A personal blog that started about the experience with Canadian Immigration and the wait to bridge the gap between two in Love. An American and Canadian that were trying to finally be together once and for all!! After 360 days, Furman was granted Permanent Residency in Canada. Now, we are getting Furman settled here. He is home! Now, the road to Dual Citizenship.
So.... Here I am in Miami Florida with my husband and mother in law. She had no clue that I was arriving.... On her birthday. Now how nice is that? Lol. She was surprised, which is exactly what I wanted. It's a nice feeling when your attendance can be a gift in itself. And, we topped off the evening with a nice dinner. I am sooo full now it's disgusting. Lol
Remember this classic? Comes to mind.
Sooo happy to see my husband again.
On that note.... I'm off to make up for lost time. Missed my husband so much and love hanging out with my mother inlaw. Love her so much. I gotta watch my waistline while i'm here. Lol She loves to cook. In fact, she just likes doing things for those she loves. In many ways, she reminds me of my own mother. Now I've got two.
Happy I was able to make her happy today. It was definitely a nice surprise.
Completed the Oasis Zoo Run 10k with a chip time of 1:10:52 I might add. Not my best time but considering I've been lazy with the training lately, and that my biggest supporter couldn't be there.... I did pretty good. I got it done! It was a very nice route, even in the drizzling rain. Yup...at least it wasn't pouring. At times it was as if I was really running through the rain forest. Very beautiful. I definitely want to get back to the Zoo for a visit to really check the place out. Naturally, running through it, I didn't get to see too much. When the race ended, I was too exhausted to stick around and take advantage of my tour opportunity. That, would be like completing a half marathon and I wasn't ready for that. Oh no....my legs felt like rubber and my feet were sore. lol
The Zoo will have to wait.
On that note....that was my last scheduled run for the year. Thank goodness. It's starting to get a bit cold outside. Mind you, i'd be open to travelling somewhere warm to run. lol I'm just saying.
A look back, I completed this year: Starbucks Women's Run 10k Spartan Sprint Mud Hero Oasis Zoo Run
Not bad I'd say. My goal now...to maybe be able to complete my first Half Marathon for 2013. Right now, just a thought. lol But, with my legs still sore from the run...i'll move off of that thought for a while. lol
This weekend also, I attended my very first Cedarview Marrieds Social. Thankful to the couple that held the social at their home that gave us the opportunity we received. Had a nice time, met some great people. We had a great bonfire burning and a table full of snacks and stuff to make smores. What's a bonfire without smores right? Now, I can say that I've been to Pefferlaw and that I have milked a goat too. No..seriously. lol Don't have any photos to share though. lol But I did it...I really did. It was quite the experience. Makes me wonder now if milking a cow would be easier or more difficult. lol That poor goat must have felt violated after a while. Our leader was the first that said he would be interested in learning how to do it. I followed. Why not? I'm always up for trying something new. Next thing you know...almost all of us took a turn. That's why I say the goat must have felt violated...lol All those different hands on her. If I knew i'd be attempting to milk a goat though, I might have done a bit of research first. lol So..for your instructional purposes...I've decided to share a Youtube video that I found that clearly would have helped me but shows what I actually learned to do and did.. lol
Anyways...had a pretty good weekend i'd say. Now..I've got a bunch of things to do to prepare to surprise someone very special. Can't say any more than that, other than that I am very excited. This week is going to be an absolutely awesome one and i'll praise God for bringing me to it.
On that note, i'll bid adieu.
I got things to do. Today is ONE OF THOSE DAYS!
RIP Whitney Houston
Hope you all had an awesome and blessed weekend and are ready for a wonderful week.
I don't do Twitter but do listen to Joyce Meyer Podcasts. lol
I saw this funny and just had to share. lol
After all, the reason why I started this blog, as recommended, was to keep those that were interested informed of what's going on...lol Just like the funny said. Someone recently said to me: "A lot of ppl enjoy reading your drama because it takes away from their own problems, not because they actually care. kind of like why ppl like to watch soap operas." LMAO I think this is awesome personally. Why people read my blog doesn't matter. If I can make someone smile or raise an eyebrow and take their minds off their own issues then I'm happy. You don't have to care about what you've been reading. Hell no. Hey...reading my posts may just be satisfying your boredom. lol It's all good. Keep reading. I'll admit, sometimes I write because I'm bored myself. hahaha I also like reading other people's blogs and appreciating the time that they've taken to write them. I've even already been asked about what will happen to this blog when we are completed with Immigration and Furman is home. New Blog? Maybe. Hmmm?
Update on Immigration - NONE! Yup...we are still waiting to hear something. Not a peep!
