My Birthday and Lazy Summer Days

Recently, I celebrated a milestone birthday. It was all rather decadent as the festivities spanned over ten days and were comprised of three different parties! Woo hoo! I had so much fun. Usually I hate being the focal point, or centre of attention, and spend more time worrying about everyone else. Well, this time around I sucked it up and completely revelled in having all of my family and friends celebrate my birthday. I felt so truly lucky and so completely happy!
Shifting gears now, it is now fully summer time! We have had some pretty hot, humid weather this past week, but it has broken now and we are in for a lovely, sunny, long holiday weekend. I will be fortunate to spend some time cottaging this summer and I am really looking forward to that. I always relax so completely at the cottage and also sleep better at the cottage than anywhere else. I can't wait! One cottage is a family cottage that belongs to my grandmother. I am hoping to spend the last ten days of July there. It's my "happy place"! The second cottage is a rental that my girlfriend and I have booked for the first ten days of August. It is going to be so great! Her daughters will be with us and will be going to day camp while we laze around! The husbands will join us on the weekends, so it will be great to all be together like that!
I am busy reading away and have been trying to be more focused with my writing, but I am so distracted by life at the moment. Generally, I am most productive during the summer and plan to churn out a good number of chapters over the next couple of months. My husband has given me a deadline (which actually is not working well for me at all as I hate being told what to do!) at which time he wants to see "something, anything, please!" finished. In fact, he even went so far as to say "it doesn't even have to be good. Just finished!" That kind of cracked me up! So even though I don't resond well to being told what to do, I really don't want to disappoint him, or myself for that matter, if I don't do it!

Here's to hoping people!!! :)

Cheers!

Black Crowes and Lobsters

Here in Canada it is a long, holiday weekend. Woo hoo! I'm in a bit of a Black Crowes mood today (which probably totally dates me, but whatever!!) and I am completely rocking out to "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion". I love, love, love this CD! That is neither here nor there, but it is almost summer-like outside and the warmth and sunshine have perked me up, so the music fits the mood! :) Friends of ours in the neighbourhood have an East Coast connection and on Saturday we had a bit of a lobster-fest at our house. The lobsters were caught off Prince Edward Island on Thursday and then the wives of the trappers stayed up all night cooking the poor wee things! Friday they hit the road and we had them for our Saturday festivities. My parents came up and then my friend and her family came over - bringing along the lobsters. It was such a great day - much happiness all around! Now, I don't actually "do" lobster and neither does my friend's husband, so I went to our butcher and got some really fantastic steaks! Mmmm!! My friend's daughters (ages 10 and 7) were fascinated by the concept of 'surf 'n turf' and enjoyed having both steak and lobster! Ahh, good food, a close family and great friends - that is a what long weekends were made for!!
Cheers!

Girls Night

So, this past Saturday I got together with eight other women from the book group I belong to. As I've mentioned previously, I refer to this gang as our 'splinter cell' as we are a smaller group that has broken away from the main gaggle of bookies. It is an interesting and eclectic mix of personalities and we always have a laugh-riot! On Saturday we met for take-out and games night and it was great fun, except for one slight glitch. At one point during dinner one of the girls shared some information that was just way to personal. We all get along great, but we are by no means best friends and are still in the stages of getting to know one another. The information that was shared was just so over the top that, in discussing this moment with two other girls after the fact (one of whom is a very close friend), one stated "Well, that really crossed a line!" Now, this isn't something that will affect our getting together, however it is the kind of tidbit of information that makes you look at the person just ever so differently. I don't know if I am just being weird, and when it happened I wasn't clear on whether I was the only one who thought her comments really odd. Afterwards I was told I was not alone in my feelings and that quite a few girls were really uncomfortable with the revelation! I know you are probably wondering what was said, but I am not going to repeat it, sorry! Anyway, I have put this one down to attention seeking behaviour (to which she is prone) of a new level! Our May book is Cloudstreet by Australian writer Tim Winton. I haven't started it yet as I was reading A Boy of Good Breeding, but will start it tomorrow.

Cheers!

World Lupus Day - May 10th, 2007

I wanted to let people know that this coming Thursday - May 10th - is World Lupus Day. This international event has the goal of increasing lupus awareness so that more people understand this complicated disease. Of course, a little fundraising is always great too. In Canada, our national organization, Lupus Canada, has developed an amazing partnership with a group of doctors and researchers working to find the cure for lupus. This group is called CaNIOS and while I was in Winnipeg I had the opportunity to meet some of these top doctors and experts. It was amazing!! Through this partnership, which is apparently unprecedented in the health charity world, Lupus Canada sends donated funds directly to the doctors and researchers - no middle man, no overhead! It is truly amazing. Having now met the key people working to solve the lupus puzzle, I have great confidence that they will find, not only the cause of lupus, but a cure as well. Please take a moment to learn more about World Lupus Day and about how you can help people living with lupus. If you are inclined to make a donation - there is the opportunity to do that in the link. Thank you!!!!!

Cheers

Where Does The Time Go?

