Summer is Here!!!!

Good Morning Company Girls!

Well, I just have a few minutes...hubby and I are taking our new mattress up to our trailer (about 2-/14 hours drive away) today plus 'opening up' the trailer for the season....hubby does most of the work while I bat at mosquitoes...the water lines have to be flushed out, the hydro turned on, the grass, which is probably a foot high needs to be cut. Maya wanted to come along but this is hubby's last Friday off before the holidays kick in...I figure any Fridays off in the summer will be with everyone.....so this is our very last alone one. Anyways, eldest daughter ended up needing Maya to babysit......

This week the sale of mom and dad's house went through...kind of bittersweet...good to get it all done but the final door closing on an earthly, physical connection with dad. Now, some more work as we clear out all the rest of the household goods that we left in for stageing.

This past Father's Day was extremely difficult....I stayed home from church, went to the cemetery.....dad's graveside looked pretty pathetic...abandoned, my brother called it....so he got to work and added some topsoil and peat moss...planted a lily flower.....I guess we'll have to see about a gravestone soon...not quite sure on the timing of these things....I think you have to wait a certain amount of time for the ground to settle but no idea how long.

Second oldest daughter called early this morning asking for thoughts and prayers for a friend she used to work with....a 22 year old young man named Mark who was diagnosed with brain cancer a short time ago....it would seem that he's not responding to the usual cancer treatments...chemo and such ...they're taking him in for emergency treatment...if you could remember him in your quiet time that would be a good thing....

...so, that's about it..oh, I did see a new counselor for Emma last night...Emma has an appointment with her tomorrow morning...Emma is still pursuing another living situation....although she keeps talking about how excited she is to see her friends at the trailer this summer...go figure....you have to be brilliant to figure out teens these days....and I'm not...I'd just like it to be done with...either way at this point.....defeatist attitude I know...but I'm tired.

Take care girls and have a great first weekend of the summer!

Enjoying the Quiet.........

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh....the quiet of a Monday morning after everyone has left for school and work.....as I sit here in bed with my laptop......I hear the birds chirping and the sound of the odd car going down the road...and that's it! Pure Bliss!

I will not have another Monday morning like this for eleven weeks!!!! That's when school starts up again...and maybe not even then if Maya doesn't get a job! Let us all take a moment of silent prayer and pray that Maya gets a porter job sometime in the next eleven weeks....PLEASE!!!

There's just something about the quiet after a busy weekend...filled with many sounds and many voices....don't get me wrong...I love the sounds and voices.....but I also love the quiet....

Of course.....you're always faced with the quandary..what to do...you don't want to squander your last remaining days of quiet....all the kids will be done school on Wednesday.....then, your time will not be your own...now, those of you who have little ones at home are saying...'what quiet'? I haven't had quiet for years and wont for many years to come.....believe me...I've been there, done that....got the t-shirt somewhere!......for example when Megan graduated from elementary school last year, I counted up the years.....I had kids going to that school for twenty-nine years! Now wouldn't you agree with me that I've had young kids around for a few years???????

So, what to do today...well, yesterday I FINALLY finished the hand stitching on Jairus' quilt....so, the last and final step before carefully washing it..is making the binding and attaching it to the quilt...and then it should be done!! The poor little guy has only been waiting since last September....life just keeps getting in the way of my quilting! I've taken it everywhere with me...Pennsylvania, Florida and Chicago..to work on it when I could...it's a well travelled quilt to be sure....then,...I must get the quilt top put together for my next quilt...which is a surprise for my hubby...the trouble is I have to have another quilt top done also...why, you say......well, when hubby is around I can't very well work on his or he'll see it and ask questions...so...that means TWO quilt tops have to be made in the next two weeks before I go to the trailer.....hubby's and another one...oh my goodness...and I will admit that cutting out and sewing quilt tops together is my least favourite part...I'd much rather just sit and hand quilt the 'sandwich' together....the
sandwich is the top, the batting and the backing...put together like a sandwich and then hand or machine stitched together in a design....there you go a brief, very brief, quilting lesson!

So, it sounds like I've already made up my mind while sitting here so I best get to it!

Have a wonderful, quiet day!

untitled.....cause I didn't know what to title it..

Dear Company Girls...

it's the middle of the afternoon and my grandkids are here...their mom and dad went away over night for their anniversary....yes, their anniversary is the day before ours...last weekend we went away and they had some of our kids and this weekend it's our turn for childcare duty.

