Thursday, November 30, 2006

Is It Cold Enough For You???


Well, I've had enough of this weather. Geesh! Enough already! I have never in my life worn long johns under my jeans to go to work. It's been essential services all week so I haven't worked much and when I have been on shift I haven't worked much then either, just got paid for sitting around!
I'm dreaming of a green Christmas........sure could use some R & R in the tropics about now. However the last time I was in Hawaii the weather was so lousy I never did sit by the pool. What's this world coming to anyways....
Maybe I'll sing my Hawaiian Christmas song and it will cheer me up...follow along if you don't know the words. Here goes:


Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you
From the land where palm trees sway.

Hopin' that your Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night.
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say Merry Christmas,
A very Merry Christmas,
A very very Merry Christmas to you!!!!

Now, that doesn't that make you feel better?

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

"Some people are like slinkies, they are really
good for nothing but they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs"



Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I was called into work for an Essential Services run. How hard could that be I thought.

I had a total of 4 clients. 2 of them cancelled. So that meant I worked a total of 4 hours and only had to take 2 clients home. I put 20k on the bus. On a normal shift I usually put at least 100k.

And I was 'buddy'd' up which meant I didn;t have to work alone.

Life is good.

Let it snow.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

It's Snowing!!!



Personally, I'd rather be on a warm tropical beach somewhere sipping on a Mai Tai, but that's just me. Chris and Diana just left to go to Seattle to watch a football game. Call me crazy but I'm staying home in my warm house with the fireplace, 2 kittens and a dog. I may just stay in my pj's all day. Yup, sounds good to me.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

fun name game...play along!

1. Rockstar name (your first pet's name + current street name)
Snoopy 68

2. Gangsta name (fav. ice cream + fav. cookie)
Jamocha choco chip

3. "Fly girl" name (first initial of first name + first 3 letters of last name)
J-Van (it's actually B but I like J better and it's my blog)

4. Detective name (favorite color + favorite animal)
Yellow Dog

5. Soap Opera name (middle name + city where you were born)
Joan Burnaby

6. Star Wars Name (First 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of first name)
Vanba

7. superhero name ("the" + second favorite color + favorite drink)
The Grey Margarita

8. Nascar Name (first names of your grandfathers)
Derk Jan Roelof (doesn’t work quite as well when you’re Dutch)

9. Stripper name (favorite perfume + favorite candy)
Tommy Chocolate

10. Witness Protection name (parents middle names)
Bertha Dirk (my parents don't have middle names)

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Friday, November 17, 2006

You Can't Plan These Things


Guess who decided that sleeping on my bed with my teddy bear looked like fun? hmmm....it's like she was thinking, well if that cat can do it so can I. Kids, gotta love them.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

How Sweet is This


Found Bailey tucked in behind the pillows on my bed with my teddy bear this morning...can we all say awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It seems that I just can't get pictures to post these days...argghhh, very frustrating.

I worked all day in the blustery winds, the traffic light outages and power disruptions around the city. It took me 1 hour to drive 4 city blocks at one point.

But...after all was said and done I pulled into the bus garage at exactly the time I was supposed to and wasn't even a minute late!

I'm thankful to be back working and driving people around. I really enjoy this job and the rewards in meeting the challenges sometimes I face.

Chris is freezing her hiney off at the cottage. They didn't have any power when I spoke to her tonight and were deciding on whether they should drive into town and stay at her parents new house which has heat. An easy decision for me. Heat. Heat is good.

Back to work tomorrow and waking up with 2 crazy kittens who don't think I have a right to sleep in.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

I'm Baaaaccckkk!!!

I've been back to work since Saturday and things have been going well. It felt a little strange at first and I felt "out of the loop" but I quickly caught onto things and was soon wheeling my bus around town like I hadn't been away at all.

I've worked the weekend and now am working a lot this week. I've climbed my way up the seniority ladder and seem to have a plethora of shifts to choose from for which I am very thankful.

Chris is away until Saturday so I'm holding down the fort until she gets home. This means having a dog sleeping/snotting by my side and sharing the bed with not 1 but 2 ever growing kittens who seem to enjoy teasing me. They're a lot of fun and I love them.