Anyways....for those that care, I apologize for not returning with an update to my Discipleship Class that I started at church. Family Matters - Conflict. I don't have one. Unfortunately I had a CONFLICT that I had to deal with that resulted in my missing the class completely. I was soo upset because I had been looking forward to the class all week. Now, I wont be able to catch up until after Thanksgiving. Thankfully our class leader has advised that he can let me borrow the DVD. Looking forward to that. The class I missed was ESCAPING CONFLICT. Too funny considering that while that class was going on I was taking care of conflict I would have loved to escape from. lol It's all good now though. It always is...because God is just that good.
Moxie's White Chocolate Brownie
Last evening we celebrated my son's 23rd birthday with dinner at Moxies. Had a nice evening too. On one end of the restaurant my son, daughter and I had a nice dinner while at the other end of the restaurant a few of my sons friends were having a drink themselves. lol It was real nice having this quality time with my son and daughter. Really nice. I had a toast with my son raising my appletini and the three of us shared Moxie's ever so popular white chocolate brownie. After dinner, we crashed his friends' booth by squeezing ourselves in to join them for a bit and took a few pictures before parting ways for the evening.
Tonight, I have to do it all over again. lol Well, not exactly, but close enough. I get to have dinner with a dear friend that I haven't seen in ages. Doesn't matter how much time passes with some people...you know you will always be friends. Wonderful lady with a great big heart. Note to self...Eat Pasta. I have my 10k run tomorrow morning remember? Bib#3385!! So, I have to make it an early night. I really do. I've lost out on a lot of sleep this week and need to catch up on some of that. My shows will just have to wait.
Anyways.. Happy Friday to everyone..and have an awesome weekend.
Still missing my Furman...but I will be seeing him real real soon.
Wish me luck on the run tomorrow.
What an awesome start to a busy week. I had to blog again because this never happens to me. For my regular blog readers you may have remembered that I mentioned a few times about my going to play Bingo with my mom and auntie. So, I had to come back to tell you that I finally played BINGO and Won! Lol. In fact, I won a couple times in the same session. Total winnings....$1050. Woo hoo! I can't say that I broke even winning a return of all the money I've spent because I don't go to Bingo that much so haven't spent that much. This means I'm ahead. Yay! Mom and my auntie are regular players. So, I go on occasion to hang with them. Winning.... Is just a bonus. And, that is exactly what I did. After all, if you go on the right evenings, you can play a 6 strip for only $6. Seriously! Dolphin Bingo
Double Action
My first win was a $50 jackpot from a game called Double Action. The card has two different numbers in the same square and you are supposed to get two lines of Bingo to win. See my winning card. Lol When I called Bingo for this one, I don't think I was loud enough so my auntie backed me up to make sure they heard. lmao Mind you...it took forever for them to come and give me my winnings. A lady at the end of the table was getting worried for me. I wasn't worried though. I was with my auntie who knows almost everyone there. She knew I wasn't leaving that place without that $50. hahahaha I sent Furman a text message right away. Oh, and updated my Facebook status of course. Told him it was only $50, but he didn't care. lol Said a win is a win!
Final Jackpot
My second win was from the Final Jackpot. Gee... I had claimed earlier when I won that I was just getting warmed up. Hahaha. Guess I wasn't lying. After several games and witnessing someone win a $10,000 jackpot, it was down to the Final Jackpot game for me. Played my numbers trying to get a full card. Then the numbers I needed started coming out one after the other almost like they did for my Double Action win. Next thing I knew... I needed two numbers. N44 and I22. My table was put on high alert. Lol. Out came N44. Woo hoo! Excitement was kicking in. But like I said... I never win so wasn't really expecting to. It just would have been real nice. Auntie tapped the table or something with her dabber and scared the crap out of an Asian lady that sat in the corner seat. Lol We chuckled as she apologized for scaring the lady and explained that that was her way of calling out the number that was needed. Hahaha. But hey... It worked because on the tv screen was I22 and I couldn't wait for him to call it. Now, rules are you can't yell Bingo until after your last number needed is called. But, you know your next number because you get to preview and dab it as it is shown on a tv screen when it comes from the machine. Lol That's how you keep up with the game. My auntie knew I had this one under control. Lol She didn't need to help me out by yelling Bingo. Oh yeah... I had it all right. BINGO!, I yelled. Threw my hands up in the air. Lol. Yup... Everybody knew I was new. Lol And... That I was now a $1000 richer. (Cheesing.. Lol)
Now...important to know. There are certain things that you are supposed to do when you win Bingo. Like....tip out the Caller. That's the guy that called the numbers. Oh...and tip out the Runner. The person that was on the floor that ran to your table and called back your winning card for verification. Those are standard rules apparently. lol Don't do it, they'll talk about you!! lol Oh...and if you go to Bingo with people...you are supposed to give them something too. How much? I have no clue. But, something. And, I did of course. Besides...it's a nice thing to do...so why not? One thing I will say though....is don't get suckered into giving over half of your winnings. Seriously! Not unless you've made that arrangement ahead of time. Some people do that. They win and automatically give half to the other person they went with. It's a nice thing to do because either way you are still a winner. But, it's not a rule! lol So...if you are going with people...get the expectations sorted out ahead of time. lol Cause they'll talk about ya if you don't! lol These are the few things that I have picked up from all my Bingo experiences and things I've been told. If I am missing anything...enlighten me please. Most of my Bingo experiences have been from actually working. I used to be a runner at Delta Bingo to help out my old high school that was one of the charities. And, I used to help out the baton club my daughter used to attend that was also a charity at Bingo World, selling the cards. Charities get a cut of something to help out their associations. Great way to help cut costs to parents for clubs and stuff.
