Ten Years Already!

They say that as we get older time seems to pick up it's pace.  I would whole-heartedly agree.  Remember as children when a year felt like FOREVER?  Now, a year feels like a week and well, a decade… who can believe how fast THOSE are going by!

Ten years ago today I was 39… dreading the fact that my 40th birthday would be encroaching upon me within the next 9-1/2 months.   Still waiting on God for a miracle baby… wrestling with God as He took my precious Mom to her heavenly home.  Ten Years!  How can it be?  I still remember that week leading up to October 25 as if it were yesterday.  That summer Mom's health had declined.

 She had been unwell for many years, the results of a botched surgery that paralyzed half her face and throat.  Eating became too difficult that summer and she began to lose weight.  Her cough sounded very pneumonic (like pneumonia to me).  Her headaches increasingly frequent.  Yet, despite it all… every time we spoke she'd recite her favourite Bible verse:  "This is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it"Psalm 118:24… every day that is but the last time I called.  Something was different.  Something wasn't right!

Mom had started getting shots from the doctor to help her anemia so Dad had brought her down the 2-1/2 hour drive from their home on the Lake to my brother's.  When they arrived at my brother's place Mom was unresponsive… catatonic almost.  She was rushed to the hospital where she sat in the ER for 2 days until a bed could be made available for her.  FINALLY on the Sunday afternoon she was put in a room where visitors were finally able to come see her.

Having a brand new 2003 Honda Civic which God had just blessed us with…and that I had just saved from my work proceeds to put the downpayment on… I was able to shoot down the highway to visit my Mom.  She did not look herself at all.  Instead of the vibrant woman I knew, there lay a feeble "old" lady.  Only 72, my Mom looked 92.  She was fading away day by day and quickly at that.

Mom had stopped eating solids by this time and was only able to drink her calories.  For Mom though, this was catastrophic to her health as damage from that botched surgery in 1981 caused her to aspirate everything she drank directly into her lungs.  That horrid cough I heard was indeed her lungs.

The days in the hospital that week were sacred to me.  Mom directed me, her youngest child, to oversee the giving out of the hand-crocheted tablecloths she'd made for her granddaughters.  She also told me to hold on to the baby sweaters she'd knit… for my own child… that never came.  (I've since been distributing them to my nibbling' babies).  She never complained of the pain.  Never thought of herself. Just kept thinking and almost mourning for her children and grandchildren as she saw her days on earth were few.

Being with Mom in the hospital that week always reminded me of a conversation I had with her in my teen years.  I remember mentioning to her that I was afraid of having children… "what if I have one and don't like it" to which my wise Mother (of six) assured me that "something magic happens when you  have your own baby".  I never forgot that and sitting there by her death bed that week, not being a mother and not knowing that love for myself, I realized that there was something "magic"in this experience too.  As a mother brings her child into the world and experiences that "magic"… so a child sending her Mother out of this world experiences a similar "magic".  That week with my Mom was like sitting on holy ground as Mom prepared to "go Home".  For those moments I will forever be grateful!

That first year without Mom was unbearable.  The blackest hole I could ever imagine.  Worse than my infertility pain.  But God, in His great mercy and grace, seemed to open a portal to Heaven for me around the first anniversary of Mom's passing.  He gave me a glimpse of her… whole… smiling… the "old" Mom only better.  Thank you Jesus!!

So here I sit 10 years later.  I still miss Mom but thankfully that dark hole of existence is long gone.  Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't miss her more but I realize that she wouldn't want me to stay sad forever.  She would want me to go on.  To embrace life.  To look forward to when we'll be reunited in Heaven.  I can't wait to see her mansion!  I bet it's a 'Beut!"

