Brunch!

This past weekend brought all kinds of surprises!

I thought that I was going to succumb to pneumonia before Thursday night ended. But alas! I was even more miserable with the same flu-like symptoms the next day. My friend and landlady had her hubby drop off a bottle of ginger ale and subsequently she dropped off some Fowlers; aka Dr Fowlers, on Friday and the makings of Lemon Balm Tea on Saturday. By Saturday night; after being looked after through all the symptoms of this illness by my in house friend and the other lady above, I was actually feeling better.




Well the point of all this is I ended up being able to keep my brunch date on Sunday with my family. My second oldest sister, niece, and sister by marriage that live here in my area and I were brunching with my third oldest sister on her yearly trip from her home in Australia. I had not seen

her in person for over 20 years. She looked remarkably young and much the same as I remember her. We do keep in touch but nothing is better than being face-to-face.

All of us went to a restaurant I had not heard of before. It is part of a chain in Canada called Cora's. They only serve breakfast. The establishment serves a lot of luscious, fresh, fruit along with the usual bacon and eggs. They open at six in the morning and close at four in the afternoon. Their menu is gargantuan. Everything was absolutely delicious. We all had a lovely time together. I just wish that my visiting sister and I had been able to have more time to ourselves; but time constraints and a busy schedule made that impossible. Perhaps next year will be different now that I live in the same area as everyone else. At any rate, it was lovely to see her.

The occasion also gave my dog, Dylan a chance to shine. Unfortunately, I had to go back to my niece's place for a second time. Suffice to say, I had to walk with him over to 'hear the Boxer and the Dandie Dinton bark' after I had already been dropped off after brunch. I'd left my purse in my sister-in-law's car like an addle-brained old aunt. She drove 6 to 10 miles just to return me my handbag. Even though she has a cat, she seemed quite taken with Dylan; when she met him on her second trip. I was extremely surprised when she drove Dylan and I to the park across from my home in her nearly new Hyundai. My visiting sister stayed home to pack for her plane trip this morning. By the end of the day, I was still full and definitely ready for bed.

Unfortunately for the week of September 12th to the 18th the flu came back with a vengeance on Tuesday! So now I have been sick up to this past Saturday. (Sept. 17th) and just feeling better again. Maybe this time I can truly declare - 'This too shall pass!' - with conviction.

Note: Every animal pictured in this article is owned by one of my siblings, my niece, or myself. The Labrador-German Shepherd mix lives in Australia, the Dandie Dinmont Terrier lives with my niece and sister along with her Boxer in this area, as does my sister-in-law and her Bengal Cat, and of course Dylan, my precious Pomeranian.
*By the way the stats ran dogs 4 and cats 1; but I wouldn't worry for the cat folks....Bengals are extremely powerful.

Pleasant Visit

I am lucky enough to have some lovely relatives left on this old earth. I spent a wonderful afternoon this past week with my niece and sister. Let me tell you, the latter lady makes a mean macaroni salad (hmmm...try to say that real fast a number of times in a row). We had amazing banana bread with coffee when I arrived and then had lunch around 1pm. They have a lovely garden and my niece maintains it very well. It was quite mild so we ate in the garden. As usual my sister and I reminisced together over incidents that happened long ago. Here I am, to the right, in their garden; with Dylan, my Pomeranian.

Midweek the three of us visited Richmond Hill Public Library. Now there is an impressive building. I went up the elevator to the upper floors and looked out the windows. No word of a lie - I could see downtown Toronto. I was shocked to see a little kiosk on the main floor just inside the turnstiles. They sold coffee, tea and pastries. I guess its all part of the libraries attempt at trying to win back customers from the internet coffee bars and the internet in general.

Don't get me wrong. I love my P.C. I love posting on my blogs, working on my writing projects, and maintaining all my websites. But; I hope the day never comes when we don't read books, research in the library, and appreciate the written word printed on actual pages. Here is something really important to remember. If you drop a Kindle, while in the tub it's 'kindling'; but if you drop in a paperback then it will usually dry out.

Note: Got driven to the Ontario Service building to deal with health insurance. I won't be able to use OHIP until the month of December! Oh well just keep me in your prayers so I won't have accidents or get sick until after January.
*My sister is coming to visit people here in North America...sure will be nice to have her visit me before she goes back to Australia! *

New Perspective

I, Dear Readers, have decided not to rail on anymore about my problems. I have made a decision to only write and try to think about what happens in my life that is positive for at least the next 2 or 3 months. So if there are not many posts in that time you will understand. I don't have anything to write about! Honestly though; I believe that should make my perspective sunnier. I know that I can't go into winter with this frame of mind or it just may turn into a very long, cold, depressing time.

So, in this happier frame of mind; I tell you that my friend in New York has said she has sent some more boxes of my possessions. My little dog Dylan continually is a source of fun and joy to me. I have a few new friends here along with the couple I have known for more years than any of us care to admit. I often have very intriguing and interesting conversations with these people and that is what I missed when I have been alone. I have enjoyed arranging my lovely buttercup yellow (yech) room quite nicely; although there is more to do to make it even more comfortable and homey. That is all good and positive!