Anyways...enough talk about Bingo for now because this could go on if we start getting into why people shouldn't be playing it for money, etc., etc. To me, to each his own. I won't judge. I know for seniors it definitely keeps the mind sharp. It's just sad to see how much money is spent by those that really can't afford it...like my mom. But, it's what she likes to do and I certainly would never try to take that from her. Besides, when I can't find her...I know where she is. hahahaha That's why I take advantage of the opportunity to do something that both her and my auntie like to do...and play with them. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!! lol And no...i'm not literally calling my mom and auntie birds. lol I'm just trying to be funny. You know the saying. lol Don't act like you don't.
I've started my countdown to when I will get to see my hubby again! This is the last stretch!!
I wont say more than that because we have a surprise in store for my arrival.
Moving right along....
Had a nice weekend that started with hanging out with my auntie and mom again. Man....Auntie hooked me up! She came to Bingo as she often does...with food! lol Her home made egg rolls are da bomb! She makes these veggie ones that I like that are nice and spicy. She came with a tray of them. It was funny watching those that can handle the spice make sure and get their spicy snack. lol The rest...went home with me!
The remainder of my weekend was a movie marathon of which there were a few movies that I felt just totally weren't even worth my time. An hour and a half of time that I will never get back. lol Oh well.
I must say though...that the highlight of my weekend was actually having brunch with my son. That came about after he noticed that I had changed my Facebook profile picture to be one of the both of us. I did that in honor of his 23rd birthday that he will be celebrating this week. My how time flies! So, when he offered to take me to breakfast....I jumped at that. Oh yeah. It may not seem like much but when your kids gets older and spending time with them is not something you do on the regular, you really get to appreciate what you get. We went to a place called Eggsmart. They seem to be popping up all over the place I notice. I'm more of a Cora's girl but Eggsmart was ok. It reminded me a bit of those off the highway diners you see truckers stop at on television. lol Breakfast is served all day, and it wasn't bad. Not as fruity as Cora's. lmao. I had a spinach omelet with feta cheese. Mmmm. The service though...at least at the one we went to...was horrible.
Another countdown i'm on....the countdown to my Zoo Run. Yup...10k this weekend! This is the last stretch!! I'm not feeling as prepared as I usually am though. My training hasn't been as intense. Call it laziness! But, i'll get it done! I'm looking forward to the bling. Wish my hubby was there though. My absolute best run so far was the Toronto Yonge St 10k that he actually ran with me. lol I had something to prove to him as well as myself. At least I thought so. And..I did it. Ran the whole thing without stopping and almost passed out at the finish. lol This one...I dunno. We'll see. He'll be with me in spirit. You know what though....i'll get to see some animals hopefully. Yay. I haven't been to the Toronto Zoo since my kids were small.
Hope the 2012 one is as nice.
.
This is supposed to be one of the most scenic runs in Toronto. So, i'm looking forward to it.
Ready or not...here I come! lol
So...this week should be a pretty busy one for me starting with another hang out night with mom and auntie. Mom called me bright and early this morning to make sure I was still coming. lmao The only night when I don't really have plans is Thursday. lol Guess I will use that one to pick up my Race Kit and try to run any other errands I might have in preparation for my upcoming travels. Shhh.
Oh...and I have my First Anniversary coming up!! Woo Hoo!! We are at 11 months, 1 week and 4 days being married. You know..in case you haven't noticed the ticker at the top of my blog. hahaha
I'm not sure exactly what we are doing although I have an idea based on what we discussed. All I know is that there is something that I want to get for my husband that I gotta get out there and find. I hate shopping. Wish me luck.
Have an awesome week people!
I'll end on a song that I was introduced to last week that I absolutely love!!
Well, I've been thinking for some time now that it would be nice to get to know some more people from my church, my neighborhood. So, I decided that I would start getting involved in the Married's Ministries. It seems that aside from some awesome lessons, that they do some really neat and fun stuff too. In fact, after my upcoming Zoo Run I will be attending my first Married's Social, although I will be solo since Furman is still in Miami. That's ok though. It allows me an opportunity to meet some neat people and warn them about my crazy and fun loving husband. hahaha Jk Jk
Anyways....I got a PVR at home that is set to record all the awesome shows that I like to watch. That being said, there really is no good reason why I can't go to church to learn more about Gods Word and socialize with some awesome people. So, that's what I did.
