Stage 3! Who, me?

Don't Worry - Be Happy!

2010-02-11T05:00:00.006-07:00

I received this gorgeous award from my friend Claire who indicated that the criteria for accepting the award was to list 10 things that make you happy. Sounds easy enough, right? Well...it seems that my perspective of "happiness" has changed considerably since I received my diagnosis. I guess that I would have to say that when it comes to happiness, I am much less "shallow" than I once was. Or am I? Hmmm...perhaps I shall offer up a retrospective on my perception of happiness.

1. Yesterday, my friend Rosie and I got into a bit of a discussion on happiness. We were discussing companies who, when you resign, offer you more money to stay. One company that I worked at for several years ago, did that to me. I looked at the woman who was making me the offer and I said, "Do you really think that the money will make me enjoy a job that I no longer have fun at?" She indicated that she thought it would help. So I asked, "Okay. Let's say that I accept the offer, and 6 months down the road, I realize that I am still unhappy. Will you offer me more money again when I resign?" She looked shocked, sat silent for a moment, and then said, "No."
"Okay then," I told her. "I guess that there is no need to make me the offer now."
Money does not make me happy. It fills voids, but it does not create happiness in me. The government of Alberta, in handing down the most recent budget, announced that they would not cut funding to health care. Instead, they would dump billions of dollars more into health care. That use of money made me very happy!

2. Those of you who have followed my blog may recall that I prefer travelling in developing countries as opposed to the developed ones. I don't know, maybe I have a wee bit of Angelina Jolie in me (minus the Brad Pitt!), but I love the simplicity of life in developing countries. Now, before any of you start shrieking at that statement, you are right - life is not easy for people in developing countries. They face hunger, violence, disease, neglect, victimization, etc daily. But still and all, there is a simplicity to their lives that is lacking here. Their stresses are very different from ours. They do not stress about climbing the corporate ladder, paying the mortgage, eating out in the best restaurants, wearing the latest designer clothing. They take life as it comes, and they are grateful for what they have. Everywhere I have travelled, I have witnessed smiles, laughter and joy being demonstrated in abundance. Watching children in tattered clothing, playing in the dirt, a stick their only toy, and hearing the sound of their laughter - that makes me happy.

3. Walking in nature makes me very happy! There is something almost spiritual about walking on trails in the woods, listening to the crack of twigs underfoot, the crunch of leaves and to hear the scurrying of small animals seeking shelter as you approach. I love the smell of the earth, the moss, the flowers all mixed together into a warm, comforting aroma. I love looking up at the sky through the tapestry of the tree branches - natures art work. Spectacular! As well, I am happiest when I am by the ocean, or by the mountains. My spirit is calmed by these things. When I die, I will be most happy if my family breaks Canadian law and scatters my ashes in the mountains.

4. I love the opera! It takes my breath away. It soothes my soul. It speaks to me. It makes me want to learn Italian. But happily, they provide subtitles so that I don't have to learn Italian! That makes me happy.

5. My family and friends make me incredibly happy. They piss me off from time to time, but overall, they make me incredibly happy! I am blessed. In my darkest hours, who was there for me? My family and my closest friends. Not one of them reacted to me with the horror that I felt when they were told that I had cancer. Not one of them ever made me feel that I would not survive. Not one of them abandoned me. They made me happy!

6. The fact that I live in a country where health care is accessible to all - that makes me happy! Never once have I worried that I cannot have a test or a procedure because my insurance won't cover it. Never once have I worried that I would not be able to afford the very expensive medications that are included in the cancer package. Never once have I felt that I would not be given the absolute best medical care that was possible. I am happy to live in Canada in general, Alberta in particular.

7. I am happy that Dr Robert Buckman from Princess Margaret Hospital wrote the book Cancer is a word, not a sentence, which was so helpful to me. I am also happy that Dr Jimmie Holland from Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC wrote, The Human Side of Cancer. These two books were integral in getting me through the first couple of months after my diagnosis, and I recommend them to everyone that I know who has been recently diagnosed.

8. I am happy that Washington D.C. got two huge dumps of snow, and Edmonton Alberta Canada did not ;)

9. I am happy to have been amongst the first 5000 people invited to view the new Art Gallery of Alberta, a phenomenal new gallery that vaguely resembles the Sydney Opera House. And I am happy that there are artists in the world, who open our eyes to new ways of looking at life.

10. I am happy that Daria introduced me, and then re-introduced me to blogging. You are a doll Daria! And an inspiration. I am happy to know you!

6 Ways to Prevent Colorectal Cancer

2010-02-09T09:57:00.002-07:00

The following is taken from the March, 2010 issue of Canadian Living Magazine.

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada, but it is the number 1 cancer that you can prevent with a healthy diet.

1 Choose fibre-rich whole grains. A 2007 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that dietary fibre from whole grains was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer than fibre by itself. So add some brown rice, whole rye or quinoa to your meals a couple of nights a week.
2. Get your fruits and veggies. They have beta-carotene, vitamins, antioxidants,minerals and plenty of phtyocemicals - all of which have anticancer properties, says Leslie Beck, a registered dietitian in Toronto and author of Foods That Fight Disease (Penguin, 2008). The cabbage family (broccoli, cauliflower), in particular, helps your liver remove carcinogens.
3. Eat low-glycemic-index foods. Step away from the chocolate bar - simple sugars are not your friend, so enjoy a crispy apple instead. Eating too much sugar causes your insulin level to spike, and insulin can stimulate the growth of colon cancer cells.
4. Meet your daily requirement of folate. "It's essential for the production of DNA in cells," says Beck. "Without enough of it, the ability of colon cells to repair faulty DNA can become impaired, increasing the risk of cancer development.
5. Limit alcohol. It may stimulate cancer cell growth in the colon, says Beck.
6. Restrict your red meat intake. Try not to eat anymore than 18 ounces (525 grams) a week of beef, veal, pork and lamb. "When you cook meat to a high temperature, you form compounds called heterocyclic amines, and in lab studies these are carcinogenic," says Beck.

Doing Great!

2009-10-18T09:02:00.003-06:00

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent kind thoughts and enquiries. It feels like forever since I have been in touch with you all, but you are constantly in my heart and on my mind.

I am doing well. I am back to work full time, which is turning out to mean 60 hours per week - a tad more than I had originally planned, but it is a busy time of year, and that will correct itself soon, I hope.

I am also involved in a few volunteer activities. I sit on the Ethics Committee at the Cross Cancer Institute, as I have mentioned before. I am also the Co-chair of the 2010 Relay for Life Survivor Dinner, and I will be a peer support to other women diagnosed with my type of cancer. As well, I am vlounteering with the 2010 Weekend to End Women's Cancers.

On top of that....I have joined Toastmasters, and have been assigned the role of Vice President of Education. I am loving Toastmasters as it is providing me an opportunity to meet new people, to improve my communication and leadership skills, as well as my long term planning skills.

I am managing to squeeze some family time into my busy weeks, but not as much as I would like. Once again, in January things should slow down a bit and I will be able to balance my life a bit better.

Healthwise, I am scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow morning, and I see my oncologist on November 12. I have been feeling really good, but I am for sure having some long term side effects, and the specialist is wanting to rule out the possibility that my cancer has moved into the colon. I am optomistic that whatever the outcome, I will continue to receive exceptional health care and that all will be right in my world.

I really miss you guys, and I am hoping to fit blogging back into my daily routine at some point in the near future. I am sending virtual hugs to you all, and want you to know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Conscious Living

2009-08-09T10:59:00.013-06:00

"At its simplest,

conscious living is the art of feeling your feelings,

speaking authentically,

knowing your life purpose,

and carrying out effective actions

that contribute to your own well-being

and the well-being of others...

Life comes to us freely;

we wake up one day, and we're in it.

Conscious loving is the art of

learning and loving in our relationships -

our relationships with ourselves and others-

so that we eventually feel

a continuous flow of love

inside and out."

-Gay Hendricks, "Conscious Living"

Slowing Down

2009-07-29T03:00:00.003-06:00

Well, it seems that I am one of several people who is feeling the need to step away from blogging for awhile. Blogging has been a wonderful, and healing process for me. During the months after I finished treatment, blogging became my link to the world, and I have been so appreciative of it. I discovered friends that I never even knew existed, and the support that I received was truly overwhelming.

But I am finding now, that it is becoming a bit of a chore to post every day, and you have all probably noticed that I have slowed down considerably. I feel that for the time being, I need to slow down even more. My wellness now revolves around physical strengthening, and with the summer weather, I am increasingly finding myself out of doors and getting more active. This is a GREAT thing, and something that I desperately need to do. As well, I am gradually increasing the hours that I work, so that is taking me away from my computer.

I know that I will not stop blogging all together, but I am slowing it down for the summer months in order to focus on improving my strength and overall health. I will continue to post, but probably only once or twice a week at the most.

Thank you all for being such an amazing group of followers! I have enjoyed the stalking immensely, but it is time for a break.

A Wonderful Weekend in Winnipeg

2009-07-27T20:30:00.003-06:00

I have just returned from having one of the best weekends I have had in a very, very long time! My wonderful, gorgeous friend Colleen offered to fly me to Winnipeg for a weekend visit. I had lived in that city many years ago, and had not paid a return visit since. Colleen is once again living there, and she thought that I would appreciate a return to see the changes that have occurred over the years. It was also an opportunity for Colleen and I to just hang out and visit.

I arrived on Thursday at around 3:00 in the afternoon. Colleen met me at the airport with a huge smile on her face, and told me, "I hope that you don't mind, but I have invited my two sisters and two of my friends over for a barbecue tonight. They are all anxious to meet you." Oh my stars, we had such a fun time! Colleen - you are surrounded by women who are just like you - funny, kind, warm and intelligent. It was such a lovely evening.

The picture below is of the street Colleen lives on. However, it could be almost any street in Winnipeg. What a beautiful city it is! Huge trees, houses made of sandstone or brick, all immaculately clean, with manicured lawns. Breathtaking!

Friday morning we went for a long walk down by the Forks. When we first arrived, we decided to walk across the bridge you see below, into St Boniface so that we could visit Bijou, a lovely little independently owned jewelry store. This bridge is a new addition to the city, and it is, in my opinion, really quite spectacular. At the base of the bridge is a restaurant which is most likely busy in the summer, but not so much in the winter when it is way too cold to spend time walking halfway across a bridge for dinner!

We then walked along a footpath that follows the river for quite a distance. Winnipeg is a city of extreme weather conditions, and it is prone to flooding in the spring. Below, you can see how the force of the water has ravaged the landscape. It was quite sad to see. But Winnipeggers and their land are a hearty lot. They accept their challenges as a part of life, and they quietly rebuild and move on. I have a great deal of admiration the people who make their homes there.

A part of our walk involved going around the legislative grounds. I could not possibly have continued on without saying hello to Louis Riel! Louis Riel is one of the founders of the province of Manitoba, and he was a leader of the Metis people. He is regarded by many as a hero for leading two resistance movements against the Canadian government. Louis is my kindred spirit as he died on the day of my birth - November 16, 1844. Seriously - I am that old!

After shooting the breeze with Louis, we walked across the bridge into Osbourne Village for some shopping and some lunch. Osbourne is a very cool area of the city, playing home to many artisans and hippie types. It is a favorite area of mine.

That evening, Colleen went to volunteer at a mission that feeds the homeless, while I went to reconnect with a group of people that I used to work with. I hadn't seen these people for 15 years and while I noticed they had all aged, I was surprised to realize that I hadn't changed a bit! Seriously, we had an amazing time getting reacquainted, and sharing stories from the past 15 years. I had a wonderful time, and I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to let these people know how much they shaped the person I am today.

The following morning, we were up bright and early, arriving at the farmers market at about 9:00. Already, some things were sold out - very popular spot, that is!

After the farmers market, we went back to Colleen's house, packed up a lunch, grabbed lawn chairs and towels, then headed for Birds Hill Park where we chilled on the beach for a couple of hours.

Saturday night we popped by a Winnipeg institution - the Bridge Drive-In. The BDI is open only during the summer months and the crowd is always as is shown below! People bring their children, their dogs, their friends and family, and then stand in line for some very delicious ice cream.....

.....followed by a walk across the bridge and through the surrounding neighborhoods.

Sunday morning we were invited to the home of friends of Colleens for breakfast. Cheryl prepared a lovely meal which we enjoyed on the enclosed porch. Again, good food, good conversation and good laughs were the order of the day.

Just prior to leaving, we went for a final walk through Colleen's neighborhood where we saw the art work of one of her neighbors. Very creative indeed.

Most of the bloggers out there know Renee, and if you have followed my Friday Shoot-Outs, you know that I always post something yellow for Renee, who loves the color. Renee calls Winnipeg "home," and I would have loved to have seen her, but she is experiencing some family difficulties right now, and her loved ones need her. So Renee, direct from Colleens garden, this one is for you, and the one below that....

....is for Sheldon and Jacquie. You are all in my mind, and I ask all of my readers to offer up prayers for the three of you. Cancer does not discriminate - it hits when we least expect it, and for sure it hits when we least deserve it. I am praying for your healing and sending strength your way. Love to you!

Colleen, I cannot begin to thank you enough for such a wonderful weekend. I am truly, truly blessed and privileged to have you for a friend. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Friday Shoot-Out: Reflections

2009-07-24T03:00:00.050-06:00

This weeks theme, Reflections, was chosen by....someone who is clearly BRILLIANT! I have spent a great deal of time "reflecting" on what an awesome pick this was! And how clever the chooser was! WOW - the blogger who chose this topic - clearly of superior intelligence!

All right, I confess...I chose the topic! And I have to say, I do love reflections. I have a few of my favorite shots to share with you. Remember, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them. Okay. Here we go:

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror." - Michael Jackson

"I wear my sunglass at night" by Corey Hart. This one is for you, Kerri!

Edward Scissorlift

Ha ha - I had fun with this. The reflection is on a car - clearly! Look to the right of the gas cover thing to see a sign. Look to the right of that to see my cute skirt and my right leg that is almost back to its normal size!

This is the sign that is reflected in the car! Ummm...the sign made me nervous! I took them at their word, and chose to eat! Yummmm is all I am saying!

This is a favorite of mine - the left side of this shot is all glass,
reflecting the textured wall on the right!

People who live in glass houses - get reflections all around!

"I was looking back to see if you were looking back to see..." - Buck Owens

I like this shot a lot. The building that is reflected looks a bit wonky in shape because of the metal lines in the reflecting building.

"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper
(you can see the clock reflected on the left hand side)

"Grey Sky Morning" by Vertical Horizon
Clouds reflected on my patio table

"When will my reflection show who I am inside?" - Christina Aguilera
At the college

"Building a Mystery" - by Sarah McLachlan

This shot is a reflection in the window of my brothers fifth wheel.

90 degree angle with glass on both sides, reflecting each other

(Did any of that sentence make sense?)

"Mellow Yellow" by Donovan

This one is for Renee, who loves Yellow

AH! I love everything about this shot! The color, the texture, the shapes.

And one more favorite! How awesome is that?

Pond front property!

Thanks again for playing along with me! I can't wait to see all of your impressions of "reflections!" Maaaaan...I love Friday Shoot-outs!

Looking Forward to The Weekend With Old Friends

2009-07-23T03:00:00.005-06:00

I am getting so excited! This morning, I am flying out of town for the weekend, going to visit my beloved friend Colleen, and a whole posse of friends that I haven't seen for a number of years! I can hardly wait! In fact, I have had butterflies for a number of weeks about it, ever since Colleen offered to purchase my airline ticket with some points that she has accrued. That's right - my friend is flying me to visit her! How lucky am I?

If you have been following my blog, you will remember that Colleen is a friend from way back in the day (I can't believe I just wrote that - it is SO not a phrase that I use on a regular basis!) who comes into town every couple of months for business. When she is in town, we get together for dinner, giggles and to raise a glass to gorgeous Renee! Now, I am going to spend the weekend with her talking, laughing, eating, beaching and reading. I am over the top excited.

Colleen is such a supportive friend! She is extremely thoughtful and caring, and one of the most positive people that I know. Her voice has a constant "smile" in it, as do her emails. Whenever I was at a low point in my treatment, Colleen seemed to intuitively know about it, and she would send me a quick email to let me know that she was thinking about me and wishing me a quick recovery. I value her friendship so much, and I am truly looking forward to chllin' with her for a few days.

I will also be reconnecting with a group of people that I worked with many years ago. I once wrote about these people and one of the special children who came to us for assessment, in a blog entitled Baby Needs New Shoes. This group formed one of the best work teams I have ever had the good fortune to be a part of. We worked hard, and we played pretty hard as well. We faced countless challenges, but we faced them together. We were a solid unit, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of that experience.

I will fill you all in when I am back - or possibly I will fire off a quick post while I am there - and I will take a ton o' pictures so that you can enjoy my mini-vacation with me.

Looking forward to seeing your Shoot-Out pictures!

Funny Country Music

2009-07-22T03:00:00.005-06:00

I am one lucky girl! Martha at Menagerie gifted me with this gorgeous "GR8 Blogger Friend Award!" I LOVE it - thank you Martha. You are a total doll.

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Bogey over at View From the Fairway posted a comment for me last night wanting to know about A Taste of Edmonton, a summer festival that a friend and I had just attended. For those of you who don't know what it is all about, many cities offer up "A Taste of..." events, usually in the summer. The festival involves a number of local restaurants who select a couple of their most popular menu items, and offer "sample" sizes of those items for sale in an outdoor vendor environment. The idea is twofold:
1. Restaurants get to market themselves, thereby potentially drawing in new customers
2. People get to "sample" new things, thereby not being saddled with a whole meal that they may not enjoy.

Both my friend and I really enjoyed it, and will go back. In fact, the discovery last night that the July 31 Friday Shoot Out is themed "Outdoor Food," pretty much gaurantees that I will for sure go back and get some pictures.

One of the funniest moments last night took place at an Asian "restaurant" that was offering "deep fried wantons with crab and cream cheese." Both my friend and I decided to have some. When the merchant was handing me my serving he said, "Ah...these come with warning!"
"Oh really?" I asked. "What warning?"
"They are highly addictive!" he told me.
I laughed, took a bite and then said, "OH OH!"
"What wrong?" he asked, with a worried look on his face.
"It's happened." I told him. "I am addicted!"
His face lit up the night with the most radiant smile. Then he began waving his arms and shouting at me in his broken English, "You tell everybody! You tell everybody!"

It was such a lovely moment! If you have an event similar to this in your town/city, and you don't have nut allergies, I encourage you to go. It is a wonderful and fun experience.

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And now, about the title of this post......

I love music. Pretty much all kinds of music, with my favorite being classical. But really, I enjoy pretty much all music. And I love a good laugh.

Country music is probably my least favorite genre, though I do have an appreciation for it, especially the more modern country music. One of the things that I like about the older stuff is the way language is expressed through it. Several years ago, I came across an article in a magazine that listed the 50 funniest lines in country music. I thought that the article was hilarious, and for a long time, I had it pinned to a poster board that I could see regularly. But somewhere along the line, I lost it. I don't know what made me think of it the other day, but I went on line searching for it. I didn't find the same list, but I did get a similar one. I picked out a few of my favorites to share with you, and I have included a few that were not on that particular list, but that have surfaced in the last couple of years. Enjoy!