To honour my Mom today I put together a little collage of pictures from her life…  I hope she would have liked this glance at the beautiful life she had.  She truly was a woman I aspire to be.  It's funny… ten years ago I never would have imagined how much I'd start to look like her.  I was always more my Dad's side of the family but this summer my brother gave me the biggest complement.  He told me that my hands and gestures were very "Mom" like.  She lives on!  She lives on in me and in my siblings and niblings.  As I chose the pictures for the collage I was struck by how much my sisters look like her too at different stages of her life.  As a young girl she looked like my oldest sister and then a few years later looked like my middle sister… Thank you Jesus that she's still here!

Sorry to go on & on… I guess it's cathartic to write on this day as I honour the memory of my precious Mom.  I feel like she deserves to be remembered fondly on this her "new" birthday… her Heaven birthday!!

The Life and Times of my Mom!

Until next time...

Busy Times Means Little Blogging!

Hello Blogging Buddies… I hope you've all been doing well since my last blog post.  It amazes me how quickly time flies!  Lots has been happening since my last post and I've been here & there with tales to tell so let's get started…

As you know that the past year I've been embarking on a new, exciting career that combines my passion for travel with a tiny amount of income.  I LOVE my job as a travel consultant and one of the "perks" of the job is getting the opportunity to check things out in order to recommend clients, also known as "FAM" trips (or familiarization trips).  In late September I went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic on my very first FAM … and LOVED IT!

Hubby was travelling on his own business trip so I invited my niece, "S" to join me.  We flew away on Air Canada Rouge to the sunny beaches of Arena Gorda in Punta Cana where we stayed at the lovely Iberostar Bavaro resort.

My "job" while here in the lush, tropical paradise was to do a site inspection of our resort (a task which would take all of 2 hours in our 7 day week stay).  Having never been to Punta Cana before (and having not been at an all-inclusive resort for almost 25 years), I decided to book other site inspections at a couple of resorts along the beach.   I checked out all 4 of Iberostar's resorts on Monday, the Grand Bahia Principe resorts on Tuesday, and Majestic Resorts (Colonial/Elegance) on Wednesday.

Heading to "work" Monday Morning

Each resort was beautiful and each had it's own personalities and strengths.  It was so helpful to see them all side by side in order to know what might appeal to certain clients and why I would send them to one resort over another - or even one section of a resort over another.

My work days were a few hours of site inspection those first 3 mornings, leaving the afternoon for other "research"… like enjoying the resort amenities!

Doing "research" on the beach

We enjoyed a massage on the beach, tried different a'la carte restaurants, numerous "fruity" drinks… all in the name of my job!  On Thursday, we took an excursion so we could check out what my clients might like to do while in Punta Cana.  We chose the Caribbean Festival where we boarded a pirate ship that took us swimming with nurse sharks and stingrays and snorkelling in the open waters.

The rest of the week was just R&R although my brain still couldn't stop "researching".  I would accost strangers at other resorts to ask questions about where they were staying.  I'd chat up people by the swim-up bar about their vacations past and present.  I would network with other agents from the U.S.  A travel agent's work is never done!!

I was only home about 10 days before Hubby and I hopped in the car to make our way South to NC to my niece's wedding.  We were honoured to be asked to read 1 Corinthians 13 at their ceremony and then were honoured to help my sister and her Hubby (parents of the bride) in getting the reception hall ready (and unready afterwards).  It was a LOT of work but it was a blessing.  God has allowed me to tick another "Mom" thing off my list as I married off one of my "kids"!

Hubby & Me w/ Newlyweds  ~  Sister Love

After the wedding we joined my Sister and her Hubby's family for a week (not quite a full week for us) at the Outer Banks.  Hubby & I were celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary on the Tuesday so instead of staying at the beach house with all of them, we had opted to get hotels where we could have privacy (wink wink).  On the Wednesday, we rallied the troops (or as many as wanted to join us) and we went on a Wild Horse Adventure Tour into the dunes of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, just north of Corolla, NC.  It was amazing as we 4-wheeled our way in the tour Hummer and self-driven Jeeps over the sand dunes to find the wild horses that roam the beaches.

