Legs Alive

Legs frickin' dead - I thought this would be the 'easiest' class - (moaning... m o a n i n g) I better be smokin' frickin' hot by the summer for all of this agony. I did loose 2.3 lbs. so far!

Yoga On The Ball

Tonight is 'Yoga on the Ball'. How hard can that be? I'll keep you posted...if I can
It was very difficult (balancing) but very relaxing too. Some of the class made me sweat but mostly it was just balance and stretching. At the end of the class (53 minutes) we laid flat out for 7 minutes and listened to a tape of the ocean. This class will benefit my flexibility without killing me.

LowGo

"moderate intensity class that includes non-impact aerobics, muscle endurance and stretching segments"
I thought I would die! I can hardly walk tonight, tomorrow I will roll out of bed for work I am sure. Ouch! Oh! Ew! Tomorrow..."Yoga on the Ball"

I'm joining a gym tonight.....

Wish me luck. My goal is to lose about 50 lbs. in 2 weeks! I know, I know....let me dream.

There's no place like home

We had a wonderful impromptu (?) party at Faye's. Actually Faye was one of the few people who weren't there! No true, but anyway...
I thought we were going to be crashing a small party of Joyce & Larry, Marilee, Ashlee and her boyfriend. As it turned out Larry & Rochelle, Val & Rob and the kids, David & Erma, Adam & Yvonne, Brent & Mary were all there. We drank tons of wine (sorry Faye, don't forget to stock up on the way home) and laughed a bunch.
It's funny really how wonderful it was. With friends you are always aware of pretenses I guess. With family all of that doesn't matter. It's just warm and comfortable. I am often accused of being anti-social. Somewhat of a trait I inherited from my father I guess. But there is a lot to be said for the love and ease of family. It doesn't happen often enough.
David, Cindy and I went to another get together at Linda's today for Joyce's birthday. I saw relatives I hadn't seen for too long. I fell in love with Leslie's youngest "Sadie". She'll be 3 in a few days. Marilee and I fought for cuddle time. What a beautiful angel. I have to say I fell in love with Marilee too. You know, living and growing up in different provinces we haven't had a lot of time together. Somehow, the connection happens regardless. I know I have said it a million times and I will probably say it a million times more but family is very deep. What a wonderful weekend. Happy birthday to a timeless beauty, I hope you enjoyed all of this half as much as I did. (I know this will make Mom and Shelley cry...they missed out on a ton of fun, missed y'all xoxoxoxo)

Auntie Joyce

Friday will be my Aunt's birthday. She will be 75 (I think). That is so unbelievable to me. She is an absolutely beautiful woman. She should be the poster child for Dove (you know those commercials?). Here are some of my favorite memories with Joyce;

-I wasn't allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 16! My parents wouldn't let me. Finally when I turned 16 I had them done. Aunt Joyce took me out to buy my first real pair of ear rings. They were so beautiful. They were delicate little swirls of gold wire. I actually found one of them at the bottom of an old jewellery box (Niagara Falls - gift to my Mom from my Dad on their honeymoon) the other day. It meant a lot to me that she took the time out of her life to make it so special for me.

-I used to go out to their country home when I was a kid. There was a set of stairs that you pull down from the ceiling that took you up to their attic. I loved exploring up there.

-I used to work with Joyce. I remember one time some co-workers and I were laughing at my cousin about something stupid she did. I remember seeing Auntie Joyce with her finger out, beconing me over to give me heck for being mean to a family member. Always the Mother hen, always right.

-I remember going golfing with Joyce and Faye after work. I was so excited that they would include me in this ritual. We all sucked at golf I think.

And of course, going to their house now with David. We have so much fun up there.

Happy Birthday Auntie Joyce.
Love and Kisses

Please read this

I often get emails about protecting yourself from fraud and people trying to compromise your identity. I guess I am pretty niave. I always thought people were just way too paranoid.

