Pirate

Well they say that sometimes we have sympathy pain.  Well, my daughter's partner Dave I think tried this.  He went snowboarding a few weeks ago, and he fell hard.  He broke an ankle and sprained the other one with a possible hairline fracture.  We went to visit on the weekend and his mobility is limited.  He has two leg supports, a walker and crutches.  When I saw him I thought of poor Brian who is suffering at the moment with all his contraptions all over his home.
I sent a picture to his parents since they live pretty far and don't like to travel in the winter.  His mother was happy to see him standing, but she said he looks like a pirate because she could not see his other leg.  The picture is not very clear, but I thought I would share it.   Dave should be on his two feet in a few months, but the skiing season is over for him.

Breathe out, 1 2 3 4 5 6

It is no secret that breathing is good for you, really.

But did you know it can help you loose weight, fight depression, prevent heart attacks, and more.

That’s right, everything from dyslexia to dementia can be helped by breathing out and breathing in to the rhythm of your heart beat.

We’ve all heard of monks in MRI machines showing the scientific world the positive effects of meditation on the brain.

Turns out breathing is what offers real benefits to the body and brain.

Meditation without breathing to the rhythm of your heart beat gives only mediocre results.

Meditation is stopping your monkey brain. Putting your brain in neutral for a while. Thinking of nothing.

Meditation can also be active. Focusing on one person or even and sending positive vibes. This has been know to help plants grow!

Doing either forms of meditation while breathing to the rhythm of your heart beat will help the mind and body rebuild and heal. That is what monks do.

Here is a 5 minute youtube video that guides you to breath following the rhythm of your heart.

http://youtu.be/zM2gq8kYKyE

At first you may notice that you can easily breath out to the beat of 5 seconds but you run out of room in your lungs to breath in for 5 seconds.

If you empty your lungs fully, you will have lots of room to breath in. Keep at it.

Monks breath to the beat of 8 not 5 like in the video. Once you get to the beat of 6 you’ll be on your way there.

After a few tries you will be able to do this in a grocery store line-up, a traffic jam, a boring party, a busy airport, even on the couch in front of your favorite TV show.

So. Relax, enjoy. 

Don’t forget to breathe.

Hope for Brian

This is Verina with her little cousin Hope  

This is my brother-in-law when he picked this little pup.  He named her Hope.    The poor pup is sometimes confused.  He is living in this house with no master sort of.. the master can't speak at the moment.  He is battling cancer.  The pup is getting disciplined by many people and other pets.  He just wants to be loved. 

My sister Irene was living with Brian and she helped with everything, including disciplining the pup.  She was very proud of him.  He listened, he did not beg for food, he did not scratch at the door to be let in, and he did not enter the kitchen.  All things she easily trained him to do.  Well Irene left on Friday night.  The dog laid at the door that night and maybe waited for her to return. 

The next day, he was in the kitchen and everytime I moved he was behind me, it was funny how her discipling worked wonders when she was there.  Now he is doing everything that he isn't supposed to do.  He is keeping our minds off a difficult time and he is a pleasure to have around and he is so cute. 

Maybe Sue can post a more recent picture.

More info on Hope.  She has chewed my telephone charger and the zipper on her bed.  But she is still cute.  Marie and Brian love her.

A Heart Warming Hand Warmer Story

This Friday in Ottawa the weather was has bad as mid January has to offer. Well, not just in Ottawa I suspect. 

The day started off cold and grey, but as it went on and I looked out my office window, it turned to heavy snow. Then the wind picked-up and we had blowing snow.

At 5:00, when I left work, I was glad to have a bus to get me home and not a car. 

I missed the 1st bus that gets me to my 2nd bus so had to walk 15 minutes to my stop.

But God loves me. 

He put the wind in my back and fast walking energetic guy in front of me. 

There is never anyone on that road. I always walk to my stop with the expansive view of the suburban fences, large trees and wide avenue spread out in front of me. 

Now this guy was blocking my view. But it didn't take me long to realize that this was a good thing. 

The sidewalk was covered in slush and blowing snow and this guy was my own personal trailblazer. 

Wait, is this a story about hand warmers? Yes, it's coming. 

We got to my bus stop and my trailblazer darted in the opposite direction. 

Two kids were in the shelter. Their father was outside in a light jacket looking out for the bus.

I stepped inside and said, "bonjour" to a boy about 3 and a girl about 6. They looked surprised and answered in a shy "bonjour". 

The father came in to protect his little ones out of instinct I guess. We said, "hi, bonjour" and politely smiled.

He took the little boys bare hands in his and rubbed them. 

I reached in my pocket and activated a reusable hand warmer I got for Xmas. 

When I handed it to the young boy he looked up in surprise. "C'est chaud!" he said as if he had just witnessed a miracle. 

