Ukranian History

I was thrilled and shocked to receive this book! One of my instructors gave it to me after asking me if I was Ukrainian, I told her Polish but she gave me the book just the same. I'm hoping to find out if possibly our Grandparents are listed somewhere in this history. I see names like Plypiv and Kachkowski when I glance through this book, there is also some mention of Polish people. I just might be onto something here!

I see the first chapter is "Ukranian Rural Commmunities in East Central Alberta before 1930" followed by "Early Ukranian Settlements in Canada" this is so exciting! I'll find out more when I have the time to read through this. I'm so excited but first comes the essays for the courses I'm studying right now, shucks!


If and when I do find out anything at all, I will get ahold of my family and let them know what I have learned, so yes Julie, you will be one of the first to know! :-)

I Love Being Canadian!

I had to take this photo today, our provincial and country flag, this is something that I don't see enough of. Whenever I see anything about anything in the States all I ever see is their flag flying high and proud. It is in my opinion that we don't show our pride in being Canadian enough. I see where Mom got it that she wanted her flag flying high and proud, we live in a blessed country.


Sure I can find things to pick apart within our society, I even have to for certain papers, yet when I go to bed at the end of my day, I love the feeling of freedom!

Yup today I love being Canadian!

Versace?

Ok, so I go to pick up my glasses tonight, Michelle (my daughter) was working and she told me that she'd seen my glasses already and they were so me. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not, she said it was, I sighed with relief.

We were chatting away and she said something about "Versace," I asked her what this was, she laughed at me! Michelle told me that this was the make of my glasses and a rather good make at that! She then informed me that this too was a good thing, I don't know what Versace is, I just liked the glasses is all! The other girls in her office also got a chuckle out of that one.

What can I say, I'm not into making a fashion statement. Like I told the girls at Total Focus, I'm a country girl! :-)

Inspiration

Inspiration comes when I least expect it! Yesterday in class we had a guest speaker, Allen Balser came to speak with us and he's one amazing man! He's been in the field of social work for many years and this picture depicts this man, he's got what I want!

He has compassion, empathy, understanding, he's real and very confident, he spoke of tough love although that's not the proper terminology. He's an advocator, he speaks from his heart and I admire his knowledge plus he's extremely funny!

Yup, today I want to be a social worker! :-)

Ahhhhh

After all that shoveling I treated myself to a massage tonight, do I have time to be pampered right now? Nope, but I'm worth it!

I found out last week from Michelle that CDI has a massage course there, they offer a one or two year program and the massage students need to practice on someone, so I got to thinking that that someone might just as well be me! I booked in immediately once I found out that the students do this on a donation basis, the funds go to the Stollery Childrens Hospital, a great cause and I feel much, much better tonight. I've even booked in for next Tuesday and the Tuesday after and one more Tues. after that! I guess that I'm going to be a face well known there in no time at all! :-)

Enough Already!

It's hard to believe it can snow so much in one day, I don't know why it's so hard to believe, I've lived in Alberta all of my life. Maybe it's because I'm doing my own shoveling here, not once but twice today! Once at 7am then again at 11pm, I quit for today!

The one positive here is that I know this can't last forever, it will end and we are hopefully on the tail end of it, also it's only -8 tonight.

I have tried to comment on other blogs here and I can't seem to get them to load, I think that blogger is acting up, I'm not ignoring those of you who I faithfully post comment on, blogger is not allowing me to do as I want to, I still love technology though!

My Week in Review

Monday, woke up to a smashed car window, not a positive way to start out my week yet somehow I managed to pull off yet another week!

Tuesday, a trip to the chiropractor to get my back straightened out, thank goodness for chiropractors!

Wednesday, right how quickly I forget, I had my eyes checked and ordered glasses!

Thursday, for lack of a better photo I posted the current gas prices.

Friday, the ballet and my desire to become a ballerina!

Saturday, ok, that was yesterday, what happened yesterday? Oh my goodness, they say that the first thing to go is the mind! Mind you I'm a tad bit backwards in life and I'm not going to say publically what the first thing to go with me was!

