Merry Christmas!

Happy Saturday! This week, starting tomorrow, is another busy week--dinner at Cavan’s aunt and uncle’s place, time in the city visiting with my friend Viv, Cobourg Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting, Cavan’s mom’s knee surgery and then a massage therapy appointment to work out the kinks from the week!  Then, of course, Saturday is Christmas Eve and that night my kids are coming.  Christmas Day will be at my dad’s and Boxing Day Victoria and Shavoy will be coming with their little one!  Whew!!  It’s a good thing all the decorating is done and gifts are wrapped!  Even the stocking stuffers are sorted!

So, below are pictures of my decorating.  It wore me out this year, but I’m happy with it.  You will see  that I spend time on Twitter for ideas….

I love this tree.  As soon as I walked into this house, I knew I had to buy it for the nine foot window that is perfect for a nine foot tree!

The forest, as Cavan calls it, is in my rec room.  I had put up a few trees one year and Cavan commented on the forest.  That threw out the gauntlet of challenge, so now I put out all of my trees.  There are actually 25 here.  I don’t know if you can see them all or not, but it includes the Christmas tree night light.

The light fixture in the dining room, I think really needs to have the ornaments dangle lower, but they were Martha Stewart ornaments, so I just went with the ribbons they had this year.

The dining room window, I hung some ornaments on.  I was working on random lengths, but wasn’t as successful as I had hoped.

The kitchen idea I got from Twitter and would have done more cupboard doors, but I ran out of ribbon.  Next year. I think I will go with plain red velvet ribbon.

Then, I decorated the rail around the stairs.  I had the poinsettia string from years before, the string of little stockings from last year and then, from a Twitter idea, I added the presents.  I think it looks pretty good, although the poinsettia string doesn’t stay quite where I want it.  Oh well, I like it anyway.

So, have a merry Christmas everyone.  I don’t know if I will fit in a blog Christmas Eve or not, but I will try.  God bless!

Busy, Busy, Busy Again!

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I just finished a ridiculously busy week and I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit this week and finally getting the rest of the Christmas decorating done, and possibly finishing the hospice and palliative care course I started over a week ago and didn’t get back to.

I probably mentioned in the last blog that we spent the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of December in Toronto for the St. Michael’s Choir School Concert. I was home on the Sunday night and managed to write my annual newsletter, get my Christmas cards done and in the mail and even blog on Monday.

Tuesday we were off again.  This time to Sudbury so that Cavan could meet with a new customer and schmooze with a customer he has had for years.  I got to have breakfast with Linda Lou, the daughter-in-law of my dear friend Viv and quite enjoyed our chat.  Viv lost her son Ken to a heart attack a few years ago and so Linda Lou has been on her own for a while.  She is always busy with activities like tennis and work, so it was nice she could find some time to chat with me.

We were able to head home on Wednesday evening.  We only caught some snow on and off.  I was kind of worried that we might hit some severe snow squalls, as the weather network was calling for some, but we were lucky.

I got to be home for the day on Thursday, when I managed to fit in a pedicure and my weekly friendly visit with the lovely couple I have been assigned by Community Care Northumberland.

Friday morning we jumped into the car again!  This time, we headed for Ogdensburg.  Cavan has a mailbox there, where he can have things sent that cannot be delivered to Canada.  Cavan was stocking up on printer ink that he was finding at amazing prices.  If you need such a service, it is called MyUSaddress and for $6 each, they will accept your packages.  It costs nothing to use the service, and he had it for over a year before he actually did use it.  For $29 per package (plus duty), they will send it to you.  We had six packages to pick up, so it was way more cost effective to go pick them all up and so, it addition to tolls for the bridge and gas, it cost him $78 in duty, which was really the GST (or maybe HST, I’m not sure which).

So, back on the same day, then a quick nap and up to visit a friend in Lindsay, which is the only place that has good fish and chips, since Stanley’s closed here in Cobourg.

Well, finally home for a while and yesterday, I caught up with laundry and kitchen tidying.  Today, I am finally actually resting, more or less.  Tomorrow, I get to the rest of the Christmas decorating, and hopefully, some time to work on that course.  The course part isn’t critical, but I would like to get it done.

Cavan is contemplating another visit to Sudbury.  The hard drives are failing on three of the computers up there, so depending on whether they decide to replace all of the hard drives or not, he may head up.  I’m hoping not.  This isn’t the best time of year to be doing that trip and the weather was in our favour this week.  Would we be so lucky to have it be good enough to try the trip again?

Well, that is the excitement for the moment.  I’m planning on a quiet week and if I get ambitious, I’ll take pictures of my decorating work and blog that next week.

