NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!!

I was recently watching a fascinating documentary about people who lived double lives. One was a lady, who by day worked as a conservative teacher in an elementary school, and by night was a stripper donning a whip. She carried out this double life for ten years until the club where she worked closed down. The staff at the school were 'stunned' when she revealed her secret life to them. (Personally, I would have kept it to myself!!)

Then there was a girl who when her boyfriend broke it off , she told him she had terminal cancer, with only 6-12 months to live. The boyfriend took her back and proposed to her. The public heard about it and began to donate gifts to the couple. Everything from the honeymoon, to the rings, clothes, and money towards their wedding, was donated by the public. The girl pretended to go to the hospital each day for treatment, but would never let anybody go with her. She had typed a false letter to the boyfriend from the hospital confirming her diagnosis. She continued to fool everybody, even her friends, until one day her boyfriend got suspicious and the girl confessed. The public was outraged. The boyfriend (now husband) was livid, her friends were stunned. She had fooled them all!

Brings to mind those serial killers you read about, who by day lived normal lives, and often were married to women who suspected nothing. Angels by day, devils by night!

So was I ever shocked last Saturday night... I was invited to join a group of wild women friends for dinner in a German restaurant. We were wonderfully entertained by a smiling German man, wearing lederhosen, and playing his accordian. Tables were being tapped, boot shaped beer glasses were raised in typical Octoberfest fashion. Everybody was clapping their hands. Suddenly, out on to the dance floor hopped my Postman (what??) This fellow is always so serious and never smiles. He was dressed in very short Lederhosen and dancing with all the pretty maids. So this is what he does by night!! And what a very different personality I saw. By day frowns and by night smiles.

The moral of the story - never judge a book by its cover! Or alternatively, there are  two sides to every story!!

Love,

Patricia xxx

MUSIC SWEEEET SWEEEET MUSIC!

The best thing I've done recently was to join the 'Joy of Life Choir'. My friend Anita who invited me was very reassuring. "You don't need to sing; just move your mouth!" Perfect. It sounded fun and no 'American Idol' type auditions either. The only thing I had to do was learn the words of the four songs we will be performing. 'She loves me like a rock' by Paul Simon, 'Accentuate the Positive', 'Jesus is on the mainline' and the last song is 'Swing low sweet Chariot'.

All our songs are gospel-style with a blues twist which I love. We clap our hands and sing aloud and it's actually a lot of fun and really therapeutic. I think we laugh more than sing! Our choir master Daniel, is totally eccentric and a brilliant musician. He can play any instrument and to hear him on the piano is a joy. He is also a master fiddler. You can tell he loves his music and his enthusiasm is infectious. He comes from a French Cajun background.

Our first mini concert is next Wednesday, and in the meantime I'm driving everybody nuts singing aloud the words of one of the songs 'You gotta accentuate the Positive eliminate the Negative...'. I have sent you Bette Midler and Bing Crosby's version of the song. Just let your fingers dance over to Polly's Playlist. It's such a fun song and I use it a lot in my daily life!

When Chichi has just done a u-no-whot on my best rug, I break into song...You gotta accentuate the positive...Blind or not - she's still up to her old tricks! When the paint began to peel off my newly painted deck...I pulled out my song. It helped. Now the painters have to come back in the Spring to re-do it with an oil based paint. Still it could have been worse - what if the newly built pillars supporting the house collapsed - God forbid!! You gotta accent-two-ate the positive. Right?

Gotta fly...somebody's at the door!

Talk Soon,

Love,

Patricia xxx

HOW TO BE REALLY ALIVE!

Sitting on top of Claudia's big cozy bed this morning with the tired party girls, we began to discuss boys, bling, the party last night, and everything else in between. For a blissful half hour I was 19 again! As we discussed 'rat' boys, the usual question came up 'What is his birth sign?' The 'rat' boys were cheap and made them pay for their own popcorn at the cinema. If boys are earning the same money as girls, some would argue that they should go 50/50. I thought about it...and thought about it...and do you know what? I'm old fashioned and if a boy invites a girl out on a date, he should man up and put his hand in his pocket. You see girls spend a FORTUNE trying to look good for the fellow. Boys don't have to buy expensive clothes, make up, perfume, nails, bags, heels. Trust me, there isn't much change left after all that. I know it's a vicious circle but hey! you try taking on the massive marketing world that surrounds us. Not easy.

