tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31987448385288733342024-02-20T14:18:49.068-05:00Orca CoveConnie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-75244980743628429132015-09-01T05:25:00.000-04:002015-09-01T05:25:37.073-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ September 1, 2015 ~ DON'T POKE THE SLEEPING BEAR ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b>TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ September 1, 2015 ~ DON'T POKE THE SLEEPING BEAR ~</b> </div>
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In my most recent Instagram post, "Any 'Ol Craft Will Do", I talked about making broken disc mosaics. I make a point to mention that I was kinda sticking my tongue out at our satellite service provider. As I mentioned in that post, any time you record something to a PVR (personal video recorder), even if you have saved to an external hard drive, there is special encoding that prevents that recording to be played on any other device or computer.</div>
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But, I figured out a way around that (hence the sticking out of the tongue) and have been recording a lot of my son's favourite movies and programs to DVD's.</div>
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Even though I only posted that article to a Instagram today, think that somehow our service provider must have found out about what I had alluded to, (even though I intentionally avoided mentioning them by name), because last Thursday, we started having problems with our PVR!!</div>
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I don't "really" think that our service provider found out about my comments, but I also can't explain why, NOW, things started going wrong with our PVR. I'm not even sure what exactly IS wrong. All I know is that all of a sudden our PVR will stop working, we can't access it and <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">any programs or movies scheduled to record, don't. </span></div>
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When we try all of the suggested remedies, unplugging the receiver, removing and reinserting the smart card etc., unplugging the receiver for a minute seems to be the only thing that works. But, it only works temporarily, and there is no rhyme, reason or pattern to the problem.</div>
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The fact that it doesn't record scheduled programs is what prompted this post. Tonight I stayed up late to make sure the PVR working so that it would record the SEASON FINALE of The Whispers, a show I have been watching all summer.</div>
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I waited for 20 minutes, all things looked okay, the show was recording properly, so I went to bed. Only to wake up an hour and a half later to find out the PVR stopped working SEVEN minutes after I went to bed!! (So now I only have the first half of the season finale of one of my favourite shows! I'm glad my daughter is home tomorrow. Maybe she can help me find the show on the Internet)!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You really must be careful of what you say (and think)!! As the title says, don't poke a sleeping bear!! </span></div>
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I've always tried really hard to say what I mean and mean what I say. But I think there must be something to the expressions, "silence is golden" and "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."</div>
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#TickedOffTuesday #TickedOff, #ARRGHH, #GRRRR, #UGH, #Upset, #Angry, #Peeved, #DontPokeSleepingBears, #Instagram, #Posts, #Articles, #SatelliteServiceProviders, #StickingTongueOut, #BeatingTheSystem, #PVR, #ExternalHardDrive, #Encoding, #PreventWatching, #OnlyOnTheirOwnDevice, #RecordToDVD, #CantAccessPVR, #PVRWontRecord, #UnplugReceiver, #RemoveSmartCard, #SeasonFinale, #TheWhispers, #SilenceIsGolden, #SayWhatYouMeanMeanWhatYouSay, #IfYouCantSaySomethingNiceDontSayAnythingAtAll, </div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-2676937214172610692015-09-01T05:23:00.001-04:002015-09-01T05:23:39.372-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 25, 2015 ~ "THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS" ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 25, 2015 ~ "THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS" ~ </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's been a couple of weeks since I opened this file and I almost laughed when I saw what my last post was about. My mom used to tell me all the time that "the road to hell was paved with good intentions", and today's post more or less proves that. So much for "venting one LAST time and keeping the grumbling to a minimum!!" </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am SOOOOO annoyed with my health problems right now (AGAIN)!! We have had several weeks of horrible weather, super hot days, thunder and lightening storms, hot humid, muggy, dry, icky ~ I could go on and on. But what it amounts to, is a terribly miserable me. The heat is compounding my hot flashes, the storms are exacerbating my migraines, which along with the pre-menopausal symptoms, limit how much I am able to </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">participate and be active with my son. He has only a little over a week left of his summer vacation and he and I haven't hardly done anything together!! Even my daughter, whom I'm not sure is ready to admit that we ALWAYS need our mom's, is going through life without me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And the final straw, I let down a very close friend the other day by dozing off in the middle of a text exchange, during which she really needed if not my advice and support, at least my presence. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've been going through yet another "crash" phase, which are coming far more frequently lately and I've been flaking out and "sleeping" all the time. I say "sleeping" lightly because if you could listen to the amount of moaning, groaning and whimpering that I do, I'm not sure just how much actual sleep I'm getting!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The only thing that I have to look forward to is the severe bouts of insomnia that always follow my crash phases.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I haven't been able to loom anything, which sucks the most because I feel that all desire, inspiration and motivation has simply vanished.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As you can imagine, there isn't much that I am able to do in the run of a day. Therefore, I really cherish the moments that I can steal away that bring me pleasure and joy. Spending quality time with my family is one, looming and crafts (but mostly looming) is another.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the past several weeks the ONLY crafty I've done was make a couple of "Broken Disc Mosaics." (See my most recent Instagram post, "Any 'Ol Craft Will Do" @orcanut).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I really resent that I haven't even been able to keep up,with my blog articles of Flashback Friday, Ticked-Off Tuesday, and Wacky Wednesday. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">TickedOffTuesday, TickedOff, ARRGHH, UGH, GRRRRR, Orcanut, RoadToHellIsPavedWithGoodIntentions, Venting, ChronicPain, Migraines, Storms, Rain, Thunder, Lightening, Menopause, HotFlashes, Miserable, Family, FamilyTime, Weekends, Son, Daughter, SummerVacation, INeedMyMom, DisappointedAFriend, NotBeingThere, CloseFriend, Crash, Insomnia, RainbowLoom, CraftsHobbies,</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-85631791884779778112015-08-11T20:21:00.001-04:002015-08-11T20:21:50.490-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 11, 2015 ~ "PAIN IN THE BUTT" or "SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICK AND TIRED" ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 11, 2015 ~ "PAIN IN THE BUTT" or "SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICK AND TIRED" ~ </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today (<i>as most every day</i>), I'm ticked off about being in so much pain ALL the time. I know that I frequently grumble and complain, (<i>and more than just on Tuesday's</i>) about the chronic pain that I have been suffering with for almost 8 years. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I decided that I would vent loudly and vocally one last time and then try to limit my caterwauling to a bare minimum from now on!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last Thursday I had one of the worst pain days I've had in a really long time. I'm sure it was a combination of a number of factors that tipped the scales, but before I get into that, let me briefly explain for those who may not know, my pathetic medical history of the past 8 years.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prior to the day the pain started in my neck, I had been seeing a chiropractor a couple of times a week for a few months because of severe back pain. During my first visit with her, x-rays showed that my neck is a mirror image of what it should be and that there was a lot of old damage, deterioration, degeneration etc to several of the vertebrae in my neck. She asked if I had been in a bad car accident and she said, "I imagine that you must suffer from pretty bad migraines as well."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Of course, she was right about the migraines, which I have had since I was a very young child. However, I have never been in a bad car accident. The night of my first chiropractic appointment, I phoned my mom to ask about any car accidents I may not recall.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I knew that I had been physically abused by my biological father when I was a baby, I just didn't know the full extent of the abuse. That night my mom explained to me that when I was three months old, my biological father had broken two vertebrae in my neck, and that I spent the next several months in a body cast from my chin to my waist.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Over the years I have come to wish that I HAD been in a serious car accident! It really surprised me how each new doctor or specialist I saw was SO interested in the physical abuse, and wanted to delve deeper and have me "talk about it."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My biological father shot himself when I was 18 or 19 years old and even if he had been around for me to get angry with and blame, I have forgiven him. I don't remember the abuse, and I wasn't going to let finding out about it now define me or my life up until that point. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As I said, I wish I could say that I was in a car accident, because I only mention the abuse as part of my medical history and it holds as much emotional baggage as a random accident would.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After months and months of incessant back pain, I walked out of the chiropractor's office that first day in significantly less pain and standing a whole lot taller and straighter, not having to be hunched over in pain any more!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The chiropractor also noted my scoliosis, which is a slight curve to the left in my thoracic spine. Does anyone remember the book "Deene" by Judy Blume? The main character of that book had scoliosis and ironically, not long after I read the book, I was diagnosed. Fortunately, my scoliosis is relatively mild and apparently, I was old enough, at 13 years old, to not being likely to grow much more and therefore, I didn't need to wear a brace or have a rod inserted in my spine. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Because of these pre-existing conditions, the chiropractor said she would avoid my neck and the area of my back that was curved and we continued with biweekly appointments.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My last appointment with her was on September 28, 2007, during which she DID work on my whole back AND my neck.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I woke up in the middle of the night, four days later, on October 2, 2007, with a sharp, stabbing, burning pain at the back of my head, base of my skullI. What I could only describe as a really weird migraine. I called the chiropractor and she said she didn't want to see me again until my migraine was gone.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well, that was almost 8 years ago and the pain has never stopped. I have had over ten MRI's, MRV's and MRA's, seen many doctors and every specialist and/or therapist you can imagine. I've seen neurologists, including the Chief Neurosurgeon in Ottawa, a rheumatologist, Cranial Sacral Massage Therapist, Essodynamics, Rolfing, Physiotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists, many other I can't recall and even a carpal tunnel specialists (<i>don't ask, he couldn't figure out why I was referred to him either</i>)!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And aside from the MRI's showing progressive degeneration and deterioration, oh, and the discovery of a small aneurism in my brain, absolutely nothing can be done to help even relieve some of the pain.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I mentioned earlier that I also suffer from migraines. I'm not sure if the pain in my neck exacerbates my migraines or if my migraines exacerbate my neck pain. Regardless, it is not a good day when I have to try to cope with both at the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My migraines are also affected by the full moon, the weather and any change in the barometric pressure. I am actually more accurate than the weather channel, as I can predict when we are going to get rain, thunder and lightening storms, just bad weather in general. I can actually even tell the difference between rain showers and lightening storms. I'm sure if you asked any migraine sufferer, they could probably tell you the same thing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, to sum it up, I suffer from a 24/7 shooting, stabbing and burning pain in one exact spot at the back of my neck; I also suffer from debilitating, wickedly massive migraines, about 3-5 a week. Throw in the occasional severe back spasms, oh, and I almost forgot, I'm going through peri-menopause and have far too frequent and such severe hot flashes that could boil water.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let's just say that if I happen to have my period during a storm on a night that there is a full moon, I am completely up the creek without a paddle!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hey, you know what? I kinda feel better already! (<i>Despite the fact that my migraine has gone from bad to worse to really, really bad</i>). I had intended on writing about just how much MY being in so much pain ALL the time so completely and utterly affected every single member of my family.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I started this post by saying that I was ticked off about being in so much pain all the time. I think in reality, I'm ticked off at myself. At not being able to cope with my pain (<i>despite doing everything I was taught through the Chronic Pain Program</i>) and I'm ticked off at my inability to prevent the pain from controlling my life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, just going over (<i>again, I know, for some of you</i>) the facts and history of how I got to be in is place, almost eight years later, to where I am right now, has kinda made me feel a little bit better. It has made me realize that I have done every single, little, itty, bitty thing and then some, that anyone could possibly do and more to try to help myself. Including a four week outpatient program at the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Centre. I'm not exaggerating either. You name the treatment or medication and guaranteed, I have seen them or tried it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have long accepted the fact that I will be spending the rest of my life in some sort of chronic pain. Which, given my lifelong battle with severe migraines, is really nothing new to me. Sure, this pain in the back of my neck is 100 times worse, but ya know what? I'll just keep taking each day as it comes, minute by minute or even breath by breath, if I have to. I know, the typical saying is "day by day." For those of us suffering any kind of chronic pain or illness, "breath by breath" is often a more realistic comment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In my mind, I have always said 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years, 7 years, now almost 8 years as "OMG, are you kidding me?? I'm still in so much pain after all this time"?? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In writing this today, I just realized that perhaps I should be saying "OMG, </span>2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years, 7 years, now almost 8 years?? WOW, girl, you're still here! You're still getting up pretty much each morning, you even manage to get dressed some of the time, WAY TO GO YOU!!!"</div>
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Thanks so much for listening to me vent. Now it's my turn to listen and your turn to grumble. What's been bothering or upsetting you lately? What has you ticked off today??</div>
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#TickedOffTuesday #TickedOff, #ARRGHH, #GRRRR, #Upset, #Angry, #Orcanut, #PainInTheButt, #SickAndTired, #ChronicPain, #CopingWithPain, #Caterwauling, #BadPainDay, #BreathByBreath, #BackPainSpasms, #Migraines, #BadWeather, #Menopause, #HotFlashes, #NeckPain, #Deterioration, #Degeneration, #PhysicalAbuse, #Suicide, #Forgiveness, #Scoliosis, #MRI, #DoctorsTherapistsNeurologists, #UpTheCreekWithoutAPaddle, #WayToGoMe!</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-60931523934493647692015-08-07T11:57:00.000-04:002015-08-07T11:57:51.733-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ AUGUST 7, 2015 ~ "THEN AND NOW" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<b>~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ AUGUST 7, 2015 ~ "THEN AND NOW" ~ </b>I just got a brand new iPhone, 5S (<i>If that means anything to anyone. Personally, the only thing I've figured out so far is that my old phone was an android, and the new phone is an iPhone</i>).</div>
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And although it's a total guess, I think I got my first cell phone 17 years ago in 1998 maybe. (<i>The pic isn't my actual phone. I do still have it but couldn't find it to take a pic for this post</i>). And OMG, that kinda makes me feel REALLY, REALLY old!! But, it also makes me think about how time really does fly by sometimes. Has it REALLY, truly been 17 years since I graduated from college and got my first cell phone?? S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N years???</div>
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It boggles my mind to think of all the changes (<i>some for the better, some not) </i>that have happened over the past 17 years.</div>
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I used to lament that I was either born too early or too late. Too late because I think I would have loved to live in the pioneer days when life was slower and simpler. I wouldn't want to give up on all the technological and medical advancements that we've made, but sometimes I think it would be nice to just take a step back, take a deep breath and SLOW DOWN! </div>
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Sometimes, I feel really guilty and down on myself because my chronic pain has kept me from bathing or washing my hair for three or four days (<i>or more</i>). However, I try to remember that there used to be a time when people were lucky to bathe once a month or even once a season! </div>
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Well, maybe not THAT slow but, yeah, it sure would be nice to slow things down every once in a while, eh?</div>
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I thought that I was born too early because, at the time, I wanted to be alive when we could actually see people that we are talking to on the phone. (<i>Never in my wildest imagination did I think that could or would be an actuality</i>)! But look at our technology now! I remember eons ago, calling friends who lived in areas where there were "party-lines." </div>
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I imagine there are several readers who are young enough to assume that a party-line has something to do with dances, (I'm thinking of a conga line), partying, or even drugs. However, for their enlightenment, a party-line was a telephone line that was shared by several people living in close proximity to each other. Which, believe it or not, meant that one house could sometimes be miles away from its nearest neighbour! </div>
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Because of limited equipment and resources, the phone company had to set it up so that these families would all have to share the same phone line. They may have had different phone numbers, but they would all ring on the same line. Every house heard the phone ring, no matter who it was for, and sometimes there would be separate rings for each household. Often however, there was just your basic ring, and you took your chances that the person you were calling would answer the phone. If not, you would have to call again, and again, until the right home picked up the line. (<i>And yes, it was a distinct possibility that one or all of your neighbours could listen in on your conversations! This wasn't always the case of nosy neighbours though. Even when the homes had their own lines, you could often hear conversations through the lines from other homes).</i></div>
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Imagine. We have come from smoke signals, carrier pigeons drum beats and party lines to video conferencing, Skyping, FaceTime, etc. It's hard to believe sometimes.</div>
