Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada; a day to honour those who have served and sacrificed for our peace and freedom. Many of us are enjoying the liberties we enjoy because of these individuals and I think we should be grateful to them every day.

WE REMEMBER

It�s been quite an emotional and stressful week for my American friends. Actually, the whole year has been thorny. But the last few days have been particularly difficult. I�m sorry that you have dealt with this conflict and continue to do so. My wish for all of you is that you come together as a country and work toward healing and harmony. There are people out there who are continuing to fuel anger and division. Why not be someone who promotes peace and unity?

Speaking of anger and division, I am really close to ending a friendship with a woman I�ve known since we were twelve. I thought I knew her. Turns out I really don�t. We are on opposite sides of the spectrum on many issues and that�s okay. What�s not okay is the bashing that I see on her Facebook page toward people with opposing political and social views and opinions. One of her distastes (or rather, revulsions) is liberals. I don�t care if she likes or doesn�t like the liberal mindset. What I do care about is the name calling. Things like: �progressive puppets�, �stupid liberals�, �dimwit liberals� and so on. Well, I am a liberal. And so are my daughters and many others I know. When she tosses those insults around in such a harsh manner, she also targets us in a harsh manner. There is no need for it. My circle consists of liberals, conservatives and everything in-between. And we get along - and will continue to get along - just fine, even while debating an issue, as long as we don�t resort to that kind of behaviour. Why can�t she state her opinion without all the name-calling? And how can we possibly remain friends when she feels this way?

Anyhow, I just finished my second cup of coffee, my slow cooker is plugged in, the sun is shining and the weekend is here. Life is good. I�m going to end this blogging week with yet another song that I hope I haven�t already shared. It�s �Stand by you� by Rachel Platten. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

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This and That

So how has your week been? And what�s new on your end? Have you seen any decent movies or read any good books or had any tasty meals or been to interesting places? Do share below.

We are enjoying some very mild weather. Some plants are still in bloom and the deciduous trees haven�t lost all their leaves yet. There�s even been grass mowing going on throughout the neighbourhood. It is quite remarkable. Of course this will all come to an end at some point because this is Canada and there�s no escaping the snow and the cold that will inevitably arrive.

This week I crossed paths with quite a few impatient and aggressive drivers, which is a little unusual for this area. Most people here are very courteous on the road, which is something that I enjoy tremendously since we moved here from the big city of Montreal where obnoxious and aggressive and discourteous driving is an every day occurrence. It�s something that I was very happy to leave behind. I wrote about it here: Small City Driving

I�ve noticed that I have new followers to my blog and that�s always a wonderful thing. What isn�t wonderful is that I can�t see who they are and/or if they have blogs. Once upon at time you could click on the profile photo on the list and see a link to that person�s blog. Now, not only can�t you see that link but sometimes you don�t even see a profile photo. You just see the number of followers going up with no further information. What�s up with that? I don�t know. If you are new to this blog, I invite you to leave a comment if you haven�t yet, so I can �meet� you and visit your blog if you have one. Come on, don�t be shy. We�re all friendly here.

On Monday, I used my slow cooker for the second time and I have to say that I am in love with it. What took me so long to get one? I�ve no idea. But it�s here and it�s great. This week�s recipe was a delicious potato soup found here. I made a big batch to freeze portions for another day. Oh, and speaking of delicious stuff, I also made Jenn�s apple pie, which she kindly shared the recipe for here. OHMYGOODNESS...so delicous! (Thank you, Jenn!) Have you met her yet? Go here to visit her wonderful blog. She�s such a cool blogging pal. Go.

I discovered another song recently that I�ve played about a bazillion times so far, give or time a few gazillion. That�s how it goes with me. I stumble across a new song that is really catchy and play it over and over and over and over again. I�m sharing it with you below. It's called "Story of My Life" and it's by the English-Irish pop band One Direction. My younger daughter has a friend who resembles one of the band's members, Harry Styles, so much so that I sent her a text message one day that said "Is it just me or does (friend's name) look a little bit like Harry Styles from the band One Direction?" She answered "yeah, he gets that a lot". It seems I'm not the only one that thinks so.

