About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Monday, December 18, 2017

X is for XMAS


MERRY CHRISTMAS (XMAS) EVERYONE!  

I thought I'd put a link to the top 100 Xmas songs for 2017 so you could click on it and play anything your heart desires over the holidays.

Here it is:


This year, younger daughter and her husband plus one of my sisters will join me for Christmas dinner on the 25th.  Everyone is contributing to the meal, so it should be interesting.  

All I have to do is buy and cook the turkey!  

I'm just hoping the younger ones will do the clean-up.  

Have a wonderful and blessed time, everyone!

Monday, December 11, 2017

W is for WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

The famous Christmas song Winter Wonderland was first published in 1934. The composer was Felix Bernard (1897-1944) and the lyricist was Richard B. Smith (1901-1935). Probably the most popular versions of this classic Christmas song, Winter Wonderland, were recorded to high acclaim by the Andrews Sisters and Perry Como.
The lyrics of Winter Wonderland have undoubtedly contributed to the magical vision of snow at Christmas together with the tradition of building snowmen and therefore turning fantasy into reality by creating a real Winter Wonderland.

I recall one year in elementary school, we had a "talent" show - not that anyone really had any talent in those years.  But some kids took piano lessons or dance lessons so were in their glory.  A friend and I wanted to participate and all we could do was sing - we were pretty good for 10-year-olds.  So because the show was around Christmas, we decided to sing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" with some actions along with it.  Looking back, I don't think we were that good, but I'm glad we had the courage to get up and do it.  I've always loved that song and it reminds me of that day we sang for our classmates and parents.  

Where I live, winter is usually rainy rather than snowy, but I think the last time we had snow at Christmas was in 2008 - and it was quite nice.  However, we usually pray for sunshine and we are often blessed.  Anyway, here's Amy Grant serenading you all with Walking In A Winter Wonderland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcXSm51UI5M

Monday, December 04, 2017

V is for VITALITY



Vitality refers to exuberant physical strength or mental power. Lately, my physical energy has felt drained, which in turn has felt like my mental energy is flushing away as well. It may have something to do with the time of year, as November is always such a dreary month and looking forward to Christmas is not as full of excitement as it used to be. It's been raining heavily a lot and the trails are muddy and slippery with rotting leaves.  But sunlight today and the forecast is for more sun, so I'm sure my mood will pick up. You can see in the photo below it looks like Chernobyl...
Tutoring helps me to be in top mental form, and this year I have all boys!  I have two new Grade 9s and I still have two Grade 11 boys and one Grade 12 boy.  I work 10 hours a week as some of them come more than once a week.  The province is in the process of changing the curriculums so I have a lot more to learn so that I can help my students.  I need to read and study up on topics that have never been taught before. However, I do think that not only my education and experience helps, but also simply my maturity and having lived through many historical events, as well as keeping up with the news on the environment and politics. But, just like the kids, I am looking forward to vegging for a couple of weeks. 

I'm stunned at the level of comprehension expected of students in this day and age. I'm also stunned by the topics studied, but then I guess kids at this age are more "aware" than we were in my prehistoric days. I do wonder, though, why kids in their early teens need to read books with themes about rape, sex, and murder. Ah well, it keeps my brain ticking along trying to keep up with them all while at the same time, I feel like one worn-out woman.


Continued thanks to Melody for continuing this ABC Wednesday meme. Her group of vivacious, vigilant, and valued helpers will visit each person's contribution and give valuable insight to you. If you haven't joined in yet, please do or consider starting with our next Round in about a month.