A Collage of our time in the Outer Banks

Lighthouse in Corolla, NC

Although it's been a busy month of travelling, I feel so blessed by all that God's allowed me to do and see.  It's actually kind of nice to slow down though.  Maybe my brain will catch up with me now and I can get back to blogging more regularly again!  Until next time...

New Season, New Focus

I was having lunch with one of my FABULOUS nieces today and she asked me, "Aunt Sue, do you still blog?".  Sheepishly I had to confess that thought "technically" I still blog... I have of late fallen off the proverbially blogging bandwagon.  I haven't been as faithful at writing as I have in years past and I miss it, although my mind feels so scattered lately that I haven't felt I've had much worth saying.
But... with that little prompt from my niece, here I am today to blog!

I titled this entry "New Season, New Focus" in the hopes that with this change in season taking place this weekend, heading from Summer into Fall, that I might somehow gain some new focus.  Balancing work with my church life and home life has been a little more tricky than I'd anticipated and to be honest, I think menopause (or rather mental pause) has caused me to be a little ADD!

I love my job and it has kept me busy off and on all summer.  I also did some travelling with my Hubby  to San Juan, PR and San Francisco.  The first trip I spent my days solitary on a gorgeous beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean while Hubby worked...

This is what my days looked like

Sometimes my only company was that coconut

Down at this end of the beach was the Ritz-Carleton resort

On the second trip this summer (August), while Hubby worked my brother, sister-in-law and I played "Tourist" in my favorite city, San Francisco.

One of our highlights on our trip, once Hubby finished working, was spending a day and overnight in Monterey.  

Enjoying a glass of wine at the Pebble Beach Clubhouse,
overlooking the 18th hole and Pacific Ocean

Caramel-by-the-Sea beach
(overlooking Pebble Beach golf course)

One of the things I LOVE about Carmel-by-the-Sea is the architecture.  Some of the homes and shops in this quaint town look like fairytale homes.  You could just imagine the Seven Dwarfs popping out at any minute on their way to work... whistling of course!

We had dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn ... a restaurant owned by actor Clint Eastwood.  The food was delicious and the restaurant ambiance very charming, just like the town!

Delicious meal at Hog's Breath Inn

We ended our Labour Day weekend in another of our favorite areas - Napa and Sonoma valleys.

Castle Tour and Wine Tasting at Castello di Amorosa

 

Wine & Food Tasting at Kendall-Jackson in Santa Rosa

Wine Tour and Tasting at Beringer

Wine Tasting at Silverado

 

 Wandering the grounds at Inglebrook 

(owned by director Francis Ford Coppola)

It was another successful business trip for Hubby and a fun time for my brother, sister-in-law, myself and Hubby when his business finished!

I'm off soon on my very own business trip, but more on that in the future!  For now... have a great day until next time...

My Smart Hubby!

One day a few weeks ago, while Hubby was away on one of his many business trips, out of nowhere 4 electrical outlets in our house stopped working... two in the living room and two in our bedroom.  Hubby suggested, when I emailed him, to try the breaker downstairs but when I did, everything looked fine.  We contacted two separate electricians, never hearing back from either.  We were stumped.  What was going on behind these walls?  My biggest fear of course is fire so I wasn't overly confident that the problem with the electrical outlets was something simple and not a huge safety issue.

Last week, Hubby sat down on the sofa in the living room and out of nowhere, the light in the corner of the room popped on.  Weird!  He moved and the light went off.  Once again he tested it, tested the breaker box.  Still nothing.  Around the same time the light by my bed started working for the first time in weeks.  Again we were perplexed.  WHAT is going on?  

Tonight Hubby finally figured out the issue.  Our sofa that backed onto the outlet closest to the window apparently was causing some sort of short in the wires when the sofa was pressed up against the outlet. Hubby opened up the outlet and there it was.  Even though the light switch on this side of the room was constantly working, the power wasn't leaving the outlet into the other outlets.  Once Hubby did a little tweaking, Eureka.... problem solved!  We now can take the power bar from one side of the living room and plug the tv into it's rightful outlet!  What a smart hubby I have!!

