In our neighbourhood, most of us are known for hubby. He is the social butterfly, he is kinda like Crocodile Dundee, if he doesn’t know you, he will. My son, although homebound with his blindness, he is pretty well known own in his medical community. The medical staff that we are associated with, know him pretty well. With his condition, he is sunshine in these offices. A chorus of hellos call out upon arrival, it’s kinda like Norm, in the sitcom, “Cheers.” I have been told, he is kind of a big deal. Blindness, after twenty seven years of sight is a gut punch. He meets it with a great attitude, most of the time.

Today is the dentist, here he is also well received. Personal notes and cards arrive to the house on all the occasions. I am terrified of the dentist, he is the best patient. Everyone knows his name, he knows all the things, no better time to listen, lying in a chair, with your mouth open. The chit chat and laughter coming from his visit makes my day. I can only imagine what it does for his day, he doesn’t get that much people time, besides the fam.

I will take the win, happy is happy. What a great day to get out of the house too, it is lovely outside. Who knew that the dentist would be such a spirit building exercise. I was going to run a few errands, but I just want to stay and bask in the laughter I can hear. Almost on cue, while we chatted with reception before leaving, he received an early Easter gift… my heart♥️♥️

I thought it was bizarre to think that 20 years ago, is no longer in the 80’s. Today my granddaughter turns twelve and that blows me away, and tomorrow my great goddaughter turns three! We just have no control over time. We do have control over what we do with it. No moments should be wasted. Do not put off until tomorrow, what you can do today could be no farther from the truth. Git er done. My list is large, I could write my own doers and dreamers guide. The aim is for more doing.

The to do list is out the window, skip the meaningless day to day garbage. Live! I could clean till I was blue in the face, project my butt off, go big. The bucket list needs to get off the paper! I have crossed off some goodies, but I am always adding more, why not? You need to be at the ready to expand your limits. Launch into goodness, stretch beyond imagination. It must be the mild weather that has me itching to go big or go home.

One sour weather day will calm me down, but I rather enjoy the glimpse into better stuff. I have had the mid morning sleep interruption again, my brain is firing up with all the passion to go forth and do. At three in the morning, it does not serve the purpose! This girl needs sleep. Don’t forget to “Do!” If doing is not your thing, that is fine too. Being happy is the goal. Just be sure you are enjoying your life, whatever that looks like to you.

The full moon was sensational this week, of course I love all things nature. I will never stop chasing rainbows, lightening, sunrises and sunsets. I do see things with my rose coloured glasses more now, than ever before. Sometimes when everything aligns in your world, you can only feel up. People can give this to you too, which I have never looked for before. Solo is good, I am always comfortable in silence, it has never bothered me. My hope is that those that have mastered people, can also master being alone and vice versa. I think it rounds us out being part of community and enjoying solace.

I was always a people watcher, interactions and behaviour fascinates me. Authentic people being themselves without fear of judgement, radiating confidence. I strive for that. It is sad to see people holding back, I was one of those people and I suppose the latter comes with age. The common, “ We should do this more often.” Why aren’t we? Life is busy, it will never be unbusy. It usually happens all at once. Nothing for days, and life just fills your plate with more than one thing. My phone won’t ring for months and then someone is at the door, while the phone rings and someone is in the driveway. Take your opportunities, I used to hate planning in advance for this reason. Don’t hold out, just do it. If you can’t when it comes, just tweak it. You don’t have to be defined by a date, remember no deadlines. Just put it into a time frame, less pressure.

Life happens, you charter the voyage. Hop on the train and go, you are the rule maker, you set the schedule. I wish I had of… you still can! You don’t get to plan your death, but you sure can live life. Do all the things, always! If you don’t want to, then own that too. You know you, make you happy.

When you are up, you are not invincible. Don’t let it go to your head too much. Try to stay on the even plateau and revel in it a little before plunging forward, worries in the wind. In the eighties it was, “no pain, no gain!” You didn’t, “wuss out.” We don’t do that now. Those of us from the eighties are in our fifties, hardly a limitation. However we still need to listen to our bodies.

I grew up with the, 20 minute workout and the serene yoga lady on the beach. Last year I couch potatoed my winter, so this year I vowed I wouldn’t. I choose Pilates, dance and Yoga. YouTube and Pinterest have all the goods. The secret is, when your instructor says, “ for a more advanced move…” less than 30 days does not equate more advanced move. Furthermore, pain is not gain. Pain is stop, breath work is important, if you have to hold your breath, stop. Basically, should have known better is hindsight. “ This move is counterproductive,” should be installed, for those of us that need reminders.