Life has been a whirlwind lately and I actually shocked myself when I noticed I haven't posted since February! Wow! I had a bit of a flare with my lupus, which took me out of commission for a while, but all is well now! I was in Winnipeg last week for an AGM and I was really impressed with the city and its people. I had never been there before, but I did some internet research before I left. I knew I would have a couple of windows of opportunity to check out the sites, and was glad to be able to do that! Winnipeg has done a beautiful job revitalizing it's waterfront area (where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet) and "The Forks" was a great place to spend a sunny afternoon. Of course, the spa was also a wonderful indulgence. I have to say that Winnipegger's are just so friendly. Now I know the motto on their licence plates say "Friendly Manitoba", but it really is true. From arrival to departure it was a great experience made that much better by the people I met! Thanks Winnipeg!
I also had a small crisis concerning my wee dog 2 weeks ago. He lost the use of his back end and he couldn't use his poor little legs. After an visit to the emergency clinic and then a referral to a specialized veterinary hospital, it was determined that he had a problem with one of the disc's in his spine. The had to do emergency surgery and discovered that his disc had ruptured and debris from the rupture had lodged against his spinal cord, cutting off the messages from the brain to his back legs! The whole things was awful, stressful and painful for my wee dog! I am very happy to say that he is doing great now!!! He will regain about 80% - 90% of normal function, so I am thrilled. Now, we were prepared to get him a wheelie cart to strap on to his back end, if his legs were not going to recover, but I am so glad everything has worked out. He is only 3 and is still very puppy-ish. He has a lot of restrictions - no running, jumping up or down, going on stairs, or playing with other dogs - but it has gotten harder to do today as he is obviously perking up. He wants to play and run, so that is a good sign, but he is not pleased with me telling him "no". Here is my little sad sack - sorry to those of a more delicate constitution- he rocks!!
We have been having some amazing weather here all week and it is going to continue throughout the weekend, so I am hoping to get some yard work done. I am pretty behind on household chores, and all the warmth and sunshine is not a good motivator to stay inside to catch up! Oh well, c'est la vie! "The Girls" are getting together tomorrow night for games night and take-out, so that will be great. The Girls are what I like to refer to as a "splinter cell" of our book group and they just crack me up! Oh, and I will try to be better about my posting...for anyone who is reading and/or interested! :)

Cheers!!

February Blahs!

I have been dragging my butt for a week now and just can't seem to shake the winter blahs. Truth be told, I do have lupus and that has been making me feel pretty lousy lately, that and the fact that I took a spectacular fall down the stairs last week and somehow managed to bruise my liver and spleen! Who knew!! I guess it's safe to say that I am a mess all around! Oh well, on the upside, which I can always find, it's a great reason to curl up and read so I have been doing a lot of that lately. I have to admit that some of the reading has involved flipping magazine pages (that takes such little effort) but I did finish reading "The Stone Angel" by Margaret Laurence. I have to start reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer soon as that is the next one up with my book group. I did read it last year, but will go through it again before our March meeting. I also have a strategy session coming up this week that I have been trying to get ready for. I am on a committee with Lupus Canada and at the moment we are working to grow one of the national campaigns that happens each October. The committee members are mostly in Ontario, with the exception of one member in British Columbia. Up to this point, our planning has happened through conference calls and email, so this will be the first time we are all meeting in person. I am pretty excited and also hopeful that our strategy session will be very productive! I'll have to get that dragging butt in gear before Friday!
Cheers!!

Books on My Nightstand

Along with an unruly list of books I would like to read, I also have a pile of books on my night table and dresser just waiting to be read. At the moment I have the following titles in queue: "Reading Like a Writer" by Francine Prose; "Life's Great Lessons" by Hal Urban; "Three Views of Crystal Water" by Katherine Govier; "The Turning" by Tim Winton; "Finding Lily" by Richard Clewes; "Three Day Road" by Joseph Boyden; "A Boy of Good Breeding" by Miriam Toews; "The Birth House" by Ami McKay; "Eat, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynn Truss; "Break No Bones" by Kathy Reichs and "The Stone Angel" by Margaret Laurence. That doesn't even include the titles on my bookshelf that I still have yet to read. So many books....so little time. I just love books so much, but between the library books I take out, the gift books I receive and the books I buy for myself, I'm swamped! I put off reading some for a number of reasons. For example - Finding Lily and Three Views of Crystal Water. I met the two authors at an event in the fall and they were so lovely to spend quite a bit of time talking to me about writing. I am now afraid to pick up their works because I don't want the charm to wear off! Another book - The Birth House - I am hesitant to read because I want to so much and don't want to be disappointed! I still have a couple of titles on my bookshelf from Christmas 2005 that I have yet to get to. The last book on my list above is actually a re-read. We studied The Stone Angel in high school and it is a book I want to read again now that I am older, and have what they call perspective! :) I just remember thinking (while we were studying it a way back when) that I should come back to this book when I am older. Well, I'm older now and looking forward to reading it again. As always, I would welcome any discussion or comments on books you are reading or have read.
Cheers!

Celtic Horoscope

Here is a little fun thing to try!

You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

Cheers!