October 2, 2012

Wow, time passes quickly, here we are now into October and the last time I wrote was in August!  Brian and I were out for a long walk with Timmie exploring the trails in our new neighborhood yesterday. The trail system in Westminster Woods subdivision is really something to experience. It is very extensive and has trails branching off going different directions and depending on which trail you take, will take you out to a different street and you have to orient yourself as to where you are in order to get home again.  Brian and I were reflecting on that walk that just a year ago at this time, he was diagnosed with his NHL cancer and how he looks today compared to what he looked last year is like night and day. Even though he is still having his chemo every three months, he looks and feels well and we are so grateful for where modern medicine and the power of prayer has taken us in this journey. We try not to take anything for granted now and we both feel we can tackle any obstacle that comes our way and still enjoy life to the fullest. We have accomplished much in the last year and I can say now we both feel a lot more settled and joyful in all that we do.  Life is very good at the moment!

We have been working on getting the condo in order and that is now coming together too.  We have totally organized the long hallway in our garage and Brian bought and put together a nice Mastercraft bench and tall storage with doors on it, and everything that we need to store is now stored away in that hallway and our garage is free and clear for our cars.  I’m still waiting for the rest of our furniture for the living room and hopefully within the next month it is ready to be delivered.  Now we are working on the basement which is actually looking pretty clear now and so I told Brian I can go out and spend yet more money on getting furniture and we are setting that room up as a theatre room with theater-type seats and Brian is now looking for his 60” TV he wants down there. He is “waiting” for sales he says!  I wish he would just find a good one and get the TV. 

A lot of our neighbors are now getting landscaping/interlocking brick patios done in our private inclusive back yards and with one person starting it now as everyone sees how nice it looks, we are all now getting quotes from this same company – Meadowvale Landscaping.  What a goldmine this is going to turn out for Meadowvale!  We now have the patio done and I am including some pictures below of the before and after.

Otherwise, our family is doing well.  David and Jenn are now happily in their new home in Cambridge; Jenn got a full-time LTO, teaching grade 2 for the entire school year, Breanne and James are busy with their businesses and the kids, Annika started JK and is loving it, and Selena is a real going concern now, she certainly has a mind of her own and is already starting to speak – copying every word you say.  Annika and Selena’s birthdays are coming up, Annika’s birthday is this Sunday and Selena on November 19; they will be 4 and 2 respectively.  As I said at the beginning of this blog – time just flies by way too quickly!   My dad is doing well and even helped Brian put together his garage storage cabinet and then because he hasn’t used those muscles in a while, suffered with shoulder pain for the next few days from using a screwdriver!  He seems to be on the mend now though. 

We all have a lot to be thankful for and I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Our private inclusive backyard before.

After the work was done

This Blue Haven Junipers will grow to give us privacy when we are sitting out the back

This leads into our garage hallway at the back.

We left the existing patio there, that is why it is white and the other is grey. The bush at the end is our Hibiscus tree that we plant every spring and bring inside every fall.  This was a small potted plant that my Aunt Joan gave my mom many years ago and since mom was not the best at keeping plants going, she gave it to Brian to take care of and every year it gets bigger and bigger and has beautiful red Hibiscus flowers when it is in full bloom.  This year the only time the blooms came out was on David & Jenn’s wedding day which I take as a sign from my mom that she was with us that day and after those blooms fell off, it did not bloom again this year which was really unusual BUT is it is definitely healthy with lush green leaves.  When we bring it in this year, it will have to stay in our garage so we are hoping that it survives the winter as in our other house we brought it into the basement which was obviously much warmer.

Timmie just loves to lay in the grass and roll which drive me crazy as he gets smelly and dirty!

Timmie’s new haircut!  Now he smells lovely and I will have to keep him away from the grass!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

August 20, 2012

David and Jenn moved out of their condo this weekend. All their stuff is in storage until next Thursday when it is all moved into their new home in Cambridge.  They take possession of their new home on Monday, August 27th and the Bruder’s and Sharratt’s will be going in to help clean and on Wednesday new hardwood floors are being installed and all the old carpeting will be ripped out.  David and Jenn are very excited to be moving in but we feel kind of sad to know they are not around the corner from us anymore.  It was comforting to know they were just around the corner just as Breanne and James are but it is a good move for them and at least it is a bit closer to David’s work; I’m sure it will cut in half his commute to New Hamburg.  