Saturday, ooops Thursday was public speaking and Saturday was gas prices for lack of a better photo idea, actually I had a great photo but in editing I really buggered up my photo so the gas prices photo won out!

Sunday, today, I fell in love with #44, Sheldon Sourey.... right I went to West Edmonton Mall and helped my son Shayne collect autographs of the Oilers.

It's been a fantastic week, life is good and I'm sitting her procrastinating on essays... guess I'd best get to them now! I look forward to another week of photos and fun, hope you all have a great week, I look forward to seeing your photo choices and reading your blogs!

#44 Sheldon Souray

.... continued from last post


Sandy took me to see Souray, all it took was for me to hear his voice, never mind actually see him! His voice is one of those sexy, deep voices that I could wake up to forever, I got so excited just to hear him speak, and then I saw him.

Oh my God, this man is the sexiest man I have ever laid eyes on! What more can I say, I was speechless, ok almost speechless! Souray has those eyes, ladies I’m sure you know what I mean by “those kind of eyes!” and his smile, wow!

I was extremely impressed when Cheryl went up close to take a picture, Souray asked a lady who was getting something signed by him to step aside so that Cheryl could get a good picture. Now that is impressive! Later on after we toured around and checked out more of the players, we came back to Souray, he seen that I was trying to take a photo of him so he smiled directly at me, I melted!

Today I am in love with #44 Sheldon Souray, thank you Sheldon for taking the time out for me to take a photo, one that I will treasure for years to come! And the good news is, Cheryl is now an Oiler's fan!

Oilers signing at West Edmonton Mall

I absolutely love this photo of my oldest son Shayne... a die hard Oilers fan through and through!

Today I went to West Edmonton Mall with Cheryl, the Flames fan tagging along, we met up with Shayne and Sandy to get some things signed for Shayne and little did I know that I would fall in love while I was there.

I got the two signatures Shayne wanted, we met back up with Shayne and Sandy and it was painfully funny! Shayne was so excited he was shaking, literally shaking! I feared my son was going to have a heart attack, his cheeks were flushed and he was talking super fast as Shayne does whenever he gets excited, I feared I would be calling 911 at any given time! Shayne was fine, not that he calmed down much but off he went on a treasure hunt, in search of yet more signatures!

to be continued on my next blog...

Gas prices

I am posting a picture of what gas prices are today, then in a year I'll know exactly what I'm comparing the price to!


Today, Feburary 21, 2009 gas is at 79.4 cents per liter at "oh thank heaven for 7-11.

" It's so nice that the prices have come down, they were hovering around the $1.40 a liter about four months ago, maybe a tad bit longer than that, I don't remember how long ago that was! Good thing I am posting a picture so that I will know for certain in a year!

The Ballet

Tonight I discovered just how hard it can be to take a photo when you're not allowed to!

The ballet, well it was different. I found this production to be more dance than actual ballet yet it was enjoyable. After two hours of Joni Mitchell I was ready to come home, even though I did buy the DVD, why I'll never know but I bought it just the same! I was impressed with the dancers, they sure must do a lot of work to be in the shape that they are in and the muscles, WOW!

Maybe if I get another chance at life, OK let me rephrase that, if I am coming back as anything, maybe I'll be a ballerina!

My Opportunity to Thank Donors

Tonight I spoke once again at a function at NorQuest College. I was able to thank the donors who have made a huge difference in my life while being a student, the donations are greatly appreciated and allow me personal freedom through bursaries and awards which I have received.

The first student speaker, who is standing directly behind me in this photo, is visually impaired, his story is very powerful. I spoke directly after he did and I began with thanking him for putting the whole glasses issue into perspective for me, at least I am blessed with the gift of sight!

To be able to speak like this is quite the experience, I was sure that my knees were going to buckle half way through my speech, yet they didn’t. I thought that my voice was quivering, yet it wasn’t and I can hardly believe the impact my speech had on various people. One lady came up to me and thanked me with tears in her eyes, we shared a hug and it felt wonderful to know that some donors felt my gratitude.