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I suppose since there are places that provide adventures that offer you the pioneering experience, I'll stick with my own time-line and enjoy the technological advancements that come along with it! </div>
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(<i>Now, if I could just figure out how to use my new phone</i>)!</div>
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#FlashbackFriday, #Flashback, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #ThenAndNow, #iPhone5S, #Android, #TimeFlies, #PioneerDays, #Technology, #MedicalAdvancements, #SlowDown, #ChronicPain, #Skype, #PartyLine, #SmokeSignals, #CarrierPigeons, #DrumBeats</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-53536001216678710692015-08-06T17:41:00.001-04:002015-08-06T17:41:13.527-04:00~ WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ August 5, 2015 ~ (Previously entitled QOT...W) ~ " REALLY? BUT THAT'S GARBAGE!" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~</b><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ August 5, 2015 ~ (Previously entitled QOT...W) ~ " REALLY? BUT THAT'S GARBAGE!" ~ </b>Well, that's what my husband would call this post, but me, I like to say "<b>REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE" ~</b> So obviously, the thing that is wacky, weird, (<i>and in this instance, even if I'm the only one to believe it)</i>, wonderful, is me!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that I have mentioned in several, if not all, of my Rainbow Loom video tutorials, how much of a pack rat (<i>again, hubby's word for this would be "hoarder"</i>) and penny pincher that I am.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In reference to Rainbow Loom, this is evidenced by the fact that I keep all of my broken bands as well as bands that were previously used in other projects and for one reason or another, have been taken apart. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think it would be fair to say that I use both equally. (<i>And no, that is not a play on words from the Libra in me</i>)!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I use broken bands for any project that requires facial hair, scars, hay/straw, tufts of fur, eyebrows. Anything really, that needs to have a "spiky" or unkempt look perhaps would be the best way to describe it. I also use broken bands for slip knot bands too!! Slip knot bands don't always have to have loops on the end,especially if you are just tucking them out of sight anyway. The pre-used or stretched bands, that really cannot be used for a new project, are PERFECT to use when you need to double loop band and I've often used these bands when I need a broken band of a particular colour (<i>if I don't already have broken bands in that colour, that is</i>)!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To me, it just makes common sense to keep and reuse these bands (<i>and, honestly, I think hubby would agree as it saves money</i>)!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Where we tend to disagree however, is for most everything else. I've gathered a few items from my "stash" to use as an example of the kinds of things that I do keep.</span></div>
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<b>1</b>. I'm not sure about the green bin and recycling rules where you live, but here, cans with a combination of cardboard and metal (<i>like a Pringles or frozen juice can</i>) cannot be recycled. HOWEVER, there is such an easy fix, that makes the entire can recyclable. All you have to do is use a safety can opener to cut off the metal end and then the cardboard canister, the plastic lid and the metal bottom can <u>all</u> go into the recycling bin and not the trash bin! (<i>I'm sure it irks hubby that I pull these and frozen juice cans out of the garbage just as much as it irks me that he throws them in the garbage in the first place</i>)!</div>
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<b>2</b>. I am always saving these cord locks or cord stops from any and everything. Most of these shown have come from hoodies/jackets that my son has outgrown, and/or his old backpacks from school. (And believe it or not, I have used these on a few occasions too! Once for a Halloween costume, another time to secure cord around something, and the biggest use was before my son could tie his own shoes, I would thread his laces through and then all he would have to do was push up the tab to tighten his shoes.</div>
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<b>3</b>. I am almost (<i>but not quite</i>) embarrassed to admit how many of these little plastic lids I have saved. Initially, I kept them to fit over individual portions of yogourt, jello, applesauce etc that I would send to school with my son. (<i>This is also one of my pet peeves as well, because when my daughter was in school, they sold these individual serving cups <u>with</u> lids attached</i>). I'm not sure why they stopped selling them. Everyone I know collected and reused them, so it shouldn't have been an issue of land fills becoming overrun! (<i>I actually still have some that once held baby food because I noticed that they stop selling lids with the containers</i>). I also intend (<i>on someday</i>) of making ornaments out of the lids. I figure I can secure cut out Christmas cards between two lids, I could make little flat snow discs, with winters scenes inside, oh the possibilities are endless!!</div>
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<b>4</b>. The metal lids off cans like Pringles and frozen juice I don't usually keep, but as I was thinking of this post, I realized that they would make great craft items as well. Even suitable for all ages! Young kids could paint pictures on them to be hung as ornaments, older kids could use tin snips and design their own ornaments. You could also add a support in the back and these would make cute little picture frames!</div>
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<b>5</b>. The fact that I pull these soap boxes out of the garbage is a great pet peeve of my husbands. I pull them out because they are totally, 100% recyclable!! (Therefore, they should go in the recycling NOT the garbage!</div>
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<b>6</b>. I love saving stiff plastic like these sheets. I cut them from any of the "impossible to get into" packages that many things are sold in. And you wouldn't believe the uses for them! I have used them for personalized book markers, "find-the-page" tabs for my sons agenda from school, I've made rulers out of them, templates, dividers and markers for my bands, again,mother possibilities are endless!</div>
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<b>7</b>. I LOVE saving the elastic cords that tie new shoes and sneakers together! And, believe it or not, I even found a use for all of them! I mended the mesh netting of the trampoline!! You never know when you're gonna need a piece of elastic cord!</div>
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<b>8</b>. I also always keep the twist ties and fasteners that hold almost anything you buy to a car board backing. I use a lot of twist ties in my looming, and often, you can find different colours other than white holding products to their packaging.</div>
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<b>9</b>. More twist ties! Any time I come across a twist tie, I will usually keep it! HALLOWEEN is a good time to grab a bunch as lots of people package up awesome treat bags for the neighbourhood kids ~ great opportunity to get silver and Orange twist ties!</div>
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<b>10</b>. The bane of my husband's existence ~ toilet paper tubes. I have been saving these from the garbage for years! They make fantastic little fire starters if you fold them up into each other. I can usually fit 12-14 together into one tube and the tight packing means they don't burn very fast and make great little kindling rolls! I've also used them for crafts (I made my son's birthday invitations out of little race cars that I made out of toilet paper tubes and also, I have wrapped my wet bangs around a one and held it in place with a big hair clip to air dry my bangs.</div>
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<b>11</b>. It gonna irk the Libra in me that I don't have an even number of items on this list, but the final one is the cloth strap that we irritatingly find on almost all tops and blouses to aid in hanging them up. They are just a nuisance and I always cut them off. And of course, stash them away. They make great ribbons for small gifts, and I've also used them to make loops to hold flash drives.</div>
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Oh, WAIT!! I know a <b>12th</b> item I can add! Plastic grocery or shopping bags! Not too long ago, stores started charging if you needed a bag for your purchases. Of course, we have lots and lots or reusable, cloth grocery bags, but when we started buying our groceries at Wal-Mart, we stopped using the cloth bags because WalMart doesn't charge for their bags. We have so many plastic bags that my darling hubby swears they are taking over the basement. I use them for EVERYTHING!! (<i>Don't we all)</i>? I stuff them along our spare toilet paper holder in the bathroom to line the bathroom garbage bin, they get sent with my son to hold wet swim trunks and towels, they too frequently get doubled or even tripled to hold left-overs that are being tossed out. You name it, there are endless possible uses for a plastic grocery or shopping bag! I may not need ALL of the ones I like to keep, but it a major pet peeve of mine to have so many and not be able to find one when I need one, like to sort the recycling before it goes out to the garage ~ and not having one when I need it, happens ALL THE TIME!</div>
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Do I have hoarding tendencies, more than likely. However, I ALWAYS come up with a good use for EVERYTHING that I keep and unlike some hoarders, I don't really let them overrun the house (<i>I'm sure hubby would disagree</i>)!</div>
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#WackyWednesday, #Quirky, #Odd, #Interesting, #Bizarre, #Weird, #Wonderful, #Strange, #WhatTheWhat, #Orcanut, #Hoarding, #PackRat, #OnePersonsTrashIsAnothersTreasure, #ReduceReuseRecycle, #RainbowLoom, #Bands, #SafetyCanOpener, #Ornaments, #PlasticLids, #GreenBin, #CordLock, #CordStop, #MetalLidsAndBottoms, #SoapBoxes, #ElasticCords, #TwistTies, #ToiletPaperTubes, #PlasticBags, #Crafty, #Ingenious</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-30266838975784011952015-08-04T03:20:00.000-04:002015-08-04T03:20:53.191-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 4, 2015 ~ "FUNNY FEET, I LOVE YOU ~ NOT" ~ (anyone else remember the song "Funny Face"?) ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><span lang="EN-US">~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ August 4, 2015 ~ "FUNNY FEET, I LOVE YOU ~ NOT" ~ (<i>anyone else remember the song "Funny Face"?</i>) ~ </span></b><span lang="EN-US">Ok, so I think I am more "mildly irked" than actually ticked off, but it is really starting to get on my nerves that I have really weird feet and toes! And its not just one thing, I am plagued with several inflictions!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that it is summertime and by all rights, I should be going barefoot, but I'm usually cold and I can't wear flip-flops! <b>PROBLEM AREA #1</b> ~ <u><b>on both feet, the two toes next to my big toe are slightly webbed</b></u><i>, </i>[NOTE: <i>Sometimes, the internet can be a wonderful thing! In researching for this post, I discovered that this condition has a scientific or medical name, SYNDACTYLY - meaning webbed toes and/or fingers. It can be genetically inherited, but doesn't have to be and people with this condition have something in common with not only famous people like Dan Aykroyd and Ahston Kutcher, but also with ducks, frogs and even kangaroos</i>]!! My having a very slight case of "syndactyly" makes wearing <u>any</u> type of shoe or sandal that has to go between my toes unbearable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I can't<i> </i>stand wearing open-toed shoes of any kind. <b>PROBLEM AREA #2 ~ </b>I used to hate my feet because <u><b>my second toe is slightly longer than my big to<i>e</i></b></u><i>. </i>[NOTE: <i>Again, research for this post allowed me to find out that this condition also has a name. It's called "Morton's Toe" although has also been referred to as Morton's Foot, Greek Foot, Royal Toe, LeMay Toe and/or Sheppard's Toe. There are some treatments available, including surgery, but I recommend that if you are having problems from this condition, please see a doctor and/or a specialist</i>]. However, I met someone once whose second toe was so far past her big toe, I am sure she must have had to wear shoes two sizes too big)<i> ~ </i>anyway, ever since then, I've thanked God for my "normal" toes! But I still don't like wearing open toed shoes!!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During my second pregnancy in 2004, which introduced our son Matthew to the world on November 12, something wonky happened to the toenail on each of my big toes. (<i>Perhaps this post belongs with my new "Wacky Wednesday" column instead</i>)<i>, </i>but<i> </i><b>PROBLEM AREA #3 ~ </b>is that <b><u>I had grown a second layer of toenail</u>.</b> [<u>NOTE</u>: <i>This is apparently a very common infliction in many people ~ just Google "layered toenails" and you may be as surprised as I was to find out how many people have this EXACT same problem</i>]. There is no known real cause for this condition, and although it has been suggested that anything from pointed shoes, cold feet, poor diet or trauma can cause this, none of those factors applied to me (my feet really aren't always THAT cold)! As I said, it seemed to stem from my being pregnant. It is NOT caused by a fungus ~ a sample of my toenails that my doctor sent away to be tested came back negative for fungus and </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">many articles that I found on-line also reported that fungus was not a cause of this condition. There are some medicinal treatments, although they are apparently very hard on the liver. Because of my other health issues and medications that I take, I opted instead to just keep filing, trimming and picking away at the second layer of toenail that I have. My best suggestion and advice would be to see your doctor and get a referral to a specialist if necessary. (<i>And after 10 years, I was FINALLY able to pick, pry, file, dig and yank the second layer of nail away from the first. Talk about painful!! </i></span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And, no, it ain't very pretty</i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">)! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As if that weren't bad enough, there still remains one final problem with my feet. And even though it is the least "medical" of my problems, it is the one issue that irks me the most. Probably because it not only happens on a daily basis, but actually, it occurs repeatedly and annoyingly, many, many, many times throughout the day! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And that brings us to </span><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROBLEM AREA #4 ~ </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u><b>my socks NEVER stay straight on my feet</b></u></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">!! This problem seems to affect mostly my right foot, which, for the "ever-seeking-balance-fairness-and-equilibrium" Libra in me, is a major "tick-me-off"! (<i>Not that I would like for both socks to twist, mind you</i>)! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As with the first three problems noted above, I tried to research some causes and/or solutions to this problem. But, alas, there doesn't seem to be a medical name or a scientific explanation for this "Twisted Sock Syndrome" despite the number of people afflicted by it. Right now my main concern is that my socks twist around on my foot. But thinking back to colder weather when I was wearing two or three pairs of longer, knee-high socks, another problem that I share with many, is that my socks fall down, bunch up and sometimes, usually when I am wearing boots, slid down underneath my heel. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The causes and solutions that I found run the gambit of odd, weird, wacky to down right ridiculous! (<i>Another reason perhaps that this post should be made under my "Wacky Wednesday" heading</i>)! Some of the reasons for socks twisting on our feet are: wearing sizes that are too big, the dreaded "one-size-fits-all" socks or the huge gap between sizes. I know the socks that I buy are ladies size 5-9. Now, I'm not sure about you, but to me, the difference between size 5 and size 9 seems to be quite a lot, so how can socks that fit one size fit the other? My foot size happens to be </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">7 - 7 1/2</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> so I figure since I fall right in the middle, they should fit me perfectly, right? Nope, apparently not. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Others causes were thin ankles, loose shoes, walking on the outside edge of your foot, and dry feet. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I could try one of these solutions that I found on-line I suppose: <u>sock glue</u> (<i>yes, apparently there is such a thing</i>); <u>wearing thicker socks</u> (<i>um, I'm not sure how well that's gonna go over in the summer</i>); <u>using Velcro</u> (<i>apparently, you're supposed to stick one side to the bottom of your foot and the other to the inside of your sock and attach them together once the sock is on your foot</i>); <u>insulating tape</u> (<i>wrapped around the top of your socks after they are in your feet ~</i> <i>this one is pretty self-explanatory, although I'm wondering if any kind of tape would do or if it HAS to be insulating tape); </i><u>buying smaller or kids sized socks<i>; </i></u>and my personal favourite<i> </i>NOT<i> ~ (see Problem #1), </i><u>wearing socks with toes in them</u>!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the end, I have absolutely no idea what is causing my socks, again, typically my right sock, to continue to slip and slide and twist around my foot. And nothing I found on-line seems like a viable explanation or solution. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you have any suggestions, or would love to commiserate with me on any or all of the above problems, I'd love to hear from you!! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the meantime, I will either continue to grumble and complain about my twisty socks; try to buck up and learn to love open-toed sandals (<i>not gonna happen</i>); go around barefoot (<i>which is likely the best option since I hardly ever go anywhere anyway), </i>and wearing socks, twisty or not, is only going to leave me with the "farmer tan" of all farmer tans on my feet! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But hey! If I can get tanned enough, I'm sure my feet will become pasty and ghostly white enough to look like I am actually wearing socks! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That my friends just may be the best solution I can come up with to preventing sock twisting ~ wear invisible socks)!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, that's my pet-peeve for this week, what's been bugging you lately?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#TickedOffTuesday, #WhatIrksMeMost, #PetPeeve, #UGH, #ARCH, #WhatsBuggingYou, #Orcanut, #FunnyFeet, #WeirdToes, #Barefoot, #WebbedToes, #Syndactyly, #DanAykroyd, #AshtonKutcher, #Ducks, #Frogs, #Kangaroos, #FlipFlops, #Sandals, #OneLongerToe, #MortonsToe, #LayeredToeNails, #TwistedSockSyndrome, #SockGlue, #Velcro, #InsulatingTape, #ToeSocks, #FarmerTan, #InvisbileSocks, #Funny</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-44316964741366049952015-07-31T13:14:00.001-04:002015-07-31T13:14:07.664-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 31, 2015 ~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<b>~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 31, 2015 ~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ~</b> I almost cannot believe that in two days, my husband and I will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary! As I mentioned about my parents in my previous Flashback Friday post, sometimes it seems like we just got married and other times it seems like I can't remember a time without my husband. </div>
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I guess that's more that fair, considering that we have our own fairytale, storybook romance to tell. On paper and in print, it doesn't seem to amount to much. But believe me, the fact that we dated for almost four years when I was in high school, spent 14 years apart, got back together and have now been married for 12 years, ours most certainly is more than just a simply fairytale story.</div>
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We honestly believe that we are the right people for each other, that we were "meant to be" and that we both had to go through what we went through those 14 years apart in order to be who we are to each other today.</div>
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The past almost 8 years, having to live with my severe, debilitating, chronic pain and migraines, that has more than consumed our lives, has not been easy. I sure that a lesser love would have crumbled long before now. </div>
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Despite the extra weight of added pressures, responsibilities and stress borne on not only solely my husband's shoulders, but the effects on my kids and even myself (<i>if I can set the guilt aside long enough to recognize that I'm a victim in all of this too</i>), you would be amazed and impressed at the strength of our love and commitment. (<i>I know there are many days that I look at my husband in wonder at how he is managing to cope with all of this</i>). </div>