Anyhow, here's the song. And a happy weekend to all!

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Another Week

This week zipped right by. It sure was a busy one. My younger daughter arrived Monday evening and stayed with us until last night. She has this week off from school and she was able to get a few days off from work. As soon as she confirmed that she was coming for sure, I did what I always do: I planned a whole day of cooking and baking. All that culinary madness took place on Monday. By the time we picked her up from the bus station at 8 PM that night, the fridge was full of lunches and dinners and desserts, and I had a meal to be placed in the slow cooker the next morning marinating in the fridge. I even packed a container full of white chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin muffins and lemon bread for my daughter to take back with her. All homemade goodies with healthy ingredients.

I don�t worry too much about her when it comes to nutrition because has good eating habits. She knows how to cook and bake, and she enjoys wholesome foods. Despite being busy with school, a job and a very active social life, she eats healthy. I love that she does this. With busy and hectic schedules, and a huge selection of processed foods available, it�s easy to eat badly. It�s frightening how many �food-like� products are on supermarket shelves with very little � if any � nutritional value in them. When we eat that stuff, we are starving our bodies.

Moving on from lecturing...

We got to spend time together and catch up, which was wonderful. I enjoy listening to her voice her opinion on things and I always love hearing about her news. She is so grownup and yet whenever I look at her, I still see the baby I cuddled, the energetic toddler I chased after and the young child I put on the school bus. All that came and went and POOF suddenly she�s in high school. And that came and went and POOF she's off to university. POOF again and she�s moved to another city with her own apartment, attending the second year in university and holding down a part time job.

What??? When did this all happen? She�s the baby of the family. My older daughter already put me through this a few years ago and I was hoping the younger one would slow down a little. But the clock keeps ticking and time keeps rolling along, pushing us all foward.

Can you think of a song with the word time in it? The first one that comes to mind for me is Cyndi Lauper�s �Time After Time�, which was released in 1984. Coincidentally, I was my daughter�s age that year, only 19.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

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This Week

Here we are again. The end of another week. It's cold and gloomy and pouring rain outside as I write this. It's the side of the fall season that I don't like. Any day now the leaves on the trees will fall and the raking will begin. Or the mulching. We don't rake or bag or blow leaves; we mulch them into our lawn. And add some into the flower beds, as well. Good eatin' for the garden.

Have you watched any good movies lately? We've been watching some older ones. A few days ago we saw 'Brubaker' starring Robert Redford. It's a prison drama about newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent and abusive penal system. It's pretty good. I always enjoy films that Robert Redford is in; he's a good actor.

While watching 'Brubaker', the most amazing man in the world commented on how young Robert Redford is in this film. Of course he is. This movie dates back to 1980. I was young then, too. Only 15. I didn't have grey hair, a mortgage, children I worried about or any other grownup responsibilities. I wasn't dealing with menopause and all its madness. My vision hadn't begun to deteriorate, therefore I didn't have to hold reading material out at arms length (in bright light) or wear reading glasses daily or carry around a mini magnifying glass to read the fine print on products that at my age is one big blur. I didn't have to kick my metabolism in the ass (once upon a time it was a powerhouse) to keep it from spending the day napping. And my body didn't make creaking, popping and rattling sounds. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you are still too young to understand all this but you'll get there one day!

Moving on...

I've been listening to a lot of music lately as I continue to paint furniture, which I'll share photos of eventually since some of you requested some. But not today. Today I will share the video below of the song Renegades by the band X Ambassadors. Maybe you'll like it, too. Or not. Doesn't matter. What does matter is that the weekend is here again and I'm going to wish you all a good one!