Coming back to the title of today's blog...'HOW TO BE REALLY ALIVE!' I found this greeting card in the basement this morning, and read it out to the girls. I dunno where it came from. It's weird, but you may find some of the suggestions useful. Here goes...

LIVE JUICY (couture?)

STAMP OUT CONFORMITY

STAY IN BED ALL DAY (like that one!)

FIND SNAILS MAKING LOVE (whot? to eat them?)

DREAM OF GYPSY WAGONS

DRINK SUNSETS

BE RIDICULOUS (dream of gypsy wagons!!)

STOP WORRYING. NOW. IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

MARRY YOURSELF (and buy the popcorn without resentment haha)

HANG UPSIDE DOWN (watch out for vomit no thanks!)

DEVELOP AN ASTOUNDING APPETITE FOR BOOKS (less fattening than food)

MAKE YES YOUR FAVOURITE WORD (watch that one...)

EAT MANGOS NAKED (where? in the bath? What about strawberries?)

KEEP TOYS IN THE BATH TUB (what kind of toys?)

CELEBRATE AND OLD PERSON

SEND A LOVE LETTER TO YOURSELF (and seal it with a kiss)

INVENT NEW WAYS TO LOVE

TRANSFORM NEGATIVES (into positives)

DELIGHT SOMEONE

ALLOW YOURSELF TO FEEL RICH WITHOUT MONEY (tell that to J. Choo!)

BE WHO YOU TRULY ARE AND THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW

BELIEVE IN EVERYTHING

YOU ARE ALWAYS ON YOUR WAY TO A MIRACLE

THE MIRACLE IS YOU!

Some nice ideas to choo choo on as we begin to enjoy our weekend!

Talk soon,

Love,

Patricia xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAUDIA!

At 3.15 a.m. this day 19 years ago in Fort Freezing McMurray, Claudia joined us straight from heaven. She arrived with a smile on her face...ready to parteeeeeee!! I swear - no kidding - she arrived with a beaming smile on her face. Maybe it was because just prior to her birth I got a terrible fit of the giggles. They must have given me laughing gas to relax me, but it was the sight of that big dracula brooch with the dangling legs on the nurse's collar which had me laughing so hard. I think Claudia heard all the laughter going on and was enjoying it. That was the best part.

As soon as she was born, I wanted to take my baby, and skeedadle home straight away in my pj's - as far away from the hospital as I could get. I found the nurses most unfriendly, and lacking in any kind of human warmth (maybe they were tired because it was 3.15 a.m). They were strong in the paperwork and all I could remember after the birth was reams of paperwork and questions and measurements of the baby's head and circumference and more questions of a clinical nature. Questions forms pens forms pens questions...yackety yack. The only question I wanted to hear was "Are you all right dear, would you like a cup of tea?" or "What a gorgeous little girl". Instead, the midwife asks me "Is that what you wanted?" as she held Claudia in her arms. What? Did I hear correctly?  Did she think I was going to say "No, I wanted a monkey".
I remember thinking to myself - what a peculiar question.

19 years later - where has the time gone? Now Claudia is all grown up and with her fondness for the finer things in life, has taken over the VIP suite at the Empress Hotel to celebrate in style! Champagne - the works! You go girl! Twenty of her friends are joining her for dinner at Earl's followed by the club no doubt. TGIF tomorrow!!

What a busy week it has been since we returned from Vancouver. Bill the builder is back with his assistant Brian to put on the storm windows for the winter. In addition he put up the numbers on our house, and the brass kick plates on the doors. So the place is looking all swish now with the accessories. In addition, as a special favour, they put up the lights on the tree for me. It's now looking like fairyland as we prepare for HALLOWEEN yeah! Unfortunately, as always we got the sweets and crisps too soon. 50 bags of potato chips bought in earnest - was it a week ago? no I think maybe two weeks ago...is now reduced to 10 bags!!

I got my outfit at a steal. One day I was waiting for my car to be serviced so I wandered down the street and was magnetically drawn into a thrift store. They lured me with the Halloween stuff on the windows. What treasures awaited me! Got a red velvet cape for $3 and matching long black dress with red velvet inserts and long Rapunzel sleeves for $4 - $7 in total. There was a rather sleazy fellow in the checkout behind me "Try it on for us darling" he asked me, looking straight at my boobs. "No shanks Mister" I responded with a smile. So now, I may go as Rapunzel. But since I suffer from occasional hairy legs, if people ask me 'Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair' it might be rather awkward... Yeah, I'll think about it.