Wednesday evening before class the church serves "Supper at Cedarview". I went for that. All the tables are set up in the gym. Yes...my church has a gym. Something that amazed me when I first started going there. For some of you, that may be no big deal. lol But how like a school is that? We've got classrooms and everything. A great learning environment with great teachers. Teach? That is certainly what they do!
Anyways, as I was saying, the Supper is an awesome opportunity to meet other members of the church and introduce those that may be new. Like our class leader said last evening in class, sometimes you can meet people that have been going to the church for like 20yrs and you may have never seen them because the church is so big. Now you see....there are other benefits to going to the Supper and Discipleship Classes than hearing God's Word, although that is the absolute best part.
My Wednesday Core Group Class: I will certainly be looking him up on YouTube.
Here are my Study Notes:
(sorry they weren't that neat as I never thought about sharing them till after).
Hopefully you can get the gist of our lesson which was basically the first part of this DVD series.
FAMILY CONFLICT. Boy...what a way to start! Next Lesson...ESCAPING CONFLICT. You know i'll be back! lol Notice how the Bible verses are soo relevant to yesterday, today and tomorrow. Over the next several weeks we are watching the DVD series in parts and discussing in class, which leads to some interesting and insightful conversation I am. I had to laugh a few times because listening to my class leader was almost like listening to my husband. Who knew? lol
But yeah...I'm really seeing why we are supposed to turn to God's Word for everything. It's all in there! No wonder the Bible is called the Greatest Book of All Time!
In class...big focus on pondering before you do or say things to avoid conflict. (Prov 4:26).
While everyone was talking about and/or giving examples of how people create conflict by not pondering at all or enough, I was thinking "I certainly don't have that problem". lol In fact, my problem has always been pondering too much. Seriously! I have a degree in Psychology/Sociology which I blame totally for my overthinking. hahaha And, I've never been a confrontational person so I ponder a lot about the outcome of things, why there is a conflict in the first place and make a decision about whether it's important enough to discuss. Yeah..I choose my battles for the most part. As a result, I'll keep things to myself and then blow up. How many of us do that? But luckily, very few people have been at the end of that one. Always working on becoming a better person. I already understand how my habit of pondering too much can also create conflict. Furman never likes when I'm thinking too much. lol
In Wednesdays lesson I didn't have to reflect on any conflict with my hubby because Furman and I are very good at being on the same page. He knows me like nobody ever has. The kids...well we handle conflict ok as long as there is two way communication which is what I always try to teach my kids. Why is there a conflict? What can we do to fix it? Valuable questions!! So, in relation to the lesson, I could only think of conflict that I have with people outside of my home. Conflict that seems never ending. These Bible verses certainly apply and had me thinking. James MacDonald said, sometimes family will say hurtful things that others would never say. (Prov 26:21) He ain't lyin! Right in the Bible....adding fuel to the fire. Anyone innocent of this one? Oh...and I know there are many other verses he didn't mention that also relate. (Prov 18:19) That's me, the offended! I know personally how much negative conflict can build barriers and that by not measuring our words conflict is not easily fixed. Horrible things said can never be taken back. Thank God for me, any conflict I have with anyone is not in my household. (Prov 11:29) That being said, the attitude toward fixing the conflict is completely different. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be fixed, it's just not high on the list of priorities if on the list at all. Given to God.
All in all...It was an awesome class. I'm so glad I went and like I said, looking forward to the next class. I'm already trying to figure out how to get caught up on the classes I'll miss when I'm out of town for our First Anniversary. Lol
Oh... And I started studying the book by Joyce Meyers BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND yesterday too. Bought it when I went to her conference last year but while I started it, I never finished. Hmmmm? Wonder why? I guess I just wasn't ready. Now, I have a study guide to assist (someone at work gave me) so I picked it up again and this time dove right in. I am hearing lots of great things about this book so really looking forward to getting through it. I've already read about our Strongholds, identified some of my own, and how we need to use the Word of God to tear them down. Yup...the Mind is definitely a Battlefield. The Devil is a liar!
I'll follow up to share what else i've learned either from class or this book. After all, if it can help me...i'm sure it can also help you.
Hope you are having a great week.
The weekend is just around the corner!
No updates from Immigration.
I'm sure the whole world knows that today is the anniversary of September 11th.
Such a horrible tragedy that Alan Jackson captured in this song written shortly after.
This is something that will forever be remembered much like the assassination of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr or even the death of Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston for some.
It's just one of those things where you can recall where you were when you first heard the news.