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Friday Again

It's Friday again and here we are at the start of another weekend? Where did the week go? What's been keeping you busy? I've been - surprise! - painting. I'm working on an old bookcase right now, which has been around since the beginning of time. Well that's not true. It's actually been around since my kids were very young. And so was I. When I'm finished with it, it'll look so much more...I don't know...youthful. If only a simple thing like paint could turn back the clock for us, as well. A light sanding, a bit of primer, a couple of coats of a bright colour and - voil� - 20 years younger.

These painting projects are fun (minus the cleanup and preparation) and I've been tackling one at a time from my list of "old furniture that needs a new lease on life". To date I've completed two nightstands, a console table and a rocking chair. I've got three pieces to go, including the one I'm working on now, and then I'm going to walk around the house and see what else I can freshen up with paint. Or what else I can do. I've been visiting a lot of crafting blogs/sites and painting blogs/sites and renovation blogs/sites lately to learn as much as I can. There is no end to the amount of projects one can do when you head down this road. Trips to the hardware store are always a joy and I've even run out between coats of paint because "there's something I need for this job!". Yesterday it dawned on me that I'm becoming one of 'those' people. The DIY people. My dad would be proud, of course, since he was a cabinet maker and such a handyman in just about every type of renovation job. With the exception of electrical work. He never touched that.

Anyhow, that's what's going on with me lately. It's enjoyable and I've been singing while I've been working. Literally. Because there's always music playing. Like this song that has me dancing around my workspace with the paintbrush used as a microphone.



What's up with you? I'll wish you all a wonderful weekend while you answer that!

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Kindness

Yesterday I ran across a really heartwarming story that I shared on my Facebook page. Today I am sharing it with all of you.

It's the story of Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel who despite the devastation in Syria is staying in his war-torn city of Aljaleel "no matter what happens" to take care of more than 100 stray and abandoned cats. He is known as 'the cat man of Aleppo'.

I was really touched by this man's kindness and reminded once again that there are really good people in this world doing good things.

In the video he says "Someone who has mercy in their heart for humans has mercy for every living thing". It is the best thing I've heard all week.

Read the rest of the story here: The cat man of Aleppo. And watch the video below.



The world needs more kindness and less judgment.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

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When You Want To Relax...

...but you've got housework to do:

I laughed more than I probably should with this video. But I can't help it. Maybe it tickles my funny bone because my older daughter and her boyfriend have one of these robotic vacuums that they love. And maybe it's because they also have a cat that looks exactly like the one in this video, which they love even more. Either way, it just gets to me.

Do any of you have one of these vacuums?

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The Weekend

And so it returns. This thing called 'the weekend'. How many of them have I enjoyed in my life? I'm 51, so if you do the math, the answer will be 'oh, so many'. But that's okay because it means I'm still here in this amazing world of ours. "It's plagued with problems", you say? Well sure it is, but despite what the media may have you thinking, there's a lot more good in the world than bad. With all this technology, the average person has more access to worldwide news and information...instantaneously. And what sells? The bad stuff. That's what we're bombarded with, smothered by, really. Don't let yourself get caught up in that. Step away from that negativity and search for some good stuff. It's all around us.

Any plans this weekend? It's Labour Day on Monday, so it's a long one here. Is it for you, as well? And how has your week gone? Has it been good to you? I sure hope so. And if things have been rough, I hope it all gets better. Here's something to make you smile:

Do you enjoy reading? I've been doing a lot of that lately. Right now I'm zipping through the novel "The Girl on the Train", which has also been made into a movie. So far it's quite interesting, although I do find the main character really flippin' a little annoying. Before this I read "Cell" by Stephen King. It's an apocalyptic horror novel about a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network that turns the majority of humans into mindless, vicious animals...or zombies. If such a thing ever happened, just about everyone I know would be affected. My mother would be spared and so would the most amazing man in the world. Both of them don't have cell phones. I might get away with it since I never talk on my phone. Just do a little texting. But if texting was an issue then I'd be one of the doomed. Anyhow, a movie was made of this book, too. And it's horrible. Not only is it a sucky film but it's much different from the book, making it double sucky. Don't watch it. It's a waste of time.

