



The lovebirds on their 15th Anniversary

Getting ready to go play in the park

The End of the Week

This is our last day with the kids. They leave tomorrow morning for Vancouver. This morning, we had a great  brunch of pancakes, bacon and eggs (John's speciality) then they took off to say goodbye to their other grandparents and cousins. They will be home later today for hamburgers and the dreaded 'packing'!!

Yesterday it was beautiful outside. We headed to the park. Where we once were able to pull Gracie on the sled on the road, it had now become pavement and water so she had to be carried. There was lots of snow left on the hill and walking to the playground proved to be a challenge for some of us!




Jade fell through the upper crust!

 We had a great time on the hill. The kids all went down with the sled and enjoyed themselves. Josh would like to move to Edmonton (because of the snow)!!

The weather was wonderful and I was thankful I had my camera to prove that I DO go outside occasionally. The oldest and the youngest grandchild with gramma.

Josh & Gracie with Gramma



It will be hard to see them go tomorrow morning.Thankfully we are talking about camping together in July. I can hardly wait!