Boxing day,..... Sell sell sell.... Buy buy buy......!!!!!! I find this to be such a sad tradition. My son in law works at Best Buy and he had to work today. The sales were expected to be a million dollars just for his local store a lone. Good for the company but I am sad to say not for the consumer. People are spending money they don't have....... I remember a time when stores were closed on Christmas day and boxing day. Even gas stations were closed. Folks had to plan ahead. It was a mad dash to get to the bank, grocery store and gas station to stock up for 2 whole days while every thing shut down. We all survived. It was great just to slow down and spend time with family and friends. Not any more! Stores are open even on Christmas day and the boxing day sales are getting far too carried away. It's all about the money.... Even the Christian book stores stay open just in case they can make that last minute sale. How sad. People are known to line up at 2 in the morning just to be first in line to get the fantastic boxing day sale. That 37 inch flat screen TV that they just can't live without. I think they must be crazy. You would not catch me waiting in line in minus below freezing in the wee hours just to get my hands on any electronic device for any good deal. I do not get it. Some how people have lost the whole meaning of this Christmas tradition. It's not about the money and the gifts and the spending. What would bring me great joy during this holiday season would be to give and serve others less fortunate than I. Next year I want to go and put on a turkey dinner for people who are truly without. I have an aunt who does this every Christmas. Her and her hubby go out on the streets on Christmas day and give out food to the street people. That is my goal.

Okay, aside from my feelings on boxing day and the crazy retail biz , I want you all to know that I did survive Christmas with my ex. What was especially sweet was that my son was right by my side at all times. Him and his gorgeous wife were my champions. They never left me for a minute. And My Abby was so lovely. What was so sweet was during dinner she said out of the blue " I love you Gramma" It did my heart good and is what I needed to hear. So yay, it's over and I survived and I know that my babies love me and it's all good. Happy holidays to everyone and a wonderful wish for the best in the new year. Above is my to little grandbabies. They are so sweet are they not!

Happy birthday to my sweetie pie. Abby is 3 today. Love that little girl. My how time flies when you're having fun. I can't believe she is already 3. It seems like only yesterday that her daddy was 3 and I was taking him for walks and kissing his boo boos. I think back 3 years ago when Abby was born and I feel bad for my daughter inlaw. Abby was born exactly one week before Christmas and Jen and Jordan brought our sweetness out to family christmas dinner. She must have felt so overwhelmed with a new born and adjusting to a new baby(first one). Sorry Jen if we freaked you out. I remember what it was like to have a new born (the first) and being so upset going to dinner with family and friends. Everything was so new. I am so grateful for our little girl. Thank you Jen and Jordan for Abby.. She is such a joy and delight to our family. Anyway, like I said time truly does fly when you're having fun. Happy birthday Abby darlin. Gramma loves you so much!

I know I have not been around much. I just don't seem to know what to post about. Then I thought , why not post about my beautiful little grand babies. They are truly my joy and what keeps me going. In fact all my kids(inlaws included) keep me going. Some days it is hard, but when I see my kids and granddaughters all is right with the world. Christmas is only a week away and I approach it with much anxiety. This year I have been invited to my daughters for Christmas. She is so excited about hosting Christmas at her home this year( for the first time). She has also invited her dad to join us(my ex) and his new wife and new family. This will be a first. I don't know how the day will play out. I pray that it will all go smooth. There has been a lot of hurt that has come from this divorce. Hurt mostly on my part, so I don't know how it will be. I hope it will not be too stressful. If I feel too overwhelmed I will just have to excuse myself and quietly withdraw. My kids do have a right to be with their dad too. So we will see what happens. Are my grand babies cute or what. I adore them.

Abby will be 3 in a few days and Jo will be 3 months on Christmas day. What sweet granddaughters I have.