I watched as the young girl pulled her dark little frozen hands out of her sleeves and got closer to her brother to share the warmth. 

As I looked on, it was clear to me this family had not seen many Canadian winters. Maybe this was their first.

The two little ones where huddled together holding the hand warmer with their bare hands. Their father cupped his hands over them and they all smiled and giggled at this amazing piece of heat. 

After her hands were warmed up a bit, the young girl looked up at me and asked,: "Is the bus going to come?" 

I guess she figured if I could pull heat out the blue I must have other out worldly powers like knowing when buses in Ottawa come to, of all places, a bus stop.

Full of a assurance I answered: "Yes, of course, the bus is going to come! The bus always comes. It always comes late, but it always comes."

The father and I smiled at the subtle joke and two little ones nodded at each other in agrement. 

Of course a bus would come before they froze in a bus stop. With this miracle "heat in bag" all would be fine. 

The brother and sister started to play with the warmer putting it on their noses and checks then fighting over it as kids do till the bus came.

As the bus finally pulled-up, the father told them to give back the hand warmer and say "merci beaucoup", which they did with a shy smile. 

The hand warmer not only brought warmth to the kids hands but to my heart as I watched the little ones be kids and forget for a moment they were cold and anxiously waiting for a bus in a snow storm. 

Take out the kleenex.

I Believe in Angels

I was searching the web for an angel to use for my post and this one came out and spoke to me.

With his blond hair, muscular body and reverent position he seems to be praying with me. He has the strength I need now to keep praying.

It is never easy to keep prayers and optimism going over time but we need to. Miracles don't happen over night.

My little trick is to light a candle for people I keep in my prayers. Everyday when I light my candles I say their names. It bring them into memory and lets their name vibrate out into the cosmos, sending out positive vibes like the wings of a butterflies.

Whatever your little trick is, it would be great if you shared it with us. There is ages of wisdom and knowledge out there that we could all tap into if we share.

P.s. I found no name associated with this image, hence no credit but lot's of positive vibes to his creator.

Best Wishes for the Next 366 Days

Mom's father, Émile Langlois, was a calligrapher among other things. On a small table in a corner of his barbershop he would notarize documents, personal letters or formal invitations among other things.

Could that be where our multitasking creative talents come from? Maybe.

In 1936 the great depression was over, but not every one had pockets full of cash.

Grandpa was in that situation so he used his creative talents to show his children the love he had for them despite not having gifts to offer.

He calligraphed a cheque for each of his children. It is worth 365 days of health and happiness from the Joy branch of the Banque de Bonheur.

Mom would have been 15 years old at the time. With all the kids and moving, mom lost hers.

This one is Tante Yvette's. It is made out to her religious name, the one she took on when she joined the nun's order - Soeur Marie Léon.

I always love it when Mom tells this story. If you visit her this year you can ask to see the original check and get her to tell you the story. It is so much better in her own words.

In the meantime, I'm sending along this little story to wish all of you and your families:

A Very Healthy & Happy New Year. 

What's In a Clothespin ?

One of the first craft project to do with kids is a clothespin figure. The internet is now loaded with creative clothespin ideas. These crafts are such a pride for little ones.

The picture above is a very cute example of this. I wish I could remember who gave it to me. It's had a prominent spot on my tree ever since I got it.

Clothespins go so far back dinosaures probably invented them. I'm sure we will eventually find one on a cave drawing. In our daily lives, clothespins have multiple uses. 

They are a universal, useful, everyday object. We tie, close, clasp, hold, and pinch with them. 

Kids use them to clip cards to bike wheels and make noise. Hairdressers clip foil paper on our head with them when the fancy takes us to streak our hair color. 

In movies and stage production clothespins are called C74 (from the budget entry item #). They are flipped to make a tweezer and used to hold, well, everything! They mainly hold colored filters in front of lights, and also wigs in place, tuck clothes in, hold the script together. Just about everyone on a set has a row of them clipped on their belt. Hence the nickname "bullet" - as in a bullet belt.

But primarily, clothespins are used to hang out our dirty laundry once we've cleaned it. Doing this exposes what is usually kept inside our house to outside scrutiny. By analogy, it is no wonder that in dreams a clothespin is a symbol of control. More specifically trying to control what is revealed about our character and ourselves. 

But a clothespin is so much more then a clean laundry hanger. It puts pride on a kids face as they admire their creation.It pinches to keep in freshness. It leaves a mark on what is pinched.

A clothespin is nothing without something to hang on to. The clothes line is a metaphor for our lives and on it clothespins hangs all of our metamorphoses.

It comes to the rescue in a time of crises. 

Marie has a clothespin that has been passed down the Niemi family from generation to generation. I hope one day she tells us the story of that clothespin. I have heard of many things being passed down the ages, but a clothespin - never! 

There has to be a story behing that...