Yet, none of these events can compare to the tragedy of September 11th, 2001.
For me....while I thankfully never lost any loved ones, the event hit real close to home.
Myself and a girlfriend had just returned from an awesome extended long weekend in NYC.
We were just there!
It was just after getting to our desks that morning following our return that we heard the news. Almost the entire office was on their feet to pass along the information in shock. Not sure whether to believe or not. People had logged onto the internet to get live feeds of what was happening.
It was crazy!
I'm sure all of our hearts were breaking for this horrible tragedy. Several of us were in tears. In fact, it was while logged onto the internet at work that many of us witnessed the live feed of that second plane hitting the South Tower of the World Trade Center. It was absolutely horrifying.
Like many others, I was shaken. I was just there the day before!
Then...came the "What Ifs?"
While I may not have had family in NYC to worry about, I had a dear friend that I was now desperately trying to confirm was ok. A friend I had never physically met, but that had been a friend for years via online and telephone communication. Even though I had just been in NYC our paths kept missing each other as we tried to arrange our first meeting. Thoughts also drifted to a man that my girlfriend and I had met in NYC that had taken us on a party cruise. We met him down at the Pier when finding out that our hotel had shafted us on tickets we purchased for the event. This man heard our complaints and stepped in to help just because we were cute, I guess. He had no affiliation with the hotel or with the party cruise and was just being nice. Maybe he thought he was going to get lucky. (Which he didn't..lol) Who knows? Nevertheless, he helped us get on this cruise where we had a great time touring the harbor and learned that he worked on like floor 101 of the World Trade Center. A building we hadn't gotten a chance to really check out on our weekend visit, but actually considered playing hookie from work another day to do so, and more. lol We didn't. Now, it's a building that we will never see outside of the many many photos of it before and after it's fall.
So, in hearing of this crazy act of terrorism my heart broke knowing that I would never find out if this friendly stranger survived or not. But...I had to find out about my friend!! I didn't have a whole lot of options to reach him but I certainly tried every one I did have until I got an answer. He was ok, thank God, but had quite a story to share and a few photos because he was too close for comfort.
As a result, he was full of soot.
But he was ok!!
Today, these are all memories.
We think about all the lives lost and the families that lost loved ones. We think about all those who demonstrated kindness beyond measure and risked and/or lost their own lives to save others. We think about those first responders and all those that now suffer health issues as a result of being there and doing whatever they could. We think about the never ending quest for justice. But, we also think about those that were supposed to be there and for one reason or another were not. Thank God. And, what about those unaccounted for? Last I read there was about 1000! Sad, Sad, Sad.
15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. (Zephaniah 1:15,16)
- A reminder that the words of Scripture are eternally relevant.
I just wanted to write this post to share my own experience of 9/11, what I think about every year.
For my friend that was safe, 11 years later we STILL haven't met in person. hahahaha But, we still call each other friends. He was there to support me when someone I liked from his hometown wasn't treating me right many years ago. He was also there to congratulate me when I finally married Mr Right! Remember, I've still never met him but he was there as a friend....an online message and/or phone call away. And on this day every year, he re-posts a "Thank You" that tells a bit of his experience that day and makes mention to ME and my hunt to confirm his safety.
Makes me smile as I remember.
(I've removed my name since I'm now Mrs White and the name of the other person mentioned from his post.)
Thank you back dear friend for your friendship over the many years.
Well, I've been getting caught up on my movies all weekend and I took a moment to reflect upon a time when I actually got to be in one. lol Seriously.
Stepping Out with Liza Minnelli, Shelley Winters and Andrea Martin. Yup...a movie I will never forget.
It was my first and only experience in being an Extra. In fact, I ended up being called a Special Skills Extra. lol Naw...I didn't have any special skills but here is what happened.
I don't even remember why I was trying to be an Extra, it was so long ago. But, I do remember being at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto for a week on set. The release date of the movie says 1991 so I'll figure my experience was about a year earlier. That would make me about 20 yrs old. Lol
Elgin Theatre is where the movie was actually filmed and first time I had been in there. I remember hanging out in a room with others in the lower level of the theatre waiting to hopefully be called to be used in a scene. Others, not meaning friends. I was always solo for some reason. While waiting, I had a book. In fact, I think it may have even been a binder of homework as I was either in College or University at the time. I went to both. Maybe I went to the Elgin after school? Details are foggy. Well, while my attention may have been in my book or papers, they didn't have my full attention. Smh. I say this because I was able to overhear a conversation between a few of the production people. A conversation that let me know that they needed someone to play a role they either hadn't filled or needed a replacement for. In fact, they needed a black girl and there were only a few of us in the room. Well, that just had me start doing stuff like ruffling the pages in my book to draw attention to myself. Lmao. Yeah yeah.. I thought I was pretty clever. It worked though. It sure did. They looked at me and then looked at me some more. Next thing I knew they were having a conversation with me about my availability and such. I was in. They had me be the daughter of the actress Carol Woods. That turned out to be awesome because I got to hang out with the guy that was playing my brother and was quite cute I might add. Think he was another Special Skills Extra although he did his best to act like he was Somebody. You know..an important actor. lmao I don't really know about being an Extra so i'm not really sure why I was considered a Special Skills Extra as opposed to a regular Extra. But, it gave me a bump in pay and required me to hang around on set for more days then the regular extras which was definitely fine with me. After it was all said and done, I was able to buy my very first leather jacket with the money I made over the week. In those days and at that age, that was something. Trust me.
