Retirement

Well since I last posted on my Blog a few things in my life has changed.  I have moved from the working class into retirement.  This is great for my overall well being, but I do miss the having to get up in the morning and have a purpose.  You know,,,somewhere to go.  It is quite odd because I really thought that I would miss the actual pay cheque,,,,but it is more than that.  I miss feeling like I have something to contribute.  Something that is meaningful.  Friends who have retired before me, have said that it will take time to be able to overcome this and relax into retirement.  But I have worked since I was 16 years old and almost am unsure of what to do with myself.  I do have some interests, no hobbies as such really,,,,,, practicing yoga and "practicing" my photography.  Unfortunately I love to practice my Yoga in a group setting, so the classes can get rather pricey.  But I find that it helps me to relax so will pay the buck and continue on with it. Meditation, that I love as well. So relaxing!  Oh yes I also LOVE going to Starbucks,,,,but that is very expensive.  Ray told me that I spend more than $100 a month on coffee drinks, so am going to have to curb that pleasure a bit!  I think I will go and have a coffee and contemplate what I shall do with myself......ttfn

Fun at APCO

It is November 18th and I see that I am not a dedicated "blogger", with May being my last blog entry. Aw well what can I say?

I am currently at the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel on my 3rd APCO conference. This will likely be my last APCO as others need to be given this opportunity to attend. I am here with Joanne, Debbie and Phil. Ian and Ray are here as well. The concurrent sessions are very informative, but most of them I have "heard" before either at another conference or on one of my courses that I have been to. We toured ECOMM and BC Ambulance. They were both interesting.

Today is our final day with the conference ending on the roof of the hotel. Now what exactly does that mean? Are we going to need our mittens and scarves to be out on the roof to partake in the beauty of Vancouver? I guess I will have to wait and see.

Gotta run for now,,,stay tuned for more on the "roof"!

Viva Las Vegas

April 26th 2010....

Vegas was where our life as man and wife started

So we returned to celebrate 10 year!

Spring has Sprung....

The grass is emerald green and is currently glistening with fresh rain drops. There is nothing better then the smell of a spring rain. Well now that is not true at all. Think of this, or rather "smell" this.... A long hot dry summer where the heat can be seen in wavy lines rising off the hot pavement. The air is thick with humidity while the dark clouds skim across the sky. Suddenly the rain starts, softly at first. Then faster and faster the rain pounds onto that hot dry pavement! Now,,,,breath in,,,, can you smell it? That beautiful distinctive smell of a summer rain. Ahhhh,,,, I can smell it as I sit hear typing away. Mmmmm I can't wait until that first rain.

Spring is beautiful as the trees begin to bud and the flowers bloom. My Iris garden is currently in full bloom with its mauve, purple, pale pink and a the most beautiful colour of orange that you have ever seen. My good friend Laurel presented me with a dark purple Iris in a pot late in March. I have left it in the pot as I thought it maybe to late to plant it with the others. But so far it has not produced a flow. I am sure though that it will. If not this year, definitely it will next spring. In the fall it will join the others, in "Mom's Garden".

Summer is fast approaching and we have many things to do. Cia is giving birth to her baby Sadie. Actually that birth will be in two days! We are all very excited, especially Riley. He things that Sadie will "hatch" very soon. He must think Cia's has a giant egg in the tummy. We will be flying down to California on the 29th of June and will stay for 10 days. Cia will not need our help this time as much as she did with little Riley. But we will be there to do whatever we can for her.

In July we will be going to Radium Hot Springs. Tanya and Dean will be joining us there. I am so excited for that!! It will be fun spending the time with them. I am sure we will bore them silly, but at least they will be close enough for a trip to Canmore to visit with Tan, Shelly and kids.

August will arrive with heat and lots of sunshine. Well I can hope, can't I?? Typically August is cooler than July which is good as we will have Riki and Baby Bean (Alisha) come for a visit. It will be the list time that we will not have to pay for a flight for Alisha, as she will be two years old in September. Riki has suggested that we celebrate Alisha's 2nd birthday while they are out, so we will most likely do something for her.

2010 came in with a blast!

Well I see from my last blog I have not written here at all this year, and we are three months into 2010. I have missed writing about how fantastic the Vancouver 2010 Olympics were. Much to the dismay of many people I am sure. I was not really "into it" mostly because of all the political crap that is shoved down our throats on a nightly basis via the local news casts. But then the Olympics started. I could not tear myself away from the TV. I even had the Olympic results sent to my cell phone. And on my days off, I had the TV on full time to watch our great Canadian athletes win bronze, silver and then GOLD!! And win, we did!! We took the most gold medals, even if we did not "own the podium" (whatever that was all about).

While my favourite sport in the Olympics to watch is figure skating. my true emotions came flooding out when Canada won the Gold in Hockey. Beating out the Americans was oh,,, the next best thing to chocolate (or shoes). I was at work and we had the game on. Hockey is really not my favourite thing to watch, but I soon found myself mesmerized. I could not take my eyes off the TV. And when the US scored 24 seconds before the 3rd period ended, I thought I was going to cry! As the very tense overtime period started, I found myself, along with two other co-workers standing below the TV (which hangs from the ceiling) with my hands up to my face. I guess I thought that if by chance the US scored again, I could quickly cover my eyes so that I did not have to bear witness to the defeat. Well when Sidney Crosby scored that final goal, I along with everyone else in the radio room started to scream!!! Yes, me the non hockey person, screamed not just once but two or three times. I jumped up into the air (well okay, just a couple of inches up into the air), and showed my true Canadian spirit!!!

