Happy Orthodox Easter

This is the Orthodox Easter week end and what a beautiful week end it is.
The beach is where it is at. Hope you have a chance to get to some body of water
to relax around.
xoxoxoxoxo

Easter Chicks Go Wild

What cute little chicks I remember we could buy them this way.
Ours used to grow all summer and fed very well until winter when they became dinner.

My parents never told me when they did the deed because they knew I wouldn't eat them.
lol

But otherwise I never knew and it made no difference.

This is the time of year to take out your Christmas trees and decorate them with your favorite eggs.
One family in Germany, filled their whole back yard tree full of eggs. It was gorgeous!!! The work involved was tremendous.
Then the job of taking everything down is another story but it made for a good copy right picture so I couldn't put it on my blog.

The idea is simple enough though with Christmas trees because all you do is change the decorations and the tree can have its own nook in the house and keep celebration in your hearts.

I did this in Singapore but in Canada with people fighting over holidays, it kinda spoils the mood. You wouldn;t want to OFFEND someone. lol

Well chicks are still fun so I hope you enjoy the clip :)


The Canucks were slaughtered yesterday 7-2 in Chicago. But I hope they bring the game and business back home to Vancouver so people can enjoy a victory.
There's no place like home!!!

GO CANUCKS!!!

Charles Lemoyne Hospital - Geriatric Ward.

Christmas is a time to remember my Mom and Dad (who passed away with a bang
on the American Independence Day week end a long while back.)

This left us with my Mom who suffered from Parkinsons and Alzheimers.
My Dad was a diabetic and it was a hot day outside when he ventured out to cut the lawn.
He made it back inside to get his shot ready but instead fell on the floor.
My Mom could not get help so she lay down beside him to die and they lay there three days before a neighbor found them.
As a result My Mom had a bruise on her thigh bone which got infected apart from all her other problems.
The hospital called us and told us to hurry up because she might not make it.

We took the first plane out and it took a good 3 months of constant care before we could get her out of there. They saw this as a victory and everyone applauded as we left telling us that not many escape THE WARD.

I have to say that the hospital was very nice to us. They let my Son stay and even played with
him and let him carry trays to the patients, mostly old people. We spent a great deal of time there from 7 am to 8 pm every day because they had a shortage of nurses and my Mom needed
constant supervision. When she felt better they let us take her out for lunch across the street to the Chinese buffet where we could enjoy our meal and give her also things she liked to eat, like cabbage and sweet and sour soup and cous cous salad full of parsley which gave her iron, etc...
She would enjoy going out with us and the change of scenery and it gave her a new will to live.


One would never guess just how hard nursing is, especially with difficult patients who tear out
tubes and constantly call for help for one thing or another and then there is all this paper work.
I have seen a few nurses brought to tears, when they could not find any more veins to put in an I. V.

Well she made it out and we had a chance to take part in Halloween, Quebec style, before departing for the long trip to BC.

This is my Mom, a lady who would curl her hair, wear nice negligee's and put on lipstick before going to bed, in case she died that night. She never wanted people to find her in disarray.

These crippling diseases which turn beautiful people into 2 year old children, is indeed not something to look forward to.

I had my Mom to enjoy and was robbed of the pleasures of nice discussions, family memories and joyful outings to share with her. I did all of the above anyway, because I knew she was kept a captive in her mind.
She was still in there and it must have been devastating for her, not to be able to get out so I tried to keep her stimulated. She never forgot who I was till the very end.
So I don't know about this alzheimers. It's quite a funny disease.

It gave me great pleasure having her near me, whatever I was doing, in spite of it.
It wasn't easy. We had the whole family involved in her care and the whole family learned a great deal from it. Everything you do in life is a learning experience.
Knowing the two ends of the spectrum makes you a much better person.

My Mom liked to laugh and have fun so I would like to take the time and remember her and my Dad today.

My candles are lit for all the departed souls who cannot be with us to share the memories
in 2010. I hope my Dad met her and that they are both looking down upon us and sharing this day.

I Met You - this is heart tearing

Christmas Goose

This is a great Christmas song some one wrote . (click on the line)

" While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "Where's the line to see Jesus"?"

So these people sat down and thought hmmm . It would make a nice song.
Hope you like it.

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After a huge meal of Thanks giving Turkey, I guess all the turkeys would give a sigh of relief if Christmas went back to the tradition of serving Christmas Geese instead. lol

I found the above book illustrated so beautifully with a gosling, that thinking of eating it would break ones heart.

It was Charles Darwin, who mentioned that goose for dinner in Victorian times, was a tradition.

The relevance of the goose throughout time is interesting. It represented the Egyptian God Amen and was deemed sacred. Amen was believed to be the source of all creation.

In 389 BC Rome, the goose was sacred to the gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. They saved the Roman Citadel by making such a racket when the Gauls approached to attack, they woke up the Roman soldiers.

