Time and the Passage thereof

I guess blogging is not really first and foremost on my mind, especially when I look back and realize that it's been 5 months since my first and only blog. Since November we have had Christmas, a trip to Mexico and two trips to Halifax.

Halifax #1 - Deb and I were first going to go to New York for the American thanksgiving to visit friends, sort of a tradition we have adopted. We even took the Monday off work to give it an extra long weekend. Plans changed and I/We will be forever grateful that they did! Turns out that our friends were preparing their house for sale so it wasnt' a good time. We decided to fly out to Halifax to visit Debs mom who was in the hospital. We booked a hotel room(thanks Tara), a car and we really literally spent the weekend at the hospital. What a memorable weekend it was!! Mary (Debs mom) was on a soft diet but craved Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sooooooo............we brought in a blender and gave her the kentucky fried chicken, soft serve!  She enjoyed it and ate every last soft morsel. We also blended split pea and ham soup and brought her a homemade coconut cream pie with nice soft graham crust throughout the weekend. We brought in Yahtzee, Cribbage, a puzzle and stuff for a manicure, pedicure and product to do her hair. We feel we pampered her and enjoyed every minute with her. We will be forever grateful for that unexpected visit, as sadly it was to be our last with Mary. God Rest her Soul. She passed on March 23 hence visit #2 to Halifax.

Christmas - I love this holiday and family get togethers. The only piece of the puzzle missing is members from Debs side of the family. This year Andrew 25and Kimberly 23(my kids) spent the night and woke up Christmas morning with us - YEAH!!!  Ryan 14and Sarah 12 (Debs kids) stayed until after the traditional Christmas brunch then they went to their fathers for the rest of Christmas day and dinner. My mom and step dad made it for brunch as well as my brother. My aunt Lynda from Owen Sound came boxing day. Co-ordinating kids between houses makes it challenging to have everyone together at any given time.

Mexico - January 13-20, 2011-OMG, this trip was truly amazing. Deb had never, ever been to anywhere tropical or on a vacation like this at any time in her life. (I had a tropical vacation once in another lifetime many, many years ago)We went all inclusive to a small resort in Riviera Maya. We had a blast! Being pampered, lazing by the beach, by the pool, sipping mojitos and getting mid afternoon buzzes were the norm. Palm trees, white sand and the bluest water ever seen was the scenery. We did many memorable things, but on the first day there, we made an inukshuk by a rocky area between the beach and lagoon. We snorkeled, ziplined, swam in caves, kayaked, went on a speedboat and ate, and ate and ate. Maybe someday when I learn how to add photo's, I will publish a couple.  Now we can't wait to go away again........I wonder where to next time............Cuba..........Dominican...........Mexico again??? Oh to dream!!!

In February we decided that we were going to change campgrounds and move our trailer to somewhere that everyone in our family would feel comfortable. We have established some strong friendships where we currently are at Cedars campground and chose to camp only 7 km. away to make visiting easier. Ryan and Sarah are very excited to be camping with kids their own ages. We are happy to have them potentially experience camping the way we did as kids. Mind you, neither Deb nor I had a big luxury kind of trailer growing up but the experiences might mirror ours.

April so far has been busy and will remain that way. So many birthdays to celebrate, Easter and preparing the trailer for being moved will zap up the time. I have been home sick for the past two days and am not sure which day of the two were the lesser of evils......the sore glass in your throat day or the my head feels like 100 pounds day. Not sure what tomorrow might bring. Gotta love working with toddlers!!! (I actually really do...and only pick up every third or fourth round of viruses that go around)

Until my next blog...........God Bless

What's in a Name?

I have often thought that having a blog, (or a running account of my life and feelings better said on paper) would be fun and self reflecting. One day....one day....ever since Just Below 63 began I said this over and over. Well, today after stalking others blogs, I thought I would give it a go. Never did I think my first challenge would be in creating a name! Hmmm....okay, the one my parents gave me is okay for day to day purposes, but for a blog...can you say NERD?? Coming up with a catchy phrase is more difficult than it seems. After thinking, or better yet, turning blank I finally came up with Martini Smile. Not because I am an avid drinker ( in actual fact I had my first martini just last month, thanks brother Garry ) but because my life is often shaken or stirred. The smile is just a nice touch and a reflection of what I like to do ( try to ) It may be corny, but for now, It is me :)