Share Your World 2015- Week 38

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….I don’t know how she does it but Cee keeps coming up with new questions each week

What do you do to make a living or during the day if you are retired. If you are a student what are you studying?

I’ve been a school teacher since 1976. I started out teaching Family Studies to middle school adolescents. I did that for about 15 years and then I did guidance for two years. I was toying with the thought of becoming a principal and I started taking a lot of leadership courses in the evenings. I successfully became a chairperson which is like being a principal’s assistant where you take on a few extra responsibilities while still teaching. For many people this is a stepping stone to becoming a vice-principal or principal. In the end I decided that this was enough responsibility for me and that I liked being in the classroom too much to give it up.

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When I became a chairperson I was transferred to a junior school where I taught grade 5 and sometimes a 4/5 split. Five years ago I took a library course and qualified to become a teacher librarian. One year later the library position opened up at our school and I’ve been the librarian/art teacher ever since.

Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.

Three and a half years ago when I first started this blog I was determined to lose weight. At school I agreed to assist in a program called Girls on the Run and I started to walk/run with the girls twice a week for 10 weeks. At the end of the program there was a 5k run and at the age of 59 I participated in my first serious race. I did the whole thing and ran for most of it but I was so emotional at the end that a dread overcame me and I thought I was going to die. Of course I didn’t and I did the run again the next year. The second time around it was a little easier. Last fall I participated in the Railpath Community Run and I’m doing it again this weekend. This one I did with my daughter.

What is usually your first thought when you wake up?

My first thought is usually to switch my Jawbone Up from sleep mode to wake mode and then check on my phone to see how well and how long I’ve slept.

Complete this sentence: Look out behind you, it’s a …

…it’s your son. I often fantasize that my son and his fiancé pay me a surprise visit. They both live in London, England and I only see them once a year. A few years ago my son did come to Toronto for a convention and I was truly surprised.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a visit from my daughter who now lives in Hamilton. I was especially grateful because she was 38 weeks pregnant and I didn’t think that she would want to make the trip and be that far from home. We went to my older daughter’s house and my good friend L and her mom joined us. They weren’t able to make it to G’s shower in the summer so they anxious to see her and bring her the gifts that they had bought. It was also the first time that L’s mom had seen A’s and J’s house.

Years ago my daughter, A had volunteered to undergo testing and see if she was a good match for L’s dad who needed to be treated for C-dificile. It turned out that she was and her donation ended up saving his life. When L and her mom arrived on Saturday they bought her a gift as well. L’s dad is a very accomplished and renowned artist and they gifted my daughter one of his paintings. We were all very touched.

Later in the afternoon my girls and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood along Dupont street and stopped for lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant and checked out the interesting little businesses that have sprung up in the last few years.

I’m obviously looking forward to the birth of our first grandchild. We all took bets on when she would come into the world but we were a little surprised when our daughter went into false labour yesterday. She’s fine today and this baby may take her sweet time about making her official appearance. Her actual due date is October 4th.

I’m also looking forward to participating in the Railpath Community run on Saturday but I think this year I may do more walking than running. On Sunday some of my friends from high school are getting together again for another lunch. We’re hoping that CM from Thunder Bay will be able to join us this time.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. The first weekend of autumn looks like it’s going to be especially nice and warm in my neck of the woods.

Cheers!

Escorting My (soon to be 89 year old) Dad to the Aquarium

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….when your elderly father tells you he’d like to see the aquarium you go

My father has never been one to make a bucket list but as of late he’s been interested in doing things that were never on his or our radar before. When our daughter announced that she was pregnant my father was delighted and decided on the spot that he had to stick around for at least six more years so that he could enjoy his first great grandchild. When we had the shower for G, he decided that he would attend as well and we made sure that a few other male members of the family were there for moral support.

A few months ago my father expressed an interest in going to the Ripley’s Aquarium here in Toronto. I offered to accompany him and even suggested that I could take a day off from work so that we could avoid the weekend crowds. May and June passed and then in July and August we didn’t make plans because we weren’t sure when my husband was having his surgery. Last week we finally made plans to meet downtown and go to the Aquarium.

