Another year older

Another year has passed and I celebrated my birthday yesterday . What a crazy year it has been with lots of stress , some fun and a whole lot of love . Hopefully this year will find a whole lot of changes and all for the better . I am still not considered a senior so don't get any great deals anywhere either ! LOL !

So , as I start a new year , I thought it would be fun to reflect on a few past memories of my life so far !

I am the second daughter in my family . I have one living sister that is older and a younger living brother . We lost a sister in 1966 and that lost molded all our lives in a different direction then if she would have lived . But that is past history and nothing can be done to change that history ... yes , it still hurts to remember her but something we have learned to live with .One can not live on the " what if's " or the " if it had never happened " ........

I was named after my Uncle Donald Evan my name is Donna Elaine .... I was born on my Uncle Francis' birthday whom promised me a pink convertible when I turned 21 ... I am STILL waiting ! Wonder if he remembers saying that ! LOL ! Uncle Donald used to pop in to visit when I was little and being he was in the Canadian Armed Forces that could have been any time of the day or night and any time of the year . He never lived in our town when we were growing up but I remember seeing him at least a couple times of year . Mainly I remember his dark curly hair and that he wasn't much taller then my Mother ! Don't get me wrong , he isn't the only Uncle I have ...... there is my Uncle Jack and Uncle Francis on my Dad's side while on my Mom's side I had Uncle Bob ( who loved nothing better then feeding my kids chocolate marshmellow cookies ) and Uncle Gordon ( whom I knew to hide the liquor from REALLY well !!! LOL ) . They were all a part of growing up as were my aunts Edith & Toots ( plus my Uncle's wives ) .... and the kazillion cousins I have ! A few relatives have past on but I remember them with fond memories .

I met and married my husband when I was 18 and have been married to him for 35 years . We have 3 wondeful kids and between then we have been given 5 grandchildren ... all with beautiful brown eyes .... that have enriched our lives . I love to spoil them all so much !

Dh & I have always had a love for camping . We started out with a tent , have done the old travel trailer , tent trailer , new trailer and are now on to the bigger toy in a 30' motorhome . It is our mansion on wheels .... great for a weekend or a few weeks away ! Would I ever consider living in it fulltime ........ not on your LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!! It is nice but still I like the comfort of my home . Do I like to travel ? .... NO , not really but I go and enjoy myself . I love to see different things , just don't like the drive to get there ! The motorhome is actually very comfortable to travel in .... I LOVE that I can see over the top of cars and see what is coming at us !!!!!! LOL ! Actually it is nice to be able to see things we miss travelling in the truck ... like the ditches or over the banks ........................................ Let's hope the snow melts really fast and we get to play in a month from now !

The main thing I have learned over all these years is to grasp life with both hands and hang on tight . Life isn't always the smooth ride we hoped for but it is full of curves and bumps . It is about falling and picking yourself up and keep moving forward not living in the past . It is remembering the day you got married , holding your children in your arms the very first time , their first smile , their first step , them giving you grandchildren and remember holding those children for the first time ........................ it is about birthdays and smiles ........................................ it is about LIVING !

SMILE ! Today is the first day of the rest of your life ......................... enjoy the ride !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad Blogger :-)

Snow at Vancouver airport ...... only to arrive home to sun and -20 ! Sheesh it is March !

A quick trip to the coast to see family .... quite unexpected or planned but I flew down and spent a few days .... out of the snow and cold ! Well sort of ! Spent one day with my brother and we had a great day as we hit the neatst store in Vancouver called the Gourmet Warehouse , looks of food stuffs , kitchenware and gift ideas ! Too bad I didn't have a huge suitcase to fill and and unlimited credit card because I could have done a LOT of damage to it in that store ! Then we went down to catch the seabus over to Lonsdale Quay for a quick walk around and some lunch . We were lucky to be inside as it started raining ( It is North Vancouver after all ! ) . Back on the seabus to Vancouver and a tour of Gastown ....... but just a part of it as I wanted to go to Stanley Park and walk the seawall . The sun had come out and it was beautiful so wanted to enjoy the rest of the day outside . we stopped at the point and I discovered that I had a dead battery in my camera !!!! The charged one was in my suitcase which was not with us ! Uck !!! I can not believe the downfall from the windstorms there and the distruction it had caused . The parks board is cleaning and rebuilding as fast as they can though . Then off to Second Beach where we climbed down what felt like a kazillion steps to get to the seawall so we could walk over to Siwash Rock ..... only we didn't get there . Seems I am a bit of a klutz and walked off the path right onto my face .... face planted right onto the walking path !!!! So little brother and a nice man picked me up and got me to a bench ( Oh I was sooooooooooo embarassed ! ) where I gathered my brain together and took off my glasses which took the brunt of the fall .... they are toast but at least it wasn't my face ! ....... and I dinged my knee really well too ! So Brother got me back up those zillion steps and back to his place where I sat on the recliner for the rest of the evening with an ice pack on the swollen knee . The next day we headed up valley to my parents and sister's where I spent a couple days . loks of walking there ... or limping as the case may be as it was back and forth between one place and the other . I did manage to walk around Cultus Lake with my sister and BIL one afternoon . I have never been there and it was nice to see ........ between snowflakes ! We had a blizzard go through while we were up there ( what is it with the SNOW this year ? ) ... so we couldn't see across the lake or much of it actually ! LOL ! After a nice turkey dinner with all the family I headed back with Brother to his place and we walked in Colony Farms ........ what a nice place to walk even though there was ice on the ponds ....at least there was no snow .... at that point !!!! When I left Vancouver the next morning we sat on the tarmac for over an hour waiting to de-iced due to the snowstorm that went through !!!!!!!!!! YUCK !!!! I got home to COLD weather and a mound of dirty laundry !!!! Guess DH doesn't know HOW to do that job nor how to clean a bathroom sink !!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK !!!!!!!

Last week was spent cleaning the house and trying to organize a bit more ...... and reading as I am still pretty bruised and stiff in the knee . Our little grandson turned 2 on the 12th so we headed down to see him yesterday with his gifts .DH was in Ottawa for a couple days so we couldn't go sooner . We left here in a snowstorm and had crappy roads part of the way . They were clear for the trip home . Was nice to seee DD and her family and Aiden seemed to really enjoy the Thomas the Train stuff we gave him ! DH is home today as he is having another bad bout of Chrone's .............. this never seems to end !!!!!

Well that is my life in the past bit in a nutshell ................................... now it is time to get back to creating some cards and maybe even getting some srapbooking done !