Chocolate season is upon us and tomorrow God willing I am setting up the table all fancy palancy. If it's nice, I'll get Vicky to take a photo. Claudia has some friends staying with us from Calgary. They flew down for the birthday party. Michelle ma belle, and Whitney. I love any excuse to set the table...

Last bit of news...poor Chichi...with all the excitement of the builders being around, I put her out to pee, and then went to hang up my coat (3 seconds). In an instant she disappeared off the face of the earth. I could not find her and went into panic mode. She's blind as a bat and still prone to wandering and no id on her. Suddenly, I heard a little murmer from beneath the earth. She had fallen into that dreaded hole which is the basement window. I had to get Bill and Brian to help me heave her out. They couldn't grip her so I had to go down to the basement and try and open the window and lift her in that way. What consternation! Vicky is going to kill me when she reads this. 'MA YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF CHICHI!" She's right.

Talk Soon!

Love ya,

Patricia xxx

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It is Thanksgiving weekend over here in Canada. Prior to coming to Canada we never really got into it. Twenty years later, I'm liking it - chocolate turkey, real turkey, and everything in between! I'm spending the long weekend in Vancouver with the family. We headed over on the ferry Friday afternoon. Weather is glorious and the colour of the changing leaves on the trees is breaktakingly beautiful!

I must admit the thought of cooking a big fat turkey cock in the small condo was making me feel ill at ease. But always up to a challenge, I did it! But it was funny the way it happened. I drove down to Safeway which in itself was a huge challenge. Drivers in Vancouver are noted for their aggression and rudeness. They think they are on roller skates, but forget they are driving cars. They tail-gate you when you're driving and come SO close, you can almost hear them breathe behind you! Nasty stuff. Anyway, I made it to the supermarket without any bangs on my bumper. I had a feeling the fresh turkeys may be sold out, since Vancouver is such a big city with lots more people to feed. I was right, there was nothing left but frozen turkeys. I never in my life cooked a frozen turkey.

As I gazed in wonderment at the array of sad looking reject turkeys which looked like giant snow balls, I got into conversation with a young fellow from Saudia Arabia who asked my advice on cooking turkeys. He had never in his life eaten, or indeed cooked, a turkey. Boy! that was going to be a challenge, especially with the frozen beast.

I told him to take the one that you could cook from frozen which was already stuffed. Next, I advised him to get up at the crack of dawn the following day and stick it in the oven - (and pray and keep the fingers and toes xxx'd! for the 6-7 hours it would take to cook I whispered to myself), plonk it in the aluminium tray I picked out for him, and follow all the written instructions on the turkey's belly, I told him like as if I was his mammy. He was so grateful and ran off holding the beast and the aluminium tray like it was a precious treasure.

As for my one, I ended up getting a frozen stuffed breast only. It only took four hours to cook. The fellow in the meat department became emotionally invested in my turkey disappointment. I had a panic attack on discovering all the fresh beasts were gone "Don't worry Miss, we'll get you your turkey" he said before running into the back to search. He ended up giving me my frozen stuffed breast at a bargain price of $19.99. I never in my life had a turkey meal for $4 per head. It wasn't bad either. I made my own stuffing and served it with brussel sprouts, potatoes, a medley of veggies and covered in gravy to tenderise it, otherwise, it would have been a little more chewy than the fresh one. In the end, yes, we did have our turkey! minus the legs, giblets and grease.

Yesterday, since the weather was so lovely, we took the hour and a half drive to see Whistler, which is to Vancouver what Aspen is to Colorado. I've been there before and I must confess, my reaction was the exact same as the first time - HATE the place. It is so artificial. It kind of reminded me of Disney world, but not for the nice reasons. As a skiing resort, I think Banff in Alberta is far more susbstanial, and has more natural beauty. Whistler looks and feels to me like it was all put together in a week. I did like the drive there. So yes, the journey was better than the destination in this case. We had a lovely meal in an Irish Pub, served by a friendly Aussie which was very enjoyable. Fish 'n chips with yummy garlic mayonnaise.

Back in Vancouver now, and packing our bags to return to Victoria. All-in-all a very pleasant weekend, with much to be grateful for. We watched 'The Secret' movie at home and there was tons of food for positive thought...Hmm the law of attraction is an interesting concept. Think positive, and positive things happen, think negative thoughts, and your worst fears are realized. Want something really badly? Like a million dollars or two? or a new car? or lover? or home? then focus on it...Some would argue that 'The Secret' lacks true spirituality, and is a bit dubious in parts. Watch it and see for yourself...Apparently, it has worked for many.