Stay well!  Stay safe, if you are travelling and until next time, God bless!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Happy Tuesday morning! I actually typed Monday, but realized that I am really late getting a blog out this week.  Life seems to have become very busy.  Of course, some of that is because Christmas is coming and I have lots to do for that!

Yesterday, I spent on a crochet project. I had finished one on Sunday and began the final one that I absolutely have to get done and put into the mail, as it is a gift.  At least it is part of a gift. Crocheting is a dexterity challenge for me, but although it is a bit slow going, I am happy to say that I am getting the job done!  My first project was the Christmas tree skirt I made for my friend Viv, and I have done several projects between then and now.

Adding to my busyness, is the priest course, which requires a lot of reading.  I’m going through church history right now and it is truly very interesting.  Fortunately, this week, we don’t have a class and then we have only two more before Christmas and then have a break until mid January.  This should work out well, because I have a bunch of other stuff that needs to be done!  Everything seems to need to be done now.  Mind you, I put the wheels in motion myself, for some of it.

I have connected with Community Care Northumberland. Cobourg is in Northumberland County. (As a side bar, Cobourg is the biggest town in Northumberland, and we have no cities.) So, I have signed up for a few things with CC Northumberland. I signed up to be a friendly visitor (as opposed to a grumpy visitor?) and I am meeting my first visitee, Brian on Thursday.  It’s one hour a week, so I am going to take on one more visitee.

I also volunteered to be on the CC Northumberland advisory committee.  This is just a meeting every other month, so it isn’t much of a commitment.

Additionally, I have volunteered for hospice/palliative care visiting.  For this, I need training. The province offers this training and I took the first of 12 units.  The first took about an hour, but I am going to try to finish by the end of the year. The hospice and palliative care is where I see my ministry.  This is where I am hoping I can make a difference.  After over 30 years in IT, I want to do something that makes my heart happy.  I think this is it.

On top of all that, I need to get my house ready for Christmas.  The upstairs tree goes up today.  The rest will have to wait until I have the crochet project done AND, we are away this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the St. Michael’s Choir School Christmas Concert.  Cavan will be singing with with the alumni choir. Then next week, Cavan has a new customer to meet with in Sudbury, so I’m going for the ride.  I can read, or crochet on the trip. After that, I think we are going to Ogdensburg to pick up some stuff in our mailbox there and somewhere in there, I think Viv and I will do a Christmas tree thing.

Every year for many years now, Viv and I have gone to the Gardner Museum for the Twelve Trees of Christmas.  In more recent years, the trees have become too artsy for us and last  year, some were not even trees.  It was very disappointing.  This year, I am going to try to get her to do to Port Hope, where they have a spectacular showing of decorated trees that I think she will enjoy. We’ll have to see if we can fit that in!

So, busy, busy, busy! It will make December go by very quickly, but things should slow down to a bit of a routine in the new year, I hope!

I pray that all of your endeavors are successful and that you have time to enjoy Christmas and not be to busy.  May God bless you and your family!

Frankenmuth

Happy Sunday! We have a wee bit of snow falling here in the resort town of Cobourg.  It won’t last because it’s to stay above zero during the day for the next few days at least. The Farmer's’ Almanac is predicting a cold and snowy winter this year, but I’m not ready for it to start yet!  Will I ever be?

My apologies for not getting a blog out last week, but I was enjoying the weather and shopping in Frankenmuth. Viv and I were up last Sunday by 5am!  That’s how our trip began.  We were met at a Tim  Horton’s by a lovely gentleman by the name of Henry in a mini van, who picked up two other ladies before leaving Toronto and we were driven to Kitchener, where we boarded a big bus and headed out for our trip.  We had folks to pick up in Woodstock, London and Sarnia before we crossed the border.

With the new rules, we all had to leave the bus and go through US customs--the same at Canadian customs, when we returned.  They were very efficient and we were back on the bus in no time.  I should point out that there were 51 of us on the bus, not counting the driver Jim and our tour guide Sharon. Of the 51, only two were men. But we all know that shopping isn’t often a hobby of men!

We arrived at Bronner’s, that afternoon.  For those of you who don’t know, Bronner’s is the largest Christmas store in the world and I am one of the greatest fans of Christmas!  I found out that the INSIDE of Bronner’s is 2.2 acres! I was in heaven! We only had two hours to shop before we got back on the bus to head to the hotel. I could probably have spent an entire day there, just absorbing the ambiance!  As expected, I didn’t do much shopping, but we did find some really nice things and since we spent over $30 we got a free ornament.

