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puzzle pieces
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts

Monday, December 19, 2011

Grandpa's Barn


The weathered boards.


Windows for eyes.


The latch that's been used to open the door a thousand times over.


Basketball games played against its walls.



Hinges that squeak every time the door opens at chore time.



Still standing tall and proud.

~Grandpa  now shares his barn with his Grand kids.~
~~~


Linking up with Barn Charm this evening.


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Missing the REAL in connection

(Warning: Rant post)

It used to be that "back in the day"....one would fly in to one of these to make a call.
These would stand on street corners or hang on walls outside convenient stores.
As long as you had the change~ or knew how to place a collect call....you were safe.


Now...they sit for decorative reasons...to remember what life used to be like.

When you didn't have to charge a phone, 
find a spot for it in your pocket, 
be attached to everyone and "connected" to everything at 
every 
single 
moment.


Funny thing is- for all the ways we have to "Connect" today?? 
I feel more disconnected than ever.

My "real phone" only rings with telemarketers requests.
My mail box only holds flyers every afternoon at 4pm, and instead of running down to it with anticipation - I sit in front of a screen wondering if my "email box" holds a line.

And connection now means...
"Shooting an email"
"Facebook me"
"I'll text you when I get there"
"Did you read his Tweet?"

{"Didn't get the email? 
I texted you last night to say I sent it..."}

{Walking into a coffee shop last week....
5 out of the 8 people sitting down were all on their laptops or staring at their phones.}

{Sitting down to eat and a phone beeps.
 Is that me? Or you? 
Hold on....It'll just take a second.}



Yes. It used to be a pain to find a quarter and a phone booth. But I miss it.
I miss real chatter.
Letters to hold in my hand.
I miss hearing voices and seeing faces.

For all the "connectedness" we supposedly own today~ why is it everyone seems so disconnected from one another?
(sigh)

Why have we become content to be "facebook friends"...but not get together in real life?
Why do we resort to texting a heartfelt sentence, when we could pick up a phone and use our real voice?
Email is so easy. But what does one have to hold in their hand and read, and store away in a ratty old box, to pull out and show those who come after....but their computer screen.

(I warned you this was a rant.)

On that note....I feel the need to stuff a mailbox full of letters and cards!
I want to go back, if only for a few moments, and see if I can use a pen and remember how to address an envelope.
I want to go buy a sticky square of a stamp and place it in the corner...
open the lid on a mailbox and stuff the envelope inside.

And then....just for fun, if I perhaps happen to come across a forlorn looking phone booth with a ratty old phone book hanging from a cord, I may just dig out a quarter and call someone. Just to hear a real voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND NOW....for the point in this post where IRONY and the fact of the matter comes out:

EMAIL me your address.
I would love to mail out some Christmas cards and I want to send you one.
I guess you could also text me with your address.....
Hey! You could also send me a DM on my Twitter account....

{There are so many means to stay connected, 
and yes, 
can be convenient and good.
I guess it's just the REALNESS I miss.}


Seriously....my email is dawnr@hotmail.ca
I would LOVE nothing better than to send you a card  through snail mail.
(That is.....if I remember how)
:)


~Linking with ~Ruby Tuesday~ over here....even though it's  a Thursday post:)

Friday, October 14, 2011

A week of Numbers

 Monday morning to this moment...has been an accumulative 109 hours and 18 minutes.


Training~wise... (as of this morning), I  have logged a total of 93km....on the bike, rowing machine, at the pool, and in my running shoes.


School with the kids....have covered 5 more lessons of math, 2 in spelling,  1 Science Unit, and a ton of writing in composition books.


Football practices....6 between the 2 boys, 3 games Saturday.


Bills paid....3. One more this afternoon.


Sleep....too little to mention.


Grocery trips...4.


A week full of numbers, hours, moments.


My favorite so far has been the number of these I made with 2 boys 4 days ago.
There are 0 left.


The number I consumed....will be the only number I don't share with you in this post;D


Have a Sweet Weekend....in all you have planned to do.

Or maybe....we should all just sit back and take a numberless weekend off!
I'm thinking of making another 18 of these anyway.
~~~

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Century + 2 of Living

Grandad passed away 2 days  ago- 
at 102 (and a 1/2) years old.

He drove until he was 95,
and lived on his own up until a year ago.