I almost didn't post today...my heart really wasn't into it but I've just sat down with my laptop after a busy morning of vacuuming, steam cleaning rugs and getting a lunch for the 4 grands and Maya and I. Maya is all done school and will be graduating on the 29th, so now she just has to find a job!

Emma has been going on for a couple of weeks now about leaving and going to live somewhere else....last night she told me that the guidance counsellor at school sent an email to a social worker to see about getting her into a group home. Why you say....because I'm too overprotective...I don't let her go shopping at the mall with a group because she hasn't any money and to me that spells shoplifting in huge letters....having experienced that before with two of my kids I don't really care to get another one of those phone calls again, I don't let her leave the house...well, I used to let her go for runs til we got angry phone calls from parents when she stopped at their house and asked them to sell her drugs....I don't let her go to her friends house...the same friend that has multiple facial piercings, black clothes and smokes drugs...although I have agreed to this child coming to our home..(the child always has excuses why she can't come) ...I don't let her go on the computer....well, since I checked the history a few times when she was allowed and she was visiting pornography, I kinda thought it wasn't such a good idea......

so, that's why she wants to leave....I'm too overprotective...and that's why I didn't want to post but than changed my mind when I sat down here and I decided to write....I guess I think of the company girls as some of my friends...I guess I just needed to unload...my mom keeps on saying she just wants it to be over.....I guess I feel the same way.

THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS!!!!!

When we met in 1970.....I thought he was a pretty nice guy...he has a twin, but right off the bat I liked him best....40 years later, 37 of them married..I'm still convinced that he's the best!

Happy Anniversary, my darling husband!

Dads

My dad at his last birthday....

I thought I'd do my tribute to fathers just a little early....I don't think I'll be in the mood by Sunday...in fact the bombardment by the media of all the father's day stuff is liked being slapped upside the head, over and over.

As a former foster parent, I've run into all sorts of fathers.....some are quite unbelievable. They truly don't care about their children..in fact, most can easily walk away from any responsibility at all. This, of course is truly sad because not only do they miss out on the opportunity to be a dad but the children are left permanently scarred...some of them will never know who the man was who fathered them.

In the last few weeks of my dad's life he was in the hospital...visiting in a hospital is way different then visiting in a person's home. When you're in a hospital, you are usually not distracted by other things...you find yourself actually concentrating on the person you are visiting. If that hadn't happened I don't think that I'd ever have heard my dad say some of the things he did plus I realized that I'm more like my dad then I realized...even down to the eyebrows...yes, I have un-tame-able eyebrows..I've always toyed with doing something about them...but I hate pain,..so it's gone to the bottom of my list....now that I realize that it was something in common with my dad than I don't care whether I do anything. Dumb I know...but that's the way it is...I'm too old to care at this point!

When you're visiting someone in the hospital you have the opportunity to hear things said to you like I did. I always knew that my dad loved me but there are some men that have difficulty verbalizing it (my hubby is one of them, with our children) ...the first few times I said good-bye and I love you to my dad..he responded with 'you bethcha'...in his last few weeks he started saying 'I love you' back....

....one day my dad and I were talking...now my mom and dad were never very free with the accolades....my mother was afraid that you'd get a 'big head'....so on this day, it was just dad and I....I was telling him about doing something...I really can't even remember what it was....and he said...'you're mother and I have always said that you're amazing'...I said 'really!'...he said ' you have always amazed us with what you could do'...well, I was the one amazed.....such praise....it made my heart soar!

When I was in Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto for one of my operations..my dad took his holidays..he only got two weeks...he gave them up and came to the hospital every day to see me...with my mom of course....unfortunately, I was only 12 at the time and truly didn't appreciate the sacrifice...now, I do. Growing up, we never had very much money but that never seemed as important then as it does to kids today, but I always knew that my dad was there to support me...he always did his best. Yes, he was human...he had a temper and he knew how to holler...we were spanked when we disobeyed but we never doubted that we were loved.

I have married a man who is like my dad in many ways...my dad always put my mom first just as my hubby does. My dad taught us how to respect our mom and look after her...we weren't even allowed to leave the supper table until my mom had finished drinking her tea...(sometimes she'd tease us by pouring a second cup...but she let us go)....all this has been good, so that when my dad was struggling and fighting for his last breath...my sister was able to tell him that if he needed to go then he should....dad knew that we'd look after mom til they could be together, in heaven, again.

