How 'Bout Those Jays?

I had the brilliant idea (along with 45,000 others) a couple weeks back to get tickets for the Blue Jay's Home Opener... I had wanted to go in years past but had been disappointed by not being able to get tickets on the night of...

It was a brilliant Spring Monday... and my Love and I had the whole day off together! We have a tendency of trying to plan the perfect day off (they are so few and far between) and I didn't want the day to get away from us, so instead of planning I thought we should just a drive to 'The Beach' for an impromptu date... we grabbed some Timmie's, a park bench, enjoyed the warmth and each other...

We were close to my cousin Pete's place. I thought it best we call him or else if he found out we were down the street from his place and we didn't, he'd be like what the f@#$! We took him to one of our favourite restaurants, The Owl of Minerva, a Korean pork bone soup joint in Little Korea. The food is absolutely delicious, very substantial and ridiculously priced! A few dishes and a bottle of Soju later we made our way to the driving range to hit a few balls...

We stopped home for a rest and a beer, then went next door to the game..

The crowd was insane! It took us 20 minutes just to get in the dome and another 20 to get a beer! That was not the fun part... the fun part

was hanging out

with family

and 45,000 others bring in the game of summer!

Thank you!

Just Doing It!

brings me gratitude!

(A looooong overdue post!)

So... I haven't been here for a while... again, not sure why... perhaps not recognizing my blessings in everyday life. I have so much to be grateful for!

Here are some photos from the past little bit.

My grandmother's 85th birthday passed and it was a fun, family filled night at the Mandarin... my grandmother's favourite restaurant.

Maybe she was a little shy with all the attention at first but...

she soon relaxed... hee.

It's rare to have everyone at a family function so I thought it would be fun to bring some 'staches to the party! They were hit! We had so much fun! Dad looks how he looked in the '80's!

I love this photo of Uncle Peter... I'm sure he enjoyed himself... maybe just too much MSG.

Pete enjoyed himself a bit too much...

Sheila too... eeeeewwwwww

That's a bit better... cute!

Alyssa's 16th birthday was a couple of weeks later... has it really been 16 years?!

Oh my sweet!

We had dinner at a togarashi joint that we had all been meaning to try for years... It was lovely!

(Great action shot below with my face doing something weird...)

The birthday girl seemed to enjoy it.

Then some birthday cake while reminiscing Alyssa's childhood dinosaur love..

I tried to blend in with the teenagers... yes?... No!

Anyways, it was a lot of fun! and so so special...

The next day to keep the celebration going Sheila and I spent the day together...

We went to the Market to pick up food to make dinner for Nick and Pete... and it happened to be Earth Hour day as well.

Such fun!

Here is Nick helping out... he always finds his way into the kitchen!

Sheila is pretending to help...

...Here we are hamming it up after dinner...

and Sheila and I looking a little mischievous at the end of the night...

I've been keeping myself busy with workshops and such and lots of work gets in the way... it's the busy patio season again!

I must remember to stop, take a deep breath, enjoy the moment

and smile.

Thank you!

Forgiveness...

brings me so much gratitude!

I've learned a lot since January 2009... I've posted a lot of what I have learned on this blog so I won't go through them now. The one thing that I have struggled with is forgiveness.. I have shifted my perception and changed my reality on many levels but when it came to letting the biggest aspect of my past go I thought that I was the exception... that I didn't have to forgive my father for his choices because it was too big to have to forgive... until now.

When we were teenagers my father moved to Hungary and left my sister and I to live with my grandmother (his mother) . We weren't happy with his decision and didn't understand and going into our teenage years we rebelled. I made many bad choices and ultimately blamed my father because he left...

Like I said I've made a lot of positive changes in my life but this one thing I couldn't let go of.

Even though I'm grateful for the person I am now and am stronger because of my past experiences, I just couldn't see clearly that I was putting my well being in the hands of another person, even though he couldn't change the choices that he made so many years ago, and I couldn't change mine. I knew that I needed to change my perception and forgive but I was stuck...

Then last night, when I was talking with my husband, I realized that I was still in victim mode and have been for all these years. I realized that telling my sad stories could not make things better and trying to pass on the responsibility of my choices would not help me move through my pain. I realized that if I could actually forgive my father then I would be free. And just like that, after all these years, I changed my viewpoint. I realized that I was ready to forgive, and let go and move on and take responsibility for my past choices but even better than that take responsibility for the biggest choice that I could make.