I should point out that I didn't realize how much shopping this trip entailed.  I should have asked more questions.  My understand was we would visit Bronner’s and then on the way back, stop at an outlet mall.  Well, we were at Bronner’s the first day, there was more shopping possible that evening, several shopping stops the next day and two shopping stops on the way home!  I am really not a shopper and with the exchange rate, it wasn’t cost effective to shop that much in the US.

Viv and I did not go shopping on the second day, we just wandered through Frankenmuth, which has some nice little shops of its own. I did buy a few things, but Viv bought very little. On our way home, We got a couple of long sleeved Christmas t-shirts at Kohl’s and some spa socks as gifts.  I also got some nice little Christmas gift bags from Dollar Tree.  That was it for the first stop.  The second and last stop, on our way home was at the Great Lakes Outlet Mall.  It is a huge mall, but all Viv and I got was lunch--at Johnny Rocket’s--and a cinnamon bun each, from Cinnabon for the trip home as we were not stopping again.

Well, we loved Bronner's, but I could have gone without the other shopping. With all said and done, it was still a nice trip and the weather was amazing.  The Drury’s in Frankenmuth is lovely and provided a free breakfast and happy hour food, which were full meals, so all we had to do was get our own lunch.

Unfortunately, I returned home with quite a cold, which truthfully began before I left.  I’ve been nursing that all week, but I think I’m finally getting to the end of it.

All in all, a good time and a busy week when I returned. Until next time, I pray for the health of all and ask for God’s blessings on everyone!

Ordination!

Happy Monday! It’s a lovely day out here in Cobourg--really warm for a November day.  Let’s avoid the snow as much as possible!  I’m hoping that we get little snow this year, but the predictions are suggesting a snowy and cold winter this year.  Oh well, foodstuffs stocked up.  I guess I can manage for a while.

Yesterday was ordination!  It was also a beautiful sunny day and remarkably warm for November.  What a wonderful group at the church.  A good sized congregation and then the eight of us ordained as deacons and two as priests.  I found it a very moving service and was especially moved at the wording of the hymns chosen.  I am so thrilled to be part of this wonderfully warm and welcoming church.

There is part of me that was concerned about being worthy, but Father Thomas’s sermon put my mind at rest.  Jesus didn’t pick the perfect, he picked flawed people and made them his disciples.  We must rely on guidance from the Divine to carry out His work.

I have a few things to do to finish my preparations--business cards, meeting with some people, etc., to get this part of my journey really on the way but that is okay.  I worked on some of the easy stuff today, like updating LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, but there is much to be done.

I mentioned the possibilities I have set up to contact, in last week’s blog--extendicare, hospice, funeral services.  I think that when I get new business cards, I’ll see the funeral homes in and around Cobourg.  That’s the great thing about the Community Catholic Church of Canada--we’re flexible.  We are all inclusive and even offer non-denominational assistance, so I might be able to fill a need here.  We’ll see.  I shall keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities around here and I’m sure that there is a place for me somewhere.

Also, I have committed to the priest course and even ordered the first three of the books I will need.  There is lots of reading for this course, but I am up to the task.  I do have a bit of a ‘holiday’ coming up first, though.  My friend Viv and I have our bus tour to Frankenmuth coming up this weekend.  I don’t plan to do much shopping, but it should be a good time nonetheless

Well, my friends, I must confess that the excitement of the last few weeks has taken it’s toll on my MS, so I’m making this blog short.  I will try to get a blog done Saturday before I head out, but if not I may miss a week, but stay tuned, I’ll update you, at the latest, in two weeks, with my deacon journey and the Frankenmuth trip.

God bless you all.  Enjoy your own journey, and if you are in Ontario and are feeling the call to do God’s work, let me know.  There is a new deacon’s course kicking off in January and you, too, could be a member of this growing, loving church!

Retreat

Happy Sunday! It’s a dull day outside today, but it is a retreat day for me, so a nice cup of tea, purring cats and quiet music accompany my quiet contemplation of my upcoming ordination.  It is a time to reflect on my direction and what it all means to me.

I’m taking a break and blogging at the moment, because the washer and dryer are a distraction, so I shall fill the time with chores, until the house is quiet again.

Last night, I even hauled the tarot cards to see what they would tell me.  I am not a tarot card reader per se, but I was given a set some years ago and every now and then I get them out to see what they tell me.  I just did the three card reading--perhaps I will do a full reading tomorrow, when I have some quiet time before Cavan returns from his conference weekend.  Last night, I drew the three cards which show past present and future.  I don’t remember what the card for the past was, but then it’s in the past anyway, isn’t it?  The present card was ‘sorrow.’  Hm, that could mean lots of things that I haven’t really dug into yet, but the card for the future was ‘victory.’ Well, that’s impressive.

