Over the years I have found myself following Big Sis’ lead in many things (remember the photo with us both wearing the same dress😬). After all she is the older wiser sister. I was quite intrigued with her “smile at a stranger” experiment and decided to try it myself and see what happened. Here for you is a description of some of my more interesting, unexpected interactions with strangers. Cooking Things Up When I was checking out at the grocery store I smiled at the cashier and asked him what he was hearing from customers about cookware that the store was offering on a promotion. He said that he had…

One of the many things I appreciate about retirement is not having to wear makeup every day. I went from a full face – foundation, concealer, blush, eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick, to being fresh faced; at least as fresh faced as a 55 year old could be. Moisturizer, lip balm and maybe some mascara was the new regime. As the years passed and the inevitable wrinkles, age spots and disappearing eyelashes became more noticeable, I decided maybe there was something to be said for a bit of help, just to freshen the look. Nothing drastic or permanent, me but just a little brighter. Things Have Definitely Changed Of course I…

You may remember a few months ago, after a night at the Sleep Clinic that will live in my memory forever, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Once I came to terms with this I decided that the dreaded CPAP machine was not going to be in my future, no matter how loudly I was snoring. So what was I to do? What’s Up Doc? Luckily my Dentist came to the rescue. He said there is an appliance that has an 80-90 % success rate in treating sleep apnea. After I hugged him (not really but I was so happy I should have) I said sign me up. The catch…

We dedicate this post to our dear Auntie Lana, our most loyal reader, who is dealing with some significant health challenges right now. We love you.❤️ As Christmas approaches I start looking forward to my two favourite things, and perhaps they’re not what you might expect. No, they’re not shopping and Christmas carols, but rather, making a gingerbread village and gift wrapping. While the gift wrapping waits until closer to the big day, work on the gingerbread village starts early… In the Beginning One of our family Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses. We started this when our kids were young and carried it on with grand kids. I have…

As you may know this was a big year for me, celebrating 50 years of marriage and turning 70. I feel very fortunate to have reached both of these milestones and so, if you’ll indulge me, I think a little navel gazing is in order. And rest assured dear reader that, if you recognized the first couple of titles here as the Dionne Warwick song from the 70s, my story does not involve “a guy with a pin to burst your bubble…” but rather is a happy, grateful one. When You Fall In Love (and are married 50 years) Firstly, you are not wrong if you calculated that I was…