My blogger friend Wanda has started me thinking about nativity scenes. I recently viewed her show case of unique sets. She has very beautiful ones. I have 2 sets. One from Mexico that a client of mine gave me over 17 years ago , made of rustic plaster. Very small and important just the same. The other set is one that I have been collecting since 1988. It is a set made by the Fontanini family from Italy. My ex mother in law started me on this set by giving me Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The beauty of this set is you can add a figurine when ever. Each one is sold separately, with a gift card that has a brief story about the charachter. My family has been giving me a figurine or 2 every year since 1988. I have a total of 50 figurines to my set and counting. The Fontanini family have been in business since 1908. Today Fonatnini Heirloom Nativities are acclaimed for their life-like sculpting, painstaking painting by hand and meticulous detailing. You may remember seeing the virgin Mary featured in the Mr. Bean Christmas special. When Mr. Bean is in the department store with the toy chopper..... If not familiar with that scene then forgive me for ranting. I love the fact that Fontanini is a family business that has passed on the traditions from generation to generation. I have continued on my own tradition by starting my daughter and sister on sets of their own. It's fun to see what figurine is added each year on Christmas morning. My sister has also started her sister in law on this Fontanini journey. The other nice feature about the Fontanini collection is that the figurines are not breakable, so my grandchildren can touch and experience the nativity hands on. Each year if I don't put out any other Christmas decoration, at least you can be sure that my Fontanini nativity set will be set out. It makes me happy.

I am so excited. Our home team (football) won the ultimate prestigious trophy for all of Canada.The Grey Cup. It has been 18 years since our team won the last one. Last night it was their turn. Today they returned home to a chilly temp of minus 20. Of course we have to factor in the wind chill. With that it felt like minus 34. Can you say Brrrrrrrrrrr! Even with the frigid temp our team came home to waiting fans all bundled up. How can you tell we have the best fans of all. When you show up to greet our team in minus 34 weather (outside) and show our love and gratitude for winning the trophy for us. It was amazing. Last night after the game people were out in the streets in the cold and snow cheering till all hours. I went to bed around ten and still heard car horns and people yelling wee into the early hours. It was a great time. Great job Saskatchewan Rough riders. It truly was your turn to win. Yahhhhhhooooooo!!!!!

You know how some parents live their lives vicariously through their kids! Well I am living my life through my folks.

Here are my beloved parents enjoying themselves in Texas, on the gulf of Mexico. I miss them very much ,but I am so happy that they are able to travel and experience new and different things. The positive side is that they skip the cold Saskatchewan winter. Mom has been swimming in the ocean, and dad( who does not like water too much, unless it is a hot tub.) has become a beach bum. When my parents broke the news to my siblings and I that they were going to sell the house, buy a fifth wheel trailer and truck and head to warmer climates, I have to admit that I was a bit anxious. Okay a lot anxious. I call it separation anxiety. After a few weeks I finally had to come to terms that I would have to cut those apron strings and give my parents their independence. It has been an adjustment but things are okay. I am so happy for them. They deserve to be enjoying life. They have worked so hard and put many dollars towards the government pension. It's about time they cashed in. Good for you momma and daddy. I miss you so much but am so happy for you and love seeing the

photos. Like I said I am living my life through my parents.

Shame, Shame, Shame! Someone has been caught with egg on the face!





This week my manager was caught in an embarrassing situation. She made a racial comment to one of my co workers. The thing is that this comment was made in front of not only my co-worker, but in front of many more. I was witness to this racial slur. I could not believe what I had heard. When my co-worker stood up for himself and put my, our manager in her place, she began to apologize. By then it was too late. The damage had been done. She then tried to explain to the rest of the group that what she had said was wrong and she should not have said what she said. So now my manager is left to eat crow so to speak. I feel so bad for my co-worker. He was not only slandered by harsh, racial words, but he was told so in front of many of his peers. I'm sure he must have felt very small. This is not the first time that my manager has made staff feel small and doubt their self worth. She has made me feel insignificant a time or two in my time working for her. I really hope that this does not continue. I hope that she will be stopped once and for all for what she tries to pull. Our policy at work is zero tolerance to harassment of any kind. I hope my manager will be put in her place once and for all. Enough is enough already. Harassment is harassment whether it is in jest or not. My manager did send out an apology saying that she was only joking and that she should not have said what she did. But like I said the damage has been done. Words hurt!