So, victory I am taking as I am going in the right direction. In addition to my upcoming ordination for deacon, I have a few other things lined up.  I am committing to the priest course. It has a lot more reading, but reading is one of my favorite things to do.  That ordination will be in June and with the liturgical calendar, the color is red, so my chasuble will be red--my favorite color-- it must be a sign!  As a deacon, I will wear a dalmatic and the color in the liturgical calendar for this upcoming ordination is white.

Also lined up, I have some connections locally.  I have always been drawn to the aged.  My closest friend is 90, though, and yet I don’t consider her to be old.  She is more mobile than me and, I have discovered that every night she does toe touches and can actually still put her hands flat on the floor!  I can only get my knuckles on the floor.

There is an Extendicare facility just down the street from me and I have been in contact with the administrator there.  There are no paying positions, but I can work as a volunteer.  I have also been in discussion with Northumberland Community Care and they have friendly visitors, where I can visit with seniors in their homes.  They also have hospice training, where I can be trained to visit people who are near the end of their life, and hopefully, offer some support, if only to hold their hand for a little while or listen to their stories.

I remember when my mom was nearing the end, much of my family was at the hospital, but while I was there, I was the only one sitting close to  her and holding her hand.  I hope it was of some comfort.  I still feel badly that I wasn’t there when she actually passed, but I had driven for five hours to get to her and I had to sleep.  When I got the call, I did return to the hospital and kissed her goodbye on her forehead.  I did the same with Cavan’s father.  I know that some people have difficulty with dead bodies, but to me, it is just the vessel that held their spirit while they were here.  Nothing to be afraid of.

This will be my victory--to be able to offer even a little comfort to the forgotten in long term care homes and hospices.  It’s selfish really, because it will make me happy.  I pray that it will also offer some comfort to those I shall have the pleasure of meeting.  I welcome their stories.  People have such amazing lives.

Well, dear friends, I hope that you find your victory in life and that you won’t be near 60 years old like I am, when you find it!  God bless!

Let Go and Let God

Happy Sunday, dear friends! It’s a rainy Sunday here in the resort town of Cobourg--a day for rest and reflection, it seems.

I have been kind of wound up for a few days about money.  It seems a recurring thing in my life.  I don’t spend money on expensive clothes, or vacations, or anything like that, but I rarely seem to have enough to make ends meet.  It has been that way for much of my adult life.

I started going through online job ads, but I have to confess that I’m not capable of doing much anymore.  I was spoiled at Enbridge.  I worked mostly from home, so I didn’t have the stressful drive, I mostly just attended meetings and provided reports and advice.  It was easy and I was paid well for it.

When they let me go, I had a fair settlement, that allowed me to dig myself out of debt entirely, except for my mortgage and car loan.  I even topped up my RRSPs.  That left me with enough to put some into my TFSA.  But try as I might, I have had to dig into that this year and it is almost gone. I was just so worried yesterday that I even set myself up to answer surveys and so far, I’ve earned almost $10, but it took me several hours to do that yesterday.

When I woke up this morning, I realized that I was going about it all wrong.  Any time in my life, when I have gotten to when I thought was the precipice of financial disaster, something came up to save me.  I have to just let go and let God deal with it and I will be fine.  We had a chat this morning and agreed that I would continue to read the daily job alerts that I get and if the perfect job came up, I would know that it was the right thing to do.  I will leave the book sales and lottery winning up to God, because I seem to have no influence over getting money out of either of those!

If I were to win big, I already have so many plans for it--an actual church building for The Community Catholic Church of Canada, donations to the MS Society, Heart and Stroke, Cancer Society, Sick Kids Hospital, CNIB (maybe a few others), condos or houses for each of my two daughters and their stepsister, pay off my mortgage and car loan, do a few things around the house (I really need a rail for the front steps!) and travel a bit with Cavan, my kids and my friend Viv. I’m afraid that a big win wouldn’t last long with me!

In the meantime, I will let go and let God.  I have my ordination coming up soon and then the priest course and I am sure that all will get sorted out in due time.  Perhaps what I need to be doing, I cannot do until I am a deacon, or perhaps not until I am a priest. I just have to hold to the faith that things will get sorted out, which should be easy because it always has.

So, dear friends, find the strength you need to let go.  If you know the story of the footprints--there are two sets of footprints for some of your journey and one set of footprints, when you need to be carried, and in the more recent story, one set of footprints and drag marks, when you needed to be dragged kicking and screaming to where you needed to be.