Well, that's enough rambling. I'll end this post with a song that I've been enjoying these days. I play it while I run walk on the treadmill, which I'm getting ready to do. It's quite an empowering tune. I hope you enjoy it. And I also hope you all have a wonderful weekend, long or not long!

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September

Happy new month, everyone! September has arrived. Absolutely insane. I blinked a couple of times in April and WHOOSH here we are. Any day now we should start seeing Christmas decorations at the stores. I'm kidding. Or I hope I am.

Autumn is on its way. Do you like this time of year? I love it. Pumpkins, apples, nice weather...so many things to enjoy. And the beginning of a new school year! Oh, how I loved that when I was a kid. It was so exciting getting back to school and meeting up with friends. This time of year brings all that to mind. It also brings to mind all the priceless memories of my own two girls starting their first day of class around this time. Ooop...there it is again...my heart being squeezed.

The photo above was taken in 2002. My younger daughter on the left, Alexandra (Allie, Alex) was starting her first day of kindergarten and my older daughter on the right, Marie Amanda (Maria, Marie) was starting fifth grade. Fast forward to today and little sister is beginning her second year of university and living in Ottawa with 4 other students. Big sister has graduated from university, is working full time and lives with her boyfriend...and three cats! When did this all happen? HOLY MOLY...time flies.

What about you? Do you have any thoughts, memories, feelings about this month/time of year? Please share below. I'd love to read all about them.

Here's a song that instantly comes to mind when thinking of September:

Wishing you all a great month ahead!

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Feeling Hot Hot Hot

Ah, the dog days of summer. We've been getting our fair share over here. It's been very hot and humid for quite some time now. The city has issued heat health warnings to all residents, but particularly to more vulnerable ones like the elderly, infants, young children, individuals working outside, people with chronic illnesses, etc. I think they should include menopausal women. Because extreme heat on top of hot flashes doesn't bode well for them...or for the people around them!

It's been quite extensive this hot spell and it wouldn't be that bad if only we'd get some rain now and again. But nope, no rain. None. It has been so dry for so long that gardens and lawns everywhere are struggling and really suffering. My own plants are barely managing. And I've lost a few that just couldn't deal with it anymore.

The most amazing man in the world and I have also been sleeping in my daughter's room in the basement for a few weeks now. When she moved out, she took the furniture from our spare bedroom instead of her own and this has turned out to be a blessing because we've got a bed to sleep on in a room that is wonderfully cool. So cool that you need a blanket. And because the foundation of our home is concrete, it is also very quiet. Cool, dark and silent; the ideal setting. I haven't slept this well in ages. It's no wonder she loved her room so much when she was here.

So we have been dealing with extreme heat and extreme dryness. If you've got some rain to spare, send it right over!

And speaking of heat, here's a fun song from all the way back in the early 80s when I was oh-so much younger. Enjoy.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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Helping A Wee Critter

This past Sunday was like any other day in July: hot and sunny and very dry. With the exception of this visitor:

Yes, it's a bat. It fell onto our driveway in the middle of the day when the heat was high and the sun was beating down on everything. My husband was out front when this happened and he called for me to come out and take a look.

The poor thing looked exhausted and somewhat dazed. The most amazing man in the world (who is also one of the kindest) filled a container of water and poured it down the driveway, in case this wee one was dehydrated. Well, sure enough, he crawled over immediately to the water and started gulping some down.

And when he had his fill, he crawled up against our car's tire to take a nap.

Well, we couldn't just leave this poor critter on pavement that would be burning hot when the sun reached it. And certainly not out in the open where the neighbourhood cats and dogs and people would find it.

So, we scooped him up, moved him into a shady area in our garden among the plants and placed a couple of shallow bowls of water nearby.

He spent the day resting and rehydrating and sometime during the night he went on his way!

Here's a short video I took before we moved him to the bat cave.



It was a very interesting and unique experience!
I'm glad we were able to help this wee critter.

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Fill In The Blank

Photograph by Ed Sheeran

My latest obsession earworm.
Yesterday alone, I listened to it 100 multiple times.
Have a listen with this video.