This morning I met my father for coffee and I forgave him. I instantly felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and our energy changed immediately. It wasn't awkward anymore, it was natural and pure.

My life changed this morning.

Thank you Dad for giving me this huge gift! I love you. I'm ready to move forward and looking forward to what the future holds... but more to what we have right now!

THANK YOU!

My Love...

brings me so much gratitude!

My Love had these made especially for me...

...and that means the world to me!

Thank you!!!

Helping Haiti

brings me gratitude.

The devastation in Haiti overwhelms me, as it does any human being, I'm sure. Watching the news, I feel absolutely helpless... the stories just absolutely break me. I want to do.. I want to DO. But sitting on my couch, what can I do??

I know, though, that I am not helpless..

I can donate money.. the Canadian government is matching dollar for dollar so my donation, your donation, has got more bang! I can donate, I can make a difference.

I am so blessed ... My previous blog demonstrates how blessed we (my husband and I) are. All of our daily normalcy seem so much more luxurious now.

Are we not all blessed? Blessed to have a home to go to? A hot shower? A meal? Clean clothes?

Think of all your blessings...

and find what is in yourself, your heart, to donate.. With the Canadian government matching dollar for dollar, $10. is $20., $100 is $200., $500. is $1,000. Given that before the earthquake the average daily income for Haitian's was $2. US a day, your donation means a lot more now.

Please! Give what you can! Even if it is just a little bit, it WILL make a difference!

Thank you! for helping make a difference.

Allotting my Budget

brings me gratitude.

So with the new year, new focus comes into play. I'm not one for resolutions.. but I thought it was time to put a budget together. Don't get me wrong. I do have savings and RSP's, investments and a mortgage but I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I've never done an actual budget based on my income.

I knew my laptop had to have a program on it for budgeting so I looked it up and filled it in.

I have to say I was shocked at how much of my income is put towards my monthly expenses - the mortgage, property tax, maintenance fees, car payments, car, life and home insurance, cable, internet, cell phone, groceries. Oie vae!

Now this is all a choice. We wanted to purchase a condo a few years ago instead of paying rent and someone else's mortgage, and after many years of wanting a car but not needing a car we decided it was time to purchase and of course the cell phone, internet and cable are all luxuries that we choose to indulge in.

But then I thought about it. I thought about all of the things that are not included in those monthly expenses... things like hanging out with Lola, and hugs from my husband, and walks by the lake, and hanging out with family and friends. And it got me thinking even more as to what my monthly expenses go towards... a home for my myself and my husband, warm showers, the option to turn the heat up if I'm cold, all the drinking water I need, lots of books to read,

too many clothes...

and shoes to choose from,

the option to use the building pool or exercise room..., freedom to drive where we'd like, taking a bike ride, the internet to learn about anything that I choose, a number of movies to watch, tons of music to listen to, limitless meals to try making from the countless cook books the hubby has,

not to mention concerts, travelling and memorable experiences! I could go on and on and on...

I enjoyed this. I enjoyed not only clarifying where my hard earned earnings go to but also taking another look at what I so have and appreciating all of it!

Thank you!

Ringing in the New Year with Family

brings me gratitude!

Nick and I had plans to stay at home and have a quiet New Year's Eve in.

But my cousin Pete called New Year's Eve afternoon and invited us over for a pre-midnight celebration dinner... he picked up steak and lobster tails... ummmm, yeah!

So we went, started with a few cocktails and some bubbly that Sheila brought

and while the guys worked in the kitchen,

Sheila and I waited patiently for dinner.

Well, it was well worth the wait... actually we decided it may have been THE best dinner ever!

We've all had our fair share of fine meals at the some of the best restaurants across the country... this one certainly ranked up there.

It was absolutely spectacular! Good job Pete! Great products, cooked with love... with the assistance of a chef and great company made for a memorable meal.

Well, that is well worth a toast (I think I know what to get Pete for his birthday - wine glasses!).

We partied a bit more, then we went our separate ways. Pete and Sheila joined Pete's family to ring in the new year at a restaurant..

..and Nick and I went home for some lovin'!

Happy New Year indeed!