Believe it or Not -- I actually got Graham to do it!!!!!!

1. I am not a morning person!!!!!
2. I was born in York Minster Nursing Home in York, UK.
3. I was told I was being promoted from the sixth grade to the eighth because I was not trying hard enough.
4. My parents cancelled a drum set I ordered without telling me when I was 16 years old.
5. My best friend died only six months after I left England.
6. I have always loved The Beatles.
7. Two of the three children from my first marriage have unfortunately been persuaded to believe a lot of untruths and I miss them very much.
8. I love Nancy! She is the best thing that has ever happened to me!!!!
9. I love cruising, ballroom dancing, laughing and helping people.
10. I love my Scotch!!!!
11. I love gardening and I can’t wait to finish our back yard.
12. I have been blessed with skills to fix almost anything. (Except motors)
13. I (DoooooH) married a woman in Florida after knowing her for only 1 week!!!!!
14. I lived in Florida cutting grass and waiting tables for almost two years.
15. I bought a 32 foot fifth wheel trailer and rebuilt it from the frame up.
16. My father told me (I would never amount to anything!!!)……he was wrong! I have already seen more of the world than all my family put together.
17. I sometimes trust too much.
18. I like computer games.
19. I used to be a cop…..badge #94 Mississauga Police Dept.
20. I have been a Shoe Salesman, Stock Boy, Floor Cleaner, Carpet Cleaner, Expeditor, Buyer, Purchasing Agent, Purchasing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Sales Manager, Production Scheduler, Machine Operator, Production Manager,
Trucking Salesman, Handyman, Roofer, Siding installer, Re-Upholstery Salesman, House Painter and now all I do is help people become Wealthy or at the least save them money. (What a great job!!!!!)
21. I have always wanted to go to University to be an architect but never did…..perhaps some day!
22. I have surfed in California…..I got up on the board at least once.
23. I Windsurfed, Golfed, Bowled, Played Darts, Played Billiards, Pitched Horseshoes until I got good at it.
24. I once won a javelin competition in an interschool competition.
25. My great grandfather was a Beattie, from Echlefechan, Dumphriesshire, Scotland. The Beatties were border-reivers (raiders) who worked for the highest bidder.

I PROMISE--
To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet.
To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To where a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.
To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.
Christian D. Larson

25 Things That You May Not Know About me

I received a copy of this on Facebook and thought that it would be fun to share my "Twenty-Five Things" with my friends and family here.

I am going to try to get Graham to do the same, so stay tuned.

1. I am extremely proud of all 3 of my very special children and of all that they have

accomplished in their lives.

2. I dearly love my 2 daughters-in-law - they are very special ladies.
3. My grandchildren are my pride and joy.
4. I am pagan and follow a shamanic wiccan path.
5. I was born & raised in Streetsville.
6. I moved to London to attend the University of Western Ontarion and I have never left.
7. I am able to answer yes to the two most important questions in life - I am truly glad to go

to work every day because I love what I do and I am also glad to return home to my

husband, Graham every afternoon..
8. I love cruising and would dearly love to cruise South America.
9. I love dancing!
10. I am the oldest of 12 children - 10 girls and 2 boys all together.
11. My parents were divorced when it was something that was taboo.
12. After my parents' divorce, there were parents who refused to allow their children to

play with me because of the divorce.
13. Both of my parents went on to remarry and start new families - most of my brothers and

sisters are half-siblings.
14. My brother, Scott drowned 2 weeks before his 18th birthday.
15. I am the proud "mother" of 2 cocker spaniels - Emma (the devil dog) and Abby (the

terrorist)
16. I love attending live musical theatre and in the past couple of years we have seen Mamma

Mia, Dirty Dancing and The Sound of Music.
17. I really want to see RiverDance and The Jersey Boys - hint! hint!
18. I have a terrible sweet tooth.
19. I have just started a 2 year term as the Secretary of the London-Elgin-Middlesex Crime

Stoppers program.