Power issues aside, today was a fabulous day.  My niece "R" and her two adorable kiddies came for a visit to "Auntie Sue's".  "R's" sister "K" came to join us for lunch from her office that is just down the street from my place.  Laughs and giggles filled our lunch time as we munched on quesadillas and caesar salad.  After "K" left to go back to work, "R" and I took the little ones to the pool for a quick dip before naptime.  It was super hot and humid out today so the dip in the pool was a welcome treat.  In order to prevent "R" from driving home in the ridiculous traffic, she and the kids joined Hubby, "S" and me for dinner.   My heart is full as I enjoyed the company of THREE of my beautiful nieces all in one day!

Tomorrow is a busy day as I prepare myself in the morning for an afternoon work shift at the office and then off to the wedding rehearsal of our friends'.  More about that to come!

I Heart Family!

Ever have one of those days where you think you're going to do A, B & C and then something totally unexpected comes to send you in a new direction?  This morning was one of those mornings.

I had a list as long as my ... arm finger of "to do" things I needed to get done for work and home.  I needed to put together a package with luggage tags and the gift I bought for my August Alaskan cruisers to deliver... and I needed to run to the grocery store for some much-needed staples like bread, milk, O.J., etc.  Things weren't going as smoothly as I'd hoped but I was plugging along when I heard a tap, tap, tap on my back window.  I look out to see my neighbour three houses down in my back yard.  We live in a townhouse complex with a common area/back yard so there are no fences around our entire yard.  Any ole person can wander up & down into each back yard.  It can be a nuisance at times, but today it turned out to be a bit of a blessing.

"B", my neighbour had come to call on me to see if I was free for a cup of tea.  I quickly ran to put my kettle on while she grabbed the cushions for the chairs out in the backyard.  What a lovely visit we had as we caught up on what's being going on in each other's world's and the things God has been teaching us.  I'm not 100% sure where B's relationship is with Jesus, but she is open to God.  Hopefully God will continue to open doors to discuss Jesus and salvation.

After our tea party I hightailed it out to do my errands.  It was a gorgeous sunshiny summer day which always makes my heart sing!

Once back home, as I was putting groceries away, I got a call from a friend who needed some encouragement.  I was happy to listen and give what little godly advice I could.  After about 30+ minutes talking, we prayed together before we said good-bye.  I felt glad for this other opportunity God had presented today.

Hubby and I had a dinner date with one of my niece's and her precious Hubby tonight.  Before I could get myself ready for that though I needed to do some business.  My client from yesterday had decided that Europe was out... how about a Canada/New England cruise.  I called Holland America and placed a couple of cabins on hold for her and her family before heading out the door for our dinner date.

Can I just tell you... I Heart my Family!!  We enjoyed delicious Greek cuisine over fabulous discussion about what God's been doing in our lives, where He's been challenging us and spurring one another on in our faith.  We left the evening feeling encouraged, blessed and longing for another night like tonight.  Isn't it just a gift to not only be blood family but family in Christ?!  I truly love and admire my nibling and nibling-in-law!

It's been a full week and tomorrow we are looking forward to relaxing.  Perhaps we'll head over to the complex pool to soak in some sunshine... or not.  Still need to finish things up with my client in the morning before relaxation can become reality!  Until next time...

Dropping the Ball... and Touring Scotland

Hello Dear Blogging Buddies... if you're still out there at all.  I have once again dropped the blogging ball as life has taken on a new super-speed pace.

When I last left you here at the old Lemonade Stand, Hubby and I were in Merry Old England, on our way to Scotland to visit family.  To update quickly, we had a blast!  My cold was history and even despite the cold and rainy weather we encountered on part of our Scottish holiday, spending time with family was AMAZING!

