Some Days Are Like This

After all of my grumbling last night about writing I finished off that paper today, it only took me about another  7 hours and it was done. Did it ever feel fantastic when I clicked send. 

I was so happy, this is the final paper for this course, one down and one left to go. 

As I was busy writing my son finally got his car going, he's been having issues with it for some time now and hopefully my non-mechanic son is learning what he's doing under the hood... unfortunately like most things in life, he's learning the hard way and I'm of no help whatsoever. I'm sure one way or another he'll manage to get it fixed and keep it running, I'm keeping the faith. 

And this is too funny not to share. 

I was chatting with someone I'm acquainted with on facebook today, she sent me a message and I responded. If you notice the last thing I said to her was hagd. Obviously she's never heard or seen that before... you have to read her response back to me. 

She seriously took offense to hagd, if you can't read her response she said

"Ok don't you call me hagd ok ..."

She thought I was calling her a name and not a very nice name at that! lol 

Yup, some days are just like this in my world, rarely a dull moment! 

Struggling

I'm really struggling with this final paper for one of my courses, I've been at it for quite a few hours over a period of at least 3 days. I've pulled the research, then I go to check out something else when I get this brilliant idea and now I've got too much research. I wonder if I'm ever going to learn not to over research...

Currently on my computer I have seven articles open, I also have quite a few journal articles saved; stats, research, writing... it's all crazy making right about now! It's time to call it a night and come back to this with a fresh mind in the morning. Tomorrow this paper is going to be sent in one way or another and then I'll be down to completing one more course and I'm done... I can't wait!

Bug Off

Today I had two dear friends over for a BBQ, it was a fantastic visit and what a feast. While I was out shopping last week I stopped off at a store which is having a closing out sale and I found the ideal way to keep bugs out of food while dining outdoors. 

These sets come with three different sizes and each one has it's own netting which is fine and transparent, this is fantastic as it doesn't ruin the presentation... now the bugs can bug off and stay out of the food.  Brilliant I tell ya, just brilliant! :-)

Write On

I was out shopping today and spotted a perfect sign for me...

The work, mainly writing, always gets done somehow even with procrastinating. It appears I'm one of those people who thrives under pressure and when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Speaking of writing, I found a quote the other day which I like so I'll share it with you.


"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia" (E.L.Doctorow)
... so write on! 

No Worries

I thought I had a hook hanging on the side of the house, I could have sworn I did ... but today when I returned home with my latest purchase there wasn't a hook there anymore. No worries, I have a drill and I know where the store is, so tomorrow I'll fix my little dilemma right up so I can bask in the sun and hope the wind comes along.  

To sit and listen to wind chimes on a warm summers day is like listening to angels whisper. My spirit is caressed by these soft gentle whispers and I fall in love with summer all over again. 

Sex and Aging

Did I get your attention with that title? lol  

It occurred to me today that I'm not getting any younger, I may not act my age but at this age who really cares? I'm having fun with my life and that's what counts. Speaking of age, this is my last year in my 40's... heavy sigh (and please don't tell anyone!) ;-) Today I was filling out something on my computer and I had a feeling old moment... 

... notice how far down that year bar on the right side goes? I didn't intentionally stop at 1969, it just happened that way. Actually my year of birth is 1963 so I had to scroll down further yet AND when it gets to the 'Select Sex' part, I was looking for either a yes or a no, nope there wasn't that option... wrong site! LOL Just kidding. 

Evidence

It feels as though I've been cooped up in my house for a month, not so, but that's what it was starting to feel like. I've been doing research and writing for this past few days and I'm happy to say that I'm one paper away from finishing one of these two courses.


 Feeling like the walls were closing in on me tonight, camera in hand, I ventured out. I found a playground not too far from home which was desolate.

However, there was evidence there were children here...

and this particular child must have been in a hurry to get home! 

And the Beat Goes On

Well here I go again with renovations, the only difference is I'm not involved this time... well not yet anyways. The company who I've contracted to do my renovations showed up today and started with digging out the window wells; tomorrow they'll be cutting through the concrete to enlarge the one window.

The not so good news, some of my plants are drowning, literally drowning, with the torrential rainfall we've been experiencing. I suppose if I was thinking I could have brought my hanging fuchsia in the house and saved it, but I just wasn't thinking. 

We experienced a surreal amount of rain this evening, today there were tornado warnings for our city and the surrounding areas, but so far I haven't heard of anything touching down thankfully. 

And the beat goes on, la de da de de, la de da da da 

The Girls

My nieces are heading off to visit their Nana... bet Nana's going to be happy to see her granddaughters! 

  

There's no mistaking these girls are sisters.

I drove the girls out to pick up a gift, then out to the airport.

This is Cheryl, she's the one who lives with me. 