Life if so amazing when I put myself out there, who knows what I’ll do next! Oh ya, tomorrow night the ballet! I’d best get this keyboard smokin’ with all of the essays that are due after reading week, they should call this week off catching up on appointments and essay writing week not reading week!

Bifocals me? No way!

After a trip to the optometrist today I discovered why the little print on the back of vitamin bottles, medicine bottles or any other type of bottles was getting easier to see the further I held it away from me, yup I need bifocals.

I thank God that they make progressive bifocals, I don’t want to look old yet! I don’t feel old, I don’t think that I act old enough for this type of glasses so I’m going to hide the fact that the new specs will actually be bifocals, oops did I just publically say this?

Oh well, the joys of aging, I guess that at the end of the day I am grateful to be here on this wonderful journey called life!

When It Rains It Pours

Well after the last few days I was relieved that my chiropractor was back to business as usual today. I threw my back on Sunday morning and I've been in a lot of pain this past few days. Well tonight it's not quite as bad after a visit to my chiropractor, now to deal with a few other issues here, get these papers completed before next week and I'll be good to go again, I hope!

A smashed window and a sore back isn't going to get in my way. I feel that I have choices in life and only I can choose how happy I want to be tonight, so ya, I'm going to take it all in stride, put a smile on my face and keep on my path without wavering. The good Lord never gives me more than I can handle after all! :-)

Oh ya, I even forgot to take my camera with me today, something I meant to do so not the best photo in the world but what can I really expect from a cell phone? lol

I Feel Victimized

I went out at 7am this morning to have my morning smoke and wondered why my passengers front window wasn't frosted like the rest of the windows, it only took me a second or two to fully realize what had happened! Somebody broke into my car last night, all they got was my sunglasses (Zellers's $16.99 specials), maybe about 6 CD's out of the glovebox and, of all things, my owners manual (really why bother with that, it's only a real pain in the butt for me not to have it) and that's it!

Herb was sitting on the couch so I came back in as soon as I realized what happened and I told him that I had thought someone broke into my car, he said "Oh, I don't really think so" as he stood to go out and assess the situation. He came back in and said "oh, I think they did." Herb's so calm and casual about everything, I couldn't help but smile, that was before I started making the calls to see what I could do about this!

A bunch of calls later and the frustration of being told by the police, "this happens every night," well what about me and my feelings? I guess they don't count because it's no big deal to our local police department!

As it turns out, I had to go and fill our a statement, and that's no fun with no window when it's -20 , then I went all the way to the West end to get a new window put it. All in all, whoever did this to me and my car, well I sure hope that one pair of cheap glasses, a few CD's, and my owners manual brings them tons of pleasure. In the meantime... $360.00 for a window installed and I don't know if my insurance will cover this! They're closed for family day so I"ll have to check with them tomorrow. Not a positive way to start my week by no means!

Yup, I think I'm gonna buy a gun.

My Valentine

Herb was in town yesterday, we went out for a really nice dinner at Tony Roma's. After dinner we went and picked up a few movies and had a very nice relaxing evening. I love spending time with Herb like this, it might not be that often we get together, but I really am starting to believe that absence does make the heart grow fonder.

Happy Valentines Day

"Sometimes we let affection,

go unspoken,

Sometimes we let

our love go unexpressed,

Sometimes we can't find words

to tell our feelings,

Especially towards those

we love the best."


I love you all, hope you have a very Happy Valentines Day.

The Ballet

Well this one could be interesting, today at school I picked up my ticket that I claimed through our Ambassador program. Some kind soul donated one ticket to this preformance of "The Fiddle and the Drum" ...so you bet I claimed this!

I have always wanted to go to a ballet preformance, just to see what it was like. and now here's one more thing that will be crossed off of my "bucket list" ...not that I have any plans of going anywhere for a very long time, it's just since I've had such a near brush with death there are certain things that I want to do before I die. Now what more could I ask for than a front row seat and for free? I am truly blessed!