- The Last Word in Lonesome is Me
- If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead?
- It Took a Helluva Man to Take my Anne, but it Sure Didn't Take Him Long
- Mama Get the Hammer (There's a Fly on Papa's Head)
- I Still Miss You Baby....But My Aim is Getting Better
- I Want a Beer As Cold As My Ex-Wife's Heart
- I Went Back to my Fourth Wife for the Third Time and Gave Her a Second Chance to Make a First Class Fool Out of Me
- If I'd Killed You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out of Jail By Now
- How Can I Get Over You When You Won't Get Out From Under Me?
- How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?
- I Can't Pass the Bar, and There's One on my Way Home
- I Don't Know Whether to Kill Myself or Go Bowling
- I Gave Her the Ring, and She Gave Me the Finger
- Did I Shave My Legs For This?
- Feelin' Single and Drinkin' Doubles
- Get Off the Stove Grandma, You're Too Old To Ride The Range
- He's Got a Way With Women...and He's Just Got Away With Mine
- I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy
- Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
- Won't Admit She Smoked Marijuana, But That Was Mama, 'Fore She Was Mama
- I'm So Much Cooler on Line!

And what is your favorite country music line?

Awards

2009-07-21T03:00:00.008-06:00

Oh my stars - I am over the top with happiness! I have been receiving so many accolades from fellow bloggers - I am not certain that I am worthy, but I embrace them all the same!

On Monday morning, I received a comment from an unknown (to me!) blogger, congratulating me on my Post of the Day nod from David McMahon at Authorblog. Okay - I have wanted this mention for SO long, but inevitably, the days that David popped in and left a comment were days when I was, shall we say, not at my best! Evidently, he popped in and enjoyed my Love is in the Air post - not sure why. Again, I don't think it is one of my better posts but I am So grateful and uber ecstatic! Thank you David McMahon! I am honored! And available for further nods from your lovely head in the near future ;)

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Over the past few weeks I have been honored with a few more awards! I am thrilled to receive each one of them, and I apologize for my deliquency in posting them. I love receiving awards, and I am extremely humbled by them. They are a wonderful way of getting to know one another, and expressing how much we are impacted by people we have never physically met!

I received the Kreativ Blogger award from Kerri, whom I love and adore beyond words. Kerri is my niece, and one of my best friends. She is extremely intelligent, driven and funny. She is kind and giving, loyal and trustworthy. She has two blogs on the go - BookEnds which is, as the title suggests, about books and all of the reading challenges she takes on; and Pop Rocks Culture, on which she displays her Friday Shoot-Outs, stories of rock concerts, etc. It is fun, and you should visit her - not because she is my niece, but because she is a clever, fun girl!

The Kreative Blogger award is a meme - if you accept it, you are to list seven favorite things and nominate seven bloggers for the award.

Okay...my 7 favorite things, in no particular order:

1. The ballet/symphony/opera/live theatre. I love the arts!

2. The mountains and the ocean.

3. Travelling

4. My family - I am one lucky woman to have been born into the family I was born into.

5. Reading

6. Music

7. Laughter.

The 7 people that I pass it on to are:

1. Claire

2. Jamie at Vitamin B Lardo

3. Angela

4. Cynthia - World Renowned Author
5. Meghann
6. Hailey
7. Elissa

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The next award is from Angela. Angela is an artist and a new follower of mine. She discovered my blog through a comment I had left on Renee's blog, and I am thrilled that she has joined me in my perpetual quest to come up with something brilliant to write! Hang in there Angela - it may happen! Angela is an amazing artist and story teller. Her blog takes you on a lovely, peaceful journey. Please visit her - you won't regret it.

From Angela , the Stroke of the Brush Award

The new Stroke of the Brush Award, which was created by blogger kj in honor of her two blogger friends, Soulbrush and Snowbrush.The Stroke of the Brush Award "recognizes and celebrates the willingness to take risks, speak honestly, act with integrity, and in the process create and share colors and/or words that stroke our curiosity and brush aside our differences."

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From Bogey

The Friends Award

The instructions for this award were to; “Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award:

”These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers, photographers poets, humourists and smart a**es.

Bogey, what an honor! Thank you SO much! I am not sure which of the descriptors above you would ascribe to me - I am guessing it is the last one ;) and that is awesome! I love this award, and I have coveted it for a very long time.

Now, for those of you who have not yet met Mr Bogey, you must pop over and introduce yourselves. Bogey is the epitome of this award - he is kind, considerate, thoughtful, funny, sincere, and a true friend in every sense of the word. He is open and honest, highly supportive, and genuine. As they sang on the Golden Girls, "Thank you for being a friend!"

I am going to double-whammy these awards by presenting them both to the following people:

- Alicia

- Breeze

- Tracey

- Sara Williams

- Sarah at Cottage Garden Studios

- Lovely Natalie

- Michelle

- Ms Renee - because I adore her

- Tamis

-Jan

- Martha
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From Anne and from Tracey
The Premio Meme Award

Ladies, thank you SO much! This if a fantastic gift, and I am more grateful that you can ever know. So let me introduce you both to the rest of the bloggers who visit here.

First up, Anne is from Aging Lite. You may recall that I blogged about a book she wrote, that I happened to be the lucky winner of in a give-away (you can read it here). The book was called Aging Lite and she describes it as being "A Baby Boomer's Health Planner for Women," but let me tell you, the advice in the book is important for all women! It is a wonderful, easy to follow workbook, loaded with excellent advice and ideas. Anne - I love this book and I am so grateful to you for writing it, and for honoring me with it.

***************

Ms Tracey is a fellow cancer survivor and one of the most inspirational writers that I know. She recently did a post on things to consider if you are challenged to get a good nights sleep. The post impacted me hugely - like every other cancer patient in the world, the nights of restful sleep are long behind me. I am averse to taking pills unless absolutely necessary, so her post really resonated with me, to the point that I discussed it with my health care provider. Another post she wrote recently had to do with wondering how those of us who were born in 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's ever survived childhood, given all that we know today! It was an excellent post - thank heaven I was born MUCH later than the rest of you out there ;) Thank you Tracey, not just for the award, but for your words of wisdom and inspiration. I am grateful to have found you out there in blogland.

So, the Premio Meme Award and I need to tell you 7 things about myself. Hmm...what can I tell you that you don't already know? Okay, I think that I have a couple of things that I can share:

1. When my youngest sister was about 5 years old, my older sister and I convinced her that she was adopted, and that she should really pack her bag and go to find her birth family! This of course was not true and, according to our parents who lacked a sense of humor, not funny! Connie did as we advised - she packed her little bag and set out to find her "real" family. My Dad found her at the park down the street. My older sister and I found ourselves grounded - unjustly so, I still believe!

2. I have a totally irrational fear of snakes. And I have NO desire to overcome the fear. My biggest concern when travelling through Central America was not the bandits, the corrupt police, or the even more corrupt border guards. No...my biggest concern was that I would encounter one of the gazillion different types of poisonous snakes who make their home there. Every time I saw a child walking down the road with a machete, my stomach would turn, knowing what the machete was intended for!

3. I love thunderstorms! The sounds, the lightening, the pouring rain. Love it!

4. I am an avid reader and I quest for knowledge always.

5. As much as I hate cancer, I acknowledge that it has given me some very special gifts, the greatest of which is enhanced appreciation for the world around me, the wonders of nature, and the amazing people that I have been blessed with (including all of my cyber friends). That appreciation has led me to reach out to people who I haven't seen or heard from in years, to let them know that they made a difference in my life, and I am grateful to them for that.

6. I never take a day, an hour, a minute for granted. Many times throughout the day, I find myself welling up with tears over simple things which I never before acknowledged. I walk around with perpetual "butterflies" in my stomach, as I experience human emotion in such a different way than before. Tears are always lurking, waiting to burst forth and roll down my cheeks. The tears are a combination of joy and sorrow, as I realize and accepet that I am mortal.

7. I want to make a difference! Whether that is a difference in the life of one person or many, doesn't matter to me - but I want to leave this world knowing that I have made someones life richer for having known me.

This award is dedicated to ALL of you! Thanks for hanging in there with me - your support means more to me than I will ever be able to adequately convey.

Devastating Fires

2009-07-20T03:00:00.006-06:00

My family is devastated by the wildfires that are burning out of control in Kelowna British Columbia. This is where my younger brother and his family live. This is where they have their business. This is where, just 6 years ago, the same area was ravaged by fire. As of Sunday evening, 11,000 people have been evacuated, with an additional 6,000 being put on evacuation notice. My brother and his family are part of the 6,000.

Kelowna is located in the interior of British Columbia, in the beautiful Okanagon Valley. The areas main industries are fruit and wine. It is an exceptionally beautiful part of our country, and is becoming world renowned because of the fine wines that are being produced in the area. The climate is ideal for the growing of grapes, as well as cherries, peaches, nectarines and countless other fruits. Sadly, the climate is also conducive to wildfires. It gets extremely hot there in the summer time, with very little rain. It doesn't take much to spark a fire and, once sparked, it is quickly out of control.

In 2003, Kelowna experienced huge devastation when the fires took out almost 250 square kilometres (61,776 acres). At that time, 45,000 residents were evacuated, and 239 homes were lost. It was truly one of the worst fires the area had experienced. This years fire is likely to meet or exceed the numbers of 2003 if the weather conditions continue to be hot and windy.

Please, send your prayers, wishes, good karma to the people who live in this area. It is so horrible to think that they have been through it once, and now have to go through it again!

Love is in the Air

2009-07-19T03:00:00.018-06:00

"Man it's a hot one
Like seven inches from the midday sun"
- Smooth by Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas

That song sums up the temperatures in Edmonton this weekend. I love hot weather, but since radiation, I need to protect myself from the sun more than I used to, so it is a bit challenging to stay cool. Yesterday's temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius (I think that is the equivalent of 86 degrees F), so I decided to go for my walk earlier in the day. I arrived at one of my favorite destinations in the city - the provincial legislature grounds, shortly before noon. Clearly, this is a popular spot for wedding photos in this city! When I arrived, these three brides were lined up on the steps for their photos. You can double click on the photo to enlarge it.

I realize it is not too easy to see all of the brides - I thought about pretending to be the weekend reporter/photographer for the major local newspaper but realized I would soon be busted when people saw my little point and shoot camera - so I want to describe the scene for you.

The bride and groom on the left hand side were a young Asian couple, with a very large wedding party. The bride had 6 bridesmaids, and 4 or 5 junior bridesmaids. As well, there were Moms and Dads, Aunties and Uncles and Grandparents, all vying for space in the photographers lens. The bridesmaids wore knee length brown dresses - really quite pretty, and the junior bridesmaids had lovely little green dresses. From what I could tell, there was not very good communication in this group, and they spent a lot of time trying to rally the troops who had spread out all over the extensive grounds of the legislature.

The bride in the centre was also missing her bridal party. The poor woman stood in the position you see her in above, for such a long time. The photographer must have captured 8,000 images of her in that pose, while they awaited the arrival of the delinquent, lilac clad bridesmaids who drove up approximately 20 minutes after the bride began her coy flirtation with the camera. The groom stood patiently off to the side, a stance I am certain he will assume many, many times in the upcoming years. After watching the motionless, mannequin like bride for about 15 minutes, I began to feel so sorry for her. I am quite certain that, given the length of time that she stood looking over her shoulder, she was probably unable to return her head to a forward position. I am guessing that she went through the rest of the day, looking back over her shoulder, while her attentive groom stood in the wings watching her.

The final bride, the one on the right, had 4 bridesmaids and 2 junior bridesmaids all dressed in red. There was a little ring bearer who was climbing on pillar posts and everything else he could find. I kept waiting for the inevitable fall and broken limbs that would be incurred, and left before I became witness to the mayhem that would ensue.

As these brides were getting their pictures taken, several other wedding parties began to line up, for their turn on the stairs. I kept wondering how many brides stand on these stairs on a typical Saturday, but it was too warm to sit there and watch. I felt so sorry for the groups that had to stand in the hot sun - I am quite certain the wedding photos will show a large group of "glistening" individuals.

'Tis the wedding season - clearly an industry not impacted by the recession!

Friday Shoot-Out: Yard Objects

2009-07-17T03:00:00.024-06:00

Today's Shoot-Out, Yard Objects, was chosen by my girl Noe Noe from the beautiful United States of America! When I first heard the topic, my immediate thought was, "OH NO, Noe Noe! I live downtown, where there are no yards! There is concrete! There are multi-family dwellings! There are businesses. But no yards!"

I felt myself sinking, wallowing in self pity! Much like the fellow below, who is a total cheat! I found him in Canmore. Not my home town, but in my home province, and in my home country. (Is it just me, or does he look like he has his mouth submerged in water and is blowing bubbles?) Forgive me fellow shooters, for I have sinned! All in the name of "entertainment!"

After 30 seconds of agonizing "wallowing," I determined that an attitude adjustment was needed. I grabbed my camera, and set out exploring. Much of my early "yard object" discoveries involved signs like the ones below.

But then I started to notice something different. Almost all of the businesses in my neighborhood have some form of "decoration," whether that be flowers or "objects" like the one below.

Putting the cart before the horse!

Save a horse, ride a cowboy!

This picture reminds me of the scene in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou where a blind man is travelling and singing "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow." (Thanks Sarah - this is the serendipitous moment I talked about!)

As I wondered down one street, my eye was drawn to a heavily treed yard that clearly had something "constructed" on it. I peered through the trees, and this is what I was greeted with! I don't know if it is left over from Hallowe'en - that would be my hope! But whatever, it would look even scarier if I hadn't over exposed the shot! YIKES!

Okay, this next shot has a very interesting story! The building is a former synagogue which was purchased by a local architect. The new owner purchased it with the intent of turning it into office space for his firm, but city zoning by-laws did not allow businesses to be in the residential area, so he converted it into a private home, where he now lives! His yard objects are primarily large rocks!

And this scultpture!

I am reminded of the line from a Rockwell song: " I always feel like somebody's watchin' me"

No bull!

Lovely, calm, serene yard object at a condo development about 3 blocks from my home. At Thanksgiving last year, the newspaper interviewed me about what a person facing a life threatening disease was thankful for. We came into this area for the photo shot that accompanied the article. It was perfect, as one of the things that I am most thankful for is the wonders of nature - this reminds me of an escape from the city, into the quietness of a mountain stream. I am at peace in an environment such as this.

This picture is so sweet - I smiled as I peered into the yard and saw someone's potting work on the lovely little wooden table. I don't know who lives here, but I envisioned an older woman gently manipulating plants and soil to create a beautiful splash of color in the yard.

Cows seem to be a popular thing in this town! Or is that a bull? Do cows have horns? Not sure! I love nature, people, not cows! Well...I don't mind cows, but I don't care enough about them to learn about their horn growing abilities or lack thereof!

Once again with the over-exposure! Sheesh! And this was such a pretty little spot that someone had carved out! Just beyond the little bench is a spectacular view of the river, a golf course and a large park area. Very serene!

This YELLOW horse confuses me. First of all, the picture makes it look like the horse has a tree growing in its head. It doesn't! The tree is behind the horse. Second, the sign in front of the horse states that the area is under video surveillance. So my question is, does the horse have a hidden camera somewhere? I am confused. But one thing is clear to me! YELLOW is Renees favorite color!

At the college, live sea gulls are used as yard objects. I thought that was very environmentally conscious of them! Kudos to the college! Hmmm.. whatever happened to the band A Flock of Seagulls?

At a downtown park, similar to "Needle Park" in my beloved Vancouver, the city has put up a number of interesting yard objects. The design reminds me of youth, playfulness, acrobats, and love of life. The people who spend their days and nights in this park do not reflect the same senitments. I wonder if they are inspired to dream when they see things like this. I hope so.

Okay, that's it for me! I am hearing the "Booty call" - time to get my sorry ass out of here! No more being "cheeky." Time for me to "butt into" your business! Hope you enjoyed the soft, cushy comfort of my concrete jungle. Now I am off to check out your picks!

Reminder: Next weeks theme is Reflections!

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

2009-07-16T04:45:00.004-06:00

There are some very funny posts out there dealing with pets! Martha at Menagerie had a "Virtual Vacation," in which the winner won a trip to Florida. The contest was won by Koda, who is a dog owned by Betty. Yesterday, Koda "arrived" in "virtual" Florida and had a veritable plethora of activities to take part in upon arrival, including meeting his new "family." I can't wait to see what he does today!

Then Mark over at The Butler and Bagman Chronicles has been, along with his wife, dog sitting two dogs who belong to his son and daughter-in-law. There have been a number of misadventures, which have made me laugh and also have given me a reason to utter a few words of gratitude that I am without pets.

J9 over at J9 and stuff posted a rather "smelly" story of finding the remains of one of her cats hunts! As I had done with Mark, I made the comment to J9 that "this is precisely why I don't have pets!"

Michelle, at The Truth as I Know It has, in the past, described how her dog loves to chew shoes. And anything else he can wrap his teeth around! Once again, I am grateful to not have to deal with those things!

It's true - no pets for this girl. Some days I would like to have a cat, but they shed so much and that would push me over the edge, I am certain. And some days I would love to have a dog to take for walks. But then I worry about once again ending up in the situation I was in last summer where I couldn't walk more than 6 steps at a time. Poor little doggie would end up spending his/her days cooped up in the condo, eating and getting fat! The dog would need to be "potty trained," and I can't imagine that is a good idea!

No, I am best to adopt a plan like Martha's and have a "virtual" pet.

But the posts, along with the humor, demonstrate so clearly how much people love their pets and how much joy they get from caring for them, despite the occassional shenanigans! There is something about the way people tell their "frustrated" stories that is heart warming. People talk about their pets almost the same way that they would speak of any other family member - well, that's not true. They describe their pets in the same manner they would talk about Uncle Bobby, the rebel in the family, who did a couple of months in jail. Uncle Bobby, who is a good guy. He just got in with the wrong crowd! Uncle Bobby who, despite his troubles, has a heart of gold! You know the dude! Just like I feel I know these pets.

From a non-pet owner to all of you who post about your pets, I want to say thank you for sharing the love, joy and challenges of being a pet owner. And let me also say - I am so happy that it is you living the reality, while I sit comfy in virtual land, laughing at the flea stories, the rat stories, and the chewing stories, enjoying your pet without having to clean up after it. There are so many studies that indicate pets are good for a persons mental health. I am beginning to see that it is the mental health of the non-pet owner that improves the most!

Cheers everyone! To you and your pets!

My Most Exciting Week Thus Far

2009-07-15T05:41:00.003-06:00

WOW! Am I ever feeling challenged to post a daily blog these days! The weather is so incredible and I am taking advantage of being out of doors every moment that I can. It seems so odd that a year ago, my daily outings consisted of a trip to the cancer institute for treatment, followed by a short walk to my deck and a comfy chair. This year, with having my mobility back, the fresh air draws me like a drug, and I am incapable of resisting it!

This week, I am trying 3 days of work, 6 hours each day! I am quite excited about it - each day seems a bit easier, though I am exhausted at the end of each shift. But I don't worry too much about that - many "healthy" people need a nap at the end of their day as well. My company has been amazing to me, always assuring me that whatever works best for me, also works best for them. I am very fortunate.

Yesterday when I got home, I received a call from my family doctor. She was just checking in to see how I am doing, and to let me know that she is going on vacation for a month. She asked that I book an appointment with her upon her return, and in the meantime, she had some things that she wants me to do for the radiation side effects. I am so blessed to have her for a doctor.

This Friday Shoot-Out is Yard Objects! Lots of fun to shoot. The following week is Reflections! I have to tell you - the shoot outs have been SO good for my health and my sense of community, both virtual and real. I am getting out and about, doing lots of walking and exploring, and then get to show what I discover in some kind of creative way. Life doesn't get much better.

Next week A Taste of Edmonton starts - I have plans to go with Salima from work. I am very excited about that.

How is your summer/winter going? Hope that you are out and enjoying the riches of nature, the sounds of your community, etc, etc.

A Wedding in Heaven

2009-07-14T03:00:00.001-06:00

I spent the weekend in my idea of heaven - the Rocky Mountains! I was there attending the wedding of my nephew Patrick, and his new bride Tanis. Congratulations to you both!

