Gangnam Style

Lots to tell you but that'll have to wait awhile. I've been struck down by some sort of pinched nerve thingy in my back and my right shoulder, arm, and hand are numb and in great pain. I've had drugs, physio, xrays, deep tissue massage and finally some relief Monday night in the form of acupuncture.  Guess which one of those treatments ISN'T covered by my health provider. You guessed it - acupuncture!!

After my acupuncture treatment I slept through the night for the first time in two weeks. I go again tomorrow hoping for further improvement. Until then I continue to stretch and type with my left hand only.

But I have a little treat for you! Some teachers at my school (myself included) and a few students did a little dance routine to the Gangnam Style song.  See if you can find me!!

Pinch Me!

I must be dreaming! Just when I thought all my problems were over and I was in a really good place my back gives out on me. I've had a pinched nerve in my upper right shoulder causing pain and numbness in my neck, shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers, all on the right side and yes of course I'm right handed. There is no comfortable way to sleep and I feel Very Cranky! Can't sleep, can't work, can't do much of anything other than tap out a few words with my left hand and lay on the floor listening to audio books.
So if you're looking for me look down on the floor, just don't trip over me though! Tomorrow I see my doctor about my X-rays and will ask for referrals for chiropractor and physio. So far I've been getting some killer massages-didn't know there were so many points of pain in one body.
Sigh...

B A A A A C K !!!

I'm back.

Back from our camping adventure!

Back from feeding the birds....

Back from chillin' on the dock....

Back in your face!

And back to school!  Sigh....oh well, I bought myself a new daily ZEN calendar to pump me full of daily inspiration. It really works. If you haven't tried it and need to add a little pep to your step, a little light to your day, a little positive to balance the negative try a ZEN calendar.

Then you too can have a work space like mine! See all of those little square pages above my computer monitor? And hanging off my bulletin board...

and stuck to the filing cabinet beside my desk...

Little pieces of paper that look like this...

 Makes you think huh?  If we have failed or struggled in our chosen careers we should be able to do an even better job...

 We are all a work in progress....never stop striving to fulfill your potential!

 Unfortunately, this is so....which is why I end up doing ten times as much work in my classroom as anyone else...telling someone how you want something done - well you just know they aren't going to do it the way you want it done....so we do it ourselves!

Repeat after me...."If A is success in life...well SHUT my mouth!!"  hahahahah - LOVE this one!! I practise it daily!!

AMEN! I felt defeated last year, that's a fact. And by Jove it was bitter! Never again!

 Which is why I shop at Goodwill.....just sayin'....

 because failure is actually an opportunity...

oops, sorry, hope I didn't scare ya!! Nudge nudge wink wink!  I have seen this in action with my EAs and I tell ya it's true!

 I texted this one to Michael on a rough day and it really made a difference to his day :) It's one of my all time favorites.  It may be "cloudy" but that doesn't mean it's gonna rain!

 This one speaks to me about people with negative attitudes who give up without even trying because they just KNOW it ain't gonna work!

   There have been so many rungs missing over the past year I'm a freakin' kangaroo!

Tired?? What's that?!!

This one just about sums it all up don't ya think?!  Amen!!

If you've got the time you should come over and look at my FRIDGE!! It's totally covered!! You just might find that one little saying that'll brighten up your day and provide the motivation to keep on keepin' on!!

Canada beats Russia!!

Just added Blogger to my new iPhone and wanted to try it out 😀 now I can post from anywhere! I hope...

Hippy New Yurt

When you're feeling low.........DANCE!!

Hi y'all! I have a million things to do to get ready for winter camping BUT FIRST I have to watch my Canadian Junior Hockey team whup Russia's derriere! Right now we're winning 3-1 but it's only the second period and you can't sit on a small lead when you're playing the RUSSIANS!! They are way too good!

Once we win this game however, (gotta be confident!), then I must make a quick round of grocery store, Canadian Tire and liquor store for a few necessities (nudge nudge, wink wink) to help us through the next few days of winter camping. Yes, magically over the past year we have forgotten about our frozen toes and drippy noses, wet firewood and the aromatic results of Three Bean Chilli and we want to do it again!

Remember these.......?

Michael popping the cork on our bottle of champagne on New Year's Day, 2012!

Toasting each other and all of our family and friends.

You can't see it but I'm sitting in front of a roaring fire. With a bit of light snow pellets

falling it was a memorable night!