Let go and let God. Watch for the signs, and all will be fine.  God bless!

Friends and Family

Happy Tuesday!  It’s been over a week since I last blogged, but I just had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a time for friends and family and, of course, lots of food!

I should firstly say, if you read my last blog, that I was reasonably proud of my gospel reading at church last weekend.  I have much to do before I stop stumbling over words, but I was pretty good.  The surprise of the day was this lovely lady I met in the kitchen of the church, when when was introduced to me said “I love your daily prayers on Facebook!  They are so timely and inspiring!”  I have to admit that it felt so good to know that someone that I had never even met before appreciated my daily prayer.

Fast forward to this past weekend and it was a great time for friends and family.  Saturday, we were at my Dad’s for a lovely dinner.  Sally provided the delicious ham and the rest of us contributed.  There was so much food!  It was awesome.  Even my daughters made it. I think there were 17 of us for dinner.

Sunday was a turkey dinner at my place for my daughters and Cavan, and Victoria (my daughters’ step sister), Shavoy and their darling little 5 week old baby Caleb.  I’m so glad that we were able to get together for a Thanksgiving dinner.  The turkey turned out great and Cavan put on a prime rib roast for him and Shavoy.  Alysse helped me a lot in the kitchen with meal preparation and cleanup.  There was a bit of a kerfuffle in the week, though.  I thought that no-one really liked the stuffing, so I wasn’t going to make any.  Fortunately, Alysse set me straight in time to get the supplies we needed to make the stuffing.  It turned out great!

Along with Alysse, we get to visit with Dallas her dog.  She had dropped the dog off on her way to Napanee, and since I had already put my cats into my bedroom with the door closed (it’s okay, I put a litter box in my ensuite bathroom and food in the bedroom), we let Dallas have the run of the house.  It wasn’t the best idea, because I didn’t think the dog could, or would, jump on the table or the counters.  Well, she jumped on the table and knocked the cover off the butter, licking the plate clean, ate some of the apple pie I baked, pooped on the carpet in the front room and threw up on the carpet in the living room.  Oh yes, and ate a whole row of cookies from the package on the counter.

Oh well, dogs will be dogs.  Alysse bought a new pie, although I told her it was not necessary. Anyway, Alysse went to visit with friends in Bailieboro Saturday night and feeling it was best, closed Dallas in the downstairs bathroom.  Well, the poor thing cried and cried, so I went downstairs, let her out and slept with her in the guest bedroom.  That went fine, until Dallas started throwing up on the bed at 6am, and the carpet got some too.  I have a new carpet cleaner, so bedclothes went into the washer and the rest was good as new after the carpet cleaner took care of it.  It seems that I need to learn to dog proof the house!  That’s okay, it’s likely the same as childproofing the house and Caleb is a ways from moving around on his own, so I’ll get good at it, I’m sure.

The holiday Monday was a rather quiet day--catching up on laundry and the last of the dishes.  Alysse had gone the night before to visit (taking Dallas with her, this time) with friends and came back at about noon, so we watched a couple of movies and had tea.  She headed back into the city after dinner.  It was so great to see the girls this weekend! I will be glad when Kaitlyn gets more time off, so that she can spend more than 24 hours with me.  She headed back into the city with Victoria, Shavoy and Caleb, Sunday night.

So, a good time was had by all, I believe.  I know that I had a good time and was so glad to see everyone.  Now we are back to regular routines, such as they are for someone who is retired.  Tomorrow, I am meeting with Rev. Karen Bellamy at Golden Plough Lodge.  I still believe that my ministry will be working with seniors, so I’m going to chat with her about what she does there.  Should be fun.

I pray that everyone has a gentle week.  God bless!

My Calling

Happy Saturday!  A Saturday blog this week, because I’m heading into the city tonight and then off to Elcho Church Sunday morning for a baptism.  I will be reading the Gospel at the service and, for the first time in public, wearing my clergy collar.

I haven’t invested much in clergy vestments yet, as I’m not quite sure where my calling will take me.  I believe, as I have for some time, that my calling is to work with elderly.  In that capacity, I don’t know if I will have much need for the collar, or any of the other vestments, but I guess that time will tell!

Ordination is only five weeks away, so I’m starting to poke around Cobourg for somewhere I can be useful.  I have been appointed to the Cobourg Accessibility Advisory Committee, so I have begun to find a place here.  I have also left a message for the chaplain at the Golden Plough Lodge here in Cobourg.  The Lodge is a long term care facility and I was pleased to see that they have a part time chaplain.  I thought that perhaps I could connect with her and even shadow her for a few days to see what it would be like working with the people there.

