One Part Inspiration...

When the Minister of Finance is about to table the budget before the House of Commons, it is tradition that he don a new pair of shoes in the tone which matches the kind of budget he will present to the House.  I have often wondered why he does this.  Apparently it is a signal to those around about the kinds of budgetary measures which are about to come down the federal pike. I thought about that this morning again, and I think I know a different reason.  It is to make himself feel better about a job that is very tough to administer.  No one wants to hear what new taxes will be charged, or which cuts to which services will have to be implemented.  The Finance Minister cannot look forward to a bunch of invitations to hang out after he finishes presenting his budget.  He's not going to be that popular.  So what better to make him feel extraordinarily groovy, than a great pair of shiny new shoes! I tried out a version of this idea ...

Today was the last day of my spring vacation.  I made a little plan.  I had about 12 things on the list.  Now it is the end of the day, and there are still 8 things on my list.  I love days like this,when everything gets put on hold, because there are more interesting things that happen.  Now that I have your attention...Here's some of the things that happened today: I started a new blog on behalf of my husband.  If you would like to check it out, it is at http://integritydesign.wordpress.com/   Keep in mind, it is in the baby stages.  I am not familiar with Wordpress and so it's going to take me time to figure out the nuances.  This is a new venture for me, and one that I am quite excited about.  He wants to get his website up and running, and this blog will be part of what he offers on the website.  We are still deciding about other techno-options.  As I was sitting at the computer, trying to figure out exactly what ...

Every Easter Sunday, I imagine those ladies making their way down to the tomb, knowing that they did not have the physical strength to do anything to that heavy stone.  Why did they decide to go anyways?   Probably, because they were women.  They thought that they would just go there and hope for the best.  Maybe their conversation went something like this " We need to get there and embalm the body before it's too late to do so.  Let's just make our way, and maybe those big strong men guarding the tomb will help us move the stone." Women are generally known for being movers and shakers in the world.  Once women decide to do something, they don't let anything stand in their way. As the Mama said on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding": 'The men may be the head of the house but the women are the neck and they can turn the head anyway they want . ' The women weren't about to let a little thing like a heavy tombstone stop them from this important ...

A long time ago, I started a post called "What if it's just weather."  I never finished it.  I think I realized that weather does more than happen.  It affects us.  In this part of the world, we are not dealing with the extreme weather that others are, but I have to say, that ours has been very strange for the past several months.  It has been unseasonably cold.  I have tried so hard not to make a point of the way the weather has been, but it has been hard to miss the impact of it. This morning, my husband looked out the window, as we were enjoying breakfast and said "Looks like you'll have a nice day.  The sun is out".  Famous last words.  Two hours later, I looked out the same window, to see the black clouds rollong in.  Two minutes later, the hail.  I took a wee video of it just to prove that I wasn't seeing things.  Ten minutes after that, the sun was back out.  Then the clouds....yo...

Baby shoes are so scrumptious.  A friend of mine had a baby not too long ago, and I was invited to the shower.  It's been a long time since there was a baby in our house, and it was so much fun looking around at all the cool, new contraptions they have to take care of little ones now.  As soon as I saw these shoes, I knew they were the right decision.  They are probably completely impractical.  Chances are they won't stay on the child's feet, but come on!  Plaid!  TOO cute!!!  Of course, you can't buy shoes without having an outfit, so I had more fun picking out a little tiny pair of shorts and a top to go with it.  But really, it was all about the shoes baby. I brought the shoes into the house so they wouldn't get cold.  I put them on my table and looked at them all week.  I imagined the little guy taking his first steps in the shoes.  Wobbly.  Knees buckling, and then locking, to keep balance.  Scrump...

Last week, my husband and I attended a banquet in his honour.  There were over 300 people there.  Well, ok., it wasn't exactly just for him, but because he was being honoured, and I only knew one other honouree, I will stick with my original story.  Earlier in the month, he had received notice that he had been chosen as "Girls Senior Coach of the Year".  He would be presented the award at the banquet.  For a while he tossed around the idea of not attending.  I disagreed heartily.  I wanted him to be part of a public toast to all he has brought to this job. My husband has spent fifteen years, volunteering to coach soccer.  He has poured his heart and soul into it.  He has a passion for excellence, on and off the soccer field.  Over the years, I have seen him head out to practices and games, regardless of the wind and the weather. He has coached close to 150 kids. Some of them have spent one soccer season with him; o...