He lived a long life- was blessed with more time than the average person.
He lived through both World Wars~worked in the Navy and fought during WWII.
He gardened, traveled, knew how to fix or build anything.
He loved his flowers and enjoyed bird watching.
He married and had 3 children, which
 led to 6 Grand ~kids and 9 Great Grand~ kids.
~~~~~
I met him 16 years ago, but because he lived in England (half a world away from us), that was the one and only time I saw him.
Out of my 4 kids, only one was ever lucky enough to fly over and celebrate his 100th Birthday with him.
Yet we wrote back and forth.
He remembered us all on Birthdays, Anniversaries and Christmases.

For some unknown reason- I sent his Christmas letters from the kiddos over to him in November.
And HIS Christmas card to us, came just 2 weeks ago.
I am so thankful we didn't miss that last letter from him.
One we will keep forever.


~~~~~~

Isn't it amazing how many lives can be touched by one person?
The choices he made led us as a family - 
all up to this point in time.

Thank you for leaving us with such a great heritage Grandad.
You are missed by your family and those who knew you.
You were a Blessing to all of us.


Grandad
June 21, 1908 ~~~ December 7, 2010



Sunday, July 25, 2010

Day Trip~ to the Mountains and Beyond....

THE TRAVELLERS:   
My Friend and I


THE VIEW:


THE RIDE:


THE FINDS:
(plus: TURTLE andCaramel-Nut Cheesecake Fudge, Lemon Freckle Body Lotion, Silver Earrings, and a Pottery Baking Dish)

EVENTS of The Day included:

~dodging birds while driving (insert squeals of terror here)
~waiting in a line to get into the "famous" Farmers Market
~escaping GIGANTIC bugs during lunch while sitting on the patio (insert squeals of HORROR here)
~browsing and buying in unique shops along the boardwalk
~dodging gravel from impatient drivers while driving home (insert yells of frustration and disbelief here)
~lots of laughter
~consuming bagfuls of candy (confession: yours truly being the main consumer)
~more laughing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
it all made for a pretty good Saturday Adventure
Thanks B!

Monday, July 19, 2010

~Cherry Trip Run and Spit Pit Competition~

One of the main reasons for this trip, was to take part in the Cherry Trot Run~
a 4 mile race through the GreenBluff area just outside of Spokane.
It was a beautiful run over rolling hills.
If you managed to work your way out of the throng of the other 2000 runners,
you could take in the scenery surrounding you~ cherry orchards and other fruit farms...(which I am not familiar with....living in the prairies of Alberta). I thought it was beautiful!

It was definitely a "fun run".....not to be taken too seriously.
This is what led all us racers through the 4 miles....it took off before us after a gun was fired.
We followed a minute behind.
I never DID catch up to it though...so it must have been chuggin'!
(or maybe I just wasn't all that quick:)
~
Being Canadian -  we had to show our Home and Native Land roots.
Mom bought us Canadian "gear" before we left.
The band playing before the race even sang a line from our national
anthem as we walked to the Start Line.
We were feeling pretty patriotic :)
It was definitely a run I would do again.
(Made even better by the fact that I got to participate
with my 2 favorite people....)
~~~~~~
Team Canada
Yaaaay Team!
~~~~~~~~~

And the 2nd reason we went on this trip.....
to watch my sister compete in  THE PIT SPIT!
We watched her practice.
We gave tips and tricks we thought would help.
But when it came right down to the competition...she was amazing on her own!:)

Standing in line....we eyed the competition-
who to watch out for,
tricks she could use to Spit Pits farther than last years winner,
and even ways she could "warm up".
(note: the man in the red shirt below is stretching his tongue before his turn...:)
Finally her moment arrived.
She had 3 tries....
SHE HELD 1ST PLACE....
(for one hour and 15 minutes.)
Her distance: 26 feet- 2 inches.

And then....disaster.
Another Spit Contestant was up.....
and beat her distance by a mere 4 inches.
(sigh)
Maybe next year.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(think maybe we're a little too competitive...?)
:)


Sunday, July 18, 2010

~Our Cherry Trip~

Our Cherry Trip was wonderful.
My mom, sister, and I have had this planned for a year and so
we were really looking forward to this adventure.

Here's just some of our Cherry Trip....

(leaving early to start the 9 hour drive)
(stopping for lunch halfway through the day)

(we took turns grocery shopping and cooking each night)

(my favorite day....we stopped at a ton of fruit farms and antique stores.
We even picked ourselves cherris to snack on....)