These peaks are known as "The Three Sisters." They are so spectacular! Developers are in the midst of changing the landscape by creating communities in these mountains.

On one of the walks we went on. I am not sure if you can see, but down the river, a man is fishing in the pure, clean mountain river. Breath taking scenery!

This spot has a memorial to a woman who performed "many" weddings at the site. I could have stayed here for hours!

Nature at its best! So calm. So serene. So heavenly!

Friday Shoot Out - Texture

2009-07-09T03:00:00.005-06:00

Okay! It's Friday! And time for HomeTown Shoot-Out! (Well, actually for me it is Thursday, and I am posting early as I have a wedding to go to this weekend, and I am having a difficult time with the scheduler. Hence the early post!)This weeks theme, TEXTURE, was chosen by Linda from Canada! I am anxious to see what everyone else has done - this was a fantastic theme!

So you guys know me by now. I can never just do pictures - I always need a story to go with it. But I am changing it up a bit this week. I am telling a story, with "fill in the blanks!" Guess who gets to fill in the blanks??? Be careful! Some of it is pretty tricky! Are you ready? Here we go:

It seems that every week when Friday rolls around, I get super stoked about the theme of our Shoot Out. Like I mean, I get stoked to the point where I end up getting myself in some deep _________.

This Friday is no exception! I went out and shot a whole schwack of pictures, uploaded them all into my computer, pondered over how best to show them, decided on the"game plan," wrote out a list of the pictures I wanted to use, and before I knew it, I was ________________ out of control.

It quickly became clear to me - I needed to come up with a _______________ plan.

"Why," I kept asking myself, "do you get yourself so _______________ up over a wee shoot out? Why can't you be like the other nice people and just show your pictures? Would it kill you to play nice for a change?"

I could feel a big, dark _____________ descending over me! This was NOT going to be an easy assignment!

I think part of the problem comes from the fact that I spent a lot of years in Vancouver. For those of you who don't know, Vancouver is on the west coast of Canada. It has a moderate temperature, mountains, the ocean and a misperception on the part of other Canadians that those of us who live on the West Coast are "hippies" growing and smoking something that is commonly referred to as _____________.

That reputation is totally unfounded. The only B.C. residents who occasionally get ____________ are the snow boarders up in Whistler.And that is only when they are in the Olympics. And they get framed!

So what if a lot of people who live in Vancouver and on the Island have ________ plants in their houses? That doesn't mean anything. Nor do the really bright lights inside the house, and the plastic covering the windows. All that means is that the residents prefer a tropical climate to a moderate one.

Whooooa!

Suddenly, I feel as though I were walking through a _______________. Whoooooa.

Does anyone have any of that white chocolate almond ____________ candy? I suddenly seem to have the munchies! Don't know why!

Once while I was living in Vancouver, I was brought in to the police station for questioning. They wanted me to spill what I knew about the crop of "special peppers" being cultivated by a certain Vietnamese friends family. (That's right H.N. - I'm telling the story!). I told the officers the truth as I knew it (that one's for you Michelle!). I told them they were barking up the wrong ______________.
(Please note: the above paragraph is totally and completely a figment of my imagination! I have NEVER been inside a police station. Mom!)

They kept _________ away at me, hoping that I would break! I tried to be strong. Really, I did. But before I knew it...............

.................I was singing like a __________________.

Ummm..sorry to trip you up! If the "almost impossible to find bird" in the above picture really was a ______________, it would be ___________ in color. And that color just happens to be Renee's favorite! (You got double blanks this round because of the super easy "barking up the wrong____!)

Today, H.N.'s entire family is doing time in the big ___________ house! They're innocent, I tell you! They are just poor immigrant people. Why aren't you going after the real offenders - those damn snow boarders up in Whistler?

Okay, even for me who is writing this masterpiece, I am beginning to feel like we are being punished with Chinese ____________ _____________. (Ha ha! Another double whammy for you!)

I could tell you that this one is a fountain, but let be honest, it looks like one of the readers in blogland is ___________ from this nauseating story!

And this is the way the people on the West Coast view the same picture! Whoooooa!

Thanks for allowing me to be silly once again! Hope that you had fun and that you were able to fill in all of the blanks. If there were any that you were confused about, just make something up. That's what I did!

Synchronicity via Sarah, Alicia and Jan

2009-07-08T03:00:00.011-06:00

Three recent posts got me to doing some serious thinking! Trust me, that concept is as frightening for me as it is for you! But please bear with me.

Sarah from Cottage Garden Studios posted a very thought provoking piece on Monday - you can read it here. In the piece, Sarah asked us all to reflect on how and why our paths cross with others, how we experience "near misses" in life - do you remember the number of people who reported that at the last minute they had cancelled their flights on September 11th, not knowing that a tragedy was about to take place on their scheduled aircraft? She points out how we are all connected here in blogland, but we form stronger bonds with some than with others, and she describes us all as threads that are being woven into a beautiful tapestry.

Immediately after reading Sarah's post I commented my thoughts, and then I really started to think about her words and the times that I have experienced "synchronicity." One of the best examples of this for me was my move to Edmonton to be near family, then being diagnosed with cancer in a city that has one of the most reputable cancer centres in the world, and to be surrounded by loved ones as I went through treatment.

Next, I allowed my mind to wander into thoughts of how and why I use blogspot. When I first started to blog, my intention was to express my feelings about having a life threatening illness.That transitioned into the discovery that this is a safe place to practice different "writing" voices, and to get some feedback on what works and what doesn't work. And I travelled that road for several months. And then something changed!

Lately, my posts have been taken up with a lot of pictures. This can be partially explained by the fact that I am re-discovering a passion for capturing images, but the bigger reason for posting photos is that it provides me an avenue to escape writing! Now this is an interesting and somewhat shocking development. I love writing, and blogging has brought me a lot of joy, and allowed me a freedom to experiment with different forms of expression. I know that one of my favorite ways to tell a story is through the use of analogy. That form of writing comes easily to me, and it makes me smile. So why the veering away?

Also on Monday, Alicia at Boyle Antique & Vintage Jewelry, wrote a piece entitled The Lowly Comment. I also commented on that piece, and then immediately began to reflect on it (do you get the sense that I should have been a mirror?).

The subject of commenting comes up a lot in blogland. It seems that most of us want to receive comments, and it further seems that we want to accumulate followers. Now, when I first started blogging, I interpreted the word "followers" to mean "supporters." I believed that if someone signed up to follow me, they would naturally comment on my blogs and encourage me to keep doing what I was doing, or to offer some constructive feedback, or whatever. And, I assumed that responsibility for myself. I felt that if I said I would follow you then dammit, I would support you as well, and I would leave comments on each one of your posts. It took me all of 2 minutes to realize that I was mistaken in my interpretation of the word "follower," and that is okay. NOW that is okay! Initially, it was confusing, but now I am fine with it.

But I have to be honest with you - I still measure my "success" not by the number of followers I have, but by the number of comments I receive. I regularly check to see the number of comments, and which posts encourage the most feedback. I strive to increase that number - case in point, the Friday Shoot-Outs. I try to attain more comments every Friday, realizing that there are only "X" number of people who are interested in viewing my hometown shots, and therefore potentially setting myself up for a lot of disappointment. But, that is what I do. I try to increase the number of comments week after week.

As well, I go back and look at which of my written posts have garnered the most comments. Inevitably, it has been the stories that I tell of how I learned my life lessons through children, or those stories which I told through analogy. Clearly, those are the most appealing to readers. Which shouldn't come as a surprise - if it is the form of expression that I prefer to use, it is probably written in a way that readers find more enjoyable than if I were writing poetry. Which you wouldn't enjoy. Trust me on that one!

I interpret both Jan's and Alicia's posts to be a message to me to stop being such a lazy ass, and get back to doing what I love about blogging - telling my stories with words, and using Fridays for my photo days. So that is what I am about to do! Not that I won't throw in an occasional photo mid-week, but I am going back to my first love. Hopefully, you will continue to comment, but if you don't, I will chalk it up to synchronicity!

So all of this synchronictic (is that a word?) commenting brings me to my third post of reflection! Which is this.I have been hanging on to these three award that I received from Jan at Jan's Place. If you haven't yet visited Jan, please do so. She is such a fun blogger who loves horses, her daughters and her grandchildren (not necessarily in that order!) I always look forward to reading Jan's posts, and she is one of the most encouraging, positive bloggers out there. Get to know her!

I don't know how to explain my delay in posting them, other than to say that "something" told me to hold off. Isn't it interesting how a blog on synchronicity and a blog on commenting should arrive on the same day? And isn't it interesting that Jan's awards to me tie in so well with those themes?

Jan indicated that each of these awards were to be presented to five people. It only makes sense to me that the awards go to great followers and great commenters. Now, I am leaving some people who are amazing at this off of my list because they have already received the awards, and I am going to give them to people who may not have them yet. So, for those of you who comment regularly, but aren't named below, know that you are not being overlooked in any way, shape or form. I am simply wanting to spread the love!!!

Here we go:

Alicia (of course!),

Meghann at Fibrio Diaries,

My girl Sarah at Cottage Garden Studios,

Lurverly Claire ,

Mr Bogey, himself,

Ms Alli at Life in Transition,

Gorgeous Daria ,

The Wandering GingerV ,

Bird Woman Elaine,

Whatzit sister Noe Noe ,

Ms Chrisfield Patty,

My Soul Sister Natalie ,

Gorgeous Phoenix ,

World Renowned Cynthia ,

Pam Anderson Look-alike J9,

Adventurous Zaroga ,

Voyaging Sandra ,

Truthful Michelle,

Gorgeous Renee ,

Beautiful, gentle Breeze,

And everyone else! I have just run out of adjectives!

Two of My Favorite Women

2009-07-07T03:00:00.007-06:00

Today I pay homage to two of my favorite women - my nieces Kerri and Lindsay. These incredible women, who are cousins, share the same birthday. I am honored to not just know them, but to call them family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celebrating Kerri!

Kerri is the first child born to my older brother. She is also the first grandchild and the first niece. Her birth was anxiously awaited, and highly celebrated.

Kerri was a very bright, precocious child. She was, and continues to be, extremely determined and she is highly motivated by challenges. Checkout her book blog sometime, to get an idea of what I am talking about! And that will only give you a very small snapshot of her passion for challenges.

From a very young age, Kerri has shared my passion for books. Her love of language and the written word translated into a perpetual quest for knowledge. She is one of the smartest people that I know, and she is able to discuss any number of subjects with confidence.

Characteristics that I would ascribe to Kerri are: highly intelligent, determined, confident, loyal, integrity, compassionate, loving.

Intelligence: Kerri was around 3 years old when, one evening, her Mom and I decided that we wanted an evening treat from the store. Heather, Kerri's mom, asked my brother to go to the store for some "P.O.P." Kerri, had been sitting on the floor, not far away, engaged in playing with some of her toys. Without lifting her head, she told her dad, "I want some pop too!" The three of us adults stared open mouthed, at the fact that she knew what Heather had spelled, and then we burst out laughing. We also stopped spelling around her!

Confidence: Kerri is extremely confident, and will take on anything. It never occurs to her that something she has never done before, or something she hasn't prepared for may be a challenge. A few of her "challenges" include: travelling on her own to study in Greece; taking part in a fund raising 10K run without training first; painting a mural on her nieces wall - and so many more! When asked about doing something, the first word out of her mouth is, "Yes!" Afterwards, we sometimes here her say, "Oh oh!" but she never reneges and she never fails.

Determination: As I mentioned, Kerri was very determined. One evening, she didn't like the dinner selection that was being offered, and refused to eat. A couple of hours later, she climbed onto a cupboard, looking for a "bed snack." Her mom told her, "I'm sorry Kerri. There are no bed snacks for you. You chose not to eat your supper, so now you will have to wait until breakfast." Kerri angrily shouted, "I can't wait until I am big and have my own house! Then I will eat bed snacks whenever I want!"

Kerri has utilized her determination to her advantage. Her stubborn, determined nature resulted in her being the first woman president of the sports club at her University. She is now a respected architect, responsible for the construction of hockey GM Glen Sather's new home in Banff Alberta.
She is becoming extremely proficient at golf, she plays women's hockey and she runs 5K and 10K events frequently. As I have said before, Kerri is the person I would most want as a partner on The Amazing Race. Losing would not be an option.

Loyalty/integrity: From a very early age, Kerri had a pen pal in Australia. The two girls communicated on a regular basis, always vowing to travel to each others homeland when they graduated. True to their words, they did so. In fact, Kerri has visited Australia twice - the first time to meet her long time friend, and the second time to attend her wedding.

She is one of the most supportive and caring people that I know, and I am honored to be related to her. Kerri is one of the first to step up to the plate when others are going through difficult times, and she has a way about her that "normalizes" difficult situations. Her ability to do this allows the person who is suffering to feel like everything is going to be okay. It has to be - Kerri isn't worried, so why should you be?

Kerri, I wish you a wonderful birthday, an amazingly successful year, and a life time of happiness. I love you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celebrating Lindsay!

Lindsay is the second born child of my older sister, and the 4th born grandchild, my 3rd niece. Lindsay's birth was also eagerly awaited and when she was born, we all delighted in this beautiful little blond haired, blue eyed baby.

Lindsay has a joie de vivre that is rare to find today. She is game to try anything, and finds most things about life to be amusing. She is the first girl to sign up for a party, she reaches out to others, and she is surrounded by people who celebrate her friendship. She is loyal to everyone, and, like me, she has been known to get on her soapbox and fight for the underdog! Injustices do not sit well with this one, and she doesn't hesitate to speak out against them. Lindsay chose education as her profession, but she would have made a great lawyer, this one!

Characteristics that I would ascribe to Lindsay are confidence, intelligence, kindness, extrovertedness, humility and daring.

Confidence: Lindsay came out of the womb believing that she was invincible! The child had no fear, and nothing stopped her! I blogged before about the time when she was only 3, and she climbed a ladder to the roof of their two story home, nearly causing her mother a heart attack! Another time, we were going on a river boat cruise. The "ships captain" asked Lindsays older brother if he would like to steer the ship. He was reluctant. Lindsay, who could barely reach the steering wheel, commented, "I'll do it!" And she did!

Her "I'll do it" attitude was also employed when she wanted to learn how to ride a two wheel bike. Her Mom was busy and kept promising to help Lindsay "later." That wasn't good enough for Linds - she got herself on the bike and taught herself. The same with skiing - her Dad had broken his arm and couldn't help her, so she did it herself!

For many years, Lindsay studied dance. She learned ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop. Repeatedly, Lindsay won her dance competitions. But in typical Lindsay fashion, she down played her successes and turned the attention to the accomplishments of others who had also done well

Extrovertedness: Lindsay has been a talker since moments after birth! She loves to talk, and does not discriminate in who she talks to! She absolutely loves people and acknowledges that there is much to gain in speaking with others. When Lindsay was quite young, she spent her days with her Dad, a farmer, while her Mom, a teacher, worked. Part of their daily routine was watching "The Peoples Court." Another part of their routine was morning coffee with other farmers. Lindsay would chatter away, updating the men on the latest escapades on The Peoples Court!

Intelligence: Lindsay is a quick learner - she processes and then utilizes information very quickly, which works well in her career choice of teacher. Lindsay, once again showing her courage, is a young, very attractive blond woman teaching high school English. She is undaunted by the boys, and is quick to put them in their place.

Kindness: Last summer, when I was going through my treatment, Lindsay quickly signed up for a week fo caregiving, taking me to my treatments and doctors appointments, cleaning the condo, and cooking my meals. But my favorite thing about her stay was the night the two of us sat on the balcony, a nice cold glass of white wine in our hands, and talked. We discussed everything, and I went to bed that night thinking how blessed I am to have her in my life.

Next summer, Lindsay will marry Grant, and I couldn't be happier for her! Grant is such a great guy, filled with kindness and caring. He is, in some ways, the yin to her yang, and they make a wonderful couple.

Lindsay, I love you! I wish you a wonderful birthday, an amazingly successful year and a lifetime of happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To both of the girls, I cannot tell you how much your friendship means to me. I cherish every moment that I have with each of you, and I wish only the best for you as you travel lifes path.

Hugs and kisses!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Doing What Makes Their Hearts Sing

2009-07-06T03:00:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous: 22 degrees C, with big, fluffly white clouds in the sky. I decided to take advantage of the weather (we are headed for a few days of rain) and paid a return visit to the International Street Performers Festival. I just had the best time! These performers, work for donations. I am certain that there are days when they don't receive a lot of cash in their hats, and yet they have so much passion for what they do! As I watched several of the acts yesterday I reflected on the fact that when people do what makes their hearts sing, they exude a joy for life that is contagious, as well as enviable. They remind you of what life is really all about.

The first act I saw yesterday was 3 guys out of the U.S. who go by the name The Flaming Idiots. The show was cute, but a bit slow - they were the opening act on a Sunday morning, so they didn't have a very large crowd which I am certain had an adverse effect on their own energy levels. As their name suggests, they did a lot of juggling using fire batons. They introduced themselves as Pyro, Gyro and Walter - which I actually thought was the funniest thing that they did!

Next up, I saw the guys below. They are an Edmonton group called The Be Arthurs, and they were fantastic! They claim to be a "ukelele cover band," and they have been performing together since 2005. They referred to themselves frequently as "a ukelele rock band," and they performed songs by Queen, OutKast and other such bands. They also told us that they had just finished a world tour (the cities they visited were ALL in Alberta), and that they got kicked out of one city for their "ukelele rock band behavior" - they didn't take their shoes off when they entered the hotel room, they ordered room service and didn't eat the meal - they told us, "That's the way Ukelele Rock Stars roll!"

Please click on the pictures to enlarge them!

Okay, so these guys were great, but what made them even better was the lovely little woman in the purple top. She had Down's Syndrome, and she was so full of joy and happiness. She danced throughout their performance, keeping perfect rhythm!

Here she is again, cheering and encouraging the band! They did a thing where they would raise their arms, signalling that we were to yell and scream like we would at a rock concert. She decided to help them out with that!

In the below picture, the one guy in the band did a little "booty call," to the lyrics "you know what to dooooo," while reaching into his back pocket, taking out $50.00 bills and dropping them into the ukelele case! His number one groupie decided to sit that one out!

The band referred to these young ones as "Tiny Dancers!" They also did some booty moves, along with the odd ballet leap! These three did not sit out one song!

And for the encore, a slow song was played, allowing for a bit of romance to take place! Now that's what life is all about!

And finally, I told you yesterday about Pete Sweet who did this high wire unicycle act. Sadly, my camera batteries had died, so I caught his show one more time. This dude is seriously funny, and well worth seeing - so if you get the chance, his name once again is Pete Sweet, he is out of San Francisco, and he is super funny!

The Further Adventures of The New Girl in Town

2009-07-05T05:00:00.007-06:00

Continuing on my theme of "discovering my city," I spent a good portion of the day yesterday at the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival.

Since moving to Edmonton, I haven't really embraced the city in the way I would have liked to. It doesn't feel like home to me. Please do not misunderstand me - it is not that I am unhappy here - I am grateful that I am near family, and I consider myself to be extremely fortunate that this is the city in which I received my cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. I could not have asked for a better health care and research team. No! Those things I have been very happy about. But I miss Vancouver terribly! I miss the mountains, the ocean and the lifestyle I had there. In Edmonton I have felt like the proverbial "stranger in a strange land."

Much of that feeling can be attributed to the fact that I have not gotten involved in the many of the things this city has to offer. When I was originally planning my move here, I set for myself the goals of taking up ice skating and cross country skiing. I planned to go golfing, hiking and cycling in the summers. That didn't happen. So it is little wonder that I feel "homesick" for the city where I was very active.