20. We just returned home from an ACN convention in San Diego - what an absolutely

beautiful city.
21. I am a much happier person since Graham came into my life.
22. I met Graham on the internet - before it was a truly accepted way to meet someone.
23. We meet with 3 other couples every 4 - 6 weeks for a dinner club. I have never in my

life laughed like I laugh when the 8 of us are together.
24. I hate winter and I love summer - I actually enjoy the heat. I would probably do much

better somewhere where it is hot all year round.
25. I an an avid mineral collector.

The Sound of Music

Last Saturday we journeyed to Toronto to see The Sound of Music at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. On our way we stopped in Brampton for brunch with Jeannie, Carissa and Isabella.
We had a wonderful visit together as well as a good meal.

We left Brampton an hour before showtime - HUGE mistake. I cannot believe Toronto traffic!!!!!! The Gardiner Expressway was backed up to Kipling and we crawled along at about 20 kms/hour all the way to Spadina. How do you people tolerate that mess every day????????? I just cannot picture dealing with that kind of traffic day after day.

Luckily we found a parking spot right in front of the theatre, however, we were late and had to wait to be seated. At least they provide video footage for you to watch while you're waiting. We had awesome seats and soon were really into the story. At the end of the play, I looked over and caught Graham wiping away some tears. We both enjoyed the play more than we expected to - it was really very good.

Since Ryan, Deb and the kids were busy, we headed straight back to London to have dinner with some friends of ours and to "rescue" the dogs. It was a very busy but wonderful day spent with family, good friends and great entertainment.

We Have Fallen in Love

We arrived back in London this morning at about 4:00 after a very long day of travelling. They practically had to drag us kicking and screaming from California - what an awesomely beautiful state. San Diego is a warm, inviting city that we all absolutely fell in love with.

The convention was a wonderful motivator - full of useful information and amazing success stories. We were especially moved by the story of one gentleman who appears to be in his mid-30's who was being promoted to Regional Vice President. This man grew up on the streetswhere his family lived out of a car. He became involved with a gang at an early age. He was shot once and was not expected to live; he was stabbed 15 times and was not expected to live. Now here he is, earning at least $25,000.00/ month as an RVP. His father was with him to share in this amazing day in his life.

Sunday's keynote speaker was a leadership trainer named John Maxwell who has written several books. He was full of helpful information and was extremely entertaining in the process. It was announced on Sunday that our next convention will be in Charlotte, North Carolina at the end of June. Charlotte is the world headquarters for ACN. The keynote speaker for the convention in June was also announced - Donald Trump. Please make sure to watch the Sunday, March 22 episode of Celebrity Apprentice as it features ACN and our video phone.



















The 4 of us that went together had a wonderful time. On Friday night we took a wonderful 3 hour dinner cruise of San Diego Bay. Saturday night we were exhausted and it was pizza and drinks in our hotel suite. After the conference was over on Sunday, Graham and I took a 3 1/2 hour whale watching cruise. We did see 3 california gray whales. Unfortunately, they didn't do much more than "blow" and arch their backs from the water. We did see a very large school of dolphins and I did manage to obtain some wonderful pictures of them.

On Monday we left San Diego early so that we could drive back to Los Angeles by way of the
Pacific Coast Highway. Again we were able to obtain some marvellous pictures.







Especially delightful were the pictures that we were able to get of these precious little ground squirrels which burrow all over the cliffs along the beaches.

San Diego

Tomorrow, Graham and I are off to San Diego. There are 4 of us going together - we are flying out of Detroit and landing at LAX where we have a Jeep reserved. We are making the drive from LA to San Diego mid-afternoon and are driving along the coast. We hope to get some spectacular pictures. We have become involved in a telecommunications company. This company is endorsed (for free) by Donald Trump and will be featured on an upcoming episode of Celebrity Apprentice.

We will have The remainder of the day Thurs and Friday morning to do what we would like to do. On Saturday the convention only lasts until 6:00 - giving us time to investigate San Diego's night life. The convention ends on Sunday at 2:00 and our flight out of LAX doesn't leave until early Tuesday evening.