 And her sister Amy...

 it's hard to believe both these girls have their drivers license,it seems only a few short years ago they were learning how to walk, never mind drive.

Driving out to the airport sure had me wishing it was me getting on one of those planes again... I've definitely been bitten by that travel bug!

Precious Moments

I spent time with my granddaughter tonight, this wee one has stolen my heart; each moment I spend with her are by far some of my most precious moments.

Her bear is three, if not four, times her size!  I forgot to ask her what the bears name is... next time.

This tent is where I crawled in to read her a bedtime story, it was cozy. :-)

"It is of the small joys and little pleasures
that the greatest of our days are built."  ... isn't this the truth.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Some Days Are Like This

Today hasn't been a very productive day at all, some days are just like this. I was going to go to the parade, take some amazing photos and get out of the house for a bit. I didn't end up going. The company who is doing, or I should say hopefully will be doing, my renovations failed to call me and inform me that they weren't going to make it over today to get started on the reons.  After spending half the night cleaning out the basement it was disappointing to say the least.

At least it's good to go, totally gutted, empty, clean and waiting to for some TLC and tons of work.

I also had a loaner phone dropped off today, my HTC One S wouldn't power up the other night so it was sent out today for repairs. I was told to just pop in my SIM card and I'd be good to go with my loaner phone... sounded easy enough. After doing extensive research on the internet I finally found out the SIM card for my new phone is a micro SIM, it won't fit in this piece of crap loaner phone. I'm not impressed to say the least and will be making a few phone calls again tomorrow. 

This is my loaner phone, a far cry from what I purchased. 

Also the instructions to send my phone out said to insert the phone along with the repair receipt into the pre-paid envelope, apply the bill of lading and drop it in the nearest mailbox. Good thing I don't listen too well. I went down to the Post Office to inquire if I had to do anything else, sure enough the Post Office needed a copy of the bill of lading so they can track the phone. 

What ever happened to trained skilled professionals who cared about customer service? You know back in the day where the main objective was to keep the consumer happy. With a lot of companies those days seem to be long gone unfortunately.

So after a very unproductive day, I think it's time to hit the books, start a paper and hope for a better day tomorrow. I really can't complain too loudly, most of my days are like rays of sunshine... I guess I need a day like this every now and again to remind me just how good I really have it and what I all have to be grateful for! 

The End. lol

Comin' Home

This next photo may make it look like I'm not doing homework... but I am. I went out to visit my sister in a small town just outside of the city ; I interviewed her for this one course I'm studying. What a blessing to be able to kill two birds with one stone; I got to get out of my house and go visiting AND I can now proceed with this next assignment!

'Comin Home

As you can see from the photo I got in fairly late, I was sort of procrastinating on comin' home. I had to clean out the basement because the renovation company is to be here early in the morning... I hope!  I'm now ready for them and can feel a change coming on, a welcomed change that is.

The Frame is Full

When I began my educational journey five years ago within the first year I was able to complete the necessary high school credit courses to enter into the social work diploma program. I was also able to walk across a stage donning a cap and gown for the first time in my life. 

My oldest son and his wife bought me a beautiful frame, this frame has three openings for wallet size photos and on the frame is engraved "Life is an opportunity, embrace it."  Embrace life I have, I've also filled all three slots in the frame, twice now I've walked across a stage wearing a cap and gown and in November I'm aiming for a third time. 

In the interim it's nose to the grindstone and it's time to read like crazy and write like I've never written before... I'm on a mission and I know I can complete these courses, especially if I do as I did today and focused on the readings, something there's plenty of!

Did You Know...

The "Tiger lily is presented in Buddhism and other religions as a flower of mercy and compassion"?

And "although all lilies are associated with the goddesses Venus, Kwan Y'in and Juno, Tiger lilies are more connected to the aggressive aspects of the feminine."

 Would my passion for lilies mean that my I possess aggressive aspects in my femininity? Nah, I'm more assertive than aggressive; as they say a lover, not a fighter... and I'll stop right about there.  All I knew for certain is that I love lilies and I'm so happy mine are coming up so beautifully this year!

Helping Hands

Today it was a beautiful day; sure it's been raining cats and dogs, but I didn't allow this to ruin my day. I had planned to BBQ skewers for my beautiful daughter's birthday and I'd had the chicken and beef cubed and marinating since yesterday. Today when I realized the rain wasn't going to let up I had to kick into high gear and come up with a plan B. I went out to assess how I could pull off a BBQ in the heavy rain...

I just rearranged my patio is all and it worked perfectly, or so it seemed. The first set of helping hands kicked in when my oldest son offered to do the BBQing,
 I gratefully accepted.  

 Sandy, my son's wife, was out shopping earlier and she picked up the cake and ice cream; she also offered her hands in the kitchen, but for a change everything was good to go. 