We flew into Edinburgh on Thursday morning and were picked up at the airport by my Dad's cousin, Shirley & her hubby, Andy who I'd met 2x prior - once in Canada when they came to visit and 26 years ago when my Mom and I came to visit them in Scotland.  After a quick stop for lunch at their place, they took Hubby and I to the waterfront in Edinburgh (which I never knew existed 26 yrs ago due to the dreary weather).  We toured the Royal Ship Britannia that has been docked along the water and it was very interesting for this big Royal fan!

Aboard the Royal Ship Britannia
(where Prince Charles and Princess Diana Honeymooned)

After the tour, Andy took us on a private tour of one of the beautiful cathedrals downtown Edinburgh (St. Gilles) giving us a ton of "insider information".  Back at Andy & Shirley's we met up with my 2nd cousins, Brian (with his daughter) and Kevin (who was coming to hang out with us before taking us up to his place in Aberdeen on the weekend) and his daughter.

Friday was a full day back downtown as we toured Edinburgh Castle and walked the Royal Mile, stopping for Andy's stories of hidden secret places and a little shopping.

Love me a Bagpiper!

At Edinburgh Castle

Before heading back "home", we stopped into the Scottish Parliament building which is across the street from the Queen's Edinburgh residence, "Holyrood Palace".

Group Shot inside Scottish Parliament

Holyrood Palace

Saturday morning we bid Andy & Shirley goodbye and Kevin whisked us away, across the Firth of Forth (the auto bridge and not the actual Firth of Forth rail bridge) and up to his home in Scotland where we met his adorable wife, Fiona!  After picking her up from work, we took a stroll along the beach on the shores of the North Sea in Aberdeen.

The Famous 'Firth of Forth' Bridge

A Chilly Walk along the North Sea beachfront

One of the cool parts of visiting Scotland is visiting the areas of my heritage and Sunday was the day we ventured out into the lands of my ancestors.  Kevin drove us from Aberdeen through the countryside and along the River Dee where we had a very chilly picnic alongside a field where we watched glider planes take off.

Deeside Picnic Spot

Even the "kids" needed something warm to drink!

From there we head west through the village of Ballater (where the Royals shop when at Balmoral) to Crathie (where the Queen attends church and where Balmoral Castle sits).

The Queen's Church in Crathie

Hubby, Fiona & "the kids"
at the Queen's entrance to the chapel

At the gates of Balmoral

We walked from the chapel down the road and across the river to the gates of Balmoral Castle.  The Queen was in residence so we couldn't get in, but that didn't stop me from chatting it up with the policeman guarding the gate.

Chatting it up with the Queen's Guard

Back in my Princess Di obsession-filled days, I had shared one of my many books on the Princess with my Grandma.  She had returned one of my books with a slip of paper inside.  On the page with a distant picture of Balmoral Castle sat a small cottage on the bottom right hand side.  Grandma had "X'd" the cottage and written a note on the little piece of paper, telling me that her Uncle Alan (or her cousin Alan... can't remember which it was) used to work for the Queen.  He looked after the Queen's horses.  I remember a picture in Grandma's house of this relative with Charles and Anne as small children with the Queen from Balmoral.  I, of course, told the Guard this story, secretly hoping it would give us some perk of special treatment.  I mean seriously... we're practically family with the Queen, right?  He did tell me that I could go to Braemar and look up this relative as the Queen keeps meticulous records of her employees.  If I had more time I'm sure I would have totally tried to do that!

On the way back to Aberdeen, we stopped in Banchory (where my Grandma lived until she came to Canada at 8yrs old) and met up with Brian, his wife Carol and youngest son, Kyle for dinner.  It was great seeing them as they were newly engaged when I first came to Scotland back in 1986.  Brian was a real trooper and even played his bagpipes for us!

Brian... the Piper!

Brian, Carol, Kyle with Hubby and me

The weather turned terrible on Monday so we stayed put for the next couple days just hanging out at Kevin's and catching our breath before heading down to London for the last leg of our 3 week journey. I'll come back SOON (I promise) to finish off this trip!