Brian had his second round of 3-monthly infusion of chemo (Rituximab) last week.  This is the first time he really felt quite unwell the evening of the infusion but after a couple of days he was starting to feel better obviously once the drug had left his system.  So he is good to go now until November when he gets his next round. 

Our townhouse is starting to feel more like home; the landscaping and sod is down; I still haven’t taken pictures yet but will soon and post on my blog.  In the meantime, we have the professional wedding pictures back and Breanne put a picture book together on Picaboo and here is the link if you are interested to see them. 

http://app.picaboo.com/WebView/Project.aspx?clientID=c9cfe6128ff96b748eed41a84e0b3244&version=256759&siteID=FB-WallShare

Long Live the Queen!

My Brother, Bob, sent this link to me and I just had to share.  It is an amazing video of her aging through the years. It is extremely well done! 

Slideshow of David and Jenn shown at the wedding

Here is a video that Breanne made for David and Jenn (their growing up years) and it was shown at the reception at the wedding.  It brings tears to my eyes to see how quickly our kids grow up and they are getting married before you know it. Breanne really did a nice job of putting this video together.  Enjoy!

July 29, 2012

Just thought I better do an update on our blog; I have been so busy, I just haven’t found the time.  David and Jenn’s wedding went off without a glitch and everyone had a great time.  David and Jenn are now on their honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and David has phoned us several times saying they are having a great time.  Makes me feel good he actually calls us on his honeymoon…..he is still a mommie’s boy and I love it!  They will be back on Thursday and then back to normal again for them although they will be working on getting packed as they are moving to their new home in Cambridge by the end of August.  We are going to miss them not being so close but the house sounds very nice and we look forward to seeing it when they take possession. 

I’m still a little stressed work-wise as I am having to do a “request for proposal” for my SJHC Hospital account which is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.  Poor Brian has been listening to me complaining about whether I want to do this or not.  After 32 years of having the SJHC account for which I never was asked to sign a contract; now the government has mandated that all vendors must have signed contracts but instead of just getting me to sign a contract, it has to be “fair”, so an RFP is put out and any company is allowed to bid on it.  After I saw how complicated it was, I was just ready to pack the whole thing in and just retire but the wonderful girls I have working for me had convinced me to just do the best I can with the RFP and leave it in God’s hands……so that is what I am doing  Hopefully SJHC will not want to lose me as their vendor for transcription and I will be chosen as the favorite vendor but I’m so scared going up against all these big companies who know how to make them look good on an RFP  The worse part is that if you make it through the evaluation to stage 3, you have to go in and do a presentation and that part scares me to death. So we shall see what happens….I just want to get the RFP done and sent in so I don’t have to think about it.  I worked on it all weekend with Brian’s help and I kept telling him that he should just tell me he wants me to retire and that I should just not bid on it at all but he kept telling me I was doing a good job and that I had nothing to lose; so I’m finishing it off tomorrow and getting it sent in so I can be stress-free. 

Our friends, Dana and Eric, have invited us to their cottage for a couple of days in August, so I am really looking forward to that; it will be nice to have a couple of days of relaxation with great friends as the stress over the last few months has taken its toll on us and we need to recuperate. 

I will end here with a few pictures of the wedding.  Will update on the condo next time I write.  We finally have some trees and they are working on the landscaping so everything is shaping up nicely!

 

David getting ready in our messy basement!  Timmie was not very happy that he couldn’t come to the wedding!

This is the parkette out the back of our condos with the boys ready to go!

Brian and I waiting to walk with David down the isle

This was a really nice touch to the wedding, we walked David down the aisle!

Brreanne (sister of the groom) and Tom (brother of the bride) wakling down the aisle….Breanne was a little emotional!!

Annika coming down the aisle very excited to see her daddy in the pew!

 

Jenn and her parents….she was beautiful!

My son-in-law – James – and granddaughter – Selena.

David and Jenn……….Mr & Mrs. Sharratt……….sounds funny to hear that!\

Annika falling asleep in papa’s arms…..

…….and slept through the entire reception!  She awoke just in time to eat her icecream for dessert!

The “cousins” (children of Bob, Roy and Janet) – Breanne, Jason, Connie, David, Cathy and Troy.