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The few times that I've asked, his response has always been something as simple as "I love you" or "I married you in sickness and in health".</div>
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I have no idea what to get this wonderful man for our anniversary. Here is a list of traditional wedding anniversary gifts that I found:</div>
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1st ~ paper</div>
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2nd ~ cotton</div>
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3rd ~ leather</div>
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4th ~ fruit/flowers</div>
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5th ~ wood</div>
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6th ~ candy/iron</div>
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7th ~ wool/copper</div>
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8th ~ pottery/bronze</div>
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9th ~ willow/pottery</div>
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10th ~ tin/aluminum </div>
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11th ~ steel</div>
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12th ~ silk/linen</div>
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13th ~ lace</div>
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14th ~ animals * historically, this was ivory, but elephants are endangered now</div>
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15th ~ crystal</div>
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20th ~ china</div>
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25th ~ silver</div>
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30th ~ pearl</div>
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35th ~ coral</div>
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40th ~ ruby</div>
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45th ~ sapphire </div>
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50th ~ gold</div>
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60th ~ diamond</div>
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I have married the most amazing, incredible man, and I'm assuming that as much as I wouldn't want a toaster or ironing board, hubby probably wouldn't want a tie either, even though it fits perfectly with the traditional gift for a 12th anniversary, of silk or linen. The best gift I can offer my husband is the undying, unconditional, unfathomable depth of my love, respect and admiration.</div>
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I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#FlashbackFriday, #Flashback, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #HappyAnniversary, #WeddingAnniversary, #Fairytale, #Storybook, #Romance, #MeantToBe, #ChronicPain, #Migraines, #Pressures, #Responsibilities, #Stress, #Guilt, #Commitment, #Victim, #Strength, #ILoveYou, #InSicknessAndInHealth, #SilkLinen, #Undying, #Unconditional, #Unfathomable, #Love, #Respect, #Admiration</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-52939801102493916252015-07-31T12:09:00.001-04:002015-07-31T12:09:32.885-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 17, 2015 ~ FAMILY VACATIONS ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<b>~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 17, 2015 ~ FAMILY VACATIONS ~ </b>I would like to first offer a very belated "Happy Anniversary to my parents! Even though I thought about it ALL that day, I <i>still</i> didn't manage to get in touch with my parents to wish them a Happy 40th Anniversary on July 12, 2015. </div>
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In some ways, it's almost hard to believe that they've been married for 40 years, and in other ways, it seems like they have been married FOREVER! (I guess that's understandable since I was only 5 or 6 years old when they got married).</div>
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In thinking over the past 40 years, it was wonderful to travel down so many memory lanes. One I kept coming back to though, is all of the family vacations that we took every summer.</div>
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It was easy to get lost wandering down that particular road, given the time of year it is, that my husband and son just spent three days camping for the first time last week, and my son is just wrapping up his very first week at camp. This is the first time that he has spent any length of time not only away from home, but away from all family members as well. </div>
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I am super proud of him!! I known from experience that it is not easy being away from home, not knowing what to expect your first time at camp, meeting so many new people from all over, and experiencing your first time sleeping in a cabin with 6-7 other boys your age. I hope he had the time of his life and can't wait to hear all about it!</div>
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I recently posted about my camping experience (see my June 19, 2015 FLASHBACK FRIDAY post, "Summer Fun at Camp Pagweak"). And I have also been thinking a lot about family camping trips that we took when I was younger as well.</div>
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Some memories are clearer than others, and I'm sure we didn't really go camping as often as my memory says we did, but I think that it is much better to believe that we went far more than we actually did than to think that we didn't go as often as we really did!</div>
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I remember visiting so many places, on our vacations. Ones that stand out the most, are Fort Beausejour ~ Fort Cumberland National Historic Site. Located on the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick border, it is the site of the 18th century conflicts between France and Britain and later, where the battle was held for North American Supremacy between America and Britain. </div>
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We also toured the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (<i>actually, I remember LOTS of trips to Cape Breton to visit my dad's Great Aunt Maggie</i>). One year we camped at Kejimkujik National Park, where I caught my very first cat fish. I believe that was the year that we woke up almost floating down the river, having been literally washed out of our tent because of a freak torrential rain storm the night before.</div>
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One of my most precious memories is that we ALWAYS took our cat with us. When I was growing up, we had two Siamese cats, Blue and Tie. I'm not sure what happened to Blue, but we had Tie for years and he would always come camping with us. He most favourite spot to travel in the car, was sitting on the backrest with his paws draped over my mom's shoulders as she drove. </div>
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I am really hoping that I'll be able to get some photos from my mom so that I can better share some of these memories with you. For now though, all of these memories are so fresh in my mind that I don't really need the photos to take me right back in time again. It's almost like I'm still there!</div>
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So thanks Mom and Dad for the incredible, unforgettable family vacations and thanks especially for the love, guidance and support over the past 40 years! Congrats and here's to the next 40!!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#FlashbackFriday, #Flashback, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #Family, #FamilyVacations, #SummerVacation, #HappyAnniversary, #Camping, #Tenting, #Travelling, #SummerCamp, #FirstTimeAwayFromHome, #Cabins, #FortBeausejour, #FortCumberlandNationalHistoricSite, #CabotTrail, #Kejimkujik, #KejimkujikNationalPark, #RainedOut, #LeakingTent, #Catfish, #FreakTorrentialRains, #Cat, #CampingCat, #Love, #Guidance, #Support</span></div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-16040762835862258942015-07-30T04:32:00.001-04:002015-07-30T04:32:45.769-04:00~ WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ July 29, 2015 ~ (Previously entitled QOT...W) ~ "WACKIEST CRAB" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~</b><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ July 29, 2015 ~ (Previously entitled QOT...W) ~ "WACKIEST CRAB" ~ </b>A few years ago, my daughter, Caitlin (@likeotters), introduced me to the television show "Deadliest Catch." It instantly became and remains one of my top favourite shows.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In case you're not familiar with the show, "Deadliest Catch," follows the working (and sometimes personal) lives of captains and crew members of several boats that fish for crab ~ King Crab in October, and Opilio (snow crab or opies) in January in the Alaskan crab fishery ~ and the deadly hazards that they face each and every time they journey out into the Bearing Sea.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I especially like the spinoff shows, "After the Catch", and the "The Bait." (<i>Although I'm not a huge fan of one spinoff show, "On Deck", since there seems to me to be a lot of repetition of footage from the previous episode, with minimal "On Deck Extended Footage"</i>). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am however a huge fan of "The Bait" which is hosted by the main captains and includes segments such as "The Hot Seat", where one captain is "grilled" and taken to task about his actions by the other captains; "Captain to Captain," where a captain of another sort (ie: weather, marine animals, the Coast Guard, etc.) are brought in to discuss how their jobs relate to and impact the crab fishery; and "Play Catch" which is usually a competition of some sort between captains (during last nights episode, "Play Catch" pitted brothers Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand against co-captains Josh Harris and Casey McMann in a game of "how well do you know your partner"). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those are just a few of the things that make "The Bait" such a great show! A</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">nother regular feature of "The Bait" that I really enjoy is "The Fourtner Report," in which favourite likeable "super deckhand" of the "Time Bandit," Mike Fourtner, provides inside scoops, explanations and examples of the ins and outs of crab fishing (showing how knots are tied, how to fix holes in the pots, the differences between the two main crabs they fish for, etc.). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I especially like this segment because a lot of interesting things are explained about crab fishing that most people wouldn't ever know unless they were in the business. During one of last seasons "Fourtner Report"s, the hand gestures used to indicate to the captain how many crab were in a pot were explained. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For the life of me, I couldn't remember what the explanation was. Nor could I find one online, despite over an hours worth of searching our so called "information highway". However, I now have it on very good authority, (<i>THANKS Josh</i>), that the explanation or formula for the hand signals used represent the crab count is as simple as "five plus however many fingers are held sideways". </span></div>
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For example, God forbid, but should there only be 17 crab in a pot, the deckhand would hold up one hand, fingers pointed toward the sky and flash that to the captain 2 times (5 + 5 = 10), then they would hold two fingers pointed sideways, representing the number 7. Meaning a total crab count of 10 + 7 = 17.</div>
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[<i>I'm pretty sure that's right, but any errors are mine poor, sucky math skills and not the fault of Josh's explanation</i>]!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A big part of my enjoyment in watching "Deadliest Catch", is that is gives Caitlin and I an opportunity to not only spend time together, but to bond over a common interest. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that none of that is "wacky", unless you count my mad math skills, which are, simply put, "whacked", and that you're probably wondering what exactly about this post qualifies it for my "Wacky Wednesday" article.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well, on last nights "The Bait", two guests happened to be cheerleaders from the Seattle Seahawks football team. In honour of there visit, Mike Fourtner introduced us to a very peculiar crab, the Lybia, or more commonly called, the "Boxer Crab".</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you look at the photo, you'll see that at the end of each claw, the Boxer Crab is holding what looks like pom-poms. The pom-poms are really sea anemone that the crabs carry around as a defence mechanism. Carrying around these anemones are not crucial to their survival, and the Boxer Crab has been known to substitute sea sponges and or corals in place of the three various types of anemones that they bond with.</span></div>
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So there you have it, the weird and wacky post for this week.</div>
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What is the strangest animal you have ever seen?</div>
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Thanks for stopping by, check back next week for a (<i>hopefully</i>) far more wacky post!</div>
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As always, your continued interest, support, encouragement and inspiration is valued more than you could possibly know!</div>
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#WackyWednesday, #Quirky, #Odd, #Interesting, #Bizarre, #Weird, #Wonderful, #Strange, #WhatTheWhat, #Crab, #TV, #DeadliestCatch, #Captain, #Deckhand, #KingCrab, #Opilio, #AlaskanCrabFishery, #TheBait, #TheHotSeat, #CaptainToCaptain, #TheFourtnerReport, #CrabCountHandSignals, #FamilyBonding, #ISuckAtMath, #BoxerCrab, #PomPomCrab, #SeaAnemone, #SeaSponge, #Corals, #WeirdAnimals</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-65494573014678307482015-07-29T10:34:00.000-04:002015-07-29T10:34:00.834-04:00~ WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ July 1, 2015 ~ (Previously entitled QOT...W) ~ "The Animal Kingdom" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>~</b><b> </b><b>WACKY WEDNESDAY ~ July 1, 2015 ~ </b></span><b>(Previously entitled QOT...W) ~</b><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> "The Animal Kingdom" ~ </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ok, so it's 2:15am, I'm heading outside for my last smoke before trying to go back to bed (which I've been trying to do literally ALL day because I'm in the middle of yet another pretty rough pain day AND massive migraine).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've got my book, "The Essence", 2nd in "The Pledge" series by a new favourite author, Kimberly Derting. (I just finished reading the first two books in her "The Taking" series and loved them)! I also plan on reading her other series, "The Body Finder" too, as soon as I'm done this series.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've got my cushion, smoke and lighter. As I sit down on the stoop of the back door, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a slight movement half way up the dining room window that overlooks our back deck.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At first I thought it was just <i><u>another</u></i> moth, of which there are many because of the outside light that I've turned on so that I can see to read. At least it's late (<i>early?</i>) enough that the mosquitoes aren't out in droves, looking to cart me away.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think that I somehow knew that what I could see in my peripheral vision was far too big to be a moth, but terrified that it might be a spider, I couldn't look directly at it to confirm what it was.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Finally, my fear got the better of me. Not wanting to sit there and wonder "when" this huge, maybe-spider might leap on top of my head, I turned my head and squinted my eyes shut tight. (I really, really didn't want it to turn out to be a spider)!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I slowly opened one eye (<i>of course, I picked my right eye, which was furthest away from the window)</i> and couldn't see a gosh darn thing. I am absolutely terrified of spiders (see my "Flashback Friday" post dated November 28, 2014, entitled "Spiders ~ A Tale of Terror), so I took my time squeezing my eyes shut tight again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I ever so slowly pried open my left eye, and hiding half of my face with my book, (<i>I know from experience that if aimed properly, a good book CAN squash a spider, I'm just hoping that if I have to throw the book, it doesn't break the window!</i>). I almost peed my pants in relief to see a frog/toad clinging to our window.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many times we have often found teeny, tiny frogs/toads on our back door, which is made of glass. They were not much bigger than the pads of my thumbs. This frog however, was as big as my fist!</span></div>
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I didn't get much reading on that trip outside. I kept glancing over as the frog/toad creeped slowly up the window.</div>
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The next time that I went outside, around 3:30am (of course I was too worked up thinking it might have been a spider that I couldn't fall asleep even if I tried), the frog/toad was gone.</div>
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I have absolutely no idea how they get up to our back door and windows. (<i>Yeah, I know, frogs can hop, DUH</i>). But I am still curious as to how they make it all the way up the stairs and in this case, up over 3 feet of siding before reaching the window.</div>
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I'm pretty sure I was at least a little more comfortable when I knew where the frog/toad was than not knowing!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#WackyWednesday, #Quirky, #Odd, #Interesting, #Bizarre, #Weird, #Wonderful, #Strange, #WhatTheWhat, #AnimalKingdom, #Smoke, #Bed, #Insomnia, #ChronicPain, #Migraine, #Books, #Reading, #KimberlyDerting, #ThePledge, #TheTaking, #TheBodyFinder, #Animals, #Moth, #Spider, #Frog, #Toad, #WhereDidItGo, #Terrified</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-33770391700293628622015-07-28T11:50:00.000-04:002015-07-29T10:31:07.234-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ July 7, 2015 ~ THOSE PESKY MOSQUITOES ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><span lang="EN-US">~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ July 7, 2015 ~ THOSE PESKY MOSQUITOES ~ </span></b></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think that aside from spiders and June Bugs, mosquitoes are my least favourite insect!! As much as I cannot for the life of me figure out what purpose June Bugs have, I am equally as baffled as to why there are mosquitoes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I would also like to know what it is about me that always makes me the ONE person in the crowd that mosquitoes flock to like flies to honey. I know that it is in part genetic, and can also pertain to my blood type (<i>I'm A+</i>) and that it also has something to do with how much carbon dioxide I exude, but that is the extent of my knowledge.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I like to joke that I'm just so sweet that they can't resist, but I'm pretty sure that my cheery dispostiion really has nothing to do with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am currently sufferring from menopausal hot flashes and assume that may have something to do with my attractiveness to mosquitoes since they are attracted to the lactic acid in sweat. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They are also attracted to smelly feet and I am so glad that I <u>don't</u> fall into that category because the mosquitoes that are attracted to germs that live between our toes and cause foot odor, are the same mosquitoes that carry and spread malaria!!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mosquitoes have been around for 170 million years and of the 175 known species, only the females mosquitoes bite. I suppose (<i>if only they didn't bite me so much</i>) I could see that there is some level of karmic payback in that it is the females that cause all the trouble (also thinking about the Black Widow Spider). Kind of makes up for all that women have to suffer through that men do not. But alas, even the female mosquito will bite her own human-gendered counterpart. And contrary to old wives tales and urban legends, eating garlic and/or overdosing on Vitamin B supplements will not deter the hungry female mosquito from going after you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The only tried and true method of repelling mosquitoes, is using a bug spray that contains deet. It has even been proven effective for protecting children as young as 2 months old. Initially it was thought that deet was harmful to children but studies have shown that as little as 2% deet is safe and effective for babies 2 months old and older.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, gauge your exposure needs, (are you crocodile hunting in swampy wetland marshes, picnicing in your backyard or hanging out in the summer cottage that has had the door opened a few too many times?), select your favourite insect repellant, (I'd probably go with Muskoil for the gator trapping ~ and since mosquitoes seem to love me so much, I may just use the heavy-duty stuff all the time ~ but for most of you, a noname brand from your favourite drug store should suffice just fine for any backyard bbq), tell the mosquitoes to "bug off" (<i>pun intended</i>) get out there and enjoy the summer! