Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Let's Capture These Sketches - 100 - Sand bug
Let's Capture These Sketches celebrates their 100th sketch, so I played along. This sketch was perfect for pictures of my friend Fez's little girl at the beach when they came to visit.
She loved the sand!
Sketchy Thursdays - 9.22 - Our Irish Brother
The whole time I was away I was itching to get my hands on some paper and glue and pictures. I knew I had a stack of pics waiting at home for me. So this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays helped me satisfy that itch once I got home.
This summer my Nana had an Irish border named Ciaran. He quickly became best-friends with my brother Tim and truly part of our family. We had lots of fun together. These pictures are from his good-bye party. My Dad brought over his red surge for Ciaran to try on. We will miss our Irish brother.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ten on Tuesdays - the French adventure.
It's Tuesday and I thought I would play along with Kim at It's a Crafty Life. for her Ten on Tuesdays. I recently spent two weeks in the south of France with my brother Dan and our Mom... Now before you get all excited...it wasn't a holiday. My step-dad passed away (Denis is from there and my Mom and him had flown back there two weeks before for cancer treatment) and according to my Grandma our mission was to bring Mom home with us. Really our mission was to be with her and if we could bring her home great, but we would be relieved in two weeks if it couldn't be done. It almost didn't happen but Dan and I did manage to get Mom home with us. I learned some interesting things while I was away and would like to share them with you.
1. It is possible to fit just enough stuff and Teddy (my stuffed bear I've had since my first Christmas) into a backpack. It is possible to do this after crying to your Dad that your brother is a tyrant. It is possible to do this after only 4 hours of sleep b/c you worked nights the last two nights.
2. Brothers are awesome! Well mine are anyway and Dan sure proved it once again. He is a very patient person. He is a stay clam, don't panic kind of guy. I have the tendency to panic depending on the situation. Imagine this: we get off the train in Paris and need to switch trains to get to Nimes. We need to get to another station to get that train and we only have 1 hour to do so. We think about taking a cab but the que is really long and we know that we will never make it. I get pooped on by a pigeon. We decide to take the subway. We have less than 45mins. Dan figures out which one to take and then we confirm it with the info guy. We get on. We are down to 15mins. We can't get out of the subway station without our ticket...mine is at the bottom of my very large purse. Panic!!! My brother Dan calmly tells me we will be alright. Did I mention that we had to catch the train to Nimes b/c it was the last one that night? Dan puts my bag on the ground and helps me look for it. Found! We get sorta get lost finding the train and have to run in order to catch it. I would still be in Paris if it wasn't for Dan.
3. My Mom is not a fan of John Lennon.....She blames him for breaking up the Beatles....She doesn't even remember what she was doing when he died. She loves the music he wrote for the Beatles (before they got weird, she says) but she's just not a fan of him.
4. My Mom didn't know that the Backstreet Boys got their start in Europe...but my brother, who is in a punk rock band did..Huh?
5. Bread in France is really good. But they don't have peanut butter.
6. Round abouts and one way streets are in abundance in the south.
7. The villagers where Denis is from, hate Mondays so much that they often keep their shops closed. Only the big supermarket is open.
8. Castles are cool and damp and mossy. But cool! We did manage to spend one morning exploring and toured a nearby castle.
9. It is possible to get six suitcases between three of us, on and off the subway in Paris. But only if the other passengers help. I am amazed by all the help and kindness we received on our travels. Since we can't thank each of them...we'll just have to pay it forward.
10. The Dutch really like their potatoes. At dinner the night before our flight out of Amsterdam each dinner came with a baked potato, french fries and tater tots. Too much food to eat.
It was an adventure for sure. Maybe next time it could be a holiday too.:)
Ciao!
1. It is possible to fit just enough stuff and Teddy (my stuffed bear I've had since my first Christmas) into a backpack. It is possible to do this after crying to your Dad that your brother is a tyrant. It is possible to do this after only 4 hours of sleep b/c you worked nights the last two nights.
2. Brothers are awesome! Well mine are anyway and Dan sure proved it once again. He is a very patient person. He is a stay clam, don't panic kind of guy. I have the tendency to panic depending on the situation. Imagine this: we get off the train in Paris and need to switch trains to get to Nimes. We need to get to another station to get that train and we only have 1 hour to do so. We think about taking a cab but the que is really long and we know that we will never make it. I get pooped on by a pigeon. We decide to take the subway. We have less than 45mins. Dan figures out which one to take and then we confirm it with the info guy. We get on. We are down to 15mins. We can't get out of the subway station without our ticket...mine is at the bottom of my very large purse. Panic!!! My brother Dan calmly tells me we will be alright. Did I mention that we had to catch the train to Nimes b/c it was the last one that night? Dan puts my bag on the ground and helps me look for it. Found! We get sorta get lost finding the train and have to run in order to catch it. I would still be in Paris if it wasn't for Dan.
3. My Mom is not a fan of John Lennon.....She blames him for breaking up the Beatles....She doesn't even remember what she was doing when he died. She loves the music he wrote for the Beatles (before they got weird, she says) but she's just not a fan of him.
4. My Mom didn't know that the Backstreet Boys got their start in Europe...but my brother, who is in a punk rock band did..Huh?
5. Bread in France is really good. But they don't have peanut butter.
6. Round abouts and one way streets are in abundance in the south.
7. The villagers where Denis is from, hate Mondays so much that they often keep their shops closed. Only the big supermarket is open.
8. Castles are cool and damp and mossy. But cool! We did manage to spend one morning exploring and toured a nearby castle.
9. It is possible to get six suitcases between three of us, on and off the subway in Paris. But only if the other passengers help. I am amazed by all the help and kindness we received on our travels. Since we can't thank each of them...we'll just have to pay it forward.
10. The Dutch really like their potatoes. At dinner the night before our flight out of Amsterdam each dinner came with a baked potato, french fries and tater tots. Too much food to eat.
It was an adventure for sure. Maybe next time it could be a holiday too.:)
Ciao!
Monday, September 12, 2011
I remembered....
Amid the sorrow of losing my step father and flying to France to be with my Mom, I did remember that day ten years ago. Because I am not @ home and the time difference is 6 hours I was unable to remember the same as the rest of you, my Canadian and Americian friends. But I did remember and if you get a chance check out http://wubtub.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-i-grieve-but-dont-despair.html, I found it very moving.
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