Today I spent a couple hours with my granddaughter Abby and her baby sister Jo. While Jo slept, Abby and I played a world of make believe. She told me stories about " Once upon a time there was this little girl named Athena and Poppa and gramma and Athena colored on the walls and gramma cried and ..... ..I found it so cute. Some of this may have happened. Like perhaps Athena did color on the walls but I don't know if gramma cried or not. ( she meant her other gramma). Abby has lots of grammas. I just found it so lovely to hear my little granddaughter tell me stories. We also pretended to go on a trip to visit Athena. We got in our make believe car , put on our seat belts, and set off on our trip with map in hand( that Abby had made prior to our trip) and gifts to give . The gifts were chocolate and shoes. Flip flops( Dora ones) and all her idea. Of course all women love chocolate and shoes. Along the way we saw many things . Elephants , Tigers and Wombats. We had to honk the horn to warn the animals to move out of our way. It was so good to play make believe with Abby. At first she thought that her gramma was kinda strange when I said come on Abby get in the car and drive. The car was the couch and we had a pretend steering wheel and made sure we buckled up. She was shy at first and then she totally got into the whole pretend trip. I enjoyed playing make believe with her. I hope she had fun too. Then baby Jo woke up and needed to be changed and then needed her mommy to feed her. But it was fun while it lasted.

And another one falls!

Today we were informed of another RCMP officer that was shot and killed in the line of duty. This is the 2nd one in less than a month. Over the last 2 years that makes 8. This young constable that was killed last night was only 20 years old. He just graduated from training 6 months ago. How very sad! I know it touches those of us who work for the RCMP, but I can not even imagine the horrible sadness it is for those family members who are left behind. I do know that it affects the cadets who are going through training right now. It does fill them full of fear! It makes them stop and think about what they are doing here. I try to encourage the troops as they pass through our facilities. I tell them I am so proud of them and I tell they that they are so needed. Training to become an RCMP officer is very strict and brutal at times. There are many that pack it in part way through training because they can't cut it. So it is very sad to hear that a cadet makes it through training only to be killed 6 months into his career as a police officer. This coming up weekend is "Remembrance Day" here in Canada. It is a time we remember the lives that have been lost in the wars, and those veterans still alive who fought, and those who still fight. I also take it one step further and think of all those who fight the good fight every day keeping us safe from crime. I REMEMBER!

Well momma and daddy hooked up their home on wheels to their big red truck and took off down the highway heading south. They have officially become Canadian geese. Or snow birds as many call them. Corpus Christi Texas is the destination of choice. Near the sand and surf. They are now dipping their toes in the warm sandy waters as I speak. I am so jealous. I say good for mom and pop for being able to take on this adventure in their golden years. They so deserve it. I am happy cuz they are able to do this, but sad cuz I won't see them for 6 whole months. Come spring , like the geese, they will fly north for the summer. I am not only longing for spring , but also seeing the folks again. I am thankful once again for the internet (instant messaging). I can keep in touch with them daily.

Down but not out.



After a week of being out of the internet loop I am back. I have not had internet for a week and boy have I missed it. I will now get back to catching up on all my freinds posts. Hope all is well with everyone. Glad to be back in the loop. Oh how we come to depend on things instant.

PLAY DOH AND DORA CARDS! Does this sound like fun? It was to me! I played with my grand baby Abby for hours today with play doh and then with Dora cards. I was educated on the characters of Dora the Explorer. Benny the Bull is not Benny the cow as I called it. I asked Abby who the cow was and she said " Benny" I said "Oh Benny the cow" and she said "No Benny the bull" Of course it would be Benny the Bull. I am so out of the loop. I must get with it as far as Dora the Explorer goes. Come on Gramma keep up, get with the program. I had a great time with Abby today. What fun with the brilliant Dr. Abby. She did tell me what the longest bone in the body was. I am so glad cuz I did not know. I don't know if you all know this, but my
Abby girl is brilliant. I can brag cuz I am Gramma.

Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. I was reminded of this little tune as I sat watching the night sky. Last night it was so clear and the stars shone beautifully. When I was a little girl I remember sitting in the back seat of my families car going home from somewhere, late at night. As a wee little one I was only big enough to see up into the sky from the window where I sat. The sky was so clear and gorgeous. I do recall singing the song Twinkle Twinkle little star. As a very young child I thought this to be so amazing . Amazing because the night sky was so much bigger than I. It was so vast and went on forever. As I sat the other night with my memories, another recent memory came to mind. Last time I looked after my sweet granddaughter Abby, she was singing that very song. I hope that she will soon be able to truly look up in the great big sky and see all the beautiful diamonds.