In the fall of 2014 my father was reintroduced to the Go Train and he decided that he really liked travelling to Toronto from Oshawa on the train. He’s done it a couple of times since and so we agreed to meet at the Royal York Hotel across the street from Union Station. I also took the train from the west end of the city where I live. For $5.60 (half of that if you’re a senior) you can jump on the train and be downtown in 15 minutes.

Now my father had another motive for meeting at the Royal York Hotel. Sixty years ago when my parents and I first arrived in Canada my father’s first job was at the Royal York Hotel, working as a waiter. He has fond memories of his seven years there and he was really looking forward to having lunch there. Seeing that last week was my birthday he treated me to lunch and he paid our way into the Aquarium. Thanks Dad!

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about walking over to the Aquarium with my father. He has definitely slowed down in the past five years. He tends to walk 20 to 50 paces and then stops to talk. He seems to need frequent breaks but he assured me that the walk would be just fine. As we got closer I could tell he was getting tired but he motored on. He really wanted to see the fish.

As we were standing in line he asked me if I could pass for a senior. Adult fares are $29.99 and seniors are only $19.99. Seeing that I was only a couple of years away from actually qualifying for the senior’s rate he decided to take a chance and he ordered two senior’s tickets. Well if it wasn’t our lucky day! Tuesday’s happens to be seniors day and we received an extra $5.00 discount for each of us off the ticket price and we were handed vouchers for a free coffee or tea and two granola bars. After he purchased a $2.00 program his total came to just over $35.00 for the two of us.

The crowds weren’t too bad today. Being it was the end of the summer, I knew that there wouldn’t be any school trips and the CNE was on so a lot of families would be heading down to the exhibition grounds. For the first part of the self guided tour we saw fish from Canada and we headed down the ramp passing huge aquariums with fresh water fish and then fish from the tree oceans that surround this huge country of ours. The octopus and the blue lobster were especially interesting.

I knew that there was a moving sidewalk when you got to the ‘dangerous lagoon’ area where you were literally in a glass tunnel surrounded by water and I think that Dad was glad to take a break from walking when we finally got there. The only thing that would have made it better might have been chairs to sit on. For me the sidewalk moved a little too slowly but you could step off if you wanted to. This was my favourite part of the aquarium. I loved seeing the sharks move towards you and then swim over your heads and then out of nowhere the stingrays would appear and glide by. I was amazed that the other fish weren’t bothered by the sharks and the sharks weren’t interested in them. I guess they must be fed in separate pools so that they don’t freak out the little ones or deplete the collection of tropical fish.

About two thirds of the way into the tour my father thought we had come to the end because we ended up in an area where you could rest, have coffee, a bite to eat and there were numerous hands on activities for the kids. He was pretty much done but there was no short cut that I could see to exit the building. He was a trooper and soldiered on as we made our way through the jelly fish exhibit and other exotic creatures. This is where we saw the lion fish, piranhas, sea horses and sea dragons. I would have liked to spend more time here but Dad really was getting very tired.

Of course the end of the tour takes you through the gift shop but we didn’t buy anything. We made our way back to the train station but not before I had my picture taken inside this sea turtle body. I guess I should have tried sticking my head out farther than I did.

All in all we had a great day. My dad made it home safely and all my worrying was for nothing. I wonder what he wants to do next?

Cheers!

Cottage Time

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Mama Cormier

……Thursday, July 2, 2015

I finally got here.

Thursday morning I finally got the car packed and shortly before 1:00 I set out, by myself for the cottage. It was the day after the holiday so traffic was minimal and I made good time but I knew that I would never make the 3:00 ferry. As I got closer to Cedar Point I made a decision to head into Midland and see if I could find a special paper I needed for my next art assignment.

There’s a new art gallery/school in the downtown and I was hoping that I could get what I needed from there or from a small framing business that also sold art supplies. Well the framing store has gone out of business and the new gallery only had a small supply of papers. They recommended that I try the printing shop across the street. I had nothing to lose and I still had time so I made my way up the street.

The owners were very friendly and very accommodating. They found a few sheets of tracing paper on an upper shelf that had obviously been there awhile. They gave me what was left and didn’t charge me. How nice was that!.