I am still going to pursue my goals… at basic level. Can’t keep an old dog down. You can teach them new tricks, just takes longer. I do feel like I am mending faster, I’ll try a new routine, I just found! Just joking, I will do no such thing! The road to health, is a slow journey, don’t take any shortcuts! Stay at your plateau until you can do moves in your sleep. Most important, listen to your body!

When I was thirteen, my baby cousin was at my Grandmother’s house. She had her parents down for a visit and he ran around saying, “ old people, old people, up and down people!” They stayed upstairs overnight, and apparently, this was a two year olds perception. I couldn’t tell you how many sets of stairs I do a day, for sure over a dozen. My mood is right there with the stairs. So who lifts you up? Not a piggyback on the stairs, but makes your mood lift? They could be one and the same, we can piggyback emotions too sometimes.

I have been a rather good hermit in February, and was quite surprised to hear the date, the twentieth! The sun is setting after 6pm and we are on the final stretch of winter. Still freezing, but the goal post is right there! The ref’s keep blowing the whistle and throwing flags, but we are closer. It is now that we stick our toes in the water to see if it’s safe to swim. The indoor things are getting pretty boring.

Time to get with the up people. People that are happy and smiling get that contagious, infectious, feel good on! Do anything that elevates your spirit. Create happy spaces, you create them. Figure out how to be the contagious one. Things that others do, that make you happy, do that! With illness still kicking around, don’t share that! Wrong contagious! Be a happy building block, to secure someone else’s footing. Come on Spring!

Readers don’t always pronounce things right. We read beyond our vocabulary at a young age and have never heard the word spoken. I was one of these, my son and my granddaughter. It is always in conversation that a word would come up, and you can use it in context, but say it totally wrong. I love that! The written words are being poured into our minds and the brain retains them. Conversations are important to the development of language, but this is my own personal basket of proof that reading also lends to communication and intelligence. I like when things I know are proved to me.

My granddaughter has been interested in historical events. She was telling me about an event and asking me if I knew about it. I did not, so I turned to Goggle. She informed me I spelt it wrong, took my phone, corrected my words and Goggle showed everything about everything. Also revealed that I knew exactly what she was talking about. My son same, although his interests are more physics, math and sciences. My knowledge is limited in some of that but I can pick up on if the words are off. My grandad always has a stack in the bed when he stays here. One is for me to read, the rest are for him. Learning is lifelong and I love when people gravitate to it. Especially my people.

I guess that is why I love the classroom. I am always showing kids tips, that I call hacks. Short cuts, a different approach… a visual. A child was struggling to spell ‘together’ during a writing exercise. I showed him how to uncover a word in pieces to sound it out. This word is my favourite, and I said to him “to get her” and then I showed him. Kids are the best learners, when they get something for the first time, and sometimes it is after a long time the look they give is my favourite. I know the look, I remember when I got things for the first time. You chip into the side of an ice glacier, over and over. Then one day after trying forever it just makes sense. I will be that person for any one, any day!

I don’t know what your skill set is. Perhaps you knit or crochet, or the most you have done is replace a button. Whatever your journey it is relative. If you were to map your life in creation the connection is there. Sometimes you drop a stitch, add a stitch, run out of thread. It could be the fibers are not the same and you run out, or it isn’t a match. You could even create something large or leave projects unfinished. Your blanket, your plan is yours. No one dictates your pattern, it is yours alone.

Life is exactly that, people come in and mingle within your life and you decide the outcome. You ultimately decide. Don’t sugar coat it, you decide, everything is a choice, everything. The woes is me and the come what may and the high fives are your makings. Different manufacturers, producers, marketing, ultimately it is you that allows the finished project. We struggle with this, we allow stuff all the time. We have control of what we control. When it’s good, it’s beautiful, when it’s not we play the blame game. Human nature is human and not perfect, ever.

Good things are worth waiting for. Figure out what you need before you even start. Don’t be too rigid in your planning, remember to take away rigid deadlines. Rally in your successes. Learn from your mistakes, and if you don’t succeed, try, try again. These old words are good words. Never be afraid to start again, good things take time. Sow up the holes in your fabric, change colours, enjoy the process and be proud of what you complete.