My Friday walk motivated me to get off my sorry ass "woe is me" pity party and start creating a life for myself here. I went on-line and discovered that Edmonton has 205 festival days a year! WOW! And here is me thinking there is nothing to do in this city! So, I took a look at the summer festivals, I got out my Moleskine notebook, and I created a list of events that I will participate in over the next couple of months. By committing my plans to paper, I have no choice but to make my thoughts become my reality! I know that the only way for me to fall in love with my city is to romance it. So, here is the list that I came up with:

* River City Shakespeare Festival: performed at an outdoor venue, the current presentation is Comedy of Errors. My plan is to attend Tuesday evening.
* A Taste of Edmonton: runs from July 16-25
* Heritage Festival: runs August 1-2
* Caribbean Arts Festival: August 7-9
* Dragon Boat Festival: August 8-9
* International Fringe Festival: August 13-23
* Sobey's Symphony Under the Sky: Sept 4-7

Now, those are just a few of the festivals running. There is also a jazz festival, a blues festival, a bluegrass festival and a folk festival. There are several film festivals and a performance art festival. There is a historical festival, and there is the exhibition. To name just a few! But, I digress. I began talking about the Street Performers festival that I attended. So, let's return to that. First let me say, there were more audience members than the lonely guy below and I in attendance! The event runs through until July 12th - I will definitely go back again!

Yesterday, I saw five performers, all of whom were awesome! The guy below was particularly funny and VERY talented. Throughout his act, he kept referring to his "Indian magic!" The woman standing with him in this picture had been called up to help him with a card trick that involved his snake, which he has owned since he was a young boy. As you can see, the snake was not a threat! But during all of his card antics, he took her wedding ring and her watch. They showed up again inside a sealed can of corn, which was locked inside of a box! Very impressive. And then our Indian friend told us his name - Andrew Elliott. Though he is of Indian descent, he was born and raised in Australia. If you get a chance to see him - he travels the world doing street performances - please go. He is definitely worth seeing!

Another act that I absolutely loved was a guy from San Fransisco named Pete Sweet. He is physical clown, who sings, dances, juggles and rides a unicycle on a tight rope. The guy was AWESOME, and I really wish that I had some pictures to show you, but the batteries in my digital camera died just as he was getting started. I did get some film shots of him, so once they are developed I will maybe scan some.

I had such a good time at the festival and I think the performers deserve a lot of credit - the weather was not being cooperative and these guys were really being challenged to stay positive and entertaining. It seemed that they would just get their performance started and the rain would come, causing audience members to seek shelter, event organizers to insist they shut down because of the risks with the electrical cords, etc. Then the rain would stop, and they would be told to resume. I realize that this is how they make their living, but I think they deserve a lot of credit for not packing up and leaving the venue! And I am grateful that they didn't!

Discovering My City

2009-07-04T06:05:00.007-06:00

I have lived in my city of Edmonton for almost 3 years now. Sadly, I don't know the city. There are a number of reasons for my lack of knowledge, but primarily they are:

1. The first summer that I was here, I wanted to spend all of my spare time with family. I also spent a lot of time at work, and therefore, didn't meet many people with whom I could go on discovery journeys;
2. Winters in Edmonton are very cold, so I did not do any exploring during those months;
3. By the second summer, I had extremely limited mobility due to my illness, and as a result, I didn't venture far from my home. Though my mobility did improve as I went through treatment, it was never to a point where I could walk more than 5 or 6 blocks at a time.

Last summer was really hard on me. I was used to being very active, and I love being out of doors. So this summer, I am taking advantage of the fact that I am getting stronger, and I have begun exploring and enjoying my environment. I must say, I owe a HUGE thank you to the Friday Shoot-Out Gang, especially Reggie Girl, Patty and Gordon. Their shoot out assignments have played an integral role in my going out and exploring. That has the added benefit of getting back into a "fitness" routine. I am most grateful to you guys! Hugs to you all!

Ever since I moved downtown I have been drawn to a couple of bridges that connect the downtown area to the south side of the city. The long black one below is for cars, and it is the one that, during my treatment, my assigned weekly family member and I crossed 5 days a week, on my way to the Cross Cancer Institute. The top of this bridge has rails, that trolley cars travel on - more on that later.The lower bridge is used for the light rail transit, and the blue portion is a pedestrian bridge that leads walkers, runners and cyclists to their choice of two parks.

It is the pedestrian portion of the bridge that has intrigued me, and yesterday I decided to cross it and see where it took me. Come along with me on my journey! (Please note: The day was quite hazy, so the pictures are not as crisp and clear as they should be. However, you will be able to get an idea of my adventure.)

Typically, pedestrians wishing to access the bridges or the footpaths along the river valley, would utilize these stairs. All along the river valley, on both sides, there are sets of stairs like these. They are often used for fitness boot camps as well. The stairs in the picture below just happen to be closest to my home, and they also happen to be temporarily closed to the public so that they can be reinforced. So instead of walking down the stairs, I walked down a foot path.

This is a closer picture of the "LRT" bridge, along with the pedestrian bridge.

And this is the car bridge. It is called the High Level Bridge. Atop the bridge, you can see a trolley car. When this bridge was originally built, the upper portion was used by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Today, the little trolley cars use it to transport people from downtown to a very cool shopping area called Old Strathcona. The High Level Bridge is said to be the world's highest streetcar river crossing, and it is something I will encourage all visitors to do. It is a lot of fun, it is inexpensive, and it allows you to see for miles!

My plan for yesterday was to cross the bridge, wander through the "forest," and end up at the University. One of the things that I miss the most about Vancouver, besides the mountains and the ocean, is the rain forest. I love nature, and there is little in life that I enjoy more than exploring our bountiful world. So it was important to me that I walk through the forest in Edmonton, and discover little "sanctuaries" where I can go and lose myself from time to time. I had such a pleasant time, that I really lost myself yesterday, and had to ask more than one stranger for some directions! Sheesh!

This shot was taken shortly after I left the bridge and entered the forest. I have to tell you, when I saw the heavy vegetation, and the paths, my heart skipped a beat and I walked for many kilometres with a huge smile on my face! I just love this kind of stuff!

The walk through the forest led me to Emily Murphy park. From there, I had many choices to make, in terms of direction. I could climb a fairly steep hill and make my way to the University, I could backtrack, or I could make my way through the park and onto the Groat Road bridge, taking me back to my side of the river. Once on the other side of the river, I would again have several choices of routes to take. I opted to walk through the park and cross the other bridge. As I was making my way onto the second bridge, I glanced back at the park and noticed a group of people settling in for a little picnic!

This is the view from the second bridge, looking down the river to the first bridge. I was pretty impressed with myself for making it as far as I had, and I began to wonder about my ability to make it home again! But it was such a beautiful day, and I had lots of time, so I plodded along, enjoying the scenery and the sense of freedom that I was becoming reacquainted with!

So, the first half of my adventure took me through the forest. The second half was quite different. I walked along a city golf course! Because the paths take you above the golf course, you can again see for great distances, and it was so spectacularly beautiful! I am such a lucky woman, and I am so grateful for life and the wonders of our planet! My walk took me almost 3 hours, but only because I don't move too fast yet, and I needed to rest several times. I forgot to wear my pedometer - next time I will wear it and let you know how many km's I walked!

Thanks for spending some time with me today! Hope you enjoyed our walk as much as I did - I am confident your legs aren't nearly as sore as mine are right now!

Friday Shoot-Out: Celebrate Life

2009-07-02T18:00:00.007-06:00

Thanks to Doreen from Michigan for hosting this weeks shoot-out. The theme, Celebrate Life, was a lot of fun and a subject that is near to my heart. I promised you all last week, and the week before, and the week before that, that I would not be silly this week. I will try to honor my word, but no guarantees!

Okay ladies and gents, it is time to "Step Up," and Shoot-Out!

I have pretty much always been amused by life, but on May 28, 2008, it hit home to me how precious life was, and how much I needed to celebrate each day that I was given. On June 5, 2008, I officially became a patient at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Every day I celebrate the amazing people who work there, and I celebrate everything that they have done for me! "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart" to an amazing group of people, especially Dr Pearcey, the unit 6 radiation team, the chemo nurses, the lab dudes, psychosocial services and the head janitor on the 3rd floor, who visited me every day when I was an in-patient.

This bracelet, given to me by Kerri, was what I was wearing at my initial consultation. I was very nervous waiting for the oncologist, and I sat playing with the bracelet and telling myself that I needed to be as strong as the tree. The bracelet went with me to every treatment, reminding me to stay grounded and strong.

When I needed a blood transfusion, these dudes came through for me! Please, if you are at all able to do so, give blood! If you do, one day someone will blog about how grateful they are for your generosity, and how much they want to thank you for saving their life! Now THAT is cool!

Okay, now it is time for fun! While golfing on the weekend, I came within inches of ending up in this sandtrap. Who wouldn't celebrate life and "falling in love" with a lousy shot?

Remember those lazy, hazy crazy days of summer when your biggest decision was which color chalk to use on the sidewalk? You could document and celebrate major events in your life for all of the neighbors to see.

Nothing like a comfy, cozy and, in this case, evil looking camp fire to demonstrate your burning passion for life! And while you're at it, eat some s'mores!

While out camping, you may want to celebrate new friends at a meet and greet. Or if you have already reached your friend quota, celebrate their stash of chilly beverages.

Celebrating driving. At 3 years of age! This baby does everything early - from entering the world to terrorizing pedestrians!

Celebrating nature! I do love trees! Live ones, dead ones....doesn't much matter to me!

With all of the crazy medical concerns our family had over the past few years, Christy chose to celebrate life and to honor courage and strength with this tattoo. One orchid represents Alexa, who struggled for life, one represents me and my journey, one is for her Mom and Dad, one for her Granny, one is for her Grandfather, and one for her.

When you were a child, how much did you love picking a dandelion that had gone to seed and blowing on it, spreading its seeds for a whole new crop of "flowers?" I remember having so much fun with this, and I still celebrate the dandelion for its strength, persistance and short lived beauty.

These people celebrate life in their sunshine yellow house. I celebrate Renee, whose favorite color is YELLOW!

Celebrating my favorite colors - black and white! All that is missing is a splash of silver!

Celebrating festival city!

Celebrating Canada's birthday

Celebrating an open stage! Yee Haw!

Celebrating an environmentally friendly vehicle!

This trolley came all the way from Australia to take those of us who live downtown to celebrate life at a Canada Day parade! What fun!

Crowds of people anxiously awaiting the start of the parade, meant to honor and celebrate our lives in Canada!

Clowning around!

Celebrating red and white hats! That seem to have ears! The better to "hear" a parade, perhaps!

Celebrating Farmers Markets

At last! My splash of silver! Hey, wait a minute! Aren't these the same dudes who were at the Underwear Affair? I believe they are celebrating "stalking" life!

Celebrating all ages groups

Celebrating being a Canadian! And the diversity that entails. These guys were awesome! They didn't stop dancing and singing, little grandma in the front kept waving, the children looked bored and perhaps a tad humiliated! But I LOVED this float!

People from Trinidad and Tobago celebrating "Red, White and Something Else" on Canada Day

A small privately owned airplane celebrating the freedom to soar with the birds!

That's it for me! Hope you enjoyed it! I loved this theme - celebrate every moment peeps! Life is short - laugh more, and love more. But... maybe be careful about loving strangers. Mmmm, in fact, maybe just work on laughing more. Yeah, that's a good idea. Just laugh more. And take part in next weeks shoot-out which is hosted by Linda from Canada. The theme:

TEXTURE

Very cool! Later!

All is Right With The World

2009-07-01T15:40:00.004-06:00

Hey Everyone!

I apologize for not posting sooner - but I am blaming it all on blogspot! Usually, if I am going to be "absent" for awhile, I write a number of blogs and schedule them. Up until a few weeks ago, that worked really well for me! Now, for whatever reason, I am no longer able to schedule posts.

Aaargh!

Anyway, I am back, and slowly going through your blogs. Holy crap you people write a lot! It could take some time to get through them all, but I promise that I will.

I spent the past weekend camping with my family. I got in one round of golf, a campfire complete with s'mores and some reading time. Lots of resting and visiting also took place. It was a lot of fun, and I am grateful that I was able to do this.

Monday, I babysat Ms Alexa, the "big little girl" who is 3! We watched cartoons, played with building blocks, wrote on the sidewalk with chalk, went to the park, watched the birdies, played ball, played in the sand, and on the slide. It was a good day!

Tuesday - back to see my family doctor. I swear, I see that woman more than her family does! Anyway, both she and my oncologist believe that I am experiencing some after effects of radiation. I have not been feeling well for a couple of months now, and a number of tests have been run. I still have a scope scheduled, and I had more lab work done yesterday, but we don't have absolute answers yet. I tend to agree with both doctors - my field of radiation was quite large, and it hit most of my internal organs. As well, it was quite intense, so it makes sense that there is some damage. I am just at the point now where I only want to hear some answers, regardless of what kind. I am extremely tired, both physically and mentally. In fact, I could nod off right now!

Zzzzzzzzz

Today is Canada Day! I went to a couple of the celebrations, and I am hoping to go tonight as well, though the weather is not looking too cooperative.

Sorry for the short, boring post - I just wanted to let you know that all is right with the world for me! Hope it is the same for you.

Premio Meme

2009-06-28T17:30:00.000-06:00

Doreen, at Little Pockets of Happiness has chosen the theme for the July 3 Shoot Out. It will be;

Celebrate Life!!

Doreen says, "No matter where you live, there is something to celebrate. What do you see on a daily basis that if you just slowed down a bit and took notice, would see it as something to celebrate. The Celebration of Life! Human, plant, animal, insect, new growth, life happenings, etc."

This sounds like a very interesting and fun Shoot-out. Ladies and gentleman, start your cameras!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alicia at Boyle Jewelry has graciously bestowed the Premio Meme Award! I am extremely honored and most grateful to receive this award from Alicia. I am so happy that Alicia and I have connected here in blogland. She has a wonderful, fun blog and she writes in a style that makes her feel like a long lost friend - it is very real and very familiar. One of my favorite posts that she wrote was a description of one of her childhood memories. In that particular post, she was recalling the Sunday family dinner, after which her father and mother loaded the children in the car and drove around checking the farmers crops. Her words were filled with love and joy - it is clear that she remembers these events with a fondness that has shaped who she is today. Please visit her post - it is truly one of my favorites.

The rules are that I tell 7 things about myself, and then pass the award on to 7 other people. Okay...ready, set, go!

1. I used to work with provincial inmates in a correctional environment. One of the inmates was serving a life sentence for some pretty nasty murders. Arthur ruled that unit, and the other inmates definitely bowed down to him. When I first began working there, he tried his best to intimidate me. I have to admit, he was pretty scary! So, I reached deep within myself and went to him one day armed with my own manipulation. I told him, "Arthur, I am so glad that you are here. These other guys are such freaks! I don't trust them. At least I feel safe when you are here, because it is pretty clear to me that you will protect me." And he did! The freak! One day, a fairly new inmate began slowly circling me. With each circle, he got a bit closer. Arthur watched quietly from the sidelines, and just when I thought that my heart was going to burst out of my chest, Arthur silently got up, walked over and placed himself between me and the inmate. No words were spoken, and I lived to tell the tale!

2. Until May 2008, I had never been sick! I had never broken a bone, had my tonsils or appendix removed - nothing. I breezed through life. Since May 2008, I have seen more medical professionals than I ever knew existed, have been run through more machines than I could ever have imagined, and have developed a whole new respect for the amazing health care system in this country. I feel blessed.

3. I have an addiction. It is not something that I talk about a lot because, like most addicts, I have a bit of shame around it. For a very long time, I was in denial about my "problem." I thought that I could control it. But I now have to face the ugly truth, and declare to each of you, "My name is Audrey, and I am addicted to blogging." I AM NOT KIDDING! I obsess on this crazy thing. I think about it all the time, check to see what everyone is up to - I have become the dreaded nosy neighbor, prying into all of your lives! Aaaargh!

4. I have a huge love of language and of laughter. When I can pair the two - it makes me ecstatic! I think that this ties in a bit with #3. There is very little that I enjoy as much as reading something witty or funny in blogland. It is true what they say - laughter is good for the soul.

5. I, along with members of my family, rode the infamous Mindbender roller coaster, the largest indoor triple loop roller coaster in the world, at West Edmonton Mall, when it was still in the "test" stage. About a week after we rode on it, there was a horrific accident in which two cars left the track and smashed into a wall, killing 3 and seriously injuring 1. To this day, I give thanks that we made it through the ride safely.

6. I carry with me at all times a Moleskine notebook, just like the one Papa Hemmingway used, and I record EVERYTHING in it! I jot down thoughts, health issues, conversations with other people, interesting bits of trivia, ideas for blog posts, and a million other things. I am always adding to it. I always laugh and envision my family reading through it after I am gone. I can hear it all now, "What the hell did she write this down for?" Ha ha! I will be watching you from above - be careful what you say about my notes! Anyway, the notebook is like a journal of sorts, and it comes in very handy more often than you would think! My doctor now looks at my purse before she looks at me, to see if I am reaching for my list of symptoms and the dates on which they occured!

7. I am blessed with an amazingly loving and supportive family. They are there for me, no matter what, and I am grateful. I live a very blessed life!

I am passing the torch to:

Patty at Crisfield, Maryland

Michelle at The Truth as I Know It

Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio

Noe Noe Girl, my partner is Whatzit crime

Hailey, the not so naive 15 year old

Breeze at Breeze Daze

Linda at Psyche Connections

Friday Shoot-Out "Colors of the Rainbow"

2009-06-25T21:05:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Debby at The Pink Birdhouse for sponsoring this weeks Shoot-Out. The theme this week - Colors of the Rainbow!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the immortal words of my good friend Britney, "Ooops, I did it again!" Sorry everyone. I just can't help myself! Friday Shoot-Out comes around and I turn into a raving lunatic! Please, I beg your indulgence just one more time! I promise to be good next week. No, really! I do!

So, first I need you to understand that my entire home is decorated in black and white. My dear friend Huong used to get upset with me and she would tell me that I needed "a splash of color" in my home, to which I inevitably replied, "I DO have a splash of color! I have silver!" I tell this story to let you know that until this shoot out, I didn't know there actually was color in the world! Sheesh!

Black and White with a splash of color

I went in search of this thing called color. I was lost, with no idea where to even begin looking. I found myself wandering around aimlessly, looking for some kind of a sign! Clearly, the angels were looking out for me because just when I was most desperate, there in front of me was a sign. One that said, "For heaven sake woman, stop walking around aimlessly!"

The sign went on to point out, rather rudely I thought, that I was wondering around like I had lost my head! I am telling you, these assignments can be quite ruthless!

I became quite frustrated! Fortunately for me, I found a nice foam RED thing on which to bang my head! The one that had become detached from my body!

Where to even begin? Well, Debby did say Colors of the Rainbow. And I know that the gay pride parade was put on by the Rainbow Coalition. Perhaps I could begin there (and at the same time, shamelessly show a picture of my friend Don for the second time!)

No, clearly I needed some direction! Hmmm....this "sign" is not really helpful! I am not sure which direction it wants me to go in!

My next strategy was to employ my old standby - when in doubt, turn to music! I considered songs that spoke of color. Of course there was Judy Garlands, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," - already covered that one! And there was Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors." Hmmm not sure that I know what constitutes a true color. There was "99 Luftballoons" by Nena - that is too limiting. And then it came to me! Good old Johnny Cash! Yup, the man in black provided the answer to my color question! Here it is..."I fell in to a burning ring of fire!"

"I went down, down, down. And the flames went higher. And it burns, burn, burns. The ring of fire. The ring of fire."

I was clearly pretty proud of myself for finding a colorful song from such a dark man! I decided to treat myself to some nice Sweet Potato Fries at an outdoor kiosk. But I got nervous at their offer for cars to just drive thru (I don't think they used spellcheck - I am pretty sure that is not how you spell "through," or "threw.") What if I was standing at the counter when someone took them up of that offer? YIKES!