I followed all of the athletes when they won their bronze, silver and gold medals and shared their wins as though they were my own. I shared in my heart, the disappointment for those who did not bring home a medal. It was throughout these amazing Olympics that the naturally reserved Canadians came out in all their red and white glory to show the world their pride to be a Canadian!!

"Shop til you drop...."

Here it is, the day after Black Friday. I literally did "shop til I dropped". Not that I spent a lot of money, but just being "there". In the mall, the heart of things. Being witness to the craziness of others. It was pure excitement! Unlike the experience of the Outlet Mall four years ago, where a police trailer was set up with the dispatcher able to view the whole area. That day there were police on horse back attempting to control and add semblance to the chaos. You could not find a place to park anywhere. All of the stores had line ups either outside the doors, where they were letting in people in groups of ten, or people lined up "snake" like to either get into fitting rooms or to the cash registers. People fighting over at the table in the Guess store, for the $25 purses. Women grabbing blouses by the handful off the crowded racks in the Saks - 5th Aveune store to be able to buy a blouse that is regular $450, and today on Black Friday, pay only $295. Don't even go near the electronic stores! Think of the Army & Navy shoe sales of years gone by, and multiply that by about one thousand. Insanity at its best!

This year however, was somewhat more subdued. Most Canadians may not be aware that the big sales are from about 0400 - 1300 hrs. The great deals are during those hours only. So if you slept in and did not arrive at the mall until noon, then you were pretty much "hooped". We arrived at the mall, one of the smaller malls, at about 10:00 am. So really we knew before we got there that we would like not find any great savings. Which is exactly what happened.

Let me say, if you are a size 0 to 8 and are under the age of 35 years, then you will find lots of great buys. But for someone of my gargantuan size and middle aged as I unfortunately am, there is not much for sale. You might find a bathrobe sale or something like that, but forget getting some great deals on sweaters etc in size 12 or higher! The shoe stores that I dared to venture into, had a measly 25% off. What kind of sale is that?? I can get that in Canada on Boxing Day.

So when I say that I did shop til I dropped, I merely meant that today, the day after "Black Friday", I am ill. I have a terrible cold, not quite the flu. Yes I dropped!

I need to rest up for 2011 Black Friday,,, thank God I do not do this every year!

Shoes, glorious shoes!

Saturday, a lazy day. I can't seem to get motivated to get out of my pyjamas to get on with my day. I have things to do. Grocery shopping, shoe shopping, packing for our trip. Wait did I just say "shoe shopping"? Where did that come from? The word "shoe" just seemed to flow and appear on the screen. Does this mean I am a shoe "addict"? Argh,,,, what is it about shoes that entices me so much to look, try on and buy? Could it be because it is so easy to do. I mean shopping for pants is impossible because the length is just never right, shopping for dresses - well that just will never happens!! And don't even talk to me about shopping for bras! Bra shopping is a nightmare!!! So shoes just seem so simple to shop for. I have never head out the door with the intent of buying a pair of shoes. It is really something that just "happens".

Recently I was out shopping for Christmas gifts for my loved ones. Every time I went past a shoe store I had to go inside and just "look". I would even just stop outside the door and peer inside. If I did not enter the store, then I was not really "looking", was I? It is almost like those beautiful sleek, 4 inch spiked heels were beckoning me to come in and dare to pick them up. Just to feel the beautiful soft leather under my skin,,,,,ahhh yeah that is what makes me do it. The feel! I mean, I would not even wear a pair of four inch spikes. Really I would just fall over the second I took a step forward and fall flat on my face and then some unknown stranger (probably a male) would ask if I was okay. Just the thought of me lying in a heap in the middle of Ingeldews wearing my "too short" pants and not being able to pull myself into a standing position! How embarrassing would that be? Actually it would be hilarious!!

Anyway while I was out doing my Christmas shopping I came upon two beautiful pairs of leopard "flats". They were so yummy, I just knew that I was going to buy one of them. But how to decide which pair would be the ones to take home? One pair had shiny black patent toes and a small wedge heel. The others had a large bold buckle and a more substantial sensible heel. Thinking to myself, I really could buy both as they were fairly inexpensive. But who needs two pairs of leopard flats? Who I ask you?

I had to go away to think about this, so I ventured into the mall and had a grande non-fat double shot latte. This was a big decision and I needed all the caffeine that my body could absorb to enable me to decide. A million thoughts were going flashing through my mind, but foremost was how I was going to tell my husband that while shopping for others, I had been selfish and bought something for myself. Something that I did not need, just really "wanted"..... He was going to "kill me"!!

I broke out into a cold sweat and slowly got to my feet. I dumped my empty coffee cup into the trashcan as I blindly headed back to the shoe store. It was the big golden buckle that I could not get my mind off. They were fabulous, glorious shoes. I had to have them! I would take them home and introduce them to my many other shoes. I was thinking that perhaps I could have a shoe tea party and send out invites to all my shoe crazed friends.

Then it hit my. I was the ONLY shoe crazed person that I knew.