(my favorite lunch by far...
cherries I picked along with a  Macadamian Nut Chocolate-Fudge Brownie.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's a lot more to share, but will save it for another day.
Now that I see it,
I want to go try creating that brownie I had on the trip....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~

Monday, July 12, 2010

Road Trip

It's HOLIDAY time!

I'm taking off for a week with 2 of my favorite people in the world.
My sister and mom and I have been planning a road trip for a long while now.
Driving down to Washington State in the RV, where we'll shop, rest, visit numerous cherry orchards, and end the week running a 4 mile race through a cherry orchard in the evening.

I never laugh so much as when we're all together.
They say laughter is like medicine....
Hoping to get a big dose of it this week!

~~~~~~

"It is good to have an end to journey towards,
but it is the journey that matters in the end."
~Ursula K. LeGuin

 

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Lobster Tale


yay! I have my Internet back.

This week took forever to get through.
But it's done....and now follows a hopefully quiet weekend.
ALL the guys in this house are away on their annual June camping weekend.
It's Molly and me. And quiet. And hardly any meals to make because we are planning easy things and maybe going out here and there:)
And.... we are attending an "80's party one night which we are really looking forward to!
(Does anyone out there have stirrup pants and leg warmers they want to lend out????)

On a different note...this week I was listening to a lady tell her story of a "Lobster-Fest" she and her family just had. Her brother-in-law actually shipped lobsters all the way out here from the east coast so they could partake in a lobster bake. Or whatever it's called.....a lobster feast?
I have no idea why ANYONE would think that would be something to enjoy.
(Sorry for those of you who love lobster and lobster "eating's".)
But I STILL have nightmares on the one and only time I ever tried a lobster.

It was almost 2 years ago and Molly and I were touring out in the Prince Edward Island side of Canada. Of course because I was there, I felt I should really try out the lobster everyone there said was so wonderful and "locally brought in". Lobster is just part of the east coast.

One of my motto's in life is; if you have the opportunity to try something new....do!
So I did.
With Molly looking on, (and her camera), I braved the unknown and ordered the Lobster Special. (Special?)
I know, I know, it's just a lobster for crying out loud!
But I am the person who, when I see a stray lobster washed up on the beach (as I had the morning of this particular day), I carefully try to maneuver the poor little guy back into the ocean so as to save its life. And I don't touch it with my hands. Nope. I use a stick to prod it all the way back to the water.
That's me. I can't even touch the guy.
So WHY do I order the Lobster Special?

It's new, and I am in P.E.I., and I have to experience the experience.

As soon as it was brought to me, I cringed.
It smelled. Bad.

I may look calm here but my heart was racing. I had just spent a HUGE amount of money on a meal I didn't even want to touch, and was holding my breath so as not to smell the thing on my plate.

I had NO IDEA how to eat it. Where was the "food" in this thing?
I thought lobster was something everyone enjoyed. I thought it was "fancy".
But here I was, wearing a plastic bib no less, trying to pry my "food" apart.


Within just a few minutes I came to the realization I had just spent too much money on something I COULD NOT eat. It was horrid.

I guess the thing was kind of cute.
But one does not eat cute things!

I at least can say I had the experience...but not one I would like to repeat.
~~~
This "story" has nothing to do with anything.
It was just something I was reminded of while I listened to the lady talk about her family's Lobster Time and how much fun they all had with it.

I don't think I could ever do that again.
But I did live through the experience of it.
Sorry to those of you who actually like lobster....
but I have to agree with those of you who don't!
Lobsters belong in the sea:)


Happy weekend to all of you:)
Never say no to something new and adventurous...unless it's the lobster.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Memory Pics

HELLO!
I wasn't planning to post for a bit yet...but, as our "Memory Making Time" took us in to places we never really planned on and resulted in almost 700 pictures- I couldn't let them go to waste!
Besides....as I won't be seeing some of you in the very near future...I thought I would share where our travels took us!
Soooo....for the brave, here's a VERY short version of our VERY spontaneous and truly Memorable time we had together:

Just some of the places we ventured.....


And then of course there were the people we shared this time with.....





And then there were some of the things we did:

Ocean Exploration



Lots (too much) eating....




Land and Water Sports

Well if you made it THIS far I am sure you need a break!
The sights we saw will have to wait for
another post.....if you dare come back to peek:)

I Hope your day is Happy today!
Can't wait to hear from all of you...it is good to be home where
heart and friends and (the rest of) family are!