This place looked much safer! And they served those delicious, fun little treats known as Ittibitz! Yummo!

Outside of the Butterdome (Yup, that is indeed the name of the bright yellow building) where the Underwear Affair took place, I saw a van offering up some very colorful beverages.

And inside of the Butterdome, was a rather fierce looking drink machine! I went with the other ones - they seemed much more placid and harmless.

I am not sure what the message of this shop window is but I think that it is saying, "STOP! Don't buy those sale priced shoes. Buy these over sized glasses! Whew, I feel a case of the vapors coming on!"

Okay! Now that's what I'm talkin' about - beautiful flowers! Made of glass. To match the colorful vase. Surrounded by baby alien vases! YES! Now we're talking color!

Another shot of the butterdome - this one for Renee whose favorite color is YELLOW!

Outside the College of Physical Education and Recreation. Only colorful students need apply!

Feeling pretty confident that I had this color thing down to a science, I went in search of my feather boa! Where on earth could I have left it? Oh of course, it is in my Lululemon bag.

A nice pair of socks to go with the boa and this girl is ready to party! Snazzy, I say!

Ooops, I forgot to pick up my sock puppet toy/squeegy/whatever it is called!

These lovely colorful ladies were part of the Joe Boxer team at the Underwear Affair. I tried to steal one of their hats as they matched my feather boa perfectly! And their shirts matched the Butterdome! Very cool!

These two "Women of Color," were handing in their last minute donations. Hey...wait a sec! The one has Cyndi Lauper hair. Okay, NOW I know what a true color is! So simple, really!

I met these really "bright" University students at the Underwear Affair! That young man was feelin' the love for his bevy of beauties!

Awww...back in my comfort zone with my favorite splash of color - silver!

And I couldn't do a post about all things colorful without including the unforgettable, ever colorful Borat! Sorry!

Thanks for your tolerance once again. Seriously, I promise to never do this again! Really! This time I DO mean it. In fact, I am joining a support group - Silly Story Tellers Anonymous. Please don't tell anyone that I belong!

PLEASE NOTE: A lot of bloggers are joining our Friday Shoot-Out which is really exciting! Please pop over and leave a supporting comment to: Chele, Cynthia, Elissa, Jamie, Kerri, Si and T. They are all listed on my side bar, on Gordon's side bar, and at the My Town Shoot-Out site. If I have forgotten any new people, I apologize - let me know and I will get the word out as quickly as possible.

Love Life Laughing

2009-06-25T04:50:00.002-06:00

I came across this article in a little publication called Synchronicity. The article was written by Billy Strean, and it describes a wonderful approach to living. For me, it was a great reminder of how to live ones best life and I thought that I would share it with all of you.

"Have fun with this gentle attitude adjustment program. Begin with a spirit of playfulness and be mindful of each daily attitude. Creating opportunities to practice that attitude will create positive tendencies. You may find that you laugh more and are more cheerful and optimistic.

Monday
Marvel: Look for the good in others and tell them what you like about them. Create a generosity of spirit. Awaken your sense of wonder.
Mondays practice: Pay compliments and acknowledge, praise, and appreciate the beauty of life.

Tuesday
Take new perspectives: Develop flexibility. Be willing to see things another way. Be open to new ideas and experiences. An open mind lets the laughter in. Create novelty. "You can be right, or you can be happy."
Tuesdays practice: Say, "that's another way of looking at it."

Wednesday
Welcome kindness and compassion: Think of ways to help make other people's lives a little easier. Engaging, receiving, and witnessing acts of kindness improves our holistic health.
Wednesdays practice: Open doors for people, allow another driver to merge into your lane, lighten the load for others, smile at people you don't know.

Thursday
Thank You: Be grateful for the abundance in your life and it will bring you a long way toward happiness. An attitude of gratitude brings serenity and laughter. As Sheryl Crow sang, "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you have."
Thursdays practice: Ask yourself "What am I grateful for in my life?"

Friday
Forgiveness: Forgiveness means letting go of resentment and anger. Accept how life is - resistance causes persistence and suffering. Releasing anger makes you healthier and opens your heart to laughter.
Fridays practice: Look for places in your life to apologize and to forgive. Have conversations that enable you to let go and feel complete.

Weekends
Weekends are for Chocolate: Rest, relax, recover, then play, enjoy, and experience the rapture of being alive. Eat some chocolate or any other favourite food. Remember to take time for leisure and pleasure. Be enthusiastic.
Weekend practice: Plan something fun for yourself that you were not already going to do!"

Salute to Natalie

2009-06-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite bloggers is Natalie, of Musings From the Deep fame. Natalie comes from a land down under. Where women glow and men plunder. She has been a friend of mine almost from the beginning of my blogging days and she is on my mind today, so I thought that I would do a Salute to Natalie!

Part of what started me thinking of her was the picture below. Natalie always refers to her husband Mark as "Hub." So the other day, I was wondering around my city, looking for pictures for my Friday Shoot-Out (the theme this week - Colors of the Rainbow, hosted by Debby at The Pink Birdhouse - blatant flogging, I know!). Anyway, as I made my way closer and closer to the inner city, I spotted the back of a hotel, that made me stop in my tracks! That's right - it was called "THE HUB HOTEL." I laughed and thought to myself, "I have got to get a picture of that for Natalie! She will love it!" So, I stood on the sidewalk, a safe distance away, and took a picture. It didn't work. I was too far away, and at too much of an angle. So I went a bit closer, and tried again. No luck. Finally, I skewed up my courage, and I wandered into the back lane, passed some people who were involved in some "business" transactions, looked up to the sky and asked my Dad to protect me, then went forward and shot the picture. Then I ran like hell! So Natalie, here it is in all of its glory - The world famous Hub Hotel!

I really believe that we are sent messages from time to time, and I think that stumbling upon The Hub Hotel was for sure one of them. The message here is that it is important to let people know how they impact your life - don't take them or their friendship for granted. We are, after all, only here for a short time, and too often, we don't let people know that they make huge differences in your life - some positive, others not so much.

Natalie is one of those people who has had a very positive impact on my life, and I really want to honor her with a post. So Nat, my friend, this ones for you - better go and pour yourself a big glass of red, this could be awhile!

When Natalie first became one of my followers, I was new to the land of blogging. I really didn't know what I was doing, or how to do it. I spent a lot of time moaning and groaning about my life, and stumbling about in a vain attempt at finding my voice. It had to have been painful for anyone to read, but lucky for me, some brave souls persevered through my miserable ramblings, encouraging me and letting me know that they were standing strong behind me, ready to catch me should I fall. Natalie was one of those people. She reached out to me - why? I don't know! There was nothing appealing about my blog, but she seemed to intuitively see that I needed people like her to encourage and motivate me to keep going. She got the fact that sometimes I needed a good laugh and on those days, she inevitably posted something funny! On days when I was sad, she sent me little messages, telling me to "Buck up Little Buckaroo!" On days when I was celebrating, she was right there beside me, cheering me on. She has been a true friend, in every sense of the word. I adore her!

Natalie is a Mum to 5 children - she is a busy lady! She is also a wife, a sister, a daughter and an aunt. She helps HUB with his home based business, and she still manages to find time to support her fellow bloggers. She consistently leaves positive, funny, motivational, supportive comments on blogs. She makes people feel valued.

I don't know if Natalie is aware of the impact that she has on others - I suspect that she doesn't as she is quite humble, I believe. But despite having never met her, she is someone that I have come to rely very heavily on. I always find her blog so refreshing because, at the heart of it all, Natalie is totally 100% honest and straight forward. And I love that about her! She is kind and gentle, extremely intelligent, an amazing photographer (she really should make a career out of her photography!), and a true humanitarian.

Natalie, I am so honored to know you! I strive to be like you - wise, kind and gentle. Thank you for being such a huge support to me. I am blessed and ever so fortunate to have you in my life. Ms Natalie, from the land down under, I salute you!

Much love to you, the littles and, of course, HUB!

A Week of Lovely Gifts!

2009-06-23T01:00:00.006-06:00

It is time for me to play a little catch-up and to acknowledge some wonderful people for some wonderful gifts! I apologize for my negligence in not posting these sooner.

First up, I need to thank Bogey from View From The Fairway for presenting me with the Uber Amazing Blog award! I am honored, Bogey - thank you very much! For those of you who haven't yet visited Bogey, I very much encourage you to do so. His blog is a mix of topics, sometimes with photos, sometimes not. But the one gaurantee with his blog is that it is always honest, and always straight from the heart. He delivers some very powerful messages with humor, with sorrow, and sometimes with pain or frustration. But it is wonderful to read his blog, because he is always "real."

Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:

- Inspire you
- Make you smile and laugh, or maybe give amazing information
- A great read
- Has an amazing design
- Any other reasons you can think of that make them Uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:

- Put the logo on your blog or post.
- Nominate at least 6 blogs
- Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

I am passing this award to the following 6 bloggers for their amazing blogs!

1. Meghann at Little Studio Photography and Jewelry because she is awesome, fun and creative.
2. Daria at Living With Cancer because she is keeping it real and helping others in their journey.
3. Claire at Clairedulalune because her stories of her life with the big fella freakin' crack me up! She is one of the funniest people that I know!
4. Alicia at Boyle Jewelry for the thrill of it (you really need to click on the link to see what I am talking about. Gauranteed, after you see it, you wil be talking about it!
5. Kerri at Pop Rocks Culture - just because I adore her! And she is smart, and funny and she loves a challenge. And she has joined the Friday Shoot-Out crew. Check her site on Friday for some great pics!
6. Patty from Crisfeld, Maryland - my fellow Shoot-Out partner. Patty is an amazing photographer and story teller. She is hugely supportive and I am grateful to have found her.

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Next up, I won the most wonderful, and informative book from Anne Palmer at Aging Lite. Anne is trained in the field of gerentology, and she teaches work-life and wellness principles. The book that I won, entitled "A Baby Boomer's Health Planner for Women," covers a multitude of topics such as nutrition, exercise, health screenings, mental attitude, smoking and drinking, dealing with major health events, setting your personal health goals, overcoming roadblocks to success and your personal health tracker. It is a wonderful and practical guide to living your best possible life. I am not sure where you can get a copy - Anne, perhaps you could let us all know, but it is published by Wheatmark (http://www.wheatmark.com/). I highly, highly recommend this very useful and informative health care tool for all women, not just the baby boomers!

Thank you Anne. The book is a treasure, to be sure.

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I gave my first official Toastmaster speech yesterday! It was to be 4-6 minutes (I spoke for 6:08). There were 10 extra guests, so I spoke before a large group. My speech was about my love of language and finding what makes your heart sing (I talked about blogging!). The feeback that I received was very positive, but what impressed them the most was two things:

1. I appeared to be very confident, and I spoke in a loud, clear, self assured manner

2. I didn't use notes.

The second point confused me a bit - if I am speaking about myself, why would I need notes? But then I refelected on the fact that public speaking doesn't come easily to everyone. I am blessed to have a passion for it!

The Underwear Affair

2009-06-22T01:00:00.020-06:00

As you know, on Saturday I, along with Kerri and Christy took part in the Alberta Cancer Foundation The Underwear Affair Presented by Joe Boxer - official title, and all! Kerri ran the 10k, while Christy and I walked the 5K. We were all pretty pooped at the end of it, but we had a great time, and we will do it again next year in Calgary. My personal goal is to run next year alongside Kerri. Guess I better get training!

I am posting some pictures from the event, but with a couple of disclaimers:

1. Most of my "colorful" shots are being saved for a later date (Ooooooh...what do I have up my sleeve? Stay tuned!)
2. My digital camera is probably not the best - it is just a point and shoot, and it is a bit older. It is the camera I think of as my "fake" camera - I still prefer taking pictures in film! Anyway, it doesn't do well in environments like indoor gyms, so some of the pics are a bit dark, many pics, I threw in the trash. But these pictures should give you a bit of a feel for the event.

Here we go!

Some of the participant registration envelopes

Not sure if you can read it all - his shorts say:

"Cancer can kiss my butt!"

Some of the Joe Boxer crew

Not sure who Roger is! Or the woman supporting him!

A shot of me from the back

And one from the front

The "Hicks" women, I presume, taking on cervical cancer

Homemade tattoo

And they're off!

Some walkers in front of us

A little supporter along the way, cheering on Auntie Dawn

A walker with a wee one in the stroller

Saving the best for last!

Believe it or not, there were TWO Borat's at the event!

Notice how the child in front is oblivious to all of the skin on his left!

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-21T06:28:00.008-06:00

Happy Fathers Day to all of the Dad's out there!

I lost my Dad on May 30, 1997. I will never forget that day. I was planning a move to Vancouver, and I knew that my Dad was concerned about my move. As I walked to work, I was thinking about things that I could do with Dad when he came to visit me there. He was an avid sports fan, so I knew that I could take him to hockey games, football games, take him golfing (even in the winter time!) and do all of the touristy things. He was on my mind for my entire walk to work.

I had only been at work for about an hour when a colleague told me that there was a phone call for me - she also told me that the caller was my sister. "What?" I asked. "Why is my sister calling me at work?" My colleague didn't know. I was almost laughing when I picked up the phone, about to scold her for calling me. She spoke before I could. 'Audrey, Dad just died. He had another heart attack." My world changed in that moment!

About a month before he passed away, he had paid a visit to Norway, the land of his birth, with my younger sister Connie. Just before he left, he got all of his paperwork in order - "Just in case." We all kind of disregarded this at the time - he was healthier than any of us, so we had no cause for alarm. Once in Norway, he showed Connie where he came from, where family businesses were located, his old school, etc. He told her that now it would be up to her to show the rest of the family where our roots were. Connie came back from the trip and commented how Dad seem tired the whole time, and that he missed our Mom so much, it was painful. Dad was not being himself - he was not being as social and active as he usually was.

My Dad had his first heart attack at the age of 55. It was a massive heart attack, and the doctors were not sure that he would survive. But, being a stubborn man, and a fighter, he pulled through. "You need to get through the first year, and then you should be okay," the doctors told him. So for the first year, he did everything that he was supposed to - he watched his diet, exercised, saw the doctor regularly. At the end of the first year, he was told, "Oh no, it isn't one year that you have to be careful! You need to get through five years."

The morning of his death, at 75 years of age, he had seen his doctor first thing and was told that he had the body of a 45 year old man. In the time since his first heart attack, he had completely changed his life style - no more smoking; only low fat, high fibre foods (with the occasional treat thrown in!); daily exercise. He was in great shape! After his visit with the doctor, my Dad cleaned out his garage, mowed the lawn, trimmed the rose bushes, had coffee with his pals, got a haircut and quietly passed away. He left the yard in perfect condition for the many people who dropped by his home to offer condolences to our family.

His funeral was a combination of sadness and shock - none of us could believe that he was gone. We all thought that he would outlive us. Just prior to his death, my Dad had played his best ever round of golf. We buried him with his final golf score card, his favorite golf club and a golf ball. Each of us believe that he smiled when these items were placed in the coffin beside him.

My Dad was a very hard working man, who instilled some very strong values into his children - loyalty, honesty, integrity, gratitude and humility to name just a few. He was a man who had witnessed the horror and tragedy of war, and his memories were demons that followed him throughout his lifetime. He never spoke to us of that time, aside from occasional references to the pain he experienced witnessing the suffering of children.

He was a good man, and I miss him a lot. Happy Fathers Day Dad! I love you!

Wish Me Luck!

2009-06-20T10:40:00.000-06:00

I am off to do the Underwear Affair! Read all about it tomorrow!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Friday Shoot-Out: METAL!

2009-06-19T00:30:00.002-06:00

Okay! Whoever choose METAL as a theme, is not allowed to choose again! And yes, it was me who chose the theme.

Here is the problem - it was extremely easy to find pictures of metal. Like, really, really easy! And I just happen to love metal in all of its forms, so it was a quick and easy choice for me to make. The problem arose when I decided that I needed to be clever! BIG MISTAKE!

I thought that what would be fun would be to take each picture, and assign the name of a metal band - heavy metal, grunge metal, whatever, or one of their songs. But I don't listen to metal music. The only bands I knew were Metallica, AC/DC, and Ozzy Osbourne. Oh, and Guns 'N Roses, but I am a pacifist, so there is no way that I was going to photograph weaponry! So I googled, and found out that most metal bands have names with the word "death" in the title. One band was called Anthrax - no metal there! Anyway, I was beginning to panic in the same way that I panic about my knitting, so instead of stashing the blog in a closet, I decided to stick with my original plan. Some of the names work, and some are a stretch. You will have no problem determining which is which!

Oh, and as for my favorite - Ozzy Osbourne - unbelievably, I could not find a metal sculpture of a man biting the head off of a dove anywhere! Who would have thought that would be the challenging one?

Here we go......

Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf

Type O Negative - very appropriate for my rare vase

Twisted Sister

Thin Lizzy - my water canister

Soundgarden - looking down at my neighbors planters

Skid Row

Shadows Fall (Okay, that's a stretch, but the billboard is very funny!)

Queen - that's my reflection, for those who want to know what I look like!

Nevermore - will I use Purolator or the employee whom I refer to as this...

Motorhead

Metallica

Dream Theatre

Judas Priest

Iron Maiden

Emperor

Edge of Sanity

Mayhem - on a busy Saturday! And still my favorite store!

Disturbed

Celtic Frost

Candlemass

Steal the Light by Omnium Gatherum (Omnium Gatherum???)

Bridge of Sighs by Opeth

At The Gates

Alice in Chains

10 Minute Warning

I am not sure - this may have worked out better if I had first selected the band names and songs,and then found images to match, but that is not the way I did it! Instead, I opted for the crazy-making strategy of shoot first, assign names later! Don't try this at home kids!

I promise that next Shoot-Out I won't be so corny! I may have promised that last time, but this time, I mean it! Hope you had fun with it!

Reflections

2009-06-18T01:00:00.004-06:00

Reflection on my patio table

Yesterday I returned home from work to find an email from one of the Social Workers at the Cancer Institute. Her email read, in part, "I am sure that Shawn did send you a note that the presentation was given an excellent rating! It must be good to know that you made difference for these future doctors formation."

You may or may not recall that in May, I did a presentation to medical students on The Cancer Experience as Seen Through the Eyes of a Patient. It is this presentation that Teresa referred to. I am really grateful to receive the feedback, and I hope that as the students continue on their journey, they will have been impacted enough to never lose sight of the fact that first and foremost, the patient is a person.

Reflection on my patio table

I had an appointment with my family doctor yesterday. She is sending me now for a scope, though she and my oncologist agree that my symptoms are likely residual effects of the radiation. I am very lucky to have her for a doctor. Interestingly, as I was in the waiting room, the person who referred me to this doctor came out of the examining room! We used to work together when I first moved to Edmonton. I didn't have a doctor, and Arlene said to me, "You should go and see my doctor. She is wonderful!" Dr J took me on, and the rest is history!

This weekend, Kerri, Christy and I are taking part in The Underwear Affair, a fund raiser for cancers below the waist! These cancers are seriously underfunded, and so this event was created to generate some much needed research dollars. Just as the name implies, everyone wears some form of underwear - some more daring than others! Below is our logo - it will be on our tank tops. For bottoms, we will be in men's boxer shorts.

I have been contacted by the Canadian Cancer Society to ask if I would allow the media to interview me about my journey. Of course I agreed - any time I am offered an opportunity to talk on well, just about any topic, I'm your girl!

Anyway, back to the event - I think that it will be a blast, and I am so looking forward to it. Participants have the option of running 10K or walking 5K. I will attempt to walk the 5K - this is so hard for me - twice I have done the 60K for breast cancer, the first time finishing in the top 5% and the second time finishing in the top 10% (usually, there are about 1500 walkers). Now I am challenged to walk 5K! However, give me another year, and I will run the event with Kerri!