There are two other long term care facilities here in Cobourg.  One is about two minutes from home, and it might work for me to volunteer there, but I thought it might be useful to work with someone doing that already here, to get my feet wet.  I’ll see if she returns my call.  There is also a long term care facility downtown that I can look into. But again, I would like a little guidance.

I am, of course, a deacon in training, and I had the opportunity to speak with a couple of nice ladies from the local Jehovah's Witnesses, at my front door just yesterday.  One of them made a comment that lead me to believe that women are not deacons at the JW churches.  I know this to be true of the Roman Catholics, too.  It is quite unfortunate, as I know that many women feel called to be a member of a church in that capacity. I have heard that even the pope is entertaining the idea of allowing women clergy. It will be wonderful if that change does occur in my lifetime.

I had believed that my gift to God was my writing.  That is not because I have any ideas of grandeur in that capacity, but more because my writing is intended to bring the messages and stories of the Bible to small children.  I also feel drawn to working with the elderly. So, I hope that my direction becomes clearer over the next few weeks. Can I do both?  I suppose I can, but can I do both well?  Time will tell.

I’m not planning to self publish any more books.  It’s just too costly really and I just don’t seem to have the energy to put into the marketing that I need to do.  I’ll work at it a bit more, but the fact that it is taking hours of work to sell even a few books, it seems hardly worth it.  Perhaps it is this realization that is going to convince me that I should be focussing my energies on working with the elderly.  It would be my hope that I would see some benefits to my time there, where  I’m not seeing them with book sales.

Well, folks, off to get some chores done before I head into the city. May God bless you all and may God be with me as I deliver my first Gospel to a church congregation.

Prayer

Happy Monday!  It’s a rainy day here in the resort town of Cobourg--the perfect day to catch up on chores, before I head into the city tomorrow.  Tomorrow, I get to spend the afternoon with my oldest daughter and although I lived in Toronto for nearly 30 years and she has been there all her life, we are going to pretend to be tourists and take the double decker bus tour and go to the Ripley’s Aquarium.

So, onto today’s topic of prayer.  My earliest memory of my mother was making beds with her in the morning and then kneeling on the bed to say morning prayers.  I am guessing that I was about 2 at the time and it instilled two things in me--the necessity of a made bed, and daily prayer.  And, yes, to this day, I need to make my bed every day and I still say prayers.

I generally say my prayers at night, as the end of the day is a great time to give thanks for all that I have and ask for forgiveness for any known and unknown transgressions.  I also slip in a request for all beings on this earth to have peace in their heart and soul, that will prompt all to share all the food and water, because I know that there is more than enough to sustain all in the world.  I also have to throw in a request for a windfall and I don’t mind working for it.  Millions of my books selling would be fine, or a simple lottery win would suffice.  I have so many people and charities that I plan to share with.

I never really got into morning prayer, although now that I am retired, there is no longer the excuse that I can’t fit it in before work.  I have thought about this often and feel that I am missing something by not having morning prayer, but then remembered that I actually do.  My morning routine includes work at my computer for a bit even before my daily exercise routine and shower.  At my computer, I do two main things.  I post Bible quotes on Twitter from daily e-mails that I get and I post a prayer on my Facebook business page.

The prayer rarely comes directly from me, I should point out, but before I post the prayer, I have read through several.  I always read the prayer from Daughters of the Creator, and I used to publish that one, with some modifications.  Lately, however, I have been finding some wonderful prayers on the http://www.lords-prayer-words.com website.  This site has prayers for pretty much anything you can possibly imagine--prayers for thanks, forgiveness, wellness, success, exams, new job, job interview, etc.  It is a great site.

So, at night I do my heart to heart prayer, and in the morning, I do a more specific prayer that I share with anyone who is in need of a prayer that aligns with the topic I have found that I need for the day.

The one thing that I truly regret, however, is that I did not instill praying in my own children.  They did attend Sunday school and we actually had a birthday cake at Christmas for baby Jesus.  But they never saw me pray and regretfully, I never spent the time at the end of the day to teach them to pray, so it has not become part of their daily lives.  This is quite unfortunate I think.  That isn’t to say that they do not believe in God and are not spiritual, but they don’t have the same daily connection that I have.  

Perhaps it is never too late. I will be ordained as a deacon for the Community Catholic Church of Canada in November and they will be attending.  Perhaps it will remind them of our roots in the church.

Well, my dear friends, I have other chores to get to.  I pray that you have a gentle week.  God bless!

Autumn

Happy Monday, dear friends!  Summer seems to be holding on until the last minute this year.  I actually broke down and turned on the air conditioning today.  This was partly because I am crocheting this huge Christmas tree skirt and it is actually making me sweat as it rests on my knees--I’m almost finished, though!