Keep your eyes on the blog for (hopefully) some awesome pictures in the very near future.

The end of Trucking!!

I didn't realize just exectly how long it has been since I posted here until Ryna asked me yesterday id I'd given up on the blog. The answer was a resounding "NO" so, I thought I should bring everyone up to date on our lives.

Since Graham went back to work at Taylor as a company driver, he had been doing 2 loads a week with backhauls - work that would have been great as an owner-operator. The reality is that the company makes more money from the company drivers and therefore make sure that they get the majority of the loads.

In three of the past 4 weeks, however, he has only been getting one load a week. This past Thursday, he headed off to Windsor to pick up the very last load that Taylor Transportation would be shipping - the company has closed it's doors and the remaining drivers are now without work. For the second time this year already, Graham has had to clear out his truck.

Fortunately, in the past 3 weeks we have started to become involved with a telecommunications company named ACN. This company sells a video phone - you can actually see the person that you are talking to. This is great for grandparents/ grandchildren as we tried to convince Ryan and Deb yesterday. The phones are digital and have a screen the size of the screens on the portable DVD players (7"). The picture clarity is amazing. We have decided that, if Ryan & Deb get one, then naturally Deb's parents will also need to have one as will all of the aunts and uncles..... etc., etc., etc.
This phone is endorsed by Donald Trump and will be featured on the upcoming Apprentice series.

So, we are truly hoping that this business takes off so that we can be a 2 income family again - will keep you informed!!

Camera Club

So........................... this morning, in the frigid, arctic-like temperature, I ventured forth on my first "photo shoot" with the Camera Club.

I spent 1/2 hour getting ready to brave the cold - 3 layers everywhere, 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, 3 tops (plus my coat) - I felt like the Michelen Man. I was NOT going to be bending any time soon.

Two of us went out together from the camera club. Diane and I work together at the CCAC and she is the one who introduced me to the Camera Club. We went to a wonderful park within the city- a friend of Diane's lives near the park and was our tour guide for the day. Our mission was to get five specific pictures - an evergreen, a fence, parallel lines, moving water and a favourite photo.

It was actually a lot of fun. Despite the -14 degree temperature, we all managed to stay relatively warm for the 2 1/2 hours that we were out for. The best part - Tim Horton's afterwards.

Instead of adding the pictures to this post, I've added a slide show of some of my better shots. They are unedited and I haven't converted them to black and white yet.

The New Year

Well..........................................so far so bad. Because of the tanking economy, the trucking business has been slowing down to a crawl. Since mid-October, Graham has only been getting 1 load a week (usually). Frequently there is no backhaul. With truck payments, insurance, fuel and tolls we finally figured it out and it was actually costing him money to drive as an owner-operator. Last week he quit driving as an owner-operator and turned the truck back to Taylor Transportation. Out came the resumes and the applications to other trucking companies. Despite several calls of interest, when Taylor's offered him a company driver position, he immmediately accepted. So, he gets to continue driving the same truck with no out of pocket expenses. Obviously, the pay isn't as good as it can be as an owner-operator, but, it is better than nothing and it's way better than a deficit. The major benefit is that if the business starts to pick up again, he can return to being an owner-operator.

As for me, the first week back to work after 2 weeks off for Christmas has been extremely hectic. January - February is usually "outbreak season". That's when the LTC Homes have many residents with respiratory and/or gastro-intestinal symptoms and it means that I can't admit anyone to the homes in outbreak, nor can I transfer anyone from a home in outbreak. The season is just getting started, but, I do have one home in complete outbreak (totally closed) and one more with one wing in outbreak. To top everything off, I started the week with 15, count them.............15!!!! empty beds. Most weeks I have maybe 7 or 8 beds to fill. On Monday when I returned, my phone was full of messages and it never stopped ringing all day - I'm still trying to return calls from Monday. Oh how I hope next week is better!!!

