Kerry. One of a Kind
What you’re about to read isn’t typical of this blog. I’m angry and I’m sad. You’ve been warned. …
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Personal Life
Yet Another Scam
Longtime readers might remember references to Cousin Kim. She’s Derek’s cousin by DNA but I’ve definitely claimed her too! With permission of her daughter, Kristina, I’m sharing their story today. It’s a scam I’d never heard of but it’s more common than we might think. A frustrated Kristina told her story on the Mastercard Facebook page: …
Another Trip Around the Sun
My brother doesn’t like to get stuff for his birthday. I’ll see something or another I think he would like but I know better than to buy it. …
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An Expensive Lesson
Perhaps I got a little too blase about purchasing things online. I don’t even remember what my mindset was like when I bought Advanced Final Skin Care on a ‘risk-free trial’ by paying ‘only the shipping cost’. I defy anyone to check their web page or ad and find the “clearly explained” terms and conditions that would have told me I’m becoming their customer forever. …
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If Dad Only Knew
My hope for Dads yesterday was that they felt how much they’re loved and appreciated. …
Thankful Thursday – Grandbabies
A great joy in my life is being a Grandma without ever having children. Wait, that didn’t come out right. It’s not that I am joyful that I didn’t have children. But I got grandkids anyway. …
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A New Method for Decluttering
Forget the KonMari method – deciding to keep only the items that bring you joy. Don’t buy a bunch of baskets and sort your stuff. That only helps the basket-makers and doesn’t do enough to reduce the amount of stuff you keep. No, I’ve developed a new way of looking at your stuff that will make you want to get rid of anything you don’t really need. …
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A Lightbulb Moment
You can buy the same microwave as ours at a zillion Canadian retailers. It’s a Samsung over-the-range unit. Reasonably priced. It has all of the doodads you want in a microwave including a turntable and popular settings. It’s all good, right? …
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Making Good Food
Thanks to our pal Bruce Barker, we got a trial start on a weekly subscription of Good Food. It’s a meal prep service that delivers all of the ingredients you need to make wonderful meals. Only olive oil, salt and pepper aren’t included. …
Je T’adore
Hands up, anyone who loves scraping layers of paint off a metal door? Anybody? Bueller? I didn’t think so. …
It’s Not Easy Being Clean
When I moved into the house almost ten years ago, I ordered a large wardrobe from Ikea. It helped solve the lack-of-closet-space issue that many houses of this era have. If our home was a person, it would be getting its pension and planning its shopping trips for senior’s days. …
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Lessons Learned and Learning
Sunday would have been Dad’s 83rd birthday. Life expectancy for a Canadian man is just over 82 years, so I suppose he was pretty average in that way. Yes, I looked it up, trying to make sense of it and continuing to fail at making it okay that he’s gone. Reminding myself that it’s the natural order of things. …
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Review: The Light Over Broken Tide
This debut novel came to me in an unusual way. The author, Holly Ducarte, is the sister of a former radio station colleague. It’s classified as YA – Young Adult fiction, but this older adult truly enjoyed it. …
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The Voice Down the Hallway
Happy short work-week! I think that should become more of a thing. Long weekend. Short work-week. I’ll get in touch with Hallmark and see if we can’t get some cards made up. But I digress. …
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Thankful Thursday – My Mama
I call her Mamasita, Matka, Ma, Mom and other variations on the same theme. And when I’m serious about something, I use her full name: Mother! It’s the equivalent of her using my full name when I was a kid. Strikes terror in her heart! (not really)Â …
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Take The Last Train to McAdam
As we explored the St. Stephen-St. Andrews-Calais area last week, we took the advice of anyone who offered it. If someone said we should go see something, we went. That included my brother’s suggestion that we head up to McAdam and see the old train station. …
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The Thin Red Line
There are places in North America where you can stand in Canada and the US simultaneously. A massive, historic home straddles Stanstead, Quebec and Plain, Vermont, for example. You can enter the house from both countries. …
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Water Babies
Anthropologists probably have something deep and insightful to say about why Derek and I are drawn to water. All we know is that we feel calmer and happier around a body of water of just about any kind. Bigger than a puddle but not necessarily an ocean. …