Yesterday, I was listening to the news on the radio.  They were talking about how the Yellowhead Highway had been closed because of all the snow.  I know that area gets some bizarre spring storms.  Last year about the same time of year, I had gone to see my sister.  She took me down to see her daughter (my niece)  who was living in the same area as they'd mentioned on yesterday's news.  We had a lovely afternoon together.  We got to see where she lived, and went to school.  We met her teachers and class mates.  We went out for a quick bite to eat, and then decided to catch a movie.  By the time we came out of the movie, the highway had been closed because a storm had moved in and made driving too treacherous.  So we stayed overnight with my cousin and his wife (my niece's landlords).  They graciously provided us with nighties and toothbrushes and in the morning, it had cleared enough to make the journey back...

Somewhere along the line, the staff at my main job began throwing birthday parties for anyone who had a big birthday. By big birthday, I mean a new decade. We have planned some wonderful celebrations. Usually we meet at someone's house, have a pot luck dinner and then a little bit of a program - with a song honouring the birthday girl, and maybe a skit. There are always some sort of present or presents. There is always lots of food. The atmosphere is just right for visiting and enjoying each other's company, which is something we have to do on the fly, in the workplace. Every celebration has been a unique and enjoyable event. Along with these birthday parties, we have planned retirement parties, and farewell parties. We are the queens of partying. One of my favourite parties was the one they planned for my 40th birthday. They threw me an "Oscar" party. Each person presented me with an 'award' for some 'film' I had been in. They created a red...

Last night, as I was enjoying a meal at a wedding we'd been invited to, I was thinking about various things, and realized that it has been a week since I last posted. Where does the time go? This is a rhetorical question. Time goes at the same pace every second, but history goes quicker. If you've ever taken a very strong drug, or felt yourself falling into a faint, you will know what I feel like about this past week. A kaleidoscope of images pass through my mind so quickly, I can't focus on any one of them before another takes its place. - Finding and faxing information for my son's continued education- - Volunteering- -Visiting- - Feeling spoiled that I have the opportunities I have to enjoy- - Helping with assignments- - Getting my own work projects further along the way - ----------------Test drives ---------- - Lunch with my husband- - Texting my sister about the crazy things that happen in t...

This is my laundry tub. It has been a life saver. Once it was installed (even though temporarily), it meant I no longer had to wash my dishes in a basin. I can now run to the laundry tub and rinse out my cloth easily.[ Sidenote. It looks a little dirty in the picture, because I had to clean out a container which had a plant which died.] [Sidenote #2. Most often, the picture would show you how everyone loads the laundry tub up with dirty dishes waiting for the dish fairy to load them into the dishwasher..] This is my dishwasher. Love it. It has saved my hands from looking like a map of the desert. It was a gift from a coworker, who heard I didn't have a kitchen sink, and donated it to my cause. It loads up quickly, and holds quite a lot of dishes, and I have added a knife holder, which means I can wash the 'hand washable' only knife in it. Much as I love my dishwasher and my laundry sink, every once in a while the logistics of it get to me. To get at the lau...

One of the things the shearer required was ten large garbage bags in which to put the wool. I am not a spinner. So I have no need of it. I decided to advertise it on Craigslist. It has been entertaining. I put it on the "Free" list. Apparently, a lot of people read the Free list. It was great fun reading all the responses: [ My thoughts in italics] Hi there, Just checking to see if you still have the wool? We have a weaving group that would be interested in having it cleaned and processing for traditional weaving . Hi.. do you still have the wool from your sheep to give away? do you know what breed your sheep are? Yep. They are (were) woolly sheep. I am with the Local Spinners and weavers and would be interested.Please call me back. - OK, but wouldn't it be easier if you left a phone number? i would love to take that wool off your hands! when and where ? I don't have wool on my hands...I think... will call in the morning. Al can pick it up just after 4. he works ...

We got the sheep sheared yesterday. It was a very stressful day all around. It was a stressful day for me. I have never gone through a shearing experience. What would be required of me? Was I was going to get an earful about the fact that the sheep looked like shag carpets? Nice comfortable shag carpets to lie on. My husband was not going to be around. He had other fires to put out at his job. To top it off, there was a requirement that the sheep be gathered into the barn the night before. It was pouring rain, and shearing them wet was possible, but "it would be a pain". I didn't know how I would get them all into the barn. I had visions of stomping around the field in my boots trying to get the sheep to do what I wanted them to do, while they ran off in a million different directions. I would get stuck in the mud, and be out there for the next three weeks. However,I didn't need to worry about it so much, because the sheep weren't really fans of the rain anyway, ...