Been Gone Far Too Long

 I've been busy with life, work is great, family is amazing and I'm going to aim to come back to my blog this year.  I know I won't make it back here daily, but when time permits I'll be back! 

In the meantime, on December 29, 2023, I celebrated 18 years of recovery,  I won't lie and say this has been easy, there's been some extremely challenging life events that have transpired but I walk my talk and am going to any lengths not to pick up.  For me, to drink is to die and overall I'm enjoying life far too much with a clear head and clear eyes!

Wishing anyone reading this a blessed, prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!

Upcoming Baby Shower

 We have a baby shower coming up on the 24th of this month, my daughter is due the first week of September.  She is having a boy, my first grandson and I'm totally looking forward to baby Everett's arrival!  

This past weekend my oldest granddaughter spent a night with me, we decided to go shopping to pick up some plain baby bodysuits with the plan of using the Cricut and creating designs for them.  They turned out very nice! 

                       I had such a fun night spending quality time with Elyssa, not only crafting,                                 we baked, visited, and made one heck of a fantastic dinner! 

Ribbon Skirts

After once again taking a break from blogging I'm finding that it's time to get active and back into posting and sharing.  I've missed my blog without even knowing I've missed it.  I've been distracting myself with other things in life.  Lately, I've taken to making ribbon skirts, this is good therapy for me to be able to get back into being creative.  I'll share a few of the skirts I've designed and have 6 more in the works, some youth, children's and women's sizes. 

I designed this one as a gift for a beautiful woman who has touched my heart. 

One wee girl to who I gifted a skirt to refused to take it off for her bath, when she relented and had her bath she got right back into her skirt.  Come bedtime she once again refused to take it off and slept in her skirt. In the morning she insisted on wearing her new skirt to daycare.  After hearing this I've designed a few others for her so she would have choices.  

Another for the precious princess who loves her ribbon skirts! 

                                                                A mother and daughter set. 

Here is one I made for myself to honor Murdered and Missing

Indigenous Women and Girls.  The shirt was a last-minute add on

using my Cricut machine to create the applique. 

                                                        A birthday gift for a friend's wife. 

         Now to learn how to use this Serger my children bought 

           for me for Mother's Day and I'll be all pro at this! 

Rest In Peace

 

On April 29, 2021 my oldest son passed away;  I was at the hospital with him when he left us.  This is by far one of the most difficult things I've ever had to experience as a mother and this grief process continues and plain out sucks.  

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be Shayne's mother, I had him at a very young age and we learned a lot in life together.  At times we struggled, however, we always knew how much we loved one another even through the anger.  We had some wild and crazy times, we laughed a lot and enjoyed life. 

A friend told me that my son is now my teacher, I definitely agree, and learning the truest form of unconditional love as my boy was slipping away due to promising him I'd never, ever give up on his was so damn hard, yet I was there holding and loving him. 

Shayne was an avid Oiler's fan, we had a small Celebration of Life for him with a group of 10 and then switched out to another group of 10.  Covid regulations prevented us from all coming together as a family unit.  Now that we are at the tail end of this Covid (fingers crossed), it's time to start to make plans on when to spread his ashes, this will be out in the country where his Grandmother is buried as he was extremely close to my mom. 

For now son I shall say see you later, as we do not say goodbye in our family.  Rest in Peace my boy. 

Made with Love

 Unfortunately, I won't be decorating heart cookies with my granddaughter this year; however, I'm still baking them and dropping them off for her to decorate.  Decorating cookies has been our tradition since she was old enough to sit at a table, now I'm baking for my younger granddaughter as well and starting her on this path of cookie decorating, made and decorated with love! 

Brrrrr

 It's been one heck of a cold week, other than going out to work and dashing out with my dog it's been a stay indoors kind of a week and it's not going to let up for another week or so.  Today averaged -29c without the wind chill and tonight it's dipping down to -35c.  I sure miss summer when we experience this type of weather.

Time to crawl into my pre-heated comfy bed and call it a day, 

this cold weather makes me want to hibernate! 

Turtles

 There is something about turtles, so much so my first tattoo was a turtle, that's how much they "talk" to me.  There are various meanings to turtles, but one of my favorites I do believe is slow and steady wins the race. 

 This turtle I brought back from Australia when I visited there in 2012, I spent 4 1/2 months across the pond, and what an experience this was! 

Two to Love

 I am so blessed to have two beautiful granddaughters to love; there is about a 10 year age difference so they definitely will not get the same gifts on a regular basis.  However, for Valentine's day...                              what can I say? :-)

 

Winter Wonderland

 Stepping outside of work today, sure it was chilly, but it sure is beautiful! 

Warmth

 

Warm fuzzy goodness at the end of the day in -100, this feels absolutely amazing!

(Ok, so it's -20, with the windchill it feels like -100 lol)

My granddaughter bought me these for Christmas, how thoughtful!

Comfort

 On cool days a warm bowl of soup seems to bring a wee bit of comfort.  I made a pot of cream of cauliflower soup and it's delicious! 