This post will be another one of my to be continued ones; I will post a my review of the preformance either next Friday night or on Saturday.

What's Left of the Charles Campsel Hospital

My daughter was born in this hospital in 1989, today all that remains of what once was a very nice hospital is broken windows, wire fence and a skelton of a building.

While I was in this hospital giving birth to my daughter, Farrah Facett was here filming the movie "Small Sacrifices" right in this same hospital.

It was funny one night, I was out on the third floor patio, I was on pain meds, and I seen this car come flying through the almighty arm that goes up when a person pays for their parking. The car broke the arm right off and I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. I was telling my Mom about it the next day and this is when I was told that there was a movie being flimed here. I would like to see if I can find the movie Small Sacrifices, just to watch it again. It has been many years since I've seen this movie, from what I remember it as a great one!

Beautiful Day To Sit In The Snow

A frostly -16 this morning, why not stop to sit in the snow, somebody left us chairs!

After I dropped Cheryl off at school today I was on my usual route to school when I spotted something not quite right, I had to back up, park my car and really assess this situation.

At first I imagined two people, an elderly man and elderly lady sitting together holding hands, he has his arm around her to help her to stay warm, they stopped for a rest on their way to the mall... then I noticed what time it was getting to be and snaped out of it! I had to get to school before nine to get the cheap $10 early bird special so I pulled out my camera and captured my story.

On my drive to school I had to smile at my vivid imagination, I know that whoever put these worn out chairs there did so in hopes that somebody that could use them would pick them up. I liked my story better though!

Are You An Oilers Fan?

I was leaving school today and I had an instructor who taught me last year ask me if I was an Oilers fan, I don't know what would have given him that idea!

Lately I'm not a very good fan, the only game I've watched this season was one that my son, Shayne, gave me a ticket to. That was so much fun, if I can I'd love to get down to another game before the season ends. Between the essays, reading, AA, and all of the other things in life, a game just does not fit into the picture right now.

Ahhh one day I will get to sit through a game, watching it on my new tv, I just hope that the Oilers win a game when I have the opportunity to do so.

Military Leaves One of Its Finest Without Shelter

One might wonder about our Military and how our troops are being looked after today, well they are not being looked after very well at all.

Last night my niece found me on msn, it was around 11:30pm, her husband, who had arrived in Edmonton a bit earlier, found out when he got here that there was no room booked for him and the barracks were locked, no place for our tired soldier to rest his weary head before working today at 7am. Needless to say this is how one of our finest soldiers gear landed on my living room floor.

Ian, my niece's husband, will be heading overseas, he is in the preparatory stage, getting trained and geared up to leave in a few months. Ian may God bless you and bring you home safely to your loving family.

What Ever Happened to Board Games?

I noticed my games in the top of my closet today, I laughed at this photo when I seen Pictionary says on it "Updated for the 90s", well now it's 2009, so yup my games are now outdated. I'm still going to keep them, some of us still remember the rules for these good old games that require no computer, no game system, or no power to use.

Some of my personal favorites are still Crib(ok, so I don't have the old official 29 board anymore today it's an Oilers board), Scrabble (and I do want one of the boards that turns just incase I ever have company that enjoys a challenging game of scrabble) and Yahtzee, just plain old Yahtzee with the orange plastic up and all..... ahhhh the good old days!

New Purse

Well I finally bought a new purse, I found one that I absolutely adore. It's a Derek Alexander (I love the name, my second son is Derek, the oldest son's middle name is Alex after his great grandfather Alexander), I bought this purse at the Bay with the matching wallet, a little too much money I must agree yet it was on sale BUT I'm so worth it! :-)

I decided to go a little further and dare all of you ladies out there to show off what's in your purse. Seeings that I've downsized I will gladly list all of my contents; first off is the wallet with all the usual wallet things inside of it, I carry my cell phone, page markers for when I'm reading, a few plastic cards that are useless for anything except the all mighty points, I always have a few werthers for after a cigarette, 2 pens, keys, two marbles, today my T4 from work, lip gloss and chap stick, my NorQuest ambassador name tag, a plastic case for emergency information, a members list with phone numbers for my home group, extra loonies and toonies for parking, lipstick and a small bottle of Oscar. That's it? I can't believe that's it but it is! I won't put my cigarette case in my new purse, I haven't yet and I refuse to, cigarettes stink way too much to do that plus I don't want the tobacco all over the bottom of my purse!