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I just love the colors of the leaves of the trees--the beautiful yellows, oranges and reds, that unfortunately, signal the coming of winter, which is not one of my favorite seasons.

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, this year the autumnal equinox falls on September 22, 2016 at 10:21 A.M. EDT.  This equinox occurs when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south. So, I’m sorry to let you know that this past weekend was the last weekend of summer.  I, however, shall be celebrating by working on my crocheting projects and welcome the open windows and fresh air.

Autumn also brings Thanksgiving, which is a time for my family to get together and celebrate the four birthdays that happen around that time.  I’m hoping that Dad and Sally will be hosting again this year, but if not, I shall take it upon myself to take care of it.  I hosted Thanksgiving a few years ago, and I must confess that the turkey was not good--truthfully, it was awful and really dry.  I promise my family that I will get the really good Butterball turkey this time--none of that cheap turkey investment ever again.  A Butterball turkey makes all the difference!

This fall, I will also get my butt going on getting some bulbs planted down the south side of my house.  I’ll start with some easy stuff like alium and day lilies.  I also have some of those Canada tulips to add to the front garden, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada.  I am declaring that I shall have more color around my house!  In the spring, I shall invest in a bunch of hostas, to fill in the side of the house.  With any luck, that will help to keep down the spread of weeds.  It will still take some manual work, but it’s a start!

I also invested in two huge pots of mums.  The Rotary Club of Cobourg sells them every year and this year the proceeds went not only to the End Polio Now campaign, but also to the Northumberland Hills Hospital Foundation.  So, not only shall I have some color out the front for the fall, but I shall plant some mums down the side of the house, so that I shall have some color next fall.

Getting some planting done shall happen after our Canadian thanksgiving, which happens on the second weekend of October.  It will probably take me a while, as my MS will dictate my schedule, but I’ll do what I can.  As long as everything is perennials, they should be pretty low maintenance.

Well, time to get back to the Christmas tree skirt.  I should be done later this week.  I only have seven rows left to crochet, but each row takes me more than an hour at this point, so, it a bit of a slow go.  I will confess, however, that I am really pleased with how it is looking.  Even the arthritis has been only mildly annoying, so, I shall carry on!

Have a gentle week everyone! Find the joy in the changing of the seasons and may God bless you all!

Book Marketing

Happy Sunday!  A day of rest for most, I hope.  It’s a cooler day today, so I hope to get outside for at least part of the day.

As any author, or business person for that matter, knows, marketing their product, in my case books, is what takes most of your time, if you actually want to make any kind of income from it.  I never expected to make much income from my books, as I knew going in that I have a very small audience.  They are Christian books--four of them--written for three to six year olds.  The market is really their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. because three to six year olds aren’t generally shopping on their own yet.

What have I done so far?  I attended the Inspire event in Toronto and had a great time meeting many authors--Margaret Atwood, Chris Hadfield, Debbie Macomber and Neil Pasricha (he’s a delight!), to name a few.  I only sold six books and one was to one of my brothers!  I attended the Toronto Word on the Street in 2015 and did not even sell one book.  I attended the Northumberland Word on the Street and sold two books (to a library!) and with all the great Northumberland authors, I bought more books than I sold, but it was a great event none-the-less and with a cost of only $10 for my table, it was most worthwhile.

I have to also mention that last year I invested in having one of my books formatted for hardcover, purchased the booksellers return program and advertised in the Christmas insert for the fall Children’s Ingram catalog, just to see if it was worthwhile.  It did generate some interest.  One company bought a few of my book ‘Animals of the New Testament’ in both softcover and hardcover.  They must have sold because they ordered some more of both formats.

So this year, I invested in having the other three formatted for hardcover and the booksellers return program for all three.  I then paid to advertise ‘More Animals of the Old Testament’ in the regular fall Children’s Ingram catalog and ‘More Animals of the New Testament’ in the Christmas insert.  I should be able to see which catalog fits the books best and by advertising the ‘More’ books, the buyer knows that there must be other books.

We’ll see how it goes.  The results of this seasons sales will dictate whether or not I will invest next year.  There is also a Pictures and Words event coming up in Northumberland in November that I am trying to book a table for.  I did sell one set of the four to a friend of mine for her nephew’s baptism, so I have make one sale this year!

Marketing is tough!  I thought that writing was difficult, but marketing is way more time consuming and costly.