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#TickedOffTuesday, #WhatIrksMeMost, #PetPeeve, #UGH, #ARRGHH, Orcanut, #Mosquitoes, #Insects, #Pests, #LikeFliesToHoney, #Genetics, #BloodTypes, #CarbonDioxide, #CheeryDisposition, #Menopause, #HotFlashes, #LacticAcid, #Sweat, #FootOdor, #Malaria, #175MosquitoSpecies, #OnlyFemaleMosquitoesBite, #Karma, #InsectRepellant, #Deet, #MuskOil, #StoreBrands, #CrocodileHunting, #BackyardBBQ, #BugOff</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-47343052467765281372015-07-24T11:38:00.002-04:002015-08-14T16:18:08.576-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 10, 2015 ~ "A MOTHER'S TEARS" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 10, 2015 ~ "A MOTHER'S TEARS" ~</b> I am just now getting caught up posting my various "columns" that I was unable to post over the past few weeks. Although I did struggle a little bit with writers block, the real reason I was unable to post "Ticked Off Tuesday", "Wacky Wednesday" (formerly "QOT...W"), and "Flashback Friday" recently is because I do all of my work on an iPad and unfortunately, that iPad belongs to my son and he, rightly so, took it with him to the lake. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My husband was on vacation last week (first week in July) and he and our son went to spend the week at his parent's "cottage" on Silver Lake. We still call it "the cottage" even though my in-laws have long since made it their home by retiring there. Growing up, my husband and his siblings would spend all summer, every summer at the cottage on Silver Lake. But the reference to it being "the cottage" stuck. My daughter and I joined Stephen and Matthew mid week, getting to spend some time with ALL of my husband's family as everyone was able to make it up for at least part of the week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My husband is back to work this week but our son opted to stay at the cottage to be able to spend more time with his cousins from Calgary that he gets to see only about once a year. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Matthew is only 10 years old and although his days are jam-packed full of fun and exciting activities and adventures, nighttime does eventually fall. With the darkness and never-wanted in the first place bedtime, naturally comes a little bit of homesickness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My husband called this morning from work to let me know that Matthew had sent him an email from his iPad around 1:00am, saying "home, I want home." My heart broke into a million pieces for the little guy (<i>I will get back to that</i>) but also gave me an honest-to-goodness, genuine "flashback" to the very first time that our daughter Caitlin was away from home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Caitlin was three years old before spent a single night away from home. And even though she was excitedly happy to be spending the "whole big long weekend" with my parents, as she called it (it wasn't an actual holiday long weekend, just in Caitlin's 3 year old mind, two nights and three days was a long time). Even though she adores my parents and they adore her right back, it wasn't such an adorably, happy or exciting time for poor old me who was watching my baby leave home for the first time!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I actually spent the three days that she was away curled up in bed, sobbing my heart out because I missed her so much. If not for my very dear friend, Blaine Creelman, who was my constant companion and caretaker, I really don't think that I would have come out on the other side of those three days in one piece.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Although this is not the first time that our son has been away from home without any of us, <i>w</i>hat struck me this week, nearly 20 years later, with Matthew being at the lake without his Dad or me, or even his big sister, Caitlin (@likeotters), is that the heartache of missing a child, especially one that you know is missing you, is very similar to that of genuine grief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As I thought about our son being sad and lonely and "all by himself" (<i>with lots of family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, BUT </i></span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">without Mom, Dad or big sister Caitlin</i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">), my eyes filled up with tears, and I realized that I was actually sobbing. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The gasping, gulping, hiccuping, chest-heaving, hard to breathe, runny nose, tear-streaked red faced "ugly cry". It kind of took me by surprise though, (</span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">but just a little bit, because to be honest, I do have some inkling that I am a bit of a marshmallow when it come to my kids</i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">), that I could be </span><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><b>so</b></i></u><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> heartbroken at just the </span><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">thought</u><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> that my little boy was sad.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since my husband hadn't called until around 9:00am, I didn't even know that Matthew had emailed in the middle of the night. But I t didn't seem to matter much that I knew by now Matthew wasn't in the least bit sad and lonely at that very moment, and nor would he be for the rest of the day. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I knew that he was having a great time fishing, playing board games, tossing a football, shooting pellet guns, swimming, boating, tubing, knee boarding, jet skiing or whatever else they filled their day with. But that didn't stem the flow of tears or heart wrenching sobs that escaped from me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I felt just as bad today as I did 20 years ago when my first baby went away for the first time. I kind of wish that this <u>was</u> Matthew's first time away from home. Then I could sort of justify my sobbing, "ugly cry" and also so that I don't feel like a totally complete and utterly, mushy, sappy marshmallow. I am a little bit proud though, to accept that my love and fierce desire to ALWAYS protect my kids is still, even 20 years later, as strong as it ever was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you are with your kids tonight, give them a hug from me and God Bless!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#FlashbackFriday, #Flashback, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #AMothersLove, #iPad, #Vacation, #Cottage, #Lake, #Family, #Cousins, #AwayFromHome, #Homesick, #Sad, #Lonely, #UglyCry, #Fun, #Fishing, #BoardGames, #Football, #PelletGun, #Swimming, #Boating, #Tubing, #KneeBoarding, #JetSki, #GrowingUp</span></div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-58438409034799641252015-07-24T04:38:00.001-04:002015-07-24T04:38:36.199-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ July 3, 2015 ~ "HAIR DAZE" ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As I approach the date of my annual hair cut,</span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I thought now would be a good time for me to try a new curling technique that my sister-in-law told me about this week. (</span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And yes, you read that correctly, and it is unfortunately very true. For the past 3-4 years, it has just happened to work out that I have only gotten my hair cut once a year, around the first or second week of July ~ hence the dry, flyaway, frizzy, split-end hair that you see in the photos</i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">)</span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">. </i></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I get my hair cut at First Choice Hair Cutters, and it is quite astounding really, that I have been fortunate enough to have had the same hairdresser for each of those haircuts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have come across a few names for the no-heat, curling technique that Sue (@suecarswell) told me about. I've seen it called "T-Shirt Curls" (but it's not the ages old practice of rolling your hair up in cut stips of cloth and then tying the ends together). I've also seen it called "Flopping" and "Plopping."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since I'm pretty reluctant about posting my ugly mug on-line again in the first place, I will NOT be doing a video of this technique. Besides, there are already plenty of tutorials on t-shirt curls out there to be found on YouTube. All you have to do is search "t-shirt curls" and I believe the very first video on the list is the technique that I am talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I will however, post clear, step-by-step instructions on what I did to follow this technique.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This will be a true challenge and test of the veracity of this technique. I am certain that I have the finest, thinnest hair of any man, woman, or child on the planet. I would even be willing to bet that the Sphynx has thicker, fuller hair than I do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was told by a haridresser years ago that not only is my hair very, very fine, but that it is much, much thinner than most peoples hair is. She said that if I were to place a dime on my head and count the number of hairs within the dime's circumferance and compare that with the number of hairs within a dime's circumferance of someone else, I would discover that I had far fewer hairs than most everyone else. So, if this method of "non-heat curling" works at adding curls and volume to <b>MY</b> hair, it will most certainly work for anyones hair!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>WHAT TO DO AND HOW IT WORKS</u>: (Step-by-step instructions ~ read down the left side first, then the right side, last pic in in the middle).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. The first photo shows my hair 3 days post-washing. (The last time I had washed my hair was on Tuesday, June 30th, just before my daughter and I headed up to the lake for a couple of days).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2. I washed my hair, (<i>just once though. I did not "lather, rinse AND repeat" as recommended, I just lathered and rinsed. I find that my hair gets just as clean with only one washing and being the penny pincher that I am, figure I can save a few of those pennies by only washing my hair as needed</i>). I've heard that it is better for your hair if you switch your shampoo every 2 or 3 months. So, when I found little, travel sized bottles of "Dove Advanced Hair Series ~ Oxygen Moisture ~ For fine, flat hair" shampoo and conditioner, (<i>which could have been stocking stuffers from this past Christmas or perhaps were left behind from when my parents visited several weeks ago</i>), I decided to try them. I am frequently trying new shampoos to see if I can find one that will actually do as advertised and add curl and/or volume to my pathetically limp hair. I was told that because my hair was so fine and thin that I shouldn't use conditioner on it. However, since the ends of my hair are so dry and split, I did add a little conditioner to my hair, working into my hair from about my ears down to the ends. <i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. After slightly drying my hair with a towel, I added my favourite curling product, "Marc Anthony Strickly Curls ~ Curl Defining Lotion". It has a wonderful, lemony smell and I used it even though I seem that I have an adverse reaction (my palms gets all red and blotchy and itch like crazy ) when I come into contact with anything that has lemon added. Fortunately, the product itself is really only applied to my hair and not my scalp. Well, I assume it is the lemon that causes my reaction because the same thing happens if I come into contact with Sunlight dish soap or Sunlight laundry detergent. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(This is nothing at all against Sunlight, it's just that Sunlight is the only brand of product that I have used or even know about that contains lemon or lemon scent, aside from the Strictly Curls hair product that I use). For me, it is worth the irritation because I love the hair product and if I wash my hands as soon as I have applied the product, it tends to diminish the itchiness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">4. After applying the Strictly Curls, I fingered it through my hair and then used a pick and then a brush to distribute it evenly throughout my hair. (I did this also as an added "test" of this method since I would be starting with my normal, "straight-as-a-board" hair). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. Next, I laid out one of my husband's t-shirts on our bed. I placed the hem of the t-shirt against the edge of the bed and face-up, stretched out the t-shirt so that it was laying flat, the sleeves out to either side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. Then I flipped my head upside down and finger toussling all of my hair forward, I leaned over and placed my hair over the middle of the t-shirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">6. I lowered my head so that my hair would pile up naturally in the middle of the shirt and then I grabbed the hem of the t-shirt and placed it along my eyebrows and around to the back of my neck. Wrapping one end over the other, I held the ends in place while I grabbed the neckline of the shirt and pulled it up over my head until I reached my hand holding the hem ends in place. I then carefully stretched out the sleeves, making sure to keep the shirt tight at the back and brought each sleeve up around my ears and to the front of my forehead. I tied the sleeves in a knot and tucked in all loose sections of the shirt. I was also able to grab the hem of the shirt closest to my head and pull it up over the knotted sleeves (<i>hopefully lessening some of the dorky look I was quickly achieving ~ however, if this works, I will gladly look like a dork over night to have natural, wavy curls in my hair</i>)!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All that is left now is to wait. If you do this just before bed, you can easily sleep on your t-shirted hair and it should be perfect by the time you get up. Since I am trying this during the day, I plan on waiting for approximately 8 hours, or an average nights sleep, before checking on my hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><u>THE BIG REVEAL</u>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It turns out that I waited for 9 hours and 20 minutes before removing the t-shirt from my head. I have to say, I am quite impressed with the results! The final, middle picture shows what my hair looked like fresh out of the t-shirt. I did not do any prepping or styling at all. I simply removed the shirt, flipped my hair back, moved some of the hair out of my eyes and took the photo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Like I said, if this worked for my hair, as thin and fine as it is, with minimal curling product, and no styling, think what it could do for someone with normal hair!! With a little bit of time and styling, I think I could actually really like how my hair turned out. (<i>Don't forget, it has been almost a year since my last haircut, so a lot of the frizziness and split ends would not be there</i>).</span></div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-7219295637166783912015-07-01T03:40:00.000-04:002015-07-21T10:06:03.268-04:00~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 ~ "ERRORS IN BOOKS" ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>~ TICKED OFF TUESDAY ~ TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 ~ "ERRORS IN BOOKS" ~ </b>As you may know, I am quite an avid reader. (See my Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ~ QOT...D ~ post, "FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~<u> BOOK EDITION"</u> ~ at my relatively new blog site, Orca Cove, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3198744838528873334">http://www.orcacove.blogspot.ca</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, it's no secret that I love to read. I believe I have also mentioned that my 7+ year long chronic pain issues have severely hindered my ability to read for any length of time. Having said that, any time that I am able to spend reading is not only very valuable but very precious to me as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Therefore, it really irks me when I come across blatant errors in books. A novel I just finished reading, had one such blatant error. Please don’t get me wrong, I know there are typos, misprints, and common errors that are if not expected, then at least understood in any given novel. (<i>Although I do still wonder what the editors are being paid for, if not to catch things like that</i>). Anyway, this error is so glaringly obvious, that it baffles my mind as to how it got missed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The book I read was called "Hate List" by Jennifer Brown and is about a girl, Valerie, trying to come to grips with life after her boyfriend Nick shot several students, a teacher, and Valerie herself, before turning the gun on himself. At the end of chapter two, we are told that Valerie is going to catch the bus to school to avoid driving with her mother, who has been harping on her to "get over it' and get on with her life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BUT. . . and here's the error, the beginning of chapter three, in essence, the very next paragraph, has Valerie driving to school with her mother. There is no time lapse; this isn't about some future event. Valerie is still on her way to school for the first time since the shooting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've also read books where characters names have changed midstream, characters who have died are suddenly back in the script, and not as ghosts. How do these types of errors happen?? How do they slip past not only the author, but editors, and publishers as well??<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It just seems to me that if someone like me, an avid reader, yes, but one who knows nothing of the book publishing world, can catch what are glaringly obvious errors, how do they possibly get by the so called "professionals"??<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know this may seem somewhat petty so some, but in my position, where every word, every sentence, every paragraph of a book is a struggle to get through, it is more than just a minor annoyance. My pain is in my head. Literally "in my head" as it is located at the base of my skull, in the back of my head and exacerbating my constant migraines, makes any cognitive function that much more difficult. Especially something that requires my concentration and focus. Like following a story line in a book, movie or television show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have to try to find a way through the pain to focus and concentrate on every word written or said ~ and yes, watching television or a movie with me is almost torture for my family as I often have to rewind to catch something that I have missed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Anyway, all in all, I think it was an ok book, and I have finished it and a few others and have moved on to one by a favourite author, Linwood Barclay entitled "No Safe House" and am much looking forward to the next book on my Summer Reading List, the fourth book in the "Shiver" series by Maggie Stiefvater called "Sinner."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, that's what I am "ticked off" about this week. How about you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#TickedOffTuesday #TickedOff, #Upset, #Angry, #PetPeeve, #Errors, #ErrorsInBooks, #Books, #Reading, #ChronicPain, #Migraines, #Time, #Novels, #TypoMisprint, #Edit, #Editors, #Publishers, #HateList, #JenniferBrown, #SchoolShooting</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Concentration, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Focus, #MovieTV, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">FavouriteAuthor, #LinwoodBarclay, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NoSafeHouse, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SummerReadingList, #</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">MaggieStiefvater #Shiver, #Sinner</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-10762220614896165962015-06-26T03:16:00.001-04:002015-06-26T03:16:59.906-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 26, 2015 ~ A DISASTER IN THE KITCHEN ~ <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
<b>FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 26, 2015 ~ A DISASTER IN THE KITCHEN ~ </b>Last Sunday, a good friend on Facebook, Shelley Selig, posted a picture of a pastry blender in one of those "Do you remember this" posts.</div>
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Seeing it gave me the idea for this weeks "Flashback Friday" post. It's all about what a disaster I am in the kitchen and the fact that I cannot bake to save my life.</div>
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I married the most wonderful man on the planet but he sure got the short end of the stick in marrying me! I am the world's worst housekeeper and I only knew how to make about four staple meals when we got married. I could make 1) spaghetti, 2) pork chops and fried rice, 3) scalloped potatoes and 4) stew. (<i>Yeah, I know, scalloped potatoes isn't exactly a "meal" but I would usually add breakfast strips and a veggie and call that supper</i>)!</div>