I am going to a barbecue with my friend Ardelle on the weekend; which should be fun. We also intend to go to a backyard picnic after the Sunday service. I am enjoying church again every week and going to another kind of meeting semi-regularly. I am getting more work on the net daily. My spirit is getting lighter by the hour since I made my decision. Never know; I just may be dancing a jig soon.

Note: Got my 5th box from New York on Friday; but still waiting on the 4th. Glad to see the 6th box turn up Monday/today! Looking forward to the 7th box with all my cds and dvds that she said she would send. However I am still waiting on the 4th box.

Hauntings.

Not by ghosts or spirits, but memories that are sometimes hard to take and sometimes welcome for a while. Still trying to get over the horrible nightmares that come with loss of any kind. But it will take time, patience and prayer.

I just wonder why I let people push me around sometimes. I think it is in my nature to try to make peace with people and to always think of how that other person must feel. The trouble with that way of thinking is I quite often end up getting burnt in some way.

Since 2001, I have lost nine people close to me; including my Mom, Brother, Husband and Roommate and Friend. Quite a few of those close to me have terminal illness or conditions, and it is a matter of time before they are gone. I wonder why God doesn't prepare us for this earlier in life so it isn't so devastating every time it happens. The loss of the ones I love is the hardest part of my life to accept.



But almost as hard is the loss of home and possessions. I wonder why people, when they are involved in dealing with others don't think in terms of 'how would I feel if this happened to me?' or more towards the idea of 'treating others as they would like to be treated'. If we are put in a position to view someone as a friend or acquaintance one minute and a stranger the next; it is a wonder that we aren't all grasping, money grubbing and mean by nature.

We never get over the loss of someone we love or anything for that matter; but we can learn to live with it hopefully and not let it haunt us.


Note: Please leave your opinions on this subject or any other of my blogs in comments below each posting.

Just Let Me Get Through This!

Well folks I am here and I am still standing. I do want to begin to live life to the fullest once more. It will be and is different than before I met Dennis or Tommy. I pray I can get back to feeling like my old self again. After all that has and hasn't happened; it is going to be very hard to get back to 'normal'. It was a temporal and a financial impossibility for me to move all my things back here to Canada. As a result I have very few of my possessions left.

The one thing that would make life easier on me here, would be having a car. Unfortunately, buying a car is out of the question; much too expensive. Things would go better if I had my own transportation. I could go and get my health insurance, social insurance and Ontario drivers' license set up. Nothing is central here; that is to say the health is in one place, then 10 miles up the road is the social insurance, and the license is somewhere else.




I have had a lot of nightmares about the sad, horrible way, my late partner Dennis died. I am kind of hurt that I was not able to say goodbye to him properly. He did not have a real funeral or memorial service to my knowledge while I was there - ten days after his death. I have woken up in a cold sweat, a lot of nights lately. I find myself very angry at a lot of people for the course of events after his death. Everyone seemed to think a person my age, should be able to somehow read minds. That I should be able to 'get on with it' better than those who had been with their loved one for a longer period of time. Truth is that Dennis and I knew each other for over 6 years before we got together.

Then; if I am lucky enough to fall back to sleep, I end up dreaming about my late husband Tommy and his last days on this earth. The fact that I was not able to bring a lot of the many things that were given to me by my parents, siblings, children, Tommy and Dennis; is very hard to take.

Thank God; one kind person who was close to Dennis, has promised to send a few of my possessions to me. Of course I am paying the postage for the boxes; as I should.

Modern life is obviously not built to accommodate death, widows, or other loved ones. When someone dies, the consensus seems to be that the person's death is an outright inconvenience. That anyone really close to them must be 'dealt with' rather than comforted. Kind of makes me wonder about the 'human condition' or is that the 'condition of humans'?

I really don't know how the God of my understanding is using this mess to teach me; but I wish he would get on with it. This situation has been going on since I got here on May 25th; but more so since around June 13th. I thought these were supposed to be our golden years; when my partner and I would live out our lives in relative comfort. Makes you kinda wonder what on earth all the struggles throughout life were all about.

Ah well. I will have 'it' back together soon. It is that, just for the moment I have forgotten where I put 'it'.


Note: I got 3 boxes from New York. Hope to receive at least 4 or more.

Just A Thought

The World is filled with so much good,
That brings us joy and pleasure,
But true fulfillment only comes...
When Christ, we love and treasure.




I am God's kid and have many different aspects to my personality. Any time I try to be the best I can be, I feel I am doing the God of my understanding's will. He guides me along my life's path every day. When someone suggests I do something in my life; be it big or small, I feel compelled to get His guidance.

I have an inquiring mind even now at the ripe old age of 63. I believe in being able to constantly redefine or tune-up my belief system. Basically speaking, I believe in the same things I did when I was confirmed at 12 years of age. Hopefully; with as much optimism and unyielding faith as I had then.

However, I do not believe blindly nor do I believe all of the same things others in any given church say I should. I believe that faith is personal and that intellect is a very tiny part of any act of faith. I believe it is done by and within the heart and soul of a person. I think that it is one of a very few emotion driven acts that are truly honest and valid. It is also the only act that is there when you wake up until you go to sleep at night. To me living in this world can be a celebration; if each breath and move you make, is part of that faith in action.