One Part Inspiration...

I was watching one of my favorite kind of shows the other day. De-cluttering shows. It was about a woman and her daughter who just had so much clutter, they didn't know what to do.(Opposite of Old Mother Hubbard, these two had too much in their cupboard) The "team" came in to save the day. Get rid of the clutter, redecorate and give them a new start on life. I knew there was going to be trouble when the first batch of things the team went through was in the daughter's bedroom. Five basketballs later, they managed to get rid of only one. One- count -it ONE basketball. Each time she was asked about getting rid of a ball, she had a rationalization about why she couldn't possibly be talked into letting it go. "No, that's a signed one." "No, that's my indoor one...my outdoor one...my in -my -lady's- chamber- one". I wanted to crawl through the television screen and strangle her. "GET RID OF FOUR AND KEEP ONE". To make matters ...

My Dad's 80th birthday celebration has come and gone. As my mom used to say, "the captains and the kings have departed." All us siblings [along with about 130 invited guests] descended on my Dad's place last weekend for the party. Now he is left with the rest of the food and various items to return to their respective places . [And he is probably wondering where some of the household items have disappeared to - keep looking Dad - did you check the third drawer down on the left? ] We are all thinking "Wasn't THAT a party"! It was SO great. One of my jobs was to make the invitation and to keep track of the RSVP list. The RSVP card was in postcard style. My address was on the back and the front was left blank for a birthday wish or comment by the recipient. That was the best part for me. First off, it's lovely to receive mail that doesn't require getting out the cheque book. But mainly, it was a sneak peak for me into the impact that my Dad has had...

I haven't been able to gather up the energy to blog lately. It could be to do with a very big event that I have just finished celebrating with my birth family. It could be to do with the fact that jet lag hit me harder than other times. It could be the fact that I have been enjoying the last moments of this holiday. It might be that from the moment I landed back home, we have had non-stop company (sleepovers) and appointments that needed to be attended. I have missed sitting down and sch putting (????)(shhhputting...????.) about everything and nothing. So here I am in a quiet moment testing the waters and getting my feet wet again. I am making a big decision tonight. Tomorrow is a Music Therapy mini-conference. Should I go or should I stay at home? The boys are going skiing with their gramma (they named her gangsta- gramma today and started rapping about how hip she is). My husband and daughter are going to be involved in soccer most of the day so I have the opportunit...

A few days ago, my daughter bounced in the the news that she had made it into the top ten of the " Hansen Idol ". This singing contest at her high school is fashioned after the " American Idol " and " Canadian Idol ". In these contests, those willing to be publicly tortured and humiliated try out for a chance to be the "it" singer. Apparently she'd tried out in other years, and didn't make it. However, this year she had. The deal was that she had to sing in front of the school in the theater and be judged by her peers as well as the teachers who were on the panel. At her tryout, she sang and accompanied herself on the piano. She was commenting on how much harder that was than just singing. The top ten were to sing at lunch the next day. I looked at my calendar, saw it was free and in a moment of exuberance said that I would be willing to play piano for her if she wanted. She thought that would be great. So we practiced some. I basically ...

I have a confession to make. I have a really hard time throwing out live things. Or maybe I should say, I have a hard time throwing out things that were ONCE alive. If this confession was case study "A" for a life coaching class, I imagine the following conversation: Teacher: " All right class, let's analyze Case Study "A". This woman has lead a typical life. She has a great husband and three wonderful children. On the outside, her life looks great. However, she hates to throw out anything that has been living. This has led to hurtful comments by family members about the state of the fridge or the flowers that are dying on the front table. She is embarrassed about this and would like some help in finding out the root of this problem. Ok. so, let's think of the possibilities class. Yes, you in the back row wearing black." Student in black: " I think it's because she can't let go of the past It's obvious that she has some real issues...

Warning: If you are a male, reading this post may be hazardous to your health. You can wait for the next one. This one is for "the girls" about "the girls". That's your warning. If you choose to read on, it will be at your own risk. Read the small print. W e at one part inspiration take no complaints about the following information. Male readers are strongly advised. O.k. Are all the cyber men cleared out? I am going to share with you a couple of discoveries I have made in the last few months about bras. I watched the Oprah show where they talk about how much difference a good bra makes. So I made a little trip down to the local lingerie shop to find myself a good one. Getting measured was a little uncomfortable, but I figured it would be worth it if "the girls" sat up pretty and made me look less.....how can i say this???....saggy. So, as a result I bought a very expensive bra. It was a whole lot of Timmie's sacrificing, let me tell you ! Later i...

As I write this, the clock will spring ahead one hour. Ah yes, it's that time of year folks. Time Change weekend. Some people resist time change. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is like going to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. Or putting the silverware in a different order in the drawer. Or trying to set a resolution. Humans are beings of habit. And if the habit has to change, then we resist. [We also tend to forget new habits and resort to old tactics for comfort sake. Resolution/ Schmezolution .] I wonder what the trick would be to embrace change instead of resisting it? An open mind? I am not sure that's the answer because having an open mind doesn't always result in changing behavior. Action . Ah, that's it. That's the answer. When the clock changes, it demands a response. An action. You get to sleep longer, or you have to get up earlier. When you change up the silverware, you have to reach for the knives with a different hand and you can't let yourself...

As I write this, I am alone, although there are seven other people in my house. They are all busy doing thier own thing and so am I. I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been blogging as frequently lately. I can only say this; I have been having fun working on a big project and it has taken up a lot of my time. So just to get you updated, I am going to give you the ABC's of my life lately... A - A lovely catch-up tea with a valued relative/friend today. It was the first time I'd seen her new place. It is so great to be able to picture her in her surroundings as I savoured the time we spent together. B - Been working on a big project for a big birthday. It has proven to be challenging and fun and frustrating and rewarding at the various stages of the project. It is all ready for the big event! Hopefully it will arrive in time. C - Couldn't think of a better way to make my way through today than to stop at PetroCan for a coffee and a cinnamon bun. I have ...

Sometime ago, I told you that I was invited to a celebration of my 15 years of service for my place of employment. The event took place this week. I was very excited to attend . I knew it would only involve a minor amount of time for me to walk up and accept my pin. I knew the pin was very small. But it was very important to me to go to the ceremony. This was a significant milestone to me, as are many more coming up this year. There were about 90 people there. If you had worked 10 -20 years, you got a pin. If you worked for 25-35 years, you got a present. One man had 30 years of service and he chose a pearl necklace to give to his wife. I thought that was so sweet. It was amazing to me how many people I knew in the organization. It is quite large and yet I recognized many people from various areas of contact. When I reach milestones, I like to mark them somehow. I guess it's like in the Bible where the children of Israel were asked to mark certain places with stones so when they pa...