No more news this end!

Love,

Patricia xxx

THE WEEK THAT WAS...

It was weird, wild and positively energetic. Monday zumba zumba zumba...Tuesday it was a case of mind-over-matter - twice. Firstly, my instructor at the gym and I got into a discussion about lifting a 45 lb. weight. I told her I could never ever lift a 45 lb. weight. She said 'Try it'. I did, and I was correct, I couldn't budge it. Then she lifted it, and challenged me to try it once more. 'You can do it' she said yet again. Seeing this tiny little woman lifting a 45 lb. weight made me think twice about it. So yes, I attempted to lift it and Yeah! I did it the second time 'Mind over matter' she said with a big 'told-you-so' grin on her face.

That evening I went to an 'Inner Peace Movement' talk with my friend Anita. The lady speaking challenged four people to elevate an adult woman using just our forefingers. And because I happened to be in the front row, she looked straight down at me. So up I went to the stage, along with 3 other ladies. One woman sat on a chair, and the four of us had to lift her, using only our two index fingers. The first time we attempted it, we got just a laugh from the audience - nothing more - and nothing less happened. Then we were told to concentrate - really concentrate - and try again "Mind over matter Ladies". Remembering my experience with the 45 lb. weight I really focused on the task at hand and Yipee! we all did it the second time. We raised the woman completely off the ground using just our forefingers - Magic!!

Just to think I have lifted a 45 lb. weight at the gym, and raised a woman off the ground with my fingers - and still, I have difficulty lifting a full laundry basket from my bedroom to the kitchen!! Mind-over-matter would you think?

Wednesday, I rose to yet another challenge. My friend Anita invited me to join her 'Joy of Life' Choir. You sing happy songs and then perform a few concerts for seniors, Christmas concert, etc. I said yes as I find it hard to say no to friendly challenges. So there I was, singing along as a Soprano on Wednesday night. So much fun. One of the songs we were learning went like this...

'You gotta accent...tuate...the positive...E...liminate the negative...and don't mess with mister in...between!

Don't you love it? So Pollyanna...ish!!

Thursday I stayed home to look after my loved ones.

Friday, I went out again to a singing Cafe, where we were entertained to a wonderful evening of music in the James' Bay Bookship/Cafe, Victoria. Wonderful! Now that I am in a choir, I need to surround myself with music lol!! That's my excuse.

Saturday, I rested up and caught up with chores and spoke to Mum on the Skype. It was weird but I think she enjoyed it. I brought her outside the house to show her our new paint colour which she loved, and then the computer conked out! You're not supposed to go outside with it! We re-connected and then I brought her around our home which she has never seen. She loved it. Isn't technology incredible! Weird, but amazing all at the same time.

That evening, I found myself wrestling with a cooked lobster at a Lobsterfest held at Claudia's restaurant 'Earl's'. Kevin, Ali, Victoria and I all went. Vegetarian Victoria was HORRIFIED and DISGUSTED to see her parents like savages, donning big plastic bibs, and tearing apart a poor lobster - guts, blood and mess everywhere. It was the first, - and the last time - I shall ever do that again. The sight of blood clots inside the poor lobster, and the thought of him screaming beforehand...never ever ever ever again! I felt sick afterwards. But Earl's - as always - was a fabulous fun place to visit.

Sunday - today K and I watched 'Simply Come Dancing' on the t.v. Went to mass, and later went out to the Nurseries looking for late summer plants for the garden. Weather was glorious yesterday and today. I started putting up my Fall decorations. I was thrilled to find a fab. designer at 'Chintz' who put together an amazing Fall Wreath for me for the front door. (she is English and her name is Sandra). She told me she has clients who bring back their wreath between seasons, and she re-designs them, and gives you back the flowers each time. Amazingly creative woman.

Later, I was back at the James' Bay Cafe, for a tea cup reading this time. We ended up just chatting and skipped the tea cup reading as we were enjoying the chat. I was joined by my New Zealand friend Anita, and a very interesting friend of hers, Paulo, who is of English/French ancestry with an Italian name. We are all in the 'Joy of Life' choir.

So that's the week that was...Fun!

This weekend coming is Canadian Thanksgiving, so we hope to go to Vancouver and I dunno if it will be a turkey filled weekend...not sure yet??

Will touch base again this week d.v.

Choo Choo for now and have fun wherever you are!

Love,

Patricia xxx