My mom called tonight to say that my step-father's sister had passed away. Although it was no surprise, she has been in the hospice for 2 weeks and they were expecting it anytime it still is the end of someone's life.

Life goes on....I'm thankful and blessed by so many in my life.

Sunday, November 12, 2006


See the little man on the left? That was my Opa. The lady on the right was my Oma and guess who's in the middle? Little ole me! My Opa was very small, he measured about 4'6". They called him the "klein man" meaning "little man" in his town. My dad was about 5'7". He was the tallest in his family but the smallest in ours.
My brother Ralph stands about 6'3", my brother John was 6'2", I'm 5'11". hmmmm....
This photo was taken when I was 2 years old and spent some time in Holland with my mom.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Lest We Forget


When I see the news about war sometimes I can feel so complacent because I don't know anybody who died in a war. I grew up with parents who had lived through the horrors of WWII and heard stories of the Nazis and Dutch Jews going to prison camps. But until it's someone you know, somehow it doesn't seem real. But it doesn't lessen the hardships others have faced because of war. For that I want to say I'm humbled. I don't know the hardships, I only know the stories.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

My Friend Kit

Kit Mitchell
June 30, 1953 - November 10, 2003

I’ve often mentioned Kit on my blog before so today I thought I’d share a Kit story. After he died someone said I should sit down and write some of his stories when they were still fresh but I didn’t do it and now I wish I had.

Kit was a client of mine who became a friend. I was his Keyworker for 2 years and spent lots of time with Kit. He lived in the same group home for 27 years and he “ran the home”. He stole my heart the first time I met him. I thought of him more as a brother and in a way, his death prepared me for my own brother’s a year later.

Kit loved God with all of his heart. Because he couldn’t talk he made gestures and grunt like sounds. When you got to know him you could hear the different between happy grunts and mad frustrated grunts. When Kit prayed it was as if he commanded God to listen to him. He lifted his arms up to the air and looked into the heavens and almost shouted “Hey God what are you doing up there? I’m needing some help here”

The summer before he died Kit decided he wanted to get baptized. It had been mentioned at church and Kit took it upon himself to go and talk to the Pastor about being baptized. He pointed to the bulletin announcement and then to himself and then upwards to God, crossed his heart and hugged the Pastor. The Pastor got the message.

Kit’s Pastor came out to see him on an official Pastoral visit to make very sure that Kit knew what he was doing. After sharing a coffee with him he was certain Kit knew exactly what he was doing. The only thing was Kit was deathly afraid of water and didn’t like the idea of “full immersion”. So…we improvised.

Sunday arrived and Kit was excited. He was jumping up and down with joy. I gave him a ceramic cross with the Lord’s Prayer inscribed on it as a keepsake. He held that close to his heart and put it on his shelf.

My mom and brother came for the service and that was a blessing both to Kit and myself.

Kit sat on pins and needles the whole service and then the Pastor announced that all those getting baptized were going down to the river after the service.

(Church was held outside in the summer at a park as it normally met in a school.) Then the Pastor called Kit and myself up front.

He introduced us and asked me to give a little of Kit’s testimony. I shared how Kit gave the plan of salvation every time we drove past the little graveyard close to the group home where he lived. With his gestures and grunts Kit made it plain just how easy it was to accept Jesus in your heart. After I shared Kit took the Pastor’s Bible and opened it to a passage and grunted his way through it.

After that they put a towel across Kit’s shoulders and got a bowl full of water. The Pastor cupped his hands and scooped some water and let it flow over Kit’s hat (he wouldn’t remove it). The congregation clapped and Kit rejoiced. He hugged everyone and laughed. He’d done it.


The verse that I gave Kit when I became his key worker was: James 5:16 “the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Six months later when Kit went to be with the Lord we used that verse on his Memorial bulletin.

Kit taught me to be who you are, don’t be defeated by what others think of you, reach out and care about people even if you get hurt and above all, love others as Christ loved us. So often our society lessens what people with disabilities can give us. I thank God for the opportunity of knowing Kit and seeing what a great big heart a little guy could have.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

This Was My Day

Catchin' Up


This is my last full week of going to the gym for 4 hours a day. It's good that it's mandatory, it'd be so easy to roll over in the morning and say "nah, I don't think so" and go back to sleep.