Happy Birthday Alexa!

2009-06-17T01:00:00.009-06:00

Today is a very special day! Today, Ms Alexa turns 3 years old! Many of you have heard me speak of this little one, but I ask that you indulge me one more time as I tell her story, and how she came to be my hero.

On June 13, 2006, Alexa's Mommy had celebrated her own birthday, but not in the way she would have wished. She was 6 months pregnant, and had begun having some very intense back pain. The pain continued, and four days later, her little baby arrived 3 months ahead of schedule. She weighed 2 pounds, and it would take the expertise of an amazing health care team and the love of her family to get her through the challenges that lay ahead of her.

Alexa - 2 days old

The hospital where Alexa was born had acquired some new state-of-the-art incubators that they were trying out. Alexa was the right weight for the incubator and therefore took up residency in one of them The new incubator involved wiring the baby up to the machine, thereby allowing the incubator to adjust its heat to the babies needs. Quite the luxury for this little one. Until one of the prongs burned her little tummy, leaving a scar that remains with her today.

There were some very scary times with this little baby, but she never quit. She was a fighter, a survivor who wouldn't give up! She had a mind of her own right from the start, and she demanded attention from the night nurses, who were fit to be tied by the time Mommy arrived every morning.

When I first met her, she was already 2 months old. She was still needing reminders to breathe, and she continued to be very vocal about her needs. One of her favorite times of the day was her weigh in time (if only adults felt the same way about the scale!). Before and after each feeding, Alexa was placed in the little scale. She reminded me of an Anne Geddes photograph every time we put her in the scale - she kind of just curled right into it and relaxed completely! It was the cutest thing.

She was released from hospital when she reached her full term age, and she began her normal development. Alexa developed a love of cartoons, bouncy balls, her kitties and her books. Oh, how she loves books! She went through a stage when she was just 2 year old where she would hand you one of her story books and she would take another. We were to read our books simultaneously out loud. Alexa had the books memorized, and she would know when you were coming to the end of the book. Just as you turned to the last page she would look over and say, "Read it again, Audie!" This would go on for at least an hour before we changed activity!

Alexa (1 yr old) with Auntie Kerri

One of Alexa's favorite cartoons was Bob the Builder. I remember one night, shortly before I was admitted to hospital for internal radiation, Alexa was marching through her Grandparents kitchen chanting, "Can we build it? YES WE CAN!" My sister Connie was there at the time, and she watched Alexa in fascination before turning to us and saying, "I didn't understand a single word she said!" But those of us who were around her all of the time DID understand her, and we loved the fierceness of her little convictions!

The worst part of my treatment was the internal radiation. Not because it hurt. It was the worst part because I was not allowed to move for 59 hours, which doesn't sound like a long time until you start doing it! About half way through, I decided that I just couldn't do it anymore - I wanted the nurses to remove the apparatus. And then an image of Alexa popped into my head and I began to chant, "Can I do this? YES I CAN!" My little tiny niece was inspiring me to keep going. And I did

Today, Alexa is 3. She is busy. She is learning. She is talking a mile a minute. And she is the most loving, most caring little person ever! She worries for people and kitties. She cuddles up to say, "I love you," and, because she is 3, she sometimes says, "No. I don't love you." Until I remind her that she does, she just forgets sometimes. And then she laughs.

Alexa loves to laugh. She loves to be with people. She loves to explore. She loves kitties and bunnies, birdies and puppies, books and bubbles, crayons and dollies. And pineapples and popsicles. She is developing a love for fashion, and often proclaims, "Oh, so cuuuute," when she wants someone to buy her something new to wear. She calls Uncle Tony, "Tony the Tuna," and often calls her Daddy, "Jason!" She knows that her kitty Harley got sick and went to heaven, and when she recalls Harley, she asks how everyone else is feeling!

She is such a sweet, sweet child, and one of the bravest, most courageous and strong people that I know. She has a true joie de vivre that is contagious.

Alexa - Christmas 2008

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Audie loves you and admires and respects you more than she can ever adequately express. You are my hero - I walk in your shadow.
xoxoxoxoxooxoxo

Thank You Meghann!

2009-06-16T01:00:00.008-06:00

Friday Shoot-Out is....METAL! Do you have any? Show us what you've got! New members are most welcome - just take pictures that involve the theme word and you are in - no initiation fees, no hazing - just a good old shoot-out at some corral!

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Meghann, from Little Studio and Photography, gifted with the Premio Meme Award. Thank you Meghann - I am thrilled to receive this one! Before I get to the rules and regs, let me tell you a little bit about Ms Meghann. Meghann designs incredibly beautiful jewelry, which she sells on Etsy. A lot of her jewelry is inspired by some very classic pieces, some of it is light and whimsical, and some of it is full on funky! Meghann's business in home based, she is young and just starting out and I know that she will be a rock star! She is one of the most supportive, fun bloggers out there, so pop by and take a look at what she has to offer - maybe treat yourself while you are there!

The rules for this one are to name 7 things about myself, and then to pass it on to 7 other people. Okay, well I am a pretty open book and you likely already know most things about me, but I am going to give it a whirl!

Oakey doke.....here we go:

1. I love learning! In fact, I think that I almost get high from it! When I am engaged in the learning process I am animated, high energy, giggly and I talk non-stop. I wish that I could have a paid job learning!

2. I am very outgoing and I meet people easily. I have gotten much better at screening the people that I meet (I trust WAY too quickly!) but I still love to meet new people and discover where they came from, what they do, what they dream of.

3. I am an avid reader. I remember back in about Grade 9, we were given aptitude tests at school. One of the questions was something like: would you rather yell at people or read a book to an old person? What the hell kind of question is that? Reading to an old person, chances are I would have to yell.Therefore, I pick that I would rather read to myself!

4. My vacation of choice would involve adventure, and I prefer to travel on my own. That way, I meet more people. And get to do what I want to do. Without having to compromise! Perhaps the next point about me should read selfish, but I will save that for another meme!

5. I love public speaking! I mean, I LOVE public speaking! I wish that I could get a paid job speaking! And learning! Yesterday, was my first official Toastmasters meeting. One of the things that happens at a Toastmasters meeting is something called "Table Topics." This is when a pre-determined member asks other members to speak for 1-2 minutes about a surprise topic.The speakers are not given any time to prepare. I was one of the four chosen to speak, and I won! And, hello! One of the people that I was up against was a 40 year member. Now I know what you are thinking - I thought the same thing - they always let the new person win! Who cares if they do? I won!

6. I vaguely resemble Monica from Friends. Read above to see what I mean!

7. I am a lifetime Weight Watchers member. I love food. I love Mexican food, Italian food, sea food, desert, Ukranian food...you name it, I love it!

Now, I get to pass this on to 7 unsuspecting victims...I mean, bloggers. And so, without further ado:

l'optimiste from ovarian cancer?? pass the wine...now!

Ms Natalie from Musings from the Deep

Alicia at Boyle Vintage Jewelry

Bogey at View From the Fairway

Becky at Om's Photo Blog

Vicki at Nolly Posh

Elaine, my fellow Canadian at A Scattering

And of course, my Whatzit girls, J9 and Noe Noe!

Friday Shoot Out

2009-06-15T18:16:00.005-06:00

ATTENTION ALL FRIDAY

SHOOT OUT GANG MEMBERS!

Do you think you have metal? Yeah??? Come on...show me

your metal! That's right boys and girls, this Friday it is all about

the metal. It can be heavy (as in Metallica). It can be dense (as

in Homer Simpson..doh!...sorry!). It can result in cleavage (as in Dolly

Parton). It can be light (as in...Barry Manalow?)

So come on everyone! Show us what you or your metal is

made of! New members welcome - no initiation, no hazing, just

a whole lot of shooting!

For all of the regular gang members - please shoot off a

message to other gangsters and tell them to steel themselves

for this golden shoot out!

Yee Haw!

Sunday Shenanigans

2009-06-15T03:00:00.002-06:00

My weekend went from this.........

to this.................

to this.......................

How was your weekend?

It's The Weekend!

2009-06-14T07:33:00.015-06:00

It's the weekend, and the temperatures are finally beginning to resemble those typically found in June! Nice and warm yesterday - I think that it was around 27 degrees C. Felt like a little piece of heaven after the long, cold winter.

My family all went camping this weekend, but I opted to stay home. I am still not feeling 100%, and I am a bit nervous of wandering too far, so I stayed in the city and just chilled. My friend Amy has introduced me to one of her friends - actually, we have only spoken on the phone, but Shelley , who is a writer/teacher/knitter has given me some great suggestions as to writing courses I can/should take. As well, she recommended a book on writing - Bird by Bird, written by Anne Lamott. So yesterday morning I trudged down to my favorite little independent bookstore and picked up a copy. What an awesome book! Anne Lamott is straight up - she tells it like it is, she is funny, she is clever. I am really grateful for the recommendation Shelley! Thank you!

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This weekend kicked off Gay Pride in our city, so my friend Don and some other colleagues from work called to see if I wanted to join them. As the parade is only a couple of blocks from my house, I decided to go. Here are a few of the pics that I took:

Don and a drag queen

Don standing in front of a float, looking at another float down the road!

The hot little Momma with the mike is a Dude! Who looks WAAAY better in that dress than I could ever hope to!

Beers for Queers bus. Don wanted to get on the bus, but wasn't able to.

Hannah with a couple of other drag queens -

is it obvious that I am more amused by drag queens than by anything else at the parade?

Colorful dudes! Wearing colorful foam things!

Shortly after the parade I returned home where I curled up on my lounge chair on the deck and sat and read, had a nap, worked on my speech! The speech that I am preparing is to be 4-6 minutes long. I am finding myself challenged to determine how many words per minute I speak. They say that the averarge person speaks 120 words per minute, but clearly I speak faster than that! As well, I am not certain how much time to allow for all of the uproarious laughter that is certain to ensue as I weave my tale! Clearly, this is something that I will learn as I progress at Toastmasters!

And that is my weekend so far! Reading, writing, napping! And eating! Oh how I long for the days when I could party like a rock star! Long gone, my friends, long gone!

Happy Birthday Shelly!

2009-06-13T01:00:00.004-06:00

Today is my niece Shelly's birthday. Happy Birthday Shelly!

Shelly is my second born niece. She was born on the 13th of June - I remember the day so well - I was visiting Disneyland with my two "Linda" friends, and I called home to see if the baby had been born yet. My sister-in-law's Mom told me that yes, a little girl had been born and her name was Shelly. I was somewhat disappointed - I had been hoping for a nephew. I hung up the phone and told my two friends that I had another niece, and that her name was "Sarah!" I was very surprised when I met her face to face and she was introduced as being "Shelly!" Hmmm, I wondered, "Where is Sarah?"

Shelly quickly found her way into my heart, despite the fact that she wasn't a nephew. She was a mild mannered little one, who caught onto things very quickly. And she had a most active imagination. For a long time, Shelly had two imaginary friends named Pammer and Shangar! She was very clear - Pammer was the baby (I assume, the infant was named after Pampers!). Shangar was bigger, and to this day I cannot figure out where that name came from. But they were important friends to Shelly, and she insisted that we set out places at the table for them to eat, and that they join us in all of our activities. When Shelly's parents made the decision to move to another city, Pammer and Shangar of course moved there as well. In fact, Pammer and Shangar moved first, I presume to make sure that the city was good enough for their friend Shelly to move to. Interestingly, once Shelly and her family arrived in their new city, Pammer and Shangar moved on - likely to the home of another lovely little girl.

Shelly is very loving and very family oriented. She likes nothing better than to have large family gatherings, and she makes sure to attend as many family functions as she possibly can. She is extremely witty, and has the ability to see humor in most things. Shelly is married to Jason, who is extremely quiet and shy. The song they danced to at their wedding was a country song that included the words, "You say it best, when you say nothing at all!"

On June 17, 2006 Shelly became a Mom herself, when she gave birth to her tiny little baby Alexa! She is a wonderful Mom and she is, along with Jay, raising a lovely little girl of her own, who just happens to have a couple of imaginary "cousins," named Doodie and Race Car!

Shelly is more than a niece to me - she is also a friend and a confidant. She is the person who was with me emotionally through all of my initial testing, and it was Shelly and Jay who were the first people to learn of my diagnosis.

I hope that you have a wonderful day Shelly! And many, many more!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Awhile back, I did a post on laughter to which my friend Rosie wrote a comment about being in the ocean on her honeymoon, and having the top of her bathing suit come down. I told her that I had a similar story. Here is mine:

A few days before Shelly was born, the Linda's and I were in Palm Springs California, working on our tans and meeting young American men. The hotel that we stayed at had an outdoor swimming pool. We were in Palm Springs, which is desert land, in June, so it was hot, hot, hot! We spent the majority of each day in the pool. We began to notice that every day while we were in the pool, there was this guy who would sit on a lounge chair wearing a straw hat and shades, and reading a book. Because he wore shades, we couldn't tell if he was actually reading his book or not, but we were pretty sure there wasn't much reading going on! One day, we were being silly in the pool. One of the Linda's didn't know how to swim, so she stayed on an air mattress. I kept threatening to tip her air mattress, thereby forcing her to learn to swim. She paled, and began holding onto her air mattress for dear life. I started trying to pull it out from under her. As I was pulling the mattress, she loudly whispered, "Look at that guy! His book is upside down!" As I turned to look, she pulled my mattress out from under me. I was wearing a bikini. As I came up out of the water, I just happened to be facing Buddy the reader, who had whipped his sunglasses off and was staring open mouthed at my now exposed ummm...upper body parts! We laughed for hours and hours after that! What fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday, my gorgeous other friend Colleen - the one from Vancouver, sent me this picture in the hopes that it would inspire me to finish my knitting project!

Colleen's theory is that if Dude can be a knitter, so can I! Very motivational, is my friend Colleen! Until I tell you that she began a knitting project 30 years ago that she never completed. Her Mama eventually took the project, ripped it apart, and made slippers for her grandchildren! LMAO!

Friday Shoot-Out - The Letter "M"

2009-06-12T01:00:00.012-06:00

This Friday Shoot-Out is sponsored by the letter "M" as in Mademoiselle Matilda, Sarah Lulu's magnificent new granddaughter! Thanks Sarah Lulu!

I was so looking forward to Friday Shoot-Out, but have had a very busy week! "What's the theme?" I frantically asked myself. Good thing I had recorded the challenge on my...

Message Pad

And so it was clear. Reggie Girl had issued my....

Marching orders

Having a theme is such a good idea, I told myself. By having a theme, there is no more sitting on the metal fence over choosing a topic to blog about!

Yup, I am happy with the whole concept here - I tried to MASK my enthusiasm, but it was clear to all who know me. Audrey is part of a Mmmmmm Shoot-Out gang!

I really wanted to approach my task with the right attitude, so I turned to the wisdom of my guru Renee, who gifted me with a tome of learned script, depicting the message that one should live ones life with gratitude because our time here is short. Said tome was called, "Mayfly Day."

After engaging in the highly motivational reading, I decided to head out and shoot some Marvelous pictures. But before leaving the house, I needed to choose one of my many Matt & Nat purses. These bags are Made of vegan materials in Montreal, Canada. You can see that I am a fan!

It didn't take long to make up my mind. I chose my "Moma" purse, designed by Matt & Nat (who is only one person, named neither Matt nor Nat!). This particular purse was part of a Christmas gift from my gorgeous niece Kerri. I love the purse almost as much as I love her!

On Monday, I had a crazy busy day (by my standards!). First up, I had a noon hour Toastmasters meeting at the Shaw Conference Centre. As you can see from the picture, it was raining quite heaviy - I was More than a tad soaked by the time I made my grand entrance! And they still accepted me!

From the meeting, I ran off to get my melons squished.

That's right ladies (and gentlemen) I went for my mammogram! The woman who was doing the mammogram wouldn't let me take a picture of the machine, but she did refer me to a website that sold machines. I tried to explain that I wasn't looking to buy a machine, I just wanted to take a picture. And that was when I heard the dreaded words, "Just one more compression!" Owwww!

After re-shaping my melons to kind of resemble what they looked like prior to the compressions, I began racing to another meeting. This trip led me past the old Mayfair Hotel, all boarded up and looking forlorn! Seems the building was full of asbestos and, as part of its punishment for the said crime, it must spend its days in isolation.

The whole asbestos thing left a bad taste in my mouth. I stopped by my condo and grabbed a mint from a martini glass. I do not usually keep mints in my martini glasses by the way. This was staged for the Shoot-Out! Pretty clever, I say!

All of my activities really made me quite tired, so I took a seat on a metal bench, situated next to some metal artwork.......

....and began reading my 3.5 inch binder which contained a copy of my medical file from the past year.

Well, there was nothing in there that was new to me, so I went to the newspaper kiosk and grabbed a free copy of the Metro daily news.

It was in the Metro that I learned of a new condo development in my neighborhood. The Meridian Plaza promised that I would have "refined urban living," if I would just move in. I needed to check it out!

I must admit, the Meridian Plaza did look refined! And it was situated quite close to the Blue Willow Restaurant. Hmmm...I wondered what the Blue Willow served! Lucky for me, I found their Menu:

YIKES! Not a menu for a life time Weight Watchers member! I better not eat there. Perhaps I will just go home and prepare something from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks. A favorite of mine is "Make It In Minutes."

Last year, when I was mobility challenged, my smart ass, I mean thoughtful niece Shelly suggested that I call my next door neighbor, Meals on Wheels, to deliver my breakfast, lunch and dinner!

All that talk about food is making me very thirsty. I think that I will have a glass of one of my favorite red wines - Masi! Looking at the label, it would appear that I missed a drop!

This man sleeping in front of my condo looks like he may have had the odd glass of Masi himself!

Speaking of wine, one of my favorite wineries is Mission Hill. It is such a serene, picturesque vineyard, located in the Okanogan Valley in Beautiful British Columbia Canada.

In order to get to Mission Hill from my home in Alberta, it is necessary to go through the magnificent Rocky Mountain range. If you have never done so, you must plan to make the trip to see the Rockies - they are positively breathtaking!

Speaking of mountains, I don't own a vehicle. (What, you don't see the connection?). I don't own a vehicle because I am an admitted tree hugger. I prefer to ride my mountain bike, or walk, or take public transit.

I am passionate about the mountains! I stand in awe for hours, just staring at the majesty of them! And I long to climb mountains. One of the things on my to-do list is to scale Kilimanjaro. I have, as inspiration in my home, two little mountain climbing fellas I like to call Sir Edmund and Tenzig Norgay. Every morning the boys and I greet each other, and they remind me to never stop dreaming.

In order to realize my Kilimanjaro dream, I must first take some training. I need to seek out a reputable school and learn from the best. In the meantime, this is the college that is 1/2 a block from my home. It is called MacEwen Community College. I like the way the clouds are reflected from the outside and the stairs are reflected from the inside!

After reading this wacky post, Sarah may revoke my Mental Duck to Mental Swan award, so I want to show it one last time, just in case!

And that concludes my Friday Shoot-Out. May I suggest that next week the theme is the letter "C" so that I can legitimately be corny! Or cheesy! Or crazy! Or confusing! Oh crap....I gotta go..I am making myself constipated with this cornucopia of calamity.

Catch ya later!

