It’s the last day of 2010.  I can’t say I’m sad to see this year go.  I spent the first six months of it in agony and have spent the last six trying to recovery from the surgery that has at least made things much better for me.  I lost my/… Read full post »

I know I haven't been writing very much lately but working full-time again is proving to be difficult since my spine surgery.  I'm happy though and hopeful for a much better year in 2011. 

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my Salon friends Happy Holidays!  Whatever… Read full post »

In no particular order...

 1.  We have an instant messaging system at work.  One day the girl in the cubicle next to mine was driving me nuts.  I have a radio at my desk and I keep it low enough so only I can hear it.  She began singing a song… Read full post »

Nova Scotia, week one, November 2010.

Seven days and seven nights of rain.

Not just rain...downpours, raging torrents, deluge.

Wind enough to murder any umbrella foolish enough to open its presence.

No mercy and no end in sight...unrelenting.

Lakes swollen, quiet rivers turned to rapids, bridges wash… Read full post »

On October 7th, 2002 around suppertime I sat in my car with my two children in the back seat complaining about being hungry.  I had just had them to a doctor's appointment and we got caught in construction traffic on the way home.  It was raining and a typical fifteen minute… Read full post »

I have known what cancer is since I was a very little girl.  My paternal grandmother died from it before I was born.  My great uncle died from it when I was quite young and for some strange reason I always thought my mother would be taken away from me… Read full post »

 I've always been a real weather fiend.  I love the way it can change people's moods and plans as well as the physical changes it brings about in the world around us.  When you live in the Maritimes it is a constant topic of conversation.  Mostly people just complain about… Read full post »

fate blows in and rains down hard

drenches the world with tears

flings heavy metal like a paper card

cuts life's fabric like dressmaker's shears

water pavement flesh and steel

stone from a slingshot fired in vain

i wonder just what did they feel

confusion and numbness or panic and pain… Read full post »

Spiders.  I really do hate them.  They give me goose bumps and make me feel itchy all over.  I hate the way they look and the way they move.  I think they're absolutely horrid creatures.  But...

This morning, I woke up and looked out into my backyard.  There was still a… Read full post »

Okay...when I moved back to Nova Scotia almost three years ago, I was charmed by the neighbourhood we had chosen.  It was very lush and green with lots of trees surrounding each property and yet is very close to the capital city.  The best of both worlds.  If we drive fifteen… Read full post »

Have you seen the movie to which my title refers?  A bunch of patients are left in a catatonic state from an encephalitis epidemic and a doctor (played by Robin Williams) gives them a drug that 'wakes them up' for the first time since they've been institutionalized.  They go from practicall… Read full post »

 The following pictures were all taken by Puddle Duck in Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 1, 2010.  These are just some shots of my part of the world that I wanted to share with those on OS.  Please enjoy.

 %IMAG… Read full post »

ocean
deep, blue
rolling, crashing, undulating
lifeblood of my soul
home

I've seen those commercials on tv for various dating services.  I'm not looking for a date.  I'm married and have two great kids.  I just wonder how people in general view me.  In this post I will lay myself out before you in order to draw your honest opinions.  What type… Read full post »

I kept looking at the subject of this Open Call and wondered whether I should respond or not.  At first I didn't want to but it kept haunting me so I decided to delve into a chapter of my life that became the defining moment for my 'real' family so here… Read full post »

The other morning I was coming downstairs and I looked at the front entryway of my house.  There were shoes everywhere.  At first I shook my head at the thought that my house never seems tidy enough.  And then I stopped and actually looked at the shoes. 

There was one… Read full post »

I find summers magical.  There is just something about the heat that makes me feel more....that's it...makes me feel more.  The very air feels like it's charged with electricity.  The warm winds have more purpose as they blow through the leafy trees causing them to dance… Read full post »

Over the past week, I have been on a strange roller coaster ride.  My emotions, sleep patterns, physical well-being, etc. have been in a state of constant change.   At some moments I felt refreshed and anxious to get back to a 'normal' life and at other times I dipped into a… Read full post »

I awoke this morning to a beautiful summer day.  The leaves on the trees are gently rustling in the early morning breeze,  the birds are all competing to see who has the sweetest song, the butterflies and bees are dancing among the freshly fragrant flowers and my cat is draped along… Read full post »

I have so many mixed emotions about my father and my life with him is something I will only share small portions of with my own children...for now anyway. 

I wrote the above paragraph and then something overtook me and I launched into line after line after line of detailed… Read full post »

 I was born and raised on a peninsula connected to a peninsula so I have spent most of my life very close to the ocean.  If you have never seen the ocean, I don't know if you'll be able to understand and I have no idea to what you could compare… Read full post »

Fifa 2010 South Africa has officially begun!!!  I watched the opening ceremonies, here in my Eastern Canadian home and one thought kept running through my head...embrace it, South Africa! 

This past winter, my fair country hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and as a Canadian I couldn't h… Read full post »

 I've had a recurring dream about a red squirrel frequenting my back yard.  She wasn't the most beautiful squirrel but she was always chattering away, just happy to be in the world.  On sunny, hot days she would sit on a rock thickly covered with a velvety moss and turn her… Read full post »

Something very stange happened to me this morning and I'm writing to see if anyone else has had this or if they've heard of it.  My husband has always used Ivory Soap in the shower.  He asked me if there is something else he could use so there isn't as much… Read full post »

Happy Saturday.  I am glad to report that I'm feeling a little better today.  Yesterday, I felt like I'd been on a tear for 3 days.  I wanted to be happy about the operation taking away my pain but I just felt so crappy.  So many people called, emailed and commented… Read full post »