So, for any of you who are interesting in supporting an author, all four of the books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Abe books, Chapters and various other places, online, across the world.  As I mentioned, I have four books out so far, all in paperback and hardcover, all returnable by bookstores, if they invest and the books don’t sell well.  The four books are as follows:

• Animals of the Old Testament
• Animals of the New Testament
• More Animals of the Old Testament
• More Animals of the New Testament

Go out to your favorite online book store and do a search, or go to a website called BookFinder4U, search on one of the books and it will give you a list of online vendors and you can find the best deal!

Well, folks, I hope that you do choose to buy one (or all four!) and enjoy them with the little ones in your family.  God bless!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day Monday!  Here in Canada, of course, it is Labour Day.  We like our ‘u’ in words!  It is also the last day that stands between summer vacation and school.  Here in the lovely town of Cobourg, it is a bit of a resting day before I begin my craft projects.

It is also the first Labor Day that I don’t have a child preparing for school, since 1994!  Kaitlyn finished her undergrad in April and is now getting rather discouraged trying to find a job in her chosen career.  Fortunately, she is still working full time at Saks, so with a little help, she is able to support herself and stay in her downtown Toronto apartment.

From Wikipedia:

Labour Day (Labor Day in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May. For other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, often one with special significance for the labour movement in that country.

In Canada and the United States, Labour Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September and considered the unofficial end of summer, with summer vacations ending and students returning to school around then.

In the US, Labor Day was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.  

In Canada, Labour Day (French: Fête du Travail) has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in Canada since the 1880s.  The origins of Labour Day in Canada can be traced back to December 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Union's strike for a 58-hour work-week.  Yikes!

Basically, this day is to recognise all who labor for their pay, and ties into union work, that has helped to keep workers safe and fight for reasonable hours, fair pay and a safe environment to work in.

I will confess that I only briefly worked in positions that were part of unions and I get rather frustrated with union rules, because I like to work a bit above and beyond what is expected of me.

Having said that, now that I’m retired, I need to manage only my own expectations for what I need to accomplish in a day.  Tomorrow, I begin my crochet projects and I have a few lined up, hoping that my crochet talent can be resurrected to produce some Christmas gifts!  My biggest project is a Christmas tree skirt, I’m going to make for my friend Viv.  Sh!  Don’t tell her.  It’s a surprise!

So, dear friends, enjoy your Labor (Labour) Day and may you have a gentle and blessed week.  God Bless!

The Theatre!

Happy Saturday!  It looks like a nice day out there, but I have laundry and other indoor chores to do, so I’m inside regardless of the weather.  I’m hoping for a nice day tomorrow, as I travel with a friend to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a show!  For the moment it is suggesting rain, but hopefully that will change tomorrow.

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to travel from Pembroke, where we were living, to Ottawa for a really nice dinner and live theatre.  Oddly enough, I don’t remember the show we saw.  I was with a friend and her parents.  I do remember what the father called a driver that nearly hit him, though, as my father wouldn’t have said such a thing if his hair was on fire!

Anyway, the event had me hooked on seeing live theatre and wherever I lived after I was on my own, I tried to get out to at least one show a year.  I took my daughters to see their first live show, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ when my youngest was three years old.  They loved it and we have seen many shows in the just over twenty years since then.

Sometimes I take both of the girls to a show and sometimes only one.  Interestingly enough, we mostly see musicals, which all three of us love.  They were only about eight and ten, when we were visiting a cousin, who suggested that we watch a video before dinner and my kids bypassed the kids videos, to watch ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!’  We had it at home, of course, and it is still one of our favorites.  One of their other favorites is ‘Oliver!’, which has great music, although it is, in some places in the play, very dark and sad.  I have no idea how many shows we have seen together over the years.

I also like to get out to see shows with my friend Viv.  We were in Stratford for ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ earlier this year and will be in Niagara-on-the-Lake to see ‘Engaged’ tomorrow.  Last year, we saw two shows in Niagara-on-the-Lake and one in Toronto.

Cavan and I also get to a few shows.  Annually, we go to the naughty panto in Port Hope.  It isn’t an outstanding show, but it is pretty funny.  Cavan and I also try to get to the dinner theatre here in Cobourg.  We saw ‘Harvey’ there last year and it was really well done and the buffet was delicious as always!

Last year, Sally and Dad took Cavan and I to a show in Gananoque.  It is a lovely little theatre right on Lake Ontario and we had a lovely lunch and a great time at the show.

When I go on cruises, I love to see the shows there.

So, take in some local live theatre, or stretch your horizons and get to Niagara-on-the-Lake, or Stratford, or any city near you!  You will be glad you did!

Well, folks, that is it for today.  Back to laundry and other chores, including packing for tomorrow.

God bless you all!