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As for baking, well, it's a good thing that my darling hubby doesn't have a sweet tooth!! I honestly cannot bake a single thing! Even now, after almost 12 years of marriage, I have only added one meal (chicken mushroom rice and veggies) to my menu. I was able, however, to add one dessert to our menu!! I can actually make cherry cheesecake!! (It's the no-bake kind, so I'm not sure if that counts, but at least I graduated from being asked to just bring punch to family functions to bringing cheesecake)!!</div>
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Now, I know that some of you may be thinking that I just don't like to cook/bake or that I just haven't tried hard enough, but I assure you, I honestly, truly am a complete and total klutzy disaster in the kitchen!! And I have several examples to prove it!!</div>
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Going WAY back to when my husband and I were first together and dating when I was in high school, I remember trying to make a roast for dinner. I must have called my mom at least a dozen times that day with question after question after question. I finally figured out what to do and had everything ready. The table was set, the veggies and potatoes were simmering on the stove, and the roast was in the oven. It was going to be a PERFECT birthday surprise for Stephen. </div>
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To make a long story short (<i>really, I can do that, if I try hard enough</i>), in the end, the surprise was on me. All of the food was set out and ready to serve, I pulled the roast from the oven, and set it on the table, ready for my big reveal. (<i>We didn't stand on ceremony and usually just served out of the pots, although this once, I almost wish we had, I wouldn't have been so stunned then perhaps</i>). I guess the one question that I should have asked my mom and didn't, was "what is the roast supposed to look like when it's done?"</div>
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The roast that I had put into the over would have kept us in leftovers for two weeks, EASY. The roast that I pulled out of the oven and revealed with a flourish however, was barely big enough to make a meal for our cat!! WHO THE HECK KNEW THAT ROAST SHRINKS?!?!? WHY DOES ROAST SHRINK ANYWAY?!?</div>
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Needless to say, I made sure that we went out or that my parents invited us over for any future birthdays or special occasions! Except that one time that I finally put <b><u><i>THE ROAST INCIDENT</i></u></b> (<i>for that's how I think of it, all caps, bold, underlined, italicized</i>) behind me and decided to bake a cake for Stephen's birthday. </div>
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Leaving nothing to chance, I bought a cake mix that all you had to do was add water. You even cooked it in the box it came in! What luck!! I couldn't wait to finally be able to surprise Stephen, for once, on his birthday! <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even <b><u>I</u></b> couldn't screw that up!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WRONG!! You could have anchored a boat with that cake! I followed the directions exactly, the oven temperature was correct, I didn't leave it in too long, and to this day, I still have no idea what happened or why it was so heavy and hard as a rock and what could have possibly gone wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Unfortunately, that's not the end of my disaster stories. Many years ago, a friend and next door neighbour, Tanya Butt Condon, couldn't believe that I really couldn't bake. She was determined to prove me wrong and one Saturday, set up an experiment, meant to finally put my kitchen ghosts to rest.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Here is how the experiment went. Tanya picked the easiest cookie recipe that she had, (I believe it was oatmeal raisin) and set up her kitchen counter so that we both had the exact same utensils, the exact same ingredients and measuring apparatuses, and the exact same cookie sheets.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ingredient for ingredient, step by step, we each followed the recipe. I did EXACTLY what Tanya did. We even counted as we stirred and mixed to make sure that each batch got the exact same number of strokes. We spooned the cookies onto the cookie sheets, adjusting where necessary, to make sure that they were the exact same size and looked exactly alike. We put them into the same oven at the exact same time. (We even set the timer for half of the required time and switched places in the oven just in case). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Each of our cookie trays came out of the oven at the exact same time, cooled for exactly the same amount of time and, yup, you guessed it, Tanya's cookies turned out perfectly, and mine, well, I'm not sure what exactly was wrong with mine. They were undercooked, overcooked, tasted like they were missing key ingredients, I don't know. They weren't even fit to feed to the ducks at Point Pleasant Park or the Public Gardens in Halifax! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You would think that my sad, tragic story would end there, it's bad enough already right? Well, I actually have two more baking nightmares to share with you. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This first one isn't so much on me as it is on my next door neighbour, Julie Sinclair. You see, Julie makes these incredible, "you-can't-stop-at-just-one", amazingly delicious, "once-you've-had-them-you-never-want-another-kind-of-cookie-again" cookies called "Molasses Moons." That's the original, official name for them anyway. Anyone who has ever tasted or tired to make these cookies however, files them under the name "Julie's Impossible Cookies." This is because despite trying, and even given my lack of culinary abilities, I have tried to make them several times, nobody, and I really do mean not one other single person, can make them as good as Julie! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At a gathering at Julie's house once, we all agreed that we were certain that she must leave out a key ingredient, different for each of us, on any recipe that she passed on. Julie, jokingly, often calls over and asks if "Carswell Convenience" is open. Of course I don't really expect or even want to be repaid for anything that may be borrowed, be it a bag of milk, a cup of sugar, a can of spaghetti sauce or even an emergency gift. However, Julie usually insists, and I am so thankful to be able to tell her that the reimbursement is a batch of her Impossible Cookies! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My final and most recent story is from a few years ago. I found an incredibly scrumptious cookie/square recipe that we just "had" to try at home. They were called "Hello Dolly's," and I had to try making them two days after we tried them for the first time ~ they really were that good!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I'll spare you the gory details and just tell you that someone has changed the name of the cookies/squares on the recipe card so that it now reads "</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Goodbye Dolly's."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And the moral of the story? If you ever feel inclined to invite me to a potluck dinner, your best bet is to make sure I'm bringing punch or cheesecake!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><u>NOTE</u></b>: Believe it or not, I do actually have several cookbooks! (Yeah, I'm not sure why either, probably because our daughter, Caitlin (@likeotters) has fortunately not been inflicted with the same culinary curse that I have, and is phenomenal in the kitchen)! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, if you would like any of the recipes that I mentioned above ~ trust me, the errors are completely my fault and not the fault of the recipes, at all ~ (I've noted them in a list below), please feel free to contact me and I'll gladly pass them along!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cherry Cheesecake</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hello/Goodbye Dolly's</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Molasses Moons/Julie's Impossible Cookies</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Oatmeal Raisin Cookies</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pork Chops & Fried Rice </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#Flashback, #FlashbackFriday, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #KitchenDisaster, #ICantBake #PublicGardens, #SweetTooth, #PointPleasantPark, #JustAddWater, #KitchenExperiment, #Recipes, #Cake, #Cookies, #Desserts, #Spaghetti, #PorkChopsFriedRice, #ScallopedPotatoes, #Stew, #ChickenMushroomRice, #CherryCheesecake, #RoastDinner, #ShrinkingRoast, #OatmealRaisinCookies, #MolassesMoons, #JuliesImpossibleCookies, #HelloGoodbyeDollys, #TheMoralOfTheStory</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-12963890659165738672015-06-24T03:24:00.000-04:002015-06-24T03:24:21.661-04:00QOT...W ~ June 24, 2015 ~ I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CANCELLED MY FAVOURITE TV SHOW!<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>QOT...W ~ June 24, 2015 ~ I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CANCELLED MY FAVOURITE TV SHOW! ~ </b>I figured that since I've covered books, movies and dreams, I may as well talk about TV shows too. I'm sure everyone has their favourite "can't miss" shows that they watch on tv. (And I'm not talking about daytime soap operas, but the television shows that are aired during prime time). </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My favourites haven't changed much over the years. I am however terribly disappointed about shows that I really started to get into, only to have the networks cancel them after only a few episodes or not renew them the following season. </span></div>
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The shows I have been watching this year include (i<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">n no particular order, although I will * my favourites): Revenge*, Once Upon A Time*, Arrow*, Red Band Society, Stalker, The Flash*, Person Of Interest*, Scandal*, Elementary, Scorpion*, Forever, Deadliest Catch*, and Gracepoint. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I also watched every season of Grey's Anatomy. I'm not really heartbroken that the series has ended though, I kinda feel that it ran its course.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In doing research for this post, I discovered that several of the shows I enjoyed watching this past fall, (some favourites), are either being cancelled or will have their series end this year. They are: Stalker, Revenge, Gracepoint, Red Band Society, and Forever. I sincerely hope that none of my other favourites end up being cancelled!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Other shows that have already been cancelled over the past few years, much to my chagrin, are: Ringer, Private Practice, Body of Proof, Deception, The Tomorrow People, Betrayal, Hostages, Do No Harm, Touch, Golden Boy, Twisted, GCB, The Finder, The Vineyard, A Gifted Man, Harry's Law, In Plain Sight, and Unforgettable. All great shows that are now on the cutting room floor.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There are several shows that I thought had really great characters and character development, and a good storyline. However, they were still cancelled and they NEVER should have been. They are: Hostages, Touch, Twisted, The Vineyard and Harry's Law. Another show I was heartbroken to see end was The Finder. I believe that this was the last show that Michael Clark Duncan starred in before his death. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The one show that I was most disappointed to see not renewed was The Tomorrow People. I LOVED this show! It was mostly about teens who had special abilities, like telekinesis, teleportation and telepathy. I really was very disheartened when the network pulled this show. I want to know what happens next with the characters!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The summer season is upon us and many of the "regular" programs are not running. The networks do however, release summer programming and I have started watching a few of the new and returning summer release TV shows. Some look to be fairly interesting and I hope to at least check them out. They are: The Briefcase, Whispers, Stichers, Pretty Little a Liars*, Proof, The Brink, Humans, Zoo, Scream, Between, and Mistresses*. With the exception of Pretty Little Liars and Mistresses, the rest are all new series, set to start or have started already this summer. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My daughter and I are watching Between, and so far, it's pretty gripping! I have only watched a couple of episodes of Whispers and Stichers and they both look really good. I am trying not to get too vested in these shows though, because the way things have gone, they will be cancelled too!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a family, we also really enjoy watching America's Got Talent during the summer months, so I'm really glad it has survived the network cuts over the years!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And so, today's QOT...W is, "</span><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TV SHOWS THAT YOU WATCH REGULARLY? DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SHOW THAT IS NO LONGER AIRING, either because it has aired its series finale or because the network cut it from the programming lineup?</b></div>
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#QOTW, #QOTD, #Orcanut, #TVShows, #Cancelled, #FavouriteTVShows, #PrimeTime, #Episodes, #Season, #Series, #CharacterDevelopment, #Plot, #StoryLine, #SummerTV, #FallTV, #SeasonFinale, #SeriesFinale, #MichaelClarkDuncan, #Hostages, #Touch, #Twisted, #TheVineyard, #HarrysLaw, #TheFinder, #TheTomorrowPeople, #InPlainSight, #Unforgettable, #Deception, #BodyOfProof, #Betrayal,</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-33912112512319718872015-06-20T03:37:00.000-04:002015-07-21T07:39:44.073-04:00FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 19, 2015 ~ SUMMER FUN AT CAMP PAGWEAK ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
<b>FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 19, 2015 ~ SUMMER FUN AT CAMP PAGWEAK ~</b> I really have to thank incredibly amazing and talented loomers extraordinaire, @AMANDAANDMONICARLOOMY for providing the inspiration for this weeks post. They recently posted a picture on Instagram that reminded me so much of a skit that used to be performed at Camp Pagweak (pronounced "Peg-We-Ack") almost every year.</div>
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In the skit, called "Helping Hands", one person wears an over-sized raincoat or something similar and another person sits behind them, hiding underneath the coat. The person in the back, blind, acts as the arms for the person in front. Whether the skit is eating food, (something messy like cereal or spaghetti), or putting on make-up, (especially amusing when the performers are both boys, who haven't had much experience at all with make-up), it is always hilariously funny and great fun for both the audience <u><i>and</i></u> the actors.</div>
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My husband, son and I were recently talking about summer camp for my son. He has never been to an overnight camp and is, understandably, a little bit apprehensive. I tried to reassure him, telling him of the many years and great experiences that I had at Camp Pagweak (but I didn't tell him EVERYTHING ~ even though it is a church run Christian camp, I do have some secrets to keep)!!</div>
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All told, I went to Camp Pagweak a total of 16 times, if not more. From when I was just 7 years old until I was 16-17 years old. I know that mathematically that doesn't add up properly to equal 16 years worth of camp. However, I loved going so much, that there were several years that I went three times a year. I attended Summer Camp for a week each summer starting when I was 7, and when I was older, the Youth Group at our church would spend a long weekend, one in the in the Spring and one in the Fall, at Camp Pagweak.</div>
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Some of my very best memories and very best friends were from camp. I am truly so very thankful and grateful to my parents for not only encouraging and allowing us to go, but also for paying for all those camps for so many years!</div>
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As I said, I was 7 years old the first time I attended summer camp. I believe that was the only all-girls camp that I ever attended. I was fortunate enough my first year there to have our next-door neighbour as the counsellor of the cabin I was in, limiting some of my homesickness. (Although, to be honest, I had such a great time that I'm pretty sure I didn't think about home once that whole week).</div>
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The following year our family vacation happened to coincide with the girls camp for that year and after bending a few rules and pulling some strings, I was permitted to attend the co-ed camp for kids aged 10-12, a few years older than my 8 years of age. (I never did attended another all-girls camp after that first year).</div>
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As I mentioned, some of my favourite memories are from the years I spent at camp. A few in particular stand out. I won't go into great detail, it being a Christian camp, after all, but my first real kiss and boyfriend happened at camp. I remember the kiss clearly, his name was Dana and we were sitting on a lower bunk in my cabin, playing a game on Merlin. Does anyone else remember that cool, hand-held, red, electronic game?? I wonder what ever happened to those? </div>
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Another great memory is from 1984, the year that we argued and won the right to have a dance at camp. Being a church run camp, dances had never been allowed up until that year. It did not hurt our cause any that the movie "Footloose" happened to be released in February of that year (probably what prompted our idea for a dance in the first place) and in fact, was the persuading factor in our argument!</div>
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During my younger years at camp, long before kisses and boyfriends and dances, I thought one of the very best things about camp was Tuck. Tuck was a canteen that opened every afternoon during our free time and using tuck money that our parents had left for us, we would line up and climb the three or four steps up to the Tuck window and place our orders. I usually always got a bag of Salt and Vinegar chips, 5 red licorice, a chocolate bar, Mars, of course, and a can of pop, sometimes Rootbeer, sometimes Coke. I hate to age myself by admitting that my daily allotment of Tuck money was only $2.00!! Can you imagine?? All that for only $2.00????</div>
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For many years I had a crush on a boy named Mark who attended the same camps that I did from the first time that I went to mixed camp when I really wasn't old enough to be there. (Mark is also the reason that Salt and Vinegar is my favourite kind of chips! I tell people the same thing that I heard Mark say, "I like that kind because not many other people do, and that lessens that likelihood of my having to share")! </div>
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The boys cabins were on the left side of the driveway as you drove into the camp, (not ironically, I don't imagine, closest to the adults and leaders cabins)! The girls cabins were up at the top of a slight hill to the right as you pulled into the driveway. We were all on pins and needles in anticipatory excitement as we watched our friends from the years before get out of their cars. We would have to wait patiently (or not so patiently, I know there was a lot of running around and screaming) as each new camper pulled up, got registered, gathered their luggage and sleeping bags. Im sure we all held our breath, all the while saying a silent prayer that our girlfriends had been assigned to our cabin this year. </div>
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I will never forget the year that the boys challenged the girls to a pillow fight. It wasn't really a camp sanctioned activity, but the leaders and counsellors kindly pretended to not know what we were planning. Just after dark, the boys crept from their cabins and we all converged on the hill leading to the girls cabins. The counsellors did a great job at pretending not to know what we were up to. I distinctly remember seeing a several of them from both the boys and girls cabins, pummelling each other with their own pillows!</div>
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The pillow fight never did get to the point that we are familiar seeing on television (I'm not sure any really do) and we didn't have feathers flying all over the place, sticking to hair and clothing, making us all look like we had been tarred and feathered. (Would have been nice though)! I'm pretty sure the fight ended in a draw, which is how it should be. Nobody got seriously hurt, everyone was laughing and burning off excited energy, and it was great fun for everyone.</div>
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Somehow, I ended up getting tackled during the pillow fight and my ankle was sprained. I was in a lot of pain but it hurt far more that I was going to miss out on the dance the next night (yes, dances had become a yearly event, thanks to the Mixed Camp of 1984).</div>