He was a brave man, a fighter...he tried to stay with us longer but his heart could last no longer. I told my kids that they need to treasure their dad...but they are young and think their dad is invincible...that he'll always be here...like I thought my dad would be...but he wont be..and when that time comes, they'll be wishing for just one more Fathers Day.....

just like I am.

Good Morning Company Girls!
This is how you usually find Donald....with a sleeping babe in his arms...we always joked that it was a race to see who fell asleep first!
...the first babe we ever had was our eldest daughter and I wasn't feeling well with a cold and was resting in the bedroom...when I came out there he was with the new born baby in the crook of one arm, while wiping down the kitchen counter with the other....he always is so relaxed with the babies that a pose like this is not unusual!...

...every year we try to get to the Lilac Dell at our Royal botanical gardens to take in all the beautiful lilacs...it's a very peaceful and serene place and as we walked around, hubby decided that this would be a good pic....cute huh?

Last year, we were in Houston for a financial conference that hubby was attending and hubby knows that one of my very favourite places is the Riverwalk in San Antonio ..so he surprised me and said on the Sunday afternoon that we were going there...I was ever so pleased!

...Last Summer, hubby decided that I needed a mid-summer break and arranged a whole weekend away, complete with child(teen) care...we went to this little harbour town that had a little railway trip...this shot was taken on the train....

This is the guy that I met almost 40 years ago! He was 16 years years old at the time and next week we should, Lord willing, be celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary!

The above pictures have been taken at various times in the last year.....

This guy has spoiled me for so many years....my mother, who was also spoiled by my dad, pointed her finger at me the other day and said...'just wait..you'll be in the same spot as I am,...Don does everything for you just as your dad did for me...and now I don't know what to do'....I acknowledged that she was correct.....he does do everything...he brings me a mug of tea every morning before he leaves for work, if I'm too tired to make supper, and he's home, than he does, he changes the sheets on our bed ..which started years ago when he didn't like how I made the bed and now it works out great for me..have you tried lifting the corners of those pillow top mattresses?...and he likes to plan getaways that are a surprise......today is his day off and he's said all week that he was taking me out for the first anniversary supper...(when I said why was he calling it the first he said 'cause we'd have another one on our anniversary', which is the 16th)....

anyways.....last night, as he showed me on the computer where we were going...up til now, he'd only tell me that it was scenic and I was to be prepared to be surprised and amazed......he said that not only were we going there for supper..we are staying overnight....the kids would be looked after......pretty nice eh?...yes...I am spoiled...I will be the first to admit it.

So, I hope you all have a lovely weekend....hopefully next Company Girls I'll have pictures of where we are going!

Take Care!

An Epiphany..

Good Morning Company Girls!!

The above two pics have nothing to do with my post but everything to do with me because they're of my newest grandson, William....I do think he looks very handsome in these pictures but I really think that I am biased!

Anyways.....the last two weeks have been very busy around here at our house...well, actually at my mom and dad's old house. My siblings and I have been working very hard to get it ready to go 'on the market' to be sold. Oh my, the stuff that I've thrown out ...my brother took at least 12 garbage bags to the dump the other day and at least another half dozen have been filled since then. A good amount of mom and dad's household possessions have been claimed by various family members but there's still a lot there. We decided that everyone could have one last chance to take what they wanted this weekend. The Realtors are coming on Monday to take a lot of pictures to advertise it in the newspaper. It is officially listed by the 15th of June. It's amazing how word travels....we've already had two different sets of people come to the house asking about its availability because they were interested.

As I've worked in their house, sorting, saving and tossing it really made me realize about all the junk I have in my own house.....things that I've saved over the years that mean something to me...but...to someone else..not so much. They would get tossed just as I've been doing at mom and dad's house. You know, things like those crafts your kids made when they were in kindergarten...you thought...'oh, when they're older they'll really be glad I did that'....no, not really...they look at it and smile but they really don't want it and you're left with wondering why you bothered to save them all these years. So,...when all this is said and done a very good thing has come out of all this work..(besides getting the house ready!)...I am going to purge like there's no tomorrow in my house....my basement is filled with stuff! Stuff, up to this point that I had an emotional attachment to but I'm determined to be ruthless and get rid of it all. I'm looking forward to walking down to the basement and actually have free space instead of winding my way through various piles and boxes.....I just hope I can keep the momentum going til the job is done and don't give up because of the sheer magnitude of the job!