Hunnukah is also celebrated with a roast goose.

It represents the return of Jerusalem from Syrian hands back into Jewish hands in around the year 165.

St Martin Tours, was a Catholic Saint against poverty, beggars and geese.Legend has it that he tore his cloak in half in order to give half of it to a beggar. The cloak was later miraculously restored.

Later, he hid in a barn full of geese to avoid being made a Bishop, but the noisy geese gave him away. He is said to have died around 367.

As a result, Saint Martin's day is celebrated on November 11, and goose became the traditional bird to be served that day.

Aesops' Fable, The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, taught that if you let greed get out of control, you might lose everything.

Charles Dickens had Scrooge give the Cratchits a turkey instead of a Goose and may have started a new tradition but still, in spite of it, today, the Goose still means the same thing to many people around the world.

It means, to be thankful.

So whether you are rich or poor , with a big family or a small one, or even alone and looking to celebrate a special occasion like Thanks giving and/or Christmas, you can never go wrong with a goose.

It's symbolism and significance alone, gives one plenty to talk about around the table.

It's a beautiful bird as well as a delicious replacement for Turkey.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

I guess holidays mean different things to different people.

This particular holiday for me is in celebration of our Jesus's birth.
We call it a Christmas Day.

As the Christ grew he learned many things. He tried to teach and shepherd many
into understanding what humanity is and how important it is to behave since
we have the potential to self destruct.

Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men he preached.
To all men who believe in his Father.

For he is the Father to us all.

It sounds rather funny that we fight over our prophets and religious leaders, because
they are all speaking in the name of the ONE FATHER and his message to all is to live in peace.
understand one another, love one another, accept one another.
Why do we not hear and understand?

Jesus was no different.
Did he exist?
Is he a fable? A legend??
Does it matter?

What matters is that to this day
we criticize one another as if we did not all have and know
THE GOOD THE BAD and THE UGLY.

We demonstrate this when we destroy what is good and replace it with
what hurts innocent people, families and children.

When we take pride in sin and the wicked, saying everything is ok,
we deny them hearing what is good, gentle and kind.
This is what Jesus stood for and loved.
Because of his ideas, people come of their own free will, to love him.

We can't help any one if they do not understand why we are protecting them,
for we took out the most important person in whose
name we are doing all these things for.......
the Father,the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For this is who Jesus stood for.
This is who he was.

On this day we try to share in the good by greeting each other with joy and
gift exchanging as the wise men who followed a star, did,
casting away the bad and the ugly from the spirit of mankind,
which was, even then, hunting and killing, new born babes.

So on this Note I wish every one a Very Merry Christmas!!!!!
May there be enough turkey and cranberries and love feasting at your table .
May every day be filled with the spirit of Christmas as you walk through
your paths in life.

If only every day were Christmas. What a glorious world this would be.
God Bless you all!!!
:)

Mom's Perfect Day :)

I hope every one had as splendid a day as I did, spending Mothers Day with their loved ones.
My son finally managed to call after his game to wish me a Happy M Day with good news about winning the second game on Sunday and scoring two goals.:)

This was my Mothers Day present from him , to win this week end.

Thanks Son!:) Wish I was there to see it.

He visited some universities and the tuition is soo high, I don't know how people can afford it.
But he wants to play soccer and I want him educated, so we have to find the fine line between the two lol

My Husband took me to the Crab Pot on Seattle's Waterfront.
We watched some lovely boats and ferries before getting our table.

They cooked Alaskan crab with mussels, clams, shrimp, red skinned potatoes, and sweet corn chopped in 1 inch pieces together and then plopped everything on paper which they covered the table with.
Then they gave you a cutting board, a hammer and rye bread with butter and butter to dip the seafood in. Different but easy to clean up. I used to eat off banana leaves so this was nothing.lol

It was the most delicious crab I ever ate, I must say and I love crab.
Even the lemonade we ordered was just exceptionally perfect.
Not too strong and not too weak and not too sweet. Just PURRRFECT!

Thanks Honey, for a wonderful day!:)

Parking was free on Sunday, which was a treat and we parked across the street under the bridge which was quite convenient for me, since I have a small problem with my knee. lol
(Talk about having the need for tune ups lol
I am trying trigosomine and will know soon if it helps or not.)

After our wonderful meal we exited to our car and with the aid of our Tom Tom, we got to the airport just on time, to pick up the boys. It used a different route, we would otherwise never know how to use.

The days are longer now so it just got dark after 9 pm.
The 3 boys we picked up were all in good spirits and very tired.
They snoozed while we drove back up north towards the border.

We dropped two off and got ourselves home by about 1:30 am. Every one rushed to bed, to dream about our great day and week end.

The only sad news we heard was in the papers with headlines of one local death due to swine flu.
That is really very close to hitting home.

Well ... now we have new things to look forward to.
Keep on plugging as they say. lol

Take care and have a wonderful Monday!!! :)