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It was probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I'm pretty sure that Mark just may have had a little crush on me too. He showed up at my cabin door with his good buddy Jack, and insisted on carrying me down to the dance. He even brought his own pillow to prop up my sore ankle! He and Jack "borrowed" a wheeled chair from the office and we danced by him pushing the chair around the dance floor. For my first slow dance ever with a boy, Mark held me up, my feet resting on the tips of his sneakers so that I didn't have to put any weight on my sore ankle (although he probably didn't have to hold me up at all as I'm pretty sure that Cloud 9 was supporting me the whole night)!</div>
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Every year, each cabin was assigned a task, whether it be cabin checks with the counsellors, groundskeeping, cooking, dishes or what have you, we all had responsibilities. The songs we sang during campfires still remain in my head, as does the morning grace ~ "Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the Apple trees, the Lord is good to me, Johnny Appleseed, let's eat!" (And yes, we always had to sing it a second time to say "Amen" at the end). </div>
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A favourite mealtime occurrence was catching people with their elbows on the table. You would get two chances, during which, if caught, everyone would sing "Connie, Connie strong and able get your elbows off the table" and on your third strike, this line was added to the end of the chant "round the cabin you must go, you must go, you must go, round the cabin you must go, 1, 2, 3, . . ." The sooner you got back meant the less minutes that you had to spend eating your meal under the table!!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carol was THE best cook any camp ever had, anywhere, EVER!! She also happened to be the cook from my high school cafeteria. We got to know and love each other pretty well over the years, both at camp and school. Everyone always looked forward to the evening meal, because it was the only one not prepared by campers. The most memorable evening meal was a surprise </span>"Utensil" meal.</div>
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As we walked into the lodge, the leaders were there, holding a huge bowl above our heads. We had to reach a hand in and grab whatever utensil we came upon. I think I came out with a spatula, but my brother, (who attended almost every camp with me) pulled out an eggbeater. Not an electric one, but the kind that had a handle you wound to spin two beaters. There were other such cooking utensils that the kids grabbed as well. Two-tined forks, mixing spoons, wooden spoons, measuring cups, tongs, pie servers, etc. and we had that, and ONLY that to eat with. Good 'ol Cook Carol, whom I am convinced was in on it from the get-go, made spaghetti that night for supper!! You can imagine the mess that we made!</div>
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I just noticed the several times that I easily slipped from past to present tense in the above paragraphs. Really, truly, those were the days!! So, thank you so much Amanda and Monica, for sharing your post and promoting my very memorable jaunt down memory lane!!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Not to mislead anyone (<i>Mom, Dad</i>), camp really was more than just boys, pillow fights and dances, REALLY!! We had great fun sharing stories and learning of God's love. I learned how to play the piano, sort of, more or less. (More less than more actually). But I cherish the time I spent sitting on the bench beside Mark as he taught me how to pluck out this tune, which unfortunately I don't know the name of, just the keys that I play, (and by "play" I mean tap each key with a single finger ~ I was after all kicked out of piano lessons when my instructor told my mom that she was wasting her money on sending me there). Here are the keys that play:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">F, A, C, D, D#, D, C, A</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">F, A, C, D, D#, D, C</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">C, E, G, A, A#, A, G, E</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">F, A, C, D, D#, D, C, A</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There were also wonderful crafts, quiet time, swimming and campfires and fellowship with friends. And also a yearly midnight trek along the beach cliffs, guided only by our flashlights. (Ok, so that last one wasn't exactly a camp sanctioned event either, but it was a lot of fun! Albeit very scary at times)! And I wouldn't trade a single, solitary moment of any of it for anything in the whole wide world.</span></div>
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(Somewhere, I still have my old, purple sleeping bag that has been signed on the inside many years over, by friends and fellow campers. If I can find it ~ I'm hoping I have it here in Ottawa with me and not at my parent's house in Nova Scotia ~ I will post some pics of it, raggedy as it must be)!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#Flashback, #FlashbackFriday, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #RainbowLoom, #CampPagweak, #Camp, #SummerCamp, #Fun, #Campfire, #Skit, #HelpingHands, #ChristianChurchCamp, #SpringFallCamp, #YouthGroup, #FirstKiss, #Cabins, #MerlinTheElectronicWizard, #Dance, #Footloose, #TuckCanteen, #PillowFight, #SprainedAnkle, #UtensilMeal, #Cloud9, #JohnnyAppleseed, #CafeteriaCampCook, #Sleepingbag</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-24457697924567505402015-06-17T11:43:00.001-04:002015-07-21T07:39:02.371-04:00QOT...W ~ June 17, 2015 ~ "BEST DREAM / WORST NIGHTMARE?"<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
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<b>QOT...W ~ June 17, 2015 ~</b><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> BEST DREAM/WORST NIGHTMARE </b><b>~ </b>I had intended on answering part of last weeks <b>QOT...W, "</b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DREAM? WHAT IS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE?"</b>,<b> </b></span>as last weeks "FLASHBACK FRIDAY, but since I had prepared a post already, I decided it was best to keep the "dream theme" together with the QOT...W posts.</div>
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{Just as a reminder, most of us know QOTD to stand for "Question Of The Day." As I mentioned in my very first QOT...W. (Which despite surprising myself at pretty consistently posting this every Wednesday, does not stand for "Question Of The Wednesday") or even "Question Of The Week" but rather "QUESTION OF THE WHENEVER"! I do tend to be rather sporadic with posting to FB or Instagram, and although I will continue to try to post regularly, just to cover my butt, I thought it best to entitle these queries "whenever" I am able. Thanks so much for following along, participating, and your continued support and encouragement}!!</div>
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Getting back to this weeks QOT...W, "WHAT WAS YOUR BEST DREAM AND/OR WORST NIGHTMARE" as I said, I will answer first, and to end on a more happier note, I'm going to start with my worst nightmare.</div>
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Unfortunately, this was one of those dreams that you can recall ever little detail, every sound, every image, and unlike most dreams, it doesn't "fade away" the more awake you become.</div>
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Usually a persons dream only makes sense to them. And if you have ever tried to listen to someone telling you about their dream, you may understand what I mean. What seems to make perfect sense to the dreamer, is often confusing, jumbled and totally nonsensical to other people.</div>
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I think however, that my worst nightmare may resonate with many people, especially moms and perhaps even anyone afraid of flying.</div>
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This is a dream that I had many, many years ago (I believe my daughter, now 22, was only three years old at the time). Thankfully, it is not one of my recurring dreams, but I can still remember everything about it as if I dreamt it yesterday. The worst part is that the feelings all come flooding back. The ones that I had during that dream and in the few moments that it took me to realize that it was just a dream. </div>
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In my dream, <i>I am in an airplane that is about to crash. All of the passengers are strangers to me and everyone is talking about the best evacuation plans and arguing over the options available.</i></div>
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<i>There are several different groups, those that believe that following the standard "crash preparedness techniques" demonstrated by the flight attendants is the best option, another group that feels that it is "every man for himself" and the largest group, that I find myself with, the ones who feel that given the circumstances, there is no hope and we are all going to die in the crash.</i></div>
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Perhaps the most vivid part of my dream is the noise. <i>The sound of the wind whistling through holes blown out of the sides of the plane, the sounds of small explosions as parts of the electronics on the plane crackle and blow up, the screaming, crying, raised voices of the panicked passengers. And most especially, the pin-drop, dead silence when the other groups realize that my group was right, that we don't have any chance for survival.</i></div>
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<i>The majority of people decided that we wanted to go out on our own terms, and not wait for the plane to crash and burn all around us. One of the explosions had cracked the right side wing of the plane, causing it to bend up and crashing the engine through the side of the plane. <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Several of the men on the flight were engineers, and had somehow figured out how to turn the tip of the engine so that it formed a chute leading down into the spinning blades of the engine on that side of the plane. </span></i></div>
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<i>We decided to take control of our own fate, and all agreed to that the best way to do this, was to end our lives BEFORE the plane crashed</i>.</div>
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(Please remember that this is just a dream, albeit, a bad one, but like most dreams, doesn't have to make any sense whatsoever! ~ Why would I side with the group that felt that we had no hope? Why did the men have to be engineers? How would it even be possible for the wind to bend up, and have the engine, which is under the wing, come crashing through the side of the plane? See, nonsense, but in my dream, it seemed perfectly logical! ~ And please know, that in my waking life, I am much more optimistic and would side with the "stick to the attendants instructions" group and take my chances)! </div>
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Anyway, in my dream, <i>I was flying with my daughter, who in reality was three years old, but in my dream was a much younger infant. I had decided that rather than wait for the plane to crash, I was going to follow those before me and slide down the chute to my instant death. </i></div>
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<i>I had watched several people go before me, sobbing with parents as they sent their children down the chute, and then as they followed them into the cutting blades of the engine.</i></div>
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<i>I distinctly recall thinking that I didn't want my daughter to suffer and making the conscious decision to send her down the chute head first, so that her death would be instant. I would follow behind her, also head first, holding on to her ankles.</i></div>
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<i>Both my daughter and I were fully extended down into the chute, my ankles, hooked over the end, were the only thing keeping us from sliding down. The closer that we got to the blades of the engine, the louder it became and the vibrations and turbulence shook the plane so much that I was having a hard time keeping my ankles hooked over the lip of the engine housing. </i></div>
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I awoke just as my last foot lost its hold.</div>
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That dream was so real and even 20 years later, still so vivid in my mind! There are times that I love to dream and to recall every single detail of my dreams, this was NOT one of them!</div>
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I am NEVER eating a bunch of barbecue peanuts before bed again!!</div>
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As I said, ending on a happier note, my best dream, and most favourite, one that I really wish would be a recurring dream, but unfortunately isn't, is about, surprise, surprise, orca whales!</div>
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<i>A baby orca whale had beached itself and I was part of a crew sent to help. I was standing knee deep in the ocean water and could see the leathery, rough skin of the orca, covered in tiny barnacles, seaweed and sand.</i></div>
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<i>I reached out my hand to touch the orca and passed out.</i></div>
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Yup, I am such a fanatic about orca whales, that I actually dreamt that I passed out! Unfortunately, when I came to, I also woke up and that was the end of my dream.</div>
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I have tried over and over and over again to repeat that dream, to add more details, to remember more, but I have never even once come close.</div>
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You've probably noticed that I recalled far mor information and details about my nightmare than I did about my favourite dream. I'm really not sure why that is, as I would much rather remember as little as possible about the nightmare and far more about the good dream, but I'm sure it is probably like that for everyone. The dreams we really want to remember slip away as soon as we wake up and the ones that we don't, we can hardly forget, and the mor ewe try, the more we remember.</div>
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So, that's my best and worst. What are yours? As I mentioned in last weeks QOT...W, a long time ago, my mother gave me a book called "10,000 Dreams Interpreted." If you would like for me to try to help you figure out what your dream meant, drop me a line with basic details about your dream and I'll give it my best shot! Again, I stress, this is just for fun, I'm neither a psychic nor a medium and can only tell you what my book says. But sometimes it can be really interesting and often sheds a light on what our dreams may be trying to tell us.</div>
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Sweet dreams everyone, don't let the bedbugs bite!!</div>
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#QOTW, #QOTD, #Orcanut, #Dreams, #<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">InterpretYourDreams #</span>RememberingYourDreams, #FavouriteDream, #Nightmares, #WorstNightmare, #Psychic, #Medium, #UnderstandYourDreams, #Moms, #FearOfFlying, #AfraidToFly, #Airplanes, #ItWasJustADream, #AirplaneCrash, #Crash, #Passengers, #WeAreAllGoingToDie, #Explosions, #Engines, #Blades, #HeadFirst, #HeadFirstIntoPlaneEngine, #OrcaWhale, #BabyOrca #BeachedWhale, #Fainted</div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-19993032144047886532015-06-12T12:52:00.000-04:002015-07-21T07:36:58.416-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ JUNE 12, 2015 ~ ANY CLOSER AND THEY WOULD HAVE BITTEN YOU!! ~<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 12, 2015 ~ ANY CLOSER AND THEY WOULD HAVE BITTEN YOU ~ </b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know I said that I would be posting about my best dream and worst nightmare today, but I already had this written up for this weeks post and figured that the dreams could wait ~ but just for a week, I promise!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On with this weeks FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ I am not sure if I mentioned that my parents and nephew were visiting last week from Nova Scotia, but they left last Saturday morning. I missed them even as they drove out of the driveway!! The visits are never often nor long enough.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As is usually inevitable, something is always forgotten (unlike the wonderful purple slippers that my mom <i>intentionally</i> left behind for me). So I wasn't all that surprised when I noticed a bite guard in its container sitting on our bathroom counter.</span></div>
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I should mention that I recently got a bite guard of my own from the dentist. Because of my horrendous migraines and chronic pain, I am CONSTANTLY clenching my teeth. For some reason, I think it helps with my long-fought battle against the pain. It doesn't. In fact, in all these years of clenching my teeth all day long and sometimes grinding them in my sleep, the only thing that has been accomplished, has been the weaken and loosening of my teeth.</div>
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Needless to say, I have become very dependant upon my bite guard, to the point that I jokingly call it my pacifier. And in fact, I just misplaced my bite guard last Friday (don't ask, I have no idea how one accidentally misplaces a bite guard ~ and no, the pun is not lost on me at the reference to "dentally" in the word "accidentally")! So I know how awful and desperate it is to go without it for a day, let alone the couple of days it would take to send to Nova Scotia.</div>
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I immediately sent a picture of the opened bite guard case and a text to my Mom and my nephew asking whose it was, so I would know where to mail it. (My parents live in one part of Nova Scotia and my nephew in another). My nephew replied to my text, saying that it didn't belong to him or to either of my parents.</div>
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I was baffled. If it wasn't theirs, whose could it be? I knew neither of my kids wore one. Then I remembered that my husband had recently been to the dentist, so I phoned him, asking if he had gotten a bite guard at his last appointment.</div>
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When I told him about finding the bite guard on the bathroom counter and it not belonging to anyone else, my husband laughed and said "Umm, sweetheart, it is your bite guard!" </div>
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Until that moment, I had completely forgotten that I did in fact have a bite guard, purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart, that I had kept for emergencies. Somehow, over the course of the week, it must have gotten moved or placed in a different spot on the counter in the bathroom. I didn't notice it at all until I saw it on the bathroom counter, after my parents left.</div>
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I'm sure my parents and my nephew had quite the laugh when I had to text them back and claim ownership of the bite guard! They already know that my short-term-memory is awful due to the constant, chronic pain that I am in, but even I didn't think it was THAT bad!!</div>
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However, this wouldn't be much of a "flashback" post if I only talked about something that just happened last week. So, in keeping with the theme, I would like to point out that several years ago, I'm sure we laughed a whole lot harder and a whole lot longer when my mom misplaced her partial plate! </div>
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For as long as I can remember, my mom has had a partial plate (two back molars, one on each side on the bottom of her mouth). We would often see them soaking in their solution on the bathroom counter or sometimes just in a glass of water on her bedside table.</div>
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Knowing how important my mom's partial plate is, when she "lost" it many years ago, we all scoured the house looking for it. Of course we looked in all the "obvious" places, the stand beside her bed, the bathroom counter, the floors in each of those rooms, the pockets of her bathrobe, etc. We didn't have any pets at the time, so that wasn't a concern, but we just couldn't find it anywhere!</div>
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A couple of hours later, when my mom finally discovered her partial plate, in of all places, HER MOUTH, I innocently said to her, "Geesh Mom, if they had been any closer, they would have bitten you!" I was just a little to young at the time to fully understand how funny (and accurate) my comment was, as I was simply repeating a phrase that I felt would fit in that situation.</div>