The next day we awoke to this! We spent the afternoon hiking and taking some

amazing photos which you can see here - http://www.lifebeginsatretirement.blogspot.ca/2012/01/winter-camping-in-yurt-day-three.html

I hope I can still fit into my snow pants! I'll be doing the Hippy Hippy Shake. 

(I tried to paste the youtube video for this song but I seem to be having great difficulty

with links and embedding today?!)

Anyhoo the point is I'm not any thinner than I was last year at this time :( so guess who needs

to get back on her stationary bike? More to come on THAT topic!

For today I simply want to wish you all a Happy New Year! 

There has been a lot of sadness in 2012 and we all need to

keep the faith that events are unfolding as they should.

Let's be kind to one another throughout 2013

and remember that a simple act of kindness

can be life changing.

Our Open House Celebration

 Season's Greetings my friends! Here are a bunch of photos from our Open House that we held on Friday night. I can't believe that Michael and I managed to super clean the house and prepare food etc on top of our already busy schedules but we did it! I will admit that there were a couple of dishes that I purchased the supplies for and didn't have the time to make, however, we had more than enough food so it all worked out. The dish above is a dip that contains a layer of goat cheese frosted with an olive and garlic tapenade with chopped green pepper garnish. So delicious and super easy to prepare!

These were a hit too! I saw this simple recipe on facebook, posted by a friend of mine. Melted chocolate chips and pomegranate arils - a great combination of sweet and tart!

 Here's everyone's favorite host - Michael - indulging just before our guests began to arrive :) He prepared our annual sorrel drink (a Jamaican original), also a big hit, along with saltfish fritters, kale dip and a hearty quinoa salad.

This is a picture of a basement corner that Michael recently turned into a little office space for himself. He's so HAPPY! to have a little spot of his own and yes, that's a painting of him above the shelf :)

 Our condo isn't very large so we used a desk in our tiny kitchen as our "drinks" centre complete with glasses, ice bucket and corkscrews - it worked just great!

 Our first guests: Stephen, recently back from teaching for TWELVE years in Taiwan!, Julie who I've known for half my life - we went to university together, and Troy who I met through Julie and who has become a close friend.

My gorgeous daughter and her boyfriend, Steve, dropped by early as they were headed out to his work's Christmas party. Steve's a good guy - he laughs at her "princessy" ways and keeps her feet firmly planted on the ground - he works for a landscaping company and hopes to have his own business someday.

 I love this picture of Tiffany! Several times she was about to leave but then would refill her glass from the punch bowl of sorrel. She probably would have left earlier if she'd been sitting somewhere else!!

 Our great friends Robin and Ken, recently married this past June. They are coming winter camping with us in January! Hmmmmm, the pictures are starting to get a bit blurry.....

 A good friend from school - Liz, and her husband Thom - we had so many good laughs that evening - they are both great story tellers!!

 A party isn't a party until Ravishing Ruth arrives (on the left!)

She had me in stitches all night long!

Not sure what story she was telling here but she certainly had our attention!

 Everyone had to have a picture taken with Santa :)

Yikes! I'm too close with my camera! Ruth's cousin, Caroline, beside her and was her DD!

Awwwww, while it looks like we're sitting on Robin she was actually behind the chair we were sitting on!

 I'm thinking Caroline didn't get what she wanted from Santa?!?

 But Santa got what he wanted!  hee hee hee!

 I love my friend Jules!! She's a fabulous artist!

 This picture was taken at the beginning of the evening, believe it or not - I was pretending to be a model doing a photo shoot, spinning and twirling for Michael :)

Jules, Steve and Troy having a deep conversation about the environment - Julie's favorite topic - yes, she's a tree hugger extraordinaire!

See what I mean about Tiffany being too close to the punch bowl?

Before we got TOO rowdy!

 OK, the sideways photos were taken with my OLD camera by Michael. It's been dropped so many times so that every picture comes out in a different direction and can't be corrected...hence I bought myself a new camera as an early Christmas present for MOI!

Caroline, Ruthie and ME!

 Getting mushy for the camera!

Awwww,aren't we cute?

 Oops, there we go again! a BIG smile from Caroline this time though!

Michael getting squished between me, Ruthie and Liz!

No sedate parties at our house!  BUT we did collect a fair bit of food for Michael's workplace. They have a closet where they keep emergency supplies for low-income families in their neighbourhood.

You know what the great thing is about doing all the prep prior to a party???

 You don't have to CLEAN UP!! When I got up Saturday morning this......

...and this...was all cleaned up!! Thanks Michael!

Now it's Sunday morning and I need some breakfast, after which I am going to do some major blog reading! I really need to catch up with you all!