I got an email yesterday from "Royal Bank". It said that different computers were trying to access my accounts with many failed passwords before the logon. There was a website to go to that wanted me to confirm my passwords etc. It looked very legit. It was an RBC.com address.
The thing is, I do not bank with RBC. I have not been on any RBC web sites. I sent this email to our provider's spam assassin with a note explaining that I do not bank with RBC.

They sent me a reply today that if I put my mouse over this link without clicking on it I would see that it takes me to quite a different site than what it looks like.

I found out that you can change the destination of any link.

Please, DO NOT follow any links via email. If you are curious, call the bank or go to their website from your google bar. NEVER through links.

Pretty scarey when it hits home.

It can ALWAYS be worse

It's funny how we always think that 'today's' tragedy is the worst possible thing that can happen to us. Somehow that always seems to be outdone by the next tragedy.

I have decided that we are so much stronger that we give ourselves credit for. If we only remember the saying "this too shall pass" because it always does. Even the most difficult and challenging tragedies have a way of either working themselves out or becoming a managable part of our lives.

I have a friend who jokes that we are given X amount of crap to deal with in a lifetime. Sometimes that is spread over a long and relatively happy existance. Other times (mine) it is in a very concentrated time. Therefore, if her theory is correct, I am in for an exciting and spectacular future!

Seriously, it CAN always be worse.
Breathe in, breathe out.
This too shall pass.

Be nice to everyone, you never know where their 'crap' level is.

xoxoxox

Roll up the Rim to Win

Finally....after two weeks

I WON A FREE COFFEE

I guess you have to be Canadian to get it.

Have a great weekend all.

International Women's Day

When I think of all the women in my life, Mom, Cindy, Shelley, Dana, Donna, Denise, Natasha, Sharon, Faye, Joyce, Donna, Marilee, Jackie, Aeron, Lisette, Nicole, etc. etc. I think it is funny to have "International Women's Day". All of my women are strong and independant forces. There is no question in my mind that females are the strongest yet most compassionate species. It is silly to designate a single day.

However, if having "International Women's Day" gives me the opportunity to tell my women that I love them...so be it.

I am woman, hear me roar!

Coffee Time

With the kids both not living at home I found that I ached just to see their faces. I hear from them frequently on the phone but it just isn't the same.

It has always amazed me how different two kids can be.

In the beginning the older one would learn things himself without being taught really. He was interested in brief cases and suits and ties by the time he was a mere 4 years old. He didn't excel in school, only because he is also kind of lazy and was happy sailing through with mediocre marks. He never really caused me any grief. The only conflicts we had were because he always thought he was more mature that he really was, challenged authority because he thought he was on par with us. He is very serious and calculating. There is a genuine sensitivity there but sometimes he masks that with a cool aloofness.

Then there is the other one. Right from the beginning that kid's hands and actions were lightening fast. He was always into some kind of mischief. I never knew what would happen every day I woke up, but I knew something would. He lit Kleenex on fire to see how it would burn, he pulled the fire alarm at school, he lit fire crackers off IN HIS MOUTH!, and on and on. He would be suspended from school on a fairly regular basis. I would see BOARD OF EDUCATION on call display at work and just cringe! The school tried to tell me that he had ADHD. I had him tested many times. He's not. When we did homework in the evening it would always end in screaming fits and pencils and pens would go flying. He excelled in Karate. He ended up with a blue belt before he quit. He just happens to march to a very odd drummer. He has fun. He has an amazing heart that he wears proudly on his sleeve and he just wants to have fun.

We started to have coffee together every Sunday just to stay connected. At first it was just me and Matthew. Yesterday, Nicholas joined us. Matthew had on a pair of over sized track pants and some kind of rapper t-shirt. Nicholas was dressed in a suit and trench coat. Some things never change. Just the three of us. They regaled me with stories that made me cringe. They banter back and forth with each in awe of the differences between them but loving each other because of that I think. They will never ever know how much all of it that means to me and they will never ever know how much I love them both. Each of them annoy the hell out of me in very different ways but I wouldn't want it any other way...I lied...I would ...but they won't listen to me!