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Anyway, losing my precious bite guard last week reminded me of this event and I felt it a perfect "flashback" to share for this weeks post.</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#Flashback, #FlashbackFriday, #MemoryLane, #Memories, #RememberWhen, #Orcanut, #Family, #FamilyVisits, #Parents, #NovaScotia, #LeftBehind, #PurpleSlippers, #BiteGuard, #Dentist, #Migraines, #ChronicPain, #ClenchingTeeth, #GrindingTeeth, #Pacifier, #Bathroom, #ShoppersDrugMart, #Laughing, #Funny, #PartialPlate, #TeethPulled, #WhatDidIWeForget, #WhatDoYouMeanItsMine, #IYouTheyForgotSomething, #AnyCloserAndItWouldHaveBittenYou</span></div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-70917129446214526942015-06-10T10:23:00.000-04:002015-06-10T10:23:04.598-04:00QOT...W ~ June 10, 2015 ~ I HAD A DREAM ~ <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>QOT...W ~ June 10, 2015 ~ I HAD A DREAM ~ </b>when my parents were visiting from Nova Scotia last week, they brought me a Buckwheat Hull pillow that they had purchased for me from The Cumberland Perfect Sleep Company, which is located in beautiful Joggins, Nova Scotia. The company practically guarantees a better nights sleep, reduced migraines and snoring, and a much more comfortable sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My Dad has one of these pillows and my Mom swears that he is waking up less through the night and more importantly, sawing far fewer cords of wood!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Knowing that I have been suffering with severe chronic neck pain for over seven years and debilitating migraines for as long as even she can remember, my Mom felt that it would be worth it to at least TRY the pillow (and believe me, after more than 7 years of battling this horrible chronic pain, I would try ANYTHING to maybe take some of the pain away)!! ~ I would probably even grind up the roots of dandelion stems with the wings of 4 bumble bees, 7 rose petals, leaves from oak, maple and elm trees, oyster shells and cornflakes, roll it up in seaweed and smoke it if you told me it MIGHT help!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I may have mentioned that I have been on a merry-go-round of insomnia for days and days on end, (seriously, I was awake for over 76 hours straight a few weeks ago) and then I would "crash" for a couple of days before the insomnia struck again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Unfortunately, despite the lack of sleep, me "crashing" consisted of only being able to stay asleep for a couple of hours at a time, if that, then I'd be awake for an hour or two, and crash again for a couple of hours. Lather, rinse, repeat.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To give you some idea, here is a glimpse of what a typical day looks like for me:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ up at 7:00am to get my son off to school</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ depending on my level of pain, I may or may not lay down and try to rest for an hour or two after he leaves and/or for an hour or so before he comes home from school at 3:45pm</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ After school, I would get Matthew a snack, play, snuggle and watch tv or a movie, do a craft or watch Matthew on the 4 wheeler </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ by the time my husband gets home from work around 5:30pm, I am usually so spent and worn out, (simply from battling the pain) that I go and crash, usually telling myself that I will only lay down for an hour or so.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">* I really wish I was more like my Mom. She can tell herself that she is going to lay down for 20 minutes and like magic, she hops back up, refreshed and wide awake exactly 20 minutes later. I have never been able to do that, no matter how hard I tried!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ The past several months, if not the past year, has seen me laying down around 5:30pm, crashing until 8:30-9:00pm, getting up to take my meds, and crashing again until midnight or 1:00am.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~ I would then make lunches for my husband and son (and daughter if she needed one), lay back down and toss and turn until it was time to get up at 7:00am and start all over again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That seems to have been my consistent cycle for the past several months so I was very much looking forward to trying the buckwheat hull pillow!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That first night, last Tuesday, June 2nd, I laid down around 8:00pm and slept for the first time in longer than I can remember, until 4:00am ~ that's a normal, regular eight whole hours!!! Hubby wasn't even upset that he had to make his own lunch since I didn't wake up to make the lunches!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And not only that, but I dreamt!! I most certainly cannot remember the last time that I was able to sleep deeply enough to reach REM sleep, during which, as most people know, is when we dream.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For years now, if I do manage to get to sleep, I whimper, moan and groan and clench and grind my teeth in my sleep. An indication that even in my sleep I can't entirely escape the pain. I haven't been sleeping quite as well as I did that first night with the buckwheat hull pillow (and no fault of the pillow ~ I have just been experiencing an incredible and horrendous run of pain and migraines). HOWEVER. . .</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">when I am able to sleep, I AM DREAMING AGAIN!!! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And talk about vivid dreams!! I have always dreamt in colour and in great detail and I'm sure that the recent full moon is playing some part in the vivacity and clarity of my dreams lately.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have always loved to dream, even keeping track of my dreams by jotting them down in barely legible handwriting while I'm still half asleep. My Mom even got me a book on interpreting dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which brings me to my <b>QOT...W ~ DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS? ARE THEY IN COLOUR? </b></span><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DO YOU HAVE RECURRING DREAMS? </b><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DREAM? WHAT IS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE? </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I will start by answering my own questions. I have had several recurring dreams, going back to when I was really young. I have only for the past week been able to sleep deeply enough to dream and although I don't remember all of my dreams, I can usually remember most of them, if I have dreamt at all. O</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ften though, like most people experience, the more awake I become, the quicker my dream fades from my memory. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Did you know that you can train yourself to remember your dreams? It's not really all that hard, but it does take some work and you have to keep at it for the first little while until it becomes like second nature. The easiest way is to keep a notebook and pen on your bedside table along with a dim flashlight or lantern. Don't worry about your handwriting, just jot down as quickly as you can, whatever you can remember about your dream. Don't worry, if you have enough little details, the rest will usually fill in for you as you remember more and more about your dream.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As for my favourite and worst dreams, I've decided that I should save those for my FLASHBACK FRIDAY post, not only to have something to write about this week, but because once again, Ramblin' Rose has made an appearance and this post is quite long enough!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am very much looking forward to hearing all about your dreams. And please, let me know if you would like for me to try to interpret your dream for you. I am neither a psychic nor a medium, and this is all for fun. Sometimes it just takes that one word or short explanation to make things fall into place and to perhaps have a better understanding of what our dreams may be trying to tell us.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SWEET DREAMS EVERYONE and God Bless!!</span></div>
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#QOTW, #QOTD, #Orcanut, #Dreams, #Parents, #Family, #Visiting, #BuckwheatHull, #Pillows, #BuckwheatHullPillows, #CumberlandPerfectSleepCompany, #JogginsNovaScotia, #GoodNightsSleep, #Migraines, #Snoring, #ChronicPain, #Insomnia, #<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">LatherRinseRepeat, #InterpretYourDreams #</span>DoYouRememberYourDreams, #FavouriteDream, #WorstNightmare, #Psychic, #Medium, #REMSleep #UnderstandingYourDreams, #DreamingInColour, #VividRealisticDreams, #RecurringDreams,</div>
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Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-22681440182738503232015-06-06T01:54:00.000-04:002015-07-21T07:35:55.243-04:00~ FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ JUNE 5, 2015 ~ ONE OF THOSE DAYS ~ <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
<b>FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ June 5, 2015 ~ ONE OF THOSE DAYS ~ </b>I'm not flashing back very far for this weeks post. Only going back over the past couple of months or so. Have you ever had "one of those days"? You know the kind, the one where nothing goes right? If you have enough energy to get out of bed at all, you sleep through your alarm and stub your toe getting out of bed (really, it can happen)! You discover that you've not only run out of shampoo, the hand soap is but a sliver that would barely get your face clean. You knick yourself (several times) while shaving, forgot to put the wash in the dryer, didn't do any ironing, and have to pick the cleanest of your dirty clothes to wear. You're running so late that you don't have time for breakfast, the gas tank is on E for "enough driving this week, on strike now" and you miss the only bus. When you finally get to work/school, you have reports due that are far from being finished, you realize that you've forgotten your lunch, and oops, in your haste to leave the house, you forgot your purse/wallet too. You end up having to stay late and miss the last bus home. </div>
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You get home so late and exhausted that you forgo supper for an early bedtime. You climb into bed, forgetting to set the PVR to record the season finale AND season premieres of your two favourite shows, that happen to be airing on the same night. Slowly, you drift off to la la land, all the while pondering that little niggling thought in the back of your mind that you've forgotten something. </div>
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You awake the next morning, a whole lot groggy and only slightly refreshed. You have not had a good sleep. As you struggle out from under the covers, that little niggling thought finally becomes crystal clear. </div>
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In your haste to get to bed and put this "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" behind you, you've forgotten to finish the laundry, buy new shampoo and hand soap, get new blades for your razor, do any ironing, fill the car with gas etc., etc.</div>
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Sighing, and close to tears, you realize that you're in for another day just like the one you've had the day before and all you want to do is crawl back into bed and make the past rewind and start over. Wishing that life could really imitate art and there really could be a "GroundhogDay," you burst into tears because you're reminded that you forgot to set the PVR, nixing the idea of watching the premiere of your favourite show, which then reminds you that you've missed the finale of the other show as well. </div>
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If not for the fact that you know better, you almost wonder if it could possible get any worse.</div>
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And again, that is all IF you've been able to get out of bed in the first place, which in light of the alternative, actually doesn't sound so bad at all!</div>
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Well, that's kinda how my past few months have felt. It's just been "one of one days" for months on end! </div>
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I can't seem to get anything accomplished. My severe chronic pain is ruling my life, with a little help, I'm sure, from my seemingly best friend, Mr. Murphy! (As in Murphy's Law).</div>
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I cannot remember the last time that I was able to work on anything remotely close to Rainbow Loom. And you know how bad it must be if I'm unable to do at least that!! I have nothing on tap as far as new designs go, and I am very backed up in editing and recording tutorials. I haven't had the energy to do either, and I LOVE working on Rainbow Loom stuff, so it kills me that I haven't been able to do even a little bit, for months and months!</div>
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AND ~ Rainbow Loom is only my passion, my hobby. So what does that say for my responsibilities?? Nothing is getting done!</div>
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I just want to sleep and cry all day, feeling sorry for myself.</div>
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I guess it's a good thing that "this too shall pass" and that I truly believe that if a God brings you to it, He will see you through it."</div>
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There is always tomorrow, right?</div>
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#Flashback #FlashbackFriday #MemoryLane #Memories #RememberWhen #Orcanut #OneOfThoseDays #NothingGoesRight #SleepIn #StubYourToe #NoShampoo #CutYourselfShaving #NoCleanLaundry #RunningLate #OutOfGas #MissTheBus #NoMoney #GoToBedEarly #SeasonPremiere #SeasonFinale #RoughNight #GroundhogDay #ChronicPain #MurphysLaw #RainbowLoom #FeelingSorryForYourself #ThisTooShallPass #IfGodBringsYouToItHeWillSeeYouThroughIt #CouldItGetAnyWorse #TerribleHorribleNoGoodVeryBadDay</div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-31510103460951437772015-06-03T10:45:00.001-04:002015-06-09T12:22:42.198-04:00QOT...W ~ June 3, 2015 ~ DAYTIME MOON?? <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>First of all, I'd like to say a very happy birthday to my mom, (Harriet McCready), the first person to love me to the moon and back!! </b>That said, does it freak anyone else out, or is it just me, when the moon is VERY visible during the daytime?? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I almost feel like the world is off-kilter somehow whenever I see a moon in the daytime. And it is especially weird since it is so big, having been full only a few days ago (Sunday).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This picture was taken this morning, Wednesday, May 6, 2015, around 6:15am, EST. (I know, it's been almost a month since I took this photo,mand there have been LOTS of Wednesday's that I could/should have posted it, but better late than never, right)??</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even though I know there is a scientific explanation for this ~ probably something about the moon reflecting back to earth the rays of the sun ~ it just always seems weird!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I guess I grew up thinking that the moon went to bed when the sun woke up and the sun went to bed when the moon woke up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, the moon is completely out of position!! Just a couple of days ago, around 3:30am, (only a few days later and 3 hours before this pic was taken), the moon was over much, much further to the right ~ it was much closer to the horizon, just skimming the top of the trees. And here in this picture, it is way up high in the sky and visually several football fields away from where it was. T</span>he direction it normally travels is left to right, so it was almost like it backtracked or something, or hadn't been moving as quickly as it was a few days ago ~ and had I taken a photo then, from the same position and the same angle, it would not have appeared in this photo!!</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Strange things are happening!!! And for today's <b>QOT...W ~ Have you ever seen the moon in the daytime? What are your thoughts? Do you know the scientific explanation behind this phenomenon?? </b></span></div>
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#QOTW, #QOTD, #questions, #askme, #tellme, #orcanut #read, #books, #ShiverMaggieStiefvater, #SupportLocalLibrary, <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">#daytimemoon #moon #morningmoon #strange #weird #endoftheworld #apocolypse #sky #outdoors #photos #nature</span></div>
Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-45995393486955452172015-06-01T10:35:00.001-04:002015-07-21T07:33:48.533-04:00FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ May 29, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ MOVIE ADAPTATION EDITION ~<span style="font-size: large;">FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ May 29, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ MOVIE ADAPTATION EDITION ~ this is a follow-up to my Wednesday (but really Saturday's) QOT...W ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ BOOK EDITION ~ My "Book Edition" post talks about some of my favourite, all-time books and book series'. This post will continue along those lines and discuss books that have been made into movies.
I LOVE to read!! But I am also thrilled, for the most part, when my favourite books are made into movies. I have never been one to really try to imagine a face or a likeness for characters or scenes that I read about. I will take in the general description, but that's about it. For me, it's more of a general knowledge and understanding than an exact picture that I see in my mind.
So, I find it nice to have a face or descriptive location to go with the books that I read. (Although it is still important to use our imaginations to picture some of the characters and places when we read)!
I am often torn though on which I would like to do first, read the book or watch the movie. If I see the movie first, then I would have a face to go with the names and possibly even relate better with the characters and the setting. If I read the book first, I can use my imagination and form my own opinions as to the characters (we all know that sometimes just a look can sway our impression of somebody). There are many pro's and con's for each, but I think in the end, I would prefer to read the book first.
Have you noticed how many books lately have been written seemingly with the "intention" of being made into a movie?? I've spoken to a few librarians and booksellers and they all have commented that they believe a lot of the authors nowadays are writing with the hope, anticipation and even expectation that their work will be chosen to become a major movie release.
There are even some authors who have been commissioned and approached with the sole purpose of writing a novel knowing it will be destined for the big screen. Many of these authors have already had several of their written works adapted for screen. Not counting William Shakespeare, whom we know probably has had the most books/plays made into movies/tv shows/short films/etc. The most obvious and famous (at least in my limited experience) would have to be any and almost all of the books by Nicholas Sparks and of course, the many, many books by Stephen King that have been made into movies.
I was really surprised to find that there are a whole lot more movies based on books than I knew or even imagined. A few recently released movies that have been adapted from a book come to mind. "Gone Girl", "Fifty Shades of Grey", and "Maze Runner" are just off the top of my head.
But the list also includes:
A Most Wanted Man ~ John Le Carr
A Walk To Remember ~ Nicholas Sparks
American Psycho ~ Bret Easton Ellis
Apocalypse Now ~ Michael Herr
Atonement~ Ian McEwan
Babe (the Sheep-Pig) ~ Dick King-Smith
Beautiful Creatures ~ Kami Garcia
Blade Runner ~ Phillip K. Dick
Bridget Jone's Diary ~ Helen Fielding
Brokeback Mountain ~ Annie Proulx
Carrie ~ Stephen King
Children of Men ~ P.D. James
City of Bones, The Mortal Instruments ~ Cassandra Clare
Divergent ~ Veronica Roth
Doctor Zhivago ~ Boris Pasternak
Dracula ~ Bram Stoker
Drive ~ John Sallis
Eat, Pray, Love ~ Elizabeth Gilbert
Ella Enchanted ~ Gail Carson Levine
Fallen ~ Lauren Kate
Far From The Maddening Crowd ~ Thomas Hardy
Fifty Shades of Grey ~ E.L. James
Fight Club ~ Chuck Palahniuk
Girl Interrupted ~ Susanna Kaysen
Gone Girl ~ Gillian Flynn
Great Expectations ~ Charles Dickens
Harry Potter ~ J.K. Rowling
Holes ~ Louis Sachar
If I Stay ~ Gail Forman
In The Heart of the Sea ~ Nathaniel Philbrick
Jurassic Park ~ Michael Creighton
Life of Pi ~ Yann Martel
Little Women ~ Louisa May Alcott
Lord of the Flies ~ William Golding
Lord Of The Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Memories of a Geisha ~ Arthur Golden
My Sisters Keeper ~ Jodi Picoult
No Country For Old Men ~ Cormac McCarthy
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ~ Ken Kesey
Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
Schindler's List (Schindler's Ark) ~ Thomas Keneally
Serena ~ Ron Rash
Shutter Island ~ Dennis Lehane
Silence of the Lambs ~ Thomas Harris
Stand By Me ~ Stephen King
The Book Thief ~ Markus Zusak
The Chronicles of Narnia ~ C.S. Lewis
The Da Vinci Code ~ Dan Brown
The Fault In Our Stars ~ John Green
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ~ Stieg Larsson
The Giver ~ Lois Lowry
The God Father ~ Mario Puzo
The Graveyard Book ~ Neil Gaiman
The Great Gatsby ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Help ~ Kathryn Stockett
The Hobbit ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
The Host ~ Stephanie Meyer
The Last Song ~ Nicholas Sparks
The Lightening Thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians ~ Rick Riordan
The Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold
The Maltese Falcon ~ Dashiell Hammett
The Maze Runner ~ James Dashner
The Notebook ~ Nicholas Sparks
The Perks of Being a Wallflower ~ Stephen Chbosky
The Princess Bride ~ William Goldman
The Shawshank Redemption ~ Stephen King
The Shining ~ Stephen King
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants ~ Ann Brashares
The Time Travellers Wife ~ Audrey Niffenegger
The Unbearable Likeness of Being ~ Milan Kundera
To Kill A Mockingbird ~ Harper Lee
Twilight ~ Stephanie Meyer
Vampire Academy ~ Richelle Read
Warm Bodies ~ Isaac Marion
Water For Elephants ~ Sara Gruen
Wuthering Heights ~ Emile Bronte
I know that's a lot, but when you consider that it hasn't really been all that long since the creation and development of moving pictures, me listing the top 75 or so, is peanuts compared to the grand scheme of things!