My girls and I don’t get together as much as I would like. They are grown and have partners, jobs, extended family and one has kids. That doesn’t leave much time for their old momma. We used to go on shopping trips, going out for a meal, cooking, and when they got older drinks and karaoke. The last time they took me out together was for supper on my fiftieth birthday. They were the distraction while a surprise party was being set up. I loved the surprise and our time out was just like old times. We stopped for a random photo shoot and although it was to waste time, they are some of my fav’s!

I still spend time with them, just seperate or in large family gatherings. They grow up too fast, I am not always their go to anymore. They have grown into their own family foundations, finding foot holds to build their own solid ground. I hope I am part of their groundwork, that my words are a guide, my strength is enough to hold them together. My love stretches around them from my toes and I hope they feel that at the start and end of every single one of their days. Hubby and the boy get me personally but I want my presence to be felt in their lives.

I am super proud of my kids. Kindness and compassion lives in each one of them. They are my legacy, I may be stressed and tired, but they are my happiness. They are something beautiful hubby and I created. Symbols of time, growth and change in our lives. Representation of our love and care. It wasn’t perfection all the time, but our best. I had three and had extras to make up for the dozen I wanted. At one time our hearts beat beside each other, my heart still beats for each one of them. I still offer my best. 💕

We had a barbecue today, we used to barbecue all the time in the winter. Something about steak in February is quite appealing. I have made so many new things lately. Mushroom Bolognese, cabbage roll soup, roasted balsamic carrots, cauliflower rice and bacon carbonara. All new and the boys are all in. I get bored of food so quickly. I am horrible for skipping meals when I get busy doing other things. I still have days when it is grilled cheese or scrambled eggs. When the grands come over, it is pretty much short order cooking to appease everyone.

January always seems so long. It always feels good when it is over, but winter is not. I wanna get out of here but I feel trapped. I’m coming down with something. I was writing this last night and hubby woke me up and I had two lines of r’s. It feels extra cold, but perhaps that is just me. The groundhog did not see his shadow, I sure hope he is right this year. Winter really has been okay. It is the cold that gets me. We had snow last week and it was beautiful and mild. The temperature dropped and its bite makes me bitter. I will try to lower my expectations for February, and hopefully won’t be disappointed.

My get up and go has got up and left and that is okay. Today can be a five hundred gallons of water, vitamin C and ginger ale kind of day. I guess the r’s were my reminder to rest, relax, repair. Although I feel like it is for ruin my day. Far worse things in life, I should refrain from these random r thoughts. I just got up, I think I will have a nap. Maybe the day can be salvaged with a do over.

It is so easy to zoom around and neglect yourself. Last couple of years have presented some challenges that warped the priorities or lack of them. I realized I was neglecting myself, but at least I was on my list. However my pets took me by surprise and it was only recently that I had enough brain space to analyze and process some information.

Last year after what I call the Christmas crunch, I scrutinized my bills. I made changes as I always do. My dog food, that my dog had since she came home with us had skyrocketed an extra forty dollars. On principle that all things were going up in price, I set out to make changes. I found some food that was twice in size and the original price of the food I had been getting. It lasted forever! Done and done! What I lost sight of, was that I had chosen a high end brand because our previous dog grew up on dog food and every table scrap. She had a great 13 years, grew up with the kids, kids waste food, win, win. I always had a little dig in the back of my mind, that nine hundred pounds of discarded crusts robbed her of some time with us. This dog was going to be different.

Last March our dog got a hot spot, she had been to the groomers and hubby and I went on a holiday. Got cream, carry on. Her best friend, our cat, died in June, hot spot grew again. Maybe it was the grooming? Maybe it was stress. She got a bladder infection, her nose was dry and actually became rough. She was lame, sore shoulder… did she fall? Then she got type one diabetes, I went back to work and more hot spots! She had not been to the groomers, but I did wash the floors, maybe it was the cleaner? Maybe the new kitten? My neighbours dog had made the change to the same dog food, I did. Her dog had skin allergies and then since October developed bladder infection, after bladder infection. After speaking to a co worker about my suspicions on the floor cleaning, hot spots and google consultations and images, it hit me, the dog food. My coworker told me of a Canadian made dog food, good for all breeds. This food no colour, no additives, less carbs, more protein, pricey. Bought a small bag, changes right away. Told my neighbour, I got a big one and she did too. We are a week in and officially have changed pets. Huge oversight, so glad for the changes in my pet. Save money on food and huge vet bills… rather spend money on the food!