What was the last song you listened to?

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In The Jungle...

...the mighty urban jungle the lion kitty sleeps hides tonight...

This kitty trying to hide from us on our evening stroll yesterday. S/he is obviously not very good at it.
Nice try, little furball. You might want to consider some camouflage next time.

But...
Ever since then, I've had this playing in my head:
???? We-de-de-de, de-de-de-de-de de, we-um-um-a-way  ????

Click on the video below (I dare you!) if you'd like that tune stuck in your head, too.
My earworm can be your earworm.
You're welcome.

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You're Probably Around My Age If...

...you ever ?? boogie oogie oogied till you just couldn't boogie no more ??

Remember those days? The days of bell bottoms and turntables and mood rings and (highly-flammable) leisure suits and platform shoes and pinball machines and pet rocks and shaggy carpets and, of course, discotheques.

My friends and I snuck into many discotheques and dance clubs starting at the age of 16 with our fake IDs (gasp!) and big hair and mini skirts and blister-inducing high heels. Because we wanted to dance. And dance we did. For hours on end. Thankfully the places we got into were never raided because we would've been rounded up since most of us looked like we were 14. Some of us 12.

If you remember those days, then you're probably around my age. And you might even remember this song that inspired this post.



So did you ever ?? boogie oogie oogie till you just couldn't boogie no more ???

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We Need A Little Humour

We are constantly surrounded by bad news, which makes it that much more important to maintain a sense of humour to avoid going stark raving mad. And I�m here to help with that. Here's a funny - and cute - video of animals taking a bath that will tickle your funny bone and brighten up the day. Enjoy!

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Remembering My Brother

Who died five years ago on April 09, 2011  at the age of 47. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Thankfully time has helped heal the wound that was once so deep and so raw and so painful I could barely stand it.

Always on my mind, forever in my heart.

As the years go by, I've gotten used to a new normal even though I've never stopped wishing things could have been different. Most importantly, I have reached a point in my life where I've accepted that the questions that once threatened to suffocate me  will never be answered. That there is truly no way I could have prevented his death. And so the pain has subsided with the passage of time even though the ache remains. But an ache that I can live with.

One thing that will never change is my determination to keep his memory alive for as long as I live. And so today I remember my beloved brother, Steve, who left us much too early. The world became a sadder place when he left it. But I am forever grateful to have been given the time I had with him. It was an honour and a blessing.

Perhaps we'll meet again one day...

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Animals of YouTube Sing Up On The Housetop

Here is a fun video to kick start the day with that will make you all smile!



One more sleep until Christmas!

I have one more post scheduled for later today, so check back again!

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(Holiday) Sunny Side Up

Below is a video that I have to share with my bloggy pals. In it, some dogs and a cat sit down for a holiday feast. You heard right: a cat, as in singular. Because guess who's got to be at the head of the table?

Even the cat is amused.

If this isn't the funniest thing you see today, it'll surely be the most unique.

Don�t I take good care of you all?



Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Last weekend before Christmas! *squee*

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(Holiday) Question Of The Day

Where does one begin with such a question? I like so many that it�s almost impossible to pick one.

But.

There is one that rises to the top because it takes me back to my early childhood and brings to mind so many wonderful memories. I first discovered this song in a Christmas television special that was produced in 1968 and continues to be aired so many years later. The song, which is also the title of this television classic, is �The Little Drummer Boy�

�The Little Drummer Boy� has been performed by many very talented individuals over the years but my all-time favourite version is by Bob Seger. Here�s a video of him singing with scenes from the beloved television special.



I fell completely in love with this tune the first time I heard it, and it continues to be a top choice.

What�s your favourite Christmas song?

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The (Holiday) Domino Effect

Below is one of the coolest things I�ve ever seen. Can you imagine how much patience is involved? Also, one wrong move and it all goes to hell. So yeah, lots of patience. Focus. And time. Oh, the amount of time required to put this together...

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

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