I was virtually dumbfounded that my ABSOLUTE, ALL-TIME, HANDS DOWN, WITHOUT A DOUBT, FAVOURITE BOOK-TO-MOVIE adaptation hadn't appeared on ANY lists that I have searched!!
And it is "The Green Mile" by Stephen King. It was first published as six mini novelettes, (which is what I read) but I believe it has since been published as a full novel as well.
There has NEVER been, and I doubt will ever be, a more accurate, true-to-the-book, adaptation ever published, printed, or released. I read the mini novelettes first, and a few years later, the movie was released, (as a two VHS cassette set, which should tell you how old I am ~ LOL).
They could not have picked a better cast to fill the roles of the characters in the book. And each and every actor was so bang-on, amazingly and incredibly accurate to the character they were meant to depict, it truly was unreal. I have NEVER seen a movie based on a book where the actors so closely matched the characters that I pictured in my mind as I read the book. If you haven't read the books, you should, and then watch the movie, you will be as astounded as I was!!
I will end this post by listing "my" most anticipated book-to-movie adaptations that have recently been or are expected to be released in the next couple of years. Some of these I can hardly wait for (and will hashtag), and wish I could snap my fingers and have them now! (Although this list is mostly movies that I would like to see, I've also included movies based on either the book and author, or the cast of characters. "*" will denote books I've read, "~" will denote movies I want to see, and "~*~" means both and that I can't wait for it to be released!).
A Hologram For The King ~ Dave Eggers ~ Unknown
A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini ~ Unknown
A Walk in the Woods ~ Bill Bryson ~ Unknown (~)
American Sniper ~ Chris Kyle ~ Unknown (~)
Ashes In The Snow (Between Shades of Grey) ~ Ruta Sepetys ~ Unknown
Blood Red Road ~ Moira Young ~ Unknown (~*~)
Chaos Walking ~ Patrick Ness ~ Unknown (~)
Dark Places ~ Gillian Flynn ~ Unknown (~)
Don't Point That Thing At Me ~ The Mordecai Trilogy ~ Kyril Bonfiglioli ~ January 23
Every Secret Thing ~ Laura Lippman ~ May 15
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them ~J.K. Rowling ~ 2016
Frankenstein ~ Mary Shelley ~ October 2
Hush, Hush ~ Becca Fitzpatrick ~ Unknown
Inferno ~ Dan Brown ~ December 18
Insurgent ~ Veronica Roth ~ March 20 (~*~)
Into the Forest ~ Jean Hegland ~ Unknown
Into The Heart of The Sea ~ Nathaniel Philbrick ~ December 11
Into Thin Air ~ Jon Krakaur ~ September 18
Legend ~ Marie Lu ~ 2016
Love, Rosie (Where Rainbows End) ~ Cecelia Ahern ~ Feb 6 (~)
Madame Bovary ~ Gustave Flaubert ~ June 12
Matched ~ Ally Condie ~ Unknown (~*~)
Maximum Ride ~ James Patterson ~ Unknown
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children ~ Ransom Riggs ~ July 31 (~*~)
Mocking Jay ~ Suzanne Collins ~ November 20 (~*~)
Pan ~ J.M. Barrie ~ July 24 (~)
Paper Towns ~ John Green ~ June 19
Paranormalcy ~ Kiersten White ~ Unknown
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ~ Seth Grahame-Smith ~ Unknown
Room ~ Emma Donahue ~ Unknown (~)
Shiver ~ Maggie Stiefvater ~ Unknown (~*~)
Still Alice ~ Lisa Genova ~ Jan 16
The 5th Wave ~ Rick Yancy ~ 2016
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair ~ C.S. Lewis ~ 2016
The D.U.F.F. (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) ~ Kody Keplinger ~ Feb 20 (~)
The Forest of Hands And Teeth ~ Carrie Ryan ~ Unknown
The Great Gilly Hopkins ~ Katherine Patterson ~ Unknown
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel ~ (Cassandra Clare ~ Unknown
The Jungle Book ~ Rudyard Kipling ~ Unknown
The Last (Spooks) Apprentice (Seventh Son) ~ Joseph Delaney ~ February 6
The Longest Ride ~ Nicholas Sparks ~ April 10 (~)
The Martian ~ Andy Weir ~ November 25
The Price of Salt ~ Patricia ~ Unknown
The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge ~ Michael Punke ~ Dec. 25
The Scorch Trials ~ James Dashner ~ September 18 (~*~)
The Scorpio Races ~ Maggie Stiefvater ~ Unknown
The Secret in their Eyes ~ Eduardo Sacheri ~ October 23
The Testing ~ Joelle Charbonneau ~ Unknown (~)
The World Made Straight ~ Ron Rash ~ January 9
True Story; Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa ~ Michael Fenkel ~ Apr 17
Uglies ~ Scott Westerfeld ~ Unknown (~*~)
Unwind ~ Neal Shusterman ~ 2016 (~*~)
Where Rainbows End (Love, Rosie) ~ Cecelia Ahern ~ February 6
I am sure that there are probably many that I am missing or have overlooked, but here is a list from Movie Insider that although all movie release dates are TBA, they do list the movie titles and month of release date. (Some of the books on my list and this list are the same, but follow this link for a more detailed list: http://www.movieinsider.com/movies/-/2016/.
See you at the theatre (or the library)!!
#Flashback #FlashbackFriday #MemoryLane #Memories #RememberWhen #WeekendWanderings #Orcanut #BooksToMovies #RaiseAReader #BookAndMovieLoversUnite #Movies #NewMovieRelease #TheBigScreen #Actors #CharactersInABook #Screens #BookOrMovieFirst #MoviesBasedOnBooks #FaceToGoWithAName #TheGreenMileStephenKing #BloodRedRoadMoiraYoung #InsurgentVeronicaRoth #TheScorchTrialsJamesDashner #ShiverMaggieStiefvater #TheScorpioRacesMaggieStiefvater #UgliesScottWesterfeld #UnwindNealShusterman #MatchedAllyCondie #PeregrineHomePeculiarChildrenRansomRiggs TooManyMoviesToHashtag
</span>Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-66945160701022281012015-06-01T10:35:00.000-04:002015-07-21T07:34:25.064-04:00QOT...W ~ Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ BOOKS EDITION ~<span style="font-size: large;">QOT...W ~ Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ BOOKS EDITION ~ I have any number of things that I can lament about losing or severely limiting my ability to do as a result of my 7+ year struggle with chronic pain. The obvious ones are spending time with family, helping out around the house, being "here" for my kids, being able to work, actually "living", etc.
There are also some lesser important things that I have had to give up or that have been restricted in some way due to my severe chronic pain. Knitting, cross stitch, crafts, and working at the computer, name just a few of them.
Rest, relaxation and doing things that we enjoy are very much a part of coping skills and strategies that are meant to encourage and improve the lives of those suffering from chronic pain.
For me, (if I don't fall asleep), resting and relaxing usually consists of reading. In the few hobbies that I have listed above that I have basically had to give up, the one I didn't mention and probably the one that I resent losing the most, is reading. My ability to read well and rather quickly has been seriously compromised due to the 24/7 pain that I have in the back of my neck, at the base of my skull.
As you can imagine, since the pain is in my neck, (and head when I have a migraine ~ which seems almost as constant as the 24/7 pain in my neck), reading has become quite difficult as I can't look down for very long without straining my neck, and I can't lay down and hold the book above me because that puts added strain on my arms and my neck as well.
I love to read though, I always have. Even going back as far as when I first learned to read. If I didn't have a book, I would read anything that I could get my hands on. The newspaper (of course I started with the comics), the ingredients on a cereal box, the milk carton, soup cans, shampoo and conditioner bottles (I would read these "repeatedly" pun intended), and, I almost hesitate to admit, (but I promised myself that this would be a no holds barred blog), that even, after all these years, the instructions from a tampon box!! (Really)!!
Like everyone, I have a mental list of my favourite books. The ones that I have read and re-read over and over again. And I surprised myself to realize that I really only have three books that can remember reading more than once. (And that doesn't count the books that I've borrowed from the library and started to read, not realizing that I had recently taken them out and read them)! I honestly thought that there would be more (and perhaps there are and my foggy memory is preventing me from thinking of them at this time).
The first book that I remember reading twice, goes back to when I was about 12 years old, and first read "Audrey Rose" by Frank De Felitta. I have since read it about 9 or 10 more times. I also just found out that it has been made into a movie and I can't wait to find it so I can watch it!!
The next book is "And The Sea Will Tell" by Vincent Bugliosi ~ I've read this about 20 times and I own and have seen the movie about 5 times.
"The Shack" by Wm Paul Young is my next favourite, I've read it about 3 times since I bought it a few years ago. And I would LOVE for there to be a movie made of this book!
I can go back even further and name some of the books that I remember reading that, for one reason or another, have stayed in my memory. One in particular that I read during my pre-teen years, was called "Raven's Hollow." I have been looking for this book for YEARS and have still not found it. I think that it is about a boy who lives in the woods, carves out a tree for a home and lives off the land ~ I know, it sounds an awful lot like the book by Jean Craighead George's, but I really don't think that it is the same book, and unless the area in that book where Sam lives was called "Raven's Hollow," (which I doubt), it is NOT "My Side Of The Mountain." I am still at a loss as to how/where I can find it.
I know I mentioned these books in my Flashback Friday "Memories" post of November 7, 2014, but they bear mentioning again. When I was younger, my parents read "The Hobbit" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" to my brother and I. When my daughter was old enough, I continued the tradition and read her the Narnia series along with the "Harry Potter" series, among others.
Of course there are also the books I read when I was much younger, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and even younger, Charlotte's Web, Encyclopedia Brown and Flat Stanley.
More recently, I have come across several books that I will eventually like to read again, and they include the "Gone" series, by Michael Grant, (and if you haven't read these books, you really should, it is such an incredible series and I cannot wait for it to be made into a movie!
At one point a few years ago, I had gone through my borrowed library books and was desperate for something to read. My daughter gave me a book that I will forever be grateful to her for introducing me to. It was the first book in the series of the same name, "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater. (And as I wrote this, I now need to re-read this series, soon ~ it is just that good)!!
Another favourite series that I will most definitely be reading again is by L.A. Meyer. When I was recovering from emergency, exploratory surgery in Nova Scotia, my nephew, Riley (@riley_mccready), brought me the first book in this series, "Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary Jacky Faber, Ship's Boy'' has ~ OMG ~ when I checked Google to get the list of books in this series, I discovered that two more books have been published, finishing off the series with a total of 12 books!! I had been awaiting the release of the 10th book and thought I had been keeping track of the release date. Apparently, I was wrong, because now the final two books have been released!!! Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to read them!! [and how lucky am I?!? I just put a hold on the books at the library and I am number ONE in line to receive all three books]!!!
Lately, I've been reading a lot of dystopian, post-apolcoliptic novels. (My favourites so far being "Hunger Games," the "Divergent" series, "The Maze Runner," "Delierium," "Matched," "The Chemical Garden," and the "Uglies" series). I have read many other lesser known books of this genre that I have thoroughly enjoyed as well. And although I'm an adult, I'm finding that I am really enjoying these type of novels for teens and young adults! But then again, I'll read anything!!
So, my Wednesday, May 27, 2015 (even thought it's Friday already) QOT...W is: what is your favourite book? What is the earliest book you remember reading or being read to you? What top three books do you know that you will read again??
What book are you reading right now?
A follow-up to this post will be posted as my Flashback Friday post, entitled FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ May 29, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ MOVIE ADAPTATION EDITION ~
#QOTW, #QOTD, #questions, #askme, #tellme, #orcanut #read, #books, #ShiverMaggieStiefvater, #SupportLocalLibrary, #ReadToMe, #ReadABook, #RaiseAReader #FavouriteBooksAndAuthors #AudreyRoseFrankDeFelitta #AndTheSeaWillTellVincentBugliosi #TheShackWmPaulYoung #MySideOfTheMountainJeanCraigheadGeorge #TheHobbit #TheChroniclesOfNarnia #HarryPotter #HardyBoysAndNancyDrew #CharlottesWeb #EncyclopediaBrownFlatStanley #GoneMichaelGrant #BloodyJackLAMeyer #DystopianPostApocalyptic #HungerGamesTheMazeRunnerTheUglies #DivergentDelieriumMatched #TheChemicalGarden</span>Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3198744838528873334.post-67942020014707718862015-06-01T10:21:00.000-04:002015-06-03T10:59:05.066-04:00AND SO WE BEGIN...AGAIN ~ Friday, May 29, 2015<span style="font-size: large;">Several years ago, I believe it was in 2007 - 2008, I started a blog, ORCA COVE, when I was a representative for Stampin' Up. (SU makes and sells stamps and matching paper crafting supplies).
I have long since stopped selling SU and have had to pretty much give up making homemade cards. (I still have all of the supplies, so I hope to someday get back to it, but for now, it's sits on the back burner).
I've deleted all of my previous posts on this blog and hope to begin anew with a more personal, general interest, all purpose blog.
My latest crafting craze and absolute most favourite hobby, by far, has been my discovery of the Rainbow Loom. I have been posting and sharing my original designs and creations via tutorials on YouTube and on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.
In my version of "Throwback Thursday," I also began to post some (hopefully) general interest memories via my FLASHBACK FRIDAY posts as well as a QOT...W (which stands for "Question Of The...Whenever" although it coincidently has been on Wednsdays that I tend to post my QOT...W so some could conceivably say that the "W" stands for Wednesday).
As you may have already figured out, I kinda, sorta, maybe, just a little bit, have a hard time keeping my posts short, sweet and to the point. You might not believe this, but I tend to ramble, a LOT. I'm not saying that everything that I have to say is worth listening to, but I try to keep things real and usually say what I think (sometimes without thinking) and always mean what I say.
The combination of being long-winded and wanting to thoroughly get my point across, doesn't bode well when you have to watch your word count. (Did you know that on Twitter, your posts are limited to 140 characters? And that's including spaces and punctuation!! Can you imagine?? It's not much wonder that I always forget that I have a Twitter account)!!
As I mentioned, I have been posting my FLASHBACK FRIDAY and QOT...W to my Instagram account, however, Instagram limits the number of characters per post as well, and most of them I have had to divide into several different posts or parts (eg: Part 1 of 5).
I have decided that perhaps the more reasonable venue for these posts may be via a blog, and so, I have resurrected my old Orca Cove blog and will then just post a short and simple notification of my newest post to my Instagram accounts.
Stay tuned because I plan on re-posting all of my Flashback Friday posts, my recent QOT...W posts as well as some very old blog posts that were more general in nature.
Thank you so much for you support, encouragement and contributions!!
#Blog #BlogPost #OrcaCove #Orcanut #GeneralInterest #Hobbies #NoHoldsBarred #Forum #ThrowbackThursday #KeepinItReal #SayWhatIThink #SayWhatYouThink #SayWhatIMean #SayWhatYouMean #MeanWhatISay #MeanWhatYouSay #RainbowLoom #Crafting #Tutorials #ChronicPain #Knitting #CrossStitch #RugHooking #LifeHacks #ParentingTips #YouTube #Instagram #FlashbackFriday #QOTW #Twitter
</span>Connie Carswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00330178123068812792noreply@blogger.com0