I haven't watched this movie in years so I can't really tell you where you might find me or if you'd really be able to even recognize me much at all. hahahahaha But, I do remember a scene where we were all in the room for like a cocktail party or something. I was also in another scene where my mom (Carol Woods) was dancing in the kitchen or somewhere and I peeked around the door with the rest of the family to get a look at what she was doing. Yeah....All I can remember. Yet, the few scenes that I was in took about a week of hanging around on set getting paid. Oh..and I remember that there was a lot of food I got to pick at. Boring stuff i'll say. Lots of waiting, hanging out and flirting with the cute brother. lol I remember being attracted to this guys light brown eyes only to catch him off guard at one point when he had lost a contact lens. WTH? Yup...he tried to keep his face turned from me as he put it back in, but I ended up seeing his face with one light brown eye and one dark. That was sure an eye opener. hahaha It was too funny! Many years ago or not, some things you never forget. hahahaha
Oh....and I got to experience the celebrity snobbery! Oh yeah. First hand. I was around the "I'm better than you" attitude. Will never forget it. Was definitely not a fan of Andrea Martin or Liza Minnelli after that experience. lol But the overall experience was a good one, just not something I looked at doing again. It's just nice to be able to say that it was something I did.
I was more interested in modelling in those days.
In fact, I was once a participant/finalist in the Miss Toronto Pageant. No lies. Got pictures.
That's another story. lol
I know there are several people that might read this and think that Yeah, I am. Lol. (So i'm told) But, they wouldn't be referring to what I am talking about. Nope, they are probably thinking more along the lines of Sharon Newman going to Fairview Psychiatric Hospital on the Young & The Restless. Lol.
Well... They are wrong. Far from it. Hahaha.
Now I may need to be certified if some people keep doing and/or not doing certain things that I ask them to do/not to. Ugh! Bahaha For real though.
But seriously... Today I got officially certified to perform First Aid/CPR by Rescue 7. And, learned how to use a defibrillator should there be one available to use. Thanks, to the company I work for. Interesting stuff. It was really just a refresher/crash course. I had taken a more extensive First Aid Course, thanks to my same company, many many years ago given by St John Ambulance. However, you are supposed to take a refresher apparently every few years. That...I didn't do. So, i'm happy that I got one today. A requirement of my now being a part of our Health and Safety team in the office.
God forbid I ever have to use what I learned today. I've been lucky to have never been placed in a position to have to use my old training. Like the instructor said though , its something you learn that you hopefully will NEVER have to use. That would be just fine with me. While I may now be trained, i'm not sure exactly how I would react in an emergency that might require life saving efforts. Ie. Heart Attack, Choking, etc. Especially alone. Furman seems to know though. He knows me. I certainly don't want to have to ever prove him right or wrong. At the same time, i'm sure that God would be right there with me if I had to take action.
Now, should there be a situation that involves lots of blood? I'm sorry, trained or not, I don't do well with blood. lol In fact, there was a time I cut my index finger washing a glass in the kitchen sink. It sliced my finger pretty good. I still have the scar. Anyways, the cut was deeper than I've ever had, and my first instinct was to go into the bathroom and run some water over the cut so I could bandage it up. Well the water started to wash some of the blood away so I could get a good look at the cut. While it was still bleeding,...I think shock kicked in. My legs started to get all wobbly and I started to sweat real hard as I got light headed. If I remember correctly, I might have been captured by someone else coming to aid me as I was ready to pass out. lol It could have been bad. I ended up sitting on the floor holding my bleeding finger while getting myself together to go to the hospital. In hindsight, it really wasn't that bad. I'm not sure why I got soo woosey. I can laugh about it now but it wasn't funny at the time. Just makes me wonder what my reaction would have been if it had been worse than a decent finger cut. I did end up getting a few stitches though. But no, I didn't take an ambulance to the hospital. hahahaha
Thank God my children weren't the rough and tumble type. Then again, maybe that would have helped me build a tolerance to stuff like blood and vomit. Oh well, today was a good day. Always love learning new stuff.