Wonderful Wacky Wednesday

2009-06-11T05:00:00.003-06:00

Wednesday was a day filled with mixed emotions! First up, my friend C, the woman I talked about a few days ago who was diagnosed with a CUP (cancer with an unknown primary) contacted me to let me know that early that morning she had been taken to emergency in an ambulance. She had been experiencing a lot of pain and was vomiting the night before, and by 8:00 a.m., she couldn't take it any more. My heart broke for her. When you have cancer and you get rushed to the emergency room, it is one of the most frightening experiences you will ever encounter. You know going into it that you are likely in a lot of trouble - you have spiked a fever and you don't have the proper blood cell counts to fight the infection. Add to that, the ambulance driver asked her if she wished to be resuscitated. She was offended, and rightly so. I hate this disease so much - it can be so vicious! C was back at home for a few hours, then emailed me to say that the pain was too intense and she was returning to the emergency room. I am praying that she is strong enough to fight whatever has grabbed ahold of her. One of the last times that we spoke in person, she expressed concern about her oncologist suggesting it might be time to start discussions around palliative care. In this province, "palliative" is the term used when a person has 2 months or less to live. Given her present situation, I can only imagine the fear and anxiety that she must be feeling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of days ago I received two interesting pieces of mail. There was some kind of weird irony involved in the fact that these particular pieces of mail arrived on the same day! The first up was a gorgeous card from my lovely friend Sarah over at Cottage Garden Studios. This very talented woman has been building a wee village with her beautiful and gifted witches. The card that Sarah sent me features "The Yarn Goddess," a tribute to the lovely knitting that I do! (Actually, what I do is pretend to knit!). I absolutely love this card - especially the sign above the door which warmly invites you in to "Knit, Purl & Chat." Sarah, thank you so much! I am in love with my little knitting shop. And I promise to produce at least one knitted piece before the end of the year!

My second piece of mail that day was sent by my very good friends at Revenue Canada! It seems that they were so enamored of the last cheque that I sent them, they would like another! WOW! I am so honored. I really thought that the last cheque I sent was quite large enough to feed each and every person in a developing country for one year! And they still want more! How lucky can one girl get?

Here is what really kills me - I spent a large portion of the year on disability, which means basically, I had a reduced income. How come I owe so much when I made so little? I am confused! Anyway, Sarah, I liked the piece of mail from you WAY more that the piece of mail that Revenue Canada sent me! (Crap...do you think if they google me and read this, they will ask for even more?)

Hey...REVENUE CANADA...this is NOT a paid blog! No more money for you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up for Wednesday, I had coffee with my new Toastmasters mentor! I was so excited to go and to meet with him - he gave me a bit of a rundown on the procedures of the meetings, and then strongly urged me to get involved sooner rather than later. So, I contacted the branch as soon as we finished up our meeting, and I am scheduled to give a short speech on June 22! I am going to title my speech, "Taking a Leap of Faith," and I will talk about what the term means, my perception of a leap of faith, my sky diving, zip lining and climbing an active volcano. From there, I will talk about the leap of faith that I took with my cancer diagnosis and will finish it with the leap into Toastmasters! Sounds spiffy, doesn't it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day ended the way all good days should end - in the company of friends and/or family. My friend Don from Vancouver (the one I went to the market with) and Ian, another colleague from England, came over for dinner, wine, conversation and laughs! I am truly a blessed woman to have so many wonderful people in my life! And that includes all of you my lovely bloggy friends!

ENFP

2009-06-10T05:00:00.007-06:00

While surfing the internet the other day, I came across an article written by a former colleague of mine. He began the article by stating his Myers Briggs Personality profile. I laughed when I read it - at one time, not that terribly long ago, the Myers Briggs was commonly used in businesses as a strategy for determining "the right person for the right job." My personal experience with more than one company was that the organizations spent a lot of money gaining permission to administer and analyze the tests, but never utilized the information in the intended manner. In other words, I never was or witnessed anyone else, moved into different jobs based on the results of the test. So what was the point? I often wondered.

According to Wikipedia, "The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions."

I am an ENFP - extroverted, intuitive, feeling, perceptive.

ENFP's represent approximately 8% of the American population. We are referred to as "Inspirers," and we are said to be best suited to jobs such as consultants, psychologists, entrepreneurs, actors, teachers, counselors, politicians, writers/journalists, computer programmers (huh???), scientists (are you kidding me?), engineers (riiiiiiight! Let me construct a high rise and see who moves into it!).

So I thought that what I would do here is list some of the characteristics of ENFP (the Inspirers) in italics, and give some supporting comments in bold, to demonstrate the validity of the test.

ENFPs are lucky in that they're good at quite a lot of different things. However, ENFPs get bored rather easily and are not naturally good at following things through to completion. Sounds like my knitting project!

They will do best in professions which allow them to creatively generate new ideas and deal closely with people. They will not be happy in professions which are confining and regimented. Which is exactly why I never joined the military!

ENFP's are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. Perhaps that brightness and warmth are the result of hot flashes!

To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in that they have a strong set of values which they live with throughout their lives. All true - the directionless is evidenced every time I am in a new area and I can't find the place that I am looking for.

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. Remember my stories of knitting?

ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving. Again with the knitting! Sheesh!

They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after a very short period of time. Except for that one guy I dated who ended up in prison! KIDDING!

They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivious to these types of concerns. Ummm....engineers are said to be ENFPs. Don't they do a lot of detailed, maintenance-type tasks? Same with computer dudes?

ENFPs are basically happy people. They may become unhappy when they are confined to strict schedules or mundane tasks. Consequently, ENFPs work best in situations where they have a lot of flexibility, and where they can work with people and ideas. Sounds like I need to get a job at a gym! A thinking girls gym!

They have a strong need to be independent, and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. I don't mind controlling others, if it means that I get what I want!

ENFPs are charming, ingenious, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. Yes I am! And as for you...you are getting sleeeepy! Audrey is charming. Audrey is ingenious. If Audrey continues to eat ice cream, she will soon be spanning a broad spectrum!

On a serious note, I really am a believer in the Myers-Briggs test, and I have no doubt that if workplaces utilized the tool in a constructive manner, they would have happier, more productive employees. Furthermore, I think that if people who have taken the test heeded their results more, they would find themselves experiencing more joy and a sense of fulfillment.

Just Another Manic Monday

2009-06-09T05:00:00.007-06:00

What a crazy busy Monday I just had! Actually, it would have been fine except that the three things I had scheduled to do were all back to back and I was running!

First up, I attended another Toastmasters group! This particular group has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, and it still has two of its original members! In fact, the club is named after one of the two gentlemen.

This meeting runs Monday's from 12:10 - 1:30 p.m. It takes place in a conference centre downtown. As I live downtown, it already met one of my criteria for a club. The conference centre is about 20 blocks from where I live. I decided that I would take the rapid transit part of the way, and set out at about 11:30. I planned on getting there early so that I could wonder around and take some pictures for my Friday Shoot-Out.

Well....I left home and encountered pouring rain, heavy dark clouds and cooler temps! In fact, this is what it looked like out of doors at noon today:

Ah well...we need the moisture and I don't mind the rain, so that was fine. I arrived at the conference centre and couldn't locate the room - no big surprise there, as I have zero sense of direction. I asked a couple of guys for help - turned out they were on their way to the meeting, so I had a personal escort! I really enjoyed the meeting and the people who are members, so I joined their group! That meant that I didn't get out of there until almost 2:00.

Raced to my group session which was scheduled from 2:30 - 4:00. I had previously warned the senior psychologist that I would have to leave early, but that I would come for a wee bit. Which is exactly what it turned out to be - a wee bit! I arrived at 2:35 and left at 2:55 so that I could get to the Hys Centre for a mammogram at 3:30! By the time the mammogram was completed and the results were double checked by a doctor, it was close to 4:30. Time to go home and get something to eat!

I know that for most of you, my day doesn't appear to be too draining, but seriously - I needed a nap! Too much chaos for one little person! But it was a super fun day and I don't remember the last time I have seen so many people in such a short time frame!

And how was your Monday?

Follow-up To Yesterday!

2009-06-08T05:00:00.006-06:00

Continuing in the vein of yesterday's post, I want to quote Dr Jimmie Holland of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr Holland wrote a brilliant book entitled, The HUMAN SIDE of CANCER (don't you love that?). In her book, Dr Holland discusses "coping." (Notice she says "Coping," not "curing") Here are the factors for coping or not, that she outlines:

FACTORS THAT CAN HELP YOU COPE

Being a person who is....

- Generally positive toward life

- Able to take one day at a time

- Optimistic and unlikely by nature to feel helpless during a crisis

- Able to meet a challenge (like treatment) head-on

- Not prone to become highly stressed int he face of challenges (treatment_

- Able to commit to a goal and "hang in" (fighting spirit)

- Able to see the humorous side of negative things ("black" humor)

FACTORS THAT CAN HINDER HOW YOU COPE

Being a person who is...

- Generally negative toward life and its problems

- Unable to think one day at a time and worries about the future

- Pessimistic by nature and can easily feel helpless in the face of stress

- Apt to try to avoid a challenge when possible

- Prone to become nervous and distressed in the face of challenge

- Reluctant to persist in the face of stress and can easily become overwhelmed and feel helpless

- Unable to see the funny side of a situation or to take oneself less seriously

- Feeling inadequately informed about the nature of the treatment: the need for it and its goals and side effects

- Having a medical team that communicates poorly and doesn't convey a sense of caring

- Feeling isolated, without a person with whom to share the stress

- Having no personal philosophy of life or belief system that gives you perspective on adverse events.

She also lists 13 "Do's and Don'ts For Coping With Cancer:" I believe that the list is not specific to cancer patients. I believe that it is a useful list for everyone, regardless of their illness. I will quote the list in part, only:

1. DON'T believe the old adage that "cancer equals death."
2. DON'T blame yourself for causing your cancer.
3. DO rely on ways of coping that helped you solve problems and handle crises in the past.
4. DO cope with cancer "one day at a time."
5. DON'T feel guilty if you cannot keep a positive attitude all of the time, especially when you don't feel good.
6. DON'T suffer in silence. Do use support and self-help groups if they make you feel better. Leave a group that makes you feel worse, but don't try to go it alone.
7. DON'T be embarrassed to seek counseling with a mental health professional for anxiety or depression that interferes with your sleep, eating, ability to concentrate, or ability to function normally if you feel your distress is getting out of hand.
8. DO use any methods that aid you in getting control over your fears or upset feelings, such as relaxation, meditation or spiritual approaches.
9. DO find a doctor who lets you ask all your questions and for whom you feel mutual respect and trust. Insist on being a partner with him or her in your treatment.
10. DON'T keep your worries or symptoms (physical or psychological) secret from the person closest to you.
11. DO reexplore spiritual and religious beliefs and practices such as prayer that may have helped you in the past.
12. DON'T abandon your regular treatment in favor of an alternative or complimentary treatment.
13. DO keep a personal notebook with all your dates for treatments, laboratory values, X-ray reports, symptoms, and general status. Information is critical in cancer treatment, and no one can keep it better than you.

Dr Hollland published this list specifically for cancer patients, but I believe that it applies to everyone regardless of their symptoms or diagnosis! Hope that you find it helpful, whatever your life situation!

Do you Believe?

2009-06-07T09:20:00.006-06:00

Friday morning I attended my second to last knitting class at the cancer institute. To date, I have completed......

ZERO projects! In fact, if the truth be known, the scarf that I thought would inspire me to find my knitting groove is probably 3/4 finished, which is where I am confident it will remain, and my "sweater" has the correct number of stitches cast on. Many times over! Alas and alack, I am afraid that I may need to give up on my dream of being a world class knitter! This morning, Chelsea posted a photo of herself learning to knit! "Aha," I thought to myself, "I bet that Chelsea will finish my projects for me!" Chelsea is not returning my phone calls! Hmmm....

After "class," Friday morning, I was invited to join two fellow patients for coffee. Of course I went, but I walked away from the outing with overwhelmingly sad emotions.

The first person is someone who has been diagnosed with CUP (cancer with an unknown primary) and, in November, was told that she had at most one year to live. She is obviously angry and distraught over her diagnosis, and she feels that not everything possible is being done for her. She is blaming her oncologist at the cancer institute where I have been treated, and she is pursuing medical treatments outside of the country.

Now, I have to say, I think that if I were in her shoes, I would do the same thing. I would for sure want to know that every possible avenue of treatment had been explored and tried. However, I read up on CUP's and they are extremely frustrating for the health care teams involved, as well as for the patient. According to Dr Robert Buckman, "In many cases, the primary source of the CUP will be found by special tests on the secondary and/or X-rays, scans, and/or endoscopy. If the primary cancer cannot be identified, however, the situation is unlikely to be curable, and treatment should be directed at relieving symptoms or preventing them."

In this particular woman's case, most of her lymph nodes have been effected, but the CUP is not evident to pathologists. They are assuming that the primary is in the cervix, but because they don't know that for sure, they cannot treat it. Therefore, they administered 6 rounds of chemo targeting the lymph nodes, in an attempt to extend her life a bit. She is on heavy doses of morphine ("I have enough morphine stalked up at home that if I need it....") and she is becoming increasingly more pale as the weeks go by. She is angry. She is frustrated. She is dying.

The second woman that was at our table is newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She has not yet had surgery and has therefore not yet had her cancer staged (determining "whether or not it has spread to lymph nodes or other structures"). This woman intrigues me. She begins each weeks conversation by wanting to know what "chances" of survival each of us were given. We have repeatedly explained that "chances" are no longer given out so quickly because they are based on old statistics. Many cancers are now easily treated, but because of 20 year old stats, your chances look more grim than they really are. She doesn't seem to hear this, and is obsessing on the belief that her cancer is very advanced, and that she has little chance of survival. In a way, I understand where she is coming from. But in another way, I don't get it at all!

I have, for the most part, always been an optimist. I tend to see the good in people, I believe that good things are coming my way, I see the world through rose colored glasses. When I was originally told the stage of my cancer, I automatically assumed they were giving me the "worst case scenario!" I completely doubted that what they said was the reality of the situation.

This woman does the same, but backwards! She is assuming the worst, and then imagining it even worse than that! Perhaps that is the right way to attack things - for sure, anything sounds like good news when you imagine horrors!

Her other "quirk" is that she is looking for negativity towards the health care team. That I don't accept at all - the health care team at this particular facility is exceptionally caring and supportive. They WANT us to get well, to live to tell the tale! But she hangs onto the angry words of the woman who is dying, and generalizes those words to everyone in the institute. At one point in our conversation, I found myself snapping at her, "I have to stop you there! What you are hearing is C's experience! Not everyone has the same experience, and I cannot sit and listen to you project those words onto everyone at the institute. That is not fair, and it is not accurate!" She stopped listening to me! And that is fine!

But my point is this: In every situation we are given options of how to react. We can be angry, hostile and fearful or we can be joyous, loving and courageous. For my money it is so much easier to do the latter. Each day, I make a conscious choice - I choose to believe that other people are inherently good. For right or for wrong, I will continue to believe that human beings are, for the most part, kind and generous. I will continue to believe that my health care team has my best interests at heart. I will continue to believe!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Mental Duck to Mental Swan Award

2009-06-06T05:00:00.016-06:00

I am not certain how to begin this post. My challenge has been in finding an appropriate way to convey my gratitude to Sarah at Cottage Garden Studios, who bestowed this incredible award on me. Typically, when I receive an award, I describe myself as being humbled, honored and/or thrilled. I feel all of those things with this award, for sure. But I also feel so much more, and I am having a very difficult time assigning the correct emotion to it. So please, just indulge me as I ramble on and on - maybe you will find the words that I so desperately seek!

This award, The Mental Duck to Mental Swan Award was created by Sarah, and is given out only by Sarah! I was "Tom Cruise jumping on the sofa" excited when I saw that I was chosen to receive the inspirational award, and then the tears started! The tears came, and came, and came. And with it, such a mixed bag of emotions, which you already know that I cannot define!

Below, you will see the award. Under the award, I have quoted Sarah's description of how and why the award came about. Please read through that, and then I will try to describe what Sarah herself means to me. Afterwards, I want to share with you all what the actual award means to me. Okay...without further ado, have a read of Sarah's words.

"A week or so back I shared my creation Mental Duck to Mental Swan. It was suggested that it might make a nice award. I think so too. I would like to share with you how this little piece came to be.

When I was young, I had to repeat 2nd grade - it seemed to be a permanent label as my parents viewed me as the "not so smart one" in the family. Even when I graduated from high school with honors - they still didn't get it. It was never overt thing just lots of little things that made their opinion clear. It was not until my 40's that I began to get a clue - I wasn't the stupid one in the family, I had gifts and talents and a few brains to spare!!!! I guess it came as a surprise to me!!

Renee has been a constant supporter of me and has a keen eye for truth in people's gifts and talents - even when we do not see them in ourselves. So...if Renee tells you something LISTEN!!! Renee gave me direction and encouragement to try things I had only dreamed about doing - like writing and putting it out there. She gave me the courage to go from as she put it....Mental Duck to Mental Swan. I was so struck by this image, it had a huge impact on me!!! I was becoming a mental swan - I felt empowered and strong!! I am a Mental Swan!! Thank you Renee, you really have changed my life!!!

So...to the award...hee hee I'm excited. Ces suggested that I might do it like her Ninja award - one I give out at certain times, not one that is passed from person to person. I like this idea, but would like to give it out more often than once a year! So I will surprise a few special folks every now and again!

The Mental Duck to Mental Swan Award is given to two amazing groups of bloggers;

1. To Bloggers who encourage and nurture other bloggers to explore and grow in their creative, spiritual or mental lives.

2. To Bloggers who are blooming and growing creatively, spiritually or mentally in their lives and sharing it on their blogs."

So, what does Sarah mean to me? Well, let's see. Sarah and I met during what was probably the bleakest, darkest period of my life. I would have to read back to some of my early blogs (I tend to mentally block them out!), but I don't really think that my blog was all that appealing to anyone other than family, who have no option but to accept me, warts and all! But then these two amazing "cowgirls" (both on white horses) came riding into my life. They began reading and leaving little notes of encouragement, understanding, empathy. They gently pushed me to start leaving the sanctuary of my little cocoon and to start opening my wings a bit.

"Who are these people?" I wondered! "And why are they following me around? Can't they see how lost that I am?"

Guess what - they were SMART cowgirls. They could see how lost I was and they gently nurtured and led me to begin finding my confidence, my voice, my itty bitty creative spirit. Those women were, (and still are!) Renee and dear sweet Sarah!

I have had the pleasure of also watching Sarah grow and come into her own. She has inspired me with her honesty, her integrity and her generosity of spirit. She consistently reinforces for me the power of womanhood, exemplifying that what we put our minds to, we can and will achieve. There is no doubt in my mind that Sarah is destined for greatness, and I will be in the front lines cheering her on as she crosses the finish line! Sarah, dear heart....you are such an amazing spirit. I truly love and adore you!

And, once again, I am in that spot where I don't know what to say. I want to discuss how fortunate I feel to have been selected for the award! When I look at the two categories, I am inclined to place myself in the second, striving constantly to be in the first. I feel like I am blooming, and I am doing so with the support and encouragement of amazing people like Sarah.

I have always felt a need for a creative outlet, but to be honest, I lacked the self confidence to do much with it. Despite being an extrovert, I really have lacked the confidence necessary to put myself out there when it came to expressing myself through artistic means. Always, I have had a passion for writing, but I only shared my writing with my family. Always, I loved to capture my view of the world through photographs, which I only ever showed to my family. Even with the photographs, I would mentally play with arranging the pictures in some form of pleasing layout, which I alone saw and appreciated. Blogging is changing all of that for me.

This award means the world to me! The fact that it was designed by Sarah herself; the fact that it is centered on some the values I hold most dear; the fact that it is one of those "special" awards that is only distributed by one very special lady is something that I will forever cherish. Sarah, it truly is an honor. I am so incredibly happy that you have chosen me for this, but I am most happy to call you my friend!