I passed through Penatang and tried to find the art store there but didn’t have time to park and walk up the street. I’ll leave that for another day. I’ll make do with the paper that was so graciously gifted to me. When I got to Lafontaine (the last town before Cedar Point) I made another quick stop and picked up a couple of bottles of wine.

I still had ten minutes to spare when I got to Cedar Point. The ferry was just coming into the dock. I’ve done this trip for over 25 years but I still don’t like backing onto the ferry. It’s about a twenty minute trip across the bay to the island and then another seven minutes by car to get to the far end of the island where our cottage is situated.

I arrived around 5:00. Luckily my neighbour’s adult daughter had arrived that day as well and she came over to help me unload the car. She also helped me move the fridge, set up the BBQ and started the pump so I would have water. Everything went well until the pump stopped. No biggie. The gas motor needed more gas. After filling it up we pulled the cord. Nothing! We tried again and again. Nothing! I wasn’t too worried. I always bring two large bottles of water with me for this very reason. We decided to leave it for awhile and give it another go in the morning. Little did we know what an adventure we were about to encounter. More about that tomorrow.

Should Have Gotten on my Hands and Knees Right Away

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….my last resort should have been the first thing I did

I found my glasses! Yay!!!!!

It only took 2 1/2 days. After sorting through mounds of paper, piles of clothes, numerous purses and bags and getting my husband to look under the seats in my car I knew that I had to start looking under furniture. If I didn’t have such a sore knee I would have done it sooner.

Last night I took a flashlight and started upstairs in my bedroom. I looked under the bed, behind the blanket boxes and under and inside the night tables. No luck. This morning I went to the chair that I sit in all the time to write my blog posts. I carefully lowered myself to the floor, being careful not to put too much weight on my right knee. Voila! There it was, between the chair and the bookcase, hidden by the power bar and the cords. Why didn’t I go there first? In hind sight it was the most obvious place.

Oh well, the main thing is that I found my glasses and I no longer have to wear my sunglasses on cloudy and rainy days. In the process of looking I found several other things that needed my attention, like paying for the dog’s license, renewing my subscription to the WMCT concert series and finding things that our dog chewed up and needed to be thrown away.

Maybe someone should invent a tracking device to put on glasses. It seems that losing your glasses is not such an unusual occurrence.

Cheers!

School’s Out So Why Am I So Emotional?

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….it’s been an exhausting week

The week started with rehearsals for the grade five farewell. I narrated an adaptation of Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss and I emceed the assembly. On Tuesday the actual farewell took place and it was a beautiful ceremony. Many of my favourite students were leaving us for middle schools and of course so were their families. Some of these parents I’ve known for ten years because I also taught their older children as well.

At the end of the day my friend L and I were invited to attend one of the house parties. The children were all playing in the backyard while the adults gathered in the living room. I had a great time. There were lots of great nibbles and wonderful adult conversation.

The next day when I arrived at school I had a meltdown as soon as I entered the school building. I’m not sure why. The grade 5s were heading out for their special activity day (swimming, BBQ and mini golf) and for the rest of us we had a play day at school. I was in charge of the water boot race. I felt completely unprepared but I had all the equipment I needed and all the organization had been done by our amazing PE teacher. I think it probably had something to do with the fact that this was the first time in 16 years that I didn’t go away with the grade 5s.

In the end, my activity was a big hit and I actually had a lot of fun doing it. In the afternoon, students from one of the grade 4 classes helped me sort through all the prizes from Jump Rope for Heart and they delivered them to all the classes. That was a huge help. The final total for money raised this year was just under $9000.

After school we had our staff party. PJ hosted at his place as he does every year. He has a pool and I think there were more people than ever in the pool. It helped that it was a warm humid evening. We said good-bye to two staff members that were leaving to continue their careers at other schools and two teachers are going on a leave for a year.

Today students and parents approached me all day with gifts, cards, flowers and warm wishes in between teaching classes. We also had one final assembly in the morning where we recognized students of the month. All the summer birthdays, including mine were, were announced on the PA and we were given birthday ribbons, stickers and bracelets. It’s strange being wished a happy birthday when it’s still two months away (Aug. 28th). Even my last kindergarten class of the year sang Happy Birthday to me.