For those of you who aren't aware, our St. Thomas office was closed down while we were on our honeymoon for health & safety reasons. (The building has a flat roof and has always leaked, however during this summer there were 2 catastrophic downpours inside the building.) The landlord replaced the roof and.................................it still leaked, so the decision was made that we would not return to that building and the hunt was on for new office space. In the meantime we ended up scattered all over the place. I ended up working out of the London office and initially was quite adamant that I couldn't wait to move back to St. Thomas. During an office reorganization in the London office, I ended up in the same work-space as the London Placement team. I so love being part of a team that does the same work as I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being a one-person team was very isolated and I didn't realize just how isolated. To make a long story short, a position came up in the Placement department in London and I applied for it. Not because I really wanted to leave my job, but because I didn't want to go back to the isolation of St. Thomas. Apparently they really like my work in St. Thomas and while the London job was mine if I wanted it I was offered a perfect compromise. I will continue to do my St. Thomas work, BUT, I will be doing it out of the London office permanently - the best of both worlds as far as I'm concerned.

How's that for an eventful start to 2009. Happy New Year everyone.

Christmas is Over

The Christmas season is finally over and life is slowly returning to "normal" - whatever that is! The kids have all gone home, we've celebrated New Year's.

We managed to survive our 2 1/2 days with the grandchildren - thank goodness for Krista and Jamie - I'm not sure that I would have survived without them as Alexandra does not appear to like sleeping in her bed at night.

Our 2 week vacation is over - it flew by so very, very fast.

We went to Toronto this year to celebrate New Year's Eve at a place called the Dance Cafe. A beautiful dance floor with lots of room for dancing. It also gave us an excuse to see Ryan, Deb and the "kids" again. It warmed my heart when Alexandra willingly came to me as soon as we walked in the door. When I was finished greeting her, she willingly went to Gramps for some more kisses and cuddling. On our way home to London we met Graham's daughter Jeannie and our granddaughter Isabella for "linner" - it was 3:00 in the afternoon - too late for lunch, too early for dinner.

We shall now see what 2009 has in store for us. Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is here and all of my family have arrived safe and sound. Poor Abby and Emma are in culture shock I think.
Alexandra labours under the mistaken impression that her mother is THE only person in the world who is capable of caring for her - if mom is in the room, or within eyeshot, Alex screams until mom finally takes her. She is not even happy with her father's undivided attention.

Austin, on the other hand is simply excited about Christmas. He hung his stocking by the fireplace tonight and left milk, cookies and carrots out for Santa and his reindeer.
Tomorrow morning should be exciting for all of us as this will be the first Christmas where Austin understands what is going on and it is Alexandra's first Christmas.

Nana, as you can see is just thrilled to have everyone home, safe and sound.

Christmas

Can you believe that Christmas is only 12 Days away!!!! While I don't really celebrate Christmas (I celebrate Yule or the Winter Solstice on 21 Dec ), the rest of my family does. This is good for me because my children come home. For the first time ever, ALL of my children and grandchildren will be home on Christmas day. Until they were married, Ryan & Deb always spent Christmas Day apart - Ryan with us and Deb with her family. Since they've been married they've spent Christmas at home or with Deb's parents so this is very exciting. They do have an unterior motive - they are travelling to North Carolina (or South) on Dec 26 or 27 to attend a family celebration and, again, for the first time ever, I get to babysit my grandchildren!!!!! They will only be gone for a couple of days but, that's probably as much as I will be able to take for my first time babysitting. Hopefully I will have more opportunities in the future. So, for Christmas Day there will be 8 of us. Jamie actually returns home today after writing her final exams yesterday. Krista and Ryan's gang will be home later on Christmas Eve - both Krista and Ryan have to work on Dec 24.
As Ryan and Deb are leaving for North (South) Carolina, Graham's daughter Jeannie and her youngest, Isabella will be arriving for a couple of days. This is also a first and a very exciting one. Unfortunately, Jeannie's oldest daughter, Carissa has to work and isn't able to join us.
So, the Christmas season is a very exciting one for us this year - we intend to enjoy every minute with our children and grandchildren.

We would like to wish each and every one of you and Very Blessed Holiday season and a Prosperous New Year.