Friday Shoot-Out (Random Pics)

2009-06-05T05:00:00.026-06:00

For the "random" shoot-out, my first thought was that it would be very cool to do a series of picture that were the same, and yet different. But about 30 seconds into my assignment I was forced to acknowledge that I like shiny objects, and I love trees, and the result of my short attention span is this:

A shiny object on my coffee table

My chess set. I first saw this in the Philedelphia Art Museum,

home of the famous "Rocky" steps

A dead tree in the downtown area

Same dead tree, different angle

Volcan Concepcion - home of the green parakeet.
Because I was inspired by it!

Granada Nicaragua
Because I fell in love with the city

Utilla, the Bay Islands

Tivoli Gardens

A lovely little square in Malmo, Sweden

Someones yard in Vancouver Canada

Granville Island, Vancouver Canada

Tsawassen Canada

Tsawassen Canada
Near the home of my friends Silvia and Rick

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

The following three pictures are an example of what I started out going for - the same concept shown in three different ways or places.

A very poor, very sketchy area of Guatemala City

Copenhagan Denmark

A new condo development in my Canadian neighborhood

There you have it - randomness Audrey style! Hope you enjoyed it! I had fun putting it together, until I came to the realization that I seem to love dead trees as much as I love live ones! I wonder what that means?

The Toast of the Town

2009-06-04T05:00:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was "action packed!" My day began with a 7:45 a.m. appointment with my family doctor. We were reviewing some of my recent test results (some are not in yet), she conducted a physical examination, and she is setting up more scans as well as having a consult with the Cancer Institute. I am experiencing some symptoms that are increasing in both frequency and intensity, so Dr J is attempting to rule out as many things as possible at this time. It's funny - I thought that this type of situation would make me very afraid, but I am actually feeling rather calm - I just want answers, even if the answers mean a return to treatment.

Upon arriving home, I noticed a wee parcel by the door to my condo (clearly not delivered by Purolator, who only has my safety in mind and would never risk leaving a parcel at my door! Or even letting me know that I had received a parcel!). Inside the wrapping was the most gorgeous little book, entitled Mayfly Day by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross. The book tells the story of the rich, full, one day life of the Mayfly, and how the Mayfly appreciates every moment, living its life to the max, and with an attitude of gratitude. The sender of the book was someone I truly love, despite never having met her in person. Thank you, dear Renee. What a lovely reminder to not waste a single moment of our lives regretting, feeling negativity, or wishing for what we don't have. What a lovely reminder to live in the moment! I LOVE the book - it is a wonderful gift!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been inspired by Carol, a fellow cancer patient, to join Toastmasters. Carol is a long time Toastmasters member and was, at one time, president of Toastmasters International (I think! Don't quote me!). Carol spoke so highly of the organization and really peaked my interest in it. What Carol started, one of the Social Workers at the Cancer Institute finished - the Social Worker stopped me in the hall one day and said, "Audrey! I was just thinking about you! You are such a good public speaker that I think you should join Toastmasters!" So I am in the process.

I am planning to attend a few different clubs, all in the downtown area, to see which group I am best suited to. I think that for sure one of the benefits will be speaking more eloquently, but I am also looking to it as an opportunity to meet new people. The group that I attended yesterday was nice - they made me feel very welcome and they included me in everything. But I am not sure that it is the one for me. I am attending another one Friday, one on Monday and one next Wednesday. Hopefully, I will find a group that feels like "home," and I can settle in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Home from Toastmasters, I received a call from my family doctor. She has spoken with my oncologist - they want me to try a medication for a week, then see my family doctor again to check if symptoms persist. If the symptoms do continue, she will order up the appropriate scans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And finally, my gorgeous friend Colleen is in town from Winnipeg. She came for dinner, the usual giggles and gossip, and of course we raised a glass to lovely Renee! Colleen and I have been friends for such a long time and I so adore her! She is one of the most encouraging people that I have ever met. And I think that I laugh more with her than with anyone else that I know. Her visit was such a great way to end the day!

My Favorite Days

2009-06-03T05:00:00.011-06:00

I had the most wonderful day on Monday - my soon to be 3 year old niece Alexa, spent the entire day with me while Mommy was at work. Usually when I look after her, it is at her house, where she has all of her toys, her own comfy bed, and healthy options in the fridge and pantry. A day at "Audie's" house, generally is a free-for-all on the junk food (something that I myself seldom eat, but I remember what it is like to be a kid, so I stock up on "treats" when I know she is coming!), few toys, and an auntie who doesn't like a mess in her house!

Alexa entered the world 3 months early. She weighed 2 pounds at birth. Everyone was so worried for this little one! Clearly, she would need a lot of love, support and medical expertise to make it and, fortunately, she was given all of that and more! The healthcare team at the hospital she was born at were second to none - in fact, the NICU is one of the most reputable in the world! Her Mommy spent long days at the hospital "kangarooing" her baby - the child is placed on the parents bare skin, allowing them an opportunity to bond. I believe this technique was discovered in Australia, hence the term kangarooing, and it has been proven to considerably increase the survival rates of these tiny little babies.

Alexa 2 days old

Before the birth of Alexa, I always assumed that breathing was natural - the minute you were born, your brain registered a need for oxygen. Oh boy, was I wrong! Babies who are born early don't have a clue that their job is to breathe. They constantly need reminders from their healthcare team! These little babies are hooked up to all kinds of monitors and the minute that they stop breathing, a bell sounds. The nurse comes over and starts by patting the bottom of the babies feet. "Come on baby," she says. "Breathe!" Usually, the baby responds appropriately, but if the little one cannot figure out what the request is, more drastic measures are taken to re-start the breathing process.

Alexa 2 months old

Alexa came out of the womb a fighter! As she exited the birthing canal, her little tiny hands grabbed ahold of the bed sheet and refused to let go! The doctor had to literally pry her little hand off of the sheet, and he commented on her strength. Throughout her time in the hospital, we would arrive in the morning only to hear "complaints" from the nurses about how they had been "fighting" with her all night! I think that they were always happy to have us arrive and to take over the care of her.

Shelly, Alexa's Mommy, spent all day, every day with her little one. There was also Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, and various aunties who showed up to shower her with love. We all experienced unbelievable sadness every time a little one in the unit didn't make it, and we daily gave thanks that ours did.

During my time in hospital, short though it was, I was tempted to request that my healthcare team stop treatment half way through. I didn't think that I had the strength necessary to get me through the procedure. And then, out of the blue, an image of Alexa popped into my head. I thought of the incredible strength she had demonstrated at birth, and I felt so humbled! How dare I complain about my plight, when that little one had gone through so much! She continues to be my greatest source of inspiration and hope! I love her to pieces and have more respect and admiration for her than I ever thought I was capable of having!

Alexa June 1, 2009

Alexa arrived at my home on Monday morning at about 8:30. We had a breakfast of bagels and juice - you can see that Alexa found more than one use for her bagel. We "played" Monopoly (she takes all of the parts - money, property cards, houses, hotels, get out of jail free cards, etc) and shoves them into her play purse. The game ends there!

We played Yahtzee - throw the dice all over the place. Game over!

We ate fudgsicles - well, she did.

We made "pineapple" pizza for lunch - she ate most of the pineapple before it got onto the pizza.

We went for a ride on the LRT (light rail transit) which she called "Thomas."

We drew on poster paper, blew bubbles, and visited a book store, where she got a kit for making sand art.

We got sand all over Audies living room carpet, making Audie twitch uncontrollably!

We "tightened" the straps on Audie's bike helmet, and then tried to squish Audie's head into the helmet!

We missed Mommy! And the kitty. And wanted to go home!

Until Mommy came to get her! Then she wanted to stay with Audie.

Being nerdy

Thank you for a great day Alexa. I love you!

The Spirit of Friendship

2009-06-02T05:00:00.007-06:00

Thank you June, for honoring me with this wonderful award! I am extremely honored to receive this. I love June's blog - she is an amazing photographer and poet. She has a knack for delivering huge messages with few words. I always look forward to seeing what she has posted each day, and I encourage you to check her out, if you haven't already done so.

This award was developed by Tessa in honor of Dr Maithri Goonetilleke's birthday. Tessa was inspired by the way Dr Goonetileke reaches out to others and, with his humanity as her guide, she created this award "to acknowledge the depth and breadth of the warm open-heartedness from bloggers all over the world who reach out and touch their readers with their words."

Tessa goes on to quote Dr Goonetilleke: "It has been my experience that whenever one human being reaches out to another in compassion, a bridge is built. A bridge which leads out of despair, into the light of hope and the possibility that tomorrow will hold a few less tears than yesterday."

I share Tessa's appreciation of blog awards. I agree whole heartedly with her sentiments when she speaks of how, if her words and images have touched someone in such a way that they choose to bestow an award upon her, that is truly an honor! I do appreciate every award that I personally receive (I only accept the ones that are personally designated to me - sorry!), and I feel warm and fuzzy all over to think that something I have said has had an impact on others.

Like so many bloggers, I have been touched by the blogging experience in a way that I find difficult to describe. When I first started blogging, I was quite naive about the whole thing - I thought that I would record some of my thoughts, maybe experiment with various writing "voices," post maybe once a month - not take it too seriously. I certainly didn't see an "addiction" arising from the experience, but it has! Interestingly, my addiction is not to the writing process itself - my addiction has become more about the discovery of creativity and friendship in others!

I am daily astounded by the reaching out of total strangers that I experience here. At first, I was a bit intimidated by it - I worried that people might think that I was seeking sympathy, feeling sorry for myself, etc. But that thought, thankfully, left rather quickly and I found myself speaking from my heart, speaking in an honest and authentic voice. And people continued to bestow friendship on me! What's up with that, I wondered! And then I stopped wondering, and simply gave thanks! I have been touched by so many people here, and I feel eternally blessed. You have truly created a bridge to my heart, spirit and soul.

It is my pleasure to pass the prestigious International Reach Out Award on to the following bridge builders:

First up, my gorgeous, lovely, warmest friend Rosie! Even though she is not a blogger in person, she is a blogger in spirit, and she has been one of my greatest supporters from the moment I first met her. She is warm, nurturing, funny and caring beyond words. Everyone needs a Rosie in their life - thanks for being there for me, dearest friend!

Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio. I talk about Sarah all of the time, but she is definitely worth the repetition! I adore her! Sarah is kind, sweet, funny and totally open and honest. She is a talented writer, artist and teacher of not just children, but fellow bloggers as well. She not only builds bridges, she IS a bridge! For you, dear Sarah!

Claire at Clairedulaluna. Okay, if you haven't visited Claire yet, I really need to insist that you do so! She is one of the funniest bloggers that I have come across, though I am not certain she is always trying to be funny (ie: she is horribly challenged by all things "computer," and writes about it). She is able to laugh at herself, and to quickly pick up on the humorous side of events that happen in other peoples lives. When you visit her, read back until you come to the story of when her younger sister visited, and reported that she was losing her hair! Claire - I tell that story ALL the time!

Becky at OM's Photo Blog. Becky posts lovely photos, her blog is short and sweet, but packs a punch. I find her photography very interesting and diverse - you find pictures of everything from a homemade pie to the light show at a symphony concert. Becky herself is warm, witty and caring. Please visit her - she is a fellow "gangster" from the Friday Shoot Out gang!

Each of the women mentioned above has provided for me, at one time or another, "A bridge which leads out of despair, into the light of hope and the possibility that tomorrow will hold a few less tears than yesterday."

I want to honor more people with this award, so I plan to pull it out every week or two and bestow it on other bridge builders!

You Gotta Have....Friends!

2009-06-01T05:00:00.008-06:00

My friend Don is in town from Vancouver. He is here for work and is scheduled to stay for two months. I am thrilled about this! Since moving to my present city, I haven't made friends the way that I am accustomed to. There are a few factors as to why that is:

1. I have family here - family that I hadn't see a lot of for a number of years. I had missed them and I chose to spend my spare time with them.
2. I don't own a car,and when I first moved here, I was in the 'burbs. It was a new development, and public transit was not yet very efficient (it still isn't). Because of my lack of transportation, I was limited as to when and where I could go to meet people.
3. I have been ill for a year, and for a large percentage of that time, I was immobile. Again, no getting out and meeting new people.

So, it should come as no surprise that my "friend deprived," period was becoming tiresome! I am hungry to spend time with people that I care about talking, laughing, shopping, watching movies - all of the things that friends do!

Don and I decided to spend Saturday ambling along through a local farmers market. This particular market is held in the downtown area, only blocks from where I live, and is one of the largest that I have ever seen. All of last summer, I longed to go to the market but, again, I was immobile. So it didn't happen. When Don suggested we go there on Saturday, I was uber excited!

The market is held on 104 St. The street is quite wide, and it is surrounded by old, historical buildings that have been renovated. Below is an example. This particular building was built in 1913, I believe, and has been converted into lofts. It looks awesome, and I would love to see how the lofts
have been developed.

Don and I have a mutual friend named Nicole. Nicole is one clever lady - after the birth of her second child, she decided that she needed to invent a bib that would withstand the "baby years." She took as her inspiration Robie shoes, the little leather shoes that were developed for babies. Nicole wanted a bib that was just as easy to wipe up, and she set about creating the very successful Mally bibs.

As Don and I walked the market, he grabbed my arm and said, "Check this out! This looks like Nicole's bibs!" This vendor was selling messenger bags made of vegan material, but the same concept as Nicole's bibs and Robie shoes!

The picture below had us howling! Don noticed the sign before I did. I don't know if you can see it, but the dude in the cowboy hat is selling "fairy floss!" Don wondered, "Do you think he knows what that means?" I don't know - you be the judge!

There were a ton of people meandering along, looking at fresh produce, crafts, baking, preserves and other home made things. There was something for everyone. Even woolly mammoths were getting some Saturday morning shopping done! I believe he was checking out coffee beans and cookies!

We stopped for lunch at one of my favorite little spots - The Blue Plate Diner. It is a very cool, very hip, very funky little eaterie that serves organic, healthy options, features local art work on the walls and is loud, noisy and fun!

We discovered this gorgeous little furniture store after running into some other friends who told us about it. It is called "29 Armstrong" and it is, as Don said, the kind of furniture store you would expect to find in New York City! It is independently owned, and the furniture literally looks like works of art. Kerri, the next time you are here, I will take you to this place - you will love it!

And finally...Don and I were both astonished by the creativity/stupidity of whoever came up with the idea of putting a banking machine into a get-away car! I wonder, if someone stole this, would they be charged with grand theft auto or bank robbery? Hmmmm....

I had such a great day on Saturday! Thanks Don...I am so happy that you are here!

A Funny Thing Happened...

2009-05-31T05:00:00.012-06:00

Here is an interesting statistic:
Children laugh, on average, 400 times a day. Adults laugh an average of 25 times a day!

That is a rather sad statistic, don't you think? I wonder why, as adults, we stop laughing. There is nothing I enjoy more in life than a good belly laugh! Laughing uncontrollably makes me forget all of the stress and tension in life. It is freeing. Below are a few of my favorite "laughter" moments.

Catty Laughter

We were in Utilla, The Bay Islands, famous for quick scuba diving accreditation. It was extremely hot and we were all seeking out activities to help us cool down. Mike, a very large, very buff teacher in a federal prison and John, a very thin, very pale English computer geek, decided to go kayaking. Some went to sign up for scuba lessons, others chose to sit by the outdoor bar and drink a few chilly ones. Around the dinner hour, everyone began making their way back to the bar area to make meal and evening entertainment plans. As we are chillin,' Ned looks up and says, "What the hell is that?" We all look over and see John, sweat pouring off his forehead, skin burned an unusual shade of red, huffing and puffing his way towards us. "JOHN," I shrieked, "What happened?" At the same time, someone else is asking, "Where is Mike? We thought you were with Mike." John first told us that Mike had been left to carry the kayak on his own back to the rental place. John, whose arms resemble carrot tops, wasn't strong enough to help him. John went on to describe that while kayaking, he had applied sunscreen to his face. The exertion of paddling the kayak combined with the heat, caused him to start sweating. The sweat mixed with the sunscreen and rolled down his face and into his eyes. His eyes started to burn, so he tried to flush them with sea water! That made the situation even worse! Half way through their adventure, he had to lay down in the kayak, leaving all of the work to Mike. Now John was back at "base camp" applying cold beer bottles to his eyes. He looks like death warmed over. Suddenly, up comes buff Mike, looking like he has been out for an afternoon stroll! The "HE Man meets WEE Man" of it al made me laugh so hard, my eyes were burning almost as much as John's!

Laughter Envy

One day, when I still lived in Winnipeg, my friend Sandra and I took off at lunch time and headed for the mall. We were in the lingerie section, commenting on the various bras. I started telling Sandra a story about a guy who had been caught in that very department, crawling on his hands and knees through the panty section, grabbing a pair of panties, scrunching down even lower to the floor, and sniffing the panties. Sandra and I burst into uncontrolled laughter - we couldn't stop laughing! Finally a sales associate came over to us and told us how envious she was - she wished that she had a friend with whom she could share hysterical, non-sensical laughter!

Silly Laughter

My soon to be 3 year old niece cracks me up! She is at the stage where she realizes she has the power to make adults laugh. Obviously, her sense of humor is not that developed, but she makes me laugh all the same. I absolutely love it when she picks something up and says, "I gonna put this on you head!" I tell her, "No, you're not!" She comes back with the ever witty, "I gonna put this on you eyes!" I deny her permission to do so. So she pulls out the big gun, "I gonna put this on you nose!" The whole time, she is erupting in laughter. She thinks that she is outrageously funny. And that makes me laugh. The more I laugh, the sillier she gets. Eventually, neither one of us even knows why we are laughing - it just feels good! The other thing that she does that cracks me up every time is when she tells me, "Audie, you read a book. I'm going to check my emails and do my paperwork!" She is three years old!

Twisted Laughter

Huong, Steve, Leanne and I were at a work training session. Steve and Leanne sat in front of Huong and I. The training was long, and monotonous. At one point, Steve turned around and handed Huong a folded up piece of paper. "Give that to Audrey," he whispered. Huong handed me the paper which I opened and read. "What does it say?" Huong wanted to know. I adopted a puzzled expression on my face and said, "It says he likes my breasts!" Steve's head whipped around and he said, "Hel-lo!" Huong grabbed the note and punched my arm while loudly whispering, "It does NOT say that! It says, 'I think you are neat!"

Horsing Around Laughter

In the radiation room, Brian and Dave were prepping me for treatment. As they worked, the following conversastion ensued:
Brian: Audrey, as soon as your treatment is finished, you should go up to the 3rd floor cafeteria - they are handing out free ice cream.

Audrey: Sounds good, I may have to do that!

Dave: Yeah well, don't expect much - they have only vanilla left. I asked for Napolean and they were all out.

Audrey: Did you call the server Josephine?

(At the exact same moment, Brian's eyes bug out and his mouth drops, realizing where I am going with this, and Dave looks confused).

Audrey: Did you stick your hand inside your lab coat right near your heart?

(Dave is still confused!)

Audrey: Did you put on a French accent?
Dave finally gets it! "I meant Neopolitan ice cream!"

Audrey: Sorry Dave. Please don't overcook me!

Hidden Laugher

Neil and Dolores hosted a party. Their home is always immaculate and perfectly decorated. To walk into their home is to experience walking into a high end showroom. At this particular party, George was feeling goofy - not an uncommon occurance for George. He began secretly planting empty beer bottles into plant pots, behind sofas, in drawers, in shoes. Everyone except Neil and Dolores were aware of what George was up to. We were all killing ourselve laughing at the thought of the expressions on their faces the next morning whent they began their clean-up! That same night, George left before the rest of us. When it was time to go, coats had been hidden, boots were missing - it was quite the mini-adventure going through Neil and Dolores' immaculate home in search of our outerwear!

What is your favorite laughter story? How often in a day do you laugh? Make it your goal this week to increase your laughter quotient by 5%! Go ahead - I dare you!