As I mentioned earlier I received numerous gifts throughout the day but the one that brought tears to my eyes came from four students who were leaving this year. They were also the same students who have attended the tea party for the last two years. They knew that I have a Pandora bracelet and they purchased a charm, a tiny silver teapot, to add to my collection.

I’m not sure why this year was more emotional than past years. Maybe because I’m getting older and I know that my time as a teacher is soon coming to an end. Whenever I mention retirement, the staff and students won’t hear of it but I know that I can’t go on forever. I’m now looking at one year at a time but I’m pretty sure that in two years I’ll be saying good-bye.

Tomorrow the teachers will be back at school. Our principal is hosting a breakfast for us and then we’re off to clean our rooms. Last year I knew that the library was being renovated and I had a big job packing up books in that last week of school. This year I found out that the storage room where I store all my art supplies is being turned into a new office for the caretaker, so all the paper, paints, art supplies and art carts have to be removed. Guess where they’re going for now? The library. I know what I’ll be doing that week before school starts. Can’t worry about that now. I’ll cross that road when I get to it.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 22

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..Cee has asked us to complete the following sentences

Cee came up with a another way of doing Share Your World for this week. Finish these four sentences. You can be talk about yourself or be creative and write a piece of fiction. It’s up to you. Have some fun.

Complete this sentence: Never In My Life Have I….ever wanted to sky dive, bungee jump or do anything remotely dangerous.

Is this dangerous?

Complete this sentence: My neighbour wants me to help her…..celebrate her retirement in a couple of weeks. I love parties and I hope to get there. It will probably be outside in her beautiful garden as long as the weather co-operates.

Complete this sentence: When I was little I wanted…I always wanted to sing and perform on stage. The only problem was that I had terrible stage fright and very low self esteem. I did sing in the school choir and later I joined a German choir that I sang with for 27 years but I never performed solo.

Complete this sentence: Will you come here to…share in a meal? My husband is a great cook and I need an excuse to clean my house from top to bottom.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I’m grateful for a successful Forest of Reading celebration, raising over $6000. for Jump Rope for Heart and for participating in the dunk tank at our annual Fun Fair and surviving to tell you about it. After the first dunk I actually enjoyed it. It was a very hot humid day and I certainly felt refreshed after being dunked three times. I would have done it more often but there was a schedule that had to be maintained so that all the grade 5s who signed up could have a turn.

This week I’m looking forward to gathering up the final pledge envelopes for Jump Rope for Heart and figuring out what our total contributions will be. I’m also looking forward to getting my marks done for the report cards, organizing the library before the summer break in three weeks and hosting treat day this week.

The thing I’m most looking forward to is a visit from my sister who lives in Calgary. She and her husband are flying in on Friday and will be visiting with my dad and then spending Saturday evening and Sunday morning with us. Short but sweet. I guess this will be my excuse to get the house in ship shape.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 20

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks Cee for four more thought provoking questions

What is the most important thing that you ever learned? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

I learned early on in my adult years that not everyone you meet will like you. The first time I discovered that someone really didn’t like me it took me for a loop. I get along with most people so when someone dislikes you for simply being yourself it can be somewhat hurtful. I don’t let it bother me anymore and figure that the problem lies with them.

I also learned that friends you make in school won’t necessarily be your friends later in life and sometimes if you’re lucky you can rekindle old friendships as you get older. In recent years I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that.

What feeds your enthusiasm for life?

I love to learn and try new experiences. I get joy from reading, doing art, teaching art, taking photographs and spending time with family and friends.

What’s your most memorable (good or bad) airplane commercial or private flight?

My most memorable airplane flight took place last year when my brother-in-law treated my middle sister and me to a complimentary flight, first class, to Calgary. The seats were comfortable, the food was good and our wine glasses were never empty. The flight took place on Air Canada.

If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?