After all, you just never know when you may be in the right time at the right place. God willing. Or maybe I should say God forbid? I'm just happy that I've learned something that can help someone else. Now...let me go study this book so that I can learn some other stuff that wasn't covered in class.
Ok Ok.....This is a first....I have never made two posts in one day but I am doing a bit of a happy dance here and have to tell ya the news. GOOD NEWS!!
We received your application for permanent residence on January 31, 2012.
We started processing your application on August 31, 2012.
We are finally.......IN PROCESS!!
Status of your application
Explanation
IN PROCESS (A decision has not been made yet.)
Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgement letter. Documentation Verified by CIC We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission. An Interview May be Required We will review the application and decide if an interview is necessary. If so, we will inform you in writing of the date, time and location of the interview.
Did you see that?
I tried to make sure you didn't miss it. lol
Man oh man. Music to my ears. I told you these Immigration Workers have gone back to work after summer holidays. lol We are finally seeing some progress. It may not be a whole lot...but it's something more than we had. I was getting tired of seeing Application Received. Hmmm....wonder how long it will take now?
After the weekend I had....this is exactly what I needed. God is good man! He is soo good.
Love and thanks out to one of my cousins too that sent me some gospel tunes this weekend out of the blue. Just because. That's just how God works. He knew what I needed and put it in someone's heart to send me something. Always on time.
Let me tell you that the drama never ends. Lol. One thing I learned. Sadly. My previous blog Family Reunion and/or seeing me just resulted in a whole lot of mess. Was what I wrote that bad? I didn't think so.
A good evening tarnished. I shouldn't have been surprised because I got what I was told I was going to get in the first place, just not in person. My hubby is always right! Unfortunately I couldn't share the comments because they were way too personal and inappropriate. They have nothing to do with my blog post. I say "they" because there were a couple from the same person. I guess one wasn't good enough. Trust me, I would have loved to share at least one of them so that people could see exactly what I was dealing with. Maybe when future comments are kept more relevant to the blog posts I can put them up. Oh, and let me mention the good (I think..lol), the messages were followed up with a phone call for the first time. Not sure why because nothing good came out of that either. Certainly not after the messages received. Makes me wonder why people do things sometimes? lol But, I wasn't the only one on the chopping block. The drama had to be shared with another person. Smh. I know we should share the LOVE but Where Is The Love?. Was there a full moon on the weekend? Lol. I'll have to google that. Had to go back to using Facebook BLOCKING because some people just aren't ready yet. Just sucks because we really shouldn't have to block people. Not being a Facebook Friend should be enough. Apparently it isn't. I know, I know..lesson learned...I should have never unblocked in the first place. Always got to look for the lesson in things. What was I thinking?
So yeah...it really was a long weekend with some time that was clearly wasted. Suffered a few migraines. Had a great moment on the phone with my mom though. It was the first time I remember in a long time actually having a real mom and daughter talk. (Like talking to mom about boys..lol) I've always tried to protect and not trouble my mom with certain things but talking to her after the drama started felt awesome. She had all the right things to say and gave great advice. What a moment! I thanked her for what she did because I know my moms heart. At the same time, she promised not to do it again. I made her! lol So she laughed and promised. Like I said, some people just aren't ready yet. lol I can't take the foolishness!!
But you know what.....I caught a No Frills $1, $2 and $3 Sale. Mannnn! I love those. The place was packed. It seems that after church several of us have the same idea of heading to the No Frills nearby because I am always running into fellow parishioners. lol I hadn't gone shopping since Furman left so I was due. Many people know that I hate shopping. I can never follow a list and always pick up way more than I need. I hate the crowd. My cousin says that shopping makes her feel better sometimes. lol I don't see it. I really don't. Is it the act of shopping that's the feel good or the actual purchase of something new? Hmmm. I might have to try that just once. Wouldn't want it to be a habit though. That could get expensive. But, I actually know that my husband would love for me to go out and pamper myself with some new items. lol I see the mall in my future.
I'm really missing my husband though. Lonely Without Furman.
It's going to be a long three weeks.
Have no plans for the week other than working and working out. Oh...and a night of Bingo with mom. Can't wait to see her and give her a big hug! In fact, I think I need to make sure and see my auntie this week too. I think she deserves a hug. lol
Anyways....I hope everyone had a better weekend than I did and is ready for an even better week.
Like I said before...that's how good God is...we always get a new day, a new week, a new month, a new year....it's just never promised to us.
Remember....kids are back to school.
Keep those eyes open on the roads.
We all love our children.
I spent the evening at The Ex with my mom AND sister. Yup!
I know those who know that my sister and I haven't had a relationship in years are shaking their heads right now wondering WTH?
Well let me tell you how it came about. lol
My mom's doing of course.
Last weekend when I spoke to mom she mentioned that her and my sister were planning on going to The Ex today and she asked me if I would come.
"Sure!" I answered her. Let me tell you, even she was shocked.