I'm going back to work this weekend so I can do a weekend shift which is usually a little lighter and more familiar. Since I've been off for almost 4 months I'm craving the familiar faces and addresses. I'll have Monday off since it's a stat.

For the next 2 weeks I'll still go for Physio 2x a week with some exercising at the Gym to "ease back into work" so that will be good.

Chris is heading up to 100 Mile House on Friday for a week so it will be quiet around here. Although with 3 animals it's sometimes a little crazy. They're a little more work but a whole lot more fun.

That's how my week has been going. How about yours?

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Thankfulness

Thankfulness is not something God gives us, it is not a spiritual gift and it is not a spiritual fruit. We can receive God’s peace, joy and love, but thankfulness is something that we give to God and to others.
It is a choice that we make.

Monday, November 06, 2006

A Newfy Poem: New Edition

(Who said Newfies aren't romantic?)

Of course I love's ya darlin'
Yur a bloody top-notch bird
And when I say's yur gorgeous
I mean's every single word

So ya bum is on da big side
(I don't mind a bit of flab)
It means dat when I'm ready
Dere's sometin' there ta grab

So yur belly isn't flat no more
I tell ya, I don't care
So long as when I cuddle ya
I can get my arms round dere.

No woman who is your age
Has nice round perky breasts
They just gave in ta gravity
But I know ya did da best.

So I'm tellin ya da trute,
(Ya know I never tells ya lies)
I think it's very sexy
Ya got dimples on yur thighs

I swear on me grannies grave now
Da moment dat we met
I tot ya was as good a girl
as I was ever gonna get.

No matter wot ya look like
I'll always love ya dear
Now shut up while da hockey's on
And fetch anoder beer.

It's Raining

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Dead End


My friend Barb and I used to collect Road Signs. Of course it was funnier if you could hear us reading out the signs out loud. Much funnier I promise you. Here's one that doesn't need reading out loud. It used to amuse me that on the way to the group home I used to work at there was a little graveyard just on the side of the road and a mailbox in front of it. I've always wanted to take a photo of that. In the meantime you can enjoy this one.

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'


Yesterday when Chris got up she immediately went to the computer to research where to buy new winter boots. This is the difference between us. I would go to a mall and wander around, maybe sip a cool drink, if I didn't find what I wanted I'd go home probably with something else. No, not Chris. We must find these boots. They must be tested to a temperature of at least -40. She searched the Net and called around and located the best of the best.

We found boots. We had to go to North Vancouver. For Surrey girls, that's a long ways. But they're beautiful. They have thermal inserts that will keep us warm and cozy in the cold harsh winters if we get stuck in the snow between here and the cottage. Last year I went to the cottage in the winter one time. This year I have boots so hopefully it will be more than once. Stay tuned to this blog to hear of the glove buying adventure. Riveting newsbreaking story. You won't want to miss it.

Last night we went out for dinner at a fave restaurant and saw the movie about the Dixie Chicks. Interesting movie and good to see. I think seeing it in Canada would be different than seeing it in the south. I can't imagine the audience breaking out into applause in some small town in the deep south but they sure did here. Good for us. We know what's right. Go girls!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Here's a Good Reason For Moms to Wear Glasses on the Back of Their Heads

When I was a kid my mother always told me she had eyes in the back of her head. I think it's something moms learn at "Mom School". You know, that place where they learn all the phrases like "quit yer cryin' or I'll give you something to cry about" or "when I was a kid we had to walk X amount of miles in the snow, (insert bad road conditions here)", those sorts of things.

One year for Mother's Day we wrapped up a pair of glasses and gave them to my mom and said, "well now that you're wearing glasses on the front of your head, you'll be needing them in the back too". My mom wore them all day.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A Tip From Maxine

Chris and I have come up with a plan in an effort to keep our house looking like company would be welcome instead of shooed away at the door because it would be horrible if they saw what slobs we can be. We're not always that bad but lately it's been a battle to keep it clean. So now we're alternating upstairs/downstairs. This week it's my turn to clean downstairs. For inspiration I went to the source of all wisdom, my friend Maxine. I know where to get good advice. She never lets me down.


Always keep several get well cards on the mantel.....so if unexpected guests arrive, they will think you've been sick and unable to clean.