I would explore all the great museums and art galleries of the world. That of course would take me to the most amazing cities in the world as well so I would check out all the historic sites and local markets and artisans.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for spending an interesting day in Hamilton last week. I discovered a whole slew of interesting stores, restaurants and galleries in my daughter’s new neighbourhood. I can’t wait to go back and check out some of these places more closely.

I’m grateful that my husband’s biopsy went smoothly and that there weren’t any complications. The results were inconclusive so we have to wait for another test.

This week I’m looking forward to watching the girls play in their soccer tournament and meeting the author that I booked for the students’ activity day. Forty students met their goal of reading at least ten books in the last five months and earned a special day where they are excused from class to attend a drama workshop and bookmaking workshop, are treated to lunch and in the afternoon spend time with one of the authors whose book was nominated for the 2015 Forest of Reading Collection. It should be a lot of fun.

I’ll end with some photographs that I took the last few days.

Lucy and a Trip to Hamilton

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..my daughter and son-in-law have moved to a larger home

On Thursday and Friday, our daughter, G and her husband packed up their tiny apartment and left Toronto to start a new life in Hamilton. We offered to dog sit so that their Bassett Hound, Lucy, wouldn’t get underfoot. Lucy is a lovely dog but not the easiest to look after.

One of the things that Lucy likes to do is take over the chaise lounge and she won’t stop barking until the offending person gets off. If you’ve ever heard a Bassett Hound bark you know how irritating it can be and Lucy is relentless. By the way she also loves to be covered with a blanket.

Our dog Frances gets along with Lucy in short spurts. After awhile she becomes very territorial and she refuses to let Lucy pass to go up the stairs or down the stairs. We always have to separate them at meal time and Lucy finishes first so if Frances doesn’t finish we have to put her food up high and out of the way.

Lucy’s nose is always close to the ground; a very common trait of Bassett Hounds. When we work in the kitchen she is always underfoot, hoping that we drop something. She also loves kale and if we’re not careful she’ll pull it out of the fridge when we open the door. On several occasions when Lucy has been taken for walks down Yonge St. she’s jumped up onto to a city planters and pulled out the ornamental kale to chomp on. Our daughter is mortified when this happens.

Today our son-in-law returned the moving truck. We put Lucy in the car and picked up BT and drove them back to their new home in Hamilton. This was Lucy’s first exposure to the new house. We were a little worried about the stairs but a new carpet has been laid and Lucy was very comfortable going up and down the the steep staircase. Normally she doesn’t like stairs.

Lucy checked out the backyard. Clearly she’s going to need to be trained as to where she can and cannot walk and pee. The flower beds are definitely out of bounds. The front porch quickly became a popular spot to hang out with her loved ones. She’s content to be near her family and she didn’t bark at the folks that walked by the house. Hopefully that part won’t change.

The new house will be a bit of an adjustment for Lucy. There are still a lot of boxes that need to be unpacked and before we left BT started to paint the living room. I’m sure Lucy will learn to love her new surroundings and why wouldn’t she. She has a big backyard to play in and lots of new places to explore in the house and outside in the neighbourhood. I didn’t see any planters with ornamental kale but if they exists she’ll be sure to find them.

When we got home our daughter sent us a photo of Lucy. Apparently she has already decided where her new favourite place in the house is. So typical!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 5

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..it’s already February and week 5

Do you prefer shopping or going to a park?

Why do I have to pick? I like them both. I like a balance of activities. I love to walk and I need to do more. January has been a tough month on the exercise front. I also love to shop and I didn’t much of that either in January. Okay February, time to up my game on both fronts.

If you were a shoe, what kind would you be and why?

I’m all about comfort now. I love my new hiking shoes and my ‘Blundstone’ style boots. Both work well when I’m walking and the boots are versatile and are somewhat fashionable.

What’s the story behind a time when you got locked out?

The last time I was locked out it happened at school. My swipe key was starting to break so the office administrator applied for a new one. Little did I know that the moment she applied for a new one the old one was declared null and void. That night I had to go back to school for a meeting and I couldn’t get back into the school. I walked to the front doors and they were locked so I walked around to the side entrance and then all the way through the school to get back to the library. It wouldn’t have been so bad but it was bitterly cold. The next morning I couldn’t get into the school again but when I finally did, the office had my new key ready for me.