I had a fantastic thanksgiving weekend. ( I agree with one of the other Canadian bloggers, when they said the US Thanksgiving is way too close to Christmas) Our thanksgiving in Canada is a perfect time to be thankful. So as far as my weekend goes.. it was a fantastic weekend. It started with my kids being away for the weekend ..... That is not happy.... It was a fact. They were not in the city to celebrate with me. So me, mom and dad planned to just go out for Chinese on Sunday lunch after church. Early Sunday morn we got the invite to go for Turkey lunch at a great friend of families place. Even though I had my taste buds set on the Chinese dinner, it was so nice to get together with friends instead. Later that same afternoon we went to sisters house for coffee and pumpkin pie. We ended up staying on through dinner time and was invited to stay for turkey left overs. It was not intentional. It just happened that way. It was such a nice time. Then today my daughter called me up and invited me over for a visit . I ended up staying all afternoon and watched a show called " The IT Crowd" I thought it was a very funny show. Had a real giggle. We then went for Chinese food with mom and dad and Tiff and Brian( favorite daughter and son in law) okay only daughter and only son in law. I must say it was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Instead of sitting in my apartment staring at the walls all day( cuz kids were away) I had a great time being out with family and friends. I enjoyed it very much. So hey, US, how about changing your Thanksgiving day so it is not so close to Christmas. ;)

By the way the above photo is of my granddaughter Abby playing in the leaves last fall.

Thanksgiving in Canada




I am thankful for many things. My family. Mom and dad for all the love and support they have to give. My children, and granddaughters , they are my light and joy. They light up my life. I'm thankful for my sister . I adore her and she is such an encouragment to me. My nephews (all 5 of them) who make me laugh always. My brother inlaw who is an example of one who is an amazing dad to his sons and loves God with all his heart, and he shows it regularly. My brother who has a wonderful sense of humour and also loves God. My sister inlaw who is an amazing hostess and has a gift of hospitality. She takes such great care of my brother and her boys. I am so very blessed to have such a wonderful family and I never take them for granted. I love them all so much, I am truly thankful for them all.

More photos courtesy of Jen and Jordan. Love the little baby and her sister.

Okay I just have to post some clearer photos of my liitle grand baby. ( courtesy of Jen and Jordan) So here she is. My little lovey and her fantastic big sister. ( her mommy too) xoxoxox

She's Here, she's finally here! Josephine Lauren arrived at 1:53 am. Sept. 25 2007. Almost 2 weeks overdue according to Doctors calculations. Right on time according to Josephine. She weighed 8lbs 10 1/2 oz. I got a call to go look after Abby just before 1:00 am. I hurried over and my son and daughter inlaw left for the hospital. From the time they arrived at the hospital, got registered and in a room there was only 13 minutes to spare. Jen was fully dialated and ready to push. I was just getting myself settled in for the night when the phone rang a few minutes past 2:00 am. It was Jordan saying "mom she is here". I thought I was dreaming. I said "but you just left here"! Talk about cutting it close. If they had waited any longer to call me, Jordan would have had to be the doctor and deliver his daughter at home or in the car. Whew! All is well. Mom and baby are doing fine. I am now a grandma to 2 beautiful girls. I'm so happy and proud. I got to go to the hospital this afternoon to see her and hold her. She is adorable. Lots of dark hair like her sister had. Jen gets to come home from the hospital in the morning already. Gone are the days when we had to stay for a week straight( when my kids were born). I'm tired tonight as I did not sleep much. That's okay. I had more sleep than my son and daughter inlaw got. I can catch up easy. Not so easy for parents of a new born. I'm so happy that I got to go look after Abby during this time. It was so lovely spending time with her. She is going to make a very wonderful big sister.

The Bathtub Test It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started. During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized. "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub." "Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup." "No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window" DID YOU PASS, OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE?

Well my new baby granddaughter is due any time now. Her actual due date is not til the 13th of Sept. but she could arrive any time. I am so excited to meet her. My other grand baby Abby is also looking forward to meeting her new sister. Her mommy and daddy are too. I have been asked to be the middle of the night call to come look after Abby if Jen should go into labour. I said (without hesitation) of course! So I will be waiting by my phone expectantly. I may be sleeping but I will still have one ear to the phone. Can't wait.