Precious Elyssa lent her helping hands in a big way today, she put the candles on the cake; she read her Auntie her card;

...and helped her Auntie by retrieving the last gift from the large gift bag. 

Way too cute!

I framed and gave Michelle back her "Helping Hands" which she brought home to me when she was in kindergarten. 

 

Derek, my middle son, lent his helping hands by doing up the dishes, after he was done eating naturally. 

 

 And the fella in this next photo is Michelle's boyfriend Alex... he's going to be hosting our next family get together in August, more helping hands! 

As I mentioned, it's been a fantastic day, one with plenty of helping hands. Sure it would have been nice if the sun was shining outside, but no worries... the sun shone brightly indoors! 

Enoch Powwow

This past few days I've been putting together a video for a group I'm proud to belong to, it's the Aboriginal Women's Professional Association. The video involved going through over 700 photos, editing them, picking the songs, and putting it all together in a program I love, Windows Movie Maker. I don't care as much for the newest version of it but I managed to pull it all together. The finished project was a 17 and 1/2 minute movie and I was very pleased with it. I'll see if I can get permission to post the video on YouTube, if I can a link will be forthcoming, it not... well you're going to have to trust me when I say it was a great video! ;-)

After the luncheon I went to a Powwow at Enoch, I'm going to post a few photos here to show you the work which goes into the regalia, it's amazing what people put into their costumes, their dance, the entire Powwow; the powwow was a huge success in my opinion. 

This little girl stole a piece of my heart, she's so adorable! 

Amazing beadwork.

Graceful...

The young men...

Respect...

Unity...

Elegance

I shot so many photos today, it was so hard to pick only a few to post. I hope you get a sense of awe and wonderment from these photos as any Powwow I've been to has left me with this. It was an amazing way to spend a day, one I hope to replicate before this summer ends!

Back to "Normal"

Well it's been close to a month and a half since I've returned home from my Australia excursion, things are back to what I deem to be normal... well mostly 'normal' that is. My work space is most definitely back to it's normal state of affairs...

The good news is I have yet another essay completed and submitted. I've also spent my day going through and editing over 700 photos, I'm using Windows Movie Maker and putting together a video for an amazing group of ladies. I've learned just how challenging it is to edit someone else's photos, I hope they don't take offense to what I've done! More on that on Saturday... you bet I'm not telling what I'm up to just yet, all in good time! 

Midnight Run

It was another extremely hot day here in Alberta, the longer I sat at my computer doing homework, the more I wanted something cold to drink. Finally at about 11:30pm I caved in and went out in search of a nice cold drink....

The first two Timmy's I went to were closed so it ended up being a midnight run to quench my thirst. The weird thing is I don't even like coffee, but an iced mocha... delicious!

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Ahhh yes, those hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer!

Two different lakes... just because we could!

Glorious Summer

I absolutely love the way everything comes to life and the world becomes extremely colorful in the summertime. A drive in the country becomes stunning, there's no need to hurry anywhere and I can enjoy the scenery...

Simply gorgeous!

My flowers are coming up nicely...

I love the twilight hours, it's a perfect time for taking photos of such beauty.

 

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, 
the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."

 ~James Dent

Ahhhh yes, glorious summer!

I'll Be Back

The wireless reception on the farm isn't so great, it's taking super long to upload any photos so I'll catch up on my posting when I'm back in the city where I have my high speed internet. 

Rick, I can feel your pain, I could mow the lawn or weed the huge flower bed while waiting for two photos to download! Better yet, I'll just write a paper.  ;-)

Farm Fresh

I went out to check for eggs and lo and behold there were four of them! Eggs don't come any fresher than this.

I was being watched very closely....

 

"Hey what do you think you're doing? Put those back!"

 

"Don't make me come down there!"

It was so funny to watch this rooster, he came off his perch at record speed... it makes me wonder why, or how, they don't get splinters. I think he got embarrassed when I laughed at him, he headed straight outside.

Worlds Largest Wagon Wheel

Fort Assiniboine, population of about 20 (just kidding, there's about 179 people.  This number is from 1991 which was the last time Statistics Canada did a census. It was in 1991 that Fort Assinibone was declared a hamlet... I guess they must not do census on hamlets?)... now where was I before I interrupted myself? Oh right, anyways Fort Assinibone has the worlds largest wagon wheel and pick; the sign says:

"The World's Largest Wagon Wheel has a diameter of 24 feet and the Pick stands 20 feet."

It's huge, good thing I have my wide angel lens!

Gratitude for Flowers

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning."

 ~Lydia M. Child

"I hope some day to meet God, because I want to thank Him for the flowers."

 ~Robert Brault

(I must say that I'm quite impressed with my new HTC phone, I used it to take these photos while I was out shopping today and I like the photos it takes.)