Do you prefer eating foods with nuts or no nuts?

I love nuts and any food that contains nuts. When a box of chocolate is presented to me I always look for the chocolate with the nuts first. I love marzipan, Italian almond cookies, M&M Chocolate Covered Peanuts and almond bark.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week my husband had his post op appointments with his doctors and the surgery was successful. He still has to have iodine radiation done but no more surgery for the time being. We walked to a restaurant close to the hospital that I’ve always wanted to try and we had a wonderful meal together.

I’m grateful for time spent with my children. We all got together to deliver a desk to my oldest daughter and her sister made homemade empanadas for us to enjoy for lunch. I’m also happy to have finished proofreading report cards.

I’m looking forward to printing up the final copies of the report cards for all the teachers on staff. I’m also looking forward to working on more art projects and receiving the next art assignment from Carla.

Here are a couple of warm-up doodles that I created for the class.

Cheers and If you’d like to see more “Share Your World” posts head on over to Cee’s Photography and join in on the fun.

A New Milestone – 1000 Posts

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Mama Cormier

…..I can’t believe it

Thirty three months ago when I started this blog I couldn’t have imagined writing 1000 posts. When I first hit the keys I wanted to record and track my weight loss journey, write about my past, share recipes and have a platform to air my feelings about retirement. Well here I am almost three years later and I’m still going strong.

My focus has changed somewhat. I managed to lose 32 pounds and today I’ve kept a good chunk of it off but it’s a struggle every day. I don’t share many recipes. Others do it much better. I’m still working and I don’t bring up retirement very often. My colleagues won’t hear of it but I have to admit that I am getting closer to that day. I don’t talk as much about my past and most of my personal posts reflect what’s happening in the present.

What is surprising is how my blog has morphed into an art and photography journal. I started teaching art to more classes shortly after starting the blog and I started to share my student’s work.

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I also started to do more of my own art and I took a number of on-line art classes.

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I’ve always liked taking photos but recently I discovered that I was pretty good at it. I enjoyed experimenting with my little digital camera and later my iPhone and I started to participate in a lot of photography challenges here on WordPress.

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I also started to dabble in writing poetry. For someone who hated poetry in school I’m somewhat surprised that I enjoy writing free verse and Haiku as much as I do. I guess I like writing in general.

When I look back on my first dozen posts, I wonder what kept me going. There wasn’t a lot of feedback. Many of my first posts had no likes what so ever. Reading over them I couldn’t fault the writing but there were only a few photos in the beginning and I didn’t always ‘tag’ those pieces. Some of them I wrote for my children so they would have a record of their mother’s past (here, here, here, and here).

The one thing that I was pleased about was that many of my early followers are still with me. Hats off to Michael Lai, oneanna65, Domestic Diva, MD, Uthamz, The Ranting Chef, Lesley Carter, Ellis Nelson, Conor Cullen, Dorothy, Anne, Paul. Beth, Baz, Dina, Island Traveller, Bert, Lee, Jeanne, Maia, Frizz, TK Morin, Masqua,Leanne, Art Expectations, Rosemarie, Viveka, Donna, Michael, T.J., Melissa, Ann, Neal, Woolly, Mrs. Euken, Dan, Mark, Brenda, and in the last year many more followers have come my way. Here are some of the regulars: Cee, Megan, Lisa, Ab, Jennifer, Joe, Rachel, Chris, Geraint, Miranda, Trisha, Janaline, Hello, Fig, Elizabeth, Marsha, Ayse, Folly Girl, Judith, Sarah, Ronovan, Seb, Audrey, B, Kimmi, Conrad, CJ, Boeta, Peggy, Debbie, Colline,……

A special thanks goes to the people who like to comment on my blog, a lot,……Dorothy, Viveka, Rosemarie, Leanne, Colline, Judith, Cee, Elizabeth and Mark and my sister Chris. I know that my FaceBook friends also read my blog and when they comment it’s usually on FaceBook. I’m sure I’ve missed a few people and for that I apologize. I am about 40 people shy of reaching 1000 followers and I hope by my 3rd anniversary in April I can reach that goal as well.

Cheers!