This week I had an 'aha' moment...I think you call it an epiphany....hubby and I were driving to a town about 45 minutes from here...to get there you have to drive through some lovely rural countryside.....I just love the countryside areas....when my parents moved to the area that I live in now, over 50 years ago...people thought that this was the country...now, it's so built up that it would be considered suburbia......not really something I enjoy but I'm used to. As we were driving...oohing and aahing over the country homes and farms...I said to hubby that this would be my ideal place to live.....a good distance from your nearest neighbor, not a lot of traffic....you could actually see the stars at night because the city lights didn't obscure the view...you know....peaceful. It all of a sudden occurred to me that we were too old..too old to make such a move at this time in our lives.....isn't that the saddest thing you ever heard!! Why didn't we make this move twenty years ago?

It was not a good feeling...this getting older business is for the birds...did you ever get to the point that you realized your dreams could never come true? It made me a little sad....

.....the more I think on it though....the more I realize that it's good to have daydreams and wishes...there's nothing wrong with that but you also have to check your attitude..you have to realize and accept that this is the plan, your life plan that was set long before you were born...oh yes, we can change that plan with the choices we make...that's the free will that God gives to each one of us....but, if we spend our lives bemoaning about what could have, should have, would have been...if only...that we are going to be very miserable people. It's like before we put the additions on our house....for years I had dreamt of putting on a second floor with bedrooms enough for everyone....nobody having a bedroom in the basement anymore. When it came time to get the cost estimates for such a layout we realized that the cost was prohibitive...we'd be in our 80's and still trying to pay off the mortgage! So, we rethought our plans and instead of putting a second floor with all the bedrooms...we just extended our living areas...the living room, dining and kitchen...giving us twice as much room. Now this turned out to be a very good thing....because...when all the kids move out..and please God let them all move out someday..in the next ten years....before hubby retires!....what would I do with all those bedrooms! They wouldn't do me any good at all...plus..my bedroom would have been on the second floor and already my knees and hip have been making their presence well known when I do too much...how the pete would I ever get up and down all those stairs? Plus, when you have nine kids, you kind of figure that your family's only going to get bigger with everyone getting married...okay maybe not everyone...and some having children which of course means more fantastic grandbabies..example at the top of the page.....it stands to reason that when they come home to visit that you need more 'living' space not bedroom space.....

All this to say is that if I had had my dream back then that it certainly wouldn't fit my needs now and it would have been all that debt for what?....a place we'd probably have to get rid of perhaps before we really were ready to......so...even though a place in the country would be lovely right now, at this point...only the Lord knows what my or my hubby's needs will be a few years from now....I think just maybe He has us just where He wants us for now and we'll just have to rest in that..

but I still have to deal with the realization that all of a sudden you realize that you are too old to do something! Oh my.....

Deception.....

Deception....such an ugly word isn't it?

One of my daughter's enjoys deceiving...she really does....she takes great delight in weaving a plan on how she can get want she wants when I've said no.....most of the time I figure it out...sometimes I don't. Unfortunately, she's destroying any mother daughter relationship with her choices....more unfortunately...she doesn't care.

She is 16 years and 7 months old. I think it will be a very good thing when she turns 18 and I can insist that she make her own way in this world. She treats hubby and I with no respect whatsoever, she uses us....you might be saying that every teen acts this way....no, I beg to differ....I've lived thru a few teens...this one is number 8 of 9....some of the other teens have been difficult for sure...some as adults still have their issues.....but this teen,..well, she's another piece of work.

She lost her Internet privileges...going to sites that weren't appropriate..a long time ago....but she still manages to get on the Internet...she still manages to go to Facebook and post things that give me pause and certainly cause more grey hairs on my head....
Our desk top died a very long time ago...we have passwords on every other computer in the house....she kept bugging every time to have Internet on the Wii, but we refused....she bided her time and when server passwords were discussed amongst the grownups one time, she squirreled that info away...then thru asking 'innocent' questions she obtained all the info she needed to get on the Internet thru the Wii....as soon as we left the house one evening she got on.....so, we put a parental pin code in......but she still has got on somehow.....can't figure it out yet...but I will.....

It's very disconcerting that from the time she gets home from school she's asking when you'll be going out and when you say that you are, she keeps asking you continuously, until you walk out the door...'shouldn't you be going...I thot you said you'd be leaving by now'...and when I say to her 'why are you so eager for me to leave...what are you planning'......I just get this little grin...but her voice says 'nothing'.........

Deception....it's such an ugly word. It saddens a mother's heart.