David and Jenn

Partying the night away….

 

Breanne didn’t sit down once during the night!!

Janet (Jenn’s mom, me and Breanne near the end of the night. It was a wonderful day!

June 25, 2012 – Finally moved but not quite settled

The longest three weeks of our lives is over and we are finally moved in but definitely not yet settled.  It was sad to say good-bye to our old home and I am sure the new owners are going to love it there.  It truly was a great home and moving into a townhome has definitely made us feel somewhat melancholy.  It was a lot of hard work moving what we could on our own and it was a real eye-opener at the amount of stuff we have and don’t need.  So the purging is still ongoing as we sort through things.  Basically our finished basement is a mess with everything piled down there and we are slowly going to go through it and keep on taking stuff to the dump or to the Goodwill. Our townhome just doesn’t feel quite like home yet until we get more pictures up on the walls, my window coverings are on order and once they are installed, it will look better than having sheets up at the window!  I have had California Closets in to measure 4 closets so we can create more storage space and that will really help with putting things away. Unfortunately they cannot be installed until the end of July so we have another month of still living amongst boxes until I have the room to empty them. 

I am already feeling quite comfortable in our new home as I can envision what it will look like when all is said and done but Brian is really struggling with it and says he doesn’t like it. I’m hopeful that he will feel much better once we are more settled but it definitely is a different way of life living so close to other people.  Having said that though, all the people we have met in our complex are very much like us, most are empty-nesters living out their retirement years in a smaller place and having less responsibility and it is going to be a quiet complex which is just perfect from my point of view. 

The best thing about the move though is how close we now are to Breanne and family and for a short while David and Jenn.  It is so nice that they are able to pop around to see us by just walking up the street.  Brian does loving having his best buddy “Annika” over who is helping papa put things away and putting up shelves and pictures. She goes with papa when he takes his weekly trip to the dump or to Value Village to donate things we don’t need anymore.  This is what is going to make Brian love being here and once our house is looking nice inside; I’m sure he will be fine. 

On another happy note, David and Jenn have just sold their condo and are moving to a new home in Cambridge.  They are having a hugely busy year, what with getting married on July 21 and moving into their new home August 23.  Cambridge will make it a bit closer for David to drive to work in New Hamburg but Jenn will have to drive to Guelph to work but it is not that far for her really as she can take all the back roads.  Another piece of good news from Jenn’s point of view is that she got a teaching contract position from September to December in one of her favorite schools here in Guelph.  It is only until December but hopefully something else will come up after that.  Jenn is a supply teacher for the Separate School Board and one day is hoping to get a full-time position but it seems to take forever with very few jobs becoming available.  It is hard for these young teachers and I feel so bad for them as they are keen to work and are young at heart and would make great teachers. 

Well, that is our update for now.  Otherwise, Brian is doing well health-wise other than a chest cold he has been suffering with but that now seems to be on the mend.  The grandkids had the same cold, so I think Brian picked it up from one of them.  I will update with some pictures once I find my camera!!!!!!

Finally the big move is here!

I can’t believe we are finally moving!  We get the keys Thursday morning after our last walk-through with the builder.  We had a walk through last week and everything looked great.  There were just a few things they have to fix up which should be done by Thursday and the cleaning crew will have gone through by then too. I am so happy with all my decor choices and absolutely love my new kitchen.  The appliances are delivered Friday but not installed until Monday.  We have Rogers and Bell coming in Friday to install our services; so our first priority is to get my office moved.  Brian and I spent today dismantling our desks and packing up our office stuff.  We also have to get all the TVs disconnected and over to the condo before Friday morning too.  James is going to help us move things we have packed Thursday morning and David and Karsten (with his truck) will also be helping us later in the afternoon.  My concern is just getting my office back in order for Friday once the services are in.  We then have a full week for Brian and I just to move things we can move on our own before the movers come on June 12th for the big move. Hopefully within two weeks we will be somewhat settled and hopefully most things put away.  Then I can start looking for and buying new furniture.  That will be the fun part!  I will post pictures later of the condo. 

I will end here with a little video of our Timmie and how he has become a big part of our lives now!  I definitely will be glad when he gets a bit older and out of the puppy stages as he can be quite a challenge with his energy and chewing at times!  He still is not fully trained and has had a couple of accidents but for the most part he is pretty good.