I like my new purse, I've been searching for the last few months for one and now I've finally found one that is so me! And why is that song "I'm a material girl" dancing through my head right about now? hmmm

"Chandra Mayor"

Today author Chandra Mayor came to our class and shared, I was going to say her readings but it was much more than just readings, she shared a part of herself with us. The lady is phenomenal, charismatic, and extremely inspirational. Chandra lights up a room when she reads; she sure has stirred up my desire to keep pushing forward and to write, write and write some more!

Chandra is the lady in the middle, my instructor is to the right on her and yup, that's me with my three signed books on the left.

Right here, right now, I sure feel blessed to be able to experince all that I do in life today! Now I really want to go and hear more authors do readings! Today listening to Chandra sure put a new spin on how I perceived her book "Cherry" to be and how Chandra has written her novel, amazing! I feel that if I can sit in on more readings with various authors, that this is one way for me to continue to learn and to broaden my horizons!

After Chandra shared and read we had a pot luck, now I need a nap! Darn near better than Christmas!! :-)

"The Boss"

I finally am trying out my new crock pot that I won on New Year's eve. I love it already! There's side locks, which makes for spill free transportation, which is a good thing! We're having a pot luck at school tomorrow and as I sit here and type I have beef vegetable soup simmering. Yummm, it smells delicious already!

A few of the other features of my new kitchen toy are a probe that will turn the crock pot to a keep warm setting once the desired doness is attained, I can set it to whatever degree I'd like to, it will shut off after 14 hours and I don't even know what else it does yet... it's too new! I haven't read the manual through yet. It's like when I go to watch TV and all of the remotes, I need all of the instruction books for my new kitchen toys until I master the latest cooking aid! I know that so far I am extemely impressed with this latest kitchen tool and yes it is the boss of my other three slow cookers, well other four if you count the small one!

Ok, so this feels good!

I wasn't sure if I was on the right track with this particular paper, I had asked if I could turn this paper in as a "test paper" if I wasn't on the right track. I could have written the next three papers for this classs, we have to do a total of three, four are assigned. Now I only have to do two more of these types of papers for this class.

Thank goodness I'm either brave or stupid enough to take a chance like this! I'm very satisfied with my 10/10 and flattered by my instructors comment "You're an excellent writer," After a day like I've had, this feels really good!

The Drive Home

So what do you listen to on your drive home? I generally have a CD blasting, music helps me to leave my negative energies where they belong and not pack them home with me or vice versa, take them out with me! When I don't have a CD playing, I generally stay tuned to, well as you can see, 104.9 FM. I like most of the music they play, older rock generally.....

and if you look into the black area, you can see a reflection of my car seats, Oilers!

A Bit of Time is Better Than No Time At All

Tonight Herb came over to visit, we had a tea, went to Kingsway and bought a rabbit for a young fella Herb knows, then we came back to my place and I was cooking a really nice dinner, steak and shrimp. Well wouldn't you know it, he got a call to go to work.... a bit of time is sure better than no time spent together.

Like the frame that I bought for him says: " the moments we share, side by side...are my favorite part of any day" and today this was my favorite part of my day.

"Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccassins."

It's rather strange how my moccassins came to be my moccassins.

One day many moons ago, I went to an auction with Herb, there were these tins that I really liked and seeings how I collect tins I started bidding. I ended up with my tins and it wasn't until I got home with my treasure that I opened one of the tins; I was shocked to see this pair of moccassins inside and who would have thought, they fit me perfectly, like someone had made them just for me!


I would like to one day learn how to make these, beading and all, just because I love moccassins this much.