"Really?" she asked me.
All I could do was laugh and respond, "Of course".
I wasn't going to allow any issues with my sister keep me from hanging out with my mom, even if it meant hanging out with her too. Nope..I love my mom that much. Certainly we could be civil to each other for a day. After all, I do love my sister. She's my sister. So...that was the plan. Only thing was, my sister had no clue! Nope. Mom didn't let her know that I was part of the plan until earlier today. It was quite funny actually. Mom had been laughing about her trickery with someone at Bingo last evening. (You know, the fact that my sister didn't know.) Finding that out today was enough to let me know that mom was definitely plotting! lol It's all good. Mom always has good intentions. I think my sister was worried though. Right after she heard the news she sent me a text message to let me know she was going to be there because she figured I didn't know. She figured wrong. I guess she didn't want to take moms word for it that I knew. I knew alright. Her text surprised me actually. I had a little chuckle. Didn't know she even had my cellphone number anymore. Besides, I figured that she'd probably get a heads up from Facebook sometime in the week about my going. But, I was wrong there. lol
So...a date with my mom and sister it was. Let the awkwardness begin!
I went down to mom's house early to hang out with her, just the two of us. Went to lunch and walked around for a bit and then mom took a nap before my sister arrived. We both parked our cars and we all took transit together. I wasn't anticipating any issues with my sister. I really wasn't. (After all, people are one way behind a keyboard and another way in person). In fact, it went almost exactly as I expected it would. Both having separate conversations with mom but no conversations about anything with each other. How awkward is that? lol It wasn't that bad though. (I had others saying prayers for us..lol) We had some interaction with each other as we walked through the CNE grounds. Questions asked and answered about where to walk, etc. That's it really. Nothing personal, which suited me just fine. (Told ya Furman) Within the first 30 minutes of being there mom found her Bingo. She didn't play too much though. A few Bingo games, a few Crown and Anchor and Horseraces, but we mostly just walked around. We did stop at one point and share some laughs as we took some photos. Well, mom decided to wander off all of a sudden to stop by a tree and start posing. My sister and I looked at each other wondering WTH? Then we started laughing and both pulled out our camera phones. "Ok..she wants some pictures". Referring to mom. At a another point mom heard some music and even started to dance...we weren't quick enough with the camera's that time.
I had to share this photo that we took because the people in the background were cracking me up. They were having a picnic in the parking lot on the concrete. Seriously! Now, for those that have seen the original picture please forgive the omission of my sister. I didn't do that out of malice or anything. I'm just not trying to have certain people's photos in my blog without permission. Like there isn't enough drama between us already. That's all. But I wanted to show the photo.
My sister and my mom got a nice photo together where they were both trying to look all vogue and then the three of us got a nice shot together. Evidence!! hahahaha The photo taken from my camera with me and mom came out blurry. I wont even bother sharing that one here although I shared it on Facebook. I guess we looked soo good we made the guy nervous. haha Maybe the one he took with my sisters camera will look better but i'll probably never see that one because we aren't Facebook friends. After some previously nasty correspondence I made sure I couldn't get anymore inbox messages from people that aren't friends. You gotta do what you gotta do for your sanity sometimes. Love Facebook privacy settings.
Anyways...I wanted to make sure and update my blog because I know that there were several people that were aware of this so called Family Reunion that were curious of it's outcome. Ya'll can breathe now. We both got through it in one piece. Nobody got hurt. I told her before she came down that she could relax because I wasn't violent. lol (If I was she would have known already...trust me on that one). I even made sure to holler across the parking lot a goodbye to her after it appeared she had no interest in saying goodbye after we left mom. I could be wrong, i'm just saying. There were no hugs!
In speaking with a friend on the way home that had been home praying for us, she said that I should have told my sister that I knew she met them on her honeymoon. You know...open up conversation. Funny thing is..I actually thought about mentioning that to my sister when we were returning on the subway. Then figured...nawww. I'll leave it alone. It was awkward enough just being around each other let alone having conversation that had nothing to do with our issues.
Is this a start? A start of what? We both just wanted to hang out with mom, and mom....well i'm not sure what mom was trying to do. Did she just want to hang out with both of her girls or was she trying to fix something that is very broken? Who knows. My mom may have a mental illness but she is not stupid. Love my mom. My auntie better watch out though. She might be next on my moms trickery list. After all, my auntie raised my sister for 18 yrs. Them not having a relationship at all is just wrong! Especially for all these years. I don't care what the excuses are. But, that's just me! If that can't get fixed, then how can the relationship between myself and my sister get fixed?
Leaving it all where it should be....with God.
Now, I can go to church tomorrow and sing praises.
God is working.
24/7, 365!
Thanks to my mom for her effort and the laughs.
Thanks to my sister for the complaisance and civility.