An Honor

 Today I was asked for an Eagle Feather; I explained an Eagle Feather is earned, it is not something which is randomly given.  I was then asked if I would print a photo of an Eagle Feather and I agreed to do this.  Tonight I came home and took out the Eagle Feather which was gifted to me when I earned my Master's Degree, this is a high honor and I respect the feather and its teachings.  When this individual has earned an Eagle Feather, they too will be gifted with one, until then I will give this photo so they have a visual of something to work toward.  

Paige

 Two of my biggest challenges throughout this pandemic is not seeing my granddaughters on a regular basis, hardly at all with the way we are on restrictions.  Thankfully there is face time and the phone so we can at least keep in touch this way.  

Paige turned one on December 15, 2020, she is now 13 months old and as precious as precious can be.  She has been walking for at least a month now, saying simple words, once she said "Grammy" on the phone but try to get her to say it again, not a chance, not yet anyway.   

Such a busy girl, always on the go.  What's so wonderful is she has a beautiful disposition, she is such a happy girl and full of stories for me whenever we chat on the phone. 

Our beautiful blue-eyed precious Paige, I hope to spend more time with her real soon! 

No Need For Reminders

 I went out shopping tonight, darn near felt like a holiday getting out of my apartment and not being at work!  The store was quiet, I find the best time to get out shopping is late in the day on a Friday, it's much quieter in the stores than shopping on a Saturday I've learned over the years.  Long story short, I spotted this cushion, no need for reminders... that's all I do, stay home, less the work thing and I'm so grateful I am able to work through this pandemic. 

 I am looking forward to being able to get out and visit, take in a dinner, a movie, get my hair and nails done... like I used to in the good old days! 

How are you coping through this pandemic?  I hope you are finding ways to bring joy into your life.  This living alone with my dog, well we kinda sorta talk to each other every now again, but we're getting through this with most of our sanity intact. 

Avon Calling

 Less than two weeks since I've started blogging again and oops, I've already missed a few days.  I will do my best to post when I am able to and my work doesn't keep me up till all hours of the night, like it did last night. 

Anyway, tonight I thought I'd post something I haven't used in a very long time, probably in the neighborhood of 25+ years and I'm surprised this company is still going strong.  I haven't used Avon products in so long I forget what their product is like.  What I like is it is delivered to the door, something which is a good idea during this pandemic... here is to hoping I like it! 

Pandemic

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd experience life during a pandemic... well here it is and sadly it's not looking like it is going anywhere any time soon.  Thankfully the vaccination is slowly trickling into Canada, fingers crossed it will be available soon.  

Today I was tested once again, this is getting to almost be the new norm.  Working in the pubic sector I'd much rather err on the side of caution, endure a few seconds of discomfort, and know I am not carrying the Covid-19 virus.  A positive is we have a pharmacist on-site who can do our testing, no long line ups thankfully. 

Here's a look at the statistics:

Alberta

Total cases - 110k

No data on recovered

Sadly deaths are at 1,241. 

Overall stats for Canada:

Total cases - 652k

Recovered - 552k

Deaths - 16,833

Worldwide

Total Cases - 89.5M

Recovered - 49.7M

Deaths - 1.92M

This is the sad reality; however, I am optimistic and hope this will end in the near future. 

Until then it's pretty much work and home, the odd bit of shopping and I'm missing spending time with family and friends.  Glad to still have my dog, she's been such a good friend and ensures I leave the apartment at minimum 3x a day which feels great just to get a bit of fresh air. 

Stay safe out there. 

15 Years

 15 years, so this is what it feels like to be in recovery for this long.  I'm not sure how time has passed so quickly. I recall early recovery vividly, probably because I was so naive and didn't know anything about anything, not that I know that much more today, however today I am teachable. Life is so much clearer, I love what I have chosen to do in my recovery and wouldn't change much even if I could.   

I have immense gratitude and have tons of people to thank for the unconditional love and support along the way.  First and foremost I will be forever grateful to my family who have seen me through thick and thin.  Without family support I don't know if I'd have made it this far, my family means the world to me.  The friends I've made along the way have made the world of difference as well.  My philosophies have changed immensely, as have my priorities and today I am blessed to be doing what I love and loving what I do.  I have so much more I could say, however, time to call it a day as I have learned I have to go in to work for a bit tomorrow... yup, good thing I love what I do! :-) 

Comfort Food

Sometimes I just need to make a pot of comfort, tonight was one of those sometimes. 

 

Paige

 I haven't shared a photo of my second granddaughter here yet, she turned one on December 15 and she is such a sweet, special child.  She is now walking, forming simple words she and sure has a charming personality,  I love her to bits!  This photo was taken mid December, she's grown a bit since then, not too much though.

 

Seeking Knowledge

I love to learn, however after university I've not read as much as I did while I was in my studies.  It's time to get back to reading and increasing my knowledge base, my brain is saying "feed me," so that I shall.  I ordered these books and am going to do my best to read these by summer.